Dunes

Hmm, I think that's probably actually from this clip: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/257716/december-01-2009/u-s--army-chain-of-command It is indeed Scootaloo, but it's like G3.5 or something and he called her Pinkie Pie.

I'd personally like to see some male ponies! The same size as the regular pony dolls we have now! I know they released some "big brother" figures in previous gens, so it's not like it's unprecidented. I don't think they've ever released villain toys in previous gens, though. (Because, you know, little girls never enjoy acting out conflict or fighting with their toys ever, they are all sweet precious little angels all of the time.) Little girls could still brush boy ponies' pretty pretty hair! Or, y'know, do what most little kids do and either tangle it horribly or cut it all off. Toys with brushable hair only last so long in the grips of small children. ("I think she needs a haircut! ... Mommm where are the scissors?") I mean, c'mon. If they're relying on little girl stereotypes to guide their marketing decisions, they should at least keep in mind that stuff like Ken dolls were marketed to little girls too. I have no doubt that they did not sell as well as the Barbie dolls, but I remember that a lot of playtime with my friends involved pairing up our toys. I don't know how many times we performed weddings for Simba and Nala. Little girls will find girly ways to play with male toys!

"Oh, you just know I'm down with that swing thing. Put a little life back in this place!" Sapphire grinned. As the music started, she tapped her hooves and started bouncing, getting a feel for the rhythm. "Aw yeah! This pony knows that old-timey groove." She shouted, unconcerned with the confused and incredulous looks she was getting. It had been a while since she'd danced to music that wasn't being coming out of speakers three times taller than her, or out of a DJ's turntable. Sometimes she lost sight of how simple and wonderful it could be. All it takes is one musician to make the music, and somepony to dance to it. Spotlights, pyrotechnics, and legions of adoring fans didn't have to always be involved. Almost always involved could be enough for her. Probably. Possibly. She did really like having adoring fans. "So, Pony Joe, do you dance? Swing ain't hard. It's got a lot of swingin' in circles. I reckon you know your way around circles well enough, all that time you spend making doughnuts! I bet you're a natural!" She did a little twirl to demonstrate, tapping her hooves to the beat. She took a quick bow and offered Pony Joe a hoof.

Crystal shook her head, wrinkling her nose. The pepper spray was dissipating, but it still stung. Clearly, she'd need to find a better spray bottle. This was more like a pepper grenade. Crystal frowned, and cautiously opened an eye to get a look at this unicorn. The air was still spicy, and she could feel defensive tears welling up. "Weapon? It's not! Not really, I mean. I just brought it in case of coyotes or something. It just burns, it doesn't do damage." She sneezed; her nostrils were burning. "I can see that it needs work though." She sneezed again. And again. "Aghh okay, it needs a lot of work. But," she sneezed again, "Just to be clear... None of us are actually bandits or marauders or, like, desert pirates, then? Because I'm pretty much just out here to grow spicy things. I'm only a threat if you're prone to heartburn." She felt a sneeze come on, and tried to stifle it. She failed. This was getting ridiculous. She felt her way over to her luggage and popped a bag open. Digging through, she spoke towards the back of the cave. "I'm fresh out of eyepatches, but I'm pretty sure I've got bandannas. Good for face masks, impromtpu babushkas, or blowing your nose. I know which one I'm going with." She pulled one out and tossed it in what she assumed was the right direction; she didn't really want to open her eyes to the stinging air again. She took out one for herself and did her best to blow all the stinging out of her nose, rather unceremoniously. This was still better than having to wear frilly dresses and pretend to be interested her mother's business partners back in the city.

((Sorry for the late reply, folks. I got the christmas flu and I pretty much spent the past five days sleeping. )) Sapphire raised her glass. "Cheers!" She brought it back down, and chugged it. Now this was more like it! She raised a hoof to wave down the barmare. "Hey, sug, can I get another cider over here?" After the incident with the party and the paparazzi in Manehattan, she was normally a little more careful about her 'punch intake', as she called it. But this place needed a little party in it, she reckoned. Besides, nobody in there looked like they were likely to have a camera on them. Sapphire stifled a giggle. She leaned over at Pony Joe. "I think he's askin' if we're datin', sug." She grinned. "Nah, I'm afraid I just bumped into this handsome hunk tonight. Coordination and I don't seem to be friends tonight, but I think it worked out just fine." She wrinkled her nose. "Well, except for the show. Wish I'd been more coordinated for that." She sighed, doing her best to look inconsolable. She broke the facade almost instantly as soon as her drink came, grinning like a cheshire cat. "Worst show of my life tonight. I'd tell you what went wrong, only I think it'd be shorter to tell you what didn't go wrong." She took a sip of her drink and rolled her eyes. "Kinda a professional embarrassment. 'S why I came in here, to drown my sorrows or something artsy like that. Except I'm not very good at keeping up with sorrows, much less drowning 'em." Sapphire's face felt pleasantly warm and tingly. She started wiggling to the songs in her head. "Man, I can't believe there's no one dancing in here. Dancing's even better than drinkin' for a sour mood. You know any ragtime, Fred?"

Crystal breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the force acting on her lifted. She shook her mane out, pawed at the cave floor with a hoof, and charged in to help Milky. She heard a whud and, in the dark, was unsure of who hit whom. She skidded to a halt, her head held high and ears pinned straight back. She snorted angrily. This stranger meant no harm? No harm, really? Though, Crystal realized, it hadn’t actually hurt, it was just surprising… Maybe it was just a misunderstanding? But then that sharp, acrid smell hit her nostrils. Her eyes and nose watered at the mere memory of crushing all of those jalapeno and habanero seeds to get enough stinging, burning capsaicin to make her pepper spray. Despite through the protective hoof-wear, goggles, and mask, it was nasty stuff -- even for her enviable spice tolerance. Instinctively, she shut her eyes and backed off. “Milky! Other pony! Close your eyes! Don’t let it get in your eyes!” She coughed. “It should dissipate soon, but if it gets in your eyes you won’t be able to see for three to five minutes. And it’ll hurt like heck for a lot longer.” She wasn’t sure where it had sprayed, but her nose and throat already burned. For all the danger, it kinda made her hungry.

“He-e-e-eyy, barkeep! Could we get a round of apple cider up here, sugar?” Sapphire belted in a singsong voice. She grinned. Drinks! She never could get into drinking by herself, but drinking with a pair of pleasant ponies? Perfect! “I’m sure the shop’ll get along fine without ya for a little bit, Pony Joe. All business and no play makes for a dull pony, or somethin’ like that,” she said, patting his shoulder. “I gotta ask – what’s a doughnut shop need with a tavern? Makin’ wine flavored doughnuts?” She grinned. “That sounds tasty, actually.” Sapphire turned her attention to Frederic, and wrinkled her nose at the manager, rolling her eyes so that Frederic could see. “Treatin’ ya like zoo animals, yeah, I remember those days. It’s hard climbin’ your way outta little bars like this.” She looked somber, thinking back to when she was still a nopony. A broke, hungry nopony. She sighed, and then giggled at a thought. “But hey, if you have a rough night, you can start being as awful as you can. If they throw vegetables at you, there’s your grocery shoppin’ for the week!” A tired-looking barmare brought them their drinks, and then hurried off again to tend to the mass of patrons. Sapphire raised her glass. “Gents, what should we toast to?”

My two younger brothers and I regularly quote MLP at each other. My middle brother has a Derpy shirt, my youngest brother is nicknamed Applejack in his section in marching band (and before competitions, the low brass passes around a Celestia figure and presses her button for luck), and what's more is I discovered MLP independently from them. I was posting about it on Facebook and my brothers welcomed me to the herd. There was brohoofing. I converted one of my roommates, too. She bought me a Fluttershy when I was having a horrible day, and I gave her that little crystal Pinkie Pie keychain. Then she got me this for my birthday: Best roommate ever? I think yes.

I'm okay with it, though the ship-fics I've read that I've actually enjoyed tended to be between the background ponies. I guess it's because we can pretty much put whatever stories in place for them that we want! I'm not sure if I've read any fics between two of the mane 6 that I liked. Usually, they feel forced, or they're "I SUDDENLY HAVE LOVED YOU ALL ALONG" stories, which tend to feel forced. Or a significant element of the story is a coming out story. I like a good coming out story as much as the next homo, but either I'm picky or it's really easy for those to end up corny. I'd love to read one that feels genuine, you know? So basically, I'm not opposed to ship-fics (I like a good sappy romance!), I just haven't read very many that felt natural enough to be enjoyable to me. If it's well-written, I basically don't care who goes with who, though I do tend to prefer lady-lady fics. What can I say? I'm biased.

Crystal jumped, turning her head a little to pinpoint where the voice had come from? Behind her? Who else was in here? She desperately wanted to turn her head and get a glimpse of who it was. But the voice sounded frightened, and young. A filly? A scared filly seemed more like something to protect rather than a threat, and she still didn’t know what was lurking at the cave’s mouth. She heard the flapping of Milky’s wings, and a hushing sound. Crystal was all that stood between them and the unknown. Her home-made pepper spray at the ready, Crystal felt a cold sweat as she tried to prepare herself for whatever was coming. She was not prepared. There was a twinkling noise, a bright light, and the sensation of her spray bottle being pulled from her mouth. The rest she wasn’t so sure about. She felt surrounded, she knew that. Surrounded by something tingling, holding her in place, yet it wasn’t painful. She knew little of the desert, but she was fairly certain coyotes weren’t capable of any of what she was experiencing. This was something powerful. The thought made her struggle more, for all the good it did. She could plead for mercy; whoever this was clearly had the upper hoof. But after losing her very first house and nearly dying in the desert, something in the back of her brain, straight outta the streets of Manehattan, decided that life had stepped on her for the last time today and she simply wasn’t standing for it anymore. She took a deep breath, fuming. “Alright. I have just had the worst day of my young life, whoever you are, and the last thing I need is some thrush-head shooting lights at my face and holding me hostage with… with… this electric marshmallow stuff you’ve got me in. So if you don’t leave us alone, I am gonna screech and screech until I bring this cave down or we all go deaf, capiche?” She panted, glaring at the unicorn-shaped outline advancing towards them. She looked at her luggage, trying to nudge her head in that direction. “If you want my stupid peppers, take them, I don’t even care anymore.”

I 'unno, the first episode worked on me and one of my roommates. That said, I love Bridle Gossip. Flutterguy even got a laugh out of my generally aloof, manly-man of a roomie.

*Sings* I'm a dude, he's a dude, she's a dude, 'cause , hey!I always thought pegasister sounded weird. I don't mind being called a brony! I've never heard "Bronita" before though. I think it's cute! And I think calling female fans of the show "ponies" would be kind of... confusing. Brony is a word that was invented to refer to a specific set of fans of a specific show. Ponies are miniature horses. "Hey, are you a brony?" to someone who is unaware of the show would be confusing, but obviously meant to refer to something that person doesn't know about. "Hey, are you a pony?" might just be flat out confusing, even to a fan of the show. If someone asked me that, even if I knew they liked the show, my response would be, "I like ponies, yeah, but..." and not, "Hell yeah I'm a pony!"

Edited! Name changed to Chouette and bio reflects upbringing as Clover's sister. Marked as final! Lemme know what y'all think!

((ME: 1, FINALS: 0. Victory! Thanks for your patience!)) Sapphire Shores was more than a little oblivious to the fact that she’d walked off in the middle of a conversation. Music had that effect on her more often than not. She would've considered herself more easily distracted than rude, if she'd had any idea that she did this sort of thing. The other pony had followed her over to the pianist. He apparently knew of her, but not her name! A little grin crossed her face. It was kind of refreshing. It also meant he hadn’t been at that embarrassment of a concert. ... Mostly she liked that he hadn’t been at the concert. A memory of a lost, incredibly unhappy dove trapped in her dress flicked in her mind. She tried not to grimace. “Sapphire Shores, the one and only.” She posed for effect, flipping her mane over her shoulders. It was the kind of thing she used to find a little ridiculous, but the fans ate it up and by now it was just habit. She offered a hoof. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, mister…” She noticed the pony’s cutie mark. A doughnut? “Say! You wouldn’t happen to own that li’l doughnut shop down the street, would you? I keep meanin’ to try that place.” Sapphire applauded again as another song came to a close. She leaned over at the piano pony, conspiratorially. “Seems like the pony in charge is a little tetchy, but does he let folks feed the musicians? I feel like I ought to buy you a drink or a doughnut for cheerin’ up my evening.” She grinned at the doughnut pony too. “You too! This place’s got some fi-i-ine apple cider straight outta Ponyville. Should I go get a round?” For all her artistic talents, Sapphire Shores was not very good at keeping up a bad mood for long. She’d have to leave brooding to other artists.

((HA! Finals defeated! Thanks for your patience, y'all! )) Crystal nodded. She didn’t know a whole lot about survival in the desert (or anywhere, really), but she found the idea very comforting on some primal level. Fire good! She stretched and shook her mane, feeling grateful she had regained her coordination. It was beginning to dawn on her how close she’d come to an unfortunate end. “I… You know, I don’t think I’ve ever built a fire before.” Crystal blushed. “I mean, I did so much reading on agriculture. I know I could grow things out here. I grew baskets full of vegetables in a couple of one-hoof deep window boxes and that was with the birds trying to attack them, and my dad throwing them in the garbage once.” She sighed. “I guess I just skipped the chapter on ‘How Not To Die in the Desert’.” “Could you show me? How to make a fire, I mean? I –“ She stopped, her ear flicking at a noise. Hoofbeats? Or something else? Something or somepony was there. She looked over at Milky, as if to ask if she’d heard it too. Crystal poked her nose in one of her bags, bringing out a little spray bottle. It had a hoof-drawn jalapeno on the label, and an unsettling green liquid inside. Nothing else was getting the jump on her today! She had her teeth on the trigger and she was ready. She stood, head down and front hooves apart in what she thought was a battle-ready pose, and glared into the rapidly-falling dark.

It's on hold for just the moment - I have a huge final tomorrow, and I'm scrambling to get everything together. After I get that out of the way I intend to finish this and catch up on my posts!

((Sorry y'all, just a placeholder. Finals are this week and I've been crazy busy! I'm going to try to post something today, but for now I'm putting this here to let y'all know I'm not just ignoring my posts.))

((Sorry, this is just a placeholder post! Finals are this week for me and I've been crazy busy. I'm going to try to write something today, but if I don't, it's because I'm busy with schoolwork and not because I've forgotten y'all! ))

I started posting about it on Facebook. Not only did I find out several of my old highschool friends are bronies, I found out my actual brothers are bronies. Then I converted my roommate. So there's that. I also found a brony meetup group for my area on meetup.com. I haven't actually managed to make it to any of the events yet, what with reviews and finals, but I'm hoping I'll be able to make one soon.

Sapphire breathed a sigh of relief. Bumping into a strange pony in a tavern, she had half expected to start a brawl. “Glad to hear it. Bit worn out and not exactly runnin' on all four hooves tonight." She looked around, noticing only one barmare struggling to keep up with a cluster of customers at the end of the bar. "Say, you have any idea who runs this place? I don’t see hardly anypony back there and I’ve got a bit of a mess to clean up…” Sapphire’s ear flicked back as she started picking up a melodic strain on piano. She looked over her shoulder; it was really quite lovely. Lovely, but sad. It seemed fitting for the mood at the tavern tonight. Still, the music, and the pony playing it, seemed a bit… high class for such an establishment. She could swear she’d seen that pony before. Hadn’t she seen him playing with that fancy cello-pony once? What was her name… Octave-something? She didn’t keep up with classical music as much as she probably should. Too much being quiet and sitting still for her tastes. She tapped the tan stallion next to her, still looking over her shoulder at the pianist. “Hey, uh, what’s your name? This place usually have music this nice? It seems a little more…” she paused as she looked around, “salt-of-the-earth in here.” Sapphire stomped her hooves as the music finished, calling out, “Fabulous ivory-ticklin’, hon! You know Freeherd?” She grinned at him. Good music always put her in a better mood.

Crystal’s second attempt at drinking was more successful. Her shivering stopped, and the ache in her head began to ease. The fog in her head was lifting, revealing precisely how awful she felt. Exhausted, she put her head between her hooves and sighed. “Thank you, Milky. If you hadn’t been there, I probably would’ve… Not been in good shape.” The sun was starting to inch down on the horizon, promising relief from its relentless rays. But at that moment, the horizon still shimmered and wavered with the heat of the day. That gave her a few hours to recover before they could set out again. “Do you think we could make it back to Appleloosa once the sun goes down? I mean… I’d think it would be okay, but then, I forgot about sandstorms, so…” She trailed off. On reflection, she should’ve asked somepony’s advice before taking this venture in the first place. Enthusiasm and stubborn pride had left her desperate in the desert, relying on another pony’s kindness. Crystal’s ears flicked. She heard shrill yowling, the like of which she’d never heard before. It was a bit like the dogs she’d hear back in the city, but more piercing somehow. It wasn’t quite as far off as she’d want it to be. Tilting her head, she whispered, “Coyotes?”

Sorry for the delay on this - went out of town for Thanksgiving and haven't had a whole lot of internet time! I'll get back on this soon.

Oo, that does make sense. I'll think of something that'll fit, no worries!

BAM. APPLICATION.

Roleplay Type: Mane Name: Goes by 'Madame deLucky', but her real name is 'Chouette GoLucky' Sex: Female Age: Mare Species: Earth pony Eye Color: Green Coat Color: White Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Long, wavy, and blonde. She often teases it with a comb to give herself a more eccentric, unkempt look, and wears a tattered bandanna. Physique: Tall, bony, waifish. Cutie Mark: A crystal ball Origin/Residence: Solstice Heights, but wanders looking for new suckers. Occupation: Fortune teller. Motivation: To part gullible ponies with their money. The "stupidity tax", she calls it. And somewhere, deep within her cynical and bitter exterior, is a little bit of hope that she might one day have a genuine vision. She dismisses it with the same disdain she has for everyone who buys into her trade, though. Likes: Workin' on it. Also, money. Dislikes: Also workin' on it. Also also, suckers. Character Summary: Madame, née Chouette, really did want to believe in soothsaying. Speaking with spirits of the long gone, seeing the future, being able to tell intimate secrets of a pony's life by staring into a crystal ball -- they were all things she dreamed of doing as a little filly. It was all so enchanting and alluringly mystical, she couldn't help but be fascinated. So, when she, her brother Clover, and their father wandered Equestria on "business" (her father's term for bilking bits out of unsuspecting ponies), she found herself less interested in crooked card games and much more intrigued by the mysterious fortune tellers and oracles who set up shop in the same shady parts of town. The bits she stole from ponies as they played cards almost always went to have her hoof read or her fortune told. She became a decent enough thief, if only because that was how she earned the mystical readings she so looked forward to. Unfortunately, she was also a very, very smart pony. Frauds! Frauds and shams, the lot of them! And oh, the unicorns were the worst. A disproportionate number of them were unicorns, of course. They thought that by virtue of a dramatic performance, complete with hoof-waving and making mystical "woo woo" noises, she wouldn't notice their horns glowing as things mysteriously rattled around the room during a seance. Some of them wore hats and knew how to cover up the magic noises. They were cleverer than most. It began as a mission to find a genuine fortune teller; someone who really did have The Gift. But the harder she looked, the more she came to realize it was all trickery. It was a fine balance of performance, atmosphere, attitude, and just enough of telling the client what they wanted to hear. That last part, at least, did require some cleverness. You had to learn to read a pony -- if not in a mystical way, then in a down-to-earth, body language kind of way. And the kinds of ponies who sought fortune tellers all had one of three traits in common: gullibility, curiosity, or sheer desperation. There was money in all of those. Bitter that her fillyhood dream turned out to be nothing but hokum, and being as money-loving as most of the GoLucky family, Chouette made a decision. She would take up the spooky cape of the trade, and become a fortune teller herself. If she couldn't really, truly live her dream, then by Celestia she was at least going to make some money off of her wasted effort. After swiping a bandanna and cloak (she certainly wasn't going to pay any more money on anything related to soothsaying), she donned her new outfit and looked at herself in the mirror. "I am... Madame deLucky," she said. It was then that a crystal ball appeared on her flank. She wasn't as excited about that as she thought she would have been. She spent a little time practicing on ponies before they'd go try their luck at a game of cards, prophesying great fortune to come their way. It was a boost of confidence that usually played in her father's favor. But before long, she was a grown mare, and struck out on her own, leaving her younger brother behind. Madame has been wandering Equestria for years now, cart in tow. She's accompanied by her "familiars", as she calls them; though she in truth thinks of them as accomplices and friends. A bat, named Fang (who's actually a fruit bat), and a black cat, named Hecate (a former stray kitten, whom Madame calls "Kate" and is a sweet little cat when she's not performing). They often serve as her special effects crew for particularly powerful (and expensive) performances. She has a love-hate relationship with her profession, but she's very good at it nonetheless. When performing, she is dark, mysterious, and nothing is more interesting to her than her clients' lives. When she's not performing, she's grumpy, bitter, sarcastic, not the most pleasant to be around, and really doesn't give a toss about anyone she perceives as stupid (read: nearly everyone). She's not exactly unkind or cruel; she just has little patience for frivolous things like joy or dreams. The sole chink in her armor is her brother. She's befuddled by his relentless optimism in the face of how awful the world obviously is, including but not limited to her brother's failing eyesight, and thinks farming is disgusting work, but she does love him. She still ribs him and is a sarcastic pain in the flank, but she tries to look out for him where she can, and woe be to the pony who hurts her brother. ----- No pictures yet, BUT, I think I have this done to my satisfaction otherwise. Marking this as final!