CelestialEvolution

Given you weren’t supposed to run indoors, no matter how much of a hurry you were in, Skyroots couldn’t have been happier to bolt out of the Cloudsdale Public Library and down the streets. The chocolate-and-white Paint Pegasus ran over her list in her head, saddlebags loaded with paper copies. The best spots would through the center of the city, where the most creatures would see them. Storefronts, light poles, carriages if she could sneak them on. Looking for adventure? each read, Still need a traveling partner to have your back? I’m the mare for the job! Free for expeditions all this month, wherever you want to go! Past that, bolded, was her contact information. No way could anypony miss it. This vacation was going to be fantastic, because she would make sure it was, because there was no way she built up a full month’s time off just to waste it. She passed a lamp on Mane Avenue and jumped up to smack a flyer onto it, high enough that flying passersby could spot it, too. Maybe Skyroots was stuck on the streets, but that didn’t mean she had to limit her audience. Her next target was the post office. Then the park, the bakery, the farrier’s. And by the end of the day, it would be a wonder if a single surface in the city was left uncovered. By sunset, she stretched out on the cool metal of a bench and grinned to herself. It was a good day’s work, however you looked at it, she was sure of it. Now she just had to wait, and hopefully not for long. If anyone understood what a big place the city was, it was her. Somepony else out there had to be as eager to get out and do something as she was. It was only a matter of time before Skyroots found them. Somehow, she managed to sleep through her excitement that night, and at the first light of day, she was on her way back through town, to the ice cream parlor she’d written to meet at, ready to wait as long as she needed.

Aspen’s head spun a bit from the impact. More than a bit. He was pretty sure he hit his horn, too, cause that familiar feeling of pins and needles wiggled its way down his spine. Not fun. “Uh, hi there, I think you’re standing on my tail,“ he started by way of greeting, still very upside down on the ground with a not at all happy looking lady standing over him. What did she just say? ’Did you do it?’ Huh? “...You might need to be a little more specific cause I’ve done a lot of things. Let’s see, I sent Mom a letter earlier this week, I ate a pancake for breakfast, oh, when I was a foal I won my school spelling bee, you should’ve been there, it was a lot of fun, then there was that time...oh, you don’t mean anything like that, do you.” He scrabbled his hooves on the pavement and tried to wiggle out from under her, and oh look at that, people were staring now, too. He managed to at least turn over and look up at her. “I’m a detective! Mostly. Almost. Anyway! If you tell me what you mean I can help probably! Unless I can’t, but I’ll try! Please don’t hurt me, my boss wouldn’t like that.”

Aspen stood at the door, head held high, scanning every passerby. Hoofington wasn’t near as big a town as its neighbors, but the crowds could still be fair depending on the time of year and day of the week. On a weekday like this one, most creatures were at work or school. But quiet wasn’t the same as dead, and there were still plenty of possible suspects to observe. A trio of Hippogriffs trotted by at one point, their gem fragments dangling shiningly at their necks. Not an unusual sight. Even since returning to greater Equestria, they were often still drawn to seaside locales, reluctant to ever truly abandon one world for the other. Then, a Unicorn stallion perhaps on his way to an optometrist, going by the haphazardly bandaged brim of his glasses. An Earth Pony mare. A pair of Yaks. Any of them could be their suspect. Or the next victim. Who knew what the thief would snatch next? ...Because seriously, he had no idea. An absurd number of spoons, a suit, and a journal? What did those things have in common at all? He didn’t really get a chance to think about it though, because a scream pierced the air, and he whipped his head around to find the source. Somepony was running down the street yelling at the top of her lungs. A mare, he could tell, and not much else. He jumped out into the street and waved, calling out. “Excuse me? Ma’am? Ma’am! Slow down, what’s the matter? Do you need help?”

Aspen Ray loved his job. How could he not? He got to solve mysteries! And catch bad guys! And, and...give directions to tourists! Detectives could do so many amazing things! ....at least, he could, once he was promoted past intern... But nevermind that! He would still be Equestria’s first ever Kirin detective! He threw himself happily into his work, and did every job his superiors asked. Except his mentor wasn’t looking too happy right now. Donut Steel hovered in the doorway, and looked from Aspen Ray to the papers stacked all over the desk. He raised a brow questioningly. Aspen just smiled proudly. “Look, Sir! I organized the papers like you said!” “I see that,” Donut said, walking over to study them more closely. “And I watered the plants! And adjusted the blinds the way you like them! And I got lunch too!” A smile did grace Donut Steel’s face at that. “That’s real nice of you, Aspen. Dunno, uh, what we’d do without you around here. I appreciate it! But...” he pointed a single hoof at the papers. “How did you organize these, exactly...?” “By smell!” “By...smell...” “Right! That pile smells all musty, and that one is fresh, and that one kinda smells like water damage, no idea what happened there. And so on! Oh, should I put sticky notes to label them? I should have thought of that earlier, hold on and I’ll do it now-” “No, Aspen, that’s uh- that’s all right, you don’t need to worry about it!” Donut Steel gestured frantically to Aspen Ray, barely fighting a sigh of relief when he paused halfway to the supply closet. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about some reports we’ve been getting.” Aspen gasped, wheeling back to Donut so fast he nearly crashed into a ficus. “Is it a crime? Do we get to do a mission? Can I come? I love crimes! I mean, investigating them! That’s what I meant!” Donut took a seat at his desk, nudging aside the...sorted...papers. “One, please try to never say that in public. Please. Two...yes. They said three more creatures came in last shift with something stolen. And not a lot in common between them. All the spoons from the Creamery, a weatherpony’s journal, an older yak gentleman’s suit. And that’s just today.” “I see where this is going!” Aspen Ray took the other seat across the desk, shifting in excitement. “We’re gonna catch the perp together! You and me, like a team! When are we starting? Where are we starting? Do I need to bring anything?” “Slow down just a little, there. We’re just going to go around and ask around if anypony has seen anything for now, and talk to the victims. I’d like for you to take some notes for me as we go.“ Aspen Ray didn’t respond right away. He didn’t for long enough that Donut started really wondering if he should say something, because Aspen and quiet did not normally go together. Then, the Kirin beamed. “A real mission...” He leapt back out of his chair, dancing his hooves joyously. “I can’t believe it! I’ve been waiting for this day all my life! Sir, thank you so much, I’m going to be the best note-taker-person-thing you could ever have, I promise you! I’ll go wait outside!” And just like that, he was out the door and down the halls, before Donut could even get a word in edgewise. Donut Steel let himself sigh this time. Figures. And he was looking forward to that lunch, too... He found the sandwich on the shelf by his desk and took it to the reception area. “I’m breaking to eat,“ he told the receptionist. “Kindly tell Aspen if he comes back in and asks. Tell him he’s doing good work and to watch for anything suspicious while I finish.” And who knows? Maybe the kid would see something.

I liked the movie a lot in concept but it felt a bit rushed. I think they got too ambitious and tried to fit too much into the runtime, so they couldn’t really explore everything they wanted. I still mostly like it, but it did have flaws. Tempest was great though, I really came to like her, and that Villain Song was killer! Same! Still working on character full character apps, but I have general ideas for several OCs I’d love to explore! We could always jump into a FFA to start out with and test our characters if you’d be down to plan something via PM!

I feel better knowing I’m not the only one still learning, that’s for sure! Now if I can just narrow down all my OC ideas into one to start out with, hah. So many ideas, so little time! It’s a load of fun looking at other people’s apps and seeing what they come up with, though, and is giving me a pretty good idea of how the process works and which of my OCs might be the best fits to play with. For the animation itself, a lot of it is just very fluid and nice to look at, and the movie especially blows it out of the water in terms of visuals. They had a much bigger budget than they did for the series, and anyone can see they sure put it to use! Sure, there are plenty of animation errors too, but hey, how can I complain too much when those same errors gave us Derpy and a number of other fun background pony characterizations? But even past just the visuals, the show has a ton of charm to it. Like I said, previous pony series were mainly just toy advertisements, and the narrative and characterization came second. FiM shows you can embrace being a fun, girly show about pastel ponies while still telling interesting stories and endearing you to its characters. I greatly prefer that to many other reboots/revivals that take Girl Show Ghetto series and take them to the opposite extreme of being as dark and edgy as possible! Lookin’ at you, Netflix - middle grounds DO exist, you know!

Thanks so much for the welcome and advice! From what I’ve seen, everyone here seems really nice so far. So it sounds like my main focuses should be figuring out all the categories, getting a character ready, and then looking at the available RPs! Honestly, doesn’t seem as complicated as I first thought it would be. I’m really looking forward to it!

About Myself: Me? Just an old woman trying to get through her last semester of college, honestly. I’m into a bunch of different fandoms, from MLP to Vivziepop’s stuff, Infinity Train to Ace Attorney, Pokemon to...well, the list could go on a while. I’m super new to roleplaying as a whole, but I have been writing fanfics and such for ages, and really, what is a roleplay but a communal fanfic? At least, that’s what I tell myself to convince myself I can do it, heh. I adore lore, fan theories, and unnecessarily analyzing the heck out of out any series I get into. I have so many headcanons. They won’t stop. Send help please. How I found Canterlot.com: Not much of a story here, I’m afraid! I just Googled “MLP roleplay” as one of the fandoms I was willing to try roleplay with, and this was one of the Google resuts! I looked at most of the first couple pages, but unfortunately, many of the results were either not quite my cup of tea or near totally inactive. Seeing all those abandoned forums is honestly really sad, but I’m glad I could find this one to give things a try! How I became a fan of MLP:FiM: I watched the series from the moment it started airing! I was a fan of MLP Gen III as a little girl, so between that and being a big animation fan in general, it was only natural I check out the new iteration of the franchise! And honestly, I was so pleased with what I saw. I loved the direction FiM went in its attempts to be more than just a low effort toy ad, and a good narrative experience in its own right instead. I think it definitely succeeded and earned the fanbase it amassed. Really, there’s just a lot of modern animation that’s blowing me away at every turn! My favorite main cast/pony: Oh no, I really have to choose, don’t I? Of the Mane Six....you know what, I’ll go with Fluttershy. I guess I relate to being really withdrawn and a doormat and having to learn to come out of that shell, since I’ve struggled with really severe anxiety. I’m doing a lot better nowadays, but it was a real journey. Even though I wasn’t big on the episode as a whole, I especially love when she pointed out that one epiphany doesn’t automatically change a person, and that it is a process that involves a lot of frustration, time, two steps forward one step back, etc, to really change. Plus, she’s just sweet and has a literal chaos god at her beck and call. Well, sort of. It IS Discord we’re talking about. Still undeniably cool! And here’s the fun part: I’ve read the rules like five times and am still terrified of doing something wrong, lol. Like I said, I’m totally new to RPs, but I’m looking forward to learning and at least giving it a try. Open to any pointers anyone has about how to join RPs, etiquette beyond the usual don’t control other people’s characters and follow rules and such! OC development, finding threads to join, so on and so forth! And uh, quick advance apology for any bizarre typos. Some of my keys are dying on me so I rely on alt codes and one wrong button press and suddenly you’ve put a Venus sign instead of a colon, and no one knows what you were trying to get across!