Conor Colton

With his back firmly pressed against the somewhat comforting bark of a nearby tree, Sterling felt he only had one real choice in this situation. If his extended hoof could be described as anything it would likely have been compared to a large wooden plank, seemingly too long to even keep upright with just one hoof supporting it. Regardless he rigidly and briefly shook this creatures paw; that last thought sending more unpleasant thoughts into his mind than it had any right to. He would have gulped again if he wasn't practically breathless. Also what the heck does a mid-pleasure even mean?! He was very, very confused right now.

"No no...pl-pleasure's all mine, Errare..."...the name didn't exactly roll off his tongue with gaiety.

He felt he couldn't avoid the obvious any more, and was oddly compelled by the creature's seemingly sweet smile, "...Why...why did you uh...freak me out?...And...why are you...here, standing, in a park...with me?" he said somewhat frantically, picking his words wisely.

The white pegasus stallion couldn't help but chuckle in response to Sage's self-realization of her own ramblings, and somehow little bits of personality amidst the conversation made this seemingly boring task all the more eventful. Her talk of older stallions gave him pause. Colton was still young by adult pony standards but this dry spell of adventuring lasted for much longer than it should have, yet oddly enough it didn't feel like it. Compared to past escapades and crusades he and his avian companion went on, the time in which they were out of commission seemed to fly by a lot quicker; which was strange considering this absence from excitement lasted longer than any one of their jobs that had come before. It made him wonder about an every-ticking clock of sorts, hovering around him and driving him forward constantly, a fixed reminder that would occasionally prompt him to pursue seemingly random acts of adventure, and he even had the small cuckoo bird, or at least an equivalent by his side in the form of Sparks.

"Funny thing is, one of these days I may end up becoming one of those older stallions that like to talk. I'm pretty much halfway there on that description already, just need the factor of old age to kick in one of these days." he chuckled somewhat remorsefully but without a hint of sorrow at all, "Makes me feel like a bother already, that I'd be going into fine establishments like yours and badgering the ear off some poor young mare." he shrugged with a sincere smile in Sage's direction. Before he could continue to ramble and contradict himself by doing so Sparks gave him an almost playful tap across the ear with his minuscule wing. Colton turned and tilted his head quizzically, being met with a straight point of Sparks' wing towards a the book, as if it were some form of stick or presentational equipment. The stallion leaned down towards the book, looking all the more confused, "...Sparks there's nothing here." he commented.

With a seemingly large amount of distaste for his master's negligence, the young sparrow swooped down and began to lift the pages; backwards. Colton felt the need to interject, "Aw c'mon buddy we just went through all of those pa-" he was promptly silenced as Sparks raised a wing, as if to say 'Give me a second'. Said second passed and the tiny bird clamped a claw down on a certain page, pointed at a rather familiar symbol, "-...Oh." Colton remarked in a rather embarrassed fashion. It was at this point he wondered how he could have missed it. Did he just lose himself in his thoughts? Has he ever been so careless before? Did Sage notice? There was an air of professionalism wanted to keep up but, it would be safe to say he didn't want to be seen as a fool for the sake of not being seen as one. He locked his eyes back and forth between the mare and the bird, the bird and the mare, before finally clearing his throat and pointing, "Nice find little guy."

The seal was there alright, clear as day, and the family name, inscribed in rough early Equestrian was written below. He attempted to translate:

"...Family of...many mysterious herbs..." he facehooved. Sparks quickly reassured him, pointing to a bit more information. Colton read again, "Ever....Free..." he blinked a few times then turned to Sage.

Colton nodded, partly in acknowledgement and partly in appreciation. A niggling worry shot through his mind that Sages excuse to go out on an adventure would result in her being way too in over her head, but he put such worries aside given he didn't even know the full extent of what danger may lie ahead, and he had confidence in his ability to be somewhat of a bodyguard...he hoped anyway. Regardless he found his companion's determination and apparent wanderlust endearing, and reminded him of himself when he first discovered his passion to explore the unknown; maybe that's why he liked the idea of helping Sage out, aside from himself wanting to get back into his comfort zone, which was arguably the most dangerous zone. Go figure.

The monotony of sorting through books continued as the stallion formulated a response to the mares answer, "I hear you there, Sage. Back before I even started exploring Equestria I had some issues with being cooped up all the time. I won't go into too much detail in case it comes off as boring but I got raised with ponies that weren't really...fly-ey." he stated, flapping his own wings slightly for emphasis, "What I mean is, I was the only pegasus in the family, and they had these little 'height restrictions'. Celestia knows they cared about me but it was soo frustrating having wings and hardly being able to do anything with them...but once I got out there, out on my own, things changed. First thing I did when I really felt a sense of freedom, I shot up above the clouds, not a care in the world...and my oh my...was it scary. But, a good kind of scary..." he smiled to himself, Sparks flapping his little wings gleefully. The stallion almost forgot they had company when he caught himself before his next sentence.

"Eh, sorry, I sort've rambled a bit there. If nothing else, we at least have some insight on each other right?" the pegasus smiled over at Sage, still idly turning pages in the books upon books upon books.

"Hm, shouldn't be far off now, a lot of these seals are staring to look familiar. Stuff you'd find in the same area like forts or different plants, I think we're almost there."

Sterling breathed a sigh of relief as he heard a rather comforting voice, slumping his shoulders slightly forwards in an attempt at relaxation, his ears flattening to his head. Then he realised the more sinister implications of a random mysterious voice behind him. His ears perked up without hesitation as his eyes widened and he slowly turned his head, catching a glimpse of the towering female figure to his left. The stallion recoiled backwards, backing up against a tree with a fearful expression of timidity, hardly being able to believe what he was seeing.

At this point Sterling wondered if he had just gone mad, he questioned whether or not such a creature could even exist, and wondered what in the hay it was doing right here! In front of him! The rather sinister looking grin from the figure didn't help matters much either, causing the guard to back up even more against this improvised protection of bark and leaves. He had never considered himself to be a cowardly stallion, but...this was truly something else. His shaky breathing began to calm, lifting a hoof to wipe some sweat from his brow he stuttered out a feeble greeting.

"Uh...um...hello...there. I don't think...I'm mad but....what I'm seeing right now gives me...reason to the c-contrary...who're you...?"

Sterling could see that little Shady was looking to get straight to the point here, no wishy washy or manipulative questions, which was by all accounts very good in his opinion. Given how inexperienced the stallion was in his profession Sterling merely remembered the short time he had been a guard and recounted details from that. He could see that Shady was equally as excited as he was to get this interview going so he thought he may as well try and spice this up a bit for the foal. As they walked Sterling began to answer.

"Well, it's certainly no cake-walk let me tell you that. From the very moment I got accepted in a lot of stuff in my life changed. I applied when I lived here in Ponyville and as soon as that letter came through the door I was straight out of the same door..." he lamented with a slight chuckle,

"It was kinda tough making the transition from small town to big city life but honestly, being a Royal Guard's great. It's hard work but it's satisfying hard work. For some ponies it could get boring at times but I try to always keep in mind that I'm doing a vital service to Equestria, and even though I'm not what you would call a high-ranking-officer I'm more than happy to do my part." the stallion smiled down at the little reporter.

"As for what the job actually entails, well for the most part I'm on patrol through the city for a lot of the day. The guards as a whole do a great job of keeping crime down so we rarely run into trouble, and even if we do it's usually not that bad. But let me tell you something, Shady. You can get all the medals, all the official commendations in Equestria, and those are nice to have but...well, to me anyway it's way more satisfying just seeing the faces of grateful ponies in Canterlot, knowing you've done a good job. So, I guess in conclusion, it's a really rewarding job, it's certainly a hard one but, well worth it." he smiled once more, realizing just how much he spewed out.

"Sorry if I rambled a bit there, was that alright?" he asked, rubbing a hoof to the back of his own head nervously.

Colton continued his desperate struggling, hardly even aware of Sage getting right up in his vicinity. The ear she whispered into perked up almost instantly as the stallion's eyes widened and he took in the seemingly condescending information. He would have chuckled if it wasn't a comment directed at his own ineptitude, and he could only formulate a somewhat basic response, "Uh...y-yeah...passed by it....I knew that...totally. Just, being thorough..." he stated with a small cough and a slight blush, easily noticeable on his pure white face.

He hovered away from the shelf, practically hearing Sparks chirping with laughter at his master's vague attempt to recover his dignity where just out of reach. But, he couldn't help but chuckle admittedly as he sat down next to Sage and had a quick look over all the books, "Wow uh...that is quite a lot..." he gulped. After today the pegasus didn't want to see a single book, tome, novel, novella, anything! For quite a while. Regardless he began to explore the books with Sage, keeping the recipe close at hoof to compare every now and then. As they sorted through page after page, similar crest after similar crest, the fatigue of research began to set in on our pegasus; but he pressed on. In an attempt to get close to his client; or keep himself from going nuts, either or, he decided to start up some small talk, which'd hopefully lead to some more conversation along with information.

"So Sage, hope you don't mind me asking but what was it specifically that made you want to come out on this whole adventure. I mean, I know you're not stupid, we have no clue where any of these crests could lead us. It could bring us somewhere in Canterlot, Ponyville or all the way to the Crystal Empire for all we know! I don't doubt you're committed but...I just have to wonder; things seemed pretty sweet for you in that restaurant...what compelled you to do this undertaking with basically a total stranger? Stop me if I'm wrong but you reckon it'd just be a nice change of pace, or a great bit of fun heading out there, seeing the world?" he posed the question, hoping it wasn't too strong of a statement to start with. After he finished he began thinking more and more on the journey as a whole. Just where would this crest lead them...

Colton had the question the value of an herb, and just what measures somepony...anypony would take to protect it, and whether or not things would become dangerous. He hoped for Sage's sake that wasn't the case but...oddly enough, he saw something similar to himself in her; an adventurer's spirit, which could be possibly why he asked such a question in the first place.

Sterling sighed contently from his relaxed position, thinking nothing could ruin his day at this point. Once again, he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time...but this didn't necessarily mean it was always going to yield pleasant or indeed, normal results for him. The stallion felt the wind pick up, and his nostrils flared slightly at the peculiar smell of oranges. He sat up, wondering if some citrus fruit had simply fallen from a tree and conked him on the head, but that seemingly wasn't the case. The scent got stronger and stronger, prompting him to cover his muzzle with a hoof and displaying a rather irritated facial expression.

When the sun began to fade out, Sterling started to feel a vague form of tension. He had no clue why, he had managed through worse storms than this, but yet it felt different than any freak weather occurrence, and it made him a tad nervous. The sound of the wind picking up speed and smashing around the flora causing him to bunch up rather tightly, keeping his hooves close to himself as he felt the very ground beneath him vibrate and shake, "Okaay, seriously getting creepy now!" he exclaimed, feeling a temptation to simply high tail it out of there.

However as soon as the odd weather came, it vanished, like it was literally dropped and crashed against the floor. Sterling, wondering what in the hay just happened stood up cautiously. He wasn't a very superstitious pony, nor did he believe that elements of the supernatural would ever seemingly invade his life...regardless he began pacing back to a hopefully less hectic spot of the park.

"Okay...that was way too weird...have I gone mad or something?" he wondered as he walked.

Sterling was still processing all of this in his mind. He put all the information he had forward in his mind. He had travelled all the way from Canterlot on his day off...to be interviewed...by a foal. The stallion honestly didn't know whether to be incredibly humbled or incredibly flabbergasted. Regardless, he kept a demeanour of professionalism in his mannerisms for now, but couldn't help but be amused by the little Shady's actions; feeling he had some form of infamy he had never even considered. Maybe it was just the job. He smiled lightly with Shady and nodded in response to his statement.

He would have responded right away if it wasn't for another blinding flash of light directly in his face, causing Sterling to rub his eyes in a semi-irritated manner, shaking his head shortly thereafter and waving a hoof passively as if to dismiss the need for an apology on Shady's part, "No no, it's fine really Shady. Just, well, give a little bit of a warning next time is all..." he replied with a slightly embarrassed chuckle, perceiving Shady as quite the bashful kid, or at the very least excitable. The stallion regained his posture to answer once again to his apparent interviewer.

"I'm sure there'd be no problem with asking a few questions, Shady, I'm perfectly fine to do that if you had some in mind." he nodded confidently as he began to look around, partly to clear his eyes of the previous flash and to also observe their surroundings in greater detail. He then began to think on how Shady would have seen him; which was clearly from a position of admiration. Not that Sterling had a problem with that but for all intents and purposes he wasn't the most experienced guard Shady could have picked. Regardless, he felt he had a responsibility to do this, even if it was for the sake of not upsetting a foal who met somepony they seemingly looked up to.

"So then, did you have a place in mind to ask these questions or would you just like to walk and talk? Been a while since I've been back home so it'd be nice to get some of my bearings back y'know?" he inquired with a small smile as he began to walk towards his previous destination, hoping for Shady to follow, "Anything in particular you wanted to ask?" Sterling posed the question, wondering if any of the sudden photos were what would make it into the press. Part of him hoped...not.

Sterling's gaze was rather fixated on the newspaper in front of him, nopony could deny that it was a good read, regardless of the evident scandal and gossip that filled a lot of it's pages, even if the stallion had to look really hard to see it. What happened next though he couldn't have even predicted. A sudden, blinding almost heavenly light came across his eyes, causing him to flinch lightly and shut his eyes quickly; the term 'almost heavenly' coming from the fact it could just as easily be accompanied by a chorus of angels as it would be by blindness. Regardless, in his flinching his dropped the newspaper, presumably sending it a good few feet away, and managed to pick up a nearby voice.

The stallion would have been quick to be mad at said voice if it wasn't a name he was wanting to hear. He deduced that it simply must have been a camera, and embarrassing photographs aside Sterling was eager to meet this pony. His vision was still blurred as he extended a hoof out directly in front of himself, "Hello there Shady Daze, it's nice to meet you too!" he stated cheerily, but wondered why his hoof wasn't getting shook...then his vision started to clear, and he began to think...

"Why would a professional randomly take a picture of you?...And why was his voice soo...squeaky? I mean, not to judge but....but..." his thoughts continued as he realized the squeaky voice was coming from lower down, and his vision started to come back to him; turning his head down he saw Shady finally, with a huge smile on his face. This was the point when Sterling was unsure how to act, he honestly had no expected this but...well, he did come all the way out here...and with a small motion of his hoof downwards he reached it down to Shady's level, shaking the young foal's hoof happily.

"So, you're Shady Daze then? You wanted to get an interview with me...?" he asked, still rather dumbfounded by the situation as a whole.

I haven't played Saints Row 4 yet, so I won't be saying much about that 'cause I have no right to, but I did play The Third and that sort of started this fall from grace I saw in Saints Row games, in my honest opinion.

I have no doubt that Saints Row 4 is a fun experience, intent on being silly for the sake of being silly but if it was just a random new IP I'd respect it a lot more, mostly for the fact of where this all came from. Saints Row 2, in my opinion was the high point of the series, in terms of story, character and general 'game feel' to use a rather overused term. I think it surpassed GTA 4 in a sense, because it's storyline and drama actually added to the potential carnage the player could cause, as opposed to just being the polar opposite from it. The Boss and people like Johnny Gat in Saints Row 2 were psychos, no question, with very little regard for human life. But at the same time I found myself caring and even sympathising with people like Johnny at times, because (If you know the storyline of the game you can see what I'm talking about) he experienced tragedy at one point and doesn't just simply shrug it off, which results in one of the most dramatic and awesome villain deaths in the Ronin mission cycle.

But, I digress, and I could go on about Saints Row 2 all the day. The important thing I'm getting at is that Saints Row has gone through an identity crisis in my opinion. It gives you superpowers and aliens, and still keeps features like car customization it. It has 'dudebro' attitudes towards characters who once had legitimate personalities that you got invested with. But most of all it just gave a flaming kick to the kerb to all the mechanics that made Saints Row 2 soo great. Steelport is uninspired compared to Stillwater, Zinyak is a funny villian but nowhere near as memorable as Maero or The General and Mister Sunshine, and it just doesn't do it for me anymore, I'm sorry.

Games may not have to always push that they're 'art', 'cause nobody would take the claim seriously due to it's vagueness of a term. But all games are a visual interactive experience, and they work best when everything in a game compliments each other, not contradicts them, and I think that what seems to be happening with Saints Row. sadly. Again, all just my opinion.

...

Okay on a less serious note, Troy Baker's an amazing voice actor

Heyya SeptemberRarity

Welcome to Canterlot! I'm Conor Colton, nice to meet you

Hoping you have the best of times here, and as for that RPing thing, feel free to send myself or any of the RPHelpstaff here a quick PM and we'd be happy to explain stuff to you!

Now that formalities are out of the way, hope you have an awesome experience here at Canterlot

Sterling cantered through the park happily with an inquisitive grin on his face. He could have sworn he had been through this park many, many times on his way to work, but never once did he stop to appreciate the surroundings, and today seemed like a perfect day to do so. Loads of flowers were in season, the weather was amazing, the wind was calm and cooling, and the entire environment just seemed inciting and compelling to the stallion; he would have sooner jumped face-first onto the freshly cut grass and rolled around like a pleased foal if he wasn't so sure he wouldn't get odd looks from everypony. Regardless, Sterling prided himself at being at the right place at the right time a lot of the time but this seemed too good to be true.

Despite this though, the day felt oddly strange, almost mystical. It was a feeling the stallion never really felt before but he chalked it up to simply trying new things, and he liked that idea. He casually observed the wandering wildlife as he strayed from the paved path into a more flora focused area of the park. He smiled almost childishly as he saw several squirrels scurry across the ground followed by small birds just above the stallion's head. It was a simple image but one that pleased him none the less.

Sterling was feeling adventurous, that much could not be debated, however he didn't mind stopping for a moment and just taking in the scenery. He opted to find a nice, relatively out of the way spot in this hilly, tree covered area and sat himself down with a comforting 'thump' noise, followed shortly by a content sigh from the guard pony's mouth as he further observed the vista in front of him. The park was beautiful, almost like a meadow, but above the tall trees you could see the ivory towers of Canterlot contrasting against the green grass and bushy trees, it was truly a sight to behold. He relaxed back, with another content sigh and lay in wait, intending to seek an adventure later; but for now? He simply waited to see if any adventure would come to him, if not, he'd still be pretty relaxed.

"Ponyville...it's been a loooong time..." Sterling Silver said idly to himself as he felt his hooves cross the threshold between the countryside and this charming little hamlet he once used to call home. It seemingly hadn't changed that much, and he hadn't heard of much news from here other than a few odd instances here and there, but he never got to see them with his own eyes so it didn't phase him that much. Despite his past in this town Sterling wasn't here to primarily visit family, though that was going to be a part of his visit. No he was here, per request! By a newspaper no less! For an interview on his job! It felt odd that he would be picked for this seemingly at random but, maybe some old friends put in a good word for him or something, or maybe he was just excelling in his work and was gaining trust among the ranks...or so he would have hoped. Regardless, he passed into the scenic little village, looking around and admiring the still beautiful architecture.

"Ahh, never gets old." he chuckled lightly whilst blowing a loose bit of mane from in front of his nostalgic expression. Sterling wasn't sporting what he'd usually wear, his guard armour, his grey coat and lucky coin cutie mark exposed to the world, and it felt strangely liberating to be walking around his home town without any job convictions, given this was a day off for him. It felt nostalgic beyond belief, and it really did take him back.

But nostalgia and reminiscing had to wait, Sterling had an interview to get to! Now...if he could only just find it...

It wasn't like the stallion didn't know the lay of the land, in fact he could name every street even after taking a swift blow to the head, but this was the first time he had ever heard of a newspaper in Ponyville which was surprising to say the least. He had received a card upon his invitation, with a few details on it as to where he'd find this journalist. Without further delay he reaches into his pack of basic essentials and levitated the piece of card in front of him, reading aloud, "Shady Daze, Foal Free Press, Ponyville...What the hay's the Foal Free Press?" he asked himself quietly, as he had done many other times before after receiving this card. With a small shrug he returned the business card to his pack and pondered his next move. As he did he passed by store front after store front after store front, and not a single one giving any clues, however he did manage to find a copy of said newspaper in a nearby store, buying it simply for any form of address, since the card seemed to be lacking in such information, Sterling wondered if a foal had written it but that was just idle and sceptical pessimism.

With a copy of the Foal Free Press in hoof he set off back into town, taking note of the time being early afternoon and following whatever information he could find out of the paper in front of him. He hoped he would find this pony soon, or this pony would find him, either or.

"...Am I going to be in a gossip rag?" the stallion muttered with an inquisitive expression as he read further into the paper.

Days off from work are usually very strange for a Canterlot guard. Most of them seemingly don't know what to do with their time when they're not on duty, and one young cadet, Sterling Silver was no exception; in fact in many ways his case was arguably more aggravating. The inexperienced law-bringer had been only in Canterlot for a short time, a few months at best and was largely devoted to the work he would do in the streets of the grand central city. It made sense to him that he would acquire various friends and or social connections through his work, and that certainly was the case...but sadly his friends were all still on duty which left him very little to do in this occasional absence from his golden armour.

So here we find Sterling in his Canterlot residence, which was nothing really special but at the same time nothing overly bad either, it was a humble abode all things considered. But that didn't stop Sterling from feeling like a trapped rat in his own home. Back and forth he paced in his living room, wondering what he would do with his day. Sterling was rather stubborn in the regard that he had to try and keep himself productive, or he would quickly become irked at small things, as well as himself. Usually his job would help satisfy this need for productivity but, well that wouldn't be the case today.

"Something to do...something to do...." he constantly repeated to himself as he trotted back and forth like a literal train of thought that wasn't going anywhere. He veered from his previously tread hoofsteps and went over to a nearby window, which gave a lovely view out onto the Canterlot marketplace. The stallion continued to think as he observed the outside, wondering just how much of the city he had ever seen; and by extension of his wandering mind, how much of the world he had seen. That's when an idea hit him. The guard's expression became more hopeful as his ears perked up and wiggled slightly at his revelation.

"I'm missing a golden opportunity here! The most beautiful city in Equestria is out there ready to be explored and I'm just sitting here stewing like a vegetable in my own boredom! Well, not this day off!" he stated confidently as he grabbed his coat, slinging it over his back with his mouth and setting out to enjoy his day off, "This day off's gonna be a special one!" he smiled to himself as he made his way to his first destination, the Canterlot Park, ready for anything the city could throw at him...what the rest of the universe could throw at him? Well, that was yet to be seen...

Mane, Autumn, I don't even know how my thanks for everything you've done to help this site keep going could be put into words without sounding overly sappy.

So, I'll settle for a simple but heartfelt thank you, loves ya both for all the great stuff you've done

As for the new people stepping up to run the site, I know you'll do a fantastic job. Congrats to Dio and Rose for their promotions and congrats and I wish them and anybody helping out and keeping the site up the best of luck and all my wishes, you can have ALL of them 'cause you deserve 'em!

Before I go off on a tangent I'll say, I'm excited for this change. No clue what's going happen but I'm excited to find out. Best of luck everybody!

For any lovers of cute things, here's something that'll make your day.

In the bushland of Southern and Eastern Africa lives a breed of antelope called a Dik-dik. They're basically a sort of miniature antelope, how miniature? Well, here's a bit of size comparison for you.

Dunno why this random thought came into my head But I hope it got a d'aww out of some of you and brightened up your day somewhat

If not....maybe this'll do it!

(Must thank Quicklime for bringing knowledge of this cute thing to me )

Sterling raised an eyebrow when Radiant looked off into blank space, but quickly withdrew the inquisitive expression before he got corrected for it. By all accounts his outside appearance and form made it seem like he knew what he was doing, and subsequently what was going on, but internally that couldn't have been further from the truth; currently Sterling had no clue what he was in for, and he began to wonder if Radiant even knew either. Regardless, he kept his demeanour of professionalism up as he started following Radiant in her march.

Given their previous encounter, Sterling felt that the tension that was between the two of them only grew with this sudden inspection, and he had to really question just what the higher ups were thinking. Much like the mare leading him, the stallion wondered if this was a test for both of them, and if not then at least him...if that was the case, he certainly didn't want to disappoint. As they marched however, Sterling felt a need to ask what was going on more and more, wondering if the two of them could actually relate in some way, that way being a mutual confusion as to what was going on.

"[colour=#8b4513]Um, excuse me, Radiant, ma'am, may I ask what this inspection is for? And, what will I be tested on?[/colour]" Sterling asked with a small regret in his mind. He didn't want to speak out of turn or anything but he didn't want to be kept in the dark either. Even if Radiant didn't know either, she could just go with her instincts and experience and pull something off; he hoped anyway.

The white coated pegasus continued to catalogue through any shelf he could, taking care when passing by ponies who were using the library for arguably more useful purposes. Regardless, his hunt continued, and sadly hadn't turned up much yet. He stopped for a moment to look around, flying upwards to see just how many shelves and categories he had yet to sort through. Almost as far as the eye could see there were thousands of books upon books, stretching the entire length of the spacious building. He promptly sighed with discontent, "[colour=#40e0d0]Sweet Celestia...[/colour]" he commented frustratedly whilst flapping idly above the floor.

Back at the reception desk, a seemingly less than interested receptionist turned to face Sage and respond to her question. The receptionist's expression was rather dull at first but seemingly perked up as she turned to answer Sage's question, almost like this was routine for her. With questionable enthusiasm the mare responded, "[colour=#ffa500]Hello! Welcome to our wondrous library! We're here to meet all your educational needs, rain or shine! Now, ancient Equestrian settlements you say? Hmm, one moment please.[/colour]". With seemingly great vigour the receptionist sorted through file after file after file at an almost alarmingly fast pace, stopping on one with a smile and looking at it's contents, "Hmmm...I believe what you're looking for is under 'E', for Early Equestria. You should find what you need there Miss. I'm happy I could be of service, have a pleasant day now!" the receptionist finished as she got back to her duties.

Meanwhile a less than successful effort was being had by Colton, "[colour=#40e0d0]Soo many books...just soo many books...when did adventuring suddenly require paperwork?[/colour]" he sighed with a small slump in his posture.

Indeed it is, PyroBlaze!

There are just a few more details that need to be worked on before she's approval ready though!

The main issue is mostly her willingness to meet and befriend other ponies in her backstory and in the present. I can understand her not doing very well in school however I'd advise using this to her advantage to become more social, since WoE is above all else a social roleplay

She seems good other than these small antisocial elements. Don't get me wrong she can be a shy pony but it shouldn't impact her to the point where she isn't very social at all, and it seems to contradict the fact she owns a store of her own, which would give her plenty of opportunities to be social with her clients and potentially make new friends. So basically the few tweaks that need to be made would be concerned with her being more social and accepting of new ponies as a whole, rather than her being angsty or shy.

Hope this helps

Very good improvements thus far, PyroBlaze

All I can really comment on now would be her willingness to make new friends. She can obviously keep the shy attitude however it wouldn't hurt to put in a sentance or two explaining how she'd be willing to make more friends, and maybe get over said shyness. Or anything that would encourage her to be more social and friendly.

Apart from that, everything else is looking good!

No problem, BroadwayPony

Just let us know when you want some input again

Hey PyroBlaze! I'll be looking over your app here today and giving some input on how Flora here could be improved

The first thing I want to address is her residence and occupation. The issue with her being a traveler sort of contradicts her having a stable home in a cabin as you've said, and the idea of her living in some cabin doesn't seem to lend her character to be very social. As you no doubt know WoE RP is more so a slice of life type of RP if anything, and having a pony who lives presumably on their own and only occasionally is paid for gardening doesn't lend them to be a very social character. This could easily be fixed by her having a proper residence in a nearby town and interacting with ponies and clients more frequently, whilst still working on her own practices with plants and the like.

I feel her cutie mark story and interests in gardening could also be expanded upon. The cutie mark story you've given seems a bit uneventful in terms of what a cutie mark is supposed to mean, what with her just simply tidying up a stranger's garden. My advice would be to make that story jump out in someway, have her do something relating to gardening that only she could do, something extravagant and special that's unique to her, without going over the top of course

A way this could be done could be as easy as her looking for her own style in what she does, and not being constrained to a certain way or style of gardening or use of plants like her parents have been, so I encourage you to really go and be creative with this occupation and interest and find something special for her to do, an angle for her that ultimately works in the WoE RP. The options to that may seem limited but with some thinking and creativity who knows what could be done!

Either way, that's all I have to say currently, hope my input was of use to you, and if you have any questions to ask simply PM me and I'd be happy to talk, and if any changes are made please let us know in this thread. I look forward to seeing how Flora works out

From the ones you have currently watched, what is your favorite episode of Hustle?

(Anybody who's not heard of 'Hustle' I urge you to look it up, brilliant show!)

Didn't see anything wrong with it, Alar!

It's been sent out for approval and should be all sorted out shortly

Hey again, ERROR57noname, thanks for making some changes on Swift here, it really helps

Now that he's in FFA we have a lot more room to work with in terms of supernatural abilities, but before we deal with that there's a few smaller things I think could be improved on, so once again, please bear with me

I'd like to discuss his parents for a start. I'd like to suggest that something different be done with them other than them simply dying so Swift can realize his powers, because that just makes them seem unnecessary and not really adding much in terms of influence to him (Plus the 'dead parents' trope is often pretty overused and I'd think it'd be to stray away from that cliche)

As for these powers and this skill set he has, I think some changes could be made to make it even better. First off I'm not sure the idea of holding spirits in small bottles in a shop in Manehatten would make much sense, even if FFA; and I'd like you to try and think outside the box on this one, asking yourself, "Why would spirits want to be there in the first place?" or, "Would they really want to be stuck in a bottle?". I make these suggestions because I think there's potential for a really good angle here on Swift, if it's handled correctly, so I encourage you to think hard on this one, and think what other possibly cool professions could be applied to talking to spirits, (Like say a Spirit Medium for example) without having them all bottled up as they are

A job where he's interacting with other characters would be very good, considering a profession of talking to the dead doesn't lend Swift to being awfully social, and I hope you can see where I'm coming from with this

If you have any ideas as to how to make his talents fit more into a more believable and approachable profession, or if there's anything else you want to ask/discuss more, let me know