Apolline Allura

[colour=#A4A4A4]Posted Today, 10:32 AM[/colour]

[colour=#282828]While I've no ill will toward anyone on this site or fandom, I have to question the logic of one who managed to find this trainwreck enjoyable without any kind of lowering of expectations. This plot is easily handed to the audience in the first ten minutes, solved in the duration of a segment of series episode, and screws around in between with a bunch of attempts at laughybits and awkward teen-Twiness.

No. There's no real reason I can feel as though this fit the criteria for anything other than trying to juice the Monster High market. The reasoning for Twilight not being able to go in without her real backup, her real friends is bull. Flash Sentry is bull also. Another entry in the small but consistent pattern of introducing new characters with little to no characterization to get us to remotely care, yet the plot asks us to take them into account as they will surely be important in the future.

I'd rather watch Mysterious Mare Do Well and every Spike and Applejack episode plus Over a Barrel instead of this tripe again. I gave it a chance in hopes of being honestly surprised. I was hoping they'd do the impossible, but Studio B is nothing without Faust nowadays. MMC was already the first sign of that. Thank you for letting me know where season four will be going. Because I really can't do this teenage-humans dog excrement again.[/colour]

Without offering much more of my feelings on the movie than "this was a stupid way to compete with Monster High and the writers probably wanted to do something actually good", I'd say an entire section is a bit much. Know what else is as big, if not bigger than EqG in the fandom? Fallout Equestria.

And there's no subforum for that regardless of the many people on this site affiliated with it. Why do the same for what no one can seem to qualify as a canon/non canon movie?

Totally forgot when I was sposed to go XD

"The crystal...heart?" One of Spotlight's less enlightened moments for sure. Or entirely, honestly, in this case. She wasn't much of a historian; thought knowledge was a respected ideal in Equestria, the pegasus managed to fill her black book and purse with simple charm and command of the Equestrian language altogether.

"It sounds like a jewel, Mia. Perhaps they know how many karats in it and want to buy it for fashionable wear!"

Her words about meeting the princess seemed all too convenient. Who was this pony? Apart of being magically talented and admirably adorned in amazing dress, that was. And an appreciation for theater! That was always good. There were some ponies in this world that could do with a good play every now and then, and Spotlight dared to believe early on that she could entertain every single last one. "But yes, you will be afforded a front row seat with snacks for your assistance." She patted Mia on the shoulder with a grateful smile, "Seriously, I don't think I could have done much better than you, my dear."

"Oooh..." Spotlight whistled as she watched the unicorn levitate her things with practiced expertise, yet reasonable, if minimal difficulty. The bags were very very packed. Still, the carnation coated pony seemed to want to help out, and it seemed she shared her like in taking in the sights and sounds of the city around them. At her question, Spotlight gave her the best beaming smile she could possibly do, posing on her hind legs and turning back to face her partially, she answered.

"I've a show here!I'm Spotlight, stage mare extraordinare." The words were all spoken with her trademark brazen and overconfident tone. After all, the truth was that she was obviously the most talented in her arena. There was nopony who could tell her different even if it was true. "I work with the Traveling Players, a family of sorts, and the group of the best stagehooves to take Equestria. We're a rather big deal, but we've split for a hiatus recently. I decided to move past local shows for a new audience," she waved a hoof out to the extraordinary architecture before her. "And my business is here for a few weeks before I'm off back to Seasaddle Bay."

She blushed at her next thought for the sheer crazy inherent in the idea. "If at all possible, I've got my hooves crossed that maybe the prince or princess are ponies of the arts, and could stop and see a new face in town."

Spotlight's forehooves clopped against one another excitedly at the prospect of such happening before she set herself on all fours again and made to follow her new found friend.

"So, what brings you to the Crystal Kingdom? Have you a name, darling?" she said eagerly.

Ooh. Oh, goodness. Who was this pony?

Spotlight resented the idea of looking a gift horse in the mouth. On occasion, it could lead to horrifying realizations like pieces of leftover alfalfa and spinach in their teeth. But this bright and shiny kind mare over here had her almost doubting the situation. It was as if her worries had vanished into thin air at the first of her feeling overwhelmed. It was almost enough for her to get a little religious about.

The dress she wore was reminiscent of work by one of the greater suitors in Equestria, a dressmaker and a positively radiant unicorn by the name of Rarity. She had met the mare once, in searching for dresses for dear Ghost Writer and Eloquence for their trip to the Grand Galloping Gala. Twas a shame it had to be held off this year in lieu of the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Spotlight, per name, cutie mark and general attitude hated sharing, ahem, the spotlight, or giving it away when she was getting ready to take the stage. At most, she was simply able to hobnob with the usual big time producers, and ship out the remaining copies of her screenplay "Fifty Shades of White". For some reason, her own playwright refused to work on it, or let Spotlight spearhead the project for the Players. Some nonsense about all audiences entertainment, and thinking about the children. Her crew members hiding, burning and generally destroying her other copies didn't help either.

"It is for the good of the troupe, hyena! You must cease and desist!" the half-irate, half-amused zebra, Eloquence had told her.

Ridiculous sentiments. Either way, taken aback by the new arrival, Spotlight spoke her mind, more concerned with not wanting to overwork this beauty out of a fantasy novel.

"Why yes, but madam, are you telling me you've enough power in that horn of yours to help lug these over to The Galium hotel? It's some several blocks away from here!"

A pegasus with a glossy white coat, brushed and maintained beyond recognition from it's normal state (which was almost always unseen), a black and pink tail and mane and ambition to reach the stars above set a hoof against the glass of the train window. The famed spires made entirely of hundreds, possibly thousands of different minerals came into view. Sparkling, glowing and cascading in the glow of the sun, the pegasus pony knew she was in the presence of true beauty.

Spotlight took in her settings with bated breath, her heart increasing in beats of mounting excitement.

The crystal empire was one of the most impressive pieces of pony architecture she had ever seen, and as one of her first solo shows in years, it was a definite treat, she felt. The anticipation the show mare felt for a new audience, a new culture to immerse herself into and new gems to spend unreasonable amounts of money on--oh! The very thought almost made her faint when she stepped off the train!

The imminent issue, she realized with a sinking feeling and an embarrassed smile was that because she was an unknown here, nopony knew her. There was no group of fans she could simply bat her eyelashes at, no strong stallion for whom all she had to do was run a hoof down his chest and kiss on the cheek to get her things moved in a quick and orderly fashion. The performance would be some time in the evening and if she wanted to get ready, she needed to get things settled asap.

Maybe, just maybe, a voice said in her head, half of her wardrobe, which equated to at least a half-dozen bags full of clothes, makeup, toiletries wasn't such a good idea.

"Aaaaaaand that's the last one. Might wanna leave the platform now lady. The ride's over, heh heh." The conductor, a large, black unicorn stallion grunted, having helped her heave her last bag off the train.

"Oh dear..." she murmured to herself, noticing the sheer amount of things she'd have to keep track of now as the metal beast coughed into action and departed the station. Raising a hoof to her face, she cursed her situation. Barely five minutes, the play not even started, yet here the drama was.

Nightmarity not swayed easily by Spike? Yes. Yes yes yes. All my yes. Our heroes can't seem to stop her? Suspenseful. Twilight not pulling a game-winning maneuver yet? Glorious.

Let's keep it moving.

Speaking up again from her seat, Miasma dispensed more of her barely-there wisdom. "Trust issues," she pointed at Gilda.

'

And then she counted each gryphon by name with a talon, "Calm down with all that. You're coming with a flocks' worth just to steal a big shiny rock from some mangy mutts. This is as trusting as trust gets. And if one of you chuckleheads gets outta line-" she rose her voice "-I doubt it'll be long before you end up somewhere you don't wanna. Little public service announcement."

The white-suited gryphon leaned back in her seat and flapped her newspaper back into shape once more.

She twisted once more, dodging a skyscraper's needle and speeding up to Ignition's side. While she hadn't a proper look at her springboarder, Miasma noted with some interest that she was definitely an athletic sort. Did she want to be a wonderbolt maybe? That'd require more training in Cloudsdale and sure as heck as little attention from the police. Ducking the feds wasn't the kind of press those jumpsuit wearing daredevil pseudo-celebrities needed.

At the reply to her insult, Miasma retorted, "I wonder who the cops are chasing then."

The dive was quite sudden, and rough looking for Ignition. Miasma almost winced, midair when she collided with the archway. Maybe prospective wonderbolt was a bit much for her. Fugitive of the law would have to do.

Miasma, making good on her ability to show off, dived, but did a small flip to angle her body sideways, her catlike reflexes telling her to alight the wall with her feet (as much as she could at these insane speeds), and leapt off of the wall into a flip.

The gryphon landed with a fair bit of difficulty, but in her opinion, stuck the landing next to the pegasus.

Allowing the mare to catch her breath, Miasma batted her with her tail. "Maybe the cops want you 'cause you suck at flying." Meant in jest of course, but either Ignition would join in kind or Miasma could just skip straight to the panic of being associated with criminal activity.

Miasma returned to her own seat after the fracas over the employer ended. This merry little crack-team would either make or break the mission ahead, and she wasn't seeing much in the way of good prospects as far as getting in and getting out. No. There'd be scratches and tears and all sorts of issues if none of her fellow feather heads could hold their horses for five minutes.

"Get in, get out. Badabing..." she said, throwing her lion's feet up on the seat ahead of her and flapping open a newspaper. "...badaboom."

Idly, she wondered if they'd be shipping out in smaller groups to avoid suspicion. Miasma could say for sure she wouldn't mind Gilda, and Heidara's head was in the right place too at the very least. The others would have to earn her trust though, or at least, more than the little she'd reserve for any teammate.

"Great Celestia, are you all rookies or something?"

From her spot well out of the way of the others on the train car they had all filled, Miasma stood up and began pacing the aisle turning her head to each gryphon lamenting the anonymity of the mysterious pony who had set up the score. "Money gets promised. Job gets offered. Employer screws us? We walk. Simple as that. Curiosity killed the cub, y'know. We know what we gotta do, so lets do it, eh?"

She turned around at last, having reached the end of the car to face the others. Her gaze moved over to Heidara.

"...when it's over though, lady, I'm gonna find out if this employer of yours has more work. No one doesn't have just one hoof in one pie to hear about a jewel like the one we're hunting."

The being-used-as-a-springboard was kind of a thing, yeah, but as to why Aposemati would join Ignition and turn a solo-wing into a two-bird flock, she could admit to a lapse in judgement there. She took one look behind her and was sure she'd be counted as an accomplice to the mare's evasion of the law. These fellas didn't look to happy with the situation, and she doubted those billy clubs were for hugs or writing citations.

Psh. The coppers would never take her alive!

She cut a hard right by folding her wings and turning her body to crash hard against the bricks, alighting them with her claws first, then her feet, in a sideways leap before twisting into a barrel roll to avoid the railings of the balcony rails surrounding the tight space before opening her wings and shooting up high in the air before diving back down to keep up with Ignition.

"Think fast, Red, I ain't gonna keep this up if you aren't at least smarter than you look!"

Miasma shook her head. What a motley crew she had ended up joining.

If anything, she'd enjoy Gilda's spunk. Smirking at the other gryphoness, Miasma followed her right on into the train without another word. Observing the group would be the most fun she could have had, short of a physical confrontation on this trip.

Maybe it's because it resonated with me during an infuriatingly stressful point during my life last week. Timing is everything, and I was empathizing with Dash to great effect. To see her go that far on her own kind of goes in the opposite of FiM's message, but sometimes, a pony's gotta handle things on their own, ya dig? Friends aren't gonna always be around to help you. We come into this world without 'em and we're gonna leave without 'em. (Doubly so in Alitwi's case. Except not so much since her brother was her best friend?)

Plus, Double Rainboom.

Come. ON GAIS.

One of the better comics in the IDW FiM.

Funny, awesome and on a personal level, relevant.

Plus. Double Rainboom.

Dash's gangsta is not to be tested.

I was satisfied with how the entirety of this arc built itself up. Chrysalis even ran a satisfactory plan in-between, but this issue felt anticlimactic to me. I was expecting some sort of epic duel with Chrysalis and Twilight. Nope. Twi waxes that ass like it's nothing. I was expecting an awesome two-page panel with the elements vs the changeling elites. Nope. Reduced to sounds of getting beat in the background. But eh, Spike and Celestia did their thing elsewhere, so as offscreen as they were, SOMETHING awesome happened here.

I mean seriously. If Twilight's destructive magics were that strong, she would have kicked Chrysalis out of Equestria long before she was even able to be imprisoned. Lemme just siphon more strength from my friends. I don't see why she didn't just do that when it came time to retrieve the elements of harmony either.

Another day at the office for our favorite OP nerdwarmage.

"Be easy, boys and girls."

Miasma could see the tension taking root already. Apparently the height-challenged runt also had a short fuse. What a potent combination. The suit-wearing gryphon noted to keep herself away from that one, lest he be accessory to some horrible accident involving her along the way. Looking in the direction of the gryphon with the stupid looking vest, she replied, "We're getting paid. The employer ain't your momma, Kestrelson. They don't have to come here to give you a hug and a kiss in this business."

She looked over to Gilda, "Y'know, I don't doubt this group is all rookies, but show a little respect miss fearless trick-flyer. I bet I'm half your age and could kick that tail of yours in half of that number."

And on to Heidara. "I got no qualms about this. But is it really as simple as wrangling together a bunch of gryphons to head into these caves to snatch a jewel up and bail? If so, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed." she reached into her sport coat and pulled out the steel baton she had bought as her utility tool just for this adventure. "But only enough that I won't be dissuaded from going. 'Cash rules everything around me' and all that jazz."

They zigzagged through piles of white, kicking and punching at anything in their way so long as it weren't other pegasi. Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash. An unstoppable team. Flying faster than the speed of sound and in sync with one another. The pair exchanged twin grins as the shook the competition and showed everypony how the job was done. Lightning Dust couldn't have been happier. She had a teammate, a rival and a new friend all in one. Sure she was a little goody-four-hooves around the edges, but that didn't make her any less hardcore. This partnership was the best idea she had ever been a part of.

Spitfire's judgement had seemed sound enough. She kicked pretty much everyone's flanks when it came to the academy records. And she had the right idea when it came to the exercises of how best to tackle them. Sure it cost Rainbow Dash a wing, but that was a booboo by Lightning's standards! The turquiose pegasus had endured worse in her own training, being the ardent risk-taker that she was. And what was that look on her face when Lightning had been promoted to lead pony? Yeah it sucked to lose out on some things, but Dash was her equal, sorta! What could possibly drive her and her ace, her flying buddy apart?

Lightning Dust pondered the answer as she soared high above the Cloudsdale Cloudeseum. Not that she had much pondering to do. Dash's friends had kind of been in danger at the time and it didn't help that it was Lightning's fault. She sighed. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't stop thinking about it. The more she couldn't stop thinking about it, the more she began to feel...responsible. For what had happened.

But that wasn't the case! Like Darwing said, the strong survived! The weak...not so much!

[colour=#40e0d0]'Darwing was kind of a jerk though...' [/colour]reflected Lightning as she came down, noticing a speck at the edge of the outer ring. She approached the lemonish pegasus, sizing her up from above.

Just about as toned as hers. She wouldn't have been surprised if they had weighed the same, pound for pound either.

Lightning Dust loved a good challenge. If the pegasus near her was anything like her, she'd take the bait Lightning was about to dish out. She flew up to where she'd be beside her if she dived, and tucked her limbs close. Freefalling was another of her favorite little tactics. Though it wasn't hers, as much as she'd like that, Lightning could do it from almost any height and orient herself to take advantage of the momentum easily enough. Speeding through the air in a straight shot downward was like riding an elevator. Lightning Dust could feel her organs rising in her chest. Getting close, she adjusted herself head down and opened her wings slightly.

In seconds she was next to the yellow mare, winking at her with a smirk before dropping a bit further in altitude.

"Aw come oooooooon!"

Aposemati's annoyed shout echoed throughout the small square as her groceries fell to the ground, the jar of barbecue sauce crashing first, and spilling over everything else she had bought. She prepared to raise a fist and shout angrily before her sharp hearing caught wind of the words uttered by the crimson blur who had knocked her things down.

"Changelings?" said Aposemati, befuddled, "What the-" She turned her head, and all she could register were badges, hats and billy clubs strapped to hooves.

Had she just been made a scapegoat, left to be captured by the police? Were there really changelings afoot? Both of these were irrelevant to her next action, because if she didn't move, she might have to deal with the authorities behind her. So with a hiss, she kicked off the ground herself, following the red pegasus into the air.

Aposemati wasn't the best flier, but she could do a number on a slowpoke, and could beat out most other intermediate-level fliers with a bit of hard work. She flapped her wings hard, and hovered close near her target.

"Yo! What's the big idea?" she yelled to Ignition. "You owe me fifty bits of groceries!"

'Good freakin' job.'

Aposemati had taken it upon herself to fund this trip instead of letting Dyne give her one of those smug once overs she always did before sending her adopted daughter out on one of her little adventures. It was a lot better than giving the great dragoness the satisfaction of knowing she needed her help to set out and do her thing. Which at this moment amounted to little more than joining and initiating featherbrained schemes to get paid.

Such was the life for her though! Aposemati would trade it for nothing. Nothing at all.

A small blue-strapped suitcase was drawn over one shoulder, and her trademark white suit was pressed and clean. This gryphon was here for business. And business...

'All these gryphons. Great freakin' job.' she berated herself once more, resisting a serious urge to press her face in a talon.

...well, business would actually be better in this case without as many heads.

On the brightside, their meetup spot was probably one of the best places that could have been chosen. Aposemati was actually quite fond of Canterlot for it's selection of formal wear and the emphasis it's residents placed on style. Style and affluence. Two things that simply couldn't be topped in her book. Why live like the savage gryphons of legend if it means missing out on the finer things in life?

With this less-annoying tangent in mind, Aposemati smiled as she stepped to meet the gaggle of gryphons. Maybe they'd find something for her to sink her beak into. Maybe it was a large turnout for a reason.

"Can any of you cubs tell me who's running this show?" she mocked playfully. "I'm here to see a gryphon about a treasure."

Aposemati detested much of anything that kept her in one spot. As a gryphon, or rather, as the kind of gryphon she was, Aposemati was very animated. Always on the move, always wanting to see something new. So when terrible weather conditions were forecast for an entire week before she had planned to leave Manehattan and onto her next adventure, she wasn't very happy.

Lightning and thunder consummated their love high above, the aftermath pounding the earth below with a significantly heavy rain. Water and wetness as far as the eye could see, and as a gryphon, she could see it pretty far away. The white-suited gryphon sullenly stalked the streets of Avenue D, coming from the deli, arms laden with bags of food and her head turned sideways to keep the umbrella upright in her beak. To be honest, she wouldn't even have chosen Manehattan as a place to go, despite it playing host to a number of different kinds of folk than just ponies. It was the pursuit of her heritage that had brought her here.

Dyne's leftover mementos from days past suggested she had lived in Manehattan at some point as an adolescent dragon. It was literally one of the few tangents Aposemati had to follow with no other information, and as always, she remained curious about her family. So it was no surprise to her mother then, that she had packed up and flew out a day after finding out from Dyne that maybe her birthplace had something to do with this concrete jungle.

It took her about twenty minutes to get into her apartment, set everything aside and take a small rest before deciding to do something for the rest of her evening that wasn't looking over old magazines or listening to the radio until she fell asleep.

I like this app Dio, it is very good and well rounded, but I only have a few things I would like to suggest to you... (I am no Helpstaffer, so this is not final)

• The Nickname "Guns" or "Gunnery" probably won't fly, due to the lack of any guns in Equestria. (Believe me I have searched!). My suggestion, change the name to "Gallantry" instead.
  

• The "Aquillan Marines" might not work either. As far as I know, it's not approved lore yet. I'd say just put military.
  

• The term "thrill of the hunt" and "takedown" kind of worried me there. Hunting what? Taking what down? This implies violence, at least to me.
  

• This ties into my next suggestion, you say "bow, spear, and blade" as hunting instruments. I know that you and I both know how it went when I tried to give on of my OCs a sword in Mane RP.
  

Okay, that is all I have to say. Remember, this is not final, for I lack the honorary title of helpstaffer.

This is a gryphon.

I feel like that needs saying here because under these circumstances, everything present is necessary. You question the wording when plainly, to the nature of this species even, they are terms that do not imply unnecessary violence, as you say, but their way of life. The nicknames dealing with the word Guns are perfectly fine due to his rank. When someone is a particular rank, even informally, they'd more often than not be addressed by their rank unless someone close to them had first name privileges. Master Chief from Halo for example. Known as the Chief, Demon, 117 etc. But never John.

I don't claim to know or understand your last situation regarding getting a weapon into Mane, but I highly doubt that with the purposes he's stated here, that the "bow, spear and blade" need to be nitpicked at. Mane RP does keep in mind a number of things from the show, but as we've seen, there is a healthy amount of realism that I don't see the reason to sacrifice here.

Regarding the Aquellian Marines, Dio's got plenty of more lore experience and work put in than you, no offence meant. If it's a thing here, I'm sure it'll be a thing somewhere else.

Let's not point the finger and try and fix what ain't broken, shall we?

The time is close. I have to wonder if this truly will work.

At what point in her dream she had decided to rehearse Moby Dick sans Writer, Pierrot, Tap or Brace, she knew not. But plainly, undoubtedly, she had to entertain the idea that things weren't as imaginary as she had wanted earlier. It had something to do with coming to the life in the middle of spluttering and coughing and gurgling through water rushing into her lungs via her mouth and snout. Pained cries were shouted and turned into infuriated screams of anger as she clawed at the night air with her hooves, which had not been kind to her coat, given the temperature of the fountain water.

Spotlight's ears perked up, catching the rhyme patterns and playful mocking of Eloquence. Tilting her gaze upwards to the source of noise in the question, she only felt herself become even more frustrated when watching the rump teasing her over the stone railing.

Wading out of the water, she glared through slightly red and definitely somewhat glassy eyes in Eloquence's direction. Spotlight wiggled, shaking the water from her fur and feathers until she was sure she could sustain a few seconds of flight at least. She jumped and flapped once, twice, and then threw herself onto the Zebra, keeping her forehooves still and straddling her midsection. "WHAT. And answer carefully." she growled.