Neoniie

Though the colt's first reaction was to answer with a slightly disappointed 'oh', it was still quite the feat. He was certain, as much as he wished he could, Nighthoof wouldn't have been able to brave the fire in order to save anything, much less anypony. So, it did fairly impress him. That, coupled with her nodded approval of his introduction, gave him the distinct sense that the Noble Flare was definitely somepony whom he was glad to have as an ally, however indirectly, in the realm of heroics. "It sounds like your night has been quite eventful," Neon said, assuming the more adult manner that he often did with Nighthoof. "But, mine has been quiet. A good sign, but it has been quite for a while..." He trailed off, suddenly unsure why he'd brought it up in the first place. "It feels suspicious." The colt hadn't been planning on saying quite that, but it felt right once he had. He had been more disappointed in being unable to wow the populace with his feats, but now that he considered it, the lack of any real acts of villainy, especially in a city as large as Manehatten, was odd. Neon didn't like it one bit, the foreboding that he had unintentionally brought upon himself. Trying to dissuade it, he added, "But I'm sure, with allies such as the Noble Flare, whatever dastardly scheme those evildo have brewing will be no match."

Mirage alternated between sipping her cider and nodding during Lady's explanation. The cider itself was surprisingly good, certainly at least the match of the cider imported from the nearby settlement of Ponyville to Cloudsdale. If there was a saving grace of her time in the desert, it was both the company and the cider. Her tale seemed resonable to the pegasus, who found herself to be more of a homebody by nature due to the influence of her own family. Not that she didn't act contrarily to that nature almost constantly with her penchant for adventure, but she did always find herself enjoying a good time spent at home. At the mention of Las Pegasus, the mare perked up. Her family had visited a few times, as they seemed to prefer the cloudy pegasi cities to any others if they were to do any travel at all. It had been quite the city, much how she'd imagined Manehatten would be, but it was the size that made it a little off-putting. There wasn't likely to be any adventure found there, and she'd much preferred home anyway. "That seems sensible," she said, though 'sensible' wasn't exactly her forte, realizing that she hadn't actually responded to the story itself. "I'm always a bit torn between wanting to adventure and the comforts of home. It's an odd balance, but I think I've managed to strike it to a degree out here." The pegasus then pulled a bit of a face, finding it odd to have complimented the town. "I suppose, as much as I don't like certain parts of Appleloosa, it might be my kind of town after all."

Dazzle nodded, appreciative of Slick's offer. "Well, I daresay it could use some livening. Perhaps Manehattenites have gotten too used to the daily grind of The Denoument. Adding some spice to the main course wouldn't go amiss." The unicorn chuckled ever so slightly, realizing that the cooking metaphor would sound strange coming from a musician rather than a chef like Dunder. But, it was quite true. The performances and audience lately seemed to have fallen into a repetitive routine, which would not do at all for business, monetary or entertainment. The atmosphere truly could use some fresh air. She made a mental note of the group mentioned by the zebra as well, before motioning over to another of the seemingly abundant hired help. A quick exchange of words followed and he began to clear up the finished meal. Almost simultaneously, another performer took to the stage, which directed the unicorn's attention toward the stage again. It would likely be seen as polite if she, as the owner, didn't show at least a cursory interest in her fellow performers.

Neon's eyes widened at the sight of the medallion. It really was an awesome sight, sunlight glinting off its surface. Evenn with its physical worth, it was probably the emotion value that contributed to its value. The colt wasn't really world-weary enough to appreciate his parents and family as much as he perhaps should have, but he knew that he would miss his parents too and a reminder of them would be a treasure indeed. "Definitely awesome," he comfirmed, all smiles as the unicorn colt replaced it in his saddlebag. Even with the dazzling medallion, the colt was still intrigued by the falcon who had seemingly disappeared. Oh well, he thought, I guess it had something to be doing. At Timid's questions, he refocused his attention and answered bouncily, "Oh, I'm from Manehatten! Well, Fillydelphia first, but Manehatten now. So, uh, I guess you can pick a place." Then, he heard a crashing sound nearby. Neon, being oddly distractible today, cantered over to see a black-coated pegasus filly straightening up. "Woah, are you alright?" he questioned, having gathered that it was likely she who had made the crashing noise.

Blushing did not come easily to the green-eyed mare, but it did catch her off-guard enough for the slight red tinge to spread across her muzzle for a few moments. Then, remembering herself, she quickly cleared her throat and gave a swift, but not clumsy bow instead toward the stallion. "A pleasure to meet you, Bramble Rose." Then, she caught sight of Ornatia's raised eyebrow, which reminded the unicorn that it was fairly unmannerly to barge into as she had just a moment ago. After only moment more of regret (as she knew that the past was done with), she focused herself on the task at hand. Perhaps there was still some sohistication to be saved as of yet. She briefly took Ornatia's hoof and kissed it, much as Bramble had earlier. "And a pleasure to meet you as well." "So, Manehatten. It is a difficult place to describe in only a few words, but that is what I must do. Many ponies have called it a pinnacle of architecture and the like, and it certainly is, but the ponies in it are more the fluid for it. Any and every type of pony - and non-pony - seems to find their way here and leaves a mark of sorts on it. It likely sounds a tad cheesy, but it is true. For example, the district of Marelem is home to the zebras, and very much carries its own flavour. It is more of the experience you must try for yourself, rather than be told about." It might have sounded like a dodge of the subject entirely, but it was true in her eyes. Then, she turned to Ornatia once again. "Roam, you say? I've never visited myself, but I've heard it is quite the place. My parents once toured in Itaily, but I was much too young to accompany them, to my regret."

Wrong Note was glad to recieve a friendly smile from the tan mare who sat at a table a respectable distance away. It was much better than the odd stares she had a tendancy to garner if she didn't remember to keep herself from speaking. The staring bothered her less now, certainly not as it had when this whole issue had begun, but it still made something in her twinge. So, she hummed a bit in obvious happiness. Not really humming, more of a buzz than a tune, as that would likely be just as jarring as speech. She was surprised that her (admittedly light) order was a mere two bits. Perhaps she was used to the heightened prices of non-seafood products in Hoofington, but it came as an odd occurance nonetheless. Then, directed toward the notebook, she contemplated the selection again. The notebook also clued her into something about the owner of the shop, she was mute. That in particular was interesting to the mare. It meant that this pony, despite not having quite the same trouble as her, was able to live in the same way as any other pony. In essence, she'd managed to overcome it, which Wrong Note was still having some difficulty with. Again, she pointed to indicate her choices. First toward the bread that had managed to draw her in, and then to the coffee that the owner had been serving earlier. She smiled at the completion of her order, conveying the "please/thank-you" that she couldn't give directly.

The mare, despite the direness of the situation, took a moment to roll her eyes. She knew that it was really just a reflex, but it was slightly vexing that the stranger had asked her whether cockatrices can hiss or not. True enough, she had traversed the forest to a certain extent, but she was more familiar with its skies than its ground. Beyond that she'd doubted that, if the cockatrices were anything like the stories told, anypony would know if cocktrices could hiss and been able to tell the tale to somepony. So, she hissed, "How in Equestria am I supposed to know?" It was, on her part just as it had been on his, more a stress reaction than something done in earnest. Even with her annoyance, she pushed passed it when he spoke again. The hissing had persisted and not done much to calm the usually iron-nerved Shadowbolt. As much as she pretended to be nothing but a flying machine, she was prone to the same fears as anypony and a threat that you couldn't see was definitely one of those. Besides, she rationalized, she wasn't about to let such a creature affect the flight abilities of a stunt pony as magnificent as herself, regardless of whatever damage had been done already by the cliff-side. "Agreed," was her terse response before gritting her teeth and following behind the stranger. It wasn't pleasant, but Firefly managed to keep herself at a distance to the voice that she assumed was appropriate. Everything seemed to hurt, since neither her internal senses or external ones were much help in gauging the exact specifications of her injuries. However, she insisted against any weakness in herself. She'd had enough of that in her past, and she wasn't particularly fond of letting this stranger see any weakness on her part either. The hiss didn't stop, but it did seem more distant, which was comforting to a point. However, it was almost certain that the sound would catch up to them once more when it realized what they were doing.

Flux was still amused to see that everypony seemed to share the opinion that the medicine was simply dreadful. Even she, who had grown up around medicine for most of her life, really couldn't just let go of the taste. Maybe it was the sheer triviality of it all compared to the four almost turning into very crispy ponies, but it just seemed much funnier than it probably would have been had the situation been any different. It was like how foals laughed to release nervous tension from the room, but the mare didn't view it quite as juvenile. Honestly, the unicorn wasn't sure where that train of thought had been headed and so dropped it at that point. Instead, she agreed with Rain Leaf, it really was quite the story to tell. Flux wasn't exactly the most talented teller of tales, but she could appreciate when one was as crazily dangerous as theirs had been. But, what mattered overall is that they had made it out and nopony was too badly hurt. Though the unicorn may have spoken too soon. She had been watching the doctor and Rain Leaf discuss one form of herbalism or another and didn't notice Stormsong's situation until Holly had called out to the blue mare. When she did know about it, she quickly got down from the hospital bed once more and reached the edge of Stormsong's bed in what must have been record time for the bookish unicorn. She didn't chime in with the others in voicing their concern, but her expression was just as worried as the others' no doubt were. She hoped sincerely that whatever had happened to Stormsong wasn't something worse than what had already happened to the patients. But, she put little stock in hope alone and looked between at Flitwink and Stormsong instead, still a picture of concern.

The mare was slightly surprised by how immediately the white earth pony dashed behind the counter once she had seen Wrong Note enter. She seemed like a nice pony on first impression, since she had smiled at her with genuine warmth. It was only when she trotted up to the counter that she remembered why she didn't often visit shops. It meant she'd have to talk and that never really turned out well for either side of the conversation. She shuffled her hooves in place, trying to occupy herself with choosing from the menu rather thanworry about the actual communication part of her visit. Everything quite honestly just seemed mouthwatering to the mare and she was as hungry as a parasprite. So, she ended up indicating in the direction of a batch of cupcakes. Wrong Note tried to make it seem as natural as possible and not as though she wasn't speaking for some other reason, which was technically a partial truth. It was almost natural by now. As she waited the brief period it would take for the baker to get the cupcakes, the mare glanced idly around the shop again. She really did enjoy the atmosphere of the place. It reminded one of home, with that cooking smell and cabin-like coziness. Then again, the home she'd had for most of her life hadn't exactly been filled with cooking or warmth, but she supposed it was as apt a metaphor as any other.

Neon had to admit that if he weren't currently actively attempting to remain both professional and mature, he would have gone absolutely crazy over the awesomeness levels of the Noble Flare's introduction. The pony (who he'd just assumed was a pegasus at this point, since it made it much easier for him to describe the hero to himself) was a proper superhero and everything, just like in the stories he used to read as a foal. They had been his inspiration since his first reading of a Daring-Do title and to meet somepony, an adult no less, who was able to do all of the really awesome hero stuff without worrying about bedtimes or falling straight into somepony's apple pie festival (what a long story that was) was the epitome of cool in the colt's opinion. Then, of course, the Noble Flare asked him who he was. The black-clad earth pony had been waiting since the beginning of his superheroic career to give an awesome sounding speech and here was his chance at last. Taking extra effort to be sure that his true voice didn't bleed through his disguised one in excitement, he began. "I am a friend of justice, a protector of the preyed upon! A helper of the helpless! The bane of the bad! I'm the shadowy overseer of righteousness in this city and any other I find myself in. My name is Nighthoof!" Though his introduction likely sounded a tad juvenile and Neonw asn't entirely sure what 'righteous' actually meant, he was pleased with it. Seeing fit to pose as the Noble Flare had, he only really managed to have his cape ifted and twirled about by the wind, which either worsened or bettered his impression. Hoping that it hadn't come across as goofy, he then produced a question of his own. "I would guess that you were the one who handled that fire before I arrived. How did you manage that?" He tried to sound less impressed than he really was, as it would quickly give away his youthfulness even more so than the corny introduction had.

The stranger's reply was enough so that the mare could figure out his general direction in relation to her position. In the dark, sound was all they had and that was what worried her. As a stunt pegasus, one had to trust their eyes to pull them through daring loops and dives. Instincts were more of a last resort, as they were usually less accurate, but still immensely helpful in a jam. Though Firefly couldn't call this anything but a jam, her disadvantage wasn't a calming factor. Then, she remembered that she was actually supposed to be listening to the stranger. His hesitant admission drew the pegasus' purple gaze in the darkness. Not that he could see, but her eyes narrowed slightly at his words. A rational part of her mind quickly remarked that it obviously wasn't purposeful, but she was still annoyed at the prospect that somepony had just been following her around. The Shadowbolt loved being admired, but this wasn't that sort of star-eyed watching. Regardless, now was not the time. That hiss hadn't stopped; if anything it was becoming more insistant. Her eyes swivelled around, trying in vain to see something in the dark. She winced ever so quietly as she turned herself to look behind her. Whatever she'd managed to hurt, Celestia forbid that it's my wings, it wasn't being very co-operative with the pressing need to get out of this darkness. Sucking in a deep breath, she pushed herself to her feet, thinking nothing but encouragement as she did. Managing to gain a tentative take in being standing, she eventually answered, "Yeah. Noticed." She spoke shortly, sounding as though all the wind had been knocked out of her. Still strangey frustrated that she couldn't just take to the air and bedone with this dark place, she slowly and verycarefully made her way toward the area that she had earlier determined to be around the location of the stallion (or so she guessed, based on his voice) who had followed her down the cliffside. Why did he do that? Once she was close enough, or so she thought, to speak in a quieter tone, she said. "You know the Everfree. What hisses and would like to eat a couple of ponies?" Firefly was pleased to note that her occasional sardonic responses hadn't been diminished in the fall, which made her more hopeful as to her overall physical state.

Hello again, dear readers! I do hate to double post, but I must tell you that Chapter 4 has arrived! Go check it out, if you like.

Neon nodded, committing the unicorn's name to memory. He was surprised how quickly he'd managed to meet somepony in the huge city. He'd figured with it being such a big place nopony would have the time to pay attention to a visiting colt like himself. Not that he wasn't pleased, he was more excitable than usual and so was extra enthusiastic to have met somepony who was a potential friend. He was slightly puzzled to hear that he didn't have a falcon but a dog as a pet. It made him wonder what that falcon behind the Canterlot colt was doing. But, he supposed it wasn't really important. After all, the unicorn had something cool to show him. "Something cool? Totally! If it's cool, I'm there," he answered, almost bouncing around Timid Star in anticipation.

Despite the frequency of travel in her youth, Wrong Note didn't often venture outside the little harbour town of Hoofington which she had taken to as her home. However, she couldn't resist the idea of at least a short vacation here and there. After all, if she had continued on her original career path, travel would have been a regular occurrence. Perhaps she had an innate affinity for it. Regardless, Trottingham was a popular destination at any time of year and the earth pony could think of no better place to go. Trotting off the train platform, the purple mare began to make her way to the rented room that she would be staying in for the duration of her trip. It wasn't the largest location she'd ever visited in Equestria, but Manehatten would be hard to top by any city in her eyes. At the thought of Manehatten, the mare sighed, not wanting to deal with the memories associated with the famed metropolis. Luckily, on exiting the hotel after dropping off her bags, a wonderful scent distracted her from that thought for a while longer. It was one she recognized, the smell of baking and coffee mixing together in the air around the shop that Wrong Note had pinpointed as its source. With a rumble of her stomach that solidified that half-formed idea, she trotted toward the shop at a casual pace. With a light tingle of the bell, the mare had entered the shop and looked around on the threshold of the shop. It was small, but in the cozy sense rather than the claustrophobic sense. A gray-manned mare and another mare, one who Wrong Note assumed was the owner of the store, were the only other ponies in the store at the moment. Smiling at them, she moved into the centre of the shop, not entirely sure of what she should do next.

Ooh, this could be interesting. I've got a character who is more the silent type. Could make for some interesting interaction, if I can figure out a reason for her to be in Trottingham rather than Hoofington.

Now that he was closer to the white object he'd seen earlier, the masked colt could now see that it was in fact a who - not a what - that he had seen earlier. Now what sort of who was difficult to tell that this distance and lighting, but he was almost certain that he could see a very faint outline of a wing in the white ensemble. Even so, those basic observations didn't really help him in figuring out what this winged somepony was doing all the way up here. The most that he usually encountered were a couple of stray cats very sparsely on the lower rooftops. As such, he was a bit wary of getting too close to potential danger, but he was too inexperienced to know what to do in place of actually investigating closer. So, he stood as still as possible and hoped that something would happen that could disperse the situation. Unfortunately, it seemed that Neon had been spotted by the white-clad figure on the opposite roof. Initially the colt took a mental inventory of himself, wondering what could have given him away. Then it occurred to him that, though his costume was purposefully coloured so that the shadows would match it, his cape was the one part of it that was mobile that would thus attract attention. Though he hadn't seen this as a problem before, he supposed that this stranger wasn't something he had seen before, so the newness of both things made sense to him. He briefly considered just continuing to stay where he was and just hope that the other passed it off as a trick of the light, but he quickly thought better of it. It was likely a wiser move to co-operate than to accidentally cause unnecessary tension to crop up. With a reassuring intake of breath and a moment to collect himself, Nighthoof stepped out into the light cast by the windows of a nearby building. It was strange how contrasting the two suited figures looked. One was a bright white and the other was black as pitch, but both seemed to mirror each other in some respects. In fact, now that the strange figure was closer, Neon was able to confirm his suspicion that it was in fact a winged creature that now called him out. Now that both were more visible to each other, a silence seemed to descend over both until Neon broke it, too intrigued to stop himself from asking, "Who are you?"

Flux listened intently as Princess Cadance answered her query. It was true that the duties of the diplomatic corps and the CRPR seemed rather similar, but then again so did aluminium and tin on first glance. The unicorn wasn't surprised that their duties seemed rather interlinked at times, but it would do no good for one to displace aspects of the others. It did seem like a fine line indeed. Of course, she also wasn't particularly shocked to hear that the involvement of the CRPR in local problems was rare. After all, most ponies preferred to be self-sufficient and others had a rather unfortunate (though not always incorrect) view of nobility in Equestria. So, she nodded at certain points in Cadance's explanation to signal that she'd understood what had been said so far, but was otherwise solely focused on absorbing the information. She was slightly puzzled by the Princess' intent when she trotted in the direction of one of the less active attendees of the party. However, when she returned with a book, the mare's eyes practically lit up with excitement and anticipation. When the alicorn further offered it to her for her perusal, she looked quickly between the Princess, the book, and the Princess again. "I-I can really read through this?" Her voice was positively bubble at this point, which was nearly impossible for the mare unless she was presented with something particularly interesting to her academic mind. "Oh my goodness, thank you!" she squeed, lifting the book very carefully with her own magical field. "I promise to take good care of it." She started to trot toward a more quiet corner of the ballroom to do some reading, but then remembered it had been a Princess she'd been speaking to. Flux quickly wheeled around, gave a quick bow toward Cadance along with a "Pleasure to meet you, Princess Cadance," and then skipped off to the side of the room to read through the book.

Mirage looked inquisitively at Lady as she explained that she'd been to The Lonestar before. She supposed it made sense, since the earth pony had mentioned that she used to live in Appleloosa, but it was still one of those odd coincidences that made one slightly interested. "Oh, really? I only just found it today, but I suppose it's probably a good choice if you've been here before." To be honest, she'd been a tad sceptical about the place before, as she had no real background information(or more importantly, anecdotes) about the actual quality of the place. If Lady had been here before and made no objections on it as their destination, she was fairly confident that she'd chosen a good place. She ordered a cider without much hesitation when asked, but then wondered afterwards if she should have been a bit more reflective before choosing. The mare had always had this problem, though in some cases it was more trouble than just silly inconvenience. While they waited, the pegasus approached a topic that she had been wondering about regarding Lady since her mention of Appleloosa. "So, why did you leave Appleloosa?" Then, realizing she'd probably been a bit too blunt, amended, "I mean, if you, you know, don't mind telling me."

((OOC: Not at all, Karnaloth. The more the merrier. )) It seemed that the more Neon saw of the city, the more excited he became to have arrived. The colt didn't even think it was possible to be more excited than he had been upon first arriving, but obviously he was wrong. "It's just so...huge!" he exclaimed, taking in the brief section of the city he'd seen so far with a quick 360 degree spin. He'd only stopped for a minute to look around and was soon dashing through the streets again. It was surprisingly easier to navigate the streets of Canterlot than those of Manehatten, so he was able to avoid trouble with a well-placed swerve here and there. He wasn't even bothering to pay attention to where he was going at this point, all he wanted to do was go. Eventually he came across a park, which had just the right wide open spaces that made it perfect for running. He'd never even seen such a huge place to explore, except a few of the farms around the edges of Fillydelphia perhaps. As he galloped along a trail, he heard somepony calling out to him. He quickly slowed and doubled-back, curious as to wh this pony could be. When he'd gotten back to the bench, he saw that it was a golden colt who had apparently jumped down from the bench to say hello. Neon grinned back and answered, "Hi. I'm Neon Stargazer. Who are you?" As he asked, the colt noticed a bird behind the unicorn. "Woah, is that your bird? It's awesome!"

The fall wasn't particularly pleasant for Firefly. Since she had been distracted before her stumble, the pegasus hadn't been able to extend her wings in order to brake or even recovery from that initial misstep. So, there was little that she could do but squeeze her eyes shut and hope that she wouldn't end up crashing into some disgruntled creature's nest. Oddly enough, her descent seemed quite a bit slower than she assumed it actually was. Though, she had at that point been turned around so much by her colliding with the cliff face every so often that the mare didn't dare to check more closely. When she landed with a hard thud on the ground below, she didn't immediately open her eyes and jump to her hooves as she wished she could. It would probably be safer to check for any severe injuries now, rather than later. Though the mare wasn't exactly one for the notion of safe (she was a Shadowbolt, after all), but through that experience she also knew just how crippling an untreated injury could be to a stunt pegasus. When she figured a way out of this, she would prefer to be able to fly again. Though she couldn't asses her possible injuries very well, as she was neither a doctor nor really able to get a feel for her condition with her eyes forced shut and lying on the forest floor, she made some guesses anyway. Probably a couple scrapes and bruises, that's to be expected from any fall. The main thing is... She trailed off at the sound of shifting rocks and dirt. It sounded as though it was coming from the same direction which she had fallen from. Instinctively tensing, she forgot all about her earlier inventory of her physical state. When the sound stopped, a voice called out. It sounded friendly enough, so Firefly opened her eyes for the first time since she'd fallen and saw...nothing. It was too dark for her to make out much more than the whites of two pairs of eyes. Clearing her throat, she still sounded slightly hoarse when she called back, "I'm fine." Of course, as soon as she said that, a twinge of pain shot through her right wing, the one she had landed on. "Well, mostly fine," she muttered to herself, not wanting the ones who found her to know that quite yet. Before she spoke any further, the pegasus distinctly heard a hiss and something like the flick of a tail that make her slightly apprehensive. In any other case, she wouldn't have minded as much, but she was vulnerable and not in the best shape to fight back, not to mention these strangers' arrival. "Where are you?" she called out, having lost sight of the quick glimpse she'd gotten earlier of the eyes of the ones who found her. She was tempted to ask more about how the strangers had found her, but another hiss from the darkness around her quickly dispelled that idea.

Well, I sense thread possibilities here. This one would require a new thread being made, I believe, but I think that Insight and Quantum Flux could have some common ground with their current research pursuits. Grandya might be able to meet up with Chocolate Tail without too much difficulty, if you want another Stalliongrad RP. And, lastly, I think Blackjack might run across Dazzle Dreams at some point in his travels, which could be interesting as well. Just pick whichever you like best, since I'm mostly just throwing paint blindly at the canvas right now.

I've got a couple here that are open and not really full to the point that another OC wouldn't be welcome. There's this one, which is at my OC Dazzle Dreams' singing lounge in Manehatten. And, this one, which is in Appleloosa where currently my OC Mirage and Phil's OC Lady Luck are headed to get some cider. Then, of course, there are the other two threads arranged in here. Take your pick.

Haha, don't worry about it, mine ended up a bit long as well. Oh well, better long than short, I suppose.