Neoniie

Well, Neoniie wouldn't fit a pony OC very well. My character, Neon Stargazer, is sort of related to my username. However, that wasn't intentional.

Once again, Mirage fell silent. She was still standing on shaky ground, so to speak. The pegasus had never been much of an advice giver and even so, such things as this were quite outside her knowledge. She pondered his dilema quietly, managing to finish her plate of hay fries in the interim. "Well...maybe you could write them letters." The idea had dawned on her in a flash and she was slightly surprised to see that she had spoken the idea aloud. "You know, update them on your travels or something. It could sort of ease you back into communication with them and it might be kind of fun to share you stories. After all, manticore fighting is something I'd want to hear about." She paused, considering adding something to her earlier words. "I'm no expert though," she said, giving a small, uncertain laugh.

As she heard the colt's words, the mare turned her head. As she did so, locks of her lime and teal mane blew into her face. Peaking through them, she studied the colt closely. It wasn't often that she encountered another pony whilst she sang, though when she did they rarely lingered to watch. He was a tad on the skinny side with pair of black rimmed spectacles resting upon his muzzle. She also noted that he was a unicorn, though that wasn't something that weighted heavily upon her examinations. The normally purple strands of hair around her muzzle took on a darker red tinge as she realized that the colt had heard her frankly terrible singing. She turned back toward the softly lapping waves that sprayed a sprinkle of water toward the mar's fetlocks. Not wanted the silence to stretch between them, she reluctantly questioned him, her melodious and odd way of speaking causing her to keep her gaze forward, for fear of showing her embarassment too overtly. "How strange to find another pony here, Would you not rather be at the luau where others are near? In addition, please excuse my poor pitch and tone, I was not aware that there were ponies around to make groan."

"Oh." Mirage was quiet for a moment, sensing that she had come across a rather uncomfortable topic for the stallion. Stupid impulsiveness, she thought, scolding her lack of forethought. She pawed at the wooden floor below, not sure how to follow that question. "Well, I'm an only child too." She immediately felt quite foalish for giving such an insensitive reply, but she honestly wasn't sure how to proceed. Her own parents had always had a pretty good relationship with their daughter, even through her older fillyhood years. Sitting in silence once more, she said, "It's not too late to start." A completely genuine smile followed; the pegasus hoping that she had said the right thing.

Flux had been preparing for this journey to Saddleveil ever since she had discovered the mythological book at the Great Library of Canterlot. It was not just the interesting myth contained within that had piqued her interest, but the presence of an odd symbol within its pages. The mare was not a cryptanalyst, but deciphering the meaning or origin of the symbol had driven her to make her way through the Library's entire section on the subject. It had been only a few days prior that she had made a breakthrough. With the assistance of an unlikely book, she had found that it was made in a style that was very similar to the traditional symbols made in Saddleveil. Both she and Colton had quickly pursued this lead, simultaneously a welcome change of pace and a new opportunity to discover whatever danger lurked behind the chain of events into which they had plunged themselves. The unicorn noted that two stark white ponies weren't likely to be very stealthy in a sandy environment, but nopony had encountered them yet. Of course, their entrance into a city like Saddleveil would change that. With a quick bit of levitation magic, Flux pushed her red mane back from her eyes for what had to be the hundredth time. Wind in a desert was clearly not a friend to the mare. Her attention was brought to Colton with his question. The unicorn considered it, thinking back to her fillyhood. “I can't say I have. My father did mention some very distant relations of ours lived out by Saddleveil, but I've never gone there myself.” However, she quickly realized that Colton had taken to the air, observing the mostly unchanging landscape. With a flurry of feathers, Colton landed face first into the sand below. She was worried for only a moment, as the pegasus got to his hooves quickly. Flux had to admire the resilience of the pegasus, as fall like that wouldn't be as kind to a unicorn or earth pony. The unicorn heard a slight snicker coming from Tesla, who had peeked out from his vantage point atop Flux's head to look at Colton and Sparks. The unicorn herself had a small grin across her muzzle as well, finding it quite strange that a pegasus wouldn't get along well with birds. “I'll be vigilant,” she said, poking a bit of good-natured fun at Colton. “As for that farm, lead the way.”

Flux suppressed a laugh, successfully for once, at Colton's simultaneously prideful and joking remark. "I'm sure you will," she said. The unicorn had always planned to take Colton to the Racetrack, but a peak at Thunder's previous reading material had cemented the idea in her opinion. After all, what pegasus didn't enjoy a good Wonderbolts Show? Even the rather socially out-of-touch mare could see that an old standby had not differed much. Getting the tickets, on the other hand, wasn't exactly a breeze, so to speak. Wonderbolts ticket were in high demand, as usual, and their home track of Canterlot was certain to draw a crowd. Ponies from all over Equestria would travel to any racetrack to see the famous Wonderbolts perform. Luckily, one of her mother's old friends knew a couple of ponies in the ticket selling business who had managed to grab them a couple of tickets. However, as the tickets were originally for herself and her parents, a third ticket had joined the pair already in use for Colton and Flux's admission. Thus, everypony was still able to attend. The white unicorn had taken a quick turn, nearly ready for their coming walk to the track, when a rose-coloured unicorn approached her. The newcomer was friendly, if a bit unexpected, so Flux wasn't particularly on guard other than from pure surprise. She listened to the small explanation that the unicorn had given, not seeing why the mare could not accompany them. "How fortuitous," she replied. "Perhaps you would like to join us? 'The more the merrier', as they say." As she extended the invitation to the mare, Flux look back toward her companions. Her expression silently conveyed a bid for their approval of the idea.

"Even so," she said, conceeding his point. She left the sentence hanging, but her sentiment was clearly illustarted by her facial expression alone. This earth pony seemed to have quite a few interesting stories to tell. Miarge supposed that such a rich history was likely a side effect of a nomadic lifestyle, which didn't reduce her resolve to travel around Equestria someday. If only for a little while. Still busily munching on her hay fries, the pegasus didn't want to abadon their conversation, even if it would save them time in the long run. "So," she paused, searching for a topic. "You got any siblings back home?"

The young earth pony was slowly learning all of the names of the various ponies who surrounded him, making sure to note them. He always introduced himself quickly when meeting somepony new, at least in his regular life, as referring to somepony as 'that pony' felt odd to Neon. Internally glad that he was now on name-basis with everypony, the colt kept a stoic demenour on his outward appearance. When met with Cask's question, Neon took pause. He wasn't exactly sure what the pony meant. He did dash about the streets of Manehatten at night, but Neon had still maintained quite a layer of naievette. He pondered exactly what the chef could have meant. Well, school isn't exactly great at the moment, with all my awesome superheroing taking a chunk of my time. Oh, maybe he meant conditions as in rules! Hmm...haven't got a whole lot of interesting rules. Rules are broing anyway. However, Colton's answer gave Neon's brain a jolt. "I am not without my own quirks." What on Equestria does 'quirk' even mean? Weird grownups and their words. "But, I'm not aware of any conditions of mine. Other than awesomeness!" Quickly, realizing another case of his personality belnding with that of Nighthoof, he corrected himself. "Pardon me, I misspoke there. Superheroism is what I have meant to say."

Mirage couldn't help but laugh at his quick recounting of his run-in with a manticore. "Now that's a story I'd like to hear sometime." She also considered his last words with a slightly more somber expression. Vulpus probably was more suseptible to being trapped in a dangerous situation, as he was an earth pony. Though, anypony who can hold off a mantincore for any amount of time could probably hadnle themselves just fine. Her wings beat just once, very quietly and quickly, more of a reflex than any concious decision. She took a few more of her hay fries, eager to get out into the new day.

"Yep," Mirage agreed enthusiastically, taking a pair of hay fries from the plate before her. She munched on them thoughtfully, allowing herself time to find the words to vocalize her internal list. "So, before we go, I suppose we'll need to get a few things. There's a general store near the edge of the town, so that's probably a good place to start." The mare was much more interested in thinking about the adventure than the preparations, though, so she also voiced another thought of hers. "Also, if there really are spider in those caverns, how are we going to deal with them? Apparently they're 4 shoulders tall and can fight like a Manticore." She paused. "Not that anyone's really fought a Manticore before, but you get the idea."

Wrong Note had thought her recent lifestyle changes would have drowned out any influences of her old life. She was certainly wrong about that. The former signing sensation couldn't resist making the jounrey to the Gallopocus Islands to witness the very height of fashion. She had been to a few such events before, even if she was still in her late fillyhood, and knew all about the excitement and glamour. However, she couldn't risk being recognized by somepony at the Luau itself. So, the purple mare had made her way discreetly to the beach that was nearby the party. She could still hear the music, swaying back and forth in time with the rhythm. The music and the reminder of her past life made the earth pony want to sing, just as she had done years ago upon the stages of Manehatten's finest institutions. With a quick glance around, she started to sing softly. The tone was scratchy and chaotic, but nopony was around to hear it and thus Wrong Note payed it no mind. "There's an old mare who's in desperate need of self esteem. All this constant pressure that's on her makes her feel... Worthless and denied, she said she'd never felt quite alright. She demanded something more out of life than to only fit right in. This old mare is still waiting to be recognized. Broken dreams are reflected in her weary eyes." ((Lyrics from The Road Past Success by Adjusted))

"Yeah," Mirage agreed, her excitement mounting for the coming events of the day. She begun making a little list of important things for their journey. It was completely against her tendancies, but the pegasus didn't want her usual lack of planning to result in some sort of danger for the both of them. Probably some torches, food for sure, that coin... She stared out at the surrounding buildings, wondering if a town as small as Dapple Dunes could have all the supplies they would need. She wasn't fond of the idea of travelling all the way back to Appleloosa. She'd already asked on of the native pegasi to deliver a message to her boss at the weather offices, so that they wouldn't mount search parties for Mirage when she was gone. However, the arrival of their meals brought her attention toward food. The service was quick, especially due to the fact that it was opening day. "Thanks," she said to the waiter as he placed down their plates. With a nod, the waiter left, leaving Vulpus and Mirage to tuck into their breakfasts.

"Umm...okay." Neon watched the stallion with a slightly confused expression. He seemed to have a saddened note in his voice, even as he laughed at the obviousness of his foreigness to Manehatten. His brow furrowed, not used to getting patted on the head, even by his parents. The colt usually associated such things with little foals and he wasn't that young, even without a cutie mark. He was still loathe to bring attention to that embarassing detail, despite it being only a private thought. Everypony was supposed to gain their cutie marks as foals, but he still couldn't pinpoint his own unique talent. It made him feel lost and without purpose and that was something decidedly unpleasant. Catching the stallion's words as he turned, Neon tortted back over to the unicorn. "Yeah, actually," he grinned as he spoke, feeling proud of his knowledge of the city. Most of that knowledge was attributed to jumping - and usually falling - around the city every night. "I could show you, if you want."

Neon watched the older ponies - and PaintedWings - all give their agreement to Cellar Cask's suggestion. Painted's suggestion did strike him a pretty cool way to make his first mark on the people of Manehatten. Another, more weighty factor was the sudden reminder that jumping around a city as large as Manehatten had taken considerable effort from the colt. Before he could repliy, he decided to address the white pegasus who had questioned him. "I am Nighthoof! The Saviour of the Saddened! The Protector of the Persued!" After each exclamation, the colt struck a dramatic pose, trying to seem intimidating and awesome. I think he probably gets it, he chimed, stopping his dramatic listing of made-up titles. "Ahem. Anyway, surely you've heard of me?" As he waited the reaction of the pegasus, Neon remembered Cask's question. "I would -" The stallion quickly interjected with his realization, making the masked face of the colt fall slightly. "Not to worry, citizen," he cried dramatically. However, he stopped suddenly, not sure what else to say. "Your offer alone was generous." Neon privately couldn't believe how lame he felt, but if adults spoke like that there must be some benefit to it.

Hurray! I should be on soon, as well.

Stupid school, keeping me away from the server. Anyway, I have a bit of a clarifying question. When I try to log onto the server, it gives me an error message of: "Disconnected by server. Took too long to log in." IS that something that can be solved by updating to 1.1 (as BrainBlackberry was discussing), or it is something else entirely?

Mirage noticed Vulpus' confusion and gave a small shrug. "I'm not really a breakfast pony, I suppose." She couldn't help but smile at his order though, as the ponies whom she had met usually ordered less food around company. It was a nice change to see somepony who didn't hold back. She glanced out the window again, a new ponit of conversation appearing in her mind. "So, any ideas about what we'll find in the Spidersilk Caves? I'm hoping that there aren't any actual spiders in there, especially not the one in stories. Hopefully, the map on that coin of yours will turn up something, too."

Flux nodded her head in answer to Thunder's question. "I did. One of these book in particular is certainly going to be quite useful in proving a theory that I am persuing evidence of." She used a quick burst of magical energy to bring forth the biological book which she had requested from the librarian. She held it up before the two pegasi, the book moving up and down in the bubble of green magic that surrounded it. "It's actually quite fascinating and very well-supported. This volume alone took two years to fully verify and complete." Then, she realized that she would likely start babbling unless she stopped herself there. Returning the book to her bag, she addressed Colton in particular. "I have also found a rather interesting legend, perhaps you would enjoy hearing it later." She then turned her attention to their destination ahead. "We're nearly at the end of our tour. In fact, we have only two more destinations to visit. This one may be more interesting to you both, as pegasi. The Wonderbolt Racetrack."

(I changed this to "Closed" now, since I think we have enough participants. Everyone alright with that?) Thankful for the help that the filly gave him, Neon continued upon his slow path toward the set of staris he had identified earlier. At her statement, Neon knew that PaintedWings was right, but he couldn't think of any other way to move the stallion that didn't involve some sort of miracle or magic. As an Earth Pony, both thing were as unlikely for him as a stick suddenly becoming a fully grown tree. However, two much older male pegasi trotted toward them. Initially, he was worried that they had the impression that he was robbing the unconscious stallion, but their helpful questioning disuaded that thought. Just as he was about the answer them, the khaki stallion's eyes opened and his return to consciousness was signalled by a gasp. At his request, the colt let him down carefully. He looked the pony up and down, surprised that he seemed to have no ill effects from his fainting spell. His introduction confused Neon slightly, but he gave a nod all the same. He considered the proposal that Cellar Cask gave, not wanting to take away time from his patrol. After all, there could be somepony in danger. However, it seemed rude to dismiss the offer and the colt just stayed silent to await the opinions of the other three ponies who stood in the vicinity.

Mirage made a quite 'hmm' sound that was still audible across the table, despite its lack of volume. She supposed she had gotten her answer about what it would be like without a cutie mark. "Yeah," she answered. "I've felt like that sometimes." She wanted to elaborate, but it had been very few times that she had experienced that feeling, back when she was a foal or young filly. The pegasus didn't want to leave it a such a short reply, but the waitress arrived at their table with a notepad at the ready. She rattled off a rehearsed greeting and awaited their orders with a smile. Mirage noticed her glancing toward Vulpus' prosthetic as well and she felt a strange annoyance bubble up. She quickly talked herself down, not wanting to allow her quick decision to cause a problem. "I'll just have some hay fries, thanks."

The mare remembered Vulpus mentioning something along those lines when they had met earlier. "Well, that seems like a resonable idea." The pegasus wondered exactly what it was like to not know your purpose in life. She was in the middle group of classmates to earn a cutie mark, not particularly early or late on the spectrum. She tried not to lord it over anypony, but she couldn't help feeling a bit prideful at first. Either way, she did feel sympathetic toward the earth pony. "I'm sure you'll find your talent eventually," she declared. "It must be fun to travel though. Visitng new places and seeing new things. I've only really travelled between certain points, so I didn't have much time for sighseeing." Mirage remembered her most recent full-length trip from Cloudsdale to Appleloosa as a very directed A-to-B flight. Noticing the stares of onlookers, she gave them a pointed look which caused most of them to look away rather sheepishly.

Mirage put down her menu, wanting to focus on the question at hand rather than having her attention divided. "At first, I was assigned here rather than choosing to live here. It wasn't all that long ago, actually, but I had been part of the Cloudsdale Weather Team for a while. When Appleloosa was settled and that Buffalo conflict dealt with, Cloudsdale designated some of the weatherponies to regulate weather for Appleloosa and the small settlements that cropped up around it. I had a talent for desert weather, so they figured I'd be good for the job." "Unfortunately, I never really liked deserts. They're too arid and hot for my tastes. I like clouds better than sand. But, after meeting some of the ponies around here, I noticed that the residents themselves were really nice and welcoming. It became less about the area and more about the people. I feel a sort of loyalty to this place now, even though the desert isn't my favourite place." The pegasus realized how long she'd been talking for and quickly retrieved her menu. "What about you? Why do you travel?"

The unicorn's eyes lit up as she realized the connection between the symbol and the legend upon which the symbol had been scribbled. It did seem that this book held the key after all. A wide smile grew into place on the mare's muzzle and she carefully placed the book into her saddlebags. However, she did need to cross-reference the legend and information in this book with a couple others, just to ensure that it was accurate. Though Equestria was a place where myth was truth more often than not, those myths weren't always completely accurate in their transcriptions. She perused the shelves, levitating down whichever volumes seemed relevant to her future cross-examination. Satisfied with her choices, Flux trotted off to collect a few books that she had requested specifically from the Library a few days earlier. After all, her excuse to Thunderflash was only omitting the truth. With a swipe of the quill, the librarian on duty signed out her mythological novels and gave her the books she had requested. Flux placed each with care into her bags, already excited to read the next volume of "A Study of Equine Biology". She gave a nod to the pony who had assisted her, to which a little wave was returned. Then, she trotted back toward the area where she remembered Thunder and Colton being last.

I've got a dog and a cat. My dog is about 16 years old, a Beagle, of whom i don't have any pictures on hand. His name is Sherlock and he's basically a grumpy old man these days. My cat is a Cornish Rex named Merlin (anypony else notice an odd fictional characters theme naming here?) and he's 8-ish. By 8-ish, I mean I actually forgot. He's oddly clingy and very much a cat who thinks humans are his servants and all that.