Neoniie

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.

Alright, I've managed to get the 1.1 snapshot working. So everyone should be able to update to 1.1 for now.

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.

Mirage followed the stallion at a trot, looking around at the other ponies who were seated in the restaurant. She noticed that it was rather busy for a newly opened place, but in a town as small as Dapple Dunes, even having something of this scale was a huge development. She didn't actually live in the town, but she did fly by rather regularly and had gotten a bit of a soft spot for the place. Even if it was part of the desert, which she wasn't a big fan of, the town itself was nice. The table that Vulpus indicated was a two-seater with a lovely view of the brilliant blue skies above the sandy terrain.

With a smile at the thought of the skies, Mirage answered, "Looks good to me!" She sat down quietly, staring out the window in a dreamy manner, nearly forgetting about her earth pony companion. As she realized that she was zoning out, the pegasus snapped herself back to attention. "Sorry about that, I got a bit distracted."

Mirage had almost not felt the impact, being too focused on thinking about the food inside their destination. She turned around at his exclaimation giving a slightly embarassed laugh. "Don't sweat it! It seems that we both weren't exactly on the ball." She did notice the unusual amount of embarassment which she was causing, wondering what could be the cause of her increase in akwardness-inducing. "But, here we are. Desert Delights, the biggest, newest, and...well...only restaurant in Dapple Dunes!" The pegasus couldn't help laughing again, but this time it was at her ridiculous salepony-sounding speech.

The unicorn was beginning to consider the possibility that there wasn't anything to be found within the pages of the discarded tome. Perhaps it was just a student in a hurry or a clumsy member of the Library's staff who had dropped the book, rather than the shadowy figure who was responsible for the missing documents. She had flipped through page after page, searching in an increasingly agitated manner. Each page held nothing other than legend of the desert lands. Though they were interesting, Flux was not much interested in them when there was a mystery ahoof. Determination was something that she didn't discard easily, but things were not looking up.

She was just about to turn the page with another sigh when a small detail caught her eye. In a curly script, much different from that of the book's authour, had scrawled in a stylized image of a hoof. It was drawn quite carefully and deliberately, leading Flux to the thought that it's presence was not an accidental splatter of ink. She examined the page more closely, drawing her attention from the symbol to the words of the page. It was another legend, but the symbol encouraged her to look at it in a different light. She scrunched her muzzle slightly in consideration, wondering what the connection could be.

Mirage nodded, glad she had said the right thing. Her impulsivity led often to an unconsidered misunderstanding, but it seemed that in this case she was getting better. "At least something good came out of it," Mirage said, remembering something that her mother said along those lines when she was a young filly. However, her reminiscing was short as the pegasus nearly knocked into a support beam for the building in front of her. Walking backward to get a better look at the structure, she noticed the inscription 'Desert Delights'. "Oh..um...we're here." Mirage had a slightly sheepish tone in her voice as she spoke, feeling rather clumsy.

Mirage smiled as Hyphen talked about her possible findings. Though the pegasus was much more suited to legwork than bookwork, she did always make an exception for tales of forgotten civilizations and most of all: treasure. She wasn't actually interested in the contents of the treasures, but rather the adventure that was automatically attached to the search. 'Adventure', if not 'impluse', was her middle name, so to speak. If there was a journey to be had, Mirage would be there as quickly as her wings could take her. "Yep," she answered the unicorn with a wide smile.

"What you've told me so far about this site sounds pretty awesome! Maybe you'll end up being famous someday," Mirage said, filling the preparation time with a bit less silence.

(So sorry about the lateness, everyone. I got a bit distracted from this RP. )

Quantum Flux stood at the same time as her conversation partner, displaying her honed Canterlot manners once more. Upon his declaration that he had to depart, she inclinded her head toward him in an imitation of his own bow. "I assure you, the pleasure was all mine, Ember Heart. I also wish you an enjoyable continuation of the day's festivities. Have a good time with your friends." She resisted the urge to wave, feeling it to be far too common a gesture for a place as grand as the seat of government for all of Equestria. The castle did intimidate the unicorn, as it was the home of the Princesses whom were always looked upon with both awe and fear.

Having no reason to leave herself, Flux trotted toward the two ponies who remained in the large banquet hall. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but do you have any incling as to why everypony has vacated the premises?"

"Wow," Mirage said, still wrapping her head around the story. She couldn't imagine having to live without one of her legs, much less as an earth pony. It would be a bad as losing one of my wings, she reasoned. Though her first instinct was pity, she also recognized how strong Vulpus must be to have persevered through that time, in both senses of the word. The pegasus didn't know if she would have been able to do the same. So, rather than comiserating - though that was clear by her expression of symapthy - Mirage voiced that thought. "You're probably the strongest pony I've ever met Vulpus, and that's no exaggeration." Her sincerity was supported by an almost instinctive bob of the head.

Neon spluttered, not really sure how to proceed. He needed to do something, but what exactly they ought to do was beyond him. He was just a colt underneath the superhero persona, after all. The Earth Pony didn't want to worry PaintedWings any further than she already seemed to be, so he took a deep breath before answering. Don't worry Neon, you can do this. "I don't know," he admitted, knowing that such an answer was not the best way to reassure somepony that he knew what he was doing. "But we cannot leave him on the streets in this condition," he added a bit more of his 'Nighthoof words', remembering that he was supposed to be in superhero mode.

He scanned the area, trying to pick out some area that seemed suitable. He noticed the steps of a nearby shop of some sort were still lit at this hour. It's this or the roof, he supposed. As he knew that even with the wings of a pegasus. Painted would have a hard time lifting a fully-grown pony, it did seem to be the only option. "We should try to move him over there for now." He put his hoof under the pony and hauled him to his hooves gently. Or as close to standing as a fainted pony could get, anyhow. He questioned moving the pony for a moment, but even if they did get help, it would take a while to arrive and sitting in the street wouldn't do. He slowly began toward the steps, his steps shaky from her weight of a stallion added to his own.

Flux caught snippets of conversation between the other patrons of the Library, including Colton and Thunder - to which she gave a quiet laugh, as she wandered through the shelves. She had found many a solution or piece of knowledge within the high-ceilinged building; it had never failed her before and she wasn't going to give up on it now. She had leafed through the historical section already, having some aspects of its shelves already committed to memory, so she trotted toward the shelves that held information on the old area that Appleloosa and the Borderlands now occupied. She knew she probably had a good chunk of reading ahead, but she noticed a book laying open on the ground in front of the shelf. Somepony had quite a swift exit, she thought. The unicorn shook her head almost imperceptibly and levitated the book up to eye level.

It was then that she noticed the title of the book. Secrets and Symbols: Sandy Superstitions, by an apparently anonymous authour. What luck! Perhaps this will hold the clue behind the actions of the pony who took those documents from the desk in the secret passage! She started reading the book in silence, eyes squinted in concentration. Flux knew that the pony wouldn't want to be spotted easily, if this was another almost victim of his quickhoofedness. Since the book remained, references to whatever interested their quarry would likely be difficult to find or else conceled by the pony. She trotted absentmindedly back and forth, scanning each page closely for some type of clue.

(OOC: No problem, I know how that can be.)

"Yep!" Mirage proclaimed. She absolutely loved her job as a weatherpony and getting to help out a nice pony like Hyphen was a bonus. She stretched her wings skyward, letting them catch the small breeze that whipped past the two ponies. "Which reminds me, are you looking for something particular at this dig site? Did you find treasure or something?" Mirage was always interested in the lives of ponies around her, mostly because she liked to make friends. After all, what kind of friends could you make without knowing them?

Neon looked curiously at the filly, her bow catching him off guard. He wasn't sure exactly how to respond, so he copied the respectful tilt of the head that he had seen his parents use before. PaintedWings, huh? I wonder if I've seen her before. We do probably go to the same school, after all. He quickly focused himself, however, and answered PaintedWings. "I arrived in Manehatten recently. Before, I defended the streets of Fillydelphia. My par- I mean, my duty called me to this city." Neon had to resist the urge to bonk himself on the head. He wasn't used to being Nighthoof around ponies his own age and it was causing him to slip up.

Her caught the pegasus' abrupt ending of her words and shake of her head, but he thought better of bringing up the subject. "And I, you." He had noticed the improving in his superhero voice ever since his parents had taught him Manehatten ettiquite. He just had to add in a bit of formality and already he sounded more professional than his actual amateur superheroing was. When he saw the cookies, the colt couldn't help but have his attention drawn to the box. It has been a slow night, he thought. I can spare a while. He smiled a bit too widely, but caught himself before it became noticeable. "Why not? I think I have some time."

However, he noticed that the hoofbeats of the stallion who passed them a few moments earlier had stopped. Neon was a bit incompetent, but he knew that something was amiss. With a urgent look toward PaintedWings, he dashed off down the street. When he reached the stallion, it seemed as though he had collapsed on the concrete. Unfortunately, Nighthoof was still just Neon and he had no idea about what to do in this situation. He turned back to Painted with a slightly pleading expression. He knew it probably diminished his superhero rep, but Neon figured that it was better to take a tiny blow to his pride if it could shead some light on the situation. Besides, he could tell that she knew he was not exactly a powerful stallion, as much as he tried to look the part.

Mirage wondered briefly whether she should ask about the likely magical properties of the leg. It would be interesting to know, but she could likely discover the same information from hearing the entire story. She figured that if she and Vulpus were to travel into the Spidersilk Caverns, she may as well know his story. If she was honest, she did want to know more about this mysterious stallion's past, not just his leg. "From the beginning's fine," she said.

“I hope you like your meal Miss. Is there anything else that you need?”

Quantum Flux looked up with a small start at the words of the stallion. She had been lost in her thoughts, as the unicorn was want to do when she was not occupied with a conversation or other such task that required her attention. She straightened up a bit as she looked down toward the pile of pancakes that had been placed in front of her. They looked almost like small, brown, disk-shaped pieces of cloud due to their fluffiness. "Not at all, thank you." She gave the stallion a small smile as he trotted off to assist other customers.

As she dug into her pancakes, which were probably the best she'd ever had, the mare overheard the conversation between the owners of the establishment and a grey stallion. She also noticed the white pegasus once again. With another tiny start, Flux found herself on her hooves as well. Though it had been reactionary, the mare could trace the impulse to its roots. The curtousy that her parents had ingrained into her as a young foal that was only overridden by her more manic phases. The snow-white unicorn made her way toward the pegasus and hesitated slightly. "I would like to offer my assistance as well." After a brief pause, she elaborated. "It would feel nothing less than rude to not offer, at the least."

Mirage nodded, wondering whether it was really a good idea to ask this earth pony whom she'd only just met to tell her something probably rather personal. Aw, c'mon Mirage, her mind retorted. That's not the pegasus of speed and impulse we all know! Besides, he did agree to tell his story. Mirage grinned slightly, she gave herself the best pep talks. Her thoughts still buzzed with ideas about the day ahead, but a low growl interrupted her pondering. Looking around quickly, the pegasus realized that it was only her stomach protesting a lack of food. With a slightly bashful smile, the pegasus said, "Sorry about that. I probably forgot to have lunch yesterday." She laughed again, trotting alongside Vulpus.