Dio

“… and that is my proposal for the renovation of the Violet Square public library.” Celestia did her best to suppress a yawn, which succeeded only in producing a face unbecoming of a princess. Thankfully, a rather large blueprint page floated in front of her face, obscuring her otherwise egregious breach of etiquette. The sun princess cocked her head behind the schematics, frowning as she evaluated the stallion’s proposal. When she had agreed to this meeting, she did not anticipate the content to be so… inconsequential. Celestia lowered the schematics slowly, revealing the eager, smiling, face of a lightly bearded aristocrat with suitably ostentatious garb. Really, business casual would have sufficed given the nature of his requests, Celestia thought. Did this really warrant the attention of the Princess? Taking a sip of her tea, Celestia finally put down the schematics and addressed the stallion directly. “So Mister…” She could barely remember his name, which was about as forgettable as his very reason for meeting with her in the first place. “… Bookend, your proposal to renovate the public library at Violet Square consists of changing the color of the signage lettering from violet… to plum.” “Yes, your majesty! That is precisely it!” Though she mentally facehoofed, Celestia maintained a straight face. “And there are no further modifications to the signage?” “No, your majesty. These changes are entirely my own!” “Mister Bookend,” Celestia carefully considered her words in an effort to keep from sounding too disparaging. “Would it not make sense for the Violet Square library to have violet signage?” “…” The Sun Princess paused for a moment to let it sink in, doing her best not to let a mischievous smile crack her face. “In all seriousness, I believe this is a matter more appropriate for the public works department in your district. The regents there are perfectly capable of handling such administrative tasks as this. I specifically delegated responsibility for maintenance and upgrades of facilities to them and I trust the ponies there to do their jobs.” Bookend looked down dejectedly. “I… I’m sorry your majesty. I merely thought that if I received an audience with you that perhaps I could…” “Fast-track your project?” Celestia said, perhaps a bit more harshly than intended. The princess cleared her throat before continuing. “Everypony is given equal opportunity to present their case before the regents. It wouldn’t be fair for me to make an exception just for you.” “Yes, your majesty.” “Talk to the staffer at the reception desk and they will be able to set you up with an appointment with the regents. Are there any further questions?” “No, your majesty.” “You are dismissed.” As the aristocrat padded away, his head hanging from his shoulders, Celestia sighed. The regents would reject his proposal as trivial, if she’d chosen her administrators correctly. Given her years of experience, Celestia hoped that she’d grown to be a better judge of character with the passage of time. That was her last meeting for the morning and she was in dire need of a break. She stepped out of the boardroom and immediately stepped out onto one of the castle’s many balconies. Spreading her great wings, she took flight, gracefully floating up the side of the spire until she reached the observation deck atop the alabaster tower. Celestia alighted gently upon the observation deck, basking in the sunlight for a moment, closing her eyes and allowing the light and warmth to cloak her body. She chuckled to herself, reaching out with tendrils of aether and acquiring several things from her private chambers. The sun princess attended to herself, straightening her mantle and momentarily doing away with her tiara for comfort. From within the room floated a couch and small coffee table. The couch settled in a warm sunny spot with pillows fluffing themselves and settling in tidy bunches at each end. A coffee table quickly followed, setting itself with a plate, tea set, and finally a familiar apple pie. Celestia hummed to herself as she settled onto the couch, finally taking a load off her hooves. Floating a quill and parchment to her cozy retreat, Celestia cut herself a slice of apple pie and began to write. There were quite a few letters to reply to, after all!

Once you click in the quick editor, it will give you some "what you see is what you get" editing functionality, including colors. The text color chooser should be the icon just to the right of the font/size fields. You can also expand the quick editor into the full editor by hitting the "more reply options" button in the lower right hand corner. Finally, if you want to get into the nuts and bolts of the BBcode, you can click the lightswitch in the upper lefthand corner of the editor to switch it over to raw code view. This will allow you to set colors as hex codes.

Reviewing and approval is an iterative process. It takes time to evaluate and critique applications and we appreciate your patience. There is no need to be rude. Thunder Storm could very well make the supplies himself if he has the methodology and materials. Again, I must ask you what RP type you plan on playing Thunder Storm in. If it is Mane RP, it will have to conform to the world rules and standards for Mane RP. Telling us now whether you want this character to be in Mane RP, crossover, or FFA will clear up a lot of confusion and let us know which direction we need to steer you.

Vim is adorable! I'd love to see her in RP, but first I'd like to have a few things clarified in the app. You mention that her siblings often gave her trouble and ostracized her. Why exactly did her siblings not go along with her? Vim seems to be the kind to lead and yet there's no reason given as to why she never did. Is there anything in particular they disliked about her ideas? Something that happened between them that changed their attitude towards her? You also mention that she had a reputation built around fiascoes. What fiascoes? If they are an integral part of her past, can you give an example? Also, with her cutie mark, what exactly does it represent? Is it her adventurous spirit? Her ability to navigate and sense of direction? Her drive to explore the unknown? Finally, what made her decide to work at a fireworks shop? And what kind of adventures does she have now? Answering these questions will help fill in some holes about your character and give you a solid background to work with when interacting with other characters. I'm looking forward to seeing your revisions! PS: You mention in the text that it's her right ear that's damaged, but in the picture, it's her left ear. It's no deal breaker, but I just figured you'd like to know

Hi, I just want to be sure you're certain on how applications are tagged and assessed. Making sure you read the rules will save both you and the staff a lot of time and effort and make it more enjoyable for all of us! I noticed that you didn't list an RP type. This is very important as it determines what criteria we use to evaluate your application. Are you planning on playing this character in Mane RP, crossovers, or Free-for-All? As a reminder, Mane RP is the most strict, crossovers less so, and FFA is what it says on the tin. For more information on the roleplay types, check out our In Depth RP guide. If your goal is Mane RP, you'll have to make a few changes to Thunder Storm before he'll be evaluated. First and foremost is his relationship with Rainbow Dash. We have a policy on the boards of disallowing previous relationships of OCs with cast characters. Now that isn't to say that Thunder Storm could never meet or make friends with Rainbow Dash, but they can't start out as "best friends." No OC gets a "free pass" to automatically be bestest buddies with cast characters. Relationships should be established through good RP and careful planning. To me, his affinity for explosive situations, fire, and silliness is just fine, as is the trait of loyalty. I have more of a nitpicky stylistic issue with your use of numbers in his character summary. There's a lot of extraneous numbers thrown in, seemingly as padding. The events are much more important than the numbers associated with them. Running numbers can become his schtick in RP, but it's unncessary in the application. Finally, would you kindly bold the field titles (like Name or RP type)? This will make it much easier for both you and the staff to read and review! Looking forward to seeing some revisions!

Reopened at the request of the user. As a reminder, please take the time to double-check the board standard rules and update the application as necessary.

Virtue’s ear twitched at the description of Rich Tea. Tan coat. Waxy mane. Gangly frame. It had to be him; that pushover of a stallion who had watched the whole ordeal from above and done nothing. If anything, he had been a willing accomplice. After all, did not Cherry fall from the very window he had occupied? Cherry was smiling now, blissfully lost in her own reverie. Virtue carefully studied her face, perplexed at her very different recollection of the previous night’s events. She obviously knew an entirely different side of the same stallion; somepony more honest, perhaps even more loving. As she continued, her ever deepening blush implied a level intimacy inappropriate for polite conversation, but it really wasn’t Virtue’s place to say anything. After all, he had once been young himself… But all at once, the reverie disintegrated, shattering like a dropped mirror on cold cobbles. Her bemused smile broke, leaving only horror in its wake as Cherry trembled, looking down at her hoof as if it had suddenly been cut off. Virtue’s hunch had been correct. Paradoxically, both stories were merely two sides of the same coin; each describing merely one face of this… Rich Tea. One the one hoof: a lover, a caring companion. On the other: a traitor, a crook. “No...no, he wouldn’t... He-he wouldn’t!” “He wouldn’t what?” Virtue said, albeit not as gently as he had intended. Cherry was in visible pain, but Virtue had to know. How else would he combat this threat that they both had very suddenly become embroiled in? Not since leaving Solstice Heights had Virtue had to deal with any sort of conflict of this intensity. But not since Solstice Heights had the battle lines been so clear, the good and evil so sharply defined. Sure as the cutie mark on his flank, fighting this sort of injustice was what Virtue lived for, what he was destined to do. The knight errant took a deep breath, keeping his eyes fixed on Cherry. Justice was indeed what he represented in life. But what was Justice if it could not bring merriment to this young mare’s life? As he slowly let the breath out, Virtue knew the answer: only cold, cruel Aequitas; a blade of sharpest steel that cut both just and unjust. Sanguine eyes. Tired eyes. Hurt eyes. Cherry’s eyes betrayed all. The very color seemed to fade from her coat and mane as she choked back tears and struggled with her own doubts. Deep inside, Virtue felt a twinge of sadness, dutifully accented with the spark of concordance. He had been here once before. The love of his life had been his profession, his very lifestyle. The noble Destriers, protectors of Equestria and unfailing servants to the Sun Princess had consumed every waking moment. Honor, Valor, Duty, Justice; all by the Librum, all for the Princess. But then, betrayal—bittersweet betrayal. There was freedom. Freedom to act, freedom to roam, freedom to ensure that he could safeguard the future himself, not leaving it up to the likes of the Council. But with the freedom came grief, sorrow, heartache. The Order had turned its back on him, just like this Rich Tea had for Cherry. “Th-The stallions who tried to-to take me?” Cherry said unsteadily, her voice quivering. “Was one a blue pegasus and the other a sickly green earth pony with steel shoes?” “Yes,” Virtue said flatly, failing to inflect. The stirred emotions made him edgy, uneasy. “I sent them both crying back to their master, whoever that may be.” But with practiced logic once again surfacing, the knight was quick to add, “I believe there is far more to this story than one night in the lamp-lit streets of Fillydelphia…”

Keep in mind that a lot of the stuff in the show is played for gags. Twilight's computer was more of a trope played for laughs than an actual attempt to establish a technology level for the show. So while a bowling alley can run mechanically, I get the feeling that its inclusion was more to be a funny than anything else.

"Luna!" Celestia said firmly, looking down into her sister's eyes. It was no use. Luna was defiant-- terrified, but defiant-- eager to help just the same. There would be no sending her away. "There's no time to explain. We need to get out of here. Quickly!" The Doctor led them down corridor after corridor, dodging the spider-like creatures and bits of loose stone as they went. Dead ends and manasprite swarms broke their route, forcing them to continuously adjust until even Celestia was unsure of where exactly they were in the dungeons. Finally, out of all the dead ends and near misses, the ponies scrambled through an open door, the doctor quickly slamming it shut behind them and barring it closed. Though the manasprites scrabbled and scraped, they seemed to have great difficulty breaking through a physical barrier. In the ensuing lull, Celestia dared to breath a sigh of temporary relief. "Are you all right, sister?" the sun princess said, addressing Luna first. Celestia's ears perked up at the Doctor's words. "Manasprites?" The term resonated with her somewhere deep inside, whether it was because of some long forgotten memory or the veritable aetheric static they seemed to be projecting, Celestia did not know. Somehow the feeling was familiar… very familiar. That fact alone made Celestia very uncomfortable. The doctor continued on his mumblings; something about the Elements of Harmony, Discord's magicks, experiments. "Let us stay focused, doctor." The Sun Princess slowly looked about the room, a conference chamber of some sort. There really wasn't much room for maneuvering, but doors were present on all four walls, meaning they were not trapped in a dead end. Celestia began pacing around the table, trying to clear her head of the static and perhaps think of some way to escape. "If we cannot use magic to defeat them, doctor," she began, "then what do you propose? I need to know everything you know on these… manasprites."

Ambiguity has been addressed. He's now on the straight and narrow path after having an epiphany. Shall we give it another go?