Dio

One final note. Reading up on the responsibilities and role of officers in your country's (if you're not in the US) military will be helpful in roleplaying, especially when dealing with other military ponies. We seem to have had a lot of them pop up lately. Also, you may want to look at the Royal Equestrian Army thread. The information there isn't show canon per se, but it may be helpful for creating story ideas or establishing relationships with other military ponies.

As for the application, it looks good to me.

Added hex codes for his color scheme for artist reference. Corrected color name for his mane. The color I was thinking of was rust, but I originally listed it as bronze.

For the most part, I really like Midnight. I'm really interested in seeing how other people will play military ponies, especially how they deal with issues like females in the military. Midnight's history for herself is well thought-out and very thorough. I would make sure to add her rank, though. It would make it easier for other military ponies to interact with her and give you an idea of whether you should play her as an enlisted soldier or an officer. Since she was platoon leader, I'm going to go out on a limb and say lieutenant (officer), though a rank of staff sergeant or sergeant first class (enlisted) would also be appropriate.

However, one thing still bothers me. From your description, Midnight is obviously very concerned with the well-being of her child. Also from the description, she lives in a very secluded area. How does she raise her child if she needs to leave for unsteady work to earn the bits to buy supplies? Also, in order for Hopesong to truly thrive, she'll need an education and friends, neither of which can be acquired in isolation with a mom who has to work extra hard to make ends meet. As Hopesong is a major part of Midnight's story, some additional exposition will be needed.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Come on out and don't be shy! We've got something for everybrony here. You'll probably notice that you don't have access to the rest of the boards yet, but that's okay, it's just our anti-spam setup. Just make 5 posts here in the intro section and the rest of the boards will unlock.

The Getting Started section has our rules and regs and general housekeeping stuff listed. If you still need help after reading it, you can always contact myself or one of our other dedicated staffers. Their names appear on the portal page. Again, welcome to Canterlot! We hope you enjoy your stay!

I think from reading all the other intro posts you already have the drill down pat, so I'll spare you the theatrics

Welcome to Canterlot! From our IRC chatter I think you'll fit right in. If you need any additional clarification about how we run things here, rules are in the Getting Started section and we've got a dedicated team of staffers always willing to lend a helping hoof. If you've got questions, just ask!

“Fine,” the Peryton said curtly.

Rook was nonplussed. He could tell she was lying. The nervous tick she developed in her right ear, the inability to keep eye contact, the subtle increase in breathing rhythm—all pointed to someone who was trying to hide something from him. Why would an injured patient withhold information that could potentially save her life?

Rook frowned on the inside, though his face remained expressionless on the outside. He’d seen cases like this before in the Griffon lands shortly before he left. Two causes immediately surfaced in his mind—war trauma and abuse. Seeing as the peryton was hardly old enough to be fighting in any border conflict in any nearby land, Rook leaned towards the latter. Children would retreat into themselves when hurt—anything else he asked her would likely be counterproductive.

The unicorn sighed. His specialty was traumatic physical injury. Everything else was just snippets of general knowledge. He was hardly a psychologist or an expert pediatrician. But he was the only one at the clinic who seemed willing or able to treat the young peryton.

Rook was contemplative for a moment before dusting off the bedside chair and pulling up a small rolling table with magic. As he lay down on the little couch, he lit his horn again, pulling the curtains aside to show that there were no secrets, no austere rooms with monsters.

Sunshine flooded the infirmary chambers, illuminating everything in warm hues and comforting rays. The beach was visible from the nearest window and in the distance, the cape with the Hoofington Lighthouse standing upon it. Rook hoped that seeing actual sunlight and the outdoors would help relax his charge.

“Nurse, be a dear and please get me some tea.” He said to the purple unicorn who had just finished replacing some medical supplies. The mare nodded and scurried off. The doctor turned back to Snow, smiling warmly, doing his best to put his grim countenance and his knowledge of her injuries behind him. “It appears I’m off my game today, as it were. It might be easier if you asked me the questions. Ask away. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Hopefully, being open and friendly would do better for winning her confidence…

Princess Luna needs to accompany me to university and send whoever makes fun of me into the sun.

We've been having some issues with the database. About 2 and a half hours ago, there was a glitch in the system that screwed up Tapatalk integration and prevented proper browser logins. Artax restored the database from a backup, which may have caused what you're writing about. I believe we may be seeing residual effects from that now. I will bring this up with the staff and remind Artax at my next opportunity.

[WIP] removed, up for evaluation.

Dub V represent. It still amazes me that some US citizens don't realize West Virginia is a state.

I love you.

lol but you hardly know me

Don't worry, she hardly knows me, either, but she hates me

I don't play sports in a conventional sense. I've never had any particular interest in football, soccer, or basketball either participating or spectating. However, I am athletic and do hike and climb and shoot. For a while, I wanted to shoot competition rifle before real life got in the way.

However, if you count airsoft as a sport, I'm an avid player and technician. My squad travela to various events around western PA and we hope to some day save up enough money to go to a national level operation like OP: Irene. Google that if you want to see some crazy airsoft stuff.

Sir Virtue

Librum and Council be damned. I have pledged my allegiance to Celestia Invictus and that pledge still stands whether I fight alone or with my Brother Cavaliers!

Name: Sir Virtue, former knight of the Holy Order of the Destriers

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Pegasus

Coat Color: Bone white (#F6EDC6) coat with rust-colored (#AC2B0C) fetlocks. Rust-colored blaze. Rust-colored stripes occur in tight triplet bands just below his shoulders on his upper front legs. Pinion feathers are also rust.

Mane/Tail Color & Style: Rust-colored mane with alternating stripes of bone white. Mane is kept trimmed very short. Tail is solid rust color and allowed to grow longer.

Eye Color: Green.

Cutie Mark: The scales of justice balanced on the point of a sword-- a reminder that even in a world of peace and balance, a knight must remain ready to defend his values with sharpness of wit, strength of resolve, and if necessary, force of arms.

Physique: Tall and lean, the product of martial training with the Destriers as a knight of the order.

Origin: Grew up in Solstice Heights. Was assigned to various locations across Greater Equestria. Currently traveling.

Occupation: Former Knight of the Holy Order of the Destriers. Traveling swordsman on a journey of self-rediscovery. Works odd jobs here and there for personal upkeep.

Motivation: Continue to serve the Princess and the Destriers, bringing positive change to the order. Reclaim his honor in the eyes of his Brother Cavaliers. Virtue is not naturally petty, though he does hold some degree of resentment to the Council for ousting him as they did. Thus revenge is always in the back of his mind, though he does his best to purge it from his thoughts.

Likes: Hoofington Pale Ale, mead, proper swordplay, ponies with heart, good flying weather, ice cream, tea, fireflies, pineapple

Dislikes: Dogmatic ponies, bullies, injustice, sloppy work, being made a fool of, defeatism and quitters, excessive debauchery, cockroaches

Character History

Virtue is the latest in a long line of nobles to have served in the Holy Order of the Destriers. His family is well known for being devout followers of the Librum Dextrarius, with several elders serving on the High Council. The younger members of the family were expected to take up the mantle of Knight of the Order, becoming Brother Cavaliers in service to the order and the Princess.

Like his biological brothers, Virtue had little idle time, training with the other colts in the art of sword when he was not religiously studying the text of the Librum Dextrarius. Virtue was soon found to be dexterous of hoof and strong of heart. His martial skills and his determination to succeed catapulted him to the top of his class in both martial and academic studies. Eventually, he earned the right to call himself Brother Cavalier and joined the ranks of the Knights of the Order.

At first, Virtue could not have been happier. His entire life had been preparation for his promotion. However, as he continued to observe and learn, he found the Council and his superiors to be dogmatic, prudish, and unwilling to change in the face of overwhelming societal forces. The Order was stagnating. Virtue's pleas for reform were met with vehement opposition and dogged immobilism.

The Order realized that Virtue was falling out of line and issued reprimands for his perceived insubordination, deploying him and his unit on long deployments in out of the way locations. On one of these deployments, an accident during a routine training drill resulted in the death of one of his subordinates, which was enough to allow the council to strip him of his Cavalier title. Disillusioned with his former dream job, Virtue packed his saddlebags and left, leaving behind his family and the Order he once loved. He refused to relinquish his sword Aequitas, much to the chagrin of the Council.

The only place where Virtue's particular skill set would be useful would be the military, but as they blacklist members of the Destriers, Virtue was immediately rejected as an officer candidate. Frustrated with his inability to integrate with both his former fraternity and society proper, Virtue wanders Equestria, living off the land and doing odd jobs for bits while searching for his place in a world that seems to have left him behind.

Character Summary

Virtue is a pony in flux. As he has not been out of the service of the Destriers for long, he still retains his knowledge of the Librum Dextrarius, its four pillars, and a dogged determination to see justice be done to those who would do evil. At the same time, he is disillusioned with the highly dogmatic teachings and rigid training regimens that Destrier recruits undergo. Thus, he is torn between the purity of the values taught by the Librum and the desire for revenge against the Council's perceived betrayal. A large part of Virtue's personal conflict is attempting to reconcile his own ingrained training and sense of justice with his belief that progress is to be embraced and not resisted.

Virtue is not a pony who shows kindness openly. Partly because of his natural countenance and partly because of his falling out with the Destriers, Virtue comes off as a very grim and uncompromising pony. However, he will never hesitate to step in when somepony's life is in danger. Virtue realizes that he comes off as intimidating at times and does his best to improve both his own attitude and circumstances. While he is not naturally bubbly, he is highly determined and very stubborn, though he is reluctant to commit to most things unless he has a solid reason to do so.

Gear

Aequitas (Destrier Long Sword): Just as much a work of art as it is a weapon, Virtue's sword is crafted and balanced specifically for him. Capable of being used either braced against his hoof as a puncturing weapon or wielded in the mouth as a slashing weapon, Aequitas is both versatile and deadly. Magical runes scribed along the flat of the blade keep Aequitas' edge sharp even in the most challenging of conditions and proudly proclaim the sword's purpose of bringing justice to those who would do evil.

Bracers: Layered canvas bracers with steel reinforcements and latches, Virtue's bracers allow him to quickly fix Aequitas to a hoof or transfer it back to his mouth to rapidly change his fighting style and direction of attack or defense.

Saddlebags: Containing little more than basic trail rations, a copy of the Librum Dextrarius, a journal and pen, and a utility knife, Virtue's saddlebags hold all he was able salvage from his former life before his unceremonious expulsion from the Destriers.

Skill Set

Swordsmanship: Destriers are well-known for their artful use of swords and Virtue is no exception.

Command: As a former chapter leader and Brother Captain, Virtue has a firm grasp of tactics and how to motivate his charges.

Wilderness Survival: His assignments to faraway lands and his journey on the road has taught Virtue hard lessons about living off the land and improvising solutions to problems that occur where help is not easy to come by.

Many thanks to ChelseaGold for the picture!

It's an interesting thought that really hadn't crossed my mind until you mentioned it. I may work elements of that into the whole Dio and James dynamic, since at this point, Dio is pretty much consigned to spectating as James bumbles around in Equestria. As soon as the initial shock of the situation and the basic necessity of survival wears off, I think the deeper philosophical questions may arise.

Happy birthday, chief. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. But if you do, be sure to name it after me!

It's nice to see people trying to give the military some life-- even better to see some more veterans.

First some nitpicky stuff. If he lost his entire unit to a wild creature and did not attempt to disengage but instead fought it to the death, there would probably be a court martial or at the very least an inquest into the matter. The presence or absence of a a court martial won't prevent character approval, I just thought it could use some fleshing out. It may even be an additional RP hook for you to use later!

Other than that minor detail, the history is good. I do think that your personality could use a little additional exposition. What does "kooky old man" entail? Does he space out? Does he troll the colts and fillies with stories about his soldiering days? Does he always try to one-up other soldiers or up and coming officers? Also, how much association does he have with the military now that he's been discharged? Is he still keeping in touch with his buds? Does he have connections high up in the chain of command? Answering these questions might give some idea of how he would react in certain situations and give you a peek into the psychology of the character.

Finally, you may want to take a look at my Royal Equestrian Army thread. It's not board canon yet, but it may give you some ideas of your own and where to take either Czar or any future military OCs you create.

@Diomedes...

you put soda on your whiskey?? brony im dissapoint

The question was how I liked my soda, not how I liked my whiskey

But for srs now. I usually drink Coke, though I seem to have developed a taste for diet coke because of both D&D (the guys who brought soda always brought diet) and library study sessions. For floats, I love Saranac's root beer. For fruity soda, Fanta orange is always great.

James rolled his head away from the ground, his vision swimming from the shock and every muscle in his body aching from a veritable cornucopia of minor injuries sustained during the crash. The pink blob in front of him wavered before slowly coalescing into the shape of a very confused pink unicorn. James cursed himself silently for attracting the attention of another of Equestria's native inhabitants before he could find the rest of his companions.

However, there was something oddly familiar about this one. James couldn't quite put his finger—hoof rather—on it. When she opened her mouth, however, it all fell into place. The nervous pacing, the stilted speech when confronted with odd situations, the voice wavering on the edge of tears—he wasn't the only one stuck in Equestria.

'Jen?'

'Friend of yours?' Diomedes asked. James could picture him raising an eyebrow in his mind's eye. He ignored the additional voice in his head.

'Dio?'

'Jen? Jen! It's me!' James said, jumping up on all fours suddenly. As he was still shocked from the crash, he tottered around unsteadily for a moment before plopping down firmly on his haunches. 'It's James! I know I look like Dio, but I'm not! Well, not exactly. Dio's still there somewhere.'

'Smooth, chief,' Diomedes said flatly.

'Shut up!' It took James a second to realize that he'd said it out loud. Though he wasn't addressing Jen, his ears drooped and his cheeks burned when he realized he had just yelled it in her face. 'Okay. Let me start over. Dio's still in my head and I'm stuck in his body. I guess this is what I get for not actually having a pony-sona planned out and embedding pieces of my personality in my OCs…'

'I take it she's not an Equestria native either. But I give you credit for picking your mares.' James gritted his teeth, but said nothing. This was never going to end, was it?

"Oh... Dio? You okay?"

The sound of another voice caused James to jerk his head around to face it. The blue Pegasus who had addressed him greeted him with familiarity. To James, however, the voice was only distantly familiar—it was obviously not somepony he knew well. Suddenly it hit him. Jen brought someone to the bar last night… started with an 'E'… Elsa? Elsie? Erika?

'It's James… just call me James," he said, purposely avoiding her name, seeing as he couldn't remember it for the life of him.

"Nothing's broken on either me or Jen as far as I can tell,' the red Pegasus said, rubbing his head with a hoof. 'I see I'm not the only one with a—ahem—pony problem.'

The kind that comes with whiskey and rocks.

Y U NO LUNA ?

But Nightmare Moon is still awesome.

Sorry, boss!

The application as it stands is fine. The portrayal of Cherry's family and her view of their actions is up to you to act out in your RPs. This has come a long way since I first began reviewing it and I think your reworked concept has potential. It's up to you now to realize it. Assessed.

'You sure flying is such a good idea? I can still sense what's going on with my body and I'm pretty sure whatever you drank last night carried over and ruined MY morning.'

'Can it, Dio. It's my morning, too, and b****ing about my handling of my body isn't really helping,' James said as he stood up.

Standing proved to be a mistake, as vertigo quickly overtook him, causing him to face plant straight into a conveniently placed sticker bush. The Pegasus whinnied in both pain and frustration as he flailed his hooves wildly before managing to extricate himself from the situation. James rolled over onto his back, wincing at the newfound cuts on his neck and face. He growled mentally as his head was filled with the riotous laughter of Diomedes.

'Such form, such grace! Oh, ponyfeathers, I'd give that an 8 out of 10! You're good for the Wonderbolts with that one, chief!'

James grumbled incoherently before answering. 'Water.'

The red Pegasus gingerly stood up, carefully placing one hoof in front of the other. James wasn't used to locomotion on four legs, at times finding himself attempting to adopt a bipedal stance—something equine anatomy was not designed to do. Finally, he was able to bumble his way to the nearby stream where he dunked his head in the water and took a good long drink. The cool, fresh water of the stream was oddly refreshing, even managing to settle his churning stomach and staunch his otherwise unquenchable thirst from the prior night's dehydration spree.

'Guh, better,' James blubbered, withdrawing his face from the rapidly flowing water. 'Wings. I need to know how to use them.'

'You flap them and you fly,' Diomedes replied flatly.

"Thank you captain obvious," James retorted, wiping stray droplets of water from his muzzle with a fetlock. He extended his wings again, hesitating at how he should go about attempting to fly. He had written Diomedes as the premier purveyor of packages at altitude. But whereas Dio knew how to fly, James didn't. Crashing and breaking every bone in his new body was not the first thing on James' priority list.

'Go on. Show me what you've got.'

'Shut up!' James growled as he took off running across the clearing, wings flapping wildly and half-coordination. Unsteadily at first, but with renewed confidence as he hit his stride, James lifted himself into the air, laughing heartily as his wings allowed him to ascend above the canopy. 'What do you think of that?'

'Sloppy, even for me. You're going to make me look bad, James.'

'Considering these muscles don't even exist in a human body, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of making it work.'

'Human? As in the mythological creature?'

James raised an eyebrow. 'I thought you could access my memories. You knew my name, didn't you?'

'Not entirely. Your mind isn't exactly the friendliest place for a stranger. I know your base attitudes and whether or not you're familiar with what you're looking at, but that's about it.'

'True,' James laughed. 'I think once you get to know me better, though, you'll find that I'm a nice guy.'

James cut his laughter short as a stray gust jostled him. With no real flight experience, James flapped frantically to correct, causing him to spiral back down towards the canopy with alarming speed. 'Oh god oh god oh god oh—'

'Flare! FLARE NOW!'

'How do I flare???'

'Flight feathers out, wings tipped upwards! Do it now before we hit the trees!'

Doing his best to get a grip on himself, James did as he was instructed, stretching out his wings to their full extent and tipping them upwards as instructed. His flight feathers billowed out like a natural parachute, catching his fall and slowing his descent. James breathed a sigh of relief as he slowly began drifting upwards after having his fall arrested.

'Don't forget to flap or you'll—' Dio's warning came too late, as James's neglect of his airspeed caused him to drop out of the sky like a rock. '—STALL!'

'Oh god oh god oh god oh—' James flapped vainly as he attempted to stabilize his descent. Taking what little he'd learned about flight from his first takeoff, he did his best to steer towards a small clearing in the trees. When his hooves touched the ground, he thought for one fleeting instant that he'd be able to stick the landing and that everything would be all right.

Once again, James was wrong. As he touched down, his front hooves caught on something, stopping them cold. The rest of his body, still subject to inertia, was sent tumbling end over end in a mess of fur, feathers, and curses. James could feel every bump, scrape, and bruise forming on his body as he skidded and rolled, finally coming to rest—thankfully— without hitting any trees or rocks.

The red Pegasus slowly opened his eyes, finding himself at the feet of a certain pink unicorn...