CrossStitch

Honestly, I never really liked shipping much. When I was a part of the Homestuck fandom, I hated it.

But now, in the MLP Fandom, I absolutely love it. It may be because we have better artists, or writers, but I just simply love it. Literally, some of the fanfics I have read have made me cry. Also, some of the artwork I have seen has made me audibly D'AWW. I think I like it more simply because it's just cuter! It's simply adorable.

Hey there, Tom. You picked a swell place to begin your adventure into forum-ing. The community here is very kind and helpful.

Also, welcome to Canterlot! It's nice to have you here, and I hope you enjoy your stay.

Foxes are my favorite animal! You are quite alright by me.

Also, we tend to keep a 'Hate-Free' society here, so relax a tad! Welcome to Canterlot, please enjoy your stay.

Gladwin looked to Flux with a confused look. Had he learned any philosophies on his journey's? "Ah, I don't really think so. Probably the most important thing I learned though was 'Always smile.' I learned that from my parents. Griffin's are typically viewed as... Well, less then polite," He said with a chuckle, "From most ponies I've met, I can only guess we are kind of... 'Intimidating,' I suppose. So, I always smile, and I am always friendly." He looked up and gave a warm smile as he recalled his pleasant memories. "Sorry, Flux. Other then that, I've got nothing. I just make maps, I don't really study anything." He said with a nervous laugh.

He then turned to Cloton, "Sounds like it's quite a story. I'd love to hear about it." Gladwin was genuinely intrigued. It would be nice to hear about someone else's bad luck for once.

Gladwins eyes went a tad wide as he was mentioned. Colton had been included in the tour apparently, which caused Gladwin to feel a tad warm inside. It was always nice to meet kind and friendly ponies on his adventures. He could argue with himself that it was his favorite part of his job. His eyes went wide again though at the suggested point of interest. The top of Canterlot Castle, could they really go there? Was it allowed? Gladwin could see all of Canterlot from there, and still have a place to draw! It was a luxury he was never granted before. Often times he would have to fly high, and then remember the land below. "I'd love to!" Gladwin said, a little too loudly out of excitement. He then settled back down on his pillow with a slight red blush to his face.

"Ah, it smells great in here!" Gladwin announced as he walked into the shop. He looked around quickly, taking in the sights before him. It felt like any other Doughnut shop he had been in, which put his mind at east. He wouldn't enjoy eating in a big fancy restaurant. This caused a wide smile to creep across the griffin's beak as he continued to finish his entrance. Several ponies gave a quick glance to the party, but then they looked away. Gladwin gave a small breath of relief.

He walked forward to join Holly and Sketch, feeling more comfortable around the two. He then began walking to a table with four seats around it. Perfect for their party. "Over here looks like a nice spot." He said walking towards the table. "So, Holly, you were saying where you get your accent from...?" He asked. Gladwin felt a little rude not also addressing Conor and Sketch with a question, but Holly made him feel not as out of place in Canterlot.

Gladwin smiled widely between the two ponies, he loved talking about his job. "Yeah, a mapmaker. I fly around all of Equestria. Mapping roads, cities, forests, mountains, it's all loads of fun. Though, I haven't even explored half of this awesome world," Gladwin let out a small sigh at the thought, "So much to do, so little time." He said with a shake of his head.

He then turned to Flux, realizing she had actually spoken up, "Oh, hello... Flux, you said it was? The name is Gladwin." He said with a smile.

He then turned back to Colton, "In Aquellia, it is pretty cold. The Bad Lands are much worse though. To put it in perspective how cold it is, it's usually where you find dragons." He said, making a mean face to mimic a dragons. "And the higher you go, the chillier it gets. And for me to see all of the land below, I have to fly pretty high... Bad idea." he said with a nervous chuckle.

He then looked back down to his talon, after being questioned about his injury once more, "Well... I admit, I may have requested to be sent here... Honestly, I've never been to Canterlot." He said, wearing a sheepish grin.

Gladwin struggled to stifle a laughter at the pegasus' bad luck. "Sounds like a wardrobe malfunction." Gladwin lost it after his awful pun, and couldn't help but laugh. "It's nice to meet ya, Colton." Gladwin gave off a warm smile. He then looked past the pegasus and saw a unicorn approaching them. It was the same unicorn that the pegasus had entered with, so Gladwin just assumed they were friends. "The name's Gladwin. I'm a griffin from Talonpolis."

Gladwin looked to his injury when asked about it. "Let's see..." He looked back up to Colton, "I'm a mapmaker. I was up in Aquellia, because I was homesick. I decided mapping out the Bad Lands would be a good idea, since there aren't many maps of that area..." Gladwin trailed off, as this is where the story started to go wrong, "Well, I had been away for so long, I had gotten unused to the cold. My left wing here froze up," He pointed up to his wing that was now fully extended, "Fell down and landed on some rocks. Luckily a griffin patrol found me before anything too serious set in." Gladwin shook as he recalled how cold it was. "They sent me here to Canterlot, told me the doc here was one of the best."

Gladwin again stumbled. He was used to get bumped into now, so he wasn't really moved much this time. He let out a small sigh, that was also accompanied with a smile. Who couldn't laugh at the turn of events that has unfolded for Gladwin. He had just been bumped into by three ponies, all in the course of thirty minutes. "Hey Colton, the name's Gladwin. You alright, pal?" He asked the pegasus.

He then turned to Holly Dash, eager to respond to the vendor, "It's nice the meet ya Holly. The name's Gladwin." He wore a wide smile across his beak as he responded to the unicorn. "If you don't mind me saying, you don't sound like you're from around here." He said addressing Holly's accent. He then realized that what he had just said, may have come off as a bit offensive, "I don't mean anything mean by that, sorry. It's... Adorable." He said, giving the first noun that came to his mind when he thought of the accent. Adorable...? He thought to himself.

His stomach let out another growl, painful and loud. Food was all Gladwin had on his mind now, he walked to the door and opened it, holding it open for Sketch and Holly, "Colton, that was your name, right?" He said, looking to the pegasus, "Me and my friends were about to have lunch, come in and have a seat with us. Not every day you see a griffin after all." He said, referring to his own apparent rarity.

Cross-Stitch stopped outside of a building, obviously the cafe in question that he so enjoyed.

He turned to Quills, "Indeed, if you should wish to see any of my garments, just ask." A warm smile accompanied his equally friendly tone. "Ah, so you're an organizer? Perhaps even I could benefit from you dropping by my shop some time." Another laugh escaped him as he recalled the current state of his shop. He had just started planning a new line of clothing, so the shop was a complete and absolute mess. He made a mental note to himself to try to get a little bit of organization going when he returned.

He then turned to address Moondrop, "A toy maker? I've never met one with such a career before. It would be lovely to see some of your toys, if that is quite alright with you?" He said, flashing a smile. He tried to be as friendly as possible when meeting new ponies. You never know who you will meet in Canterlot, after-all.

He then finally looked to Lightshow, "And a gardener, eh? My my, aren't we the party?" He said, adding another giggle. "Well, again, it is quite nice to meet you all." He said, glancing to the other ponies. His gaze fell to Moondrop though. He had never met a toy maker, and he wondered how the thoughts of a toy maker differed from those of a clothes maker. They were both of creation crafts, crafting wonderful things for the public. He then realized his gaze had lingered too long whilst he dabbled in his thoughts. He quickly looked away, muttering a small apology under his breath.

Gladwin raised up and composed himself quickly after hearing a voice address him. He had been in the waiting room for so long, he had basically disregarded any voice or noise as something that would be addressing him. He looked up to see a pegasus, the same pegasus that he was curious about earlier. Looking at his wing made him cringe again, but he recomposed himself quickly. "Hey, me? Yeah, just a little sprain in the talon." He said with a laugh, he also brought his left talon up for the pegasus to look at, even though it hurt slightly to be pulled on by gravity. He also knew it was more then a simple sprain, a sprain wouldn't hurt this bad. "What about you pal? That wing sure doesn't look healthy..." He said, trying to keep the small talk going.

(( HAH! The moment I was waiting for! ))

Gladwin was seated nearby on a pillow, every now and then pecking at his left wing, "I tell ya, I may have been born in Aquellia, but you never get used to the cold..." Gladwin spoke to himself as he pecked at his wind, fixing some out of place feathers. He stretched his large wings out, testing them. "Well, at least those are fine..." He said. His vision then fell to his left talon. He had a makeshift splint on it, keeping it in place. The memories of his crash were all too fresh in his mind, which made him cringe. He let out a sigh and raised his head, only to find two new occupants in the room at the front desk.

Something seemed urgent, obviously. It wasn't hard to see though, that pegasi's wing looked kind of... Wrong. The thought again made Gladwin cringe. He let out another breath, feeling lucky that he didn't mess either of his wings up. He then began wondering if his wings were stronger then a pegasi's wings. A small audible 'Hmm' was heard from Gladwin as he contemplated the strength of his own wings. Well, they DID survive the crash after-all. He wondered what the pegasus had gotten into to pull off such an injury. Gladwin was about to stand to go and ask for himself, but the sharp jolt of pain from his broken talon, made him collapse back to his pillow. He gritted his teeth hard as not to let out a noise. He then let out a breath as the pain passed. Several curses could be heard from under Gladwin's breath.

(( I had just taken my last final Tuesday. Best of luck with you finals! ))

Gladwin's curiosity was peaked, "Pet project?" he asked. Suddenly, he felt his entire body stop. Something had hit him, or he had walked into something. It was soft though, and he rebounded from the obstacle, taking a few steps back as to not topple over. "I just keep bumping into ponies today..." He said, cheerfully. He smoothed his feathers down and then looked up to see who, or what, he had ran into.

It was a unicorn, making Gladwin suddenly want to apologize for bumping into an important pony. Before he could speak up though, the young unicorn was already uttering apologies. Before Gladwin could even apologize as well, the unicorn was asking what a griffin like him was doing in Canterlot. Gladwin took a second to think, I guess griffin's are quite rare... he thought to himself. Before he could even answer that question though, the unicorn was going on about the doughnut shop before the trio. Gladwin smiled and tried to speak up once more, but the unicorn then began apologizing again, and offering him some fruit.

Gladwin couldn't help but laugh, "Hey, it's no big deal. I wasn' t watching where I was going." Gladwin then realized that the pony was speaking with a 'Not-So-Canterlot' accent, which calemd the griffin down a bit, happy to be meeting another pony who was, hopefully, from outside Canterlot. "As for what I'm doing, I'm a map maker. Just dropping by to map out the city." Gladwin looked back to the restaurant then to the unicorn in front of him, "Fruit...? No thanks, but me and my friend here were about to have lunch. Care to join us...?" Gladwin then realized he didn't know the unicorns name, and left his sentence hanging, hopefully to be filled in by the unicorn.

He then turned to Sketch, "Yeah, tell me about it. Or a big flashing sign that says 'Obstacle." Gladwin couldn't help but to let out another warm laugh at the thought. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" He said looking again to the unicorn.

(( To keep order, let's say the post order is CrossStitch, Knight, Imagination. Is everyone OK with this? ))

"Yeah, dumb luck, maybe." Said Gladwin as he let out a warm laugh. He never really considered himself lucky, then again he's never thought twice about his escapades. Thinking back on it, he supposed that he could consider himself lucky. Dragons, freezing, crashing, getting lost, hydras... All of Equestria was filled with so many dangerous things, it was quite a lucky thing to be alive.

Gladwin dropped the negative thoughts, returning to the subject at hand, "Drawing portraits for fancy, important ponies, eh? I bet the pay is good." Gladwin realized that to have big, important customers in Canterlot, would mean that the artist would have to have great skill, Gladwin made a mental note to ask to see one of Sketch's drawings over lunch. His thought train was cut off by Sketch's sudden stop, and it took a while for Gladwin to realize why. He looked up to see a sign, 'Pony Joe's'. Gladwin smiled at how casual the place seemed and began walking forward again and through the doors. The pleasant aroma of doughnuts hit Gladwins nostrils, which caused him to inhale the scent deeply. He let out a small sigh, "That smells amazing!" He basically shouted, not thinking to control his volume. "Hey, thanks for showing me the way here, Sketch. Want to stay and have lunch? My treat."

Hello, Leon! I'm going to call you Leon, I like the name Leon.

So Leon, you say you draw a lot. Do you have a deviantArt? I love looking at other peoples drawings.

Also, welcome to Canterlot! I hope you enjoy your time here.

Gladwin began following Sketch, eager to finally have some food to fill his stomach. It was quiet for a little bit, until Sketch asked Gladwin about his latest map. Gladwin's face lit up with a smile, he loved talking about his maps and his adventures in Equestria. "My latest map? The last place I visited was Talonpolis, one of the bigger, if not THE biggest, Griffin settlement. I was feeling a bit out of place being around ponies for so long, so I just HAD to visit some of my own kind." Gladwin began to recall his adventure in his memory, trying to remember all of the details, "But , being so close to the Bad Lands, you never know WHAT will happen. I learned that the hard way." Gladwin added a small laugh, "You see, I have a bad habit of flying too high, but it helps me get a better view of the area. Well, flying high is something you don't want to do in the Bad Lands. You see, the higher you fly, the colder it gets, and it's practically freezing in the Bad Lands." Gladwin felt a chill go down his spine as he recalled the cold all too familiarly, "Long story short, my wings froze up, and I ended up in a hospital for a few months. Pretty lucky that no dragons found me." He added in another laugh.

Another growl from his stomach caused Gladwin to cringe. He sped his walking pace up to be walking beside Sketch, "What about you? Done any drawings for any of these 'important' ponies?"

Hmm... I'll give some possibilities:

-Got his cutie mark after seeing a comet

-Was afraid of the dark as a filly

-Got lost one day, and was afraid because it was night, but was able to use the north star to guide him home, getting him over his fear of the dark

-Prefers sleeping outside, on clouds, as opposed to being under any kind of roof

That' about all I got...

Make the character interesting, and not like any other pony. Give him a story that gives him life. Don't let it be just another cardboard character, make him real.

With Gladwin being a griffin, and Aquellia being his place of birth, I'm sure I could work him into an RP there.

Aquellia, in general, does only have 9 topics, making it the second least active board. So, I'm all for getting some more life in Aquellia.

So, I'm interested in this project, indeed. My question is though, with the sprites found, what else would you be needing help on? Or were you just looking for sprite artists?

In my opinion...

May the Best pet win, Sonic Rainboom, Over a Barrel, and Mare Do Well may be some good starting episodes.

I also love the image that Tales posted earlier... Perhaps we could fashion up a more current and up to date one?

Gladwin now wore a very proud smile. He loved talkign about his maps, and his many adventures, "Yeah! I've been all over Equestria! Or, that's what it feels like anyways." He said with an embarrassed look. He always got carried away when it came to his adventures. "Maybe at least half..." He added in a small nervous laugh. But someday... Someday I'll be able to say it and meant it. His thoughts echoed with a voice of superiority in his head. Those thoughts were then butted out by thoughts of food, and his stomach giving another growl, reminding him to eat.

"Yeah, I'm starving over here." Gladwin said as he put his talon to his stomach, which was now in pain. Gladwin's eyebrow twitched a bit, "A doughnut shop!?" He said, excitedly. It shouldn't of came as any surprise, considering the sheer size of Canterlot, there was bound to be an awesome doughnut store somewhere. But to be so close to where he was, Gladwin considered himself very lucky. Not only were these delicious doughnuts, but these were delicious doughnuts of Canterlot! Why, these could be the greatest doughnuts in all of Equestria for all Gladwin knew. He felt his mouth start to produce more saliva at the thought. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, before they got too out of control. "That actually sounds great! Ah... I hate to ask, but could you lead the way?" Gladwin said with another nervous smile.

Gladwin wore a look of surprise, "An artist? That's awesome!" Gladwin always was a fan of art. He loved visiting art gallery's in the towns he visited, perhaps this unicorn knew of one? He would have to remember to ask him.

Gladwin became more surprised when he was asked where he was from. It was always difficult explaining where he was from. "Well, I was hatched in Rockwington... But due to..." Gladwin paused, he bit his lip and wondered how to proceed with his story, "Complications, I moved in with my aunt and uncle in Cloudsdale, which is where I grew up. Now, I just travel, making maps." Gladwin smiled, relieved that he successfully got his story across, at least he hoped that he did.

Gladwin thought for a second, then decided now was probably a good time to ask, "So, you frequent Canterlot often, huh?" He said looking around once more, "You wouldn't happen to know of any nice places to grab a bite to eat, would you?" One of Gladwin's eyebrows raised, giving off a curious look. Not only would this show Gladwin more of the city, but it would also help him settle his now growling stomach. Flying ALWAYS makes me hungry... He thought to himself.

"It's nice to meet ya, Sketch!" Gladwin said with a smile. In his head, he seemed to piece together a few things about the unicorn. It seemed he wasn't exactly calm. Gladwin tried to seem friendlier in his tone, and in his actions He hated upsetting ponies, or making them feel awkward, simply because he was a new face. Besides, Gladwin had to find somepony that could tell him the ins and outs of Canterlot, and who better then a Stallion Unicorn from Canterlot?

"Business?" Gladwin seemed to ponder on the question. Technically, he wasn't asked to come to Canterlot, nor was he here for any particular reason. But he did intend on mapping the place out and possibly selling the map later, could that be considered business? Gladwin shook his head to clear his thoughts, but to also convey his next message, "Nah, I'm not here on business, just dropping by so to speak. I've never been to Canterlot before, and I've heard so much about it, so I just had to visit it." He said looking up and around, "The welcome I got was... Less then nice, unfortunately." He said in a condescending tone, obviously upset about the display the ponies in town put on. He sighed and let his anger out, as not to come on as intimidating.

"What about you, Sketch? You have business here?"

I'm not much of a tablet user...

But I've heard that Paintbrush Sai is an amazing program to use. I notice that a lot of the "Ask Pony" Tumblr's use it as well. I've used it a little bit to do smaller things, like tracing lines and such, and I must say it is quite a handy program to have. You may want to look into it.

If you're wanting to make friends and talk pony, you've come to the right place!

Pull up a chair, make yourself at home! This community is the nicest, and funnest, community I've been a part of for a while. Welcome to Canterlot, and please enjoy your time.