Imagination

The more he listened to their Master lay out the setting, the more excited he seemed to get. He could so come up with an awesome character for this! In fact having restricted classes would narrow down his ideas, which were flooding into his head. A dashing rogue, hiding in the shadows? A strong knight, giving a hardy laugh in the face of danger? The wise wizard, holding the power of Gods in his hooves? So many interesting possibilities... But he also had to remember, he was new at this! Even if he came up with a character he thought was neat, it might end up being a pain to play! He still had to get used to all the rules and how each class worked and such. He was tempted to ask which one would be suitable for a beginner... buuuut... He kept the question to himself.

[colour=#ffa500]"I, uhhh... I guess I'll stick with what's familiar and go with a Unicorn Wizard?"[/colour] So he had the race figured out... Now as for the class... he saw immediately what he wanted to be. [colour=#ffa500]"I think I'll take the Warpriest! That sounds pretty cool!"[/colour] he seemed to be getting more and more excited about the game as the character was fleshed out before him... he even started coming up with a back-story for him warpriest! How exciting! A smile finally appeared on the artist's face as ideas churned in his noggin.

But, soon he cleared his throat, realizing he should probably ask how to proceed from there before jumping too far into his machinations. [colour=#ffa500]"Anyway, yeah... Unicorn Warpriest... What do I do now...?"[/colour]

Ruby heard the knock at the door, and in record time the pink blur made it there to answer it. Of course her bed was still half-made, but who cares? Apple Pie was here! The door came open with the little unicorn on the attack! She leaped forward and gave her friend a big hug. [colour=#ee82ee]"YAAAY! You're here! Oh Celestia this is going to be so much fun! I can't believe you're going to be here a whole weekend! It's going to be the best weekend ever! So awesome!"[/colour] The giddy filly let go of her guest to let her inside at long last.

[colour=#ee82ee]"Mommy! Apple Pie's here!" [/colour]

Of course, from here, it was only going to get better. Berry could let her know where she could put her things and lay down whatever 'ground rules' they were probably going to break anyway. The little filly was way to excited to worry about rules. For now, anyway. She knew not to push her mother too far.

Pinchy was about to voice the logical objection that nopony currently on the train has any experience with locomotives and their engine systems, nor do they know when the next station will be upon them and how to use the brakes to stop at said station. Quite clearly the best possible solution was to unhook the car and let the train come to a complete and safe stop while the engine continues onward. After all, the find gentlecolts who she presumed were the engineers will indubitably report the wild train and the car would be found assuredly.

But before she could say any of that stuff, Valen went on ahead to search the cars they were trying to disconnect. Oh well! Fixing her Daring Do hat, she went onward to assist with the search, though her #1 focus was still stopping the train. So they wouldn't... You know, die. It was either that, or the train would just keep going forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever! They'd become train bums! Or the train would run out of fuel, and and and they'd get stranded in space somehow! That'd be cool! To become an astronaut because of a runaway train!

Or the train would stop in the middle of nowhere... Except for the train astronaut thing, it didn't seem all that appealing either way.

[colour=#ee82ee]"CHIIIIIIP~!"[/colour] she called, trying to bring her voice above the sound of the speeding train

[Reserved for future/ unfinished gifts!]

[colour=#0000ff]Here is a very lovely piece of writing and pictures by Alison Rose![/colour]

[colour=#0000ff]Adorableness by LovinMoonlight![/colour]

[colour=#0000ff][/colour]

[colour=#0000ff]Pretty Prancing Ponies by Dunes![/colour]

Word soon got out about this 'open letter' opportunity. A pretty bold move on the part of the Princesses, since they were likely going to be flooded with mail asking all sorts of questions! How exciting!

Well, there was a silly filly in Ponyville that was going to take advantage of such an opportunity! After writing down the address she had to send the letter off to, the pink unicorn ran home as fast as her little hooves could carry her! A quick hello to her mother, and Pinchy hoisted herself up onto the table, paper laid flat and pencil levitating at the ready! She was so excited! She had never written a Princess before! She knew of the Princesses, sure, and had caught a glimpse of Celestia once, and saw Luna during Nightmare Night, but never actually met them. What was she going to write, though? It had to be something nice... What did Princesses like to talk about?

How about tea parties? Pinchy liked tea parties... She always imagined Princesses must too...

Celestia's Beard!

She got an idea! She was shaking with excitement at the very thought of this idea coming to fruition! Maybe she could invite one of them to her home! For tea! Oh wow, that would be so cool! Get to have tea with a Princess?! She had to word this carefully... It has to be a nice letter! But to which Princess? Maybe all three? No, that would be too much... She had never seen Cadance before... Didn't know much about her either. Maybe Celestia? Actually... Luna seemed nice, and she liked pranks, sometimes! Just like Pinchy! Or so she gathered from Nightmare Night. Luna it was!

Dear Princess Luna' date='

Hi!

My name is Ruby Pinch, a filly from Ponyville!

I saw you during Nightmare Night and I think you're really cool!

I never wrote a letter to a Princess before! I hope I'm being polite enough.

Anyway, I just wanted to write you and let you know that I think you're really neat and nice and pretty and funny! But I also wanted to ask if maybe you wanted to come to my house for tea sometime? It would be super awesome, and we could talk about all kinds of stuff!

Either way, hope to hear back from you! Writing to you is real exciting!

Love,

Pinchy [/quote']

Little Pinchy looked over her shoulder at the inquiring mare, eyes shifting this way and that. Did her mother really know she didn't pick up her room? Those two stuffed animals on the floor and that unmade bed were an eyesore! And... Oh Celestia, her math homework! Wait... No, she did that. Repressed memory. Ugh, she hated math. And creative writing. And history now that she thought about it. Lunch and recess were her favorite subjects.

Aside from a partially messy room, she did all her chores for the day. Or at least she did them all as best she could remember. A quick "Nope!" sounded from the filly and her face immediately returned to the close proximity of the glass. But that nipping guilt stung at the back of her head! Her room was a mess! A pigsty! It looked like a bull ran through there! Oh her mother was going to be so disappointed that she lied! Pinchy wasn't a liar! She was just excited! No, she wasn't going to hurt mommy's feelings!

Quick! Think of something pink thing!

"Uhhhh actually I think I left something in my room!" she bolted off to her bedroom. Oh goodness! She picked up the two animals and rearranged them in their proper place. Now for the bed. She could play it off! Yeah! Smoothing out the sheet and throwing the blanket over, she let it drape over the sides of the bed. Oh, no, you could still see the bumps from the wrinkled up sheet underneath! She quickly got to work to make it look presentable.

This was so exciting! She could hardly wait! She couldn't wait! When was she going to get here? How long was she gonna stay? What kind of stuff were they gonna do?!

The vineyard was going to have a special guest tonight! One of Pinchy's little friends! She didn't think Berry was going to let them play outside at all, cuz it was too dark and a bit close to the forest. But that was fine by her. Not that she was scared of the dark! Nope! She'd never admit that to nopony! No way no how! But anywho, more importantly:

Pinchy's first sleepover, yay!

She never had another filly sleep over before. She had slept over at her friend's houses before, but never played host. It was going to be so much fun! What was even better was that her mother was going to be there too! Well... She owned the house, it wasn't like she was going to hand over the keys and leave. But she always had fun hanging out with Berry, and now it was going to be like including a new pony in the fun!

Games! Food! Stories! Sleep deprivation! Breakfast in the morning! Woohoo!

For now the excited little filly waited at the window by the door, her face pushed to the glass and her tail wagging furiously like an excited dog. She was watching the road for her friend, Apple Pie of course! "This is so awesome!" she squealed to her mother, likely somewhere in the room. "Thank you for saying yes, mommy! This is gonna be so much fun! I can't wait till she gets here!" She didn't need no sugar for this kind of high. Friendship and using a weekend for fun with said friendship was all the little pink filly needed.

Sketch took the seat he was invited to and fixed his glasses, looking to each pony as they introduced themselves. He seemed to reel away from Sugar Rush a bit, though probably understandably so. So there was Sugar Rush, of course, and there was the mare who said she'd been playing before, Silver Flash... Then the Engineer Vivid Flair... And their Game Master, Drifting Veil! H hadn't met too many ponies from Germaney, so this was going to be interesting at least.

Uh oh, but then it was his turn! After a horrible moment of hesitation, the artist spoke up. "I'm Sketch Troy... Uh, I draw comic books here in Manehattan. I've never played a game like this before, but it seems like fun... So... Bear with the new guy?" he finished his little intro, wearing an innocent smile. Though he shouldn't be too bad off. If there was anything he was good at, it was making up characters.

Actually... What sort of characters would he be limited to? Were there certain classes he'd only be able to pick for certain things? How would stats work? How did combat work? Oh, he had so many questions... Probably best to leave it to the vet and ask Silver for assistance once the game starts to get up-and-running.

Roleplay Type: Mane RP

Name: Inkie Pie

Sex: Female

Age: Mare

Species: Earth Pony

Eye Color: Purple

Coat Color: Light Gray

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Mane and tail are groomed straight, both dark gray in color

Physique: Average

Cutie Mark: A firefly stuck in amber

Origin/Residence: Rock farm / Hoofington

Occupation: Pawn Broker

Motivation: Finding treasure among trash, turning the unwanted into the fabulous! And selling it.

Likes: Bartering, family moments, rock collecting

Dislikes: arguments, spinach, trains blasting their horn when they whiz by her house at 3 AM (seriously, what's the deal with that?)

Character Summary:

Inkie Pie was born and raised on a Rock Farm, same as her sisters, Blinkie and Pinkie. Her foalhood was average, if not terribly dull. The sisters' days often consisted of house chores, schooling, helping out with rock harvests, and family meals. Once in awhile they played in the yard, but it was often a quick game of hide-and-seek for the most part. After awhile they learned where all the good hiding spots were.

Though one of her favorite foal-hood hobbies, was rock collecting. During her time with the rock farm, when she and her sisters weren't out harvesting or doing their chores, sometimes she'd find neat little rocks. Rocks with funny colors, rocks with pretty patterns, or rocks with funny shapes! She even found a rock that she thought kinda looked like the Princess! She kept them all on a little shelf by her bed and liked to look at them all the time. She always hoped that there was somepony out there who could appreciate rocks like she did.

But one day she found an especially funny-looking rock by an old tree! It kinda shined a bit, but was real dirty. After a whole afternoon of rinsing it off and scrubbing it hard, she saw that it was kinda like a big golden glassy thing! A rock? It wasn't like any rock she ever saw. And when she looked closer at it, she thought she could see a bug inside!

Whoa!

She hadn't been this excited about something since Pinkie got her cutie mark! She showed it to everypony she could, which at the time amounted to her sisters and her mother and father. While interesting, her parents were more focused on meeting the quota for the harvest. When it came time to bring the latest load of rocks into town, Inkie went with her father, and brought her favorite new rock with her. While she waited at the cart and her father spoke with somepony, and older mare noticed the little filly playing with something! She asked if she could take a look at it, seeming genuinely intrigued. Inkie gladly handed it over, telling her how neat it was, and that there was a bug inside and everything! The older mare informed her that the 'rock' was actually called 'Amber', a fossilized piece of tree sap! Sometimes, unfortunate bugs got caught in this sap, and it preserved them for many many years after it hardened! Wow!

On top of the sudden lesson, the mare told her she'd love to include the little piece in her own collection! At a museum!! Another rock collecting pony! She offered little Inkie 100 bits for it. She was shocked! She had never seen that kind of money! Knowing how special the Amber was to her, Inkie thought it would be super nice to indulge a fellow collector and make the sale.

When her father came back, he was at first a bit irate to find his daughter literally rolling in a small pile of bits on the back of the cart, demanding to know where she got them. When she told him the story, he seemed just as surprised as she was... and proud! When prompted by her father to look, little Inkie had finally earned her cutie mark! It looked almost just like the Amber she sold!

Over time, she learned that it represented her talent of appreciating things other ponies might consider junk, much like how her family initially thought the fossil she found was nothing more than a fancy rock. As the years went on, she kept finding all sorts of neat and forgotten treasures! Old scooters getting spruced up into sweet rides! Making a nice picture frame out of a bunch of discarded ones, and so on and so forth! Her knack for making 'trash' into things desirable gave her an idea! Open a shop!

Eventually she did just that. Having made enough on the farm, she bought a home in Hoofington, using the ground floor for her new pawn shop! "Inkie Pie's House of Fixin's!"

Everyday she would meet ponies wanted to give her their old junk for bits, and then sell it to somepony else who could appreciate it all over again! Her official business slogan was the old saying 'Somepony's junk is another pony's treasure!'

She lives there to this day, making a decent happy living, and still finding time to be out and about and even have get-togethers with her loving sisters. The three of them have remained extremely close, and enjoy spending time together. Blinkie and Pinkie are always near and dear to Inkie.

And she still has her rock collection.

Personality:

Inkie Pie is a glass-half-full pony who tries to find the good in most days. She keeps a positive attitude, especially on the job. Outside of the pawn shop, she's plenty approachable and enjoys meeting new ponies. Her social attitude had developed dramatically since leaving the secluded family rock farm. Things weren't so plain and dreary in Hoofington, but she appreciates her family and loves them to bits!

you're going to need to think things through more.

The point of this thread is not to pitch the idea.

This competition has been planned out for months. This thread is only for interest. If you really want to know, you'll have to wait for when it's active.

The games would all be 100% free and 100% accessible on the net for the regular challenge, as I had hoped would be obvious. No sense in having a board-wide videogame contest if half the members who are interested don't have the game.

It would work like this:

Arcade Arena: September

ANGRY BIRDS

1st - loliwin - 9,999,999,999

2nd - lolnoobs - 9,999,999,998

3rd - lolimthird -9,999,999,997

4th -whatevs - 1

And so on and so forth. The side challenge would be things like:

Imagination's Challenge

Score 100,000 points in Rainbow Dash Attack

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place players in the high scores get a nifty badge and bragging rights. Those who complete the side challenge also get a nifty badge.

And yes, Pancakes. Should pancakes be what the people desire, then I shall carry on with this competition in the name of pancakes.

Currently I'm working to maybe start a monthly competition in Canterlot. Called 'Arcade Arena', every month there would be a posted game and a side challenge called 'Imagination's Challenge'. The regular competition would work like a high-scores board, while the side challenge would be having to meet a challenging score.

At the present time, prizes for the Arcade Arena are some nifty badges that I'm working on.

HOWEVER,

The point of this thread is not to pitch the idea. The point of this thread is to see if there's interest, and if this kind of competition would be worth holding at all.

Please answer the poll if you're interested or not, and even include your own thoughts if you wish.

Again, this is to see if there's interest in such a concept as a gaming competition. Not a think-tank for ideas for said competition.

Oh my.

He wasn't expecting such a welcome! The lovely Rarity's little sister and and nice pegasus mare... both whom he never met. However he was familiar with Sweetie Belle. It was interesting to meet the little filly face to face... Well, in different regards to what they had for a face since Sweetie had an actual face while Tom has to make due with a devilishly handsome rock face.

Mister Rock? Such manners! But Mr. Rock was his father.

But now he was a large rock? How flattering. This sudden burst of attention made him freeze up. He was unmoving and silent. But inside, he was warm. Happy. He felt welcome. Now if only he could find a way to get his darling Rarity to notice him.

His parents made him go.

Well, not really, but they encouraged it. "You spend too much time in your studio" they keep saying. Well a job's a job, right? He had spotted the advertisement and brought it home with him, thinking about it. Tabletop games? Pen&Paper group? Well, it did sound like fun... and it might be a good way to meet a few new friends at least. He only had a few ponies he could say he was acquainted with, though that was mostly due to his workaholic attitude toward his comics.

Either way, Sketch did find it interesting at the very least. He had never tried anything like this before, but he was always intrigued by it. Even better was he lived only a few blocks away! Locking his studio door behind him, he supposed he could work on the next Rex Stallion strip later. He still had time to finish it. Who knows? Maybe this 'tabletop' thing will give him some ideas for future issues!

Down the street he walked until he found the apartment noted on the advert. The paper floating in front of him, he kept double taking at the door. He was nervous. These ponies were likely going to be complete strangers! And he was new at this! What if he slowed the game down? What if he was just plain terrible at it? Eventually he swallowed his worry and ventured inside. Up some stair, stairs, stairs and more stairs, he finally reached where he was supposed to go, door number and all. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and poked his head inside. It seems there were others already here! Was he late? He hoped not... Stepping inside, he closed the door behind him, keeping his distance for now. "Uh... I-Is this the uh... Pen and Paper thing...?"

Of course part of him knew this was just nerves. This wasn't going to be so bad... These ponies... or ponies and hippogriff rather, seemed like decent folk. For now, he awaited an answer to his great and powerful question, and hoped to Celestia he didn't just waltz into the wrong apartment. Oh goodness, that would devastate him.

"If everything's settled, your Majesty... Sir..." he dismissed himself from the Princess and the Captain to continue his work. Perhaps he could use the Princess for leverage anyway.

Going back to the cell, it seems Tick had been busying himself with cowering... and trying to be as presentable as a prisoner could. This was a Princess in the dungeon, after all! Clearing his throat, the Master Sergeant continued. "Now then, Private, are you going to be so despicable as to lie in the presence of one of our beloved Princess? One of those whom such a security breech could pose a very real danger to?!" Indeed! What if the breech wasn't some overly-ambitious recruit, but an assassin! Or a thief! Or a prankster, looking to die somepony's mane polka-dots!

"Who was it that let you in, Tick? Try and tell me another one about switching shifts!" If needed, Reveille could try and fill Luna in on what they had been told, about the situation in general (if she hadn't heard already), and their progress. The Sergeant was actually hoping the Princess may want to ask some questions of her own. But, even he knew too many bodies trying to get the same answer would only likely hinder progress. The three of them trying to yank something out of the recruit was probably pushing it as it were.

The shaken-up Private seemed very hesitant to say a word... Most likely his biggest concern was getting his cohort into some serious trouble. He already had a feeling his career was in jeopardy, though he didn't want to destroy somepony else's too!

Use her legs? Against an apple tree? Well, she supposed it would be worth a shot, but she knew it was rude to walk away and try again while the teacher was still talking to her. Though with Cheerilee speaking to her about it, there was no way she could hide her responcibility for the goo all over her unfortunate classmates. Ruby looked to her teacher with that false innocence still, but it seemed her stern talking-to was being cut off by something more interesting. What could be more interesting than exploding apples?

Oh...

Oh!

Apple trees on fire. Yeah, that would do it. She didn't want Miss Bumpkin's trees to be on fire! She was too nice for her trees to be on fire! Rather than stand around and gawk, Pinchy wanted to help! While she wasn't nearly foolish enough to try and put the fire out with magic, she heard Miss Cheerilee and others prompting a bucket line. That might just be crazy enough to work! "I'll help!" she happily called out. "C'mon Reno! Lets go put the fire out!" she called out to her coltfriend... But he was nowhere in sight! "Reno...?" she looked toward the line, but he wasn't there! She had to find him! She didn't want to try to put the fire out without him! They both needed to help with the buckets! Teamwork!

As if on cue, there came a knock at the door!

Of course, Tom was far too polite to just let himself in. The 'stock broker' rock was looking uite dapper today, with a bow tie taped to him and everything! Though it wasn't a formal event, per se, who says he couldn't look his best? "Here at last. Sugercube Corner. Shame, I've never been here until now. I remember seeing this place once, with my darling Rarity... My precious, beautiful little marshmallow... Ah, but this isn't time to lose yourself to memory, Tom! Friends and family await!"

He could bear to not think about Rarity for a few moments to enjoy the party. He WAS invited by his dear cousin Rocky after all. Quite the spunky little fellow. He always had been. Oh the trouble a couple of rocks could get into... It almost brought a smile on his... Well, it brought him a smile in spirit, to remember their younger and care-free days. Before the war. Before the quarry. Though luckily Rocky never had to live through all that.