Corsair

"Well, here's what my guards reported this morning," Bonfire replied. He floated a scroll out between himself and Reveille. "About 0200 last night, a pair of the unicorn gate guards reported feeling something strange in the magic flow near the southeast gate. Numbskulls didn't investigate it. 0230, one of the armorers reported being woken up by somepony knocking over a rack of armor in the repair shop, but they didn't see who had done it. 0245, aerial guards spotted your colt, decked out all in black, trying to make it back to the gate. Had a damaged unicorn helm in his saddlebags." Bonfire rerolled the scroll. "Whatever this kid did, he's good. Nopony has gotten that close to stealing a helm in years. Seems he got over-confident at the end and got caught though. I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but if he found some hole in our security, I need to know about it yesterday."

Bonfire could tell that the filly was getting antsy. Foals her age weren't the best at relaxing or holding still. That was part of the reason he'd been reluctant to do this. He was used to training soldiers; ponies who had had discipline drilled into them by previous training. Children were anything but disciplined most of the time, in his experience at least. He searched back in his memories to his own childhood, remembering when his mother had had to train him in this way. The memories were fuzzy, but there were a few things that stood out clearly. Bonfire's horn lit up again. He created a small, intense, white flame a few hooves from the ground. He floated the flame over in front of Fire Heart's muzzle. "I want you to look into the flame," he intoned,"Concentrate on the flame. There is nothing but the flame. Feed your emotions into it. Your excitement, your fear. You must be calm, focused. Focus on the flame. When you are calm, your own flames will die down, and they won't be able to flare up on their own the way they do now."

Topaz watched as Apple Bumpkin descended into the cellar. She felt something unusual through her hooves, but she was running through a checklist for supplies in her head and didn't pay close attention to the sensation. Topaz made a mental check on the list as the smaller farm pony emerged with more food supplies. This stop was doing very well to stock her larder. "APPLE BUUUUUUUUUMPKIN! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Topaz heard a voice cry out. Apple Bumpkin excused herself to go help her sister, and trotted outside. Topaz hadn't thought there were any other ponies on the farm, but realized how silly that sounded. A young mare like Apple Bumpkin surely couldn't run this farm by herself. Topaz didn't mind loading her cart herself, so she tossed a couple of the bushel baskets onto her back and trotted out the gate. On her second trip into the barn, the strange sensation from the ground returned. Through her special talent, Topaz could feel the echos coming back from the open cellar below the barn, giving her exactly where the artificial cave in the ground was. But something wasn't right. She stopped over the cellar, closed her eyes, and stomped her rear hoof to the ground. The picture that came back was much clearer now, and... oh dear, that wasn't good... Topaz galloped over to the farm house and began banging on the door. "Miss Apple? Are you there? I need to speak to you immediately!"

Since Dinky isn't listed, that means she's considered a Tier 3 Character. If your app is selected, then she'll show up on the cast list. And applying for a cast character is really no different than apping an OC, but there is a mandatory 5-7 day wait before your app will be approved to allow others to compete with your app. Now, if you're wanting Dinky to be Derpy's daughter, you'll have to get that relationship approved by Derpy's player.

My RP replies are going to be slow to non-existant for a few days. I have a nasty tooth ache I've had for like two days now, and it's hard to be Fluttershy when I'm cursing up a storm in pain IRL. Too few Dentists have Saturday hours...

Bonfire was was doing the part of his job he just loved the most; writing reports. His ceremonial golden helm sat on the desk while he wrote, his quill dancing erratically in his magic as it stabbed at the hated scroll. Bonfire was glaring at the scroll so intently that his gaze should have caught the blasted parchment on fire. Well, he could have done that too, but then he would have just had to start over. Last night, some young recruit from the training depot in the city had somehow gotten past the outer gates and onto the palace grounds. He'd gotten caught trying to get into the armory, and was now cooling his hooves down in the magic-proofed jail cells. Bonfire had already had the perimeter guards in here to give a report, and he had reamed them up one side and down the other for being incompetent featherbrains. As the Sergeant on watch, he had to write up the arrest report, the extra duty report for the responsible guards, another report to the recruit's CO... Most of the soldiers in the Guard knew about the 'tradition' of stealing a Guardspony's helm. Heck, some of them had probably tried it themselves when they were in Basic. But most of the time the recruits were caught before they even got close, and were sent back with a warning and word was sent to their instructor. Somehow this colt had gotten much further than that, and things had gotten more complicated. Bonfire was finally signing off on the bottom of the scroll when he heard a knock at the door. "What is it?" he growled out. A younger unicorn guard opened the door. "Sergeant Bonfire, Master Sergeant Reveille is here to see you?" the guard said. The kid almost looked scared when he said the other pony's name. Bonfire smiled despite himself. He didn't know Reveille, but he knew his reputation, and he had a feeling this kid knew him a bit more than that. Reveille must have come to fetch his AWOL recruit. This could prove to be entertaining. Levitating his helm from the desk, Bonfire placed the flashy thing back on his head. Once Bonfire got outside, there was no mistaking which pony was Reveille. The white earth pony was in his full DI uniform, and he looked ready to chew nails. "Master Sergeant Reveille?" he asked, respectfully. "Sergeant Bonfire, Royal Guard Detachment. I believe I've got one of your recruits in my jail."

I'll try to cover some of the basics: I've tried to limit spoilers, but some are inevitable. 200 years ago, Equestria was in a war with the Zebra nation. After a horrific Zebra attack on a school, Celestia stepped down as Princess and handed power over to Luna. Luna brought in the Elements of Harmony and gave each of the mares a government ministry to run. The 3 CMCs, (All grown up) founded Stabletech, and began building underground shelters called "Stables" to save ponies in the case of an all-out war. The Zebras eventually stole an Equestrian spell called a Megaspell and built it into weapons. Cloudsdale was destroyed, Canterlot was rendered uninhabitable due to toxic Pink gas, and Celestia and Luna are believed to either be dead, or still living in Stable 1 under Canterlot. In the present, the Pegasus Enclave controls the skies and keeps a constant cloud cover over everything, rarely descending to the ground. Ponyville is a raider nest. Fillydelphia, which was an industrial center, is now under the control of a pony named Redeye who is bringing the city back to life on the backs of slave labor with the support of gryphon mercenaries. Then, there's "The Goddess." In the latter half of the war, there was an expiriment to see if normal ponies could be turned into more powerful Alicorns to beat back the Zebras. The first volunteer happened to undergo the procedure just as the megaspells fell. Instead of becomming an alicorn, she became one with the vat of the transformative chemical. Now, The Goddess can convert unicorns into alicorns, all with a hive mind, all female. The Goddess has teamed up with Redeye because he has promised to somehow find a way to make male alicorns so they would be a viable species. The original fan fic follows Littlepip, a unicorn pipbuck (pipboy) repair pony who leaves Stable 2 under Sweet Apple Acres in order to find Velvet Remedy, a singer and a healer, who escaped the Stable to try to help the outside world. She eventually meets up with (Deadshot) Calamity, a "Da****e" pegasus who is an outcast from the Enclave due to disagreeing with thier policies, Steelhooves, a Steel Ranger pony, and Zenith, a zebra slave that Littlepip rescues from Redeye. Of the few remaining ponies from pre-war that are still alive is Ditzy Doo (Derpy), a ghoul who runs a trading post in New Appleoosa and published a book about survival in the wasteland (First copy is free!) There's also "The Watcher," a mysterious person who is never seen in person, but can communicate through "Sprite Bots" parasprite-like robots that randomly roam the wasteland. The most popular radio show in the wasteland is run by DJ Pon-3, a stallion that broadcasts from Tenpony Tower, and always 'gives you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts.' There are many side-stories that have grown from the original fic, the biggest one is "Project: Horizons" which is now longer than the entirety of the original fic. That story follows Blackjack, a security mare from Stable 99 who ends up roaming the wasteland around the war-time city of Hoofington after her stable was betrayed by their over-mare and raiders attacked them.

You may be already aware of this one, but we have a big CMC / S&S / OC Foals Treasure Hunt going on here: cutie-mark-crusader-treasure-hunters-go Sweetie Belle / Bramblerose can probably fill you in on the background on the CMC side

When I first got onto the internet (1999ish) One of the main places I hung out was in the SciFi Chatroom on Yahoo. At the time, I'd been reading a ton of "The Dragonriders of Pern" series by Anne McCaffrey. My chat room name at the time was Corsaith_Brown_Dragon (my own OC dragon). One night, a girl came into the room and her chat name contained "Weyrwoman," also a reference to the series, and she was starting an RP-by-email Weyr. I had applied to a much larger Weyr, and, at the time, the amount of traffic they generated was overwhelming and I never did any real PR there. This new, smaller group was perfect for me. I did Pern RP for probably 4 years after that, eventually becoming one of the staff members. I ended up meeting many of the other members in person at a Pern-based room at Dragon*Con in Atlanta. After that long though, I lost my motivation as I grew tired of the books the RP was based on. I didn't start RPing again until a year ago when ponies happened. I actually joined this forum just because, at the time, you had to be logged in to view certain images. Then the pony insanity grew, and here I still am. I mostly view RP as a creative writing exercise rather than escapism. I've never actually played a pen and paper / dice RPG, unfortunately.

Bonfire signed inwardly as Fire Heart burst into flame again, this time simply from excitement. What was he getting himself into? "Just... Just don't get so excited you catch something on fire," he said to the filly. "We're going to have to work on your... outbursts." Bonfire turned toward Firework. The young pegasus had shown so signs of fear at Fire Heart's abilities or her flaming aura. She'd need friends like that to help her through this. "Firework, if you can take Fire Heart back to the school, I need to return to the Palace," he told the colt. Turning back to the smaller red unicorn, Bonfire told her, "I'll see you again Wednesday. Remember, just ask for me at the gate. The guards on duty will know where to find me." As he walked away he started thinking about what he might need for this. Buckets, lots of buckets... ((Bonfire Exits))

It had been a couple of hours since Fluttershy had mended the raven's injured wing. After placing the poor, unconscious bird in the old cage, the pegasus had gone back to her normal daily chores around her cottage. She was down at the stream, encouraging an otter to swim and exercise her healing leg. She couldn't hear the frantic banging on the cage walls from here. Then, suddenly, a sparrow arrowed out of the cottage and began flying in circles around Fluttershy's head, chirping excitedly. The pegasus looked up, alarmed. "What's wrong?" she asked the little bird. In response, the bird flew back to the cottage, zipping in through one of the open windows. Fluttershy ran back to her door, and opened it onto a scary scene. The raven in the cage was frantically beating herself against the bars. She'd spilled the food and water Fluttershy had left earlier, and the new bandages on her wing were torn to shreds. With a gasp, Fluttershy zoomed up to the bars "Oh oh oh! Please! Please stop!" she entreated the bird. "You're just going to hurt yourself more!" The yellow pegasus slumped to the ground. "Why can't you understand me?" she said, dispiritedly, up at the black bird. "I only want to help..." Fluttershy's mind was racing. What could she do to calm down this poor bird? Why wasn't her special talent working? Who could she turn to for help? Was there some kind of magic that... magic! That was it! "Twilight!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Maybe Twilight can help!" She waited until the bird appeared to be exhausted before covering the cage in a blanket. She then picked up the cage with her mouth by the handle on the top. Stepping out the door, she launched herself toward the library in Ponyville.

Bonfire was taken aback for a moment. He'd really only come out here to figure out what was causing the annoying sensation in his horn. Now he found himself teaching this filly about fire magic, and she was asking him to be her mentor. Bonfire was no stranger to training other ponies. It was expected that a veteran of his rank would train new recruits to the REA. But that was the issue; the ponies he'd trained before had been soldiers. Fire Heart was just a kid, and his normal teaching style probably wouldn't go over very well. On the other hoof, he knew only too well what could happen if a gift like Fire Heart's got out of control. She needed someone to help her that realized the differences between fire magic and other unicorn magic. There were other pyrokinetic ponies in the city, but none that really knew well. (And the one he did know, he didn't trust.) He reluctantly made the decision to help teach the filly. That's when he noticed that the buzzing was gone... "Ok, Fire Heart," Bonfire said to the filly, "I can help teach you. BUT, I can only help you when I'm off duty." He paused briefly, thinking of his duty schedule for the next week. "Come up to the palace on Wednesday, after your classes. Tell the guard at the gate that you need to see me. It will be safer to do this on the training grounds there."

Fluttershy brought her hooves to her mouth and gasped in shock as the poor raven fell over under the effects of her Stare. She quickly checked over the creature and determined that the poor birdie had just passed out. "Um, maybe I over-did it? She said to Angel, sheepishly. The raven's condition was good for one thing; Fluttershy was able to splint and bandage the injured wing without the bird trying to escape. Considering the bird's earlier behavior, Fluttershy flew up to her storage attic and found a large bird cage. She normally didn't keep any of her animal friends in cages, but she was afraid this raven would try to escape otherwise and injure herself further. She put fresh water and seeds in the cage, then carefully laid the bandaged avian on a bed of shredded paper at the bottom. Fluttershy stood watching the raven for several minutes. She had rarely had this much trouble with a patient. Most animals instinctively seemed to trust her, even the wildest and strangest creatures from the Everfree Forrest. The only thing that had come close to this raven's reaction was the disaster at last year's Gala... an event she really didn't want to think about. Sighing to herself, the yellow pegasus left the bird while she went to feed and care for the other animals around her cottage.

Just want to add one thing to my previous statements: This site has rules for a reason. The moderators are there to enforce the rules. By signing up for this site, you agree to those rules and you agree that those moderators can enforce those rules. If you do not like a rule, whining, complaining, and arguing with the moderators is NOT the way to get it changed. If you really have a disagreement with a rule and can come up with a good reason why and/or how it could be changed, write out your argument clearly and post it on the site where the moderators can see it and decide whether they agree. If they don't agree, you still have to abide by the rule, or find another site with rules you can agree with. Please remember that the moderators are primarily here to HAVE FUN, the same reason the rest of the members are here. Arguing and fighting over the rules doesn't seem like much fun to me, I don't think it's very fun for them either.

As most pony fans here are probably aware of, Canterlot.com has an official IRC channel. Though the channel is centered around the site and, of course, ponies, the topics tend to range all over the place from pun wars to serious debates. I find myself often just lurking in the channel because the insanity is just entertaining. But recently, some issues have been coming up that are really sucking the fun out of the room for me. To understand what I mean, first understand that Canterlot is the only pony community I'm a part of. I don't use 4chan or ponychan, and while I read stuff on FimFiction constantly, I don't really participate there. I originally came to Equestria forums (the original name of this site) because I didn't like -chan style forums. I stayed here because of the feel of the community. When the first owners of the site gave it up, the community banded together to keep it going, even though we'd only been together for a couple of months. The members cared about each other, and about keeping the good thing we had. As this site has gotten bigger, the sense of community has slipped a bit. I see more and more pointless arguments happening in the IRC, more members being flat-out rude to one another, more of the moderators having to put their hoof down to get things under control. I've had to put several chatters on Ignore recently because of their rotten attitudes towards other chatters. I understand that this fandom began on sites like 4chan where this is considered normal behavior. That's precisely why I don't GO to 4chan. Now, I'm not saying that friendly teasing is bad. Hell, the only time my son and I aren't exchanging insults is when we are asleep. I'm also not saying that the growth of the site is a bad thing. Artax, Manestream, and the moderating staff have done a hell of a job while this site got more and more popular. All I'm really talking about I guess is respect. I realize this is the Internet. On the internet you can say things you wouldn't normally say because of the anonymity. I just feel it's not right to use that anonymity to disrespect others. We also have members here in many age groups. Some younger members (I do NOT mean all the younger members) seem to feel they don't have to be polite or considerate to others, or listen to the mods. If you want to be accepted by the community, that is NOT the way to go about it. I'm not going to spout off anything about "love and tolerate." I'm not trying to frame this for bronies, I'm framing it for anyone. If you really want to be a part of any real community, being an a^&hole is not the way to go about it. Joining a community on the internet shouldn't be any different. We have some great people in this community, and if that's the way you want to be viewed, expect to be ignored and excluded, and you will miss out on most of the fun that comes from this group. Ok, my rant is running out of steam, since the IRC has been rattling on about what movies we'd take to a colony on Pluto for like the past two hours. Does it make any sense? Heck no! Is it fun? Buck yes! Do you want to get in on that kind of insanity? Then don't be a jerk.

Fluttershy smiled at Twilight as she offered her assistance to Spike. She had known that Twilight would offer her assistance freely, but Spike took his job as "Number One Assistant" very seriously. He probably felt a little guilty about asking for time for himself. Fluttershy let out an "Eeep!" of surprise as Pinkie's head popped out of Spike's bag, but settled down quickly when she saw who it was. Nopony knew how Pinkie Pie did some of the things she did, but once you had been around her long enough, they just seemed normal. Her suggestion of chocolate was also very Pinkie. And Rarity would probably have enjoyed them, but the look on Spike's little face told Fluttershy that fancy chocolates just wasn't what he had in mind. “Heck, I could probably use all the help I can get! Um, how about we meet up at the market when you're done, Fluttershy?" "Oh Yes!" Fluttershy exclaimed happily. "I'll be back as soon as I can!" With that, she began galloping back to her cottage, with Angel barely hanging onto her back. ((Fluttershy exits, will come back in a couple of rounds.))

Fluttershy got a big grin on her face at Spike's admission, but had to hold herself back from shouting out 'Oh that's so CUTE!' She didn't want to embarrass the little dragon. The fact that Spike had a crush on Rarity was one of the best known 'secrets' in Ponyville. Fluttershy found it adorable, but she had to keep the secret. She and all her friends were under a Pinkie Promise after all. "Oh Spike," she said the the dragon. "I'm sure Twilight can give you one day off so you can find something for, um, 'You-know-who'." She giggled a little at this, looking at the purple unicorn. "I could even help you with your shopp..." Fluttershy stopped as the bunny on her back tapped his foot. He gestured to the baskets she was still carrying. "Oh, right..." she responded, with a look of disappointment. "I need to take all of these supplies back home first. I'm sorry Spike, but I can come back later! Um, if you want."

I had a visit from a certain multi-colored pegasus this morning, and I have photographic proof! Well, sort of... An actual full-arc rainbow. I've never seen one before today. Here's a couple more pictures: Only lasted a couple of minutes before fading out. Full-sized pics in my photobucket

I just recently updated from a Samsung Moment to a Samsung Galaxy S II. Since I tend to work places that monitor your internet usage, I get my internet fix from my phone. I still suck at typing on a touch screen, but am getting more used to it. I plan on passing my Moment down to my son, provided it doesn't make his mom's cell phone bill go up too much.

If you feel your character's part is done in the RP, just write their departure and leave an OOC note (in the post or in IM) that you are done.

Fluttershy looked down at the little dragon, confused. He seemed very startled to see her, and she hated to think she had scared him. But then, he started talking rapidly about the sunrise and Canterlot. He definitely seemed nervous about something, but not upset like if he would have been if he was running away. The yellow pony didn't get a chance to respond to the fast-talking dragon before he began to back away from her. He was nearly back to the door of the library when a voice called out from inside. "Spike! Spike are you in here?" The dragon jumped and turned around as a purple unicorn came outside. "Hi Fluttershy! Hey Spike!" "Good morning Twi..." Fluttershy began, brightly, but Twilight was already questioning her assistant about a book she was looking for. Fluttershy smiled a little at that. Twilight was a good friend, but sometimes it seemed like she'd loose her own horn if Spike wasn't there to help her find it. The pegasus stretched a little while the pair discussed the library. Her wings were getting a little cramped under the baskets, but she could spare a few minutes with her friends before heading back to her cabin. She was thinking about the chores she still had to do when Spike turned to look at her again. "Cuz, hey, I was just telling Fluttershy what a NICE DAY it would be to head out and get some FRESH AIR.” The dragon looked up at the pegasus expectantly. Put on the spot, Fluttershy could only stutter "Well, um, it is a nice day..."

Fluttershy walked through the marketplace, her wings covered by a pair of baskets that hung at her sides. The baskets were weighed down with various vegatables and other supplies that she was carrying back to her cottage. In the center of her back rode Angel, a frown on the bunny's face. "That was not very nice, Angel!" the yellow pegasus scolded, looking back over her shoulder. "You were very rude to that pony!" Angel folded his front legs across his chest and glared back at the pegasus, unrepentant. He gestured at the baskets, and then at Fluttershy's coin purse. Fluttershy shrank back a bit. "W-well, I know he was overcharging for the lettuce, but you shouldn't have insulted him like that. Even if he couldn't understand you." Angel re-folded him arms and pouted, turning away from the pony's face. Fluttershy sighed, but continued to trot out of the market toward the library. Then, she spotted a little purple dragon coming her direction. "Good morning Spike!" she called out to him. Fluttershy noticed the backpack the dragon was wearing on his back, and the determined look he was wearing on his face. "I-is everything all right, Spike?" she asked. She hoped the little dragon wasn't trying to run away again.

I feel your pain Mr Hippo. Or, rather, I did until Friday. I was lucky enough to be in an area where they sold the 4-pack of the blind bag ponies (RD, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie) but I could never find an Applejack. She was supposed to be in Big Lots stores, but I went all over to different stores and could never find her. I finally turned to eBay, paid a few dollars extra, but got 5/6. Now that they've released the actual blind bags, including a Fluttershy, I started searching again. Went to 3 stores with no sign of any blind bag ponies. So back to eBay I went, and Fluttershy is on her way. 6/6 Ended up paying like $12 for AJ and $8.50 for Fluttershy.

This is a common question, and the answer is Yes, your pony can be in multiple places at once. Each RP is it's own timeline. Someone here referred to it as 'fluid time.' That's not to say that something that developed in one RP can't be referenced later in a different RP, but you don't have to worry about being in different places in two different RPs that happen a the same time.

Yeah, I'm sorry about the Blueblood RP... I didn't want to give him up, but I had to take the chance to get my favorite pony while she was available. I didn't want to give up my other cast pony, Snips, because he's a lot more flexible in the RPs he can join than Blueblood is in my opinion. Hopefully someone re-applies for Blueblood soon and that RP can continue.