Corsair

This is a link to a news post regarding the shut down of the Brony Sims in Second Life: http://kryptonradio.com/2011/07/21/woodbury-banned-a-third-time-sl-bronies-take-a-hit/ The Everfree Forest Sim is running normally, and is renting out plots and vendor tents. The great majority of the freebies and vendors from Bronyville have reappeared. And, a second sim has been purchased to be called Bronytown. The new sim should be operational any day now.

Bonfire paced along the outside perimeter of the palace wall. He should have been in his quarters asleep at this hour, but one of the Night Watch sergeants had fallen ill. Food poisoning of some sort. All they had been able to get out of him in the infirmary was "baked bads," whatever that meant. So, Bonfire had been assigned to fill his watch. After many years in Her Majesty's Royal Guard, he was used to standing odd watches and changing schedules on a moment's notice. However, that didn't stop him from yawning as he did his rounds, insuring the other ponies on watch were doing their duty. The unicorn kept a bright ball of flame floating over his head to light the way. He couldn't see in the dark as well as a pegasus could, but conjuring this little light took so little energy he didn't even notice it. So far the night had been uneventful. He'd managed to scare a couple of guards who were drowsing at their posts, but nothing else had been out-of-the ordinary. Bonfire was debating returning to the guard post to finish some reports he had been putting off, when he heard raised voices. As he got closer, the voices clarified into two mares having some kind of argument. Bonfire quickened his pace, approaching the voices. He finally spotted a guard pegasus, who was confronting a blue unicorn. The unicorn was illuminated by a strange green flame. Bonfire, who's magical specialty was fire, was curious about that flame, but the conversation the two mares were having took his attention. "I wonder, if another conflict did arise between our sovereigns, where would your loyalty ultimately lie? And how far would you go for the princess of your choice? Would you kill the other for them, hmm? It could happen, you know, you really ought to be prepared. Just in case." ..."So to answer your other meaningless question, it is with Princess Celestia whom my loyalties will always lie. It is her to whom I swore my oath. I would go to any extreme in her service!" Bonfire frowned. The young guardspony was obviously letting the unicorn's comments about the princesses get under her skin. New recruits to the guards tended to be very protective of Princess Celestia's honor. She seemed ready to launch herself at the smirking unicorn. Bonfire knew he had to intervene. "At EASE Guardspony!" Bonfire yelled, walking into the green-lit circle, his own yellow flame changing the light to an odd mix of colors. He looked at the face of the young guard, trying to remember her name. Radiant Dawn? Shining Steel? Something like that. He still hadn't gotten to know many of the new faces in the palace. "I'm sure that Princess Celestia would appreciate your loyalty to her, Guardspony," he addressed her, "But she would not appreciate you fighting like a school filly!" Bonfire turned to the unicorn. He was briefly surprised by the scarring and the sneer on the face of a young mare, but collected himself quickly. "State your business on the palace grounds, or be on your way!" he growled at her.

Ok, the drama in SL seems to have settled down. For now, the Everfree Forest sim is going to be the main brony sim. Plans are underway to re-purchase and re-build Bronyville under different management. The things that were already built in the two sims will have to be recreated. They are in the process of setting up a temporary vendor area in Everfree. I think that only Dew Drop had anything set up in the sims from Canterlot. Dew, you'll have to contact "Zecora" to see what her plans are.

Through some kind of internet drama (not sure what story is true) the Bronyville and Derpy sims have been shut down on Second Life. I know that many Canterlot members are also ponies on SL. The new Everfree Sim is still up, but it is unknown if Bronyville and Derpy will come back online. Some drama about the sim owners getting banned, and so the 2 sims were shut off. Hopefully this gets resolved, but everything is very uncertain at the moment. Without a dedicated Pony sim, I might not bother to go back to SL though...

To add to what Dessa said, gemstones seem to be more of a delicacy to dragons than a dietary necessity. Spike gets by just fine on the same food that Twilight eats. I suspect that dragons are also carnivores, but I doubt something like that could be shown on the show. This topic got me thinking a bit thought. Most gemstones are formed by some kind of volcanic activity. The large deposits of gemstones in Equestria seem to indicate a history of heavy volcanic activity in the past. This could also explain the random cliffs that pop up around Ponyville that Rainbow Dash always crashes into (or climbs to escape Pinkie.) Maybe when the princesses (or their predecessors) founded Equestria, they had to quell the volcanoes first? Feels like there's a fan-fic in there somewhere.

I successfully converted my son into a brony. (I kinda had to... kind of awkward to have a 15-year-old boy looking over his Dad's shoulder while the Dad is reading Pony sites...) I played Episode 1 Pt1 and Pt2 and then "Sonic Rainboom." One of the keys to it IMO is to not bug the person while they are watching the episodes. Just convince them to watch by talking about how good the show is, set them up with an episode or two, and sit back. Don't try to point out the stuff you think is cool in the show, just let it play and let them form their own opinion. If you try to push it, it could ruin the experience.

Lets see; Coke, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke (especially if its Coke mixed with real vanilla, but the canned stuff is good too,) Mountain Dew, MD Code Red, orange soda, grape soda (particularly Stewards Grape,) occasionally 7Up or Sprite, Barqs rootbeer and red cream soda, IBC rootbeer... well, lets put it this way, about the only sodas I don't like are Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. I personally don't drink much alcohol at all, so most of my fridge space is taken up by sodas. Heck, my kitchen is decorated with Coke memorabilia. Currently in the fridge there are cases of Code Red, Mountain Dew Throwback, and Vanilla Coke.

((Sorry for keeping everypony waiting. I've been distracted lately from ponies by... ponies. Darn you, Second Life. )) Snips bounced out of the classroom when Cheerilee once again asked the students to go outside. His first thought was to find Grim's cousin. Somehow he'd figure out how to do that cool glowing thing... But he found himself totally distracted by Purple Haze's cart. "Oh! Pizza!" he shouted as he ran over. He quickly grabbed a plate and piled far too much pizza on it, then added a burrito for good measure. The short unicorn found a seat near where Miss Cherilee was setting up and started stuffing his face. In a shorter time than should have been possible, the plate was empty. For a brief moment, Snips was actually still, sitting back after finishing his meal. "That was great stuff. thanks Purple Haze," he said to the green pony. The moment wouldn't last. The unicorn's brain changed directions again, and Snips bounced back to his feet. He was nearly jumping up and down in place. "Oh oh! Who gets to go next, Miss Cheerilee?" he asked the teacher excitedly.

Whatever Bonfire had been expecting to happen when he found the Princess... this wasn't it. First, the earth pony on the ground began weeping even harder, and was trying to surrender to him. Bonfire had no idea what she was even confessing to. Then, the pegasus mare shot off like a rocket screaming about fire. Many ponies seemed to have a natural fear of fire, but his flare had been no where near anypony. The unicorn with the scrolls was eyeing him and nervously cracking jokes, and and now there was a red pegasus who seemed to think that he needed to defend in the Princess. But it was Princess Luna's reaction that threw Bonfire off the most. She didn't get angry, she didn't get indignant. If anything, she seemed just as nervous and uncertain as the ponies around her. 'N-Nothing's wrong.' she stammered. 'There's no need for—all this. You really shouldn't have gone to all this trouble.' She hoped her hint was obvious. Bonfire felt like kicking himself. It seemed he'd let his temper get the better of him again. His over-reaction seemed to be causing a panic, and seemed to be making the situation worse. He reached out with his magic and snuffed the flare overhead, and then let the glow fade from his horn. "Everypony calm down," he shouted to the crowd (and to himself.) "This is a Royal Guard matter, and the situation is under control." Hopefully that would calm down the ponies in the square, if not the panicked mare before him. He'd deal with that in a moment. He might have over-reacted upon finding the Princess, but still... Bonfire took a deep breath and turned to the royal pony. "I apologize, Your Highness," he began, "But when we realized you had left the palace without escort, it caused a lot of confusion. Your guard detail should have accompanied you if you wished to leave the palace grounds." Bonfire could now see several pegusii in armor descending on the square. He waved a hoof in an all-clear signal in an attempt to avoid any further panic as the guardsponies converged on the Princess. "If you wish, Your Highness, we can accompany you back to the palace, or a pair of guardsponies can accompany you if you desire to tour the city." Bonfire had been careful not to imply that Princess Luna had left her guards behind on purpose. From her reaction, he didn't think she had done it on purpose, plus you don't go around accusing royalty of sneaking around. Bonfire waited to see what the Princess would do before trying to further smooth the situation.

Bonfire weaved around surprised ponies as he galloped through the streets of Canterlot. He was starting to get frustrated that he hadn't spotted the Princess yet. He thought a pony that stood out as much as Princess Luna would be easier to spot in a crowd... When he reached an opening in the crowd, Bonfire spared a glance behind him toward the Palace. He could make out winged shapes in golden armor arrowing out into the city. It seemed that Princess Luna's guard detail had finally gotten off of their flanks and were attempting to follow him. As much as he would like to, Bonfire couldn't really blame the two guardsponies that had been on the gate for this mess. It wasn't their job to stop a member of the royal family from leaving the palace if they chose to do so. However, he was certain the the Commander of the Guard was going to flay the hide off the officer in charge of Luna's guard detail. The Princess should never had made it out the gates without at least a pair of of 'shadows' to accompany her. The red unicorn's shod hooves struck up sparks on the cobblestones as he entered one of the main squares of the city. He looked around quickly and... There! Princess Luna stood, surrounded by several other ponies. He immediately turned toward the group as he began to focus energy within his horn. As he reached the group, he fired off a glowing ball of flame into the sky. The flare would serve to bring any of the other searchers in the city to this position. He took in the situation in a flash. The ponies closest to the princess were a green pegasus who was chattering nervously, a cream-colored unicorn with some kind of scroll in his mouth, and a brown earth pony... who appeared to be weeping on the ground. Princess Luna's hoof was extended toward the earth pony. Was the Princess trying to help her up? Had the Princess caused the pony to fall to the ground? Either way, he had a duty to perform. His horn glowing red, Bonfire stepped between the Princess and the surrounding ponies. "Princess Luna!" he shouted, "Are you all right? What's going on here??"

But Tara Strong is also going to be Harley Quinn in Arkham City... Batmare maybe has a split personality??

*DEEP BREATH* yay. My video finally got featured on Equestria Daily http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/06/pmv-close-but-no-cigar-my-little-lordi.html I've gotten a lot of positive comments, but now I have to find another song I can do this with. By the way, anyone wanting to submit stuff to Equestria Daily; When you email in your submission, you should get an email back from Sethisto. If you don't get an email back within a couple of days, try emailing again.

I don't know how many ponies have read the fan fiction story "The Conversion Bureau" and the numerous spin-off fics that have been created around the same concept. The basic concept is that Equestria appears on Earth, and Celestia opens offices around the world to allow humans to become ponies to escape the polluted and war-like Earth. Here is a link the the original story: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/03/story-conversion-bureau.html And here is a link to a compiled list of the spin-off stories: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/04/conversion-bureau-compilation.html I'm currently writing a story about a story in this universe and wanted to get some feedback from you ponies. What happens when someone who does not fit in with ponies at all undergoes the conversion process? Here's part 1 of my story: Conversion Bureau: Extraordinary Circumstances

"Mornin'... MIss... Cheerilee!!" Snips gasped out as the teacher greeted him. In his excitement for today's presentation, he'd galloped all the way to the school house, and now found himself out of breath. He hadn't even waited for Snails to catch up as he normally would have. The little unicorn dropped into his desk to rest as the rest of the class filed in. There seemed to be a lot of new ponies coming into the school in the past few weeks. There were two unicorn fillies in the classroom this morning he'd not seen before. Well, wait, the blue-green filly had been here before, right? But the brown filly was definitely new. She somehow reminded Snips of Snails, but he wasn't sure why. Most of the ponies in the classroom were familiar though. Champ looked like he'd gotten beaten up somehow. Snips didn't know what had happened with Champ and Miss Cheerilee the other day, just that he'd run out of the school after shouting at the teacher, and hadn't been back since. Maybe whatever had happened to Champ had improved the bully's attitude? Speaking of bullies, there was Diamond Tiara. Snips saw her gaze lock on him for a second before dismissing him like a bug. Snips stuck his tongue out at the stuck-up filly as she turned away. As the rest of the students finally filed in, Miss Cheerilee announced that they'd be holding class outside today! Snips had already bounced out of his seat to head out the door when the teacher talked to Grim, and Snips had to turn around sit back down again. As Grim began his presentation, Snips wasn't too surprised it was a bout a book. He didn't pay too much attention to what the colt said at first, but Snips did wonder why Grim had brought a book and his cousin. Until the lights went out. "Woah, that's cool!" Snips gasped. He loved seeing magic in action, but he had never seen anything quite like Willow Wisp's glow. He'd heard about unicorns whose eyes glowed, but never their whole body! It definitely made the song she sang more eerie. By the time she finished, Snips was already picturing how he could make that glow into part of his magic show, if he ever figured out how she did it of course. At the end of the presentation, Snips politely clapped his hooves on the desktop, wondering when he might get a chance to pester... I mean ask the mare about it.

Bonfire watched as the Guardsponies began to disperse, pegasi to fly patrols over the palace, unicorns and earth ponies to strategic positions inside. Bonfire himself would be roaming the palace most of the night, trying to keep track of as much as possible. He turned, intending to check on the VIP section first, when he heard a voice behind him. "Excuse me, gentleponies...", she said in her crystaline voice, "Is this the entrance for the Gala?" Bonfire looked and saw a striking pegasus mare. By her grace and poise, she could almost have been one of the nobles that frequented the Gala, but most of those would not have been so polite to 'mere' guards. Bonfire had held the inspection in one of the side chambers of the Main Hall. This young mare must have taken a wrong turn. "You've just passed the entrance, Miss ...?" he said politely. "If you go back out into the Main Hall, you will see the reception line to meet Her Highness, Princess Celestia," he told her, pointing with a hoof. "If not, you can go up the stairs to take you to the Ballroom. I am going that way myself if you care to follow. I am Sergeant Bonfire of Her Majesty's Royal Guard."

Bonfire finished walking down the row of uniformed ponies. They were all dressed in their most formal uniforms and armor. Bonfire had inspected each one to insure that their appearance was immaculate. He'd only had to make a few corrections, mostly on the youngest recruits. The group included unicorn, pegasus, and earth ponies, all shining in golden armor. Nodding his head in satisfaction, Bonfire paced back to the center of the formation and turned to face them. "Guardsponies" he addressed them, "At ease. As you know, tonight is the Grand Galloping Gala. Ponies from all over Equestria will be here in the Palace tonight, including most of the nobles in the city. Like any other day, your primary duty is to protect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna at all costs. You all know that already. The biggest difference tonight is that the Princesses will not have any obvious guards. Princess Celestia, in fact, will be greeting the reception line in the Main Hall personally. Your job tonight is to be as invisible as possible while on watch. We are not to restrict access to the Princesses unless we perceive a direct threat." Bonfire scanned the faces of the ponies before him. Those who had heard this speech before appeared bored, but at least they were listening. "Now, I'll warn you all," Bonfire continued. "The Gala tends to be very boring most years. This isn't a party so much as it is an excuse for the nobles to get together and show off how great they think they are." This got a chuckle from the assembled guards. "You may have to intervene if somepony gets disruptive, but even that is rare. Now, some of you remember what happened at the last Gala." This brought another round of chuckles from some of the guards. "For those that were not here, Princess Celestia's student and her friends brought some, uh, excitement into the mix." "And some cake!" one of the guardsponies cracked. This brought a laugh from the veterans, including Bonfire. Most of them had had experiences with Prince Blueblood. "Well, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are invited this year as well," Bonfire continued, smiling. "We've been instructed to let them bring whatever 'excitement' they wish this year." That brought smiles to the faces of the assembled guards. Maybe this year, the Gala wouldn't be such a bore. "Ok, you all know your assigned stations for the night. Palace Guard, ATTENTION!" The guardsponies immediately snapped back to their rigid postures. "Fall Out to your assigned patrols. And stay out of the way of flying cakes!"

Bonfire stood back and watched as the guard changed at the front gates of the castle. The Changing of the Guard was a tradition, going back for nearly as long as Canterlot had existed. The gate guards had once served a more vital role in controlling access to the castle, but it was mostly ceremonial now. The armored ponies went through the ritual exchange flawlessly. Bonfire's rank meant that he didn't have to stand this watch any more, but he'd done it often enough when he was younger that he still remembered all the steps and movements by heart. Finally, the two ponies coming off the watch approached Bonfire. "Guardsponies, do you have anything to report?" he asked them, formally. This, too, was part of the tradition. The off-going guard would report anything unusual they had observed that day. Most of the time, the response was a simple "All is well in the city, Sergeant." "Sergeant we saw something... unusual today," replied one of the guards. This caught Bonfire's attention. "Unusual?" he questioned. "Well," the guard continued. "We saw the Princess Luna venturing out into the city." That was a bit strange. To Bonfire's knowledge, Princess Luna had not actually gone into Canterlot since her return. In fact, other than the incident with the peryton, he didn't think she'd left the castle much at all. However, "If the Princess Luna wishes to tour the city, that's her prerogative, Guardspony," he growled at the pony before him. "Why are you bringing this to my attention?" "Well, Sergeant," the second guard spoke up, "The Princess was... alone." Bonfire took a moment to process that information. "Now, let me get this straight," he said, his face deceptively blank. "Princess Luna, Princess Celestia's SISTER Luna, a member of the royal family, is out in the city, without her security escort, and you two haybrains wait until NOW to report it??" "But Sergeant, we couldn't say anything until we stood down the watch..." "Never mind," Bonfire snapped, waving a hoof to dismiss the argument. "You two, go to Princess Luna's quarters right now and find her security detail. Tell them to meet me in the city, I'm going to find the Princess. If I don't see their worthless tails following me in five minutes, you're ALL going on report!" Bonfire immediately turned and began galloping out into the city. He was determined to find Luna, but he was also conflicted. On one hoof, he was concerned about her safety; Canterlot was safe enough, but who knows what could happen to the Princess when she was unguarded. On the other hoof, why would she want to ditch her escort in the first place? Bonfire knew all about what Luna had done when she was "Nightmare Moon." Even if Princess Celestia had forgiven her sister, Bonfire could not make himself trust her. If anything, Luna represented a major threat to Celestia considering her past actions. Either way, he had to find her, and fast.

This is a pony music video I made set to Weird Al's "Close, but No Cigar." I want to get everypony's input before I submit it to Equestria Daily.

Snips was nearly bouncing off the walls of his father's shop as he chattered excitedly. "The play was so cool!" he said rapidly, "There were these two feuding families, and ponies fighting, and bright lights, and scenery..." The unicorn stallion simply nodded his head, not really listening. He had already heard a a similar tale from his son the previous night when the foal had returned from the performance of Poneo and Fillyet. He continued getting the barber shop ready for the day's business, sweeping up hair, cleaning brushes and curry combs. Snips, in the meantime, continued his recitation. "Oh oh oh! And there were unicorns that were fighting with their magic! I mean, pretend fighting, but still..." he rattled, then finally paused to take a breath. Taking the opportunity, the barber interrupted the steam of words. "Snips, bring me the scissors from the back counter please," he said. Snips took a moment to realize what he'd been asked. Calming down a bit he answered, "Um, sure Dad." He turned and found the scissors that his father had mentioned. He knew what his dad had meant; he wanted Snips to give him the scissors with his magic. The young unicorn closed his eyes for a moment, focusing his thoughts into his horn. The horn sparked and sputtered before finally beginning to glow. Snips opened his eyes and focused on the scissors, slowly making them rise from the counter. He had began to move the scissors toward his father when his concentration faltered. The glow around his horn vanished, and the scissors started to fall to the ground. Luckily, his dad had been ready for this, and caught the scissors with his own magic before they could touch the floor. "Snips, you need to stay focused," he chided, gently, while placing the pair of scissors next to the rest of the tools of his trade. "Magic doesn't just happen on its own, you need to guide it." Avoiding his father's gaze, Snips mumbled, "I know, Dad." The barber, seeing his son's disappointment, reached down with a hoof and ruffled his mane. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it one day," he said in an encouraging tone. "Now, you better get moving, I can hear the school bell ringing." Looking up, Snips realized that he, too, could hear the bell ringing. He perked up almost instantly when he remembered what today was. "Oh yeah! It's Show-and-Tell Day!" he said, excitedly. Picking up his school bags, Snips set off for school at a gallop. He turned back over his shoulder and shouted "Bye Dad!" as he ran toward the schoolhouse.

Name: Snips Sex: Male Age: Foal Species: Unicorn Pelt Color: Blue-Gray Mane/Tail Color & Style: Orange mane and tail, both kept short and spiky. Eye Color: Brown, with bushy brown eyebrows (No eye color shown in episodes) Cutie Mark: A pair of open scissors in white and gray Physique: Short and stocky for a foal his age. Has a pair of prominent buck teeth. Residence: Ponyville Occupation: Student Motivation: Snips' cutie mark shows his talent for telekinetic magic. Specifically, he has the potential to take over his father's barber shop in Ponyville. He's not very good at cutting hair yet (he cut his own hair, and you can tell,) but he's working on it. He's fascinated with magic and powerful magic users, and is always trying to improve his own abilities. Likes: Magic (both Unicorn magic and sleight-of-hoof magic), Snails, mustaches, Trixie...no, Twilight. Dislikes: Being teased about his appearance, Ursas, Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, liars, sports. Character Summary: Snips is the son of Ponyville's barber. He knows that one day he'll be working along side his dad and then taking over the business, but he's in no hurry to take over boring adult responsibilities. He's much more interested in goofing off with his buddy Snails, and trying to improve his magic act. Snips doesn't fit in well with most of the other colts in Ponyville his age. He's often teased for his short stature and his weight, by colts and fillies as well. He's not interested in sports or competitions, he just wants to do magic. He and Snails, though, are nearly inseparable. Snips is a bit hyperactive, and tends to be the idea pony between the two friends. It was his bright idea to bring an Ursa into town to get Trixie to demonstrate her "awesome magical abilities". When Trixie failed to deliver on her boasts, it crushed Snips emotionally (and almost crushed him physically.) In the aftermath of the attack, only groveling to his father had saved him from being grounded for the rest of his natural life. He still wishes that he could be a showpony like Trixie, but he now has a bit of a fancolt crush on Twilight Sparkle. Snips' prize possession is the medal he received for "Best Magic Act" at the Ponyville talent show. Granted, he and Snails were the ONLY magic act, but that doesn't matter to him.

Corsair lowered his flight goggles into place as he waited at the starting line. He gave a wings a brief stretch as he waited for the starting flag. Tense with anticipation, he focuses on his mental map of the racecourse ahead. He'd studied it enough to know it in his sleep, but he always mentally flew through the course before actually flying it. "First ring, 20 yards straight ahead. Second Ring, right 12 degrees, 25 yards. Third ring, down 20 degrees, left 10 degrees..." went the recitation in his head. Finally, the green flag dropped! Corsair launched off the line. Making precise turns, he navigated through the race course. A flare of his wing here, a bank there, a climbing turn. Finally, after 20 of the aerial rings, he once again crossed the start / finish line. Flaring his wings hard, he came to a stop near the official's booth. "Time?" he shouted to the pony in the booth. "12:42," says the pegasus holding a stopwatch. "Meh, not terrible," Corsair mumbled. He should have been able to get at least 12 seconds faster than that. He flapped over into the open booth and removed his goggles. He picked up his cap with the EPRL (Equestrian Pegasus Racing League) logo on it and placed it on his head. He looked down at a cloud table where a diagram of the racecourse was laid out. Taking a quill in his teeth, he started making notes on the diagram. "Ok, we need to get the track maintenance ponies out to turn 7. The ring is out of alignment by about 6 degrees, and needs to come down by 2 hooves," he says to the assembled race officials. "After that, the course should be ready for race day tomorrow!" Corsair gazed across the track at the empty clouds that would be the stands for the race tomorrow. Soon enough, they'd be filled with cheering ponies all there to support their favorite racers. The Cloudsdale Raceway was the biggest track on the circuit, and the most permanent. The EPRL could set up a race course over nearly any city given enough notice, but the facilities in Cloudsdale were always maintained, just the track layout was changed. All around him, Corsair could see pegasus ponies prepping for tomorrow. Ticket booths, concessions, and souvenir booths all had to be set up. Down below, he could see ponies setting up large balloons to ferry earth ponies and unicorns to the stands. There were even unicorns down there to cast a cloudwalking spell on the non-pegasus ponies. Corsair wasn't a racer himself... well not a professional anyway, but he still loved being involved in the sport. As a race official, he got to test the track before a race to make sure that the design was correct, and safe for the racers. The placement of the rings that denoted the turns should be just right, cloud banks needed to be positioned so that anypony that missed a turn had something soft to land in. Surveying all the work around him, it looked to Corsair that everything would be ready right on time for tomorrow. This should be the biggest race yet! ((OOC: This post started writing itself after a while, and I realized I was setting myself up to host an entire race for this thread... If anyone is interested in helping me with something like this I'd appreciate it.))

This came from something we were talking about in IRC tonight. Since I can't do fan art, I figured a short story would suffice. Take a look and tell me what you think: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vUg ... y=CLnkm8IL

Fluttershy / Pegasus / Mare / FiM Mane Cast Current Threads: Winter Setup Open to All The Animal Adoption Fair Past Threads: Winter Wrap Up 2014 - Animal Team A Rescue in Progress, Perhaps? Featuring Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie A Long Story Featuring Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and Spike A Hearts and Hooves Gift (Exited) Light in the Dark (Canceled) The Ponyville Pet Show (Part 2) (Ended) Winter Wrap Up 2012 (Ended) ​ Bonfire / Unicorn / Stallion / Sergeant of the Princesses' Royal Guard Current Threads: Sunset at the Corral Featuring Princess Celestia Past Threads: Running of the Leaves 2013 Colts will be Colts Featuring Princess Luna and Shining Armor One is the Loneliest Number (Exited) The Night Watch (Completed) The Firestarter (Exited) Training Day (Ended) Snips / Unicorn / Foal / FiM Cast Current Threads: Cutie Mark Crusader Treasure Hunters, Go! Featuring Snails and the Cutie Mark Crusaders Past Threads: Class is in Session DaringCon General A County Field Trip Bug Hunt Unofficial Nightmare Night 2012 ​ Topaz Tremor / Earth Pony / Mare / Geologist Threads: None at this time Past Threads: Down on the Farm (Exited) Unofficial Running of the Leaves 2012 Corsair / Pegasus / Stallion / Race Official / Inactive Long Shot / Pegasus / Stallion / Fallout: Equestria / Inactive "Gravy" Growler / Diamond Dog / Adult Male / Inactive

Corsair is also the name of a WWII fighter plane. that's where his coloration (and my online name) comes from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_F4U_Corsair The planes were also used after the war in air racing.

Name: Corsair Gender: Male Age: Stallion Species: Pegasus Pelt Color: Dark Blue Mane/Tail Color & Style: Teal (see picture) Eye Color: Blue Cutie Mark: Two checkered flags, crossed at the staff Physique: Athletic. By some quirk in his feathers, his wings create a whistling noise when flying at high speeds. Residence: Cloudsdale Occupation: Official for the EPRL (Equestrian Pegasus Racing League). However, since races are only held once or twice a week, he also works as a flight instructor for young fillies and colts. He also volunteers as an instructor at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. Motivation: his Cutey Mark represents his desire for fairness and keeping to the rules, particularly when it comes to racing. Likes: Racing, rules, fairness, speed, kids. Dislikes: Cheating, The Wonderbolts, closed in spaces (Claustrophobia). Character Summary:As a colt, Corsair fancied himself a racer. There were other pegasi that were faster than he, but he always raced smartly and managed to finish near the front most of the time. During one particular race, Corsair was knocked out into a cloud by a couple of bullies. Even though this was just a race between colts, he still felt the unfairness keenly. He confronted the bullies afterward, and got a black eye for his troubles. That night, vowed he'd find a way to stop cheaters. That was when his Cutey Mark appeared. While Corsair loves racing, both competing and officiating, he does not like acrobatic flying. For one, it seems needlessly showy, and for two, it is very unsafe. He sees fillies and colts every day that dream of being Wonderbolts, not knowing how short most careers with the flight team are, and that many members are permanently injured in accidents. Like that filly that won the most recent Best Young Flyer competition. With her kind of speed, she'd be a natural on the race course, but no, she wants to go fly loop-de-loops in a jumpsuit. Waste of talent really... Fain