AsthmaticPegasus

Not in all her short life had Sprite ever run into ponies so nice (at face value, at least). Most of them were either indifferent, and at worst they were the notorious raiders who did unspeakable things in an unspeakable number of gruesome ways. Not once... well, maybe once or twice she had been given a s**** of bad food, but that was about it. Charity was all but dead in this unforgiving world. She gently shook Priest's hoof, still remaining relatively cautious in the face of all this kindness. "Thank you... it will feel nice to have friends." She said carefully, her stomach picking the most inopportune time to grumble again. These ponies were acting so happy and welcoming... it was beginning to make Sprite feel guilty. But for what none of them could ever know.

The filly had barely any time to take in the friendly, safe atmosphere that Chapel had as she was eagerly dragged through the dusty road and towards a large, eerily beautiful church. She glimpsed the zebras and ghouls though, a little surprised to see them in town. She may not have been on the wastes for long, but one things she knew was that zombie ponies and stripes were usually pretty high on the outcast list. Maybe she could... no, nonono, it wouldn't turn out well. Momma and Poppa had told her that ponies hated changelings for the way they... fed. And the years of rumors and horror stories would NOT help. at all. The Reverend was busy when they got their, and Sprite stayed silent as he spoke. She didn't share the enthusiasm that Pop did, guess the excitement and happiness hadn't had a chance to sink in yet. When he turned around and greeted them he seemed friendly and genuine, and not in a patronizing sort of way. She stayed quiet as she was introduced, forcing a little smile as she was hugged tight again by Pop.

Sprite rubbed at her head as she was jostled around, still trying to get her bearings on the situation. If all of these ponies were gathered around and not freaking out then it was probably okay, her secret was definitely safe right now... most likely.... probably. Though they were all just staring at her and chatting quietly amongst themselves, and to the little, previously ostracized changeling it was unsettling enough. She was then reminded there was still that empty pit inside of her that begged to be filled as her stomach growled, though it didn't feel like just her stomach. Her desperation and caution fueling her Sprite slowly sat up again, trying to give Pop a smile. "Yeah, I guess I'm ready. This Reverend sounds real nice." and hopefully we could get some food after, maybe. She thought to herself silently.

With her headache still throbbing, stomach somehow even more empty than it was before, and a woozy haziness putting her out of focus, Sprite woke up. She rolled onto her side and tried to blink away the blur, getting her bearings as she lay lamely on the couch. Where was she? Probably in that little town Pop had been shouting about, and these were probably her friends... and oh sweet Chrysalis she passed out! Sprite sat up quickly, only making her headache worse as she began to panic. Had she been found out, was she still... yeah, she was, her coat was still yellow and her hair was still red thankfully. "Owowooowwww..." The starving girl complained, laying herself gently back down. "Wha... what happened, where am I, what's..." Trailing off, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Oh dear, so many questions, so little time! her ears were ringing with the sudden burst of happy shouting, still wishing she had managed to take a nap in those cold, dark ruins she had been discovered in. It didn't do anything for her headache (probably making it worse) and her lagging brain tried to keep up as best it could with the circumstances it was given. "I'm from uh... 'cause I don't use one...I usually run awa- no, I don't think that'd be very cool... No, but it sounds great... I'm kind of tired.." She said as the questions were thrown at her, moving her hoof from her stomach to her head as she clenched her eyes shut. The Crusaders and their conversation, as happy and uplifting as they were trying to be, only seemed to be making the filly more and more uncomfortable. Her stomach lurched and let out another groan, the bad bread working it's way back up her throat. "Ugh... I think I'm gonna..." She mumbled before throwing up in her mouth and spewing it on the ground, stumbling forwards a few more feet before falling flat on her face. She was out before she hit the ground, landing limply in the dirt. Fortunately for the changeling fainting did not cause her appearance to faulter, but for how long that would last is unsure...

Oh, yay, more ponies... well, it's not like any of them were going to do anything bad (she hoped not anyways) , and as she'd thought before, some friendliness could do some good. Heck, they were all children, and they thought she was a pony just like them! This could actually go... really well! She just needed to play it cool, keep her head low, and not call out attention to herself. Which was becoming increasingly difficult as her stomach grumbled and churned in discomfort, the moldy bread making it do backflips inside of her chest. In all the past weeks, her body chose now to feel the lousiest of lousy? When she needed to act normal and maintain her disguise? "Uh, how many other ponies are there?" She said, trying to keep the conversation rolling. "Hard to imagine a nice place in the Wasteland, I hope I don't 'cause trouble, and uh, nice to meet you, guys." She rambled, shifting her cloth satchel on her back. Just focus, just focus... She thought to herself, placing a hoof over her starved belly.

A grenade launcher, with this spastic filly? Sprite flinched when she was shown the weapon, and was glad that this... actually, in all her friendliness Sprite was actually surprised that the girl hadn't announced her name. Anyways, at least she wasn't hostile yet, but the prospect of running into more unknown ponies was unsettling... but Sprite had to get a grip, she was getting pretty desperate at this point. She moved quickly as the girl started leaving, darting to her side silently and hesitantly. Being with this fire department filly, or crusader as she called herself, Sprite felt a hunger rumble through her, both physically and emotionally. She cringed and held her stomach, suddenly aware of the fact that she hadn't eaten anything nutritional in several days... and she could hardly remember the last time somepony had positive emotions towards her. Without a word she reached into her cloth pack, pulling out some hard, stale, and probably moldy bread. Maybe gnawing on this would fend off the lightheadedness, or get her sick, or both. "So, you... didn't tell me your name." she said, trying to distract herself from the cloying emptiness inside of her.

Her hooves stopped kicking at the ground as Sprite relaxed, letting the plank of wood fall to her side. So, this was just a normal filly... not a crazy raider, nor some weird small mutant psychopath who shouted obscenities about merry-go-rounds? Well... as long as she didn't somehow figure out that Sprite usually didn't look like this and had holes in her legs it should be fine. Maybe she could hang around for a little while too... some companionship might settle her stomach. "O-okay..." Sprite said, taking a deep breath and getting cautiously to her hooves. As long as she was alert and aware she could spring out of here in no time. "I'm Sprite, and uh, yeah, I guess you could say I'm new around here..." She kept calming herself down, squinting into the light and trying to shade her eyes before thinking about what the filly had just said. ".....and who's Boom Boom?"

The little girl meeps and flutters her wings nervously as she hops into the air, falling onto her rump hard. She starts breathing heavily, her hooves scrabbling against the ground as she backed up. Why couldn't those stupid things have kept her occupied for a second, maybe two more? Sprite would have been scott free! Maybe she could still sprint for the door, get out while she could an- wait, why was the filly giggling? This didn't seem like a good time for giggling... at least, not to the small, disguised changeling. If something went wrong... well, that bright light did a great job of concealing her when shined in Sprite's eyes like this. What if she had a weapon or something!? "Please, I... don't hurt me!" She said in a panicky, high pitched voice, reaching out to grab a random wooden plank as a shield. She might be able to attack her.... doubtful, considering Sprite's current position. "I don't have anything valuable, I swear!"

Sprite shifted uneasily as she tried to wrap up her food and s**** in a makeshift bag, able to hear whoever it was that was making their way through the ruins with her keen sense of hearing. Oh, why had she decided to take a nap now? She should have found some place more secluded to stop for the day, some place only a flier could get to, or something. No need to worry, she could always change if she needed to, but with her luck she'd probably still be in danger.... so there was plenty of need to worry. She started moving quicker, letting out a gasp as she heard a can rattle it's way down the hall not too far from her room. Just as the door began opening she darted behind a large slab of rock, sinking into the near perfect darkness of her hiding spot. She cringed as the ponies light washed over the wrecked room, trying to slowly slide herself towards the door as what looked like a little filly happily hopped over to examine a box. This was her chance, all she had to do was stay quiet and sneak out the open door while the strangers back was turned. She moved from cover, praying to Chrysalis that the filly's attention remain diverted. As an afterthought she shifted her appearance of a yellow coated pegasus with a short, red mane. Just in case...

I'll do the drawing for the 31st

Saw Bones looked through the large stack of information he had amassed, brushing dust off of some of the older tomes he hadn't used in a long while. The information in there was as he remembered it, referring to ancient Gryphon cultures and societies and the places which they were based. Oddly enough there was no mention of the temple that Colgate had spoken of or the gryphons which lived there. Were they a secret society, guarding themselves better than all the others? Even if they were there had to be some mention of them SOMEWHERE. No one could hide themselves completely with no evidence of their existence. Saw ran a hoof through his mane in frustration, they had been going at this for awhile and coming up with absolutely nothing. He sat back, letting out a great big sigh and calming himself down. This, as annoying as it was, was what made this profession so fun. Finding a mystery and throwing yourself into it in order to find out the truth. "Maybe it never made it into the books?" Colgate said as she read, finding no useful info. "Or maybe.... maybe they were taken OUT of the history books..." Saw said with a smirk, lifting himself up. "But what.... what could prompt an entire culture to purge their history books and hide some group like this from the whole world.... assuming they ARE trying to hide something, of course." He hopped up and paced back and forth, going into deep thought. "Maybe they WERE just that good at hiding themselves.... but that couldn't be, they contacted you to help them, didn't they? If they were so secretive then they wouldn't do that...." At this point he was talking to himself, his mind tumbling through what he knew and what he thought as it tried to put something together.

Hey man, happy you hopped on the site

I still want to be the engineer

So.... does that mean there won't be an engineering position?

Penumbra no you can't :I edit: I don't want to get in any trouble... so I'm just gonna edit that

yes, dem white mouses be delicious

UGH so bored -pokes Penby and crawls underneath him-

what was it?