Stainless Steel Fox

As his telekinesis dabbed a napkin lightly on Blueblood's lips, he pushed forward the empty dessert plate and stood up on all fours. A waiter came and asked if he wanted coffee and mints, but he just shook his head. "Very well then. I will arrange your passages, and such other things as are needful. I will have the details delivered to the previous address. As I said, be ready to leave in three days, first thing in the morning. For now, farewell." He nodded his head, and turned to leave. &&& The trio heard nothing further from the Prince for the next tow day, but on the third, a set of three folders were delivered to Firewalker's postal drop. In them were a set of boarding passes and instructions for boarding the Cupid, and in the case of Firewalker and Dunder, a letter from the office of the Royal Guard. In Firewalker's case, it was a reactivation notice, and an assignment to Order IV of the Honor Guard, to act as personal protection detail for Duke Blueblood. In Dunder's case it was an acceptance to the REA and a similar assignment. (OOC: I'll let everyone react to that before I do a post for the air-ship port.)

"Didn't i say? I must be more tired than I thought! I need a very large coffee of spoon melting strength, and doughnuts, a half dozen should do whatever you've got going, but make sure there's one of your strawberry and cream crullers if you've got one." She yawned and put her hoof over her mouth. "I definitely need that coffee." Suddenly she noticed the green pegasus. "Professor Krashkop? It's an honour to meet you! I read your latest paper on non-translinear reciprocators in a high pressure steam system. It was neat! I applied the idea to my Auto-wing Mk 23. What do you think? I've gotten almost another half wingpower out of it in level flight."

Blueblood stood on the verandah, looking out over the central plains and taking deep gulps of air as he fought to regain his composure. It wasn't easy, Muggo's question had peirced his heart with it's horn, and ripped it free. Worse still, it appeared that the earth pony was a better reader of character than he'd imagined, and hadn't been fooled by his fiction. However, he'd spent years learning to control his emotions, to show the world only what he wanted it to see, and eventually rewcivered at least some fo his eqilibrium. He manifested a pocket mirror and exmained his face in the light from the restaurant behind him. It was one of the few conjurations he could manage, and little more than a polished hoof sized sheet of of silver. Not for him the more advanced unicorn magics that manifested complex objects containing multiple, once living or even living materials, even holding this for more than a few seconds put a distinct strain on his magic reserves, but it was invaluable for checking his appearance without making it obvious. He was a mess, eyes reddened and with a distict sniffle. His magic quickly turned to reducing the ravages of his loss of control, minor glamours and cosmetic spells hiding and reducing the puffiness and bloodshot appearance of his eyes, while his slightly disheveled mane was teased back into it's perfect coiffure. Ready to face his public again, he turned to go back into the restaurant to notice Firewalker proceeding him. How much had she seen? How much did she know? He would have to watch her for any indication that she'd seen his discomposure. "Ah... much better. So, do any of you have any further concerns you wish to raise?" He settled back down to his meal, and managed to eat normally, finishing his meal though he wasn't really feeling that hungry any more. He had a second glass of wine, more than normal. He also decided that he deserved a break froim his diet, and when the waiter came, he ordered one of Le Grand's signature eclairs a la mode, with rosehip and vanilla icecream as the side.

You're not the one I'm worried about delaying posting.

(OOC: I only just started watching Avatar, so I only just got that joke.)

(OOC: I'd be quite happy to continue it .) There was a putt-putt-putt noise from outside and a hiss of escaping steam. In through the door came a blue and white dappled unicorn mare, wearing a pair of flying goggles and a saddle arrangement on her back with the most peculiar contraption. The rear part, sticking out from overr her rump was a fan tail made of orange dyed canvas and thin metal spars, that folded together and ratracted into the main body of the device at a tap on a shoulder control with her cheek. On top of the saddle was a small steam engine of intricate contruction, with metal segmented pipes leading to a pair of orange dyed canvas bat-wings, all intrcate brass joints, spars and pistons. They were folding tight against her saddle, and the multiple exhaust tubes poking up from the device were still trickling steam. "Hey Joe! Need some doughnuts to go... huh that rhymes... so now you know, and knowing is half the battle, and doughnuts will be the other half. Speaking of which, it looks like you've had a bit of a battle in here. Oh, and a coffee, a large coffee, very large coffee, strong enough so it melts the spoon. I've been up all night working on my latest design,and i have a downed passenger dirigible north of Canterlot to go and fix, so I need the wake-up juice... did I mention I wanted doughnuts? I think I ate... when did I eat? Anyway, I'm hungry, which means it's time to eat more." Wingnut, who never went by her original given name of Flight of Fancy, was a regular at Pony Joe's. Her repair shop/dirigible was based out of Cloudsdale, and since Canterlot was a crossing point for the air-ship routes going east to Germaney and the provinces, and west to Aquelia, north to Stalliongrad and South to the cities of the strand, she frequently flew past on one of her missions of mechanical mercy. Her somewhat disjointed prose was normal as well, a combination of too little sleep, too many ideas sparking randomly under her horn, and a natural tendency to motormouth.

Prince Blueblood, 53rd of the name, Duke of Canter, Protector of the Princesses and carrier of titles far greater than the pony himself was in a royal snit. He himself would have described himself as disgruntled, or out of sorts, but in fact, right at this moment he not only looked as if he'd never been gruntled in the first place, but also that no amount of sorting would fix it. How dare a Royal carriage break down when he'd been riding in it! He'd been riding back to the palace from a ribbon cutting at a new memorial statue in Canterleigh Park when it had inconveniently hit a pony-hole cover and taken out a wheel. He was mentally writing letters of complaint to the Canterlot Department of Public Works, the Rolls Kinardly flying chariot company, Prince Consort and Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armour and... he'd think of someone! The chariot teamsters were pegasi, they should have flown over it! He could have waited for a replacement carriage to come and fetch him, but he'd decided he needed to get back to the Palace as fast as possible to start writing, even though it meant walking several hundreds of pony-lengths. Not that he couldn't do it, he spent considerable time each day with a personal trainer to maintain his body in peak condition, but it was for show, not to tromp around the streets of Canterlot like some earth-pony. (Part of him was happy to be walking around and exploring the streets, but it was a small part and suppressed through long practice and training, currently hiding behind a stack of neuroses where his ego wouldn't find it.) At least it had broken down in one of the nicer shopping districts. One particular shop caught his eye, the gaudy banner proclaiming a sale on fudge. That made it a place to avoid on two counts, the temptation to ruin his carefully planned diet, and the implication that Prince Blueblood of all ponies would need to stoop to buying at sale prices. He was about to pass by when he saw who was inside. Princess Cadence and Duke Polaris? Hmmmm... this bore further investigation. He turned and went in, trying to ignore the way his stomach as the sweet scent of caramel working overtime hit his nostrils. "Princess Cadence, Duke Polaris. What brings you to this... establishment?"

(OOC: I'm withdrawing Cloudius from this RP, as it's clear that people don't agree with his design. I still think that a pegasus who's special talent is cloud manipulation rather than flying should be able to go beyond the generic pegasus paradigm. I honestly believed that, and that I hadn't used his unique abilities excessively, or in ways that would hurt anyone else's roleplaying experience. Manifesting small amounts of cloud given moisture in the air, and changing it's properties is a flexible power but I hardly think it's excessive. It must exist in canon to build cloud houses. Also it isn't as if magic to make clouds solid to non-pegasi doesn't exist in canon. And if it can be done by unicorns as a spell, wouldn't it make sense for it to be available as an innate power for pegasi, especially one who's talent is cloud manipulation. It's even impled in canon from the birds being able to sit on clouds in 'May the Best Pet win'. Either all flying creatures share the pegasus ability to cloud walk, or Fluttershy modified the cloud somehow to provide them with perches. But I've made all these points before, and it doesn't seem to have made a difference, so I will bow to the will of the herd and withdraw my character not just from this RP, but from play altogether. I apologise for any inconvenience it may have caused.)

Blueblood was relieved, even if he didn't show it, that Firewalker had specifically stated they'd keep it quiet. There was also the fact that it felt decidedly odd to have his 'mundane' spells considered something of other than an embarrassment. While he was willing to admity they would be useful for what was coming, admiting such things to most of his coterie would have gotten back sneers at the very least. Not directly, of course, but the kind of behind your hindquarters, juicy scandal that it could provike would be far worse. To Dunder's remark, he simply replied, "Considering that Gustav Le Grand is one of the most celebrated chefs in Canterlot, or rather all of Equestria, that seems rather obvious. For most ponies, the waiting list for a table is three weeks long. I, of course, have one at my disposal whenever I need it." Having used that comment to demonstrate, once again, just how well connected he was, he settled down to enjoy his meal. After a few mouthfuls, Muggo Ale asked his question, which hit the unicorn stallion like an oncoming moon. "If you wish to address me properly, Sir, Your Grace, or Prince is acceptable. Boy, isn't!" But that response was just something said on automatic pilot while he tried to deal with the memories the innocent question brought up. "In answer to your question, it was a number of years ago, and when my father's expedition was overdue, my mother offered large rewards to any-pony going to Uyanazi for any evidence leading to discovering my father. While there were a few leads, they all panned out into dead ends. You probably don't realise how vast Uyanazi really is, or how little of the part nearest Equestria has been explored even today, let alone the far south. Until I recieved the journal, I had no idea where in Uyanazi to begin looking other than somewhere south. As if you were trying to find a pony in southern Equestria who could be anywhere between Phillydelphia and Hoofington. Worse, as that area is well populated. Eventually mother just... lost hope, and I did too. "Not that I could have done anything about it. I was only a colt at the time, and there I was suddenly Duke of Canter. My mother was regent, but I had to take over the dignities, the social responsibilities, maintaining the continuity of the Dukedom no matter what I..." He was shocked at just how much he was letting out, but the question, and his resurgent personality he'd suppressed for so long under traiining and endless practice, had combined to rip the scab off an emotional wound that he'd managed to ignore for years. When his father had first vanished, ghe'd been despnate to go find him, and would have done just about anything, but his mother had other ideas. She'd madse it quite clear that as the sole remaining Blueblood, his place was in Canterlot, maintaining his status, not galivanting off to the ends of the world to get killed. He'd fought it at first, but repeated hammering home of her position had forced him to tsuppress his desires, turn it to becoming the best and most noble noble of the nobility, to do the job his father could no longer do. And that was what he'd done, playing the game of high society, and learning to do it better than any-pony else... until now, when those long buried emotions and feelings suddenly sprung up to hit him between the eyes like a rake in the grass. To his horror, he felt his eyes start to prick. He hadn't cried since the day after his father was finally given up as lost. A noble didn't cry, and the Duke of Canter certainly didn't. He had to leave, find a place to get his raging emotions under control. He used every ounce of the self control he'd spent years building, and ground out. "I... feel the need for some fresh air. Continue, and try the eclairs for dessert, they are uncommonly good." With that he got up on all fours, and headed for a secluded part of the verandah.

Well maybe the other players in Joust a Little Disagreement will get back to me. I was really enjoying that. Blueblood was getting a Karmic lump hammer to the noggin after being his usual self.

Heads up. I just got a minimum post notification for Blueblood. I'm trying to reactivate some of my other Blue Blood RPs, but worst case, if I don't get my post frequency up, I'll have to abandon him. I don't want to start an RP thread ppurely for the purpose of doing it either, as Blue b.lood's more effective in the antagonist role or as part of an ensemble than as the protagonist. I'm trying to find just how often I have to post and can't find it!

I'm sorry if I seem antsy, but the number of RPs I've seen die because one person wasn't willing to put in the effort make me fear for this one when someone delays posting. This has the pottential to give Blueblood exactly the kind of character development I was hoping for when I first designed the character. I'd far rather prefer a two sentence post that marks your turn and lets everyone else continue the story than having to wait.

I believe my current feelings towards Dunder at the moment can be expressed as this...

(OOC: Once again it's thurdsday night, but this ttime I'm writing this up before I set off.) Blueblood was torn by the question in several different directions. Part of him was annoyed that they were even asking, he was contributing the money, shouldn't that be enough? That same part of him was also unhappty at revealing he had any 'common' skills, and that his magic actually had a use beyond cosmetics. Years of harping by his mother about how undignified it was to go waving your horn around at the drop of a hat had cut deep, and her virulent denial of his cutie-mark as a mistake and somehow his fault, and everything that came from it still haunted him. But the other part of him, the part that had decided to go on this quest in the first place, break with his mother over it, pushed him to reveal it. The truth was, however well he hid them, he did have some spells that were useful for survival and exploring, in line with his cutie-mark. What finally decided him was the fact that they were talking up thir skills, and he wanted to show off something himself. It just felty wrong to let them outdo him. "Firstly, while I may have some useful abilities, they are not the sort of thing I want bruited about. So you will keep them strictly to yourselves. Is that clear?" His glower made it quite clear that he'd foind many unpleasant ways to make his displeasure known if they didn't. "While I may not have put it to practical use, I am something of a student of geography, and history. I have studied those reports and information on the Punda Milla that have passed through the Royal Society, in my role as the Royal Patron, including what little is known about their language, the northermost tribes at least. Thsi wasn't my father's first trip there, so his journals also had useful information, and I have studied those assiduously. "Obviously, the dialects where we're going will be considerably diffrerent, but the mobility of and frquent contact between the various tribes will help. Even the southern tribes will have some-pony who can speak the nortehrn dialects, and much of what i've learned is the lingua franca they use as trading talk. While the northern tribes are also likely to have ponies who speak Equesrian from their contacts with traders, we can't count on it in the south where we'll be going. His voice lowered slightly, and he looked around as if seeing who might overhear. "I have a good sense of direction, exceptional actually, and one of my spells allows me to Imprint a map of places I've been to. It's embarrasing really, I've had to work hard to get any practical spells for my role in life, cosmetic charms and mostly, but I gained several other mostly useless spells without any effort. They might be of use in this particular situation though. Endure Elements maintains a comfortable environment about me even in hostile conditions, Wilderness Step allows me to walk through rough or obstacle covered ground at full speed... Actually those two are rather useful at some of the more packed cocktail parties I patronise. "Actually, so does Purify. While I'm sure it's original intent was to purify food and water for eating, it does a similar job on alcohol. It is sometimes useful to be able to match drinks with some-pony without suffering the consequences. The ones which really don't have a purpose are Compass, which finds things, and Firelighter, which does exactly what it says. You can see why I don't want those sort of spells being common knowledge. A gentle-pony shouldn't concern himself with such things, but I didn't really have a choice. As I said, they came to me almost unbidden. "The one thing I don't mind being generally known, apart from my geographic knowledge, is my horticultural abilities. A lot of my mother's most rare and expensive blooms have come from Uyanazi, and I have learned a lot about them. Those are skills appropriate to a noble. In the process I studied the more mundane plants of the region, and their uses, purely for completeness. That, I don't want let out. Horticulture is acceptable, agriculture is for farmers, not the nobility. I should be able to identify food and a few medicinal herbs though."

Okay, we're waiting on Dunder. I say we agree to skip if he doesn't post in the next day.

(OOC: Sorry it took so long, but Thursday night is always movie night with friends, and I never get in before midnight, and yesterday I stayed out at the pub longer than I normally did, and by the time I got home it was late and I was knackered. Also, what Blueblood says is dependant on whether this is after the events of 'Joust a little Disagreement'. I guess I'm going to have to ignore it as they havn't resolved yet.) Blueblood was served first, obviously, and he was pleased to see the others didn't try to barge in, though they did serve themselves rather than waiting to be waited on. Fortunately, no-pony saw that other than the waiter, and he was far too well trained to sniff in disgust at such uncouth manners. However, Blueblood's social antennae could detect it, and he realised he'd probably have to give a slightly bigger tip to make sure it didn't get out. When Dunder asked his question, Blueblood was a bit taken aback. Him, fight? With sharp pointy things and blood and all trhe mess and bother that accompanied it. "No, I don't, the idea is positively medieval! Such overly energetic pursuits are considered undignified for the highest classes, such as myself. There are exceptions, such as Shining Armour, but he was a common guardspony before he married Princess Cadence. I'd be as likely to puty on a suit of armour and go jousting." He gave a chuckle, amused at the silliness of the idea. Then he considered, if there were hazards that needed a blade (and _something_ had prevented his father's return) he would be relying on the ponies around the table to put themselves between him and it. Best to throw them a bale of hay. "I leave the work of guarding to the guards. All three of you have had combat experience, one of you as a guardspony yourself. It is probably better if I leave the fighting to the experts, though hopefully there will not be any." Actually, that brought up a thought. While in Canterlot he only got a personal protection detail on formal occasions (Canterlot was considered a 'safe zone'), it was likely that he'd need to detach some Hoplon guards for his journey. He'd made something of a fuss about it in the past, having Royal guards assigned to him emphasized his status, and gotten onto the list of persons they guarded. For some reason, it wasn't apparently a popular duty, or so he'd heard, though that was ridiculous. Guarding a noble of status and importance was what these ponies lived for. There was a problem though. Although their salaries would be be paid for out of the privy purse, he'd have to find additional lodgings, food, transport and everything else for them out of his already overstrained money-bag. But Fire Walker was a guard, if on leave, and Dummy... Dunder Blust was on record as having applied and being turned down as too hot headed. Reactivating the first would be easy enough, and getting her assigned to protection detail duty was a matter of pulling the right strings in the bureaucracy. He might well be able to do something similar for Dunder. He could even present it to them as a complement, something to enhance their loyalty. He would say nothing for now, and see what could be done.

But that's not my 'Best Night Ever Extended Edition'... oh, sorry, I thought you were looking for my fics and got that by mistake. I've read it too, and i must admit it's an excellent representation of Blueblood. Maybe I should re-reead it for my characterisation. I'm wondering if I'm playing his as too devious and manipulative. Blueblood in canon was, for a social pony, really inept. He has to have the social skills to maintain his position, and yet he didn't bother to use any of them with Rarity. He could have wrapped her around his hoof-tip with the slightest effort and didn't bother. The only justification I can give is that with Rarity he didn't care, shewas just eye-candy for the night, whereas here he actually needs the other characters for something, so he's restraining himself and using his social judo to get them to do what he wants.

Sorry guys, I've got in alte tow nights in a row. GDon't want top write while I'm half asleep. Will post saturday morning GMT.

Has anybody ever read the Sailor Moon Expanded fanfiction site? http://sailormoonexpanded.nsamo.com/ Trust me it's far better than it sounds. A group of authors got together to try and do for Sailor Moon what Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole (to name but two) did for Star Wars. It's a site for fanfictions that fit into canon events, and at the same time try to explore the universe beyond it. What's more it's sort of a shared universe, a conmmunity where other writers can build on and use OCs or events already created by other authors. One of the things it did was try and rationalise the Sailor Moon timeline, with some success. What I'm wondering is if there's anything similar for Friendship is Magic, and if not, would there be any interest in such a site? I've been intending to completely rewrite my fanfic 'Celestia's notebook' in light of the events of season 2, and could put it up on the site. I'm trying to create a consistent timeline friom the various things shown in canon, but I'm not ready to publish it yet. Of course, if anyone already has such a timeline, I'd love to see it.

I put up one, but compared to fanfiction.net the upload system is a pain to operate. Side note, I assumed that air-ship launch in Sweet and Elite was from a private dock. It seems to be fanon, at least on this site that air-ships aren't just private luxury toys for the ultra rich, but instead an actual industry. Logically Canterlot and the other major cities must have air-ship ports and all the things that go with it. The Cupid is a Reindeer class fast passenger liner, much larger than the private yacht Rarity launched. I would have figured any-pony would know the name, the same way anyone knows the Queen Elizabeth, or Titannic.

"Very well." Blueblood nodded with a pleased expression. Exactly as he'd hoped. Show these common ponies a taste of the high life and they would fall over themselves to join in. He was beginning to think his initial offer of bits might have been too high, they seemed eager to do it just for the adventure and a ride on the Cupid. However, he'd made his offfer, which constituted giving his word, and a noble couldn't go back on his word. It would ruin his reputation. "The Cupid leaves Canterlot in three days. I will make the ticket arrangements," 'or rather have my social secretary make them', he mentally added. "You will need to be at Canterlot sky-port first thing in the morning, fully packed and ready for a long journey. I shall have a schedule sent to your lodgings. You have until then to say whatever goodbyes you need to. For myself, it is barely enough time to put my affairs in order and prepare for my absence. I am, after all, much sought after and it will be a wrench, leaving in the middle of the social season, but this quest is worth it." Actually, he considered, he could play this both ways. To the most refined and least energetic of his social circle, he could put it as an unfortunate necessity, a hardship which he was enduring for the sake of family honour and duty. To the younger, more adventurous set, he could play up the adventurous aspect of it slightly more. While quite a few of them had travelled to the holiday spoits of the Gallapocus Islands, none of them had been to Uyanazi. Most however preferred the resorts of the Nimbusgait lakes, or the high life of Manehatten or Las Pegasus. Few of them would have the courage to travel so far from home, which could make this journey quite a coup. That satisfied the social side of his personality, while the little foal who had idolised his father was cheering too, though very quietly so his main ego didn't notice him. He was finally following in his father's hoofprints both figuratively and literally. His wine was delivered and the unicorn waiter held out the cork for his assessment. His mother might not approve of him knowing about wild plants and their uses, but horticulture and the apreciation of fine wines was perfectly acceptable. He nodded, and the waiter delicately poured out a measure. Blueblood took up the glass with a deft touch of his telekinesis and sipped. As he did, another waiter brought over a large tray of hors'd'oeuvres as a start to their meal.

A lot of the MLP ones were written before season 2, and aren't canon as a result.

I'd forgotten about that one. I was thinking of this... As for my fanfics you can find them here... http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1701088/ As well as My Little Pony, I've done Sonic SatAM, Star Fox and Rescue Rangers fics.

I just realised, I'm not sure how big our special effects budget is going to be. I've got a lot of expenditures coming up for fanfics and roleplaying gam,es I'm running. We may have to travel by map to save imagination.

"They are the ponies I see everyday." Blueblood preened. "I am, after all, one of the highest and most highly regarded nobles in Canterlot, nay, all of Equestria. I am on evry-pony's A list, a pony every-pony should know. You are fortunate enough to have the skills I need to accomplish this mission." (And work cheap enough, he mentally added.) The dopy pegasus was clearly out of his depth, and hadn't clearly ordered a meal. The other two had garnered some minimal respect by the way they were handling it. He thought about ordering for Dandruff, or whatever his name was, but decided he didn't need to go that far out of his way. The waiter was still hovering. Blueblood sat back on his seating cushion, and brought forth a scroll from a pocket in his immaculate suit that expanded from hoof length to several times that, and then unrolled in the centre of the lounge table. On it was a careful drawn and beautifully detailed map. A slight application of magic from his horn, and it redrew itself as he spoke. And yes, the path he described did draw itself in in red ink. "As your story indicates, my father's last known location was in Uyanazi, under the shadow of the western mountains, in Hodari territory. He meticulously plotted his route south from there, sufficient that I believe it could be followed. I therefore intend to board the Cupid, and travel to Corralwood Corral in the Gallopocus islands. There I will outfit an expedition and charter an air-ship to carry it as far as possible towards the Hodari territories. I will find out what information I can there, then trace my father's steps southwards. He mentioned a flying island in his notes, one which carried upon it a great city of the ancient civillisation I told you all of. Of course my proimary goal is to find my father's... whereabouts, but I believe the two are connected." Blueblood wondered if he should dismiss the map as something produced by the excellent secretarial staff at the palace. Government offices often used self-expanding scrolls for archivial purposes, but the contents in this case had come from him. It was rather embarrasing, he'd gone to great effort learning practical spells like cosmetic charms, but his cutie-mark kept on throwing up things like a map-making spell, or fire-starting, or an Endure Elements spell, though that was quite useful for remaining cool and fresh at some of the more fraught and overpacked parties he went to. Ultimately he decided to say nothing about it. It wasn't like he needed to explain himself to common ponies. He looked around. "If you accept my offer, you will join me on the journey." A somnellier brought him a wine list to select something go with the meal, and he contemplated it for a moment before deciding. "The Shireaz I think, a '68."