SteelEagle

OOC- PATHFINDER She raced through the sky, the clouds seemingly parting ways for the pegasus in motion. She made no claim to the titleholder of fastest in her class or most skilled flyer, but few could match her manic and determined sprint through the skies. Few times in her life could she even remember this type of relentless beating being delivered unto the skies by her relatively small wings. Then again, had any event so deeply disturbed her, so cut to her core? She reasoned that the answer was no and that the haste that had made home in her breast was the appropriate response. She soared high to save time and when it was appropriate, she dove to increase her speed. There in front of her lay the small city of Ponyville, a town with recognition that far outstripped its real, pertinent value. Normally, it would have been a nice, somewhat notable place to lay her head down for a night and then seek out adventure until the grateful townspeople tossed bits her way and pointed to another worthy location. This day, however, it was her destination, every beat of her harried heart and every stroke of her frantic wings honed to the purpose of arriving in Ponyville as swiftly as she could. She spotted what appeared to be the town hall, the area around it clean and open for a while before bridges and buildings took their positions. Ponies milled about, discussing Celestia knows what. It didn't matter; Pathfinder had her landing zone. She pulled up briefly to get into position as she flew over the town, then angled herself towards the open portion. She rocketed towards the ground, slowing down just before impact. It didn't really work as her hooves had a hard time keeping up her landing speed and after nearly tripping she launched herself back into the air, gliding in order to slow down. She landed with some speed and her gallop was somewhat unrestrained as she came to a screeching stop less than a foot from the side of some building. She took a breath and gave a deep smile. That had been one heck of a landing! It hadn't worked and it had nearly ended with her head-first into a building, but nothing ever came easy for an adventurer, whether that was Daring Do or Pathfinder. That was why she loved Daring Do soooo much- they had so much in common! High adventure! Action! Excitement! Treasure! Her friends, foolish as they were, would claim it was more life imitating art than art imitating life, but she would have none of it! She had always seen herself this way and those who said otherwise were sticking their snouts where they didn't belong. Her seemingly earnest and honest devotion and love to Daring Do and her exciting adventures had been an important part of her marehood, and the midnight releases, the Luna Hour Release as it was widely known, of her favorite series were filled with more honest excitement and love than any of the Hearts Warming Eve celebrations she was dragged to. Who needed to hear about Hearths Warming Eve when Daring Do was freakin' base jumping into a volcano to escape from crazy land sharks?! Not Pathfinder! And as both a fan-club president and lover of the series, the midnight releases were near religious experiences for her. Always first in line, signed limited editions lined up and paid for, spoilers ruthlessly ignored and spoilerees trampled underhoof. On that day of the release, as the ponies waited for their wares, she always felt special, happy, and loved to be amongst so many other fans. And now that love had turned to anger. Anger! ANGER! Somepony had snuck into a bookstore in Ponyville and stolen- outright stolen- a signed limited edition copy of the newest Daring Do novel, Daring Do and the Mystery of the Manehattan Minute, that was meant for Ponyville's Daring Do fanclub president. If this vile, thieving Pony started spoiling the novel for others, it would be a disaster. This was the mist anticipated release in the series for quite a while, as the author had made the decision to have her traverse the urban jungle of Equestria's largest city in place of some exotic locale. No one knew what to expect, and this thief may very well ruin it for everyone! Not to mention she wanted to read it first. It irked her that the author had stopped sending passages from future works to the fan club. Had her critiques of the author's characters angered him? She certainly wished not. Any true artist demanded critique and she knew he was a true, beloved artist. No matter! Someone had broken the law, broken that code by which all fans lived, and probably broken the spirit of the fan club president in the area. Dastardly deeds called for a heroic response, and Pathfinder was willing to deliver. She would recover the book, capture the thief, and restore the shattered spirit of the local president. She would be a hero- for Daring Do! The backwash from the speed of her landing finally hit her, ruffling some feathers and jostling her tightly strung, officially licensed and privately modified Daring Do hat. She turned to a Pony not far from her. "Ponyvillian, where is your book store, and where is the Daring Do fan club president?" She asked, confidence and aggressiveness dripping from her every word.

Valen had never heard an accent as harsh and crumpled up like a piece of paper like the accent that Granny Smith spoke with, her shrill and cutting voice lending her a unique glance from Valen. Still, she was smiling and it was always better to see a smiling pony than one frowning or, worse, so angry she was on fire. Valen had seen a unicorn do that once and it was quite a horrifying sight, one he would be quite pleased if he never saw again. Did all unicorns get so angry at some point that their magic manifested physically as fire around them? He hoped not. "Hello there, Granny Smith. It is a pleasure to meet you here!" Valen said with all the confidence he could muster from his Manehattan Upper Crust upbringing, trotting towards the elderly mare with a hoof outstretched for a shake. His eyes met hers and immediately was put to rest any concerns he had about his well-being. Behind him, the workers started to quite literally hurl the luggage from their secure storage, their pace fast and work reckless as they were already late for Trottingham, which was about to get busy with the changing of the season. And with every crash of a suitcase behind him, Valen winced, only the purest horror show of what had happened to his belongings playing as a track in his mind.

OOC- -Valen Orange- http://www.canterlot...n-orange-final/ "It is just for a month, son. It will be fun." What was fun about being sent from your home? "The Apples are a fine family, very...err, strong morals. I am absolutely sure you will find it a pleasant experience." Nuh-uh, this is just wrong! "Besides, one of them is an Element. She is a hero, and how can you say no to that?" Quite easily, as it were. "The decision has been made, son." And Valen had known that since the very start of the conversation. Oh, he knew his parents loved him and he loved them with equal fervor. But he often questioned their mindset, wondered if their lifestyles amongst the cream of the Manehattian crop had made them sickly, deluded and insane. Under what mind was sending a foal away from home to some distant, remote farm, away from friends and a comfortable environment, the proper course of action? A sick one. He sighed. He knew what they had said made some sense. He hadn't really ever thought about it, but he hadn't exactly prospered in that megatropolis. The family business had little to no grasp on him. He didn't want to be some bean counter and holding large formal parties so he could pry into somepony's pocket, socialization in the name of business. He also had no desire to be sent to some farm somewhere to oversee the day to day business of orange production. That would have been dull, and since he was never a pony to hide his thoughts, they had manifested themselves quite clearly. Naps when his father tried to teach him about corporate accounting. Daydreaming when his mother tried to teach him about the finer points of oranges. He was focused more on the nice dresses worn by those elegant mares during those large formal sessions that he was in attempting to hawk his family's wares. Never a liability but never an advantage, his lack of interest was one thing that was more apparent than any other facet that his parents could see. They weren't blind to his nature, but rather acutely biased in their perceptions, business and history playing illuminating factors in their every judgement. But in spite of their bias, they did know some things. They knew he was what the Pegasi of old might call a 'weak foal', though they knew his strength of character was not questioned. He disdained physical labor, though he often kept those thoughts to himself and did what he was told. His appearance was kept impeccably maintained and manicured femininely, and his circle of friends(the few he had) were universally similar. He was smart but never focused on his studies, his eyes moving at the speed of his mouth as he gabbed and gabbed and gabbed and- his parents got the picture. They had their opinions on him, their worries about their unusual colt foal. These worries manifested themselves uniquely in different types of ponies. Some would sit there and allow their worries to consume them. Others would attempt to hammer the foal into a certain mold. Valen's parents hadn't done either thing, deciding that the proper, responsible thing was to send their little foal on a little trip to their cousins. Why not the Oranges? Even to Valen, the reasoning seemed weak.There had always been a disconnect between those who lived in the big cities and ran the family business in a corporate sense and the majority who toiled to fulfill the promises of the big wigs. It hadn't created a sense of hate or loathing, but relations could be cold at time. His parents had been worried that the Oranges wouldn't...well, the worry wasn't that he would be mistreated, but that they would use him for some sort of family politicking. It didn't make any sense to Valen that families would fight amongst each other, but such was the case it seemed. Even then, why the Apples? The Oranges didn't necessarily look down at them, but well, their business was ran from a farm by a bunch of farm ponies while the Oranges lived in the lofty heights of Upper Crust. Plus, from everything Valen had been told, oranges were patently superior to apples. But they respected the fact that the Apples were universally hardworking, loyal to the family, helpful, and kind. Plus, one of them was an Element and after the ceremony in Canterlot after their defeat of Discord, they all had a measure of fame that, perhaps, they knew not of. They never played games and at Sweet Apple Acres, they did both the business of business and the work that went into it. Perhaps he would find himself there- and at the very least, it would probably toughen him up and get him more organized. It was- -Valen's head smacked into the front of the seat in front of him, sharply waking him from his sleep as his head staggered back. The train had come to a stop and for reasons explainable only to Celestia, he had been launched forward. Quite rude and little more than annoying, he stood up in the soon-to-be crowded aisle in the train. He sighed. He wished he had been given a room of his own, but the only ticket available had been in...uggh...coach. It wasn't that he was rude, but the other ponies sure did smell. Did all train ponies smell like this? Valen sure hoped not. He had been forced to endure a crazy stallion that had sat next to him when they left Manehattan. He had never once stopped jabbering about cockatrices and some other completely mythical beasts. He had gotten off at a stop not far from the city and Valen had been saved from the encroaching insanity by the swiftness of Equestria's chosen mode of transportation. Still, that had done little to comfort him at night as the train roared across the landscape towards Ponyville. It was cold, too cold for his taste, and the wafer-thin blankets provided by the attendants did little to help him. He had eventually adapted to the cold, but the noise had never quite been settled in his head. Newborn foals crying, the rude unicorns behind him yammering on and on about magic, snoring and generally a lot of unpleasantness abound in coach, and it had taken him nearly all night to fall asleep. And it figured that it seemed like he had slept for but a second when the train came to a screeching halt and sent him flying into the back of the seat up front. As he recovered, he moved into the aisle beside himself and took a step forward just as everyone else seemed to gather themselves and do the same. In this pony wave, he was nothing more than a drop and he found the pace to be slow as Ponies gathered their carry-ons. He had no carry-ons, just a single suitcase in luggage, and was more than a little annoyed when multiple ponies in front of him found within them the contempt for others to fully open up their carry ons and count their belongings. Still, progress was made and even though it took several minutes, he was able to squeeze his way out of the exit and nearly trip onto the train station's cement floor.

Took out that banner which for some reason was stuck and couldn't be edited out.

According to a PM, they are working on a form of IPC. It isn't ready to launch. So best to leave the IPC, though we can still organize some sort of largish-RP like the Ponywalk for the ENF and then the adventure.

Oh, as I postulated earlier, we should make a topic for IPC interest in an Equestrian National Fair. The IPC would be the event that would require all that special work; Foal playing around and eventual adventure would likely be handled in a normal RP, along with normal Fair thangs. At least, that is my idea. Valen is in no matter what.

Well, of course we would need to do so! Perhaps we can make an interest topic for the Iron Pony Competition in the Equestrian National Fair? The IPC would be a part of the Fair, and the Foals and their fun could have a thread for themselves.

What we could do, if we could entice the admins/mods to do so, is make this an event. Then our train misadventure can splinter off of that. It gives us the best of both worlds: A nice series of fun Foal activities while the mares and stallions get to enjoy the event, and when it is all over, we get to hop aboard a train for a wild misadventure. Of course, I always look at things in an epic scope. Perhaps the event has an Iron Pony competition attached to it? It would allow a sort of Running of the Leaves type event to take place and those that don't want to be involved in the competition but would like to be involved with the RP can interact with the Foals, who are running around the event center/fairgrounds having a grand ol' time.

The issue is that since foals, colts, and fillies are spread out across the nation and the vast majority do not have the same freedom of movement that their parents would enjoy, if we want to get all of them involved/as many as possible, it has to be the sort of thing parents/guardians would either take them too or wish to attend themselves. We don't need all of them involved, just the ones with RPed parents/guardians, and just the ones who definitely want to be involved- the rest can be done with a wave and a nod, probably.

Yeah, we'll see how it all works out! Either way, as long as we have a good reason for the older ponies to take the foals, fillies and colts to the area, we can run wild. of course, that means we would need to expand this past just the foals- we would need the parents/guardians involved in the RP, if they are being played.

Also, since we need the parents/guardians there at least initially, we should have events aimed at them as well. Perhaps this is some sort of Equestrian Fair?

I'd have no problem with that, but it would still be nice to have some sort of RP/Event where it is just the foals in some organized Foalish activity. Perhaps it starts off like that, then the foals decide to go and play around on one of the attractions at night(which is a train, I dunno why) and it gets a goin'? By making it some sort of big event, we have a good reason for ponies from different parts of Equestria to be there.

Valen can be anywhere you want him to be and would play anything or get involved in anything. @Dav- Perhaps they were messing around on a train and it left so they end up wherever we are and I dunno after that? Could also make a funny little travel/adventure story, especially if we can get someone else on that train and have some lulzy events happen.

Valen cocked his head queerly as he stared up at the so-called Nighthoof. Vigilantes were usual little more than rascals imitating true heroes, little more than criminals seeking justification for their crimes, little more than...something lesser trying to be something greater. His parents really said a lot of stuff that didn't make sense, and this 'vagrant' as his father would have called him didn't seem all that bad. Maybe he had a silly outfit on, but Valen liked what his parents called silly outfits so he wasn't going to judge. Would have been unsporting and rude of him to do otherwise, and he was nothing if not sporting and polite. Still, running into a self-proclaimed superhero was mighty unusual...and the name was familiar. "Hey, are you that silly pony that my schoolmates told me about?" Valen asked with a smile, somewhat forgetting the other, silent pony in his quest for discovery. Well, discovery in the moment, he still didn't want to spend another minute here. And it wasn't that he wasn't going to be nice to that silent pony, but, well- oh, sometimes Valen hated the fact that he didn't react well to feeling unsettled. He needed to pull himself together. He was an Orange, not some sort of frazzled Razzleberry! "And, ahh, do you know where we are, my good stallion, and how one may get himself to Upper Crust?" His voice regaining some of its polite and high-class tone.

I won't be going. I would love to, but it is across the country and the sheer cost is overwhelming. For those worried about lodging expenses: There is no super cheap way, but NYC is connected to the surrounding area through an extensive transportation network. Literally, if you can find cheap lodging within like fifty miles, you can do well. For example: Say you live in Harriman, New York. You can take the train to Hoboken, New Jersey and from there the PATH train to NYC. Train costs like $15 bucks and the PATH train $2.50, IIRC. That is $35 over two days for transportation for a single person, but if you can save around a hundred dollars through finding some cheap place to stay, it works out. I will attend Everfree NW, however.

I was watching my niece for a weekend while my sister and her husband worked on their marital issues. She woke me up and dragged me out to the living room on Saturday morning and we turned it to The Hub. It was Suited For Success, a great episode. Afterwards, she made me look for other episodes on YouTube and we spent the entire morning watching the show together. My wife woke up and I roped iher into it. We ended up watching a few episodes multiple times and we had a nice pony day. By the end of the day, best pony discussions had already migrated from, "I really like her mane!" to hour long discussions of their character.

Haters thrive on attention because they get none outside of it. That is why small, little fandoms that are quiet don't get hit. Only large, thriving ones do. Haters hatin'=Internet compliment.

I can't argue against you choosing that line of thought and coming to your conclusions based on it, now can I? When I pick an option here, I am picking a great DVD box set, awesome OST, and a good game. I am not picking a barebones DVD set, oddly constructed OST, nor a poor game.

You don't need to reveal anything. If he sees something or asks, tell him. No reason to have the talk. Just tell him you like it and compare it to quality cartoons of the 90s. Challenge his manhood and say he should watch an episode, for the lolz. Also, there are plenty of military bronies. I work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Bronies there. I have met a brony Marine when an LCAC needed repair and they sent of their own to check it out. There is another user on this forum who serves on an aircraft carrier, and I personally know a pilot who is called Dash by his comrades as a joke.

Another key point is to stay relaxed. No matter how you may internalize it and blow it up, you aren't revealing anything all that important. You aren't telling that you're gay. Or that you have gender dysphoria. Or that you're a crossdresser. Or that you are a secretly a stripper in your spare time. Or that you lost your virginity. Or that you failed a class. Or that you got into a car crash three days after getting your license. It isn't that big of a deal, no bigger than your choice to enjoy anything else in the entertainment spectrum. Accept that some won't accept it. Accept that some will get their little minds in a tizzy- these people are likely to do the same about many things, so no reason to worry about that. Accept that some will roll their eyes, call you gay, and laugh about it. If someone asks you about it, say the truth and move on. It isn't that big of a deal and it shouldn't cause you to feel like you're coming out of the closet. If someone keeps on giving you guff about it, then they are just bad people to begin with. Otherwise, most people who have 'negative' reactions will be teasing you if they have any reaction at all. Handle teasing about this as you would teasing of any sort. You aren' telling them that you're joining the army in a time of war or revealing sexual identity. You're talking about a TV show. Keep perspective and push on.

Why else have that option in a fan poll unless those that select it are choosing a good game?XD

If somene is discussing a book, and asking whether to make a movie adaptation, radio play, or television series, it is implied that all three are good. That DVD set may be be bare bones. That OST may horrify us by include 90% songs from previous gens or pop songs related- I mean, I've seen some lulzy stuff like that. Yet when we select an option, we assume it means that it is good, ya know?