ThatWhichIs

Well, if it's adventure around Equestria, I also have two characters that I would like to use / be happy to use, if you think they fit. One is a Unicorn, while the other is an Earth Dragon. To begin with, the Unicorn. Grey Shade is a somewhat quiet mare, looking to explore the world of Equestria and try to find a place to call home. Raised in the foothills near Hoofenheim by adopted parents, she didn't fit in to the sleepy, mostly Earth Pony town. Especially not when she discovered her special talent, that of stealth. She has set out to try and find a use for her talents in the wide world of Equestria, preferably one that wouldn't be considered 'illegal' by pony-kind. Now for my Earth Dragon. I would understand if you didn't want to include non-ponies in this long-term Rp, but I figured I'd mention her anyways. Jade Gemforge is a teenage Earth Dragon. Though she does have a home, of sorts, located somewhere to the east of Dodge Junction, she travels often, in search of gems, precious metals, or simply because she can. Though she seems to fit into pony society easy enough, Jade is still wrestling with her two halves, the part of her that was raised a pony, and the part of her that was born a dragon.

Well, Jade is a teenage Earth Dragon, so she should only be around two to three times the size of a pony. And also, Earth Dragon. Caverns and living stone are supposed to be their natural element. But, either way, I'll leave the final decision up to you, DrMaxwell.

Are only ponies allowed, or might an Earth Dragon join in on this adventure?

Crouching down, Shade got part of herself underneath the stallion, enough so that when she slowly straightened up she was able to lift the stallion up and slide him onto Verity's back. It was difficult, but far easier than doing anything with magic would've been. Adjusting the stallion's position a bit, mostly so that it would be more comfortable for Verity, she took up a position next to the zebra, so that she could move to steady the helpless stallion if he started to slide. "Vont dey be curious?" she asked as they started their, decidedly slower, walk to the Ostrov airship docks. "Ich vuld imagine ist not every day dey get ein prisoner like dis. Vill Ich haff to expect questions?"

As who she assumed was a doctor examined the injured peryton, Cinnamon Love hovered around them, anxious and protective at the same time. She did her best to keep herself out of the doctor-pony's way, but she knew she was still probably getting in the way. Cinnamon didn't know much about medicine, so she didn't try to offer any 'helpful' comments. In all likelihood she'd just slow things down. But when the pony asked for the gel and the bandages, and mentioned his difficulty seeing in the darkness, she practically jumped in the air. Without a word, Cinnamon focused on her magic. Telekinesis was easy enough, a simple spell that every unicorn knew. And the light spell was just something easy and small, one she often used when writing into the night. A small orb of softly glowing light coalesced in the air above the injured peryton, and a moment later the asked after items floated over to the doctor-pony, glowing softly themselves due to Cinnamon's magic. "Are they going to be alright?" she asked, unable to restrain herself as she hovered nearby.

Radiant Chord looked from pony to pony. So far, this had been an... interesting... first practice. She knew that artists could be interesting ponies, and musicians were no exception to the rule, but there didn't really seem to be any... consistency with the band. Then again, this was just the first practice, and she hadn't met many of these ponies before. Well, really, any, other than the little correspondence needed to get into the band in the first place. Well, here went nothing... "So... anypony got any ideas for the band focus?" she asked nopony in particular, resting a hoof on her keyboard. "We can go just about any way, really. We have the instrument and talent for any genre we want, for the most part. And I don't particularly mind which genre we lean towards... as long as it's not..." Radiant shuddered "... classical. I do enough of that already. I'd suggest something more... technical, but I'm not sure how that would work out for vocals."

"Well, if you must know, I prefer techno," Radiant Chord replied, a somewhat questioning tone in her voice and her eyes as she looked at Silver Flash. The ponies who usually attended the high-class parties she had mentioned generally had Opinions about techno. It was Too Loud and Not Music. So she wasn't really sure how Silver was going to react, though she hoped it was for the best. "Something I can play on my keyboard, and not on a normal piano. Something that has a good beat to it, that I could dance to if I wasn't playing it. Oh, don't get me wrong... classical is fun, and there's some of it that I really, really like. But for the most part... it's just too... constrained." She shrugged, not sure what else to say on the subject without coming across as too defensive. So she decided to change it, if only a bit. "But yeah, I'm not surprised that you didn't know I was doing anything here. Thanks to my father," she rolled her eyes here, "I'm really only known for classical waltz's and the like. But I've always been a passing fan of Daring Do, and when I heard that the convention was thinking of doing a concert... well, I just had to volunteer my services." Radiant grinned. "Some of the music they gave me to practice was... certainly different from my norm. But I think it'll be a smash!" "And I'm glad to hear that you'll be there! It should be... different... from what most ponies have come to expect from me."

Grey Shade trembled lightly from the effort that her spell had taken, but she forced her body to be still, not wanting to appear weak even in front of a captured prisoner. Possibly especially in front of a captured prisoner. She didn't want to have to carry the immobile stallion anywhere, but the idea of leaving one of them, most likely herself as she still didn't know her way around the massive city, behind while the other looked for a guard to help... seemed like a bad one. "Ich dink ve should carry him," she said, though there was a trace of... resigned complaint in her voice. "Dey may haff friends... und I vuld not like to be found by such ponies..." She looked at the stallion, trying to figure out how they were going to carry him. "Ich know how ein pony vuld carry him... but how vuld ve both carry him?"

Lemme try something... and I'm very sorry I messed up the order...

"Danke," Shade replied to Verity's compliment, trotting over to look at their captive. "Now vy vould anypony vant to do dat?" Shade asked, letting the illusions fall away and doing her best to mask how much that had taken out of her. "Even in Germaney ve aren't dat shtupid." She shook her head, to show her lack of understanding. "Equestria ist gut fer die Stadt, fer die ponies. Vy vould du vish to leave dat?" The stallion remained silent, though it was obvious that he was a bit surprised by Shade's questions, and the fact that she seemed interested in his answers. If he got out of this, he would have to remember her... she might be a potential recruit. "Vat vill happen to him now?" she asked Verity, giving the zebra a questioning, but not hostile, look. "Ve giff him to die guards?"

Radiant Chord laughed at Silver's imitation of the director, trying hard to stifle the outburst but failing spectacularly. "Yes, I would imagine that could get... annoying," she replied. "And I know exactly what you mean. Just because I'm good at music doesn't mean I get to play the type of music I like." She tilted her head to one side slightly, thinking for a moment. "Well, not often..." she added, with a conspiratorial wink. "Oh, any chance you might be at the concert later?" she asked both Silver and Snowfall. "I know you said you had duties around the convention, but it'd be wonderful if you could make it. You know how I am with concerts, it'd be reassuring to see a familiar face in the crowd." Radiant chuckled lightly. "Or faces, in this case," she continued, nodding to Snowfall. "I wouldn't imagine it would be that difficult, but if you have trouble with getting into the concert, you could tell them to talk to me. It'd be worth pulling some strings to get you two in. And Pathfinder, of course."

"I'm Cinnamon Love," she replied, trotting into the store after the Mayor. "It's a pleasure to meet you both!" The smile she gave both ponies said that she really thought it was a pleasure to meet them, that it wasn't just her being polite. Looking around at all of the books, Cinnamon's eyes grew slightly wider than before. There truly was an impressive selection in this store, some of which she hadn't seen in years. Not limited edition printings, just books that were old, and hard to come by because of that fact. "This is your store?" she asked Lore, turning her head to look at the stallion. "I must say, I'm impressed. Some of these books I haven't seen in ages. Where did you find them?"

Playing a few notes on her keyboard, Radiant Chord nodded, mostly to herself, happy that she had gotten the instrument sounding correctly. At the silence in the room she looked up, a questioning look on her face. She had only been half paying attention as she had set up the keyboard, so she wasn't immediately aware of what was going on. "Oh!" she exclaimed after taking a moment to replay the conversation in her head. "I'll go next, yes?" "My name is Radiant Chord," she said to the group, giving the assembled ponies a friendly, cheerful smile. "Can't say I ever went to a proper school, my parents had me taught by tutors at home." She shrugged, idly playing part of a waltz on the keyboard, the sound set very low. "I'm a classically trained pianist... but, honestly? I like modern music better."

Radiant Chord cringed when she heard Lightning Dancer call her "Miss Chord". She knew it was only polite, but still, formality had grown a bit... abrasive... after so many years of being stuck with it. "Please, it's just Radiant. Or Chord. Whichever you prefer." She gave Lightning a friendly, reassuring smile, knowing how nervous the other pony was. That look on their face was the same she got before a performance. "And that pony just now was... I guess you could call him my handler. One of them. They tend to get nervous when I leave the estate... but tough luck. I wanted to be in this band, and they're not going to stop me." Realizing she was being rather foalish, Radiant blushed lightly, trying to cover her slip-up by trotting over to the snacks. "Anyways... ooo, strawberries!" Whatever she was going to have said was forgotten as she happily ate a strawberry, picking another one up with her teeth and carrying it back to the keyboard. Popping it into her mouth, she set up her keyboard, playing a few chords and adjusting some of the dials. "Anyways, he shouldn't be too much of a bother. If he is, just let me know."

"Yes, inside," came a voice from outside, female and with a musical quality to it. A door opened, and a large Earth Pony carefully entered the garage, delicately handling a keyboard. "Anywhere will do, I'll set it up myself." The source of the voice trotted in after the Earth Pony, a somewhat tall, if a bit imposing, Pegasus. Her coat was a shiny bronze, and her long main and tail were done up in the simplest of braids simply to keep them from getting in the way when she moved. Watching the Earth Pony set down the keyboard with a critical eye, she nodded in satisfaction when he stepped back. "Thank you. You can wait outside until we're done," she said, in friendly tone. When the Earth Pony didn't move, a look of concern on her face, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know Father wants you to watch me. Outside. Now." Watching the stallion step outside once more, the Pegasus took a deep breath, a shiver running through her, making her wings flutter. When she opened her eyes again she was smiling. "So sorry you had to see that. When I heard about a band forming, I just had to jump on board. My name is Radiant Chord, and..." she gestured with a hoof at the keyboard "... I'll be your keyboardist."

So... Radiant Chord would love to be the Keyboard / Synth of this band.

Shade had noticed a low lying fog bank following Verity, and it took a moment to realize that no fog bank was quite as small, or would follow a pony like that so deliberately. Verity's yell shocked her out of her inactivity, and she planted her hooves wide, bracing herself as she began to warp and weave her magic in a new pattern. Just as her illusion of invisibility fell, she conjured up three illusions of herself, effectively blocking the only exit for the fleeing unicorn. "Halt!" she yelled out in her most commanding voice, though it wasn't very impressive. However, it was made more impressive by every illusion calling out the same thing, at the same time. Noticing the fog-bank hesitate in his dash for freedom, Shade advanced on the unicorn, her illusions keeping pace. The entire thing was taxing her, and she wouldn't be much good for magic for a while, but for now she had to keep up appearances that she was the one in control. That much she understood, if this was anything like the few show-downs she had had when growing up.

ThatWhichIs is a name I've used for a lot of screen names and the like. I can't honestly remember how I settled on it. I think it was a corruption of something I said once, along the lines of "That which is, is" or some such. And it just stuck in my head, so I started using it. It has lead to some interesting nicknames on forums, and in Minecraft. The one I find most hilarious is "Chichi". A friend of mine on the server I play Minecraft on used to call me That for short, and as you can guess it was very confusing for everyone on the server. So then they started calling me "Whichi", short for WhichIs. But the second time they typed it, they typed "Chichi", and the name just stuck.

Cinnamon's head whipped around when she heard another voice, and she looked straight at Wind Rider, taking in the wings and everything else physical about the pony in the space of a heartbeat. She probably wouldn't remember it later, but for now all that mattered was that this new pony was a pegasus. "I don't know," she answered, her voice having a distinct undercurrent of suppressed panic. "But they're badly injured... there's blood everywhere..." She gestured somewhat helplessly at the injured peryton. "I don't... I just..." It was obvious she was having to fight down a panic reaction. Despite how much she wanted to help, the situation was new and strange and scary, and that always lead to her attempting to panic. "You're a pegasus? Good. Go get a doctor... fast. I'll stay here with this pony." Pony. Yes. Call them a pony... maybe the pegasus wouldn't notice the small horn-nubs. After all, if her first reaction to realizing it was a peryton was to pull back, what would this new pony's reaction be? She couldn't risk it. Reaching down with a hoof, she grabbed the edge of her dress, ripping a strip off of it to fold into a pad, pressing it against one of the more bloody wounds on the injured peryton. Looking back towards the mouth of the street, she saw that that pegasus was still there. "Quickly!" she snapped, some of her old self coming back into her voice now that she was acting, if only in a small way.

"Ja," Shade answered in her normal speaking voice, hearing Verity return to it. "Du said dat die inn ist zwei streets over, ja? I look forvard to seeing du tomorrow, den!" As she crossed the bridge she began to concentrate on her magic, her horn glowing with a dull grey color. She still wasn't certain what was going on, but she knew it required the utmost stealth, so she wanted the spell to be perfect. Releasing the spell, she felt the magic settle over her, almost like the cloak she was wearing. One moment there was a cloaked pony trotting down the road, and the next there were simply hoof-prints in the snow, though even these seemed... fuzzy, as if they were half-filled with the falling snow already. Secure and sneaky inside her little bubble of grey world, Shade turned around and immediately trotted back the way she came. She had to be careful not to go too fast, as her spells weren't as good at masking sound as they were sight, but she soon reached the bridge where she had split off from Verity, and began following the zebra's tracks in the fresh snow.

I feel like such a jerk... I'm so sorry Bramble Rose, I honestly have no valid excuse for not mentioning Silver Flash. I'll go edit my post right now as well.

Her mind quickly turning over the question at hand, Shade gave the tiniest of nods. "Ja," was her answer, a bare whisper. Leaning in a bit, she continued to trot onward, listening intently to what Verity had to say. Shade wasn't sure what was going on, but something told her that Verity wouldn't ask her a thing like that if it wasn't important, so she knew something had to be wrong.

Cinnamon Love was trotting down some of the more well-lit streets of the big city, returning to the apartment she rented when in town from a successful, it somewhat tedious, conference. As she passed by one of the darker side streets she caught something out of the corner of her eye, stopping just beyond the entrance to the street to turn around and trot back. Yes, there was definitely something out of the ordinary. Was that a pony, lying on the ground? Concern wrinkled her face as she trotted over, and as she saw the blood she froze for a moment. "Somepony get a doctor!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, her horn glowing a bright red for a moment, the words she just spoke emblazoned like neon in the air in front of that street's entrance. The magic seemed to take something out of her, as she was panting as she knelt down next to the wounded... no, not pony, she realized. Peryton. A wounded peryton. Cinnamon recoiled at first, cringing away from the creature, her magical sign flickering. But it looked badly injured, and it would've been mean of her to ignore the poor thing. Besides, in that moment of fear, her emotions had settled on 'sorrow and determination', and nothing in Equestria was going to stop her. Gently laying a hoof against the peryton's neck, she felt a pulse, though not exactly a strong one, and let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her dress, and the rumors she had heard about perytons, be damned. She was going to make sure this one got better.

Watching Pathfinder rocket off to pester another pony, Radiant Chord was left speechless. That pegasus sure is something, she thought, shaking her head slowly as she watched the mare get something from the pony and then dash away to the entrance to the convention. Turning her head back around, she had to trot to catch up to Snowfall, and settled in to walk beside the other pony, taking in the sights and sounds of the convention space for a few moments, still a bit overwhelmed by it all. It was then that Radiant noticed the beautiful pegasus approaching, her mouth twisting into a thoughtful frown. This new pegasus looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place them... at least, not until they spoke. It took a moment, but Radiant's musically trained ear matched that voice to a name, and then a face, and her frown turned into a smile. "Oh, Silver Flash!" she said suddenly, in a tone of voice that clearly said she just made the connection. "I didn't recognize you for a moment." She chuckled, looking the other mare up and down, noticing some distinct similarities between Silver and Pathfinder, at least in terms of appearance. "How is acting going for you?" she asked, with genuine interest. An older sister of hers was an actress as well, though one who was, of all things, more well liked by the griffons than the rest of pony kind. And acting was an art, and like all arts it had been drilled into her since she was just a young foal that anypony who finds their calling in one of the arts is a pony to be respected. It only helped that Radiant actually enjoyed her conversations, few as they had been, with Silver. And suddenly a thought struck her, and she looked questioningly at Silver Flash. "Though I must admit, I am a bit surprised to see you here," she said, tone curious. "I didn't think you would be the type to enjoy such a place... you seemed to enjoy the parties back in Manehatten. And this..." She gestured at the press of convention-going ponies with a hoof. "... is certainly... different... than one of those parties." Eyes widening a bit, she blushed lightly. "N-not that I'm objecting, or anything! It's good to see a familiar face."

Shade was silent for a little while, trying to watch Verity out of the corner of her eye without being obvious. She was getting the feeling that the zebra was distracted by something, and her curiosity drove her to be interested at least in what her walking companion was distracted about. Unable to figure out what, she focused on the path in front of her once more, side-stepping an ice-slick that would've probably slipped her up. "Ja," Shade replied. "Vell, ein part ov it ist. Dey haff improved die center of die Stadt. Die rest of die Stadt ist very old-fashioned, but die center..." A toss of her head would have to suffice as description, because she really didn't have anything to compare it to, except what parts of Stalliongrad she had seen.