Chapien

Discord has been my favorite villain since the very first time I saw him. That status remains to this day.

I had to go with Trixie! I just really love that mare.

How could they let this happen?

Sure, I'll share mine. Results may surprise. So yeah. Pinkie Pie.

Sparks's mind immediately began to race as Vivid described the device she had in mind for creation. He quickly began to brainstorm at a rapid fire rate as she spoke. How would the design look? Would it be projectile or more personal? Would it restrain the target or render them unconscious? And why would Vivid want such a device made anyway, considering NSI's current goal of creating a railroad? No, never mind that last question! It clearly wasn't important - he had creating to do! He nodded at Vivid. "Right! I can do that! I'll get something made within a week!"

Sniffles giggled. [colour=#008000]"Of course. I'm far too clever to let myself spy on me!"[/colour] The journey continued for a few hours, with moments of silence broken up by Sniffles pointing out various locations of interest, babbling on about how interesting everything was, talking about mountains, streams, rivers, and even individual trees that he had visited, talking about their many, many wonders. Sniffles was very much enjoying himself. Not many ponies came out to the Badlands, and he imagined that Verity would be immensely interested in knowing everything and anything about the beautiful vistas of the untamed wildlands north of Equestria. Eventually, of course, they reached a tall mountain, with a bit of smoke coming out of the top. Sniffles looked up, squinting his eyes, before declaring, [colour=#008000]"We're here!"[/colour]

Okay then.

I look down in despair and ask: Why?

Picture Perfect, quite unlike Photo Finish, was often slow and deliberate in his movements, and today was by no means an exception. He made his way over to the seat next to Photo Finish about a minute or two later and sat down, a calm and relaxed smile on his face, knowing that, despite Photo Finish's erratic and often stressful demeanor, that everything was going to be absolutely and perfectly fine. Everything had been accounted for, everything had been planned, and everything would proceed smoothly and calmly. He had made sure of that. Meanwhile, in the audience... A young pegasus stood in the crowd, watching the show with a very passive, almost bored, expression. Unlike the many other ponies the crowd, this particular pony hadn't especially wanted to attend this show. he had no interest in fashion, and very little interest in meeting other ponies and above all in socializing with them. But his mother had insisted he go, claiming it would be a could experience for him. It was typical of his parents, really, to force him into situations and locations that they thought would benefit him when really, they would just succeed in boring him to tears. Dressed in a suit and a round pair of glasses, Constant Shift, the "son" of the renowned scientist Perpetual Motion was, indeed, bored, though not quite to tears (only subjects such as philosophy could do that to him). There were about a million more productive things he could be doing right now - working on his mathematics homework came to mind, for one. To say Constant Shift was a foal out of the ordinary would be a severe understatement. Constant was more interested in mathematics and science and experimentation than the usual foal things of playing and talking and meeting new ponies and just about anything. The usual activities that ponies engaged in rarely interested Constant, and it required a very special pony indeed to interest the brilliant and busy mind behind the foal. Constant was even different in how he dressed and portrayed himself on the exterior - which had been precisely why his mother had insisted he come to this silly, silly fashion show. Of course, all of his previous feelings of boredom evaporated rather quickly within moments. After a few of the rather boring fashion models did their lap down the runway, a very special pony emerged. She was wearing the most beautiful dress Constant had seen the entire night (or had ever seen), her posture was perfect, and just about everything about her was simply divine. The announcer loudly announced her name as she emerged: Gilded Lily.

Someone's only read LOTR and not the the Simarillion, which actually develops Sauron and makes him a very very well developed villain. Tolkien wrote books other than LOTR, you know, most of which were actually better than LOTR.

He didn't honestly talk much. I kinda liked that about him, made him a bit more mysterious and up to more interpretation. That being said, his name always makes me think this:

Picture Perfect, quite unlike Sapphire Shores, sat back in his seat, patiently and calmly awaiting for the competition to begin. He had to admit that he was excited for this competition, but not for the reason that everypony would expect. Whenever Photo Finish lost an assistant for whatever incomprehensible reason (after all, who could get fed up with a pony as likable as Photo Finish? No one - right?), Picture Perfect often found himself thrust into the role as Photo Finish's temporary assistant - not in name, but for all intents and purposes, he constantly wound up Photo Finish's de facto assistant (or would a more accurate phrase be servant?). When the lights turned on, Picture Perfect smiled, appearing rather relaxed, though inside he had to admit he was somewhat nervous. He never had done well in front of a crowd, much less talking to one - that was supposed to be Photo Finish's job, not his! He took a deep breath once Sapphire Shores finished her introduction, and began his own little speech, speaking rather quietly, but still audible to the contestants (provided they were paying attention, of course), "Gutten Abend. My name is Picture Perfect, and I am a famed abstract artist and fashionista, and a longtime associate of Photo Finish. I've known Photo Finish for years now, and as such am the perfect judge of which one of you will be able to... ah, assist... her needs most adequately. I wish you all luck in this competition!" He nodded and leaned back, satisfied with his brief speech.

Spike was amazing. God I love spike.

Sparks had been waiting in the corner of the warehouse for nearly an hour, having shown up to Canterlot early and having nothing else of interest to do. It took him several hours to find the warehouse in the first place, and even then he had found it with an hour to spare. With nothing else to do, Sparks entered the warehouse, removed his hat, and stood in a corner, toying with his latest creation - a puzzlebox he had made for the purpose of fine tuning his skill at engineering. To say that engineering was Sparks's life would be an understatement. Sparks loved engineering with a passion that few others felt, dedicating all of his time and effort to his trade. He was able to quickly ignore the sights and sounds of the warehouse, concentrating fully on his work, something that wasn't too difficult for Sparks. Sparks had grown up and spent most of his life in Stalliongrad, after all, one of the busiest cities in Equestria, filled with factories and workshops and warehouses of all kinds, many of which he had visited since his employment by Northern Storm Industries, and the young engineer was no stranger to the hustle and bustle of the warehouse. In fact, he actually rather enjoyed it. It wasn't until the whistle rang that Sparks snapped out of his concentration. The workday had ended. Workers were beginning to stream out of the place, obviously intent on heading home. Sparks quickly shoved his box and tools into his saddlebag and pulled his hat firmly back onto his head, remaining in the corner and waiting for the crowd to disperse. After what seemed like an eternity, the warehouse was empty - save for himself and a few other individuals, standing in an awkward silence across the warehouse. Well, it was an awkward silence before another stallion who seemed somewhat familiar approached him - then it evolved into awkward conversation. Sparks listened to the stallion and remembered who he was; he was at the location where the Fillydelphia museum had so unfortunately been robbed. He simply nodded in response, smiling nervously at the pony.

Sparks nodded and smiled, absorbing everything Vivid said with a youthful eagerness. He was basically being given permission to do what he wanted with the lab (so long as he didn't leave any damages), and he was more then happy to oblige. "Of course, Miss Flair. My creativity is often a bit... chaotic, meandering almost. Almost like I have no direction of my own, though when I'm given something to make, I can find ways to make it happen, even make it better than requested!" Sparks glanced back at the engine core, half of it having fallen off by now. He would have to reweld it; no matter, fixing it should be a relatively straightforward; a few screws here, a welding spell there, and it would be good as new again! But he couldn't help but feel as if it didn't have much of a purpose. As Vivid had pointed out, he had basically been creating without purpose. He turned back to Vivid, an idea forming in his head, and once again he opened his mouth and emptied his mind (and as usual, without much forethought). "Perhaps you could give me something to make? Anything at all, and I'll create it for you!"

Sniffles grinned. [colour=#008000]"Well then, what are we waiting for? This dragon isn't going to spy on himself!"[/colour] He thought for a moment, before adding,[colour=#008000] "...or will he? Can someone do that? Can someone spy on themselves? Is that possible? If so, how can I prevent it from happening? I don't want to spy on myself!"[/colour] Sniffles giggled slightly, barely concealing the fact that he had just made a rather horrible joke. Sniffles tended to have an odd sense of humor, particularly when he was excited - and boy was he excited now! Verity and Sniffles began their journey towards the dragon cave - as well as Stalliongrad - and he could just BARELY contain his excitement. He seemed to walk with a very slight skip, a beaming smile stretched across his face. It wasn't too long of a journey to the cave; after all, Sniffles wasn't terribly deep within dragon territory. If all went well, they would arrive at the cave within two or three hours.

Introductions? How scandalous!

Picture Perfect couldn't help but smile at Valen. His sense of fashion was uncanny and extremely enthusiastic, particularly for a colt. "Fashion ist not my speciality. Photo simply drags me along on her many..." he stiffled a brief chuckle, before continuing, "...exploits in fashion. Mein primary passion is to paint, and since Photo Finish only needs some help - after all, she ist the best photographer in all Equestria - I am mostly free to paint on our travels." Just then, as Picture Perfect finished explaining his rather interesting relationship with Photo Finish, an attendant burst in with an excessive amount of theatrics and drama, stating with much fear that the model (a filly evidently named Gilded Lily or something like that) would not be able to attend the fashion show. Picture Perfect was filled with a feeling of dread, his emotions masked by his glasses in a way similar to Photo Finish, though his emotions were a bit more obvious as he nervously chewed his lip, not saying anything. As he listened to Miss Rarity and Photo Finish's suggestions though and their seeming lack of anxiety, he began to slowly smile. Perhaps Valen could be a model - it would be highly irregular of course, but it could prove to be a very interesting experience! He simply nodded his consent quietly (not that anyone would notice or care).

Are there really only two ENFPs on this forum, counting myself? Heh, wow.

Sniffles grinned happily. He was always happy to help someone, and he was glad that he had been able to assist this zebra-thing. What was more, he was finally going to leave this massive, empty, and frankly boring wasteland for the fascinating and obviously far more interesting pony lands to the south! With a zebra! Something that until today he didn't even know existed - and how often does that happen to, well anyone? Not very often, Sniffles bet! And to top that off, Verity was some sort of spy or something! How much more awesome could things get? [colour=#008000]"I'm just glad I could help!" [/colour]he said, smiling. [colour=#008000]"And besides, it's not like you're not returning the favour. I mean, you're taking me to Equestria! That's just... so cool!"[/colour] [colour=#008000]"Stopping at the lair on the way shouldn't be much of a problem... though, most dragons really don't like interruptions. They view other dragons, even dragons as small as me and ponies as..." [/colour]he chuckled, [colour=#008000]"Well... food."[/colour]

(( OOC: Sorry for the long delay! )) Picture Perfect turned to face Valen the moment he had entered. He had honestly not expected a pony to appear, and for a moment he simply stared, a bit dumbfounded, at the newcomer, simply listening to him ramble. [colour=#0033CC]"My name is Valen Orange, and it is great to meet you as well, Mister Perfect. How long have you worked with Madame Finish?"[/colour] Picture Perfect blinked and smiled at Valen, shaking his hoof gently. "Oh, I've known Photo Finish since the both of us were still attending the Canterlot Academy of Arts. We've been good... ah, friends, ever since. She's attended a great many of my own art exhibitions and as such, I am more than happy to offer my assistance to her whenever she requires it." "Besides," she smiled, "Traveling gives me the opportunity to see new places and often inspires me to paint. I'm a painter by trade, you know." He couldn't help but begin to wonder why Valen Orange was here, and what his role in the entire production would be. Was he simply here as a visitor, or was he going to be playing some key role in the production? Photo Finish and Rarity both seemed happy to see Valen, leaving Picture Perfect a feeling that she was hopelessly out of the loop. Was Valen supposed to be the model? If so, that would be highly irregular - but also extremely interesting and likely fun to work with. Regardless, Picture Perfect had no doubt in his mind that this tour of Equestria would be both productive and entertaining.

Sparks grinned at Vivid, obviously a little surprised that the hippogriff was agreeing to let him break at least five corporate rules by allowing him to experiment on corporate property, using corporate equipment, and using valuable corporate "time". "Thank so much, Miss Flair!" he said, beaming, "I'm still not sure on the practical purposes- it would likely be best suited to enable creatures or devices that can already fly to fly faster, or to allow trains to move faster along the tracks, as the amount of lift it actually provides is fairly small... more of a hover, really." "I still haven't gotten it to work, regrettably," Sparks sighed, "And I'm using fairly volatile materials - namely the black powder often used in fireworks and other explosives. I'm trying to figure out a way to burn it to cause thrust rather than an explosion - I'm still not sure if it is possible. I may have to resort to another material, or even magic, to power the device." "These last few weeks have honestly been slow. Outside of my NSI work and this, I haven't really had many unique ideas... it's been rather frustrating, honestly. I'm usually never short on things to build!"

Sniffles frowned slightly. He realized that he knew next to nothing about Earth Dragons other than the fact that they liked to dig holes and live underground, which he always thought was strange - closed spaces terrified him, a fact that he had often gotten teased for back when he had lived with his clutch. He took another look at the map, thinking for a second, before remembering that there was a rather large crevice deep within the badlands that led to a large underground network that was more likely than not inhabited by those silly Earth Dragons. [colour=#008000]"Well.." [/colour]he began, tentatively pointing at a location deep within the badlands, [colour=#008000]"There's a rather massive crevice located here, which apparently has a fairly large underground network within... I've heard rumors that the Earth Dragons live down there, and it's fairly deep in the badlands so you shouldn't have to worry but... who knows how long those caves really extend for, right?"[/colour] [colour=#008000]"As for the sky dragon lair near that pony lair... there aren't many there as far as I know. There's only one adult dragon living there as far as I know, and I don't know how many hatchlings are there, though I believe that the dragon spends most of the time asleep, so he shouldn't cause too many problems."[/colour]

Sniffles smiled. He was always glad to help anyone! This was his first real encounter with a pony (well, zebra... same thing, really!) and he had already made a friend! Sniffles knew he was irresistibly charming, but not to this extent. He eagerly snatched the map and unfolded it, taking a long look at it, before beginning to point at the map. [colour=#008000]"Let's see..."[/colour] he began, [colour=#008000]"There's a lair here,"[/colour] he pointed at a mountain deep into the badlands, [colour=#008000]"Here..." [/colour]he pointed to a location somewhat closer,[colour=#008000] "Here..."[/colour] he continued to point, pointing at various mountains, forests, lakes and so on across the badlands, though all were significantly far away from the Equestrian border. Until, of course he came to the last one. [colour=#008000]"Aaand here!"[/colour] he proclaimed proudly, pointing to the last one, before his smile faded somewhat. He was pointing to a mountain dangerously close to a dot labeled 'Stalliongrad"... He wasn't quite sure what Stalliongrad was exactly. It was apparently some type of pony lair, if he understood what Verity had explained earlier, though he wasn't quite sure he did. Ponies were all very confusing - which is what made them all the more fascinating to Snifffles, of course! They weren't boring, tired, or even greedy like all of the dragons he knew - one of the many reasons he was excited to head to Equestria.

Ready and waiting, sir! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2