Cainiam

Sketch made sure to work fast. Robotic ponies that were probably extremely busy weren't likely to be patient enough for a full blown portrait, but a quick, stylish sketch was what he was best at anyway. The pencil was a flurry of small but rapid movements. Each jerk practiced and purposeful. Of course even he was prone to mistakes, but the pencil had an eraser on the end, so a quick rub out and he'd continue. Sometimes he'd swap with a lighter or darker shade of grey and draw a few lines before switching back.

(OOC: Sure, but if we're looking for the hardcore Fallout rpers then we might need to work on longer posts. Have you seen those threads? They post like mini stories. We could make this more casual, but then there's the fact that quite a few rpers don't stray into the 18+ section. What do you need my help with? Do you just want me to keep posting, or should we try and make a proper scenario? Then again if it's pretty much New Vegas, then its written itself.)

Sketch suddenly realised how stupid he sounded and flinched in preparation fro a rebuttal. To his surprise, none came.

"um...very well I guess you can"

"T-t-that's excellent!" Sketch stuttered excitedly. Retrieving a set of pencils from the floor where they had fallen and pulling out his favourite notepad. Flipping to the next blank page, he laid down on the floor and stared up at the robotic pony. "Now, just don't move while I get the outline." Sketch commanded then suddenly realised who he was talking to and added sheepishly, "If you don't mind, that is." Sketch surrounded one of his pencils with his magical aura and brought it back to the page. Touching it gently to the paper he began what he did best, to sketch.

(OOC: Well I just assumed that that was your particular starting point actually, as having every joining character with the same intro would be rather difficult. I prefer to write in third person, but a few of the users here use first. I haven't seen anypony rping with second person though, it doesn't really work as it's your character, isn't it? The explanation was pretty solid, a Pony twist on New Vegas, only real question I'd have from that is the local settlements. Ponyville was only a small town in the show, not a sprawling metropolis like Vegas, so is this an all over Equestria thing, or just localised to Ponyville? I'm just saying that I'm pretty sure that this part of the forum is meant to be "rated E for everypony". I wouldn't want to anger the mods, so it might be best to take this somewhere where we can gleefully explode ghoul's heads in vivid detail. Most of the Fallout roleplays actually seem based on Fallout: Equestria specifically, so being based on New Vegas should make it slightly different in itself, yes? I just don't want to be getting warning posts or mod complaints. As I said before there's also a future section in the crossover forum that houses fics like this too. I think either are fine. It's your Rp though, so you've got the final say. We could just try and keep it PG. I'm sure gunshots and stabbing are fine if we don't delve into too much detail.)

(OOC: Sounds interesting, but if you're going for the real New Vegas feel, I think you might have to move this to the 18+ section. A quick glance shows two Fallout Equestria fics in progress over there, but I'm assuming you're looking more for the New Vegas aspects. Opening prologue is a little confusing too, why is it in second person? Wondering about the tech level on top of that. Y'know have we got guns and stims? Then again I'm quite a Fallout fan. I'll bite. Tell me if this isn't what you were wanting. Just realized that there's also a crossover forum with a future section. These Fallout crossovers get everywhere.)

Gold Dust gave his cart one last hard push, but the wheels were stuck tight in the hole. "Damn Raiders and their traps. If Aces hears about this, they're going to wish they'd never been born," the sandy brown unicorn grumbled. He clambered into the cart and pulled out a worn set of saddlebags, and set about gathering the necessary supplies for the trot to the nearest settlement. *Right. Bottled water. Check. Lever action shotgun with a few slugs. Check. Combat knife. Check. Assorted dried fruits. Check.* The unicorn clambered back off of the cart with his prizes. The thing was still laden with assorted items though, from toasters to rockets. The big circled "A" on the side should keep away all but the pluckiest or stupidest of scavengers. Nopony messes with one of the heads of the High Rollers and gets away with it. Anypony who tries to steal from the cart is a marked pony.

Gold Dust turns from the cart, and looks up to the top of the nearest hill. He'd been along the route enough times to know that a small independent settlement lay just on the other end of the valley. All he had to do was haul himself there, invoke Aces's name, and then bring back some volunteers to get this cart sorted out. Easy as pie. Gold trotted up to the top of the hill and looked into the distance. A thick blanket of smoke rose from the other side of the valley. Something was wrong. (OOC: Since this is a total knock-off of Nipton, can I call it Poniton?)

"Huh. You sound... trustworthy. So not planning on blowing up anything then? If you don't mind me asking, what are you actually doing here then? You seemed pretty determined when you were flying here. These "old memories", they must have been pretty engrossing." Sketch said to the robot as he picked himself back up off of the floor. Sketch looked slightly up at the tall and imposing figure. There was something almost... regal about his pose. "Do you mind if I draw you?" Sketch asked before he could stop himself.

Okay, I'm struggling with ideas of security systems here. Those vents were an inspired idea, but I can't think of anything similar that would work for security. I could go with the modern idea of CCTV and alarms, or some kind of rustic theme like bells and dogs, or even with magical methods like wards and crystal balls. I don't really want to mess up the lore that you've built up so far, but this is a big building for one security guard. What do you guys think?

Sketch nods tiredly and releases his hold on the items. The binoculars and pencil case clatter to the ground noisily. He sits back onto the ground to catch his breath. "Sorry. My magic's... a bit weak," he pants loudly. "So you're a good robot then? Come to defend the planet from aliens or something? Isn't that what good robots do?

Sketch slowly processed the information while keeping his eyes fixed on the robotic pegasus. *Nemesis? He sure sounds friendly* Sketch thought sarcastically. "N-N-Nothing simply is... especially n-n-not a robot." Sketch eventually stuttered. He tightened his grip on the binoculars and took a step back. He then continued drawing on his dwindling reserves of confidence. "Robots exist to serve their masters, and you just divebombed the mountain! Was that a test run? Are you going to hit Canterlot next?! I won't let you!" Sketch pushed more magic into his horn and levitated out a second item, a tin case full of pencils. The strain of two spells was clearly showing on his face as he held them both aloft.

*Lemonade, lemonade, lemonade* was all that was on Curse's mind. At least until a prod in his back got his attention. Curse span around and lit up his horn ready to strike when he realised it was just that Vancron guy. *Wait a second. He's going to want to know...* "What exactly are you doing?" the mysterious colt asked. *Damn. Think of an excuse... think of an excuse...* "Hey, did that idiot mare follow you?" Cronk asked again. A smile lit up Curse's face, before instantly darkening again. "Y-yeah! Yeah, I was heading to the art gallery, when I felt like I was being followed, so I tried to lose her in the crowd. She's obviously working for somepony, why else would she be here?" Curse improvised, dragging himself away from the delicious lemonade.

Sketch rounded the corner and entered the crater, only to find him face to face with the pegasus. "Oh my," was all he could say as he stared upwards. The pegasus was a lot taller in real life, and a lot more... augmented. After a few seconds of silence, Sketch's fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. He span back around and suddenly remembered the massive drop that marked the edge of the crater. He quickly spun back around to face the pegasus. He magically pulled out the binoculars and held them aloft in what he hoped was a threatening matter. "Who are you? What are you going to do! Why are you a robot?" The questions streamed out of him, and towards the red machine that still appeared to be processing something.

Oh right. That didn't flag with me. I was referring to Neon, Swash, Snowy and Grey Matter as they were all in the main lobby, right where the presumable entrance is. Sorry about not being specific.

Sketch continued his climb down, carefully grabbing each hoofhold as he found it. The climb was a lot harder than he expected. *The crash must have loosened the whole damn mountain.* Sketch complained to himself as he stuck his hoof onto a convenient rock shelf. He risked another look down. The crater was now clearly in his vision. *If I could just...* Sketch held the thought and magically lifted back out the binoculars and stared down into the hole. The red pegasus was still alive! But from the look of that wing, he probably wished he wasn't. *That's an amputation job, there's no fixing that.* Sketch noticed the pegasus stand up and walk over to the lip of the hole. Shock was apparent on his face, but not pain. *How odd.*

Sketch continued his climb downwards, having to shift slightly to the side at one point to avoid arriving at the top of the new cave. He risked another glance now the he was closer. It was the red pegasus sure enough. Didn't look particularly well though. Something was definitely off about his appearance. (OOC: How mechanised are we talking? Does he look like a normal pegasus, or is he obviously robotic?) Sketch shook it off as damage from the crash. He continued his climb down, steadily approaching the edge of the crater/cave.

(OOC: Hope nopony minds if I post again. Kinda need to flesh out my sub-plot at the moment, and get my character into contact with the others.)

Curse pushed through the crowded marketplace as he recalled the specifications for his latest contract. The Pièce de Résistance, a rather exclusive art gallery in Ponyville that put most of it's brethren to shame. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but his contacts had assured him that this Vancron Shock could do his job, and do it well. As long as any lock they met could be broken, Curse was confident that he could put the guards down with his signature spell. Original plan was to go at night, but things had changed. The painting in question was being moved tonight after an anonymous tip-off. He just hoped that... hey! Lemonade!

Curse stopped in his tracks at the sight of his absolute favourite beverage. On a sunny morning like this, the bubbly yellow liquid looked like to him like liquid heaven in a glass. *Maybe. No. I can't, this job's important. Actually I'm sure the job can wait a few seconds while I get me an ice-cold beverage.* Curse thought to himself with a smile. He trotted over to the simple wooden stall and found himself at the end of a small line. *Darn, there's a line. I've got a few minutes. Just need to make sure I'm there for the guard change in fifteen.*

I've given a quick look through the thread. It seems like there's quite a few new people running around at the moment. So basically this is a constantly evolving self-sufficient condo? Sounds interesting. I'll see about having Clear Skies run into Grey Matter as soon as, so he can actually start cracking on with his job.

Cool, thanks. Let's call him Clear Skies, but he prefers that everypony refers to him as Officer despite him not actually being a police pony. Should I start an introduction post now?

Took a gander at your story and shared what little I've learned from my own terrible fics. Good job so far it's looking nice. EQD are perfectionists when it comes to grammar, Don't let it put you down that they rejected your fic.

Another fantastic spotlight. I've never actually seen a Funnel Web spider, so I assume that they don't live in England. I remember reading once bout spiders that throw their webs like nets. Do you know anything about them?

Sketch thought he heard a weak cry in the distance as he stood up and waved furiously at the unaware pegasus with both his forehooves, but the pony continued right into the mountain below with a resounding crash. Sketch was almost thrown off of his hooves as the entire mountain quaked from the impact. Then it stopped. The air was stilled once more as a blanket of silence covered the area. Sketch approached the rocky precipice once more and looked down. There was a large crater down below, unusually large considering the pegasus should have splatted on impact. Sketch took one more longing look at distant Ponyville before sighing heavily. "Well, it looks like there goes my only day off this week," he grumbled.

A flash of his horn placed the items back into the saddlebags and replaced them onto his back. *Right. Now how in Celestia's name am I going to get down there.* Sketch peered over the edge again, when a series of sounds like gears whirring came from the crater below. Curiosity got the better of him, so he brought the binoculars back up to his eyes and peered through. "Bah. I'll never get anything from this angle." He panned his gaze upwards on impulse and noticed a sky-blue pegasus in the distance. *What the draconequus is she doing here? She must've been the source of that cry earlier* Sketch took one last glance at the blue pegasus before shaking his head. "No, that thing that crashed down there is what's important. Let's see about getting down there." Sketch gingerly lowered himself over the edge and dug his hooves into the side. "Oh boy, Sketch. Why do you akways have to get involved."

Hey. If you're still looking for a security guard, I could attempt to fill the role. I'm quite new to RP and live in England so the timing might be a tad awkward, but if you're game, so am I. I'm thinking lanky sky blue male pegasus with brown mane and tail. Cutie mark of a magnifying glass. Watches a lot of detective shows, but too easily scared for a job in the guard like his father. Can act tough despite being physically quite weak. Okay with foals (as long as they don't prank him ). Has a tendency to blow things out of proportion and treat even the most minor of crimes as a detective case. What do you think? More detail? Or not interested?

And since we're sharing, I discovered FIM from the comments of the gaming blog, Kotaku. I used to be a Kotakuite, even after the site redesign, until I discovered a flame war in the comments. Found these people calling themselves "bronies" trying to defend pastel coloured ponies against a few angry gamers (trolls?), Sure there was a lot of people on the sideline, it seems anime fans tend to tolerate bronies a lot more than others, but I found the fact that they were defending ponies so vivaciously quite interesting. Fast forward three days and I'm on another Kotaku article where a group of bronies were actively in control of the comments. They seemes to be making an impassioned conversion attempt, and it worked. I checked out the first two episodes and was hooked. Watched the rest of season one and hit EQD where it went from there. This was August 2011, so before season two aired.

Cartoon Network has Adventure Time, and Regular Show which are both awesome T.V. shows. Adventure Time, while not as good as MLP, is still one of the best cartoons I've seen. Used to be a fan of Flapjack and Gumball too, but they weren't really that great. Maybe I just watch too many cartoons. :!:

(OOC: If this is derailing the plot too much, then please tell me. Don't want to ruin everypony's else's fun after all.)

"Look, man. I was told that you could deliver. We need to get that painting and high-tail it out of here before they realise its missing. Our "friends" can only wait so long." Curse takes another step forwards. "Look, take care of this pegasus and then meet me around the back of the art gallery. We don't have all day." Curse stares at the hoodied pony who finally nods in response. "Good. I'll be waiting," Curse turned away from the pony and trotted back out of the alleyway. The second that he's back outside he drops the facade of confidence. *Oh Celestia, I hope that he hurries up. The Don is not going to be happy if we don't get that piece, and when he isn't happy, we aren't happy. I've grown rather attached to my horn.* Curse cursed silently under his breath before picking up the pace and pushing back into the crowded marketplace.

I don't know, Water Striders were enemies in Super Mario 64, or at least giant water skating bugs were. Another great spotlight. I've always wondered about those pond skaters, but I never knew they ate other bugs. They always seem so peaceful and serene. Glad they kill mozzys though. If there's any bug that I'm always going to hate, it's them. I'm just glad I live in England so there aren't as many over here. If I lived anywhere hotter...

(OOC: I hope you don't mind somepony else butting in, and exploiting your pre-created character.)

A grey unicorn stumbles feverishly through the crowd. He turns his gaze this way and that as he searches for any trace of his target. "Oh no, oh no, oh no," he mumbles quietly under his breath as he does a complete spin to check behind him. "Where is he?" The unicorn's horn briefly lights up an emerald green, boosting his hearing. From a nearby alleyway comes a subdued cry. "That's his style," the unicorn mumbles reassuringly and bounds over to the alleyway. A quick check left and right to make sure nopony would see him slink into the shadows. Sure enough he couldn't see anypony looking. Taking a step back he entered the alley and hurried down it. Sure enough there was the signature black hoodie of his associate. Right now he appeared to be hissing at some yellow pegasus who he had cornered. With a sigh of relief, Curse looks to the black hoodie wearing pony and trots over. "Thank Celestia you're here. We need to go now. Did you get the stuff?"

A white pegasus made a show of barging into the small cafe, and loudly demanding service. "Coffee! Now!" the pegasus demanded. A rush of hooves behind the counter and a clatter of coins later, the pegasus, now armed with a large steaming mug of coffee, eyes up the tables filled with ponies. Sat at the back was a tan unicorn watching the debacle with mild interest. *Foal's play* The pegasus stomps over to the chair chair opposite the book smart unicorn. Without even asking permission the pegaus sits down forcefully and takes a long loud slurp from his mug. Seeing no mats on the table, the pegasus plonks the mug down messily on the unicorns notepad with a smile on his face. His dark green eyes fix on the unicorn's face as he awaits some reaction. *Come on punk. Complain. Make my day.*

(OOC: First time replying to an RP post.)

A light brown, sandy coloured unicorn took his usual seat on the side of Canterlot Mountain. The unicorn reached into his gold emblazoned saddle bags and pulled out a thick paper notepad. With an absent minded sigh, his horn lit up the same emerald green as his eyes and the pad flipped past pages full of sketches and mechanical drawings to a blank page. He lifted up a large blue pencil with his magic and placed it gently onto the page. "Okay, Sketch. Time to do what you do best," he said quietly to himself. The distant town of Ponyville was just visible from the rocky precipice he was sat on. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a set of binoculars and trained them on the distant village. The rustic charm always made for a splendid drawing.

Sketch breathed in heavily and let it out again. The air up here was always so crisp and fresh. Distant from the tumultuous noise of Canterlot. It was that reason why Sketch chose this spot and made sure to come out here at least once a week. It was therapeutic. He turned his attention back to the small town when a sudden spark of colour caught his eye. Turning his gaze upwards he spotted what looked like a red pegasus flying at ridiculous speeds... and the foal appeared to be heading right for the mountain! "Hey!" Hey!" Sketch shouted at the top of his lungs. A loud echo mimicked his cry as the pegasus continued to bear towards him.

Ack! While I... appreciate the welcome, but would you perhaps mind letting me go? TOO TIGHT!