Emerath

Ember Spark's sudden movements next to Emerath, not to mention the infernal noises of people talking, stirred Emerath causing him to begin to wake. He never was a deep sleeper, being that actors and actresses usually woke him up when they arrived at the theater. He didn't take long to open his eyes and get to his hooves, not having been too deep in his slumber to forget where he was. He looked around and saw his friends were talking to the griffons they first met when they arrived. Emerath still didn't remember the Princess's name, but he wasn't sure it mattered too much at the moment.

He levitated his notebook into his saddlebags and his saddlebags onto his back, and quickly trotted over to where the rest were gathered, bowing to the Princess upon his approach. [colour=#b22222]"Is it finally time?"[/colour] he asked, knowing the answer as the words left his mouth. He wasn't sure he was ready. And where was Cleverboots? Surely she didn't want to miss this.

Wow. Um. I'm pretty sure I didn't mean to write that much. Sorry if it's too much. I just wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote.... and next thing I know that thing pops out. I hope you don't hate me. I can shorten it if need be. ^^;;

Emerath nodded as Ember spoke. He was glad that she was taking the idea seriously. Well, seriously for Ember Spark. But her words, despite their somewhat silliness, had a ring of truth. If these were intelligent beings and not just animals, they would have some form of data recording in the form of books or pictures somewhere, so they could remember the griffons misdeeds towards them. At the same time, it was entirely possible they weren't even there. Emerath hadn't honestly considered that either, and he was glad that Ember Spark had such a good head on her shoulders to think of the rest of the possibilities he had missed.

As Ember quickly ducked out of the room and told them to meet up at the tunnels, Emerath turned to the remaining party and agreed, [colour=#b22222]"I like her idea. Let's take a break from all the seriousness and relax for a moment before we get involved with all this mumbo jumbo."[/colour] He gave the Queen a bow, and the rest of the party a nod and turned to head off down the hallway. Before he was out the door, he turned back once more with a smile, [colour=#b22222]"Besides all that though, we won't know what happens until we get there. But isn't that the fun of it all?"[/colour]

As Emerath left the library and walked down the hallway, he found that last statement tasted strange in his mouth. Was that really him? He never was a risk taker before. Perhaps his new love of adventure was getting to him. Maybe he was just trying to lighten the mood. Either way, he found it strange. As he considered all the recent events, he found himself hit by a wave of cold air and realized he was outside again. His body shivered and he galloped across the deck, avoiding anypony who was still working there, not wanting to be caught in the cold very much longer.

When he had reached below decks, he realized just how long he had been thinking. He must've passed through the entire fort without a single thing but cold wind breaking his thoughts. He really had to stop daydreaming so much. He shook his head and his body, attempting to shake off the cold, although it was to no avail as his body gave another shiver. He found his way through the lower decks of the ship so that he could get to his room and his things he might need for the trip.

Despite how much he was looking forward to the adventure, he found that he wasn't really ready for it. His sharp mind was about the only thing he had to offer. Perhaps he'd just bring along the food and other such necessities they might need. He turned and looked at his dresser. On it was a picture of his ma and pop. He missed them. What would they think if he told them he was possibly saving the griffons of the cold north from some unspeakable horror, and that he was written in some "prophecy". They'd probably think him insane. He chuckled. His ma was always supportive though. She'd probably just nuzzle him lovingly and say,[colour=#000080] "Good for you, dear. You save the world and be a hero."[/colour] Oh, how he missed them...

He pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time. He probably could've judged it better if he had looked at what the time was before he had left. He gave himself ten minutes to get his things in order and get back to the tunnel areas, and would take up just that. He grabbed an actual pencil, which would make writing easier on the go, and threw his quill and ink bottle onto the bed. Then he figured he'd need a blanket, should they decide to sleep in the tunnels. As he pulled it off his bed, he forgot the ink bottle and quill were there, despite that he just put them there. And then the ink bottle hit the floor with a small crash, shattering and leaving a small ink puddle. [colour=#b22222]"Ah, buck,"[/colour] he muttered to himself. Not much he could do about that at the moment. He just hoped he didn't forget and stepped in it when he returned.

He quickly folded the blanket and stuffed it into his saddlebags. He grabbed yet another extra notebook, just in case he had to take extra, extra notes. He looked at his jacket, everything he was already carrying was still there, his pocket watch, his second notebook, and now a pencil. He had considered taking the picture of his family, but he didn't think he could live with himself should he lose that. His goggles were still strapped to his head. He did notice a lump in his chest, and momentarily freaked out, before remembering that it was just the pear he had grabbed from the feast. Now a little bruised, but still fresh and ready for consumption soon. He threw it into the saddlebags so he didn't forget and freak out again.

Perhaps he'd need a bit of reading material. He searched through the stack of books and plays he had brought along with him. It was a big stack and he spent a few minutes looking for what he wanted. This annoyed him, but he hoped he had brought along what he was looking for, and sure enough, there it was! Song of the Highlands a play about Fortissima and her adventures. The script had no author, but he assumed it was Fortissima at this point. This was a modern rewrite of the play, but it would have to do. It would be a good reference should they need it. He placed it lightly into the saddlebags, so as not to damage the script.

He pulled out his watch and looked at it. Ten minutes exactly, he had to go! He didn't have time to consider if he had forgotten anything else, since looking for that play had set him back far too much, and he quickly levitated his saddlebags onto his back, and took off at a gallop through the ship. He knew that he wasn't late for anything, and thus shouldn't be in such a rush, but he had set a time limit for himself, and he would keep to it!

When he reached the entryway, he stopped in front of a griffon guard, who took a moment to register his presence, despite his shivering and the chattering of his teeth in the cold. [colour=#b22222]"Hi... I'm Emerath, I've been here. Queen Katabat wants us to go to the tunnels where the shapeless horrors are supposed to be."[/colour] he said, quickly. The guard nodded and directed him to the same waiting area that Ember Spark had been led to. He saw Ember Spark lying down, and quickly trotted over to her. As he reached her, he opened his mouth to speak, but realized that the mare was fast asleep.[colour=#b22222] "Ah... poor mare. I understand how you feel."[/colour] he whispered to himself. He'd been in this situation before, and felt no need to wake the mare. She looked so peaceful and happy, a part of him wanted to join her. He sat down and let his saddlebags slide to the floor, before turning to them and pulling out the blanket he had packed. He turned away from Ember and flapped the blanket open from its folded state, before turning back to Ember and pulling the blanket over her sleeping frame.

After that was taken care of, he sat down next to her and pulled out his notebook he had taken notes in earlier. He turned to the page where he had written about Ember Spark, and levitating the notebook in front of him, and then the pencil shortly after, he quickly scribbled out the words "childish" and "naivete" and replaced them with "innocence". Emerath realized his previous observations were wrong. She wasn't childish or naive. She was a very smart mare, and he hadn't given her credit. She was just curious. Something he found he didn't have much of, being set in his ways as he usually was. He envied the mare for that. He let out a small yawn. He set the book down next to him, as he laid down himself, and drifted off to sleep a midst his thoughts.

Alright, I'm gonna be unable to post this weekend until around Saturday night or Sunday. Also, I don't fully understand what you're asking of us, Trilo. O.o Maybe it'll make more sense when one of the others posts.

Emerath was amused by Ember and her antics, and found himself wandering over to the spot she curiously seemed to be rooted to as she asked him a question. He stood next to her as they looked at the rest of the group and opened his mouth to answer her question, before Pocket began to talk and answer her questions. Emerath felt a twinge of annoyance that Pocket kept doing that, as an ear twitched and he closed his mouth again. For Emerath being Ember's target of inquiry, Pocket sure did answer a lot of questions for him. Emerath didn't like it, and decided there needed to be a time where Ember and Emerath could get a moment alone to discuss whatever questions she might have about timekeeping, now that he wasn't so busy piloting an airship or taking care of their inventory.

But for now, he shrugged off his annoyance and let Pocket finish speaking before turning to the bubbly mare and giving his own answer, "Unfortunately, Pocket is mostly correct. It is a monster's goal in life to be scary, however..." he said, giving Pocket a bit of a scowl, " these may not be monsters. They could be normal creatures who were backed into a wall or had their territory encroached upon by the griffons." He turned back to Ember, "If they're normal animals, they'll be just as happy living in their dens, and will have in fact lost their anger towards the griffons. However, if we encroach upon their dens, they will probably attack us. We will be invading their homes, and possibly taking an artifact they covet."

He considered the next thought before continuing, "But if they are monsters, and are evil, then they will still hate us, and have probably just been biding their time until they get strong enough to make another attack on the griffons, in which case we'd be stopping an invasion before it happens. I'm hoping that my former theory is correct, despite that both scenarios are dangerous considering we'll have to enter their den in the tunnels."

Satisfied with his answer, he considered going back to his notes later and revising them. Perhaps the childish one wasn't Ember. Perhaps it was Pocket. Calling something a monster just because it seems scary and horrifying was a childish viewpoint and Emerath didn't appreciate it. He hoped that Cleverboots and Ember would be more understanding of the possible threat they faced rather than just fearing it because it looked scary.

Emerath had blushed a little at the compliment from Cleverboots. He wasn't used to being complimented by anypony, and Cleverboots sure did do it a lot. As everyone was talking, Emerath had noticed Ember attempting to take a look at his notebook, and quickly retrieved it from the desk before she could read it, worried that she might take his words as an insult instead of just an observation, and thankfully she didn't notice as she almost fell forward and went back to being lost in thought about something.

As his comrades conversed, Emerath just stood there listening and the gears in his head absently turned as more and more information was loaded into the machine through his ears. It was all processing in the back of his mind, although nothing was coming forth as a final product of his logic. He did not recognize any information about these shapeless things. They definitely seemed to be a species only seen in the Northern Outlands. Even Changelings had a shape, despite the fact that they could make that shape whatever pony they wanted it to be.

Honestly, to Emerath, this prophecy was coincidental at best, and things were just fitting together. What the main point was to him, was the adventure that could be gained from this, and if these shapeless horrors weren't just the "Boogie Pony" hiding in the dark and were a real species, they could get quite a bit of recognition for discovering it and proving its existence. He was sure Pocket and Cleverboots would get a kick out of that.

Emerath nodded his head as Cleverboots asked her question. "Of course I'm in, Captain. I've come this far. No sense in turning back now."

Emerath raised his nose from the floor as the Queen spoke in response, and was more than relieved that she wasn't upset for his sudden outburst. Perhaps he always took royalty too seriously. The Queen seemed more interested in treating them as her peers than as her subjects, and he could get around that. She was a kind Queen, and given the nature of their quest, and the words written in "prophecy" she seemed to genuinely believe they were some sort of saviors sent by ponykind.

Now, Emerath was never one to believe in fate. He always believed that a pony wrote their own destiny, and this wasn't very different, but he had to admit that there was too many pieces fitting together for this to be a coincidence, although he didn't believe that he himself could be part of this "prophecy." Not that he was about to tell the Queen as such. As his comrades discussed what this meant, the gears turned in his head, and he turned back to the desk with the scroll on it, and trotted over, careful not to touch anything, seeing as he still hadn't put on his gloves, having stuffed them into his jacket pocket instead. When he reached the desk, he pulled out a notebook (his spare, since Salt Spray had his main one) and a quill with a small ink bottle attached. He placed the notebook on the desk and took the quill in a magical grasp after he pulled the stopper out of his ink bottle and began to write some notes down.

Spyglass... Mainspring... Fulcrum... If what the Queen said was true, then that would mean the three officers in this room were each one of these items. Based on what little he knew about his fellow officers, the logical choices for what they should be was Spyglass = Pocket, Mainspring = Emerath, Fulcrum = Ember. Pocket seemed to have a very good view of the big picture, which made him the logical choice as a spyglass, "the pony who would show them the path." Emerath was great at order and organization, not to mention that a mainspring is a part of a watch, and Emerath's never give up attitude made him great at motivation when it was necessary. Thus he was the logical choice for the mainspring, "the pony who would motivate them to follow the given path." Finally, there was Ember, who's bubbly and happy personality and almost childish curiosity made for a very thick skin and a good personality to calm others with her naivete and good will towards others. Thus, she was the fulcrum, "The pony who holds things together, when they seem ready to fall apart."

Finally in his notes, he detailed some of the things out of the play he had remembered, which had detailed a string of towers and a clearing where Fortissima had ended up, which she had made her home. He scratched out a rough map based on the locations presented in the play, although actual distances and directions were subject to interpretation, seeing as plays rarely gave that much info. However, he circled the clearing and wrote "GOAL" next to it, believing with complete certainty that they had to find this clearing and Fortissima's current relatives who no doubt still lived there today.

When he finished his notes, he turned to his comrades who were still chatting (or daydreaming) and looked to the captain, who he saw was conversing with Pocket. "Captain, I know you're terribly busy with all this new info, but when you can, please look over these notes." He slid his notebook across the table, leaving it open to the page Cleverboots needed to see. He never was good at actually talking to other ponies, but he could sure share them his writings, and he hoped they were good enough to clarify some points of what was going on here, without him having to actually explain. He didn't want to have to explain...

Emerath's mouth hung open as they walked into the beautifully ancient library which was absolutely full of books of ancient times. He only wished he knew ancient languages, otherwise he'd have a field day in here! Unfortunately, aside from the few more recent texts they might have, he wouldn't be able to read any without the help of Cleverboots or Pocket. After the initial awe passed, he managed to put his jaw back into its rightful place, and gave Bartleby a light bow with his head as he took a pair of the gloves he was being offered in his mouth.

He didn't have much to do as the Captain and Pocket translated the scroll, so he found himself wandering over and looking at some of the books on a nearby shelf. They were, of course, illegible to him, which caused him to frown. However, it wasn't too much longer when Pocket quickly called Ember and Emerath over to read a notebook, which seemed to be the scroll translated. Emerath happily trotted over and took a look at the notebook as it hovered in the air, reading over the translation.

The first line struck him immediately. Fortissima! That was the main character of the play he remembered. Was she a real pony? If so, then possibly the other information in the play was real as well. He would have to discuss this with the others as soon as possible! However, as he read through the text, other things began to connect in his mind, and his thoughts began to excitedly dance around in his mind as he finished reading it.

He went back to a paragraph detailing ponies arriving on not wings, nor legs, coming from a land of two rulers. Surely they didn't mean them, arriving on an airship? Was this some sort of prophecy? Spyglass... Mainspring... Fulcrum... He knew what the first one was, but not many ponies knew what a mainspring was. But given as many watches and clocks he had managed to wear out in the many years of his life, he knew that it was the principal spring in a watch or clock. He also knew what the other two was, although they stuck out to him less than the second word. However, all three had other meanings. Well, spyglass didn't, but it had other implications, which was about the same thing. A spyglass gave insight where others couldn't see it, the mainspring is a motivator and maintainer of order, and a fulcrum is a central piece which holds everything together.

A pony to guide when others couldn't see the path... A pony to motivate others when they didn't want to follow the given path... and a pony to keep them together when things seemed ready to fall apart... Surely the Queen couldn't think...

Emerath had so many questions now! He quickly turned from the text and turned to the Queen, giving her a quick bow before looking at her and addressing her with his questions, "Your Highness... Do you believe this scroll to be a prophecy? Also, was Fortissima a real pony? And who could you imagine the three ponies are in our crew that this possible prophecy refers to?" He blushed a little, as he felt that he was needlessly interrogating a Queen, and he gave another bow, this time remaining with his nose to the floor as he spoke, "My sincerest apologies, your Highness, I did not mean to berate you with questions. Forgive me."

I think the tone and pacing of the RP is perfect so far. I think we have a great group here, and everyone is able to post at a pace that all of us can keep up with with our busy lives, even when they get a little overwhelming.

And I absolutely love reading others' posts, and indeed look forward to it. I think when this is over, I'm gonna have a great time going back and reading the entire thing form the beginning.

Emerath was positively glowing as he sauntered down the hallways with his fellow officers and captain. His thoughts swirled around in his head although none of them seemed to be properly registering at the moment. Possibly too late, he realized why that drink made him feel so very warm. He chuckled at himself as he nearly tripped over his own hoof, and was a bit surprised to see Ember jovially come up next to him with a spring in her step. He blinked at her, confused, before realizing who she was and smiling warmly at the company.

She began to talk to him about something she had talked to him about before. Something about holding thoughts. Could someone hold thoughts? Perhaps Emerath should explore that someday. Holding thoughts, that is. Like, physically. He chuckled again, and listened to the rest of her statement, followed by her leaning close and asking him if he was thinking what she was. He smiled and leaned towards her, whispering conspiratorially, "Well, I could be, but that would ruin the surprise." He chuckled again, and continued, "And to answer about the arriving at the proper moment, it's all about planning. You have to plan, even if you don't know exactly where you're going. If you don't know, plan who you're gonna follow. And then make sure that they know to get there on time." He smiled and thought for a moment, trying to shorten his growing statement. "Essentially, like now, for example, as long as Cleverboots and the Queen are on time, we'll be on time, no matter where they take us."

As Pocket came over, Emerath realized how close Ember and himself had gotten in their conspiratorial conversations and scooted over with a light blush, nearly tripping over his own hooves again, although this time in a brief bit of nervousness. He looked at Pocket as he spoke, and really, the only thing out of all that he had said that stuck in Emerath's mind was, "Why are you taking so long?" At this, Emerath's mind flared up and he looked at Pocket with wide eyes and suddenly spurted, "Oh no, are we late?!" Before realizing that they hadn't fallen all that far behind the Captain and the Queen, and he instantly regretted his outburst, this time blushing for an altogether different reason. He put a foreleg over his eyes and groaned in embarrassment, before removing it so that he could continue walking, keeping his head down however, and hoping nobody got mad at him for noticeably worrying about nothing.

See, Emerath isn't used to anyone paying attention to him. He's a very laid back pony who does his job and enjoys doing so, but in the end, most ponies just pass over him. And he's content with that. Having somepony who actually wants to get to know him is new to him, and will probably continue to be for a while. Really, Emerath gets so focused on his work (admittedly, he's quite a workaholic) that he never notices that anyone actually wants to be his friend.

Also, whenever I talk about Emerath as a character, I feel like I'm talking about myself in the third person, despite that Emerath and myself are completely different personality wise.

As Emerath listened to the queen respond to Pocket, he did in fact remember a play, and a very old one that the theater had performed when he was a young colt. But thinking too much about it, would have to wait, as Ember next to him jumped up in excitement and startled Emerath, nearly making him fall out of his seat in surprise. She was saying something about a lighter ship taking food and letters and correspondence between the griffons and ponyfolk. That was all well and fine, but Emerath decided he wouldn't be the one to make such trips. He already wanted to go home, despite that the fires of adventure now raged in his heart. It was a dilemma to be sure, and one Emerath still didn't know how to satisfy, but like most other things on his mind, it would have to wait.

Suddenly, the rest of the crew filed into the hall, and it was now that Emerath realized just how large the crew of the Polar Star was. It made sense, for them to have had such a large ship run, they needed a large crew, but as an officer of the ship, it was odd for him to not know every pony on board. He didn't think he even looked at numbers of the crew's total when he was taking inventory. Nonetheless, the group was jovial and sat down with the griffins, and the queen gave an absolutely wonderful speech upon their arrival. As the stewards arrived and brought the drink, out of politeness, he drank with the Queen, at first taking a sip of the drink. It was like, just by a sip, someone had blown fire into his veins, warming his entire body, which was still somewhat frozen from the icy cold outside. And it was tasty to boot! As the Queen took the next two drinks, Emerath found himself gulping it down himself, and then gulping the rest when the Queen was finished. He felt positively glowing from the warmth the drink provided, and smiled as he put it down, and smiled as he looked at the rest of the crew and griffons dancing and happily eating their food.

Unfortunately, his satisfaction wasn't to last, as the Queen turned to them after her rousing speech, saying she wanted to go to the library. While Emerath didn't really want to get up, he wasn't wholly against this idea, seeing as the library was one of his favorite places to be, and the griffons had to have an amazing host of knew knowledge for Emerath to explore. Realizing, however, that he was about to leave this wonderful banquet, he grabbed another tart and shoved it in his mouth, savoring the sweetness, and then grabbed a pear and shoved it into his jacket pockets for future consumption. And with that, as he finished chewing the tart and swallowing, he stood and prepared to follow the queen and the rest of his fellow officers to the library.

He realized now, that his nervousness had subsided, and while this could have been due to the warmth of the drink and the atmosphere around them, he was sure it was mostly because the Queen had called them friends. The Princesses of Canterlot, despite his occasional run ins with them, had never called him a friend, and to think that he was a friend to royalty made Emerath's heart swell with a bit of pride. Friends were kind, and trusting, and would never throw someone in a dungeon. Emerath had no reason to be nervous anymore. And with that, he smiled and happily followed the others as they moved to the library.

Ah, I'm sorry Ember, I didn't mean to make your character do something she wouldn't have. I just assumed that with the queen speaking everyone would pay attention to her. I guess I still don't understand Ember all that well yet. >.< I'll be more careful in the future.

Now, to the library! Oh I do hope it's organized, Emerath is going to have a field day if it isn't...

I'm sorry! D: Emerath tends to get lost in his thoughts a lot (as I'm sure you've noticed) and as such he tends to not respond to people when he should. And then he forgets. He dun mean it. And neither do I.

Emerath found his nervousness spiking up once more as he sat so very close to the queen. He had lagged behind again as everyone took their seats, with Emerath being the last to do so, sitting as far away from the queen as possible, on the other side of Ember from the queen. He stared at the banquet in front of him, and it was only now that he realized just how hungry he was. Everything was freshly cooked and looked to be hand picked. He quickly scooped a plateful of items onto his plate and began to eat with reckless abandon. It flashed through his mind briefly that it had to have been at least a day or two since he'd had more than a snack brought to him by Cleverboots or one of his other shipmates who realized that he hadn't eaten anything during his piloting. He really was far too focused on his work far too much of the time.

But he could rest now. He could rest and eat, and enjoy the company of his fellows and the griffons who had been so kind to them. He enjoyed a nice onion and potato soup followed by some wonderfully warm rye bread with a strawberry spread. He noticed that Ember was holding off on some of the blueberry and raspberry tarts, so he took the opportunity to grab some himself and savored their sweetness. A thought crossed his mind as he ate, and it was that they couldn't have known that the ponies were coming. There was no way for them to have prepared this in the time of sighting the ship, especially not knowing of the ponies were friendly or not. They must cook like this every day! This place must be absolutely rich in food! The thought of eating like this every day made his mouth water even more, and he satisfied it with some lovely looking apples and pears. They were different from the fruits back in Canterlot, but just as delectable.

While he ate, Ember turned to him and asked him about the Elements of Harmony. He knew about it from when he got a visit from Princess Luna one night at the theater. She had come, wanting to watch rehearsal, and being the pony of the night that she is, didn't realize that all the actors and actresses were asleep. Emerath, unsure of approaching the princess, knowing the legends surrounding her, had yelled down from his study, startling the princess. She shouted back at him with the Voice and they stared at each other in a bit of a standoff. Finally Emerath had gone down to her after what seemed like an eternity of staring at each other, and he talked to her in the same tone he had with Princess Celestia on other occasions, explaining the situation. Princess Luna apologized for the intrusion, but before she could leave, Emerath asked her about what happened to her in the legends, what with the Princess standing in front of him in the flesh, and them being alone in the theater. He was afraid he was being too forward with her, but she just smiled and answered his question politely, explaining the story of the Elements of Harmony and of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Emerath thanked her and she left. She was back at the next performance (which always happen in the evenings, perfect for Princess Luna), and he was happy to see her taking part in the society of Canterlot.

His brief flashback into times past had brought a smile to his face, and he had never actually answered Ember's question, instead munching on his apple and staring off into space. Ember seemed to have lost interest in waiting for him to answer (which Emerath probably wasn't going to do at the moment) having been answered by Pocket, and now all attention, except Emerath's, was on the queen and her discussion of times long past and of the fortresses. This discussion of the past floated into Emerath's ears and he perked up and blinked back to reality, now joining the others with his attention to the queen.

As she spoke, he attempted to remember stories he had read, or legends he had heard, possibly even plays related to the stories she was telling her fellows, and possibly pull out some more information about the past from the fragments of his memories in regards to the things he had read. If these griffons were as old as the queen says, surely there was some sort of legend or history about them. Maybe a map of the fortresses, and the surrounding areas that might give them clues as to where to go next... if only Emerath could remember.

((OOC: If you'd like, Emerath would be doing a Logic check here. If a roll isn't necessary, then I'll just have him "remember" some details you can give me about the griffons or the fortresses in PM or the OOC thread. Or, if there are in fact no legends or stories he could've read or heard, then by all means say so and he just won't remember anything. If that's alright with you, of course, Trilo. ^^))

Emerath was a bit confused by what Ember had said, and was going to respond to her when he had managed to decipher what she meant. Which he was admittedly having issues with He had begun to respond and tell her how confused he was by her questions, and also that he had no idea where they were going, but Ember put a hoof to her lips to silence him before he even started. It wasn't much longer that she had hopped off excitedly about something.

Admittedly, despite his nervousness, he was intensely curious about what this pony was up to, so he followed behind her and caught up with the rest of the group, although while she bounded to the head of the group, he stayed behind the group, although now within better hearing range and within proper conversation range. Ember told them of Princess Luna's return, speaking the same way as the griffons, which he couldn't help but give a light chuckle to. As she talked, they found themselves arriving in the banquet hall, which was packed full of food and armed griffons. The griffon, a very old but also incredibly regal and still beautiful griffon, who Emerath found is their queen, stood with the help of her guards, and walked towards them.

Emerath wanted to run. He wanted to hide. It wasn't that this griffon scared him, oh quite the opposite. Her eyes though. They pierced him like an arrow, sending shivers down his spine. He felt as if his soul was laid bare before this regal griffon, as if no secrets could be held in her court. It wasn't that Emerath really had any secrets, but the thought still frightened him when he realized that this griffon could easily see right through him should he slip up in the slightest. He was still polite though, and he found himself bowing with the other ponies and griffons as the queen approached. He was a bit shaky standing back up, but he managed to find his footing and hold his ground, deciding that running and hiding would be a decidedly bad idea right now.

Ember and the queen bantered for a moment, as Emerath found himself inching closer to her side in front of the queen. He was facing his nervousness head on, and pushing himself to get nearer to these griffons. He was never going to learn if he just watched from a distance. Besides, the queen was practically boring into Ember's soul with her piercing eyes. She didn't look angry. She didn't look upset. But she didn't look happy either. She was just serious, and her eyes made her being serious an almost frightening experience. Such cold fire in those eyes, the eyes of a ruler who has lived many long years in a harsh winter. The eyes of a ruler who probably had to know every secret of her kingdom to keep it from toppling over. They weren't untrusting, but they weren't exactly trusting either. They wanted to know exactly why they were here and what they would be doing. They were perceptive eyes, absorbing all the knowledge these fine ponies had to offer, drinking it in like a fine wine.

Emerath found himself staring so deeply into her eyes that he almost bumped into Ember as he inched closer to the queen. He blinked and caught himself, stepping away as Ember gave her response to the queen. Honestly, Emerath was confused by what Ember was saying, although this was most likely due to the way she was talking to the queen, which was in the same manner as the griffons talked. To Emerath, this almost seemed a bit insulting and mocking, although he knew Ember didn't mean it that way. When Ember had finished talking, the queen had not changed expression, and he couldn't decide if she was taking what Ember said as an insult, or if she was seriously considering what she had said. Emerath thought for a moment and decided to step into the conversation, giving his input so that maybe the queen didn't feel so insulted. Not only by the way she was speaking, but also with such news that she had suddenly been given.

"Y-your highness...." he started to speak, but it came out as a light squeak, and his voice failed him, his words barely audible in his nervousness. He coughed and took a moment to clear his throat, lightly stomping a hoof to shake away his nervousness, and looked into the queen's studious eyes. "Your highness," he began, looking deep into her eyes and focusing on what he wanted to say, "I believe what my colleague is trying to say is that the Princess of the Night, Princess Luna, has returned. But I wouldn't want your highness to misunderstand what this means. I know that when everyone thinks of Princess Luna, they immediately think of Nightmare Moon and the chaos that was caused by Nightmare Moon, causing Princess Luna's exile." He looked over at Ember and the rest of his party, before turning back to the queen and finishing his statement. "Nightmare Moon did return, but she was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, and now our second ruler, Princess Luna, is once again in charge of the night and rules over us alongside her sister, Princess Celestia. I sincerely apologize for any confusion this may have initially caused." He gave a slight bow to the queen to finish off, showing the respect she duly deserved.

As he stood with his head bowed, he was a bit surprised in himself for being able to get all of that out, but he supposed living in Canterlot and dealing with the princesses on a regular basis in his father's theater had to pay off somehow.

The biggest issue with turning it over to other people is that this is my creation, and there are only a few people that I would trust it to. You're all great people, but if Camp Whitetail is going to go forth, in my mind, it'll be under my direction as it was intended to be. I put a LOT of work into this, and as such I don't want to just let it die, but as of this moment I can't handle the stress of this combined with my life. I will not be closing the thread, so feel free to keep RPing, but it will not be sanctioned by me. And if in the event I decide to bring this RP back into the light and run it again, it will resume where I left off now, not from where it goes from here. I won't be upset if someone else wants to take the RP in their own direction, but it will not be my RP, and it won't be the same Camp Whitetail I intend on possibly running in the future.

It's with heavy heart that I make this announcement, but I can no longer keep up with this RP and keep it running. I'm truly sorry to everyone and I feel like I've wasted your time. I did not expect for my life to hit me so hard and cause me to be so busy, and I'm finding it hard to post in my RPs let alone run one. The RP will be closed until another day as such that I might be able to reopen it, but that it not in the forseeable future.

Again to all of you who created characters and joined this RP, I am truly sorry. You're all awesome people, and I wish I didn't have to do this, but I can't handle the stress. I was supposed to have someone helping me with this, and that person has disappeared, and I can't take this by myself. Thank you again everyone. I do hope you don't hate me too much.

Until next time.

~Emerath

Emerath was a bit surprised that Ember would join him instead of staying with the captain. He wasn't doing anything particularly interesting except for glancing nervously over his shoulder at the tenders behind them and staring at the pictures on the wall, gears in his head turning. He even got so interested in a couple of the pictures that he almost tripped on the stairs a couple times. He managed to catch himself, though he was sure, despite how oblivious they acted to his presence, that should he go tumbling down, he'd be caught by the tenders. Not that he wanted to test that, mind you.

As Ember trotted over to him and began to speak, part of it went in one ear and out the other, and part of it just sounded like gibberish. He had so many things running through his head, and her echoing whispers only added to that. He turned to the pony as they walked along, breaking through the cloudiness of his thoughts momentarily to form a complete response. "I'm sorry, Ember. I don't think I quite understand. Subsequent entrance to what?"

He was worried that he had missed something she had said in his daydreaming, and would look like an idiot for asking her that question, but better to ask and be sure, than look like a fool answering the question stupidly.

Emerath had actually stopped short of fully approaching the griffons. He was a bit nervous being in the presence of these regal creatures, and as such found his feet (almost literally) frozen to the deck, his mouth agape as he stared at the creatures. He was snapped back to reality by Ember whispering (shouting) at him over the wind about the one with the crown being a princess. A chill ran down Emerath's spine and he grew even more nervous. It wasn't enough that they were regal creatures to begin with, but royalty!

Ember trotted off with the captain, and they were greeted in turn upon their approach. Emerath couldn't find the power to move to approach himself, standing where he was and continuing to stare at the griffons with wide eyes. They were nothing like his books. Nothing like the stories his dad told him when he was a young colt. They were so much more than a fairytale or a legend. They were... simply magnificent. He found that his nervousness didn't come from fear, but from sheer awe of the creatures. He wanted to know more! He wanted to know everything! There were so many things he couldn't learn in his home or from books! So many things in this world he had missed out on!

He didn't think he was still cut out for this adventuring business, but he found that his craving for knowledge had grown tenfold and if adventuring meant he got to learn more, then he could live with that.

His thoughts were once again broken by Salt Spray, who slapped him on the shoulder and woke him from his stupor. He blinked as he looked at Salt Spray, having zoned out for the entire conversation that the captain had with the griffons, and only being alerted to the fact that they were now walking away by Salt Spray telling him that he was to be a part of the shore party. He wasn't exactly in a hurry to join them, as nervous as he was, so he stopped Salt Spray before he could run off, and pulled a small book out of his jacket pocket. He handed the book to Salt Spray and explained to him a few details about the notes inside.

"Alright Salt Spray, I know that we're giving the griffons gifts. I need you to make sure that you give no more than a quarter of any item listed in this book. Also, don't lose this book. If I have to count everything in the supplies again, I'm going to be a very upset pony." He took his inventory seriously, and he was trusting a lot to Salt Spray, since he couldn't be there to take inventory of the gifts himself. Trusting that Salt Spray understood, he turned and began to follow the griffons and his fellow officers and captain, purposefully lagging behind and taking in the scenery around them.

As he passed the armored griffons with their polearms and glimmering breastplates, he found himself only growing more and more nervous. They hardly moved, and reminded him so much of the Canterlot guard. Their stonefaced demeanor and constant focus on the task at hand was always a sight to behold in a pony, but in a griffon, it was almost beautiful. Their already magnificent selves took such pride in their job. There wasn't a ton of difference between ponies and griffons it seemed, aside from the obvious. At least not in the soldiers there wasn't.

The warmth was soothing though, after spending time in that biting wind, and he found that the braziers and their warm fires calmed him down. Oh how he loved warm fires. He began to miss home a bit. He saw his father and the actors dancing as silhouettes in the flames, and he hoped that they were ok. It would be a long time yet before he got home to his own warm fire.

He found himself lollygagging a bit and falling much farther behind as he stared into the flames. He blinked and looked ahead at the shore party he was supposed to be a part of. They were quite a ways ahead. He galloped to catch up, but still stopped a few hooves short, purposely still lagging behind, not wanting to get too close to the princess lest he get far too nervous and do something stupid.

((OOC: Guys. I'm serious. Enough with the OOC posts without RP following them. Last warning.

In other news, I love the Separate Ways video. "This song is so epic I MUST PLAY THE KEYBOARD ON THE WALL." Just sayin.))

Twilight was on the floor dancing to the campers singing karaoke, no matter how badly they sang. She just enjoyed the music and the fun. That was when she had an idea, thanks to Knight's song. She ran over to Dash, who was lazily floating through the air, over the heads of the campers, a cupcake in hand. "Dash, Dash!" Twilight yelled up at her. "We need to sing!"

Dash choked for a moment on her cupcake. "Aw, c'mon Twi..." she said, as she landed in front of Twilight. "Why can't you bug Pinkie to sing? Or AJ?"

Twilight looked sad. "Well, if you really don't want to, I guess I could. But I wanted to sing one of my favorite songs, and you know it best!" This was partially a lie. Pinkie knew all the karaoke songs better than anyone, but she really wanted Dash to sing with her. Dash hadn't done anything all day except give a short speech at orientation and nap all day. It was time she showed her stuff. "Besides, don't think I didn't notice you napping when the campers were arriving at camp."

Dash froze with a look of concern on her face. "A-alright, you win this round... but this makes us even, alright?"

"Deal." Twilight said, and they went up and took the mic from the last camper to sing and sang their song with style and coolness.

As they reached the end of the song, many campers had joined in the song's chorus, what with it being such a popular song. It warmed Twilight's heart to know camp was off to such a great start.

As Twilight and Dash left the stage, handing off the mic to the next singers, she realized that their karaoke had been going on for the past half hour, leaving two hours left until lights out. She shrugged. Two hours was plenty of time. She gladly went back to dancing with the campers and having fun.

Twilight walked into the Main Hall, happy to see all the campers excitedly talking to each other and having a good time. She saw Pinkie and Rainbow Dash talking to each other, and decided to join them. "Hey girls," she said, as she reached their spot, "having fun I hope. It is your party, after all, Pinkie." She looked around at all the campers. "So what exactly is the plan anyway? We only have two and a half hours left until lights out after all."

Emerath saw as the ship pulled up next to the tower, his plan working flawlessly as it came to rest against the stone. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and found his hind legs buckle out from under him, and he sat heavily upon the wood floor of the observation deck. "That was... that was amazing!" he said, after a long silence of staring at the sky outside. "I can't believe after three weeks of piloting this ship I didn't even realize that we were sailing on clouds!" He burst out into an involuntary fit of giggles, as he often did when solving a stressful problem successfully. He sat there like this for a solid few minutes, not caring how insane the rest of the crew thought him. He had just piloted this huge ship in a very dangerous maneuver. He had to be insane!

After his giggling had died down, he cleared his throat and looked at Cleverboots. "So, captain, I suppose we should go see how the others are faring with the griffons." he said, standing up. "Besides," he continued, "We can't have our quartermaster not there when Pocket decides to start handing out gifts to them. I can't let him give away all of our things, or else we'll be starved on the trip home. Nopony wants that." He smiled and gave a wink to Cleverboots, doing what he thought was a good job at hiding his excitement and his true reason for wanting to go on deck, which was to see the tower up close and the griffons first hand. He'd only ever heard about griffons, never having actually met any in his life, and the thought of doing so now made him practically jump for joy.

He turned and walked over to the pony who had been controlling the speed of the ship, and put a hoof on his shoulder. "Good job," he said, smiling, "couldn't have done that without you." And with that, he walked to his locker, grabbed his goggles and snow jacket, put them on, and walked out to the deck to join Pocket, taking the approach slow, so as not to interrupt or upset the griffons who he was talking to.

Just to make sure I'm not understanding wrong, but wouldn't it have been 14 total when you include Emerath's Helmspony score? I know it doesn't make a different for failure, but I'd like to make sure I understand the system we're using, and I thought you also added their score for checks.

Also, darn you for making me hungry. x_x I haven't eaten all day... and bbq chicken sounds really really good...

Campfire ---> Main Hall

"Well, this wouldn't be a very good camp if we didn't help out our campers! I just want to make sure you have the best time possible, and being scared all night isn't the way for you to do that." She smiled and put a hand on his back, turning him to the main hall. "Now, let's go have ourselves a party!" she said, barely able to contain her excitement. She always loved Pinkie's parties, and having one with all the campers was always the best! And with that she began to walk towards the main hall.