Bellosh

"....I don't need a proof. How much? Two billion? Four? I won't take a 'no' for an answer you know. So decide on number, because I won't stop pestering you two until you do." Princess Cadence didn’t attend balls so she could be pestered about the minutiae of royal governance. Maybe that sort of thing was up Twilight Sparkle’s (and Shining Armor’s) alley, but not Cadence’s. Despite her husband’s attempts to explain things, Count Squall insisted on throwing his... money around. If only spending big could solve every political matter..... “It’s not just about money,” Cadence shook her head as if greatly burdened; “For one thing, there’s no such thing in colonization as unoccupied land. A whole slew of tribes, clans, and various oases of civilization lie between the Crystal Empire and the Crismarine Sea. We’d have to convince them all to let us claim all necessary lands as part of our dominion, and not all of them are going to be friendly. And even if we could somehow acquire all that territory, the fact of the matter is that there’s simply not enough crystal ponies to resettle ANYWHERE in meaningful numbers.” As for the trains, all Friendship Express routes are managed by the Equestria Railway Agency, so you’ll have to petition Princess Twilight about that. Once she officially ascends to the Throne, of course!” Cadence could see Applejack and Rainbow Dash walking towards them, giving her an excuse to get out of this conversation topic. “Now if you’ll excuse us,” the Crystal Princess offered a polite smile; “I see some old friends of ours coming our way.” Cadence was dead-set to avoid politics for the rest of the evening, even if that meant giving Swift Squall a wide berth..... "Yer Highnesses, a pleasure. How's lil' Flurry Heart doin'?" “APPLEJACK!!!” The princess scooped up the Avatar of Honesty with a deceptively bone-crushing hug; a reminder that alicorns possessed the innate strength of earth ponies. After letting go of AJ, Cadence answered; “She’s doing great! Flurry has become quite the chatterbox since you’ve seen her last. My little baby’s growing up fast! So what’s Zap Apple been up to?” "Say, Cady, didn't you once get that letter from a Long Guo guard?" “The what now?” Cadence shook her head in momentary confusion, having paid only the barest attention to whatever topic Shiny and the gang were now going over as she finished up her main course; “O-oh yeah, I remember the letter you’re talking about, honey. What of it?”

*Showers @PrinceBlueblood with praise and imperial honors*

Awesomeness! I think I'll request a certified BlindJester artwork of my lovely qilin OC, Empress Yuè. Character Sheet: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/22649-yù-yuè-ready/ Artwork References:

Over on the periphery, a bright poof of magic flashed a short distance away from the stage. When it cleared a second later, in its place stood an amber unicorn. She was Sunset Shimmer; the instructor of the Defense Against Dark Hearts course at the School of Friendship. She had wrapped up class for the day not too long ago, and was just about to head home when she spotted from her window a bunch of suspicious billowing smoke. Thinking it prudent to swiftly investigate, Sunset used a teleportation spell to instantly arrive at the scene from her classroom. As a seasoned apprentice of the arcane arts, she did so without a hitch. Although black fumes obscured most of the scene, Sunset could make out just enough props and symbols to recognize this was Counselor Trixie’s set-up. The friendship counselor and Miss Shimmer didn’t know each other all that other yet... notwithstanding Sunset’s peculiar adventures in the Mirror World, of course. “Is everything alright there, Trixie?” Sunset called out while she attempted to scan for nearby bodies of water, just in case something actually was on fire.....

“Hah, ya’ got me thar,” Sugar Apple affirmed Earth Writer’s assessment of her own appearance. Taking the seat across from Earthy, Sugar listened in as the other apologize for the way their relationship ended with a whimper. As he talked, a waitress came by with Sugar’s own breakfast, along with a fresh mug of coffee. However, Sugar Apple left her own food mostly untouched for the moment. “No worries Earth Writer,” the pegasus offered a small reassuring smile; “Like they say, it takes two t’ tango, and ah could’ve been honest with ya’ about how demanding my latest job is... especially at this time of year. .....Ah too shouldn’t have strung ya’ along.” She tentatively took a sip of her coffee; "Sooooooooooo......... whatch'a been up to, these days?" That was perhaps the most polite way of asking that question Sugar could think of on the spot.....

Sunset Shimmer ceased her illusion spell as Tempest Shadow spoke up again, this time about the insecurity she faced whenever offered friendship. She didn’t get to far before noticing that Feng and Hanabi had followed the two unicorns. Fortunately, things had calmed down enough for Tempest to be comfortable having them around, so she went back to describing her friendship difficulties. Being the avatar of Empathy that she was, Sunset Shimmer could recognize that Tempest Shadow was in the beginning stages of accepting new acquaintances into her life. Although they both lived in different dimensions and barely knew one another, Sunset herself could feel a certain connection with Tempest she rarely felt with other non-Twilight ponies... save perhaps for the friendship apprentice — Starlight Glimmer — who surprise, surprise... ALSO shared a dark and troubled past. .....Twi certainly seemed to attract the bad girls, didn’t she? “I... actually have an idea about that.” Sunset chimed in optimistically; “I live in a different world from yours, and I guess you’re the sort of pony who moves around constantly. If I call in a favor or two however... I could get you a magic journal so we can keep in touch! It’s how I stay in contact with Princess Twilight whenever I’m not in Equestria.” The amber unicorn sheepishly kicked the ground around her hoof; “But yeah, it’s not everyday I find a pony in Equestria I can relate to. It’d mean a lot to me Tempest if we could be pen-pals.....”

Like any good eavesdropper, Sunset Shimmer knew when to covertly scram, like when a conversation suddenly fell silent after a faint but audible gasp. By the time Twilight farewelled Flash Mangus and rounded the corner, Sunset would have been nowhere to be seen. In fact, the amber unicorn was currently approaching the entrance to the Mage Meadowbrook exhibit, although the Pillar of Healing was the furthest thing on Sunset’s mind. The more Miss Shimmer dwelt on the words she believed she heard, the more she sensed that a whole lot of pieces weren’t lining up. For one thing, since when did Twi develop a thing for Magnus out of the blue? Sunset took great pride in her ability to read the Friendship Princess like a book, so there would have been obvious signs of a legit infatuation on Twi’s part. At the very least, Twi should have uncomfortably squirmed back when Magnus and Somnambula were doing their PDA-thing. And yet she didn’t Removing that theory as an impossibility left Sunset with perhaps an even grimmer scenario; that Twilight had a different secret crush which she elected NOT to tell Sunset about, but rather to some random nopony. Okay, Magnus wasn’t exactly a nobody, but the point still stood. After everything Sunset and Twi had been through; after all of their journal-to-journal correspondences (which necessitated a replacement journal, for pony’s sake!) and all those interdimensional get-togethers, Sunset believed she could confide to Twilight about anything, and that Twi reciprocated those same feelings of intimate trust. If anything, witnessing the evidence to the contrary was a far bigger blow to Sunset’s psyche than learning that Twilight had an anonymous secret crush. Twi could be a silly filly dabbling in the dating game all she liked and Sunset could have cared less (although she would have definitely watched Twi’s dating prospects like a protective mother Ursa Major, rejecting any and all suitors who betrayed even the vaguest hint of inadequacy). However, Sunset hoped her bookworm friend would have considered letting her in on whatever this matter of the heart was, instead of you know, Twi leaning on some ancient gigolo she barely knew? Sunset pretended to take great interest in the cauldron of Mage Meadowbrook’s that was on display in the center of her exhibit, but a closer read of the unicorn's facial expressions indicated a forlorn pony.....

When somepony hears the sound of a loud spill followed by a forceful expletive, that tends to get their attention. Sugar Apple was no exception; turning towards the source of the commotion, she was shocked to see a drenched stallion staring in fright back at her. It took a second to look beyond all the unicorn’s gruff before the pieces finally came together... “EARTHY?” Sugar gasped; “Is thet you???” Earth Writer... Sugar Apple’s ex-coltfriend. In times prior, the two of them enjoyed a happy long-distance relationship. The pegasus mare could still remember how they met like it was yesterday; how Earthy had been so gentlecolt-like in helping Sugar get out of a scrap during the Running of the Leaves. Sure, Sugar worked in Cloudsdale while Earthy lived in Canterlot, but they managed to make things work. That all changed with Sugar Apple taking her current job way down here in the Gallopagos. Too far away for enable regular face-to-face meetings, the couple attempted to keep the relationship alive via written correspondence. Sadly, in Sugar’s case, she found the magic of having a special somepony had died with the transition. Furthermore, going through her first grueling Hurricanter Season sapped Sugar of much of her zeal, convincing her it was pointless to keep things with Earth Writer going despite how much she still liked him personally. Needless to say, the Earth Writer before her... did not look like the stallion she fondly remembered. Tepidly, Sugar Apple approached the disheveled unicorn and ran a hoof along his juice-soaked jacket. “.....Ya’ look like dreck, hon.” Sugar maintained eye contact with Earth; “Did ya’ git shipwrecked or somethin’...?”

“Huh,” Flash commented as Pretezas wrapped up her story about Empress... Yu, or so her name apparently was. “You’d think Yu’s handlers would have tried harder to chase you off. But I guess not even an Empress is immune to Pres’s charms, heh heh.” The stallion gave his date a playful wink. As if on cue, Flash Sentry himself blushed in the face of the painter pony’s charm when she played up his skill as a protector. Personally, Flash knew better than to believe he could take on a party of Viking Caribou... even one alone would pose a highly challenging threat! Nonetheless, the Corporal had the good sense of projecting outer confidence by giving his companion a return nuzzle. “Oh yes,” remarked the pegasus; “They’re the caribou clan that paint themselves blue. We’ve been seeing more of those guys around Canterlot recently, especially going in and out of the Clan Askr Ambassador’s residence. Wonder what’s up with that? So Pres, did you manage to make any caribou friends on your last voyage to Whitescar?”

Okaaaay; Tempest was giving Sunset a real stinker-eye over trying to brush off the topic. In response, the amber unicorn could only blush and awkwardly avert her gaze. “Haha, you got me,” Sunset admitted defeat, but then she smirked; “But it’s actually worse than that! You ALSO get transformed into a bipedal form while you’re in their world! Don’t worry though, you get used to it after a while.” It turned out that when it came to burning bridges to the past, Tempest Shadow was in a similar boat. Had anypony else been here with the Storm King’s former second-in-command, hearing how Tempest singled out her former friends for retribution would have been an obvious opportunity to cast judgement. But who was Sunset to cast judgement when she once zombified her classmates? By this point, Sunset and Tempest had walked far enough to reach a large pond on Ponyville’s outskirts; the same one that laid adjacent to the School & Castle of Friendship. Of course, nobody was around because due to the Iron Pony festivities, although someone by now must surely be wondering where several of the competitors vanished off to... right? “Why do I keep coming back to Equestria?” Sunset stopped at the shores of the pond to gaze into the crystal-clear waters; “.....I suppose I do it mainly for Twilight, I guess. D-don’t get me wrong; my friends on the other side are the best a girl can ask for! But Twi’s different; she made sure I got a second chance when anybody else would have thrown me to the timeberwolves. Princess Twilight helped me become the girl I am today, and I’ll always owe her a debt for that.” “Plus, you know, they’re times when you need someone who just... gets you instinctively. My best friends; they’ll never understand what it feels like to be taken under the wing of a living legend... to have great expectations placed upon you, and fearing that you’ll end up letting everybody down. Twilight and I: we share that same background... we both know what it’s like to forsake friendship in order to live up to our potential. Sometimes when I’m going through rough patches, I remember how Twi’s able to overcome the worst things imaginable, and thinking about that gives me the inspiration to go on.” Sunset Shimmer’s horn lit up, and her reflection in the still pond stedily turned into a mirror image of a lavender unicorn with the most heartwarming smile conjurable. “And I’ve got to admit: Twilight always has this way of greeting her friends as if you haven’t seen each other in years. Being around Twi is like... sitting next to a blazing fireplace all wrapped up in a cozy blanket.....” With the way Sunset sighed as she gazed upon the illusionary alicorn with half-lidded eyes, a pony well-versed in cliches might have accused her of swooning.....

Woo-hoo, it's cupcake time!

Howdy, I'm back again! Would it be possible if you could edit this vector of Grubber so that his shirt-thingy shows a cupcake instead of the Storm King symbol? Cupcake should look as depicted here:

“Twilight’s Equestria”. It was a phrase General Pummel and all other ponies were going to hear now more than ever with the retirement of Princesses Celestia and Luna. Amongst most members of the general public, Princess Twilight Sparkle was viewed as essentially an Avatar of the Magic of Friendship... and not much else. Fewer still knew enough of their sovereign ruler to understand that she once studied the art of sorcery under Celestia’s wing. And then there was an especially select few who saw that beneath the facade of a sometimes-awkward protege lurked a deeply technocratic mind who had been obsessed with the inner workings of Equestrian bureaucracy and martial matters ever since her ascension. That was the sort of Princess Twilight that Gen. Pummel knew best; the Twilight who had championed such endeavors as Task Force Suntrot and the Twilight Guard. Not a week went by since Twilight assumed the Throne, and already she was well on her way to laying the foundation of paradigm-shifting reforms. Long time ago, the mountain upon which Canterlot stood was mined by greedy unicorns for its priceless gems. The Crystal Mines had been largely forgotten by ponykind up until Queen Chrysalis realized they made the perfect prison for her enemies. After the First Changeling Invasion, various proposals started floating through REA leadership over plans to retrofit the Mines into an emergency command bunker and civilian shelter in the event of another attack. Such plans never went anywhere... that was, until today. Everything in the newly designated Alternate Royal Command Center looked rough around the edges, but even so, Pummel was astounded by the fast progress the subterranean excavations made so far. True, there were far too many civilian contractors around for his liking, but if the signs were any indication, the heavy reliance on that necessary evil would soon be a thing of the past. Just think: a properly funded Corps of Engineers! When bidden to do so, the General cantered into the room and rendered the proper courteous salute to the new First Citizen of Equestria and Commander-in-Chief of the Pony Muster; “Ma’am…”

"Wow! Yak thought this class be boring but this class not boring! How do yak do that?" Professor Shimmer blushed in response to Yona’s enthusiasm. At least this was a good sign that Sunset was earning her students’ respect. “All in good time, heh heh,” the unicorn chuckled good-heartedly; “Honestly, hardly anybody at all knows how Friendship Magic works because it’s never been studied in a controlled environment until now. But I hope to change that! In fact, I’ve arranged several lab sessions this year so we can delve into that field of Magic. It’ll be great!!!” And maybe things will turn out better than the last time Sunset tried analyzing the Science of Magic in a lab. Sunset looked mildly uncomfortable as some of the students murmured about Cozy Glow’s creepiness. While it was her instinct to gently admonish them, the professor bit her tongue for now. In the adolescents’ defense, Cozy’s actions and motivations made it very hard for the hatchet to be buried anytime soon. "What happens if someone who doesn't believe they're evil does evil believing it to be good? They might think it will help their friends and or family?" “You were right! I didn't understand magic before, but I do now!” The young dragon’s question triggered memories of a different world; of Sunset Shimmer’s encounters with the corrupted visages of Midnight Sparkle and Gaea Everfree. “You raise another interesting issue, Smolder. Out in the real world, you’ll hardly encounter consummate evildoers only out for themselves. Rather, you’ll mainly find beings who are capable of caring for others and showing empathy... buuuut they also just happen to have goals which don’t have everyone’s best interests in mind. We’ll be going in-depth into conflict resolution techniques later in the course, but just as a fair warning... in many of the most extreme situations I’ve personally been involved in, the uhhh... resolution often boils down to blasting a magic rainbow of friendship at the wrongdoer.” Sunset chortled; come to think of it, many of Twilight Sparkle & Friends’ greatest accomplishments came down to that, too. No wonder the EEA eyed Friendship School as essential to national defense.....

Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow at the mention of Hope Hollow. But that was all she got to do until Flash Magnus led Twilight off somewhere. That left Sunset all alone to her thoughts; on one hand, she was shocked against all expectations that after many long years, somepony in Equestria actually mentioned her hometown by name. Seriously, despite how everything back in Hope Hollow was purportedly well-know, nopony in the real world ever uttered a peep about that town. And yeah, sure, Sunset Shimmer still carried that childhood grudge against her hometown, but she also couldn’t ignore the strange report. Although the unicorn believed Hope Hollow more than earned every self-inflicted misfortune it had coming to it, strange happenings could be caused by any manner of things that were of no fault of the community’s, and Sunset’s inner conscience couldn’t abide that, even if said place was a dumpheap. One minute of deliberation later, and Miss Shimmer made up her mind. Instead of idling by, she would do... something! At the very least, the unicorn could find out from Twi what was going on! Off-limits zones were of no concern; without bothering to look around for museum staff first, Sunset waltzed into the darkened private area. The mare learned ago how surprisingly easy it was to snoop around anywhere if she acted like she owned the place. Several seconds of trespassing later, Sunset heard the voices she sought. Her old eavesdropping instincts kicking in, the ex-apprentice tip-toed at crawling speed, mindful not to get noticed as she snuck towards a corner, around which were surely Twi and Flash. Sunset had a hard time making out their conversation; Twi was speaking all hush-hush like, but the eavesdropper picked up enough to know... Twi and Flash weren’t talking about Hope Hollow at all. "...true...yourself, Princess." "I...the way I feel is..." "I under...make me feel...make you feel?" "...special, yet comfortable..." "....love, Princess?" "You...heart, Flash." "...love...Twilight?" "I....do." Sunset gasped in the heat of the moment, perhaps louder than she would have liked. She covered her mouth, but the damage was already done. Was Twilight... making a love confession... to FLASH MAGNUS?

"Last time we were this close to Crystal Heart, I was doing my best to not get my head looped off by caribou berserker. And Fire had similar experience and then some. Although we don't rule out going on vacation there soon." Princess Cadence’s ears dejectedly flopped downward; it seemed like some ponies still had the Crystal Faire Invasion fresh on their minds. And... was the Crystal Empire REALLY that remote of a realm? Crystal Spire could easily be reached via a several-hour long train ride, for Celestia’s sake! Regardless, it wasn’t in Cadence’s nature to be confrontational. Accepting that the Count was dead-set on having the honeymoon elsewhere, the princess meekly replied with a glum sideways glance; “Oh... I see.....” "She did write to me about their son. Even tried to set up a playdate with Flurry for little... Zap, I think it was?" “Zap Apple,” Cadence quickly filled in the blanks for Shining, grateful for the pivot away from the perceived shortcomings of a Crystal Empire honeymoon. When asked if a playdate was possible, the alicorn replied; “Hmmm... it’ll be tough, seeing that we won’t be visiting Ponyville too often once Twily moves back to Canterlot. But maybe our families could meet up next Summer Sun Celebration? Hopefully we can make it work out; I wanna see how much Zap has grown!” "Let's see now, I think I see the beginning of something beautiful over there, Cady. Not to mention, there's probably a good story over there." An appreciation for couple-watching was certainly one trait of Cadence’s that rubbed off onto Shining Armor. Something about the second couple struck the princess as familiar. It then dawned on her; “Oh yeah, the diamond dog’s companion must be the pony who wrote to Dear Cady about not making a scene over their date. I’m not seeing anypony else with a runt, it looks like. Oh, and it looks like they’re having a good time so far!” "In fact, the only one I see alone is... oh dear, one of mine." “Awwww,” Cadence pouted out of pity, sympathetic to the plight of being alone at an event where so many attendees are coupled up; “She looks SO bored to tears. How about we wave her over and find her a companion before the night’s through! Don’t you agree, Shiny?”

“Nah, of course not!” Flash assured Presteza that he gown didn’t look silly, but then he added a playful smirk; “Although I’ll contend your Princess Luna costume is a strong runner-up to Best Presteza Outfit, heh.” He clearly remembered that detail from their very first encounter. As the dinner portion of the evening wrapped up, Pres’s mention of her meeting the Empress of Long Guo caught the servicepony’s notice. “How’d you manage that?” Flash asked his date; “Scuttlebutt from buddies of mine is that Long Guo's empress is surrounded by an army of bodyguards and handlers wherever she goes. Apparently they are, hmmm, how to put this diplomatically... hard to work with. And as the old saying goes; ‘One does not simply pop in on the Empress’.”

If somepony was ever in the neighborhood of Corralwood Corral and wanted to find a watering hole that wasn’t a blatant tourist trap, they wouldn’t have to look further than Feather Jon’s. In case the name wasn’t enough of a clue, it catered to a clientele of pegasi weather workers and Naval fliers based out of the Joint Weather Station perched just offshore. With an out-of-the-way yet scenic spot next to the beach, Feather Jon’s was the perfect spot for pegasi wanting a good drink and meal, or a session of volleyball after a hard day’s work. And this time of the year in particular, every pegasus around here worked their butts off like no tomorrow. Sugar Apple was one of those R&R-craving pegasi. A few years ago, she had been the Supervisor of the Royal Weather Factory’s Vaporization Department back in Cloudsdale. The sugary pegasus had done well in that job; well enough to be offered a transfer to Corralwood Joint Weather Station in the Gallopagos Islands. While Sugar loved her old job, she wasn’t able to resist the lure of increased pay, extra benefits, and an entire month’s worth of vacation time! What Sugar Apple didn’t reckon for was that from late summer through the middle of autumn, the Sparkling Sea’s tropical waters spawned storm after storm. While herding storms wasn’t the job Sugar signed on far, the sad truth was that the Gallopagos weather teams were woefully understaffed; hence the bonus salaries and the regular assistance of the Royal Equestrian Navy. But even then, every single pegasus capable of weather work was needed to blunt the constant onslaught of wicked weather during Hurricanter Season. That meant Sugar Apple was up there in the hazardous skies with all the rest of the weather team grunts, Navy hotshots, and Search & Rescue personnel. Right now was calm before the storm. For the next hour or so, Sugar Apple was free to enjoy the morning as she pleased. So she might as well spend that time sitting at the counter at Feather Jon’s, eating some island-style grub for breakfast as she listened to the Keen Logger music blaring from the jukebox. As she waited for her food, Sugar sipped on her coffee and idly gazed upon the photos and memorabilia from prior pegasi crews mounted as decorations on the walls. Sugar's eyes may have developed noticeable bags and her mane may not be all that well-groomed, but she would soon be fully prepared to take on the day's challenges.....

OP is live:

“...‘Family Discount Package for Equestria Land: The Magicalist Place on Earth’, don’t qualify... ‘The Ultimate Deal: A Romantic Roaman Wedding’, don’t qualify... ‘Crystal Empire Honeymoons: HALF-OFF!!!’..... Geeez. By Star Swirl’s beard, it’s like nopony offers you discounted vacations anymore unless you’ve got a spouse or kids.....” Stretching her legs after a long airship flight to Kastrot, naturally the first thing Moony did was telekinetically grab a whole bunch of vacation pamphlets to read as she disembarked off the flying vessel. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like travel companies felt like attracting young unmarried adults with little to no household obligations was much of a priority these days. Which was a shame, because Moony and most of her Magic Guild cohorts fell into that “young unmarried adult” category. Thankfully, Kastrot’s ruling unicorns were footing the bill for the Magic Guild’s current outing. Officially, Moony & Pals were part of a delegation led by Duchess Silver Belle, who was to represent Equestria in discussions to establish an interlibrary loan arrangement between Canerlot's School of Magic and Kastrot's legendary College of the Arcane. A chance to visit the grounds of the most mysterious magical academy known to ponykind? What self-respecting spellcaster could reject that opportunity??? Disembarking the zeppelin, a vertigo-suffering pony would be advised to look over the side of the docking ramp, for the airship was moored to one of Kastrot’s highest stone towers. Moony however wasn’t scared of heights; having left her heavy luggage under the care of her dutiful partner Pocket Change, the unicorn mare put away the offending pamphlets from earlier as she switched gears towards the latest task at hoof; “Okay then, they said a unicorn would be waiting for us in this tower with a placard with our Guild sigil on it, and that their name is Heart Stopper. Huh; kinda sounds like the name of some evil, ugly ole’ assassin, dontcha’ think?”

Grubber appeared dumbfounded as the hippogriff came up and gave Tempest Shadow a mouthful. Although a subconscious part of the hedgehog was indeed grateful for the show of solidarity, years of service in the Storm Armada had conditioned Grubber into believing that he ex-commander’s behavior was entirely normal, and was not in fact bullying. On the whole, Grubber felt immense loyalty to Commander Tempest, even if both of them were these days officially connected only by the legal paperwork enabling a minor like the hedgehog to pursue friendship studies. Hence was Grubber compelled to interject on the behalf of somepony with whom he was only dimly aware of a lack of a healthy relationship between them. “Ah, cut Tempetht thome thlack,” the runt appealed, spinning around in the hippogriff's connection; “Back when thhe wath the commander, thhe had to be the biggetht, BADDETHT grump in the fleet to keep all the troopth in line. Tempetht couldn’t make friendth either, or elthe the Thtorm King would be all like ‘Oh... No waaaaaaaay, thhe’th finding allieth to betray me; NOT cooool, dude!’ Tho then Tempetht wath able to therve the Thtorm King for tho long becauthe thhe never liked making friendth!” Grubber yabbered on animatedly, heedless of the fact that Tempest could probably overhear him. “But if there’th one thing I know about Commander Tempetht, thhe NEVER failth a mithsion. I betcha if thhe put her mind to it, thhe could abtholutely be the betht friend anybody can ask for!”

For those of you in the dark, Tails of Equestria is the official licensed tabletop RPG for FiM. Back around Season 6 or so, the game developers came out with a Bestiary that provided stats for nearly all the creatures seen in the show at that time. They also periodically publish creature and NPC stats on their website. However, there still remains many creatures from later seasons that require entries, and that doesn't count all the various beings inspired by show/movie concepts that never made it on screen! That's where I come in. I've only just started dabbling in tabletop, but I had the creative compulsion to homebrew ToE stats for NPCs and player races alike. Want your pony pirate crew to be attacked by a ship-eating Kraken? Now you can! Your group wants to play as Sirens? They can do that too! Sunset Shimmer, the Young 6, and Pillars of Old Equestria? All in there!!! *VERY IMPORTANT SPOILER NOTE*: A few entries rely on information gathered from officially unreleased episodes (as of the moment this thread went live). Although no significant plot details are revealed, a spoiler-free purist should consider waiting until the Finale officially airs before clicking the link below. Anywho, here's the product of a whole month's worth of messing around: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZBvONC-6DX3E3CDx0PERe0iDsoPPlWa8J8ZC0HT-BG8 Feedback is much appreciated, especially from actual ToE players!

“Princess Sparkle”? That was an odd way of calling Twilight for sure. For a bizarre reason, Princess Cadence envisioned a fishworks from Neighpon and a heavy manufacturing concern combining forces to create the most uncanny dishwashing detergent mascot to ever creepily resemble the Friendship Princess. Strange thoughts happened to everypony here and there. Anyway, Princess Cadence wasn’t the sort of pony to take no for an answer. “Oh don’t you worry,” she cryptically assured Fire Walker; “Twilight would LOVE IT if you asked her to officiate your wedding!” If there was one thing better than Cadence presiding over a wedding, it was the chance for her little sister-in-law to do so for the first time! And to clarify from earlier, Cadence isn’t going to take “no” for an answer from Twilight on this one matter. How could a ruling princess take her royal duties seriously without honoring a force as vital as Love? “By the way, have the two of you decided on a honeymoon destination, yet? Because the Crystal Empire is rapidly becoming a popular and affordable choice! We’ve got spas, historic districts, great cross-country skiing right outside the city limits, and the world-famous Crystal Heart!!!” As a demonstration of her incredible alicorn powers, Princess Cadence materialized a Crystal Empire travel brochure out of thin air geared specifically towards enticing honeymooners. Aware that she was coming off like a salespony, the mare chuckled; “Just something to think about.....”

When Tempest Shadow looked back at Sunset Shimmer, Tempest would see a face with widened eyes, a forced grin, and sweat running down her brow. To her shock, Sunset had realized that in truth, the Mirror World would actually be a place of unimaginable horror for Tempest, as everybody depended on fingers for practically everything. Welp, time to get outta this conversation subject while they still could. “Ye-yep!” Sunset awkwardly answered the question; “N-no ponies at all, in fact! You know, come to think of it, you’d, eh-heh, probably hate the place anyway. Alternate worlds ARE an acquired taste, after all. ...They’re not for everybody. I mean, besides, it’s not like most ponies can leave EVERYTHING they know behind because they’ve made almost zero friends in Equestria and disowned their fami-” Miss Shimmer stopped herself, not wanting to inadvertently drown Tempest with her own petty problems. The amber unicorn faked a chuckle; “I’m rambling, aren’t I?”