ping111

Steven Magnet could hardly contain his excitement now! He was finally in the water again, and he had a good feeling he wouldn't not be swishing his tail in the abyss of freedom for a good little while. By the way, his temporary legs dissolved as soon as he touched the water again, and it felt totally natural to have them off. The boat that the landlubbers were using looked fairly sturdy, as well as downright pretty, and Steven suddenly wished he had a camera to snap a photo of Zecora's mane blowing in the wind. Of course, that issue didn't apply to Steven, who uses unimaginable amounts of hair gel. The sea serpent wondered if there was something interesting on the other side of the view-blocking boat, so he attempted to slink around it, only for a moment, to check. Out of the corner of his eye, though, Steven noticed a stripey arc of motion. "Swim close my friend do not stray! In my sight I wish you to stay!" Oh, alright. He could see it later. [colour=purple]"Oops! Sorry, Zecora, darling!"[/colour] “It will be so fun you will see!" Oh, yes it will be... "A journey with all of you and me!" Can't wait! It'll be sensational! "How many of you can understand the native Tongue of Unyasi? By the time we get there it might be quite handy!” ...Oh. [colour=purple]"Don't worry, Zecora!"[/colour] The reptilian hollered, while rather painfully craning his neck to search for the target of his remark, [colour=purple]"Equestrian's actually my second language, and nopony can even notice an accent! I'm a fast learner, so maybe you could teach me?"[/colour]

Okay, so in that case just go to the Store on your PC and pick out a game that you like that just happens to be $20 or less. A game I highly recommend is Kerbal Space Program. I'm not one to preach, but essentially it's a sandbox game in which you built rockets or planes and then get to fly them.

If you can't find any games under $20, I'm sorry, but the capitalist machine has gotten to you. I've bought indie games for $2.50, and I couldn't put them down. First, what OS are you using? PC opens the market up all the way, Mac is getting there, and Linux is just getting started. Second, what kind of games do you like? Puzzles, FPS, Strategy? Docile/Sterile or violent? Games with a gratifying ending, or an infinitely-replayable story? If we know your interests, we can find a game much easier. A game with which you can never go wrong is Civilization 5/V. It's a strategy game where you build famous civilizations from the ground up, and all the war and peace gives it infinite replayability. Cheers! ~ping111

[colour=#008000]"Wait! I'm here! [/colour][colour=#008000]Uh...hello? Did I miss anything?"[/colour] Maple noticed a nervous-looking, younger pony dashing towards the crowd. Obviously late, as she was before, but he seemed to have caught up quickly. However, nopony seemed to be starting conversations with her, so the mare turned to the mare next to her, who had addressed herself as Hopesong, and opened a very basic conversation... [colour=red]"Hello...!"[/colour]

As Maple had been lagging behind ever since she talked to The Director, she was one of the later few to step forward on the stage. She was a lot less nervous than she'd been expected, and she could practically feel her massive smile tugging at her ears. All those smiling colts and fillies... It was gonna be a great weak! [colour=red]"Hi there everypony! My name's Maple Blossom, but just call me Maple! I live right around this neighbourhood, just south of here in the Whitetail Woods, and I'm going to be your canoeing instructor! Somegryphon else took the survival counsellor spot-"[/colour] She theatrically faked a grudged grumble, eliciting a small giggle from the crowd. [colour=red]"Heh, heh, but I still know a good bit about how to get around these woods, so if you ever need anything on a canoe trip, don't hesa- hezze- err, hesitate (sorry) to ask me to give you a hoof!"[/colour]

[colour=red]"Umm, hello? Mr. Director, sir?"[/colour] Maple half-whispered in the, well, director's ear. The camp director had done a full census of all of the counselors, except for the mare. She had given the camp head the benefit of the doubt, despite the distinctly bitter, heart-squeezing feeling being treated like a pane of glass gave her. Perhaps she had been late... again? But, alas, all that was behind her. [colour=red]"I'm Maple, the canoeing instructor. I just noticed that you didn't seem to count me in your rolecall, but that's okay... Anyways, I'm here, and... yeah."[/colour] When Maple first heard that there was a summer camp opening up right in her figurative backyard, and they were hiring counsellor positions, she signed up for canoeing instructor faster than she can down a sticky shot of syrup. Unfortunately, survival was already taken, which would have been an apt time for her to tell her Cutie Mark's story, but even so, she did love to canoe. And foals! She loved to be around all kinds of colts and filles. And getting paid for it all? Now, that's just a bonus! In her head as she trotted alongside the rest of the staff, the tree-bucker made a checklist of things she may have forgotten at home. Truth be told, it wouldn't be a big deal, as it took her all of half an hour to get here from her cabin, but Maple had never been to camp before, so she wanted to have the true camper's experience and make sure everything was in order, so that she wouldn't have to visit home prematurely. Halfway through she stopped, panic-stricken, and patted her body invasively searching for her sweatbands - until she realized that they were on her hooves the entire time. She giggled to herself satirically and sped up a little to catch up to the group, but not too far as to not hear the director's response to her introduction. It's hard to describe in words just how excited this auburn-vested pony was to canoe again. It'd been ages since she'd last even touched a paddle, but certainly all her past experience with the vessel would treat her nicely. In fact, she once canoed all the way down the river that cuts through the Whitetail (and through Little Lake, ironically) with a burlap sackful of maple syrup bottles for a distant customer. She didn't really need to do it, but it was great exercise and reminded her of the pioneer earth ponies' way. As a plus, she had heard that counsellors didn't need to help portage -- added bonus! Well, if she were to be eating, bunking, and living with these counsellors for however long camp lasted, she might as well make some friends that would hopefully last her a long while to come. Maybe she'd even recognize an old customer or two! To start off, she picked a targ- err, companion who didn't seem to be talking to anypony at the given moment; butting in would be just plain rude. She spotted a conversation just breaking up between a graceful-looking mare and a smaller, obviously more timid one. Opting for the latter, she gently advanced, lightly tapped her on the shoulder (as not to startle the living daylights out of her), and started off with a simple, expository statement: [colour=red]"Hi there! My name's Maple, and I'm the canoeing instructor! How're you doing?"[/colour]

I've noticed this far too late, but in the OP, it would probably be "Les rules", because rules is plural. What? I like dead threads to look their best before they're buried six feet into the archives!

"Us humans are in a car hurtling a hundred miles an hour towards a brick wall, and we're arguing over where we're going to sit." David Suzuki, on pollution "We will send a man to the moon and we will bring him back safely in this decade and we will do the other things; not because it is easy, but because they are hard." JFK, on the moon landings

StahpErgh... Anyways, Frost, since I'm late, should Maple barge in like she does all the time, or was she really there the entire time ooooooooooo?

Heh-heh. I'll be playing Maple, as a canoeing instructor.

Ooh, if this is still open, d'you think you could do something for me? I'll PM you the reference if you say yes, because I want the drawing to be a seeeecreeeeet. Thanks!

Where are you getting these false ideas!?

Ooh, this looks like a LOT of fun! Can Maple apply for canoeing instructor? And, if I may be so bold, can a pony apply for one than one position?

I've done 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 13. Not bad, no?

I'm pretty sure it was Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the GameCube, which I got for my fifth birthday. Thing is, it came with a whole bunch of other, older Sonic games (like dat Sonic Pinball, umf that was a gud gam), so I may or may not have played one of them first.

A certain flush-scaled sea serpent was awoken from his all-too-short torpor of misery and moustache-contact-free balling-up by a rhythmic, soothing pat on the head. For the shortest moment, it reminded Steven of his beloved old mother, who would've done just the same thing, albeit her claws would always ruin his mane. Zecora's well-polished hoof was much more cradling to the scalp, and the coiffure, and her calming words slowly allowed Mr. Magnet to muster up enough non-dry-crying-ness to finally lift his head up slowly, mustering himself for all of the flak that would surely befall him when his frilled ears had proven open to the others. (He's a reptilian, mind you - he has total control over most of his muscles.) "[colour=#339933]Your shade of purple is quite becoming of you. I'm apologize for staring, but not only are you the first sea serpent I've ever seen, but I was shocked to see you have legs. All the books I've seen of sea serpents they are legless...[/colour]" "[colour=#339933]Anyway, I'm Trekker. It's a pleasure to meet you.[/colour]" Steven couldn't believe it! The first words to him after the incident was actually a compliment! He could hardly contain his glee at ponies' forgiveness! The sea serpent proudly presented his name, and with closed eyes, held his claw out for the shaking, but after three seconds or so with no success, he slowly opened one, only to watch everypony walking away from him, led by the zebra. Wait a second... "Alright It is good to see you are all getting along! However We should get going for too long! Pack your bags and say your good byes! For we must sale under the bright blue skies! It is a short walk to where we must go, The sooner we get there the better dont'cha know" Uh oh! It was time to go! His new legs carried him surprisingly quickly as he caught up to Trekker and the group. [colour=purple]"Well, you're right - sea serpents don't have legs. But Zecora here brewed me up a potion so I could meet up, before they'd disappear when I got back in the water so I could swim alongside the boat!"[/colour] A wub-wub-woo face. Because why not? Because, Mr. Magnet. Because wub-wub-woos are not useful for this situation. Quickly slamming his arms back down, Steven continued to walk behind the group, his heart swelling up with excitement for the fun surely ahead with this adventure.