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

Oh yes, welcome to Camp, Sir Ping!

As with the two posts and the post order, I understand that sometimes people can't (or don't) post in their slot. The idea was that if people miss their post slot, they can still post (up to two times a week) out of order. But of course, it would be ideal if everyone could post in the posting order. Is that more clear?

Stahp

Ergh... 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!

Sir ping!

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'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.

Sounds good Sauce! Shame we don't get your drawing prowess...

But sign me up - no preference!

If you wanna host iiiiiiiiiiiit~

How interesting.

The Lyra Plushie was enough to get Bon Bon back!

Could someone explain the mistake that Bon Bon is making in the TF2 game? I've never played.

Weesh, in Team Fortress 2, there are many different classes, two of which are Spies - who can disguise and turn invisible to quite literally backstab opponents and accomplish tasks, and Pyros - who use powerful flamethrowers to leave lasting damage on opponents. Fire is one of the best options on how to catch an invisible or disguised Spy, because it makes them burn - it flushes out invisibility and ruins disguises. As such, Pyros are often tasked with "spychecking", or puffing flames in areas a Spy is reported to be, attempting to snuff them out. Some experienced players know common spots very well, and are surprisingly proficient at it. However, newbies tend to think that it is an easy task that will earn them plenty of kills and team gratification, when they often run around, in the crossfire, spraying flames everywhere but where the Spies would be. As such, people are complaining that Bon Bon is not doing what she was supposed to be doing, as the Spy has stolen "the [intel] briefcase" - this game's version of "the flag".

Yes, I do suppose I'm a master of anticipation - and androgyny...

Whaddya mean I have to donate to put that in my label!? It's just a fact!

Note: all images do not have tags, owing to some of them being too large to fit in one post.

I, ping111, started the game out with a rather strange remark:

[colour=#282828][colour=#000000]"[/colour]A refreshing pony declares a secret out loud…"[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Our first picture comes from BrainedBySaucepans, who gives us this hilarious interpretation![/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://fc06.devianta...ans-d5u8ogg.png[/colour]

I call dibs on apping this pony!

[colour=#282828]Phil the Time Wizard, as usual, took the spirit of Broken Telephone to heart, and gave us this statement:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"Bon Bon is astonished by the other pony's shameful, egregious pronouncement."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]crp_dude, after a slight complication, sent me his image:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]https://dl.dropbox.c...ings/TP/TP8.jpg Oh my, such language![/colour]

[colour=#282828]Up to bat was MyLittlePonyTales, giving us her spin:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"A curly maned male pony with a tree stump Cutie Mark says some foul language to an appalled Bon Bon."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Surprisingly soon after, StarStorm sent in her drawing (scamp).[/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://postimage.org/image/90fejnc31/[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Weesh (the Impatient) tells us how it is in his words:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"Cute Lyra plushie causes crying and controversy in a creative contest."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]I'd cry for a Lyra plushie![/colour]

[colour=#282828]TP's founding father Diego Havoc took great joy when making this drawing, seeing as he didn't know its origin:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://i70.photobuck.../TP8picture.jpg[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Linkhopper makes life a lot easier for the next contestant:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"Plushie Lyra makes a pony cry."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]And that next contestant would be Fawkes, who drew us up:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]https://dl.dropbox.c...4/Telly Pic.jpg[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Sparkleheart's turn came and went without issue, and ended up with:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"Bon Bon is not very good at recognizing spies."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Imagination kept to his namesake, and drew this hilariously goofy picture:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://tinypic.com/v...?pic=alopkw&s=6[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Looks like my TF2 chatbox when I play Medic...[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Because of a minor issue, we had to loop back around to Browneh, and after a tad more drama at the end, I finally eked out:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"Bon Bon has good intentions, but otherwise fails."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]We finally got back on track with AshCloud, with his simple but effective sketch:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://i.imgur.com/Zre27M8.png?1[/colour]

[colour=#282828]LordGecy decided that Bon Bon's innocent attitude is really a mask to something deeper, as is seen in this:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"An overly excited Bon Bon is warning the world of the HORRENDOUSLY LIFE-CHANGING news she has recently discovered."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Riv- err, Hipp- no, Riverjack- guh! - Riverhippo shows us the true meaning of second place's glory, as seen here with Bon Bon's second-only-to-every-astronaut-ever experiences in space travel. Her life, however, will last much shorter than her time here in TP8 - did you know she only didn't appear in one drawing?[/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://img835.images.../3175/pict8.png[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Looks like she's having a good time - I just wish she had a suit on…[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Davroth, who has been so anxiously awaiting this moment, gives us Canterlot's finest to finish off the Telephone part:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]"An upset Bon Bon returns from her banishment."[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Thankfully, Dav also gave me a hoof by getting Angie Cakes's attention, and finishing off her journey from sandcastles to space, and even the bedroom, with a portrayal of all of us right now, minus the text:[/colour]

[colour=#282828]http://i1237.photobu...aricdick001.jpg[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Uh-oh. What'd she do this time…?[/colour]

[colour=#282828]Well, that's all she wrote, folks! Thanks so much for playing, and hopefully we'll have another host for a speedy next round![/colour]

Oh, Sparkleheart and your passive-aggressivity...

Actually, yes, today was a long school day, because I've been studying for tests up until basically right now. I'm going to finish it tonight, I promise.

Err, did Browneh ever go?

Sorry guys, the final post will have to come later today - something came up, and now I have to go to school for the day.

Holy kreplach! I guess we really are done! Well, I'll have the final post up in a jiffy!

After an embarrassing fifteen minutes of screaming [colour=purple]"Hello!?"[/colour] at an empty hut, the sea serpent finally had the stroke of realization that not only could he get up and peer inside, but nopony was home in the first place. And that's not even to mention that Zecora's place wasn't the right place at all! To avoid such incidents in the future, Mr. Magnet promised himself he'd learn to read. At the very least, he was here now.

Despite having his eyes centrally trained on the one familiar zebra in the quickly-growing and ever-conversing travel party, Steven Magnet could practically feel the odd stares he was constantly receiving from the strangers. Sure, they had never met him before, let alone a legged sea-serpent, let alone a sea serpent...

But surely these ponies read the news! "Der Assistent" was rapidly approaching, and the top nine (Steven inclusive) had appeared for enough photoshoots together for him to figure that at least one had hit the Ponyvillian presses. Did these ponies know nothing of fashion? Fashion... Fashion...

Oh no! What if these ponies really did know about fashion, but local taste had put lavender hues out of style? Ooh, these ponies were gonna get it! Don't they know that a pony, and a sea serpent no less, couldn't change the colour of their scales? He needed a classy, yet assertive retort. Something that got his point across with a fashioniste's sass. Ah yes...

*snap* *snap*

*snap* *snap*

[colour=purple]"IS IT 'CUZ I'M PURPLE!?"[/colour]

Err... No, Steven. No. That was not assertive. That was just an overreaction to a non-existent insult, multiplied within itself with your overdramatic body language. Well done, Mr. Magnet. Well done at making everypony stare at you even more.

Blushing as much as a reptilian can, Steven curled himself into a bit of a coil (though keeping his moustache out of his tangly tail) and whispered to Zecora...

[colour=purple]Oops...[/colour]

No, don't worry about you. You'll get your picture from Imagination.

Hush, my child.

Anyways, yeah, we can just move on.

Imagination's up next!

Angie is notoriously poor at checking her email. If I see her on Skype I'll tell her to check it.

Erm, I sent it to her on Skype.

Status?

I sent Angie her line a few days back, but I'll try emailing her if she doesn't respond.