Bramble Rose

Rainbow Dash let out a faint 'eep,' her eyes wide as a very large, very intense griffon was suddenly up in her face and shaking her. She hadn't even really gotten to her first sip of the fresh cup of coffee, and now it was jostled onto the floor and pooling out in a brown puddle. She looked down to the floor, her lip wibbling and a faint noise of disbelief sounding from her ... then up to the griffon with a helpless expression ... and in a pained voice, she whimpered, "Is this some sort of cruel joke to you?!" ( sorry about breaking turn order ... but I needed to bump that into the middle. I'll wait on the rest till the other two have their turns. )

Rainbow Dash looked around at the three, all leaning in to ask the same question. "What?" she asked, confused, her brows furrowed in perplexity. "You want Twilight? And an old abandoned Griffon city? What was that about Daring Do?" She laughed. "Is this a joke? Next thing I know, you're gonna tell me you've got a treasure map to Queen Neferset's lost Crown of Storms!" She laughed some more, then took the new coffee, dropped several sugarcubes into it along with enough milk to make it less scalding, and brought it up eagerly, anticipating finally getting her morning caffiene...

Well, there could always be an infestation of some sort. For the sillier side - gigglebugs. They let out a gas that makes everypony start finding everything funny. for a more serious aspect - fear beetles. They bite ponies, but eat their fear - making a pony fearless. Ponies start doing the things they're always scared of doing - having absolutely no fear of embarassment, or danger...

Rainbow Dash instantly burst out, "No! .. I mean, yes! I mean ... " She floated in mid air, three hooves dangling as the other rubbed at the back of her head. "Kinda. Except I'm not straining myself, this is EASY stuff!" She suddenly felt all defensive, and cried out, "come ON, Fluttershy!" as she held her forehooves up, dipping forward to look her in the eyes, "I mean, I haven't flown in DAYS! I gotta let loose!"

Rainbow Dash's eyes brightened as Carrot offered to go get some snacks, and gave an eager little prance. "Ooo, yeah! See if they have some cider! Or hay fries! Or cupcakes! Oh, or-" She paused, as the announcement of opening ceremonies cut across her awareness. Her eyes widened, and she leaned over to peer up along all those ponies still in the line and not moving! She didn't know what opening ceremonies was, but there was no way she was getting in, in time! "Or forget the food!" She grabbed Carrot by the shoulders, and said, "Did you hear that?! The *ceremonies* are about to begin! You know what happens in Daring Do novels when ceremonies begin! That's a guarantee that something will interrupt the ceremonies and make a whole bunch of action!" She kept getting closer and closer to Carrot's face, and she was barely an inch from him now. "And we're stuck in line and they're starting soon and I'm going to MISS IT!" She paused, panting desperately, her eyes wild, and then declared, "Comon, Carrot. We're going to plan D. For Daring!" She grabbed him and pulled him out of the line, half-dragging him in her haste to get around the building and look for a back door! ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== Silver Flash bristled just a little bit at the implication that Cloudsdale didn't accept ponies ... Cloudsdale accepted ponies and gryphons and anything just fine, so long as those ponies and gryphons and anythings could stand up for themselves! But she'd been a part of the more controlled and polite crowd down here for a while, and had learned a modicum of self control. "Well," she murmured softly, a serene smile on her face, "I think you'll find that Cloudsdale is extremely accepting of -" She paused at the loud announcement, then her eyes widened. "Oh, ponyfeathers," she muttered, "I'm late!" She smiled wanly and shook both Radiant Chord's and Princess Veil's hooves. "So sorry, responsibilties. I'm sure you understand!" She took one aborted step towards the crowd ... stepped back ... tried to go around in a different direction ... stepped back. She frowned, then shrugged and fluttered her wings, lifting above the heads of ponies and zipping over the crowd to go find the changing room! Ooohhh, she just couldn't be late for opening ceremonies! She was the main announcement!

I know the image you are talking of. Yes, it was quite good - but you are *NOT* trash compared to that. But you certainly did improve upon your Ironmane design! The cloth underneath the armor is so natural to my mind - it's needed to keep from chafing - that I never even realized it was 'ponies in socks'. But it looks magnificent! I would mention one teensy-tiny little thing, because ... that's what I do is nitpick. *^_^* The leg-guards, I love the design! Very simple, easy to keep drawing, but looking both utilitarian and decorative at the same time. My suggestion for them, though - the two hooves on the ground, the upper straps for the leg guards go around their calf... but for the one raised leg, the upper strap goes around the knee. The leg guards are at different sizes. I'd suggest 'raising' the tops of the leg guards for her planted legs, so that the top 'circle' is at the knee instead of the calf.

Sweetie Belle's relief was swiftly replaced by an appalled horror. "Rarity!" she squeaked, and took Scootaloo's advice, her little hooves churning rapidly as she exited the scene. There was a scraping noise... more scraping noise... and yet more ... slowly, the fainting couch made its way back onto the scene, creeping its way into the hall as the little foal fought intently to get the heavy furniture through the doorway, but finally she managed, leaning against the side of it and panting. "Applejack, could you," she panted, gesturing at Rarity, then at the fainting couch, then she was off again, to the kitchen this time, to raid the ice box for a bag-full of ice. She took the icepick in her mouth and stabbed it at the big block of ice. A tiny flake fell off, and a flat, unamused expression crossed over Sweetie's face. The flake floated, slowly, slowly, down from the ice flake and into the cloth Sweetie had prepared, melting instantly into a tiny wet spot. Then she reared back and delivered a powerful blow. The ice pick bent under the weight, then straightened out suddenly, firing away from Sweetie Belle like a rocket, bouncing off one, two, three metal surfaces before shattering a vase of flowers and embedding itself into the wall opposite. Sweetie let out a frustrated "nnnnnngh!' and went to get the ice pick, then went back to work trying to get Rarity some ice.

Oh! Of *course* Sweetie will show up to school with her Cutie Mark Crusader friends! *^_^* There has been a lot of schoolhouse antics on the boards already, so do you have any specific ideas of what could happen in the thread?

The princesses are quite powerful - but they do nothing outside the normal realm of pony ability. I hear people cry about them being goddesses, but I never bought that. It just doesn't make sense. All they do is represent a level of nature. They rise and lower the sun and moon - but is that more 'godlike' than controlling the weather, or making the seasons change?

And I don't see why you wouldn't want to draw plot. Plot is very important to a story! it's the driving force behind the characters! *rimshot*

Rainbow Dash laughed softly as Fluttershy jumped. "Geeze, Fluttershy! It's just me!" she laughed and slapped Fluttershy on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be just fine! What could possibly go wrong? You've got me along!" Privately, though, she worried - Rarity hadn't seemed herself, lately. She'd been acting kinda weird ever since Dash had visited her to find out what Spike should get Rarity for Hearts and Hooves day, and Dash couldn't for the life of her figure out why, so she was already feeling pretty guilty! To hear that she was missing, now ... well, Rainbow Dash had to make sure she did right by Rarity, to fix up for whatever she'd done wrong! But none of this showed on her face. She simply gave a bright grin. "yeah, that's the ticket! We'll find them in no time!" She gave an impish, challenging grin to Applejack. "I don't gotta slow down, you just gotta move faster to keep up! You'll see, this'll be the best! Search party! EVER!"

Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise as the Griffin backed down, and she was suddenly fawned over by ponies with patting napkins. She was quite taken aback, blinking in surprise. "Oh, uh, yeah, um, no problem, then. Yeah, I'm Rainbow Dash," she said, her eyes flickign back and forth between the three of them ... then she quickly wipe-wipe-wiped at her face with her hooves, getting rid of the last of the coffee and sugar, leaving her with her normal colors. She grinned as she looked up, her chest puffed out a bit, at Cutlas' obvioand she grinned at Cutlass. "You hearda me already, huh?" she asked, grinning broadly as Cutlass was obviously so eager to see her. "Course you have, I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest Pegasus alive! Only Pegasus ever to perform a Sonic Rainboom! No adventure too grand for me!" She nodded to Muffin. "And yeah, that was me, just trying to get things organized!"

Sweetie Belle waved to Guiding Light as he left. "good bye, and thank you for inviting me to the party!" She pranced eagerly in place, reminded of the good fortune. She'd never been to a *real* fancy party before! Not one that someone else had planned! She didn't think Diamond Tiara's cuteameara counted ... She turned back to Dusk and smiled brightly. "There is a pot of tea and some cups right here, if you would like a cup." She nodded politely to him, and then turned to Starburst. "And I'll get your juice for you, right away!" she turned and started to run across the room, but then remembered Prince Blueblood's guidance and slowed down to a walk, keeping her head high as her little hooves pranced delicately across the room.

Purple Haze's eyes widened at AJ's simple declaration ... throughts raced through her little head, her eyes shining brightly. All the rest of the conversations and goings-on disappeared for her, the little filly practically quivering with excitement. She quite suddenly suddenly disappeared from the side of the table with a 'ka-pwing!', reappearing right in front of Apple Bloom. "ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh! You can make a *LOVE POTION*?!" Her exceptionally wide grin spread from ear to ear, and her imagination swiftly ran away with what kinds of wonderful things she could do for her big brae if she could help him with one of those! "Can you teach me?!"

Rainbow Dash scrambled backwards as the wing swept across her table, smacking the mug out of her hooves and splattering several drops of stinging, hot coffee over her, scrambling backwards and accidentally kicking the table, popping the sugarbowl up into the air to land on the top of her head in a white cloud. Well, that woke her up! And got her back up, too! She wiped a hoof over her face, smearing the coffee, then popped up out of her chair. She totally ignored Muffin to get up in Neame's face. "What's *your* problem?" she cried angrily, her wings flapping slowly to hover her in the air right before the griffin, glaring right into her eyes. The smeared coffee had stained her face tan, the sugar had greyed out her rainbow mane, and a fierce light was in her eyes. "You got somethin' against me enjoyin' my coffee?"

Drawing huge is a really old comic artist's trick. Good call. And yeah, headcanon can often be best canon. Especially when stuff like this comes out of it!

Oh, good, for a moment i thought it was Bramble at 2:15! XD Love that show, too... *pauses ... glances over ath DVD shelf... * Hrmmm... I was somewhere on season 2 when my last marathon left off... and hey, good inspirations to work with. Since this thread has started, I've been curious if Jack Kirby isn't where you got your handle from ... XD Except if it was, Bramble'd probably have kirby dots floating around his horn right there! XD Anyway! Wow. I've never pictured Bramble looking that tough! I actually think the rear legs look good for that perspective... wide to help brace himself. Agreed, I don't think that's how Bramble looks *just now*, especialy since Bramble's cloak turned back into the leaf-maille armor, but I can picture Bramble getting to that point, easily. Especially if he's growling out, "WHere is... my MOM." I find it slightly difficult to find critiques of this piece, it's *extremely* good. Excellent use of expression, and the messed-up hair combined with all the battle damage makes him definitely feel like he's been through the wringer. If I had to nitpick, I'd say the ears are a little bit big, but it's not immediately noticable. And while you have the rose-clasp i *love* so much, and the collar is very good - the cape part of the garment has disappeared, and I think this picture could have even more going for it if you had the cloak floating up over his back dramatically.

Doctor Whooves smiled warmly to Malediction. "I know you'll protect him. Your cutie mark shows how your love burns so brightly to fuel your spirit. You'll always come through, so long as you keep let your heart fuel your power, but keep your cool." He suspected she didn't think of her cutie mark that way, from the bitter way she'd talked about herself before, but that's what he saw, looking at it. "Now, you're already powered back up ... and you've rejuvinated yourself off of the power running through the ley lines beneath our hooves. I need you to open yourself up to those energies more directly..." He'd read about this process so many times, in so many different ways ... but of course, as an earth pony, he'd never experienced it. "from what I understand, it should feel like ..." Which one should he use? Well, couldn't go wrong with his favorite. "Like a banana. Except not curved. And without the peel. And ... you know what? Forget the banana. Let's go with ... it's like ... a cool warmth. It shivers through you and gives you the chills, but at the same time it warms you up, like a campfire in the wintertime. Warm yourself at that fire... feel the chill of the winter against your back... and ... oh yes, this might hurt a little bit, the first time ..."

Sweetie Belle sniffled lightly and hugged into Starburst. "Thank you," she said softly to her, and to Dusk. "I'm glad your pictures are all right, miss! I'm sure they'll make lovely outfits once my big sister - I mean, the Fabulista Rarity is done with them!" She straightened up, and then realized she couldn't remember what order she had been doing everything in, the panic having chased it all out of her mind. "Um, are you both sure that neither of you want anything to eat or drink while you wait?"

Rainbow Dash grinned eagerly at Carrot's ideas. "Oh, yeah, they sound awesome! Makes me wanna go out exploring, myself, and - " Then the last thing he said clicked into place. "You had a crush ... on *Daring Do*?" she snickered, her mouth quirking. She tried to control it for half a second, but the laughter pealed out. "Buaaaa-hahahaaaa!" she cried, pointing at Carrot, turning over in mid-air as she was laughing, then dropping to the ground with a thud. "Were ye gonna marry a *book*?" she snorted out, then started laughing some more. "Buaaaa-hahaha-haaaaa! What is that, like, dating for eggheads?" She rolled on the ground a little, then got back up to her hooves, throwing her forearm over Carrot's shoulders and jabbing her other forehoof into his chest. "I like you, Carrot! You're all right!" *giggles impishly* "Woooo..." She leaned to the side, looking towards the ticket booth, her hoof still round Carrot's shoulders. "Is this line even moving at *all*?" ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== Silver Flash's eyes brightened. "Oh, I know what you mean about techno! Something to get your groove on, get your hooves tapping!" She started giving her rump a wriggle and bouncing up and down and left and right, her face scrunching up a little as she let out a little "Oontz-a oontz-a oontz-a oontz-a!" She grinned. "Love dancing to it. Some of it gets a bit repititve, but the good artists know how to mix it up! Tell you what, though - classical is pretty awesome - they used *cannons* as *instruments* for some of those! And my favorite Techno is the stuff that *uses* classical in the techno! Like the Techno version of Bethoofan's Fur Elise!" She shrugged to Princess Veil. "The better plays, sure. I just keep finding myself in plays that don't have *any* action in them!" She rolled her eyes disbelievingly. "Man, sometimes I wanna just try to get back up to Cloudsdale, try again to get into the theatre scene there. I wouldn't mind the romance plays so much up in Cloudsdale. A good romance play needs a *fight* in it! Preferably several, or a whole war! I mean, they have some plays like that down here, but they tend to label those as 'action plays.' They should see what an action play looks like in Cloudsdale!" She laughed a bit. "But then, everything's so *stuffy* down here on the ground. Some ponies got the right idea... but usually, the parties are all humdrum, the sports are so two-dimensional, the cities never change their layout, the business deals are boring... Business! Boring! Can you imagine? Where's the competition? Where's the trash-talking?" She laughed and shook her head. "well, takes all kinds, amiright?" She grinned to Princess Veil and gave her a companionable punch to the shoulder.

I keep saying this.. but Curtain is *so dashing*! And there's nothing to not-like about that image.