Bramble Rose

Rainbow Dash blinked and paused in her rendition of Daring Do, trying to figure out just what to do next. [colour=#808080]"So, um ..."[/colour] she said, breaking character, [colour=#808080]"Do we fight, then?"[/colour] She glanced around. [colour=#808080] "I don't think we're supposed to fight ..."[/colour] But as the camera flashes started going off, she grinned largely. She knew how to respond... by posing! She struck a series of awesome poses for the camera, as well - and then reached out to gather in the other four mares so they could get a group shot! Camera flashes from several places kept going off, and she just kept grinning bigger and bigger. She'd almost never had this much attention! This was awesome! But even that had to come to an end. [colour=#808080] "heh-heh. That was great! Lots of fun!"[/colour] she said to her fellow Daring Dos, and Princess Veil. [colour=#808080] "your costumes are great! But my friend wandered off and I gotta find him! I'll see you later, maybe!" [/colour] Then she lifted up into the air and zipped off over the heads of the crowd. Where could Carrot have disappeared to? Maybe the food court? She followed her nose to peek in there, but nope, no wild mess of mane there. She couldn't miss THAT mane! OK, if not food... dealer's room! She zipped off in the other direction, eyes flicking around. Nope, nope, nope, fake wig, nope ... Ah! There he was! She zipped across and landed lightly beside him, as he was lifting up his camera. [colour=#808080] "Hey, Carrot! What the hay? You tryin' to DITCH me?!"[/colour]​ Silver Flash, meanwhile, was suddenly reminded of the press of time. While she'd been happy to pose for a few pictures, she really REALLY had to get to her panel, now. [colour=#808080]"Yeah, I have to get out of here, too -"[/colour] she said,[colour=#808080] "Or I'll be disappointing a whole lot of fans!"[/colour] She hoofbumped Pathfinder, gave a graceful bow to Princess Veil there ... and was awfully tempted to say good-bye to Pathfinder with a rather impish kiss, just for the fans and their cameras ... but she had to be professional! She wasn't here as a fan, she was here representing blahblahblah ... ah well. [colour=#808080] "I hope to see you at some of the panels!"[/colour] she said cheerfully, and then headed off on her own, towards the meeting rooms.​

[colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Dash blinked in surprise, turning to look at the suddenly calmed cluster of squaking chickens. She grimaced, and blushed, and then puffed out her chest and lifted her chin. [colour=#0000cd]"I was just trying to wear them out!"[/colour] she blustered. [colour=#0000cd]"I woulda been fine!" [/colour] Her hoof dug little holes in the ground, as she paused with an awkward silence. Darn it! She's supposed to be awesome! She couldn't believe she had to be saved from chickens! How embarassing. Then she took a deep breath, brushed the egg off her flank, and cried out,[colour=#0000cd] "Right! Eggs! Let's get some!" [/colour] She scooped up the basket and hurried into the coop, emerging shortly with a basket full of every egg she could find. She only broke a few of them, too! She pranced back into the kitchen, the basket in her teeth, and set it on the counter. [colour=#0000cd]"Here you go!"[/colour] she cried a little overloud. [colour=#0000cd]"And this is Carrot! Met him at ... well, here in Ponyville, but then I saw him again at Daringcon! He just helped me get some eggs. He's nice! Oh, right, I already introduced him. So what do i need to do next?"[/colour]​

Dash was relieved that Soarin' got it - though she would bet he was being modest. They were all Wonderbolts! She bet that Soarin' could fly a whole show right now and still be awesome! But he wanted to talk about her favorite topic ... herself! And how awesome she was! [colour=#0000cd]"Oh, well, it was pretty awesome! I didn't really LEARN it ... it just kinda came naturally, before I even had my cutie mark! My friend was being teased by some real jerks, you know the type, and I challenged them to a race! Though they were bigger and older than me. I was keepin' my own, though, and then one of them started racing dirty! Bumped me to the side, tried to foul my wings!"[/colour] While telling the story, Dash made gestures with her hooves, as if each one was a racer turning corners round clouds. [colour=#0000cd]"Fwoooosh!"[/colour] One hoof went soaring past the other, while the other floundered. [colour=#0000cd]"Well, I knew my destiny wasn't to be an almost-winner! I poured on the speed, to try to catch up ... it was so hard! But I couldn't let it stop me! I just kept pushing, and pushing, cause I knew how important it was, and then suddenly... *BAM!* It was all so easy! Like no more than gliding along! And the Rainboom was spreading out behind me! It ... was ... AWESOME!"[/colour] She gave him a great big grin. [colour=#0000cd]"But, um ..." [/colour] She tried to be polite, then. After all. Soarin'! He was cool, too. [colour=#0000cd]"So, um ... anyway, that's how I got my cutie mark. What about you?"[/colour]​

While Drifting Veil was going over her sheet, Silver Flash quickly huddled over her books, scanning through a few last things... "Great, thanks!" she said cheerfully. [colour=#0000cd]"Just one last change before we begin! I'm moving a point of Streetwise to Craft, and then I'm using a Quirk from the 'Story behind the Story' splatbook called 'Socially Awkward' for a -2 to all Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Perception checks related to social interaction, since Snicker Snack is going to be rather geeky. With the extra feat I get from that, I'm buying up the feat 'Master Craftsman' to represent the training her parents gave her!"[/colour] She gave a wry grin. [colour=#0000cd]"I'll forgo giving up my ability to wink in order to get an extra weapon proficiency, though."[/colour] She nodded to herself, satisfied, as she made the quick updates to her sheet, listening to Drifting Veil set the scene. Ha! The group meets in Crossroads, in a taproom. Classic! [colour=#0000cd]"All right! Snicker Snack is staying at the inn, rather a bit worried. She's been in Crossroads looking for work for the past week, and tonight represents her very last bit - she's not looking forward to have to beg, borrow, or steal in order to eat breakfast tomorrow. So this note comes as a great relief to her! A job! She steps downstairs to go to the table where the cloaked unicorn is sitting."[/colour] Silver Flash lifted a hoof up to ruffle through her mane, making it into a terrible mess, and worked her mouth a moment, flexing and shifting it, working her tongue around. When she spoke, her voice was a little lower, just the slightest bit nasal. [colour=#0000cd]"So you're looking for a fixther?"[/colour]​ [colour=#ffffff]Snicker Snack stepped into the dark taproom, lit only by flickering lanterns spread too-far-apart. It was late - the farmers had either long since gone to bed to prepare to rise with the light of the morning sun, or had slid under the table to do the same. The only ones up at this time of night were troublemakers, or those who hunt for troublemakers. She felt very, very adventurous being up so late - she was still a very young mare, and being up late was still a novelty for her, her parents having been rather strict about such things. The cloaked unicorn stood out in the nearly empty taproom, and Snicker Snack adjusted her saddlebags, twitched her brand-new war-wrench underneath one of them into a more comfortable position, and trotted across the room with a spring to her step to settle down across the table from the stranger. Her dark brown coat sunk into the darkness, but her brassy mane seemed to leap out in the lamplight.[/colour] [colour=#ffa500]"So you're looking for a fixther?" [/colour][colour=#ffffff]she asked cheerfully. [/colour][colour=#ffa500]"I can fixth jutht about anything! You picked the right mare!"[/colour]​

Dash blinked as one of the Daring Dos suddenly turned and left, confused at this. She'd thought they were doing a thing here. Was it over already? She glanced over at Carrot to share a confused glance, but ... hey, wait, where'd Carrot go? She turned her head left and right, briefly, distracted. Had he bailed on her? Didn't he want to hang out? Pathfinder's shout got her attention, and she turned just in time to see something flying at her. She scrambled back, and the spear *fwumped* into the ground, sticking in place right between her spread legs. Dash clutched her hooves to her chest, her heart racing a mile a minute, and was on the verge of exploding with a furious diatribe about reckless behaviour when she realized it was a squishy sort of a spear - just a toy. Ahhhh. Game on!​ Silver Flash had done plenty of improv work, but the level of distraction going on here was certainly making this a challenging one. She wondered if it was a good idea to have gone along with this, but it seemed like harmless fun. Till stuff started flying around. Now that, she was sure, was against the con regs - fun was fun, unless you started to actually initiate contact with even fake weapons. She hurried forward and grabbed the spear in her teeth, grabbing it right before Dash had recovered enough to do so, and pulled it back, tucking it under her wing. [colour=#808080]"Hey, um ... me! What are you *thinking*! Aren't you aware of what the Spear of the Ancients, combined with the Soul Diamond, would result in? All she'd need would be Aurora's Tiara and she'd be unstoppable! We have to keep this away from her at all costs!"[/colour]​ Dash grumped a bit. The other Daring Do had ruined her chance to get in some AWESOME fighting action! [colour=#808080]"Well, we'll just have to not let her get it, then! We're not divided on that, after all!" [/colour]She turned back to Princess Veil and snorted. [colour=#808080]"What do *you* know about our ... my ... heart, anyway? Your illusions won't fool me!"[/colour]​

[colour=#0000CD]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Dash had never done much in the way of farmwork, or taking care of animals. It was all generally much too slow and boring for her - but it seemed easy enough. And she bet she could do it faster than anypony! She made her way into the coop, tucking her wings in tight and ducking her head to get in through the door, the basket clutched tight in her teeth. The fat, sleepy hens sat in their nests, making little clucking noises. Dash went up to the first, tilted her head, stared at the first hen, then reached under her to pull out an egg. She lifted it up, looked at it with a grin, and tucked it away into the basket. [colour=#0000cd] "Ha! That's easy!"[/colour] she cheerfully exclaimed. The hen narrowed her eyes as she glared at the sky-blue pony. "Buck-ok" she said solemnly. The other hens in the coop looked up. "Buck-ok," they responded. Dash fled from the coop, letting out a wail as the hens all followed after in a cloud of beaks and talons.​ [colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie looked left and right, so very, very confused. Why were her friends falling asleep? Why were they acting so funny? Why was this unicorn crooning at them like that? What was going on?! She looked down to her friends again, then up to Miss Cheerilee, who seemed just fine that this all was happening, then over ta Ingrid again. Why was she waving that watch with the funny swirly pattern on it? All swirly ... and twirly ... and spinny ... and waving ... and ... and .... She gave a goofy smile, took one wobbly step, then fell down onto the floor with a *FWUMP*, letting out a trilling, whistling little snore.​ [colour=#ff8c00]Purple Haze[/colour] Purple didn't understand how something like that could happen. All the foals all tipsy? All the animals going crazy? Well, it was all right. They'd take care of it. [colour=#ff8c00]"Well, then, gae off an' help 'em, big brae. Oi'll guard th' cake!" [/colour] She gave a big grin. [colour=#ff8c00]"Ye gae off an' impress those fillies ye're oglin'! Dinnae worry bout me!"[/colour]​

Sweetie Belle groaned a little bit, the world still spinning around her ... or at least, some big rear end that was spinning on top of her. She felt crushed at the bottom of this pile, and wriggled to try to get free, and her muzzle nuzzled up into Apple Bloom's with a little *smek*. Then Apple Bumpkin was pulling them out of the pile, and brushing them off, though Sweetie Belle still staggered around dizzily... her little hooves stagger-stepping over the floor as she turned around in a full circle and then fell onto her tail. Yes, sitting here till the juicing shack came to a full and complete stop would be a wonderful idea. [colour=#800080]"What happened?"[/colour] she asked wanly.​

Sweetie Belle wasn't as restrained as Rarity - she knew that the only way to get in a word edgewise around their parents was just to keep talking, and hope that something made its way through. Discussions at home tended to be a giant flood of words as three ponies all talked at the same time, somehow managing, through the magic of family, to understand what the other two were saying without getting distracted from their own monologue. And so she burbled happily to see her parents back from their vacation, her cheerful voice weaving in and out of her parents' nonstop back-and-forth. [colour=#800080]"Ohmigosh I love the paper, it's so colourful!"[/colour] she cried out, taking the green-and-yellow package and settling it down on the floor. [colour=#800080]"Ooo, it's so shiny, too! Look at how shiny the paper is!" [/colour] She leaned left, then right, to see the way the light shimmered differently off of the wrapping paper depending upon what angle you looked at it. [colour=#800080]"Oh, I wonder if I could use it to make a collage for school?"[/colour] She very delicately and carefully started working to undo the wrapping paper with as little rippage as possible, wanting to be ever-so-careful so that she could fold it up nice and neat and tuck it away in the arts-and-crafts "Inspiration Cabinet" she had at home - like a smaller version of Rarity's Inspiration Room. The dedication to saving the paper lasted a whole three seconds. Her little hooves, finding the package had about ten times the tape as it needed, couldn't wait, and she finally just tore off one whole side of the package and slid out the sweater within. Her eyes grew bigger and shimmered with excitement. [colour=#800080]"Oh... oh my gosh it's so PRETTY!"[/colour] she squealed, her voice cracking in her delight. [colour=#800080] "Look at it, Rarity! Oh, you have one, too!"[/colour] She quivered with delight to see Rarity had a matching hot-pink sweater with purple hearts, only a little bit bigger. [colour=#800080] "Ohmigosh, we're going to MATCH! Oooo, let's put them on!" [/colour] She wriggled eagerly into the sweater, and stood up in it, posing proudly. [colour=#800080] "Ohmigosh, it's so fancy! Look, it matches my mane! Put yours on, Rarity!"[/colour] She smiled up to Prince Blueblood, her eyes alight. [colour=#800080]"isn't it pretty, Your Highness? Don't you just *love* it? Isn't it to *die* for?"[/colour] She bounced eagerly up into the air. [colour=#800080]"You should put on your pretty new clothes, too! You can take the dress, too - after all, you asked specifically for it!" [/colour] She turned to her mum and dad.[colour=#800080] "He came all the way from *Canterlot* because he heard that Rarity makes the *best* dresses!"[/colour] She grinned up to the Prince again, little hearts in her eyes as she saw only how handsome and royal he was. [colour=#800080]"I suppose you really *can* make anything fashionable, can't you? Your Highness?"[/colour] She turned to their parents one last time, and tried also to clear up the situation. [colour=#800080]"And no, no, he and Rarity aren't dating. He told me himself that he's available! He's looking for a nice filly right now!"[/colour] She drew herself up to try to seem more mature and quite available, herself... ​

Doctor Whooves sighed. Well, Trixie had helped him with most of the task, and that part had been fun, but somehow the fun had briefly gone out of working on the engine. He gently patted the engine housing in a silent sort of apology for cutting things short, and solemnly clicked the last dozen bits of pneumatic tubing back into place. A few twists of his screwdriver here and there, and he was closing up the panel. He tossed a chemical log into the boiler, then tossed a reagent stick in there - when it contacted the chemical log, there were a few brief sputters, a little burst of blue sparks... then a gout of blue smoke shot out, hitting him in the face and leaving his face blue instead of brown. When the burst of smoke faded, the log had started burning with blue flames. He swiftly closed the door of the boiler, locked it shut, twisted some knobs and dials to make sure the pressure was at the right point, and gave a small half-smile of satisfaction. Oh, it was certainly going to be a long day tomorrow. And for the next few weeks. And probably boring, since he already knew where all the traps were. He sighed, wiped his face clean, and got as far away from Pathfinder as he could, though that was where all the heat from the boiler was radiating. He curled up with his back against Trixie's back to slip off to a brief three or four hours of sleep.​

Purple Haze grinned eagerly as the talk quickly turned to campfire food, not even noticing as the veggie sausages she'd warned everypony about were grabbed and put on plates. "[colour=#ff8c00]Oooo, yeah!"[/colour] she cried out eagerly, [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi've a roit good carrots n' potatoes recipe! If'n ye make some apple deserts, we've got th' whole thin-"[/colour] She blinked, then, and looked over to AJ, who was going nuts. Her eyes widened. [colour=#ff8c00] "Oi warned ye nae tae eat them! They're fer Carrot an' ... ah, ne'ermind, Carrot, goodness, do we have any milk left? Oi mighta used th' last of it fer th' pie... OH!"[/colour] She hopped up to her feet and ran into the kitchen, flinging open the ice chest! She'd forgotten the best thing to go *with* golden carrot pie! She grabbed it and hurried back out to the front porch, and plopped a pint of vanilla ice cream onto the table. She quick grabbed a scoop and dropped a big ball of ice cream onto a plate without even pie at hand, pushing it across the table to Applejack. [colour=#ff8c00]"Here, hie up an' eat this!"[/colour]​

[colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Rainbow Dash's eyes widened a little bit as Rarity 'volunteered' her. What did Dash know about cooking?! But she nodded her head vigorously. Sure! How hard could it be? She was awesome at everything else, after all! [colour=#0000cd] "Yeah! Let's make some... uh ... " [/colour]She picked up a couple of the fallen pots and banged them down on the counter enthusiastically with a reverberant *BONG*. Dumplings?! Sure! [colour=#0000cd]"Yeah, dumplings! I'll get the oil heating up!"[/colour] She slid the pot over onto the stove, and turned it on high, then found a bottle of cooking oil and started filling up the pot. *glug glug glug glug* [colour=#0000cd]"And anything you need mixed, I'll mix it up faster than anyone!"[/colour] She picked up the rolling pin and put it on the counter, then pulled out a sharp knife from the rack of them, holding it in her teeth as she said around it, [colour=#0000cd]"Need some apples cut up? I'll cut 'em all lickity split!"[/colour] she said, still a slightly wild-eyed expression at all the giant vast *unknown* of cooking ahead of her. She blinked as Applejack licked at Rarity's ear that way. Rarity hadn't seemed to like it when Dash had done the same... [colour=#0000cd]"I don't think you should do that, Applejack,"[/colour] she said round the handle of the big cutting knife, warningly. If Rarity was feeling too dirty, she might get all cranky, and no one wanted that! Dash turned her head to stab the knife into the counter. [colour=#0000cd] "But yeah, I can get some eggs for you!"[/colour] She trotted out the door quickly. Gathering eggs sounded easy enough, right?​ [colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie blinked as Apple Bloom very nearly fell over onto her, and helped support her friend carefully, then blinked as Guiding Light leaned a little too close to them. She cautiously lifted a hoof to pat at his shoulder. [colour=#800080] "Why, of *course* I like you!"[/colour] she squeaked softly, [colour=#800080]"You're-"[/colour] but whatever he was, he wouldn't find out just then, cause Apple Bloom interrupted with a tirade of ... Sweetie wasn't sure. It was all very confusing. She gave her friend a little hug. [colour=#800080] "Of course I'm a unicorn,"[/colour] she said carefully, unsure how to go about this. [colour=#800080] "And I'm sure everypony is just tryin' to help. In their own way."[/colour] She rubbed her cheek against Apple Bloom's in a little fond gesture. [colour=#800080]"you're my *best* friend! Well, you and Scootaloo, anyway"[/colour] she said, her voice cracking as she tried to reassure Apple Bloom, [colour=#800080]"And no matter what, I'm going to make *sure* you have a party! The best party I can make sure you have! Cause you're *special*!"[/colour]​ [colour=#ff8c00]Purple Haze[/colour] Purple carefully watched as her big brae prepared himself to protect the cake, and gave him a little hug, then busied herself building up the hay bale walls higher, before stretching a messy tablecloth over the top of it as a trampoline to repel any more falling ponies from the rafters. She stepped back to regard her creation and nodded in satisfaction. [colour=#ff8c00]"All right! Now ..."[/colour] She looked out over the party. [colour=#ff8c00]"Whoo... Aye, looks like a party from back home all right, big brae! Except they dinnae ruin th' food. And there was better music. Too bad ye dinnae bring yer bagpipes, ye could show 'em a roit bonnie hoof-liftin' tune!"[/colour] She kicked her hooves up in an enthusiastic jig for a few seconds. She frowned, watching the chaos churning around them, trying to determine what game this was they were playing. She certainly didn't recognize it! Ponies were staggering around everywhere, like they'd been spun for pin-the-tail-on-the-pony ... but EVERYPONY was staggering. Or most of them, anyway. She couldn't figure out any rules at all for this. [colour=#ff8c00] "Oi jes' dinnae unnerstand what they're doin', though,"[/colour] she murmured a bit sadly, suddenly feeling very much an outsider.​

Rainbow Dash perked up, her eyes lighting up. [colour=#0000cd] "What, really? Yeah, it's a pretty good idea! You never know when something's gonna come up. I've got this canyon I train in where there's always all these obstacles and winds and stuff..."[/colour] She grinned. Wow! Soarin' actually wanted to come do stuff with her? Now all she needed to do was ... tell him ... when the next ... oh, come on! She had all the storms memorized! She had to! She always knew when the storms were! Why was it suddenly escaping her mind?! She leaned back, turning back towards Cloudchaser and Flitter. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, Chaser!" [/colour]she called, trying to look totally nonchalant about this. [colour=#0000cd] "When's the next few storms again?"[/colour] She blinked, as she suddenly realized the schedule had just been completely destroyed. [colour=#0000cd]"You know, probably. After tonight makes them re-write the schedule..."[/colour] She looked over to Soarin' with a bashful grin. [colour=#0000cd]"Can't over-saturate stuff, and tonight things are pretty certainly over-saturated. The Everfree plays havoc on the folks in charge of figuring that stuff out."[/colour]​

Doctor Whooves stopped, blinked, and looked closely at Lyra, trying to parse through those words. Trixie's words had simply washed over him - he was quite used to her going on and on about some complaint or other. [colour=#8b4513]"yes, dear,"[/colour] he said patiently to Trixie, and [colour=#8b4513]"Just exercise some great and powerful patience for a bit..."[/colour] Then he tilted his head the other way, looking at Lyra. He gestured over the beach, with its erupted craters, already being filled in by the motion of the waves ... the big hole in the wall of the house, and the abandoned lunch seen on the table within ... the motion taking in the city, and the forest and gully beyond, where they'd altered the flow of the ley power. [colour=#8b4513]"Lyra Heartstrings,"[/colour] he explained, carefully and crisply, not sure she quite understood the situation. [colour=#8b4513]"This *was* our stop for a bite to eat with less monsters."[/colour]​

Doctor Whooves listed to the list of destroyed shelters for these ancient artifacts with a pained expression. And the lost artifacts. And the destroyed relics. [colour=#800000]"They... the only ... they were supposed to be found... they were ... really good... " [/colour] He groaned and put his face in his hooves. Everything he'd heard about Pathfinder seemed to be correct. How had she managed to survive so long? He kept on diligently, listing out the arrangements as best he could remember. [colour=#800000]"Though I'd really need to check the journals to be one hundred percent...[/colour]" he demurred often. He waved his hand at the brief interruption about cats and pegasus. [colour=#800000]"yes, yes, of course you are,"[/colour] he said, not knowing why she had interrupted with a perfectly obvious statement about pegasus and cat sleeping habits. [colour=#800000]"And there aren't usually arrangements... we just sleep however we sleep."[/colour] He eyed his engine suspiciously. [colour=#800000]"Though I'm going to get this working first, I think..."[/colour] And he sighed. [colour=#800000] "I think I'm mostly done... some more might come to me, but ... it sounds like there's a lot more work to be done than I thought. We might need to split up, perhaps ... I can certainly handle a few sites on my own, for the most part ... I have for quite a few years, after all ... and you two can go take care of the other sites."[/colour] He leaned grabbed Trixie round the shoulders quick and pulled her close, murmuring,[colour=#800000] "Keep an eye on her and try to keep her from making too much of a mess? You're the only one I can trust with this ..."[/colour]​

(OOC: No, I just respond to posts depending on which one has not had a response in the longest time. So if my turn gets skipped, that thread stays at the top of the page and I never see that it's my turn until I get done with all the other ones. I'm just lucky I noticed this.) Sweetie Belle looked back and forth between Rarity and Prince Blueblood, very confused. They seemed ... like they were ... kinda making fun of each other? She wasn't sure ... but Prince Blueblood was saying very nice things about Rarity's dress. But they seemed confused about what he'd ordered? [colour=#800080]"Of course he knows things about dresses!"[/colour] she chirped up to Rarity, [colour=#800080]"He just gave me this book that he read when he was little, and wanted to know about dresses!"[/colour]She was going to say more, but then her parents came in! She nearly forgot entirely about Prince Blueblood, her whole face lighting up with delight! She sprinted across the shop, her little hooves churning over the floor, to leap into a hug. [colour=#800080]"Mommy! Daddy! I missed you!"[/colour] She cried, her voice squeaking with her delight. She hugged them again, then stepped back, and excitedly showed off her lovely shop-assistant outfit! [colour=#800080]"I'm helping Rarity! I've been taking appointments and serving tea and pastries and apple juice and I met a prince and he's in back looking at the dress and the suit that Rarity made for him and he gave me his book about dresses so that I could learn proper manners and he's really really nice and really really handsome and you said you brought PRESENTS?!"[/colour] ​

Silver Flash nodded and gave an approving smile to Sugar, as he gave his response. [colour=#008080]"That's exactly what I wanted to know! An Eagle Companion and shooting arrows! Perfect!"[/colour] She leaned over his shoulder and pointed at the sheet. [colour=#008080]"What you'll want here is 'Point Blank Shot'. That's your basic archery feat ... fill it in there, but kinda small, you'll have lots and lots of feats by the time this game is done. And as a forest unicorn, you automatically get the Weapon Focus: Long Bow feat. So fill that in, too. Then, ummmm..."[/colour] She pulled out the Dryad splatbook, and flipped through the pages. [colour=#008080] "OK, special abilities... equipment..." [/colour] She helped him sort through a few last things, and came to the page she was looking for. [colour=#008080]"For the discerning druid who wants to look like death incarnate to the enemies of nature, there's a special sort of bladebow called the Scythebow. It's pretty much perfect for you!"[/colour] She smiled brightly. [colour=#008080]"And we'll handle your spells in a bit ... but first, I need to get my *own* sheet filled out!"[/colour] she cried perkily. [colour=#008080]"Just look through these two lists - the level 0 and level 1 spells - and see which ones you think sound neat. Don't worry about missing out on any - you can change which spells you have ready, every day."[/colour] With that, she turned to her own sheet, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Whew. That took a lot of energy. [colour=#008080]"Heh... mind if I have one of those?"[/colour] she asked, snagging a bit of sugar cane for herself and popping the end in her mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully as she went over her sheet. Dexterity, of course, but ... she was a skillful rogue. Intelligence first, then dex. She'd need every skill point she could *get* for all those craft skills she would be accumulating... Then ... strength of constitution? hit points, con. Definitely. She hated to use Charisma as a dump stat, but fortunately, someone *else* had the diplomatic aspect of the group covered ... so she could let them handle that. She supposed she'd have to be the geeky and enthusiastic but somewhat bad at dealing with others sort of pony. Slowly she filled in her sheet, a thoughtful *hrmmmm* as she agonized over where to put her skill points. She could certainly understand Sugar's desire to just fill in *everything*. A scattering of one-dots should make sure she took full adventage of her +3 bonus in so many skills... and keep her from taking that 'no skill ranks' penalty. She really, really wanted a higher perception for traps, but she supposed she'd have to bring that up with later levels. They'd have to depend upon Alfalfa for spotting dangers. Equipment... ugh. So much stuff she wanted. Ooooo, smoked goggles! No, no, she'd have to upgrade later... she needed those thief's tools, and ARGH those were expensive! Mustn't forget the saddlebags to actually *store* it all in. Paper and parchment for blueprints ... a journal, that's a good idea. Oil comes in handy for devices, but also as a last-ditch effort for fire... Carefully she rationed out every last copper piece, and sighed as she saw she was broke at the end of it. Well, apparantly Snicker Snack had underestimated the costs of adventuring, and was at the end of her purse. Which would make her eager to take on any adventure that might pay! That would give the game-master an in. She let out a final sigh and pushed her sheet away. [colour=#008080] "There. That'll do for now," [/colour]she murmured to herself, and pushed it across to Drifting Veil. [colour=#008080]"How's this look, DM?"[/colour]​

Purple Haze groaned, but them stomped out of the bush, the fur on the back of her neck prickling. [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi'm nae yer baby sis!"[/colour] she cried out, [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi'm roit nearly a full-grown mare!"[/colour] cried the little filly indignantly, obviously exaggerating a little. [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi've me own cutie mark an' everything!"[/colour] With an instant shifting of emotion, she turned to Bolt with a great big smile, holding out her hoof in greeting. [colour=#ff8c00]"Aye! Oi'm Purple haze, nice tae meet ye! An' Oi dinnae do much, jes a few things me big brae fergot. He's always fergettin' stuff when he's all twitterpated over somepony! Are ye ginnae be datin' him now?"[/colour]​

Silver Flash blinked, and the hall spun dizzily around her. What had hit her? She looked around, and briefly spotted two other mares also dressed as Daring Do, and had some concept of what was going on, before suddenly there was a stallion with his face in hers. [colour=#808080] "Um ... " [/colour] She blinked a bit, then finally got her scattered wits together and gave Madden her trademark blinding smile as she got back up onto her hooves. [colour=#808080]"Ah, yes! of course!" [/colour] Conveniently, she had come prepared to have to find her own way around the convention, and pulled a map out of one of the many pockets on her outfit, as well as a pair of reading glasses - just like the sort Daring Do wore when teaching at the university. She propped them up on her muzzle and peered at the convention map, then looked up and down the hall. [colour=#808080]"Just head up along that hallway," [/colour]she said to Madden, giving him another flashing smile, [colour=#808080]"Take the first right, and it should be just a couple doors down, and labeled. Good luck!"[/colour] One last time, she gave him that bright smile that had won her countless lead roles in romance plays across Equestria, then turned back to the other two Daring Do cosplayers. Must be some sort of improv thing, and her ear faintly tuned to 'three of us'. She looked around for the third. Wait ... was she the third? This wasn't part of her contract ... except ... they were drawing a crowd. A quite excited crowd. She couldn't let them down! Besides, it seemed fun! And she already had the glasses on! [colour=#808080]"The soul diamond?"[/colour] she asked, taking on her best professorly voice, as she stuffed away the convention map and pulled out a little notebook. She flipped through it with a curious expression. [colour=#808080]"Ah, yes. Well, hardly forever - remember, history is replete with 'forevers' that didn't quite last that long. And the future is simply a history that hasn't happened yet. If we want to build a good future history, we'd best learn what came before us in the past."[/colour] She flipped through her notebook, the paraphrased speech delivered to a class in "Daring Do and the Time Tear" spilled from her lips as she scrambled for ideas. [colour=#808080]"ah, here we go. The Soul Diamond. Mmmm...."[/colour] She flipped a page. [colour=#808080]"Hmmmm..." [/colour] Another page. [colour=#808080] "Ah-hah.... yes. Not, historically, the best thing to go after. Every pony who's ever used that has come to a rather bad end, whether they intended to use it for good or for ill. Famously cursed, in fact."[/colour]​ Dash blinked as her attention was drawn to Silver Flash, and she briefly got angry again when she saw Madden there ... but the chance to be Daring Do was more important than yelling at him any further! But ... what the heck? This other Daring Do was drawing off all the *boring* parts of the stories! Where Daring Do acted like Twilight Sparkle! Bah. She turned back to Princess Veil, leaning in close to invade her personal space and seem more action-y! Her dramatic moment was spoiled a little when her stomach rumbled a bit... she never *had* gotten to eat that food Carrot had gone to get for her! A few inches from Princess Veil, she couldn't help but give a few sniffs, as the delicious smells from the food court started to tease at her. Oh, man, as soon as this was done, she knew where she was gonna drag Carrot to! [colour=#808080]"Yeah! And in this case, your bad end is gonna come courtesy of Daring Do times three!" [/colour] She punched one hoof into the other suggestively. [colour=#808080]"Do you avoid the inevitable conclusion, Princess Veil? Or is it time for some ... action?"[/colour]​

Rainbow Dash allowed herself to be dragged by the tail with ill grace, looking at the monster with undisguised annoyance. [colour=#0000cd]"Stupid monsters,"[/colour] she grumbled,[colour=#0000cd] "You beat them and they come back bigger and scarier. That's SO not fair! Oh, hey, I wonder if Rarity would find that worm ugly or pretty, with all those jewels."[/colour] Then she was running along after Applejack into the cave, and following along further deeper into the cave, and continued with the tumble down the slide, tucking in her wings to keep them from getting hurt. She got herself up at the bottom, shaking herself and flicking her wings to puff the dust and dirt out, scowling. [colour=#0000cd]"OK, from now on, I lead the panicked fleeing. You're off the panicked fleeing roster."[/colour] She looked around, then. Such as she could. [colour=#0000cd]"You know ... this is right around when ... something with *light* would be a good idea."[/colour] She actually perked up, then, sounding cheerful and excited. [colour=#0000cd]"Oh, wait! When I packed my Daring Do kit, I packed a lantern! Hold up!"[/colour] In the pitch darkness, she hauled off her saddlebags and started rummaging through them with a large number of clanking noises. [colour=#0000cd] "OK, what's this? Oh, frying pan. Compass... scrolls? Oh, probably a map. Always gotta have a map. String... multitool ... ah, here's the lantern! Now to find that flint ... it's in the small pocket, where's the small pocket? OW! That's a needle. And the thread to go with it. Dice? Why do I have dice? Ah!"[/colour] There was a faint scratching noise, during which Rainbow's face could be oh-so-briefly seen by the shower of sparks, and then a soft glow of light. She raised the flame of the lantern so as to better illuminate the cavern, and smiled as she looked around. [colour=#0000cd]"Ah, there we go!"[/colour] The blue pegasus was surrounded not just by the objects she'd announced, but by a number of others beside - a big fan, a box of kleenex, several gears, a box of cupcakes, three apples, a bundle of quills, a long, unbound bandage sprawled all over the pile, and a kitchen sink. [colour=#0000cd]"Right, everyone here?"[/colour]​

Doctor Whooves took in a deep breath and let it out slowly after being nearly pounced by two stallions. He'd rather been hoping to avoid having 'help' in this sort of thing, but as usual, Pathfinder had sent out the messages without consulting anypony except her own insane inspiration first, and now he simply had to dealwith it. Count to ten... [colour=#8b4513]"Ah, yes, quite!" [/colour]he said with a strained cheerfulness. [colour=#8b4513] "It seems some ancient artifacts that were hidden a long time ago for very good reasons ... seem to have been just a little bit found, of late. Seeing as I have a journal here showing just where they were hidden, I figured I'd pop in, pick them up, dump them someplace new, maybe spruce up the place with a few death traps ... you know how it is,"[/colour] he said in a very casual manner. [colour=#8b4513]"And Pathfinder thought, for some reason, that maybe I should have some help with the old death traps and whatnot! A bit absurd, but I suppose I wouldn't mind the company."[/colour] He turned to Seeker and nodded, [colour=#8b4513]"Seeker, pleasure to meet me, I'm sure."[/colour] He paused, thought about asking after this 'exalted', then decided he really didn't want to know, and turned instead to the other pony. [colour=#8b4513] "And you were?"[/colour]​

This was great! She was helping, and she was so happy about it! She poinged forward, knowing that she could bounce as fast as anyone could run, but ... something seemed a little off. She was drifting backwards from the other little foals in the cramped little space, and leaned forward as she tried to poing forward once more. She landed further forward, but drifted back right away as the spin of the wheel carried her away. Then again, and again... and she was drifting further and further back! [colour=#800080]"I'm"[/colour] she panted, [colour=#800080]"doing... great!"[/colour] Then she drifted too far back, and her poinging brought her chin-first into the wheel ... but this time, instead of just sliding down to the bottom, she found herself pulled back away from her friends! "Eeeeeeeeek!" she cried, as she was swept up the back of the wheel, across the top, down the front, and headed straight for the sturdily running legs of her friends!​

Doctor Whooves groaned deeply, as the two mares both seemed far too interested in what he told them to stop being interested in, thank you very much! But to no avail. [colour=#8b4513]"Of course Lootraider kept a journal..."[/colour] he groaned softly. [colour=#8b4513] "Because otherwise, stealing all his books about the relics would have worked." [/colour] He let out a soft sigh, then lifted his head again, looking not to Pathfinder, but to Trixie. [colour=#8b4513] "OK, first off ... have I not explained this to you, yet?"[/colour] His eyes went vacant as he searched his memory... [colour=#8b4513]"Oh! No, that was somepony else! All right, first off, no, of course I'm not immortal or mystical. And I'm certainly not medical. Wrong type of Doctor. I didn't say *I* was there, I said *we* were there - the Doctors. I'm part of a long legacy of ponies, each handing down the responsibility to a successor, that have been around since before Equestria. We travel the land, seeking out the unknown, observing and recording history, and dealing with the magical threats that are constantly popping up everywhere. One of my ancient pegasus predecessors adventured with Commander Hurricane, and he handed off the title to a unicorn who had learned from Clover the Clever - but far more often, we've just been nobody ponies from all over the land. Bakers, nurses, gardeners, librarians ... the only requirement is a certain fearlessness, a passion for putting things right, and most importantly ... a sense of *timing*."[/colour] He grinned broadly at the description, hoping they were quite as impressed with it as he had been, the first time he'd been explained the situation by the previous Doctor Whooves, back when he'd just been a timid little clockmaker named Timeturner, startled by this brash, bizarre pony who'd burst into his shop seeking an assistant who was good with delicate operations ... He shook off the memories. [colour=#8b4513] "As far as the staff goes ... *sighs* Yeah, it seems like it's been about time to move them to new, safer locations. You lot, seriously... well, I suppose I have to make do with what I have, and you two can assist me ... so here's where the pieces of the Staff of Fate were hidden, and what traps were protecting them, as of two hundred years ago ..."[/colour] And as Pathfinder took notes, he started to explain.​

Rainbow Dash hissed at the other two pegasus ponies from Ponyville, and made little 'go away' gestures with her hooves, as they just kept on with their insistance, her eyes a little wild from frustration. [colour=#0000cd]"We're not dating, and we're not trying to date! Now stop that!"[/colour] She sighed, and returned to her seat next to Soarin', letting out a resigned sigh. With a casual gesture, she slammed her hoof down on the edge of the plate, popping the slice of apple pie up into the air, and snagged it readily out of the air with her teeth to chew on it morosely and swallow it in one big gulp, then wash it down with another draw of cider. Man, things always seemed to go wrong whenever she got anywhere near the Wonderbolts! [colour=#0000cd]"Ugh. Good thing they didn't know I sent you all those Hearts and Hooves cards in Weather Academy ... I shoulda just told them you were dating Spitfire,"[/colour] she finally sighed. [colour=#0000cd]"Why didn't I think of that?"[/colour] She let out another sigh. [colour=#0000cd]"Anyway, yeah, I know what you mean about an adreneline rush like that ... but lightning's special. It charges the very air you breathe! It's not just adreneline, it's, like, supercharged adreneline. You should totally try coming by Ponyville next time we have a storm scheduled. I'll show you the trick of it, and you'll see what I mean."[/colour] Wait, what was she doing? Inviting him to hang like he was just any other pegasus? He was a *Wonderbolt*! He had better things to do than hang out with some weather coordinator on the job! [colour=#0000cd]"I mean, you know. If you're not busy doing all sorts of totally awesome stuff, like you must be... I'd totally understand if you weren't able to."[/colour]​