Bramble Rose

Rainbow Dash bristled at Madden's implications ... all her old fears about being called an 'egghead' popping up again. She'd always had to push *extra* hard at all the sports to keep her awesome grades from getting her that label! And now here he was, doing it again! She tamped down the nervousness in the pit of her stomach the way she always did ... by being aggressive. She turned towards Madden and puffed out her chest, her voice cracking a bit in her exuberant reply. [colour=#0000cd] "I have my own place, fully paid off already! Helped sculpt the clouds for it myself! I'm the head weather coordinator for this entire region, I'm the only pegasus in EXISTANCE to perform a sonic rainboom - as you should know, you were announcing at the time! And someday I'm going to be in the Wonderbolts! I train every day to get better and better, even though I'm already so awesome!"[/colour] She blinked, as Carrot started working the dye into her wings, a bit of a blush touching her cheeks ... then she got inspired. Grinning a bit, she remarked. [colour=#0000cd]"Look, I went over all of this a few months ago when I was in the hospital healing up from an athletic injury, before they finally got me to give it a chance. Have you even read the books? See, this is my weekend. And I'm hanging out with a cute stallion doing something that I enjoy. You're busy working on your weekend and obviously not having fun at all. Of the two situations, I think mine is plainly much more awesome!"[/colour] ​

I'm sorry that Peebee, Sunrise, and Purple will not be engaging in flying lesson hijinks after all! I hope that you enjoy all you do, and be well! I certainly cannot begrudge you wanting more time.

Sweetie Belle blinked ... she hadn't heard anypony at the door! But she nodded and headed up front, her knees lifting up high in an eager prance. Her mind just wasn't on the job, though - she'd gotten asked out on a date! *EEEE!* She pranced merrily, her eyes closed, picturing what it'd be like. He had that gold suit, so gorgeous, and she had ... ohhhh, what would go with it? And with her coat? A silver dress! Yes, she'd have to ask Rarity for a silver dress! He'd come by, and she'd meet him at the door, and he'd give her roses ... no, just one rose. And she'd blush and take it, and he'd say something sweet, and then - She pranced merily face-first into the doorframe, and staggered backwards, blinking dazedly, little whorls and sparkles shining in front of her eyes. She staggered sideways ... her little legs crossing and stumbling in a complicated little chaotic dance. [colour=#800080]"Oh, of course, Miss Noodle! Right this way! I'm sure a pancake would make a great hat!"[/colour]​ ( go ahead and go back and forth a bit more - It'll take Sweetie a few moments to shake it off! )

Doctor Whooves groaned softly when the word 'adventure' popped out of Trixie's mouth, his eyes closing as he slapped one hoof to his forehead. Yes, let's throw wood on the fire. Was she going to tell *everypony* they came across about it? He lifted his eyes to Trixie's, looking past Pathfinder, who seemed uninterested in him (thankfully!) and focused on Trixie ... and gave Trixie a 'what are you *doing*?' look. Pathfinder talked on and on and on ... and Doctor Whooves swore his brain cells were committing suicide ... he went back to work on his engine, muttering to himself. [colour=#8b4513]"Obviously someone needs to learn to run better,"[/colour] he mumbled under his breath, [colour=#8b4513]"This job requires lots of running ... I at least had the good sense to get *out* of there before they could slap a signet on my leg after I saved the kingdom and helped Luna return to her power ... Ooo, the helm of Commander Hurricane ... big whoop. It's not as cool as the stories, as you'd know if you'd ever talked to someone who actually adventured with Commander Hurricane ... "[/colour] This was *his* cart. *HE* was supposed to be the one delivering awesome stories to Trixie! Then some tidbit of information broke through the flood of chatter, and he jumped, banging his head on the casing again. He backed out, rubbing at his head, hissing and blinking the water from his eyes, then turned around. [colour=#8b4513]"nono, not a specific grimoire, we're just looking for the lost Royal Library that disappeared during the time of Discord ... but ... did you say the Ruby Claw?! Somepony went and dug *that* up again? Confound it, who was foalish enough to do that? Now we're going to have a bunch of ponies trying to reunite the staff!"[/colour] He sighed heavily. [colour=#8b4513]"Am I going to have to go and hide it *again*?"[/colour] ​

I can't wait till the server updates, and I can replant the carrot farm to use actual carrots! <(oo<) (>oo)> <(^^<) (>^^)> ^(oo^) (^oo)^

Silver Flash took in a breath, then let it out slowly. She hadn't seen a player like this since she last played with some foals! Which was a while ago. It made her somewhat reminiscent. [colour=#808080]"OK, hold on there, cutie. Hooooold on."[/colour] She laughed softly. [colour=#808080] "Your brain gallops along 24/7, doesn't it? Forget the numbers for a moment..."[/colour] She reached out with one hoof and flipped over Sugar Rush's character sheet, so it was just three blank pieces of paper. [colour=#808080]"Now, I love the look for your character. Very dramatic, very dashing. You've got the feel for that, that's for sure. Your eagle is going to be normal size at the start, though. Remember our goal here - you're making a *starting* hero, who hasn't done anything heroic yet. He's not rich, yet, he's not powerful, yet - what he has is *potential*. He's a blank sheet, just like these."[/colour] She gestured at the empty backs of the character sheets. [colour=#808080]"We're all going to make their stories, right here, as we play the game over the next few months. And as we play the game, you'll get more bits, more power, and more awesomeness. But awesome heroes come from humble beginnings ... so let's take this one step at a time."[/colour] She flipped the first sheet numbers-side up, and erased most of the markings on it. [colour=#808080]"Now, you know that in the stories, heroes come in different types, they have different roles. The wise and intelligent unicorn wizard, the stoic and heroic earth fighter, the quick and dashing pegasus rogue ... in the game, these roles are called 'classes' of heroes. for you, your class is 'Druid'. Druid is the type of unicorn wizard that specializes in plants and animals. Like your eagle."[/colour] Silver flash pondered showing him the spell list, and that he had a long way to go before reaching fifth-level spells and Animal Growth, but figured that might overstimulate him for now. [colour=#808080]"Later, we'll help you pick your spells ... but for now, go ahead and fill in 'class' there. Other than that, everything here is good."[/colour] [colour=#808080]"Now, down here, we have numbers. I'd recommend going with the general spread - they don't have a 9, but they do have a better spread, and you can always raise your abilities later. But if you really want to have higher stats here and lower elsewhere, then I'd recommend going double-specialist, because you're not just a druid - you want to be a brawler druid. Which will work *great* when you get the ability to turn into bears and stuff. But you need two high stts for that to work - Strength, for your fighting, and Wisdom, for your spells. You *really* need a high wisdom for your spells. So put your two highest in those. After that, you need a secondary combat ... constitution gives you more hit points - basically, in awesomeness terms, so you can have three arrows and a sword sticking out of you, and still be coming on with a wild look in your eyes. Dexterity lets you dodge better - in awesomeness terms, you lean out of the way of the arrows as they come in, and twist around the sword, and keep on coming."[/colour] She pondered, briefly, suggesting that he multiclass into barbarian/druid ... oh, man, a raging bear ... that would be so cool! But that might be a bit too complex for the new player. Single-class for now. [colour=#808080]"The important two are strength and wisdom - these other four, just fill in as you need them. They'll just customize your druid's concept. Intelligence would be useful for you to have better skills ... charisma ..."[/colour] She eyed Sugar Rush thoughtfully. [colour=#808080]"Usually I don't suggest this, but for you, I think you should make Charisma your dump stat. Er ... I mean, putting your lowest score in Charisma might be best. You're adorable, but let's assume your Druid's going to be just as hyper as you. Hard to convince ponies of stuff when your mouth is a mile down the road from the rest of you."[/colour] She sat with him while he filled those six in, not letting him fill in anything else, till he got those right. [colour=#808080]"Now just to remind you - each of these skills give a 'bonus' to other things you do. If he tells you to roll something plus your ... strength modifier, for example, you don't add ALL the dots here. You add the dots minus five... so to the right of each ability, I recommend adding your modifier bonus, just to remind yourself of that."[/colour] And she patiently worked through the first several mistakes till he got that right. [colour=#808080]"OK, now ... skills. Those are all these other circles. And I'm going to suggest that right here, to the left of the skill name, you put a little *check* for what skills a druid is good at. That means:"[/colour] She moved her hoof down the sheet, waiting for Sugar to make the check at each place. [colour=#808080]"Athletics, Endurance, Arcana, History, Heal, Nature, Perception, Diplomacy. The reason they're each underneath an ability is because the abilities add to the skills ... as you can see, your Wisdom helps with all these three skills that you've got as class skills."[/colour] [colour=#808080]"Now, you will be *especially* good at 4 of these skills. One of those will be nature - because you're a druid. So turn that check into an x by putting a slash across it. Now, choose three other checks to turn into x's, for the skills you're *really* good at. Normally, I'd recommend Arcana, because you're a caster, but I'm going to have Arcana maxed out for the party ... so you won't need it as much. If you don't take Arcana, then your magic will be more, 'I don't need to read books to understand nature ... I am in tune with the mother natural, and she reveals her secrets to me!' You might want athletics if you're going to be a warrior-druid, though. And it never hurts to have more Heal specialists in the group. You can pick *any* three you want, and that's, again, part of your personality. I'd just recommend heal and athletics"[/colour] She waits, helping him get through those, too. She lets out a deep sigh. [colour=#808080] "Whew. OK, now ... you take 8 dots .. plus your intelligence modifier, the little plus here ... and you fill in that many skills. That's your dots of skill points... start off by putting one dot in all the ones you think you *have* to have ... then fill in above that for the skills you want to be best at."[/colour] She suspected Sugar Rush would want *all* the skills, so she patiently worked with him to get a nice, beginning character concept ... which skills suited his character, which didn't... listening for a little to his flights of fancy, then turning him back to the sheet with a reminder of poor, cold reality ...[colour=#808080] "Beginning hero, remember. You're not awesome *yet*. You *will* become more awesome over time."[/colour] Finally, the first page was done. She flipped over the second page. [colour=#808080]"OK, this one's a bit easier. Name, Alfalfa. Unicorn Pony. Druid. Add this and this here... this is five ... and we'll figure out the rest later, after you get your gear."[/colour] She flipped over the third page, erased the stuff at the top. [colour=#808080]"Name, Alfalfa. Unicorn Pony. Druid. Now, here's where we are going to pause - because here you pick a feat. There are ... a LOT of choices. Experienced players would go hunting through them all, but you don't know what most of them mean, and it'd take you a couple hours to read them all. So ... I'll help you. But you tell me: You want to be a warrior druid with an eagle pet. Which part is most important to you? Warrior? Spells? Surviving in the wild? Or your Eagle? And once you figure that out ... what is your *shtick?* What stands out for you, as an awesome hero? Do you destroy everything with a single blow? Do you survive anything that gets thrown at you? Are you a really good healer, or are you good at summoning animals to fight for you? Or is your shtick that you do everything with your Eagle? Do you use your magic to make yourself more powerful when you fight? Or is it something else I haven't even thought of? When the bards speak of your hero in a thousand years, what will they say about him? What made him different from all the other really awesome heroes?"[/colour]

I'm so very, very sorry - I had a rather rough week where I couldn't get anything done on the site, cause of job hunting and interviews and stuff, and then this kept bumping because of people posting on it, so I didn't realize it was even there! My sincerest apologies, it was irresponsible of me. As to your questions - yes, if you worked on developing a deeper relationship with them beforehand, and made it all up-and-up and legal, that would go a long way towards clearing out that little wrinkle in this application. Your ideas for how to fix that sound quite good. Thank you for being so patient with me, I know this one's been a little bumpy, and I admire your willingness to work with us.

[colour=#0000CD]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Dash wandered on into the kitchen merrily, seeing all the adults all gathered round drinkin' cider. This was kinda neat. Sometimes she wondered whether she'd really 'grown up' at all ... she'd never had that moment where everything suddenly made sense, like it seemed to have done for so many of her friends ... she still napped a lot, she still loved fun and games ... and sure, she worked hard, but her work was *fun*. It was a challenge! That wasn't really *work*, and the poor saps paid her for it! But here ... she remembered during parties when she was a foal, when all the parents would go into the kitchen and crack open a bottle of special juice, and stand around talking about parent-stuff. And here she was, doing the same! Sure, not a parent, but an adult, truly! She glanced over at Rarity and *snorted*. [colour=#0000cd]"Wow, Rarity, what happened to you?"[/colour] she asked, as she poured a frothy mug of the apple cider, oblivious to the fact that she'd started Rarity's journey to mess herself. [colour=#0000cd]"You're all spiky-furred! It's actually kinda rad, sorta punkish, but I don't usually see you looking so cool!" [/colour] She giggled and used her hooves to pull Rarity's mane up into a mohawk, where the sugary remnants of frosting kept it sticking straight up. Rainbow's eyes widened and brightened. [colour=#0000cd]"Oh, that is *awesome*! You are *stylin'*! And you smell *delicious!*"[/colour] She gave a testing lil' lick at Rarity's cheek, smacked her lips. [colour=#0000cd]"Apple-y! Is this a new fashion?"[/colour] She took a deep drink of the cider, then, and let out a long, satisfied exhalation. [colour=#0000cd]"Ahhhhhhh... No, this is awesome! It's absolutely *delicious!*"[/colour] She smacked her lips happily. She'd missed the subtleties of the conversation, but she did know that this cider was wonderful. [colour=#0000cd]"So,"[/colour] she said, leaning the elbow of her foreleg carrying the mug on Rarity's shoulder, [colour=#0000cd]"What sorta adult stuff should we talk about?"[/colour] ​ [colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie took one of the mugs with both hooves, and looked around as all the other little foals took such deep drinks, and started acting like silly ponies. She, herself, had been well coached by Rarity, and thus she only took a smaller sip, as befit a polite young foal. She blink-blinked rapidly, and her lips twisted into a pucker. Ew! Ew! The apple cider had gone bad! But everyone else seemed to be liking it, and she didn't want to be *rude* ... [colour=#800080]"Um ... yes, it's ... quite a unique and ... potent flavor!"[/colour] she said, trying to be generous ... And everyone made faces at her cooking? Life was so unfair.​ [colour=#FF8C00]Purple Haze[/colour] Purple's nose twitched as the butterfly fluttered there, feeling a sneeze coming on ... but then her big brae came in and saved th' day! "Oh, *thank*ee!" she gasped, as he relieved her of the most difficult to balance of her load. [colour=#ff8c00]"Ye'd nae believe wha' happened!"[/colour] she said, as she totteringly followed after Carrot. [colour=#ff8c00]"Aye, thankee, Apple Bloom! Ye've a roit bit a timin' there! Whynae hie out tae th' wagon back there, ye'll find me wee carrot cupcakes, an' a barrel ah me special Hazy Brew!"[/colour] Finally, she could look into the barn ... and saw the hay barrels everywhere, dust in the air, and ... HORRORS! Food splattered ALL OVER THE FLOOR?! Who ... how ... why ... who ... who could so mistreat *FOOD*?! She paused in the doorway, just ... staring in horror ... [colour=#ff8c00]"But ... the food ..."[/colour] she whimpered ... eyes wide and watery from the injustice of it!​

Rainbow Dash bristled a bit at the question ... [colour=#0000cd]"I don't send valentines!"[/colour] she protested! ...[colour=#0000cd] "Not since High School! Well ... OK, a few times in the Weather Academy. And a couple after that. But not for ages! I'm waaaaay past that fangirl stage, now that I'm practically a Wonderbolt myself! Just as soon as they realize they should ask me ..."[/colour] She grinned a bit, then, and tossed her six bits onto the counter.[colour=#0000cd] "Gotta get my energy from somewhere! And it's not *that* much. Not compared to a Pinkie Pie Party spread! As for today ... we were being sneaky!"[/colour] She leaned closer to Appleajck and whispered to her, [colour=#0000cd]"We're finding out what Spike should get for Rarity! We're looking at dyes for her fabric... you got any Apple Family secret recipes for Zap Apple fabric dye? Or somethin' like that?"[/colour] She opened up her bag right there and pulled out a donut hole, tossing it high into the air and snatching it on the way back down with her teeth. *mmmmnnnom* [colour=#0000cd]"Oh, and I gotta get back soon to help Rarity with some stuff she needs help with ... better toss in a half-dozen of those fancy little-bitty apple tarts, too. They seem fancy enough for her."[/colour]

Sweetie Belle's eyes opened wide as Applejack and Scootaloo both had those worried expressions, and agreed that Rarity needed the hospital ... she knew she should figure out where to go find a taxi-pony, to pull a wagon for Rarity, but she just stared at her big sister with big, watery eyes. A soft sniffle came from her, and her jaw trembled, even as she tried *so hard* to be brave... The first big tear dropped from her eye. She wasn't sure how, but she was sure this was all her fault. Rarity was hurt, and it was her fault. It had to be, it always was ... she sniffled again ... no, she already had cried, before! She coudln't do it again, she had to fix it! She raced over to Rarity, and her little white hooves rested on Rarity's bigger white hooves. [colour=#800080]"I'm soooo sorry, Rarity!"[/colour] she squeaked painfully. [colour=#800080]"I promise, I'll make it *all* better!"[/colour] she vowed, her voice barely keeping back her tears, and then she gave a little kiss to Rarity's forehead, just like Rarity did to her forehead whenever Sweetie was sick.

Purple Haze dropped her face into her hoof as her big brae went being all clumsy and goofy again. What *was* it with him? She tried to help him as much as she could, as she obvious knew much better than he how to handle just about any situation ... but then he went and did stuff like that! She couldn't take him anywhere! Ah well. Best thing to do would be to just pretend it hadn't happened, and continue on with the conversation. [colour=#006400]"Well, Oi dinnae know th' area round here too well jes' yet. Oi'm nae sure jes' where th' whitetail glade or th' galloping ravine is! We'll have tae take a noice hike first, go ramblin' so ye kin give us a proper tour!"[/colour] She hopped up, then, having polished off her makeshift sandwich. [colour=#006400]"All right! Time fer me tae get me next course! Oi'll be roit back!"[/colour] She hurried off into the kitchen, and came back carrying a platter in her mouth with a heat mitt. She set it down on the table, and shook the heat mitt away - just in time, that was getting uncomfortably hot! [colour=#006400]"Oiv'e nae figgered out what tae call 'em yet, but they're carrot chimichangas wi' a spicy southwest ranch sauce! Oi modiifed a recipe fer th' sauce from some a th' clan out at the O'Carrot Corral." [/colour]She trailed off, thoughtfully, to herself, just mumbling. [colour=#006400]"Carrotchangas? Chimicharrot? Nah."[/colour]

Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, as energetic pegasus ponies bounced around. It seemed more familiar, more like Cloudsdale, where everyone wore their emotions right out in the open, and everything was done enthusiastically! It perked her up, and helped her forget how tired she was. Mindful of the rules she'd been taught in the Weather Academy, her first task was hydrating herself, and she dutifully drank down one glass of water in a nice, long, refreshing draw. [colour=#0000cd]"Ahhhh..."[/colour] Though, heh-heh, the fact that Cloudchaser thought she was taking three pie and three cider just for herself ... she chuckled, and shrugged. She'd drink two ciders, and she was sure Soarin' would eat two slices of pie, and then some. She clasped a hoof on Soarin's shoulder. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, don't worry!"[/colour] she said, feeling more at home, all of a sudden, and drew him close. "The first round's on that pony over there!" she said, gesturing at Pocket Change. [colour=#0000cd]"I'll get the second round, and you can get the third round! You know the rule, you never turn down free food!"[/colour] She bumped her hoof into his chest, then slid two of the pies and one of the ciders over towards him. [colour=#0000cd] "So what did you handle in the storm? Get a chance to swerve past lightning, yet? It's awesome!"[/colour] She took a drink of the cider, then let out a satisfied *ahhhhhh*. It wasn't as good as the Apple Family special, but it was still ... mmmmmm. cider. Her tongue hung out of her mouth and she got a distant, content look for a moment or three, before shaking herself back to the now.

Sweetie Belle's eyes shined as Valen came out, her big, eager smile on her face.[colour=#800080] "Oh, wow, you look magnificent in it!"[/colour] she squeaked happily, her voice cracking on the words. She waited, a few long moments, hoping this was the time ... but he didn't seem to want to say anything to her yet. Well, he was supposed to be shy, right? Maybe he was still working up the courage, or needed a prompt ...[colour=#800080] "Were you ... going to ask me to a fancy dress party or something?"[/colour] she quietly and subtly suggested, hoping Rarity didn't hear her ... But before Valen could respond, Rarity was talking about a bell. What bell? But she had responsibilities! [colour=#800080]"Sorry!"[/colour] she said to Valen, [colour=#800080]"But you look soooo handsome!" [/colour] She trotted away quickly, to go open up the front door and peek outside ...

Silver Flash's eye twitched a couple times ...[colour=#808080] "Ah ... right. That's ... a good start, Sugar Rush ... "[/colour] she said weakly. She shared a quick glance that spoke volumes with Drifting, and shifted closer over to Sugar Rush. [colour=#808080]"Tell ya what, DM! You take care of these two, they seem to have gotten the feel for things! I'll work with this guy!"[/colour] She put her hoof lightly on Sugar Rush's shoulder. [colour=#808080]"OK, now, good story idea, but you're describing something pretty awesome, that's for higher level stuff. You're making someone who's just *starting* to adventure! What we're going to do together is make the adventures, as a group ... so you need to have someone who's just now beginning to do stuff, and not famous *yet*."[/colour] [colour=#808080]"Additionally ... there aren't any zebracorns. You can make a zebra, or a unicorn, but not both. With a chocolate cutie mark, you should probably go with the unicorn. But if you want, you can totally have him raised by zebras, and painted up with a buncha tribal stripes! The idea of having an eagle pet is *awesome*, you should totally run with that! It can't be giant, yet, but you can make it big enough to ride, later on! That'll be a good goal and a plot hook, which is great!"[/colour]

Sweetie Belle breathed a sigh of relief as the fire was extinguished ... she leaned against the wall for a moment, panting a little, and setting her little mind to racing. Had she caused that fire? The answer was usually 'yes', but there were some differences here. She wasn't in a kitchen, for starters, and she couldn't really remember having done anything that should start a fire. Well, this field trip was already getting interesting! Still, she'd already put out *tons* of fires. She wasn't gonna get a firepony cutiemark! [colour=#800080]"Comon, Apple Bloom!"[/colour] she cried, hopping up to her hooves after only ten seconds of rest, [colour=#800080]"Time to go get some Juice Box cutie marks!"[/colour] She hurried to the shed to get inside away from the sudden squall of rain.

Doctor Whooves stared after Lyra's retreating form, a surprised expression on his face. [colour=#8b4513]"Odd,"[/colour] he said thoughtfully, [colour=#8b4513]"I really expected more of a ... good-bye, before she left to do that." [/colour]He smiled brightly. [colour=#8b4513]"Ah well! I never liked good-byes anyway!"[/colour] He smiled brightly as the manavane pointed out over the ocean, coming to a steady rest. He struck the tuning fork one more time, then put his ear up next to the manavane. [colour=#8b4513] "Ah, there we go! Perfect!" [/colour] He smiled to Trixie. [colour=#8b4513]"You do a great job of looking stunning, of course, but nah, just hop in, time for us to head off!"[/colour] He kicked the boiler in the back of the cart, and it started up with that grating, wheezing noise. [colour=#0000cd] *vworp vworp VWORP VWORP VWORP*[/colour] The blue glow shone from the boiler, and blue smoke started spurting out the back again. [colour=#8b4513]"Ahhhh,"[/colour] he said cheerfully, smiling down to his cart. [colour=#8b4513]"Smooth as silk! You *like* those mean old clockwork pony parts, don't you, sexy?"[/colour] He hit the shifter and spun the ship's wheel, and the cart spun around so it was pointed out towards the ocean. [colour=#8b4513]"It's somewhere around that-a-way!"[/colour] he proclaimed cheerfully.

Doctor Whooves started at the unexpected voice, banging his head on the roof of the casing, then pulling out. [colour=#daa520] "Oh, good grief, that sounded like Pathfi-"[/colour] He turned to see that his initial reaction wasn't wrong. [colour=#daa520]"Oh no..."[/colour] As much as he approved of other adventurer ponies, he wasn't sure he could really qualify her as one of them ... more just a fangirl of adventurers. She'd swiftly gained a reputation amongst several of the ponies in Doctor Whooves' circle - thus far, he'd managed to avoid running into her, but here she was in his cart. Just what he needed - a fangirl possibly falling for *him* next instead of some imaginary book character. [colour=#daa520]"Oh, ah, no,"[/colour] he said swiftly, [colour=#daa520]"No, not a helper ..."[/colour] He sighed softly, then said,[colour=#daa520] "I am Doctor Whooves, just a simple travelling pony, and Trixie is accompanying me upon my travels. Nothing special about it, no mysterious ruins or anything, just a couple travellers caught in a storm! You can shelter here until the rain stops, and then we can go our separate ways!"[/colour]

Purple Haze grinned. [colour=#800080] "Aye, and ye should hear our music! It's said when we play our bagpipes 'fore a fight, it so spooks out th' enemies 'at they'll run away wi'out fighting at all! Most evil instrument in Equestria, it's called, but Oi think it's roit lovely! An ye should see me brae at our sports! We do caber buckin', which is basically throwin' trees... he kin buck a caber cross th' whole field!"[/colour] She laid out a new set of snacks on the table, little mini-carrot muffins topped with cream cheese frosting, and a lil' tiny orange disc on top cut from baby carrots. [colour=#800080]"Now, these nibbles are a roit tasty family recipe, but Oi never decorated 'em loik this before! See if it works a'ight?"[/colour] She paused a moment, pondering, then cheerfully piped up, "[colour=#800080]Oh! Oi should get me bagpipes an' give ye a play!"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie blinked rapidly as she was freed from the hay bale along with Apple Bloom, giving her head a little shake. She felt a little woozy, but it was all right. Food flying, falling hay bales, Rarity a mess ... wait, why was Rarity such a mess?! How was she not freaking out?! Sweetie giggled impishly. This was a weird party. But as much as she wanted to go see what was happening with her big sister, this was Apple Bloom's party, and she was eager to see what gifts her bestest friend got! She bounced eagerly with the thought of what Apple Bloom would say about *her* gift, but didn't want to push it forward. Best to save it for last, anyway! [colour=#800080]"Oh, wow, Apple Bloom! Those look like they'll be *real* handy for all our Crusading!"[/colour] She squeaked excitedly, then lowered her voice to half-whisper to her friend, [colour=#800080]"Especially with all the pine needles!"[/colour] ----- [colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Dash's eyes lit up excitedly as AJ informed her that there was extra *special* cider for the adults back in the kitchen! Man, if this cider was this good, how good must the extra AWESOME cider be? She grinned to Scootaloo and nodded, handing the lil' orange pegasus the mug Dash had been about to drink from. [colour=#0000cd]"Here ya go, kid! Drink up, and glad ya like it! I bet this is some of the batch I helped make!"[/colour] She nodded sagely. She was pretty sure that would make the drink even more special for her favorite fanfilly. [colour=#0000cd]"I gotta go check out this special batch!"[/colour] With that, she disappeared back into the kitchen, trotting along happily. ----- [colour=#006400]Purple Haze[/colour] When Carrot Fields finally got back outside, he saw a sight indeed ... his little sister carefully balancing on one hind hoof, her various foods and platters all arrayed balanced about her. There was the wrapped loaf of carrot bread balanced on her head, with the assorted carrot discs platter balanced atop of that. The carrot cupcakes seemed all stacked up on her left forehoof, while the big bowl of garlic-fried carrot sticks was on her right. A serving spoon clenched in her teeth had a bowl of carrot-ranch dip balanced atop it, and her left rear leg was lifted up to try to steady the wagon and keep any of the rest of the snacks from falling over, cause she'd run out of ways to catch them! And as Carrot watched, a lil' pink butterfly settled down to land on Purple Haze's upturned nose ... "mmph mph!" she said, her eyes a little panicked.

Rainbow Dash grinned eagerly, hearing Applejack's voice, and she flitted swiftly by to hover over her cart, shoving in front of everypony else and almost drooling on the wares. [colour=#800080]"Oooo, yeah!"[/colour] she exclaimed, and her stomach rumbled in agreement. [colour=#800080] "I'm starving! I'll have some apple fritters! Nono, I'll have some apple muffins! No, wait, how bout those apple dumplings? Or even better, a slice of apple bread with cream cheese! Aww, I can't decide!"[/colour] She floated there, looking VERY SERIOUSLY at the cart, her forelegs crossed before her. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then nodded decisively. [colour=#800080]"OK. I'll take one slice of apple bread, a half-dozen fried apple-cinnamon donut holes, a side of apple slices with a bowl of caramel to dip them in, some cream cheese for the bread, and a bottle of apple juice. And an apple turnover."[/colour] She smiled, then, and let out a sigh of relief as that difficult decision was taken care of. [colour=#800080]"Oh, and hi, AJ! Nice to see you! You wouldn't *believe* the day we've been having!"[/colour]

The barely adult white unicorn cowered before Martini's wrath, looking terribly nervous and scared of how violent she was getting. [colour=#ff8c00]"I ... I ... We ... get lots of barons and dukes and the like in the library! None that I can think of with bad hats! Tell you what, why don't we go up front, you can ask one of the head librarians about this Baron von Greene, I'm sure they'll be able to help you!"[/colour]

Sweetie Belle let out a soft *gasp* as she saw the golden suit, and quivered eagerly to see Valen's reaction. If it was *her*, she would have bounced up and down squeaking out 'thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" but Valen apparantly had better manners, giving a close examination and polite, reserved praise for the work of art. She stepped up next to Valen, and was unable to restrain herself from making her own comments. [colour=#800080]"Oh, it's *gorgeous*, you'll look *beautiful* in it! So elegant!" [/colour] Were those the right adjectives for a colt? [colour=#800080]"Very, very handsome, that is!"[/colour] There, that should be better. [colour=#800080] "I wouldn't mind wearing that, myself, it's so lovely!"[/colour] Wait, no, compliment the customer! How *did* Rarity manage to keep giving away all these works of art, day after day, that she'd put so much work into? Her voice cracked with energy as she said, [colour=#800080]"It will go *so* well with your coat and mane! Do you have a special fancy party you're going to?"[/colour] That's when it hit her - she'd been told, yesterday, that some nice little colt was going to show up today to get a fancy tux and ask her out to the fancy party! Was Valen it? He *was* the most upper-class colt in all of Ponyville! Would he ask her now? No, he'd wait till after he had the tux on, to make the best impression! [colour=#800080]"Would you like to try it on?"[/colour] Sweetie Belle squeaked eagerly, leaning towards Valen with her eyes shining excitedly to see him wear it!

For the new example of the artwork: That is a good example. Good job. There's still the issue that you are trying to have your Mane RP OC live with your FFA RP OC. They should really each be in the same area. If you want, you can try to get a Mane RP version of the FFA character approved, but that has to be done first. However, there are still a number of issues you have not dealt with. I've asked you a number of questions and, instead of answering them, you just change the app again. The most concerning of which are still about her parents and these new two that you want her to live with. What is the point of the interim foster parents? They show up *only* to lose her. There's nothing to connect her to them, no real significance to them in the story - except to make the story more confusing, and by this point, it really does look like all parties involved are incompetant. The police, the parents, the new guardians, and Duskus herself cannot figure out how to walk across town and bring her back to her parents. This is not some sort of wilderness survivalist area, or a medeival wasteland... this is modern Equestria. The police can get a lost foal home in very short order. If someone takes a lost child into their home and does not tell the police ... that's kidnapping. If this were some medeival fantasy world, it would make a lot more sense. WHY is this unauthorized guardianship such an important part of your story? These are actual questions, not rhetorical ones - please answer the question so that I understand, don't just change the app again.

The easiest way to get emeralds really is to grow five tons of wheat and then sell it to villagers. See also: selling paper and charcoal to villagers. I've gotten something like 20 stacks of emeralds that way. You can look at the map of the server, pick an unexplored area, and go there. But remember you don't need mountains - you need extreme hills. I've finished adding Trottingham to the nether roadway. I found, supposedly, 'Talonopolis', but there's just a bunch of digging that happened there - no building of cities that I can see. Did I miss anything? Is there anyplace else that needs adding to the transportation system?