Bramble Rose

I focused on the positive. When I was in retail, my self-imposed job was to make sure that none of the little old ladies who kept coming in left without a smile on their faces.

I have reset the Stalliongrad teleport pad, and also expanded the path through the Nether to reach Stalliongrad. I also modified the upper part of the Appleloosa path to use half-blocks for the floor instead of full-blocks - since Zombie Pigmen won't spawn on top of half-blocks. I will be doing the same for Trottingham, and plan on locating Talonopolis and doing similarly for it, as well as adding Talonopolis to the Teleport Network.

Silver Flash frowned in a thoughtful manner. [colour=#808080]"Hrmmmmm... two harmonic spellcasters, no arcane spellcaster or rogue yet ... though if the cleric takes the magic sphere, then there can be a bit of arcane casting through items ... "[/colour] She sighs, tapping her hoof on the table, then her face brightens. [colour=#808080]"Ah, of course! The Crafty Rogue! I'll take a rogue, pump up the Use Magic Item skill, and when I'm high enough, I'll grab the Master Craftsman feat so I can build stuff for us all! Then I can still use all the battle techniques I was wanting to try out ... but straight up rogue or a rogue/fighter multiclass? Those extra feats would be handy ... Are we using standard multiclassing, or gestalt standard 2 multiclassing? Course, if we're using gestalt, I'll be falling behind everyone else cause of my slower hit-dice progression, but I think I can handle that ..."[/colour] Without waiting for an answer, Silver Flash opened up a folder to reveal character sheets - sliding one over to Vivid, another to Sketch, yet another to Sugar Rush. She leaned towards Sketch, who'd asked the question. Since she seemed to be the only other experienced player here, might as well take a little heat off of the gamemaster! [colour=#808080]"You need to figure out who they are - here, first put Unicorn there ... and Cleric, right there ..." [/colour]she said to Sketch. [colour=#808080] "'Cleric' is your class, and "Unicorn' is your race ... you're not *technically* a unicorn wizard, cause wizard is another class. You can specialize later into some prestige classes if you want to go the whole warpriest route, but this is like prepwork for that. Right, now, there's six different spheres for clerics ... you need to pick two of them. Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic. Kindness has all the healing spells, so I'd really suggest taking that, cuz it'll really help ... and if you wanna go a warpriest route, then there's always the need for healers on the front lines. Other than that, you might wanna go magic - cause that'll get you a little bit of that 'wizard' oomph that you kinda implied you wanted. If you do that you can use magic items as if you were a wizard half your caster level, and a feat later which bumps iot up to same caster level as your cleric, which is *way* useful!"[/colour] She paused for breath ... [colour=#808080]"But really, um ... that's all just numbers and labels. What you *really* need to figure out, first, *who* your cleric is. Cause these choices depend on that. *Why* is he a cleric? Was he poor or rich, growing up? What led him to the monastary? Who were his parents? And, of course, you need to come up with a cutie mark story for him. The character determines the numbers... so you can't put down any numbers till you figure out who you're making."[/colour] She grins broadly. [colour=#808080]"For instance... my Rogue is ... hmmm... Snicker Snack the Tinkerer! Born to a family of pegasus smiths who worked on maintaining the magic weather machinery, she was expected to take up the family business ... but as much as she loved working on magical devices, she just didn't find it fascinating enough ..." [/colour] Silver Flash's imagination started seizing hold of the idea, fleshing it out, bringing together the pieces in her head ... ----- The young Snicker Snack was nestled in under the cloud generator - her small size letting her slip in where a more skilled adult wouldn't be able to, letting her repair the device in situ, meaning less downtime for the busy pegasi of the Cloud Factory. As much as everyone was counting on her, it just seemed ... blah, to her. There was so much that could be done with her skills, but she was looking forward at an eternity of just fixing the same machine over and over and over again! Like, at LEAST five years! That was worse than eternity! That was FOREVER! The oil dripped from the machine onto her oversized goggles, dribbling off onto her dark purple, almost-black cheek, and into the red and orange streaked of her mane, but she didn't care. Why did this engine keep breaking, anyway? All these little cogs just kept disappearing ... except there was still half-a-cog here. It looked like something had taken a bite of the other half, but that was just silly- A quiet scampering noise caught Snicker Snack's attention, and she froze in terror, her imagination running rampant with her. What could eat metal? She squeaked and tried to wriggle out, but it was hard going - it was a snug fit, which was why she was the one in here. It was a monster! some sorta ... something that'd eat her, and they'd never find out what happened to her! A lizard scampered up into her line of site, carrying a cog in its little front hands, standing on the clouds as if the clouds were solid. Awwwww, he was cute! [colour=#a52a2a]"Hey there, little guy,"[/colour] Snicker Snack said in relief. It wasn't scary at all! The lizard opened up its jaws wide, showing big old sharp teeth, and bit the cog in half in one bite, swallowing in an instant. Then it hissed, and wings flapped out between its front and hind legs, and fins sprayed to either side of its head, the flying lizard looking three times as big as it had before, and infinitely scarier to the little foal. [colour=#a52a2a]"AAHHHHH!"[/colour] cried Snicker Snack, terrified, and instinctively swung her wrench at the little beast! To her surprise, it connected! She beat at the little bitty lizard time and time again, till it was battered and unconscious, then grabbed the battered lizard and wriggled and wriggled till she got out from under the cloud engine, panting heavily, her eyes wide and terrified. She dropped it to the clouds, and the unconscious lizard looked ... a LOT smaller than she thought it had been when it was only a couple feet from her trapped face. [colour=#0000cd]"Snicker!"[/colour] cried her mother, and she looked to her mother, wondering what was wrong, but her mother was smiling, and so was her father, and she followed her gaze to her flank, where the previously blank flank was instead marked with a wrench with the sun behind it. Snicker was panting, her heart was racing, and she was feeling jumpy and scared .... but she felt ALIVE, and that had been EXCITING! She wanted more excitement! ----- [colour=#808080]"And that's how Snicker Snack got her cutie mark!"[/colour] Silver Flash exclaimed excitedly, standing on her chair and brandishing a rulebook in one front hoof, which she had been using for the wrench in her rendition of Snicker Snack's tale. She realized what she was doing and grinned sheepishly, sitting down again. [colour=#808080] "And so after that, she started researching about far-away lands and creatures, and making new and interesting devices that would let her explore them!"[/colour]

Always love it, Kirby. Always love it. Your stuff makes me smile, and brings back all sorts of memories.

The idea of her living with someone other than her parents - considering her parents would be *really easy* to find, is still something of an issue. But moreso, there's a larger issue that I realized on my latest review of this app. I saw this line: "often having personal talks with herself like Shade does with his personalities before or after doing things." Which was odd - we do not allow MPD in mane RP. I went to look at Shade's app, and I saw he is *not* a mane RP character, but instead is a free-for-all character. Your mane RP character cannot be associated with a FFA character in this manner. Again, I'm going to bring up that this character *really* seems better suited towards FFA, herself. If you want to continue trying to redesign her till she fits Mane RP, we can keep at it. I'm patient. But I do want to suggest, again, that FreeForAll is probably more applicable for her.

I've reset the portals to Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Ponyville, and Appleloosa. I've not yet done the portals for Stalliongrad, Trottingham, or the Mushroom Kingdom, so I'll have to get those later.

Sweetie Belle made it into the kitchen to find it mostly clean ... though stuff had been moved around. She smiled happily. [colour=#800080]"Oh, thank you, Applejack! You're doing a *great* job!"[/colour] her voice cracked in her excitement over the fact that she wouldn't have to clean up the mess she'd left in here. Then she headed over to Rarity, and peered up at her in concern, even poked her a lil' with her small nose. [colour=#800080]"Is Rarity going to be OK?"[/colour] she asked, worriedly. [colour=#800080]"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital or something?"[/colour]

This is probably a topic for another thread - and if you want to, we can make that thread. However, in short - there is nothing 'magical' about something done that somehow matches one's cutie mark. A cutie mark has nothing to do with a special talent. It has everything to do with understanding yourself. That's *why* the Cutie Mark Crusaders haven't gotten their cutie marks - because they listened to Rainbow Dash, and keep looking for special talents, instead of listening to everyone else and looking within themselves for what makes *them* special.

You're right. There's not. Which is why nothing was said negatively about merely introverted and shy characters. The sentence you're complaining about does not describe that situation. No. It does not imply that. It means not having practiced or trained. Nothing at all is wrong with that. Which is why nothing negative was said about that sort of situation. The sentence you're complaining about does not describe that situation. That's about the closest you've gotten to actually getting it, but still not quite. Lord Brony, I really have to ask - why are you taking this so seriously and personally? You're twisting around some words, more or less stated in jest, and trying to make some big, serious discussion out of your own paranoid twisting of the words, instead of what it actually says.

First off, Lord Brony, I will repeat: These are the things we see too much of, and you are *not* being original if you try to do these, and we will roll our eyes and sigh because they happen WAY too often. They are detrimental to RP ... but NOT impossible to a good story. We just see them done wrong all the time. I can invent some reason for him to be in that RP and for him to stay in the RP (social situation). This is something we see a lot of. Especially where they have no interest in going out, they have no hooks, no interests that would cause them to go out, all they have are reasons why they stay indoors, and nothing that makes other ponies want to be around them. These ponies have no character hooks at all. And with regularity, that person then makes a thread where their pony is doing something random to try to stay away from ponies, and then posts to chat or to OOC going, "How do I get ponies to join my thread?" They want others to pull them out - which is not good RP. Good RP is adding to other people's RP and fun, and providing ways for your pony to be part of things - not demanding that others try to force you to be part of things. The loner pony might have fun with that idea ... but it's very unfair to other RPers. And frankly .. every time I read it, I feel like they're just trying to be Twilight. Twilight is the exception, not the rule. why not? Its perfectly legit to have a cutie mark story where your blank flank, tries something, then: he/she picks it up really quickly (aptitude) OR finds it easy for some reason (natural innate talent) OR has some prior knowledge/interest which allows him/her to do one of the above 2 then cutie mark appears If one 'picks it up very quickly' - they're not *starting* as good. They just learn fast. Thus does not apply. When one finds it easy, one is still not 'good' at it. Thus does not apply. If they have prior knowledge ... then they're practiced or trianed. Thus does not apply. Look at the sequence of items that's part of instead of taking it out of context. We get application after application of someone picking up something they have no history with whatsoever ... and spontaneously spitting out something impossibly good. A work of art that surprises masters. A sculpted piece of metal which amazes the master smith who owns the shop. Defeating an adult in a contest of skill. Everypony keeps wanting to be child prodigies because 'it's their special talent' and completely misses that a cutie mark is not a magic 'I win' button - especially not over all the other ponies who have the same sort of cutie mark. NONE of the main six got their cutie mark by winning contests, or by discovering, "Oh, hey, this thing I never tried before - I'm good at it!" Twilight had an epic Cutie Mark story. But that's because she's TWILIGHT. She's the exception, not the rule, in almost every single way. And even then, it was doing something she'd been practicing for a long time. Rarity was doing something she'd been practicing for quite a while - she just found what inspired her the most, she realized what she most loved about it. Rainbow Dash discovered that she loved competing, but it wasn't something she'd never tried before. It was just that moment of realization of 'Oh, THIS is why I love to do this!' Fluttershy, yes, discovered she could talk to animals, but that wasn't what prompted her cutie mark. Rather, it was her *care* of creatures, her taking care of them, that brought her the cutie mark, her recognizing herself as a nurturer. Applejack realized what 'home' meant. It certain wasn't something new for her - in fact, it was a realization that she didn't need something 'new', it was what she had all along. And Pinkie Pie is about the only one who got hers trying something new, but it wasn't exactly rocket science. She realized she loved to make ponies smile. And she made a party. It wasn't an amazing party, or something that would astonish experienced caterers... it was just a little bitty party for ponies she knew very well.

[colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie Belle knew nothing but darkness, floating in a bodyiless void ... Well, not bodyless ... there was definitely a body, because it was all sorts of aching. OK, so it was a bodied void of darkness, and nothing else. And scratchiness. Darkness, achiness, and scratchiness. And also something tickling her nose. Darkness, achiness, scratchiness, and nose-tickliness. [colour=#800080]*AH-CHOO!*[/colour] Sweetie Belle's head popped up out of the hay bale behind Apple Bloom's with the force of the sneeze, and she blinked around confusedly. [colour=#800080]"What happened?"[/colour] she asked in surprise. [colour=#800080]*AH-CHOO!*[/colour] A cloud of dust raised up with the second sneeze, setting off several more sneezes from the little filly. ----- [colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Dash chuckled softly. [colour=#0000cd] "Why wouldn't you be able to have cider?"[/colour] she asked cheerfully. [colour=#0000cd]"It's the best in all of Equestria!"[/colour] She blinked, then, as suddenly there were falling hay bales and diving old ponies all around her. [colour=#0000cd]"Wha? Wha? Wha?"[/colour] She blinked, and looked around some more, blinking in surprise. [colour=#0000cd]"What just happened?"[/colour] she asked Scootaloo, perplexed. [colour=#0000cd] "Ah well, more cider for us!"[/colour] She grabbed up a mug and poured a draw for herself, licking her lips in anticipation.

Sweetie Belle came out of the back room, carrying a bolt of cloth slowly and carefully for Rarity. She was wearing her 'Shop Assistant' outfit again, though Rarity had found a smaller measuring tape for herself, and had given her empty frames for glasses, instead. She slid the bolt of cloth off onto the table where rarity had told her to place it, then turned to make sure Rarity had seen she was being good! Especially after yesterday's mistakes ... [colour=#800080]"Oh! Hello!"[/colour] she chirped happily, seeing Valen there. He looked familiar ... hadn't she seen him around the Apple Family farm? [colour=#800080]"Uh, nice to see you again, uh ... Mister Orange! Are you here to get yourself a nice little suit?"[/colour] He was an orange, right? What was his name again? [colour=#800080]"You remember me, right? Sweetie Belle?"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]Sweetie Belle[/colour] Sweetie Belle stuck close to her friend as the fit of giggles faded, leaving her sister and Rainbow Dash to clean up on their own. She hugged Scootaloo eagerly, and said,[colour=#800080] "Oh, man, you just missed the best thing about my big sister Rarity spitting!"[/colour] she giggled. She was sure Scootaloo would find that pretty amusing, too! [colour=#800080] "Well,"[/colour] she said to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both, [colour=#800080]"I think you should leave our gifts for last! The grand finale, as it were! But don't you want to wait for Applejack and Big Mac before opening your gifts?"[/colour] She crossed her lil' white hooves and rested her head on them, restraining her quivering eagerness in her attempts to be polite... [colour=#800080]"But I wanna see what you got!"[/colour] she broke out after two very long seconds of trying to be good! ----- [colour=#006400]Purple Haze[/colour] Purple Haze pranced happily as she pulled her little red wagon along behind her. She was so excited! Her very first party here in Ponyville! She'd taken an unusually long time getting ready this morning, making sure her mane was just right, and ironing out her party dress very carefully. It had a lovely cream-colored blouse, and a green-and-orange tartan skirt - the family's colors. She had a little green bow in her mane, and butterflies in her stomach. She'd already met Apple Bloom, and she seemed like a kindred spirit, and she'd visited everyone at school, of course ... but she'd rarely had a chance to do anything with the other colts and fillies outside of school. She just *had* to make a good impression! And the wagon was stocked up with her cooking efforts of all of yesterday - carrot cupcakes and her favorite garlic-fried carrot sticks and carrot chips and several jugs of her blue-ribbon carrot-medly juice, and all sorts of tasty snacks that she was nervous about getting on her nice clothes! And, of course, late. Because when they'd finally gotten ready to go ... and then waited for her brother to clean up after his morning chores that he never stopped doing in time to go a-visitin' ... he hadn't even been wearing his nice party clothes! So she'd had to make sure *he* got dressed in his nice clothes, too, before they could finally go! [colour=#006400] "Eeee, innit exciting, big brae?" [/colour]she asked eagerly. [colour=#006400]"Ye've been here longer 'n me, an' still nae a party tae ye, either! Now, dinnae ye go tryin' tae help Miss Applejack wi' her chores an' gettin' yer kilt all dirty! Ye're here tae party!"[/colour] The two ponies stepped into the apple family barn, which was abustle with so much activity! She was about to call out a greeting when she suddenly felt a lurch, and she turned around quick to see snacks threatening to spill out over the floor. She quickly scurried back to bobble and juggle the toppling stacks of dishes, and saw the problem - a wheel had popped off of her precious wagon! The wagon she'd had since forever, that her own big brae had made for her when he'd been no bigger than she was just now! [colour=#006400]"Oh no! Oh no!"[/colour] she squeeked worriedly! [colour=#006400]"Big Brae, help!"[/colour] ----- [colour=#0000cd]Rainbow Dash[/colour] Carrot, though, was being seized by another pony. Rainbow Dash seized his hoof and dragged him away a couple steps. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, Carrot! Nice ta see ya! Didn't know you were gonna be here?"[/colour] She brushed at the bits of frosting and cake still sticking to her blue coat, unaware of the big blob of frosting hanging from the end of the red crest of her rainbow mane. [colour=#0000cd] "I'll have ta introduce you to everypony! Like here! This is my friend, Rarity!"[/colour] She gestured to the messy catastrophy of cake and icing standing next to her. [colour=#0000cd]"She's pretty cool. Rarity, this is Carrot. He's a real gentlecolt! Bought me snacks and held doors for me and everything!" [/colour] Rarity should find that impressive, right? She leaned closer and gave a confidential whisper, [colour=#0000cd]"And he's got an awesome accent..."[/colour] She blinked, and took a second look, then leaned around Carrot to look again. [colour=#0000cd]"Aaaand... he apparantly likes skirts, too?"[/colour] she said, her lips quivering... then she turned over in mid-air and let out a peal of laughter. [colour=#0000cd]"Bwaaa-ha-ha-ha! Lose a bet? heeheehee"[/colour] She stood up again and wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. [colour=#0000cd]"Woooo! You're a hoot, Carrot!"[/colour] Then she blinked and jumped, then, as Scootaloo came eagerly up to her. [colour=#0000cd] "Sure, kid, I know who you are, of course!" [/colour] She laughed and rolled her eyes. [colour=#0000cd]"How ya been doing? Working on those stunts on your scooter?"[/colour] She glanced over at the snack table. [colour=#0000cd]"Hey, how bout you and me head over and see if they brought out a barrel or two of the Apple Family Cider, shall we?" [/colour]She put her hoof over Scootaloo's shoulders and wandered off towards the snack table eagerly.

Yes. Well, no. Equestria doesn't have the same physics as Earth. That much is obvious. But even more so - science is basically a process whereby one determines what forces affect existance. Whatever is how things work - science is the way one figures that out. In Equestria, Harmony and Magic are the fundamental forces of the world.

Doctor Whooves holed up in his self-propelled cart, the rain beating down upon the bright blue canvas stretched over his head. His tan coat dripped lightly, his dark brown hair slicked along his head. The firebug lantern's light at the top of the canvas swelled and dimmed, swelled and dimmed, lighting up the peak of the canvas like a beacon into the night. He hunched over a half-dismantled engine in the rear of the compartment, a spaghetti's mess of tubes spilled out of it into his hooves. He had a screwdriver clenched in his teeth as he fumbled with re-seating several pneumatic connectors. [colour=#8b4513]"So when the landshark came after the bait, it went flying off the cliff and into the valley. Since the valley was geographically isolated by solid rock, the landshark couldn't escape, and they set up some sort of natural preserve around it, with fences warning ponies away. All neat and tidy!"[/colour] he mumbled around the screwdriver, finishing thee story as he tried to shove the mess of tubing back into the engine. [colour=#8b4513]"Right, now put two, three, and seven back in place, would you?"[/colour] The lightning crashed overhead, illuminating everything briefly for the two ponies huddled under the canvas.

Sweetie Belle perked up as a pegasus pony came up to the Boutique and knocked. [colour=#800080] "Oh, hello!"[/colour] she said primly, forgetting about the rock briefly to hurry over to Misty Morning. [colour=#800080] "The Fabulista is in, and she'll be happy to help you as soon as she's done with-" [/colour] She paused and stepped out of the way as Starburst exited the shop. [colour=#800080] "Have a lovely day, Miss! I'm glad you enjoyed the hot apple juice!" [/colour] She turned back to Misty Morning. [colour=#800080] "The Fabulista is free to see you, now!"[/colour] she chirped merrily. [colour=#800080] "Please step inside and she will help you be even more beautiful!"[/colour] She turned back to the rock, considering, then her face brightened up and she ran around behind the shop. She was gone only a short time before she appeared once more, carrying a bunch of flowers with their roots exposed, and a little trowel. She started digging around the big boulder, setting up a scraggly little row of flowers before him. Sweetie Belle was *certain* that Rarity would love this! Why have these flowers in a garden in the back of the boutique when they could be beautifying the front of the boutique for the customers? She then hung some pretty streamers around the rock. [colour=#800080]"There! Rarity will think you're beautiful, now!" [/colour]she squeaked happily.

The scrawny and awkward unicorn reeled back as Martini got up in his face, his eyes wide in surprise. [colour=#ff8c00] "Uh, m-ma'am, you're n-not supposed t'be here,"[/colour] he stammered out, leaning back on his hooves as she threatened him with a book. The older mare sighed and covered her eyes with her hoof. [colour=#ff8c00] "Uhhh,"[/colour] continued the young unicorn, [colour=#ff8c00]"there's n-no need to resort to, uh, violence, ma'am! We can go up to the front desk and look up the information you need! Please be-"[/colour] He was interrupted by Brazil's brazen entrance, and his eyes widened further. [colour=#ff8c00] "Oh, uh, n-no, no sir, please d-don't do that! P-please, we can just go up front and find you this 'baron' book that you're looking for! We, uh, we also have several copies of Fifty Colors of Unicorns or My Twilight Immortal if you're looking for the popular must-read books!"[/colour]

Doctor Whooves was rather oblivious to Trixie's demands, at first, just grinning broadly out over the new expanse of the river, flooding past him into the path it had followed for hundreds of years. He was puffed up with pride at the events of the day, and just stared down into it for several minutes. Finally, he turned around and strutted back to the wagon, letting out a contented sound. [colour=#8b4513]"Right, then, enough lollygagging, you lot! Time to be off!"[/colour] He suddenly was a bundle of energy again as he cleaned up his tools and packed them away, then got himself under the harness and started pulling the wagon towards the shore. [colour=#8b4513]"Gotta get this all fixed up and take some readings! No time to lose!"[/colour] ( Lost Library Interlude - No Bit Parts ) The trip back to the shore was uneventful, with Doctor Whooves casually chatting with Trixie for half the way. His hooves were light, as if his cart weighed nearly nothing, and upon reaching the shore, he wasted no time in breaking out his tools and getting the cart back in proper working order. ----- ----- ----- The massive, broken, black stone walls stood jagged on the black-sanded shoreline, and the great black stone wharves reached far out over the sea. Scattered husks of clockwork ponies dotted the vista here and there, lying inert, their ancient spells lacking the power to keep them active. White seagulls circled overhead, letting out a raucous sound over the distant countryside. Doctor Whooves had brought his cart out onto the end of a long wharf and had set up some large telescope-like device studded with crystals, which spun freely on its pole as he made adjustments to it in accordance to whatever he heard when striking his tuning fork. [colour=#8b4513]"Miss Heartstrings, I'll be needing you,"[/colour] he was saying to Lyra, sounding distant, as his attention was obviously mostly on his experiment,[colour=#8b4513] "to find that family we sent off down the shoreline and let them know their home is safe again. And I'm sorry I couldn't stop for dinner, but I'll be back for their seaweed salad sometime soon! If you have a chance, let them make you a bowl, it's really fantastic."[/colour] He sighed softly. [colour=#8b4513]"Such a disappointment. Oh, and should probably have them bury the Clockwork Ponies, or else they'll be up to their cutie marks in scholars and scribes trying to study them."[/colour]

Doctor Whooves climbed up the stairs with a soft step, feeling ever-so-lighthearted. A small, knowing smirk spread across his lips as he softly, proudly whispered, "And that's the sort of princess you are..." Back in the collapsed chamber, a small music box that had been left behind clicked, and opened up. A tiny silver moon lifted out of it, and started to spin, and tinny, tinkling little music sounded forth - and ancient song, one that even Luna should be able to recognize ... Fly me to the moon Let me play among the stars Though dust was everywhere, the princess of the night didn't seem to have a speck on her. Her dark coat was as deep as eternity, and the night sky sparkled in the brilliance of her mane as it waved on an unseen wind, rippling through the air and proclaiming her majesty. Fill my heart with song And let me sing for ever more

*laughs8 very sleek looking design there, Kirby!

Silver Flash smiled silently to herself. No one seemed to have recognized her name - news of her being the lead in the first ever Daring Do play hadn't gotten to these others, yet. Good, then it'd just be about the game, and adventure. "Awww," she sighed. "No custom feats? Ah well. Maybe once we've gotten into it a bit, you'll change your mind." The great beauty of stage and song gave him a wink and a stunning smile, then turned back to the table. "Right, then," she said, and nodded to Vivid. "We've got the warrior of the group! Now, a standard, balanced adventure group includes the knowledgeable caster, the clever rogue, and the wise adherent to the elements of harmony. I'm amenable to being the rogue - I have a great idea for using some of the feats from the Trickster book to shift the tide of battle, plus I'm rather knowledgable..." she giave a little smirk, "With the techniques of getting past traps in ancient tombs. But I'm willing to play any of the others, too! I've played them all, and the new folks should get a chance to play the ones that inspire them!" She took a deep drink of the lemonade before her, let out an 'aahhhhh' in appreciation of it being just as sweet as she liked it, then proceeded to start emptying out the *other* saddlebag of all its books - Hidden Arcana, Holts and Homes, Planes of Power, all four volumes of the Tome Magicka, the Trapfinder's Handbook, all six Elemental Splatbooks, the Diary of Elm Riser the Wizard, the Wilderness Wildebook, and many other slender gamebooks, finishing it up with a nice big dice bag that had a lovely clacky noise as it jostled onto the table. She dragged her "The Abyss" uber-cup of soda over next to her, and popped open the pizza box for a slice of the alfalfa pizza. "I hope non-ponies like alfalfa too!" she said, "Sorry, I didn't realize you would be here!"

Sweetie Belle sagged a little at Rarity's admonishment, but then rolled her eyes and murmured to Apple Bloom, "I just don't understand what Rarity considers polite, somtimes. Like, tasting the frosting on a cake is uncouth, but at some fancy Canterlot wine party, you're supposed to spit out all the wine. Can you imagine Rarity spitting like that?" She made a quiet little 'hwak-ptu!' noise, then giggled impishly, grinning at her friend. "So!" she said louder, "do you know what kinda games we're gonna play? We gonna do any crusading during the party? Maybe we can get party cutie marks of some sort!" ----- ----- ----- Rainbow Dash floated through the sky, feeling the wind ripple through her feathers and wash over her coat. She carried a package in her teeth, for Apple Bloom's party, but for now she'd forgotten it. The party was *ages* away, anyway... and she could get there in ten seconds flat whenever she wanted! For now, she simply drifted across the sky, enjoying a lazy morning. A thermal touched at her wings and she felt a thrill, and the conditions suddenly brought her to mind of a spectacular trick she had developed a couple months ago. Without hesitating, she launched into it, spiralling through the air and then launching right from the barrel roll into an upward climb. The wind whipped through her mane and she opened her mouth wide in a wonderous grin at the joy of flight. The gift whipped away from her and hurtled towards the ground. "Oh no!" Rainbow gasped, hovering briefly in the air as she came to a stop, then pushed her head forward, and the rest of her followed, streaking downwards through the sky with a small rainbow trail behind her. She narrowed her eyes, pushed herself harder and faster, arrowing down towards the ground, and the little brightly-wrapped speck between her and that great green expanse. She strained, and just a dozen feet above the ground, she snagged a ribbon between her teeth and pulled out of the dive, wobbling across the landscape, just skimming the tops of apple trees, unable to cut her speed as she saw the bright red barn suddenly rearing up before her. Dash crashed in through the open window, clipping her wingtips on the edges and completely ruining any chance she had of recovering her control, tumbling down to collapse heavily on Rarity, the gift bouncing and ricocheting across the room to land in a *whumph* amongst the pile of gifts. Rainbow Dash shook her head and blinked, trying to clear her vision, and looked down to see Rarity looking back up at her from only a few inches away. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Sorry bout that, Rarity! Had a trick that kinda got away from me there!" She let out a soft laugh at her own clumsiness. "Thanks for bein' there to catch me! Good to know I can count on you!" She glanced around a bit, blinking at all the ponies and bright decorations. "Wait ... what time is it?"