PyroBlaze

Tiger had to admit, this sangria stuff was pretty tasty. He smiled a bit at the taste, looking over at Midnight as he brought up his dilemma. Interesting choices he supposed, but it’s not like he’d know the best option for somepony he had just met earlier that day. Still, he could offer his advice. “Well, that depends on where you really want to be. If you want to stick around Ponyville, I’d say take that lieutenant position. Otherwise, it’s a matter of measuring the pros against the cons. It took a while to figure out if I should take this Blueblood job, especially since he usually lives in Canterlot, but in the end I decided to go for it because it was a good offer and he wasn’t like most nobles.” He shrugged, looking over at Midnight. “I’d definitely like to spend more time with you, but don’t stick around just for us.”

Caramel had no idea where they were going, but at least she got to do it with her big sister! She was happy to be close to her since they were both in Ponyville now. She nodded along as Candy spoke, giggling at the comment about her mane. “Nope, haven’t heard back from them ‘bout it, but who knows?” She shrugged as she responded to the family question. She hoped they would come, it’d be weird to do Hearthswarming without the rest of the family with them. Her thoughts were interrupted, thankfully, when Candy pointed out a pegasus mare ahead. A famous one, apparently, though she didn’t recognize her. It was also unclear how Candy would’ve met a famous pony from Las Pegasus, but whatever. For now, Caramel gave a friendly wave to Wind and stayed quiet.

"Hard to say, since they had more to clean up than me. Still, I'm sure at least Midnight is coming when he's ready." Tiger shrugged, taking a seat as he waited. He didn't have to wait long though, as two others showed up soon enough. He gave a wave to the pegasus he recognized from the race, winking at her and Midnight as they entered. As far as drinks go though, he followed Berry's suggestion and Midnight's lead, raising his glass of sangria in response to Midnight's toast. "I can second that, our host certainly is a lovely one." He chuckled, winking at Berry again. "Also, a toast to Tongue Twister! Congrats on winning, great racing out there."

Tiger had been looking forward to this since Berry had suggested it partway through the race. After cleaning himself up, mostly sweat and dust, though he had gotten a bit of sap on him when helping the others out. It was worth it though, so he didn’t mind. Newly cleaned and wearing his typical pants, Tiger entered the bar. He smiled over at Berry, winking as he walked over. “Long time no see, huh? What kind of drinks do you have in here anyways?” He chuckled, smiling over at her.

“Nope!” She smiled, leaning back in her seat and watching Kettle. Trains were fun, especially red ones. Caramel was really looking forward to having the three sisters together again. Staying at the school, she had explored the area around Ponyville some. It was a nice place, but it had been good to be back home, however briefly that had been.

Caramel giggled a bit more, nodding as she started looking around for something Kettle could guess. Eventually, as she was looking out the window, the train was taking a turn and she caught sight of it. “I spy, with my little eye, something red.” She smiled at Kettle, letting her try to figure it out.

“Of course I’m down for that! I wouldn’t leave ya hanging now!” Tiger chuckled in response, releasing Berry from the hug and returning the one Midnight gave him. What a trio the three of them made, but hey, he wasn’t going to turn down two new friends, or anything more they might become later. Jade was still a bit of an outlier, honestly, he still wasn’t sure about her. The conversation turning to Apple Bloom’s condition kinda jostled him out of his thoughts, and he frowned a bit as he looked over her. Hopping down from the podium, he headed towards her. “Yo! Can I get a medic over here?” He called out loudly, hopefully getting the attention of one, or at least somepony that could find one. After that though, he stopped in front of Apple Bloom and sat down, trying to get an idea of what the problem was.

Caramel shrugged, looking out the window again for a while and humming in thought. Eventually, she spotted something that made her gasp in realization. Facing Kettle, she booped her sister’s nose and giggled. “It was you, wasn’t it!” She smiled, giggling a bit more.

It was kinda funny how she got to this point, really. Caramel had gone back home to Bittsburgh during a school break, riding the train there, and now she was on her way back to Ponyville to visit her older sister. Not that she really minded, the mechanisms of trains were pretty fascinating, and she got to spend time with her younger sister this time. Speaking of, she tuned back in just in time to hear Kettle declare the color she saw. Caramel rubbed her chin a bit, humming in thought as she looked out the window to try and spot whatever Kettle had seen. “Tha Sun?” She asked hopefully, looking back at her sister. It could easily have been something nearby the train that Kettle had happened to catch sight of, which would mean it’d be impossible for her to see it at this point.

Tiger was actually pretty happy with this outcome. Having not really tried to win at all, it was nice to make it onto the podium at least. It was also interesting that it was a podium that included up to fifth place, but he wasn't about to complain about that. He nodded as the mayor gave him his medal, giving a confident smirk at her words to him. Once she moved on, he winked over at Berry, watching as she received her own award. "Great job, Berry. Really pulled away there at the end, but I was a little distracted by preparing to fight Jade's new pet. Y'know, just in case it was necessary. Still, congrats, you definitely earned that." He smiled at her, pulling her into a one-legged hug before kissing her on the cheek. "You and Midnight made this race a great one, so thanks for that."

Man, it was times like this that he wished he could take his spear everywhere. He had left it at home though, since there was no real reason to take it with him. It would have made running the race harder for one, plus there had been no reason to think things would end up like this with the whole group running away from Jade and her new ‘pet.’ For now, Tiger was truly going all out as he ran towards the finish, hoping there was something back there he could use as a weapon if the need arose. Of course, he more hoped he wouldn’t need to use any weapons right now, but he wouldn’t be a very good guard or warrior if he wasn’t ready for the possibility anyways. He had to get there first in any case, so he tried to focus on the finish line, running full-tilt towards it.

Name: Caramel Corn Gender: Female Age: Filly Species: Earth Pony Eye Color: Pale purple Character Color: A caramel orange Mane/Tail: Her mane is messy and spiky, puffing out from her head a bit and reaching down to her back even with some of it pulled into a ponytail. It is mostly a magenta color, though around the area of her left eye it is purple. This purple area includes an inner part of the ponytail and extends a bit down her neck. Her tail is relatively short, and is similarly spiky like her mane. It also shares the same colors, with the purple being the interior and the magenta outlining it. Physique: She tends to be shorter than other fillies her age, but she makes up for it by being strong. She has the kind of strength that comes with growing up on a farm, and she likes to maintain it even when there’s not as much work to help out with. She also has freckles on her face. Residence: School of Friendship. Originally from her family’s farm near Bittsburgh. Occupation: Student Cutie Mark: She does not have her mark yet. Unique Traits: Aspiring Mechanic; She has always been interested in how things worked, and would often take apart stuff and try to put them back together. History: Growing up in the Corn family, Caramel was the middle child of three, though she was actually the firstborn of her father. Not that she knew that her older sister was only a half-sibling, or that it mattered that much. It was a happy life, and a busy one with all the farmwork to help out with. Whenever she had free time, she would tend to hang out by herself, reading or trying to figure out the mechanisms of their more complex tools. Once her older sister left, things got a bit more lonely around the house, and she ended up drawing more into herself, only really interacting with the rest of her family. Worried about the solitude, her mother eventually sent her off to the Friendship School in Ponyville to try and get her more friends. And bonus, she would be closer to her sister! Personality: She is a friendly pony when she gets to know someone, but being an introvert means it can be difficult to get to that point. She is very curious about how things work, and tends to try and figure them out by herself. She is very chill, not very likely to get angry at others.

Tiger was running a bit behind Berry and another stallion at this point, but he didn’t really mind. It was quite the nice view after all, and he was happy to watch those flanks ahead of him. He caught Berry looking back at him, and he winked at her before her gaze moved on. He was really looking forward to later when he was going to meet up with Berry, Midnight, and Jade. They were going to have so much fun together, he could tell. And then Jade arrived on the scene with her new pet. Tiger blinked a bit as he looked back at her, then turned his gaze forward and sped up to stay ahead of the creature. He didn’t want to deal with that right now, he had no reason to doubt Jade’s taming skills, but she hadn’t been alone with that thing all that long. The fact it looked like some kind of dragon was even more worrying, but he supposed he’d deal with it once they arrived at the finish line. For now, he kept running and kept his eyes on the prize.

With Apple Bloom prepared, and Berry helping out, Tiger pulled on the branch and eventually freed the young pony. He gave her a smile and nod before following Berry back to help Midnight out. He couldn’t resist following Berry’s lead and licking some of the sap off of the aerion. “You’re right, Berry, that does taste pretty good.” He added, winking at Midnight before heading off to catch up with Berry. “Not to be sappy or anything, but I’m glad I met you all.” He added, chuckling at his little pun. This had been quite the fun experience, and now they were all free from the sap! Sure, it would’ve made winning more likely if he left them there, but that’d take all the fun out of it. Plus, he wasn’t even actually trying to win at this point, he was more interested in socializing while they ran.

Well, so much for his warning. Oh well, it wasn’t really a big deal, and actually kinda funny when it was clear nobody got hurt. He chuckled slightly as he moved over to Berry and reached out with the branch he was carrying to help pull her out of the sap. “Here you go, Berry, grab on!” He said, bracing himself so he didn’t get thrown off balance when she was pulled out. When she was ready, he started to pull her out, being careful to not back up into another puddle. Once that was done with, he smiled at her and moved on to help pull Apple Bloom out too. He stopped near the younger pony, holding the stick out for her to grab. “Hey there. Looks like you could use some help, huh? Grab on if you want out of there.” Tiger smiled at her, getting ready to pull.

Tiger nodded as he listened to Midnight’s story about his past. The earth pony could appreciate the fanged look too, scaring predators was definitely a valid defense mechanism. Actually, in a matter of life or death like that, anything was valid as long as it worked. He knew he had played plenty of tricks to get out of fights with beasts that he couldn’t win, or didn’t want to fight for whatever reason. “Eh, you get used to it.” He shrugged, smirking a bit at Midnight’s comment about Hesperia being more dangerous than the Everfree. It was quite possible, honestly, but he hadn’t had much cause to explore the Everfree, so it was hard to compare. Soon enough, and after some talk of vampires and the unfortunate news that Jade had failed to locate Apple Bloom, they emerged from the dark forest and into a brighter one. The Whitetail Woods, if he wasn’t mistaken. It was downright pleasant compared to the last area, aside from all that sap around. “Well, good job getting us through that last section. Thanks for letting us tag along.” Tiger said, giving Midnight a friendly pat on the back before continuing on. He decided to keep the branch for now, since it could still prove useful. “Watch your step, I doubt you want to end up stuck in that sap. I’ll help you out if either of you get stuck though.” He winked to Midnight and Berry, smiling.

“Don’t worry, Berry, between the three of us we can fight off anything that comes our way.” Tiger smirked, draping a foreleg over Berry’s shoulders for a moment as he leaned in for a quick kiss. He was aiming for her cheek for now, but if she wanted to go straight to lips, he wouldn’t complain. Once that was done, he took his foreleg off her and stayed nearby the two as they made their way into the forest. “Really? Well, that’s pretty fortunate.” He chuckled as Midnight said he had grown up in a place like this. “I’m even happier that I met you two now. This race has been great so far.” He smiled, letting out a laugh. “My hometown was a lot more sunny, plenty of open space to run around in and all that. I had lots of fun times back then.” Tiger smiled, reminiscing a bit while keeping an eye on the surroundings. “Oh, also an arena, lots of fun testing myself in friendly competition in there.”

“Are you worried I am going to turn you in? Don’t be, those days are behind me and I have reasons to avoid interacting with guards myself.” Dox raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly, falling silent as she explained her story and the reasoning behind her search. A death in the family tended to be a common reason to seek an escape, but it was refreshing in a way to hear she wasn’t doing it just for her. That wasn’t something he ran into often with those seeking immortality. In any case, he leaned in a bit, enhancing his vision further while he looked at what was being pointed out.

“Well, there was a time I wanted to be a guard, but I ended up here because I enjoy exercising my mind more than my body, and it’s nice enabling others that feel the same.” Dox explained, shrugging a bit. It was true, in a way. Being a guard was close enough to what his hero days were like, from what he’d seen and heard. He watched the creature heal rapidly, observing how it happened. It was, unfortunately, harder to figure out how it stopped things from going too far though. “How about you? Did you do anything before alchemy?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the creature for now.

Through the dark woods Tiger breathed a sigh of relief as the rocks stopped falling around him. He kept his slower pace for now, partly to catch his breath and partly in the hopes that Berry and the others would catch up. It would be cool if he won, but really he’d be happy just having a good time with new friends at this point. By the time he made it to the crossroads he was plenty rested, but still he had to stop and consider the options. The hills would be harder physically, at least on the way up, but the forest would be harder to navigate. Decisions decisions... ”Oh, hey guys, how was the shelter from the rocks?” He said, breaking out of his thoughts just in time to see Jade run off into the dark forest. Looking between Berry and Midnight, he couldn’t help but feel like he missed out on something, and something fun at that. Oh well though, he couldn’t change the past. “Yo, Midnight? You can navigate that forest, right? Better than us, anyways. Would you mind if we tagged along?” He asked after a few moments, smiling at the two. “I’ll probably go either way, but figured we may as well help each other through, yeah?” He gave the two a wink before he got up and started making his way into the forest. If Midnight elected not to join them, he would take a lantern, but if he could leave the navigating to the other guard, he could pick up a fallen branch instead to fight off any creatures they may run into in there.

“That could very well be the reason.” Dox nodded at the possibility that Rose had damaged the control. He watched as she exchanged specimens to a new healthy one, stepping out of the way so she could work while making sure he still had a good view. “Not at all, helping you further your research is why I am here, after all.” He responded, smiling slightly as his horn glowed briefly. He was activating his own sight-enhancing spells as he watched what she was doing. He was very interested in how these creatures worked as well.

“Well, you would have to discover how it tells the body to stop regenerating or how it tells it to regen just the parts that it needs to, and use that knowledge to adapt it to the recipient and give them the control. Constant regeneration is bad in an otherwise healthy body, and only useful to counteract constant degeneration, so there needs to be a way to stop it from happening until it is needed.” Dox nodded, enjoying this little academic discussion. He felt like, in another life, he would’ve been happy living out a normal lifetime as a full scholar. But then again, the other part of his life was what enabled him to pursue this for as long as he had.

Dox nodded along while Rose talked about the creatures and the subjects in her experiments so far. It was all rather interesting stuff, maybe he should look into integrating some of these things into himself once the kinks get worked out. “Very interesting, but I believe part of the problem might be transferring the axelotl’s regeneration without their ability to regulate it. These creatures are the way they are because they’ve developed ways to control their abilities, so when trying to extract certain abilities from them, you have to make sure to also give the recipient control, even if it’s the body unconsciously controlling it for them.” He said, looking over the creatures again. Given how many creatures he had taken traits from over the years, he knew what to avoid.

Braving the rocks Tiger was feeling pretty good after that run, it was a shame that he had gotten separated from Berry at some point. As he gazed at the path ahead, he forced himself to slow down. Running like that was fun, but it wouldn’t be any good if he tripped along the path. To make matters worse, it seemed rocks were beginning to fall over the course, and the shelter that Berry found looked to be at capacity with the three of them in it. It was a tough choice between keeping this adrenaline rush going or play it safe and fine a different place to hide. Both choices seemed somewhat lonely, given that he didn’t want to distract anyone braving the rocks by talking to them. Eventually, the adrenaline won out and he kept going, keeping a slower pace so he could easily bolt ahead or stop as needed to avoid the rocks. His gaze moved back and forth between the path ahead and the rocks above, making sure he knew when they were coming and trying to not fall off the path at the same time.

Dox followed behind, examining the building as she made her way to a painting. When it activated and was revealed to be a portal, he smiled a bit. He had a portal of his own, but he had just hidden it in a secret room. Maybe this method would be better, or as an additional measure of defense. In any case, he followed closely behind her into the portal, examining his surroundings as he emerged into the new location. It was certainly an interesting variety of creatures in here, and with mutations to boot. That frog was indeed interesting, teleporting like that. “Well, at least you know for next time, right? More sedatives are required.” He chuckled slightly, making his way over to her and patting her on the back. “Little failures like this are fine, they help you learn for next time.”