PyroBlaze

Dox followed the mare as they walked, answering her questions with “Canterlot, originally.”, “I became a teacher because I want to enable the next generation to make breakthroughs that have never been seen before.”, and “Cheese is alright.” Upon arrival, he graciously accepted her offer and entered first, looking around the shop. He could tell the aroma in the room was to hide something else, he could smell the faint scent of something underneath it all, but he wasn’t sure what it was. “No, I can’t say that I have.” He responded to her question about the potion. “This looks to be quite the selection in here, but it all looks finished. Where is the work you wanted my help with? I’m eager to see how far you’ve gotten already.”

Dox glanced over at the mare as she thanked him and nudged the drink towards him again. He sighed slightly, but accepted since he didn’t see any harm in it. He could expunge any diseases she may pass to him anyways. Picking up the drink, he took a sip before putting it back down to watch his screen as he listened to her talk. So that’s what she meant by favorite, huh? “Earth ponies typically are more geared towards endurance and physical capabilities, but I would keep an eye on Jade Beaker and Tempest Shadow. They may be unicorns, but they’re stronger than that implies.” He responded, watching the two unicorns running through the open field area together. When the mare next to him called to a different pony, he looked over and immediately focused on Chipper. Now that he was paying attention to the stallion, he was certain he was looking at a necromancer. They tended to be interesting to talk to. “Yes, why don’t you come sit up here? I have a good view of the race.” He smiled, gesturing to the ongoing scrying spell.

Dox nodded to her return warning, glancing into the bag when it was opened. It certainly seemed like she was telling the truth about being an alchemist, not that he really doubted her on that front. Taking the booklet, he looked over the first bit of it, humming slightly. Interesting, it was similar to a language he knew, but there were some differences that made reading difficult. He would have to go over it with her later. “Lead the way then, let’s see if I can help you.” He said, stowing the booklet away for now.

Dox nodded along to the first part about her being an alchemist looking for fresh input on her work, it was something he understood and had helped with before. Part of the reason he did this side job as a teacher was to teach what he knew and see if any of the students did something new with that knowledge so he could add it to his own stores. There was only so many things one mind could figure out, but bringing in a fresh perspective could open up new possibilities. The subject of the research, however, gave him pause. “Well, that’s a surprise, I don’t get many students asking about things like that. I should warn you though, meddling with mortality does not do good things to the soul, especially the more effective methods I’ve seen.” He said in a quieter voice, trying to not be overheard. “We should go to a more private environment to talk about this though. Perhaps where you are doing this work? So I can see what you’ve done so far.”

Tiger simply smiled back at Berry, recognizing that she wasn’t as comfortable with talking while exerting herself this much. That was fair, she didn’t do guard training like he did, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to be in better shape. Turning his gaze back forward, he concentrated on the running itself, enjoying the sensations around him. Sensations like the wind whipping past him, the earth thundering with all the hooves hitting it, and the view of the nature and mares around him. It was a bit of a shame that Midnight wasn’t joining them, but he seemed to have found a new conversation partner, so he understood not wanting to run off on them yet.

Dox looked this mare over, examining her as she talked. When she mentioned she was looking for him, or rather the form he was currently wearing, he closed the book he was reading and slid it back into the bookshelf. “Why yes, I am Rising Star. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Compass. What can I help you with?” He asked, shaking the offered hoof and giving her a smile. Nobody really knew that Rising Star wasn’t real, or any of his predecessors for that matter, so generally when others sought out this form, it was to learn something. The only question was what that something would be.

Tiger smiled a bit at Jade's introduction, though his eyebrow raised as she mentioned big cats and her gaze lingered on him. What, just because of his name? He wasn't entirely sure what that was supposed to mean, but he didn't have long to think about it before Jade boasted about physical capabilities and bounded off again. The earth pony shook his head slightly, chuckling at her seemingly boundless energy so far, but Berry's reaction actually surprised him. Chasing Jade at this point, he could resist, especially with another pretty mare by his side. Chasing Jade and Berry though, with no mares nearby to tempt him into hanging back, that was a different story. He let out a bit of an excited laugh before speeding up as well, chasing down Berry first since he guessed she would be the easier of the two. On the way though, he took the chance to admire the flanks on display, and what flanks they were. He gave a quiet, appreciative whistle to Berry as he came up beside her, giving a wink as he matched her pace again. To be honest, this felt good, running like this through an open area. It reminded him of home, running around Hesperia hunting and training. "Mmm, this feels good. I should come out here more often just to run around, you know? Feel the wind whipping past." He smiled at her, speaking between breaths. All out!

Well, at least Hou seemed to be enjoying herself out there. He couldn’t exactly say the same, sitting here and watching. It didn’t help when the mare sat next to him and started talking. It was really hard trying to parse what was said into understandable sentences, so he looked over at her with a bit of confusion. “Race? Yes, I’ve done my fair share of them.” He responded, glancing at the drink as she kept speaking and complained about it’s temperature. His horn flashed a bit brighter as the drink cooled, turning his gaze back towards the sheet of water he was watching the race through. He had no idea what she meant by the favorites talk, so he decided to just ignore that part. “No thank you, I am not thirsty at the moment. Besides, it is generally a bad idea to share drinks with random strangers.”

Well then, today was turning out better than expected. Tiger had started out hoping to catch the eye of some pretty mare in the stands, or one of the competitors, and getting some after-race fun with them. Now though, it seemed he was going to get that with Berry and much more. He was probably going to have to share with Midnight and Jade, judging by how things were going. Midnight he wouldn’t mind, the bat was pretty good-looking and seemed like a nice pony so far, but Jade, something about her still rubbed him the wrong way. It was like there was a predator just out of sight, but you could tell they were there somewhere there just waiting to pounce. Part of him hoped he was just imagining things, but he couldn’t shake it. As the rest of his little group took off after Jade, he put on the gas as well. He picked up speed, though he was still pretty far from his limit, and caught up to Berry right before she introduced herself to Jade. “Probably heard me before, but name’s Tiger Blood.” He said next, offering Jade a wink as well.

This was not typically the kind of event he attended, but this year promised to be quite interesting. There was that unicorn that used to work for the Storm King, an element bearer, two closely related family members of another, and to top it all off Hou was in the thick of it. He had arrived a bit too late to register for the race itself, but that was alright, observing from afar was just as good for now. Dox, currently disguised as a nondescript unicorn, sat in the stands with a live view of the race. Like a scrying spell, displayed through a sheet of water hovering in front of his face. He was currently locked on to Hou, or Jade as she was calling herself, partially because she was the easiest to track and partially because he wanted to know what she was up to. Maybe they could share, if she was looking for a meal. He didn’t need a soul in his victims to drain them, after all.

“Well, I’m happy you’re liking what you see.” Tiger replied, returning Berry’s wink as they made their way up to the easy jump. He spared a glance back towards Midnight, who seemed to have disappeared, only to see he had tripped into a puddle. “C’mon, Midnight, you can’t finish the race that way.” He called back. “Gotta pick yourself up and keep going!” And with that, he reached the jump. Deciding to show off a bit, he did a front flip over the gap, sticking the landing and shaking his mane out a bit before he kept running. He didn’t say anything else at the moment, but he did look over to Berry and give her some flirty eyes.

Dox sat in a library, pouring over a book while disguised as a brown unicorn. It was one he had read previously, but sometimes looking at the work again revealed something that went unnoticed before. Mostly, he was just killing time until his information network brought him something good. He was sated in terms of feeding, and there were no plans to do anything with Hou, so he had to find other ways to fill the time for the moment. Who knows, maybe he could recruit some students here or find someone to trade info with.

High path Tiger couldn’t help but smile at Berry’s offer, one he would have to take her up on later. “I’ll definitely be paying your place a visit then.” He responded, though some weird stuff prevented him from saying any more. Namely, that other mare from the start line catching up to them in no time at all and immediately laying it on thick with flirting at Midnight. Well, at least she looked good, but something seemed off about her. Something almost predatory. The rain brought him out of his contemplation however, and his gaze moved forward to take in the path ahead. It seemed there was a split to decide on, the risky bridge or the slower path. A tough choice, all in all, as both paths had pros and cons. He made his decision just as he reached the split and started up the safer path. There was plenty of time to catch up, he didn’t need to risk disaster here. Plus, he was still enjoying the company, or at least most of it, so he didn’t feel the need to split off yet.

Tiger smiled at Berry as she responded, especially about the guard part. He then looked around at the rest of this little group he found himself in for now as they also spoke, chuckling a bit at Apple Bloom's enthusiastic response. Ah, younger ponies and their enthusiasm were always fun. Still, it meant he could only go so far when flirting with Berry. The running for the prize thing gave him pause, partially because it was tempting to try and catch up to those two and finish in first, but for now he was more than content to meet these new ponies. Especially the pretty mare, Berry. "Yeah, this is my first time doing this thing. I helped out with Winter Wrap-up one year around here, that was fun. Even got to take part in a little musical number." He chuckled at the memory, reminiscing a bit as he easily kept pace with the group. "My life here's probably gonna be a fun one, I bet. It helps when I meet new ponies to have fun with." He added, giving Berry another wink for good measure.

Tiger was pretty excited about this race, all things considered. This would be a nice chance to meet some of the more athletic residents of his new town, since it seemed like he was gonna stick around for a while working for Blueblood. Not that he minded, Ponyville seemed like a fun town so far. The stallion gazed over the other participants, lingering a bit on the athletic-looking mare in the jumpsuit. Tempest, was it? He seemed to remember hearing about her. Unfortunately, she seemed a little too serious for his tastes, so his gaze moved on to find another mare that was basically inviting others to stare. He smirked a bit, doing some teasing stretches in her direction before the announcer came on to get them started. He lined up as close to Berry as he could, sticking around with the pack when the race started. “Where I’m from? Hesperia, originally, but right now I’m in town working for Blueblood. How about you?” He asked, gazing over at Berry and giving her a wink. “Name’s Tiger Blood, by the way. Nice to meet you all.”

Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, stopping his channeling of the stealth spells as Harle stopped using the glove. He remained silent after that, glancing between Harle and Ice to see how this little confrontation was going to play out. It was rather interesting, a griffin’s effect on aether, but it was not something he wanted to experience firsthand. It kind of made him glad he hadn’t spent all that long on the ship at this point. Hopefully Harle was smart enough to not use aether stuff around the crew now though.

Name: Scarlett “Prin” Feather Gender: Female Age: Mare Species: A pegasus/griffin hybrid Eye Color: Dark red Character Color: Maroon, with the ends of her wings being red. Her talons are a dark gray. Mane/Tail: Her mane is somewhat spiky, in that sections of it split off into their own spikes at places. Largely, it flows down and partially covers her right eye, and the back is tied into a single braid going down to the tops of her legs. The braid is pure white, but the rest of the mane has streaks of red, orange, and yellow. The tail has the same colors as the mane, and hangs loose, splitting into spikes as it goes down. Physique: She is very fit, her entire body essentially just lean muscle. She looks like she is made for agility, but has a fair bit of strength behind it too. Thanks to her heritage, she’s taller than most ponies. Also due to her heritage, her forelegs end in the talons one would expect of a griffin, as well as her wings being larger than the typical pegasus. Various scars are present across her body, evidence of the dangerous life she leads. Due to a wound over her left eye, she wears a black eyepatch with a red string. Residence: Her airship, the Crimson Mercy Occupation: Captain of her ship, and sky pirate. Cutie Mark: Her mark is a pair of crossed swords, symbolizing her skill with a sword and her love of the thrill that comes with fighting. Unique Traits: Combat Training; Scarlett has trained extensively in combat thanks to her parents, and she has had plenty of combat experience. She tends to be relentless in combat, throwing her weight around and not giving the enemy a chance to breathe. Outfit; She tends to wear a long black coat, with holes for her wings, as well as a bandanna around her nose and mouth that has a pattern reminiscent of a skeletal smile. History: Born to a military family of a male griffin and female pegasus led to a lot of moving around as a foal. It also led to a lot of training on how to fight as a winged creature, both with and without weapons. As one could guess, her life was far from normal since birth, partially due to her hybrid body. Initially, due to her parents, she joined the military herself and quickly grew to something of a legend. She would jump from one enemy to the next, completing missions with her contribution being the largest in most scenarios. Climbing the ranks was only fun for a while, but all the rules and regulations started getting to her, and she realized she needed freedom. That pursuit led her to leave the military and set out on her own, eventually making enough money between thievery and mercenary work to buy her own airship for herself and the crew she had been building up over this time. From there, she set out to continue doing whatever she wanted, now with the freedom of her home and family going wherever she needed them to. Personality: Ruthless on missions and in combat, she will do just about anything to win. This intensity sort of bleeds into her general posture, and she tends to look like she might snap at any moment. When with her crew or in a place she feels is safe though, she is rather laid-back. Not to say she’s not still on her guard, but she doesn’t tend to radiate that aura of dangerousness unless she wants to. She enjoys herself a good game or competition, and celebrating victory with her crew is one of her favorite things to do.

It’s Tiger Blood, not Tiger Blaze, but it’s an understandable mistake. They’re both the same length, with the same two starting letters, and Blaze is part of my username. Just thought I should let you know.

Let’s put Tiger in here.

Magnus frowned as the storm started picking up, weathering it as best he could until Ice called for them to just camp and wait it out. He was glad for the igloo and fire, but he was somewhat worried about it revealing their position. Then again, finding an igloo just meant there were other travelers about, it didn’t really reveal their capabilities or goals, and it was kinda necessary since they didn’t have time to look for natural shelter. Harle’s actions however, they were a bigger risk. Magnus immediately started suppressing the magic, trying to hide it from anything that could detect it. He was glad Hou had taught him about hiding his magical energy as well as better ways to hide his physical body. At the same time, he glared at the griffin and pushed her claw down slowly. “Do you not understand the need for secrecy and stealth here? I would rather not advertise our position to every hostile creature in the area, and shooting the clouds with magic beams seems a good way to do it. Plus, I don’t want whoever we are trying to prevent from accessing the mountains to follow us there or meet us on the way out when we’re tired from travel and sealing the place. No, I say leave the clouds alone and wait them out.” He said, watching Harle. If Ice wanted to just get rid of the storm, she probably would’ve requested it. Between the four of them, they probably could do it even without the glove. At least around themselves.

It was times like these that made him wish he had figured out how to use his magic to see better in the dark. If you could see anything, it meant there was some level of light for him to manipulate, but he wasn’t sure yet how he could use that small amount of light to enhance his vision. This was definitely not the time to be experimenting with something like that though, so he would just stick with creating magical light if he needed to. Focusing on the matter at hand again, he followed Ice as they walked, briefly glancing back at Harle. He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about her, even still. On some level, he thought he might care for her, but at the same time his past made him wary of anyone that got close. Part of him wanted to cut ties and move on before this crew could betray him like the others, but another part wanted to stay and give them the benefit of the doubt. Harle and her crew were not the ones that had betrayed him in the past, after all.

Dox spotted the two puddles forming and guessed what was coming next as he lifted off the ground slightly. Through illusions though, Blizzard would see the ice catching him even though in reality he was safely above the threat. He touched back down after the ice dissipated, stopping the illusion as he got back into place. “Indeed.” He responded simply, walking back over to the unicorn. “That seems to be an impressive wall you’ve made there, very well done.”

Magnus wasn’t sure why the other mare was in the back, especially since it looked like she was the least experienced one here, at least where traveling with the weight she brought was concerned. Usually, the weaker or slower members were in the middle, so the more experienced travelers could help keep them safe. Ice was the one in charge though, and he didn’t really care what happened to the other unicorns anyways, so he simply got into position as they set out, following behind the icy mare. He said nothing as they walked, focusing on their surroundings to try and catch things before they snuck up on the group.

Magnus proved to be a diligent student, and an effective one for the stealth-focused spells. It helped that he already used many stealth spells and techniques, so it was fairly easy to pick the new ones up building on what he already knew. All in all, it was a good session, and he soon enough found himself sitting near a fire with Hou, pondering what he had learned that day until she spoke and he focused on her. “Well, you could tell me what your end game is. At least where I am concerned if overall is too much to ask. Also, how is it you’ve managed to survive so long?” Magnus asked, looking over her form for a moment.

Magnus remained silent as he surveyed his surroundings, a little annoyed he let himself get dragged into this mission. When had Harle even joined this military outfit and took her crew along with her? In some ways, it made him regret joining up with her, but so far the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. “We’re not going to be scared away by some cold weather, I’ve survived through plenty of bad environments.” He said simply, rolling his eyes at Harle’s antics. At least this trip means he might learn something about this power they were sealing away, and possibly how to access it in the future.