PyroBlaze

Tiger hummed as he watched the area from the roof, half listening to the ceremony and half listening to Nil’s conversation with Fluttershy. He was pretty sure he knew the answer to the riddle, but he was going to let Flutters figure it out for herself. When it sounded like the ceremony was concluding, he got up, hopping down from the roof and parkouring his way to the ground. “Sounds like the ceremony is over, Nil, so I’m heading in. Gotta give my congratulations to the newlyweds!” He waved to the Sphinx, heading inside just as the bouquet was launched. He blinked a bit as he saw Berry dive for it, though he was too far to really make a try for it himself. Instead, he walked over, giving Blueblood a wave as he stopped to wait for Berry to come back out of the throng. Also, waiting just in case he needed to break something up.

Feather watched the wolf curiously, listening as the others talked about what it was. An okami? Wasn’t that one of those yokai things? Definitely didn’t look like a normal wolf, what with all its aether-like cloud stuff, and the horns. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but she was ready to jump into action if Luna’s attempts at making contact didn’t go well. —————— Nensho had been tagging along with Toboe, looking to help her out wherever he could. When the alicorn approached Toboe, she would see him standing nearby, though out of sight of the group. He decided to reveal himself fully then, walking up next to his fellow okami and humming slightly at the mention of Taira. He had a pure white coat, aside from the flames dancing across it, and a red ethereal scarf floating along just behind his neck. “Taira… I think I might’ve met him once during some kind of mountain tour…” He said, leaving the rest to Toboe for the moment.

Caramel nodded a bit at Blue’s answer to her question, though she was partially asking for just a place to work on that stuff on her own time. Maybe it’d be the same place, she’d have to figure that out eventually. For now, it looked like Candy was leaving again and leaving Kettle under her care. “Sure thing, Kettle, you could tag along.” She said, patting her sister’s head.

Name: Fengári Species: Aerion Gender: Male Age: Stallion Eye Color: Red Character Color: Dark gray with red markings across his body. Mane/Tail: While they largely just hang straight, they end in a more spiky look. Both are fairly long, starting out white and transitioning to pink near the tips. Physique: Fengari has a very fit build, surprisingly strong for how lithe he is. Being both the main guardian and leader of his temple left him needing to train hard to accomplish his goals. Residence: A temple nearby Hollow Shades, mostly traveling now. Occupation: Former temple leader/guardian, now searching for his place again. Cutie Mark: A stylized red crescent moon, sharper than typical crescents, showing his devotion to the goddess he ended up creating his temple for and his ability to fight when necessary. Unique Traits: Heightened Senses; He was reborn with unusually sharp eyes, cutting through the darkness better than anypony else he’s met. Altered Body; As he was from a time long past, his current body only has a few similarities to his original one. He currently inhabits an enhanced version of a bat pony body. History: Fengari was born in a town nearby Roam, a relatively small one mostly comprised of the staff of a temple. He grew up among them, learning to be a guardian and priest. Over the years, he visited bigger cities nearby, becoming more and more upset by the suffering of the poor while the rich live excessively. When he was ready, he set out on his own, eventually finding the perfect place to set up in the woods surrounding Hollow Shades. Setting up his own temple to his goddess of the night, he also secretly set up a hideout for his side job. As time progressed, he stole from the rich to give to the poor, building his crew and the staff of his temple in the process. By the time his time was up, he had built up a respectable temple with a small group of thieves to continue his work. Many years later, he found himself in a younger body in an unfamiliar library. Looking around, he was standing in the middle of a circle painted on the floor, surrounded by unicorns wearing robes. One of them approached, a strange two-horned mare that explained the magic that went into what happened, and it was apparently the culmination of a long series of experiments into necromancy. While originally summoned to serve her own summoner, he managed to escape and start his life anew. Personality:

Name: Loca Gender: Female, usually. Age: Adult Species: Hebi (Usually looks like a changeling mixed with a draconequus) Eye color: Emerald green, and the whites are a pale green Character Color: Black, with a green shell part along the middle part of the back. The front two legs start like typical changeling legs, transitioning into lion-like paws with tawny fur. Mane/Tail: A big, long, poofy mess, her mane is essentially left alone, not really styled at all. It, and the puff on the end of the tail, are both a solid blue-green. Physique: A long, lithe body, fairly similar to the Long dragons of the east. She has two large fangs and a snake-like tongue, as well as two horns of differing colors sweeping back. One is a sky blue, and the other is a pale tan-ish color. Residence: Las Pegasus based, but travels around for shows and such. Occupation: Part of a musical duo, usually doing singing and dancing. Cutie Mark: N/A Unique Traits: Magic; They are very good at transforming themselves, as well as the intangibility known to the Hebi, and short-range teleportation. History: Her early history is rather uneventful, leading a safe, boring childhood with only her family as company. The island they lived on was largely avoided due to rumors of being haunted, even if the “ghosts” were actually her family flying around. It probably didn’t help that she would play pranks on the few visitors they would get, but she couldn’t help herself, she was bored out of her mind. Eventually, she left home, leaving to explore the world. She first few disguises were various pony types as she tried to figure out what she liked best, eventually settling on one that would allow her to keep flying and using magic, a changeling. She didn’t really know they weren’t a type of pony, they were the right general shape. She continued like that for years, basically just ignoring the ones that didn’t like her look, and eventually altering it when she caught sight of Discord around Equestria. The long body, the limbs mismatched from the body, the horns. All in all, it looked perfect to her, so she incorporated parts into herself and ended up with her current look. It wasn’t long after that she met her musical partner, a pegasus dj, and they set out together to bring fun to all. Personality: She is pretty friendly overall, bouncing all over the place at times. While she can be teasing or on the verge of mean at times, she tends to like making friends more than enemies. It’s more fun to tease others when they are willing to play along and/or less likely to get mad. She’s very outgoing, having no qualms about injecting herself into conversations if she wants to. Overall, she is just looking for a good time, which she often finds performing at clubs or parties.

Feather was, by nature of her race and training, pretty perceptive. At least physically. She had been perched up high most of the trip, acting as lookout just in case something tried to come for them. She had spotted multiple things, but nothing worth mentioning. All in all, it was just a nice view. As they started landing, she strapped on the rest of her gear, pausing as she noticed how much attention Myth was giving to the new mare. Nira, was it? She had nothing against her, but something about that attention was making Feather jealous. Shaking herself off, she flew down, landing in the space between Myth and Nira as Icy spoke about being wary of possible dangers. “You got it, Boss. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble with the locals.” She said, giving Icy a salute.

Caramel listened to the speech in silence, tilting her head at the mention of hardships and horrors. Oh well, she could probably handle it with her family if not by herself, so she wasn’t too worried over all. Wrapping a hoof around her big sister in a half-hug, she listened to the rest and the questions that popped up afterwards. “Oh! Is there a mechanic place here? I like working on those things.” She spoke up after the others.

Sanda nodded at Wind’s words, walking into the maze and looking around as they went. After a few moments, there was a faint sound that might’ve been a voice, but she couldn’t tell. She stopped, listening harder to see if she could pick anything else up, but there was nothing. Probably just a random noise, she wasn’t going to worry about it for now. “Where you from? I’m from Neighponese capital.” She said, trying to start some small talk.

“Don’t worry, we got it.” Scarlett said as she walked past Venture. “Unicorns are useful like that.” With that, she continued walking, heading towards the helm and shouting orders at the crew. Soon enough, they were moving as the ship turned in the direction of the objective and started moving. ——————— Tiger watched the crew at first, getting a feel for where he could help out, then jumped in when he felt ready. It was mostly moving stuff around or pulling ropes, but it was something.

“[Things are built for comfort and various features nowadays over longevity. A castle is sturdy because it was made to repel attacks, a house isn’t because they don’t need defensive capabilities over comfort and livability.]” Dox shrugged, pausing as Hou stopped and mentioned getting an idea. ——————— After finally finishing the magic circles, he breathed a sigh of relief. While he appreciated the chance to practice creating magic circles, ones of this size in an outdoor environment were generally more difficult and time-consuming. Now it was research time though, so that was something to look forward to. ——————— Dox had been exploring the shelves after his minions had delivered relevant material they had found. Nothing that they needed, but it was still interesting, and he had found some new uses for weather magic that he had copied down. It took a while after that before he found a very promising book, looking it over as he walked back towards where Hou had set up.

Caramel watched as Blueblood talked to the runners before they all entered the room. Taking a seat next to her sisters, she waited for the orientation to begin. This school already seemed interesting, and she’d only met a small hoof full of fellow students so far.

Caramel chuckled a bit at Candy’s comment, leading her big sister through the halls until they came upon the scene of the crash. Of course it was the two that had been charging down the hall, though she wasn’t entirely sure who the stallion covered in popcorn was. At least not until Candy started talking to him. Was he in charge around here? Probably, he looked like the pictures. In any case, as Candy talked to Blueblood, Caramel walked over to Chipper and Kettle, helping them both back onto their hooves and looking over when she heard her name.

Feather nodded to Raven’s words, walking over to the entrance with the other two to await the rest of their group. She blushed slightly at Myth’s proximity, glancing over and returning the smile. After a moment, she reached out with a wing and hugged Myth gently, letting go after a little bit.

Well, things had gotten a little crazy since the hug, it seemed. Caramel looked around, trying to process that Kettle somehow knew how to teleport her popcorn, and Morning was capable of the more traditional self-teleportation, blinking a bit as Candy addressed her about the school’s layout. “Hmm? Umm, hold on.” She said, starting to dig through her bag and trying to find something. “I didn’t memorize this place, I was more focused on other stuff. But I’ve got this!” She said, pulling a map of the school out and opening it up. She seemed to twist it around a bit, glancing down the hall to orient herself before heading off and waving for the others to follow her.

Sanda nodded at Cloudfeather’s introduction, following along as the three of them made their way towards the castle and the maze. She still wasn’t sure about this whole going off on her own thing, but these two seemed nice so she was willing to give it a shot.

Scarlett raised an eyebrow as Rose seemed to address the non-invasive/non-lethal part to her and the stallion specifically. Well, she supposed it was fair, since they seemed to be the most combat-inclined of the group. The two shared a look briefly before focusing back in on the briefing. The pirate captain sighed at the new arrival’s entrance, shaking her head slightly as a black unicorn that had been idly smoking by the railing floated the ring back up in his magic. “Thanks, Marcen.” She said simply, the unicorn stallion giving a nod in return. “Welcome to my ship, I suppose. What do you do besides go on random explorations? If you can’t help the crew, stay out of the way once we get moving.” She added to the new mare, looking her over.

Well well, this information about the book was quite interesting indeed, and Dox nodded along as he jotted down notes. On a separate sheet, he wrote down the topics Hou wished to know more about, his horn glowing brighter for a moment before the paper disappeared. A moment later, he nodded to himself, turning his attention to the id Hou had thrown him and her idea to inconvenience their pursuers. That would be a trivial matter, so he nodded in agreement. ——————— Now in the form of a muscular zebra, Dox walked along with Hou, pouring over the relevant information he had copied down from their search so far, trying to figure it out. The picture was incomplete though, the answer unclear. Hopefully the servants he had sent ahead to search the other archives had found something more helpful by now. “[Yes, as do I. Amazing what was built back then without all the advancements we have today.]” He responded, looking around at the garden as they walked.

Caramel tilted her head as Morning admitted to the line, appreciating the straightening of her bed though. She wasn’t sure why they’d need the line to not encroach on the others space, but it was fair enough. Before she could say anything more though, Candy showed up, and Kettle launched into another of her exuberant greetings. “Nice of you to make it, sis.” She chuckled, trotting over to pull both her sisters into a big hug.

Caramel chuckled as Kettle came in and went off on her talk of popcorn and different condiments on it, though it’s not like Morning could hear her. For now, the earth pony continued unpacking until Morning woke up and hopped over to the other side of the line. “Hmm? I guess you are. Did you make this line?” She looked at the white line briefly before Kettle got really excited again. Sighing slightly, Caramel moved over to pry her sister off her roommate. “C’mon, Kettle, you’re going to make her pass out again, let her breathe.” She said, pulling Kettle off and letting the filly rest on her back.

Sanda paused as the mare spoke, questioning her words. She had to think about how to better word it, it seemed, though the other pony seemed to understand and invited her along. “Yes, thank you.” She nodded, smiling slightly at the stallion as she walked with them. “I am Sanda Kumo.” She added, introducing herself.

Sanda had been indecisive while the two mares waited for food, but as they moved out, she made up her mind and flew after them. “Um, hello. I am lost, where is fun things?” She ventured, landing nearby the two mares.

Sanda wasn’t really sure about this idea, she didn’t like leaving Ryuichi behind, but he had insisted she go her own way while he was not the shogun. At first, she had chosen to stay by his side, but she had lost him in this city. Or he had lost her, since the note she found in her bag afterwards told her to go have fun instead of being his bodyguard all the time. Hopefully he would be ok until they met up again. For now, the yellow pegasus was idly wandering the streets in search of something to do. “<What am I even supposed to do here? I don’t know this place, where is all the ‘fun’?>” She asked herself in Neighponese, coming to a stop nearby a couple other pegasi as they talked about going through a maze. Maybe she should try that too?

Solar tilted her head at the list of drink choices Bevel listed off, giggling slightly as she realized that coffee had been mentioned multiple times. “You must really like coffee.” She giggled again. “I think I’ll have some coffee, please.” She nodded, turning towards Rose as the mare assured her of her usefulness. Solar smiled at her, nodding a bit before Rose asked if she could see better. The unicorn tilted her head again, looking around. It felt like something might be there, but she wasn’t entirely sure. It was too faint, she could barely notice it. “Maybe?” She eventually said, looking back at Rose. “I think my sight works more on living things than any form of external energy. I can see trees, but not once they’ve been chopped down and turned into a building.” She shrugged at her offered explanation, hoping it helped figure things out.

I’ve been looking to use her more, especially now that I finally came up with an excuse for her to show up places, so I guess I’ll put her in here.

Still not sure who to use yet, but I’m down to take part in this. Here’s my log of approved characters if you want to peruse it and make suggestions.