knight

[[OOC: I'm not going to post anything as Bonnie until Lyra posts, but....I'm a little confused on.....Crossover characters present here....is this a crossover RP? I thought it was part of the Mane RP......I'm a little confused here. Clarification would be....super duper.]]

Holly watched the two males trot away, a suspicious look on her face, before looking back to Flux as she spoke.

"How has your garden been doing? I assume the woods have started to recover."

Holly smiled at the thought, "Oh, it's uh...it's alright..." In truth, her garden had sustained a good amount of damage from the fire, and there were quite a few sections that would need to be completely replanted in the spring, "The forest isn't doin' so good though. What with winter here, the trees ain't hardly growin' at all. I think a lot of 'em might not grow back at all. Ah think they might be dead....which ain't so bad though, Ah think if they are, next spring Ah'll pull 'em an put in some oranges."

wat?

TPBM has been ninja'd recently.

An interesting thought, actually, but since it was actually a cardboard moon the 'single unicorn' moved, it's hard to really say for sure what happened in those ages.

I think, through ages and ages passing, that unicorns may have grown weaker in their magic, to the point where they AREN'T as powerful as an immortal alicorn, because truly, they don't HAVE to be. They develop therir magic for what they do in life, and it, essentially, ends there. I mean, why would they learn something they don't have to do? And think of all the generations and blood mixing that has occurred between the original founding of Equestria, and the unicorns that exist today. The unicorns of that day and age were PURE unicorn. Where every unicorn came from two unicorn parents--but with the joining of the species, unicorns would have started mixing blood, and straining out the true magic in their blood.

Thus, you have weaker unicorns in modern-day equestria. Maybe that's what Blueblood is. A descendant of Princess Platinum. A PURE unicorn. That would kind of make sense that a royal line would remain pure, and it'd kind of clarify his own title as a Prince.

Holly yelped as she was suddenly yanked off her perch. She popped her head out of the water, gasping for air, "HA-HAY!"

She could barely keep her head above water, struggling to reach the bottom of the spring, and her newly unbraided hair snaking about all around her, "Y-ya durn...spllbrr-upid griffon!"

She paddled away from Gladwin, keeping her nose in the air, and shimmied along the side of the spring until she found a higher ledge, this one she had to climb up, and most of her body was now above the water, the water now only coming up to her flanks as she sat down, her hair draped around her form. She began puttzing with her tail, unbraiding that now, but making sure to frequently glance back up at the griffon, glaring daggers at him for taking her spot.

When she had finished unbraiding her hair, she grabbed a clean soap bar in her hoof, and immediately fumbled with it. She sighed as it slipped from her hooves clumsily and slipped down into the bottom of the spring, "gawl...Durn it...."

She clenched her teeth together and tried to magic up the soap, but her horn quickly fizzled and the magic died out. Her magic was totally depleted. She sighed, and crossed her hooves across her chest, and slipped off her ledge, frowning grumpily as she settled on a lower ledge, sinking in until the water went just over her mouth, and as she exhaled a sigh, bubbles spouted in front of her nose.

Holly followed the griffon at a more casual pace. The feeling hadn't quite come back to her limbs yet, and she couldn't bring herself to run. She 'oooh'ed and 'aaaahhh'ed at the site of the hotspring, and managed to trot a little faster. The thick-coated dog hung back, already panting heavily.

"Oh, no ya don't, mister. Ah don't care how hot it is, yur gettin' a bath!" The dog scuttled away, and was suddenly swept up in the grip of her magic. Her face contorted in strain as she dragged the whining dog towards the bath, sweat pouring out her brow. She had never lifted something so heavy! "Yur....gettin....a bath.....and yur gonna...."

She gave a mighty heave and the dog went propelling into the large hotspring, "LIKE IT!"

The dog howled as Holly picked up a bar of soap and started scrubbing the dog in the water, bubbles pouring out from his coat. It was a constent fight, and her magic was straining to hold the huge dog, and finally, with one final shove under the water, she released him and he swam quickly out of the water, emerging as a whole new--BLACK dog. He had been so dirty his fur was BROWN with mud!

"Ew! you were black this whole time?!" The dog shook off and was quickly running out the cave, waiting outside the warm room, his tail tucked between his legs.

Holly looked at herself, and smelt the air. Smelt like wet dog. It was a good thing that the hot spring had a current, or they'd be jumping in a ses pool of dog grossiness. With that out of the way, she looked to see the griffon gingerly testing the water. She slipped slowly up behind him, and just behind his rump....turned on her front feet and apple bucked him right in!

She laughed as the griffon landed with a large sploosh! Although, it seemed less funny as she found herself now drenched in a wave of hot water. She shuddered as a draft wafted in from the open cave, and leaped into the water. She could barely touch the floor on her tippy-hooves! She paddled over to the wall, and found a ledge to sit on. She began unbraiding her hair with her hooves, her magic expended.

Bon Bon trotted along after her fillyfriend, a smile on her face. Fluffy boots with bells on them, and a set of stylishly fluffy earmuffs, and a fluffy scarf, is what she wore for the occassion, along with a casual skirt draped over her rump, lined with--as would be guessed, fluff. Lyra was absolutely eccstatic with excitement, but Bonnie felt nothing but....nervous.....really nervous...she hadn't had any sweets all day, she was so nervous! She made Lyra and herself sticky buns for breakfast but--she'd be darned if she couln't even bring herself to have eaten it.

She was scared. Not only was it the day her parents were going to meet her roommate, whom she had, of course, mentioned in letters in the past, but she was also going to...going to tell them that she....she was....

"Ooh! It's here! C'mon Bonnie, let's go!"

Bon Bon looked up at Lyra, who was already hopping aboard the train, "C-coming, Lyra!"

Bon Bon galloped up the sloped walkway that led to the train platform. She could see a certain minty pony waving at her from just inside the train, obviously too excited to wait for her. Bon Bon sighed and smiled heavily, realizing how much she loved that unicorn in there.

She trotted aboard the train, and trotted over to where Lyra was and kissed her on the cheek, not caring if the other ponies on board saw, "What about your parents, Lyra? They live in Canterlot, too, don't they...do....do you think they'll like....me?"

Holly cantered along with Gladwin, her cart rolling along behind her as she listened to what he said, "So...is this sort of like...a....double date...thing?"

She paused as the griffon extended his hand and spoke in a fancy accent. Just as she was about to put her hoof in his hand, she gasped, "Wait...is Colton bringing a mare? Ah'd hate for him to feel like a third wheel or somethin..."

She bit her lip worriedly, and out of the corner of her eye she suddenly saw a glance of a white mare with a reddish brown mane and tail, "Quantum...?" She peered at the mare in the distance, and suddenly got a glimpse of her odd cutie mark, "Oh! Ah know that mare! That's the town square thar, anyways, Ah'm gonna go say hi!"

She sped up her trot to a run, and sped off to greet the white mare. She slowed down though, as she suddenly saw another familiar face with her, "Colton?!" She yelled out as she approached the two of them, they were talking to each other, "AND Quantum! Whatta co-ink-ee-dink!"

[[i'm just going to go ahead and try to ignore the fact that you said 'Flux'...I'll pretend you said Holly....

*harumph*]]

Holly almost burst out laughing as Gladwin called her 'hun.' It was kind of sort of hilarious. Tears welled in her eyes and she had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. She stood up and managed to jump off the cart, magicking all of their bags out of the cart, and trotting up to the inn door, the dog following her as it was unclipped from the cart, "Now, no need for you ta pay. Ah have plenty of bits."

The grace in her step had already somehow returned, despite her ruffled fur and messy mane. Her legs were slowly regaining feeling as she walked into the cozy inn. The few ponies that were there glanced briefly at them, a few seemed shocked by the massive bulk of dog that trotted in. It was a quaint little inn, but being on the very edges of the city, it would probably fetch a decent rate.

An old, periwinkle colored pony, covered in wrinkles and a scowl splashed on her face, attended the check inn desk, "Extra fur the dog..."

"That's fine," Holly replied politely, trying to appear nice for the woman. She recieved nothing but a grunt.

Suddenly, a pony of similar color burst through from a room apparently behind the front desk, she looked near identical to the other old mare, but she had a smile plastered on her face. Twins?

"Oh, deary, forgive my sister," the old mare had a warm, grandmother-like tone, "She's just so rude sometimes!"

She pushed her sister out of the way, and the old, grumpy mare grunted as she vanished into the room her sister had exited from.

"Now, deary, one night or two?" the old mare began writing something, a pencil delicately clutched between her teeth.

"Uh...one."

"Would ya like to use the hotspring, too?"

"Hotspring?"

"Oh, yes deary. All natural. Warms ya right to the bones, doncha know."

"Um..." She looked at the weary griffon, and at the massive dog. There's no way they could wash him in a little tub, " Yeah, yeah, let's do that."

"Okey dokey, and I will have to charge ya extra fur yer puppy, unfortunately, deary."

"Oh, that's no trouble..."

"Okey dokey then...yur total comes to 22 bits, then, deary."

Holly magicked open her purse, and was quick to pay the mare before the griffon, who had been looking worriedly at his wings, could stop her.

Holly got the keys and directions to the hotspring from the woman--it was in a cave that was built in to the side of the great mountain that Canterlot rose out of, which was behind the hotel.

"Why don't we go to the hot spring right away, Gladwin? You look like your wings could use some warming...."

Holly saw from the corner of her eye as the griffon leapt as though to take off, but then...didn't...maybe his wings were tired from his earlier flight. After a hot bath, she was sure he'd be fluttering around in no time. She managed to slide off the dog, and fumbled to the ground, her legs shaky. She turned to the dog, "Um...Ah think ya might need to pull my cart, pup..."

She chuckled wearily, and walked shakily over to the lead beams of the cart. The dog followed curiously. She pointed to the spot between the beams, "Come."

He obediently walked for her, and wagged his tail, "Sit!" he sat down between the beams. She raised her hooves and magicked the harness off over her head and readjusting it in the air so the belts were larger. She magicked it around the dog, and it fit him perfectly. She placed the hooks on his sides, and he looked at them in confusion, and as she turned to clamber back into the cart, he tried to follow her, "No. STAY."

He stopped, and watched her walk away and felt her weight as she was suddenly in the cart.

"Do...do ya think ya can lead him?" She asked Gladwin as he walked up, "Ah don't think Ah can walk too good yet, is all..."

Holly watched as Gladwin left, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. There wasn't anything really to be embarrassed of, really...except well...they were staying in an inn together....alone...in a room....in a hotel...

Holly looked at the dog, smiling, and suddenly had an idea. Her own legs were tired from thrashing about, her legwarmers long lost in the lake, so she turned to the dog, "Hey, Buck...can you give me a ride?"

She laughed at her own comments, and was astounded as the dog walked over her and laid down, as though waiting for her to climb on his back.

"No way you were trained for that...but then again...you are pretty big..." She put a hoof on his back, and then another. The dog waited patiently, panting. She clambered on top of him, feeling a little weird to be riding on him. He rose up though once she was on him, and headed out the opening the griffon had made.

Holly wasn't really sure how to control the direction of the dog, and so just let him go. He was followig Gladwin to the cart. She knew for certain she was not going to just...LET the griffon pay...she had money she had made, too! As the dog caught up with the griffon, she stuck her tongue out at him as the dog trotted past him, and put her nose in the air, feigning the snobbish look that Canterlot citizens often had as her noble steed trotted past the griffon.

[[guess who's the only non-Doctor Who fan on this board? *raises hand*]]

Holly was taken aback by the confession, but nonetheless found it...absolutely wonderful. She giggled as he asked about the dog, "We? Whattaya mean 'we'?" She leaped up and jumped on the mellow dog, who rolled over as the pony--who was smaller than him, and obviously hadn't actually knocked him over--jumped on him, throwing her hooves around him, "He's MINE."

She giggled, and suddenly, with the panting animal so close to hers, his SMELL was overpowering. She sat back up, and scooted away from the dog, "Well....after YOU give him a bath."

The dog had obviously heard that word before, as he gave a whine and put his head on his paws She laughed at that, but gave a shiver at her sudden distance from the dog and the griffon. How were they so...warm?! Well...she supposed she DID just get soaked to the bone with freezing cold water. Her own fur was messy and frosted at the ends.

"Maybe....maybe we should rent a room at an inn for the night? With a tub. We could give him a bath, then." She chuckled as the dog perked his ears at the sound of that word, "Oh, yeah... Ah think Ah'll call him...Buck....like the hero dog in that one book...."

The dog looked at her, surprised to hear his given name.

She smiled, "Buck." His tail wagged, "Buck!" he jumped to his feet and started dancing, "BUCKY BUCK!"

He howled loudly, tail going nuts. She laughed, "Ah think he likes it!"

[[i laughed (i know, sorry, serious business here) when I read '...in all his time travelling.' For some reason I read it as y'know...time-travelling. Travelling through time. XD it made me giggle.]]

Holly bit her lower lip nervously, and smiled as the griffon's face turned beet red. It was funny watching the griffon's wide expanse of reactions. It was cute how flustered he was. How...flusterable.

She never thought in...she just never thought at all...that she would have someone that...wanted to be with her for....forever.

It made her so happy she could...she could just....she leapt up and kissed him again, this time wrapping her hooves around his neck, and pressing her body softly against his. As she leaned into the kiss, she felt as though she could melt there and just remain for ever.

"You may like me...." She said as she slowly, remorsefully pulled away, "But Ah think Ah might love you."

Holly blinked several times, still lost in her dreams. The griffon's heartfelt words took a good long moment before they even registered. She was still in the dark place where light was always running away. She managed to sit up, and was

"You...." *SLLRRRRP!!* Holly's eyes went wide as she felt a massive tongue slide up her face. A dog? She looked at the massive creature. A HUGE dog. She giggled. It was bigger than she was! And really CUTE! And also...really DIRTY. She realized all of a sudden that...this whole time...she....she was...she looked down and saw that she was straddling the griffon. How inappropriate!

She scuttled to get off of him and found herself toppling into the curve of his wings. The dog immediately jumped at the opportunity, and began licking her all over her face.

"Heehehe...he....stop...that...that tickles!" without really meaning to, she gave a very equine whinny and lightly batted the dog away with her front hooves, "Stop! Please!...Sit!"

The dog sat.

She was amazed. This...dirty, ownerless dog...was trained?

"...Lay down." he laid down, "Play dead." the dog rolled onto his back, paws in the air.

"Um...roll over." the dog rolled all the way back over to a laying position. She smiled, "This is so cool...."

She shivered as a draft rolled in from the entry way, and cuddled into the griffon's side, between his wing and his rib cage. The dog moved and laid down in front of the entry way, blocking the wind.

With that...distraction...gone, she was left with what the griffon had just said, "F-fff....furever....?" Holly felt her face heat up, "Ah....Ah....just....met ya....Ah..."She buried her face in the griffon's fluffy chest, "...thank you fur....thanks fur savin' me..."

She looked up at the griffon with wide, scared eyes. She wasn't afraid of him, of course, but just...forever. Forever was big.

"Are...you...are you....Ah mean....Ah don't even have a house....Ah'm just....Ah just sell fruit and stuff....Ah'm nothin' special...." she made small circles with her hoof on the griffon's chest, slightly at a loss for what to say, "Ah mean...Ah travel a lot....Ah wanna settle down someday but...Ah...Ah'm not...Ah'm barely a mare...and asides...we're...you're a griffon...and...Ah'm just a borin' ol pony..."

[[A note to Flux, I am just going to go ahead and assume that Quantum and Holly know each other as of the fire in the Garden.]]

Holly trotted cheerfully after Gladwin, her cart had been emptied by a grocer who wanted to sell her fruit in his grocery store. There was now a jingle to the cart, and a few bells could be seen on it. She had bought them, along with a few beams of lumber which rested in the cart, last night when they had parted ways.

Her mane and tail were braided nicely, and on her feet were a pair of fuzzy red, white and green leg warmers , and of course her red Santa Hooves hat.

She giggled at the hyper griffon, returning his excited smile, "Ah'm excited to, ya know. But no need to go overboard!" She said this, but at the same time, she couldn't help bouncing in place a little, "MMMMRRAHHH!! Ah'm so EXCITED!! Ah've never been to a real Hearth's Warmin' Eve pageant or celebration or or....! Never ever!"

As though it were just so she could bounce around, the cart magicked off her harness and she hopped up an down in a circle around the griffon, "There'll be trees, and candy, and ornaments, and songs, and EEEE!!!"

"ROWF! ROWF!" She turned and looked as the dark brown dog that was bigger than she was bounced up to her, his claws clicking on the pavement and the holiday collar that matched Holly's leg warmers jingling around his neck. He looked spick and span, like a whole new dog, after getting a bath.

Holly smiled affectionately at her new pet and bent down her front legs, crouching as dogs do when they play and cooed, "Who's a good boy?"

He mirrored her position and barked, his bushy tail swished from side to side.

"Yes, you! You're a good boy!" She bounced around with the dog playfully, and he nearly fell over in his excitment. After settling the dog down, she turned and looked up at Gladwin, "Ah feel bad leavin' him out when we all go to the...um...where are we goin' again?"

Buck the newfie had been abandoned. He was bought as a pup by somepony in Canterlot. A high class pony with too much money to spend, who decided she wanted a cute little puppy. But as he grew, and grew...and grew, she decided she DIDN'T want a DOG. With the purchase of a chihuahua, he was out the door. Left on his rump to fend for himself, when he had long lived a pampered life.

It had been two years since that time. He was fully grown now, standing taller than many a pony at the shoulder, a thick mass of a dog. His breed was a rare thing, and in the alleyways of Canterlot, he was a leader. The abandoned poms, chis and any given mutt all looked up to him as their alpha. And rightfully so. He was a smart dog. He had learned the streets from the bottom up, had started off starving and hungry, and made his way to strong, confident, and well fed. He was a tramp, to say the least, a bum sucking out the life blood of pony civilization.

But winter had never been so cold. And ponies had learned his tricks, learned to recognize the dark brown mass, to hide their stores when the site of muddy white paws was even glimpsed. It was this that led him out of town. He needed a new start, a new...everything.

Lying in the snow wasn't much of a life.

He huffed, his jowels puffing with his breath, and laid his head on his feet.

Water. Thrashing. Splashing.

He looked up from his spot on the hillside, and spotted what looked like a pony, thrashing in a hole in the ice. Immediately, instinct took over. It was his breed. It was in his nature. To die to save those in the water was the greatest and most honorable of deaths. He sprang up and was running faster than he had ever run before.

But there was a lot of ground to cover between him and the pony, and his mass size and bulky strength did not lend him anything for speed. Then suddenly....a bird ascended from the sky, and snatched the pony out of the water, and crashed nearby.

Still feeling the need to rescue the pony, he ran on, arriving to a bundle of griffon surrounding a pony. He had seen a griffon before. Looked like a bird, but had more feet, and was real big. The two were shivering. Freezing. Frost glimmered on the griffon's wings. He looked around, scoped out the area several yards around, and found the tracks of the pony. Hopefully they led to shelter.

With strength he didn't know he had, he bit into the lion-like scruff of the griffon's neck, and began dragging him. Following the hoof prints one gruelng step at a time. Why had these two fools come so far from Canterlot? Why were they playing by a lake? Normal questions that would run through anypony's mind, did not even grace his. Shelter....warm...now.

FInally, he found an entrance...into a pile of snow. Instinct told him to go inside, but at the same time, his mind said not to go in there. Intinct won out, as he began dragging the griffon down into the igloo, having to dig with is paws a little to widen the hole in order for the griffon to fit with his wings folded around the pony.

At last, they were inside, and he shoved some snow near the door, blocking some of the wind, and laid over the griffons wings, attempting to warm him and the tender pony in his wings. Exhausted from dragging them, his eyes began to slowly slip shut.

After what seemed like days, the griffon below him began to move. He looked up at the griffon, and seeing his eyelids flicker, began to lick the griffon's face to wake him. As though that weren't enough, he released a loud, "WOOF!" right in the griffon's ear, sure to wake him.

Holly remained unconcious, her mind dark. Everything was cold....so cold. A loud noise broke through her concious, but she still could not drag herself out of the dark recesses of her mind. Her mind fluttered with images....her mother..breaking a lamp against the wall....her father...melting away her crayons in a drunk stupor....her parents...back together...a....bird...no, it wasn't a bird....it was so warm....and soft...she knew, without touching, that it was soft...and...it was flying away. Flying off into the clouds, and the sun was being taken with it. All warmth was leaving as it left, and no matter how fast Holly ran she couldn't....she couldn't catch up...all she wanted to do was fly....

'No.....' she moaned in her sleep as she ran in her dreams, and turned in the griffon's warm grip, 'No....please! Don't leave me....don't say...don't go....'

Tears slipped from her eyes as she shook and twitched in Gladwin's arms, and his name slipped past her lips, "Gladwin....Glad....win....Gla....win...."

'Please don't leave!' She ran as fast as her hooves could take her, the grass at her feet slowly turning into snow, cold and hard. Ice. The flying form continued to vanish into the distance, 'No! Stop! I can't--!'

The ground was gone, and she was falling, falling...drowning....her life draing...cold, wet...falling down, down, down....

"AAHHH!!!" Holly jerked awake, eyes wide with terror, and her body filled with tremors as tears streaked down her cheeks. She stared up at the griffon, feeling an onslaught of emotion overtake her, she hugged her limbs to her body, trembling in the fetal position, "Don't leave me....Please....please....don't leave me..."

A picture of his cutie mark can be found in the profile of THUDORA STRIKE, who is his daughter (see link.) Feel free to read her's after his to connect their stories.

Name: Flitterwink (Called ‘Flink’ by friends.)

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion, middle-aged (Equivalent to about ~30-35 human years)

Species: Pegasus

Pelt Color: Green

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: His mane is medium-length and very curly, looking free and wind-blown. His tail is about to his hock, and is just as curly and wind-blown. It is a darker pinkish-red.

Eye Color: Light Red

Cutie Mark: Large (very large) butterfly

Origin: Canterlot

Roleplay: Mane

Occupation: Doctor specializing in both pony and non-pony care, also a believer and in the state of practicing aromatherapy.

Motivation: To do his deceased wife proud, to be a good father, and an all-around good pony. To attempt to get his daughter better behaved. Attempt to get over his natural shyness and better pursue his love of his fellow ponies.

Likes: Flying, traveling to new places, learning more about the world and about pony health, flowers and other sweet-smelling things, small precious things, romantic notions, poetry

Dislikes: Rash head-strong ponies, destruction, big bulky things, screaming and shouting, spiders, bats,

Character Summary:

Flitterwink has always been an exceptionally shy pony, from a young age he was raised in a family of hustle-and-bustle. His parents did not spend much time with him, as they themselves were always busy with their own work of being doctors. In this time, he found his friends to be the animals and flowers he would talk with, and try to heal with bandages and whatever materials he could find around the house. In his mending of little animals, he found his love of flight with the whimsical flutters of the butterflies. It was in the sky that he found his cutie mark, for he felt flood through him the love of all creatures and the joys of flying with the same blind joy that they held. Before even entering school, he had found his cutie mark, but whether or not he fully understood it, was unclear.

Despite it being forced upon him, he grew to love the field of medicine, and even from a young age was reading medical journals and text books—not that it aided his antisocial state.

School did not help much, as he was often harassed and teased for the enormous size of his wings looking nearly ridiculous in their proportion to his small colt body. When he was young, he was also the smallest member of his class, but as he aged, it became quite apparent that he was not destined to stay so small. Shortly after flight camp, he hit a massive growth spurt, and he, and his wings, nearly quadrupled in size. By the time he had finished growing, he towered as tall as the princess herself, if not a bit stouter and he nearly always had his wings hanging at his sides or dragging on the ground for they had gotten so bulky.

Despite his size, he never lost his love for all creatures small, which now had expanded to include much of ponykind. As he entered the field of medicine, with straight A’s across his classes, but still beyond awkward in social skills, he began to sink into a depressed state. He lacked friends. He had never asked a filly out in all of his life, and his parents were only throwing arranged matches at him to satisfy their own needs.

It was on such a day, where he had deserted his parents’ mansion to get away from the awful excuse for a match his parents set up, that he glumly entered the Whitetail Woods outside of Canterlot. It was in such wanderings, with wings dragging low on the ground that he came across…her.

Lying peacefully in a bed of flowers, the sun flickering down and warming her flesh, the love of his life. His heart leapt to his throat, and he could not find any words to say, so he did not speak, but gazed at her as she slept. She was beautiful. Her coat was of the brightest white and her frame the most petite he had seen in all his life. Daintily, as though they knew that this mare’s true nature and color were white, were stripes of the deepest black. Thin, and spread out far more than was normal for her species. Her tail was nearly entirely white, with only one thread of black through it, and her mane was perfectly striped one color over the other. As if to contradict the solid black and white patterning, her cutie mark was a pale red rose, square in its curvatures, and with four green stems threading out from its various sides.

He could only imagine what beautiful color could be hidden behind her closed eyelids.

It must have been a good hour before the zebra mare awoke, though she did not seem the least bit startled at the male before her, nor by the fact that he was so huge he could have crushed her. Somehow the two…completed each other. Her name was Rozelle, and her special talent was also one of healing. She had come from a village in faraway lands where she had been a shaman and healer to all in need. She had left the lands when her village had been pillaged, and found her way here to Equestria—to Canterlot after long endeavors and travels through the distant griffon land. She was especially gifted in the art of aromatherapy, and the two were initially brought together by Flitterwink’s desire to learn the art.

The two fell fast in love, and before his parents could think to stop him, he had asked the beautiful zebra for her hoof in marriage—and the zebra mare, although a bit unfamiliar with the Equestrian custom, happily obliged. The two were wed in a mixed ceremony, much to Flink’s parents’ disapproval, and on this day he and she wore the traditional zebra union attire, though the ceremony followed the traditional route with flowers and white chiffon abundant.

It was not long after, that the two began a practice together. Mixing the art of healing voodoo and modern medicine into a well-balanced, yet complete magnificent—not to mention prosperous—clinic. It was in this time of great happiness, that his love began to show signs of another little blessing—as her sides rounded and her coat grew thick, it became apparent that the two were soon to be blessed with the clippity clop of little hooves. However, it was also during this time that it became apparent that something was wrong with Rozelle. Something tragically wrong.

It started with a cough. She shook it off as nothing, but it became fiercer and fiercer as her pregnancy went on. As the due date neared, her appetite grew thin, and Flink began to fear that the little foal within her would not survive. By nothing short of a miracle, a happy, healthy, winged filly zebra was born, with dark pink hair, and green as her base, rather than white. It would seem that what her mother carried for genes was nothing but the stripes, and the deep shade of red that was the filly’s eyes. The moment he saw her, there was nothing more on this great wide world that he loved more than his daughter. Tiny as can be, and also a deep part of himself, he felt nothing but the purest love for her, stronger than even his love for Rozelle.

At first, the family was happy, and Flink felt that he had found some secret serenity beyond even the heavens. The two looked up to him, sought his attention like mad, and felt nothing but the deepest admiration for him, and he gave all his love right back to them, and found that they were the ones he looked up to, the greatness that he aspired for, and the love he had sought after for all his life.

But this happiness…was not to be. Rozelle’s illness returned in full force, and it became hard for her to even watch as her filly learned to walk, to flutter about, and even as she learned to call for her mother. Rozelle’s coughing turned coarse, and blood splattered her hooves when she tried to cover the violent hacks. She could no longer keep food down, and even the minimal amount of water became a chore. Before long, it became impossible for her to even walk, and then depression sunk its fangs into her flesh as she was no longer able to run and romp with her only filly.

Flink did his best to comfort her, to ease her pain, and everything in his power to attempt to heal her—from the modern medicine he had been raised with, to Rozelle’s own remedies, but nothing would quell her illness. He was left with nothing but the simplest reliefs—to carry her when she desired to move, to get her the seed of the poppy to ease her pain, and to soothe her sadness with afternoon flights upon his back. It was in this time, near the end of her life, that he knew what his cutie mark meant, and that it was a destined cutie mark that had always been meant to exist with his beloved’s red rose. He also knew…that it was near the end for her. At first he blamed himself, but knew deep in his heart that she would not have wanted to see him in a phase of guilt over her—nor would she have blamed him for a thing completely out of his control. And so, as he took her out one afternoon, a day where the sun warmed the earth and the flowers were in full bloom, that he knew it was her last.

He spread his large wings, wings large enough to carry his own weight, and the weight of all the love and what seemed like the weight of the entire world upon them, and he flew with her. He soared beyond the clouds, and into the air that was thin and hard to breathe. She was gone before he had even hit the cloud cover, but he did not care. He flew, and flew, up and up, until he could not himself breathe, and then let himself fall, her limp form cascading in the beautiful sun behind him. It was a peaceful feeling, the forced quiet that the pressure creates, the heat that’s formed as your descent into the atmosphere reaches a breaking point, and taste of cold, crisp water as you break through the clouds. With a burst of energy, and a silent sound like the flitter of a butterfly wing, he landed softly on the ground, his large wings bent inwards as they were used as a parachute to cease his impact. Quietly, as though wings of another kind were bracing her, Rozelle landed in the curve of his outstretched hoof. Quiet. Still. Unmoving. A tear staining her cheek, a flood of them covering his own.

Her funeral was brief, and she was not buried, but sent off into the sea in a burning bed of flowers, as was tradition in her small tribe.

Left to raise their filly alone, he assumed the role of both mother and father, and despite his timid nature, raised Thudora to be an open filly, very talkative and outgoing, even so far as to say she has a mean streak. With her now an adult, and constantly in and out of the clinic and house, he has had more time to work on his practice, and has extended the clinic hours and is now taking house calls.

Well, that's just silly. They're a family. Their stories connect. You can't really read one without the other. Will do though, I guess. *eyeroll*

it's a toss-up between Rarity and Twilight, but I'd have to say Twilight.

first of all...wat?

Second of all, RARITY, because she actually puts time and effort into her mane. Rainbow's is just wild and wind blown. And just because it's colorful doesn't make it any better looking. It is still, esentially, just like Lyra and 15 other bground ponies hair style except rainbow. It's...actually pretty lame. Any of the other five have better hair than she. -_-'

It could be nice, like it is in the gala episode, where it seems longer, and nicely brushed but....no. Just no.

Please note, this is my opinion. You don't have to respond because I really don't want to argue about it.

EDIT: PLEASE READ 'FLITWINK'(father) PROFILE PRIOR TO THIS IF YOU WANT IT TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE SENSE.

It can be read without it, but because they are linked as father daughter, it just makes more sense.

Name: Thudora Strike (Called ‘Thudora’ by her father, prefers ‘Striker’)

Sex: Female

Age: Older filly—young mare (think like….17-18)

Species: Zebra/Pegasus

Pelt Color: Green with black stripes

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Wild and frilly—seeming wind-blown, like her father’s, but a brighter shade of pink, and with paler pink striping. (Almost white.) Tail is a mix between the zebra’s lion-like tail, and the normal tail of a horse. The hair begins about 2-3 inches down her tail.

Eye Color: Red

Cutie Mark: Squareish cloud with a lightning bolt.

Origin: Born in Canterlot, at her father and mother’s clinic. Delivered by her father.

Roleplay : Mane

Occupation: Technically, a weather pony. Often slacks on the job, and likes to play pranks on people while on the job. Prefers to go out flying, doing stunts, and pretending to be a member of the wonderbolts.

((Note: Probably a future Shadowbolt, here! :3))

Motivation: To fly faster than lightning! To figure out new and exciting ways to heal ponies, like shock therapy, or untested acupuncture.

Likes: Flying, performing stunts, pranking ponies, timing herself on errands for her father, performing acupuncture, dancing, singing, loud noises, her father’s wings

Dislikes: Really quiet things, being small, not being able to perform certain dangerous stunts

Character Summary:

When Thudora was very young, young enough still that her mother was alive, she was a sweet pony. Afraid of flight, and a true momma’s filly. From a young age, she began to assist her mother with aromatherapy, and had a particular little talent for mixing up salves from various herbs, and concocting new, more effective mixes.

However, upon her mother’s death, she lost all interest. Or, at least, she appeared to lose all interest in healing ponies. In her theory, she believed medicine to be a fool’s errand. Everypony was going to die anyway, so why bother, right? She began to get mischievous, and was a borderline bully at school. Her father was left at his wit’s end with her, unable to cope with not only the loss of the love of his life, and his daughter’s erratic behavior, and he was forced to close his clinic, and live with his parents.

It was not until Thudora, attempting to fly when her wings were not nearly ready yet, leapt from a tall pine that she regained a new appreciation not only for medicine, but also her father.

In the backyard of her grandparents’ estate, she leapt from the tallest tree in their villa yard, and her small, undeveloped wings could simply not carry her weight.

Her father was the first on the scene, barely an instant after she touched down, her leg fractured in several places, and tears flowing as they hadn’t since the day she was born. It was the first time in her life she had ever seen him so bold, so courageous, and the first time since her mother had died that he had flown with her. She barely recalled what exactly had occurred, but after her father flew off with her, she woke up in a hospital bed at his clinic, all bandaged up.

From that time forth, she and her father were remarkably close, and while she was still a bit of a prankster, she was behaved when her father gave that look. From then forth, she regained an interest in medicine, and particularly in athletic medicine. She found that despite having a fondness and meager talent for medicinal arts, her true calling was the sky. All she wanted to do was fly. Fly fast, and be healthy while doing it.

It was on such a flight of fancy that she found one of her favorite, and a most dangerous, pastime. Lightning racing. She would have to sneak off to the Everfree Forrest, well away from her father’s disapproving eyes, but she loved it. She’d brew a storm together (having passed her weather pony course with flying colors) and with a jump to the top of the cloud, she’d be off, chasing the unpredictable bolt to the ground. It was during such an occasion that she gained her lightning bolt and cloud cutie mark.

She is presently employed as a Canterlot weather pony, though she has been most often assigned to the White Tail Woods area, due to her excessive pranking of Canterlot citizens from the clouds above them.

[[attached you will find a picture of the three cutie marks of these ponies, and of a quick pony-maker of Thudora.]]

Just for the record: There already is one unicorn/zebra hybrid that has been approved. I distinctly remember following the application's development. I don't remember the name, though.

On that note.... *goes to post massive RP profile*

[[sorry about the delay. Been really busy all night. :<]]

Holly strutted proudly at being called awesome, but as things came to a settling point, she didn't feel so awesome anymore.

Holly blushed softly as he accepted the things that she claimed to like, and giggled as he called himself cool. Her eyes fluttered wide as he suddenly pulled her to his chest, and she felt for the first time the rough feeling of his clawed forearms. It was...different....but not unwelcome, that was for certain. She couldn't help, however, the feeling of safety that came from them. She barely knew him, but it felt oddly...right. She nuzzled her face into his feathered chest, and brought herself closer to him by reciprocating the hug with her own forehooves. It was nice to have someone.

She reveled in the feeling of warmth, as her fur cozied up from the outside in. It was as if the damp layer on her coat had just...evaporated away, all in one hug. It was silly to say the least, but she really had lost any real feeling of cold. Warmth shrouded her like a cozy blanket. She, regretfully, pulled away, knowing that they could not possibly remain in their igloo for forever. She smiled and for her third time today, landed a kiss on Gladwin's face, though this one landed squarely on the griffon's mouth, tender, and lingering momentarily. Holly blushed and somehow managed to bring herself to pull away from the chemistry experiments exploding between the two of them.

She smiled, it wasn't so much as an awkward smile as a sort of...simple apology for discontinuing something...they both probably wanted to continue. She turned to the low exit and crouched to crawl out of the little door, her braided tail dragging along the snow behind her before she vanished out of the hole.

Leaving the griffon behind her, she rushed out into the snow, the wind rushing through her mane and blowing away any embarrassment she may have had and tripling--nay, quadrupling the overwhelming rush of joy she felt. She ran and ran and ran, faster and faster, her natural talent at 'dashing' pushing her forward, the icy wind bringing tears to her eyes. Until suddenly.....the ground wasn't there anymore.

Only water. Rushing up all over her body, cold knives diving into her flesh and chilling her to her core. All airways blocked, and her sense of direction completely voided. Where had this....she didn't even....a lake....a pond.....how far had she ran...? Her throat tightened with cold, and she felt her lungs begin to tighten.

"Help...." She whispered softly, unable to scream, as she gasped for breath, her breathing pace doubling, her eyelashes freezing, unable to move as she managed to hold a hoof onto the rim of the ice break, "Help....Help...."

[[i know, it was a lot to shove in to one post....sorry....I was also considering bringing in a dog for Holly....maybe he could help you save her.....or I could just bring him in at some later point....either way is fine. I was always intending for her to gain a dog, though. Didn't expect to catch a griffon! ]]

[[omg. I'm sorry. I totally looked at this and then didn't respond. :s SORRY!!!]]

Holly stood up as the three males exited the doughnut shop, her eyes flicking to the griffon affectionately before looking back to her cart, and magicking the two beams onto the clips at her sides, "Canter Park is this way. Ah been there before once when Ah first came to Canterlot to sell fruit. Not much business though, it's mostly fillies and colts playin' on the playground with their parents watchin..."

She began leading the way to the park, her cart rolling at a leisurely pace behind them, the tarp still shielding her fruit from onlookers--and Sparks if he was still in the mood for fruit, "Not that that's a deterrent for me! Ah like playin' with the foals--lotta times they have more fun than us adult ponies...oh, and there's the paddle boats too...that's more for....." She looked at Gladwin, blushed, and then looked away, mumbling softly, "Couples."

Shaking that off, she smiled at the thought of foals. Not only did she like the little fillies and colts, but they made her feel a sort of...yearning...for she too wanted that someday. Not nearly so many as were at the park....but still, a foal or two. But not for a while. A good long while. She didn't even have a house yet. She was living off tents and a shack for Celestia's sake! She didn't want her new friends to know that, of course...but that didn't mean it was anything but true. She mentally disciplined herself for paying for everypony. That was money that could have been spent buying more lumber for the house she had barely started construction on.

"BAAGHH!!" Holly about gagged as she felt her igloo crush down upon her, and looked over the snow that now covered all but her front hooves and head, to see a certain griffon lounging in a pile of broken snow bricks, "Cheater."

She stuck her tongue out, and magicked the snow off of her back. She shivered a bit as the wind shifted through her damp fur, sending a shiver up her spine, "Now ya gone and got me all wet, ya dumb bird." She giggled, and although the name was generally insulting for a griffon, the way she said it held a great deal of affection, "Now Ah gotta rebuild my igloo!"

She was kind enough to magic the snow off of him, and out from under him, sending him falling to the frosted grass below. She began rebuilding the igloo around them, building it a little bit bigger now that the griffon was within it. When she finished at the very top, she sat down next to Gladwin, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. They were all alone....in a private....secluded area.....she was a girl...he was a boy...

Her face heated up and she averted her eyes, and suddenly....found his tail. Her eyes lit up, and she found herself impulsively wanting to play with the lion-like thing. She shifted a little closer to the griffon, closing the space between them one butt scoot at a time. Finally next to him, she suddenly pounced behind him and grabbed the tail with her hooves, pulling it to herself and quickly sitting back up, holding the tail tightly in her hooves. She looked at him, and then back at his tail. She rubbed her face against the thick tuft of fur at the very end, but then quickly put the tail down, feeling embarrassed of her actions. She only wanted...it looked fluffy....

She averted her gaze again, cheeks rosy red, "Uh....sorry...Ah....Ah like fluffy things..." she shook a fur-shod hoof to exemplify her love of fluff, "and soft things...and...and.....you.... and stuff..."

"AHH!!!" Holly jumped as a cold snowball smacked onto her rump, and for a moment she felt a little embarrassed. Gladwin had aimed for her butt! Well, two could play at that game!

As she turned to face him, huddled under her newly made fort, she was taken aback as a rush of snow fluttered off the ground and splashed onto her. She looked up at the sky, where the griffon now hovered.

"Oh, gonna use wings, are ya? Well, in that case..." Across a wide span of about ten feet around her, snow lifed into the air, glowing in her blue-green magic. She smirked a devilish smirk. If there was one thing she was good at controlling--it was water, "Ah can use magic!"

She sent the torrent of snow his direction, and as he naturally tried to overt a thrown snowball, she took the massive clump of snow and turned its huge form, smashing it into the griffon, carpeting him in white, "Haha! Ya think Ah never had a snowball fight with a griffon before?! Ya know where Ah come from, don't ya?!"

She cackled, and began forming bricks of snow, quickly and fluidly building up a large igloo around herself, as though she had done this plenty of times before. Before the griffon could send more snow from above, she had vanished inside the igloo completely, a roof and all.

Once in her new frigid hut--which was actually pretty warm as it blocked out the wind, Holly dug out an exit at the very bottom, and peeked out at ground level, making sure her head was still safe from aerial assaults.