Pretzelparty

Ponyville was so interesting and there were so many generous souls filling it. Just from playing in the town square recently, Yama had been able to buy a big breakfast for himself and even a lunch! Food couldn't satisfy all his needs, though. He needed some recreation! What could he do in a town so generous as this? He could visit that apple farm and see if he could volunteer his services... but that dog of theirs might be a bit too curious about him. Maybe all of that Hullabaloo at that school could present an interesting opportunity. He'd paid his brother a visit the other day and he said something about a game of O and O being played. Yama had watched his brother play that game a couple times... and even joined in once! back when it first released (boy how long ago was that?) he played a cleric. Maybe this was the chance when he could play her again! Or maybe he could be a diamond dog rogue of somekind. The possibilities were endless! As the bouncing ball of blonde energy cantered through the hallways he noticed the distinct smell of yak coming from one of the doors! This must be the place! He remembered Yona from his time at the running of the leaves in the stands. One day had to see if he could get her to be the lead vocals for a band. Well, those were ideas for later. Now it was time to throw some dice! The second he popped his head in the door he noticed a couple fascinating knew faces! Hoping to make a good first impression, he hung his intrument on the coat-rack by the door with its strap. He dipped his head in greating in spoke up in his usual cheery register,"Hey there, Everyone! Is this really just welcoming anybody in to play? I'm a little rusty but I'd love to get a chance to roll some dice with all of you!"

Hogo-sha couldn't help but notice that derisive look from the big creature. What was with his attitude? Hogo-sha had grown accustomed to looks like that from the Canterlot nobility he occasionally passed by, but on a gigantic mug like that it somehow felt even more annoying. He gave a roll of his eyes at that giant creature and just gave a somewhat dismissive sounding laugh, one of those laughs that you knew was laughing at you: When someone isn't even bothering to take you seriously or with respect. The visitor's ears perked up at the sound of a voice from up above. Seemed this large kitten's master had decided to address him, "Good Morning, Your Highness! I'm flattered by your assumptions, but sadly the only high rank or office I could hold is only in a very small pack on a mountaintop back home. I do hope to represent my people in a greater capacity someday! All I am is the son of an old dog." Seemed the gaze of the sphinx had managed to unnerve a few ponies that they parted around the Dog. At least this gave him some room to bow his head towards Blueblood. If anything, Hogo-sha was not going to let this overgrown feline make him forget his good manners. "I've never gotten to see a Sphinx in anything other than pictures in books, Your highness. Could you ask him if the others of his kind are as large and mighty as the legends say they are? Is there a chance he may grow bigger in time?"

Headless Hexxer Tier 4 Intelligence: 4 Strength: 4 Speed: 6 Durability: 6 Energy Projection: 5 Fighting Skills: 5 Tobohime (Kirin) Tier 3.5 (Yokaiju) Tier 4.5 Intelligence: 4 Strength: 4 Speed: 5 Durability: 4 Energy Projection: 5 (kirin) 7 (Yokaiju) Fighting Skills: 3 Avant Garde Tier 4 Intelligence: 4.5 Strength: 3 Speed: 4 Durability: 2 Energy Projection: 6 Fighting Skills: 4 Sunlight Sentinel Tier 5 *Relative to the position of the sun* Intelligence: 7 Strength: 6-7+ Speed: 5 Durability: 6 Energy Projection: 5 Fighting Skills: 6 Moonlit Knight Tier 5 *Moon and Armor Intelligence: 7 Strength: 4 - 5* Speed: 5 - 6* Durability: 4 - 6* Energy Projection: 7-7+ Fighting Skills: 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Finally managed to finish this list. Would everyone be alright with me adding the Tier and Stat list to the character app sheet?

I don't have any issue with using both of these, frankly. I can see the pros and cons... Would everyone be alright trying to categorize their character according to where they land on these scales? I can start us off by trying to stat my character's starting with my latest.

To all Roleplayers here! I'm currently trying to cook up a sort of... I suppose, rating system for both heroes and villains. LIke a scale of power/influence a character has so we don't up with a really out of balance situation in a thread. Anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

Today the citizens of Canterlot were treated to more than one oddity on their streets. While he was nowhere near as impressive as a creature of legend walking down the square or as glamorous as the "pharoah" riding on the beast's back, A well spoken diamond dog in a fancy coat and a wooden sword was still quite a sight for the natives to behold. He'd been here a couple days so far, partly drawn here when he noticed a particularly familiar scent coming from the town. By the time he'd caught wind of it though it seemed the one who had caused it had moved on to somewhere nearby... he hoped that old goat hadn't found himself in some trouble of somekind. That rumor about some giant creature winning second place in the running of the leaves had gotten him worried. While the oddly regal Diamond dog strolled through the street he paused as his muzzle began to wrinkle up. The dog pinched his nose shut in time to stifle a harsh sneeze, "Huh... A... cat?" Against his better judgement, Hogo-sha took another few whiffs of the air. After a short fit of sneezes he realized something very strange about this scent on the wind. He'd scented out Nekomata and Bakeneko before back home... they had a feline scent tinged with magic, but this: This was something very rare. HE'd been relaxing by the backstreets with a book when he noticed a tail flick by behind the roof of a building. This was something EXTREMELY unique, and very big evidently. Large knuckles made a pass over his damp nose and grimaced, knowing he'd probably be regretting this all week. It seemed despite the spectacle, not much of a crowd had formed yet, So Hogo-sha slipped into the masses, following along carefully as he scoped out this massive creature. "A... Sphinx? I thought they were all extinct." He looked up and down over hte creature, "Hm... Oka-san made them sound so much bigger. Maybe this one's a runt?" He muttered aloud to himself.

... Getting used to the technology of the modern day was one thing, getting used to the massive increase in empowered ponies was another entirely. Back when Lus Mor was alive.. well, un-alive? was that the term? Either way, back then the Knight and Sentinel and alicorns were barely even rumors popping up across the countryside. Now there were ponies around who just could summon freak weather events willy nilly. You take a nap in a coffin for a couple hundred years and wow do things change. The first thing to be scooped up by the winds was a rather irritated looking head who kept up the unimpressed frown as she was sucked up along with her body, "Ugh. The cleanup crew isn't gonna like this..." Before the dullahan even landed Ossia could hear her voice over the winds, "I HOPE YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO COVER ALL THIS, LASS!" Yelled the head in a thick fet lochian accent before it plummeted down to the earth, landing unusually softly on a patch of grass beside the resevoir. As soon as she laid her eyes on the wings AND horn she would groan in annoyance. Of course an Alicorn supervillain would show up, her day just couldn't get weird enough could it? A shadow fell upon her head, it's size steadily growing around her as her eyes looked upwards to see one of those high tech floating carriages plummeting to the earth. As it's image drew closer she narrowed her eyes to see Hospital insignia on the side. It soon landed right on top of her on it's side. A second passed and soon the door was launched off the overturned vehicle. Out popped her body , slowly ascending on a platform of living shadows while the head was being spun in one hoof like a basketball. "Someone Call a paramedic?" She asked midspin, "... or maybe lookin' at those tears a therapist? Ya'd be surprised how much a shrink can help!" Her body hopped on down with her head floating again by her side. Her shadow spiked up in shadowy tendrils to protect her from any Bullets, "Death sentence? For me? Creepier -and much shinier- ponies than you have tried, bonnie! I'm your friendly neighborhood reaper-mare: Passing others into the hereafter is my whole shtick!" She looked over to Ossia, "I don't suppose you're willing to call a truce for now? I don't even know what you're planning yet, but we can work out how I have to stop you once Miss Tin-mare here is down and out!"

"Ooooo." Went the unicorn as she listened to Fire walker's explanation, "So the map is able to observe anyone and anything and then come up with a solution by bringing others together? I wonder if such a function could be replicated with magitech. " The prench pony rubbed at her chin in thought before they finally came to the library room. Bevel was a mare who could appreciate a good library, she had one of her own back in Talonopolis. This collection put hers to shame! She made a mental note to try and expand her library later when she got back home. Already, Bevel was at the shelves scanning the spines of various books as she slid along on the rolling ladders. As she traversed the length of the shelf she let out a subdued, "Weeeeeee~" until she came to the end and slid to the bottom, "Hmm... Dimensionally transcendant space and able to monitor individuals across the world! Thank goodness this place didn't pop up in Talonopolis. None of the families would have it!" On some level, Bevel probably would have found it concerning too. Unless she was one operating the thing. "I don't suppose the princess would mind me taking a couple readings next time I come by, would she?"

Updates have been made! I think I got everyone this time.

Hey, Everypony! I managed to conduct the Census for the Au and those who are active and aren't. If you spot a mistake or think you are in the wrong spot in this list, please let me know as soon as possible. For our list of Active Heroes we have: Silverbolt - Ciraxis Blade Runner - Ciraxis Sunlight Sentinel - PretzelParty Moonlit Knight - PretzelParty Headless Hexxer - Pretzelparty Phantom Strider - PretzelParty Avant Garde - PretzelParty Bevel Gear - PretzelParty Shifter - Steeleagle Battlemage - Steeleagle The Equestrian - Steeleagle Lady Adventure - Steeleagle Flashmob - Kirby Krackle Machina - Moonshinetheleocat Z.E.L.D.A. - Tacobob Arcus - Pyroblaze Dolor - Pyroblaze Shui Seng - Pyroblaze Bahamut & Rosetta - Dubstep BROODMARE - Derpravener Bulwark - Derpravener Detective Stalwart - Derpravener The Corroded - Dunnie Morpheus - Dio Mutt - Mutt Prop - Switchback Stable Loop - Windwright On the Inactive list of Heroes is: Rainboom Centurion - Bramble Rose GoldStar - Davroth White Windigo - Raridash Adventivia - Smartbrony Titanium - Finite Zero For Active Neutral Characters we have: Castle Bravo - Dustycider Pursuer - Derpravener In-active Neutrals are: Masquerade - EquestrianScholar. Pummel - Bellosh101 ... On the list of Active Villains we have: Ember Ashwing - Dustycider Lightning Dust - Dustycider Platinum Gem -Princeblueblood Red Jarl: GodKiller - Steeleagle Sachadara- SteelEagle General Blindside- SteelEagle The Everfree Avenger - SteelEagle Aether Eater - SteelEagle The imperial - SteelEagle WRAITH - StealEagle The Institute - StealEagle Ossia - Ciraxis In the inactive list is: Dark Core - Dubstep .... I also have a Gdoc for this so I'll try to update it regularly with the help of other mods on the forum. (Will be updating this with information from the OP tomorrow)

E.P.I.C. That was an acronym Rose hadn't heard from in a long time. Since she'd resumed her studies and befriended Blueblood, it honestly seemed as though things had calmed down immensely. Then she got the most curious summons to the castle in Ponyville by none other than a fellow member of the E.P.I.C. Organization. It must have been important if they went through all the trouble of contacting her. Probably something desperate since Rose was basically a fairly strong civilian unicorn with a useful set of skills and not a trained warrior or guard of the royal variety. When Rose finally made it all the way to the castle she found herself lost in the corridors for a while. If she hadn't heard the sound of familiar voices she might have just resorted to trying to tunnel her way through walls of crystal to find her way out then hoping the princess would be lenient later. She recognized Squall's voice and that of Fire walkers. "Um... Hello?" She asked in her usual listless tone, "I got the notification and... wanted to help."

I like this idea actually, Steel! I say we go ahead with it. As For the restarting of Gatekicker, I'm good with that too. I'll get to work figuring out a list of the active heroes.

If Hexxer had her hooves free she would have clapped at the broken parasol. Those were hard to break even for some of the strongest in the school. With an impressive degree of speed the head zipped away from the invader's grasp to orbit her body with a proud grin, "So close! Care to try again? I've got an eternity to play with you so don't rush on my account." The head seemed to exhale wisps of pitch black smoke from her mouth, the stuff soon assuming the shape of a parasol again that flopped into her body's hoof. "I might actually have to start taking you seriously soon, Lass!" The sun was starting to go down, shadows were getting longer and as a result so was Hexxer's range. When Nighttime fell she'd have an even greater advantage. For now though she insteadl stretched her shadow out beneath her, making several spiky tendrils erupt from the ground beneath Lightning and soon they hooked down to pin her into place. Seemed that the 'hero' wasn't aiming to end the mare's life but for now just restrain her. "If you're some sort of heartless machine, you've gotta have a power source and a bunch of movin' parts, right?" Another smirk came to her muzzle, "Let's see how much of a beatin' hard steel can take!" If she could make a crack in this mare's armor she could end this fight sooner than she thought... or at least make it much easier.

Taira let out a warm chuckle towards the Guard pony, "You're concern is well appreciated, Sir Shield." Perhaps in an attempt to ease the stallion, Taira dipped his head towards him with a subdued smile. As the Old wolf allowed himself to get more comfy around this crowd he would try to distract the pony from any intimidation with another question, "Will I be seeing you at Boulder's party tonight?" Speaking of Boulder, Taira couldn't help but smile at the sight of his new friend's family. It made him feel a hint of regret he wasn't back in the mountains, at least until he remembered that he had family here already. When the okami let his eyes wander back over to the stands he couldn't help but heave a small sigh, seeing that Yamakara had seemingly fled. He could smell his pup hadn't gotten far. Had this old wolf already fallen into that stage when he'd wind up embarrassing his litter already? Time sure can fly can't it... That pang of sadness made his ears lower slightly, here he'd hoped to introduce that silly pup to everyone. Seemed that that may have to wait for another day for now. Hawke's approach brought a grin to the old wolf's muzzle. While she might have seen him as competition not too long ago, Taira was more than happy to congratulate the flirtatious griffin. "You ran wonderfully, Hawke-san." He bowed his head towards the griffin, "It was an honor to compete with you. As for cricks in the neck... I'll admit that was a bit of a common occurrence back in the day. I wasn't above laying down to talk to someone though." The big wolf would rub harshly at his nose, trying not to let the scent of cat so close lead him to ruining a potential moment between the griffin and Pinkie. Applejack's stunned question would earn another chuckle form the large yokai, "Well, Long lived most likely... and I'm not nearly as skilled a shapeshifter as you're thinking. That kirin shape is the first out of two shapes I can take." With a playful little smile he would wink at Applejack, "If you want to try and have a rematch when I look this I'd be happy to show you how fast I can be... hopefully the next time we won't have to deal with pepper slinging raccoons next time." He let out a soft snort as the very thought of that torture made his nose twitch. That description of his duties on the farm made him smile brightly, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Applejack... okay maybe I would prefer to sleep outdoors, but our pact means I have to stay in the barn. A yokai's word is binding. Very Binding." One that mysterious note he would turn towards Fire Walker and grinned"Walker-san! Congratulations on the finish!" The towering wolf would bow his head towards the red pegasus, "Perhaps we'll have a chance to speak more now that it's over." When little wind walked over, Taira went wide eyed and beamed. "Hello there!" He again dipped his head towards the Blue filly, "Are you Walker-san's little sister? It's a pleasure to meet you."

The first to approach Taira in the tail end of his fit was Boulder. Honestly, he would be slightly saddened if that wasn't the case based on the stallion's goo will exhibited in the race. Windy sneezes changed to breezy coughs and then to a gentle snuffle when he felt he'd finally gotten most of that perfume out of his system. Now standing noticeably taller compared to the bulky country-colt he offered him a subdued smile, trying not to show off any teeth. "It's me alright..." Another soft cough came from the large yokai, "So... still up for that drinking contest? I think I might have a bit of an edge on you now that I look like this." A paw was offered in friendship to Boulder, large as it was it could still shake a hoof as the stallion soon learned. Ears perked at Heart Shield's question, "I could do with a tissue perhaps! Otherwise I'm perfectly fine." His response was punctuated by a soft sniffle. The arrival of the bouncing party pony made the big creatures tail start to wag about in delight, wisps of mist slipping and dissipating off the end of his tail as it waved about behind him. Once she got close enough he got down on his front paws and swiftly slipped beneath her as she came down on her last bounce: letting her land perfectly on his back. With his pink companion safely seated on his back he would eagerly walk back to the crowd with her and boulder, "To be honest I haven't gotten to attend a proper dance party in ... Hm... I think the last one was a millennia ago. Think you can teach this old dog some new dance tricks, Pinkie-san?" Taira was honestly surprised by how composed the mayor was, but he was most certainly not going to complain. Any official who could keep a stunned crowd calm after such an odd circumstance as this deserved his respect. Once he returned to the finishing line with two of the ponies he'd come to admire in this race he would nod appreciatively to the Mayor, mouthing a thank you her way once he was close enough. One pony he was sure was going to expect some answers. Applejack was having such a heartfelt moment with her kin and basking in her pride when Taira had to spoil it all by making a scene. "Well, I can't say for sure I know how much this clever one knows..." He glanced back to Pinkie for a moment then back to Applejack, "... But I think I can elaborate. Sorry for the scare back there and the bit of deception." He offered his paw to her , "The answer to that first question you asked is..." From the stands the descending yellow kirin rolled his eyes and rapidly stomped his hooves on the wood, producing a short drumroll that he ended the second the wolf spoke. "None at all! Like your mayor said, I'm an O-kami. I can be a kirin when I want to be... and perhaps earth pony or pegasus too, but my shape-shifting isn't quite as good as it should be. I stayed in that form as long as I could during the race as part of a bet with a certain mischievous spirit native to hear. Perhaps you've met?" He asked with a genuine sincerity, as he had not quite looked into all the details regarding recent events in this land just yet. The large would took a deep breath and then bowed his head towards Applejack, "And because I happened to lose the wager we made before the race's end... You have yourself a worker here for a month. I'll be sleeping in your barn as per our arrangement."

So it had finally ended. Once Taira felt the tape brushing limp past him he knew he had lost. He did feel the barest hint of regret that he wasn't able to come out on top, but he was an older creature. Strong and able as he was he knew that he couldn't expect to wind every competition he got into. In those last moments crossing the finish line he would gradually come to a halt as he skidded against the path. All the mist he had produced seemed to shift in the wind and then all roll back to the panting kirin, the magical vapors swirling and churning around him to obscure him from view. Behind the small curtain of mist the hidden kirin would gather his focus to allow his magical disguise to repair itself. From Taira's perspective he could see the silhouette's of the other racers crossing and a smile came to his lips, "Can't win 'em all, I s'pose." He mused to himself as he stepped right back out, now looking more like his serene self at the start of the race. The stallion still seemed to be puffing and huffing in his exhaustion. He could feel his foreleg aching not long after he waved over to the pastel colored kirin in the stands with the pink horns. A look of panic came to his face as the wall of wind, leaves, dust and trace amounts of pepper blasted over him and the rest of the racers and some of the crowd. Quick reflexes brought his leg up to shield his still sensitive nose from the sudden rush of irritants. Once the wall of wind finally passed he let out relieved sigh, "That was close." Watching the last runners cross the finish line, Taira smiles at all the faces... even certain darker visages. He'd heard Discord was a sore loser... he could only hope he wouldn't be so sore as to avoid him later in town. However the slippery spirit decided to meet Taira later, this old dog felt he deserved at least a short victory dance. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Once the aides and the Mayor of the town made their way to the Podium by the finish line, Taira stiffened up with an embarrassed grin: Stopping his dance as soon as he felt eyes beyond his racing competitors upon him. If he recalled correctly this was a time for him to be a bit more stationary and respectful. He tried his best to keep his composure but even the least sharp eyed spectator could see the kirin's tail wagging behind him like an excitable puppy. He couldn't hide his goofy grin either, this had been so much fun and as much as he wanted to respect this land's traditions he also wanted to howl with delight. He did have enough discipline to hold any yips and barking for the party at Boulder's place. He was not going to let that country-pony forget that! Now that the topic of the other racers popped back into his head, his ears perked up as the Mayor began to hoof out the medals. With each name called his smile perked again, Hawke had placed, Boulder had placed (as if there was any doubt), Even Pinkie had earned a medal! Those in the audience would see the kirin still fidgeting with excitement, only pausing when he noticed a strange scent right beside him. He had to scrunch up his muzzle to try and deal with the sudden itch that spread across it. Where was it coming from? Suddenly the call of his own name made him perk up. Mayor mare must have been wearing some type of potent perfume today, The kirin wiggled his nose a moment but stiffened up and lowered his head to recieve his prize. He could be very happy with silver: it worked well with colors after all! When he bowed down though that put his snout right in front of the mayor's chest and directly in front of the source of the ticklish scent. As the medal was draped over his neck he was only able to dip his head in thanks as the intense tickle in his muzzle seemed to flare up like wildfire. He did manage to let out a breathy congratulations to Applejack but seconds after he was back to scrunching and wiggling his snout. His resolve crumbled rapidly as a certain kirin in the stand waved his hooves as if pleading the kirin to stop whatever was about to happen. "Hehh....ehhh..." If any of the other racer's took notice of those familiar facial scrunches they knew was about to happen... or least suspect part of what was to come. "Thank you all for participating in this year's event. Let us make next year's even better!" Not two seconds after Mayor Mare spoke the last part of her speech came a deep breathy gasp from behind. A deafening roar of a sneeze blasted out of the foreigner, "HRUUUUUUUh-HYEAAAAAAAKSHUUUHHH!" It sent a powerful gale across the crowds and produced a gigantic explosion of Mist. The sheer force of it sent the kirin tumbling back the other way on the finish line. The shock to his system tore away at his disguise and left the figure that produced the sneeze sprawled out and dizzy on the road. The creature that sat where the kirin should have been wobbled for a moment as it got to its feet. It was much taller than it was before, with its head up he stood about as tall as Celestia herself. Taira felt as if he'd just been hit by a runaway carriage. Was that perfume Lilac based? That stuff always seemed to make him act like a conduit for the least pleasant of windstorms. A sense of dizziness was imparing his sense, both physical and common. Another itch shooting down the length of his nose made him clap what he thought would be a hoof to it. He practically froze in place as he noticed something was wrong. The hoof he'd expected was back to the paws he was born with. The moist feeling that met his pads was also not the the kind of moisture one dreaded to touch after a particularly rough sneeze, his old nose was back! Any hopes that maybe he had reverted to his less... intimidating form dissolved as he noticed his natural shroud of mountain mist flowing down his back and the faint green glow traveling up his forelegs. The silver medal still hung off his neck so it was still definitely the same one who had raced all the way here, but Taira was admittedly worried that he may cause a panic in this form if he lingered. He attempted to willing the mist into a shroud that he could try and flee in, but another fit of sneezing broke his casting and he was left sniffling and huffing on the other side of the finish line. Luckily the fits didn't produce more than stiff breezes that rustled the mane as opposed to the explosive bout of windstorms he'd produced just a second ago. Perhaps the lack of dramatic gasps was the reason. Back in the stands, a certain yellow kirin was cupping his face in his hooves and muttering something in neighponese...