Pretzelparty

12 hours ago, DerpRavener said:

I came up with a scale a while back, that worked roughly as follows.  Note that the lists are not exhaustive, meant more to give examples than encompass the tier.

 

Tier 1 is approximately civilian level, generally low level or improvised capabilities.  This would include wild animals, militia, petty criminals and the like.

 

Tier 2 is that of active combatants, including your average soldier, higher skilled or more specialist police, and would probably lump in people with (atypical) powers or magic who are otherwise untrained.

 

Tier 3 is where you get into more specialized or empowered combatants.  I would expect 'typical' superheroes and supervillains to fall into this tier.  Specialized and particularly trained military or magic users would also fall into this tier.

 

Tier 4 is the start of the extreme end, where you get low grade or localized reality warpers, or people whose abilities while smaller in scale are much wider in range.  Examples are a little harder to come up with for this tier, though I think things like demons, AIs (say in control of a facility) or large mecha could probably fit into it.

 

Tier 5 is the top, including the most extreme sorts of things like physical manifestations of gods, ancient wizards who can raise armies of constructs or level cities, or AIs in charge of an entire fleet or a country.

 

 

I'd also be up for using Tacobob's chart, though it'd be a little more involved.  I'd also like to either get or come up with a scale for that one, to get a sense of what a given number means for a character.

It might almost be worth using both, Tacobob's to be extra description that could be applied to characters, and mine as a means of shorthand for what level a given thread is intended or expected to be.

On 2/16/2019 at 1:44 AM, tacobob said:

We could always use the old marvel power chart.

 

 

Z.E.L.D.A would probably be.

 

Intelligence:3

Strength:6

Speed:4

Durability:6

Energy Projection:0

Fighting Skills:5

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... 

With things seeming to calm down, Bevel decided she could use a bit  of a break on the cheering. The inventor reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a bottle of water to hydrate herself, cheering could sure take it out of you. She could only flush a bit at the kiss to the cheek, the surprise of it sending errant breath down the wrong pipe and leaving the mocha colored unicorn hacking and sputtering. Hooves scrambled for for a kerchief she could cough into while the aspiration took hold. Eventually through a tear or two she managed to catch her breath again. 

"Do you have to surprise me like that all the time?" She asked with a huff, "I mean the princesses are here after all."

Yama would tilt his head and wiggle his ears as the yak girl gave her opinion on the treat she'd been given, "Hmmm... " The blonde kirin would sniff a couple times at the air and then grin, his tail beginning to wag behind him, "Smells really sweet!" He couldn't help but notice that little twitch in the salespony's smile. Was there a better way to cheer her up beyond becoming her next customer? Well if there was, Yama sure as hay couldn't think of it!  "Can I take a smallish bag?... actually make that a medium sized bag? I wanna share some when the one I'm cheerin' for gets to finish line!"

Thankfully, Yama had managed to get some coin by playing in Ponyville square earlier today!

For a couple seconds, The gold coated foreigner was left staring over at Luna and Celestia. He'd seen the sisters in art and sculptures in his travels, but never in the flesh. The art hardly did them justice. It also didn't seem to properly encapsulate their harmonious magical aura. His ears swiveled in Twilight's direction, shortly followed by his head. "You're a princess too?! Does that mean you're gonna grow super tall like them?" He asked with a certain naive bluntness in his voice, entirely good natured but not terribly wary of the idea of tact in such an odd situation. 

"No need to worry about offendin' me, Twilight. ... er, sorry, Princess." He would turn the instrument on his back around on it's harness and carefully begin to tune it, "Besides! I'm planning to play somethin' instead of cheer. " With a nimble leap to an upper bleacher, Yama twirled in place and gave the instrument a strum that seemed to carry across the bleachers.  He would smile down to Twilight, "I'm gonna play a tune to show my support!" Teeth clenched as Yona bellowed out another cheer! A chuckle came from the foreigner as he rubbed a hoof to his ear and then pointed to the yak, "You! Have you ever thought of singing? With that volume you could be an amazing opera singer! ... or whatever genre ya like!"

Those riffs Bon-bon imagined weren't at all in her head, a strange kirin popped up behind her and played the electric riff on... a neighponese fiddle? That had to take some talent!  The pastel colored stallion continuing to provide an subdued rocking soundtrack for Bonbon's salesmareship. 

This Neighponese visitor had come around in the hopes of cheering on none other than his dear old dad! He knew he felt someone familiar in town and the sound of a monumental sneeze somewhere on the track made him realize exactly who it was.  Once Bonbon hopeful acquired her next customer he would cheerily strum away, the sound of electric guitar buzzing away until the shamisen in his hooves gave off it's natural sound.  With a floaty bounce he hopped and landed safely on the bleachers beside Twilight and Yona, "Afternoon! I'm Yama, it's fantastic ta meet the all of you today! Who are you lovely mares and cows cheerin' for today?"

The stallion winced as a brown mare down the way pulled out a megaphone and shouted out...

"DISCORD, DISCORD!"

The kirin chuckled, "Guess we know who she's rootin' for, huh?"

Bevel hopped and danced across the bench until she huffed and puffed. The energetic inventor soon flopping down beside starlight, "Do you think he can hear me?" She said, out of habit into her megaphone... and then slowly lowering it with an embarrassed smile on her face, "Um... Sorry." 

Lightning's sudden ascent didn't seem to make much of an impression on her opponent. The only thing that changed from her perspective would have been a shift in the intensity of her shadow. The headless pony body stuck out her umbrella and opened it up! That Rain of magical bolts just bounced off the black parasol and seemed to dissipate. "My goodness, the weather out here is terrible! Sudden magical rains of destruction... Ah well, nothin' a good parasol won't protect ya from, don't ya know?" The head on the boombox just smiled over at the airborne cyborg. 

The open parasol would seem to shift... then several shadowy tendril shot out from it and rapidy shot towards the cyborg in wile erratic patterns before latching onto her chassis securely like a harness. Rather than being dragged down, Lightning would only feel a sharp yank that lasted only a second. Then that spread parasol seemed to be growing bigger second by second up until a weighty impact came upon her from the front and unbalanced her.  The pointed tip of Hexxer's umbrella would soon try to thrust up into one of her mechanical wings at a joint. If sucessful Hexxer might finally find her opponent on the ground with her. 

While Lus was quicker than death itself she was still very much limited to the ground for the foreseeable future. If this fight was to go her way, she wanted it on the ground!

"DIS! CORD! DIS! CORD! VICTORY IS HIS REWARD!" 

Bevel was getting very into her cheering. The earthy colored unicorn bouncing and hopping all across the bleachers with energy enhanced through the power of Bon-bons! In time though she would realize she was running low on rhymes so instead she would keep dancing and hopping to let 'Dark Strife' know that he had her support! Her energetic movement only stalled for a second at the surprising appearance of three princesses! 

"Oh hey, You highnesses! Don't suppose you'd like to join me in cheering?"

The Hexxer had apparently gotten herself quite comfortable as she waited for this mysterious assailant. Her body was facing away from this cybernetic equine, reclined on a blanket and seemingly enjoying the sun's rays. Beside the blanket was a what seemed to be some sort of portable radio, or in more common parlance: a boombox. It was playing some type of industrial sounding music with a great deal of distorted guitar in it's beats. That orbitting head of hers floated over to rest on the device for a moment and some how despite any limbs gradually increased the volume over the 'enforcer's' speech. Once she saw the cyborg's lips stop moving she would turn it down and her head would let out a wide yawn before her body would stand itself up and kick her blanket aside. 

"I'll be honest." She said as her head floated up and off the radio, "I was only half payin' attention. Now I ain't one fer paperwork or procedure, I'm no beat cop as ya can see. But I find them pretty sweet fellas. I've actually fought against cyborg's before... was a strange experience for us both." The Body behind the head was stretching and limbering up before it would turn towards the invader. There was a stillness in the air, a hint of unease that would work into whatever mortal part of the mare's brain remained. When the body took a step towards her, The enforcer's implants would start flashing some small messages about firewalls and encryption in her system being worn down... but apparently there was no hacking attempt being made or any hint of magical malware. 

"I'm known as the Hexxer... and I'm not quite sure if I'm alive or dead anymore myself. If Ya beat me and can figure out what I am... I'd dearly love to hear your analysis." The blanket off to her side seemed to melt into a black pool and slip into the shadow of the headless mare. "But for now... Let's just see if you -can- beat me." A screech could be hear rattling the bones of any creature still in the park as the head let out a truly impressive cackle. The body reached up over it's neck and seemed to pull out a parasol from the stump. She would point it toward the mysterious visitor, her head soon levitating over to her side with a cocky smile, "Let's see if there's a soul in that body for me to send to the other side!"

"Absurdité!" bevel barked back at starlight with a cheery grin, "Clearly our friendly neighborhood sweets dispenser has brought enough to feed the whole town with this charming cart of hers!" The perky inventor would pull Starlight into the hug that she herself had given. Bevel was initially confused when she heard that Discord had been challenged by some weird foreign pony with a round rear. What on earth could some stranger from the lands to the east possibly challenge the great spirit of chaos in? Turned out it was something athletic: Of course!  This inventor was more than aware of Discord's endless stamina for reality warping silliness but that was still magical in nature.  If her special noodle was to best this challenger from the east his old and mostly unused muscles were going to need encouragement! 

As Lyra popped up , Bevel would give a friendly wave at her greeting.  Her question in regards to why she wasn't running was easy to answer, "I'm not built for endurance racing! I can bolt when somethings about to explode or collapse on top of me, but a long distance race at this pollen level? Star here can tell you my respiratory system could never handle it!" 

The mare would grin as she received her treats. While Bevel couldn't quite pull off the 'valley mare' accent like Bonbon apparently could, she did managed to responde with a fairly convincing... "Totally!" Before hopping up on the benches and shaking her pom-poms about with intense vigor. 

"Discord! Discord! He's our noodle! He'll outpace this whole racin' Caboodle!" The unicorn inventor had an impressive set of lungs on her based on that mighty cheer. She struck all the silly and bouncy poses she could while she kept up Discord's morale then plopped right back down on the bleachers with a slight blush, "Here's your bits by the way!" Her horn shined up with golden yellow magic and a small sack of bits was left on Bonbon's cart. 

Thank goodness Lus never slept... if she did need to partake in that old past time of sleeping she would have been exhausted this morning. All night she'd been working to set up the equipment for the big rave tonight. Trying to help supervise lighting guys when you had only grasped the concept of magical electrical power grids was enough of a stepping stone for her to go over, but having to do so with a fake head was positively infuriating. Now there was not much left she could do but fritter away the daylight until night fell and she could do her other job. 

... then she heard and felt something very weird. It was near impossible to describe, all she could say was that there was something very... off right now about the world in general, and for once it didn't feel like it was the mare who carried her own head in a purse!

Normally daylight hero work wasn't her thing... at earliest she was mostly a dusk kind of heroine.  Increasingly long shadows often gave her a bit of an edge in the fights. Right now all she could say is that felt very wron-- "An officer was attacked by some kind of... robot thing!" 

Well, that civilian just said all she needed to know: Evil robot needs a horseshoe planted firmly on her metallic plot. The Hooded figure of a pony would take her bag and move off to an empty alley. Shadows around her darkened until it looked as it a hole had been cut in the world... and when they brightened up again a new figure stood there. A pony clad in shadowy, wispy armor would emerge and soon a floating head would orbit around her with a curious smile on her lips.  The mare's presence came along with a wave of unease that made some of the ponies on the street shiver.  One of these terrified ponies was chosen to answer her a question, "Excuse me, Sir. I believe there was mention of someone attacking an officer... have you seen where they they went?" The stallion could barely stammer out a response and so instead pointed upward. 

"Huh... Of course it'd be a flier...just my luck. Have yourself a blessed day..." She would bow towards him before speaking up with an unearthly volume, "All of you may want to cover your ears... and run." 

The head's nostrils flared as she took in a deep breath (What with? Who knows?) and then shouted out in a voice that seemed to rock the minds of everypony for five blocks...

"Whoever attacked this officer.... I'll be waiting in the park unless you'd rather deal with me now."

I'd love to involve hexxer in this one, Dusty.

"I'll take twent-- no, Twenty five!" Already Bonbon had a customer.

The pony in front of her apparently had zipped over the very second someone mentioned a sugary treat. If it had even a hint of sweetness than she would move sun and moon herself if she had to to get to it!

Today, Bevel was sporting a slightly unusual look. Her fluffy frizz of a mane was tied up in a long ponytail that was nearly identical to the actual ponytail sprouting from her plot. The earth pony's rich brown mane also seemed to have some streaks of yellow throughout it. On the end of her hooves were a pair of pom-poms so pointing at the particular bon bons she was after was a bit silly to anyone watching. She was dressed up in a cheerleader's outfit with a picture of a very familiar looking spirit on her shirt. She clearly had the energy of a proper cheerleader judging by how eagerly she was dancing and shifting in place... although that could be explained by the presence of sugary treats nearby.

Would it be alright if I entered my completely normal visiting kirin named Taira in this?  

"I really hope that I don't get called... suddenly feeling my plot shake without my command would be worrying at most and embarrassing if I had company."  The inventor leaned carefully over the map, admiring the devices accuracy in regards to the Equestrian topography, "Moreover I'd hate to have to take time out my schedule to try and fix someone else's problems..." She grumbled, perhaps that was the griffin upraising talking.

Bevel took one last glance back at the map before she joined along with her friends, "Oh-ho! What's next?" She asked in a tone of both excitement of wonder. "Is there an armory? a changing room? Do they have a pool in here too?" All these questions were asked with no hint of sarcasm.

Bevel's hoof imediately shot up, "I have many! How does it do this? Is it some form of greater magic tied to the map, is there some sort of magical intelligence guiding and calculating the fates of ponies and other beings all across the land?" With each word Bevel would scoot closer to the table, looking all along the sides and gently prodding the sides of the map, perhaps hoping to find some sort of compartment. "Seems to be some sort of crystalline substance... but it was clearly grown rather than assembled." The prench mare  gave the side a gentle tap, "Has a strange feeling to it when tapped, sort of like wood..." Her attention then turned to the six chairs in the room, "... I must say that the chairs don't look very comfortable."