ShadowMage

Gearly blinked once, realizing he was about to be left by his lonesome self by the two other ponies. Before conferring with the rest of his mind, a small part of him came to a quick decision. He took a step towards Steel and the other pony, stammering out nervously, "I'm c-coming with you!" His eyes widened somewhat as he realized what he'd just said; he wasn't sure why he'd blurted it out a statement rather than a humble request, but it was too late to change his wording now. More importantly, if there was something wrong though, he couldn't, wouldn't, just stand about idly; he'd do whatever he could to help.

Roleplay Type:World of Equestria RP Name: Yoked (Pronounced: YO-k'd or, rarely, Yo-KED) Sex: Male Age: Stallion (Rough Equivalent - Mid-20's) Species: Earth Pony Eye Color: Sea Foam (#006FC7) Coat Color: Tanned Leather (#A4644C) Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Faded Rust (#B6695D) and Faded Leather (#9A715E): Worn in sloppily combed from bedhead. Physique: Tall and lean with ample muscle built from more than half his life of physical labor. Cutie Mark: Mud Brown (#814900) Horse Yoke with Golden (#f7d610) tie studs Origin/Residence: A small farm in the low rolling hills of Solstice Heights Occupation: Work Horse on his family's farm Motivation: Yoked strives to work hard on the farm to help support the family. Likes: Working up a good sweat, Good ol' fashioned dirty fun, Occasionally slacking off, Skipping rocks in the Rissette River, Rough housing, Swimming, Boulder bucking, Trotting, Hoofball Dislikes: Extravagance, Pushy Ponies, lazy, workless days, sleeping in. Character Summary: Yoked was the first foal born to a young couple, owners of a small wheat farm in the green, south-western hills of Solstice Heights. Even while he was young, it was apparent he had inherited his father's sturdy build and devotion to work as well as his mother's beautiful eyes and her relaxed attitude. As the family was soon blessed with several new foals, the responsibility of watching over his young siblings was placed upon Yoked's shoulders. With silent determination, he watched over his younger brothers and sisters, sacrificing the fun-filled youth of a normal young colt to protect his family and make his parents proud. As Yoked grew into a young colt, it became expected of him to help with the duties of the farm. Over the following years of physical labor, he grew into a well-built and muscled pony, determined as ever to make support and protect his family. One day, while helping his father haul a particularly heavy load of goods into a nearby town, his father slipped upon a patch of gravel on the road. The stallion covered his head, waited for the terrible crash to ring out over the hills, expecting the cart to have pulled his eldest son and a days worth of work into a jumbled heap. Instead, no sound; and when he looked up, Yoked, not yet even a stallion, held fast the cart his father had struggled so to haul up hill every time. It was then, with a flash of light, a cutie mark sprang onto Yoked's flank. A work brace sat upon his flank, signify his mighty physical strength and boundless wells of determination. As the family continued to grow, many responsibilities on the farm were picked up by younger brothers and sisters who could now look after themselves. Now a young stallion, Yoked found himself with more free time than he'd ever had before. With no great desire to make a name for himself, Yoked went out from his farm when he wasn't needed and did two things he'd never had time for before: make friends and have fun. Some ponies might have said that, in the company of his friends, Yoked acted immature for a stallion of his age, but they likely wouldn't have known all the fun he'd missed in his younger years. When called upon to work though, Yoked remained as sturdy and determined as ever to complete every one of his jobs.

Apparently in the past week or two, I was removed the RP Group so I can no longer post in the RP forums. Clearly this is detrimental to the continuation of much funnage. Please being to help me.

This is so brilliant...I don't even.... I play Dungeons and Dragons, and I'm playing to run a game sometime. If the players EVER go to ANYWHERE crowded and chaotic.... I'm going to dig this link up and play it as background noise.

As his eyes widened with excitement, Gearly's hopes soared to heights that would have challenged even the greatest of Equestria's fliers. Not only had his destination of Stalliongrad been on the right track all along, he would also likely have a traveling companion who knew the area, was clearly willing to share this information, and was clearly not the unfriendly sort. Perhaps he'd been foolish when he assumed he'd be making the trip by his lonesome self; he'd already spent all the but the very beginning leg of his journey in the company of somepony else. Potentially even more foolish was his first impression that strangers in the large city of Canterlot would be unfriendly or unwilling to help. His mind lost in the ever-constant cloud of whirling thought, he barely noticed the conspicuous mare address the officer he'd been conversing with. Focusing himself back into the world, Gearly's head tilted ever-so-slightly as he listened to the simple request from this strange new...something. He wasn't entirely sure she was; she looked mostly like any other pony he'd ever seen, but the wings sprouting from her back threw him. The outfit this creature wore was also terribly unique; he'd not seen anything like it before and it made the mare look extraordinarily important. Gearly mused slightly that he was more curious about this new stranger than anything. Perhaps his meeting with Steel had softened Gearly up to the idea of meeting strangers. The bitter taste of panic began to make itself known to Gearly once more this day. “A disturbance on the railway” was not a phrase that was appealing to the young stallion. Since the help of Dagger was needed, surely he'd lose this new fountain of knowledge and experience as a traveling companion. Worse yet, something was wrong on the rails, something that could potentially delay, or even stop, the trains from running. “Wh-what is it!? There will b-be a delay, w-won't there? I-It's nothing serious, is it!?” He blurted out before he could clasp a hoof over his mouth. He'd not meant to blurt out the questions, especially in such a manner that offered little to no respect for the strange mare; Gearly just hoped that he hadn't offended or upset the bat-winged pony in any way.

Huzzah! Okay! So limitations are... 149x149 Max Size and 200 kb. Thank you Artax for the info and Davroth for the functioning avatar.

You know you're a MLP fan when... -You find yourself whistling the opening theme at work and don't realize it until later. -You spend 5 hours on Saturday waiting for the new episode to get uploaded.

I'm looking forward to it. Getting to the last one was abit of a pain. Me and my friend Armony went to the January one by public bus from Ohio. And that was a painful experience. Maybe if we can get enough people interested (HINT HINT) we can all pool some money and rent a bus to go from the mid-ish West to New York/Jersey. If you live in the MidWest and want to go, PM me or something.

Could a timer possibly be set up? I.E. Upload a file to the gallery once every 2 or 3 hours, something like that? It's really nice to see a variety of works on the banner-do-hicky, and when it's all by one person, it's not very...inspiring.

Okay, so I resized the image: It's now 149(Wide)x112(Tall) and only a scant 210kb. It still fails to work at all. D':

Okay, so I finally desided to make an animated Gif of Flim doing his "Locomoooootion" arm wiggle. I would LOVE to upload this, but the ONLY issue is...When I try to upload this new avatar, it just doesn't work. Can someone tell me the max dimensions and file size for avatars so I can snip this down abit more so it fits? Or possibly there's some other problem? Any help would be appreciated! And here it is!

Oh look! It's this young filly! Buwahaha! My influence grows! Now to get Zoloft here! >3

His mind lost in the not-so-grand machinations of his soon-to-be journey, Gearly hadn't immediately reacted to the officer addressing him. His torn ear swiveleld subconciously, adjusting slightly to better capture the sound. His head twitched slightly, finally realizing the questioning voice. He quickly looked about himself, looking for the pony which Steel was talking to; perhaps he could glean more information about his destination from their conversation. Seeing only the two other ponies, Gearly paused a moment, a puzzled look crossing his face a split-second. The odd expression was swiftly replaced by the bright eyes of understanding, and even more quickly with eyes filled with a mild panic. Gearly nearly stumbled back as he stood, turning to face the other pony addressing him, losing himself, searching desperately for a response to the question which had already taken him so long to respond to. "Uh, y-yea..." He cut his sentance off mid-word with a slight wince, taking a deep breath before continuing in a much more focussed speach pattern, obviously malcontent with the unrefined words he was about to utter. "Erm... Y-Yes, I am...Interested...sir. I am..seeking to continue my education, sir..." At first, his words were nervously stammered out, but as he continued forth, a minor semblance of confidence grew within his voice. "I am an aspiring mechanic... And it came to my understanding that... Stalliongrad is at the fore-most front of technology. Unicorns in these parts...haven't much use for technology..." The last comment was half-mumbled as disappointment filled his eyes, his head slowly lowering to stare at the ground.

Gearly paid no heed to the pair talking beside him, continuing to search over the train schedule, trying his best to plan some sort of route to the destination. Upon the stranger's utterance of "Stalliongrad", his ears flapped once, readjusting to focus upon Steel's words. As the stallion listened to the Lieutenant describe the city of interest, he couldn't help but let a grin slowly spread across his countenance. The size of Stalliongrad would be intimidating, but certainly a destination of such size would surely have the resources he needed. Though he had already figured as such, it was reassuring to know that his journey hadn't been such a wild goose chase thus far. Reality stuck cold and hard against the joyous bubble of excitement welling up within the gray stallion; even if he managed to get to Stalliongrad fairly easily, how would he manage to find work, schooling, supplies, or anything else? He'd surely need someone who was familiar with the town, it's shops, and the citizens that lived and worked there. He squirmed in aggravation, huffing slightly and beginning to clack his hooves against the floor in the rhythmic pattern of before. "Catch twenty-two...a-always a catch..." He mumbled, glancing sideways past the shorter of the two, one of his eyes focusing upon the guard of the such noble profession. A sudden wave of minor panic washed over Gearly as debated and argued with himself. Surely this pony would be more than capable of helping a wandering traveler to Stalliongrad, but why would someone of such impressive status help a lowly farmer's son. His thoughts shot back and forth until his rear legs folded under him suddenly folded him, his hind end plopping onto the floor with a dull thud as he contemplated possible courses of action.

A steel gray colt with a mane the color of tanned leather poked his head in through one of the entrances to the station; his teal eyes darted about the room almost nervously, trying to deside something. Apparently satisfied, and assuming correctly that he'd reached his destination, the young colt slowly cantered into the main reception area, looking about for a more detailed view of his surroundings as he fidgeted nervously. He shifted his weight back and forth from left to right, raising one hoof off of the flooring and placing it back down before repeating the process one the opposite side. The noise emenating from the motions could have been called annoying by some, if the din of the crowds and trains had not muffled the sound. Others may have commented on the nearly clock-work sound, sped up to an usual speed, or perhaps that the colt looked as if he were in a hurry to begin a race. It was a nervous habit of Gearly's one he paid little mind to; his goals wouldn't become any closer by focusing on such small things as a nervous twitch or a paniced motion. Gearly closed his eyes, letting them unfocus, took a slow, long, and impossibly deliberate breath, letting it out in a deep and relaxing sight. "Everything...will be alright...You've come this far..." He murmured to himself, reassuring that he was indeed doing the right thing. He turned his form about slightly, looking to and reaching for the simple fadded leather saddlebags drapped over his back; the bags were worn almost into oblivion, bore no cutie mark, and were clearly older than the colt which carried them. Rummaging around in the bags for several moments, he pulled forth a decently sized rusted cog with a piece of twine threaded through the hole in the center, making a rudimentary necklace. With another, more relaxed sigh, he clutched the gear to his chest in a tight hug, letting the memories flood over him before he slipped his head through the hoop of twine. With the necklace about his neck, he turned to the board of times and destinations, carefully looking over it, searching for any information that he would deem usefuly, a far more confident and secure look having replaced the nervous fidgeting from mere moments ago.

Gearly lifted his right hoof from the ground, bringing it his chin to rub at it thoughtfully. Deep in thought, he narrated a brief synopsis of his thoughts for the pony before him. "You're clearly quite busy... I don't think you're making a house call with all that...equipment..." With his right hoof, gave a vague waving motion to the side-bags that Arnica had opened much earlier in the conversation before Gearly replace the hoof back upon the ground. "...And it wouldn't be right for me to pull you away from what ever you're doing..." His shoulders rolled once in a heavy, discontent sigh as looked around the still early morning, empty streets. His ears flopped back against his head, the left one laying at an odd angle due to the damage sustained many years prior. "Although... There is nopony else out and about... And if it's as...foolish as you say to try to find Stormsong's restaurant..." He closed his eyes tightly, shifting his weight from side to side upon his front hooves, lightly stamping at the gravel beneath his form in mild frustration. "I can hardly refuse such a kinda and...apparently important offer..." His form slumped forward slightly with the exasperation of the situtation; slowly he took in a deep breath and stood back up to his full height, shaking his head to clear his mind. "A comprimise then? I shall help you with whatever you're doing... and then after, I'll....let you.... We can go to Canterlot... But if we find a store with a map, I'll purchase that and you can indicate where to go to find Stormsong... Deal?" The grey stallion moved his right hoof forward in an awkward gesture, indicating a hoof-shake, a verbal agreement. It was the final idea he had, and he hoped it would work out; he didn't want to take any more time from kindly pony before him, but if she'd let Gearly help with her business, he could repay her and not feel so bad about taking up her time. And who knew, maybe Celestia would begin smiling upon him and he would be able to find a quality map of Canterlot.

Gearly stammered nervously, clearly having not thought of such a problem. He shifted back and forth nervously upon his front hooves, fidgeting as he looked about, seemingly lost and trying to gain his bearings in the small town. His voice came soft and weak, almost sounding scared as he focused once more upon the pony before him, trembling slightly as timid question escaped his lips. "I...Is it really...th-that big?" His hind legs trembled before he relieved them, sitting upon his haunches suddenly with a light thud as his read form impacted the ground. A light huff escaping his form as he quietly stared at the ground, weighing the options in his mind, arguing and debating with himself. He couldn't take valuable time of the kind mare before him, even if she was openly offering it. He well knew that he hadn't much experience of the grand city of Canterlot, though; he'd surely get lost in the winding streets. The tinges of fear and panic started to creep in, brought forth by the doubtless reason behind Arnica's words. His eyes suddenly widened as his rear legs swiftly pushed him back into a standing position, a wide grin quickly coming to his features as he almost shouted his brilliant idea. "A map! Y-you... could draw a map for me, couldn't you? It wouldn't take but a moment, and... " *He paused, collecting his thoughts, letting his brain catch up to his often too-fast mouth. "It would probably be more than enough for me to find Stormsong. And any other information I could ask about town. I know I'd be able to find her restaurant if I had a map!" He turned to Arnica, a triumphant beaming expression upon his countenance, as though this was the solution to all his problems.

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance Miss Arnica." He replied simply, lowering the hoof that had been offered in greeting awkwardly. A Arnica glanced away, Gearly tried to follow her gaze, unable to find the object she was looking toward before her question came forth. "O-Oh... You needn't accompany me to Canterlot, Arnica. I'm certain I'll be quite alright, and I should be able to find Stormsong on my own. Besides, I wouldn't want to weigh you down with my concerns; you sure have things you need to attend to. Though I must thank you graciously for your wonderful offer, I must decline." The stallion stood there, smiling politely, unsure what more to say, slightly taken aback by the other pony's offer to escort him to Canterlot.

Gearly blinked once, lost for just a moment upon the fact that names had not been exchanged. During the brief pause after the unicorn's question, his brain filed away the other information she had said. "Gearly. I-I'm Gearly. The pony who...started schooling just a tad bit late..." He answered the question fairly simply as his mind drifted back in time to the school in Canterlot that he left what seemed to be so long ago. His eyes widened as his mind returned to the present, realizing he'd forgotten his manners and held out his right leg awkwardly in an offer to shake hooves. "Wh-..And, who m-..And may I ask your name, miss?" His mind had failed him in quickly coming up with a question asking the other pony's name that he felt wasn't condescending; the resulting nervous stammering, he felt, surely made him look like a fool before this stranger, or potentially forgotten acquaintance. The stallion smiled nervously, clearly uneasy with the situation at hoof.

The form of the stallion nearly collapsed when he heard the words "no need for them." His hopes had been set upon finding the tools of his trade there, as he didn't expect to find them in such a village as the one he was currently conversing in. His voice cracked in a mild panic, his voice giving an odd, almost country inflection to his words as his wide eyes focused on the white pony before him. "Wh-wha..? "N-No need?"... I...I suppose not, but...there might be somepony...surely somepony who would have... somethin'...I mean, Canterlot's a big place, with a lot'a ponies... And a lot'a ponies have a lot'a different hobbies... At least one must have a shop that sells the stuff I need..." Gearly rambled on, more attempting to convince himself that his journey to Canterlot would not be a hopeless endeavor. His front hooves fidgeted nervously, lightly stamping the small stones in the road as he shifted back and forth nervously. His head suddenly snapped up sending his short mane flailing about, his eyes bright and wide with the spark of an idea. "Stormsong! Y-yes! She would know, wouldn't she! I mean, she lives in Canterlot; she'd have to know somepony!" He gave a small leap of joy in excitement as he formulated a simple plan, almost tripping as he came back down. "Wait... y-you know Stormsong? Y...you're not from our class, are you?"

The ears of the steel grey pony twitched at the questions uttered from the other's lips. His mind, lost in other thoughts, did not register with questions immediately. As Arinca opened her pack, a glint metal cause Gearly's eye, sending his eyes widening and his heart soaring as he leaned closer to get a better look. "Could it be I've found someone carrying tools?!" his mind excitedly asked. His excitement rapidly faded and his form slumped slightly as his eyes focused on the scalpels and other medical goods. He ceased leaning forward as his mind finally registered the questions which had been asked of him several moments ago. He began speaking slowly, unsure of where to start with his nearly endless list of questions and problems. "Oh...uh... I'm looking to travel to Stalliongrad... per-...haps you've heard of it? I am...going to study machines there, hopefully I'll be learn enou-" His head shook once, sending his short mane into a flurry and bringing his mind back on track before he began to ramble off. "I... I need food, tools to create and tinker with such as screwdrivers and mallets, possibly traveling companions, and transportation, should I be able to afford it, would be wonderful.." He listed the items slowly, trying to recall everything he would need for the trip. He tapped his left hoof upon the cobblestone, frowning slightly as he had a nagging feeling he was forgetting something in his list.

Gearly, his mind lost in a thick cloud of thought and a fair bit more than a little nervous, nearly collapsed and cried out in surprise and alarm at the sudden shout from across the marketplace; his hindquarters dipped dangerously as his back legs buckled and quivered, having suddenly lost most of their strength. Regaining his focus as quickly as he could, the young stallion forced his legs into functioning order before he turned his head to look at the pony addressing him. His momentarily too-wide eyes looked to the white mare and he visibly relaxed, a heavy sigh releasing from his form as he responded, still fairly shaken, "Y-you..sn-nuck up on-n me, m-miss." After replacing the sigh moments ago with a full gulp of fresh, crisp air, Gearly cantered towards the "stealthy" mare, cobbling a sentence together slowly in his head. "I...was looking for...well...many things... information, supplies, possibly transportation, maybe even some odd jobs I could do before I-.." He paused in the market, half-way to the pony with who he was conversing. Lifting his left hoof from the cobblestone pavement, his head dipped down, looking to it as he appeared to count off the list of all perceived needs, real or imagined, which he thought may be relevant in the coming weeks. Gearly's voice trailed off as he talked before he blinked once, bringing his mind back into sharper focus. "T-Terribly sorry; I have a tendency to ramble... " A light chuckled escaped the pony as he stood mid-market, almost as if the lack of words was simply a pause he was planning to break any moment.

A crisp morning breeze swept over the green, rolling hills leading to Solstice Heights. Gearly stood upon the cobblestone road leading him the city, pausing to reflect on his situation. The young stallion inhaled slowly, bringing the cool air into his lungs before he slumped forward in a heavy sigh, dwelling upon the long road ahead and, more distressing, leaving his family behind. Waking from his somber reverie, he quickly shook his head, throwing his mane into a jumbled mess atop his head. He pressed forward, instead focusing upon the new opportunities which awaited him in the far-off land of Stalliongrad. Many minutes later, Gearly trotted through the streets of the only vaguely familiar city, searching for the shops which sold the supplies he'd need for the coming journey. His mind drifted to the small pouch, laden with coins earned through various odd-jobs over the previous months; he was unsure if it would be enough to finance his trip, but he was certain it would at least provide a decent start. Gearly paused, glancing about an open marketplace, trying to recall anything useful he'd need for his upcoming trip. The stallion looked about, looking for anypony wandering the city's streets to ask directions.

The Bizarre Misadventures of the Eccentric Gearly The Stalliongrad Journey: Part 1 - Leaving Home... Part 2 - The Scenic Route Part 3? - Ticket to Anywhere Wild Wanderings: Night's Patrol A Cozy Train, A comfy Ride