My Little Pony XXVII: Eternal Chaos comes with Chocolate Rain

[Beeskee]

<Inkwell> And you named me after spilled ink. You're a horrible player, and I don't like you anymore.

"I think Inkwell is an awesome name."


Rainbow Text Color Fader - shhh, it's a secret!

[EsperDerek]

Anyways, it's time for bed here, I need to be up relatively early tomorrow. Besides, it'll give poor Midnight a few hours to relax, the poor thing is a bit of a nervous wreck after everything that's happened.

G'night, everypony!

[InkwellPony]

Minkelle Cholla Prismtail!

When her lisping kindergarten friend tried to say "Minkelle" it came out as Ink'ell. This eventually morphed into Inkwell. It's a nickname! (Cholla is a real life horse famous for her paintings)

That is, at the very least, a very neat attempt. ^^ I'll keep it in mind.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Oops, I guess without context it does sound that way.

In the story it references Cupcakes (Don't read it!) more then once. It did so it such a way that Cupcakes (Don't read it!) became an interesting part of the plot, basically giving Cupcakes (Don't read it!) a reason to exist outside of Brony nightmares.

Or to put it another way it uses Cupcakes (Don't read it!) to make its own story better and more dramatic. More immersive if you will.

Or to put it yet another way I no longer feel massive waves of regret for reading Cupcakes (Don't read it!)

Kinda like how Rainbow Factory was made better by having an amazing song. Though that is another story I would advise against reading.

Ugh, I couldn't be bothered to finish Cupcakes. It was just...so poorly typed and without a purpose. All in favor of dark things and all, but if someone is going to type a fanfic then the least they can do is proof-read it. -.- Or have a point/message behind the senseless brutality.

Anywho, what's this I hear about more CMC in episode six?

[otakuryoga]

ok..so...Nightmare Night coming up

I am 100% sure that SOMEPONY is going to dress up as a Zombie Pony to mess with Spike and/or Pinkie ...the question is who?

[the_druid_droid]

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"Guarding stuff. Faaascinating," said Tinker to Igneous, lifting up her goggles to give a long stare. "I'm a Ms. Hopefully that'll be temporary." She swung around, snatched up a fire extinguisher with her magic, and sprayed it across the burning muffin. She then turned and bucked the machine that had made it so it fell on it's side with a heavy crash. Tinker began snatching up tools and starting work on it as the conversation continued.

"Charger! Long time, no see! How's the deathtrap?" Tinker said, slipping her goggles back down.

"Not waterproof," Charger said.

"Ooo, sucks. And you, Handy? I don't think we've -" she looked at the clockwork pony properly for a moment. For a moment there was an ominous reflection in her goggles. "It'd... be... impolite to disassemble you for science, wouldn't it?" She asked with extreme reluctance.

Clockwork RP:

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"Erm" Charger interrupted "I'm sorry Miss, but my orders are to escort and assist master Second Hand here, which means I'd probably have to stop you unless you had the requisite paperwork for disassembling protected ponies. That also applies for Lady Charger as well ... but since you two are already acquainted I think a verbal agreement sufficies.

"Hang on, let me check my regs book." he muttered, burying his nose in his saddlebags.

Clockwork:

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To his friends' surprise, the mechanical pony just smiled good-naturedly at Tinker's question. "Considering how many times I've had to reassemble myself, you might save yourself some time by just asking if you want to know how anything works."

[Dexam]

...Bahahaha. Depending on what everypony else thinks, I might just steal that for her 'full name' indeed. Ponythread? What do you think?

You can't steal that which is freely given.
I'm glad you like it.

RP continues at the bottom of the post.

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"Guarding stuff. Faaascinating," said Tinker to Igneous, lifting up her goggles to give a long stare. "I'm a Ms. Hopefully that'll be temporary."

There are two ways that could be interpreted. I thought of the other way first. Ponythread, what the hay are you doing to me?

... That is officially the most awesome name I have EVER heard. And how the hay did you do that with the colors on the name, the transition of color is so smoooth...

<Inkwell> And you named me after spilled ink. You're a horrible player, and I don't like you anymore.

... Great, now see what you've done?

Thanks - my secret to naming is just take an existing name and modify it slightly. Midnight was easy, given her unique heritage.

I'm using this generator on a three-way gradient setting with the #FF99FF #66CC99 #0099CC colour tags kindly supplied by Diego Havoc in place of Red Green Blue.

And I think Inkwell is an awesome name.
If you'd like me to work a little of my name transformation magic... this is what I came up with:
Monique Quill -> 'Nique Quill -> Nique'will -> Inkwell.

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*Midnight yeeps, as she hears Princess Celestia scold her...and use her full name, which only seems to happen once in a very blue moon!

"Cestya! But...but...everypony else is going weird! I'm just trying to run away and find a place to calm down and wait..."

She suddenly goes scarlet red.

"D-Did you say...your room?"

I'M HELPING!

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A... slip of the tongue, my dear. Which is unusual, because normally I am so *very* good with my tongue.

What I meant to say was, I'll send you TO THE MOON!

(Great, now I'm channelling Trollestia)
But, now that you mention it, my room sounds so much more pleasurab... I mean, safe and secure.

[byaku rai]

Soooooo.... I don't know you well enough to send you a random PM. This has led me to post this in-thread:

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DUDE! YOU HAVE MY REAL NAME IN YOUR SCREEN NAME AND IT IS FREAKING ME OUT!!

Hahaha. Man, I'm always double-taking whenever you post!

... o.o....
*cough*
I, uh... I mean, I like your screen name...
>>

O_o o...k... thanks, I guess? it was really just something random I picked out. I have a collection of random screen names because I'm paranoid because I get bored and keep running into neat ideas. I'm stuck with it now, like it or not. Good thing I do. ^^

As to the Cupcakes thing... Don't read it anytime near a meal, or if you intend to sleep anytime soon. It's... intense. I had the good fortune to encounter it after the author posted a proofread version (otherwise I would have probably just given up on it before the first paragraph), but I still can't quite understand why someone would write something like that. I don't regret reading it, because it's expanded my understanding of the brony subculture... But I think the world would have been just as well off without it.

@whoever wanted to virus bomb it down... I understand the feeling, but A) it wouldn't do any good, as someone before me explained, and B) that's not a very enlightened point of view to have. That's like banning books, or actually more like burning them. No matter how horribly written they are or how horrifying the subject matter, those books have a right to exist... And so does Cupcakes. I don't like it, but I will fight to Hell and back to say that it has that right.

... That's just me, I guess.

I feel horribly exposed now...

[Titanium Fox]

There will be a quote post coming out later, but I wanted to get this out first:

Rarity's Night

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Prince Midnight waited patiently for his Lady to recover from her initial surprise at the glade that laid before her. He smiled, and inwardly, practically quivered with delight at Rarity's reaction. He had to admit, he was particularly proud of what he had managed. Rarity was an artist, not just an artist but a perfectionist, and for him to have created something so beautiful as to make her shiver and stammer like that delighted him to no end.

When he was creating this place, it felt right. The magic that he channeled seemed to come deep from within, bolstered by his fervent wish to give Rarity the dream that she had long thought lost. He had felt wonderful, channeling that magic, but not just that, the magic had felt familiar. But he could not recall, for the life of him, if he had ever done something like this before.

"Your words bring me such joy, my Lady." He said, smiling softly at her. His eyes looked across the table, and into hers, and even though they had both settled, he refused to release her hoof. The tactile feeling, the warmth that they shared, it was something not to be taken lightly, just like the rest of this night would be. "For you have long since deserved a such a blessing. That nopony has ever given it to you is an injustice that needed to be corrected."

He glanced at the waiter, who sprung into action, setting the covered plates onto the table. Rarity no doubt recognized the waiter, she had no doubt wooed potential clients by taking them to the finest restaurant in Ponyville. She must have known this waiter's arrogance, his snootiness, but even he seemed to be quiet and subdued. Even he understood the importance of this night, of this place.

"Tonight's meal is Butternut Squash and Pear Ravioli with Rosemary Sauce, and a fresh fennel and mint salad. To accent it, we have our finest chardonnay as the accompaniment, Sir, Ma'am. We also have some Azure Lily tea being prepared for after the main course, and apple crepes with caramel for dessert." He said, pulling the covers off their plates, uncovering the delicate, delicious looking meals, and then pouring the white wine, perfectly selected for the meal on hand. "Please, enjoy. I shall leave you to your privacy. The good Sir knows how to contact me should either of you need me."

With that, the waiter trotted away, towards a hidden part of the park, allowing the two their privacy. Midnight looked down at his plate, and was briefly grateful for those lessons that Rarity had given him as a filly, the lessons that had been reinforced in those preparations for the Gala. That allowed him the grace and elegance to eat properly, instead of the university student standard technique of 'Shoveling food in your hole while your head is stuffed in a book.' A napkin in the lap, the right fork for the right dish, the proper way to sip the wine. Tiny bites, savored slowly. Just like the visual beauty before him.

"My Lady, I hope that you find the meal to your liking. I know that this place is not Canterlot, but the styling of Ponyville has a charm and a beauty all to it's own..." He spoke, in the midst of the meal. There was sincerity in his words that could not be disguised. Midnight had learned that while Canterlot was a brilliant, wondrous city, Ponyville was hardly some dull little country town. "Not the least of reasons is that it is your hometown."

He reached up, and brought his hoof to her cheek, letting it linger.

---

Spike groaned. He had finally been released from his job 'assisting' Twilight and Trixie in their preparations for Trixie's big show the next night. He wasn't sure why a pony who specialized in brilliant light shows also felt the need this time to supplement it with so many fireworks. He was privately worried that after tomorrow night, Ponyville might wind up a smoking crater.

All the better to enjoy what little time he had left, then! As soon as he had been released, he began making his way to the boutique, under the excuse that he wanted to help Midnight, so that she could be freed sooner rather than later from her tasks. By now, he knew nopony bought that excuse, everyone and everypony knew the real reason.

Perhaps it was foolish, pining for a single pony for so long. He knew that Rarity really only saw him something akin to a little brother, still a little kid to be humored, as opposed to a real romantic interest. No matter how much it frustrated him, no matter how much he wished that things were different.

Deep inside him, in a place that he didn't like to pay attention to, he had to admit that there might be some truth in that. Growing up with Midnight had shown him just how much slower dragons aged compared to ponies. His 'little sister' was just on the edge of blooming into full adulthood. Meanwhile, he was lagging behind, only now entering what could be considered adolescence for dragons. It was getting harder to keep standing on two legs. His neck and tail were getting longer, and occasionally pain twinged in two places on his back, where his fledgeling wings were forming beneath the skin.

But he still held out hope that maybe, someday...

He also had to admit that there was a second reason why he was now walking up to the door of the strangely quiet Boutique. His 'little sister' had been acting strangely back in the library, and Spike had long since learned that when Midnight was acting that way, something was up. He rapped on the door, and waited.

Nothing.

"Rarity? Midnight? Is anyone home?" He called out. The Boutique was so quiet, perhaps they had gone off to dinner. Perhaps Rarity was treating Midnight for her efforts. Spike bit his lip. If he had been only a few minutes earlier...

No, wait, there was a light still on in the Boutique, coming from the room that spike happened to know that Sweetie Belle stayed when she was visiting her sister. He walked under the window, and craned his head up, calling out.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle, are you there?"

(As a note, I figure Spike juustt missed Rarity and Midnight, but Sweetie hasn't left on her sneaking mission yet.)

Alright, awesome! I'm back! First, for the Role Play. Quote post coming next.

Rarity's Night

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She just sat, her gaze lost in his, his visage so well complimented by the beautiful scene behind him. This was how true royalty should act, she couldn't stop repeating in her mind. This is how a man of status should conduct himself when escorting a lady for the evening. Everything was so perfect. It was a gorgeous night, and he had somehow managed to commission the only five star restaurant in the town for a private meal so far from town. She could not get over how much he had put into this for her, or how undeserving she was of these affections; no matter how much he adamantly argued the opposite. But she would not deny this; she could not deny this even if she wanted to. His words just cemented that blush upon her face.

The plates were laid before the pair upon the table, and she was snapped rather quickly from her thoughts and fantasies, nearly jumping clean from her seat at the unexpected motion. Truth be told, she could have sat like that, her hoof in his for hours without fail. However, her stomach rather quickly reminded her upon such an eloquent description of the meal that had been prepared that she had indeed skipped her normal evening meal; resulting in a rather unladylike rumble. Her ears flattened in embarrassment, a small apologetic smile forming on her face.

The wine was poured before her, and waiting for the waiter to complete his presentation, she levitated the petite glass a few inches into the air. His words felt so sincere, and covered her with a warmth not unlike a protective blanket would a child. Everything felt so right at that very moment.

She had originally intended to say 'To Us', and offer her prince a toast, however she found herself awash with astonishment, paralyzed, speech leaving her in full at his words. Most would think such a thing flattery; that the reason an entire town was great was for the fact that it housed a single pony. But it just felt so sincere, and she could feel her cheeks alight. She felt her magic faltering as any concentration she had broke; the glass set with a soft ringing echo to the table. She could find herself only able to gaze into his deep blue eyes with wonder and awe.

Her hoof raised to meet his, cradling it gently against her cheek, a soft, dreamy sigh following in kind. She just more and more found herself wanting to be close to him. This romance was straight from a fairy tale, and she never wanted this night to end.

---

It hadn't taken Sweetie Bell long at all to begin gallivanting about the Boutique upon her sister's departure, throwing a couple of things into her saddlebags before taking off. She knew Applebloom, and there was no way that filly was letting her leave tonight. Heck, it was late enough as it was, and this was going to be one heck of a story. Most likely she'd end up spending the night at her lifelong friend's place. That had been a problem right after they had gotten their cutie marks; their misadventures had slowly been slipping later and later at night. However a couple of years ago Applejack let her sister take a room out in the barn once they had finally gotten the roof repaired and insulation put in; so it was a lot easier for her to just drop in unannounced at nine at night.

She apparently had a bit of her old tendencies, because when she heard the rapping at the downstairs door, she jumped, launching a small bottle of shampoo skyward as her telekinesis decided it wanted to have a mind of its own.

"C-Coming!" she yelled down, quickly recognizing the voice. Glancing around at the mess in the room, she groaned. Make that ten at night. Shampoo was everywhere; thankfully she'd only brought a small travel bottle down from Connecticolt with her; otherwise she might not get a chance to go.

She quickly trotted down the stairs and pulled open the door, revealing a small baby dragon with soft purple scales, just as she had thought. It was strange for him to be coming by at this hour, but his feelings for Rarity were no real secret, even if somehow he still thought they were hidden from anypony. He was probably here to ask Rarity to help out around the place, fawning over her like a lovesick child. It was cute really, and completely harmless, so nopony tried to stand in the way of it. Sometimes she even thought her sister enjoyed the attention a little more than she liked to let on.

"Heya Spike! What are you doing here this late?" She waved him into the main foyer and showroom with a gesture of the hoof, walking to the door of the kitchen to grab a towel. She was going to need it later anyways. Letting the maroon piece of cloth drape over an endtable, she decided to rest on one of the couches that served as waiting areas during business hours; quickly indicating for Spike to do the same. It wasn't like she was in a rush in any reality, and the little incident upstairs had kind of put a damper on her eagerness to get out the door; since that meant she had to clean the mess up first.

It was only then that she noticed the absolutely gorgeous flowers on the table, and her attention quickly turned that way. "Wow those are gorgeous, huh? I wonder where Rarity found them?"

[Rebelhero]

You know what this thread is missing?


ADVENTURE!

Oh dear Celestia...Pokey doesn't he get enough adventure with you?

*SCARLET BLUSH* I can't even control him....hes relentless.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Ahhh, good to see that I missed another ten pages. Good on ya, ponythread! Anywho, I've more or less given up on catching up on these things when I fall behind, so please forgive me if I end up doubleposting something. Anyway, ep 3 thoughts!

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- Remastered theme: Like it, sounds nice, I'm pretty sure that train was there for the sole purpose of bothering us.
- I immediately noticed that Twilight's magic was a different color, only I couldn't remember what it used to look like, so I didn't know that's what was different about it, so I just spent the whole episode being distracted by it. Not a bad thing though
- Liked how Twi remembered that she can teleport. It's nice to see the element of magic, you know, use magic. In other news, Firefox's spellcheck shamefully does not have the word 'teleport' in its dictionary by default. Nor 'spellcheck', apparently. =|
- Oh Rarity, you so silly.
- Totally called the barn razing deal. Not sure if happy about the apparent sonic rainboom. Not going to sweat it though, just going to keep my eye on you, the animation team.
- Spike is the owner of the 4th wall for this episode, apparently. I approve. Also some of the best non-crazy faces too.
- D'aw, Big Mac. I'm half-tempted to attempt a Calvin and Hobbes tribute there.
- Derpy! :D
- All in all a good episode. Left me with the warm fuzzies and smiling at the end, so I will chalk it up as a good one. A few little style dealies here and there that gave a slightly different flavor to this than previous ones, but that may be a consequence of this not being an E/I deal these days, for better or worse.

And now the obligatory spoilered for spoiler reasons imagedump. It's also MASSIVE, so heads up.

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Twizard D&D update: I finally leveled up to get my Wild Cohort, and thus Owloysius has joined the party. Now my DM is super annoyed that I have two animals on the field at once. So of course the next time I level, I'm learning the Mount and Bull's Strength spells Also Uial was freaking out in the current dungeon about "bats on her face", and when our superhelpful bard NPC companion was in dire need of health, Uial, who was holding all the potions, administered some "tough love, baby", before cramming the bottle down her throat, then having to talk down the DM that no we don't have to roll for anything to see if the bard chokes on the bottle of course I was speaking figuratively

edit:

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Just saw a screencap of the theme song train. I just noticed Derpy is in said train.

I can die happy now.

I have reached a sort of serene calm in my typing, even though I am grinning like an idiot, and close to sputtering for joy in real life. I don't think you guys understand just how much I love this show, and especially Derpy.

[Forum Explorer]

Ugh, I couldn't be bothered to finish Cupcakes. It was just...so poorly typed and without a purpose. All in favor of dark things and all, but if someone is going to type a fanfic then the least they can do is proof-read it. -.- Or have a point/message behind the senseless brutality.

Anywho, what's this I hear about more CMC in episode six?

I don't blame you. I have a rant about Cupcakes (Don't read it!) which I go over every time I think about that fic. Well nearly every time.


Apparently

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Applebloom gets a cutie mark! Then she gets another one. And another one. Then she starts thinking something might just perhaps be wrong when another one shows up. Not changing mind you. All at once.

On another note if the next episode references Luna having an abacus in anyway I may just die of happiness.

[Thanqol]

There are two ways that could be interpreted. I thought of the other way first. Ponythread, what the hay are you doing to me?

Bwuahahaha!

I'M HELPING!

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A... slip of the tongue, my dear. Which is unusual, because normally I am so *very* good with my tongue.

What I meant to say was, I'll send you TO THE MOON!

(Great, now I'm channelling Trollestia)
But, now that you mention it, my room sounds so much more pleasurab... I mean, safe and secure.

hey celestia

do you like bananas

Clockwork:

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To his friends' surprise, the mechanical pony just smiled good-naturedly at Tinker's question. "Considering how many times I've had to reassemble myself, you might save yourself some time by just asking if you want to know how anything works."

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"Right. No disassembling, no need for disassembling. Well, that's also kind of disappointing. I'm not so much about the fixing as the breaking." Tinker said. "Still! Still, you probably didn't walk all the way out here to my lair - house. Lair sounds kind of silly. Didn't walk here to have me do science to you; if I want to inflict science on others, I normally have to find them. What I'm saying is you probably want to ask me questions first."

Tinker smiled in anticipation but couldn't restrain herself for more than a few seconds. "Do you have a pony's brain in there? How do you think?"

[SiuiS]

*GAAAASP*
did somepony mention Berry Ann?!

You know what this calls for right?

AN ARCHIVE PARTY!

[FFRP] FINDING BERRY ANN ARCHIVE

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A green-garbed cream pony, mane of dark viridian, walks simultaneously into Bridle Shores, Ponyville, Ponythread and Pony noir. Finding a tavern, in, bar, public bulletin board, or pole of appropriate stoutness, this pony unrolls a suitably tattered, cartoon scroll, and hammers it onto the wall before fleeing (to avoid hassles about noise pollution and property damage).

Wall Scroll

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ATTENTION EVERYPONY

Mysterious Wizard, Oneiric Captain & Archivist Extraordinaire
STARRY NOTIONS

Seeks a crew of ponies or other to sail the sea of dreams to find HRM Dream Submarines, to follow and interrogate in interests of rescuing a princess from fate most cruel

Applicants are expected to help sail the ship, stave off attack, avoid mutiny and keep ship in good repair.

BENEFITS include an equal share of treasure, food, lodging and board games on Wednesdays. Travel expenses as required, funerary expenses, dramatic monologues, resurrections or off-screen time for healing as appropriate to genre of applicant.

Applicants please see the attendant outside the dock you will mysteriously find yourself next to after setting out.

Bring your own hooch.

Beeskee: Beeskee nods, and trots off toward the shops. He returns shortly afterward, wearing two large saddlebags that look to be stuffed full of supplies. He also has what looks like a hundred balloons tied to himself, and with each step he floats for several seconds before coming back down to the ground. "All set!"

On the trot back, Starry grins fondly at the sight of the hopping pony.

Dreamscape? Do you need a navigator?.

Why, certainly! That was fast. Hm.
You're hired, provided you can stand here waiting for a ship to show up at this dock we are mysteriously standing next to, and screen the other applicants.

...

Don't I know you? Oh well time is a funny thing, really.

Beeskee: "I would say yes, but I don't even know what that is." He sorts through his bags, double-checking over the supplies.

Ah, good to see we already have a crew going. Hm. Where is that Shadowy with the ship? If he spent all of those bits on a kerosene lantern and some Fluttershy autographs again...

*~*~*
MEANWHILE
~*~*~

Well, now I'm glad that you took my corporal form again. *Forgot this! *I'm coming on the airship trip! **Activates hidden rockets in the bunker* *Ah-ha! *It can now FLY! *....She's still on-board. *I can work something out! *Activates maximum security mode* *Think about it! *Not even the lich can beat her, and his stuff makes even your best look like rocks! *You're not safe either! *I don't have a physical form anymore! *Do you think that would stop her? *.......

Run!
We could try and negotiate by Rescuing, and offering Berry-Ann. *Make it quick! *Let's get to wherever the heck that wizard pony is!

I've got the Ship, provided my own even, I've just encountered a slight.....problem. *Which is why I had the spend all of the bits, on the one thing that might prove useful against the current intruder!

*Activates emergency teleporter*
Shipping god! *Come and get me if you dare! *For I know your weakness! *I've have a room of your kryptonite!

Celibate. Charter. Accountants.
That's a bit harsh, even for you. *I have a quest to partake!

~*~*~
AT THE DOCKS
*~*~*

Oh! My, but you're... buoyant. Are your saddlebags full of balloons? She looks out past the pier and waves a hoof. I think that might be the ship we're supposed to be taking, but I'm not sure.

Beeskee: "Thank you for providing the ship for the mission." The rest of what Shadowy says goes over his head. He never even considered how valuable an accountant might be on this trip!

Beeskee: The earth pony nods to Topaz, "Yes, I have a few bags of them, for emergencies. It's mainly these balloons causing it though." He looks back at the colorful array of inflated balloons tied to himself. They are carefully tied to his midsection via the saddlebag, which is fastened with double straps to hold it securely to the pony.

His ears perk up at the mention of the ship having arrived, and he takes a deliberate bounce, sending himself up a few feet and hanging there in midair, peering around to try and spot it in the thirty seconds before he descends.



(Supply run post)

(Edit: ICly, he figures she probably couldn't see them from the angle she was at, if she was just approaching.)

Beeskee: Beeskee smiles at the sight of a group of ponies already forming. "I have a cart with more supplies on the way. It's just hard for me to get good traction like this." He demonstrates, pushing forward as if to give a tug on an imaginary cart, but the motion sends him floating up into the air for a few seconds instead. The earth pony does an epic leg wiggle while waiting for his hooves to touch the ground again.

I... See. Starry raises an eyebrow at the epic hoof wiggle, then laughs. Come aboard, come aboard. You remind me of a wee filly aquaintance of mine. Adorable thing, always ballooning about...

Anyway, I'll see if we can't get somepony to help with that cart, once I find a boat.

Beeskee: The pony grins playfully and nods, following along behind Starry with almost-gravity-defying bounces, enjoying the feeling of being light on his hooves. He double-checks his supplies, since he's carrying a small sampling of everything being brought. "The cart is waiting at the shop, but I imagine somepony from there would be willing to drop it off if we don't have anypony available to fetch it. Or I could bring it, once I stow these balloons."

Oh! I can fetch the cart, if you tell me where to pick it up. I'm good for that sort of thing. Um, if that really is our ship. But I see Starry, so I guess it is. And I can explain about the Dreamscape when I get back.

Beeskee: "It should be parked next to the general store. They know that someone else other than me might be the one to pick it up, so there shouldn't be any problems."

y'know, maybe you should go with Topaz, my balloony friend.

Starry sighs and looks over her shoulder at the... Ship. I suspect that once the door opens, there may be some sort of backflash, or... Really, I just want innocent ponies out of the metaphorical blast radius.

[b]

Beeskee: The pony nods as he thinks about it, realizing it may have inadvertently sounded like he was volunteering Topaz to haul a heavy cart. "Y-yeah, that's a good idea." He manages to loosen the straps on his pack, and slips it off himself, urgently grabbing hold of a strap with his mouth before it floats away. A few moments later and he has it tied to a nearby tree, the balloons bobbing merrily in the breeze.

*A quick crackling of static is heard, then a voice cuts in over it.*
Is this thing on? *Good. *If you can hear me, I'm currently trapped in the chartered accountancy department. *There may or may not be vengeful gods aboard, so please take caution! *I've managed to create a control panel out of clip-boards and paper-clips, so I can open up the doors, and give you a safe route inside!

And for the love of Celestia, Don't touch anything! *I'm not entirely sure what rules of physics this bunker is running on, but it does not like the pony skeleton. *Good luck!

*With that, the blast doors open, and a blinding light is coming from the hallway beyond.*

You're probably the worst host ever, you know that?
I'm kinda of busy here!

... Mm-Hm. So this is our, uh, "ship". Vengeful deities, odds of bursting into flames and landing in the trees in the top percentile... Oh adventure, you so silly.

Topaz' eyes widen. Ah. Right. Cart! Supplies! Come on, Beeskee, we'll get the cart!

Topaz' horn lights up as a circular platform appears. Beeskee also glows for a moment while being levitated onto the platform, as Topaz hops up as well, Once she does, a dome forms over the platform and it starts to fly away from the pier and towards the general store. It's no problem at all, Beeskee. I move cargo all the time, I'm used to it.

Beeskee: He eeps as he suddenly feels like he's attached to the balloons once more, finding himself floating and letting out a quiet laugh as he realizes what is actually happening. "Woah! Oh hay, cool!" He settles onto the platform carefully, and admires Topaz' hoofwork on the seemingly solid surface and dome. "Very nice! Are you able to use this to move heavier things?" He closes his eyes for a moment and enjoys the sensation of flying.

Starry watches the two fly away, still somewhat bemused by Topaz's platform. Well, good to know they are out of the blast zone... IM... *COULD YOU LAND? She shouts. I CAN'T GET UP THERE TO THE DOOR.

...

CAN YOU EVEN HEAR ME?

*~*~*
MEANWHILE,
DURING CARGO RETRIEVAL
~*~*~

Topaz smiles briefly. Oh yes, I can handle six ponies or around a ton of cargo if it's balanced well and I only have to carry it across town. It's my signature magic, not counting my Element. She glances back at the pier. I certainly hope Starry can make some sense of whatever is going on back there. She steers the dome toward the store, looking for a good place to land.

You were asking about the Dreamscape. It's where dreams come from, of course, but more importantly it's the realm that underlies all the realities and even the unrealities; scientific types sometimes call it the Eleventh Dimension. It embodies Possibility in all its aspects, which can make it decidedly tricky to maneuver in.

Beeskee: "Wow! That sounds really handy!" He nods, flinching slightly at the sounds of the various explosions and scary noises, not willing to risk a glance backward himself, just in case it is as bad as it sounds. Presumably Topaz will say something if their ride outright explodes. "That ship definitely sounds... complicated."

He listens carefully as she explains the dreamscape, one ear twitching a bit. Here he thought the ship was complex. "I.. uh.. don't know if I understood all that." He smiles, and says, "I do know I am glad that we have you along. Thank you." He thinks back, trying to remember if he properly introduced himself... Better safe than sorry. "If I forgot to mention before, my name is Beeskee." *As they approach the store, he spots the cart, loaded and ready to go with a good variety of supplies, both of the 'survival' kind as well as more than a few party supplies, pointing it out to Topaz. There's a clear area nearby, on the street.

(OOC: I couldn't find if I had introduced myself ICly in any of the previous posts.)

Thanks, Beeskee! She lands them in the clear spot and dissolves the dome. Yeah, the dreamscape stuff is complicated. Frankly, I go by instinct when dealing with it. She looks over the cart, moving it slightly with her magic to get an idea of weight and balance, then conjures a new platform. Looks like you did a great job with the supplies. Let's load up and see if we have a ship to get back to.

Beeskee nods at that. "Sounds easier that way. I guess if you know what you are doing, it becomes second nature."

He watches wide-eyed as she easily raises the cart. "Very impressive!" Unicorn magic is always fascinating to him. "Thanks, I tried to get a bit of everything that might come in handy. Hopefully the ship didn't blow up, though it looked like it might. Hrm... Do you think we should hurry back, or take our time? Just in case?" He chuckles.

Topaz chuckles. Like I said, cargo hauling is kind of my thing. Unlike the dream stuff where it's more like, I hope my nature knows what it's doing. She makes a new platform, elliptical this time, and moves the cart onto it. If you could stand there, I'll get ready to head back. Cautiously.

Beeskee nods and trots onto the platform. "Hopefully we'll be able to find this missing pony, one way or another. I'm looking forward to seeing this dreamscape. Ready for take-off when you are, since I haven't heard any explosions." He grins, and wiggles himself into the cart harness, ready to pull it once the magical platform has landed.

~*~*~
BACK AT THE SHIP
*~*~*

Starry stares up at the open door, much like a dog awaiting a treat. She sighs.

After a few comically short jumps, she paces. The impression is one of an old man pacing, studiously examining his rug and puffing from his pipe before the fireplace. In a small pony, the image comes across as comical more than serious.

Wait, I think... I've got it!

Ceasing her pacing, Starry deftly pulls a coil of rope from her saddlepack, and tosses it to the ground. She glances at the wound pile, and it shifting snakes apart, separating into four individual lengths.

With effort only visible to psychiatrists and expert poker players, launches each rope one by one, so they stand stiff as poles leaning into the doorway.

With more practiced ease, Starry begins to bob her head back and forth like a snake charmer. The ropes coil and glide, slide and slither, forming a net-ladder out of a loose, undulating braid. Starry chuckles, and steps into the loops. She begins to rise along the rope escalator—

—Until she gets to the top, where the ropes react to an outside force, and begin to take on a more sinister life! Coiling around the poor unicorn like Hellen constrictors, squeezing and jostling. Starry yelps and struggles, and ceases concentration on the ropes. Exploding into a tangled buckyball of entwined hemp, they collapse upon themselves, somehow still anchored to the ship.

Starry notions looks "up" at the ground, and a her slowly falling hat. What the buck just happened?

Tensing herself, Starry looks at the ropes, now inert. Her hooves - all four, and her poor tail! - are caught in the jumble of ropes, held in place by six cow hitches and a square knot.
And then, one by one, the hitches begin to slip.

W... W... Woooooah! *THUD* Ow. Well, at least I've got my hat back. Hm.

Settling her hat back over her horn, Starry gazes once more up at the door, her face creased in worry at the happenings, then In shock as the bunker slurps up the rope like so much spaghetti.

I have GOT to get in there, fond out what's going on...

Topaz domes over the platform and lifts off back towards the pier. Well, it looks like nothing much has changed since we left. I see Starry is still down there, so I guess we ought to do a pickup. Oh, and retrieve your balloons.

Starry Notions surveys the horizon blankly, her mind working in the background. She focuses on some clouds, the nearby tree, on Topaz's platform, and then--

AHA! I've got it! Think you can thwart me, do you! Well you're inanimate! I have superior powers of self locomotion, and I will not be undone by something as paltry as gravity or common sense! Have at thee, bunker!

Starry's face is manic. With a grin so wide that it would hurt even Faithful Song's face, she turns her attention to the tree- and Beeskee's balloons.

Ehheh. Hehe. Haahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAH!

Starry's giggle soon escalates to manic laughter, as silver chef's knives, sized for giants, manifest about her. This was something where he precision would pay off!

Chops, lops, slashes, slides and scrapes ensue. Within moments, the tree is a tree no more. Now a canoe, it floats gently under the lift of dozens - hundreds? - of balloons, and the gentle touch of Starry's magic.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Starry leaps nimbly into the air canoe, pulling a pair of goggles on out from beneath her hat. Ride of the Valkyries begins to play softly, while she continues cackling like a madmare, drifting millimeter by millimeter closer to the door.

"Definitely need to remember those, I have more supplies in the saddlebags too." He stretches slightly, and makes sure he's securely attached to the cart. "They'll have to wait until we get this aboard the ship, I don't get much traction with them." He waits until they are landed before disembarking with the cart.

Y'know, being trapped in this room with a bunch of charted accountants is really boring. *Is it better then the alternative though? True, true, but still, I'm going to have to eat some of them soon. *

A few minutes later:
It's been like five minutes! *How could you possibly have been hungry enough to cannibalize all of them? *I'm so bored I might ev-
No! *No thinking of it. *Do something quick! *What about your control panel? *That's an improvised system made of paperclips and the skulls of several accountatns who work for super-villains! *Good enough! **hits random buttons**

Automatic defense system online. *Exterior camera systems online.

......
It's times like these I'm glad I never thought to put anything stronger then jello in those automatic cannons. Forget about that! Exterior speaker systems online. *Look out for incoming fire! ..........Which was totally not caused by me!

Topaz watches as Starry ginsu's the tree into a makeshift airship. Her horn flickers briefly, but she catches herself before losing the platform. Well. That was impressive. I guess we should just... She pauses as cannon barrels deploy from the ship and a hasty warning is sounded from the speakers. Wait, what?
*
~BOOM~

Before Topaz can react, the closest cannon fires, and something *splats* against her dome.

Is that... Jello? With... little marshmallows?

Incoming what?

Starry ceases cackling and squints through the fogged goggles. In the draft caused by high-velocity gelatin, the precarious canoe begins to pitch and spin, a perpetual counterclockwise mechanical bull.

Were her tail not twisted into the balloon strings, Starry would have been launched - into the doorway or into Topaz, though which depends on the whims of fate.

Beeskee slips off the magical platform as soon as he is able, tugging the cart with him, before fully realizing what is going on. He looks up just as some of the marshmallow-laden jello splatters against the floating canoe-balloon... thing, a big glob of the tasty treat falling to land on his upturned face. Blinking, he licks the stuff off, his eyes widening... The pony seems to be in absolute shock for a moment, before slipping out of the cart harness, galloping over to the airship, and starting to bounce up and down in front of the guns. "Hey! Hey! I'm over here! Oooooover heeeeEEEEeeeere!" He opens his mouth wide...

With any luck he'll distract the weapons so everypony can board the ship, but that doesn't appear to be something he actually considered.

Sweet Celestia, the cannons are still firing. How much Jell-o did you make for those? *grumbling* It got boring without you, ok?

Topaz shakes her head, creates another platform and levitates the cart onto it, embedding the cart wheels to prevent slippage. Taking off, she maneuvers between the diminishing blasts of jello, hoping that the cannons don't switch to something dangerous (Like peanut butter.) and attempts to intercept Starry's increasingly erratic flight path. ALLONS-Y!

Beeskee manages to drag himself away from gulping down mouthfuls of sticky, sweet jello (with marshmallows ZOMG!) long enough to jump for the lift, grabbing on to the edge and holding on as it hopefully moves toward a landing zone.

I never actually saw a response to his actions from the ship, I dunno if I missed it or if there wasn't one.

Trying to figure out why she's having problems steering, Topaz realizes that Beeskee is hanging off the edge of the platform, saved from falling solely due to the adhesive properties of jello. Auugh! Her horn blazes as she takes hold of Beeskee and drives for the open door of the ship, leaving Starry to spin for the moment.

In the riotous fire of gelatin, the air canoe overturns. Or rather, it continues to buck, and Starry Notions Overturns, hanging from her tail and one hind leg. She removes her hat and tucks it, gently folded, into her cloak-collar before burying her face in her hooves.

OW! what th-- oh, right.

Starry removes the goggles, rubs at the goggle imprints she accidentally slammed into her face, and then buries her head once more in her hooves, shouting to Nopony in particular.

WHY!? Why does today of all days have to be my marshmallow reckoning?!

Ohjeez I completely missed that. I was skimming a bit from being so far behind. I feel bad. I hope your computer gets well soon, Shadowy!

"Eep!" He goes tumbling into the ship with Topaz in one big jello-infused mess. "Er, oops. Heh heh..." He takes a few minutes to regain his senses, waiting for his head to clear, looking around in the meantime. "Neat ship." Feeling a bit better, the pony wonders where he left his pack, before remembering that the balloons making up the new canoe ship thing were attached to it. He spots it at the base of the tree he used for an anchor while he was away. No big loss there, the cart had most of the rest of the supplies... Ack! He looks around, wondering where the cart has gotten to, his ears still ringing a bit from the abrupt landing.

Topaz dissolves the cart platform, letting the cart roll slowly into the interior of the ship as she heads back to the open doorway. Bracing herself, she seizes Starry, the canoe, the balloons, Beeksee's pack, and a few stuck-on marshmallows in her magic and heaves them into the ship. Having done this, she takes a couple of steps back and sits on her haunches, her eyes going unfocused and a few sparks coming off her horn.

"Oooh, THERE'S the cart. Heh..." He rubs the side of his head a bit, still trying to get it clear, before putting his hooves out to catch the cart as it rolls into the ship. It would be more appropriate to say that it catches him however, and he's slid backwards until the extra friction draws it to a stop. He scampers out from behind just in time to see incoming Starry and pack (both now covered in jello and marshmallows) inbound at a rapid rate. He has just enough time to put his forelegs out and catch them. Or rather, provide a soft cushion for them to land on, by way of his squishy blue self. "Oof! Um. Got 'ya."

That's the sum of it!
OH! And *ahem* and Lix. You may or may not be on said ship/bunker... I figured your weird goddess powers were why the ropes went bonkers on me, but it could have been residual if you vanished earlier.

Resisting curly bouncy balloony funness is hard...

Awaaaaaaaaaaay~ *floats away on balloons*

[Titanium Fox]

So, come to realize, I just do not have a quote post in me. I'm looking at the clock and the massive backlog of posts, and I know I WILL miss something. SiuiS, I know you directed a bunch of stuff at me, and I'll go through in the morning and try to find everything everyone said directly to me to respond at the very least, but right now...

Owwwww... My brain meats hurt.

However, before I sign off for the night (whee long weekends) I went to an anime convention this weekend! Two pieces of news!

There are a lot more Bronies in New Hampshire than I thought. We overfilled two panel rooms. Literally 3/4 of them were in costume. SO MANY PINKIE PIES.

Two, I bought these!

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[Forum Explorer]

\@whoever wanted to virus bomb it down... I understand the feeling, but A) it wouldn't do any good, as someone before me explained, and B) that's not a very enlightened point of view to have. That's like banning books, or actually more like burning them. No matter how horribly written they are or how horrifying the subject matter, those books have a right to exist... And so does Cupcakes. I don't like it, but I will fight to Hell and back to say that it has that right.

... That's just me, I guess.

That was me. Yes I know its bad to do something like that but I can't help about what I want to do. At least in this case. To explain why I take Cupcakes (Don't read it!) so personally; its because its A) incredibly poorly written. Everything about it is just horrible, from plot to characters. B) Its a fanfic. I know that if I one day published a book and someone took one of the nicest characters in it and wrote a low quality murder fic with them as the killer I would feel....just horrible. I wouldn't want to keep writing that world anymore after that. If it only involved OC then I wouldn't have a problem with it. Or if it was just better written.

[Strife Warzeal]

just finished reading the Silent Ponyville fic series. The series is so good it actually makes the unbearable and infamous Cupcakes (Don't read it!) tolerable.

And I really really hate Cupcakes (Don't read it!). To the point where I seriously thought about learning how to program a virus to bring down that page.

Personally, I don't find anything wrong with Cupcakes. It's not the most well written thing there is, but most of people reactions I find a bit too much. Though my feelings may be a bit skewed since Cupcakes is actually what helped me convert my friends. Yes it is horrible what happens in the story, but... well actually I'm not sure where I'm going with this sentence. Part of me not being too badly affected could be tied to my preexisting apathy though.
(Though the one thing I can feel empathy for is embarassment, go figure *shrug*)

Ugh, I couldn't be bothered to finish Cupcakes. It was just...so poorly typed and without a purpose. All in favor of dark things and all, but if someone is going to type a fanfic then the least they can do is proof-read it. -.- Or have a point/message behind the senseless brutality.

To me the best things Cupcakes has spawned is Silent Ponyville(I'm pretty sure jake-heritagu wouldn't have made the story the way it is without it) and the unofficial sequel to Cupcakes (and the alternate ending to that unofficial sequel) Rocket to Insanity, where it turns out it's all a nightmare, both I found were better written (especially Silent Ponyville) than cupcakes.

[Callos_DeTerran]

That was me. Yes I know its bad to do something like that but I can't help about what I want to do. At least in this case. To explain why I take Cupcakes (Don't read it!) so personally; its because its A) incredibly poorly written. Everything about it is just horrible, from plot to characters. B) Its a fanfic. I know that if I one day published a book and someone took one of the nicest characters in it and wrote a low quality murder fic with them as the killer I would feel....just horrible. I wouldn't want to keep writing that world anymore after that. If it only involved OC then I wouldn't have a problem with it. Or if it was just better written.

Not to be a neigh-sayer, but you realize by continuing to talk about it and continually saying (Don't read it!), you're essentially telling people who don't know what it is to NOT think about a purple elephant.

You are inadvertently coercing innocent bronies into reading something you allegedly hate. You terrible, terrible brony. Just teasing. ;)

[the_druid_droid]

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Cowering Scootaloo is painfully adorable!

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"Right. No disassembling, no need for disassembling. Well, that's also kind of disappointing. I'm not so much about the fixing as the breaking." Tinker said. "Still! Still, you probably didn't walk all the way out here to my lair - house. Lair sounds kind of silly. Didn't walk here to have me do science to you; if I want to inflict science on others, I normally have to find them. What I'm saying is you probably want to ask me questions first."

Tinker smiled in anticipation but couldn't restrain herself for more than a few seconds. "Do you have a pony's brain in there? How do you think?"

Clockwork:

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"Well, actually I-" Sek found himself interrupted by the unicorn's curiosity, but he had to admit that her interest was a welcome change from the usual sidelong glances, even if the gleam in her eyes looked a little...predatory as she took in his articulated wings and hooves.

"Oh, n-no, I don't think Dad would have put anything so, uh, creepy in me. For reasons of self-preservation, I've never actually looked inside my own head...but as far as I know, the rest of me is just very clever clockwork, hydraulics and sheet metal." For a moment, Sek paused, trying to find the right words to continue.

"Actually, that's sort of the reason I'm here..." Just as he began, the pegasus' nervousness overwhelmed him again, and he trailed off.

[Vent Reynolt]

Kinda like how Rainbow Factory was made better by having an amazing song. Though that is another story I would advise against reading.

I accidentally took the link to the Rainbow Factory song as some sort of an endorsement of it and made the horrible mistake of actually reading it:



^That is all.

No, actually, that isn't all. I need to explain in whatever inarticulate way that I can why it gets such a horrible reaction from me:

Firstly, at least the fanon that Cupcakes inspires has style. The shock value of the Pinkamena character existing in Equestria is the entire point! The fact that such a character shouldn't exist in MLP is what makes the Pinkamena character so interesting. Rainbow Factory not only paints all of Equestria in such a foul light that only the worst of the Iron Hoof ideas could compare, but it also completely changes Rainbow Dash (It's so bad that "Bearded Idiot" is closer to Superman (Yay Linkara!)than Rainbow Dash In Name Only (RDINO) is to the real Rainbow Dash) solely for the sake of the (horrifically terrible) story. Not to mention the fact that the issue of Fluttershy's continued existence is completely skimmed over.

Secondly, the prose is terrible! Everything about the story is ugly. The dialogue, the descriptions, the personalities of every single character! It doesn't even make the slightest attempt to show that this is the Equestria that we are familiar with, but with a dark underlying secret. No, that would actually require some degree of cleverness! All it took was the first F-bomb from that judge... instructor... whatever it was for all immersion of this world as Equestria to be completely broken. THAT WORD ISN'T IN THE PONY LANGUAGE! Simple as that! (Okay, maybe it is, but unless the character using it is a murderer, or something extreme like that, it simply isn't used.)

But the absolute worst thing about this story; something that is absolutely UNFORGIVABLE for me, is how it has completely and utterly ruined a huge portion of weather magic FOREVER! Please, somepony, tell me that there is some sort of fanfic that you know of that deals with weather magic in a much more positive light. If not, then this might actually become the prevailing fanon on how rainbows are made. I can't be the only one who finds weather magic interesting enough to base both of my OCs on it! Perhaps this is why I have such hatred for Rainbow Factory when I'd normally be just fine with anything else; weather magic is my thing!

In fact, let's let an actual weather expert explain what really goes on in the rainbow factory:

I'm sure most of you are aware of the Pot O' Gold priciple, that is, that there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Now while this isn't strictly true for all rainbows; in fact, most rainbows don't end on a pot of gold, it has been an observed phenomenon that under the right circumstances, a pot of gold can in fact, induce a rainbow.

Unfortunately, such a rainbow is entirely worthless for weather purposes, as we have no means of transporting it to where it may be needed. This is where a bit of ingenuity comes into play. You see, in the rainbow factory, we use the Pot O' Gold principle to induce rainbows which we then capture within Light Clouds. When the Light Clouds become full, the rainbow leaves the cloud as Rainbow Rain. This is where the liquid rainbows come from.

Once in liquid form, the rainbows can then be placed into clouds for transport, and when the rainbow is needed, the cloud is given a swift kick, not unlike the kind of kicks that can make Rain Clouds produce lightning. The only reason that most of the factory is off limits to visitors is because of the large amounts of gold that is kept there to properly induce rainbows! THAT'S IT!

Yeah, the only torture facility they've got in Cloudsdale is the snowflake factory.
Autumn, you're not helping.
What? You've never had to hoofmake several thousand snowflakes in a single day, while making sure that not a single pair of them were identical? Cause let me tell you, that is the worst!


Um... I'm sorry for going off on a tangent there... And no, none of this anger is directed at Forum Explorer for bringing this to my attention. Please don't think I'm angry at you at all.

[Kindablue]

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You'll never get away with this, fowl! That's almost a pun, I guess.

Also, why didn't they go with this banner?

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Art style reminds me of Shin-Chan for some reason.

ETA:

I accidentally took the link to the Rainbow Factory song as some sort of an endorsement of it and made the horrible mistake of actually reading it:

There, there. Take this and everything will be better.

[Vent Reynolt]

There, there. Take this and everything will be better.

Thanks for that. I'd just like to go on record saying that I'd read Spiderses 10 more times in a row, if it could erase the entire memory of this fic from my brain. I think that should give everypony an idea of how bad it is. (If my earlier post wasn't enough)

[Grif]

Thanks for that. I'd just like to go on record saying that I'd read Spiderses 10 more times in a row, if it could erase the entire memory of this fic from my brain. I think that should give everypony an idea of how bad it is. (If my earlier post wasn't enough)

Eh, I read it, took it as some alternate dystopian reality of Equestria and left it at that.

In no way will it ever become my fanon and even if the fandom accepts this as fanon (which I highly doubt, the story has not seen much exposure outside the youtube link.), I will still reject it.

Writing isn't as terrible as you say though. It's more of the flimsy plot making me roll my eyes. Rainbow Dash? Seriously? Might as well use an OC pony for her.

[Athaniar]

I've read Cupcakes (all thanks to TVTropes), and I don't really care much about it, or when Bronies make references to it. Certainly didn't change that Pinkie Pie is best pony for me.

[Kindablue]

I've read Cupcakes (all thanks to TVTropes), and I don't really care much about it, or when Bronies make references to it. Certainly didn't change that Pinkie Pie is best pony for me.

Definitely. I think I read it a little while after I first started watching the show, and Pinkie's still my favorite.

[Admiral Squish]

...Why did I have to read the tropes article just before bed? Man... If I dream of pinkie, I'm gonna kill someone.

[Castaras]

Great googly moogly your avatar is a scary one today.

Ladies and gentlemen, success.

[SiuiS]

You know what this thread is missing?


ADVENTURE!

Oh dear Celestia...Pokey doesn't he get enough adventure with you?

*SCARLET BLUSH* I can't even control him....hes relentless.

I have to wonder; is this one of those elaborate hoaxes where this entire time you've been talking about playing like, high-contact Spellfire or Magic: the gathering or something?

Anywhoo...

Friendship is Magic play-by-post in the playground
Fionacat System study

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The basic unit of the game game is a shifting dice pool. Each Element of Harmony represents an ability score. That number is how many dice you roll, and also affects what the target number is.

Laughter, honesty, loyalty, kindness and generosity are the basic stats, and magic is a sort of metastat. Each element has an associated characteristic;

Loyalty - speed
Honesty - strength
Generosity - spirit
Kindness - empathy
Laughter - wisdom & sense of truth
Magic - intelligence

Each pony breed has five "points", which they suggest representing with beads or counters. Earth ponies start with 5 in magic and 5 amongst the other elements. Unicorns have magic 6 / others 4, and pegasi have magic 4 / others 6.

When rolling for any ability other than magic, you get 1 die per counter. Success on a die is 5 or 6, but gets easier the more points you have in that ability score. With enough points in that score, you actually get automatic successes in addition to your die rolls. With at least 2 points in that ability, you gain exploding dice; a result of 6 gives you one success and you get to reroll that 6. If you get more successes than you have points in the ability score, you get an AWESOME SUCCESS! which is like a critical but since it's narrative, it's whatever they hay cool thing the arbiter gets to say it is. Or the player, they aren't picky.

Magic is different. You MUST have at least one point in magic at all times. Magic in excess of 4 let's you do Awesome Successes, and you never get auto successes in magic rolls.

At any time, you can make a magic roll (one die per point in magic, remember) and for each success, you gain one Move. That is, you can move a point/counter/token/whatever from magic to another ability, or from another ability to magic. You CANNOT, however, move from an ability to ability without having magic as the middleman stat (so moving a point from kindness to laughter requires 2 success, kindness > magic > laughter).

Horrid failures occur when you have less than 2 ticks in an element (or less than 4 in magic) and roll a 1. If you roll more 1s than successes, you fail in the worst way the GM can think of (which is NOT a mechanic I trust many GMs with, I tell you what...)

Harmony count as action points or hero points. You get them whenever you do something really clever. Exact wording is 'whenever you do something Twilight Sparkle would find clever'. You can negate failure, aid other ponies, allow for Awesome Success despite having only two ticks in an element, or retool entirely. My favorite is, for a steep 5 harmony points, tell the GM what you want to happen and he has to scramble to make it so.

The rules are worded entertainingly, at least

You also get to rearrange all your attributes however you want (except you always need at least one point in magic, remember!) if you do something that Rainbow Dash would find awesome. And you gain experience 'sugarlumps' for good Roleplaying, or anything that Pinkie pieSpike, better use Spike, would find funny. The GM is encouraged to give players actual sweets as tokens of experience. Players are encouraged to eat them immediately, though they should write down the total.

The health system uses an inverted triangle, but some of the explanation was on an image (or they didn't describe it well: benefits and doubts and all that) so I can only guess at it. Ponies have five stages from healthy to OK, to tired, fatigued, exhausted and passed out. Each tier has one less point to it, so a pony can only suffer one wound point at exhausted before passing out, but can suffer a full 5 at healthy before dropping to OK. You can increase the number of points in a tier with experience.

All in all, a fun system, but not one I would use for a PbP game. It has the singlular benefit of taking a crack at Regal Ponies though, as well as dragons and ursas. That's pretty cool and gives me ideas.

So! Tentatively, or perhaps, determinedly, I am going to use the Roleplaying Is Magic system, with tweaks that have yet to be determined.

Sorry about that, by the way, Topaz. I like the idea, but it doesn't jive with the kind of game I want to run. Totally stealing the layout for other games though. It's rather functional, and a nice version of the roll/keep mechanic.

And I do intend to answer you, but it's in the quote wall and I would feel bad extracting it.

[Dirtbag]

I'll just leave these here...
Maybe convert some Fluttermancers... or at least give them diabeetus in the process. :P

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Extra Spoiler for Extra Largeness.

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Yum. :3

[Forum Explorer]

I accidentally took the link to the Rainbow Factory song as some sort of an endorsement of it and made the horrible mistake of actually reading it:



^That is all.

No, actually, that isn't all. I need to explain in whatever inarticulate way that I can why it gets such a horrible reaction from me:

Firstly, at least the fanon that Cupcakes inspires has style. The shock value of the Pinkamena character existing in Equestria is the entire point! The fact that such a character shouldn't exist in MLP is what makes the Pinkamena character so interesting. Rainbow Factory not only paints all of Equestria in such a foul light that only the worst of the Iron Hoof ideas could compare, but it also completely changes Rainbow Dash (It's so bad that "Bearded Idiot" is closer to Superman (Yay Linkara!)than Rainbow Dash In Name Only (RDINO) is to the real Rainbow Dash) solely for the sake of the (horrifically terrible) story. Not to mention the fact that the issue of Fluttershy's continued existence is completely skimmed over.

Secondly, the prose is terrible! Everything about the story is ugly. The dialogue, the descriptions, the personalities of every single character! It doesn't even make the slightest attempt to show that this is the Equestria that we are familiar with, but with a dark underlying secret. No, that would actually require some degree of cleverness! All it took was the first F-bomb from that judge... instructor... whatever it was for all immersion of this world as Equestria to be completely broken. THAT WORD ISN'T IN THE PONY LANGUAGE! Simple as that! (Okay, maybe it is, but unless the character using it is a murderer, or something extreme like that, it simply isn't used.)

But the absolute worst thing about this story; something that is absolutely UNFORGIVABLE for me, is how it has completely and utterly ruined a huge portion of weather magic FOREVER! Please, somepony, tell me that there is some sort of fanfic that you know of that deals with weather magic in a much more positive light. If not, then this might actually become the prevailing fanon on how rainbows are made. I can't be the only one who finds weather magic interesting enough to base both of my OCs on it! Perhaps this is why I have such hatred for Rainbow Factory when I'd normally be just fine with anything else; weather magic is my thing!

In fact, let's let an actual weather expert explain what really goes on in the rainbow factory:

I'm sure most of you are aware of the Pot O' Gold priciple, that is, that there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Now while this isn't strictly true for all rainbows; in fact, most rainbows don't end on a pot of gold, it has been an observed phenomenon that under the right circumstances, a pot of gold can in fact, induce a rainbow.

Unfortunately, such a rainbow is entirely worthless for weather purposes, as we have no means of transporting it to where it may be needed. This is where a bit of ingenuity comes into play. You see, in the rainbow factory, we use the Pot O' Gold principle to induce rainbows which we then capture within Light Clouds. When the Light Clouds become full, the rainbow leaves the cloud as Rainbow Rain. This is where the liquid rainbows come from.

Once in liquid form, the rainbows can then be placed into clouds for transport, and when the rainbow is needed, the cloud is given a swift kick, not unlike the kind of kicks that can make Rain Clouds produce lightning. The only reason that most of the factory is off limits to visitors is because of the large amounts of gold that is kept there to properly induce rainbows! THAT'S IT!

Yeah, the only torture facility they've got in Cloudsdale is the snowflake factory.
Autumn, you're not helping.
What? You've never had to hoofmake several thousand snowflakes in a single day, while making sure that not a single pair of them were identical? Cause let me tell you, that is the worst!


Um... I'm sorry for going off on a tangent there... And no, none of this anger is directed at Forum Explorer for bringing this to my attention. Please don't think I'm angry at you at all.

Well if it makes you feel better I can point out one of the many massive plotholes in that story: Rainbow Dash has a rainbow pool outside her house. It has been there since before the Sonic Rainboom.

Not to be a neigh-sayer, but you realize by continuing to talk about it and continually saying (Don't read it!), you're essentially telling people who don't know what it is to NOT think about a purple elephant.

You are inadvertently coercing innocent bronies into reading something you allegedly hate. You terrible, terrible brony. Just teasing. ;)

Right I'll be quiet now.