Neverending Nightmare

[Ruins]

Almost exactly one thousand years ago next week, the Sun set at the end of another Equestrian day. And it hasn't risen since.

 

Almost exactly one thousand years ago next week, Nightmare Moon vanquished her sister Princess Celestia and banished here away from the reach of even the most powerful of ponies, imprisoned in the burning heart of her beloved Sun. Almost exactly one thousand years since the skies have been filled with anything but the great, low-hanging Moon and the endless bank of diamond stars; since the ever-present glow on every horizon had shifted into true dawn. And since the the tyrant-Princess Nightmare Moon ascended the throne and began her iron-hoofed rule, crushing all who challenged her rule in even the smallest of ways.

 

And so it has been for the last ten centuries.

 

However, there are rumours all that is about to change. Stories, spread from city to city by word of mouth, say that a librarian in Canterlot had uncovered an ancient tome from before the Setting that spoke of a way to defeat Nightmare Moon once and for all and bring back the fabled daylight. Some say that this unfortunate soul had been dragged off by the tyrant-Princess' Night Guard and executed for treason (and it is true that those who tell the story too openly have a way of... vanishing suddenly), while more hopeful retellings say that they managed to escape, walking Equestria as they spread the tale of the Elements of Harmony.

 

Tensions are rising in the streets as more and more ponies hear the tale, with those who wish to use this mystical weapon to overthrow the Princess clashing with those who remain loyal to her and the only way of life they have ever known. The Night Guard's crackdowns become ever more harsh as the threat of civil war becomes ever more real, and it becomes ever more apparent that this situation cannot last. Something has to give, but nobody knows who.

 

Into this madness step a handful of brave ponies- some wanting to overthrow Nightmare Moon or avenge loved ones lost to her, others sick of her Court's abuse of the poor, others forced into the role of the hero by circumstance. And, as the storm of a thousand years approaches, there is a chance that six of their number will discover their true destiny and awaken the Elements...

 

Setting

In those thousand sunless years, pony society has changed a lot. Most ponies have gathered in great walled cities, millions strong; the countryside is almost entirely abandoned, home to only the bravest and most desperate of souls who run the risks to man the coal-mines or guard the goods trains as they travel from city to city. After the Setting, with the light of the Sun no longer keeping them in their lairs, the monsters of Equestria widened their territories, entire towns and villages falling to their depredations with the first few decades of the Night. The wild woods of Everfree have expanded almost fourfold, only constant action from earth pony lumberjacks keeping the trees from touching the closest city's walls. To be banished from the cities for their crimes is feared by many more than the death sentence is. However, unknown to most there are a few hardy specimens hanging on to life in the wilderness- the tattered remains of Equestria's minotaur, griffin and buffalo societies, decimated in a long-forgotten war with Nightmare Moon's forces that almost drove all three to extinction.

Inside the cities, though, is not much safer and definitely not as pleasant. You see, when the Sun was banished from the sky, Nightmare Moon quickly realised that she would have to find some way of replacing its role in agriculture or risk loosing all of her subjects to starvation before the year ended. As a result, Equestria's long-neglected industrial sector kicked into life, creating machines run on both steam and the magic of unicorns. Soon vast factories were springing up across the land; coal and oil, to feed the hungry machines, replaced gems as the land's most valuable resource. The crops to feed Equestria's hungry mouths are now grown in hydroponic facilities at the edge of cities or in underground tunnels beneath the houses, the largest of these being almost five miles long. As a result, most cities are noisy, soot-caked places filled with the cramped brick houses made by factory owners to house their workers. Artificial lighting is everywhere, separating the city into areas of harsh light and deepest shadow. While the rich enjoy the highest luxuries both in their city homes and in the Canterlot court of the tyrant-Princess, many of the poor live in constant fear of starvation and have to turn to crime if they wish to survive.

 

One such city is Neighstramo, a vast conurbation of 8,173,194 souls (last census) built where the little town of Ponyville once stood. Mere miles away from Everfree, the woods themselves can be easily seen from the top of the city's walls and the occasional monster can be found roaming the streets, having flown or burrowed in; at new moon their howls can be heard even at the city's heart. It is also one of the poorest and most-crime ridden of Equestria's cities, with almost all of the population being employed in the nearby mines or the factories that process the mine's output. Until thirteen years ago, it was ruled by the underground gangs- the drug sellers, the liquor smugglers and the traders of live ponies- who had the whole city in their grip and the so-called 'law enforcement' in their pocket. That was until a young stallion from the streets took it upon himself to start a vigilante campaign to rid the streets of crime, sparing no criminal he found and rising in power until eventually he was elected the city's mayor by the equally terrified and grateful citizens. He remains in power to this day, alternately helping the poor and harshly punishing any pony who puts a hoof out of line.

On a more positive note, Neighstramo also has a variety of government-funded museums, liberaries and art galleries, all free to access; at the heart of the city is the famous Ponyhide Park, a pleasant park with a lake for boating, full of magically-enhanced bioluminescent flowers and trees.

 

MAP OF NEIGHSTRAMO

Edited February 22, 2013 by Ruins

[Ruins]

Rules

1. Up to three characters per person.

 

2. Only earth ponies, pegusi, unicorns and bat ponies allowed; no alicorns, griffons, dragons or buffaloes. (Yet.) Nightmare Moon if/when she appear is an NPC, mostly under my control. The Mane 6 probably don't exist- not as themselves, anyway.

 

3. Try to keep everything suitable for the boards- PG 13. Violence and romance are allowed (including homosexual romance), but no excess descriptions/gorn or 'bedroom scenes'. (You can mention it, but keep a 'kiss to cigarette' approach to... details.)

 

Password: And I said "____? You must be crazy!"

 

4. This is a semi-lit RP, so we're aiming for 100 words a post or even more, if you can. Please use your best spelling and grammar; I'm fussy with the forms I accept, especially if they have wonky grammar and misspellings.

 

5. No Mary-Sues or Gary-Stues. Everyone has flaws, fears and weaknesses, even RP characters.

 

6. Please post a warning if you're leaving for more than two days or can't post for whatever reason.

 

7. No godmodding or powerplaying.

 

8. No squabbling in the OOC or OOC-only posts in the RP thread.

 

9. I have a three strikes and then you're out policy.

 

10. PLEASE PM ME YOUR FORMS IN CODE. Thank you.

 

 

 

Forms (Remove These Parts)

Username:

Name:

Allegiance: (For/Against Nightmare Moon.)

Age: (No fillies/children, please- that means under 15 years old.)

Species: (Earth pony/pegasus/unicorn/bat pony.)

Looks: (Four sentences plus.)

Picture: (LINKS ONLY. Optional.)

Personality: (Four sentences plus.)

History: (Three sentences plus.)

Special Skill: (What skill/ability their cutie mark represents.)

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Missing Word:

 

[B]Username:[/B]
[B]Name:[/B]
[B]Allegiance:[/B] (For/Against Nightmare Moon.)
[B]Age:[/B] (No fillies/children, please- that means under 15 years old.)
[B]Species:[/B] (Earth pony/pegasus/unicorn/bat pony)
[B]Looks:[/B] (Four sentences plus.)
[B]Picture:[/B] (LINKS ONLY. Optional.)
[B]Personality:[/B] (Four sentences plus.)
[B]History:[/B] (Three sentences plus.)
[B]Special Skill:[/B] (What skill/ability their cutie mark represents.)
[B]Strengths:[/B]
[B]Weaknesses:[/B]
[B]Missing Word:[/B]

 

IF YOU WANT TO LATER ACQUIRE AN ELEMENT OF HARMONY, PLEASE RESERVE ONE ASAP. ONE PONY PER ELEMENT.

 

Taken Elements

Magic: RainDash/Twilight Charmer

 

Loyalty: Ruins/Night Haunter

 

Honesty: Limn/Psychosis Sonority

 

Generosity: Durppie/Letterform

 

Kindness: RinniGold/Brass Tacks

 

Laughter: CaptainCute/VocalGlory

Edited March 9, 2013 by Ruins

[Ruins]

ACCEPTED CHARACTERS

 

Username: RinniGold

Name: Brass Tacks

Allegiance: Neutral towards Nightmare Moon for purposes of business and public safety, opposed on a private basis.

Age: 27

Species: Earth pony

Looks: Even for an Earth pony, Brass Tacks is big. She’s a bit taller than your average stallion, though that’s not saying much in the city of malnutrition. Indeed, her own body is a bizarre mixture of muscle and bone. Her coat is a dull yellow-gold, and her mane is so dark a brown it might as well be black (rumors say that if she’d wash up, she’d shine like Celestia’s own sun, but she doesn’t like that talk). She keeps her fetlocks, mane, and tail shorn short as to prevent any accidents. Brass Tacks is almost always seen with her tools of the trade-- her yoke, her tool-saddle, and her trusty goggles. Yes, she’s a faded gem of a pony, but for her eyes-- a vivid peridot green that are far too intelligent for a workhorse. Her cutie mark is an oddity as well; the sooty silver wrench is reasonable enough, but the little band of yellow rays is questionable in a land of eternal night.

Picture: Brass Tacks

Personality: Blunt as the business end of a hammer and twice as forceful, Brass Tacks is not the sort who’s bad side you want to be on. Fortunately, she’s almost supernaturally calm and rarely ruffled. She takes life in stride with a sarcastic comment and resigned acceptance. Pragmatic and sensible, she dislikes fooling around and will cut straight to the heart of the problem if need be. Brass isn’t the sort for social niceties-- that small talk stuff never helped anybody-- so she’s got a reputation for being tactless. She’s a business pony at heart, always ready for a deal, but she’s been known to ease up on a customer if they’re having a tough time. Bits might make the world go ‘round, but ponies keep it spinning. Indeed, despite her apparent callousness, Brass Tacks is a sympathetic pony. She won’t let you wallow in self-pity, but she will give you a shoulder to cry on, a helping hoof… and (most importantly) a job.

History: Miss Tacks has never been the sort to talk about her personal history, if simply because she doesn’t like being maudlin. Her parents were both factory workers who perished to the poor air circulation when she was younger. This left a young, cutie mark-less filly to fend for herself in the only way she knew how: work. Every factory could use extra horsepower, especially those that could fit into small machinery. And much to everyone’s surprise, she lived, if simply because she refused to die.

It was in the factories that Brass Tacks found her cutie mark fixing a generator. She shuffled about the industrial sector before finally taking a much more lucrative and satisfying job job as a construction worker. It was here that she truly shone, taking jobs wherever she could and rising through the ranks. Eventually she owned the business, and that was where things got strange. Though the years had made her as tough as the steel she hammered, she knew it was still hard out there-- and generosity mixed with craftiness and determination is always potent. Therefore, anyone who came to her needing a job would find one. Perhaps not in the construction business, or even under her, but she’d get them the bits they needed. Those who couldn’t pay for repairs but desperately needed a roof from the family? She’d barter goods, services, or just send out an IOU. As a result, ponies flocked to her, and thus her reputation as something of a gangster was born. “Gangster”, of course, is a strong word; really, she just tended to take down-on-their-luck folks and help them find work. That wasn’t illegal, was it? Despite some occasional words with the mayor of Neighstramo, apparently not! (Really, she’s got no quarrel with the mayor as of yet; he’s not hurt any of her crew that wasn’t doing something stupid, and the city is getting a bit better.) Above all things, Brass Tacks just wants to survive, keep her head down, and ensure the safety of those around her. But in a changing world, that might not be a viable option.

Special Skill: Brass Tacks is a builder. Give her an idea of what you want, and once she’s rustled up the supplies and horsepower, she’ll get you what you need. She’ll construct you almost anything (especially if you’ve got the bits) but she’s got a fondness for buildings, especially homes. Admittedly, she’s not creative in an aesthetic sense-- her idea of beauty is a sturdy foundation-- but if you give her time, she’ll figure something out. She’s also a deft hoof with tools, almost to the point where her crew wonders if she’s a secretly unicorn, or if she’s had magnets implanted in her hooves. While that is definitely ridiculous, it is true that Brass Tacks is far more dexterous than any creature without opposable thumbs should be, though this is probably more due to experience.

Strengths: Physically and mentally strong, compassionate, protective, understands the chains of commanding, has a great capacity for endurance.

Weaknesses: Intractable, brusque, holds grudges, physically slow, not book smart, meticulous.

Missing Word: You must be crazy.

 

Username: Ruins

Name: Lord Mayor Night Haunter

Allegiance: Against Nightmare Moon.

Age: 37 years.

Species: Bat Pony.

Looks: Almost a head taller than the average stallion of his age and species, Night Haunter has thin and lithe build of a predatory cat; the muscles on his legs and chest suggest sinewy strength even as his protruding ribcage and jutting cheekbones speak of a life lead on the edge of starvation. The Mayor’s coat, unlike that of most bat ponies, isn’t a dark shade but light grey, hanging longer around his hooves. His mane is a deep blue-black that matches his eyes, poker straight and hanging at around shoulder-length; its condition, and the condition of his coat, shows the only cursory care that Night Haunter takes of it. There are scars peppering his body, mostly around his front hooves, and the edges of his black bat’s wings are noticeably tattered. At one point, a large nick has been taken out of his right ear. Curiously, not even years of the ‘high life’ at the Mayor’s Palace have neither put any fat on his bones nor reduced the constant exhausted look that makes everyone around him fear for his health. Even after a good sleep and a square meal, Night Haunter is shadow-eyed and as thin as a rake.

His cutie mark shows a pony skull with two, blood red stylised bat’s wings where the ears should be. Usually, however, this is covered up by his robe, a long affair of black fabric decorated with crow’s feathers that he wears whenever he makes a public appearance.

Picture: Without his cutie mark.

Personality: To put it in the most simple terms, Night Haunter is not a people pony nor any type of social butterfly. He has little patience for shallow chatter or political posturing, openly scorning the complicated etiquette of the aristocracy that flock around him; he is deeply uncomfortable in the limelight and actively shuns glory, keeping the side and in the shadows whenever possible. He prefers to keep silent unless there is something important or meaningful to say, not colouring his words with hedging or dancing around the subject. Though someone he finds interesting might induce him to become a little more communicative, showing a streak of sardonic, extremely dark wit and a wide vocabulary. The Mayor’s uncommunicative, deadpan nature can make him come across as deeply aloof, intimidating or even downright terrifying depending on which pony he is speaking to and where.

It doesn’t help that another well-known characteristic of the mayor is his unstoppable rages when provoked and deadly fighting ability, as well as his habit of littering the streets of the city with the mangled corpses or badly beaten bodies of lawbreakers. Some whisper that Night Haunter is actually insane as a result of his mysterious foalhood, suffering from a split personality and barely in control of an alternate persona with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Whether or not this is anything near true is another matter, and so far nobody has been brave/foolish enough to ask the Mayor for confirmation. What is true, though, is the fact that the Mayor suffers terribly from nightmares, barely sleeping if he can help it, and that his nightmares often bare a frightening resemblance to future events.

Despite all this, Night Haunter is not as unpleasant, or even as evil, at heart as many ponies suspect. In fact, he possesses a (well-hidden) noble soul that would go through any trail or any sacrifice for his people; he only has the citizen’s best interests at heart, even if his methods of protecting them are undoubtedly extreme. Once he has taken it upon himself to protect someone, whether an individual or a group, Night Haunter will put his life and sanity on the line to see them safe. He has a very strong sense of justice and fairness, with little tolerance for wrongdoing and none at all for those who would take advantage of the poor or helpless. Related to this, he also feels a great loneliness, keenly aware that he lacks both the friends and family that almost all other ponies possess. While he secretly wishes for a close relationship with another, he also believes he is a monster only good for killing and that relationship would only end in tragedy.

History: Not much is known by the public about the Mayor’s early life and foalhood; it is hypothesized that his parents must have died when he was very young, since the first confirmed sighting of Night Haunter is of a young stallion nearing adulthood. It is definite, though, that he had lived on the streets since a young age, surviving on what edible rubbish he could find or what scraps he could steal from any pony looking the wrong way at the wrong time. At this point Night Haunter claims he did not even have a name, and didn’t finally get one until he was an adult.

It was inevitable that, on the streets, he would witness crime, violence and even death, with these scenes coming to form the base of Night Haunter’s adult personality and beliefs. He intervened in his first crime at a young age, leaping from the shadows and tackling a knife-wielding robber who had threatened to cut a lone mare’s throat. Filled with rage, Night Haunter bucked and punched until he could buck and punch no more, by which time he had accidently killed the other pony by smashing his head against a wall. Fleeing from the scene and the stunned and confused mare, Night Haunter didn’t notice until later that at one point in the evening he had gained his cutie mark. Spurred on by his success and the violence that he saw all around him, Night Haunter began his one-pony campaign of death against the city’s criminals, leaving their bodies out in the open as a clear warning to any who wished to break the law. Slowly his fighting skills improved and slowly he worked his way up the criminal pecking order, until he was fighting the body guards of the Mafia bosses themselves. It took him almost two years to kill them all, executing them in increasingly more inventive ways and gaining a fearsome reputation for himself- by now, the name ‘Night Haunter’ was known city-wide as a fearsome boogeyman, both a very real threat to criminals and a vague ghoul used by pony mothers to get their foals into bed and behaving well. Taking the name as his own, the newly-named bat pony pledged that, if it was necessary to become the worst in Neighstramo in order to achieve peace, that’s exactly what he would become.

When he reached adulthood Night Haunter decided to make himself public, finally showing his face to the citizens and rulers of the city, just in time to make his intention to rule it known. To his surprise they almost all agreed that his true calling was in politics, with Night Haunter being elected in a landslide to the position of Mayor. Since then he has worked tirelessly to improve the lot of the poor and homeless, struggling against centuries of corruption in his efforts to make his city a better place. Night Haunter still roams the streets punishing criminals whenever possible, with it not being rare for an unsuspecting pony to wake up and find the Mayor standing on their neighbour’s roof or even looking into their windows.

Special Skill: Fear tactics. Night Haunter is an expert in terror, in both inflicting and dispelling it. He can judge what a pony is most afraid of, who in a group will break first and what to do or say to make it happen; some of his targets have ended their own lives after less than a day, or had heart attacks and died out of sheer terror. He can intimidate and threaten with the best of them, whether he’s questioning a subject or “scaring ‘em straight”, as the saying goes.

Strengths: Reasonably, fast and nimble, stealthy, knows his way around the city, intelligent, well-read, excellent fighter with bare hooves or knives.

Weaknesses: Mental health issues (possible Schizotypal personality disorder), sometimes paranoid or borderline delusional, can have sudden episodes of violent rage, barely sleeps.

Missing Word:You must be crazy.

 

Username: RainDash

Name: Twilight Charmer

Allegiance: Against Nightmare Moon.

Age: 25

Species:Unicorn

Looks: Her mane is spiked and left to be messy. Her mane has a black streak in it, which has been dyed in magically. Her body is a slightly darker blue then her mane, and she keeps her tail cut in a straight line and has a black streak, and a dark blue streak in it. She is skinner than the average mare, and is a few inches taller. She isn't very muscular, and isn't strong, but you can tell that in her eyes is a fire that you can't put out. You can often find the remains of various magical mixtures and spells in her mane or tail.

Her cutie mark is a multi-pointed star surrounded by clouds of smoke.

Picture: No Cutie Mark

Personality: Twilight is obsessed with magic, for it presents various magical puzzles for her to solve. She reads books at an incredible rate, at the point where she literally reads all the books in the library. She avoids other ponies, believing they will shun her or leave her ut of various things. She is emotional and can be hard to convince her to go against her beliefs. She is poor at social customs, and prefers a good book over a real pony interaction. She still has magic explosions, since she lacks training.

History:

At an early age, Twilight had been under the careful eye of Nightmare Moon, who had learned about her frequent bouts of magic. When Nightmare Moon felt that she was getting too close to other foals and was thus targeted. Nightmare moon directed her guards to threaten any foal and their family who grew too close to Twilight. One day, two guards stepped up the harassment and blocked her way home, calling her various names and eventually kicking her with their forelegs. This triggered an explosion of magic which transformed/destroyed anything in it's path. It transformed the guards into cacti, and several other ponies into various other animals. There were no fatalities, but Twilight managed to escape before any more questioning could occur. She earned her cutie mark, but her uncontrollable magic transformed her parents into fruit bats, and she decided to flee to her safe refuge, the library. She then gained a librarian status after the discovery that she was then sleeping in the library, and had actually in the night sorted and shelved the books. While the large explosion victims were ultimately cured, her parents are enjoying their lives as strawberry fruit bats.

Special Skill: Twilight's Cutie Mark She is very skilled in magic, potions, and anything to do with the arcane arts.

Strengths: Magic, Very Smart, explosive bouts of magic, and photographic memory.

Weaknesses: Antisocial, obsessive, lacks formal training in magic, and prefers to be alone.

Missing Word: You must be crazy.

 

Username: CaptainCute

Name: VocalGlory

Allegiance: Against Nightmare Moon

Age: 16

Species: Unicorn

Looks: Dark green fur, followed by, light green hair with grey stripes, her eyes are also grey. Vocal Glory's mane is thick and generally straight with a slight wave to it. On her flank is a musical note with two lines curving from it, adorned with two hearts. Eye-lashes to match Apple Jack's design. She wears a black and orange scarf proudly around her neck. She does her best to keep her hooves as neat as possible, and will go out of her way to keep them clean.

Picture: /I'd like to draw something for this occasion. This will get updated when done./

Personality: Easily amused by the simplest of things, she can laugh at almost anything. She tries her best to cheer people up and help them see the bright side of things. She isn't very self-confident, and is silent around strangers. Once she gets to know you, the change you see in her personality will be quite large. To strangers she is quiet and observant, she doesn't speak up in group conversations unless her ideals are provoked or questioned. In arguing, she is open-minded but also quite aggressive.

History: As a young filly, Vocal Glory grew up in the upper class, often visiting the slum and middle class fillies... as they were more accepting. She witnessed first hand the hardships of the lower and middle class and a seed of distaste for Nightmare Moon's reign was planted deep inside her. Vocal Glory did her best to fill the slum fillies with glee and distract them from their miserable lives. The story of how she earned her cutie mark is a bittersweet memory for her. She was walking home from one of her visits to the lower class, when she stumbled on an old pony who was quite ill. This pony wouldn't last but a few more hours, so she stayed by her side and chatted with her, after a few hours had passed she could feel the old pony slipping away. So through muffled tears she sang that old pony a song full of hope and promised revival. In that moment, Vocal Glory felt an overwhelming feeling of potential in her. That through her voice she could portray any meaning and lift anyponies spirits.

Special Skill: VocalGlory's cutie mark represents her love of expression emotions through song.

Strengths: Optimism, knowledge, good at keeping spirits high, friendly, and caring.

Weaknesses: Physically weak, not well versed in magic, paranoid about danger and being dirty, easily convinced and mislead.

Missing Word: You must be crazy.

 

Username: TSparkle123

Name: Sea Cloud

Allegiance: Against Nightmare Moon

Age: 24

Species: Pegasus

Looks: Sea is a little tall for the average mare, but just about everything else about her is fairly normal. Her coat is a sort of gray-green color and her eyes are a light gray. She works for about an hour each morning to perfect her blue, curly mane and streaked tail. Sea's mane and tail are light blue streaked with a darker shade of the same color.

Her cutie mark is two paintbrushes forming a yin-yang symbol that are tipped with green and yellow paint.

Picture: Sea(No cutie mark)

Personality: She's extremely optimistic, despite the current situation of Equestria. She hates to be alone anywhere, whether it's in public or in her own home. Sea has been known to have enraged outbursts at ponies who ignore her or make fun of her in any way, but she continues trying to make friends no matter how many times ponies do either. She believes in absolute visual perfection and refuses to allow ponies from spas, or any other pony for that matter, touch her mane or tail with the intention of changing them in any way. She has never tried to mess with any other pony's mane, though, as she generally accepts the way others like their manes. Sea has dedicated her life to making the world beautiful, and is often seen painting bleak walls and buildings.

History: When Sea was a filly, she saw the world as it was: horrible, dark, and sad. She was just about as bleak as the rest of the ponies in Equestria, and she had no issues with that fact. That is, until she saw it. Until she saw the most beautiful piece of street art she would probably ever see. It was a sun. A swirling, beautiful ball of fire was just on a brick wall, staring into her soul. She'd simply never seen anything like it. Never, ever, had she seen something so amazing, and she knew immediately she had to do something so it would never disappear.

The next day, she came back to the art with two paintbrushes and a canvas. Somehow, something told her that she needed to recreate the sun on her own so she could keep the picture with her everywhere. It took hours for her to remake it, but she did. She made a perfect recreation of it, too. Everywhere she went, from then on, she always carried that picture. After a week, she came back to the spot, only to find it had been painted over. The beautiful picture that changed her forever was now gone. It was gone, and over it was a horribly painted picture of the moon. That was when she dedicated her life to creating perfection, and her cutie mark appeared.

Special Skill: Sea's Cutie Mark Sea can paint like no other, and she can make the bleakest wall beautiful.

Strengths: Painting, Willpower, dedication

Weaknesses: Anger Management, Self Doubt, perfectionist

Missing Word: You must be crazy!

 

Name: Psychosis Sonority

Allegiance: Against Nightmare Moon

Age: 23

Species: Pegasus

Looks: A long, flowing mane of bright burgundy crowns her head in a brushed back fashion, a few strands slipping over her shoulders. Her tail is also quite extensive in length, but bound by a leather casing, to keep it from becoming unruly as she flies. The fur gracing her body is pitch black. Her hard hooves are a rotten yellow color, she keeps her fetlocks long in an attempt to tone down their color. Psychosis is rather petite compared to other ponies, yet her wings are of an average size, but she is by no means weak, she's just small. Her eyes are a deep umber, and her left ear is noticably torn.

Her cutie mark is reminiscent to a family crest: A shield with a chimera bearing the characteristics of a tiger, ram, and serpent. In the chimera's right claw, a harp is placed, and in its right hand, a dagger with the small detail of a emerald in the form of an eye in the hilt.

Can commonly be found wearing a white, 3/4 sleeved, button up shirt with a black waistcoat, square glasses that cover only half of her eyes, and dark grey sleeves for the top of her hooves. Often carries a small harp.

Picture: No links, apologizes.

Personality: Psychosis is a diligent, hard worker, she can loose herself in physical work; it is one of the only times you could ever see her relax. She's cautious, suspicious of everyone, and has problems allowing herself to be honest around them. Psychosis is cold and collected, the wheels of her mind ever turning with ideas of battle and how things would apply in war. All is far in love and war, as one might say.

As an observer of situations, she is well versed in pretending is she something is isn't. In shorter terms, she can manipulate her personality to fit circumstance. She doesn't feel comfortable with her real self, as she has issues with rejection and herself. A better explanation of this would be that she argues with herself, both mentally and verbally. She also has trust issues, being alone the majority of the time will do that to a person, her constant berating of herself is purely from the fact, the one person who will never leave her is herself, and she knows it's pathetic. People/Ponies, who try to have a conversation with her, are usually, if not completely, the type of ponies to give false praise, this rooted her habit of critism towards herself. Without critism a problem cannot be corrected, and one cannot grow; while this may allude to a infatuation with critism, that's insincere, she wants praise, she just wants it to be real.

Psychosis can be kind, and tends to have a secret affection for the people/ponies who have problems they cannot fix born/made from something they couldn't avoid. If you were born with brain damage, she'd probably be uncharacteristicly kind to you. If you got your leg chomped off because you were being a ridiculous imbecile, she'll probably feel contempt for you.

Psychosis has an appreciation for things of beauty, and not the general kind. Things most people would view as ugly, she'd probably find beautiful. Scars telling of hardship, the lack of limbs, or something deformed, would look beautiful to her within a context. Example: Vultures are not the type of thing considered beautiful concerning avians. Their bare pink heads revealing the shaggy skin covering them, combined with their dark brown feathers, isn't the most attractive thing, but one cannot deny the fact that their meal is the corpses no one takes care of. While this may seem gross and unpleasant, many forget the fact their cleaning someone elses mess constructively.

To sum up Psychosis's personality, she's deranged in a controlled, serene fashion, with her insanity just below the boiling point; though she is liable to snap, no one can be controlled forever.

History: Psychosis, grew up in Aquilla Gardens. Her mother was Darling Hooves, her Father is Guardian Bear, now divorced. Psychosis lives with her father. Guardian Bear works as a guard for Neighstramo, his most notable feature being the scar barely missing his eye, on the right side of his face. Psychosis doesn't see him often as his line of work demands his presence often.

As an upperclass pony Psychosis was able to live a finer life, but her father believed in hard work and kept his daughter busy by ensuring her learning in defensive as well as offensive training, which she viewed, as normal as eating was in her life. From the instruction of the tutelage of several trainers, Psychosis learned to be fluent with: tomahawks, dagger fighting, sword play, the long bow and strictly, defensive martial arts. All flying maneuver training was taught by her father personally. Psychosis's ear was cut during her dagger fighting training, she also has scars from her earlier years in each weapon subject, but her black fur prevents from any ever being viewed.

Her mother reveled in the finer society and had Psychosis take lessons a budding young lady might take to seem desirable someday. These lessons consisted of: flower decoration, etiquette, sewing, dancing, and the learning of two musical instuments, the piano and the harp. Psychosis ceased the piano lessons to give more attention to the harp, as her small stature made reaching for keys hard, and the harp was something she could get in a smaller form for travel; as well as calm her nerves.

As a child she was always quiet, and passive, so none of the other fillys paid attention to her, this made her not very sociable; this trait only grew stronger as she grew older. The majority of her life was put into education, even if she did have friends she probably wouldn't have had much time with them. She began to develop habits of speaking with herself, for the company and critism of her character and life she lacked. Psychosis found if she concentrated solely on her work she'd forget herself in the task, allowing her to relax. She was lonely, but bettering herself was more important to her, because in the end only her opinion mattered.

Psychosis spent any extra time she had flying and experimenting with her abilities and magic as a pegasus pony. One day she had began to contemplate how only pegasus could control the weather using the clouds they created, that only they could rest on. Psychosis believed the theory of use without a cloud with the basic elements should work as well as it would without a cloud. Psychosis started studying weather, teaching herself how to use a cloud to kick out lightning, make it rain and dissapate the cloud with heat.

This process proceeded to be quite easy, while trying to create the same effect without the immediate help of a clouds gaseous liquid state proved difficult. Eventually, Psychosis learned to draw water from the condesation in the air, and from that, how to use the cold air around her to turn the water on her hooves into ice. Over time, she learned how to melt it using the warmth from any heat source around, fire, herself, anything with a heat signature she could manipulate on its own. Her hooves gained their rotten yellow color as a scar from the burns she recieved by manipulating the heat using her hooves in the beginning. From the heat, light, and from the light, lightning.

Lightning both excited and frightened Psychosis, it was the one that gave her the most trouble learning. She couldn't use her hooves like she could with heat, she couldn't touch light, and in the early stages it was taxing to upkeep in the surrounding darkness. She eventually learned how to move light by concentrated movement, but lightning still wouldn't appear. The only time it did is when she had began to grow frustrated with it, moving the light around as fast as she could. As Psychosis threw the light down, she heard an audible crack as the light managed to become lightning. In that moment, though Psychosis wouldn't be able to say it, this was going to be her life now. This event led to her cutie mark.

Psychosis will most likely follow in her fathers hoofsteps and become a guard.

Special Skill: To see the world in a different light, allowing her the use of unconventional ways to use magic.

Strengths: Pegasus magic; example: she can create fire from the heat in the air, and water from the condesation. Pretending to be what she's not. Agility, Intelligence, strength, and flexibility. The muscle memory of how to use a dagger, sword, tamohawk and general flying styles.

Weaknesses: She can manipulate the weather elements, but she's not immune from them. If she were to create fire she could still get burned from it and cannot move it without using velocity to make it move. Anti-social and awkward with other people. Problems with her sanity. Trust issues, paranoia. Doesn't know how to deal with other people properly without going into a false personality to deal with them.

Missing Word:You must be crazy!

 

Username: Durppie

Name: Letterform

Allegiance: Against Nightmare Moon. To the public, he's neutral.

Age: 34

Species: Unicorn

Looks: Letterform has a bright sea green mane that is long, thick, and sets in one big curl past his neck. Two puffy locks of hair on his head part to show his horn. His tail is the same color as his mane and is also long. Not long enough for it to be dirtying itself on the ground, but quite long. It is done up in a simple style, going down then curving to a small tip. His coat is brown, not really dark but too dark to be considered tan. He also sports a mustache and a long thin beard, both which are the same color as his mane. As Letterform is an upper class pony, he takes good care of his appearance. His eyes are a faded red, and it's rare to see this pony without a monocle in his left eye due to fashion and being slightly blind in said eye. His cutie mark is a red fountain pen making an x. He may also wear a black tux with a red ascot.

Picture: I can't even draw a cutie mark in MS Paint well...

Personality: At first glance, Letterform is another snooty rich pony. Digging a little deeper, one can easily dislike him. He is fairly polite and loves laughing, but he exudes an arrogant nature in his speech and manner. He is also prone to pointing out flaws in ponies and will say them to the pony's face most of the time as long as he won't get murdered for it. Letterform knows he runs enough risk of this by being a social and political critic, and can be quick to respond to perceived physical threats to his health by violence. His rude remarks are generally born from a desire to see ponies better themselves. Although, he does find himself being elated at their displeasure. Letterform has barely any friends at all due to his nature, and he's quite lonely. Sometimes he wonders if he should never have become a critic, or if his writing really does help society improve.

Writing is an obvious passion of his and a major source for his money and notoriety. When hornwriting works slamming influential ponies, important hooves get stepped on after all. This has not helped his fear of injury. And he desperately wants to write one of his books about the Princess, but even Letterform wouldn't dare go that route in such a public manner. If he wanted to die a horrid death, the unicorn could've just spent a night outside of Neighstrasmo. Yet writing a glowing review of Nightmare Moon's policies would be absolute torture. He's toyed with the idea of secretly distributing copies under a pseudonym like he did in his youth.

History:

Letterform was born into a rich family and had a sheltered life. He was indifferent and unknowing of much around him but luxury and happiness. Surely everypony was living life like this? Then when he became older, his parents told him that there were other ponies living in squalor, and that said ponies were like this because they were naturally inferior. Letterform was to know that the lower classes were filthy as the places they lived in.

For a time he believed this and acted much like your average self-entitled, spoiled kid, complete with tantrums when he couldn't get his way. As he was on the cusp of being an adult, Letterform decided to have a look at the lower classes in the flesh. Enthralled by how poor these ponies were, Letterform made multiple visits. How he had seen them did not match up to his mother's description. Sure, they lived in bad conditions and some were degenerate criminals. But not all of them were like this. Letterform started maturing from a spoiled foal into a calm colt that started asking questions that his neighbors and family found uncomfortable. Why were they just sitting around on their flanks while crime was rampant? They had power, why not use it for this? If the lower classes were uneducated dirty foals, why not stop them from being so...lower class and give them access to education? Letterform hated the evasive answers they gave him, and began to notice the corruption present in the upper class. One day after some snooping he decided to write a detailed, derisive report about the (Batman Night Haunter's predecessor) Mayor under a false name and made numerous copies by secretly using a printing press belonging to a neighbor. Said report caused an uproar. Letterform decided that he wanted ponies to receive words that would inspire them to think and question, and gained his cutie mark. As an adult he decided to go public with his ideas and critiques. This did not help his social status among his peers.

Special Skill: He can spot flaws in things much more quickly than a normal pony.

Strengths: Willing to say what most ponies would never say, calm in most situations, means well, considers consequences

Weaknesses: Sight in left eye is worse than the other, pompous, paranoid about violence to himself, keeps his problems bottled up inside

Missing Word:You must be crazy!

 

Username: CaptainCute

Name: Moon Blitz

Allegiance: For Nightmare Moon

Age: 18

Species: Pegasus

Looks: Blitz is an average build, his feathers and fur are a nice gray shade. He is quite athletic and it shows in his appearance, he'll always be in tip-top flying shape. His short shaggy pink mane is slightly windblown, his tail is the same except it isn't short in length. Blitz's eyes are a light pink color and he usually has his ears down. When he isn't working or exercising he wears a black cape. His cutie mark is a crescent moon with a single wing on the side. The crescent moon's bend is facing towards the head, leaving the wings tips towards his tail.

Picture: http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Doxa/Random/moon_blitz.png (Without Cape)

Personality: This stallion is simply full of himself, and as he likes to say. "If you're gonna be the best, you've got to act like the best." He likes to show off his moves and impress everypony, if you aren't impressed with him, Blitz will mock you when you aren't around. He is very sarcastic and rude with ponies he doesn't think are worth his time. Blitz is a very stubborn, strong willed, and determined stallion, he can and will do whatever he sets his mind to. He doesn't have time for anyponies problems except his own. When he isn't showing off, he keeps to himself and grumbles. Blitz gets lost in his thoughts of judging everpony else, and when this happens he makes faces without even realizing it. If he thinks you're someone important he'll be very polite with all the sugar-coated compliments on top. Blitz can't bear to see other ponies cry, so he'll usually run away or yell at them. He believes the lower class ponies are scum and he doesn't care diddly squat about them.

History: Blitz was one of the first ponies in his class to get his cutie mark. He earned it when he and a bunch of other trouble making fillies were running/flying away from the guards. He, of course, left the guards and his fellow fillies all in the dust. The specific moment he got it was when he cleared the lake in Ponyhide Park in a single jump. Keep in mind for a young pegasus this was quite the accomplishment, he didn't know how to fly properly. But has he flew over that lake and saw his reflection in the water, he was in perfect alignment with the crescent moon. At that moment he knew he wanted to fly forever, and since then he has been obsessed with the Shadow Bolts. He wants to join the ranks greatest flyers of all of Equestria. (Skull Dash, Hellfire, Smokin, ect~) Blitz is a better off middle class pony, he works as a delivery boy. Need a package delivered lickity split? He's your pony. Blitz does a fine job of not caring what he delivers, he isn't a snoop. Sometimes he delivers top-secret letters without his know how. He idolizes Nightmare Moon with a passion, if he hears someone talking bad about her he gets all up in their face, and will report the incident.

Special Skill: A serious need for speed and a lust of flight.

Strengths: Determined, fast, athletic, convincing liar.

Weaknesses: Ignorant, won't take advice, can't handle pressure, hold grudges, no compassion, anger issues all around.

Missing Word: You must be crazy!

 

Username:Limn

Name: Literal Pain

Allegiance: Upon questioned. His Empress NightmareMoon. Honestly he doesn't care.

Age: 25

Species: Unicorn

Looks: The fur protecting his body is of a deep fuschia, almost plume-like. His pure white hooves are only obstructed by his rugged, uniform cut fetlocks. Two dark grey stripes flow through his grey mane, each beginning on either side of his sharply rough horn. His mane is cut exactly to his shoulders, gelled back with mousse. Compared to his mane, his tail has a single, large dark grey stripe, which he never styles, it is kept a medium length and never comes close to touching the ground. His body is well propotioned; tall, and muscular in an evened manner. The radiant orbs known as his eyes, are an umberish color.

Upon his body he adorns simple black cuffs to his front hooves. As well as a black vest with a white ascot tie for his torso. His left ear has been studded with silver all along its outward curve.

Literal Pains cutie mark a dark yellow cross crosslet fitchee.

Picture: Imagination is key, since I, have nothing.

Personality: He has been taught to be soft spoken and only speak what he means. "Live life without mistake and never take back or regret the past." As his father would say. Though truth is he's actually more awkward than he really should be. He is rather pleasant, as anypony from the public would tell you, but it's all just a front. He is excessively kind to dames, as he never knows who might be the lass for him. He is heterosexual as he entertains the idea of children, if not idolizes it; lineage is an excessively important thing for his family. Regal in movement and elegant in the way he bears himself; with pride, mystery, and a soft kindness.

Ponies he deals with in more personal matters, has known him to have an undeniable pride and a habit for silence to the point of frustration on other ponies part. Literal Pain is frustrated easily, but only shows it through his eyes. He tries to be as cold as his favorite thing in the world, steel. Literal Pain has known to be surprisingly giddy when examining any kind of weapon. He his definitely a family man, to the point his fathers workers would call him a daddy or momma's boy. He is indeed just that, he wants to make them proud, but he's still a young adult and makes his list of mistakes.

History: Literal Pain is the son of a Mafia leader, who shall not be named for security reasons; but is familarily known as 'The Father'. His mother goes by many names, as she was a prostitute before marrying Literal Pains father; a much more loving marriage than it sounds. Literal's father married his mother strictly because he loved her. Literal's family life was the pinnacle of perfection in his opinion. A loving mother, a father that was constantly there for him, showing him where to place his hooves, how to act and address others, as well as carry on the business when he's gone or too old and weak for respect. Literal's father taught him everything, as the only people one could trust was family, blood was thicker than words. Literal Pain never went to a normal school, as his parents taught him everything, the only thing his father didn't teach Literal Pain, was foal tales, singing, history, and a few things with english. They live in Blue Cresent for the sake of business and discrete living.

Literal had an eye for business, but the thing he found himself always excited for was his fencing lessons. He honestly fell in love with swordplay, the necessity for movement, the constant watch of his opponent's moves, the feel of pressure on his teeth; exhilarating to the exetreme. Literal earned his cutie mark late in life, earning it the moment he defeated his Father in swordplay.

Special Skill: Using any kind of weapon, as if a God of war blessed him with the skill.

Strengths: Summoning his weapons. Knowledge of business and any kind of mafia related affair. Use of weapons. Stealth, agility, and secrecy as well as strength. His unicorn magic is mainly based on summoning weapons to his aid, though he is capable of creating a small shield when need be, and has learned invisibility spells in case he needs to hide something.

Weaknesses: His other unicorn magic cannot take many hits and is very weak aside from conjuring. Shield? Broken in a few hits, invisibility spell? Broken on contact. Surprisingly clumsy when he isn't fighting. Weakness for girls and things he's never heard of, very curious to the point of stupid childlike facination.

Missing Word: You must be crazy!

 

Username:Limn

Name: Basilisk Soul

Allegiance: Doesn't give a bucking hoot.

Age: 27

Species: Unicorn

Looks: Basilisk is surprsingly thin, with large dark bags underlying his eyes from lack of sleep. His body is a forest green, while his mane and tail is a vibrant red. His hair looks like it's constantly wet. I want you to imagine someone with a long, unspiked mohawk, who grows their hair out long in the back, contained in the style of a ponytail. Now imagine that on a twig of a male pony, that's Basilisk Soul. His tail is kept exetremely short, and is ragged from not being cut straight.

His years of malnourishment shows through his ever evident ribcage, thighs, and scrawny muscles. His pupils are noticably small with paranoia and can hardly ever be seen without trembling, either from nervousness, or anger. If someone could look properly in his eyes, they'd be able to tell you they're yellow. Basilisk has a noticably pointy horn, self sharpened. Scars cover his back for those that are close enough to see them, as well as occasionally elsewhere, the most noticable of his scars is his lower lip, which he chews out of habit, if not compulsion.

Basilisk Soul's cutie mark is made of light grey markings that resemble wisps of smoke.

Picture: Ain't got one for you sweetheart.

Personality: Compulsive, harsh, demanding, and most of all, angry. If you tried to help him, he'd probably mock you, and utilize sarcasm as if it was a bundle of roses. He likes to run his mouth. If anything, he produces more bark than bite; but as someone who doesn't care about outcome, his rage can be uncontrollable. He will go into incoherent spouts of speech when angered, but unable to do anything about it. Basilisk is deathly posessive of anything he can get his hooves on. Any girlfriend he managed to get, soon left him, because he was controlling and not even lovable in the slightest. Neither did he show them any affection; the moment they broke up with him he'd return the favor by setting their house alight with flames. Quite the house warming gift if you know what I mean. Basilisk has locked his insecuritys so far into the corners of himself that one could hardly say they exsist. In his life, he couldn't afford to be weak, the weak died, and he "was the farthest thing from weak!"

History: Grew up on the streets of Neighstramo, he cannot remember what his parents looked like, only that they died and abandoned him along with his siblings, a brother and a sister. Both of them died soon after their father abandoned them. Basilisk spent the most of his time wandering from slum area to slum area. The hardest place for a poor pony to stay in was the Curzeburg slums, number 4 of the boroughs being the hardest as that's where the shops are closest too.

Basilisk was a young filly alone in the world, eventually ponies stopped giving him handouts as they couldn't help him anymore for their own sakes. He was too young and much to weak and malnourished to work in the mines, or get any job really. Somehow, a miracle, or some twist of fate, sent luck his way. He was given a job as a carrier for drugs. He'd get paid and recieve food when, and only when he delivered every last drug to their customers. They wouldn't lift a hoof if he was caught and beaten by the guards. In fact, they would punish him themselves for losing the packages. Basilisk learned to adjust, earning ranks over the years. He now does just about everything, running his own business with a few choice filly mates he grew up working with. He doesn't trust any of them, and they don't trust him, their hierarchy is based on power and fear alone. Growing up he constantly had to fight for what he had, teaching him to be possessive over everything.

When he was just a few months in his job, he learned he needed to steal if he was ever going to survive. He failed at theivery many times as he was unfamiliar in it's execution. The first thing he was able to steal without being caught, was a pastry from some rich lady, he stole a few books from her as well; he covets the books to this day. He of course wasn't able to read, but he knew as a unicorn he needed to utilize his skills if he ever wanted to get ahead in life. Since he couldn't get the money for school, he'd sneak and hide himself in the classroom of the rich fillys to spy in an attempt to learn from them. If you were going to learn, you might as well learn it from the best right? He'd hide where most ponies didn't look, the trash can, top of the cuboards when he could manage it. Of course, every now and then, he'd be found and beat, but their punishment was nothing near his employer's version. The moment Basilisk learned to read, he ceased his visits to the school. From his books he self taught himself pyro magic as well as illusion magic, these were the only things he was able to learn, so he expanded them as well as he could. Basilisk wouldn't be able to tell you when he got his cutie mark, that sort of thing wasn't important to him. Getting a cutie mark wouldn't get him food or money, so why should it be important to him? When he did notice the cutie mark's presence, he didn't know how to feel about it, other than if he ever did something and was caught, he could be identified by it. To this day, he will dye his body mane and tail, black on any kind of dangerous jobs.

Basilisk isn't interested in drugs, though he did try them once. He soon learned there was no point in being happy if you we're going to be sad afterward, and he hates being reminded he technically can never own anything.

Special Skill: Illusion magic. He would have made a great magician in another life.

Strengths: Speed, stealth, serious fire magic power, detailed illusion magic, escaping bindings and cells.

Weaknesses: Stamina, you need energy for that stuff, which also requires food. He can't be considered weak or strong phsyically. Paranoid constantly, cannot trust or work very well with others. Nervous, skittish, and an angry wreck.

Missing Word:You must be crazy!

 

Username: Ruins

Name: Scarcity Belle

Allegiance: Mostly Neutral, leaning towards Against.

Age: 25

Species: Unicorn

Looks: Scarcity is an average-sized unicorn mare with a pale grey coat, appearing almost off- or dirty-white; her mane and tail are a dark greyish-purple with streaks of dusky lilac, styled in smooth curves and curls just like the main-universe Rarity’s. Her eyes are bright sapphire blue, almond-shaped and ringed by false eyelashes which she applies every morning without fail- even when she doesn’t plan to go outside. Scarcity has three light freckles on her cheeks and her left ear is heavily scarred, jaggedly ripped almost in half. Her cutie-mark is of a white crescent moon with three blue diamonds placed within it.

It’s obvious she takes care of herself, as her coat is always gleaming and her mane is always flawless; she usually looks cheerful, in a refined sort of way, and smiles at everyone.

Picture: Without Cutie Mark Cutie Mark

Personality: Scarcity’s main motivation in life is the pursuit of perfection; she treasures all things precious and beautiful, from gems to dresses to flowers to other ponies. She delights in making herself and others look their best, believing that everyone is beautiful in their own way: they just need the right outfit or the right mane cut to really look their best. Scarcity will hand out accessories and fashion tips to anyone and everyone, sometimes even giving them a full outfit or makeovers for free just because they happen to catch her eye. Sometimes she runs herself ragged or gives away more than she can afford, but the profits from her dressmaking business more than make up for her spending on friends. It is said by some ponies that she is almost fearless, as she insists on treating all her customers (whether paying or not) just the same. It doesn’t matter to her whether they’re a gutter-dwelling orphan foal or the Mayor himself, Scarcity will always have a listening ear, unwavering enthusiasm and the perfect outfit for anyone who crosses her threshold in search of fashion. And she calls everyone ‘my dear’.

The other side to her naturally generous, refined nature is a love of the spotlight. Scarcity loves attention, the more the better- she loves to be complimented, flattered and pampered, and lives for the finer things in life. Sometimes she acts like a spoilt princess, ignoring or evening hurting other ponies in pursuit of something she want. Scarcity is also not afraid to use her looks and charm to get her way, often sweet-talking stallions with a wink and a whisk of her pretty tail. She is also devoted to detail, determined to have every tiny thing go just according to plan, which can border on OCD and cause dramas which border on full-blow panic attacks when things go wrong. The dressmaker hates dirt and getting muddy or wet or, Tyrant-Princess forbid, having her mane-style ruined.

And despite all of her refined mannerism and pretty dresses, Scarcity is- deep, deep down- still a mare who grew up in the rough, tough slums of Old Ponyville. She won’t hesitate to defend those she cares about or sees as innocent victims, often putting herself in the line of danger and quite ruining everything she was wearing. Those who underestimate her because of her prissy ways will find she has a mean right hook, a nasty kick and that needles (or even gemstones) can make very nasty weapons in a pinch, especially when combined with unicorn magic.

History: Scarcity, along with her little sister Honey Belle, are the daughters of a miner and a worker in a shirt factory, born where Old Ponyville’s slums turn into the more refined houses of the Blue Crescent. Though she never starved like some of her friends and neighbours did, and her parents were loving ponies who never beat her, there was no denying that her life was tough; her childhood was before Night Haunter began to clean up the streets, so she very quickly learnt to defend herself from those who would take advantage of a pretty young foal. Scarcity started work in the shirt factory as soon as she could, the need for another pay-check coming home coming above her need for an education or a proper foalhood. Though she found work in the factory mind-numbingly dull, the glimpses of the well-dressed factory owners and their customers the unicorn caught as she went about her work inspired something deep inside her. She began secretly taking home rejected shirts or ruined bolts of cloth, using her mother’s needles to make crude dresses and other outfits; she even used flawed gems that her father took home from the mines to decorate her hidden creations. Slowly she became better and better at making clothing, until theirs was the best dressed family in the neighbourhood. It was then that she gained her cutie-mark, representing her skill at making beautiful things.

One day, helping deliver a crate of shirts to a shop in Clopden Town, her well-made dress caught the eye of an upper-class fashion designer; asking her who had made the design, he was intrigued when he found she had made it herself. The designer knew how to recognise a budding talent when he saw one, deciding there and then to give her an apprenticeship under him, at his boutique. It was about this time that the Mayor was cleaning up the streets, with Scarcity hearing second-hand whispers of a demonic creature in pony form that killed dozens every night and possibly drank blood or ate little foals for breakfast. Despite not believing these wild rumours, she did find the idea of a lone crusader for justice, defending the poor and helpless, intriguing and possibly a little romantic. She liked to imagine him like the princes in her favourite fairy-tales, some noble spirit cursed with a form of a monster until freed by the kiss of beautiful mare, blissfully ignoring the fact that her Prince Charming often ripped other pony’s skins off and nailed their naked bodies to the walls of public buildings.

By the time she was a young mare Scarcity was working for one of the most famous designers in Neighstramo, making dresses and suits for the rich and powerful. The money she earned brought her parents and sister a nice house in Clopden Town, making sure they never had to work in the mines or factories ever again. When the designer died she took over his boutique, renaming it the Carousel Boutique and making it her own; she runs it to this day, making a neat profit that allows her to support her family and send young Honey to one of the finest schools in Neighstramo. She’s still waiting for her handsome Prince, Mayor Night Haunter having made it abundantly clear he wasn’t in the hunt for a mare-friend: just criminals.

Special Skill: Making and finding beautiful things; she can see the best in things and bring out their true potential, whether it’s an uncut gem, a roll of fabric or a young mare wearing unflattering clothes. Though Scarcity concentrates on the dressmaking part of her skill, she could have also gone into jewellery-making, mane-dressing or even gardening. She is also good at coaxing the best out of ponies’ personalities, helping talk flow at parties or dinners and the shy to come out of their shell a little.

Strengths: Intelligent, well-spoken, excellent dressmaker, can get along well with other ponies, brings out the best in ponies/objects, always willing to lend a helping hoof, very fashionable, can defend herself and others.

Weaknesses: Sometimes selfish and spoilt, makes a scene when upset, faints when scared or surprised, will always avoid getting dirty and panics when she does, can overlook other ponies’ feelings, somewhat OCD and obsessed with the little details at the expense of the bigger picture.

Missing Word: You must be crazy.

 

Edited April 4, 2013 by Ruins

[gistofeverything]

((There isn't anything wrong with this roleplay (after three combthroughs).

 

Approved.))

Edited February 21, 2013 by gistofeverything

[Ruins]

((Oh, wow. That was quick. Thank you! <3))

[libby2999]

((OH YAY!!! A MLP RP. Im soooo joining! I'll PM you the form soon.))

[Ruins]

((*clears throat meaningfully*

 

8. No squabbling in the OOC or OOC-only posts in the RP thread.

 

Okay, that's more of a guideline than a rule but still... I would have much preferred a PM- I'm more likely to see them and it doesn't clutter up thread.))

Edited February 24, 2013 by Ruins

[Ruins]

(Bump. Oh, I hope I don't let another RP die on me...)

[RainDash]

[i shall start it then.]

 

Twilight was hiding in the library, sorting books as she went. She would lift each book with magic, sweeping it by her face briefly to check the title and Author, then putting it on the shelf with practiced ease. The dark blue unicorn nearly faded into the darkness of the library, and she knew it. It was safe here, where no one talked to her, guards didn't bother her, and no one saw her unless they were looking, and no one ever did. She didn't want them to either, then she would have to talk to ponies, and that would lead to another accident. She didn't want to go to jail, besides, it wasn't her fault at all. It just... happened. Twilight shook her head and went back to work.

[Ruins]

High above the streets of Old Ponyville, a pale figure lurked in the shadows behind a nest of smoky chimneys; hooves clacked quietly against the house's roof-tiles as it shifted position, dark eyes scanning the street below for any sign of trouble. So far, though, all was quiet, with all ponies going about their business peacefully and within the law. The city had indeed change from the old days, when not an hour would go by without the air being pierced by the screams of the dying or a roar of anger from their attacker. Now ponies could walk down the streets with much less fear for their lives, and fillies could play without stumbling across a battered body lying in the corner like so much trash.

 

The Mayor stood, shaking soot off his wings and stretching all four limbs (and two wings) like an over-large cat, joints popping and creaking in protest after so long spent utterly still. He made its careful way to the edge of the roof, silently judging the distance across the street before leaping into the shadowy void. Wings pumped as he briefly flew, sending him in a graceful arc across the street. There was a clatter as he landed, hooves scrabbling for purchase before he used his momentum to leap up to the roof's crest, balancing for a second before leaping away again with practised ease. For some reason he still preferred to free-run across the city's rooftops than fly above them. Maybe it was because it gave him a closer view at the dark alleys where crime proliferated; maybe because it reminded him of his early years, before he could fly and before he started his crusade against crime. If anyone walking below heard or saw that they gave no sign, all of them well used to the Night Haunter making his rounds of the city; only curious fillies and those with a guilty consciences looked up.

 

Following the wall around the city, he headed for Clopden Town and Terraville, eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Ruins

[CaptainCute]

You let out a sigh and watch the warm air from your mouth take the form of steam. The flowers in Ponyhide Park glowed majestically and shimmered off the surface of the lake in a glorious display. You've claimed your place on a bench, head perfectly positioned to watch the boats on the lake. Crickets were playing the familiar tune of their people, and a few owls could be heard over the soft night's breeze. This is where you usually came to relax, but the thoughts at hoove were too troubling for a mere calm environment to settle. Ponies were telling stories again... stories of a way to overthrow the Princess.... Was such a thing even possible? Or was somepony spreading these lies to squeeze out traitors to the crown? Nopony could know for sure... but somewhere in your heart you longed to believe this rumor was true, and believing could get you killed. How you longed to share this hopeful tale of freedom with others, and to see what a morning was. Rumor has it a morning came when something called a sun touched the sky, and a sun was bright like a ball of fire, giving warmth off to all of Equestria. But such stories were just silly foal's tales, who could actually believe something besides a moon could hang in the sky. Speaking of foals and their silly tales, you consider visiting the library, you could use a refresher in foal's tales. The little fillies you entertain would love a good story.

 

 

(For reference, this is Vocal Glory)

Edited March 3, 2013 by CaptainCute

[RinniGold]

((Sorry, been a bit busy. Also, this came out much longer than expected...))

 

Three ponies walked through the back routes in the Curzeburg slums. A blue unicorn with red flames on her flank was currently regaling the others, a gray earth pony with a pump cutie mark and a cutie-markless pegasus colt, with a thrilling tale in a hushed stage whisper. "So then the librarian yells to Nightmare Moon, "You thought wrong! I know your secret, you old nag!"

 

The earth pony snorted, skeptical. "Please, if you mouthed off to the princess like that, you'd be dead." The pegasus, meanwhile, started up at the older pony, enraptured by the story.

 

"Yeah, but I heard this filly's special!" The unicorn's eyes were alight with a curious fire. "They say she's figured out how to defeat the Nightmare! Maybe even how to bring up the sun! Wouldn't it be wonderful, Pump? To see the sun just once? I bet it'd be the prettiest fire you'd even seen... white, maybe or green." She grinned wildly.

 

"... it would be nice, I ain't denying that. And if anyone could get that heartless thing off the throne--"

 

"Now, weren't you ponies supposed to workin' at that house in Terravile? Fifteen minutes ago, I might add?"

 

The gossiping equines startled, heads turning in almost bizarre synchronicity to see a deadpan Brass Tacks staring at them. As stoic as ever, it was near-impossible to read her expression, but the tone of her voice sent out warning bells for anyone who'd ever worked with her. The gray earth pony blushed and blustered, lashing his tail nervously. "We were getting there, boss! I-I mean, I guess we just got distracted with Vi's story and all--"

 

Brass Tacks was unmoved. "We have a contract with these good folks. That's a responsibility. If you're late for no good reason, you're breaking that contract. Not only does that upset the customer, but it reflects badly on the company. Now, that's just just me, but that's everypony I work with. And I don't take kindly to those who damage our reputation-- particularly with a client as influence as Ribbon Dance." She held up a hoof as if to physically forstall the protests, and simply barrelled on. "Furthermore, I don't pay you ponies to waste time and gossip on the job. Especially not around these upper-city folk, or out in public. And especially not about things concerning the princess." There was a sharp emphasis in her speech, as though she was trying to convey something without speaking. It seemed to go over the heads of her listeners; the gray earth pony had shrunk back from her voice, the blue unicorn looked like she wanted to start yelling, and the pegasus colt appeared to be ready to bolt. Brass Tacks shook her head, sighing. "'I expected better of you both." She paused, then gave the colt a nod. "And you're holding up the kid. He should have started his route a while ago."

 

The quartet sat in silence for a few moments, everyone (but the mountain that was Brass Tacks) clearly uncomfortable. Finally, the burly yellow earth pony moved, yanking a couple things from her tool-saddle and scrawling something out. "Here," she said, tossing the object to the unicorn. "Give that to Miss Dance if she complains about your time. If she asks, there was a iron shortage and we had to negotiate with the boys down south. If that doesn't shut her up... I'll work something out."

 

The two older ponies glanced at each, trying to figure out something to say. "Boss--" the unicorn started.

 

"Vivid Incense. Iron Pump. If you two don't get moving right now--"

 

The pair took off, dragging the cart across the pavement with a harsh squeal.

 

With another sigh, Brass Tacks turned to the pegasus colt, who had taken to cowering behind a trash can. "Please don't fire me, M-miss Tacks! Dad's still sick, and I-I'm sorry and--!"

 

"Easy, Popsicle, I ain't upset with you." Brass Tacks knelt next to the colt, meeting his eyes. "Those two just ought to know better than to flap their gums, is all. Besides, 'taint right to fire a little thing like you on your first day, right?" The mare gave Popsicle a rare smile, which was just surprising enough to coax him out of his hiding spot. She reached out, and ruffled his off-white mane. "There you go. You remember the route I gave you, right?" The colt nodded eagerly. "Good. Remember, once you're done, you take that package to Old Lady Winters-- though don't you go calling her old. Be polite, and she'll give you something sweet." Clearly excited at the prospect of treats, Popsicle saluted, and took off, newfound wings clumsy but effective.

 

Brass Tacks watched him go, smile slowly fading from her face. She should have known Vivid would have been talking about the "Canterlotian librarian who fought Nightmare Moon and figured out how to defeat her" rumor that had been running the mills. That unicorn was nothing but trouble, and if Brass had a sensible bone in her body, she would have thrown that firestarter out on her rump years ago. Didn't she know better than to blather in public about those kinds of rumors? Those were the sort of things that got you killed... or worse. Besides, rumors like that were always surfacing, and not once had they paid off. It wasn't smart to dwell on those kinds of things. Dreams of the sun were nice and everything, but Brass Tacks had never seen a dream feed a family, or foot a rent. Mind heavy with thoughts, the pony made her way back to Clopden Town.

Edited March 6, 2013 by RinniGold

[RainDash]

Twilight could hear the calls for quitting. Twilight flattened her ears, and quickly checked out a book. She had found it, tucked so far back into the library that she had to press a switch to open a hatch where it had been contained. Twilight read it, then read it again. She gave it a new cover, never let anypony else be able to find it, and read it until it was nearly memorized. Twilight went to the break room and grabbed her saddlebag with the keys to the library. She placed the book inside, and levitated the whole thing over to her. She smiled as it landed on her back. "I'll be back soon, okay?" She told the library, walking out with the other librarian.

 

"Well, if it isn't Twilight Charmer!" The librarian said, excited. "Out of the library for a day or two, eh? I would have thought you lived here."

 

I do. It's safe here. Twilight wanted to say, but refrained. "Yeah. I wanted fresh air today." She mumbled, not making eye contact and walking past the librarian. "Which way to the park?" She asked. Thought she heard a few ponies say that there was a pony there who told stories of a mare who knew how to destroy Nightmare Moon. Twilight didn't like her, but she knew that she wanted to see the sun.

 

There once was two sisters. One who raised the moon, and one who raised the sun. She loved that part, the part about how the sun would come up every day, every morning right on time.

 

"Uh... that way." The librarian pointed with her hoof. "Night, Twilight." She was gone, heading for elsewhere. Twilight thought she lived somewhere in the slums, but Twilight never bothered to ask the mare. It was safer if she didn't know.

 

Tentatively, Twilight headed for the center of town, slinking around, trying to avoid the eye of the Mayor, which she heard ponies gossip about. The mayor liked to go and beat up anypony who broke the law. Would she be recognized? It had been a while ago, but she didn't want to hurt him. She liked him, liked the idea of someone actually fighting crime rather than be sitting in a lofty office. She hoped her would be successful. Soon, she reached the park, and found the pony with the tale. She found only tale of the one mare and dreams of the sun. Useless. Nothing about these... Elements of Harmony?

[CaptainCute]

Glory noticed a group of ponies gathering a little distance from where she was lounging. Glory stretched her hooves and tightened the scarf around her neck before rolling off the bench. Being quite curious to discover the cause of the small assembly, she trotted her way over. Somepony was telling a story about the sun, didn't they know talking about the sun could be considered treachery? Such a public telling would attract guards, and Glory still had a bruise from the last time she encountered a guard. She cursed her fragile body with a soft sigh and turned to look at the pony she standing next to. Unicorn, blue coat, and blue mane with black streaks... this pony might look quite fetching in something silver.

 

"Hey," Glory whispered, "what I miss?"

[RainDash]

Somepony was talking to her. This was why she couldn't go out. She wasn't allowed out, this was a stupid idea. "N-nothing. I-it's n-not very good anyway." She mumbled out, the words just barely out before she wanted to shrink back and avoid her. This pony was going to hurt her and make fun of her, or maybe make her mad then the mayor would come down and hurt her. She was a bad pony and she knew it. She hurt people without thinking, without even wanting to, and she found herself alone. It was safer alone. That way nopony got hurt, and she could control her magic. Twilight kept her eyes glue to the ground, and tried not to think of how that pony was sleeping on a bench before now. Even she knew that it would be considered rude.

Edited March 4, 2013 by RainDash

[CaptainCute]

Vocal Glory yawned and rubbed her face, the cold night air made her shiver. Probably too late to visit the library... another time then. After she yawned, Glory returned her attention back to the blue unicorn and smiled cheerfully. This pony seems rather nervous, nothing a smile can't ease.

"Name's Vocal Glory," Glory held her hoove out to the blue unicorn and added with a wink, "but you can call me Glory."

Glory stared at the unicorn, smiling the whole time, she noticed the moon reflecting off the older mares pupils. Goodness, the moon really complimented her eyes, no doubt about it, this mare would look fabulous in silver.

[RainDash]

The smile had the opposite effect on Twilight. It was other ponies did when they were about to hurt her, and she actually backed away. "Why did you wink? Are you going to hurt me, please don't I haven't done anything!" She said, spewing out the words very quickly, and other ponies started to stare. Her breathing made her head fuzzy, but all she wanted was to be back in the library, safe and far, far away from the staring pony. Oh Luna, she was staring. The other unicorn was staring, all the other ponies were, already tense and nervous, Twilight placed her fore hooves over eyes trying to pretend that they couldn't see her. That there was no pony staring. She told herself to keep calm, relaxed, she didn't want to cause another of her special brand of 'accident'.

[Ruins]

Night Haunter let out a tiny grunt of effort as he launched himself off a crudely-carved gargoyle, landing on top of some pony's garden wall; he had reached the better part of town nearer Main Street, where Old Ponyville turned into Blue Crescent. This was a much more moneyed area where the terraced houses had neat, colourful paintwork and a hoof-full of garden in front and behind. Bioluminescent flowers bloomed in window boxes and patches of flowerbed, splashes of blue-green and purple-pink light in the darkness like earthbound stars. But the Mayor had no time for the well-groomed gardens, passing them by on his way to Clopden Town without so much as a glance. He crossed the Main Street without incident, flying silently above the heads of pedestrians before landing on shop roof and free-running away again, not sparing the Blue Crescent a backward glance. To be honest, he wasn't much fond of that part of the city- the affectations of the upper-middle classes tended to grate on him, especially the way that most of them aped the aristocrats who laughed behind their hooves at their efforts. Some, he did admit, were great workers for charity and reform, but those kind souls were few and far between, not to mention looked down on by those who treasured profit and influence far above the well-being of their fellow po-

 

Luna damn it! He had been so caught up in his mental monologue that he had almost lost track of his surroundings. Relying on too much on his memories of the area, he had completely missed the loose tile until he put his fore-hoof straight it. At once it slipped out from under him, flying off the roof to shatter on the cobbles below. Night Haunter found himself following it, hitting the roof side-on and rolling down the tiles like a filly down a hill, letting out a involuntary wail of dismay. Then he was in the air, wings flapping wildly as he tried to check his decent and avoid crashing; with effort he managed to turn his fall into a controlled arc, not quite flying and not quite plunging either. Nonetheless he hit the street with some speed, all four legs crumpling under him and his chin hitting the cobbles with a yelp of pain. For a second he stayed in his curled-up position before falling onto his side with a distinctly graceless 'thud'.

 

"Urgh." Night Haunter squeezed his eyes shut, pained and embarrassed in equal measure. He had been patrolling the city's roofs since he was a colt, how could he have made such an obvious mistake? Wasn't his cutie mark in stealth and terror tactics, not falling off roofs like an idiot? Opening his eyes again, the Mayor scanned the street for any witnesses as he got to his hooves shakily; fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) this area of Clopden Town was almost empty, so only the Moon witnessed his moment of failure. But that was hardly the most pressing issue. The warm, wet feeling on his chin and front knees suggested more than one bleeding cut, not to mention the pain he felt in his left wing. He could block that out. As long as he could walk, he could get back to the Palace. As long as he could get back to the Palace, he was fine. Then he tried to actually walk and found that his knees had other ideas, almost sending him faceplanting into the cobbles again.

 

Growling with annoyance at the weakness of his own body, Night Haunter looked around for any 'volunteers' for his impromptu Help-The-Mayor mission.

 

[TSparkle123]

Sea set down her paint pallet and brush carefully and backed a little bit away from the newly painted wall. It wasn't a sun this time; that was far too dangerous, as the guards seemed so on edge recently. This time, she'd painted the wall to look like a field of flowers, like the pictures she'd seen in books she'd gotten from the library. She looked over every little flower, trying to make sure they were all shaded and drawn correctly. One tiny mistake could completely ruin the piece, and she couldn't have that. Her paintings had to be good enough to light up somepony else's world; just like that sun had done for her. After a close examination, she found that one sunflower was facing a little bit away from where the implied sun was. Now the question was how to fix this without ruining the whole painting in the process... Aha! A "Eureka!" moment came to her, and she painted another stem protruding a little below the actual flower and ended it with another sunflower, also facing a little away from the implied sun. She tore herself away from it to keep herself from trying to perfect it further. It was already ruined, and she had to find a new wall to make beautiful.

 

She stepped out of the alleyway, balancing her paints and paintbrushes on her extended wings. It was slow, walking around like this, but she couldn't risk losing all her paint. That stuff was her life, and she was not about to just lose it all like a foolish filly. There was no way she was about to just give up everything she'd dedicated her life to by doing something stupid like dropping her paints. These paints were the only type she used, and they didn't come cheap. Not to mention the fact that her job couldn't pay her through anything. Painting upper and upper-middle class ponies wasn't the best job, since they often refused to pay her much of anything. She hated the job anyway. Ponies who wanted to get themselves painted were vain, crude ponies that assumed they were perfect. The worst bit was that they never were. Her paintings of rich ponies were the worst, least realistic paintings she ever made, and they were the ones she depended on.

Edited March 5, 2013 by TSparkle123

[CaptainCute]

Vocal Glory stared bewildered at the blue unicorn's response, no pony and I repeat, no pony had ever reacted this way to her before. She'd seen such responses given to cruel guard ponies, but never to her. Glory could feel her heart pound rapidly in her heart. What do I do? What do I even say? Oh horse radish... ponies are staring. She took a deep breath and took a step towards the blue unicorn. Calm down Glory, you got this.

"Sweetie...," Glory was using the softest warm voice she could muster, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Glory stooped down at the blue unicorn's level and used her horn to conjure a soft green glow. Glory shut her eyes, she could hear the murmurs of the other ponies and her heart pounded faster than ever.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm sorry."

[RinniGold]

Clopden Town was practically dead this time of the day... or, Brass Tacks thought ruefully as she trotted down a back alley, most everyone's too nervous to conduct business outside their shops nowadays. It wasn't an erroneous assumption; though she could occasionally hear noises like falling bins and hooves hitting the pavement, the outside was empty. True, Brass had seen bodies and business moving through the windows of some shops as she walked by. But those were few and far between, all hidden behind curtains as if worried about passerbys. Really, paranoia wasn't an unreasonable reaction; plenty of shop owners still remembered how bad things were before Night Haunter took power, and old habits died hard. As a construction worker (technically manager, but Brass wasn't the time to shirk her duties and she loved her work), she'd learned to ignore the fear, or simply grew too large (in all ways) for your average thug to mess with.

 

Brass Tacks turned onto the primary road of Clopden, which snaked out from the Main Street in a jagged manner. As always, her mind slipped back into her job. She'd been called a workaholic too many times to counted, but stubbornly disagreed. It was a comforting thing, and, like always, there was a lot going on today; she and her second had dealings with Rotten Rich (who despite his name, was a pleasant enough creature) concerning funding for that infrastructure project that had been outsourced, then back to the Industrial Area to see if the silver shipment had come in yet for the rest of Ribbon Dance's gaudy dining room; that new blood inexperienced with welding would be sent to check on Popsicle's father, who's broken leg had put him out of commission; then there were the boys at the railyard to deal with, and no one was looking forward to that--

 

And her thoughts were driven out by a sight that terrified many foals and criminals-- Night Haunter himself, dripping with blood. What he was doing in the Clopden, she had no idea. Everypony knew about Night Haunter and his constant patrols for those who would break laws. It wasn't like she had never glanced up from blueprints to see his penetrating gaze, or seen him single-hoofedly beat-down a particularly nasty gang. She'd even had some dealing with him, though those were more on a professional basis (Vivid Incense needed a reminder that public fire-play was frowned upon). Still, Brass Tacks rather admired the mayor in all his intimidating glory; she certainly remembered being a ten-year-old filly on the streets, and appreciated anyone who'd make it easier for those who came after her. So it was without hesitation that the earth pony cast her plans for the day aside as she trotted up to the bloody stallion. "Lord Mayor," she said, politeness tinged with concern. "How bad are you hurt?" Her voice held the neater, more refined speech she tended to use when confronted with those above her in station; still, she didn't exactly sound impressive. "Any way I can help?" Perhaps a little blunt, but Brass Tacks had always been blunt.

[Ruins]

Night Haunter took an automatic half-step back when the stranger mare spoke to him, asking how badly he was hurt and whether she could help. He wings half-extended at the same time, the left visibly trembling as if he had the caffeine jitters. Though he wasn't surprised in the least by their approach- he could have tracked them from a street away- it was the forthright manner of their introduction that took him aback. He was so used to ponies either shrinking away in fear for their lives or trying in vain to butter him up that someone trying to address him like that, almost as an equal, was a very new experience.

 

The Mayor studied the other in silence, his eyes moving across her body before looking her deeply in the eyes for a second and finding very little fear. His own expression was almost blank and hardly to read but the sharp-eyed observer might detect a hint of curiously in his eyes, or even a ghost of a smile hovering around the corners of his mouth. This mare is almost fearless. She knows perfectly well who I am and what I do, yet she approaches me like she would any other pony in trouble. She helps, because that's what she does. Hmm. Familiar, also. I've seen that face and hear that voice before, but where? he thought to himself, saying out loud: "Not too badly. My wing may be broken, but I can walk... I think." he added, briefly lifting up a fore-hoof and feeling a distinct increase in the pain as more blood oozed out onto his pale coat. Talking hurt, too.

 

The Mayor paused, looking around at the shadows lurking in the corners of the streets. He wouldn't put it past some of Neighstramo's low-lives to try and take advantage of the situation, and in his current form a large enough group of them might be able to take him down. "Best not talk in the street, though- the walls have eyes and the shadows have teeth. They're hungry." he added, frowning slightly as he turned back to the stranger mare. "And who are you?" Small talk and tact, as ever, were not Night Haunter's strong points.

[Limn]

Psychosis had been practicing her harp away from the group of ponies listening to stories. Though Psychosis disliked being near others, she could not deny the allure of Ponyhide Park. The trees an flowers, all emitting a beautiful soft light without the fear of burning yourself on touch. Truly a magnificent place to strum the calm contemplative strings of her harp, even with the others round and about. The gentle night air on her coat, the fresh air the plants gave, everything was just lovely.-- Until a commotion began over by the congregation of ponies.

An indigo colored unicorn-mare seemed to be freaking out over something as petty as winking. The offender was another Unicorn, green in color. She was apologizing, trying to inform her that she wasnt going to hurt her. The green unicorn was doing something with her horn. Oh for goodness sake. Psychosis arose from her place on the wet grass, folding her harp under her wings. The tips of her wings gripped the harps sides tightly, practiced with repitition. She trotted over to the group, smiling softly, dropping to the indigo unicorns crouched position. "Calm down lass" Her voice was gentle and undertoned with kindness, a motherly kind of warmth in her voice. "Winking is a relatively harmless action. Among friends it's a sign of frivolity and light heartedness. To strangers it can mean the owner of the wink might be flirting with you. This mare doesn't seem very threatening, she's just probably trying to be friendly. No one's going to attack a big girl like you here. This is one of the safest places in the city."

Edited March 9, 2013 by Limn

[RainDash]

She wasn't safe, Twilight caused problems. She was a problem by existing, but she trusted this other pony, giving her a wild eyed glare. Twilight shook her head violently, her head looking around at all the staring ponies. She looked at each one, deciding to abandon order, randomly looking at the staring ponies, her mind filling in their faces with her tormentors'. She had to remain calm, keep in control, but she could feel all of their eyes. She looked at the pegasus again, locking eyes with her. "I-I can't stay here. It's not safe, it's never safe when I'm out. Leave me alone, I'm safer alone." She was watching her parents again, how they yelled and asked where she had been. She had been just so mad... then suddenly they were gone.

Her fault of course. It was always her fault. If she had stayed away... she would have been safe. They all would have been safe. "I don't care if it was harmless or not, she was staring at me, ponies should leave me alone. They're safer that way!" Her horn started to glow, and her eyes whitened. She closed her eyes and curled up, trying to calm down. "Stop staring at me!" She yelled, close to tears. She quivered slightly on the ground, crying a little. All she wanted was to know about the book. Yet here she was, paralyzed with fear and back to square one. Why was she so pathetic? She could have strolled right into Nightmare Moon's tower, using her magic as she went, but she was afraid to. She was scared of the ponies which had been encouraged to mock her, exclude her. She could hear them laughing now she she sat on the ground, trying to become calm again.

[Limn]

"Everyone's safer alone, but that doesn't stop us from being lonely." Psychosis slowly rose, spreading her right, feathery black wing, in the indigo mare's view blocking her sight from the majority of the others. Trying to signal to them that they needed to go from this area. Psychosis closed her eyes, trying to help the unicorns issues with ponies 'staring' at her. This was a stupid thing to do, if the unicorn attacked Psychosis would be at a disadvantage, but she trusted her own abilities enough to handle a psychotic mare. "Look at me, not at them, they don't matter. Your just as much as a danger to them as they are to you, but no one here wants to begin a conflict. Ponies are just curious, curiousity is natural for everyone." Psychosis opened her eyelids slowly, looking at the mare with a touch of endearment. "Surely you should know this. You seem to know and understand the danger of the world. What could have lured you out here, other than curiousity?" Psychosis dared to slowly move her right wing's soft delicate wingtips near the indigo mare's face, gently caressing the mare's face in an attempt to reassure and comfort her.. "What have you come looking for? I'm sure someone here can help you." Edited March 9, 2013 by Limn