Ano170

@@Agent505, (OOC: Myra will eventually get better, right?) Arrow followed Enid uncertainly, standing next to her to survey the board before him. He didn't really understand half of what was written there, though a few words stood out. His mouth dried and his brain stuttered for something appropriate to say. "But that uh....that means she's improving, doesn't it?"

@@Agent505, (OOC: Great, it's more fun that way. ). Arrow returned a small smile of his own, not entirely sure what to say - he hadn't really planned anything beyond 'check on Enid before I leave'. He hesitated a moment before speaking, reluctant to bring up Myra in case the subject upset Enid, but also knowing it would be the most logical question to ask. "How is she?" he asked gently, with a slight nod towards Myra's figure on the bed.

Arrow exhaled a breath he had not realised he was holding, relieved if a little surprised to be let off so lightly - he had expected some form of punishment, at least. Then again, the princess could always change her mind tomorrow. Deciding that now would be a good time to take his leave, Arrow tipped his head to the monstrous looking yet apparently rather understanding Queen Chrysalis, and then turned to go, pausing to salute Princess Cadence with a brief "M'lady" before exiting the palace. I'll have to look up changelings in the royal archives first chance I get, Arrow told himself as he trotted through the palace's beautiful gardens towards the main gates. Once at the gates, however, he paused. Arrow had been planning to follow Cadence's advice/orders and return to his room to sleep off the rest of his hangover, but now a sense of unfinished duty called him to a lesser known side entrance back into the palace. The guards stationed outside the door - smaller than the main entrance but just as beautifully ordained - saluted to Arrow, and he did the same, trying his best to act naturally as he reentered the palace, walking through the halls as quietly as he could until he returned to the medical bay. With a polite nod to the nurse and guard on duty, Arrow trotted softly through to the back room. "Enid?" he asked gently. The mare looked up from where she had been resting her head by the foot of her sister's cot - Arrow suspected rather guiltily that he had woken her. (OOC: @@Agent505, Thought I'd have Arrow check in on Enid before he left, if that's okay with you. Do you want to control her or shall I?).

@@Pripyat Pony, (OOC: I think I'll have to make this my last post for tonight unfortunately, it's getting rather late). Arrow blinked, digesting the new information. He had no idea what a changeling was, and he was not sure he wanted to find out, but he had the good sense to know it would be better not to be impolite to any sort of queen. She had apparently agreed to help the Empire after all, not that Arrow did not suspect she had her own motivation for doing so. "Well then I am both honoured and pleased to meet you, Your Highness." Arrow responded with a little bow of his head. "My name is Arr- ah, General Arrow that is. I must apologise for the earlier misunderstanding; I was under the clearly false impression that Your Ladyship meant to do Princess Cadence and the Crystal Empire harm." Arrow could not help smiling ruefully. Turns out you were just teaching that Harmonic a lesson - good on you.

@00Pony @Ano170 @Pripyat Pony @Higurashi @@Agent505, (OOC: I'll just mention everyone who has a character in the room for now, I'm too tired to think straight. XD). Arrow had stood in a barely controlled stance since the monster had first spoken to him, bewildered as to what was going on. First Harmonic had frozen, apparently under a spell - a thought which gave Arrow more satisfaction than he cared to admit - and then Steeleye, a Crystal Empire soldier Arrow admittedly knew very little of, had appeared, apparently backing up the monster's claims of an alliance with the Empire. It was Princess Cadence herself entering, and ordering Harmonic to be taken to the dungeons, that had finally caused Arrow to drop his sword with a clatter onto the floor in shock, embarrassment and confusion. "An alliance?" he murmured to himself, quietly so that nopony else could hear. "With that thing?" Indeed, looking around at the guards - some of Sanguine's ponies, he believed - who had been watching events unfold impassively until now, Arrow began to feel even more foolish; they should have been his first clue that things weren't what they seemed. Tuning in vaguely to Steeleye's explanation to the princess, Arrow knew that he too should be preparing to explain himself to Cadence; after all, he was still one of her newest and least known generals, and it was imperative that he earned her trust and favour, but in spite of all that Arrow simply could not take his eyes away from the strange creature before him. What had Princess Cadence called her? "Chrysalis" wasn't it? Finally, Arrow bent down, grasping the hilt of his sword in his muzzle once again, and softly sheathed it. Unaware of her rank as a queen and unable help himself, he turned to Chrysalis. "What-" he began, but corrected himself. If this creature truly was a new ally of The Empire, Arrow knew he would do well not to insult her. "Forgive me my ignorance, but who are you?"

This sounds interesting, I'd be more than happy to contribute a short story. I take it it has to be pony related? What sort of age group, if any, would it be ideal to aim for? In terms of explicit content (I occasionally go a little grimdark in my writing, though to be fair I've never done a pony fanfic before) I mean. When's the deadline?

@@Agent505,@@Pripyat Pony, Arrow was still in the otherwise empty front room of the medical bay, hunting for some miraculous future-pills he had heard mention of called "pain killers" that he could "borrow" to help his hangover while he gave Enid some privacy in the back room with her sister and the nurse. He found a box of the pills in a medicine cabinet, and, reading the instructions carefully, eagerly dry swallowed two before the nurse or anypony else came back into the front room. He coughed slightly as the pills traveled rather roughly down his throat, and moved to place the pillbox back in the cabinet. Boom. The floor shook slightly with the vibrations of a not-so-distant explosion. Arrow's muzzle opened in shock and the pillbox fell into the sink and burst open. Arrow did not waste time watching the pills spill into the sink, or even to say "bye" to Enid, instead rushing out of the medical bay at full gallop. "The palace is under attack!" he called as he ran, but there was nopony around to hear him as Arrow dashed through the corridors of the Crystal Palace. He darted into the throne room, ready to defend Cadence, only to discover no apparent enemies. Confused and feeling a little foolish, Arrow was about to inquire as to what exactly was going on, when he found himself drawn to the sound of a fight behind the door leading to the exiting corridor of the palace. Just what is going on in there? Arrow wondered as he slammed the door open. The sight beyond made his jaw drop. What in the name of tartarus is that thing?! It seemed that Harmonic was fighting - and losing to no less - some sort of...well, monster. Its basic structure was vaguely pony, but it was much larger - about the size of Princess Celestia at a glance - and had a shorter muzzle, grinning with what appeared to be fangs. Protruding from its back were wings, but like no wings Arrow had seen on any pegasus: they were more like insect wings than anything else. The nightmarish creature's legs - which it was repeatedly bringing down on Harmonic's body - were filled with holes, as if they were rotting. Arrow stood frozen in shock for a moment, able only to watch. Apparently neither the monster nor Harmonic had noticed him yet. Arrow's eyes were drawn to the creature's head, where a long jagged piece of bone protruded - a horn, perhaps? He had seen much on his travels, but nothing like this creature. It was the sight of Harmonic shakily rising to his hooves, still determined to keep fighting it seemed, that prompted Arrow to action. Git or not, his commander needed help! Arrow drew his sword with his muzzle, letting out a yell around the hilt as he rushed the creature from its side.

I'm from the land of Irn Bru, haggis, stereotypes and gadgies (innit ged?), Scotland! FREEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOM! (Not that I'm for independence though - nice idea in theory, probably bad in practice).

(OOC: Heh, I'd actually forgotten that you'd replied. Oops. XD). "Here, Enid." Arrow held out a hoof to help the mare to her hooves, making a conscious effort not to look at Harmonic or pay the commander any heed. He'd had a moment of doubt - a brief, awful moment when he would have given Enid up if Harmonic asked, if only to salvage his own meager standing in the commander's eyes - but he refused to let it show. Instead, he walked steadily away from Harmonic, but staying so close to Enid that he was practically flanking her. It was not until they had rounded the corner out of Harmonic's sight that Arrow let out the breath he had been holding. He turned a slight smile to Enid, though it did not quite meet his eyes. "Let's go check up on your sister." Enid gave him a slight, grateful smile of her own, even as tears threatened to start spilling from her eyes once again. Arrow's gut twisted. How could he have ever considered betraying her trust, however briefly? Getting back has to be my main priority - my family comes first. Second to that is helping the Empire and her ponies. Arrow told himself, even as he swore that he would make it up to Enid, even if she had no idea of his treacherous thoughts. "I won't let Harmonic bother you again." Arrow told her. "He's just a cocky, posturing knave under all that armour and status." Arrow's smile was more genuine this time, but Enid frowned slightly. She took a step away from him - Arrow had not even realised how close together they had still been standing - and began to trot ahead, though she did stop to check that Arrow was following. This time I really did injure her pride. Arrow thought with a slight frown as he followed the mare. Or maybe I went too far insulting Harmonic - he is still her commander, after all. Soldiers' loyalties often runs deep. Thinking of the commander only worsened Arrow's hangover. I hope Princess Cadence knows what she's doing, employing such a pony. But then, he did let Enid and I go... Arrow had been so caught up in his thoughts that he almost bumped into Enid from behind, stopping just in time - they had arrived outside the castle. The two headed inside to the sick bay, and Arrow stood back as Enid immediately dashed through to a back room where they were presumably keeping Myra. (OOC: I tried to avoid controlling her too much, just in case I got her character wrong - I know she's only an NPC, but hey - though I *hope* this was okay).

A very original and interesting OC you've got here - the sketches are brilliant too, I especially love the one with the parasprite sitting on her snout (it's adorable! If it weren't for the fact she apparently prefers live prey, and is probably really smelly and hard to clean after what with all the rotting flesh, that sketch alone would be enough to convince me to take her home). As for roleplaying, well, everyone's got to start somewhere right? There's a nice introduction here on the forums for people new to roleplaying, and while I've only participated in two so far (neither of which have been finished yet) I'd say it's fairly easy to pick up - you seem to have a fine grasp of the English language for starters (that felt too "teachery" and formal even as I typed it, but whatever). Fair enough if you still want to give her away to another, more experienced roleplayer, it just seems a shame for you miss out on using such a creative OC yourself. I especially like the parasitic fungus reference (finding out that the "zombies" in The Last of Us were based on Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis just made me all the more sad that I don't own a PS3). I still remember reading Parasite Positive and thinking "woah" the first time I found out the influence certain parasites have over their hosts' thinking and behaviour (followed by pants wetting terror and paranoia, of course). XD

(OOC: Hmm, can't make Arrow too heroic now, can I?). Arrow frowned slightly at Harmonic's question; not because it made him pity the younger stallion, but because it brought to the forefront of Arrow's mind a particularly distressing thought, one which up to that moment he had been doing a good job suppressing: technically, Arrow's own family was dead now. He had tried to think of his wife and foal as simply being far away, but deep down he had known that the reality was far worse, and now a dam had been opened. Even if Arrow's foal was alive, he would be an old pony by now - one who had grown up without knowing his father. Arrow had to get home. Now more than ever. He would never leave his family again: no more adventures; no more running; he would spend every waking moment with his wife and foal, and leave the daring crusades to somepony else. Of course, even as he was glaring at Harmonic, Arrow had to accept that staying on Cadence's - and by extension her commander's - good side was his best chance to return back to his own time. So Arrow bit back any retorts, hating himself all the while, and stood down from Harmonic, taking a step back but still staying close to Enid. I'm sorry, he wanted to tell her. But my family has to come first. Besides, what could I have done? I might've saved you from Harmonic now, but he would have only gone after you later - or most likely both of us. It was probably for the best, Arrow reasoned. After all, Harmonic did seem willing to let Enid go to her sister, and that was who the mare needed the most.

@@Agent505, (OOC: Gah, why are you making me care about the cute, frightened little pony?! I think this'll have to be my last post too - it's getting a little late.) Arrow listened with disgust to Harmonic's account of events. While he did not doubt that the commander was telling the truth, his callous nature and lack of compassion infuriated Arrow. In particular, the subtle reminder that Harmonic could teleport filled Arrow with alarm. If he truly did mean Enid harm, Arrow feared there was not much he could really do to stop the commander... "With all due respect, sir." Arrow growled slightly himself on the last word. "Some ponies may say family is the most important thing in life." Arrow regretted his insubordination at once - he had no desire to goad Harmonic any further, for fear he may hurt Enid - but the sarcastic bravado of his youth was a hard habit to break once faced with a smug slimeball like Harmonic. Feeling the mare cling to him, Arrow turned his head slightly to flash her a brief, reassuring smile. "It's alright, Enid." he murmured softly, glad to know the mare's name at last. Then Arrow turned his attention back to Harmonic, watching warily.

@@Agent505, Arrow jumped slightly at the sound of Harmonic's voice, angry at himself for having been caught off guard. He was ready to play "good soldier buck" once more and apologise to Harmonic, when the mare jumped behind him, evidently terrified. Arrow's eyes narrowed. He glared up at Harmonic, that little spark igniting once again deep down in his soul as he instinctively took a protective stance in front of the cowering mare, forgetting for the moment where and who he was and instead remembering who and what he had once been.

@@Agent505, (OOC: Clueless? Eh, well he is related to Feather Quill... Also, the image of a heavily armoured unicorn mare hopping is diabetes inducing). Arrow watched the mare's performance. Okay, so her sister is not dead, she's in the castle. Is she imprisoned? That could explain why this twin is hiding from Harmonic. Arrow frowned in confusion as the unicorn crossed her hooves over her chest. A cross? Are they going to crucify her sister? It wasn't until the mare lay awkwardly on the ground that it occurred to Arrow that the cross might be medical. The castle has a sickbay, doesn't it? He wondered as the mare, seemingly losing patience, came to sit beside him again. "In the sick bay, then?" Arrow ventured eventually.

@@Agent505, (OOC: Actually, I find this manner of guessing Enid's thoughts, then trying to figure out how Arrow may interpret them without having the same background knowledge I do, to be very entertaining). Arrow winced in sympathy at the sight of the mare's missing tongue - it brought back memories of almost having his own cut out by angry smugglers who he had ran into in Dragon Country - and fought the desire to kick himself, hoping the unicorn hadn't taken his recoil as a sign of revulsion. "I'm sorry," he spoke with sincerity. "I should have known." He glanced at the pendant the mare had shown him, recognising it as a token of love - somehow, it made Arrow feel as if he were on firmer ground to see that such a heartfelt tradition had made it through to this time of war. Of course, realising the meaning behind it and the pony's gestures just made his heart sink back down in sorrow. "Your sister?" he asked gently. Hesitantly, Arrow reached out to the mare again, this time to touch her foreleg. "Was she...lost, yesterday?"

@@Agent505, Arrow couldn't help letting out his own relieved sigh when Harmonic teleported away, although he could not help but suspect the commander would not give up that easily. Instead, Arrow found his gaze drawn back once more to the mare, who was now sitting, her head bowed but her eyes still meeting his. She was still evidently upset, and Arrow backed up slightly, the confined space in the alcove beginning to make him feel uncomfortable now that the distraction of Harmonic was gone. "Miss?" Arrow ventured eventually, careful to keep his voice at a whisper. "Could you explain what's wrong?" He hesitated a moment, hoping he was sounding friendly and genuine but not condescending. "Perhaps I could be of assistance somehow?"