Justin ZW

@ "Immortal?" Swordpoint repeated. "No one is immortal. Your vile black magic and your deluded followers will only carry you so far. I will ensure that you do not leave this island again." As Umbra flew toward him, Swordpoint thrust his lance through Umbra's back. The attack didn't seem to phase him much, however. Swordpoint withdrew the lance and slammed it into Umbra's head, forcing him to the ground. He leapt over Umbra, landing next to Crimson. Rainbow kept her guard up. Umbra's servants were powerful, but they all seemed preoccupied at least. Swordpoint and Crimson seemed to have a handle on Umbra, but she didn't dare go too far, instead opting to float above them, keeping a careful eye on everything. Swordpoint turned his gaze to Crimson, and a small chuckle escaped him. "I suppose that since we are brothers, you could consider him my stepfather. It is quite sad, though. I had hoped any father figure I could have would be a polar opposite of the hell in which I was raised." He spun his lance rapidly and then grasped it tightly, pointing it at Umbra. "He is not immortal. Strong, perhaps, but he certainly can die. I can feel it. His energy is tainted with dark magic, but it is still the magical energy of a normal unicorn." A smile touched his lips. "Shall we, brother? I believe 'father' has overstayed his welcome."

(OoC: Ocarina of Time reference. The battle with Ganondorf atop Ganon's Tower. Ganondorf is playing an organ with Zelda imprisoned in the crystal above him. Of course I got the reference! One of my favorite games! Also, I don't remember any of the elementals.) Swordpoint leapt into the air, and Rainbow followed. His attention was focused on Crimson and Umbra. Back and forth, they clashed swords and spells. Umbra looked even more vile in person than when he had visited Swordpoint in the tournament. "Go help him," Rainbow said gravely. "I'll watch your back. Let's go!" She nodded toward Crimson. Swordpoint looked from her to Crimson, and then back again. "Do not stray far." He launched toward Crimson, landing nearby. He pointed his lance at Umbra. "I warned you, Umbra. Never threaten to harm my loved ones." Swordpoint quickly leapt behind Umbra and swung his lance at Umbra's side. Rainbow stayed near Swordpoint, but at a safe enough distance from Umbra. She knew she wouldn't stand a chance against him; Crimson looked almost evenly matched, and he was just about as strong as Swordpoint. She focused instead on a spell she'd learned in training, radiating an aura which covered and shielded him. We're not going down that easy, Umbra...

Swordpoint rushed ahead, with Rainbow close behind. He easily defeated the shadow warriors in his way, coming to a skidding halt beside Crimson. "We must continue onward! This is merely a waste of time! Let us go forth!" Without waiting for a reply, he galloped toward the castle. Rainbow kept in stride with Swordpoint. She was faster than he was at flying, but when it came to combat, his reflexes far surpassed hers. She knew this and stayed as near to him as she could. Swordpoint couldn't help but steal glances at her. I must protect her... and the unborn. He sighed deeply. If only I could have received this news at home... It fills me with pride to know that my legacy will live on... and that I have a chance to show another pony the love I never received.

"Damn!" Swordpoint cursed as he saw the effects of his spell. "That should have eliminated them all..." He had exhausted a lot of energy, and the island wasn't filled with natural magical energy, like Equestria. "That cursed Umbra's dark magic is suppressing the magic of the land. I am unable to gather any energy." Rainbow shook her head in frustration. "Then take some from me! They need our help!" She grabbed his hoof and let magic flow through her. Swordpoint quickly shook his hoof away. "Rainbow, I cannot do this. I know you are keeping a secret from me." Rainbow's cheeks turned beet red and her eyes shot back and forth. "I-I am not! Just take it!" Swordpoint placed his hoof on her chest, sensing the energies around him. He could feel it. Two sources. He stared directly into her eyes. "How long?" Rainbow was about to lie again, but she saw the knowing in his eyes. "... Two months. I didn't think I was until I saw a doctor. I didn't want to freak you out." Despite his serious stare, an immense pride filled Swordpoint. "We will discuss this later." As he began to glance down at the battle below, he quickly looked back into her eyes and moved his head close to hers. Their lips met briefly, and he whispered "I love you, Rainbow Dash, and I have wanted this for a long time." She could only give him a sheepish smile as a small tear formed in her left eye. "Let's keep this to ourselves until we're done here." Swordpoint nodded. He wanted to tell her to return to the ship, but he knew that Umbra's magic was too dangerous. No, better to have her by his side. Now, he had another reason to fight. He was no longer only protecting his lover, but his family as well. "Stay close to me." He dove down, aiming for Crimson and Cosmo. His hooves touched down beside them, and he immediately went to work cutting down the shadow warriors. Rainbow followed close behind, staying near to Swordpoint. It's almost over... If we can just push through, we can get to that punk, Umbra.

Swordpoint deftly gored the ponies which Crimson had thrown. He tossed their broken corpses aside effortlessly as he dodged a strike from another attacker. They are not very skilled. It is almost as if they are throwing themselves at us to slow us down. He leapt into the air and spread his wings wide. His golden aura surrounded him, and he caught Rainbow's eye. He nodded and she flew to his side, a rainbow colored aura rising around her. "Crimson! Lie down now!" Swordpoint shouted. He felt his energy merging with Rainbow's, and the power boost was amazing. But... there was something else, there. It was faint, but it was almost as if he could feel another source of energy. He quickly shook it off, took her hoof, and whispered into her ear "Release it, Rainbow. Release it now." Rainbow nodded her head and allowed the power to flow out of her. She watched as the light swirled around Swordpoint before it suddenly and violently pulsed outward. Line after line of the shadow soldiers fell in an instant. The blast hadn't completely destroyed them, but it put a serious dent in their ranks. He'd reduced their forces by nearly a quarter.

Swordpoint nodded to Rainbow, and the two rocketed from the deck with blinding speed. Swordpoint met the line of approaching warriors right behind Crimson, and he stayed near his brother as he tore through their ranks. They fell quickly beneath his magic lance, and he effortlessly cut down pony after pony. Crimson's rage will be his undoing... That last pony nearly decapitated him. I must stay close to him. As another blade approached Crimson's backside, Swordpoint lunged forward, deflecting the blow with his lance and spearing the attacker in the throat. Rainbow stayed near Swordpoint and Crimson. Her hooves were shaking, and as she used the enchanted dagger which Swordpoint had given her, she began to gag. I'll never get used to the smell of blood... But I don't have a choice. I need to watch his back. Ironically, while Swordpoint was defending Crimson, another warrior approached him from the side, blade poised for a strike. In the blink of an eye, Rainbow had darted toward the pony and opened his throat with the dagger. "Come on! Watch your back!" she cried as she dodged another attack. She quickly retaliated by slicing the pony's arm off. The attacker didn't even flinch, and instead, tried to swing its sword with its other hoof. Rainbow easily dodged and gored the pony. All the while, she tried to expose as little of her stomach as possible. Gotta be careful... And after this is over and we're on the way home, because we are going to win, I'll tell him.

@ Swordpoint watched as the shadows approached. He surveyed them carefully, taking stock of their appearance. But he noticed immediately that something was off. "Why do they appear to be... ethereal? It certainly cannot be the distance..." He moved beside Crimson. "They are his creations, are they not? His summoned warriors. Or perhaps they are cloaked in the darkness surrounding Umbra." His lance appeared and fell gently into his hoof. He was prepared to fight. Behind him, Rainbow grasped the dagger held in place behind her wing. She took it out and twirled it a little. "Yeah. We can do this." She hovered in the air, anxiously waiting for Crimson to give the signal. She wanted to throw herself into the fray and prove that she wasn't weak. Gotta make sure this idiot doesn't hurt himself again. But I still have my... No. I'm not going to think about it. I'll tell him when we're on the way home. Until then, he doesn't need any more distractions.

Oh my god. Prepare for some entertainment. "Are you serving breakfast?" *The menu boards still have the lunch menu...* "Are you serving lunch?" *Menu boards say breakfast...* Me: "Hi, right now we're doing CASH ONLY. I'll be right with you." (Yes, I emphasize cash only and say it very slow.) Them: "Did you just say cash only?" *Facepalming so hard.* ^Expanding on that one... They get to the window and hand me a credit card. I shake my head and say "Sir, I told you cash only at least twice. I can't take cards." Him: "Why the hell not?!" Me: "Okay, you see how I'm writing down orders by hand, and I have a cash drawer sitting on a stack of boxes? The systems are down for our nightly reboot. I have no way of running a card." Him: "That's stupid and you never said cash only! You're calling me a liar! *enter rage mode* Me: Closes window. Walks away. So this happened a couple months back. I work overnights at McDonalds, so I work from 10PM-6AM. There's a lot of jokes that we get all the drunks and stoners... well they're not jokes. We have people puke in our drive through at least once or twice a night. But this story just topped everything. A guy came through our drivethrough with his penis out and in his lap. When my manager got to the window to collect his money, he was slapping it against his leg. But the story doesn't end here. He pulls back around and orders a cup of water. She hands me the water and says "You hand it to him. I don't give a fuck if you put a lid on it or not; get him out of the drive thru!" So I laugh and go to the window. He sees me, puts his head down and reaches out for the water without looking at me. I literally just handed it to him and shut the window immediately. He peeled out hardcore. Here's more. *Guy comes through and tries to order breakfast food at about 2 AM (we switch to breakfast at 4 AM). I tell him that we aren't serving breakfast food, and he says "Wait, I thought you served breakfast all day!" Yep. We're the next Ihop. So much facepalm.* *Lady comes through at 3 AM wanting ice cream. I tell her the machine is down, and she flips out. "Why is it that every time I come through here in the mornings your ice cream machine is down?!" Me: "Uh because the machine goes into heat mode at about 2 AM. It's on an automatic timer, and there's no way for us to stop it. Would you like to scream and swear at me some more or can I get you anything else?" (Yes, I censored her comment. Heavily.)* *Some kid came through at like 12:45 AM and ordered two double cheeseburgers. I collected his money and told him the next window. He holds up a box of condoms and says "Bro, can you get rid of these for me?" Me: "No." He then proceeds to beg me, saying he can't have them. I point out there's like three trash cans outside for him to use, and he just looks back and throws them at me. I was a little thrown off. But anyways, I ignored it and continued working. Here's where it gets interesting. He proceeds to ask me what I rang him up for. I told him two double cheeseburgers. He freaks out, so I say "Did you want the dollar ones instead? The McDoubles?" He says yes, so I call my manager to the back. I do mention the condoms. Well, he walks up to the window and says "Sir, do these belong to you?" The guy goes "I told him to get rid of them!" So it turns into the manager throwing the box of condoms back into this guy's car, giving him his money back, and telling him to gtfo before the cops showed up.* Oh, and I've had drunk people throw up while attempting to hand me money. There was only one time that any puke actually got on me, but I was so pissed off that one time. It went something like this: Me: "Hi, that's gonna be $4.28." Her: "Ooooooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh" *spends five minutes digging for change, tries to hand me change, pukes all over my arm* Me: O_O -> -> D:< "You know what? You need to leave." Her: "Nooooooooo! Whyyyyyy?!" Me: "You just puked all over my fucking arm. You're pretty lucky I'm not calling the cops right now, because you are WAY over the legal limit. Go home and go to sleep, and don't come here drunk anymore. Good night." *hands her money back, walks away* This drunk idiot sat at my window for like two minutes yelling "I'm sorry!" so I walked by the window, looked at her, pulled out my phone and pretended to call 911. She saw it and peeled out lol That's enough for now.

@ Jack gave the Doctor a strange look. "Oh my god. They really are ponies, aren't they?" The Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "Yep." Jack shook his head. "Okay, that aside... The boys at Torchwood have been monitoring this phenomenon for awhile, but we haven't been able to work out anything. We've been looking for you because we were hoping you could help us out." Swordpoint only gave them a confused stare. "What?" The Doctor absentmindedly waved his hand. "Well, Jacky boy, take us there."

@@Pripyat Pony, @@Avolon, @, Swordpoint marched in silence through the cold night. It had begun snowing several hours ago, when they reached the frozen tundra. They'd come upon a small valley, and he was considering stopping the company there to rest for the day. He glanced up at the night sky. There was a vague hint of color to the east, which made up his mind. He turned to a younger green pegasus on his right. "We camp here for the night. Spread the word and have the unicorns cast the barrier spells. We're a mere ten miles away, and we must use the utmost of caution."

And Ubuntu is better than Apple's abortion of an OS. Problem?

@@TwistedShadow No, no like/dislike system. Hm. Not a bad idea, actually. I was thinking of multiplying the comments, but I think dividing the pageviews by a reasonable number for the traffic would work much better. Thanks for the suggestion!

Very nice. I'm impressed I would love to do stuff like that, but I'd really rather not hurt myself. Also, what song did you use for the vid? It's pretty sweet.

@, @ Jack laughed. "I like her, Doctor." The Doctor merely rolled his eyes. "I figured that this was all wrong," the Doctor replied. "The Master wouldn't have let us escape so easily, and he would have deadlocked the door to your room. Oh, and Daleks don't work well with others." Jack waved his hand. "We needed you back for a reason." He walked to the window and stared outside. "Something's going very wrong. Time's been... joining. It's only certain places, and it doesn't last long. But you'll suddenly see, like, a 1950s car going down the street... and then it's gone." The Doctor furrowed his brow. "That's not good. Not good at all. Are there specific places where it happens?" Jack nodded. "Yeah. It seems centered around downtown. Usually big, urban areas feel the effects the most. It's been happening for a year, now." "Well, then," the Doctor said matter-of-factly, "let's check it out, shall we?" (OoC: lol Captain Sexy made me laugh.)

@, @@repsol rave, @ "Of course, Fire!" the Doctor said enthusiastically. He smiled as he waited for the elevator to reach the top floor. The same floor where Fire had met the Master. As the doors opened, a chair squeaked. The master turned to face the four travelers. "Hello, again. I'm guessing you've figured it out, Doctor?" The Doctor stepped forward without hesitation. "Of course. You made it too obvious. Maybe they can't get it, but I certainly can. Now, then. Who are you really?" The Master smiled. "You never disappoint, Doctor." He touched a small button on his wristwatch, and he was engulfed in white light. After a moment, it dissipated, revealing Captain Jack Harkness. "Ahhh, much better! How've you been, Doctor?! Long time no see!" "Jack!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in ages!" He threw his arms around his old friend. "So tell me, why did you set up this elaborate scheme, here?" Jack furrowed his brow. "You disappeared. We couldn't find you anywhere in the universe. It was like you'd gone to an alternate reality or something. We wanted to put together something that would be as out of place as possible to get you to come back." Swordpoint was speechless. He simply stood and stared, completely and utterly confused. The Doctor laughed wildly. "You'll never believe where I was, Jack. You see these friends of mine? They're actually ponies! PONIES! They come from a world where everyone turns into ponies!" Jack gave the Doctor a strange look. "You're kidding. Right? You're making this up?" Swordpoint stepped forward. "He is not. I am a pegasus by the name of Swordpoint. This form is strange to me, as it is to my friends." Jack raised his eyebrow. "How did you end up there?" The Doctor only shrugged. "Not really sure. I'm hoping to find that out." (OoC: There. You finally know. I can't believe you didn't see this coming, Rascal. I know you thought it was weird that there was the Master, Daleks, weird machinery that serves no purpose... Come on, now. )

Howdy, guys. I'm currently working on a development project for a high profile website which is looking to completely revamp its look. One of the main features of the revamp is going to be a method of display the most popular stories of the past week, and I'm looking for a decent way to calculate that. I don't want to just do page views + comments, since comments are a greater indication of popularity. Obviously, if someone takes the time to write a comment on something, it's a good indication of interest, whereas pageviews can be as simple as someone clicking to it, reading the first couple lines, and then leaving. If anyone has any ideas or algorithms, I'd appreciate some help. Google is proving to be useless, as usual. Thanks in advance!

Swordpoint stood silent. He nodded to Crimson absentmindedly and returned to the wheel. They may sleep, but I will not turn my back. I cannot trust my magic to steer. Rainbow approached him silently. "Are you ready?" When his only response was a nod, she frowned. "Come on! Talk to me! We're going to be there tomorrow! Have you got a plan, yet?!" Swordpoint smiled calmly. "I do. But do not trouble yourself with such things now. Rest, Rainbow. We shall speak tomorrow." She continued to frown, but she quickly shook it off and put her hooves around him for a moment before disappearing below deck.

@,@, @@repsol rave The Doctor chuckled. "Well," he said suddenly, "no use standing around. Let's get moving." He led the three out of the room and back to the elevator. He unlocked it with his screwdriver and they stepped inside. As the Doctor entered it, he pressed the button for the top floor. Now, then... who was looking for me? he mused.