Agent505

Right, what point are all the rebel team's characters at? We'll try and think up some suitable means to get you guys out of a corner. Waiting on you 00Pony before I can post anything with Cadence, at best I could post currently about Stoic pacing around or give the Onyx something to do. And i'd rather try and keep as little characters as possible in the RP per person, but we'll see. If things don't pick up soon then I guess having more characters is our only fallback.

Again I apologise myself, i've been away for personal reasons and i've just made it back to the forums. @@00Pony, just give us a post about you getting to the palace, once everyone is inside, i'll begin Cadence's speech.

@@SilverHeart, @ , @@00Pony, @@Ano170, (I know it's been my fault that we're all quiet, but if you could make your next posts about entering the palace, we'll get going). As Stoic bound his way over the last leg of his journey, he found himself faced with a closed palace door. Not to let that stop him, he continued galloping towards the door, blinking through it at the last second with his teleport spell. He came to a skidding halt inside the grand hall, kicking his legs a little to stop himself from sliding across the polished crystal and smacking against Cadence's throne. He stopped himself with plenty of room to spare however, and as he recovered his bearings, he noticed the entire room was lined with guards, both crystal and onyx, even some royal guards were attending the ceremony - most likely to keep things in order. "Stoic, where are the rest of the soldiers? I need leaders, not rabble!" Cadence sighed, kicking her hoof as she stood from her throne, stepping down the small flight of stairs that elevated it just so. "I saw Golden Eye on his way as I ran past, he was with a pegasus I don't recognise. I sent Sanguine out to the wards, and nurse Silver Heart should be joining me with the rest of the Onyx soon. The wards are all active and strong, the shield will hold." "I hope for your sake you're right, they had better be here soon." She paced around the room a little, walking up and down the front line of her guards and inspecting them every now and again.

I was just sending her your way to give you both someone to interact with - as I said, I was referring to the having known each other in respect to Cadence and he subjects. Arrow's been out of civilisation for like 3 years; I don't think there's much chance you two have met.

Uh, yes? Now i'm confused - I was referring to the ponies knowing and having seen/been before Cadence at some point. You were talking about Arrow? - Right, my mistake.

I suppose I was still considering the last time this RP was up, everyone just sorta... knew. They'd all lived in the empire prior to the events, much like Sanguine. Guess was I still thinking of that.

Yeah sorry for the delay guys, not been feeling myself much lately. Personal issues and all that. While the quality of my posts will probably degrade dramatically, i'll try and get something going. And her was Ano, after I sent Arrow over to the medical pavilion.

@Tag ALL the members! Hopefully by now Canterlot forces are in a place to begin their march, as the train to the empire hasn't been seen for several weeks - that's not an option, however to speed things up and make them more interesting you can all feel free to suggest alternate forms of transportation. On the journey there, as Pripyat has said you will be contacted regularly by Princess Luna and informed of any changes that may affect your task, one such change might just be approaching. Pripyat, i'm afraid i'm going to have to leave it to you as to just how these changes are brought to the Princesses attention, but feel free to take liberties for the interest of times. @@Alex Kennedy As far as controlling the Sanctum goes, now is a good time to introduce them to your journey, however! As i've noticed, Canterlot forces have been behind on posting and i'm not sure why, but it has occurred to me that you are at a disadvantage of posting, considering there are only the 5 of you. Therefore I'll allow you all to control two members of the Sanctum, just like the rebellion have their shadows. Feel free to personalise them for the journey, so long as they are believable soldiers. @@Dovashy Sanura has just explained the briefing to you, you might want to go back and read Pripyat pony's first post just to familiarise yourself for a response or a reaction. We can't let the Canterlot team die, folks - do what you must to keep it alive. As for the rest of us, Empire and Rebellion, the horn that sounds is something like this: http://youtu.be/UayQi2tdJTw?t=2m16s (because Lord of the Rings is awesome) The "veterans" of the empire, Stoic, Sanguine and Golden Age will know the sound and its call, however the "new" additions to the army - Arrow and Silver Heart, will be unfamiliar with it. Essentially it's a call to war horn, summoning the Crystal Onyx and Cadence's strongest (which is where you come in). As for @Ano170 there is no logical way that Arrow would be called to war for the empire so the guards will have to take him back (they're all yours), also @, you will have to inform her of the horn's meaning. Rebels, you may not know the meaning of the horn, or you might depending on how long you have been a part of the empire - now might be a chance for you to attempt to collect information, say - having your shadows present in the streets as the Onyx pile through the door, for example (but i'm sure you're all MUCH more creative than I am.) I just felt it was time to move the plot along, a little.

Early afternoon, sunny with a growing wind @@SilverHeart, @, (Who's following the pair, again?) @@Ano170, @@00Pony, @, (OoC: It's safe to assume all the higher ranking soldiers of the empire (Stoic, Sanguine and Golden Age) would know the horn and its calling, the other newer and less informed additions (Arrow and Silver Heart) would be otherwise unaware and will likely need instruction from others). The Onyx shunted his way out of the tavern's doorway, stepping out into the streets and looking back at Silver Heart. He didn't speak, he simply nodded his head to one side, gesturing down the road in the direction Stoic had headed off in. The heavy plate and chain grated against each other as he walked off, giving a distinct location to his position to even the most amateur of listeners; not that it made any difference to anything for anyone who tried sneaking up on them, they all ended up the same way. As he reached the alleyway aside the tavern, he suddenly ground to a halt, ears pricked high. Mere moments later, the unmistakable sound of the empire's summoning horn blared throughout the land, echoing long and deep in the ears of all its residents. The palace. He grunted, turning on the spot and locking his halberd in position in the modified armour slot by his side before thundering at a brisk pace in the opposite direction, heading for the crystal palace. _____ There was an intense flash of light, followed by a single beam jutting into the air before promptly vanishing. Stoic grinned at his hoofwork, following the beam as it powered the shield before turning to begin making his way to the other wards, only to hear the horn bellowing in his ears. "HaHA!" He chuckled enthusiastically, "Time for some REAL action! There's only one reason Cadence would have use for that horn..." excitedly, he began galloping towards the palace, using his teleport to place himself several hundred feet further down the line at regular intervals - there was no way he was missing this.

I stopped updating that ages ago... Once the RP gets full that's about it for front page updates, nothing personal. Also @Canterlot team, feel free to talk amongst yourselves or have one of you notice Dovashy out there in the doorway - you don't have to wait for each other to post before you carry on, you're going to be working together as a team after all during your journey to the empire. Pripyat will set the pace for the journey, but you'll have plenty of time - don't stop posting just because you've not been told to do anything.

Like Sanguine says, every empire has its dissidents, there's bound to be something. I've given you the freedom to do what the hell you want with your faction, within the lines of "There is no rebellion - yet, you're more of a sneaky faction than a fighting faction" So run with it, i'll let you know if you overstep any boundaries, which so far none of you have done.

I believe it might actually have been Sailor Moon. I honestly don't recall. I don't watch anime all that often and wouldn't really count pokémon as an anime (it is, but it's not...) Fun fact: The most recent anime I watched was the one and only Elfen Lied.

Yeah: Don't. She's a nightmare. No seriously though I mean don't be afraid to look at drawings for a while as references and take some ideas, copy them for a little bit if you have to, practice practice practice, go over it a few times on a new drawing, change something here and there, start breaking away from the reference as you're drawing, take it off screen for a while and then look back to see how accurate your lines are as a comparison. What's important with copying things though is that you don't fall into the trap a lot of artists do, and that's to say "I'm an artist guys, I can copy anything!" because that just wont work, you'll need to get the ideas of how to draw whatever character you're after, and then try to draw them without using references. Look back AFTER you've drawn, correct your mistakes and continue. Variation is key, if you're going to use references. Get a lot, get as many as you can find, practice with as many different poses as you can by both copying them outright and then by trying to draw from memory - never stay with the same post for more than twice - ideally as soon as you've done one pose, do another, even if it looks weird you'll pick it up. Cycle 8 or so poses and practice them all. A note i'd like to make though, stay the hell away from bases. Draw one - make a seriously accurate job of it in the back of your sketchbook or somewhere you have access to when you draw regularly, then don't use it. Only use it to check against your drawing, make changes and set you on the right path, but never, ever rely on them. Believe me when I say that relying on bases is nothing but trouble, you'll get locked into it and drawing any other pose than the standard one you've practiced with for so long will get harder and harder. Just going to leave this here It helped me get going on my path to drawing, and i'd recommend it to anyone as I know several artists on this site do too. With that, i'm off to bed! Good luck!

I apologize if i've read it wrong (it's late, i'm tired, stressed and skim reading) but it sounded like you had implied there was already a rebellion and where looking to join up to it despite not being in the empire right away. By all means if this wasn't your intent feel free to ignore me. You can start off the rebellion at any time, PM each other, get a plan together - you've all made your way into the sewers at least, that's a start. Now you'll all be "oh hey you guys don't like Cadence either" And then *bam* massive conversation between the lot of you and the rebellion is born, bring in your shadows and you have a nice little group of espionage and sneakery (that's a word now, deal with it).

You know i'll be honest, for a first attempt this isn't half bad. It's not brilliant, it could use a lot of work, but it's a solid start. Some pointers: - It's very 2D, I understand the irony here but it is, the legs offer no depth to the drawing and the angles are off. Take Derpy's eyes for example, they're touching each other and slanted to a point they would never be seen at on a ponies face. - The legs and anatomy overall could use some working, the legs have joints and curves - these legs are flat and look like they're stuck in an invisible cast, and the foreleg comes to rest at an awkward angle on the doc's face. - Of course the mane and tails could use some effort too, they're tattoo'd onto the characters at the moment, they need to have buoyancy and life of their own, show that it's hair we're looking at, not a mutation in the skin (fur?) colour of the ponies. - Going back to the anatomy, the proportions could be better, but they're a lot closer than many other first attempts i've seen, so kudos on that point. - Really the only other things I can think to mention without writing a novel are the pair seem to be missing a leg, even a little hint of showing a leg hiding behind the other at that angle would work, tilt them slightly more and not drawing the leg would be fine too. - Derpy's wing is WAY out of proportion and too low down the body, but wings are tough and even I can't draw those (never really tried, mind you) so I can't offer much else there. Other than those points it's just little details like making sure things are in the right place, the right size, the right angle and that you're not putting in too many lines where they're not necessary. I'm not a brilliant artist (and don't judge me by my profile pic, that's OLD), but i've picked up some tips and pointers from this community and others. If you think i'm being harsh with critique, I would like to say that I don't apologize for the fact that while your work is a good start, you can improve, and if no one tells you how or why, you might never know where you're going wrong. I wish you luck in your next endeavors and keep up the practice, you have a talent for this i'm sure.