Descant

North Arrow continued to peer thoughtfully at the door as ponies entered and left the tavern, on their daily business. Mostly zebras, just as the demographics for this area expected, but North knew these were just townsfolk, no more. A group of zebras escorted two unlikely looking ponies inside and seemed to direct them towards where he sat in the corner. The golden eyes narrowed, flitting over the two strangers who were now approaching him. One, the silver, he thought he recognized from the Princess' guard, and although he was much scrawnier than he would expect a guardspony to be, he was sure that this unicorn had strong defensive magical prowess, otherwise Celestia wouldn't entrust him with the responsibilty of securing her kingdom. The other, an earth pony dressed in the frilly garments of the Manehattan elite, looked utterly unprepared for the kind of adventure they were about to undertake. By her cutie mark, North guessed she might be good at navigation, but he really hoped she had more than met the eye. He would help how he could, but there was only so much he could do. Hopefully she'd arrive soon. She was much better at chit-chat than he was. He sat up a little more straightly in his chair as the two companions approached him, and inclined his head politely. "Welcome to the start of your quest," the pegasus said, his voice deep, slow, and reassuring. A tavern's waiter, a dark, sand-covered griffon, swooped over their heads, and three foaming mugs plopped onto the table smoothly in front of the three of them. "You have your letters?"

OOC The desert. Sweltering, sandy, bleak. Across the desert the teal pegasus flew, followed by a streak of blue and green light that was never seen outside the arctic, except for where this pony flew. Ice crystals formed within the trailing aurora, and fell, only to disappear moments later, as they hit the hot, dry desert air. The Pegasus sighed with relief when his destination, a sprawling city centred around an oasis, within walking distance of the coast, came into sight. Finally, he had arrived at the beautiful Zebran city of Timbucktu... He landed in the hot desert sand just outside the city, and, as he was walking through the front gates, examining a piece or parchment from in his saddlebag, a small zebra mare approached him. "You are one of the Equestrians being sent to the Amblezon Jungle?" The pegasus nodded. "You are the first of your company to arrive. Your boat departs in a days time. I will take you to where you can stay." The pegasus curtly nodded again, and followed the mare as she led him to what must have been some sort of tavern. "You must tell me your name, so I may inform the elders that you have arrived." "My name? My name is North Arrow." The mare nodded, and exited the tavern where he would meet those ponies he would be travelling with. No doubt to inform the elders. Whoever they were. He took the scroll out of his bag again, and examined it. It was a letter from Princess Celestia, delivered to him about a month ago. North chose to reread it for what seemed the umpteenth time. Dear North Arrow, You have chosen, among the best and wisest of my subjects, to participate in an expedition to find the fabled Heart of the Jungle. If you choose to accept this invitation, you should travel to the city Timbucktu in the Zebran Desert, far to the south. From there, you and your fellow adventurers shall travel across the sea, to the dangerous lands beyond, the Amblezon Jungle. This is one journey you may not return from. But if you find the Heart, you will be recognised, in front of all Equestria, as one of the greatest explorers to ever live. Yours truly, and best of luck, Princess Celestia North Arrow leaned back in his chair, folding up the scroll and putting it back in his saddlebag, patiently awaiting the arrival of his companions. They would come.

I play a lot of Destiny and Halo and stuff on my xbox, but that's mostly about having fun with friends and messing with jerks who take the game too seriously. And although I'd argue that I'm starting to get to the point in Destiny where I'm successful and actually trying to better myself, doing Vault of Glass on hard and starting to catch up on Crota, I still consider myself a pretty casual gamer. Despite what my level 31 warlock and my two level 26s would have you know. Now, PC's where I'm hardcore. I've got 1.3 thousand hours logged into my favorite Paradox Interactive game. I"m trying to get into D&D now, but it doesn't really apply in any of the categories you have listed above. Tabletop and board games are a thing bro

I don't think he left the fandom. But... Speaking as a musician and an entrepreneur, it really is important for him to branch out and away from ponies with his work. It's important to stress that, while we're an engaged market that eats up his pony music, there really aren't any other audiences that have any interest whatsoever in "Winter Wrap Up Remix". If he wants to be successful, he needs to reach out to reach other people, other audiences, and I think he's doing a good job of that. I mean, his 5NAF song has nearly 22 million views in four months, which twice what his Discord (Remix) got in over three years. I'm sure he'll come back to pony stuff eventually, it's important to recognize one's roots after all. He's not the only Brony musician that seems to be branching out either.

((Nuuuu, I think I'm getting sick. I can't handle this right now, I've got three two projects, an essay, two tests and a concert within a span of these next two weeks. I can't expect to manage all of this sick. Not now. Not now. And especially not with Pokemon having just come out.)) Cascade laughed. "You'd have to vouch for me. He probably thinks I'm some dumb kid." She started trotting alongside Alrahm, as Encore began shepherding and organizing the ponies retreating through the edge of the oaks that formed the border of the Everfree. "I'd happily spar with him, but we'd have to figure out when there's time to do it. He'd have to have time to get the feeling back in his legs afterwards." Laughing lightly, the short pony began examining the sorcerer she walked alongside. "Cool beard." ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Eve remained impassive as Zephrael approached Agririon, with whom she had been talking. The Star Rose, behind her left ear, opened up wide, almost with alarm, and then poofed up its petals, clearly trying to be bigger than it was. Then the two had a short conversation Evergreen barely understood. She was almost relieved when Zephrael didn't even take notice of her. Was.... Was he giving up? She supposed he was, based on the way he'd spoken to Agririon, and was now offering himself to Mason. Maybe it was a trick, though. And whose side was Ag even on anyway? Eve's eye caught on Kazas, who was smiling at her. She thought she was seeing the true Kazas for once, from something in his tired eyes. She smiled back, as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness again. If Zephrael was theirs now, it would probably be her place to take care of the wounded Kazas, as he wouldn't be returned to some mind-wiped doctor without an evil god to carry him away. Even if it was debatable whether he would be carried off or not. As Evergreen began to approach him where he lay, still slumped over Zephrael, she kept on guard, wary of both the Darkgriffon and Mason's demons. She felt responsible for what had happened to him, even though it hadn't really been her fault. She'd been careful with her torture. Mason, on the other hand, she was sure had taken it too far. She should have done... I don't know. Something. She'd proven her point well enough without his help, and he'd acted without thinking, torturing someone who was already half dead from the first bout, and summoning an army on the demigod he'd just striven so hard to offend? What were they even supposed to do with such a powerful prisoner? Mason was going to get the chewing out of a lifetime once thiw was all over. Why, when she got her hooves on him... Eve snorted, still sidling casually towards Kazas, ready to burst out with a floral attack whenever she needed to. Watching Mason taunting Zephrael with a look on her face, she said, "If you really think this is all going to go as according to your little plan, you're as moronic as your boss over there." Conveniently, at that moment Mason chose to almost molest Zephrael's face with a tentacle. Eve felt like that very well proved her point. Wait. What? What did he just say? That was it? That was why he'd tortured Kazas? When she had done so, at least it had been for Kazas' benefit, and to protect her team. But this guy? This guy? What even? Her face was still stonily cold, but the flower behind her ear showed quite clearly how she felt right now. Anger. Outrage. Almost pure loathing. All of it directed at Mason. She was so gonna have to kick his ass later. But first, Kazas. She continued sidling almost casually towards him, getting close, but waiting to judge that the situation was under control before attempting to revive him and treat his internal injuries.

Evergreen smiled wistfully. "Eloquent as ever, Voidwalker." She peered at him thoughtfully. "I don't know what role you've played in these affairs, but I hope you still know your way. I was watching. And honestly, I'm not sure who you stand with anymore. You're right, we've already gone through the Fall." A bitter irony lit behind Eve's eyes as she once again pictured the Princesses, struck down without a chance. Agririon had been theirs. Whose was he now? "Winter must be coming, but an evergreen never sheds its leaves, never wilts. I'd hoped you'd have remembered that." She looked past Agririon, ready to spring again if she was needed to, watching the foolish exchange between Mason and Zephrael. This moment was one of those rare occasions that Evergreen felt small, out of her league. What should she do? As far as she knew, tackling this guy was suicide, and between Mason, an ally but unknown party with questionable motives, and Agririon, a former ally she'd trusted before with her life, she wasn't sure what to do. Acting reactively with intents to preserve life, she supposed, would have to do. Even if it meant fighting allies to prevent them doing something foolish.

You get a pumpkin. I insert a copy of Con Air.

Something started clanking behind Alrahm. Encore had set down his bag and his tuba, and was going through it. "I got it," Encore claimed, digging through his saddlebag, looking for something a little less lethal. The tuba was overkill for as few as remained. Before he was able to find his flute, though, the pegasi reached the river, flying over it. And out of the river, like a rocket, launched a yellow blur. Cascade began grappling with the remaining few. She really could fly; her wings stretched out in every direction, tapping each assaulting pegasus lightly. Every time gravity began to pull her back down, her hooves found the head of a pegasus below her, kicking powerfully and bouncing off to gain more air time. It wasn't immediately obvious what Cascade was even doing, other than bouncing around inside of a hostile cloud of assailants. But after a few seconds, several smooth dodges of swords, several bounces off of heads, and about two or three taps each, pegasi started to simply fall out of the sky, their wings tensed up. They didn't look broken, but they wouldn't fly. And the remaining cloud of pegasi fell into the river, their bodies unable to keep them airborne. Cascade was the last to fall, wings flailing uselessly in an attempt to remain airborne. And as she splashed into the river, a great rush of water conveniently came along, washing the struggling group of pegasi away, far downstream. "Uh, nevermind," Encore said, a little nonplussed as he watched the little yellow pony pulling herself out of the river as if the river hadn't just washed everyone away. "How did you do that?" He asked, as Cascade approached the group. She merely giggled in response to his question, and then asked. "Did everyone make it away safe?" @@Literally Snails, Evergreen merely shook her head. These two were fools. She watched as Kazas was picked up, and his lord began to carry him away. A gleam of deep red amongst the still-flowing blood - the Blood Rose stayed with him. Eve smiled faintly. Zephrael was right, Kazas was free, but he had the means to continue fighting. And as long as she had her rose too, she would know where he was.

Eve slipped the Inhibitor off of his horn, and struggled with her own for a moment before throwing her own inhibitor aside too. "No need to keep calling me Ma'am," she said cooly. "Evergreen is just fine." If he didn't want to introduce himself, that was fine by her, but she'd have her name known. And she leapt out of the window, back into the wonderful air, rolling on the mossy ground, it squishing gloriously under her tense shoulders.

I'm halfway through a Pokemon Yellow run on my Game Boy Color.

The sudden arrival of a very aggressive Agririon certainly startled Evergreen, especially as he started to bear down on Kazas, a scythe ready to sever the stem of the Blood Rose that was currently ensnaring the griffon. She started to approach where Kazas lay on the ground, calmly watching the figure who had followed Agririon to this scene. He was the spitting image of the griffon who was currently in her flower's loving embrace, but there was something... dark about him, lingering in the air about him. She stared right back at him, stony-faced, with the resolve drilled into her by her training. Her eyes met his, and not a trace of fear showed on her face. "I'm perfectly aware that it is not to me you will fall, like we both know you will in the end." Now standing next to where Kazas writhed in pain, she simply held a hoof up in his direction, indicating that he really should stop. "I wouldn't suggest you do that," she said to Agririon without even looking at him. "You'll interrupt the process and make the stem impossible to extract. And I'm afraid I simply can't allow you to interrupt this process. Although, Dark One, I believe you're right. I acted in anger, and now nopony can deny that Kazas has paid for his crimes, the deaths of Mason, my sister, and the burning of who knows how many towns and lives, tenfold." She placed a hoof on Kazas' side as he writhed on the ground, and the thorns in the vines that were inside of his skin withdrew, so they would do no more damage as the vines began to extract themselves from Kazas. The scent of the flowers shifted once again. The Blood Rose no longer smelt of death, but again of beauty. Perhaps it smelt of a more tragic sort of beauty than Evergreen's Star Rose, which smelled pure and whole, but that made the Blood Rose Kazas still clung to smell all the more beautiful. The magic of the rose once again began to have its normal effect of purifying beauty. "He shall suffer because of me no more. You see, Dark One, I know your story, but you do not know mine. I do not end lives. I tame them, and return them to the light." The vines continued to extract from Kazas back into the flower as she continued to speak. "Kazas will not be yours again, unless he chooses to be of his own free will. And why should he? He knows nothing but shame in your story." Her confidence in herself, and in Kazas' newfound freedom (assuming Eve had actually achieved that for him, which she was certain she had) was absolute. She arrogantly looked up at the demigod. almost challengingly. "In fact, you're little more than a slave yourself, to Avaerus. Would you have me free-" It was at this moment that Mason began to mess everything up, interrupting her discourse. Evergreen flinched, distracted, when his voice sounded, looking wildly back at his still crushed body. She had plenty of experience with the extraordinary, but usually ponies who were dead or injured remained dead or injured, and didn't start speaking all paranormally. She took a hasty step back from Kazas, now staring at the tendrils that were entering his body and tangling with the vines of the Blood Rose, which had yet to extract itself completely from his body. Plants could only move so fast.

Evergreen flinched a little at the sound of splattering blood, but held her resolve. Nodding at Indicus, she continued out one of the other doors in the room the assassinated guard had been in. Light had been streaming from under the door. Much to her disappointment, it was just another room, with light pouring in through a window. She was too busy staring at the sky outside to really notice the rest of this particular room. Mesmerizing.

Swallowing a few herbs, Evergreen continued to search feverishly through the boxes, and continued to do so for several minutes. Nothing, nothing, nothing, yada yada yada. Her rose wasn't anywhere. After about seven minutes of searching, she threw the last box she had been searching back down on the shelf she had claimed it from. "It's not here. Like I really expected it to be. Let's go." She sounded irritated, but back in possession of her mental faculties. Thank goodness for that satchel full of herbs. Even if some of them had been half eaten. Grasping the hilt of the dagger, as if prepared for anything, she poked her head out of the other entrance to the room, and upon noticing it was clear, beckoned Indicus through. There was one pirate sleeping in this room, a half-empty mug foaming on the table in front of him from where he sat snoring drunkly in a chair. This room was what Evergreen probably would have called a lounge had that term seemed a little more piratey. A fire sat sizzling out, a few dying embers being all that remained of it. A card game looked as though it had been hastily abandoned, as the drunk pony must have been, at the same table at which he sat. There were racks for weapons to be stored, but these were all empty. Eve wondered briefly what was going on that nopony was here before starting to continue tiptoing her way through the room. "Reckon we should just walk out the front door?" she asked Indicus softly, trying not to wake up the slumbering drunkard.

Far too broke at the moment. I won't even be able to get just one of the new Hoenn remakes. I'm gonna have to wait until christmas, or at least a paycheck, before I can even get one of those. And ORAS is priority. Besides, I already have Smash for 3DS. That's enough for right now.

((My apologies. I've been very busy...)) Responding to the assaulting pegasi threat, Encore pulled out a large, heavy instrument that looked far too large to have ever fit inside his backpack. Putting it on around his shoulders, Encore took a deep breath, and, joining Snowstorm's chorus' refrain, started blasting away on his sousaphone, blasting out large, solidified music notes at the assaulting army, as well as adding an ominous bass ring to the air, shaking the very ground upon which they began to fight. The water began to ripple from the force of the sound waves, and up from among the rippling waves poked the wet head of Cascade Swirl. Utilizing her wings as scoops, she began to launch whirling discs of water at the assaulting army. Her first target was hit in the head, and while the water splashed and fell to the earth after impact, it hit the pegasus more than hard enough for his head to jerk backwards and snap. It almost came clean off. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ @, Rag and Tag sprinted for cover, skidding to a halt among Samurai, Oni and Lorec. Evergreen, however, stayed put, looking up at Kazas. What kind of power did he have to create flames that could penetrate this otherworldly mist that still hung about the scene, and more impressive than that, banish them entirely? Rag and Tag watched Eve from their group, in great concern. She watched Mason fall to the ground in horror, and directed her gaze back up at Kazas. He had taken her rose. And apparently it hadn't worked. The beast had not been calmed, and was killing again. It had struck down her friend, the one who had comforted and fought alongside her while Encore had not, and it had also apparently smote her most powerful ally. She doubted it was responsible for its actions, because she wasn't sure it was really Kazas anymore, but that didn't matter. It was time to punish it. Magically influencing the Crystalline Rose she had given to it, the thorns grew long, piercing Kazas' skin, burrowing painfully down, down, down, the stem taking root in the Kazas monster's flesh, splitting off, wriggling through Kazas's body like worms through the earth, while the scent emitting from the flower itself grew unnaturally foul. Unless she decided otherwise, Kazas would smell nothing less than the worst, most rotten scent imaginable for the rest of eternity. The rose's stem burrowed deeper into its flesh, searching for bone, for it to bind to. Once it reached bone, there would be no releasing the rose from Kazas, and it would forever cause him pain, a parasite leeching every sap of his strength that it could. The bonus of the same granting a floramancer control over his body once the Rose conquered the spine was just an added bonus. Perhaps she could use this pain and scent to tame it. Crystal Roses, such as Evergreen's Sapphire Rose and the clone that was currently burrowing into Kazas, have powerful magical properties. They cannot be burned or severed, and while they can be shattered, a rose can be regrown by any broken segment of stem, so long as that stem has access to food - which Kazas' body, full of flesh and bone, certainly provided. Even if broken away from food, crystaline roses were powerful containers for energy, and could store years' worth of energy if one so desired to invest energy into one. When shattered, the rose could easily survive and regrow, even in the most inhospitable environment, if it had energy invested into it. The rose began to change, the stem and flower becoming a deep blood red, as it began to absorb the same nutrients that currently powered Kazas. While the flowerbud represented Kazas' thoughts, the plant would never truly obey him or move for him the way it did for Evergreen. It was she that was lord of things that grow. Her magic that tamed the mighty, murderous flora of the Amblezon Jungle. And hopefully, the same magic that would tame this monster. Because now, Evergreen was convinced that Kazas was little more than that. -- As the Blood Rose's thorny tendrils continued to slink their way through, under Kazas's skin, Evergreen called to him. "I'm sorry!" She looked like she'd started to shed tears again, yet she continued to push the Blood Rose further, egging it on. "Stop hurting them! And this'll be over! Your gift will be back to normal again! You've gotta still be in there somewhere!" While she did intend to tame Kazas before he maimed any more of those she cared about, she still had to resent the need of this whole underhanded trick. It wasn't honorable. And she had intended that as a genuine gift. But she had to protect them all.

Eve led the stranger, into a room that seemed to be a combination of dirty hallway and old musty storeroom. Dusty boxes on shelves were full of stuff that the pirates had taken from their prisoners and deemed worthless; rusty old keys that looked like they hadn't been used in years hung on hooks in the wall, and stinking piles of half-eaten pirate food lay hither and thither. Eve began to shuffle through some of the boxes, quietly. Within moments she found a dusty satchel she had, full of herbs. Some of the herbs looked like pirates had taken bites out of them, hoping they were edible, and upon finding otherwise they must have decided the satchel was worthless. Eve put it on. She'd have to sort out the eaten herbs and the ones that were too dusty later. She continued to search a little more frantically. She couldn't find her treasured crystal rose. It naturally wouldn't have been in these boxes anyway - it was far too valuable. But still she looked for it.

I've failed to upgrade to the One yet, so I'm stuck playing Destiny on the 360. You could add me if you want, I guess. GamerTag's Farallon. I share my account with my roommate, since he doesn't have Live, so if I don't join or whatever it's probably because he's playing.

Evergreen shouted something up at Kazas, but her quiet voice was barely audible through the torment, the fog and the sounds of distant battle. A look of pure frustration on her face, she looked around for help, and, recognizing the two earth ponies standing behind Lorec, Syuren and Mason, beckoned them over. Ragtag approached Eve, looking confused. A few short words were shared between the three, and then some more intense magicks were taking place between Evergreen and the earth pony twins. "My rose," Eve explained to them, while the twins' eyes strayed to the rose Eve wore behind an ear. The deep red, crystalline rose was quite possibly the most unique magical plant this pony of magic plants owned, if just because it was a living plant made of pure gemstone. "My Sapphire Rose has magical properties. It's unbreakable, and its scent is generally soothing, and its appearance shifts representative of the person holding it." "Yeah, yeah, we know, Evey, we only grew up together. We've been living next to you for how long?" "We know this, how is it relevant at all again?" Three more seconds whispered conversation, and a perfect copy of Evergreen's everpresent Sapphire Rose had been grown from a seed she'd placed in the ground. A little help from the twins, and it was raising up into the air, tied to a balloon with ribbon, directly to where Kazas hovered, a gift to soothe his tormented soul. ___________________ Cascade continued to swim upriver, and arrived at where Alrahm and Encore escorted the survivors towards the Everfree. She smiled at Alrahm, and at a very surprised looking Encore, flashing every glimmering tooth. "Thanks for waiting for me! Looks like the army's heading this way, doesn't it?" She seemed oddly cheerful about the approach of a possibly genocidal army. Then, her face fell, and she looked back towards Ponyville. A black speck of a figure could be seen descending into the ominous red fog she had left hovering over the city. She had a bad gut feeling, a dark premonition. "We need to get this lot away. Now." Cascade rarely ever sounded worried, but the one she sensed through extension, through the river and fog, was worth worrying over indeed. "They might need me back over there."

Eve held up the dagger, a look of distaste on her face as she beheld the weapon, but took it anyway. Her magic wasn't working right now and she needed something to defend herself with. She searched the dead pirate again, just to check. A length of rope and a slightly crowded keyring that was about it. Shame, she'd hoped to find her crystal rose, but that was probably locked up in their treasure chest or something. The rope could come in handy though, so she grabbed it, as well as the keys. They all looked the same, she doubted they would open anything but the other cages. Following Indicus out of the cell, she noticed how quiet it was. Almost repressingly quiet. It didn't sound like there any pirates in the base at the moment, oddly enough. Getting out would probably be easy. Locking the cell behind them, Eve started sneaking up the hall of cages to her left. She'd seen guards leaving the room that way and was pretty sure it lead to the outside.

Evergreen lifted her head from the ragged blanket she had been resting on. Although she was blinking sleepily, her eyes came into focus more quickly as they focused on her collapsed abuser. "Would you look at that?" She murmured. She pulled herself to her feet. She still looked pretty tired and unsteady on her hooves, but that seemed to be the only sign she still had drugs in her system. There sounded like there was a commotion farther over in the dark room full of cages. Eve shrugged it off. Not their problem. In fact, if whatever was going on over there distracted the pirates from her and her cellmate's escape, that was all the better. ((@,@@Mephisto)) She nudged the pirate on the ground out of the way, and stepped out of the cell, closing it behind her and her cellmate, leaving the dead guy inside. "After you," she said.

"Oh." She sighed, setting her head back down. "I'ma guess that yer gon try'n git outa hur evenshully. Try'n do it befur dey come'n drug me again, k?" Closing her eyes, she said, "I cin help win im good, i swer. an i wanna giddout too." ((You can totally just do a little personal timeskip for us or whatever you think is appropriate. Or just do your thing now. Just make sure I know which bit is going on.))

I'm gonna respect your right to have that opinion, but... Eh.