To all of you who check out this blog, I am writing to let you know that I am still not abandoning you, or have dropped off the edge of a cliff. Work on Guardians of Magic is still continuing at a steady pace and the upcoming chapter is going to end up being something of a doozy when I get it rolling out for you guys. That said, GoM is not my only concern or project on the go, so having to share time between it, AoD, helping out a buddy with his chapter because he had been stuck for months, and another secret project of mine does end up putting a few constraints on just how much writing I'm able to get done for ponies.

However, I do have a little teaser from the upcoming chapter for all of you, introducing a new (read: yes, another new) character! Give me your thoughts, comments, and concerns about the latest addition to the supporting cast.

The creature sighed pleasantly as it looked at the closed doors. It was certain that within the room beyond them was a stallion working himself into a tizzy due to some project or another, and that the unicorn would have run himself completely ragged in the week of her absence.

Knowing that the inevitable likely could not be delayed any longer, the creature raised one small clawed hand covered in copper scales and knocked three times, then twice more, before opening the doors and entering the office. Just as she thought, Coltinster was surrounded by so many books it would have been impossible to see that he was there if the golden nimbus surrounding his horn didn't provide the light that gave him away. She could hear the sounds of his excited murmurs and the scratching of the quill being kept aloft in his horn's glow.

"I'm back," the young dragoness declared, and shut the door behind her. No new noises greeted her salutation, only the scratching of a quill and the flipping of pages rushed to meet her. Sighing again and shaking her head with a good-humoured smile on her face, she walked through the room on her hind legs until she was on the opposite side of the desk. "Coltinster, I'm back. Aren't you going to ask how it went?"

Still no response.

The dragoness eyed him sceptically for a few seconds, not sure whether or not she should believe how into his work he appeared to be, and then decided on the ultimate test. Grinning like the malevolent little imp she could be at times, she tiptoed past the stallion towards the large chest of drawers-that was twice Coltinster's height- that he kept at the back of the room. She glanced around and spotted just what she needed.

A minute later the small female dragon wyrmling was standing precariously on a pair of downy pillows that perched on a stack of four books, which, in turn, were sitting on the highest step of a stepladder. She reached a clawed hand out while being mindful of her balance. Almost there...almost...just a little more...

"Touch my chocolate without permission and you're a newt for a week, Irithera."

"Yiahhh!"

She landed with a thump and a clatter as the sudden sound of the Headpony's voice cost her her balance and her shot at the jar of dark milk chocolate Coltinster always kept out of her reach. A pillow landed on her head, with one of the books dropping onto the pillow before bouncing to the floor just beside. Groaning just a little in disappointment more than actual pain, the young dragoness stared forlornly at the jar of chocolates, tail swishing back and forth agitatedly.

Drat. And I was soooo close this time too...

Coltinster's hooves on the floor alerted her to his approach, and he chuckled faintly when his head appeared above her. "Irithera Brightflame, just what am I going to do with ye?" Irithera rose to her feet and looked down at them, feeling just a small amount of admonishment in the old pony's voice. She shuffled her feet while Coltinster turned away, hiding a smile. A piece of chocolate surrounded in golden light floated down in front of her nose, and the copper dragoness beamed in surprise before snatching it in her claws.

"Thank you!" she told him with the sincere earnestness only a child could produce. Coltinster's answering laugh was barely audible.

"Make sure that ye clean up the mess ye made," Coltinster said. He returned to his writing. "So, how fares our fine furred friend in Drakken? He hasn't been eaten, I hope?"

"Nope," Irithera replied brightly, munching on the chocolate while putting her impromptu chocolate-jar-reaching device away. "He's as fine as he always is. I think that he has to have dragon blood in him or the nerves of the Princess to live around such big, huge dragons all the time."

Coltinster nodded his head and made a noise in his throat. Irithera finished putting away the pillows on Coltinster's napping couch and the books into the bookshelf before looking at the old unicorn again. He was back to writing down whatever it was he was writing, the Headpony also holding up a book with his magic, and glancing at it from time to time.

What is he writing in that? wondered Irithera. Casually padding her way over to him, the dragoness clamboured onto his back and peered over his shoulder, inquisitiveness evident in her pointed face. Her tail waved back and forth, her ruddy brown scales faintly glinting in the light.

"That's Aragrakh," she pointed out, recognizing the pattern of the runes his quill was making on the page. He nodded.

“Very astute.”

“Why are you writing in draconic?”

“This is to be a going-away present for Twilight Sparkle,” he replied. “Tell me, Irithera, what is written using draconic notation?” She peered at the page for a second or two, reading it, and then her expression revealed sudden clarity.

“Spellbooks,” she answered. “Are you copying your super-secret spells to give to her?”

“Only a few of them,” Coltinster relented. “I certainly wish for her to be prepared for what she may encounter on her journey, but by no means am I entrusting her will all of my spells.”

"So which ones are you going to give her?" asked Irithera. "Are you going to teach her how to scry on ponies, or stop time, or turn into a raven?"

"Nay, I shall not be teaching her anything. Twilight Sparkle is the Princess' own pupil and the Element of Magic, remember? She will not need my instruction even if these spells are far more complex than what she has currently performed. From what I understand she has been able to teleport for over a year now and has since been able to create a moderately powerful Wall of Force. She will undoubtedly find these spells a challenge, but if I know her she will rise to the challenge."

Irithera nodded a couple of times, letting the silence sink in for a bit before opening her mouth again. “How do you tell if a foal has raided your pantry?”

Coltinster grinned slightly. “How?”

“Only the bottom shelves are empty. How do you tell if a dragon has raided your pantry?”

“How?”

“Only the gems are missing. How do you tell if a parasprite has raided your pantry?”

“How?”

“Pantry? What pantry?”

So, like I said, comments, queries, suggestions?

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk

I present this.

So, the anime I trolled you guys about?

THIS IS IT!

After a 1-day Anime convention in Edmonton, appropriately titled Taste of Animethon given that it's a single day while Animethon runs for three days during the beginning of August, I found a new anime series to watch.

I have since spent an entire day in a marathon of it, and have to declare that it is

THE. MOST. EPIC. ANIME. I. HAVE. EVER. SEEN.

Seriously! It took all of my feels, threw them on a roller coaster, and had me screaming at my laptop many times over the course of the day, all while being served with a heaping platter of awesome that left me glued to my seat.

Which anime is it? Well, I can't tell you that, because now I might even be inclined to take one or two of the characters and turn them into summons.

You're all totally free to guess which one it is, though.

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk

What the hay? Have something to occupy yourselves before the chapter goes up!

“Ahhhhhhh…”

Sweetie Belle paused and cocked her head to the side. She raised a hoof to her ear even while swiveling it to try and get a better read on the sound. “Hey, do you girls hear something?”

“I think I—” started Apple Bloom, but before she could finish, the three of them saw the screaming filly blindly galloping down the road. The eyes of all three Cutie Mark Crusaders widened considerably, but with the speed at which the filly was running, there was barely any time left to them to react.

They didn’t use that time wisely, and instead decided to stare at the rapidly approaching cyan unicorn. It came as no surprise then when the filly ran straight into the trio, scattering the four of them to the ground like struck bowling pins.

“Ow, my head,” Scootaloo moaned, rubbing said body part as tenderly as she could. It didn’t really hurt, much, but it was still a sudden blow. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and shook her head before looking up at the form of the filly currently collapsed across her barrel. “The flank is wrong with you?” she grouched. “Running around screaming like that?”

“Uh, heh-heh, sorry about that,” the filly returned sheepishly. She got off of Scootaloo, for which the crusader was grateful, and extended a hoof to help her back up. In no mood at the moment, Scootaloo swatted the offered hoof away and got up under her own power. Now that Scootaloo looked at the foal, that she now noticed was a unicorn, she realized that she had never seen her before.

“It’s just,” the filly was continuing, “my brother and his stupid friend mentioned something about my parents that grossed me right out.”

“And y’all had to run away screamin’?” Apple Bloom asked. The unicorn shuddered.

“When you know how babies are really made, and it clicks in that that’s what your parents did with each other, twice, because you’ve got an older brother…” she trailed off, shuddering and making a gagging noise from the back of her throat. Scootaloo glanced away and rubbed a hoof against her foreleg, feeling a little uncomfortable about the subject.

“Never mind that,” she said, quickly changing the subject. “Who are you? We haven’t seen you around before.”

“Oh, my name’s Rei,” the unicorn filly answered. “I just got here today.”

“Hi, Rei, I’m Sweetie Belle,” said the other unicorn. “This is Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.”

“Howdy,” Apple Bloom greeted.

“Yeah, hi,” added Scootaloo. “Listen, uh, Rei, we’ve had a bit of a disappointing morning already, so we’d like to leave it at that without getting run over again,” she glanced at her front left hock, “or torn to pieces by a fluffball with claws.”

“Hey, Ah’ve got an idea!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Why don’t ya come with us? There’s nothin’ better to get yer mind off o’ stuff than a treat from Sugarcube Corner.”

“That sounds good,” Rei answered brightly. Her stomach rumbled audibly, causing her to blush. “And I think my stomach agrees since we skipped breakfast this morning to get on the train.”

“I know what that feels like,” Scootaloo lamented with a rueful smile.

“Then there’s no time like the present,” Sweetie Belle declared, and immediately began to lead the way.

It didn’t take them very long to get to Sugarcube Corner, and Scootaloo had to giggle to herself when she saw the look on the unicorn’s face at the very gingerbread-house looking bakery. “Come on in,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake are really nice. I’ll bet they’ll give you something extra special on the house because you’re new in town.”

Scootaloo entered the bakery, sweet shack, and local hangout for just about everypony in Ponyville, when the mood came to them, with renewed confidence and vigor in her step. So what if they hadn’t earned their cutie marks this morning? Did that mean that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to give up? Oh no they weren’t! A minor setback, that was all this was, and something from Sugarcube Corner for their new friend would certainly get them back on track.

“Hey Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” Scootaloo greeted, seeing the yellow earth pony stallion in the front and his blue earth pony wife at the counter. Carrot Cake had just been in the middle of putting a delicious-looking black forest cake up on a shelf, while Cup Cake was currently piping bright yellow icing onto a batch of fresh cupcakes.

“Oh! Good morning Crusaders,” Mr. Cake said, spying all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders entering the shop. “How has crusading for your cutie marks been?”

Sweetie Belle sighed and displayed her blank flank. “No luck this morning,” she said. “But…” her expression brightened and she pulled Rei up close. “We met a filly who’s new in town!”

“Is that right?” Mrs. Cake asked. “Well welcome to Ponyville, dearie. What’s your name?”

“I’m Rei,” answered she, “my brother and I just got here from Canterlot this morning.”

“Have you met Pinkie Pie yet?” Mr. Cake asked, looking down at her kindly. “I know she can be a little invasive and ignorant of personal space at times, but she has a heart of gold and is always there to make a friend smile.”

Rei nodded quickly. “Actually, we have met Pinkie Pie! We met her in Canterlot and came back to Ponyville with us on the train. She’s showing my brother and his friends around right now. She’s really nice.”

Mr. and Mrs. Cake brightened even more at the news that the filly had already met Ponyville’s resident party pony and hadn’t been scared away by her. “That’s good to hear,” Mrs. Cake told her. “Here, why don’t you and your new friends have some of these cupcakes? Carrot, could you get a few milkshakes for these lovely young fillies while I check on the twins?”

“Sure thing honeybun,” Mr. Cake said. He smiled at Rei again as he started to walk to the back. “Welcome to Ponyville, Rei. What flavour milkshake would you like?”

Scootaloo calmly moved towards the counter where the cupcakes were while Rei told Sugarcube Corner’s proprietor what she liked. Free cupcakes and a milkshake just from meeting the new girl in town? Score! Cutie mark schmutie mark, free cupcakes!

So I've been planning out different worlds to go to after they leave Equestria, and while all the other Guardians have been chosen there are still a few Guardian-less worlds I'd like to have Twi and Trixie go to either for plot or just for the sake of writing them, and Mobius is on my maybe list. However, I'm not sure which Mobius I feel like going to, because there are two ones I'd equally like to try out.

So I decided, why not have you guys pick which Mobius they go to in the event they go to Mobius?

First up, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Next, Sonic Underground (which I have a few more nostalgia ties to than the other, personally).

Who wins? Which one? YOU DECIDE!

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk

Two Nights in Hoofington

"Read it."

"Why? Is it good?"

"If you feel like dying."

"DOHHH HO HO HO HO"

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk

I CANNOT CEASE LISTENING TO THIS SONG!!!

The Hobbit is the best movie I have seen all year. Even better than The Avengers. I love it beyond words.

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk

That's right, she's back. I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

But I felt a disturbance in the force, possibly, as if a million Twixie fics suddenly cried out in terror, and were then silenced.

Guardians of Magic has hit the Feature Bar! I am happy!

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk