Sorry I know I should have done this a LOT sooner.

But yeah this blog is pretty much dead.

I just got burned out on pony, and when the person i wanted to write this story for the most stopped watching MLP.FIM too it really killed my motivation.

Part of me wanted to do something new here on Tumblr but because of the way they set things up that would either mean deleting this blog or starting a whole new account. So instead I’ve just kinda lost interest with the platform as a whole (I don’t really do social media well to begin with).

There are still a handful of artists here that I follow but most have left to other platforms so I don’t really see myself hanging around much longer.

Sorry to be such a downer hope you are still having fun.

:~)

#143          (no commands given)

The work day got slow and boring after lunch but Midnight (Buttercup’s dad) had promised you’d work on something new after work and that made all the difference.

After work Buttercup’s mom had Dinner ready and waiting. But the anticipation of what Midnight might show you next made sitting through dinner hard. Everything was good, and you had worked up quite the appetite, but sitting still was hard.

After dinner your friends wanted you to stay and hang out or play some, and you had to admit you had missed them while helping and training today. Midnight promised you’d be back in time to play before bed and the problem was settled.

When you got to the practice field you asked him if the heavier sword was to build up neck strength so you could swing a giant sword like him?

He chuckled at that. “No any meat head can do that, and that goes double for an Earth Pony like you.” He seemed pleased about something as he explained the rest. “I didn’t want to see you break a good wooden sword while practicing this next part. You’re strong and especially fast, but you’re still not using your magic in battle.”

You tried to tell him how it didn’t work for you, even explained how you tried with the apple tree. And how it latter exploded. But he wouldn’t have any of it, “You can’t give up so easily, you gotta keep making mistakes, it’s how we learn.”

After that he gave you a run down of some of the different kinds of magic to help you visualize it.

“Everypony has magic in them, most of it relates to they’re special talent.

Earth Ponies like you draw magic from the ground beneath your hooves, letting it flow to the plants around you to help them grow or into your own body to rejuvenate and strengthen you.

Pegasus Ponies draw magic from the air helping them fly. They also use it for cloud walking and weather control.

Unicorns can use they’re horns to pull magic from the Aether itself and weave it into spells.”

After his speech you had to practice drawing out magic, by meditation. Another boring task you weren’t good at to say the least. But after a wile you found it, the magic, it had been there all along you just hadn’t noticed it before.

It was like tiny waves lapping on the shore that was the hooves beneath you. When you let it in it washed away all the ache and fatigue from your muscles. And you felt light as a feather.

What should you do next?

#142

Ben was waiting for you in Buttercup’s brother’s room. You had both been sent off to bed and were sharing his while he was gone.

As you were settling in for the night day (still on Batpony sleep schedule) Ben asked you, “I actually had a lot of fun today, how about you?”

“Yhea I guess I did.” You admit getting into bed and pulling the covers.

“Except for that fight, at least you won’t have to do that again.” Ben sounded like it had scared him petty good.

“Um, about that. It’s not going to be a scary fight again, but I’m going to do it again.”

“Why?” Ben obviously didn’t like your answer.

“I have to. I need to learn more and he’s agreed to teach me. It’ll probably be more like going to school than a real fight.”

That seemed to make him feel better, though he admitted he didn’t get why you wanted to learn more. And as you laid there trying to fall asleep, your reasons for getting stronger stayed just out of reach for you too.

In the morning evening Buttercup’s mom made pancakes again, and during the meal you broke the bad news to Buttercup that you would be working with her dad for a wile.

She wasn’t  too pleased about being left behind but Ben helped you smooth things over before her dad came back. He tossed you a new practice sword and told you to hurry up before leaving again. It seemed getting an early start was important to him.

Practice practice practice, that’s all he wanted you to do today. But the hardest part was the practice sword he gave you was heavy, and by the end of your lesson your jaw and neck were sore just holding it.

At least he also showed you a few new things, even if he was keeping your lessons simple.

After that it was time to hold up your part of the bargain and help him at work. Turns out being Chief of a Batpony colony was a lot more like what you imagined being a Mayor to be like. Filing paperwork, settling small deputes, and drinking lots of coffee.

Your job was to help him get his coffee, retrieve said paperwork when forgotten, or when someone forgot to turn it in on time, etcetera, etcetera. And for some odd reason you just couldn’t shake the words ‘Fetch Quest’ from your head.

DO THE THING!

(And thank you HerosMuse for your help this week.)

#141

Ms. Heritage gave you a goodbye hug a wishing you luck finding the rest of your friends. Adding “I know I’ve already given you the right tool for the job.”

You thanked her again and bid her farewell. On the way back something she said made you think to check the orb for something.

After finding a secluded spot on the way back to Buttercup’s you pulled the orb out and asked it to show you where to find the other creatures of chaos. . .

Again nothing happened.

You sighed and put it back under your helmet before getting up to go.

When you got back Ben was at the door waiting for you. “I lost too.” He didn’t look too disappointed.

Inside Buttercup was celebrating having finally just beaten her mom at the board game you all had been playing earlier. “Ya I finally won one.”

When she saw you in the room she ran over giving you a hug. “Did you see me win?”

“Not exactly.” Your answer didn’t keep her down long.

Buttercup’s mom got up off the couch. “It’s getting late enough I should start fixing dinner.”

Before she left you asked if Buttercup’s dad would be back for dinner. There was something bugging you since your duel with him and you wanted to ask him a question.

But she didn’t know, he had taken a lot of time off lately and might have to work late.

Turns out she was right, dinner went by without a sign of him and it wasn’t until almost bedtime before he managed to come home. And got excitedly welcomed home by his princess. “Yay daddy’s home!”

You spent most of the rest of the night awkwardly trying to find a good time to ask him your question. Finally before you went to bed, but after he tucked Buttercup in bed for the day, you caught him in the hall and asked. “Please train me, in swords I mean? . . . Will you teach me swordstallionship?”

“Me? Why would you want to learn from me?”

“I’m not, I’m not strong enough.” You admit crestfallen.

“I beg to differ, no matter how many times I knocked you down you stuck with it kid.” He tried to cheer you up.

“I can’t count on something crazy saving me at the last second forever!”

“True. Tell you what, you kids have kept me away from my job for a wile. If you help me by running errands at work, I’ll train you before and after work.” He had a grin on his face that made you wonder for a moment if this was a good idea.

After that he sent you off to bed.

What will you do next?

(And a big thanks again to HerosMuse & Dan this week.)

#140

The party quickly beginning to die down after Buttercup’s dad left for work. Buttercup, her mom, and Ben still had pieces left and were playing a board game. Ms. Heritage and you had both been knocked out of the game, when Ms. Heritage excused herself from the festivities and you offered to walk home. Besides it would give you a chance to ask her some questions.

As she walked past you out the door Ms. Heritage gave you a wink. “Such a gentlestallion.”

“Well you know a knight has to look out for others.” You shuffled a little embarrassed by all the positive attention you’ve been getting today.

As you closed the door behind the two of you she asked, “Oh? And here I thought you wanted me to tell you all about that orb of yours?”

“Well I wouldn’t object to that if you’re feeling like telling me.” You try to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“he heh he, I thought so.” As the two of you walked she gave you a run down of her time with the orb. Apparently its magic confused the unicorn friends she took it to and have it analyzed before turning it in. Some said it had to be a chaos orb Discord was all over it’s magic signature. Others were quite sure the spell on it was wrong and it must be a fake, one bold Stallion even tried to wish for something unsuccessfully.

“So I went straight to the Draconequus’s mouth. And let me tell you he wasn’t happy to see me with it.” She had a big smirk on her face.

That was about when the two of you arrived at her place, a small home not far from her shop, and she invited you in to hear the rest of her story over a cup of tea.

As she poured you a cup, “Of course I wasn’t going to give it to that lout, and it took some doing but I convinced him to explain himself.”

You sipped your tea as she explained what happened, you didn’t know what kind it was but it was sweet and had a fruity flavor.

Apparently Discord had made the orb specifically for you to help in your quest, and wouldn’t work outside your presence. It wasn’t very powerful and wouldn’t just grant wishes. But if you really needed something, and if it could help by giving you a little chaos, then it would.

“I guess that explains all the dolls helping me win that duel.” It had been a confusing mess before, now you felt the victory was just unearned. That’s when you remembered the orb was supposed to be payment. “Oh no I still owe you!”

“Oh don’t worry about that, I may be old but I can still negotiate with the best of them.” She wouldn’t tell you how just that she had made the bits you owed her somehow.

After finishing your tea but before leaving for Buttercup’s house Ms. Heritage insisted on you giving her a big goodbye hug.

Tell Tom what to do next

(Thank you for your command this week HerosMuse.)

#139

Midnight was congratulating you on your victory though you still didn’t quite know exactly how it happened.

A few of the fillies from the equally confused crowed made their way to the pile of pink pony dolls that came out of nowhere. Eventually choosing one or two to take home, after their parents determined they were safe. Soon most of the dolls had new homes.

Even Buttercup had taken one. “I need a souvenir of that fight.”

“Too true.” Her father scooped one up himself. “Not the strangest thing I’ve seen in a fight but definitely one of the funniest.”

Ben gave you a relieved look and a big hug.

“I could use something to drink.” You admitted still a bit sweaty from the whole ordeal.

“I think I could provide some age appropriate drinks for you all.” With that Buttercup’s father started heading back to their house.

It wasn’t long before you noticed one of the ponies following him back was Ms. Heritage, she motioned you to come back with her to the back of the group.

“I think this still belongs to you.” She pulled the orb out of her saddle bag and gave it to you.

A little shocked at first you soon recovered and tucked the orb under your bucket helmet. “Told you it wasn’t a chaos orb.”

“Well not exactly, I suppose you could call it a new kind of chaos orb.” After some begging she promised to explain more in private.

When the group reached his house Midnight put away his practice sword and went down to the basement to pull out a barrel of age appropriate apple cider for everyone to share.

At some point you decided to challenge him to see who could finish there mug of cider the fastest. A contest you thoroughly lost.

The party eventually ended when Buttercup’s dad had to go back to work but not before recounting your fight with him to his wife. Exaggerating the whole way and greatly embarrassing you.

What will you do?

(thanks to HerosMuse this week for the command.)

#138

Buttercup’s dad had just challenged you to a duel with wooden swords. And having him bring Thorn was great, but the one he brought for himself was ludicrously oversized.

Trying to analyze the situation wasn’t getting you anywhere, your body just froze in place. Slapping yourself out of it you rush forward into battle, as recklessly as all get out.

Midnight easily dodged your first strike as you ran past him, swinging his large sword and knocking you back.

You came back at him again with a large vertical strike. This time he side stepped your strike, so you followed it up with a fast horizontal slash in his new position. But when you did he was just gone.

Frantically you looked for him when, “Over here.” His voice came from behind you. You spun to face him again just as he landed back on the ground. “Your Swords Stallions ship is still very basic, with only vertical and horizontal strikes your moves are very predictable.”

Annoyed you dove at him with the strongest horizontal strike you could muster. He countered it easily knocking you to the ground again.

That’s when things got weird, an army of stuffed pink pony toys rained down from the sky and buried Midnight.

He tried shaking them off but the stuffed dolls clung to him despite his violent shaking.

You took his distraction as your opportunity. But this time instead of striking at him or his sword you struck the sword handle knocking it out of his mouth.

He stopped, and stood there surprised by what you had done. The dolls finally falling to the ground. “What just happened?”

You shrugged. “Idontknow.”

“Surprised yourself too? I guess that works for me.” His voice was jovial as he gave you a slap on your back and tucked his practice sword back under one wing.

A crowed of Batponies had gathered to watch the fight and they all looked just as confused as you were. All of them that is except Ms. Heritage who stood next to Buttercup with a smirk on her face.

What do you do next?

(Thanks to BananaPie, Rusty, and HerosMuse for commands this week, sorry I couldn’t work the other one in. My brain thought it would be funny to recreate the Kenshin Sanosuke battle in reverse and you know how that can get.)

#137

After giving Mango Blossom a farewell nose boop your group began to make it’s way back into town. This time the moon light that filtered in made finding your way much easier, and it wasn’t long before you made it back to some lit walkways.

After some debate you reluctantly agreed it was time to take the test Buttercup’s father probably had prepared, (you were still nervous about passing it) and start heading back to her house.

Before you got there though her father was waiting for you at the park. “Hey kid, ready to prove yourself?”

“Um,” you shuffled nervously, “I guess. I didn’t know what to prepare for.” That’s about when you noticed something that looked like the handles of a pair of swords sticking out from under one of his wings.

“Good I was hoping to catch you off guard.” He gave you a smile that made you even more nervous than before. “If you want to prove you can protect my princess you’ll have to beat me in combat!”

“What?”

He dropped one of the swords in front of you before making his way to an empty part of the park brandishing the other sword.

“What?!?!” Things had gotten out of hand pretty fast.

“Dad stop it!” But he wouldn’t.

Nervously you picked up the sword only to be relieved. It was your sword Thorn, and a quick glance told you his was a wooden practice sword too. But your hesitation returned when you saw how large and well worn it was.

How are you going to get out of this mess?

(Big thanks to Dan and HerosMuse for helping with commands, and thanks to everyone for your patience with me getting this out.)

You been following me for a long time. thanks for that. And keep the good work of your blog going.

Oh my god I love it!

Thank you so much.

And I know it’s been a while but I Pinkie Promise I”m working on an update. I’m just feeling tired and burned out a lot lately.

(If you like Pirates and Diamond Dogs and weird stories go check out http://askcaptaindrog.tumblr.com/ )

#136

After chatting with Buttercup and her friend Mango Blossom for a wile, Blossom decided it was time to do something fun. She got into one of the bench seats storage and pulled out a stack of board games.

Votes were taken on which one to play first, but as the night went on your gathering ended up playing all of them. And by the time you had played them all the moon was high in the night sky, it’s light shining in the cave crystals and illuminating the fields of mango trees.

That was about the time someone’s stomach stated growling and Mango Blossom suggested. “It’s getting pretty late, I think we should get something to eat.” And with that offer she took you to the family kitchen where everyone helped make peanut-butter and homemade mango jelly sandwiches.

The sticky sweet sandwiches were as filling as they were messy. While cleaning up after yourselves Mango Blossom’s dad came in to remind her to do her chores. When she refused to let you help and bid you a fond farewell, “I had fun, we’ll play again when I have time.” You gave her a goodbye nose boop.  

Where do you go next?

(Sorry I didn’t get any commands this week if you sent one in I blame Tumblr)

#135

Mango Blossom welcomed you into her treehouse and Buttercup made introductions. “Hey Blossom, this is Tom and Ben. Guys this is Mango Blossom.”

“Hi, do all Earth Ponies have funny names?”

“No,” You felt a little tired of this again, “we’re kind of a different.”

“Then we’ll probably get along famously.” Her friendly charm was quickly winning you over.

But your curiosity was getting the best of you. “It sounds like you two have known each other for a while, care to tell us about it.

Mango Blossom only agreed after you promised to tell her about yourself. The story she told was about two young fillies, who met on the first day of school. One was a little shy the other incorrigibly sunny. They had lots of adventures together and occasionally got into more than their share of trouble. But as time went on Mango Blossom and Buttercup soon found new things to occupy their time. With Mango Blossom working more on the farm and Buttercup only allowed to grow her day flowers outside the cave.

They didn’t have as much time to just hang out and play anymore.

Ben changed the subject to cheer everyone back up. “Ss so how do you get the trees to grow in a cave?”

Blossom was more than happy to explain the whole thing. It seems her farm has its own crystals it the cave ceiling to bring daylight in for the trees. And despite the caves less than tropical climate they were able to get them to bear fruit every spring with some kind of magic help.

She seemed particularly interested in how Earth Ponies did it, but you weren’t able to help her there.

What will you do next?

(And a big thanks to Dan and HerosMuse once again.)

#134

That night after Buttercup’s parents kicked you off the video games and sent you all to bed, you laid in bed for who knows how long. Sleep refused to come, apparently the upcoming test weighed heaver on you than you thought.

When sleep did come it was plagued by dreams of Buttercup’s dad as a teacher giving you essay exams on everything you’ve learned about friendship and other silly things.

In the morning (well morning for Batpoines) Buttercup got you and Ben up for Breakfast, her mom made crisp cinnamon waffles. But her dad was missing from breakfast. It seems he’s still catching up on sleep, giving you a little more time to have fun with your friends.

After breakfast the three of you snuck out to play, “So what should we do first?” Buttercup was enthusiastic.

“I thought we could see if Ms. Heritage is back yet.”

Buttercup wasn’t so sure about your idea, it had only been one night after all, and a quick check proved her right.

Your next idea proved a bit more useful. “Do you have any other friends? Maybe we could do something with them.”

“Oh um.” She sounded nervous. “Oh yhea. We can see what Mango Blossom is up to.” More excited now.

With that Buttercup lead you back though town past the park, past the houses, to a very deep part of the cave. And the deeper she went the fewer luminescent plants and stones there where to mark the path. You and Ben stumbled in the dark a few times before a new path appeared.

It was a simple stone path made with the same luminescent stones that lead to a simple house and barn. On the way it had smaller paths that branched off and disappeared into something in the dark.

When you arrived at the house a stallion pointed you to a treehouse not far from the main house. There was apparently a mango orchard in the cave.

Mango Blossom for her part welcomed you into her mango based tree fort, and seemed overjoyed Buttercup had finally made some day pony friends. “Buttercup! It’s been forever, and you brought some new faces I see?”

What happens next? Only you can decide.

(Big thanks to Dan and HerosMuse, sorry it took me so long.)

Happy Memorial Day

I hope you're having a great get together this weekend, And if not and you do have family members in the military then I hope they have a safe return. Sorry no update this week, a bad case of writers block kept me from finishing. It should be done soonish, I hope. Again sorry.

#133

You and your friends must have been playing video games all night because at some point Buttercup’s mom came in and kick you all off. “Off the games kids. Go wash up it’s time for dinner.”

Eventually she had to turn off the TV to get you moving but when all was said and done you really were hungry.

Buttercup’s dad was already at the table waiting. “You kids looked like you were having fun.”

“Yhea I guess I’m starting to see why Limelight liked them so much.” Buttercup answered.

Her mom had made had made some kind of mushroom and green bean casserole for dinner that looked kinda weird but turned out to be really good.

Dinner conversation seemed to revolve a lot around what Buttercup had been up to since she meet you. And of course your journey or quest. You gave an abridged rundown of your time in Canterlot, and how you didn’t fit in. Buttercup’s dad had some sympathy with you there, he knew Sergeant Strike from his nights in the guard.

But before things got to Discord or any kind of chaos you changed the subject, “But that’s why we want to take Buttercup with us. We haven’t made many friends yet, I don’t. . . “ but the words stuck in your throat.

“Tell you what!” her dad interrupted, “If you’re on a quest maybe I should give you a test or side quest to see if you’re up to the task of protecting my little Princess.” The large stallion struck quite the imposing stance.

You didn’t like the sound of that but agreed.  “Guess you’re not giving me a choice, what kind of test do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know yet, let me sleep on it kid.”

Her mom tried talking him out of taking things so far but he was determined.

After that things went a little smoother, dinner ending pretty uneventfully. You and Ben helped with the dishes again. And the three of you were allowed to play some more games before bed.

What do you do next?

(Thanks to HerosMuse.)