Double

The Zea of Worlds

The only cutie mark idea I can think of is something like a constellation in the shape of a puzzle piece. Basically I want something that combines space with puzzles/mysteries and that's the only idea for that that comes to mind.

The Zea of Worlds

WIP Character

Name: Astral Gleam
Species: Crystal Pony (Unicorn)
Age: ?

Source: MLP

Appearance Description: Astral's cutie mark depicts a stylized nebula. It's a rather fitting representation of his field of astronomy, but also his obsession with mystery and puzzles, as nebula's are very mysterious space phenomena.

Personality: Very studious and seemingly a cynic, but that's really only the surface. Around friends or those he is close to, Astral is very a kind and friendly pony, par for the course for his kind really. His main issue is having a bit of an obsessive personality, particularly with puzzles and riddles. He views everything as just another question to answer, or another puzzle to solve, and that typically means treating people or ponies like a chess player treats his game pieces. This rubs most ponies the wrong way, many not wishing to stick around someone so controlling or hard to work with. There is a nicer side, it's just buried underneath a thick layer of ice and thorns.

Backstory: Astral's personal history is a little strange. Like most Crystal Ponies, he was actually born over a thousand years ago during the reign of Princess Amore. As for any any Non-Alicorn pony could live for so long, well he actually has King Sombra to thank for that. A unicorn named Sombra embraced dark magic and used its power to usurp the throne of the Crystal Empire from Amore. Amore's fate to this day remains unknown, but before Sombra could turn his attention to the rest of Equestria he was defeated by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Unknown to them at the time, Sombra put a curse on the Crystal Empire that caused it and its citizens to vanish right along with him. The Empire didn't reappear again until a thousand years later. When it did, Sombra reawakened along with it, and he tried to regain his grasp over the Empire and the Crystal Ponies. Thankfully, the Empire was saved by Princess Twilight Sparkle, though she wasn't a Princess yet at the time. Her efforts, or more specifically those of her assistant Spike, allowed for the resurrection of the Crystal Heart which destroyed King Sombra once and for wall. After this, the Crystal Empire was then ruled by Amore's descdent, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short; along with her husband Shining Armor.

It was the experience of Sombra's curse that perhaps turned Astral Gleam into the cynic he is now known for being. Enslavement on top of find oneself a thousand years out of time is understandably a traumatic experience. Really it's a miracle that more of the Crystal Ponies didn't turn out the way Astral did. But that experience has caused the Crystal Unicorn to live like a recluse more than most of his peers and colleagues. He was still quite brilliant in his field, but Astral's eccentric and often controlling behavior made him near impossible to work with. Also thanks to Sombra's curse, Astral can barely even recall how he got his cutie mark. He remembered it being at night, and that was he was star-gazing while also studying the Crystal Heart, but the rest is a haze. Not that it really matters anymore, Astral knew even a thousand years later that his passion was space and solving the mysteries that lie beyond the stars.

~Power Section~

Skills: Astral is an avid star-gazer, not surprising for one within his chosen professional field. He is quite knowledgeable of constellations, the stars themselves being what fascinates him more than anything else. After all, the Sun and Moon are functionally controlled by the Royal Sisters and so there isn't much to be learned about them. The stars? They simply are just there, and so far no pony has discovered any kind of explanation for them, magical or otherwise. Other celestial bodies too, such as comets, asteroids, or meteors, are also steeped in mystery and do not appear to be linked to any form of magic like the Sun and Moon are.

Traits: Astral has an eye for little details, quite useful for someone who's job involves watching the night sky and actively looking for any strange phenomena. This sometimes also translates to reading facial expressions and spotting little tells that someone maybe lying or hiding something.

Powers: Apart from the basic Unicorn magic, Astral has practiced some of the more advanced spells such as teleportation, though he will freely admit that his mastery of such spells are a bit lacking. Although there is one particular spell he quite fond of, a projection spell that allows him to generate virtually any kind of scenery within a room. They are just illusions, and the content is generally tied to his own knowledge of whatever it is he is projecting, but it is quite useful for creating visual aids when giving a lecture or similar scenario.

Equipment: Spellbook, a handful of Astronomy books, a handheld telescope, and a quill and several notebooks for recording notes and other such research entries.

As the hider implies, this is still a working progress. But these are the ideas I have for the moment.

Edit: I'm not even sure I want to use that image, even. Not a fan of the musical note cutie mark.

The Zea of Worlds

So I've been racking an idea around in my brain about a Crystal Pony to add to this little venture. Why a Crystal Pony? I'll be honest, I just think a Crystal Pony would have a more interesting color palette than a normal one. I had even thought about making them some kind of Astronomer type who maybe lives in an observatory complete with a comically big telescope for star gazing. Would definitely give them the means for spotting the ships falling out of the sky and their fascination with space would motivate them to investigate. But that's where I'm running into problems. I can't think of any other personality traits to give this pony. Maybe they like studying the unknown and possibly solving a few riddles and mysteries along the way? Also, I am totally stumped on species and cutie mark. I'm pretty sure Unicorn makes the most sense for species... but I also don't want to come across as a Twilight clone. The cutie mark is giving me the same issue. Something related to space or astronomy would be appropriate, but again I don't want to come across as a hollow Twilight clone.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

@Shiyonichi

As a Kamen Rider fanboy (I'm sure my avatar gave that fact away easily enough) I laughed my ass off at "Happy Birthday, Half Cloak". Subarashii!, indeed.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

The Hayabusa was once again in a battle against the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki. The field was different, this time a vast desert canyon painted by a seemingly eternal setting sun. But the outcome remained the same. Calling it a "battle" was probably being generous. The gold Gunpla was just beating down the black one pretty much at will, with the latter practically putting up no fight whatsoever. The howling laughter of Masato could be heard echoing over the clash of metals and plastic. Finally, the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki seemed to have had enough. It gripped its sword, letting the energy built up explode forth into a pitch black aura from the blade.

"I told you already..." Masato's blood-chilling voice spoke as the golden gunpla picked the other up.

"It's wasted on you!" it hurled the Hayabusa much like in the mission previously. Then it charged forth with full thrusters. In less than a second the aura-coated sword cleaved right through the Hayabusa as if it were nothing.

Takatora found himself on the ground. He was no longer in the field. He was indoors, and on the floor before was the broken remains of the Hayabusa. Then he realized it. The battle wasn't in GBN, but in DP Duel. The Hayabusa was broken for real and completely beyond Takatora's ability to repair it, "Nonononono NO!" he repeated, almost sobbing as he desperately tried to piece together the wrecked Gunpla. He was interrupted when somebody's boot violently kicked him away from the broken pile. He looked up through tearful eyes to see the form of Masato glaring down at him.

"It should have just burned with the builder!" he grunted, a wicked grin forming on his face as he began stomping the pieces of the Hayabusa, shattering them even further.

Takatora awoke in his bed with a jolt. He was sweating, and tears were streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably. He his fearful gaze locked into the Hayabusa standing on his desk nearby. It was in tact, the only battle damage were the scars left behind from Kiyotaka's previous battles, as it should be. Takatora shivered, and then wiped the tears from his eyes and face.

---

Takatora didn't have any classes that day. So he had the whole day to figure out what his next plan would be. He didn't want to log back into GBN, not when there was a chance he would get mobbed by players curious about his relationship to Adam. Or worse, what if he ran into him? Just the thought of facing Masato again so soon left him terrified. Instead he grabbed the gunpla and was now about to walk into Sento's store.

"Welcome!" Sento said, his back currently turned away from the door, "I was wondering when you'd be back, Taka." he still hadn't turned around yet.

"How did you...?"

"I know about what happened yesterday, with Masato. So I had a feeling you'd come back to me."

Takatora swallowed hard, "I need you to train me. Teach me whatever you can about building. I never finished learning from Kiyotaka, so..."

"So you want to be able to fix the Hayabusa should anything happen to it." Sento finished Takatora's sentence, and then offered a small smile, "That won't be a problem. But I'm a little busy at the moment, could we start in a few hours? If you'd like to wait, I have a few GBN terminals in the back. You can use one to log in to pass the time if you want." he pointed to a back room door that Takatora then entered through.

Sure enough, there were some GBN terminals. They weren't exactly like the home versions. These were full on chairs equipped with a VR setup and a built in Gunpla scanner. Takatora climbed into one and fired it up but hesitated a moment, "No, stop being so afraid. I can't let him scare me away from GBN forever..." he told himself before actually logging in.

Once in the lobby, Takatora was quick to get moving. Whatever it took to minimize the chance of other players getting a good look at him. It didn't work for long, "Hey, you're that guy who's friends with Adam Roman!" someone loudly proclaimed, getting the attention of a few others. Just as he feared, Takatora found himself being bombarded with question after question. How did he know Adam? Did he know about the challenge beforehand? Did he know how Adam planned to beat King? It wasn't long before Takatora was overrun.

"Just... just shut up and leave me alone!" he shouted, practically screaming. That caused an awkward silence, but it also gave him a slim chance to escape, and so he ran away as fast as his online legs would take him. Without realizing it he found himself near the reception, having stopped and was now just looking down at the floor. He still hadn't realized that he was standing right front of Isamu and the Meijin.

A Dark Dystopian Sonic AU Roleplay?

So um... where does Eggman fit into all of this? Or any of the actual Sonic characters/lore for that matter?

EDIT: To be clear, I'm not asking to play as any of those characters. I'm already aware that that isn't allowed. I merely wish to know if they exist in this setting at all and if so, where. Moreso Eggman than anyone else because he's shown to actively go against someone else ruling the world before he gets the chance to do it himself. That and I was kind of hoping to play a character that is working for him for personal reasons (maybe acting as his eyes and ears in the city while he's forced to operate from an underground compound somewhere outside the city).

DC Unlimited

@Omega Man

If any of those spots are still open, I have an idea or three about a rogue/outlaw Speedster who may or may not be on the run from another Earth...

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

So did I leave everyone stunned with silence at my awesome post or something? <_<

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

The mission was going well. Takatora defeated GM's as as they advanced to his chosen zone, slicing into them with the Dragon Sword. As he did so, Takatora made sure to pay closer attention to the sparks pulsing from the blade. Just as Sento said, the sparks seemed to gradually enlarge and increase in frequency with each strike from the blade. This, Sento had said, was designed to be Takatora's visual cue for how much energy the blade had stored up. And then for the next wave of GM's, Takatora held off on striking them down immediately. Instead he briefly activated the Trans-Phase Armor and let himself take a few minor hits. The armor did it's job, reducing the damage a considerable amount but at the cost of energy consumption. After a few hits Takatora toggled the Trans-Phase armor back off in order to conserve power.

"He wasn't kidding..." he said to himself as he looked at his energy levels, "...this thing was was definitely intended for emergencies, not something I can use liberally, it seems." But whatever he was thinking was abruptly interrupted. Suddenly his radar was detecting heavy losses on both sides coming from a nearby zone. Too much to be caused by NPC opponents. It could only be the work of another player. In fact, Takatora had only just not noticed the notification of a new player having joined the mission shortly after he began it. Just one? That would mean they were attacking both Zeon and Federation Forces. Just what were they thinking.

"Wait... he's heading this way!" the signal for the player's Gunpla was rapidly approaching, apparently downing and wiping out NPC's on both sides along the way. The Dragon Sword was already out, and Takatora barely had enough time to ready before a Golden Gunpla burst into his zone and attacked, seemingly without any kind of strategy in mind. Takatora could barely recognize the shape and armor pieces belonging to the Musha Gundam and Hyaku Shiki. Clearly this player incorporated both into their Gunpla. The enemy Gunpla even held its Katana in a backhanded stance along with the weapon's sheath in other hand, a stance very similar to how the Hyaku Shiki wielded its dual beam sabers in Zeta Gundam.

"Who are you?" demanded Takatora on open comms, "And why are you attacking both sides? You won't earn any points doing that!"

"Who says I'm here to complete the event?" responded the enemy player.

"S-Sakakibara...?" all at once Takatora's blood turned to ice. That voice, it had to be him. One of the three founding members of Kiyotaka's team, the Build Warriors. Masato Sakakibara. Takatora went to counterattack but his shock made him too easy to read and Masato dodged easily before slicing the Hayabusa's back. Nothing devastating, in fact if anything Masato was intentionally avoiding dealing heavy damage, as if to kill his opponent slowly and more painfully.

"Come on!" Masato shouted, his voice sounding like it contained an increasing amount of bloodlust, "Was that actually the best you could muster? The Hayabusa is completely wasted on you."

"Shut up!" Takatora shouted back, trying to keep swinging but Masato parried all his strikes, either with the blade of his sword or with the sheath in his offhand. Takatora then boosted backwards, trying to throw energy shurikens to keep his distance when it became clear that he was no match for Masato in melee. Unfortunately, Masato just deflected every single projectile with his blade and sheath. One could almost see the aura of aggression grow increasingly violent with each swing. Takatora only had one option, but he didn't even know if it was possible for him to use that at all. But it was the only choice left, and so Takatora raised the Dragon Sword, the sparks from the collected energy appearing to grow, like an egg trying its absolute hardest to hatch.

"Oh... now this I gotta see." taunted Masato, knowing exactly what Takatora was planning, "Okay then, little Taka..." he said, said, actually sheathing his sword, "...I'll give you this one for free, so come on! I want you to do it! HIT ME!"

Takatora screamed in anger as he boosted forward. He brought his sword to bear against Masato who just stood there and did nothing. For a hopeful second, a golden aura seemed to be trying to form around the blade, but flickered and died as the blade struck the shoulder piece of Masato's Gunpla only to glance off of it harmlessly. At this, Takatora could hear laughter over the open comms. Masato, howling with laughter and amusement. Suddenly golden Gunpla reached out and lifted the Hayabusa by its throat.

"Just like I thought." Masato said, his Gunpla tightening its squeeze and causing sparks to jump from the Hayabusa's throat. If this kept up for too long the Head Unit would be torn from its joint, "You're pathetic, that Gunpla's power is an absolute waste in your possession." suddenly the Golden Gunpla whirled around and hurled the Hayabusa briefly into the air and sending it crashing into trees next to the Zabi Mansion. Then, the Gunpla took an Iado Stance, familiar looking sparks pulsing from its sword even from within the sheathe. That's when Takatora made a horrify realization, "The Hayabusa should have burned along with Kiyotaka!" Masato screamed in a blood-curling tone as he boosted forward. A similar aura of energy coated his sheathed blade, though one that was fittingly black, as if tainted by Masato's own bloodlust.

Takatora could do nothing. The Hayabusa had no energy left, and its head unit seemed like it could fall off at any moment. All he could do was wait for Masato's killing blow. But the blow never came. Something else took the attack. Neither pilot had noticed a third player entering the mission. And now Masato's attack was halted by something that looked like an electric force field being generated by floated discs of some kind. When it was over, they flew back to where they were deployed from.

♫

A Dark Grey Gunpla emerged into the zone. It looked like a Grimgerde, though modified from it's official design. The disc-like objects attached themselves to a place on the Gunpla's back beneath its tattered cape, while a couple of the others attached themselves to the shield on its arm. Apart from the cape, the other most notable feature of the Gunpla was its massive weapon. A massive sword blade on a polearm shaft, though it looked like it break apart into smaller weapons if needed.

"...Adam?" asked Takatora, recognizing the Gunpla as the one and only Blood Baron. Masato seemed to realize this as well.

"Who gave you permission to butt in?" Masato demanded, quite angry that his attack that he had built up energy for was wasted.

"It was an open mission." responded Adam coolly, as if this were just another day for him, "And besides, I believe you were first one to violate the mission's stipulations, Masato, were you not?"

Outside the mission in the GBN Lobby, players began to notice Adam's name in one of the active missions. Crowds began to watch the active footage, most of them curious about the player who dared to challenge King in such a way.

"Typical Adam Roman," Masato taunted, "ever the white knight coming to his friends' rescue." a fairly ironic description, considering Adam's Gunpla looked more like a black knight than a white knight, "Alight, I'll be the bad guy in your little game. That little brat was getting boring anyway."

"Try me if you dare." responded Adam, actually pointing his massive blade in Masato's direction, "Just try to break through my shield if you can."

"You asked for it!" screamed Masato as his Gunpla charged forward. But just before the two ace pilots could clash, the mission suddenly ended. Apparently the timer had run out and all players were removed from the field to be returned to the lobby.

Once all three players emerged, Masato glared angrily at Adam and Takatora, "Well well, saved by the clock. Sorry kiddies, looks like we're going to have settle this another time. We're not finished, Roman!" and then he abruptly logged off.

"Adam... I..." Takatora said, no words were coming to him.

"Don't worry about it." he said, then began to notice players approaching them, "I think it's best if you log off. You don't seem in the mood to deal with a crowd right now."

"Yeah... thanks." and then Takatora also logged off.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

Seems like a good place for another timeskip. What do you guys think? @Double@vancexentan@Shiyonichi

@Renny

I kind of started a battle/mission.