Samurai Equine

@CameoShadowness Trilby makes sure that Beryl is safe and secure under his hat. "Yes, I see it. Just yell in my ear if things get too bumpy. I'll try and leave as smoothly as possible." Staying true to his word, Trilby leaves the library as smoothly as he can. The window is easy enough to open, though it does take some careful maneuvering to slip through it. Together, the two of them head off through the town until Trilby finds a familiar asian house. The only one of its kind in this whole town. "Hope you don't mind if it gets a little loud, Beryl. Because this where you can find those ponies I was telling you about." With a sigh, Trilby collects himself, and knocks on the door. Or, rather, the door frame. Seems someone has busted in, maybe? @Pastel Heart, @Dynamo Pad, @Astral Vision, @ExplosionMare, @Kronos the Revenant, @Windy Breeze 🥧, @CameoShadowness Samurai just giggles at being bonked like that. Not the friendliest way to treat a pony, but Samurai would be lying if he said he hasn't had worse. "That's a great name you have, Iron Shoal! Reminds me of my birth name. These days, everypony calls me Samurai Equine. However, my birth name is actually Crimson Gauntlet, or Taku for short." Samurai explains (Crimson Gauntlet = Kurimuzun Gōntaretto (クリムズン・ゴーンタレット) = Taku). Samurai waves one of his kurokos over, and said kuroko gives Iron a fancy bottle. "You mentioned beer. While it might not be the same thing, would you care for a bottle of saké? This is a special mountain brew made by my family. Refined, aged to perfection, and slightly sweetened for a dash of flavor." Samurai explains. However, as he talks, Samurai soon hears a knock. He looks over and sees who it is. "Excuse me, sir. Please enjoy the festivities while I'm gone." He bows and leaves the house for a moment. "Trilby Hatter? How can I help you? Did you come to join the party?" Samurai asks. "Huh? Uh, yes! I mean, no, uh... I mean, I have a friend with me who has been looking for you, and Astral, and the rest. Her name is Beryl and she's interested in the town's history." Trilby lifts his hat just enough to reveal Beryl. Samurai looks amazed. "A breezie really did come to town~!" He says to himself, stars in his eyes. "Uhh... Yeah. So... I guess I'll just leave her here with you all of you. Be sure to be careful with her. I know you and I aren't EXACTLY friends or anything, and I am probably interrupting a friends only party, and..." Trilby goes on and on awkwardly, but Samurai just smirks. "Trilby, get in here. You're missing out on all the pizza." Samurai say. "I... Really? Well, I don't know... I mean, I still need to find Shadow Trail and all..." Trilby explains. "She's here too." Samurai says. Trilby blinks in surprise. "She is?" He pokes his head inside. "Shadow? You in here?'

Not bad ideas, but it's not really the path I want to take right now. If you are looking for a villain, then think of the Laronde Box as sort of a villain. It's the most complex puzzle box ever seen, and solving it is not easy. It has layers of gears, switches, buttons, pegs, etc. The closer you get to solving it, the more town activities will be unlocked, and thus the closer you'll get to reuniting the two mayors. However, because there is almost no rhyme or reason to how the box works, it's hard to tell how close you are to solving the box. Since the beginning of the RP, Samurai has been in possession of the box. Though he has unlocked a few town activities, having friends around has helped him unlock more. If you want Bluebell to help, then just spend some time around Samurai and the others occasionally, and that will be enough.

Vroom vroom.

@Pastel Heart, @Kronos the Revenant "INTRUDER!" Samurai was quick on the draw when someone busts down his door, and so were his band of kurokos. While Samurai was summoning his sword, the kurokos were acting like a shield between the guests and this unidentified intruder. However, he didn't stay unidentified for long... Pastel calls him grandpa and runs to his side; and they share a family moment. Something like that instantly deflates the situation. "Pastel no ojisan? Hmm..." Samurai makes his sword vanish. "False alarm, everypony. I think he's safe to trust." Samurai says, causing his kurokos to stand down and resume regular party activities. In fact, they are hardly there most of the time. They stick to the shadows and the background. Samurai waits a moment before cautiously approaching with a hopeful smile. "Konbanwa. Good evening, sir." Samurai bows. "You must be the grandfather Pastel has been talking about. I welcome you to my home."

@Windy Breeze 🥧, @ExplosionMare, @Dynamo Pad, @Pastel Heart, @Astral Vision, @Kronos the Revenant Samurai allows anyone that wants it time to say goodbye to Bluebell. He even pops his head in and waves goodbye for now, wishing her a quick recovery. But when he is sure everyone is ready to go, he gathers them all around. "All right, everypony. Get ready, because we are going to teleport to the party." Samurai says, giving a nod to Dynamo since he (and maybe others) wanted a warning before Samurai does something like that. Well, there it was. Once all hooves are gathered around, Samurai holds on to all his friends, and teleports them just outside his oriental house. "All right, let's get inside and commence the party." Samurai opens the doors and lets the all in. Yes, there is plenty of room for everyone. Samurai waits til he is the last outside, then claps. "Kuroko-tachi? Hajimaru." And just like that, a bunch of earth ponies in black outfits and black veils over their head and faces join the party. They say nothing; they just get to work. They set up the house so it's more party-friendly, they set up tables and chairs, and the bring in various boxes of pizza. Samurai walks in to join the party. "Hope everyone is all right with pizza. I hear it's very popular in the west." It's a strange sight to behold, maybe, but with some light background music and various decorations, the party is quickly becoming quite lively! In fact, it's the liveliest house on the block. Would be kind of hard for a wanderer or passer-by to not notice this or miss the various voices coming from within. @CameoShadowness Trilby just shrugs. "You've got me in over a barrel. If that's what you want, then I'll go out by that window you mentioned." Trilby lifts his hat, offering her a place of safety again. "It's either this or my shirt collar."

Added! You can begin RPing now, or you can wait til the next day which is really close to happening. If you choose the latter, I can tag you when the next day arrives.

@Astral Vision, @Dynamo Pad, @Windy Breeze 🥧, @Pastel Heart, @Ragland Tiger, @ExplosionMare Samurai had only finished stepping out the hospital and looking around when he hears Astral's voice again. "ASTRAL-SAN!" He rushes back into the hospital. He is happy to give Astral back his bag, but mostly he checks Astral up and down. "Are you okay? I heard you call out my name, and I ran as fast as I could, and I'm not very good at tracking magic..." Samurai explains. But he also heard the exchange Astral had with Dynamo and the others since he wasn't that far. That's enough to make Samurai put a hoof on Astral's shoulder, tilt his head back, and sigh with relief. "Yokatta~ I wouldn't know what to do if I lost one of my best friends." With a pat on Astral's shoulders, he decides to answer a question. "If we're all here and accounted for, then I'm still up for that party. We should probably finish our visit with Bluebell anyways. She'll need rest and relaxation right now, and I know we'll see her again tomorrow." @CameoShadowness Beryl's gesture makes Trilby smile. "Thank you, Mini Horse Beryl. Maybe I'll make you a hat some day, if you like." He walks beside her. "...You know, since we're not suppose to be here right now, we can't exactly check out a book. But I bet Astral, Samurai, and all those other ponies I was talking about are probably gathering at a party or something. You can ask them about the town's history. Is there anything else you want to look at before we move along? I promise, I'll make sure you get all the help you need with finding out this town's history." Trilby offers.

And we found out that Final Premonition has time-stop magic at his disposal. Possibly other time-related magic tricks. We'd be happy to have you!

@Astral Vision When Astral reappears, he finds himself on the very spacious roof of a tall building. Might be the town hall building? More importantly, he is facing Final Premonition. "Hmm? How did you get here? Did I use the wrong pocket watch again? Curse the fiddly nature of this time-stop magic." He shakes his pocket watch, listens to it, then exchanges it for another pocket watch in his coat. The inside of his coat is FILLED with all kinds of watches, not to mention he has multiple wrist watches strapped up and down his front two legs (arms). Final notices what Astral is holding. "Oh, you must be Astral Vision. I see you've been reassembling the book I wrote." Final says, not really giving him much room to speak. "Though, to be honest, that book is mostly useless. It's the Laronde Box that's most important..." He walks past Astral casually. "That box will unlock all the things that will bring Black and White back together again. So I'm counting on you and your friends to succeed where I failed." Final suddenly stops dead in his tracks. "...Oh, and one more thing, Astral Vision. One day, I will come back. And on that day, I'll be taking that book back. ... Or, you know, something of equal importance. So just be ready for that day. In fact, pass the word on to Samurai Equine, Dynamo Pad, and whoever else you trust explicitly. You've been doing a good job. So far, that is." Final clicks the button on his other pocket watch twice. Once makes him disappear, the other makes Astral disappear and reappear near his cart. It seems Final was not quite in the mood to listen to any questions just yet. @Dynamo Pad Samurai almost missed Dynamo walking up to him asking questions. Though, it does make sense; Astral called out to the both of them. Samurai's magic fails to give him any clues as to where to find Astral. "It's not working..." Samurai listens to Dynamo's suggestion. He doesn't like the idea of rummaging around another pony's belongings without permission. He is about to reject the idea, but Dynamo has all ready begun doing so. They find the medallion with the 3 letters inscribed on it. "No, Dyna-san. I don't know what it means." Samurai shakes his head but guides the medallion back into the bag. And also, it seems giving nicknames goes both ways. "Look, there's no need for the both of us to investigate this. I'd rather you look after Pastel and Bluebell in my absence. I'll investigate for now; I've actually got a support network that can help me out. Until I find Astral, the party is on hold for now." Samurai has put his trust in Dynamo. It's not easy for him to walk away like this, but if he is putting his trust in another pony like this, then he must really believe in them. And with that, Samurai leaves the hospital. Thankfully, he won't have to search for very long. And hopefully, that party can continue after all! @CameoShadowness Trilby just nods as Beryl speaks. "History must be very important to you. I never really thought about this town much when I joined. I just wanted a place to belong. A place I could sell my hats, and maybe make a friend..." Trilby puts a hoof on his arm. "It's not easy when nearly every place in Equestria doesn't need a hat shop like mine, and there's a lot of elite fashion moguls that don't acknowledge you as anything special..." Trilby admits, a little sad when he thinks about his past and everything that lead him to Friendshire.

Huh... When the party was going on, it felt like it was lasting quite a long while. And now that's it over, it felt like it ended way too fast.

If I was ever, then I might. But the cosmos sings, leaving me balanced somewhere in the middle of perception and existence. I am never pulled. I witness. I think. I can't reach.

Not yet, but we're getting super close. I'll tag you in the RP when it's the next day. Sorry this is taking longer than I thought it would. But sometimes when a story is getting good, it can be hard to move on. We're almost wrapped up with it as we speak! I'll be posting a reply real soon. I spent the whole day celebrating since it's a holiday, but I'm back now. Either one is fine. But if you really want to hurry the RP along (and not make our friends too worried in the process), I like the latter idea. I can definitely make it work and set up some future scenes with Final Premonition. Sorry. The days don't usually drag on like this. Just try to be patient. On the bright side, the RP is constantly moving, which is better than RPs that die unexpectedly and never come back to life! Take your time. We're just wrapping up some loose ends right now.

Sure. Replace the ham with whatever deli meat you prefer. It's the same effect either way. Not sure if this is accurate since I'm an American hearing this second-hand, but I've heard that in some places in the world, they do put a layer of jam in a regular meat and cheese sandwich. So maybe what I ate wasn't too far off; they just don't normally include peanut butter.