open The Town That Friendship Forgot

[Astral Vision 286]

10 hours ago, Samurai Equine said:

@Emerald Heart, @GeneralDirection, @Pastel Heart

"Oh, really? You finished shopping? Sugei! Show me what you got for everybody." Samurai says as they make their way to the checkout counter. Naturally, he is ready to pay for it all, provided they didn't decide to just grab everything the store has to offer. He also leans over and whispers something to Fable. "Thanks for watching them while I was gone. I owe you one."

@Astral Vision

Trilby was slipping pretty far into the darkness. However, once Trilby sees and hears Shadow talking to him, he changes. "...Shadow?" With a blink and a confused look, the dark aura disappears from his eyes. He lets go of the disguised Astral, moves away, and looks around. The dark aura surrounding him subsides and fades away again.

"Wha--Where? What happened? I thought I was talking to Astral. I-- We were talking to Mayor White, he was thanking me, something about a ruby I think, and then... What happened next?" As Trilby looks around, trying to find Astral, he also rubs the side of his head. He even wipes away a tear, which surprises him. "Did I miss something? I feel like something bad happened. Like I wanted to make a friend, but it felt wrong somehow... Did I do a bad thing?" Trilby tries to make sense of it. Seems he has no memory of what he just did. The dark aura, trying to corner Astral, none of that.

@CameoShadowness, @Ragland Tiger

"Posurmade?" The library mare asks, doing her best to imitate what Beryl said, despite the accent. "I don't know who that is. I'm just repeating what I heard..." She looks at the book with the torn pages. "If that book is ruined, we could always order a new copy. It'll take at least a week for it to arrive, though."

@Samurai Equine

Astral was glad to see Trilby had returned to normal, but he knew the dark influence could return at any moment, so he had to do something drastic.

"I'm sorry about this Trilby, but this is for your own good." said the unicorn while disguised as Shadow Trail.

Astral's disguise vanished in mere seconds, and magic charged in his horn with great might. Before Trilby could react, Astral fired a bolt of lightning magic directly at him, knocking the pony out cold with no permanent damage. Astral slowly walked over to make sure Trilby was unconscious, and once he felt sure, he lifted the fashion pony onto his back.

"Don't worry Trilby, I'm going to get you the help you need, but first I need to find Samurai."

Astral then teleported away from the alley, but was sure to remain in the dark parts of town as he searched, because a unicorn carrying an unconscious pony would not exactly be an ideal sight.

"Samurai, where are you?"

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@Dynamo Pad @Pastel Heart

Thundy accelerated hard up the dune, and launched the raptor into the air. Because this dune had a steeper backend, the raptor stayed in the air longer. "Brace!" Thundy called out. The Raptor soon landed back on the sandy ground, the suspension doing its job to cushion the impact. 

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

@C. Thunder Dash

Pencil swam through the school of fish, watching in wonder as they made a small gap for her and Chelsea. It was as if they were welcoming them with a stage curtain, ready to reveal what was beyond the stage.

At the mention of sharks, Pencil’s wonderment stopped and turned into worry. Even if the fish that lived here could fight back, she sure couldn’t! Hesitantly, she asked,

“Y-You don’t think ther-there’s gonna be any sharks around, d-do you? Because, um, I don’t have any f-fighting magic,”

Pencil felt herself tremble, although it was hard to see underwater. She lightly tapped her hooves together to settle herself down. Pencil really hoped either they wouldn’t see any sharks or Chelsea would know what to do if one did show up.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

As Chelsea and Pencil swam through the solar fish gap, something nuzzled against Chelsea's side. Chelsea eeped and giggled, for it tickled. It...was a little shark, a wiggly friendly one. "Awww, cutie little shark." Chelsea said patting the little shark's head. The little shark wiggled happily. "Not all sharks are dangerous Pencil. Take this little guy for instance." She said.  

[Pastel Heart 6,466]

@Samurai Equine @GeneralDirection

Pastel saluted like a pirates ahoy like she just raided the Equestrian navy, sailing up with Silver holding a bag thats only carriable due to earth pony convenience.

"Ahoy, Sami~! Take a look! One of them is for you, guess which!"

There was... a lot. Maybe too much. A MA rated but cutesy furry looking game, a mini console, a tiny arcade machine no bigger than a hoof, a box of magic markers, two twin Gamecolts with the same game, Ponymon Crystal; probably a recommendation. There was also a VHS tape on ancient unicorn magic and how to harness it, and something that may peak Samurai's interest... a CD from a certain popular Japanese artist. Who could that be for~?

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

@C. Thunder Dash

Pencil couldn’t help but smile at the little baby shark. She couldn’t possibly be afraid of this little guy. Still, just to be safe, she waved at a distance so as not to make accidental contact with the shark. As it wiggled and swam around, Pencil couldn’t help but let out a few soft giggles.

[GeneralDirection 1,050]

@Pastel Heart @Samurai Equine

Silver Star Story, huh? Silver had no idea what this was.

“Yea, you’ll have to show me that one sometime, Pastel.” He said. Maybe this weird nickname will make more sense then, or, maybe it won’t.

While he appreciated the gesture, Silver couldn’t help but ponder the effectiveness of having a little pink filly along to ‘smack ‘em’, as she put it. But you never heard that from him…

Silver nodded silently as Pastel showed off their haul. On second thought, maybe they had gotten a bit too much. But Samurai insisted they get a gift for everypony, even themselves. Silver had never received a gift from anypony before outside of the village, so why Samurai was doing this was still confusing to the Kirin, but perhaps later it might make more sense? He’d have to go with that for now. He was certainly grateful for his generosity, regardless. He was also grateful for the fact that Pastel stepped in and explained what they had gotten, he wouldn’t have had much luck himself. Much was yet to be learned for this Kirin.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

 

The little shark looked at Pencil curiously and swam slowly towards her, nuzzling her side on a ticklish spot. “It looks like it wants to play with you..” Chelsea said with a small giggle. “Little baby sharks love to play tag. They’re pretty fast too so don’t be surprised if you get booped only after a few seconds.” Chelsea said. 

[Dynamo Pad 11,311]

9 hours ago, C. Thunder Dash said:

@Dynamo Pad @Pastel Heart

Thundy accelerated hard up the dune, and launched the raptor into the air. Because this dune had a steeper backend, the raptor stayed in the air longer. "Brace!" Thundy called out. The Raptor soon landed back on the sandy ground, the suspension doing its job to cushion the impact. 

As The Raptor began to accelerate, Dynamo's back leg began tapping the floor of the vehicle. Whether he was feeling nervous or anticipating the jump, he'll never know. Once the vehicle soared into the air, Dynamo almost felt his heart stop once more. He could almost feel himself being lifted out of his seat. Thankfully, he was wearing his seatbelt to avoid any possible injuries. "Woohoo! This is awesome!" He exclaimed right before Thundy had mentioned for them to brace for impact. Bracing for the inevitable landing, Dynamo rocked back and forth in his seat. "Whew! That was just as amazing as the first jump. I guess I'm slowly starting to get used to this dune hopping." He gave a shaky chuckle, before sighing. Even though this was fun, the previous anxiety was still getting to him and his endurance.

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

@C. Thunder Dash

Pencil was startled and let out an involuntary giggle as the shark approached her side. Going off of its expression and what Chelsea remarked about it, the shark wanted to play. Pencil rubbed her hooves together excitedly as best she could underwater as she devised a tag strategy.

Before the shark had a chance to touch her, Pencil darted north and swam as fast as she could, kicking her hooves behind her. She let out a competitive snicker as she swam farther and farther away from the shark. It will never catch me, she thought.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

The shark zipped after Pencil. Chelsea swam right behind the two. The shark was really close to booping distance. "He's gonna get you!" Chelsea called out as the little shark was inching closer to Pencil. 

@ExplosionMare

[Samurai Equine 51,440]

@Pastel Heart, @Emerald Heart, @GeneralDirection

Samurai looks through what they got. For the most part, Samurai was a little surprised. Some of these picks were rather tame.
Magic markers? "I am guessing these are for Pencil." Samurai comments.
A miniature, portal arcade machine. "This is what you picked out, isn't it, Silver?" Samurai asks.
Two Gamecolts and two copies of Ponymon Crystal? A mini console? "Hmm... I wonder who gets these..." He can guess they will be split among Dynamo, Chelsea, and Thundy, but he's not sure how.
A VHS. "Hmm... We might have to get a VHS player, just in case Astral needs it." Samurai levitates one over.
A video game rated MA?! That's alarming! "Yare yare daze... Not sure how this got here. Pastel, you might want to get your grandpa or somepony else to buy this..." Samurai levitates it back to the self. Looks like he isn't going to be buying that.
And finally, a CD. "Hmm... 'Ai wa Oshare Janai'? Love isn't Fashionable? Interesting." He looks at Pastel with a smirk and accepts it.
"I think we need a little more. Hold on a second!" Looking around, Samurai levitates a few more items over. A professional art supplies kit, an advanced chemistry set, a hat and scarf combo set, two copies of Super Mareio Deluxe, and some supplies so the gifts can be packaged in decorative present boxes.
Yep, it's an out-of-season Hearths Warming.

Samurai checks out and pays for everything, walking out of the mall with his friends. He even offers to let Pastel ride on his back so she can be at eye-level with everyone.

As they leave, he decides to give Silver his gifts now. "Since I don't know if you'll stay in Friendshire or not, you can have your gifts now." Samurai gives him the mini arcade console, the hat, and the scarf. "For your travels. Now you've got something to keep the sun out, something for cold nights, and a distraction when you want to have some fun. Just don't tell Trilby about the hat, he'll be furious you didn't go to him first for a higher-quality hat." Samurai explains, with a little bit of a giggle. "As for the rest of the items, I'm going to keep them with me for now until I can box and wrap them. Can I count on you to keep all this a secret, Pastel? I want to surprise everypony when we meet them tonight." Samurai says.

Samurai also looks over at Fable. "Thanks for joining us today. This is the most I have planned for today. But if you want to take it easy for the rest of the day, I don't mind walking with you back to your house." Samurai says.

@Astral Vision

!! "OOH LALA!! VIVA LA REVOLUCION, MON AMI! AHAHAHA!!" Trilby says upon impact of the spell, and then... nothing. At first, the lightning spell doesn't seem to work. Trilby just stands up right, rigid and perfectly still, eyes wide. "Are you trying to shock me, Ms. Shadow? Because if you are, I think you'll be surprised to know..." Then he starts to steam up like a fried piece of meat, and the dizzy-eyes sets in. "It worked~!" Trilby says in a high-pitched voice before falling over and fainting like the cartoon character he is.

Hopefully, he's not too heavy for Astral. If Astral wishes to find Samurai, he might have luck running into him right now, or when Samurai is walking away from Fable's house.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Samurai Equine

[Emerald Claus 24,868]

@Samurai Equine @Pastel Heart @GeneralDirection

Fable nodded her head silently, "Thank you, that would be nice." She said, rubbing at the side of her head, which had started to hurt all of the sudden.

Fable turned around and bowed at Pastel Heart and Silver, "Pleasure meeting you." She said in a monotone voice.

She lifted her head up and waited patiently for Samurai and the others to finish saying their goodbyes. 

[GeneralDirection 1,050]

@Emerald Heart @Pastel Heart @Samurai Equine

Silver nods his head in response to Samurai’s question. “Mhm, that is indeed mine.”

Samurai looks through the rest of their gifts and, to Silver’s surprise, adds more to the pile. Apparently is seems they hadn’t got as much as they’d originally thought. Having known that, Silver certainly would’ve jumped at a chance for some art supplies. But he wasn’t exactly going to start complaining. He was certainly happy with what he chose, and he could always come back for more stuff later.

Silver was somewhat surprised to be receiving his gifts earlier than everypony else, but he could follow the logic considering his plans were up in the air.

“I definitely appreciate the gifts, Samurai! I’ve never received a gift from anypony outside of my village before, so thank you.” He smiled, chuckling about the comment regarding Trilby.

The scarf, hat, and gaming machine from Samurai went safely into his saddlebag, thought Silver wondered how well the hat would fit given the much larger horn atop his head that bent back towards it at a 45 degree angle. It was certainly a lot more awkward than a Unicorn’s horn. Oh well, it was given out of kindness from somepony he had just met today, and that’s all that mattered to him.

Silver decided to stay with the rest of the group for the time being, unless somepony decided to split off.

“Did you need any help wrapping up the gifts, Samurai?” He asked. “I can certainly help you if you want. Either way, I think I’ll stay for the night here; this is the last bit of my journey so there’s nowhere else I need to be going next.”

Silver returned Fable’s gesture silently, unsure of what to say in response. Neither saying goodbye nor see you later seemed appropriate. Not knowing where he was going made things awkward for him. He hoped that, perhaps, either Samurai or Pastel would let him come along with them, as it seemed everypony else were busy doing things elsewhere.  

[Astral Vision 286]

7 hours ago, Samurai Equine said:

@Pastel Heart, @Emerald Heart, @GeneralDirection

Samurai looks through what they got. For the most part, Samurai was a little surprised. Some of these picks were rather tame.
Magic markers? "I am guessing these are for Pencil." Samurai comments.
A miniature, portal arcade machine. "This is what you picked out, isn't it, Silver?" Samurai asks.
Two Gamecolts and two copies of Ponymon Crystal? A mini console? "Hmm... I wonder who gets these..." He can guess they will be split among Dynamo, Chelsea, and Thundy, but he's not sure how.
A VHS. "Hmm... We might have to get a VHS player, just in case Astral needs it." Samurai levitates one over.
A video game rated MA?! That's alarming! "Yare yare daze... Not sure how this got here. Pastel, you might want to get your grandpa or somepony else to buy this..." Samurai levitates it back to the self. Looks like he isn't going to be buying that.
And finally, a CD. "Hmm... 'Ai wa Oshare Janai'? Love isn't Fashionable? Interesting." He looks at Pastel with a smirk and accepts it.
"I think we need a little more. Hold on a second!" Looking around, Samurai levitates a few more items over. A professional art supplies kit, an advanced chemistry set, a hat and scarf combo set, two copies of Super Mareio Deluxe, and some supplies so the gifts can be packaged in decorative present boxes.
Yep, it's an out-of-season Hearths Warming.

Samurai checks out and pays for everything, walking out of the mall with his friends. He even offers to let Pastel ride on his back so she can be at eye-level with everyone.

As they leave, he decides to give Silver his gifts now. "Since I don't know if you'll stay in Friendshire or not, you can have your gifts now." Samurai gives him the mini arcade console, the hat, and the scarf. "For your travels. Now you've got something to keep the sun out, something for cold nights, and a distraction when you want to have some fun. Just don't tell Trilby about the hat, he'll be furious you didn't go to him first for a higher-quality hat." Samurai explains, with a little bit of a giggle. "As for the rest of the items, I'm going to keep them with me for now until I can box and wrap them. Can I count on you to keep all this a secret, Pastel? I want to surprise everypony when we meet them tonight." Samurai says.

Samurai also looks over at Fable. "Thanks for joining us today. This is the most I have planned for today. But if you want to take it easy for the rest of the day, I don't mind walking with you back to your house." Samurai says.

@Astral Vision

!! "OOH LALA!! VIVA LA REVOLUCION, MON AMI! AHAHAHA!!" Trilby says upon impact of the spell, and then... nothing. At first, the lightning spell doesn't seem to work. Trilby just stands up right, rigid and perfectly still, eyes wide. "Are you trying to shock me, Ms. Shadow? Because if you are, I think you'll be surprised to know..." Then he starts to steam up like a fried piece of meat, and the dizzy-eyes sets in. "It worked~!" Trilby says in a high-pitched voice before falling over and fainting like the cartoon character he is.

Hopefully, he's not too heavy for Astral. If Astral wishes to find Samurai, he might have luck running into him right now, or when Samurai is walking away from Fable's house.

@Samurai Equine @Pastel Heart

Astral continued to search the city, ever vigilant in case Trilby awoke, though the blue unicorn soon spotted Samurai in the mall district. Astral knew he couldn't just walk up to Samurai, not in such a public area, so he devised a means of quick and effective communication. Astral's horn glowed and his eyes turned white, and a holographic image of his face soon appeared before Samurai.

"Samurai! Sorry to interrupt your shopping spree, but I need your help. Something is wrong with your friend Trilby; I've got him here, but I need another magic expert ASAP! Meet me outside!"

(Think of the scene like this)

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

@C. Thunder Dash

“Oh no!” Pencil cried in fake desperation. She urged her legs to move a little faster as the shark inched closer and closer. She tried to lose it by turning in random directions, but was unable to see behind her if that strategy worked.

I’ll have to rely on my own instincts Pencil determined. If she was going to keep from being ‘it’, she would have to use her own judgement to get away.

For now, her judgement told her to dive up and over to force the shark to go back. She was unable to do a full loop like she hoped, but she was able to turn around successfully. Now she just needed a place to hide. Sooner or later she would have to find a hiding place to rest. She couldn’t swim around like this forever.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

The shark was a smart little one...and booped Pencil just as she made the loop. "Looks like he got you Pencil." Chelsea said as the little shark swam around happily, celebrating that it tagged Pencil. "Now you gotta chase it down." Chelsea added. 

@ExplosionMare

[Pastel Heart 6,466]

@Samurai Equine @GeneralDirection

Pastel was standing firm, proud of herself for a job well done, until... she lost her long awaited Bad Fur Day cartridge. Her jaw dropped. Know what time it is? tantrum time.

"Eeehhhh!? Boooo! Sami turned heel! Biggest heel in the company! Betrayal! Betrayed me! You can't turn on me! So unfair! Villain! I'll strike you down and become more powerful than you could possibly imagine! Sami no baaaka! Baka baka~!"

Pastel pouted and turned away, loudly complaining. Instead, she opted to ride on Silvers back instead, pouting the whole time. She was mad at Sami, but she blinked in quiet acknowledgement to keep it a secret. This was not a filly who liked being told no. She did wanna surprise Dyny and the others so she had no reason to spill. 

@Emerald Heart

She was still mad, but waved goodbye to Fable awkwardly, kinda like how Link waves goodbye to the island at the start of Wind Waker.

@Astral Vision

Pastel looked in wander as the virtual Astral talked. This was like, total Star Trek stuff.

"Woah! Astral is totally sci fi!"

Edited July 30, 2020 by Pastel Heart

[GeneralDirection 1,050]

@Astral Vision @Pastel Heart @Samurai Equine

Silver tilted his head slightly at Pastel’s decision to ride on his back instead of Samurai’s. This wasn’t something that happened very often. The back of a Kirin was covered in a scaly carapace, almost like a thin layer of armour plating. Think of it as like a flexible turtle shell, or similar a dragon's skin. Silver wondered how long she’d be mad enough at Samurai to want to stay up there. Either case, Silver simply shrugged and tried to do his best to tolerate his new grumpy cargo until she calmed down. It had been made painfully obvious that her grandpa spoiled her quite regularly.

Suddenly, a projection of a certain pony appeared before them, and started talking to Samurai. Silver was able to identify this as Astral Vision thanks to Pastel’s comment. So, this was the pony that he needed to talk to next. Given this display of magical ability, it would appear that Astral would be a good pony to talk to about magic as well. Sounds like Trilby was in some sort of trouble though, so the questions would have to wait until later. Silver stood silently amongst the group and waited to see what would happen.

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

@C. Thunder Dash

Aww man! Pencil mentally whined, feeling defeated after the seemingly amazing stunt she pulled off. Oh well, her skills could still be used for better now that she was ‘it’. Deviously, Pencil chuckled and thought of a plan to tag the shark back. It was quick and small, which made it hard to easily touch. However, it could also be easily cornered, or at least surrounded.

Before she could think of a full plan, the shark had already sped off. Pencil did her best to catch up, but unfortunately was still tired from swimming around earlier. It was getting more and more difficult to play, but if she could just get a little adrenaline to kick in, she would be just fine.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

"Here, I'll help you out." Chelsea said gathering some water energy, and letting out a pulse that hit Pencil, giving her a boost of energy. "You should be able to catch him now." Chelsea said as she swam behind Pencil, as the little shark kept swimming away from Pencil. 

@Dynamo Pad @Pastel Heart

"Heh, wait until you get to the multi-humps, that's where the real fun begins, as Thundy headed straight for two dunes close to each other, with minimal room for Thundy to land in the middle of them. Thundy seemed to put his talon on a lever next to the gear shifter. As the raptor went up the dune, Thundy pulled the lever hard. The suspension contracted and the ride felt very rigid and stiff. "Get ready for a mega leap!" Thundy warned. 

 

[Samurai Equine 51,440]

@Pastel Heart, @GeneralDirection, @Emerald Heart, @Astral Vision

Samurai seems visibly hurt, by both Pastel's words and actions. "Eh?! But Pastel... You don't mean that, do you? I thought we were friends. I really don't want you to be mad at me. That's not how I want to end this day. Because by tonight, I... No. Nevermind. Feel however you wish." Samurai says, but he won't say anymore. Better not to say too much.

For now, they focus on the long walk back to Fable's house. From there, they part ways. Samurai waves his hooves and watches her go inside.

From there, he turns and starts to walk off with Silver and Pastel. He hears Silver's question. "Well, I thank you just the same, but I guess that's up to you. I don't really need help for this part. If you want to help, I'd appreciate it. But if you feel like you want to part ways and do your own thing for the rest of the day, then--" Samurai is cut off when he sees a ghostly projection of Astral.

"Nanda kore?! Astral-san? But we are outside! Chotto matte..." Samurai wonders around the neighborhood just a little bit, then finds Astral about a block and a half away. "Oi! Astral-san! Over here!" Samurai waves him over. Or maybe they should go over to his side instead?

Edited July 31, 2020 by Samurai Equine

[Astral Vision 286]

4 hours ago, Samurai Equine said:

@Pastel Heart, @GeneralDirection, @Emerald Heart, @Astral Vision

Samurai seems visibly hurt, by both Pastel's words and actions. "Eh?! But Pastel... You don't mean that, do you? I thought we were friends. I really don't want you to be mad at me. That's not how I want to end this day. Because by tonight, I... No. Nevermind. Feel however you wish." Samurai says, but he won't say anymore. Better not to say too much.

For now, they focus on the long walk back to Fable's house. From there, they part ways. Samurai waves his hooves and watches her go inside.

From there, he turns and starts to walk off with Silver and Pastel. He hears Silver's question. "Well, I thank you just the same, but I guess that's up to you. I don't really need help for this part. If you want to help, I'd appreciate it. But if you feel like you want to part ways and do your own thing for the rest of the day, then--" Samurai is cut off when he sees a ghostly projection of Astral.

"Nanda kore?! Astral-san? But we are outside! Chotto matte..." Samurai wonders around the neighborhood just a little bit, then finds Astral about a block and a half away. "Oi! Astral-san! Over here!" Samurai waves him over. Or maybe they should go over to his side instead?

@Samurai Equine @Pastel Heart @GeneralDirection

Astral blinked and his eyes returned to normal; he motioned the group to follow him into the alley, and slowly placed Trilby on the ground.

"There you are, glad you made it Samurai. And nice to see you too Pastel, as well as... hmm, I don't believe we've met, are you a kirin?"

Astral shook his head; there would be time for introductions later, what mattered now was freeing Trilby from whatever curse was holding him.

"Samurai, Trilby here was helping me run an errand, but then he started talking about Dr. Milenko and being 'really happy'; he spoke like a zombie, and his eyes definitely complimented it.  Your friend may be cursed, and until we lift the dark magic from his body, he'll be a danger to himself and others. Have you dealt with curses or dark magic before?"

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

@C. Thunder Dash

“Woah! Thanks, Chelsea!” Pencil gasped as she was sped up with a burst of water energy. Pencil was like a pegasus, zooming through the air at rocket speed. The bubbles surrounding her made her feel like she was in a carbonated drink as they tickled against her sides.

After finally maintaining some distance, Pencil was close enough to the shark to touch it. Reaching her hooves out as far as they could stretch, Pencil strained to tap its tail and make the shark ‘it’ once again.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

The little shark stopped and nuzzled Pencil, congratulating her for catching it. However, just around a corner came a large shark. It seemed to be swimming towards the little shark. It looked to be the shark's mother. "Looks like that's this little guy's mother." Chelsea said as the baby shark nuzzled Chelsea and Pencil saying goodbye and swimming to its mother. A large rock structure was up ahead. It appeared to be a series of caves. 

@ExplosionMare