open The Town That Friendship Forgot

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,826]

@Samurai Equine @Dynamo Pad @ExplosionMare @Kronos the Revenant

Chelsea headed for the western entrance in hopes of finding the volunteer area. Meanwhile, Thundy was stretching out, making sure that he was nice and loose. “Sam, I do hope we could win back some ponies here for this town. It would be awesome.” Thundy said as he noticed a group of ponies headed for the sign up area. 

[Tree Song]

@Starforce

"It's not as strange as you think, many ponies like to fight and there are arenas in some towns, including a famous one in Coltswell*. But you're right that many of us, me included, are peaceful and prefer to do less violent things. I still want to be in the audience and see how my friends do, but there's plenty of time before that, so what do you want to do?"

*That's a reference to d20 Pony.

[Tree Song]

@Starforce

"Plans? Well, we were going to continue investigating the Nightmare Moon thing, but since Nopony left without giving me any tasks, I'm free for now."

I scratch my forehead, thinking about the things Sparkly said. "I don't know much about that. There is something strange going on between the mayors, and they don't seem to do their duties, so I think it's Samurai who actually runs the town. If you have a plan how to find out more, I can help you with that."

[Tree Song]

@Starforce

"I don't want to do anything about Nightmare Moon without Nopony, he is the one who knows the most about that case. So I'd prefer to do something about the mayors for now, although I'm not sure how we should do it. Do you want to sneak somewhere and obtain some secret information?" I say half-jokingly.

[Silly Druid 8,016]

@Starforce

I'm not sure if it's a good plan, but I decide to go with it for now.

"Well, I don't know where they live, but I can track them with my magic. I'm not as good at it as my teacher, but I can try. Which one do you want me to search for first, Black or White?"

[Silly Druid 8,016]

@Starforce @Samurai Equine

"Fine. I can't guarantee it will work though."

Tree Song closes her eyes, and uses all the magic detection skills the druid taught her. She slowly gathers the information from the air around her, to detect the slightest traces of magic that would help her find out where Mayor Black is.

Edited June 30, 2021 by PawelS

[Samurai Equine 56,847]

@Dynamo Pad, @Kronos the Revenant, @Courageous Thunder Dash, @ExplosionMare, @PawelS, @Starforce

Samurai greets Pencil as she shows up. "Ohayo, Pencil-chan. The spectator's entrance? Well, you can always follow Chelsea, or..." Samurai begins, but is interrupted. "Or you can just follow me. I'm headed there right now." Elusive Facts suddenly appears. "I was going to do some news coverage of the fighters, but since they are still gathering right now, I thought it would be best if I investigate the rest of the tournament grounds instead. Shall we walk there together?"

Samurai is relieved that Pencil and Chelsea will have their own guide to the spectator's entrance. Samurai is about to say something to Thundy, then Cosmic gets his attention. "Oh, yes, hello! My name is Samurai. Samurai Equine. Pleasure to meet you all. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Samurai bows politely before answering the question. However, Cosmic chose a funny way of putting it. "Actually, yes, you could say this town's troubles are caused by somepony; two someponies to be exact. However, my comrades and I are working to fix all that, and I genuinely believe we are getting close to that resolution." Samurai says. He is a little thrown off that Cosmic and his friends were listening in on the conversation between him and his friends. Still, he is willing to share in the short amount of time they have. There is some time before all the fighters have to report inside the tournament grounds.

However, as fighters come and register, so does a portly gentlecolt wearing a tiger mask. "I'd like to sing up, if you please." He asks, attempting to smoke a cigar before realizing his mask keeps him from doing so, so he puts it away. "Of course, sir. Here you go." Samurai gives the clipboard to him as well after Cosmic and the others were done signing in, and the stranger signs his name as Tiger Muscle. "Thank you very much, Mr. Tiger Muscle." Samurai says. "This fight will be GOOD for the town! Err, I mean, for me! Heh. A challenge is definitely what I want. Hear that, Krono--Err, I mean, citizens and visitors I'm just now meeting for the first time? Better bring your A-game into the ring!" Tiger says before slipping into the building.

If Tree Song is using her detection skills to find Mayor Black, she'll sense him at the tournament, where all the fighters are gathering. She can't pinpoint his exact location, but she can get pretty close.

[Windy Breeze 15,201]

@PawelS

A doctor would lead Nopony to Sundae's room. As they near the room, they heard a loud thump from inside the room. Opening it reveals an amusing scene of Sundae tossing a tennis ball against the wall out of sheer boredom, however, the unexpected visit caused to avert her attention to her two visitors, causing the small ball to bounce on the ceiling above her and down at her, embedding itself on her horn.

“I didn't know I have more visitors”

The doctor smiles “You do now, and this old guy wishes to see you”

***

@Samurai Equine

“Not much, and you can get in” Shadow stepped aside, allowing Trilby to enter their room. It was much very identical to his own room sans the clock that should be on the wall by the bed.

Keen zip towards the table, checking out the food with a large crescent smile.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,826]

@Samurai Equine @Dynamo Pad @ExplosionMare 

Thundy saw the new fighter, "Tiger Muscle", enter. He could tell that this fighter was quite confident, but hoped that he could fight as good as he talked. Meanwhile Chelsea was on the west side making sure that the medical stuff was all set and ready to go. 

Back at the fighter sign-up area, Thundy also saw another fighter, who's name was Cosmic. "Hey, I'm Thundy." He introduced himself. 

 

[Pencil Pouch]

@Samurai Equine @Courageous Thunder Dash @Dynamo Pad @PawelS @Starforce

Pencil was about to follow Samurai until Elusive Facts showed up. She waved at her politely and gave out a soft smile. She was glad she was here. She allowed the reporter to lead her and Chelsea towards the spectator areas.

“Hey, so, do you know why there’s a fighting tournament all of a sudden?” she asked. “I know it’s exciting for some, but to me, it seems kinda strange. What’s all the hype about it?”

[Chelsea]

@ExplosionMare

"Well you know after that...war...Friendshire took quite the hit in terms of ponies coming together...so I'd say that it's to bring ponies and creatures back together. Even if I'm not fighting, I'll still watch and cheer on my friends, and also help fighters who've gotten hurt." Chelsea explained as she gathered some water energy and made a nurse's attire appear on her. 

[Pencil Pouch]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“You make a good point there,” Pencil stated. “Still, I’d imagine fighting would be traumatic for some. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, I’ve never been too much into fighting arenas. I prefer combat in video games.”

[Chelsea]

@ExplosionMare

"Combat games are pretty fun. Thundy and I play a lot of Smash Bros together. Another game that Thundy really likes is the Tekken series. He's really mastered Raven, and can deliver quite the devastating bout of combos with him." Chelsea stated. 

[Dynamo Pad 11,851]

@Samurai Equine @ExplosionMare @Courageous Thunder Dash @Kronos the Revenant

"Uh...oh! It's a pleasure to meet you too, Samurai." Cosmic gave a low bow to return the greeting, but it looked like he was insulting the asian pony. He did, however, notice a pattern. Whenever Samurai had said something and then in Japonies. It seemed as if the last phrase said was also said in his native language. "Interesting. So, it's one pony and maybe an accomplice. If not, then I guess it's something else that's turned the situation on his head." Cosmic pondered, while Cheap chimed in. "It sounds like a hassle for comrades to help in whatever's going on. You sure you can fix something like this? Wouldn't it be better to have help from the big wigs?" Frozen could only roll his eyes at his teammates with a sigh. "Forgive these two. They have their own way of showing their concerns. Rather, they are a couple of oddballs. Also, don't mind Cheap. His parents dropped him on his head a couple of times when he was little." Hearing that insult, Cheap puffed up his chest with a look of hurt. "Hey! I'll have you know that I was dropped on my head seven times as a kid." He responded, the exact number not helping in his defense. As a gentlecolt wearing a tight mask had stepped in, Frozen raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Hearing that his name was Tiger Mask, the ebony pegasus had shook his head. "Seriously?" He asks, having a bored expression upon his face. "He's dressed in that getup and he goes by the name of Tiger Mask? Try something original, would you. This guy could take a few lessons from Royal Mask from the Sun and Moon games. They do look somewhat similar, but do they have the same passionate spirit? Either that, or he has the idea of Joker like in the Persona games." He shrugged, readjusting his glasses as it seemed Tiger Mask had a secret.

Standing up from his bow, the neon green unicorn had looked over towards the griffon male. "It's nice to meet you too, Thundy. Never saw a griffon with dreadlocks, but interesting choice in fashion. I'm guessing it's just you, Samurai, this Tiger Mask, some robot pony and us that are fighting in the tournament? If not, then I guess the others are inside waiting to get started." He wondered as the competition didn't seem so tough to the neon green unicorn. "By the way, wasn't there another griffon and mare with us? I'm guessing they aren't participating in this?"

Edited July 1, 2021 by Dynamo Pad

[Thundy]

@Samurai Equine @Dynamo Pad @ExplosionMare @Kronos the Revenant

"Well, I actually wasn't born a griffon, but that's a story for another time. Oh! That other griffon is my dear friend Chelsea. She's actually a griffon-pony. She's got pony ears and a cutie mark, but her primary look is a griffon." Thundy explained. 

 

[Dynamo Pad 11,851]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

"You...weren't born a pony?" Frozen responded, while he couldn't help in overhearing. "That...doesn't make any sort of logic whatsoever." He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to find any sort of sense of that response, but to no avail. "Yeah! If you weren't born as a griffon, then what were you even born as, then, huh!?" Cheap exclaimed, almost getting into the griffon's face. Upon learning about the other griffon known as Chelsea, Cosmic's eyebrows flashed with a twitch. "O-Oh, well that's interesting. I must admit that I've never heard of a griffon-pony before." In his mind, he wanted to vomit, but his expression stayed neutral to a degree. "It's rather peculiar for a griffon to gain a cutie mark, but I guess it's partly due to her pony DNA." Frozen commented, Cosmic nodding in agreement. "I guess fate deemed her worthy to being gifted with a mark."

[Thundy]

@Dynamo Pad

"Okay, if you really wanna know...I was born as a human on the planet earth. However, after a freak accident, I transformed into a griffon, which...well...gave me some extra stuff as well...my friend Dynamo Pad and I had quite the time training together, as I helped him with his abilities." Thundy said lifting his talon. Sparks of electricity crackled. "Chelsea on the other hand, can weild water and do all sorts of cool stuff with it." Thundy added. 

 

[Dynamo Pad 11,851]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Frozen, as well as Cosmic and Cheap had looks of disbelief on their faces. "A...human?" Frozen asks, before shaking his head. "Yeah...no. Sorry, but I've never heard of that before. Nothing like that in our history books in school." He explained, Cheap chiming in as he listened to the story. "Sound like whatever happened to you had given you those crazy dreadlocks." The burgundy earth pony took notice of the electricity in his talons. To which, further added onto his theory of the dreadlocks. "Electricity, huh? Now that's something you don't see from a griffon. That's actually pretty neat. Seems like you're someone to watch out for in this tournament." Cosmic commented, before his expression turned neutral at the mention of a familiar name. "Did you...just say Dynamo Pad?" The neon green unicorn's expression was almost unreadable to the group. Frozen and Cheap had seemed worried for their leader, while wondering if Cosmic would spill the beans and ruin the fun. Their worries were put to rest as Cosmic smiled with a slight grin. On the inside, he smiled deviously as he wondered where the blue unicorn was hiding. "You've trained together with Dynamo? He's actually our friend, so we haven't seen him in quite a long time. We actually grew up together in Fillydelphia. I heard he had struggled with magic, but I guess he got a bit better when you aid you've trained him." He almost temped to roll his eyes as he didn't care about hearing Chelsea's abilities or the female griffon. He still nodded as he showed interest to not avoid suspicion.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,826]

@Dynamo Pad

"We sure have..." Thundy said, looking to Cosmic. He saw the smile on Cosmic's face, but because of his impure heart, couldn't really see through that smile. 

@ExplosionMare

Meanwhile, Chelsea had a funny feeling. She let out a breath, putting her right talon where her heart was. Something was a little off...and she hoped that things were okay where Thundy and the others were. 

[Silly Druid 8,016]

@Samurai Equine @Starforce

"Teach you?" Tree Song opens her eyes. The magical visions disappear, and she goes back to the real world. "Well, since you're an alicorn, you should have earth pony powers too. But learning these skills is long and hard, I think using unicorn magic for that is more effective, so you should find a unicorn teacher... Anyway, I think the one we're looking for is in this direction..." Sparkly and Tree go through the streets of Friendshire for several minutes, and find themselves on the tournament grounds.

"Well, it seems we're going to the tournament after all. I believe Mayor Black is here."

@Windy Breeze

Nopony smiles slightly at the sight of the tennis ball impaled on Sundae's horn. "Hello Sundae, are you feeling well? There is something I want to discuss with you."

Edited July 1, 2021 by PawelS

[Ragland Tiger 3,546]

On 2021-06-28 at 7:13 PM, Dynamo Pad said:

As Dynamo sat up, he began rubbing his forehead as both his and Bluebell's horns had banged into each other. "Well, my mom always told me that I was headstrong." As he heard Bluebell's remark, as well as his own. The gaming unicorn couldn't help himself as he blew a raspberry. Ultimately leading to him leaning back and broke into a fit of laughers. "Oh, wow! I had to think about that for a moment." He responded in between his laughing fit. After a moment, he took a few deep breaths to try and compose himself. "Whew. That was a good one. Thanks for that as I really needed that." He sat up and smiled, blushing as there was something he wanted to do. Finding the courage, he leaned over and kissed Bluebell on the cheek. "Good morning, Bluebell. How are you and how did you sleep? Before the whole loud music, of course." He says, smiling softly.

@Dynamo Pad

Bluebell giggled.  "It's-it's a wonder that I s-s-s-slept,  making whoo-whoo-whoopee with y-you on the sofa!"  She noticed the small light of her pendant coming from the top of the end table.  She reached  over and took it with her hoof she studied it a moment, looked back up at Dynamo, and then held it against her chest.   She gave him an empathetic smile.  "Aw, d-d-Dynamo," she said.  "You think-think you're the only p-p-pony who has re-re-regrets about th-the past?  Ask p-p-Princess Luna, or st-Starlight Glimmer, or Trixie l-Lulamoon... they have t-tons of-of them.  I h-h-have them, too.  Take it f-f- from a pony who n-knows -- don't let shame rule you."  She brushed a tear from Dynamo's face.  "C-come on, let's g-g-go out for some b-breakfast."

[Windy Breeze 15,201]

@PawelS

Sundae beamed, “Sure, I appreciate the company, boredom can be cruel these days” she moved aside and gestured for Nopony to sit next to her, ignoring the tennis on her horn, “Come here”

Meanwhile, the doctor leaves the room, leaving only Sundae and Nopony inside

[Samurai Equine 56,847]

@Dynamo Pad, @Kronos the Revenant, @Courageous Thunder Dash, @PawelS, @Starforce

Samurai is a little confused at a comment Cheap makes. "Forgive me, I don't think I'm familiar with that phrase yet. What is a big wig? Is it a type of pony or a type of wig?" Samurai rubs his head.
He also turns to Cosmic as he tries to gauge the number of fighters. "Oh no, quite the opposite, actually! We've all ready registered over a few hundred fighters today so far, and the day is just beginning." Samurai says. And it's true. Inside the building, the number of registered fighters is increasing. But there are still some outside, either looming about or waiting in different lines so they can also register. Some are citizens, some are new arrivals to the town just for this event.

Samurai can sense a little tension between Thundy, Cosmic, and his friends. Or perhaps he is seeing things? Might just be a misunderstanding. However, before he can say anything, he sees two other arrive. "Ah! Ohayo Tree-chan, Sparkly-chan. Have you two come to register as fighters in the the first ever Friendshire Fighting Tournament? I can't let you enter from here unless you sign up to be fighters. There's also a separate entrance just for spectators."

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@ExplosionMare, @Courageous Thunder Dash

"Can't say for sure. All I know is somepony called the town hall in to organize this event, and Mayor White approved it. I believe it was that friend of yours, Samurai Equine? Though, the hype is a little confusing. Seems a little too soon to be doing something like this, but I guess they have a plan to make it meaningful to the town somehow." Elusive explains.

At the west entrance, there are lines forming. Citizens and 'tourists' are in line to purchase tickets, but lines are moving rather fast. It isn't long before Chelsea and Pencil get their turn to purchase their ticket. "I don't need to purchase a ticket. I'm a member of the press, so I get free entrance into any part of the tournament grounds." Elusive explains.

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@Windy Breeze

Seeing the anticipation, Trilby sits down at the table and moves the tray of food so they can all get to it. "Please, help yourselves. I got plenty for all of us." Trilby takes a cup of juice and some hay-bacon strips for now. "We'll need all our energy before we head out. Are you still up for this, Keen? Vanhoover is a big place. It'll be up to you to be our guide."

Edited July 2, 2021 by Samurai Equine

[Dynamo Pad 11,851]

@Ragland Tiger

"Y-You can say that again. With all that had happened, then I can say the same thing. I had a really nice sleep, but I think it helps that I had a lovely and amazing mare by my side." He winked as he was referring to the bespectacled mare. A blush dusting his cheeks as it appeared on his face from her choice of words. As Bluebell reached over to grab something, Dynamo looked to what she was trying to get. It was soon revealed that she was grabbing her pendant that was left on the end table. He had remembered leaving his pendant on, but taking his off after some time so as to not lose it. Levitating his pendant over, he held the piece of jewelry in his hooves. His eyes glancing over to Bluebell, who had been studying hers as if she had found some discovery. Just as she held her pendant close to her chest, he soon noticed the expression she flashed towards him. His jaw nearly dropped as he listened to her mention regrets of the past. He was about to ask what she had meant, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His eyes fell towards his pendant as he began piecing everything together. Looking back up to meet his girlfriend's gaze, Dynamo gave a soft sigh as he smiled softly. "I guess I can't really hide anything from you, huh? Not that I want to hide anything from you, of course. I'm sorry if I had woken you up from me falling off of the sofa, but you were right. I had this sort of nightmare of everyone leaving and seeing some familiar faces of the past. I-I can't explain it, but I-I saw my f-father, as well. I want to say that I'd label it all as just that, a dream or nightmare. Except, it didn't feel like a nightmare. Almost as if there was a warning or hidden meaning behind it all." He explained, nodding as he shared an empathetic expression of his own towards her. "I remember how you told me everything last night. It sounded like there was a lot of regret that went through in your life. However, it also sounded like you were able to go down a different path that lead you into gaining a better future. One where you found family in Twilight and Spike. Finding new friends in Samurai and the others. A-Along with finding love together with you and I." His blushed softened as his smile grew slightly as he felt blessed. He had thought he had experienced what love was before, but it was nothing compared to how he had felt when being around Bluebell.

He gasped softly as he saw Bluebell lean towards him to wipe away a stray tear. He hadn't realized if he had new tears forming, or if it was the previous tears he had from his nightmare. Either way, he appreciated her concern, while taking her hoof in his as he kissed her hoof. He cradled her hoof in his for a moment, before helping them both up to their hooves. "Okay and that sounds good. I'm feeling a little hungry so breakfast sounds perfect. Do you have anything in mind on what you want to have? Also, I know this might sound random, but did you say Starlight Glimmer?" As he stood up, he placed his pendant around his neck, while looking around briefly for his jacket. Seeing it hang over the bed, he smiled as he levitated it over, before placing the piece of clothing on.

@Samurai Equine @ExplosionMare @Kronos the Revenant @Starforce @PawelS @Courageous Thunder Dash

Hearing Samurai's remark had caused Cheap to sigh and roll his eyes. He gave an expression to the asian pony that asked if he was being serious. Noticing the rubbing on the back of Samurai's head had confirmed his suspicions. "You know what I mean, don't you? As in the big fish? The head honcho? The one's in charge of a specific district in town and hold's power? Sort of like a mayor, town ruler or mob boss or something. It's more of a way to describe them in one form or another." He explained, hoping he was able to get his message across in a better way. 'Here I thought I was not the bright one? Are some of these ponies and creatures not cultured or civilized?' He thought, while knowing he shouldn't say that out loud. Cosmic, on the other hoof, smiled as he soon noticed the other fighters signing up. He was disappointed that Dynamo wasn't among them, but he'd see the brat soon enough. "This is perfect. I'm more of a fighting kind of stallion in terms of video games, but I wouldn't mind getting some exercise. It's been a minute since I stretched my legs. That, and I'm hoping to surprise some fighters today with some cool ideas I have in mind." Frozen felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face at Cosmic's choice of words. He wanted to keep that surprise a secret for the time being. Thankfully, it wasn't the case as he avoided the subject altogether. Still, it would be better if he was tight-lipped on the secret as a whole.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Dynamo Pad

[Thundy]

@Dynamo Pad @Samurai Equine

"Well, best of luck to you Cosmic. It's always awesome to see what kind of techniques fighters bring to the competition. I always get excited when I see something new and original." Thundy said with a smile on his face as he went to find a place where he could meditate for some time.