The Ponyville JOUSTING CLUB Starring RAINBOW DASH

[Solar Solstice]

OOC Date: June 10, 2013
Characters: Rainbow Dash, Nimbus Dawning, Nimble Hooves, Moonbeam
Setting: In the Ponyville Square, Rainbow promotes her latest interest


As the remnants of the spring rains gradually ebb from public consciousness, the fertile ground of desire is left ready for planting. That was, at least, the mildly-tortured simile that Rainbow Dash was concocting in her brain as she flew about from wall to wall, adhering hoofbills to the poster boards and shop sides. Upon the papers are impressed images of ponies in armor wielding large lances, and the words, in large colourful letters: "Come to the new Ponyville JOUSTING CLUB, starring RAINBOW DASH."

Next along is the indigo (something catchy that rhymes with indigo), Nimbus Dawning. She's quite proud of herself: two months sober, no recent magic allergy issues... she's even feeling a bit more approachable. Just the littlest bit. She's heading up into the market, and stops for a second to hrm at the bustling. "Hrm..." See.

Nimble_Hooves wanders into the Marketplace looking about. He seems to be eagerly looking for a particular pony, yet in his eagerness he doesn't keep his eyes in where he is going, walking straight into an indigo pony. A small bunch of flowers drops from his wing harness, and he quickly scrambles to pick them up and tuck them away from view. Nothing to see here. "U-Um... s-sorry about that."

Rainbow_Dash is busying herself with putting up flyers, not really noticing much else. In time, her path takes her quite close to where Nimbus and Nimble are.

Nim is crashed into by Nim. Nim would normally be angry and snap toward Nim for that, but these days Nim is chilling out just enough to merely shoot annoyance in Nim's direction. "Hmph. Eyes on the road." Nimbus says, eyeing the flowers. Haw, flowers. Phbbbt. "Lucky we're in a nice place like this. Where I come from they have special dueling tournaments set up to deal with the slightest thing like this, you know."

<OOC> You say, "Speaking of duelling "
<OOC> Nimbus_Dawning says, "SEE WHAT I DID THERE >XD"

Nimble_Hooves's ears flatten at the indigo pegasus chastising him. She was right of course, and he doesn't say anything to protest, not that he would anyway. "S-Sorry... I-I was l-looking for a-a certain pony." He lets out a slight squeek at the mention of a duel. "I-I didn't mean to..."

Rainbow_Dash cranes her head at the sound of ponies arguing and is alarmed at once. "Whoa, whoa guys!" she declares, hovering over to them and holding up her hooves in a calming gesture. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves over, uh...what're you arguing about?"
Moonbeam can be seen gliding into the market, angling her descent to land quietly out of the way.

Nimbus_Dawning knows she can be intimidating, but the reaction of the male pegasus surprises her somewhat. "I'm not arguing, I was only, y'know, having a stern word." The fact she didn't reply to Dash with a MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS is proof of her development. "Didn't think I was that scary. I was just saying, where I come from, even /looking/ at somepony wrong can start fights, duels, you name it."

Nimble_Hooves's eyes widen as none other than Rainbow Dash comes to the rescue, not that it was a situation that really needed rescuing, but Nimble brightens immediately to see the friendly face. "I-It's okay, Lady Da--" He stops and bites his lip hard, remembering how she disliked titles. "-- I-I mean it is okay Dash. I-It was my fault. I-I wasn't w-watching where I-I was going."

<OOC> Nimbus_Dawning can stay! Whoo. Have dodgy kkeyboard though XD
<OOC> You say, "Wait did I say I disliked titles?"
<OOC> You say, "DOESN'T MATTER WE'RE RUNNING WITH IT"
<OOC> Nimbus_Dawning says, "XD"

Rainbow_Dash peers at Nimbus, then at Nimble. Oh boy. "Look, uh, Miss...Nimbus," she begins, looking at Nimbus's cutie mark to remind herself of the name. "You've been in Ponyville long enoug to know how it works around here. And Nimble, just...watch yourself. Uh..." She taps her temple; being a negotiator is hard! Wait a second. She reaches into the messenger bag slung around her shoulder and hoofs each of them a flyer. "You wanna join the Jousting Club? It's a new thing I'm starting!" Rainbow Dash: businessmare.

Moonbeam doesn't know the other two pegasi but does recognize one of them, the nice one from the lake. She wanders towards the group, giving Nimble a smile and a nod. "Hello Nimble. I am not interrupting anything am I?" looking up at the hovering Rainbow Dash jousting rep and then over to Nimbus.

<OOC> Nimbus_Dawning will take it that she looks at Nimbus's absense of a cutie mark to remind herself, Dash? XD
<OOC> You say, "Uh...yeah, let's go with that XD"

It's not clear if Nimbus saw the flank-glance in order to identify her. > But she does smirk a little as she is the winner by default - she's not been told to watch herself. Which is a good thing, as that could be very easily misconstrued. She peers at the flyer. "Fighting, eh?" She says, seeming to internally translate "joust" for "long big punch-up".

Nimble_Hooves's eyes scan over the flier and then looks to Rainbow Dash, unsure. "I-I'm not s-sure I'd be good at it, b-but I suppose I could try..." The arrival of Moonbeam is a welcome distraction. "O-Oh... H-Hello Miss Moonbeam... I-It is nice to see y-you again. Y-You weren't interrupting anything."

"Not just fighting, jousting!" Rainbow Dash clarifies. "It's the way ponies used to fight, with lances and stuff, before they started putting unicorns in front-line regiments, and, uh...you probably don't wanna hear that stuff, heh." She looks over at Nimble. "Jousting is for everypony! OK, maybe you gotta be fit to make the most of it, but you'll make, er, something!" Guilty-grin. Then Moonbeam appears, and she waves. "Yo! Wanna join the Jousting Club?" She hoofs her a flier.

Moonbeam stands over by Nimble nodding. "Oh good." smiling. "It is rather nice to fly into town and see somepony I know." looking up at Rainbow Dash while being hoofed. "Jousting?" then hears Nimbus mention fignting then Dash explainsit. "Oh, So its kind of like a fight club with ointy sticks then?"

<OOC> Moonbeam says, "Pointy sticks."
<OOC> Rainbow_Dash suddenly remembers that girl from The Weekenders

Nimbus_Dawning hm's, and seems to crickle her neck side to side just at the idea of combat sports. "I do prefer some nice hoof-to-face action... but hey, I'll take what I can get." She thinks aloud.

Nimble_Hooves blinks and nods to Rainbow Dash, still looking a little apprehensive. He smiles to Moonbeam. "O-Once y-you live in Ponyville f-for a while th-there will be plenty of friendly p-ponies y-you'll get to know." He winces slightly at the mention of fighting with pointy sticks.

"Like I said, it's not just fighting," Rainbow Dash insists, despite the fact that jousting is quite obviously a martial art. "It's about /prowess/ and /glory/ and other cool stuff too! I'm gonna have the inagural right after the Summer Sun Celebration, and everypony's invited! So, whatcha think?"

Moonbeam thinks for a bit and smiles up to Dash. "While I appreciate the offer, I'd have to pass. I'm not much into such matters to be honest. I'd rather glide over a lake and enjoy all of the flowers along the shore. They rarely have pointy sticks aimed at me." laughing softly and swinging her head towards Nimble. "So I am beginning to notice."

Nimbus_Dawning re-crackles, and purses her lips. Spending her time VIOLENCING would definitely get her 'out of the house' and, more importantly, out of the bar. "...Yeah, why not? I'll bruise up some ponies, sure."

Nimble_Hooves sighs a little, "I-I think I-I will have to see w-what it is like b-before I-I could decide--" Nimbus's comment about bruising up ponies makes him back away slightly. "--o-or maybe I-I should just leave it to bigger ponies."

"Suit yourself, miss, but the club's always open! Or will be, heh." Rainbow Dash then smirks at Nimbus Dawning, admiring her gung-ho pugillism. She was a brawler, for sure, but a proper fighter? We'll see! "Don't count them out just yet; there's different kinds of fighting, you know!" She turns to Nimble. "Sure, we can definitely have everypony do trials. Heck, this whole club is a trial, really. Ponies are just startin' to revive jousting as a sport, you know."
Moonbeam giggles. "Well, every sport still needs spectators, so I guess I can be one of those."

Nimbus_Dawning would certainly answer that she's proud to be a brawler. Wade right in, that's how she likes it!

Nimble_Hooves smiles to Moonbeam, the idea of being a spectator certainly appealing, especially when the alternative is being bruised up. "P-perhaps I-I could just w-watch for now too." He looks at the flier, noticing the armour. "A-although if y-you need a pony t-to make this--" He taps the armour in the picture, "I-I can d-do that not problem..." The idea of beating ponies unsettles him, but he can certainly beat metal.

"Spectators are nice, too," Rainbow Dash says. "Thanks for the offer, but we got some armor available; we wanna stick with the traditional stuff first before branching out. I'll definitely keep you in mind though. "So!" She looks at each of them. "Any questions?"

Moonbeam peers at the picture of the armor and ooohs. "That's right, you DID mention you were a metal smith." then grins to Nimble. "I bet you could advertize your worhk this way, if enoygh winning ponies won wearing your armors." cupping her ears upwards. "Making traditional things should be easy enough."

Nimbus_Dawning does have a bit of an admission for all of her front: "So this jousting. how do you win? Assuming there's loads of rules."

<OOC> Nimbus_Dawning says, "Since there's no rider to knock off XD"
<OOC> Moonbeam thinks it would be like in the Crystal Empire, when teh 6 were stalling?
<OOC> Nimbus_Dawning says, "Nim doesn't know that. XP"
<OOC> Moonbeam says, "Ahhh."

Nimble_Hooves peers over the picture and smiles to Moonbeam. "Th-this traditional a-armour w-would be rather heavy," he says more to Moonbeam that to anypony else, "I-I'm sure I-I could make a-armour h-half th-the weight a-and be just as strong." He smile and looks up to Rainbow Dash, "S-So, how many p-ponies do y-you have i-in your club s-so far?"

"Oh, it'll all be explained during the first session, Miss, uh...Nimbus. I got an instructor to teach us!" Rainbow Dash grins at Nimble Hooves. "Like I said, we're gonna try it out traditional first, but if we need to I guess I can get lighter armour from ya." She listens to his question. "Oh, well, there's me, and, uh...that's it right now." Guilty-grin. "But that's what I'm out today! I'm canvassing for members and...you could be members! Please?"

Moonbeam blinks. "Oh, I had not thought of weight....whoof....I don't think I could fly in that. I'm just not built for power." she says quietly, then looks over to Dash and Nimbus as they talk about the club a bit more.

Nimbus_Dawning hrm's. "I suppose I'd cross from bravado to stupidity if I mocked the need for armour and training. For now, anyway." She hrm's as she, feeling more at ease, seems to become more creative and thoughtful. "You could make a huge spectacle out of this. Like a mini cloudiseum, pomp and ceremony, touraments..."

Nimble_Hooves looks at Rainbow Dash in surprise. A club with only one member isn't much of a club. He sighs and puts his hoof up. "O-Okay... I-I'll join," The thought of leaving the Element of Loyalty hanging just doesn't seem right, "b-but I-I want t-to make my own armour a-and pointy thing. I-I'll make i-it look j-just the same."

"We're not going to be flying for a while miss, uh...what's your name?" Rainbow Dash blinks and realizes she hadn't asked that yet! "Way ahead of ya, Nimbus! But we gotta make sure everypony knows the basic stuff first." She turns to Nimble and smirks. "As long as you make it look nice, and welcome to the club!" She extends her hoof at him.

Nimble_Hooves smiles brightly and shakes Rainbow Dash's hoof eagerly... perhaps even a little too eagerly. "Th-thank you... I-I hope I-I can do this."

Rainbow_Dash blinks as Moonbeam departs. Oh well. "Don't worry, bud, I'm sure you can make it!" she tells him, though she does eye his mechanical wings uneasily. "If the actual jousting doesn't work out for ya we'd love to have you on the planning committee, too. Celestia knows we need some good eg- er, ponies on that."

Nimbus_Dawning grins to herself. She's decided she likes the idea, and this rainbowy and sorta dashy pony actually seems competent enough to get it all up and running. "You know what? I'm actually quite excited." she shares.

Nimble_Hooves waves as Moonbeam heads off, "T-Take care, Miss Moonbeam." He then turns back to Rainbow Dash, somewhat apprehensive about the whole thing. "S-So h-how does this jousting th-thing work?"

Rainbow_Dash smiles to Nimbus. "Great!" And then she regards Nimble. "Well, it's not too much. You have a lance, and its strapped to your side, and you gotta knock the other guy over by running at him with it!"

Nimble_Hooves looks a little shocked at this. Perhaps he should have asked more about it before offering to join Rainbow Dash's club of one. He gulps. "Y-You make i-it sound so easy."
Rainbow_Dash wavies to Nimbus, whose name she definitely remembers now, as she leaves. "It's not /that/ hard, really! Well, the first part, anyway. If you get hit...well, don't worry about that right now." She glances aside suspiciously. "You didn't know what jousting was? I thought everypony in flight school learned about t- oh, um..." She blushes a bit; did Nimble actually /finish/ flight school because of his...condition?

Nimble_Hooves winces and dips his head, "I-I never w-went to flight school." He looks to his mechanical wings. "I-I t-taught myself t-to fly w-with these... a-and I-I read lots o-of books a-about flying."

"Yeah, I remember," says Rainbow Dash, thoroughly embarrassed for her rather awful flub. "I...yeah, jousting is totally awesome! Like, the Crystal Ponies invented it, or maybe we brought it over from outside? Ponies argue about that a lot. Anyway." She lowers herself from the hover to touch the ground, patting Nimble on the shoulder. "Good to have ya in the club, either way! Maybe later on we'll see about getting flight armour like the Air Cavalry has."

Nimble_Hooves perks up, "O-Oh... I-I know a-about that. I-I found designs i-in a book once." The sadness over not attending Flight School completely disappeared. "I-I m-may not be th-the fastest o-or the strongest, b-but I-I will try m-my best a-at jousting anyway." He smiles. "O-Oh... a-and Miss Dash... i-it is okay... a-about my wings... I-I know you don't mean anything bad."

"It's over, no worries," says Rainbow Dash, who really doesn't want to think about winglessness for a while. Or forever. "So, uh...what're you up to nowadays? Still mooching off Medley, I guess, heh."

Nimble_Hooves blushes at the mention of Medley, "A-actually I-I'm building a-a workshop right here i-in Ponyville." He sighs. "I-It is a lot o-of hard work though... S-still it would be nice not t-to have to rely on Mr Dusk o-or Miss Medley... I-I hope I-I can repay their kindness." He perks up a little. "I-It would b-be nice i-if you could visit w-when it is opened."

"I'll definitely try to make it!" Rainbow Dash promises. Hopefully her schedule is clear at that time. "What knid of machines you thinking of selling?"

Nimble_Hooves sits, "W-wings like mine?" He looks a little preplexed at this. "T-To be honest I-I'm not sure... I-I just w-wanted a workshop I-I could call home. S-Somewhere I-I could fix things f-for ponies, a-and b-build all sorts o-of things."

Rainbow_Dash nodnods. "Right, I can see you making a job out of that! But there aren't that many machines in Ponyville yet... you gonna sell appliances and stuff, I'm guessing?"

Nimble_Hooves suddenly looks rather disheartened as he realises he hasn't quite sorted things through. "I-I suppose I-I could... I-I'd much prefer t-to be creating things f-for ponies. I-I did that back home... b-but things a-are a bit different here.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll make it somehow!" says Rainbow Dash. "Look, if Dusk can keep his magic shop going here, then you'll definitely be able to make it."

Nimble_Hooves smiles a little and stands, "Th-thank you... You've given m-me something t-to think about. P-perhaps I-I shouldn't be rushing i-into th-this whole workshop thing... I-I do have a-a couple of projects I-I need to finish b-before then. M-maybe even one th-that the Princesses th-themselves w-would be impressed by--" He clamps a hoof over his mouth, having possibly said too much.

Too late: Rainbow Dash has heard it! "Whoa whoa, you're doing something for the Princesses?" she says, gawking at him.

Nimble_Hooves shakeshakes his head, "N-No... I-It isn't like that." He looks about suspiciously, and then edges closer, and whispers to her in a hushed voice, "I-It i-s a new kind of metal." His eyes light up, and he backs away, nodding as if Rainbow Dash will get the importance of it.

'I don't get it.' The words deflate Nimble and he sits heavily, brining a hoof to his face. He sighs and thinks for a moment or two. "W-well, i-it isn't exactly new. I-it is a-actually s-something really old, b-but new t-to us. I-It hasn't b-been around s-since Celestia was a foal--" He clamps a hoof over his mouth at the potential blasphemy, "--probably."

Rainbow_Dash blinks as she starts making the connections. New metals meant new armour, new devices, new machines. "Whoa whoa," she enunciates, working through the implications. "Are you saying, you can...?"

Nimble_Hooves quickly puts his hooves over Rainbow Dash's mouth, looking about suspiciously. "Shhhh... I-It's still a-a secret. O-only me a-and Mr Dusk know... n-now you." He suddenly wonders if being the Element of Loyalty translates into being the best at keeping secrets, but then turns his attention to more important things. "W-we haven't finsihed yet, but w-we're really close."

Rainbow_Dash is totally good at keeping secrets! Honest. "Oh wow oh wow," she utters, totally anxious and excited for this thing she's not supposed to know about. "I wanna see it! I mean..." She leans her head in and whispers. "I wanna see it."
"When it's done, I mean."

Nimble_Hooves tries his best to hush Rainbow Dash, aware that other ponies are starting to look. "I-I'll show you, w-when we finish it... I-I'll need help t-to guard it u-until w-we can get it to the Palace." At that moment he notices a yellow, pink maned, pony across the marketplace. He can't quite see, but it could be her. "S-Sorry Miss Dash... b-but I-I need t-to do s-something really important. I-I'll be right back." He pulls away and goes chasing after...

Rainbow_Dash nodnods. "I'll do what I...! I mean..." She leans over again. "I'll do what I can," she whispers. When Nimble Hooves takes his leave she waves at him, a little more excitedly than usual, and then returns to putting up the flyers. Jousting is starting to seem a little less exciting now, oddly enough!

<OOC> Starlight Rainbow-Dashes, "Oh come ON! How can STABBING somepony get LESS AWESOME?"
<OOC> You say, "Shh "

Nimble_Hooves sighs and wanders back to where he and Rainbow Dash had been talking. There is a slight limp in his step and he rubs his cheek a little. It seems somepony must have objected to being mistaken for Fluttershy.

[Solar Solstice]

OOC Date: July 27, 2013
Characters: Rainbow Dash, Pauldron Sheen (NPC), Dynamite Rave, Mimic, Applejack, Solar Solstice (alt), Mbala, Shadow Mane, Bardigan, Skyheart, Fluttershy
Setting: At Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash and Pauldron Sheen hold the first-ever meeting of the Ponyville Jousting Club!


It's the very first meeting of the Ponyville Jousting Club, and the appointed place is quite prepared. Rather than the flat, featureless grass that usually covers the front field of Sweet Apple Acres, there seems to be a big, colorful tent and a long fence made of several short poles tied together by string. A huge sign adorns the gate, that same one that Rainbow Dash has been posting everywhere, but the most interesting features are, of course, inside: Rainbow Dash herself, making the final adjustments to the lance rack attached to her side; a few of her Weather Patrollers who've expressed interest; and a grizzled pegastallion dressed from neck to tail in full plate armor, with only the helmet missing. "It's a good start, I suppose," he states, looking at the small gathering. -- "Hey, there'll be more!" Rainbow Dash insists, tightening the last few straps. "You'll see: nopony is gonna miss out on watching me fight! Er...and you too, heh."

Striding to the jousting club is Dynamite Rave, decked out in his gold and silver armor that represents him as a Royal Guard in the Canterlot army. His black mane has been tied up into a single ponytail and tucked under the armor around his neck. "Hey Rainbow Dash! You ready to battle the next champion of the Equestrian Games?" He calls out in good natured teasing as he tips a wink in her direction. Once he makes his way to her, he puffs out his chest. "Check me out. Pretty awesome, huh?"

The smooth rush of polished metal on metal can be heard as Mimic trots up the path of the farm. The crystal pony is adorned in armor, strikingly black against her chartreuse coat and rimmed in bands of crimson. A helmet is hinged to one shoulder, angular and sharp in design, with a lance in the same color scheme hooked to her other shoulder. The mane of the crystal unicorn is tightly rolled and bound along the back of her neck and her tail in a short, wrapped bob. She carries it all easily, with the practice of experience.

Applejack trundles up from the orchards with a small cart full of freshly-bucked apples, mostly golden delicious. She pauses and looks at the tent, then at the ponies standing nearby. "Boy howdy, Dash! Y'all done made this place look plumb nice! Ah'll be back in two shakes!" AJ quickly pulls the cart into the open barn and unhitches herself, closing the door as she emerges. She trots up to the others, grinning widely, then looks around. Armor. Armor. Armor. Hm. Her grin falters.

Rainbow_Dash turns her head and smiles as she catches sight of Dynamite. "Fat chance! I'm totally gonna rock this; you'll see!" Slowly, a few more ponies from town arrive, one of whom seems to be gazing at the spectacle with wide-eyed awe. Solar Solstice seems to be particularly interested in the old knight and his armor, gazing at his equipment with fascination. When Mimic appears, though, that same knight looks up and looks at her with unusual interest, as if to scour her features for hidden truths. Momentarily, though, his face breaks out into an avuncular smile. "Welcome, welcome everypony! I am glad to see that all of you have shown interest in the Art of the Joust."

Mbala stands by the sign at the gate as armored ponies gather. He glances at his cutie mark, back at the sign, at all the ponies. Maybe he will be able to just watch a demonstration before deciding whether to join the club. He walks through the gate, joining the crowd curiously.

"You -think- you are going to rock this, but you're gonna need a whole lot of bandages for your butt. I'm gonna make sure it hits the ground all day." Dynamite says boastingly as he gives her shoulder a playful bump with his. "After this, I gotta talk to you about something important too." He says in a bit more of a sober tone. His ears perk upwards at the sight of the black knight that is Mimic, lifting a hoof up. "Hey, Mimic over there is the old champion of the crystal empire." He says softly to the cyan pegasus. "I fought her to a draw once. I'm telling you, when she hits you, it's like getting kicked in the ribs. She's /really/ good."

Arriving a bit late, Shadow Mane looks around the place as he sees the Jousting club getting set up. He almost wishes he could enter into it. Maybe next time, but the dark grey Stallion has almost exhausted himself through setting up his Tavern so he hasn't enough energy to use his magic, much less run up and down a field. looking the place over he says to a passing pony, "this seems like it would be a good addition to a festival I am planning in the future." And moves off to get a somewhat decent spot so he can watch. Hopefully no one will get hurt. He has spells that will heal wounds... but right now... he's fairly depleted on magic energy.

"Yah, well, it was kind of my job." Mimic remarks towards Dynamite, an ever so subtle emphasis on the word job, but she doesn't offer much details as to what it was beyond that. She looks towards Rainbow Dash and offers the cyan mare a grin. "No worries. I figured on coming here mostly to offer some help, demonstrations... I'm not ganna smear your new bloods all around the lists. That just isn't fair." She notices the keen look from the pegasus joustmaster and gives a slight upwards bob of her chin in acknowledgement - one oldtimer to another, perhaps. She falls quiet as she walks up to stand beside Dynamite Rave, though she leans in to mumble towards him. "...and it wasn't a draw. You quit after the first go. Rule's best two out of three. You still owe me."

Applejack locates Rainbow Dash and Sir Pauldron Steel and trots over to them, looking increasingly uncertain. "Uh... Great job on th' setup, Rainbow! I'm lookin' forward ta givin' this a go, but... does everypony have their own suit o' armor? Ah ain't got nothin' like that..." She looks sad for a moment - WAY more sad than just needing a piece of sports equipment should cause - then makes a small smile instead and looks back. "...so, uh... do ya got any spares?"

Mbala oohs and aahs at Dynamite's words and turns his head to look at Mimic. (She does not look THAT old to him.) This is going to be so much better than the toastmasters club! "May I ask... I have a question... Can one joust without armor if one is just practicing for the first time?" He glances at Applejack. "You know, just do it a bit more gently and carefully?"

"Hey, knock it out, you two!" Rainbow Dash chides playfully. "There'll be plenty of time for showing off later on!" -- "Ah, a good question, both of you" says Pauldron Sheen, bowing respectfully to Applejack and Mbala. "We do, in fact, have several sets of practice armor, but that shall come in time. Now...ATTENTION! The lesson is about to begin!" Several would-be participants start to gather around the old knight, looking and waiting attentively.

"Wings. Hurt! Out of breath. Gonna die," says the curious figure in armor making his way towards the jousting lists. He's flying. In armor. Through the air. He's not doing a very good job of it, wibbling and wobbling back and forth and maintaining a precarious altitude somewhere between "tree line" and "ground." Bardigan lifts his visor and sees the Acres coming up, breathing a huge sigh of relief. "Oh goodness! Should not have flown. Good thing you just use the legs! Ha ha. Ha." And then he allows himself to drop like a rock onto the path with a clatter before heaving himself back up and trotting onwards. "Here I come! Pardon me! I think I made it! Whew."

Skyheart is following right behind Bardigan with an unamused look on his face. "I told you that was a bad idea..." he chides. He looks into his bags to notice Orpheus seems to have been lost somewhere in flight. "...I think he went home after getting sick of you clanking all the time." He tells him. He looks around for the stands to sit down.

"Well, some it's *loose!* I blame you for not tying the straps tight enough," Bardigan shoots back over his shoulder.

Cutting his eyes to Mimic, Dynamite Rave smirks. "I'd rather just keep it a draw in my head to save myself some dignity." He says to the crystal soldier that is Mimic before he turns his attention to the older jousting guard. He shifts his frame some as the armor clinks against his body. He settles his lance against his shoulder loosely to let it wobble up and down gently.

As he trots through the place Shadow Mane spots the training area and chooses to saunter up. He might not partake in the current try outs, but he is interested. So he gets close and moves up to listen attentively. "Ah I see lessons are being held. If I wasn't so fatigued I would enter myself. Maybe next time." Shadow says that to no one in particular but he is interested so he listens to focus on the stallion who is no doubt his elder and wiser here. The idea of including this in a Renneighsaunce Festival... appeals to him. He will need to try and get a chat with Rainbow Dash after the events.

Mimic smirks sidelong to Dynamite, eyes gleaming with the sort of 'we know who'd have one' swagger. She remains quiet thought and turns back to Pauldron as things get started. She settles into a relaxed, attention pose like a relaxed soldier and turns her ears forward to listen to his words.

Applejack starts to listen to Sir Pauldron, but is quickly distracted by Bardigan's... um... distinctivly Bardiganesque arrival. "Howdy, all y'all!" She chuckles at Skyheart and Bardigan who are - as usual - managing to sound like an old married couple and brightens considerably! There is spare armor, and on top of it she gets to see the poet and the playwright *joust*? Fan-buckin'-tastic! With a big grin, she pays attention to the old soldier.

Patapatapatapata--! Four yellow hooves dash along the ground, largely undirected as their owner struggles to keep her long mane out of her face. Cresting the top of the nearest hill, she stops, and, between all her huffing and puffing, heaves a big, squeaky 'ppphew!' of relief. "H-hello, everypony. I-I'm here...to...cheer..."

Skyheart glances over to Fluttershy's surprisingly quick arrival. "Huh? Oh, hey, Fluttershy. You too? Bardigan pretty much begged me to come out here and urge him on. I think he just needs somepony to cart him to the hospital but that's just me." He motions to the jousters. "Well, go ask them how to fix it." He says to Bardigan.

Once Pauldron Sheen gets the attention of the majority of ponies he coughs a little and begins. "I am certain that most of you come here with your own ideas about the joust and its history, about knights and lords and ladies and chivalry and all those cherished values of an older age. Yet, such values persist, such ideas live on, whether in our modern corps of knights or in the living history of the Princesses themselves, there is Memory, there is Heritage. As Equestrians, you deserve to know your heritage, and so I will not hesitate to tell you the unvarnished truth of our enterprise." He walks along towards the big tent, keeping his suddenly grim expression towards the crowd. "The art of the Joust is an art of War. What you will learn in the proceeding moments is how warriors fought and killed in the din of battle. The lists, the contests...it was preparation for that brutal endeavour."

<OOC> Rainbow_Dash cranks the rating up to PG-13 :u

"Yes, yes, I'll take care of it," Bardigan mutters as he pushes into the crowd, giving Applejack a sidelong glance and the way she eyes him and Skyheart. "I know that kind of grin, miss Applejack. Or is it 'Dame' today?" he says, with a 'I know what you're thinking' kind of look before turning back to Pauldron.

Mbala looks at Pauldron with his most serious face he can possibly manage, making sure he does not miss any of the instructions. He seems to be just a little bit worried of what he is getting himself into.

Dynamite_Rave straightens himself up rigidly as he listens to Pauldron, his ears jerking forward to give him his full attention and regard.

<OOC> Bardigan gasp. "Guys, she said 'endeavour.' That's an *adult* word!"
<OOC> Applejack says, "And she done stripped th' varnish offa th' truths! Right in front of us!"
<OOC> Mbala says, "Endevour?"

Adding to Pauldron Sheen speaks Shadow Mane adds to the fact, "Also this sort of tournament was not entirely free of it's own bloodshed. While uncommon, Injuries, and even death have happened from Jousting. Sparing the crowd the Gruesome details. I wouldn't be surprised if someone here got seriously hurt." Shadow Mane says. "This is not a game for the timid. Hopefully any injuries will be minor."

<OOC> Bardigan says, "She's pushing even the PG-13 at this rate!"

Skyheart listens to the lecture and moves to take a seat in the stands, watching for now. Choosing to have a friend to converse with, he looks around to see who else is watching.

Mimic passes a studying glance over the gathered ponies, the faintest crease in her brow as she judges them with a practiced eye. No doubt Pauldron has his work cut out for him, but there's no war now. They have the leisure of time. Her eyes fixate then on Shadow Mane as he speaks, the crease between her eyes deepening as she shifts one shoulder and then the other, unconciously taking stock of weight and position of her lance and helmet. Bloodshed? Death? There's probably a very good reason her armor is scarlet on black.

Applejack grins harder at Bardigan! "Ah ain't never been a 'dame' neither. Go talk ta Fluttershy's - Oh hay! Howdy, Fluttershy - beavers if'n THAT'S what ya want!" She blinks at Pauldron. "Ain't that sorta all in th' past now? We ain't had a war in HOW long?" AJ looks around again, this time taking a long look at each of the ponies who brought their own armor. Hmm. Softly, she says, "ah hope this ain't more pie'n ah can swallow..."

Rainbow_Dash is sitting eagerly at the front, absorbing every word of Pauldron's. Some of the other ponies, though, shift uncomfortably. War? Death? Isn't this supposed to be a sport? But a few aren't fazed despite this, in particular Solar Solstice who seems to be more eager than ever. -- Pauldron regards Shadow Mane with curiosity. "Indeed, sir, it is no mere game." When Applejack objects, though, he turns and gives her a deep gaze. "There are always wars, Miss Applejack; some are better hidden than others." With that cryptic remark, he raises his wings and flutters them as he stands on the ground. The wind builds and coalesces around him, suddenly surging sideways towards a big rack of lances near the tent, one lance in particular: a sturdy black lance with fine etchings and gold filagree on the handle. It launches into the air and lands right in his hooves. "Behold, the lance: a weapon of skill. It is a thrusting weapon, designed to make use of a pony's speed and strength to reach into the gaps of armor and cond
conduct a finishing blow. Such matter are, however, of an advanced nature; for now we shall stick to learning how to hold it. Everypony, please, grab a lance. No armor yet."

Skyheart listens to the talking for now, wondering if there will be space in the stands for writing should get any sudden urges to do so. The romanticism of reality is his stock in trade after all and nothing is more glorified than days past all but forgotten by the annals of history and washed over with legends. He reveled in that. A smile creeping to his face, he looks around for a comfortable spot with a lot of room. Forget talking, now was the time to create something.

Bardigan looks down at his full suit of armor. Aw, it took him forever to get it on! But there's no getting it off now. He does remove his helm and hoof it off to Skyheart first, though, before retrieving a lance that doesn't make his wing want to fall off (they already feel like they want to fall off) and resuming position near the instructor. "You'll be fine," he says to Applejack and her uncertainty. "Just think of the adventure of it all! I'm more excited than ever. I've tilted before to research roles, but to actually be a part of aspiring jousters... wow!"

"Beavers? I-I don't think the beavers are up for jousting, AJ." Fluttershy is still catching her breath. "I, um...h-hello, Skyheart. What'd I miss?"

As he listens to Pauldron, Dynamite Rave slowly nods his head in agreement. As a soldier of Celestia's estate, he has had his fair share of 'incidents' with enemy combatants. The helmet floats off his head to settle down at his side, and he lifts his lance up expertly and slots it just right. Rigid. Unwavering. His eyes narrow a bit in thought as he settles it in against his shoulder and notches it. With a look over to Rainbow Dash, he gives her a quick, faint smile.

Shadow_Mane chooses not to get technical with his elder out of respect. But in truth Tournaments were games that lasted many many rounds over the course of several days. Shadow Mane Nods to Pauldron when he says, "No mere game indeed." That is the extent of what he says, looking around Shadow Mane takes note of the Healers and medics. While his energy is limited, if people with healing skills are needed, he's not about to turn down a call for help. Looking over at Mimic he shrugs his shoulders. At least medicine and healing skills have greatly advanced in the last hundred years or so. The talk of possible secret wars gets his attention and cants his head slightly recalling that detail very closely.

A nimbus of shifting, aurora-like red magic wraps around the lance of Mimic, removing it from the holster along her side and instead cinching it into a modified rack along her right shoulder and side. It's locked solidly in place, molded to look like a wicked, talon-like extension of armor and leaves her hooves free. The helmet remains on her left side, the sharp angled accessory dormant for now.

Skyheart casts a soft glance to Fluttershy and nods to the competitors gently. "Not much. They're still all getting ready. I hope I can find something nice to write about." He looks up at the stands rather curiously for the time being. "Care to join me? We can get a good view closer to the top. Also I think I might be able to find a nice open spot where I can write if I feel the urge coming on."

Applejack frowns. Hidden wars? How do ya hide a war - then she goes bug-eyed as Sir Pauldron's lance flies past her face! "WHOA NELLY!... How the hay'd y'all do THAT? Beggin' yer pardon, but y'ain't a unicorn!" Then Bardigan waxes poetic about the sprit of adventure. "Bardy, sugar... Ah've *had* adventures. They're harrowin' an' nerve wrackin', an' it ain't that fun ta be worryin' if yer friends're gonna get hurt right in fronta ya." She trots over to the rack and selects a very plain wooden lance, pretty much at random. Then she stands there with it awkwardly... she has neither armor with its lance armature, nor the ability to hold it steady with magic, nor even a wing to tuck it under. She looks over at the instructor helplessly. "... uh..."

Bardigan smiles back at the farmpony. "Miss Applejack... I have had my share of adventures as well. I really must tell about the time a griffon almost shot me to death! But that's why we're here now, isn't it? All the adventure with marginally less danger!" Except they'll be smashing each other with giant wooden poles. So really not *that* much less danger.

Rainbow_Dash also catches sight of Dynamite and smiles, too. She doesn't have time for chit-chat, though: it's time to learn the Joust. -- Pauldron gives Applejack a clever grin. "A pegasus knows the wind," is all he says. He walks about, checking each pony harnessing their lances to their sides. "Good, good, that's it. By working with your equipment you will come to know how it feels to use it." After everypony is geared up, he walks back to the front and resumes. "We shall begin with hoofling ((handling)) our lances properly, and to do that we must know what it's like to carry it about." Of course, this essentially involves some trotting about. Pauldron leads the whole group in slow laps around the lists, starting with a straight trot and then proceeding with some tests of flexibility, like shuffling sideways with the lance, and technical aspects, like lifting your lance-side leg as you turn to maintain the momentum of the maneuver. "Never lean, always pivot," he advises, helping a few ponies who stumble and fall sideways when they don't account for the offset weight. All of this takes about 20-30 minutes or so. Several pegasi try to use their wings for balance, but Pauldron dashes over and raps them lightly on the withers. "You won't have that luxury in a real fight!" he declares.

As he moves along with the lance on his shoulder, Dynamite practically trots with a practiced cadence to each step. He is after all used to taking orders from Shining Armor before his promotion to prince. The lance on his shoulder continues to remain locked in and steady as he follows after Pauldron. At times his eyes will move to the other cadets, gauging how well, or not so well, they are doing. He is sure Mimic is of course at ease with the skill test, as well as Dash.

Watching those here move around with the practice lances. "If they think those are heavy... they should try lifting the ancient Dragon Lances, Lances made of solid metal designed to kill dragons." Shadow Mane says and he checks out the Form and the general and stance of many of the participants, Mostly their legs to see if there is any slight trembling or possible weakness that he can spot from his angle. A Weak leg can become a broken leg in this situation, if he does notice the weakness he will point it out Pauldron Sheen.... calling him over discreetly to tell him of what he sees. Having had some training in a medical and first aid....

Mbala struggles with the lance that seems to extend impossibly far from him, making sure he does not do any sudden turns. He shifts the lance several times with his magic as it seems very awkwardly balanced to him. "This is very unnatural at first, I must admit. I do not even want to pivot, can't we just go straight?"

Applejack learns as best she can from Sir Pauldron, but is having a LOT of trouble with it. The applebucker is used to using Kicks and Bucky together, and relying on her low center of gravity being lined up with the middle of her body. Tucking a heavy lance handle under one 'armpit' is throwing her off a lot, and she even falls over several times! "Are ya SURE this here's th' right thing ta do? All th' armor Ah've ever seen's got them holsterin' doodads ta hold th' lance! Ah can't keep mah dad-blamed balance with this cockamamie thing!" Trying at the last to pick up some speed, she even manages to drop the lance tip into the dirt and pole-vault herself into the tent's fabric wall! *rip* "OOF!" She lays winded for a moment. "... cons.. arn it... hh..."

Rainbow_Dash is, indeed, doing quite well, though she seems to have some minor difficulty at changing direction without using her wings. She quickly notices Applejack having trouble. "Uhh...AJ? You're supposed to use the harness like everypony else." Sure enough, everypony except Applejack is wearing the lance harness on their sides.

"Ow, sorry!" Bardigan says, snapping his wings back into place. "Never lean. Always pivot. Never lean... always *pivot.*" Which is difficult, because pegasi often lean to make tiny course corrections. But he hasn't done this more than once already for nothing. Soon enough he's marching like a soldier! A soldier who has never been an actual soldier a day in his life. "What a fine day to learn how to swing a giant piece of wood around," he says to himself with a smile. He passes by Applejack's disaster site and chuckles. "You're supposed to use one of these harnesses, my dear," he says, holding one out to her.

"There's more than one direction in jousting, good sir!" Pauldron Sheen counsels Mbala, helping the unicorn with the maneuver. "This is a basic exercise which we will all come back to time and time again." With that, he wraps up this section, calling all the ponies to gather around him once again.

A gentle glow of red magic wraps about Applejack to help her up to her hooves as Dynamite stops by the toppled tent. Giving her a small smile, he says in his usually smoky tone. "Yes, you need to wear the holster. Let me help you put it on." He says as he looks to float the hardness from Bardigan as he offers it to her. "I have no doubt that an athlete like you will get the hang of this soon enough, AJ."

"Oh! Good. I-I was worried..." Flutters has spent a moemnt fixing her tussled mane after the run. "I-I came here to cheer for my friends. (I just hope this doesn't become another Iron Pony.)"

Staying out of the Way Shadow Mane knows perfectly well from reading history of this. The sight of AJ attempting to use it without a harness makes him roll his eyes. If she can buck Apple trees hard enough to know all the apples out in one go... She will master this fairly well. Biting his lip he looks around watching with a Keen eye. He'd read up on it as he says to a Pony near him. "Reading about this in a book is one thing seeing it first hand... It's incredible. Kinda makes me wonder how we would stand up compaired to our kin from a thousand years ago."

Mbala frowns and mutters quietly to himself, "Byt we just charge straight at the enemy...", then he seeks a sympathetic ear to grumble to, "This will become much easier once we get to actual jousting," he explains quietly to the nearest pony. "They always make you do all these excercises first, but seriously, I do not see why should I need to do any turning. Concentrate all your power in one direction, do not let anyone distract you, that's the way to win."

Skyheart nods to Fluttershy. "I hear you... that was... odd." He watches the variuos mishaps of the joust and cringes. "...Think they'll be okay? Makes me glad I didn't let Bardigan talk me into competing, too."

Mimic doesn't involve herself much in the exercise save to warm up, her movements fluid and easy as if it was well and truly second nature to her. She offers some advise to a couple of ponies who are near her, though they are soon enough being called back to gather. It leaves her time to hear Shadow Mane and a slow, easy smile pulls up the corner of her mouth. "When you're done with classes, you can have a go at me. I'll let you know how you'd have stacked up a thousand years ago." ...really? Nah! She doesn't even look like she's hit full adulthood yet. She can't be *that* old.

Applejack flushes in embarrassment. "Nopony said nothin' about no HARNESSES!" She nods her thanks to Dynamite and Bardigan, but snatches the harness out of Dynamite's magic. "Ah'll dress mahself if'n y'all don't mind." Fortunately, that only takes two tries to get it on the right way around, and Applejack is soon able to trot around with the lance properly seated; this way, she doesn't fall over. She merely veers off-course to the right over and over and just barely avoids spearing Skyheart on the sidelines! "Whoops! Sorry, sugarcube!"

"We have learned how to carry the lance...or, at least, most of us have." Pauldron Sheen gives a clever, knowing look at Applejack. "In any case, we must proceed to the next component of our training: the use of armor. Everypony, please proceed to the tent to be outfitted." It turns out that there's a giant chest full of practice armor (which seems to be light plate) that Pauldron and Rainbow set about distributing. There are multiple sizes and also special cuirasses for pegasi, so fairly soon everypony is outfitted except Rainbow Dash, who proceeds to don what appears to be her own specially-made suit, tinged silver and embossed with her own cutie mark to boot.

Mbala dons his armor with enthusiasm, "That's more like it! YEAH!" He does a few dance moves, feeling the plates shift back and forth and ends by congratulating himself, "Like a TORTOISE!"

"Ain't no problem Apple Jack." Dynamite Rave says with a nod of his head to the orange pony, then chuckles as he motions with his head to the next tent. "Armor time." Slyly with a grin, he turns and trots after to join up with Rainbow Dash once again. "Ha, look at you." He says with a smirk on his face. "Nothing boring and mundane for the great element of loyalty, huh?" He says as he floats his helmet over to fasten it upon his head.

Bardigan already has his armor! Which is starting to get a little itchy and sweaty by now. Ew. Bardigan twists about in his armor and manages to knock over more than one armor rack in his quest for the perfect position to scratch a stubborn itch. "Gaah... eh! I hope this goes away once we start the jousting."

Moving around he chest the armor out from afar watching it's form and fittings. The additional weight to see if it's counterbalanced or not. As he notes Dash's outfit he says, "Hey if you are gonna do something like this, may as well be flashy about it. Some armors were very well decorated for use during tournaments." Shadow Mane says. "The reason is you don't run straight at the other pony, and if you don't learn to pivot instead of lean you might break a leg, by putting constant stress on one side of your body. At least that is what I understand." he says softly.

Mimic remains outside, standing by herself in her polished black armor and watching the other ponies move towards the tent. Her eyes pause briefly on Dynamite Rave as he moves after Rainbow Dash before the sleek helmet at her side is hoisted up in a cloud of red magic and secured around her head with a sharp snap. There's an almost avian quality to it that matches the sleek lines of her armor, designed to redirect blows. Where ever her armor came from, it looks to be enchanted. No sooner does she don the helmet then, like those of the royal guard, her colors change. Except on her, her colors leech out, until she's nothing but grayscale in black, with only the scarlet trim of her armor and magic to define her.

Applejack picks out and dons armor awkwardly (while dodging Bardigan's smashy lance)... but gets used to it surprisingly quickly. Most new armor-wearers have trouble with the weight, but years of applebucking have resulted in her probably being the storngest mare in Ponyville. She still has some trouble pulling to the right, but after a few country-fried curses is definitely getting the hang of it. She would probably look quite imposing now, armed and armored, except her impeccable sense of fashion has resulted in a completely mismatched suit of armor pieces, and she has her hat on on top of where her blonde mane spills out of the top of the helmet.

<OOC> Bardigan says, "Remember Applejack: jousting is just like applebucking! Except backwards, because you're bucking forwards."
<OOC> EconomistBrony says, "So really, not at all like applebucking."
<OOC> EconomistBrony says, "Or rather, the opposite thereof."
<OOC> Bardigan says, "No. But still like applebucking!"
<OOC> Applejack says, "No it ain't! When Ah'm applebuckin', th' trees stand still, an' there ain't one strapped to mah withers!"

Flutters cringes. "Oh dear. I-I think I'd better go get in position. They might need somepony on medic duty..." She trots to teh front of the crowd - er, near it, anyway, she wouldn't want to be in the spotlight - and calls out, "Go Applejack! Go Rainbow! And, um, go Mimic, a-and Solar Solstice, and..." You have to make eerypony feel welcome, after all.

Rainbow_Dash smirks. "You betcha! I paid for it mys- uh...yeah, only the best for me!" -- Solar Solstice is fairly strong himself, so he's quite comfortable with the rather heavy armor... which means that he's available to help the one other unicorn (other than Dynamite and Mimic that is), who's having a great deal of trouble. "C'mon, just work it, let the weight rest on your legs!" -- Pauldron Sheen lets the ponies settle into their armour before speaking again. "Armor means protection, but so is movement. If we wish to have maximum defence, we must also have maximum movement. Helmets off, please." And so Pauldron leads the ponies on yet another exercise, this time with armor sans helmets. Along with the shuffling movements there's also the piaffe, a fancy-looking movement involving lifting each leg in succession, letting the weight of the armor distribute to the other limbs and body parts. Then, it's back to the trotting, and shuffling...and cantering. "Come, now, pick up! In a real fight you can't be sluggish!"

Mbala is panting by now, the armor, seemingly light at first, got heavy pretty fast. He does however approve of fancy, and dwells at the armor distribution way more than other exercises.

"Oh really now? You paid for it yourself, huh?" Dynamite says with a wink to Rainbow, followed by a laugh. There is a clank of armor on armor as he bumps his shoulder to hers. With another long look over to Mimic, he gives his jousting rival a squint of the eyes before he starts after the others in his practiced prance. The armor of the royal guard is strong, sturdy, and built for movement as well as decoration as the sunlight gleams from the bright gold and silver of Celestia's crests. He moves fluidly and with purpose, lifting those knees up high with each step. "C'mon Dash, get 'em higher, hit the chest!" He calls to her.

"Looking good, Dame Applejack! Love what you did with your mane," Bardigan says as he trots by the farmpony to the new exercises. His mane is getting *so.* *Sweaty.* Thankfully they can take helmets off! "Okay, time to put these dancing lessons to good use..." he mutters, beginning to follow the steps of every other pony. "It's all about pacing! Breathe deep!" he calls to Mbala as he passes him on the field, and privately shaking his head at Pauldron's drill sergeant like tactics. "Real fight he says," Bardigan says to himself. "Let's see an enemy brigade come over the horizon and *then* talk about getting into real fights. Whew!"

Skyheart chuckles. "Dancing lessons? Does he think this is fencing or stage-fighting?" He comments, "I really hope you know what you're getting into, Bardi..." He mutters to himself.

Listening to Fluttershy's cheer Shadow_Mane smiles seeing the Pegasus and offers he a kind smile before turning his attention to the display. Almost wishing he had something to drink. He looks around and sees Applejack's mixmatched armor and thinks in the future perhaps going with Dash's idea of a custom suit. Although he would wear heavy armor, carrying a two hundred pound pack on his back while treking through Everfree forest would have gotten him adjusted to that type of weight at least.

Applejack removes her helmet per instructions (and replaces the hat, let's not get carried away) and starts the exercises. "Why th' hay do ya keep callin' me that?" she yells after Bardigan. Trot, shuffle, canter. Trot, shuffle, canter. She wipes out once, trying to canter at speed in armor for the first time, but is back on her hooves in an instant and running again! Oddly, she picks up the awkward piaffe immediately, muttering to herself, "one, two, three, four..." Back to the running! At the end, AJ is sweating, but no longer having difficulties with the misplaced weight - to a casual observer. The veterans can see every half misstep.

<OOC> You say, "Raise that hoof, raise that hoof! One, two, three, four..."
<OOC> EconomistBrony hoofs RD.
<OOC> Applejack says, "Yup."

Rainbow_Dash grits her teeth, suddenly finding herself at the limits of her endurance as she moves about in her armor. And this is pure mithril, too! She feels a pit in her stomach as she imagines what it's like to move about in regular steel. When Dynamite challenges her, she quickly picks up her expression, smiling. "I can do this all day!" she asserts, lifting her legs up higher and wondering if she can even make it to the next half of the training. After several laps around the field, Pauldron (who has barely broken a sweat) slows down, initiating the cool-down laps. Minutes later, they're all gathered by the tent again, the majority of the group sweating and panting significantly. "That was only the beginning," Pauldron assures them all. "Now, the real work begins. LANCES UP!" At once, the gathered ponies scramble to bring her lances back into position. "We shall begin...with the combat stances. Everypony pay attention." He demonstrates the simplest of moves: the down-thrust. Apparently, it's the easiest move because it cooperates with gravity, but of course there's all that armor to negotiate. "Remember: it's up...twist..." He rolls his lance shoulder forward. "...and down!" He thrusts his lance downward, the blunted tipalmost touching the ground. "Now spread out and give it a try."

As he continues to canter along with the laps, Dynamite is perhaps the one pony out of the bunch that isn't having a terrible time of it all. Sure, he is sweating, but as a guard that lives the majority of his day in armor, his body and muscles have grown quite used to it. Rainbow Dash isn't going to fool him as he is used to the facial expressions she makes that mimic quite a few rookies back in the guard that just start out. But, he knows she is tough and won't let him down in putting on a good show. "Good! Because I need you at the top of your game so when I knock you out, you won't have excuses." His eyes twinkle playfully before he settles down once they are all gathered again. As he watches them maneuevers, he thrusts forward with his own lance once it is locked into place, the motions like liquid for the guard.

Mbala seems to have caught a second breath after cooling down. He gets to combat now! Finally a chance to show off going straight and simple and... up and down? Why does this have to be so complicated! He twists his lance up, and stabs it into the ground on the way down. "This is gonna end in tears," he comments on his achievement. "Can I maybe do an up-thrust? Sounds much safer..."

Having over heard the exchange between Rainbow Dash and Dynamite Rave, Shadow Mane thinks aloud. "I think this entire event just got interesting." He can tell Rainbow Dash is struggling, she is gonna wear her self out long before any actual jousting happens. "I hope Rainbow's Pride doesn't get her hurt. Only a fool doesn't respect their own limits." But he has this dreaded feeling she is going to be one of the pony's seriously injured here.

Bardigan can't feel his right front leg anymore. Or his left back one. And most his chest feels like it's on fire from keeping the lance up straight in the middle of all their exercises. He manages to be even worse than Applejack, actually letting the lance dip so far it jams into a divot and sticks him up in the air, held up like a goalpost! "Gack! Oh dear! I think the Equestrian earth has bested me!"

Mimic looks unburdened by her heavy coat of armor, the smooth angled plates clearly made for her and moving fluidly as she canters. Mid-canter she pushes off and turns herself with eel-like quickness, rolling forward her right shoulder to bring her lance to bear as though she was turning to attack a pony coming at her from behind. She drops back to her four hooves, giving herself a slight shake to resettle her armor. She seems to find it in order as she moves to join the others, though behind the upraised guards in her helmet her ears can be seen turned back.

Applejack staggers a bit with the instructions. "Okay. Right. Ah can do this." And she starts trying to copy the unfamiliar motions. "Up, two, twist, down. Up, two, twist, down." AJ is sweating freely, not trying to keep up some kind of bravado - but that doesn't mean she's doing everything right, either. She picks up speed on the downthrist drill without realizing it. "Up two twist down! Up two twist down! Uptwotwistdown! Uptwotwistdown!" - and is at this unwise speed that she gets distracted by Bardigan turning himself into a feathery pony-shaped flag, and dips the lance too far. On her next thrust there is a terrible CRACK as the practice lance catches on the ground and splinters halfway along! "Gah! ... Aw HORSEAPPLES!"

"Yay! You can do it, everypony!" Can Fluttershy be heard? Do you dare to eat a peach? "And, um, p-please let me know if anypony needs urgent medial attention! But... (yay)." Suddenly self-conscious-er, Flutters dips her head and glances around. Isn't there a scoreboard she can busy herself with?

Mbala turns at all the screams and cannot help but laugh and Bardigan's condition, "That's amazing! You could totally do that if you wanted to climb a tree really fast! I thought jousting was for fun, but now I see..." he gets interrupted by the cracking of Applejack's lance. He instinctively throws himself on the ground and covers his eyes, "Flying splinters!!!"

Rainbow_Dash strains and sweats and sweats some more, her rainbow mane glistening with her own moisture. "You can...do this!" she recites, thrusting in time, keeping the rhythm and technique going. She's had some training with Pauldron before, of course, but the movements for josutiung are just so utterly different from flying and racing that it's probably going to take her a while. Solar Solstice, on the other hand, is doing very well, probably because of his natural earth pony strength, probably because of some hitherto unseen proficiency. He's right next to Bardigan when he airs himself. "Whoa, are you OK?" He gently eases Bardy's lance down to let the pegasus of, so to speak. -- Pauldron notices this immedietely and trots over to Bardigan, looking a bit dour. "Mr. Bardigan, the earth yields not to our protestations," he counsels. "Can you hover?"

Chuckling softly to himself, Dynamite continues to thrust, parry, dodge to the side, thrust again. As he watches chaos unfold around him, he winces visibly as he lifts a shoulder up to allow his armor to deflect the flying splinters from Apple Jack. Floating another lance over to her, he gives the orange mare a crooked grin. As he trots to the side of Mimic, he can't help but give the dark helmet she wears a grin, then reaches out to tape on it with a hoof. "How are you holding up?"

As he watches the group seeing Applejack crack/break her lance he does get concerned. Shadow Mane what expected it, but the armor should protect from splinters, mostly. Looking over to Bardigan he recalls how hard the pegasus said he had flown here. As Fluttershy speaks up then Quiet's down makes him smile. The training show is enjoyable.

Bardigan brushes himself off vigorously, turning his ears up at Pauldron. "Hover? Of *course* I can - thank you Solar - hover! Why? Am I to be part of our new aerial combat regiment?" he says with a Discord-may-care grin, in spite of how sweaty and tired he's getting.

"I'm fine." Mimic responds to Dynamite Rave, her voice ringing gruff with a metallic undertone due to the encompassing black helmet. "A farm of sparring ponies is a far cry from the arenas and the Underground." She turns to regard the breaking lance, or at least it seems she does. The helmet doesn't seem to leave room for eyes, the visor a single pane of mirrored black. To the historians, the appearance of her armor looks not unlike the engraving of the Black Guard, the elite soldiers of Sombra himself. She utters a low, disgruntled noise before turning her horn towards the racks of lances. Red light encompasses them and the wooden practice lances grow smooth and gleam with a brilliant polish as though they'd be fired and sealed. "...there. Fight with a bad lance and you'd do better to impale yourself on it and save your enemy the effort. Least nopony should lose an eye now." She glances towards a few the most struggling students and she adds dryly. "...in theory."

Applejack sighs deeply and blushes as she sets the lance Dynamite gives her in place. "Ah ain't rightly certain how much more o' this Ah can do." but she grits her teeth and keeps trying. Up, two, thrust, down! Up, two, thrust, down! "... this here's th' EASIEST move? what'd Rainbow *do* ta poor Fluttershy?..." At least this time, her lance survives the drill.

Mbala eyes the improved lances, "Huh??? That's all nice and dandy, lady, but I'd rather have the LANCE break than ME getting skewered by it!" He knocks on the wood with his hoof, then chews on the nearest lance just a little bit to test how strong it is.

Pauldron Sheen emits a sigh and rises up to a hover himself to help Bardigan unhitch his lance and come back down. "Thank you, Miss Mimic; we were going to get the lances magically treated, but we hadn't the time before today." The next hour or so is devoted to two new moves: the forward thrust ("Keep the lance level!" Pauldron insists) and the up-thrust. For what seems like forever, they practice: thrust, recover, thrust, recover, and so forth. By the end of it, multiple ponies have collapsed into a heap of steel and sweat. Even Rainbow Dash looks very beat, though a few, like Solstice, are simply flustered. Rainbow looks up at Dynamite and grins. "Little big soldier thinks he's...uhhhh..." She, too, collapses, lying flat on her stomach." -- Pauldron regards this scene with mute satisfaction. "It's time for a break," he states.

The Grey unicorn stallion looks at the group of half beaten ponies and then thinks for those who did not leave as Shadow Mane says. "The Dancing Dragons Tavern might not be truly open, but I do have some employees there who can cook well. If anypony wants to come for a drink after all that hard work, you are free to stop by." He says knowing that a little additional income will help off set some of his costs, and having some advertising never hurts.

What did Rainbow Dash do to Fluttershy? The first rule of Rainbow Dash's training: don't talk about Rainbow Dash's training...u-unless you thought it was awesome, and then brag to everypony in sight...

[Solar Solstice]

OOC Date: July 28, 2013
Characters: Dynamite Rave, Rainbow Dash
Setting: Right after practice (but before the match) Dynamite lets Rainbow in on something special


Once practice is over, Dynamite has peeled himself out of his armor and is now sprawled out on his back, covered in sweat. As he breathes heavily, a wide grin is plastered over his muzzle. That was a great work out and he enjoyed himself quite a bit. Being a soldier and an athlete with a brutal work out regiment as it is, he faired better than most of the other ponies who have nearly killed themselves. Yes, he is sore, but it's a good kind. The kind that comes with hard work.

Rainbow Dash hasn't even bothered with taking off her armor yet. She's just lying there, letting her sweat cool her off. A breeze picks up, and she sighs in relief as the cool wind enters the gaps of her plate. "That was something else!" she says.

Dynamite Rave chuckles as he rolls over to his side to look at her with a lopsided grin on his face. "I definitely feel loosened up. I take it you won't join me on my evening jog after this, huh?" He asks as his ears perk forward curiously, leaning over to tap at her shoulder teasingly with a hoof.

"Hah hah," Rainbow Dash replies, quickly withdrawing her shoulder from his reach. "I'll be lucky if I make it back home today; I'm /so/ out of it!"

"Well, I'll carry you home then tonight if you're too tired." Dynamite says with a smirk on his face, then pushes himself up to his haunches. "So, hey, I kinda gotta ask you something." He stabs his hoof gently at the ground a few times. "So, after our date thingy concert next week, I was wondering if you would like to go to another venue with me." He chews the inside of his cheek. ".. I.. have backstage passes to Jukebox Hero's concert in the Crystal Empire. It's going to be huge. Has a lot of great bands opening for him and he's supposed to take the stage for a few hours. He personally gave me a pair of tickets for.. you and I."

<OOC> You say, "What kind of music does he make?"
<OOC> Quasar says, "Jukebox Hero is a /legend/. Rock God. Think 80's Rock. Bon Jovi. Journey. Rock of Ages soundtrack type. He's a megastar. Getting older though."
<OOC> You say, "Ahh"

"Not /that/ tired!" asserts Rainbow Dash. "'Sides...not sure if I wanna trust you to fly me up there, given what happened last time." She winks at him churlishly; she's not gonna let that go, is she?" She gawks as Dynamite Rave talks about his offer. "Whoa.../whoa/, you got tickets to see /him/? I gotta...I...Awesome!!" She squeezes her cheeks together in obvious excitement.

A true smile forms upon Dynamite's muzzle as he perks his ears upwards. "So you'll go with me then?" He asks as he pushes himself up further, practically wriggling with excitement. "If anything it gets you out of wearing a dress for our second night out." He jokes.

"If that's how you wanna see it! This. Is so. AWESOME!!" Rainbow Dash squees, pressing her cheeks so tight that she leaves hoofmarks on them. "Ohmigosh! Jukebox Hero!" After a while she finally calms down, taking a deep breath to help her do so. "Where'd you get these tickets? I keeping trying to find some but they've always been sold out."

Grinning again at her, Dynamite clears his throat slightly, then glances off to the side as she asks that very important question. ".. He's my dad." He says as he scuffs the ground again. "He.. uh.. gave me up for adoption when I was born because you know.. kids.. cramp your style when you're young and rich and a rock star. But he's trying to make it up to me now. He um.. also asked if we were dating and I kinda said.. 'sort of', and so.. he wanted us to have a good time."

Rainbow Dash gawks openly at Dynamite Rave. "You...you're...whooaaa." She rubs her temple, suddenly out of responses to this strange development. "That means...whoa. I mean...you're his...but he didn't..." Yeah she's kinda taken aback.

"It's not a big deal." Dynamite Rave says as he takes in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. "I'm just glad you that you're going with me. It'll make me feel more comfortable." He says with a weak smile to her. "I'm just trying to forgive him for everything and I think he wants to get to know me more. He's pretty impressed with the whole guard thing and you know.. um.. 'sort of' dating an element of harmony. So.. I mean.. it just.. means a lot you're coming. Really. .. Thanks."

Rainbow Dash has to sort through a dozen different feelings: her exictement about the concert, the wonder of learning that Dynamite is related to a famous rock star, the despair over his strained paternal relationship, and so on. "I...I'm glad I could help, I..I guess. I mean!" She shakes her head rapidly. "This is gonna be so cool!" That works, she supposes.

Chewing on his bottom lip a bit, Dynamite Rave gives another scuff of his hoof. ".. Yeah, real cool." He plucks his helmet up and puts it on his head with a thump. "So, you want to .. get a drink or something? My treat. I could go for a Tobiano smoothie."

"I could go for a half-dozen smoothies right now!" Rainbow Dash declares, wiping off the copious sweat from her mane. Ugh, she feels so gross. "Whoa, hang on, something's up." She looks onward towards Pauldron Sheen, who seems to be summoning everypony for something...

[Solar Solstice]

OOC Date: July 28, 2013
Characters: Rainbow Dash, Pauldron Sheen (NPC), Firefly, Shadow Mane, Mimic, Berry Punch, Dynamite Rave, Applejack, Nomad, Solar Solstice (alt)
Setting: The end of the training session includes a Very Special Presentation


Tired, sweaty ponies litter the field as they recover themselves, brought to the limit by Pauldron Sheen's brutal training regime. As the day cools so does enthusiasm, with a number of murmurs amongst the ponies about just how grueling and un-fun jousting has turned out to be. Rainbow Dash herself is quite pooped, laying on her back and letting her sweat pool at the rear of her cuirass. "That was...harsh!" she declares, slumping her forelegs beside her. -- Pauldron Sheen lets the would-be trainees be for a while before he rouses them again, summoning them before him at the big tent. "That is only a fraction of the training that a professional jouster would undergo," he assures them. "I am certain that many of you are questioning my methods, but I promise you: the end result of such training is the perfection of art, the maximal cooperation between mind and body in an exquisite skill of combat. Thus, I have deemed it expedient to provide all of you...a demonstration." He glances up, looking at each pony with battle-hardened eyes. "Miss Mimic?"

Firefly glides in overhead, landing a bit out of the way. Her highness was curious of such events, so she decided to check one out directly.

Choosing to make an errand run, Shadow has gone to get some drinks for the various exhausted ponies, So by the time they are in the Tent he has comeback with some Sweet apple Acres Cider, fresh, cold, and above all here right now. As he says, "I don't mean to intrude... But I think this might be of some help. I have to admit, I am impressed. That training is very hard. I hope they can handle it."

The lone crystal pony turns her head to regard Pauldron as he speaks. She's still sporting her armor, shining black with scarlet trim. It covers the bulk of her form, sharp angles with a pronounced chestpiece shapes like a shallow boat's prow - designed to turn blows. The helmet encompasses her entire face, eyes hidden behind a protective visor, and a row of overlapping panels runs down her neck and covers her mane. The rest of body and tail that's exposed is gone greyscale, her usual colors bled out by the odd enchantment that the armor seems to hold. For the historians, her armor looks distinctly like those the elite soldiers of King Sombra wore. When she speaks it is tinged metallic by the emcompassing helm. "Yes, Sir Knight?" She steps forward from the outer edge of the crowd, her matching lance mounted firm to her right shoulder.

Berry_Punch appears on the curve leading to the farm, a couple of small panniers clinking at her sides. Her mood, unlike that of everyone else, is cheerful and excited. Chalk it up to be strategically late! The energetic earth pony enters the area and takes in the atmosphere. "Huh. This *is* the jousting club, right?" Then she finds herself face to face with Sir Pauldron, and she quails a little.

Pauldron Sheen looks upon Mimic with wary respect. "Would you like to have a match with me?" He regards Berry with intrigue before focusing on Mimic again. )

Firefly is just watching from a bit back, standing there quietly.

Berry_Punch turns with rising interest toward Mimic. "Crystal on crystal action, huh? Sounds good, sounds good." She ambles over to where Firefly is and stands jauntily. "So what's happened so far?"

Setting the Drinks down on a table in the Tent Shadow Moves out when he ears the challenge of a joist. "Oh nice. Actually having an actual joust to show what the end result is, That will be impressive." Shadow Mane says.

Mimic gives her head an inclined nod, the gesture a vague 'after you' as she responds. "It would be my pleasure." She gives each joint a flex, one leg at a time, rolling her shoulders as she walks to make sure her armor isn't catching and is properly latched. She lets the pegasus stallion set the ground rules for his students, and though no doubt familiar she's not the teacher here.

<OOC> You say, "Pauldron's a regular pegasus n.n"
<OOC> Berry_Punch says, "Oh okay. Then..."

Having enjoyed his work out, Dynamite is watching curiously as he sits next to Rainbow Dash. He is still in his full armor and regalia, sitting proud as he tracks Mimic. Giving her a confident nod of the head, he lifts his helmet off to watch proper.

Rainbow_Dash looks back and forth between Pauldron and Mimic, scarce believing that wondrous opportunity she's now be afforded: a duel between professionals! "Oh wow, oh wow!" she declares, giddy and gleeful. -- Pauldron Sheen adopts a stern, unyielding expression. "The challenge has been accepted." Wordlessly, he walks over towards the railing that would serve as their place of battle. He strides towards his place, marked by a chalked 'X', and faces his opponent's side. He lifts his wings, the pinions spreading apart like the rays of the sun, and in a swift motion he swipes them downward. A cyclone is generated, spinning wildly as it careens towards the tent and then, unexpectedly, bears up a helmet decorated with mithril edgings and angel's wings along the temples. The helmet careens right towards Pauldron, who reaches up at the last moment and catches it in one hoof, and with that same hoof places it over his head. Through the slot of his visor he stares down Mimic, his expression unreadable.

Jousting, eh? Plenty of pegasi enjoy a bit of a joust and Nomad is certainly not an exception to that rule. Perhaps a little late to the game, but not too late for a spot up in the stands. He comes gliding down over the treetops and sets down in the open field alongside the jousting arena, in full uniform this evening and looking well and properly official. A quick shuffle of wings to settle and he circles around the stands, trotting past the jousters and over to the seating area. "Lovely afternoon for a joust" he mentions to nopony in particular, settling in.

On the opposing end of the lists, Mimic is a figure of opposites, all black and hard, wicked angles as opposed to the angelic gleam of Pauldron Sheen. Despite the weight of the ancient steel armor she wears, she moves with a fluid grace that channels the easy motions of a predator. No doubt she's staring at him from behind the black visor, but the mirrored sheen blocks out her face. Every inch of her moves with purpose and seriousness, the only thing marking it as a duel of practice and display being the black wooden ball that rises in a shimmer of shifting red magic and affixes itself to the needled tip of her lance. Once she's taken her place she bends down her left foreleg, head lowering in a bow of respect to her opponent, though she remains watching him all the same. "Dynamite Rave." Her voice echoes from behind the visor. "You know the rules. Would you signal?"

Firefly looks to Berry and tilts her head. "They seem to be feigning combat with pointy sticks. Slow, cumbersome, but amusing."

Berry_Punch looks oddly at Firefly. "Well yeah, obviously! That's what jousting *is!*" Giving up on getting useful info from the squire, she heads over toward Shadow Mane. "Whoa," she gasps when Pauldron somehow creates a boomerang cyclone with his wings. "I did *not* know pegasi could do that."

Rising upwards, Dynamite Rave trots over and takes his place as he clears his throat. "Of course I will." He says as he looks to the Knight, then over to Mimic. He has seen the crystal pony in action. He's watched her demolish ponies in the underground fights. This will be interesting. "On your mark. Ready.." He calls out, then flips the first flag upwards. "Go!"

As Berry Punch comes beside him Shadow Mane listens to her comment of not knowing Pegasus could perform such a feat he smiles and says, "Really? Just like unicorns, all Pegasus have their own special talents. And While something that comes natural to one, could perhaps be taught to others. Note I said could." and he turns to watch the jousting biting his lip and thinks... "Here is hoping things go smoothly."

Berry_Punch shrugs to Shadow Mane, her eyes on the joust that's just beginning. "Well yeah, but that? That was some *highly* specialized windmaking. How does the wind know how to turn around?" she murmurs.

Pauldron Sheen snorts loudly and breaks out into a hard gallop, his silvery armor glimmering in the afternoon sun, his obsidian-hued lance swallowing all the light that touches it, like the essence of night itself. He keeps his head forward as with relentless momentum he seeks to run down Mimic where she stands.

He looks at the joist and says. "It's an extension of the Pegasus ability to manipulate weather. Each pegasus has of course different levels of control over weather. AS for how their gifts work exactly.... It would take a lot of explanation that would no doubt get very boring." Shadow Mane says as he hopes he has at least given some understanding. "For example, Most of my magic is based around exploration. But with some effort I was able to learn other spells such as healing injuries, some where easier then others to learn."

Mimic kicks off the ground as the flag rises and races down the list, each push of her legs carrying her faster and faster. She moves with surprising speed for the weight of the armor as she hones in on the larger stallion. As she approaches her opponent she rolls forward her right shoulder and angled the lance tip forward and left to aim it towards the vulnerable joint where his shoulder armor meets his neck and chest.

Applejack is still here, sitting with the other students, and - let's face it - sweating with the other students.

[Dice] Rainbow_Dash rolls 1d20:
[Dice] 15 = 15

Firefly herself has no idea what jousting is, as it didn't exits in her homeland, and she's never heard of it until someone at the palace showed her a flier for it. Then she perks her ears. A weather control game?

[Dice] Mimic rolls 1d20:
[Dice] 2 = 2

<OOC> Mimic says, "Dice hate me."
<OOC> Applejack says, "Nice knowin' ya."
<OOC> Nomad says, "Looks like Team Crystal Empire is blasting off agaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnn"

Berry_Punch nods a few times to Shadow Mane. "Cool, cool. Yeah, you're right, I'd probably get bored. Still--impressive!" She falls silent as the clash occurs. Who will be left running? Or even standing? She leans forward tensely to find out.

Watching the two jousters coming Shadow Mane lifts up to put his front legs on the fence and watches with great intent. He smiles glad the Pony beside him is satisfied with the explanation. Although to be honest... when it comes to Pegasus powers... He's not sure how they work himself.

Pauldron Sheen spots the move very quickly. His opponent may be over a thousand years old, but she still has the overconfidence of the young. As soon as she attacks he shifts aside, pivoting tightly to dodge her thrust wihout breaking his forward momentum. In that same instant he strikes, jabbing the blunted tip of his lance right beneath Mimic's own lance arm with great force.

She may look young, but some days things just don't move like they're young! Mimic grimaces sharply behind her helmet as the lance of Pauldron shrieks against her armor and the right pauldron of her armor clear off. The metal clanks aside, leaving one grey-tinged shoulder exposed. She rounds the far end of the list, turning a rueful stare towards her shoulder. "...well, needed a new one anyway." She rolls her shoulder to make sure it's still good and takes her place at the other end of the list. Behind her helmet, she grins. About time she had a good opponent.

Applejack hops up! "Horsefeathers!" Completely oblivious to the protocol of the field, she starts to run to Mimic! "Holy Celestia, are y'all okay!?" At least she's forgotten her own lance!
Firefly takes a grab at the Element of Honesty's tail and tries to speak locally to help calm her. "Whoa thar sistah....they's a supposta do that."

As the two come together Shadow Mane cringes as he watched the pauldron is taken clean off. Biting his lip as he says, "AppleJack!" Shadow Mane wastes little time in trying to stop the Farmer as he says, "Given them a moment... she is still walking and moving around. I doubt all it did was give her a serious bruise. If they were seriously hurt... I am sure they won't continue." He calls out to Applejack.

As it seems that Mimic isn't as invincible as he thought she was, Dynamite Rave raises a brow upwards. He tilts his hoof over to the flag and gives it a snap. "On your mark.. ready.. Go!" He calls out for the second round as the flag pops up once his hoof strikes it. As always, it is a best two out of three.

<OOC> You say, "Wait wait we didn't say there was gonna be more rounds."
<OOC> Shadow_Mane says, "it's normally three rounds"
<OOC> Dynamite_Rave says, "XD It's the rules of jousting! I figured you were doing best out of three."
<OOC> Shadow_Mane says, "three passes"
<OOC> You say, "Where are these rules X3"
<OOC> Shadow_Mane goes for wiki
<OOC> Firefly says, "The passes made shall be three. Thou shalt not make two passes, escept to continue to three. Four is right out."
<OOC> Shadow_Mane says, "<a href="http://www.sca.org/officers/equestrian/pdf/joustingrules.pdf">http://www.sca.org/officers/equestrian/pdf/joustingrules.pdf</a>"
<OOC> You say, "Right right."
<OOC> Mimic says, ""A knightly duel in this period usually consisted in three courses of jousting, and three blows and strokes exchanged with battle-axes, swords, and daggers""
<OOC> Nomad says, "Five! (Three, sir!) Three!"
<OOC> Mimic is fine with 2 for time's sake.
<OOC> Shadow_Mane says, "<a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_are_points_scored_in_jousting">http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_are_points_scored_in_jousting</a>"

Berry_Punch edges forward, standing next to you and elbowing you. "Eh? Eh? Fun, yeah?" She laughs out loud when Mimic roars back into action like the wound to her armor is nothing.

<OOC> You say, "Let's see how it goes!"
<OOC> Shadow_Mane says, "I think an... unhorsing would be knocking the other pony here to their knee in someway or kncoking them down."
<OOC> Mimic says, "KO!"
<OOC> Fluttershy hugs.
<OOC> Berry_Punch says, "If any part of the body except the hooves and tailtip touch the ground, you lose. Right?"

Having de-pauldroned Mimic's pauldron, Pauldron Sheen slows to a canter and comes around the lists, taking up his place on the opposite side in preparation for the next round. He remains silent, gazing down at Mimic as she recovers.

Mimic flicks an ear as Applejack aims to charge out onto the lists. While other ponies attempt to restrain her, the crystal unicorn gives her a different kind of assurance she's fine. The unicorn rears up, whistling out a battle cry, and as the flag drops she kicks off and explodes down the lists. She seems unhindered by her shoulder, though no doubt it'll have a serious bruise.

Applejack doesn't have time to notice that Mimic seems okay, because somepony grabbed her tail! She gets instantly stopped! "OW! Hay! What's the cotton-pickin' ide..." and *then* she sees Mimic, who is not even hurt enough not to charge at Pauldron a second time! AJ looks at the jousters, at the students, then down at the breastplate she's wearing. "... oh. right. Aheh heh." She returns to her seat, blushing rather a lot.

<OOC> Rainbow_Dash wonders how one whistles a battle cry
<OOC> You say, "LOL AJ"
<OOC> Mimic says, "Horses.. make different noises."

Shadow Mane looks at the jousting and smiles. "To me at least... it does look fun." He tells the earth pony with a smiles. Looking over to Applejack he smiles approaching her Shadow Mane says, "Relax, They are both skilled and well trained. If one of them was seriously hurt, I am sure neither would continue, Trust they know their limits well. Looks like they have been doing this for a while now."

[Dice] Rainbow_Dash rolls 1d20:
[Dice] 15 = 15

<OOC> Firefly says, "I think that whistle translates to tear off something important."

[Dice] Mimic rolls 1d20:
[Dice] 15 = 15

<OOC> Applejack says, "Double KO!"
<OOC> Mimic says, "Stop trying to get out of class, slacker!"
<OOC> You say, "Uhhh reroll? XD"

[Dice] Mimic rolls 1d20:
[Dice] 3 = 3

<OOC> Mimic sighs.
<OOC> Mimic says, "There goes my reputation."

[Dice] Rainbow_Dash rolls 1d20:
[Dice] 8 = 8

<OOC> You say, "Pauldron's a vet of many undeclared and secret conflicts :u"
<OOC> Applejack says, "Also Charlie's disappointed uncle, but he don't like ta let THAT get around too much."
<OOC> Berry_Punch thinks the initial roll being tied means this bout is a standoff.

Berry_Punch goes over to stand by Applejack. "So what'd everyone do before I got here?" she asks covertly as the jousters rev up again.

<OOC> Mimic lets the teacher win. He'll need the respect to control this crowd.

Pauldron breaks out into another gallop, silent and stalwart, his lance at the ready. This time, he doesn't even give Mimic a chance to attack: he jabs straight at the first gap in her cuirass, moving to run her down as she rushes towards him.

<OOC> You say, "Sorry if RD has been kinda quiet XD"
<OOC> Shadow_Mane says, "ok no, she is just utterly absorbed in the show"
<OOC> Applejack envisions RD watching Pauldrom with her 'THIS IS AWESOME' squeezycheeks face.

Mimic is halfway down the list in a flash and her hindquarters begin to bunch, as though she was preparing to leap. But as she makes the final strike before lunging the damaged shoulder joint in her armor catches on an unnoticed dent and it makes her miss a step. There's the blurt of a curse as the stumble gives Pauldron the opening he needs to drive the lance home. Thankfully the covered tips are there, but she till takes a whallop that sends her spinning on her hooves and bellies out. She sprawls there for a moment, reaching up with her good hoof to unlock and pull free her helmet. It restores her to her normal colors, and though her briefly too-green eyes spark in anger as she eyes her shoulder then odd light quickly fades as she slowly hauls herself up to her hooves. "...good hit there. Looks like it might be time to retire this old getup."

Applejack considers. "Uh. We ran around a bunch, an' got these here harnesses an' practiced holdin' th' lances in 'em, an' then got armor an' ran around in that, an' now " - she winces hard as Pauldron drops Mimic with a loud CLANG and extreme prejudice - "we're watchin' Mimic an' Sir Pauldron beat th' tarnation outta each other. Apparently."

Firefly laughs. "Would it not be simpler to vaporise the enemy instead of angering them by poking them with sharp sticks?"

Berry_Punch gives Firefly a really weird look. "Uh... no?"

As Shadow Mane watches the event and then to his shock and horror he himself is on edge. Seeing the Crystal pony knocked so hard to the ground she spun? yeah even Shadow Mane is on edge from that hit. He will hold his position knowing things might not be as bad as he thinks or had seen. When Mimic Appears to be alright is the point he relaxes.

Groaning at the hit, Dynamite flops a hoof over his eyes. His illusion of Mimic being invincible is shattered. Trotting over towards the crystal pony, he reaches down to help her up. "You did good though. If you're going to get beat, you may as well get beat by an old school veteran of the craft." He says with a crooked grin to her.

Berry_Punch clomps the ground enthusiastically at Sir Pauldron's victory. Because that's what it was, right? And she grins back to Applejack. "Yeah, I love the armor." She pivots toward Rainbow Dash. "When do I get mine?""

<OOC> Applejack 's armor is terribly mismatched. She chose it with the same flair for fasion that led to galoshes.
<OOC> Fluttershy says, "(galawshes)"
<OOC> Firefly LAUGHS
<OOC> Apple_Bloom says, "Oh maw."
<OOC> Applejack says, "How was Ah s'posed ta know it don't rain at a ball? Mah family don't HAVE balls!"
<OOC> Applejack : innocent.
<OOC> Berry_Punch loves the mismatched armor. It makes violence seem fun!
<OOC> Applejack yay, AB! Snuggles her sister!

Pauldron Sheen slows to a trot, coming around the lists a second time to check upon Mimic, doffing his helmet and laying it on the lists. "Ahh, Miss Mimic, sometimes it is all a matter of experience rather than equipment. You did well...for a young knight." He reaches down with his hoof to help her up. "Try to be a bit more methodical next time." -- Rainbow Dash, by now, is beside herself with excitement. "That. Was so. AWESOME!!" she declares, flailing about with her hooves. Pauldron was /definitely/ a top-notch jouster, but Mimic was really good, too. It was a match made to be exciting.

"Can't let the teacher lose face in front of his students." Mimic slants Dynamite a wink and a smirk, though her loss looked quite real. Likely was. She glances over towards the crowd then and she catches Firefly's words. "Don't forget, this may seem antiquated, but remember I'm one of the very rare crystal ponies with magic. The vast majority are earth ponies. This sport allowed them the chance to resolve their conflicts fairly. Now, back in my time, in an actual life or death match you can be sure I used my magic... but then, I didn't usually fight fair. But *that* is a whole other story. Here, fight clean." She tips her head towards Pauldron in a salute of respect as she remarks, "Practice match, Sir Knight. When you really wanna go, I'll take the lance guard off." Her grin suggests she very well may have been holding back, but she doesn't seen keen to elaborate as she moves for the sidelines to begin shedding the black armor she wears, leaving Pauldron back to his teaching duties.

Applejack listens from a safe distance. "Uh huh. Methodical. Gotcha. So... *slow*-like?" She frowns, thinking 'this here's a mite more dangerous than ah thought'. But there's no going back now. She promised Rainbow she'd joust, and she's broken ENOUGH promises for one lifetime. Like, three. But that's ENOUGH. She nods in determination. "What do we do now, Sir Pauldron?"

"Yeah!" puts in Berry. "If we're supposed to be methodical, what's the method? And when do I get my armor?!"

Pauldron Sheen gathers everypony to him once again, having solidified his skill and reputation as an instructor. "One battle amongst a thousand," he reflects, "yet without that singular effort there is less to show for it. You have seen for yourselves the Art of the Joust as enacted by generations of ponies, a part of the heritage we share as Equestrians...or otherwise." He gives a knowing, clever look at Mimic before continuing. "Sign-up sheets are in the tent. You will not be required to procure your own equipment at this early stage, but should you advance...well, we will see. Dismissed!" He bows to all of them before proceeding to the very back of the tent to undress. At once, everypony begins the long, relieving process of undoing their armor and placing it on a pile near the tent, the whole thing pungent with sweat and odor. Several ponies balk at the prospect of continuing this, standing aside and consoling themselves, but others seem to have had their enthusiasm piqued and line up immedietely. -- Solar Solstice is the very first to sign up, well, right after Rainbow Dash, of course, whose name is already on the list. -- Rainbow_Dash herself is slowly undoing her cuirass, sighing in relief as cool air strikes her chest and backside after over an hour of being covered up by mithril. Even with the special air vents on her custom armor she's still developed quite a lot of sweat. "That was totally something!" she decides, slumping down onto her back and having a good long lie-down.

Dynamite_Rave trots over and signs his name on the list, then heads back over to Dash once done and settles down next to her with a grin. "You look like a big sweaty mess." He teases playfully as he blows his mane away from his face. "So, we on for smoothies then? Should we invite Mimic as well?" He asks with ears perked.

As interested as he is in signing up, Shadow Mane can't. He needs to finish building his tavern, and he is far too much of a free spirit. He prefers running through forests and plains, under ground opposed to jousting. AS he looks around and thinks, "I will certianly have no objection to watching more of this in the future. maybe lend some help as first aid pony. " And at that point he starts to head off troting back to his tavern. There is a chance he might get business there.

Berry_Punch grins and goes to sign up. "Looks like a blast. Same time next week?"

Mimic doesn't miss Pauldron's look, though her own remains rather neutral in the face of it. Though despite it, she adds her name to the list once she's removed her armor, the entire pile disappearing with a touch of her red magic. Far more convenient to teleport your dirty laundry rather than carry it. She gives a few trots in a circle to test her shoulder and apparently finds it sufficient, though the chartreuse coat shows the shadow of a forming bruise that'll likely be quite sore later. Ah well. She's had worse.

"You go ahead," Rainbow Dash says, not moving from her position. "I'm /beat/. I think I'll just...lie down here for a while, OK?" The sign-ups continue apace, and by the end of it there are over a dozen and a half names, not bad for a niche sport in a small town. Even that one other unicorn has signed up. In time, the crowd disperses, and Pauldron Sheen emerges, his speckled vanilla-yellow coat revealed now that he's without his armor. He seems to be busy using a raincloud that he's summoned to thoroughly wash the pile of armor pieces.

"Oh come on, Rainbow Dash. I thought you were a world class athlete. We've been resting the entire time we watched the joust." Dynamite Rave says as he flops down next to her and rolls to his side to face her. "I suppose not every pony has military conditioning." He says with a wink to her. "Don't worry, I can wait until you're ready to move about. Or.. I can just bring smoothies back for you."

Berry_Punch laughs at seeing Dynamite Rave and Dash do their thing. "I'd be down for a smoothie, but I didn't do any work! Got here late. So maybe I should hold off."

"Yeesh, you're so pushy!" Rainbow Dash declares. "Seriously, I'm pooped. Jousting uses a lot of muscles that I usually don't use, so...I'll be around. I mean, concert's next week, and all."

Flattening his ears back a bit, Dynamite Rave rises upwards and says, "Alright then. I'll see you around or something." He says as he squints his eyes, then turns and trots off. "Bee-Pee, you wanna get a smoothie then? Mimic, you can come also if you want."

Berry_Punch gives a firm nod and falls in line with the Ravester. "So what kind of exercises did you do? I want to be ready for next time."

Mimic twitches an ear towards Dynamite and turns to trot after him. Though she pauses near Rainbow Dash to offer a grin, "Get some watered juice, tiny bit of salt. May taste a bit off but it'll help ya recover faster." This said, she continues on to tag along with Dynamite Rave and Berry Punch. "..ow... hey, don't think this doesn't mean I can still whup you, Rave."

"I know /that/ tip!" Rainbow Dash insists, rising up a little but quickly slumping down again. "Yeah, I'll just be here, resting and...stuff." She sighs and stares up at the sky, tired but satisfied that this'll be one of many totally cool training sessions.

"I don't know Mimic, maybe you've lost your touch. I think I can take you now." Dynamite says with a cool grin on his face as he trots along with the two ladies at his side. He looks over his shoulder again for a moment to Dash as they head off before he looks forward again. "Anyways, my treat guys. And the exercises we used was basics. How to put the harness on, hold the lance correctly and a lot of trotting and jogging with it to get used to the weight. It's a typical tuesday for me but the others here haven't done it."

"Cool," says Berry. "Guess I'll just have to catch up next time. I've done worse. And yes, yes, you can all whup each other. Now let's get smoothies!"

Mimic snorts nosily to Dynamite as she bumps her good shoulder into him. "Shut up. I'm a thousand years older than you, according to the calendar. I'm allowed to trip once in awhile. I'm not fighting a war anymore." She continues on, grinning over towards Berry Punch. "I need a good smoothie. Clearly I got some more practicing to do - and new armor to buy."