The Hoofball Game {open}

[Deleted]

"You are still totally a lady," Eternity said, brushing her shoulders against Knight's to get further ahead. "Compared to me at least, you're totally a lady, short stuff." Eternity then huffed. "Aiming for the Royal Guard shouldn't even be that hard anyway. I know plenty of ponies who followed that dream."

Now continuing the stupid fantasy talk, Eternity opened her mouth again. "Well, me being the biggeth most famousth hoofballith playerith in the world, you shouldith follow me inside this amazinith placith."

Taking place in the dance building, Eternity watched as Knight started talking about how she knew how to dance just fine, so she took E's hoof and placed herself on the stage. The gray mare looked at all the other dancers that were practically break dancing on the floor. Eternity's ear twitched, then she looked at Knight with a spark in her eyes. Her cutie mark was still glowing, but when she got to the DJ, her flank was just like a night light. She grinned at the DJ, having the idea of recommending a song. She whispered a song to the DJ, getting a nod in return. The mare then trotted back to Knight, waiting for her song to come on.

The lights dimmed down a little bit, the lightest bright being her cutie mark. "Okay," Eternity started, suddenly hearing the song she recommended. "Come dance with me." Eternity danced over to Knight slowly, showing off her bright teeth. She threw off her hoofball leg warmers once she got over to Knight, then looked at her. "Alright my Knight in Shining Armor," she then playfully hit Knight's chest plate. "You know how to slow dance?" she said with a large smirk. "Because if you do, I want you to show me yourself."

(Um, not to be rude or mean or anything, but Performance Major, it's kind of hard to read your post. Is there a reason it's all in caps? )

[crestchan]

Lunar Knight blushed as the song that Eternity had picked started to play. She didn't think the place would play such a song. She wondered if any of the other ponies would dance to this song. Then Eternity asked for Knight to show her how to slow dance. Knight nodded, still blushing a little. "O-Of course." Knight said after clearing her throat. Knight moved closer and put on hoof on Eternity's shoulder. The steps for the dance were very simple. Knight closed her eyes and listened to the music. The song itself was very lovely but was also kind of sad. Knight was slowly losing herself to the dance and the song.

To Knight the rest of the world seemed to fade away. She lost sight of everything. The dance floor, the dancers, the building and the lights all faded out of her mind. All she was focused on was Eternity, the music and the dance they were doing. Knight was smiling as the two of them danced, lost in the movements. She didn't even notice when the music stopped. She just watched Eternity and smiled. Suddenly she came back to reality and blushed deeply. She shook her head a little. "S-Sorry about that." She said, talking about how much she was lost in the dancing. Knight didn't mean to get that into the dancing. She didn't mind dancing like that. "Well that was fun." She said smiling a little. "S-So do you want to keep dancing?" She asked glancing around.

[Deleted]

((My running April Fool's joke, I'll fix it... I had caps lock on all day and pretended my keyboard was broken))

[joxis]

The road from Drippy's to Canterlot Castle was a short one. The road from Drippy's to Drippy Drippy's, an even shorter one. And the road from Drippy's to Dancing Dreamers was literally one block's worth of walking. But walking was for dialogue and side quests. Somehow the lives of Lunar Knight and Eternity Doovey could be at stake. Because ... Club culture poisoning. Or something. It didn't matter much to Baldoire, really. He just wanted the place burnt down on an impulse. He had carefully inspected every window inside Drippy's Gentlemane's Club and would've tried to crash through one of them, jump from house to house and land on the night club, had it not been for Dachsterhöficius having reinforcing them after several incidents, all involving the grey stallion.

Absolute annihilation would have to find another mean of transport. Baldoire was about to requisit an abandoned cab when he heard hoofsteps behind him. It could have been Lunar Knight or Eternity who probably went to Drippy on Baldoire's very own instructions and were now attempting to comprehend the point of this elaborate rendez-vous. Or it could have been a vessel of the establishment shadowing him to keep him in check and make sure he never sets hoof on a hoofball field. Our grey hero by proxy visibly chose the latter, as after a couple seconds of ignoring his follower, he suddenly made a U-turn and attempted to pin him to a wall. Failure ensued from two major factors : There was no wall in sight, and Baldoire's spiked shoes stuck to a puddle of cement he had stepped on, causing him to trip over and fall.

Now was the time to think. Fast. The purple unicorn looked unmistakeably ... Conspiracy schemer-ish. "Ah-ha ! Ah ... Hahaha !" Laughed the impostor of a hoofball celebrity. "I, Shock Goal, see you probably want an autograph !" Before his interlocutor could reply, he grabbed one of his hooves and began writing his pen name on it. However, after the first couple of letters, he noticed something. Letting the hoof go, he took a couple steps back. "Sweaty hooves ..." He though aloud. "This can only mean one thing ... You're not a spy. Oh, no no no, I see who you are ... You were sweating because you were afraid I wouldn't recognise you, weren't you ? But I've realised my mistakes. Come along, liaison officer. Together we shall take the big business down. Starting with Dancing Dreamers. That filthy rat hole with its mainstream music and alcoholic beverages and gambling and am I glad I've never actually set hoof Inside to verify any of that anyway let's burn it to the ground eh ?"

On that note he marched towards the night club.

((Now if I were a certain purple unicorn, I'd try to stop the madmane essentially claiming he is about to wreck a social place during a social event, especially when said social event allows for delicious shipping and drama m'see ?))

[Deleted]

Performance Major continued to follow the strange stallion. He watched as the gray stallion approached an abandoned cab. He stepped closer to investigate, but suddenly the strange stallion turned towards him. As he did so his shows got stuck in cement and he tripped. Performance raised an eyebrow at him. The strange stallion had assumed he wanted an autograph. Performance was about to interject, but was interrupted by the strange stallion grabbing his hoof. Performance's eyes widened and he started sweating. What was this deranged pony going to do to him? Was he just trying to fool him before he... took care of him? Performance gulped. The gray stallion started to write on Performance's hoof for whatever reason, but then stopped and took a few steps back.

The gray pony claimed he had thought Performance was a spy, but now realizes he's a... Liaison officer? Then the madmane talked about taking down a place called Dancing Dreamers. The stallion then started marching towards the nightclub.

Performanc's eyes widened and he ran in front of him. "Are you crazy?! You wanna burn down a nightclub?!" Performance stomped his hoof. "I can't let you do that, I don't know what you did to deserve it, but I know you're on the run from the law. And what is your deal with Lunar Knight and that... gray mare she's friends with? I saw you talking to them just before sitting with me, then jumping out the window. Who does that anyway?! Are you really insane?!"

[Deleted]

The music started to sink into Eternity's brain like most music usually did. The only difference was that she was dancing with Knight, a slow dance that was meant to be a flirty thing instead of a feeling thing. It turned into a feeling thing though.

The grey mare's heart was pumping out of her chest, feeling those dumb butterflies that she felt whenever she was with somepony she cared about, or loved. Maybe that's why her cutie mark was glowing brighter than the lights on the ceiling, or the sun slowly trying to peak through the dim windows that were barely large enough to keep light into the building filled with dancing ponies.

Nonetheless, Eternity did seem to lose herself a little bit. Getting a little faster with the dance movements. She would slow down a little bit as the song itself slowed down, or when it seemed Knight was trying to catch up. Still, it felt like it was just E and Knighty dancing to a simple song that she chose herself. It did seem to have a lot more feeling into it though.

As the song ended, Eternity took dancing to look at Knight. The grey mare's cutie mark dimmed down a little bit, but still continued to glow. Knight apologized for something E didn't know of. "Why you apologizing? That was legit. And besides, you're adorable when you blush," E said, grinning her world class smirk. Knight then asked if she wanted to keep dancing, and Eternity nodded her head but then thought of the time. She quickly glanced at the clock on the wall above them then securely nodded. "Yeah, we can get one last dance into there. You ma'am though, may pick the song."

Before Knight picked the song, Eternity heard a little bit of a commotion outside, wondering what was going on. She glanced out the small window then saw the two stallions from before. She shook her head then ignored them, losing her good attitude a little bit. She didn't want to lose all of it though because she just wanted to spend time with Knight.

[crestchan]

Knight glanced away. She was still feeling a little nervous about the dancing. That is when Eternity gave her a complement. She shook her head a little. "O-Oh, um. Thanks." She said smiling a little. For some reason when ever Eternity said such things, it made Knight feel flustered. She wasn't really sure why. Eternity suggested that they keep dancing and that Knight picks the next song. Knight shook her head. "Oh, no. I couldn't." She said with a weak smile. "I don't know any good songs. I would probably just pick something nopony liked." Knight took a step back. She then saw Eternity notice something and move to a window. Knight was a little curious about what could have gotten the other ponies attention.

Knight shook her head. "You know what, I don't think I am up for another dance." She said looking away. There were a lot of ponies around them. "You can dance again, but I think I will find a seat somewhere." With that she turned and walked off. Knight figured that Eternity would have more fun dancing to the faster music, the music Knight had no idea how to dance to. Knight walked past a lot of ponies, trying to find a place to sit down. They were all moving around and talking to their friends. Knight just wasn't sure how she felt about the club. There were a lot of ponies, loud music, and it was pretty warm. There were a lot of ponies all dancing, so it made sense that it would start to get warm. Knight found herself at a counter. It seemed to be the place to get a drink. Knight decided to get a glass of water. She was starting to get thirsty.

[joxis]

Baldoire stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head towards the purple unicorn in such a manner that only half of his face was visible, which made him uneasily intimidating. This one word. He had heard it distinctly like he hadn't in a long, long time. Nopony back in Ponyville was ever brave enough to tell him or they didn't care, considering the already unusual everyday that Ponyvillians went through. "Insane." He spoke. "I am giving you a purpose. I am inviting you on my righteous quest. And I am. Insane." It wasn't a threat. It was an assertion, a lecture, for Baldoire was not defending his ideas. He didn't have any. "'Tis not a constant world we live in, Purples. Nothing ever stays the same. Willst though camp on thine routine ? Willst thou obey life and let yourself be wiped away by the winds of change ? No, thou willst not. Thou art a smart one, Purples. I can feel it. Trust me. Everyone trust sa compliment. I am right. Even though you might not see it yet. On the long run. I am not insane. It is in fact insanity I am combatting over everything else. I defy insanity."

"Everything has a meaning, deep down. I can feel it.. It's just that life is meaningless, but in fact that is the very point of everything, right ? Right. I get you. You get me." The most logical reaction to Baldoire adopting small talk is usually scrambling away, if you hadn't backed when he splurted nonsense out at you for calling him what he at the very least pretended to be. This conversation had gone beyond any other that the grey stallion had ever gone through. Fortunately it came to halt, when a convenient distraction prevented him from becoming outlaw and an arsonist.

Bandits.

Yes, actual bandits, like in the books. They were six - two Earth ponies and four pegasi -, had appeared seemingly out of nowhere although they probably didn't even need discretion to sneak up on our heroes, and were now circling them. They were all wearing matching black overalls and a balclava. Ponies, yes, the sweetest, kindest of beings. Except Baldoire wasn't entirely wrong about Canterlot at night. The city really was a dangerous place to roam after dark, especially with the royal guard recovering from recent conflicts. "Your money or your life." Asserted one of the thugs.

Figures.

"Hark. I am not, insane. And I am not 'just misunderstood'. Know who was ? Sunday Sorrow from elementary school. And he was a self-victimising prick." Declared promptly Baldoire before turning to the thieves. He could take them on. As long as there was no unicorn he could take a hundred ruffians at once.

Or so things had went so far.

((Hence the subplots won't cross yet, as previously discussed))

[Deleted]

Suddenly, the gray pony stopped and turned to look at Performance Major. The way this pony looked at him made him uncomfortable and he gulped. He had no idea what this stallion was capable of. After all, this stallion was on the run from the law. The strange pony went on to lecture about how he gave the unicorn a purpose. Performance just rolled his eyes. Then his eye twitched a little. Purples?

Suddenly, they were interrupted by... "B-b-bandits?!" Performance's eyes darted back and forth between each bandit. He gulped and looked at the gray pony with hope that he had a plan. As crazy as he was, he seemed like the type that deals with these kinds of things. One of the thugs demanded money. Performance was shaking at this point. He has never been in this kind of situation before. "What do we... what do we do?"

Performance decided to go back to back with this mad stallion. Performance's horn glowed. He wasn't really sure how his magic could help, but at least it looked threatening. He tried looking brave and strong, but he was not very convincing. His face was full of fear and doubt. He was frightened, he had never dealt with a situation quite like this before. His legs were shaking and his teeth were chattering a bit. He turned his head toward the strange gray pony he was back to back with. "If you've got any ideas, now would be the time to say so"

[Deleted]

Eternity was a little sad when Knight didn't want to dance anymore with her. She still had other amazing tricks up her sleeve. She could've pulled her tighter into the dance or maybe even.. asked for a little kiss. But nonetheless, they were friends. Just friends, nothing more. They literally just met, but Eternity's mind could wrap around the fact that Knight actually liked Luna, and not herself. They were just friends.

The grey mare just nodded, her cutie mark dimming down back to it's original 'not glowing' self. Eternity then cleared her throat and threw on her red jacket, black pants, and hoofball warmers. She ran her hoof through her very messy bangs nervously then looked back at the purple mare. "Uh," Eternity started, but right after that Knight went to get a drink of water. "That's fine," she whispered, almost not producing any words at all. But it wasn't fine. She wanted to spend more time with Knight, which was the whole plan after all.

Eternity then bolted over to Knight, trying not to waste anytime. She sat down next to her, getting handed a glass of water as well. "Yeah, that's actually not gonna work. If you're uncomfortable.. we can go to my second favorite place in Cantorlot. I have a plan in my head anyway and we need the time for it. If you wanna go, I can meet you out there," Eternity said, taking a swig at her water. She then hopped off the seat and ran out the door, hoping Knight was behind her.

Her red eyes found the two stallions from before. They seemed to be arguing about something really odd. Out of confusion (and a little bit of rage for seeing the purple stallion), she just stared then opened her mouth. "What the? If you're gonna keep following me, then you guys can go and jump into a ditch. Weirdos," she said in her raspy boyish voice. Eternity then trotted off, looking for the next building. She finally stopped seeing the words "Snip Snap". "Aw, here we are. The best salon in town."

[crestchan]

Knight had just sat down when Eternity landed in the seat next to her, they both got their waters pretty quickly. Knight was surprised that Eternity wasn't dancing more. Eternity seemed fine with leaving and suggested to meet at the next spot before she quickly drank her water. Knight followed suit and drank her water quickly. She hopped off her seat and followed Eternity. She was a little behind Eternity as she seemed to shout at somepony before she continued on. Knight didn't have time to wonder who Eternity had been yelling at, since she was trying to catch up. Knight was curious where the two of them were going.

The two of them came to a stop. They were in front of another building. This one had the words "Snip Snap." Knight could tell it was a salon, just from the look of it. "Aha!" Knight said in a triumphant voice. "See." She said looking at Eternity. Knight smiled a little. "Your second favorite place is a salon." She walked over to the door and opened it. "How very lady of you." She added a wink. "I'll have you know, I don't have a mane place." She ran a hoof through her mane. It had been a while since she had last been to a salon. "Wait, are you saying I should get my mane cut?" Knight had never really been one to care about her mane-do, but something about Eternity thinking it was bad made her worried. Knight looked at Eternity curiously. "Do you think it needs changing?" Knight started to wonder if all the royal guard needed to have a respectable mane-do and if her mess of a mane would keep her from becoming a guard.

[joxis]

Baldoire wasn't exactly baffled by the fact that his two protégés had literally walked past him and Performance Major surrounded by blatant bandits nor did he have any reaction to the fact that Eternity snarled at Performance instead of him. His main focus definitely wasn't on superior forces misinterpreting other divinities' interventions. The one and only matter he could focus on at this very moment was the rascals who dared challenge him to a collective duel. Without magic. Oddly enough, Baldoire did notice his purple acolyte's obvious symptoms of the clinical incurability known as fear. "Trust thou me not ?" He asked in his usual booming voice. "This deed have I accomplished many a time. I am a most fiable Pony as trouble arises, mark nought but these words." 

What happened next was typical of Baldoire. In Ponyville, although they were few opportunities for him to display his most efficient combat tactic since 90% of the threats back there were magic based, in this very situation he could unleash his true power. That which he has been perfecting since he learned about fighting. That which compensates for his hurrendous lack of dexterity with weapons despite the hundreds of replicas he owned. The unexpected and dreadful headbutt. What followed wouldn't, in its bluntest and most objective form, live up to the standards of chivalry Baldoire put in his speech and demeanour. Hence, to bring grace and poetry to what followed, one could right in archives and epos, that

Like an indestructible Earth pony would've sucker headbutted the six ruffians faster than anyone could react, the indestructible Earth pony sucker headbutted the six ruffians faster than anyone could react.

This deep and well thought out line, surely the product of a brilliant and cultivated mind, summed up how the situation unfolded clearer than crystal. Thanks to his peerless headbutting skills, Baldoire dispatched the villains, who swiftly made off, all the while barking that they would "Come back with their leader who is a unicorn", "Hunt them relentlessly" and "Make sure every triad and mafia in Canterlot does the same." Typical nonsense that would in no way have any sort of influence whatsoever on the upcoming hoofball match or our heroes' stay in Canterlot.

"So, uh." Spoke Baldoire, turning to the purple pony after making sure that the bandits wouldn't come back for round two. "It has come to my mind that an agent of the revolution wouldn't tremble in fear before a couple of ne'er do wells. And you look trustworthy. Those twenty minutes total we spent of you horrifyingly gazing at my usual behaviour makes me feel like we're connected somehow. You get me ?" The answer would've most likely been to the negative. But the grey stallion wasn't listening. Immediately after asking his rhetorical question, he spun around, facing a building that read "Snip Snap". He pointed at the salon. Then shifted his hoof towards an Inn right next to it. "This is a quality establishment. Come, we have much to discuss, such as how to most effectively annihilate a place of debauchery, how to strategically buy land plots to dissuade the construction of bars and night clubs ..." 

[Deleted]

Performance blinked. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. All those bandits, and all this gray stallion had to do was... headbutt them? Performance wasn't entirely sure how to react. On the one hand, this stallion was obviously a criminal as he was on the run from the law. He also seemed to be quite insane. On the other hand... this stallion just saved his life.

He wasn't sure whether to shout for the royal guard so they could take this insane criminal in or shake this stallion's hoof. Performance was utterly conflicted. The gray stallion began to speak to Performance, snapping him out of his indecision. It seemed he finally understood that Performance wasn't this "agent of the revolution". "I... I wasn't trembling in fear! I was... um... acting! Yes that's it! Acting! I'm an actor you know! And a singer!" The strange stallion went on to say he trusted him and that they were somehow connected. Performance Major opened his mouth to answer his question. Before he could get a word in, the gray stallion span around to face a building. Performance followed his gaze to a building that said "Snip Snap".

"Snip Snap?" Performance asked curiously. It looked to be a mane and tail salon. If Performance had been paying attention, rather than cowering in fear, he would have saw Lunar Knight and the gray pony with the green mane go in there. Performance then followed the gray stallion's gaze as he looked to the building next to it. "That sounds illegal, what's your name anyway?" Performance asked raising an eyebrow.

[Deleted]

Eternity jumped a little as she heard Knight yell "Aha!" in her ear. The mare was confused, but then realized what Knight was about to say. Once Knight said her sayings, Eternity brushed it off with a, "Huh." She then trotted next to the double doors and shook her head. "See what? The inside? My second favorite place is indeed a salon, but once you look inside the building itself, it isn't all that 'preppy'!" She used a different voice when she said "preppy" because she didn't like the word very much.

The green pony then laughed and opened the door, getting a fresh breeze of cologne and brand new sports balls. "Lady like- ha," she laughed again, getting waves from the ponies working there. "Well now that we're here, this can be your mane place too." The walls were decorated in all things sports. Trophies, sports balls, posters, TVs with games on, number one foam fingers for the Cantorlot Colts, and even a picture of "The Amazing Love Eternity Dovey" catching a ball and running for a touchdown. Eternity then trotted to the counter happily, admiring her second favorite place again.

The counter pony was reading a magazine, until she saw Eternity. Her face lit up as she saw the grey mare, smiling a huge smile. "Well welcome back Miss. Dovey," she said, brushing her hoof through her amazingly trimmed mane. "Uh, just Eternity will be fine ma'am. I got a visitor with me," Eternity said, pointing her shoulders at Knight. The worker just nodded and replied with "Ah, Miss Do- Eternity, you need a mane cut?" Eternity quickly nodded her head. "Yeah, I need to shape up a little bit. I got a big game today, so I need to look a sharp as possible."

Another worker came by and started talking to Eternity, then the worker made E sit in a chair and wait. Eternity then turned around to face Knight, who was sitting down. "You want a mane cut too? You'd look sweet with one. You could sharpen up for being a guard or something. I could get you one for free since you're with me," she offered. The mane cutter then came back with some scissors and color. "You want anything specific?" the cutter asked. Eternity just opened her mouth and said, "Wow me."

The mane cutter went to work, and finished in a very short amount of time. She then moved Eternity to look in the mirror. "Holy Celestia!" Eternity said, checking out all the angles. "I look amazing!" Her mane and tail were cut shorter and to an angle. The stylist dyed the yellow parts of her mane green with light highlights like this:

"Oh my Celestia! I can't get over it. Thanks so much," Eternity said with a smirk, then trotted over to Knight. "Do you think I look hot?" Eternity's smirk got bigger when she said that. She then bounced a little and sat next to Knight. "Seriously though, go get a mane cut if you wanna. We still got time on our hooves."

[crestchan]

Knight followed Eternity into "Snip Snap." It wasn't what Knight had thought it was. Knight glanced around at all the stuff on the walls. "Well that is because you lied." She said glancing at Eternity. "This is clearly not a salon. This is a barbershop." Her eyes looked at the picture. She was surprised more by the name then what was going on in it. Knight decided to wait and not bring up the name just yet. She was going to wait till Eternity got back. Knight looked at all the stuff that was on the walls, this time taking her time. She was surprised by some of the things they had up there. Knight wasn't one to follow sports, so she didn't really know all that much. It didn't take Eternity too long to get her mane done.

Knight had heard Eternity before she saw her. She felt a little odd when she saw Eternity's new mane do. It wasn't what she was expecting. Knight was a little too stunned. She wasn't sure what she should say. "U-Um...Sure." She finally said with a nod, agreeing to getting her own mane-do. She was then lead off by one of the workers but she stopped and looked back at Eternity, finally figuring out what to say. "Well, if there was a bird in your mane, I would call it a "Love E Dovey, Do." She said with a smile and continued to follow the worker.

Knight sat down in the chair. She wasn't sure how she wanted her mane to look. "How do you want your mane cut?" The cutter asked. Knight glanced at her, still not sure. "Uh...Um..." Knight then looked at her own reflection. "I guess...Give it a trim and try and make it look...guardish?" She wasn't sure what she was asking for. The other pony nodded and started to work.



Knight glanced in the mirror when the work was done. It was a lot more neat then she was used to. Luckily the other pony had put her mane back into the pony tail. Knight ran a hoof through her mane, making it messy again. Knight never could keep her mane looking good. Knight looked at the pony. "Thanks." She said before she stood up. Knight headed back towards Eternity's location. Knight wasn't sure how she felt about the new look. "Well, how do I look?" She asked, unsure.