Fillydelphia It Takes A Thief [OPEN]

[MyLittlePonyTales]

”Fight's a fight.” Dodger shrugged off Ardent's comment. Back to her old high and mighty self in the face of an apparent 'true' hero. But he had to agree with the other brown Unicorn—who's name he realized he hadn't gotten—the street wasn't the best place to do brawling of any sort, seeing as the local guards would soon break it up, and perhaps arrest any parties they caught. Although, this seemed like it was going to be a bit more professional.

Park eh? Sure, sure, lots of room to move about... lots of unsuspecting folks with picnic baskets and purses. Any sort of fight, civil or not, was bound to attract attention. He inwardly smiled, holding a well practiced 'poker face' on the outside.

“Ya, thasa place! Lots of open grass, and maybe even a few spectators.” He winked at Ardent.

[RarityDash]

"Then let us leave at once! I am eager to demonstrate my knightly valor!" Fate started with a nod and a stomp of her foot, childishly eager to get started.

She started to step ahead. Encouraging gambling, showing force when it wasn't needed, she was blissfully unaware that these weren't exactly in line with Librum her Order was based on. She just wanted to have fun and show off her skills, likewise unaware of how underdeveloped they in fact were.

Her sword worn proudly on her back, she looked back to make sure the others were following after her.

[Frain Breeze]

"A few spectators are always welcome, ..um..." Lanceguard spoke, but then hesitated in her reply to Dodger, realizing she hadn't heard his name. "Oh dear, we haven't had any proper introductions yet, have we?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head, then took a step back to address the group. "I am Lady Lanceguard of Canterlot. I am one of Equestria's finest jousters, buuut I suppose you might have picked up on that by now" she said, finishing with a smirk.

She stepped behind Fate and motioned for her to lead the way. "I've been trying to get more ponies interested in the sport, and a match at the park may be just what we need."

[MyLittlePonyTales]

”Who, me?” he smirked at the brown Unicorn. “I'm the Dodger.” He placed a hoof to the brim of his hat, ducking his head politely, but not removing his infamous head piece. “Jack of all trades... or none of them, actually.” he winked. “Know tha city like the back of my hoof though.” he boasted.

“So it's a sport then?” he continued after the group, bringing up the rear. He wanted to keep enough distance between himself and anypony else, in case he had to bolt off for something, or if something caught his eye that he wanted to 'pick up'. “'ow's it work?” Dodger had never participated in a joust before in his life, much less watched one. 'Civilized' sports were all full of rules and regulations. The only thing he would bother with any sort of sport might be a bet or two, and that would just be between him and his friends. Although many wouldn't bet against him, as he was good at predicting the odds... or perhaps he just knew which ones were rigged.

[RarityDash]

"And I am Ardent Fate, future greatest knight in all of Equestria!" Fate boldly declared with a proud nod. "My sword is imbued with pure and righteous justice!"

The young filly scampered along, leading the way to the park as she listened to the others talk about jousting. She didn't know the first thing about jousting or sports at all. She didn't know if real knights were supposed to do such things. All she really knew was that she had been challenged, so she wasn't going to back down. Bravery and valor were hallmarks of a true knight. She wasn't about the back down, even against a champion.

"Ah, there it is!" she started as the park came into view. She smiled and skipped ahead eagerly.

[Frain Breeze]

"Well of course it's a sport. It probably wouldn't be wise to advertise it if I was simply going around roughing ponies up" Lanceguard replied to Dodger.

She looked to Fate, resisting the urge to chuckle at the filly's boast. Lanceguard looked around, taking a moment to survey the area. It was a wide open space, big enough to have some fun without any interference. "Well, since we have a good spot, I might as well go over how to joust. The goal is simply to knock your opponent down such that their sides or back hit the ground. The joust is a physical competition, which means no magic. In its earlier forms, the joust was limited to just unicorns versus other unicorns, but we've had to expand it just to get more ponies in the game. But to keep it in the old spirit, pegasi aren't allowed to fly during a match and any non-unicorns are usually wearing false horns on their helmets. After the initial charge, it's up to the ponies in the arena as to how it goes."

She took a few paces further into the park before stopping to add, "Oh, and of course: Any horn, whether real or fake, must either be dulled or have a rounded cover placed over the end. I would hope the reasoning for that is obvious."

[MyLittlePonyTales]

For all the “justice” Ardent had been on about all day, she was certainly doing very little of it... or anything really noble or honest, for that matter. True, she may have bragged of being a knight or whatever, but she wasn't very good at playing the part. Ah well, she was still young, and seemingly didn't have any kind of guide or teacher. At worst, she'd end up like him, at best, how she had described her father.

True, jousting may have been a sport, but from Dodger's experience, there wasn't much honesty in that... even if mostly honest folks were the contestants. There was always bribery and threats going around, and the game was almost always rigged. And when it wasn't, well, it was probably just to throw off the suspicion that there was.

Still, between just two folks outside of an arena, things could be considered fair and a test of talent... or simply a test of strength, depending on the task. From the sound of it, jousting took a bit of both, but it sounded easy enough. Might be something worth teaching to the gang, even.

“How's about you two start up, and I'll just watch?” He found a nice shady spot under a tree, rubbing his back up against it and settling down lazily. “Oh, and I can watch your bags for ya too.” He gestured to Lanceguard's saddlebags.

[RarityDash]

"So, I can't use my sword then?" Fate asked, kind of confused. As far as she was concerned a duel between champions needed no complicated rules! That's how real knights did it. Plus it was just hard to understand when there were so many rules, and she was still a young filly. Complicated stuff, like her father's Librum Dextarius, the guide all Destrier knights went by, tended to leaver her a little dumbfounded. Though in that case, she could at least recite whole passages by memory, even if she didn't quite understand them.

"I don't have a horn... is that a problem?" the filly asked. She was glad she wasn't a unicorn; the Destrier knights didn't normally recruit unicorns. Not being a unicorn was probably the one thing she actually had going in her favor. However, if for this joust thing she needed a horn, she hoped this Lady Lanceguard had a spare false horn.

She looked at Dodger when he spoke. She nodded. She was sure this pony was safe for Lady Lanceguard to leave her bags with. Sure he had stolen earlier, but he had been pretty nice after that and even given Fate some of his food! She was nothing but confident that he could be trusted.

[Frain Breeze]

"Oh, good. Thank you sir." Lanceguard smiled and set her bag by Dodger. She hadn't seen anything really suspicious from the colt. Besides, they were in a bright, open field. What could go wrong?

Lanceguard rolled her eyes at Fate, but maintained a smirk. "No, swords are definitely out of the question. We're trying to knock each other down, not cut each other up. As for the horn... Well, I usually have some helmets fitted with fake horns that others may use. But since it's just myself here instead of a group of my jousting friends, I have to admit I'm somewhat under-prepared." She paused for a moment to rummage through the contents of her saddlebag, incidentally in view of Dodger. Other than the first aid kit she kept with her, all of the contents were just things for herself- money, snacks, a few notes, and a couple patches of chainmail in case hers was damaged.

Turning her attention back to Fate, she continued, "The horn isn't strictly a necessity, though. It adds a little more hurt to your hits, but other than that it just adds leverage in a few advanced moves that.. don't usually go well for beginners."

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Dodger nodded back at Lanceguard, smiling politely. This was really too easy. They were in a public place, sure, but all the better. Public places meant crowds, which were welcome for his type. Well, so long as you knew how to maneuver through them. The trick was getting through the ground before the robbed pony realized they'd been had. The cries of “stop him” and the like would come through in a wave. All he had to do was be ahead of that wave, and get out of site before the last batch of ponies had cared to check which way he'd gone.

But this Lanceguard girl seemed to be new to the sit. That, or overconfident in her abilities to protect herself and her possessions. Certainly she wouldn't think she could outrun a pony named 'Dodger' now, would she? He didn't even have to try to sneak a peak at the items in the saddlebags. He would have rummaged through them soon enough anyway, but this saved him the trouble.

Well, there were bits and food, and that was enough. Although it also looked like there were a couple heavier items, specifically the metal gear. Well, his hat could serve as storage enough, certainly. And with the bags being so heavy, nothing would be missed until later, when he was long gone. Sometimes, he actually believed Celestia was smiling down on him.

“Well, go on then. Give it a go!” he encouraged Ardent.

[RarityDash]

"Umm... well... I can still keep my sword with me, right?" Fate asked, tentatively, not very sure about this whole process. "I don't really like to let go of it if I can help it..."

"Okay, so We just try and knock each other down then? That seems..." Fate started, head tilted. Come to think of it, considering she was a small filly and this was an adult mare, her chances at a physical game like this were probably pretty slim. Though perhaps she could still conquer this. She was going to be the best knight ever someday, and that meant doing things that seemed impossible was necessary! That's it! Defeating this professional jouster at her own game was to be the first in the storied tale of Ardent Fate, Equestria's greatest champion! Fate could see it already.

"...more than fair. I will face you boldly, and I will win!" she declared with much enthusiasm.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

[Guess this is over, since Frain Breeze left. ]

[RarityDash]

((ooc: Yeah, I guess so. A shame, but yeah... don't think there's a way to save it now. ))