The Age of Strife: An /mlp/ Quest

>>29622253
>It's been a while since you saw Strawberry kick in the teeth of that red pegasus. Since then you watch a few miscellaneous ponies go hoof-to-hoof with each other. You study them eagerly, taking note of the winners and what kind of strategy they'll use. The only one you really deem to be a major threat is a unicorn like yourself, the one with a grey, sooty look to his coat and a black mane, but otherwise pretty scrawny. Even YOU were pretty sure you could beat him up. If you could get close, that is.
>...
>Soon enough, you see that pegasus in the white robe fly above the field.
>"And the next contestants... Jasper and Pocket Knife. Please step on the field.
>Oh.
>THAT guy.
>This was going to be FUN.
>You see a familiar smirk on the noble pony's face as the both of you step onto the grassy open space. He pulls a rapier, not unlike your own, from is sheath and clenches it in his teeth.

How do you wanna go about this?
>Blast him with Firebolt or Chill Touch
>Use a major spell right off the bat, then wail on him.
>No, you need to conserve your magic for a real opponent. Time for some fencing.
>Other (Specify)
DM's Note: Your spells are in the OP. Sleep and Charm Person are self-explanatory. Hideous Laughter makes your opponent laugh uncontrollably. Note that CP is less likely to work if your opponent is hostile.

>>29643856
Throw a firebolt and spend a bonus action to hide

>>29643869
There is literally no where to hide.

>>29643874
Use minor illusion to create a wall for us to hide behind, then hide.

>>29643882
The image cannot be more than five feet by five feet...and it's not like he'll have no idea where you are.

>>29643891
How big do you think a pony is?

>>29643903
>>29643891
Fine then. Make a metal box that we can crouch inside, then hide.

The way minor illusion works, he should think it's real unless he spends an action to investigate it.

>>29643926
and don't forget a small hole to see through

>>29643926
That's so insane it might work.

>With a long look at both opponents ready to fight, the moderator explains the rules once more.
>"Once this cloth touches the ground, the fight may begin." She says. "Remember; no lethal force, no dirty fighting, magic may be used as you see fit, exiting the field, either by intent or by accident is an automatic forfeit. Understand?"
"Yes."
>"Yes, I do."
>The cloth flutters to the ground,
>...and it was on!
Hang on, gotta move this to my phone. Need to use the bathroom.

>>29643952
>If you can't find a placet to hide, you'll just make one then
>You immediately set your plan in motion. With a flare of your horn, you crouch down and create an illusory metal chest around yourself, leaving a keyhole for you to peep through.
>Cautiously, he creeps closer, his rapier bared. You can't tell if he believes it or not, but he's not attacking you.
>He stops.
>"Judge, uh, judge? What do I do if-"
>And then you sprang. Passing through the illusion and knocking him in the jaw with the crossguard of your rapier.
>You watch, almost as if it were in slow motion, as Jasper's eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls backwards, collapsing into a heaping lump of formerly smug noble.

He failed EVERY possible check I gave him and you dealt his entire health with one sneak attack. Winrar. Moving the thread back to my laptop.

>>29644000
>"I declare the winner to be Pocket Knife."
>The crowd hesitantly applauds you. You can hear murmurs of confusion. One of them asks "What they hay just happened?"
>The moderator flies down and proceeds to follow her routine of healing the loser and having the squires help him off the field and into the infirmary

Wat do?
>Give a polite bow and walk back to Strawberry
>Take a moment to strike a victory pose and get a rise out of the crowd
>Other (Specify)

>>29644042
Polite bow to the audience.

"Thank you! Thank you, I will be here all day! You're a terrific audience!"

>>29644000
>>29644070
"Thank you! Thank you, I will be here all day! You're a terrific audience!"
>You sheathe your rapier and bow your head. The ponies seem to warm up a bit, but you feel like any longer would overstay your welcome.
>Satisfied, you trot over to where Fields waits at the edge of the clearing. She immediately rushes at you. You know what's coming, so you calmly allow her to pull you in to another rib-crusher hug.
"Aaaah, okay, that's enough." you eke out.
>She lets go.
>"You totally cleaned his clock, Pocket! I'm pretty sure I saw one of the groundskeepers pick one of his teeth out of the grass."
"What can I say? I'm pretty clever."
>You cast Mage Hand and pat yourself on the back with it.
"Anyway, that didn't take much out of me. I think I could go for another. Maybe I should ask the moderator to just throw one at me right now."
>"It doesn't really work that way." Strawberry sighed. "Trust me, I've tried."

>...

>Several more battles past, this time they were a bit more intense now that the first round of fighters has passed. You started seeing a few more magic-users and the contestants seemed a bit burlier.
>While you perused the grounds waiting for you or Strawberry to get called, you notice something stuffed in a local trash bin. Upon closer inspection, it looked exactly like the clothes that Jasper wore, down to the fancy feathered hat. In that moment, you caught movement in the corner of your eye. It was the noble himself, sans clothes. He seemed to be running off.

Wat do?
>Something's going on. Follow him.
>Eh, you really don't wanna talk to that guy. Keep going.
>Other (Specify)

>>29644175
What the hell is wrong with this guy!? Throwing a perfectly good fancy outfit into the trash! Put the outfit in our inventory for later use and tail him, try to remain stealthy.

>>29644175
>>29644208
>You know, that's a pretty nice outfit. You dig it out, brush it off, fold it up, and stuff the shirt into your saddlebags. You can't really fold the hat up to well, so you just wear it. You look absolutely dazzling.
>You turn to follow the noble guy, but he's gone. You walk the way he went, but you can't seem to find him.
>You hear the sound of... what was that? Sobbing? It was coming from a tent. You open the flap to peek in and see a pale green unicorn. Definitely Jasper. He notices you immediately and chucks a pebble in your direction, giving you a death glare.

Wat do?
>Leave the crybaby be.
>Odds are, you likely caused this. You should probably see what's wrong.
>Other (Specify)

>>29644267
Hey cmon, I'm not here to fight. Are you alright? What's wrong?

>>29644322
>You sigh.
"Hey. Come on. I'm not here to fight. You okay? What's wrong?"
>He sniffs a little, then hangs his head.
>"I'm just not cut out for this stuff. Celestia, I'm such a fool."
"Hey, it was just a fight, man. Trust me, there will be plenty more to come if you look hard enough. Besides, don't you noble types have all the time to-"
>"I'm not a noble, damn it!" He barks at you. "Those clothes and this sword, they cost me half my life's savings. I'm not rich, I don't have noble blood. I'm the son of a shepard."

>Ho-kay, time to go. No need to tell me your life's story.
>Let him go on.

>>29644547
Might as well let this guy go on. Did knock him out and take his clothes.

>>29644547
There's always next time, no need to give up after just one try. And...to be honest I did kinda pull that trick on you so you didn't really get to show what you were made of.

>>29644547
>>29644568
>"I always wanted to be one, though." He went on "You saw how those mares fell over me. It felt good. Though, I'm thinking twice about it now that they've dumped me after losing the duel. I'm probably better off, anyway. I can't say I didn't look g- Hey, that's my hat!"
>Oh yeah, you were totally wearing his clothes.
"One pony's trash is another pony's treasure."
>He shakes his head. "I did toss it. I have no use for it. But... what am I to do now? Little money, only a sword to my name, and I have no chance of asking the princesses to make my family nobility. My goals are so far away. Where is a stallion to go?"

What do you suggest?
>Shepherding is an honest living. Go home.
>Go adventuring. Celestia HAS been known to knight those of renown.
>Other (Specify)

Next post will be my last. Gotta get up at 4:30 tomorrow. Will likely be back to do it on Sat or Sun

>>29644619
Well...Fields and I do our fair share of adventuring? You wanna join us?

>>29644619
>>29644658
Figured you guys'd go for this.

>Well, there's an opportunity.
>Maybe he believes in the old saying "If you can't bat 'em, join 'em."
"You know, I'm an adventurer."
>"I see. It comes as no surprise, really."
"I've got a friend that's just as strong as I am smart. We travel a lot. Perhaps you could find what you're looking for with us."
>His ears perk at the prospect. He opens his mouth to speak, but doesn't say anything at first.
>"That's a tough one. Weighing my options, I feel like it would be too much. I'm rather into the comforts of home, even if it is just a farm. I can seem myself there more often than anywhere else. I'm sorry. Maybe you'll find someone else to join you.
To be fair it was a hard persuasion check
"Ah, allright then. If you change your mind anytime today, you'll be able to find me."
>"Thanks."
"Yeah, no problem."

>>29644742
Give him his outfit + hat back.

"If you give up on adventuring then you can at least sell the outfit to someone to break even. Just do whatever makes you happy...good luck!"

Let's go back to the arena and wait to get called out again.

>>29644742
He doesn't need his rapier does he?

>>29644742
So a barbarian, a rogue, and a shepard walk into a bar. One last thing to say to him.
Well if he's fine with returning to be a shepard then alright. How long will it take him to get that other half of his life savings from working as a Shepard? Would he be an old stallion by then? He probably cost cover it if he was an adventure. But that's fine. Adventuring isn't for everyone.

>>29644966
First of all...we already have one so taking his stuff is rude since he said he's poor. Just let him have his stuff back so he can sell it if needed.

>>29645269
Well I suppose. It sucks that we're going to lose such sick duds.

>>29644742
Where's his farm? We might pass trough the area and get the chance to visit in our future adventures.

>>29645269
Can't we keep the hat at least?

>>29646803
You tell me anon. He only spend half his life savings on his clothes a sword, and discarded the clothing due to despair.

Be back soon (TM). Maybe today. Maybe tommorow. Posts should be less turbulent once I'm back on a five day work week.

>>29648538
Will you run today?

>>29649331
Probably not. Work fucked me again. We usual cut the watch in half on weekend duty which we're not supposed to do , but we have an upcoming inspection so our higher-ups are watching us like hawks. So nothing until next week.

fuck the Navy desu senpai

>>29649487

>>29650635

>>29651867

>>29652539