Make it snappy.

"As I said before it's a chance to meet other ponies and become friends. It's called Know Your Neighhhbors." The colt seem damn Skippy at the name. Bet he came up with this bull.

Talon poked the colt's chest as she debated flicking that dumb clip board out of his hoof. "Listen here and listen good. There is no way in Celestia's green fields of Equestrian that anyone here is trying to." She lifted her hooves to put quotation marks "Make Friends."

She set her hooves down, making a thud as she rubbed them in the dirt. She always tried having a stance in case of trouble. She seem like she was the South end of a magnet and trouble was nothing but North. Dumb example. Damn right it is.

"Let me tell you why there really here pal. Everyone here that you and me are looking at are trying to run from their stupid problems by jumping and slipping around on each other." Talon turned the colt's head as he gulped for fear she was gonna snap his neck right then and there. "See that colt? He throw too much perfume on and is practicing his first meeting face. Bet he slips mares the good stuff and has a fun night with them. Likely because they don't talk, or complaint if your bad."

"So... you aren't signing up?" The colt asked hopefully.

Talon looked at him like he was crazy. "You nuts? Course I'm signing up." He shoved the colt with a dry laugh as she swiped the clip board from him and wrote her name. She handed back and when to table number 6.

"Speedy Friendships. Ha." Talon had never heard of something more stupid in her whole live. "Nopony is anyone's friend." She laid her head on the table, already getting bored it hadn't started up yet. "They all want something."

A fake smile plastered onto his face, Blackfire sat onto table number one. Even though it wasn't his designated table, he refused to leave it. Number one or done, that's the argument Blackfire gave. Despite this argument, the upset pony was forced to move up to his designated table number, being 6. Why was Blackfire, the single most awesome creation in existence, looking to meet new ponies and make friends? It had occurred to the stallion that he was truly alone. Not a lot of ponies enjoyed his presence, in fact, most ponies hated it. He came to the conclusion that earning a 'friend' would give him not only some pony to keep him company, but somepony to truly appreciate how great he is, and how kind he is allowing street rats from Manehattan to bask in the glory of his presence.

"I hate this city so much." he said, sitting down and plastering his fake smile.

"Hello Street ra- I mean, Fellow pony. How are you?" Blackfire asked, through gritted teeth.

Talon sat, only to wish she hadn't signed up for this. He had that stupid greasy black hair that looked like some idiot from downtown trying to pick up girls with stupid card tricks. She took off her hat to fix her hat hair and return to a suitable form. She would never admit it, but she was jealous of other fillies with better hair then her. It was one of the reason she wore a hat.

"Great. Just my luck I get stuck at a table with /BackFire/." She huffed a few times as she poured herself some water from the pitcher on the table. "Wipe that stupid look off your face before I break your teeth out." She smirked at how fun that be as she drank a few sips of the water, which tasted slightly like copper. "To answer your idiot question I'm not fine at all. Looking for a new job and I haven't sank my hoof into someone's face today."

Blackfire's smile lid off his face. This pony was senselessly insulting him as she usually did.

"Hello Talon. Why always with the rude attitude. I think we could seriously be good... friends." he said, reluctantly finishing his sentence.

A grin quickly spread unto his face again. If he could earn the trust of Talon, he could use her for his own malicious gain.

"You see, the two of us are actually very similar. We're both the very best at what we do, and we get nothing but insults and disrespect. We deserve better. And with my wits and status as best carpenter in the world, and your reputation and brawn, we could own this town. We could change it, and make it into whatever we want it to be. Corruption and dishonor have taken the glory and pride away from this rat hole. And the two of us, as associates... as friends, we could show the world how a place is run. Who knows, maybe her majesty, Princess Celestia will be so impressed, she decides to give us the crown." Blackfire went on, hoping to get the message clear through.

He extended his hoof halfway across the table. His grin twice as large as it was before.

"Join me, and nothing can stop us."

Talon looked down at his hoof, staring at it for a moment then looking up at him with a blank look before a smirk spread across her face into laughing. She slammed her hooves on the table, almost falling off, drawing the attention of a few tables as she tried to stop[ herself. She removed her hat, fanning herself as she lost the red in her face. "Ohh. Your such a idiot. It's hard not to kick your flank every time I see you." She said while wiping a laugh tear away. "I think every word out of your mouth is bull, but yeah, sure. Whatever. We can be friends."

Talon wonders the day he gets to punch him. Everything he says makes her laugh too hard at the sheer stupidity, but it wasn't that she found funny. It was he honesty might believe even a part of that made her guts twist. She fought a few more giggles as drank a glass of water, having a bit run down on her suit. "Ok. Okay. I'm good now." She shifted her weight in seat as she decided to pour BackFire over here some water. "So what else do you even do besides murder trees to make tables? There better be something because the only hobby I have is punching ponies, sleeping and running my mouth, or the occasional concert or some dumb event like this."

Blackfire scowled when Talon began laughing at his proposal. He was serious, but the street tough thought he was joking. He brought his hoof back to his side and decided to drop the subject.

"I don't just make tables. I make various Pieces of furniture that, one day, will gain incredible historical value. That one day, will be the day that all these ponies realized that I am as good as I say I am. Because if I don't build the next greatest structures of the world, who will?" Blackfire asked, looking at the surrounding ponies.

"But other than being great, I enjoy reading comics, and writing books about none other than myself. And lucky you, by you agreeing to be my friend, you've earned yourself a chapter in my book. You're welcome." Blackfire stated, using his magic to take his comb from his jacket, starting to comb his mane.

The unicorn had learned that giving friends gifts was a good thing. What better gift would it be to add Talon into his history. Blackfire could only imagine what type of gifts he'd receive in return.

Talon watched the blow heart comb his hair like some egotistical greaser as she adjusted her hat with a smirk. "That will be a good chapter I bet, on account it be the only that had some spice to it." he lifted her hoof like a chef would to describe something before drinking the water from pitcher, no longer caring. "So how much does one of your nice tables and chairs to go with it cost. I need new ones on account I broke them over the colt diagonal from me." He said, pausing to adjust her hat with smirk.

The flankhole had been hammering on the door because he was sad his girlfriend kicked him out for being a scumbag. She hadn't cared till he kept her up. She was three chairs in and half a table before he promised not to yell at night anymore.

"Still as violent as you say, huh? Well, my prices vary from what you need, and the quality in which you need it. Seeing as you live in a poor and uncivilized society, and the fact that you are my... friend, I could give you a discount." Blackfire rubbed his chin, considering any other jokes he could maker about Manehattan.

"Give me 12 bits, and I'll get you what you need. Provided you tell me, straigth from your mouth, that I am the one, the only, single, undisputed, best in the world at what I do. Go on, say it." he added, shouting the phrase 'best in the world', gathering the attention of onlookers.

If Blackfire could get Talon to say that he was the best in the world in front of a group, it would help every pony there realize and honor that he was great. If Manehattan needed anything, it was to finally realize and accept the fact, that the unicorn was great. Blackfire put his comb away and crossed his forelegs over his torso, waiting for the words to flow from the mare's mouth.

Talon glared at the ponies, making them look away as she had a face forcing her not to laugh in his face. She couldn't handle the sheer amount of crazy contained in this colt. She liked it. "Look 'Greatest Carpenter in the world'. I'll shout it from the room tops and set up flyers if you'll make one I can't break in half." She smirked at the idea of seeing if he could prove his worth. "So here 6 up front." She dug in her pocket, setting four down and finding up in the upper pocket and removing one from inside her hat. "Make me one. I try to break the damn thing in half." She paused for the fun of it as she slid the bits over in messy pile.

"And if it somehow doesn't bust in half. I'll pay you 12 bits, and you can keep these six. Sound good Wood-for-brain?"

"I like a challenge. A table and set of chairs that a violent brute cannot destroy? Hmm." Blackfire, gathering the bits and put them in his jacket pocket, before hopped out of his chair and and began pacing.

"A table of such magnitude would need to be strong, no doubt. Heh heh, would. Sounds like wood. Let's see, I'd need some Lignum Vitae. Has that ever been used to make a table and chairs? Seems like a job for the best in the world." He thought to himself as he paced, imagining how awesome it would sound coming from his mouth.

Blackfire looked at the mare sitting across from him. Just how strong was she? Surely nothing supernatural. As violent as she was, she could not destroy wood of this strength. he chuckled, as he was certain that she would quit kidding herself, and admit that Blackfire was as great as he said he was.

"Okay Talon, I can get you a set of chairs and a table, from the hardest wood I know. Legend has it, a wizard once used it for a wand." Blackfire added, sitting down on the chair again.

"The wood is said to be so powerful that it can withstand 4500 pounds of force. Yes I memorized that number, that's what being the best is all about. That being said, I believe that giving you such things would be dangerous, but I for one don't really care. Now, as I cannot simply cut through wood with that much force, It'll take me a while to finish your request. You'll get your furniture in a matter of 2 weeks." he stated, tapping his hooves together.

Certainly that would be enough time for her to print up those flyers. He began thinking of being a possible accomplice if Talon were to seriously injure someone with her table and chairs. But he immediately let the thought leave his head, replacing it with images of himself with the phrase 'Best in the world' floating beneath his jaw.

Talon watched as his excited pace and child-like joy seem to wrap him up in his own little world. She was a bit surprised by the the actual passion he had for the table making. Maybe making wood had that ego of his grow as tall of as a tree when he crafted something. She smirked at his sheer desire to prove himself, like it had some sort of meaning worth anyone's times.

She cracked her knuckles with happy expression as she stood up with adjustment of her hat. "I can't wait to try to break it. Be sure not to leave any weak points in the wood." She slammed her hand down on a tiny crack in the table they had sat at, leaving a large splinter in the poorly painted wood. "Now let's get some Chinese and call it a day."

(Time skip two weeks? Or finish this and a new thread?)

(Time skip sounds good)

"I am a bit hungry. Besides, I'm curious to see what Manehattan ponies eat. I just hope I can stomach it." Blackfire said.

With a new challenge ahead of him and a meal with some pony that doesn't completly hate him, Blackfire couldn't help but smile. Not his usual smirk of self satisfaction, but one of sincere joy. His smile quickly faded, as he realized that he had been paid but a fraction f the actual price. But he didn't do it for the money, he did it because he was the greatest carpenter on the face of the planet, and it was his responssibility to help his clients. And his friends.

"I know a place that's greasy, but damn if you don't ask what it's made of. It tastes like heart block heaven." She smirked as she fixed her hat and following his lead to eat, leaving after the meal and deciding a place to meet the week after next.

Talon left the company of the the world's 'Greatest Carpenter" and pushed open her apartment, crashing on the couch, only drawing a acual smile as she drifted to sleep with a half remembrance of the day.

{Skipping Time}

The two weeks flew by with their painfully boring and random interesting encounters as she sat on the bench waiting for BackFire and his 'Unbreakable table". She had been looking forward to this all week and had been breaking two-by-fours for fun as she waited for the good one. It was a win-win for her. She either gets a sturdy table, or gets to break something. Talon wouldn't admit it, but this was one of the only things she had to look forward in quite a while.

Blackfire's cowlick drooped low, a sign of a tough job completed in a satisfactory manner. Behind him, a cart full of olive green wooden furniture. An oblong table and 4 chairs were all in the cart dragged by the stallion. He spotted Talon and his egotistical smirk grew wider, as he dragged the cart behind him.. Once he was withing appropriate distance from the mare, he cleared his throat and prepared himself to do what he loved best, brag.

"Well if it isn't my violent friend Talon. Well, as promised, I give you a set of furniture that you could not possibly destroy. It is made of the strongest wood I could get my hooves on. And after a fortnight of toil and working my hooves to the bone, I was able to show that I am a great as I say I am, that I am indeed the best in the world at all that I do. I expect you to admit that I am the best in the world, and no sarcasm. It had better be sincere." Blackfire said, sitting on the bench and sighing out of fatigue.

((I suggested 2 weeks because I wanted to use the word 'fortnight'))

((Good.))

She stood, pushing up her hat as she removed the brand spanking new over coat and began rolling up her sleeves. She as itching to break something, hell. She was itching just to hit something today. She'd of hated to admit that she was looking forward to this day, but she would be lair if she uttered otherwise. She especially wouldn't say that to Backfire over there. He takes two miles for a inch of praise. Bet he was paid one comment in his life and have been stretching it sense then. "Well, well. If it isn't Captain Carpenter, Surprised that these tables actually look like there made of wood. Maybe your not as cheap as I thought."

She stepped over, brushing her hoof over the furnish. "Then again I'm paying for this thing." She turned her eyes, keeping her head n place as she itched her eyebrow. "Now all that's left to do is break this pretty thing and laugh in your face." She smirked at the daydream of BlackFire crying over broken table and herself standing on a mountain of defeated foes. What a nice life that would be.

Blackfire chuckled at Talon's words. After all the time and effort he had put into it, it would be a real shame to watch the furniture be destroyed so easily.

"Go nuts. I won't be able to take you to the hospital, mainly becausee I don't know wherw that is." Blackfire commented. "I hope you're ready to put an end to your denial and believe what I've been saying all this time."

The words Talon had said had brought an image to his mind. One of the mare crying with a broken hoof, in such pain that the only words to leave her mouth being 'best in the world'. It'll be a grand ol time.

Talon let a half-huffed chuckle as she turned towards the table. She rubbed her hooves to together like scheming monkey as she got into her stance, remembering her breathing as she picked a spot on the wood. "I hate hospitals anyway." She smirked before taking one step back, holding your her hoof flat and rigid and running straight out from the wrist

After she got into a solid stance. She raised her hoof high and strikes the board in the direction of the grain with the force she could muster in her chop.

Blackfire's mind began to wander. What f Talon could break it? Would this mean that Blackfire was just blowing smoke all this time? No, no that was impossible. She was just an average street thug. Blackfire was confident that his workmanship would be able to withstand anything she could throw on it. What's more, that was Lignum Vitae, one of the strongest woods in the planet. However, Blackfire couldn't help but feel frightened that Talon's feat of strength could shatter any hopes he had of convincing her and the rest of Manehattan that he was the best in the world. He watched as she raised her hoof and brought it down.

Her hoof came to a halt at full force on the table, making a loud cracking sound. However the table didn't break in two as the noise suggested. Talon stepped back, gazing at the table and then at her hoof, which was a bit red was it made impact. She smiled a moment before laughing, half giggling even as she held her sides a bit. "I was so worrying about breaking this table. On account your balloon might burst if my ego air got blown in it. Though now I think about it.." She stopped to giggle a bit more, which looked pretty odd coming from one so vicious.


"I can't believe how funny it is in hindsight. I was looking forward to breaking a table for two weeks and now I'm standing out here like some street ct trying to break it." She covered her mouth to muffle the laughter as fanned herself with her hat before setting back in place. "Guess your not all talk.. BlackFire." She smirked at him before removing a chair and sitting at her table.

Blackfire shut his eyes and awaited the moment when the mare's hoof would come into contact with the table. He winced when he heard the crack, when he opened his eyes t see the table still in one piece his trademark smirk spread over his face again. Standing from the bench, he extended his forelegs into the air, making a victorious pose.

"I tell you time and time again, and now you pay the price for your skepticism. Are you prepared to honestly admit that I am no just the greatest carpenter in the world, but the one, the only, without a shadow of a doubt, BEST IN THE WORLD at what I do?" Blackfire asked, doing a quick mane flip of arrogance.

Following his mane flip, Blackfire quickly sat down on the bench again. He was very tired, having not had any proper rest for some time. He let out a yawn and smirk once more.

"I bet you would of done the pose even with four broken legs wouldn't you of?" She smirked herself as she did a swinging stride toward him, chuckling a bit as she pressed her hoof to her face. "Can't believe I gotta do this.." She paused before lifting her head up, clearing her throat. "Blackfire can be a real flank hole with thorn in the side to go with it, but he is a pretty damn good Carpenter." She swiped her nose over face as she turned her head away. "Also he ain't too bad of colt."

She huffed as she felt like she had took down cheap liquor. This probably will fuel the ego train for another ten years.

A sincere smile spread over Blackfire's face, a he threw his head back and laughed.

"Now was that so hard? Isn't life easier when you just agree with absolutely everything that I say?" he asked, using his magic to grab his comb from his jacket.

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that 'flank hole' stuff and just enjoy this moment while it lasts. Be proud Talon, you are the first Manehattanite to finally see the truth through the smoke mirrors that represent pride. The first of many, doubt." Blackfire added, combing his mane.

All this talk about how great he was was making him thirsty. He contemplated asking Talin if she knew a good place to get a drink, but he feared that she'd take him to a violebt hall of alcoholics and beatniks. Maybe if he asked very carefully...

"Say, would you happen to know where I could get a good drink free of nasty toxins and moronic ruffians? A tea house maybe? A coffee shop? A place that isn't a rat infested nightclub?"

"Your asking for sometime that's a dying kinda joint." Talon explained as she rubbed the lower bit of her chin in thought. Talon knew a bunch of really good bars to get into a fight with, but the drinks were watered down. She also knew few that had more rats then costumers, but the drinks were good. She normally applied the triangle in these cases.

"Cheap, Fast or Good. If you don't want rats or hoof fights. Will need to move up to the higher side of town. Which." She points him with a smirk. "You'll need a shower and maybe a suit. You smell like sawdust." She took a sniff of the air before huffing a chuckle. "So help me load this table and chairs back to my apartment and I'll hook you up.. at least with a suit." She stood, passing him with chair she lifted onto her back to load onto the cart.

With a quick sigh, Blackfire used his magic to load the furniture into the cart, even the ones on Talon's back was taken. The unicorn took no time un thinking up a responce.

"If it's clean and ciized, I am prepared to go no matter the cost. Maybe those upper class snobs will se how awesome I am and choose to make me mayor on the spot. Yes, this'll work out just fine. Anything to get out of this...place." he said, struggling to keep his insults at a minimum.

The realizationn came that he might have to take a shower at Talon's place. The thought didn't bother him as much as it usdd to, but he still felt a bit uneasy about it. He'd have to accept this fact, as he requested to go to a fine establishment, he'd have to ready himself for one.

"Shall we go then?" Blackfire asked, nodding he head away from the cart.

"Trust me. You don't want to be mayor." She said before she smirked and sat in the cart with her table as motions for him to pull her back too her place. "Take 5th street. I think I suckered punch Laffy's niece off of third."

"Now mush! I'm not carting this damn thing." She said, laid on top as folded her hooves behind her head.

She couldn't place it, but something was weird whenever Blackfire came to her place. Maybe it was some sort of psycho garbage about inviting someone in or something dumb like that. She can't remember having anyone being in her house for more then one night. Two nights if they could last. She looked in her coat, counting her bits with smile. She had just the right amount to get hammered and buy some sort of food that had name she couldn't pronuon without looking it up.