Adventures in Saint-Trotez - On Set (Episodes 1 - 3)

Pingcode wrote:Moonshot salutes with the feather, then leads Sparks to the Le Chat Blanc as quickly as he can, using the same system of taps as before.

Sparks follows the directions that Moonshot gives him while moving relatively quickly.

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Moonshot is caught running at a frantic pace to try and keep Sparks steered in the right direction. He succeeds at the first two, but between trying not to trip over anything while he can't see his own hooves, trying to tap the other guard in the right direction, and just plain old trying to keep up, he misses a few turns.

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Necrar runs into the tavern, not wanting to lose his target again.

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Aces follows behind him, very slightly out of breath. "Alrigh'..." he gasped. "Glad we're done runnin'..."

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Fury of the Tempest wrote:

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As you get to the stairs, you hear somepony bashing upstairs. Even the barkeeper is concerned and heads to the stairs as well. When you get to the top, you just see Sunstrike slam himself into a door, forcing it open, and running in the room. A few seconds later, you hear a scream of pain. If you head to the room, you see the window is open, but there is no pony inside...

tygerburningbright wrote:

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Pingcode wrote:

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Moonshot gets Sparks to the Pier District, which is next to the Tourist District which has Le Chat Blanc in it, but the two of you accidentally goes in a circle due to a few wrong turns, and are still in the Pier District...

Colter Bolt wrote:

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AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:

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You both head towards the tavern, Aces High just plainly following Necrar as best he could without paying attention to anything else. As you get close, Necrar sees an interesting scene. You see Mental Magic, suitcase in mouth, jump out of a first floor window. He lands on the street below with a bit of a tumble, but he is otherwise okay, and you clearly see that he has your mark on him. He is then followed by a redish-orange earth pony who leaps after the magician. However, this pony fudges the landing, twisting his hoof as he hits the ground. He yells in agony as he falls over...

At that moment, Aces High, not noticing what is behind him, gets pushed to the ground by two cloaked ponies, who head towards Mental Magic to stand beside him, turning to face you two and the earth pony in pain...

Moonshot taps frantically, and corrects the two's course, hurrying to try and make up for lost time without losing Sparks.

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"I told you I'd see you two again. Though having Monsieur Magic here is a bonus."Necrar says, doing a horrible Prench imitation on his second sentence.

Colter Bolt wrote:"I told you I'd see you two again. Though having Monsieur Magic here is a bonus."Necrar says, doing a horrible Prench imitation on his second sentence.

"Monsier-" Aces thought for a split-second, finally noticing the pony in question behind the black cloaks. He groaned to himself, "Ugh, this eyepatch."

The gambler stepped forward. "Horrible accents aside," he said, looking askance at his newfound buddy and then refocusing his eye on the ponies in question. "Why don' we all jus' take a deep breath here and try to find a solution that works for everypony?" A serious look comes across his face as he stares as intensely as possible at 'Monsier Magic'. "I can tell you don' wan' to hur' anypony. Maybe we can find a way to make sure nopony else does ge' hur' tonigh'."

"Though to be perfectly hones', I really hope you say no..."

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Pingcode wrote:

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The two of you manage to head the right direction this time. Soon, you see a stand-off near the tavern you two are heading to. As you get closer, you identify Mental Magic on the street and Storm Blade as he glides out of a window...

Colter Bolt wrote:"I told you I'd see you two again. Though having Monsieur Magic here is a bonus."Necrar says, doing a horrible Prench imitation on his second sentence.

The cloaked ponies don't react. They don't really do much at all other than guard Mental Magic...

AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:

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"The way no pony else is going to get hurt is by letting me go."

You can tell he is planning to leg it. He's stretching his legs slightly at times, and glances around, checking his possible exits. You also spot the mouths of the cloaked ponies, and you see that they have a similar coat colour to Mental Magic...

Fury of the Tempest wrote:

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"I am afraid it isn't going to go down like that, guard," he responds. "As happy as I am that the good prosecutor here will get what he deserves, if you want to see those ponies again, you have to let me go. It isn't as simple as just finding where they are. Only I can make them appear again, and if I'm just going to be locked up, then why should I do it?"

The earth pony on the ground chimes in. "Then wha'? Are ya jus' gonna make a new disguise Mind Games? Is tha' yar escape plan?"

"Ah, so you know now?" Mental Magic snaps back. "Then you know that this would never have happened had you actually cared about anypony other than yourself!" Sunstrike just looks away from the magician at that comment...

Upon getting close enough to identify Storm Blade Sparks shouts out "Hey ah er Storm Blade we finished our end do you need the Calvary’s assistance to bring in these...? Could everypony just announce what side they are on?"

Now seemed like a good time. With a name like Mind Games, no chances could be taken. For his own part, he invokes his own cloaking magic (to be doubly sure) and scuttles swiftly past 'Mental Magic' to set himself up behind him where he could cover all three ponies for a considerable distance wherever they tried to run.

He fires up his horn, and then conjures up his last illusion, a distance away from himself appearing as though he was coming out from invisibility next to Storm Blade, head lowered and horn forwards, pointing at Mind Games.

"M'sieur Mind Games, I would like to ask you to please set aside any thoughts of escape and come quietly. If you run you will be shot where you stand." it says. "Your hostages are already free."

He doesn't sound the least bit convincing, but he doesn't need to. The second 'Mental Magic' begins to react, three bolts of green light streak out of nowhere, ricocheting off cobblestones, windows, and a street sign before streaking through the manes of the three ponies in unison and creating three scorch marks on the ground in front of them - and taking their magic with them.

"The tower guards have you covered. Don't make any sudden moves."

He watches carefully for the signs of anypony trying to sneak away, ready to blast them down on the spot.

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Aces whistled low. "Now that's some fancy shootin'..."

Fury of the Tempest wrote:

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"N-no. I don't believe you. My plan is perfect. I bet Sunstrike told you to say that. He knows how to push a pony's buttons."

Pingcode wrote:

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As the cloaked ponies are hit, their hoods fall back to reveal that they were both looked identical to Mental Magic, mask and all. However, they soon start to fade, and then poof away altogether. Their cloaks and their masks fall to the ground...

As for Mental Magic himself, his illusion fades away gradually, and he hides his face with a forehoof as it happens. The first thing you notice change is his mane and tail, which goes from it's luscious brown to a pale white colour, and its style changes ever so slightly. Then, the four yellow diamonds Cutie Mark vanishes, and is replaced by a white spiral. Necrar, it is at this point that the mark you placed on the magician while he was invisible fades away. Mental Magic starts to to become smaller, and generally look weaker, as a horn starts to appear on the pony's forehead. However, the most dramatic change isn't noticed until Mental Magic moves his hoof away from his face and begin looking at what has changed, if anything. You see that his face is not one of a stallion, but of a mare...

As this unicorn mare starts to realise that her illusion has faded, tears begin to form in her eyes, as she begins to talk in a voice higher and softer than that of Mental Magic's. "No. No. No no no. No no no no nonononononononononononononononno no! Nooo!" She then falls to the ground and starts weeping...

Sparks visibly becomes more serious as he sees the young mare being to cry and even more so after Storm Blade goes to make the arrest. "Storm Blade first off we are out of our jurisdiction at the moment. Second that isn't the right speech. Third" Here Sparks grins and turns his attention to nearby lawyer pony. "would you happen to know a good enough reason to arrest Sunstrike? ."

tygerburningbright wrote:Here Sparks grins and turns his attention to nearby lawyer pony. "would you happen to know a good enough reason to arrest Sunstrike? ."

I'll mention here, since your brought him up, that Sunstrike is still looking away from everypony in shame...

Aces breathed in slightly through his nose, then breathed out sharply through his mouth, running his hoof through his mane. After a moment's pause and a few of deliberation, he walked over to the downed Mind Games, gently settling in next to her. "You know," he said, "This probably won' help much, bu' I've kinda been where you are righ' now. Kinda. No' really."

Before she could respond with a slap in the face, with interest, or a sob, he plunged forwards, all the time uncertain if he was saying the right thing. "Now pay attention', cause despite all evidence opposite tonigh' I don' like talking very much. You see, when I was little, there were a bunch of criminals who basically ruled over me and my family and our whole neighborhood with an iron hoof. We tried to ge' the guards to do something abou' them, but...well, an iron hoof in the dark don' gleam, if you ge' my meaning. So every nigh', we'd get plundered by tha' lo' for all the bits we could afford and a little more before they'd go off into the night, and eventually...I just got tired of nopony being able to do anything. Maybe a bit like you did, maybe no', I dunno."

He licked his lips a little, getting lost in the memory. "So I got brave, and I, a little col' of no' too many years of age went and did the only thing I could." He smiled. "I challenged them to a game of poker for all the bits they'd ever stolen from us."

Aces laughed. "I guess, I guess they thought I was pretty funny, and I guess I must've been...because after they laughed for a while..." he smiled a small smile. "They took my challenge. And you know wha'? I won. I won back every last single bi' they'd ever taken from my folks, my neighbors, everypony."

The smile disappeared. "They stopped laughing after tha'. About then's when they drew out the sharp instruments and, well..." he indicated his left half. "You can see wha' happened next. Bu' despite some pretty heavy bleeding and my being in more pain than I had ever been before or since, you know wha'? I escaped. And I took the bits with me. And I even got my cutie mark. All because I had one bi' to be'." Another insiginificant pause. "They were arrested pretty quick after that; even they couldn't cover up somethin' like wha' happened to me for too long when I hi' the town square.

Aces High leaned back and sighed. "It ain' a perfec' analogy, but wha' I'm sayin' is tha' even though i' hurt a lot sometimes and I ain' proud of what I had to do to ge' tha' one single solitary bi' in the firs' place, and even though that nigh' effects me badly even to this day..." he smiled again. "I succeeded. Tha' probably don' help you too much now or anything, but maybe it'll help you to know in the future." And he stood up, long-winded speech over with, and began to walk off.

Then Aces paused, and looked back, eyeball staring harshly, almost glowing in the lack of nearby light. "Unless, of course...there's something more to this story you're not telling me about?"

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Moonshot walks over to the mare, and shackles her. "It is as M'sieur Storm Blade says. M'damoiselle Mind Games, you are under arrest for thirty one counts of foalnapping and magical assault, and assault on an officer of the law." his illusionary double says, without a hint of malice, "You wanted our attention, you have it. I hope for your sake, M'damoiselle, it was worth it."

"M'sieur Sunstrike, as a clearly involved party and witness, I must ask you to accompany us to the Cheveaudarmerie."

He looks at the other two standing around, and directs his double to look at them.

"Ah, M'sieurs, were you at the show as well?" he thought he saw the one with the metal leg, anyway - for him at least the darkness of the seats was no trouble at all, "If so, may I trouble you to accompany us as well, to take your statements?"

"It is trouble, and I don't like working with peace-keepers, but I'll follow you." Necrar says, walking over next to the Prench guard.

Fury of the Tempest wrote:Stepping up to the mare, Storm Blade said. "Mind Games, I am placing you under arrest for kidnapping over 30 ponies and multiple cases of fraud as 'Mental Magic'. You do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so, but I must warn you that if you fail to mention any fact which you rely on in your defence in court, your failure to take this opportunity to mention it may be treated in court as supporting any relevant evidence against you. If you do wish to say anything, what you say may be given in evidence."

Mind Games doesn't do anything, she just continues to cry...

Pingcode wrote:Moonshot walks over to the mare, and shackles her. "It is as M'sieur Storm Blade says. M'damoiselle Mind Games, you are under arrest for thirty one counts of foalnapping and magical assault, and assault on an officer of the law." his illusionary double says, without a hint of malice, "You wanted our attention, you have it. I hope for your sake, M'damoiselle, it was worth it."

Mind Games doesn't resist your arrest, she just continues to cry...

AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:

Spoiler:

Mind Games looks straight at you with her tear-filled eyes. Your words have somewhat upset her further, but also calmed her. She whispers "I just wanted him to feel the sadness what I felt, when he broke my heart and left me in Fillydelphia..." and begins to weep into the street once again. You can tell she isn't lying, and that she has no more cards to play, no more tricks to pull. Especially with those hoofcoofs on her. Her Mental Magic illusion was her masterpiece, and it was broken like any other spell. She knows what she's done, and she knows what is going to happen to her...

Meanwhile, Sunstrike continues to look away in shame. If it wasn't for the fact you can see and hear him breathe, and the occasional grunt of pain, one would assume he was dead due to how little he is moving...

Paper Shadow wrote:She whispers "I just wanted him to feel the sadness what I felt, when he broke my heart and left me in Fillydelphia..."

Hearing this, Necrar turns to look at Mind Games. "Wait, it was a love-based revenge?"