Adventures in Saint-Trotez - On Set (Episodes 3 - 6)

And with that, the night goes on. Some ponies leave their homes or hiding spots and try to make the most of the rest of the night, but most opt to just relax for the rest of the night, maybe spend some time with family or friends...

Sparks, you regain conciousness back at the small apartment you are staying at. You're not sure exactly how long Varesh was in control for, but you feel magically exhausted, although the spirit in your head was nice enough to take a shower and get you ready for bed, whatever that's worth...

(Episode End)

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It's been a few days since Nightmare Night. Tonight in Saint-Trotez, the city is having one of its "Storm Days". In order to meet requirements of how much rainfall happens in the city per month (since usually rain + outdoor entertainment = nope), Saint-Trotez has a day every month where the weather is torrential. The heavy storm means that most ponies are enjoying the night indoors, leaving the streets open for the occasional pony making to and from different buildings and the most valiant of guards. At the moment though, most of you (Aces High, Necrar, Snipe and Sparks) are in a diner for lunch, sharing a large platter of freshly cooked hay fries. The diner is about half-full, with many ponies enjoying the company of others. Signal Look is also there with you guys, while Struck waits outside (it is up to Necrar if he brought Scruffy or left the puppy with something to eat and/or do back at the graveyard). Thanks to a parasol attached to his back to help protect him from the sun during the day, the construct is able to provide protection from the rain, although some of you brought umbrellas anyway. "...Needless to say, the snail was shell-shocked!" laughs Signal to his own joke. Feel free to comment on how bad it was...

Meanwhile, Storm Blade, once again unimpressed with Saint-Trotez's defences, waits within the office of Golden Wall for the Captain to arrive. Hopefully, he'll be there shortly. In the meantime, Storm can see a number of different reports on the fine oak desk in front of him, a table with a number of photographs on top of it next to the rain-stained window to the left, and a number of framed newspaper reports hung on the wall to right. The guard can take a gander at these if he so wishes...

Snipe promptly proceeds to bonk his head on the construct with a loud groan, pulling one of his, unloaded guns, out. "That was terrible!"

"I can' commen' too much on puns," Aces said, "Since I'm a living one myself; a gambler who literally has one eye and one arm." Before anypony can comment on that pun, understated though it may have been, he turns to Snipe. "Why do you keep bringing tha' thing with you whenever we go ou'? I' makes ponies shou' sometimes..."

Scruffy is back at the graveyard with some food Necrar found in various dumpsters behind restaraunts.

---

"I've been to many places and I don't think I've ever heard a joke that bad. And I once knew a guy who only talked in puns." Necrar says, grimacing.

"Hey, it isn't that bad," comments the earth pony in defence of his pun. "You should have heard it before somepony told me to put the snail in a thunderstorm instead. Frankly, I'd like to hear you guys come up with better."

Fury of the Tempest wrote:(How important is the statement Paper?)

While he waited, Storm Blade began inspect the content of Golden Wall's room. He ignored the reports, they where most likely sensitive material. He didn't want to piss off the boss before he arrived. However, he did take a look through the photo's on the desk - checking beneath them after doing so, in case anything was written on the back - before he began to read the framed newspaper reports. All the while, keeping an hear out for Golden Wall's return.

(The statements are important, especially if you want to get Mind Games off the hook, but not important enough that I had to force you guys to write them if you or your character didn't want to. That said, out of all the people who were there in-character to know about the statement, only you haven't sent one. As I said though, no big deal...)

The photographs, which are in frames of their own and are so old that they aren't even in colour, seem to catalogue the life of a young but surprisingly big cold. Starting from a baby photo or two, then family photos which shows the colt with what one would presume to be his mother, father, and sister. One photo shows the colt dressed up as a guard for presumably Nightmare Night. Then there is a jump in time, with the next photo showing another family picture, but with the colt now a stallion wearing official guard armour. The next, which is in weak colours, shows a white coated stallion with a red mane celebrating in front of a crowd of ponies, followed by a picture of the stallion in armour similar to that you have seen Shining Armour wear. The final picture shows Golden Wall, looking exactly like he looks like today, standing next to an alicorn similar to Celestia. While the age and quality of the photograph makes to hard to make out details, she seems to be mostly brown, and is wearing princess attire...

Before you can move on to the newspaper reports, you hear armoured hoofsteps coming from the corridor...

Snipe blinks, tilting his head. "What's wrong with Struck? He's just a robot...." The sniper sits on said construct's back, fiddling with the gun he pulled out of hammerspace "It's nothing too bad. I take him places because I don't want to leave him.

That, and I don't really know when Struck's creator's going to message me..

LoganAura wrote:Snipe blinks, tilting his head. "What's wrong with Struck? He's just a robot...." The sniper sits on said construct's back, fiddling with the gun he pulled out of hammerspace "It's nothing too bad. I take him places because I don't want to leave him.

Signal Look turns to Snipe and begins to look annoyed, although not because of the Snipe liking the construct. He grabs a napkin, quickly licks it a few times, and starts rubbing Snipe's cheek with it, kinda like a mother trying to clean her child. After a while, he grunts and places the napkin down. "I'm sorry Snipe, I just can't stand your dirty coat," the guard answers, obviously referring to Snipe's now darker coat. "It's like you fell down a chimney and are now covered in soot forever. It's not the creamy orange coat I'm so use to. I have no idea how to clean it."

Fury of the Tempest wrote:(Wouldn't the other statements be enough?)

'Great... photo album' Storm Blade grumbled mentally as he straighten, knowing that the photos were of Golden Wall's life. Hopefully, he wouldn't be annoyed if he noticed he had gone through them. Assuming it was him coming down the hallway right now. He did wonder who the alicorn was, but put this aside.

(Assuming no one lied, hopefully...)

Shortly afterwards, Golden Wall opens the door and sees you in his office. "Ah, Storm Blade," greets the Captain as he stands in the doorway, "I was warned that you might be wanting to give me another verbal lashing. Take a seat."

Fury of the Tempest wrote:"I wouldn't say verbal lashing is the right term, sir." Storm Blade said, as he took the seat at his superior's request. "Its more of a discussion really."

The Captain would smile had his face not be hidden behind his helmet. He stands at his side of the desk while his secretary, a timid young unicorn mare who is surprisingly quick at jotting down whatever ponies say, takes her place in a corner of the room quietly. "So, what would you like to discuss?"

Aces swallows his laughter at the attempt to wipe off Snipe's face; the colt wouldn't appreciate it.

Snipe makes a bit of a grunting face, lightly wiping at the shadows covering his fetlock and frowning. "Er... Y-yeah. I don't know why..."

.... Er... Voice-from-my-head?.... Is there anyway to, well... Put the shadows like /under/ my coat or something? Ponies have been asking me that a lot, and like if it's right under my coat so that the color is still there... I... wouldn't mind it if the shadows melded with my skin I guess. It'd keep ponies from staring and asking questions.

Sparks after having not even reacted to the poor pun fails to suppress a smile and chuckle at the scene.


OOC Why must Writers Block be chronic?

Fury of the Tempest wrote:"It is a bit of a continuation from our last, discussion, sir." Storm Blade said, choosing his words carefully. "I am... dissatisfied with how many guards there have been during current events. Not just the meusuem but also Nightmare Night"

"Well, as I've said about the night at the museum, my resource of guards are limited. The President of Prance is very reluctant to grant me new guards, and when he does, they are usually new recruits. I am fortunate to have been given Sparks and yourself through the Equestrian-Prance Exchange Programme, especially considering how much you've both done in the last two months. Anyway, every guard I put to protect a social event, which has never been a target for a robbery before last month and thanks to your efforts I doubt will be a target in the future, is a guard off the streets, where thieves are constantly on the prowl. Keep in mind that there was also two officers watching the door and a good number of the museum's own security staff upstairs to help, but somehow the Feathers were aware of these and ambushed the officers and some of the security and used their uniforms as disguises."

The secretary then passes Golden Wall a folder which the Captain flicks through...

"As for Nightmare Night, I will admit that I don't have the best grasp on what happened, since I wasn't in the city at the time, but I will say that a guard is never truly off-duty. Whenever danger occurs, a guard or officer will always be willing to jump into action. But it seems like everything was sorted out in the end according to these reports."

LoganAura wrote:Snipe makes a bit of a grunting face, lightly wiping at the shadows covering his fetlock and frowning. "Er... Y-yeah. I don't know why..."

.... Er... Voice-from-my-head?.... Is there anyway to, well... Put the shadows like /under/ my coat or something? Ponies have been asking me that a lot, and like if it's right under my coat so that the color is still there... I... wouldn't mind it if the shadows melded with my skin I guess. It'd keep ponies from staring and asking questions.

Signal grunts again as the door rings for a new batch of customers entering the diner. The pony then smiles. "Maybe you should stand in the rain for a while. That might help."

Meanwhile, whispers begin in your head. "Well Snipey, the shadows would hardly be as effective under your coa- wait. Did you say you would allow the shadows to meld with your skin? Like, really?"

Snipe looks at Signal. "Er, Sure I guess. Though if I get a cold, you're going to have to get me broth and stuff." Snipe flaps his wings slightly and walks off outside in the rain.

Hey you may be a voice in my head from a bad crown, but I've said it before and I'll say it again. I want to be your friend and, well, you haven't done anything to kill me. Quite the opposite if Key and closing the portal is any indication. Besides, if the layer of shadow's is in my skin it'd be a bit more protecting right?

Storm Blade did think things through. He didn't like the situation anymore the Golden Wall it seemed. Though he disagreed in how he was handling things, he could see whe he was coming from. Still, a lot had happened in two months, he and Sparks were lucky they had help.. Wait...

"Sir, do you think it might be possible to hire Aces High and Necar as stand-in guards? Even if its unoffical. In each and every case since I've arrived. Mind Games, the slime, the robbery attempt and Nightmare Night, the two of them have been on the scene, assisting me and Sparks. Sometimes contrivuting mmore. I am unsure if they want to becone proper guards, but they are a great assest to us, and to not call on then would be a loss. Plus, they'll be able to help defend social events without taking guards of the streets, and would most likely be under the radar so to speak."

LoganAura wrote:Snipe looks at Signal. "Er, Sure I guess. Though if I get a cold, you're going to have to get me broth and stuff." Snipe flaps his wings slightly and walks off outside in the rain.

Hey you may be a voice in my head from a bad crown, but I've said it before and I'll say it again. I want to be your friend and, well, you haven't done anything to kill me. Quite the opposite if Key and closing the portal is any indication. Besides, if the layer of shadow's is in my skin it'd be a bit more protecting right?

"Wait," Signal calls after you, "I was only kidding Snipe."

"Look Snipe, if I merge the shadows with your skin, you will stop being a pony. You become something completely different, and normally I would be more than happy enough to do this, but I am trying not to draw that kind of attention to myself. Ponies will not notice unlike your current coat, but higher things will. Still, if you really want ponies to stop pointing out that your coat is not as colourful as it once was, I will oblige."

Fury of the Tempest wrote:Storm Blade did think things through. He didn't like the situation anymore the Golden Wall it seemed. Though he disagreed in how he was handling things, he could see whe he was coming from. Still, a lot had happened in two months, he and Sparks were lucky they had help.. Wait...

"Sir, do you think it might be possible to hire Aces High and Necar as stand-in guards? Even if its unoffical. In each and every case since I've arrived. Mind Games, the slime, the robbery attempt and Nightmare Night, the two of them have been on  the scene, assisting me and Sparks. Sometimes contrivuting mmore. I am unsure if they want to becone proper guards, but they are a great assest to us, and to not call on then would be a loss. Plus, they'll be able to help defend social events without taking guards of the streets, and would most likely be under the radar so to speak."

The Captain thinks to himself in deep thought. "Are you sure they will want the job?"

"As offical guards? No." Storm Blade answered honestly. "As helpers? Yes. They've vollountrly helped us four vout of four times. I'm confident that they won't turn now a part-time job. If you agree however, may I suggest I tell them about the offer? It was my idea and they will more likely respond positivly to me than you."

Fury of the Tempest wrote:"As offical guards? No." Storm Blade answered honestly. "As helpers? Yes. They've vollountrly helped us four vout of four times. I'm confident that they won't turn now a part-time job. If you agree however, may I suggest I tell them about the offer? It was my idea and they will more likely respond positivly to me than you."

Golden Wall thinks about it some more while studying the folder, and then sighs. "I don't know Storm," replies the Captain, "I would be grateful for their help. They have proven time and time again that they wish to help the city, and I've seen and heard about individual acts of kindness both have done. They do both seem like Honest ponies. It's just..." The Captain enters a thoughtful pose while trying to word his next sentence right. "We have both seen the kind of collateral damage Ace can do, and I just can't shake a feeling of danger when I'm around Necrar." Golden Wall sighs again as he looks at the folder once more...

(Persuasion Check might just nudge the Captain to allow it...)

Paper Shadow wrote:"Wait," Signal calls after you, "I was only kidding Snipe."

"Look Snipe, if I merge the shadows with your skin, you will stop being a pony. You become something completely different, and normally I would be more than happy enough to do this, but I am trying not to draw that kind of attention to myself. Ponies will not notice unlike your current coat, but higher things will. Still, if you really want ponies to stop pointing out that your coat is not as colourful as it once was, I will oblige."

Snipe chuckles and looks back at Signal with a smirk. "I'm a pegasus, aren't I? I'm going to be fine." He walks out into the rain, letting it run down his coat and wings.

"Right, full explaination on what I would become and what that entails. I'd prefer to have a full idea of what's going on. The reason I thought of this is because it'd stop ponies from noticing. I've gotten the nickname creamsicle for a reason. If ponies start noticing, maybe higher beings would too? But in the end- tell me everything about what I'd turn into if the shadows meld with me."

Aces stared after Snipe, or maybe just at the rain dripping down the windows. It effectively meant the same thing either way. "So jus' to be absolutely clear, you haven' go' any idea, even stupid ones, abou' what's happening to his coa'?"