Golden Age Comics! Issue 1: You Never Say Good Luck on Opening Night!

[RazorWind]

CLAAANNGGGggggg...

Metal against metal.. it wasn't hard for Dusty to piece together what this particular mare's power was. He stood still for a moment, Twin Iron raised and holding the attack in place against its colossal, metal endowed end. His eyes remained hidden behind that setson.. a look that seemed to quickly be becoming his trademark.

"Iffin that was s'posed to be a joke, darlin', ah'm afraid ah got some bad news.." his hesd raised, and even with the docile, dark green color to his eyes they managed a steely, piercing stare, "...ah ain't laughin'."

With a spin of his bi-pedal supported body the hobo warrior flung the mare off of him, before his ears caught the collective shout of three officers making a charge agaisnt him.. poor foals. Dusty wouldn't hurt them any more then he had to, but their egos would surely be damaged.

His staff spun in a flurry of metal and wood, deflecting batons and blows with masterful precision.. with a few close calls here and there. These were clearly experienced officers, a shame he had to once again emasculate a few. However with the defensive part of the fight finished it was time to choose his actions.. and lash out on the offensive.

A metallic mare more then likely could keep her footing against Twin Iron.. perhaps a trick could be employed? All that power could be useful if it were to, say.. be flung at something other then him? Though nothing was in range to perform such an act.. though that puny looking Moneymancer (yes, Dusty JUST came up with that) seemed to be important.. but he was out of reach and hiding behind a wall of coinage. When the time came.. he would act.

For now, a spin of Twin Iron over his shoulder and a mighty leap with his own powerful hind legs sent him attempting a leaping vault over the crowd toward the target.. no sense in being surrounded.

(Move Action: Acrobatics check to tumble away and as close to Maxie as possible. Acrobatics bonus is +16 at the moment! Should he succeed he will then be using Acrobatic Bluff to attempt to use the Trick maneuver.. or what it was called. Essentially, trying to goad Shilling into attacking him and if his Trick is successful he will then use Redirect to send the attack toward Maxie instead.

Of course that's if his tumble succeeds. If not, Area Burst Trip power a go go... Also I will post a detailed description of Acrobatic Bluff and Redirect when I get home. I believe they will do what I wish.)

Should his flying form land true, his form would turn toward the metal mare once more.. and with a lift of his hoof he glode it across the rim of his hat; huffing a puff of air from his snout. "Y'all ladies think mighty high of yerselves huh? Hows about ah knock y'all High Horses down a few pegs," he grins, "One time. Ah bet y'all can't hit me one time, shiny britches."

[RazorWind]

(Posted twice for.. some reason. )

[Kirby Krackle]

(( A +16 versus a DC of 25, eh? The roll says... 29! Success! ))

Who says you need wings to fly? With a grace that seems unbecoming of his bulk, Dusty Roads proves that an Earth Pony with guts can do the impossible. Shilling would want an autograph if she wasn't both confused and...

(( An Acrobatic Trick roll of... 32. Versus an opposed acrobatics check of 8. Success number 2. ))

“WHO'RE YOU CALLING SKINNY!”

...infuriated. There was a brief spark as she started grinding her teeth. The thug took another swing, this time with a silver forehoof, and was absolutely one-hundred-percent sure she was aiming for the stallion in the stetson. But the sound of impact didn't have that ever so satisfying crunch that bone does. Instead, it's more of a clinking and a clattering and a- Oh. Wait. There's that crunch. Yay.

Wait.

(( Oh look. Two NPCs are fighting now. Cute. The Lt. Attacks her boss with a 23, beating a defense of 15. Toughness DC right now is a 23. Maxie rolls... 21. Failure! But minor. Bruised. ))

Maxie, with his mind still on the subject of gardening, wasn't focusing on the battle as he should have. If he was, he would have seen his wall of gold breached and a silver horseshoe blast him right on the nose. He screamed like a little girl, to be honest, clutching the wound as it started dripping blood.

“Dyu imbishle!” His handkerchief was catching the red mess before his suit was. And he sounded like a gradeschooler with a stuffy nose. Which made all the insults and obscenities he was shouting all the more funny. They drowned out all of Shilling's frantic apologies. Maybe he didn't quite hear how sorry she was. Or maybe he didn't care. His horn twinkled gold and the scattered pieces of his wall retaliated. A column of coins shot forward, aiming for Dusty. His employee just happened to be in the way.

(( A blast with the line area. Both Dusty and Shilling are caught. While Dusty makes his save (by a lot, actually), Shilling does not. She also fails her toughness save by 3. Bruised. ))

The stallion in the stetson, with another feat of acrobatics, danced out of the way with ease. Shilling was far less agile and she took the brunt of the attack. Though durable, the metal she was coated with was significantly lighter than what she was battered by. Close examinations would reveal dents in that armor. And more sparks, as she started grinding her teeth again.

[Blueblood]

So, the market price for a cop these days was 2,000 bits? Fascinating. Quill Pusher's trade could incline one to cynicism at times, but he'd never been able to get into the mindset to calculate a price sheet for the integrity of various city officials. He himself, of course, was not on the market.

He had time to contemplate these thoughts as the hapless bunch of three cops knocked and burned away his shield. Apparently, the four henchmares didn't think him worth the effort. The sounds of various crashings and breakings seemed to indicate that they were currently regretting their tactical choices.

It took Swing beat about ten seconds to get through the wall of pulped wood; a futile effort, as there was nothing that a bureaucrat could generate as efficiently as paperwork in quantity. Even with all the new paper summoned, however, a great deal still remained upon the floor.

The Pagemaster noted this as he made a tactical retreat, closer to where Dusty was currently knocking Shilling through Maxie's wall of coins. If he could just get the stallions in blue to walk over the fallen sheets...

"Gentlecolts, a counter-offer." His voice remained smooth and unruffled as he sprung his trap. Quite literally, as the sheets coalesced into the jaws of a bear trap, snapping up the cops in an attempt to snag them in a tangle of regulations... and, no doubt, inflict many painful papercuts.

"For the non-interference in the capture of a dangerous criminal; I can promise the 500 up front bonus, plus a pay increase in perpetuity. Plus, no risk of jailtime, career ending-injury-"

“I ALREADY AM A MONSTER!”

"- nor that either." He concluded with out skipping a beat. That was the trouble with buying force; armies are not traded in a Free Market. The State has many methods of maintaining its traditional monopoly.

Snare, obviously. Restoring Shield is a free action, and so is talking. I don't know if that allows for attempted persuasive actions simultaneous with combat, nor what sort of check this would be. Actually, it might be a Knowledge: Business check, now that I think about it, since it deals with the price of goods (in this case, hired muscle). Perhaps even a contested one against Maxie, though that might end up being a moot point, depending on how his points are distributed.

[AzalR75]

The bat pony looks to the single bit being held out to him. There's only one simple reason why she'd offer anything to him, it's because she knows she feels she has an advantage, so she's mocking him. Glancing a moment to see the steel pony, if she can do anything like that, of course she would have an advantage. I'm really not liking this influx of weird ponies. All that said... even a joke... a bit would be nice, they are so hard to come by these days. It's just making sure he's alive to keep it and bring it back to his sister.

"Why not?" he says with a bit of reservation, reaching up to take the bit, immediately throwing it straight into the blonde ponies face. There's a fun fact about combat... almost all creatures protect the face above all else. They close eyes, flinch away out of instinct to protect the most sensitive and important part of the body. The shinier and the more attention getting the more likely. But that flinch, that glance away would only take a second, a second any combat seasoned veteran would know is the difference between life and death.

Captain Nightguard doesn't even take that time to see her reaction, flexing his wings to activate his rockets for a mere instant for a mere hop forward, planting one forehoof on the ground to spin around, twisting his body at the last moment to aim a kick with all the force gained right at Stirling the moment she'd be distracted.

((Yay wonkyness again. Using Startle as a move action to get her flat-footed (10 -5 for move action=+5) Then dumping -5 on attack for +5 damage bonus via Power Attack))

[Bramble Rose]

Morning Glory takes a moment to orient herself after the tackle... where is she? Oh no, not Ray's! She glanced down at the mare and realized Penny was still awake, and saw her preparing for the kick. Morning Glory flinched and tensed up ... and ...

YES! Princess Morning Glory can withstand any blow! How can you hope to stand against one who has single-hoofedly battled the ice zombies from the Old Lands!

We are not a princess! And we did what and where now?!

Sorry. Old childhood games.

Sigh.

Morning Glory smirked down at the suddenly nervous villain. "Awwww ... but that was so *cute*!" she crooned teasingly, then hauled her head back and snapped it forward in a head butt right to Penny's face - making sure to hit near the base of Glory's horn and not skewering her opponent. That would be disgusting.

WHA-KOOM!

nonlethal attack, melee.
Accurate attack +3, for a total of +6
Her toughness save is reduced by -3 for next turn.
DC for Penny's toughness save is 26.

Also, seeing how they ended up, it's worth noting that she has Improved Pin.

​

[Kirby Krackle]

(( In regards to Snare, that's a Ranged Attack roll is 17 in total. Well beyond the realms of success. In regards to making the Reflex save, he fails but not by a lot. Entangled status. ))

Why wouldn't Quill just fall down? Why did he have to make this so difficult? Why couldn't Swing Beat just skip to the part where he could get paid? Well, the cosmos didn't quite care for this kind of questioning. Not only did he not get an answer, but he did not get a warning to the shredded remains of a phone book creeping up his legs. The light from his baton kept him from being completely engulfed but it certainly wasn't a good idea to start a fire right under his hooves. Self preservation won out and he let the Unicorn magic overtake him.

(( Okay. Here's the best I got, so bare with me. This is a Diplomacy check, still. There are Nine Ponies left. All of them with the initial attitude of of “Unfriendly”. Going by your exact words, you're trying to bump them back up to “Indifferent”, noninterference and all that. You didn't say anything like “help us capture Maxie” or anything. From that point A to point B is a DC of 15. I offer you a circumstantial bonus of +2 on top of your +2 Charisma bonus, as most law enforcement knows you and how you're unwaveringly on the ball AND they did just see Maxie hit a lieutenant. So let's do this. ))

(( 11, 8, 21, 20, 15, 17, 5, 16, 21. Three failures, six successes! ))

Despite all the yelling and fighting and explosions, Quill Pusher remained unphased. Calm and cool, he pleaded his case, and made a far better argument than the despicable pint-sized pony with absolutely zero loyalty. Two thousand Bits sounded wonderful. But for the sake of the city and his own conscience, five hundred and amnesty would have to do.

“Deal”, he said, dropping his weapon. All but three did the same when they heard it clatter to the ground.

(( For the Startle, a 23-5=18 in total. The Sense Motive is a 9. Yay. ))

For the briefest of moments, you could see Sterling's face twist itself into a sinister grin; like a master plan had gone off without a hitch.

“Hey!”

She would go on to complain how rude her opponent had just acted, turning down a token of good will like that. But then she took two hooves to the face.

(( Toughness saving throw is a DC 20. She rolls a 6. Staggered and Stunned! ))

(( A +6 to hit needs to beat a 13. 15! As for damage, two bruised conditions means a -2 to further Toughness saves. ...3. And a fail by 15 or more is a... ))

Two skull enter. One skull leave. Two skull enter. One skull leave. Owner of one skull will wake up in a few days with the Princess of All Headaches, but she'll live. The occasional glass shakers of Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes sitting too close to the edge of their tables, on the other hand, would not be so lucky. Poor Ray would have more to clean up tomorrow.

“No more peanuts for me, waitress... my favorite color is seven... WAIT!” Farthing is awake again, and surprisingly lucid for a girl who just got hit by lightning. She rubbed the stars out of her eyes, just in case the carnage around here was just her still dreaming. But no, Big Sister was nowhere to be seen. Little Big Sister was in a shouting match with the boss. And Big Big Sister just got fed her teeth. There was a little schadenfreude to be felt in that last one. Maybe she'll be a little less bossy that way. Maybe she'll stop hogging the bathroom for forty minutes every morning just to comb her hair two hundred and- Where was she going with this? Oh yeah! How dare that guy take her sister down a couple pegs!

“Stupid bat-pony traitor! Leave Big Big Sis alone!”

With blood boiling hot, Farthing launched herself as fast as her hooves could carry her. She'd flatted the nocturnal brat, one way or the other.

(( The Charge full action (-1 Defense on her until her next turn, FYI) and declaring Power Attack at +2/-2. Rolling... 19! That's a hit. Captain makes a Toughness against a DC22 and... fails with a 16. Stunned and Bruised. Finally. A hero gets hit. I'm tired of debuffing all day. ))

“WHAT THE -expletive deleted- DO YOU -expletive deleted- THINK YOU'RE -deleted- DOING, YOU -deleted- BOTTLE NOSED -deleted- WITH A -deleted- LOREM IPSUM -deleted- MAXIE -deleted- I AUGHTA -deleted- -deleted- WITH A -deleted- IN A CASTLE FAR FAR AWAY WHERE NOPONY CAN HEAR YOU-”

The silver plated pony continued this rant chock full of colorful language; and all the while she wailed against the wall of coinage keeping her from giving her employer much worse than a nose bleed.

(( You know what? This is fun. Let's have her keep attacking her boss and see what happens. Rolling... 1. Jolly good. ))

So bad was the temper tantrum of Little Big Sister that three dirty cops, suddenly afraid for the safety of their meal ticket, rushed to his aid. Foolishly they tried to drag her away, to talk some sense into her. Tennis balls have seen better days.

(( And just like that, I have less actions to deal with during my turns. Consider the cops out of the game! Unless Gondor calls for aid, of course. Moving on. ))

Playbill and newspaper and tabloid and rumor would all have you believe that Curtain Call, triple threat and showpony nonpareil, is a lady killer. It's a reasonable assumption. He's a charming stallion quick with the quips and works diligently to maintain his good looks. Pity that no mare has stuck around for a second date. And don't get me wrong, if he knew what the problem was, he would fix it! But until that day comes, he wakes up alone. Despite the romantic setbacks though, he has nothing but love and admiration for every mare out there. So it should not come as a shock that one of his biggest peeves is disrespecting the ladies.

And to strike them? Heresy.

“Vaulting ambition”, Maxie Million, too busy having an argument with his henchmare, almost didn't hear that. Now no longer interested in her ranting and raving, he began a frantic search. But there was no speaker to be found but he knew who it was. The more he thought about it, the more he preferred Shilling's bad side to the Masquerade's.

“Which o'er leaps itself” Maxie smelled smoke. Well, he was smelling smoke all night thanks to the meddling of these heroes but this smell. It was rotten. Like the burning of eggs gone bad. As his head snapped from side to side, trying to find something, anything to shoot gold at, a foreleg was around his neck.

(( Teleporting with an unwilling passenger! Only a DC of 10 to escape. Does he make it? The 7 says no. ))

“And falls on the other.” There was a flash. Another puff of smoke. And the next thing Maxie's eyes could register was the ground, from very far away. One hundred feet up, to be exact. The millionaire didn't even get a chance to beg before the ghastly creature released him into gravity's fickle care.

(( Fall damage. Toughness DC of 25. He rolls in total a 20. Stunned and another bruised. ))

His thin legs flail, looking for anything to hold onto. His horn is aglow like a tiny star, bringing in as many coins as he can to slow the fall. But gold isn't known to be that soft.

“You'll... pay for this...”, he said, managing to come to three of his legs. And the hinds were wobbly anyway.

[RazorWind]

Well, personally, the work stallion thought that couldn't have gone better then it did. To simply fight and overcome your enemy in a one on one fight is, while honorable, simply a feat of martial strength. It takes a true Martial 'Artist' to use your opponent's strength to your own, severe advantage, and vaulting over the group of four to then bait and redirect an attack into Maxie, causing the two of them to start fighting among themselves was, for lack of a better term, a masterpiece.

Stone Heart would've certainly approved, if the old horse was still with him... but there would be time for reminiscing later.

For now, Dusty had an opportunity; with Shilling pounding away at the wall of coinage he could strike out and take her by surprise. Seeing the dents in her metallic form, he now knew she was not invincible, and a weapon as immensely heavy as Twin Iron had a chance of doing damage. With a spin of his staff, the warrior began a charge toward his opponent, leaping into the air as he brought down his attack with all of his might.

"Switch on, sunshine!" he bellowed out.

 

((Charge attack with Twin Iron's Mighty Strike 6 with Power Attack. So.. whatever the attack's bonus would be -5 to add 5 to the save dc. And again, SOOOORRYYYYYY for forgetting it was my turn! I completely forgot, ;_; ))

[Kirby Krackle]

(( I feel I should say beforehand that a distracted enemy isn’t quite a [mechanically speaking] surprised enemy. Anyway, a -5 to Attack! Okay, I can definitely appreciate wanting  to finish this quickly. So, taking that into account, with BAB being +1 and Charge adding a +2, the swing is at… -2. Rolling! Grand total of 4. That’s a miss. ))

 

Shilling watches the phantom grab her boss, and watches it let go

And now the air is shattered by the force of Dusty’s blow

Oh somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light

But here a battle wages on, and mares and stallions shout

There’s a hole made in the concrete floor as mighty Dusty has struck out

 

(( Also, it's Page's turn after this. Maxie, stunned, needs to skip his turn. ))

[Blueblood]

There were two main mistakes that a lot of vigilantes, whether caped novices or old masks, tended to make when confronting opponents.  The first was to waste time talking with unreasonable villains when they needed to strike, and the second was striking when a little sensible talking would solve the situation.

 

Quill Pusher had risked the the first error, and it had paid off.  Swing Beat was willing to take the deal, and the Pagemaster shook hooves on it.  "The raise will be backdated to last payday-"  

 

There was a mighty crash, as Dusty's Twin-Iron crashed into the concrete floor, embedding shards of concrete all in his shield of paper.  It wouldn't have done to let the now non-enemies be hurt by collateral damage.  "Now if you'll excuse me, my colleague is in need of assistance."

 

It was pretty certain that Dusty's mighty swing had Shilling's attention now, which allowed Pagemaster one good strike.  The sound of shuffling paper is hardly a sinister one, but a pony might learn to fear it when they see a unicorn wielding it is a strange-colored magic.

With a strangely quiet whisk, the sheets of paper would suddenly fold up on Shilling like a closing flower bud, or perhaps Venus Fly-Trap would be a more accurate metaphor.  Inspired by Masquerade's stage lines, Quill began humming a tune from Little Shop of Horrors... 

 

Aiming a Paralyze attack on Shilling; which is ranged, but not far at this point.  I'll let you sort out the dice.

[Kirby Krackle]

“Feed me…”

 

(( Rolling that attack roll against Shilling and- Why, hello. Aren't you a pretty 20? What are ya doing ‘round these parts? ))

 

Even without the racket these four sisters have found themselves wrapped up in, they’re no strangers to weirdness. You can’t be. Not in this town. Not for a while, anyway. Forget Nightmare Moon, have you ever ridden on the Central Cable Car during rush hour? You’ll have ponies screaming in your ear about the tiny gremlins living inside their left eyeball before you even get to hear ‘stand clear of the closing doors, please’. And this is without the University at the end of the line blowing itself to smithereens every Wednesday afternoon. Or out-of-towners bringing their pet Parasprite with them for their weekend getaway. So no, a Unicorn making pretty paper dolls was not spooking her. No way.

 

“Feed me, Master! Feed me all night long! ‘Cause if you feed me, I can grow up big and strong!”

 

(( Bad news is her Fort save is the highest of the three. Good news is the dice are with you still. 17 in total. A minor failure on her part. A -1 to attack rolls, Defense and reflex saves. ))

 

“I need blood and she’s got more than enough!”

 

It’s paper. It doesn't want to eat her. And even if it did, it’s paper. And she’s silver plated. Ain’t no way something that isn't fit to wipe her nose can get through this armor. So why is she so scared?

 

“I NEED BLOOD AND SHE’S GOT MORE THAN ENOUGH!”

 

Well, Curtains' chilling performance certainly wasn't helping matters. 

[Bramble Rose]

 

Through one of the open holes in the wall strode Morning Glory.  Admittedly, she was perhaps shorter than the baddies might have expected - but the fact that she so casually carried the larger, unconscious form of Penny slung over her back made something of a difference.  As did the dusty horseshoe-prints on her chest, showing that she'd taken a powerful blow from the super-strong mare ... but had shrugged it off without pain.  She casually tossed the unconscious mare into the warehouse to land at her sisters' hooves.  

Her eyes swept over the battlefield quickly.  The sisters were clustered around Maxie, and things looked a little strained.  But more concerning to her was the vacant look in Captain Nightguard's eyes, the way he wasn't entirely steady on his own hooves.  "NIGHTGUARD!" she snapped out in her best imitation-drill-sergeant voice, "Ready your cannons on MY target!"  Hopefully that would snap him out of it...

The plan started to form in her head.  Nightguard was on the opposite side of the group, but she had no doubt he could thread the needle to hit the target she had in mind.  Her horn glowed as she readied the spell, Doc reciting formulae in the back of Glory's head as she realized what Bravado had in mind.  Morning Glory may not be all that familiar with unicorn magic, but she knew lightning.  She knew how it worked, she knew how it flowed, and she hoped that would translate into magic.  Besides, worst that could happen is she gets hit by a bolt, and she was feeling pretty darn invulnerable just now.

She hefted her shield next to her - a magic shield that was starting to glow the same red-gold rising-sun color as her horn.  "Attention, all of you!  You're currently engaged in EXTREMELY criminal behavior, and we'd like to arrest you now.  Surrender, and this young mare will be getting medical attention as soon as possible!  Continue to fight, and you'll all be getting medical attention somewhat later!  Admittedly, not THAT much later, because it really won't take that long to take you down, but I assure you it would be the uncomfortable choice for you.  The easy way ... or the hard way?  You have two seconds to decide."

The unicorn magic was taking effect ... drawing power from the earth to ground out lightning ... using pegasus magic to guide the lightning.  All three aspects of her power, working together.  All it needed was a spark.

 

My intimidate check is +9.  Plus any circumstance bonuses.

 

I'm using a hero point to add the 'alternate power' feat to my telekinesis power.  In case it's not obvious what it does:  when a lightning blast hits Glory's shield, it will rebound, strengthened into an area-effect attack that will hit everything in the area.  If they surrender, this won't get used.  The moment they do anything BUT surrender, Glory will cry out, "NIGHTGUARD!  TARGET ME THEN GROUND YOUR SHIELD!"

Telekinesis 3 (precise, progression) costs 8 pp.  This alternate blast+immunity costs 7.5 PP

Blast 6 (lightning)
Limit:  Must get hit by a blast.
Limit:  incoming Blast must be lightning.
Distracting (losing my dodge bonus, becoming a sitting target)
Modifier: Area (cone)
Penetrating

Linked to:

Immunity: Lightning
Distracting
Limit:  Reduced duration (IE: sustained not permenant)

 

​

[Kirby Krackle]

Had the circumstances been different, Farthing would have been absolutely delighted to lay eyes upon a genuine Alicorn Princess! Honestly, she could plotz! Rightfully so, as this meeting puts her in the same exclusive club as ambassadors from foreign lands, great thinkers or national heroes! In another life, she would be having a giggle fit and trying to work up the courage to ask for an autograph. It's a pity that instead, this Princess she's never heard of just plopped onto the floor Farthing's precious Big Sister out cold. In that moment, her heart stopped. First instincts demanded retribution! 'Flatten her, Farthing! And protect your family!' A counterpoint chimed in, reminding her that if Penny was a walking artillery platform, what chance did the runt of the litter have? But wait, the “immediate medical attention” sounded best for Big Sister; but double wait, could the Princess be trusted? Worry continued to addle the poor girl's brain to the point of getting teary eyed.

 

“You win”, she finally whimpered. The biggest pony in the room plopped onto the floor, ears sagging. She would have went onto ask to help with Penny's care personally, but...

 

“GET THE HAY OFF MY SISTER!”

 

Shilling was already reared up. The armor-platted mare had every intention of putting far more than some horseshoe prints on the namby-pamby Princess.

 

Meanwhile, amidst a disgraceful mess of coins, Maxie Million has his face mashed into an undone bowtie to catch the blood. Fire is in his eyes. And the gold that surrounds him begins to wake up again.

 

“Every pony has a price. Every pony's gonna pay.”

[AzalR75]

Captain Nightguard never even noticed Sterling's grin, nor could she see the grin in his helmet as he connected his hooves to her face, landing as he sees her dazed and stunned. His cannons aimed at Sterling to drop her down for the fight when he hears "Stupid bat-pony traitor!" Oh how that is words he's rather used too as well, turning to make a quip about traitors against ponies, only in time to see the charging pony slam into him.

 

The impact wasn't enough to make him fall, but there was a good ringing in his ears, and while speed of thought seemed to be at its maximum, his body is just moving too sluggish. Get back in the fight!

 

He knew this, this is the feeling of when one gets hurt. In his line of work, this was bad, as most creatures needed only this pause to devour him Get back into the fight!

 

The shouting, the noise, the statements of blood, all nonsensical. No, there won't be somepony coming in to stand between him, Defiant Star, her name graced the edges of his thoughts, but his wingmate won't defend like she had before... the last time he saw her, her body was being carried away when he woke up after the nightmare. Get back into the fight!

 

He just had to focus... "NIGHTGUARD! Ready your cannons on MY target!" The strange alicorn was yelling at him, holding a glowing shield, the easiest thing to hit through the clearing momentary haze. Morning Glory had just gave an ultimatum to the opponents, and the biggest one who just hit him surrendered, but the other two are not... she must have a plan...

 

Nightguard steadies his stance, wings flaring a moment to fire the cannons through to hit the shield, and as soon as he releases the crackling microstorm clouds he lowers his wings, crossing them over his body, the brass one in front with the tip all the way to the floor, shielding himself from whatever is about to happen next.

 

((spending a hero point to be able to activate this turn, Firing the cannons, then move action is being dedicated to going full defencive with my shield))

[Bramble Rose]

 

Morning Glory ducked down behind her glowing shield, grinning as she heard the bubbling noise of the liquid aurora and the whine as the cannon powered up. As the blast hit her shield, she firmed her will with the spell she'd already prepared - her shield erupted with lightning. Arcing lightning filled the area in front of her shield, crackling from her shield and across all the targets in the area of effect. She did her best to angle it away from Dusty, but if not, well, she knew the worst this would do was knock him out. She wanted to end this fight!

​

[RazorWind]

Dusty gritted his teeth and uttered a short, not-so-nice word of choice to his ineptitude and missing of his target. Still, Shilling seemed more focused on the other targets around her to immediately counter attack.. and through the chaos the worker stallion could hear the shrill cry of Maxie hitting the floor at near terminal velocity.. ouch. Seemed Masquerade had dealt a hefty blow with his teleportation. Fancy magics.

Either way the stallion knew at least one target was out for the count.. well two, counting the -second- one that Morning Glory just sent through the wall, hitting one of the sisters quite literally down town. He could only imagine the bruises that one would be feeling for the next morning. 

As his thoughts focused on the pounding sounds of the fight going on elsewhere, he caught sight of Pusher's paper's creeping up the leg of the metallic mare and snaring her down, perfect. Perhaps now Dusty would have a chance to-

And then the Princess started shouting again.

Was the infamous Royal Canterlot Voice ALWAYS necessary for these high and mighty types? Dusty always figured it'd be quite frustrating and hard to hear anything else after the first twelve seconds.. if the listeners even made it that long before their eyes started shaking in their sockets and their ears threatened to cave in. Nonetheless, she was at least trying to reach an ultimatum with the remaining fighters.. which Dusty honestly could agree with. Given his performance so far against the metal mare he could certainly make her fall for the ol' Bait and Switch, but when it came up to up front fighting her he seemed to be lacking.. he'd have to do some serious meditation after this and figure out what the problem was.

Though her words seemed to have little effect on the heated shining sister who even in her snared state snarled and reared up preparing to attack the princess.. to which Glory had her shield raised, arching electrical energy around her and...

Oh pony feathers.

"MAKE WAY!!" Dusty screamed out as the blast of electricity threatened to hit -him- as well, Morning Glory's desire to end the fight now seeming a bit more powerful then avoiding friendly fire. With a bound of his hooves Dusty dashed off from the fight as far as his hind hooves would carry him to avoid the blast of Alicorn Lightning.. he'd make it out of range he was sure, but the remaining opponents would certainly feel -this- one in the morning.

[Kirby Krackle]

Farthing, that poor sweet girl, has grasped little of what was happening around her. But then, she was a simple mare with simple wants and needs, her ambitions never straying far beyond the tending to her braver and bolder big sisters. Thus, any advanced study was out of the question. Unless, of course, the answer to seek was an improvement to her vegetable stock recipe or to get blood stains out of cotton. Spoiler alert: the answer to both is white vinegar. The subject is Alicorn magic? She has enough trouble getting Shilling to wake up at a respectable hour, let alone knowing what makes the sun rise. Or, in this particular case, what makes a stroke of lightning come for her family so angrily?

 

Morning Glory's wrath was swiftly upon her, her sisters and her less than appreciative employer. There was barely time to flinch before she felt the heat of the shockwave scorch some fur. The smell of burning and rotten eggs confirmed her fate.

 

...hold on. Rotten eggs?

 

“There is a shortage of beautiful mares in the world. It would be a shame to lose one more.”

 

A few nervous glances about told Farthing that she was definitely not dead. Though, she had moved. How? There were no wings or hooves involved. She had just... stopped being where she was, and instead began being somewhere else. She blinked a few times, trying to regain perspective. Instead she saw a ghost. Maybe she was dead after all.

 

(( Curtain Call, ever so dramatically, pops his Hero Point to interrupt, whisking the non-combatant away from the attack! Turnabout Feat on Teleport. That's his turn, skipping ahead a bit. It's Dusty's go after this.))

 

If she looked close enough at that chalky white face, just barely opaque, she could have sworn to have seen a smile upon the Masquerade's ghastly visage. The soft yellow eyes behind the ivory opera mask had no ill will behind them. Hard to believe that this was the same creature that not a moment ago was snarling and demanding blood. Hard to believe, harder to forget. She, in every way, wanted to scream. That desire was put to bed with a kiss.

 

“Stay down. Stay safe”, it told her before leaping back into the fray. It's a good thing no pony saw this. Or else they'd say she was blushing.

 

(( Reflex save against a DC of 16. Maxie rolls a 19. Saved! Shilling rolls a 22. Really? Sterling a 6. Toughness saves now. Shilling, who made her save, rolls vs a DC of 18. 2. Welp. Sterling, who didn't, needs to fight a DC of 21. 6. Well then. ))

 

 

(( As for Maxie...))

 

The thunderclap was more than impressive. Truly a dazzling display of arcane prowess. Not only did it successfully down three unruly criminals, but it also managed to wake up what parts of the neighborhood hadn't already stirred from the previous ear-splitter. Heroes sure can make a racket. So, with evil apprehended and the day saved, there was nothing left to do but clear all this smoke and...

 

Hold on. Why are coins still moving?

 

The coins should not be moving.

 

(( Did you know 'Villain Points' are a thing? He's spending his. Two things happen now: the blast is countered, suffering no damage; and our five intrepid heroes get another Hero Point. ))

 

Maxie Million, mob accountant, is finally in view again. He looks an absolute wreck. His bow tie was undone, smeared with blood. His mane gone from tidy bowl cut to anarchy. His suit was blackened with soot and smoke and other particulates, now barely fit to wash a window let alone wear to a fancy banquet in Little Canterlot. Worst of all, those soda bottle glasses? Well, he lost a lens.

 

“I. Needed. Those. For. READING.”

 

He is not so much behind a wall of gold, but behind a web of it. The ends of each long chain were attached to whatever assorted metals the Unicorn could find. Copper pipes bringing in water. Steel window frames. The pig iron of the building's rafters. This elaborate network of improvised cables caught the high voltage, dissipating it harmlessly into the Earth. Gold is an excellent conductor. Fun science fact, that. He's smarter than he looks.

[Blueblood]

While Quill Pusher was, in both his roles, an advocate of the intelligent and diplomatic solution to problems, he had to admit: sometimes, magic was Just Better.  He was prepared to admit this even if he happened to be caught in the blast zone of a lightning bolt not aimed at him.  After all, he did have sufficient shielding... only, now that shielding was ignited and aflame where a tongue of electricity had licked it.

 

So, that was one mark against it.  The second was that it was not actually a finishing blow.  Sure, the henchmares were now all taken out, but there was still their boss, shielded behind an improvised Faraday cage.  Perhaps he thought himself invulnerable, but he was ignoring one thing: one of his opponents was a bureaucrat, a pony who'd spent an entire career shoving paper through pigeon holes.  And this paper was on fire.

 

"Sit down, Maxie, it's time for your audit."  Not caring one whit about the bow-tied one's reading glasses, Pagemaster fired a smoking blast of pain in the form of burns and papercuts through the lattice at the mafia accountant!

 

So, I think this action calls for a hero point to add a "burning" effect to my Blast attack.

[Kirby Krackle]

(( Burning, huh? Let me see what I can do... Let's link that to Corrosion, actually. Poison modifier. That's 3 points per rank, conveniently the same as your Blast. So let's say they're both Rank 5. That was easy. ))

 

(( Rolling to attack with the burning is... 19 plus your base 6. Amazingly, Maxie's defense also rolled a 19! But his base defense is, heh, not enough. Blast wins! The Toughness DC is 20. He rolls, with bonus, a 16. Yet another bruised effect. But what's this? That Corrosion happens? And a living subject's Toughness cannot drop below -5... I learned something! DC is 20 again and he rolls, with the not-a-bonus-at-all a 9. Staggered and stunned. I kinda feel bad for him. You know what? I'm calling it. -5 Toughness is suicide. ))

 

If Maxie Million was told a day ago that he would be brought to his knees by, of all things, the spare forms of a tax return, he would demand you get out of his office and leave a Bit in the 'Stupid Jar' for wasting his time. But here he is, far too preoccupied with his suit being on fire than to raise up any of the gold that clattered to the floor lifeless.

 

“I'm not even supposed to be here”, he said between coughing fits, finally collapsed in a heap on the floor. There was absolutely nothing left in him. “I'm just the accountant. Doctor doesn't pay me enough to be an”, another cough interrupted him, “an enforcer.”

 

He stared defeated at the five heroes circling him and the only thing crossing his mind was how much bail would set him back. But then he got a better idea.

 

“You!” With what little strength he had left, he began to reach out for... the Masquerade? “You're supposed to be haunting that run down theatre, right? Well, let me go! Drop THEM from the ceiling a couple times! Get me out of here and you'll have the money to fix it up! Those actors will be rich! Famous! Everything they ever wanted! Please!”

 

Want to know the worst of it? The Masquerade broke formation. The words stopped him dead in his tracks.

[Bramble Rose]

 

(( Talking is a free action! ))

Morning Glory couldn't help but stop in her tracks as a genuine peal of bell-light laughter rang from her.  "Really?  That's what you're down to?  Bribes?  You're trying to bribe the physical manifestation of the Scenes, Songs, and Steps theatre?!  Do you really think the phantom of a place like that cares about such stupid little things like bits?  Have you been there?"  She briefly remembered a sign she'd passed on the way in.  At top speed, riding on top of Pagemaster's tumbling form, but that's not important... "A place that has free showings and snacks for foals?  Did you just ask the very embodiment of theatre itself to SELL OUT?!"

Bravado went with his cutie mark.  He knew this was why he did hoofball, and it just figured for him that it was why most ponies did things.  "You don't even begin to understand the meaning of a place like that!" Morning Glory continued.  "They're not about money, or fame, or a shiny marquis.  It's about an escape.  For just an hour, a pony can pay a bit and escape all the little difficulties of their life!  No moral ambiguity!  No hopeless struggle against everyday life!  We cheer for the good guys, we hiss at the bad guys, and they make a very satisfying thump when they hit the floor."

Morning Glory smirked a bit.  "You're looking a bit run down there.  One final chance to lay down and surrender, before we listen to a very satisfying thump."

​

[Blueblood]

Well, it seemed that, for all intents and purposes, the fat mare had sung.  Maxie's last minute dealing was a pathetic excuse to extend her aria.  Not a fan of opera himself, Pagemaster added his two bits in with Morning Glory to close the curtain.  "And what's more, you're trying to bribe the fellow with his own money.  That's the government's job, not yours."

 

Meanwhile, his magic was altering the grain of the paper he currently held, interweaving it into a slightly coarser, more gauze-like substance.  "Anypony need bandages?"  That had been something of a tough fight; our heroes may have had superpowers, but as far as he was aware, accelerated healing wasn't one of them.

[RazorWind]

Dusty huffed through his nostrils as he turned on his hind hooves toward the group.. and the grovelling Maxie Million whom not too long ago was so confident in his little operation. The stetson stallion turned toward the conflicted Curtain Call, whom seemed to be taken aback by the pleading offer made by the cocky accountant. 

"Ah reckon y'all don't need me tuh tell ya this but.." the bi-pedal walking stallion stood next to his masked friend, "Filthy money will always be filthy. No matter how it's bein' used. Ah'll be leavin' this up to you, Masquerade." with that the immense Twin-Iron was hefted over a shoulder and rested upon his back as the stallion took to his four hooves, moving back over to the recently made hole in the wall he just so happened to enter through.

"Ah'll be here iff'in ya need me." he mentioned, standing there before the entrance, turning to face everpony once more.

[AzalR75]

Nightguard notices the pause of Masquerade, then turns to face the wounded gang leader as he listens to a few words. With a soft hiss the sword is drawn from its scabbard and points to Maxi, letting him get a -REALLY- good look at the etching along the blade, the official blade of Luna's former guard and chooses to speak low enough to be threatening, but most definitely wants to be heard by all there "First thing I'm going to do is ask you about this Doctor that's paying you. Who is he? And what does he want?" then Nightguard leans in, behind his helmet Maxi can see the slitted eyes narrow "And what are you going to bribe the Masquerade with even? You're going to have a change of conscience and return the money you've stolen, or if you can't, you're going to donate it to the theater and surrounding region for rebuilding..." and his voice goes into a whisper, high enough that the heroes surrounding the gang member can hear "... or else I use you as bait to deal with the hydra nest I've found. Unfortunately... I can only keep so many heads distracted by myself."

 

((I do believe that's an intimidate.))

[Kirby Krackle]

There was a twinkling in the money lender's eyes as they lingered upon the phantasm, who was no longer raging. The Masquerade was thinking about his offer! But, of course he was. Living or dead, everypony has a price. Oh, sure, some would say they have integrity but that just means their price is very high. All he had to do was wait and he would watch this monster dismantle its former comrades. He had nothing to fear.

 

"First thing I'm going to do is ask you about this Doctor that's paying you. Who is he? And what does he want?"

 

“You won't get a thing out of me, words or Bits”, he declared, turning up his nose at Nightgaurd's blade like he was a foal refusing to finish his spinach. He had nothing to fear. The Masquerade was on his side now.

 

"... or else I use you as bait to deal with the hydra nest I've found. Unfortunately... I can only keep so many heads distracted by myself."

 

(( Who needs rolling? That's great! Hail Hydra. ))

 

He had nothing to fear. The Masquerade was on his side now. So... “HEY! ANY TIME NOW, SPOOK! DO SOMETHING! GET ME OUT OF HERE! YOU WANNA DO BUSINESS OR DON'T YA!”

 

“B̡̧̩̲͕̭̼̹͖̬͝u̪͔̰͝s͖͍̪͇̻̺͇̲͙͝͝i͉͓͔͔n̵̛̙̣̣̘͉̻̥͘e҉҉̻̮̝̙̰̥s̨͔̜̤͙̬̕s̶͚̝̟̥͉̲̭͎̭!͙͎̙͙̮̠̖͠͝” cried the Ghost, as it began to change again. The suit it wore, finest opera regalia was now faded and torn. Decades of damage done in moments. The eyes behind the mask it wore lost their glow, becoming black and hollow and sunken in. The tattered rags that were once a cape changed further still, seizing their wearer and binding him, wrapping around him as a tail would, with padlocks and cashboxes being added to the yards as they became as iron. “P͚̮̱̞̭̺͔̗͢͠o̱̻̥̦̦͉̱̺n̸̝͚y̛̫̘̘͕͇̬͜k̛̟̦͈̰̜i̛͚͓̪͢n̩d̛̠͘ ̜w͍͉͚̞͇̬̤͜͢a̯͢ͅs̸̼͙͔̲̟͙͔̙ ̵̨̢͙̼̣͍̜m̨̘̗̰̖̠̩̣͢͝y͏̶̖͚̳̺̤̪̕ ̝̘̙̙͜͢b̪̦͟u̡͖̝̹̬͈s̨̮͔͟͡i͚͎͕̬ņ̷̗͉̟̠͓͈̟͢e͚̤͔ś̟̘̠͓͞ṣ͍̬̬ͅ!̷̱̯̲̖̺̦͍͠” it howled. “Ţ̧̱̘͞h̨̡͉̹̥̱̗͇e̠̦͢͡ ͍̩̰̠̭͠c̤͓̘͇̬̦̮̀͘͘o҉̗̜̜͖̠̲̟̬̞m̵̠͚̙͘͜m̶̟̱͚ơ̻̦n̩̞ ̣͖̩̝̰̪̫͘w̭̹̱̟̞̫̙͘ͅͅe̟͚̫̙̘̦̪͇͚l͚͔̗̣̦f̹̝̫̥̲̕͜͝ͅͅa̼̦͍r̛̹̘͇͈͙̪͉ḙ̢͉̘̬ͅ ҉̷̥͖̟̫̪̠̀w̡̩͉͓a͏̜̟̖̮ͅş̥̺̹̩̞ ͍̟̯͎m̨͈͕͖̣y̹̱̲͚ ̡̭̪͖̫̞͈͕̻b̛҉̟̟͚̪̣̤u̪̼͠ṣ͎̫̗͚̗͚́̀͡ͅi̜̻̯̬̟̭̭̞͡n̥̳̜e̲̙̤̣͈͘͞ͅs̱͡ͅs̛̪͜;̷̖̯̙ ̲̫͈c̵̱̣̱̘̠̩̰̝̣͟h̹̫̱̰͎a̩͓͈͘ŕ̢̧̯̝͇̥̻̱̩ḭ͖̪͈t̵̹̯͇͍͍̞͈̟y̵̵͔͕̦͓͎͚̩͘,͖̝̙͈̙̰̲̀͠ͅ ͚͈̲͖͖͉͉͇m̸͖̮̖͇̗͙͞e͈̮͉͘͘ŗ͔͍̘̫͍̩̮͜c̩͇̮̪͔̥̠̠̭̕y҉̶҉̦,̶͔̝͍͖̟̜̗ ͓͝f̡̝̳͎̹̪̻̰̮̱͞o̮̮̗̲̮̹̯̻͜ͅr̴̭͖̗͙͔̘̰̀͘b̷̨̹̟e͖̱̪͍̞ḁ̴̢̹̫r̗̙̦̣̠͓̬̕͞á̶̧̟̳̬n̫̞͔͕̹͚c̷̢͎̺͖̰͈ę̳̝͠,̛̯̦͔͠ ̡͍̫͖̲͠͡à͙̟̞̠͇ͅn̨̩̣̜ḑ͙ͅ ̴͏̬̳ḅ̷̛̗͟e̶̺̹̼̲ń͍͚̬̲̭͓͇̜͞è̛͎̙͍͟v͓̰͈̺͉͎͟͝ó̴͍̠̝̩̭l̴̨̲̤̗̬̰͢è̛̞͟n̡̢̰̣̠̰̫̞̳̭͜c̨͈͓̭̰̺͔͜͡ͅe̯̱͖,̴͎̻̦̙̰̗͎̱͟͞ ̷̨̣̥̺͚̗̫͉̯w̯͎͝e̦̲̥̼̺͍͟r̸͖̫͜e̡̤̙͕͈̭̗̕,̷̡͖͕̘̤̳̩ͅ ̭̝͓̥̮a̰̮̗̥̼͈ͅl̢͚̥̦͖͖̥l̵͍̼͔̫̱̖͞,̷̧̩ ͍̭̙̭̖̭̹m̴̡̮͕̬̦̰y̸͓͈̱͎̮̙̤͝ ̲͔̣̭̜̤̰͘͢b̳̱͟ư̧̪̹̖̳̯͇̖ṣ̵̯͜͢i̭͚̦̙̝̤ͅn̴̨̳̩͍̲̯e̷͔͍͇͔̤̮̫s̮̭͝͝s̶̟̗͜!̧̞̠̭̙̖̟̲̺̮”

 

Suddenly there was no saving him from a hydra nest.

 

“...the Doctor promised me money! Loads more than this! Enough to buy the city if I wanted! I just had to handle his finances! Hiring gardeners! Muscle! Paying off the cops and lawyers and buying out old properties that nopony would miss! But I don't know who he is! I ain't never even seen him up close! He just sends some  dumb goon-”

 

“HEY! We are not goons!” Farthing chimed in, offended. “...could I actually have some bandages for my sisters, please? Thank you”, she beckoned to Pagemaster, surprisingly polite for the muscle of the group.

 

“-with my tea and my bits every week! That's all I know, I swear!”

[Bramble Rose]

 

Morning Glory grinned as she put a hoof on The Masquerade's shoulder.  "Easy there, ancient one.  He'll have plenty of time to think about the wisdom of insulting ponies while he stretches out in his five by five room.  I doubt he merits a cell in the new Tartarus holding facility they've been building for all these super-powered crooks that have been popping up in the last few years.  But that's probably after your time."

She stepped forward, grabbing several of the coins out of mid-air and crushing them together in her hooves, mashing them into a sheet of metal as she casually walked right through the net of coins.  "That's more like it, Maxie," she said calmly, her horn glowing to help her hooves shape the sheet of soft gold metal into a cone.  "Nice and easy."  She lifted her hooves to slide the makeshift horn-shackle over Maxie's horn.  Assuming he let her.

Because after all this, not letting her would be real stupid.  But she was ready for something to happen, because after all - crooks weren't known for possessing an overabundance of common sense.
 

​