445/Gonna ave a Par-TAY!

Gonna ave a Par-TAY!
Date of Scene:	18 August 2014
Location:	Divided Equestria
Synopsis:	Pinkie and friends set up a carnival for people to attend and have fun! Of course things don't always go right.
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 41, Staren, 239, 264, 411, 470, 475

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Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Welcome to Foaledo!
    It's a fair sized city just south of the House Moon and Star territory. Tucked in between two rivers, with a view of the sea only a scant hanful more miles southwards. It looks like the city and its people are in high spirits though, because the whole town has been decorated up for a carnival.
    Streamers, banners, tents, floats, and clowns everywhere, everyone just seems so /happy/.
    It's the best thing ever, even if this is dangerously close to Moon and Star lands, and completely unsanctioned, illegal, and set up with NO warning nor request for permission. Not like this is a bad thing, though with the whole city in an AMAZING MOOD.
    Pinkie Pie is, in fact, here among the crowd, having formed a bit of a gathering to tell jokes while doing a handstand on one hand, and juggling brightly colored balls with her feet. But there's music and carnival games, and prizes to be earned, it's the best thing ever!

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Eliot Ness, known by his cover ID in Divided Equestria of 'Federal Agent', is here. He had heard about the illegal gathering the other day, when Pinkie announced it on the radio for all to hear. It was only natural that he making a showing, due to the fact that he was publically employed by the Magister of House Moon and Star.

    Coat kept up around himself regardless of weather, Eliot has his hat pulled lower to further keep his face shielded. He seems to be having a neutral time and is more focused on ascertaining whether this is a front or not.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Given how active the Cult of Laughter had been getting, Twilight was getting concerned. She'd sent two Inquisitors earlier, and... nothing. Now there was an illegal party gathering and no sign that the Inquisitors were there to stop it! Very concerning.

    The Archmagister did not arrive alone, of course. Aside from any Confederate support she may have, she also comes with two... rather broody-looking ponies at her side, who look like dark-hided unicorns with a faint sheen of green to their eyes. They flank her as she exits the carriage, with Twilight adjusting her hat and sighing. "I really do hate this part of the job."

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    Now, this wouldn't be the FIRST illegal gathering Raven DeVanos has been to. Goodness knows she's seen her share of them. This is probably the first she's ever been to she 'didn't know' was illegal, though, and is possibly the first she's evern taken her young SON to. Yes, the re-headed Mercenary is there with her hair back in a loose braid, and wearing a loose tunic top and shorts. She looks like your average mom. The boy with her is small, with buzzed short silver hair, and with a Hello Skitty backpack strapped to his back; an Absol follows at his side, and he keeps a hand on the pokemon's back.
    Now. It's not to say Raven didn't do SOME research-- both she and Malkuth are wearing headbands with fake pony ears on them; Raven's are white, while Malkuth's are blue (simply because he picked them out!) Neither have tails though, so to speak; Raven's hair is long enough to pull off 'tail' much like a Zororark's, but Malkuth didn't like the feel of something on his pants, soooo. Raven has found some cotton candy, and is working on it slowly. "Oh, look, Malkuth, see? There she is," she points at Pinkie and the crowd gathered about her, as she starts walking that way. Malkuth smiles! "Huh, you're right, she does look sort of like Pinkie.." he murmurs to his mother softly, as he follows.

Staren has posed:
RIFTS Earth

    Staren paces back and forth in front of the warpgate. Tonight is Operation Shutdown. Should he be there? How are things between him and Yunomi now? He's felt like he pissed her off ever since their... falling out? Was it a falling out?

    Finally, Staren notices the time in his vision. That's... the plane is in the air. Well. It's too late now. It'll do no good to sit around worrying about the mission. He hopes it goes well. What can take his mind of it... When did Pinkie say that carnival would be in town? He should take a look before he brings Twilight, maybe...

DIVIDED EQUESTRIA

    Staren teleports in a little ways outside the town. He activates his energy wings and flies towards Foaledo, landing before he gets too close so people can realize he's not a pegasus. And... woah. He was expecting, like... well, a regular carnival or circus or something. Not the whole /city/! Wow... He walks into the streets, looking around at the decorations and celebrants with a hint of wonder. He's never /seen/ a party this big!

Maya has posed:
Maya has come to Foaledo she know somthing has gone wron in that world. The cult was an issue she also knew other things might be wrong there so she's coming to snoop again. she's kept in mind the work Eliot Ness has been up to. SO here she was with STaren ariving a bit after him her own wings flate out source dby magic likely rather than science and she follows along after SAtaren coming in for a landing she follows after him.

"This is quite a party isn't it?"

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    The Confederate support is not obviously so. Violence Behind Polite Words is a step or two behind Twilight. She's still not wearing shoes, but today she's at least wearing black socks to go with her usual suit and skirt. She's also got even more guns than normal, a rifle across her back in addition to her normal pistols just what's actually visible. Though it's oddly unnoteworthy.

    "Nice place. You wanted some assistance with it, then?" She doesn't actually object to parties, but Emily has never really liked clowns, so she's okay with murdering them for profit.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    What ever could have happened to those Insquisitors? It's a valid mystery and there are many questions left unanswered thanks to the fact that the two never reported back. Nevertheless, the city is in high spirits, ponies and pony-people revelling in carnival games designed to be won more often than not.
    There is absolutely nothing sinister and wrong with this gathering at all; especially as all the clowns around are busily passing out ballonws or flowers, or toys to little boys, girls, colts, and fillies.
    And it's true! Pinkie DOES look like Pinkie!
    Probably because she IS Pinkie.
    But this is a sidenote as the curly-haired clown comes wheeling over. Because she's on a unicyle.
    GAAAAAAASP.
    Uh oh.
    "Oh. My. Sun. And. STARS." She squeals. "TWILIGHT it's been /fifteen years/!" Broody ponies with her or not, they better be fast, because if not stopped, Twilight is getting the sudden LEAPING HUG OF THE DECADE.
    "Mister Federal Agent! How are you? Raven! Hi! Who's your friend? MAYA! STAREN!"
    Well it looks like she recognizes everyone, but is this so surprising for somene with a memory like Pinkie Pie's. Though she has to pause. Because she looks right at Polite Words, and even with that mask on it's easy to see the hard-pressed expression of thought
    "... Nice socks."
    RIGHT THEN, there's music, and games, and Pinkie is motioning at the fairgrounds, "What d'you all think? Some friends and I figured things were just so dreary! People here needed a laugh! Isn't it great?"
    She is juggling the whole time.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "I am well," Ness replies to Pinkie in a cautious tone. He does seem more than a bit surprised when she takes a jump at Twilight, but he's not in range to stop it. Success or failure, he scowls at her when he manages to make his way all the way over, "Ms. Pinkie, you should really not do such things. With an assassin targetting the Magister, your intentions might be misunderstood."

    Even Ness has a cautious hand on his belt, surveying around for someone else who might try mobbing Twilight.

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    Raven can't help the grin on her face. Yup, this one really is Pinkie. There's just no other way to describe her, not with the juggling and the Unicycle and.. Raven leans back, watching her go to hug Twilight-- .. That's Twilight? Man. She just shakes her head. "Hello, Pinkie. This is my son, Malkuth. Thank you again for the tickets." She looks over. "Malkuth, go ahead and thank Miss Pinkie," She says, with a smile.
    Malkuth, all this time watching, is wide eyed, and grinning broadly, with a slightly gap-toothed grin, having only recently lost one of his teeth due to age. "Thank you very much for the ticket, Miss Pie," he says, softly, smiling, but.. oh. The look on the face of the big broody ponies surrounding Twilight makes him go kind of quiet, and he presses into the Absol at his side nervously. Raven smiles quietly, and then reassures: "Malkuth, sweetie, you know that when someone's important, they have body guards. Don't be afraid, neither of us poses a threat, so I doubt you or I will be a concern."
    Raven seem completely at ease! ... Of course that's because, well, probably hardly anyone around her at the moment has seen her when she's at her most dangerous: when she's on guard and watching over someone she cares about. A subtle shift of expression, from genuine smile to careful measured smile is the only clue that she's looking around carefully, at mention of an assassin nearby.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Surprisingly, the guards... don't stop Pinkie. Twilight is staring, and then tumbling back with an 'oof' as she's pouncehugged, ending with her sprawled on the ground and her hat knocked off. The tattoos she has are flaring with mystical power for a moment, but... nothing seems to come of it.

    "Pinkie Pie... I presume," Twilight mutters. She dusts herself off as the ponygirl rushes to meet the others. Sigh. "I might have known you'd be at an illegal party." Strangely, she doesn't bring up the whole 'you can't be Pinkie' issue right here.

Maya has posed:
Maya is taking in the party that seem to be sweeping the city. She seems content to try to keep a low profile but this does not seem to be too much of a problem. She howver sees there's people bouncing about it as there's clowns, okay Maya's had a thing about clowns for years but that's due to Kefka and that's a very long story there. She does seem to be just smoozing about trying to be social right? Just a tourist here to enjoy the show or so she hipes she comes up to Pinkya nd pauses at Raven whos eout for a bit with the kids, well one of them anyway.

"Good day Raven, seems your not the only one who got the idea to come check out the party here."

She looks at Twilight and then back to Pinkie raising a bit of an eyebrow ya there's something between them...

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Maya. "Maya? What brings you here?" And then Pinkie points out /all of them/ and he looks around. Before he can react though, she pounces Twilight, who... declares the party illegal?

    Staren approaches her, although he watches the body guards, stoping if they look concerned. "Woah, hold up here. This party is illegal? Now I /know/ you're not some Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain who's outlawed parties and fun, so what's the problem? Did someone file a form wrong or forget to get a permit? Can we maybe talk to the organizers and sort it out? Because showing up and shutting this whole thing down is just gonna make you look like the bad guy to a whole city full of ponies. Do you want that? I don't want that."

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    "Thank you, miss." Is Polite's response, true to the part of her name she normally gives. "I found going barefoot here to be a bit too awful the last time I was here, even if it usually is more comfortable for me."

    She seems a little bit awkward about it, but will fade back into standing behind Twilight, though she'll at least shoot a glance towards Staren. "It's important to keep a well ordered society, wouldn't you agree? And that sometimes involves everyone following rules that are a little unpleasant." The criminal Sidereal somehow manages not to burst into flames at this statement, probably because she's wearing a skirt, rather than pants.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    It's probably a good thing Twilight doesn't get into that right now. It would ruin the mood. But just what kind of mood would that be? Well it should be obvious it's a complete PARTY MOOD. But even with that mask on, teeth flash in a huge grin through the mouth-space as Pinkie Pie detaches. "Well yeah, who else would I be? Silly." There's absolutely nothing wrong there, really! Though she fires a pretty hefty pout Ness' way.
    "--An assassin? T-Twilight, what have you been doing that someone would want to KILL you?"
    Other than being the ArchMagister, she must mean, the clown hops off her unicycle with a huff. But everyone gets a reply in turn. "Mm! No need to thank me! I just thought you'd have fun!" She pipes to Raven and Malkuth.
    Fun as the festivities are, there are always more... Malicious revelers. From the happy crowds there's a sudden jeering. Though its harmless at first, from out of the blue a rock gets lobbed. With a POCK it connects with the side of Pinkie's face and mask, making her crumple to the ground.
    It's not the only one, as two more are lobbed for Raven and Polite Words, and someone YANKS at Ness' coat, before several loppy-eared children and colts go blitzing with cries of 'Blank Flanks! Blank Flanks! What a squad of losers! Ahahahahaha!'
    How rude.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Yanking Eliot Ness's jacket is not a great idea. Not because he is, by himself, a violent man. But because his coat is a little bit more than just a coat. Not that the average, or even most scrutinizing, of eyes can see that.

    As soon as the coat is yanked without Ness really knowing it was about to happen, there's an immense crack of electricity as the coat itself discharges a powerful tazing surge. It's not lethal, but it's strong enough to send someone tumbling backwards and definitely leave them more than a little stunned.

    The agent adjusts his jacket and says very directly, "Please do not touch my coat." In an authoritative tone before reaching out with a gloved hand and offering Pinkie a hand to get up with, "Are you alright, Ms. Pie?"

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    Polite Words is a reasonable and completely pacifistic person, so long as you have nothing she wants and don't provoke her in any way, shape or form. A rock being thrown at - and actually striking her - is going to count as provokation.

    Lifting a hand up, without an actual gun in it, she points a finger vaguely in the direction the rock came from, a cracking sound going into the air as she does. A bullet doesn't fire back, retracing the exact path of the rock, following it back to the source hand. Bullets don't work that way, even if one were to shoot from her finger gun.

    It's surely going to just be a massive coincidence when someone's hand gets a whole lot of pain and an open wound. Not her fault at all.

Maya has posed:
Maya has not been noticed to been without a mark just yet, she may need to however fix something up about that given she doe snot want to stand out as much here. hell she needs to well look into the meaning of it more deeply. She twitches intwardly as memories of being called grabage eater, scum, slave bait, worthless and the like floats to mind with how her people are treated back home.

She also see what happens to Pinkie and heads to try and help her along with Eliot ot at least run interfearance should the kids try more trouble.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Naturally the Archmagister isn't targeted... but neither do her guards do anything about it. Twilight, however, /will/ do something about it. With a small gesture, magical light flares and ropes pop into existence, tying up the troublemakers in an instant.

    "You asked why we bother with breaking up these gatherings? They make the crowd rowdy. THIS is why. They have no control over themselves and cause trouble. All the time," Twilight says to Staren. Being a control freak shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, at this point.

    On the other hoof, she isn't going to do something retardedly cartoonish and execute the foals. "GUARDS! THROW THEM IN THE DUNGEON!"

    The nearby guards look at one another in confusion.

    "The juvenile detention center," Twilight clarifies.

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    The first rock has Raven, already on Guard, stiffening, and pulling Malkuth to her, wrapping herself about him as a rock connects with her head. Oh, it hurts, and there's the flash of blood on her temples from it, but she's more concerned about keeping Malkuth safe from being hit than she is about herself. But oh, that chant. When she hears that chant, her teeth grit, and she straightens up, keeping Malkuth to her. "Malkuth, sweetie, that," she says very firmly, "Is a very good example of how NOT to treat strangers," she says, simply.
    She comes to pause, watchign Twilight tie the foals and fillies up, and anyone who's really seen her in action would notice the flash in her eyes, before she clears her throat. "Far be it for me to trod on the hooves of supirior law, Miss Twilight," Raven begind softly, "But they were simply being children, albeit ill-behaved. I would suggest instead of the.. .Juvenile detention center, that they be detained for their parents to collect later, and in the meatime, they be given work to do. Boring, lonf drawn out, repetative, _embaressing_ work." She pauses, and quirks a faint smile: "Perhaps cleaning up the trash left behind by this carnival. While wearing clown outfits and signs that say 'I threw rocks at people for blank flank'."
    Malkuth, meanwhile, has sort of come out of his huddle.. but is staring at Twilight with a sort of.. shock, to his face, while his hand has gone again to the protective presence of the Absol.

Staren has posed:
    Staren jumps when rocks start flying, and then... "Seriously?" He looks at them. "We're aliens from another world! we don't /get/ QT marks, but that doesn't mean we don't have talents..."

    And then Twilight goes all SEVEN YEARS DUNGEON. Staren sort of stares at her. "...Are you kidding me? They're /kids/! Yeah, they're jerks. Yeah, they should learn their lesson. But throwing them in the /dungeon/? Isn't that a bit harsh? Are you /trying/ to look like a cartoon supervillain?" He blinks. "Wait, actually, what is the juvenile detention center like? I mean, how long do they have to stay, what do they do there?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    In the brief chaos that ensues, there's a very stunned colt on the ground, sizzling and snorting after getting a handful of Ness' coat and summarily being dropped to the floor, the boy- getting on into his teens- looks fairly alright, he's just been TAZERED LIKE A BRO. His cohorts don't fare so well, either, though. One is bleeding from the hand, looking more shocked than in pain as he falls to his ass and sits staring at it. The others are in pony-form, and bleat and squeal when magically roped up, cries of objection raising pretty quickly.
    "Muh." For the record, Pinkie takes Ness' hand, but puts the majority of work into hoisting herself up on her own power, apparently mostly fine save for the trail of red running down the side of her mask and turning the white porcelain a smeared copper. "I'm okay, I'm okay, really!" Bright and upbeat even after cranial trauma, such is the way of the Pie as she points to the blood. In an instant it's all replaced by bright red flowers, and she seems good as new. Now there's just the issue of what to do with the troublemakers and rabblerousers.
    It's while Twilight passes her judgment that something odd seems to be going on. Is the carnival quieting down? Where are the people going? Ponies and people are filing out and about left and right, soon enough leaving the group mostly alone. The silence is insantly oppressive...
    "Awww Come on Twilight! They're just kids! --huh? Hey why did everything stop?"
    This does not seem to be on Pinkie's agenda for the evening, as she glances left and right rapidly in confusion.

Maya has posed:
Maya watches as the kids are about to get some time, she tilts her head but isnt going to press too hard for a moment. Staren asks a question she was going to and well she remains quiet on that thusly, she'll get an answer shortly and hopefully find out what's up with the kid's fate. Then agian something else happens, things get quiet, people are filing out and she looks around concerned.

"What just happened here...?"

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "It's your call, Archmagister Sparkle. In my world, assault in the streets is a heavy crime." Ness comments, letting Pinkie pull herself up and then adjusting the gloves he wears on his hands before starting to notice the change in atmosphere. His hand gently drifts back towards his belt, drawing a pistol from his belt and carefully checks the .38 Colt Police Special before flicking the cylinder shut and then pulling back the hammer.

    "Archmagister, stay on guard," He notes, moving closer to her to do the job she hired him from, namely investigate and attempt to thwart the assassin, whom it would be logical to figure might be involved here.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Twilight actually looks startled. "It's... a detention center? They'll be given a lecture, spend the night there, and then help clean this place up as punishment before going home to their parents. What sort of realm do you THINK I run here? And this technically isn't even my land anyway." It's true that she's done some horrible things, but she's not given to random evulz. "And a note on their records..."

    She trails off, and her guards are... nowhere to be seen? No, wait, there they are, suddenly flanking the group with horns lowered. "Thank you, Inspector Ness," Twilight says quietly, now wary as well. "Pinkie Pie, I suggest you stand by one of the guards. Even if you aren't who you say you are, I'm curious enough that I'll be protecting you this time."

    Well, technically her guard will.

    "It could just be that they are realizing this is a bad idea," Twilight points out. "So long as this ends I don't care. They can file the proper papers next time."

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    The change in the atmosphere around them is not unfelt by Raven; something is going to happen, and she's not happy, but she doesn't visibly let it show; instead pulling a Pokeball from her otherwise boring looking belt, and casually passing it to Malkuth, who still looks somewhat shellshocked. Malkuth grips the pokeball in his hand rather tightly, and then looks up at his mother worredly, but Raven nods. Apparently, something was agreed upon earlier, before they ever left the house? Hm.
    Raven then turns, and smiles a tempered smile at Twilight.. But seems to be shifting to stand by Pinkie in concern. "Dear, you've got red on you," she says, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket (and completely ignoring the fact that she's bleeding too.) She offers it to Pinkie-- but only so she can try to mop up a little of the blood. The flower gets a smile.

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    Polite Words looks remarkably satisfied when she sees the one in shock, flexing her fingers for a moment. "We could just chuck some rocks at them in turn. There's a certain justice in that." Emily may or may not have been very invested in the whole compassion thing.

    Of course, she's going to notice as it suddenly gets quite so quiet. She glances about, considering her next actions, though she'll pull her actual pistols now - they're more damaging than her finger guns. "They probably don't want to be arrested as well, if this was an illegal action."

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to the explanation and nods, relaxing a bit. "Alright. That's good, but you might want to not shout 'to the dungeon' at the top of your voice like that. It gives people the wrong idea, I mean see, even we're suspicious..." Fortunately, noone seems seriously hurt... He then notices the party broke up "Hey, wait! Aww..." He scratches the back of his head. "Look at this. You show up and the whole party breaks up. People are gonna think of you as a buzzkill, even if you don't wanna be seen that way. We need to work on your PR! You don't want everyone to hate you, do you? You'll be miserable! I don't want you to be miserable, Twi!"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    With the rapscallions handled, there's just the liiiiittle issue of the party utterly DYING. Very fast. Very hard. Twilight's dungeon dclaration probably soured moods, even if it was just to the juvenile detention center. Though by now the streets are dead, and there's no way threat of incarceration could have cleared the streets that fast. Right?
    Eliot is probably right in his hunch to draw his gun, and Pinkie makes a 'nahhh' motion when offered the hankie from Raven before motioning right back at her. "You look like you could use it more."
    But there will be no further rock chucking. Not as giggling and laughter echo from the side streets. A sick and twisted chuckling that's nowhere close to the happy revelry of the carnival just moments ago. Of course the clowns aren't that much of an out of the ordinary sight, wheeling in on unicycles, a whole squad of them in bright colores and...
    Wielding halberds.
    "Lookie what we have here boys! The Archmagister, a Jester, and their cronies... But they ain't smilin'! So let's CARVE THEIR MOUTHS WIDE OPEN!" One declares.

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    Polite Words raises one arm right away, though she's kindly enough to allow the one speaking to finish his threat. Then she, quite literally, tries to shoot a bullet down his throat. She's not a fan of people threatening to carve anything into her or her mouth.

    After it's left his throat, it'll try to bend back around and shoot him a second, third, fourth time. She could actually be taking attempts at multiple targets with this shot, but she takes carving her mouth open personally.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Eliot continues to move in a protective fashion over the Archmagister, the towering form of the Federal Agent is made more bulky by that jacket. Which you shouldn't touch, by the way.

    "You gentlemen seem to have made a rather grave mistake," Ness says simply, raising up his revolver, "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight."

    A gloved hand squeezes the trigger and there's a crack of a gunshot as he sends a .38 Caliber Greeting Card right towards one of the foreheads of the new assailants. He better move fast.

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    Raven hms? Ohs, and dabs at her forehead with a nod-- before the clowns arrive. Thaaat's about then her teeth set in her jaw, and her eyes narrow. "Malkuth, sweetie," Raven starts softly, "Do please run along home, hm?" She offers him a slight smile-- And the silver-haired boy gulps, then nods, and, dropping to his knees, wraps his arms about the absol he's been leaning on, and then concentrates on the pokeball in hand. There's a sudden glow that surrounds the two, and then-- in a flash, both child and pokemon are gone.
    Leaving Raven to her own devices, as they just took her only abra with them, but hey. Let it never be said the old Merc is completely useless when 'unarmed'.
    Unarmed, as if. The redhead sighs, shakes her head, and then says, "I see the time for nicities is over," before she lifts a hand, and-- snaps her fingers. There's a sudden FLASH of light from the lone befeathered hair bangle, and suddenly a wave of fire flashes out for the Killer Klowns as a Fire 3 Materia is triggered, and Raven just. Smiles.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Testily, Twilight snaps at Staren, "Stop calling me Twi! You don't know me well enough for that nickname! Only one is allowed to-" She shuts her mouth with an angry glare, not finishing that sentence... because the unicycle-riders are coming. This makes Twilight narrow her eyes.

    "Inspector Ness, everyone... the partygoers were theoretically just normal citizens. These are not. I recommend lethal force."

    Twilight will summon up a /barrier/ though, around herself and Pinkie and anyone who would rather not fight. The purple glow isn't as good as her brother can do, but it's a pretty powerful force field just from raw power. And her guards are already in action, both leaping forward with their forelegs replaced by the sudden shifting of bone into scythe-like claws, slashing at the revelers viciously. It's... actually only Pinkie would know what that looks like, unless Staren's been hanging with Calumnia a /lot/.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     As Twilight's barrier forms and the revelers close in...there is another beam of purple magic that comes from above. It reinforces the existing barrier, and a glance upward would reveal that...it is the other Twilight! In her cute purple balloon! She is staying above the ground, hopefully out of range of unicyclists.

     "Is everyone alright?" the voice of the younger Twilight calls out, her forelegs hooked over the edge of the basket as she peeks down at the situation. "...what just happened to their forelegs?" Young Twilight asks, gesturing toward the scything claws.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "Sorry. You remind me of... you..." but, you know, they're being attacked, so Staren looks to the clowns. There's a flash of light as his armor forms over him and he just opens up with the plasma cannons, just pumping bolts of superheated ions out at the assassins. He notices the transforming guards: "Ooh, that's a neat trick! How did you make them able to do that?"

    And then the beam comes in, and Staren looks up. "Twi! I... this was a party when I invited you, I swear! And I know, isn't it neat? Other you ascended them or something, who knows what they can do? Well I mean she does, obviously... and probably they do too..."

Maya has posed:
Maya takes a look at some strangers comming she sees whom is coming at her she doesn't like the look of these clowns.

"It's always murderous clowns..."

She pulls a card from her pocket and is already casting a barrier spell upon Pinkie and everyone else with her. This is no time to be petty about this at all.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Whelp. This sure is happening. And it's not fun at all.
    The unicycle-mounted Harl-Equines move to strafe and circle the group, lashing out with their blades and deadly intent.

    For the record, Pinkie Pie holds her hands up, palms out, at Maya's comment. She's harmless! Really!

    Well actually that's not true, as she remains behind Twilight's shield, "Oh huh. Thanks Twilight. You know for a while I was kind of worried for a second there." Like this, she can be a nuisance from relative safety, whipping out a deck of cards and beginning to shuffle them in hand. Before she starts to chuck them. Flitting jokers and aces at high speeds, they cut a few of the murderous clowns, but mainly serve as a distraction. It makes it easy for the others to take their aim, one clown felled from his mount as blood erupts from the hole in his throat. Another winds up with a bullethole to the brainpan, lacking the armored brass masks seen on the other Cult of Laughter cultists, they have no armor there, and the head always makes for a fair target.
    But there really is no more being nice as another is reduced to screaming cinder and ash, others dropped by plasma. The sudden and blatant display of foces means that their little sneak attack has utterly failed, and the battered and small handful of survivors decide ti wheel right about and make a break for it.
    "Eeeeewwwwww... yicky." Pinkie does comment in regards to the shapeshifters forelegs. But then she huffs and plants her hands on her hips.
    "Oh those Harl-Equines. What a bunch of kidders, huh?" She chirps, standing over a fallen one.
    Before giving the body a solid, rib-breaking kick as she begins juggling cards. "A real riot, huh?"

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    Raven isn't vengeful, so she's willing to allow the survivors to escape. She is, however, concerned. Mostly about Twilight's.. guards, whom she eyes warily again, before she moves to step over toward Pinkie, and looks down at the body with a frown. She squints at it, then dips down, moving to try and rifle through pockets, if any, for, well. ... Loose change? Perhaps, it is, after all, one of the only things you can do with a dead body..
    She's looking for marks actually, Clues, Anything. Everything. "Pinkie, sweetheart," she drawls, "Could ya not beart a dead horse while I'm pickin' it's pockets?"

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    Polite Words is super inclined to pay mercy to people who have attempted to kill her!

    Just kidding. She's totally pulling the rifle from her shoulder, taking careful aim and firing off rounds aimed at the fleeing attackers. Mostly at their heads, but she'll be satisfied with anything she can get. She's utilizing just enough essence in these attacks that, from the right angle, a red glowing symbol of some kind is visible above her forehead. Maybe enough to give away what she is to the right person.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "How very perplexing," Ness comments idly, twirling the revolver in his hand and then dropping it into the holster at his side as he says to Twilight, "Most of my field research does not indicate the Cult of Laughter would have attacked a gathering such as this one." He informs her plainly. He'll let the others take care of the fleeing cultists.

    He watches Pinkie kick one of the fallen ones in the ribs, "All my reports indicated they operated under a single leader who would not have allowed a venue like this to be disturbed. Either the Cult of Laughter was provoked by your arrival or there are rebellious elements from within," Ness concludes, looking to the Archmagister.

    "I apologize for not catching this event before it happened. I am still establishing contacts in your world."

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Twilight shakes her head, "No... they are very slippery. There's always a minute chance that this was not their doing to begin with... well, the party itself. Pinkie may have done it herself." She looks over at the girl in question. "Or the one claiming to be Pinkie Pie."

    She doesn't try to pry under that mask at all, moving over to the Harl-Equines instead. "Thank you... other me, for the support," she says in a clipped voice. "As for my guards, they are a rare few who have some abilities studied from Changelings, the beings much like Calumnia. I suspect she can do the same and more, with practice."

    Finally, she stops and eyes the fleeing ones that Polite is gunning down. She has no problem with her doing that. "They are... not right in the head. And THIS is why I shut down unlicensed parties. The Cult of Laughter is dangerous, I thought you had realized this."

Staren has posed:
    Staren... would shoot them, since they're murderers and all, but having Twilight (the younger) right there stays his hand. He watches them go, then turns. "Is everyone alright?" He looks intensely interested in Twilight (the older)'s explanation: "You studied and copied the abilities of another magical creature? That's pretty cool!" He sighs and slumps a bit. "So how does a licensed party work then? Do federal agents screen out the Cult? If this had been legal, would they not have been able to sneak into a party of this size? I mean, they get around /somehow/ even when it's not a city-wide party..."

Maya has posed:
Maya is more refering to the other clowns she has no assumptions about Pinkie, but she's got other things in mind she lools to Twilight for a moment then turns ot the clowns coming for them. She looks about for a moment makeing sure there are not anymore she looks about keeping alert.

"A cult civil war..."

That could be pretty for this world.

"I'm alive and if there's a healer needed I can handle stuch things."

She looks to Staren thoughtfully milling over his points.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     When the attackers flee, Twilight...er...younger Twilight...shuts off her barrier spell. "I didn't realize it was this bad." Twilight says after appearing beside Staren in a flash of purple-white light. "Pinkie...our Pinkie...would be horrified at such things happening during a party, and perhaps even more that parties need licenses here. She would no doubt make some joke about parties being unable to take good pictures."

     Twilight then hugs Staren tightly. She was probably worried.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    For the record, the Harl-Equine's pockets contain:
    -One 8 track tape (unlabeled)
    -A flashlight with no batteries.
    -A half-eaten box of Fig Hoofins.
    -A roll of measuring tape.
    -And instructions to Monopoly.
    But Pinkie ceases kicking the corpse with a giggle. "Ooh that was a good one." She admits to Raven's quip. Before the pink-haired clown heaves the most /exasperated/ sigh. "Really, Twilight, we just worked together again for the first time in liked FIFTEEN YEARS, you could at least be all 'Ahmuhgawd, Pinkie it's really you, old buddy old pal old chum!' What do I have to do to proooove myself?"
    Well she's pretty huffy now, watching as the others handle or let the remaining clowns flee. But then her hands are up again, giving Ness the biggest 'Iuh-uh?' Idonno motion she can manage at his theorizing, when he looks at her. But then? The clown sighs.
    "After years of horror you kind of have to learn to roll with the punches and laugh at different things." Speaking of. She peeks over Raven's shoulder.
    "... Dude, you killed McTrotter!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren turns toward young Twilight when she teleports down. He twists the split-circle crystal on his belt, and his armor goes away again before he hugs Twilight back, tightly. Leaning in a bit and patting her back, then running his hand through her mane. Suddenly he chuckles. "Oh I get it... can't take good pictures... heh."

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "I can tell you with relative certainty that the Cult of Laughter's normal leadership figure was not behind the attack," Ness says in a rather flat tone, "And Pinkie herself confirmed organizing the party on the radio several days prior."

    Ness rests a hand on the butt of his gun, "Archmagister, I am unsure what the future will be holding, but please do not hesitate to call upon my office as necessary." He notes after that, "Your fate is my highest concern in regards to my employment."

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    Polite Words gives a small smile at that. "You know much about fate, then?" She asks Ness, without explaining the remarks.

    "I'll invoice you for the bullets later, Archmagister, or throw them in with your next order. Still, it was nice to get a bit of a workout. It had been too long; I was starting to get rusty."

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    Raven just sort of arches a brow. If this were a video game, it's likely she would have '?' over her head at all the odd things in the Harl-Equine's pockets, but. She takes everything for herself thoughtfully- save the Fig Hoofins, which she offers to Pinkie. "Y'all might like these better'n I do, sug, I'm not a fig person." she smiles just a little, but. She carefully pockets everything else.. She's going to keep those for further investigation, wondering to herself in a mutter "Where th' hay am I gonna get an 8-track player.." as she moves to stand, looking to Pinkie.
    "You know- er, knew, this bloke?" A thumb is thrust at the dead clown, and she observes Pinkie. "Can't say as I approve of his actions.."

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    "Thank you," the Archmagister says to Maya, for the healing. She nods to 'Emily' about the bullets, and finally turns to Ness. "You've already learned quite a lot. I may have to look into a bonus." Oh my! She drums her fingers together thoughtfully...

    "Not while you wear that mask, Pinkie," she replies curtly. "But for now, I think I have other concer-"

    Stare.

    Staren and Twilight make her blink several times, sigh, and turn around to head toward her carriage. "I'm going home."

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle smiles as Staren runs a hand through her mane. "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you?" little Twi asks Staren before blinking at bigger Twi's sudden departure. "Ah...did...I say something wrong?" she asks, looking confused. She isn't sure what to do, so she just lowers back down to all fours, then looks around at the others. "So, these...Harl-Equines just show up at parties and break them up? That seems a bit counter-intuitive for a group calling themselves the Cult of Laughter. Unless their senses of humor are waaaaay off."

Maya has posed:
Maya nods to the Archmagister for a moment she turns aboput to make sure there is nothing else? Well now this comes to be a confusing moment for both Twilights she thinks. Maya has met naother her, one who was a bioroid who ran a bar of all things. They are friend sbut they tend to keep to text based contact as it's a bit disturbing tyo be by your ... twin. So to speak even when your on good terms.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "I know very little of fate other than that it is fickle at times and rigid at others, and that it seems to favor those who claim it for themselves," The federal agent says to Polite Words in a neutral tone.

    Then Ness actually manages to give Twilight a smile from under the brim of his hat, "A bonus? Thank you. I've been trying my best."

    He only sticks around long enough for Twilight to make it to her carriage safely before he makes his own departure. He doesn't leave by chariot, instead simply turning and vanishing down an alleyway, pulling out a small book that he writes into as he walks off without really saying goodbye to anyone, though Pinkie gets a slight nod of his head. As does Staren. Both of them are people he has met here before, so best to be polite.

Raven DeVanos (41) has posed:
    Raven just, shakes her head at the whole mess, before she sighs, and turns to Pinkie. "I'm sorry this had to mess up an otherwise pretty spectacular evening. I did have fun with Malkuth from what we COULD partake in though- he was really excited to come. Guess we'll have to try an' visit some other time when there ain't such a... rowdy bunch of mooks around." A pause. A shudder. "At least it wasn't -Mimes-." She shakes her head again, and then shoves her hadns into her pocket, takes to walking off toward the location of the warp gates..

Staren has posed:
    Staren sees Future Twilight staring at them, and gives her a look of... pity? Ten, fifteen more years, and she still doesn't have somepony special, does she? Then he looks away.

    Present Twilight is full of questions. Staren steps back when she lets him go. He shakes his head. "I am unharmed. They didn't even get a chance." He sighs, and holds a hand to the side of his head. "No... it wasn't the cult that shut it down. It was /you/. I mean her." He nods in the direction Future Twilight went. "This party was unliscensced. For reasons she didn't explain, unliscenced parties are more likely to be cult meeting places, or something. But then some kids showed up, saw we didn't have QT marks and started throwing rocks and calling us blank flanks. So she... she shouted 'guards, throw them in the dungeon', then clarified she meant the juvenile detention center and that they won't be treated overly harshly or kept long... but..." He looks out at the city. "People heard you shouting... her shouting... and everypony made themselves scarce. Then these guys showed up," he gestures at the... bodies... "and attacked us." He shrugs. "That's what happened."

    Eliot gets a brief nod of acknowledgement back. Staren forgets he's not Union, sometimes.

Maya has posed:
Maya looks at the Twilight she knows far better and she nods for a moment

"Humm I can see it. Also you summed it up prety well they didn't last long but they'd been looking to bring us or her down pretty hard."

She tilts her head a bit to take in everyone else, she does wish to get to the bottom of the mystery with this cult...one way or another.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle's ears splay as she hears that she (sort of) shut down the party. "But...it wasn't for no good reason at least. I mean, if these murderous cultist gather at parties...then maybe it is good to have some sort of regulation on parties." She sighs. "It is still sad that such things are even needed." she says, then smiles lightly to Staren. "Well, would you like a ride back?" she asks Staren before looking to the others and offering a friendly wave goodbye. Before pausing and questioning whether a wave goodbye is appropriate when there are...bodies laying around. Which results in her forehoof pausing in mid-air, then awkwardly lowering.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods at the offer, smiling and hopping into the balloon.

    As for the bodies... Staren's sure the authorities will be along.

    "It may have been for a good reason, but..." he makes a sweeping gesture. "I doubt it's going to look like that to most ponies." He sighs. "I worry about her. Because it's hard not to see any of you in her... and I don't think you'd be happy, if everyone saw you as a tyrant, even if you weren't and you knew you were doing the right thing." He puts his hands on the rim of the basket. "...You know, that's where I was. I thought everyone saw me as... well not a tyrant, but a mad scientist. Willing to hurt people and commit atrocities and stuff. It turned out not to be true, but... those were miserable years for me. And then I heard a voice on the radio that didn't see me that way, and left /no/ doubt about it. You were always direct and honest." He tries to pull her into another hug, or at least put an arm around her. "Wanting to meet you got me back out into the Multiverse. Into a position to at least try to help fight Discord, and the zombies of Earth-1960, and the Sword Art Online crisis..." He strokes her mane again. "If you hadn't come along, I don't know where I'd be now. Maybe still thinking everyone hated me. Growing ever more bitter, expecting people to turn on me at any moment." He hugs a bit tighter. "...I don't want her to go through that. I don't want /anyone/ to go through that. Seeing you hurt by Discord was too much already."