"Oh no, the Great Ogre of Greyhawk stands before us! What shall we do, Priestess?"
"A single ogre, no matter its size, shall not deter us from our quest! HAVE AT THEE, FOUL BEAST!"
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It was in the art of live-action role playing - a wondrous synthesis of stage action, improvisation and fantasy play - that Princess Luna had finally found a way to truly express herself and have a good time with friends. And Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, standing beside her on the "stage", could see the joy in her eyes as vindication of his efforts building upon the foundation laid by his sister and her friends.
Under the costume, anypony would've been able to see the dramatic transformation Luna had undergone over the past months from the much smaller form she first arrived in Canterlot as. Although her powers were not fully restored yet, enough had been recovered for her to take on her full height and beauty she had before her exile. Nevertheless, Shining could still see what she had been inside the glimmer in her eyes, and the slight blush she sometimes developed when talking to him.
He could tell she was still attracted to him, but knew she could never have him, bound to Cadance as he was. It helped that there was knowledge of "consorts to the princess" in the past, and in another time and place he probably would've ended up one. Here and now though, Shining was seeing the patient investment of time and energy beginning to pay off - Luna would be grateful for his friendship for eternity, and his hopes rose again that soon it would be the right time for the Canterlot Wedding Cadance had long hoped for...
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"Sir, sir, we need help!" an Upper Class Guard's calling out interrupts the thoughts of Shining Armor. The LARP group currently assembled - Princess Luna as a "night mage", Shining Armor as a paladin, Lieutenant Aldebaran as an archer, Upper Class Buck Withers as a barbarian, and Upper Classes Gaffer and 8-Bit stacked in the ogre costume - let out a communal groan.
"Guard, what I have ordered about interrupting the LARPing session?!" Shining shouts in annoyance as the guard rushes into the room, having dropped out of character.
"But sir...!" the Guard starts to reply, before being interrupted by a shocking sight - a large club manipulated by unicorn magic smashing straight into the side of his head! The guard is knocked sideways, the cracked helmet coming off the guard's head, and a unicorn completely cloaked and wearing stockings emerges through the door, pinning the disoriented guard to the floor.
The cloaked unicorn shouts one word: "WITHERS!" and two pegasi wearing Guard armor with numbers - 18 on one and 25 on the other - crudely painted on the helmets and side armor burst into the room, charging straight for Buck Withers! The cloaked unicorn then steps over the disoriented guard and charges straight for Luna herself.
The two-pronged attack provokes various reactions from the LARPing group members. Luna first throws her prop staff at her attacker, which is deflected away by the club, and then uses her unicorn magic to yank away Shining's prop sword to engage the cloaked unicorn in an impromptu swordfight of sorts. Aldebaran moves to the side of Buck Withers and fires a prop arrow at the pegasi attackers, hitting "18" in a foreleg and stopping him in his tracks. 8-Bit and Gaffer struggle to get out of their costume, stumbling around the area as they do so.
Shining Armor first rushes toward the downed guard, taking a sideswipe at the cloaked unicorn as he passes, to check briefly if he's alright. The Guard has suffered some bruising of being trampled and his helmet is cracked, but otherwise he's alright, and as he attempts to get back on his feet Shining looks over to see the downed "18" and puts a forcefield bubble around him.
Princess Luna and the cloaked unicorn are now clashing their weapons together as if in a swordfight, intense anger on Luna's face and glowing red eyes on the attacker under the cloak. A swing of the sword leaves the attacker's club broken in half, and the attacker tosses the broken weapon in Luna's direction before taking off back the way he had come. Luna doesn't see him disappearing because of the instinctual reflex required to deflect the tossed weapon, and Shining doesn't see him either because of his focus on the other part of the attack.
The attacker "25" is dodging away from the defensive combat on the part of both Buck Withers and Aldebaran, and Shining is about to put a forcefield around the pegasi attacker when the stacked 8-Bit and Gaffer in the costume half-deliberately fall on "25", pinning the attacker to the ground. The ogre costume splits in two at the waist, and the two stallions within spill out of it. Buck Withers and Aldebaran work together to restrain "25", quickly joining his wounded comrade in captivity, while 8-Bit and Gaffer slowly get onto their hooves.
"8-BIT, GAFFER, AFTER THE UNICORN! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE THE CASTLE!" Shining shouts out when he finally realizes the cloaked unicorn has escaped. It takes a moment, but 8-Bit and Gaffer spring to it, galloping side-by-side out of the room as they go after the unicorn attacker.
"One of the attackers took an arrow to the knee, sir. Everypony else seems to be alright." Lieutenant Aldebaran reports, looking up from his pinning work.
"How do you keep drawing this kind of attention to yourself, Withers?" Shining shouts out, having already guessed that Buck was the real target of the attack and the assault on Luna was just a feint to divide attention.
"I wish I knew, sir, but I must've earned the ire of some very powerful enemy." Buck Withers comments worryingly.
"This enemy is far more powerful than we have estimated. And they have chaos on their side, the ancient enemy of harmony. They will not stop until harmony is ended and chaos reigns over Equestria again." Princess Luna warns in a manner just cryptic enough to make Shining want to ask more about what she meant later, but ultimately decide against it.
"Noted, Your Highness. Lieutenant, have the prisoners and the trampled guard checked out at the medical center, then send the prisoners to the brig. The Captain can interrogate them in the morning. For right now, we have to find the unicorn attacker - it's the same one that lead the attack on the boutique a few days ago." Shining Armor orders.
"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Aldebaran replies with a salute and a grim expression shared by his fellow LARPers...
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A LITTLE LATER...
"8-Bit, over here!" Guard Upper Class Gaffer exclaims, gesturing to his comrade behind him.
"What, you found something?" Guard Upper Class 8-Bit asks as he rushes over to Gaffer's side, hopeful after a failed attempt to track down where the cloaked unicorn had disappeared to.
"Yeah, stallion ditched his cloak." Gaffer replies, using his unicorn magic to lift up part of a large section of black cloth on the floor.
"Ditched his cloak? Why?" 8-Bit naturally asks, confused about why the attacker would shed his main means of disguise.
"I don't know, 8-Bit. I get the feeling there's more to this situation than what it seems to be..." Gaffer darkly comments, looking down at the cloak on the floor and wondering what the deal was with the pony that it had been covering...