//------------------------------// // Dinner Plans // Story: Criminally Stupendous // by dudenotactive //------------------------------// Ironwood stared at the invitation he had just received, princess Luna and his most trusted guards were present in his office, Luna held a similar letter from the local mailmare.  Perplexed, Luna sat on a comfy chair with a curious look on her face. She was not the only one who had received the letters, it appeared that Adam Taurus as well. But the most important detail is that the pony who sent it to them was none other than Roman Torchwick. Many of the Legionnaires were unsure how to react, this was a strange gesture on Roman's part, or perhaps he was so confident of his skills that this was his way of gloating.  "This is obviously a trap to keep us out of my fort," Ironwood concluded. "Roman seems to believe that I would go to this... dinner he had planned." "Located on the edge of the Everfree nonetheless!" Feather Storm pointed out. "I have no clue what goes in that crook's mind, but there is clearly something diabolical at play." Crimson Forge chuckled loudly. "Honestly, I'm a bit curious! Wonder what he will do, perhaps it's another of his giant explosions!" Lockjaw could only scoff at his partner.  Ironwood turned towards the faunus in the room. "Your thoughts, Adam?"  Adam eyed the letter carefully, his, in particular, was written differently. There was an address where the dinner would take place, but there were additional sentences that made something clear, and that is the fact that Roman knew of his existence. Well, there was the fact that he sent Perry to track down and spy on Roman, sadly there was no progress yet. The most annoying part was that Roman was making fun of Adam, if he had not kept his temper down he would've torn the letter into pieces.  "You're ugly!" Roman wrote in big red and bold letters. Adam was mad.  "We go," He answered to the General.  Luna arched her brow. "Pray tell, why would you think it is a grand idea to humor Roman and his little dinner?" "This will be a big chance for us to catch him by surprise, and set up a few guards around the location, especially in the border of the forest. It is obvious that he plans to use the Grimm from the Everfree on us, the letter said that we must bring only one friend." Luna pointed at the letter with her hoof. "But it is said that we cannot bring any guards, so if we are truly attending this dinner, I suggest that our plus one shall be Rainbow Dash or Applejack." Ironwood shook his head. "No, if the three of us leave my fort, then we must keep the two mares here to protect this place without us, under Bronze's command of course." "Mayhaps we could instead bring Twilight?" Adam shook his head at Luna. "It is written here that unicorns who delve in summoning spells aren't allowed... I think he meant Twilight, so it would be better to bring someone who can defend themselves when the time comes." "We don't really have many options here," Ironwood said. "Why does he demand we bring someone, and will he not show if we do not satisfy the requirement?" "Excuse me!" The door flew open, a strange stallion waltzed right in without a care, he brought with him a draft tube and an odd device. "Sorry if I was interrupting anything, but I am not really in the mood to wait." He said casually as he walked up to the General.  "Ah, Doctor!" Ironwood smiled. "Right, we were busy, yes, but I'm sure this will be quick." "We don't have time, General." Adam hissed as he approached the stranger. "And you, who allowed you in here!?" "Easy Adam, the Doctor is a friend of mine. Princess, this is Doctor Time Turner, he is the inventor of the hay-powered engine. And many more of our protective equipment." "Time Turner?" Luna scrutinized the stallion for a moment. "What have you brought us?" "The invention I promised," Turner said as he wore the odd device on his left foreleg. With a click of the button, a large solid light appeared from the device, a shield made out of energy. "I brought the schematics as well, and this concludes our business and I shall no longer work with Dust." "As always, Doctor, you deliver!" Ironwood smiled even wider. "Thank you for your service, and I hope that we can continue our partnership soon." "Hold on, you harnessed hard-light Dust?" Adam was surprised to learn about Turner. "This quickly... You must be quite the Inventor." This little device somehow piqued Adam's interest, now his attention was focused on Turner.  "Well, if you are all done with me, then I'll just drop this off in your armory and leave." Adam stepped into Turner's way. "Are you a fighter?" "Why do you ask...?" Ironwood wondered as he rose to his hooves.  "If what you tell me is right, then this pony is the one responsible for the many machines you have in this fort?" Ironwood tapped the metal piece on his forehead. "Well, he was the one who created the communication orbs that connect to this device in my skull." "How come I am just learning about this pony now?" Luna inquired.  "I'm sorry your highness, I just prefer to be anonymous, the attention is not something I desire." Turner explained. "So I best leave now..." "No, wait..." Ironwood hummed loudly. "Doctor, you're very athletic, correct?" "What are you suggesting, my friend?"  "I'm also curious, General." Adam glared through his visor. Luna remained silent, she only stared at Turner. There was something about him that was stranger than most. An aura came from him, so powerful that it almost frightened Luna.  "I don't think this is wise, General." Bronze believed, the other guards agreed.  "You are wrong," Ironwood chuckled. "The Doctor has several inventions that could be of help to us, and I have seen him on the field before." "Ironwood, could you please not bring me into this problem of yours." "Doctor, for days you continue to do nothing for the greater good of Equestria, I offer you chances to be greater, and I offer them to you now. Roman Torchwick is a threat that even you cannot ignore, his deeds harm the common folk with his robberies, and if you help us, then I am sure as the dawn that we will catch him." "If the General speaks so highly of you, then I must implore you to join us, Doctor." Luna said. "He claims that you have inventions that may help us, and you must understand that this higher calling is for you alone." He was left in the spotlight, Turner felt all their eyes on him, so silent, none spoke as they waited for a response. There was a voice in the back of his head, a voice that wanted to set things right. But he did not want this opportunity, Ozpin... Ozpin wanted to keep himself away from all this trouble. And now the princess asked him to join them and attend Roman's dinner.  He knew the purpose of this meeting, Turner had eyes and ears everywhere. The letters that were sent to the three leaders were not a secret to him, anything that was related to Roman needed the attention of Time Turner. He knew not why he bothered, he wanted to be done with Roman and move on. But found himself here.  He sighed, then he brought out the Dust shield and tinkered with it on the spot. Before anyone could ask, Turner tossed the device in the air and once again surprised all. The shield created a bubble of hard-light, it bounced once then shrunk.  "I suppose my answer is clear... I will join just this once." Ironwood wore a smile that rivaled Pinkie's as he left his desk to meet Turner at the center of the room. "Doctor! You've finally come to your senses, I am glad that you and I will finally have a chance to actually work together, my friend!" He said to Turner as he shook their hooves together.  "Don't make me regret this..." "So that's our plus one... Don't slow us down, or else I'll leave you to the Grimm." Adam said.  "Ha, the Doctor will not disappoint, just like always!" Ironwood had pride in his chest.  But for Turner, he was honestly disappointed in himself. He could tell that Luna had her eyes on him like a watchful owl. He knew the culprit for this turn of events was Darkness, he stood there in the corner the whole time, using what power he had in this realm to force Turner into the whole thing. This was a bad idea, and worse of all, Roman was already in town.  Scootaloo wondered to herself how life had brought her here, she asked what her purpose was. Her wings were too small for her to fly, and she started to doubt herself if she could even learn one day. A lot of bad things happened lately, everything just got worse after that full-scale Grimm attack, something this town had never seen before.  "Scootaloo, come on down and have some snacks!" One of her aunts called out to her, she stopped what she was doing and rushed down to enjoy whatever her aunts had prepared. But she came to the scariest scene in her life yet, Roman Torchwick sat at the same table as her relatives. Both mares looked terrified just like Scootaloo, while Roman simply sat in his seat with a newspaper in his hooves.  "Hey there, Scooter!" Roman laughed as he greeted Scootaloo. "Grab a seat, I brought you some Manehattan pizza, still hot!" "Roman! W-what are you doing here!?" "Please, don't hurt us!" Auntie Lofty begged, but she was answered with a cane pointed at her face.  "Shut up, I'm here to talk to the kid." Roman said blankly.  "Don't hurt my aunts!" Roman smiled widely. "Scooter, I ain't here to hurt anyone! As long as no one gives me a reason, of course." He said that last part as he sent a glare at the older mares. "Sit down, grab a slice and tell me about your day." She did as she was told, she took the swat at the center, right between her aunts and Roman. There was indeed pizza on the table, still warm. As much as she was afraid, Scootaloo was still a child, she could not resist the temptation of the unhealthy pie.  "How was your day, Scooter?" "Uh..." She paused for a moment, Scootaloo glanced over to her aunts for a moment before she answered. "Well, my friends and I tried to see if we could get a cutie mark from bomb-defusing... It didn't end well." "Ah, well kid, you'll find out what your special talents are someday!" He said with a tone that said he was interested in her tale. "Well, how's that gift I gave you a long time ago?" "The Aura?" Scootaloo received a small nod from Roman. "I... Did everything written on the notes you've given me. But I don't understand why you gave me Aura in the first place..." Roman fell silent, he unconsciously grabbed himself a slice of pizza, even motioned for the mares to take some as well. He took a moment to eat the slice before he spoke to Scootaloo. "You remind me a lot of myself. There's just something about you, kid, that made me like you. I unlocked your Aura to protect you from this world, and I want you to train until you're invincible." Scootaloo looked away. "Rainbow Dash said I should never ever talk to you again, because you threatened her life and that you're a crook." "It's true," He said bluntly. "the moment she was unable to move, weakened by our battle with the biggest beowolf on Equestria, I told her everything. Her missing bits in Manehattan, the robberies that I committed, and with my confession, I broke the trust we built with each other." "Why would you do something like that?" Aunt Holiday wondered out loud.  "I'm not here to talk to you," Roman snapped at them. "You're lucky you both are Scootaloo's aunts because I would've-" He pretended to slice his throat with his wing, the two then believed that it was best for them to remain silent. "But I'll answer you for once. You see, Dash is the Element of Loyalty while Applejack is Honesty, I'm the opposite of both. I lie, cheat, and steal, it's what I do best. Deception and betrayal, that's my element. I needed her to be motivated, I am the cause and she is the effect." "That doesn't make sense to me..." Scootaloo muttered.  "You'll understand when you're older, anyway, just wanted to check on my buddy and see how you're doing!" He chuckled. "I got a few heists going on and it would be great if you could do something for me." "I can't..." Scootaloo cowered away in fear of antagonizing Roman.  "It's just a simple one, something I'm sure you can do." "But..." "Scootaloo, I know you can do this. I just need you to answer something for me." He acted as friendly as he could. "I just need to know, if you could tell me where Twilight lives..." "Did you have to follow me!?" Trixie questioned her clone as she struggled to get comfortable in a small space she was currently in.  "I wanted to grab some snacks first! But no, you had to lock yourself in the box early!" Twoxie complained.  "Shut up in there, we're almost at our destination!" They heard the muffled voice of Flam from outside their little prison.  "Hurry up, Roman is probably going to start his part of the plan!" Flim told his brother.  "Hey, watch it! Get your elbow away from my ribs!" By then, the twins knew not who was complaining, and they were glad that people could tell them apart as well. Unlike Trixie and her clone.  The stallions paused as they stood upon a hill which gave them a good view of the Iron Legion Headquarters, they and some trusted employees pulled the cargo of Dust and two Trixies towards the fort. This was Roman's plan, and they need to execute it flawlessly, or else failure shall be their result.