//------------------------------// // Episode 39: The Return Of The Interrogation Scene! (Cutting the Funds Part 4) // Story: Life of a Wanted Changeling Season 3: Tyrants, Terrorists, and Tiaras, Oh My! // by Down with Chrysalis //------------------------------// Opening Theme: The mare's eyes widen at your declaration as she says in terror, "In...interrogation! What the buck is going on!?!" You grin evilly under your mask as you say, "Exactly what it sounds like little miss pony, or should I say...CHANGELING!" The mare's eyes widen in shock and terror before she says, "Wha-what! How did you know!? This is a brand new disguise!" You just smirk before saying, "Oh... I didn't know for sure. Thanks for confirming that by the way." The mare just stares at you before she says in defeat, "Oh you have got to be bucking kidding me." "Well you hear about a messenger that's always changing appearance, race, and gender carrying the same lollipop, you get suspicious," you point out. "Oh son of a- Who talked?!" "That's for me to know, and you to never find out," you declare as she looks shocked. She eventually starts grumbling to herself. Though she doesn't take her disguise off for some reason. You can't help but think at this, Huh...that was easier then I thought. Still, shouldn't be surprised that the Knights have employed another unbound changeling. Now... You shake your head before saying, "Now with that little fact is out of the way, why don't you tell me everything you know about Kersey?" The messenger looks around nervously as she says, Kichi's Comment "I... Uhhh... Don't know any Kersey... Nope, not at all, no Kersey at all, I don't work for any Crimson Knight named Kersey" she says with shifty eyes. And I was thought Applejack was a bad liar Sighing you say, "Of course you don't. Why don't you just cut the bullspit..." you walk into her field of view showing your features to which she gasps at, "And answer the question." "N-N-NO! I won't!" "Come on, you're already going to be put away in some deep dark hole for being a changeling, what does it matter if you rat out some guy?" "I don't care, I'm not giving you anything!" You sigh before saying, "And why, exactly, won't you tell us anything?" The mare gives you a stubborn look before she says, Kersey's Comment "Because my employer pays me alot of bits for my job. Even if I'm going away, I'm not about to throw all that away, plus I'd never hear the end of it. I'm especially not going to give up any info for some two-bit pony wearing a ridiculous costume. Seriously do you even know what matching means?" Your eye twitches in annoyance, but you hold back the angry rant about how your clothes are totally awesome. Instead you take a deep breath and say, The Rutherford's Comment "You vill tell me vat I vant to know. Zee question, is vill you tell be before zee pain? Or After?!!" Did I mention you said it in the worse Germane accent ever heard? No, well now you know. Anyway, this only gets Aqua to facehoof and say, "What are you doing?" You turn to the darkness and say, "Being menacing, no shush, my associates." "Now Zen, Vill-*cough* I mean, will you tell me or do I have to get serious?" "You'll never get me to talk. You hear me? NEVER!" You give her a glare before you say, "Fine, then I'll just have to take it up a notch." The messenger gulps at this as she asks, "Uh...what do you mean by that?" You don't answer, but instead stare at her menacingly as you think, Erised the ink-moth's Comment Interrogation... It's nasty business no matter which movie it's in. You don't want to get too brutal on this mare, she's only a minor henchman, and not even a fighting mook. Although, there might be a way to make her talk without actually having to hurt her. You've just got to be as intimidating as possible to make her crack. Yesss. Allow fear to be your instrument. Insert it into her soul. Insert it hard! Did you really have to word it like that? Stuff her mind with fear like you would stuff a turkey... which you would then proceed to make out with. Yessss... make out with that fear turkey like it's a lonely Thanksgiving night! "Right then! Let's stop wasting time with the drugged voices in our heads and just do this thing!" you shout aloud, seeing as how Selena's still too upset with you even to make Crazy King stop talking. "Drugged vou-What are you talking about?" the "mare" asks. Intimidating. You need to make this feel intimidating. "Guys... would you mind giving me a bit of elbow room? You don't want to be in the splash zone," you mutter darkly looking to the darkness behind the spotlight. The Changeling doesn't need to know there's only Aqua in there with you, and it will scare her more. You pull over a nearby end table and start dramatically assembling random items on top of it, looking over them thoughtfully and casting wayward glances back to the tied up mare before moving onto the next. The first is a roll of duct tape, then your last molotov cocktail, then The Boomstick and your Power Glove. At that point you realize you don't have that many threatening weapons on you, so you search the room for additional items. You come up with a cheap coffee maker, a lamp, a set of kitchen utensils, and a copy of the Daylight (Twilight) saga on DVD. She seems nervous at all these random items, but she doesn't say anything. "Now, tell me where Kersey is so we won't have to use these bad boys." "You're bluffing! I ain't telling you anything!" "Oh really?" you say as you lean towards her face. Kichi's Comment BrownDog's Comment "Then it's time for... Torture" you smirk as you bear your teeth. "Wh-what?!" she squeeks out. "You heard me bug. I need you to be focused. Are you focused yet?" you jaunt. Unfortunately, that little threat kind of makes her start hyperventilating. “What are you going to do huh? Are you going to inject me with adrenaline so that I don’t pass out from the pain?” You react to this in the most reasonable of ways, “Huh?” “You’re sick then. I bet you have all kinds of creepy music to get your jollies off while you put sharp objects into my skin.” “I wasn’t gonnna…I…” “What are you gonna do big guy? Are you going to shove knitting needles into my legs and hook me up to an electrical grid?” “What? Oh Luna no! What are you…?” “Oh I see, you’re more new age, you’re going to put a reverse bear trap into my mouth and force me to confess before it tears off my skull right?” “For the love of all that is good, NO! Sweet Luna, what’s the matter with you?” “Well I don’t know, how about the fact that you just said you'd torture me, and that’s what you speciest ponies display in your films? You’ve got me, a changeling tied to a chair in a sound proof room and want me to spill on a terrorist? I mean, look at your face for the Queen’s sake. You’re always snarling.” “It looks awesome! And look I'm not gonna-" "Aha! I called your bluff. You ain't got the stones. And as if torture would make me give him up. You have no idea how annoying it is to be complained at by that weasel!" Yeesh, how bad is this guy that she’d rather have…all of that happen? ... Nothing? ... Oh come on, you're still mad? ... Ugh! Fine. “Oh really? Well we’ll just see about that,” you growl at the messenger. ErisedTheInkMoth's Comment You get right in her face, making her stare at the teeth, and with your modified voice you snarl, "Now then, let it never be said that I'm unreasonable. I'll give you this one chance before things get gruesome. Where... is Kersey?" "Hah!" the mare laughs in your face. "I ain't telling ya nothin'! You hear me? Nothin'!" You can't tell if she's serious or just trying to put on a brave face, but you'll soon find out. "Are you afraid?" you ask, not moving an inch from her face. "Pft, no. Of course not. I ain't scared of you. You...bluffer" "GOOD!" you say happily, "Good. After all, now is not the time for fear. That comes later." You walk over to the table and pick up the kitchen utensils, a knife and fork. You roll up your sleeves and walk over to her, holding the knife between the two of you. "Where's that darn Kersey?" Her facade slips away. "But wait, I thought you weren't," "Well I wasn't, but you did give some good ideas..." you say menacingly. "W-what are you gonna do? What are you going to do?" she stammers. "Whatever I have to too get some answers." you say in a sinister voice... before bringing the knife and fork down on a clean plate! It makes the most ear-splitting, brain-grating, irritating sound next to claws on a chalkboard. The messenger squirms in place, cringing and wishing... wishing she could cover her ears! "Stop that!" she pleas. "You'd like me to stop it wouldn't you?" you say with a smirk. Suddenly you're slapped from behind. When you look you see Aqua with her ears pinned against her skull and looking very annoyed with you. "You idiot!" Aqua scolds, "It's not as bad for you 'cause you're the one doing it. And besides, it's not working. She already called your bluff. Stand aside." she says and pushes past you with a towel. "Watch and learn. This is how you get information out of a terrorist, just ask the guys at Guacamole Bay." She drapes the towel over the mare's head, leans her back and- OH SWEET LUNA, that looks unpleasant! "Tell us where your boss is!" Aqua yells and gets ready for another round of waterboarding, but you rush forward and grab her before she can. "What are you doing?! I wasn't actually going to hurt her, we just need to know where Kersey is!" "She'll be fine! This will make her tell us!" Aqua snaps. "You'll... *cough* never get me to talk... *sputter*" the changeling mare declares from under the wet towel. "No Aqua, this is messed up! We gotta do this another way!" "Oh, and what would you suggest?" she humphs. "Well..." you trail off as you think. The Rutherford's Comment Kichi's Comment "I'm not sure. Nothing physical, but even then...I mean, she is almost as stubborn...as...*ding*" Aqua looks at you in confusion before she asks, "Stubborn as who?" You shake your head before saying, "That doesn't matter. I know what to do." You take the wet towel off of the messenger's face. "Oh I just knew you had it in you jerk! What's next? The magic battery to my horn?" "Oh no. Something much much more effective..." you trail off as you walk Aqua off into the darkness. "What are we...?" Aqua starts, but you ignore her and stick your head into you inventory. "Nightshade, my dear, I need you to ask the messenger where the mean Crimson Knight is." "Really? she asks in excitement, before jumping out. Luckily, she's still in her disguised form. "Alright, walk with me..." All three of you then walk back into the messenger's vision, and she looks confused. "Behold, our ultimate weapon!" "Hello!" Nightshade calls out. The messenger just looks at this confused. "A kid? Really? Is he even sane?" she asks to Aqua. "I sincerely doubt there is anyone in this room that is sane anymore" Aqua sighs "Hey! I'm sane" you say before looking to Nightshade "Right, Honey?" "Uhhhh..." Nightshade doesn’t answer, because on one hand she loves her daddy, but on the other, she knows lying to him is wrong. "Oh gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," you say depressed. "Well it ain't gonna work, all of you insane bucks had better just kill me. It's not like my fate is gonna turn out any better," she moans. You lean over to Nightshade and whisper to her, Make the cutest puppy dog pout you can." Nightshade gets a determined look before she salutes you and says, "Okie Dokie." Nightshade walks up to the tied up messenger and says in the most adorable voice she could muster, "Can you please tell us where to find that bad guy? We really need to stop him from hurting any more innocent ponies like me. Please?" Nightshade's eyes get huge, tears start to form. She then grabs Mangle out of her Inventory and both look at her with the saddest expression they can muster, making all the hearts of all who see it melt. Mangle starts playing a sad violin piece through her speakers. The messenger is on the verge of tears before she says, "Alright, I will talk! Just no more sad filly please! I can't stand seeing fillies cry!" You look at her in confusion before thinking, Huh...interesting. ... Really? No comment on that? ... *sigh* Fine fine, whatever With that onesided conversation out of the way you ask her, "Now tell me everything you know about Kersey." She nods her head before saying, Kersey's Comment BrownDog's Comment "I'm just a messenger, all I'm supposed to do is pick up and drop off anything that's given to me. And before you ask, no I don't know what I deliver, or where most of the time. The guys is freaking paranoid, and genre-savvy, so he only gives me the bare bones information in order to complete my tasks." "Look, we can't judge you any further, just give us the address." "I do know it, but even then, it wouldn't do you any good. This guy is paranoid to the extreme. His door is booby trapped, he's always talking about "secret passwords" and he’s got all kinds of experimental dohickeys there.” “Experimental Doohickeys?” you ask. “Yeah, he’s big into purchasing or stealing scientific stuff. I’m not supposed to be nosey, but some of this stuff is downright dangerous to anyling that would use them.” “Well hopefully it won’t come to that, anything else about the guy?” you reply. "Yeah, he's a gluttonous, movie-obsessed, control freak that hates all sentient life forms," she says rather quickly. "Yeesh, sounds like you were holding that one in," you say. "Well he is! The only reason I worked for him was because the pay was good. Event then, it didn't feel worth it sometimes, right now being a case in point. I mean, he says he's genre savvy and keeps sending out messengers to do his work, but unless it's food, movies, or money, he won't leave his little booby trapped apartment." "Yeesh, sounds like a major nutjob," Aqua deadpans. "Oh, and also, I don't know if this helps, but he's been doing some really shady stuff recently. More so than usual." "Really? Like what?" "He's been transferring a lot of bits, and shutting down a bunch of accounts all over the city's banks. The weird thing is, these accounts are the funds that are normally for his Crimson Knight buddies." "He's stealing money from his own crew?" you say aloud. "I don't know. Noling knows what his endgame is. All I know is he's got that money in one location, and no one know where that is aside from himself. I do know his bank personal information, just not the bank itself." "You have his info?" "Who the heck do you think was closing his accounts? As I said, he'd give me only some of the info, not all of it. Having a key isn't so good when you don't know where the door is." "Hmm, good point, so would you be willing to write down this info?" "Ummm..." she starts before Nightshade gets in her face with a pout. "Yes, yes, yeesh!" After getting this information, you ask her, "So, is there really nothing else?" "Alright then, thanks for the info," you say. You then use the last of the Luna charges for the day to knock her out and put her back into the Prison Bags. You then look to Aqua and say, "OK, now we know that this guy is paranoid with his hoof on the trigger," you say. "Yeah, I'd rather not fight him on his turf. I say we should draw him out somehow." "Exactly. But how? Should we line up a bunch of free pizzas and lead him to a trap?" "I don't think so, as paranoid as this guy is, I'd say he would only leave for an emergency. And after that little stunt you pulled tonight, people might be a little more suspicious looking for Knights." You chuckle and rub the back of your neck. "But there might be another way..." she says as she pulls out a map of Vanhoover and puts it on the desk. "What, what is it?" "If we can find that bank the messenger was talking about, we can drain his funds and draw him out," she explains. "That could work, except that we don't know which bank to go to. There's like a zillion banks in a big city like this." "I can narrow it down. He's more than likely using a Swish Bank." "A Swish Bank account?" you ask. "Yes. These Knights hit the stock market remember? Well Swish Bank Accounts aren't connected. He'd want the money in a safe spot." "Oh yeah, you're right. So how many Swish Banks are there?" "In Vanhoover? About 20," she answers. "Yeesh..." you mumble. "But I think I know which one," she says with a smirk and points to a spot on the map. You see the different locations around the bank she's pointing at, and you see that there are a lot of fast food joints, a movie theaters, and apartment buildings in relatively close proximity. "Oh wow, everything this guy likes in one convenient location," you say with a smile. "It's our best shot, otherwise we'll have to risk a building blowing up if we try to enter his home." "Yeah, I'd rather not deal with bombs again any time soon," you say lowly. "Anyway, let's get to it then." "Get to what?" Aqua asks. "Get to the bank?" "It's Friday Night, the Bank won't be open till Monday," she points out. "Oh...good point. I guess let's just lay low till then," you say as you start moving all your interrogation pieces around. "What the heck are we going to do in Vanhoover for two days?" asks Nightshade. "Watch TV?" you say. Aqua and Nightshade just shrug as they have no better ideas. Elsewhere During The Two Day Wait Prince Blueblood, sporting a black eye and a missing tooth, is talking to a scowling unicorn guard. “And that brute hit me into a speaker and I missed the whole show! I never got an autograph!” “That stinks boss, but you’re sure it was him?” “I’ll never forget those eyes. I’m positive,” he says rubbing his injured body. “Did you bring it?” “Of course I did, the minute I received your letter I jumped at the chance to take that flankhole down. I lost a lot of favor after he and those mutts ruined everything. Knowing I have to work with that worthless Sentry is even worse.” “Well there was nothing I could do on that part, though I tried. Armor has his favorites.” “Yeah I know. But still, if the Offender is still around, it’ll be ready. I mean, right now it’s only bare bones, nowhere near finished, but it should still work. The tech guys don’t know I took it though.” “That shouldn’t be a problem Strong, and from what Sapphire Shores has been singing about, he’s out looking for his little cultist friends in the city.” “Hmmph, sounds like fun,” the Unicorn smirks. Also Elsewhere During The Two Days The Brown Dog and Snap Drake sit in a wagon on the side of a road while a stallion and mare have a table set up selling products. Both of the knight’s eyes are kind of red. “Dude, where in the heck are we?” asks the Diamond Dog. “I don’t know. After the last check bounced, and after the last bar that threw us out, I think we met some mares?” replies Snap. “Did we?” The Brown Dog asks as he looks around the wagon interior. There are a bunch of tye dye wearing ponies with dreads and beads sitting around giggling. Some of them are actually pretty cute mares. Two are currently sleeping on with their heads on the Knights' chests. “Whoah, I don’t remember any of that…my head feels funny…” the Diamond Dog says. “I know right? It think it’s the brownies they keep giving us…but I can’t stop eating them, I’m too hungry,” Snap says dazed. “Oy…ponies. Where are we?” “Where is anypony man? The world just kind of flows beneath our feet…” one of the mares says. “Whoah…I never thought of it like that,” he responds. “Hey, what’s this?” asks Snap as he pulls out a piece of paper. “You wrote that a few days ago man, you keep forgetting to mail it,” replies a mare in bell bottom jeans. “A few days…I don’t even remember them,” Snap says as he looks at the paper again. The note says, Dear Chump Lord, Brown Dog and I are out of money again because of bounced check. Kind of need it for stuff. Last job was supposed to give us bonus, but it didn’t you lying buck. Currently in traveling band of hippies. Wire money through them at Goops and Stuff Inc. K Thanks Bye, SD P.S. Lose some weight fatty “Huh…guess that can only mean Kersey,” Snap says as he looks out the wagon. “Hey, can somepony take this to a mail box please?” “Well you’re in luck Snap, one of the customers in line is a pegasus from Pony Express," says a the crazy haired red eyed stallion. “Heh, awesome. Any more brownies?” “Oh my gosh! My paws are so soft…” Brown Dog warbles. “Heck yeah they are,” says two of the mares. “Heh heh heh…like marshmallows...” BACK WITH YOU 2 DAYS LATER You and Aqua sit inside on a the bank's bench waiting your turn. Aqua turns to you to talk. "So, you still have that Changeling in your bag right?" "Uh-huh. Keeping her knocked out," you respond. "Why haven't we turned her in yet?" "Because if we turn in a changeling Crimson Knight now, we'll be letting the cops know our plan, and then they'll follow us and try to take Kersey down before we can. And if that happens, no money," you respond. "Oh...makes sense. Still, kind of seems messed up keeping her drugged constantly." "Meh, it's probably better than whatever the princesses do with all the changeling prisoners they have," you mutter. Fireheart 1945'a Comment Elsewhere Today Kersey reads an opinion piece in the local paper. Where Are the Changelings, and Should They Have Trials? The article is all about how Changeling sightings have been seen randomly all over the kingdom, but not in large quantities. The article also calls into question remarks made by Twilight Sparkle. After defeating the Queen and her Horde a second time last year, The Elements of Harmony in collusion with the Princesses have imprisoned them all in some unknown location. When asked about the conditions Twilight said, While it's true there have been outcries to their imprisonment, and even a few failed revolts, I believe the conditions they are in are of their own making. After two near successful invasions on Canterlot and Ponyville, they are deemed dangerous, and no trials are planned at this time. The article then shows the Princesses' support for this statement, but have claimed that conditions have been taken to make sure their incarceration is not torturous. The opinion piece goes on asking whether this decision is unfair or not. "Eh, Buck Em All! Changelings are mouth breathers just like the rest of the world! All too stupid to live, just like my "Fellow Generals." Also that stupid Sapphire Shores hack, making a media stunt with a fake Offender and making the Royal Guard watch my city! Her music sucks! Luckily, I'm far superior to any living thing. I was smart enough to keep my money safe," he smirks to himself. BACK WITH YOU You and Aqua walk out of the bank with three brand new debit cards, all linked into Kersey's account. "Wow, I know my kind is good at it, but I thought Identity Theft would be a lot harder than that," you say. "I know, the bank runners are either incredibly stupid, or they just don't care," Aqua says. "Yeah, I didn't think I'd get the super-duper-secret code word right on the first guess. I mean 'Royale with Cheese'? He couldn't even come up with a less famous movie-food quote?" you comment as you take Nightshade out of the Inventory. "Here you go honey." You say as you hoof her the debit card. "What's this?" she asks as she examines the laminated card. "That, is a platinum, no-limits debit card directly tied into Kersey's rather huge accounts." 2 "Platinum Debit Cards (tied to a vast Crimson Knight account)" added to Inventory "Wow thanks daddy. What are we going to do with these?" You smirk as you look up. "We're going to spend a terrorist out of his hole." You hold up the credit card as it glistens in the sun. "YAY!!!" Nightshade cheers. "Spending Spree GO!" Nightshade and Aqua nod and are about to head out when you remember something from that episode of White Band that inspired this spending spree idea. "Wait!" you say causing the two to pause. "There are some ground rules for this plan we should probably go over." you say, "Number 1; We set up the accounts so Kersey can still see what's going on with his money, but will be utterly helpless to do anything about it so we need our purchases to be extravagantly huge to show this guy we're not just some two-bit thieves. We can and will drain every last bit unless he comes out himself, in pony, to the bank to change it." "Oh, I think I can do extravagantly huge..." Aqua smirks. "Number 2; The Royal Guard is probably going to want those account Bits as evidence against Kersey and the Crimson Knights so we'll most likely have to return everything we bought during this spending spree when this is all over." Aqua and Nightshade groan begrudgingly at this. "And Number 3; Kersey and the main account are both still in Vanhoover so we can't leave this city. Everypony got that?" Aqua and Nightshade nod an affirmative. "Okay, ahem- SPENDING SPREE GO!!!" What do you do? Outro: