//------------------------------// // Let's go take the stage // Story: Force, Torque and Fulcrum // by Zap Apple Smash //------------------------------// If Heavy was to hazard a guess, he would say the workshop that he had been left in was the one the theatre used for designing its big props. There wasn’t really anything of interest aside from some rigging and raw material. Though considering that most of the sets and props were ready to be set for the show it wasn’t too surprising. The boat prop that Heavy had been “hired” to fix was modelled after classical style frigate but at a fraction of the size. It lacked sails and only represented the forward third of the vessel with exaggerated decoration but had enough of the other details that you could tell that was the look it was going for. The paint and detail on it wasn’t great but it was passable considering that audience would only see it from a distance. There were tiny wheels on the flat bottom to make it easier for the stage crew to move. As expected the structure was also hollow on the inside in order for it to be lighter and easier to maneuver. It also made things easier for Heavy’s intended purpose. Opening it to get to the inner workings was simple enough but he made certain not to dawdle as he fitted his additions to the structure. Heavy hammered the last panel back on the boat prop just as one of the security guards turned up to check on him. “You done yet?” “Yep,” Heavy replied. “Just let me clean up my tools then I’ll get out of your mane.” The guard briefly inspected the boat then nodded gruffly, failing to notice the sharp piece of metal now sticking out of the bowsprit. Notary stole a glance at her former associate and took in a deep breath. She tried to bolt but was promptly stopped by Load Bearing’s magic. Keeping his hold on the mare, he dragged her to a quiet space backstage. “Bear, please, I can explain-” Notary started. “You can explain it to the boss.” Load Bearing replied, walking down the hall with the floating mare in tow. “It’s nothing personal.” “I know that. When did you leave Canterlot?” Notary asked “Shortly after you did.” He replied. “Mom’s getting on in years so I wanted to be closer to her.” “Fair enough, please send her my regards.” “I know what you’re doing.” Load Bearing stated. “You’re trying to play to my sentimentality so that I’ll let you go. Don’t insult both of our intelligence by trying to con me. Like I said, it’s nothing personal. Both you and the old boss were good to me and I was sorry to leave but I’ve got a new boss now.” “And of course you will stand by him, you don’t have a disloyal bone in your body,” Notary replied. “That’s why we hired you. But Stone Wall doesn’t deserve your loyalty.” Load Bearing stopped walking through the backstage and raised an eyebrow. “Really? Righteous indignation? Never thought I would see you play that card.” “Your boss is trying to overthrow the Royal Guard.” “What are you talking about?” Load Bearing asked in a doubting tone. “Do you know what Stone Wall was doing in Ponyville?” Notary demanded. “How do you know he was in Ponyville?” “Because the cartwright he is blackmailing came to me for help.” “Blackmail? He was offering him a job, the company is expanding and there was a need for an in-house cartwright.” Despite the situation Notary raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really? A company based in one of the largest cities in Equestria had to go all the way to a backwater town near Canterlot just to find a suitable candidate. And why exactly is the CEO doing the hiring instead of getting someone from middle management to do it?” “Okay so maybe that’s a little shady.” Load Bearing conceded. “But the old boss in Canterlot didn’t always play things squeaky clean either.” “You’re right he didn’t, in fact some of the things he did was downright criminal. But everything he did was with the goal of creating a better Equestria. Yes, he crossed a few lines he probably shouldn't have but he still had noble intentions. Your new employer claims to want a safer Equestria but all he wants is power and profit. He’s planning to stage an attempted kidnapping to discredit the Royal Guard. He wants to be the one in charge of protecting Equestria and he’s willing work with criminals as well as ruin lives in order to do it. And if he succeeds, would you honestly want to put the nation's safety squarely in his hooves? ” “Not to sound petty but both you and the boss thrived on lies and manipulation, so it makes it pretty hard to take what you say at face value.” “Yes, we lied and manipulated ponies.” Notary agreed. “But we never lied to you. And you wouldn’t be standing here listening to me if you didn’t already have a feeling that Stone Wall was up to something.” Load Bearing was silent for a moment before responding. “So do you have any proof to back up your claims or do you just expect me to take your word for it?” He waited for a response but none came. “That’s what I thought.” As Load Bearing led Stone Wall to the storage room, he brought the pegasus up to speed. "...she says that she was working for that stallion you visited in Ponyville but that's about all the information I was able to get from her." "We'll keep her quiet till after the show, then we will get some answers out of her." They opened the door to the storage room. Inside Notary was sitting in a corner with one of the larger security guards glaring down at her. Stone Wall closed the distance as he took time to size up the mare. "Do you have any idea who you decided to mess with?" Notary looked at him with a mask of bored indifference. "Do you have any idea how little I care?" Stone Wall snarled at her before turning back to Load Bearing. "Round up the rest of her crew." Big Mac was in the dressing room doing last minute preparations. He was dressed up like an old time sea captain. A gaudy, stuffed shirt sea captain that was really lucky to be part of a navy that didn’t have a weight restriction. Between the ruffles, sashes and the fake medals he looked downright ridiculous. Still, he was playing the serious operatic singer so he was committed to the role. He gargled some seltzer water before spitting it into a nearby glass and doing his vocal exercises. “Aaaaah...in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General!” Satisfied with that and seeing the time, he went to the costume chest to get one last thing. Shortly afterwards Big Mac stepped out of his dressing room, a dramatically plumed hat now completing his look. As he was heading to the meeting point his path was blocked by a couple of security guards. "Excuse me," he said as he tried step past them. The guards instead moved to block his path again. “Hey, not so fast fatso. You need to come with us, your performance has been cancelled." Realising what was going on, Big Mac instead responded with a swift hoof to the jaw. He then raised his guard to block an incoming punch and then knocked out the second stallion with a head butt. “Y’all really shouldn’t insult a pony’s size.” He chided the two fallen stallions. He then mentally cursed when a previously unseen pony jumped onto his back and tried to put him in a chokehold. Acting quickly, Big Mac jumped back first into a nearby wall. The guard on his back let out a short wheeze and the wind was knocked out of him, causing the chokehold to weaken. Big Mac’s actions were then stopped by a bolt flying through the air and hitting him in the chest. He looked down and saw the bolt sticking out of his barrel. Several more soon joined it. He shakily looked up and saw Trigger Happy standing nearby with her repeating crossbow pointed at him. He tried to lean forward to get back on four hooves. Instead he toppled over and fell on his side. Trigger Happy closed the distance and only lowered her weapon once she was sure he had stopped moving. “Is he dead?” A guard asked. Trigger Happy placed her hoof in front of the downed stallion’s muzzle to feel for a breath. “No but I just hit him with enough sleep potion laced bolts that so long as he doesn’t overdose he’ll be out for the next 12 hours.” She said in a tone so nonchalant that she might have been commenting on a passing flight of birds before she noticed guards standing there staring. “Are you going to go find the rest of his crew or do I have to do that too?” From her vantage point on the catwalk, Cheerilee saw Big Mac been taken down. As much as she would have liked to run to his aid, she knew it would do no good, she had to get out of here. She started to make her move towards one of the exit points she had scouted out, stopping when she saw some of the security detail waiting for her on that end of the cat walk. Her attempts to backtrack were thwarted by guards closing in on the other end as well. "Easy now," the front guard said cautiously. "No one needs to get hurt." The school teacher did what she thought was the most logical course of action, jumping over the railing. Luckily she had had time to hook a rope, leaving the guards dumbfounded as she rappelled down. When her hooves touched the ground she unhooked herself and tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately her escape efforts were stopped when she was magically pinned against a wall. Despite not being able to move her head she saw Bear in the corner of her eye, horn glowing and a stern look upon his face. Cheerilee was forced into a storage room where Notary was being held. "Keep an eye on them," Bear ordered the guard. "The boss will have questions for them after the show’s over." He then left the two mares with the guard glaring down at them. "Not gonna lie," Cheerilee muttered to Notary. "Your former work colleague is kinda a jerk." "So is that everyone?" Stone Wall demanded. "That repair pony they had hired finished up and left before we could get to him." Load Bearing replied. "We've checked his work and the platform seems solid. Aside from that we got everyone else." "Good, I want them detained until after the show then we'll deal with them." He then paused when realisation hit and let out a low growl. "Sir?" Load Bearing asked curiously. "Get me some guards, we still have one more rat to catch.” There was buzz of activity at the steps to the main entrance of the theatre. Many finely dressed ponies had arrived for the pre-show party. Ponies chatting with each other filed into the theatre, pausing briefly to show the security guards their invite before being let in. Filthy, once more donning his Subtle Service disguise, was doing his best to blend into the crowd which unfortunately placed him behind a couple incredibly well-dressed but snobbish-looking mares. “Have you had a look at the lineup for this show?” The one mare asked the other. “What a positively garish assortment.” “Too true,” the other mare responded. “Though at least they had the good sense to open with Booming Baritone.” “Indeed. Perhaps there is hope of entertainment tonight.” “More than you realise,” Subtle muttered. As he made it to the entrance, he suddenly found his path being blocked by Stone Wall and a few of his security staff. “Oh hello Mr. Wall.” He said cheerfully. “Nice of you to come greet me.” “You know a funny thing happened today.” Stone Wall said. “The singer that arrived at the last minute to replace Booming Baritone ended up being a fraud. This raises an interesting question.” “Like who exactly is going to open now?” “Like if the singer was a fake, how exactly could you have seen him opening for Booming Baritone in Hoofington?” “Well obviously it means I mistook him for somepony else,” Subtle said dismissively. “Or you could have been in on it and only been pretending to be working on behalf of some wealthy clients.” “That’s an awfully drastic assumption to make.” “When we first met you asked if I was a betting stallion. Well you know what, let’s take a gamble.” Stone Wall turned to his security detail. “Take him round the corner and teach him a lesson.” Subtle was flanked at both sides by security. Subtle meanwhile maintained a seemingly relaxed attitude. “Well since I no longer have to keep up appearances let it be known I never liked you,” Subtle stated. “I would call you a classless sack of garbage but that would be an insult to garbage since at some point it had probably been something worthwhile.” Stone Wall grit his teeth, but knowing that he could not afford to make a scene, he simply let the security detail drag Subtle Service off. The pre-show party was now in full swing. Despite the tension caused by earlier events, Stone Wall was still doing his best to schmooze his high-profile guests. "Princess, it so wonderful that you could grace my theatre tonight." "The pleasure is mine." Princess Mi Amore Cadenza replied. "It is nice to take a break from diplomatic work and enjoy a show on Bridleway." "In that case, we will do our best not to disappoint." He saw Load Bearing approach. "If you would excuse me." "I spoke to the stage manager." Load Bearing explained once the two were out of earshot from the Princess. "Despite the mix-up with the schedule, we can still start the show at the same time, it will just mean a longer intermission." "Fine, fine," the pegasus said dismissively. "just make sure that those four scoundrels we caught are secure, we can't afford to have anything else go wrong tonight." "Excuse me sir.” Stone Wall turned to see the theatre manager standing there holding a note. "I have a message for you." "Give it to me after the show." Stone Wall snapped. "I would sir, but the stallion who gave it to me was insistent that I deliver this as soon as possible," The manager explained. "He said his name was Heavy Roller." That got Stone Wall's attention. He snatched the note from the manager and read it. I know about your deal with the Cannoli Family. Meet me in the loft of the theatre. Stone Wall crumpled up the note and pocketed it before turning to Load Bearing. “Come with me, there’s one more pest to deal with.” The loft was a room located near the top of the theatre, filling the space between the outer eves and the inner acoustically domed ceiling. Though it was used mainly for storage, it had an opening for pegasi to reach the ceiling lights without disturbing the audience below. It also offered a good view of the stage. Stone Wall wasn’t sure how Heavy Roller had found out about this place but frankly, it was low on the list of stuff that cartwright shouldn’t know about. “Is there any way out of the loft aside from this door?” “Not unless he has wings.” Load Bearing answered. “Good, now this stallion may make some outlandish claim but before you start buying into anything he says just remember that I am the one signing your cheques.” “I haven’t forgotten sir.” “Good.” He stepped into the loft. After a brief scan of his surroundings he saw Heavy Roller standing on the balcony. “So you actually came personally,” Heavy said with a smirk. “Perhaps you’re not completely gutless.” Stone Wall stepped onto the small balcony. “You know, with the amount of grief you and your friends have caused me, I’m sorely tempted to push you off this ledge.” “You’re not going to do that,” the cartwright replied in a dry tone. “The sight of my smushed body would create panic, somepony would call the guard and then that would spell the end of that little attempted kidnapping you have planned for after the show.” Heavy felt a brief sense of satisfaction when he saw the look of indignation of the pegasus’ face. “Though I have to be honest, what exactly is your end goal in all this? So you discredit the royal guard and then your company takes over the duty of protecting Equestria. Yes, it will increase your market share but is a potential profit really worth all this effort?" "Profit?" Stone Wall asked mockingly. "This is about power, authority. You know why this country follows the Princess?" "Because she is a benign immortal with the power to shift the sun and the moon?" "Because Equestria's military follows her blindly." "No I'm pretty sure it's the benign immortal thing." "The military is what holds the real power," Stone Wall insisted. "This nation is filled with brain-dead pack animals. They will follow anyone they think will keep them safe so that they can concentrate on their trivial purposes. The Princess will still be the head of Equestria but I will be the neck, turning the head any way I want." "So that's your end game, you want to become the neck of Equestria?" Heavy shrugged. "Well I can think of worse aspirations. You could want to be the spleen of Equestria. Though if your goal had been to become the colon of Equestria I'd say you already are." Stone Wall glared at Heavy who simply grinned back. "As fun as this banter is, I have a busy evening ahead and while I probably should ask you what you and your conspirators were hoping to achieve, I frankly don't care." "'Hope to...'? What makes you think we haven't already achieved it?" "Oh please. If you had any evidence you would have taken it to the authorities." "True, we don't have any evidence. Well, at least nothing that could be considered a credible source." Heavy admitted. "So we had to improvise." "Well that really hasn't worked out too well for you. We have your team, all four of them." That seemed to genuinely surprise Heavy roller. "That's...unfortunate." "I imagine it is seeing as now your plan has gone up in smoke." "No, the plan is still going ahead, I had just hoped they would get clear. Still, it's too late to stop it now." "Too late? Maybe you didn't hear me, I have your team. You know what, I'm genuinely curious now, what's the plan? You steal my opening act and have your guy impersonate his replacement whilst another guy infiltrates the pre-show party, and then what? Were you going to try to thwart the kidnapping attempt? Try to warn the Princess?" "Nope, the plan had been to make sure that your night was over well before the kidnapping could take place." "What do you..." "Shh...the show's starting." Heavy shushed, looking down at the stage. Sure enough, the lights were dimming and the theatre quieted. Stone Wall looked down. Even in the dimmed theatre he could see everything from up in the loft. The rows of ponies on the ground and viewing boxes for the wealthier customers. The “Royal” box where the Princess was within spitting distance right below them. A spotlight lit up onto the stage, revealing the host of the show, a gangly blue unicorn. “Welcome one and all to the Royal HMS Amore Variety Show,” He said to the audience. “Opening tonight's show is the amazingly talented Booming Baritone." There was loud applause when sure enough the curtain lifted and Booming rolled out on the boat prop. "You see, the goal hadn't been to replace Booming," Heavy explained. "We just needed to a way to gain access to the boat prop." "The boat prop? What's so important about the boat prop?" "The key to successful smuggling, don't focus on what something is, focus on what it could be. Tell me, do you know where your demonstration ballista is at the moment?" "Of course it's at the..." Stone Wall stopped when he saw the look Heavy was giving him. Instead he went to a communication tube in a nearby wall. "Communications. This is Stone Wall, telegraph Armory at the Playground. Have him confirm that the ballista is still there." "Right away sir." a voice on the other end replied. Stone Wall waited patiently. Shortly a response came through. "Sir? Armory says that the ballista was moved off site as per the request they received." "Impossible! Who authorised it?" "They said you did. The pony who picked it up had an authorisation form with your signature on it." "I didn't sign any..." Stone Wall paused. Notary took the form Stone Wall signed authorising the repair and evaluation of the boat prop. She placed an authorisation form and lay it over top. She then used the mimic ink on the authorisation form, causing the Stone Wall's signature to appear on the authorisation form. She then gave the "signed" form to Cheerilee. "Have fun." Cheerilee and Heavy were in jumpsuits, leaning against a wagon while some ponies were loading in the ballista. "You know if you guys had bothered to give me a little warning we would have had it already prepped for transport," Armory grumbled as he signed the clipboard. "Yeah, sorry ‘bout that but we just pick things up and drop ‘em off," Cheerilee replied as she took back the clipboard. "Take care now." Stone Wall walked back to Heavy. "Where is my ballista?" He growled. Heavy smirked and tilted his head towards the stage. Stone Wall looked down and then finally noticed the bowsprit sticking out of the front of the boat prop now boasted a gleaming spear head. "You know I want to give major kudos to your engineers. The disassembly and reassembly was a piece of cake," Heavy said. "I didn't even need to overly modify it to make it fit inside the frame of the boat. I had to make a longer spear so that it still made a convincing bowsprit. Hopefully at this distance the increased length won't affect its flight too greatly." "Flight?" It took a moment for Stone Wall to notice that the bowsprit was pointed directly at box where Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was sitting. "No, you wouldn't." "I would." Heavy said evilly. "I fitted the boat with a pressure plate. Booming has been told to step on the plate as he ends his song. He thinks it will cause a flag to spring up but actually it will release the bolt. But don't worry, she's an alicorn, I'm sure she'll be able to stop it in time. At least I hope she does." “Impossible.” Stone Wall insisted. “My guards checked the prop.” “As I expected them to,” Heavy replied. “but do any of your rent-a-thugs have an engineering background?” Stone Wall paused and turned to Load Bearing who shrugged. “Trigger Happy was too busying dealing with the intruders, she didn’t have a chance to check out the boat prop.” “You’re bluffing,” Stone Wall stated. “Even if you were that good, all this will achieve is, at best, getting you arrested for attempted regicide.” “You tried to blackmail me into working for you, you know exactly how good I am,” Heavy replied, anger burning deep in his throat. “And do you honestly think that investigations will end with just some random smuggler turned cartwright from Ponyville? Ask yourself, who owns this theatre? Who personally invited the Princess? Who insisted that theatre security be handled by his own company? Who owns the ballista?” He looked at the business stallion with a mad gleam in his eye. “There was nothing I could do to stop you ruining my life but at least this way I’m taking you down with me.” Stone Wall was speechless for a long, horrified moment. Long enough to hear that the song was nearing the climax. “Keep your eye on the finale,” Heavy said with a wink. “I hear it’s going to knock ‘em dead.” The pegasus looked down and saw the singer priming his hoof to step forward. "Stooopp!" Stone Wall shrieked in panic as he jumped off the balcony and flew down to the stage. Booming Baritone was hitting his final long note, unaware of the incoming pegasus until he was punched in the face by Stone Wall. The singer fell off the boat prop to the ground in a daze. The audience gasped in stunned surprise. Stone Wall ignored them as he frantically jumped off the side of the prop and began desperately shoving it aside, pointing it AWAY from the royal box. "What is the meaning of this!!!” Stone Wall looked up and saw he was surrounded by royal guards. Behind them a pink alicorn glared imperiously down at him. "Stone Wall?" She said in dismay when she recognised him. "I hope there is some explanation for this?" "Princess? Thank goodness!" He said as he tried to regain composure. "I had just uncovered an attempt on your life! I had to act before the ballista was fired." "Ballista?" "Yes, that prop is secretly a ballista. If Booming had been allowed to finish his song he would have unwittingly fired it straight at you." The Princess glanced at the boat. She then gestured at a couple of her guard who proceeded to inspect it. "No ballista here." A guard finally stated. "It's completely hollow." "Of course there's a ballista!" Stone Wall shrieked, he shoved the guard out of the way and pulled on the spear head at the end of the bowsprit. "The bolt is right here--" He fell backwards as metal spear head came off the wooden bowsprit easily. The Princess glanced down at the loose spear head. "If this is your idea of joke, know that I am not amused." Stone Wall looked down at the spear. “They set me up.” He muttered. The Princess raised an eyebrow. “You were set up? I’m pretty sure nopony forced you to assault Booming Baritone.” “No your highness, it’s true. Come with me. I’ll take you to the ponies responsible!” Stone Wall started running backstage. The Princess and the guards were perplexed but they still followed behind the raving pegasus, leaving a very confused audience behind. Stone Wall raced to the storage room where Heavy’s team were being held. He flung the door open and found it to be empty. “What the…” He spotted Trigger Happy nearby. “You there! Where are they?” Trigger Happy tilted her head slightly. “Where are who?” “The ponies we were keeping here for questioning.” “We weren’t keeping any ponies for questioning.” “You shot one of them with your crossbow!” “I would never carry a loaded crossbow with so many civilians about.” Trigger Happy answered looking agast. “That would be greatly irresponsible and could break several laws regarding weapon use.” Stone Wall grabbed the unicorn and started shaking her. “Don’t you lie to me!” “ENOUGH!!!” Stone Wall released his grip on Trigger Happy as the enraged Princess commanded his full attention. “I have been beyond patient but I will not let you harm another pony.” Despite this, Stone Wall suddenly exclaimed, “The loft!” and started running again. “Have a stun spell ready,” The Princess said to one of the guards. “He may be having an episode.” “Understood, highness.” Stone Wall arrived back at the loft and saw both Load Bearing and Heavy Roller were standing there. “Yes!” he exclaimed in triumph, turning to the Princess as she arrived. “I give you the stallion responsible.” “Isn’t he a part of your staff?” She asked. “Not him!” Stone Wall exclaimed. “The other one.” A few of the guards filed in and one noticed the cartwright. “Oh hey, Heavy Roller.” The guard exclaimed. “How’s things?” “Not bad Stratus,” Heavy replied. “You know this pony?” The Princess asked. “Sure do,” Stratus replied. “His wife served in the Guard. She was one of the finest ponies I had the pleasure to fly with.” The Princess turned back to Stone Wall. “So you’re saying that the husband of a former Royal Guard made you punch your own opening act.” “Argh!!” Stone Wall groaned in frustration before turning to Load Bearing. “Explain to them what’s going on.” “Certainly.” Load Bearing turned the Princess. “Your highness, Stone Wall intended to try to kidnap you after the show as part of a long term plan to discredit the Royal Guard.” “What?” “Less than a week ago, Stone Wall went to Ponyville to coerce Mr Roller into working for him. He threatened to release falsified documents regarding Mr Roller’s wife if he failed to comply.” Load Bearing explained. “Unable to stand by this, I convinced Mr Roller to come to Manehatten to help collaborate this story while I launched an investigation to find further proof of wrongdoing. My investigation lead me to financial records detailing payments between him and the shell company of a known criminal element as well as letters of communication between him and said element. It was only today I was able to discern his full intent. He was going to discreetly drug your guards with a slow acting sedative and then you would be ambushed after the show, only for his employees to come to your ‘rescue’.” “Do you have any proof?” The Princess asked. “Here’s what I have so far.” Load Bearing produced a thick manilla file. “I was going to approach you during the show to warn you but then Stone Wall had his little episode.” The Princess took file and skimmed through it. She then looked at an increasingly stupefied Stone Wall. “This is pretty damning evidence.” “It’s all lies!” Stone Wall snapped. “You can’t arrest me with such flimsy evidence.” “Maybe, maybe not, this evidence needs to be formally reviewed before you could be charged. In any case as I am just a foreign dignitary here in Equestria I can’t charge you with anything. ” The Princess admitted. “However, I can recommend that you be arrested for assault and disorderly conduct while a formal investigation be launched.” Before Stone Wall could respond, his legs and wings were magically restrained. “Stone Wall, you are under arrest.” Stratus stated. As the guards started to drag Stone Wall away, realisation dawned on him. He had been played. “So do you have any proof to back up your claims or do you expect me to take your word for it?” Load Bearing waited for a response but none came. “That’s what I thought.” He paused for a moment, then snorted. “You wouldn't let me catch you like this if you didn't think you had a compelling argument, so let's see it.” Notary let out a whistle. Cheerilee ziplined down from the catwalk, holding a bag. She opened pulled out a file and gave it to Load Bearing who meanwhile looked at the newcomer with a bemused expression. "What would have happened if I wasn't willing to listen?" "There are a lot of sand bags up there." Load Bearing read through the file very quickly, his expression darkening the more he read. Finally he closed it and gave it back to Notary. "You had better not be lying to me." "I never would." "Alright, I'm in. What do you need?" "So you want me to help you take down the guy that signs both of our paychecks?" Trigger Happy asked. "Pretty much." Load Bearing replied. "Alright but you've got to give me my bolts back." Heavy stuck the metal spear head onto the bowsprit. “Well, that’s done but since I’m here I’d better make sure this thing can actually support Booming’s weight.” He removed the side panels from the boat prop and check its support frame. “Up to standard my eye.” He grumbled as he saw the shoddy work. “Did they think Booming was going to float a few inches above the prop instead of standing on it?” Luckily he had enough time to reinforce the frame before a guard came to check on him. Big Mac opened the costume chest that had been delivered. He removed the false bottom to reveal Booming Baritone who was still unconscious. Carefully Big Mac lay the singer on the chair. After checking the time he gently shook the singer. "Mr Baritone. It's almost time for make up." "Wa...what?" Booming said groggily as he woke up. "Where am I?" "You're at the Wall Flower theatre. You have a show here tonight." Big Mac explained. "You were exhausted from the trip so you decided to take a nap and asked me to wake you." "Of...of course." Booming replied. "Thank you." "Don't mention it," Big Mac responded as he made his way to the door. He paused when he saw a big hat nearby. He then shrugged and put the hat on. Trigger Happy looked up from the downed red stallion at the guards who were staring at her. “Are you going to go find the rest of his crew or do I have to do that too?” The guards ran off. Once she was sure she was alone she turned her attention back to the downed stallion. "Hey big guy, you ok?" Big Mac opened his eyes. "Eeyup." Trigger Happy pulled out bolts and inspected the "wounds". Through the holes in the costume she could see that underneath the rolled up balls of paper to increase his bulk were stacked up layers of magazines that had stopped the bolts from penetrating his flesh. "Wow," Trigger Happy commented. "I can not believe that worked." "Then why the hay did you shoot me?!" He demanded. "How else was I going to find out for sure?" Filthy Rich was lead into the alley by two guards. They cornered him against a wall. Despite the situation, Filthy simply let out a bored sigh. "Could we get this over with?" He asked. "This alley smells horrid." One of the guards smirked. "Trust me, that's the least of your worries." "I wasn't talking to you." The guards had failed to noticed that Big Mac was standing behind them. He promptly knocked their heads together. Load Bearing left the two mares with the guard glaring down at them. "Not gonna lie," Cheerilee muttered to Notary. "Your former work colleague is kinda a jerk.” She glanced meaningfully at the lone guard. “I mean leaving one of his co-workers to get beat up, that’s cold." "It would have raised too much suspicion if he had left no-pony to watch us." Notary replied. "And this guy also calls unicorns 'pin-heads' behind their backs." "Fair enough, well I think they're gone by now. Time to go." Both Cheerilee and Notary stood up. "Hey!" The guard exclaimed. "Sit back down ladies!" The two mares both raised a mocking eyebrow. Two minutes later they were done hiding the unconscious guard under some tarps and so they left the room. As Stone Wall was escorted out of the building he saw Cheerilee, Filthy Rich and Notary standing there on the steps, watching the spectacle unfold. “It’s them!” He shouted as he struggled against the restraints. “They set me up!!” The guards continued to drag the ranting pegasus, not even bothering to look at who he was referring to. “Well,” Filthy commented. “That should do it.” “Definitely, a good lawyer could get evidence that was gathered illegally thrown out in a second. But have the evidence presented by Stone Wall’s second in command and time for the authorities to build a proper case while he is done for assault isn’t nearly so easy weasel out of,” Notary commented. “Though where's Big Mac? I thought he would want to be here to see this.” “Not his style,” Cheerilee answered. “Besides, he said he had something else to take care of.” Gelato Cannoli and his crew were in hiding out in a nearby alley. “Remember we attack the Princess and her detail but we bug out as soon as the other security guards jump in.” Gelato reminded. “Boss? You better take a look at this.” Gelato joined his look out at the edge of the alley, just in time to see Stone Wall being dragged off by the Royal Guard. Cursing under his breath he turned to his crew. “Mission’s off, we need to get out of here.” Knowing not to argue, the crew quickly packed up and started heading to their escape route out the back of the alley. They stopped when they saw said escape route was blocked by the biggest, reddest stallion they had ever seen.. “Howdy.”