Bingo, thought Quickstar. Invisible pony found. Not sure if he's the thief, and with a pony as friendly as he appeared, I'd rather not jump to conclusions quite yet. Still, that invisibility spell is a fascinating illusion! I'd love to learn more about it and how it works. Quickstar carefully gathered the flour around and underneath the pony's rear hoof as he approached the edge of the market, sliding it under just as he reached the road. A slight white puff, barely distinguishable from ordinary dust on the road, signaled his success. Now for a block or two at least, the barely off-color hoofprint would help ensure he was following the right set of tracks. Hmm...I wonder if he would be open to discussing it over lunch? After all, everyone loves a free lunch. I know a place here that serves incredible daisy sandwiches...
Quickstar had waited outside the alley, and there were enough ponies around that he felt confident speaking directly to the mysterious pony without worrying about getting mugged, but not enough ponies (he hoped) for this individual to feel threatened. After all, even if this pony wasn't a thief, only a pony who valued their privacy would bother developing such an invisibility spell. "I hope you realize how impressive that illusion was," Quickstar remarked casually as the pony left the alley. "Don't worry, I'm not going to try anything, but I do have something of a career interest in spellcasting, and that one you just demonstrated was fascinating. If you don't mind, I'd love to learn its inner workings, and I happen to know a lovely restaurant near here called La Marguerite Blanche. I'd love to discuss it with you over lunch, my treat." He smiled hopefully as he waited for a response.
"I'm not surprised," Quickstar chuckled. "As I said, that is a very impressive illusion, and if you like, I'd be happy to explain over a daisy sandwich how I tracked you all this way." He started to turn to lead this mystery pony to the restaurant, but paused. "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. Professor Quickstar, teacher of Creative Spell Applications at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." He stretched out a hoof towards the green pony whose name he still didn't know.
"Should I? I'm afraid most of my time in Canterlot is spent in scholastic pursuits or teaching students, so I don't keep up much on current events. Were you a guest lecturer at some point?" (I don't think Yclept's bio mentions anything about a reputation in Canterlot)
(It says he lived on the street in Canterlot for like 20 years, stealing) yclept laughs and says,"no, alright, just call me Yclept."
"A pleasure to meet you, Yclept. Now, how about we continue this discussion over lunch?" Quickstar led the way to the restaurant, pondering the details he had received during that short exchange. Even though the invisibility spell would imply he was a pony who preferred privacy and anonymity, he seemed surprised that Quickstar didn't recognize him. He didn't seem like an egotistical pony, so that most likely meant he had a reputation that wasn't attached to a name, or perhaps attached to a different name, and he didn't mind having such a reputation. In addition, he had apparently been using this spell for years, but hadn't been caught, implying that he didn't flout this reputation in public. One thing was certain: this pony was a mystery. And if there was one thing Quickstar couldn't resist, it was a mystery. (It doesn't say when he moved from Canterlot to Manehattan, and it certainly doesn't say anything about developing a reputation in either location as a thief)
Quickstar and Yclept arrived at La Marguerite Blanche, taking a seat at one of the outdoor tables that had a good view of the street. "So, would you like to go first, or shall I?" asked Quickstar as a waiter approached. "Oh, and if I might make a suggestion, the daisy sandwiches here are incredible." He gave the waiter his order; predictably, a daisy sandwich.
"Well, you first caught my notice when you were comforting that colt in Sugarcube Corner. I like to sit there and pony-watch sometimes to practice my observational skills, and your cloak caught my attention. It was there that I saw you turn invisible, and to put it lightly, my curiosity was piqued. I followed you to the marketplace using hoofprints and a couple educated guesses, where I came up with the real trick that beat you." At this, Quickstar levitated the bag of flour out of his saddlebag. "A wall of levitated particles sweeping the marketplace, allowing me to detect every collision and interference they encounter. After that, I just had to compare what the spell felt with what my eyes saw, and find the place they didn't match up." The food arrived about now, and Quickstar took a bite of his sandwich before continuing. "A rather elegant bit of spellwork, if I do say so myself, but my special talent is finding new and innovative ways to apply spells. What about you? That invisibility spell, I'm sure it must be related to your special talent too, but there has to be some trick to it." He leaned forward. "So tell me, what's the underlying principle? What's your approach?"
Yclept took a bite, said,"umm, I'm a sneaky, cunning sort of pony, for example.", then said, in quickstar's voice,"I'm great with impressions.", then use a spell to make it sound like quickstar said,"I can also launch 'my' voice."
Lace sat on a cloud watching the crowd below her, she still had yet to take her nap but now that its settle down she finally can.
Quickstar chuckled good-humoredly. "Quite a gift! Complex illusions and voicework? You may be a sneaky sort of pony, but I swear, your special talent might as well be acting and stagecraft! You seem born to perform in the theater." "But I digress; we're here to talk about that invisibility spell of yours. What is it, bended light? Surface projections? Spacial distortion?"
suddenly a white pony turned a corner screaming with his eyes closed. As he was running he opened his eyes, saw the group and while trying to turn, tripped, sending himself flying into yclept. He quickly stood up and jumped off repeatedly saying "sorry" (sorry i wasnt here at start >.<)
Yclept teleports back to his feet, & says,"it's fine.", then tells quickstar,"it's like I'm no longer in this world, so to speak, like I go to another place, that's linked with this one."
