The noon sun sat in the middle of the sky, cascading it's light down on the ponies of Vanhoover. The city was bustling, enough so that it muted the rushed sound of a building door swinging open, a breathless Grand Adventure galloping down the street. “Oh man, I can't believe I slept in!” he said to himself. “I've gotta haul flank!”
In less than ten minutes Grand had made his way to the building, stopping to adjust his mane and jacket, making sure he looked alright before walking in. Inside to greet him was Animal Empathy, her normally bored looking face giving an angry stare to the person on the other side of the phone she was speaking to. “That was our job, we have the poster!.....What? No, that isn't possible!....Because I'm staring at it right now.....fine, well you have a nice day.” she said, slamming the phone down on it's receiver. “In Tartarus!”
Grand stepped up to the desk, looking worried. “What's going on?”
Empathy showed him one of their two remaining posters, one for a missing blue jay, and tossed it in the shredder. “I called up the guy who had posted the job, and he told me that Hunter and Trapper's team had taken care of it, so I called them up.” she said, stepping around the counter. “Apparently they had caught the blue jay already, it was one of their posters for the rookie teams.”
“That's not possible.” Grand said, shaking his head. “Equestrian law says that you can't post a local job more than once, to help keep businesses moving.”
“Yeah, well it looks like he posted multiple jobs for the bird under aliases. So we're down another job.”
Grand sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hoof. “Alright, where's Steel? Let's get this job done so we can get some rest and hit the police board early tomorrow.”
“Steel went out to grab some coffees, he's probably on his way back.”
“Well then, let's go meet him halfway.”
Empathy nodded, and the two stepped outside, locking the door behind them.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Standing in the hallway of a dreary looking apartment building, the trio stepped up to the employer's door, knocking softly. A colt answered the door, keeping it locked as he peered through a small crack. “Yes? What do you want?”
Grand smiled, giving a small wave. “Hello, are you Mr. Torr?”
“Professor!” the colt corrected. “Professor Torr.”
“Right, sorry. Professor Torr, we're here about your missing pet, we wanted to ask you some questions.”
Professor Torr looked the group up and down before shutting the door and unlocking it to let them in. “Please do be quick about it.”
Looking around, the apartment looked very sterile. Every room was floored with white hospital tiles, furniture covered in plastic. The three took a seat across the couch in what appeared to be the living room. Grand looked around and his eye caught a blanket, doing it's best to conceal a cage in the corner. Professor Torr took his seat in a chair across from the couch. “Now, what would you like to know?”
“Well the first thing we need to know is the name of the dog, and any defining features.”
Torr nodded, shutting his eyes for a moment before replying. “The dog's name is Titan, he is a golden retriever with a dark red collar and a metal, rounded rectangular dog tag.”
“Alright, that's a start.” Grand nodded. “When you walked him, were there any particular places he liked to lead you?”
“No, he stayed on the sidewalk in the three block circle we take every day.”
“And how long has he been gone?”
“Two days, three hours, fifty five minutes since I last saw him.”
“Well, that should be enough to go on for now.” Grand said, hopping off the couch. “Thanks for your help Professor, we'll be sure to keep you informed.”
The three made their way to the door, followed by Torr, who saw them out. “I would like to request you don't bother me again unless you have my dog.”
Finishing that, he shut the door on the three, who made their way to the elevator.
“Grand,” Empathy spoke up in the elevator, “Didn't his responses seem kind of...scripted?”
Grand nodded, waiting for the doors. “I don't think he told us everything either. Let's just find the dog, we've got a three block area to search.”
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
The day became late as the sun painted the skyline of Vanhoover a bright orange. The trio of animal hunters came together on the street near their starting point, all looking tired. “You guys didn't find any sign of the dog?” Grand asked.
The two gave an upsetting nod to their friend. “Grand, I think we're going about this the wrong way.” Empathy suggested. “We all got that weird vibe from the client right? I think we should try to search outside the three block radius, between the third and sixth block.”
Grand thought for a moment. Not liking what the comment might imply, but finding no reason to disagree, he nodded. “Alright, let's get going.”
The three began to walk in the light of the setting sun. “I guess this whole working thing means we'll be pulling longer days more often.” Steel groaned. “I have enough trouble getting up in the morning.”
“You'll get used to it.” Grand assured, the three of them stopping at the corner of Trottingham St. and Starswirl Blvd. “Okay Empathy, where should we start looking?”
Empathy paused for thought, adjusting her glasses. “Well, assuming the target has an aversion to ponies, one should consider first the hiding places it could find, such as in bushes or alleyways. We should probably separate and cover more ground, this could be days in effort, that's of course assuming we aren't wrong in being this far out, or that we're wrong in assuming that the dog would stay so close. Perhaps we should-”
“Guys I think i found him.” Steel called from a nearby alleyway, beckoning them over.
Grand and Empathy trotted over, looking into the alley where Steel was standing next to a golden retriever, a red collar around it's neck. “Or, that works too.” Empathy said, a little embarrassed.
“Way to go Steel!” Grand congratulated, giving the pegasus a pat on the back. “Alright, so now all we have to do is get him back to his owner and get paid.”
“Hold on a second Grand.” Empathy told him, sounding concerned.
She approached the dog, who began to back away a bit as she approached. Moving slowly, she began to look him over. “Do you have a flashlight?” she asked.
Grand nodded, taking one from a pocket and holding it up with his magic to direct it at the dog. Empathy looked the dog over, shaking her head. “This doesn't look good guys. He's got bloodshot eyes, his fur has been combed down to hide some missing tufts in his coat, how long did Professor Torr say the dog has been out for?”
“Two days, three hours, fifty five minutes at the time we were there.” Steel told her.
Empathy shook her head. “He appears far too malnourished for the short time he's been away. Grand, I don't think we should take him back to that colt.”
Grand shook his head, his thoughts stirring. “We can't just leave him here, the dog belongs to Professor Torr.”
“I don't think Torr cares about the dog as much as he cares about getting him back.”
“Well we can't just throw this job away, we need the money, the ethics of the job they-”
“Forget about the job Grand, look at the tag. It doesn't even say 'Titan' on it. It just has the number seventeen!”
Grand rubbed his head, his mind stirring with hundreds of thoughts at once. He gritted his teeth, his hooves tensing up while he tried to come to a conclusion. Steel and Empathy watched him, awaiting his decision. Finally, he came to a decision. “Guys,” he began, letting out a deep sigh, “You know what we have to do.”
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
It was early morning the next day as Grand made his way to Professor Torr's apartment building. He knocked on the door, his face forming a frown as Professor Torr answered. “Oh, it's you again.” he said, sounding agitated. “Did you find my dog yet?”
“Sort of.” Grand said, sounding upset. “May I come in to speak to you?”
After a moment of pause, Torr reluctantly opened the door, allowing Grand to step in. “Where are your friends?”
Grand hopped up onto the couch where he had formerly sat. “They're busying themselves with paperwork at the office, I thought it would be better if we talked personally.”
Torr sat in his chair, staring at the colt. “Well please make it quick, I'm very busy.”
Grand looked at Torr, sighing as he reached into a pocket and pulled out the dog's dark red collar. “We were following a lead we had gotten from a mare on the street, and that lead led us to the outskirts of Vanhoover. After searching around, we found the collar outside a bear's den. We searched the area around the cave but there wasn't any sign of your dog. You have my sincerest apology and of course you won't be required to pay for our services.”
“I shall see that I don't.” Professor Torr said, making his way toward the door. “If that is all I must ask you to leave.”
Grand nodded, getting off the couch and making his way out the door. “I must say, you're taking this very well Professor.”
“Dogs disappear, I'll simply buy a new one.” he replied, shutting the door.
“I wish you wouldn't.” Grand whispered, making his way out.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Empathy giggled, holding a dog treat out on her hoof. “Come on boy, eat the treat.” Empathy told him.
The dog was quick to eat the treat off her hoof, his tongue bobbing happily out of his mouth. “Good boy!” Steel said, petting his head.
The bell rung over the door as Grand stepped into the office, setting his sights on the three in the corner, the two ponies gathered around the dog on a makeshift bed of towels. “Hey, so he started to warm up to you guys?”
Empathy nodded, sitting on the floor next to the towels. “Yeah, he was plenty friendly once we gave him some food and water.”
“So how did it go?” Steel asked.
“Hook, line, and sucker.” Grand said, a smile on his face. “He thinks the dog was eaten by a bear, we aren't getting paid though.”
“I didn't expect to.” Empathy said, petting the dog. “So what are we gonna call him? Titan just doesn't seem right.”
“I already took care of it.” Grand said, taking a green collar out of one of his pockets, fastening it around the dog's neck.
Empathy looked at the silver tag and smiled. “Figured you'd pick something like that.”
“Let me see!” Steel yelled, taking his own look at the tag. “Aw dude that's awesome!”
Grand nodded, scratching the golden retriever under his chin. “Welcome to the team,” he said, smiling, “Indie.”