Chapter One Hundred Thirty Seven
The entire... for lack of a better word, debacle in the interrogation room, had been relocated back out into the squad room of the precinct building. After what they'd all seen, what they'd all heard, there was no point in trying to maintain the illusion amongst themselves that they actually had control over the situation, because it was clear that they didn't.
As much as any of them hated to admit it, either to themselves or their coworkers, they'd lost that control from the moment the entity had appeared in their city, and actually allowed itself to be brought into their precinct. The way it could force its way out of their hoofcuffs at its leisure, and see through walls like they weren't even there, went a long way in showing just how futile their efforts really were.
Currently Captain Stance, and good number of other officers were away from their work and their desks, with all eyes on the entity as it stood in the center of the room, standing with its hands tucked into its pockets and maintaining a posture that almost made it look like it was a class professor waiting to give a lecture.
"so then," he spoke up as he tried to reassert some measure of authority and control over the situation. "How about we start from the beginning. Who are you? What are you? And what's your business here? Because, I don't think you came all this way just to tell me about how my brother was killed by a villain we all thought was done for."
"In truth I did not. It was only through sheer coincidence that your familial connection was discovered in the first place, stemming entirely from my arrest," the entity confirmed. "My business here in Manehattan is simple. Princess Celestia has reason to believe that a villain is currently hiding somewhere in the city. I'm here to prevent him from preying upon anymore ponies before it's too late. And going by the contents of your whiteboard, it's safe to conclude the intel about his presence being in the city, is indeed correct."
All pony heads in the room pivoted and swiveled around to the aforementioned whiteboard, and what it had to show. The pictures of various ponies held up in place by magnets at the top of the photos, showing them with empty -bordering on dead- eyes and disturbingly blank flanks, all among an age range far too old to still be experiencing such a plight.
Beneath them, scribbled in black and red marker to varying degrees of legibility depending on who was asked and who did the writing, were details about their respective cases to highlight both the similarities and their differences. And all of them with one very specific and disturbing detail in common across the lot of them; their magic was totally gone. Gone as if it'd just been sucked right out of them, and practically taking their essence right along with it. Gone like it'd never even been there to begin with.
On the one hoof it was a small bit of relief to find out that this could very well be the work of a villain working whatever evil they had in mind, rather than some other sort of development they were entirely unprepared for.
But on the other hoof, it was all still nothing but mere speculation until they got more information to go on.
"Alright then."
Stance glanced over to his right at the pony who was speaking. A detective by the name of Glacier, a big hulking earth pony stallion with a close-cut mane and a black goatee, and probably the most intimidating looking one of the bunch of them.
"So this is the work of a villain, not some sweeping plague that hasn't been identified yet. Who and what exactly are we dealing with here?"
"According to the intel that was received, the villain in this particular instance is known as Tirek. He is a centaur, with the lower body of a pony and the upper body of a minotaur fused together at the waist, standing approximately as tall as Princess Celestia, covered in red and black fur. Through mechanics not presently understood, he has the ability to siphon off a pony's magic and use it as he sees fit; specifically for enhancing his own physical stature and increasing the potency of his own possessed magical abilities," the entity explained.
Stance didn't even have to look around him to feel the disbelief in the room at what they were hearing. It was about as palpable as the aura that was practically radiating off of the entity itself?
"You actually expect us to believe something like that?" Glacier asked, to which several others nodded and mumbled in agreement. "If something like that was loose in Manehattan, somepony would've seen it sticking out like a sore hoof; you can't hide something like that around here. Maybe up in Canterlot where they couldn't spot a bug infestation until it was too late, but certainly not here; we roll differently than that!"
That last part really got the others vocal in their agreement with the assessment.
"You aren't wrong," the entity agreed, "which is precisely why I need your assistance in this matter."
That last part actually quieted down the room, all them abandoning their "us vs them" attitude regarding which city was the better of the two, as they waited to hear what had to be said next.
"Leaving aside the discussion and the matter of whether or not a magic-stealing centaur is believable enough, to be taken seriously enough to treat as a credible threat, we come to the more pressing issue. I need the outside assistance of ponies who're more readily familiar with the layout of the city than I am. First responders are generally a solid starting point when it comes to such matters, as their profession requires them knowing how to get where they need to be, in the most expedient manner possible," it explained calmly.
There was something strangely comforting, but also oddly concerning, in hearing this entity talk about how they were important. Especially after witnessing just what it could do on its own.
"Law enforcement, emergency medical services, fire rescue, sanitation workers, construction workers, anypony whose profession involves navigating the layout of the city at large, and keeping the infrastructure running smoothly. They possess a far greater degree of both knowledge and familiarity that I simply don't have," the entity continued. "As you said for yourself, something like Tirek would stick out and be seen. Meaning that he has to have some way of moving about the city in an undetected fashion. Either by using magical enchantments to allow him to hide in plain sight, or by utilizing the available terrain to his advantage; perhaps traveling under cover of darkness, lurking in the shadows where street lamps do not cover, and hiding in dark tunnels during the daylight hours."
"I don't understand..."
The voice was softer than the others in the room, bringing their attention to the newest arrival; the same pegasus sergeant from previously who'd lost her lunch immediately after meeting the entity. Even now she wasn't looking too good; the hazelnut-colored fur around her face was still pale, and the gray of her irises were still looking glassy. She didn't even look like she was up to standing at the moment, what with how she was trembling.
"Sergeant Cassidy said you could see through the wall of the interrogation room like it wasn't even there. You broke open the hoofcuffs as easily as popping the tab on a can of soda. What could you possibly need from us? How could we possibly help you?" she asked, all the while looking like her weight being pressed against the door frame was the one thing keeping her upright at the moment.
"A legitimate question," the entity acknowledged. "Even my techniques and abilities have limitations on what is possible. Pesquisa, my ability to read the signature of a pony's magic and pinpoint their location in the vicinity, can only tell me so much on its own. For example, I can tell with but a glance that you're approximately two months into your pregnancy, and that none of the stallions in the precinct are the father."
All eyes in the room turned to her at hearing the pregnancy statement.
"You're pregnant?" Stance asked.
"I can still do my job," she insisted, grunting as she pushed herself away from the door frame out of pure stubbornness, refusing to be seen as being any less capable after the revelation.
The entity, unbothered by this development as ponies shifted their position in the room, some of whom were focusing on other matters in relation to the announcement, continued with its explanation.
"But even if I could scan every square inch of the city of Manehattan simultaneously, as I was trying to do at the time Officer Copper Top arrested me, I would still have to know what I'm scanning for. Like the rest of you, I've never encountered a centaur before. I have no idea what sort of readings to be looking for in an effort to try and pin down his location. For all that anyone knows, all of the magic that Tirek has absorbed is serving as camouflage for him; he may register as a large gathering of various ponies all in one location. Which is hardly indicative of anything unusual and out of the ordinary in a city of this size and population density."
It couldn't be denied, that was a very good point. How was one supposed to look for something that they didn't know to look for?
"Hence why I need experts on the matter of the layout of Manehattan, both above ground and below ground, and how to navigate it. Tirek is going to be found through a boots-on-the ground approach to investigative work, not hovering high off the ground where dirt doesn't reside and he can't reach," the entity continued.
"Wait, you're talking about actually getting down and dirty, yourself, in trying to find this character?" Glacier asked. "You in that nice suit, trekking through tunnels and sewers, chasing down possible leads?"
"Correct," the entity confirmed.
"So why you specifically?" Chomp asked. "More accurately, why you exclusively? If this villain is really as dangerous as you make it out to be, why aren't you here with backup? Like a division or two of royal guards who're trained in this sort of thing?"
Mumbles and nods of agreement swiftly followed.
"Princess Celestia understands just how dangerous Tirek can be, how much of a risk he poses to the ponies of Equestria and beyond. The royal guard is made up of ponies, just like yourselves. Ponies whose magic would be easy pickings for Tirek to take for himself; we might as well be feeding him directly. Even Discord, who is technically reformed and working with her, is potentially vulnerable to Tirek's magic siphoning abilities. That is a development that none of us need."
A shared shudder worked its way throughout the room at that last statement. There was hardly a pony alive who hadn't heard about Discord in some capacity or another. And none of them wanted to think about the idea of his chaos magic being used by something potentially worse than him.
"By contrast I have no magic in my body that can be siphoned off and turned against us. I'm quite literally the only one suited to face a villain like Tirek in an open confrontation, because of what I don't possess as opposed to what I do possess."
As odd as it did sound, the whole explanation did make a great deal of sense. Sending the right operative for the right job was just like making sure you had the right class of fire extinguisher for the appropriate fire breaking out. And if this Tirek character could such out a pony's magic, who better than something that didn't have that particular vulnerability.
"Alright," Stance spoke up, "don't take this the wrong way or anything, but why should we trust you? I'll admit, you're certainly making a good deal of sense, and I do appreciate you telling me about what happened to my brother. But for all any of us know, this whole "Tirek" business is an elaborate cover story to make you look like a hero, when you're actually the villain we should be looking at. You could've let yourself be captured and brought here simply to see what we knew."
"It very well could be a possibility. Everything that transpired up until now could be an elaborate act of subterfuge to evaluate the threat level you present to my plans," the entity confirmed, not even bothering to deny the notion, all the while just standing there cool as a cucumber and sounding as dull as glue drying. "That said, I have no intention of leaving the city until my mission is complete. And with all due respect to you and your precinct, there's nothing that can be done to force my departure prematurely. So we find ourselves at an impasse.
"We can either remain distrustful of one another and work apart, with you continually having to investigate reports of a strange white biped scaring the citizens as it goes about its business. Or we can recognize the futility of such an approach, pool our available resources, and work together to tackle a much bigger threat in need of being addressed."
Stance would be the first to admit that he wasn't the brightest pony around, although he was far from stupid. He recognized the fact this thing had them all over a barrel right now, and there was nothing they could do about it.
It was at this point that Chomp trotted over to the entity, and held out his right talon to it.
"Detective Chomp, Sergeant, at your service," he introduced himself.
The entity responded by taking his talon and shaking it. "Ulquiorra Cifer, independent contractor."
"Interesting name," Chomp muttered, but said nothing else on the matter. "The idea that who or what might be responsible for these assaults, is possibly lurking somewhere in the shadows, isn't exactly a new thought to us. We've been recording all of the locations where these assaults occur, and there's definitely a degree of correlation to be observed."
"Wait, wait, wait," Glacier spoke up, "you're actually working with this character? Just like that?"
"I'm really not seeing much choice in the matter. If our friend here is here to do us harm, then there's really not a whole lot we can do to prevent it. And if not, then we're turning down assistance we could use in closing these cases," Chomp explained as he set his talon back on the floor and turned around. "Look, I don't really believe this whole magic-stealing centaur business either, but I don't know what else we can do right now. Every minute we spend on posturing and distrust is another minute we're not getting any closer to helping those ponies. And frankly they don't have time for us to waste."
"I... can't exactly argue with that fact," the female sergeant stated, before trotting her way over and offering up her right hoof. "Detective Sarsaparilla Root. Please don't shorten it to Sassy, I really don't like when that's done."
Stance watched as, one by one, everypony in the room made their introductions. Some more friendly and professional than others.
"Stalwart Stance, Captain of the Manehattan Police Department," he eventually spoke up, going last as far as introductions went, understand the whole matter was futile.
He then spoke up to address the squad room, as well as anypony else that might've been within listening distance.
"Alright, that's enough chatter. If we're going to be working together to solve these cases, lets get our "friend" here up to speed on what we know so he can keep up. Standing around and talking isn't going to solve anything."
Frankly he just didn't care about the details of how these cases were solved. Sarsaparilla could very well be right about this thing being the lord of Tartarus, as he still couldn't muster enough energy to care, just so long as the cases were solved. They could get into territorial disputes and who deserved credit when lives weren't on the line.
He just hoped that they didn't end up regretting this decision later. Although he had a strong suspicion that they would. At the very least they were involving a civilian in their investigation, in the desperate hope that it could accomplish something that they couldn't do on their own. If the mayor ever caught wind of what was going on here, it was going to be anything but pretty, and that was a cluster headache that he really didn't need right now.