//------------------------------// // Cutie Markers // Story: Grand Hoof: The Legend Begins // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Grand Hoof and Doom Chaser couldn't believe their eyes. One minute they had been meeting their friend's love interest at a theatre, and in the next they were now fighting against a pair of bizarrely dressed unicorns talking about the same devices Princess Celestia had asked them to look into. Cutie Markers. Now, the ponies calling themselves Bomber and Technica were in the rafters, Technica holding a briefcase in her magic as she showed the Cutie Markers to the ponies inside the theatre. "Imagine it...no longer will you be restrained to the one talent you posses. Fancy a change? Simply use these Cutie Markers and enjoy whatever ability you wish to enjoy." "Does that include terrorising ponies?" Doom asked as he spread his wings, "You suddenly have that power and what do yo do?! Attack an innocent mare!" "Innocent?!" Bomber barked back before pointing at Remarie, "She's anything but innocent." He then fired another spell, Grand grabbing a piece of shattered wood off the stage and throwing it in front of her. It struck the spell, only for the wood to harmlessly explode in midair. "Quit interfering!" Bomber roared before leaping down from the rafters, firing a blast at the ground that made it explode and create a wind cushion for him. Technica also flew down, her mechanical wings keeping her from breaking her legs as she landed. She began to open up the pockets in her many belts with her magic, taking out small orbs the size of ping-pong balls, which had a pair of razor blades on each side. They began to float and spin around her at high speed, turning into a pair of buzz-saws that she shot straight for Grand. The earth pony quickly leapt to the side, dodging the first before backflipping to avoid the other. As this happened, Bomber charged at Remarie as Grand yelled, "Doom!" "On it!" The pegasus replied as he flew down and grabbed a chair, swinging it at the psychopath. "Back off nut-job!" He then threw the furniture at the unicorn, who just fired a blast at the chair, making it explode. Doom then slammed his hoof into the floor, knocking a piece of broken floor wood upward before smacking it into Bomber, the unicorn getting whacked by the debris. "You little..." Bomber hissed as he fired another spell, Doom grabbing another piece of wood to block it. "Hot potato!" He threw the wood back at Bomber, the unicorn backpedalling as the piece exploded between them. And as this happened, Grand was now running around the theatre, dodging the blades as Technica kept trying to hit him. "Blast it...if only I had a something I could use." He grunted before one of the razor disks swung at his head, Grand ducking as it cut a few strands of his mane before grabbing a piece of broken wood and smacking the orb like a bat. The blade pierced the wood and got stuck, allowing him to crush it into the ground. But as he did this, Technica thrust her front hoof out, unleashing a metal cable that shot out and wrapped around his back hoof. "Gyah!" He yelped as he suddenly yanked, his body now thrown into the wall and then a column. "Argh!" He let out a groan as he was dragged across the ground next as Technica laughed, "I hope you realize now just how outclassed you are." He glanced up at Technica as she flew up into the rafters and down again, looping the cord around one of the beams, letting her lift Grand up until they were on eye to eye level, "A mere earth pony like you can not hope to beat one who wields power like ours." "So you're the one behind these things?" Grand asked as he pulled at the cord, "How did you make something like this?" "I didn't," she cackled, "I'm merely one of many distribution experts charged with getting our product to the masses." "So you're just a dealer?" Grand growled. "I'm more than that. I'm the pony that's helping all Equestrians embrace the next stage of their evolution. If you think these abilities are impressive, just wait until he develops them further. Ponies with the ability to heal any injury or disease. Ponies that can travel through time or go beyond magical physics. Nothing will be beyond our limits!" She then leaned up with a smile hidden inside her mask, "Maybe if you're good, I'd be willing to sell one to you." "No thanks. I prefer to gain my skills the proper way!" With that, he threw one of her buzz-saws at her, which he had gotten while being dragged on the floor. The mare's reflexes kicked in, raising her hooves to protect her face, causing the blade to hit the device on her hoof and cut the cable. The stallion spun as he fell, landing perfectly before grabbing some debris and throwing them up at Technica. And as the pieces knocked her back, Doom continued dodging the mini-explosions Bomber kept trying to make. "You're good at long range fighting," Doom commented as he spun around another blast, "But I bet you suck in close quarters." With that, he shot forward as Bomber fired another spell...only for Doom to vanish. "What?!" "Peekaboo." Bomber spun around, now seeing Doom as he bucked both backhooves into Bomber's mask. "Blaugh!" the unicorn cried, trying to keep his balance before punching Doom in the chest. But the pegasi barely felt it, making Doom just kick him again. And as he did this, a light caught Doom's eye, making him look down. Bomber's punch had attached a piece of debris to Doom's chest. "GYAH!" He screamed, a tiny explosion now bursting off his chest. His body went flying into the side of the stage, making both Grand and Technica turn to him just as Bomber got over to where Remarie was hiding. "Go away!" She screeched, Bomber's horn now surging, only for him to also let out a scream. "Augh!" He yelped, clutching his head as his magic cut out. "No! Not now!" Technica gasped at this, her wings suddenly flaring as she dove down at him. "Your Cutie Marker is wearing off?" Bomber nodded. "We need to leave, now." She reached into her belt and took out some pellets, then turned to Grand and Doom. "You got off lucky. Make sure you don't run into us again." With that, she threw the pellets down, exploding and creating a large cloud of smoke. Everypony began to cough at this, Grand swiping at the fog, "No!" He ran into the smoke next, only to find nothing. "No...they got away!" He turned to Doom, walking up and giving him a hoof. Doom let out a long moan as he grabbed the hoof, "That's not good. Who were those nut-jobs?" "I don't know," Grand growled before turning to Remarie. "But she appeared to be their target." Doom nodded in agreement before the pair ordered everypony outside. As the ponies filled out of the theatre, the rest of the royal guard showed up and the two gave a report about what had happened. The guard then took statements from everypony and found it correlated with what Grand and Doom had told them. And as they did this, a certain pony showed up. "What the heck happened?" Everypony turned to see Center Stage push his way through the crowd, "I step out for ten minutes and you idiots destroy the entire theatre!" "It wasn't us," Slick replied, only for Center to grab his neck. "You be quiet, or else!" He then threw Slick to the side before yelling at the staff, telling them there were be serious consequences if the play had to be cancelled. And as he ranted, Grand and Doom shook their heads before Doom turned to back to the crowd and gasped. "Numb!" Grand turned to see their friend standing there, staring at Remarie with a huge frown, "You okay?" "I'm fine," Cruncher barely replied, "What the heck happened here?" "You wouldn't believe it if I told you," Doom responded, "Some crazy ponies showed up and attacked. They were using this super weird device that gave them a different cutie mark." This made Cruncher raise an eyebrow, "Yeah...that does sound crazy and hard to believe." As he said that, Grand saw his eyes were just staring at Remarie. "You should probably know, one of them seemed to have it out for Remarie." "Remarie?" Cruncher looked away at this, "Why should I care? She betrayed me." "No, she didn't." He turned to Grand, "You ran off before seeing her push Center away and chew him out." "What are you-" "He just forced himself on her when you saw them. She even said she really liked you and was horrified when we told her you saw that." Doom added, making Cruncher go wide-eyed. That is, till Center Stage yelled, "You did this!" They turned to see him yelling at Remarie, "You're the reason my big break has been ruined!" "But-" "You said it yourself! One of those ponies was trying to get you! They destroyed the theatre because of you!" "Leave her alone!" Cruncher yelled as he leapt between him and Remarie, "She didn't ask to get attacked, so just leave her alone." Grand and Doom went wide-eyed at this, seeing Cruncher now glaring up at a pony almost twice his size. "Stay out of this, nerd!" Center barked back before cocking a hoof back, only for it to be grabbed by another hoof. He glanced back to see Grand gripping his hoof with a glare that could kill. "I think you should leave," Grand hissed, leaning up at this, "Now." Center swatted Grand's hoof away at this, growling before spinning around. He stomped away from the destroyed theatre, making Grand shake his head before Cruncher spoke up, "I didn't need your help." "Of course you did," Doom chuckled, "You're the brains and we're the brawn. That's how we do things. Anyways, I think you two have a lot to talk about, so why don't we leave you both alone?" Cruncher and Remarie glanced at each other, blushing as Doom whispered to Grand, "We need to report this to Celestia." "Agreed. Let's go." Grand replied before the two began to leave the building. As they did this, they glanced back to see both talking, only to share a kiss. But as they did this, Grand let out a sigh as he turned to Doom, "I want to be happy for them, but we need to get her some protection. At least until we know who's under that costume." "Yeah..." Doom added as they double-timed it back to the castle. But when they went to see Celestia, they discovered she had already gone to bed. Knowing what that meant, they headed to their barracks and got their own good night's sleep, ready to tell her in the morning. Later that night... In a place hidden within the city, Technica was now in a dark room, using her magic on a Cutie Marker. This one was black with the same image Bomber had worn on his suit's flank. The device glowed for a second before falling into her hoof, "There." she sighed before turning to another pony, "That should do it." She threw the Cutie Marker, the other catching it in their magic. "Now the effects should last at least an hour, maybe longer. But be warned, the side-effects may accelerate." "That doesn't matter," the pony replied before holding the device to his neck and pushing down the syringe. "Bomber!" The device exclaimed as the pony was consumed by a bright flash. And when the light died down, the figure walked out to reveal itself as Bomber. "I only need it long enough to settle the score." Technica nodded back, "Just remember, you promised to show up to my function tomorrow. I need to show this off to as many ponies as possible. And if those two guards should show up again-" "I'll deal with them." The unicorn interrupted while staring at his Cutie Marker. "With my power...nopony will be able to stop me. Not even those two." The next morning... "You ran into more Cutie Markers?!" Live Wire yelped, Grand and Doom now standing in the throne room with Celestia on her throne listening to them, "Why didn't you come and tell me?!" "It was late at night and the princess was asleep," Grand replied. "And we have no idea where you live." Doom added with a cheeky grin, making Live growl at them. "Now hold on," Celestia chimed in, "So you're saying there were two ponies using them? Did one appear to be the one responsible for them?" "She said she was just a dealer," Grand sighed, "She acted like our fight was one big sales pitch." "But it's the other one we need to worry about," Doom grumbled, "He seemed to have it out for our friend's girlfriend. He was determined to kill her. I could hear it in his voice." "And you have no idea what they really look like?" Live asked, the stallions shaking their heads. "They were wearing some weird full body suits, which seemed to be based on the powers the Cutie Markers gave them." Grand replied, while crossing his hooves, "One looked like a living explosive and the other was like something out of a foal's superhero action comic." "So they had strange looking costumes designed around the Cutie Marker's powers?" Live blinked at this, "Interesting. Is it a special feature the Markers have? The one you gave me didn't seem to have anything like that." The stallions just shrugged, only for Celestia to turn to Live, "What did you learn from your examination of the device? I know you only had a night, but-" "I actually managed to discover quite a bit," Live Wire interrupted, "I'll save the complicated information for later and keep it simple for now. The markers work by affecting the pony at the cellular level, affecting how their magic is produced and sending signals into their brain that allow them to understand how their abilities work. In other words, it rapidly affects your body, but its not designed for long term use." "That makes sense." Grand responded, "The mare calling herself Technica said Bomber's was wearing off after just a bit of that fight." "And it doesn't sound healthy." Doom added. Live nodded back, "Indeed. The pony body will begin to override the Cutie Marker's effects almost instantly once they're injected. But the more powerful the dosage, the longer the transformations will last. However, the higher the dosage taken...the faster the side-effects will kick in." "Side-effects?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. Live sighed at this, "Yes. I've been able to determine at least two long term effects these things have. The first affects the user's mind. Since the Cutie Markers target the brain, it's likely the users will begin to suffer severe psychological effects. They'll started growing less reasonable and eventually devolve into maniacs. It'll likely be a slow process if you use a low dosage, but high doses could cause irreparable damage to somepony after just one or two uses." "What if the pony is careful with it?" Doom asked, "What if they use it once, then don't use it again for like...a week or so?" "I wondered that myself, and I think its possible...to an extent." Live replied, "However, that won't happen because its second effect...addiction." "Addiction?! Are you saying this is a drug?!" "As close to one as possible," Live sighed again, "The more a pony uses this, the more reliant they'll become on it. The power it gives them will overwhelm them and they'll only be satisfied once they use it again. Heck, the pony you got this from may be suffering withdrawal because he doesn't have it anymore." "What?! Why the heck would somepony want something like this then?!" Doom yelped, only to see Live shake her head. "The dealer is probably not being honest with their clients. After all, addiction is an easy way to make ponies keep spending money on something." "Err...yeah, I guess that's true." Doom responded before turning to Celestia, "We need to make this public. Then nopony will want this stuff." "Maybe...or maybe not." Grand chimed in, making the three turn to him, "There are a lot of ponies out there that think power is worth any price. I doubt they'll let such trivial side-effects stop them from using the Cutie Markers." He turned to one of the windows, "They could either believe we're lying and making an excuse to ban these things, or believe what we say but think they're strong enough to fight against the side-effects. And then there's the normal ponies whose hooves these things fall into." "Normal ponies?" Live asked, Grand turning to her. "Think about it. Say you're a single parent working a low paying job. Then, your kid suddenly falls ill and you use all your bits on medicine, which means you can't pay your bills. Even if the child gets better, you're still behind and then another unexpected bill appears. Eventually, things get so bad and you're at your lowest point, panicking that you'll be homeless with your kid...and then somepony shows up and tells you everything will be fine by buying a Cutie Marker. What would you do?" The trio grimaced as Doom replied, "They'd take it. Things are already bad, so why not take a risk and try and fix things using a Cutie Marker." "Exactly," Grand sighed, "The most normal pony in the world could be transformed into an all powerful mad-pony just because they were having a bad day and saw no way out." "I guess you're right," Live hummed, "It could be possible anypony would be willing to use one if they felt they had no other choice." She crossed her hooves at this, closing her eyes, "And it's likely the dealers would target ponies like that with these Cutie Markers." Doom turned to her, "What do you mean by that?" "From what I could gather, the Cutie Marker you gave me isn't what's considered a final product. It's more like a...prototype." "Prototype?" Doom asked, "Why would they sell something they haven't fully figured out yet? Sounds like bad marketing." Live shook her head at this, "It would make sense if they're trying to master creating them. In order for them to figure out how to perfect the Cutie Markers, they need test subjects. Pony test subjects. But with the Cutie Markers clearly such a dangerous device, they can't openly advertise for subjects." "They'd catch our attention and be forced to have the Cutie Markers evaluated," Celestia chimed in. "Which would lead to us shutting them down once we discovered the side-effects," Live nodded. "And finding subjects willing to do illegal tests would require them to pay outstanding amounts. So it's clear that to get around those issues, they chose to sell the prototypes and see their clients' reactions." "They're using their clients as guinea pig," Grand growled, Doom grimacing at his words. "If this gets out through the city..." "It'll be a disaster." Celestia finished, the room now dropping a few degrees. The ponies all shivered for a moment before turning to the cause of the sudden chill, the princess now gazing at the ground with a dark glare. "I can't believe such a thing is being sold in my city without me knowing until now." Grand stepped up to the throne, Celestia lifting her head to look at him. "Until last night, they were likely working on the sly. Contacting ponies in secret, or appearing to them when they're at their lowest point." Doom nodded before continuing. "And as weird as those outfits were, they did make it impossible to know who the one selling the Cutie Markers are. Even if somepony not interested in buying one refused, they couldn't tell the guards. What are they gonna say? A strange unicorn wearing a bat mask came up to me and offered to sell me a device that could change my cutie mark." "Hardly anypony would believe them," Live muttered while shaking her head, "But now that the Cutie Markers have been discovered, they're not gonna bother with stealth anymore." "Like last night's little display," Grand grumbled as he turned to the window, "She's probably sold hundreds of those things in Canterlot alone. We need to do something about them and fast." "Agreed," Celestia nodded. "I'll begin making plans to have these Cutie Markers outlawed and getting the word out. I will address the public soon. In the meantime, the three of you will be in charge of finding the ponies that attacked the theatre last night. I want both of them captured before they can do any more damage." "Yes, your majesty," they all bowed before turning to leave. "Grand Hoof." They stopped and glanced back at the princess. "If last night is any indication, it's gonna require more than just fighting skills to take them down." "Maybe," Grand nodded, "But what else could I use against them?" Celestia turned to Live Wire, nodding to the mare. Live nodded back and took out at a wooden box from her saddlebag. "Princess Celestia asked for this. I hope you understand how hard it was to make." Grand raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the box, Live then opening it up. As the lid swung away, it unleashed a bright light that almost blinded Grand and Doom. The pair flinched, only for their eyes to go wide. "That's..." Grand couldn't finish the sentence as he stared at the crystal inside the box. "A Celestic Gear?!" Doom gasped. "It's yours," Live replied as she floated the box closer to the earth pony. "With this, you'll be able to stand against anypony. Even the Cutie Markers." Grand stared at the crystal in the box, the crystal shining in his eyes. He could feel his hoof shiver at the sight before turning to Celestia, "Why are you showing me this? This weapon is meant to only be used by a Royal Knight." Celestia just smiled back, making him go wide-eyed, "No..." "I had hoped we could have a more ceremonious Celestic Gearing, but our current situation requires more haste." Celestia stood up from her throne and stared down at the earth pony. "Sergeant Grand Hoof, I hereby grant you the rank of Royal Knight, with all the powers earned by said position." "Congrats," Live added as she patted his side. But as she did this, she saw Grand's eyes shrink and glance back at the box with a cold dead stare, "What? What's wrong-" Her words came to a stop as he slammed the lid on the box. His whole body was shaking, his eyes twitching as he looked away from the box. "No." "Huh?" "No," he repeated, pushing the box away with a quick push, "I...I don't accept this." He turned to Celestia, "You've picked the wrong pony." Celestia sighed at this, "Grand Hoof, you've proven again and again how capable you are. You've trained hard, followed the commands given to you to the best of your ability and have always gotten the job done within acceptable perimeters." "I'm a solider," Grand instantly responded, "I'm just doing my job. That doesn't mean I deserve to be a Royal Knight." Celestia shook her head at this, "Grand Hoof, you have deserved this for a long time. I have watched you over these years under the guard, and you deserve-" "I don't!" Grand barked, making everypony flinch for a second. "You're wrong...I don't deserve this." Doom shook his head at this, only for Live to yell, "You have some nerve!" They all turned to her as she glared at Grand, "The princess is giving you the title of Royal Knight and you don't deserve it?! What, are you too good for the rest of us?!" But as she said this, she almost flinched again as she saw Grand turn to her, his eyes making her tense up. What she saw was a look of pure despair, lifelessness within those pupils as he glanced back at Celestia, "I'm sorry your highness, but I can't accept this." He spun around at this, "I'll find these Cutie Marker criminals and bring them in, but I'll do it without a Celestic Gear or an undeserved title." With that, he left the room, Live shaking her head as she barked, "I can't believe him!" She turned to Celestia, "You offer him the ultimate reward and he turns it down?!" Celestia just shook her head again, "I'm sorry to say Live Wire, but this is normal for him." She let out a long sigh, "Grand seems determined to reject anything that would benefit him." And as she said this, her eyes shifted to Doom, the stallion shrinking back as he saw both mares staring at him, "Doom..." "You majesty-" he tried to say, but Celestia raised a hoof. "Doom, I know that you've known Grand longer than any of us," Celestia said as she slowly descended from her throne, "When you two enlisted, the guard respected you both when you didn't put down where you both came from, as we respect all ponies to their privacy in these lands. I have also respected your privacy, as you've told me before that Grand should be the one to tell me why he rejects any praise or promotion he's clearly earned." Doom felt himself backpedaling as she said that, "Well..." "Doom." She interrupted again before pointing at him, "I am sorry, but I believe he is more than worthy of being a Royal Knight. As such, I must know why Grand is like this. And I will order you to tell me if need be." Doom felt himself shrink in front of her, his eyes darting away as his mind went back to that night so many years ago. He flinched at the thought, remembering the image of that nightmare. And as he glanced back up at Celestia, he saw a strong stare from her, "It's...a long story. Its because he made a mistake a long time ago..." The mares raised an eyebrow at this, only for their faces to slowly change as he began to tell the tale. An hour or so later... Grand was now sitting in the Royal Gardens, his body shaking as he stared blankly into the area. His imagination went over the Celestic Gear, feeling his mind going to when he was a colt, thinking about how he wanted to make some super weapon Celestic Gear. That is, till his mind went back to that night, making him shake his head. "No...I don't deserve it. If I got a Celestic Gear, I'd probably just end up hurting somepony with it." "That is the risk you have with incredible power." He turned to the voice, now seeing Live and Doom walking up. The mare's face no longer showed the anger from before, a stare of compassion in her expression as she continued, "And that's why Celestia only gives Celestic Gears to knights she can absolutely trust with it." "Well, she made a mistake in trusting me with it," Grand replied before glaring at Doom, "You told them, didn't you?" "Yeah...sorry." Doom sighed as they sat down beside him. "Princess Celestia kinda...ordered me too. That and it was the only way to get them to understand." Grand stared at Doom for a second, only to look away, "Well, now you know. I can't be a Royal Knight. I don't deserve such an honor." Live shook her head at this, "Grand...I'm sorry for yelling at you before, and I understand you made a mistake and caused a lot of pain. But I also understand you were just a kid back then." She tilted her head at this, "Princess Celestia showed me your record as I made the Celestic Gear crystal, and she showed me that you deserve it. Surely you've grown a lot since then. You won't make that kind of mistake again, will you?" "Never again." "So then there's no reason you can't be a knight now-" "No." "But-" "You don't get it," Grand stood up. "I'm not worried about making that mistake again. I'm saying that the mistake I made before is why I don't deserve it." He turned to her, a long glare in his eyes, "I cost those young ponies their lives, their futures. I deserve no happiness when I stole away the happy futures of so many." He looked down at his hooves, his mind once again going back to that night, "My hooves are stained with the sins of my past. And until I have washed them away, I can't allow myself any kind of comfort." "Now hang on!" Live responded as she stood up as well, "Just because you think that doesn't mean you're not worthy of being a Royal Knight! You-" "I'm not worthy." Grand replied before Doom held out his wing between them. "Alright, let's stop right there." Doom chimed in, "What matters right now is we need to figure out what do about the Cutie Markers." He turned to Live, "Just uh...table the gear for now." He glanced back at Grand, "And Celestia thinks you deserve to be a knight, and so do I Grand. You need to realize that you deserve it." "I remember you telling me I don't deserve anything back in the day." Grand hissed back, glaring at the pegasi. Doom bit his lip at this, only to sigh, "I know. And I'm sorry." He then shook his head, "I was wrong. I thought you deserved it, but you've changed Grand." Doom put his hoof on Grand's shoulder, "You got serious when I thought you wouldn't...and I was wrong. You deserve more. You've been given the position, and Live has made a Celestic Gear for you. You should take it." Grand stared back at him, only to shrug Doom's hoof off, "No. I won't be a knight. And I won't change my mind." Doom let out a sigh at this, Live then spinning around to walk off as she said, "We'll see." She glanced back at him, "But you know, I've met some Royal Knights and many of them...well, they think the position sometimes feels more like a punishment than a blessing. The pressure to protect all of Equestria, no matter what threat faces it, has driven many to have mental breakdowns." With that, she walked off as Grand stared at her, her words going through his head. Doom blinked at his friend, seeing Grand's face slowly morph to his work mode as he turned to Doom, "Let's get to work." Doom sighed again, "Fine. But I have a feeling we'll need her." Grand nodded back at this, "Where do we start?" "Simple. We'll go for one of the buyers." A few hours later... Big Score huffed as he sat in the interrogation room, Grand, Doom and Live staring down at him. He had been freed from the concrete, though they could still see a few specks stuck to his coat and mane while his Cutie Mark had returned to normal. "Alright Score," Doom growled as he pointed at him from the other side of the table, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Score just stared back, not responding. Seeing this, Live summoned a chair and sat down beside him, "Come on. All we want is for you to tell us where you got your Cutie Marker." "What's in it for me?" Score asked, "Why should I help the ponies that put me away?" He turned to hiss at the stallions, "Because of you, my little girl's gonna grow up without a father." "You did that when you smuggled psychedelic gems into Canterlot," Doom barked back, "Now, unless you wanna add aiding and abetting dangerous criminals to your sentence, tell us who and where you got that Cutie Marker." Score didn't respond, making Doom and Live growl. He just sat back in his chair, crossing his hooves as the three just stared at each other. But as this happened, Grand had been leaning against the back wall, his eyes on the door. A second later, a unicorn opened the door and gave him a file, Grand thanking him before going to Doom, "You mind?" His partner nodded and got up, Grand now sitting down so he could sit opposite of the criminal. He then opened the file, taking out a bunch of pictures that he placed on the table. Score's eyes slowly drifted down at this, only to go wide as he saw images of a unicorn mare holding a unicorn filly. "She's a very cute filly," Grand commented, "A shame she has to grow up without a father. I know what that's like. Heck, I don't even know who my father is. All I know about him is that he had a red coat and brown mane because it was written in a letter that was left at an orphanage with me." "What's your point?" Score asked as he glared back at Grand, "Are you trying to threaten me or something?!" Grand raised an eyebrow at this, "What part of that sounded like a threat? All I said is that I'm guessing you don't want that little filly to grow up without her father. Even if that father is a hardened criminal, she still needs him. And if you agree to help us, I promise she'll get to grow up with her daddy in her life." "How? I doubt you'll be willing to let me go." "No, but I can arrange for you to be put under house arrest. You'll get to spend your sentence at home, with your family, monitored by Canterlot Guards. But I can't do anything if you refuse to cooperate." Score looked down at the pictures, taking the one of his daughter in his hooves. "I'll really get to see her grow up?" "You won't be able to see her first day of school or go watch her hoof-ball games, but you'll be there to tuck her in and read her a bedtime story." Grand then grabbed the picture in Score's hooves, making Score glare back at him as he put the pictures in the file, "But if you refuse to give us what we want..." He slammed the file shut, pushing the chair back as he started to stand up. "Wait!" Grand stopped mid-standing up, slowly glancing back at Score, "I can't give you what you want." Grand continued to move, only for Score to add, "I don't know who the mare was that gave me the Cutie Marker." "So it was a mare," Grand sat back down. "Was she wearing a purple suit and a bat mask?" "Yes," Score nodded. "She showed up out of nowhere and offered to sell me the Cutie Marker. As soon as I bought it, she vanished." Grand growled at this, only for Score to say, "But...a few days ago, she showed up again." "Why?" Live asked. "She asked how I was enjoying her product, though she was a little upset when I told her I hadn't used it. But then she invited me to a party." This made the three's eyes go wide, Doom adding, "When?! And where?!" "I don't know." The trio glared at him again, "But...she left an invitation. It was in the desk you destroyed when you showed up." And as he said that, Grand ran out of the interrogation room, Live and Doom quickly following as Score yelled, "You better keep up your end of the bargain!" Grand rushed to the city's jailhouse, quickly getting into the evidence room. Barging inside, they went to the box they had filed with everything they confiscated from Big Score. Live stepped in and used her magic to open the box, floating everything out before they saw it: A white envelope with a heart on the seal. Live returned everything else as Grand took the envelope and opened it up, finding a pair of cards inside with an address, time and even a bar-code of some kind. "This is it," he told the others before turning the card over. You are cordially invited to Technica's Cutie Marker symposium. Discover the amazing abilities of this unbelievable item and see performances from trained Cutie Marker users. You can even buy your own Cutie Marker, becoming one of the first to join the next evolution of ponykind. "That's not good." Grand grumbled, "Sounds like she plans to sale these things in mass." "Eh, its fine." Doom added, "If we bust this party, we'll be way closer to catching whoever made the Cutie Markers." "But it looks like there are only two invitations," Live chimed in, "So only two of use will be able to go." "You two can do that," Doom said before either could respond, "I'll stay outside with a squad of guards and be ready to pounce when you give the signal." Live nodded back while Grand shook his head, "I don't think so. Technica's bound to have security. She probably gave our description to her guards. She'll see us coming a mile away." But as he said that, Live put a hoof on his shoulder, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Just leave everything to me."