//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Caught 
// Story: Canterlot Animal Control 
// by Lingo 
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I was not expecting Daring Do to scream at the top of her lungs. And I was really not expecting the scream to sound so masculine. Finally getting a close look at my mystery stalker reveals that this is not Daring Do. This is not even a mare, or a pegasus for that matter.

I had no idea who I just caught, but they were obviously terrified of snakes.

And as far as snakes go, Bump is likely the most harmless one you'll ever find. Even now, she was barely wrapped around the poor fellow, a gentle hug really.

“Do you mind telling me what you’re doing here?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Very helpful. Probably couldn’t hear me over their own panic. I knock on the door twice, firmly. The sound breaks him out of his stupor, looking to me with wide eyes and begging with a single word.

“Help.”

Much better than screaming.

“Do you mind telling me what you’re doing here?” 

“Ok so I know what you’re thinking…” He began, my right eyebrow rose like a guillotine. 

"I'm not here to steal anything. I was really just…." He fumbles. "...curious?"

It didn't sound like he believed his own answer, and frankly I didn't either. I was debating leaving him 'trapped' for a few more minutes while I fetched the guards, but realization struck like a cobra.

The cloud. The suspicious mare snooping around. The lack of wings. 

He wasn't alone.

That thought came to me fast enough that I wasn't too distracted to notice the fur standing up on the back of my neck. 

I ducked to the ground, dropping to my belly purely on learned instinct. The tips of my mane parted and bent forward as a pony lunged over my head, missing me by the width of a few coins.

The second intruder crashed into the wall beside the first, miraculously not making a head-shaped hole on impact. The smattering of loose feathers thrown about from the crash confirmed that I had found the pegasus of the duo. 

A mixture of disappointment and relief bubbled in my chest, the mare was not the same gold color as the "protagonist" I was expecting. The cyan blue coat contrasted with the cheap drab vest they were both wearing. A plastic plinth helmet clattered near my hooves.

Wonderful. They're her fans. It never mentioned fan labor in the book I read. Maybe they just came in to "wrangle" something exotic to brag to their friends about.

Whatever their motives, I had little patience for them. She was still dazed and he was still occupied via snake, so I had a minute to think.

That poor minute was shattered by the clearing of a throat behind me. My head swung around almost fast enough to give me whiplash. Luckily for me, it was not a third intruder or a storybook “heroine”.

Rather, it was a Solar Guard, silent as the grave, that made his way in behind me. A single raised eyebrow marring his stoic face was the only indication he took note of my two ‘guests’.

“Miss Keen Eye?” He asked gruffly. These guard types, always so serious. At my confirming nod, he continued.

“Your services are required in the palace. Another wild animal has been reported inside the halls. Her majesty’s aid has requested you urgently to come deal with it.”

Something was off. His tone, his posture, that he came in without a word. There was no urgency here, he could have been ordering lunch for all I could tell.

But a summons is a summons, and some of my fees are paid by the crown, so I was more than obligated to respond.

“Thank you for notifying me, I shall make my way there at once. In the meantime, could you keep an eye on these two? I just caught them trying to sneak in. uhh..” The word I was looking for escaped me for a moment. “...trespassers!”

He nodded resolutely and took a position blocking the door. I gratefully made my way past, depositing Bump on his armored back, and left with my cart toward the palace. 







I should have known there was a catch. The whole situation seemed off, like I was missing something. It seemed like such an easy job. 

So why then did I suddenly find myself nose to nose with one of the most dangerous beings in Equestria?

Looking back, I arrived without much fanfare at the castle. No frightened evacuation, no readying hazard team. Honestly, it looked like business as usual.

I was met just inside the entrance hall by the castle senechal or aid or whatever the position was. Assistant and right-hoof to Princess Celestia, a busybody. His voice was grating on my ears in a special way. 

He informed me of my target, a wild opossum was loose on the castle grounds, getting into the kitchens and other mischief. More of a nuisance than a threat, but an unwelcome visitor nonetheless.

I picked up a visitor's map from the entrance area and began wandering. Scavengers and sneaks, opossum, perfect little creatures of the night. They didn't have the thieving reputation of a racoon, however. 

Racoon couldn't be bargained with, I found from personal experience. Opossums, however, were usually eager to make a deal. Opportunists.

I found the kitchens, and the most straightforward path to the gardens. Then I found the path with the most nooks, cranies, and cover to hide behind.

In between the two is where I sat in wait, a few hallways with just enough plants and fancy decorations that a quick critter could scamper between them with ease, but not enough to make a passerby wary. 

I didn't have a book this time, so I passed time by counting tiles on the floor or admiring the architecture. I never understood the need for sweeping ceilings and grandiose decor and whatnot, it was something you had built if you had too much money.

Or, I suppose, if you were the rulers of a nation.

This is the first time since i was a filly that I took time to really admire the stonework. It was frighteningly elegant, unnervingly unnatural. 

It was around the next meal time that I caught my prey.

Well, less caught and more confronted. They turned the corner and we made eye contact. Recognition shown behind its gaze, it knew why I was here. 

I stood up, facing it. Its little knees bent and toes flexed. The moment lasted for an hour in but a few seconds.

Situations like this, I had to put myself in the mindset of a predator. Ponies were, at their core, a prey species, so this took some creativity. But at this point I'd had alot of practice.

It made the first move, darting back around the corner. It only took a few moments to reach that point, turning the corner to find another identical hallway.

With no sign of movement, I knew the game was on. Any chance I took to look behind something was a chance they had to bolt to a different bit of cover, or eventually, to slip out of the hallway altogether. Game over for me.

To my luck, a broom, mop, and other cleaning supplies were just to the side of the hall, undoubtedly left by a cleaning worker gone off to lunch.

I fumbled blindly with a hoof, knocking over a bucket that rolled next to the wall on its side.

I swiped the broom and used its handle to ruffle the leaves of a nearby fern. But I wasn't watching the fern, my head was swiveling down the hallway and watching for movement. I saw nothing.

Another few steps forward, enough to reach another plant, I rustled this one too. 

I might have seen a leaf twitch a few plants down, but it may have been the wind.

Interesting.

I politely whacked a few more plants before making an exasperated sound and returning to the cleaning materials pile.

I replaced the broom, and with a little kick I flipped the bucket over the rest of the way upside down, then promptly sat upon it.

The frenzied scratching sounds of a caught opossum greeted my ears, another correct guess for me. I was on a roll, lately.

Gotcha.

The little critter had tried to double back on me, wanting to slip back down toward the kitchen the way we came instead of making toward the outside garden. Clever, but today it wasn't enough.

I tapped the side of the pail gently.

"If I let you out, you'll promise not to do anything funny, right?"

Silence.

I could come back with a cage, you know.

Silence answered me again, then a solemn tap tap.

I lifted the bucket and beheld him, as I knew it was him now. A very healthy male, well fed and nicely groomed. How long had he been swiping from the kitchens before they called me here, I wondered. 

I lifted him up and set him upon my back, his tale hooked loosely around my middle for support as his little claws dug in slightly. 

Fugitive in custody, I made my way casually for the exit. The castle aid blanched at seeing the opossum not in a cage of any kind.

"That's the one!" He cried. "Vermin! Please take it away from here, filthy little thing!"

My new pal bristled, offended. I was about to speak up and assure him that we'll be out of the castle in a moment, but he cut me off.

"Out! Out at once, before it has a chance to scurry back inside!"

This guy really did not like opossum. Probably hated disorganization too. The sounds of children playing. Discounts at stores. Who knew for sure.

I started to tone out his blathering, turning for the great doors back to the courtyard with my cart, but the furry little fiend gave my mane a tug tug.

I know, little guy, try not to take it personally. I'll have you in a much friendlier place in no time. 

But he persisted, another tug tug on my mane, harder this time. It was by now I realized that the air had gone deathly quiet, and the rodent on my back was almost jumping up and down excitedly.

Even the aid was completely silent.

All of my instincts screamed to run, jump to the side, duck, flee however I could. The fur on my neck prickled, pins and needles alight down my spine.

I was, in that moment, terrified. What could be a danger to me in the middle of a fortified castle?

I slowly turned my head to look behind me.

That is when I met, face to irate face, with the regent of the night. Princess Luna.