Drizzly, dreary mornings made police guard Speedy Bullet miserable. Trying hard not to fall asleep again, the buckskin earth pony sat up drowsily in bed. The cold bedroom of his small cottage was not a comfortable place to be, except underneath the covers. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, finally glancing at the rain spattered window. Raindrops slid down the glass, racing each other and eventually dripping onto the windowsill. It was mornings like this when Speedy Bullet took immense detail on otherwise ignored things.It was, of course, a perfectly normal day, another lousy shift looming ahead of him. Chasing down thieves and burglars, and the occasional escaped mental pony from the Ponyville Hospital, when the security guard slacked off. He didn't understand how security guards could even be security guards without a gun or even just some hoofcuffs.Finally snapping out of his pessimistic thoughts, the sargeant rose out of bed and clopped into the bathroom, officially starting his routine day. Or so he thought.
Speedy Bullet had been working with the Ponyville Police Department for almost fourteen years. His career started when he was just a bubbly colt. It was Bring Your Foal To Work Day. Speedy's father, captain Brave Leap, had brought him to the station to see the place. It was marvelous! The high ceilings, the countless cells with suspects in custody, the emblem of the Ponyville Police Force upon the walls. To a young horse like himself, it was heaven, a happy place. "Come on son, let's catch some bad guys," said Brave Leap. "Yeah! Let's beat up some bad guys!!" said Speedy the colt excitedly.
He trailed his dad to the police car, and they drove off to catch a burglar. It was stunning, seeing his own father fighting the bad ponies and bringing them to justice. He wanted to serve Equestria, and he kept that memory tucked inside him. It was one of his very happy moments.
It wasn't like that now. Reality had taken that happy thought away, leaving Speedy Bullet in the tiny kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee that tasted a lot like motor oil. It probably was motor oil. He drank it down and started to put on his police gear for work. First, his wrinkled blue collared shirt the color of one of the fastest ponies, Rainbow Dash. Then, he slipped on his leather belt, complete with a pistol, hoofcuffs, flashlight, and a fully charged Tazer. He glanced at his stubble in the mirror and reminded himself to shave in the evening. He locked the door to his cottage, and he trotted to work.
Once Speedy Bullet arrived at the police station, he walked into the lounge to pick up his hat. It sat on a hook in the corner of the room. As he put it on his head, two of Speedy's squad members approached him. Fire Volt, the blue pony with a green mane and tail, stood next to a palomino colored unicorn with a brown goat beard. "Hello, guys," said Speedy Bullet in his friendliest voice. Maybe it was a bit too cheerful sounding, because the palomino unicorn known as Starline just said "Quit the sweet candy attitude. The boss needs us in his office.Now." With that, he trotted off. Fire Volt said a soft hello, and they both followed him to their employer's office.
Their boss, a neon yellow pony with a striking red mane and tail, did not notice the police guards as they entered his office. He simply flicked his hears and stared out his window, which had a view of the distant Ponyville. To Speedy Bullet's disappointment, rain still drizzled on the town. After a cough from Fire Volt, the boss turned his head to see his three squad men sitting in his office chairs. "Good morning, Chief Blazes," said Starline and Speedy Bullet. Fire Volt, being a new rookie on the team, timidly looked at his boss. "Gentlemen, you and and some other police guards will help the Ponyville Research Facility with a very important request." Chief Blazes looked proudly among the ponies in front of him.
"What kind of request, sir?" asked Fire Volt. The chief smiled to him and said, " You have been chosen to help transport one of the facility's subjects, which you will help transport to another facility. Once there, you will stay at the lab for a few hours and then return here with reports." Once Blazes was done explaining, the other ponies looked among each other with quizzical looks. What was this subject? An animal? A rare diamond, or perhaps an alien? Speedy Bullet wondered what would happen. "Now, you go ahead and drive to the facility. It's not far, just about 20 minutes away. I'll be waiting." With that, Chief Blazes shooed the three police guards out of the office, closing the wooden door behind him.
As Speedy, Fire Volt, and Starline walked down the hall to the stairs, they wondered about their mission of the day. Would they be risking their lives to transport this so-called "subject"? What was it, anyway? Chief Blazes did not mention that. Either he simply forgot, or he purposefully stayed quiet about that matter.
The three ponies arrived at the large police station's lobby, working their way through the hustle and bustle of the day outside, where their squad cars stood eagerly in front of them. "Well, we'll see what we're transporting when we get there," said Speedy Bullet. Starline just grunted, pulling Fire Volt into his own car. Sirens blaring, they took off to the facility.
Speedy liked to listen to music in his squad car. Whatever song was on, he would sing to. That was his secret. He loved to sing, even though he was rather bad and tone deaf. He turned to a rock song, and began screeching out the words in that tune. It kept him busy on boring rides like this. The long, gray road stretched out in front of him. Through the car mirror, Speedy could see the other squad car, with Fire Volt and Starline in it. Starline was talking to Fire Volt, mouthing out words Speedy could not hear. Though he felt it was wrong, Speedy wondered what they were talking about. "Maybe Star's just bossing him around, that load of manure," Speedy Bullet said as he chuckled to himself.
After what seemed like hours, Speedy turned to a curved driveway. A sign in front of a white building said: "PONYVILLE REASEARCH FACILITY; HELPING EQUESTRIA AND ITS INHABITANTS." A second later, Starline and Fire Volt's car stopped behind him. Slowly, they got out, when an orange unicorn stallion with a darker mane and tail and a white lab coat on approached them. "Well hello there! It's an honor to meet you." As the ponies shook hooves, they introduced themselves. The scientist said: "Well it's nice to meet you, Starline, Fire Volt, and Speedy Bullet. My name, by the way, is Proffesor Formula. I know,it's a very coincidental name." He chortled. "Come now, I should introduce you to our staff and subject!" With an exchange of glances among the police guards, they followed Proffesor Formula into the building.
The hallways of the facility were white, white, and more white. As the ponies trotted down the long corridor, Speedy could obviously tell the whole place was cleaned daily. Even the white ceilings looked fresh and new. Many doors stood on each side of the halls, some with or without windows to peek into. They seemed to hold the future of Equestria, making lives of ponies easier and finding cures for ailments such as cancer. Fire Volt nudged Speedy and said, "I'm kinda nervous, but excited,too. What's it like to transport something important?" Speedy thought for a moment, then said: "It's something that will make you more experienced, that's for sure. Don't worry. You got me. If anything happens, just call me or Starline."
Fire Volt shook his head and whispered: "I don't like Starline. He's pushy and mean. I'll just call you." He smiled and caught up with the ponies, with Speedy Bullet trailing behind him. He felt proud, knowing he was a leader to Fire Volt.
" Well, here we are," said Proffesor Formula. The horses stood in front of a cream colored door that said "ANIMAL RESEARCH AND STUDY". Fumbling with his ID card, the scientist scanned it next to the door. It flashed green and make a beep sound, and the door opened. Starline, Fire Volt, and Speedy Bullet walked inside.
Nervous and his heart pounding, he now knew they were transporting an animal. He heard squcks, jabbers, even some growls and hissing. Speedy and the others found themselves in front of yet another door. They walked inside, and found a frightening subject.
Speedy saw the lagest wolf he had ever seen in his life. It was a male, with a slim, Greyhound-like build, with a thin muzzle and muscle tone all over his body. Silky gray fur covered his skinny frame like a fancy coat. His legs looked like they were built for power, slim and sturdy. His haunches were large and bony. The eyes were very striking as well, a mesmerizing amber-yellow with a cat-like pupil. He stood in a larger than life metal cage, obviously a bit scared, seeing as he was shaking.
"Everypony, meet Shade, our test subject. He's a rare species of wolf we captured as a pup, and he's still growing. It's okay, he won't bite." The wolf called Shade sat down and whined pitifully, only to perk up when Professor Formula stood colser to his cage. "It's okay boy, they're here to make sure your journey is nice and safe," He cooed. Through an opening in the cage, the scientist used his magic to slip on a large collar and a leather muzzle with holes in it, adjusting the straps.
Speedy Bullet felt uncomfortable around the wolf. In fact, he felt uncomfortable around any dog. When he was a colt, Speedy was bitten by a rouge mutt, leaving him with 16 stitches on his back leg and two days in the hospital. Lucky for him, he didn't get rabies. If this wild animal bit him, he wasn't so sure he'd be that lucky not to get rabies again.
"Oh, the transport truck is here!" said Prof. Formula happily. Since the room the ponies were in was near the back of the building, they could see a large black truck standing right outside the door. Three more squad cars from the Ponyville Police Station stood by. "Should we go outside, then?" Fire Volt asked. The scientist nodded. "You go with Speedy Bullet. Starline, come with me, sir." The unicorn police guard stayed with him and the two earth ponies walked out the door. It was still drizzling, but only a few light drops. Speedy and Fire Volt noticed all the unicorn officers entering the wolf room. "Guess they need to use their magic to get the wolf outside," Fire Volt asked. Even though it was rather humid out, Speedy felt a chill down his spine. What if something went wrong? What if the wolf attacked or even killed one of the police guards? He couldn't bear to think about that. The other guards looked around, including the two ponies there. Barbed wire fencing trailed around the vast area of the facility. Two pegasi guards flew up to the truck and opened the doors. Speedy looked inside the wolf's transportation. It was similar to a prisoner truck, but with no metal benches. Instead, it was like a massive cage, with towels covering the bottom and a cage door. The larger doors of the truck, Speedy thought, might be used to protect whatever was inside from escaping. Just like a prisoner. The clinking of chains and fences caught Speedy Bullet and Fire Volt's attention as they saw a busy scene.
The unicorn police guards and five scientists were making a small tunnel with chain link fences leading to the opened truck door. They also had a large plywood door to push the wolf in, so he couldn't back off and run the opposite direction. In Speedy's eyes, he saw this as rather cruel. Being forced into the tiny tunnel and no place to run, and the only way out was to go forward? To him, that sounded mean. He heard Starline's orders from on top of the truck. Yes, he was on the roof of the truck! "All guards, make a straight line along the outside of the fence tunnel. If the wolf tries to escape, you are legally authorized to humanely shoot it." The ponies suddenly looked nervous, and it now felt like a life-or-death situation. A gray figure slowly padded out of the metal cage. Starline used his magic to lead the wolf into the truck from the roof by a leash, while another pony used his magic to move the wood board behind the wolf. The creature's ears were flopped down and his eyes were filled with defeat. Speedy Bullet felt so sorry for him. At last, with a whistle of encouragement, the creature hopped into the truck, and both doors closed behind him. The truck and squad cars growled to life, and they sped off the gravel gruond the the other facility.
Speedy Bullet noticed Starline had gotten off the roof and said: "Let's roll!" They trotted to their squad cars, Speedy Bullet thinking about that poor wolf creature, all alone in his small, caged world.