Abby stalked down the corridor as Luke held the three ponies in the air above him until they arrived in an interrogation cell and the Gallade set them down at the table as Abby sat down across from them. Then she glanced at Luke. “Let’s get this over with,” she said with an irritated shake of her head. Luke had informed her of what the three had been trying to do but said that he needed them awake to get more information.
Awaken, Luke’s voice commanded within their minds.
The first to rouse themselves was Frigid, and she took in where she was before settling herself back down. She knew there was no real point to fighting at this juncture. Not yet.
The second was Level Head. She, too, took in the room, the fact that her fellow enforcers were also taken with her, and settled herself. She had confidence in Tolerance’s abilities to get them out of this bind.
Speaking of, Tolerance woke up, took a look at Luke, and an expression of nearly rage crossed his face before it smoothed out. He took a look at Abby and was all smiles. “My word, what sort of development have we landed ourselves in this time?” His words carried just a touch of magic to them; best to start laying the foundation early.
Please stop that... it is annoying, Luke stated quietly in his mind. Your ‘spears’ are barely tapping on my walls.
“Yeah, and I was about to go to sleep after a long day so cut the shit,” Abby agreed with a glower.
Tolerance sighed. “And what do you actually have on us? Not much, I’d wager. We are professionals for a reason.” His smirk was nearing irritating proportions.
“If I still had hands you’d be eating the metal desk,” Abby informed him blandly. “Luke?”
Well, to begin with, there was your assault on my pupil Vinny, along with the contents of your mind suggesting that you wished to kidnap him in an attempt to get to my friends, Luke said with a small shrug. After which we have the orders that you were told to ‘get rid of’ them from your superior.
Tolerance sputtered. “That’s a clear lie! We merely were told to get rid of the blue and red one from the slots!” A moment passed before the unicorn realized the depth of his error. “Aw, horseapples.”
“Tolerance, perhaps one of us should do the talking,” Level Head suggested.
“Taking information from our minds cannot possibly hold up in a court,” Frigid added.
Abby simply smirked. “So, you work for Pegasus Air... tell me about them.”
“Why should we?” Level asked. “Logically, any information we give you will only ensure that we do not receive any future contracts from them. And as they are the largest import and export company in the city, work would then be hard to find for those such as us.”
“So, why would a company like that be involved in money laundering I wonder,” Abby mused as she looked over the pair. “Also, what do you mean by import/export company? What do they move in and out of the city?”
“Like she said,” Frigid replied. “We will tell you nothing. And you can’t hold us, otherwise we’d be waking up to a court date.”
Actually, we may hold you for as long as we’d like, Luke said with a small, half smile. You see... I waited until Abby got here to wake you or to appear. So... she is the only one who knows you’re here. This interrogation cell is out of use at the moment... all manner of things could happen to you without a single person noticing.
“Please,” Tolerance scoffed. “I’ve made more compelling threats. I’ve carried out more compelling threats. And if words are all you have, we’ll happily wait down here. Our employer will come up with something.”
Tolerance... you are now a vegetable, Luke said calmly. Tolerance’s eyes went blank and his head drooped forwards. Luke looked over at the other two. He now believes that he’s a squash, though I have allowed his body to continue functioning as if he were not.
“Fascinating,” Level Head said. “It would appear that we are at an impasse. We will not say anything, due to our professionalism, and you will not permit us to leave until we do.”
“Yeah,” Abby agreed with a tired sigh. “I don’t suppose you’d change your mind if I told you that you could have an angry God after you if you don’t would you?”
“Gods fall, in time,” Frigid said. “We were even working on a plan to take on an Alicorn, should our employers ask for it.”
“However…” Level started.
“Level?”
“Just because we can’t say anything...doesn’t mean you can’t. Keep it to yes or no questions, and we’ll try to answer without a word.”
“What are you doing, Level?”
“Bargaining,” Level Head responded. “Restore Tolerance afterwards, and we’ll answer your questions as well as we can.”
“Works for me,” Abby said before closing her eyes for a moment. “Is Pegasus Air doing anything illegal?” Level Head nodded. “Smuggling?” Level Head nodded again. “Okay smuggling what... drugs? Ponies? Pokemon?”
Frigid nodded at the first two, but hesitated and shook her head at the third. “At least, not yet.”
“True,” Level rejoined. “They ship anything. Anything. Their slogan is that they’ll have it to you in fifteen minutes in the city, or it’s half off. And their unofficial one is that they’ll treat you like family.”
“I see...” Abby said before nodding and continuing. “Are there plans to start smuggling Pokemon?”
“Not that we know of,” Level said. “The plans we had were simply for the blue and red one. We are not our employers. However...look into the history of other shipping companies in the city if you want to see what they do to those that try to muscle into their turf, or simply defy them.”
“Right... so it’s ‘Old Muscle’... yeah, I’ve dealt with this kind of thing before,” Abby said, frowning. “Though they were more along the lines of sex slavers... still, same basic idea really.”
Frigid, surprisingly, actually winced. “She has said, multiple times, that she doesn’t care who does what with the things she ships. As long as it isn’t in her yard. And thank goodness for that.”
Abby’s eyes narrowed. “Who is ‘she’?”
“The head of Pegasus Air, of course,” Level Head responded. “Business Mind. Our employer. Oh, she used proxies to hire us the first few times, but eventually she dropped pretenses. She doesn’t permit any illegal activity on her properties besides the smuggling. You want to purchase someone or something, fine. But no using until you’re out of the building.”
“I’d ask you if you could possibly justify that, but I know better,” Abby said, her rage at a cool simmer as she glared at them. “What are her plans for the Pokemon in the City? Is she going to make a move against them?”
“Perhaps we should tell you of our plan as it stood,” Level mused.
“What would we have to hold over them then?” Frigid replied.
“Nothing, and that seems to be the point,” Level rejoined. “Recall that the taller one turned Tolerance into a vegetable.”
“Something we should have paid him to do,” Frigid agreed. “Very well, tell her.”
“Our plan was simple enough in theory,” Level turned back to Abby. “First, attempt to bribe or force the blue and red one out of town. Then, if those tactics failed, we would have used our contacts with the newspapers to print several days worth of anti-Pokemon articles in an attempt to shame him into accepting. Finally, should he prove resilient to even that, we would have gone to court and made it all very nice, tidy, and legal that Pokemon be removed.”
“Ah... I see,” Abby closed her eyes. “That explains those newspaper articles Ace was talking about... those were Pegasus Air’s fault?”
“Most likely,” Frigid replied. “Though, they were supposed to wait for me.”
“At least my contacts with the courts know better,” Level Head said. “And as a little tip...there once was a rival shipping company in town known as the Sonic Boom Express.”
“And they’re no longer in business, are they?” Abby inquired, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“They’re no longer in Equestria,” Level replied. “Their members were scattered to the far corners of the globe. Some to the griffon lands, some to the zebras. I hear one even ended up in the Crystal Empire. One night, Business Mind said one thing when she was tired of dealing with them. ‘I’m head of an import and export company. Export them!’”
“And what was the ‘export’ process like for the Sonic Boom Express workers?” Abby asked her with a small frown.
“One night. A load of tranquilizer darts and any gangs that would join on. They never knew what hit them,” Frigid replied. “I should know. We were part of it.”
Abby closed her eyes and then opened them again. “She does realize that a vast number of Pokemon can destroy skyscrapers and have armor covered skin several inches thick, right? And that the very least of them can breath fire.”
“At this point, I don’t think she cares,” Level said. “She’s used to being in control of the city. She’ll do anything to get it back.”
“I think I’ll have to rain on her parade then,” Abby stated. “Tomorrow or the day after... what are the defenses she has around her building?”
“Minimal but highly trained. Not as bad as us, but loyal to her. We’re enforcers for hire. They’d die before they let you through to her,” Frigid replied. “She never expected to have to do something like this. Her money buys loyalty from the gangs, and the way she treats her workers instills them with a fervor second only to the one most ponies have for the Alicorns.”
“Essentially,” Level summarized, “It’ll be both better and worse if you were to take us on in a fair fight.”
“So, I take her on in an unfair fight,” Abby stated with a small nod. “Does she happen to make appointments?”
“She does have a secretary who handles her schedule. What it is, we don’t know. Who it is, we do. Quick Notes, pegasus mare. Blue coat, black mane and tail. Mark of a clipboard. Once again, likely to be loyal. Good luck. You’re going to need it. She doesn’t even respond to Tolerance’s talent.”
Abby glanced at the squash. “No offense, but I don’t have a high respect for his talent.”
“Neither do I,” Frigid replied. “However, it has proven useful, his ability to manipulate. The problem is, he needs something to work with. Her loyalty to her boss is so great, it just causes his magic to bounce off when he tries to go against her interests.”
“Luke is capable of taking down an Alakazam in mental combat... heck, only Metagross can withstand him if he really puts his mind to it... I think we’ll be fine,” Abby said before letting out a sigh and glancing at them. “You know, I just wanted to get a new branch of Rangers set up on this world... not get caught up in some giant conspiracy...”
“Blame your red and blue friend for dodging us,” Level responded. “It could have ended with him. As well, any new branch of law enforcement would have caught Pegasus Air’s eyes eventually. Would you rather have dealt with her now, or later?”
“Fair enough,” Abby said, suppressing a groan, it was late. “Are there any more details that you can give me about this group that would prove important?”
“Only that they’re equal opportunity employers, so be prepared for everything,” Frigid replied.
“Wonderful...” Abby said, closing her eyes before looking at Luke. “That all?”
Indeed... Luke said before he glanced at Tolerance. You are no longer a squash, though you will always remember when you were.
The stallion jolted awake and looked at the Gallade with a slight expression of fear. “What...what happened?”
“We turned on our employers while you were...indisposed,” Level replied, a slight hint of a smile on her lips.
Tolerance turned to Level before turning back to Luke. “I see. Well then. I would apologize for our actions, but I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t believe it.”
Good... now then, I shall take you to some cells and leave a note with Ace... also... none of you will not remember my use of coercion other than Tolerance gaining an appreciation for honesty... and perhaps growing a vegetable garden, Luke said within their minds, his eyes flashing blue.
“Pity,” Level head replied before her mind was cleared. “I was going to ask you about doing that to him whenever he acted up.”
Simply say the words ‘squash’ from this point on, Luke replied with a slim smile. And say it once more to bring him out of it.
“... you’re kidding me,” Blackwing said, staring at Abby.
“Yeah, I wish,” Abby replied, wiping tiredness from her eyes. “So... think you can do anything about this?”
“We’re Celestia’s Guard, we won’t let this happen without a fight,” Blackwind said before he glanced at the slumbering form of Novi on his desk. “Besides... I happen to like Pokemon.”
“So... the Guard will be ready?” Abby asked with a hopeful expression.
“Yes... We’ve had our eyes on Pegasus Air for a while now and with this information...” he closed his eyes and then nodded. “Yes, we’ll have our ponies out there in force tomorrow.”
“Thank you sir,” Abby said, smiling. “Now... I’m going to get some sleep.”
“Good, tomorrow should be eventful and you’ll need your rest,” Blackwing replied. Abby nodded her head and left the room, walking back to the one she shared with Kasai.
“How was the ‘stakeout’,” she asked him as she caught sight of his head raise slightly in the dark.
“Boring and lonely without you here beside me,” Kasai answered with a small chuckle as she curled up beside him and he leaned his muzzle down against hers. “Though now that you’re here... I’m feeling much less lonely.”
“Thanks for that then,” Abby said, licking him before she let out a yawn and her tails wrapped around his. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed.”
Her eyes were closed before Kasai could reply, so instead, he didn’t. He just shut his eyes and leaned his head down against hers, drifting off to sleep as her breath rose and fell beside her.