I leaned over my desk, hooves clasped together. "Tell me, what do you mean by 'captured'."
Silent Seeker winced, shrinking into the mahogany depths of my office. "I'm sorry Director, the asset was pursued by Bounty Hunters, they located him and captured him."
I narrowed my eyes. "Then send in the retrieval team."
My agent gulped. "They... The bounty hunters captured the retrieval team sir."
I stared at her. "Bounty hunters captured the retrieval team? Bounty hunters? What, was this some sort of massive crime profiteering army?"
She shook her head. "It was just the firm that held his bond sir, but they hired some serious muscle. Detective Street Justice, formally of the Fillydelphia PD and a former Royal Guard candidate named Swift Spear. Both of them appeared to have access to non conventional weaponry, which makes sense as both of their files indicate personal interests in engineering."
I nodded. My troops still should have been able to handle a pair of hobbyist tinkerers, but imagining my men being assaulted by a pair of mad scientists with military backgrounds was at least a bit more palatable. "I assume the recovery team has kept silent?"
Silent nodded. "They've followed all operational guidelines so far. We may be able to bail them out, but it's going to be complicated... And pricey."
I looked at the balance sheet in front of me. Our little operation was quite lucrative... But we were nowhere near our income quota.
Still, leaders that did not look after their men lost them. Those troops sitting in the jailhouse may have been incompetent, but I couldn't afford to have anyone questioning their loyalties right now. The less Internal Affairs knew the better. The less my underlings knew the better.
I let out a breath and gave Silent a nod. "Make sure our men are extracted. We still have our other projects progressing well correct?"
Silent nodded. "Yes sir, we'll be able to fill the budget gap with significant room to spare."
I allowed myself a small smile. "Good. Please tell our men to be wary of any more interference, from bounty hunters or otherwise. Is that all?"
She shook her head. "Alpha Prime wanted to see you. She's looking for an update."
"Very well then, you may leave me Silent."
She bowed and left the room. I made sure to lock the door behind me and keyed the runes on the floor.
A whirl of magic filled the room and there was a loud crackle and the smell of ozone as raw power filled the air.
From that power emerged a figure. I made sure to give it a smile.
"What can I do for you Princess?"
#
I grabbed a hold of Swift Spear and kissed him hard.
He, of course, froze in shock. I leaned over to his ear and whispered. "Don't move. We're being tailed."
He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Celestia..."
I chose to ignore that. Canterlot, being a cosmopolitan place, didn't so much as flinch at our little public display of affection, but they gave us a wide berth. Unfortunately I knew that the ponies watching us would be more professional.
They were good, whoever they were. In fact I'm pretty sure they knew I made them. I became certain only when the lovely couple decided on what they wanted from the coffee cart and fled out of sight. Worse still, they were a pair of unicorns, and I'd noticed that the flicker in their horns had a little more to it than telekinesis.
Listening spells, of course. I'd spent long enough on the beat to know what surveillance magic looked like.
Honestly after the last throw down I was hoping we were dealing with stupid, if well trained thugs. But these two had cloak and dagger written all over them. Were the Dark Kitten Catchers watching us? Or had our mark gotten her hand on some assets to hire her own muscle?
"What do we do?" Swift whispered, as I pushed him against the wall with a (obviously faked) coquettish look in my eye.
"We play it cool." I said, kissing him again. Thank Luna he'd brushed his teeth. "Then we get a sleazy hotel room, shake them, and go dumpster diving."
He raised an eyebrow. "Dumpster diving?"
I nuzzled at his ear, hiding my next words. "We're dealing with some serious magic this time. I think some countermeasures are in order..."
#
A scurry down a seedy hotel's fire escape later, we found ourselves back at the warehouse.
When we opened the door to said wreck, we found an old unicorn asleep on a pile of bags from stable depot.
I gave him a gentle shake. "Sweeper?"
He cracked an eye open. "Swift Spear?" He blanched. "Oh no!" He stood bolt upright. "I'm behind schedule! I'm sorry sir, I started cleaning, but then I needed supplies from the hardware store and..." He gulped. "Please don't fire me. I swear it won't happen again."
"Sweeper we..." I thought about it for a moment. What could I possibly say that wouldn't sound insulting?
Fortunately I was saved by a massive crash of supplies. "Found 'em!" Street called. She rushed over with a packet of... Something and a stupid grin on her face.
She was also trailing an entire shelf's worth of... Well it was either garbage or impossibly valuable alchemical supplies, in this mess it was hard to tell.
I winced. "Street don't you think leaving all that stuff lying around is a bad idea?"
She blinked at me, confused. "Huh? Oh, sure. Sweeper could you put that stuff on a shelf?"
Sweeper gave her a salute and made for the pile. Oh no she wasn't...
"Sweeper stop!" I barked.
The old pony froze. Street looked lost. "What?"
I looked the detective right in the eye. "We may have hired somepony to do maintenance, but that doesn't mean you get to throw chemicals containing Celestia knows what all over the floor and then pass your mess off like a five year old. It's unsafe and it's not fair to Sweeper."
She stared at me. She was trying to keep up her usual grimace, but I knew guilt when I saw it... But there was something else in her eyes too. Something I didn't understand.
Why would making a mess scare her?
She shook herself. "When you're right, you're right kid. Sorry Sweeps. If you're serious about fixing the place up just clean around that for a bit okay? It's just a pile of old pharmaceuticals, so don't worry about explosions (all the real dangerous stuff is labeled. I'll pick it up in a bit okay?"
Sweeper saluted. "Yes Ma'am!" That said he started gathering up his shopping bags and busied himself checking the walls.
That done, Street let out a breath and held out her prize. "We're fighting magic this time kid, and not the good old fashioned lasers to the face kind. If we ever want to shower in privacy again, we'll need counter measures."
She held out a package containing some frighteningly large looking pills. "My friend Runey and I worked on these back in the day. They're an alchemical formula designed to add a little background static to a pony's natural magic. It ain't a military stealth tech, but it'll mess with any hexes they feel like laying down."
I picked up the package, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, so we just swallow a pill and we're resistant to enchantments?"
Street looked away, blushing. "Basically... It's just, uh... A slightly different administration method."
I tilted my head, completely lost. "Huh?"
She winced. "Yeah, there's kind of a reason we never managed to market these. You're going to want to go to the bathroom to take this. Don't worry, It's really not as bad as it sounds..."