Weighing his options, Shining started giving orders. “I think we should keep an eye on the casino. Not only does it seem like pirates could pass through there, but we can’t count out Eddy just yet. Cyrus, I’d like you to go back. Skydancer, it shouldn’t attract attention if you go with him.”
“What about funds?” asked Cyrus.
Shining thought about that for a moment. “You’re right. I’ll get you some to work with, although remember that it’s the government’s money, so gamble carefully.”
Turning to Airborne and Pikop, Shining said, “You two relieve Puppy and Flash at Gilgamesh’s house. I’ll send somepony to take over for you in a few hours.”
Shining glanced at Mag. “Come with me to the police station and we’ll see what we can dig up on Anchor.”
He looked at the rest of the room. “Everypony else get some rest while you can. There’s no telling when something is going to happen.”
The assigned ponies departed for their duties. Mag and Shining made the short walk to the police station. It was quiet after dark, and other than some sky or street traffic, very little seemed to be going on. Shining decided that was a good thing. An active night life would have stretched his forces further trying to keep up with it.
The lighthouse had a blocker on the lens so that light was only projected out to sea. Otherwise, it might have kept quite a few griffons up at night shining in their windows. The rest of the city was not particularly well lit, with streetlights only on the main thoroughfares.
Going into the police station, Shining showed his Royal Guard badge to the clerk and asked to see the senior officer on duty. He was eventually presented with a uniformed Sergeant and explained to the griffon why he was there at such a late hour.
“We’re looking for any information you have on a griffon named Anchor,” Shining explained.
“Stormfeather told me you might come by,” the cop said. “I’ll help you out.”
He led them to the records room and after a little digging they managed to uncover some valuable information. They had a mug shot and arrest records for Anchor that indicated his address down on the Coastal Annex Road. He’d been convicted of robbery a few times before. In fact, there was currently a petty theft warrant for his arrest.
Shining looked at Anchor’s address and asked, “If you know where he lives, why hasn’t the warrant been served?”
The cop shrugged. “At the time when the warrant was first written, we might have been dealing with more important cases. Maybe he slipped through a crack. Maybe the address is wrong.”
“We’d gladly go knock on his door if you send an officer with us to make the arrest,” Shining offered.
The Sergeant shook his head. “I'm not able authorize that. Stormfeather is the one assigned to work with you. He comes to work in the morning.”
That was discouraging, but it was only a few hours’ delay. Shining and Mag went back to the boat. He roused Rough and Ace, sending them to watch Anchor’s supposed residence.
Shining stayed awake long enough to hear them report in that the house was dark, and then he went to sleep. It turned out to be a smart choice, as the next day was action packed.
In the morning, Shining went back to the Port Talon Police early to see if anything new had turned up. He also met with Stormfeather and the two of them came back to the ship together.
During the night, Cyrus and Skydancer had come back from the casino with nothing to report. Shining intended to send them back the next evening.
Pikop and Airborne had spent the whole night watching Gilgamesh’s place with no news to report, and when they returned to the ship Shining decided not to send anypony to continue the surveillance. He figured that the pirates now knew that Gilgamesh had been arrested.
Shining sent Dim and Soft to the courthouse when it opened to search for more information on Anchor. They returned with Báistí.
“I’m interested to know what you’re working on,” Báistí said to Shining. “Your detectives told me that I should probably wait and ask you directly.”
Shining nodded at Dim and Soft, signaling that they had done the right thing. He knew that Báistí was a valuable resource, and decided that to make full use of her abilities he was going to have to trust her as much as he trusted Stormfeather.
He gave a brief rundown on what had been collected so far. Dim and Soft added what they had learned that morning, finding records that indicated Anchor’s address was the same as the one the police had on file.
The rest of the team came together for a morning meeting. Shining looked over them, noting how some were looking very unlike their pristine Guard selves since he'd relaxed grooming standards. Many of the stallions were sporting scruffy facial whiskers. Soft wore her mane down out of its usual bun. While Rough and Ace were still watching Anchor’s place, Shining remembered that Rough had tied up his tail with bands while Ace was still a neat freak and kept perfectly shaven. Overall, however, the whole group of them were starting to look more natural and that was just how Shining wanted it. It was starting to feel more like they were ingraining themselves in their new environment.
Shining decided how he wanted to proceed. “We’re going to take another look at that bare piece of land where Gaston supposedly lives. Mag, take whoever you need to get that done.”
The intelligence pony nodded to Dim and Soft. “I’ll take the girls. Plus Ms. Báistí, if you would be so kind as to accompany us?”
“Sure!” Báistí seemed enthusiastic now that she had been let in on the investigation.
The four of them left. Shining turned to Stormfeather. “We have a pretty good idea where Anchor lives. He has an existing arrest warrant.”
Stormfeather nodded, smiling at the prospect of getting things done. “All right. Let’s go.”
Shining decided to take Puppy and Flash, letting everypony else rest up for future assignments. The three of them loaded five sets of armor into a small wagon, covering them with a tarp. Puppy hitched up to the wagon and pulled it down the gangplank. The group set off.
They headed southeast through the city, meeting up with Rough and Ace near Anchor’s house. After a quick briefing, the five Guards put on their armor. Unlike the highly polished sets they wore at the castle, this metal was dull and grey. It was just as strong, however, and carried the same uniformity spells so they couldn’t be identified.
Ace and Flash took to the skies while the rest approached on the ground. Shining sent Puppy and Rough around the back of the house while he and Stormfeather approached from the front.
Stormfeather knocked on the door. A long minute passed. He knocked again, harder.
“Yeah, yeah, hold up,” called a voice from inside. The door opened and Anchor stood there, blinking sleep from his eyes. It was already midmorning, but apparently he had still been in bed.
“Anchor?” Stormfeather asked.
The pirate seemed to come fully awake, staring at the police officer and armored pony in front of him. He spun around and dashed for the back of the house.
“He’s running!” Shining shouted.
He heard the back door slam open as Rough and Puppy burst in. Anchor took a sudden detour, crashing through a side window. With a strong flap of his wings, he shot into the sky.
Flash ducked in front of him, flailing his hooves enough to distract Anchor and causing his path to divert straight into Ace, who dive-bombed into the middle of Anchor’s back, knocking him out of the sky.
As soon as he was on the ground, Rough had a rope ready and trussed up Anchor like a turkey while Puppy piled on top to hold him down. The entire encounter was over in just seconds.
“Your boys do good work,” Stormfeather observed.
Shining nodded. “Amazing how much pent-up aggression you accumulate while waiting for something to happen.”
They loaded the incapacitated Anchor into the wagon and hauled him to the police station. Once he was in custody, Shining told his Guards to go back to the ship and take a break. They’d earned it.
“We’ve only arrested him for theft, but I think I can wrangle some interrogation time,” Stormfeather said.
Shining regretted sending Soft on another assignment, but decided she could work her magic if he and Stormfeather couldn’t conduct an effective interrogation.
The two of them entered the room where Anchor sat wearing cuffs. The shackled griffon eyed the armored Guard. “Who’re you?”
“I’m here to ask you a few questions about your friend Gilgamesh,” Shining said, ignoring his question. “What do you know about Gil?”
“Nothing.”
“Really? We heard that you hung out with him quite a bit. We heard that you’re pirates.”
Anchor looked away. “Gilgamesh is an idiot.”
“No argument from me,” Shining said. “Are you going to let him drag you down into this?”
“What, are you offering some kind of deal?” Anchor asked.
“Why don’t you tell us what you know and we’ll talk about what it’s worth to us?” Stormfeather suggested.
“Do you know Gaston?” Shining asked.
Anchor’s head bobbed. “Yeah.”
“What does he do?”
“Not sure what he does, but he’s kind of important. He might even be one of the three Lieutenants.”
“Who are they?”
“They work for Hookbeak. He’s the top guy.”
“Do you know anything about Hookbeak?”
“No.”
“Do you know who the other Lieutenants are?”
“No.”
“Do you know anything about a griffon with a scar on his shoulder?”
“No.”
Shining concealed his exasperation. “Let’s go back to Gaston. Do you know what he looks like? Where he lives?”
“He’s got a red head, grey body, and blue eyes. I don’t know where you can find him. He always came to me.”
“Where did he meet you?”
“At my house.”
“What times or dates?”
“It was random.”
Shining frowned inwardly. He could devote resources to watching Anchor’s house, but if it truly was random then that might be futile. On top of that, there was no way to guarantee that anything Anchor was saying was true. Still, anything was better than nothing.
Shining asked, “What do you know about corn? Why was Gilgamesh trying to sell it?”
“Well, it’s something everybody needs, right?” Anchor frowned. “Gil was trying to sell it? He wasn’t supposed to. He was supposed to hang on to it. But then, he’s an idiot.”
“Why was he supposed to hold on to it?”
Anchored shrugged. “That’s what Gaston said. I get paid to do what I’m told and not ask questions. Now, what were you saying about this deal?”
It soon became clear that they weren’t going to get anything else out of Anchor without a promise of immunity, and Stormfeather wasn’t sure the police would be interested in granting that for this particular crook.
Shining headed back to the ship. He stripped out of his armor and took a shower. He was just drying off when Mag, Dim, Soft, and Báistí returned. They had uncovered something very interesting.
“We visited the property that Gaston lists as his address and examined it thoroughly. There is a small shed on premises with a lock on the door. It is concealed by a few trees which is probably why it wasn’t spotted from the air last night.” Mag paused, knowing the important bit was coming up. “After leaving, we stopped by the courthouse to check for sale deeds. The property was previously owned by Gudgeon, the mayor.”
Looking worried, Báistí added, “I didn’t know about this. But could it be just a coincidence?”
“We’ll have to figure that out,” Shining replied noncommittally. He turned back to his intelligence staff. “Anything else?”
“I took some soil tests, although I don’t know if it’s worth the effort to process them,” said Dim.
“We saw a pegasus stallion checking us out,” Soft provided. “I don’t know if he was just curious, or knows something about the property.”
“I think I might know who it was,” added Báistí. She gestured to the map on the wall. “He lives near Gaston’s property.”
Shining thought over the evidence, trying to decide where the strongest lead lay. “All right, I think I know what we need to do next.”
Well we definitely need to confront the mayor now. Maybe keep an eye on Anchor's house for a bit, just in case we get lucky. Aside from that though, I can't think of anything else to do.
Hmmm. I say that we try to get some information on this pegasus stallion. He could provide some useful information. Also, make sure we keep an eye out for Gaston now that we know what he looks like. Last of all, see if we can find out why Gudgeon owns that shed.
Well, first , find out some public information about this stallion at the courthouse... and use some of that to unnerve the stallion. But yes we need to see what this stallion is doing as well.
Other then that... keep ears open on anchor's house, and maybe get a search warrant from the police to search the shed. Since this character is connected to a petty thief, they can I hope search it for stolen goods.
Also maybe ask the mayor about the property and by all means do a little soil testing rather get information finished and cleared up then miss a clue.
Test the soil. Have a relaxed patrol through common areas. Keep an eye on Anchor's house. Find out about the pegasus stallion. Then see about gaining entry to
FluttersI mean, Gaston's Shed.The boat that sank had the shipping manifest to Mr. Thrift on board, and Gil wasn't supposed to sell the corn. I'm wondering if that means that Gil sank the boat so that he could sell the corn for his own profit and the pirates would think their cargo was lost - he appears to be their normal contact for selling corn, so none of the other pirates would be likely to hear anything about it if he did it right, and attempting to sell the corn himself against the wishes of the pirates would seem like a terrible idea unless they didn't know he still had it. It would also explain why he was both looking to sell the corn and extremely jumpy and evasive at the same time while talking to Soft Touch.
Everyone who has talked about him has called him an idiot, so it wouldn't even be surprising that his great plan was kind of dumb and failed horribly. Since griffons can just fly away from a sinking boat and don't need to make the kind of arrangements someone who couldn't fly would need to get away, any griffon who made the boat sink slowly enough that it could be rescued practically has to be incompetent, or at least has little experience with boats, which you wouldn't expect to be the case if the pirate leadership had ordered someone to sink the boat.
Put some pressure on him by telling him they've worked out that he tried to sink the boat to hide the fact that he stole from the pirates, and that the questions they've already been asking around the place are probably enough for the pirates to work that out too, eventually. If he actually didn't do it, could still probably imply that the pirates will think it likely based on the questions being asked about him selling the corn and the attempted sunken ship. Should be able to get all the information he knows from him by promising him protection from the pirates. Can they spin that with the police chief?
I wonder if the address of Gaston's residence used to have an actual house before the mayor sold it? Dim Sun didn't specify what the tests were for, but the soil test would probably show evidence of a recent fire if that was the reason Gudgeon sold the property and the reason there's no house there now. The pegasus Báistí thinks she knows might be able to say if there used to be a house there as well, since he seems to live in that area, so make sure to ask him about that.
I'd still like to hear Báistí talk about griffon ethnic groups and names.
3510513
Want to know why Báistí's name is different from the other griffins?
3510638
Yep. Pretty much. It's odd that she's the only one with an Irish name.
3510720
Huh... not sure how many picked up that her name is Irish, she is one of my characters and back in her home headcanon the principle group of Griffins are based on ancient Ireland. Not sure how TnaB will work it out, especially when you add in that she doesn't look like a regular eagle based Griffin
3510735
Oh.. I guess that explains that. I actually already mentioned it in the comments a few days ago, so I'd guess anyone reading the comments already knows.
I am Irish and speak the language somewhat, which is why I recognised it.
3510790
Found the comment, didn't see it honestly. I think we shouldn't think too hard on the differences in names, some of the griffins are reader created thus might not fit exactly with this particular Griffin Kingdom. I'm honestly more surprised that there aren't any French sounding Griffins since the fandom seemed have latched onto Gustav as the one true griffin of the series.
So her name means rain... hmm thought it meant something else. .
3510971
Well, just like in English, sometimes words with the same spelling can have different meanings in different contexts. I can't remember a second meaning for báistí off the top of my head, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. What did you intend it to mean?
I am kind of surprised at the coincidence of having it turn out to be an entirely appropriate weather-related name if you hadn't intended it though.
And yeah, the stuff I was trying to work out was largely based on assuming her name to be a clue that there were different ethnic groups among the griffons, which doesn't work so well if she was introduced by readers.
3511082
Honestly I can't remember, I made her over a year ago thus been too long.
As for the ethnic group, do what I do, she's from the northern reaches of the Kingdom which fits as she is a snowy owl/snow leopard Griffin
That mysterious pegasus stallion might just be a curious neighbor. Or he might be the dread pirate Hookbeak. You never know. Theoretically, Hookbeak could also be a nickname given to a unicorn by griffons. But most likely, Hookbeak is deep in hiding at this point. And now for lists.
1. Talk to the mayor about the property.
Recommended units to send: Shining Armor, Soft Touch, Baisti and Rough Ride.
The mayor has already gotten to know these three ponies, so he might be more open about what he knows. Baisti might be able to gleam some secrets.
2. Talk to the pegasus. (should happen at the same time as #1)
Recommended units to send: Ace, Dim Sun, Pikop Andopov, and "Puppy" Hound Dog.
Split into groups of two to find the pegasus, if found, have Dim and Puppy do the talking. I picked Dim over Mag for this task because she can investigate and is also female, which may help a little.
3. Interrogate Anchor. (should happen at the same time as #1 and #2)
Recommended units to send: Mag and Stormfeather.
Should be easy for a cop and an investigator.
4. Search the city For Gaston, the scarred guy, and make the map better. (Again, same time as #1-3)
Recommended units to send: Airborne and Flash Sentry.
Fly around, multitask, but stick together. No flying solo.
5. Blow the government's money at the casino while keeping an eye on Eddy and looking out for pirates. (Still at the same time as the rest)
Recommended units to send: Cyrus and Skydancer.
Cyrus is really only good for this one task as of right now. Skydancer is backup again. No flying solo.
I daresay I thought of something for everyone. But wait! There's one more thing that should be done after actions #1-5 are all finished.
6. Investigate Gaston's property, including the shed.
Recommended units to send: EVERYONE.
I get the feeling the shed might be really important. It could be booby-trapped, so have one pony break in through one of the walls, not the door. Everyone else stand back. I saved this one for last because this should only happen after the team has gathered as much information as possible before going in. I suspect a secret tunnel and an underground hideout.
Find out what that soil sample indicates and then confront the mayor. He's somehow connected to this.
Keep an eye out for Gaston and see if we can dig up more info on him. Otherwise there's not a lot we can do. That shed is likely hiding something but it's locked and we'd need a warrant to avoid getting busted for breaking and entering.
we need priority's so I think we should Interrogate Anchor using soft of course find our mystery stallion and look into the mayors business dealings.