Power Ponies: The Storm Unleashed

by Darksonickiller

The Search

Power Ponies: The Storm Unleashed
Chapter 2: The Search
By Darksonickiller and Izangi

“I’m afraid every exterior museum camera was knocked out of commission. Wires cut, or circuits fried; every last one of em’.” Police Commissioner Golden Badge hung his head low in vexation, scratching at his neatly trimmed black mustache with the tip of an unsteady hoof.

Mayor Blossom was beside him in the briefing room of the Maretropolis Police Department Headquarters, and shared in the seasoned police stallion’s largely forlorn mood. “The MPD were unable to recover security footage of Zapp or what happened to her, nor of what direction it was that Mane-iac and her criminal cronies carted off to with the stolen artifact.”

“Mane-iac must have planned her raid on the museum for days, maybe weeks in advance, then!” The Masked Matter-Horn declared, shaking her head at the possibility.

“According to the museum Curator, the security staff were still in the process of changing shifts with the night watch when Mane-iac began her heist.” Golden Badge said, pointing to the video screen on the wall, which was displaying footage gathered from several interior cameras simultaneously in a grid.

“Which is when musuem security is at its most vulnerable,” Radiance added.

“Precisely,” Golden Badge nodded.

Everypony then watched the screen as they saw several glimpses of the Mane-iac or her henchponies in various frames of video, canvassing the layout of the museum, knocking security guards unconscious, or stealing additional artifacts, no doubt for a hefty profit off to the side down the road in the city’s thriving underground trade in stolen art.

“While the loss of such a priceless artifact as the Pharaoh’s Comb from the museum is an unfortunate loss for our city, it is nothing compared to the loss of somepony as important as one of its great protectors,” Mayor Blossom said with a frown of distaste, her disgust at the contents of the footage evident in her voice. “You have my sincerest condolences, Power Ponies, but things have only just begun.”

Blossom turned to Golden Badge for elaboration. “By that, Madame Mayor means that the police of Maretropolis will stop at nothing until Zapp is returned to you all safely. I’ll pull some strings at the state and federal level, and see about getting some assistance from the National Intelligence Community.”

“Thank you very much, Commissioner Golden Badge, Mayor Blossom,” Mistress Mare-velous said with a grateful nod. The rest of the Power Ponies echoed her, and they all got up from their seats to take their leave.

“Best of luck in your own search, Power Ponies,” the Mayor said.

Golden Badge nodded back at them. “I’ll see about my boys and girls in blue nabbing Mane-iac personally for this, if I can help it.”

---

In the day that followed and on every single one after that, not a single hour was spent without at least one of the Power Ponies actively working to detect even so much as a trace of their lost friend and comrade. The mares and Hum Drum searched in almost every place they could think of; every district, every borough, and every neighborhood.

The Power Ponies looked into private residences and businesses, even the various crime families that the heroes were on at least speaking terms with, hoping for even a hoofful of leads or eyewitnesses at the time of the museum incident. They would always emerge empty-hoofed from each, not a single step closer to finding Zapp.

Eventually, in a week’s time, the search zone expanded to well outside Maretropolis itself, from as far north as the Trotham City metropolitan area, to as far south as Crystal City, and all towns and cities in between. Local police, government agencies, and even fellow superhero teams up and down the East Coast lent their assistance to the Power Ponies from time to time in their efforts.

Unfortunately, even with such dedicated searching and professional resources committed to the task, no physical sign of Zapp could be found, nor any word of her. It was as if the pegasus mare had simply vanished off the face of the Earth, leaving even her potential death as a mind-boggling uncertainty for all involved.

Meanwhile, back in Maretropolis, the Power Ponies were in their penthouse headquarters atop Maretropolis Tower, preparing to begin yet another day of strenuous searching.

Between the incessant search, and the heroes’ preexisting job of crime fighting, the fatigue of their situation was rapidly beginning to show on all the heroes, not to mention the young Hum Drum.

The colt sidekick sighed from a mixture of tiredness and melancholy as he ate breakfast with a downcast look. Saddle Rager paid him more than a few worried glances with her golden but slightly bloodshot eyes, barely able to eat her own bowl of oatmeal. Two voices, both belonging to Mistress Mare-velous and the Masked Matter-horn respectively, were issuing out from the HQ’s central mission room, which adjoined the high tech and spacious kitchen, an equally spacious lounge, equipment room, and a staircase that lead up to their private suites, rooftop garden, and other rooms.

“We’ve searched up and down the coast, I think it’s high time that we widen the zone further. Go national. International, if we have to.”

“Mare-velous, even with all our powers and abilities, we’re just six ponies. We’re already stretching our resources too thin as it is, searching the entire coast while still trying to fight crime. The government is losing confidence that we can find her, and the other superheroes have their own jurisdictions to attend to.” Matter-Horn’s voice paused, sighing. “There must be something else we haven’t tried yet...something that will finally lead us to her, and fast.”

Hum Drum and Rager both heard Mistress Mare-velous let out an irritated snort. “That ‘something’, should be broadening our search zones. What if Zapp was snatched up or kidnapped by some other diabolical mastermind while we were staring down Mane-iac, and is on the other side of the planet right now?”

“Don’t you think said mastermind would have sent us a oh, I don’t know, ransom or something by now?” Matter-Horn asked sarcastically.

“Maybe...I dunno!” Mare-velous replied, the frustration in her voice increasing. “That’s my suggested course of action, and I’m sticking to it!”

With Radiance occupied in her room trying to conceal the effects of fatigue and stress on herself, and Fili-Second still asleep after having spent the entire night zooming about the city hoping for signs of Zapp, the duo were currently the most active of the team at present besides Hum Drum and Saddle Rager.

They had both awoken just before the crack of dawn, blundered into the kitchen robotically to nab two mugs of coffee, and promptly stormed back into the main room, having barely so much as greeted the pegasus and young earth pony.

Seeing Hum Drum in such a low mood, Saddle Rager decided to see if there was anything she could do to somehow lift the kid’s spirits, even a little bit. “Hey, Hum Drum?”

The colt looked up from his half-finished waffles with a frown, his mask off and laying beside his utensils like Saddle Rager’s currently was. “Hmm?”

“Want to watch My Little Donkey with me after breakfast? There’s supposed to be a marathon on all day, and only Mare-velous and Matterhorn have hero duty today.”

To Rager’s relief, Hum Drum’s features seem to brighten quite a bit. “Really, you watch it too? Sure!”

“All the time,” Saddle Rager replied with a smile and a light giggle. “Believe it or not, it helps me with managing my power, so that I only get angry when it’s needed.”

Hum Drum starting attacking his waffles with a newfound interest, his mood improving even more as he got bits of butter on his muzzle. “It’s great to know, Rager, that’s so cool!” he said in between bites. “Who do you think is best donkey? Ooh careful, trick question!”

“All donkeys are best donkey, of course,” Rager answered with a wink, grinning. Hum Drum returned the grin.

It was at that moment that the Masked Matter-Horn and Mistress Mare-velous returned to the kitchen in the same semi-distracted fashion as they had left it, picking their argument up right where they had left off mere seconds ago. Hum Drum and Saddle Rager remained where they were, wondering how long it would be before their overworked friends actually registered their presence in the kitchen.

“I’m telling you, we simply can’t do it. Maretropolis still needs us to watch over her, who will do that if we’re halfway across world on a wild goose chase?” The Masked Matterhorn asked incredulously. “The police? On their own, against super villains?”

Mare-velous could see her colleague’s point, but she rolled her eyes nevertheless. “Fine, then. What do you suggest we do?”

“From here on out, we ought to start sending out broadcasts all over the region, offering rewards for anyone with leads on Zapp’s possible whereabouts. If we can’t find info ourselves, maybe some will make its way to us.”

“While we do what, sit on her haunches in between villain cases and hope for the best? If you were missing or kidnapped, wouldn’t you want us to go to the ends of the universe itself to find you?”

Matter-Horn had to think for a bit at that, causing the earth pony to arch her brow at her. “That’s...you know what, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t,” she finally answered, frowning. “Missing team member or not, Maretropolis still needs us. Not that I would ever give up on Zapp or any of us, but there’s a middle ground here, in all this. I aim to find it, before we all run ourselves ragged.”

“And I hope you do,” Saddle Rager interjected, with a mixed look of stoicism and bashfulness only she could pull off. “and soon, before we all keel over from exhaustion. Finding Zapp is one of our most supreme priorities, but we still have our sworn duties to protect the city. You two arguing won’t get us any closer to finding her.”

“Oh, Saddle Rager, Hum Drum! I…” The Masked Matter-Horn sputtered, finally registering the duo sitting at the table. “You heard all of that, huh?” They both nodded. “Sorry.”

“The toughness of the situation is just getting to us, guys.” Mistress Mare-velous explained apologetically. “We’re mighty sorry about all that, earlier.”

“Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us.” Hum Drum reassured both mares, getting up and gesturing Saddle Rager to follow him to the lounge. “If you think sending out a broadcast might help, and you haven’t tried it yet, then why not do it? With Maretropolis itself as our eyes and ears, that could free up our government friends to focus on the countryside.”

Mare-velous smiled a bit, before the smile turned into a grin. “Ya know what, Matter-Horn? The squirt’s right, and so are you, afterall.” She knelt down to be eye level with Hum Drum as he stood beside Saddle Rager. “Kid, you might just be the brightest out of all of us. Let’s go get that broadcast out to the city, tell them to search high and low for Zapp, and to be on the look out for anything suspicious; my estate back in Trotham can offer big bucks for anypony whose intel leads to the safe return of Zapp. We’ll be sure to find her in no time after that!”

After quickly chugging some more coffee, the Matter-Horn nodded vigorously. “I’ll send Radiance out to check on the tower’s radio mast, and I’ll go get everything running in the mission room.” The primly-maned unicorn was already making her way out of the kitchen, habitually putting her goggles on as she went.

“Capital!” Mistress Mare-velous replied. “Hum Drum, whatever you and Saddle Rager are up to on your day off, could you both go and wake up Fili-Second, first? We need her to go tip off the local radio stations in a jiffy so they can relay our bulletins.”

Hum Drum gave her a salute before donning his mask, and Saddle Rager gave an eager nod before they both made their way up to Fili-Second’s room.

In a few minutes, Radiance was already hard at work outside priming their communications equipment for a large-scale broadcast, Fili-Second quickly (and somewhat irritably) left Maretropolis Tower and was now zooming about town, Saddle Rager and Hum Drum were glued to the lounge’s idiot box, and the Masked Matter-Horn and Mistress Mare-velous were in the mission room, already going over the finished script for their upcoming transmission.

Radiance poked her head in from a doorway that lead to one of the outside rooftop access ways. “We’re all good now, girls. You’re on the air!” she called to them.

“Thanks, Radiance,” Matter-Horn called back as Mare-velous donned some headphones and waved a hoof thankfully at her.

The Masked Matter-Horn flicked on some radio consoles that began emitting quiet tidbits of other broadcasts with her magic, and levitated the mic to her muzzle. Various monitors off to the side and above them displayed muted video feeds of busy city intersections and TV newscasts. She carefully cleared her throat before turning on the microphone and speaking into it.

“Good morning, fair citizens of Maretropolis, this is the Masked Matter-Horn, leader of the Power Ponies. I am speaking to you now, under the most urgent of circumstances.” Matter-Horn paused for just a second and looked to Mistress Mare-velous, who was monitoring the strength of the transmission throughout the city. The earth pony smiled encouragingly.

“You’re doing great, keep going.” she said in a whisper.

The Matter-Horn nodded and quickly continued. “No doubt, you have all by now heard the unfortunate news regarding the recent and almost inexplicable disappearance of the superhero known far and wide as Zapp, our valued colleague and dear friend. I’ll be frank with you all: we need your eyes and ears.”

Mistress Mare-velous nodded as she adjusted some dials. Matter-Horn continued. “Anypony with verifiable sightings of Zapp, viable leads, clues, or any other form of information that leads to her discovery, or the discovery of anyone involved in her disappearance if applicable, will be handsomely rewarded. This reward is not offered by the city, nor the Mayor, but by us personally. Please be on the lookout for Zapp, and stay ever vigilant. Thank you.”

With a sigh, the Matter-Horn placed the microphone back on its stand and wordlessly made her way over to the lounge, Mistress Mare-velous following closely behind. She didn’t even bother to ask Hum Drum or Saddle Rager what they were watching, and just plopped herself down on the sofa next to them, staring at the TV and holding her head up with a hoof in exhaustion. Mare-velous took one of the recliners off to the side.

“You think the city will help, now?” Matter-Horn inquired finally after several minutes, to nobody in particular.

Before the others could answer, Fili-Second darted into the room’s doorway, accompanied by Radiance.

“Actually, I already spotted a few folks on the way back here who were launching some airships over at Maretropolis International. They had signs with Zapp’s picture on their sides with dollar signs that said, ‘find me.’ or something like that.”

Mare-velous nodded sagely. “Thought as much. We...or rather, I...just offered them a blank check.” Everyone nodded at that.

What passed around all the Power Ponies’ minds that remained unspoken however, was that all of them were willing to spare next to no expense, save for the security of Maretropolis itself, if it meant reuniting with their friend.

Fili-Second and Radiance joined the others on the couch. “You never were bashful about your family’s more than prosperous corporate background, were you, Mare-velous?” Fili-Second half-heartedly gibed.

“Why should I be?” Mistress Mare-velous retorted, fumbling with her utility belt. “Unlike some others who ride out on their families’ fortunes, I put mine forward to equip this whole shebang of ours with not only part of my company’s skyscraper, but all of the latest crime-fighting equipment available!”

Fili-Second, sensing that she had clearly struck a nerve with the earth pony, grinned sheepishly. “Ah, that’s right, of course, heh-heh!”

“So...uh, is anypony worried that some of our nemeses might see our broadcast as a sign of incompetence? Anypony at all?” Radiance put forward. “Think some villain or two might be emboldened by our asking for help?”

“Oh...that, that actually hadn’t crossed my mind…” Hum Drum said nervously.

Saddle Rager looked away from the TV and glared at nobody in particular. “That’d be a very incorrect assumption on their part. I for one am still at the top of my physical game.”

“Hmm.” Matter-Horn shook her head after a moment of thought. “To address your concern, Radiance, that could be to our advantage.”

Radiance twitched an eye oddly at her. “C-come again? Have you lost your marbles, Matter-Horn?”

“Hold on a sec,” Mistress Mare-velous interjected, a lightbulb practically turning on above her head. “I think Matter-Horn here means that it could actually mean some villains might end becoming careless, possibly including whomever might be involved in Zapp’s disappearance, if it wasn’t Mane-iac!”

Fili-Second let out an excited gasp. “We could set up traps using intel the citizens provide! Those mooks won’t even know hit em!”

“Exactly, girls. Nailed it.” Matter-Horn nodded. Hum Drum sighed in relief, and Fili-Second did a hoof-pump of triumph. “Let’s not start getting overconfident ourselves, though. We might let our guards down.” The unicorn looked at a picture of their team on the coffee table in front of her, focusing on Zapp in particular. “And we all know we can’t afford to let something like that happen again.”

Comments

[Solarkness]

Interesting...

still should keep going.