Overused Specter-centric Pun
"Agent #5, this spell we have on file for you. This... Luminous Cruelty. Disguise yourself to make the Siren General drop her guard, get in close, and then use it on her."
"Squealin'! I thought you would never ask!"
"Luminous Cruelty? That's ominous. What does that spell do?"
"According to #5 herself, it's 'the worst pain one can suffer without experiencing harm'. This was the spell that convinced those rehabilitating her that she was beyond help: the pony she used it on fell comatose immediately, and only remains alive to this day on account of life support. If hidden safely away, Leviathan will lack that same support for herself: she will die inside a month and disappear from the public eye, her whereabouts unknown."
"Any reason why we can't just kill her sooner? Seriously: stab. Boom. Done."
"Did you learn nothing from the report on her arrival, Agent #9? The mechanics of how she arrived here are still unknown: if she dies violently, there is no guarantee that your armor will protect you from the explosion. Best case scenario, you could end up in a strange land much like she did. Worst case scenario, you would die along with her. No. Agent #5 will stash Leviathan out of sight within our most secure safe house until it can be confirmed that she has passed away quietly. Following this, she will be taken apart and her pieces studied to help advance our magitech." A moment of silence as what was said sunk in. "Agent #7?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Alter your disguise and attend one of the matinees at the Pyre of Fears. Locate a safe place to hide one of our radios. Leviathan and Gray Ghost will likely reconvene there following the trial for Agents #8 and #9's underlings. With any luck, our eavesdropping will unearth the Ghost's home in short order, without any need for additional reconnaissance."
"Sounds easy enough, sir. I'll do it."
"Finally, to all of you: another joint operation. This will ensure that the Ghost will never be in a position to threaten us later..."
The poor pony working the evening shift at the MRPD's front desk had no idea what had just happened.
One moment, he had been working on a few pieces of paperwork while keeping an eye on the front doors for any potential visitors. The next second, there was a pegasus hunkered down on his desk. He shrieked, his voice hitting an unusually high pitch as he fell over backwards. A half dozen other officers and staffers, attracted by his scream, rushed into the front lobby to investigate.
The pegasus's tail was lashing about like mad, whipping the air so quickly that at least one pony thought it could generate a windstorm on its own. Her eyes were 95% irises and pupils with just a hint of white around the edges, and they bored straight into his own with a cold ferocity. Her ears were laid back as flat as they could get, and most of her coat was unnaturally puffy.
In a word, she was peeved.
"Miss, calm yourself down," one of his co-workers called out. "What's the situation?"
"I would like to report a kidnapping," Gray hissed, words dripping with venom. "One unicorn, one pegasus, and three earth ponies. My family."
The former S.M.I.L.E. agent had come clean to her family on that aspect of her past, instructing them not to tell anyone---with that word emphasized by a warning hiss that promised permanent groundings to her children ("you will not remember why you're being punished, but you will admit in your hearts that you deserved it") and an immediate separation from her husband if word of the group's existence spread because of them. It pained her deeply to say those things to them, but she went through with it. Thankfully they understood the seriousness of the situation even if other things still escaped them (Zig-Zag notably had to have things dumbed down for him some), and they promised not to breathe a word of it to anyone.
As she had stated in her heart previously, being forced to choose between her loyalty to Equestria and her devotion to her family was nightmarish. You have no idea how much it hurts to make me say those things, Celestia. Please don't make me do it again.
After their discussion, the family had gone out to dinner; the griffon that Gray had unexpectedly impressed when she was a rookie had long since opened his own restaurant, and she wanted to take advantage of the dinner deal he'd been offering customers that week. Most of them had filled up on vegetable pizza (while Gray, as she tended to, had hers with a meat substitute) before going home.
It was when they were walking down the hallway towards their apartment that they found themselves overtaken. For reasons she didn't understand, Ocean Guard and Ebony stopped in their tracks, shivered violently, and fainted dead away--quickly inducing surprise and panic.
When she and the others tried to rouse them, Gray and Energy found a pack of dogs barreling down the hall after them, barking loudly. Gray managed to keep from fleeing long enough to realize that they had no scent, but her son didn't know what to look for, kept running, and found himself ensnared in somepony's telekinesis. A washcloth was jammed into his mouth, preventing him from raising a ruckus.
As the illusion faded, Gray realized that they were being attacked. A tiny dart flew towards her neck, but she saw it coming and swatted it out of the air--and in that moment of distraction, Fiver and Zig-Zag found themselves yanked off the ground. Crying out fearfully, she charged at the nondescript figures who were carrying them off, only to put on the brakes before she could run into the business end of a spear. A glimmering blue energy shield taller than she was blocked off the hallway, keeping her from progressing further.
As her anger and frustration rose, the air shimmered: first there was nothing, then there was a stallion covered entirely in dark green scaly armor. She realized that the energy shield was being maintained by a similarly armored pony next to him. "We require your family, Gray Ghost," the larger one rumbled, his voice tinny on account of his helmet. "Surrender yourself to us at the alley behind the Crystaller Building by noon tomorrow, and they will be released unharmed. If you do not, I can guarantee you will not see them again."
Screaming in equal parts equine and feline fury, Gray bolted towards the energy shield with the intent of either flying through it or over it---she wasn't sure which, as she hadn't thought that far ahead. Before she reached it, something squeezed through the gap between the shield and the ceiling: an Equish Mastiff, this one very much real, landing in front of her. The dog bared its teeth and growled, and Gray's heart temporarily seized in the face of her lifelong fear as she recoiled from it.
The dog remained where it was, blocking her path as the abductors absconded with her family. As soon as they were gone, its features... softened? "Dreadfully sorry about all of this, Missus," it spoke regretfully, catching her off-guard with its speech before it turned and followed the group down the fire escape.
Several doors on the floor opened, admitting residents of the building who had been attracted by the noise. A few more charged into the hallway from the floors above and below---all of them far too late to be of any help, even if they were in a position to. "What's going on in here?" one of them asked, more irritated at being disturbed than worried about anything. "What's all this racket? Why are you yelling?"
Gray didn't answer at first. From her husband and oldest daughter passing out to the talking dog leaving her behind, the encounter had taken no more than a minute, minute and fifteen seconds tops. The kidnappers had arrived out of the blue, and had left just as quickly. Her brain needed a little bit to catch up.
...
And when it did, five ponies were blown across the hallway in Gray's wake. One of them barely managed to catch a split-second image of her fangs and outraged eyes before she was past them and gone, as if she had never existed. For that one moment, the building--normally so warm in the summer--felt inexplicably cold.
As they struggled back upright, one of the ponies summed up the thoughts of everypony present. "Gray Ghost, indeed."
Gray was thorough in describing what happened, though she left out what she'd told the family before leaving the Pyre. In addition, she'd turned over the dart that the kidnappers had tried and failed to use against her, thinking that Forensics would be able to figure out more.
She wrapped up her report by giving those present complete descriptions of her missing family members. Once finished, she slumped against the chair that she'd been guided to, feeling overwhelmed as her anger finally left her. Ponies rarely ever handled personal crises very well, and she was no exception to that: for the first time since she'd married, she felt truly alone.
After a short time a thought crossed her mind, and she sat upright in realization. Leviathan. She should've been at Hyacinth when we had returned, helping those two thieves get situated. Why weren't they there? They could've helped me stop the kidnapping!
The lobby's doors opened, and hoofsteps were heard. Distracted by her own problems, Gray ignored them at first... but did a double-take when she heard a familiar voice say her name. "Sally?" she wondered, looking on over.
Sure enough, Drama Heart was there just a few feet away. It wasn't that which got her immediate attention, though. Instead, her eyes went directly to what was hovering overhead wrapped in Drama's magic: Leviathan's Frost Javelin. "Sally?" Gray asked again, starting to feel afraid at the implications. "Where did you get that?"
"One of my neighbors found it," Drama explained, worried at her friend's reaction. They both ignored those officers who were listening in. "He saw somepony climbing down a ladder from the roof. When he went to investigate, he found those two ex-thieves suffering from obvious head injuries, and the billboard was damaged. Fairy's weapon was just sort of off to the side. He had a taxi take the two of them to the hospital, but he wasn't sure what to do with this, so eventually he turned it over to me."
Gray knew that Leviathan wouldn't carelessly leave her equipment for others to find. After all, she wouldn't, so why should somepony who had proven their credentials as a warrior do it? This isn't right. Something's wrong about all of this.
"Missus?" an officer called for her as he entered the lobby. "We've got the results back from Forensics."
"Huh. That was fast," Gray commented, turning her attention to him.
"And there's a good reason for that," was the response she received. The officer was frowning, and he was stealing periodic glances at the weapon Drama was holding. "We've seen the potion in that dart multiple times in the past year. It's the exact same sedative that the Midnight Castles liked to use to put their targets to sleep. We barely had to do any testing to figure that out."
"The..." Gray's mind went over this fact as she reconsidered who had kidnapped her family, and the ramifications of Leviathan somehow losing her weapon. "The description I gave a few moments ago. Does it match up with either of their leaders?"
One of the officers held up a hoof, indicating a desire for them to wait, then raced out of the room. He returned several minutes later, dour as dour could be. "The armor that you saw two of the kidnappers wear are a match for the sets we procured earlier, with the addition of helmets," he explained. "And while we don't know for sure what they look like without them, the color schemes line up with the coat colors of both leaders."
Gray and Drama were both incensed at this for their own reasons. For the former, it was because she'd just pieced together who the rest of the kidnappers were, disguises or not. Venturing a guess, they either figured out who stole their files, or they know about my association with Levi.
Drama, meanwhile, was angry because she hadn't forgotten what had almost happened weeks before. Learning that her life's work was the target of a massive robbery was not the sort of thing she could dismiss out of hoof. Hearing that they'd moved from burglary to kidnapping didn't help her mood.
The desk officer cleared his throat, addressing Drama. "You said that the robot's weapon was just lying around?"
She realized as she replied that her words were more irate than she'd intended, and she dialed it down part-way through. "I haven't seen her since she left earlier. She was supposed to get those two that today's trial acquitted set up at Flower Row. I don't think she'd just leave this sitting around, would she?"
"And I didn't see her at all at the apartment," added Gray.
The officer pondered this. "Best to play it safe." He turned to one of his co-workers. "Go find Coffee-and-Cream, would you? She's Leviathan's go-between with the Department."
...
Coffee had been getting out of her uniform in preparation to leave for the day, but on being told what was happening, she put it in reverse. She recognized the both of them upon meeting them, inquired what was going on, and got a brief synopsis of the situation.
Nodding upon being told what she was supposed to do, she reached a hoof up to her radio. "General Leviathan, this is Officer Coffee-and-Cream. Requesting a sitrep. Come in, General."
Long seconds ticked by, with no response. She tried again. "I repeat, this is Officer Coffee. Come in, General Leviathan. Are you picking us up?"
Nothing. Coffee made several more attempts at getting Leviathan's attention, but was left with nothing but static to show for it. With each failed try, everypony in the room became increasingly bothered. The two closest to the lost Reploid were especially worried.
After the eighth try, Coffee slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, everypony, but she's not responding. I don't know what's going on."
Gray's ears turned back. "They got her, too..." she whispered. "How?"
Drama, having turned the Javelin over to one of the onlookers for the Police to hold onto, tapped Gray for her attention. "You never mentioned exactly why you were here talking about those thieves."
...
By the end of Gray's explanation, she had started to cry. Between her family's disappearance and Leviathan's, it was beginning to become too much for her to handle. Drama, shocked at the news but concerned for one of her few real friends, let her hug it out.
Coffee-and-Cream was pacing back and forth, glaring at the floor. "There's something off with that," she commented. "Yes, they were thieves, but none of the group had any charges of murder or assault on their records. They had to know you would report this to us. They've got to be bluffing."
Gray shook her head. A tear that was hanging off of her temple flew away. "I can't take that c-chance," she said, voice trembling as she let go of Drama. "If I can't find them tonight, then I'm turning myself over to them before the deadline. I don't w-want to just give them up. Those five are the world and the sun to me!"
"At least give us a chance to do our jobs first," Coffee answered, sternly yet not unkindly. "Whether they are or not, we'll do everything we can to find them. I'm assuming you turned over descriptions of what your family looks like?"
"Yes."
"Then we can get the Department searching for any clues as to their and the kidnappers' whereabouts." Coffee's pacing picked up some speed. "And I don't think it's a coincidence that Leviathan vanished at the same time. Assuming it's the same group, they've got to be hiding her somewhere."
"Yes," Drama wondered, "but where?"
Coffee stopped, turning to face them with determined eyes. "That's what I intend to find out. I've had the privilege of working with the General for some days now, and I've seen the end results of her work. I'd be remiss in my duties if I didn't help return the favor."
"Permission granted," a gruff voice grunted.
Drama and Gray nearly jumped in surprise. Coffee more than made up for them, yelping and doing a complete 360 before whirling to salute her just-arrived superior--something that the rest of the officers present were quick to follow up on. "Chief Grove!"
The heavy-set Chief of the MRPD was old enough to have a graying mane and wrinkles lining his face. His eyebrows were consistently furrowed to the point his eyes were nearly invisible, making him look a lot meaner than he really was. "Cut it out," he ordered, waiting for the group to drop their salutes before he continued. "Whoever kidnapped the Siren General committed a crime against a foreign representative. It is our responsibility to support her with everything we have, and I do mean everything. Coffee, go to where the General's weapon was found and begin your investigation there."
Coffee saluted him. "Yes, sir."
"Is it okay if I come along?" Drama offered. "I realize I shouldn't be butting in on official Police business, but..." She swallowed. "Leviathan is a friend of mine, and I want to find her as much as you do. I know a few spells that will help if we run into any trouble."
Grove eyed her. "And who are you?"
Gray's hoof immediately shot to Drama's shoulder before she could resort to a bombastic introduction. "Right. Dignified. Got it," the unicorn muttered before clearing her throat. "Drama Heart, alias Burning Salamandra. I'm a professional illusionist."
"You're sure about this, Sally?" Gray asked her apprehensively. "It's not a show. This will get rough."
"Oh-ho-ho, I am long past caring about 'rough'." Drama's smile did a poor job of concealing her anger. "We were talking earlier about supporting Leviathan's goal of getting home, Gray, and I'm going to do it. I'm not a fighter, but I don't need to be." Her horn lit up. "What I have is more than enough."
One of the officers sniffed the air. "Oh hey, donuts!" he exclaimed, turning towards the front desk and reaching for... nothing. "Hey! Where'd they go?! I swear I smelled donuts here!"
Drama's horn dimmed. "Need I say more?"
Most of the officers muttered to themselves as Grove considered Drama's offer. "Alright, you can help Officer Coffee in her search. Just remember that you'll be following her lead. If she tells you to do something, do it. If you don't, whatever happens is entirely on you. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Drama agreed, willing to accept those conditions.
"What about my family?" Gray brought up anxiously. "I don't want to just leave them."
"We won't," Grove assured her. "This is a search-and-rescue operation the likes of which the department hasn't seen in years, Gray. I feel that it's time our secret weapons earned their keep."
Gray didn't know what to make of the Chief's statement. "...Secret weapons? You're police, not military."
"You'll see. Tenant?" Grove ordered, addressing the officer whom Drama had just gotten done deceiving. "Make sure the K-9 unit is ready. Gray, if you'd be so kind as to take them to where the kidnapping took place, we can get to work."
"Missus? Are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine. Just give me a minute."
As it turned out, their "secret weapons" were five dogs of various breeds and sizes, held back only by the commands of their respective trainers. Gray's fear almost shot through the roof when she saw them at the apartment not long after, triggering a brief exchange. She was relieved when the trainers told her to retrieve any treasured or frequently-used items that the dogs could use as a starting point.
Once she had sufficiently overcome her fear to focus on what needed to be done, she realized what purpose the dogs served. All five of them were of breeds known to be excellent trackers, and the way they only acted on orders showed that they were well-trained. If they could single out the individual scents, they stood a pretty good chance of picking up her family's trails--and the kidnappers' besides.
This is a recent development. They didn't have this unit when I was with the Department. Good thing, too--there's no way I would've been able to resist running.
One by one, she brought out items for the unit's inspection, trying her best not to physically touch them more than she needed to. And one by one, each pair of trackers left as the dogs caught onto the scents. One of Ocean's whistles. Ebony's blue flyswatter, her green one having been on her bandoleer when she was nabbed. A frisbee Pure Energy often played with when he was alone. One of Fiver's hairbands. Finally, Zig-Zag's now-favorite toy--a plush doll of Princess Cadance, compliments of the real deal after her recent visit.
Gray lingered in the hallway long enough to make sure that everypony got off the fire escape safely, then retreated to her apartment and shut the door. Several times, her neighbors knocked on the door demanding answers. She ignored them all, shunning their company when it would've been better for her state of mind to confide in somepony, and barely noticed when they finally gave up. As time passed and Celestia's sun dropped below the rooftops, she restlessly paced around the apartment. There was little she could do at this point but wait.
"Mrrow."
Gray flinched as Echo, the only one she considered family still in the apartment, got her attention. The cat was sitting at the door, his tail twitching as he regarded her impatiently. "What is it, little boy?" she asked with concern, approaching him. "Please don't tell me you want to go out. It's too late for that."
"Mrraow."
She winced as he made his intentions clear. "Of course you do. I don't know what I was thinking." She started to unlock the door, pausing to look down at him and lightly pet the back of his head. "Please... be careful. Stay out of trouble. Okay, Echo? Being without the rest of my clowder's bad enough. I don't want to lose you, too."
Echo wound his way around her legs, his tail tickling her chin as he went, telling her in his own way not to worry. His assurances complete, he padded past the now-open door and disappeared around the corner.
Gray shut and locked the door, then slowly walked into the living room. She surveyed her surroundings, seeing no one but hearing the random chatter of her children and husband in her memories. The cozy apartment had been so full of life that morning, but now it was dreadfully empty. She whimpered softly, her heart aching.
Don't give up yet, she told herself. The department isn't full of imbeciles. They know what they're doing. Trust that they can bring your family back to you. Her eyes sharpened like steel. And if the worst comes to worst, and I never see Ocean and my kittens again... then Celestia help those who did this.
She had no urge to do the night's chores and no desire for entertainment or sleep. She turned to face the door, plopped down onto her side, stretched herself out, and stared straight forwards as she waited for news of her family's return. Sooner or later, they would come back.
Step-mama's in no condition to find my not-littermates. She's too distracted, too worried. The ponies and their dogs are doing what they can, but it's not enough.
I've recently eaten. I've had a good rest today. I've done what needs to be done at home. Step-mama needs to stop worrying and crying.
So I guess I'll have to do some searching myself.
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11670776
been awhile might have forgotten
The poor fools just made things worse for themselves. But oh well. Levi will have so much fun dismantling the S class Maverick leader of theirs.
Customers is the word you're looking for here.
Who's Elk?
Also, it's typically spelled bandolier. I say this because I've never anyone write bandoleer in place of bandolier. And apparently it's an accepted spelling variation.
Hoo boy! They've angered the wrong cat!
11670796
Sbd if Gray was thinking snart she make a call to Celestia
Gray beheld the state of her living room. It looked almost like a tornado of blades had swept through, ripping curtains, toppling bookcases and savaging the couch.
Left untouched on the edge of the table, was a single empty glass.
As she swept it off the table to smash on the ground, Gray mentally reviewed the scolding she would give to Echo...
And added cat treats to her shopping list.
11670796
i dunno if dismantling is the correct word here. I feel like the proper word would be deleting them
11671539
in the girly words of her 'father' "It's time to get serious"
The hunt is on!
I take back what I said, there is a world where she doesn't immediately die
Not gonna lie, the second "what if" chapter kinda threw me off lol. I did end up not reading this story for a while, kinda got dialogue heavy. I'm the type that likes the action. But after I saw the updates, I gave it another read. Keep it up Curtis, you're doing very well.
Hm. I’m perplexed by Gray not getting Celestia involved ASAP.
11670886
Thanks for pointing out the errors. ()^_^ Anyway, there's a family of seven OCs I've had waiting in the wings that predate G4 MLP by a year or two. Basically what I did was alter their backstories (though not their personalities) to fit the story's setting.
Elk was the name of Pure Energy's basis. I must have entered his name by accident.
11670987
Beautiful.
11672491
Thanks. I could be doing a lot better, admittedly, but I'm glad people are able to enjoy what I've cobbled together from what was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
11670925
11672517
Several reasons for this, but the biggest one has to do with pride. A few times in the story, the MRPD has been pointed out to have a dislike of calling for help from outside the city when the situation starts growing beyond their control (something which the antagonists exploited to ensure that Leviathan and Gray would be the worst opponents they'd face). Gray picked up that mentality during her years with the department.
In addition, tipping off Celestia would be---in Gray's mind, at least---the worst thing she could do. She's operating under the impression that if there's the slightest inclination of the situation going south (such as evidence of Celestia's involvement, direct or otherwise), the kidnappers are going to decide "forget this" and kill her family. She may or may not be wrong, but in any event she doesn't want to take the chance.
11672734
no, no it wouldnt. I could also see her roped into giving swiming classes to elementary school kids
11678746
Well it's just that 7 8 9.
11678561
I remember the joke, but it's different.
"Why" and "because", not "Is?" and "it's just".
11674050
mayhaps or maybe its even the fact there is more than one Alicorns now. He didn't plan into trying to oast 3-4 alicorns
...Okay, requirements for basic suspension of disbelief met.
With all of Pony's 'nature-y" powers, bloodhounds are a new development? I mean, I know Fluttershy is high-powered, but... something she could set up in minutes with a dog she never met before and they don't have professionals willing to put in a few hundred/thousand hours?... perhaps Ponies really have a mental block/bias against repurposing behavior that was used to kill their ancestors? A bit different from humans... although some of that (botox, lithium, anesthesiology, to a lesser extent the search for spicier peppers) may be more of a modern thing? Dogs and booze (especially distilled), are all pretty old though (less so for distillation).
Of course, part of the inertia may be bureaucratic/political? Imagine how some people IRL might feel if a police force wanted to start using say... bengal tigers. Okay, that might not be the best example, but it is what is coming to mind.
Looks like Fluttershy isn't the only one with animal friends...