The Puppetmaster
All across the city of Stalliongrad, the small noises of the night provided a murmer of depth to the otherwise silent room.
The Doctor sat perched on a cushion inf front of a fire, preparing a lecture to present at the university the next morning. After turning a couple more pages, he closed his time, gathered his notes and quietly walked up the stairs to join his Wife in bed.
Slowly opening the door, he tread softly upon the well worn planks of the floor. Setting his notes on the end table, he pulled the covers back and tossed a hoof around the dark form of his wife on the other side of the bed.
However, instead of finding the warmth of his love's side, he encountered only the cold resistance of a pillow lain on the bed to look like a pony.
Frantically he lit the lamp in his room and was aghast to see that his wife was gone. Laying in her place were a number of pillows set so that they looked like a pony under the duvet. Even more odd was the envelope resting on the top of the stuffed fakery.
The envelope was made of old yellowing parchment and sealed by a sigil of a scorpion pressed into a brittle green wax. none of that mattered however, as he tore the folded paper open and read the damning words contained within.
----
The Detective was lounging around his office searching for inspiration. Walking from his desk to the window he looked out over the drab cityscape, seeking an unidentifiable objective to hone in upon. After a couple minutes a flash of light caught his attention.
A light came on in an apartment a couple blocks away, and the gentle glow illuminated the shadowed form of a pine tree.
Seizing the moment, the cream colored stallion raced across the room and dragged his tools over to the window. Quickly mixing the necessary pastes with the deft touch of a master, he lined a small tray with an assortment of color.
Reaching down, he grasped his newest acquisition in his mouth and began to apply the pastes on the rough surface of a canvas.
His inspiration was running full tilt, any distraction could cause the moment to disappear forever. Using broad even strokes the image of the building around him began to take shape. Grey met black and white as the bleak surroundings set a backdrop to the small amount of illuminated color that stood out like a beacon in the middle of the night.
Using just the tiniest amount of reds and yellows, he feathered his brush along the image to create a small enveloping aura of light around the window, providing a glimpse at the life contained within an expanse of mediocrity.
Just adding a little more color, a loud thumping noise from the door tore his attention away from his masterpiece.
Standing up, he forced himself to walk away from the painted canvas and towards the door that separated his haven from the rest of the drab world outside.
The rough wood of the door creaked slightly as he opened it to reveal none other than his green coated friend the Doctor. However, any joy from seeing his good friend disappeared when he saw the disheveled shape that the stallion was in.
Motioning him in, the Detective beckoned the Doctor to enter his office.
“What happened Doc? You look awful.” The detective stated. Unfortunately, the fact that his friend had left his oh-so beloved bed and wife behind this late at night could only mean that something really bad had happened.
Looking at his cream colored friend he held back tears as he began to explain the discovery that his wife had been kidnapped. He pulled out the letter, and by the way the Detective’s face grimaced, he knew that the news wasn’t going to be good.
“Well, for starters; the seal on that envelope means that this goes beyond a simple kidnapping.” The doctors sharp intake of breath belayed his fear about the implications of maybe not being able to get his Wife back. “The good news is that I know who did it and we may be able to get her back.” The Detective continued on.
“Who took her?” Whispered the Doctor desperately, after a night of questions, he needed some answers so that his sanity could be maintained.
Knowing that the news was bad the cream stallion took a deep breath. “Your Wife has been kidnapped by the Order of the Red Scorpion.” The mere mention of that name caused a chill in the room.
“Are you certain?”
“Unfortunately, yes. The methodology is similar to many other kidnappings that have happened recently, and the letter just served to make it certain who did it.”
Sitting in silence, the Doctor sat in melancholic silence. Then after a couple minutes he began his questioning once more. “What are we going to do?”
After some thought the Detective replied simply. “We are going to sleep.”
Surprised by the answer, the Doctor’s anger and frustration began to build. “But my Wife is out there being held by those savages! Every minute we waste sitting around is another minute they could be... be...” Unable to bring himself to say the words, he simply stomped at the ground in frustration while tears formed in his eyes.
“Look Doc, right now, we could go and storm their base, try to get to her, and then be killed. What we need to do is take a break, sleep and when we are more rational in the morning we will make out plan. Does that sound acceptable?”
Despite his desire to immediately chase after the kidnappers, he saw the wisdom in his friend's words.
“Come on Doc, you can crash on my couch in here tonight.”
The Detective walked over to a chest and pulled out some blankets and tossed them on a ragged looking old sofa.
Walking over to the couch, the Doctor just stared at the ceiling wondering why this all had to happen to him. Then the thankful bliss of sleep overtook him as the darkness descended.
----
The smell of coffee and the light of the day intruded on the darkness of his sleep. Cracking his eyes open, the Doctor had no idea where he was. After a second of panic, all the memories of the night before came back to him in a rush. Throwing off his sheets, the Doctor stood up and looked around for the Detective who was nowhere to be seen.
Walking over to the percolating coffeepot, the room was filled with the soft clopping of his hooves on the worn wooden boards.
Sitting next to the coffee was a chipped ceramic mug with a faded picture printed on the side. Under the mug was a piece of paper folded over with the word “Doc” on it.
Setting the note aside for a second, he filled the mug with coffee and savored the sweet smell of the black brew. Taking the coffee and the note back to the couch, he sat down and after a couple sips of coffee to wake up and calm his nerves, he read the note.
“Doc,
Once you wake up, I don’t want you to freak out that I am not here at the moment. I am out gathering some information about the kidnapping, gathering some equipment for the rescue and buying some muffins for breakfast. I hope that you still like lemon poppyseed. There is coffee in the pot and there may be some food in the minifridge under my desk. Its the safe on the left, combination is 234-34-345. I should be back around noonish, so please do us all a favor and rest up; you’re going to need it.
-D
P.S. Don’t try to open the safe on your right. If you mess up the combination it will explode.”
A little confused, the green stallion walked over to the desk and found two identical looking safes on opposite ends of the desk. Both of the safes seemed to be humming slightly and neither gave much of an indication as to which was the fridge.
Looking at the note, he want to the safe on the left and carefully put in the combination. Once the last number was aligned, there was an audible click and a small whoosh from behind the door.
Opening the door to the safe, there was nothing left inside but a rotten apple and some yogurt that looked like it was trying to crawl out of its plastic prison.
Barely avoiding from puking, the Doctor hastily closed the fridge and went back to his coffee knowing that he wouldn't die from drinking it.
Exploring the room the Doctor found a stack of mystery novels his friend had been reading and passed some time perusing them while waiting for the Detective to show up.
----
The lock on the door juggled for a minute, then the door opened and the cream Detective entered, his back loaded with all sorts of equipment and a bag of muffins in his mouth.
Looking up from the book, the Doctor greeted him, grabbed the bag of muffins set it on the desk and nabbed one of the delectable treats inside to calm his raging stomach.
“So did you find anything out?”
“Well the price of muffins went up to ten bits per dozen. I mean seriously, has the price of flour gone up that much?!”
The doctor was not amused. Noticing the glare he was on the receiving end of, the Detective continued on. “And I found out where they are keeping your Wife and who is in charge of the place. Now all we have to do is wait till nighttime, sneak into their base, break your Wife out, and sneak away without being caught.”
“So where are they keeping her?”
“Stronglock.”
“Wait, The Stronglock? As in Stronglock the biggest, most impenetrable prison in all of Equestria?!”
“Uh, no? I meant Stronglock Holdings. Its well known warehouse based front company over by the river. It should be a breeze to sneak in a grab her.”
“Oh. That doesn’t sound too bad. What time are we going?”
“I figured sometime after sunset. Right now we are going to go scope the place out and see what we can learn from the area”
Finishing the muffins and the coffee, the two stallions grabbed a few necessities, and left the office locking it behind them.
--------
Eight hours later
“I can’t believe you made me sit in that puddle for two hours while the guards were looking for us.” Muttered a disheveled and wet Doctor.
“I cant believe you actually puked everywhere when they were walking past us”
“It’s not my fault they smelled so bad. At least the puke in their eyes kept them from seeing straight so we could hide.”
“Whatever, at least we know how many guards they keep posted there.”
Digging around in a pile of clothes rewarded the Detective with two mostly clean towels. Tossing one to the Doctor he began to dry himself off. “Hey, you may want to clean up a little. Even if we are in the best of hiding spots, they will still be able to smell something as bad as you do right now.”
Ordering a quick meal from the take-out place downstairs, the two would-be rescuers pulled out a blueprint of the building and began to plan their daring rescue.
------------------------
With the slightest groan of bending metal, the Detective leaped from the air duct and landed on top of the guard, silencing him with a chop to the kidneys. Looking back up at the vent, he motioned his partner to drop down as well and to follow him.
Coming up on a locked metal door, the Detective fumbled with a couple lockpicks in his mouth, and after a short time got the lock turned.
The steel door squealed slightly as it pivoted on it’s rusty metal hinges. In the back of the room was an orange mare, her chains clinking on the floor as she tried to move away from the blinding light that disguised her captors.
Seeing the occupant inside, one of the two ponies galloped inside, and almost tackled her into a gigantic hug.
Realizing exactly who it was who came to rescue her, tears began to roll down her orange cheeks, dripping onto the floor beneath her in joy.
The other figure came over and began to unlock her chains, one hoof at a time while her beloved Husband held her tight in his hooves.
“The chains are off, we have to hurry up and leave before they notice the missing sentries!” Hissed the Detective from the doorway.
Helping his Wife up, the Doctor followed the detective back out into the foreroom. Two doors awaited them, As planned they blocked off the door further into the complex with a desk and filing cabinet and prepared themselves for the mad dash to freedom on the other side.
Looking at his wife the Doctor told her that no matter what, she was to gallop as fast as she could to the gate on the other end of the warehouse. Once beyond those doors, they were free ponies, and could escape to someplace safer.
Standing behind the door, the Detective counted down.
"5..."
"4..."
"3..."
"2..."
"1..."
“GO!”
Throwing the door open the Detective, and the Doctor and his Wife all galloped across the warehouse floor, startling the guards and workers in the area.
They were a quarter of the way across.
One pony, Larger than the rest and red with a green mane bellowed at the top of his lungs
“They have the prisoner! Do not let them leave this building!”
They were halfway across.
The Red leader charged ahead of his guards and moved to block their path
They were three quarters across.
The Detective looked at his dear friend and hollered at him. “I will take care of him, you need to escape with your wife!”
Nodding his assent, the Detective and his Wife somehow mustered the energy to run even faster as the Detective ran
headlong into the giant of a pony.
The sounds of their brawl behind them, the Doctor opened the door and the two ponies ran off into the awaiting darkness, free from their pursuers.
-----
Hours later, the couple had finally escaped there persuers and had made it back to the relative safety of their apartment.
The Doctor locked the door and made sure that their apartment was as secure as it could possibly be.
While he was doing so, his Wife interrupted his train of thought. "What happened to your friend?" She asked concerenedly.
Stopping in place, the Doctor thought for a moment.
"Well, I honestly don't know. When we were younger, he escaped from worse, so I think he will be fine..."
Seeing the look on her husband's face, she moved in and wrapped him into a tender hug.
Moving over to the couch, the two lovers just sat in silence hold each other close. Then they looked up and gazed into each others eyes, the light from the moon outside casting shadows across the room. Slowly their faces began to move towards each other, seeking something more than just a hug...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Wow, when you told me she did this I thought you were joking.” Whispered Shining Armor to his wife.
The couple were laying down under a mess of dirty clothes in Princess Luna’s closet, Shining Armor still in shock as he was watching the lunar diarch of Equestria.... doing.... that.
“I would never joke about this sort of thing Shiny, now you owe me five bits.”
Grimacing at her usage of his hated nickname, he dug five bits out from a pouch and handed them to her.
“Cadence, look at her. This is so wrong.”
“But, honey; This is just so awesome to watch.”
After a brief pause, Shining Armor couldn’t help but agree. “Ok, you're right. She is adorable though.”
Pushing the door open a little more, they continued to watch the Princess laying on her back, all four hooves in the air.
Covering each hoof was a different color sock, each with their own accessories and apparently, their own voice.
She was pushing the green and the orange color sock together making kissing noises, while the cream sock with a fedora and the red sock with a felt cigar sat forgotten during the make out session.
Luna froze in place when she heard a silent snickering coming from her closet.
Curious as to what could be causing the sound, she used her magic to fling open the door, only to find a certain Cadence and her husband giggling with barely contained mirth.
Their hiding place discovered the couple jumped up and sprinted to the door, the sound of Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice echoing through the hallways behind them.
Finally reaching a safe distance from the nocturnal princess’ room Cadence faces her husband.
“Did you get all that on video?”
With a smile, Shining Armor held up a small camcorder.
“Good.”
“Eeyup.”
A/N: This Idea just came upon me last night, and I wrote it in the course of a day. I have gone over it a couple times, but I know that there are mistakes I haven't caught yet. If you find any and you feel charitable, please PM me the mistakes and I will get them corrected ASAP.
Thanks for reading,
Chase