Sushi Squad
Life and death. That was the magnitude of the decision a yellow pegasus now held. Time was running out, and he knew all too well that if he didn’t decide within the next thirty seconds, it was all over. As the pegasus peered around at his surroundings, he noticed a mob of ponies and griffons converging on his location. It was now or never, the decision had to be made. Biting his lower lip the pegasus relented as he lunged forward, grabbing over six containers of specially priced sushi before throwing them into his cart just as the mob of others crowded around the area.
“That was close,” the pegasus mumbled as he made his way to the registers. It wasn’t very often that sushi would go on sale at the supermarket he frequented, and being tight on money, it was a luxury for the yellow ball of fluff. Though every once in a blue moon, he would happen to be in the right place at the right time as today would show. All of the specifically marked sushi containers with an orange label were discounted at seventy percent off. From his estimation, he could enjoy over a week's worth of sushi if he portioned it right. The thought alone made him lick his lips in anticipation as he began to empty his cart onto the conveyer belt.
“Hey Gear, I see you got to the sushi first this time,” a red mare stated with a giggle. Gear nodded his head while beaming a smile towards the cashier.
“I know. I almost got mauled by a crowd when your manager made that announcement. I barely escaped with my life,” he admitted in a dramatic fashion. The mare behind the register rolled her eyes as she finished totalling everything for the pegasus.
“I’ll let the manager know about your narrow escape of death. Until then, have a wonderful and hopefully non-death inducing rest of the day,” the mare teased. Gear scoffed with blush before paying and wishing the cashier a good day as well.
Within a couple of minutes and twenty bits lighter, the pegasus was out door with a large smile on his face.
“Oh, I can’t wait. What should I have first? The shrimp tempura roll sounds good, though I think I am in the mood for a bit of spice. Maybe the spicy tuna roll instead? Then there is always the mango roll,” the pegasus thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Nah, I better save some of those for Lumen. Luna knows she would kill me if she find out I ate all of those without her.” The pegasus chuckled lightly to himself, picturing the petite batpony trying to chase him around while baring her fangs in a sign of aggression. It was in these moments of the pegasus lost in thought that he made a mistake. Turning down an unfamiliar alley, Gear realized he had gotten himself lost.
“Great,” the pegasus sarcastically stated aloud. “You just had to get lost in thought about sushi fantasies… again,” he scolded himself before turning to leave. As the pegasus proceeded towards the entrance of the alley, four figures adorned in an assortment of colorful costumes approached the stallion, blocking his way.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little cat-pony stallion who has lost his way perhaps?” The voice was female, alto to be exact, and carried a hint of authority as well. Adding the rather muscular build of the mare into account through her costume, Gear concluded this must be the leader of the weird little group… and that she was probably batting for the other team too.
“Y-yeah. I wasn’t paying attention and took a wrong turn,” the pegasus admitted. Gear’s tone was laced with caution, something the mare immediately picked up on.
“Oh, well I would be happy to give you directions, for a price,” the costumed mare stated while licking her lips, giving the stallion a perfect view of her razor sharp teeth. Panic soon set in as Gear took a few defensive steps back from the approaching mare.
“There’s no need to fear, I won’t bite, hard,” she added with a smirk. Continuing his backpedaling, Gear quickly looked towards the other two ponies before his heart sank. They too wore smiles with anything but innocent intentions; their pearly whites shone brilliantly in the light. That isn’t what had the pegasus on edge though. It was the fact that those two ponies, along with the one in front of him, had long aquatic tails one would associate with dolphins or sharks. From personal experience, Gear knew that he was dealing with the ladder.
“What do you want from me?” Gear managed to choke out, continuing his retreat to the back of the alley. It was then that the only stallion in the group stepped forward before answering the question.
“We want all of your sushi!” the shark-pony admitted with an upbeat tone. In that moment, Gear noticed something peculiar about the stallion’s voice. The voice of the first mare sounded a little familiar to Gear, though he couldn’t quite put his paw on it. However, the voice of the stallion sounded almost identical to a certain male shark-pony friend he knew.
Wait. Distinct tone of voice. Obsession with sushi. Cute green eyes with a medium brown mane. Hook in one of his ears and a plush cuddly face that makes me question my sexual orientation. A moment of silence goes before Gear makes the connection.
“You’re Lekrius!” Gear shouts as he points a paw at the stallion. Despite his elaborate costume, which consisted of a black face mask coupled with a brown dragon hoodie with sewn on little-wings that barely covered his cutie mark, Gear was able to see through his ruse.
“And if you’re Lekrius, then that means you’re Guppy,” Gear says, trailing over to the third mare. Looking at her now, Gear almost facepawed at how obvious her disguise was. Just a small purple face mask and cape was all she had to conceal her identity. Even a light gust of wind would blow the cape up, revealing her green, heart-shaped cutie mark with blue border. Add that her green body and two-toned blue mane were on display, it was a wonder how Gear hadn’t figured it out sooner.
Sitting down from the shock of the situation, Gear’s forepaws trembled slightly as he looked up at the first mare.
“You’re costume is pretty good, though seeing as how you all know each other, i’m guessing that you are Namii?” Gear asks. The mare in front of him scoffs with a small frown. She had spent days working on her costume. Her face mask with pointed ears and black cape. The greyish-black, full-bodysuit with yellow utility belt. She even had a brightly colored logo on her chest, which Gear now understood since it was a pink shark.
“Darn it. How did you know it was us?” She says, her voice no longer disguised. Gear continued to sit on the ground as he tried to calm his body and mind.
“Lekrius’s voice gave it away at first and Guppy’s costume doesn’t leave much in the way of concealing an identity. As for you, your little friend there kind of gave it away,” he says before looking towards the fourth member of the group. Next to Namii’s side was her faithful companion and loveable pet corgi, Sushi. He was outfitted in a much similar fashion as Namii, though instead of a greyish-black suit, his was mostly red with a yellow cape. The sight would have been adorable to the cat-pony if the group didn’t try to mug him for his food earlier.
“So, you care to tell me why you are all dressed up like that, besides the fact that you were trying to give me a heart attack?” Gear asks. Namii returns the question with smile before motioning to the others in the group.
“Why are we dressed up like this you ask? The better question is, who are we?” A moment of silence goes by as Gear stares at the lot of ponies in confusion.
“Umm, I already know who you all are. You’re Nam-” Gear is cut off as Guppy interrupts him.
“When hungry tummies cry out, we will be there. When there is discounted sushi to be had, we will be there. When you can’t finish your food at a restaurant and think you should just take it home instead of giving it to well-deserving shark-ponies, we will be there! You ask who we are. Well, we are the terror, that swims in the night! We are the defenders of all things fishy. We are, The Sushi Squad!” As soon as Guppy ended her tangent, every member posed dramatically as if to emphasize the name of the group. About ten seconds of silence go by before The Sushi Squad erupts into excited chatter.
“T-that was so amazing! I can’t believe we pulled that off!” Guppy says as she throws her forehooves around Lekrius.
“I know! We were so awesome Gup Gup,” her coltfriend says with a nuzzle. Sushi was barking happily as he spun around in circles of excitement. Namii continued to watch everyone with a smile before turning her attention back to the pegasus; or she would have if not for one minor detail.
“Where did he go?” Namii yelled, immediately looking around the area for Gear. During the celebratory moment of everysharky, Gear had made his way past the group as he attempted to slip out of the alley unnoticed. However, he only made it a few feet from the entrance before being spotted by Lekrius.
“There he is!” The shark-pony called out while pointing a hoof at the offending stallion. “Get him!” Wasting no time, Gear made a dash out of the alley and down the street. Chancing a look behind himself, he noticed the four, costumed-crusaders barreling down the street right at him.
This is not how I imagined my day was going to go. Gear scoffed as he increases his pace, noticing that the Sushi-Squad is closing the distance. Turning down a street on his left, Gear continues to pace himself as he keeps just out of reach from his pursuers.
For the love of Luna. If only there was a way I could escape and not have them follow. Somewhere I could go that I wouldn’t have to wor… I’m such an idiot! The pegasus soon spread his wings before flapping a few times and rising off the ground. The Sushi Squad immediately sees this as they stop right under the stallion with annoyed expressions.
“Hey, get down here and give us your sushi!” Lekrius calls out. Gear can’t help but laugh at the scene below him. Despite being in the air, Lekrius was jumping off the ground, trying desperately to grab onto one of Gear’s legs. It was in vain though, as the pegasus chose to hover a good ten feet off the ground.
“Come on, that’s not fair!” Lekrius called out, still trying to reach the stallion. Gear shook his head at the sight before a devious thought crossed his mind. He knew he shouldn’t but given what they had just done to him, he felt it was within his rights to return the favor.
Taking out a container of sushi from his saddlebags, Gear popped off the plastic lid before grabbing one of the little treats and storing the rest back in his saddlebag.
“You want the sushi? Come on boy, reach for it!” Gear teased, holding the piece of sushi just out of reach. Lekrius continued to try and snatch the food from his paw, though would always come up a few inches short. Gear cried out with laughter as he teased the shark-pony below him. However, karma was soon to come full circle, as a little corgi was about to have the last laugh. Getting a running start, Sushi pounced onto Nami's back before leaping into the air with all his little might. Having been too focused on the shark-pony below him, Gear never noticed the little furball of a bullet rocketing towards his outstretched paw. Before the pegasus could react, the corgi chomped down onto his paw as he held on for dear life.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Gear yelled. The little corgi held true as he refused to let go. Gear on the other hoof was flying around in circles trying to shake the little demon off his paw, while screaming like a mare.
“Get it off! Get if off m-” Gear didn’t have time to complete his sentence as he smashed right into a building. Everypony below who had been watching winced as they witnessed the pegasus slowly slide down the window of the building, complete with squidgy sound effects. A minute later, the pegasus was out cold on the ground below.
“I-Is he dead?” Guppy asked with concern. Namii prodded the stallion’s side with a hoof as he wheezed in discomfort.
“Nah, he is fine. Will probably be out cold for a little bit though. Come on.” She said, hoisting the unconscious stallion onto her back before leaving the scene.
A good hour passed before Gear finally came too. His whole body throbbed in mild pain, as he tried to assess the situation he was in.
“Alright, i’m not dead, that’s a good start. It hurts when I breathe, probably a few cracked ribs. Other than that, everything seems to be in order,” he says as he opens his eyes. Taking a few moments to reorient himself, Gear had no idea where he was. He was in what appeared to be a park with a little pond as the center-focus point. Blinking his eyes a few more times, the pegasus remembered the events that led to him blacking out. Quickly feeling around on his back, he was relieved to have felt the straps of his saddlebag. The only question though, was if he still had dinner for the next week or so. After carefully removing his saddlebag, the stallion was utterly disappointed as he saw no sushi containers. Sighing in defeat, the pegasus hoisted himself before noticing a fallen piece of paper on the ground. Picking it up with a paw, he began to read the hastily scribbled note.
Dear Gear,
Thank you for the Sushi. With love, ‘The Sushi Squad.’
P.S. Lekrius and Guppy say hi.
Growling in frustration, Gear crumpled up the piece of paper before looking up towards the sky in anger.
“I’ll get you Sushi Squad!”
