Author's Note
Warning!!!
Gabby is OOC in this story, and you'll understand why as you read this story. I do hope you'll all enjoy this story and have a good day.
Gabby's Big Shot Part 1
Chapter One: Gabby’s Big Shot Part 1
Like any other day in the city of Maretropolis, everyone continued to talk about heroes. They were the next big thing since Celestia herself became ruler and that's saying something about pony society. The Power Ponies blew everyone's minds when they first appeared in Equestria. They were the ones that inspired so many to come out of the woodworks and appear in their light.
However, not everyone sees it that way. There are some ponies, griffons, dragons, and other species that see this as a problem and worry that things are changing too fast or hate the idea of some of us wanting to be a hero. However I see this as opportunity to do good, but most ponies, specifically my boss despises the idea of me even thinking about it.
Speaking of which… “Gabby dear, can I see you in my office please?”
“R-Right away ma’am!” I answered. Yep, that dorky griffon carrying blank papers for the printer in a somewhat decent suit… Yeah that's me. My name is Gabby, and I’ve been working for the Maretropolis News Station for about a year and a half now. And obviously, I'm a griffon in case you were all wondering. I have dark grey feathers and fur with just a dash of white under my belly.
As for the pony, calling for me is… my dictator boss Front Page. She’s an earth pony that’s in charge of the newspaper that I work for, The Maretropolis Times. She can be a kind pony… when she wants to be. But whenever she has a task for somepony, she expects results. Nothing half-assed because to her, that would just be seen as poor quality for a newspaper who’s in charge of trying to keep the city’s civilians informed. There is just one… little detail that no pony knows. She hates me, and not because I suck at the job, which I don’t! But mainly because I'm a griffon who wants to be a hero.
Of course, just as I was barely able to get in through the door and set everything down, I heard her say something that caught my attention. “Gabby, I believe I have an assignment that might be a perfect fit for you. Though, it may be a bit hard to accomplish.”
“Really? What is it?”
“Well, alongside the news that we report the power ponies, there’s been a rumor that there’s a different kind of hero going through town,” She said. “But before I go further… let me ask you something. Do you remember a couple of the co-workers that helped trained you on the job when you first came here? The brothers, Flim and Flam?”
“Uh, yeah who could forget those two.” I said, trying not to roll my eyes at the mention of their names.
“There’s a reason why I said that this assignment is hard to accomplish,” I heard Front speak again. “I gave the same assignment to them. To try and uncover the identity of this newfound hero. Yet, all they did was give me fake names and false conclusions… which lead to them having to pack up their things and being let go. I don’t tolerate falsehoods with the stories we publish given how so many tabloid ‘journalists’ can come up with a fake story and use it to slander someponies reputation. With that in mind though, do you still want to do this anyways? There will be a significant increase in your salary if you complete this assignment.”
I wasn’t too sure at the time, but I took in a deep breath and sighed before looking up back at Front Page. “I'll… I'll… I'll take it.”
My boss smiled, shortly before moving a manila folder across to the edge of her desk. “This is all the info we have according to witness accounts from the police. There are no photos of him, so be careful. This ‘Gunvolt’ might be more elusive than you might think. I have faith in you though that you can succeed where… others did not.”
I nodded, getting a chill up my back, slowly backing up towards the door of my bosses office. When I hit the back door, I was frantically trying to grab hold of the door handle with my right claw and wanting to get out of there before she would try to snap at me and ask questions like ‘Why are you just standing around!?’ and such.
Though, I wasn’t sure what to really think of this. True, it was my first real assignment, but aside from the folder she gave me, I did not have a lot of information that I could go off of for this ‘Gunvolt’ figure. ‘Oh dear Celestia, please don’t tell me that she gave me this expecting for me to fail!?!’
‘No, no! Stop thinking that! There’s gotta be someplace where I can start. Hmm… maybe I can find a lead from the case file once I’m back at my desk.’ Is what I initially thought and I was about to make my way there, the smell of coffee filled my nostrils and I couldn't help but make my way over to the break room. At the time, the only thing on my mind was getting a cup of coffee.
However, that just as I was about to reach over and grab the coffee pot, a blue aura surrounded it and floated past me and over to a blue stallion with a blonde mane and tail, wearing a black suit with and white tie. “Oh, uh… my apologies, were you wanting some? I can just wait until later.”
“Uh, you did see me reach for it before you took it right?” I said, glaring at him, when I was clearly in front of him.
“S-sorry!” He said, before putting it down and just rushing back to his desk. I could only sigh as I grabbed a cup of water instead and made my way back to my desk. Only pondering how I was gonna catch Gunvolt on Camera.
Or for that matter, where do I even start? I kept thinking about it as I wrote an article about a local zookeeper accidentally letting the Chimpanzees out of their enclosures. It was pretty funny actually as they pulled his mane out. I'm hoping that it'll at least get featured next to the main article, but that never really happens.
Mainly because of a certain mare always going out of her way to kiss ass to the boss and basically get her stupid articles featured. That Mare's name is Silver Spoon, and she started working here about three months ago and somehow she's been getting more recognition for her articles when I've been here longer than her.
She's considered to be the best photographer in the business since Front Page's time, but it's mainly because she's both, rich and honestly very hot to pretty much anyone. However she has this look on her face that makes me want to punch her. I decided to take a look at today's article and I could only groan. “Mare harasses security guard at local mall!? Come on! I've could of done that!”
I could only groan as I looked up and saw Silver Spoon trying to flirt with that stallion who ditched with the whole pot of coffee and ran off… Wait a minute… Did he just? He flat out ignored her?
This was a first, since almost every stallion ogles Silver Spoon and who could blame them, she has the body I've been trying to get, but it looks like the new guy is just a plain old jerk. Not that Silver Spoon is any better. ‘Oh great, she's coming this way…’
“Gabby~ Tell me, did you read Pen's article about about the Princess Twilight adopting a little filly~ It's tots adorbs!” She said, leaning over my desk.
“Mmhmm,” I just nodded. Personally, I was not in the mood to handle this. My boss was one thing, but Silver? She’s somepony completely different. And she really gets on my case when I least expect it. “Good morning to you too, Silver.”
“Come on Gabs~ I did tell you that you can call me Silvy~” She replied, looking me over before she noticed one of my files on Gunvolt. “You should probably go and change, I mean you’ve been wearing that suit for two days now.”
‘Oh no.’ I noticed where she was getting at right now. “Look, Silvy. I already have been having a rough morning so far, so could I-”
“Nope, nope, nope… I won’t have any of that, come with me, I have a spare suit you can borrow and some deodorant for your feathers.” She replied, grabbing me by talons and dragging me with her against my will.
“No no, t-that’s no necessary!” I tried to tell her, really wanting to get back to my desk. However though, what I said did not seem to have an effect on her as we turned around the corner. And she surprisingly pushed me against the wall and her expression completely changed.
“Oh. My. CELESTIA!!! You actually got the Gunvolt case!? I'm so jealous of you!” She said, prancing around like a little filly. It was really surprising actually and a bit embarrassing since she pushed me against the wall like stallions do with mares when confessing.
“Y-yeah I did…” I stammered. “T-though, I’m k-kinda a bit nervous if I’m to be honest…”
“Why, you've got like, the most amazing case ever! I've been trying to get that case for weeks, but the boss said that I had to assist Pen with his latest assignment.” She explained hugging me tightly as she kept ranting on and on about how she wanted that assignment.
“R-right,” I told her, gasping a bit for air. “Didn’t you hear about what happened to Flim and Flam when they tried to do this though?”
“Yeah… who do you think ratted them out Gabs~” She said, lightly tapping my beak and winking at me. “It isn’t right for ponies to make false stories you know… I want real truthful stories out on our paper's. Not some phony lies you know.”
Huh… well, if she put it that way, then maybe this could somehow… work? “O-okay… w-would you happen to k-know where I can start looking?”
“Sure, but first… let's get you outta that smelly suit. You are still adorable, but you stink.” She said, covering her nose as I tried to hide my blush from her embarrassing me out in the open. We continued to make our way to the locker rooms as some ponies, and griffons snickered behind me. Something tells me that this is going to be the rest of my morning.
Some time later…
“Silver, are you sure that this is the right place?” I asked, looking at the front of the giant building that was the Maretropolis Police Station. I had seen pictures of the place all the time whenever one of the ponies on the team covered events that were held at town hall, but I did not expect for it to be so big up close.
“Hey, if you want to find him, the best place to look is where the action happens. And that's our beloved police station.” She explained, as the two began to make their way inside.
Upon stepping in, we were greeted by the sight of a few ponies waiting in chairs to be called up for something while in the background, several officers slammed a stallion to the ground. Presumably for not listening to them… that and he smelled like hard cider. Though, as I looked away, that was when the stallion at the front desk asked a question. “Hello. Welcome to the Maretropolis Police Department. Is there something I can help you with today?”
“Yes, I was wondering if we could speak with the captain for just a few minutes.” Silver Spoon asked, smiling at the stallion as I rolled my eyes. Like I said, always trying to kiss ass, but at least she's got good intentions.
“Um, I’m sorry, but the captain’s is on call right now so…” The pony at the front desk looked back at us, before asking a question. “Are you two here for a school project or something? If so, I can have one of our other officers assist you-”
“No, we're employees at The Maretropolis News Station, and we are trying to learn more about a specific case that only the captain knows.” I replied, trying to honest without giving too much away. However, the pony simply shook his head and was about to tell us to leave. However, before he could, a young filly with a green fur and black mane came racing out down the stairs from the detective's department.
“Clover Leaf! Get back here this instant, you promised to behave!” An officer in uniform came rushing down the stairs in pursuit of the green filly.
“Try and catch me!” She said out loud as she ran around my legs. Even if it was a little bit annoying, she was just so adorable that I couldn’t shake her off. At least that was until… this happened.
“Hey, kid… watch for my- TAIL!!!” I shouted, stumbling backwards as I grabbed my tail and tried to rub it gently, but because of that I ended up bumping into Silver Spoon, and the two of us fell down, knocking down a vase with marbles that was on the counter and they fell all over the place as visitors and other officers slipped on them.
Before we knew it, the filly fell on the ground, but not because she slipped. She actually fell over laughing at everyone and even one of the ponies being brought in for questioning started mumbling about killing that filly. However the officers that were with him took him away.
“Oww… You okay Silver Spoon?” I asked, climbing off her as she stood up rubbing the back of her head and adjusted her glasses a bit. “Sorry, wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
“It’s fine… It was an accident, but I think perhaps you should take a shower. The deodorant did not help as much.” She said, covering her nose with her hooves as I merely groaned.
The filly sitting next to me only snickered as I tried to cover my blushing face. Today was just not my day. However, her snickering stopped as the shadow of stallion behind her towered her completely. “What’s going on here?”
“Hehehe… Um… Nothing Daddy.” Clover Leaf replied sheepishly as she slowly turned to face the furious unicorn stallion. Just as he was about to say something, the stallion chasing her before stood next him.
“Forgive me, Captain… I was… Trying to get her to stay with the other kids in the playroom, but she she threw clay at my eyes and ran for it.” The officer explained, saluting his captain, but he didn’t look all too please as he just let out a sigh.
That was, until he looked at both of us. “And what about these two?”
“I don’t know sir, I just got down here.” He explained, but then the officer from the front desk peered out from behind his desk with a dictionary.
“I do sir… they came in a few minutes ago.” The other officer replied. “I was just about to show them out.”
‘No, no! Not good, not good!’ Is what I thought initially as Silver Spoon helped me up.
“That won't be necessary,” He then said, using his magic to pick up all the marbles that had spilled everywhere and his little filly. “Lead them to my office. That way I can talk to them in private.”
I could only raise my brow as we followed the Captain, before he threw all the marbles in a disposable bin. It was impressive that he was able to get them all at once. I could barely pick any up with my talons. Still it was odd that we’re going to his office just like that.
“Captain Stellar Stars, how have you been?” Silver Spoon asked, and my eyes widened a little because she knew him.
‘Huh, I didn’t think she knew him.’
“Are you taking those Yoga classes we talked about Stellar? Because the last thing we want is for your wife to complain about your weight issues.” All I did was gasp, covering my beak with my claws. I couldn't believe that she had dissed a captain in the police station no less.
“Silver Spoon, are you crazy!?” I whispered into her ear as I grabbed her shirt collar.
“Silver, while your concern for my health is noted, I would liked to ask if there was any other reason why you are here?” He added, before turning towards where I was standing. “And more importantly, who’s this griffon with you? A friend of yours?”
“Now I know you don't like me bringing visitors with me when I come to visit you and you adorable daughter, but actually need a favor from you. I was wondering if you could lend a helping hoof with this file on the elusive Gunvolt? Gabs here is doing an article to find and reveal the identity of who this, mysterious pony is~?” She explained, dozing off for a moment before bring herself back.
“Yes, so if there's anything you can give me that'll be very helpful?” I asked nicely, still a little nervous talking to an officer that leads this precinct.
“I'm sorry, but there isn't anything I can give you that you don't already know,” The captain replied. “All we have are just accounts from eyewitnesses. We don’t have any photographic evidence. All things considered, this Gunvolt might not even exist unless we have actual evidence to serve as proof.”
I began to think to myself. ‘Things just keep getting more and more difficult. This Gunvolt guy is a lot more crafty then I originally thought. Still, why DO I HAVE TO DO THIS CASE?!?’
Just as I was about to say something, I felt a hoof brush against my talon before feeling pressure on top of it, a lot of pressure and I ended up squawking in front of the captain as Silver Spoon stepped forward. “Captain Stellar, I know its a lot to ask, but Gabby is a hard working Griffon and is determined to work on this assignment. Are you sure there isn't anything you can do for us?”
The captain sighed to himself, placing a chin to his hoof as he seemed to be pondering something. Though, after a moment or two, he finally let out a small breath and looked back at us. “Well, if that’s the case, I think there’s one thing I can do… Silver, can you get one of the brochure maps from out in the lobby?”
“Alright, thanks Captain.” Silver Spoon replied, grabbing me by my claw and pulls me out towards the doors of the office before I could even get a chance to say goodbye to Captain Stellar Stars.
“Hang on you two-” Was all I heard as the earth pony dragged me out of the precinct, taking one of the brochure maps he mentioned in her mouth. All I knew was that this was gonna be a very, very long day.
Chapter Two: Gabby’s Big Shot Part 2
It had been a long day with Silver Spoon dragging me all over the place and we had nothing to show for it. Eventually I ended up having to meet up with my boss again thanks to Silver and now… I have to work with her. Honestly at the time, I did feel somewhat relieved thanks to her kissing up to Front Page, on and on. Buttering the mare up as she merely glared at me every time she looked away from Silver Spoon.
“Thank you Mrs. Page, I promise that the two of us will do extremely well on this assignment!” She said, smiling as she clung to my arm.
“Could you please not hold onto her like that? You’re acting like a filly who wants to drag their parents all around the maretropolis shopping mall,” Front Page grumbled.
“Aww… It’s not like I'm hurting anypony. Besides, Gabs doesn't seem to mind~” She replied, looking at me as I glared at her.
“I do mind, but you never listen to me.” I replied as the boss continued to glare at me.
“In any case… even though I’m having two of you work together, I am expecting for Gabby to be the one who actually writes that article since I originally gave the case to her. Now, have you had the chance to find any leads?” She asked me as I looked down.
“No… We couldn't find anything.” I replied, feeling the bosses glare burn through my skull. I've never been afraid of anyone in my life until now. Thus mare made me shiver to the bone.
“Rrgh… For the love of Celestia…” She grit her teeth, before glaring at both of us. “How can I expect for either of you to be taking this story seriously if you haven’t even gotten yourself a lead for where you can start looking?!” That outburst was followed by her hoof knocking over a cup that held some office supplies that she kept on hoof. “Both of you need to treat this seriously or else you’re going to end up like those idiot brothers that I fired! Do you understand!?”
“Crystal clear.” I replied, wanting to get out of there, and hide myself in my room under my bed covers and hope this was all a bad dream.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Page… Gabby and I will get along just fine~” She winked at me, making feel flustered.
“Fine… but before you go anywhere, there’s something I should at least tell you, considering that you don’t have anything to go off of.”
“Y-Yes, what is it?”
“Recently, the only reported sightings of the Azure Striker have been in areas where there’s not a lot of police activities. I’m talking run down buildings, abandoned factories, anything that could possibly get gut-checked by a wrecking ball any day now,” I heard her explain.
“I'll see if I can at least get a lead tonight.” I replied, pulling my arm from Silver Spoon’s hooves, trying to calm myself as she began to pout. “A-Anyways, I think I'll head out… Hope you have a good day Boss.”
All she did was just let out a small grumble as I closed the door, backing up slowly as I began to make my back over to my desk. Just as I turned around, felt hot water pour all over my uniform, causing me to screech.
“O-oh dear Celestia! I-i am so sorry!” I turned around, only to see the same pony from earlier trying to clean up the mess… But, before I could say anything I soon saw a noodle dangling in front of my eyes. “A-are you okay?”
“Are. You. BUCKING KIDDING ME!!!” I shouted, taking the somewhat empty cup of noodles and slammed it against his face and pushed passed him. “You are a terrible pony! You Jackass!”
“Terrible pony? Seems about right. Klutz is more accurate though.”
I merely turned and glared at the stallion who was cleaning himself up, thinking he said something. But at the time, I was too angry at him to realize that somepony else had said that, but instead all I did was stick my middle claw up at him and stormed off.
My apartment…
For the first time in nearly two days, I've finally made it back to my apartment. It wasn’t big, but it wasn't small either. After nearly a year I was able to finally get it remodeled and was able to buy it out fully. I got the floors redone and the walls painted and got new furniture. Even installed a new microwave, but it was still pretty lonely. Haven't had a friend over for two years now, or even a date.
But that's because I'm always working my ass off while Silver Spoon continued to kiss the bosses ass and make a name for herself. It was frustrating and what's worse is that I've worked there longer and my co-workers still don't remember my name. And those that do, think I have a ‘thing’ for the mare. Still, compared to everyone else, she was the only one that understands. Even if she is annoying.
‘Stupid jerk, Stupid Front Page, Stupid Silver Spoon, and Stupid Gunvolt!’ Is what I thought as I took off my clothes and threw them into my laundry basket. ‘Stupid Silver Spoon trying to get me flustered… embarrassing me in front of the boss… I swear she does everything on purpose and now I have to work with her.’
It had been a very rough few days for me, that all I really wanted to do at that moment was eat some microwave pasta and take a nice hot bubble bath. Which the more I really think about it, was pretty much my daily routine, everyday, for six days a week, with the occasional blind date, which would always end on a sour note for me. Even on girls night, I would still have no luck. My life… was really, really, sad.
Everything I’ve worked for, feels like it’s just slipping through my claws, while other ponies or whatever strip me of the fruits of my labor. “Screw… Everyone… If I had just a little bit of success that those rich, snobbish, pigs above me. I bet they’d just beg me for forgiveness.” I said out loud in my lonely apartment, preparing my bubble bath with hot water and some bath salts. As the bath continued to fill up, I decided to open the window outside my bathroom to let in some fresh air.
Normally, I wouldn’t even consider opening them, since perverts would peek inside to take a look at the goods, but I was in a five story building in an apartment on the fourth floor, with the only thing I had to really worry about were pegasi or insects. After weeks of working, I felt like I really deserved these few moments to relax.
So without a second thought, I stepped into the tub with hot water and began to drown all my troubles away. I couldn’t help but let out a loud relaxing sigh as I began to dip my further into the tub. “Ughhh… Why couldn’t this just be my job. Relaxing in a bathtub is up my ally.”
Bark! Bark! Bark bark!!
“Aaaand the relaxing stops.” I said to myself, quietly mumbling about the dog above me on the fifth floor. It was one of the few downsides living in this apartment. Well, that and some of my neighbors. However, the real part that’s annoying me was that the dog upstairs was still barking after a few moments while I was trying to relax. Which tempted me to just put my head under the water to muffle out the sounds of a canine complaining. However, I knew that me relaxing for even a few minutes was too good to be true.
After a few minutes of debating, I stepped out of the bathtub and reached over for my towel to dry up, before I would make my way upstairs to my neighbor above and see if he could take his mutt inside. As I was dried off though, that’s when I was hearing that particular neighbor speak. “Aw come on, again? How many times have I told you that you can’t chase after birds indoors?! This isn’t the park. You can’t just chase after every pigeon that flies by the window!”
“Ugh… Is it even worth going up there? You know what, never mind. I haven’t even had dinner yet.” I said to myself, after living in the apartment building for so long, I knew that I’d be wasting my time talking to the neighbor about bringing his dog inside, but he always pretends to listen and lies about me talking about it.
As I finished drying off, I instead made my way towards the kitchen. Taking a moment to turn on the TV while I looked for what I was going to cook for dinner tonight. As the TV came on, I saw that the channel was turned to the local news. Yet, the story that they were reporting was not the same that I usually would hear.
“Maretropolis Police are still trying to piece together what has lead to a recent crime spike in the past few days around the southeast side of the city regarding drugs and narcotics. Many reports have come in about creatures losing control of themselves, including one mare that went on a rampage to attack civilians under two of the power ponies were able to stabilize and apprehend the subject, only to find that she had overdosed on a new street drug that has yet to be identified. The only leads that the department has so far is that several of the incidents have occured in the rural urban areas nearby the Cloud Walker apartment complex. The department is urging all members of the public that might have information that could help break open the case to call the CrimeHalters hotline-”
“W-What?” Was all I could say as I stared at the TV. “A crime spike? Nearby where I live? Why couldn’t I be doing this story instead of searching for some urban myth?!”
All I could do was gritt my beak, clenching my talons tightly as I contemplated what I should do. Everything felt like it wasn’t going my way, for so long, but right in front of me was the opportunity that would have been my greatest story ever, but it turned out to be an opportunity that would change my life. “Screw this! I don’t care if I get fired! I’ll get this whole story done before anyone!”
Of course, the one thing that came next… was my stomach grumbling. I couldn’t help but grab my bowl of microwavable pasta as I made my way back to my seat and began to chow down quickly. ‘I can’t get to the bottom of things on a empty stomach, after all’
After finishing my bowl, I placed it in the sink and grabbed my mini digital camera and began to make my way out of my apartment and onward to find my story.
On the rooftops overlooking the city, two figures were watching over what looked to be an empty warehouse on the southern side of town. One holding a pair of binoculars as they looked to the companion that was resting on top of his head. “You’re sure that this is the place, Lumen? I honestly didn’t think it would be all the way out here.”
“Hey, can you give me some credit at least?” The voice, which belonged to an azure colored breezie, spoke up. “It took me a long while in order to find the source of the info I got.”
“That source being a trio of stallions at a bar?”
“This is coming from the guy who’s only been here like what? A few weeks?” Lumen then asked.
“I trust you, just not where you get your information.” The other voice sighed, before looking back at the entrance to the facility. “But if it checks out, this is where they’re making SEED. The poison joke flower you mentioned combined with the ingredients found in stress relief medication… God, I don’t want to think about what happens if more ponies get their hooves on this drug.”
Though, it was around then where he now asked his partner a new question. “Though Lumen… how exactly did you get the dna results of SEED.”
“I… well… I borrowed it from the MPD Forensics team…” The breezie said sheepishly. But not to her partners liking.
“You stole the forensics results from the police?!”
“Hey. Borrowed. Besides, all they think they have is a computer glitch. I’ll put it back tomorrow morning.”
“This is why I don’t trust your methods of getting information,” The other figure replied, before noticing three stallions approach the warehouse and go inside. “Target’s here. Let’s get this done quickly so you can return what you stole.”
“I told you, I ‘borrowed’ it.”
Once I had finished my dinner, I began to make my way out of my apartment building and began to take flight into the night sky, trying to find a good place in order to start my investigation. Noticing a greenhouse facility in the distance, I decided that would be a possible good place in order to start looking for potential leads.
As I got closer though, I saw what looked to be three stallions standing by the doors to the facility, before one of them went inside. Carefully, I landed on the top of a building adjacent to the greenhouse as I heard the two ponies speak. “You sure this is a good idea? I mean, I know that these things are the new big deal now, but aren’t you worried about any… side effects?”
“Look, you don’t have the luxury of going back now. Besides, those effects only happen to certain creatures or ponies with abilities, which is rare.”
“Fine fine,” The stallion shrugged off, before thinking of something as the doors opened. “You know… that mare we talked to at the bar… I think I like her strategic mind.”
“It’s not her mind you’re admiring.” The other one groaned, before stepping inside. Which, just had the other stallion shrug for a second.
“Ehh, you’re probably right.”
‘Just… eww.’ Was all I thought as I glared at those pigs. It was disgusting to think that not only did these stallions had bad intentions, but were also perverted. A double whammy right there. ‘Gonna need to keep my distance and try to keep the flash off while those bozos do everything.’
A few moments later though, I heard something creek as I turned my head to see an open window at the top of the greenhouse. It looked big enough for me to easily slip through, so I can get inside, but the problem with doing that is, if whether I can do it quietly enough so I won’t get noticed. I debated this issue with myself for a minute or two and decided to take the risk.
‘I can do this, I just need to see what’s going on, take some pictures and get out of here… all without being noticed,’ I thought to myself, flying over to the window and took a peek inside, seeing the three stallions as they walked into the greenhouse. At one side of the room, I can see what looked like a makeshift laboratory, complete with microscope and other equipment. On the other, I can see what looked like a patch of blue… flowers? ‘Why do they have blue flowers with them?’
As I continued to ask myself these questions, I began to hear other voices coming from the opposite side of the greenhouse and I saw a group of Griffons approach them, each of them holding something that reminded me of those weird guns unicorns used, but they were attached to their arms, like they were melded on. Seeing this as an opportunity, I pulled up my camera and took a couple of pictures. ‘This is the story I’ve been looking for! front page on tomorrow's paper here I come!’
“Boss,” The stallion who walked in first replied. “I found two more potential buyers. They want a sample of our newest batch of SEED.”
“Did they, bring the funds like I had asked?” The griffon asked, pulling his hoodie off, revealing a young black griffon with blind eyes. “You know the rules, Free Runner.”
The stallion nodded, taking out what looked like a hefty bag of bits and throwing it on the ground. The impact from it hitting the ground broke the rope that was tied around it as some of the coins spilled out. “They already paid. More than the asking price no less.”
The griffon merely glanced at the bag of bits, humming to himself as he stroked his chin, before turning to one of the other griffons behind him. “Maw, count the bits for me… Last thing we want is to be cheated out of our… Product” I heard him say, and honestly I could only stare at that griffon, taking in every detail I could get as I took more and more pictures of them. It was exciting and I had made sure to write down everything I could in my notebook for this story.
“This is… fifty thousand bits, boss. That’s twice what we normally ask for.” The one called Maw said, and I couldn’t help but grunt quietly because I honestly wished I made at least half that amount in a months pay. I was barely able to afford buying my apartment and doing renovations. However, the blind griffon couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle.
“Hehehe… Seems like somepony here is a bit generous… or perhaps you are after something else besides my product? Why else would they pay for this much?” The Blind Griffon asked, walking up to Free Runner, taking a glance at the two stallions behind him.
“I believe that they were under the impression that the usual asking price was for one single buyer.” Free Runner now replied back.
“Very well… Maw… You and Dusty go get our product and do give them a little extra. I’m feeling a little bit charitable lately.” Their boss said as both griffons flew off. I honestly wanted to stay and find out more, but I knew if I stayed here too long, then I would be spotted.
BZZT!
“W-what the buck!? What happened to the lights?!!”
“What’s the big idea here!?!” I heard one of the stallions ask the griffon.
“You are asking the wrong griffon here pony… Chica, find Maw and Dusty-”
Before they could go anywhere, we all heard glass shatter from the roof as something landed on the ground. In the moonlight, I watched it stand up on two legs. Dressed in dark blue garbs and holding onto a weapon of some sort. Yet, the one detail that stood out… was that some lightning was running along its body.
Then, it spoke. “Sorry everyone… But you’re not going anywhere.”
“Gunvolt… I should have suspected you of all worms to come crashing our party.” The Blind griffon said, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a metallic claw with razor sharp blades.
“WHAT?! HE’S REAL!!?” I shouted accidently, giving away my position.
It was then that I felt a light smack across the side of my face, along with a small whisper. “Just what in the hay do you think you’re doing here?”
“Huh? A Breezie?” I said, seeing the little guy smack right on my face again.
“Yeah, that’s what I am. Now you need to get out of here. You don’t want to be standing around while GV does his thing.”
“So, my suspicions were right… We weren’t alone… Chica, describe the one that was hiding out here?” The Blind Griffon asked, ignoring Gunvolt entirely.
“It’s a griffon like us, Nex… And it looks like she has… a camera!” The yellow griffon growled as she aimed her gun directly at her.
BAM!
In the blink of an eye, Gunvolt fired his own weapon as it struck the griffon in the claw. Forcing her to drop her weapon before he snapped his finger and sent a bolt of lightning at the griffon. Shocking the one named Chica as she collapsed to the ground. “Lumen, go. I don’t want to repeat myself twice.”
I felt the one called Lumen, pull at my feathers, but I ignored her and pulled out my camera and began to take pictures of Gunvolt, but just as I was about to take another one, I felt my camera pulled away from my claws and it was their that I saw the one named Maw holding onto it and felt a pair of claws grab hold of me and noticed the large gun that was welded onto the other griffon called Dusty.
“Don’t worry… I’ll be sure to dispose of this evidence. Dusty can take care of the girl for you Sir Nex.” The called Maw replied, walking into the darkness as Dusty grunted and was about to shoot both me and the breezie. But in the corner of my eye, I saw a small ring on Gunvolt’s weapon change color to violet as he fired a shot at Maw. Upon contact, two more shots bounced off and hit Dusty as he shocked the both of them. Forcing Maw to drop the camera as Dusty dropped face first into the ground.
“Maw… destroy it.” I heard Nex say and I felt my eyes widen as I scrambled to my feet and tried to run for my camera, but it was already too late as Maw crushed it under his talons and scoffed at me.
“Such barbarian’s thinking that you could reveal us… Perhaps in the next life you’ll be more respectful to Sir Nex.” Maw said to me, pulling out what looked like a blade, but it soon ignited on fire. I couldn’t move, I just stood there too scared to move as the griffon approached me. I felt like it was all over. I had lost everything. My camera, my story, my evidence and now I was about to lose my life.
BAM!
I watched as Maw took a direct shot to the face as Gunvolt had now jumped up to where I was, putting himself in between Maw and I as he dodged an incoming swing of the blade, before disarming the griffon and kicking it to the other side of the warehouse. “Perhaps you need to be more respectful around ladies, freak.”
“T-Thanks.” Was all I could say as I shook my head, trying to get my bearings as I watched Maw struggle to get up. The onlys left we’re the three stallions I had saw before and Nex. And at the time, I thought it was a bit funny to see Nex do absolutely nothing as this Gunvolt guy kicked everybody’s asses. But what came next, was something that I would never forget.
Nex had picked up Dusty, and before I knew it, I heard the griffon’s neck snap and something began to pour out of him, like some kind of magic and it began to flow into the metal arm that the blind griffon possessed. “Gunvolt… Next time we meet… I promise you that you’ll be dead.”
When he said that, I felt a chill go up my spine, not about what he had said, but it was due to the fact that he wasn’t looking at Gunvolt, but he was looking at me. And before I knew it I saw him aim his claw at it me and a dark red beam of light was heading towards me.
“Watch out-!” Before I knew it, Gunvolt dashed towards me and pushed me out of the way. Part of the beam scraping his shoulder as he looked back at where Nex was. He was going to counter his attack, but then… somepony else asked something.
“Hey, not to interrupt or anything… but does anybreezie smell something burning?” I heard the little Breezie say, and she or he was right. I looked around to and noticed that Maw’s dagger was still blazing in the blue flower patch. And the flames were rapidly beginning to spread.
“Maw, we’re leaving… Let Free Runner and his pony friends to fend for themselves.” Next said, picking up Chica in his arms and Nex and Maw took off, flying out of the opening Gunvolt had made earlier.
“Crap, crap, crap!” Gunvolt cursed, before looking around for a moment. “Never had anything like this go wrong before-” For a moment, he grimaced in pain. Grabbing hold of the shoulder that was hit by Nex’s blast earlier as the breezie flew over to him.
“Easy easy… That guy did a number on you,” She said, before looking over to me. “We need to get him out of here before-”
“No. Not yet…” He coughed, pointing towards the stallion that was flat on the ground. The one called Free Runner. “We need to tie him up… He’s a witness, so we can’t just leave him in here to burn to death.”
“That… is a good point,” The breezie now corrected herself, before looking to me as she flew over to some rope that was by a crate. “Hey! How good are you at tying knots?”
“Um… I don’t know little guy… Kinda good?” I replied, only looking at my broken camera on the ground, but I soon noticed that the memory card was still intact and quickly picked it up and hid it in my saddle bag as I watched Gunvolt look over the corpse of the griffon.
“Help me tie them up. We can at least leave these jerkwads with the police and they can explain what happened here.” The breezie told me and I only nodded as I grabbed the piece of rope and tied that Free Runner guy as Lumen tied up the other two that were with him. While Gunvolt grabbed a fire extinguisher that was lying down and began to put out the fire.
As he was finishing up though, that was when he turned to me. “Young one… what’s your name?”
“Um.” Was all I said to him. ‘Like hell I’m gonna tell him my name and thanks to all that smoke, my feathers are completely filthy now… At least he won’t recognize me next time. IF there is a next time.’ However I couldn’t say nothing, otherwise he would have kept pressuring me to speak so this is what I told him.
“Bob-la Feet.” I made up and began to back up slowly as those two looked at me strangely.
For a moment, he raised an eyebrow. Before giving a response that I… honestly did not expect. “Thank you… I appreciate the help. Just… try to be careful though. The creatures that I’m dealing with are dangerous and I don’t want civilians getting hurt.” With that, he waved goodbye and in a flash of lightning, he and the breezie were gone.
Once I heard the sirens, I immediately took off and after flying for nearly an hour, I made my way back to my apartment and looked through my bag with the notes I had taken and the memory card I held in my talons. “Looks like I’m gonna get more than what I had bargained for.”
I couldn’t help but scream with joy as I jumped up and down for the first time in over two years. That night was my most intense night of my life and would soon be one of many, but I relished in the moment and celebrated with a nice hot shower and went to bed. And on the very next day, the headline for the Maretropolis News Station was “Gunvolt Revealed at Last, Drug Dealers Brought to Justice!”
