Ch 16 - Obliviously Undercover

----------(MANEHATTAN, 64 TIMOR STREET, WEDNESDAY 9:00 A.M.)----------

It was a very busy yet calm morning in the bustling streets of this Manehattan merchant town. Walking on the sidewalks along the streets were usually groups of well-suited Equestrian workers, who were already on there way to head out to work at their menial jobs in their tall skyscraper abodes or in their small brick-walled business stores. While some Earthen Equestrians use the sidewalks, there are still a couple pegasi and griffons that still commute to work in the skies. As the yellow-vested traffic police were escorting the pedestrians both on the ground sidewalks and in the lightly crowded skies, ground vehicles such as wooden merchant oxen/bull carriages, taxi rickshaws, a couple steamers and several bikes had to abide by the traffic lights operated by the lever pulls on their posts, before they could make their way to their destinations across the complex brick-laden roads. Up in the skies, delivery gyro-copters, civilian pedal-powered choppers and commuting gliders had to be guided by groups of pegasi and griffon traffic escorts had to guide these civilian aerial vehicles away from the flying pedestrians as they circle around certain certified airspace, before they were permitted to fly towards their next set of destinations on their defined routes. A couple of blue-uniformed police officers were also making their usual patrol rounds across the street, either on hoof or up in the sky, ensuring that no harm comes to the citizens of Manehattan and that the streets were clean of criminal scum.

Fortunately, the work of both air and ground traffic police became very light once all the workers had entered their workplace, though blue police patrols still lingered on for a couple more minutes even after the streets became more sparser in density. In addition to that, only a few carriages, buggies and merchant carts remain on the side of the road, waiting to be rolled off onto the roads once the work shift was finished. There was one particular expensive automotive vehicle that stood out among the other wheeled transports on the streets. Standing by the concrete sidewalk, on the brick-laden road, was a green-painted four-seated Model 1922 Stanley Steamer1. Within that steam car was the godfather of Triad boss Ginseng Dragon, Sunny Boy, who was now wearing his brand new pair of rectangular glasses, a red jacket, brown shirt and khaki jeans in person. The scraped scar on his face had partially healed, with a bit of bleached coating on his nasal ridge. Perhaps the accident was bad enough that it wiped off most of the pigment cells on his nose, leading to only his nose region to be without its yellow-orange coat. Perhaps he should paint over it with some orange-yellow pigments to make himself look more anew...

As Sunny Boy sat in the driver seat of the 1922 Stanley Steamer, he was reading an important letter from his godfather that was delivered to him by a courier and it had a few simple instructions on the letter.

• Stand by as Ash's Equestrian Jewelry Store at 64 Timor Street in Manehattan, New Yoke at 9:00 A.M.
• Await for three Diamond Dog friends of mine, who will be at your destination within five minutes after your arrival
• Once they are in your car, please deliver them to my Doble E-20 ivory car at 13 Poney Musey Rd (10:30 A.M. sharp) and ride along with me back to Qilin town
• MOST IMPORTANT: Please stay calm under pressure and let my Diamond Dogs do the rest. Just make sure the steam car's boiler is fully hot and pressured to the brim. Do NOT cool off nor relieve ANY steam pressure once you arrived at your destination

Sunny Boy was a little confused about the ending note on the list. What kind of pressure there was to delivering a couple friends from off the street? Perhaps they are very punctual business partners of godfather that likes having everything done on time! Of course, just like how he plans out his scheduled activities in book reading, researching and magical experiments on his free time...

Speaking of pressure, Sunny Boy had to perform a pilot check on the steamer to make sure it was up and running. Using only what he could remember from studying the operation manuals on the Stanley Steamer last night, Sunny Boy himself was rather a light novice when it comes to driving his first steam car. However, he knew that operating a steamer was somewhat similar to operating a locomotive train, albeit a little more simpler. In spite of his troubled memory, he had been able to retain his previous engineering knowledge of most innovative machines from reading several science journals, magazines and pamphlets during his spare time. It was not very common for most middle-class or lower-class Equestrians to own an automobile, as they were usually reserved for the rich private citizens or some highly important government figures, usually those from major cities across Western Equestria.

Fortunately for Sunny Boy, he had both the technical know-how AND the magical prowess to get the steamer running within less than half an hour or so (much shorter if he's in a hurry)! As long as he performs these tasks right efficiently before the arrival of his Diamond Dog passengers, he can complete the rest of his task in taking these business canines to his rich grandfather, possibly before the 10:30 A.M. deadline was reached.

1. In his first objective on his pilot check-list, Sunny Boy cast a spell that summons a spiritual fire snake to wrap around the kerosene fuel pipes connected to the pilot tank. This will ensure that the gas is constantly vaporized before it reaches the boiler.
2. In his second objective, Sunny Boy had ordered a large 2-gallon water barrel from a nearby grocery store, opened up the front car hood and used his water manipulation spell to fill the bottom water tank (via pipes) to only to half its capacity; any remaining water within the barrel may be used to refill the radiator at the front of the car
3. In the third step, Sunny Boy opened up the top cap of the steam generator and used his aerial stream spell from his horn to cool-down the boiler and to ensure perfect pressurized steam flow within the engine later on
4. In the next step, Sunny Boy checks the kerosene flame underneath the steam generator; if the flame seems to be dying down, he re-vitalizes it with a phoenix flame spell in the firebox underneath the steam generator (preferably at a distance, in case a huge flame puffs out from underneath the boiler)
5. In the next step, Sunny Boy casts a repetitive time bubble spell over the hand-lever pump (located right-handed from the driver seat) and performed a simple fast back-and-forth stroke; as the lever automatically reciprocates back and forth, fuel pressure within the kerosene gas tank rises, ensuring that the water is super-boiled into pure steam within the generator; he deactivates the repetition spell once the fuel pressure gauge on the dashboard reaches 400 psi
6. In the next step, Sunny Boy then turns on the hexane fuel valve underneath the driving wheel, before turning on the main burner valve on the dashboard; this will further boost the fire output within the firebox (thereby raising the boiling temperature within the steam generator
7. Finally, on the last objective, a drip valve switch on the dashboard was later activated to remove any excess water remaining within the piston cylinders of the engine (since water cannot compress well like steam within an engine, which can compromise engine output); once the steam, fuel and fire gauge is at nearly 90% its full power, this steam car will be ready to go rolling on the brick road

Once all the required objectives on his checklist were complete, Sunny Boy took his pocket-watch from his shirt pocket and saw that the time was already fifteen minutes passed 9:00 A.M. And yet despite the fact that his godfather had told him that three Diamond Dogs will arrive within five minutes of his arrival, Sunny Boy could not see any approaching business canines coming over to the steamer from the sparsely-populated streets, shops or buildings. Perhaps his friends were not the time-savvy punctual kind of creatures at all...

((((🔔)))) (((( 🔔 )))) ((((🔔)))) (((( 🔔 )))) ((((🔔)))) (((( 🔔 )))) ((((🔔)))) (((( 🔔 )))) ((((🔔)))) (((( 🔔 )))) ((((🔔)))) (((( 🔔 )))) ((((🔔))))

Then, suddenly, out of the blue, Sunny Boy heard a very loud fire alarm ringing from across the street and saw that the chaotic cacophony was coming from the brightly golden-lit Ash's Equestrian Jewellry store at his right side, 20 meters away from his green Stanley Steamer. As he sat idly by in his hot-boiling vehicle, he saw something rush out of the jewelry store, through the passenger window of his car. To his surprise, he realized that there were three Diamond Dogs who were wearing a variety of masks over their heads; one Diamond dog had a burlap sack with two eye holes, the second dog had a dark woolen ski mask and the third one had a masked bonnet. In addition to their facial headwear, the three Diamond Dogs were also sporting three dark-brown tweed jackets and khaki pants on their person. One Diamond Dog with the burlap mask had a large duffel bag over his shoulder and the other two were armed to the bone with 7mm pinfire revolvers2.

"LOOK, over there!! That's our ride!! The green one!!", shouted one of the masked Diamond Dogs before they all ran towards the faraway Model 1922 Stanley Steamer!

As every creature on the street was scared thoughtless to the spectacle happening right in front of the store, the Diamond Dogs all had their pinfire revolvers pointed at the crowd, threatening to shoot any creature who came too close to them and their escape ride. Needless to say, the pedestrians stood as far back from the dangerous canines and tried to carry on with their own business without being shot in the crossfire.

"I want EVERY groundling and flyer to back off!! This is just a routine business transaction!! Nothing to see here!", shouted one of the masked Diamond Dogs who was carrying a duffel bag.

Meanwhile, as chaos continued to reign on at 64 Timor Street, one particular blue fancy steam car stood idly by across the street, 60 meters southwest from the green 1922 Stanley Steamer. It was a blue-painted Model 1913 Stanely Steamer3 and it was being occupied by one orange-maned beige-coated kirin police officer, who was constantly manually working the fuel pressure lever with his levitation magic. Standing by the car was a buff white-coated and cobalt blue-maned stallion unicorn in a steel cuirass, wearing a pair of double pauldrons over his shoulders, a pair of denim pants and steel-plated greaves over his moccasin boots. The armored stallion was talking on the phone in a iron-casted Gamewell police call-box4, speaking to the Manehattan police headquarters as fast as he can, reporting on the immediate apparent store robbery he was witnessing.

"Hello, this is Captain Shining Armor of the Canterlot Royal Guard! We have a confirmed hit on the jewelry store at 64 Timor Street, just as expected from the intelligence reports! Robbery is in progress as we speak! We have three masked Diamond Dogs heading for a green steamer! Send back up now!!"

After he quickly hung up the receiver and locked the call box with his magical royal ID badge on the door, Captain Shining Armour quickly got into the blue 1913 Stanley Steamer and shouted at the officer

"Okay, August Rooster! That's enough pressure!! Turn the throttle to full speed!", ordered the high-ranking Canterlot official after he slammed the passenger seat door. Suddenly, from the magical power emitting from his horn, Officer Rooster revved up the fire in the gas stove, revved up the steam fuel pressure and opened up the fueling valves to jump-start the car within a couple seconds.

Once all the three masked Diamond dogs were inside Sunny Boy's four-seated green car, they all immediately asked

"HEY, are you sent by the Dragon Head??!"

Before the canine could finish his question, Sunny Boy quickly replied

"YES, I AM!! Wait, what in Equestria is going on here??!!"

"What does it look like, genius??! We just sacked that store of all its precious gold and diamond valuables!! Probably worth close to 5 MILLION bits!!", boasted the adrenaline-rushed ski-masked Diamond Dog, who was sitting at the passenger seat next to Sunny Boy.

"NO TIME TO TALK!! Just do what you were told, pointy head!!", shouted the bonnet-wearing Diamond Dog who was sitting at the backseat close to the right side of the back-facing car.

"WAIT, SACKED??!! You mean to tell me that you had committed armed robbery just now??!", questioned the panicking Sunny Boy.

"YES, YOU IDIOT!! We're goddamn thugs-for-hire, okay??! JUST TURN THE THROTTLE before I blow your head off!!", barked the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he shoved his pinfire revolver at Sunny Boy's neck!

"RIGHT RIGHT, LET'S GO!!", shouted Sunny Boy as he disengaged the throttle lock, pushed down on the fire pedal and turned the throttle wheel (within the steering wheel) to the right to rev up the pistons within the front car wheels! As soon as the car started rolling from its parking spot and sped off onto the brick-laden road with a trail of hot piping steam escaping from its exhaust, another blue Stanley Steamer was on its way to pursue the green Stanley Steamer from the intersecting road!

Once the getaway car was on his sights, Officer Rooster activated the loud steam siren to alert the current robbers that they were on their shaking tails, before speeding off to chase the robbers in a hot pursuit.

*WEEEOOOOOPPP---WRREEOOOOOPP---WWREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!*
https://youtu.be/G8P81OChG0c?t=102

"There's a steam whistler button at the far right of dashboard, Captain!!", shouted kirin Officer Rooster as he tried his best to navigate the roads while tailing the green steamer. "Push on it to warn these passengers to get off the road!!"

"You mean this one?", asked Captain Shining Armor as he pressed the silver button with a steam whistle symbol on the dashboard.

🚂"CCHOOOOOOO-CHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"🚂

As soon as the pedestrians on the crosswalk heard the whistle and saw the putt-putt trail-puffing steam cars about to roll over them, every citizen started to scramble out of the way to avoid being mangled by the heavy wheeled machinations!

"AAHH SHIT!! LOOK!! We got blue peppies on our tail!!", shouted the burlap-sacked Diamond Dog as he looked behind and saw the chasing blue Stanley behind the trail of white condensed steam!

"Well then, shoot'em, you moron!! We can't let them get a bead on our loot!!, ordered the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he cocked his pinfire revolver.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT, NO NO NO NO, DON'T DO IT!!", shouted the panicked drift-driving Sunny Boy as he used his levitation magic to pull all the guns from the Diamond Dogs' paws. "Those police servants are highly essential in protecting innocent citizens in our modern society!!"

"HEY, BOOKS-FOR-BRAINS!! We ain't innocent civvies over here!! They're not here to protect US!!", howled the ski-masked Diamond as he turned his attention to the driver. "Now GIMME BACK our damn guns!"

"NOOO, if you start firing, they'll fire BACK at us!! Then NONE of us will survive the chase!!", cried Sunny Boy as he tried to navigate the busy road intersections without running over the screaming pedestrians!

"Officer Rooster, slow down for a bit! I'm gonna send a police signal flare over to alert the other officers to our pursuit at Northern Hayseed Road!!", ordered Captain Shining Armor as he stuck his head out into the opening with his glowing magic horn.

"The traffic skies are free of flyers! You're clear to launch, Captain!", shouted Officer Rooster as he turned the throttle lever counter-clockwise to reduce the speed enough to safely allow the captain to cast his signal flare spell, while still maintaining a hot steamy pursuit of the green steam-blazing getaway car.

As soon as Captain Shining Armor shot off a blue lightning-bright 500-m-altitude flare shaped like Captain Shining Armor's cutie mark (a cobalt-blue shield with a six-point fuschia star within and three baby-blue five-pointed stars above), one blue pegasus officer mare saw the trailing flare and immediately flew towards a nearby Gameswell police call-box on top of one of the brick-walled buildings.

As quickly as she unlocked the police call-box with her key, she turned the dial to "Report 4" (for emergency calls to all Manehatten police stations), yanked down the middle crank to sound the alarm, picked up the receiver and shouted at the implanted transmitter

"HQ, this is Officer Recon! We have a situation at Northern Hayseed Road! Requesting immediate assignment!"

From the receiver, HQ responded with utmost urgency

"We have a vehicular pursuit of three suspected armed robbers of a jewel heist! Have all units follow and back up Captain Shining Armor and Officer Rooster along that road! Suspects are being escorted in a green steamer, Model 1922!"

"Understood, sir!!", shouted Officer Recon before hanging up the receiver and locking the call-box. As soon as she saw three different pegasus officers patrolling the skies, she called them all over here to join them on the epic pursuit.

"You know it's not right to steal from others, YOU KNOW??!!", shouted Sunny Boy as he made a hard right turn on the next intersection.

"JUST FUCKIN' DRIVE, YOU DAMN MULE!!", shouted the angry ski-masked Diamond Dog who was now losing patience with his righteous morals.

"RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT, of course!! Just focus on the road! GOT IT!!", muttered Sunny Boy as he tried to keep cool under the pressure, while revving up the pressure with the steam pedal.

"How the hell did the Dragon Head ended up adopting a godson like you??!!", questioned the bonnet-wearing Diamond Dog as he kept an eye on the speeding police steamer.

Sonny Boy tried to make another hard left turn into a trashy narrow alleyway, hoping to lose the police, before turning right onto an empty road flanked by two strip malls; but alas, Captain Shining Armor and Officer Rooster were already on the Diamond Dogs' tail, thanks to Officer Rooster's driving skills that were adept enough to navigate through the alleyway that could barely fit their wide blue steamer!

Afterwards, Sonny Boy then tried to navigate a hard right curve on the road before revving up the throttling speed through an arched overpass train track across the Bonnet Buggy Road, but when he saw he actually drove into an unfinished road construction project, he immediately turned the throttle wheel counter-clockwise as hard as he could and made a hard right turn, before pulling the brake handle! The green steamer immediately came to a halt just in time, right before its right side almost slammed onto some concrete hedgehogs and wooden orange-and-white striped no-entry signs!

As soon as the blue police steamer had caught up with the green getaway car, Officer Rooster immediately turned to the left and halted the car engine, before he and Captain Shining Armour got out the car and took cover behind their side-facing vehicle! Soon enough, two blue Model 1917 Stanley Steamers (each withfour seats instead of two)5 and one pegasus officer on his 1902 Stanley Steam Loco-cycle6 joined up with the two lawmen, before five more police officers (as well as four more Canterlot Royal guards in gold-plated steel armor) came into the scene to provide the necessary back-up. To top it all that, a Collins Buddy electric-powered paddy wagon7 was also brought here to the crime scene to haul in the suspects once they were detained.

As Officer Rooster drew his Remington police revolver8 and pointed at the green steamer, Captain Shining Armor also cast his blue teardrop-shaped ethereal shield from his magic horn. All back-up officers were now anticipating for a possible upcoming gun battle with the jewel robbers.

"Why the hell did you drove us into an unfinished road, you idiot??!!", shouted the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he struggled to get out of the car.

"AAHHH, DOGGONE IT!! There's WAY too many peppies and golden guards blocking our only exit!!", shouted the burlap-sacked canine! He was absolutely right about their predicament. Overlooking the edge of the unfinished road bridge was a 75 m dead drop onto the hard asphalt road street below. Even with levitation magic, there wouldn't be enough time to carry all three Diamond Dogs safely to the ground and Sunny Boy's magical aura was only effective at a maximum 10 m radius at best.

"FUCK THIS!! We're taking them out right now!! You just stay back here and keep your head down, tinker head!", shouted the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he flicked Sunny Boy's glowing horn to deactivate his magic.

As soon as all three revolvers dropped onto the black vinyl seat, all the Diamond Dogs quickly grabbed their guns, took aim at the officers and began firing! The battle between outlaws and law enforcement had begun!

Bullets rapidly flew past the officers, breaking through the fragile temper glass of their police cars and denting the armored steel plating on their chassis body! The other Equestrian officers soon began returning fire with their own Remington service revolvers in retaliation!

As soon as the Diamond Dogs got out of their cars, they continue to shoot wildly at the police force and taking cover behind the green steamer as they were taking fire from the officers as well. As soon as the firefight quickly became too intensely hot, Sunny Boy quickly duck for cover with the gun-slinging Diamond Dogs and began laying on the cold concrete floor in a prone position to avoid the bullets zipping overhead!

After Officer Rooster and the rest of the officers fired their last rounds and started to eject the empty cases before reloading, the two unicorn royal guards provided covering fire for the local police force by shooting their mentally-charged crepuscular beams from their blue-hot horns, slicing up nearly the top half of the bullet-ridden green steam car (and the construction site barriers in the process)! Luckily for the three criminal robbers and Sunny Boy, they managed to duck down in time, before the unicorns had a chance to bifurcate them with their intense steel-cutting magic beam!

As the unicorn royal guards charged their horns to the fullest max, the Diamond Dogs began firing back at the vulnerable officers and royal guards, but the officers were quickly saved in time by the brave gung-ho Captain Shining Armour, who ran out of his cover to position himself and his 2m x 2m ethereal shield into the line of the Diamond Dogs' gunfire!

As the Diamond Dogs continued to helplessly shoot at the officers, and finding most of their bullets landing onto Captain Shining Armor's powerful ethereal shield, they suddenly found themselves clicking their guns with no sight of a muzzle flash. It was at this instant moment that the Diamond Dogs found themselves empty of ammo.

"QUICK, gimme your bullets!!", shouted the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he immediately duck behind the green half-destroyed steamer.

"I don't HAVE any more left!! I used them all!!", loudly responded the bonnet-wearing criminal dog as he ejected all the empty pinfire bullet cases from his cylinder.

"I'm dry too!", whimpered the sad burlap-sacked canine as he showed his empty cylinder to his partners-in-crime.

"Why the hell did you even drove us into a deathtrap, you dinky brain??!!", shouted the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he grabbed Sunny Boy's shirt at the front and barked at the unicorn's scared face.

"I'm SORRY, I'm SORRY!! I kinda panicked when the police started chasing us!! I was trying to lose them and accidentally made a wrong turn!!", cried the frightened Sunny Boy as he stared deep into the angry eye-holes of the Diamond Dog's ski mask.

"What the hell are we gonna do now??!!", panicked the burlap-sacked Diamond Dog whose sweat was now seeping into his dirty mask.

As soon as the officers and royal guards realized that the Diamond Dogs had stopped firing, they slowly peered from behind the bullet-riddled and window-shattered police cars, but still remain vigilante for any more possible surprises. Captain Shining Armor later joined his police comrade, who was still ducking behind cover near his blue shot-up steamer. The brave armored knight was now in no mood to engage, as his magic power had already been drain after his magic shield took on so many speeding bullets.

"Officer Rooster, do you have an extra service revolver I can borrow?!", requested the exhausted Captain Shining Armor.

"Sure, it's at the back trunk case! Fetch it quickly while I cover you!", loudly whispered Officer Rooster as he set his gun sights at the destroyed green getaway car.

"I SAID, what the HELL are we gonna do NOW??!", repeated the panicking burlap-sacked Diamond Dog as he cowered in fear behind the destroyed steamer.

"Hey hey hey hey hey, don't be scared!! I gotta new plan, okay?!", assured the agitated Sunny Boy as the ski-masked Diamond Dog was still angrily grabbing him by the shirt with his clenched paw. Seeing as there was now no other choice, the Diamond Dog reluctantly decided to let him go and put his trust into Sunny Boy's plan.

"Quick, gimme all your guns, NOW!", demanded Sunny Boy before the Diamond Dogs reluctantly agreed to do as they were told.

"Sooo, uhhh---what now?", questioned the bonnet-wearing Diamond Dog.

With his telekinesis, Sunny Boy immediately stood up from the ground and hurled the unloaded guns forward onto the bare pavement!

"HEY!! WHAT ARE YOU, FUCKING CRAZY???!!", questioned the dismayed ski-masked canine as he slapped both sides of his own head in despair.

"Don't worry!! They won't shoot us if we're unarmed!", shouted Sunny Boy as he immediately showed his raised hands in the air at the confused officers.

"HEY, Captain Shining Armor! Look! Doesn't that unicorn stallion look familiar to you??!", whispered Officer Rooster loudly as soon as he spotted the surrendering Sunny Boy. "He was on last weekend's paper about that cart crash incident AND those missing posters, wasn't he??"

"Yeah, I think he does look somewhat familiar! No white stripe on his nose...but the white-coated hands and that nervous nerdy expression seems somewhat a resemblance...", said Captain Shining Armor who was now armed with his own Remington revolver.

"Riightt! Sunburst, isn't it?! He was both your royal crystaller AND your daughter's babysitter, correct?!", questioned Officer Rooster. "AND he used to teach your unicorn buddies on how to cast a blue ribbon detainment spell back at the academy months ago, right?"

"YEP, that's right! MAN, I haven't seen him in person since he left Canterlot to work at that Friendship School in Ponyville.", wondered Captain Shining Armor as he peered over the blue damaged steamer to take a peek at Sunny Boy.

"Everypony from the Canterlot force and every officer in all major cities had been looking for this Vice-Stallion for days ever since your regal sister sent out the all-points missing citizens bulletin report!", replied Officer Rooster as the anxious kirin stared in shock at the bespectacled surrendering unicorn.

"I'm so glad that we had found him, but---how in Equestria did he end up being in league with these Diamond Dog gangsters? And why is he sporting that terrible rebellious fashion look? That is SO unlike the Sunburst I used to know...", questioned Shining Armor as he examined the surrendering unicorn's urban-themed tacky attire.

"Call me a conspiracy loon, but...maybe he's working undercover??", asked Officer Rooster as he duck down for cover.

"Why in my holy sister's name are you pondering on such a dumb theory?! Go over to the other officers and check if they had any bullet wounds on them!", ordered Captain Shining Armor as he nudged his head towards his other comrades.

As soon as Officer Rooster left the Captain's side to meet his other fellow lawmen, Captain Shining Armour ran 75 meters south across the overpass bridge, away from the potentially dangerous scene, before finding a nearby police call-box at a maid cafe near the curved road where they had driven over.

After unlocking the Gamewell police call-box with his royal ID badge and turning the dial to "Telephone", he picked up the receiver and spoke to HQ via transmitter

"Hello, HQ? This is Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Canterlot Guard! Connect me to Superintendent Hoss on the line, NOW!"

"One moment please...", said the HQ switchboard operator.

"..............."

(10 seconds later)

As soon as he heard the click, Captain Shining Armor immediately spoke into the transmitter

"Hello, Superintendent Hoss! I was just wondering. Did you assigned Mister Sunburst to an undercover mission in Manehattan by any chance?"

"What kinda idiotic no-brainer question is that??! Even if I DID know he was undercover, I wouldn't tell a DAMN thing about this top-secret shit, because we all know too damn well that these lines can easily be wire-tapped by those moggies and mutts!", shouted the livid police superintendent.

"Right, OF COURSE! Understood, sir!", answered Captain Shining Armor before he hung up and immediately sprinted back to the police scene.

"Lemme take care of this mess! Maybe we can negotiate some sorta deal here! I'm a smooth talker!", pleaded the surrendering Sunny Boy as he side-stepped out of his cover and slowly approached the gun-toting officers, who were still taking cover behind their cars.

"What in the Tartaric hell is that dinky brain doing??", questioned the bonnet-wearing Diamond Dog as he continued to hide behind the car wreck.

"Captain, you're back! Where were you?! We really could use some help negotiating this unicorn!", shouted one purple-coated unicorn mare officer as soon as she saw the royal guard captain sprinting.

"Something about this unicorn stallion doesn't feel right.....he looks somewhat----familiar...no...it can't be----could it be??", questioned the other black-coated mustached pegasus stallion officer as he stared deeply onto the surrending unicorn's whimpering face.

"It's all right, officers! DON'T look far into it. Just let me talk to him! Looks like our 'fugitive' is willing to talk to us for a better deal!", requested the armed Captain Shining Armor as he slowly approached at the surrendering Sunny Boy with his drawn-out police revolver. He turned his head and quietly called out to his comrades

"Whatever you're thinking about right now, it's probably for the best that you keep quiet about this for now. Otherwise, you might end up blowing the whole operation apart..."

As both Sunny Boy and the readily-armed Captain Shining Armor approached each other with anxious anticipation for the other Equestrian to make their sudden move, Captain Shining Armor quietly asked to his estranged friend

"So, what's the situation like over here?"

He didn't want to use the unicorn prodigy's real name, in case the Diamond Dogs' sensitive ears would catch wind of his true identity and have him terminated permanently later on for being a possible police informant. He continues to have his Remington revolver aimed at the anxious unicorn during the 'parlay'.

"We ran out of bullets...", whispered Sunny Boy to Captain Shining Armor. He also didn't want the Diamond Dogs to hear with their sensitive ears about what he was blurting out to the royal guard captain and react negatively to the situation.

"Ahh ahh, yes...very good..job well done..", quietly congratulated Captain Shining Armor, causing Sunny Boy to raise a single left eyebrow in confusion. He did not expect the Captain of the Royal guard to praise him for his actions, even if he had done nothing but cowardly lay down under the gunfire. He slowly began to relax and lowered his hands down to his hips.

"Sooooo uhhhh, might I ask----how in Equestria did you got yourself involved with these mutts in the first place? Are they treating you well?", asked Captain Shining Armor. As much as he wanted to tell him that his friends and family are worried sick about him, he had to keep his questions short, so as to not rouse any suspicion from the Diamond Dogs.

"OOOhh, just something that I was told to pick up for somepony very important....but---I never knew they would be such bold and brash creatures!", whispered the scared Sunny Boy. He didn't want to implicate his godfather in his statement to the royal guard captain, because he didn't want his godfather to get arrested for being associated with these armed canine robbers.

"Still, they seem pretty shaken about the whole situation right now...so don't get too rough on them...", requested Sunny Boy as he pointed at the cowering Diamond Dogs from behind. "I don't know about how their prior situation led them to commit such a heinous act, but maybe if you just gently coax them into revealing their own troubled past, you could get a better understanding about their upbringing"

"Riiigghhtt, so---you in Special Department?", questioned Captain Shining Armor, hoping he will get a straight answer about whether he works for a special undercover police department as an informant without raising too much suspicion from the possibly eavesdropping Diamond Dogs.

"Uhhh---yeah...it's pretty fancy, all right...don't know why you asked though..." commented the confused Sunny Boy, thinking that the royal guard captain was asking about the lavish new luxury department gift given to by his godfather, to which Shining Armor replied to him

"RIGHT! Of course...I shouldn't pry you any further about that....it's just---after so much time has passed, it's hard to distinguish who your buddies and former rivals are like these days---you know, after losing complete social contact with them...", muttered the worried Captain Shining Armor as he stared into the unicorn's confused eyes.

"Uhhh, YEAH---of course! You know it, officer. I totally get ya", nervous chuckled Sunny Boy as he began to feel a bit uncomfortable about the royal guard captain's oncoming friendly approach.

"Man, you look a lot mature these days...", complimented Captain Shining Armor as he gazed upon Sunny Boy's short-cut orange mane, rectangular gases and short chin stubble.

"Yeah, I---kinda get that a lot from my students!", chuckled the flattered Sunny Boy as he nervously smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"SO, what do you think we should do now?", asked Captain Shining Armor, hoping that the undercover informant has a special plan to get them out of the sticky situation, just like he did back in the Crystal Empire during the Crystalling ceremony.

"Uhhhh, I really don't know...I thought you guys would have something special up your sleeve.", stuttered the quiet Sunburst. He later leaned in to whisper to the Captain's ear. "As of now, I'm actually being held hostage against my will..."

"Ooohh, right...of course!", winked Captain Shining Armor, thinking what the informant said was code word for him executing the ultimate move.

Weirded out by the captain's strange response, Sunny Boy suddenly found himself being gripped by Captain Shining Armor's telekinetic hold, got turned around and was now being strongly headlocked by the neck by the royal guard captain! With the captain's revolver being pointed towards his face, Sunny Boy unexpectedly found himself being held hostage by the law instead of the criminals, a sudden twist of ironic fate not expected in the world of cops and robbers!

"I know you mangy hounds are outta bullets right now!!", shouted Captain Shining Armor as he held the informant hostage with his revolver muzzle planted onto the bespectacled unicorn's cheek!

"Even if you're actually bluffing, you REALLY think you can take on the WHOLE Manehatten police force of 2800 officers, as well as 1500 Canterlot Royal Guards hunting you down after your escape from justice??!", threatened Captain Shining Armor as he approached the green car wreck. In case the Diamond Dogs were really bluffing about being empty and were willing to take out their snitch, he used up any remaining regenerated mental energy he had left to cast a smaller ethereal shield to protect the informant.

All the Diamond Dogs were now in for a world of shock as the police officers came out of their cover and began slowly marching towards them with their guns drawn. In addition, two pegasus royal guards were ready to fly forward to catch the suspects with their spiky man-catchers9, while the other two unicorn royal guards were ready to cast their ribbon detainment spells as they slowly approach the suspects.

"Just do what this man with a clear conscience did and turn yourselves in to the police! Otherwise, things will get PRETTY messy if you all continue to resist! Best chance for all of you is for us to go home without even a single drop of blood being spilled!", continued the brisk and bold Captain Shining Armor as he continued to hold Sunny Boy hostage. "If you don't surrender, I'm gonna count down to 3 and your predicament will get a WHOLE lot worse after you're arrested---assuming that you survive, that is!"

Looking at each other with confusion and dreaded fear, they were feeling the intense pressure about the godfather losing his only godson in an intense standoff with the maniacal police force! Though they had entirely loathed about their inexperienced getaway driver putting them into deeper trouble in the first place, they were not willing to risk the life of the crime boss' godson nor themselves over a botched robbery. Even if the Diamond Dogs did survived, they still would get into even further fatal trouble in prison once they become green-lighted under the orders of the enraging Dragon Head.

"It's no use, dawg!! We have to surrender! There's no escaping both the law AND the Triad gang!", loudly whimpered the frightened burlap-sacked Diamond Dog as the Diamond Dogs cowardly hid behind their wreckage.

The brazened Captain started to count down as his armed comrades behind him approach closer to the Diamond Dogs...

"THREE---!!"

"TWO---!!"

ONE---!!"

Sunny Boy quickly gestured the Diamond Dogs to do as they were told, fearing for his life as the cold gun muzzle firmly pressed against his cheek.

"OKAY OKAY!! WE SURRENDER!!!", shouted the ski-masked Diamond Dog as he and his two canine partners stood up and raised their paws up in the air!

"DON'T SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT!", pleaded the surrendering bonnet-wearing Diamond Dog as his legs shook in fear.

After the long 10-minute stand-off with the Diamond Dogs and Sunny Boy, all four suspects were arrested and charged with one count of armed burglary, eleven counts of resisting arrest and eleven counts of attempted murder of a police official. All were bound in blue ethereal ribbons and held by their necks with spiked man-catchers. All the suspects were loaded into the electric paddy wagon---all except for ONE unicorn...

"Up you go, doggies! Into the car! Anything you say will be used against you in the court of law!", ordered Captain Shining Armor and the rest of the officers as they guide the criminals onto the wagon.

"WAIT!", shouted Captain Shining Armor as he stopped the bound and man-handled informant from entering the wagon. "Leave this suspect to me! I'll take him to another station for special questioning!"

As Captain Shining Armour escorted the fourth 'fugitive' to behind a nearby huge orange cement mixer, the restrained Diamond Dogs remain seated on their steel benches in the wagon, before a unicorn officer mare cast an ethereal containment barrier around the lightly caged wagon and enchanted the barrier with an encryption spell to prevent them from jumping off the wagon and protect against unauthorized tampering of the ethereal barrier.

"All right, we're good to go!", called out the unicorn officer before heading back to her police steamer.

Afterwards, another unicorn officer mare got into the driver seat of the wagon, activated the car batteries with her electrifying aura from her horn, and immediately began hauling off the suspects to a nearby station.

Meanwhile, after the unicorn informant and Captain Shining Armor were out of view from the other officers, Sunny Boy suddenly asked to the captain

"I'm confused? Are we going to take a ride on the cement mixer carriage?"

"I'm letting you go, you crazy nerd!", chuckled Captain Shining Armor as he immediately unleashed his grasp on the informant from his man-catcher and cast a nullification spell against the ethereal blue ribbons.

"Really??! I'm free to go?! You serious, right??", questioned the baffled Sunburst as he was being released from his magical bindings.

"YES, I am! You do have a job to do, right??", questioned Captain Shining Armor. "Though, I think it would be best for you to reveal yourself to your family about your current well-being. Everypony may be worried sick of you about your unknown whereabouts..."

As much as Captain Shining Armor really wanted his friend Sunburst to contact loved ones, he knew that getting in touch with his best friend Starlight Glimmer, his family and his students would compromise his supposed undercover mission as an police informant for the anti-gang unit. Besides, he has the required curious motivations and meticulous research skills to gather as much intelligence needed for any possible leads about the criminal underworld. What kind of special police department wouldn't hire an intelligent well-known and revered associate that taught the academy on criminal detainment and negotiation tactics?

"Wow, thank you SO much, sir!", blessed Sunny Boy. "For a moment, I thought you were really going to take me to the police station for an intense interrogation at some isolated black site!"

"Nonsense!", shouted Captain Shining Armor. "We're both on the same team, right? You have a really important mission to complete and I don't want to delay you any further while you're working..."

"Yes---WELL, I better head back to my family soon, before they become super mad at me for tardiness!", hollered Sunny Boy as he immediately thought of his godfather being upset at him for arriving later than 10:30 A.M.

"Right, see you later, my good friend...", Captain Shining Armor said as he bid him farewell.

"OH, right! Almost forgot!", shouted the captain as he ran back to the orange-yellow coated unicorn and grabbed his shoulder. Without warning, he suddenly swung a mean hard right hook to Sunny Boy's nose, knocking the bespectacled unicorn to a nearby concrete wall!

"HEY!! What was that for??!!", shouted the nose-bleeding Sunny Boy as he braced himself against the concrete wall.

"So they wouldn't suspect you of being released without questioning! DUH!! Now GO! Meet up with your friends and family! But don't stay with them for too long, though...", advised Captain Shining Armor before he scurried off to check up on his police comrades. With that drama already over, the bewildered Sunny Boy went on his separate way and ran as fast as he could to meet up with his godfather at 13 Poney Musey Rd.

"SO, tell me! Is he from the undercover force??", questioned Officer Rooster as he ran up to Captain Shining Armor.

"HEY, I told you to not talk about that sorta stuff in front of every creature, not even with your closest comrades", whispered Captain Shining Armor with scorn. "All I can tell you is that you keep this incident to yourself. Don't let any other creature know, not even the police chief, about what happened to that missing citizen we saw that day. Call it a crazy hunch, but I think the Princess may actually be hiding something very significant from us..."

"So you're saying that---", speculated the whispering Officer Rooster as he was careful to mice his words, in order to not rouse any suspicion around him

"---your regal sister, the Princess of Friendship, faked a missing citizen report---so she could quietly plant a former royal babysitter into the underground world, all while his friends and family continue to worry about that informant?"

"Hmmm....well, I can't say absolutely for sure, Officer Rooster. But it's best if we don't pry any further. Until my friend has completed with his top-secret assignment, we can't have any news about his discovery be known. Otherwise, these criminals may end up taking him out of their underground circle for good, and he won't be back to teach another class ever again", responded the cautious Captain Shining Armor as he looked around to see if any more police were listening on them.

"Of course....though it may hurt for me to leave his friends and family in constant emotional pain, it would be even more devastating to see him at his funeral if he were to get caught.....all right.....I understand, Captain.....", obeyed Officer Rooster as he and the captain got into their bullet-ridden blue steamer.

"Good! Now---how about we all take a relaxing lunch break at Donut Joe's? It'll be my treat", offered the captain as he levitated his bag of bitty bank rolls.

----------(MANEHATTAN, 13 PONEY MUSEY RD, QILIN TOWN, 10:29 A.M.)----------
◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾
Sitting in the Doble E-20 Steamer was Ginseng Dragon in the driver seat and Delft Blue at the passenger seat.

"---So you see, by exposing Taai Yoeng Jye to the intense reality of criminal thug work, he will learn the inner machinations of the underground Triad empire", explained Ginseng Dragon as he talked to his trusted right-hand man.

"Ah, you are as powerful as you are wise, Dragon Head!" complimented Delft Blue as he gave his boss a thumbs up. "Your godson will someday be the golden ingot to your shrine!"

"Of course! Education doesn't always have to come from reading those boring books, because when it comes to learning new exciting things, experience is the best teacher you could ever hope and wish for!", proudly exclaimed Ginseng Dragon as he clandestinely tapped the side of his forehead.

Suddenly, before the clock struck 10:30 A.M., Sunny Boy came rushing in as he opened the door to the backseat of his godfather's Doble car. Sweating and panting with exhaustion, but still alive after his crazy experience, he told him

"Sweet Twit-lit Sparkles, godfather!! These so-called 'friends' you told me to pick up were actually crazy gun-toting robbers! But BOY, was I REALLY lucky today!! The police were kind enough to let me go after a hot pursuit AND had all these mangy mutts arrested for their own good!"

As he continued to gasp for air in the hot car, he then later continued on with his sentence

"You really have to be careful next time with who you befriend out there! Some creatures may have hidden dark secrets in their lives and may take advantage of your generosity!"

Sunny Boy tapped his godfather's shoulders and looked at him with caring concern for his safety, before turning his attention to his godfather's deputy officer.

"You too, Mister Delft Blue! From now on, let's just spend our safe quality family time at Manehattan's New Yoke Public Library and maybe visit the Malachite Statue of Harmony over Liberation Island too, all right?"

As both Ginseng Dragon and Delft Blue turned around and faced the frontal windshield with shocked speechless expression on their faces, Ginseng Dragon suddenly slammed his head onto the steering and blurt out a sustained groan with utmost disappointment for his godson.

How in Equestria did he ended up adopting an idiotic successor to his criminal empire?

"---W-what?"

◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾

---END

Author's Note

1. 1922 Stanley Steamer
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnab5sG9PQs
   

2. Gun model would be similar to the Lefaucheux M1858 with folding triggers and NO trigger guards (so they would be easily operated by canines with large paws)
   

3. 1913 Stanley Steamer (blue)
   

4. Gamewell Police Box
   

5. 1917 Stanley Steamer
   

6. 1902 Stanley Loco-Cycle
   

7. Fun fact: The first police car was actually an electric vehicle built by the Collins Buddy Company and was first used in Akon, Ohio back in 1899
   

8. Remington Police Revolver
   

9. Man-catcher: A non-letal polearm with two springy limbs that hooks onto the target's neck (or limbs)