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One is a cellist playing at Canterlot's most elite parties. The other is a DJ-for-hire looking to make the big time. Both are secret agents. And together they'll team up to take down a powerful baked goods cartel.
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Now with theme music, courtesy of The L-Train!
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Proofread by the fantastic RTStephens. The cover image is courtesy of Gen-Jack-Oneill on deviantART, who graciously gave me permission for its use.
It's both comedic and not at the same time, but manages not to forget either side. Well done!
Loved the humour. Anti-artificial light medication, Flim and Flam, clubbing and headbanging and, of course, TAKE THAT, Upper Crust and Jet Set!
The funny is not all-permeating, but when it hits it strikes home. Well done, once more.
>>1061315 I can't believe it's been almost 20 years since that film came out. 
One of my first memories is seeing that in the movie theater. What's really sad though is that in all that time, no one else has been able to make dinosaurs look convincingly realistic. 
>>1061680 Ooh, thanks for catching that! That one is particularly confusing, given that 'quarry' also means a rock pit. 
No. Anything but Flim and Flam. I hate those two with a major passion.
However, the overall theme for this just popped into my head the first time I read that you were going to write this *Doesn't remember if any details were given at that time*.
I like this. I like this a lot. At first, I was thinking that this was almost going to be like The Darkness, but this is truly an original story in my opinion.
Look forward to more! You've got some real understanding for literature!
"Octavia took her seat opposite Vinyl. “You know, you really shouldn’t use my actual name, shortened or otherwise,” she muttered in an undertone.
Vinyl cocked an eyebrow at the grey mare. “Octavia! Octavia! We’ve got Octavia here!”"
HEHE, EHEHEHE, HEHEHEHEHEHEEEH! Favorite'd!
Such a hurricane of puns at the beginning.
Carrot Top and Donut Joe/Con Mane are secret agents too, it seems. I wonder who they're working for, though.
Yay! More people should play. It's a fantastic game.
Man, I'm absolutely loving this story. As the EQD pre-reader said, it's handled very well - It feels serious, yet somehow light-hearted at the same time. Can't wait for more!
And this,
“Forced entry, it’s an easy feat...” Vinyl sung to herself as she scanned the inside of the box with her magic"
was one of the most amusing little lines I've ready for a while.
>>1149817 Now, I'm going to go out on a stretch here and assume that you think everyone loves shipping, and I just have really one important thing to say: not everyone likes shipping. It's a tough concept that not everyone is like you, I know, but bear with me here.
What is the reason you like shipping? Is it the romance? The potential for clopping? 'Cause let me tell you, that stuff isn't in the show. And as much as us fanfic writers love to add stuff into the show that wasn't there, there are some lines that you just don't cross when it comes to little kids shows, and I try to respect those lines very much.
Is it just that you like seeing the relationship development? Well, I have the answer for you--Friendshipping. Even the show does it on occasion, on episodes like Griffon the Brush-Off, for instance. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash went from barely tolerate to best friends in that episode, and that's the kind of things I would like more of, instead of this drivel where suddenly everything about the show is sexed up. And it doesn't even make that much sense ot me to be honest, after all, where is the sexual tension when everyone is running around buck naked already?
>>1150034 I like shipping because I enjoy reading about how they deal with and manage their relationships. It's interesting seeing love bloom as a sidestory to the actual story. Sadly for this, Friendshipping doesn't really work for some (many) fics, because they're already friends, like this one. I don't assume everyone likes shipping, and I don't expect everyone to. The above comments was just a bit of drama I put on to find out why there wasn't any shipping in this story. I was just curious about it, I didn't want to force it or anything.
“Oh yeah,” she laughed... “I make this look good.”
Well, hello there, PiB!
Actually, Vinyl has a good point; she's so noticable in her original outfit, no-one would ever suspect she was trying to not to be noticed, right? 
Right? 
>>1150022 You're from San Francisco? 
*squee!* I hope this can live up to your expectations, then! I want to try to show off this ponified version of my favorite city.
>>1150057 The honest answer to your question is that shipping just isn't really my thing, I prefer not to work with romance. I just found it odd that you would automatically assume there was shipping in this story, as if it's the default. There's no shipping here because...there's no shipping. It's just not the focus or intention of this story.
>>1150083 It's because when I think secret agent, I think secrets. And when I think secrets (especially on FIMFiction), I think shipping or Grimdark. And the fact that it has Vinyl and Octavia as the main characters probably didn't help.
If writing romance isn't your thing, I'm OK with it. I love shipfics, but I can't write proper romance to save my arse from getting roasted in the fire.
Usually I try to avoid fanfics that star both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia because it's just too darn common to see them together while they have no connection in the show. But the obvious truth is: they have such a fantastically juxtaposed chemistry being vastly different as individuals while also being of the music profession that their combined presence almost always results in good stories.
This one has not only that awesome chemistry, but is also well-written, is a goldmine of puns and references, and its very nature as a spy thriller has me that much more hooked.
I'll take this.
Marvel's Thor. Thor is eating and drinking at a cafe on Earth, likes the food and drink and shows his appreciation by breaking a cup on the floor.
It's... an Asgard thing... 
Also, I find a story that features Octavia and Vinyl who are not romantically together and are just friends very refreshing. I don't think I've read a single story about them because they are all shipping stories, stuff I'm just not interested in. I can't write a romance story worth a crap myself, so I know the relief of not having to worry about all that pairing together nonsense and can just concentrate on getting my characters in one outrageous situation after another. Like what John's got here.
But... that's just me. 
Because fedoras are awesome. Which makes me sad because I've had a lot of difficulty finding pictures of ponies wearing fedoras.
For those that didn't know: flour and other baking ingredients have a lot of energy in them. They burn quite well. Now imagine a lot of flour dust in the air and a spark. You might as well have had petrol fumes in the air. Movie quality explosions are realistic here.
“Do I really have to point out the irony that a place so accepting, neigh, encouraging of all manner of sexual activity has a name that sounds like ‘castrate’?”Well, you know. Mares, stallions that sound like mares-- close enough.
Also, I see that Octavia doesn't subscribe to the "dress outrageously enough, and the only thing people will notice is your hair" school of disguise.
ok good chapter i just have one nitpick and its about flour. 
i know but just hear me out on this one OK.
Flour explodes under certain conditions with quite some force, (there have been many occasions where mills have spontaneously combusted) because while flour is not explosive in an inert state, it is capable of spreading in the air and creating a potentially explosive dust. each flour particulate is a starch. Starches, like other carbohydrates, burn very easily. and while a single particle has a VERY small yield a cloud will have its yield boosted not just by the increase in mass (but that is a factor) but by the surface area exposed to reaction witch can increase yield by 20 times in some cases.
now there has been reports of flour creating explosions capable of blowing though concrete, more than enough force to kill someone outright (due to pressure and blood vessels in the brain) and that is in small (relatively) amounts in the scale you described anyone in that building would have died on the spot due to blood vessels popping in there heads the fire would be oxygen starved from the explosion and our poor Octavia's adventure would be cut short. 
chemistry ruins books, movies and games but makes you a badass.
TLDR
Flour is SUPER dangerous. 
There are just a hair too many fantastic puns, references, and clever details sprinkled throughout this story (heck, every chapter so far) for me to count, so I'll just narrow it down to three: I love how you described the Equestrian equivalent of Chinatown, it was a lot of fun watching both ponies work with their spy gear (especially Vinyl Scratch), and I love their codenames.
It's great when you come across a fanfic that's so good, you find yourself loving every word. This one is a shining example.
>>1150430 Thor.
Vinyl cocked an eyebrow at the grey mare. “Octavia! Octavia! We’ve got Octavia here!” she announced to the room at large, gesturing frantically at her friend. A few ponies in the room gave the pair a cursory glance before losing interest and returning to their meals or their lunch companions. Vinyl grinned. “Nopony cares! What are you, a secret agent?” she added, giving her friend a knowing smile.
Jurassic Park FOR THE WIN!!!!!!
I think my favorite part of any secret agent movie (or any movie that does this really) is when the hero and the villain site down and have it out with words rather than with violence. The dialogue is always fun to hear as each tries to out-wit the other while slinging insults in between. Good times.
And now the unknown enters. I love a woman of intrigue! 
Dat exchange at the table. Both sides made me chuckle.
And sweet Luna, Bleatniks.
So we have loyal agents, a renegade and the corporates in the play now... Somehow, it seems to me that Carrot Top is either lying or will be the wild card further down the road.
My reaction to the story so far...
“My, don’t sell yourself short,” Octavia huffed.“Oh, I assure you it isn’t,” Con Mane replied, winking at the grey mare.
>>1208064 I literally fist-pumped when I read that. So glad someone picked up on that reference! I wish I could have made it more obvious, but I just couldn't figure out how.
>>1151734 >>1153326 So I have one person saying what I've written is completely realistic, and one person saying it's utterly implausible. I honestly don't know which one is more accurate...I just watched some youtube videos of flour dust burning up in the air and used that as my reference. Mind you, it's not the whole warehouse of flour going up at once, it's just several bags that broke when Vinyl dropped her grenade; I thought that would produce a spectacular fireball, but otherwise the flour released into the air would just burn up before it did any real damage (it's the flaming debris, like bits of wood and flour sack, that pose the greatest hazard, send those can catch other flour bags on fire). But I could be completely wrong about that, since I don't know what the explosive force of a single sack of flour is. And I'm in no mood to test it and find out. 
oh yea the bass cannon too bad it didn't work too well, oh and judging by the name of the company that carrot top was working for, I am guessing that she just broke a pinkie promise. oh and I love how he was worried that an airport would be monitored and not his conversation.
Bass Cannon!... dud.
I guess if Vinyl ever wants to get major work done, all she has to do it get captured for a few hours. Given the line of work, I'd say she'll have that single out by the end of the year.
So Carrot Top turned into a triple agent in a spy story. Go figure.
Oh, yes... I've been looking forward to this next part.
“But Octy! Wanton destruction!” the DJ pleaded. “I want a ton of destruction!”
and
“Oh, buck off!” and the following.
That made my day. Just when I thought I was getting up from the first, the second sent me right back down.
The bass cannon had me all
.I love this Vinyl, and I love this Octavia. Good going all around!
Oh, and it seems I was right about Carrot Top... unless the next chapter reveals a new development that means I wasn't right at all.
Very much looking forward to reading what happens next! I'm personally not too surprised that Carrot Top sided with Con. Private contractor is in it for the money not because she's looking to make the world a better place. Of course I was sad that the Bass Cannon didn't go "boom" but hey... can't have everything.
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t out of Con Mane. 
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