//------------------------------// // The Mission // Story: A New Life // by Lunafan1k //------------------------------// Once Jack left out the back and things had settled down, we spent the next few hours at the table chatting with each other while we dined on the vegetable stew that Stormy had prepared. Rainbow was telling us how she won the Best Young Fliers competition and was hanging out with the other Wonderbolts for the day. “So after the competition me and the Wonderbolts fly off and have a bit of a race of our own. I was so excited so of course I agreed. Man, they really put me to the test! I’ve actually done a lot of endurance training since then because of it, but whatever. So after the race it was just me, Spitfire, and Soarin. The others dropped out of the race for one reason or another-” “I usually let them do whatever as long as they are ready in the morning.” Spitfire added in. “Yea, so it’s just us three and our race ended just outside Manehatten. Spitfire turned and asked if I wanted to see the city since we were already there, so I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’” “You forgot the part where you hopped around us in a circle shouting ‘YES!’ a million times.” Spitfire added with a grin. Rainbow coughed into her hoof, “Well, maybe. I don’t know. Anyway, we get to the city and almost right away these guys just come out of the woodwork and start threatening us, demanding our bits and other things. Well, I wasn’t about to let them hurt my friends, so I was ready to throw some hooves if I had to. They took one look at me before busting out laughing. At first I thought it was they weren’t taking me seriously-” “Trust me, they weren’t.” Spitfire added again. “-So I got mad and was about to lay some hurt on them. But Spitfire stopped me and hoof-bumped them instead. I was soo confused, I wound up just standing there watching them as they greeted each other like old friends. Eventually we got to this place and I met Stormy for the first time. Talk about surprise, I had no idea that Spitfire was part of a gang.” Rainbow more or less finished. “So, with all that said, you mentioned earlier that you are working with Princess Luna about some trouble in the city, how did that come about?” Twilight asked Stormy and Pipp. “Well, while each city has its own city guard to act as first responders, they tend to answer to only Celestia and her guard captains. When Luna returned, she wanted some form of guard of her own that would be secret and well hidden, unlike the general knowledge of the bat pony guards, who would know the darker parts of the city. So she spoke to the various Wonderbolts or guards who came from more… dubious backgrounds.” Stormy said. Pipp spoke up, “So it turned out that a lot of them had friends, family, or knew someone in various gangs or social circles who would be willing to let the princess know of any serious dangers that threatened the balance of the cities. Their reporting and Luna’s quick work has preventing numerous gang wars and power struggles, even if they have no idea she was involved.” “Fascinating!” Twilight said as she jotted a few things down. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone!” “… Right.” Spitfire said doubtfully. I raised my own hoof, “What was that loud, explody thing Jack had?” Stormy scoffed, “It’s one of those stupid flintlock pistols from the gryphon lands. The idiot is obsessed with them, claims to be a sharpshooter or something. The guy can barely hold it right in his hooves and they had to be modified so he can pull the trigger. Waste of bits if you ask me, things are loud, messy, and take so long to reload he’s got to carry four just so he has spares.” “What about Strings? He hasn’t said a word all night.” Faina asked. “Strings… doesn’t really talk.” Pheobe explained, “I think the only one he talks to is Swiss, and that guy doesn’t talk to anyone outside of glaring at them.” We took a moment to glance at Strings, he didn’t seem to notice as he was enthralled in playing with the string strung between his dexterous appendages. “Right, well, you guys said we could probably help out, so what is going on that you need our help for, and that Luna sent us to you directly?” Faina asked the others. Stormy, Spitfire, and Pheobe sat up a bit straighter as we got down to business. “There’s a strange tension in the air, the other gangs have gone quiet, not as many fights or anything. We looked into it, they are keeping their distance but they are building fortifications, almost like they are expecting to be invaded.” Stormy told us. “Everyone else in the city is thinking it’s some kind of blessing that the streets are ‘safe’ now. They aren’t. Anyone caught wandering off the main roads is killed by one of the gangs.” Pheobe continued. “Then there’s the fact that Princess Luna herself can’t seem to enter their dreams. She has told us she suspects a dark magic is involved, something mind altering that is blocking her. She doesn’t want to cause a panic just yet but would like us to look into it for her.” “So here we are, presented with the opportunity to finally get to the bottom of this.” Stormy resumed, “Twilight, your magic is quite powerful from what I hear, you may be able to scan the city and see if you can locate if this disturbance is magical in nature, and maybe identify it entirely.” “I’ll do my best!” Twilight said with a bit of a salute. “Faina, Princess Luna’s guard, the bat ponies, are incredibly stealthy, can you claim the same?” Stormy asked her. “Of course, stealth is my special talent, after all.” She grinned. “Perfect. Then I want you to infiltrate the gangs’ bases and see what you can find out. I want to know if they are working with someone or something, and if they are up to something evil, put a stop to it.” Stormy frowned. “Of course.” Faina nodded. “Rainbow and Spitfire, I want you to keep doing your normal rounds.” This earned a salute from Dash. “Pheobe, you’re here with me helping coordinate our own people and triage if necessary.” “As per usual~” Pheobe said with a flourish. “Rarity is with me though, we can talk about her famous dresses!” “That sounds marvelous! I’m not one for such roguish adventures, and you look like a mare of exquisite tastes.” Rarity said with a smile. “Yep! You should see my collection!” “What’s triage?” I interrupted them. “Oh, in the event of a massive gang war we need someone to tend to the wounded and make sure they get treated in a timely manner. I know a bit of healing magic and a few rituals to help protect a general area. I’m no front line fighter but I’m a great support when things go south.” Pheobe said. Rose leaned forward, “You expect this to escalate to a war?” “No, we are merely prepared for a gang war. Should one break out, we would be just as ready as the other gangs.” Stormy said. “The other’s know their responsibilities so they should be fine for the moment. You two, Rose and Sigma… I want you to accompany Twilight. It’s dangerous for a mare to wander the city alone and she could use an extra pair or two of hooves, I would think.” “Perfect, when do we start?” Faina asked. “Wait, already?” I asked, it was so sudden! “Of course. We’ll go about our missions after the dishes are done.” “But what about Strings?” I asked and pointed him out... He was gone. “Huh?” “He’s already on the roof, at the ready.” Stormy grinned mischievously. “What’s he do then?” I asked. “The best that he can.” Pheobe grinned. “...” “Oh, ha!” Faina giggled. “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s clean up and get out there, meet back here at sunrise. Got it?” “Got it.” We all repeated. We stood from the table and quickly finished washing the dishes before going our separate ways.