Never Lucky

by Ferris the 1st


Chapter 15: New City, New Problems

Sergeant Looking Glass, or Agent Glass as she preferred to be called was vastly different to Silent Stroke. Where he had been a quiet warrior, this mare was as vocal as they came, so it might come as some surprise that she was the head of an espionage cell of the Royal Guard. Her idea of a base of operations was the VIP lounge of a local dance club; Shimmer Wings. The staff was a nice mingle of King Thorax's subjects and various ponies. Apparently the management had been among the few Equestrians eager to show the changelings that they were welcome.

Of course the changelings didn't seem to mind the arrangement. Those that I could see were wearing big smiles and even flirting slyly like any pony would. According to Glass, this club had been constructed shortly after the official treaty with the changelings and had become extremely popular in just a few months. I'll admit that I was enthralled by the changeling currently working the DJ booth as he kept changing his form to match the feel of the music and earning approving calls while doing so.

The VIP lounge was set on the second floor of the building, overlooking the dance floor. We were ushered in by a security stallion quickly and I took a moment to look around. The walls were a mixture of low energy colors to create a relaxed feeling. Spread around the room were various chair of different styles, including some beanbag chairs.

Occupying some of those seats, turning their heads at our entrance, was Glass' team. Calling them to attention, she introduced me.

The first was a pegasus stallion that matched Glass' fur color, but sported a red mane, looking like a hearthswarming decoration. This was Glass' older brother, Grand Impact and thankfully he was only about my height. I'd had enough of stallions that towered over me for one lifetime. I didn't have the courage to ask about his name or the shattered archery target that made up his cutie mark.

Next to him was brown-coated mare; an earth pony like myself. The two of us exchanged nods that communicated more than our companions could understand. You might laugh, but I could tell that she was a career mare by the stiffness of her nod. The green eyes beneath her caramel colored mane told me that she was sizing up and finding a use for me in a number of theoretical situations based on my own nod. Cocoa Surprise was a good mare and she was quite the cook, earning herself a chocolate cake... with a fuse as a cutie mark.

We had one other individual with us and he stood out pretty hard in our group. Amber chitin bled into a nighttime blue as it swept from his head to his tail. Corium was an interesting character to be sure and the most socially forward of the group as he made every effort to make me feel welcome. Of course, he had to go and ruin it by telling the whole group that I was giving off “residual attraction.”

Whatever that meant...

Once the meet-and-greet was over, Glass wasted no time in getting us all sat down to explain things to me. Glass and her crew were in Los Pegasus officially to assist the local law enforcement during the busy time of year. Apparently crime rates spiked during the autumn time and without additional boots on the streets, it was difficult to keep up with it.

Unofficially, Glass' team had been tipped off that a drug ring of some kind was based out of the city. While we were out there, we were supposed to be on the lookout for any illegal trafficking. It was another hooves-off investigation and we were just supposed to confirm it so that a strike team could be put together to bust the place.

The only problem was that dealers in this town were more slippery than hydra hatchlings in the ocean (don't ask how I know that experience.) They'd been on the job for a few months and they few times they'd come close to nabbing somepony to question, they'd vanished without a trace. I wasn't sure what help I was going to be here, but the locator band on my hoof reminded me that I didn't get a say here.

The group had picked up Corium about a month into the job due to his natural ability to blend in and previous experience as a scout during the reign of Queen Chrysalis. Like many of his kind, the poor stallion felt like he needed to prove himself to the ponies around him. The only real problem I had with him was that he didn't exactly understand personal space. That was a minor thing overall though.

Glass decided to ruin the moment by reminding me of the second reason I was here...

“Alright, Rookie. The LT tells me that I need to get you into fighting shape, so we're going to see what you're made of. Cocoa, on me. The rest of you, fan out, usual search pattern.” Crisp salutes met her orders and we broke into two groups. Cocoa and I followed Glass out of the club and into one of the local gyms. I had to admit, it was a nice place and boasted some state of the art equipment.

Unfortunately, we made our way to a section of the gym that was covered in floor mats. Glass turned to face us, eyes narrowing as she looked at me, then toward Cocoa, “Don't break him, but don't pull your hits too much. Let's get a feel for where he's at.” Everything this mare said made me feel like this was going to be terrible.

As I stood across from Cocoa, she gave me an apologetic smile as we both lowered our heads and widened our stances a bit. I was conflicted. I'd always been told never to strike a mare but I was pretty sure that Cocoa could break me in half with one hoof tied behind her back.

Glass gave a sharp whistle and I found myself flat on my back with pain slowly creeping into my brain...

“Celestia's merciful frogs, Rookie! What kind of shitty performance was that!? Martial owes me big time for this, now get back on your hooves!”

Cocoa was frowning as I stood, shaking off the ache in my back. Another sharp whistle came and I at least saw Cocoa coming this time as she closed the gap. It didn't exactly help. Wrapping one hoof around my neck and the other around one of my legs, she gave a yank and pulled me off of my hooves, bodily throwing me to the side.

“Again!” barked Glass.

Over and over, Cocoa handed me my flank with deft, practiced moves. I could tell that she was trying to slow down and allow me a chance to react, but it didn't matter. Time and time again, Glass had a reason to shout obscenities at me and I could see that Cocoa was starting to feel guilty about destroying me so easily. I was not a fighter and my current commanding officer was trying to put my stallionhood in question.

All I gained during this hour of torture was an appreciation for Cocoa's skill and a plethora of bruises despite the padded floor...

**

We returned to the club and I collapsed into a beanbag chair with a groan. Glass left soon after to join up with the group searching the town, leaving me with Cocoa. The mare was nice enough to provide me with an ice pack for the swelling under my left eye where a strike had gone a bit wild. Thanking her, I applied it and was content to stew in my misery for the moment.

“...Why did you not fight back?” Cocoa asked, finally letting me hear her voice. There was a light Trottingham accent to her speech and she looked at me in a measure of confusion and concern.

I shrugged, not wanting to really think about my beating, “I mean, at first there wasn't a lot of time to react... and,” I shifted uncomfortably, “call me old fashioned, but my family taught me not to hit a mare. Truly, the attempt probably would have ended with my face in the mat, but... it's the principle of it, you know?”

She nodded, but the frown on her muzzle told me that she had some thoughts on the matter. She turned, amusing herself with the mini-bar in the room and I was left to try and recover as best I could for the moment.

My mind was drifting as I found myself looking over the ponies rocking out on the dance floor below. There were plenty of mares to admire as they swayed about, drawing in stallions like moths to a flame. In the end, I couldn't help but compare them to Dawn, which wasn't fair. She was definitely a ten out of ten, but that didn't make these mare's any less attractive.

“Ooh, somepony tastes good in here!” came Corium's cheerful voice, breaking me from my thoughts. He and I were going to have to talk about phrasing. Lifting my head, I confirmed that the city group had returned. Judging by the light scowl on Glass' face, I guessed that they didn't have much luck today... loving sisters, I hated that phrase.

The group broke apart across the room and Corium flopped into a beanbag chair near me, giving me a knowing smirk. I rolled my eyes at him, gaining a chuckle from him. He had all the subtly of a cargo train going full speed, but he turned his gaze to the club below. After a moment, he gave a happy sigh.

“Amazing, isn't it,” he asked, gesturing towards the ponies and changelings below us, “a few years ago, I would have thought this was impossible. Changelings like me, undisguised, mingling with ponies...” he trailed off and when I looked at him, I noticed tears forming in the sapphire orbs that were his eyes.

Noticing my gaze, he quickly wiped his hoof over his eyes, “Sorry, I've been overly emotional ever since the change,” he smiled at me, the gesture not quite reaching his eyes, “it's been difficult for some. Some of us still wake up in a... what's the expression? Cold sweat? Yes, a cold sweat as we remember what it was like before...”

As he trailed off, I decided that our conversation about phrasing could wait...