Acts that I had once though of as atrocious had started to become common place to me, everything from exposing details about private lives to requiring my team to research menstrual cycles had become the norm. Even for ponies I admired, or at least used to admire. Fluttershy was now under full investigation, whether she knew it or not. Her every line of communication tapped and her ever move tracked. We had done everything short of planting an actual bug on her at this point.
Her life had become our own, her every move under intense scrutiny, we watched for everything. I put Click and Clack on round the clock shifts to monitor her sleep patterns and body language, watching for anything that could tip us off to take a closer look. We had deployed Tinker as a recruit for the field medical staff at the MOP in hope what having a set of hooves on the ground would some how lead to creditable 'murmering' as we referred to it.
I had taken everypony's advice on the matter and gone full bore into the investigation and not let up. It hadn't been Rose's plea for me to protect as many ponies as I could nor was it Cherry's want for me to get revenge. I was driven by the ponies I cared about, albeit a rather small number consisting of both Rose and Cherry, but also the safety of my team. But they actually meant something to me, they were my support, they had shown me side of themselves that I had not seen in a pony in a very long time.
Something like that is fleeting and rare in this world and to most ponies it's not something they care about. But, to me it meant the world. I guess when you are in my line of work what you value in a pony is a bit more... credible. It's one thing for them to pay you a cheap complement but it's a whole other world when they open up and show you who they truly are. I guess I valued ponies who I could be around for more than a few moments and tell who they were.
It's a strange way to live but a honest one nonetheless. I guess that is what attracted me to Cherry. Sure that one moment in the bathtub was amazing, but it was still just a moment. I had worried that it would ruin our friendship, but she has a way of brushing things off like that that are so contagious that even I with all my thoughtless logic could not disagree with. Granted I was not exactly Like her, I was dealing with that complex emotion of lust that wants things to go farther, but I knew deep down it was for the best to leave that thought right where it was.
Besides, Roseluck was really starting to grow on me. Things were moving slowly but they were moving in the right direction for things to get serious. It scared me, I was worried that I was doing something wrong every time I was around her. It felt like I was cheating on my wife every time i had a thought about her that was beyond the weather. Even when I would drag my pictures out and remind myself of that terrible day and that I was alone in this world, I still felt... wrong.
But, even with all that weighing on me, any demons I had stood silent when she kissed me. The first time it happened I nearly fell off my hooves, I went through ever emotion in the book before finally settling on 'screw it' and kissed her back. I was spinning my wheels, even with Cherry cheering me on I was still too scared to make the first move towards anything more than high school stuff. That was something I was going to have to work through in my own time. Thankfully, Rose was every understanding, she even asked if it was ok if she kissed me first. I knew right then that I really liked her.
"SIR! INTEL COMING IN!" Click and Clack shouted from the end of the hall.
"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT TOP SECRET INTEL ABOUT OUR SECRET MISSION? I DON'T THINK THEY HEARD YOU IN ZEBRICA!!" I shouted back.
"Hey! Don't blame us for the lack of funding! We didn't build the place!" Clack replied as I trotted closer.
"Seriously, why don't we have an intercom? It would make things easier!" Click said.
"Because, telecoms can be tapped, anypony can listen in with enough effort... But don't worry, the way you two scream every-damn-thing, I doubt there would be any effort at all!" I growled.
"Sorry! Aren't we a grouch today!" Click commented.
"I'm very grouchy when I'm screamed at, yes."
Click leaned into Clack and pulled her head close to say "Trouble with a mare, for sure!". Clack nodded in agreement.
"I seriously hate mares... " Mumbled as I trotted into control. Behind by back I could hear a quiet 'called it' and a hoof bump. That's it, when this assignment is over, those two are cleaning toilets.
"What do you got for me?" I asked the team.
"Sir, a time and a place has been set up for the meet. Tinker confirms that a document was delivered to Fluttershy's desk at 1300 today, sir. We have solid intel from the cleaning pony that Fluttershy herself has scheduled an overnight in Manehatten shortly after receiving the documents." Specks said as he marked the time.
"Have Tinker move in for a solid copy."
"Nothing doing, Sir. The documents were destroyed shortly after reading."
"That's as close to a smoking gun as we are going to get. Ministries are required by the OIA to retail all mail for documentation as of last week. Can we get a conformation that Fluttershy has been adhering to OIA guidelines?"
"We can confirm that Fluttershy has been operating in accordance to the guidelines sir!" Click and Clack said from behind a stack of documents.
"Then that is all we need. Palomar!"
"Yes sir!"
"Be on point, as soon as she moves, you are heading out. We will need to set up tails to keep tabs on her so I'm ordering Backtrack and Shadow along with you. You three are going to be our eyes on the ground. We will make the arrangements."
"Aye-aye SIR!" Palomar replied! "Alright, you heard the buck! Hop-to! Off the bench!" He shouted to Backtrack and Shadow.
"Click! Clack! You to get to digging, if Fluttershy made a reservation somewhere, I want to know when and where! Keep and eye on her secretaries and her close staff, but don't leave anything to chance. We MUST know where she is going to be."
"YES SIR!" The both shouted. "Um sir? Can we order pizza for lunch? Click forgot her's and I ate mine already but I'm still hungry."
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get pizza delivered to an underground bunker with no address?"
"Oh! I could go get it!" Click shouted.
"NO! You two dig, send somepony if it makes your sparkly butts happy, but get your heads down and dig!"
"SPECKS! YOU'RE ON PIZZA DUTY!"
Ok... This is real, this is happening. I was freaking out and excited at the same damn time! I honestly wanted to run for my life to somewhere safe, but I couldn't. I had to see this thing through. I wanted to keep my friends safe, I wanted to keep my country safe! It was my job to do this! Ministry mare be damned! If she had truly slid this far down the flag poll then it was time to take her down.
"Can I get a witness!? Cuz I can hold a grudge like nopony's business!"
"What in the hell is that!?" I shouted over the loud music.
"Work music! After we found out it was Fluttershy, we were all kind of hurt. But after seeing you take charge of things like you did, we decided we needed motivation!" Click shouted back.
"Seein' double vision, show me what you got and I'll show you what your missin'!"
"That's oddly... steadying. Also very specific to revenge." I said listening to the lyrics.
"I know right! Clack found it!
"You got me acting like the old me, but you don't even know me."
"Alright now damn it..." I said to the speakers. "There is no way in HELL this song can be that accurate!"
"It's just a song sir..." Specks replied while taking money from the twinkle twins.
"Do you want us to turn it off?" Clack replied.
"No... Leave it on. I think I like the odd motivation it gives me. You have my grace." I said trotting out of the room.
"SIR! It's 1430!"
"CRAP! I'm going to be late!" I shouted as I ran down the hall for the exit.
Rose had made reservations for the cavern on the green near the Castle for 1500! It was a forty five minute run at best and there was no time to call a cab. Oh what I wouldn't give to have two wings again. I hit the door in a dead sprint, throwing it nearly off the hinges in my haste. I did everything but fly as I ran down the alleyway and out into the streets in my endless search for more time. It was our first real date since we kissed, what kind of message would I be sending if I was late? Would she even wait on me? Would she just leave?
"TAXI! TAXI!" I shouted as I chased down one I had just saw leaving the curb.
"I GOT A FAIR ALREADY!" The runner shouted back to me.
"I'll COVER BOTH OF OUR COSTS! PLEASE!" I shouted back in my haste.
"HE'LL WHAT!? LET HIM IN! LET HIM IN, BOY!" A voice shouted from within the cart.
"Oh thank Celestia..." I said as I climbed on board.
"Damn, boy. You must hate walking as much as I hate paying." The old buck said with a chuckle.
"I'm late, DRIVER! CAVERN ON THE GREEN! There is extra in it for you if you break as many laws as possible."
"Yes sir!" The buck shouted as he took off at a break neck pace. The force threw both me and the old buck back in our seats so hard that I though I swallowed my tongue.
"DAMN SON! Names, Sorrows, Sorrows Light." The old buck said, extending a hoof in my direction.
"Chance! Chance Haven. SIDEWALK!" I shouted as the driver hopped the curb and began screaming down the sidewalk to avoid a pile up at a light.
"Well Chance Haven... Mind telling me why you are risking death to get to this cavern you are talking about?"
"I'm late." I said, trying to get my tie off and wrap my self in my scarf.
"Oh? Is she pretty?" The old buck said with a grin.
"No. She's beautiful and I can't believe she is even having anyth- CAFE TABLE!" I shouted and a round white table came flying over our heads with food still on it. "-thing to do with me."
"Now, now. Don't be so hard on yourself kid. When I met my wife, I didn't think I was good enough either."
"Yeah well, imagine going through all that all over again."
"AH, divorced eh? Well things get better."
"Worse, widowed. Lost her and my two kids. Lost my wing too, but that's whatever." I said as I tried to tie my scarf.
"Luna sakes son. I'm sorry to hear that. I lost my wife a few years ago."
"It's fine. You didn't know. So you can im-"
"Heading right!" The driver shouted. I was now on top of the old buck. The cart bucked and rose up on the two left wheels as we hit the apex of the sharp curve.
"AHHHHHH!" Both myself and the old buck screamed.
"-Imagine what it must be like to start all over again. I mean, who would want to do that?" I said holding my hooves up.
"I would kid. In a heart beat. If it meant getting that chance to fall in love all over again, I would." Sorrows said with a smile. I couldn't help but mirror it. I had been thinking about all the bad that could come of me moving forward and never once thought about anything good that could happen. I remember that feeling of falling in love vividly, it had haunted me as something I lost, but here I was in the prime opportunity to do it all again. I had been taking time for granted with my self pity.
"Thanks, Sorrows."
"Thanks for what?"
"Thanks for FRUIT MERCHANT!"
"What does fruit have to-"
The old bucks words were cut short as he was pelted with apples and oranges from the now over turned cart. We were not even on a street! This was a market place, every where around me ponies ran for their lives as the buck driving the cart ran for dear live, all for five bits. I had just closed my eyes when the cart skittered to a halt outside the cavern.
"Cavern on the green, sir. That will be twenty bits."
"Here's a hundred, take him where ever he wants to go for the rest of the day. Sorry for everything Sorrows."
"Sorry? Free fair AND free lunch?" He said munching on one of the apples."Kid, if she knew what you just did to get here in time for that date of ya'll's, she would propose to you!"
"I think it might be a while before that." I said with a laugh.
"Don't wait too long, time moves faster than you think. ALRIGHT SPEEDY! TAKE ME TO THE PALACE!" The old buck shouted and in a flash, they were off. "I want to see if we can jump this thing into the court yard!" I heard the old buck say with glee, I would like to think I gave him a good time if nothing else... I hope he doesn't get arrested.
"There you are!" Rose said from behind me. Oh no! I was late! She was mad! My life was over! "I Thought you might be early."
"Early?" I said looking to my watch. 1451. Damn that buck can move! "I mean, yeah! Wouldn't miss for the world!" I said trying to hide the fact that I was still sweating from the ride over.
The two of us made our way into The Cavern to find our table. This place was, in a word, 'swanky'. Even with my status at the OIA, I felt very out of place among the well to do ponies and socialites who frequented this place. I had heard tell that Princess Celestia even had a hard time getting a table at this place, so how Rose managed to pull this off was beyond me. All I could think was that she must have her own pool or resources to pull from if she, in a moments notice nonetheless, found a way to pull this off.
We were silently greeted and shown to our table. It was... odd. But the hostess gave the impression that she may have not spoke the same language as us, that or she didn't speak at all. Where it did add to the experience of 'fine dining' in its own way, it was still very off putting. At least our table was nice, it had a beautiful view of the castle's garden. I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Celestia could not get a table here, yet here they were stealing her view
"So, how was work? Catch any bad ponies today!?" Rose said eagerly.
"Rose, I think your idea of my job might be a bit more glamorous than it actually is."
"Oh none sense! You work for a government agency! You track bad ponies and zebras all day long! How cool is that!?" She whispered to me across the booth.
"Well, I guess it is kinda cool. But, if you must know... Yeah, we did! Though i'm still not trilled about it."
"Oh no... is it that 'somepony' you told me about?"
"Yeah, kinda."
"Still having mixed emotions I take it? Chance, you are doing the right thing. Don't let them hurting you like that spread to other ponies too."
"Yeah I am. I'm still doing my job, well might I add. I'm throwing everything I have at this but, even if it does feel... wrong. My own hang ups on the matter are useless to the investigation, but damn does it hurt." I said playing with a loose sugar packet.
"Oh, hunny... Don't beat yourself up over this. That is what they want. I know it doesn't mean two pricks of a thorn, but if it helps, I'm proud of you." Rose said, reaching for my hoof.
"Good evening! Welcome to Cavern on the Green!" I looked up to greet our waiter and... CLACK!? What the hell!? I made eye contact with her and gave my best 'get the hell out of here' look I could manage. "O-our specials are... oh fiddles! OH! Soup!"
"Your specials are soup..." I replied flatly. Seriously, what the hell was she doing here, posing as a waitress no less!
"Chance? Are you ok?" Rose asked, obviously seeing the anger in my face.
"Huh!? Yeah-yeah! I'm fine. Just thought of something that happened at work today is all. Oh you are going to love this. A mare that I work with disobeyed a direct order I gave her so I made her use HER tooth brush to clean out the toilets. It was hilarious!" Clack fumbled the menus with horror. "Rose... dear. Would you mind asking the bar mare for a bottle of red wine. I feel like drinking a bit tonight."
"OH! I thought you would never ask! I would really love some wine! You know what that stuff does to me." She said giving me a wink and running off to the bar.
"Ooh~la~la boss!" Clack said. I reached up and grabbed her tie, yanking her head down to eye level.
"What the hell are you doing!? Why are you posing as a waitress!? Why the HELL are you wearing a mustache!?"
"I'm in disguise!" She said in glee.
"Damn it Clack! Ponies wear a disguise take their name tags off from their government job first! Also... MARES DON'T HAVE MUSTACHES!" I growled.
"Sir! I have a urgent message! That's the whole reason I'm here! This came across our desk just a few moments after you left." She said wiggling her ridiculous mustache.
"Let me see that..." I said snatching it from her hooves. "What am I looking at here?"
"Well... *wiggle* It's a chat transcript- ah... from- ahh theeeee- Ahhh!" I threw a hoof to her nose to keep her from sneezing. "From the OIA, sir. *wiggle*.
"Chance?" Rose said, returning to the table with a bottle of red and two glasses. "What's going on here?" Damn it, we were had! No use in keeping secrets now... The last thing I wanted to do was lie to Rose this early in our relationship.
"Clack... Take that ridiculous thing off..." I said pinching the bridge of my nose.
"Hi!" She said as she threw the mustache across the room in enthusiasm."I'm Clack, Agent Chance is my boss."
"Oh! So you ARE an agent!" Rose said accusingly.
"Yes..." I sighed.
"Sir? The document?" She said, sliding the folder to me.
"I hate you so much... When I get back to the office I swear-"
"Chance... She's just doing her job." Rose said patting my hoof. I skimmed the doc quickly, hoping to make a show of it so I could rush Clack off. But something stuck out like a sore hoof. It was an expenses report being transferred by light text. It was a coded transfer protocol used by the OIA only, how Clack had undone the cipher was beyond me,WHY she had decoded it was even further away.
"Clack..." I growled.
"Before you start... We got bored." She said as if it were a legitimate excuse.
"You got so bored you decoded a OIA document. A document that is a Delta level clearance just to look at in it's coded form... An act that could not only bring down an investigation, but one that could cost you your job. Then you carried into public, to a busy restaurant where anypony could get their hooves on it..." I said coldly.
"Yes! But look at the data! Can I sit? I feel like I should sit." Clack said, using her butt to push Rose down the booth. "Hi, Clack, pleasure to meet you." She said extending a hoof.
"Rose. Pleasure..." She said meekly. This date was going awesome! I bet she files a restraining order."Chance? Should I go?"
"No..." I said letting out a long sigh. "You might as well be here for this. If you are going to be involved with me, I guess that means my job as well." I said as I re-opened the document.
46...........................................Apple.crate.32count
116.........................................Ream.paper.500count
200.........................................Toilet.tissue.soft
1.............................................Petty.cash.1791GB
1.............................................Expense.travel.556
5000......................................Whiskey.750ml
741........................................Bobby.pin.standard
"Well?" Clack asked excitedly.
"Well... I wouldn't mind knowing why they need 5000 bottles of whiskey." I said flatly.
"Sir... Look at these two expenses... 1791.00 bits labeled GB and the travel expense for 556.00 bits."
"SO!?" I said in anger.
"Look at the next page." She said, flipping through the folder. "Somepony just arranged travel to Baltimare, then classified the document. We thought it was an error at first, but Click went back and double checked and it was torched!"
"That's nowhere near enough to fund an operation, not to mention the funds would not need to be appropriated. Why would they expense this?"
"Directly? We don't know sir. But somepony booked a room at the same hotel as Fl-" I shoved a hoof in her mouth. "Sorry, our mark. on the same day!"
"Somepony in the OIA want's to be there for this, but they don't want it on the books..." I said, tapping a hoof on the table.
"You know a pony named Click? Are you two friends?" Rose asked politely.
"Friends!? We are sisters."
"OH! So you are Click and Clack! That's so cute!"
"I know right!?"
"HEY! Ease up on the mare Clack. I don't want you letting something slip... again. So watch your tongue young lady." I said 'politely'.
"Sorry boss. I mean, sir. If somepony in the OIA want's to be there, why did they torch the docs? The whole thing is being overseen by them, why hide it?"
"Maybe they know the pony you are watching?" Rose asked.
"Rosy, I'm not really comfortable with you getting involved in this." I said pleading for her to back down.
"No no! Hear me out. I think I get the gist of this... If 'they' are trying to catch this bad pony you are looking for and put you in charge of it, then they would have all the information on them, right? So what if some one over at 'they' knows this pony you are looking for and has the power to pull the money out to go there 'they-self'."
"She might be right boss." Clack said, tapping her hooves."If somepony is soft in the OIA, then they could be trying to go there to mess things up."
The two mares stared at me, patiently waiting for me to respond. But I was lost in all this. If somepony at the OIA wanted to get close to Fluttershy during this deal, then why would they hide arrangements. OIA docs follow a strict protocol of being left unaltered and viable per clearance level, deleting them would be grounds for an investigation. The rules were even affirmed by Luna herself and are upheld by Golden Blood.
Whoever it was that did this wasn't just playing with fire, given the right circumstances, they were playing with at the very least their own life. But who could have done it? They would have to have the rank to submit a classified travel arrangement, appropriate the funding and then have a higher rank to burn the files. Whoever this was understood the inner workings of OIA protocol, had rank and wanted to get close to this whole thing. Given the gravity of the situation and the secrecy they were going through, they had to be up to something.
You don't just do that. The OIA doesn't delete mistakes.
"Clack, get back to the office. I want you to go after this. Get click to chase that petty cash down and you follow the travel lead. See if you can get a name, somewhere."
"Sir, that's beyond our control! We can't just go stomping around a OIA mainframe, we could be fired!" She said, just a touch scared for a pony who had just done that very thing.
"Clack, if this goes south-"
"I know, I know, the results could be disastrous... Sir, we are all in the dark here. We know that you have been pulling documents from the MOP, the OIA and last week you requested secured documents from the MAS. The entire team is worried that we are working on something big but have no idea what we are doing... Sir."
"Clack, we are."
"We are... what?"
"Working on something... massive."
"How massive, exactly?"
"You are stepping WAY outside your pay grade and you might not like the bill you are about to get!
"Sir, please. If something bad is going to happen if we fail, we need to know." I looked at the two mares across the table. I was being asked to turn loose of state secrets, this was treason at the least. But the pained expression they both wore worried me more. Rose wanted me to trust her, I could see that clearly. Clack was scared, the kind of scared that you get when you walk into a dark room and hear a growl behind you. Truth is, I was scared too. I was terrified even. So with a deep breath, I said a prayer and let loose with it.
"Listen. Fluttershy is talking to Zebrica, we know that." Great one sentence in and Rose was already looking horrified. "What you don't know is that the MOP has been working on something called a Mega Spell. It's a underlying spell framework that allows smaller spells to be augmented in scope and intensity. If this is all strange to you, don't feel bad. I had to look it up too."
"But, what does that have to do with this investigation?"
"Everything. It was a collaborative effort between the MOP and the MAS. It has already been used once at the Battle of Shattered Hoof, the damn thing brought EVERYPONY back to life... Even the zebras. It was a disaster."
"H-how is saving ponies lives a disaster?" Rose asked, trying to hide the horror on her face.
"Because the MAS weaponized it. A spell that size that has been weaponized could take out an entire town. I don't mean a small town... I mean like... Manehattan. That tech in the hooves of Zebras... Well disastrous doesn't come close."
The table was silent for far longer than I had planed. I knew telling either of them would have consequences, but I had to get it out for my own good. I had done my best to not put the puzzle pieces together, trying desperately not to think about it, but somewhere deep down, I already knew what was going on. If Fluttershy succeed in trying to end the war by giving Zebras Mega Spells, then she would end the war. But the result would be that neither of us would be left to write the books.
"Sir? Permission- hurk!" Clack said, holding her hooves to her mouth.
"Go to the mares room. Luna knows I already did my share of puking over this." I had finally accepted it. I let late puzzle piece fall into place and now I knew that this wasn't just a simple investigation anymore. What would happen to Cherry if I failed. What would happen to Rose or Click & Clack? The world's weight was crushing, I wanted nothing more to scream at the top of my lungs and run out of here. Just then, I felt a hoof on top of mine. I looked down the the cream yellow fur covering my own.
"Thank you, Chance..." I looked up to Rose who had tears in her eyes. They weren't sad or fearful tears, they were happy?
"For what? Telling you the world could end one day soon?" I said sarcastically.
"You trusted me." She said with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess I did. But why are you not throwing up next to Clack right now? did you understand what I just told you?"
"I did... But I trust you too. I know you can do this." She said, grasping my hoof in her's.
In that moment, everything washed away. My job, my fears and my lack of confidence in myself disappeared to leave me with nothing more than a smile. I had forgotten what it was like to have somepony believe in you. My team had always looked up to me, watching my every move for guidance. Cherry was the driving force that pushed me to get through all of this, she was a true friend... But Rose believed in me, she trusted me. Even though I gave her what amounts to me and my team basically trying to save the world, she still believed I could do it.
I knew it was daft, but something in me wanted to push just that much harder to get this thing done. It was that little extra kick that nothing else could give me. I wanted nothing more than to pull her across the table and tell her I loved her right then and there, but I didn't want to wreck this. I wanted this to work between us. Even if we both knew it deep down, I still wanted her to say it first. Call it that lingering lack of self esteem.
"I'm not hungry." Rose said, pulling me closer to her.
"You need to puke now? I can take you to the bathroom?"
"No... I'm not sick either..." She said, batting her lashes.
"O-OH! Oh well... um..." I stammered. Wait, NOW!?
"Get a cab." Her predatory tone said it all.
"Get the check!" I said, running for the door. "Don't follow us, Clack! Get back to the office!" I shouted as I passed the bathroom.
Well... she didn't say it. But that would work!