It looks like things are finally starting to pick back up again and now I'm kind of wishing that work had stayed slow and easy. Then again, that's just my nerves talking, for you see, dear journal, I have recently been assigned an OOPArt investigation and retrieval job... a solo OOPArt investigation and retrieval job. That's right, the top brass (the boss) has decided that I've gathered enough field experience to start taking on field missions alone.
Well, part of the reason for the decision is because that whole extended undercover operation deal actually got approved. In an effort to better keep an eye on the public and preemptively prevent any OOPArt related incidents, a few chosen agents from POUT are being sent out all over Equestria to pose as normal civilians for an indefinite amount of time.
The operation already went through in SMILE and a ton of ponies from that agency were already sent out awhile ago, but we only just got approval for POUT agents to do the same. My partner Tempest Shadow was among the few POUT agents to be assigned to said operation and rather than assign me another partner, the boss decided I'd do just fine without one. I for one believe that sending me out there alone is a mistake, but apparently that's just me.
Sure I've trained and studied and taken tons of notes and run through countless scenarios in my head and more or less memorized just about every agent field manual I could get my hooves on, but that still doesn't mean I won't run into a situation I'm not at all prepared for! If I had the choice I would've taken Tempest's place in a heartbeat. And why Tempest Storm of all ponies anyway?
She doesn't exactly strike me as the 'ordinary civilian' type, nor does she in any way look the part. Okay, I'm going to stop myself here before I write something I'll regret. I don't mean to blame or badmouth Tempest, but I can't understate just how much I don't want to take this assignment. Oh, and lest I forget, apparently Prism Streak was also assigned a few days ago to work with another agent working undercover in Ponyville and she doesn't even want to do it! Can you believe that?
We both joined our respective agencies at around the same time so she's still more or less a rookie like me, and yet she gets to take things easy out in the country. To be fair though, SMILE is a much bigger agency that can afford to send rookies out on assignments like that. They also do a lot more work, and a lot of it is way more dangerous. Odds are she probably won't have too much time to relax given how close Ponyville is to the Everfree Forest.
And don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my job... for the most part. It's not like I want to shirk my duties or anything, and normally I wouldn't even care that Tempest Storm and Prism Streak were part of the operation. Again, my biggest issue is that I'm just bitter and nervous about taking on my first field mission alone.
That's not all that's bothering me either; Spike's been acting weird too. Lately, whenever we talk he seems... distracted. It started a few days ago when he asked me something that completely caught me off guard. I could tell he was worried about something through our link and when I asked him about it, he had asked me if I was okay. Apparently he'd been hearing my voice late at night—hearing me cry out for help.
According to him, I sounded desperate, angry, lonely, and scared. It worries me because while I have felt some of those things to a smaller degree separately every so often due to the nature of my job, I've never felt anything like what he described. No, that's not true. I do remember feeling all of that back during the CSGU incident, but that was ages ago now and I've never once felt that way since.
Then again, he said it only happened the one time and it was late at night, so maybe it was a result of some nightmare I was having that he picked up on? I'm not sure, but it really seems to have shaken him up because I can tell that it's still bothering him. I don't want to leave him like that, and with how far my destination is from HQ, I'm not sure if our link will hold up. I told him I was leaving and that I probably wasn't going to back for some time and I saw his expression shift ever so slightly.
It was such a subtle change that most ponies probably would've missed it, but to me, it was practically heartbreaking. He didn't want me to leave, I don't want to leave, but neither of us were going to get what we want because this was my job and it needed to be done. My only saving grace is that I've finally just perfected the minor pocket dimension spell I've been working on enough to take my journal with me when I go.
Yeah, that's right, I said 'pocket dimension'.
This one I'm actually extremely proud of and might just be one of the most useful spells I've ever learned. The pocket dimension spell was originally theorized by Star Swirl, attempted by early mages with disastrous results, and much later successfully performed on a much smaller scale by none other than—you guessed it—Sunset Shimmer.
Remember when I mentioned how Sunset had discovered that interdimensional travel was possible at thirteen? This was essentially the prelude to that discovery, and it was this feat that caught Princess Celestia's attention originally. It's what led to her becoming the Princess' student and a few years later on the founding of the RIDES agency. With all this in mind, I cannot stress just how amazing Sunset is and how happy and lucky I am to have her as a friend.
She started teaching me the spell shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident. It was also after she'd cast the geas spell on herself and was entirely her idea. Naturally, since there was no way anypony would be able to discover my journal if it were hidden in a pocket dimension I asked her to remove the geas from herself—not knowing if there even was a way to do so.
The crazy mare told me there actually was a way to remove it, but that she wouldn't until I could show her that I mastered the minor pocket dimension spell. 'Think of it as an extra incentive to succeed' she'd said with that infuriating smirk she would get sometimes. There are times when I can't wrap my head around that mare's thought process and this was one of those times. Still, she's a really good teacher, no doubt due to the Princess' influence.
With her help, it only took me roughly a month or so to finally get the spell down fully. The first few times I successfully cast the spell I could only maintain it for a little over five minutes. Then I learned to maintain it indefinitely but only in a fixed location. Now I can cast it whenever and wherever I want from anywhere. Being a 'minor' pocket dimension, it's only just big enough to squeeze in my journal and maybe one or two more roughly journal sized things, but that's good enough for me for now.
I'm going to show Sunset that I mastered the spell before I leave and then I won't have to worry about whatever horrible fate would've awaited her if she broke the pact enforced on her by the geas. That'll be a huge weight off my back. I just hope removing the geas doesn't require her to do anything too strenuous or painful.
As for where I'm headed on my little investigative expedition...
I'm going north. Like, very, very north. Like, all the way to the Crystal Mountains north. The boss is sending me to the freezing cold north alone to search for an OOPArt that might not even exist. Granted if it does, then suffice it to say the trip to find and secure it will have been more than worth it. Still, maybe now you can see why I was more than a bit hesitant to accept the mission. Of course, as a greenhorn, I had no say in the matter anyway.
The OOPArt in question is one the Princess herself has evidently been trying to find for literal ages and recent reports show that we may have finally located its general location. Something I find rather fishy is that the Princess didn't really give any kind of detailed explanation as to what the artifact—simply referred to as the 'Red Crystal'—actually does. The only thing she mentioned is that, if left unchecked, it has the potential to bring ruin to Equestria and the countries beyond.
This potentially bumps the Class of this thing up to a Worldwide Threat, and yet the boss is fine with sending just me to deal with it. He was promised by the Princess that this 'Red Crystal' would be inert and that it should be safe to retrieve, but she also gave us permission to destroy it if we couldn't retrieve it successfully. It's not just me, is it? Doesn't something stink about all of this? For one thing, how would the Princess know the thing is inert if she's never been able to find it?
What isn't she telling us about this Red Crystal? What isn't the boss telling me? Is this just one of those things where I just have to trust that the higher-ups have everything under control? Are they hiding the details for the greater good? For my sake? Or is there something else going on? And why in the deepest depths of Tartarus am I being sent in alone to do this? Yes, I'm being given the necessary tools for the job and a few communications scrolls should I need to report any anomalies or if I need backup, but will that be enough?
Just thinking about all of these questions and about all the ways this can all go horribly wrong is literally making me sick to my stomach. Normally jotting this all down helps keep me calm, but now I'm more worried than I was before I started writing. I'm going to get something warm to drink, head to bed, and try (and probably fail) not to think about it for now.
At least I'll have you to keep me company, journal. Thank the Goddess for small miracles.