//------------------------------// // Prologue : Twilight Sparkle // Story: Defenders Assemble // by Maxis122 //------------------------------// Defenders Assemble Prologue : Twilight Sparkle By Maxis122 A single agent waited outside the main doors to the royal chambers, slightly fidgety and a little excited about the fact that he was there. Sure, he could have probably gone before but this time he was here on official business. More specifically with the princess of the moon. He wore a black suit, with a white shirt and black tie. A identity tag hung from his suit which presented his name, agency and a mug shot of him. He had a brown coat with darker brown hair. His blue eyes glimmered in the low light of the fires that burned in the lamps above him. His wait was not in vain as the doors then slowly opened and the princess herself walked out, catching sight of the agent as she did so. The guards were keen to follow but the princess dismissed them, as this was secrecy. With a bow of respect, the guards then closed the door - leaving the agent alone with the princess. “You’re early, Agent Whooves” She spoke quietly as she walked by the agent. “Fashionably” He chirped as he walked alongside her. “I expect everything is going up as planned” The princess inquired as they walked down the hallway, lined with doors on either side. “Of course” the agent replied confidently, “The base is nearing its completion” “Good” She nodded as she then used her magic to open the door to a room. She walked in and waited for the agent to follow her in. They were now in private drawing room, which had two sofas in the middle of it and a tea table in between them. “I was here on another matter” He began, receiving an interested look from the princess. “Oh really?” She asked. “Yes, this is about the...” He stopped for a moment to gather his words. “...the Defenders program” “I guessed you were going to ask about that sooner or later” the princess said calmly as she sat down. “Tea?” She offered as she levitated a teapot in the air. “No thank you, Director” He replied. “But, the thing is...” He stopped again as he tried to think of the best way to go around this topic, without stepping on a landmine. “Yes?” She huffed as she poured some tea into her own cup, being precise with the amount. “SHIELD was set up around the time of Discords defeat. And since then we have had various problems around Equestria...” He explained, gathering his words again. “...and I was just thinking that we aren’t really doing what we are meant to” “What you mean?” She inquired taking a sip from her tea, in her regal princess way. “SHIELD is for the protection of Equestria, but so far we haven’t been able to properly defend it” He went on. “Like the incident during the Canterlot Wedding. We had numerous agents on it but we didn’t stand a chance...” “And you were one of those agents, no?” The princess inquired as she let out a little smirk. “I was the one who figured out that there was a threat” the agent blurted out. “I just didn’t know that it was that close to home” “And if you did” She inquired, “Who would believe you?” “Well...” the agent was almost lost for words, but then he had a brainwave. There was one other pony that smelt something fishy. A very important pony, to the fact that she was one of the reasons that he was here today. “...how about Twilight Sparkle?” “Twilight Sparkle, hmm” She pondered. The name was familiar to her, Twilight was rather close to her as she was one of the only ponies to stand out of the princess. And since she had been transformed from Nightmare Moon, things have been a little weird. “She was the first one to realize that there was a problem with Princess Cadence” the agent went on, being completely sure of himself. “She also acted to help save the kingdom from the changelings” “Indeed she did” The princess agreed, nodding her head. “I suppose that's why you put her down for the Defenders program” “Not exactly” the agent admitted, surprising the princess a little. “So why did you?” She pressed, putting the tea down on the table. “As an agent of SHIELD, I am able to access records for pretty much every pony in Equestria” He began, peaking the princesses curiosity a little. “And in Twilight Sparkle’s records she had a URE...” “What was in this Unexplained Recorded Event that you found?” the princess asked. “When she was doing the entry exam for the Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, there was an unexplained event where she had a sudden outburst of raw magical energy. We know how it happened, its just we don’t know why” the agent explained. “And you’re point is?” the princess asked as she leaned in a little. “If my hunch is correct, that could potentially mean that Twilight Sparkle is the most powerful unicorn to ever live. I mean, if she had that much raw magical energy at that age, imagine how much she could have now” the agent explained further. “I see...” the princess hummed. “Do you think so too?” the agent inquired as he leaned forward. The princess waited a moment as she thought about it. The information that the agent had came up with was all accurate and precise. And his conclusion was strong, but there were a few little holes that were leaking water. “Almost” The princess said as she levitated the cup of tea back to her lips, taking a small sip before continuing. “But how do you know that she could do it again?” The agent tried to think about it, the fact that she had only had the incident once. Meaning it could have well been an one off. But if she really did still have that ability, then he was completely correct in his assumptions. “I don’t” He admitted, but he didn’t leave room for the princess to respond. “But unless we bring her in, we will never find out” This remark caused the princess to raise her eyebrow and let out a little smirk. “You really think she’s got what it takes?” The princess asked firmly. The agent gulped as he opened his mouth to answer. “Yes...” He said hesitantly. To be honest with himself, he could just be pulling at strings here that would have no effect. But on the other hand, he could be heading on perfect track. “You sure?” She pressed one more time. The agent nodded. “Good, now have you got the profiles for the other members” The agent then pulled a file from out of his suit and placed it on the table. He opened the file and spread the documents across the table. “Here they are, including Miss Sparkles profile” He said calmly as he neatened the documents up a little. The princess levitated the documents up and read one by one. One or two times she read a name of somepony that she didn’t expect to read. After seeing every one of them she looked back to the agent. “Are you really sure about all of these?” She asked as she went over some of the names again to refresh her memory. “Derpy Hooves, Lyra Heartstrings, Max Plasma?” She was sure that this was supposed to be a group to defend Equestria, but these sounded like normal ponies. No ex-guards, military or even other elements of harmony on there. “Each one has a more than sufficient reason to be a part of the team” the agent explained as he grabbed one of the profiles out of the air. The name read ‘Lyra Heartstrings’ on the front. “For example, Lyra here is actually part of the auxiliary guard. She is positioned in Ponyville at the moment” “So, what makes her special?” the princess asked as she tried to piece together this new information. “Lyra is probably one of the best hoof to hoof combat guards that exists” the agent explained. The princess then began to see what the agent could see in each of these ponies. The agent then grabbed another file from the air. “And Derpy is already an agent in SHIELD” the agent said as he stared at the picture for a few brief seconds. “But she has showed that, even with her slight vision problems - she has excellent peripheral vision. And that she can use a bow rather effectively” The princess nodded her head and referred to the last one in her grasp. “So, what about this Max Plasma?” She asked as she began to look through the file. “Plasma?” He thought as he remembered the details about that pony. “Blue coat, darker blue hair. Some strange lightning bolt for his cutie mark. Brown eyes. Likes to be by himself a lot, because of his condition” “Condition?” “Yes. It seems when he gets really angry, some sort of plasmatic energy takes over his body. He can then fly faster and used that energy as projectiles. But the thing is...” he explained before he stopped, rubbing the back of his head. “Yes?” She hummed as she continued to read through the document. “The event where his power has been let out have showed that he has no control over what he does. Meaning he could be a potential threat in himself” the agent explained. “We will see” She said as she continued to read the document. She went silent for a little while as she took in even more infomation. “Anything else, Director?” the agent asked. “One more thing about this” She said as she hovered the document over to the agent, letting him grab it out of the air. “Max Plasma’s personality profile...” He read from the top. “If this is accurate, this means that he could potentially have the ability to control his powers” She explained as the agent read through the page quickly. “So you’re suggesting that he could control his power?” the agent repeated. “Twilight was able to control hers” the princess pointed out. “With the help of Celestia” the agent remarked. “I know” The princess blurted out as she tried to get to the point. “But the methods used can be repeated” “So you’re saying that we drag Celestia into this?” the agent asked as he wore a face of confusion. “No, we don’t need to” the princess denied. “But I can repeat the methods on this pony. And we might be able to help him control this power” “Maybe...” the agent hummed as he considered the idea. “Do you think that this program will work?” The princess asked as she then neatly put the documents back inside the folder. “I hope so, they’re one of the best shots we have” the agent said. “I know that they will” The princess said. Slightly surprised, the agent looked up at the confident face of her princess. She really was sure about it, as sure as she was when she set up SHIELD in the first place. The agent couldn't help but let out a slight smile as he knew that somepony else believed in the idea. “Good to hear” The agent said as he then let his smile die down. There was one last thing to do now. “So what do we do now?” “I think its time” The princess began. “It’s time to assemble” The cheerful streets of Ponyville bloomed with flowers and trees on either side. The scent of baked goods in the air made everypony have a burst of happiness as they walked around. Little fillies and colts ran about the roads as they played their various games of tag and stuck in the mud. Twilight had just finished her shopping and was now on her way home. It was a bank holiday, meaning that Twilight was able to attend to some things that she wouldn’t normally be able to do. She was moving at a moderate trot as she made her way home. Being circled by the children a couple of times as they tried to escape from the one who was ‘it’. It didn’t take long until she found herself at the door of her house, using her magic to open the door and then walk inside. Once she was inside and the door was shut she levitated the saddle bag over to the table and sat down her sofa. For a few seconds she waited for something to happen or for Spike to run in and greet her. But after a minute she noticed that nothing had happened. She could remember leaving Spike behind in the Library when she left. Maybe he had gone for a nap, or maybe he had just decided to ignore her for today. It was most likely going to be that he had been called out by somepony to help with a problem or job of some kind. Either way, he wasn’t likely to be here. She then rose from her seat and walked over to one of her bookshelves and levitated a book from it. After reading the title she opened it and read it as she walked back to her seat. Her concentration was broken when she heard the sound of somepony knocking on her door. After placing the book down she walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was a pony dressed in a black suit wearing sunglasses. He had a brown coat and darker brown hair. “Hello Miss Sparkle” the pony greeted. “I’m Agent Whooves from SHIELD” Twilight looked at the pony that stood before her, smartly dressed and stood up tall. “SHIELD?” Twilight questioned. “Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate” Whooves said professionally. “That’s a mouthful” Twilight pointed out as she stored the information in her head. “Nothing too hard for you to remember” Whooves replied as he then took off his shades to show his strong blue eyes. “Since you are one of the smartest unicorns around” “How would you know that?” She asked as she pulled back a little. Then she almost considered it as a compliment. But there was something that still didn’t make much sense. “I’ve never met you” “SHIELD has it’s sources” Whooves explained. “Oh really...” Twilight mumbled as she thought about it for a moment. “Very much so” Whooves confirmed. “But I’m not here to talk about how much we know about you” “What?” Twilight stuttered. “I’m here about something called the Defenders program” He continued. “The Defenders program?” She repeated, trying to think if she had heard about it before. “Yes, as I said before - we know a lot about you. But there is some things that we thought would make you a very viable candidate for this program” Whooves explained. “Why do you think I would even want to be a part of this project?” Twilight blurted out. “I think you would want to do something to help your country” Whooves said firmly. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked, as she thought she was already doing her part to help Equestria. “On too many occasions, in the recent years, there has been disturbances to the peace that Equestria has had for the last thousand years” he explained. “And since the most recent events, we have found that we can’t always rely on one thing” “You mean the Elements of Harmony...” She suggested. “Yes, it seems that even though you are the most powerful force when you are together” He began. “But when you are pulled apart, the power is gone” “I know” She said as she remembered the time when her friends were pulled apart. “I would prefer to talk about the next few matters in private” Whooves said. “If you don’t mind” “Umm, sure” She said as she walked back and allowed Whooves to enter. After he had entered she shut the door and walked into the middle of the room. “So far the program has been kept in secret. And I would like to keep it that way” Whooves stated as he looked around at Twilight. “You can trust me” Twilight assured Whooves as she stood in front of him. Whooves knew that she could be trusted. It was in her nature to be a trustworthy pony, since she was the personal student of Princess Celestia. “The Director trusts you too” Whooves replied as he then pulled out a file from his suit. Placing it on the table, he continued. “And so do I” “Who is this Director?” Twilight asked, “And why do they trust me?” “All in good time, Twilight” Whooves assured her as he opened the file. “What is that?” She asked as she walked over to the table. “This is the Defenders program” He said as he pulled out one particular document. “This one will be the most relevant to you” he said as he gave Twilight the file. “What...” She began, but then she read the title. “Defenders Profile, Twilight Sparkle...” She read. “As I said, we know a lot” Whooves repeated. “It seems you do...” Twilight mumbled as she continued to read through the document which showed expressive detail about her. “And, to be honest, we need you” Whooves admitted, causing Twilight to look up from the document. “Why me?” She asked. “You’re smart, powerful and quite frankly friendly” Whooves explained, letting of a little bit of a smile. “And sometimes a little bit of friendship can make everything better” Twilight smiled at his remarks and then glanced over at the other files sitting on the table “Are those the other ones?” She asked as she gazed at them. “Yes” He said as he approached the table and grabbed one of the documents. “If you’re in, then you can read them” She spent a few seconds in silence, considering the idea. The fact that she could be a part of something that could defend the entire of Equestria. “Well...”She tried to find the right words. Does she do it, or not? “A agent will be around tomorrow to take you to base” Whooves said as he walked over to the door. “Until then, you can get yourself up to date” “Wait!” Twilight stuttered. “What makes you think that I will accept?” Whooves stopped and then chuckled a little, still facing away from Twilight. “I don’t think you will accept” He called, “I know you will” He then placed his sunglasses back on his head and walked out of the door. Twilight looked at the door as if he was still there. The fact that he was so calm, profession and laid back. His swiftness had left much confusion in Twilight’s mind, but at the same time he had left the solution to this problem. She turned her back to the table with the documents on it, as she returned to the table she glanced around the room. When she arrived at the table she read the title of the next document. The name being ever so familiar to her, but unexpected. She then moved the document across and read each of the other names of the other profiles. Was this really the team that could defend Equestria from disaster? She wasn't sure if she was about to believe it, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Biting her lip, she looked from the documents and the door. Should she? Sighing, she picked the top document up and read the title aloud, not knowing of what was to come next. “Lyra Heartstrings...”