//------------------------------// // A New Name (With a Cherry on Top) // Story: Alpha Sector, Squad 6: Stormview // by LostGuardianNexor //------------------------------// "Interview 4098, time 7:43 PM. Agent Trinket, it's a pleasure to meet you. Are you familiar with me?" The white pony before Winky Trinket raised an eyebrow, his tone business-like as ever. Court Martial was a very serious stallion despite his rather timid appearance - clearly, he'd been in this job longer than her and it was evident in his speech. "Court Martial. Alternatively, you're known by the alias Pokey Pierce. Talent is cracking security codes, but in cover you're best at...popping balloons." The pegasus mare gave him an inquisitive look. "And you've somehow stayed in perfect cover in Ponyville for fifteen years. Truly impressive." Court Martial nodded in agreement. "Fifteen glorious years serving the people of Ponyville. I wish to have many more." "Funny. I was originally supposed to be stationed in Ponyville." Winky thought about it, her ears lying flat. Court Martial seemed interested in this, leaning in for info. "They were going to station me in the local library, seeing as I love books so much. Sadly, Celestia slipped her student into the spot, leaving me to just work on Squad 6." "But working with the Alpha Sector is a job you enjoy, correct?" Court Martial inquired. "Of course! Why else would I be working here!?" Winky Trinket answered, her wings flapping a few times - they always did that when she was uncomfortable. This room was a bit too muggy for her liking. Court Martial seemed pleased with this, sitting back. "You curious as to why you were asked here today, miss Trinket?" He held up a folder and slid it across the table to the light-navy (almost blue-gray) mare who took it and opened it. Inside were a variety of pictures and an ID card with her face on it. The name read Rocky Road. "Really? What kind of undercover name is Rocky Road?" Winky seemed insulted by the identity they were asking her to assume. "It's perfect for a worker at Stormview's ice cream parlor." Court Martial quickly added, pointing to a picture of a ice cream shop. It was dainty and colorful, similar to the candy shops found in Fillydelphia, Winky's last location. A family of pegasi stood outside, smiling. "The owner, Flurry McBlurry, was more than happy to hire you when he saw the resume we sent in. You're a sweet-natured 23 year old pegasus with a liking for the clubs local to Stormview. Any comments on your alias?" Winky looked over the sheet - almost similar to a roleplaying character sheet, listing info and other trivial things - and pouted. "It says here I have a sweet tooth." She set the sheet down, a look of concern on her face. "Please don't make me eat any more sweets. The job in Fillydelphia was hard enough. I had to get seven fillings, Court! Seven!" "Fine. Don't eat it if you don't want to." Court Martial rolled his eyes, sighing. "Okay, and now I have a second question." Winky stated, glancing over the sheet again. "And that would be?" "Where's Stormview?" Stormview. A peaceful floating city suspended over a lake by unicorn magic, similar in its social psychology to Cloudsdale and also a vastly pegasus-dominated populace. It's not that Pegasi are any better than anypony else, it's just that earth ponies and unicorns don't like floating thousands of feet in the air, so they're lesser in number Rocky Road has found it very intriguing at first, it being the first ever floating city capable of being colonized by all pony breeds. Now that she was there, she saw it was no different than everywhere else. Everypony said hello when you trotted by, and anypony you greet would would return the greeting with a smile. Rocky sort of liked the charming demeanor of the city, everypony being much nicer than the Fillydelphians. The ice cream shop had to be her favorite place her by far. Despite her current aversion to sweets - her teeth still hurt from working at that candy shop - she found the environment to be sweet as the treats they served. The owners were a happy young couple with the most darling children. Flurry McBlurry, her boss during her stay in Stormview, is a vanilla pegasus stallion with a tall and slim build. His mane is neatly-kept, spiked, and a warm shade of eggshell white. His eyes were friendly and an odd shade of blue-green she couldn't quite place. His cutie mark was a vanilla ice cream come with the cone zigzagging into a lightning bolt. He was extremely kind the day she arrived, even offering her a free ice cream sundae when they shop closed. Rocky, being a little worried for her dental integrity, said no of course. Flurry's wife was named Cotton Dandy, and boy was she. She was sweet as a strawberry, and just as tart. The mare was periwinkle with a pale-pink mane as puffy as the treat of her moniker. Her eyes were a sweet shade of fern. Her cutie mark is an assortment of carnival treats, the biggest being cotton candy. However, her most attention-drawing attribute was her big belly, being only a month away from adding a third child to their family of four. Though the stereotype of children being trouble-makers is strong in the Swirl twins, there's something about Strawberry and Vanilla that just melts your heart. Vanilla is the same shade of vanilla as her father, while Strawberry is the same bright shade of red as the fruit she's named after. Vanilla has a long, well-combed copper-brown mane and Strawberry's mane is a fern-green and kept short. Both the fillies are cute in their own right - the box atop Vanilla's head hints to her innocence, while the tomboy look on Strawberry leaves her looking more like her mother. Rocky Road was more than happy with today, settling down into her apartment on the corner of Clyde and Trotter. It was a modest abode, one HQ found to be enough for the agent. She rest on the lovely burgundy couch provided for her, courtesy of the bigwigs in Canterlot, and produced the folder given to her by Court Martial before her flight to the city. Inside was the picture of a stallion standing in front of a banner with a strange logo - a winged diamond. The stallion was dark navy, his hair extremely poofy and similar to a cloud - the dark-grey shade of his mane hinted further to the illusion. His eyes were stern and golden, staring to the crowd of ponies he spoke like they depended on him like servants; The longing look of the crowd made it seem rightfully so. A paper accompanied it, a brief explanation of what it was she was looking at; short and to-the-point yet infinitely vital to her mission. "Storm's Eye, leader of the terrorist group Stormfront, at a rally in Cloudsdale. Intelligence knows nothing of Stormfront's motives, but we're sure they're situated here in Stormview's political system. Note the pony in the crowd we've circled." Rocky observed the circled pony, curious. It was a periwinkle pegasus mare with a bright blue mane, her cutie mark being a smiling sun. "We've identified that individual as Merry Weather, president of Stormview. Her connection to Storm's Eye is undeniable, and we need you to be able to gather as much information on Stormfront as you can." Good luck, Winky Trinket. Rocky Road sat back, a little unsurprised by her mission. Busting terror plots and drug rings were her job, so it had to be one of the two. However, the thought that somepony wants to cause harm to the people of this wonderful city left Rocky a little threatened. Laying her head on the arm of the couch, she sighed. Whoever it was, they were in for a world of trouble. Winky Trinket's on the case.