//------------------------------// // 2: Family // Story: The Chaotic Touch of Harmony 2: Bonded by Fire // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Crimson Anderson was completely exhausted. She had just spent the last nine hours in the emergency room playing the role of half nurse half surgeon to six causalities in a natural gas explosion. Instead of trying to catch a nap in one of the bedrooms, she decided to spend time with her son who was in the playroom with Loki watching over him. His sisters were being bathed by their parents, so he was spending his time with his grass green aunt as they played peekaboo. Loki took one look at the groggy pale yellow pony and was rather amused by what she saw. “You look like hell Crimmy.” Crimson yawned loudly and flopped onto her back near the pair. “I feel like it. You would not believe the day I’ve had.” Her mate stopped her game with Tinker as the grey colt ran over to be with his mother who laid on the light blue carpet of the foals’ playroom. “I bet. I’m going to go help Conrad cook and let you two spend some quality time together.” “Thanks green bean,” Anderson replied sleepily, barely aware of her son trying to get her to play with him. Loki gave the foal a friendly nuzzle. “Be nice to your mommy okay?” “Bata brrum.” Dusty Tinker returned his aunt’s affection and watched her leave before turning back to his mother and tried to roll the half snoozing mare off her back and onto her side. Crimson’s sluggish thoughts drifted back to the emergency room. Even with the refined earth pony hoof magic she possessed, scalpels were difficult to handle. So it was to her immense gratitude that the robotic surgical suite had been installed a month prior. Her experience being the team medic saved the two critically injured patients she had worked on with the other four being assisted by other physicians. If it had only been that, she wouldn’t have been so worn out, but other medical emergencies cropped up all day, requiring her attention. Dusty was ignorant of this and was continuing his attempt to roll her over so he could get her attention. “Mamaba baba.” His babble brought a trace of a smile to the tired mare and she let him succeed in rolling her to the left so he could scamper around to her front. “Sorry I’m not more fun right now little guy. Mama’s really tired.” The grey colt’s emerald green eyes shown forth with intelligence, but not understanding. “Tamabbbbrr.” He sat down next to his mother’s neck and nuzzled her pale yellow fur. Crimson giggled as the colt unwittingly tickled her. Tinker was becoming more and more physically active in the past two weeks, with his current activity being the most common. “I think someone just wants a head rub.” She gazed into his comically big eyes, seeing the unconditional love and trust he shared with her. While she had seen Dusty display that in the past, it was this moment that moved her the most. No matter what cost, I will do everything in my power to keep that love or trust in his eyes. Tinker impatiently nuzzled her into giving him a head rub again. "Caba wooba!" In a burst of energy, she snatched up the little colt who let out a peal of laughter. “You want a head rub huh? Well you have to pay the toll first.” She snuck her muzzle past his kicking legs and blew on his belly, eliciting more laughter from the colt. “Maba baaaarrrbbt.” “Where did you pick up that kind of language?” Crimson acted as if her son was cussing up a storm. “Sounds like you’ve been listening to your father while he watches the games.” She blew more raspberries on his belly, Dusty howled with laughter while trying to kick her off. Anderson managed to avoid taking a hoof to the eye, but her son managed to connect too many hooves to her jaw before she stopped. “Ow.” She rubbed the side of her muzzle with a wiry smirk peeking out from behind her leg. “Well you certainly have your mama’s kick.” Tinker was on his hooves in an instant and propped himself up on her so his head reached her chest. A massive grin was on his face as he babbled some more. “Fravvt babbba.” “More French I see.” Anderson relented and lovingly gathered the foal in her forelegs and started rubbing his mane. Dusty simmered down within a few seconds. Anderson calmed with him, treasuring the moment to try and burn it into her memory. She sat on her haunches while rubbing her son’s mane. He started to drift off to sleep while sucking his right hoof. With the moment passed, her exhaustion caught back up with her and she gently dropped to her side and held Tinker close to her chest and curled around him, both were asleep within seconds. The colt snored lightly and his ears twitched as his mother’s breath tousled his bangs. Three hours later, the intercom crackled with Conrad’s voice. Conversation rambled on behind his announcement. “Dinner’s ready everyone, meat and veggie spaghetti.” It was loud enough to wake the snoozing mare and she cracked her eyes open to see the grey ball of fur was still nestled in her forelegs. The colt warmed both her skin and her heart with his mere presence. Ever since birth, the little colt would only find unconditional peace when in the presence of the herd, most of all with his mother and father. It was a mother’s love that made her linger instead of shattering the moment for a few more seconds. Alarm Clock Disease or not, I’m glad I had you Dusty. Unfortunately, her stomach refused to be ignored and grumbled loudly enough to wake the small colt. She gave him a lopsided grin. “Sorry Tink.” He grumbled unintelligible blabber to express his annoyance and shared hunger. She dislodged herself from him to stretch and yawn sleepily. Tinker did the same, albeit more clumsily and he fell on his side in the attempt to copy his mother. He may be only an infant, but mimicry is the most sincere form of flattery. She couldn’t help but to feel honored regardless of the reason. To his squeaking protest she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck in her mouth and placed him on her back. “Come on Dusty, time for dinner.” His eyes lit up and his ears perked forward. “Dina bada ba!” he babbled while happily clinging to her mane. The kitchen was alive with conversation and the noise of two rowdy fillies. The house was built with a large family in mind and the kitchen and dining room were separated only by a change in flooring. The room was decorated to have a very rustic feel with hanging pots, pans, cutlery, and spices of various conditions ranging from garlic strings to tied up cinnamon sticks. The various home appliances, microwave, electric stove, and an assortment of others were given a once over to make it look as if it was straight out of the colonial period. As if designed by not only a different interior designer, but one who had a grudge against the kitchen, the dining room looked futuristic with the entire far wall being a one way mirror so there was an unobstructed view of Trinity below. The floor, ten chairs, table, and assorted decorations on said table were predominately white with black being the secondary color and chrome as a tertiary. The hanging light fixture was set inside a mirrored sphere that reflected the light of a single bulb across both itself and the reflective ceiling to light the large room. The table itself was normally a two-tiered geometrically sectioned circle and could only seat the four adult ponies with the three highchairs off to the side. Yet there were three human guests that made that too cramped so the table had to be pulled apart into ten wedges that had two long sloping legs each. The second tier of the table remained as the anchor point and held the two steaming pots of spaghetti sauce and one for the noodles. Crimson did a double take at the sight of the guests. The first was Elizabeth, which the pale yellow mare expected to see, but the other two were her parents: Bella and Joe Anderson. Joe was enraptured by Conrad’s description of the weather control service that would soon be able to branch off to cover more of northern California. Loki was sharing jokes with Elizabeth, while Bella and Alexia set the table. Violet Spark and Aurora Sky were running around underfoot and chasing each other giggling manically all the while. “Momma? Paw?” Crimson said with a rare lapse into her accent. “What are you doing here?” The mare ran over to her mother who was closer. Having been around the ponies for over an hour, and some powerful anti-anxiety medication, Bella was able to display no outward sign of her phobia. The aging woman put her stack of plates down so she could address her daughter, only to find her grandson perched on her back. Were it not for her composure, Bella might have almost squealed in delight at the grey furred and dirty blonde haired colt. “Well you know I hate to arrive unannounced, but your father wanted it to be a surprise.” She grabbed onto a nearby countertop to brace herself to bend down and take the squirming colt into her hands. “Plus you had the nerve to not fly down and let us visit our grandson.” Bella’s harsh words had no bite in them and she gave the pale yellow mare a warm hug after setting Dusty down for a moment. Crimson didn’t complain when Bella started to stroke her mane. “I would have liked to momma, but we’ve been so busy.” Bella let go so she could scoop up her curious grandson. “Oh posh. You and I both know that’s no excuse to forget your manners or poor decrepit mother. But I will harass you later,” she turned her attention to the wiggling foal in her arms. “Right now I have a grandson to spoil rotten.” “Momma,” Crimson half whined, half laughed at the idea of her mother being so rapid to play the role of overindulgent grandmother despite her equinophobia. The mare’s protests were interrupted by her father coming over to inspect his grandson. “There he is.” He redirected his attention to Crimson. “We would have told you we were coming, but your mother wanted it to be a surprise.” Although I doubt you didn’t already know we were coming. Joe kept the scathing thought to himself at the moment. He bent down while she reared up so they could hug. “Its really good to see you Paw.” He hugged her tightly, rubbing her mane slowly. His voice became laced with concern. “Is everything alright around here?” She dropped back down on all fours to give him a puzzled look. “If you mean the herd, we’re still happy together.” Bella gave the man a knowing glance. “We can fuss about that later Joe,” she fixed a big smile for her daughter and grandson. “This is family time and we shouldn’t sully it with that kind of talk.” Joe worked his jaw trying to work out if breaking that tradition was worth it, but ultimately agreed with his wife for the moment. “Alright.” He tried to sweep it away and took Dusty into his arms. “Besides this little guy needs to get to know his old man.” The grey colt looked at Joe’s craggy aged face with curiosity and experimentally placed a hoof on the man’s chin. “Bada nnah?” Joe couldn’t help but to be enamored by the lad, but something felt off about the baby babble. “That doesn’t sound like early English to me.” Crimson nodded. “We’re trying to raise all three foals on both English and Equish.” Bella was mildly put off. “That can’t be easy for the poor boy. Why make him go through such trouble?” She rubbed the colt’s hair, prompting him to lean into it. A human hand and its fingers were by far more enjoyable to be petted by than a hoof or fetlock could ever hope to be. “Well it’s mostly because the four of us,” Crimson gestured to her adult herdmates, “tend to speak exclusively in Equish when not around humans or other ponies who don’t know it.” Bella harrumphed. “Well it seems like way more work than necessary, but it’s not my place to tell you how to raise your child.” It was Joe’s turn to snort in dismissal. “Hypocrisy doesn’t suite you Bella.” Before she could give him a scathing answer, Elizabeth called over from the table. “Are you guys going to join us over here?” Loki jabbed Elizabeth in the shoulder while the Andersons complied with the indirect request. “Think you could make some dolls of me?” Beth twirled a bite of pasta, her capitalistic predisposition resurfacing in an instant. Her internship could not give her sufficient income to live off of, and she was loath to ask her sister for a handout. So she was eager to make money when it presented itself. “Personal or commercial use?” The grass green mare had a machiavellian grin. “A little of both. I need a calling card.” Beth knew of Loki’s penchant for pranks and mirrored the mare’s grin. “If you let me in on a few I can give you a discount.” Loki threw a hoof out to shake. “Deal.” Dusty quickly found himself in a highchair in between his sisters with a small plate of the vegetarian sauce spaghetti along with Violet. With the little unicorn’s itineris system producing an exorbitant amount of mana for a pony her age, both parents felt it was best to keep her on a vegetarian diet. Aurora was the only foal to have the meat spaghetti sauce since her tribe required at least some meat in their diet. The humans and three winged also had the meat sauce for their noodles. Tune knew she’d have an overabundance of mana no matter what her diet would be, but she had the mental discipline Spark lacked so she was able to indulge herself. Once The Andersons finished saying grace, the conversation started off with Elizabeth’s fascination of the weather control service Conrad had slipped into being a silent partner on due to an overburdening workload. “So Conny, have you guys taken into account the ecological impact of artificially generating more rainfall for the surrounding areas?” The brown stallion briefly noticed his culinary expertise wasn’t nearly as bad as it used to be as he swallowed his bite. “Well that’s part of the reason why we hired people like you. So we could get some useful data out of what our weather manipulating abilities could do to the environment as a whole. But we do know that extending our services would likely make some regions dependent on us.” Joe peered at his grandson who was already staining his fur with pasta, along with his sisters. “I’m sure some good ol’ ingenuity could keep everything in order. What I’m worried about is all of this hullabaloo oversees.” He added some salt to his dish before continuing. Conrad eyed the act with a touch of wounded pride for his cooking. “All that nonsense in Africa could spread anywhere.” The four ponies knew they had to tread lightly around the subject with Crimson speaking first. “Well the continent’s never been that stable anyway. The UN will be able to rein in all in soon enough.” “Bah,” Joe grumbled while stabbing his fork in his daughter’s direction. “Don’t piss on my foot and tell me its rain. I know fool talk when I hear it. You spooks know something the rest of the world doesn’t.” Bella glowered at her husband. “Joe I think you should remember your manners as our daughter’s guest.” “Spooks?” Elizabeth inquired, causing Alexia to cringe. “You guys are G-men?” Tune folded her forelegs in defiance towards the inquiry. “We’re simply government employees,” she glared a bit at Joe. “Nothing more.” Bella nudged her husband and hissed his name to get him to drop it, but he was too upset to stop now. “Well, I might believe you if we weren’t met by a couple of suits that knocked on our door and told us our home was no longer safe.” Crimson blanched. “What? Who?” The other ponies had one name on their minds: Thompson. Joe studied her daughter, stunned by how readable her inhuman face was. The genuine mixture of confusion, honesty, and surprise softened his tone a little. “Wouldn’t tell me who sent them or what branch they work for, only that we should pack up and move out. Saying some nonsense that we were critical to national security.” He laughed darkly at the idea. “A botanist and his housewife are not critical to the security of the nation, but I know my daughter and her family is.” Crimson’s indignation faltered, knowing full well what Thompson was trying to do. She returned to her meal. “We had nothing to do with that. You know I would never try to get you to leave home like that Paw.” “You may not have—“ His piercing gaze danced around the other ponies, searching for a target to accuse. The tense moment was lost when a wad of spaghetti flew through the air and planted itself on the scowling man’s head. The violet unicorn filly was howling with laughter at her successful telekinetic throw. The adults were caught between snickering to outright laughing in Loki and Elizabeth’s case. The tension of the conversation bled away as the man gave up his anger. Alexia saw the signs of a preventable disaster. Spark wouldn’t have that kind of power unless she was on the verge of a magic surge and her mother removed the foal from her high chair. “Sorry about that Mister Anderson, I need to take her outside before she destroys anything.” He took a napkin and silently nodded in agreement while wiping the food off. He witnessed one of Violet’s magic surges back at his home, and would not wish the house to suffer the same fate the bayou around his house had. Tune retreated to the backyard just as Violet’s surge took full swing and caused all of the nearby toys to either float, inflate in size, or come to life and crawl around. Unfortunately that included Alexia’s necklace and saddlebag contents. The ‘crown’ unclasped itself to flop around the wooden deck as if it was a two legged spider. Her small saddlebag opened on its own and its contents spilled out to roam the deck. The only reason things were not catching fire or phasing in and out of this plane of reality was because the large forty square meter wooden deck was thoroughly covered in warding charms and diagrams that would let the profusely radiating mana painlessly flow from the filly, but in a way that it would not harm the environment. “You are one diabolical little imp,” the silver mare said half-jokingly at the little filly as she chased after the necklace, the foal’s horn was a spear of brilliant amber light as the foal’s body rapidly expelled most of her mana. Alexia reinforced the enchantment over the deck’s railing and floor so nothing would sink through and get stuck underground again. Then she relocated her necklace and easily wiped the filly’s mana off of it and replaced it around her neck. “No, you can’t have my ‘crown’ either.” Spark propped herself up on her mother to poke at the only jewelry the azure haired pony ever wore. “Maba frabut.” The princess made sure to keep a telekinetic hold on the necklace’s clasp. Being a direct descendent, Violet Spark would have no difficulty removing the necklace should her mother’s diligence waver. “No, this isn’t a toy.” Violet was not willing to give up the ghost until a plushy bee incased in an azure glow flew over to interpose itself between mother and daughter. “Uh oh, Mister Bee is going to sting you.” Spark hopped down and bounced away with a playful giggle. The foal turned around to taunt the bee into chasing her by blowing a raspberry and shaking her tail at it. “Here he comes. Bzzzzz.” Tune made the cotton wings flutter and had the toy chase after Violet around the other objects on the deck. The filly squealed with laughter every time the bee stung her with its soft cotton stinger only to reverse roles and she would chase after the bee. This carried on for several minutes with both ponies thoroughly enjoying the playtime as the magic surge ran its course. Yet as with all things, it was not to last. The moment was broken by Tune’s phone ringing next to her ear. It hurt the alicorn’s left ear and she plucked it out of the air from her daughter’s wild mana and answered it with a level tone. “This is Tune.” Thompson’s voice responded with an air of importance. “Word has come down. I need the four of you in my office in two hours.” Alexia’s control over the bee faded and Violet pounced and started biting it. The mare knew being given two hours was a gift, as it only required twenty minutes to get to his office, shorter if by teleportation. Her tone was kept professional so she could hide the lace of worry. “We’ll be there.” The phone clicked as the Director hung up, prompting Tune to do the same. The mare sighed as she reclaimed the bee in her magic and had it chase after the filly. Her thoughts drifted to those still inside the house. I can at least let them have peace until Violet’s surge is over. She did not have to wait long as the various objects slowly lost their amber hue and gently fell to the wooden deck over the space of four minutes. With resignation, Alexia opened the door and guided the filly back inside with the bee fleeing from the purple terror still covered head to hoof in drying red spaghetti sauce. Alexia reached the table with a practiced mask of nonchalance as she took her seat and resumed eating. The food was a little cold, but she didn’t mind overmuch. Conrad could see past her mask and hazarded a question. “Our little girl didn’t blow a hole through the railing again did she?” “It was aimed at my head actually, but I managed to deflect it in time,” the alicorn replied off handedly as if it was a common occurrence. The humans at the table cast worrying glances at Spark who was happily stuffing her muzzle with more food. Although half of the meal ended up on her face or the floor. “But I got a call from the head office. We need to be there in an hour and a half.” “He didn’t catch wind of my fire hornet jars did he?” The green hacker had a look of abject terror. “Fire hornets?” Conrad asked, suspicion written all over his face. “Oh um, nothing,” Loki replied as she slipped back into a casual mood while she bit into her garlic bread. Crimson ignored the pair to inquire further. “Did he say why?” “Just business.” Alexia didn’t want to say anything more with the humans around. While the Andersons knew of their occupation, Elizabeth was not supposed to. However she was left with a problem and she faced Crimson’s parents along with her sister. “I hate to ask you all, but since you’re here. I have the distinct impression that we may be out of town for a while. Do you mind watching the foals until we get back?” Bella was quick to offer her services. “Oh that won’t be an issue at all dear. We would love the chance to get to know our grandchildren better.” The southern lady spoke presumptuously for her husband who nodded in agreement. The Tune sisters found it surprising that late middle-aged couple more or less adopted Aurora and Violet so readily. “Children? As in plural?” Joe pat his wife on the arm to let him answer for her after finishing his bite of garlic bread. “It doesn’t take a genius to know what happened with the rest your kin.” He said in response to the silver mare’s question. He swept a hand towards the ponies, sans his daughter. “Between now and your visit at our home, we haven’t heard hide nor hair of any of your kin save for Elizabeth. Now I can respect not speaking ill of others when ill is all you can say, but silence in of itself is telling.” He gave a piercing stare at the rest of the adult ponies. “Is there anyone who would object to us showing these youngins what proper grandparents should be?” Crimson and Alexia were momentarily dumbstruck by the offer, while Loki shrugged playfully. “If you’re adopting, I wouldn’t mind knowing what its like to have real parents.” Conrad bowed his head in respect. “I know full well the impact a wise grandfather can have. I cannot express my gratitude enough for your offer.” Loki mentally snickered at the stallion’s wording. All he’s missing is a katana. I think I’ll grab one from the net. Bella replied with mock indignation. “Well darling, don’t discount the effect a kind old grandmother can have on a child’s life.” While Conrad tried in vain to dissuade Bella that he meant no insult Alexia mulled over the offer. Well its sort of like having in-laws after all. So it makes sense they would extend the offer to my foals as well. Even with that cold logic, it did much to lift the mare’s hopes that she could maintain a stronger personal attachment to humanity outside of just her sister alone. “I think that would be wonderful. On behalf of our herd, I graciously accept.” Bella gave Conrad a teasing grin before turning to the herd’s alpha. The aging lady had seen how the four adult ponies kept a very loose and equalist relationship. However if anything affected them as a whole it was always Alexia who said the final word. “Oh it’s really not a thing dearie. All four of you are one big family, so its only proper that we see your sprouts in the same light as Dusty. Even then, they are our son in law’s children after all.” Joe returned his hand to his meal. “She speaks for us both. And I would be lying if I said those little girls hadn’t grown on me back in Louisiana.” He subconsciously rubbed the spot where the little unicorn pegged him with spaghetti earlier. “And I do have a soft spot for fiery individuals.” Bella gave him a coy grin. Crimson grinned happily at that. “Well that certainly describes the three of them that’s for sure.” The rest of the meal lapsed into small talk about the differences in how to care for a foal instead of a human baby until it was time for the herd to leave. Alexia fussed with Elizabeth at the front door. “Now remember to take Violet to the back deck when she has a magic surge. The house can’t take too many more episodes of hers indoors. Now when Aurora starts floating around, you need to keep her in your arms or tethered to something soft when her surge cuts off and gravity reclaims her.” Elizabeth filed the information away in her head. “You act as if you know you’re leaving for a while.” The alicorn shrugged with her wings. “I’m just covering my bases. You know I’ve told you-“ “That your job can be chaotic at times, yes, you’ve told me.” The teenager cutoff. “Don’t worry, I have Mister and Misses A to help out. We can handle three little foals.” Tune looked at the Andersons to find Sky and Spark chasing each other under Bella’s feet while Dusty Tinker was crying because his mother leaving him to get in the car. “I think you’ll be lucky if they don’t turn you off to having kids of your own someday.” “Pah, and let the family line be carried on by ponies only? You can forget that…I just need to find a good man to latch onto.” Alexia raised a condescending eyebrow. “The apple doesn’t fall far does it?” Beth feigned insult. “I’m in no hurry. I’m looking for a fellow scientist so we can go on expeditions together, not a money tree.” As much as the silver alicorn wished to keep teasing her, Thompson was willing to wait only so long. She reared up and hugged Beth. The mare wrapped her wings around her sister, in an attempt to hold onto the moment as long as possible. “I love you so much sis. Thank you for being here.” The young woman noticed the slight emotional warble in the mare’s voice and interpreted it as it being lingering pain from their parents’ rejection. “You should just forget those jerks.” Alexia looked up to meet Beth’s stern frown. “They want to hang onto irrelevant traditions out of spite, then ignore them.” Beth squeezed the alicorn tightly. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only family that matters anymore.” Alexia had actually been more concerned that Elizabeth was safe in Trinity, but decided to play it out as if her sister had been accurate. The proclamation still managed to draw some silent tears out of her. “Thanks Beth. I needed that.” The sisters embraced for several silent seconds until Beth tried to lighten the mood. “You’ve gotten really sappy since you grew fur.” Alexia gave a short laugh at the mockery prompting her sister to continue. “When you get back, you wanna watch Big Miracle when you get back? I always loved that movie.” Now back on all fours, the alicorn looked up to her little sister with puffy red eyes and a weak smile. “Why not? I may actually like it this time.” Loki stuck her head out of the car towards the only remaining member of the herd who wasn’t in the vehicle. “Are you going to ride with us or blink over?” I better not. I need time to compose myself. “I’ll be right there,” she called back before returning to her sister. “One last thing. Don’t drive the Andersons nuts. I know how you can get.” Beth scrunched her face at the fierce debate raging in her head. “No promises.” “Beth…” Alexia replied warningly. The younger sister held her ground. “I will make the attempt, but I’m still not promising anything.” Tune grinned at her sister. Elizabeth was still her same old self. “Fair enough.” The four ponies waved their final goodbyes to the three humans and three foals before heading off towards Section Nine’s headquarters. Section Nine’s head office was located half a mile north east from the town hall and was the only building with a heavy duty concrete wall and security gate. Set at ten yard intervals on top of the fence, were crystals that radiated a semi-opaque white barrier that blocked all access from the air so the only way to enter the area was through the front gate. The crystals ran off electricity thanks to power converters designed by Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company. It allowed a second smaller crystal to convert electrical power into mana for the barrier crystals. The main office was also the only structure in town that was over five stories tall, reaching a total of seven. While Section Nine was originally established to be the intelligence agency’s equine division, Thompson and Tune both agreed that it was best to have joint species teams when possible. The herd dropped the car off at the first basement parking garage and took the elevator to the third floor. Thompson was unwilling to take a top floor or a wall side office so he worked from the dead center of the structure. Alexia had completely washed herself of the emotional state she had been in by the time they left the elevator and wore a strong mask of professionalism. She knocked on the office and admitted herself in right after. The Director was reading off several documents when he saw the equines enter. “Good, you’re all here.” He had four copies of a dossier and had Alexia dole them out with her kinesis. The four ponies found seats around the room, which were all pointed towards the midpoint between the front of Thompson’s desk and a massive computer screen. The Director had a few knick knacks scattered in precise locations, but it was otherwise left unremarkable. Alexia’s herd were not the only people to enter his office and he wanted nothing that could hint too strongly into his personal life. He was a strong believer in separating work and his personal life. This was one of the few things he had in common with most of his superiors, but he was unconventional in others. The Director maintained an impersonal, if warm, relationship with Alexia’s herd. The agency was by its very nature, a secretive and untrusting subculture. To be anything else risked both the nation and personal security. Thompson’s friendlier approach with the ponies was unorthodox in his trusting relation with a few of his agents, but his results and their thus far unwavering loyalty gave him the leeway he needed to keep his equine subordinates at peak condition. Even he was surprised how receptive his pony agents were to such treatment to the point where he extended that information to other branches of government and the military. Few were willing to bother however. Thompson thumbed the original dossier in his hand, only the faintest trace of apprehension showing through. “The top brass feel the lot of you can no longer properly continue training new recruits due to your extended absence from field work. As such, you’ve been tapped for an infiltration assignment.” The herd glanced at each other for a few moments. Thompson had been warning of this day for weeks, so this day was hardly unexpected. Loki was rather excited about it. “Tell me you found some ne’er-do-wells at Disney World. I’ve always wanted to go.” Thompson pressed a button on his desk and a projector screen slid down. “Afraid not.” The image that appeared was a small camp that was hidden in between the sand dunes of a vast desert. The visual image would have been completely useless due to the excellent camouflage. The only way for the equines to see anything at all was the overlay of several red circles and arrows pointing out imperfections in the concealment. “Your destination is in southern Algeria, deep in the Sahara Desert.” Half of the projection split off and zoomed out to show a satellite view of northern Africa with a red rectangle highlighting the location. Thompson continued his briefing. “We’ve had surveillance on this particular complex for the past three months, and we know the local government couldn’t possibly be funding it.” Conrad looked away from the images to the Director. “What makes you so sure?” Thompson flipped the pages in his copy of the dossier. “Because of the shipments its been receiving.” The satellite view was replaced by a long list of supplies ranging from medical supplies, lab equipment, jet fuel, and machine parts all arriving at one of the northern ports before being shipped down to this location. “We believe the place is a biological research lab, a big one too. The jet fuel is troubling though as we can only guess as to why it's on the list.” “A philanthropist or pharmaceutical company perhaps?” Crimson ventured. “If it’s a bio lab, then someone might be trying to find a cure for the clouds or the pandemic to the south.” Conrad had seen and been victim to greed many times over his life, and his trust outside of his new family and Thompson was paper thin. “A cure or at least a vaccine would mean big money if found. And the desert would be a good place to keep a lab if you don’t want prying eyes keeping watch.” Thompson tilted his head in acknowledgement. “Sound theories, but I believe something else is afoot. Its no real secret between us that Africa is far worse than the tabloids say. Even if placing the facility in Africa allows easier access to victims of the pandemic, the whole area is too volatile to be worth the risk.” Loki tapped her hoof on the lacquer wooden armrest of her chair in contemplation. “So the question is who feels safe enough to put a bio lab in the worst place on Earth?” “The Mions would.” Three sets of equine eyes turned to Alexia with the lone human nodding. “The brass and I concur. I want you to go in, find out the purpose of the facility and verify who’s running it. Apprise the overwatch team of the situation and they will inform you on your next move.” It was a simplified explanation of the plan, Thompson was never one to trust in minute plans Instead the man gave only general guidelines for all of his operatives, both solo and teams, and let those in the field decide on how to accomplish their goals. Conrad was a fan of that command style as he would have a very difficult time accepting micromanagement. “Do we know who’s on overwatch?” The Director shook his head. “They are not in our department, and I haven’t been told who so I can’t tell you if they are pro or con pony. I would like to think the higher ups wouldn’t stick you with a team that would have trouble cooperating.” Crimson sniffed contemptuously. “If they don’t we’ll sick Loki on them once all is said and done.” The pale yellow mare turned to her fellow earth pony to see she was gently tossing a glass jar filled with swirling clear liquid and a devilish smirk on her face. “I was intending to use these on that skank Betty, but I can make more.” Alexia looked at the bouncing jar with concern; both with the implied warning and that Loki had not been wearing or carrying anything until now. “What is that?” “Fire hornets. For when you really can’t stand someone, yet don’t want to cause permanent physical damage.” Conrad eyed the jar with interest. I could use some of those. Thompson eyed the chronometer on his computer, pointedly trying to ignore his most unpredictable agent’s extracurricular activities. “Desert kits are already assembled in the armory, but as usual you can customize it to your personal needs; time permitting at least. The chopper will arrive within the hour so make it quick. Good luck out there,” he added to signal the dismissal. The herd took the dossiers with them to study on the way to the armory. Loki was last to leave and hesitated by the door to add one last question. “Big T. Did you ever get around to filling my request?” He gave her a slightly raised eyebrow. “Yes, it is in storage locker one two nine.” He opened a drawer in his desk and retrieved a key before throwing it at the mare who caught it in her teeth after she shuffled her computer harness off. “Have fun,” he said with a trace of mirth the mare always seemed to infect people with. “Al rays,” she replied from behind the key with a massive smile. Loki darted out to chase her mates down, leaving Thompson back to his work. His eyes lingered on the door for several seconds before falling back to the computer monitor. There was always more work to do; reports to review, leads to follow, and agents to coordinate. I better assign someone to watch their house while Tune is away. I need them focused on the mission and not at home. He retrieved his phone and found the correct speed dial. He raised the phone to his ear and waited two rings before the person answered. “GH, I need you to hold the fortress for a while.” “Of course sir.” The director hung up and returned the phone to its place on his desk. The man had an instinctual need to cover his bases, but he hoped his actions would ultimately prove to be unnecessary.