//------------------------------// // Enter the Cavalry // Story: In Another Life II: Chance's Folly // by Bateman66 //------------------------------// Shale Press pushed aside her thin white shades and quickly glanced out the window. It was still night, from the last time she checked, and the all-night sofa/quill store’s bright red lettered “24 Hour Sofa and Archaic Writing Utensil Service” sign still blasted electronic light through her windows, baking her entire meager apartment in brooding crimson light. The place wasn’t much to look at, a cramped living quarters that tried its best to look homely and welcoming despite the mounting factors of too little space and too many things in that space. It was still well kept, all items carefully placed in respective locations with the carpets and counters routinely being washed. Sighing, Shale leaned her head around and peered at the digital clock she kept on the kitchen counter. She already knew in the back of her mind that more than likely it was time, but she still wished for the off chance that her instincts were off. 12:01 No, right on the dot as usual. Letting the white shade go, she made her way around the coffee table towards her bedroom. As she walked, she could see an impressive looking shadow forming behind her flank from the leaking red light. She smiled as she entered the room. Not even bothering to turn the lights on, she stepped over to her closet and pushed open the foldaway slides. Brushing against the several hanging outfits inside, she pulled the slides shut from the inside, sealing herself in. Sighing once more, she felt around for the white wall inside the small space and rigidly knocked her hoof against it three times. The white wall pneumatically hissed once and suddenly broke away in two, revealing a hidden chamber she hadn’t stepped into in at least a month. The room was a hexagonal ball, with the floor comprised of flat steel, while the sides and top formed upwards into a blocky pyramid. If examined in its entirety, it would look like a digital blip on an arcade screen. Long blue lights circled the entire space on three levels, one low, one mid, and one high, giving the enclosed chamber an incredibly sci-fi look. In the center of the room, symmetrically placed on a darkened square of steel, was a lone mirror. It was oval in shape, taller than her, and with a black outline around the edges. Stepping farther away from the door and closer to the mirror, the white wall quickly shut itself with another hiss, trapping her inside the mirror’s domain. She’d been expecting it; it’s how it always was. Approaching closer to the mirror, she stopped just short of a yard from it and slowly leaned down onto one of her knees, her hooves resting across them. Looking up at the mirror, she waited for a response. Almost immediately, the glass oval shimmered and fogged as the reception was being connected with HQ. She bit her lip in nervous anticipation as it seemed that an image was beginning to come through. The mirror displayed a foggy, but still moderately clear image of stallion face staring directly into it. He wore large circular reflective glasses and had orange fur about him. The rest of his face was difficult to make out, possibility on intention of concealing his identity from those lower than him. He was smiling. “Ah, Agent Press,” acknowledged the stallion with a mocking sense of welcome “it’s nice to see that you’ve finally patched into me. You’re three minutes late.” Shale Press stared at the stallion with a hurt but still professional demeanor. “I’m sorry Director, the time slipped away from me. It was fully my responsibility.” He nodded his head. “Yes, and I hope that it doesn’t happen again.” The stallion adjusted his glasses casually. “Now, I remember asking for your written report on the current situation down there in Ponyville. I would hope it was simply lost in the mail because you seem to be late with that as well.” Press felt something heavy and painful drop into her lower stomach. She’d been preparing her response for the past day, but she still felt vulnerable answering. “W-Well, actually sir…um…something important came up and I became a bit…side tracked. It will definitely get done by tomorrow I can promise you that.” The stallion raised an eyebrow. “Really, you’re actually late writing it. That’s odd, especially considering your normal punctuality.” He rested his hoof onto his chin. “Tell me, what precisely came up that was so important to distract you from the orders you’ve been directly given?” “…I…” she attempted to utter response but it seemed the ability to speak had been taken from her. She could feel the world beginning to slow down as her head became light and the color drained from her face. For a few painful seconds the room was silent. The orange stallion chuckled to himself and smiled a dry grin to her. “What’s wrong, has your brain finally given up trying to hide the blatant lie you’re keeping from me?” She didn’t move muscle, but her eyes screamed in agony, their slight quivering detail was all the colt needed to know. “Oh, but you probably don’t get what I’m referencing, do you? Well let me make things a little bit more clear for you. How were those two escapades you went on without informing headquarters of either your tactics or the very existence of the plans themselves, hmm?” Shale looked horrified. “H-How do you--” “How do I know that it was mere coincidence that the sapient was placed in your “class”, that you’ve tried and failed twice to capture it with your own pathetic means, that you want nothing more than to see that sad little creature beaten into the ground, that you are an incredibly inept and useless tool that has definitely outstayed you’re usefulness?” He glared directly through the mirror at her, his tone becoming more direct and less condescending. “Let’s just say that this little device is more than a two-way mirror.” Shale knelt numbly on the cold metal floor, her eyes refusing to form tears. She felt nothing in her heart, mind or body. She felt a growing sense of emptiness that echoed quickly all throughout her frame. She felt as if somepony had cut her open and poked at everything that’d had been bothering her the entire summer. She felt like a failure. The orange stallion took note of her silence and leaned back from the mirror. Rubbing his face with a handkerchief, he spoke lowly and without emotion to her. “The situation in Ponyville has been passed to Agents seven to seventeen, effective immediately. You are hereby suspended from all field activities and are requested to return directly to HQ to face reevaluation of your position in the organization. Director out.” The image of the stallion slowly shimmered away from the mirror and was replaced with the simple reflection of the room. All was quiet within the sterile chamber, not a noise coming from the room or its single inhabitant. It stayed that way for hours. ------------------------------ Not too far away, outside in the grayness of night, a screeching train horn blew through the still air. The chugging of the engine rumbled through the town, shaking all houses unfortunate enough to be close to the tracks. A trail of white smoke, appearing more solid than gas, trailed wherever the metal behemoth went. Approaching the Ponyville train platform, the scraped steel brakes screeched gratingly as the machine stopped at its destination. The train stood there a moment, the only sound it made coming from the scorching engine that still burnt brightly. A cold approaching autumn wind brisked through the air, as single door from one of the passenger cars slid open. A group of ten brawny and lean stallions emerged from the opening quickly, all stepping quickly down the car’s steps and onto solid ground. On the poorly lit station area, it was hard to make out any distinguishable qualities, but it could be seen that each one of them carried a hefty saddlebag on each side of their body. Walking down the platform in a clustered group, they remained silent as they moved down the train station steps and onto the main street road of Ponyville.