//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Scales of Steel. // Story: Equestria: Agents of S.C.A.L.E // by Insanecrusader //------------------------------// Chapter Two: Scales of Steel Location: Classified. Inside a dark, square room a group of ponies looked on at an assortment of monitors on the wall. Some were displaying maps of Equestria, some showed specific ponies, and others were just seen as technological jargon that few could understand. One such monitor displayed a picture of a unicorn stallion punching a target, a label underneath the screen read ‘Subject: Stormcloud’. This screen had the attention of one particular unicorn stallion in the room. A pegasus next to him spoke, even in the darkness her voice gave her away as a mare. "Do you think he'll be strong enough?" She said in a hushed tone. The unicorn looked at her, then back to the screen. The image of Stormcloud now showed his cutie mark; a gusting cloud. "Yes... I think we've found a good one." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Location: The Stormcloud residence, Buckingham. Stormcloud awoke in his bed. Had it all been a dream it felt too surreal, his body was in pain and he was tempted to lie there longer but he had to get up and move around. He shifted out of bed and noted the time; ‘10:48’. His house was as a two story structure made from the traditional Buckingham sandstone, the architecture was that of a terraced house so the house didn’t stand out in any way, shape or form. His bedroom was on the top level of the house with the adjoining bathroom, there was a staircase that lead down to the front door. The lower level consisted of a living room, a kitchen and a staircase under the stairs. Stormcloud entered the bathroom and swilled some mouthwash around, he didn’t feel like eating just now. As he turned back into his room he saw a piece of paper on the bedside table. Item Check Formal Suit (with change of ties) ___ Reading material (trust me you’ll need it) ___ Sweets (banned so hide them well) ___ Something to keep you entertained ___ Any photos you want ___ The writing was definitely that of Twilight Sparkle. “Guess that stuff actually happened.” Stormcloud looked at the clock on his wall. He had a few hours to get everything he needed. He opened his wardrobe and found the suit. The last time he wore it was four years ago after the changelings had invaded Canterlot. He shuddered to shake the memory before he could relive it again, he levitated the funeral suit onto the bed and used his magic to unzip the bag. He pulled out the trousers, waistcoat, shirt, jacket and the black tie. He slowly clad himself in the clothing, he felt his mood depress as the suit smelled and felt exactly the same as it had four years ago. A tear formed in his eye but he suppressed them and continued to drape himself with the suit. It still fitted; one of the benefits of a good diet and regular exercise. He placed the suit back into the bag and pulled the saddlebags out from under his bed. He then placed the suit-bag within the saddlebag and grabbed his fathers’ deck of cards from the bedside table drawer. He then double-checked the wardrobe but couldn’t find any other ties. He sighed and grabbed a smaller flank bag from the same wardrobe, there were a few bits still in the bag. He walked down the stairs and left out the front door. He kicked over a rock by the front door and levitated the key up from under it. He placed the key in the lock and rotated it using his magic. He returned it to the keystone and walked off. He didn’t need to walk to the centre of Buckingham as he knew of a tailors not far away, there was also a ‘Bon-Bons’ Sweet Shoppe’ nearby he could also visit. The weather today was grey, as Buckingham was located near the coast, the local pegasi who worked at the offshore weather factory could only tame the frequent storms that hit the coast. This meant that grey weather was not uncommon most days. He watched as a red omnibus passed him filled with foals heading to school for the day, a few black Buckingham cabs passed him also, he thought about taking one but he was enjoying the walk too much to give it much thought. He came across the local tailors in no time at all and entered the cozy shop. The young mare behind the counter smiled brightly and walked over to help him. “And what is a handsome stallion such as yourself looking for this fine morning. Let me guess, a wedding suit lucky mare whoever she is.” “Ha! No just some ties today.” The mare didn’t grasp the fake laugh. She seemed more intrigued about his lack of mare-friend than the fact that he came in for ties. She passed him several different colour ties while asking him questions which he ignored. Stormcloud didn’t try them on but picked a red, a blue and another black tie. He quickly paid for his ties and left the shop leaving the mare somewhat perplexed at the lack of converse. Stormcloud trotted along the cobblestone street towards Bon-Bons’ Sweet Shoppe, this street was one of the main roads that ran into the centre of city. A tram rolled along in the centre of the street its pantograph sparked as it passed Stormcloud. It was amazing what had happened in the past few years technology-wise, the steam engines that ran the railways were slowly being replaced by diesel powered engines. Manehatten had a massive underground network of railways that all ran on electricity. It was amazing to think that rocks like coal and the discovery of oil and radioactive elements had brought all this change to Equestria in such a small space of time. Someponies had accomplished so much because of these advances and big companies such as Spark Industries and HAMMER Inc. had grown at a massive rate, both companies now had large towers being constructed in Manehatten. A few years ago and all this didn’t exist, and now Stormcloud couldn’t imagine his life without these technological marvels. Stormcloud turned into the small shop and a bell rang as he opened the door. The store had a simple counter with a set of scales on top. The three walls inside the shop were filled with sweet jars, the other was the door and windows. A mare came in from a back room, she smiled. It didn’t take Stormcloud long to find what he was looking for and he levitated over the jar that contained milk bottles. A gummy sweet that was Stormclouds’ favourite, a few years ago he’d have to of gone to Ponyville to get these sweets and now they were around the corner from his house. *** Stormcloud threw the sweets and ties into the bag and proceeded to check over his checklist again. He turned to his bookcase and tried to settle on a book to take with him. Sadly there were so many good ones to choose from. “A new book or an old book? That is the question.” He began pulling books out and stacking them into piles of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. The ‘Yes’ pile soon towered over the ‘No’ and he was barely a quarter of the way through them. Stormcloud opened the bedside table drawer and pulled out a hoofwatch, he checked the time and then panicked. He only had a few minutes and he didn’t know where he was supposed to meet the S.C.A.L.E agents. Stormcloud grabbed the first book he could grip in his magic and tossed into his bag. “Lord of the Flies” a very good choice the book that dealt with the concept on how really all ponies were animals by nature. The book was based on an island which focussed on some stranded foals and how they would revert back to an animalistic nature with no adult ponies were around. Stormcloud flung in some articles of clothing and zipped the bag shut, he took his stuff down the stairs. He dumped the bag by the front door and moved over to a fake fireplace, on the mantelpiece was a picture of a mare, he picked up the frame. He heard a noise from the sofa and went to turn around but he felt a rag over his muzzle, the strong smell of chloroform filled his nostrils. “Shhhh... don’t struggle, just sleep.” The voice whispered. *** Location: Unknown Stormcloud woke up suddenly. The feeling of nausea swept over him instantly to the point where he almost fell back to sleep, he fought hard against the urge. He opened his eyes but all he could see was darkness, he could however feel something over his head, so as far as he could tell somepony had placed a bag over his head. He couldn’t use his magic as he knew for a fact that chloroform restricted magic use for a while after the subject was fully conscious. He tried to move but he could feel his legs were cuffed together, as he tuned his senses he became aware that he was on his side with his hooves out in front. He could also feel a gentle rocking motion, this meant that he was in something and moving. "This drugging and bagging nonsense is really getting old." He thought. He cleared his throat and tried to muster the most confident voice he could. He didn't know where he was, but he could sense somepony’s presence. “He’s awake.” Came a familiar voice of a stallion. "Could somepony please tell me whats going on?" Stormcloud said as his voice croaked. As he spoke those words, he could feel the bag being lifted from his head and his hooves becoming free. His eyes were greeted by a blinding light and he shut them quickly, as the spots disappeared he slowly opened his eyes. He saw Rapid fire and a female earth pony sitting across from him on two seats. Stormcloud staggered onto all fours and saw a seat behind him where he sat down. They were in a small carriage; bigger than a Manehatten cab but smaller than an omnibus. "Glad you could finally join us Stormcloud, your body resisted a lot of that anesthetic." Rapid Fire chuckled. "You woke up the first time sooner than we expected." Stormcloud stared at the two ponies before him. He was waiting for some kind of explanation but Stormcloud figured he wasn’t getting one, and drugging ponies was a standard protocol before training. As he looked around the carriage he saw the bag he’d packed a few hours ago, there were no other features he could look at. He looked up to Rapid Fire and then to the mare. “Standard procedure, even for a Level Four agent such as yourself. Until you pass the training you’re not allowed any contact with the outside world. You’re not even allowed to know where you are until you pass the twelve week course or get promoted to Level Five. That’s why you were knocked out, we shouldn’t be far away now.” Rapid Fire said matter-of-factly. Stormcloud nodded slowly as his head still felt woolen from the after-effects of the chloroform. He turned to the mare again she was wearing a white business suit. "Why do I feel as if I've seen this mare before?" he thought. The pony caught Stormcloud looking at her again. “My name’s Pepper Pot.” She said. It was then that Stormcloud remembered who she was. Pepper Pot was the assistant of Bright Spark; the billionaire and namesake of Spark Industries, she’d been in the news recently as reporters asked whether Bright Spark had genuinely gone missing or if she was doing a publicity stunt again. As Stormcloud thought further into it, he came to the realization that he’d met Pepper Pot before. Sadly Stormcloud could remember the day all too well. That had been the day of the Canterlot Wedding. Stormcloud watched as the shield that enveloped the city erupted into thousands of tiny shards. High above in the sky the changeling drones descended at breakneck speed towards the castle grounds. The city bells tolled as the ground around Stormcloud shook rapidly. He watched as the changelings rose from the craters in the ground, many high society type ponies ran around screaming. Stormcloud just stood there in astonishment, a Changeling jumped at Stormcloud with its teeth bared. One quick teleportation later and Stormcloud was two streets away at the cafe he’d been to the day previously. “I have to find her!” He thought to himself. There were a few explosions nearby and bricks and dust were tossed through the air. More changelings rose from the newly-formed craters while others remained in the sky and chased after several pegasi. He saw a few Royal Guards run towards the main castle. “There’s been a break-in at the weapons vault. Somepony alert Princess Luna, she’s in charge of the Royal Armory, Princess Celestia is at the chapel so send reinforcements there.” A guard said to another. Stormcloud looked around for her, but he had no luck. He looked all around at the street, many windows had shattered and the cobblestone roads had massive craters scattered around. “She should be here!” He angrily thought. A loud noise caught Stormclouds attention and he turned to see where it came from. Stormcloud watched as a tall castle tower began to topple, he quickly realised that the tower was falling in his direction. He turned on the spot and galloped as fast as he could. All around him he could see either Royal Guards fighting changelings or changelings attacking ponies. He could hear the earth shattering sound behind him and a huge wave of dust covered him. He stopped in his tracks and went into a coughing fit. He could no longer see his surroundings, everything around him was grey with dust, most of it still lingered in the air. The buildings and other ponies he’d seen a mere moment ago had vanished in this fog of dust. Then he heard the cries. “Help! Help! Somepony! Anypony!” The cry came. He turned on the spot and then Stormcloud ran in the general direction of the cry when he could pinpoint it. “Please don’t be her, please don’t be her!” He thought as he raced along the toppled tower. As he got closer to the cry he could see the buildings of the street, it was as if somepony had painted them grey. The toppled tower had crushed several houses and shops and then he saw the two ponies. An earth pony mare was struggling to lift some stone bricks off another pony. Stormcloud recognised the trapped earth pony stallion as the CEO of Spark Industries; Luminescent Spark. The pony was in his latter years and was trapped under several large, jagged bricks. The mare was unharmed but was furiously trying to lift all the rocks off him. From Stormclouds’ position he could see that one such brick had passed through the stallions’ body. He was never going to make it. Stormcloud shook the memory from his head. Four years may have passed but time doesn’t heal all wounds. At some point they carriage had stopped moving and the doors to the carriage were suddenly swung open. “I’m afraid I have some business to discuss with Miss Pot, but you will see me soon enough.” Rapid Fire explained. Both the pegasus and earth pony left the carriage and Stormcloud leapt down from the carriage as well. He was in a giant room which was lit by normal lights. The room was tall and there was a raised level beside the carriage. Stormcloud kept turning on the spot and tried to determine where to go, thankfully another pegasus approached him. “Do you know where to go?” She asked in a tone that suggested she didn’t know either. The mare had grey fur and had a black mane. “Erm..no, sorry I don’t” Stormcloud replied. As Stormcloud looked around again he saw that there were a couple of other carriages in the room, maybe ten in total. Some of the carriages were like Stormclouds’ but three of them were shaped differently; these ones Stormcloud deduced as being for pegasi. A voice boomed around the room that was of the same level of the Royal Canterlot voice. Princess Twilight Sparkle stood on a small platform in front of a stone statue of the S.C.A.L.E logo. “Attention all Agents! You are to assemble in the mess hall that is down this corridor behind me, but once you do. You cannot go back to your old life. If you still wish to go back to your old ways, there’s your ride out of here.” She pointed to the carriages. A small mass of ponies began walking towards Twilight Sparkle and the S.C.A.L.E logo, behind her was the huge corridor that led to this mess hall. Stormcloud and the pegasus mare followed the mass of ponies into the mess hall.