//------------------------------//
// E.S.S: 15 - A Needed Vacation 
// Story: E.S.S (Equestria's Secret Service) 
// by Power Hors3 
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E.S.S: 15 
A Needed Vacation 

“Hey, do you like my dress?” Sugar asks Alloy. Alloy is asleep on his desk, the paperwork lays finished. “Alloy, are you sleeping?” She shakes him a bit. He opens an eye.
“Yes..?” He lifts his head, “You got the dress, it matches nicely with your coat colour, I like it” He rubs his eyes.	
“Thanks! I had some help from the gals” She twirls around in her dress showing off it's vibrant colours, along with it beautifully woven pattern. “It was one of Rarity's top dresses.”
“Really now? I hear she makes the best, I can see why'd you chose one from her” He fixes his hair a little and organizes the papers. “Wait, is today...another day?”
“Don't tell me you slept here all night??” Sugar worriedly asks.
“I reckon I did, oh well I got everything done it seems.” He walks to Muffin's office door and leaves the papers for her to take later. 
“Do you want some breakfast?” She asks taking his hoof.
“Not at the moment, I don't want you to ruin youd dress” He says.
“I can take it off real quick” She starts to undress. Muffins walks in, her jaw drops.
“Oh! Am I interrupting something?? Sorry!” She says. Sugar turns to her,
“Muffins! No, not at all I was just taking this of so I could cook” Sugar smiles. Alloy is wearily standing by his office door.
“Okay! Looks like you got the papers in Alloy, I'll take them to the postal office asap!” She grabs the papers. 
“Hold on Muffins! I'll go with you!” Sugar rushes to her.
“I thought you were going to cook for Alloy?” Muffins asks.
“He says he's not hungry, hehe, come on” Sugar takes Muffins with her using her magic.
“Uh, bye Alloy!” Muffins waves as she's being carried away. Alloy waves back with a small smile. 

Sugar stops using her magic and sets Muffins down, “Excited to deliver mail?” Muffins asks with a smiles. She takes her saddle bag full of letters and places it properly. 
“I just wanted to see one of the papers Alloy just placed” Sugar follows Muffins as she delivers cards. 
“Which one is it?” 
“It's for the new employees, I just wanted to..um, make sure they're properly addressed” Sugar smiles. Muffins thinks a little,
“Hmm okay! Here!” She tosses her a stack of papers, “Be quick okay?”
“Thanks!” Sugar picks up the stack and searches for Cara's paperwork. “Hmm” She says to herself, “It doesn't show that she had experience. Alloy just let her pass!” She becomes suspicious and looks more into the matter, “It has her phone number and address too. Maybe I should pay this new mare visit..” She says with a grain of hate. 
“Are you done?” Muffins takes the papers.
“Oh yes, hehe everything seems in order!” She gives her Cara's papers as well.
“Okay, I gotta go deliver these bye!” Muffins flies off with a smile. Sugar smiles as well, not of happiness, but of a plan she's brewing in herself. 

Alloy steps out of the office building and spots Sugar, he moves close to her, “Did you get to pass those papers already?”
“Hm? Oh um, yeah for sure.” She grins, “Say, where are you going?”
“I think I should head home, my cat's probably hungry.” He says.
“Why don't you um, move your cat to the office, that way she'll always be cared for?” 
“That's a good idea, I'll consider it” Alloy and Sugar begin to walk.
“Maybe you should move here, to Ponyville too, I mean it's pretty far to travel every day to here.” 
“Maybe when this whole Notts thing is over.” Alloy thinks.
“Oh come on, maybe we can be closer” She says, attempting to sway his thoughts.
“It's also for safety, you know that. Don't worry I'll move once this whole thing blows over.” They near the train station, “I left a list of the jobs we now have, can you be a dear and make sure our workers are assigned to them properly?”
“Yes, anything else?”
“Mhmm, I ordered a lot of tools, machines, and a bunch of construction things. They're supposed to be delivered today to the office. Can you see when they come so we can start working?”
“Yeah, no problem. I'll have Sweetie help me”
“Good, thanks for the help” He smiles.
“Hey um, what're you going to do over there in Canterlot besides feeding the cat?”
“I thought I'd discuss a few things over with Jackson” 
“Any plans on returning here today?” Sugar says, her eyes widen.
“Well...probably not, sorry” 
“It's fine..just take care okay?” 
“I shall, you do the same” He kisses her quickly then heads to the trains. She watches as he parts away.
“What if he's going with that mare..? Maybe I'm just over-thinking...” She says to herself.

Alloy came home around 10 A.M. his cat was already full of fury. It meowed at a nerve-wracking tone as if it was being starved. He rolls his eyes and feeds the cat, who upon hearing the food bag, rushes to to dine. “Looks like Sugar is right, we're moving you to Ponyville.” He says to her.
“Meow?” It asks as it eats.
“Don't worry girl, you'll have much more space and food” 
“Meow!” It answers happily. Alloy looks at the clock, then decides to go to Notts' HQ. As he walks on the street, Cara glides down to him acting really playful.
“Hey Alloy” She greets with a sweet vice. 
“Cara, how are you doing? I have the job ready for you, I'll have you start tomorrow” Alloy says.
“How nice! Hey, do you want to go to eat or something?” Cara offers.
“I haven't eaten all day, but I have some important business to take care of with the security ponies.”
“You do? Okay, heh see you later then” She smiles and flies off quickly.
“I wonder what's up with her?” Alloy asks himself. He proceeds to Notts' place. He enters and finds Jackson merrymaking there. 	
“Hey it's my boy Blur!” Jackson says with a smile. Wild Berrie is with him, both are drinking.
“Enjoying yourselves much?” Alloy takes a seat. 
“Don't be so series friend” Wild says tossing him a wine bottle, Alloy catches it.
“Is Notts here?” Alloy sets the bottle down, not opening it. 
“Nope! He went to..something, some sort of business” Wild says. Silent appears next to Alloy.
“I found something that make interest you.” He says to Alloy. 	
Alloy nods, “I'll catch up with you later Ice, I need to talk to him for a bit”
“I ain't going anywhere!” Ice cheers and clashes bottles with Wild. Alloy shakes his head and follows Silent to another part of the cellar. 
“Your friend over there has been here for a long time, drinking mostly with Wild. He's lucky he hasn't caused any sort of ruckus” Silent says.
“What a fool. I'll have to drag him out later, anyway what's this you wanted to tell me?” Alloy asks.
“I found out where the good old doctor is.” Silent says they continue walking, the cellar seems to have a tunnel system, “He's in the gryphon kingdom, he's hired mercs to accompany him while he's doing his research. I figured this out by some of Notts' Gryphon contacts.”
“That was fast. Thanks for the information. How far do these tunnels go?” 
“I've scouted most of them and they seem to all lead to an underground river system that leads to, well somewhere I don't know” Silent admits. 
“I see that some of the first part, the one that closest to the cellar, are rooms.”
“Correct, mostly for housing and the armory” Silent says, “Are you going after Dr. Flower for sure then?” 
“Yes.” 
“Ha, I knew you would” They turn around and walk back to the cellar, “Be aware of your surroundings when your there, have you ever traveled to the Gryphon Kingdom?”
“Not at all, I've heard about it but never thought of going”
“Do the research and be well supplied.” Silent says as he vanishes. Alloy nods and goes to deal with Jackson. 
“Ice, come here a moment” Alloy says to Ice.
Jackson turns, “What?”
“Come over here.” Alloy motions with his hoof. Ice lazily gets up and moves to Alloy.
“Yea?” Ice says.
“What are you some reckless teen? Get it together mate” Alloy says with a parent like tone.
“It's just uh part of the disguise or something” Ice says rather stupidly. 
“Look, we're here for a reason. Get your 'disguise' together.” Alloy says and leaves him. Wild looks as Alloy opens the doors to exit out. 
“Wow, that Alloy, always such a serious loser. He can never have fun” Wild says to Jackson as he sits.
“Uh hu, he's just doing his job.” Ice says feeling a little guilty.
“Job? This isn't E.S.S, we can do whatever we want Ice. Alloy's just being too uptight.” Wild laughs.
“Yeah...” Jackson says. He gets up and leaves as well without saying anymore. 
Alloy walks down the street a bit angered, but mostly hungry. He stops by a sit-in stand and starts to eat. Cara so happens to fly by and swoops down.
“Hey Alloy” She says once again and takes a seat next to him.
“Hmm? Yeah what do you want?” He says rather rudely.
“Something wrong?” She asks.
Alloy notices his tone, “Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind” 
“You should relax Alloy, you seem to always be busy from what I can see, you're managing two jobs.” Cara says.
“You might be right...maybe I'm putting too much on my plate at once..” Alloy stares at his food. Cara looks at him worriedly.
“Ay, don't be gloom. Let's take a walk and talk to keep those negative thoughts off your mind” She offers. Alloy stands and agrees.
“Heh, alright Miss Cara, let's go walk.” He packs his meal to-go. Cara smiles and straightens her hat as they walk. 
“How long have you lived in Canterlot?” She asks. 
“As far as I can remember, all my life. How about yourself?”
“Just a couple of years, my pop's a merchant. So we traveled a lot, we decided too settle here since his business boomed.” 
“A merchant, what does he sell?”
“All sorts of things, old items, these hat” She shows Alloy her hat, “And exotic foods”
“Where are ya'll originally from?
“A small village up north, we almost border the Crystal Empire. A few years ago, it was mostly destroyed by harsh storms that came down from the accursed Empire.”
“I hear the Empire is doing well now.” Alloy comments.
“It sure is, they have new royal figures there, but papa didn't want to move back so here we are. Lucky too since we crossed paths” She smiles a little. Alloy starts to get an odd feeling about her. They sit at a fountain, “How about your family?”
“Not much to tell, we were here for at least three or four generations. My father had inherited wealth from his father before him. He expanded on it by making good businesses that flourished, mainly in investments and such. My mother was also a great business mare, she came from a lower wealthy class.” 
“Ah I see now, your father has the cash. That explains the construction building's name.” She says.
“Pretty much, you know Cara, thanks for taking me out like this. It really helped me clear my mind” Alloy leans back on a rock. 
“Anytime boss, heh, maybe next time you can take me out someplace” She winks. It then hit Alloy right in the face, how could he have been so naive to realize it? She was so obviously hitting on him, he had be so busy in his mind to know, this explained a lot. 
“Ahem, yeah maybe” He replies nicely and gets up, “I have to go now Cara, thanks for the little walk” He smiles a little and turns around to head out.
“Wait, where are ya going?”She asks almost begging.
“Er, just some things at the office I need to really get working on.” He says quickly and picks up his pace. She looks at him awkwardly.
“Um, okay see you tomorrow boss” She says with a confident smile. 

Alloy rushes home, he gets his cat into a cage and leaves the house. As soon as it's available he boards the train to Ponyville. All the way he is thinking about is keeping things together. He was overloading himself with things, he truly needed a vacation. As he steps off the train, Sugar is awaiting him. 
“Hey Sugar how's it going, I brought my cat” He smiles. She doesn't smile, in fact her expressioon was the exact opposite, “Is...something wrong?” he asks.
“Is something wrong…??” She steps forwards looking him in the eyes, “What's wrong?? I'll tell you what's wrong! I saw you with 'Miss Cara', you two were walking down the streets talking!” 
“Yes, I ran into her. Wait, you were in Canterlot?” He says, remaining calm.
“Yes! I followed you to see if you were...with her!” She cries. They start to create a scene, other ponies look at them. Alloy looks around his coolness shell breaking ever faster.
“Hey now I can explain, just not here. Come let's go somewhere else” He tries to appease her.
“No! I don't believe you! Leave me alone!” She yells out and runs away crying. Alloy stands there torn up inside. He takes the cat in the cage with him and goes to the office. Once inside he unleashes the cat and sets it's food and water. Sugar is nowhere to be seen, in fact the only ponies there are the construction ponies, him, and Sweetie Drops who is ordering them around.
“BonBon…” Alloy calls for her. She comes to him.
“You look exhausted, is something going on?” She asks.
“Eh...yeah. Look, I'm taking a little vacation for a few days, can you take care of the office?”	
“A vacation? Yes, I can take care of things here, but tell me, what's wrong?” She asks again. 
“I..can't say. I..screwed up somehow, I need time to..er find myself again.” He says rather rushed. Sweetie looks at him unsure.
“Whatever it is, take care of yourself okay? We all need you here” She says.
“One more thing, I'm leaving my cat, Colla here at the office. Whenever you guys can, feed her and change her litter box” He heads to his office, Sweetie follows him.
“How long will you take?” 
“A week, maybe two...don't worry I'll be back” Alloy says.
“Where are you going to?” 
“It's someplace isolated, I can't go into detail because I don't know where exactly yet.” He grabs some papers from his desks and moves back to the front. Sweetie gets in his way.
“I'll do all I can, but Alloy, please don't do anything stupid..” She looks him in the eyes.
“I won't, thanks for everything Sweetie, your the best!” He leaves E.S.S quickly. Sweetie Drops was worried for what brought this sudden conflict, but it wasn't her place to intervene. She had a job to do here, and for the Princess.  

Meanwhile Alloy had returned home and had begun to pack for his journey the Gryphon Kingdom. He wouldn't delay his trip ant further, he needed the break. Jackson was acting like a fool, Cara was being too nice, Sugar was mad, Notts had plans to kill them all, and his father wanted his share of the investments. And through all this he didn't even know if he was truly himself, he might as well get that problem out of the way first. He put the last of his supplies into his bag and opened his door, Notts was standing there. 
“Going somewhere?” He asks.
“The Gryphon Kingdom, for a vacation” Alloy says.
“Vacation? There? Well in that case my sources were correct. I have a mission for you there” Notts says.
“I can do it, what is the mission?”
“Some of my contacts there need to be informed about these things” Notts passes Alloy a scroll,  “Give this to them, it has instructions on our next moves.”
Alloy takes it, “I'll deliver it. Anything else?”
“I need you to get rid of someone, Dr. Flower Pot. He's a potential inconvenience. He's been wasting funding money on useless things, he's had too many chances.”
“I'll take care of it” Alloy says, he starts to go.
“Good, remember, those gryphons are a little hateful towards our kind” Notts warns. Alloy nods and keeps on going. He doesn't stop till he buys his ticket for the train to take him as far they can.

Back at the office Sweetie Drops is shuffling through paperwork at Alloy's desk when she stumbles across the files on Dr. Flower Pot. “What is this..?” She says to herself. Sugar steps into the office.
She begins to yell, “Here you are doing paperwork as if nothing happened?!” She looks at Sweetie Drops who is confused.
“Sugar..?” She puts the papers down, “What's going on?”
“Oh...BonBon, I didn't realize it was you..hehe” She says uneasily. 
“I know it's none of my business, but did something occur between you and Alloy dear?” 
“Yes...sorta..” She sits down where she is and puts her head down. Sweetie comes over to her and puts a hoof over her head.
“Tell me what happened” 
“He..I saw him with another mare!” Sugar cries. 
“There there, are you sure they were 'together'?” 
“I saw them! The way she looked at him...and the way they were talking!” Sugar yells out and weeps. 
“There's one way we can get to the bottom of this to make sure, we speak to Cara” 
“Wait..where's Alloy?” Sugar asks.
“He..left on vacations he said..”
“Probably with Cara!” Sugar cries more. Sweetie sighs and picks her up.
“I don't think he'd do that Sugar, I've known Alloy for a long time, he wouldn't go that far as to hurt you that way” She says gently.
“..I guess we'll see..” Sugar and Sweetie leave Alloy's office. 

End of Chapter 15