Christian Cloud, or as he will be known by for the remainder of his mission Asher Settingsun, climbed out of bed with a stretch and a long yawn that erupted from the deepest reaches of his diaphragm. He sat up in his bed, suddenly his alarm on his phone goes off, without even paying it any mind he reaches out in the darkness and mutes his phone. Looking at the time he saw that it was 6:30 AM, he had to be to school at 7:15 so he had plenty of time to get ready. Looking still at the time he noticed a small box with three lines horizontally going across it in the corner of his phone’s screen; it was a text message. He unlocked his phone and swiped down revealing the message to be from Valerie.
“’Sup Chris, heard you got the case at Canterlot High You R so freakin lucky :P I wish I had got stationed there I heard everyone there is so so SOOOO nice! Crystal Prep is pretty cool I mean the students here aren’t as nice as Canterlot but it’s whatever Anyway I’m on my way 2 school I’ll call you later or something see ya around :P Love Valerie”
Asher gave out a sigh followed by a laugh, “Typical Val”. Christian’s job always entitled him to make friends, but it was all for the sake of his job; he never had any real friends nor did he ever consider anyone he met his friend, Valerie was the closest thing to a true friend he had. Well, her and her sister, no matter how much her sister disliked him. The teen hopped out of bed and rushed to his bathroom, a quick shower later he was fully clothed and combing his new fiery red hair with deep orange highlights on the tips; it complimented his tan skinned perfectly.
A little bit of gel to hold his spiked hair together, adding some deodorant and cologne and Asher’s outfit was complete. He had a white long sleeve t-shirt with a plaid red unbuttoned shirt resting over it, a pair of tan cargo pants finished of with a pair of red, white, and orange skating shoes. “Just a temporary outfit,” Asher said to himself as he put on his wristwatch. “I’ll go shopping after school today.” Grabbing the keys to his Honda, he eyed them carefully, “Gotta get this fixed up too, from what I read Rainbow Dash strikes me as the racing type. Maybe taking her to a few races will grant me more information.”
Asher grabbed his black one strap backpack and locked his front door, hopping in his vehicle he brought the engine to life and prepared for the day ahead of him.
Asher parked his Honda in the student parking lot, he had killed the engine and was going through everything he needed to be aware of before his first day officially began. “Lets see, I have the entire layout of the school memorized along with my schedule, though I should still play stupid. Nothing is weirder than a new transfer who knows his new school better than most here.” Asher grabbed his schedule from the glove compartment along with the files he had on the seven girls, also the one containing information on his fellow agent.
“Seven targets, seven classes, so I have a class with each girl respectively huh? Well that’s convenient enough, but what about you?” Asher looked at the picture of the other BMI agent, analyzing her facial features and memorizing it in the process. “Special agent Sweetie Drops…what happened to you?” Asher placed the files back into the glove compartment before exiting his vehicle. He thought about bringing his gun with him, but decided against it; he was already physical trained to handle any threats, the gun just made it a guarantee.
He grabbed his one strap backpack and shut his door before he proceeded to lock it. He purposely chose a spot in the student parking lot away from several other cars, apart from sometimes working out of his car, he liked to have a smoke break sometimes and didn’t want anyone to complain ; however now wasn’t the time. He was hungry and still had 15 minutes before the school day started, so he decided on heading to the cafeteria to catch some breakfast, maybe even gather a little information in the process too.
The breakfast line wasn’t relatively long, Asher had expected there to be more students there much like at several of the other high schools he’s visited. He was glad they still had his usual favorite though, apple juice, strawberry milk, and a chicken biscuit. Placing all of them on his tray respectively, he proceeded through the line behind several other students, when it came time to pay he handed the cashier lady a $50 bill. She did a double take before asking if he wanted the change back or if he wanted it in his account. Asher responded with keeping the change in his account, plenty of money where that came from anyway.
Exiting the line now, he scanned over several occupied tables each with their own crowd of students sitting at them. There where a few empty tables that he was tempted to sit at, that is, until a specific pair of students sitting alone at a table caught his eye. A mint green girl with white and green hair to match sitting beside a light skinned girl with dark blue hair and a pink streak. Asher’s mind began processing her features like a super computer until finally he found a match, Special Agent Sweetie Drops aka Bon Bon.
“Well, easier than I thought it’d be,” he whispered silently to himself before letting out a sigh. “Well then, it’s show time.” Asher casually strolled over to where the two girls were sitting, glancing around to give off the effect that he didn’t know anyone. It wasn’t entirely true, he did know his targets as well as his coworker, but he still had to play the clueless new transfer student. He finally reached the table and spoke out to the two, “Hi, I was just wondering if you two didn’t mind me sitting with you, I’m kinda new here and would prefer not to sit alone.”
The two girls stopped their conversation and looked at Asher, their eyes widening as they did. Cloud, or Asher, always received this kind of attention, he wasn’t sure what it was about him that seemed to draw the attention of the opposite sex; he considered himself of average looks and it’s not like he ever let anyone see the true him to like him for who he was. All the female students he ever ran into seemed to have a thing for him, there was usually a bit of casual flirting, though he never returned the favor.
“Yes! Of course you can!” the mint green girl was the first to answer with a smile on her face.
“Thanks a bunch miss…?”
“I’m Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings,” she motioned over to the other girl, “And this is Bon Bon.”
“Hello,” Bon Bon replied casually with a small wave.
Asher took a seat opposite of Bon Bon before introducing himself, “I’m Asher Settingsun, pleased to meet you Lyra,” he turned his head and gave the other girl a subtle knowing nod, “Bon Bon.” Bon Bon gave Asher a puzzling look, he had said her name as though they had met before, if only she knew.
“So, Asher, you transfer from a different school or what?” Lyra questioned as the male student opened his juice carton and began to drink.
“Yeah, Manehatten High, since I’m new here I figured I’d try to start off making friends and you two were the first ones I spotted.” Asher paused as he unwrapped his chicken biscuit and took a bite, soon washing it down with his milk. “So, you two sisters or just—”
“We’re besties!” Lyra replied cheerfully as she wrapped an arm around Bon Bon and brought her in for a small hug.
Bon Bon let out a warm giggle, “Lyra and I meet during our freshman year, been best friends ever since. She’s almost like the sister I never had.”
“Aww, thanks,” Lyra replied back, both their smiles and hug never faltering even slightly.
‘So that’s why…’ Asher thought to himself as he swallowed another bite of his breakfast and watched the girls’ display of affection for one another. There was no mistaking what he was seeing, this display wasn’t an act, not like the acting that Asher does when he works; this was genuine. “Well hopefully we can be friends too, you two seem cool.” Asher looked toward Bon Bon as he took another bite of his food, swallowing before continuing. “Bon Bon, can I ask you a question?”
The girl took a sip of her own milk before dabbing at the wet spots on her mouth with a napkin. “Sure thing, what is it?”
Asher swallowed his bite before casually asking the question: “What’s the weather like around here?”
Bon Bon froze in mid bite of her own sandwich, her gaze stared blankly into space before her eyes slowly made contact with Asher’s own. Lyra answered with a snorted chortle, “The weather is always beautiful, a cold day here and there but usually cool, breezy, and sunny.”
Bon Bon was still frozen, though she quickly snapped back to reality and cleared her throat before speaking. “Lyra, could you please go get me another milk? I’m kind of extra thirsty today.”
“Sure, no problem,” Lyra answered happily before she rose from the table and went back into the breakfast line; leaving the two agents sitting alone at the table.
Asher continued eating on casually, “Good to see you still remember that phrase, bringing up your real identity about being a special agent for the Bureau of Magical Investigation would have been a bit more awkward with Lyra around. Don’t you think so, Special Agent Sweetie Drops?”
Bon Bon appeared shocked, she hadn’t expected the bureau to do something of this magnitude, to send in another agent after her; but she should have known better. “You’re from the agency? Wh-why are you here?”
“Come on, isn’t it obvious?” Asher began as he rolled up his breakfast wrapper and tossed it overheard behind him making it into a trash can without looking, the act made Bon Bon look on in awe, but Asher’s mood quickly changed to a stern expression. “You’ve been stationed at this school for the a while now, you just decided to up and go dark before the Friendship Games? You swore to do your job and instead went AWOL for…what? Friendship?”
“Hey, you watch yourself mister!” Bon Bon snapped as one of her fists on the table slammed down slightly. “Lyra is different, okay?”
Asher discarded his seriousness and instead went for a look of awe and curiosity. “You….you actually care for this girl? Like a true friend?” Asher got up from his seat and downed his milk, throwing it away before returning to the table. “You of all people know in our line of work we are not to get attached no matter what, and yet here you are, risking your job for the sake of a so called friend.” Taking his seat again, Asher noticed Lyra returning with her friend’s milk before he locked eyes with Bon Bon. Asher continued to speak in a low whisper as Lyra drew closer. “You’re an interesting one. Don’t worry, for now your secret is safe with me, as far as Chief Osborn is concerned I have yet to locate missing Special Agent Sweetie Drops.”
“Hey Bon, they were out of chocolate so I brought you strawberry instead,” Lyra said as she put the carton on her friend’s black styrofoam tray and took her seat. “I hope that’s okay?”
“Huh…oh yeah, yeah. It’s alright Lyra, I just spaced out,” Bon Bon replied with a nervous giggle as she rubbed the back of her neck.
Lyra looked to Asher, then back to her friend; she did this several times before coming to a conclusion. “Wait…I can feel a distinct vibe in the air. Hey did something happen while I was gone? Is there something going on between you two!?”
“W-what!? N-no, Lyra you got it all wrong! We were just—”
“I was just asking Bon Bon if she wanted to do something sometime after school,” Asher interrupted calmly with a smile. “As a matter of fact, here.” Asher grabbed a nearby unused napkin and a pen from inside his pocket and scribbled seven digits on to the parchment before handing it to Bon Bon. “That’s my number, call or text, it’s whatever.” Asher rose from his seat and flashed the two teens a warm smile, “It was nice meeting you both, but I have to go get my schedule from the principal. I’ll see you both at lunch or something, see ya around.”
Both Lyra and Bon Bon watched as the red haired boy threw away his tray before looking back at the two girls and delivering a wink to them both before disappearing out of the cafeteria. Lyra snapped on her friend, startling her in the process, “Oh my gosh Bon, I’m so jealous! You were able to get his number, he’s such a cutie!”
Bon Bon sat in silence and let her thoughts wander, so many questions were popping up in her head and not a single answer was provided. Who exactly is Asher Settingsun? What exactly was he doing here? More importantly, why was he not reporting her to the chief?
“Hey!” Lyra said as she waves a hand in front of her friend’s face, “Earth to Bon Bon, lets go before we’re late for class.”
“R-right,” Bon Bon answered once she snapped out of her self induced trance. “You’re right, lets go then.”
Asher made his way through the somewhat empty halls of Canterlot High, reason being, the bell had already rung and the only students in the halls were either strolling late to class or at their lockers. He gave a wave to a pale skinned girl with crazy blue hair who was wearing a pair of headphones and a pair of shades over her eyes; she returned the gesture and continued on her way to class, her music was so loud Asher could still hear it even from a good distance away. Asher soon came upon the door of the principal’s office, a gold plaque reading “Principal Celestia” in big bold letters.
Asher knocked a few times before a voice answered, “Come in”.
The boy did as instructed and poked his head in before proceeding to enter the office. “My name is Asher Settingsun, I’m here to pick up my schedule.”
“Ahh, yes, the transfer student from Manehatten High,” the principal said with a warm smile as she printed out Asher’s schedule through the printer in her desk. “Allow me to officially welcome you to Canterlot High, as long as you’re not a magical being from another world than I trust we’ll have no problem out if you.”
“Excuse me?” Asher asked as he blinked a few times following the question.
“inside joke,” the principal laughed as she handed the new student his schedule. “Would you like a map of the school to help you get around?”
“Yes please,” Asher replied nicely. Celestia opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a blue copy of the school’s layout and handed it to Asher who gave her a grateful nod. “Thanks, I’ll be sure not to make it a habit of seeing you Principal Celestia, but that’s not a guarantee,” Asher said as he exited her office and held the door open to tell her goodbye.
“Just try to do your best to stay out of serious trouble and everything should be fine,” the principal replied kindly with a warm smile.
‘A lot more lenient than the other principals, I’ll give you that,’ Asher thought to himself as he gave the principal a wave and shut the door. Alone to analyze his thoughts, Asher let out a sigh before walking to his class and speaking quietly to himself in the process. “Alright, let’s see if its exactly the same,” Asher said quietly to himself as he looked over his schedule.
1. Economics
2. English 4
3. Theater Arts
4. Culinary Arts
5. Weight Lifting
6. Environmental Science
7. Pre Calculus
“You look like you’re a bit lost.”
A calming yet lifting voice brought Asher’s attention to someone standing before him. She was of slim build, light toned skin with blonde hair that was straight and curled at the tips. Her sapphire blue eyes hiding behind a pair of thick framed glasses. “Need help finding someplace?”
‘She’s quiet, when did she get there?’ Asher asked internally as he stared at the girl. ‘Should probably answer her though, wouldn’t want her first impression of me to be a creepy one.’ “Yeah, I could use a little help.”
“I’m Rosalia Heartfeather,” Rosalia smiled as she extended her hand in a greeting gesture.
“Asher Settingsun,” he replied matching her smile and shaking her hand. Rosalia’s grip was form for a female, a soft skinned yet sturdy hold that surprised Asher by the touch. “Nice to meet you Rosalia. So, can you point me in the right direction to the Economics room?”
“Sure thing, just continue down the hall, make a left and it’ll be the second door on your right.” Asher watched her hand gestures carefully, pretending to soak in the information, though he already knew where he was going. “If you ever need help, come find me. I won’t ever be very far.” The girl gave Asher a playful wink before skipping down the hall and rounding a corner.
“She was a strange one,” Asher chuckled to himself before proceeding down the hallway to class. He did as instructed and soon found the door exactly where the girl said it would be, though he already knew that. Asher gave out a sigh, “Alright, town to put on the award winning performance.” He then turned the knob and entered the classroom.
From the looks of it the class was interrupted by Asher, all eyes locked on him as he stood by the room entranceway and let the door shut behind him. Asher always liked attention, hence why he liked being late to class, and this was his one of his favorite parts of the job; being the mysterious new kid first being introduced. Of course the girls of the class paid more attention to him than the guys as he walked to the teacher’s desk, but as usual Asher didn’t pay them any mind.
“New student? Welcome to economics,” the female teacher responded with a smile. “If I could just see your schedule for a moment…” After looking Asher’s classes, the teacher made a note and returned it to him. “Feel free to take any of the remaining seats in the class Mr. Settingsun.”
Asher gave a nod before heading by several pairs of students that sat at tables to both sides of him. He scanned the seats and spotted his first target of the day: Applejack. No doubt she would be the most difficult of the seven girls to extract information from, her extreme loyalty to her friends makes Asher’s job the more challenging, and how he enjoyed a challenge. He wanted to sit by her to begin his extraction as soon as possible, but his eyes soon fell upon yet another girl, one who locked eyes with him immediately: Bon Bon.
Already knowing his course of action, Asher continued past Applejack who, like many other girls, gave him a playful wave, he waved back but thought nothing of it; he had read her file, she was never the romantic type, it just wasn’t her style. He knew she was just trying to be friendly, unlike the other potential flirts in the room. Asher removed his backpack and took his seat next to Bon Bon.
He turned to her and spoke softly, in almost a whisper, “Say, haven’t we met before?”
“Why are you here?” Bon Bon questioned with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.
“To get an education of course,” Asher laughed sarcastically.
“Not what I meant,” Bon Bon growled lowly, “What are you doing here, in the school, and who are you anyway?”
Asher reached into his backpack and pulled out his I.D. badge, he glanced around and made sure no curious eyes wandered his way before flipping it open for Bon Bon to see. He spoke in a lower whisper than before, “Special Agent Christian Cloud of the Bureau of Magical Investigations at your service, well, not necessarily your service but I’m sure you get the picture I’m painting. I’m here to do my job, just like you.”
Asher took this moment in time to brag about his skills to a fellow agent, “I have been trained to specialize in the fields of reconnaissance, espionage, neurology, psychology, psychoanalysis, forensic psychology, physiological psychology; well, just many psychological fields. Let’s see what else, I know mixed martial arts, krav maga; I also enjoy long walks on the beach, I’m fond of attention, oh! And I’m a hell of a marksman.”
Bon Bon just rolled her eyes thinking at how the agent was treating the situation. “I’m one of the agency’s best, hence why I was sent here. Don’t worry, once I solve this case I’m sure chief Osborn will forget about you going AWOL.”
“You can’t just…just do that,” Bon Bon argued quietly, still keeping her voice to a whisper. “This is my case.”
“Was your case, past tense,” Asher added as he sat straight up seeing the teacher about to make an announcement.
“Okay, it’s the first day of a new school year so I’m obviously not gonna work you all to death,” the teacher began in a sweet, singsong voice. “Instead I want you all to get into groups of three and get to know your fellow classmates if you don’t already. You can talk about your hobbies, interests, or what you did over the summer.”
Asher thought back to his summer, chasing down a lead he had at Arrington, a couple shootouts occurred and he got to pilot a helicopter; but he didn’t consider it anything to write home about. He remembered the purpose of the assignment and immediately spotted Applejack, she had to be in his group, it was the only way he could get information out of her; the assignment that the teacher gave them worked in his favor.
“Bon Bon,” Asher whispered to get her attention.
“No, don’t do that, don’t say my name like you know me now, we’re not friends,” she shot back under her breath.
“I got a plan and I need you to work with it, for the sake of my job and yours.” Asher arose from his seat before Bon Bon even had a chance to reply or deny his request, he approached Applejack who sat alone at the moment, as it stood she currently hadn’t joined a group. “You’re Applejack, right?”
Her brilliant green eyes locked onto his and her smile was warm and inviting, “Why yes I am, and you’re the new kid right? Asher?”
“Why yes I am,” Asher replied in a fake English accent, “Pleasure to meet you,” he said as he shook her hand, his fake accent drew a chuckle from her.
“You reminded me of someone for a moment there,” Applejack laughed. Asher knew she was talking about Rarity, but he wasn’t about to say what he was thinking. “So, what can I do for ya, Asher?”
“Well, I was just wondering if you can join mine and my friend’s group so we can get to know each other better.” Asher gestured over to Bon Bon who waved back meekly when she saw Applejack look in her direction.
“Sure thing,” Applejack replied as she got up and walked back to where Bon Bon sat. She pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat at the desk with Asher sitting beside Bon Bon again. “Hey there Bon Bon.”
“Hi Applejack,” Bon Bon returned the greeting, “So, how was your summer?”
“Pretty good, I worked on my family’s farm and the girls and I had a sleepover at Pinkie’s house and then Rarity’s. We kinda kept switching from house to house until everyone got a turn,” Applejack finished her statement with a laugh, a warm one at that, it showed Asher she enjoyed spending time with her friends. “We also went to the carnival when it was in town.”
“Same here, me and Lyra went on the rollercoaster they had there.” Bon Bon now wore a similar look on her face like Applejack, and when she giggled about how Lyra turned greener than usual because of the rollercoaster, her giggle wasn’t forced or faked; it was genuine. Unlike Asher’s laughs or smiles, she actually enjoyed what she did, she didn’t focus on her job, she focused on her friends. “What about you, Asher?”
“Me? Oh…” Asher watched as a devilish smile formed on Bon Bon’s face, she had asked him hoping he wouldn’t have an answer; but he was trained for this, lying was what he was good at. “Well, me and my family took a cruise to the Bahamas, it was cool and all, but I just wish I had friends to go with me. When we got back, my father had to leave on business and my mother is currently away visiting my grandmother in New York. She said she’d also be awhile because she’s checking on her clothing line and taking care of some work business.”
“Your mom owns her own clothing line?” Bon Bon questioned with a puzzled look on her face.
“Yeah, I think it’s called La Chić or something, all I know is its pretty expensive.” Asher smiled smugly at Bon Bon’s look of frustration, he had her beat and she knew.
“That’s that fancy brand of clothes Rarity’s always going on about,” Applejack added, “You should meet her sometime, she’ll no doubt ask you a lot of questions about it.”
The rest of the class period went by quickly, Applejack told Asher about her and her inner circle of friends, but it wasn’t anything new to Asher; in fact, everything she told him he knew already. What he found odd is when she left out the part about Sunset Shimmer becoming a she-demon and trying to enslave the school, she also failed to neglect the incidents at the Friendship Games. Asher knew it would be some time before he learned anything of the sort, he would have to infiltrate the close group of friends which would take a good amount of time.
Right now, Asher stood outside of his Economics class, he had said his goodbye to Applejack and now stared at his schedule to play his role as lost new student. But he was taken away from his thoughts as he heard someone approach him. He slowly looked up and spotted an excited looking puffy pink haired girl in front of him; he recognized Pinkie immediately, but acted as if he didn’t.
“Can…can I help you?” he asked as he watched the pink haired girl bounce in place as she stared back in glee.
“You’re new here, right? I’m Pinkie Pie, nice to meet ya.” Pinkie grabbed one of Asher’s hands and shook it up and down haphazardly.
“I’m Asher Settingsun, nice to meet you too, but…” Asher paused and stared into the girl’s light blue eyes that seemed to sparkle. “How did you know I was new?”
“Duh, because I know everyone in the school!” Pinkie laughed and now pointed at Asher’s schedule, “And because you look like Losty McLosterson. Need any help finding where you need to go next?”
Asher gave her a warm smile, if anyone was more likely to provide information for his case, it’d be Pinkie Pie; and after reading her file hundreds of times, he knew she’d be the easiest of the seven girls. “Sure thing, can you show me where English 4 is?” Pinkie quickly grabbed his hand and without a word began to quickly drag him down the hall to his next destination.