MLPs: Agents of Harmony

by Amante

Preparation

Kept well within the Canterlot Magitek Division’s facilities are a series of large boxes, big enough to spaciously fit a small group of people. Each box is enchanted with twelve layers of magical shielding and its leylines are hidden in an enormous, entangled web of duplicates to ensure no outside tampering can occur. Physically, each box is at least four feet thick on each side crafted from a bizarre mix of carbon fiber and titanium alloys, in essence, creating a nigh indestructible barrier.

To enter any of these vaults you would need to pass through five levels of increasing security which ranged from retinal identification to your personal magical residue signature. When inside a vault, your own abilities would be suppressed to the point of being unusable. The only way to bypass that would be to have a reserve so large that having that much power repressed wouldn’t make a difference.

They were each designed to hold a myriad of powerful magical artifacts, each having the potential to change the world for better, or worse. The first of these vaults held six stone orbs, casually sitting on six metallic pedestals. Each pedestal glowed with a number of defensive runes that ensured no outside force could touch its precious treasure.

These six orbs were thought to be the greatest and most powerful magic in the known universe. Their power could only be unlocked by those that embodied six particular virtues.

The first orb had the silhouette of a five-sided gemstone. It glowed slight a orange. Honesty.

The second had the a six-sided gem. It glowed pink. Kindness.

The third had a three-sided gem. It emanated a slight, blue aura. Laughter

The fourth had a four-sided gem. Purple light came forth. Generosity.

The fifth had an eight-sided gem. Red radiated from this one. Loyalty.

The sixth, in the center of the vault, had a six-pointed star. It shone a faint amethyst. Magic.

These were the core components of Project Harmony.

Four agents, one from each division, were inside this vault with quite a bit of equipment. All of them had a cream stripe across their upper right arm.

One of them was holding a miniature satellite dish to the orb of honesty. He had a tuft of brown hair and long, pointed nose. His brown eyes widened as he took out a small device from a pocket of his red blazer and attached it to the dish. “I’ve never seen them so active before,” said Canterlot Magitek Officer Inator.

A woman to his left placed a grey hand just above the orb of generosity. The wrinkles on her forehead were pronounced by her furrowed brows. She instinctively pulled on her blue blazer to straighten it out when she retracted her hand. “They’re reacting to their presence. They’ve found their new bearers,” said Canterlot Obfuscation Officer Inkwell.

The other man, standing beside the orb of laughter, looked to his companions. The intensity of his cerulean eyes contrasted greatly with his ivory skin. He ran his fingers through his electric blue hair before putting his hands into the pockets of his grey blazer. “So why don’t we just prep them for use? Aren’t these the key to ending the increasing amount of dangerous magical anomalies?” asked Canterlot Reactionary Officer Shining Armor.

A woman standing by the orb of kindness had her gloved hands on either side of the orb. A bead of sweat rolled down her blue cheek. She shook her head which made her two-toned blue hair bounce slightly. She released herself from the orb and pulled out a handkerchief from the inner pocket of her white blazer. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t just assume that the having the bearers would make it safe to use Project Harmony. There’s just too much chaos magic floating around to risk it,” replied Canterlot Medical Officer Minuette.

Shining wasn’t satisfied. “So what exactly is Central Officer Celestia supposed to say at the meeting of the five points?”

“Exactly that,” countered Inkwell. “The Directional Leaders will understand.”

Inator lowered his scanner. “I dunno. The South Officer was looking forward to finally deploying the arsenals of Project Harmony. Besides, haven’t the bearers basically been the last thing we needed?”

Minuette scoffed. “Hardly. You can’t exactly predict how chaos magic would react to its activation. If we could, then I don’t think that’s real chaos magic. The North Officer understands this well.”

“As does the West Officer,” added Inkwell.

Shining rolled his eyes. “Well you guys have clearly never met the East Officer. The moment this is brought up at the meeting, the first thing he’ll demand is that it be deployed.”

“I don’t get it,” said Minuette. “Why are you so eager to set them loose? Aren’t you worried? Your sister is one of them after all.”

A sigh escaped Shining’s lips. “I am. I worry a lot, especially for Twiley, but Inator’s right in that this is pretty much the only way to stop all these anomalies from appearing so frequently. If I could go in her place I would do so in less than a heartbeat.”

Inkwell gave a solemn nod. “I can understand. We put not just our own agents, but everybody out there at such risk if we let these anomalies continue to emerge.”

“It’d be so perfect if we could end it that easily,” said Minuette as she leaned against the back wall.

“You just might get what you want Minnie.” Inator had a pair of headphones attached to his scanner as he waved it around the orb of magic. “I think I figured out a way to slowly draw out the harmony magic from these things without causing too much disruption to the already present chaos magic.”

“That is exactly what I wanted to hear,” said a voice at the entrance to the vault. The tall woman stepped inside, her long, multi-hued, auroric hair flowing slightly. Celestia smiled to her subordinates as they bowed their heads in her direction. “No need for that now. We have work to do.”

“If we look at it from a genetic standpoint it becomes obvious that, barring any mutations, it will not be able to adapt quickly enough to survive into the introduced environment. Furthermore, considering its physical properties it is very likely that it would be hunted to extinction by local predators.” said Twilight Sparkle.

Grassy Graze, the biology teacher, nodded his head. “Excellent as always, Ms. Sparkle.” He looked to the other students in the class. “Well I really don’t know what to say. In the three months she’s been here, Ms. Sparkle has reached the top of the class. I think that proves that if she can adapt that easily, then all of you can aswell. Class dismissed.”

One student in particular blew a frustrated breath upwards. “Egghead,” she muttered under her breath as she stood to leave. She had the unfortunate pleasure of reaching the door at the same time as the cause of her animosity. She gave a forced grin and extended her hand in a gesture of politeness.

Twilight gave a small smile in response. “Thanks, Rainbow.” As they walked out of the room she spun around and faced the other girl. “Oh, you’re coming over to Pinkie’s end of the year pre-pre-party party right?”

“Of course I am,” she answered flatly. “She is my friend, you know.”

“Oh of course.” Twilight gave an awkward chuckle. “Um, I gotta go. See you,” she said before bolting down the hall.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and went in the other direction. As she turned the corner, she was met by her pink friend leaning on a group of lockers. She had a look of expectation as her blue eyes stared into her soul.

“Hey, Pinkie.”

“What was that, Dashie?” she asked as she began to walk beside Rainbow.

“Huh?”

“You know what I mean.”

Rainbow had a blank look.

“Ugh. Twilight? Why are you still so hostile?”

Rainbow repeated Pinkie’s groan. “Because, okay? Can we please talk about something else?”

“No we can’t. Fluttershy and I are friends with her, AJ and Rarity have opened up, you’re the only one who’s still shut her out. Is this still about the other Twilight Sparkle?”

“No. But frankly, doing what you said seems to have made it worse.”

“What? Why?”

“That other Twi was cool. She was fun, awesome, and she was magic.”

“So are we.”

“Besides the point. This Twilight? She’s an obnoxious, show-offy, know-it-all.” She launched a fist which made violent contact with an unfortunate locker. “She just gets on my nerves, okay?”

“She isn’t that bad.”

“Yes, she is. Remember the time we went to the amusement park and she tried to get us to follow her schedule to the second? Or how about that time we were at that restaurant and she kept chastising us for using the wrong spoon and fork? She was worse than Rarity! Better yet, that time we were stuck in that elevator with a view and she went on and on with a lecture about whatever?” Rainbow looked about ready to explode. “Who does she think she is? My mom?”

“She’s just trying to help, Rainbow. Besides, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but she’s kinda new to the whole ‘friends’ thing.”

“No surprise there.”

Pinkie sighed as another member of their group came into view. It was Applejack. “Howdy,” she said as she synced up with the other two.

“AJ, what do you think of Twilight?” asked Pinkie.

The cowgirl looked puzzled. “Twilight? She’s alright, Ah guess.” She shrugged. “Bit of a know-it-all, though.”

“See,” said Rainbow triumphantly.

Pinkie shot her a look before going back to Applejack. “Is that all you can say?”

“Well, she’s nice. Ah can see that she wants to help folks, and that she wants to be the best she can be. Ah can definitely respect that, for sure. Why'd ya ask?”

“It’s for Rainbow.”

Applejack looked to the athlete. “Still ain’t used to her, Dash?”

“That’s not it. I just don’t like her, okay?”

“Well you’re gonna get plenty o’ chances to learn to since we’ll be spendin’ most of the summer at that camp that Celestia’s sendin’ us to.”

“We’re all seriously going?”

“Course. Didn’t Principal Celestia say it was a sort of formal agent training?”

“That she did,” interjected Pinkie.

Rainbow snorted. “Well that’s definitely something to look forward to.”

Pinkie couldn’t help but shake her head at Rainbow’s behaviour.

Meanwhile, a considerable distance underground, the four Canterlot Division officers stood, at attention, awaiting the arrival of four VIPs. Behind them was the door to Central Officer Celestia’s Office. At the moment, however, that door did not lead to her office. Instead, it lead into a large conference room designed for one purpose: to host the Meeting of the Five Points, a rarely called upon gathering between the five leaders of MLP.

Shining Armor stood tall and proud but occasionally rubbed his foot on the floor. Inkwell would take an occasional breath to relax. Minuette, with her hands behind her, wiggled her fingers together in anxiety. Inator silently tapped his foot; though the subtlety of that action slowly waned as time went on.

Finally, the first of the Directional Officers had arrived at the atrium. He was large with a frame that could only be achieved through dedicated exercise and training which only served to dwarf the, considerably large on their own, grey coats that walked with him. His crimson-tinted skin complemented his fiery, orange hair that stood in several spike like points going down the length of his scalp, like a mohawk that had several, evenly spaced gaps in it. His blazer, like Celestia’s, was cream but with a grey stripe running across both upper arms. His eyes could burn through you with the intensity they radiated, yet they also had an instinct and desire to protect. His jaw, large and wide, was currently set in a grin as he approached.

This was East Officer Reginald, overall head of the Reactionary Division.

“Good day, officers,” he said as he exchanged bowed heads with the four. “It’s been quite a while since a meeting has been called, and with such urgency, I might add.” His voice reverberated but also had the distinct touch of refinement to it.

“Yes, sir,” answered Shining Armor. “Central Officer Celestia thought it best considering the situation.”

“Then I best not tally.” He observed the other three. “Straighten yourself up, Inator, and enough with the fingers, Minuette,” he said before entering the room.

The aforementioned had frozen at his comment which coincided perfectly with the arrival of the next Directional Officer. Around her were a number of stern looking white coats, which only served to juxtapose the visage of beauty and serenity that she wore. Her stride was graceful, her purple eyes entrancing. The pink of her skin went very well with the cream of her jacket and the white stripes circling her upper arms. The three colors—yellow, violet, and pink—of her hair shimmered as it ran down her curved figure. She approached with a smile that could melt the most frozen of hearts.

This was North Officer Cadence, overall leader of the Medical Division.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” she said, her voice smooth as silk.

The four officers offered her a nod of respect which she had returned in kind. She looked to Minuette, her direct subordinate. “I see this branch is in good hands, Minnie. I have to admit, every agent here seems to have quite a smile, as well.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I try my best.”

“And it shows.” Cadence looked to Shining Armor who, in turn, shifted his eyes away. After giving him a teasing smile, she entered the door into the conference room.

Once she was gone, Shining’s face broke into an absolutely goofy grin. Inkwell was the first to note this. “I suggest you rein yourself in, lover boy. We’re still expecting two VIPs.”

Shining cleared his throat. “Right, right. Of course.” He returned to attention.

A few moments passed before the next one arrived.

He was tall, with skin a dark shade of grey. His frame was of average build, but more importantly seemed to blend and mix with the very environment even if he was wearing a bright, cream blazer. His upper arms were decorated by midnight blue stripes. This was not because of some kind of shyness within him, rather it seemed to be his second nature to simply vanish. Around him were a number of blue coats who also appeared to be mixing with the background. His dark eyes darted around the room appraisingly as he approached.

This was West Officer Zumaza, overall head of the Obfuscation Division.

He did not stop to chat, but instead gave an acknowledging glance towards Inkwell and just returned the bows of the other three officers.

They looked to each other awkwardly before glancing towards Inkwell. She simply shrugged and said, “It is technically our job to not be noticed so I really don’t see what’s so surprising about his mysterious attitude.”

The last of the Directional Leaders had arrived and he looked particularly distracted. His nose was pointed downwards that it resembled a beak more than an actual nose upon which a pair of horn-rimmed glasses sat. He was slightly thinner and shorter than average which seemed to be pronounced by the cream blazer he wore. His arms had the distinct color fo red around them. An aura radiated from him that seemed to say that whatever academic skill you could think of, he was better. He had only one red coat behind him as his golden eyes scanned every inch of the facility critically, rather than appraisingly.

This was South Officer Gerard, overall head of the Magitek Division.

“Walls could stand to be reinforced and the doors need to be re-enchanted,” he muttered under his breath. He looked expectantly towards the four who bowed their heads in response.

After exchanging the greetings he directed a glare towards Inator which caused the officer to take a step back. “Inator, as the top representative of the Magitek Division here I expect much more from you. My assistant has prepared a list of things that, frankly, should have been done ages ago to this facility, especially since this is supposed to be the core of the organization,” he said before entering the facility.

His assistant handed the list—a folded piece of paper which when unraveled became a good four meters in length—to Inator before going off on her own.

Inator paled as he read through the meticulous to-do list. Shining suppressed a laugh as he watched his companion. “Looks like you definitely got some work to do.”

“I admit, they weren’t as scary as I envisioned they would be,” said Minuette as she looked to the door to the conference room.

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Shining. “You haven’t seen East angry. It’s terrifying to say the least.” He gave a shudder as he remembered.

“Now that they are here, I suggest we get ready. We are still supposed to present our findings on Project Harmony,” said Inkwell.

Inator sighed. “She’s right. Let’s go.”

The four of them proceeded down the southwest hall, towards the Canterlot Labs.

Past the door, the five were seated at a large, marble table in the center of a grand gazebo. Around them was a gorgeous garden with a variety of flowers around them, all in bloom. Butterflies and the songs of birds floated through the air around them as the warm rays of the sun illuminated the surroundings. A babbling brook could be heard in the distance. In one corner of the room stood a door that led back into the atrium of the Canterlot Control Center.

Reginald placed a lump of sugar into his tea before stirring and taking a sip. Celestia smiled calmly at her four equals. Zumaza leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes in meditation. Gerard’s eyes did not stop and continued observing the room they were in. Cadence broke the silence between them.

“While it is lovely to see all of you again, I doubt you called this meeting out of nostalgia. Isn’t that right, Aunt Celestia?”

Gerard had his arms crossed as he looked to the Central Officer. “Indeed. I’ll have you know that I was in the middle of what could very well be a breakthrough for us.”

Reginald and Zumaza, likewise, shifted their eyes towards Celestia.

She sighed as she placed her own cup back onto its saucer. “I was hoping for a catch up a bit more friendly than that, but then, I am the one who called upon you.” She took a quick breath. “We have confirmed the bearers of Project Harmony. They were discovered during Sunset Shimmer’s outburst and have been kept under our wing ever since. After further observation, we have come to the conclusion that the Elements do indeed resonate with them.”

Reginald bellowed a mighty guffaw. “After all these years they’ve finally picked their bearers. It’s about time, reactionaries are spread too thin as is.”

Gerard’s eyes narrowed as his interest piqued. “So we can finally put that old project back into service? At last, we can finally see some use from everything that was developed for it.”

Zumaza stayed silent as he observed the two.

Cadence looked to her aunt. “When will we get the chance to meet them?”

“Soon, but not yet. This is one of the reasons I called this meeting. I want to officiate their training and inclusion into our ranks.”

Reginald was taken aback. “They haven’t undergone basic yet?”

Celestia shook her head. “We wanted to give them a warm welcome before showing them the tougher side of MLP. They were Dreamers who had a rough awakening which required a unique approach to the situation.” She waved her hand and folders with several photographs and documents appeared in front of the other offices. “These are reports on the progress each of them have made while here.”

“I see they have a basic grasp of things,” said Reginald as he leafed through the files. “So I take it they shall undergo the same training that all Junior Agents receive?”

“Of course, Reginald,” said Celestia. “Which is why for the summer, they shall be under your care at the Manehattan facility.”

A smile appeared on the East Officer’s face. “Gladly.”

Applejack and Rarity were in front of the large equine statue in front of Canterlot High having a casual conversation as the sun left the horizon. Beside them were a number of large bags, obviously meant for long term travel. Most of them were Rarity’s.

“Any idea what kinda camp they’re sendin’ us to?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea. Although considering what kind of a group they are, I suppose it would be best to be ready for anything.”

“So what exactly d’ya tell your ma and pa where you’d be goin’?”

Rarity smirked, “The truth, of course. Celestia is sending us to a scholastic get together of sorts.”

Applejack returned the expression. “Same here.”

A moment later, a green minivan pulled up and from it came their friend, Rainbow Dash, likewise packed for their journey. As her parents and friends exchange greetings, she bade them farewell before they drove into the city.

“Hey, girls,” she said.

“Hello, Rainbow. You seem rather prepared,” noted Rarity who observed the number of bags Rainbow had with her. They nearly rivaled her own. Nearly.

“Well, since its supposed to be some kind of training, I figure they’ll have sports and stuff so I just wanted to be prepared.”

Applejack raised a brow. “What, did you bring your own ball for everything?”

“Something like that,” replied Rainbow offhandedly.

They returned to conversation, going onto topics like friends they would miss and what could possibly await them on their trip. The girls laughed and joked around when another vehicle—large, foreboding, and obviously military—pulled up in front of the school. From it came Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, each carrying large travel packs. Pinkie Pie, not wasting any time, ran up and scooped the three into a group hug.

“Hey, girls!” she declared. “Are you excited or what?”

“Hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow got out through the tight embrace. “Pinkie, we can’t exactly breathe.”

The pink girl’s eyes opened as she realized this. She released which allowed them the chance release a breath of their own. “Sorry, girls,” she said.

“It’s alright, sugarcube.”

“Although, I must admit, you are very obviously excited, darling. Care to share why?”

“Of course I am, Rarity! I get to spend the summer with my five bestest friends,” Pinkie said as she bounced in place. “Can’t you imagine the six of us sitting at a campfire eating smores?” She burst into laughter as her imagination ran off.

Rainbow scowled in the background. She had almost forgotten that Twilight was going to be there too. Her expression softened when she noticed Luna at the door to CHS calling their attention. As the other girls noticed, they gathered their things and approached.

“Hello, ladies. It’s good to see you are all prepared for this.”

“‘Scuse me, Overseer, but where exactly are we goin’?” asked Applejack.

“You are all going to receive formal training from MLP. After all, we cannot just send you in blindly against creatures like the chimaera.” She gestured for the girls to follow her inside the school. “Or worse,” she added under her breath.

As they walked through halls Rarity asked another question. “Is this ‘training’ going to be held here in the Canterlot complex?”

They filed into the classroom that contained the elevators to the control center.

“No. You will be going to a place designed specifically to train junior agents like yourselves,”

As they loaded their things into one and themselves into the other, Rainbow was the next to ask a question. “So are we all going to receive the same lessons?”

Luna pressed the the button that closed the doors. “Not quite. You have each chosen a division to specialize in and, as such, you will given their respective courses. Though you will all have to undergo basic things such as combat, detection, and emergency medical response.”

“Detection?” Applejack asked as they descended.

“First-response protocol to any anomalies that appear within your vicinity.”

As Rainbow leaned against the wall of the elevator, she looked to the overseer and asked, “So why exactly are we going down here if this isn’t where we’re having this training?”

Luna raised and eyebrow and looked to the athlete. “Rainbow Dash, you didn’t think you’d be taking conventional transport, did you?”

When they reached the bottom, the doors opened to a number of agents with a few bag trolleys. Once the girls’ bags had all been loaded up, the group made their way to the west wing. Just before the corner to the hall that lead to Obfuscation, another hall lead to a set of large doors.

Through those doors was a large, hangar-like area. The floor here was plated with metal and the walls carved from the very stone the chamber sat it. In the center of the room were three tall, crystalline pillars. Runic symbols encircled each pillar and glowed with an ominous purple hue. On the ground in between, multitudes of engraved circles nested within each other flooded with silver-colored light. Off to the side, an elaborate setup of monitors, equipment and members of the Magitek Division kept watch over it all.

Rainbow gave a low whistle as she took the sight in. “Whoa. That looks pretty serious.”

Applejack herself had gotten quite interested; she had not yet heard of this little project.

“This is a teleportation node,” Luna began. “It is used for instant transport of both materials and personnel between the major branches of MLP. Transportation, however, only works from node-to-node. We cannot just zap things anywhere we so please.”

Fluttershy had paled slightly at the sight of the massive monoliths. They would be expecting her to also use it. She unconsciously grabbed the closest arm. It was Rarity’s.

The designer turned and immediately noticed her friend’s whitened face. “Darling, what’s wrong?”

She lifted her hand and pointed towards the stones. Rarity turned and her eyes widened in realization before looking back and grabbing Fluttershy’s hand. “Don’t worry, dear. I’m sure they know what they’re doing. Besides, it’s not like this is some experimental technology.”

“Your friend is correct. Plenty of times in the past years have we used this and we have yet to encounter any problem whatsoever,” Luna said as she noticed the hesitation in Fluttershy.

As reassuring as it was, it did not make the prospect any less appealing.

As the other agents loaded their things in the center of the apparatus, Pinkie’s face scrunched up in concentration as she stared at the structure. Something felt, somehow, wrong with it. Since her body wasn’t reacting in any way, she knew it couldn’t be her Pinkie Sense which, at least, ruled out any immediate threats. Still, the feeling deep down in her gut kept nagging at her that she should be careful.

Once all their things were neatly piled up, the Magiteks funneled power into the pillars which cause their glow to intensify as a slight hum began to fill the room. When it reached a certain point, the light flowed downwards and into grooves on the floor. In a bright flash and a sharp ping, the bags had disappeared.

Luna looked to the juniors. “Your turn.”

Applejack and Rainbow nodded to each other as they stepped towards the apparatus. Rarity held Fluttershy tight as she brought the two of them over. Pinkie walked slowly, never taking her eyes off the three crystals. Luna tilted her head as she observed the young girl. Eventually, Pinkie joined her friends in the center but her expression of distrust never waned.

Her attention was divided as Applejack placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, sugarcube. Don’t sweat it, I’m sure they know exactly what they’re doing.”

“You may experience a feeling of exploding as you reach the other side. Do not worry, though, as that is a perfectly normal side effect of first time teleportation. It’s also just a feeling, you aren’t in any actual threat of exploding,” said Luna as she signalled to the Magitek operators.

As the process began to repeat, the girls found their bodies feeling progressively lighter. Slowly, they could feel their physical presence fading as a high-pitch hum echoed in their heads. In a flash, they lost all feeling. Their consciousness had melted and joined the currents of energy around them.

The feeling was intense. It was like falling through a tempest. They had no control and danger was all around them. Yet, it was also oddly euphoric. The girls couldn’t help but feel calm and safe, as if the very energy around them was reassuring them that they would be safe—that they would be protected.

Luna’s warning suddenly became apparent as the girls felt their physical selves re-forming. They noticed that they seemed to be resisting, like magnets of the same polarity moving towards each other. The feeling was dizzying to say the least. The high-pitch hum slowly began to return as the girls felt themselves drop.

Rainbow Dash was the first to open her eyes. The first thing she saw were a pair of sparkling blue eyes. As she began to focus, she noticed that, accompanying the eyes, were a head of golden, curly hair, a jaw sculpted to utter perfection, and a body that celebrated the peak of the male form. The owner of all these features looked over each of the girls.

“Greetings, Juniors. Welcome to the Manehattan Control Center,” he said.

As Rarity regained herself, her jaw dropped as she realized who had just addressed them. “Y-y-you’re Easy Eyes, Hoity Toity’s premier male model.” She felt her knees buckle as she he gave her a million-dollar smile.

“Yes, I am. But beyond that I am also this branch’s Obfuscation Officer.”

Applejack held her head to steady herself before looking around. The room they were in was just as large as the one they left excepting that the walls here were also plated with sheet metal. They stood in the center of an apparatus identical to the one in Canterlot. Off to the side, she noticed a few agents standing by their pile of bags. She looked to Easy. “Hold up. You’re some big shot model and the guy in charge of keeping MLP secret over here?”

He laughed in response. “Ironic, isn’t it? Let’s just say that, when used properly, fame can be quite a tool for concealment.”

Fluttershy brushed herself off and took a look around. The trip was not as bad as she had envisioned. She looked around and noticed that everything looked fairly similar to Canterlot. Her eyes then noticed Easy and widened.

Pinkie was standing straight again. The feeling in her gut had not left. She was sure that, whatever it was, it was related to the teleportation devices. She made a mental note to look into it later. No use worrying her friends if she didn’t understand it herself either.

When Easy Eyes noticed the girls had collected themselves, he directed them to the door and lead the way. As they walked through the halls, the girls noticed that, while it still kept considerable victorian influence, the Manehattan facility was noticeably more…corporate.

A strange dissonance existed between the elegance and grandeur of MLP architecture and the obvious minimalistic scheme of the Manehattan branch. The statues that decorated the halls were noticeably more abstract, the colors of the walls much more subdued, yet, entrancing beauty was still carried by moldings on the wall as their shapes swirled and curved in strange harmony.

The girls realized that they were heading away from the counterpart of Canterlot’s Grand Atrium and in the direction of what would likely be one of the facility’s gates. As they passed another set of doors, they noticed a large bus in the center of the parking lot with their bags being loaded into it.

“From here, this bus shall take you to the Training Camp located just south of Manehattan, nestled neatly in the center of a patch of forest. Like all our facilities, it is well concealed and kept from Sleepers.” He gave the girls a playful smirk. “You also won’t have to worry about any anomalies appearing there.”

He stood aside and gestured to the bus. The girls filed in and sat together on one side. They began to talk amongst themselves as the bus ascended.

“I can’t believe I just met Easy Eyes,” Rarity squeaked.

Rainbow crossed her arms as she leaned back on her seat. “He’s definitely easy on the eyes, I’ll say that.”

The girls laughed in playful agreement as the bus reached the top and left a tall garage.

Applejack looked out the window and observed their surroundings. “We’re in the middle of the financial district,” she noted.

The girls looked to her in surprise.

“How do you know that, AJ?” asked Pinkie.

The cowgirl looked back to her friends with a sheepish grin. “A couple years back, when Ah was still a little girl, Ah wanted to have a change of scenery from the farm back in Ponyville.” She took a quick breath before continuing. “So Ah came here and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle Orange, they’re a couple of investors and stock traders.

“Took up a year at a fancy private school not too far from here. Learned quite a bit of the ins and outs of high society. They used to take me to their fancy parties and even when they met up with some of their big shot contacts. I think they were trying to see if I’d be interested in the stuff. Obviously it wasn’t really my thing, and so, Ah moved back to Ponyville.”

Rainbow had an exaggerated smirk directed towards her friend.

Applejack raised a brow. “Wha’?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rainbow continued her smirk. “Just imagining you as some big, power executive,” she teased.

Rarity snorted as the image formed in her head. “Oh my. The thought of you willingly lining up for a fancy dress for an equally fancy party. I’d definitely have a sure customer, for one.” She winked towards her friend.

“Ha ha, very funny, y’all.” Applejack folded her arms as she looked back out the window.

The city skyline eventually gave way to fields and greenery as the girls engaged in the good-natured banter that befit a close group of friends. At one point, the bus took a turn along an obviously less travelled dirt road that led deeper into the forest. Fluttershy was the most taken by the change in scenery as she pointed out different species of small critters like foxes, squirrels and birds.

As she went on and on, Rainbow noticed that, every once in a while, a faint shimmering would appear through the trees on the horizon. She blocked out her friends voices as she concentrated. The last time light had come from a group of trees a chimaera came and attacked them. She was prepared this time. Her hand slipped down and lightly stroked her belt; if necessary, she could bring her aara out in an instant.

Pinkie noticed the look on her friend’s face and asked what was wrong. After being informed, she squinted at the supposed shimmering air. She didn’t see anything, but she also didn’t feel anything like the first time they were attacked. She slipped her gloves on to better access her Pinkie Sense to be sure. Still nothing.

Rainbow turned her head to check on her friends. Her eyes widened as the bus headed straight towards a wall of the shimmering air. The bus did not crash, though, but instead phased through. As the it passed through them, the other girls sat up straight in shock as tingles ran through their bodies. Rainbow herself felt like she was getting a slight electric shock from the wave. After they passed she noticed that it began and ended where it was.

“A barrier,” she said under her breath.

At the front of the vehicle, the bus driver adjusted his rear-view mirror to focus on Rainbow. “Good eye, kid,” he said.

Her head shot up as she looked to the front. “Huh?”

“You noticed the shielding a good distance away. Takes some real keen senses to do that.”

“Shielding?” Rarity asked. “Is that what caused the sensations we just felt?”

“Got that right, missy. It’s a special shielding that keeps out both anomalies and sleepers. Former are just flat out blocked, kinda like a mosquito net. The latter are just driven away, like a repellant.”

Applejack was intrigued. “So if this shieldin’ reaches here, we must be pretty close to our destination, right?”

“You would be correct. We should be at the gate right, about, now.”

On cue, the bus turned and approached two tall, stone towers. The tops were circular and considerable wider than their cylindrical stands. The top also had crenelations from which grey coats looked through. As the trees started clearing, the girls noticed that a wall made from large stone blocks surrounded a group of buildings in the middle. At the center of the camp stood a large stone keep with a tower standing at each corner. From it, a beam of reddish light shot upwards and spread out and down. This was the source of the barrier in the surrounding area.

Around the keep were a number of log cabins neatly arranged in several columns. To the right of the camp stood a larger building with a stone foundation, logs for walls and two stone chimneys extended from its roof. Beside it was a large, square building made entirely of stone. It had no windows and only one door right at the entrance. Two grey coats stood on guard at the door.

The other side of the camp had a large track with bleachers casually sitting to one side. A number of people in work out clothes jogged rhythmically around it. The girls noticed that the agents here weren’t wearing their blazers but instead wore simple t-shirts that bore the color of their respective divisions as well as a pair of black shorts.

The bus came to a stop in front of the keep and the driver directed them out. The five of them lined up and looked around at the camp they had been sent to. On closer inspection, they noticed that the joggers weren’t just jogging in sync, they were also repeating certain familiar exercise chant. Off to the side, a group of agents-in-training were performing push-ups as an older agent who was wearing grey blazer with a black stripe on his sleeve watched. Near the log cabins, a different group of agents practiced hand and leg gestures that Rainbow recognized as martial arts techniques.

Rarity’s face dropped and Fluttershy shrank as they figured out just what kind of camp they had been sent to. This was MLP’s bootcamp.

Author's Note:

Technically, this chapter and the one following are just one, but I didn't want to have a 14K word chapter suddenly popping up when the range seemed to go from 5K-7K. So I split it into two instead.

The other half, Training, will be up in 24 hours.

Thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying your stay.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will Rainbow Dash be beating anybody up in this story?

[Amante]

4237592

Definitely. There are going to be quite a number of action scenes in this fic.

As for Rainbow beating people up, she will, especially once Chaos Acolytes enter the picture.