After The Battle
~~~~~Six months later~~~~~
Lyra held out her hand, and Bonnie passed her the bottle. “Where’d Berry get this stuff?” she asked in an exhausted voice, taking a slow sip and savoring the flavor. Technically, they were underage and this was really illegal. Practically speaking, having some federal police powers made that kind of a non issue so long as Captain Sentry wasn’t snooping about. Besides, she’d been enjoying good whisky since she was 14. Da had insisted that was how they did it back home, and she was always careful to never over-indulge.
Bonnie chuckled softly. “From her mom, probably. She does run the biggest bar in town.” Bonnie snagged the bottle back from her and took a much heartier swig than Lyra might’ve recommended. “How do you think the director is gonna like this one?” She gestured at their guests with her favorite piece, a genuine Colt M1911 .45, a present from Lyra’s Da’ to celebrate their ascendance to full-blown members of the Bureau. Which was actually more legal than the booze they were drinking, considering they had special licenses.
Lyra glanced over at the three hunched and dejected looking figures sitting handcuffed to the back of the stage. All three had tugged at the handcuffs once or twice and given up not long after. A pile of red crystal shards were zipped into a clear plastic evidence bag not far away, and all three girls were casting them looks of longing. She felt a grin split her face. “Well, it wasn’t pretty and it might not be on par with catching Al Capone, but something tells me it won’t be that far off.” She grabbed the bottle back and took a slow sip, savoring it again.
Bonnie chuckled, leaning back against part of the stage scaffolding. “It was about as pretty as the Capone bust was. Sheesh, my head is still aching from that.” She rubbed at her temple with two fingers, wincing. “Let’s leave out the part where they mind controlled us into becoming complete jerkstores in the report, shall we?”
“No argument from me,” Lyra smiled, stretching out a little and capping the bottle. That was enough celebratory whisky for now, they’d have to enjoy the rest later once the pickup was made.
One of the three heads came up, and Lyra wondered how the heck they’d gotten their hair into those absurd styles and kept them that way. They must go through a loooot of hair conditioner. “Let us go,” Sonata Dusk whined, wriggling her wrists against the cuffs. “We haven’t done anything illegal! You can’t do this to us!” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she winced away for a moment before trying again. “Come on, we said we were sorry about everything! We’ll be good, we swear!”
Lyra snorted. “Sonata, Princess Twilight might be of the forgiving mind, but I’m afraid we’re not quite as high minded as she is. Besides, we’ve got some very long standing questions to ask you three.” She grinned fiercely, caressing the pump-action on her personal shotgun. “Don’t worry. If you’re really innocent, I’m sure the director will treat you fairly. She’d probably rather we didn’t have a bunch of students asking where you lot went.”
Sonata wilted at that and huddled into herself. Of all the three of them, Lyra was sure Sonata was the only actually innocent one. She wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the box, and… Well, Lyra couldn’t confirm this with facts, but she had a hunch she’d been along more for the thrill and the power than any actual malice.
Principal Celestia appeared a few moments later, her cheeks flushed and looking frankly embarrassed for the first time Lyra could ever remember. “Well, that could have been a far greater disaster,” she said in a quiet voice, folding her hands in front of her jacket and giving a little tsk at the sight of their guns. “Really, girls. Are those absolutely necessary?”
Bonnie raised a rather sarcastic eyebrow at the principal. “All due respect, ma’am, but I’m not about to take chances with the three girls who just turned into sea-dragons and nearly wrecked up the stadium doing so.” She glared at the three figures. “Not to mention they might very well be three fugitives we’ve been looking for for a very long time.”
Adagio lifted her head, opening her mouth to say something, perhaps... And fell silent when Celestia raised a finger to her. “Well, we certainly do have to account for their actions, but I rather think we can manage that without any real problems now that temptation has been removed from their grasp.” She planted her fists on her hips, leaning down to regard Adagio in the eye. “Once I’ve spoken to the director, I think we can provide for their reformation. We certainly achieved that with Sunset Shimmer, after all.”
Lyra shook her head slowly. Of all the people in all the world she’d ever have expected to turn into a hero, Sunset was nowhere near the top of her list. She’d like to have believed Sunset was simply acting out of self interest, but something really special had gone on out there tonight. She didn’t know what - yet - but she knew it was special. Adagio just glared at the Principal, who smiled sweetly. “Captain Sentry will be along shortly to take them into custody, but I’m certain they shall be back in time for class and detention on Monday.”
Lyra didn’t doubt that the principal wanted to make it happen. Still. She gave Bonnie a quick glance and nodded faintly at her. This was an opportunity given what the whole school had been through tonight. “Principal Celestia, would you mind giving me a few moments of your time in private?” She asked in her most respectful, quietest voice. The principal tilted her head thoughtfully and then nodded at her.
Backstage was private enough and close enough if there were any problems with the Dazzlings. Besides, she wanted Bonnie nearby in case things went wrong on her front. The principal folded her hands in front of her and almost… braced herself. Lyra leaned on the butt of her shotgun and huffed. “How long have you been in contact with the other world?” she asked, as bluntly as she could possibly do without using her accent. It was a shot in the dark, certainly, but Lyra had a good feeling it was an accurate one.
The principal stiffened and seemed to consider Lyra’s words. “Four years,” she said a moment later, nearly shocking Lyra off her perch. “I found Sunset Shimmer lying unconscious on the ground in front of the statue one morning next to a note and a heavy sack. The note said she was a very troubled girl who needed someone to watch out for her, someone to teach her to be a better person.” The principal raised her head high, looking down her nose at Lyra. “The sack contained a prodigious amount of gold, which the note said was meant to cover any ‘expenses’ that might be needed to assure her education.”
Lyra’s throat went dry, and she nearly swung the gun up to level at the principal… but she needed to hear more first. She gestured for her to go on. “Naturally, I took the offer,” she said, unable to conceal her obvious determination. “My job does not pay exceptionally well, and I was hardly going to simply leave her to fend for herself on the streets.” She sighed gently, clasping her hands together. “She seemed so confused when she woke up. It broke my heart to hear her tale. She was arrogant, of course.” The principal laughed softly. “But I could see there was good in her.”
Celestia trailed off, something weighing on her shoulders. “She was so obviously ignorant about the real world, but she tried as hard as I could ever expect. At first, I was sure we were making progress with her. She was such a sweet girl; she worked so hard to learn about our culture and the other students.” She looked away, eyes going distant. “Then a second note came on the same day next year, and I sent back a note of my own to give the good news. They sent more gold and asked for further updates.”
Principal Celestia sat down on a nearby packing crate and primly crossed her legs. “That’s when things started to get out of hand. Sunset started manipulating school politics, and it became clear she had other things in mind than education. I warned my mysterious correspondent, but they assured me that things were well in hand.” She paused, briefly. “Well, not hand, specifically. The notes always used very odd language.” She took a deep breath.
The principal’s hands twitched a little, and her cool smile fractured. “Things got worse, as you well know. She broke up that lovely group of friends. Then last year, the note I received informed me that they would be sending another guest soon.” She shivered a little but seemed to relax. “A student of my mysterious contact, who assured me that she would be able to set Sunset upon the right path again if she could not find it herself. I expressed my concerns at what Sunset might do to her, and I was answered with a veritable fortune of gold and a second note.”
Principal Celestia dug into her coat and produced a scrap of yellowed… paper? It was a very odd kind of paper, very high quality but unlike any manufacture she’d ever seen. It only had ten words on it, but those ten words nearly stopped her heart.
”Trust me, Sister. All will be well. -Princess Celestia Solaris”
“I never told her my name, in case you’re wondering.” The principal said quietly. “Not once. I always referred to myself as ‘her principal’. Sunset never corresponded with her, and I can assure you that no one else has interacted with that statue to my knowledge, save for Sunset and myself.”
Lyra wished she had the whisky bottle right then and there. “Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” she whispered, trying not to crinkle the note. Her mother would’ve slapped her for that, and for once Lyra might not’ve been mad at her for it.
The principal just nodded at her. “I have only rarely used the gold for personal gain. The rest of the time, it has been used to ensure Sunset has led a legal and comfortable life and to improve my school so that it might be better used to educate.” She gestured with her hand to the stadium around them. “Which isn’t to say I haven’t provided a nice yearly bonus to our teachers, nor taken a few good vacations of my own to deal with the stress.” She sighed, scrubbing one hand in her hair and looking thoroughly exasperated. “I’ve needed it, given what I’ve been through.”
Lyra shook her head and held the note back to Celestia. She took the note with a faint smile and tucked it back into her jacket. “I admit, I expected you to arrest me on the spot when I told you.” Celestia spoke quietly, gripping her hands together.
Lyra bit at her lip, then spoke in an equally quiet voice. “The thought is still occurring to me, principal, given what your decisions have put this school though.” She frowned. “How did you manage ‘legal’ with Sunset Shimmer when she’s not even of this Earth?”
“Friends who know how to deal with records. I merely made a few phone calls.” Her smile turned wry. “And spread around a little gold. Quite amazing what people will do when you put several thousand dollars in untraceable gold in front of them.” She crossed her arms and looked away, speaking softly. “I made up a story about a friend from Spain with a young daughter escaping an abusive husband and paid the right people to get her a green card. She’ll be an American citizen next year, if she wants to be.” She shrugged slightly. “I somehow doubt it will come to that, but there it is.”
Lyra sighed and scrubbed at her head. Bureaucratic bullpucky, of course. Her biggest problem now was she had to deal with her principal being technically guilty of harboring a fugitive and accepting bribery money from a foreign power which might very well constitute treason. Not to mention a lot of money laundering charges she wasn’t entirely sure would stick. Of course, the FBI would likely have a lot of questions for her regarding her communication with a foreign leader that might cause some serious issues.
But all told, it probably wasn’t going to add up to much except to make her lose her job and embarrass her in front of the community. And right now, that just wasn’t paperwork Lyra wanted to deal with. She was going to have enough to file for the Dazzlings without worrying about breaking in a new principal. “I want you to promise me you’re going to keep me updated on anything else this Princess says,” she said quietly, and the principal gazed at her in astonishment. The director is going to kick my butt if and when she finds out what you’ve been up to, and I want her to know you’ve been helpful, she thought at the principal as she spoke. “And I want to see all the previous messages, too. There’s something bigger going on here, and I need more info if I’m going to find out what.”
The principal narrowed her eyes, then sighed and nodded once. “I don’t know what you’ll glean from them that I haven’t discovered, but alright. But!” she held up her hand, “I will not allow you to jeopardize the safety of my students. You must promise me none of this information will lead to that.” Once again, Lyra was astonished at principal Celestia’s grit in defending her kids, no matter what the cost to herself.
Lyra stood up, shouldering her gun. She couldn’t help but admire the old broad for her principles. No pun intended. “Principal Celestia, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have your students safety foremost in mind.” She tipped a salute to hear and sauntered back toward Bonnie. “Trust me on that one,” she finished before slipping away from her principal. She had just gotten an entirely new load of things to think about tonight, and she needed to deal with one problem at a time.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Problems like Captain Sentry glaring at Bon Bon as a pair of uniforms loaded the Dazzlings into the black-and-white he’d thoughtfully brought along. “I’m telling you Captain, they’re not the kind of suspects you want palling around your drunk tank,” Bonnie was growling at him, her hands gripped into fists. “They’re a serious threat, and we’ve got standing Federal investigations on all three of them.”
“Oh please,” the captain snarled back, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know who your parents paid off to give you that pretty little badge, Miss. But I’m not even remotely threatened by three teenage girls with wild hair.” He gestured abruptly toward the Dazzlings with one hand before smoothing his own ruff of black hair back. “Besides, last I checked no one out there had been remotely harmed by this. Probably someone slipped something into the punch bowl as a prank, as I’m certain the toxicology report will bear out.”
Bon Bon was winding up a chest full of wind to have a go at him, and Lyra couldn’t have that. “Captain Sentry,” she drawled, cutting Bonnie off mid-bellow and sauntering down the stairs to ground level. It was time to employ some of that old Shakedown magic. “Tell me, do you really want to stick your neck out to interfere with a Federal investigation?” She did her best to keep most of her accent out of her voice, but that damned Irish lilt was making her coo like a singer in a nightclub.
The Captain wheeled to face her, only for his face to go red at the sight of her weapon slung casually over her shoulder. It was safetied, of course, but the Captain wouldn’t notice that minor detail. “Just what do you mean by ‘Federal’ investigation?” he asked, gripping at his utility belt and stomping forward to confront her. “I don’t see a single Federal officer around here, so unless you’re going to-”
Lyra had been waiting for that line. She pulled the slim folder out from her handbag and flashed it in front of her face with a cheeky smile to match the one on her badge. “If you like,” she cooed, as his jaw hit the pavement. “I’ll wait while you contact the Central Office and confirm our bonafides.” In truth, they were as much agents of the FBI as Flash Sentry was a world-famous guitar player, but the Feds would back them up if someone put a call in. So long as they weren’t trying to do anything particularly loud or extreme in the process anyway. Sometimes, it was nice to have the director as a friend.
Captain Sentry’s cheeks went cherry red, and he drew in a deep breath to go off on yet another tirade.. and she stomped forward right into his personal space and snapped a finger up into his nose. “Don’t test me, Steele Sentry,” she snarled at him, making his eyes go wide. “Don’t think for one second I won’t slap you with charges and haul you in front of a judge to make my point. You will treat me and my partner with respect, like it or not.” She wasn’t going to do any such thing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t bluff.
Steele Sentry wasn’t about to back down from that, sadly. “You don’t have the jurisdiction to be telling me what to do here!” Oh, joy. She did so love that argument. She’d been briefed, of course, on what technically counted as their jurisdiction. And the captain was about to get a rude awakening.
She smiled sweetly, a gesture that temporarily caused confusion in the poor captain while she fished out a stack of much worn and folded papers. “Wrong,” she cooed, shoving them into his chest with no small amount of force. “Both myself and my partner have Federal police powers while operating within one hundred miles of Canterlot High School and while investigating any strange and unusual events which take place within that zone.”
The captain took the papers and unfolded them, and after ten seconds of reading the blood drained out of his face and left him as white as a sheet. He scrambled through the pack of papers before finally handing them back - in a mess - to her. “This is insane,” he muttered softly, clenching his hands and then unclenching them slowly. “You’re barely old enough to be my daughter, and you think you can order me around?!”
Lyra tucked the paperwork back into her purse and poked her finger into his chest. “Put our suspects into a proper holding cell until the director comes to pick them up in the morning.” She kept her voice pitched low and deadly serious. Which was undercut, again, by that dang lilt in her voice. “Or I swear to the good Lord that I’ll have you arrested and charged with obstruction. Are we clear?” She reached up and prodded her finger firmly into the center of his chest. ”Captain Sentry?”
He stared at her, a mixture of every kind of frustration she could name crossing his face before settling on resignation. “Yes, we are clear.” He spoke stiffly, like he’d swallowed a baseball or something.
She smiled sweetly. “There’s a good man. Th’ Bureau thanks you for your co-operation, Captain. We certainly won’t forget it.” She wiggled her fingers cheerfully at him.
The Captain turned and walked away like someone had just stuck a rake where the sun didn’t shine, and she watched him climb into the passenger’s seat of the squad car as it pulled out of the back of the stadium, three very important prisoners in tow. “You’ve been waiting for months to do that,” Bonnie gently admonished her, but she was smiling.
“Always nice to see a helpful public servant,” she cooed back at Bonnie, then giggled. “Alright, I have to admit it was nice to shove that bit of red tape right in his face. Remind him he isn’t the only dog in town any longer.” She crossed her arms and allowed herself a moment to bathe in the satisfaction of a job well done.
Bonnie just sighed, then laughed softly. “He’s going to give us all kinds of trouble down the road for that, you know,” she said, leaning into Lyra’s side and holding her close enough to cause Lyra a blush. She nodded silently in response, and Bonnie laid her head on Lyra’s shoulder. “So, what did you get out of the Principal?” she asked very sweetly, but Lyra could tell she was serious. She was gripping Lyra’s waist awfully tight, after all.
Lyra just sighed. “Things just got a lot more complicated, Bon Bon. Let’s go grab a burger, and I’ll tell you what I can.” She glared up at the moon, and blew out her lips. “Lord help me, there’s already going to be a mountain of paperwork without adding the principal to the pile.”
~~~~~Two Days Later~~~~~~
The knock on the door was perilously light, so light Lyra might not’ve heard it if she hadn’t been waiting for it. She swung the door open to see Sunset Shimmer standing there nervously, Applejack leaning next to her with a cocked eyebrow. “Since when d’ya’ll live in yer own place, Shamrock?” Applejack drawled, adjusting her hat.
Lyra leaned against the door frame herself and smiled. “Since we had a little change in our job situation.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Come on in. We’ve got an offer we’d like to extend to you two, Applejuice. We’re a little understaffed here and we could use some capable help.” She turned back toward the inner door, gesturing for them to follow. “And after what happened the other night, I think it’s high time we all had a discussion about how we can best keep this school and all of the people in it safe.”
“What did you mean?” Sunset asked, tilting her head quizzically. “Just who the heck do you mean by ‘we’?”
Lyra laughed softly. “I’ll explain everything. Grab a seat, put your feet up, we’ll get the drinks.” She turned, tapping in the code on the keypad next to the inner door. “Oh, and welcome to the Canterlot Bureau.” She smiled before pulling open the door and stepping inside.
It was time to get to work.
-fin-
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Most excellent start. Well written and well presented. And a new mystery. Seems Principal Celestia and Vice-principal Luna know 'things'
My vote is in for more. Especially if the plot takes them to Equestria. Always up for a good cross universe story.
Plus, there is this world's Twilight who will be poking around very soon.
I just wanted to say that Lyra looks very very very sexy in a suit
Heck yes, I want more of this. This is a thing of wonder and beauty, and I will eagerly read anything else you have planned for this setting.
Okay, so in this version of EG, the Ghostbusters and New York are canon. I really hope this means that you have something planned for that in the future.
This was really good! This is just asking for more. Any chance you could write a prequel involving the werewolves or the sirens first coming through the portal in addition to a sequel? Also going along with thtiger, seeing the bureau interact with human twilight would be great, if possible.
I would love to see more of this
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAAlDoAtV7Y]
Haven't even read it yet, don't even care.
EDIT: Do more. You're really on to something here.
YES. YES, ALL OF MY YES! It would be an absolute crime not to write more about this! ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED!
EQG with MIB-ish overtones, ye say?
s6.postimg.org/dd47s96ap/Pirate_Approved.jpg
There was another story a while back before RR came out that went a similar route, but I think it went on hiatus... good thing this one is here now!
s6.postimg.org/5ul2jmext/continue_Monkey.jpg
Hell YES, I would like to see more of this!
5887872 Dagnabbit, beaten to it! Well, I'm posting it anyway:
OT: This is relevant to my interests and definitely getting a read.
This idea has so much potential. Please continue!
--Spade
I'd like to see more, if you would?
more I need more.
I want Moar pls
I'm game for more, this was neat!
Write more. This was fun.
I'd love to see more. You could go with making you own events rather than from the movies. I can't help but feel like EQG3 will end up having earth Twi bringing all of these connections together.
A little late to the party but I also would like to see this continued. And Site Zero probably attracts more strange things than the things we see in the movies.
I spy with my little eye Stephen King, Ghostbusters, and BlueBastard's A Hairy Problem. Nice.
Anyway, adding my voice to the chorus for more.
Not sure if it matters as its up to you if the comics are canon but Sunset Shimmer came to the human world in a different way.
Idea was interesting, but it seems like nothing really happened.
More please.
I'm going to have to repeat the call for 'more please'. This was really good.
Yes! More!
More, please.
Nice story, but feels more like an extended Prologue. In short, yes I would like to see this continue.
Fluttershy approved.
Echoing the cries for more!
It's Xcom crossed with MIB and a bit of SCP. The alphabet soup just got cooler.
(Insert Ohio joke)