The Secret Agent

by SecretAgentPlotTwist

What Now?

“You’ve seen the video?”

“Yes. This is big, this is really big.” The voice through her phone seemed almost as excited as Drops. “I’ve already sent it up to the higher-ups. This could be the find of the century.”

Drops was pacing up and down the practice room. “I know, I know, but what do I do? How am I meant to proceed?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “If this really is equestrian magic, then this is well out of my jurisdiction. Carry on as you are. We'll get back to you with some instructions once the higher-ups see it.”

Drops breathed slowly, trying to calm down. “Alright, confirming mission objective: Proceed as normal until instructed otherwise.”

“Confirmed.” The sounds of him tapping a keyboard as he put the info into the system came through the phone. “Good luck agent Sweetie Drops. You may have just stumbled across the biggest advancement in agency work in our generation.”

Drops heard the phone hang up and she calmly slipped it back into her pocket.

She then proceeded to giddily jump around the room in excitement. She couldn’t believe it. Equestria. Equestrian magic. It was hard to believe.

The agency had many past records on it but any real case had been closed decades ago. It had almost become a sort of great myth within the agency, with much of the info only available to the most important agents.

And Drops, a junior recruit who’d only spent two years on the field without supervision, had just found citizens that not only have equestrian magic, but also made contact with an actual equestrian. She may have just made agency history.

She eventually brought her miniature celebration to an end. Now that her adrenaline had worn off, she decided to sit down. Her head was running wild, but she knew remaining calm was now more important than ever.

Taking a breath, she began to go through her thoughts. What happens now? Well, most likely they’ll need to bring in a higher up agent with experience or knowledge of Equestria. They’ll be placed in charge of the operation and I’ll… I’ll most likely be taken off the mission.

Drops froze. This was a low-level recon mission after all. ‘Discover the source of magic sighted and remove security threat if able’. She wasn’t able to deal with an equestrian related security threat.

She’d have to leave. Leave Canterlot high. Leave Derpy. Leave Lyra.

Drops leant her head into her hands. She could feel her eyes begin to water. “Damn it.” Her voice was shaky and bitter. “Why am I like this.”

Drops had known this mission wouldn’t last forever so reacting like that was stupid. But it hurt. It hurt so much she thought she might throw up.

Before she could stay like this for long, she heard the door begin to open, revealing the familiar face of the mint-haired girl who was occupying her mind. “Hey, thought I might find—”

Lyra stopped when she saw the state Drops was in and immediately rushed down to her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Drops looked away. “I-It's nothing,” she said, voice still shaking.

“Hey, don’t be silly Bon-bon.” Lyra lifted Drops’ head so she was looking at her directly. “What’s going on? Last time you wouldn’t tell me what the matter was you left for seven years.”

Drops let out a whimper. “T-That… Well that’s the thing, isn’t it. I have to leave again.”

Lyra’s encouraging look faded, replaced with a sorrowful expression. Seeing it made Drops lose what little strength she had left. She began to cry.

“Hey, shh, it’s okay.” Lyra spun around so that she was leaning on the wall with Drops and wrapped her arm around her, bringing her into a tight hug. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she continued softly.

Drops held onto Lyra as she sobbed. It felt terrible to feel so vulnerable in front of her, the very person she was going to hurt once more after all this time.

“It’s okay,” Lyra said again. She held Drops tightly with one arm and began to use the other to delicately stroke her long hair. “You can cry as long as you need.”

“I’d rather not,” Drops managed to get out between sobs. “We’d be here far too long.”

Lyra chuckled, continuing to stroke through Drops’ curly hair. “It’s weird. You remind me of me back when you left the first time.”

“We’re lucky I’m not like how I was back then. I was much worse than this,” She said with a sad little laugh.

Lyra looked at Drops, giving her what seemed like a bittersweet smile. “This might sound bad, but part of me always thought you didn’t really care when you left.”

Drops looked at her somberly through her blurred vision. “Not at all. When I had to leave, it was the worst day of my life.”

There was a pause, then Lyra wrapped her other arm around Drops and pulled her into a hug. “I’m really glad you came back.”

Drops looked up to her, wiping a tear away. “But I have to leave again.”

“I don’t care. You’re here now and I couldn’t be happier,” Lyra said with a warm smile.

Drops managed to return the smile despite herself. She didn’t know how happy hearing those words from Lyra could have made her.

Lyra nodded towards the door. “Come on. If you’re not here for much longer then we can’t spend the whole time moping around.”

Drops wiped away the remaining tears from her face and replied with an affirmative nod. Lyra held out her hand to help Drops up and they left the practice room hand in hand.

They decided to head to the canteen as they imagined the gang would be there. They thought it best not to tell anyone else about it, at least not till she knew the exact time of departure, but Drops decided she would tell Derpy when they had some time alone together, even if it wasn’t agency protocol

Drops had explained that she didn’t know when she would have to leave, but imagined it would be soon. Lyra, probably sensing the mood of the situation, decided not to ask why she had to leave.

Once they reached the canteen and found their friends, they were greeted merrily by the whole gang. They were discussing something about the performances; Drops didn’t really pay much attention to it. She just sat quite contently with Lyra, who had nudged up towards her.

Drops looked over to her with a little smile. She was chatting and laughing with the rest of the gang. She’d always been much more sociable than Drops. When they were young Drops used to wonder why she spent so much time with her when she could have easily spent that time with a dozen other friends.

Drops’ train of thought was interrupted when the cafeteria doors were slammed open loud enough to catch her attention, revealing three girls strutting into the canteen together. They were all eccentrically dressed in clothes oozing with style. That, and their eye-catching hairstyles and confident demeanour, made it almost impossible for Drops to look away.

Then they started doing the strangest thing. They all began singing a melody together. They sang loud enough so that everyone could hear them and they quickly gained the attention of the entire canteen.

Drops’ first thought was just how weird the sight in front of her was. Three teenage girls casually walking around and singing for no apparent reason. She couldn’t quite comprehend the sight.

But as they continued, singing about the upcoming music competition, it began to make sense.

Yes, I am the most talented person in this school. I’ve trained harder and sacrificed more than anyone here could comprehend. They don’t stand a chance, and why shouldn’t I be proud of that.

This battle of the bands was the perfect way to prove that fact. She’d already shown everyone up at everything, only holding back because she had to for the mission.

But her mission would be over soon, and what better way to end it than by showing everyone here just how inferior they were. Yes, these girls definitely knew what they’re talking about.

Comments

[KMCA]

You figure she'd at least figure out who they were, even if she couldn't resist.

She'd show those Siren's who they were messing with, The Agency would see that SHE was the best blah,blah, blah. Ect, ect.

[artofwar77]

Always interesting to see mind-manipulation effects from the perspective of the affected.

[Phil Srobeighn]

Nice twist.