Agents of S.M.I.L.E: Otherworldly Recruits

by LPFanFic

1. Compromised

Author's Note:

Just giving a heads up, this is not the official sequel to my first story. Agents of S.M.I.L.E. Is a mini spin off story starring Scottish Twins, Donald & Douglas, and the fandom's favorite shipping fuel, Lyra and Sweetie Drops. The series will last roughly 20 chapters with everything already planned out, what ties into the upcoming sequel, and what will transpire. Told in a story format similar to 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead' , Agents of S.M.I.L.E. will focus on the four characters and the special mission they were on during Welcome To Canterlot High. See what they've been up to while Thomas was off on his own mission to save Lady and the Magic Railroad.

I'm not entirely sure how people are gonna react to this or if they'll be on board, as I'm sure most of you are more looking forward to an actual continuation of WTCH rather than another story taking place during such. But let's just give this a try for now and see where we go from here. Don't get me wrong, at first I was wondering if I should just skip it and get started on the sequel. But the more ideas came to mind, the more I wanted to get started on this as soon as possible. And now here it is! Let me know what you think and feel free to share suggestions. Read on and enjoy!

Agents of S.M.I.L.E.
Otherworldly Recruits

1. Compromised

Canterlot City's night sky glistened with its radiant stars and bright moonlight. All was quiet in the human world; the world which mirrored that of Equestia. Where instead of magical ponies, there lived people who rely on technological advancements and small media devices to get things done or to simply entertain themselves while not partaking in anything recreational, arguably investing more time and interest on the latter. An average city with bustling people, walking or driving in their vehicles down the streets to somewhere important, was now barren of such. Only the street lamps and rodents occupied this space during these usually vacant hours. Saved for only one girl, running down the empty streets in a hurried pace.

This girl was Sweetie Drops, a student with moderate blue and pink hair and light greenish gray skin who attends Canterlot High. Like most people during the day, she too was in a hurry to somewhere important.

Finally, she arrived at her destination. The place she entered was a local, indistinct hole-in-the-wall-joint with a neon sign above the door that reads, "Hayes' Pizza". The eatery was small, unpretentious and with little to no ambiance. It was dark and not particularly clean. There were small tables with plastic chairs stationed outside, which were covered in fallen leaves and tiny puddles of rain water that gathered on the seats and table tops. The pizzeria décor itself housed five small booths along the right side and the cashier counter faced the front near the large glass window, looking out to the unoccupied boxed space between it and the sidewalk.

There were only three customers in the store, all sitting in the same booth in the far back corner. The three men looked very discrete, with some chewing down some pizza while one read a news paper.

One of these men, a scruffy one, had amber eyes, dark brown hair, grayish amber skin and a stubble beard. He wore a black, wide brim, felt fedora hat with a white band and bow. A light yellow, buttoned-up shirt, a long black coat, grey pants and a red bandana around his neck. He also wore a brooch with a blue exclamation point and yellow question mark in front of a red burst effect.

A much wider man of the trio had light, cobalt blue eyes, dark cyan skin, orange hair, a mutton chop beard, and bushy eye brows. He wore a tanned, brown leather vest over a dark green shirt and light grey pants. The vest had a Yellow star and orange swirl printed on one side while the other side had a grey asterisk and blue number sign.

The youngest out of the bunch had grayish, amber eyes under a pair of darkened sunglasses he never takes off despite being indoors, azureish black hair, and light, sapphire grayish skin. He wore a smartly dressed purple suit, black dress shirt and white tie, which bared a yellow and purple burst effect with four small sparkles.

"Late again!" Called a man behind the cashier. "Always late with you."

"I'm really sorry, Tomato Sause," Sweetie Drops said, apologetic. "I made sure to book it as fast as I could. Guess I must have let time slip passed."

"You had all day to get here. How do you run late for a night sift?"

"I had other… business to attend to," She said, almost discretely.

Tomato Sauce throws her an apron.

"Well, quit making excuses and get back there already! The dough needs kneading and I doubt we'll get it done by just standing around like we own the place."

The younger man from the corner booth looked over his shoulder to see what the commotion was all about. Sweetie Drops swore she saw one of them peaking from the corner of her eye. As Sweetie Drops passed by her boss to enter the kitchen, she stopped and leaned in close.

"Might wanna tone it done next time," She whispered, sharply and cocked her head to the men in the back.

She then proceeds towards the kitchen. Tomato sauce shrugged. As she left, he looked around the store for anything suspicious and made sure the back-booth men weren't looking for anything conspicuous. Then, he reached under the counter and pressed a green button next to two other color coordinated buttons. One was red and barely pressed while the other was blue and bared some scuffs.

Sweetie Drops waited in front of the fridge door of the freezer room. A small beeping goes off, allowing her to open the fridge door and step inside. Chilly crates of tomatoes, mozzarella, and arugula surrounded her. She went over to the wall near the door and pressed her palm against it. A small, square portion of the wall slides up and reveals a wall mounted device with dials on one side and a red, biometric bypass scanner on the other. Sweetie Drops pressed her palm against the device as it scans her hand print for recognition.

Beeping and blinking a green light, the authentication accepts the print and a computer voice identifies Special Agent Sweetie Drops.

Soon, the floor began moving beneath her feet. It carried both the produce and Sweetie Drops deep into the ground below. The light streamed through two small windows on each side of the elevator as she passed each level. While waiting to reach the subterranean level, Sweetie Drops voice activates the watch on her wrist to initiate uniform procedures.

"Uniform procedures commencing," Said a computer voice.

A small rod projector from the ceiling pops out and points a green scan at Sweetie Drops and her entire being. The uniform digitally materializes as the scan replaced her white dress, socks and flats with a black blazer, white dress shirt, short black pencil skirt, black leggings, and black, low heeled shoes. After the scan was complete, Sweetie Drops whips out a pair of standard black shades, puts them on, and taps the side of it to activate a screen of digital information popping up behind her glasses. Lastly, Sweetie Drops puts on a gold, hexagon shaped badge on her right bicep with the number twenty on it. She puts on a stern expression as the elevator comes to a stop, emulates a ding sound, and opens the fridge door.

Sweetie Drops walked out of the elevator into a long, spacious, chrome colored room filled with hundreds of people also wearing the standard black uniform with a little touch of their own flare mixed in. In front was a long, stretched out path with rows and rows of highly advanced computer desks, otherworldly machines, and racks with mysterious instruments and gadgets on both sides of the pathway. Sweetie Drops made her way down the isle while bustling agents carrying stacks of paper, envelopes, weaponry, and other inscrutable tools hustled passed, wearing the same stern expression she did. She arrived at a pair of clear, automatic sliding doors and entered through.

There was a massive sign above these doors that reads, "Secret Monsters Intelligence League Enterprise. We're everywhere and nowhere'."

---

She may be just an average teenage girl who went to high school and had very close friends, but Sweetie Drops also had a life that involved monster hunting, the likes of which she found herself joining years ago to protect her home from such threats. And to combat these monsters, she took an oath and became a dedicated member of S.M.I.L.E.

S.M.I.L.E. is a secret, undercover organization ran by highly professional special agents with the intent of keeping the world safe from all kinds of monstrous threats. They're the best at what they do, and they take full precautions against being identified by all civilians or far more dangerous monsters. The public can never know of their existence at the risk of exposing themselves or the creatures they catch. If word got out of monsters being real and a prominent threat to their world, it could set off chaos the likes Canterlot haven't seen. The agency had many close calls over the years, especially recently, as they found more instances of strange anomalies popping up by the month with she-demons, singing sirens, and urban legends from Everfree Forest. All of which they intervened from behind the scenes to keep public witnesses quiet by wiping memories or initiating cover ups.

While there where things Sweetie Drops liked about the agency, one thing she never got behind was some of their policies. Luckily, she never had to mind wipe civilians, and often finds herself smiling off handily when showing your cheerfulness in the agency was looked down upon. What started off as fear and intent on the sole eradication of the unknown became another life she shared outside of her average one, something she's shown more interests and devotion to than anything related with S.M.I.L.E. But unlike most days, Sweetie Drops was eager to be called in for a very special meeting.

As Sweetie Drops continued down the short maze of the silver corridor, she reaches her next destination at one of Hidequarts' main establishments. She enters through another pair of automatic doors into a room with other agents already sitting at their control desks, typing, arranging and sliding different tabs with their fingers across the green computer screens. This room wasn't as spacious as the others, but it still housed quite the snazzy set up. It had a large monitor above the back wall, six rows of control desks on each side, and a small top level occupied by scientists who were visible through the railings against the wall Sweetie Drops entered from. Underneath the monitor was a large, wall mounted, cylinder chamber made of thick, indestructible glass that took up the majority of the wall seen upon entering. Green and standard lights lit up the chamber from the inside.

Sweetie Drops took off her shades and met with her hard-muzzled boss, Agent Furlong. He had a bristled face, springy salt and pepper hair, light crimson skin, and gray eyes. He wore his dark sunglasses on top of his head and sported the standard black suit with a black vest, shirt, trousers, and shoes. She stood beside him looking into the glass chamber.

"Didn't think you'd make it, Agent Drops," Furlong said in his scratchy voice.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sweetie Drops replied. "Its not very often the agency allows a monster we've captured back out into the wild."

Furlong coughed. "Tartarus was starting to get crowded anyways. At least this one's been well behaved since we found it in the lakes of Canterlot's forest."

"Thank you, Chief, really," She said, sincerely while facing him.

"Don't get used to it, kid," he frowned. "We agreed to practice this procedure once. Take it in while you can."

"Still. This means an awful lot to… the creature, I bet."

After raising his bushy eyebrow in suspicion, Agent Furlong coughed then backed up to face the large monitor above and pressed his finger on an ear comm. The screen showed live surveillance footage from Canterlot High's courtyard along with two people walking towards the school's statue.

"Agents Bravo and Tango, do you copy?"

The two agents, one carrying a dome shaped lid on the side of her arm, answered their comms as they made their way towards the Wondercolt Statue.

"Copy that, Chief," Tango replied.

"Yup, copy that," Bravo said, robotically.

Bravo was a rather slender man with purple skin, blue, flat top hair, and emerald eyes. Tango was a rather sturdy woman with yellow skin, short, orange hair, and purple eyes. Both wore the standard S.M.I.L.E. uniform with shades, watches and all, but with Bravo's black blazer being unbuttoned and Tango sporting pants instead of a pencil skirt like Sweetie Drops.

"We've arrived at sight 900-SH C/sight SD-P," Tango confirmed. "About to set up 99.94 particle transmitter 3/8" dia."

"Good," Furlong said. "We'll give you the heads up when we're ready on our end. You may begin in the meantime."

"Affirmative," Bravo said.

"Set up a perimeter while I get the dome head ready, k?" Tango instructed.

"Seriously?" Bravo turned and rolled his eyes just as Tango approached the statue, "Seriously."

Bravo went up to the street corner near the school's sign and placed a stick shaped gadget in front of it. The stick blinked a red and green light before it shot out a laser high enough to reach the same height level as Canterlot High's roof. The laser then spreads all across the entire perimeter, covering the whole school in a cloaking dome to make the courtyard look barren to the naked eye from outsiders, when in all actuality, they would still be found present in the courtyard should anyone slip through the veil.

Tango placed down the dome shaped lid. It was made of a transparent material and had four technological, pillar-like columns with vacuum suction cups at each end. The tip of the dome had a control center, which Tango proceeded to type in coordinates. As Bravo joined her, she takes the dome lid and placed it on the statue's base, which faced the school's main entrance. The cups latch on firmly to the surface as white static and a smoky aura emits from the dome's contact then diminishes after a certain time.

Back at Hidequarters, Agents Sweetie Drops and Furlong inspected their operation through the large monitor.

"I still can believe there's been another world hiding in my school's statue all this time," Sweetie Drops mentioned.

"We don't know what's on the other side," Agent Furlong said with a cough. "All we know is that this creature came from there. How exactly it managed to find their way here is still up for debate. On top of many monsters we've captured lately."

Sweetie Drops then stepped closer to the glass chamber and crouched down.

Inside the chamber was a boy, sitting with his knees locked under his arms. He had short, messy, bluish gray hair, opalish gray skin, and deep red eyes with freckles on his face. He only wore a pastel blue, v-neck scrub shirt and pants. He looked rather scared, as he continued shivering while the stern expressed men and women worked on their highly advanced machinery. He had no idea what was going on.

Everyone he's encounter was either harsh or scary looking. All except Sweetie Drops, however, who only wore a warm smile while looking back at him. The boy stopped quivering as she meets him face to face through the glass wall between them, and starts relaxing.

"Today's the day, Cale," She said, sweetly. "You're finally going back home. Isn't this great?!"

Cale didn't say anything. He couldn't talk before and still couldn't speak even as a human. Thankfully, he could understand their language. He had been taught by Sweetie Drops on how to respond through yes or no questions. Cale simply stared back at her, until he decided to practice a notion she taught him and motioned his head up and down to nod. This made Sweetie Drops chuckle quietly.

While the agency treated their prisoners rather severely, Sweetie Drops could see unlike all the other monsters they had locked up, Cale appeared to be more frightened than dangerous, which completely blew her perception of monsters all being nothing but out of control animals. Cale was tame. And through Sweetie Drops' nurturing and compassion, Cale developed a more a gentle and softer attitude towards people he came across, one that ultimately earned his freedom and return back where he came from.

Sweetie Drops then pressed her palm against the glass. Cale noticed this and didn't know what to make of it at first. He examined his own hand than hers again. He gingerly pressed his over Sweetie's hand. Sweetie Drops smiled proudly. Cale tried mimicking her smile but couldn't quite get the creases of his lips to move up right, making it twitch a little and making Sweetie Drops giggle. It wasn't long before Agent Furlong over heard this and spoke severely to her.

"Agent Drops! What did I say about fraternizing with the prisoner?"

Furlong's booming voice frightened Cale, as he lets go of the glass and resumes his position again. Sweetie Drops got up and faced him.

"I was just giving him some assurance. The poor thing is scared, Chief."

"He should be. We don't have a reputation for striking fear in our enemies for nothing."

"But he hasn't harmed anyone. I'm surprised he hasn't given how the staff has been treating him."

Furlong grunted. "Nurturing and growing attached isn't how things get done around here either. And stop calling it that. It's not the official name we marked it."

"Please," She said, rolling her eyes. "No one can remember 'Internee Subject: Plesio, N.I.S.E.A.G. – 56534'."

"You just did," Furlong said, irritate lidded eyes.

Sweetie turned her back and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, well, Cale is a much cuter name."

"It's not a pet, Agent Drops. And it's not something you can socialize with. Plesio 565 may look like one of us now, but you know full well what they really are under all that."

"A poor defenseless creature?"

"A monster."

She faced him again, now both glaring at each other.

"Whoa, I'm not sensing tension between you two, am I?" Interrupted a voice.

It was Foxtrot. He was a sturdy male with milky white skin, short, spiky aqua colored hair, and wore the standard uniform with his blazer taken off and wrapped around his waist.

"Everything's under control, Agent Foxtrot," Furlong grumbled. "Is the subject ready for the procedure?"

"Sure is, Chief. Very co-operative little guy if I do say so myself. This is turning out better than we initially calculated."

Sweetie Drops smiled smugly at Furlong, who only grunted irritably then coughed. Foxtrot held a device with an orange screen in front of Cale to examine his vitals and DNA structures.

"Although you won't be so little once we fire up the De-humanifire. No, you wont."

"For the last time; we're not calling it that," Furlong complained.

"Well, who can remember a name like the Helix Deoxyribonucleic DNMT3A Reversion?"

Furlong stared with lidded eyes, unamused yet again over their remarkable memories being wasted on uncreative nicknames and titles.

"Let's just get this over with," He said tiredly, before contacting Tango and Bravo. "We're ready."

Both agents acknowledged and checked over the dome head once more. Furlong turned to an old woman with graying hair and cat's-eye glasses sitting behind one of the control desks.

"Commence procedures."

She nodded and typed on her computer screen.

"Activating the De-humanifier."

Foxtrot and Sweetie Drops couldn't help but snicker to each other.

Furlong groaned. "Remind me to send out applications for more serious agents."

Strobe lamps hung above each wall begin flashing a green light. All the agents and scientist assumed their positions. Suddenly, the entire chamber began to fill up with water. Agents monitored the process behind their control desks while scientist up on the second-floor balcony monitored the machine's functionality. Cale was about to panic until Sweetie Drops scorched down to meet him again.

"It's okay, Cale," She reassured. "I'm here for you."

She pressed her hand against the glass again. Cale, trying to remain calm, got up and plowed through the rising water to reach over and do the same. Then, a purple light beamed down from the chamber's ceiling and stuck Cale, covering his entire body in purple. He wasn't in pain, but the sudden shock of purple particles all over him nearly made Cale jump in fright.

"Just hang in there a bit longer," Sweetie Drops said, worriedly.

---

Suddenly, the green strobe lights suddenly turned red and an alarm sound blared, indicating danger. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Sweetie Drops stood up and stared at Agent Furlong, also wondering what could've triggered the alarms. These would normally go off when a monster broke out of their cells. But this case was different.

Ringing from Agent Furlong's watch alerted him to answer a call from Tomato Sauce. He taps his watch and a video displayed Tomato Sauce ducked under the where the red button that triggered the alarm was placed. There were loud bashing and crashing sounds followed by lasers and other gadgets ricocheting off the walls.

"Chief! We've got a major problem on our hands!"

"Agent Sauce?" Furlong said, annoyed. "What's going on up there?"

"It's Caballeron! Him and his henchmen have breached Hidequarters and are on their way down,"

"WHAT?!" He interrupts. "How did they get in?!"

"Some partner of his cracked through our defenses. There isn't much time! You ha-"

The transmission cuts off, leaving nothing but static.

"Wait, WAIT!"

"Agent Furlong?" Sweetie Drops said, concerned.

He sighed. "It's not looking good, kid. We're gonna have to hold fort."

"But, what about Cale?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Furlong began shouting out instructions. "Everyone, get in position now! We're going to have company!"

The agents complied and paced around the room frantically. The lady with cats eyed glasses typed on her computer to activate a security protocol. Some agents gathered behind their control desks, some went up top to cover the second floor, while the rest surrounded the automatic doors, now shielded by a steel wall which slid up to blocked anyone from entering or leaving. Furlong, Foxtrot, and Sweetie Drops stood in front of the glass chamber, strapped on their wrist mounted gadgets, and aimed for the doors. The alarm finally stopped, causing the strobe light to dimmer and the blaring sound to slip into complete silence.

"Caballeron could never orchestrate this kind of attack," Furlong said. "Not on us. He's partnered up with someone, someone who knows an awful lot about SMILE."

"Well, that makes two of us," Sweetie Drops commented.

Furlong shot her a quick glare before staring back at the sealed doors. Every agent in the room had their wrist mounted gadget pointed directly at the exit. The anticipation was too much, especially after hearing lasers and more crashing noises coming from other rooms near their proximity. Finally, they stopped, raising more anxiety and complete silent. Despite some determined and stern expressions, half the people were nervous, but prepared none the less.

A red dot began to form on steel wall. It grew brighter and brighter, until it inched upward and went around the rest of the barricade in a semi-circle direction. Sweetie Drops, Furlong and Foxtrot adjusted their positions. The heat ray reached the other end of the bottom. And with that, the semi circle portion of the indestructible steel wall collapsed onto the floor. Things only got worse when a steel canister was thrown into the room and lands right between a group of agents.

Furlong shouted, "MOVE!"

But it was too late. The canister emits and sprays a cloud of smoke. Just then, red projectile lasers flew into the room. Everyone began firing back despite their sights on the doors being hindered by all the smoke. Agents who were caught in the smoke coughed just as loud as Furlong would. Some agents evaded the oncoming lasers fine enough, but were still being overwhelmed and had to take cover behind some control desks. Furlong and Foxtrot pushed on wards to keep them from entering while Sweetie Drops stayed close to Cale, still caught and being transformed under the purple beam while a massive shoot out took place before him.

While in the middle of the fight, a confused Sweetie Drops heard her comm piece ringing and tapped it to display a blue screen projection. The call was coming from her best friend, Lyra Heartstrings.

"Oh, no. Not now!" She exclaimed.

Looking back and seeing the source of the laser fire coming from silhouettes of men behind the smoke, Sweetie Drops tried aiming at them then dove behind a control desk when too many were now aimed at her. After dodging and returning some fire, Sweetie Drops answered the call on her earpiece but couldn't keep from firing back long.

"Lyra! Hi!"

"Hey, Bon Bon!"

Back in her bedroom, Lyra Heartstrings casually laid on her bed and reading a magazine on horses while resting her phone between her ear and shoulder to talk.

"Opps, sorry," Lyra giggled. "I mean, Sweetie Drops. Hey do you mind I can just call you Bon Bon until I get used to calling you Sweetie Drops."

Sweetie Drops could barely hear Lyra over the phone.

"What did you call for, Lyra?"

"Just making sure we're still on for our movie night this weekend."

"With my specialty ice hot cocoa on the side? Yes, totally. Just need to get a few things cleared up at work first before I hold any promises."

"You mean that super secret agency thingy that we're not allowed to talk over the phone about?"

Sweetie Drops hesitated. "Um… maybe."

A loud explosion set off from one of the control desks being destroy rumbled the entire room. Lyra could hear most of the commotion and shouting. She got up and sat on her bed while holding her phone this time.

"They're breaching!" Foxtrot shouted.

"What's all that noise?" Lyra asked.

"Nothing!" She nearly shouted. "I mean, we're testing out a new printing machine that's just not up to par so far."

"Must be one lousy printer," Lyra said, not buying it. "Seriously, Bon Bon, is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," She said, nonchalant. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you know you can tell me anything, right? We're BFF's. Like come on, you already revealed your ties to 'place that shall not be named'. And yet you keep acting like you're still hiding something from me."

Sweetie Drops shamefully smack her face with her hand.

"Which is why I'll say it again. If you need any help with this agency stuff," Lyra continued, "you know I'll be on board 100%, don't you?"

"I know. But, I don't want you getting mixed up in all this," Sweetie Drops peaked to watch the fight. "It's too… dangerous."

Lyra smiled and chuckled. "Bon Bon, nothing is too dangerous for me so long as I'm with you. We're practically an unstoppable force alone. I mean, it was kind of a shock when I found out at first and,"

Everything went quiet, which worried Sweetie Drops.

"Sorry, Lyra, I have to go. But, I'll definitely consider it, okay?"

Lyra smiled. "Thanks, Bon Bon. Talk later, K?"

"Of course. And Lyra, thank you for understanding."

Sweetie Drops smiled warmly as they both hung up. She peaked over the control desk again and pointed her wrist gadget only to find Furlong and all the agents standing still with their hands up. The fight had stopped.

"Finished talking with your BFF yet?" Furlong said.

Everyone remained were they were. Three men came marching in while holding baton sticks that had bright, red lights from the tips aimed at random agents as they dispersed around the room. It was the same three men from the pizza joint above. Biff, the scruffy, Rogue, the wide, and Withers, the young man. Accompanied were three more bandit looking miscreants who soon entered the premises, also carrying laser batons.

Pickpocket, a bald man with pailish gray skin, light blue eyes and a scar on left side. A full, brown horseshoe mustache with vertical extensions grown on the corner lips and down the sides of his jawline. He wore a grayish blue vest with two sack pockets on both sides and exposed orange chest hair. Grayish blue cargo pants and black boots.

A female bandit, named Rosy Thorn, had light blue skin, light orange, slicked back hair, and brown eyes. She wore a white dress shirt, brown, unbuttoned vest with a white rose embroidered on the left, and black leather pants with tactical boots.

Lastly, standing prominently between the other two, was another man who entered the room and strolled up to Agent Furlong with each echoing step bouncing off the walls. This man had chartreuse green eyes, dark artic grey hair and eyebrows, gambogeish grey skin and a thick, grey stubble beard. He wore a creamy white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a red bandana with a white polka dot pattern. Pintail, coyote tactical pants and black, square toe boots. A gold skull with a red jewel in one eye was embroidered on the front of both boots.

Furlong sneered. "Caballeron."

He glared back, and spoke in his distinctive Spanish accent.

"That's Doctor Caballeron to you!" He corrected. "And I will advice you to remember it."

Sweetie Drops felt herself being jerked as Withers shoved her with the baton stick and points the tip at her. She rose her hands also and joined Furlong and Foxtrot in front of Caballeron. The three agents could hear Tango and Bravo trying to get in touch with them, but couldn't do much to respond at the moment.

Caballeron sighed then smirked. "And here I thought a highly advanced, top-secret organization would put up an actual fight. Guess we under estimated our odds too much."

"A low life like you wouldn't even make it past the pizza shop," Foxtrot said. "How did you break through our defenses?"

"You mean the old button underneath the counter schtick?" Rosy Thorn commented.

"Ah, yes. Very easy to decode," Caballeron said.

"What about the elevator?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"That, my blooming flower, was the work of my new associate. She's eh… an expert at this sort of thing. Particularly with technology only SMILE possesses."

Furlong coughed. "Is that why you're here? To steal our tech?"

"We may take a couple, yes, but the true treasure doesn't lie solely in that trade alone."

Suddenly, a soothing but high octave cry resembling that of a blue whale, echoed all around the room and caught almost everyone off guard. Cale's transformation was complete. Sweetie Drops and the agents looked back at the chamber to find Cale, no longer in his human form, but as a plesiosaurus type creature, swimming in the now water filled chamber. Then, Caballeron noticed the large creature, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

"Our treasure, lies with the fine specimen such as this majestic creature you have before me."

He walked up to the glass chamber and looked inside. Cale arched his long neck down to meet Caballeron, who examined Cale from his fins to his long neck and beaming eyes.

"With the monsters locked up in your little prison, I'll be able to auction them off to the highest bidder, make a bundle, and retire from archaeology in splendor."

"NO!" Sweetie Drops cried, and turned to face him. "I won't let you take him!"

"Get it together, kid," Furlong advised, strictly.

"Still the same old fuss pot, I see," said a mysterious, distorted voice.

Through the collection of left over smoke, originating from the automatic doors, entered and emerged a person.

This person had sandy, light amber, long layered hair and light, amaranthish pink skin. She wore a pink, slim, wool blend, flared trench coat with double sided buttons. Black, mid-rise, stretchy skinny pants, and taupe heeled boots.

They wore a copper colored, industrial full-face mask with round, darkened lens that glowed in an eerie, cyan light and a mouth piece designed to resemble a 6200 respirator face-piece; minus the round filters on the sides. The mask allowed them to talk in a deep, unnerving, scratchy distorted voice to disguise their regular tone. To Sweetie Drops' surprise, they also had a robotic, gripping claw in place of her right hand. The claw has two pincers that clamped together like combination pliers and can spin in a full three sixty.

They strutted towards Sweetie Drops and the other agents. Caballeron and his henchmen simply watched as they stood face to face with Agent Furlong. The mask admittedly made Sweetie Drops uncomfortable the more she looked into it's voidless lenses. Furlong, on the other hand, was unphased. The stranger used their claw hand to grip onto the face mask and removed it to reveal a woman with brilliant orange eyes, which pierced Furlong's while baring a snide smirk.

Furlong gasped with eyes widened.

"Honey Rays?"

"Ah-ah," Caballeron corrected. "Professor Honey Ray."

She smirked at the sight of his surprised reaction. Sweetie Drops didn't know what to make of her. She half expected Honey Ray to look deformed under her weird mask. But she looked just like any other woman. Prof. Honey Rays looked around the room.

"I like what you've done with the place," she said. "Cold and functional. Just like the agency. Seriously, would it hurt to throw in some color to liven up the place maybe?"

"What do you want, Honey Rays?" He asked, sternly.

"Oh. Now you care?"

Furlong's eyes downcast in shame. Furious, Honey Ray's claw gripped his neck and held it steady. It didn't choke him. It was merely to let out her frustration, but that didn't stop the other agents or even Dr. Caballeron and his henchmen from alarming them.

"You lost the right to ask me that long ago!"

Tilting her head, she then releases him. Despite not being choked, Furlong began coughing out his lungs profusely from his own habit. Meanwhile, Pickpocket and Rosy Thorn were typing away on one of the control desks.

"Well, since you're asking," Honey Rays said. "First, I need all access to S.M.I.L.E.'s computers, which in tern will allow me to control, undo, manipulate, and implement anything into all media hardware and technological devices ever invented. Basically, everything I need to take over the world."

"What?!" Sweetie Drops said, alarmed.

Honey Rays noticed Sweetie Drops, scoffed, and went up to her.

"And who's this? A new pupal?"

"That'll be Agent Sweetie Drops to you," Foxtrot said. "One of the agency's best."

She stands over Sweetie Drops and examined her from head to toe.

"You're just a kid. What convinced that old man to throw you into this kind of life?"

"My own dedication to protect Canterlot from monsters," She said, boldly.

"Hm. Sure it is."

Sweetie Drops was insulted, despite feeling a strange doubt in herself. She glanced back at Cale who looked rather worried for her. Honey Rays stood in front of Furlong again.

"Okay, how about this," Furlong asked. "What are you doing with someone like him."

"I merely made Professor Honey Rays an offer she could not refuse, of course," Dr. Caballeron added, proudly.

Honey Rays leered in his direction. Caballeron laughed meekly.

"That is, in exchange for providing me and my henchmen our service, she'll trade me a few prisoners that I can sell off to buyers who are eager for new weapons of mass destruction!"

"That's why you want Cale," Sweetie Drops said, "so you can hostile take over our whole city with an army of monsters?"

Honey Rays laughed evilly. This confused all the agents, especially Cale, who felt he was somehow involved with the matter.

"So, you're not here for him?" She asked.

Honey Rays finished laughing. "I don't want that creature. I want where he came from."

Furlong, Sweetie Drops and Foxtrot were surprised. How much did she know?

"There's more monsters like them hiding in some unknown region of the world. And S.M.I.L.E.'s top secret data system can pin point their exact origin. If not, I'll just make it tell me."

Honey Rays laughed evilly along with Dr. Caballeron and his henchmen. Sweetie Drops and Furlong looked at the same control desk. On it was the activation tab to start the procedure of transporting Cale through the statue's portal. Both looked at each other nervously. If she finds that, she'll discover the portal.

---

Meanwhile, at Canterlot High's Courtyard. Agents Tango and Bravo were crouched by the Wondercolt Statue's base, trying to get a hold of Hidequarters with no luck.

"Getting anything?" Tango asked.

"Nothing," Bravo said, adjusting his ear piece. "Still nothing."

Tango tried adjusting her earpiece again.

"What do you think happened?" Bravo asked.

"Obviously some kind of ambush. If they're not answering then they might've been caught."

"What now?"

Suddenly, the statue's portal began to glow, but not from the surface with the dome head attached, but from another portal, resonating to it's left on the west side. Before Tango or Bravo could react, out of the statue's second portal came a mysterious man who landed with his knee crouched down and back arched forward.

He had brown layered, shoulder-length hair, hazel eyes, and tan colored skin, wore a long, ochre trench jacket with tan stripes along the sides, a brown button up shirt, ochre trousers, black boots with red designing, and black leather gloves. The trench jacket had a split streaming all the way down from the mid back portion. It wasn't just his sudden appearance and sinister smile creeping from his shadowed faced that made the two agents cautiously get up, it was the giant, brown, bucket shaped metal claw with four interlocking teeth attached to a harness coupled onto his back. Neither of the agents have seen anything like it. Another portal to possibly another world, and an inhabitant now standing inches from them.

This man, of course, was none other than Diesel 10.

"Uh, Chief?" Bravo said. "Chief are you there?"

Back at Hidequarters, Agent Furlong could hear the two agents trying to get in contact again, along with everyone else.

"Agent Furlong do you copy?" Tango said.

Honey Ray's claw hand twirled in a taunting manner. Furlong grunted and tapped his earpiece.

"What is it?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Tango said. "Is everything alright back at Hidequarters?"

"Not the words I'd use to describe our situation right now," He said, looking back at a grinning Honey Rays.

"Well uh," Bravo said. "We're kind of in a pickle ourselves. A real pickle."

"Something has come through the portal, Chief," Tango said. "Not from sight SD-P, but from another one."

Furlong suddenly had a lot of questions, as did Sweetie Drops, who was surprised to see her boss not in the know about something for once.

"Another portal? What came through it?"

They examined him as Diesel 10 stood up straight and began stretching his arms.

"I-it looks like a… man with a giant metal claw on his back," Tango said.

Sweetie Drops and Foxtrot looked at each other. The other agents murmured to one another. They knew about the portal they've been monitoring, but to hear there's another one in close proximity was something entirely new. Also, what could this man with a giant claw be doing sneaking into their world?

Honey Rays grew impatient.

"What are they talking about?" She asked, pointing her claw at Furlong. "What portal are they referring to?!"

"And what about this metal claw man?" Dr. Caballeron asked, intrigued.

Both Furlong and Honey Rays glared at each other.

---

Bravo and Tango, meanwhile, were surmising how to approach the otherworldly visitor.

"He looks just like us," Bravo said.

"They always do," Tango said.

Both slowly approached the man now alerted to their presence.

"Excuse me, Sir?" Tango began. "You are not authorized to enter this dimension. Head back where you came now or you'll be taken into custody for questioning."

Diesel 10 looked at the two then hung his head. A snide, evil laugh snuck up on him and grew louder. Tango and Bravo both reached for their wrist mounted gadgets and handcuffs.

"You know, now that I think about it, I was never given a proper greeting from you people." Diesel 10 smirked and panned to them. "How nice of you both to be the first."

---

All while Professor Honey Rays and Caballeron's Henchmen continued to interrogate the agents and hack their computers, Sweetie Drops kept looking back at Cale in his chamber, moaning and bumping his head against the glass. She then glanced over to the control panel which would activate the procedure to bring him home. If anything was to get done tonight, Sweetie Drops knew Cale had to be brought home immediately before something bad happens to her or the agency. Or worse, to Cale, who Dr. Caballeron has expressed interest in selling off. Sweetie Drops couldn't let that happen. She looked back at Cale, who stopped bumping his head upon her doing so, and nodded.

Boiling with determination, Sweetie Drops quickly ran over to the control desk, and began the procedure before anyone could react. A few Henchmen readied their batons until Honey Ray gestured them to stay.

"NO, KID!" Furlong shouted.

An orange ray beam shot down onto Cale and covered his entire being. His molecule structure began to shrink with each fiber of his body, dwindling him down to an appropriate, microscopic size to fit through the dome head. Sweetie Drops grinned. Her claw twirling, Honey Rays stormed over to Sweetie Drops, grabbed her by the collar, and threw her across the room. Before she could get up, Honey Ray jumped over and dove claw first directly at Sweetie Drops, who rolled out of the way on time while her claw pierced the floor beneath. Honey Rays dug it out, crushed the debris between the pinchers, and charged after Sweetie Drops crawling away from her.

---

Back at the courtyard, the dome head attached to the portal began glowing a white light from within the lid itself. Diesel 10 engaged and charged towards Tango and Bravo, who proceeded to take out their gadgets, only to have them swiped and snapped in-half by his metal claw. Tango and Bravo tried tackling and holding him down, but Diesel 10 shoved them both off his back one by one. The two agents proceeded to throw bunches and kicks at him, winding him only slightly, but not enough for Diesel 10 to cease fighting back. They couldn't get any closer to deal any damage due to his claw snapping back and tossing them to the ground by grabbing the sleeves or collar of their suits. Tango threw a punch but Diesel 10 grabbed her arm, twirled, and threw her into Bravo who was just about to throw his own punch. The two agents were knocked to the ground and land on top of each other. Having a grand time, Diesel 10 then noticed the glowing dome lid and decided on taking it himself, anything to keep as a souvenir for tackling the first people he really encountered in this world.

---

Sweetie Drops and Honey Rays exchanged their own fisticuffs. Both dodged and weaved, blocked, kicked, and counteracted their attacks. Honey Rays was admittedly impressed so far. This agent was holding her own just fine. Furlong and the others wanted to join but where kept in their place with Caballeron and his henchmen, who continued pointing their batons at them despite Honey Rays being overwhelmed. Sweetie Drops waited until Cale was completely shrunken down and no longer in his glass chamber anymore. When the beam finally teleported him to the dome head, she then kicked the side of Honey Ray's leg, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Sweetie Drops made a hasty exit towards the doors.

"After her, you fools!" Dr. Caballeron commanded.

"She won't get far," Honey Ray said, standing back up.

Honey Ray's went over to a control desk. Her claw retracted and folded on top of the base of her mechanical stump. She then injected the tip of her stub into a plug-in port, causing the green computer display to turn red, and a tab with skull and crossbones pops up. She then instructed her allies to equip themselves. Caballeron nodded and commended his henchmen to put on their copper colored goggles, each doing so as Honey Rays fiddled with the computer screen. She then puts on her face mask. The Henchmen began lining up Furlong, Foxtrot and the other agents in front of the monitor.

"What are you doing?" Foxtrot asked.

Honey Rays didn't answer. Instead, she taps the computer screen, and a video of her face pops up on the large televised monitor above them, along with every computer screen in the room. Honey Rays spoke through her mask in a scratchy, distorted voice, which translated through the large monitor and all the other computer screens.

"Attention agents of SMILE." Static rippled the screen. "Your will is now mine to command!"

Furlong looked to see the video of Honey Rays projected on his watch. Suddenly, every screen began projecting a hypnotic, flashing light pattern with rippling lines that looped in an abstract pattern that emitted a loud stuttering and haunting wail.

"Don't bother fighting it," She continued. "The more you do, the more it'll hurt."

Staring at the large monitor, Agent Furlong, Foxtrot, and all the other agents and scientist were now lost in the screen's hypnotic trance. Their eyes looped in the same pattern projected in front of them. This didn't affect Caballeron or his henchmen, as the goggles they wore protected them from falling under the trance. The screen continued showing these hypnotic, flashing patterns behind Prof. Honey Rays.

"Submission is the only key. It is the only choice you'll ever have. Quit resisting and let me harness your life from now on."

Sweetie Drops sprinted down the corridors, trying to find an exit. She could hear Honey Rays' voice following her everywhere. It was then she realized that the voices not only echoed off the hallways, but the transmission also came from her own glasses and SMILE devices.

"Soon, I'll be in charge. It's only a matter of time before every branch, every city, every populated region of the world falls under a fugue state."

Sweetie Drops cautiously examined her shades, which also projected the hypnotic pattern. Hearing the unnerving voice and seeing flashing lights, she deduced that Honey Rays must have hacked their system and is now transmitting a live video that's somehow put every agent looking at a screen under a trance.

"To the point where every living thing will kneel under my will. And when that occurs, everything will be ready for Canterlot's invasion."

Thinking quickly, she smashes her glasses to the ground and stomps on it. She does the same with her watch and ear piece, getting rid of any SMILE device that can project a screen.

---

Meanwhile, Diesel 10 laughed as his claw rips the lid off the statue's base. Just as Tango and Bravo tried getting up, Diesel 10 dove head first back into the portal he came from.

Tango reached out. "NO!"

But it was too late. Diesel 10 escaped through the portal but couldn't bring the dome lid with him, causing it to stick and attach to its surface instead. Reaching full charge, the dome's light then shot a beam of white into the portal. Bravo went over and tried taking it off, but it was firmly stuck in place. All they could do now was wait while the dome head transported Cale to the nearest source of water.

---

Professor Honey Rays continued her monologue through the occasional static feed.

"There's only one slight problem. A fellow agent has escaped and gone rogue. She will take all precautions necessary to make sure everything I've worked for is foiled."

Every screen Sweetie Drops came across had the same hypnotic pattern on it. She tried avoiding them the best she can by shielding her eyes and evading any dark room or corridor with flashing lights. Then she halted and came across four agents collectively staring into a flashing screen.

"Find me Agent Sweetie Drops and the rest of the rogues. Once all agents are accounted for, we may begin our conquest!"

The four agents panned slowly to Sweetie Drops, who immediately began to panic, and marched gradually over to her. Sweetie Drops frantically looked around, and to her luck, she found a cylinder shaped, wall mounted escape pod right across the room. She ran over and typed on the dials while the brain washed agents got closer and closer. Honey Rays' deep, evil, distorted laugh echoed through the monitor. Finally, the pod opens, and just as one agent reached out to grab her, Sweetie Drops stepped inside and shuts the door on them. The four men bashed on the glass window as she pressed a release hatch, causing the pod to launch in a horizontal direction out of the room. She remained laying down and waited for the pod to carry her out to the point where Honey Rays' maniacal laughter couldn't be heard anymore.

---

In a mystical railroad covered in a thorny, vain tunnel, Diesel 10, now back in his diesel engine form, proudly snickered to himself as he rolled down the dimmed railway tracks. Just then, a white beam of light struck and bounced off the side of his cab and tunnel wall multiple times, winding him a little until it shot past Diesel 10 and continued down the path in front of him. The white beam ricocheted off the thorny tunnel until it's bouncing slowed down a bit after each slow rebound. Then it continued on a straight, clean streak until coming across a set of buffers, which glowed in a spherical cloud of gold and opened up a portal that Cale and the light beam he traveled in entered the new, mysterious world.

---

Sweetie Drops found herself in the neck of the woods, hiding behind a set of bushes just to be safe. If Honey Ray hacked all of SMILE's tech, there's no knowing where and if she's watching her through the many cameras the agency had set up all over town. Sweetie Drops received another call through her cellphone. This time is was from an unknown number. She answered it anyways, hoping for something that'll clarify what just transpired.

"Hello?"

"Agent Sweetie Drops?" Tango said.

"Agent Tango? You're not brainwashed?!"

Sweetie Drops ducked down into the bushes.

"Why would I? Agent Drops, what happened over at Hidequarters?"

"Hidequarters has been compromised. Furlong and the rest have been taken prisoner by Dr. Caballeron and someone named Professor Honey Rays."

There was a pause.

"Listen, Agent Drops, I'm with Agent Bravo. We need to establish a meet up and go over a plan."

She was relieved to hear at least two agents weren't under hypnosis.

"What are we gonna do?"

"Best we can do for now is try getting in touch with the other SMILE branches. We're gonna need all the help we can get. Meet us at sight 900-SH C."

"Affirmative. On my way now."

Finishing the call, Sweetie Drops then saw a picture of her and Lyra pop up on her phone's screensaver. It was a picture of them during eighth grade at the amusement park. Both were laughing while eating cotton candy and holding stuffed animals they won in a game. The memories of their time together riffled through the thoughts of a smiling Sweetie Drops. Then, she was suddenly reminded of what Lyra told her not long ago today.

Standing up and leaving the woods, Sweetie Drops tapped on her phone to make another important call. Should she really be doing this? Should she get her friend involved with this kind of crisis? With Furlong and all the agents now under Honey Ray's hypnosis, there won't be enough allies to turn to in order to fix this whole mess. And if there's one person in the world Sweetie Drops could trust the most, it was Lyra Heartstrings.

Lyra was still in her room, now petting her pet dog until she receives a call from Sweetie Drops.

"Hey, Bon Bon. You doing alright?"

"I'm fine for now. Thanks for asking." She hesitated for a brief second. "Lyra, remember when you said you'd help me out with the agency."

Worried, Lyra got up from her bed.

"Yeah?"

Sweetie Drops exhaled. "That starts today."

---

To Be Continued.

Comments

[Paloma]

I'll have to wait until there is more out.