Dispose of Carefully

by The Ancestor

Infiltration and Observation

A cold morning breeze swept through the hotel room from an open window as Daniel looked at his fake ID badge. It was decent, all things considered, not many are able to make a practically perfect forgery in less than a day, but his contact managed himself quite well.

The door behind him opened and closed, and a classy suit and tie landed on the bed beside him. He looked at it, and the man who brought the dress with a raised eyebrow.

"You bought a suit?"

"Rented." Alex replied from his own bed, getting out of his blue jeans and shirt into a more formal attire. "Two, actually. If we're posing as some big government inspectors, might as well look the part."

"True, I suppose." Daniel shrugged, placing his badge on the bedside table and changing into the black suit. It was a little small for him, but nothing he couldn't manage.

"Aight', before we head out I'd like to discuss our plan of action." Daniel said, testing how much he could stretch in his suit. Beckoning Alex to come closer, he pointed at a crudely drawn plan of the school sprawled on his bedside table.

"We get in through the main entrance and scout as much as possible until someone eventually calls the Principal." Alex began, pointing things out on the map. "The first one of us who gets 'caught' will introduce himself to her and feed our cover story, she'll then give a tour of the school, trying to show off the best and sweep the rest under the rug."

"Her?" Daniel interjected. "Don't you think there could've been a change of leadership?" Alex shook his head.

"As far as I know, Celestia's still in charge."

Daniel frowned, scratching his stubble. "Could she recognise us?"

"Highly doubt it. It's been a good while since we both last saw her, besides, a ton of students graduated under her, she can't remember every single one." Alex argued.

"Fine, what If we both get sent to her office?" Daniel offered.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Then we improvise. You can't account for everything, Danny." The man nodded, allowing Alex to continue. "One of us then gets into her office and skims through student profiles, finds one on Sunset Shimmer, and gets out of there ASAP. The other will hold the facade of an inspector, observing Sunset if possible."

"That's all fine and dandy, but what about the crown?" Daniel said, rapping his finger on the table. "Isn't it important?"

"I don't think so. If she's a type green-"

"Type green? You mean reality bender?" Daniel inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's what I meant." Alex replied with a nostalgic chuckle. "Had a jonied field op with some GOC guys a month or so ago, couldn't get their lingo out of my head." Daniel shook his head.

"Is that why you went on a paid vacation, Al?"

"More like forced to." Alex replied grimly. "Last type green was a tough son of a bitch." He shook his head. "Nevermind, we got sidetracked. As I was saying, if she's a type green, she doesen't need that little trinket to do all that crazy shit we've seen." Daniel scratched his stubble thoughtfully.

"Still, she might not know what she can do, most reality benders are unaware of their capabilities and write it off as luck." He started pacing around the hotel room. "She might think her powers are tied to the crown, thus consciously limiting their use." He stopped in place and turned to Alex. "Furthermore, she could be a 'type blue' as our part time friends from the UN call it, or, under our classification, people without innate magical abilities who learned to manipulate reality around them through thaumaturgy, occult ritual, or any other means." He approached Alex and leaned on the bedside table, looking at the crude map. "It's all speculation, of course, but we can't rule out such possibilities."

Daniel felt a hand patting him on the back.

"Attaboy, Danny! I didn't even think about type blue, good work." Danuel shot his friend a sly smile before replying.

"Why thank you, Al! But don't you worry, you won't have to think too much. After all, I'm the brains of this operation, busy yourself with being the brawl."

"Still an asshole though."

---

Sunset concentrated on the sound of dry leaves crunching under her feet as she made her way to Canterlot High. Her motivation to attend was mostly nonexistent, the only reason she got up today is to not disappoint Applejack, something she felt oddly terrible about doing. It was somewhat refreshing to care about what others thought of her, it was something she stopped doing right about the time she came to this world, right after Celestia-

No. That train of thought wouldn't lead to anything good, so best stop it before it departed from the station. Best to focus on the satisfying crunch she heard with every step. A bubbly voice broke her out of her thoughts, accompanied by the sound of a rapidly approaching steps. She braced for the inevitable impact, but was pleasantly surprised when she was enveloped in a fluffy, pink ebrace.

"Sunny!" She heard an excited voice call out her name from within the confines of the fluffy prison.

"Pinkie Pie? What are you doing?"

"I'm hugging you, silly billy!" She squeezed harder, and Sunset swore she heard her ribs groan from the pressure.

"Y-yeah, I noticed." She breathed a sigh of relief when Pinkie relented, relinquishing Sunset from her grasp. "What I meant is why you're hugging me."

"Because that's what friends do! They cheer each other up when they're down!" Pinkie exclaimed with a large smile, one Sunset couldn't help but return.

"Thank you, Pinkie." Sunset rubbed something out of her teary eye. "I think I needed that."

"No problemo! We should probably get going though, Mrs. Harshwinny gets really cranky if students are late to class!" Pinkie said skipping towards Canterlot High with Sunset in tow, the latter now residing in a considerably better mood. The closer the pair came to Canterolt High, the cleaner the sidewalks became, and soon enough there were no leaves left to crush with each step.

Soon enough they entered the school proper, noticing a peculear commotion just beyond the entrance hallway, where a group of students seemed to have circled around something. Having to pass the crowd on her way to class, Sunset's interest piqued when she heard the familiar and uncharacteristically peeved tone of Principal Celestia.

"Why wasn't I notified of this 'inspection'? Usually such affairs are scheduled preemptively."

Inspection? That's... unexpected. Sunset miraculously managed to avoid last one, arriving to Canterlot High right after such event. She groaned inwardly remembering all the trouble she got to, all in the name of hiding the fact that she didn't really have any paperwork to give to the school.

"That's becausse it's a surprise inspection, can't have one if you're notified about it, after all!" A chill went down Sunset's spine as a familiar male voice chuckle at his own joke.

"He has a point!" Pinkie pointed out, nodding her head with a thoughtful expression as Sunset wormed and pushed her way towards the front of the crowd.

"Still, I will write a letter to the ASA to clarify the situation." Celestia smiled pleasantly, even though she was displeased with the situation. "I'm sure you understand."

Sunset's eyes almost went out of orbits as she finally saw the source of the voice. A drab olive man dressed in a classy suit with a badge that read Damien, the same one she apologised to yesterday, was standing before her eyes, a friendly expression on his face.

"Of course, of course!" He assured with a smile and a wave of a hand. "I understand your concerns, and I'm sure by the end of today we'll be laughing at this little mistake over a cup of tea!" His enthusiastic smile died down into an impassive one. "Still, I must insist you do that during or after the inspection, my time is money, after all." His smile turned into a smirk. "I'm sure you understand." Celestia seemed to be in thought for a second before finally replying.

"Very well. I'll notify Luna to contact The ASA, while I accompany you during your inspection." She took out her phone and started typing, sparing the man a glance before continuing. "You wouldn't mind, I assume?"

"Not at all." He replied, the two of them slowly walking away from the crowd and in the direction of a random classroom. "Although I must ask, who is Luna?" He ask with clear interest. "If I'm not prying, that is."

"Not at all. Luna's my Vice-Principle," Celestia replied without hesitation. "and my sister."

Whatever words Damien wanted to say died in his throat as his breat hitched and he went into a coughing fit. Celestia layed a hand on his back and started patting.

"Are you alright? Should we call a nurse?" Celestia asked, clearly worried. The man shook his head, clearing his throat.

"No need, no need. My throat's drier than usual, is all." He tried to recover form his lie with a strained smile. The Principal squinted, observing his feature, prompting him to look away.

"Do I know you?" Celestia inquired, trying to get a better look at him.

"Don't think so, ma'am." He retorted, purposefully turning his head away from Celestia. He checked his wristwatch and fixed his tie. "Time's a wasting, Principal. I must conduct the inspection immediately." With that said, he marched away deeper down the hall, Celestia in tow.

Sunset wanted to tell Celestia not to trust the man, wanted to tell her that she saw him yesterday, but her words were drowned by the reverberating ringing of the school bell.

---

The wooden door opened with a draw-out creak, much to the displeasure of a biege man in a classy suit. He thanked the stars that the school bell had rung just in time to conceal the sound, lest he attract some unwarranted attention. Stepping over the precepice and closing the door behind him and cringing once more from the awfull noise, he looked over the room.

The whole office was bathed in golden light that poured into the room from the window, complimening the decor quite well. An assortment of office clutter, from papers to pens, to ink correctors were sorted into neat racks on the table, everything staying in its place as intended.

It was for this reason Alex, or rather Alan, if his ID badge was to be believed, felt a slight twinge of remorse when he started browsing through the papers, fumbling to find what he was looking for and likely leaving enough evidence to put him behind bars for breaking and entering.

"Beginning to wish they'd burn off our fingerprints, that would've came in handy right about now."

Diving head first into his third drawer, he was pleased to see it was full of folders stacked in an alphabetical order, and when pulling a random one titled 'Applebloom', he was assured that it as the drawer he was looking for. Putting that particular folder back, he skimmed through the rest, his eyes stalling over a file titled 'Applejack'.

"Better safe than sorry." He shrugged, opening the file and snapping a number of pictures before putting it back in its place. Sifting through the catalogue, he slowed down after approaching his target.

"Sandbar, Seaweed, Somersby... Aha! Sunset!" Alex yanked the file out and skimmed through it. The more he read, the bigger the pit in his stomach grew. "No social security, no passport, no id... Who the hell is this girl? He snapped a picture of the file for future use. "At least we have a home adress to work with."

A sound of approaching steps coming from behind the door forced him to put the file away and look for a place to hide, or a way out. Finding literally no place to hide, his gaze fell upon the window, and he accepted the inevitable. Opening the door, he hirled himself over the ledge, holding onto it for life. For where he was hanging it was a two-story fall, definently not the worst he's had. Just as he heard the tell-tale creak he let go, plummiting to the ground and landing gracefully into a rose bush.

"Hello?" A woman called out from inside the office. "Is anyone here?" Alex pressed his arms and legs against his body, hiding himself fully in the prickly bush. His eyes grew wide as a woman peeked out from the window, looking around for a while before shrugging and closing the window. After a minute or two of waiting, he breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the bush, cursing and muttering obscenities in the process.

"Stupid fucking piece of shit bush." He dusted himself off, looking around. "I swear, I'll-" Words died in his throat as he noticed a gray-skinned blonde girl sitting on a bench, staring him down with her crossed eyes. She extended her arm towards him, a fresh muffing in her palm.

"Muffin?" She asked with a smile.

"Thanks." Alex replied, gathering his wits and accepting the muffin. "You saw nothing, okay?" He asked, recieving a smile and a nod in return, before sneaking away and over the fence, beyond the school grounds.

---

"Danny, I've got what we're looking for." Alex said through the phone, out of the comfort of his car. "I'm waiting to pick you up in front of the school."

"No can do boss, I'm still busy with Canterlot High." Daniel replied in a stern tone.

"Really? 'No can do'? Who the hell talks to their boss like that?" Alex shook his head, starting the motor. "Nevermind. I've got the address, I'll be delivering the package."

"Uh-huh."

"Meet me back at the hotel when you're done, alright?" He pulled into a driveway, searching for the address online.

"Gotcha, I'll do my best." Daniel replied, hanging the phone.

---

Alex expected everything. It was his job, really, to expect and account for every possibility, even the most far-fetched one. A dingy apartment? The most plausable outcome. A billion dollar manor? Unlikely, but it wasn't unheard of amongst reality benders to build themselves a lavish lifestyle before The Foundation comes a-knockin'. That is the reason why he had to take a second guess when he finally arrived to his destination.

A run-down dockyard warehouse certainly wasn't on his top five apartments for a literal small-scale god, but sometimes you just have to accept what life throws at you. Still, one should never judge a book by its cover, for all he knew the insides of this humble abode were larger than the outsides, and stretched for miles and miles on end.

Or it could be a shithole, both on the outside and on the inside. Un(?)fortunately for Alex, his last assuption proved to be correct as he walked through the surprisingly homey insides of a derelict warehouse. Stitched rags resembling a blanket layed on top of a tattered sofa, a small leather journal with a red and yellow sun mark dead in its center. A small diesel generator had a number of wires leading to a number of appliances. A lamp, a fridge, an old discarded television, all had smal black wires leading to the only power source, all stood lifeless.

"Well, for a reality bender this place really looks like a shithole." Alex remarked, sitting on the sofa and grabbing the journal. Opening it on the first page, he saw golden writing in big, bold letters.

PROPERTY OF SUNSET SHIMMER

A small writing seemed to be added post-factum lower on the page.

"Note to self: Don't write past page 100, or it'll get sent straight to the princess.

"Sent to the Princess?" Alex mused aloud. "This is getting intresting."

"Yeah, this is getting pretty interesting." Sunset remarked from behind the man, before swinging a table leg at his head.

Author's Note:

Should've bit my tongue about daily updates.

In my excuse, real life caught up to me so I'm afraid no more daily updates for the fic from this point on, not like it became a habit, anyways.

Comments

[Smugleaf]

It’s gonna be interesting to see how things are gonna go from here. I wonder if this is gonna be like a 1322 situation if they discover the Mirror. Might also be some conflict with Sunset Shimmer. I’m not sure how toned down the foundation is in this universe but I doubt they’d be very willing to overlook what she did.