Everyone has a secret self they don’t show to other people. Not to friends, not to lovers, not even to family. They hide who they are and what they want behind lies and painted smiles. Thus the world maintains its thin veneer of peace.
The problems crop up when someone scratches that veneer while trying to do a 720 front flip on her scooter.
Second place in Bicyclette’s Lofty and Holiday contest. Not actually a crossover with Spy x Family. Kindly preread by EileenSaysHi and Krack-Fic Kai
Chapters (1)
Cutie Mark CrusaderCanterlot Movie Club Magical Abominations, YAY!A delightful little story with some neat twists and turns. Looking forward to seeing how it performs in the contest.
Are you ever going to write a crossover with Spy x Family?
Twasn’t what I was expecting, but nice nonetheless
I'm not entirely sure this needs the Alt Universe tag; I don't think we've even seen EQG Scootaloo's family, and anything else happened post-series.
Fucking horseshit. Anytime an agency pulls out that card, they're hiding more skeletons in their closet than a cemetery has dead bodies in it. It's why I HATED what Slice of Life gave us with Bon Bon.
Not sorry about the language. Just this bit reminded me of the thing I hated the most in canon. Far and above anything else. Also please excuse the deleted comment. Made it before I read the story.
Oh good, the madness spreads. Poor Lofty. At least Holiday just wound up with antenae instead of waking up a bunch of flying polyps. Or the Yithians.
SPY X FAMILY?!
Is there any significance to Luna's phone number there? Anyway, interesting short. Holiday as a Breezie-human hybrid, huh.
11314947 are you ok
I haven’t watched Spy X Family but that was weird.
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I hear where you're coming from, but they seem to provide a pretty valuable service to me; the number of skeletons in the closet does not necessarily indicate the value of the service. Particularly when that service is the early identification of para- and supernormal phenomena and entities, the containment of those phenomena and entities, and the securing of knowledge about those phenomena and entities. Lofty said it herself; there are bigger fish in the oceans cosmic.
There is a fish out there that neither FROWN nor the students of Canterlot High can hope to contain, and the more that the world wonders about It, the more that It will begin to wonder about them.
But that's just what I think, and you should feel free to ask FoMA, or indeed, anyone around, and they'll all tell you the same thing: "I'm sure that Phyco knows something, but I'm even more sure that he doesn't know anything."
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I can't say yes or no with any certainty. Feel free to read this one, though.
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Scootaloo's family situation is not the AU element of this story.
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Fair enough! If you took issue with SMILE, I don't expect you to accept the necessity of its counterpart based solely on the testimony of its agents. All I'll say is that Equestria isn't the only alien realm in contact with this Earth, but it is one of the friendliest. And 11315090 has at least approached the full, horrifying truth.
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The Great Race of Yith has decided that world isn't worth the trouble ever since the incident with a young Granny Pie.
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As the disclaimer states, this story is not a Spy x Family crossover, though it does borrow a few themes from the series.
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555-PONY, ext. MÜN (It was going to be 555-MOON, but it turns out that's just 555-6666, which sends a completely different message.) 650 actually is a Californian area code.
I always like seeing visible effects like that hinting on what their magic is. I wonder Scootaloo’s magic will manifest as with those horns
heh FROWN. So is Bon bon/Sweetie Drops still a teenage operative under SMILE? And they're like rival organizations that isn't entirely antagonistic?
So if SMILE and FROWN both do 'good' things, what are the evil organizations called?
And most Biblical scholars cringe a bit when people receive that message, because it was supposed to be reserved for "six hundred threescore six" specifically (we don't talk about the 616 folks, mostly because of Marvel, but they cringe even more).
Oh Scoots... I'm kind of surprised she's embarrassed or ashamed rather than just hyped about her built-in badass hood ornaments, actually. But the anguish of delivering bad news from school to parental figures runs deep.
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POINT and LAUGH
Given SPY x Family, I was wondering about Lofty after the office revelation!
Well, her secret is a bit more strict about not revealing it to others.
And if we assume that the Sirens weren't on FROWN's radar, then their track record isn't *that* good? Hmm.
Or the Sirens got caught once, then learned how to evade. Hmm...
Princess Twilight's thoughts on the revelation of Holiday and Snap, might make her look at their counterparts... And what if Scoots is a half or quarter-whatever? Hmmm...
So mysterious! So cool!
Nice short of surprises! If you're following the picture exactly, what personality does Apple Bloom's tail have? Hmm. EDIT: OH! That's Sweetie Belle! Ew.
Why isn't Celestia the one giving this info? Perhaps because she's not the best at secret-keeping about SMILE or something... Hmm.
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Canterlot High School
”Charging Into the Future”
Nice slogan!
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Luna was the one who nearly punished Princess Twilight for allegedly destroying the Fall Formal preparations in the first EqG movie, which would suggest she's the go-to for discipline-adjacent matters at CHS.
interesting
I question FROWN's usefulness when they missed (horribly) the Dazzlings. Maybe I missed something though. With all of the magical nonsense here though, is this connected to any of your other stories?
The girls usually pony down after a while. and any other magic-related transformations end usually after the girls do their thing. Not even any physical reminder.
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Which is why this has the Alt Universe tag; it's positing a world where that doesn't happen. The fact that it's a little too easy to reconcile with canon using only what we were actually told is a little annoying.
So did Vice-principal Luna in this universe go Nightmare Moon because of too many Ouranos jokes?
I can also see that human Twilight has been getting magic lessons from pony Twilight, particularly on the topic of curses and the fact that they don't exist! I told you, that was crypthaumology, not a curse! They're a completely natural flower with a rudimentary form of magical sentience that were probably created by Discord. Yes, I do blame Discord for most things that go wrong in my life and I will continue to do so until I am actually wrong about it.
A cute story, although not as strongly comedic as some of your other ones. During the middle part I was wondering if I should maybe write a short off-shoot of this fic, at least until that blatant call-out! I feel somewhat obligated now, if not double-diamond-dog-dared, to write about Agent Heights getting a visit from the local S.M.I.L.E. team.
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I got that. I'm wondering though if it's a thing in all of the author's stories, or if this one off idea with no ties to anything else.
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The author does have a whole extensive AU series with something like that, but as far as I can see this is not part of it, probably in part since it's written for a contest; it's just a one-off AU for the sake of the story.
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It's hard to say what being one-third of a chimera might do to Scootaloo. This could be a case of Wonder Twin powers where activating the magic requires multiple participants. Though with three women, we're drifting into a different archetype, with fairy grandmothers and witch covens and oh no, I made the Crusaders the Triple Goddess again.
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I haven't decided. This is a case of doing just enough world building to support the scene. If SMILE does exist in this world, I imagine it's the good cop to FROWN's bad cop, or at least the branch more willing to approach matters from a diplomatic angle. Alternatively, FROWN could be the counterpart to Equestria's SMILE, meaning that if Sweetie Drops (or Bon Bon, if her father is in paranormal witness protection) is involved with the agency, she may well be interning for Lofty.
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We don't talk about the Society for Neutralizing Extranormal Entities and Radiation.
(And yeah, it's all fun and games until you have to tell your parental figures. And when you almost ate your honorary big sister, but that's a different issue for Scootaloo to process.)
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Well, yes, that's why it doesn't have the Comedy tag.
That said, I look forward to seeing what comes of the unintended inspiration.
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)
Regarding the sirens, you have to consider how their feeding looked from the outside. Random arguments cropping up might present a trail... if enough of them escalated to the point where the police got involved. FROWN doesn't have access to any kind of customized surveillance network. (They just have to use the same one as every other shadowy agency.
As for how FROWN missed the Battle of the Bands, it for the same reason as the Fall Formal. The principals made it clear that posting photos of the ponied-up girls on social media would only cause trouble for them. (Both are very good at directing teenage disdain for authority at external sources of it rather than themselves.) Granted, that didn't stop the girls from posting music videos, but those also came with bogus "making of" videos showcasing the model wings, ears, and wirework that was definitely involved in shooting them.
I chose the chapter title for a reason. For one reason or another, everybody lies. (Applejack has friends to do it for her.)
And, more specifically to Mystic Sunrise, this is a reminder that the AU tag is a sign that the world may not behave in ways you'd expect. This also isn't the first time that I've had to point out your own bio (which was, at time of posting, "Show canon only matters if you let it.") You seem awfully concerned about letting show canon matter despite all indications that the author isn't.
Those are some long ears! Checking the images, so if Friendship Games happened the same way, then it's a case of First Transformation is precedent forming, or something, since only her demon ears are that long. mmm.
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Oh yeah, nice mention of Seabreeze!
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Typos?:
Do you mean:
“Hey," said Holiday, "aren’t you
...
so much insubordination > so much insubordination.
They changed it, presumably for the reason that we all started calling them out on the hypocrisy. For those who don't remember the old one, you'd come off as more passive-aggressive than intended.
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People saying that about me (true as it was) is really wasted, since I've never let what people on the internet say about me to bother me. But it was a dumb statement I had in my bio as it was.
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I'd argue the people who disagree with it are the dumb ones. That this happens to include you is... mildly amusing.
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Herald, you've made your point, as have I, as has Mystic. This is crossing over into abuse. Let's let the matter drop.
Loved this story! Hope for more soon :)
think you forgot 'look'
otherwise this was interesting
Will there be anymore stories connected to this?
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The way i see it, Human Bonbon is totally like Kim Possible of Equestria Girls. a Teenage member of agents against criminals, Or a member of ATAC lead by the Hardy Boy's dad. [American Teens Against Crime] The Hardy Boys are also members
Anya?
Aw yes!
...
Ima read it anyway.
Edit: it was worth it :)
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Spy x Family does need more love around here. Along with a bunch of other anime, this fandom refuses to show any love.
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Maybe anime that isn’t super-mainstream doesn’t have much of an audience here. I did an Eighty Six/G5 fix a while back and it only got a moderate response.
The odd thing is that the real Cone Of Silence works perfectly.
I can see this happening...
relatable. also very modern human American in vibe but that is very fitting for this story being set in Pedestria
i don’t think a horse pun name of California has failed to give me psychic damage so far and this is no exception.
honestly this is why i’d rather be an Aunt! can’t pick and choose if you’re the parent.
aww, triple the moms!
nice foreshadowing with the baseball cap!
hehe, she sure is oddly attached to her baseball cap, isn’t she?
love this surname for Luna! and the language of the letter was 10000% her.
hehe, always fun to be reminded of how unapologetically Midwestern Rarity’s parents are despite her pretensions.
aww! did enjoy this bit of Cookie Crumbles, who is yet another character that did not make an impact on the canon or fandom that she could have. it’s like a bonus!
oof, can definitely imagine Lofty having a neurotic streak just from her character design alone.
yeah that sounds exactly right for the CMCs in any dimension.
hehe, of course this is how Holiday would contextualize them.
i mean there has to be some explanation for why Pedestria and Canterlot High keep trucking along as if really weird magic stuff isn’t happening all of the time! this is definitely as good as any.
hehe, and yeah, that would be a difficult clue to pick up!
haha, well that explains how nonchalant Holiday was about the revelation of magic! and very fitting because for all i know all Australians are magic.
hehe, yes! this matches exactly how i imagine the secret government organization keeping tabs on magic to look at the girls, and the double reveal that Lofty was feigning her surprise this whole time is just exquisite.
love the acronym! way better than what S.M.I.L.E. turned out to stand for.
given the track record Equestrian magic has had so far, it’s very understandable that is how F.R.O.W.N. would see the effects of paranormal exposure.
augh, i love it! and this works as yet another layer of explanation for why the events of the Equestria Girls series continues not to completely disrupt their world. haha, wouldn’t it be funny if it turned out that basically every character was part of one secret organization or another, all dedicated to keeping the paranormal under wraps, and that is why no one seems to make a big deal of it?
in any case, really love what you’ve done with this piece! i am a sucker for Mares-in-Black-type agencies, and i am very satisfied with this rendition of one, with all the layers of secrecy leaning against each other until they somehow form a stable structure that makes sense to each character in it. honestly, i could just read an entire series of stories in a setting like this!
Speaking of Cones...
https://youtu.be/xNP_S0qkILo
Now...
First thing I would do is get Canterlot and Equestria in the loop, (if they aren't already.) Her Royal Horsiness Twilight Sperkle just loves this sort of challenge. And she has the chops to beat it, too...
So now...
Sunset has two sets of ears.
That hat won't hide goat horns on Scoots for long. Better call Hellboy for advice...
Holiday can get a job with the MCU if her screen test works out, and she doesn't mind a green costume and black hair dye...
Nobody came out with "LUNA IS AN ASSHOLE!" joke...
(NOT PICKING ON 'BEST PRINCESS' HERE, OKAY!?? I HAVE GREAT AFFECTION FOR TABBY'S CHARACTERS, WHICH ARE ALL MY FAVORITES!!)
What a unique take. "Soft Spots" are all quicksand over Equestria portals...
I wonder how many there are...