> The Agency > by AthiyahTA > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Agency: London (Prologue) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Agency: London (Prologue) Thunder did not cease to growl, spreading its thunderous voice across South West London. Lightning flashed for less than a second here and there, lighting up the dark blue night sky. A full moon glowed ominously, glowering amongst the shady clouds the blocked the shining stars of the northern hemisphere. A little human girl lay on her little bed, tightly wrapped in her thick bedsheets. She smiled to herself, as the raindrops ran down her scenic window. Her eyelids began to grow heavy, as sleep beckoned her tired body. She struggled to stay awake, to stare upon the beautiful moon, the beauty of the dark. She always liked the night, it filled her with a sense of...peace. It was her only friend in the rough neighborhood of 2771 Brixton Road, London, UK-such a rough street, mothers sent their kids off to school with small little daggers for their own safety. But for her, it was a special case. In the left side pocket of her crimson red robe lay her father's British Army Browning L9A1-something that she stole frequently from him when she had no choice but to venture out at night. She never really knew how to use it though, she simply used it to threaten anyone or anything that was to harm her. She finally collapsed onto her pillow, her eyes tired from the strain and her body tired from the day. She was so tired, she was certain that even gun shots wouldn't wake her up from her slumber. The sound of fire-arms pierced through the chilly night. She woke up in a start, half-awake, half-chilled to the bone. The sound resonated in her ears, her certainty that the shot came from her house increasing. Her amber red eyes wide open, she struggled to catch her breath, as she tried to find her bedroom slippers and her red robe in the dark, not daring to even switch on her night light. She ran towards her bedroom door, opening the door slowly, hoping it wouldn't creak too loud. She hesitated to step out, as her fears of what pulled the trigger consumed her. She slowly crept downstairs towards the living room, one hand in her left pocket, clutching onto the pistol with her dear life, while the other hand was feeling around for the walls and railings, somehow helping her to navigate through the dark. She couldn't think straight at all, relying solely on instincts to help her through her mind paralyzing state. She finally reached the living room, and switched on the main lights, only to gasp aloud at the horrifying scene. Blood was strewn all over the walls, carpet, even furniture. Stab and gun wounds covered his body. She gritted her teeth, trying her best to keep her eyes dry. It was a worthless effort. She cried, very, very silently. There lay her dearest father, her only shining star through her ever-lasting cloudy sky of life. Slashed straight through his heart with a single shot. Unnecessary stabs through his limbs. Another few bullets in his legs, probably the first shots mercilessly inflicted upon him. "Overkill." she growled to herself. She gripped onto his hand, eyes flaring in both utter disbelief and absolute fury. "I...I'm so, very sorry, father." she whispered without thinking, even more tears escaping her sore eyes. "Sorry for what, may I ask? For never really being the daughter he ever wanted? Or just because you stole his standard army gun?" rang out a man's voice. It was a deep, yet tuned, but rather...evil, voice. She whipped out the gun, threatening it in every direction that she thought the voice might come from. "Have a little trouble finding me? Alright then, let’s play a little game, called 'Hot and Cold'. Hmm, let’s see...to be really honest, though I never really am-you seem to be, very, very, very ...hot. Piping hot, to be exact. Maybe even more than that. Depends on your field of perception. Mine is rather...close." said the voice again. Her eyes started to agitate her. She knew somebody was in the room; it was just that...she didn't want to know. She didn't want to acknowledge his existence. "No, no...I want to know. I need to know. I MUST know," she thought. It was nagging at the corner of her eye. What was? "The corner of my eye. Something, at the corner of my eye.” She slowly looked towards the corner of her right eye. Nothing. She then slowly looked towards the corner of her left eye. She saw something ripple through thin air. She turned her point of direction towards the ripple. She held the gun in front of her. She lifted her right foot towards the direction. She gripped on the gun tightly. She gritted her teeth. "Here I come" she muttered. Suddenly, the lights blew. Nothing but darkness was to be seen. Her only friend. Going against her. Not wanting to let her go. "Protecting me." She whispered to herself, as the very realisation dawned upon her. The darkness was protecting her from the mysterious man. It was trying to shield her from any possible harm, by making sure that the harm itself was not to be known. The ultimate protector. The darkness. "Ah, you got it. The dark. For some reason, everybody is scared of it. Terrified of it. Some hate it so much that they develop a phobia of it. Some even consider their phobia of the dark upon their own kind, something you should be very familiar of, around these parts, am I not right? Either way, you, a simple 7-year-old, realised its importance. Its purpose. It's glory. To be precise upon my reaction to this, I have to say, I'm impressed. But not impressed enough. Come one, find me. You almost have. Find me, through the dark. Break through its glory. Defy it, just to find bad old... me." said the man. A gust of wind suddenly hit her hard, almost knocking her off her feet. "Come and find me..." said the invisible man, this time, in the direction of the front door. Her hands trembled, sweating heavily, trying not to slip the gun through her clammy hands. She slowly walked towards the front door, 'slowly but steadily', as the old phrase goes. She saw a ripple in the air, through the dark. She walked towards it, dripping in sweat. She could feel her own heart beat beating through her chest. It was slow and painful. Very painful. Her throat has parched, pleading for at least just a little drop of water. But her curiosity got the better of her. She needed to know. What was lurking in the dark. What was making her play these games. "What killed my father." She thought aloud, gritting her teeth as she advanced towards the door. She finally reached there, only to find the very guiding ripple through the air completely gone, nowhere to be seen. A nagging thought in her brain told her to open the door. But the sensible little voice in her told her not to, pleading her to not venture out into the dangerous street, out alone in the dark, that too, nothing but her nighty and her robe on. But she surpassed those thoughts, and move on outside, into the cold and murderous open street of 2771 Brixton Road. She open the front door slowly, only for a rather cold and strong gust of wind the whip against her somewhat clad body. Her fiery red hair flared like a wildfire in the windy, cold and damp night. Forgotten to have at least brought something to shield her from the storm shower, she crept out, withstanding the heavy downpour, inflicting upon her like daggers on her open head. She gripped onto her gun tighter then ever, trying to not to drop it while trying to keep a steady footing through the heavily blowing wind in the unforgiving and almost murderous winter-wind. She let go of one hand from the gun to hold on to the nearest pillar, hoping that it would prevent her from being swept away by the wind. But she knew, that she had to let go, or she would never find the man. She looked around for the ripple in the air, rather hard to find in the ever-blowing winter-wind. She squinted her eyes, trying to find her guiding sign, as she slowly gave in into the immense cold. She could not find it anywhere. Her teeth where chattering away madly, unable to control her numb jaw anymore. Her fingers were giving in to the cold. Her feet were fully numb, as she slipped and fell to the ground, loosing grip of the pillar. She immediately let go of her gun to grab onto the pillar. She crunched up into a ball of cold, numb, bone and flesh. She almost gave in into the cold, winter night, with nothing but her own body-heat to help her survive through the cold, to numb to even get up on her feet, to even crawl back home. The gun lay a feet or two from her. She continued to stare at the gun, trying to fight fatigue that was about to over come her. "Giving in? Already? Really, your'e no fun at all." said the man's voice. Her eyes widened, a sudden glimpse of hope shimmering at the corner of her eye. More like...rippling. She immediately looked towards the ripple, right behind her. All the numbness in her body, all her feelings towards the cold, they disappeared, only to be replaced by nothing but immense anger and rage. She reached out for the gun, grabbed it and somehow managed to stand up in the dark, cold night. She took a step towards the ripple, the wind pushing against her immensely. But she didn't care. The heavy and pounding raindrops almost ripped apart her head. She didn't care. All she cared was to find out who...no, what the man was. She braved against the dark and cold night, running with all her might towards the ripple. Everything around her was just a blur. She was completely oblivious to her surroundings. A little too oblivious. She ran straight into the ripple. The darkness blanketed her fully. She could she nothing at all, not even her own hand. At least, she could feel what was around her. Gripping onto the gun, she somehow held it in front of her, walking slowly towards...the darkness. "Well, well...a fighter, aye? Well, you have surprised me enough. Time you met the family." said the man's voice. "Who...who are you?" she asked, shuddering in fear of what might happen. She heard the man smirk, echoing through the darkness. "You could say...your worst nightmare. Hmm...isn't it time you got some...sleep?" said the man's voice, as a rather sweet but sickening smell filled the room. Her eyes grew rather heavy, as she let go of the gun and dropped to the ground. "Sleep tight, cherish this moment, for once you wake up, your nightmare will begin..." the man's voice channeled through her ears faintly as she slowly fell into a deep slumber. Her eyes fluttered open, blinding light filling her eyes. Her eyes adjusted through the naked light, to see a lamp just a few centimetres away from her. She looked around herself, to only see herself strapped down to some weird contraption. The contraption was hooked to a mass number of computers, all hooked together, writing and encoding different programs at an almost impossible speed. She tried to wail out, but it seemed as if something was preventing her from talking. Yet, nothing was covering her mouth. "Temporary speech slur pills. Although they don't actually slur speech, they somehow aggressively attack you voice box, temporarily numbing it. But don't worry, I am tracking down your brain waves, what ever you primarily are thinking about can be picked up and translated into English, UK. But of course, it can be even translated into other languages, including alien ones, but lets not go there..." chattered away a certain voice. She raised her eyebrow, not sure how to respond to the voice. "To be honest, I have been hearing quite a whole lot body-less voices today. Wait...how long exactly have I been out?" she thought, putting her trust into the seemingly harmless girl, calming herself down, hoping that she would not be betrayed of. She was already slightly daunted with the fact that she was being tracked down of any primary thought. And that there was a possibility of aliens in the universe. "Oh, just a couple of days. Don't worry, though, you have been treated well through the period, pretty nice room, you've got. We have stablised your iron, zinc, vitamin and other necessary body fluids to a perfect score. Buffed up your muscles, it seems. Looks like you're going to be a field agent! Oh, I wish I was a field agent, it would have been great! Though I would have to be involved in a whole lot of killing. You know what, never mind, I don't want to be a field agent. I practically squirm at blood. Ugh." said the voice. She rose her other eyebrow. "You sound like you're around my age. Who are you?" she thought, trying to ignore the phrase, "pretty nice room, you've got.". "Oh, silly me, I always forget to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Intelligence Agent 13. Pleased to meet you. Though you won't be that pleased, though.". "So...no name?" she thought. Intelligence Agent 13 seemed to have grinned sheepishly, as the sound of a cute little grin echoed through her ears in the dark and gloomy room. Suddenly, the contraption was starting to make rather weird, robotic noises. These noises, like it should, scared her quite a bit, given the ominous silence that once shrouded the whole...room? "Oh, my name was wiped out from my memory a long time ago. Like what I'm going to do to you. Well...assist in doing. I'm just the assistant in training." said 13. Those very words scared her to the edge of insanity. Intelligence Agent 13 frowned, sensing how she felt. "I'm sorry. But it has to be done. Especially if you escape. This can't be told to anyone. You see, the killing of your dad...it was a test. To prove your worth in The Agency." said 13. "I never wanted to be in this stupid...agency. That man...he just turned up in my house and...killed him. Mercilessly shot him. Added a few stab wounds. Made me angry. VERY angry." she thought, silently raging to herself. "I'm really sorry. But it was your father's own fault for getting himself killed." 13 began. Her eyes widened even further. Anger shrouded her feelings. "He had signed you up in The Agency before you were even born," 13 continued, "Because he was already a Transporter Agent in there. He had not a choice but to sign the deal. A few months later, you were born, and you were kept under the liberty of your parents, whom where closely watching them. Your mum tried to escape with you, only resulting her...execution." Those words suddenly started to make sense. She remembered what father told to her about mother. She knew they were lies from the start. "You were pleaded for and fought back into your father's care, only for him to run away from the agency, to protect you. He somehow went out of the reach of the Dark, always kept you in the Light. The Agency...we have a saying about the Light. It may give and show you all you want, but the truth would be rather hard to find, for the Light is as equivalent to an entire ocean of pure lies. You were living a lie. All those untruths told to you, so that you would be happy. To be able to see what you want to see." said Intelligence Agent 13. "All candy-coated and wrapped, to hide all the bitterness within." she finished, crying deeply inside, for her eyes were as dry as the desert. Intelligence Agent 13 seemed to stay quiet for rather a long time but then suddenly shifted quickly across the room, as what seemed to be a door, opened. "Agent 13, are you done with the preparations? Good. Give me her full brain scan reports, asap." said a man with a northern accent with a little tinge of scottish in it. "Good girl. I have to say, marvelous quality! I hope, at least, that the darkness will prevail with you as one of the top private Intelligence Agents. But don't gloat over it in the Light, dear, no, you can't have that. Alright, let the operation begin." said the man. She tried to struggle out of the straps, but with no avail. "Please, don't struggle, it won't pain a little. It will pain a lot." said the man, as the sound of a drill came close to her head. "I'm sorry." whispered Intelligence Agent 13. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Note: So, you like? I hope you like. It's my first long project, been planning over it for 3-4 months now. This is only the Prologue, wait till the Chapters come! > Hooves Everywhere > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Hooves Everywhere The man stared upon the red-headed youth with pride, remembering the day when he lured the girl to The Agency. Ever since the successful brainwash, she proved to be an amazing asset to the small group of assassins, rising high enough to get into a private sector group. To be honest, the very last, existing private sector left. He watched as the young woman picked up her favourite Remington 870 pump action rifle, aiming carefully at the target. "Headshot." thought the man, as she fired. The target was extremely still with the simple, clean headshot, something most of the other Field Agents failed to do. The man walked over to her, with the impending thought pounding in his head. "Field Agent 21." said the man, in his deep, yet toned voice. The field agent lowered the rifle, taking off her goggles, turning her head slightly towards his direction. "It's my day off." she muttered, slightly irritated at the interruption. "I know. Just needed to give you something." said the man. She turned around fully, glaring at the man. He smirked, knowing what she thought of him. "Look, 21, this is very important. Whatever you do, don't loose it." said the man, handing over the item. Agent 21 took it, and scorned. "Ah, yes, nothing more important than a Red Logbook." she said. The man looked seriously at 21. She let down her scorn-filled face, now filled with confusion. "How is a logbook that important?" asked the confused field agent. The man simply smiled his usual, sly and cunning smile. "Use it, and you will soon know." said the man, and walked off, leaving the twenty two-year-old confused. Agent 21 walked back to her quarters with the logbook, to meet her fellow field agent, Field Agent 24. The agent was sharpening his Hanwei Practical Viking Sword shining it so well it could almost act like a makeshift mirror. She tossed the logbook on her bed, and jumped heavily upon her creaky, old and rusty-framed bed, attracting the attention of the edged weapon-crazed man. "Enjoying your day off?" asked 24, still concentrating on the sword, secretly looking at her reflection on his sword. 21 searched thoroughly through her chest drawers, trying to at least find a pen, something that wasn't quite usually in concern of the Field Agents. 24 observed her unusual behaviour, slightly concerned. "What happened? Something to do with Him?" asked 24, putting his sword down carefully. 21 turned to look at him, with a little tinge of amusement, that her fellow colleague had once again had deduced her worry and expression in the thick darkness that encased the room, with very little room for light. "Yes." she said simply. 24 raised his eyebrow, slightly confused at her lack of speech. "Cat got your tongue?" he asked, slightly amused. 21 grinned a little, thinking about the irony in the statement. "You wish." she said. They both grinned for a while, before returning to their respective 'jobs'. As 24 sharpened his beloved sword, he subconsciously continued looking at her through his sword, not used to the lack of action from the red-head. He saw a logbook that she held in her trained, dangerous hands. He partially recognised it, having given a black logbook earlier that day by Him. He realised that both the logbooks had the Agency's signature slash, usually red and black, golden-embroidered on the cover of the logbooks, which cleared a little on how a small little logbook could mean their life in their hands. She stared upon the logbook, not knowing what to write. She decided to simply write down her general and personal information, just for that very day-off. "Name: Field Agent 21 Gender: Female Species: Human, Pure-Bred British Distinctive Physical Attributes: Bronzed Skin, Distinctive Red Hair, Pure Black Eyes, Dark Freckles, Dimples Occupation: The Agency: London, Private Agents Group Sector 3 Weapon Choice: 21st Century British rifles, US no-total-recoil shotguns Greatest achievements: Assassination of President Lincoln, under the pretense of Mr. John Wilkes Booth Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, under the pretense of one of the Sarajevo assassins Assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, under the pretense of one of the 11 naval officers Assassination of-" wrote Agent 21, as she internally prided over the assassinations, suddenly cut short by a siren. "The Agency: London has been detected by the British Armed Forces. I repeat, The Agency: London has been detected by the British Armed Forces. Private Sector 3, please evacuate to the Time-Portal Room. I repeat, Private Sector 3, please evacuate to the Time-Portal Room. The rest of the agents, withhold yourselves in the defense room, prepare for combat. I repeat, the rest of the agents, withhold yourselves in the defense room, prepare for combat. Leave no evidence behind. I repeat, leave no evidence behind." rang out a robotic woman's voice. The door burst open, with panting Intelligence Agent 13. "Here. Compactors." said the agent, tossing the compactors to the field agents. They caught them deftly, and started absorbing up their belongings in the compactors. They pocketed the compactors, waiting for the frantic Intelligence Agent, whom was absorbing her massive amount of computers. 21 looked upon the logbook, not knowing if she should absorb it along, or just pocket it. She decided to absorb it, and move on, though under constant worry that the information on it would be erased any sooner. 13 finally caught up, and used the primary compactor on the room itself, absorbing the room until it looked like it had never been there at all. They deftly ran towards the stairs, knowing that even the secret light-speed elevator transport would be out of operation. They ran to the 5th basement floor, where the humongous Time-Portal Room lay. An array on Time-Portal Doors seemed to go under complete lockdown, apart from one that the Time-Portal Manager stood against, preparing it for Portal Activity. "Alright, what is the nearest strategic location?" asked Intelligence Agent 13 at the Time-Portal Manager, who seemed to be working under a complete adrenaline rush, not very common for an Intelligence Agent. "Equestria." said the man, with no other say, whatsoever. Intelligence Agent 13 seemed confused, with a little tinge of scorn. "I did say strategic, you know. I doubt you have all of the agent's other-worldly persona bodies in the system." scorned the agent. The Time-Portal Manager nodded. "Yes, your'e right. I only have the Private Sectors' in, along with mine." he said. Her eyes widened. "Our sector is the only private one left." she said. 21 pricked her ears at that. 24 followed, a small mix of mild horror in it. "I know. We either have to bring the human compactors in, or let the others through the void." he said. 13 remained silent for awhile, trying to sink in the information. "The human compactors are unstable. It could pressurise their souls if left out to long." said the agent. The 24-year-old male shook his head sadly. "Then we have no choice but to send them through the void. We can't risk leaving them behind." he said. Intelligence Agent 13 became very quiet for a rather long time, under deep thought. The agent rarely was ever in such immense despair before, holding the decision of what may be the end of almost the entire agency. What concerned the other three agents was the fact that she handled the depressing situation, very...calmly. From what every single agent could ever gather, Agent 13 would always burst into a cacophony of questions, and answers for it, but always ending with a whole bunch of questions, and a very tired agent 13 from the whole rant. "How do we convince them through the void?" said agent 13. Both field agents were bewildered, confused at how their beloved agent was acting, knowing that the kind soul was never this devastated and...secretly angry before. 21, knowing her best friend very well, knew that someone as kind and cheery as her was being just too quiet to just be devastated. Somehow, 21 could feel vibrations of angry shouts and blames shouting through her head, just through the small little movements on the lines forming above her cupid's arrow. 21 knew that a particular agent needed some comforting, that the choice to save the other agents wasn't in her grasp. Just as Agent 21 took a step towards the Intelligence Agent, the Time-Portal Manager interrupted. "The void ship. I have one left. Make them travel through the void in it, under the pretense of escape, and freeze the time-continuum in it. Hope that it won't drift into another galaxy." he said, returning to the large array of computers. After a few minutes, the coordinates were set in, opening a portal to Equestria. The room was charged thoroughly with time-portal energy. In a few seconds, a cotton-candy-like pink, cloudy swirling portal opened up in the Door. Given it was any other situation apart from the current one, both Agent 24 and 13 would be sniggering away, while Agent 21 would try to block a visual image of the portal in her mind as she would lean akimbo against a wall, trying to contain nausea, repeating the words "Red and Black, Pistols, Rifles, Machine Guns, AA12s," and many more others under her breath, along with a few "damn"s and "bloody hell"s. "Come on, step through it quickly. We cannot withhold the other agents any longer." said 13. 24 looked with genuine concern at 13, as 21 tried to surpress an outbreak of continuous laughing, something that she herself did not expect at all. "I don't mean to break through your abnormal streak of seriousness, but we can't just step into the portal just like that. You do realise that, right?" said 24, with a little worry in his face. The twenty two-year-old slapped her forehead, thinking of how stupid, and slightly non-intentionally murderous she was being. "Oh yes, let me get the Time Watches and Trackers-" she turned around to see the Time-Portal Manager already holding four Time Watches and trackers each. "What would I do without you?" commented the relieved agent, handing out the watches and trackers. "Probably kill a few people, that's what." commented the manager, strapping on the watch and the neck-chain-like tracker. The agents quickly put on the equipment, and held tight to their compactors. "You guys go first. I'll prepare the void ship for the lure-in." said the manager. The agents nodded their head in unison. Agent 13 jumped first into the portal, disappearing into the cloudy, stormy pink whirlpool of time. 21 looked slightly unsure, and slightly scared. 24 was clearly more nervous than 21, but put his tough but soft hand on 21's shoulder to comfort her, anyway. 21 smiled back, wondering what she would do without the big lug. "We have to go. We can't look back. Come on, lets go." said 24 in his soft, re-assuring voice. "The others. We can't just leave them behind. Also, what about Him?" said devastated 21. "They should be fine in the void ship. They won't even think that a second has even passed from when they are frozen in. Right, Manager?" asked 24. The Time-Portal Manager nodded. "And He will be fine. He always knows His way through, you should know yourself. Anybody would know. Especially you being one of His favourites." Agent 21 blushed at that very statement. Field agent 21 thought her final goodbyes to the place she grew up in. Or at least, that was what she thought. As the goodbyes were secretly said, a small flash of a thought crossed her mind, though too fast for her to grasp onto, to even know what it would be. She decided to ignore the notion, thinking that the current situation was making her think of the oddest things. They were about to jump through the portal, when 21 suddenly grasped tight of 24's hand. "Together. For the other agents. Together." said Field Agent 21. Field Agent 24 smiled as he held tight back. They jumped together through the portal, hoping for the best on the other side. ***~~~~--------~~~~*** "Hello, and welcome to The Agency, Equestria. I you are one of the Private Sector Agents in The Agency: London, am I right?" said a rather posh, upper class british accent. Field Agent 21 slowly opened her eyes, to see, other than a surprisingly larger degree of vision, but a whole lot of...hooves. "Ah, finally opened your eyes, I see. So, what do you see?" asked the voice. "I see...hooves. A whole lot of hooves. Horse...no...pony hooves. A whole lot of pony hooves." croaked out Field Agent 21, who realised that she was sprawling over the floor, and also that her mouth was unusually dry, unlike the usual effect of 'being bloated with liquid' feeling after going through a portal. A certain jet-black coated pony with neatly combed and parted snow-white hair picked her up, starting the chain reaction of one of her many problems-having four legs. She finally stood on all fours, still rather wibbly wobbly on her footing. Or was it hooving. Either way. "Where is Agent 24? Agent 13? The Time-Portal Manager? Where are them all?" asked Agent 21, concerned for her dearest friends greatly. Along with the manager, of course. The snow-haired pony smiled. "They're safe. They have gone through different portal-separators. For convenient accessibility to certain places, you see." said the pony. Agent 21 smiled in relief, knowing that her dearest of friends, including the Time-Portal Manager, were safe and sound. At least, if those in the particular extraterrestrial universe’s agency. "Well, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't even see a bit of a field agent's nature in her. All I see is a big mass of a Celestial Pony." rang out a mare's voice. She slowly but surely turned around to see a snow-white coated pony with charcoal-black hair, and with a different sort of muzzle, that two, with a pair of wings by her sides. Putting two and two together, the once-human agent identified the difference in muzzles as a clear and thick line between mare and stallion, and those wings meaning...pegasus? She suddenly regained total balance, and glared at the pony with a little hidden bit of fascination over the fact of an actual pegasus, who's expressions were rather hidden with the ginormous black glasses that hid most of her face. Agent 21 reduced her glare, and replaced it with a mocking one. "Well, I would like to see you standing up on two legs. Hind legs, if I'm not wrong. And walk in that manner. All the way to, I don't know-Trottingham?" mocked the Field Agent, who somehow gained perfect synchronisation without even trying, as she...trotted in a few circles. The agent was secretly bewildered at the fact that she seemed to do something, that was expectantly gainable in a few hours or so, in just a few minutes. A nagging thought entered her...new brain. It came with a rather weird, tingling sensation. 21 ignored it, and smiled, feeling the after-effect of awkwardness taking over. The white mare rose her eyebrow, and suddenly smiled. "Give me my bits, Heavy Weights. I got her to walk faster than you could make her stand. Extra for learning a new town." smirked the mare. "And I'm guessing bits are quid." said Agent 21. The brunette mare smiled broadened. "Double it, this one's under my supervision. Put it in my bit box account." said the mare, as she walked away. Field Agent 21 followed, wondering how she herself would look like. Through the corner of her right eye, she could already see that she had pure-black hair. Under restrain over trying to look at her hair, she sub-consciously tossed her head back, causing the possible fact of a fringe covering, under a random assumption, about two-thirds of her right eye. She was with that, her right eye was not of much use anyway. She caught up with the fast-moving pony, whom made her go rounds and rounds around and through the agency, not only that, but with stairs and all, something that proved to be a challenge for just four hooves and no arms to support for the 'once-human'. Simply walking-no, trotting all over the place, going loops and loops all over the agency. By the time they arrived to the agent's new, personal quarters, 21 was exhausted beyond means. Little did she know that all that sweat and grime would be a very little price to pay for what would become the very best moment of her life, for just that very moment of surprise and ultimate joy. "Oh...wow." was all that the new-mare could mutter out, as she looked upon her quarters. It was completely red-and-black themed, with a good bed and all, but what amazed her the most was the amazing array of guns, that resided beside all the comfort of the lovely couch and pillows. From simple but very useful pistols to pump action rifles to even the best of sniper rifles were carefully arrayed in a large cabinet. She 'squee'ed in ultimate happiness and satisfaction, something rare that would ever come out of the tough mare. "Time you looked at yourself. Oh, and the new fringe thing kinda suits you." said the white pony. She somehow used her wings to open a drawer, and drag a mirror out of it. The amazed mare looked at the delicate wings with awe, wondering how it was possible that wings could act just like the fingers on a hand. The mirror was brought upon her, as she looked at the mare in the reflection, dazed. She saw a certain stranger in it. A mare, with orange, blood-kissed skin, distinctive dark red eyes and beautiful, curly black hair. "So, what do you see?" asked the sunglass-donning mare. Agent 21 stood there like a statue, wondering on how to respond to the question. "I have hooves. Pony hooves." ***~~~~--------~~~~*** Author's Note: So, you like? I have been working on it, ever since I saw that in one of the rules, anything that is under Equestria or anything related to it had to be mentioned in the first chapter(s). So poor me had to write the first chapter along with the prologue, publishing it at the very same time. Oh well. And of course, now you realise why there a some sort of a slash in red, bordered with a black background. It's there for a reason, you know. Hope you liked it!