Another Casting of the Cards

I was starting to enjoy the weightless sensation that accompanied falling. It ended all too quickly though, when I hit the dust. I rapidly opened my eyes, wondering what fresh horror awaited me. Yeah, this is it. My high school, where I had lived and loved, won and lost, hated and more, for four long years. Only… something was off. I saw that it was almost dead quiet, and I used my dark coat color to simply fade away, against a low wall. Moments after I finished, an electronic bell rang out, annoying and loud, and children, my children, my friends, no, his friends, drifted past, either not seeing or ignoring the pony-shaped mass in a corner. I knew what was happening, and shadowed Thomas he followed his friend to a parking lot.

There was a surprising amount of action, and I realized, as did Thomas, that it must be the end of school, though Thomas had undoubtedly figured this out before I did. Cars were moving out, and older kids, well, older than Thomas, at any rate, were climbing into the cars.

The pair of humans moved to a far corner of the lot, and I followed, once again using my dark coat to blend in with the shadows. I delightedly watched as Thomas put his back to the wall, ostensible to watch for any threats. I grinned wolfishly as I slipped directly behind him. Oh goody, second row seating! We both frowned as we watched the boy dig in a pile of leaves.

Thomas nervously looked around, asking as he did so, "Um, Matthew, what are you looking for?"

The other, apparently named Matt, didn't bother to look up, choosing to continue pawing at the leaves. "I know you don't believe me, but you have a certain skill set. I need you with me, and for that, I'll show you the beacon." I shrugged, knowing what he spoke as being true, though I, Sam, had a rather different skill set than Thomas.

As I mentally chuckled, I saw Matt's movements uncover a sleek metal box, about ten centimeters to a side, and four centimeters wide. It was, as I knew, what would call the mother ship. For Matthew was an undercover agent, and in every culture, one of the things that convinces those spies to do what they do is the knowledge that if they are captured, killed, or compromised, the wrath of their supporting body will be absolute and uncompromising. And this is what would let that happen, for him at least. Though I knew that this wasn't the best thing, it was the only device his race could make that small that was capable of sending the unique subspace signal needed to call those massive ships into position.

At this point, he had it fully uncovered, and had extended a spiny, matte-black antenna from one face. It was a thing of ugly beauty, for him and his team, heck, his very civilization, had been waging a war against the Solarians, ever since his race emerged from the waters of their home planet, countless generations ago.

I knew that his race lived on one island, and much of their technology depended on whether an individual had the proper genetic code to activate it. About forty percent of the population lacked the code, and so were driven off the planet, for theirs was a competitive society; the weak and dumb died, the strong and smart lived. The Solarians were that forty percent, and their sole advantage was in numbers, for they had moved among the stars long before the Razani --mother race-- had.

As I watched, feeling slightly cynical, and Thomas gazed on, looking rather foalishly awestruck, the Razani spy pressed both hands to opposite faces of the box. A faint blue glow appeared where he had pressed his hands, and then a column of blue light shot up, along the antenna, only to continue on, until bursting in a blue and red starburst, a far ways up.

He muttered to Thomas, finally turning to look at him, "I programmed it so our sensors receive it as a test burst, something used to ensure the signal machine works."

Thomas had obviously changed by this point. "I certainly believe you at this point. You could have just given me a HUD implant, and I would've believed you." I knew what he was talking about- the HUD was something that all Razani received. Basically, it was a neural interface device, and it had uses that were varied and endless.

I heard Matt responding with a sigh, as though they had already discussed this, "look, you know you can't get one because one, you don't have the C gene, and two, you haven't gotten the needed clearance." As he turned back to the box, I saw Thomas's hand dart out towards his pocket, then put the same hand behind his back. The Razani spy crouched back at the leaf pile, absently patting his pocket. The one Thomas had just picked.

When he was almost done with it, he turned to look at his watch, Thomas again darting his hand out, a predatory grin on his face.

Matthew looked at his watch in surprise. "Wow, I hadn't realized we had been here for half an hour, I should get going." Apparently realizing that something was missing, as a result of his pocket pat minutes ago, he leapt to his feet, glaring at Thomas with righteous indignation apparent on his face.

Before he could utter a syllable, however, Thomas spoke up, saying, "first, you have no evidence I took it. Second, when I did, I put it back. Third, your sensors are worthless. Are you sure you got the commanders edition, or did they hand you the field grade one?"

I chuckled to myself, this being an excellent example of Matt's inability to contain certain emotions, as well as Thomas's own ability to manipulate him.

Knowing that the rest of the conversation would be worthless fluff, I turned inward, contemplating how to get back home. As I thought that, I realized that I wanted to consider equastria home, despite having been there only a day and a half. On that note, I figured that it would be best to concentrate fiercely on that moment- right before I traveled, to when I saw myself smiling and turning to talk to twilight.

I concentrated fiercely, expecting a portal to appear, and, to my utter surprise, a ululating portal appeared behind me. I didn't know what it looked like, not that I cared, as I backed into it, happily grinning.

o.O.o

Mentally preparing myself, I watched my frantic tail disappear into the door, then turned to twilight, who had an expression of shock to match the guards'. "What- I thought you promised- why- augh!" She exclaimed.

"Apologies, my friend, I had no intention of scaring you. I was panicked and I went into my past. I'll explain soon enough," I apologized, as the great doors opened.

I admonished the guards, "tell nopony about this. Am I clear?" They both nodded, and twilight proceeded, still slightly shocked, with me trailing behind her.