The next morning went by relatively uneventful as I fed everyone breakfast and did some house cleaning. After chores and necessities were taken care of I looked at the clock and realized that I was almost late for my lunch with Rarity and Scorch Song, oh no! I rushed around for some bits, quickly ran a comb through my mane, gave a quick goodbye and was on my way to the cafe. When I got there, I saw Rarity and Scorch Song already sitting at one of the outdoor tables under the large awning. “So sorry I’m late,” I apologized as I sat down next to them. “I just lost track of time.”
“It’s quite alright dear,” Rarity said understandingly. “Here, how about you order something before we start our discussion.” She pushed a menu towards me. Skimming through, I eventually chose the dandelion and mint salad. After a few minutes it arrived and I gratefully ate it, realizing I had accidentally skipped breakfast this morning. Once I had finished, I wiped my hooves and pushed my plate to the side, now we could talk freely. “You have been with the Pony Tones now for many months and we feel your voice is an incredible talent,” Oh no, she was going to try pushing me into a performance in front of a true audience, wasn’t she. Rarity continued, “But we didn’t want you join to solely for your voice.” I was puzzled, was she implying that I was only picked because we are friends, that I’m actually not talented? Wait, did they think I was a mistake to be added and wanted to just go back to being a quartet? “We also chose you for your incredible stealth.” What? What did that even mean? Questions began to swarm my head but Rarity trudged on. “You see the Pony Tones are not just a quintet,” Rarity brought her voice to a hush and leaned closer. “Each member is also a member of Maroon.”
I blinked absently at her. “Maroon?”
“Maroon is an undercover secret agency whose agents are all members of the Pony Tones,” Rarity whispered. “Now that you are a Pony Tone we think its time you also become part of Maroon, what do you say, darling? Rarity looked at me with anticipation, but confusion filled my face as I tried to take in the information.
“Yes or no, dear.” Rarity pushed.
“Uh...yes?” I answered feebly. Rarity turned to Scorch Song, excitement filling both their faces.
“Then we mustn’t waste any time, let’s go.” Quickly, she called the waiter over, pulled out the needed bits and we were off, Rarity and Scorch Song pulling me behind them. Entering a building, the three of us raced down the hall to the third door on the left. “This is our usual rehearsal room,” I recognized, “What are we doing here?”
“Not only is it the PonyTone practice room, its also the entrance to the Maroon layer.” Explained Scorch Song. Stepping inside we found Big Mac and Toe-Tapper already there. The two locked eyes with Rarity. She nodded and a grin appeared on both of their faces.
“Well let’s go.” Toe-Tapper announced. Rarity, Toe-Tapper, Scorch Song, and Big Mac, with me trailing behind them, walked toward the far right corner of the room which held an old drum set. Rarity placed her hoof on the bass drum, the drum scanned her hoof and opened, revealing a keypad. Punching in the sequence, Rarity to a step back as the drum closed and the wall behind it sunk in. The ponies single-filled walked through the opening in the wall down a dimly lit staircase. At the bottom of the staircase stood a door with another keypad. Rarity typed in another sequence and the doors locks released. As the bottom door opened, the wall that had moved to create their entrance shifted back into place leaving no trace of the secrets behind it. Walking through the final door, the ponies came into a large room covered with gadgets, screens, and sleek furniture. The ponies dispersed into the layer checking screens, reports, news, leads, and documents. Rarity looked over at me and realized how lost I was.
“Let me show you around.” She grabbed my hoof and brought me to a large wall covered in monitors. “Here is our wall of screens, it holds all the majority of our monitors for the agency.”
“Where are the camera’s for the monitors?” I asked looking at the screens and recognizing many of the spots.
“We have them hidden all throughout Equestria though the majority are in PonyVille since that's our home base.” Rarity explained. “ Over here is all of our files on everypony.” She pointed to rows and layers of filing cabinets that overtook a whole corner of the room. “Over there in the corner is a relaxation area full of couches and refreshments.” She motioned to where Scorch Song and Big Mac were seated in large sleek black couches. “Over there is a high velocity tube system which Toe Tapper created, it allows us to travel all over Equestria in just minutes.” The large teal tubes hung over the corner. “And finally here is our wall of weaponry. Although the name implies death machines, more of these are useful gadgets for distracting or temporarily stunning.” The wall was covered by strange machines each mysterious yet compelling. ”So that is a rough tour of the layer, well what do you think, darling?”
“Um… its just a lot to take in,” I stammered .
“Oh, I almost forgot. Everypony has an agent name so as to keep our true identities safe. Big Mac is agent Green, Scorch Song is agent Burgundy, Toe-Tapper is agent Gold, and I’m agent Indigo.”
“Green, indigo, burgundy, and gold? Your agent name is just a color?”
“Not just any colors,” Rarity spat with disgust, “our names are exquisite hues, each picked by a very thorough and deep process.” She held her head high. Rarity definitely loved her colors and even more her decisions about colors.
“Well then how do you choo-” I was interrupted by a blaring red signal coming from some of the monitors. “What is that?” I asked as Big Mac and Scorch Song jumped up from their seats. They and Toe Tapper then began racing around.
“Los Pegasus, a robbery,” Scorch Song read.
“How many robbers?” Rarity turned towards Scorch Song.
“Four.”
“Then you and Big Mac can handle it, just bring some sleep-bombs in case.” Scorch Song nodded.
“Yup,” added Big Mac.
“Sleep-bombs?” I looked over at Rarity who stood high and confident of what she was talking about.
“Sleep-bombs are smoke bombs filled with amnesia, so it temporarily blinds and then stuns your enemy.” Rarity explained. “They can be quite useful when in a sticky situation.” Scorch Song came over wearing a jet black jumpsuit, Big Mac trailed behind also wearing all black.
“Ready.” Scorch Song and Big Mac rushed over to the tube system. Standing underneath the largest tube, Big Mac nodded at Toe Tapper who pressed a large button and SWOOSH, the two flew up into the maze of teal plastic.
“Wha-at was that all about?” I asked looking at Rarity.
“Just a standard mission, here at Maroon we protect Equestria from harm, may that be a tyrannical dictator arising or a simple robbery, our mission is to keep Equestria safe.”Rarity looked sternly over at the wall of monitors. “We rate the danger on a scale from 1-10 to see how many of us we need to stop it, 1 being least dangerous and 10 being catastrophic.”
“What was this mission ranked?” I asked.
“Just a 3, so not too much to worry about.” Rarity looked over at me with a smile of reassurance. I weakly smiled back, but my mind kept racing to the worst scenarios. What if they don’t get there in time to stop the robbery? What if there are more robbers then they thought?! What is the smoke-bombs don’t go off and they’re stuck with no escape?!? “Ah, see they’re already done.” Rarity pointed to one of the screens where Scorch Song and Big Mac stood wearing gas masks, surrounded by knockout ponies. I let out my held breath.
“We are all professionals at we do, and we’ll make you one to.” Rarity said with an excited gleam in her eyes, but my heart was sinking. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this after all. “Well, there is no time to lose, shall we start?”
“Start what?” I asked almost wishing I hadn’t.
“Your training of course.” Rarity beamed. Grabbing my hoof she brought me to the wall of armoury. “We did miss one place on your tour of the layer,” Rarity said as she tapped a few of the guns and a grey hoof scanner came out of the wall. While placing her hoof on the bright green screen, the wall began shifting backwards. Sliding out towards the right, it revealed a huge room full of crazy obstacles and my heart felt as if it dropped into my stomach. “Our training room.” Rarity looked at the course with hungry eyes. “These courses will prepare you for almost every situation that you could be faced with while out the field.” Rarity explained.
“What do you mean by “almost” every situation?” My heart rapidly pumped in my chest at the thought.
“Well the world is unpredictable so all we can do is train ourselves to the best of our abilities and use those skills to overcome whatever obstacle may arise.” Rarity explained. “So let’s begin!” Pushing me towards the course, Rarity stopped and exclaimed, “I nearly forgot, first i should get you fitted for your new jumpsuit!”
“Why do I need a jumpsuit?” I asked slightly intrigued.
“That’s our uniform, silly, didn’t you see Scorch Song and Big Mac wearing them? I designed them each myself, the fabric is sleek yet silky, tight yet lightweight. The material is completely waterproof AND flameproof. It took forever to find the perfect medium between them all but I finally did it and it’s simply fabulous!” Rarity beamed while I stared at her in bewilderment trying to take in all the features of the fabric.
“They sound lovely,” I add after a moment of awkward silence.
“ I must grab my measuring tape, just wait her dear and I’ll be back for your measurements.” Rarity said gleefully almost skipping as she trotted away back into the main corridor of the layer. Toe Tapper walked in towards me.
“I hope you’re not too overwhelmed by all this, it seems almost like a dream at first working here but now it just feels like a regular day, you’ll get used to it real soon.” He said comfortingly.
“I hope you’re right.” I whispered.
“Fluttershy, darling, your performance was exquisite.” Rarity praised as the stage lights dimmed and the curtain was drawn.
“Oh thank you Rarity, you sounded lovely as well.” I watched as the backstage lights came to life and let out a sigh. “I feel each time we perform, I’m a bit less nervous.” I said looking at her with a smile.
“That’s wonderful, dear. I do hope you will eventually be able to perform on a stage other than the one in your backyard ,” She said with a little bit to much implication.
“Baby steps, remember?” I said playfully but also trying to hint at her.
“Of course, well I have to be off right now, I must pick up Sweetie from her crusaders meeting at Scootaloo’s. Don’t forget practice is tomorrow at noon after our lunch meeting, ta-ta.” She said with a wave and then quickly hurried away. Turning around, I saw Big Mac, Toe-Tapper, and Scorch Song still chatting about the performance. Walking over, their words became hushed as they opened up the conversation towards me.
“Nice show today, Fluttershy,” Scorch Song said with a warm smile.
“You had perfect pitch,” Toe-Tapper noted with a grin.
“Yup,” chimed Big Mac, whose face also turned to a smile.
“Thanks everypony, you were all wonderful.” I looked around at their faces and they all wore a grin, rather strange but it was probably just a coincidence. “Well I’ll see you all tomorrow at rehearsal, and you at lunch.” I said looking at Scorch Song. After some farewells were exchanged, I went into my cottage to rest. Opening the door, I was immediately welcomed by all the animals who had watched the show. All chatting, growling, chirping, and barking praise, I giggled at their enthusiasm and encouragement. “Well my friend’s I’m ever so grateful for your compliments but I think it’s about time we all head off to bed.” A few groans and whines rose in detest but when I raised my hoof a silence hushed over them. “Bed time, now,” I stated gently yet sternly. The animals complied and all crawled off toward their designated beds. Seeing everyone in their place, I headed up the stairs to my rightful bed to get some very needed rest after the excitement of the day.
