Neo-Equestria Evangelion

Oracle

Chapter Eight:

'Oracle'

"Your spy failed you. He was caught and disposed of by one of our agents," Spike said with a cold fury in his voice. The monoliths hovered around him in the cold dark chamber. "Do not think that I am incompetent and do not presume to think I am without power. I field two Evangelion units, within the month it shall be a third as well!"

The green dragon paced back and forth, slowly, deliberately. He stopped at each monolith and looked up towards it, his face firm. "Each of you were brought into this because of your value to the project, and I would urge all of you not to forget the value I bring to this project! I will suffer not cowards or traitors--do not forget that without me you would all still be in your small, insignificant countries, fighting over the scraps of a dying world!"

"Do not lecture us on loyalty! You are not without sin, as we know quite well! Our agent was... acting perhaps a bit out of his purview; still, his objective was to ensure your honesty with us and we have found that his report was... Acceptable," the monolith representing the Griffon Kingdom--number two--replied, tone neutral.

"We have the right to inspect our investments. We have a lot riding on this project, I'm sure you understand," The Zebrican monolith, number six added.

"We can do so through official channels, not through backroom deals and espionage. What would the civilian governments think if they knew what was really going on? Do you trust a spy so much to trust he won't sell his information to the highest bidder? This is risky behavior that jeopardizes the scenario," a masked voice answered, one of the few monoliths that had refused to identify even a geographical region. Monolith four.

"Agreed. This committee is not above the mutual agreement of its members. This kind of behavior is unacceptable," another monolith answered, this one number three.

Spike turned and walked back to his desk at the far end of the chamber, "I care not for your platitudes, I ask only your loyalty. If not for our mutual goal, then simply because I still hold Oracle. The entire project hinges on what lies beneath New Canterlot, as I'm certain you are all aware." He paused for a moment as he sat at his desk--the terminal on it flashed several times before he was satisfied.

"I trust the arrangements for the transfer of the production model and the pilot will not be affected by this... incident?" he finally asked.

"Not as much as your own insubordination problem would jeopardize it," Number Two snipped.

"That is an internal matter. This meeting is adjourned," Spike snapped as he disconnected the terminal. He stared at the oak desk as he tapped his claws rhythmically along the surface. 'So, even with that one dead, they still knew about Whisper's incident.'

He leaned back in his faux-leather chair and allowed himself a sigh. It was just as well. She was learning the penalty for her actions, and any future insubordination would be dealt with quickly to dissuade future misbehavior.

Then again, no reason to let a mole burrow. He reached for his desk phone, a number already in mind. He had to wait only two rings before the telltale click of a phone being answered on the other end, "Mirage, there's another one. You know what to do."

Whisper kicked at a her plate, knocking the tin tableware into the wall on the opposite side of her cell. She allowed herself a rare moment of anger. 'I save the city and they throw me in a cell? To heck with 'orders', I was doing what they put me out there to do!' she seethed.

She kicked the plate again, pinging it off another wall as she leaned back on the bench. "Thanks for saving us, here, have some holding cell," she muttered sarcastically under her breath. At least there was light, she reasoned. They could have stuck her in a dark pit, not that there was any justice in it either way.

No, justice would be if she made them fend for themselves, made them climb into the megaton war machines and fight for their lives. Make them kill those giant monsters while riding around in a coffin that smells like blood.

Her imagination ran wild with creative ways to get back at them for putting her into this position in the first place, but each one brought her less and less comfort. Vengeance just wasn't in her nature, as much as she would have liked it to be so, as much as it would make it easier.

Just turn off her feelings and hate...but she couldn't. That wasn't who she was, wasn't who her mother and father raised her to be. She had to be there, she had to bear that pain so that others wouldn't have to. She could fight, she could protect ponies who couldn't protect themselves.

Her thoughts drifted to Sunset, that injured pony she'd protected on that first day, the one she'd been trying to make friends with, even as strange as she was. Sunset wouldn't be alive if she hadn't been there to fight instead.

She closed her eyes and leaned back. Maybe some sleep would do her good, and at the very least it would pass the time. She started to drift off when she heard yelling outside of her cell.

"I told you, I don't care if Celestia herself gave the order, you either open this door or I'm going to put your head through it," the muffled voice said angrily--it sounded feminine. Whisper perked up a little and turned towards the plate-steel door.

"Ma'am, I told you--" the guard said, his voice cutting off with a pained groan before the young pegasus heard the key turn in the lock. The bright lights from the corridor cut into the dimmer confines of her cell around the edge of the door, her eyes took a moment to adjust to the change, temporarily blinding her to the figure on the other side.

"C'mon Kid, we're getting you out of here. They can take it up with me if they don't like it," the mare in the doorway said. Whisper blinked her eyes a few times as her eyes cleared.

"Rainbow Dash?" She asked. She should have known, there wasn't another pony who had the courage to do that, and it certainly wasn't unappreciated.

"The very same," The cocky mare replied. She flicked her head down the hall, "C'mon, my car's waiting. Got a warm meal and a shower waiting for ya."

Whisper nodded hesitantly and walked towards the door, shielding her eyes with her wing as the bright fluorescent lighting hit her in full force. Her eyes wandered to the side, she saw the cell guard nursing a black eye and glaring at the pair of them.

She turned her head to Dash and raised an eyebrow as she slightly inclined her head towards the guard. A slight blush crossed the older mare's face but she said nothing and turned down the hall, following the navigation arrows on the wall that indicated 'parking'.

They walked in a pleasant silence, Whisper taking stride immediately alongside Rainbow Dash as the detention area was left behind. It was a few minutes into the leisurely walk that Dash finally broke the silence, she turned her head towards the younger pegasus, "I probably won't be able to do that again, so I'd really appreciate it in the future if you could... well, try harder to listen when they tell you to do something when you're in Eva. I know you're young and you get impulses, always think you're right... well I was like that anyway..."

Dash took a breath and held it for a second before she continued, "What I'm saying is, I let you get into all this, and I will try to look out for you, but you've gotta help me help you, you know?"

Whisper nodded, "I just... thought I could do it. And I did do it..."

Dash turned and gave her a stern look, she looked like she was about to say something but then held back and cracked a smile, "That you did. Remind me never to make you that mad at me."

Dash draped her wing over the younger pegasus, the daughter of her best friend, and let herself enjoy the moment. 'We're putting these kids through something they shouldn't have ever had to do... The last thing I'm gonna do is let anyone punish them for actually being kids.'

Whisper followed along, her thoughts drifted to the other pilot she'd met, the one she'd been thinking about in the cell. The one she was going to fight alongside soon, the one she'd protected on that first day.

She turned to Dash, "So... could tell me about Sunset?"

The injured guard dropped all pretense of injury after the two pegasi had left earshot. The earth pony was enveloped in a green glow for a moment, as it shifted back into the changeling it truly was. Mirage shook her head--she never did like form-shifting into males. Too many bad memories.

It was fortunate that Rainbow Dash had showed up when she did, as it gave Mirage the freedom she needed to abandon her post and follow up on an important lead: she knew who the spy was... or at least what she looked like.

To the spy's credit, they were a talented mage; one would have to be to pull off even a moderate-level spell in this day and age, and the cloaking spell was certainly on the higher end of what even the Princess could pull off.

The changeling stalked down the side-hallway, one leading towards the HVAC maintenance tunnels. In a facility the size of HERD-HQ the environmental control systems were massive, spanning several acres if added all together. It was an ideal place to shake a tail, but it was also an ideal place to covertly capture an enemy agent, were they to try hiding there.

For all the talent the spy had shown in her magic, she still wasn't perfect. The tuft of cornflower blue mane that had shown through the veil had been valuable information--far more than she'd had when she started. Putting the pilot in confinement had borne fruit after all. Controlling the location of the focus of the spying had drawn the spy in.

She hoofed open the access hatch, which showed signs of recent use. That was a good thing, as her instincts had been right, and the spy had fled into the tunnels. She owed them: for making her department look bad, for making her look bad. For her dead agent.

Something bothered her, something that was familiar but eluded her. A scent on the wind, something about the color of that mane. She should have known what it was, but it was a memory long past, buried deep and forgotten with the rest of her kind.

She was picking up some emotions, but they felt masked, hidden. 'They would be, she's killed one of us... so she'd have to know she's up against changelings...' the mare thought as she stalked deeper. Even if the spy was shielding her emotions, they were still there, still enough to get a direction.

She paused as a sound reached her ears, soft, almost like a voice. She couldn't make out the words but they came from a different direction than the source of the feelings she was sensing. This unicorn was talented after all, projecting false emotions. She'd prepared for this.

"--transmitted my report. I'm coming up for air now, I've done all I can. I'm being tailed." The voice said as it came closer. Mirage jumped out from her cover and into the hallway, turning to face the voice.

She caught sight of a blue unicorn with the same mane she'd seen before wearing an expression of... smugness? A small black object flew at her and she instinctively caught it in her telekinetic grip, she recognized it as a vox device.

The unicorn smirked, "Well, guess you found me after all huh?" A flash of magic stunned Mirage for a moment and she watched the pony stab a syringe into her own flank, watched the pale pink contents leave the syringe as the plunge depressed. She saw the unicorn's eyes turn white for an instant before a loud whip-crack pierced the relative calm of the tunnels.

And then, the unicorn was gone.

Mirage turned, dropped the vox device, and ran. She wasn't used to feeling fear, but for the moment that was all she could feel. Teleportation was high level magic, something that had been theoretically impossible for twenty years. Anything that had that kind of power was too much for her to handle.

Spike needed to know of this. At least, that's how she justified her panicked exit.