Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, monsters roamed the land.
They tormented the mortals, ravaged nature and were some of the vilest, cruelest beings ever to exist.
Over time, however, they were slowly defeated until all that was left were the ponies and their ravaged land. Two ponies rose up, and ruled the land for millennia. This was in every story book, every newspaper.
But what the story's neglected to mention was how the monsters still stayed in Equestria.
For even ponies, creatures of peace, could be cruel. Terrorists, serial killers, abusers all arose after their brethren were gone, but unlike their brothers, they managed to slip under the radar, for their cruelty was hidden by hooves. And, for years, this continued.
Until one brave young pony created Foalsplay.
This pony realized how children could slip in undetected and gather sensitive data that adults could not. So she took three orphans, and started training them.
Today, Foalsplay is one of the biggest organisations in Equestria, and is kept so well under wraps that not even Luna and Celestia know about it. No adult knows about it, and if their child doesn't return from a mission, the usual excuse of running away or had an accident is given. Foals die on the job. That's the way it's always been, and will always be.
The mercenaries are laughably uncoordinated. They couldn't even get an ambush right.
One of them rushes Gumdrop, Lyra and Bon Bon's daughter, and seriously, what is up with these guys and dramatic war cries? She sidesteps the blow neatly, and uses her magic to cut the sword in his mouth into quarters. He doesn't try to fight back, instead racing away with his tail between his legs.
They're fighting on the edge of a cliff, which is hardly ideal. Across the field, she see's Night Glider and Double Diamonds daughter Snowfall use pressure points to knock a stallion twice her size out. Upon seeing Gumdrop, she gives a smile and a wave, the blood on her hooves staining her white coat a light pink.
Gum was only distracted for a minute, but a minute was all it took, because one of the mercs tackled her to the ground, and started to charge his horn. Gum responded by kicking him in a . . very delicate place. His eyes bulged as he took a couple of steps back. She leaped to her hooves instantly, ready to smash the stallions head in when she realized three things.
One, he had been building up quite a bit of magical power, two, that magical power had nowhere to go, and was going to explode, and three, she had no cover, and she couldn't outrun magic.
Just as her vision turned the same shade of grey as his magic, a heavy weight slammed into her from the side, sending her flying. She was pretty sure whatever it was had broken one of her ribs from the impact.
Or, rather, who, because there was only one filly from Foalsplay who could move fast enough to outmaneuver magic.
When her vision returned, she saw, yep, Pinkie and Rainbow's daughter Slipstream. Barreling into a pony close to the speed of sound clearly did a number on her, as even with her blurry vision Gum could hear her raspy breaths. But then her vision became clear once more, and all thought dissolve instantly.
Because the merc that had attacked her has one hoof on the pegasi's chest, and is lifting the other up high. Gum is already up on her hooves and sprinting towards them before she's even aware of it.
The mercenary slams his hoof into Slip's muzzle, once,twice, three times, and Gum can hear the sound of her nose breaking, and her rage fuels her magic, which in turn gets the stallions attention. He turns his attention away from Slip, but the second he does, she stabs him in the leg with one of her hidden knives. Roaring, he leaped back, and Slip threw herself to her hooves, and roundhouse kicked him away. He falls to his knees in front of her, and Slip instantly has her blade readied at him.
Gum relaxes, and slows down, because honestly, why was she so worried? Slip was one of their best fighters, and their fastest flyer, she could handle herself just fine.
She's only a few yards away from Slip when the pegasus takes her attention away from her opponent to turn to her. It's a rookie move, and Gum is genuinely confused for a moment. Why turn your back on the enemy? But too late she realizes the blood from Slips muzzle means she can't see. That she hearing Gum coming, as assumes she's an enemy.
The merc reacts faster than possible, using his magic to swing his blade, and all Gum remembers is a punched out gasp, she couldn't tell if it was her or Slips, as the blade went into the fillies rib cage. She topples backwards. But even as that is happening, Slip still uses her blade to slit the stallions throat as she falls backwards.
Over the cliff edge.
"No!" Gum shrieks, throwing herself forwards and pushing with all her magical reserves, to catch Slip and levitate her up. She sees a flash of blue, and then nothing.
She missed.
It isn't until after the fight that they can go after her.
The cliffs are steep, but they are all either unicorns who can levitate themselves, or pegasi. So it only takes a couple of seconds for them to find where Slip is lying.
Gum is aware of the medical team behind her, but all she's focusing on right now is the little blue pegasus. Her muzzle is completely smashed, and dried blood surrounds her face. Gums eyes trail down to the hole in Slip's ribs. It was a lot less messy than the broken muzzle, yet that was the one that made her shiver.
Without a word Snowfall shouldered past her, and started checking for pulse, internal bleeding, infections, and prioritizing what might need treating first. She puts a hoof to Slip's throat, and, for the very first time in her life, frowns. Her pupils shrink, and she goes for the hooves, also checking for a pulse, and now Gum is starting to panic, because Slip can't die, she's going to be in the Equestria Games, and she promised her mom she'd be there when Rainbow and the other Wonderbolts performed andshecan'tdieshe'sSlipstreamshecan'tdie.
Slip sucks in a breath, and so does Gum.
"Slipstream? Can you hear me?" Snow asks, and the relief is clear in her voice.
Slip screws her eyes up tight, and lets out a slow, shuddering breath. " ...'nowfall?" She eventually mumbles.
"Yes, Slip. It's me. Well, me and Gumdrop."
"Gumdrop!" She tries to open her eyes, but apparently the weak light is hurting her, because she shuts them again with a weak squeak. Slip doesn't squeak. "Are you alright?"
"Am I alright?" Gum asked, feeling hysteria rise in her chest. Ignoring Snow's warning look, she grits out "you fell off a cliff!"
Slipstream's mouth twitches. "Huh." Is all she says, before falling unconscious.
"Slip!"
One of the nurses gives her the sword while she's in the waiting room.
It's Slipstreams, which means it's bonded to her, and she can infuse it with pegasi magic. It's a deadly thing, long and very very sharp, with it's leaf shaped blade being etched with protection rituals.
She's not allowed to see her when she's having surgery, they tell her. They don't tell her that she only has a 12% chance of making it through even with surgery on their side, but she's an agent. Gathering information is her thing.
Gumdrop runs her hooves over the runes obsessively while she waits. She knows the other members o her team are worried as well, but they don't get it. This was her fault. Slip was injured because she came to save her. She got distracted because she thought she was the enemy. And now, she may be dead.
She has a sudden, burning desire to throw the blade away, to get rid of the reminder of this horrible fight. Instead, she brings it to her chest, and breathes in the scent of metal and magic.
She can't throw it out. Because if Slip dies here today, tonight, she'll have to be the one to see Rainbow and Pinkie's faces when the're told their daughter died in a 'accident' (although, this time it was fitting, it had been an accident.) If Slip dies, she'll have nothing left to remember her by.
Just grieving parents and a sword.
Maybe this would be how Slip would want to go out, saving her friend from her own stupidity. But she doesn't know what Slip wants, she only knows what she wants. And she wants her best friend to live.
"Don't go," she whispered. "Don't leave me."
Author's Note
I am a terrible human
What better away to introduce two new characters and Foalsplay then to put in an ambigious ending?
In this 'verse, Equestria has a top secret agency that's like a mix between Cherub and The Kids Next Door. Unlike Cherub, not even The Princess' know about this, as it was set up by the kids who were tired of their homes being destroyed. Foals-play agents have saved he world at least a dozen times, and they played a part in the downfall in at least one of the villains the Mane 6 fought. Similarly to the KND, they do have a moon base, and a base on just about every other planet that the adults are unaware of. When a child is to old, they cast a memory erasing spell, and send them on their way.
Unlike the KND, however, Foals-play deals with more serious issues, and the kids have more serious problems because of this. All recruits have to go through strict training. By the end of the training, all colts and fillies must master at least two combat styles, unicorns must know three battle spells, pegasi have to be able to fly, and earth ponies have to be able to use earth pony magic. It's necessary for agents to do all this to survive. And even then, they still die.
And yes, I will be doing the other members of the team, and I will be looking at the psychological effects of saving the world so many times from so many things, unlike the actual MLP. Because I'm twisted.
But, I would like to introduce you to three main characters;
Gumdrop (she doesn't have a bio yet)- Bon Bon and Lyra's serious, overdramatic daughter who is the leader of her sector in Foasplay
Slipstream- Pinkie and Dash's daughter (Misty Rose's half sister) and a calm, laid back and snarky little filly. She is one of the fastest pegasi alive, and is the second in command for Gum.
Bio- https://reading4halfmylife.deviantart.com/art/Slipstream-Bio-741668597?ga_submit_new=10%3A1524438478
Snowfall- Night Glider and Double Diamond's daughter, she is the bouncy, cheerful and friendly medic of the team
There are others, they'll come up later:
Clip (Babs X Snips)
Copper Wire (Apple Bloom X Featherweight) Bio -https://reading4halfmylife.deviantart.com/art/Copper-Wire-Bio-743535063