The Pony Protection Agency

I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing the standard PPA, aka Pony Protection Agency, uniform. I had on blue jeans, a white t-shirt, a black jacket, black gym shoes, and I also had sunglasses that I would carry with me in case I needed them. Also, sometimes the sunglasses were to help with gathering information. There is a formal outfit that agents for the PPA can use to wear, but I think that's a bit of overkill.

The Pony Protection Agency was founded ten years ago when the founders came across a place called Equestria. I still don't believe this, but they came across the place via a portal. But it's true because I've had to step through it myself. However, the PPA is aware of the fact that humans might not be receptive to ponies living among them. So, the PPA came up with a plan for that, they made magic necklaces that would help disguise the ponies as humans. The PPA worked with Equestria to set up rules for the ponies to abide by in order for this arrangement to work.

Unfortunately, there are ponies that come over to Earth illegally and break the rules. Those ponies are called rogue ponies. Those are the ones that need to be captured and brought back to Equestria. Equestria takes ponies that break the rules very seriously. They punish the ponies that do that.

There are ponies that decide to live at PPA headquarters. Agents can decide to live at headquarters also, which is where I'm living at the time being.

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Alex Shipman and my partner at the agency is named Violet Client. We don't have name tags on our uniforms but we do have a pin that has the first letter of our first names and the first letter of our last names on them that's pinned to the right side of our jackets.

In the division of the PPA where I work, my job is to either help ponies come over from Equestria and get them set up safely or track down rogue ponies and bring them back. This day is no different than any other day. After I got dressed in my uniform, I went outside and reported to the main desk. The pony that runs the main desk is a young mare named Lucky Bee. Her fur was yellow and her mane was purple. She's an earth pony. Her cutie mark is a four-leaf clover with the number seven in the middle of it. I don't know if she knows this but those things in her cutie mark are considered lucky to humans.

I know she likes me because she's always flirting with me. I always bite my tongue when it happens, to keep myself from saying some snappy remarks to her. I try not to roll my eyes out of respect for her.

Of course, as soon as I got to the main desk, Lucky Bee started flirting with me as usual.

"Hi Ms. Bee," I mumbled.

As always, Lucky Bee found this introduction funny because she giggled at me, "Oh Alex, you and your formal addresses. You know you can call me Lucky right?"

I groaned, "For the last time Ms. Bee, I'm not interested. I already have a girlfriend. Thank you very much."

I knew for a fact this wouldn't stop her from flirting with me. She must think I'm lying when I'm not. I'm already dating a woman that lives in Crossville, Tennessee. PPA headquarters is located in Ohio. It's a long-distance relationship at the moment because I'm living at headquarters. I'm not sure if marriage will be on the table anytime soon or if I'm going to break up with her. We've hit a bit of a rough patch and it doesn't seem like it's going to end anytime soon. Let's just say she's being controlling at the moment and it's getting on my nerves.

"You know you look handsome in that uniform," Lucky Bee giggled, "come on, go on one date with me at least?"

"I don't think the guy's interested, Lucky." I heard Violet say.

Saved by the bell! Once again, thank you, Violet! I thought.

I guess the look on my face said it all because Violet couldn't stop laughing at my reaction to Lucky Bee.

"Looks like the knight in shining armor needs a woman to rescue him," Violet said in between her laughter.

"Haha, Violet," I growled, "now if Ms. Bee would stop flirting with me and give us our next assignment, that would be great."

With Violet's laughter, I saw Lucky Bee have a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm sorry Alex, you're just so… Nevermind."

She pulled out a file from underneath her desk and passed it to us. She even gave us our badges that had our fake cutie marks on them as it's required for agents of the PPA to be turned into ponies before they step through the portal.

Once Violet and I changed into ponies our clothes disappeared. But we didn't need to worry about bringing an extra set of clothes with us because when we change back into humans, our clothes reappear. Before Violet and I could even look at the assignment Lucky Bee cleared her throat to get our attention.

"What?" Violet and I asked.

"There's a note in that file that I forgot to tell you about," Lucky Bee said.

When Lucky Bee passed us the note, our eyes went wide in shock by what was on it.

It said in capital letters:

PRINCESS LUNA REQUESTS AN AUDIENCE WITH AGENTS ALEX SHIPMAN AND VIOLET CLIENT REGARDING THIS ROGUE PONY IMMEDIATELY!

I rubbed my eyes to see if I had read the note correctly, "Why would Princess Luna want to see us?"

Lucky Bee shrugged, "I don't know. I'm not allowed to know. This type of information you'll just have to find out when you get to Equestria."

Violet and I nodded and went to go through the portal to see what Princess Luna wanted of us.

* * *

When we stepped through the portal, Princess Luna was there to greet us. We bowed to her when we saw her, "You can look me in the eyes now."

"You wanted to see us, your highness?" I asked.

"Yes, as you know, I am the Princess of the Night, because I favor the nighttime. But ever since my sister Princess Celestia stepped down from the throne and I took over, I have to treat the daytime and the nighttime fairly.

"That being said, since I am the ruler of Equestria, it is also my duty to make sure the rules in the relationship with Earth are adhered to. The last thing I want is for Earth to decide that they no longer want to work with ponies because of not punishing those that break the rules," Princess Luna responded.

I looked at Princess Luna in confusion as I had no idea what Princess Luna said that was necessary for the assignment. Princess Luna smiled, "I understand your confusion. The rogue pony you're going after a famous party planner in Equestria. This rogue pony can definitely make you die laughing when you come across her if she wants to make you do that."

I wanted to laugh at that statement but I chose not to.

Princess Luna smiled again. "Yes, yes, I know, funny huh? This rogue pony's name is Pinkie Pie. She is a pink pony with a dark pink mane. Her cutie mark is that of three balloons. Her last known alias was the name Roxy Supro. You'll find where her last known location was in the file. I'm also going to send one of her friends, Princess Twilight, with you to help you track her down. Here she is right now."

"Well hello there agents of the PPA!" I heard a lively voice say. I turned to see a purple pony with wings and a horn just like Princess Luna. Seeing that she had a crown on her to show that she was part of royalty, Violet and I bowed to her.

Princess Twilight giggled. "No need to bow to me. I might be royalty, but I'm not the ruler of Equestria like Princess Luna is."

We stood there in an award silence until Princess Twilight said. "Oh yes, let me change into a human before I step through the portal. I'm so excited to do this! It's my first time you know."

Then there was a flash of light and standing before us was Princess Twilight in human form.

"See?" Princess Twilight asked. She pointed at her forehead. "In order to change back into an Alicorn, all I have to do is touch this red dot on my forehead, and wala! I'm an Alicorn again!"

It was comical how she demonstrated how she did it. She did this several times. Again I wanted to laugh but I chose not to. It's not that I can't laugh, I was trained by my mom not to laugh in front of people even if it's appropriate to do so. I would get spanked by her if I did.

Princess Luna laughed, "I know, she's hilarious, isn't she? You know she's single!"

I choked on that statement and said. "Thanks princess but no thanks. I'm already spoken for."

Princess Luna giggled. "Oh well, it was worth a shot. She's more interested in books at the moment. As a matter of fact, she loves books so much that she might marry one."

I held in my laughter. Nope, not going to laugh. Not happening.

Princess Twilight did her final transformation and gave us a puzzled look, "What are you guys talking about?"

Princess Luna gave a nervous laugh, "It's nothing. Anyway, Princess Twilight, you'll be given the cover name Terra, no princess added to that okay?"

Princess Twilight nodded. Princess Luna continued, "Yes, and you will be posing as Agent Client's best friend."

"Okay," said Princess Twilight. She paused and looked back and forth between me and Violet, "Which one of you is Agent Client?"

Violet smiled, "That would be me. Just call me Violet okay?"

"Okay, sure," Princess Twilight looked at me, "And who's the stallion standing next to you?"

"To correct you, I'm a human right along with Violet. Violet is a woman and I am a man." I said.

"Alright, can I see what you look like as humans?" Princess Twilight asked, "I've never seen a human before!"

"Sure!" Violet and I said. We took off our fake cutie marks and we were turned back into humans.

Princess Twilight clapped her hands as she was now in human form, "Oh, wonderful!"

Oh boy, I thought, trying not to look annoyed at Princess Twilight's excitement. I looked at Princess Twilight to see she was giving me a funny look.

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

As soon as I said that, I regretted saying it because of Princess Twilight's reaction, "It's just that, I've never seen humans before and while Violet looks just like me in human form, you are funny looking."

Violet snorted and I turned around and glared at her when I heard her. She stopped laughing when she saw me looking at her. Princess Luna giggled at this, "Okay you three. I'll leave Princess Twilight, who is now Terra, in your capable hands."

We all bowed to Princess Luna and she dismissed us. We then went through the portal back to PPA headquarters.

* * *

When we got back to PPA headquarters with Princess Twilight in tow, we reported to the main desk to turn in our badges that changed Violet and me into ponies. We exchanged those badges for the ones that showed we worked for the PPA.

Lucky Bee paused when she saw Princess Twilight in human form standing beside us, "Is that your girlfriend, Alex?"

"No, she's not," I hissed, "and it's Agent Shipman to you!"

"This is Terra," said Violet, "she's assisting us with the rogue pony we're after this time."

"Oh," Lucky Bee said, "well it's nice to meet you, Terra. My name's Lucky Bee. I hand out all of the agent's assignments here. I'm a pony because I actually live here and I don't go outside of Headquarters."

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, Lucky Bee!" Princess Twilight said, "Is it just me, or do human males look kind of funny?"

Lucky Bee snorted, "Oh yeah they look funny at first to a pony. But once you've been around them long enough, they don't look so weird anymore. You might start thinking one of them looks handsome to you. Take Alex over here for example."

Lucky Bee pointed a hoof in my direction. Princess Twilight tilted her head, "What's so special about him? I mean, he's cute as a stallion, but uh..."

Lucky Bee and Violet went into a fit of laughter at Princess Twilight's assessment of me.

"That's so not funny you two!" I snapped.

Princess Twilight was starting to make me uncomfortable. She started to look at me up and down from head to toe. She smiled and looked away. I glared at Lucky Bee and Violet because it seemed they gave Princess Twilight a different opinion about me.

"Hey, I was just telling Terra how handsome you are," Lucky Bee stated.

I rolled my eyes feeling nothing but annoyance at this situation. Lucky Bee suddenly looked like she remembered something, "Oh yeah, I forgot! Terra, since you've come with Alex and Violet, I'm going to assume you've been granted access to HQ. Can I see your paperwork?"

Violet smiled and passed Lucky Bee, Princess Twilight's file. When she opened it, she gasped at the fact that the file said Terra was actually Princess Twilight.

"Your highness!" Lucky Bee stammered, "I didn't know it was you! I'm sorry!"

Princess Twilight smiled. "Don't worry about it. Lucky is it? I'm on an assignment with Alex and Violet so no biggie. So no bowing and just call me Terra and treat me like a normal human okay?"

I could tell Lucky Bee wanted to say 'yes your highness' but with effort, she restrained herself. She nodded and took a room key and passed it to Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight looked at the key with curiosity.

"Um, T102?" Princess Twilight asked, "What's that for?"

"It's the key to your room, where you'll be staying while you're here," Lucky Bee explained.

"Okay," said Princess Twilight, she turned to Violet and me with the same curious look she had when she looked at her room key, "Do you guys have keys like this too?"

I nodded, "Yeah, but ours looks different since we're agents for the PPA."

Violet and I took our keys out, which were actually the pins we have on our jackets with our entails on them. We showed Princess Twilight how our keys were different to her. She examined them as if she were a scientist or something, "I wish I could be an agent! Your keys look way cooler than mine!"

Lucky Bee rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof and tried to think of how a princess would even begin to become an agent of the PPA, "Well, usually the Recruitment Agents find you and observe before they offer you the job. That's what happened with Alex and Violet."

"Actually, I saw a pony for the first time and at a bar of all places!" I said. "I knew for sure I didn't have that much to drink that day. So I followed them to where they were staying. I had no idea that I was helping out an agent for the PPA to bring the rogue pony back to Equestria."

"A Recruitment Agent found me at the grocery store where I worked. I had no idea that an agent was one of my coworkers. Apparently, they had been watching me for six months before they moved in for the kill," Violet said. "I didn't think getting recruited was a pleasant scenario. They pretty much kidnap you in order to offer you the job. Yup, weirdest job interview ever."

"So if I do well on this assignment and help catch this rough pony, maybe I could be an agent?" Princess Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure about that one your- I mean Terra." Lucky Bee said.

"Either way," said Princess Twilight, "I'm doing everything in my power to bring back my rule-breaking so-called friend Pinkie Pie. She's crossed the line for not coming here with permission first."

Lucky Bee gasped, "What? Pinkie Pie? As in the famous party planner Pinkie Pie?"

Lucky Bee gasped so loud that I wouldn't be surprised that the other end of HQ could hear it.

"Inside voice Ms. Bee!" I snapped, "Honestly now, this is an important assignment and I appreciate it if you would treat it as such."

Lucky Bee calmed herself down, "Oh, sorry Alex. It's not common for a famous pony from Equestria to be a rogue pony and a princess having to come here to track her down."

"Well Terra," said Violet, "I'll show you the ropes on how to assist us. We'll meet up with Alex at another time, okay?"

Princess Twilight nodded, "Sure. Okay."

With that, Violet, Princess Twilight, and I parted ways.