Chapters Prologue : Lyra Heartstrings
Defenders Assemble
The moderate breeze of the wind flew across the vast landscapes of Equestria. Cooling the heat of the land and calming the souls of its inhabitants. Everything sustained a sense of serenity and zen. A single green mare sat in the middle of the calm field of grass. Taking in the fresh air and using it to relax.
Any disturbance would be detected by her as she waited. Her eyes were closed by her ears were open. Sensitive to each and every sound. Her breathing was at a constant steady pace as she felt the air pass by her.
“I don’t like ponies sneaking up on me” She shouted, putting no effect on the approaching pony. After a few seconds of silence, she smirked and spoke up again, “Are you just going to stand there?”
“My names Agent Whooves” the pony said, “I’m from SHIELD” Lyra sighed as she rose to her hooves and grabbed her backpack.
“Whatever business offer you have, leave it” She said as she began to walk away. “I’m not interested”
“I’m not here on business” Whooves called after her. “I’m here about something much more important” She stopped and then turned around to look at the agent for the first time.
“And what would that be - special business?” She smirked as she let out a small laugh.
“The defence of Equestria” Whooves said. Lyra raised an eyebrow and approached Whooves, looking him in the eye.
“You think we’re not doing good enough?” Lyra asked with an assertive tone.
“Most of the time, you do a good job” Whooves stated, “but sometimes you don’t”
“Excuse me?” Lyra hissed as she took a step forward.
“One guard cannot take on a god” Whooves said firmly.
“So what are you here for then” Lyra asked as she sniffed. “To mock me about the incident at the wedding? To tell me that I can’t do my job?” Her voice rose as she mentioned the wedding.
“There is no problem with how you're doing your job” Whooves explained.
“Then why...” She stuttered.
“It’s your particular set of skills” Whooves said as he pulled a file from his jacket. “We believe they can be put to use in the Defenders program”
“The what program?” She questioned with much confusion in her voice.
“Defenders” He repeated, giving the file over to Lyra. “SHIELD is assembling a team of ponies who possess remarkable abilities. And I believe that you are just what this team needs”
“You think so?” She said as she looked at the documents in the file.
“I know so” He replied confidently. She read the names of the other team members and then looked back to Whooves with a look of disbelief.
“I’m sorry” She began, “But how are these ponies going to help. They’re just normal ponies!”
“Read into it and you will think otherwise” He said as he then looked to his watch. Lyra then looked up to him, seeing him looking down at his watch.
“Am I keeping you from something?” She asked.
“No” He replied quickly. “You’re the last one I have to deal with” Lyra raised an eyebrow to his statement and then referred back to the documents. She took a minute to skim through them, picking out the information that was important.
“I still don’t really understand” Lyra handed the document back to Whooves, still possessing a face of confusion. “I know Twilight, she’s not the one to get into a fight”
“You would be surprised” Whooves looked down and the document and then offered it back. “If you’re in, then you will need this”
“And what if I’m not” Lyra replied harshly. Whooves shrugged and then placed the document on the grass.
“You will” He said as he began to walk away. “We will pick you up tomorrow”
“Wait!” Lyra called after Whooves, who proceeded to stop. “I... I don’t think I can do this” Whooves smiled a little and turned to face Lyra fully.
“You’re more than capable to do this” Whooves then pulled out some sunglasses from his suit and placed them on his head. “You've got skill and heart. That's more than enough”
“Uh...” She then tried to think of what she could say next. A pony from some kind of group called SHIELD just approached her and gave her a document, which contained so much information about her.
“Don’t worry” Whooves broke her trail of thought, “The Director seems to have faith in you”
“The Director?” Lyra questioned.
“You’ll find out when you come in” Whooves the nodded and gestured at the documents. “But until then, you’ve got some reading up to do”
Whooves then turned back to the path that he was previously on. Lyra watched as he then walked over to a unicorn, who was also wearing a black suit. After nodding to each other and exchanging some words - the unicorn then teleported them away. Lyra had to spend a few long seconds to think about and process what happened.
This pony had just walked up to her and claimed so much, and then handed her a file that contained a massive amount of information. And the fact that he left it with her showed that he already had a large amount of trust in her. After retrieving the document and sitting back down, she began to read the documents in a lot more detail.
Reading each of the top names again she recycled the same reactions that she had shown the first time that she read them. But then she opened each one and found out more and more information. From personality profiles to abilities and powers. The sudden realisation came upon her as she realised that she was now in something much deeper and denser than before.
She quickly shoved the documents in her bag and took off for her house. Knowing that tomorrow would mark the last day of her normal life. And the first day of her new one.
Chapter Two : Getting Plasma
Defenders Assemble
Once again, the team and Luna were back around the main table. But this time Derpy had decided to join them. With the two new ponies still being a little bemused by all of the new things, Luna decided that she should get their minds off it.
“I presume all of this is quite mind blowing to you two” Luna suggested, causing the two mares to jump little.
“Just a bit” Lyra admitted, while Twilight was still a little dazed.
“With the pleasantries out of the way” Luna said as she pressed the screen in front of her, causing each of their screens to show a profile.
“I was wondering when this was going to come up” Twilight said as she looked at the profile, being familiar with it.
“Why didn’t you approach him earlier like us?” Lyra asked as she flipped through her document on the screen.
“Well, you see...” Whooves tried to begin, but he wasn’t sure how to put it. “He...”
“If we were to approach him like we did with you two...” Luna began.
“Then things could get a little messy” Derpy finished, receiving looks from the senior members. “What?”
“Anyway, we don’t think he will be too happy with us doing that” Luna explained.
“And if we get him angry...” Whooves began.
“Then all hell breaks loose” Derpy finished, receiving the annoyed looks again. “Aw, come on!”
“So we decided that if we already had a team, he might be a bit more accepting to the idea” Whooves explained. “And then we could perhaps bring him in”
“Are you sure it’s a risk worth taking” Lyra said loudly, probably a bit too loud.
“In the end, yes” Luna replied. “You have your doubts?”
“If this guy is so temperamental and dangerous, then why are we trying to take him in?” Lyra asked. “Why don’t we just leave him be?”
“A good question” Luna nodded and then turned to Whooves, waiting for the answer.
“We think we might be able to help him control his power” Whooves explained. “He is trying to do it himself, but it doesn’t seem to be working. So if we intervene, then we could potentially solve his problem”
“Right” Lyra accepted as she went back to looking at the file.
“So how is this going to be done?” Twilight asked.
“Agent Hooves will be talking to him” Whooves answered, “And we will be waiting if she needs any backup”
“Alright” Twilight said. A sudden thought hit her head at that moment as she realised something. “Wait! We haven’t even been trained yet!” Twilight suddenly blurted out.
“True” Whooves admitted, “But its unlikely that you will need any training”
“Don’t worry Twilight” Luna said calmingly over to Twilight, “The other agents will be around you”
“That comforting” Twilight said in a near sarcastic voice.
“Thanks...” Hooves sighed as she let her head rest on one of her hooves.
“But in all seriousness” Twilight began again, “If he does get angry and change. What can we do?”
“Trust me Twilight” Luna said calmly, “We’re not going to let that happen”
“Fine” Twilight let out hesitantly. Out of all of them, Twilight had the least combat experience. They all knew this, but her time would come eventually. After the team was ready, they all disembarked for the location of their target. Trottingham.
The quiet streets of Trottingham were covered in darkness from the luna night. The peaceful serenity of the city was sustained by the empty streets. So that made it a even better place to settle down. Most likely for one who wants to avoid stress.
A blue pegasus made his way through the streets, wearing a black hoodie to conceal his identity. Every now and again he would stop to check his back. Then once he was satisfied he would continue. Being alone on the streets was not the best idea at night, but this pony knew what he was doing.
Eventually he came to a building, in which he called home. After opening the door and shutting it behind him, he deadlocked the door with a bolt. Then he pulled his hoodie off and threw it onto a pile of clothing that he needed to clean. He then checked if he had any mail that would interest him, but after seeing that it was the usual boring stuff - he threw it aside.
He then walked into the main room of his home, taking a second to wait and think. He then felt the back of his throat have some dryness in it, so he got a glass of water and sat down on his sofa. After his eyes adjusted he took the entire drink down in one and he sat there, in the darkness.
His ears pricked up as he heard something out of the usual in his home. Something that shouldn’t be in his home. He held his breath for a couple of seconds and waited so he could hear it clearly. Sighing, he walked over to the wall with a switch on it and flipped the switch. The lights flickered to life and abolished the darkness.
The pegasus then turned around to see what he could hear. Another pegasus stood in the shadows, looking at him. For a moment they shared a staring contest, until the other pegasus closed their eyes and walked out of the shadows to reveal themselves. It was a grey pegasus mare with blond hair.
“You know” the blue pegasus began as he narrowed his eyes. “It’s not polite to break into somepony’s house”
“I know” the grey pegasus replied as she returned a evenly narrow look. They continued to be locked in a staring contest. Neither one wanting to look away, unless the other one tried something. The grey pegasus broke the link as she looked over at the door and then walked forwards.
“Who are you?” the blue pegasus asked as he backed away a little.
“Agent Derpy Hooves, from SHIELD” Derpy said as she then pulled a file from under her wing. The blue pegasus continued to lock his eyes on Derpy as she moved around. Being completely cautious of her movement. He then took a few seconds to look out of the window, looking out onto the pitch black streets.
“I’m guessing you’ve got the entire place surrounded” he remarked as he then looked back to Derpy.
“It’s just me and you” She said pleasantly as she then sat down on a chair, facing the blue pegasus as he awkwardly stood away from her.
“We’ve been tracking you for a while now” She explained as she pulled Max Plasma’s document out of the file. The blue pegasus then flinched a little as he caught sight of the document, with a picture of him on it.
“Why me?” He asked as he kept his distance.
“You’ve got some desirable skills” She stated as she then began to read from the document. “High agility, very fast, maybe not so good at defence though”
“Figures” He chuckled as he heard his own description.
“We’re looking to have you in the Defenders Program” She added. Max then froze as he listened to the word. Defenders...
“Is that all you need me for?” He asked, listening carefully for the next few words.
“That’s all that the director has told me” After she said that Max’s mind suddenly picked up on something. A slight twitch, as if she wasn’t telling the truth. He centered in on it and gave her a long hard look.
“You sure about that?” He asked. She frowned at him for a second as she took in his last question.
“Yeah...” She said, almost hesitantly.
“I don’t think so...” He said, a little darkly as he backed away into the shadows.
“What?” She spat as she watched him back towards the door.
“Don’t what me!” He shouted. “Empty streets, tower glimmers, the door”
“What are you ranting about?” She questioned, but knowing inside that he was completely right.
“These streets aren’t normally that empty, there are at least a few ponies who haven’t walked by. Those tower glimmers are your area recons and this door has just been unlocked...” Max then suddenly stopped as he looked over at the door, seeing that it had indeed been unlocked.
“Crap...” Derpy breathed as she shot a look at the agent at the door.
“All alone, huh?” Max then dashed away from the door and bolted through the window, shattering it instantly. After the initial shock of the event, Derpy quickly ran over to the window and looked out of it to see Max beginning to run.
“BOW!” She yelled at the agent, receiving a nod as he threw her bow and arrows to her. With that she jumped out of the window as well and began her pursuit. This could get out of hand really quickly. Really quickly.
A great tower stood above Trottingham, acting as a light for the town. Near the top was a setup of the other team members and Whooves. They all listened in on the conversation between Derpy and Max. Listening intently for any signs that could suggest that this was going to go wrong. It was then when Max stated the phrase “Empty streets, tower glimmers, the door”.
“He knows” Whooves huffed as he then turned to the two other agents with him. “You two, the chase is on”
“What about us?” Twilight asked.
“Feeling like running?” Whooves replied with his question as he watched the two other agents begin to descend the tower.
“I’ve got a better idea” Lyra smirked as her horn lit up. Within an instant she and Twilight teleported to the bottom of the tower. Whooves was quick to get a glimpse of them before they began to run.
“Good luck” He mumbled.
Max was at his full running speed now, with his heart pounding and blood running thick through his veins. He wasn’t ready to stop for anything. Knowing that an entire agency was now on his tail, he didn’t want to find out what they had in store for him. Or his curse.
The thin streets acted as perfect cover for the pegasus as he ran. He didn’t fly as he didn’t want to become a bigger target. And after taking a glimpse back he saw the other pegasus hot on his tail. She was now in the possession of a bow. Celestia knows what she’s going to do with that.
He took a sudden left turning down another street, causing the other pegasus to miss him. But she quickly turned around and got back on track. He then grabbed a pipe and swung into the air, using the wall and his wings to get higher. When he got to the top he ran across the building and jumped down onto the next one.
When he landed, two agents were there holding some kind of electrical devices. They both took a swipe at him but he was quicker than them. He blocked the first one with his forehoof and pushed his device into the other agent. He then hit the agent in the head with his elbow, causing both of the agents to fall unconscious. After the swift movement was done, he then continued his run.
Derpy caught sight of the two unconscious agents and she put her hoof to her ear, “We have two agents down, over”
“Right” Whooves replied through the earpiece.
Derpy then continued to chase the pegasus until she saw that she had a clear shot of him. Knowing that she could paralyse him, she pressed a button on her bow and the arrow changed. Drawing the arrow, she aimed at the escaping pegasus. She then drew her bow back ever so slightly more and was about to fire. But then he jumped back down onto the street.
“Damn” She huffed as she began to run again.
Twilight and Lyra were running to where they thought the pegasus would be, using the information that they were receiving through their earpieces. He was close, they could hear the disturbance throughout the neighbouring street as he moved as quickly as possible. They had to catch up with him.
Twilight’s horn then lit up and teleported the two in front of where Max was running to. When they came out of the teleport they were running in front of Max. Lyra then took the opportunity to suddenly stop and let her hoof fly back. Max attempted to lay back and slide under the attacking hoof, but he was too late and got it in his head. Then sudden stop was a bit too quick for Twilight, so she was a good few meters away from the action.
Lyra then attempted to restrain his hooves, but Max bucked her away and jumped back onto his hooves. They then began to look into each others eyes as they stood in front of each other. A locked stalemate. But it wasn’t to last as Max shot out and bolted over to Lyra. She responded by sliding her food on the ground to trip Max up.
The bedazzled pegasus was then thrown back by the unicorns magic. She wasn’t going to let him pass by. Not that easily. The pegasus took a few more seconds to recover this time. He knew she was wasting his time. If he spent any more time here the other pegasus would immobilise him. That wasn’t to say that this unicorn could do the same.
Max attempted one last attack, resulting in him being thrown back by the superior pony. He stumbled back as he tried to see what was going on. His vision became blurry as he looked around. A dizzy feeling came upon him as he felt a warm liquid drip from his forehead. He put his hoof to his head to see what it was, only to see a red mess appear on his hoof.
He then closed his eyes and blacked out. Then the other agents came out of their hiding places and slowly approached the stallion, being ever so careful as they did. Lyra walked a few meters away, not want to get involved any more than she already had. Twilight then began to approach the pegasus. After seeing the condition he was in, she thought that they might have been too rough.
“Will he be alright?” She questioned as she saw the slight amount of blood.
“He’ll be fine” Twilight jumped as the familiar Whooves stood next to her.
“You really need to stop sneaking up on me” Twilight hissed.
“I’ll work on it” Whooves smirked as he watched the agents put the pegasus on a chariot and then fly him away.
“What happens now?” Twilight asked as she watched after the chariot.
“Now?” Whooves then walked in front of her. “We get back to base, and help this Max Plasma”
“I don’t think he’s going to be terribly happy when we wake him” Lyra cut in as she walked along side the two.
“He’ll warm up” Whooves chuckled as he then whistled over another two chariots. The team then got back on the chariots and they began to fly away, but then a thought hit Twilight.
“Wait! Where’s Derpy?” Twilight asked.
“Deadeye?” The chariot pulled said. “In her nest” He then gestured his head over to a small area on top of a building. There Derpy was waiting, but now that the mission was over she gathered her things and began to fly. They really did have the entire place under lock down. And if Max somehow got past he would have been stopped by one of Derpy’s arrows. Crazy.
Defenders Assemble
Max felt a slight ting in the back of his head, specifically the place in which he had been hit. As he opened his eyes he came to see the black room around him. Turning his head to one side, he could see a large dead locked door. And when he looked above him he could see a giant mirror. An interrogation room.
“Damn” Max breathed as he put a hoof to his sore head. The pain still seemed to linger in there but his injuries were healed. It seemed like his attempt to escape was for nothing, he was cornered. He considered the thought that he should have gone along with it and maybe he would have been let free. But the thoughts about what had happened shadowed that idea.
He got himself to his hooves and looked around the room properly. It was a simple black room with a mirror, and a single dead lock door. There was also a table in the middle with two chairs sat at it, on opposite ends. Meaning that this was probably his prison. And since he had woken up he knew that they would not waste any time in coming to talk to him. After clicking his neck he decided that it would be a better idea to talk this one out, or else he would have to answer to those ponies again. The thought made him shudder as he felt the spot in which he was knocked out.
“Feeling numb?” A voice sounded from behind Max, causing his head to shoot around. “Agent Whooves” The pony greeted.
Max sighed as he looked at the pony, “Look, I don’t want any trouble”
“And we’re not looking for any either” Whooves replied quickly, leaving no room for him to finish. “We were hoping that we could get you in on more peaceful terms”
“Yeah, beating me up is real peaceful” Max remarked.
“But now that you are here, I wish to talk to you” Whooves then walked into the middle of the room, where the table was.
“Tough, I don’t wish to talk to you” Max snarled as he stormed over to a corner of the room.
Whooves sighed, “Look, I’m sorry about what happened in Trottingham”
“Oh yeah?” Max continued to avoid looking at him.
“But they were new, they weren’t even supposed to take part” Whooves explained.
“For an agency, you really know how to pick your team” Max said as he put a hoof on his head.
“We can only try” Whooves replied.
“Sure” Max began as he turned to look at the agent. “For starters you tried to recruit me!”
“Because you had desirable skills” Whooves explained.
“No... It’s because of my curse” Max shouted back, slamming his hoof on the desk. Everyone took a step back as he did that, knowing that he was not a happy pony. Then again, he’d had a bad day.
“That’s only a small part of it” Whooves said slowly.
“Likely story” Max then pulled the chair back and plopped himself down on it. “So until you feel like telling me the truth, I’m not talking!” He shouted as he sunk down into his hooves. Whooves sighed as he then turned around and walked out of the room, having the door locked behind him. He then walked down a small corridor to get to a room, in which the rest of the team were watching from.
“He’s not going to listen” Lyra started.
“Not after what happened” Derpy added.
“I doubt he would want to work with me, after hitting him” Lyra admitted.
“And I guess following orders only got me a bad impression as well” Derpy sighed.
“He just needs some time to think things over, recover” Whooves explained as he loosened his tie and sat down on one of the chairs. The room was then engulfed in silence. Nopony knew what to say, they had a member in the opposite room. But they couldn’t get him on their side. There was something that he was that nopony had picked up on. All but one.
“Let me have some time with him” Twilight spoke out.
“You crazy?” Lyra spat as she gave a very confused look over at Twilight.
“No, I just think he needs a different approach” Twilight explained.
“How so?” Whooves asked, slightly intrigued by the idea.
“You have been giving him stone cold faces, nothing but you wanting to get to the chase. Why not find out more about him?” Twilight explained.
“How’s that going to help? You already know pretty much everything about him” Derpy admitted as she gazed back through the glass again.
“Maybe, but I don’t know him” Twilight stated.
“I don’t get it” Derpy said dumbfounded.
“In do” Luna said as she entered the room, not being noticed by anypony.
“Director” Whooves stood to attention as she entered, neatening up himself in the process.
“At ease, but she’s right” Luna repeated.
“But...” Whooves tried to object, but he only received the look of “just don’t even try” from the Princess. Sighing he nodded to the guard, who guested for Twilight to follow him. Twilight left the room and followed the guard to the door, where he stopped and turned to her.
“If you have any problems, press the red button under the desk” The guard said, Twilight simply nodded in reply. He then opened the door and let Twilight in.
The room was completely silent when the door closed. Just being Twilight and Max in the room was enough to make it uncomfortable. Currently Max had decided to use the time of ponies not being in the room to fall back asleep. Twilight the approached the table and sat in the only other chair, facing Max. Unlike Whooves, she wasn’t wearing a suit or anything, which have may been one of the reasons why Max was intimidated. After sitting down and making herself comfortable, she prodded Max.
“Mhumm” Max groaned as he raised his head. After blinking and yawning he looked at the unicorn sat in front of him.
“Hello, my names Twilight Sparkle” Twilight greeted cheerfully.
“Umm, hi?” Max responded nervously.
“What’s your name?” Twilight asked. Max frowned as he considered the question, shouldn’t she already know?
“Max Plasma” Max replied uneasily, now sustaining eye contact.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
“A little numb from being hit it the head” Max replied, glaring over at the mirror.
“So Max, you probably remember me from Trottingham” Twilight explained.
“One of the unicorns that teleported in front of me, yes - I remember” Max confirmed.
“I was just wondering” Twilight began, “Why did you run away?” Max looked down for a second as he thought about the question. Running away was something that he did a lot, he would rather cower away then put others in danger.
“I was trying to get away” Max replied.
“But why?” Twilight repeated. Max rolled his eyes, only to see that Twilight remained unchanged.
“I guess I didn’t want certain things to happen” Max said vaguely.
“Like?” Twilight pressed. Max looked over the unicorns face, seeing no signs of her stopping her questioning.
“Like others getting hurt...” Max mumbled, shifting back a little and looking away as he did.
“Excuse me?” Twilight inquired, not hearing what he said.
“I didn’t want others to get hurt” Max mumbled again, but this time it was even more muffled.
“One more time” Twilight sighed, seeing that she might not get anywhere with him.
“Must I repeat myself, I didn’t want to hurt anypony” Max said clearly, and with a lot more volume.
“How were you going to hurt anypony during a conversation?” Twilight asked, still being a little cloudy on how everything fitted together.
“When she started to lie to me, a slight tick went off inside me” Max explained, returning his gaze to Twilight. “From that point I knew that I could easily lose control of myself, and if I did...” Max then returned to a silent state as he sighed again, falling into his hooves.
“We know that you don’t want to hurt anypony innocent, Max” Twilight stated as she put her hoof out and held Max’s hoof. “So that’s why we tried to bring you in”
Max then raised his head to show the destroyed state that he was in, “So you could put me in a cage and lock me up for good, I guess”
“No, we want to help you” Twilight said calmingly, “We know how you’ve tried to control your powers in the past and, well... haven’t had much success with that. So we want to give you a chance to get full control over your powers”
“And how is that going to work? Me being you lab rat while you find a solution” Max couldn’t help but let out.
“Not at all” Twilight assured as she put on a warm smile, “If anything, I want to help you. It’s not fair being plunged into a place with no idea of what you should do. I know that. But if you let others help you, then it might not turn out so bad”
“Y-you mean it?” Max asked, looking into her eyes with his own watery ones.
“I mean it” Twilight confirmed. Max then tried to smile, but all of the stress seemed to grab onto him and cause the smile to be held back. After wiping his eyes he attempted to speak again.
“Thank you” Max said as he grinned.
“Don’t worry Max, it will be alright” Twilight responded, knowing that she had gotten further than any of the others. Twilight then looked over at the mirror and nodded.
“I get that you don’t want me to be a walking time bomb and all” Max began, thinking about his next few words for a moment. “But it feels like you’re giving a lot more to me than I’m giving to you”
“Well, about that” Twilight started, “There is a way to put your powers to a better use”
“A better use?” Max questioned, looking intently at the unicorn.
“I guess you heard about the Defenders Program” Twilight began, receiving a nod of acknowledgement. “We thought that if we can help you get your powers under control, you can use them to protect the innocent”
“Using my powers to protect ponies?” Max pondered, “I’ve only know them to hurt others”
“Well, maybe this hurt can be condensed and used to stop the bad things, that happen against the innocent ponies that you want to protect” Twilight explained.
“How?” Max asked, wanting to know even more.
“Let us help you, and you will learn - trust me” Twilight concluded, holding her hoof out in the air. “So, are you in?” Max hesitated for a moment. He was being offered a chance to sort out his problems, control his power and maybe help some ponies while he was at it. This was an once in a lifetime opportunity for anypony. Then again, nopony was really like him.
If he didn’t take the chance, he would be sent back to square one, in which he would be stuck in this room until somepony else came to talk to him. That or they would lock him up for good or let him go. The latter being less likely. So, he really did see this as a one way thing. He should do this, this would make his life so much better. The advantages seemed to drown the disadvantages. Literally. So, he raised his hoof and put it against Twilights.
“I’m in” Max announced.
Defenders Assemble
The team was now assembled. Everypony who had been chosen to be a part of the program had been found. But there was still a few minor details that needed to be ironed out. But these problems are actually rather large. Either way the first part is done, getting them together.
They were back in the meeting room, sat around the table. Max was busying himself with the new technology, prodding the screen and getting instant results. Being fascinated by everything that was around him. Even though there was a part of him that didn’t want to be there, he knew that it could turn out alright for him, and probably others.
Next to him was Twilight, as she was the pony that he could trust the most as of now. And as the table went around the others were seated, with Luna at the head of the table, nearest to the big screen. She gazed over the members who were sitting before her, seeing each individual with their various concerns and dreams. Clearing her throat, she began.
“It’s good to see that everypony has now come together” She then gazed over at Max, “And I’m sorry about how we got you in”
“I’ll work on forgiving you” Max responded, looking over at the rest of the group.
“As you are now here, we can now begin phase two of the program” Luna explained as she then pressed her screen, making a information slide come up. “Training”
“That’s good to hear” Twilight sighed in relief as she began to read off the screen.
“We are looking to train you in your specialist area’s” Whooves explained as he pressed another button, causing each of the members to get an individual plan on their screen. “You are free to train on your own, or with help”
“But I’m guessing most of you will already know what you will be doing” Luna said as smiled at the team.
“I guess I know what I need to know” Lyra admitted as she read over her plan.
“I’ve just got to practice” Derpy said.
“Twilight and Max will be working with me” Luna announced, “Whooves, you can supervise the other two”
“We don’t need supervision” Derpy snorted, “Well, I don’t know about her”
“What?” Lyra spat as she received a smirk from Derpy, “I’m part of the royal guard for Celestia’s sake”
Derpy the hummed for a moment and pulled a spontaneous face, “Good point”
“But I still need to be there” Whooves pointed out, “Just in case you have problems, that is”
“Problems?” Lyra questioned.
“Yeah” Whooves then pressed a button and a bunch of manuals appeared, “Unless you have read all of these then I doubt that you will be able to work the machines”
“I guess” Lyra said slowly as her face dropped at the amount of pages in the books.
“Can I read those?” Twilight asked quietly.
“Sure” Whooves said without looking at her, flicking the screen. The books then appeared on her screen.
“Thanks” She said as she began to look through them.
“As you will be staying here for a little while we have gotten you rooms” Luna announced, pressing another button - showing a schematic of the facility. Then a part lit up, showing their set of rooms.
“Cool” Max let out as he looked closely at the schematic. The others took a mental note of the area and then returned their attention to the head.
“Is there anything else that anypony would like to ask?” Luna asked, gazing over the team. Max put his hoof up, “Yes?”
“Just wondering, is this all of the team?” Max asked.
“Yes. You, Twilight, Lyra and Derpy are the only members of the Defenders program” She explained. Max shrugged and returned his attention to his screen.
“Anypony else?” Luna asked. After waiting a few seconds she got another hand up from Lyra.
“Who are we protecting Equestria from?” Lyra asked. Luna went silent for a few seconds and then pressed another button. Their screens were spammed with various known and unknown creatures and races. Each one with a hostile tag on them.
“A better question would be what were are protecting it from” Derpy said as she looked over the pictures.
“I guess you didn’t know we had this many problems” Luna presumed as she looked at each of their facial expressions. Ranging from subtle fear to shock.
“Not at all” Max said as he leaned in, only to jolt back as a picture shot forward.
“Is there anything that is specifically a major risk” Twilight asked, trying to narrow down the possibilities.
“So far, these are all equally as threatening” Whooves explained, “The latest one was the changeling attack”
“I remember that” Lyra coughed as she remembered it clearly.
“But, as of now we have no major threat” Whooves repeated.
“So we are just going to have to prepare for now” Luna said informatively. “Anything else?” The team looked over at each other for a moment and then Max rose his hoof again. “Yes?” Luna asked.
“Yeah, can you make sure I don’t get hit by one of our own again” Max requested as he rubbed the back of his head. “Because my head still hurts”
“I’ll make sure of it” Lyra chuckled as she smiled over at Max.
“Dismissed” Luna announced as she raised herself to her hooves and began to walk over to one of the side doors, marked “Training”. Max and Twilight followed her as she left, leaving the others to exit afterwards. As they waited Whooves walked over to the door and stood in front of it for a second.
“What do you guys think of Max and Twilight” Whooves asked.
“Their nice” Derpy replied.
“As long as their on our side” Lyra added. She then noticed Whooves was being a little uneasy. “What’s up?”
“Huh?” Whooves blabbered before regaining his posture, “It’s nothing”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing” Lyra inquired.
“No, seriously. Nothings up” Whooves tried to conclude.
“You sound a little tense” Derpy said as she walked over to the duo, “Is it about them two?”
“Well...” He tried to forge another way to get out of the conversation, but it was for nothing.
“Don’t worry, we won't tell them” Derpy assured him.
“I guess I can tell you” Whooves began as he sighed, “You see, I picked this team out of everypony in Equestria. And I guess I was expecting them to be a little different. And after seeing how Max reacted I wasn’t sure if this was ever going to kick off”
“They’ll get into it” Derpy assured Whooves as she walked past him, going through the door.
“Yeah, they just need some more time” Lyra added as she walked past him too.
“Which training place have we got?” Derpy asked as she stopped for a second.
“Three” Whooves stated as he walked with the group. He couldn’t help but think about how inexperienced the other two were. Then again he should have expected it, after they were picked as civilians. And after being pushed into a new world, they would need time to get used to it and develop. ‘Soon’ he thought.
Max and Twilight followed Luna into the training hall. It was large with several ponies working in it, working on various pieces of machinery. Max took a long look around as this was the first time in which he had been in one of these rooms. Seeing how a lot of the equipment was already out and being tested.
“I would like to work on you powers first Max, if you don’t mind Twilight” Luna announced as she walked over to a door on the other end of the room. Beyond the door was two other doors, one being a heavy dead locked door, and the other being a examination room.
“What is this place?” Twilight asked, looking at the two separate doors.
“This is the place where anypony can let their abilities and power be let out, in a controlled environment” Luna explained, “Therefore nopony will get hurt in the process”
“Not bad” Max let out as he walked over to the dead locked door and knocked on it.
“We can also get readings and use them for our research” Luna went on, “Then we can find a solution to your issues”
“So, do you just want me to walk in and let it all out?” Max asked.
“Pretty much” Luna replied, receiving a nod from Max.
“Shall we begin then?” Max asked, as he knocked on the door again.
“Yes” Luna then walked over to the other door and pressed a button to open it, inside was a bunch of devices, like the ones in the main room at the edge of the room. There was also a large pain of thick glass. All of the chairs were facing the window so that everyone could see.
“Director” One of the ponies spoke up, who was wearing a lab coat.
“He’s ready” She said, receiving a nod from one of the operators. The dead locked door then opened, allowing Max to walk inside. After the doors were locked and everyone was seated, the operator leaned over a microphone and pressed a button.
“We are ready when you are” He said. Max nodded and then looked over to the targets on the other side of the room.
“Do you have any idea what this is going to look like?” Twilight asked.
“No idea” Luna said as she waited for Max to proceed.
Inside of the room, everything was silent. It was longer in the opposite direction of the glass plain, spanning out for about fifty meters. Max walked forward a little until he came up to a white line, which was marked very long range. After closing his eyes and breathing out slowly, he focused on his power. Everything remained silent for a few more seconds as Max closed in on his power that he had been trying to lock away.
He then suddenly opened his eyes and he was suddenly surrounded by a bright cyan blue aura. The energy quickly became condensed into rings of plasmatic energy as Max attempted to gain some control over it. As it built us he threw it forward. The energy burned everything that it came into contact with and it bounced around the room for a short second.
In quick succession, more energy was suddenly produced. This time Max wasn’t ready for it and he ended up throwing it backwards. The energy smashed into the glass, leaving some of the glass melted. Again and again, more sudden bursts of energy were produced from his body. But some of them ended up being balls of energy than rings or beams.
He then slammed his hoof down on the ground. For a few seconds he was still and silent, as was the crew and operators who were watching. Each of them wearing a face of shock, after all the shouting that Max had done, they thought that he was in great pain. And then it all stopped.
Suddenly Max’s body lit up in a blue aura, much like the shade of his coat. He now had little control over what was about to happen next. He reared up and screamed as waves of power started to blast out of him, hitting the room and causing many burns to appear. After his moment he then got some control and slammed the ground again. This time the power was thrown out of him and onto the ground, causing a massive surge of power to be let out.
Sweating heavily and breathing just as much, his coat returned to its normal state. He then stood up and began to walk over to the door. But he was too tired to walk any more, so he fell down onto the ground. Tears swelled in his eyes as he laid on the ground, exhausted from the exercise.
In the control room, everyone had their eyes on Max. Knowing that he possessed so much power, yet he had no real control over it as it escalates. The readings were now coming up on their screens, showing just about how much was going on in that room. The heat was on an all time high, from where the blasts had hit.
“That escalated really quickly” said the operator as he looked over the readings again.
“You can say that again” Twilight added as she walked over to the door.
“Where are you going?” asked the operator as he noticed Twilight walk away.
“To get him out” Twilight responded firmly as she shot a look back at him. He simply avoided eye contact and pressed the release button. The doors opened to allow Twilight to enter. The room blowed out a breath of hot air as the pressures leveled out. Twilight hesitated to step in the room after feeling the hot air, but she pressed one hoof down to feel that the ground was now being cooled down.
She then walked inside and approached the blue pegasus in the room. Keeping her speed slow in order to not be so sudden with approaching him. When she was a meter away she could feel the heat coming off of his body. Kneeling down, she placed a hoof on his head.
“Hey” She said quietly, “You alright?”
“Sleepy” Max groaned as he rolled onto his back. He then yawned and flickered his eyes open. “I’ll be a minute”
“Take all the time you need” Twilight assured him as she nodded to the operators. He was safe again. At least for now.
Chapter Five : Training For Action
Defenders Assemble
Another arrow hit its target as Derpy fired it. She spent a second to relax before grabbing another arrow from her quiver and firing it too at the target. Every time she was trying to get further and further into the center. Whooves, who had been supervising, walked over to the control panel next to the range and pressed a few buttons.
“How about some wind to make it more realistic” Whooves suggested as he turned the wind turbines on. Derpy smirked and drew another arrow, adjusting her aim as she felt the wind. When she let go of the arrow it shot through the air and curved with the wind. Then it landed in the middle of the target, as the others had.
“No problem” Derpy said as she smirked at the result. Lyra then walked over to the two, watching the impressive archery abilities of Derpy.
“I can see why they gave you that nick name” Lyra exclaimed as she stood beside her, looking down the range at the perfect streak.
“Thanks” Derpy responded as she set her bow back on the stand.
“How’s your combat training going?” Whooves asked Lyra.
“Same as ever” Lyra answered as she walked back over to the training bot. It was a podium with sticks that could fly out. Made for quick attacks in rapid succession.
“Want to try something more challenging?” Derpy asked as she looked rather unimpressed at the piece of equipment.
“Have something better in mind?” Lyra questioned, receiving a nod from Derpy.
“Yeah, over here” She said as she lead Lyra over to a circle. Inside was another smaller circle, presumably where the pony training should stand. Just outside of the circle was a control panel. “Stand in the circle”
“The smaller one?” Lyra asked as she walked inside the bigger circle.
“Yeah” Derpy replied as she pressed a couple of buttons.
“What’s this going to do?” Lyra asked as she stood uneasily in the middle of the circle.
“Targets are going to pop up and charge at you” Derpy explained calmly, “You’ve just got to hit them once to set them back down”
“Sound’s easy” Lyra remarked.
“You say that now” Whooves smirked as he knew what was coming, “But it is very hard”
“I like a challenge” Lyra chuckled as she got herself ready.
“Ready?” Derpy asked, with her hoof on the start button. Lyra licked her lips and nodded. “Good luck” Derpy then pressed the button and the equipment came alive. Within a second a dummy popped up and charged at Lyra. Noticing its appearance, Lyra turned to face it and she punched it. And as they said, it went down and fell back. As soon as that one had been downed another from behind her popped up and charged. Being a little surprised by it, Lyra didn’t have the time to turn around, so she bucked it back.
In the next second, two popped up from opposite sides. And at the same time they charged at Lyra. Knowing what she had to do, she jumped up and did a splits kick. After hitting both of the dummies in the head, they fell down and then another came. And another, and another. In a short period of time, she was really feeling the burn. The thought of knowing that the next one could come from anywhere at anytime.
After a minute, three came up at the same time and charged. Not knowing how she could tackle this problem, she had a quick combat think. After remembering a move that she learned, she slid down and slide kicked the three across their chests. When the fell down, another dummy charged from behind her. She tried to get up to intercept it, but when she was on her hooves, the dummy was face to face with her. After hearing a loud low toned bleep, the exercise was over.
“Not bad” Whooves said with an impressed tone in his voice.
“Best time we have” Derpy announced as she pressed a few buttons to record the new high score. “Looks like Storm was a bit too slow”
“How long was I in for?” Lyra asked as she breathed heavily.
“About a minute and fifty seconds” Derpy read from the screen. “Which is exceptional. As this is a continuous exercise”
“What’s the average then?” Lyra asked, being a little intrigued at her success.
“About thirty seconds tops” Derpy said.
“Awesome” Lyra squealed happily as she felt the joy of being the best. That was in the section of close combat. After the moment had passed Whooves turned his attention to another section of the training room.
“Lyra” Whooves called, getting her attention, “How would you feel about trying knife throwing?”
“Knife throwing?” Lyra questioned as she walked over to the station in question. Arranged neatly was a row of small throwing knives. There was also a belt that had some other ones attached to it. Picking up one of them, Lyra felt the weight of the blade. It was light, but sharp. The grip was made in such a way so that it was easy to throw.
“Do you know how to throw one of these?” Derpy asked as she picked one up too.
“I guess...” Lyra mumbled as she held the blade in one hoof.
“Well, give it a try then” Derpy said as she pressed a button on the control panel, causing a target to come up. Lyra centered herself to the target and gripped the knife. Then, in one swift motion, she lifted her hoof and threw the knife and the target. The knife indented itself at a couple of rings from the center.
“Not bad for a first try” Whooves admitted.
“Could be better though” Derpy added as she then aggressively threw her knife at the target, hitting it dead in the middle.
“Wow...” Lyra gasped as she looked at the target, seeing that it had developed a little crack in it, from the force of the throwing knife. “How did you do that?”
“Give the throw some aggression and keep looking at the target” Derpy explained, “That, and plenty of practice” Lyra grabbed another one of the knives and tried using Derpy’s advice. After she threw the knife it landed a little closer to the center, but it was still a little bit off.
“Soon...” Lyra mumbled as she looked at her attempts.
“Don’t worry about it Lyra” Whooves said as he walked along side her, “It takes awhile for anypony to get a perfect throw”
“Yeah” Lyra mumbled again, “I guess”
They were all suddenly disrupted by the sound of the doors flying open and a cart getting wheeled in. Another agent was pushing this cart towards the trio.
“Agent Lucky, what’s in the cart?” Asked Whooves as he walked over to intercept the earth pony.
“Oh, it’s a package for Agent Deadeye” Lucky said as he stopped and walked to the side of the cart. He then pressed the keypad on the side of the packaging a couple of times and pulled it open.
“What is it?” Lyra asked as she and Derpy approached the package. Derpy looked inside the package, the object inside of it. She grabbed it and pulled it out, showing it in the light.
“This is the bow that has been developed for me” She said as she stretched the string out a little, and looked through the scope.
“The MX16 Combat Bow” Lucky said professionally, “With the MX16 Combat Quiver” Lucky then pulled the quiver out of the package as well and handed it over to Derpy.
“Awesome” Derpy said as she examined the bow and the quiver.
“Is it ready for use?” Whooves asked Lucky.
“Yeah, finished it off a few days ago” Lucky replied as he closed the package and turned the cart around. “Should be ready for combat use”
“Thanks” Derpy said as she place the quiver on her back and dashed over to the training range. Lucky nodded and pushed the cart back to where he had come from. Derpy stood in front of the target range and held the bow up, feeling its weight and balance. She seemed to be rather excited about it, but Lyra couldn’t really see what was so special about it. Sure, it looked slightly different, but what else made it better than another bow.
“Derpy” Lyra began as she stood along side her, looking at the bow, “What’s so special about this bow?” Derpy frowned at her as she thought “How isn’t it special? ”. She then thought that the only way to prove it was to show her.
“Well, there are many things” Derpy then pressed a button on the bow, which then caused the bottom part of the quiver to rotate. “Like there are adjustable heads for the arrows” she said as she drew one of the arrows and fired it. When this arrow hit, the target burst into flames and burned to ash.
“That’s pretty cool...” Lyra gasped, seeing that the bow was indeed very advanced. “What else does it do?”
“This” Derpy then pressed the button again and pulled another arrow out. When she fired this one it stuck to the target like a normal arrow. She then pulled out her earpiece and held it near Lyra’s ear.
“I don’t get it” Lyra said as she listened to the sounds, which then began to echo.
“It’s a audio transmission device” Derpy said, which was then repeated through the earpiece.
“That’s pretty cool” Lyra commented, listening to her own voice get repeated. Derpy then pressed another button and the arrow exploded with a small puff. She then replaced the ear piece in her ear and pressed another button on her bow, which caused another arrow to be formed.
“Better stand back for this one” Derpy said as she glanced over the other two. Whooves, knowing what was coming next, had already taken a few steps back. Lyra joined him and watched, not knowing what was going to happen next. Derpy drew the arrow and fired it at the target. It hit and then... nothing. Turning around she walked over to the duo who were waiting for something to happen.
“Just a normal arrow?” Lyra questioned under her breath.
“Nope, just taking a step back myself” Derpy admitted as she then stood beside the other two. The arrow then opened and the target was engulfed in a explosion. A shock wave passed over the group as they watched the target disappear. For a second Lyra was frozen in shock, one moment a tiny arrow had been fired. The next moment that tiny arrow had destroyed an entire target.
“Wow” Lyra breathed out at the sight left behind. This group wasn’t messing around when it came to protection. They had the best tech and the best ponies on the team. And furthermore, she was one of them now.
One of the best in the world.
Chapter Six : Preparation
Defenders Assemble
Another bolt of magic smashed into it’s target, followed by another one in quick succession. Twilight then charged up another blast and fired it too at the target. Laying on a seat behind her was Max, who was busy reading a book about the systems that were being using in the base. Both were fully occupied by their current tasks.
Where Twilight was learning new combat magic and trying to get stronger, Max was using his intelligence to learn about the new world of technology around him. For a second Max looked up from his book at Twilight, and then quickly to the target that she was firing at. So far Max had noticed that she was only firing at one spot, mainly because she was getting her stamina up.
Max then placed the book aside and came to his hooves, walking over to Twilight as he did. He then stood alongside her as she fired another bolt of magic at the target. He watched the magic spark from her horn and then condensed into a bolt of magic. As the power came to its peak it shot away from her horn at speed and hit the target. Max shrugged and then walked over to the control panel, examining the many features that it had.
“Do you mind?” He asked as he pointed at the control panel.
Twilight shook her head, “Not at all. What are you planning on doing?”
“Giving you a reactions exercise” He said as he pressed a few buttons and moved a couple of entities on the screen.
“Sounds interesting” Twilight said as she watched Max work at the panel, “I guess you found that book interesting”
Max looked up from the panel for a moment and looked to Twilight, “Yeah, it’s just so fascinating that there is all of this stuff. Yet, none of it has been released to the world”
“They probably had their reasons” Twilight pointed out as she then turned her attention back to the range.
“Twilight” Max then suddenly said as he finished what he was doing on the control panel.
“Yeah” Twilight replied, turning her head back to Max.
“Mind if I ask you a question?” Max asked.
“What do you want to know?” Twilight responded.
“You said you knew what it was like to be like me” Max began, rubbing his head for a moment and looking behind himself. “What exactly happened to you?”
“Well, I used to live in Canterlot” Twilight started, “And I was the personal student of Princess Celestia”
“Wow” Max gasped subtly.
“And I didn’t have much time for friends, you see” Twilight explained, “And Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville. She asked me to look over the Summer Sun Celebration and to make some friends, but I had plans of my own”
“So, what did you do” Max asked.
“I got the supervision done as quickly as possible, and thats how I met all of my friends” Twilight explained, smiling a little at the memory, “In the beginning I pushed everyone away, I felt so closed off and alone. But when I let others help me - I found the magic of friendship”
“Friendship...” Max mumbled the alien word, letting Twilight continue.
“So I know what its like be in a world of fear, with no one to look out for you” Twilight concluded, “And that’s how I understand what situation you’re in”
“That’s quite a story” Max admitted as he then turned to the control panel, with his hoof over the start button.
“Maybe you can tell me your story one day” Twilight suggested as she got ready.
“Maybe...” Max repeated as he pressed the button. Twilight then snapped her head to the target range, on complete alert. For a few seconds nothing happened as the lights dimmed down and a low tone sounded.
Suddenly a target popped up, which caused Twilight to shoot a bolt of magic at it. The purple magic lit up the surroundings and collided with the target, throwing it down again. Another target popped up on the other side of the range, which got the same treatment from Twilight. And as others popped up, they got hit by the powerful magic bolts.
Each time a bolt hit the target, Max did not flinch or look away from the target. The entire time he looked at the magic sparkle and glimmer as it achieved its goal. He began to think about what Twilight had said. Having friends and ponies to look out for you. The idea seemed alien to him, but it was possible.
Another low tone sounded to show the end of the exercise, Max let out a smirk as he looked at the result. Nodding and being pleased with the result, he walked back over to his chair.
“How did I do?” Twilight asked as she walked over to the control panel.
“Perfect” Max answered. “In easy mode, that is” Twilight looked back to him, with a challenging look on her face.
“I can do harder” She boasted.
“You sure?” Max replied, looking her with an equally challenging look.
“Let’s go up a level then” Twilight said as she turned back to the target range. Max walked back over to the control panel and pressed a few more buttons.
Whooves stood with Luna in a prep room, created for the sole purpose of getting the team equipped and sent out. All of their repaired and polished equipment would be presented in the room so that they could get ready at a moments notice. As the team was brand new, everyone was still training and getting gadgets and devices made for them. Depending on what they did, was what they got.
“Think they're ready to see it all?” Whooves asked Luna as he observed the room, and its main package.
“I think so” Luna replied as she nodded back at Whooves. Pressing the side of his headset, Whooves spoke into it.
“Calling all Defenders, please make your way to the Mission Prep Room” Whooves said clearly. After a few seconds, he got his responses.
“Roger” He heard the voice of Max, with Twilight in the background.
“Got it” Derpy also replied with Lyra talking in the background. And after a few minutes the members made their way to the room and stood in a line in front of Luna and Whooves.
“Why are we here?” Lyra asked, looked around the new room.
“As you are now part of the team, you will need your new suits” Whooves explained.
“Are you sure that we should be fighting in a black blazer and tie?” Twilight asked. Whooves shaked his head and chuckled.
“No, not that kind of suit” He then pressed a button and four manikins raised from the ground. Each one was wearing a suit.
Their jumpsuits were made of a strong black material. Soft on the inside to make them comfortable to wear. There were thick lines on the outside of them which traced the main parts of the body. The colour of these lines correspond to each of the members coat colours. The suits were near identical, but in different sizes. Strangely the right sizes for each of them.
“Where did these come from” Max asked as he approached his podium and looked at the jumpsuit. The others approached theirs too, taking in what they would be wearing.
“We made them, or more specifically our designer made them” Whooves explained as he walked along side the members, taking in each of their expressions.
“Who is the designer?” Twilight asked, being a little intrigued by this new character.
“All in good time” Luna replied.
“These suits are made to defend you. The material is strong, fireproof, waterproof and most types of proof” Whooves explained as he pressed a button, and a fireball was fired at one of the suits. The impact was quick, and the suit was engulfed. But after a brief second the fire died and the suit was left behind without any damage.
“We have added some features to specific suits from our research of you” Luna added.
“You’ve been... studying us?” Lyra questioned, raising an eyebrow to the idea.
“We have” Whooves confirmed as he then walked over to Lyra’s suit and raised the forehoof of it. “These are tasers. If you get close to something and want to paralyze it, just press these into it”
“But what if I touch somepony that I don’t want to taser?” Lyra asked, looking a bit unsure about the upgrade.
“Don’t worry about that” Whooves then let out a little smirk as he felt clever. “It will only activate if you are in a state in which you would need to use it. For instance in a fight, or if you are about to fight someone”
“I get it” Lyra nodded as she understood what Whooves ment. Whooves then approached Max’s suit and lifted the forehoof. There was some kind of gauntlet on each of the fore hoofs. It had a diamond at the end, and lines leading back into the suit.
“After you performed your power at the training session we found that we needed to make some adjustments to your suit” Whooves pointed to the diamond at the tip of the gauntlet. “We had to used diamonds to project your power, as other elements just wouldn’t do. We are on the verge of discovering a new element for this, and thanks to you doing what you did, we’ve gotten closer”
“So, how does this work?” Max asked, looking at the special suit.
“When you use your plasmatic power it is channeled by your suit, into the gauntlets. Therefore creating two plasma beams” Whooves explained, “And in time you will be able to control your energy”
“I hope” Max added.
“I know you will” Luna concluded, smiling at Max warmly.
A sudden siren sounded, causing the entire room of ponies to stop their current concerns and look to the speaker. The room was left in silence as the mare spoke through the speaker.
“This is a level five emergency, repeat, level five emergency”
“Well, looks like you will get to try your suits out sooner than later” Whooves remarked as he dashed away, towards the small office near the preparation room.
“What’s a level five emergency?” Twilight asked out in the open, not directing the question at anypony.
“Well” Lyra began, “It’s an emergency that is level five”
“Helpful...” Twilight sighed as walked over to her suit, seeing that the thick lines were in a strong violet. Standing face to face with the manikin made her a little uneasy, thinking that she would be wearing this in the combat zone.
“A level five means that some place is being attacked by something that needs to be dealt with fast” Derpy said as she unzipped the suit from the manikin and began to put it on herself.
“So, what would we be fighting?” Max asked, as he attempted to get his suit off the manikin - but then he realised that the gauntlets were holding it on.
“Troll, Dragon, Ursa Minor or Major. Take your pick” Derpy listed as she zipped her suit up and then grabbed her quiver, strapping it on her back.
“Sounds intense” Max remarked as he detached the gauntlets and put his suit on.
“It’s just the four of us verse some giant... thing then?” Twilight pressed, as she started to let her nerves get the better of her.
“Yeah” Derpy shrugged, “Problem with that?”
“It’s just it doesn’t add up” Twilight explained, “Normally you would have a large amount of ponies to deal with a big thing like this. But just four of us?”
“Four of the best” Lyra added.
“I... guess so” Twilight mumbled. The siren then died down and Whooves began to speak down the line instead.
“Alright, we’ve got a very big dragon and he is not happy. Make sure that you have got your earpieces in and stay together. You’re a team, remember that”
“Where is this happening?” Lyra asked aloud, not even considering if Whooves could actually hear her. But he could, and he was hesitant at first. He cleared his throat and tried to stall by flicking through some files on the screen so that he could read it for himself. The next word that he spoke made the entire team go silent, except for Max - as he had no idea what this place was. It was only when he thought back to the files, that he then remembered one important detail. A place that was safe to them, their place. Their home.
“Ponyville”
Chapter Seven : Mission One
Defenders Assemble
Each of the members of the team were strapped into some kind of box machine. All they were told about it was that it was another prototype thing that they had been developing, called the VTOL. And it was going to get them to their destination in the fastest time. An uneasy emotion seemed to resonate in all of them as they sat together in silence. Max looked around, knowing that something was up between everyone. He wanted to say something, but being the only one from Trottingham, and the only stallion, it kind of singled him out.
“We’ll be over the drop zone in one minute” The pilot said through the speakers.
Everyone became slightly more uncomfortable as they could feel that the time was coming when they would be put straight into a conflict. Lyra looked up and noticed that the team was uneasy. Each one of them was trying to do something to get the feeling of their mind, but it was to no success.
“Hey, just remember” Lyra began, getting everyone's attention, “We’re a team, we look out for each other. Alright?”
The group nodded in unison. A green light then flashed above the door and it began to unlock itself. Twilight looked down at her mask, the one thing that could protect her precious identity. Each one of them put their masks on and stood together. This was it it. Time to go.
“Ready for this?” Derpy asked, looking to her side.
“As ready as I will ever be” Max nodded.
“Sure, it’ll be fun” Twilight joked.
The door then lowered and a blaze shot at the opening. The team ducked and then looked out at the fire which was building. What was wrong with this dragon? For a second the team stood together and watched. Max then jumped out of the safe space and landed on the ground. And with that, the rest of the team followed. They were now at ground zero.
Everything was burning, there was no one about. Just them in this town. This town they called home, well, most of them. Lyra took the lead and trotted forward first, and the rest of the team followed her. They could hear the dragon in the distance. He was close, but they needed to get closer.
“This place is a wreck” Max sighed as he watched the surroundings burn around him. He could feel the tension within the group. “I bet it was a nicer place before the dragon attacked”
“Yeah, it was” Lyra kept the pace up, she even might have sped up at that moment.
“I guess you don’t travel much then” Twilight suggested.
“With my curse, not likely” Max huffed as he kept his pace with the rest of the team.
“Go figure” Derpy then flapped her wings and began to hover.
The sounds of the dragons rage became increasingly loud as the team go closer and closer. They all then came to the side of a building, lined up and ready. Lyra took a quick look around the corner and saw the dragon. Nodding back to the team, they all prepared themselves. But in the second of them being ready to charge, they heard a boom in the sky.
“What the buck was that?” Max shouted as he walked out into the open to see what was going on.
He was then hit by a blast of air and was pushed back a little. The rest of the team began to emerge and look at what Max was looking at. In the sky was a splash of rainbow colours and a trail headed towards the dragon. The dragon had seemed to have caught something inside of its claw, something cyan blue. The dragon shook it about for a bit and then threw it in the direction of the ponies. Instinctively Derpy flew forward, but Max was faster and he shot forward - catching the cyan blue thing in the air and then flying back to the team.
In his hooves was an unconscious pony with rainbow hair. Max put his hoof to her neck to check her pulse and sighed in relief. She was out cold from the attack but she was lucky to still be alive. He then placed her down on the ground with her leaned up against the wall.
“Is she alright?!” Twilight cried as she knelt beside her friend.
“She’s just unconscious” Max explained as he felt her temperature, “What’s her name?”
“Rainbow Dash” Twilight said, still a little shaken by what happened.
“Alright, I’ll make sure she’s ok” Max said as he looked around to the rest of the group. He nodded and they nodded back, they knew what they needed to do.
“Let’s show this dragon why he doesn’t mess with home” Lyra shouted as she turned back to the dragon with the rest of the team behind her.
The dragon held its head in its claw as it seemed to be fighting some kind of headache. It took a moment until it shook its head and returned its gaze to the group ahead. Snarling, it picked up a rock and hurled it towards them. The group then began their charge, dodging the rock and picking up the pace. Derpy began to fly as she drew an arrow on her bow, ready to attack. Twilight began to charge some kind of magic and Lyra just kept on running at full pace. Each second felt like a year as they got closer and closer to the dragon.
With the group fully in motion, the dragon grabbed another rock and tossed it at them. Derpy fired her arrow at the rock, the arrow head then exploded, causing the rock to be shattered. Twilight then used her magic to take the rock shards and create a board. Lyra used this as an opportunity to get closer and she jumped onto this board. Twilight then threw this board at the dragon with full momentum. When it was about to collide with the dragon, Lyra jumped off it and landed on the dragons head.
In a moment of confusion, the dragon crossed its eyes as it tried to search for the pony that stood on its head. It then began to shake its head and swipe. Lyra held on for few moments before she lost her grip on the dragons head. She fell down and grabbed the dragons claw as it moved up. In an instant she then landed on the dragons back. A sense of happiness struck through her as she succeeded.
Derpy then fired another arrow at the dragon, this one bursted into a flare, distracting the dragon for a brief time. With that, Lyra jabbed her hooves into the back of the dragons head. The tasers went off and began to lightly electrocute the dragon. In a heartbeat, the dragon fell down to the ground and knelt down, breathing heavily.
“I think its working” Lyra shouted as she continued her assault.
The dragons eyes suddenly snapped open and the dragon threw its head backwards, sending Lyra back in a daze. Derpy saw this happen and she flew forward to try and catch her. She whipped underneath the dragons feet and caught Lyra just before she smashed into the ground. Taking her position behind a nearby building, Derpy checked on Lyra.
Back in the middle of the street, the dragon was about to pursue Derpy. That was until Twilight fired a bolt of magic at the back of the dragons head. The pissed of dragon then aimed its rage at the lone unicorn and fired a bolt of fire at Twilight. She then quickly teleported to the side and let the fire bolt pass by. The dragon then breathed fire, leaving no room to avoid the attack. Instead Twilight created a magical shield and used it to avert the fire from her. Once the attack was over she pulled the shield away and moved forward for her attack.
She began to charge a spell as she ran towards the dragon, the dragon then breathed fire again. But when the fire passed over Twilight she disappeared. For a moment the dragon was perplexed, as his target had disappeared. It was then when a flash appeared in front of it and ended up in Twilight firing a bolt directly at one of the dragons eyes. After this hit, it was time to run, so Twilight jumped down and teleported safely down to the ground.
The dragon held its claw to its now damaged eye and leered back in pain. Twilight then made her run back to where Lyra and Derpy were hiding. She skidded around the corner and stood with them.
“Hows it going back here?” Twilight asked, trying to catch her breath.
“Lyra took quite a hit-” Derpy began before Lyra pushed her away.
“It’s fine, really. I just lost my footing” Lyra responded, holding her head in her hoof.
“Not, you’re not fine!” Derpy protested as she tried to see the damage on Lyra’s head.
“So, not so good then” Twilight assessed, looking back to the annoyed dragon. She then aimed her gaze over to where Max and Rainbow Dash were hiding. “Heard anything from Max and Rainbow yet?”
Derpy shaked her head, “Sorry Twi”
“Wait here, I’ll go check on them” Twilight said, getting ready to go, before she was held back.
“No, you can’t just run an errand in a battlefield. It doesn’t work like that” Derpy explained.
“What do you mean, its just a short run...”
“A short run into hell, two steps is all that it takes to die” Derpy then stopped and swallowed before continuing, “So stay back here, we need you here anyway”
With hesitation, she followed the order and knelt down next to Lyra, “What can I do?”
Back at where they began, Max continued to watch over Rainbow, checking her pulse and making sure that they weren’t in the line of fire. Max walked out a little to see Twilight charge at the dragon, with her horn lit up. He then looked to Rainbow, seeing that she was safe, and he began to run as well. But then a bolt of fire flew past Twilight and hit a building rather close to where Max was, causing him to be thrown back.
After a brief moment in the air he landed on a cart and caused it to break apart. He sat up and looked to what was coming ahead. The dragon then breathed fire. With fear running through him, he rolled back and held the cart’s remains up, using it as a temporary shield. The warm fire just missed him, scorching the wood from the cart. After the fire was gone, Max thought that it might be a safer idea to stay back for now.
As he got up he saw Twilight escape and hide behind a building, and with that relief in his mind, he retreated to where Rainbow was laying. After running around the corner he sighed with relief and relaxed a little. He then turned his attention to the still asleep Rainbow Dash. He checked her again, making sure that she wasn’t dying or anything. Max then felt the mask covering his vision a little, plus it felt rather uncomfortable. And since the population had run away and had been evacuated, Max pulled his mask off and threw it on the ground.
The air touched his face and cooled him down, though he hadn’t done very much yet. With his mask off he felt a lot more aware of everything around him. And because of this he then remembered something very important. Placing his hoof on his ear, he spoke:
“Hello, this is Plasma, you guys alright?” he waited for a few seconds before hearing some background sounds, meaning they were replying.
“We’re alright over here. Lyra’s taken a hit but we’re holding out. How copy?” Derpy’s voice responded.
“Rainbow is still unconscious and I was almost roasted back there, copy” Max said as he checked Rainbow again.
“Good to hear that you’re holding out, we’re about ready to make the next move. How do you think we should play it out from over there?” Derpy said through the headset. Max then peeked his head around the corner and observed the dragons movement as it searched.
“Looks like its lost us for now. We should use the element of surprise for now, hit it from two directions” Max suggested, hiding again.
“Sounds good, just give us the signal and we’ll attack”
“Roger” Max then took his hoof away from the headset and walked over to Rainbow. With a quick motion he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. He then ran over to a spot that was further away from the battlefield and placed her down carefully. “Hold in there girl” he whispered as he then flew up onto a building.
The next part required stealth, something that Max used a lot in his normal day to day life. He crept forwards, keeping the dragon in sight. The tension began to build up in his mind as he watched the dragon, knowing that if it looked towards him it could fry him in ten seconds flat. But he reminded himself that he needed to stay strong for everyone. He couldn’t fall out now.
Max took a quick look to the other side of the street where he saw the rest of the team, ready to attack. He put his hoof to his ear again and spoke again:
“I’m ready over here”
“Is Rainbow alright?” Twilight asked.
“She’s fine, I moved her out of the way if this got any worse” Max replied in a calm tone, hopefully giving Twilight peace of mind.
“We’ve got to finish this now. So we could use some of that rage power about now Plasma” Derpy said.
“I’ll see what I can do” Max responded, taking his hoof off his ear. He then sighed and regretted the thought of having to use his power. A sense of fear struck through him as he thought about what could go wrong, but he hoped more that this suit would be able to aim the energy. And as he came to think about it, he had no idea what would happen. Or worse still, if he would be able to control his power. But that had to be put aside as the present matters still needed attention.
Derpy drew an explosive arrow from her bow and fired it at the ground, near the dragon. With the dragon looking at the arrow, Max took the chance and flew forward. The arrow then exploded, causing the dragon to flinch a little. Max then rammed into the dragon at full force, pushing it backwards and causing it to fall onto its back. Twilight and Lyra and teleported into the air, above the dragon, and fired a joint magical blast at the dragons chest.
The dragon then suddenly jumped up and batted the magic away, leaving the two unicorns suspended in mid air. With this advantage, the dragon began to breath fire. Twilight attempted to create a shield with her magic but the fire was working away at it. Max saw that this was causing them some trouble, so he flew over to the two unicorns and grabbed them. He then used what strength he had left to throw them further into the air, giving them more time to teleport.
He then turned around in mid air and activated his power. The energy worked through his body, suddenly making him feel stronger. A new feeling then hit him as the energy didn’t throw itself out randomly, instead he felt like he had a cap on it. He then looked down at the suit and saw that the lines of blue had lit up with a lighter plasmatic blue. It worked, the suit actually worked. His happiness filled him, maybe even blinded him as the dragon fired a bolt of fire at him.
“MAX?!” Derpy yelled at him, causing him to snap out of his trance and face the bolt of fire. He then pointed his hooves at the bolt and forced his power through the diamonds, causing a small blast of white energy to come out. This blew the fire apart leaving him unaffected. Another moment of happiness came through him and he celebrated in mid air. On the other hand the dragon was not celebrating and it was actually quite angry. It then launched itself forward and swiped at Max.
This time Max suspected the attack and he ducked down, going under the swipe. Derpy then flew in to assist Max, firing an arrow at the dragons claw. Max then blasted the belly of the dragon, causing it to fall down. This was now it. The moment to end this battle. Twilight and Lyra then teleported back after recovering and jumped at the dragon. Derpy and Max joined this attack, all of them placing their fist forward. An almighty surge of energy surrounded them as they flew at the dragons head. The team was assembled, the energy of teamwork surrounded them as they all made the final blow on the dragons head. When the hit landed a blast of energy flew through the town, blowing the debris away.
After a couple of seconds the dust began to settle, showing a group of four ponies standing together in front of a knocked out dragon. And for a dragon, it sure took a beating. Then again, they are rather thick headed, on the most part. And with the battle over, the town came back to life. Ponies began to exit their homes and look around, hearing the battles end. Their eyes then laid upon the four who stood in the middle of the street. Each of their suits almost identical, except for the strip colour. And then, ponies started cheering.
“They saved us!” One pony called.
“Them four beat that dragon up? AWESOME!” Another yelled.
“Their costumes are so fashionable!” A familiar one called out.
“They defended us...whoo hoo” a slightly quieter voice called out.
“They’ve all got masks on, except for that one, how mysterious!” another shouted. The team then all looked around, confused at the comment. Until they all saw Max and sighed.
“So much for laying low Plasma” Lyra commented.
“It was tight and itchy. Besides, no pony actually knows me” Max replied.
“Who are you guys?” Another called out. The team then looked at each other, exchanging smiles and grins.
“We’re the Defenders” Derpy announced. And with that, the two unicorns teleported away and the two pegasi flew up, up and away. Just as they had almost began their journey back, Twilight remembered somepony.
“Hey guys, what about Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked through the headset.
“I’ll go check on her” Max responded quickly, “I’ll meet you all at the VTOL afterwards. I won't be long”
“Thanks Max” Twilight said gratefully. Max swooped down into the lower street levels to avoid being seen from above. He then trotted over to where he had left Rainbow Dash, hoping that she would be alright.
It didn’t take long for him to find her, just about coming to, groaning a little at the slight pain. He then knelt down in front of her and put his hoof to her head to feel her temperature. She was a little dazed, but just about conscious when Max found her. Her temperature was about normal and she didn’t seem to retain any major injuries. She then opened her rose red eyes and looked into Max’s chocolate brown eyes. A moment sustained as they looked. A short moment until it had to be broken.
“You feeling alright?” Max asked, sustaining the eye contact.
Rainbow blinked, and then sharply looked away, “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine”
“You sure about that?” Max pressed.
“I’m sure” She then attempted to get onto her feet. Max stepped back, allowing her to get up. She then looked at Max and frowned at the clothing that he was wearing. “What are you wearing?”
Max looked at himself for a moment, remembering what he was wearing, “Oh, it’s my... supersuit”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at his answer, “You’re supersuit?”
Max rubbed the back of his head as a cold sweat fell down his neck, “It’s technically a power insulator suit. To contain my...” Max then realized what he was saying and snapped out of his sentence. “Actually, I shouldn't be talking about that. Just forget everything I said”
“If you say so...” Rainbow continued to frown as Max then turned around, spreading his wings, ready to fly away.
“As long as you’re alright, then that’s my work done” Max then flapped his wings, gaining some altitude. He then kept his back to Rainbow as he flew away. Rainbow was left, still a little dazed, and probably just as confused as she was to begin with. But then again, we are talking about Max here, the one who has avoided being in any social life due to his abilities. And quite frankly, we can all agree, he did only come to do one thing - and he did.
Prologue : Twilight Sparkle
Defenders Assemble
A single agent waited outside the main doors to the royal chambers, slightly fidgety and a little excited about the fact that he was there. Sure, he could have probably gone before but this time he was here on official business. More specifically with the princess of the moon. He wore a black suit, with a white shirt and black tie. A identity tag hung from his suit which presented his name, agency and a mug shot of him. He had a brown coat with darker brown hair. His blue eyes glimmered in the low light of the fires that burned in the lamps above him.
His wait was not in vain as the doors then slowly opened and the princess herself walked out, catching sight of the agent as she did so. The guards were keen to follow but the princess dismissed them, as this was secrecy. With a bow of respect, the guards then closed the door - leaving the agent alone with the princess.
“You’re early, Agent Whooves” She spoke quietly as she walked by the agent.
“Fashionably” He chirped as he walked alongside her.
“I expect everything is going up as planned” The princess inquired as they walked down the hallway, lined with doors on either side.
“Of course” the agent replied confidently, “The base is nearing its completion”
“Good” She nodded as she then used her magic to open the door to a room. She walked in and waited for the agent to follow her in. They were now in private drawing room, which had two sofas in the middle of it and a tea table in between them.
“I was here on another matter” He began, receiving an interested look from the princess.
“Oh really?” She asked.
“Yes, this is about the...” He stopped for a moment to gather his words. “...the Defenders program”
“I guessed you were going to ask about that sooner or later” the princess said calmly as she sat down. “Tea?” She offered as she levitated a teapot in the air.
“No thank you, Director” He replied. “But, the thing is...” He stopped again as he tried to think of the best way to go around this topic, without stepping on a landmine.
“Yes?” She huffed as she poured some tea into her own cup, being precise with the amount.
“SHIELD was set up around the time of Discords defeat. And since then we have had various problems around Equestria...” He explained, gathering his words again. “...and I was just thinking that we aren’t really doing what we are meant to”
“What you mean?” She inquired taking a sip from her tea, in her regal princess way.
“SHIELD is for the protection of Equestria, but so far we haven’t been able to properly defend it” He went on. “Like the incident during the Canterlot Wedding. We had numerous agents on it but we didn’t stand a chance...”
“And you were one of those agents, no?” The princess inquired as she let out a little smirk.
“I was the one who figured out that there was a threat” the agent blurted out. “I just didn’t know that it was that close to home”
“And if you did” She inquired, “Who would believe you?”
“Well...” the agent was almost lost for words, but then he had a brainwave. There was one other pony that smelt something fishy. A very important pony, to the fact that she was one of the reasons that he was here today. “...how about Twilight Sparkle?”
“Twilight Sparkle, hmm” She pondered. The name was familiar to her, Twilight was rather close to her as she was one of the only ponies to stand out of the princess. And since she had been transformed from Nightmare Moon, things have been a little weird.
“She was the first one to realize that there was a problem with Princess Cadence” the agent went on, being completely sure of himself. “She also acted to help save the kingdom from the changelings”
“Indeed she did” The princess agreed, nodding her head. “I suppose that's why you put her down for the Defenders program”
“Not exactly” the agent admitted, surprising the princess a little.
“So why did you?” She pressed, putting the tea down on the table.
“As an agent of SHIELD, I am able to access records for pretty much every pony in Equestria” He began, peaking the princesses curiosity a little. “And in Twilight Sparkle’s records she had a URE...”
“What was in this Unexplained Recorded Event that you found?” the princess asked.
“When she was doing the entry exam for the Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, there was an unexplained event where she had a sudden outburst of raw magical energy. We know how it happened, its just we don’t know why” the agent explained.
“And you’re point is?” the princess asked as she leaned in a little.
“If my hunch is correct, that could potentially mean that Twilight Sparkle is the most powerful unicorn to ever live. I mean, if she had that much raw magical energy at that age, imagine how much she could have now” the agent explained further.
“I see...” the princess hummed.
“Do you think so too?” the agent inquired as he leaned forward. The princess waited a moment as she thought about it. The information that the agent had came up with was all accurate and precise. And his conclusion was strong, but there were a few little holes that were leaking water.
“Almost” The princess said as she levitated the cup of tea back to her lips, taking a small sip before continuing. “But how do you know that she could do it again?” The agent tried to think about it, the fact that she had only had the incident once. Meaning it could have well been an one off. But if she really did still have that ability, then he was completely correct in his assumptions.
“I don’t” He admitted, but he didn’t leave room for the princess to respond. “But unless we bring her in, we will never find out” This remark caused the princess to raise her eyebrow and let out a little smirk.
“You really think she’s got what it takes?” The princess asked firmly. The agent gulped as he opened his mouth to answer.
“Yes...” He said hesitantly. To be honest with himself, he could just be pulling at strings here that would have no effect. But on the other hand, he could be heading on perfect track.
“You sure?” She pressed one more time. The agent nodded. “Good, now have you got the profiles for the other members” The agent then pulled a file from out of his suit and placed it on the table. He opened the file and spread the documents across the table.
“Here they are, including Miss Sparkles profile” He said calmly as he neatened the documents up a little. The princess levitated the documents up and read one by one. One or two times she read a name of somepony that she didn’t expect to read. After seeing every one of them she looked back to the agent.
“Are you really sure about all of these?” She asked as she went over some of the names again to refresh her memory. “Derpy Hooves, Lyra Heartstrings, Max Plasma?” She was sure that this was supposed to be a group to defend Equestria, but these sounded like normal ponies. No ex-guards, military or even other elements of harmony on there.
“Each one has a more than sufficient reason to be a part of the team” the agent explained as he grabbed one of the profiles out of the air. The name read ‘Lyra Heartstrings’ on the front. “For example, Lyra here is actually part of the auxiliary guard. She is positioned in Ponyville at the moment”
“So, what makes her special?” the princess asked as she tried to piece together this new information.
“Lyra is probably one of the best hoof to hoof combat guards that exists” the agent explained. The princess then began to see what the agent could see in each of these ponies. The agent then grabbed another file from the air.
“And Derpy is already an agent in SHIELD” the agent said as he stared at the picture for a few brief seconds. “But she has showed that, even with her slight vision problems - she has excellent peripheral vision. And that she can use a bow rather effectively”
The princess nodded her head and referred to the last one in her grasp. “So, what about this Max Plasma?” She asked as she began to look through the file.
“Plasma?” He thought as he remembered the details about that pony. “Blue coat, darker blue hair. Some strange lightning bolt for his cutie mark. Brown eyes. Likes to be by himself a lot, because of his condition”
“Condition?”
“Yes. It seems when he gets really angry, some sort of plasmatic energy takes over his body. He can then fly faster and used that energy as projectiles. But the thing is...” he explained before he stopped, rubbing the back of his head.
“Yes?” She hummed as she continued to read through the document.
“The event where his power has been let out have showed that he has no control over what he does. Meaning he could be a potential threat in himself” the agent explained.
“We will see” She said as she continued to read the document. She went silent for a little while as she took in even more infomation.
“Anything else, Director?” the agent asked.
“One more thing about this” She said as she hovered the document over to the agent, letting him grab it out of the air.
“Max Plasma’s personality profile...” He read from the top.
“If this is accurate, this means that he could potentially have the ability to control his powers” She explained as the agent read through the page quickly.
“So you’re suggesting that he could control his power?” the agent repeated.
“Twilight was able to control hers” the princess pointed out.
“With the help of Celestia” the agent remarked.
“I know” The princess blurted out as she tried to get to the point. “But the methods used can be repeated”
“So you’re saying that we drag Celestia into this?” the agent asked as he wore a face of confusion.
“No, we don’t need to” the princess denied. “But I can repeat the methods on this pony. And we might be able to help him control this power”
“Maybe...” the agent hummed as he considered the idea.
“Do you think that this program will work?” The princess asked as she then neatly put the documents back inside the folder.
“I hope so, they’re one of the best shots we have” the agent said.
“I know that they will” The princess said. Slightly surprised, the agent looked up at the confident face of her princess. She really was sure about it, as sure as she was when she set up SHIELD in the first place. The agent couldn't help but let out a slight smile as he knew that somepony else believed in the idea.
“Good to hear” The agent said as he then let his smile die down. There was one last thing to do now. “So what do we do now?”
“I think its time” The princess began. “It’s time to assemble”
The cheerful streets of Ponyville bloomed with flowers and trees on either side. The scent of baked goods in the air made everypony have a burst of happiness as they walked around. Little fillies and colts ran about the roads as they played their various games of tag and stuck in the mud.
Twilight had just finished her shopping and was now on her way home. It was a bank holiday, meaning that Twilight was able to attend to some things that she wouldn’t normally be able to do. She was moving at a moderate trot as she made her way home. Being circled by the children a couple of times as they tried to escape from the one who was ‘it’.
It didn’t take long until she found herself at the door of her house, using her magic to open the door and then walk inside. Once she was inside and the door was shut she levitated the saddle bag over to the table and sat down her sofa. For a few seconds she waited for something to happen or for Spike to run in and greet her. But after a minute she noticed that nothing had happened.
She could remember leaving Spike behind in the Library when she left. Maybe he had gone for a nap, or maybe he had just decided to ignore her for today. It was most likely going to be that he had been called out by somepony to help with a problem or job of some kind. Either way, he wasn’t likely to be here.
She then rose from her seat and walked over to one of her bookshelves and levitated a book from it. After reading the title she opened it and read it as she walked back to her seat. Her concentration was broken when she heard the sound of somepony knocking on her door. After placing the book down she walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was a pony dressed in a black suit wearing sunglasses. He had a brown coat and darker brown hair.
“Hello Miss Sparkle” the pony greeted. “I’m Agent Whooves from SHIELD” Twilight looked at the pony that stood before her, smartly dressed and stood up tall.
“SHIELD?” Twilight questioned.
“Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate” Whooves said professionally.
“That’s a mouthful” Twilight pointed out as she stored the information in her head.
“Nothing too hard for you to remember” Whooves replied as he then took off his shades to show his strong blue eyes. “Since you are one of the smartest unicorns around”
“How would you know that?” She asked as she pulled back a little. Then she almost considered it as a compliment. But there was something that still didn’t make much sense. “I’ve never met you”
“SHIELD has it’s sources” Whooves explained.
“Oh really...” Twilight mumbled as she thought about it for a moment.
“Very much so” Whooves confirmed. “But I’m not here to talk about how much we know about you”
“What?” Twilight stuttered.
“I’m here about something called the Defenders program” He continued.
“The Defenders program?” She repeated, trying to think if she had heard about it before.
“Yes, as I said before - we know a lot about you. But there is some things that we thought would make you a very viable candidate for this program” Whooves explained.
“Why do you think I would even want to be a part of this project?” Twilight blurted out.
“I think you would want to do something to help your country” Whooves said firmly.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, as she thought she was already doing her part to help Equestria.
“On too many occasions, in the recent years, there has been disturbances to the peace that Equestria has had for the last thousand years” he explained. “And since the most recent events, we have found that we can’t always rely on one thing”
“You mean the Elements of Harmony...” She suggested.
“Yes, it seems that even though you are the most powerful force when you are together” He began. “But when you are pulled apart, the power is gone”
“I know” She said as she remembered the time when her friends were pulled apart.
“I would prefer to talk about the next few matters in private” Whooves said. “If you don’t mind”
“Umm, sure” She said as she walked back and allowed Whooves to enter. After he had entered she shut the door and walked into the middle of the room.
“So far the program has been kept in secret. And I would like to keep it that way” Whooves stated as he looked around at Twilight.
“You can trust me” Twilight assured Whooves as she stood in front of him. Whooves knew that she could be trusted. It was in her nature to be a trustworthy pony, since she was the personal student of Princess Celestia.
“The Director trusts you too” Whooves replied as he then pulled out a file from his suit. Placing it on the table, he continued. “And so do I”
“Who is this Director?” Twilight asked, “And why do they trust me?”
“All in good time, Twilight” Whooves assured her as he opened the file.
“What is that?” She asked as she walked over to the table.
“This is the Defenders program” He said as he pulled out one particular document. “This one will be the most relevant to you” he said as he gave Twilight the file.
“What...” She began, but then she read the title. “Defenders Profile, Twilight Sparkle...” She read.
“As I said, we know a lot” Whooves repeated.
“It seems you do...” Twilight mumbled as she continued to read through the document which showed expressive detail about her.
“And, to be honest, we need you” Whooves admitted, causing Twilight to look up from the document.
“Why me?” She asked.
“You’re smart, powerful and quite frankly friendly” Whooves explained, letting of a little bit of a smile. “And sometimes a little bit of friendship can make everything better” Twilight smiled at his remarks and then glanced over at the other files sitting on the table
“Are those the other ones?” She asked as she gazed at them.
“Yes” He said as he approached the table and grabbed one of the documents. “If you’re in, then you can read them” She spent a few seconds in silence, considering the idea. The fact that she could be a part of something that could defend the entire of Equestria.
“Well...”She tried to find the right words. Does she do it, or not?
“A agent will be around tomorrow to take you to base” Whooves said as he walked over to the door. “Until then, you can get yourself up to date”
“Wait!” Twilight stuttered. “What makes you think that I will accept?” Whooves stopped and then chuckled a little, still facing away from Twilight.
“I don’t think you will accept” He called, “I know you will” He then placed his sunglasses back on his head and walked out of the door. Twilight looked at the door as if he was still there. The fact that he was so calm, profession and laid back. His swiftness had left much confusion in Twilight’s mind, but at the same time he had left the solution to this problem.
She turned her back to the table with the documents on it, as she returned to the table she glanced around the room. When she arrived at the table she read the title of the next document. The name being ever so familiar to her, but unexpected. She then moved the document across and read each of the other names of the other profiles.
Was this really the team that could defend Equestria from disaster? She wasn't sure if she was about to believe it, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Biting her lip, she looked from the documents and the door. Should she? Sighing, she picked the top document up and read the title aloud, not knowing of what was to come next.
“Lyra Heartstrings...”
Chapter One : The First Defenders
Defenders Assemble
The chariot glided through the air as it carried Twilight to her destination. She had made her mind up that she was going to give this a shot. The idea was still very rough and course in the back of her mind, but if this Director trusted her - then maybe it was worth it. And besides, if this was for the protection of Equestria, she would be one of the first in. Though she did feel that she would feel better with some of her closer friends with her, she felt like it was good to take some things on alone. And perhaps the other members felt the same way. Who knows.
The two pegasus stallions then began to descend upon a small mountain, which had a small area hollowed out. And like magic, Whooves was standing in that opening. The chariot landed on the small runway and came to a steady stop. With that she thanked the stallions and jumped off the chariot. As she then made her way to Agent Whooves.
“Fancy seeing you here” Twilight began as she walked over to Whooves.
“I do work here, you know” Whooves smirked as he continued to look out of the hanger area.
“I suppose I’m the first here then” Twilight guessed as she stood along side Whooves.
“Yes” Whooves confirmed. “The other should be here very soon”
“Right” Twilight added as she then began to look out of the hanger as well, searching for what Whooves was looking for. After a few seconds another chariot came into sight.
“And here’s the other one” Whooves grinned as he watched the chariot land in the hanger. A green unicorn then jumped off the chariot and grabbed a bag that was still in there. She then approached the two, looking a little cautious as she did so.
“Alright, I’m here” Lyra huffed as she shot a look at Whooves. She then turned her attention to Twilight. “Hey Twi, how’s it going?”
“Fine thanks” Twilight replied happily.
“I hope you had a pleasant trip, Lyra” Whooves greeted as he bowed his head a little.
“I did” Lyra replied, still being a bit annoyed. Whooves then nodded over to another agent and then he began to walk away.
“Follow me” he called back as he walked. The mares looked at each other and then began to follow Whooves. A sudden rumble in the ground stopped them in their tracks as they looked around in confusion.
“What the...” Lyra gasped as she then shot around to see the entrance close off. It seemed to be that the hole in the mountain could be closed, as if it were a giant door. The engineering that must have gone into it as the giant pistons and wheels moved. Until the door eventually shut itself. Then the lights began to flicker on above them.
“Whoa...” Twilight breathed as she looked around the hanger, that was now completely lit. Their curiosity and gazing around was cut off by the sound of somepony clearing their throat.
“If you wouldn’t mind” Whooves called out as he stood inside some kind of large box. The two mares then walked over to him and stood in the box. He then pressed a button and two panels slided in front of them. The box then shaked a little as it began its descent.
“What is this?” Lyra asked as she felt her hooves stuck to the floor.
“It’s an elevator” Whooves said, “One of the first in the world”
“Cool” Lyra grinned as she looked around it, still not knowing if it was safe.
“Is this ‘elevator’ safe?” Twilight asked as she too was kind of frozen in place.
“Why do you think I’m using it?” Whooves deadpanned as he looked around at the two mares. He then let out a little laugh as he saw their faces, “You two should see your faces”
“I bet they're a big laugh to you” Lyra hissed as she tried to move her hooves.
“Yeah, they are” Whooves grinned as the elevator then came to a stop. “Well, here we are”
“Where?” Twilight looked around the box, it was the same place - right?
“Welcome to Base” He said as the doors to the elevator opened. Presented in front of them was a hallway which lead to a bigger room. “This way” He said as he presented his hoof and pointed it out of the elevator.
“One moment” Twilight said as she shivered a little. The two then walked forward to feel solid ground underneath them again. They were then presented with two large glass doors which possessed the SHIELD symbol. Whooves then pushed the door open to show the large room inside.
The room was a large and circular in shape which had rows of desks going across it. Each desk had a pony sitting behind it and there was some kind of lit up glass in front of them. At the front of the room was a main control desk and a large round table. The sigh was almost breathtaking as the two mares looked around at all of the alien technology. Whooves smirked as he then trotted down to one of the desks and then pressed it a couple of times.
“Director, they’re here” Whooves spoke into the piece of glass. He then pressed the glass again and walked back over to the mares. “You two alright?” He asked, seeing the expressions on their faces.
“Yeah...” Lyra breathed as she took the entire room in.
“It’s just so...” Twilight mumbled as she looked around,
“That’s about the same reaction we get from everypony” Whooves chuckled. “This way” He then began to walk over to the main control desk, in which the round table was. The table had ten seats positioned around it, and the table itself was a solid piece of metal. When Whooves was next to the table he pressed a button on it and parts of the table opened up to show pieces of glowing glass.
“What are those” Twilight asked as she prodded the screen, which resulted in the screen bringing up some text.
“Data Screens” Whooves answered as he walked over to one of them and pressed it. A cube then appeared and he moved his hoof around it. The word ‘ACCEPTED’ came up on that screen and then he pressed another button, which gave access to all of the screens.
“Cool” Lyra said as she prodded the screen a couple of times, watching it bring up different things. All of this was very new and alien to the mares. Mainly because this technology wasn’t available yet. And it shouldn’t exist, or should it?
“These are advanced” Twilight said as she prodded her screen a couple of times, seeing certain information come up on the screen.
“First in the world” Whooves said as he watched the two sidetracked mares prod their screens. “We are the only ones who have them”
“Why doesn’t anyone else have them?” Twilight began, “Because think of the benefits they could have”
“We’ve considered it but the disadvantages are much greater” Whooves pointed out as he then turned to an opening door. “Everypony, the Director” And with that the entire room of ponies looked up and rose to their feet. Out of the door walked Princess Luna, dressed in a large black trench coat. Not very princess like, but this wasn’t in public.
“Please be seated” She spoke, surprisingly softly. And with that the entire room returned to its previous state of consistent work.
“Princess Luna?” Twilight spoke, gobsmacked. “You’re the director?”
“Indeed I am, Twilight Sparkle” Luna replied.
“But...” Twilight was almost lost for words. She now understood how this Director could trust her, and probably have faith in her.
“You don’t need to question it Twilight” Luna then walked over to the far end of the table and pressed a couple of buttons. She was rather familiar with the system as well. “Lyra” She said as she nodded over at her.
“Princess Luna” Lyra said as she bowed her head.
“Please Lyra” Luna chuckled, “You can call me Luna here”
“Oh, right” Lyra chirped, “Luna”
“It’s good to see you both made it so far” Luna said as she then turned to Whooves. “Where’s agent D?” She asked, being a little concerned.
“Probably in the training room, again” Whooves sighed as he pressed a couple of buttons. “Deadeye come in” He spoke into the screen. Silence. “Deadeye come in” He repeated. But there was still no response.
“I suppose that means that she has taken her comms device off again” Luna sighed as she then stood up. “Perhaps you could go down there and check up on her”
“Right” Whooves said as he stood up. “Shall I take the other two?” Luna looked over at the other two and then smirked.
“I suppose its time for them to meet her” Luna then walked back through the door in which she had come from, leaving the others behind with Whooves.
“Follow me” Whooves said as he walked through another door, with the two mares closely behind him.
“Who is this Deadeye?” Twilight asked, trying to walk along side Whooves.
“Didn’t you read the file?” Whooves asked as they then came to a stairs block.
“Didn’t notice that part” Twilight admitted.
“Did you?” Whooves asked as he directed the question at Lyra.
“Not really” Lyra huffed.
“Strange” Whooves mumbled. “Must have been outdated”
“Outdated?” Lyra caught as she listened to Whooves.
“I was just thinking that her codename might have not been printed on your copies” Whooves explained as the then came up to another door. Pushing them open, he walked inside. Ahead of them was a crate with a small black object on it. He picked it up and sighed as he looked around the room.
“Is that a comms device?” Twilight asked, looking at it.
“Yeah” Whooves said as he continued his search. “We give every agent one so that we can communicate with each other”
“Not bad” Lyra said as she nodded at the device.
“Come down Agent!” Whooves shouted. “I know you’re in here!” There was a brief silence as the words became lost in the room. Then the sound of things being knocked over could be heard, causing Whooves to face hoof. After a few more seconds a grey pegasus, who wore some kind of black combat vest, came into sight and landed in front of the group.
“Agent Deadeye” She said, “Reporting”
“What was that and why aren’t you wearing your earpiece?” Whooves pressed as he handed the device back to the grey pegasus.
“Those things hurt my ears after a while” She said as she rubbed her ear, “And besides, it’s not like anything important is going on”
“If only you knew” Whooves sighed as he then stepped aside. “Agent, these are the new recruits who will be part of the Defenders” She then eyed them, with her walled eyes. The two mares looked back, being a little cautious as they did, not wanting to make a wrong move.
“Cool” the pegasus beamed as she offered her hoof out to shake. “Agent Deadeye, but you probably know me as Derpy”
“Hey” Lyra said as she shaked Derpy’s hoof.
“Hi” Twilight said as she also shaked Derpy’s hoof.
“So, is this the team so far then?” Derpy asked Whooves as she looked at the other members.
“So far” Whooves confirmed.
“Awesome” Derpy grinned as she then put the earpiece back in her ear.
“The Director wants us all back upstairs in ten” Whooves announced as he nodded to everypony. He then walked over to the exit and walked through the doors. Derpy looked at her two new members to the team and couldn’t help but let out a smile.
“Isn’t this all cool” Derpy chirped as she jumped onto the box and sat on it.
“I guess” Lyra mumbled as she looked around this new room.
“It’s pretty advanced” Twilight pointed out.
“Yeah, but you get used to it after a while” Derpy said.
“So, this is the training place” Lyra said as she failed to see how you could train in it.
“It doesn’t look like a training area” Twilight mumbled. Derpy then smirked as she jumped off the box and hit it with her back leg. The crate then opened to show a large circular control panel. She then pulled a lever down and at the other end of the room some targets came up. Then a climbing frame appeared at another part, and then another piece of training equipment. Until the entire room was filled with various different pieces of training equipment.
“Whoa” Lyra gasped as she saw the room come alive.
“We have to conceal it so that nopony can just walk in and steal things” Derpy explained.
“I thought the big stone doors would be enough” Twilight said, but still being impressed.
“There are possibilities though” Derpy admitted as she then walked over to the target range. Sitting next to the edge of the markers was a steel frame, which had a bow and some arrows neatly presented. Derpy then picked the bow up and grabbed an arrow. Pointing it down the range, she stood on two hooves and pulled the arrow back. After a brief second she let the arrow go.
In a split second the arrow made impact with the target, implanting itself into the wood. She was a little off the center, but she knew that would be the case.
“Not bad” Lyra said as she looked at the arrow.
“You haven’t seen anything yet” Derpy said as she looked back at the two other mares. She then quickly grabbed an arrow and pulled it back, without even looking at the target. After letting the arrow go the two mares gasped as they saw the result. Derpy simply smiled and put the bow down. “And that’s why they call me Deadeye”
After taking a few seconds to look at the two amazed mares, she looked down at her watch at the time.
“I guess we better get going now” She announced. As she walked away, she didn’t even need to look back at the target range. She knew that she hit it, in the dead middle of the bulls eye.
