"The Rainbooms."

"Yeah." Dry Clean smiled anxiously, twitching every so often. It was distracting. Sunset shook her head.

"Nevermind."

"Oh...okay."

The rest of the trip was quiet.

During this time, Sunset took the opportunity to let her gaze wander. The car was of the typical five seater, slightly more spacious than the average car though. The seating was quite comfy if she did say so herself. Roaming over to the side doors, she noticed, appreciatively, that the doors were unlocked. Besides that, nothing out of the ordinary, unless you count a couple grains of dirt in the cupholder. The driver was the one thing that caught Sunset's interest the most. Unlike Dry when he broke into her apartment, she could definitely tell that the driver was a woman. Clothed in a dark suit and tie, she even had a cap alongside her shades. Everything about her screamed anonymous. If Sunset ever saw a person out in the open with a getup like that, she would avoid them like the plague.

After scrutinizing the details out of the car, Sunset decided that she was bored and cast her gaze to the outside world.

***

An hour and some awkward small talk later, the driver pulled up at a skyscraper in downtown Canterlot. Dry Clean got out so Sunset decided to take that as she should follow. The moment she closed the door behind her, the car sped away. Sunset didn't pay much mind.

"Welcome to HQ." Dry smiled with a hint of nervousness. He presented the building like it was a trophy, a few passersby glanced at the duo with confused glances.

"Great, let's go in." Sunset marched forward, keeping her expression as neutral as she could. It honestly wasn't that hard. As she passed through the glass doors, she decided that the building itself wasn't all that interesting. Just your typical glass skyscraper, metal supports, trimmed bushes and pitiful trees lined the outside just so the company could claim that they were eco-friendly. Sunset's seen it all.

Inside, however, was something else entirely. It made Sunset lose composure at the sheer audacity of it all. Her earlier thoughts of spite vaporized at the sight of the lobby. The ground didn't exist for one, it was completely flooded and wooden bridges spanned across rivers and onto small islands. Those of which were covered in the greenest grass Sunset's ever seen since Equestria. All sorts of trees and plants grew on said green islands, and they looked properly cared for. There was even a waterfall feature at the wall.

Sunset walked in a daze as she followed Dry over a couple of bridges before arriving at what Sunset assumed to be the main desk. Below her feet she noticed a logo and the company title. Canterlot Institute of Agriculture. Sunset nodded appreciatively, it certainly was a nice touch. As for the logo, it was of a arching apple tree and a large apple hanging off a branch. Wrapped around the apple was a loving embrace of ownerless hands. They really went all out with their cover.

"May I help you, sir and madam?" The woman behind the desk asked. She looked especially bored.

"Yes, I'm here for the double pomegranate tree order?" Dry answered without much hesitation.

"Very good sir." Maintaining her bored look, she slid a plastic card over the desk which Dry snatched deftly. "If you would go to the East Wing and take the elevator up, I'll call the gardeners."

"Thank you, kindly." And with that, Dry sauntered off and Sunset had to scramble after him to keep up. That certainly was an interaction. The duo made their way over two more bridges and then underneath a glass arch that split the waterfall overhead. After that, Dry followed the order to go to the elevator and waited patiently. Sunset fluffed up her clothes and it was only then did she realize that she was still in her work clothes. That's unfortunate.

While they waited, Sunset took the opportunity to glance about her once again. Life as a magical pony, then a magical student, then a magical guitarist, then a magical superhero, then a magical bored under-the-radar office worker, she had picked up a few things here and there. Taking stock of her situations was always beneficial. As well as keeping a cool head. Much to her disappointment, however, the elevator lobby was just as bland as most company elevator lobbies. The only difference was the occasional plant.

With a quiet 'ding', the elevator opened and Dry Clean skipped his way inside. Sunset followed, if not as eagerly. Dry quickly pressed the button to close the doors and once they had shut, he swiped the plastic card from earlier through the card reader. There was a small error sign in the digital display before glitching out into a downwards arrow. The number negative five was present as well. Sunset couldn't even be bothered to be surprised anymore.

There was a clank, and before Sunset realized what had happened, they were in freefall.

Then, just as fast as it happened, the two made a soft landing.

The doors opened and Dry stepped out, quickly followed by Sunset.

"Welcome, to the Floor." Dry spread his arms like a proud father. He even had a proud smirk on his otherwise bland face. Sunset merely nodded along and took stock. It certainly was a floor. White tiles all along the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Scattered about the Floor, were people of all kinds. Technicians, blacksmiths, scientists, psychologists, agents, skateboarders, mathematicians, there was even a person dribbling in the corner with a basketball. If Sunset didn't know any better, she would've thought this a weird convention or something.

"Right." Sunset gestured to a couple of weird scenes. "So...what is all of this?"

"Ah! Sorry about that. This is where all of us agents get geared up for our missions. You'll, uh, you'll be outfitted soon enough. After the mission debrief as well as your introduction with our Headmaster."

"Headmaster?" Sunset raised an eyebrow. Dry chuckled nervously.

"Yeaaah, you'll understand when you see her."

***

"Well, you weren't kidding, Dry." Sunset craned her neck to look up at the towering woman in a teacher's outfit. She didn't know if she should feel intimidated or...anything else really. It was a very confusing set of circumstances, that's for certain.

"Headmaster Playback." The massive woman stuck out a hand. Sunset readily accepted it. She a grip of steel. When Sunset extracted her hand, it was red and very sore. "My apologies."

"You don't mean that."

"No, I don't." The Headmaster looked at Dry. "I like her."

"Ehe." Dry chuckled bashfully.

"So, you're Sunset Shimmer." The Headmaster gestured to a couch, Sunset politely accepted. She in turn sat in a large, no doubt custom made, office chair. "You've got quite the reputation."

"Yes. For being boring, from what I've heard." Sunset smirked.

"Exactly what we don't need." The Headmaster glanced at Dry who immediately tensed up and swallowed nervously.

"Then why go through all this hassle?" Sunset asked, innocently.

"Why indeed." The Headmaster let the silence stretch out for a moment. Sunset took the moment to glance around the room in a mostly casual way. One door, no windows. A desk with a chair, papers and a computer on said desk. Two couches, Sunset was sitting on the largest, which also happened to be the one closest to the Headmaster. Several filing cabinets lined the walls, alongside a couple of stringy plants. "Alright, since we seem to be at a stalemate, might as well put you in the ringer. See how well you hold up. If you succeed, I might reconsider my offer."

"How gracious of you, Headmaster Playback." Sunset bowed her head slightly.

"Headmaster please, Sunset."

"Of course, Headmaster."

Author's Note

I liked this idea too much so I wrote another chapter quite quickly,