Chapters Chapter 8: Strengths/Weaknesses
The three of them sat at a fast food restaurant. After talking with Micro, Sunset's belly reminded her that it was nearing lunch time. She had Shift pull over and now the three of them were enjoying a delectable meal. Sunset had three burgers, vegetarian of course. Shift had a massive plate of fries and three bottles of an unknown soda. She wouldn't let Sunset see. Dry just had a simple chicken wrap. Sunset did her best to not look at him weirdly. She had come to terms with human society long ago. She paused and looked back at the chicken. Ugh.
"So, what are we going to do next?" Dry asked, his mouth full of unmentionables.
"Next!" Sunset swallowed. "We are going to talk about our strengths and weaknesses. We need to know, at the very least, our strengths and weaknesses, if we are to effectively work as a team."
Dry wauw'ed and clapped his hands a little. Sunset sighed and shook her head. This guy really was incompetent. "This is 101 team building. Seriously, what do they teach you in the CIA?"
"..."
"Hopeless!" Sunset threw her hands in the air before consoling herself with her burgers. They were exquisite. A few more minutes passed of just munching and sulking. Shift seemingly oblivious to all of this and a rare content smile playing on her lips. As for Dry, he was constantly shifting his gaze back and forth between us and our foods. After a while it got annoying so she raised an eyebrow. He startled before going back to his food. "Alright, this is going nowhere. Let's begin. Hi, my name is Sunset Shimmer. My strengths lie in analyzing and observations, hand to hand combat, I am quite agile and athletic, and as Dry knows very well, I have connections everywhere. As for weaknesses. I am hot tempered, lonely, a magical being from another world disconnected from her power, bored out of my mind, annoyed with this guy," Sunset gestured to Dry, "and generally useless without her friends. Now your turn."
Sunset and Shift look to an open mouthed Dry and waited patiently. Five minutes later, he came back to reality. "Oh. Oh! Right...my strengths...Well, I've been training as an infiltrator. That means, I'm good with disguises, acting which also includes voice acting, uhh, hacking, and I'm quite agile. Need to climb walls and stuff like that." Dry smiled sheepishly, Sunset merely frowned. "Right, right. My weaknesses are uhh, indecisive, self conscious, inco...incompetent. Uhh, maybe some others?"
"Shift."
"I am driver and recon. There is nothing else you need to know."
"Alright!" Sunset clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "That was not uncomfortable nor not useless." She sighed heavily, a hand caressing her forehead. "Alright, let's just bounce. Stick, get us close to Money Bags' mansion."
***
On the way there, Sunset decided to sit in the back and had Dry sit shotgun. One could say she wanted privacy, and while that was somewhat true, there was something she wanted to check out. There was an inconspicuous red car hanging out in the parking lot of the fast food restaurant. License plate was MLP-222. What caught her attention though, were the shady characters in the car. Four of them, all dressed in black and not one of them got out the entire time Sunset and her crew were eating. If she was a betting person, which she was every once in a while, she'd bet that they were Money's men. She chose not to tell Dry or Shift. Her reasons were quite simple, Dry was completely useless and she didn't trust Shift in the slightest.
Their car swerved to the right as they exited the highway. Up they went before turning to the right and back on another highway. As inconspicuously as possible, Sunset eyed the space behind them and sure enough, the red car was there. Sunset slumped back into her seat and sighed. Great. Just great. If she were to bet a second time, they definitely had guns or some type of explosive.
"Shift, you know where to go, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, then take the next right." There was a pause, then Shift nodded.
Their car took the exit and now they were outside of Canterlot in a small town called Canterbury. Moments later the red car followed. Sunset opened her mouth to rattle of directions, but Shift had already nodded before a single word was uttered and their car shot forwards, sending both Sunset and Dry to the floor.
"Woah!" Dry scrambled back up into his seat. His forehead now sported a red splotch. "Whats happening?"
"We have a tail." Shift said nonchalantly while simultaneously drifting us through a 45 degree angle curve and sped past a confused grandma. "Don't put your seatbelts, but brace yourselves."
And the chase began.
Stick Shift lived up to her name as she throttled that stick into shifting the car into modes Sunset was sure a regular car didn't have. Lefts, rights, straight, backwards, sideways, Sunset even swore they went diagonal once. Despite her priding herself on keeping track of even the most hectic displays, Shift's driving was an entirely different beast to behold. Before she knew it, they had lost the red car and were back on the highway.
She let out a sigh of relief.
It was short lived once she spotted a green car and a black car closing in the gap. The windows rolled down and heads popped out. The green car's skylight opened up also letting a would-be hitman climb onto the roof. Without thinking, she grabbed Shift's and Dry's head and forced them down right before the car was lit up and sounds of glass shattering could be heard.
"DRIVE!"
The car shot forward, weaving in and around cars and trucks like they didn't even exist. The sudden distance that they gained by Shift's driving gave Sunset a breath of relief. "Shift, does this car have any weapons?"
"My Hecate is in the back."
Dry was shaking on the cramped floor. His wide eyes conveyed everything. As for Shift, she merely had a mild frown which only deepened by the sudden appearance of five more cars, two of which were on the other side of the highway. At this point, civilian cars and trucks were pulling over and turning away from the inevitable showdown. That was a problem, this meant their car was exposed.
"May I use your sniper?"
"No."
Sunset swallowed another sigh and asked, "well, then do we have any other weapons?"
"I believe there is a Five Seven under your seat. Mags are underneath the floor." She threw the wheel to the left, pressing Dry to the door and flinging Sunset onto her side. There was a loud scraping noise then a horridly loud shriek as metal was ripped out of its place. Then it was relatively smooth from there, ignoring the screeching of terrified civilian drivers and the occasional spattering of gunshots peppering our car. Sunset took this moment to scramble for the pistol.
This wasn't her first time holding a gun, so the feeling wasn't all that foreign. She quickly loaded a magazine and unlocked the safety. All this while ducked underneath the seats, so as to not get shot. Sunset took a breath in and out, trying her best to drown out the noises around her with her own silence. Then with a large exhaled breath, she popped up from her crouched position and quickly took stock. Three cars that are currently firing upon them. Sunset aimed to the left and let out a shot. It went wide. Sunset ducked back down and placed a heart over her racing heart. Crap.
"Do...do you...uhhh...need help?" Dry's offer sounded just as scared as he looked, which to say was downright terrified.
"Just sit tight, Dry. I've got this. Pick up the pace, Shift." As the car picked up speed, Sunset poked up once again and took more time to make sure she got it right. The gunners were currently reloaded and trying to compensate for the quicker pace. Alright, just like the teacher told you. Breath in, aim down the iron sights, aim higher than the target, compensate for the wind, squeeze the trigger, and just like that, one gunman down. The bullet struck him in the upper arm, but the surprise and the force of the actual bullet had him tumbling out of the window before rolling away on the pavement. That looked like he died. If he hadn't died from the shock or the fall, he definitely would've died from being driven over. He definitely, in no way, survived that.
Sunset felt sick.
She swallowed the bile and steeled her nerves. Waited patiently for the rattling pause, popped out of her cover and took aim. Bang. The bullet pinged off the hood of the third. The second cracked the windshield of the second car. She ducked back down right before the gunners spray. Sunset's heart started getting a bit too uncomfortably fast. Her breathing came in quick short breaths and her chest felt too hot. What was worse was the spinning, despite her sitting in a relatively tight area. She took many calming breaths, trying to bring her heart rate down. The world tilted so Sunset pushed out her hands and gripped the seats. More deep breaths.
In.
Out.
Crap. What was wrong with her?
"Hey, Sunset?"
"What!?" It came out more like a forced wheeze.
"You don't look good. Here, let me." With complete calm, Dry Clean wiggled past the seat that separated the front and the back and plucked the Five Seven out of Sunset's iron grip like it was nothing, all the while keeping his head down. Sunset opened her mouth to protest but found no words. Dry simply smiled with ease that scared her.
He showed three fingers.
Then two.
One.
He rose up in that constantly shifting car, in the direct line of fire of trigger happy henchmen, and simply took aim. 16 shots later and the mag now empty, four resounding booms echoed around the highway and made their way into Sunset's ears, rattling around in her head. Dry handed the now empty Five Seven back to the shivering Sunset before slipping back into the front seat.
"By the way, I've got top marks in marksmanship."
Author's Note
Car chase! Man, I don't know how to write a chase scene. Was it good? No idea. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed it and may your day/night be good!
Sunset Shimmer sighed as she wandered up the steps to her apartment. She shouldered her bag as she felt the straps dig into her shoulder for the hundredth time this afternoon. She contemplated leaving her job at the company, but decided against it. This was the steadiest job with a good pay she had found in a while. Her head lolled back as she kept on climbing, an involuntary groan rolled out. Her eyes drifted over to the walls, nothing particularly interesting about them, but there was this massive stain on the way to the third floor that announced the inevitable arrival to her floor. Ah, there it was. Sunset shook her head slightly, if only just to get rid of her lethargy. She moseyed over to her door, Room 313, fished the keys out of her bag and opened the door without much thought.
As a breeze of air conditioned air flew into her face, Sunset let out a content sigh. She quickly closed the door behind her, in order to keep the cold air in and took her shoes off. She then shuffled over to the dining table and plopped her bag onto it before making her way to the couch. Without a second thought, she fell face first into its soft embrace. Before a thought entered her head, she was out like a light.
***
A quiet click awoke Sunset from her slumber. Her quiet, peaceful slumber might she add. With a groan she pushed herself up and tried to make sense of her situation. Work clothes? Check. Couch? Check. Bag on table? Check. No dinner? Check. She fell back down. Everything was in order, so why did she wake up. With a quiet yawn, she tried to remember what brought her to the waking world. The answer that her brain brought forth was confusing. A quiet click. Sunset frowned, she always considered herself to be a heavy sleeper and not only that, how does anybody wake up from a quiet click.
Then she paused.
What kind of click? She rolled over onto her back, balancing precariously at the edge of the couch. Looking up at the ceiling with a blank stare, she tried to recall what kind of click it was. There were many clicks in this world. Could be a door, a microwave, a clock, a table. Literally anything in her apartment could make a click sound in the right situation. After much half-asleep contemplation, Sunset decided that this was stupid and attempted to try to sleep again.
She couldn't.
With a groan, she let go of her balance and promptly flopped onto the floor. With a heave, Sunset pushed herself up to her feet and blearily looked around. She vaguely recalled not pulling the curtains so it must be night time. That's fine by her, as long as it wasn't early in the morning, she should be fine in the morning. With that thought in mind, she ambled over to the table and scrounged in the dark for her phone. It took a while but her hands finally grasped the brick that contained the world and other useful features. Like the time!
Sunset clicked the on button and nearly dropped the phone from surprise. She scrambled frantically to open the phone, then slid down the quick settings and lowered the brightness a ton. She stood there for a moment, trying to recover from the large dose of awakeness her phone had decided to give her. She grumbled something under her breath and shook her head slightly, trying to dislodge the spots dancing in her eyes before checking her phone again. Huh. Nearly 10:00 PM. Not bad.
She put her phone down and made her way to the kitchen and turned on the overhead lights. She looked around for a bit, as if in a daze, before finding what she was looking for. Sunset chuckled as she pulled out a packet of instant ramen. Food of the gods! She quickly heated up the water in a pot and waited patiently for her food to be made right before her eyes. When it was ready, she quickly cleaned up everything, dumped the flavoring packet into the ramen, grabbed a knife, looked at it, put it back and got the right set of utensils, before finally making it back to the table.
She let the aroma waft over her for a few seconds before giving into the temptation and started munching at it with gusto. Delicious. Truly nothing better than instant ramen. Sunset was just about to finish her last bite when suddenly the lights in her dining area was turned on. Blinded for the second time, she decided to just stay put and freak out later. Oh, and also finish her bite. It would be sacrilege to waste the food of the gods. After muttering her thanks, she rubbed at her eyes until she was able to see again, then, and only then, did Sunset look up to see who rudely interrupted her dinner time.
Oh, it was some random person.
Sunset merely nodded in greetings before picking up her bowl and chopsticks and meandered over to her kitchen, yet again. As she washed her dishes, she heard some noises behind her. She ignored them. Dishes were important, she had learned the hard way. If she lets them stack up, then it becomes the worst kind of hell later on. Better do it now.
"Ummm..."
"Give me a second, I'm almost done." With a last few good scrubs, Sunset put the bowl and pot into the drying rack. Then she turned around with an eyebrow raised. "Should I ask the obvious question, or...?"
"Ah, yes! Um..." The person paused. "Wait. why aren't you scared, or even surprised?"
"Eh." There was a pause, as if the person was waiting for more. Sunset just stared at them. They coughed uneasily.
"Alright!" They shook themselves a little, probably trying to regain their lost bravado. "Right. So, hi!"
"Hi."
"I have a job for you."
"Uh huh."
"It involves espionage."
"Mmmkay."
"Highly dangerous, but I think you're the right person for the job!" The person's face was hidden under a black mask, but Sunset was quite sure that they were smiling.
"..." Sunset pushed herself off the kitchen counter and brushed past the person. She had no idea who this person was, but one thing for certain, this was their first time at doing something like this. So, might as well get comfy. She plopped herself down on the couch and pointed at the chair at the other end. "Sit."
"...okay."
"Now, it's typically considered polite to introduce yourself and your organization before you offer a job, yes?" Sunset made a 'go-on' gesture.
"Ehe...right, right." The person took a calming breath, then another. They chuckled awkwardly once, then took one last final breath. "Sorry about that."
"No worries. First time gets everyone."
"So, my name is Dry Clean, please to make your acquaintance." They extended a hand in which Sunset accepted politely.
"You know, it would be nice to put a face to the name."
"Ah, right! My apologies." They pulled off their face mask to reveal a young man. He had a nervous sort of smile, blue eyes that spoke of the deep ocean, and a kind enough face. Skin color was a tan that did not warrant much attention, nor did his dusty gray mop of hair.
"That's better. Now I introduce myself. My name is Sunset Shimmer."
"Oh, I already know that. I'm headhunting, you see, and your profile just seemed to fit the bill so perfectly, I just had to try!" Dry smiled enthusiastically.
"And this is the part where you mention who you're headhunting for and what the 'bill', so to speak, actually is."
"You're right, you are totally right." Dry laughed a little. "You really are smart. You'd be perfect for us! So uh, I'm part of the United States of Equestria's Secret Service called Center of Intelligent Agents, or CIA for short. The 'bill' is actually anonymous blandness, and you're perfect! Not that you're bland, yourself, it's just that you have no records of, so to speak. No birth certificate, no family to speak of, essentially no documents from before 10 years ago. It's honestly a miracle you're surviving in our country at all! I mean, how do you get past legal details with nothing at all?"
"I have my ways."
"Huh." Dry took a moment to ponder on that before remembering something. "Right! So, uh, yeah. You fit the bill exactly. You're basically a ghost. Well, better than a ghost. You are inconspicuous as can be. Just a cog in the machine. A regular Mary Jane." He went through his hair with a hand in disbelief. "I mean, I can't believe a person like you exists! How did you even do this? The no documents, I mean."
"I'm an illegal immigrant." She answered, deadpan. It was the truth, more or less.
"That really explains it." Dry Clean laughed again, nodding to himself and paced around. "I mean, wow. Just wow."
"Yeah, I'm something of an oddity." Sunset shook her head, this is going to take forever. "So, what does the CIA want with me? What is this job you want me to do?"
"Right, right. You're right, of course." He grinned a pointed a finger at her. At her displeased expression, he coughed awkwardly before continuing. "So, basically, there's this rich guy. Money Bags. He recently came into possession of invaluable intel that could bring down the U.S. of E.. We figured out that he's going out to some major concert in a week's time, and what better way to get close to him, then a regular Mary Jane!"
"And why can't you guys do it?"
"Oh...ehe. Right. So, uh, this is a bit embarrassing, but the intel that he has? It also has all the operatives listed, past and present. Future operatives too."
"Because of course." Sunset sighed. "So you want me to attend this concert and do what..."
"We just need you to plant a bug on him, and that'll be it! Your job'll be done and you get away scot-free. No harm. No foul. The rest will be up to us."
"Sounds simple enough."
"Yep!" Dry had two thumbs up. Sunset's displeasure hadn't lessened. He lowered his hands.
"So, what's in it for me?"
"Uhhh...money?"
"Sure, money works."
"Great!" Dry sprung up with a huge grin. "Shall we?"
"..." Sunset stared at him. "You really need to get better at this."
"Oh!" He conked himself on the head and tried again. "So, now that's settled. Shall we head over to CIA Canterlot Regional Headquarters for your debriefing?"
"See, that's infinitely better. Yes, we shall." Sunset picked up her bag and walked out her front door. Dry quickly followed and watched as she locked her door. The two made their way down the three flights of stairs and out the front door. There, a black unmarked car was waiting for them. The two got in and the driver sped away.
"Oh, you never told me who's playing at the concert."
"Oh, you've probably heard of them. It's The Rainbooms."
Author's Note
AND WE'RE OFF!
"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,
Sunset Shimmer looked out in awe at what was in front of her. an inconceivably huge room, outfitted with the most absurd training course she had ever seen, fictional or otherwise. It was so much she didn't even know where to begin. Instead, she turned and faced the Headmaster.
"...why?"
"Only for the best for our agents." The Headmaster replied drily. Not even taking a moment to look away from whatever monstrosity that inhabited this den.
"You're insane."
"We're CIA and this is a time critical mission. We are not insane, we are competent." Now she turned to look at Sunset. There was a certain cold calculating look in her gaze. Sunset smiled inwardly at the challenge imposed.
"Well, it is what it is, I guess." Sunset chuckled humourlessly and made her way to the entrance. Made out of some hard transparent fiber, it made visibility from the outside quite easy. No doubt perfect for the Headmaster to witness her failures. The thought nearly made her grin. She wasn't a vigilante for nothing. "So, how does this work?"
"First you need to, uh, get into your suit." It was Dry this time. He stammered as he produced a flexible but bland looking training outfit. "The changing rooms are over there." There was a small blush as he pointed to a doorway near the entrance of the beast. Sunset gave him her thanks and hurried over.
The interior wasn't much to comment on. It was just as bland as the suit. Sunset chuckled as she imagined a horrified face of a particular fashionista. Without thinking too much, Sunset undressed and then deftly pulled on her outfit. It hugged her figure, but not in a revealing way. It was quite comfortable, it breathed pretty well too. What Sunset appreciated the most, however, was that the fabric did not chafe. Not bad, not bad at all.
She marched out with a confident gait. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the Headmaster's eyes narrowed slightly. A devilish idea popped into her head. She paused before entering the enormity and turned to face the tall woman. With grace and precision, Sunset swept her left leg back, placed her right hand over her heart and bowed low. She held that position for a moment, before sweeping back up and marched right into the jaws without waiting for anybody.
She breathed in, then out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Time to face the music.
The first obstacle looked simple enough. Monkey bars that shifted or vibrated erratically. Below lay a pit of water. From her vantage point, Sunset could see mini icebergs floating about. She scoffed, this was nothing. Without much effort, she cleared it. It wasn't even entertaining enough to give it a second thought.
The second room looked like a small boss arena. It was clear for the moment, but if Sunset had anything to say about it, and she did, she knew exactly how this was going to play out. Glancing around quickly, she doubled checked that there was nothing else of importance, just a circle and a locked door. She grinned and took a leisurely stance. An outsider would not think much but a trained martial artist would notice how her legs were tense and she was balanced on the balls of her feet. This allowed her to react to anything without much trouble.
Then with a clack, a hatch opened up from the ceiling and a burly man dropped down. The man was as generic as one could be. Gray colors, complemented by his normal suit and tie, complete with shades of course. Sunset let her head loll to the side, never taking her eyes off of him.
With a grunt, the man pushed himself forwards and came swinging. Sunset let her body drop before sliding off the side with controlled movements. The man, trained as he was, didn't topple over and instead swiveled and attacked her again with more force than the previous one. Sunset closed the distance, registered the surprised look on the man's face, grabbed his tie and pulled downwards. While his head went downwards, she brought her knee up. The two made a soft cracking noise and the man slumped to the floor. Sunset sifted through his pockets and came up with a key. Without any other obstacles, she hopped across the arena and unlocked the door.
The third room was one of those military training yards you see in movies. Sunset chuckled once she saw the laser and the timer next to it. Taking a few calming breaths, Sunset then bounced on her toes to warm up the right muscles, then bolted forwards. She was already 15 steps away when the timer hit one second.
She bounced over the tire hopscotch, sprinted a little bit faster to gain the right momentum, then slid underneath the low hanging barbed wire, Sunset then threw herself up to her feet without pausing. The next one was a five meter high climbing wall, complete with rope. Sunset disregarded that and sprinted harder. Right before smacking into the wall, she planted her right foot into the sand and drove up her knee, launching her upwards. The next step was on the wall and the force pushed her up even more. The third step was weaker but was enough to get her to the four meter mark, it was there she grabbed the rope. Without much effort, she used her momentum and her grip on the rope to haul herself up before dropping over to the other side.
Next up, monkey bars. Sunset had no difficulty with these, even going as far as going three by three the entire length. She dropped on the other side and judo rolled to keep her momentum. The final obstacle was a single rope that led up to a platform up above. Sunset couldn't rely on tricks for this one, so she had some difficulty with it, but ultimately made it to the platform with minimal burns and her stomach felt like it was on fire. Her time stopped at 7:32 minutes.
The next room seemed to be the last room, which set a slightly out of breath Sunset at ease. It was relatively big with three stereotypical ruined houses placed next to each other, slightly askew. In front of her lay a table with a pistol and three extra magazines. This looked quite familiar, another situation she's seen in video games. Sunset snatched them up without a second thought. The gun rested in her right hand while the three magazines were held in her left.
The timer started and several human shaped targets popped up around the three houses. Sunset charged forwards, completely disregarding the pistol's function and chucked it as hard as she could to a target. The right arm shattered and the target fell down. On to the next, there, inside of a window. Sunset threw a mag, same result.
There were a scattering of noises, reminiscent of a gun, without thinking, Sunset dove to the side, rolled and continued running. She threw her remaining mags, both hitting targets. Without stopping, she reached down and grabbed pieces of rubble and finally entered a house. It was in there, she relied on melee. The first target was behind a counter, Sunset delivered a decisive kick. A flick behind her announced the arrival of another target, she flicked her fist backwards and another target down. She cleared the first house with deft ease, arriving at the third floor. From there, she sniped the remaining targets from a window using the pieces of rubble she had picked up earlier.
Her time was 11 minutes and 41 seconds.
Sunset stood up and admired her handiwork. She brushed off some dust before admitting herself to the exit. There, Dry Clean and the Headmaster were waiting for her. She grinned at their shocked expression. It didn't even take her half an hour to sweep the course.
"H...how?" Dry finally stammered out, his nervous energy had evaporated, almost as if it was never there in the first place.
The Headmaster merely scrutinized her, her eyebrows pinched in the most fascinating way. Reminded Sunset of Principal Celestia, definitely not Princess Celestia.
"So. Am I in?"
There was a pause.
"Yes, you're in." The Headmaster turned on a dime and swished away, only to call back, "Dry, get miss Shimmer here to the Floor and tell her the details on the way."
"Yes ma'am!" Dry answered quickly and stiffly before reverting back to his nervous energy. "So, ehe, shall we?"
The two walked through the long winding hallways, climbing and descending stairs and elevators. Sunset didn't bother to ask why the trip back was thrice the length than the way there.
"Right. So, like I said before, you are to infiltrate the Rainbooms' concert alongside me. We then scope him out during the concert, bug him, and then out job is done!" Dry beamed and looked at her as if expecting a treat.
"Hold on, Dry. You never mentioned that you were coming too." Sunset narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, right." Dry chuckled. "Silly me, forgetting an important detail like that. Sorry I failed to mention it earlier. Yeah, you're my backup basically."
"...uh huh. So they need two people for this job then?"
"Well...ideally five, but because of that, uhhh, the documents that Money Bags has makes it kind of hard to do that."
"Right. Except, shouldn't you be on that list too?" Sunset tilted her head, her face betraying nothing.
"About that..." Dry rubbed his neck and shuffled his feet a little before answering. "I'm, uhhh, I'm a trainee. I just started. The Headmaster said that this'll be great practice for me for real missions."
"Right." Sunset nodded slightly. "Makes sense."
"Glad you think so!" Dry beamed again. "Now, let us just turn left through this doorway here...and voila. Back at the Floor."
The two sauntered into the large room before navigating the hazardous tables. Sunset could've sworn she'd seen this in a movie somewhere. The people working were all testing various things, some of them even look like they came straight out of a sci-fi movie. Sunset made sure to be on her guard. Then promptly bumped into somebody.
"Hey, watch it!" There was a pause while Sunset rubbed her head. "Wait a minute...Sunset Shimmer."
She finally looked up and noticed two familiar faces. She cracked a grin. "Bon Bon. Lyra. How are you two doing?"
"We're doing great! Wow, imagine seeing you here." Lyra grinned as well, pushed past a very confused Dry and went in for a big hug. Sunset chuckled and hugged her back.
"Well, I'm not surprised you two are in here."
"Why's that, Sunset?" Bon Bon asked, an eyebrow raised. Sunset peeled herself off of Lyra before answering.
"Well, you were already a spy, were you not? In High School, I mean." There was a stunned silence which was almost immediately broken by a horrendous gasp.
"Bo...Bonnie? Bonnie, what does she mean." Lyra turned and looked her friend dead in the eye. As for Bon Bon, she gave Sunset the most terrified and the most hateful face imaginable before started babbling about how she was under oath and how it was for her safety. Sunset, for the record, gave a very sincere guilty look as she was dragged past the bickering two by Dry Clean. When they were out of earshot, Dry asked the inevitable question.
"How do you know those two?"
"Like I said, High School."
"..." Dry opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked down at his feet, then glanced back up at the still impassive Sunset, then back down. He opened his mouth, then decided better.
"Cough it up."
"Wha...what?"
"Cough it up."
"Oh...uhhh, well, Agent Sweetie Drops and Agent Heartstrings, those two are maybe the two best agents the CIA has. They're like living legends with how much they've accomplished!" Dry was gushing at this point, hearts in his eyes and everything. Really selling the obsessed fan look. "All aspiring agents want to be like them. You heard about that Mob Boss in Itaily who was about to take down the government?"
"The news said the local militia took care of it, but I'm guessing those two had a hand in it?"
"You're absolutely right! They did it without backup too! So incredible." Dry drifted off somewhere before Sunset had to smack him over the head. "Wha! What was that for!?"
"We're here for something, don't forget that."
"Oh, right right. We're nearly there. The person we're going to, he's got some of the best stuff. Personally outfits Sweetie Drops and Heartstrings himself, you know."
"Wow."
"Riiiight!" Dry coughed awkwardly. "Anyway, he'll be able to outfit us too. Since...you know, all of our operatives and agents have been exposed, he doesn't really have much of a choice."
"Doesn't really matter to me." Sunset said, truthfully. She's always been handy with her fists and her own abilities.
***
After a very uninspiring outfit, the two found themselves back at the Headmaster's office. Sunset just couldn't get her head around the fact that the equipping stage was so bland! Her inspiration for everything in this world had always come from movies, video games, and the general internet, yet they had lied about the gear up stage! Sunset was so pissed, she was so close to going back to the Floor to give that useless outfitter a piece of her mind. Like, seriously! What was all those random tests for? All those experiments and absurd amount of all sorts of professions. All that and they just gave her a dinky handgun, a taser in the shape of a lipstick, and a watch that held 20 meters of ultra thin wire. Stupid.
"MISS SHIMMER!" Sunset immediately snapped back to reality and noticed that there was a livid Headmaster staring at her. "Continue with that behavior and consider yourself fired."
"..." Sunset stared blankly, not really following the logic. So, instead, she shrugged. "As you say, ma'am."
"Of course I say!" The Headmaster harrumphed before coughing and moved on. "So, unfortunately, due to our exposure, the government hasn't been able to provide us necessary funds for this mission, you're going to have to provide for your own tickets to the concert."
Again, Sunset was stumped. This was a concert, not some crazy high end art show where only the rich can enter! Even being paid minimum wage, one can buy a ticket. She tsked. She had no idea what to make of these CIA folks, but so far, from what she's seen, it hasn't been all to great. So, instead, she pulled out her phone and opened up her downloads to reveal two VIP tickets, complete with a Backstage Pass, to the Rainbooms concert.
"Here."
Author's Note
How was my writing regarding the training course? Did it capture everything? I'm not entirely confidant in it, but I tried my best. Ah well.
Chapter 4: Horseshoe Stadium
The two were picked up by the same driver that drove them to Headquarters. Just like last time as well, the mysterious woman said nothing, had nothing of interest, just merely drove. They were heading towards downtown Canterlot, where Horseshoe Stadium sat, the location of the event. Funnily enough, Sunset noted, was that Horseshoe Stadium was not shaped like a horseshoe.
The car was quiet. Sunset was bored. She was just about to let her eyes drift when Dry Clean interrupted her musings.
"Hey, how did you get those tickets?"
"Hmm?" She pretended to be confused. Sunset didn't have the energy to answer. In the back of her head, she vaguely recalled that it was around noon. If her memory serves, Dry had broken into her apartment around 4:00 AM. Her stomach growled at her sudden realization.
"I mean, the Rainbooms are so popular! How was it that you were able to get VIP tickets, with a Backstage Pass too!" Dry gushed like the incompetent that he was. Sunset sighed heavily.
"Can we go get food first? I haven't had food all day. I didn't even have dinner last night."
"Oh, right right." Dry ruffled his head in embarrassment, complete with an anxious smile. He coughed, then asked the driver if they could stop at some fast food restaurant. Sunset noticed that there wasn't a hint of acknowledgement but Dry seemed to accept that and leaned back into his seat. "So, do you want anything specific?"
"I'm fine with whatever."
***
They acquired their fast food and the duo had just been dropped off at Horseshoe Stadium. Sunset inhaled her fifth burger. Breathing was overrated anyways.
"Hmmm, if I'm reading this right, it's a day show. That's handy." Dry paused for a moment, then continued. "A day show is when the band plays during the afternoon, not the evenings like most concerts."
Sunset paused her impression of a vacuum and looked at Dry with the deadest pan she had ever panned. Dry chuckled nervously and bobbed out of her peripheral vision. She grunted her appreciation and went back to her food. The seventh burger later, she finally looked up and looked around.
Horseshoe Stadium, known to be the third largest stadium in Canterlot City, located near the city center, is a relatively decently sized oval shaped stadium, and was created with eco-friendliness in mind. Scanning the area, Sunset wasn't all too sure that last statement was up to snuff. The greenery around was shabby looking, the stadium itself looked over-zealous with all sorts of metal alloys that created this spirally pattern. There was even a large bust of a rearing unicorn perched atop the stadium. Sunset chuckled, humans were weird.
"Alright, Dry. Let's get going."
"Where to?" There were sounds of excited shuffling behind her. She chuckled. "The stadium doesn't open for another hour."
"We've got Backstage Passes dimwit."
"Oh right."
Sunset led the way, confidence oozed with every step. Meanwhile, she could hear the nervous Dry Clean muttering to himself. Honestly, he should pull himself together. The walk was short to the entrance, but Sunset made sure she had scanned every single entrance and exit from this side of the stadium. Three major double doors. Four more doors that seem to be employee doors. Around eight sets of windows that could slide open or at the very least, smashed open. There were a few more windows on the higher floors and climbing down seemed very doable especially with the balcony located on the third floor. If the worst comes to worst, she could always leap to that large birch tree.
"Halt. Stadium's not open for another hour." Two security guards at the front entrance. Sunset noticed that there were six more further inside. Sunset merely showed her phone which held the VIP tickets. The buff one of the two scanned it, checked it twice, then opened the door. "Welcome, Miss Shimmer. I trust you know where you're going?"
"I do, thanks Biceps." The white guy turned a little red, Sunset merely chuckled and patted the guy on the shoulder.
The two entered, one confident and the other utterly confused.
"Wait wait, you know that guy? Biceps, you said?"
"Bulk Biceps."
"You know him!?"
"..." She veered to a left and started ascending the stairs. She's been to this particular stadium so many times she's practically memorized the entire layout. She even took note of the different permanent stains that decorate the concrete floors. That one looked slightly bigger, but it still had the same shape. Sunset pondered that particular one for a moment. She ignored the confused wailings behind her as she took yet another turn. Soon enough, the stopped at a door marked with a cloud and lightning bolt. She took a breath and simply knocked, much to the chagrin of Dry.
Exactly 20 seconds later, the door flung open to reveal a grinning Rainbow Dash.
"Sunset Shimmer!" She flung her arm around her friend and dragged her in, firing all sorts of questions and highlights of her time traveling abroad. Rainbow talked animatedly about how this one show at Chicoltgo burst into flames because one of the flamethrowers was aimed the wrong direction. She laughed uproariously at the memory with Sunset merely smirking. Rainbow calmed down enough to assure her that nobody got injured. That was when she noticed the second figure just standing awkwardly in the doorway.
"Rainbow, meet Dry Clean. Dry, this is Rainbow Dash."
The awe-struck Dry stumbled into the room and took Rainbow's outstretch hand without thinking much about it. Big mistake as Rainbow started shaking that hand up and down, completely disorienting him. "Pleasure to meet you, Dry. How did you come to hang out with Sunset here?"
"He head hunted me."
"That so?" Rainbow pushed back her rocker hair to take a better look at the man she had completely at her mercy. Sunset could see the sweat started to come from his forehead. Rainbow still hadn't let go of his hand. "Well isn't that interesting. What's the job, Shims?"
"Espionage."
"Not surprised. Heh." Rainbow chuckled. "Remember that Winter Heist you pulled off? Yeah, I can see you as a spy."
"Temporary spy, it seems." Sunset strolled over to Rainbow's mini-fridge and pulled out a root beer. She popped off the bottle-cap like it was nothing and collapsed onto her couch. "Where's the rest of the band?"
"They were out shopping for glowsticks. They should be back anytime soon." Rainbow shook her head then finally released the poor guy's hand. "Anyway, what's up with you, Shims! It's been, what? A year?"
"More or less." Sunset took a swig, noticed with satisfaction that Dry still hadn't come out of his stupor. "Not much has happened since the last time you came here. Still working the same job, although, that's probably over. You know my situation."
"Yeah yeah. I'm telling you though, Shims, you could totally join the Rainbooms! Travel the world. We're so famous we don't need documentation anymore. We even got a private jet last month. Haven't tested it out, though..." Rainbow trailed off, her mind no doubt wandering to whatever nonsense she could get into with a private jet.
"Gah!" A sudden shout from Dry caught the attention of the two women. "What. The. Heck. You could've warned me, Sunset!"
"About what?"
"You! Rainbow Dash. THE Rainbow Dash!"
"...and?" Sunset took another sip. It was almost gone.
"Yeah, what she said." Rainbow had gotten her own drink from the mini-fridge.
"You're friends!"
"Yeah. Since High School." Rainbow tried to pop the bottle-cap off like Sunset did and only ended up with a throbbing thumb. "Dangit Shims, how do you do that!?"
"Trade secret." She chuckled. "Here, gimme."
"Thanks." Rainbow accepted the now opened bottle of cola. "Anyhoo, continue Bland Guy."
"Bla..." He spluttered.
"Now now, Rainbow. That wasn't very nice."
"You're right, Sunset." Rainbow placed her drink down and looked Dry straight in the eyes. "I am very sorry for disrespecting you like that. Now, continue with whatever you were going to say, Bland Guy."
"..." Dry sighed heavily much to the amusement of the Sunset and Rainbow. "You know each other from High School?"
"Yep." The two clinked their bottles.
"Does that mean you know Agent Heartstrings and Agent Sweetie Drops too?"
"...who?"
"Dry means Lyra and Bon Bon." Sunset explained.
"Oooooh. Why didn't you say so. Yeah, I know 'em. Tried to recruit Lyra once, gave up once I realized that she only played the harp."
"Yeah, what was up with that?" Sunset finished her bottle.
"I do not know." Rainbow threw her hands up in the air. "Like, who actually plays the harp."
"Lyra apparently."
"Apparently."
The two shared a comfortable silence as they watched Dry stew with embarrassment, awe, and frustration.
"I still don't get this!"
"Then don't get it. Honestly simpler that way." Sunset nodded knowingly. Rainbow cheersed to that.
"So, any particular reason you brought this dude here, Shims?" Rainbow chuckled, finally deciding to give the poor guy a break.
"Some guy they need bugging is going to come here." Sunset explained before not so discretely reaching for another bottle.
"Huh. Cool. Whatever you need. Just tell Biceps, alright? Wouldn't want another incident like that of three years ago."
Sunset shivered. "Don't remind me. Anyway, thanks."
"Of course, what are friends for." The two clinked their drinks yet again.
Author's Note
They reunite!
Five minutes before the show started, Dry Clean and Sunset Shimmer were waiting outside of the doors just like the other 100,000 people waiting for their turn. Before that, the two of them changed into their 'party clothes' which was not as inspired as Sunset thought. Seriously, what was with the CIA and disappointment. It's like they were trying their very hardest to deviate from what pop culture has depicted as espionage. Sunset paused in that line of thinking. Maybe that's what they were trying to do.
"Sunset, what really is your relationship with Rainbow Dash?" Woah. Sunset turned to make sure that it was Dry that was talking. Sure enough, he had a face as serious as his tone. It definitely did not match the outfit which consisted out of a very loud Haywaiien shirt and baggy beige khakis. He also had a glow stick wrapped around his neck like a necklace. Sunset nearly burst out laughing when he came out of the changing room.
"My relationship, huh?" Sunset smirked. "Why, she's one of my best friends. Known each other for nearly...13 years now. Time flies."
"There's gotta be more to the story!" Dry spluttered, the confusion evident on his face.
"Of course there is, but do you really want my whole life story?" Sunset peered down.
"Well...no." He looked down and scuffed his feet.
"See."
"Then what's your relationship with the Rainbooms!?" And just like that, his head shot back up and his eyes shone with more intensity.
"I was one of the original members." She said, casually.
"One of the..." Dry fell to the floor in a very dramatic fashion. Rarity would've approved.
"You alright there, bud?"
"What is reality!?" He yelled out, much to the confusion of the nearby people.
"What's that guy on?"
Sunset sighed and picked up the sorry excuse of a man. "You're embarrassing yourself. And from what I heard, you might even start a rumor that'll no doubt spread across the globe like wildfire."
"I don't even care anymoooooore." He ragdolled, his head lolling about. Sunset promptly dropped him in response. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Because you're an idiot, that's why. Now get up, the doors are opening." And just like that, they were in.
***
"Alright, what does this guy look like?" Sunset shouted over the noise. She was walking around the balconies on the right side of the stage. Dry was on the ground floor on the left side.
"Brown! Always wears expensive brands. Always has a top hat too! There typically is a band of at least five bodyguards with him at all times. He's also apparently a major Rainbooms fan, hence why he's here." Dry screeched back.
"'Kay." Sunset tapped her earpiece and straightened up. Time to do what she did best. Analyze everything .
From her vantage point, she could see a decent amount of the stadium. The stage in the middle was located at the north end of the stadium that had a long bit that stretched out into the crowd that populated the ground floor. The Rainbooms had just launched into Shine Like Rainbows with Rainbow belting out a guitar solo. The other members were no doubt used to it. The second guitarist, Lightning Dust, was also known for her epic guitar solos. Sunset heard once that they often had solo battles on stage. The other members were part of Rainbow's football group. Soarin on the drums and Spitfire on bass. Interestingly enough, Spitfire was lead singer too. Sunset was surprised by her amazing voice .
Now scanning the crowds led to somewhat of a headache. 100,000+ people were packed into this little box. The shapes and colors that threatened to ruin Sunset was chaotic at best. How was she supposed to spot a guy like Money Bags here? Sure, he's got some defining features like that top hat and body guards, but it's not like...oh there he is.
"Dry."
"I'm here."
"I've spotted him. Section 28, upper half. Moving to plant."
"I'm coming. Be careful."
And with that, Sunset took off. She navigated the many bodies that occupied the stadium. She slipped past a couple making out, dodged an unfortunate guy who slipped on some fries, and ducked underneath a peculiar game of limbo. How do people have time for that? It's a concert! Sunset shook her head and got her head in the game. She picked up her speed and reached her destination within five minutes. She took a breath and entered the gate that allowed access to Section 28. Five rows down, a large section of the seats were unoccupied and a loud guy in a top hat was screaming his heart out in the middle. He was even wearing a limited edition T-Shirt that was sold seven years ago when the band first made their public appearance. Around those unoccupied seats were around ten bodyguards, they all looked incredibly bored. Except that one guy. He was grooving out. Sunset respected that.
Time to put on the act. Positioning her leather jacket to make it look like it was slipping off her shoulder and forced a blush on her face. She then stumbled down the steps, muttering incoherently. Sunset finally found a use for Drunkset after four years. She prayed it would work today.
"Miss. Are you lost?"
"Whaaaaa?" Sunset had forced tears into her eyes, so her vision was a bit blurry but she definitely recognized one of the body guards. She put a tipsy grin on and collapsed against his muscular frame and moaned a little. "Oh, deary me!" She giggled. "Thish ishn't my sheat."
"Miss, please leave the vicinity." The guard spoke in a calm manner, but Sunset saw the way he clenched his jaw. She grinned inwardly.
"Nooo, shiir, you misundershtand! You're not my sheat, silly." She giggled again and booped him on the nose, much to his bewilderment. She then stroked a hand over his pecs and she could practically feel him shiver. Thinking she had teased him enough, she pushed off of him and slipped past, now stumbling closer to her goal. Unfortunately, a hand grabbed onto her shoulder.
"Miss." Another guard this time.
"Yeeeeesssss?" She lolled her head so she was looking at him through half lidded eyes.
"Allow me to escort you to your seat. Please tell me where it is?" The genuine offer nearly made Sunset froze. She looked up and could make out handsome features and kindly eyes. Huh.
"Ishhhh.......over there, somehuhm." She flopped her arm in a random direction.
"Alright then. Shall we go, miss?"
"Yeshhhhh! Lesgooooo." Sunset abruptly stood up and pointed back from where she had come. The guard laid a careful but not too unfriendly hand on her shoulder and maneuvered her to the gate. Sunset pretended to follow but then tripped in the last moment. The momentum sent her tumbling back. Strong hands caught her and Sunset gasped involuntarily. Inside her mind, she was berating herself for dropping the act for even a second!
"A little clumsy, are we miss? Come, lean on me." And without much hesitation, Sunset found herself in the hands of this random stranger. The blush didn't seem all that forced now.
For a while, he carried her to practically the other side of the stadium. He didn't even speak once. He just held her. It took a while for Sunset to snap out of it as she pointed at a random gate and asked to be let go. He didn't ask questions and softly placed her on the floor. He then bowed and made his exit. Sunset found herself staring after the man as he lumbered away. What the actual heck was that.
"Sunset!" Dry Clean came from around the corner after who knows how long. "Are you alright? What happened? Did you plant the bug?"
"Yeah..." Sunset trailed off. What was with her today? She shook her head, trying in vain to shake those weird thoughts. "Yeah. I bugged him. I also bugged a few other guards."
"May I ask how?"
"I've got a pretty good sense for aiming. I didn't have to get close to him. I just had to pretend I fell and with that motion, I could chuck a bug behind me and it would land on him."
"Woah." Dry looked at her with awe. Sunset smirked, feeling somewhat like her old self.
"Now come on, let's enjoy the rest of the concert."
***
Sunset closed the door of her apartment behind her, barely registering the click as it closed. Her head was swimming with all sorts of nonsense. She decided that a nap was in order. After a shower of course. If those two things didn't help, then Sunset didn't know what would.
Those strong arms...
No. She shook her head, trying to think of anything else, absolutely anything else. She proceeded to repeat that mantra for the rest of the day, which wasn't that long to be fair. The concert had ended around 6:00 ish, which meant it was 7:23 PM when she returned home. Those musings were cut short by the shower being turned on. The water was nice and warm. She stepped in and hoped that the water would seep away these weird feelings.
As she stepped out of the shower and proceeded to dry herself off, a terrible thought struck her. Was this a crush? Nooooo, that couldn't be right. The more she thought about it, the more absurd that line of thinking was. A crush. How preposterous. Because of her crocodile tears, Sunset didn't even get to see his face. She felt much better after coming to that conclusion. She felt SO much better after she finished her oven pizza. She was positively beaming when she was wrapped in her blankets, ready to sleep.
Then her phone rang.
"...yes? This is Sunset Shimmer speaking..." She didn't even bother to hide the tiredness in her voice.
"Agent Shimmer. We require your services again."
Sunset let out the heaviest sigh.
Author's Note
Who's this lovely boy?
Within the hour of the call, Sunset was once again picked up by that mysterious driver and Dry Clean. She had to restrain herself from punching the insufferable incompetent. Instead, she resorted to grunts and general noises of annoyance. The poor guy had no choice but to accept it.
The drive there was uneventful. Sunset was too annoyed to even look outside the window and instead just glared at the seat in front of her. Maybe if she stared hard enough, it'd catch on fire. Ugh, but then that would cause another butt load of annoyances. Sunset groaned. These CIA guys are horrible.
"Well, we're back!" Dry raised his arms up in front of the CIA building.
"Shuddup. It's 1 AM. I am NOT in the mood." Sunset pushed past him and all but slammed the glass door open. She swore she heard a crack, but ignored it. With a furrowed brow, she stormed past the secretary and went straight to the elevator. She swiped the card she snatched on the way over and waited for the negative button to show. Two minutes later, she continued her warpath on the Floor. Agents and scientists alike all fell silent as they watched Sunset rush past them all.
She reached the double doors uninterrupted and quite literally kicked them down. Sunset picked up the past as she brushed past the doors hanging on their hinges and slid past the baffled employees. Up the stairs and straight into the Headmaster's office.
"Playback."
"Shimmer."
"Fuck you."
"What do you want?"
"...what do you mean?"
"I have another job for you. What do you want in exchange?"
Sunset took that moment to fully analyze the Headmaster. There were stress lines all over her aging face, stains that looked days old on her shirt, and there was a broken monitor in the corner. Her expression was also dead serious. Something happened within those few hours after the previous mission ended, and it wasn't pretty. Judging from that shirt, it's been a consistent problem.
"The Intel?" Sunset took a stab and from the Headmaster's wince, she was right on the money.
"What do you want?" She repeated, her voice even more grim.
"I want residency. ID, the whole shebang. I'm an illegal immigrant, right? I don't want to be."
"Done."
"Then let's get started."
The Headmaster blinked once, twice, then she cracked a weary smile. "Pleasure to be working with you again."
"We'll see if it's mutual." The two shook on it and the Headmaster immediately launched into exposition mode.
Apparently, almost immediately after the concert ended, the Headmaster dispatched a covert ops group to follow Money Bags and locate the disk that carried the Intel. They went dark after two hours into the mission. Not uncommon, so HQ didn't do anything. Merely watched, as is protocol. Two hours later, they sent out a recon specialist, trained specifically for these kinds of scenarios. Their kit comes with a built in camera in their night vision visor, so HQ had visuals. The moment the specialist crossed the gate into the estate of Money Bags, five turrets popped out of the ground, painted them with lasers, and soon the specialist was no more. The Headmaster had the tech crew work around the clock to see how that system worked. It turns out that through the intel, the turrets and any other technological armament, have CIA faces and information downloaded into their targeting matrix.
"Well...that's heavy." Sunset said after a moment's silence. The Headmaster nodded and sipped her chamomile tea. It seemed to have a considerable effect on her, as her shoulders visibly relaxed.
"Yeah." She took another sip before placing the cup on a counter. "What I want is to send you in, alongside Dry Clean and Stick Shift, and get that disk by any means necessary. While I do say that, I highly suggest you do not resort to killing. The paperwork and the government rebuttal is not worth it."
"One question."
"Shoot."
"Who's Stick Shift?"
"Your driver." Huh. So that's who the mysterious woman was.
"So that's it? Any means necessary?"
"Correct." The Headmaster leaned forward slightly. "If you want more compensation now that you understand the situation, I will find a way to arrange it."
"Just get me that residency. A legal one."
"I can do more than that and have you instated as an actual citizen."
"Fine." Sunset stretched for a moment before settling back in. "Another question."
"What is it?"
"This team? Just me, Dry, and Stick Shift. No one else?"
"No one else I can spare from CIA. Dry and Shift are not agents so they are not registered in the database. You are team leader, Agent Shimmer, whatever you decide, I'll allow. That also means any other team members you might decide to recruit."
"Alright. Final question. Why do you trust me so much?"
"I like you." The Headmaster grinned. Alongside her stress lines and dark circles, it looked downright terrifying. Sunset grinned in response. "That being said, if you ever betray us, I'll hunt you down personally."
"Sounds like we've got a deal."
The two gripped each other's hands with ferocious grins. To the poor employee who had happened to walk past that very moment fled in terror. He would then claim that it was like the room was on fire without actual flames.
***
"Alright. Playback decided that I'm the leader and you're my crew." Sunset said, completely exhausted after that mental battle earlier. The three of them were in a small side room, complete with two couches and a coffee table. There was even a small kitchenette in the corner. Very quaint. Dry was busy trying to make a sandwich while Stick Shift was lounging on the couch with a neutral expression. Sunset took the opportunity to glance over the mystery woman.
Her outfit had barely changed from the first time Sunset met her. A comfortable dark suit, complete with a tie. Slick shades that matched well her with her long jet-black hair. While her posture was completely lax, Sunset noticed a slight tension which meant she was ready for anything. Sunset liked that.
"Do you guys know what the job is?" Sunset tried her hand at small talk.
"No." The two replied in unison. Dry's 'no' was more muffled because he was talking around his sandwich. Shift's voice sounded very musical, touched with hardness. Sunset took note and continued to talk.
"Well, it turns the previous group botched it. We're the third attempt."
"Third?" Dry inhaled with shock before spluttering into a coughing fit. He pounded on his chest several times before finally hacking out a piece of lettuce.
"Yes. Third. However, Playback's placed me as team leader which means we're going to do it my way. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" Dry saluted. Shift merely nodded.
"Great! Now I'm going home to sleep. Shift, pick me up at 10. We'll talk over breakfast." And with that, Sunset walked out of the room and completely ignored the surprised spluttering of Dry. Stars help her, she will have her deserved rest.
Author's Note
I added the profanity tag because it just seemed like a too perfect moment to not have that 'F U'. There won't be much cursing following this...probably.
Chapter 7: Science is so Amazing!
When Sunset awoke, she felt so much better. So much better in fact, she almost forgot about that mess with the CIA. She whistled merrily as she whipped out some eggs. For the first time in a while, she felt stress free. Yesterday, she got a notification from her boss asking if she was sick. She responded that she was and made up a story that she was so sick that it took a lot of effort just to pick up the phone. Thankfully, while her boss wasn't generally a good person, he knew when to let things go. Sunset was given four days off. Three days left. If she could figure out whatever this was within three days, then it's all good. If she couldn't, eh, it's not like she was that attached to the job.
A sizzle announced that the eggs were finished.
A quick mjam later and Sunset was now in her closet rummaging through some clothes. Yesterday was a nightmare, fashion wise. First she was in her office outfit which was your standard knee-length pencil skirt and blazer. She of course had black stockings underneath the skirt. It really did not fit her vibe, but hey, if the boss says so, then it's what she'll do. After that pitiful excuse of a outfit from whoever that CIA guy was, Sunset had already forgotten, she was then wearing a plain green shirt and somewhat tight fitting jeans. Thank goodness that Rainbow had a spare leather jacket in the back and some better fitting pants. She almost felt normal. But today! Today was her day. Today she was going to wear a comfortable orange shirt alongside a breathable purple pants. And to top it all off, her iconic leather jacket. She checked out herself in the mirror with a satisfied smirk before heading out when she her eyes landed on a familiar necklace. After a moment to ponder, Sunset put on the necklace as well.
The doorbell rang. Sunset headed downstairs after locking her door. As she made her way down, she smiled that they actually used the doorbell! Right at 10 AM too. It seems that Shift is punctual, another thing to file away. At least, Sunset was hoping it was Shift. Her uncertainties dissipated when she spotted a familiar looking car. Sunset jogged over before sitting shotgun.
"Shift."
"Boss."
"Don't call me that."
"Then what would you prefer?"
"Sunset's fine."
"Sunset it is." Shift nodded once then sped off. "Where to?"
"We need to get Dry first."
"I'm right here!" Dry's face suddenly popped in between the two. Shift didn't bat an eye but Sunset jerked back in surprise, resulting in her hitting her elbow on the doorframe. She groaned and clutched it, feeling the tingles. "You...uh, you alright?"
"Friggen..." Sunset took a few breaths, massaging her tender elbow all the while. "Okay...okay. Shift, can you take us to the SparkleTek building?"
"Which one?" The response was dry, but still had traces of musical notes. The oddity made Sunset very curious about her background but that can be left for another time.
"The one next to...uh...what's it called again? Ya know, the big park with that weirdly shaped tree?" Sunset asked, awkwardly. There was a small silence before Dry spoke up.
"Oh, you mean Fetlock Park?"
"Yeah! That one." Sunset patted the immensely pleased Dry on the shoulder before turning back to Shift. "You know of that one?"
"I'll get us there."
The rest of the ride was not memorable. It didn't even take 20 minutes as Shift somehow knew all the secret passages that let them skip through traffic like it never existed in the first place. Sunset was in awe of her almost miraculous street knowhow. Before long, they had arrived. Sunset told Shift to park in the parking lot that was two blocks down as it was cheaper than the one right next to the building. Also, this parking lot was known to have fewer break ins than the other one. Shift just shrugged at that news and followed directions.
"You want to come with us?" Shift shook her head. Sunset chuckled before handing her a slip of paper. "That has my phone number. Call or text or whatever if anything happens. If you don't, that's cool too, I guess. I'm trusting you."
With that, Sunset and Dry set off to the SparkleTek building. The streets were your typical city street. Dirty, cracked, and just had that charm that screamed out 'city'. People of all sorts were walking around. Going to jobs, leaving jobs, getting early lunch, going home, who knows. Sunset liked watching people go about their day. It had a certain normalcy to it that had a certain appeal to it. But of course, when it came to the city, there were the homeless, the addicts, the drunks. Even this early in the morning. Sunset deftly dodged a person who looked to be a user of whatever that new drug was called that was hitting the streets by storm. She sighed and shook her head and the tragic state of the world. Almost every day she was reminded of how different this world was to Equestria.
"Sunset?"
"Yeah?"
"What's at SparkleTek?"
"A white hat."
"Oh..." The silence that followed informed her that Dry had no idea what she was talking about. She sighed once again. Seriously, what was the CIA teaching their operatives and agents? Was Dry even an agent? She couldn't remember.
The duo had finally made it to the building and without a second thought, Sunset marched in. She noted the three visible guards standing in various positions, the multitudes of cameras, both hidden and shown, as well as the number of personnel and customers. Sunset put on a business smile and made her way to the lobby desk.
"Yes ma'am, how may we help you?"
"I'm looking for Micro Chips. I believe he works here and is in the building at this time." Sunset tried to put on her most disarming smile to compensate for that weirdly worded sentence.
"...and what was your name again?"
"Sunset Shimmer. Ask him, he'll know me."
"Of course, ma'am. Just give me a moment." The attendant scampered off, no doubt to ask a higher up what she should do in this situation.
"Sunset?"
"What is it this time, Dry?"
"What's a white hat?" Sunset let out a insufferable sigh before responding.
"You'll see." A few moments later, the attendant came rushing back. There was a certain hint of anxiety in her step. Sunset grinned inwardly, recognizing what was about to happen.
"Miss Shimmer! Here is your guest pass. Mister Micro Chips can be found on the third floor in office five. May you have a pleasant day!" She smiled way too wide, but Sunset thanked her nonetheless before making her way to the elevator.
"What was that!" Dry exclaimed. He started going from Sunset to the attendant and back again with his eyes closed, as if he couldn't comprehend what just happened.
"That, is what you call friends in high places."
"Oh." Dry's face fell. He looked up and asked with a slightly defeated tone, "this Micro Chips, he famous?"
"Yep."
"You know him from high school?"
"Yep."
Dry shook his head and sighed. "I don't even know anymore. Let me guess, you know that famous popstar too. Rara?"
"I don't know her, actually." The sudden relief that permeated every single space of Dry's body made Sunset grin with malicious intent. "However, I have a friend who does know her."
Dry slumped against the wall, his expression of pure defeat. Sunset patted him on the shoulder again, this time, one of sympathy.
"Can't have it all. Now come on, the elevator is here."
The elevator ride was uneventful. Just your standard office elevator and Dry was too busy mind blown to even converse in simple sentences. Sunset let him be and waited it out. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Sunset dragged Dry behind her as she maneuvered through the mess that is a scientist's playground. She finally made it to the fifth office and simply opened the door without knocking.
"Microoooo!"
"Sunset." The nerdy boy from high school was no more, now he looked like some model. When Sunset met him again at the 5th anniversary high school reunion, she had a spit take. His face looked like it was chiseled by some Greek artist and his color palette was blessed by mother nature. Despite all that, he still had the same crooked glasses and intense nerd energy.
"Come now, there's no need to be grumpy!" Sunset leaned an arm over the guy's shoulder and whispered into his ear. "I'm in need of some rabbit holes and before you get all angsty about the last time I asked this, I want to iterate that I actually need this for a government thingie. Spy thingie. Actually, I dunno what to call this. Dry, what do I call our operation of sorts?"
"Uhhh......."
"He's useless. Anyways Micro, like I was saying, I've got this really interesting spy thingie that might pike your interest." Sunset put on her best winning smile and the poor guy crumbled beneath her. Yes! Still got it.
"Alright. What do you need this time?" Micro pushed Sunset off of him, but there wasn't any real force behind it. "And better make it quick, I've got this major project that's due within the week."
"Of course. Wouldn't dream of taking time away from you." Sunset clapped her hands and took a deep breath. Then she explained the situation. Money Bags and the disk. The dead operatives. The bugs. The turrets that are crazy accurate and aggressive. Also, the potential corruption of him and his business associates.
"You were right, this actually is some interesting information. I thank you, Sunset. Just give me a few moments and I'll have what you need. You can wait in the waiting room."
"Nah, wouldn't want to bother the other employees. Right Dry?" An incoherent babble was the response.
"That's fine. Just don't interrupt me." And with that, Micro Chips, White Hat extraordinaire, and who the hacking community refers to with affection, Arachne, got to a hacking. Ten minutes later and Micro gave Sunset a USB stick. "This'll reprogram anything within range. You just need to attach this to your phone or laptop or whatever device, and any technology that's within 30 meters will be available to reprogram, on said device of course."
"Thanks Micro, I owe you. You want anything?"
"Get me a promotion?"
"Ha! As if Twi has time for me. See ya, Micro. Till we meet again." Sunset mock saluted and marched out with Dry in tow once again.
Author's Note
Welp, it's October 3rd once again. I'm once again another year older. Hurray.
On another note, Micro Chips to the rescue! Bet you weren't expecting another random side character, but here we are! I hope you liked it.
The trio rode for several quiet minutes. Their car was shot up, evident by the wind blowing through the shattered windows, and destruction lay in their wake. Sirens were already all over, a cop car even flew past them. Sunset was too emotionally exhausted to even care why they weren't pulling them over. Instead, she lay in the backseat and breathed in slowly but surely. It was a far cry from what it was moments before. The screeching of tires, the pounding in her head, the...dead.
Sunset's throat convulsed and she slapped a hand over her mouth and continued to breath intentionally. It helped only slightly. An unpleasant tang floated from the back of her throat which didn't help at all. To distract herself from it all, she decided to study the roof of the car. It was clean. Gray and soft, like a carpet. The seams were done well and the structural support looked solid as well. Despite all the gunfire and shattered glass, the inside was basically intact. It intrigued Sunset, there must be some special alloy or what have you enforcing the car. Maybe the CIA aren't so useless after all.
Dry smiled coldly and lifted the pistol with ease.
Sunset gagged yet again and just like the last time, she forced the bile back down. This was getting annoying. She shuffled so her face faced the seat and away from the front where that guy was sitting. It eased her mind slightly, the dull color of the seat. The rough but still comfortable fabric. The humming of the car's engine and the occasional bumps as the tires went over cracks. Her eyelids felt heavy. The mental exhaustion was catching up to her, not to mention the adrenaline crashing down. She chuckled drowsily, then welcomed the darkness.
***
The car stopped. Sunset blinked her eyes open. Her uneasiness had passed, leaving her just groggy. With a creaky heave, she sat up and then proceeded to unlatch the door. Fresh air flooded in. Then her brain caught up and she quickly slammed the door shut again, her eyes wide as she scanned their surroundings. Parking lot. Park. Empty car. Picnic table. Big house on hill. City skyline behind.
Her panic eased and Sunset slumped back into her seat. A groan bubbled up from her throat. She lay there for a solid minute, maybe two. A few more calming breaths then a silent countdown. She had to do that several more times before she willed her body into moving. She thrust herself out of the car before she could change her mind. She instantly regretted it as the world swam beneath her supposed solid footing.
"Sunset! Over here!" Sunset lifted her head if only just to keep composure and took a shaky step forward, then another, and another. Soon enough, her vision cleared and the headache faded. Sunset continued forward like nothing had happened. Next to one of the picnic tables sat Dry Clean and Shift Stick, the two of them munching away. Sunset's stomach growled. She sighed and made her way over.
"What do you have?" Priorities. In front of them lay a huge pile of plastic bags filled with things.
"Potatoes." Shift muttered, her hand deep in a chip bag.
"I see." Sunset gestured and Dry complied with a fresh new bag. "Hmm, BQ flavoured. Not bad." She munched away. Good sustenance.
There was an awkward silence.
"Alright boss, this is clearly..."
"I told you not to call me boss."
"You told Shift that, not me."
"I do need it from you, either, Dry."
"Well, excuuuse me."
"You're excused." Dry sighed at her snark. Sunset shrugged, she was born this way.
"Right, let's try this again. Hi, my name is Dry Clean, one of the best operatives the CIA has. I'm so good that I'm kept off the books, hence why I'm here helping you."
"Uh huh. Disguises and whatnot." Sunset crunched her way through a couple more handfuls.
"I'm serious! I've been tasked to help you in order to retrieve the disc and..." Dry started but was interrupted by a very loud crunch and a very bored looking Sunset. "You done?"
"No." Sunset crunched on a couple more chips then was despondent by the fact her bag was now empty. Being hungry is such a pain sometimes. "You may continue now."
"I am to help you retrieve the disc as my intel is not on that disc. Like I said earlier, I am great at disguises, acting, infiltrating, and what have you." Dry grinned drily, as if trying to show how great he was without trying to seem like he was bragging. He totally was bragging.
"Yada yada. Stuff I already know." Sunset patted him on the shoulder before reaching over and snatching another bag of chips. Sour cream and herbs. Delicious stuff. "Remember that first time we met? What did I say to you? 'You really need to get better at this?' Heh, I was talking about your acting skills. Sorry about that, Dry."
Dry stared at her, mouth open and silent.
A moment of silence.
Then Shift burst out laughing, slapping her hand on the table. She started wheezing after a while, then immediately flowed back into laughing. It soon turned into her gasping for breath, but the mirth never left her face. Sunset wordlessly passed her a bottle of water that just so happened to be with the various bags of chips. She nodded gratefully and chugged a decent amount before spitting it back out and choking. Sunset gave her a good whack on the back and Shift coughed out the last bits of the water and chip combo.
"Thanks."
"No problem." Sunset grinned at the still silent Dry. "Say, how long do you think he'll be like that?"
"Oh, I wouldn't know. There are rumors that he's the oldest agent at CIA. Been in the field too many to count and has taken down enough marks to fill an entire prison." Shift chuckled. "I've never seen him so rattled. You weren't kidding about your knack for observation. What gave him away?"
"His comfort. His knowledge. The overall situation, I suppose." Sunset chuckled lightly. "I mean, come on, a supposed rookie breaks into your apartment three floors up, but the doors are locked and the windows are still closed. He's obviously comfortable with situations like that, because there is not film of sweat around his brow or neck. His walk was full of certainty and purpose. I wasn't all that certain of course, but as the night continued on and I awoke more, the more obvious he seemed. His blasé attitude that would then clash with a weird, almost childish attitude. Then there were moments where a hint of cleverness would shine through. Ah, there were a few more things, but I feel like chips." Sunset stuffed her mouth.
"I was really that obvious?"
"Oh lookie here, Dry's out of his coma." Shift snickered once before nursing her bottle of water. Seems her throat still felt a bit off.
Sunset nodded. Dry drooped. She patted his shoulder and then went back to snacking.
"We're going to the mansion after this, right?"
"After the next bag."
Author's Note
After the next bag
