Mini None Pizza With Left Plot

Into The Depths

As had lately become the norm for Vice Principal Luna — with Sunset wondering if it even made sense to call her that anymore, and not some kind of secret spy codename — her answer was less of an actual answer and more of a slow foreshadowing of an eventual answer.

“I think you’ll find that this little agency’s history did not start with me, Sunset. And with a bit of luck, it won’t end with me, either.”

Sunset filed the unsatisfactory response away as she followed behind her new cohorts down the winding staircase, Luna and the manager (Mr. Sandwich, was it?) bringing up the rear. The staircase that was hidden inside a Buck-E Cheddars playplace that was apparently leading them to the headquarters of a secret organization whose primary membership was a random collection of teenagers…

And to think people wondered why she didn’t find this world any less crazy than Equestria.

Still, there was something on her mind she couldn’t shake. “So C.H.E.E.S.E. stands for… Canterlot High Equestrian Educational Society for Enthusiasts? What does that even mean? That’s like the definition of acronym for the sake of acronym. What are we enthusiastic about? Is Equestrian actually related to Equestria somehow, or did the founder just really like horses? How did we end up with non-CHS members? Where–”

“Oh, trust me,” piped in a voice from above, causing Wallflower to grind to a halt in front of her – Sour Sweet walked right into her. “I’ve been saying the same thing ever since I joined, and they never listen.”

Sunset looked up with everyone else, but she knew the voice as soon as she heard it. “Twilight!”

“Thanks for waiting,” came the mildly snarking reply. “I’ll be right down!”

“We’ll wait!” Sunset replied, just as Sour Sweet was trying to urge everyone onward. Sunset had spent too long with the gang of strangers – she was more than happy to have a friend back by her side, even if it was one who had a secret life that Sunset would definitely be interrogating as soon as this all blew over.

Well, at least, a friend who wasn’t currently about 17 centimeters tall. As the distant footfalls from Twilight’s hurried walk down the steps echoed from above, Sunset looked back at Pinkie, who was still happily enjoying a last morsel of pizza atop Mr. Sandwich’s shoulder.

Sunset was grateful for small consistencies.

“So you were being chased? Who was chasing you?”

“We’re not sure. But it seems almost certain they were connected to the explosion in the school.”

As Twilight and Luna continued to catch each other up on the events of the present morning, Sunset sighed. She should have figured that she would’ve been sidelined in favor of Official C.H.E.E.S.E. Business. And with Wallflower not being the chatty type, Sour Sweet not being the type anyone would want to chat with, and Pinkie busy humming a new song she’d invented at around the halfway mark down the steps, Sunset was left without anyone to chat with.

She considered interrupting with the information that Luna was conveniently excluding, like the fact that Sour’s incompetent use of motorcycle hand gestures had nearly been more effective at getting them all killed than their pursuers, but there seemed to be little point. She was the outsider. She was basically there by accident.

Sunset jolted at the feeling of a tap on her shoulder, nearly stumbling on the steps. She looked around to find Twilight just behind her, and, after a moment, beside her.

“This must be strange, isn’t it?” she asked.

“You could say that, yeah,” Sunset said with a nod.

“I’m really sorry that this is how you found out about, well, C.H.E.E.S.E.,” Twilight said with a frown. “I’ve been pushing for you to be inducted for a while, but people were hesitant. You’re from Equestria, after all.”

Sunset tilted her head. “Shouldn’t that have made me more of an asset, if this whole thing is about Equestria?”

“I thought so. I still think so. But some of the others were concerned that that would compromise your opinion about the kinds of decisions we make.”

There was grumbling all around her, and Luna gently spoke. “Twilight–”

“She deserves to know,” Twilight interrupted her. “It’s too late to not be transparent now.”

After a moment’s thought, Sunset asked another question. “What… what kinds of decisions?”

“You’ll see when we reach the bottom.” She smiled. “I’m glad you’re here, Sunset. I’m really glad.”

Sunset smiled back. “Well, if I’m gonna be forcibly inducted into a secret society of secret agents, I’m grateful it’s one with you.” She slipped her arm past Twilight’s and interlocked fingers with her, and watched as, even in the ever-dimmer light, Twilight’s face grew bright red. “Thanks for being there for me.”

“A-a-anything for a friend.”

From ahead, there was a loud scoff from Sour Sweet. “Ugh, will you two weirdos get a damn room?”

Sunset smirked, and began to extend her foot. “Why? You’re the one about to go on a trip.”

“Sunset, no!” Twilight hissed. “These are stone steps!”

Disappointedly, Sunset retracted her leg. “Fiiine…”

Sour Sweet looked back with disgust, then pushed her way in front of Wallflower. Twilight giggled.

And kept holding Sunset’s hand.

It wasn’t until they reached the bottom of the staircase, after what seemed like half an hour’s worth of descending, that they untangled their fingers, Sunset needing to catch her breath. “Please tell me there’s an elevator back to the top.”

“Not exactly,” Luna replied, “but we have a different means of exiting than we do of entering.”

“I’ll take it,” Sunset replied. She took a look around. The space was a lot less… exciting than she was anticipating.

Sour must have noticed the bewilderment on her face. “Were you expecting a movie set? This isn’t a Mare-Do-Well movie. Welcome to real life.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Sure, everything about this so far screams ‘real life.’”

All around was a large, rather barren cavern, with only a few lights to speak of. Little droplets of water could be heard plink-ing onto the ground in the dimness, and the walls were visibly slick. There were three doors carved into them, each bearing an inscription that Sunset couldn’t make out from this distance. The floor, however, was paved, almost in the manner of a school hallway, creating a bizarre visual contrast.

It took Sunset a moment to notice that the group had begun to concentrate around the leftmost door, which Luna opened with a special-looking key. It opened wide before them – Wallflower had to take a step back – before they all filed inside. Twilight, at the back, motioned to Sunset.

“Come on!”

Hurriedly, Sunset caught up with the group, only to notice one person hadn’t entered – Mr. Sandwich. He stood calmly and quietly beside the staircase, only briefly making eye contact with Sunset before resuming his watch of the cavern. This was undoubtedly odd, but Sunset only had a moment to consider that fact before being ushered inside the room.

It occurred to her that Pinkie had not been on Mr. Sandwich’s shoulder, but a small Pinkie giggle made it evident she’d merely hopped to someone else’s shoulder. That brought Sunset’s attention to the inside of the room, which… also failed to look particularly notable. It was certainly a dramatic difference from the cave, in that this looked like an actual room — however, it was still a fairly uninspiring place, looking more like a low-level corporate boardroom than anything. An extremely plain one, to boot.

There was a large rectangular table in the center, and Sunset followed Twilight to a seat. Internally, she was amused. The agents around her might have thought of themselves as knights, but there was no pretense of equality, as Luna sat firmly at the head. Sour and Wallflower sat opposite Sunset and Twilight, while Pinkie had merrily jaunted over to the center of the table.

Just as everyone was seated, Mr. Sandwich entered, whispering something in Luna’s ear. Sunset couldn’t make it out, but Luna nodded, and Mr. Sandwich closed the door. He took a seat at the other end of the table, facing her.

“Now,” Luna began, “all of you know how we got here, and why, for the first time in many months, we’ve had to assemble in the Blue Room.” (Sunset noted that there was nothing in the room that could be considered blue, besides a few pairs of jeans.) “But there remains the question of why. And for that, I will turn things over to Agent Sparkle.”

Sunset looked over as Twilight stood from her seat. Thank you, Vice-Principal.” (It appeared they really were just gonna keep calling her that.) “Now, I’ve been able to compare some of the damage done at the sight of the explosion, and the reports from other students about what happened to Pinkie. And one thing that keeps coming up is the appearance of a very distinctive sigil. The same one that appeared on the cruise last spring break, and that my princess pony counterpart informed me belonged to an enemy of hers – one that is known to have died, yet, to risk sounding like the corpse of a science fiction film franchise, has somehow reappeared. Or, at least, someone or something is trying to carry on his legacy.”

Memories of the encounter flashed through Sunset’s mind. “You don’t mean–”

“Yes, Sunset. The Storm K–”

Twilight was interrupted when a bright glow started to appear at the center of the table, all around Pinkie Pie. There was a sizzling sound, and the smell of baked goods mixed with electricity. Suddenly, there was a bright flash, followed by the sound of something crashing. Sunset yelped as something heavy brushed past her knees, and there were a few other screams of fright.

Once Sunset’s eyesight had recovered, she, as everyone else finished rubbing their own eyes, found the table had snapped like a twig. Sat in the middle was Pinkie Pie, suddenly restored to full height. She looked around at the sight, bewildered, before letting out a giggle.

“Wow. You all really need to get a stronger table.”