R.E.D.

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"Rise and shine, Engineer. Rise and shine.”

The voice seemingly came from nowhere. It had a strong, smooth French accent, a stark contrast to the small, musty, wooden shack that it reverberated through.

“Whu…What?” Engineer lifted his head slowly from the table.

“aw, Jesus, mah head” he brought his hands up to his face to wipe the sleep from his eyes, accidentally knocking over a bottle of Scrumpy’s and sending nuts and bolts scattering across the table.

“That’s what you get for challenging Demoman to a drinking competition” He moaned.

The tall figure of Spy emerged from the shadows, a smirk plastered across his masked face. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a case of cigarettes.

“Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job.” The lighter clicked as he lit the cigarette and drew it up to his mouth.

“No-one is more deserving of a rest.”

He bent over to examine the over sized teleporters that sat in the corner of the room.

“And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste, until” He stopped and seemed to sniff the air.

Suddenly, the sound of mortar shell screamed directly overhead, causing Engineer to almost jump out of his skin. Spy, however, didn’t even seem to blink. A scowl crept across the features his face.

“Well, let's just say your hour has come again.” His voice took on a more impatient tone.

“You talk like ah’ve been out for 20 years” Chuckled engineer, as he pulled his goggles over his eyes. Spy’s calm demeanour had now completely faded, replaced with a troubling anxiety that was rarely seen by his fellow team-mates.

“We need you to fix up these, new teleporters of yours, so we can grab the intelligence from the Blu base, and get out of there quickly, with minimum mess! The fate of the entire mission and the lives of your team-mates rests solely in your shoulders, Engineer! Do not fuck it up!”

“He heh, don't get your knickers in a twist” he slurred. The level 4 'Super-teleporter' was his life’s work, a teleportation device developed from Telemax Co.’s original model, capable of teleporting an entire team of 9 operatives into the enemy base in one go. Safety in numbers, you see. The briefcase is far less likely to be lost if the entire team is escorting it!

It had taken a lot of trial and error (usually at Heavy’s expense, as he was the only one who could be convinced into being the guinea pig) and a lot of re-working, but after 9 years in development, hopefully it’ll be worth the wait. To be honest, he was a little nervous that it would work, It’s just that, well, he still has nightmares about THAT cat.

“So, wake up Engineer!” The agitated voice of Spy pulled him out of his pleasant daydream. He shook him violently, his shrouded face so close to engineer’s that he could smell that strange French perfume that he insisted wearing

“Wake up and smell the ashes.”

BOOM!

“GAH!!” They both screamed as a mortar exploded what must have been mere meters away from the shack, causing engineer to jump into Spy’s arms, the same way that Scooby-Doo would jump into Shaggy’s.

“Oh! I am I intruding on an intimate moment here?” Standing in the doorway was Medic, his white doctors coat flapping like a cape in the wind. Sitting on his shoulder was the blood-spattered form of his pet dove, Archimedes. Strangely, the bird didn't seem to care in the slightest about the explosions around it.

“Oh Merde!” Snorted Spy, quickly letting go of Engineer and dropping him to the floor.

“If its not too much trouble, we really need to get moving, ja!"

"Medic!"

"Coming! ugh, ze doctors work is never done"

He indicated over his shoulder "as you can hear, things are really hotting up out there!”

“Krauts” mumbled Engineeer as he trudged over to the packed up teleporters and hauled them off the ground. He really didn’t have a clue how Demoman managed to operate as a valued member of the team while simultaneously being in an almost constant state of unsoberness.

“Keeps me focused, mate!” Laughed Demoman.

“What!?”

He took another swig of Cider.

“Well, I cannae work with all those ‘splosions distracting me! The Drink keeps me focused!” He tapped the side of his head.

“…”

“Cheers mate!”

Ask no questions to avoid confusion. Especially when it comes to Demoman’s drinking habits.

He tossed one of the teleporters to Spy.

“This here’s for you” Spy caught it in his one free hand.

“d'accord” he remarked, testing the weight of the device.

“Now listen close, Spy” said Engineer “This here’s important. Once you reach the Blu base, simply set up the device and hit the calibrate button. That’ll connect it too this fella here”

He pointed to his own teleporter, which was clutched firmly in his left hand.

“Then, make sure no mean old mother hubbard gets a chance to tamper with her. Distract em', keep em' away. Use yer' old 'Parisian charm'. Or if that fails, stab em' in the back like the backstabber you are”

BOOM!

“Schizer!” cried Medic as the shed rattled from another dangerously close strike.

"Medic!"

He turned his head towards Archimedes. "Go and check up on Scout Archimedes, less than 2 missing limbs and it can wait till a more convenient time" The bird flew off obediently.

“I see” said Spy to Engineer, nodding slowly. He dropped his cigarette to the floor and stamped it out .

“Gentlemen” he nodded politely to the two men, before turning tail and slipping into the darkness once more.

“Well” said Medic, adjusting his tie “Now zat is sorted, we best make our way to the front lines! The rest of the team are already there, waiting for you. No doubt Blu is too.”

“Well” said Engineer, as he loaded his pistol. As magazine slid in with a satisfying click, menacing smile crept across his face.

“We best not keep them waiting.”

"Medic!"

It was finally here. The day that everypony had been waiting for (for the past month, anyway) had finally arrived. It was a beautiful morning. The weather had been scheduled to be bright, but cool and it looked as if the weather team had managed to get it just right. The birds were singing. The Flowers were as colourful as ever and everypony had a smile on their face. It was going to be a great day.

“You see Spike, this isn’t an event organised by the Mayor Mare or the Ponyville town council.” She said as she once again plunged head first into the mountain of paper on her desk, anxiously examining each scrap, triple checking everything to make sure she hadn’t missed a single detail.

“So what?” said Spike, shuffling through some of the papers with his right hand (at a much less frantic rate than Twilight) occasionally stopping to pluck a gemstones from the leather pouch he held in his left hand and munch on them.

“Businesses and companies like the 'happy cloud Co.' hold these kind of competitions all the time” he said between crunches.

“and you don’t get all worked up about that”

“SPIKE!” She glared at him. “What have I said about speaking with your mouth full!” Spike’s mouth clamped shut, a few crumbs rolled down his chin

“sorry” he mumbled.

Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to flicking through her notes, not even glancing at her scaled companion as she worked.

“This wasn’t even an event set up by a company.” she explained

“When companies get involved, these events are used for advertising and promotion” she waved her hooves around.

“Or to find the best candidate for a certain job, or something like that. Have to revise business studies soon to make sure I'm not loosing any valuable knowledge! However, back on topic, this is completely different. The sponsor is not a company, or if it was, it doesn’t want to be identified for some reason, as they are only ever referred to as ‘the Benefactor' in leaflets and posters”

“the Benefactor’ huh? Sounds kinda menacing to me. SORRY!”

He spat out the last word quickly, so to avoid another lecture from Twilight. Instead, he only received an angry stare.

“Also,” she continued “the reward doesn’t seem to benefit them in any way. No new employee, no showing off of a new product, just 100 bits to the winners of each category, ‘Most talented Unicorn’, ‘Strongest Earth Pony’ and ‘Fasted Pegasus’ and that’s it.”

“Too be perfectly honest, that’s a pretty measly reward for such a large competition”

“Yeah, that’s another thing I’ve been thinking about. Anyway, I guess to the entrants it isn’t going to be about the reward. It’s going to be about the pride.”

“oh yeah!”

They heard an exited call from outside and a whoosh of air forced its way through the open window, sending paper flying everywhere.

“As if some ponies needed their ego to get any bigger” The purple unicorn said through gritted teeth. She looked down at Spike.

“Brace yourself”

Suddenly, the window opposite Twilight’s bed smashed as a rainbow blur shot through and thumped into the opposing wall.

“Oof” Grunted Rainbow Dash as she slid down the wall into a heap on the floor. The customary entrance for the athletic Pegasus.

“Sorry Twilight…”

“Don’t worry Dash” she let out a long sigh.

“It’s what I’ve come to expect.”

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Today's the day! The day I prove myself as Equestaria’s greatest flyer!”

“As if that was in any doubt.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, Rainbow Dash” Twilight let out a sigh headed over to another bookshelf.

Rainbow Dash watched her shuffle through the books. She wasn’t the brightest of ponies, but she knew when her friends were hiding things from her, especially Twilight.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothi-”

“She has a bad feeling about the competition” said Spike. He turned to Twilight, who was giving him a stare that could almost rival one of Fluttershy’s.

“What? You gotta learn to stop keeping secrets from your friends. It ain’t healthy, Twi”

She sighed. “Your right, Spike” she turned towards Dash’s puzzled face.

“It just doesn’t feel right.”

Dash’s face softened. She trotted over to Twilight and threw her front leg over her shoulder.

“Aw, c’mon Twilight. It’s a competition! What’s the worst that could happen?”

Twilight raised her eyebrow.

“Heh, heh” Dash blushed and looked everywhere apart from Twilight’s eyes. She quickly decided that it was probably best to change the subject.

“You’re gonna compete, right?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to blush. Everyone in Ponyville knew that she was the most talented unicorn in the town, and probably the entire country (apart from a few, extra-ordinary individuals). However, it wasn’t something she entirely enjoyed showcasing.

She’d first-hand seen with Trixie what could happen when a pony became too overconfident in their own abilities. They became arrogant and aloof. Such things haunted twilight’s dreams. She had promised herself since the ‘Ursa Minor’ incident that she would never, ever become like that.

“I don’t know, Dash. You know I’m not the type to show off. No offense.”

“None taken. Not everyone’s cut out for it” Twilight rolled her eyes.

Dash swiveled round to face Twilight “But you gotta take part! If not for yourself, for your friends!”

“But-”

“No buts! We're all so, um, honored, to be best friends with such a powerful unicorn!” she prodded her with her front hoof.

“You’re gonna take part in this competition and make us proud!”

“But-”

“You don’t get a choice Twilight, your taking part and that’s that!”

Twilight smiled weakly. She knew when she was defeated.

“Okay, okay, you win. Do the others know about this?”

“Are you kidding? They sent me to check that you were gonna go! We all want you to take part! We all know that you and I can smash the competition” she laughed.

“If they dare to show up, that is.”

“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE’S FIRST EVER 'BEST OF THE BEST' COMPETITION!” *CLICK*

It had been two hours since Rainbow dash had dropped by to convince Twilight to take part in the Competition. Not a long time to prepare for a competition that others had been practicing for the past 3 weeks.

"FIRST UP IS THE FASTEST PEGASUS EVENT!" *CLICK*

Luckily, Twilight was always practicing new spells. She was the element of magic, of course. She decided to use a special spell that acted as a magical firework display, sending thousands of colours (some of which previously she never knew existed) streaking across the sky. She was planning on saving it for a special occasion, but this was probably as special as it was going to get for a while.

"3" *CLICK*

"2" *CLICK*

"1" *CLICK"

She had also decided to leave Spike at home. She knew how tired he was after all that researching up late last night, and she had decided that he needed a serious rest to catch up on his sleep, no matter how much he had wanted to watch her compete (which was very unusual for the lethargic dragon).

“AND THEY'RE OFF!” *CLICK*

Suddenly a blur of pure colour shot past as hundreds of pegasi shot away from the starting line. A roaring cheer erupted from the crowd as families and friends shouted their own message of support to their own special competitors.

“What a peculiar voice! It seems to come from everywhere!” exclaimed Rarity, apparently disillusioned with the pure excitement around her.

She was sat, along with the remaining 4 members of the mane 6 who were not competing, in the temporary seats overseeing the events. She was wearing a pink designer hat (I’ll just embarrass myself if I try to go into more detail than that) and was holding a pair of viewing glasses with her telekinesis, trying to pick out Twilight from the rabble of competitors milling at the side-lines.

“Sure is! Sounds kinda, metallic” replied Applejack. “Creepy”

“He he!” Giggled Pinkie pie “Sounds funny! Like a robot!” her voice changed to match the voice of the announcer.

“I AM A ROBOT. BEEP. BOOP.”

They all began to laugh. Only Pinkie could change the tone of a moment so quickly.

"I do hope we didn't put to much pressure on Twilight" said Rarity, as the pegasi disappeared from view.

"Yeah, we only wanted to encourage her to have a go, but they way shes been runnin' around, she must think her life's dependin' on it!"

"Well, we all know how sometimes Twilight can get worked up about things" said Fluttershy.

"Maybe it would have been best if i'd told her, instead of Rainbow Dash" snorted Applejack.

"Now, now, Applejack" said Rarity "Twilight knows what Rainbow Dash is like. She would have taken that into account before agreeing to sign up"

"I don't know Rarity, you know how irrational Twi can be when she's under pressure. Remember when forgot to send that friendship report to princess Celestia?"

"Oh, yes"  Rarity's face darkened, remembering how distressed Twilight had been. "I hope she doesn't worry too much"

“Oh look” said Fluttershy in her most excited voice. “here comes Rainbow Dash”

They all turned their heads towards the finish line and began to cheer as a rainbow coloured flash shot across the finish line, full seconds ahead of 2nd place.

Rainbow Dash shot over to the group, casually performing somersaults as she did so, bathing in the applause from the crowd.

“Thank you, thank you!” she called “All in a day’s work for Rainbow Dash, Equestaria’s greatest flyer!” she hovered over to her friends, who were beaming at her.

“How’d I do?”

“Marvellous as usual, darling!”

“Yippie! We should have a party to celebrate!”

“That sure was fast, Dash!”

“Yay”

“Uh, Dash” said Applejack, scratching the back of her head with her front hoof.

“Shouldn’t you be over at the awards ceremony, or sumthin’?”

“Nah, they do that at the end, when all of the other events have finished”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“I dunno, something about a winners group photo, I think”

The rest of the day seemed to fly by. Big Mac won the strongest Earth pony event, pulling his cart of rocks across the finish line in first place. Applejack wouldn’t stop blubbering on about how proud she was of him until Twilight’s event.

To say she thrashed the competition would be an understatement. While the other Unicorns used tricks such as disappearing rabbits (Much to Fluttershy’s distress) and floating wardrobes, Twilight put on an entire firework display. The sky was lit up with the brightest colours and the most complex patterns imaginable, as she cast the spell with such skill that only Celestia’s star pupil could achieve.

The awards ceremony had been great too. Each competitor had been given a pouch of 100 bits and a golden medal by the Mayor, studded with gems and rubies. Dash couldn’t sit still, constantly somersaulting and thanking the crowd as hundreds of cameras flashed at her. Big Mac just sat there in a dream-like state, happily thinking to himself how he had made his family proud. Twilight awkwardly smiled and waved at the crowd. She was relieved when she was finally allowed to step off the podium and leave.

“I still can’t believe some of those colours that I saw! It was like staring at a pile of magical glowing gems floating in the sky! Only better!” said Pinkie.

“And those patterns! Oh! You must teach me how you did the patterns, you must!” said Rarity

“It was nothing, really!” Twilight was blushing so much that it was literally showing through her fur. To say that she didn’t like the flow of compliments would be a lie, but there was still that niggling thought in the back of her head that told her it was wrong.

“Excuse me”

The group turned to face a particularly bored looking Gryphon. Her body was covered in shiny brown and white feathers and a pair of dark, menacing sunglasses covered her eyes.

Rainbow Dash frowned “Gilda, is that you?”

Gilda scoffed “Yes, Dash, it’s me. Not everyone has time to sit around and play games all day. Some people have jobs to do”

"Um, if you don't mind, I really need to go to the toilet. Back in a sec" said Fluttershy, almost tripping over her legs in her attempt to get away from Gilda

.

Rainbow Dash frowned even more. It had been a long time since she had last seen her old friend, and they hadn’t exactly parted ways on good terms. “What happened to you, Gilda? I didn’t think being an attendant at an Equestrian competition was your idea of ‘cool”

Gilda stared at Dash. Her claws clenched, and her teeth gritted, but it was subtle enough thaat nopony noticed. “I grew up. Maybe it’s time for you to do the same. And besides, I’ll have you know that there’s more to this job than meets the eye”

“Anyway, what I came to tell you” as she paused, she looked over Twilight and Big Mac.

"Is that its time for your photos"

Two male earth ponies appeared from behind Gilda. One had a dark green coat, a rusty coloured mane, and a crowbar for a cutie mark. The other was pearl white, and had a blue lightning bolt and as a cutie mark. He also had a blue mane, too. Both were wearing grey fedoras and similar sunglasses to the ones that Gilda was wearing. Around the green ones neck hung an unusual camera which gave off a unsettling green aura from its lens.

Dash back-flipped back on to the podium. "Gimme your best shot!" she said as she struck her most heroic pose.

The stallion raised the camera with its front hooves. The sound of the shutter was heard, but there was no flash, instead, the lens colour changed from green to red and strengthened in brightness slightly. The device then beeped and the lens returned to a dim red.

Dash jumped back off the podium, slightly annoyed at the lack of noise. She had been expecting something a little cooler from such a flash looking camera.

"Huh, isn't like any picture I've ever had taken before"

Next it was Big Macs turn, maintaining the calm and coolness that was characteristic of the giant farm worker. Next, Twilight steeped up to the podium.

She felt uneasy as the distrust of the competition that she had early suddenly return. The camera ominously glared at her as the lens once again changed from green to red. She felt a strong discomfort shoot through her body, almost as if the device was staring into her very soul.

BEEP

Twilight jumped off the podium. Had Mac or Rainbow Dash felt it too? She made a mental note to ask them later.

"So" Rainbow Dash prodded the green pony with her hoof. "How long till we get the photos?"

Despite the sunglasses, Twilight could read the expression on the pony's face like a book. Rather than answer Dash's question, he looked over to Gilda for help. Why did he look so dumbstruck over what should be such an easy question for such a professional looking stallion? Rainbow Dash was about to prod him again when Gilda responded.

"About a month" said Gilda, giving a huge uneasy grin.

"A month!?" Cried Rainbow Dash, flying straight up to the Griffon and hovering inches from her face.

“Yeah, these things take time, y’know? Lots of magical processes to go through, yeah, processes”  she didn’t sound very convinced. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.

“A month and everything should of fallen into place…” She backed away from Rainbow Dash, feeling confident that the answer she had given was good enough.

“So yeah, about a month and they’ll get delivered straight to your doors, assuming that wall-eyed freak isn’t still delivering the mail. The Benefactor sends you his best wishes” Gilda regained her confidence. She she walked off with the two earth ponies following closely, towards the everfree forest.

“Hey that’s no way to talk about Derpy!” Shouted Rainbow Dash.

“Whatever!”

The group of ponies stood there for a while, taking in the strange events that had occurred over the passed 5 minutes, as spectators continued to file out of the park. Fluttershy tip-toed up to the group, making sure that Gilda was definatley gone before speaking up. “What happened?”

Rarity turned to her. “I’m not entirely sure”

“Eeyup”