Chapter 49

I wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation with the fashionista, nor was Sunset. We showed up at her place, knocking at the door to announce our presence before entering.

Rarity came down the stairs in the right corner of the front room, and paused suddenly when she saw me and the red-head standing there. “Um…hello…” she said, looking confused.

I took a deep breath. “Hey Rare. Um…I have some bad news about Flutters…”

Sunset and I explained everything that had happened up until that point in the day, and Rarity was devastated, as expected. She paced around in front of the couch, fidgeting with her fingers as we talked, her eyes getting moist as the realization that her best friend had been stolen from her started to sink in.

“They took my darling Fluttershy??” she hissed, starting to become upset.

I nodded. “Cody took her. And he knows about her power.”

Rarity put her hand over her mouth as she continued to pace around, her eyes full of worry and grief. Then she looked at Sunset and me. “How can you know for certain it was Agent Cody who took her?”

I took the aviators out of my pocket and handed them to her. “For one thing, he was just talking to me from Flutters’ phone.” I explained. “And these are his. He was wearing them when he showed up last time too.”

Rarity took the sunglasses, studying them for a couple seconds before she looked back at us with shock on her face. “He wore these with a black suit? Is he out of his fucking mind??”

I shook my head at her. “Look, Rare…bad fashion sense aside, he’s a piece of shit, and we will make him pay for what he’s done.”

“You’re absolutely right, darling.” she said, puffing up her chest. “We must leave at once! No one takes my girlfriend away and keeps his balls attached…”

“Rare…” I said, stopping her from getting too excited. “I’m taking Sunset. I want you to stay here.”

Rarity was dumbfounded. “B-but darling…” she blubbered, clearly hurt that I was excluding her from going to rescue the shy girl. “I can help you…I-I’m ready for this.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I know you’re ready, Rare. You are amazing at what you do, and I’m very proud of you, but for this job, we don’t…need…your particular talents.”

She stood still, giving me and empty stare. Her bottom lip was starting to tremble.

I stood up from the couch and put my hands on her shoulders. “Look,” I said, gazing into her sapphire eyes. “We need Sunny’s mind-reading to find out where Flutters is, and how to get her out. She needs to be inside the CIA for that, and it’s going to be risky getting her in there. I’m not even sure how we’re going to do it yet. There’s no need for you to be there too, your abilities are no use for what we’re doing, and I don’t want to risk you getting caught. I won’t be going in there either...just Sunny.”

Sunset snorted. “Yeah, you’ll risk me getting caught, but not your girlfriend?” she said sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest.

“For what you can accomplish with your mind reading…It’s worth the risk.” I said, turning back to Rarity, who was starting to sniffle a bit.

“But darling…why can’t I at least go with-“

“No.” I said bluntly. “I’m sorry, but you’re too attached to Flutters…I don’t want your emotions to get in the way and jeopardize us…”

She scowled at me. “What about you? Aren’t you attached?? Why do you get to go and not me?”

“Listen, over-manning the mission is wasteful , plus I have to go because I have the most experience with this kind of thing, plus I have connections in the states, which we will need. I’m sorry, Rare.”

“But Golds-“ she started again, before I stopped her.

“I don’t want you there! OK?” I said sternly, looking sharply into her eyes to show her I was serious.

I could see her scowl fade away, followed by the corners of her mouth curling down as she started to cry. “They took her…and now you don’t want my help…” she sobbed. “What am I to do then?”

I hugged her close to me, letting her rest her face on my chest as her vanilla scent wafted up to my nose. I knew how she felt, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for doing this to her, but then I suddenly got an idea to help placate her self-esteem. “It’s not a rejection, Rare.” I said. “I still have an important job for you. Well, two…actually.”

She leaned back, wiping the tears from one eye, leaving a dark streak from her wet makeup across her cheek. “You do?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“And w-what is it?” she sniffled.

“You need to look after Canterlot while we’re gone.” I said.

She furrowed her brows. “Canterlot?”

I nodded. “If you see something bad going on…fix it. Do what Flutters did at the school, and what I did at the bar.”

She turned her head, staring at the wall, unsure of what to think.

“I think you’re ready.” I said. “So I’m leaving you in charge. I’m counting on you to watch over this entire city…can you do it?”

Rarity drew in a breath. “Do you think I can do it?”

“I know you can do it. Rare, you are as powerful and intelligent as you are beautiful…and you’re pretty fucking beautiful.” I said, running my fingers through her hair.

She smirked a little bit at me, then rested her head on my shoulder again, letting out a long sigh in the process. “OK, darling. I’ll do it. And you bring my Fluttershy back to me. Promise?”

I smiled. “We’ll have her back before you know it. That’s where Sunset comes in. She can learn so much so quickly if we can get her inside…”

I looked at Sunset, who was standing there somewhat awkwardly.

Then I turned back at my ivory-coloured girlfriend. “Now, Sunset met Cody face-to-face, remember?”

Rarity nodded her head.

“She’s got a pretty distinctive look, does she not?” I said.

Rarity turned her head to look at her fiery-haired friend.

“What if she runs into him there?” I queried.

“He’ll recognize her…” Rarity said quietly.

I nodded. “What can we do about that?” I asked. “That’s the other job I have for you.”

The fashionista looked back at me with a smirk on her lips. “Well darling, makeovers my specialty.”

*****

I sat on the couch for well over an hour while Rarity took charge in giving Sunset a new look for her upcoming mission. I thought about how things would go while we were gone, wondering what kind of trouble Rarity might get herself into while looking after the town. I wasn’t sure if anything worth her time would actually happen, after all this was a pretty quiet town…maybe that was a good thing? I figured I would find out once we got back with Fluttershy.

I turned towards my right when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs to see Rarity emerge with a proud look on her face. She put her hands together in front of her chest and bounced up and down a little, evidently quite excited about the results of Sunset’s new look.

“Well darling…” she started, “obviously I wasn’t able to cut her hair, but I did manage to style it to give her a more ‘professional’ look…and they dye seemed to take very well. I wasn’t sure if it would work, you know….because of her condition…but it did. Plus, as a bonus, she’ll never have to worry about getting roots.”

I nodded. “OK, sounds good.”

“And I found her a very smart looking ladies business suit…” Rarity bragged as she flipped her hair with her nose up. “I’m telling you darling, she’s going to fit right in with all those dick-weeds.”

I laughed at Rarity’s one-liner as she walked towards me. “Why don’t tell me how you really feel?” I chuckled.

She giggled as she came up to me and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, placing a brief kiss on my lips before turning back to the staircase. “Come on, Sunset, Let’s see you…”

I could hear Sunset groan form the hall at the top of the short staircase. “I look like a fucking dweeb.”

Rarity huffed as she rolled her eyes. “Oh Sunset, don’t be ridiculous. You look just perfect for the job.”

“Fine…” the fire-haired girl’s voice said as it drifted down the stairs towards us.

I watched intently as Sunset Shimmer slowly came down the stairs and came in to view. My jaw dropped when I saw her, she was hardly recognisable as the red-headed friend that I had gotten know over the past half year.

She was wearing a charcoal gray ladies suit jacket with a fairly short pencil skirt of the same colour. Under the jacket was an off-white silk blouse, and for footwear she had on tall, narrow black boots with heels built into them.

Her face and hair was striking. Rarity had done her makeup in a very understated way, not to try to look particularly pretty, but clean and professional. Her hair was done up on the back of her head in a loose, yet stylish bun. The biggest change was the colour. Rarity had dyed it a dark brunette…gone were the wild red and yellow locks, replaced by the plainness of your average business woman.

“Hey…” I said.

Sunset locked her eyes with mine, making me notice how her aqua-coloured irises were the only thing left of the once rebellious looking woman that I knew.

I shrugged. “Where’s Sunset? She can’t be here…cuz I don’t see her anywhere.”

The new brunette snorted and shook her head, looking to the side as she folded her arms. “Whatever.” was all she said.

Rarity grabbed my hand and shook it excitedly. “Do you like it, darling? How did I do?”

I smiled at her. “You are a woman of many talents, Rare.” I said, leaning down to kiss her forehead as she giggled with pride. I looked again at Sunset, then cocked my brows a bit. “What’s with the boots? Why not high heels?”

Rarity waved me off. “Oh darling, tall boots with a business dress are in right now.”

I looked at Sunset, wondering what she thought.

“I actually kind of like them…” the brunette said. “It’s the only part of this crap that actually looks good…” She locked eyes with Rarity. “I mean…it’s just not my style…”

Rarity stuck her nose up. “It’s perfectly alright, dear. I understand.”

I pointed at Sunset while looking at Rarity. “That outfit is how she’s gonna get in there and blend in…and how she’s gonna find out where Flutters is. You made it happen, Rare. Just remember that, OK? We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, Rare. You did great. Really.”

Rarity blushed. “Aww, thank you, you two.” she said, turning to hook her arms around the back of my neck again, squeezing me tightly against her. “Are you two going to leave right away?”

I nodded. “Yeah…well, no actually. We have to wait until morning to rent a car…but there’s a lot of shit to do before then. We’ve gotta pack our bags, figure out where we’re leaving our vehicles, find someone to watch Angel and Link…”

Rarity took a deep breath. “I can watch her animals…I absolutely love that precious kitty. The bunny I’m not so sure of though…”

I nodded. “OK. We’ll bring them here after we get back to town.”

She squeezed me tighter. “I wish you didn’t have to go, darling…”

“I know.” I said, taking a deep breath. “But we have to…”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come too?” she asked softly, planting soft kisses around my cheeks and jawline, giving me goosebumps as she pulled herself up against me and brought her legs up, wrapping them around my waist, hooking her feet together behind my back.

“Oooohh…why do you have to do this, Rare?” I said in a low tone. “You know, this is exactly why I can’t take you…we’ll be dealing with the damn CIA. I need to be on my A-game…I can’t have your sexy ass there distracting me.”

She giggled, then kissed me hard on the lips, holding it there for a few moments as she tried to enjoy our final moments together before I left.

After breaking the kiss, she ran her fingers through my hair, gazing into my eyes with those sparkling sapphires of hers. She took a deep breath then said: “I’m going to miss you so much, darling…please don’t be gone long.”

I shook my head. “I won’t be. And I‘ll have Flutters back here before you know it…but until then, I’m gonna miss you too, Rare.”

She rested the side of her head on my shoulder with a sigh, wishing that none of this had to happen. “I love you, darling.”

I closed my eyes, then ran my fingers through her silky purple hair. “I love you too.”

We stayed like this for a moment, then she finally unwrapped her legs from around me and stood on the floor once again. She backed up a bit, keeping her hands on my shoulders as she stared at my chest for a moment, then she quickly looked at Sunset with sudden concern in her eyes. “Wait a minute…you’re going to be alone with Sunset for how long??”

I looked at the brunette, who was looking nervously back at me. “Uh…” I said. “Maybe a week? It depends on how things go…”

Rarity gasped. “A week??...But darling, what about-“ she paused, then came closer to me, turning her face away from Sunset to talk quieter. “What about her little, ahem…condition?”

I sighed. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”

“Rare…” Sunset said suddenly, causing us both to look at her. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle it…this is for Flutters. We’ve gotta get her back. Besides…I think I might have a plan for dealing with my…issues.”

“And…” Rarity asked. “Are you having this issue…right now?”

Sunset glanced at me, then blushed through her make-up as she looked back at Rarity. “Uh, yeah…I’m actually super-soaked right now.”

Rarity slowly turned her head back to me with her eyebrows cocked. “Sooo strange…”

*****

We finally were able to tear away from Rarity’s to go back to Sunset’s to pack her bags. Before we left, we gave the fashionista a third and final job…the responsibility of informing the rest of the group about the situation.

Sunset changed back into her normal clothes and let her hair down again once she was back in her apartment. Like this, she started to look like the old Sunset again. The brunette hair looked good on her when it was down, and it struck me how beautiful she was even without her signature fire-coloured locks.

We went down to the parking lot to my truck. She expressed some concerns about leaving her motorcycle unattended in that parking lot for so long, so I offered to take it to my shop and lock it inside. She agreed, so I lifted her bike into the back of my truck, much to her surprise, and strapped it down for the long drive out to my place. We stopped off at my shop and dropped the bike off, locking it inside before continuing on to Fluttershy’s house. I packed what I needed, then checked the time.

It was 6:30am by then, so we gathered up the two pets, along with their food and things and headed back to Rarity’s to drop them off. It was difficult to get away from her again, and it made Sunset and I wish we’d just told her to go get the animals on her own. I could understand Rarity’s clinginess, and I found it difficult to leave her there alone, but I was driven to go get my girlfriend back. My other girlfriend, that is…

Once the car rental office was open, Sunset and I rented a large white sedan to take on our road trip. I didn’t want to take my truck in case things got heavy…it’s not immortal like me, and I didn’t want it getting damaged. Not only that, but the car would make us harder to recognise.

I drove my truck back out to Fluttershy’s to leave it there with her little SUV, then brought the keys inside the house and locked it. Rarity had a set of keys to the house as well, in case she needed in to get something for the animals.

Sunset picked me up in the rental car at Fluttershy’s, and we left from there to head to our first destination in Richmond, British Columbia.

*****

The black bag was yanked violently off of Fluttershy’s head, exposing her eyes to a pitch-black room, with the exception of a single blinding white light, which was aimed directly into her eyes.

The shy girl squinted, trying in vain to see anything other than the bright glare in front of her. The room was quiet and cold. She was sitting on a hard chair with her arms resting on a metal table.

She tried to move her arms to timidly join her hands on her lap, a habit she had formed when she was nervous after a lifetime of shyness, but after only a few inches, he hands were stopped from moving any further.

She looked down at her wrists, realizing that the chain of her cuffs was looped through a ring in the table. She could see the silhouette of the metal links with the bright light in the background, joining her hands to each other, and to the table. She moved her feet to see if they were free, only to be disappointed to find out that they were chained down as well. She wasn’t sure how they did this…she remembered being led into the room with the bag over her head, where she was forcefully sat down in the chair. She already had the cuffs on…the loop in the table must have had some sort of quick release so they could tie her down without having to remove her cuffs…

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out in the room over a speaker. It was altered to sound deeper, like some sort of demon, which frightened the shy girl, causing her to jump when she heard it bellow out of the darkness at her.

“What is your name, date and location of birth?”

Fluttershy’s heart was racing now, her breath elevated slightly as she looked around, trying to see if she could find the source of the terrible voice.

It repeated itself after a few seconds.

“What is your name, date and location for birth??”

She pulled on the chains with her hands a little bit, deciding that she really wasn’t liking this place. She gritted her teeth as she twisted her wrists around, trying to finagle her hands free, but to no avail.

She jumped when the voice rang out a third time. “What is your name, date and location of birth???”

She froze, realizing she had no way out. She was going to have to answer. “Um…” she started quietly. “F-Fluttershy…um, Cloudsdale…F-February 18, 1996.”

There was a pause from the voice…leaving her staring into the intense light in the cold silence.

Her heart raced as she waited for what was next.

“What is your relationship with the being known as Golden Arrow?” the voice bellowed out again, making her jump, causing the chains attached to her wrists to rattle.

She struggled to answer quickly to avoid having to hear that terrible voice any more than she needed to. “U-um…I don’t know an-nyone by that name…”

There was a short pause before the voice returned to the room, pounding on her eardrums again. “Do not lie to us, we know you have connections to him. He has contacted us on your phone, confirming that he knows you.”

Fluttershy locked up. “They talked to Goldie? Oh no…they know that I know him…” she thought, then she suddenly felt relief, realizing that meant that I must have known where she was and was coming for her. She took a deep breath, feeling a new confidence come over her. “He will be coming for me…and when he finds me, you guys will be in BIG trouble.”

“He will never find us. I assure you.”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth when she heard the response spit back at her. “You can’t do this to me…I’m a human being.”

“You are NOT human.”

Her eyes furrowed at the sudden response. “W-what? Of course I am…”

“You are now property of us, and you will be processed and conditioned immediately. When you are ready, you will be deployed.”

Her heart stopped when she heard this breakdown of her future. “No…this is what Goldie was talking about…they just want to use us a weapons…and keep us prisoners…” She started shaking her head in a panic. “No…no, you can’t do this to me…I’m a person, just like anyone else…”

The voice cut her off. “Your handler will be Agent Stubz. Processing will begin as soon as he is available.”

She squinted into the light. “Stubz?” she murmured. “Where is Mr. Cody?”

“Agent Cody’s contribution to this project is complete.”

“B-but…” she started to say in a shaky voice, feeling her emotions boiling up as the tears welled up in her eyes.

“Processing will begin at 0600.” the unnaturally deep voice concluded, followed by the bright spotlight suddenly going dark, leaving Fluttershy sobbing alone in the cold, pitch black room.

It was then that she noticed the silence in her head. She had gotten so used to being in the woods, close to all the animals and being able to hear their voices constantly in her head…here, her mind was silent. Wherever this place was, it was far away from any wilderness…which meant she wasn’t going to have any help from any of her animal comrades to get out of here.

Fluttershy sighed, thinking about her fight on the side of the road with Cody. Out there in the woods, she was surrounded by countless creatures who could have helped her…but she took them for granted, and now they were gone.

She closed her eyes, thinking about her mistake… ”Oh Fluttershy…” she thought to herself. “Why did you have to be so brash?”

She already knew the answer. She liked feeling powerful…to finally be independent, not having to need protection from her friends or the animals. She could look after herself for the first time in her life.

After being a hero at the school, then taking down six agents on her own, she felt indestructible…which she was, but her inexperience and overconfidence led her to fighting Cody alone, ignoring her animal friends and not considering the fact that he could end up restraining her the way he did. It was a hard lesson that she was now learning, and a mistake that she vowed never to repeat.

She closed her eyes, and continued to kick herself for her bad decisions.

“I should have known better than to think I could take care of myself…” she thought to herself in despair. “This is what Goldie was saying about not letting my power go to my head. I have magic, and I should have used it to get help from the woodland creatures to fight him. But I didn’t…and NOW look where I am.”