Chapter 99

“Oh Goldie, please!” Fluttershy begged softly, clasping her hands together. “Come on, show us the apple trick...with the knife!”

“No, Flutters!” I shook my head stubbornly. “I already put my hand over the burner and tried to cut my fingers off with the cleaver, just like you did for Sunny when you turned, OK? He knows who I am now, don’t you, Ingram?” I gestured to him, and he nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy glanced at Ingram for a second, then she brought her eyes back to me. “I know, but…um, you should show him some of the amazing stuff you can do.”

I waved her off, heading for the couch. “Nah, he gets the idea. That, and we don’t have any apples.”

“Oh!” She scurried around the table towards the counter. “We have oranges; those’ll work the same, right?” she offered, grabbing a clementine from the basket.

By this point, I was standing in the open space behind the couch and to the left of the table, which was where Ingram was sitting. “OK, Flutters? Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done that? Not to mention, that orange is smaller than an apple, which will make it even harder to do.”

Fluttershy stood between the table and counter, holding the orange out; her bottom lip pushed forth, her eyes big and shiny.

It was quite possibly the most irresistible fucking pouty face the universe had ever witnessed.

“Ugh. Goddammit.” I caved instantly to the look and turned away, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Fine!” I said, turning back to her as she giggled hysterically and yanked the silverware drawer open. “I’ll try it once, but I can’t promise-“

“Think fast, Goldie!” Fluttershy called, throwing the orange at me with one hand, followed by a paring knife with the other.

“Whoa, hey! I’m not ready-“ There was no time to finish; the fruit was already soaring directly at my face.

Keeping one hand to my chest, I quickly brought my left arm up, bouncing the orange off of my elbow and into the air. Now the knife was next in line. I snapped my right foot up and threw my head back, leaping into the air to throw myself into a backflip; I felt something impact my toe —presumably the knife— as I turned over backwards, everything in my field of vision blurred as the room rushed around me.

I landed on one knee a second later, shaking the entire house when my weight hit the wooden floor with a heavy thump. I leaned forward, using my hands to steady myself as I stared at the floor, wondering how badly I fucked up the manoeuvre; the main reason I didn’t want to do it, after all, was that I hadn’t even tried it since my heyday. It was something that took a lot of practice, and you really had to pay attention to where the apple —or the orange, in this case— was, as well as the knife, but Fluttershy, bless her heart, went ahead and threw the objects at me before I was ready.

I huffed and shook my head, about to look up at the shy girl to say something, but I was stopped by a tiny drip, coming from not far ahead of me. I scanned the floor, searching for the source.

I found it quickly: a small dot of yellowish liquid, pooled on the floor only a couple feet ahead of me. It was joined by a second drop that doubled its size, followed by a third, and then a fourth. My eyes shifted upwards as the pool of citrus juice grew, and I raised my head to look up at the ceiling where I found the orange: skewered by the knife, which was jammed in the ceiling, pinning it in place.

Elated, I gasped and leapt to my feet, bringing my hands together. “Holy shit! I did it!” I cheered, “Flutters, did you see that? That was fuckin sweet!“

Fluttershy was wide-eyed, her mouth covered as she stared up at the orange. “O-oh…” she whimpered, giving her head a small shake.

I looked at Ingram next. He too was staring at the impaled fruit, scratching his cheek as he let his eyes follow the droplets of sweet juice down to the now three-inch puddle on the floor. He rubbed his chin and shook his head incredulously, looking back at me again.

“That…” He shook his index finger my way, while Fluttershy darted for the couch and leaned over its back, reaching for her phone. “Now that was pretty impressive, I must say.”

“Are you kidding?” I replied, “I can’t believe that worked! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done that?”

“Heh…it seems you haven’t lost your edge, Mr. Arrow, despite your years of inactivity,” Ingram nodded.

“Fuck yeah,” I replied somewhat absentmindedly, having noticed Fluttershy still laying over the back of the couch, typing something on her phone.

“Alright, so…” Ingram took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. “This actually makes a lot more sense now: if you were the one who taught Fluttershy her combat skills, then it’s quite obvious why she’s become such a formidable soldier—although I dare say she did learn a few of her own tricks during her time in that base.”

“Yeah, that’s what she was saying,” I replied, just as a buzz came from my pocket. I took my phone out to read the message.

FLUTTERSHY: Guess what ur gettin lots of tonight ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({})

My eyes widened when I saw the message, and then my heart leapt when I looked up and saw her turn towards me; her cheeks were flushed and rosy, but her eyes were ferocious, glaring so sharply I could almost feel them cutting into me.

Oh boy…

Wait...how is this different from any other night?

It wasn’t long before Rarity arrived.

Fluttershy, Ingram and I were seated at the table, the latter two sipping coffee. There were two light raps at the door, after which it opened quietly, allowing the fashionista to enter.

“Good morning, everyone! How was- OH!” Rarity’s greeting was cut short when she noticed the unfamiliar man seated at the table, dressed in the delivery uniform. “Er, hello there,” she said in a polite and slightly demure tone, closing the door behind her.

Ingram paused with the cup halfway to his mouth when he laid eyes on the stunning young woman. After removing her suede jacket, she was dressed in some very fashionable attire, consisting of a pair of dark, navy blue dress pants, topped by a light silver blouse with a wide, flimsy collar and loose, flowing sleeves. Her hair was bouncy, full of those perfectly styled coils that always made her appearance so remarkable. He quickly pulled himself back to reality and, giving his head a shake, nodded politely to her.

“Good morning, Miss.”

Rarity approached the table, offering a limp hand for a shake. “Likewise. I don’t believe we’ve met, darling.”

“Oh, I’m uh…” Ingram set his cup down to shake her hand, but then he paused when her words sparked something in his mind. He looked at her, thoughtfully. “What did you just say?”

Rarity cocked her head, confused and a tad nervous. “I…I’m sorry?”

He brought his hand up to point a finger at her. “You said ‘darling.’”

“Yyyyes…” Rarity replied, unsure of what he was getting at. “I…do tend to say that—rather frequently, I suppose.”

His eyes widened. “You’re the woman who called me…on the phone!”

“I’m afraid I don’t underst-“

“You’d just been attacked, and…and it was storming out,” Ingram continued, but then he slapped his palm over his forehead. “Oh my heavens, I haven’t introduced myself! I’m Agent Ingram; you and I spoke on the phone —like I was just saying— about freeing Miss Fluttershy here.” He gestured to the shy girl.

Rarity’s eyes widened with surprise when it sunk in, and she covered her mouth with both hands, gasping. “Oh my! I…but I thought you were…” She paused and moved her hands to her chest. “My apologies, but I thought, from what Fluttershy said, that you hadn’t survived the escape.”

He raised his brows and nodded. “Yeah…it was a close one for sure. I, uh-“

Rarity cut in unexpectedly. “Dear me! Where are my manners?” She cursed herself and pinched the bridge of her nose before facing him again with a cordial smile. “A pleasure, Mr. Ingram. Allow me to introduce myself...” She backed up a step and gave a small curtsy. “I am Rarity—hm, of course. At your service.”

Fluttershy and I glanced at each other, smirking and rolling our eyes at how Rarity always felt the need to do everything with that extra helping of class and panache.

Ingram chuckled. “Yes, I remember, Miss Rarity. How could I forget somebody like you?” he said, adjusting his glasses before folding his hands on the table. “And I must say, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name, and such a lovely one at that; now that I’ve met you in person, I really couldn’t imagine you any different.”

“Oh Pssh! Come now, you’re going to give me an ego, talking like that!” Rarity giggled, waved him off and rolled her eyes, very obviously pretending that she didn’t agree. “Now then,” she continued as she seated herself across from Ingram, “you must pardon my interruption, darling; it was quite rude of me. You were saying?”

Ingram cleared his throat. He was quite impressed by this young woman; so elegant and poised she was, and stunningly beautiful to
boot. “I was just saying how close a call it was…getting out of the base in time.”

“Ah, yes,” Rarity gave a quick wave of her hand. “Do tell; I am simply dying to know how you managed to escape unharmed.”

“Well,” he paused to draw a breath. “I was in the lower levels, creating the fuel leak and setting the charges, and…after I set the emergency door to the mainframe to blow, I took the elevator up to Central Control, which was completely destroyed, and the elevator that went the rest of the way up was damaged, so-”

“Oh…” Fluttershy covered her mouth. “That was because of me. I-I’m really sorry about that, I was ju-“

Ingram raised a hand to stop her. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy; I found another way out—obviously.”

“But…how?”

He folded his hands again. “Well, any place that has elevators has to have a backup, right?”

The three of us nodded.

“Now…obviously, being built in secret, that base didn’t exactly adhere to all building codes,” —Ingram shrugged— “I mean, why would they if they didn’t think they had to? Come to think of it, I’m not even sure which country’s jurisdiction it would have landed in; I would assume the US, but I’d have to look into it to know for sure. Regardless, they didn’t have a proper stairwell in case of emergencies —like a downed elevator or power outage— but they did have a service ladder, which is what I used to get back to the top level, which I also found pretty much destroyed.” He looked at Fluttershy, smirking. “When I asked you to create a distraction, young lady, you certainly went all out, didn’t you?”

Fluttershy smiled and looked down at the table, her cheeks flushed. “Um...I was kind of mad at them.”

“Indeed she was,” Rarity added. Then she leaned closer to Ingram, raising a brow. “Darling, did you…see her?”

Ingram looked confused. “I’m sorry?”

“W-…what I mean is: did you see Fluttershy…during her escape? On security camera or…by any other means, perhaps?”

Ingram paused, then he shook his head. “No. I could have, like if I’d been able to get to a security station, I could have checked the security footage for her, but there just wasn’t time for that—especially after taking so long to climb that damn ladder.”

“Hm.” Rarity nodded quietly and glanced at me.

Ingram hadn’t seen Fluttershy’s wings.

The fashionista and I glanced at the shy girl, who looked somewhat relieved that Ingram hadn’t witnessed her rampage first-hand. We decided to keep that aspect of her abilities to ourselves for the time being—when to share something like that would be for Fluttershy to decide.

“So anyway,” Ingram continued as he glanced around at each of us. I could tell he knew we were keeping something from him, but had decided not to pry about it. Evidently, he understood that if we wanted to share it, we would. It wasn’t difficult to see that he was a remarkably sharp individual, and now, after meeting him in person, it was no surprise that he was able to get Fluttershy out of that place successfully.

“On the upper floor, there were offices —well…more like vaults, really— for the owners, when they visited the base,” he explained. “Now, what ninety-nine percent of the people working there didn’t know was that each of those offices was equipped with an escape pod: like a mini submarine, but with no form of self-propulsion. They were designed simply to eject from the outer wall of the office and float to the surface. From there, they emit a beacon for the mainland agents to come and pick up whoever is in the pod, which was overstocked with about a week’s worth of food and water for one person."

"But..." Fluttershy cut in. "The elevator to the surface was right there; why didn't you just take it up and meet me there?"

"Ah." Ingram rubbed his hands together. "That's a good question, Fluttershy. And the answer, put simply, is that the time risk involved was too great."

Fluttershy looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"Well, you rode that elevator to the surface, did you not?"

The shy girl nodded.

"And it took a long time, correct?"

"Mm-hm. It was a long way up."

"Well, that was the issue," Ingram explained. "That elevator took a long time to get to the top, and I'm guessing you weren't too far ahead of me; in fact, you might still have been on your way up, which meant that I would have had to wait for you to get to the top, then wait for it to come all the way back down, THEN ride it the entire way up. That would have taken a very long time, during which you could have boarded the chopper, decided I wasn't coming and triggered the detonator. It was much faster and safer to simply break into one of the offices with the code emulator and use an escape pod."

"There was still a significant risk though, darling; was there not?" Rarity interjected. "Didn't you say the escape pod sent out a beacon to bring them to you?"

“Yes, but no one came to pick me up," Ingram replied. "The organisation was so out-of-sorts after having the base destroyed that no one was sent after my pod’s signal, so I had to ration the food for about two weeks until a fishing trawler finally picked me up and took me back to mainland.” He paused for a moment and bit his lip. “It’s a good thing it worked out the way it did; if ‘Us’ agents had been the ones who picked me up, I’m sure I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I bet it would have been quite the surprise for them if they found you in there, eh?”

“Not a surprise.” Ingram shook his head. “Since none of the owners were at the base when Miss Fluttershy escaped, all of them were accounted for elsewhere, so they’d have been expecting an imposter in that pod and would have come prepared to deal with it. Lucky for me, it didn’t seem to be a priority for whatever was left of them.”

“Yeah, I’m guessing the only significant force they had left was the group that attacked us on the road after we picked Flutters up in the desert,” I explained.

“Oh?” Ingram said, raising a brow.

“Yup,” I replied, pointing at Rarity. “Add to that the fifteen guys she took out, and I bet their field agents were probably pretty few and far between by that point.”

Ingram glanced at the fashionista, who was sitting quietly with her arms folded, resting a finger across her lips as she listened. It was funny, really: sitting there, looking like a posh, pretty lady, one would never expect that she was capable of mowing down fifteen heavily armed men the way she did.

“And it didn’t work out too well for them,” I chuckled, prompting Ingram to return his attention to me. “They came after us with a bunch of motorcycles and a couple trucks, but the three of us took them out like it was nothing.”

He cocked his head, looking confused. “Three of you?” He glanced at Rarity. “But I thought she…”

“Oh!” I tapped his shoulder with the backs of my fingers, “shit; you don’t know about Sunny. Yeah, she was with me, in the desert when we picked Flutters up.”

“Sunny?” he repeated, furrowing his brow.

“Ah, her full name is Sunset Shimmer, darling,” Rarity interjected, “she is —how you say— like us, as well.”

Ingram faced Rarity, looking a bit surprised. “She’s indestructible?”

The three of us nodded.

The agent glanced at me, then Fluttershy, then Rarity once again, before closing his eyes and raising a hand. “OK, wait…exactly how many of you are there?”

“Six,” I replied.

“For now,” Fluttershy added.

Ingram opened his eyes again and paused, staring thoughtfully at the tabletop for a spell before he spoke again. “And…you all live near this one city?”

We nodded again.

“So…there are no others like you anywhere else in the world?”

I shook my head. “Not that I’ve seen. And I’ve been around the block a few times, if you catch my drift.” After another sip of coffee, I rubbed my hands together and continued. “Don’t worry, you’ll be meeting Sunny before too long.”

Ingram blinked. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I texted her at the same time as Rare, so she should be out here at some point.”

Rarity furrowed her brow and pulled her phone out to check the time. “You messaged her at the same time as me? Are you sure she got it?”

“Yeah. She texted me back right after you did.”

“Well I’ve been here for a while now. What do you suppose is taking her so long?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “She said she was in the middle of something, so…whatever. I just told her to be out as soon as she can.”

“Um, it is Saturday, you guys. Remember?” Fluttershy interjected.

“That’s right!” Rarity gasped, clapping her hands together as she faced Ingram. “You simply must join us for dinner, Mr. Ingram. We do it every weekend; everyone will be here —except for Twilight, of course; she’s off attending school— nevertheless, it will be the perfect chance for you to meet the rest of us!”

Ingram chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “Well...obviously I didn’t have any other plans for today, so I would be happy to accept your invitation, Miss Rarity.”

The fashionista squealed softly, followed by a golf clap. “Excellent, darling! We’d be delighted to have you.” She gestured at me next. “This is precisely how we got to know Golds; I invited him to supper here after he stopped to fix my car—and of course, the rest is history.” She paused to rub her chin, then glanced at the shy girl. “Although, I really should stop inviting people to Fluttershy’s house without asking her first; it is somewhat rude of me, isn’t it?” She giggled. “Oh dear! Do you remember how nervous you were that night, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy nodded and blushed.

“Oh! The poor thing was so nervous, she wouldn’t even come out to eat with Golds here,” Rarity explained to Ingram, who smiled and glanced at the shy girl, amused that someone so deadly could also be so adorably timid.

“I-it’s OK, Rare,” Fluttershy replied softly. “Goldie turned out to be a good guy. And I already know Mr. Ingram, so...I-I’ll be OK this time.”

Rarity clicked her tongue and slid from her chair, heading towards the shy girl. “Ohh…such a sweet thing you are, darling,” she cooed, stroking Fluttershy’s cheek with her index knuckle.

Both girls puckered up as Rarity leaned in for a quick kiss.

Ingram smiled as he watched the pair, knowing he was instrumental in reuniting them.

Rarity glanced at me next, then made her way around the table. “And I mustn’t forget you, my love,” she sang, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she came in and planted a kiss on my lips.

“GAH!” She recoiled, covering her mouth. “You taste like coffee, darling!”

“Sorry,” I replied, licking my lips. “You taste, and smell delicious, as usual.”

Rarity giggled and hugged me again, pressing her cheek to my temple. “Oh my! Such a sweet-talker you are.”

Ingram looked confused, watching who he thought was Fluttershy’s lover now kissing and nuzzling me.

“Oh, and I have but one question, darling,” the fashionista asked, closing her eyes.

“Shoot.”

“Why is there an orange on the ceiling?”

*****

Some time later, Ingram was down on one knee beside the table, scratching Link’s ear as he read the browser page on Fluttershy’s phone, which he held with his other hand.

“No, you’re right; it says here that it takes roughly two full years for the average Lynx Canadensis to reach full adulthood.”

Fluttershy nodded, leaning against the table with her hip. “Mm-hm. I thought it was something like that, but I couldn’t, um, remember exactly. I knew it was a lot longer than a normal kitty though.”

“My goodness!” Rarity exclaimed, seated at the table again. “I had no idea; so…he’s going to get a lot bigger then?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. He’ll be the size of a retriever when he’s fully grown.”

Rarity clasped her hands together. “Ohhh, how exotic!” she swooned.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Entrez!” Rarity answered as the rest of us turned to see who it was.

The door opened only a few inches; a head, adorned with wavy, fire-coloured hair, peered inside. “Uh…hey guys.”

“Sunny, you’re here,” I replied, prompting Ingram to his feet to hand Fluttershy her phone. “You’re not gonna believe who decided to drop in for a visit.”

Sunset’s eyes focused on Ingram, studying his uniform with her mouth slightly ajar. “The…delivery guy?”

“No…Sunny,” I scowled and then gestured to Ingram. “No, this is Agent Ingram.”

She continued to stare, her face blank.

“Uh…” I cocked my head, noticing the red-head’s absentmindedness. “He’s the guy who…helped Flutters escape from the...base...”

A few seconds passed, and then Sunset’s eyes widened. “Oh…OH!” she replied, her eyebrows rising. “Huh. Wow, uh…crazy.”

“Yes, darling,” said Rarity, rolling her eyes. “He managed to survive escaping a top-secret underwater fortress before it exploded; so, I guess you could say that it is somewhat…crazy.”

Sunset glanced at the fashionista. “Oh, well…yeah. I mean, that’s awesome. I’m glad he, uh…made it.”

I raised a suspicious brow. “Sunny?”

She looked at me again. I recognised that nervous look she had in her eyes; it was a look I’d seen many times before, especially during the car ride through the USA.

I waved her inside. “Why don’t you open the door and actually come inside—instead of peeking in here like some kind of weirdo?”

“Uh…” Her eyes darted around the room as she searched for a response.

I took a few steps closer to her. “What’s the matter with you? Is something wrong?”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “You’re acting quite strangely, darling.”

“Well, I just…uh…” she stopped and looked over her shoulder, answering some quiet whispers that came from outside. “OK,” she whispered back with a nod before facing us again. “It’s funny, actually...that you guys got a visit today, because, uh…so did I.”

The four of us glanced back and forth at one another, and then faced Sunset again.

“And who might your mystery caller be?” Rarity asked inquisitively.

“Uh, well…” Sunset finally swung the door open, revealing a man in a suit standing behind her. He looked to be in his late thirties, with black, gelled hair that was parted in the middle, letting his bangs hang in hooked points over his forehead. On the lapel of his jacket hung an ID tag with three block letters displayed boldly across the top half: CIA.

I recognised him immediately, but the other three were at a loss to place him.

Nervous, Sunset stepped in to introduce him. “Guess what everyone? It’s Agent Daniels!” she announced, chuckling anxiously as she raised a pair of limp jazz hands.

The room was silent. Rarity was staring at the agent, wide-eyed and slack-jawed; Fluttershy was slouched down with her hair covering most of her face; Ingram was quiet, studying the agent in that thoughtful way that I was already familiar with—and I kept my eyes on Sunset, fearing that she’d been caught for the break in at CIA headquarters.

Rarity was the first to reply...slowly. “Er…hello. To what do owe the pl-“

She stopped abruptly when a second agent entered: a woman this time, wearing a black suit of her own, its lapel adorned with her ID tag.

Her stature was quite intimidating. Towering above Sunset as well as Daniels, she had to have been an easy six-foot-three, and although she was fairly slender, she was certainly not weak-looking. Her hair was distinctive, buzzed short around the sides while remaining fairly long on top, creating something of a fuschia mohawk, which complimented well with her dark plum skin. Her eyes were unseen, hidden behind a pair of black shades.

As she stepped inside and positioned herself behind Daniels, he raised his hands to speak.

“Everyone just try to relax, OK? We’re not here for any sinister reasons —unlike former Agent Cody— so there’s no need to worry,” Daniels explained. “Now, as Miss Shimmer here already mentioned, I am Agent Daniels, CIA.” He gestured over his shoulder to the taller agent behind him. “And this is my…assistant, Special Agent Shadow.”

He called Sunny by name, I thought, watching both agents closely. I take it that means he knows who she really is, and probably the rest of us as well.

“Oh my,” Rarity muttered, looking slightly intimidated by the pair. “Er, a-as I was saying: to what do we owe the…pleasure?”

Sunset jumped in, her hands wringing together nervously. “Uh, Agent Daniels helped me out at the CIA headquarters…with my investigation—when I was trying to locate Fluttershy and Agent Cody.”

Fluttershy and Rarity glanced at each other.

“Oh...I’m terribly sorry, darling,” Rarity answered, turning back to face the new guests. “We didn’t realise that was you; Sunset hasn’t said much about you since her return home.”

“How did you find her?” I asked, stepping closer to Daniels.

He shifted his eyes onto me, looking surprised by the question. “And you are?”

“Golden Arrow,” I replied, to which Agent Shadow cocked her head slightly, her interest obviously piqued by the name. “We’ve actually met,” I continued, “Well…sort of. I was in the motel room with you and Sunny when you were co-“

I stopped suddenly and glanced at Agent Shadow. Then I leaned closer to Daniels. “Hey, how much does your bodyguard know about your involvement with Sunny?” I whispered.

He looked at me, brows furrowed. “Everything, pretty much,” he replied. Then he closed his eyes and raised a hand. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand who you are...exactly.”

I rubbed my brow with an index finger, paused, then gestured to Sunset. “OK. Well, technically, Sunny was actually kind of working for me when she was…doing what she was doing.”

“Breaking into the CIA?” Daniels asked, quite forwardly.

“Uh, yeah.” I cleared my throat, glancing past him at Agent Shadow.

Daniels noticed this, and he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, you can trust her.”

I shifted my eyes onto him. “And what about you?”

He sighed and gave a nod, along with a smile before turning to look at Sunset. “This young woman here: she changed my life. She helped me fix my problems, she got rid of the people that made my life miserable, and she ended up getting me a promotion. She gave me a reason to try again; so, the rest of you —whoever you are— you have my gratitude, and you can trust me, no matter what. Special Agent Shadow, too.”

I turned and gave quick glances to my girlfriends first, and then Ingram. “Well alright then,” I replied with a nod. “I’d say it’s high time you got to know us then, sir.” I stood next to Daniels and pointed to Fluttershy, whose face was still concealed behind her hair. “See that little angel over there? That’s Fluttershy. She’s my girlfriend; the one Anus Cody kidnapped.”

Daniels chuckled at the insult, then nodded to the shy girl.

Fluttershy raised her hand and gave a timid wave. Then she spoke, surprisingly. “Um…th-thank you,” she whispered.

“Oh,” Daniels smiled, “you’re welcome, miss; glad I could help.”

Fluttershy replied only with a pair of crimson cheeks.

“She’s quiet,” I said, turning back to Daniels, who nodded. “You get used to it,” I added as I gestured to Rarity, only to be stopped by the agent.

“Wait…what did Cody want with her, exactly?” he asked, confused.

“Ugh,” I shook my head, “It’s a long story, bud.” I pointed at Rarity again. “Now, this lovely young lady here is Miss Rarity. She’s hot.”

“I see that,” Daniels chuckled, giving her a nod. “Hi there,” he greeted.

“A pleasure, darling,” Rarity giggled, batting her eyelashes at the pair of us.

“OK. Last, but not least,” I continued, turning the agent’s attention to Ingram. “I know this guy just looks like a delivery dick, but he’s actually a former federal agent; he’s the one who helped Fluttershy escape the base, which also happened to be where Cody was hiding.” I held my hand out to Ingram as I introduced them, gesturing to each one as I said their names. “Ingram? Daniels. Daniels? Ingram.”

As the two men shook hands, I paused and furrowed my brows. Something about those two names spoken in that order had a familiar ring to it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it.

I shook it off after a moment, then I noticed Rarity leaning over to talk to Fluttershy.

After the two agents shared a handshake, Daniels stood back and put his hands in his pockets as Agent Shadow approached him from behind.

“Sir? I’ll be at my post if you need me.”

Daniels glanced over his shoulder and nodded. “Got it.”

Sunset noticed this and rolled her eyes. “Look, I already told you guys, you don’t need worry about protection. Everyone here is cool.”

Agent Shadow paused to look at Sunset.

“Besides,” Sunset continued, “You see that guy over there?” She pointed at me. “If he decides he wants either you or Daniels dead, you might as well just pucker-up and kiss your ass goodbye, cuz you’re dead. Trust me; there’s no need for the whole bodyguard thing here.”

“Well it’s not just that,” Daniels replied. “There’s also the possibility of outside threats that we need to watch for.”

Sunset sighed and folded her arms. “No. We’re fine out here. Trust me.”

Agent Shadow simply shook her head, headed out the door and closed it behind her, much to Sunset’s chagrin.

“Look,” —Daniels raised a hand— “Agent Shadow is just doing her job. She is very well trained, and extremely loyal to her duties. She’s gonna do what she does, no matter what you say.”

“Fine,” Sunset said with a sigh.

“Oh, darling?” Rarity called from across the table, capturing Daniels’ attention. “We’ve talked it over, Fluttershy and I, and we would be delighted to have you and Miss Shadow for dinner, if you so wish.”

“Uh,” Daniels rubbed the back of his neck, not expecting the invitation. “OK...Sure. That’d be great.” He nodded, smiling. “Oh, and it’s Agent Shadow. Not Miss.”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose. “Ah…yes, of course. My apologies, dar-“ The fashionista stopped suddenly, glancing around the room. “Er…pardon me, but, where did she go?”

“Outside, standing watch,” Daniels replied.

“Oh, well she needn’t bother,” Rarity dismissed, “we’re all perfectly safe in…“ She trailed off when she noticed Sunset looking at her, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Taking the hint, Rarity looked back to Daniels with a polite smile. “Very well, darling. As you wish.”

After a glance at Rarity, then a smile at Fluttershy, I suddenly realised I’d forgotten something in the midst of all the excitement when I saw the package sitting on the table.

“Oh, Sunny!” I picked the box up and held it out to her. “Here. Don’t say I don’t do anything nice for you.”

Sunset raised a brow and took the package. “What’s this?” she asked as she flipped the end of the box open and gasped loudly, drawing the attention of everyone present. “Holy shit! Golds, where did you get this!?”

Everyone watched as she plunged her hand into the box and pulled out a black leather jacket. She inspected the sleeves first, and was delighted to find those signature orange chevrons sewn onto each sleeve.

“Darling! Is that your jacket? The one you lost?”

Excited, Sunset unfolded the shiny leather garment and held it up, revealing a small hole in the back, near the bottom. “Yes! This is it!” she exclaimed, “that’s the bullet hole from when that asshole was shooting at us in Vegas.” She lowered the jacket and looked at me, her eyes glistening. “H-how did you get it back?”

I gave a casual shrug. “I uh, made some calls. No big deal.”

She shook her head incredulously, letting out a shaky snicker. “I cannot believe you,” she said quietly, her voice cracking as she approached me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, squeezing tightly.

I returned the hug, lifting her off the floor. “Anything for you, Sunny. You know you deserve it.”

Once she was returned to the floor, Sunset hastily peeled her studded jacket off to replace it with the other one. When she slipped her arm into the sleeve, however, her hand pushed something free, which fell from the cuff and landed on the tabletop; the clack sound it made grabbed everyone’s attention and we all stopped to look at it.

It was a pair of blue and gold aviators.

“Wha-…ohhhh shit,” Sunset chuckled, eyes wide. “I SO thought we lost these!” She picked them up, covering her mouth with the other hand. “Did you ask for these back too?” she asked, turning to me.

I shook my head. “No,” I replied. “Call it a bonus, I guess.”

Daniels pointed at the glasses. “Hey…aren’t those Cody’s?”

“They were,” Sunset corrected as she slipped her arm into the other sleeve, then adjusted the collar. “Ahh, fuck it’s good to have this back.”

Rarity gave a reserved applause. “And you look simply ravishing in it, as usual!”

Smirking, Sunset picked the glasses up and put them on. Then she snapped her fingers and pointed at me, bobbing her head side-to-side with an arrogant sneer on her lips. “Hey, look at me; I’m a fucking dick!”

I laughed —along with everyone else— and shook my head. “You are, Sunny, you are. To be fair though, those look a lot better on you than they ever did on that ‘Max Headroom-lookin’ fuck.”

"Totes," she snorted, then she took the glasses off and studied them briefly. She then glanced at the shy girl and, after a pause, she let out a sigh and slid the shades across the table. “You know what, Flutters? You should get first crack at these. You deserve it.”

Everyone watched in silence as the shy girl gingerly picked the glasses up and, without a word, swept her hair aside and slid them on. Then she sat still, her face expressionless.

Sunset was the first to lose her composure; she snorted loudly as she covered her mouth and pointed at Fluttershy.

I joined in not long after. “Wow, Flutters,” I said, “I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but you kind of look like a douche.”

Her cheeks flushed and a smile cracked her lips.

“Perhaps…the glasses were the problem all along, hm?” Rarity quipped.

“M-maybe,” Fluttershy replied softly, sliding the glasses down her nose so she could look over them with those teal eyes of hers. “Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all; um, it was just the glasses all along.”

“Definitely not,” Ingram interjected, to which Daniels nodded in agreement. “I only met the guy once, but that was more than enough to see the kind of man he was.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh…well that’s good. I’d hate to think I killed him for no reason.”

This got Daniels’ attention. “Whoa, hang on; you killed Agent Cody?”

Fluttershy paused. She looked at Sunset and then me, somewhat nervously.

I gave her a reassuring nod. “Don’t worry, Flutters. No one here is gonna judge you.”

“Yeah,” Sunset added, “besides, I actually promised Daniels I would do it, and Golds was gonna do it if he ever got his hands on him, so…really, you just did everyone here a favour.”

Fluttershy took a breath and returned her eyes to Daniels. “Um…yes. I killed him.”

“How? I-if you don’t mind me asking,” Daniels asked, raising his hand to point out the shy girl’s innocent and frankly unimposing appearance. “I mean, Cody was a tough cookie. You don’t exactly look like the type who could take him down—no offense.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated and glanced at me.

I gave her a nod to proceed.

After a quick smile, she drew a breath and pushed the glasses up with her index finger, hiding her eyes once again. “Well, I…um, first, I choke-slammed him through a glass table, th-then I threw him against the wall, and…then I shot him in the mouth with his own gun.”

Daniels’ eyebrows went up. “Uh…I’m sorry, you did that?”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded, causing her cotton-candy hair to slip over one side of her face, leaving only one lens of the aviators visible.

“To...Agent Cody,” Daniels clarified.

“Mm-hm.”

Daniels paused and rubbed the back of his head. “Whew…wow. That’s...surpri-“

“Um, then I broke his neck,” Fluttershy cut in.

Daniels sat speechless, staring.

“A-and then, I threw him across the room…against the wall. And…after that I smashed him through the wall, into the next room.”

After a few blinks, Daniels shook his head and leaned closer to the shy girl. “Aaaaand then…?”

Fluttershy scratched her temple and shrugged. “Oh…w-well, that’s about it. I, um, couldn’t really find him after that.”

Ingram leaned closer to a speechless Daniels. “She was a lot different in that base—which is understandable; I mean, they really didn’t treat her very well in there.”

“I guess…” Daniels replied, glancing at Sunset, who was smirking as she watched the shy girl adjust her new sunglasses. “Still, it’s hard to imagine; like…” —he paused to return his eyes to Fluttershy— “speaking to you right now, you seem really...nice.”

“She is,” I answered, “As long as you don’t piss her off, she’s an absolute sweetheart.”

Author's Notes:

Finally! I get to do this part.
So there you have it: (if you hadn’t figured it out already) Agents Daniels and Ingram are basically the show's composer, Daniel Ingram, split into two people. Their names were a subtle hint to you, the readers, that they were going to be allies to the protagonists.
I quite enjoy inserting little foreshadows and references like this into the story. Some other ones, off the top of my head are:

In Chapter 50, there is a part where Golds/the narrator mentions that they are listening to 'Road to Nowhere' by Ozzy Osbourne on the radio while driving across the country to Langley, Virginia in hopes of finding Fluttershy at the CIA headquarters. They don't find her there, of course, which was hinted at by the song, basically telling us that they were driving to a place that didn't have what they were looking for—‘going nowhere,’ so to speak.

Another one that I like is Chapter 57, after Cody kills the kitten in front of Fluttershy and she starts screaming at him, ending off with: "you'll be sleeping with the fishes, forever!" This was a hint that the base was actually underwater, which hadn't been revealed yet.