A/N Okay guys so this is my first chapter! Now these guys are just kind of a lead-in into the bigger group that is kind of mentioned in this but I'm pretty excited for you guys to read this! In the next chapter (or chapter after that depending on how thins work out) You'll get to meet a ton more characters. Okay ad this takes place while the last chapter is happening so don't be confused about that! though I think it's pretty obvious. anyway ENJOY!
~Patatachip the sexeh cohort of Multicolored Dovahkiin x3
"Oh spirits, it smells worse than Riggs's couch down here!" Scootch gagged as him and his philly twin traveled in the dark, claustrophobic sewers under Hoofington. The damp concrete sloshed under his hooves and the light from their lamp flickered, painting an eerie setting. He dry swallowed trying not to breathe through his nose. The drip drop of the moisture coming down from the low ceiling threatened to splash unspeakable substances onto him. He wished so bad that the ceiling was just a little higher so that they could fly down instead of walking through the muck.
"You say that every time we come down here you big baby." Snappy said, although he was clearly just as grossed out as Scootch. It did smell worse than their older brother's couch...which was saying quite a bit considering that thing was rank.
The sewers were a commonly used travel route for ponies in low town; they used it to get places they didn't want the guards to know about since it was pretty much the only place where you weren't under the threat of being watched. Snappy even knew of a secret unicorn encampment that could only be accessed through the sewers, though he had no idea of how to get there, only that Eury went there fairly often to get a potion that allows her to hide her horn. He wasn't entirely sure how it worked or why she refused to tell him anything else about it.
As you can tell, he didn't particularly like the sewers, but they were on an important mission to get information on the arrival of the new guard captain, you know, size him up a little. It's not that they were scared, they just wanted to know how much trouble he was going to cause for their resistance group. Granted, it's also a compliment considering that the only reason he's needed here is because Foxtrot thinks they're a considerable threat to him.
Snappy jumped when he heard Scootch let out a yelp and looked back to see he was performing an awkward dance of frantically flailing his wings and trying to fight for his balance against the thin lining of concrete between the wall and the sewer sludge. Honestly he wasn't worried about Scootch as much as he was worried about the materials in his bag.
"Aw, jeez Scootch," Snappy sighed and walked back to pull him back on all fours, "Watch your step for crying out loud! We need that map!" he shouted in a whisper.
"Sorry, I slipped on..." he looked cautiously at the ground, "I don't wanna know." He laughed nervously.
They continued on a little further when a dim beam of light filtered through the dust. "Finally," Scootch breathed, "I can see the light!" he celebrated; praising whoever it was that Amber Mist says is in the sky.
They picked up their pace and stopped in front of the ladder, Scootch pulled out his map from the bag and checked to make sure it was the right opening, if it wasn't then that could mean very bad news. At best they would screw up the whole mission, at worst they would pop up in the middle of guards having a cup tea and brunch.
"Yep, this is definitely it." Scootch said nodding confidently.
"Alright but if you're wrong you owe me a new head." Scootch laughed at that. They climbed up with Snappy in the lead and quietly pushed open the metal disk and poked his head up and surveyed the area.
"Congratulations Snappy, you successfully got us in the right place." He said climbing all the way out and savoring the fresh air and scent of flowers.
They had emerged behind some sort of stone building that the map said was a cafe and was in hearing distance to the location of the speech.
"Really?!" Scootch said surprised.
"... you've gotta be kidding me." Snappy dead panned.
"Relax I'm just joking" he laughed, "I never doubted myself once." He lifted his head confidently.
"Uh-huh alright, well let's get somewhere with a better view. They made one last check to make sure there were no witnesses and unfolded their wings to fly up. The roof had a nice ledge that if they kept on their bellies they'd be safe from wandering eyes, though it came at the expense at being a pretty lengthy distance from the crowd.
They unloaded their supplies and Snappy set up his camera that was his pride and joy of life, and also the result of his photograph cutie mark on his brown flank.
Snappy peered over the ledge trying to get a good look at all the hullabaloo going on. All he could see was an enormous gathering of ponies parted down the middle looking expectantly to the gates with a large stage set up at the end. 'What in tarnation was going on?' he thought.
"Snap, Snappy!" he heard the eager voice of Scootch cry out to him.
"Whaaaaat?" he groaned out only half paying attention to him, he was way more interested in what was happening below him than the pony next to him.
"Whaddya see?" Scootch asked anxiously, trying to peer through Snap's camera lacking his own.
"... I see... a lot of ponies." He said to try and make him hush so he could focus on his very important job.
"Well no kiddin' I can see that!" Scootch said angrily hitting Snappy on the shoulder.
"Ouch! Would ya just shut your mouth, I'm tryin' to do a job here!" Snappy snapped glaring at the brown pegasus next to him, Scootch scoffed.
"What? Take reconnaissance photos? Do you even know what reconnaissance means?" He asked aggravated.
"Wha- of course I do!" Snappy broke away from his camera in self defense.
"Your face tells me otherwise." Scootch teased stifling at a laugh at his brother's expression.
"Do you know what reconnaissance means?" Snappy asked accusingly.
"No but I ain't pretendin' like I do."
Snappy let out a frustrated grunt but when turning back to the view, went wide eyed.
"Hey looky over there!" Scootch yelled a little louder than he should have, pointing to the landscape.
"Yeah, Yeah I see it!" Snappy said scrambling to glue his camera back to his face.
There were pegasi walking down from the stairs in the front of the kingdom courtyard. From what snappy could tell they were all brutes, what they called the dark pegasi guards, escorted by one stallion that must've been mighty important for such a welcoming. They marched in, Mr. important in the very front. All the ponies on the side hoot and hollered at their arrival, singing praises a mile wide.
Snappy zoomed in as far as he could and snapped a picture of this mysterious pegasus, immediately the photo shot out from the slot and he handed it to Scootch to put in his bag.
Scootch whistled, "Yowza, this guy don't look too friendly now does he."
"Seems like a peach to me." Snappy joked with an uneasy laugh. He looked war hardened. His skin was a stone gray, his eyes lighter but had a cold look to them. His silver mane showed through the armor he was wearing, bits of red here and there through the overall gray coloring. The look he had in his eyes was not a friendly one, seemed to Snappy he was not one bit happy to be here in Hoofington. As far as it concerned him, he would put that fellow out of his misery and give that pegasus the boot right out of his turf.
Snappy refocused and took a few more pictures as he continued to walk up to the podium; another pegasus was close behind him. She looked similar to him; Snappy's best guess was that they were related, more than likely siblings with only a few years difference. Beneath her helmet she had deep blue eyes and it was almost funny to watch her try and be tough like her assumed brother.
Snappy took a few pictures of her as well though it was evident that she wouldn't pose much of a problem to the resistance. The stallion began his speech and Scootch jotted down the main points of it though it wasn't entirely that important, mostly just "Hello, inferior ponies. I'm here to help oppress your rights, enforce more laws, and take all of your money." Blah blah blah, nothing he hadn't heard before. The pegasi finally finished and got another over enthusiastic cheering from the crowd. Scootch groaned could those ponies be any more ignorant?
Done with their reconnaissance, Snappy and Scootch we're began to pack up their supplies when a large shadow was cast over them. They each slowly looked up to see a brute towering over them. Well... they didn't quite plan for but with their kind of job they had to be ready for anything. Snappy toughened himself up and attempted to make himself look intimidating while Scootch took on a more innocent look.
"What are you two doing up here?" He said glaring daggers at the two young pegasi.
"We were just trying to get a better view, sir." Scootch answered with a steady voice.
"Then what's the camera for?" He gestured towards Snappy's beloved camera. They tried to inch backwards without him noticing but apparently they weren't as non conspicuous as they wanted to be when he advanced even closer to them.
"We just wanted to take some pictures for the school paper." Scootch calmly explained. Snappy took a second to admire his ability to use his smarts under pressure.
"Yeah, just some photos of that awesome fellow down there! Can I just say what an inspiring speech that was?" Snappy stated with his bad acting skills.
The Brute didn't look too convinced as they continued backing up towards the edge of the building for a quick getaway.
"Right, why dontcha just hand over that pretty little camera of yours, alright?" He said laying his hoof out for Snappy to hand it over.
"No way, it's mine!" Snappy shouted, protectively pulling his camera closer.
"I think we both know that there is a lie. A mutt like you could never get your dirty hooves on anything worth a cent." He spat. "Now give me that camera!" He demanded angrily. Snappy knew that good for nothing idiot was just trying to use his status to get a new toy he wanted, he was nothing but an overgrown bully.
"Ha! Fat chance!" Snappy said using his wings to blow dust from the rooftop in his face as Scootch and he dropped over the edge. They knew he was going to be on their tail so as soon as they hit the ground they made a mad dash for the busy crowd by the markets, where they planned on getting lost.
Scootch took a second to check how far behind the brute was, the answer was closer than he was comfortable with; good news was he had a plan.
"Snappy, split up!" he yelled as the brute whistled for back up, Snaps nodded with a sly smile, this was going to be fun.
Snappy veered right Scootch ran left trying to avoid being stepped on or run over by passing by carriages. Milling around chickens jumped as he soared over a sales pony's cart, knocking it over.
"Sorry!" he yelled in apology but the pony yelled something angrily about his cabbages.
Realizing he was about to nearly miss his destination, Scootch skidded to his right in a hard turn; he had to use his wings to keep from making a crash landing. He looked behind him again and knew he had to disappear fast. He surveyed his surroundings and quickened his pace when he saw a small group of mares dressed up in large poofy dresses giggling and fanning themselves. He ran and snuck under one of the mare's skirts as he quietly hid himself without her realization. He heard the heavy clip clops of boots as they neared the mares.
"Excuse me miss, have you seen a young pegasus running about?" The girls looked at each other giggling loudly and whispering in each other's ears.
"No sir, we haven't but could we help you with other things?" She asked suggestively. Scootch had to keep himself from gagging; the perfume she was wearing was just as unbearable as the girl herself. She walked over to him and Scootch had to carefully maneuver himself without being noticed.
The brute stuttered a bit and then regained his composure, "uh...uh ... no miss, sorry but i got a job ta' do." he said pretty torn between his two options but decided it'd be best not to abandon his duty.
The mare seemed pretty annoyed that he had wasted her time and shooed him away even though he was already leaving. Sheesh... girls.
He waited a few more seconds after the heavy metal clip clop of the brute disappeared into crowd. He breathed out a sigh of relief and slowly backed up, as lady luck would have it the mare decided to start walking and ending up stepping on his hoof.
"Ouch!" he called out, her high heels painfully dug into him. She screeched and jumped away.
"GUARDS!" she squealed and dramatically fainted, one of her friends caught her and began fanning her face vigorously.
Scootch took this as a good time to depart and sprinted out of sight as fast as possible. He rounded a corner and just as he had planned he made it to the sewage opening and was greeted by a very impatient looking Snappy.
"What in the land of froo froo took you so long!?" He complained, "And... why do you smell like... girl's perfume..?" He asked sniffing him and cringing.
"Don't ask questions you don't wanna know the answer to." Scootch replied with a wink.
Snappy laughed, "Ha ha, you're Hi-larious." Scootch looked over and scowled, whacking his brother on the head, an occurrence that happened on a regular basis. They both climbed down the pony hole and headed back into the disgusting sewers to bring back their findings to the rest of the crew.
HEEEY! so what'd you think? Please leave a review, do it for that poor cabbage merchant whose cabbages are now destroyed, also the first person to get that reference get's a digital cookie and an awkward hug from Alex (linkyasha)! doesn't that sound tempting? Also if you've read this much you're awesome! please stay tuned we promise it will get more interesting and they story line will really pick up!