Promising Reassignment

In a room that could only be described as poorly lit, a beautiful unicorn mare lay on a couch not even pretending to listen to the pony droning on about her new job. The tan earth pony, buck who may as well have been ranting to a bunch of headstones, was on the list of ponies Fleur de Lis had a great deal of disdain for. He would be aware of his change in status, according to the bitter mare, as soon as he shut his muzzle.

Agent la Fleur had read the details of the new assignment and then re-read them on the way back from Filliydelphia. Instead of learning it a third time she absently watched her hoof run up and down the arm of the couch. Tears were forming in the saddened unicorns eyes as she remembered what had kept her in Fillydelphia for six long years. These tears were not new, they had been forming there for days now, but she did not allow herself to cry or perhaps she couldn't.

Before long she grew tired of watching her hoof and turned as if trying to find a more comfortable sleeping position on a bed, to stare at the ceiling. The delicate mare continued this process for some time until her boss had finished reading the job description.

"Any questions?" Sandtrap asked at length his tirade finally over.

"I have two." la Fleur said getting up and moving towards tan buck's desk.

"What's the first?" He asked organizing several files on his desk.

"Do you know what this is?" She began levitating out a letter in a delicate pink magical aura. Before he had time to respond she continued, "This is from your desk and it cost me a marriage and a job." Her forehooves were suddenly on top of the startled buck's desk. Standing she was normally considerably taller than he, now that she had elevated herself further allowing her to tower over him. Her pink and white stripped mane fell over her face casting a shadow over the rest. Sandtrap shuddered involuntarily.

He gulped audibly but remained as resolute as he had been when he sent the letter in question. He said, "You and I both know you took it too far. All I did was remind you that you were working."

"I was happy." She hissed.

"You're job is to protect anypony who pays us not to be happy."

"I WAS DOING BOTH!" la Fleur bellowed putting more of her modest weight than she meant to on the desk. The desk shifted towards Sandtrap and he overreacted sliding to the wall away from her anger. His fearful reaction was enough for la Fleur, she backed down off the desk and left the note on it.

"I didn't think it would turn out like that." He said quietly. She was still standing across the desk watching him hold himself against the wall.

"No I'm sure you didn't. That's because it wasn't your assignment." The normally confident mare had to turn her head away as a tear escaped her eyes. Followed by another and another. Before long she had to turn her whole body away, this did little when her silent sobs caused her to shake.

"What would it have changed?" He asked unsticking himself from the wall and coming around to her.

"It was-" Words escaped la Fleur's tongue as she choked on another series of sobs. "I never would have let anything happen to him. Even if I never came back here, you still would have had your bits I would have had a husband. And I-" The white mare stopped before a mournful wail escaped her throat. She took some time to collect herself before she dared to open her mouth again.

"He sent you away though he wasn't your responsibility anymore." Sand Trap was clearly not understanding how little she cared about the job. He never had, all he knew was counting more bits and finding better ways to earn and store them.

la Fleur glared at him tears still streaming down her face. "Do you think I'm upset because he fired me?" She turned to face him again. "Are you stupid?!" She shouted incredulously, "I'm upset because the stallion I loved died! Because I wasn't there." She looked down at the floor, "Because you couldn't let me continue working the way I was. What did you hope to gain by making things run the way they usually do? Did you think that it would earn you more bits somehow?"

"No, I just thought that maybe-" He didn't know, for the life of him he could find no other reason why he'd sent the letter. The only reason he'd had at the time was that she was acting outside of the company's guidelines for a hired bodyguard.

He gave the distraught mare before him a look that begged for her to tell him the reason for his actions. She returned his gaze with a icy glare.

"That's what I thought." She moved past him to the door. "If word gets out that this company was somehow involved in Mr. Staple's assassination, you know exactly where the police will go. It will be here, where they will find out that his ex wife works. That won't end well for either of us even though we had nothing to do with his death. You know what I want." With that she slammed the door loudly causing several ponies sitting at their desks in the room outside to jump.

He knew what she wanted and it wasn't extra bits. It wasn't a new husband or a week’s vacation. She wanted more IOU's, of which she had already accumulated twenty. The previous twenty were gained through much more friendly negotiations. This wasn't a negotiation at all it was closer to blackmail, but considering what he'd cost her it was more than likely justified.

He let out a sigh and shook away the remaining tension. Tomorrow she'd be on her way to Canterlot to meet her new protectee. As worried as he may have been about her in this time of distress, he knew that she would not unload her emotions onto "The most important pony in Canterlot." If nothing else he hoped there wouldn't be much of a change in lifestyle from her previous job to this one.

As Sand Trap moved his desk back into place he noticed the letter still sitting there. He regarded it for a moment before deciding to file it away for a later time. It would be a good reminder of something not to do in the future.