Ponies Protecting Ponies

by Venates

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Alternate Universe, Doctor Whooves, Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Bon-Bon, Sparkler
Length: 29819

The PPP is a secret oganization tasked with keeping Equestria safe. No pony knows who they are; their agents blend into the background just like any other pony. With their expertise, keeping the unicorn Twilight Sparkle safe should be no problem.

We are Ponies Protecting Ponies, a secret organization founded by Princess Celestia for the good of all of Equestria's citizens. Whether it's running protection, disaster prevention, or a terrorist threat, one of our agents is on hoof. We do what we must to give our friends and family their peace of mind. We blend into the background, just like any other pony. Watching. Protecting.

Under order from Princess Celestia herself, our agents have been assigned to the protection of a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle with specific instructions that the espionage tactics we're known for stay in play; Sparkle can't know a thing. She hasn't been a hard VIP to secure thus far; most of her time is spent either at Princess Celestia's side, or in the Canterlot library. Hopefully a brief visit to the nearby town of Ponyville doesn't bring her safety into question.

Featured by Equestria Daily!

Published 2014-09-01 21:50:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-06 01:10:06 UTC

Prologue

Amethyst Star led a mostly simple life. To a point, anyway. For most of her years, her only real purpose was cutting and shaping gems for the wealthy members of Canterlot. Bringing beauty into her world was her passion. And now she was being told to inject ugly into it.

The voice in her ear was her handler. As a new recruit, she needed one watching her every move and showing her the ropes. Turns out, cutting gems is an extremely delicate procedure that requires an incredibly powerful magic. She never knew this, of course; she only ever used her ability on pretty stones. That was all. And that was all that was needed to catch the attention of a certain espionage agency. She was first approached just over a year ago and began training shortly after. This was her first real mission: to infiltrate a griffon terrorist organization and take out its commander from within. The griffon in question was now awkwardly trying to keep himself sitting up in front of Amethyst. He was weakened, but his pride meant that he would spend every last ounce of energy attempting to keep his composure.

"Yes, Chief. You know that it is."

"No, Chief."

Amethyst's horn glowed in a raspberry aura; one quick thought and her special brand of magic would cleave into the terrorist leader in front of her, effectively ending the threat that he posed. One quick thought was all she needed. A different thought kept that one at bay.

"I don't like it."

Amethyst growled. "I said I don't like this!"

The griffon in front of her stared with steely eyes, but Amethyst held her ground while granting him one side of a conversation. "I joined this organization to protect," she began. "I joined to protect this land and all of its citizens from those who would do it harm. Am I wrong in this, Chief?"

the voice in Amethyst's ear confirmed with sarcasm.

Amethyst didn't immediately answer. Instead she took a deep breath and fought the urge to close her eyes in thought; she knew better than to do that in front of a known terrorist. "Well, ma'am, it's rather simple." This is it, she thought, I'm throwing my life away right here and now. "The key word there was 'protect'."

The griffon continued to glare; he showed no signs of understanding what Amethyst was saying, nor did he look as though any of it went over his head. "Millions, yes," Amethyst answered. "Millions minus one."

The line was silent for a long time. Amethyst almost wondered if her words had failed to carry over, knowing full well that the odds of that being the case were very slim. She managed to restrain herself from jumping when the voice came back.

the voice said, drawing out each syllable,

"I believe... Yes, that is what I'm saying," Amethyst said with a nod, despite the fact that her conversation partner could not see her. "I joined the agency because you said my talents would be used to protect Equestria's citizens. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this griffon also an Equestrian citizen? I refuse to... illkay him, okay?" Amethyst looked back to the griffon; his glower remained unchanged. "You want me to bring him in, fine, but I swore my service to every pony in this land, even if they're not a pony."

Amethyst nodded again. "Yes."

The pink unicorn stood herself up taller. "Especially."

In that moment, lights flashed in the once dark basement and blinded Amethyst. From what she could tell in that instant, the overwhelming aura came from all sides of her. Instinct said to fire off a few rounds from her horn, but she managed to keep it within control. She opened her eyes in a squint, and tried her hardest to discern the new shapes around her. One in particular stood in front: not a griffon, but a pony. A mare, to be precise. A mint-colored coat covered the legs standing in front of Amethyst, and as she raised her head to look the pony in the face, she saw two golden eyes staring back at her with a satisfied smirk. The mare spoke with the same voice that had been buzzing in Amethyst's ear.

"Welcome to Ponies Protecting Ponies... Agent."

"Seriously, Lyra? You could have told me that whole operation was some kind of... spy hazing."

"That would have defeated the point, now, wouldn't it? Besides, I knew you would be fine, Agent."

"'Agent Amethyst Star'... That's going to take some getting used to."

"Well, you've earned it, kid."

Canterlot's Ponies Protecting Ponies headquarters was rarely a quiet location, and the mares had to speak a bit louder than normal to carry their conversation. Computers whirred and buzzed around them as agents and scientists galloped to and fro, though usually for their own personal pursuits than any real panic; the last genuine threat Equestria witnessed had taken place almost one thousand years ago.

"And we aim to keep it that way," Lyra Heartstrings would say whenever the topic came into discussion. She wasn't the highest ranking member of the PPP, but her record on the field alone gained her respect within the company. She first approached Amethyst when the young pink mare still worked a humble stand in Canterlot's marketplace, and volunteered to both train and supervise the newcomer.

"The fact of the matter is," Lyra began, "that just because we're called 'Ponies Protecting Ponies' doesn't mean we only protect ponies. As you're well aware, Equestria is home to dozens of sentient creatures, including griffons, donkeys, a few zebra immigrants — I mean, heck, my hand-to-hand combat instructor was a minotaur."

Amethyst tilted her head. "Hand-to...?"

"Look, it's a colloquial term. I didn't name it." Lyra gave one of her hooves a wave. "Point being, you showed some nerve refusing a direct order when it came to offing that terrorist, and we need that kind of nerve. Lesser ponies would have just followed orders, or — dare I say it — believed the deed necessary. Maybe even relish in it. And that is NOT the goal of this agency."

"Even if he was an actual terrorist?" asked Amethyst.

Lyra gave a sly smile. "You've got humor, Star. Save it for snappy banter in the field."

Amethyst shook her head. "I really could have killed him though!"

"Eh. I've been with you from the start, remember?" Lyra gave her pink companion a nudge in the ribs. "I knew you had it in you."

"Had it...? But I didn't do anything!" exclaimed Amethyst.

Lyra continued smiling. "Exactly."

Amethyst didn't have a chance to respond before a steel-plated door in front of them shot to the ceiling to let the two mares through. In the room beyond, a circular console sat with screens lining the walls around it, used for gathering intel and briefing agents on upcoming missions.

Lyra walked forwards to the room's console. "Now that you've been properly trained and assessed, it's time for your first real assignment."

Amethyst grunted. "A part of me wants to say 'second'."

Lyra snorted in response. "Every part of you can shout a different number for all I care." Lyra came off as a bit harsh at times, but every time she did, Amethyst could spot a smile underneath it all. Though, she had to admit, sometimes she had to look pretty hard.

Amethyst followed Lyra to the center of the console. The mint-green unicorn turned a few knobs, causing some of the screens around them light up with displays of various pictures; they were all focused on one particular purple unicorn.

"This is Twilight Sparkle."

"Got it. Bring her in?" Amethyst asked.

Lyra shook her head. "Hold your family, there; this isn't that kind of mission."

"Then what exactly have I been training for?" inquired Amethyst with scowl.

"Everything." Lyra spun another knob, and the pictures swirled until one showing the unicorn standing next to their princess was displayed.

Amethyst scoffed. "I imagine if she and the princess are so close that she's not planning on taking out the royalty any time soon."

Lyra turned another knob. "Spot on, kid. A keen eye like that might land you detective some day."

Amethyst couldn't tell if Lyra was being sarcastic, especially since she wasn't sure if the agency did have a detective division or not. "Okay, so what do you want me to do with her?"

"Nothing." Lyra turned to look at Amethyst. "Well, you know, not literally nothing. Oh man, your face..." Lyra cleared her throat before continuing. "Anyway, as I said before, the mare's name is Twilight Sparkle. Near about your age, and the personal student of Princess Celestia."

"Student?" Amethyst eyed the young mare in the picture warily. "What exactly is she learning from Celestia that isn't taught in schools?"

"Princess Celestia. And none of our concern," Lyra said. "What is our concern is that Princess Celestia herself made the request that we watch after this pony. Protect her. Makes sure she stays safe. And that she is to never ever discover our presence."

"This mare?" Amethyst asked incredulously, pointing to one of the pictures. "Why, out of all the ponies in Equestria, is our organization being asked to watch this one pony in particular?"

"Got me," Lyra said with a shrug. "But if the princess asks a pony to do something, she darn well better do it."

Amethyst wanted to retort but had a hard time finding the right words. "So just so I'm clear," she began slowly, "you expect me to spend all of my time following this pony and making sure that she doesn't get hurt?"

"We."

"Excuse me?"

Lyra turned off the console and then faced her counterpart. "You and I. We," she reiterated. "The two of us will be watching her together."

"Both of us? Why?" asked Amethyst. "Not that I don't want to work with you, of course," she added in a hurry.

Lyra raised an eyebrow but otherwise offered little response to Amethyst's comment. "Because at some point you're going to want to get a few winks," she said, "and somepony else will need to take over. Besides, having another pony on the mission will give you someone to talk to and keep you from getting bored, or going crazy trying to keep a secret."

Amethyst chose her next words carefully. "Well, not to sound ungrateful or anything, but if this is so important, then why not have more ponies on this team?"

Lyra shot Amethyst a sharp look, causing the pink unicorn to flinch. Lyra softened before saying, "Sparkle spends most of her time reading in the Canterlot library with her dragon assistant, or is at the side of Princess Celestia. In either case, she is hardly ever in any real danger."

"You don't think a dragon being around is a real danger?" asked Amethyst, monotone.

Lyra gave another look. "The thing is just a baby. Loves her like a big sister or something. Mommy issues, if you ask me. Whatever the case, they're very close, and the thing would sooner attack Celestia than the bookworm he resides with."

Amethyst grunted. "If you say so."

"I do," Lyra said. "Now come on; we've got some shopping to do."

"I have to admit, when you first said 'shopping', I was initially a lot more excited."

"Ugh, don't be such a filly. You're supposed to be a professional now."

"And a professional can't have a day to buy frilly things just because she can?"

"Not really."

Lyra and Amethyst were walking about Canterlot, a small blue bag with a heart on the front dangling from Amethyst's mouth. Thankfully her training with scenarios involving the loss of her magic left her with quite the knack for speaking clearly while transporting goods with her teeth.

"Besides, these things are exciting," Lyra stated. "I mean, we picked up a secondary communications device, a micro information stick, personal GPS, a badge..."

"Yeah, and most of this is going to be stuck somewhere on my body where I'm not too fond of things going."

"Eh, it only takes a day or two to start walking straight again." Amethyst was about to ask for clarification on whether or not Lyra's trademark sarcasm was in that statement, but the green unicorn cut her off. "Hey, since you're assigned to her and all, do you want to meet Twilight Sparkle?"

Amethyst almost dropped her bag. "Meet her? Aren't we supposed to make sure that she never knows we exist?"

"Relax," Lyra soothed. "That mare isn't aware of anything in front of her unless it's a book."

"Oh, well, if you're sure it's okay!" Amethyst said, perking up.

Lyra nodded. "Now, intel has been tracking her moves and habits for a while, so given the current day of the week, the hour, and the weather, she's most likely studying at a park nearby. We should be able to catch her there and relieve the last of the previous team assigned to her."

"Sounds good!" Amethyst said. "Wait, there are already other ponies watching her?"

"How do you think I had time to train you?" Lyra asked. "The agent we're relieving has been watching her since Princess Celestia first brought the assignment when Sparkle was just a filly. He's due for a new mission. That, or retirement."

"Makes sense," Amethyst admitted. A smile grew on her face. "Hey, isn't that her?"

"Keen eye, kid," Lyra said. "Here, watch, I'll wave, and if she ever recognizes me again I'll eat that bag and everything in it."

"Is that before or after half of them get implanted?"

The two watched as the purple unicorn whizzed past them without so much as a glance, bags full of books in tow.

"She seems nice," Amethyst joked. Her smile turned into a frown when she saw the worried expression on Lyra's face. "What's up?"

"Something's wrong," Lyra stated. "C'mon. The agent assigned to her isn't in sight, which means it's up to you and me to get some eyes on her." The green mare took off in a sprint, and her pink counterpart followed.

"Won't seeing two ponies chasing after her freak her out?" Amethyst asked over the wind rushing in her ears.

"That pony wouldn't notice if Canterlot was painted orange for a day!" Lyra called back.

"She's pretty speedy for a 'bookworm'!"

"You'd be surprised! Last year A.K. Yearling had a book signing, and—"

The two ponies stopped dead in their tracks; they both heard the same dull voice.

"Right now?"

"But Sparkle—"

The two unicorns looked at each other for a brief moment before turning to run back the way they had come.

"There you two are."

"Sorry we're late, Dent," said Lyra.

"Yeah..." Amethyst huffed, "Late... Sorry..."

"'Sorry' only counts in marriage and board games," said the pony called Dent. The two mares in front of him looked at one another. Dent mimicked Lyra and also looked at Amethyst. "So this is the new recruit?" he asked.

"That's right," Lyra confirmed. "Finished her training just today."

Dent continued to stare at the pink unicorn. Amethyst could feel the back of her neck heating up and wasn't sure if she was supposed to say anything. Dent then looked to Lyra, who glared right back. The stallion looked as though he was going to say something, then decided against it. He turned his back to them as he approached the screen at the front of the room.

"Agent Greenhooves here," Dent began, "has been on the Twilight Sparkle mission ever since it was first set upon us."

An elderly pony in the room waved at the two of them. "So yer the ones replacin' me?" he asked. "Been lookin' forward to retirement for a while. Truth be told, I've always felt that gardenin'—"

"Can wait for just one more day," grunted Dent. The anger in his voice didn't reach Greenhooves, who sat and smiled pleasantly. Dent continued, "As I was saying, Greenhooves was on Sparkle detail when he overheard a keyphrase that was given to us when Princess Celestia first approached the agency."

"'Elements of Harmony'!" Greenhooves said cheerfully.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean to us?" Lyra asked.

"You'll figure that out at your new station," Dent said.

"New station?" Amethyst repeated. "You mean we're moving? I just got my first mission here!"

"And your first mission is moving to a new station," Dent said. When both mares opened their mouths, he raised a hoof to silence them. "Look, here's the situation: At oh-nine-hundred Greenhooves heard the keyphrase and made the call. Sparkle was last seen and heard heading for her library, which we know to be a safe house. At oh-nine-thirty — just after I called you two — she made contact with Princess Celestia, who responded posthaste with a message detailing her immediate departure. Now, this is all above my head, but what I do know is that you two are still on Sparkle detail, which means that you're both relocating ASAP."

"To where, exactly?" inquired an indignant Lyra.

"Ponyville," Dent said simply.

"Ponyville?" asked Amethyst. "Why would Celestia want to send any of us to some farm town?"

Chapter One: The Summer Sun Celebration

Bon Bon glared at the bright blue sky as though it were the reason she rarely slept.

"Giving clouds the stink eye won't make a chariot move any faster, you know," a yellow pony with a bouncing orange mane said to her.

"Can it, Top."

Carrot Top chuckled. "You are going to have a hard time getting your agents to like you as chief handler with that sort of attitude."

Bon Bon moved her dagger eyes from the sky to the pony next to her. "It is not my intent to have my agents like me, Top," she said. "All I need is for each one to do their job. I am not here to make friends."

"I'll send out a memo," said Carrot with a roll of her eyes.

Bon Bon looked back towards the clouds gently drifting above them. She muttered, "You and I both know how dangerous it is to get close to somepony in a job like ours."

Carrot Top gave no response.

"There," declared Bon Bon. "That's them."

"Are you sure?"

"We don't have any other chariots scheduled for today."

As the two mares watched, a golden chariot pulled by two white pegasi descended and landed softly next to them. Two more mares — unicorns, in fact — disembarked, and both the chariot and the stallions pulling it disappeared back into the clouds.

"You're late," Bon Bon said to the two newcomers.

The mint-green one was the first to speak. "Yeah, well, we had a lot of questions and about four seconds to get a fraction of them answered," she replied.

Bon Bon snorted. "I would have given you two."

"She's usually not that generous," Carrot Top whispered to the pink unicorn next to her, who stifled a giggle.

Bon Bon ignored this and gave a motion for the three mares around her to follow. The four ponies began walking with Bon Bon's blue-and-pink-striped mane at the front.

"So: where is Sparkle?" the green unicorn asked. "I'm sure you're aware that the two of us are here to keep an eye on her."

"You should have considered that before you decided to be late," stated Bon Bon. The green unicorn opened her mouth to give a hot retort, but Bon Bon cut her off. "We already have an agent tailing her. She'll remain on duty until the two of you have been familiarized with our headquarters and the rest of our staff."

"Fine," the unicorn grunted. She casually observed a few uninteresting buildings as they walked past them. Once she got bored of this, she asked, "Well, while we're just trotting along here, could we at least know more about the mission? Why the move to Ponyville and whatnot? I think it's only fair."

"Fair is having a job, Miss...?"

"Heartstrings," the green unicorn said. "Lyra Heartstrings."

"Well, Heartstrings," Bon Bon said with as much venom as one word could be laced with, "there will be plenty of time for intel when we're not surrounded by non-agency citizens."

Lyra blinked, but otherwise took Bon Bon's ice in stride. She turned to Carrot Top and asked, "Is she always this welcoming?"

Carrot chuckled. "She's just a little on-edge is all. The Ponyville branch doesn't usually see much activity. She's still new in the handler position here, and hopes to run a tight ship; a couple of unknown faces arriving a few minutes late is not exactly on her list of acceptable things."

"It was more than 'a few minutes', thank you," Bon Bon said over her shoulder. "Sparkle beat you here by almost an hour. Tell me: how did you expect to 'keep an eye on her' while airborne in the middle of nowhere?"

"I'll have to confer with the Cloudsdale branch and get back to you," Lyra said with a smirk.

Bon Bon stopped in her tracks and turned to give Lyra the full brunt of her fed-up expression. "Look, I'm not big on snarky ponies—"

"No kiddin'."

"—And I will NOT tolerate it so long as I'm your handler," Bon Bon finished. "Is that understood?"

Lyra gave a half-hearted salute. "Put a lid on the snark; got it." Bon Bon glared for just a second longer before she resumed walking.

"Who is she replacing as handler, anyway?" the pink mare asked.

"Me, actually," Carrot Top said. She turned to look at the unicorn. "Amethyst, right?"

"Err, yeah!" said the pony addressed.

"Right, so you're the new recruit then. I read your file," Carrot explained in response to a confused look on Amethyst's face. She then called to the pony at the front of the pack, "Like a good chief handler is supposed to do!" A low growl came from Bon Bon's mouth. The three mares behind her snickered.

"So why are you quitting?" Amethyst asked Carrot.

"I wouldn't necessarily say 'quitting'," Carrot admitted, "but I did feel that it was somepony else's turn to take reign."

"That's a shame," said Lyra, her attention back on the unexciting structures around her. "Sounds like you would have been more fun."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that," Carrot answered. She closed her eyes and threw her bouncing orange mane back. "The glorious and beautiful yellow mare you see before you is what happens when all the stress of a position like that is put onto another pony's back."

Amethyst giggled. Lyra looked at the back of Bon Bon's head and said, "So just so I'm clear: we're taking orders from fussy britches up there?"

Carrot Top stifled a chuckle and nodded to Lyra. Bon Bon's neck turned red.

"So if you're not in charge anymore, what do you do now?" asked Amethyst.

Carrot Top gave her mane one last fluff. "Like I said earlier, things are pretty quiet around here, so it's mostly advising and helping Bon Bon get used to her new post," she stated. "You know, when she decides to listen to me." Carrot Top waited for a response, but when Bon Bon didn't offer one, Carrot continued, "And I'm still young, so I can always lend a hoof here and there on a mission if we really need it."

"Any chance you'd consider retaking your position?" Lyra asked snarkily.

"Quiet, you lot," Bon Bon snapped to the ponies behind her. "We're here."

The building in front of them was much taller and more decorated than those around it. Its circular shape with custom-designed windows and flags waving at the top suggested an air of governance.

"Town Hall?" asked Lyra. "You guys set up base here? Wouldn't you want something more covert?"

"Again, Ponyville doesn't see much action," Carrot began. "It's very rare that anypony needs to see the mayor about any concerning matters." The four mares entered the building and found themselves in a beautifully decorated foyer. At the front stood a unicorn mare busily opening and going through boxes of brightly colored ribbons. "Bathroom?" Carrot called out to her.

"Yes, yes, right over there to your left," the mare called back. Then, to herself, "Now the streamers: pink or blue? They simply must match the—"

"That's Rarity," Carrot said. Then, with a chuckle, "Too busy with her work to notice anything, that one."

"I'm starting to feel like the agency relies too much on that sort of thing," grumbled Amethyst to nopony in particular.

Once the bathroom door closed behind them, Bon Bon commanded,"All right, ladies, pick a stall."

Amethyst tilted her head. "And what do we—?"

"Lift the seat on the toilet."

"...Pardon?"

Bon Bon did not answer again; she had already closed the door to her own stall. Carrot Top chuckled as she entered one herself. Amethyst followed suit into an unoccupied stall and stared at the porcelain bowl in front of her. Then, not knowing what else to do, she lifted the seat up. At first it just sat there, but then the toilet slid quietly into the wall behind it to reveal a platform.

"This is how you get into your headquarters?" asked Amethyst incredulously.

"Well, it is the girls' room!" she heard Carrot Top answer. "It's not like any boys will be in here lifting the seats!"

"Yeah, but — That's not what — What if — But that doesn't — What?"

"Shut up and ride the lift down, Star," came Lyra's voice.

Amethyst got onto the platform that was hidden underneath her stall's toilet and pressed a green button on its edge. In an instant the platform began its descent.

Ponyville HQ was less impressive than its sister in Canterlot. Apart from the smaller space and somewhat outdated-looking technology, it just didn't have the same hustle and bustle that both the Canterlotian branch and its city had.

"This is our control room," Bon Bon said after all four lifts came to a stop. "It's not much, but we do have enough here to monitor the town, a nearby farm, the dam, and various parts of the forest to the south."

"You're monitoring the forest?" Lyra asked. "Are you afraid of a squirrel invasion?"

Bon Bon didn't answer. "Most time not spent in the field will be spent here gathering intel and receiving new assignments," she explained. "Now if you'll come with me this way, I'll show you the equipment room and our R&D lab. Hooves!"

"Yes, ma'am!" A tan stallion with a windswept brown mane stumbled to his hooves before giving an awkward salute to Bon Bon. She and the two unicorns made their way into a small room filled with blinking lights and a quiet buzzing.

Bon Bon said, "Doctor, these are the Canterlot transfers, Agents Lyra Heartstrings and Amethyst..."

"Star," the pink unicorn finished for her.

"Right, yes, Amethyst Star," Bon Bon finished with a nod.

"Oh! Well! How do you do, ladies?" the stallion asked with a sincere grin.

Looking all around the lab, Lyra took a few steps forward. "So what are you R-ing and D-ing in here, Doc?"

"Oh!" The scientist stumbled on his hooves once again and excitedly ran to some nearby equipment. "I'm actually just putting the finishing touches on this one! See, it's a powerful biological purging device that uses crystalline lenses to—"

"Wait." Lyra raised a hoof to silence the stallion. "Are you about to tell me this thing cures the common cold?"

"A rather uncommon one, actually!" Hooves corrected. "Thus far, it's only ever ailed one pony in known existence!"

"Tax money well spent, I see," said Lyra with a roll of her eyes.

"Yes!" Hooves said with a huge smile. "Princess Celestia has—"

"That's enough, Doctor, thank you," Bon Bon said. She turned to the pair of unicorns. "We better check in on Agent Doo. She's the operative I have on Sparkle detail while you two are getting briefed."

The mares left the lone stallion to his research. As soon as their backs were turned to him, Hooves began muttering to himself. "Now, white crystalline has already proved to be too pure in the process, so perhaps a multicolor..."

Bon Bon rejoined Carrot Top in the control room, hit a switch, and a few monitors around the mares blipped into life. "Agent Doo, report."

A cheery yet bored voice greeted them. "Hey, Bon. Nothing too terribly exciting happening at the moment. Sparkle is making rounds right now following an agenda that Princess Celestia gave her. She's on her way back from the farm, so I imagine that she'll be occupied for an hour or two yet."

"Thank you, Doo" replied Bon Bon. "I'll be getting the transfers up to speed. Let me know if anything changes."

"Will do. Doo out."

Lyra snickered.

"What?" Bon Bon asked with an angry overtone.

The green unicorn composed herself. "She said... Oh, seriously, am I the only one who caught that?"

The others looked at her inquisitively.

"Never mind," said Lyra. "So, if I heard you right, we're finally going to start getting some answers?"

Bon Bon shuffled herself into a more upright position. "Considering your assignment to this mission, I can't imagine that being entirely out of the question."

"Very good, Bon!" Carrot Top said in a higher voice than normal. "Agents are so much more willing to cooperate when they understand why they're doing what they're doing!"

"Stow it, Top. Now then," Bon Bon turned to the two unicorns. "Where to begin?"

"For starters: why Ponyville of all places?" asked Lyra.

"And what about the keyphrase 'Elements of Harmony'?" Amethyst added. The others all turned to look at her. "What? I think that's a valid question."

"I suppose I can answer both of those with a story," Bon Bon said. Amethyst leaned forward. Lyra rolled her eyes. Carrot Top looked between the two of them with a sly smile.

Bon Bon continued, "Are either of you two familiar with the Mare in the Moon?"

"Not overly, but I hear she's a hoot," Lyra said. Bon Bon glared at her. "Oh, right, sorry about the snark."

"She's part of a legend," Amethyst said. She caught the attention of the other ponies again.

"'Legend' may not exactly be the right word," Bon Bon told her. "History tells us that Princess Celestia actually sealed the being within the moon using the 'Elements of Harmony' — a metaphor for her power, I believe — and that this 'Nightmare Moon' is set to return. Tonight."

Lyra snickered. "You and I had very different history classes," she told Bon Bon.

"I'm sure of it," Bon Bon retorted without so much as a giggle. "Believe it or not, our agency was founded exactly one thousand years ago as a direct result of that incursion."

"That was a choice, right?" Lyra asked. "You say I can choose not to believe it?"

Bon Bon clenched her teeth before continuing. "You see, Agent, that when Princess Celestia formed this company, she instilled in it the number one rule that we still hold to this day: everypony is a citizen who must be protected."

"So why wasn't all that on the first quiz?" Amethyst asked Lyra.

"This included," Bon Bon continued over the interruption, "the sister who tried to usurp her. Celestia chose to banish Nightmare Moon over taking a life. Interestingly, years of research eventually showed that this sister was corrupted by a dark moon-based life-form, but—"

"Can we skip the fairy tale nonsense and get to the bits that actually matter?" asked Lyra.

Bon Bon snorted. "Let's just say there's a reason Princess Celestia picked Ponyville of all places for Twilight Sparkle and, by extension, the two of you. The forest at the edge of town contains the old ruins that she and her sister shared when a castle still stood there, as well as the site of Nightmare Moon's defeat. As such, this is no doubt the first place Nightmare Moon is set to seek out revenge. Therefore, as the only being capable of stopping her, Princess Celestia decided to hold the Summer Sun Celebration here so as to not alarm the common folk with her sudden presence. Rather, she is expected."

Lyra's eyes rolled upwards. "Okay... But why bring Sparkle here?"

"I know you're already aware of her importance to the princess," Bon Bon said, "so obviously her safety is a high priority. In case Nightmare Moon does attack, Twilight Sparkle will be safest where the princess can reach her easily."

"That doesn't make sense," Amethyst stated. The others all turned to look at her again. She could feel sweat on her neck, but her voice didn't carry any such nervousness. "If Celestia wants to keep Twilight safe, why bring her to the one place she knows this 'Nightmare Moon' is going to attack?"

"Princess Celestia, Star," Bon Bon corrected. "And because she doesn't know that." Bon Bon paced as she spoke. "After the destruction of their castle here, Princess Celestia built Canterlot up in the mountains. If Nightmare Moon were to receive this information, she might alter her attack and go there first. With the princess here instead, the city — and Twilight Sparkle — would be completely vulnerable."

"What, and we can't protect her there on our own?" Lyra asked.

"No. You can't." Bon Bon stopped her pacing to stare right into Lyra's eyes. "No amount of training could prepare you for what this monster can do. We're talking about a pony who was once a princess herself, now infused with evil incarnate." Lyra shifted uncomfortably. "That aside," Bon Bon continued, "having a little extra muscle on your part does help put the princess's mind at ease here."

"Two agents?" scoffed Lyra. "That's your idea of 'muscle' against a thousand-year-old alicorn with anger management problems?"

"Not really," Bon Bon said. "I don't think we need either of you. But, much like Sparkle's protection, these orders come from the princess herself."

"Flattering," Lyra said with a sneer.

Just then a familiar voice buzzed in their earpieces.

"Copy," said Bon Bon. "Any idea of her next target?"

Agent Doo said.

"Copy." Bon Bon turned to the two unicorns. "Alright, once we get the all clear, I want you two topside doing what you're supposed to be doing, and give Doo a break. She can show you the best vantage points for the library, and—"

Doo said in their earpieces.

"That frantic little—" Bon Bon put a hoof to her head. "Okay. New plan. Doo, if the library is indeed Sparkle's next stop, I want you to head that way. Agents Heartstrings and Star will meet you inside."

Bon Bon grumbled and wandered off in another direction, one that presumably led to a private office.

Lyra turned to Carrot Top. "What's got her bun in a knot?"

"Well, around here 'PPP' doesn't mean 'Ponies Protecting Ponies'," Carrot Top explained. The two unicorns looked at one another, then back to Carrot Top, who continued, "You two are about to go to a Pinkie Pie Party."

"SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!"

Ponyville's library was filled to its brim with almost every pony in the town present. At the center of the mass was the unicorn renting out the space for the night, Twilight Sparkle, and next to her bounced the excitable namesake of the 'Pinkie Pie Party'.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you!"

"She certainly does like meeting new ponies, doesn't she?" chuckled Lyra.

Amethyst frowned. "All this just because Twilight is a new face in town? Why don't we get a party?"

"A:" Lyra began, "we're supposed to be covert, which means blending into the background, not standing out as guests of honor."

"Ah. Right."

"And B:" continued Lyra, "there's like a dozen ponies in this town that look a lot like us. Which, although weird, does help us to blend in a little."

Amethyst nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that's true."

"Heartstrings? Star?"

Both ponies turned to see a grey pegasus approaching them. Her two golden eyes were not quite aligned, yet they were both fixed on either pony addressed.

"That's us," Lyra said. She moved one hoof between her and Amethyst and clarified, "Heartstrings, Star. I take it you're Agent Doo?"

"That's me," the pegasus confirmed with a salute. "Agent Derpy Doo, at your service."

"Hey!" Amethyst hissed, "We're surrounded by civilians! You guys really shouldn't refer to somepony as an 'agent' out loud like that!"

"It's fine, really," Doo said. "It's usually hard to hear much of anything in one of Pinkie Pie's parties."

"Again: too much trust in ponies being distracted," grumbled Amethyst.

Derpy tilted her head. "What?"

"Don't mind her," Lyra said with a wave. "You've got some information for us?"

The pegasus shrugged. "Not much," Derpy admitted. "Twilight just kind of went about town and made some friends. Should make the princess happy."

"She's really that concerned about Sparkle's social life, eh?" Lyra asked.

"Yes and no," said Derpy. "Our intel doesn't offer much beyond the wish being relayed to Twilight in a letter penned by the princess herself."

"Well, the way I see it, 'friends' will just make things harder for us." Lyra reached out to a nearby refreshments table and grabbed a cup for punch. When she made for a bottle to fill it with, Derpy put a hoof over the glass and shook her head.

"Watch the labels on these things," Derpy warned as one of her eyes wandered to a different part of the room. "You'll be in worse condition for the night if you don't."

Lyra stared at the pegasus for a beat before giving the bottle a similar stare. She put the bottle back, grabbed a different one, and left to wander the building. With her absence, Amethyst approached her new ally.

"What's up, Agent Star?" Derpy asked.

"Amethyst is fine, really," the pink unicorn stated. "And what—"

A high-pitched whistle interrupted the conversation; both mares turned just in time to see a blur of violet rush up a set of stairs. A small purple dragon approached the beverage table and picked up the bottle that Lyra left behind. "Hot sauce..."

Derpy chuckled, but Amethyst looked worried. "Was that Twilight?" she asked. "Should we go after her?"

"Nah, she's fine," Derpy replied. "The upper level doesn't lead anywhere, and I doubt she's going to be jumping out of a window any time soon."

Amethyst watched as Lyra approached and settled near the staircase. From there she eyed the party guests warily. "If you say so," Amethyst said.

"Now," Derpy began, "were you going to ask me something?"

"Oh! Yes! Sorry..." Amethyst blushed. "I was going to ask what you usually do when you're not tailing VIPs for Lyra and me."

"Actually, nothing all that different," Derpy said. "I transferred from the Cloudsdale branch a while back. Ponyville staff was lacking, and being primarily an earth pony town at the time, they struggled with pegasus recruitment. I got sent in to be the 'eye in the sky' around here. As you can see, though, Ponyville has become much more of a melting pot since then. Still, you two unicorns are the first real diversity this branch has seen in quite a while."

Amethyst coughed and averted her gaze. "So uh... uh..." She swallowed. "'Eye in the sky': does that mean... you know... just one?" Amethyst looked up with her two violet eyes to meet a single yellow one. The other eye switched which part of the room it was observing.

"No. Both," Derpy stated. "Look, I'm going to be blunt here, because this comes up a lot and I'd rather you not just assume things: I work in recon. My specialty is seeing everything. I even trained myself to be able to look in two different directions at the same time and still make out everything I see clear as day. This is an advantage — not a handicap. Understood?"

Amethyst gulped. "Yes, ma'am."

"Hey," soothed Derpy, putting a hoof on Amethyst's shoulder, "no need for any 'yes, ma'am' stuff here, okay?" Amethyst swallowed and nodded. Derpy removed her hoof and continued, "I'm sorry, it's just a bit of a sore point for me is all. Fact is, I have to keep my ability among the citizens a secret. I just let them think that I have a defect, and... it stings sometimes. You know: not being able to tell the truth. Taking the ridicule and knowing that I can't change just to make somepony happy."

"I'm..." Amethyst swallowed again. "I'm sorry to hear that. Truly. I mean, if I—"

Derpy waved away the rest of Amethyst's sentence. "Don't worry about it, alright?" She then tilted her head to the side as both eyes faced forward. "It's all just part of the job. We make sacrifices. And we do it to protect the ones we love, right?"

"And the ones we've yet to love," Amethyst said with a smile.

Derpy tilted her head a little more, but before she could respond, her left eye swiveled and focused on a point behind Amethyst. In that moment, Lyra's voice came from the same direction.

"This is making me uncomfortable," Lyra said. She came into view and addressed her partners face-to-face. "This many ponies in one place, and something bad is bound to happen."

"Relax, Heartstrings," Derpy said. "These parties happen almost every week, and are always completely under control. She may not seem like it, but Pinkie knows how to have a good time without police and insurance agencies getting involved."

"It's not like I'm worried about a cow kicking a lamp," Lyra began.

"They're usually not invited," Derpy interjected.

Lyra leered at Derpy before continuing. "It's just a lot to keep an eye on is all."

Both Derpy and Amethyst chuckled. The pegasus replied, "Don't worry, I've been on security detail on much bigger gigs than this."

Lyra snorted. "Whatever. Look, I'm going to check in with HQ. Stepping outside for a bit."

Once Lyra was safely out of earshot, Derpy turned to address Amethyst. "Is she always such a stick in the mud?"

"Actually, it's pretty rare," Amethyst replied. "I think she just gets this way when she feels like somepony has to take charge. Otherwise she's pretty laid back."

Derpy hummed. "Well, I'm sure once we're all back at HQ and have Bon Bon breathing down our necks, we'll feel plenty fine about cracking a joke or two here and there."

Amethyst smiled. "I can confirm this," she said.

The party continued in an otherwise uneventful fashion. Games kept all the party guests entertained well into the night, and some pony or another downed the rest of the refreshments. As the hour continued to become more advanced, Amethyst started to worry about just how late the town's residents planned on staying in the library.

"Don't ponies sleep around here?" she asked.

"You're kidding, right?" replied Derpy. "It's the Summer Sun Celebration! You're supposed to stay up all night partying."

"Really?" Amethyst rubbed her chin. "I never knew that. Makes sense though."

"Has your town never had a Summer Sun Celebration before?" asked Derpy.

"I grew up in Canterlot, so, yes, of course," Amethyst said with a giggle. "But I was always out of town for one reason or another. Canterlot hosted it last year, but that was after my training started... I didn't see much sun at all for the first few months." Amethyst picked an empty bottle from the floor and set it neatly on a nearby table.

"Oh yeah, I remember the weeding-out process," Derpy said, picking up a bottle herself. "Who'da thought working underground would be so literal?" Both ponies laughed. "I mean, I'm sure it wasn't fun all-around, but you have no idea what it's like for a pegasus not to fly in the open air for so long."

Amethyst chuckled. "Hey, we managed."

Derpy smiled in return. "That we did."

Lyra chose that moment to reenter both the building and the conversation. "Hey, you two know much about the Summer Sun Celebration in this town?"

"Yeah!" said Amethyst energetically, turning towards her. "It's where ponies stay up all night, and—"

"I know about the holiday, kid," Lyra said, deadpan. "I mean our part in it."

"Oh..." Amethyst's enthusiasm faded. "Then no."

"We're helping with the security detail," Derpy explained. She bounced a balloon with one of her wings. "Both Twilight and the princess will be there, so between that and the big security threat we may have, we need all hooves on deck."

"Right, the fairy tale moon mistress," Lyra said sarcastically. "I nearly forgot about her."

Derpy squinted at Lyra with one eye. "Laugh if you want, Heartstrings, but I for one plan on listening to any order given by Princess Celestia herself."

"Oh, so I do have your permission to laugh then?" asked Lyra. "I just want to make sure."

The two mares glared as Amethyst looked between them. Unsure in her words, she began, "Um, guys, maybe we should—"

"Hey! So is it my turn?" The small purple dragon from before bounded down the stairs while lifting a lamp shade over his eyes. A few party guests near a poster of a tailless pony turned at the sound of his voice.

"Actually, given the time, we best be headin' fer Town Hall right about now," said an orange earth pony wearing a Stetson.

"Aw, really?" The dragon sounded hurt.

"Well, we wouldn't want to be late, would we?" asked the white unicorn who was decorating Town Hall. When the tiny dragon looked down at his feet, Rarity continued, "We can play again before you and Twilight go back to Canterlot. How does that sound?" The dragon looked up shyly and nodded. Rarity then looked to the party master, Pinkie Pie, who also nodded. "Then it's settled. Now, Spike, could you be a dear and go fetch Twilight? It wouldn't seem right to leave her behind."

"Be a..." Spike stammered. "Y-yeah! Yeah, I can do that! Be right back!" His pony friends giggled as the dragon hopped back up the stairs he just came down.

"If we're lucky, she'll stay upstairs in bed," Lyra grunted. This proved to not be the case as a grumpy-looking unicorn followed her dragon assistant down from the library's upper level. "Never mind. Party's over," said Lyra as she made for the front door. She turned her head back to address her two partners. "C'mon. If our intel is correct, the real show is yet to begin."

"Outside is clear. Still no word from the Canterlot escort, and the rendezvous point was empty."

"This isn't a date, Top," Bon Bon growled.

"I'll be in shortly. Bon out."

If the library had been packed with ponies before the ceremony, Town Hall made it look like a ghost town parking lot by comparison. In fact, the building was so crowded that many pegasi opted to fly above the crowd, choosing the strain of keeping themselves airborne over the frustration of not being able to properly witness the ceremony. In the midst of it all, two PPP unicorns stood together on a balcony, high above most of the ponies in town.

"Why isn't Derpy in the air with the other pegasi?" Amethyst asked Lyra.

"Because she doesn't want to draw attention to herself," Lyra answered.

The two unicorns looked over their balcony ledge to the blonde pegasus on the floor below them. She looked to them with one eye and gave a sly wave. Derpy said with a smirk.

The three mares looked to another balcony, where they saw Bon Bon glaring at each of them in turn. Carrot Top was only a few paces away; whether it was by choice or to disassociate themselves from one another for security purposes was anypony's guess. asked Bon Bon.

Derpy answered.

Bon Bon stated.

Bon Bon turned to Carrot Top, who nodded in reply. Making their way to the nearest staircase, they staggered their descent down to the main floor, where they joined their pegasus counterpart among the thickest part of the crowd.

"See anything yet?" Bon Bon asked Derpy once they were within earshot of one another.

"Quiet night from what I can tell," Derpy replied without making eye contact.

"I still haven't heard anything from Princess Celestia's escort," Bon Bon told her. "That bothers me."

"Perfectly understandable, but bear in mind that they were supposed to have a discreet arrival," Derpy reminded her. "Any small giveaway that she arrived could have put the town into a frenzy."

"I still don't like it." Bon Bon turned to look at their secondary target, standing only a few meters from the two of them. Without warning, the pink menace known as Pinkie Pie shot up next to Twilight Sparkle.

"Isn't this EXCITING?!"

Bon Bon groaned. "I simply cannot stand that mare..."

Carrot Top told her from a few paces away. Bon Bon glanced at her, but otherwise didn't acknowledge that she had been spoken to. Carrot finished.

Before Bon Bon could retort, a symphony of birdsong cut her off to announce the beginning of the ceremony.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" an aged mare on stage began, "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Back up on a balcony, Amethyst could start to feel her heart beat a little faster. "This is actually kind of exciting," she whispered to Lyra over the sound of cheering ponies. "I've never seen Celestia up close before."

"Princess Celestia," Lyra replied. "And... Me neither! I'm so excited!"

Amethyst turned to Lyra; the mint-green unicorn's golden eyes were wide and dancing in a way that Amethyst had never seen before. "Err, Lyra? Are you—"

Bon Bon's voice buzzed into their conversation.

"What?!" Lyra hissed. "And you picked me?!"

Lyra snorted. "Whatever. View's all yours, kid," she said to Amethyst as she left. Before long her voice switched over to their communications device.

"Yeah, I... I will." Amethyst couldn't help but feel bad for her partner; one of them had clearly been more eager for the event than the other. She spotted Lyra once the mare reached level, and continued to watch as Lyra crept up behind their new handler.

The sneaking pony leaned gingerly into Bon Bon's ear and cooed,

Bon Bon spat, swinging a hoof back at her antagonist.

Lyra dodged the hoof and stuck her tongue out.

Carrot Top said from afar. Bon Bon turned to glare at Lyra, but the unicorn was already a few paces back. Lyra didn't return any looks; she appeared far too thrilled about what was being said on stage.

Amethyst watched the encounter from afar and couldn't help but chuckle to herself. She then noticed how near Twilight was to all of them, but before she could ask if they were close enough for the purple unicorn to hear what they were saying, she saw Twilight look out of one of the hall's windows. Amethyst followed her gaze to see the moon shining brightly in the distance. In a soft flash, the spots on its surface — shaped like a mare's face in profile — vanished, leaving only a pale white orb behind. Amethyst's heart skipped a beat, and when she looked back to Twilight, she could tell that the studious pony had seen what happened as well.

"Uh, guys?"

"Guys!"

Horns blared, and a curtain rose at the front balcony, signaling Princess Celestia's arrival. When the spotlight moved to greet her, however, the space stood bare with the exception of Rarity, who had pulled the curtain. Whispers filtered throughout the crowd.

snarled Bon Bon.

Amethyst cleared her throat loud enough for the sound to carry over the comm line, silencing her coworkers. "Guys, uh, I'm not sure how to say this, but Celestia's disappearance isn't what I was trying to get your attention about."

<Princess Celestia, Star. Then what exactly—?>

Gasping ponies drowned out their communications devices. That, or Bon Bon had the rest of her inquiry stricken from her. An aura as deep in color as the night sky seeped onto the balcony Princess Celestia was to appear on, and in an instant an armored alicorn as black as darkness itself stood on the stage before the citizens of Ponyville.

One of Amethyst's partners was close enough to Twilight Sparkle that the student's voice carried over the comm link:

Amethyst swallowed. "Um... That. Essentially."

Chapter Two: Uneven Ground

Chaos had broken loose in the small farming community of Ponyville. The mythical alicorn Nightmare Moon appeared before the town's citizens in place of their beloved Princess Celestia, and few ponies were taking the substitution well.

cried Amethyst.

Bon Bon retorted.

Derpy's voice came on the line next.

Bon Bon said.

"Yeah?" Lyra rubbed her head with one of her hooves; very rarely does one pony get out of a frantic stampede of others without a scratch.

buzzed Bon Bon in Lyra's ear.

Lyra looked to her left. The cool night breeze felt marvelous on her face. "Yeah. Target?"

Lyra gave her head one last rub before getting to her hooves. "I want to reiterate and go on the record as saying that I could tell having a base set up below Town Hall was not the best of ideas."

barked Bon Bon.

Lyra stumbled in her first few steps but was soon in a full gallop. There was no sign of Twilight Sparkle anywhere, but given the pony didn't know the town very well, there was only one place she could have gone.

"I'm checking the library first," Lyra said over the wind rushing past her face. "Will update if necessary."

Lyra allowed herself a sigh of exhaustion. She hated to admit it, but despite all the warnings, she was completely unprepared for the night's events. The fact that her head was throbbing and the library was on the other side of town didn't help matters.

"You can't blame yourself, Lyra," she said to no pony. "Good agents have to be able to determine fact from fiction, otherwise we'd be chasing wild geese everywhere we went."

The only sound the night could reply with was Lyra's hooves beating against the ground.

"I mean, how would believing and preparing have made things any different?" Lyra asked, allowing the conversation to keep its momentum. "Everyone in the Ponyville branch believed this might happen, and they were just as caught off guard as you were."

An owl hooted in the distance.

"It's not your fault," the lone mare reiterated. "It's not your fault..."

"Is that the last of them?"

Carrot Top reentered Town Hall before she responded. "I don't see anypony else in here."

"I have to admit, Carrot," Amethyst began, "I never would have thought a pony could get a crowd like that under control so quickly!"

"The key is to be panicking at the front. Helps you steer the mob," Carrot Top replied with a smirk. "You can't just reason with a pony when they're spooked."

"All right, I get it," Bon Bon grumbled. "Mass hysteria cannot be addressed with words like 'orderly' and 'single-file'."

Carrot chuckled. "I'd give you a gold sticker, but I'm fresh out, and there are more important things to attend to."

"Agreed," Bon Bon said with a nod. "Come on, ladies: to the bathroom!"

"You see her straight face?" Carrot asked Amethyst, chuckling. "Look at her straight face when she says that. I just... I can't."

Ponyville's PPP headquarters felt unnaturally calm compared to the calamity the ponies present just witnessed. Despite the stark contrast, the eerie quiet of the underground facility unnerved Amethyst. Once their lifts reached level ground, Amethyst couldn't help but flinch when Bon Bon's curt voice cut through the still air.

"Hooves!"

"Yes, ma'am?"

The tan stallion bounded from his nearby research lab. Bon Bon looked to him with a stern yet somber gaze. "Is it ready?" she asked.

"It's impossible to say, ma'am," Hooves answered with a shake of his head. "Of course, I'm still fine-tuning it, and without a proper field test—"

"You're getting your test, Doctor," Bon Bon said. "Tonight."

The doctor's front hooves tried to scamper backwards while his back ones stayed put, and the motion put him into a quick upright seated position. "T-tonight? Wait, tonight... It happened?"

"Of course it happened!" Bon Bon almost screamed. "Didn't you— Where is your comm link?!"

"It was distracting!" Hooves protested.

"I don't care if it gave you worms!" retorted Bon Bon. "Put it back in, grab your things, and get ready to move out!"

Hooves looked nonplussed. "...Move...?"

"Err, Bon," Carrot Top began hesitantly, "I don't mean to interject—"

"Then don't," Bon Bon snapped. "We can sit here and debate this all night, Carrot, you know we will, but you put me in charge of this outfit, and the fact of the matter is—"

"I don't know, he looks really uncomfortable with the idea," Derpy interrupted.

"Do I need to use worms to make a point again?" asked Bon Bon. "I'm sure that would make all of us uncomfortable."

"Um, can I ask something?" Every head but the doctor's turned to look at Amethyst. She swallowed before continuing. "I'm sure it's none of my business, but why can't he join us?"

Carrot Top shook her head. "He's just a scientist. He's no field agent. He never had any training for what we're about to—"

"The forest, right?"

The four mares turned to look at the stallion who spoke. Hooves stood up and spoke again.

"We always thought that... that she would go back to the forest... right? To the old castle?"

Derpy closed her eyes, and Carrot Top looked to a different part of the room. Bon Bon nodded.

"I'll grab my things."

Derpy whimpered, but no one acknowledged the noise. The stallion turned his back to the mares and wandered back the way he came. Bon Bon followed him into his lab. Just then, communications devices buzzed in their ears.

"I'll go join you," Derpy said, barely louder than a whisper. She silently spread her wings and flew up the entrance shaft, choosing to not wait for a lift to return her.

Carrot Top turned to glare at Amethyst; the look from an otherwise amiable mare took the unicorn aback. "Did I say something wrong?" Amethyst asked.

"Look, I know you're new," Carrot began, "but I really don't think it's your call whether or not a pony should be in the field."

"Every pony's opinion counts here, Carrot," Bon Bon said as she reentered the room. Hooves stood a few paces behind her with heavy saddlebags strapped to his back. "That was one of the first things you told me when I started training for your position."

"Yeah, well, back then everypony involved was family," Carrot Top countered. She gave the doctor a quick glance before the random corner in the room once again grabbed her attention.

"They still are," Bon Bon said softly. Then, more aggressive, "Come on, everypony. Get a lift and get up. We'll brief on the way."

"Anything interesting?"

Lyra turned to the sound of another voice. A grey pegasus descended from the sky and landed among the branches of the large tree that housed the town library. One of her eyes stared down at Lyra's hiding spot in the bushes, while the other gazed inside an open window. Lyra snorted. "Nothing so far," she said. "A few more ponies showed up, and now Twilight is going on about those 'Element' things from the story. Sheesh, she's even more obsessed with them than Star."

"You can't blame her," Derpy said. "The story makes it sound like they're actual things, and that they can just be found somewhere."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Look, I know I owe an apology for not believing that the fairy tale junk would come to life, but 'ancient mystical artifacts' is a little too— I'm sorry, but can you not stare at me like that?"

The pegasus tilted her head. "Most ponies prefer having eye contact when making conversation."

"Most ponies prefer both eyes pointing in the same direction."

Derpy's eyelids tightened. "Something on your mind, Heartstrings?"

Lyra glared back. "Yeah. Look, I don't know who thought it was a good idea to make a handicap a field agent, but—"

"Watch it, Heartstrings!" The eye Derpy had on the nearby window shifted onto Lyra, allowing the other to roam the town around them. "I am perfectly capable of performing my duties, and if you don't—!"

A gasp on Derpy's part cut off the rest of her sentence. Lyra went from squinting with both eyes to just one, and took a chance at following the eye Derpy did not have focused on her. She too let out a gasp. Almost missing it, Lyra spotted a pale blue and purple mist rushing from the other side of the library towards the forest at the town's edge.

Lyra was the first to speak. "Was that—"

"Yeah."

"Should we—"

"Yeah." Derpy lifted a hoof to her ear. "Control, this is Agent Doo. I believe we just spotted Nightmare Moon heading for the Everfree Forest."

Bon Bon's voice responded.

"It was the same kind of gaseous mass that left Town Hall," Lyra chimed in. "Unless you've seen anything else that looks like the night sky floating along the ground?"

Bon Bon said. Lyra rolled her eyes yet again.

Lyra turned back to the window next to her. "Safe at the library with a few friends."

BANG.

Lyra and one of Derpy's eyes spun to see six ponies leave the library's entrance and head due south. "Yer not leavin' without us, sugarcube!" one of the ponies yelled.

"Err... Problem with that, boss," Lyra said.

There was a brief silence.

<Please don't tell me Sparkle just went to the forest.>

"She and five others," Derpy confirmed.

A groan on the comm line preceded Bon Bon's response.

Bon Bon took a deep breath before continuing.

Pegasus and unicorn glowered at one another.

"We'll manage," Derpy answered.

"We're professionals," said Lyra.

Four ponies exited Ponyville's town hall into the unusually long night.

"Okay, here's the situation," Bon Bon began. "Heartstrings and Doo are tailing Sparkle, last seen heading for the Everfree Forest. Our two other objectives are countering Nightmare Moon and finding Princess Celestia. Doctor, since you're the one who knows how that device works, you and I will head for Nightmare's most probable destination while Star and Top—"

"Actually," Doctor Hooves interrupted, "I need A— err, Amy? Amarillo...?"

"Amethyst," the pony with the same name corrected.

"Agent Star," countered Bon Bon. "And I need her with Carrot in case any magic snares need to be taken care of." She then turned to Amethyst. "You do have training in disarming snares, yes?" Amethyst nodded.

"Yes, but I— erm..." The doctor tapped two of his hooves together. "Danger. In the forest. Not to mention angry alicorn magic."

"But—" Bon Bon cut herself off, sighed, and rubbed her temples. "Okay. Fine. Star, you go with Hooves into the forest. He knows his way to the castle. You worry about countering threats while he navigates." Amethyst nodded, and Bon Bon turned to address the stallion. "Hooves, take a direct route through the trees. We don't want you intercepting Sparkle by happenstance, and you may just get to the ruins before she and her party do." Hooves gave a sloppy salute in response. Bon Bon then turned to Carrot. "Top, you're with me. Hopefully checking every nook and cranny between here and Canterlot doesn't take all night." Without so much as a farewell, Bon Bon galloped away from the party. Carrot Top took one quick look at Hooves before following after her.

"I must admit, Doc, I'm rather flattered," Amethyst said as she followed Hooves' lead towards the forest. "I mean, if this 'Everfree' is as dangerous as you all keep going on about—"

"Oh, it's not so bad," Hooves interjected. "My brother and I used to go through it all the time. I mean, I guess he was a unicorn too, but it's not like he ever really needed to use his magic all that much."

"Well, that's comforting at least," Amethyst said with a grin. "I didn't know you had a brother?"

"I don't think it's been mentioned yet," said Hooves. "My brother doesn't get mentioned a lot."

"Why's that?" Amethyst asked. "Do you two not get along very well?"

"Oh, no! We were very close to one another! Best friends even!" Hooves smiled at the thought, and Amethyst wore one to match. "But then he died. In the forest, there."

Amethyst was no longer wearing a smile.

Two earth ponies galloped in silence before one broke it.

"Bon Bon, I know today has been scary thus far, and—"

"Carrot, please don't try to tell me that I made some wrong calls." Bon Bon did not even turn her head to speak to Carrot Top. "I've never had to deal with anything like this, and neither could you."

Carrot Top closed her mouth and let the silence resume. Almost a minute passed before it retreated once again.

"We need to establish a time frame," Bon Bon said. "It'll narrow our search field." She slapped a hoof up towards her ear without breaking her sprint. "Star, this is Bon. You saw Nightmare's arrival, correct? That's what you were trying to warn us about?"

came Amethyst's voice.

Bon Bon grunted. "How about 'more' then, Star."

Amethyst coughed.

Bon Bon looked up at the glowing orb in the night sky. It was completely featureless. "Huh. Well would you look at that. Okay, thanks, Star."

"Everything alright, there, Star?" asked Bon Bon as she and Carrot Top slowed until they were standing. "You're not scared, are you?"

"Don't hesitate to. Bon out." Bon Bon turned to Carrot Top. "If Star is to be believed, Nightmare only had a window of a few minutes — if that — to contain Princess Celestia, meaning that she's most likely within city limits, possibly further out into the nearby area."

"Bon Bon, I want to talk about—"

"We should split up to cover more ground." Bon Bon broke her eye contact with Carrot Top and resumed trotting towards a destination. "I'm going to head for the rendezvous point that nopony showed up at."

"Bon Bon, please... About sending Hooves into the forest..."

"Carrot, you head back to HQ." Bon Bon showed no signs of having heard Carrot Top say anything. "Bring up a map of town and any known magical leylines where an ancient being with intense magic might—"

"BON BON."

The pony in question stopped and turned to look at Carrot Top. "You have your orders," Bon Bon told her. When Carrot opened her mouth to speak, Bon Bon continued, "Our princess is missing, her corrupted sister is on the loose, and I am the only pony trying to keep a lid on it all! So please. Please do as I ask. Just for tonight."

Carrot closed her mouth and glared. After a beat, she turned away from her partner. When she was about to take her first step back towards Town Hall, Bon Bon's voice stopped her.

"I'll be on the comm link."

"I'm just saying. I mean, I know you can fly an' all, but in no way can having lopsided eyes be a real advantage in the field."

"And I'm telling you that both of my eyes work perfectly fine! You wish you could master an ability beyond the average pony like this!"

"Sister, the keyword there is 'average', which I assure you, I am not."

Derpy batted a branch out of her flight path; the Everfree Forest was making travel difficult for the two mares, regardless of whether they were flying or walking.

Lyra jumped haphazardly over a wide trench. "I just don't see how anypony could make sense out of two separate inputs coming in at the same time. Can't be done. Not by a pony, anyway. And yet you've convinced everypony that you work with that it's an advantage just to keep your job. And don't even get me started on the depth perception..."

"Dip."

"Hey now, no need to start calling me na—" One of Lyra's hooves plunged into a rather well-hidden divot in the ground and flung the rest of her body forward.

Derpy chuckled as Lyra unhinged her jaw from the dirt. "Do you always have trouble believing what you're told?" the pegasus asked.

Lyra spat out a clump of grass. "I just trust my eyes over what anypony says, is all."

"That you and I have in common," said Derpy. "Like it or not, I have a leg up on you, Heartstrings. Well, wing up. Eye up. All of the above."

"Har-de-har," Lyra said with a roll of her eyes. "It's not like you have complete advantage over me. I doubt you've had the extensive combat training I've been put through, and I'm pretty sure I don't even need to mention the asset that even an untrained horn can bring to the table."

"If you're so good, why would Bon Bon ask me to keep an eye on you?" asked Derpy.

"Probably because—"

"And yes, I do mean eye," Derpy sneered. "Singular. I've got one on you, and the other on—"

The sound of screaming ponies perforated the night air.

"Doo!" screamed Lyra, "What's happening out there?!"

"R-rock slide!" stammered Derpy. "Twilight and her friends are sliding down the mountainside!"

"Aw, son of a— Move!"

The two mares galloped and flapped as hard as they could towards the shrieks.

"Update!" Lyra belted.

"Two of Twilight's party are pegasi!" Derpy relayed. "They've caught two of their friends!"

"Sparkle?"

"Still sliding!"

Lyra and Derpy entered a clearing, and from there both mares could see the event unfolding. The hillside stood almost half a mile away, but all six ponies involved in its recent deformation were clearly visible. One blue pegasus was struggling to keep a pink mare airborne, while a yellow one was trying to get a white unicorn to slide slower. An orange earth pony and purple unicorn were still moving at an alarming speed. A cliff face and valley between them and the sliding ponies prevented at least one of the two mares from getting any closer to the scene. Lyra's horn began to glow.

"Lyra!" hissed Derpy. "You are on order to not use magic unless—"

"Unless absolutely necessary, I know," Lyra answered. "But I'm pretty sure ponies falling to their doom counts, and they're all a little distracted, in case you didn't notice!"

"And you think they won't notice if they magically stop falling?!"

"Give me some credit, Doo," Lyra said as sweat dripped down her face. "I picked this one up while I was still in training."

Derpy kept one eye on Lyra and the other on the six mares across the way. The orange pony manage to snag a branch from the slope's surface, but Twilight kept sliding until she caught herself dangling over an edge.

"Lyra..."

"Just... Hold on!"

As Derpy watched, the blue pegasus adjusted her grip on her pink friend before quickly and easily carrying her to safety. Her yellow counterpart stopped sliding with the white unicorn and soon too was airborne. With two of their friends secure, they rushed back up to help the last of their party.

"Strength... spell..." Lyra huffed. "Nearly... invisible... Didn't want... to... get... caught... in... training..."

The orange mare carefully slid down to Twilight to keep her from falling. After a signal from the two pegasi, she spoke to Twilight, released her, and the purple unicorn fell right into the hooves of their flying friends.

"Wow... That's rather impressive," Derpy confessed.

"We... good...?" asked Lyra.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah! They got 'er."

Lyra groaned, and her horn stopped glowing. The yellow pegasus in the distance dipped for a moment without the extra strength, but she and her blue partner still managed to ease Twilight to the ground. The orange pony opted to take her own route down to the bottom of the hill to join them.

"Phew," Lyra whistled as she stumbled to her hooves. "Been a while... since I've tried... one of those."

"Looks like it takes a lot out of you," Derpy observed. "How could you possibly get away with that in training?"

"Oh, it wasn't for me," Lyra said, strength coming back to her. "I had a partner who really struggled with the hazing. We had each other's backs, you know?"

Derpy nodded, but before she could respond, the ground underneath her crumbled. A quick flap of her wings got Derpy airborne, but Lyra did not rise with her; the unicorn fell alongside the fragmenting earth.

"DERPY!"

Without hesitation, the pegasus dove. She wrapped her forelegs around her green partner and hoisted her backwards onto sturdier footing. Their falling ledge paralleled the one that so recently dropped below Twilight Sparkle and company.

"Thanks, Doo," Lyra puffed. "Go on after them. I'm going to need a minute or two to catch my breath..."

Derpy spun an eye back to the cliff wall that once held ground beneath their hooves. A faint blue and purple mist could be seen sifting from it and into the woods after the party of six. A quiet laugh echoed in its wake.

"You get your rest, and then we'll go," Derpy said, eye not moving from the where the mist vanished. "I really don't think either of us want to be alone in here."

"So, um, Doctor..."

"Yes?"

"How, uh... How did... your brother...?"

"Die?"

Alone with a borderline stranger in a dark and creepy forest made the topic the last Amethyst wanted to cover, but training regulated a need to be prepared for anything, especially something that took out another unicorn. Still, the sensitive nature of a relative's passing made her hesitant to discuss the doctor's brother at all. "Um, yes," she mumbled.

Hooves kept his focus in front of him. His face showed no emotion at all. "We're not really sure," he stated. "See, this forest really can be rather dangerous, which is why we monitor it alongside the town. However, we rarely knew much about what went on in here, what the flora and fauna were, landmark locations, et cetera. Didn't bother my brother at all though, which is probably why Carrot Top sent him in here regularly."

"Carrot Top?"

"Back when she was still the boss, yes," Hooves confirmed.

"Right, she did mention that," Amethyst said, mostly to herself. "So what happened?"

Hooves didn't reply immediately. "One night he failed to report in," he said. "The others sent a search party in here, and, well..."

"Doctor." Amethyst stopped walking so she could put a hoof on her partner's shoulder. "I know it must be hard for you to think about, but whatever happened to him, you need to let me know so I can be ready for it."

Hooves shook his head. "I already told you, we're not sure what happened. The search party found him, but... Well, they didn't give me all of the details. Or maybe they did. I really don't remember a lot from that day."

"I'm... sorry to hear that," said Amethyst.

Hooves didn't answer.

The pair continued to walk in mostly silence. Occasionally Amethyst would warn Hooves to watch his step or look out for low-hanging branches, but he never said a word to acknowledge or thank her.

"So, Doctor," Amethyst began with hesitation, "Err, this device..."

"Hm? Oh! Yes!" Hooves' eyes and mouth went wide as his march turned into a skip. "It's actually quite the fascinating contraption! I didn't break the ground on it, mind, but for the greater portion of my life—"

Amethyst couldn't help but stare as the stallion continued at a brisk pace about diodes and transformers; it was as though an identical stallion swung in on a vine and replaced her stoic companion without her noticing.

"—and some parts of it date back even a century or more! Mind you, it was a bit of a pain working with some of these components with how severely out of date they are, but it's been highly difficult to replicate—"

"Err, Doctor?"

"Yes?"

Amethyst stared for a second longer before shaking her head and regaining her composure. "Uh, well, what exactly is it? You guys make it sound like it'll defeat Nightmare Moon or something."

"Not defeat, no... Was I not clear when you and Agent Heartstrings first arrived?" asked Hooves.

"First...?" Amethyst shook her head again. "That thing you were working on was this device?!" she asked, pointing to the saddlebag on the doctor's back.

"Well of course!" answered Hooves, nonchalant. "With today's date approaching, I was ordered to work towards its completion as fast as possible. It would seem I lost track of time, though, as I had no idea what today was until you all came back into headquarters."

"But... But it was in pieces! We saw you still working on it!" Amethyst yelled.

"As I said, I was fine-tuning!" Hooves yelled back.

"You mean it still isn't—?!"

Hooves beamed. "No!"

The doctor scratched at one of his ears. "Wait, we never said—" Then, in a low whisper, "Amethyst! Are we Forest Party One or Forest Party Two?"

Lyra's voice sounded exhausted.

"Affirmative, Chief," Amethyst said.

"Oh, yes!" Hooves chimed. "Several plant and animal species both known and unknown, not to mention subterranean—"

Lyra said.

"Okay!" said Hooves enthusiastically. He lowered his head and continued, "I don't think we're too far from the castle now, so once we get there—"

Lyra said harshly over their comms.

Amethyst gave Hooves a sidelong glance before answering. "Lyra, the doctor just gave me some rather interesting information that I think you should—"

Lyra said, cutting the pink unicorn off,

Amethyst snorted. "Copy. Star and Hooves out." With that, she began walking again. "Come on, Doc. You said it's not much further?"

"That's right!" Hooves gave a huge smile. "Now the thing about this device, you can't just—"

"Doc!" Amethyst put a hoof to the scientist's mouth. "Did you not hear what Lyra just said?" Hooves blinked his blue eyes twice. "Never mind, just... Tell me all about it when we get there, okay?"

"Okay!"Hooves said, mouth now freed. "But I really, really need to tell you some stuff when we get there! I'm going to need your help, after all!" With that, Doctor Hooves continued happily trotting down the path in front of him.

"But what...?" Amethyst shook her head and ran to catch up.

Chapter Three: Lost

"Carrot, I made my call."

"After his brother what, Carrot? After he died? Because that's what happened. Or did you forget?"

Bon Bon was galloping angrily away from her hometown. Each time she spoke, her snarl grew in intensity.

"Could have fooled me."

The cream-colored mare slowed to a trot as her destination loomed closer. Her deep breaths were not from exhaustion.

asked Carrot Top.

"Yeah, but did you?" Bon Bon shot back. Her head rotated slowly as she took in every detail of her surroundings. Memories came flooding back to her. Memories that were now just in the way of clear thought. Bon Bon's heart beat hard in her chest as she waited for Carrot Top's response.

snapped Carrot Top.

"And he didn't," Bon Bon grunted. The stallion never again set hoof in the office. He never brightened another day with a joke and a smile. The mare in Bon Bon's ear sent him on a suicide mission, and— Bon Bon realized that her teeth were grinding and sighed. "I am not in a position with a lot of options, Carrot."

Carrot Top yelled.

Bon Bon stamped on a branch and snapped it in two. "Because you would have focused more on keeping him safe than on the mission, and that's assuming you could stand to be within speaking distance of him!"

The rest of Carrot Top's sentence was either lost or never said. It was never exactly subtle the way she always conveniently found an excuse to not enter the lab or join a conversation with the late agent's only brother. For one reason or another, Carrot Top never stayed in the same room as Doctor Hooves for long, and Bon Bon took notice. Bon Bon stood in silence in an open field surrounded by trees as her heart rate slowed back to normal.

"...Carrot."

No answer.

"Carrot Top."

"Have we reached an understanding?"

Bon Bon nodded to herself. "Good. Get the Canterlot office on the line. I need to know what information they have on Princess Celestia's departure and escort."

Bon Bon refused to be bothered by her recent conversation; the mission came first, and so far speaking with Carrot had only proved to be a hindrance. She wound her way between every tree in her immediate area, checking their bark and branches for damage or for any signs of pony life.

"Rendezvous point is clear," Bon Bon said to what should have been morning mist. "I don't see any signs of a struggle, so either the princess never arrived, or her guard dropped her off and cleared out without checking in."

Carrot Top suggested.

Back at Ponyville HQ, Carrot Top turned a knob on the console in front of her, and a stern-looking stallion blipped onto one of the hanging monitors.

"Carrot Top, Ponyville PPP," the yellow mare said to the image.

"Director Rad Dent, Canterlot," the image said back. "I'm surprised to see you, Top. Word is you retired."

"Word is not important unless it's what I need to hear, Rad," Carrot Top replied. "What happened to the two agents assigned to Princess Celestia's escort?"

Dent raised an eyebrow. "If you're referring to Agents Heartstrings and Star, our intel says that they—"

"No no, they arrived on time, give or take an hour," Carrot Top said. "I mean the guards assigned to Princess Celestia's transportation. Her chariot."

"Only royal guards pull royal chariots, and you know that they are outside of our jurisdiction," said Rad Dent. "They don't even know we exist. Sparkle and the two agents we sent your way had their transport arranged by the princess herself."

"Dent, sweetie, this really isn't at all relevant right now," Carrot Top said without any charm in her voice. "Just tell me what happened to the two guards pulling Princess Celestia's chariot."

The director raised his eyebrow further. "The princess didn't take a chariot to Ponyville."

"...What?"

"You and I both know she can fly there under her own power," Dent continued. "Her arrival was supposed to be discreet, yes? Far easier for her to manage that when on her own."

Carrot Top put a hoof to her ear. "I am, Bon. I'm with the Canterlot branch. They say that Princess Celestia departed alone."

Bon Bon said.

"Anything on where they lead?" asked Carrot Top.

Bon Bon confirmed.

"And the other?"

Bon Bon took her time responding.

she confessed.

Carrot Top sighed. "We'll think of something else. In the meantime, I should check in on—"

Bon Bon interrupted.

"Yeah, but—"

Carrot Top looked to the nearby monitor that showed Rad Dent in the Canterlot office. "Yeah," she said, "I'll patch him through."

"Dent here," the director grunted.

"Situation?" asked Dent confused. "Other than the fact the sun was supposed to come up two hours ago, everything is fine here. Princess Celestia was last known to be in your location, Bon. Mind telling me what's keeping her from raising the sun?"

Bon Bon was silent for a moment.

Dent grunted. "Just asking that question has some serious implications, especially when so recently placed into your new position as chief handler of such a small branch." The director's eyebrows adopted an angry furrow; Carrot Top was thankful that Bon Bon couldn't see the image and get the brunt of the look. "Are you having some problems, Agent?"

Silence.

Bon Bon began slowly,

"Bon—!" The monitor showing the director blipped off.

"I cut communications with Canterlot," Carrot Top said, her attention back on her earpiece. "I'm assuming that was a good place to do so?"

A sigh answered her. Bon Bon admitted.

"I don't think he—"

Bon Bon said.

"Yes, and..." Carrot Top swallowed as old memories washed back into her mind. "And there's no possible way he could appreciate the situation you're in right now."

<...Thank you.>

"Don't mention it," replied Carrot Top. She started moving her hooves across the console in front of her. "I'm going to dive into some old documents and schematics on the town, like you asked. Hopefully I can—"

Bon Bon interrupted.

"I..." Carrot Top swallowed again. "If you think that's best."

Carrot Top began placing various maps and blueprints on all of the command room's monitors before Bon Bon's voice stopped her dead.

"Wow. That's supposed to be a castle?"

"It was at one time, yes."

Amethyst and Doctor Hooves were approaching decrepit ruins that barely held up so much as a door. All that stood in their path was the single most worn-out bridge that Equestria had to offer.

"Do you think it's safe?" asked Amethyst, giving the first plank on the bridge a tap.

"Not even a little!" Hooves replied happily. He took a few bounding steps forward.

"Whoa! Hold up!" Amethyst grabbed the doctor's tail with her teeth before he could get any further across the gorge. She managed to drag him back onto the safety of solid ground, where he promptly plopped onto his hindquarters. "Doc, I can't let you do that."

"This castle is Nightmare Moon's most probable destination!" Hooves protested. "Assuming she's not here already, of course. We need to get inside, assess the situation, assert her location, erect the device—"

"Doctor, yes, I know, but—" Amethyst looked down into the chasm between them and the ruins. "It's risky. This bridge doesn't look like it can hold too much. You and your machine are more valuable assets than I am, so I'm going to cross first and ensure that it won't snap under your combined weight. Okay?"

"Miss Star," Hooves began condescendingly, still seated squarely,"I believe you'll find that in no way am I the asset here, as this device—"

"Needs you to run it," Amethyst interrupted with a prod on his chest.

"Actually—"

"Hooves, drop it." Amethyst turned towards the bridge and gave the first step another tentative tap. "I know you've been with the company longer, but as an agent I outrank you. This is an order."

The doctor furrowed his lips and eyebrows in concentration before his face brightened. "Oh hey!" he exclaimed. "That's true! Although you are still severely misled about a few other topics."

"We'll get back to that," Amethyst grumbled. She took her first step across the bridge, and then a second, and then a third. Against better judgment, she looked down to her hooves as though she needed visual confirmation that they were not falling through the air. No bottom to the gorge could be seen, though that was partially due to some unusual mist. Amethyst took a deep breath and continued walking. Before long she managed to reach the other side of the chasm. Once safe, she took another glance back at the bridge and called, "This thing is sturdier than it looks!"

"Well, yeah!" Hooves replied. "My brother set this up for the agency's use a few years back!"

"Your brother?" cried Amethyst. "I thought this was just another part of the castle?"

"Are you kidding?" The doctor got to his hooves. "This place has been abandoned for a thousand years! You think wood and rope can actually last that long?"

"You raise a fair point!" Amethyst conceded. "Come on over! It should be able to hold both you and your gear!"

Hooves happily obliged and made his first few trots across the bridge. As he got closer to Amethyst, he told her, "You know, it doesn't look like much now, but the castle was truly remarkable back in its time! Or at least, that's what history tells us."

"I'm sure," Amethyst scoffed. She waved her hoof to keep Hooves moving towards her. She then blinked and rubbed an eye in order to remove some of the odd-looking mist from her view.

"No, really!" Hooves continued. "Did you know it was the first building in recorded history to have more than one floor? The second and third levels have mostly eroded and fallen apart, but ground level is actually on top of a stone-lined basement where eeeeEEEAAAUGH!"

"DOCTOR!"

The bridge snapped. Right in front of Amethyst, with Hooves only a few steps from safety, the ends of the bridge closest to her actually snapped and fell, taking the stallion with it. His hooves wildly clutched at empty air while his eyes rolled downwards. Before he could determine just how much time he had left to live, a raspberry aura clouded Hooves' view, and all falling sensations ceased.

"I've got you, Doc!"

The doctor's front hooves still took a few grabs at nothing while the stallion slowly rose upwards. In mere moments, he was settled safely at his pink friend's side.

"Woo!" Hooves cried. His breathing was heavy, but he acted more excited than frightened or tired. Once free of the aura that surrounded him, he crawled towards the chasm edge and peered over it. "That fall would have most DEFINITELY... crippled me. Best-case scenario."

Amethyst chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you're okay, Doctor."

"Me too!" said Hooves with a huge grin. He then turned to Amethyst. "I must say, you're quite adept at levitation! From my observations, most unicorns don't lift much more than a small supply or two here and there!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not most ponies," Amethyst laughed. "PPP unicorns are all trained to be able to lift and carry ten times what you weigh, and to do so without breaking a sweat."

The doctor reached out and put a hoof onto Amethyst's cheek. He looked into her eyes, and she into his. He then drew his hoof back and observed a bead of water on its surface. "Sweat," he said bluntly.

Amethyst chuckled again. "You're one strange bird, Doc. Come on. Let's see what we can find in these ruins."

"Careful, watch your—!"

"Doo! Seriously! Let go! You don't need to carry me over every bump and crevice!"

"Sorry..."

The grey pegasus deposited her unicorn partner on the other side of a narrow ravine. Lyra dusted herself off before she continued walking with Derpy floating just behind her.

"I guess this forest just has me a little jumpy now," Derpy confessed while rubbing the back of her head. "Between the two landslides, the manticore, and Nightmare Moon on the loose—"

"Yeah, it's been crazy, but that doesn't mean you need to baby me," Lyra said. As she continued to walk, she sighed and added, "Although I do appreciate you saving me from that drop earlier."

"It's okay, really," said Derpy. "Oh, watch out for that rock!"

Lyra picked up and chucked the rock into the trees with her magic without even looking at it. "That does not mean I need you to keep 'saving' me. Get it?"

Derpy's limbs drooped down underneath her for a minute or two before she asked, "Do you have kids?"

"For breakfast, lunch, and dinner," Lyra said. After a slapping sound, she looked behind her to see that Derpy had covered her mouth with her front hooves, and both eyes were staring at her widely. "It's a joke, Doo," Lyra explained. "No. No kids."

"Oh..." Derpy regained her composure. "Well, I have a little filly. A unicorn, actually."

"My sincere congrats," Lyra said, perhaps less than sincerely.

"And she can be quite the hoofful, too!" Derpy continued. "Her starting school was a bit of relief for me, you know. Having her somewhere where I don't have to worry about her... It's hard being both an agent and a single mom trying to raise a foal."

"At least you're trying," Lyra snuffed. She continued to keep her attention fixed on the path in front of her. "Growing up, my parents were either absent or breathing down my neck to do better. I'm still not sure which I preferred. Once I got my cutie mark, they ground my nose into music so hard that my passion for it lost its luster. I never once played in the Canterlot Orchestra, and that will probably always be at the top of their disappointment list."

"But you're an agent of Ponies Protecting Ponies now!" exclaimed Derpy. "Surely they're proud of that!"

"It's a secret organization, Doo," Lyra reminded her. She picked up another rock with her magic and threw it harder than the last. "Even if we were still talking, it's not like I could tell them about it."

"You don't talk to your parents anymore?!" asked Derpy incredulously.

A snort was Lyra's only response.

"Well," Derpy began with hesitation, "maybe when you're a parent you can do better?"

"Oh yeah," Lyra answered with a hint of sarcasm, "I'd make a great parent. I can tell a kid exactly what to do to get through life. Teach them the ropes. Show them exactly how to get through all of life's difficulties. And, when they struggle, I'll be so crushed over the thought of them failing and the idea that I failed them that I'll give them a little nudge, pat her on the head, and say, 'Good job, sport, you're really getting the hang of this.' Give her all the false confidence she'll ever need. Then, when the time comes, she'll think she's ready when she's actually not, and before I can stop her, she's made a mistake that can't just be nudged better."

Derpy opened her mouth to say something. Something else made her decide to close it. It was several minutes before Lyra spoke again.

"What's her name?"

"W-what? Who?"

"Your kid," Lyra clarified. She used her magic grip to move a branch out of Derpy's flight path. "What's her name?"

"Oh... Dinky," Derpy answered.

"Cute. Well listen," said Lyra, "whatever you do, make sure she gets the chance to just be a kid. Give her some freedom. Let her explore. Let her make mistakes. I mean, okay, don't just let her do whatever she wants or she'll turn into a brat, but if you force adulthood on her too quickly or try to shield her from the harsh world of reality, it'll really mess her up. You feel me?"

Derpy nodded, but considering Lyra wasn't looking, she made her response vocal. "I... I feel you."

Lyra opened her mouth as though to say something, then closed it and shook her head. Derpy didn't say anything else. A few other voices filled the void in their conversation. Lyra shifted her gaze briefly onto Twilight Sparkle's party of six, all giggling in a nearby clearing.

"...It's not easy, is it, Carrot?"

"No, Bon Bon, it's not."

"Being in charge, I mean. Having ponies' lives in your hooves."

"I know what you meant."

Two mares stood in Ponyville PPP headquarters, sifting through documents about their town from almost the first farm founded there until the present day. Other than the occasional words like "nothing here" or "excuse me", this was the first conversation that had taken place since Bon Bon arrived back in the control room.

"Look, what you said earlier," Bon Bon began. She licked her lips before continuing. "About Dent. It made me realize that maybe... Maybe I've been a little harsh on you about... about..."

"You had every right to be harsh on me, Bon," Carrot said. There was little emotion in her voice. "He was under my command, and I'm the one who put him on that mission. It's my fault he's no longer with us."

"That's the thing though," said Bon Bon, "I don't think it is." Carrot spun to look at her, but Bon Bon had her eyes glued to a monitor. She continued, "Tonight's made me realize... you were in a tough position. You looked at your options, weighed them against the risk, and made a call. An impossible call. And I feel like I've made a few tonight as well, and..." She wiped at one of her eyes, but did not look away from her work. "I just don't want something to happen and have anypony hate me the way I hated you."

For the longest time, Carrot Top said nothing. When she finally spoke, all she could muster was, "That's... fair."

"And sometimes I still want to hate you, you know?" Bon Bon continued. "That sounds awful, but... I just... I can't believe he's gone. It's like I need someone to be mad at. And anything that goes wrong tonight, I'm going to be blamed the same way I blamed you, even though I'm just trying to do my job..."

This time Carrot Top did not respond.

Other than a few beeps and clicks, the minutes passed by without another word between the two. Several documents came up and passed through the monitors before Bon Bon broke the silence again.

"I can see why you would want to quit now."

Carrot Top let the words hang in the air a good while before she replied, and when she did, she did not directly address Bon Bon's statement. "For the record... there's a reason I passed the position on to you. I knew you didn't have much tolerance for me at that point, but I could tell that... I could tell that you were made of stronger stuff than me." This time Bon Bon did break eye contact with her work, though Carrot Top did not. She continued, "And the way you've handled this night so far... I can tell that I was right." It was at this point she turned to look back at her partner. "And I'm sorry if all of my joking around makes you think that I didn't care. That I don't care. Fact is, I do, and a lot more than I'd like to admit. That's why I stepped down, Bon Bon. I cared too much, and... losing an agent broke me. I wasn't ready to lose family. That doesn't mean that I think you are, or that you don't care. Far from it. I know you will do everything you can to keep us safe. I also know that you can stay strong if a time ever comes where you can't." Carrot Top licked her lips and lowered her gaze. "I just hope that tonight doesn't prove the notion."

Bon Bon was silent. Her attention returned to the blown-up documents in front of her, and before long Carrot Top followed suit. A few fans whirred on. Minutes ticked by and still neither mare said a word until—

"There."

Bon Bon turned to see what Carrot Top was looking at. It was an ancient letter, its inked words barely visible in the scan made of the document.

"This is the transcript from a landscaping job," Bon Bon observed, confused. "What could planting trees over a hundred years ago have to do with us now?"

"Not 'trees' plural," Carrot Top replied. "Just one."

"And?" asked Bon Bon. "I should care because...?"

"Fine, I'll read it." Carrot Top cleared her throat. "'The soil we's planted this tree on ain't natural. It has strange magic properties. Princess Celestia was contacted and survey'ed the plot herself. Said something about it being a unique magical waypoint, with a great dest'ny in its footure. All's I know is for now, all's it is is a tree.'" Carrot Top turned to Bon Bon. "Do you know what this means?"

"Spelling and grammar have come a long way?" suggested Bon Bon bluntly.

Carrot Top shook her head. "Think, Bon. In order to contain a being like Princess Celestia, Nightmare Moon would have needed to channel additional magic on top of her own. She would erect a prison over a strong, magical waypoint, and I can't think of too many other places in Ponyville that fit that kind of description."

"Alright, I see where you're coming from," Bon Bon confessed. She leaned over the console and squinted at the ancient document on the screen. "So where can we find this tree?" she asked. "Is it even still around?"

"Is it ever," Carrot Top answered. She turned a knob on the control room console, and the transcript slid off the screen. In its place came a much more recent document: a photo of the town library.

"And this statue represents the Elements of Harmony!" Doctor Hooves said happily.

Amethyst looked over the aged marble. Moss and vines grew unchecked across its surface. "There's only five elements here," she observed. "Aren't there supposed to be six?"

"You know about the Elements?" Hooves asked. "Most books concerning them have been lost over time."

"I was lucky enough to come across one in the Canterlot library when I was young," said Amethyst, circling the statue. "The idea of magic gems is kind of what led me to my gem-cutting career."

"Oh, good, you do cut crystals!" Hooves looked beside himself. "I was hoping I read your file right!"

Amethyst spun towards the doctor. "My...? Do you even have permission to read that?!"

"See, the funny thing about the old legend," Hooves began as though he didn't hear Amethyst's inquiry, "is that the Elements were never real artifacts." He walked towards the statue himself. "When Celestia defeated her sister, that's just the story she told her subjects in hopes that Nightmare Moon might get distracted trying to find these mythical relics, should she return. Do you read Daring Do? There's one where the same thing happens to her when Ahuizotl sends her on this huge wild goose chase, and—"

"And how do you know all this?" Amethyst asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Celestia is the one who founded our organization!" Hooves happily answered. "Though most of her secrets are highly classified, only to be known by the highest members of the company, sworn to secrecy."

"Again: you know this because...?"

"I read things I'm not supposed to," Hooves said bluntly. Amethyst slapped her face with a hoof. The doctor paced to another side of the sculpture and continued, "I haven't even said the best part! Like you said, there's only five elements on this statue! That's because the notion of there being a sixth leads to an even wilder goose chase!"

"That's brilliant, Doc. Really. Truly." Amethyst rubbed her temples. "But howzabout we try to focus on the task at hoof?"

"Oh! Right!" Hooves unstrapped the saddlebag from his back and began removing components from it. "Okay, considering the Elements of Harmony display is still intact, we can assume that Nightmare Moon has not yet arrived here, or surely she would have taken them and left to search for the sixth. I'm going to start getting set up. Here, I need you to take these." Hooves removed a hoofful of very rough-looking, yet colorful stones from his pouch, rolled them towards Amethyst, and then stuffed his nose back into the bag.

"These," began Amethyst, picking up a ruby, "are some of the most unrefined gems I have ever seen in my entire life. Heck, most of the gems in Equestria are already refined when you dig them up! What do you want me to do with them?"

"I need you to cut them," Hooves replied.

"Cut th— Why weren't these already cut?!"

"I didn't have the idea until yesterday!"

"Idea?!" Amethyst was fuming. "You said the device was mostly ready! Why are you still making — and I mean this as literally as possible — last-minute adjustments?!"

"I also need you to power the device."

Amethyst blinked. "...WHAT?!"

"It runs on unicorn magic," Hooves said simply.

"Uni... You didn't even have any unicorns on your team until yesterday!" yelled Amethyst.

"I know!" exclaimed Hooves, almost losing a pair of screws while throwing his forelegs in the air in excitement, "This will make for a really interesting field test!"

"A field—?!" Amethyst bit her lip before exploding, "THIS IS NOT A GAME, HOOVES!"

"Well I'm SORRY!" Hooves yelled back as his forelegs clamped back down onto his device. "This was originally tuned to my brother's magic, and he hasn't exactly been able to help me lately!"

Amethyst stopped speaking. Her hoof beat the ground a few times in frustration as she tried to settle on an emotion to feel. "You..." Her face contorted into a number of positions before a heavy sigh released every muscle. "You really miss him, don't you?"

Hooves did not immediately answer. He picked up a tool with one hoof and a machine part with the other. When he spoke, it was as though the stoic stallion from earlier in the night retook his place. "Things have certainly been more quiet," Hooves admitted. "I don't have him to talk to anymore, or to help me with my experiments. Then again, no one really talks to me anymore..." Hooves worked in the still night air. Parts slid together and his machine started taking shape. Then, as he turned a screwdriver, he said, "This has been really nice today, Amethyst."

"Nice?" Amethyst asked. She drug her hooves as she paced. "Nice how? I just got done yelling at you, and now I'm not even sure how to feel about that."

"Yelling is okay," said Hooves, still focused on his work. "Yelling means that you see me, you see what I'm doing, and you care enough to let me know that you think I'm doing something wrong." He looked up at Amethyst and added, "Even if I don't agree with it."

Amethyst gave no response. Hooves fiddled with some loose bolts before speaking again.

"It's just been nice to be outside for a while," the stallion stated. "Get some fresh air. Talk to somebody who doesn't look sad every time they look at me."

Amethyst stared at the stallion as he worked. She gave him a few minutes of peace before speaking again. "So..." Amethyst licked her lips. "So what do you need me to do, exactly? To power it?"

"See this right here?" Hooves pointed to a circular, funnel-like panel, and Amethyst nodded. "When I give the word, I need you to fire the most powerful cleansing spell that you can straight into it, and — if my calculations are correct — this device should stop Nightmare Moon."

"A cleansing spell?" asked Amethyst bewildered. "Not, like, an obliteration spell?"

Hooves shook his head. "That's not how we work, Miss Star."

Amethyst nodded. "I know. That's why I made sure."

Hooves smiled.

"Your principles are admirable, if misled."

Amethyst's heart dropped so hard that it may have scratched itself against her rib cage. Pupils dilated and sweat running down her back, she twitched her head to look towards the smooth, yet menacing voice that joined the conversation. Only a few meters from Amethyst and her partner stood a giant black alicorn with a mane and tail not unlike the mist that blocked Amethyst's vision just minutes before.

"N-Nightmare Moon," Amethyst stammered.

"Hello!" said the doctor with a wave of his hoof.

The regal alicorn looked casually between the two of them, and then over to the nearby statue. She then turned her head back to the ponies in a bored manner. "The two of you intend to... 'stop' me?"

Hooves nodded his head vigorously. Amethyst slowly backed up until she stood right next to him. She mustered her strength and tried to sound as brave and intimidating as possible. "Y-y-yes." She failed.

Nightmare Moon gave an wicked chuckle. "Humorous. I could use a jester for my new kingdom, you know, but I feel that you might... resist the position."

Amethyst's horn ignited. Nightmare Moon's face became more stern.

"Yes. You would most definitely resist," she sneered. Amethyst shivered and inched closer to Hooves. Nightmare Moon leered at her. "Dull your horn at once," she ordered the mare. Amethyst's horn continued to glow, but that was all it did. Nightmare roared, "I gave you an order, foal!" She stamped the ground, and lighting cracked in its wake. Amethyst shook even harder, despite Hooves' warm body pressing against her. Her raspberry aura did not waver. Nightmare Moon stood herself up and scoffed, "Very well. I'll have you know that I feel no pleasure in taking the lives of my subjects, but I cannot allow you nor your 'device' the chance to end my eternal night!"

With that as their only warning, the armored alicorn fired a blinding bolt from her horn. Heat and cold both emanated from the site of its impact, leaving behind only a circular black scorch mark and an empty saddlebag. After a short puff from her nose, Nightmare Moon flicked her ear at the sound of new voices perforating the night air.

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?"

The black alicorn looked to the marble pedestal holding five orbs on its arms, and then to the voices. With one more look to the remains of those who would impede her, she melted into a fine starry mist and flew towards a blue pegasus trying to tie a bridge back together.

Chapter Four: Found

"The library?!" asked Bon Bon disbelievingly over the wind roaring in her ears.

"It makes sense!" Carrot Top called back. "Only a powerful magic could keep a tree alive that's been hollowed out from the inside! And it's been that way for ages!"

The cool night air beat against Bon Bon's face as she ran as fast as her four hooves could carry her. She could see Carrot Top keeping pace in her peripheral, but Bon Bon kept her eyes focused on the gigantic tree they were rapidly approaching.

"But that's where Sparkle was supposed to be staying tonight!" yelled Bon Bon over the sound of their hoofbeats. "And Doo said she spotted Nightmare at its location while Sparkle was inside! Why not go in and stop her?"

"Sparkle was already planning on leaving!" countered Carrot Top. "No point in it! Besides, that place was packed with ponies last night, and not one of them saw a possible hiding place, or else it would have been brought up! Once it was clear that no pony knew where to look, she went into the forest after—"

"The Elements of Harmony!" said Bon Bon, eyes going wide. "From the story! Of course!"

"Exactly!"

"So if Sparkle never noticed any sort of cell in there," Bon Bon cried, "how do you expect us to find it?"

"Because we're looking for it!"

Neither pony slowed down as the gargantuan tree loomed in sight. Moments like this made Bon Bon glad that doors weren't sentient; if this one were, it never would have known what hit it.

BANG

"GWOOAAH!"

Carrot turned to her cream-colored counterpart. "What was that?"

"Came from upstairs," answered Bon Bon. "Go check it out."

Carrot nodded and silently trotted up the library's staircase. Alone on the main floor, Bon Bon started talking to herself.

"Now... If I were a magical prison... in a tree library... where would I be..."

Several of the library's books laid strewn across the floor, leaving mostly bare bookshelves with little to show behind them. Bon Bon kicked a few tomes out of her way while walking towards a far wall with no decorations to speak of upon it. Once near, she began tapping its surface.

"Hm..."

Tick tick.

Tick tick.

Tick tick.

Tock.

Bon Bon took a step back from the wall. "Well, now, that's interesting."

At that moment Carrot Top came back down the stairs. "I think we woke the dragon," she said. "He's already back asleep, but his blanket got a little disheveled, so I — Bon, what are you doing?"

"Carrot, when you want to have a secret room in a completely hollowed out tree, where do you put it?"

Carrot Top tilted her head. "Um, is that rhetorical?"

Bon Bon planted her two front hooves and gave an extremely solid buck to the wall behind her. The wood crunched and splintered from the blow. After a second kick it shattered to reveal a narrow stairway descending into the earth.

"Underneath."

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?"

"That's Rainbow Dash."

"So she has a name. Good for her."

"Lyra, really, it's in your interest to at least be somewhat familiar with who they are. It'll make working here easier."

"I'm not working here forever, Doo. As soon as Twilight goes back to Canterlot, so do Star and I."

Lyra and Derpy sat just on the other side of some shrubbery, close enough to both see and hear Twilight Sparkle and her friends, but perhaps closer than they initially hoped for.

Lyra adjusted herself and continued whispering. "I was really hoping you could have gotten the bridge back together a little sooner, Doo."

"Me?!" Derpy asked as incredulously as whispering could allow. "You easily could have magic'd it up too, you know!"

"Not when I can't see it!"

"Shh!"

Both mares fell silent, listening and hoping for no signs of their argument being overheard. No such signs came. The recently named Rainbow Dash dove into the gorge in front of them.

"Follow me," Lyra whispered. She crawled along the ground towards the ravine.

"Wha— Where are you going?!" hissed Derpy.

"They've got the bridge covered," Lyra answered. She slipped over the edge and into the chasm. Derpy felt a brief panic, but when a green hoof popped up and waved for her to come after it, she followed suit. She too slid over the side, and stretched her wings as soon as she hit open air. She could see Lyra standing on an outing just out of sight of the other ponies.

"Okay," Lyra panted, her eyes fixed on the bottomless pit before her. "Now if we move quickly, we should be able to get across this thing before that Rainbow pony has the bridge put back together for Sparkle and the rest of them."

"Got it." Derpy flew over to Lyra and grabbed her around the waist.

"Hey — What — What are you doing?!" Lyra beat the pegasus away from her as though she were trying to get a bat out of her hair.

"I thought you said you wanted to cross this thing?" asked Derpy.

"Well, yeah, but it's not like I need your help!" said Lyra. She hopped from her ledge down to a lower one, and then again down to another.

Derpy watched Lyra's antics for a moment. "You're not... serious, are you?"

"About what?" Lyra jumped again and grunted upon landing.

"Going by hoof will take all day!" Derpy protested. "You don't even know how far down this thing goes!"

"Can't be that far," Lyra claimed. She jumped yet again, her grunt from landing a little louder than the last.

"...Lyra," Derpy began slowly, "are you afraid of flying?"

"What? Don't be stupid." Lyra kept her eyes on her next planned landing spot. "I just don't need some pegasus' help to get me anywhere, that's all."

"You didn't complain when I saved you earlier!"

Lyra jumped again, but apart from yet another grunt after landing, she said nothing.

"Lyra, come on," insisted Derpy. "Don't be a baby."

The unicorn continued her silence.

Cheering came from the distance. Derpy turned one eye to see six ponies crossing a newly fixed bridge.

"Lyra, Twilight and her friends are already crossing the bridge, and you still haven't hit bottom," Derpy noted. "Are you really going to jeopardize this mission because of some weird pride thing?"

Lyra had already bent her knees to make another leap, but in that moment she froze there. She slowly stood up and took a deep breath before speaking. "Fine."

"...Come again?"

Lyra turned and glared at Derpy. "I said okay. Now pick me up and carry me over to—"

"What's that?" Derpy asked, feigning deafness. "Did you just ask me to carry you? I want to make sure."

Lyra snarled. "Now who's wasting time?" She looked up at the ponies crossing the bridge. "Just hurry up and get it over with."

"If you say so," Derpy said with a smirk. "I guess that means there's two that you owe me now."

"No, this one doesn't count," growled Lyra. "Just hoist me up there and don't bring it up again."

Derpy floated over to Lyra and gently locked her hooves underneath the unicorn's torso.

"Go around back if you can," Lyra said. "They'll be less likely to see us."

Derpy grinned. "Wow, you're really embarrassed about this, aren't you?"

"Just fly, Doo."

The grey pegasus flapped her wings and soon the two of them airborne. After a brief dip off of Lyra's ledge, the two steadily rose towards the island in the middle of the canyon, upon which sat their destination.

"You know, you really have nothing to be embarrassed about," Derpy called over the wind in their ears. "PPP Pegasi are trained to carry non-winged agents to drop points all the time."

"I didn't say I was embarrassed," Lyra said back. "I just don't want you thinking that I need you to carry me all the time."

"I'm sure," Derpy said, rolling one of her eyes. She kept her wings beating to gain altitude. "If it makes you feel better, next time the ground comes out from underneath you, I'll let you fall."

"You know what?" Lyra shot back. "...Okay. Fine. Whatever."

"...Was that your form of an apology?" Derpy asked.

"Well, it's not like I want you to — Hey, what gives?"

The air around the two mares swirled into a thick mist and completely obscured their vision.

"I can't see anything!" Derpy exclaimed.

"Well don't look at me!" yelled Lyra, "We are way too close to Sparkle for me to light my horn up right now!"

"Maybe if I can get us around—"

"LOOK OUT!"

Something other than mist came into view in the form of a high earthen wall: the base of the land island that the castle ruins sat upon. Derpy instantly angled her wings back and strained her neck up, sending both her and her passenger skyward. Lyra ran against the column of dirt to keep her hooves from dragging alongside it.

"Can we get some distance between us and the wall, Doo?!" Lyra screamed.

"I'm trying!" Derpy retorted. "But the wall juts out more and more as we go up!"

Derpy's wings beat hard, but struggled when it came to turning more upside-down than right side-up; a pegasus was never meant to make that maneuver with another pony weighing her down. She flipped herself around and almost lost her passenger in the process.

"A little warning before barrel rolls, thank you!"

"Sorry, Lyra!"

Derpy continued flying upward, the too-close-for-comfort dirt and stone wall at her back now her only way of knowing where anything in their midst was. "I still can't see much in this fog!" she called.

"Just keep going!" Lyra cried back.

It was easier said than done. Derpy had to swing left to avoid a random branch, and then right to miss a large stone jutting out that managed to scrape her left wing.

"I got it!" Lyra called. Feeling a tingling sensation, Derpy pointed one eye to see a golden aura come over the injured appendage, and with it the wing started to beat easier. Before she could voice her thanks, Derpy spotted a boulder falling right down on top of them. It wasn't even a meter away. There was no time to react. This was it. The mare known as Derpy had met her fate. Her crumpled body would never be found. Her daughter would be orphaned. Lyra would go down with her. Doctor Hooves would never know that—

Another golden aura shot into the giant rock's heart, shattering it. Bits of stone rained down on them, and although the pebbles still carried their own wounds, it was better than being crushed. They were alive. It was like a dream. One that Derpy had trouble waking up from.

As the two mares sailed skyward, an end to the dirt wall next to them laid in sight. "Hey!" Lyra called to her pilot. The unicorn's voice echoed like a soft ringing in Derpy's ears. "I said, 'HEY'!" Derpy gave no response. She barely felt another pony's grip tightening around her legs. That grip turned into a yank.

The last thing Derpy's panicked eyes saw was the inner part of a stone archway just inches from her nose before a strong force circled her backwards onto level ground; Lyra had latched onto the edge of the plateau and mustered her strength to divert their flight path. The impact dazed Derpy, causing both eyes to roll involuntarily. Her hooves clutched at the grass underneath her.

"You... You..." huffed Lyra at the grey mare's side.

"I... I don't know... what came over me," Derpy puffed back.

"You're... fine..." Lyra managed.

Derpy caught several more breaths before responding. "Thank... you..." she said. "I guess... we're even... now..."

"Nah..." Lyra breathed. "Just doing... our jobs..."

The pegasus watched her chest rise and fall. "I guess... you really... don't want... to fly with... me now..."

"Are you... kidding?" Lyra asked. "How do... you fly... without me?"

Derpy's pants for air turned into strained laughter. So did Lyra's.

"Hey."

Amethyst was vaguely aware of something tapping her face.

"Hey!"

Also a voice.

"HEY!"

And a... tongue?

"Fleck!" Amethyst sat up and wiped her face of foreign residue. Doctor Hooves sat across from her in the dark with his tongue lolling outside his mouth, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Oh! Good! You're awake!" he said cheerfully. "I can't see much here. Can you do a thing with your horn?"

Amethyst glared at him, but after another wipe of her face she lit her horn up, illuminating the dank hallway around them.

"Good note on the basement thing earlier, Hooves," Amethyst said, standing herself up. "I wasn't sure the floor we were on would have one, but a teleport aimed a few yards beneath us was our best bet." She shook herself to restore feeling to some of her limbs.

"Yeah!" Hooves said excitedly. "I think this might have actually been the primary septic line, from the size of it!"

Amethyst coughed. "Doc, are you telling me that we're wading through—"

"Thousand-year-old excretion!" said Hooves with a huge grin. "Yes!"

Amethyst's knees buckled; neither the odor around them nor the possible concussion were doing her any favors. "I think I'm going to hurl..."

"Oh!" Hooves exclaimed. "Could you 'hurl' us both back up again? I'm not overly fond of the smell here myself, and I feel that for our mission to be completed, it would be best if we—"

"Hang on, Doc..." Amethyst coughed again. "I know I just did it, but it's really not a good idea to teleport blindly. If we were to wind up inside of a wall or boulder—"

"Undesirable outcome, yes. Hrm..." Doctor Hooves paced through centuries old muck, each splash making it harder for Amethyst to forget what the last thing she ate was. "Oh!" Hooves scratched at his ear, spreading filth across a portion of his face. "Hi! This is the doctor! How are you today?"

came Lyra's voice.

"Yes!" The doctor's face furrowed before he responded. "Unless... there... is... an... emergency..."

This time it was Derpy's voice.

"I'm fine, thank you!" Hooves displayed a wide grin before his two eyes went wide. "Oops! Are... we... still... playing... this... game?"

"Wait, you know?"

The doctor's eyes went blank. "Done."

asked Derpy, sounding more composed.

"We're in a sewage line under the ruins, thanks for asking," chimed Amethyst sarcastically. She gave a hoof a flick to throw off what she hoped was mud, but without anything else to do with it, she resigned to settle the hoof back onto the squishy floor.

said Lyra.

"Derpy, may we have your coordinates?" asked Hooves. "Longitude, latitude, and sea-level?"

"Oh! I should have asked!" Hooves turned his muck-ridden face back to Amethyst. "Can you teleport to coordinates?"

Amethyst shook her head and tried to not look at the clod of something rolling from the doctor's ear and towards his mouth. "You're asking for absolute locations rather than relative. Our training doesn't really go into that sort of thing. I don't know if anypony knows about that sort of thing, even if the destination is still relatively close." Amethyst gave her surroundings a once-over. "Then again, I don't see us as having much of a choice. We need to get back to the surface pronto, not mill in about ancient tunnels while Nightmare Moon picks off Twilight and her friends."

Derpy asked.

"Yup!" he replied.

The doctor scratched his chin with a filthy hoof, and Amethyst gagged at the sight of it. "Yes," he replied. "Is there anything above you?"

asked Derpy, confused.

Hooves walked towards a pile of machinery, sat down, and clutched the pieces close to his chest. He then turned back to his unicorn counterpart.

"Try to aim a meter or two above them," he said to Amethyst, who tilted her head. "You're worried about teleporting into walls, but imagine other ponies! Whew!"

"Princess Celestia?" Bon Bon called. Her earlier confidence crumbled on the first few steps into the unknown underground chamber. "Are you down here?"

There was no answer.

"Keep moving," Carrot Top whispered at her back. "No point in stalling now."

Bon Bon gulped and continued her trek downward. Before long, a spacious room opened up before them, and in the middle of it laid a large white alicorn, her legs and wings sprawled out around her; she did not look like she was sleeping.

"Princess Celestia!"

As Bon Bon rushed to the side of her princess, she felt the whiff of Carrot Top's hoof failing to grab her. "Bon Bon! Don't—!"

BZZZT!

The cream-coated mare flew backwards at a dizzying speed.

"Bon Bon!"

"I'm... okay..." said Bon Bon, strained. Carrot Top helped her back to her hooves regardless. Bon Bon shook her head and looked back to the unconscious princess to see a faint violet field completely enveloping her. "Magic snare," she uttered.

"Yeah..." Carrot Top patted Bon Bon's back. "Probably wishing we still had Star with us then, huh?"

"I don't think it would have made much of a difference," Bon Bon confessed. She approached the field and rubbed her chin. "Do you remember how the snare rhyme goes?"

"'White is one, blue is two, green is mean, and red you're dead,'" Carrot Top recited.

"Yeah. And this one is purple," stated Bon Bon, jabbing her hoof at the pale shield in front of them. "We'd need ten unicorns just to break a red one. So what in the heck is purple?"

Before Carrot Top could reply, a voice echoed from the floor above them: "Are you sure?" Followed by: "Yes, sir. We spotted them heading this way just a moment or two ago." The two mares looked at one another before rushing back up the stairs.

A group of stallions were standing in the center of the library, a rather stern-looking one with a vest covered in medals at their center. Upon Bon Bon and Carrot Top's entry, he looked straight at them and said, "There you two are."

"Err... Director Dent?" Bon Bon said, both confused and worried. "What brings you here?"

"Bon Bon, you really didn't understand the implications of your call, did you?" asked Rad Dent, taking a few steps forward.

"Uh... Well, apparently not," Ponyville's chief handler admitted.

Dent continued stepping towards the two mares. "Bon Bon, Equestria is in crisis." Step. "This night has gone five hours past the scheduled sunrise." Step. "Our princess is missing." Step. "And you ask for a mobilization of all of our operatives?" Dent was now nose-to-nose with Bon Bon.

"Err..." Bon Bon's mind was doing laps trying to find the best way to not look foolish and green in front of the director of the entire company. She swallowed. "Yes?"

"Well then," Dent leaned back, and Bon Bon took the opportunity to stop holding her breath. "I sure hope you needed them, because they're here."

"...What?"

Bon Bon and Carrot Top trotted past the stallions in the library and towards the main entrance. Outside stood a plethora of ponies, all dressed in a variety of gear showcasing specific skills and ranks. Neither mare could say anything for a moment. Carrot Top was the first. "Hoe... Lee... Snot..."

"Well, uh, Director Dent," Bon Bon said with a cough. She stood herself up, turned to face the intimidating stallion, and confidently asked, "Exactly how many unicorns do you have, and can they all fit into a basement?"

Lyra and Derpy, now back on their hooves, looked above them before back to one other.

"Now what on Celestia's green Equestria do you think that—"

With a bang and a flash, the two mares were soon joined by one more unicorn and a stallion.

"OOPH!"

"ACK!"

"HURK!"

The four ponies were now all in pile, recovering from the sudden blow of landing and being landed upon, and trying to untangled themselves from one another. Only one was laughing.

"Hahaha! WHEW!" screamed Hooves in excitement. "Untested absolute location-based teleportation, and you nailed it on the DOT, Miss Star!"

The pink unicorn wasn't quite as enthused. "Yaaay..."

"Ugh..." Lyra tried her best to remove herself from the bottom of the pile. "What did you guys roll around in?"

Hooves was the first to respond. "It was actually a very intriguing mixture of—"

"Not important," Amethyst interrupted. With a glow of her horn, an orb of color formed at the center of the mass of ponies and expanded outward, taking all traces of grime with it.

Once they were both upright, Derpy lunged herself at Hooves and pulled him into a deep hug. This only lasted a second before she let go and blushed. "I'm... really glad to see that you're okay, Doctor."

The stallion smiled back at her, but a certain green mare walking right behind him rolled her eyes and picked up a plethora of machine parts with her magic. "Hey, single mom, let's go," Lyra said. "We can get mushy when all of this mess is over."

Derpy only blushed harder and followed after the two unicorns. Doctor Hooves walked beside her. "How is Dinky?" he asked.

None of the ponies were walking long, as some yelling and flashing lights coming from one of the towers in the distance quickened their pace until they ran in a full gallop. One quick spell helped the injured pegasus get back in the air, though even with both her wings, her allies kept pace.

"Why weren't you guys on Twilight?!" yelled Amethyst.

"Things got complicated!" Lyra cried back. "Why were you in a sewer?!"

"Complicated!"

"I can see Nightmare Moon in the tower!" called Derpy just a meter or two above their heads. A few magic-laced feathers sparkled in the moonlight. "Looks like she's got some kind of orbs in her mane!"

"The Elements from the statue!" exclaimed Amethyst. "She didn't hear Hooves and I talking about them! She took the bait!"

"What 'bait'?!" Lyra said back. "Sparkle is still in serious danger!"

Amethyst looked to the pegasus above her. "Derpy, can you see Twilight up there?"

"Yeah!" cried Derpy. "And she's... Is she serious?! She's charging Nightmare Moon!"

"WHAT?!"

The foreboding sound of laughter coming from the tower put more fire into the ponies' movements.

"Derpy!" called Lyra, "Do you think you can get me up to one of those windows?"

"On it!" Derpy zipped down and scooped up the green unicorn.

"Catch, Star!"

Amethyst's horn lit up as the aura around the doctor's device switched from gold to raspberry. "Got it!" she said.

As pegasus and unicorn flew skyward, Amethyst and Hooves crossed onto a flat stone floor at the tower's base. The doctor kicked what was left of a large statue out of the way, and brushed aside an ancient chisel. "Here," he said to Amethyst. "Put it down here."

Amethyst did as she was told and set all of the doctor's components down carefully. Meanwhile, Derpy and Lyra reached their vantage point.

"We can see everything up here!" Lyra cried. "Looks like Twilight's friends are on their way, and Nightmare does not look pleased! It's now or never, Doc!"

"Right-O!" Hooves called back. "Just as soon as it's put together!"

Twilight's muffled voice echoed from the tower, but it was the only sound on the still night air.

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah..." Amethyst shuffled her hooves. "I wasn't sure how to bring this up..."

Chapter Five: Endgame

"ONE! TWO! THREE!"

The Ponyville library's secret basement filled with a variety of piercing magical auras, all aimed directly at the glowing barrier that surrounded the nation's princess. This continued on for half a minute before the unicorns' commanding officer gave the ceasefire.

Disappointment and frustration led to a guttural mumble from the director's mouth. "Not even a dent..."

Carrot Top giggled, and Bon Bon pegged her in the side. "Ouch! What? He said—"

Bon Bon chided, "Really, Top, now is not the time."

Director Rad Dent approached the only two earth ponies in the basement; the rest of the room was filled to its brim with unicorns lining the walls and staircase, and pairings of unicorns with pegasi hovering in the air above them. "Well, I'm plum out of ideas," Dent grumbled to Ponyville's two representatives.

"Seriously?" asked Bon Bon. "Not once in your entire career have you ever dealt with something like this?"

Dent shook his head. "Not once in my entire career has a thousand-year-old evil decided they had something worth ensnaring this bad." He looked back towards his unconscious princess. "Are we even sure she's..."

"She has to be," said Carrot Top, stomping a hoof. "There's no sense erecting a magic snare around her if she weren't alive."

"You raise a fair point," Dent said. "Though I don't understand why she wouldn't have just... you know..." Dent scratched the back of his head. "Finished the job."

"Maybe she wanted to come back to gloat later," suggested Bon Bon. "Maybe she didn't have the stomach. Maybe she wanted a TEA PARTY WITH CRUMPETS AFTER CONQUERING THE EARTH!"

"Bon Bon!" hissed Carrot Top.

"Sorry," Bon Bon snapped, "I just don't see the point in asking any of these questions right now! All we really need to focus on is getting her out of there!"

Dent nodded. "Agreed. Men?" Every unicorn in the room once again focused their horns on the violet field in front of them.

"Hang on," said Carrot Top while putting a hoof on Dent's chest. He looked down at it but otherwise offered little to acknowledge the contact. "We've already established that a bunch of unicorns shooting at it isn't going to do much."

"Your point being?" asked Dent.

"My point being," Carrot began with a gentle prod on the director's ribcage, "is that we might be more successful if the counter-spells were all more focused on one spot in particular." She gave the ribcage a harder prod. "Heck, if you could just disable the defense rather than also be focusing on breaching the surface, we might actually be able to take out the first layer and not spend all of our energy trying to do both at the same time."

Dent closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. He sounded calm, yet exhausted when he spoke. "Even if we do shut down the defense layer, the shield layer underneath will be untouched. And that's the one we need to breach to break the spell."

"The defense layer takes some magical trickery, but the shield layer is just brute force," Carrot Top stated. She withdrew her hoof from Dent's chest and took a few steps towards the unconscious alicorn. "Besides, assuming one of your spells were to breach it, the force of doing so would probably be so strong that it would shoot straight through Princess Celestia."

Several of the unicorns shifted uncomfortably.

Dent sighed. "You've got me there, Top. But I can tell that you're building to something."

"It's easy," Carrot Top said. She walked over and slapped Bon Bon on the back. "Have your unicorns focus on the defense layer in one isolated spot, and leave the brute force to some earth ponies with genuine muscle."

"Excuse me?" asked Bon Bon.

Dent coughed and struggled to collect his words. "I-I've got a few agents outside who would be more than capable of—"

Carrot Top shook her head. "Rad, every second we spend arguing is a second closer to Nightmare Moon achieving her goals, and this library is already clogged full of unicorns trying to get down here to help. Bon Bon and I are the only ones here, and we've had just as much strength training as any of your agents."

Dent shook his head as well. "Yes, but Carrot—"

Bon Bon spoke up. "No, Dent, she's right. This is all we've got."

The director looked between them and then back to Carrot Top. "Are you sure you—"

"Did you see the library's front door, or the wall in front of the basement here?" Carrot Top asked, swinging a hoof towards the basement's entrance.

"Err, no, but—"

"That's because of this gal," said Carrot Top with another slap on Bon Bon's back. "This one. Right here."

"Look, it's not that I don't think you're capable," Dent said, pulling at his collar, "it's just that... well... it's risky. If my men can't hold the defense layer back, or there's some kind of unknown THIRD layer..."

"We know what we're getting into, Dent," Carrot assured him. She looked at Bon Bon, who nodded. "And any pony you would put in our stead would be just as great a loss."

Dent swallowed. "You don't know that, Carrot."

"Dent."

The director spun and stared at the mare who spoke. This cream-colored, blue-and-pink maned... replacement. Despite her inexperience with authority, Bon Bon's stern gaze told him that she would not budge on the matter, not to him nor the face of death itself, and that she had complete trust in both herself and the old friend standing at her side. Dent blinked a few times and turned away from the two mares, a familiar furrow back on his brow. "Alright, men, you heard them!" he barked. "Gather 'round to the front if you can, and concentrate on deactivating the defense layer at bucking level! On my mark!"

Carrot Top and Bon Bon planted their front hooves and pointed their backsides directly at the purple dome.

"Are you ready, Bon?"

"See you on the other side, Carrot."

"Get that thing going, Doc! We don't have all day!"

"I'm trying, Miss Heartstrings! These are very delicate components!"

Derpy had Lyra hoisted up and airborne near a tower window, with one eye on Nightmare Moon, who was seconds away from incinerating Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and her other eye on the two ponies still on the ground. Lyra didn't have the luxury of being able to see two places at once, and was instead constantly switching her view between the two situations. Meanwhile, on the ground, Doctor Hooves was struggling to get the parts of a unique, specially-made device put together with Lyra breathing down his back from three stories up, and Amethyst was busily refining six of the roughest gemstones she had ever seen in her entire life with only the narrowest window of time to work in.

All-in-all, it was not the most relaxing of situations.

"Lyra!" the doctor called, his hooves practically running independently, "How capable are you of teleporting six hoof-sized objects?"

"Ordinarily not a problem!" Lyra called back, "But if I just start chucking things in there, they might figure out that something's up!"

"What's Twilight doing?" Amethyst asked.

"Starting a speech about the Elements of Harmony!" Lyra answered. "Sheesh, she is seriously obsessed with those things!"

"I have an idea!" said Hooves. "Can you do a swapping spell instead?"

"Not that much more difficult!" Lyra cried back down. "It's basically just two teleportation spells at the same time!"

"Right! Float something around them!" Hooves ordered. "Something — I don't know — Element-y!"

Lyra shifted uncomfortably in Derpy's forelegs before starting an angry retort. "You don't think—?"

"Just trust him, Lyra," Derpy whispered in Lyra's ear.

"Not often, but today's different!" Hooves yelled back up, oblivious to the Derpy's words.

Lyra was hesitant, but after a sincere look from Derpy, she took the remains of the five stone orbs Nightmare Moon once held in her mane — orbs that were now pebbles at the alicorn's hooves — and levitated the bits and pieces around five of the ponies facing the alicorn; it was her hope that keeping the focus off of Twilight would buy their VIP some time. Despite the abnormal behavior from traditionally inanimate rocks, the attention of those in the tower remained on each other, and Lyra and Derpy both remained unnoticed.

"I'm using each pony's internal magic to change the color of my aura!" Lyra called. "It's draining, but it should keep any suspicions off of us!"

"Neat!" Hooves went back to his device and switched to speaking with Amethyst. "Miss Star, how are the gems coming?"

"You're lucky this is my forte, Hooves," said Amethyst through grit teeth over a purple gem. She gave the stone one last precise but powerful incision. "Okay, that's all of them!"

"Guys!" yelled Lyra, "Nightmare just looked this way! I think she knows we're here!"

"Here!" Amethyst shoved the shining gems towards Hooves. "All six! Now what?"

"Uh, wait, Star," Lyra called out. "Did you just say there are six of those things?"

"Yeah, why?"

Lyra gasped. "I thought there was only five! I ran out of Element rocks!"

"Here!" Doctor Hooves ran to a pile of half-finished, broken, and malformed statues, pulled a small orb from the rubble, and hurled it upwards. "There are some leftovers from when the sculptors first made the Elements of Harmony display!"

Lyra caught the orb with her magic without issue, but her features looked strained. "Yeah, but the others are all crushed, and—!" Derpy, unable to pat Lyra's back, tried gingerly bouncing her for consolation. "You know what, fine, whatever, it's going in there. Guess you're getting one after all, Sparkle!"

"Okay, Amethyst," Hooves said, returning to the unicorn at eye level. "Now cut them into the shapes of all of their cutie marks!"

"What?!" Amethyst almost screamed. "Why?!"

"It'd be fun!" said Hooves with a grin.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR—"

"ARGUING! JUST GET IT OVER WITH, STAR!" She was trying her best, but there was nothing Derpy could do to calm the angry, ranting Lyra. The green unicorn continued, "I AM DOING LIKE FIVE SPELLS AT ONCE WITHOUT MY HOOVES EVEN ON LEVEL GROUND, AND YOU ARE DOWN THERE COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING YOUR OLD JOB!" Derpy tried shifting Lyra into a more comfortable hold, but the unicorn seemed dead-set on saying her piece. "NOW CUT THOSE BLASTED GEMS SO WE CAN GET THIS NIGHT OVER WITH ALREADY! YOU DID HARDER STUFF FOR BITS ON THE STREET!"

Amethyst grumbled, sat down, and pulled Hooves' orange gem closer to her.

"Okay," Hooves began, "Now, Applejack's cutie mark is three apples..."

"I am NOT doing three apples!" yelled Amethyst.

"Of course not!" Hooves smiled. "We want the centers of the gems intact!"

"MARK!"

Once again, dozens of multicolor beams shot from every available horn in the library basement and drilled into the pale, violet dome at its center. The magical shield surrounding Princess Celestia crackled and sparked with a great fury, but the bright streaks of energy attempting to breach its exterior stayed steady. Slowly, a small hole widened on the dome's lavender surface, revealing a more solid-looking layer underneath.

"READY?"

Bon Bon and Carrot Top bent their knees, waiting for Rad Dent's signal.

"BUCK ONE!" the stallion commanded.

Like lightening, the two mares struck the sturdy, violet shield. It showed no damage.

"BUCK TWO!"

A second lightning strike. No visible impairment.

"BUCK THREE!"

Third strike. A hollow banging sound reverberated in the room, same as the first two kicks.

"Bon Bon..."

"This was your idea, Top! Keep at it!"

"BUCK FOUR!"

Fourth strike. No results. A stallion on the basement stairs lost his footing for a moment.

"Bon..." Carrot Top's kicks were staying strong, but her voice sounded weak.

"Don't stop!" commanded Bon Bon. She could feel the pain of it too; every kick against the magic snare's surface felt like she instantly sprinted a one-hundred meter dash. Her body ached. No matter the pain, though, they couldn't give up. If there was any night appropriate for them to throw in the towel, it was not this night.

"BUCK FIVE!"

BOOM.

Nothing.

"Bon...!"

"BUCK SIX!"

BOOM-CRCHNK.

A small crack appeared on the solid layer's surface. A few cheers echoed in the hall.

"Celebrate when it's over, boys!" Dent yelled. "BUCK SEVEN!"

BOOM-CRCHNKCHK.

"Bon Bon... I... I can't..." Every breath Carrot Top drew was strained.

"Top, if we stop and the defense layer closes again, we'll have to start all over! If any of us survive the concussion from the closure, that is!"

"BUCK EIGHT!"

BOOM-CRKKKK.

One of the stallions at the shield's edge collapsed. Another standing next to him motioned to break the fall, but he kept position and maintained his fire.

"Bon..." They were so close. If only Bon Bon could think of something, anything, to keep her struggling partner fighting...

"BUCK NINE!"

BOOM-CRCH.

A pegasus briefly lost his grip on his unicorn passenger and struggled to keep them both in the air.

"Bon... Bon..."

"CARROT, I CUDDLED WITH DIRECTOR DENT THE NIGHT YOU NAMED ME THE NEW PONYVILLE HANDLER!"

"WHAT?!"

"BUCK TEN!"

BOOM-CRCHNKCRKNCHRKNKKKKKKKKKKK!

The sound of glass shattering rampaged throughout the library's basement. Several exhausted unicorns and pegasi collapsed wherever was immediately convenient. The force of the breach caused Carrot Top to completely lose balance, but Bon Bon landed square after her final buck. She rushed to the side of her princess.

"Princess Celestia!" cried Bon Bon. She took the matriarch's head in her hooves and cradled it gently. The alicorn stirred, and her eyes fluttered. Bon Bon turned back to the top of the staircase. "Water!" she demanded. A stallion near the entrance perked up and disappeared. A moment later he reappeared with a bowl full of water and used his magic to float it down to Bon Bon and the princess. When the stallion's strength failed, Director Dent caught it in his own magic and brought it to Bon Bon himself. It was placed next to Princess Celestia's head, who struggled with her first few sips. Once the bowl was empty, she rolled herself out of Bon Bon's hooves and onto her stomach. Even in a crouched position, she towered above her subjects. Celestia raised a hoof to her head and stayed that way in a dead silent basement for a full minute. When it became clear that not one of her subjects dared to speak, Celestia looked back at the cream-colored mare in front of her.

"You're Bon Bon," the deity said in an unnaturally soothing voice. "Ponyville's new handler."

"Y-yes, ma'am," Bon Bon said with a bow.

"Carrot Top chose wisely." The white alicorn stood to her hooves and noticed the yellow mare in question just a few paces away. Bon Bon saw her princess nod to the earth pony, who bowed in reply. Every pony who was both conscious and able to get to their hooves bowed. Princess Celestia turned her attention back down to Bon Bon. Her angelic voice became stern. "Where is my sister?"

"Our agents last saw her heading into the Everfree," said Bon Bon, struggling to make eye contact with the regal alicorn.

Princess Celestia did not thank her subjects. She did not return their bows. She didn't so much as pat them on the back. There was no time for it. Like a rocket, she jettisoned out of the library and over the forest to the south, vanishing into the night.

For what felt like an age, no pony in the library spoke. It was Carrot Top who broke the silence.

"Bon Bon..."

"Before you say anything," Bon Bon began, "no, I did not cuddle with Director Dent. At any point."

"Although a part of me is flattered that the notion elicited such a response," Dent said, approaching the two mares with a smirk.

Carrot Top glared at him. Then she spun and glared at Bon Bon. This lasted several seconds with nothing said, and then the yellow mare adopted a sleepy grin. "Yeah. I chose wisely." With that, Carrot Top promptly passed out.

Dent and Bon Bon looked at one another, but before either could say anything, a small voice came from the top of the stairs.

"Hey!" the dragon assistant said, rubbing one of his eyes. "You guys aren't supposed to be here past closing time!"

"Now you want me to... WHAT?!"

"Necklaces!" Hooves chimed.

"WHY?!" screamed Amethyst. Doctor Hooves either didn't or chose not to hear her.

"Derpy, I'm sending some schematics to your data stick!" the doctor called up to his pegasus friend. "Help Lyra place the six ponies in these exact positions, relative height and all!"

"You got it, Doctor!"

After some mumbled words between the pegasus and her unicorn passenger, Amethyst heard Lyra say, "He wants me to what?! How many spells does he think I can do at once?!"

Amethyst grumbled her sympathy. Quick as she could, she fitted five newly cut gems into a hoofful of necklaces Hooves found among the ancient art room's artifacts.

"Except for Twilight's!" Hooves said excitedly. "That one goes into the tiara!"

"Why," Amethyst snarled, "is there a tiara?"

Hooves smiled. "Because she's a princess!"

Amethyst growled, but was too far past arguing at this point. "Doc, don't take this the wrong way, but I hope when all of this is over, you and I never work together again."

Hooves' selective hearing again missed Amethyst's statement. "Lyra!" he called, "Are Twilight and her friends in position?"

"According to Derpy!" Lyra called back. "I sure as heck can't see her datastick!"

"Do you see these necklaces?" Hooves asked her. "And the tiara?"

"Wh— Yeah, why?"

"Teleport the rocks you're floating out of the room, and teleport these artifacts onto the ponies!"

"DOC, YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR POND SCUM FLAPPIN'—"

"LYRA!" groaned Derpy, wings struggling to maintain their altitude, "PLEASE! NOT NOW!"

"FINE!"

"Amethyst!" yelled Hooves, returning his attention to the unicorn at ground level, "Think cleansing thoughts and fire straight into the device!"

"It's ready?" asked Amethyst.

"FIRE NOW!"

Without further hesitation, Amethyst's horn lit up, and a scorching beam of light shot directly into the circular opening on the strange contraption's side. It rattled and hummed, but ultimately did very little and settled back to a resting state.

Amethyst's heart quickened its pace. "Did... Did it work?"

"These ponies love your jewelry, Doc." said Lyra sarcastically, unaware of the events taking place below her.

Doctor Hooves looked flabbergasted. "I don't... You..." The stallion fiddled with his machine. He then looked to Amethyst. "We need a stronger force," he said bluntly.

"That... Doc, I can't make a stronger magic than that!" yelled Amethyst, eyes wide with fear.

"Aaaany time now!" called Lyra.

"Doctor."

A fifth voice joined the four ponies. Amethyst and Hooves looked towards it, and both dropped their jaws. Derpy almost dropped her passenger.

"Whoa!" Lyra's legs flailed. "Doo, what gives?!"

Princess Celestia approached the tan stallion slowly. "My sister is up there, as is my faithful student," she told him. "Is your machine ready?"

"As you requested," Hooves stated with a bow. He backed away respectfully with his nose still inches from the stone floor.

Equestria's white alicorn lit her horn in a gentle, yet fierce golden glow, and fired with the force of the sun itself directly into the device's magical receptacle. Expecting to see wreckage, Amethyst was instead surprised to witness the machine shoot skyward, miraculously all in one piece, spinning and droning as it went.

"What's happening?" Lyra asked.

"Move, Derpy!"

The airborne device spun in midair, and pointed its tip directly through the tower window at Twilight and company. It gave a forceful blast, expelling what looked otherwise like a simple faint white light, and in doing so singed the tail of a diving pegasus.

"Gah!"

The powerful beam collided with the six little ponies in the ancient tower, though it did not harm a single one of them. Imbued with its power and using the gemstones on their bodies, the six ponies buzzed with an unusual might as the force to come charged itself within them. Then, without any further warning, six more beams of light, each bent into a different spectrum, shot from the newly made jewelry and into the air above. Here they collided and, trajectory altered, barreled into the one pony not involved in the spectacle.

"NOOOOOO!"

A whirlwind of color completely enveloped Nightmare Moon, and her struggles against it proved futile.

"NOOOOOO!"

With the blast of a volcanic eruption, a multicolor shockwave emanated from the decrepit tower, and with it a faint, black smoke dissolved into the night sky. Inside the tower, seven ponies laid unconscious in an otherwise unaltered room.

Lyra panted as she steadied herself on level ground. "That..." she breathed, "was probably... the coolest thing... ever..." She turned to the friends behind her. "Hey, guys, did you see— ...Is that Princess Celestia?"

As many things tend to warrant in a town like Ponyville, a huge celebration was held to commemorate the return of not just one, but two of the kingdom's princesses.

"Catch up, Doo!" Lyra called in a dead sprint. "We don't want to be late to see Luna and Princess Celestia!"

"But we've already met them!" Derpy cried back with a smile, gently floating after her.

"Doesn't matter!" Lyra wore a grin to match.

As a royal chariot pulled into the town carrying both a white and a blue alicorn, Doctor Hooves was the first to greet them. Princess Celestia looked to him and his grinning face, and gave him a soft nod. He looked to his right at Bon Bon, who gave him the same gesture. He reared and flailed his front two hooves with delight. On the other side of the chariot, a small purple dragon ran up and hugged his unicorn friend.

"I knew you could do it, Twilight!" he told her.

She gave him a warm nuzzle. "Thanks, Spike. Everything go okay here while I was gone?"

"I had some really weird dreams," he admitted. "Oh! And did you know that the library has a basement?"

Quietly observing from afar, Amethyst was approached by Carrot Top. "I have to say, you Canterlot transfers turned out to be a huge asset here," Carrot told her.

Amethyst chuckled. "I'm glad you think so, but we were really just doing our job."

"You did more than that," Carrot stated. "I've been with the company long enough to know that something of this magnitude is probably going to earn you more medals than you can wear."

In another part of the congregation, Derpy and Lyra were having their own conversation.

"Well, Doo," Lyra began, "it's been real."

"What?" asked Derpy, confused. "You're leaving?"

"Star and I only came here for Sparkle's protection," Lyra reminded her. "With this Summer Sun thing over, our VIP will be heading back to Canterlot by the day's end."

"Oh..." Derpy sighed. "Well, for whatever it's worth... I'm glad I got the chance to meet you."

Lyra gave the pegasus a sidelong glance. "It's... mutual, Doo. And I apologize if anything I said might have offended you."

"Apology accepted," said Derpy with a smile. "But are you sure you can't stay just a little while longer?"

"Not even a little," Lyra answered. "Besides, I'm not built for a farm town. I'm itching to get back to the city, what with its towers, its culture, its—" Cheering coming from half of the ponies present interrupted her. "What? What happened? Why are we cheering?"

Doctor Hooves came running towards the both of them. "Guess what?!" he asked with glee, "Princess Celestia said that Twilight can stay here! Isn't that exciting?!"

Derpy looked to Lyra with a smug grin. It was in moments like this Lyra wished she had the expressive capability of her hand-to-hand combat instructor's arms, as she felt an extreme need to fold a pair of her own.

"Peachy."

Epilogue

"All right, everypony, grab a seat. Your debriefing will commence shortly."

Lyra, Derpy, Amethyst, and Doctor Hooves sat as instructed in front of the raised ring that held the Ponyville PPP control room console. They looked up at Carrot Top and Bon Bon, who wore a tired smile and an expressionless frown, respectively.

Carrot Top turned a knob, and an illustration of a black alicorn from an old story book came into view on one of the monitors behind them. "As you know," Bon Bon began, "our mission today detailed the reformation of one Nightmare Moon. Naturally, this got a bit more involved than we anticipated, but I believe we all handled it to the best of our ability."

The slide on the monitor switched to a photograph of Princess Celestia. "Nightmare Moon subdued our princess, but during the events of last night, her location was determined, and Princess Celestia was forthwith freed from the prison Moon placed her in. Both the location of this prison and the ponies involved in her release have been deemed classified."

The doctor sat up and clopped two of his hooves together, as though applauding by himself. Bon Bon glared at him and he stopped, but his innocent smile never wavered.

"Twilight Sparkle," Bon Bon continued, a picture of the purple unicorn coming into view, "was a secondary target, meant to be tailed and protected from Nightmare Moon with discretion. Sparkle, unaware of the importance of her safety, chased after Nightmare Moon into the woodlands south of Ponyville, hereafter referred to as the Everfree Forest."

The slides changed to show some menacing-looking trees. "Two parties were sent into the Everfree Forest. The first was sent to tail and ensure the safety of Twilight Sparkle, and the other to head off and counter Nightmare Moon. When Sparkle and Moon converged on the same location, so did our two parties."

The picture of trees was replaced by one showing the remains of a castle. "The location in question is one of historical significance, and a known point of great interest for Nightmare Moon. Here, a small skirmish was held between Moon and Twilight Sparkle, with intervention on the part of the conjoined PPP parties."

Here the slides ended. Bon Bon sighed and approached the ponies seated in front of her. "I'm not going to lie to you guys," she said. "A lot of what happened last night is beyond anything this agency has tackled before. You all did some incredible work, and it pains me to say that public record will tell a very different story from the one we know."

Each of the four ponies looked to one another, and then back to Bon Bon. Lyra was the first to speak.

"Bon," she began, "we're secret agents. Most of what we do is kept from the public. None of us are here because we want our names in the papers for doing our job."

"I'm glad to hear it," Bon Bon said. "So just so you're all up to speed on what's going to be in today's paper, here is the official story on what happened last night: Twilight Sparkle and company discovered thousand-year-old artifacts, and, with the power of friendship, they transformed Nightmare Moon back into the deity hereafter referred to as Princess Luna."

Once again, Lyra was the only one who spoke. "...That's stupid."

Bon Bon shrugged. "The public generally seems to agree with it. Now, if you have any further questions, please address them to either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna."

"...W-what?"

A door slid open, and through it walked two alicorns. Although the smaller blue one was able to walk through the doorway without concern, the larger of the two sisters needed to duck to get through it. Her waving, multicolor mane looked completely out of place in a drab, underground facility with no wind to speak of.

"P-princess Celestia!" Lyra stammered.

The addressed princess smiled and approached the center of the command room. Her sister shyly followed.

Lyra struggled to achieve some sort of damage control. "I-I'm sorry! You didn't hear... Did you? I mean—"

The regal white alicorn raised a hoof to quiet her subject. "You have said nothing wrong, my little pony."

Other than a small "Eep!" Lyra became quiet and slunk backwards an inch or so.

"Now then," Celestia began, "I'm sure you all have some questions, and I think Luna and I both owe you what answers we can. Before you do, however, it's important to understand that very little — if any — of what's said here may leave this room. Do you understand?" The four ponies before her nodded. She turned to the two mares beside her, and they did the same. "Good," Celestia said with a smile.

Amethyst spoke first. "Uh, Celestia? Err, I mean, Princess?" The alicorn in question turned and smiled at her. "I've only been with the company for about a year, and this was kind of my first real mission..."

"And you performed admirably," Celestia said with a nod.

"Um... Thank you!" Amethyst looked pleased, yet humbled. Lyra stared at her with wide eyes, but said nothing. Amethyst shuffled her hooves before continuing. "But, uh, I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"Well, Twilight Sparkle..." Amethyst struggled to make eye contact with the deity she was addressing. "As soon as I was done with training, I was told that I would be watching her and making sure that nothing bad happened to her, but all anypony would tell me when I asked why was because you told us to."

Celestia tilted her head.

"And, well..." Amethyst swallowed. "I was hoping... you could tell me... well... why Twilight Sparkle?"

"Oh!" Hooves chimed, "I told you! It's because she's a princess!"

"Knock it off, Hooves," Lyra said to him; her frustrations with the stallion broke her silent spell. "I don't know what got your brain so addled, but—"

"Actually, he is correct," Celestia said.

Doctor Hooves was the only pony smiling.

"...What?"

"Well, technically, not yet she's not," Celestia admitted. "But she first showed the signs of becoming one at a very early age. I knew that she would need protection and guidance, so I took her under my wing and approached my secret agency with specific instructions to keep her out of harm's way. However, for safety reasons, only a select few ponies were ever made aware of this."

"Wait," Amethyst said, confused, "you mean regular ponies can become princesses?"

Celestia merely smiled.

The lone pegasus spoke next. "And no pony is supposed to know about this?" asked Derpy. She turned towards Hooves. "But, Doctor, then how did you—?"

"I read things I'm not supposed to," he said simply.

"Okay, crazy pony breaching security aside," Lyra began, taking an incredibly deep breath, "I have a few questions as well."

Celestia shifted her gaze to the green unicorn. "I'm listening," she said with an inviting tone.

Lyra fiddled with her hooves before blurting, "You told Sparkle — and all of Ponyville — that Nightmare Moon was stopped with the magic of friendship?!" Luna shifted further behind her big sister. "The hay is that all about?" finished Lyra.

Princess Celestia closed her eyes before answering. "Twilight Sparkle will be a princess someday."

"We've established this," Lyra said with a roll of her eyes. Then her hoof shot to her mouth. "Sorry," she said as she pulled the hoof away, "I have snark."

"It's quite alright," chuckled Celestia. "You see, as a princess, it's very important that we listen to and understand the ponies who look up to us for guidance and wisdom, and that we don't get caught up in all the authority that comes with it." Celestia smiled and leaned closer to her subjects. "We need to be able to relate to one another. As friends." She stood herself back up. "Twilight Sparkle never made any friends in Canterlot. It was my hope that while here in Ponyville — a town rich with diversity and kind souls — she could meet some new faces to truly touch her heart. She now has five close friends, each unique in personality and walks of life, and I could not be happier for it. By showing her the importance of those friendships, she will grow into a kind and wonderful leader."

"Yeah, but—" Lyra hesitated before continuing. "You don't think that making her believe magic amulets saved the day will backfire at some point?"

Celestia laughed. "I'll be taking them with me," she said. "It's my hope that Twilight will find a different way to solve her problems, and in the moments she can't, you six will still be watching over her."

"Wait, you can't just take them!" cried Amethyst. "Hooves needs them for his machine! What if we need to use them again?"

Luna shifted further out of sight. Celestia looked back to her, and then to Amethyst. "We do not feel that will happen," Celestia said with conviction. "With the moon force bound to my sister destroyed, we—"

"Oh, it's not destroyed," Doctor Hooves said simply. Celestia gave him a sharp gaze.

"I'm sorry?" the princess asked.

"That's what the last-minute adjustments were for!" Hooves wore a huge smile. "The gems you initially provided were too pure, and would have killed the being inside of Princess Luna. And the number one rule here is 'don't kill stuff'!"

Every pony in the room stared at the tan stallion. Nothing moved other than Celestia's ethereal mane until Luna took a few tentative steps forward.

"You..." the blue alicorn swallowed. Her voice was almost too soft to be heard. "You didn't kill it?"

"Nope!" said Hooves happily.

Luna swallowed again and looked at the ground. "You should have," she murmured.

"No, Luna, he was right to not do so," Celestia said. She placed a gentle hoof onto her sister's back. "Kindness and compassion are the only way. I have spent eons proving this to myself." She turned back to the stallion. "Thank you, Doctor, for your sound judgment."

Lyra coughed.

The doctor raised a hoof into the air. "Is it my turn to ask something?" he said. Celestia stared at him for a moment before nodding. Hooves stretched his neck forward to peer behind the deity. "Are you feeling well, Princess Luna?"

Luna shuffled her hooves in alarm; this was the first she'd been addressed in such a fashion for over a thousand years. "I am... well. Yes. Thank you."

"Good." Hooves leaned back and smiled with content.

"And what of you?" asked Celestia, turning to the mostly quiet pegasus. "Is there anything more you wish to ask us?"

After a startled jump, Derpy averted her gaze and shook her head. "I'm just... I'm glad everyone is okay."

Celestia nodded. "As am I. How is your daughter?" she asked.

"She's... She's fine," Derpy said shyly.

The white alicorn nodded again. "I am glad for it."

"If that's really all," Bon Bon said, reintroducing her voice, "these two have a kingdom to run." She turned towards the two princesses and bowed. "Thank you for agreeing to this, your highness."

Celestia returned the bow, and Luna hesitated before doing the same. "We are in your debt," Celestia said to Bon Bon. "Speaking with the ponies who saved both my sister and myself is the least that could be done." With that, the great alicorn spread her wings, and her sister mimicked the action. They took flight and quickly, yet majestically flew straight up through the underground headquarter's entrance.

"Okay, you lot," Bon Bon said, reaffirming her command, "on to the next item on the agenda. Living arrangements need to be made for our two new agents, and I need at least one of you to get an eye on Sparkle. All six of us are down here, for hoof's sake!"

The four seated ponies got to their hooves and stretched.

"Hey, Star," Lyra said to Amethyst, getting up last, "I just want to let you know... that I'm proud of you."

"'Proud of me'?" Amethyst laughed. "You inducted me into this company, trained me personally, acted as my first handler, and yet through it all I think this is the first compliment you've ever actually given me."

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it," Lyra said with a forceful tilt of her neck. Several cracking sounds echoed from the motion. "If it makes things feel more normal: I saw your gem-cutting today. It was garbage. You sold better stuff on the street."

Amethyst could have protested, but instead she shook her head and smiled. "I'll take first watch on Sparkle," she called to Bon Bon's back. A short wave was her only response before the pink unicorn took a lift back to the surface. Carrot Top watched Derpy and Doctor Hooves enter the R&D lab before approaching Lyra herself.

"Is working here always going to be like this?" Lyra asked her, eyes closed while sorting out her back.

"We live in a pretty quiet town," Carrot Top chuckled. "There's really not a lot that happens here."

"Well, I've only been here one day, and all Tartarus broke loose." Lyra leaned back to get her front hooves stretched out as well. "I really hope you guys are better at second impressions."

THE END

Author's Note

Or is it?

Story pre-reader: Flutterpriest