"Ah can't believe it! We passed!!"

As far as ways to wake up in the morning were, Sweetie Belle had to say that an exclamation of good news from one of your friends was one of the best. Being trampled by an overeager orange pegasus who's also just received good news was not. Rubbing the back of her head, Sweetie Belle got up and joined the group hug forming in the centre of her dormitory room. After several minutes of nonstop hugging (much to Scootaloo's embarrassment), Apple Bloom declared that they deserved a celebratory breakfast, which despite consisting mostly of oatmeal from the mess hall and some apples from Apple Bloom's pack was incredibly tasty.

"So how did we do?" Scootaloo asked eagerly, munching on an apple.

"Well, it says here that we all did very well. Sweetie Belle, you got 8 outa 10 because apparently some of the judges said that you cheated. You still passed though. Scootaloo, you got 9 outa 10 because you, and ah quote, 'made too much noise'." Apple Bloom said.

"Hey!"

"That's what it says. And ah got 9 outa 10 because the judges said that there was too much 'collateral damage', whatever that means."

"It means that you destroyed more stuff than you were supposed to." Sweetie Belle helpfully supplied.

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle Junior." Scootaloo said sarcastically.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Ya actually are sometimes, Sweetie." Apple Bloom said.

"Oh come on!" Sweetie Belle yelled, throwing her hooves into the air.

"What are you three arguing about? Is is over your scores? You do know that those don't really matter, right?" An unfamiliar voice said. The Crusaders turned to see an earth pony colt with a brown coat and a short orange mane and tail. The colt extended a hoof towards the closest of the three, which happened to be Sweetie Belle.

"My name's Button Mash, what's yours?" He asked.

"I- I'm Sw- Swee-" Sweetie Belle stammered.

"She's Sweetie Belle, I'm Scootaloo and this is Apple Bloom." Scootaloo quickly explained.

"So do you know what branches you're each going to be in?" Button asked, sitting down in one of the table's free chairs.

"Hold on, let me check." Apple Bloom said, flipping through the stack of pages she'd been given. "Ah. Sweetie, you're gonna be trained by Starbeam as an infiltrator, Scootaloo is gonna train under somepony called Soul Bond as an agent, and ah'm gonna become an assassin under Mastermind himself!!" She exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Scootaloo and Button said simultaneously.

"He almost never takes on students! The last pony he personally trained was Starburst, and that was 20 years ago!" Button said in awe. "He must think you're really special."

"What branch are you in, Button?" Scootaloo asked.

"Agent. A pony named Storm Call is training me. Speaking of, it's almost time to start lessons for the day. I'll see you three at lunch, okay?"

"Sure thing. Bye!" Scootaloo called after him. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo began to leave the table, then realized that Sweetie Belle hadn't moved from her seat.

"Sweetie? Are ya okay?" Apple Bloom asked. She waved a hoof in front of Sweetie's face, then checked her pulse.

"Wha?" Sweetie snapped to attention, looking at Apple Bloom confusedly. "Of course I'm okay. Why would I not be okay? I can't not be okay, not being okay is a myth!! It's all a myth!!! I'm fine!!!!"

"I think she's got a crush on the new colt." Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, who giggled.

"Come on, we need ta report ta our mentors before 10:00 or, and ah quote: 'there will be no pie'." Apple Bloom said, recovering from her giggle fit.

"Oh no! Not the pie!" Scootaloo gasped dramatically. The Crusaders shared a laugh before leaving the now almost empty mess hall.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders reporting for duty, sir!" The aforementioned trio said in unison, saluting the tan pegasus mare sitting behind a low desk in front of the dojo they'd been ordered to report to.

"Hmm?" The pegasus looked over the desk briefly before glancing through some papers. "Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, that's us." Scootaloo said, saluting again.

"Your mentors are waiting for you in the next room, just behind this door." The pegasus gestured to a door beside her desk. As Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom approached it, the short wooden door opened on its own. Behind it lay a high-tech dojo filled with beings of all shapes, sizes and ages. There were several ponies, a half dozen griffins, a couple of minotaurs, a few dragons and even stranger beings. All of them were dressed in black robes and body armour, and they were all engaged in combat in some way, shape or form. Well, almost all. Starbeam and a unicorn stallion the Crusaders didn't recognize were patiently waiting for them in the centre of the room.

"I think that's Soul Bond." Apple Bloom whispered to Scootaloo, gesturing to the unicorn. He had a scarred dark blue coat and blue-grey eyes with a hard light in them. His salt-and-pepper mane and tail were cut short and neatly combed, without anything special to define him, aside from his cutie mark. It was of a curved knife that was eerily similar to the ones that Starburst had used against the bandits. Aside from that, he was a very typical pony.

"You think correctly." Bond said calmly as he and Starbeam approached the Crusaders. "I am Soul Bond, and I will be training you in the art of subterfuge, infiltration, and assassination, Scootaloo."

"You heard that!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Of course. I have been trained to be perfectly aware of my surroundings, a skill I am going to pass on to you, with any luck. Now, if you will come with me, you have much to learn." As Scootaloo happily bounced after Soul Bond, the remaining Crusaders shared a worried glance.

"Don't mind Bond, he's one of our best agents, although he's... different. Scootaloo will be fine learning under him." Starbeam reassured. "Sweetie, why don't you come with me? There's a lot to learn, as Bond said."

"But what about me? Where's Mastermind?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly.

"Mastermind does his own thing. Don't worry, he'll be along soon. In the meantime, why don't you wait over there?" Starbeam pointed to a line of benches at the edges of the dojo. Several operatives were resting on them, chatting amongst themselves. With a resigned sigh, Apple Bloom trotted over to a free bench and sat down. Several minutes later, a black armoured pony sat down beside her and looked out at the dojo.

"Tough, isn't it?" The pony asked. The voice was female and familiar to Apple Bloom. The pony took off her mask and looked at her. To her surprise, Apple Bloom recognized the pony.

"Bon Bon?" She asked.

The cream coated, stripe-maned earth pony smiled. "Not quite. My real name is Sweetie Drops, but my current disguise, the one you know, is named Bon Bon. I must say, I'm surprised to see you here. Ever since Twilight Sparkle moved to Ponyville, the agency has been really interested in it, but I never expected Mastermind to recruit you."

"Actually, I recruited all three, and at the same time, may I add. It was quite by accident, though." The deep baritone reverberations coming from behind Apple Bloom and ~~Bon Bon~~ Sweetie Drops was unmistakably Mastermind's. Sweetie Drops spun around and saluted rapidly while Apple Bloom jumped five feet into the air in fright.

"I'm glad you're here, Agent Drops. I was just about to begin Apple Bloom's training, and I'd like you to assist me." Mastermind continued.

"You would, sir?" Sweetie Drops said.

"Of course. You're my most capable trainer, after all."

"Thank you sir, I'd be happy to train Apple Bloom. Just a question, what are you training her to be?"

"An assassin. Now, without further ado, let us begin."

Five hours of training later, Apple Bloom collapsed onto her dorm room's bed, exhausted but happy. Mastermind had pushed her to her limits and Sweetie Drops had taught her to recognize where they were, so that she could safely push them and get better. Apple Bloom had thought she was in good shape before, but now she knew that her definition of 'good shape' was nowhere near Mastermind's. The loud poof emitting from Scootaloo's bed told much the same story. Sweetie Belle, surprisingly, happily bounced into their dorm and sat down on her bed for all of one second, before she jumped up and started rambling.

"Wasn't today exciting!! I was excited, because we got to train as assassins for the first time today well not really because I was training as an infiltrator and Scootaloo was training as an agent but still it was super exciting because Starbeam is the best teacher ever and I learned so much today and it was so much fun..." Sweetie babbled on while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom groaned. This was going to be a long few weeks.

Every day for the next six months progressed in much the same way for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They would wake up, have breakfast, then report for training in one of the fortress's many dojos. After about two hours of training interspaced with five minute breaks, they would have a half hour of lunch before training for a further three hours. Once their combat training was complete, they took another half hour break and then learned noncombat skills, including math, chemistry and other traditional school subjects. After three hours of that, they had two more hours of free time to do homework and relax, then after dinner they prepared for bed, then finally went to sleep in preparation for the next day.

At first, they went to sleep exhausted every night, but after the first month they found that they were getting better, more fit. After the second they were able to keep up with their trainers for the first half of the day, and after the third they lasted until training ended for the day before collapsing at night. After half a year of near constant training, Mastermind declared them to be trainees, rather than recruits. This meant that they could finally leave the stronghold and wear the traditional black armoured robes that all operatives wore.

To celebrate, the Crusaders and their friends in the brotherhood went outside, into a pleasant Manehattan restaurant that the brotherhood owned under one of their many companies. Unbeknownst to them, things weren't going to go as planned...

"To graduation!!" Apple Bloom declared as she opened a bottle of (non alcoholic, of course) Sweet Apple Acres cider. The dozen or so ponies and other assorted beings in the room chorused their agreement and happily filled their glasses with the sweet apple beverage. Apple Bloom took a sip of cider and winced. It had been a long time since she'd tasted something so familiar, and it was heartbreaking tasting it while knowing that she'd never have a taste like she used to: straight out of the press, lukewarm and with pulp and seeds everywhere. While most ponies thought of clear, ice cold cider mixed with sugar when they thought cider, Apple Bloom knew what real cider was.

"You okay, AB?" Button Mash asked worriedly.

"Yeah, ah'm fine. Cider's terrible though." Apple Bloom smiled halfheartedly.

"Oh, yeah. Probably aren't used to Manehattan cider, are you? I hear it's a lot different in Ponyville."

"Ah don't know what they do to cider in Manehattan, but it doesn't hold three maggoty biscuits consumed over as many days to good old Ponyville cider. Manehattan wouldn't know true cider if it turned into green crystals and started eatin' the planet."

Blinking at Apple Bloom's odd metaphors, Button continued "I know what you mean, I think. I was born in Vanhoover, and man do they have good french fries there. I remember my mom used to cover them in gravy and cheese curds. It was amazing!! But when we moved to Baltimare because my dad got a new job or something, nopony sold cheese curds or the right kind of gravy! Mom tried to make do with ketchup, but it wasn't the same. I miss poutine."

"Sounds amazing. Anyways, how are ya and Sweetie doing?"

Button blushed. "W-well... I, Uh..."

"That good, huh?"

"Erm... We, uh... We're... Fine! Yes, absolutely fine!" He yelped.

"Ya still haven't asked her out, have ya?"

"No."

"Ah figured as much. Why don't ya ask her now? This here restaurant seems like the perfect place for a first date ta me, and she's over there right now." Apple Bloom pointed over to a polyhedral table with a rotating snack tray and several ponies gathered around it, including Sweetie Belle.

"Um, okay." Button gulped before making his way over to the table. Apple Bloom watched as he and Sweetie talked for a little while, their cheeks growing redder and redder the whole time from embarrassment, before finally Button said something that seemed to surprise Sweetie. She just looked at Button for a few long, tense moments. Apple Bloom held her breath. Did he ask her? Was she going to say no? Why did Sweetie Belle look like a cat getting ready to pounce?

Before Apple Bloom had time to ask herself any more worrisome questions, Sweetie Belle glomped Button in the biggest, most enthusiastic hug Apple Bloom had ever seen. Sweetie's squeals of "Yes! Yes! Yes!" were clearly heard all the way across the room, making them all turn and look at the pair lying on the floor.

Scootaloo, who had been standing across the table from Sweetie, turned toward Apple Bloom and raised an eyebrow. Quickly walking over, Apple Bloom explained "Ah told Button to ask Sweetie out, and apparently he did. I'm thinking Sweetie said yes."

"You think?" Scootaloo deadpanned. Clearing her throat, Scootaloo yelled "HEY EVERYPONY, SWEETIE BELLE HAS A COLTFRIEND, AND IT'S BUTTON MASH!!" Everyone in the room cheered while a thoroughly embarrassed Sweetie Belle and Button Mash quickly got up and looked everywhere but each other. Apple Bloom glared at Scootaloo accusingly.

"What? Sometimes you have to be blunt." Scootaloo said defensively.

"That wasn't nice. Ya know how sensitive Sweetie Belle can be about these kinds of things. Ya have ta be gentle with her, ya know that, right? She ain't training in a rough-and-tumble school of combat like we are, and she's not as tough either." Apple Bloom said angrily.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again."

"And ya wonder why Sweetie has a coltfriend and you don't."

"Hey!! I'll have you know that there are plenty of colts who like me!! If I wanted a coltfriend, I'd have one! As it is, a coltfriend would simply distract me from my tutelage right now."

"Bond told ya not to enter any permanent relationships, didn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Thought so."

Suddenly, an explosion shattered the windows of the restaurant, showering the ponies (and other beings) inside with broken glass. Apple Bloom and looked out the window to see several masked ponies, griffins and a minotaur storming into the building across the street.

Before the last one entered, he paused and drew a symbol across the exterior wall: three long crescent moons, connecting at the corners to frame a Penn Diagram like shape in the centre. A symbol Apple Bloom knew well from history lessons: The symbol of The Brotherhood of The New Moon.

To be continued...

Author's Note

So, yeah. I don't know where the ending came from, it just evolved in my head as I was writing and suddenly I had this. I'm really proud of this chapter, and of this story in general. It's the longest story that I've written in it's entirety, and it had the best upvote/downvote ratio of anything I've done. I'd like to thank everyone who's read this and commented, favorited or simply liked this story. As usual, don't be afraid to tell me what you think, and maybe check out some of my other stuff too? Thanks for reading!