Chapter 1: After The Wedding
The sun had long since set over the horizon of Equestria, but nopony was asleep this night in Ponyville. All of Ponyville's residents were still celebrating the long awaited union between Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda Marple Donkey. After the vows had been said and Cranky and Matilda were officially married, the ponies had moved the festivities from the Town Hall to the park, where the reception was being held. (The mix-up in dates had meant that Cranky had to convince the members of Ponyville's hoofball team to reschedule their scrimmage, which he had accomplished by taking part in a one-on-one hoofball match against the team's quarterback. It was pretty epic.)
Now, everypony was enjoying the reception - Vinyl and Octavia continued to provide music for the ponies to dance to, with the dance floor overcrowded with partiers. In the center of the dance floor were Cranky and Matilda themselves, who were proving to everypony present that just because they were getting on in years, didn't mean they couldn't dance.
From their table, eight ponies watched the newlywed couple dance with smiles on their faces. "Oh, this is one of the most romantic weddings I've ever seen!" Rarity gushed, tearing up and blowing her nose into a napkin, folding it with her magic.
Applejack chuckled from beside her. "Well, I can surely say it was the most romantic wedding I've ever seen...through a window,"
Across from Applejack, a gray and blonde cross-eyed mare sheepishly rubbed her head. "I'm sorry I accidentally locked you guys out of the hall," Derpy Hooves apologized. "I guess I didn't really pay attention and make sure everypony was inside,"
"Oh, that's okay Derpy!" Pinkie Pie said, having to look around the massive stack of wedding cake slices that sat on her plate to see Derpy. "We were gonna be late anyway! That bug bear fight took foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever!"
"No kidding! I'm still itching from that bite it gave me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, poking the wound on her side and wincing from the pain...before immediately doing it again. And again.
Beside her, Fluttershy gave her a worried glance. "Are you sure you don't want to go get that checked, Rainbow?"
"Nah, I'm fine!" Rainbow Dash said. "Now which one of you Fluttershy's said that?"
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and turned to her left. "Twilight, can you please explain to Rainbow Dash why she shouldn't-Twilight? Twilight?"
Twilight didn't answer the yellow pegasus, as she was too busy looking over a series of diagrams and blueprints that had been haphazardly strewn across her end of the table. "But I thought that the lack of real potassium nitrate ensured that no ignition would occur?" she asked in an excited tone.
"No, no, it was the exact opposite!" Dr. Time Turner, a local scientist and good friend to Derpy Hooves, exclaimed. "By replacing potassium nitrate with a formula created with essences of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, the fireworks could only be activated by high levels of the natural pheromones that are produced by the body during heightened states of romantic affection!"
"Fascinating!"
"I know right?!"
Derpy rolled one of her eyes at. "Sorry Fluttershy, the nerds are geeking out," she said sarcastically.
Everypony laughed at the joke, and then laughed harder when Twilight and Time Turner didn't even register that Derpy had insulted them. The entire park was filled with such humor and positivity, as there was not a single soul present that wasn't filled with happiness. It was the perfect feeling to feel on a wedding day.
However, there was one guest that was feeling something else.
Sure, she was feeling the same joy and happiness as everypony else - how could she not? Cranky and Matilda were absolutely perfect for each other, and seeing them finally be able to call each other husband and wife after being separated for so long was heartwarming. But there was another feeling that had swept through her body ever since she saw the members of the Friendship Council knock out the Bug Bear, after she had witnessed a group of Royal Guards safely secure the beaten down creature, and taken it off to Tartarus for immediate imprisonment.
Relief.
Sweetie Drops was so, so relieved.
Four years of hiding. Four years of always looking over her shoulder whenever she turned a street corner, of keeping weapons hidden all over Ponyville just in case she needed them, four years of pretending to be somepony she wasn't - changing her name, cutting ties with everypony she used to know in Canterlot, and living in a completely new town. Sure, she grew to love Ponyville like a second home, and she had sincerely befriended most of the other ponies in town...but she couldn't truly enjoy her life there. Not with the constant fear of the Bug Bear hanging over her head - knowing it was out there somewhere.
But now it was locked up again. She had personally made sure that the Royal Guards took the proper precautions to make sure the creature would never escape again. And now...Sweetie Drops was feeling completely and utterly safe for the first time in four years. For somepony whose had a life like hers....
It was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world.
"Yo!"
Sweetie Drops looked up in surprise. Lyra, her closest, best friend since moving to Ponyville, was staring at her with an annoyed look.
"Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" the unicorn demanded.
Sweetie Drops cheeks blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry Lyra," Sweetie Drops said. "I was just...thinking about stuff,"
At that, Lyra grinned. "Are you thinking about..." her voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. "...super secret spy stuff?"
Sweetie Drops reflexively looked around to make sure nopony had been close enough to hear, before glaring at Lyra. "Lyra, remember what I told you before?" she asked. "You cannot, under ANY circumstances, reveal to any one my true identity! Don't you understand that?"
Lyra leaned back in her chair and laughed. "Calm down Bon-Sweet-uh....calm down! I know! I'm not gonna breath a word of it!"
Sweetie Drops stared at Lyra. "Are you completely sure you can keep this a secret?" she asked.
Lyra's smile faded. She leaned across the table, gripping Sweetie Drops hooves in her own. She stared the other pony right in the eyes. "Bon, I swear as your best friend, I will NEVER reveal your secret,"
Letting go of one of Sweetie Drops hooves, Lyra began to move her own hoof in specific motions. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,"
The mint green unicorn smiled at Sweetie Drops. "You matter too much to me to do something like that,"
Sweetie Drops felt her heart warm at those words. Sighing in happiness, she wrapped her hooves around Lyra in a hug. "Oh, thank you Lyra. You don't know how much this means to me, for you to accept my secret,"
"You know I'd always accept you, no matter what," Lyra said, hugging Sweetie Drops back tightly. She leaned back and smiled at her, lifting one hoof up and brushing it on her cheek. "You're my best friend,"
"And you're my best friend," Sweetie Drops replied. The two mares hugged once again, before finally releasing it and settling back down into their chairs with big smiles.
"So..." Lyra started speaking again, now looking a bit awkward. "What...What should I call you now? Cause, you know, you're real name is apparently Sweetie Drops, but I've been calling you Bon Bon for four years, but you would probably want to be called by your real first name instead of a fake first name, which I would completely understand, but I'm still kind of not really sure if I can get used to calling you a different name, but like I said it is completely up to you, and I know that if I was going by two names and somepony found out that they'd been calling me the name I didn't prefer being called I'd be upset, so I can understand why you would want to be called by your first name, it's just that I don't know if I can automatically switch to calling you Sweetie Drops out of nowhere like-"
"LYRA!"
The unicorn's mouth shut closed, and she smiled sheepishly at Sweetie Drops. The earth pony rubbed her eye for a moment before clearing her throat. "You can keep calling me Bon Bon. It would be for the best - everypony else in this town knows me as that, after all,"
"Oh, okay," Lyra nodded her head, looking rather relieved. A moment of relaxed silence passed, before Lyra was once again awkwardly shuffling her hooves. "Can I ask you another question?"
"As long as I can answer it without betraying national security, sure," Sweetie Drops said in a joking tone.
"...Is that your real cutie mark?" Lyra asked, peeking over the table to see the three striped candies adorning the earth ponies flank.
...Huh, of all questions I didn't expect that, Sweetie Drops thought to herself. Out loud, she said only this:
"...What?"
"Well, if you're really a monster hunter and not a candy maker, then you MUST have a monster hunting cutie mark right? And those candies on your ass are like, a super elaborate spy gadget!" Lyra guessed, looking more and more excited as she spoke.
Sweetie Drops raised a brow at that. "Super elaborate spy gadget on my ass?" she asked in a questioning tone.
Lyra huffed and slumped in her chair, visibly disappointed. "So it's not?"
Sweetie Drops shook her head. "No, my special talent is still candy making," she said. "I...actually got into candy making before I got into monster fighting..."
Lyra watched her friend in worry, as an expression of sorrow briefly flashed on her face. Sweetie Drops immediately started to smile again, and although Lyra could tell it was a sincere smile, she had still caught that moment of sadness.
"Can I ask...how did you get into it?" Lyra asked tentatively.
Sweetie Drops opened her mouth...but shut it again soon after, and began to poke at her cake, untouched on the plate in front of her. "I...I'll tell you another time, okay?" she said.
Lyra sensed that she shouldn't pry, and nodded. "Yeah, sure," she said. Deciding to put the conversation back on a happier note, she picked the first thing that popped into her head. "So, who do you think is going to be the dominant one in bed - Cranky or Matilda?"
The Ponyville clocktower had just struck midnight by the time ponies began to trickle away from the park and to their homes to get a good nights rest. Matilda and Cranky had actually left about two hours prior, leaving in a private chariot to their honeymoon in Neigh Zealand. However, the craziness of the day seemed to translate into endless energy for all the ponies present, and so they continued partying until they were literally falling asleep on the dance floor. Parents carried exhausted foals on their backs, friends and lovers supported each other due to their tired hooves, and Derpy and Dr. Turner assisted Fluttershy in taking a slightly delirious and hallucinating Rainbow Dash to the hospital. All in all, it had been quite a day, but a good day nonetheless.
Sweetie Drops chuckled as she walked out of the park. She glanced at Lyra, who was pressed against her side, practically asleep already. "That...That was probably the longest party I've ever been to!" she gasped, her entire body aching from the impromptu dance off that Aloe and Lotus had forced everypony into.
Lyra managed to find the energy to laugh. "Yeah...Pinkie Pie would be proud," she said.
"It was quite a fun affair," a new voice said. "I am quite pleased with how the night turned out,"
Both Lyra and Sweetie Drops's eyes widened when they saw the two ponies who had walked up to their side.
"Princesses!" Lyra cried, pushing herself off of Sweetie Drops, intending to bow - only to fall flat on her face due to her exhaustion. "Ooh, my faaaace...and my hooves...and my everything..."
Princess Luna chuckled. "No need for that tonight, my friend. It is a day of celebration,"
A taller alicorn standing beside Luna laughed as well. "Yes, but I must admit, I was not quite expecting it to last as long as it did. I dare say that the sun may be coming up a tad later than usual tomorrow morning,"
"Ha!" Luna said. "I've seen you go two weeks without sleep and still find the energy to raise the sun each morning at the same time! You just want an excuse to be lazy and sleep in,"
"Well, can you blame me Luna?" Celestia said with a grin. "This is the perfect opportunity!"
Celestia and Luna shared another laugh, before Celestia turned to Sweetie Drops, who had been standing there silently, amused by the sisters conversation. "Hello Bon Bon," the princess of the sun greeted.
Sweetie Drops nodded. "Hello Princess Celestia," she said. "Did you enjoy the party?"
"Oh, I did! I do so love weddings," Celestia said, sighing. "Although I'm sure everypony was quite happy that it went off without a hitch. Especially considering that awful monster that was rampaging here earlier,"
Sweetie Drops didn't let her expression change, but internally she instantly became at alert. What reason did Celestia have to speak to her directly concerning the Bug Bear? Especially after... she began to think, only to quickly shove those thoughts into the back of her mind. No matter what happened before, it was certainly strange of the princess.
"Yes," Sweetie Drops continued speaking casually. "Thankfully Twilight and the others subdued it before anypony got hurt,"
Celestia hummed in agreement. "Well, I'm happy that everything turned out okay. Have a good night, Bon Bon," she said.
"Good night Princess," Sweetie Drops replied.
Celestia nodded to Luna, and the two began to walk away. Sweetie Drops could see a chariot in the distance, presumably ready to take the princesses back to Canterlot. However, before they got too far away, Celestia suddenly paused and turned back to Sweetie Drops.
"Oh, by the way, do you know if the skies would be clear tomorrow? I haven't spoken to the weather crew here in some time," Celestia asked.
Sweetie Drops felt her blood run cold. She may have been out of the business for four years, but she would know codespeak anywhere she heard it. The use of certain words, in a certain order, and a certain vocal context, all of it hiding a message within the sentence itself. Has your secret identity been compromised in any way? was what Celestia had truly said.
(Codespeak was extremely complicated, in case it wasn't obvious. Took her eight damn times to pass the test)
Keeping her face composed, Sweetie Drops shrugged. "I'm not sure what they plan on doing," she replied.
My identity remains secret.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Oh, how unfortunate. Well, I at least hope that there will not be any clouds,"
You are lying.
"I wouldn't mind a cloudy day myself," Sweetie Drops said, adding a giggle to the beginning of her sentence.
There is no reason to use any procedural measures. All is secure.
"Oh, everpony loves a cloudy day now and then. But sunny days are so much nicer for a day at the beach," Celestia laughed as well.
Do not misplace your trust. If they break your trust, there will be consequences.
"Well, I hope that the weather works out to your liking, Princess" Sweetie Belle said in a kind tone.
Do not dare try anything to hurt her.
Celestia did not speak again. Instead, she smiled pleasantly. "Well, enjoy the rest of the night!"
With that, both princesses continued on to their chariot. Luna briefly looked back at Sweetie Drops, an openly questioning look on her face. Sweetie Drops merely smiled and waved goodbye. So Luna has no knowledge of codespeak. Interesting, she thought.
(Unbeknownst to Sweetie Drops, Luna turned around and whispered something to Celestia. "Are those two...merely friends? We find this to be very confusing,")
That entire exchange came completely out of nowhere. She and Celestia had met several times after the agency was disbanded, but they had never truly talked face to face in the four years Sweetie Drops had been hiding out in Ponyville.
"Is no one going to take account of the suffering unicorn lying on the ground?" Lyra suddenly spoke up, her voice muffled due to being face down in the dirt.
Sweetie Drops looked down at the unicorn, and couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry Lyra," she said, quickly leaning down to help her up. Lyra immediately pressed herself up against Sweetie Drops's side once more, sighing in contentment as she snuggled into her neck fur. Sweetie Drops chuckled. "Come on, let's get you home,"
"I wanna.......hands......" Lyra muttered sleepily.
"I know you do, Lyra, I know you do,"
Sweetie Drops didn't bother fighting back her yawns as she closed and locked the front door to her cottage. After dropping off Lyra at her own house across the street, Sweetie Drops was ready for bed. The conversation with the princess still weighed on her mind, but she had concluded that Celestia was merely trying to make sure that all knowledge of her agency remained with those who were a part of it. She seemed to be aware she told Lyra, but Sweetie Drops would face that when it came, if Celestia pushed the issue further at all.
For now, she just wanted to sleep. Entering her bedroom, Sweetie Drops shut her door, and was about to lock it...but she stopped.
Every night since she came to Ponyville, she locked her bedroom door. No matter that she had already locked her front door, and kept all the windows shut and locked at all times, she still always locked her bedroom door. It was all leftover paranoia, out of her fears of the Bug Bear finding her and...
Sweetie Drops looked at the door. After a moment of reflection, she left the door unlocked, and climbed into bed. She could not help but smile in pride at herself.
"I'm done hiding," Sweetie Drops mumbled as sleep began to overtake her. "I'm going to live..........."
Sweetie Drops groggily pushed open the front door to her store, Bon Bon's Candy Confections, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes.
"Why didn't I turn my alarm off before I went to bed?" she asked herself, walking over to the front desk and doing her morning register check. "I could have opened late, but noooooo, my stupid alarm clock had to wake me up...."
"Talking to yourself again, boss?"
Sweetie Drops sighed, not surprised at all by the voice speaking to her from the other side of the room. "Candy Floss, how is it that you always somehow end up coming in before me? I run this place, not you,"
The mare in question laughed, returning to putting merchandise on the shelf. "You know me," she said, beaming at her boss. "Not a huge fan of sleep in general. Why sleep when you can be awake?"
"I didn't see you at the wedding," Sweetie Drops said, closing the register and walking to the back to get started on making more candy. She had a lot of orders in the past few weeks thanks to Hearts and Hooves Day coming up.
"Had a prior engagement," Candy Floss said.
"Meaning you were with Star Bright," Sweetie Drops surmised.
Candy Floss laughed. "Come on, you would totally hit it if he wasn't mine," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. With that, Sweetie Drops let out a laugh.
"Oh yes, I burn with jealousy that I will never get a taste of his sexy unicorn cock," Sweetie Drops said sarcastically. She smirked in satisfaction as her vulgar language caused Candy Floss to misstep, her face red.
"Why do you have to use the c word..." Candy Floss muttered, moving to the front desk to take over cashier duties.
Sweetie Drops shook her head. Candy Floss could sometimes be a bit much to handle, but she was a damn good worker. At the very least, hiring her meant that Sweetie Drops could focus all of her energy on making candy - and she would need it. One of the orders was from PINKIE PIE.
She had a lot of work to do.
However, just as she was about to put on her goggles and gloves to begin preparing the batches, the door opened with a ring. Sweetie Drop turned around, ready to give her first customer of the day a warm welcome...then froze.
It was a stallion wearing a delivery ponies outfit. He was a dark blue pegasus with electric blue hair for his mane and tail. On his flank was a very interesting cutie mark - a Hazard symbol. He was smiling at Sweetie Drops, looking completely ordinary and normal.
What are YOU doing here?
Candy Floss smiled at the stallion. "Hi. What can I do for you?" she asked.
Sweetie Drops shook herself out of her shock, and stepped forward. "Yes, what can we do for you...sir?" she asked, trying not to betray her familiarity despite her surprise.
The stallion smiled at her. "I just have a package for you. Sorry we couldn't get it here on time. A lot of delays at the office," he said.
Damn, Sweetie Drops thought. I should have seen this coming. The way Celestia was acting last night! Damn, damn, damn!
"Thank you sir," Sweetie Drops said with a smile. She took the package and set it on the counter, ignoring Candy Floss as she immediately began to tear it open. "How much do I owe you?" she asked the stallion, tilting her head slightly.
"No need for money, miss. Special discount!" the stallion replied.
"Thank you so much! I'm very grateful," Sweetie Drops said.
"You're welcome," the stallion said. He lowered his head briefly, but kept his eyes on Sweetie Drops.
Buck, now?!, Sweetie Drops thought. What could she possibly want?!
"Have a nice day, gentlecolt," Sweetie Drops said.
"You too, miss," the stallion said. He turned around and walked out the door without another word. Sweetie Drops stared after him, her smile slowly transforming into a scowl.
"What the heck?" Candy Floss said from the counter. "This is just an alarm clock. Why do you need an alarm clock?"
"Candy Floss, you're in charge of the store for today," Sweetie Drops said.
The other mare looked up in surprise. "What? But what about the orders?" she asked.
"I just remembered....something else came up. I need to go to a meeting," Sweetie Drops said. She began walking slowly to the front door to her shop.
Candy Floss looked after her, a confused expression on her face. "Meeting? With who?"
"No one important," Sweetie Drops answered. "Have a good day, Candy Floss,"
Sweetie Drops barely heard her assistant give a quiet goodbye in return. Instead, she shut the door and began making her way to the train station.
It was time to find out what exactly Celestia considered so important as to send one of her own former trainees to her. The very notion insulted her. After what happened yesterday, the last thing she wanted to do was deal with any more memories of D.E.F.R.O.S.T.
"This better be good, you royal pain in my ass," Sweetie Drops mumbled under her breath.
Chapter 2: A Canterlot Meeting
D.E.F.R.O.S.T.
That was all that Sweetie Drops could think about it. On the train to Canterlot, and now walking through the capital cities streets as she made her way to the Princesses Castle.
Established a few centuries ago, it was a secret organization devoted to preventing monster threats from turning Equestria into pony pulp. Made up of at least a thousand ponies at its beginning, there were always at least several hundred agents working across the nation at one time, keeping Equestria safe from all threats. It was the place where, for nine years, Sweetie Drops found herself a home.
At least, until the Bug Bear escaped.
Sweetie Drops involuntarily shuddered as memories of that awful day surged through her brain. She pushed them back into the recesses of her mind. It had been four years, and she had worked hard to get over what had happened. It had been hard, but she had done it.
Mostly.
Either way, the agency had been defunct for quite some time now. Sweetie Drops was very curious as to why Celestia wanted to speak to her. Hopefully, all it would be is a report on what exactly went down with the Bug Bear yesterday. At worse...
Sweetie Drops didn't want to think about the worst possible reasons for this visit.
Most of them involved Lyra. And that was something Sweetie Drops could NEVER allow.
Eventually, she came to the castle. Standing in front of it was a single Royal guard. He held up his spear as he approached.
"The princesses are in their private quarters, and are not to be disturbed by anypony," the guard spoke as she got close, before she even had a chance to say anything. "All those who wish to see them must wait until court this afterno-"
"Rye, blackened bread, feeding the orphan and the firebird," Sweetie Drops interrupted, speaking clearly and confidently.
The guard's eyes widened for a brief moment, before his face became passive and he stepped aside, opening the door and staring straight forward. "The sitting rooms are on the right," he said, gesturing inside with his head.
"Thank you sir," Sweetie Drops responded, heading into the castle, the door being shut right behind her.
Good to know that the password still works, she thought to herself. It would be embarrassing if Celestia had changed it after all these years.
Sweetie Drops easily found the princesses private sitting room. She was a bit surprised, however, that there were no royal guards standing at the door.
Opening it, she walked right in. "You really should lock that, your highness. I could have been a rapist or something," she said.
"I pity anypony foolish enough to attempt to do that to us,"
Sweetie Drops raised an eyebrow at the speaker. She had not been expecting any other ponies to be present besides Princess Celestia. But there she was, the smaller and younger princess sitting on a dark blue pillow, sipping her tea.
"I was unaware that Princess Luna was made privy to D.E.F.R.O.S.T.'s existence," she remarked to the taller alicorn sitting on a yellow pillow.
Celestia shrugged. "I figured that she deserved to know - it was her idea after all,"
"Her idea?" Sweetie Drops asked, sitting down onto a green pillow that had been placed directly in front of the two princesses. She was quite pleased that at how soft it is. That color kind of reminds me of Lyra... she thought to herself. Knowing Trollestia over here, that was probably deliberate.
"Yes," Celestia continued. "During the time before Nightmare Moon. Back then, monster attacks were significantly more common in everyday life than in this day and age-"
And considering how many monster attacks have happened in the past year and a half alone, THAT is certainly saying something.
"-And Luna believed that forming a squadron of the finest ponies available would be beneficial to begin minimizing the amount of monster attacks on our little ponies,"
"And yet, the organization was not founded until several hundred years after Luna's banishment," Sweetie Drops pointed out.
At that, Celestia looked briefly uncomfortable. "Yes...that is true," she said, looking down. She looked back up again when she felt her sister place a comforting hoof on her side. They exchanged an understanding glance before returning their attention to Sweetie Drops.
"I'm assuming that D.E.F.R.O.S.T. is why you have called me here today?" Sweetie Drops asked. The princesses did not bother answering - they knew she knew the answer was yes. "By the way, it was incredibly classy of you to send Cobalt Sky out to give me the heads up. I had wondered what happened to him after the shut down,"
"Most of the ponies that were still only in the training phases of recruitment either left defensive work entirely, or were moved into different positions within our defense forces. Cobalt Sky was one of them, and he has in fact become a highly esteemed member of our espionage team. Celestia tells me that he was one of the more promising recruits during the last few months of the initiative," Luna explained.
Sweetie Drops nodded. "I was personally in charge of training the little shit," she said, her voice taking on a fond tone.
Luna raised an eyebrow at her crass language. "Indeed," she said dryly.
"He still dating that gray pegasus? What was his name, Soundspeed?" Sweetie Drops asked.
"Luna and I attended their engagement party only last month," Celestia answered.
Sweetie Drops hummed. "I don't recall getting an invitation," she remarked.
"I don't recall you and Cobalt having any interaction in the past four years," Luna said.
"I don't recall not being strictly instructed by your sister to never make contact with any of my old acquaintances from Canterlot during my time in hiding," Sweetie Drops countered. "Whether or not they were part of D.E.F.R.O.S.T.,"
"I don't recall ever giving you any permission to reveal your true identity to anypony," Celestia suddenly added in.
Those words caused all three ponies to fall silent. Sweetie Drops stared up at the alicorn defensively, trying to keep her hooves from digging into the pillow. "I told you last night," Sweetie Drops said through gritted teeth. "Lyra being made aware of my identity will not be an issue,"
"I also remember you threatening me," Celestia said, taking a sip of her tea. "I would be amazed that any common pony would have the gall to threaten me, but it was you,"
"Wait, she did?" Luna asked, looking between the two ponies.
When Sweetie Drops shot her a confused look, the blue alicorn shrugged. "I am still attempting to get a hang of this so called 'codespeak'," she said, waving her hoof somewhat sheepishly.
Sweetie Drops nodded in understanding. "Took me eight damn tries to complete the test," she said.
"I still haven't passed," Luna said.
The open admission, along with Luna's no-bucks-are-being-given-right-now face, made Sweetie Drops give a brief but genuine smile. She knew there was always a reason she liked Luna more than Celestia (this was actually the first time she and Luna had ever spoken to each other face to face, but even so).
Celestia cleared her throat, returning the Earth ponies attention to her. "Back to the topic on hand, Sweetie Drops," she said. "Can you explain to me why you felt it was appropriate to expose your secret to Lyra?"
Sweetie Drops shrugged. "To be honest, actual admitting it to her was more of a...'heat of the moment' sort of thing. I had just discovered the Bug Bear was in Ponyville, and I panicked. Lyra was confused by my reaction, so I felt I had no choice but to explain myself, since I wouldn't be able to come up with a reasonable lie by that point. But..."
She looked up and stared Celestia in the eyes. "I was planning to tell her the very next day, actually. Because she had been my best friend since the day I came to Ponyville. She's trusted me with things she's never told anypony else - and so have I. I would bet my life that she would never tell a soul about my true name, and my true life,"
Celestia looked thoughtful. "I know how wonderful a friend can be, Sweetie Drops," she said after a beat. "But to have that kind of secret? I just worry-"
"Besides," Sweetie Drops interrupted the princess. "If Lyra broke her word and told somepony, she wouldn't just have to deal with. She'd have to deal with Pinkie Pie,"
At once, both princesses winced. "Pinkie Promise?" they asked at once.
Sweetie Drops nodded. "Pinkie Promise,"
Celestia let out a sigh of relief. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" she asked.
The three mares entered a few moments of silence, during which the door creaked open and a maid entered, carrying a tray of biscuits. She set them down in the center of the three pillows, quickly bowing and then exiting without another word.
"Now that we have that out of the way," Sweetie Drops said, picking up a biscuit. "Can you two please be kind enough to explain to me the exact reason I was summoned?" After finishing her sentence, Sweetie Drops took a bite of her biscuit.
"My sister and I wish to restart the organization known as D.E.F.R.O.S.T.," Luna answered.
Sweetie Drops's eyes widened, and she started choking on her biscuit in shock. Celestia's horn lit up, and Sweetie Drops felt an invisible force suddenly begin performing the Heimlich maneuver on her. After several squeezes, the chewed up remains of the biscuit were ejected from her throat. Luna instantly created a shield in front of her face, preventing the biscuit pieces from hitting her. They fell to the floor, and Luna brushed them away with her magic.
Sweetie Drops took a minute to get her breathing out of control, before facing the princesses. "Are you two out of your bucking minds?!" she demanded furiously.
"You were right, sister," Luna said offhandedly. "She truly has no qualms about being coarse to royalty,"
"She is a joy, isn't she?" Celestia replied.
"Don't ignore me!" Sweetie Drops snapped, standing up on her hooves. "What in Faust's name is going on in your heads?!"
"The entire reason why D.E.F.R.O.S.T. was wiped under the rug was due to the Bug Bear's escape from Tartarus," Celestia said, remaining calm. "And the resulting damage and casualties within the organization,"
"Resulting damage and casualties," Sweetie Drops repeated angrily. "That's a pretty professional way of just brushing over the deaths of almost three fourths of the agency,"
Both Celestia and Luna scowled. "Do not dare suggest I take that tragedy lightly, Sweetie Drops," the former said coldly. "Even to this day I mourn for all those who were lost on that fateful day. They were MY agents - MY little ponies!"
"Do you think I don't mourn for them either?" Sweetie Drops said, scowling right back at them. "I remember every single moment of that day, every single time I go to sleep and every single day I wake up. That was also the day you turned your backs on those who were left without so much as gratitude for all that we had done! You declared D.E.F.R.O.S.T. was no more. You had every single file destroyed, wiped all traces of our headquarters and other buildings - practically burned them to the ground! And all those agents who had given their entire lives - some of them even more than that...you sent us with our bags packed against our will, forcing us to give up the greatest thing any of us had ever been apart of! You threw it all away!"
You threw ME away.
"Sweetie Drops," Luna spoke up. Her voice was soft, and it made Sweetie Drops pause in her rant. "Destroying the traces of D.E.F.R.O.S.T. was necessary to ensure the safety of everypony who remained. The Bug Bear was still at large. My sister and her spies had no idea where it could possibly be. All agents were scattered across Equestria, so that no more lives would be lost because of that foul creature,"
The princess of the night stood up and approached Sweetie Drops. "It was so that you would all be protected. And from what I have been told, the highest priority out of all of them was to protect YOU. It was you who captured the Bug Bear, and it was YOU that would suffer most if it managed to take its revenge upon you," she said, placing her hoof on Sweetie Drops shoulder. "They did not throw you away. They protected you,"
Sweetie Drops said nothing. Instead, she slowly sat down, lowering her head to glare at the floor. She was clearly conflicted. Luna stepped back and took her own seat.
It was then that Celestia broke her silence. "Sweetie Drops," she said. The earth pony did not look up, but Celestia continued on anyway. "Luna speaks the truth. I did not shut it all down and send you into hiding because I wanted to wash my hooves of D.E.F.R.O.S.T. I did it because I could not bare the thought of losing what little remained of my precious agents,"
Sweetie Drops finally looked up at her. After another moment of silence, she sighed. "I understand why you shut it all down," she admitted. "But I still do not understand what reason you would have to restart it,"
"The Bug Bear's recapturing left me with a revelation," Celestia replied. "Now that the Elements of Harmony have been returned to the Tree of Harmony, we have been left without the ultimate weapon to stop any major threat. I saw that with how Twilight and her friends battled the Bug Bear yesterday. It took them the entire day, and it was only through a lucky hit from Pinkie Pie that it was even knocked out long enough to be recaptured,"
"I would be surprised that she threw a rock so hard, but I've met her sister," Luna commented. "Those Pies are a fearsome bunch,"
Sweetie Drops was once again confused. "I know that the Elements were put out of commission...but what about the Rainbow Power?" she asked. "The force that the Friendship Council gained from the chest? They used it to instantly defeat Tirek, and change Equestria back to normal!"
"Alas, that was the sole time that they summoned the Rainbow Power," Celestia said. "Twilight and the others have tried, but they have been unable to recreate that power, and even my sister and I have no idea how to bring it forth once again. Perhaps the Rainbow Power itself decides when it shall become available for them to use. However, I realize that we cannot simply count on that to happen the next time a dangerous creature decides to cause mayhem in this nation. Equestria needs a defense against these attacks. And not just for monsters. Any major threat to Equestria, be it rogue or supernatural-"
"Title drop," Luna muttered to herself.
"-It will be stopped. But first, we need somepony to put a stop to it," Celestia finished.
"So...what?" Sweetie Drops asked, trying to wrap her head around what she was hearing. "Are you going to have the Elements of Harmony join? Will you be recruiting? I just...I don't see how you can just restart an organization like D.E.F.R.O.S.T. right out of the blue,"
"To answer your first question," Luna spoke up. "The six mares who once made up the Elements of Harmony will not be apart of this new version of D.E.F.R.O.S.T. They will be much too busy with the matters regarding the Friendship Council and the Cutie Map,"
"Is it actually being called that?" Sweetie Drops could not help but ask.
"Yes," Luna replied.
"...That's so stupid,"
"I completely agree,"
"To answer your second question," Celestia once again got the discussion back on track (she seemed to be doing that a lot lately). "Things with this new edition of D.E.F.R.O.S.T. will be done...a tad differently,"
"How so?" Sweetie Drops asked.
"First of all, this organization will not be so large," Celestia explained. "Monster attacks have not depleted enough in the past four years that not restarting the agency would be unnecessary, but they have begun to only occur in separate occasions. We see no need to have an abundance of agents to handle multiple assignments at once. In addition, we hope that this new team will be formed with solely the best of the best - even if the need to split agents into separate missions would be needed, the agents themselves would be fully capable of handling these things on their own. We envision that this new team would consist of about ten ponies,"
"Because of this decision," Luna took over speaking. "It has also been decided that there will be no need for multiple bases as in the past. Operations will proceed out of a single location - a new HQ, if you will,"
"Alright," Sweetie Drops nodded, absorbing all of this information. "That makes sense. Where would you place this new HQ?"
"We have made up plans to build it underground," Celestia responded. "The current plan is to build the headquarters in Ponyville,"
At that, Sweetie Drops's brow shot up in surprise. "Really?" she asked. "You wish to build your new organization in the home of the Princess of Friendship? Is that not too much of a risk, both to the town AND to the secrecy of the agency? Unless you plan on informing Twilight Sparkle of the agency anyway,"
"No, I do not," Celestia replied. "At least, not now. Twilight is too busy with matters of harmony to be burdened with this knowledge,"
"Plus, for all her intelligence, she knows nothing about monster hunting," Luna added.
"....That is also true,"
"I guess I can see your reasoning," Sweetie Drops continued, thinking it over. "Besides, it would be better to place it near the Everfree Forest anyway. It is the most unpredictable regarding rogue forces,"
Luna nodded. "That is correct," she said. "However, we also wish to place the HQ in Ponyville because it would allow you to remain in constant close proximity,"
Sweetie Drops furrowed her brow. "So, I was right in assuming that you would want me to rejoin D.E.F.R.O.S.T.,"
"No,"
Sweetie Drops turned to Celestia, confused once again. "What? What do you mean? If you don't want me to rejoin D.E.F.R.O.S.T., why else would you have me come all the way to Canterlot?...Do you want me to act in an adviser fashion or something?"
"We do not wish for you to simply rejoin, Sweetie Drops," Celestia continued. "We want you to become the leader,"
If she thought that nothing else would shock her today, she was dead wrong. Sweetie Drops stared at both princesses, utterly stunned. For quite a while, words failed her. Then, she somehow managed to find her voice.
"Leader?..." she repeated, shaking her head. "You-You want me to lead D.E.F.R.O.S.T.?"
"Before the original organization fell," Luna said. "You were one of the most prominent agent in the whole place. Not only did you single-hoofidly take down the Bug Bear during its first reign of terror, but you broke agency records in how fast you rose from the position of a rookie agent to the position of senior agent,"
"Five years," Sweetie Drops said, remembering the party that was thrown for her to mark the occasion. So many of the faces in the memory were the faces of those who she would never see again. She shook the thought away, and turned back to the princesses.
"So that is your offer? You want me to lead this new team?" she asked.
Both princesses nodded. "We truly believe there is no better pony for the job, Sweetie Drops," Celestia added. "You were one of the most remarkable agents I have ever seen,"
Sweetie Drops shook her head. "There has to be another pony that would be better suited for this. What about the other agents that were around during the shut down?"
"We have looked into each of them," Luna said. "Most of them have gone on to other lines of work, and we do not believe that they would be willing to step back into the monster hunting business. The rest simply do not match up to your qualifications,"
"Princesses, I'm flattered, but I truly do not believe-" Sweetie Drops began trying to refuse them again.
"We are not the only ones who thought this, Sweetie Drops," Celestia interrupted her. "Agent Coal Sun once told us that he believed you would one day sweep his job right out from under him,"
At the name, Sweetie Drops froze. "C-Coal Sun?" she stuttered. "Did.......Did he really?"
Celestia nodded solemnly. "He followed that by saying he would gladly let you. He was very proud of everything you accomplished, Sweetie Drops,"
"I....I..." Sweetie Drops could not find the words to finish her statement.
"If anypony would want you to do this, it would have been him," Luna said quietly.
Sweetie Drops looked down at the floor, suddenly blinking back tears. It had been so long since she had thought about her old mentor. She always thought that he was the greatest there ever was. That nopony could ever be greater, no matter how hard he tried. But...but to hear that he had believed that she was good enough for it...
"If you wish to take some time and think it over, we will not begrudge you for it," Luna said, breaking her thoughts.
Sweetie Drops took a deep breath. "No....No, I don't need to think it over,"
Both princesses sat still and silent, waiting for her to give them her answer. Sweetie Drops took a few more moments to compose herself, before looking up at the monarchs before her.
"I accept," Sweetie Drops said.
Celestia smiled. "Excellent. We must-"
"On one condition,"
The princess stopped, and looked down at the earth pony before her. "Oh?" she inquired, raising a suspicious brow. "And what is this condition?"
"I will accept the position of leader...if I am allowed to assemble this team on my own, with ponies of my own choosing," Sweetie Drops said.
Celestia's eyes widened. "Sweetie Drops, I am unsure if I can allow that-"
"If you truly can trust me with your organization, then trust me to find the best team of ponies you would ever get," Sweetie Drops said, voice determined. "You say you want ponies who can take down the baddest monsters? I can find them. Let me find them and make this team the greatest team it has the potential to be. Please princess,"
Celestia felt a nudge at her side. Looking over, she saw Luna giving her an equally determined look. Sighing, Celestia eventually nodded. "Very well. Sweetie Drops, you may assemble the team on your own terms,"
"Thank you," Sweetie Drops replied.
I already have a couple in mind...
The meeting finished shortly afterwards. Celestia and Luna agreed to send ponies to have the base built that very day. They would work covertly, as to avoid drawing too much attention. Sweetie Drops doubted that in a place like Ponyville they would go completely unnoticed, but she would allow the princesses to do their work.
Now, Sweetie Drops was once again thinking very hard, walking through the streets of Canterlot. Accepting the position of leader had come much easier than she would have ever expected, even if she had known before today that such an offer was coming her way. Just last night she was preparing to say goodbye to that life for good, and look forward to a simple life as a candy maker.
...Oh, who was she kidding? Sweetie Drops missed that life. She missed the satisfaction of protecting her nation from evil creatures and forces. The lack of recognition did not bother her. It was the work that she loved. Thinking back on the last four years, she knew that had this offer come sooner, she would have accepted it just as quickly.
It also probably had to do with what they said about Coal Sun...I mean, did he truly think that of me? she thought.
She could dwell on that later. For now, she had to hold up her end of the work - finding her team. Celestia had asked that they get a minimum of ten ponies. When Sweetie Drops had asked, Celestia had amended that, yes, they didn't have to strictly be ponies. That had been an issue Sweetie Drops had disliked about the old D.E.F.R.O.S.T.
Sweetie Drops had several different ideas in mind. She would have a lot of work to do over the next few days.
Luckily, the first pony that had come to mind was currently residing in the exact same city.
With that thought, Sweetie Drops stopped walking, having reached her next destination. She looked over the building for a moment, a smile spreading across her face.
"Donuts. Just what I was in the mood for..."
