Sweetie Drops knew that when she was summoned to Canterlot, it wasn't for anything good. It had been less than a week since the bugbear's escape, which was quickly decided to be one of the biggest security leaks in the MDF's history. She guessed that either she was about to be dismissed, or else sent somewhere inhospitable like the frozen north. The punishment patrol, it was called.
“It wouldn't be so bad, being head of the punishment patrol, right?” she thought to herself, grinding her teeth as she walked through the city. “I'm sure there are perfectly decent ponies there. They can't have all be insubordinate. Maybe they just had uncontrollable problems. Like me. Yeah. That would be fine.”
Her own pep talk fell on deaf ears.
Sweetie checked the streets twice before darting into an unassuming alleyway. The secrecy of the MDF was found not in hiding underground, or in some far-off cave. They found that an unassuming door with the words “employees only” worked far better for keeping ponies from being curious, even when the door was attached to no visible business. She unlocked the door in the alley and just strode right in.
The round table was already set up. Sweetie noticed an unusual crowd at the long conference table, with only one seat left open for her. By the looks of it, the head ponies of every branch in Equestria had been summoned, though she had expected it to be only her. That thought was pushed to the back of her mind, though, by the pony dwarfing everyone else.
“Your Majesty,” she breathed, as she bowed to Princess Celestia.
“Sit, Agent Sweetie Drops,” Celestia commanded. She did not sound angry, at least.
Sweetie Drops took the last available seat and again surveyed her peers. She counted a total of 18 ponies, including her and the Princess. Even in times of crisis, it was rare that every branch would be called to a meeting. What was going on today?
“You all surely have the same question on your minds,” Celestia said. “I will answer it. Recently, there has been a massive security leak from Tartarus, as you have already read about. I am not blind to the good work you ponies have done over the past thirty years in my service. Your organization has given everything – your time, your liberty, your very lives – to protecting the ponies of this nation, and for that, I am grateful.”
“But...” Sweetie thought to herself.
“But a leak of this magnitude cannot be ignored.”
And with that, every pair of eyes was on Sweetie Drops. As the Princess stayed silent, she realized this was her chance to make a defense, or else hold her tongue forever. But what defense could she make?
“Your Majesty, I am truly sorry for the escape of the bugbear. As the leader of the Tartarus team, it was my responsibility to ensure nothing escaped, and in this, I failed. I take full responsibility, and I only request that you are lenient towards my subordinate agents,” Sweetie said, with a bow of her head.
“I appreciate your integrity, Agent Sweetie Drops,” Celestia said compassionately. “I am afraid, however, that the time for your services has come to an end... All of your services.”
A collective gasp rose from around the table, as every agent there suddenly realized what was going on. The Monster Defense Force was being disbanded.
“Your Majesty!” Sweetie exclaimed. “I'll take the blame, but please-!”
“No, Agent!” Celestia bellowed, using her Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in years. She quickly quieted. “This is not the first security leak in recent years. Should I remind you of the brown naga in Hoofsburg, or the chimera in Ponyville?”
“My division took care of that chimera in just days, Your Majesty!” one of the stallions at the table protested.
“After it sent three ponies to the hospital for poison treatment and nearly devoured a colt!” Celestia scolded. “It took four weeks just to divert the press from the truth about its attacks! It seems clear to me that, for all the good intentions in the world, this organization has gotten sloppy. I have only a few tasks left before I sign the papers at the end of the month.”
Celestia's horn glowed as several job files flew out to each pony at the table. They all opened their files and frowned as they read the contents. For most, it was the same: destroy any evidence of the organization's existence, including their bases if feasible. The alien-hunting organization in Cartiff would apparently be assisting (Sweetie never did like them much, though). In addition, Sweetie's division was to create myths of a guard dog keeping demons at bay in Tartarus. She'd question Celestia about that later.
“I want complete deniability of the Monster Defense Force's existence. Do I make myself clear?” Celestia asked imperiously.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” everypony said at once.
It must have been a sight, coming back to the Tartarus base. Sweetie Drops was followed by a massive, three-headed dog on a leash that frankly would not be able to hold it if it ran. As Cherry Heart and White Flame ran out to meet their boss, they looked with confusion between the dog and the much smaller, slightly distraught pony.
“Ma'am, what kind of monster is that?” White Flame asked. Sweetie just mumbled something inaudible. “Ma'am?”
“It's... our replacement. We're all fired," Sweetie mumbled, this time more clearly.
There were the gasps. White Flame looked surprised enough, but Cherry took it even worse. She began bawling her eyes out on the spot. Sweetie recoiled a bit before the great dog behind her walked up and began licking the sobbing mare with all three heads. Three foot-long tongues provide a lot of slobber, and Cherry only stopped crying in surprise and disgust at suddenly being soaked.
"This is our replacement?" White Flame repeated incredulously. "What is it, even?"
"A bulldog," Sweetie answered. "A magically altered and specially trained one, but still just a bulldog."
"So, what, is our new job to clean up poop in Tartarus?" White Flame asked dully.
"Well, no." Sweetie reached into her saddlebags and pulled out files for her two friends. "Everything you need to know is in these. Your future is up to you. You may keep enough supplies or tools of your choice to fill a single 1.4 cubic meter briefcase, and everything else is getting destroyed. This includes your former identities."
"What? We can't even keep our names?" Cherry exclaimed, looking ready to burst into tears again.
"I'm sorry. This whole ordeal... it comes from the Princess herself. There's nothing I can do," Sweetie said, regret clear in her tone. She tried to sound more optimistic. "Please, don't see this as the end. It's just... it's a chance to get a fresh start. Like, you're a really amazing baker. Maybe you can follow your special talent now, instead of living out in the middle of nowhere like we do. I'd pay your bakery a visit, for sure!"
"I don't want to be a baker. Not for a career. I was going to put my heart and soul into this job. I wanted to keep ponies safe," Cherry said, sniffling.
"I've never even considered a life outside of the Defense Force," White Flame said shakily. "My parents were in the first generation of it, I'm in the second..."
"And there won't be a third, because it's not just us. The entire organization is going down, and it's my fault," Sweetie said, shaking her head solemnly. "I'm truly sorry, girls. Let's just enjoy our jobs while we still have them. We've got to make an entire legend around Sloppy here."
"Yes, ma'am," the mares said in unison, neither voice enthused.
The three mares were seated around their dining table. Cerberus was put inside of Tartarus to begin his duties, leaving them to manage their own job. However, none of them knew where to begin.
"Just how do you make a legend in less than a month?" Cherry asked, breaking the awkward silence. "The very definition of a legend is in being ancient."
"Yeah, and we need to pretend Sloppy is ancient. He's both our replacement and the cover-up for our existence here," Sweetie replied.
"Can we start with a cooler name?" White Flame asked. "Like... Fenrir!"
"Cŵn!" Cherry suggested.
"Shisa!" White Flame shouted.
"Cerberus!" Cherry countered.
"Sirius!" White Flame said, slamming a hoof on the table triumphantly.
"Anub-" Cherry began, before being cut off by a raised hoof from Sweetie.
"I preferred Cerberus, myself. Any objections, White Flame?" Sweetie asked, mostly to move things along.
"Eh, I guess not. It is a pretty cool name," the pegasus admitted.
"Alright, Cerberus. Onto more important matters, we need to come up with the legend behind the dog. Its creation, how it was forced into servitude, how old it is, so on and so forth," Sweetie said. On cue, Cherry levitated a quill and notepad.
"Wait... do we really have to?" Cherry asked. "The ponies out there know almost nothing about Tartarus, after all, beyond that it exists. Could we not simply say that Cerberus has been there for as long as ponies are aware of? The less details we give out, the less holes inquisitive ponies could dig into."
"You have a good point. Actually, if we just faked a discovery somewhere..." Sweetie trailed off. "Cherry, we're going to make scrolls of vague legends and enchant them to look older than they really are. Then we need to hide them. White Flame, I'm putting you in charge of getting in touch with the archeological society. Get them to investigate the site and find the scrolls. Everything after that is out of our hooves."
"This is a really weird job..." Cherry said.
Luckily, things went off without a hitch, besides a few questions about just how this cache was learned about. White Flame decided to toss the discovery off on some stallion named Doctor Caballeron. Being an opportunistic archeologist, he was more than happy to play along with the cover story the mare fed him, especially when it catapulted his status among his peers. It also meant he was able to sell the scrolls for a pretty bit. The mares had a good laugh about how gullible they all were.
Sadly, all good things come to an end, including the last month of their careers...
Author's Note
Bonus points to those who catch the shout-out to another show.
The end of the month rolled around, and the now jobless ponies of the Monster Defense Force were putting the last of the evidence to the torch. The three mares of the Tartarus division stood together a good way away from their former base, now up in flames. Though they knew this was coming, it was still hard not to be emotional. They hated their tiny base, but it had been home. Sweetie Drops put a loving forehoof around Cherry Heart, who was crying softly. On the other side, White Flame drooped a wing over the unicorn's back.
"I... I'm going to miss you two," Cherry said.
"Not more than I'll miss you. You two were... astounding. My best friends," Sweetie said, holding back a choke of her own. "I-I'll be living in Ponyville, in case either of you ever drop by. What about you girls?"
"I don't know yet. Probably move to Cloudsdale, maybe get a weather job while I'm figuring things out," White Flame said. "I'll be going by Fleetfoot, if you find a way up there."
"I think... I might just explore... See where life takes me," Cherry said. "And whatever destiny throws my way, I'll take it. I decided to call myself Sugar Belle in my new life."
"And I'll be Bon Bon. You can find me following my special talent: making candy," Sweetie said.
The mares stood in silence for a long while as the fire of the base shrank smaller. As the last embers were fading, and the sun set in the distance, they shared one last group hug, swearing to keep in touch in their new lives. They then split up for the last time, each one going their own way.
Over time, Bon Bon became a familiar face in Ponyville. She was often seen with her best friend, a unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings. Though no longer a monster hunter, she kept in shape and was noted to be on the athletic side for her profession. She kept her old life under tight wraps, but when the bugbear surfaced again, she admitted her secret to her friend. Luckily, Lyra was not the type to betray trust.
Fleetfoot went on to be scouted by the Wonderbolts for her acrobatic activity and stamina. Recruited onto Spitfire's own squad, she became one of the most recognized faces in Equestria. Fame and fortune followed every flap of her wings.
Finally, Sugar Belle found herself in Our Town after wandering for almost a year. Believing in Sunset Glimmer's promise of a better life, she willingly became one of the first to have her Cutie Mark removed. She eventually became one of very few skeptics, which allowed the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to break the curse holding the ponies in false contentment. From then on, she remained in the town as the resident baker.
Though the mares went their own ways, they never forgot their roots. Contact between them became almost non-existent, but to this day, they still consider the others their friends. As they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Author's Note
And so we finish my glorified headcanon posting. Hope you enjoyed.
Like a Bugbear Outta Hell
The Monster Defense Force (MDF) isn't exactly common knowledge. It was a secret organization stationed primarily in Canterlot, though agents ran branches in any monster-prone city and even on the very edges of civilization. Up until 9 years ago, they were Equestria's first line of defense against monsters in any location, from the Everfree Forest to Tartarus itself. When a pack of timber wolves attacked Ponyville, they were there. When a manticore ambushed traders, they were there. When a demon appeared, they were there.
The MDF held the keys to Tartarus itself. It was the world's most secure prison, built into a mountain with levels descending hundreds of feet into the earth. If a monster was too nasty to let escape, and too difficult to put down for good, they would seal the beast up behind the magically-treated gates of hell. Thought impossible to open or break, a small branch of the MDF still operated in a building near the gates. After all, a monster that spent all of its energy just escaping would be an easy match for two or three trained ponies, right?
Well, you know what they say: hindsight is 20/20.
Our story begins a little less than ten years ago. Before we start, meet the Tartarus team.
Agent Sweetie Drops was the senior officer at the station. A tough Earth-pony mare who may have enjoyed dramatic flares a bit too much, she was still considered one of the best agents in the business. In fact, a few of the monsters in Tartarus were ones she had put there herself, or at least been on the team for. She lead her subordinates kindly, but with a stern hoof for protocol.
Agent Cherry Heart was the unicorn agent of the team. Younger than Sweetie Drops, she was bright pink with a purple mane, and was always a cheerful soul in spite of their job. Admittedly not a strong magic-user, she made friends nonetheless by providing delicious confections on an otherwise dreary diet. Her official role on the squad was that of “magic artillery”, but everypony on the team knew that she was more cleverly used as a trapper.
Finally, Agent White Flame was the pegasus agent of the team. A blue mare with a shortly-cropped white mane, she was a noted aerial acrobat. Her job was to take down opponents flying too high for the rest of the team, and often act as bait for Cherry Heart's traps. She didn't mind the jobs, she got a thrill from out-flying monsters.
It wasn't like the Tartarus office was exactly large. Little more than a shack with a limited monster-capturing armory in the cellar, it had everything the three ponies stationed there needed, and almost nothing else. It was a situation often complained about, but the team understood it was just a fact of life.
Sweetie Drops woke up at 5 AM every morning, while Celestia's moon still hung overhead. Even at this early hour, she was usually the second awake. She never saw White Flame go to sleep, and she never saw the pegasus wake up. It seemed to her that the mare just never went to sleep. Cherry Heart, on the other hoof, would wake up for nothing less than the smell of breakfast – annoying on days she was supposed to cook it.
Today, Sweetie Drops found herself woken early. White Flame shook her frantically, a worried expression clear on her face. She rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly, morning breath hitting her subordinate clearly.
“Agent, what is it?” Sweetie asked.
“Listen,” White Flame ordered.
The two waited in silence for only a few seconds. Then, there was a massive sound of banging outside. It sounded like something living was slamming itself into metal. Sweetie needed only a brief moment to identify the sound.
“Do you have ID on the attempted escapee?” Sweetie asked seriously, as she dove to her hooves.
“Bugbear. I think it may be the one we brought in a few months ago. Manehattan?” White Flame answered.
“Nasty thing,” Sweetie muttered, remembering all too well the difficulty in bringing the beast down. “Alright, get Cherry awake. I'll gather supplies for bringing it down on the chance it gets past the-”
That was when they heard the loudest smash yet. It was followed by the sound of massive swinging gates and a crash as the gates hit the mountainside they were moored to. Sweetie's eyes widened in fear as they heard a roar outside, followed by others.
“New plan, we're going to red alert!” Sweetie declared. “First priority is to get those gates closed, before anything else gets out! Second priority is to put the bugbear back! We'll work on the cover story later!”
“Ma'am, yes, ma'am!”
It was surprisingly easy to wake Cherry up for a monster attack, or escape as the case may be. The ponies ran out of their base laden with tools and weapons. Though they scanned the skies for signs of the bugbear, there were none. They decided to again push that to the back of their minds as they ran up the mountain path to the gates.
The situation was as feared. The ominous black gates of Tartarus were flung wide open. They were two massive gates with metal bars, each one almost twelve feet high (about four pony-heights), and each one would require all three ponies just to close. They noticed in the darkness beyond several pairs of large eyes open and watching, and the sounds of scrambling and chains rattling.
Sweetie pulled a rope and grappling hook from her body, and the others did the same. As one well-oiled machine, they hooked onto the bars of the left gate and pulled hard. The gates were every bit as heavy as they looked, but the ponies were determined. In just ten minutes, the left gate was closed, and they set to work on the right gate.
“A-Agent Sweetie Drops... permission... to speak?” Cherry asked between hard tugs with her magic. Sweetie's mouth was occupied pulling her own rope, but she nodded. “How are we going... to secure these... again?”
This brought up a problem Sweetie had not thought of. She glanced upward, where the old chains swung from the upper gates with broken links. There would be no way to repair them on the spot; they'd have to find a temporary measure until they could contact headquarters.
“Use a treating spell on our ropes for now. It doesn't need to be permanent, just last for a day or so,” Sweetie said, dropping her rope for just a moment to speak. “We'll tie the gates together.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Cherry replied.
When the gates were shut firmly together, they began tying the metal bars together with their rope. It didn't take but a minute for that to be done, but Cherry's spellcasting would take significantly longer. As said, she wasn't a very strong unicorn.
“White Flame, survey the skies while she casts. Need a two-mile perimeter. If you catch sight of the bugbear, report back immediately,” Sweetie ordered.
White Flame nodded quickly and took off. By the time she came back, an hour later, the spell was complete and the doors were sealed. Unfortunately, her facial expression said all that needed to be said about the situation. Sweetie mentally kicked herself for what just happened, and she knew the higher-ups weren't going to let her off easy for it.
“No signs?” she asked with a frown.
“Nothing. We'll have to pick up the trail the long way,” White Flame reported.
“Alright, let's get in touch with headquarters. Maybe we won't lose our jobs over this...”
