Everything

“This is my fault, isn’t it?”

Bon Bon sighed and glanced up at the brown pony sitting next to her. “Side, it’s fine.”

Side Arm bit his lip, tapping his right hoof on the trailer’s floor. “It’s not! They’re just probies! I should have gone with them!”

“Hey! Listen! It’s not your fault, there was no way we could have known that pony would be in the apartment,” Bon Bon said, resting a hoof on her friend’s withers. “... If anything, it should be my fault. Thought they could handle an apartment search without issue.” She sighed, fiddling with the zipper on her raid jacket. “... I guess they can’t.”

“Agent Bon Bon? We’re here,” shouted the agent driving the trailer.

Bon Bon hopped out, Side Arm following. The two put on sunglasses and trotted over to an ambulance nearby. Applejack was standing nearby, blood staining her raid jacket. “Hey Bon,” she said.

“Applejack, you alright?”

The pony nodded. “Yeah, this is all her blood. I helped her stabilize her injury until the paramedics could get here.” She jerked her head to the ambulance. “She’s in there.”

“Watch it!” Rainbow snapped at a paramedic.

“Sorry, ma’am.” The unicorn ducked out of the ambulance, noticing Bon Bon and Side Arm.

“Your agent will be ok. It was just a graze wound, nothing serious. As for her remaining on duty-”

“Afraid we don’t have time to take her off duty,” Bon Bon mused. “We’re on a tight schedule. Thanks.” The paramedic nodded and trotted to the front of the ambulance as Rainbow climbed out of the ambulance, fiddling with a bandage near her shoulder.

“You good, Dash?” asked Bon Bon.

“Just a graze. I’m fine.”

Side Arm sighed in relief. “Good to hear. Getting shot on your first day… that’s just bad luck.”

“Maybe. But hey, I’ve got a cool new scar now,” remarked Rainbow.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. “Glad you’re fine. You find anything interesting in the apartment?”

“I only saw him for a second, but it was definitely the guy from the security camera,” said Rainbow Dash. “He looked pretty banged up, too. Did you catch him?”

“Nah, lost he was long gone by the time we got here,” Side Arm answered.

“Great.” Rainbow slumped her shoulders. “Did we at least get a clue or something?”

Applejack held up an evidence bag. “Ah found this train ticket on the ground. Can’t make out the destination since it’s covered in blood.”

“He trying to skip town?” questioned Side Arm. “That’s crazy, every station’s got their eyes out for him.”

Bon Bon nodded in agreement. “There’s got to be something else.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “Alright, you two, get back to HQ.”

“You sure? I can still help,” protested Rainbow.

“Yeah, no. I’m sure. Go. You two, Applejack.” Applejack attempted to interject, but Bon Bon glared at her, and the mare relented.

Side Arm gave his friend a worried glance as the two headed back to their wagon. “Bon… you alright?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine…” Bon Bon gazed at one of the trailers, a memory flashing through her mind.

6 Years Ago...

Bon Bon skidded to a stop in front of the trailer, it's lights flashing through the night sky like a lighthouse on the shore. “Lyra!”

The mint green unicorn glanced up, biting her lip. A headset was slung around her neck. “Bon…”

“What the hay happened?”

Lyra sighed. “It’s… not good. They made us, and everything went south.” Bon Bon blinked, then turned away, seeing an ambulance parked nearby. She took off, leaving Lyra behind. Braeburn was standing near the ambulance, talking with a paramedic. A sniper rifle was slung across his shoulder. He looked up, seeing Bon running towards them.

“Bon… Ah tried, damn it. There were too many of ‘em. Couldn’t shoot fast enough.”

“It’s fine, Brae. I shouldn’t have taken this stupid vacation,” Bon replied. “Where is everyone?”

“Spitfire and Daring are inside, canvassing, and Min… She’s in there,” he replied, pointing to the ambulance.

Bon Bon glanced at the paramedic, who nodded at her. She climbed into the ambulance to see the blue unicorn laying on a stretcher, hooked up to several different machines. Minuette opened her eyes and smiled at Bon. “Hey… Boss! Sorry, I’m a bit… loopy right now.”

“I’m just glad you’re alright,” Bon replied, sitting next to her. “What’s the verdict?”

“Eh, nothing that bad… just a few magic spells and stuff and I’ll be… good as new,” slurred the unicorn.

Bon Bon smiled and stood. “Great… Rest easy.” She ducked out of the ambulance, entering the dilapidated building riddled with bullet holes. Daring Do and Spitfire were inside, laying out yellow crime scene markers. They looked up as she entered.

“Hey Bon,” greeted Daring. “Doc Graves is on his way.”

The mare looked around the room. Several ponies were sprawled out on the ground, blood soaking the tiles. Weapons and bullets lay scattered on the ground, most unused. “What… What did I miss?”

Spitfire sighed. “Well… Min went in alone, as planned. Brae was sniping and we were close. It seemed to be going well, then one of them drew a gun and called her a royal agent. Lyra called it, and the shooting started.”

“Yeah,” continued Daring. “Brae took down the first, gave Colgate time to draw. She took down two others, but then she got hit. We went in hard, but there were 3 of them watching the door. By the time we fought our way in, Brae had taken down the rest, but… Colgate was out by the time we got here. I thought she was gone, damn it!”

Bon lay a hoof on the pegasus’s shoulder. “Hey, relax. She’ll live, Minuette’s a tough pony.”

Daring drew a deep breath and nodded.

“Look, I know we all feel that we’re to blame,” Bon continued, “but let’s not focus on what we didn’t do. Look at what we did do.” She gestured around the room as Braeburn and Lyra entered. “We took down over a dozen terrorists in less than 5 minutes. Sure, it wasn’t pretty and one of us was injured, but none of us could have seen it coming. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me. I should have been the one who went in, not Minuette.”

The other agents frowned, muttering their disagreement. “The point is, we can’t let our mistakes get us down. We are one of the best teams in the RDI, and we can’t forget that.”

Now

Bon Bon sighed, turning away from the trailer. “Let’s… let’s go search the room.”

“Okay…” Side Arm followed her, filled with concern and uncertainty.

“I mean, it hurts a little, but it’s fine,” Rainbow declared.

Rarity raised an eyebrow in uncertainty. “... If you say so, dear.”

“She’s right,” chimed in Fluttershy. “Graze wounds are painful but aren’t that bad.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. She crossed her forelegs and leaned back in her chair, muttering under her breath.

“Uh… did you say something, Applejack?” questioned Twilight.

“What’s her problem?” asked the southern mare.

Twilight blinked. “Who?”

“Bon Bon. She’s hidin’ somethin’. Ah can feel it.”

“I think it’s just you,” replied Rainbow, tossing the challenge coin in the air.

“Haven’t you noticed? All the senior agents are givin’ us looks! And when the hay did you take mah coin?”

Rainbow snickered. “We’re just that amazing, I guess. And you left the coin on the counter earlier.”

She tossed it in the air again, only to have it snatched out of the air by Pinkie.

“You have a point,” mused Twilight. “I think there’s something else going on here.” She pressed a button on her remote and pressed a button. The monitor blinked to life, and several images of different ponies popped up. “Alright! So, before our team, Special Agent Bon Bon worked with these ponies.”

The other agents gathered around, staring at Twilight. “... When did you put this together?”

“While you guys were at the warehouse. Anyways, her previous team was called ‘Team Guardian’ because of all the work they did to keep Equestria safe. She worked with Special Agents Lyra, Minuette, Spitfire, Daring Do, and Braeburn.”

Twilight pressed another button. “They also worked with other agents, including Special Agents Lock Pick, Side Arm, Wire Tap, and Cover Story. Team Guardian was well known and thought to be one of the best teams in the RDI. Special Agent Bon Bon was offered jobs all across Equestria, yet she refused all of them. But, for some reason, the team was disbanded about a decade after it was formed.”

The unicorn pressed a button, and the images changed into pictures of official documents and letters. “Braeburn, Daring Do, and Spitfire resigned. Minuette and Lyra were transferred to other field offices, but Bon Bon stayed.”

“Um… Twilight? These look very official… where did you get these?” whispered Fluttershy.

“I just asked some friends, it’s no big deal,” responded Twilight.

“No big deal?! I’m pretty sure half of these documents are still classified,” said Rarity as she eyed the letters on the screen.

“The point,” interjected Twilight, “is that none of it makes sense. Why would half of the team resign, and the other half be transferred out?”

“They wouldn’t,” replied Applejack. “Not willin’ly, at least.”

The others glanced at her. “What do you mean?” asked Rainbow.

The mare sighed. “Well… Y’all know Braeburn’s mah cousin? While back, he told me he was leavin’ the RDI. Ah was confused, mah whole family was. He loved the RDI. He said that… somethin’ happened, and he chose to take a hit for his friend. After he left… well, Ah ain’t too sure. He disappeared. Can’t find him now. But Ah knew from the start that this Bon Bon mare had somethin’ to do with it. So Ah swore to find out what she did and why he quit.” She stood from her desk. “No one hurts Mah family,” she remarked.

“Hey, that’s what I like to say!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, apparently oblivious to Applejack’s underlying message. “No one hurts my friends and gets away with it! And I’m friends with everyone! Well, except bad ponies. No, they are the ones who pay, after all!” the pink mare giggled to herself.

“Well, I want to know what happened too, but I can’t get the documents about whatever happened,” said Twilight. “If we want to find out what happened, we’re going to have to ask around.”

“Um, I don’t think it’s our business,” whispered Fluttershy. “Besides, I don’t think Agent Bon Bon wants to talk about it.”

Rarity huffed. “Well, my dear, this matter does concern us. It would appear that Agent Bon Bon has some reservations which could affect us negatively.”

Twilight nodded. “I agree. Whatever happened to Team Guardian, Bon Bon isn’t over it, and it’s still bothering her.”

“Damn right something’s bothering me!” The agents flinched as Bon Bon breezed into the squad room. “We’ve got a terrorist attack imminent, and not a single lead. So why are you all standing around and gossiping?! Get to work!” she barked.

Wire Tap and Cover Story glanced at each other. “Hey, Bon? Can we have a word with you?” Asked Wire Tap.

The machine clanked as it spat out a soda. “You sure you don’t want one?” asked Wire Tap as he popped the cap of grape soda.

“Yes, I’m sure,” answered Bon Bon, stressing out the first word. “What did you want to talk about?”

Cover Story sighed. “Bon, look. You’re being hard on them.”

“They’re probies, Cove,” scoffed Bon Bon. “Someone’s gotta teach them.”

“True, but not even Dead Drop was as hard on us as you are. Everyone’s noticing. Us, Lock, Side Arm, even Doc Graves.” He glanced at Wire Tap. “I get that you might not be over what happened to Team Guardian, but you shouldn’t take it out on them. We’re here for you, Bon.”

Bon Bon sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I know. I know.”

“It doesn’t help that you’ve got a connection to OP-4,” chimed in Wire Tap. “That whole mess with Free Fire hurt us all, Bon.”

“And it showed us how important it is to stop them,” Bon Bon replied as she stood. “And I’m not going to let anyone stand in my way.” She trotted out of the room, leaving the two senior agents alone in a worried silence.