Three hundred years ago

“Attention! Officer on deck!” The weary sentry barks dutifully, although in this case 'deck' referred to a resin coated chamber nearly a mile below ground.

“At ease. Everypony at ease.” Princess Celestia says as she enters.

All of the ponies in the room visibly sag. To say the fighting had been intense, was a gross understatement. It had taken a week to break through the defenses and storm the main hive. Five more days were spent clearing passage after passage. Five days of ambushes, traps, and unending darkness. Then after all of that to find THIS. It left a pony feeling bitter. It robs a pony of his compassion, and makes him just want to burn the whole changeling race to ashes.

Celestia surveyed the faces of the ponies before her. These were her officers. Her veterans. These ponies had seen more battle than any since the loss of the Order/Chaos War. Celestia was used to seeing what the effects of battle had on her subjects. She had sadly seen it all to often. But never before could she recall seeing such a mixture of hate and despair before. What had Princess Chrysalis done? What line had she dared to cross in the name of conquest and uniting the hives that could make her most hardened ponies come so close to losing control?

“They are in there I take it?” Celestia asks, pointing a hoof at a thick iron clad door at the back of the room. "The ones you told me about in your report".

A door in a changeling hive is unusual enough. But even a casual glance at this one and the viewer could tell that whatever was behind it, they wanted to make sure it could not get free.

“Yes Princess.” General Steel Shod, replies, then hastens to add, “but I should caution you, one of our soldiers had opened a cell when he first arrived. It was an honest mistake, she thought she was setting them free you see, that she was saving them. She had no way of knowing… NONE of us had any way to know what would happen when she… when she-” the General breaks off with a shudder, putting his head in his hooves.

Celestia braces herself for the worst. “And this soldier, where is she now?”

“Private Sterling Silver your highness. And what's left of her is still inside. With that THING!” He says vehemently. “It was all we could do to manage to seal the door back up. I doubt it has freed any of the others. I don't think it really cares about them, or anything other than itself.”

Princess Celestia moves toward the door.

“One other thing, your highness,” the General says as he and his staff begin backing away toward the other side of the room. “After we sealed the door and the noise died down, we could distinctly hear the sounds of bones breaking, trust me, it's a sound any pony that has seen battle knows all too well. But then we also heard the sounds of what seemed to be that of an animal feeding. I worry that after that… creature… finished killing poor Silver, that it may have… may have...”

“I see.” Celestia said, still facing the door, her expression becoming gaunt. Very well General. I'm going inside. After I do, seal this door behind me. I'll let you know when to open it once more.”

“No your highness.” He said surging to his hooves. “There is no way that I, or any of us, could allow you to face that thing on your own. At the very least a contingent of guards should precede you, to try and keep it at bay. And who knows for sure if it HASN'T freed any of the rest. There are dozens of them in there.”

“General, I appreciate your concern for my safety, but if you wish to continue to lead my armies you WILL NOT contradict my orders again!” She finishes hotly. “This war has taken a toll on all of us. Too many ponies will be waiting in vain for their loved ones to return from this siege. I will not add to that total by one more pony! I'm an immortal. The worst that can happen is that I take hurt from this, and any such hurt as I do take will heal within a matter of hours. Trust me General, there is nothing on the other side of this door that can do me any lasting harm.”

“Y-yes Princess, of course. We shall do as you say.” The General motions with his head and two burly earth ponies move to stand on either side of the door.

Celestia takes a calming breath and opens the door with her magic, bracing herself for attack. Silence is the only thing that rushes to meet her. Silence, and the darkness within.

Celestia steps forward into the room, and with a nod to the ponies outside, they quickly seal the door closed once again.

She ignites her horn, casting light into the chamber before her. She stands at the entrance of a long corridor. To either side, rows upon rows of barred cells stretch forward for as far as her light can illuminate.

The nearest cell on her left side is open. On the floor in front of it Celestia can see what had once clearly been a large pool of blood. Now only the smeared outline of it remained. Celestia turns to face the open doorway of the cell. Doing so, her light fully illuminates what is inside.

There before her is a cell barley large enough to hold an adult pony standing upright. Matted, bloody straw is strewn about haphazardly. Most noticeable is the pile of freshly cleaned bones. Pony bones. Celestia can see gnaw marks on the remains of the poor unicorn's horn. Almost as if what had been attacking her was trying to get at the magic that was once inside it. Behind the pile of bones, Celestia could finally see what she had come here for. What this entire raid had been about.

The information she had received from her spies had been correct. The full horror of what Chrysalis had done had barely begun to register before the figure that had been crouched low behind the bones of it's last kill suddenly launched itself at the princess.

Celestia had been prepared for this. Or so she had thought. She caught the figure easily enough in her magic and held it aloft, but she had been completely unprepared for the raw savagery of it as it struggled against her. It thrashed and clawed and hissed and spat.

“Are you completely feral?” Celestia asked in growing horror. “Is that what Chrysalis had intended?”

The figure stopped struggling. “Chrysalis? Princessss? You know Princessss?” It said in a low hissing voice.

Celestia was so startled she nearly lost her grip as the creature bobbed in her magic.

“Yes.” She said thinking quickly. “Yes I know Princess Chrysalis. I am a Princess myself. Princess Celestia.”

“Cel-essia,” the creature hissed. “But you are pony. Like that.” It said pointing at the pile of bones. “You no sssssmell like changeling. You a pony!” It accused, beginning to struggle once more.

“Stop that!” Celestia said, her shout echoing down the corridor, causing other captives to stir. “Yes, I am a pony! A good and decent and kind pony!” She shouts, shaking her captive in her magic. She sends a surge of magic through her horn, and suddenly there appears an object in the air. Something she teleported all the vast distance from her private chambers in Canterlot. She holds the object up before her captive.

“I am a good and decent pony!” She shouts once more. “But what does that make you?!?” She says forcing her captive to stare at it's reflection.

“Sssstop it!” It says thrashing even harder. “Lying pony! You no Princess! You try to trick. Isss not me! Isss not me! I am changeling! Ssssspecial changeling! All of us here ssspecial changelings. Princesssss Chrysalissss told us so!”

Celestia backs out of the cell and closes the door. The lock engages with an audible click. Wordlessly she lowers the still struggling pony to the floor of the cage, then she shouts to the guards who open the door.

The others come inside and file around the Princess making sure that she is safe. The Princess turns and addresses General Shod.

“I was wrong General.” She says sadly.

“Wrong your highness? How so?”

“I said there was nothing in here that could do me lasting harm.” She turns and faces the cell once more. “I was very, very, wrong.”

Inside the cell, the bedraggled form of an earth pony filly, glares with eyes filled with malice back up at the regal from of Celestia. Her mane, matted with blood, her hooves cracked, and her tail knotted and tangled, she nevertheless radiates more blinding hatred than any creature Celestia has ever encountered.

General Shod looks from the caged filly before him, down the hallway at the rows and rows of other cages.

“What are we going to do with them all?” He asks, almost to himself.

“Save them.” Celestia replies firmly. “Even if it takes a thousand years, we are going to save every last one of them.”

Twenty-Three years ago

“Yes your highness, all the tests resulted in 100% success. There is no reason why we cannot begin the process on actual ponies now.”

“I understand your eagerness to begin Professor Turing, but you must understand, these ponies will not be the docile creatures previously used in your experiments. You need to realize that although they have the bodies of cute innocent fillies, their minds have been destroyed and replaced with that of bitter hate filled beasts. Beasts loyal to the changeling empire.” Celestia said as they began wheeling the first of the stasis crystals into a secure barren room.

Once the crystal was in place in the center of the room, the heavy main door swung shut. Celestia, Professor Turing, and several medical ponies, went into an adjacent room. There they could observe the proceedings through a thick one way glass.

“I can only image what it must have been like for you to have discovered these poor victims deep in the bowls of that accused hive.” Professor Turning says, as he stares intently at the amber stasis crystal before him. “But I am confident that we may, at last, finally be able undo the damage Chrysalis has done to them. Please undo the sealing spell whenever you are ready.”

Celestia stares at the crystal before her. She knows who is inside. A young filly that that she hasn't seen for hundreds of years. A young filly that wanted nothing more than to end her life and feed on her flesh. A filly that she promised long ago that she would do anything to save. Taking a deep calming breath, Celestia ignites her horn, and a thin stream of magic passes through the glass and into the stasis crystal.

Before those assembled, the crystal begins to melt away, revealing the sleeping form of the filly inside.

As the last of the crystal liquid drains away into the floor grating, the filly begins to open her eyes. For a moment she seems at peace. She rises to her hooves and looks at the room around her. As the filly came to full awareness, Professor Turing and his staff became aware of the full meaning of Celestia's words.

“What issss thiss place? Where am I?” The filly dashes toward the room's only door and begins pounding on it and tearing at the insulated padding that covers it. “Free me! Return me to my Princess! Free me now and your deaths shall be swift and merciful, force me to escape on my own and your suffering shall be beyond imagining!”

The ponies, all but Celestia, took a step back from the glass, looking at the filly in horror.

“Now do you understand Professor Turing? This is what you are here to undo. Providing your spell does what you claim.” Celestia said as the young pony continued to rip and tear at the door.

“Y-yes of course.” Turing replies, somewhat taken aback. “I can assure you Princess that our latest spell can, and will, permanently remove the effects of Chrysalis's conditioning. “But I remind you, there is no telling how deeply she will be affected by it's removal. With the conditioning gone, there is no way of knowing how much of a mind this pony will have left. She may be left with the mind of an infant, she may have to learn everything all over again. How to walk, how to talk, we have no way of knowing.”

“But she will be free of Chrysalis. She will be her own pony once more.” Celestia says, still staring at the raving filly before her. “Do this for me Professor. Free her and all the rest. Do this one thing, and I will see to the rest my self.”

“As you command Princess.” Turing says, bowing low.

He straightens himself, and turns back to the window before him. Never in his life had he seen a pony behave so much like an animal. Like a beast. The long years he spent working on this project for the Princess now seemed completely justified. To save these poor fillies and colts. There could be no higher calling.

He ignites his horn, and focuses all his concentration on the intricate spell formula that has been his obsession over the last decade. Rote by rote, piece by piece he recites it in his mind flawlessly, and after the last rune is in place, he releases it through the glass, and into the still struggling filly.

The effects are immediate. The filly falls to the floor, as a black miasma curls outwards from her noise and mouth forming a small black cloud momentarily over her head, before it finally dissipates into nothingness.

After a moment more, the filly opens her eyes again, and returns to her hooves. She looks around in confusion, finally staring at her refection in the two way mirror. She reaches out a hoof to touch the face in her reflection. Then she brings her hoof back to her own face. She rubs her muzzle for a moment as she stares at herself reflecting back.

“Hello?” she says, seeming for a moment to be speaking directly to Celestia herself. “Hello? Can anypony hear me? I-I don't know where I am. I don't know who I am. Please if anypony can here me… please just let me hear your voice. I-I don't want to be alone. Something makes me scared to be alone. Please… please anypony...”

Professor Turing turns to speak to Celestia, but she has already left the room. Less than a moment later the door before them is thrown open, startling the filly at the glass, who begins to cry. A moment later, the filly is snatched up into Celestia's hooves, and is hugged to her chest.

“It's okay. It's okay. You don't have to cry.” Celestia says, tears of her own falling down her cheeks. “You aren't alone. You are with ponies that love you. You'll never be alone again.”

“Who are you? You're so warm, and smell so nice. A-Are you my momma?” The filly says returning the hug she's been given.

“If that would make you happy, then yes, I'll be your mother.” Celestia says, her heart on the verge of breaking.

“Momma! I've missed you so much! I don't know why, but it seems like I was gone away for a long, long, time.” The filly says, her voice breaking.

“It's okay.” Celestia says, stroking her mane. “Everything is okay. Momma is here, and she will never let you go again.”

Sixteen years ago

“You know you don't have to do this. You don't have anything to prove. Not to me, not to anypony.” Celestia says, looking down at the young mare standing proudly before her.

“I know Princess. But this isn't about proving anything to any OTHER pony. It's about proving it to myself.”

“You know the day you stopped calling me mom was like a dagger through my heart.” Celestia replies.

“Heh, you can't use that one on me any more. And don't try to change the subject. Almost all of the other colts and fillies that you saved are signing up as well. We ALL have something to prove. Tell you what. If I somehow fail the entrance exam, I'll never bring it up again. I'll give up all this 'agent' business and settle into a nice domestic job. Maybe a candy store or some such. Surely you can at least give me a chance? Pleeeeeeease, for me? Mommie?”

“By the Sky Stallion, stop! Stop with the pouty pony face!” Celestia says with mock severity. “All these years and you can still push my buttons. My sweet, sweet little Bon Bon.” Celestia says, mussing her young ward's mane.

“Moooom cut it out! And don't call me your little Bon Bon! Not that Sweetie Drops is much better.” She adds under her breath.

“I heard that young lady. And I'll have you know I thought long and hard before giving you that name. I was sitting there at dinner with you and was going over a list as long as your foreleg when-”

“You glanced up and saw that I had eaten all the candy first and still had one piece sticking to my muzzle...” Sweetie Drops finishes. “Mom you've told that story like a bazillion times. You have no idea how much I wish I could go back in time and eat something else like apples, or muffins, or even a pear.”

“Hmm... Pear Drop? Well if you really want-” Celestia begins.

“No, no no. I'm good, I'm good. 'Pear Drop'? Sounds like I'm clumsy. No thank you. Now can you just give me a hug and a kiss, and let me go try out for this thing?”

Celestia heaves a huge dramatic sigh. “Well if I MUST.” She says, embracing her daughter and giving her a peck on the forehead. “But try not to be too disappointed if you don't pass. Sargent Iron Clad is known to be VERY tough on new recruits.”

“I know mom. I heard.” Sweetie Drops says with a wave, “I also know you paid him twenty bits to go extra hard on me,” she says watching her mother's jaw drop in shock. “That's why I paid him fifty to treat me like every pony else.” She adds with a wide smile.

“That's my girl,” Celestia thinks to herself, before, “Hey! Wait just a minute, where did YOU get fifty bits?!?”

“Same place you did mom, royal treasury!” Sweetie says, before galloping down the corridor at full speed giggling all the way.

Fifteen years ago (Sweetie Drops)

I hate this. Why did I ever decide that I wanted to become an agent? No, that's not fair. I still want to become an agent, I'm just tired of getting my plot handed to me every other day by the seniors.

'Oh Sweetie Drops, you're a natural at hoof to hoof combat. Oh Sweetie Drops you're far too skilled to be training with the ponies in your class, you need something that will CHALLANGE you'. Yeah right. Nothing like the 'challenge' of taking on ponies with almost twice the experience and training. And of course THEY don't like it any better than I do. Having to fight some freshmare pipsqueek.

Oh great, here comes the dish of the day. A unicorn. Which means less strength at least, and he wont be allowed to use his magic. Maybe I'll have a shot at winning this one.

“Sargent Iron Clad. Long time no see. I don't suppose you remember me?” The cocky young unicorn says to my teacher.

“Oh, I remember you alright Duskwind. And it hasn't been anywhere near long enough.” Iron Clad responds in clipped tones.

“Oh c'mon. You can't still be mad about that throw. I threw you one time. One time in three years.” Duskwind wheedles.

What the buck? This skinny little unicorn threw Iron Clad? No way. No freakin way!

“We were at the Gala. You threw me into the punch bowl. And then made that horrible pun about 'spiking the punch'.” Iron Clad replies, with the barest hint of a grin on his muzzle.

“Well, I don't really see how that was MY fault.” The unicorn replies, his own grin firmly in place. “You were the one that always said 'an agent is prepared for trouble at ALL times. Danger can come from any direction at any time.' I just assumed that you would have countered with a leg bar, put a heel into my muzzle, and leg swept me into the hors d'oeuvres cart.”

“What? Are you mad?” Iron Clad replies in shock. “They were serving those little cheesy pinwheel thingies. They are my absolute favorite! If anything I would have went for a shoulder throw, causing you to land squarely in the bean dip. Dreadful stuff! Gives me the wind something awful.”

“Ah-HEM!” I say, loudly before the two of them reminisce their way into the soup course. “Mare here. Waiting to beat ponies up. Aaaany time now.”

“Oh hoo. I think I LIKE this one.” The pony known as Duskwind says coming up to stand in front of me.

Hmm, about a hoof taller than me, not counting the horn. Not very muscular. Tight ass though… wait. Did I just think that? Never mind. And is that cologne? Is he wearing cologne to a fight? What kind of stuck up pansy is this guy?

“You uh, like what you see?” Duskwind asks me. Drat he caught me looking.

“I'll like you better on the ground.” I say by way of reply. Dang it! That sounded better in my head.

“Oh you'd best not to let your guard down with this little lady.” Iron Clad says, his grin becoming a smile. “There's a reason she's sparring with the seniors. When it comes to hoof to hoof combat, she's a regular timberwolf.”

“Oh really?” Duskwind says cocking his head to the side. “Doesn't look all that much to me. Reckon you're just trying to throw me off, old sire.”

“Wanna bet?” Crap, did I just say that? It just slipped out. I mean, the arrogance of this guy.

“A bet? Sure I'll place a bet with you little mare.” He pauses to think a moment. “How about this? Winner shaves the losers mane off. Completely off. Unless of course you don't think you can pull off the 'bald' look?”

“No worries there 'mate'. I wont be the one with my head shining in the breeze. You might want to buy a cap, I hear there's a cold spell coming.” Well that's done it. No backing out now. But I think I'm getting a feel for this guy. How he thinks. And he's not much bigger than me, I can take him. Yeah. Yeah, I can take him. Bring it on smooth talker, bring it on.

“Well now, sounds like we have ourselves a grudge match.” Iron Clad says moving off to the side. “Alright then, forget falls and points. Rules for this match are simple. Last pony standing. If you pass out, give up, or are unable to continue fighting, you lose. Ponies ready? Fight!”

We circle each other for a moment. His cockiness is gone. Like he flipped a switch. He's serious now. About time. What is that stance? He's up on the edge of his hooves as he moves, and he's turned himself to the side. It makes sense, smaller target area. He knows something I don't, a different way to fight. Hmm. That means he expects me not to know it. And THAT means he expects me to fight him like any other trainee. He's not attacking. He wants me to make the first move. Which means he already has a counter in mind. So, what do I give him? Oh wait. Yeah… oh yeah, that's good… yeah that'll work. First I need to clear my mind. There we go, like a still pond...

I stop circling the unicorn. He stops as well. Then with a smirk, I turn my back on him. And stand there.

I can hear him behind me, his breathing has changed. He's completely confused. I stand there unmoving. I hear him, he takes a single step forward. Goddess, come on… you can do it… But then he steps back. Horse-apples.

“Hahaaaha. Oh that's good. That's very, very, good.” He says to me, staying right where he is. “Not knowing what fighting style I planned to use, you force me into attacking you. Better still you turn your back on me knowing full well which attacks anypony would make on you to exploit the situation to it's fullest. And I'm sure you already have every possible attack already countered in your mind. By Celestia, I'm starting to really enjoy this. All right, turn around, I'll fight by using standard training techniques, no fancy stuff. Word of honor. Let's see which one of us has the best grasp of the basics.”

“Fine by me,” I say turning back to face him. Alright, plan 'B' then. Let's see just how good he is.

He leads with a standard hoof strike to my temple. Easily countered, but I try to make it look clumsy, like I could barely match his speed. He wheels into a side kick, which I manage to block, although not as easily. He's pretty quick. Thing is, I'm an earth pony, and he's a unicorn. He's not hitting me with enough force to do more than give me a bruise. I use a flat hoof strike toward his chest at about three quarters as fast as I could really hit him, I want to see his speed. He doesn't even try to block it and I knock him back about three hooves. I had put a fair amount of force in that hit despite it's slowness. He just grins at me.

“Kid, that is the lamest attempt at trying to suss me out I have ever seen. For one thing the fact that Iron Clad is having me fight you means that you HAVE to be better than this. For another I have no intention of doing MY best if you are only going to go at this halfway. If you want to see MY best, you're going to have to show me YOUR best.”

“Really?” I say getting cocky, “how do I know that ISN'T your best? Maybe Iron Clad just sends me his worst seniors so that they could be humiliated by a freshmare? Going to be a pretty big blow to your ego after I win. And all the stinky cologne in the world won't be able to cover up the stink of THAT kind of shame.”

“That cologne,” he says flatly, “was a gift.” Oh dear, I think I hit a nerve.

“Well whoever gave it to you is two for two. Bad taste in cologne as well as colts.” I say, disdainfully.

Yup, that did it. Here he comes…

Jab, feint, haymaker, foreleg, head kick, leg sweep. Dang, he's getting faster. But I can still block him without-{WHAM}. Oh you son of a whorse, you DO NOT hit a mare there. That's it, it's bloody well ON!

I cut loose. Forget 'mind like a still pond', it's time for a bloody MONSOON. I don't even try to hold back. Block left, block right, aaaaand HEADBUTT. Boom, that rocked him, how you like them crabapples? Now while I have half a second, one to the gut, two to the gut, aaaand Shoryuken! Yeah! Ya dang skippy! That ought to finish this. Yeah it ought to… but he's still standing. Son of a- How? How is still upright?

He's grinning at me. Blood is oozing out of his muzzle, I did some damage all right, but he's grinning at me. Oh crap… he's coming at me again. Defense Sweetie, defense!

Block, block,{wham}, I'm okay… that hurt but I'm… block, block, dodge, {wham}, I-I'm okay, think I lost a tooth but I'm {wham}, oookay… I felt that, yeah that hurt, need to start getting some of that back… Take small, give BIG. Dodge, {wham}, haymaker! Yeah, he felt that, oh sh- {wham}. Alright, ALRIGHT buck trying to dodge! It's all or nothing time! {Wham}, bam! {Wham}, bam! {Wham}, bam!

I'm not going down… I'm NOT going down… I... AM... NOT... GOING... {WHAM!}, BAM!

Hey. Sky. Pretty clouds. Wait, why am I lying on the ground? Did I fall asleep? Oh crap, what if Iron Clad catches me? I try to sit up, but the sky gets mad at me and starts swirling around and somehow I'm flat on my back again.

Next thing I know Iron Clad is next to me helping me to sit up. The first thing I notice is a unicorn sitting across from me. By the Sky Stallion! It looks like his face has been used as a hammer to build somepony's barn with. What could h- oh wait! It's coming back to me… all of it. Oh Celestia. I lost.

Crap, not my mane! Goddess, mom will never let me here the end of it. Nopony will let me hear the end of it. And the friggin agency ball is only three months away. Arrrrgh!

And to top it all off, that stupid unicorn is grinning at me again.

“Okay. That was a lesson well learned. A very painful lesson well learned. Never underestimate a smaller opponent. I guess I deserved to lose. Congratulations.” He says, still grinning like a fool.

“Lose? What do you mean lose? I was the one who lost.” I say, confused by his words. Maybe he is concussed. Still, I won't try to get out from under it. A loss is a loss.

“Actually, you both lost.” Iron Clad interjects. “That last exchange laid you both out. And as I said at the beginning, if you are knocked out or unable to continue fighting, you lose. I reckon that means the clippers for BOTH of you.” He says with a sly grin of his own, before adding, “unless you can come to some OTHER sort of arrangement. Entirely up to you of course.” He says before wandering off, leaving us to look stupidly at each other.

The unicorn breaks the silence first.

“Hmm. Ah, well, I don't really see how we need to both lose our manes to what essentially was a tie. I mean without a clear winner… well, it hardly seems in the spirit of things.” He says, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah. I see your point,” I agree quickly, thinking about the upcoming ball. “I mean if all we are is even, there really doesn't seem to be a point to it. I have to admit though, you really know your stuff. I honestly thought I was going to take the win there.”

“Yeah, so did I. I knew earth ponies were powerhouses, but your technique was flawless. Well, right up until the end there when we both just decided to slug it out.” He admits.

“Well you DID give me a crunchy taco,” I say reproachfully.

“Yeah, I admit that was a bit uncalled for. All I can say in my defense is that it's a standard tactic when fighting stallions. It was really just automatic reflex,” he says, his face going an unflattering shade of red.

“Yeah well, no real harm done.” I say, trying to diffuse his embarrassment. “But how in Equestria where you still standing after my rising uppercut? I don't get to pull that off very often, but when I do it's usually a fight ender.”

“I threw my head backwards as you made contact, lessening the full impact of the blow. It's part of a series of techniques I learned from an alpaca instructor of mine. Tell you what, if you happen to be free for coffee, I could go over a few of them with you, just for educational purposes of course.” He says, that stupid grin of his returning.

“Well,” I say, pretending to hesitate. “I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn a few new moves, my mother always says to never miss an opportunity to learn something new.”

“Your mother sounds like a very wise mare.” He says, taking my hoof and helping me up.

“Oh you have NO idea.” I reply, as we limp toward the barracks side by side.

Fourteen Years, Nine Months ago (Sweetie Drops)

“What do you mean you can't go to the ball with me? Things were going so well between us. It's that Sparkle mare isn't it? Why? What in Equestria can you possibly see in her? She's an egghead. A bookworm. All she does is study, she doesn't even have any friends. She's cold, frigid. You'll never be happy with somepony like that.” I can't believe he is doing this to me. We were building something together. Something special. And that stupid bookworm has to go and ruin it!

“It's not like that Sweetie Drops. SHE isn't like that. Sure that's all that most ponies see when they look at her, but deep down she is one of the kindest, most loving mares anypony could ever ask for. I'm sorry if you took things the wrong way. I honestly didn't know you felt this way about me. I thought we were just really good friends. I always sort of considered you like my little sister. I never EVER meant to hurt you.” He's being sincere. He's telling me the truth, I can tell. But I don't want to hear it. Not any of it.

“Just go!” I yell. “Go to the ball. Dance with your MAREfriend. Go and get married and have a bunch of foals. See if I care!”

He starts to speak once more, but I cut him off. “Just go. PLEASE just go!”

That does it. He leaves. I see him look back just once. There is so much pain in his face. For a moment he seems to be wondering if he made the right choice. For a second my heart skips a beat, hoping he will come running back to me. Tell me he was wrong, and promise to love me forever. But he doesn't. Instead he turns away, and walks slowly back to the barracks.

I tell myself that this is it. That I will never speak to him again. Stupid stallion. Stupid Twilight Sparkle. Just wait. He'll be back. He'll come crawling back to tell me how wrong he was. I give it a month tops. Then after I make him grovel for an appropriate amount of time, we can finally get our lives back on track. But Goddess... it hurts so bad. Stupid, stupid Duskwind!

Fourteen Years, Three Months, Two Days ago (Celestia)

“We've managed to isolate every pony that has any knowledge of the accident. We were fortunate that word hasn't spread any further than it did inside the school. The question now is, what are we going to do about it?” Iron Clad sounds nervous. Rightly so in this case. He knows better than any pony the plans I have for Twilight.

“There's no possible way we can just sweep this under the rug. Too many ponies were hurt. Too many ponies died.” I say, stalling for time. I need to come up with something fast. I can't keep a lid on this for long.

If only it wasn't Twilight. If it were somepony else… ANY pony else. Wait. Wait just a minute. But no, I can't do that. It's wrong, it's incredibly wrong. How could I do something so unfair? But then what other choice do I have? Twilight has the seed inside her, the potential to become another alicorn. A pony like her only comes around once in a hundred generations. I can't let her lose this chance because of some foolish accident of fate. And that's what this was, an accident. She didn't intend for it to happen. It was that stupid instructor's fault. It could have happened to anypony. Yes, anypony…

“Iron Clad, I need you to go into the high energy magic department. I need you to find Professor Turing and bring him to me at once. And above all else tell NOPONY about what happened. Great Zacherle I'm going to fix this. I will fix this. Even at the price of my own heart.”

Fourteen Years, Three Months, One Day ago (Sweetie Drops)

“Sweetie Drops. I need to speak to you a moment.” The voice is my mom's. I know it can't be good if she is interrupting my class.

I follow her out into the hallway, and then down to one of the training rooms which is currently empty. She motions for me to sit on one of the benches, and when I do, she joins me. She doesn't look right. She… oh crap, she's been crying. A lot. What happened?

“Sweetie… there's no easy way to say this. Look I know you haven't been on the best of terms with Duskwind.” She begins. My chest starts to tighten. I dread what I am about to hear.

“There's been… an accident.” Oh Sky Stallion, I can't hear this. I know I was still mad at him, but he can't be… can't be…

“He's not hurt… physically. But a lot of other ponies were. A lot of his classmates were… killed. It was… an accident. He didn't mean to do it...” Oh Goddess! Duskwind killed his own classmates? Impossible! He would never- "It was his instructor. She was teaching him a healing technique. There was a surge.”

“Goddess. I need to see him. Where is he? I need to see him right now.” I say, my voice becoming strained. He must be tearing himself apart. He needs me. I don't care what we said, he needs me right now!

“No Sweetie. No pony can see him right now. He's undergone significant physiological trauma. There's no telling how long it will take him to recover.”

“All the more reason for me to see him. He needs me mother! He needs me there. I can help him get better, I know I can!” I'm all but pleading now, but somehow I know it wont do any good. I know that tone in her voice all to well. It's her 'for the good of Equestria' tone. And that means she's already made her decision. Her next statement confirms it.

“I'm sorry Sweetie. This is for the best. The best for every pony.” She's crying again. I've never seen mom cry so much. I knew she cared for all of her subjects, but seeing her like this, all but breaking down, I start to realize just how much weight she must be carrying on her shoulders. I hug her tightly as I begin to cry as well. We stay like that for a long, long time.

Fourteen Years, Two Months, ago (Sweetie Drops)

"What do you mean he's gone? Gone where? When?!?" I can't believe this. How could he just leave? I know we weren't on good terms, but...

"I'm sorry Sweetie. But I have to respect his wishes. After the accident he just wasn't the same. As soon as he was able to, he bought a ticket on the first train out of Canterlot. He made it very clear that he didn't want anypony to know where he was heading."

If it was any pony expect my mother saying this I wouldn't believe it. This is so unfair! What do I do now? Do I tell mom how I feel about him? If she knew I loved him would she rush off and drag him back? No, that's foalish. If he wanted to stay for me he would have. I guess... I guess it really is over.

Ten Years, Six Months ago (Sweetie Drops)

“Mother, whats going on? I was told to report to you as soon as possible. My team is dismantling the war room, and all of our staff are shredding documents like there's a confetti shortage, what is happening?”

“Sweetie, there's not much time to explain, but I'll fill you in as much as I can on the way to your room.”

My room? What's all this about? Mom is… panicky?!? Okay, that's freaking me out.

“The short version is, that bugbear you captured? It's escaped from Tartarus. It still remembers your scent, and is hunting you down even as we speak. It's only a matter of time before it tracks you to the agency. I've already declared code 'Firestorm'. Every trace of your department in the agency is being destroyed, and all of it's operatives are being reassigned to other departments or given deep cover assignments in different cities all across Equestria.” Mom says as we make our way to my room and she flings open the door.

“When you say ALL operatives, are you saying?” I leave the statement hanging, and sure enough, she drops the other horseshoe.

“Yes dear, that means you too. I'm going to mask your scent and am sending you to a town called 'Ponyville'. I know compared to Canterlot that it's going to seem quite tame. But trust me, I expect big things to be happening there in the very near future, and when they do I want the pony I trust the most to be on the scene.” Ugh, she's giving me the 'your my special pony look', oh mom, so mushy.

“Ponyville eh? Well, I suppose a change of scenery would do me some good. But are you sure you can manage the place without me?” I say, catching her in a hug.

“Well,” She replies mussing my mane, and hugging me back. “I suppose I'll just have to do the best I can.”

Today (Bon Bon, the agent formerly known as Sweetie Drops)

“Bonnie! Bonnie!”

Oh by the Sky Stallion! The one day I get to sleep in, and Lyra just HAS to go and wake me up. Honestly that mare could drive a dozen stallions crazy. Good thing for her that I'm no stallion.

“I'm in here Lyra. Sleeping. Like all good ponies should be doing on a Saturday morning.” I say, trying to make her feel guilty. But she's having none of that.

“You mean Saturday EVENING. It's almost six o'clock. Honestly Bonnie, on the weekends you turn into the laziest mare in Ponyville. I don't know what kind of agent you used to be, but you must have spent a lot of time in Slotheram.”

“Hey, I'll have you know that sloths are some of the most enlightened beings on this planet.” I retort. “Their whole philosophy about peace, love, and the joys of all natural herbs is one I came to embrace wholeheartedly.”

“Yeah, I can totally see THAT.” She replies, undaunted by my superior reasoning skills.

“Fine, fine. So now that you have stolen me away from the sweet embrace of Morpheus, can you at least be so kind as to tell me what's got you tail in a twist? I'm guessing what? Dress sale at Rarity's Boutique? Oh wait, did Doctor Turner finally finish making your mechanical 'hands'?” I chide, knowing full well that Time Turner has been working on Lyra's foalish obsession for over a month now with nothing to show for it but a lot of excited conjecture.

“No, no, no, Bonnie, better than that! I have,” She pauses dramatically, “gossip!”

“Gossip?” I say, perking my ears up, and sitting upright. Gossip in THIS of all towns is usually exciting, and ALWAYS juicy.

“Oh yes indeed, sweet, sweet, incredibly juicy gossip,” she says in confirmation.

Oh yes, now she has my undivided attention. “Okay, oh roomie and best friend of mine… spill it!”

“Okay,” she says, her voice becoming even more excited. “You are not even going to believe this, but I heard this from Rarity herself.”

One of the Mane Six? Oh ho, this DOES sound promising. I settle in to listen as Lyra begins her story.

“Well it's like this. I decided to have a little 'me' time down at the spa today. I was relaxing in a nice mud bath, when suddenly I began to hear voices coming from the tub on the other side of the partition behind me. I could clearly make out the voices of Rarity and Fluttershy.

Rarity could barely contain herself. She was telling Fluttershy that she had found out a big juicy secret about one of their friends by accident and she was simply dying to tell somepony.

Well, she swore Fluttershy to secrecy then she began to spill the dirt. Apparently she had gone to see Twilight Sparkle at her castle early this morning to see if she could borrow Spike tomorrow to help her go gem collecting. Something they apparently do quite often. Well, it seems that according to Spike that Twilight was sleeping in this morning. She had apparently stayed up quite late the night before. It seems that she had received a letter that had left her in quite a tizzy, and she had quite a bit of Applejack's special cider to celebrate.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I interrupt. “Lyra, are you telling me that Twilight Sparkle, the poster mare for abstinence and sobriety, went out on... a bender?”

“Hey, I'm just saying what Rarity said that Spike told her. But wait till I get to the REALLY juicy part. See apparently this made Rarity really curious as to just what was in that letter, and although I'm sure he didn't really want to, it didn't take long for Rarity to convince Spike to let her have a look at it. And get this. Twilight Sparkle has a coltfriend!”

“What?!?” I say, shocked to the core. “No way! No freaking way! Twilight Sparkle? Marefriend maybe, I mean she spends all her time around other mares. But I never once saw her alone with a stallion. And you KNOW how observant I am.”

“Oh I know, believe me I know. And if I didn't know it was an 'agent' thing, I would have been jealous about it a long time ago. But just listen. Apparently this stallion isn't her coltfriend right now, but used to be a long time ago. Apparently there was some kind of misunderstanding between them. One of those 'tragic mistakes of the past' that you read about in cheesy romance novels. Thing is, he apparently works for Celestia, and said that the next time he gets time off, he plans on coming to see her. Isn't that incredible? All this time Twilight has had a secret special somepony. No wonder you never see her out on dates. All this time she's been saving herself for her long lost love. Isn't that romantic Bonnie?

Um, Bonnie? Bonnie? You okay Bon Bon? You look like you did the day that bugbear came to town. Is everything alright?”

“This long lost coltfriend of Twilight's,” I say, trying to keep my voice controlled. “You mentioned that he's working for Celestia. Did Rarity happen to mention what his name was?

“Oh yeah, in all the excitement I forgot to tell you. She said his name is Duskwind. Why? Is that somepony you used to know back when you lived in Canterlot?”

“Lyra, pack a bag. You and I are going on a trip to Canterlot.” I say, my anger rising with every word.

“Canterlot? Bonnie you never even talk about your time there. Does this have something to do with this 'Duskwind' pony? You knew him didn't you? What's going on? What is this all about?”

“Lyra, I'm asking myself the very same thing. But I promise you this. By this time tomorrow, I fully intend to find out.” Oh yes, somepony somewhere in the agency must know what's going on, and I fully intend to get some answers. Then mommie, you and me are going to have a long, long, talk. And after that, Duskwind and I are going to have a much overdue reunion.

Author's Notes:

See, I told you I wasn't going to give up on this story.
I want to mention that ever since 'Slice of Life' I knew that Bon Bon would have to be a part of the story. Can you imagine what was going through my head when they went and made canon the entire idea of Celestia having a secret agency working directly for her almost exactly like the one I had already wrote about? At first I thought they had to be kidding. But nope, it's for real. (Yay!)
I realize that there are a lot of shifts in perspective in this chapter, that's why I took the time to go back and indicate whose perspective is being represented in each time frame that goes into first person mode. Hopefully it wont be a point of confusion.
Also, sorry it's taken me this long to get back to this story. I have every intention of seeing it through to completion, no worries there. I had/have the first part of Moonlight's next chapter finished, but I need to make a lot of revision on it. I just haven't been satisfied with it so far. But hopefully I can move things along for both Johnny/Duskwind, and Moonlight, before the arrival of their unexpected guests. ;)