Fleur walked intrepidly down the corridors of Canterlot castle, heading towards the one place there that she had only grown to despise further with the more time she spent there. The offices of Equis, plain and unassuming as they were, housed, in Fleur's opinion, the laziest bunch of ponies ever. She never saw them doing anything, and if she wasn't involved in some capacity, she was sure they'd never do anything at all.

She also knew that was likely wrong, and that she was just being a grumpy old nag. There was surely some rule where only those at the top knew everything. It was a stupid rule.

Still, Fleur kept her thoughts to herself as she entered the Equis offices, unless Eclipse did in fact possess mind-reading capabilities, in which case she was probably about to get fired. For thinking. Fleur sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to banish the crap crowding her head before knocking politely on the door to Muckraker's office.

"Come in."

Fleur half opened the door and stuck her head through, seeing Muckraker sat behind his desk as he always was, while Eclipse stood nearby. "You wanted to see me?"

"Quite so Fleur. Please, come in and take a seat."

Fleur did so, not sure why she felt so nervous about it. Maybe they were going to grant her deepest desire and fire her for gross incompetence.

Muckraker smiled pleasantly at Fleur, "We've been very pleased with your work so far." Muckraker paused as Fleur sank in her seat. "Fleur?"

"Sorry, but it's such a... relief to hear that," Fleur said to him, hoping nopony was picking up on the stream of curses coursing its way through her head.

"My apologies if you thought you were doing poorly," Muckraker said back. "Anyway, in light of your exemplary work, we've decided that you're the perfect pony to work on a very important mission."

Fleur quickly jerked back up in her chair, "You know I can't do fieldwork!"

Eclipse grunted at Fleur, "We are well aware your injuries sustained in Mareitania prevent you from fieldwork, and frankly your... below average magic capability would remove you from that possibility anyway. We have something else in mind, for which we think you would be highly suited."

"It didn't last time..." Fleur mumbled darkly.

"Indeed," said Muckraker, not hearing what Fleur said. "What we will be asking you to do will be little more than an extension of your current duties. Tell me Fleur, have you ever heard of Smile?"

"Only in that it's something I try to do as often as I can," Fleur said, still smarting from the below average magic comment. Judging by the expression Eclipse now wore, it was definitely not the right answer.

"And so you should," Muckraker said with a smile of his own. "And don't be surprised you haven't heard of it. Smile, S.M.I.L.E, or the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria, to give it its full name, was an agency that gathered information on, and combatted the various nasties that exist both inside, and outside Equestria. Changelings, bugbears, hydras, you name it, they fought it."

"Dragons?"

"Even dragons, except usually it was only the juvenile ones they dealt with. Full grown ones tend to be beyond the average group of ponies, no matter how well trained and equipped they might be. Anyway, the group was disbanded after a botched mission involving a bugbear resulted in a half dozen civilian deaths, as well as almost blowing the cover on their existence."

Fleur raised an eyebrow, her interest caught. "Is that why monster attacks seem to happen more in the rural areas now?"

"Quite so," said Muckraker. "I also suspect that the changeling invasion of Canterlot might have gone very differently had they still been in operation. However, Celestia wanted complete deniability, so after their botched mission Smile was disbanded and its members sent to live as civilians."

"Okaaay..." Fleur drew the word out because she really couldn't see where this was going, or why it might involve her. "Unless we're about to go monster hunting, I don't see how this is relevant."

"Oh no," Muckraker said with an amused chuckle, "we deal with nations and their inhabitants, which are monsters of an altogether different kind. No, the point I am trying to make Fleur, is that after much begging, wheedling, and cajoling, I have been granted access to some of Smiles' former agents, to aid our own activities."

"If it's such a big secret, how did you know about Smile?"

"It's our job to know such things," Eclipse said curtly. "Just as it's now your job to keep what you know of Smile to yourself." Eclipse left her usual spot, and knocked on a door that led to a side room. A moment later four ponies entered, three mares and a stallion, all but one of them an earth pony, while the other was a unicorn.

Muckraker smiled at the newcomers, who didn't smile back. "Fleur, I want you to meet Rocky Road, Crème Bruleé, Tootsie Roll, and their leader, Sweetie Drops-"

"Also known as Bon Bon," Fleur deadpanned.

Bon Bon froze, "You know who I am?"

"You live in Ponyville. You make sweets for a living."

"Um..."

"You know agent Sweetie Drops?" Eclipse asked, for once looking surprised, much to Fleur's secret delight.

"No, I know Bon Bon, sort of. I've been to Ponyville to visit Twilight enough times to pick up a few things. The monster hunter Sweetie Drops thing is a total surprise though."

"Keep it to yourself then," said Muckraker.

"Why do they all have cake and sweet based names? Do bakers have special skills perfectly suited to monster hunting?"

"Well we certainly know how to give something a good beating," Rocky Road, the big brown earth pony stallion said with a good natured chuckle.

Fleur stared at him blankly for a while, her brain failing to come up with an adequate response. "Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase here. Why do you need them, and why does it involve me?"

Muckraker gestured at the four newcomers, "These former agents are highly trained, and highly skilled spies, assassins, warriors, and-"

"Bakers?"

Muckraker coughed with embarrassment, "Yes, that too. They've also agreed to work with Equis on a very special operation. We hope to insert them into Mareitania to carry out various acts of sabotage, and whatever else, that can't be handled by the Wonderbolts or the Night Guard. Due to your experience with Mareitania from when you lived there, and during the uprising, we want you to be their handler."

"Their what?"

"Handler," said Bon Bon. "Basically, you're in charge of us. You give us the missions, tell us the best plans, and other similar stuff. Handler."

"And how does that work when they're in Mareitania, and I'm here?"

"That's all been taken care of," said Muckraker. "For now, all we need you to do is prepare them as best you can for life in Mareitania, and also to think about the best angle of insertion into the country. Nothing too complex for now at all. We expect to hear back from you at the end of the day with your plans. Dismissed."

"But-"

"Dismissed," Eclipse reiterated, nowhere near as pleasantly as Muckraker had.

Fleur sighed and stood before leaving without protest. The four agents filed out after her, none of them saying a word until several minutes later when Bon Bon noisily cleared her throat just to get Fleur's attention. "Ma'am?"

"It's Fleur. Not ma'am. Fleur."

"In that case, could I request that you continue to call me Bon Bon?"

"Sure, whatever. Rolls off the tongue easier anyway." Fleur glared at the four ponies before her, not sure what to make of them. Bakers turned secret agents, turned back to bakers, before once again becoming secret agents. Some ponies clearly had death wishes. "So what do you want to know?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tootsie Roll, the other earth pony mare in the group. She was a pale blue with a shock of cherry red hair for her mane and tail.

"Well that's just it," said Fleur. "How am I supposed to prepare you for life in Mareitania? Am I supposed to go on about how much of a shit hole it is?" Fleur pointed at Crème Bruleé, the unicorn in the group. She was a rich cream colour, with a caramel coloured mane and tail that grew darker towards the tips. "Do you want to know how badly unicorns used to get treated there?"

"I already read ze briefing," Créme said in a thick prench accent. "I already know 'ow badly ze unicorns were treated, and ze pegasi. What I don't know is 'ow it was to be one of zose unicorns or pegasi."

Fleur stared deadpan at Crème, "You're kidding right?"

"It would 'elp my character greatly to know zese things."

"No, I mean you're kidding about that hammy prench accent right? Sorry, I mean 'fancee' accent," Fleur said with air quotes. "Literally nopony in Mareitania talks like that, at all, in the slightest."

"But I was told that fancee was the same as prench, and that prench was a language used in Mareitania," Crème said, suddenly sounding normal again. "Was that wrong?"

"No, you're right about that," said Fleur. "What you're wrong about is the silly accent, and the fact that prench isn't that widely spoken, even in the city of Prance where it originated. And those few that do speak it also speak basic Equestrian, so by speaking it, and by 'zounding like zis,' you're just drawing attention to yourself."

"But you used to speak like that," Tootsie Roll pointed out.

"Yeah, and it did wonders for my modelling career, sounding all exotic. If anypony had heard me speaking like that in Mareitania though, they probably would have thought I had a speech impediment, and maybe brain damage." Fleur jabbed a hoof at Crème, "It isn't going to work, so don't do it."

"See, it's things like this that we need to know," said Bon Bon. "It's because of this that you were selected to be our handler. The more you can tell us about Mareitania, the higher our chances of success."

"Alright," Fleur nodded, seeing what she had to do, and how much effort it would take. "Then let me first say that Mareitania is a shit hole."

"You already said that," said Rocky.

"And I cannot emphasise it enough. Sure things have probably improved since the uprising, but from the way they're planning to attack us, it's not too hard to imagine that things are still pretty fucking shitty."

It had been a long few hours, trying to tell them how to simply fit in in Mareitania. They almost knew more about the military aspects of the country than Fleur did, so clearly they had read the briefing thoroughly, but didn't realise something so simple as a unicorn that badmouths an earth pony in the wrong company could easily find themselves dead in a gutter, with their horn acting as a plug of sorts.

"It couldn't really be that bad, could it?" Rocky had asked in surprise after hearing that.

"Oh no, that's just if the ponies you said it to took matters into their own hooves. The fact is, under the Dukes' laws, the unicorn would still be punished if they were reported. I know the laws are different now, but sadly the ponies aren't. Badmouth the wrong earth pony, Crème, and you'll find out just how bad some places treated their unicorns, regardless of how illegal their actions are now."

Crème swallowed nervously, "So how should I act to avoid such things?"

Fleur rotated a hoof idly as she thought, "Honestly, just be quiet, and if you can, act slightly submissive to everypony, like you haven't gotten used to the new ways without the Duke. Even to your friends here if you really want to sell it. Basically, be a sad little doormat, and disappear into the background."

Rocky slammed a hoof on the table they were gathered around, "You can't seriously expect her to act like that?"

"It won't matter so much down south around Neigh Orleans," Fleur said with a shrug. "Up north though, around Stalliongrad especially, she really will need to be careful. Back before the uprising, a unicorn could find themselves short of a horn just for looking at an earth pony in any way, let alone the wrong way. I doubt attitudes have changed up there that much since the war ended."

"Sounds like a real fun place to go," Bon Bon sighed.

"You have no idea." Fleur steepled her hooves and looked over them at the others. She knew there was no real way to prepare them for life in Mareitania, other than hope that they react to things in ways that won't draw attention to themselves. That, or hope Mareitania had gone through a social revolution in the last six months, where all ponies were actually treated as equals. It sounded laughable, but a pony could dream.

Moving on from that though, there were still other matters to which she felt she should give some thought, such as how to get them into the country. This was all a bit of a moot point if they couldn't even do that.

"So moving on from the societal nightmare that is Mareitania, have any of you put any ideas into how to infiltrate the country?"

"We were told you would be the best pony to ask about that," said Tootsie. "They pretty much told us to ask you about everything."

"Seriously? An entire intelligence unit to use, and I never see any of them, and they never seem to do anything."

"Actually," Bon Bon said, giving Fleur a sympathetic smile, "I bet most of them are busy on counter-intelligence, especially after the Shades managed to infiltrate Equestria, and leave again, undetected, along with three of the Bearers of Harmony. Who knows how active they really are in our country? Honestly, for the lack of an actual conflict happening at the moment, I bet there's one being fought in the shadows."

Fleur stared stupidly at Bon Bon. What she'd just said made an awful lot of sense, but that was no excuse for making Fleur think of these plans. She was a liaison, a giver of briefings, not a plan maker. Still, it wasn't like she didn't know how to do these things after having run the Shades herself at one point. Maybe, she thought, she should quit bitching and get on with it.

"Alright, so walking in, or taking the train are both out of the question. Equestrian ships are no longer travelling to the country, so our options are down to two as I can see it. Flying in, or swimming."

"I think I prefer the idea of flying," said Crème. "Swimming sounds like a lot of effort."

"That depends on whether we can get the resources together to do a pegasus airdrop," Rocky said thoughtfully. "That's also a long way to have pegasi fly with a chariot."

"It's a long way to swim too."

Fleur rolled her eyes, "I was wasn't going to make you swim all the way Crème. I was thinking a small airship could get close enough to drop a dinghy off, allowing you to get close enough to swim in underwater."

"Why underwater?" Tootsie asked.

"Because there's a giant wall on both sides of the river from back when access was blocked to Mareitania, and if I were the kind of pony to think of Mareitania's defence, I would definitely have that well watched. All the same, I think we should definitely go with flying you in first. I'll run it through with Muckraker, and see what he says."

"He didn't go for it," Fleur said as she re-entered the room after her short conversation with her boss. "Something about minimising air traffic over Mareitania, apart from military operations. Unfortunately we can't exactly wait for the next one of those, so we're going with plan b."

"Totally saw this coming," whined Crème.

Bon Bon looked sideways at Crème, then back to Fleur. "Not that I'm terribly against plan b, like some, but is it really the best way?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Fleur shrugged. "The fact is that it can get you into Mareitania a lot faster than hoofing it."

"So could flying," Crème grumbled.

Tootsie elbowed Crème on the side, "Seriously, shut up," she said before smiling at Fleur. "Is there really no other way though?"

"None fast enough. At any rate, Muckraker's already making the arrangements, so we're going with it. All that leaves is giving you a few other preparations."

"Such as?" asked Rocky.

"Such as the mind control magic that is pervading quite large portions of the country. If you're going there, we'll need to make you immune to it, and that's a little bit tricky."

"Why?"

Fleur pulled a face, "There's a counter-spell for the mind control, buuuutttt... we don't know how long it lasts. It could be permanent, it could only last a week. At the moment, only pegasi on scouting missions are entering Mareitania, and they only go for a few days at most, and are counter-spelled every time. You don't get that option."

Bon Bon nodded her head towards the unicorn in the group, "Couldn't you teach the spell to Crème?"

"We could, but there's always the risk of her being killed, or captured, or compromised by the very spell she's supposed to counter. In that situation, which is already less than ideal, you could end up getting screwed alongside her. I'm afraid we can't count on Crème. Instead we can enchant a small gem with the spell instead, which leads to a mix of good and bad news."

Tootsie grinned hopefully, "What's the good news?"

Fleur grinned back, but far less genuinely, "The good news is that it works."

Tootsie nodded slowly, "Okay, I assumed that already, but yeah, okay. What's the bad news?"

"Well, originally they planned to place the gems into jewellery, but then they thought that not all ponies wear jewellery, and that jewellery can be lost, or broken, or in the event of capture, taken off you. So they devised a new method where they... implant the gem under your skin somewhere it won't be noticed."

All of them leaned back and groaned. "I want to have a word with 'they,' whoever 'they' are," growled Rocky. "I think 'they' could benefit from some education along the lines of not putting things into ponies."

"It's only like the size of a pea," Fleur said, not that she disagreed. "You won't even know it's there. I'm also to tell you that you don't get a choice, and that they need to do it now if you're to leave in time. Sorry."

"I should have told Lyra where I was going," Bon Bon sighed, idly rubbing the small lump on her chest where the implanted gem was, near the inside of her leg where hopefully her leg would hide it. "I hate to think of her sitting at home wondering where I am."

"Lyra," Rocky said thoughtfully. "That's your... marefriend, right?"

Bon Bon lashed out with a hoof, punching Rocky in the stomach, totally winding him so he collapsed to the deck of the airship. "That's best friend, asshole."

"Hwee... got it," Rocky gasped. "Touchy -hwee- cow."

"I see you haven't lost your touch," Crème giggled as she leant against the guardrail around the airship, the light of the moon painting her coat in pale greys. "Rocky always did love your tender caresses."

"And what about your touch?" Bon Bon said back. "Can you still tie a knot in a cherry stalk with your tongue?"

"Even better. I can tie a knot in a cherry stalk... with my hooves." Crème blushed as the others stared blankly at her, "What? It's a big deal for a unicorn, alright? Fuck off."

"I see you've gotten swearing like true Mareitanians down," Fleur said as she trotted up to them. "I've just talked to the helmspony, and he says we're only a few minutes from your drop off point."

"But you haven't even told us our mission yet?" Bon Bon said to Fleur.

"You'll get your missions as and when I have them to give to you. As it is, you do have a mission, but it's fairly simple. Primarily, try to fit in without getting caught, which hopefully is as easy as it sounds. Once you've done that we want you to get a read on the ponies of Mareitania. We can fly over the country and track their military actions as much as we want, but none of that tells us what the average Mareitanian thinks of the possibility of war. We want you to tell us if they're in favour of it, or against it. Apart from that, keep your ears open."

"Sounds simple enough," Bon Bon agreed. "Are we to just focus on Neigh Orleans?"

Fleur nodded, "For now at least. Once we have more information, we'll start expanding your field of operation. With the new rail system they've set up, travelling around the country as you need to should be simple enough. Of course, if you have anything for me, get Crème to use the speaker stone. I'll keep the other one on me at all times. And try to only use your short range ones when you really need to. Otherwise, keep them hidden."

"What about supplies?" asked Tootsie.

"You have money to buy food with, so that's fine. Anything else you'll have to beg, borrow, and steal if possible. If not, get in touch, and we'll see if we can't have a pegasus airdrop arranged for you."

The airship shook as the gondola dipped into the ocean. Thankfully the design of these things, where somepony had put serious thought into making a boat fly by tying a giant balloon to it, almost meant the gondola could float, which would at least be handy if it crashed at sea. Once it was steady, a couple of crew members lowered an inflatable dinghy into the ocean, and dropped a rope ladder to it.

Fleur smiled at the poor ponies that were being sent to the one place that no Equestrian would want to go. Even she felt too close for her own comfort. "Right, this is it," she said as Crème lowered the large bag containing their gear into the dinghy. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you what to do from here, so take care, and good luck. I'll be in touch soon."

Fleur kept watching as they all climbed into the dinghy, and started to row towards the distant shore, barely visible in the moonlight. "They are so fucked."

"We are so fucked," Rocky said as he rowed, letting him look back towards the airship as it lifted out of the water and turned back for Equestria. "Why the hell did we agree to this? Apart from the huge pile of steaming horse-apples this already is, our handler is greener than grass."

"Did you even read what the briefing said about Fleur?" Tootsie asked, giving Rocky a cold stare. "She ran the Shades at one point, got horribly tortured at another, and still kept going. Frankly, I wish she was coming with us."

"You would, wouldn't you? I admit having a pony that easy on the eyes would do wonders for my morale, but not if she ends up being a dead weight with that scarred up leg of hers. Princess Twilight on the other hoof, she sounds like a mare that could get things done."

"She sounds like a mare that would get us caught within days," said Crème. "She's probably one of the most recognizable mares in Mareitania at the moment, along with Fleur, and the others that went."

"Will you all shut up?" Bon Bon said, directing a sharp glare at off of them. "It's just us, and we need to focus on doing our job."

There was a short moment of silence, broken by Rocky. "How much focus do you think I need to row us to the shore? I'm telling you, it's not much."

"There were times after Smile was disbanded that I missed you," Bon Bon said sternly to Rocky. "I can't for the life of me remember why."

Rocky grinned dashingly at Bon Bon, "Was it my good looks, or my stunning personality?"

"It certainly wasn't your ability to lie." Bon Bon smiled as Rocky dropped his grin. "In all honesty though, if I were to find myself on a secret mission in a hostile nation, then I'm glad it's with you guys."

"Hear hear," Crème cheered.

Bon Bon turned to face in the direction the were travelling, and found that they weren't too far off the coast. Technically it was part of Mareitania, so they could have legitimately said they'd made it into the country, but since there was nothing on the coast it would be a pretty hollow victory.

She was still thinking about that and other things when the dinghy slipped up onto the sand of the coast. Bon Bon jumped out and grabbed the short loop of rope on the front, dragging it up onto the beach, which got considerably easier once the others jumped out. She kept dragging it until she met the narrow band of solid land that lay between the sandy beach and the mountains that apparently sounded most of the country.

"Crème, keep an eye out, and Rocky, deflate the dinghy and hide it in case we need it," Bon Bon ordered as Tootsie hoisted the bag containing their gear out of the dinghy. "And try to remember where you leave it this time Rocky."

"That was one time," Rocky grumbled quietly. "Just one measly time. There's a big rock over there," he said, pointing along the beach to where a large rock sat at the end of a furrow. "Take a good look, and remember where it is yourself."

"Fine... Tootsie?"

Tootsie opened the bag and pulled out four small air canisters connected to mouthpieces. She checked them and nodded at Bon Bon, "Scuba gear ready to go Chief. Everything else is accounted for as well."

"Good." They waited a few minutes while Rocky deflated and rolled up the dinghy, placing it into a plastic bag to bury it behind the boulder. Once he was done, they moved out in a steady canter towards where the river Mareissippi met the ocean, and their way into Mareitania.

As much as Bon Bon wanted to deny it, and wanted to hate herself for it; as much as she enjoyed her life in Ponyville, and loved her best friend, it was stale, stagnant, and boring. She was banned from involving herself in the vast majority of things that happened to Ponyville, which was a lot of potentially interesting stuff. The truth was, that right now was the most alive she'd felt in months, if not years. She silently apologised to Lyra.

Sand flicked into the air off hooves as the four ponies galloped up the beach towards the river outlet, the only sound being the breaths they drew as they pushed themselves along. It didn't take too long to reach the outlet, and eventually the one end of the wall. As Fleur had predicted, the wall was guarded, with spotlights set up to shine over the river. What she hadn't predicted was the rope gate stretching across the river to the wall on the far side, blocking ships from going in or out.

"They're really taking this a bit too seriously," Crème whispered as they hid out of reach of the spotlights. "Equestria doesn't even have a fleet to sail up here. I mean, I understand being cautious and all, but sheesh."

Bon Bon held a hoof up to her lips to shush Crème. Her main concern was how far up the river these defences reached. Had they turned Neigh Orleans into a fortress to protect against an incursion from the river? Was the place actually teeming with soldiers? Even if it was, she supposed it didn't change anything.

Bon Bon gestured for Rocky to crouch down so she could get into the bag on his back. She pulled out their breathing apparatus and tossed one to each of her team, along with a pair of goggles, before sealing the bag back up. "These things should be good for at least twenty minutes," she said as she slipped her goggles around her head. "We'll stick to the shallows as best we can, but we will need to be underwater to avoid detection, which means keeping breathing to a minimum around the wall. Once we're past the wall, we'll stay submerged for five minutes before taking a look around. Now follow my lead."

Bon Bon kept low as she moved quickly and quietly towards the waters edge. She paused briefly as she stepped over a scattering of charred wood, then grinned around her mouthpiece as she realised they must have drifted down river from when the Mareitanians fleet was destroyed. Still, she had no time to dwell on it, so she kept going, slipping quietly into the water and trying not to make a sound from the shock the cold water gave her.

She kept her head above water until the rest of her team was in, then gave them a nod before dropping below the surface. Thankfully the spotlights shining on the river provided a small bit of light to see by, but it was only a little. Navigation was mostly done by feeling her way along, and hoping that the others followed her through the murky darkness. She knew they were on course when the dark silhouette of the wall appeared out of the dark, and she kept a hoof on it as she went around it.

Bon Bon's lungs started to burn from the lack of oxygen, so she risked taking a small breath, releasing a stream of bubbles that rushed up to the surface where they hopefully wouldn't alert the guards. With the water deadening every sound from the surface, she wouldn't know if they'd been detected until they surfaced again, which was why she wanted to be well past the wall when they did.

One of the lesser known tendencies of bakers, and especially fate-bound ponies with baking cutie marks, is time keeping. Leave something in the oven too long, it burns, or not long enough and you risk making ponies ill. So when five minutes had passed, they all pretty much felt it in their guts, and surfaced at around the same time, walking up the river bank enough so that they could at least keep their rear hooves on the ground, and their heads above water.

"I think we're clear," said Tootsie, turning on the spot to see all around them. There didn't appear to be any extra activity coming from by the wall, so hopefully that meant they'd made it into the country totally undetected.

Bon Bon took the air canister in her hoof, and spat the taste of rank river water out of her mouth. "Ugh, nasty," she spluttered, sliding her goggles up over her eyes, and holding her sodden mane out of her sight. As Tootsie had said, the wall was still quiet, so Bon Bon turned her attention up river, towards the not too distant glow of civilization. "That must be Neigh Orleans, so we should near the bayou."

"You mean that big swampy tree thing over there," Crème said sarcastically, splashing water to her left. "How'd you miss that."

"I didn't, and shush. We'll head into the bayou and find somewhere to stop for a few hours to dry off and rest until daylight. I'm pretty sure turning up in Neigh Orleans at this hour, soaking wet when it isn't raining, is going to look a bit odd."

Bon Bon whined under her breath as somepony nudged her into wakefulness. It had barely felt like ten minutes since they'd climbed into one of the larger trees in the bayou, removed the snakes, and managed to finally get her eyes shut. It must have happened though, because the sun was up, and the swamp was almost humming with the sound of everything that lived in it. Including things that liked to bite.

Bon Bon slapped a hoof on her side as something tried to make a meal of her. She missed, and overbalanced, getting a sudden reminder that they were in a tree, and quite far from the ground as she started to slide off her branch. Only the quick intervention of Rocky saved her from having to murder the collection of alligators that had gathered below.

"Careful there Chief," Rocky chuckled cheerfully as he pulled Bon Bon back onto her branch. "I'm not sure how we could explain you falling to your death on the first day."

"We'll just tell 'em it was your fault Rocky," Tootsie said, grinning at the stallion. "It used to work all the time back in Smile. Anyway, I would say the coffee's hot Bon Bon, but we have no coffee, and nothing to heat it with, sooo... yeah. I think that the sooner we get into Neigh Orleans the better."

"Sounds good." Bon Bon looked around blearily as she noticed something was missing, "Where's Crème?"

"Out scouting a path to the unimaginatively named Swamptown," Rocky told her. "I mean, it's a town, in a swamp, so yes I understand calling it Swamptown, but they could have used a little imagination."

"And what would you suggest?" Tootsie asked Rocky as she made the final preparations of their gear. Most of it was for the insertion and had passed its used. The rest could be broken down into their components, meaning that it would pass mostly unnoticed. Hopefully.

"I dunno, just... something else. What do you think Bon Bon?"

Bon Bon rubbed her eyes and stretched languidly, "You're asking the mare that lives in Ponyville? Besides, I thought if a place wasn't named with a pony pun, it wasn't allowed to be put on the map."

"Oh har-har," Rocky said slowly. "You know that's an urban legend."

"Really?" Bon Bon said back brightly. "Show me where Rockton is on a map then."

"Rockton? There's a place called Rockton?"

Bon Bon winked at Rocky and grinned playfully, "Exactly."

"You're fucking with me, right? She is fucking with me isn't she Tootsie?"

"Rockton is indeed on the map," Tootsie informed him. "It's a small village to the south east of Canterlot, and was built up around the train station that was built there to serve the rock farming community."

"Ah yes, rock farming," Rocky said sagely. "Remind me again why that's a thing?"

"I would, but I don't have all day, and I can see Créme coming back meaning we'll be moving soon."

The tree shook as Créme jumped onto the branches, and a moment later she dropped down into the hollow in the branches where they'd holed up. "Morning Chief," Creme said cheerfully to Bon Bon.

"Morning Créme. Find anything good?"

"Yes and no. There isn't a decent path through the trees from here directly to Swamptown, but there's sort of a path to a place not too far that has it's own walkways leading to Swamptown, so our best bet is to head there. It's a tree house surrounded by hundreds of colourful glass bottles, so it's pretty easy to spot. We might have to swing across some gaps though."

"Good enough," said Bon Bon. "No point hanging around here, so let's pack it up and get moving. Tootsie?"

Tootsie zipped up the large bag they had with them, leaving only their scuba gear in it. Everything else had been disassembled and packed into a quartet of saddlebags. "All good here Chief. Just need to hide this in case we need it later."

"Just secure them to a branch up here and leave them. I doubt many ponies come up here since we had to use a grapple to do it." Bon Bon slid her saddlebags over her head and secured them as Tootsie secured the stuff they were leaving. Once she was done Bon Bon turned to Créme, "Lead the way."

Créme jumped up out of the hollow and onto a wide branch that pointed deeper in the bayou. When that soon ran out she jumped to another, agilely leaping from branch to branch with all the surety of a pony that had been born to do such things. She wasn't of course, hailing from Canterlot, but at the moment she really looked like it. Bon Bon followed after her, equally adept at what they were doing, while behind them Tootsie and Rocky took a little longer as both of them definitely preferred being on solid ground.

Progress was still swift though, and with the added bonus of none of them falling off, they soon made it near their destination. "There's the treehouse with all the glass bottles over there," Créme said, pointing through the trees at the shining mass of glass bottles that lit up the area around it like a colourful disco ball. "We'll need to swing across to the next tree, then across again to the walkways leading to Swamptown. Simple."

"Yeah, simple," Bon Bon said flatly as she pulled a small grapple on a thin rope out of her bags. She swung it around a few times and let it fly upwards, where it found purchase on a branch in the canopy above. A couple of tugs confirmed that it was solid, and she swung across, making it to the other side with ease. She waited a moment, then a pale glow took hold of the rope and pulled it back to where the others were waiting.

While the others swung across, Bon Bon made her way along the branches to have a look at the treehouse, wondering just why exactly somepony would live this far apart from anything, and why they would surround their house with hundreds of colourful bottles? It didn't seem to serve any purpose she could think of.

She was still trying to figure it out when the grapple and rope was held up in front of her in Créme's magic. Bon nodded and took hold of it to throw it again, landing it in the branches not far from the house. She took the lead again, and swung across, gripping tightly until her hooves thudded down onto the moss covered planks of the rope bridge. She swung the rope back, and waited.

"Interestin' way t' travel."

"Ah!" Bon Bon turned to face the source of the voice, finding a wizened unicorn mare sat in a rocking chair at the treehouse, gently rocking back and forth as she looked directly at Bon Bon with eyes that were clearly blind. "Give me a heart attack why don't you?"

"Heh, not my intention girl, but it's not everyday that you see somepony swing onto your porch from the trees. If anything, it should be you giving me a heart attack like that."

"Uh-huh." Bon Bon braced herself as Tootsie swung over, and caught her before Tootsie swung too far.

"And now you're bringing frien's?"

"That's right," Bon Bon replied idly as she swung the rope back.

"Who's this?" Tootsie asked.

"No idea."

"The name's Mama Brew, though you can just call me Mama," the elderly unicorn replied to Tootsie's question. "And who might you two-" Mama raised an eyebrow as Créme landed on the walkway. "Make that three. Who are you three?"

"Just passing through," Bon Bon said before Tootsie could reply.

Mama chuckled darkly, "Funny sounding name that. Are ya all called that?"

"That's right," Bon Bon said with a grunt as Rocky swung into her hooves.

"I get the feelin' you're being disingenuous with me. There ain't no need to be so hostile."

"You're right, there isn't." Bon Bon waited for Créme to pull the grapple out of the tree and coil it up. She shoved it into her bags, and gestured for the others to start moving. "Nice meeting you Mama."

"Uh-huh, you young-uns always in such a rush." Mama shrugged to herself, "Good luck with your mission."

Bon Bon froze, then shook her head ruefully. "Nope, I'm not getting sucked in. Let's go guys."

Swamptown. It wasn't much of a name to live up to, yet somehow it did it perfectly. It was not only a town in a swamp, but also a town that was swampy. If anything, it surpassed what it's name would have you expect. It was damp, mossy, and more than a little odorous, along with its inhabitants. Inhabitants that had a questionable taste in what was and was not edible. Frankly, Bon Bon and the others hated it, and so wasted no time in finding transport to Neigh Orleans with a mare that managed to hold at least three conversations with herself at the same time as she pushed her boat along.

"Well that was an experience," Tootsie said, shaking her legs out after sitting in the small boat for as long as they did. "What now Chief?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Bon Bon admitted. They'd been told to discover the general populations opinion on the possible war, but short of sitting in a bar somewhere and hoping somepony talked about it near enough for them to hear, she wasn't sure how to go about that. Or why it really mattered really. "Let's just go for a wander and see what turns up."

Picking a direction, Bon Bon started walking, the others falling into step with her as they started their winding journey around the city. She wasn't sure why, since the two places were very different, but the mixed wood and stone building, and the general feel of the city, reminded Bon Bon of Trottingham, although the ponies living in the two places couldn't have been more different.

Still, as places went it wasn't too bad. Many of the buildings showed signs of recently done work, which she suspected had been part of the Mareitanian Republics project to revitalise the parts of the country that the Duke's regime had deemed unworthy. There was also a friendly vibe to the city that they hadn't been told to expect, with music being played all over the place. Ponies exchanged friendly greetings, nopony yelled at somepony else for having a horn, and it certainly didn't feel like a city gearing up for war.

"Hey, look at that," Créme said suddenly, pointing to the right towards a large open area with a monument at it's middle that stretched on for several meters. "That must be the city centre, where Princess Twilight started the uprising. Let's go have a look."

Not having any reason to say otherwise, Bon Bon agreed, and they followed after Créme into the square. The pedestal that had once held the statue of Duke Ironhoof, the founder of the Duchy of Mareitania, was still empty. It's plaque still held the description it once had, saying who the statue was of, but without the statue itself it seemed silly to leave it as it was. It could be supposed that finding a replacement wasn't exactly a high priority, especially with all spare funds the country had likely being funnelled into preparing for the upcoming war.

The statue wasn't the point though. Behind the statue was a black stone wall, with hundreds of names carved into it, the names of all those from Neigh Orleans that fell in the war to free their country from the Duke. It might have felt more poignant if that country hadn't decided six months later that Equestria was their enemy. At least the Duke confined himself to his country, content to rule it and it alone, even if he was tyrannical despot.

Bon Bon shook that thought away as her eyes skimmed over the names. Princess Twilight had no idea what lay hidden beneath High Rock Keep when she started her mission here, and couldn't have stopped it once she did know, not that stopping a civil war like that would be so simple. If she had abandoned the war, and the war continued to the conclusion it had anyway, they'd probably like Equestria even less than they did now.

"Guys," Rocky said slowly as he drifted away from the memorial to the sides of the square. Sides that were plastered with posters. Anti-Equestrian posters. "I think I found that thing we were looking for."

Bon Bon didn't reply as her eyes took in the sight before her. Dozens of different posters, spread out over the walls where there was room, and sometimes overlapping where there wasn't. She stopped at one of them, depicting Celestia and Luna as dark and evil, with Luna looking rather reminiscent of Nightmare Moon. Both of them reared up, laughing over the caged form of a beaten and broken Faust, while below it said 'Don't let them cage our Lady again.'

"Well shit," Bon Bon muttered as she moved onto the next poster where Celestia and Luna were the same dark figures, holding depictions of the sun and moon in their hooves, while behind them Faust reached out, her eyes running with tears. "Take back what the usurpers took from us," Bon Bon said quietly, reading the words on the poster. "This can't be good."

"The Lady protects us," said Tootsie, looking at another poster depicting a beatified Faust surrounded in golden light, "shouldn't we protect her too?" Tootsie took a step back in disgust, "This is just playing into what that magic is trying to do to the ponies here. Love the Lady, protect the Lady."

"These ponies definitely have a strong propaganda game," said Rocky. "Depicting Celestia and Luna as the monsters that imprisoned their precious Lady is a nice touch."

Créme shook her head at what Rocky said, "Perhaps, but what's missing from those posters? What's not there?" Créme waited a few seconds for them to make a guess, but none were made, so she told them. "Where's Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence in all this? I could understand them not really knowing about Princess Cadence, but doesn't it strike you as odd that Princess Twilight isn't shown as evil here? Ponies here must still regard her to be the hero that freed them."

"No, she's depicted alright," Tootsie said as Créme stopped talking. She pointed to a poster with Twilight in chains. Chains held by a cackling Celestia. "Your hero is the usurpers slave. Fight today to end her torment," Tootsie read from the poster before sighing deeply. "I guess using Mareitania's liberator as a victim here is just the icing on the cake."

"But I thought the dossier on Faust said she hated Twilight as much as she did Celestia and Luna?" Rocky said, his words hestitant with confusion. "Why would they depict her this way?"

"To get ponies to fight," Bon Bon told him. "Nothing more. I imagine Twilight's fate will be just the same as Celestia's and Luna's if Mareitania wins. Cadence is the only outlier here because we simply have no idea what Faust thinks of her. The fact that she's not shown here once says a lot." Bon Bon scanned along the wall, seeing plenty of other posters besides the ones they'd seen already, but they all showed things along the same lines where Equestria and Celestia and Luna were bad. Then there was some graffiti saying 'They were right about pegasuses.' She could only assume that the poorly spelled graffiti was in response to the recent attack on Whiplash and its ship building facilities.

"Hey there," a voice said cheerfully behind them, making them jump. It was as much as Bon Bon could do to not turn around and clock the stallion that had spoken. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Bon Bon glared at the cheerful white stallion that had disturbed them, "Can we help you?" she asked, silently observing the small symbol of the Lady that he wore around his neck.

"Actually, I was thinking we could all help each other. I couldn't help but notice you looking at all the posters we have around here. Tell me, how do they make you feel?"

Bon Bon cast an eye back at the posters, then mentally smirked. "Pretty angry I guess. These can't really be true, can they?"

"Oh but they are," the stallion said sadly. "It's true that those vile 'princesses' stole the sun and moon from our beloved Lady, and it's true that they cast her deep beneath the earth, trapping her for over a thousand years."

"And what of that one?" Tootsie asked, pointing a hoof back at the poster showing Twilight in chains.

"That one is the most tragic of all. The revelation that Twilight Sparkle, the beloved leader of the ponies that cast the Duke down, and the envoy of the Lady herself, was in fact a slave of the vile rulers of Equestria, shook us all to our very cores. Should we not fight to correct the wrongs committed against her as much as the ones made against our Lady?"

"I'm pretty sure she couldn't have been wearing chains during the uprising," said Créme.

"Not all chains are worn on the body," the stallion said sagely. "Some are worn in the mind, and are perhaps even more insidious for it."

"Please, we have a lot to do today," Bon Bon told the stallion, trying to sound impatient. "Could you please tell me what this is about?"

"Certainly. As you can tell from these posters, our great country is in danger. The usurpers Celestia and Luna have learnt of the Lady's escape from the imprisonment they placed her is, and they are not pleased. They attacked us in our own country not even a week ago! They fear that our Lady is free, and they would attack us for doing what is only right."

"And what is that?"

"To elevate the Lady as the one true and just ruler of both our nations. To cast them down as they cast her down long ago. To free Twilight Sparkle from her enslavement and place her back to her rightful place at the right hoof of the Lady. Mostly though, we fight for the survival of our very way of life."

"By attacking Equestria?" Rocky said sceptically. "I'm pretty sure that they'd leave us alone if we left them alone."

"Not true," said the stallion. "Even now they build their army in preparation for their war against us. To quash us and cast our Lady back into darkness, and take her country for their own."

"Then why order their slave to defeat the Duke?"

"To weaken us, by having us fight ourselves until we cannot fight them."

Créme snorted a laugh, "Even though Mareitania is stronger now than it ever was? This is ridiculous."

Créme froze as the stallion narrowed his eyes at her, "You sympathise with the Equestrians then? You think we are in the wrong to destroy them before they can destroy us?"

"No, of course not," Créme said defensively. "It's just that for them, it would have made more sense to attack the Duke, if what you're saying is true. He would have been far easier to defeat than we are now."

"Just another sign of the usurpers folly I assure you. Now what say you? Do you have what it takes to fight for what is right? Would you join the forces of our nation to help us do what our Lady cannot do alone?"

"You're an army recruiter?" Bon Bon asked, genuinely surprised.

"I am simply a stallion doing what he can to help," the stallion replied. "Will you not at least consider my words and think about joining?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. We'll-uh, definitely think about joining up." Bon Bon smiled at the stallion. "I think we should all do our part after all."

"So we should," said the stallion, "so we should. The army has a recruiting centre around the corner on Winder street, so if you are serious about doing your part, you might want to consider starting there. Thank you for your time, and Lady bless you, whatever you should decide."

Bon Bon held her smile until she felt the stallion was far enough away to not hear her sigh in disgust. "I guess that taught us as much as it could. 'Join the army, and if you don't we'll brand you an Equestrian sympathiser.'"

"Do you think he even knows how wrong he is about things?" Tootsie asked. "Or is that the version of events that's been given to the ponies here? Either way it's all kinds of messed up."

"Either way I think we've seen enough for now," said Bon Bon. "Let's find a hotel, or inn, or something, and report back all the wonderful things we've learnt in the last ten minutes." Bon Bon laughed bitterly to herself, "And here I thought this was going to be hard."

Author's Notes:

I'm aware there's meant to be a little roof thing over the u in bruleé, but I have no idea how to do it. I also had something else I wanted to talk about here, but I've totally forgot what it was. Oh well, can't have been important.