"Another griffon flight just went over," Rocky said, peering out of the window of the train carrying him and his companions to Stalliongrad. "This country suddenly got a lot more interesting very quickly."

"I just want to know how many griffons there are," Crème said back. "I've not really paid attention to groups like the Bloodfeathers, and have no idea if they're a thousand strong, or two thousand... five thousand?"

Tootsie looked up momentarily from studying the map of Mareitania they'd been provided with before arriving in the country, "I thought they tended to recruit as they needed, don't they? Luring young griffons in with promises of wealth and adventure? Plays havoc with the Griffon Empire's national service if I remember correctly."

"I doubt that's the reason the Emperor doesn't like them though," Rocky said, lowering his voice as a pony walked past. "He does sound like one to take offense at anything though."

"The Emperor doesn't like them because he employed them once," Bon Bon said, breaking her silence. "Then when he tried to stiff them for the rest of their payment they kidnapped his son to ransom him for the money. Then when he finally paid, his son went joined the Bloodfeathers."

"Wait, you mean the Emperor's son is likely here in Mareitania?" Crème said in disbelief. "That sounds like the beginning of a political nightmare."

"If the Emperor hadn't disowned said son," Tootsie said flatly. "Don't you remember the big hoo-haa from a few years back when the Emperor broke the line of succession by naming his youngest daughter as the heir to the throne?"

"Can't say I do. I sort of shut myself off from the world for a while after Smile collapsed. After the bugbear incident..." Crème smiled tightly, "I was still smarting pretty hard from that."

"I think we all were," said Rocky. "It's all in the past now though, so we should focus on what we're doing now. Speaking of, Bon Bon?"

Bon Bon looked both ways up and down the isle to check that nopony was coming before saying what their objective was. "Demolition op. We're going to do what the entirety of the Night Guard and Wonderbolts couldn't."

"Oh, well that sounds easy," Rocky said sarcastically. "Especially since there's only four of us and our bare hooves."

"Griffon Intelligence is making a drop on behalf of Equis, containing everything we could need to complete our mission. We're to meet with them outside the city tonight."

"Outside the city where?" Tootsie asked.

"At the tank factory that was destroyed during the civil war. Apparently it's been abandoned ever since." Bon Bon put the tip of a hoof on Tootsie's map where the destroyed factory was located. "It's only a couple of miles away from Stalliongrad, so it shouldn't take long to get there. It's also the easy part."

"This sounds promising," sighed Crème.

"While the attack to destroy the tank factory was a failure, Princess Luna did throw the hull of a massive airship through it, damaging it heavily. Because of this there's likely to be an even heavier guard presence, and makes our mission more important because we also need to destroy any remains of the airship before the Mareitanians can learn anything from it."

"So we're going to be making a fireworks show to remember?" Rocky asked, brightening up considerably.

Bon Bon grinned back at him, "We'll be making a fireworks show they couldn't possibly forget, no matter how hard they try."

Tootsie let out a low whistle as they came up to the destroyed factory where they were picking up their supply drop. "Princess Twilight really did a number on this place," she said, looking at the collapsed chimneys, twisted metal, and burnt out remains of the factory. "It's almost terrifying what an alicorn can do when they're in the right mood."

"Or the wrong one," Crème said darkly as she noticed the rotted and half buried remains of a pony. "I can't believe they never came back to this place to clean up."

"Maybe it never occurred to the rebels to want to come back here since they had the pony that designed all this anyway," said Tootsie. She jumped up onto the broken remains of a chimney and steadied herself as the rubble shifted. "Unless you meant the Duke's forces, in which case I guess they simply didn't care."

"Getting utterly thrashed does have a way of straightening your priorities," Rocky agreed. "Who cares anyway? I just want to get out of here 'cause this place gives me the creeps. How long until the griffon gets here Chief?"

Bon Bon looked up at the sky and shrugged, "Heck if I know. It's not like flying is an exact science. Fleur said to be here around mid-afternoon, and we are, so that's all we can do."

"What if they got caught on the way here?" Crème asked nervously. "It's not like we can pull this mission off without that gear."

"We'd find a way," said Bon Bon. "Maybe we could steal explosives from the quarry north of Stalliongrad or something... " Bon Bon found herself short of words as she looked up at a wave of magic that swept through the sky, obliterating the clouds that had been omnipresent over the country since they had arrived, and leaving a clear and sunny sky. "What the fuck?"

"Well that can't be good," Rocky said quietly.

Tootsie swallowed as her eyes followed the wave of magic as it passed over them, "It would appear that the alicorn Faust has regained the use of her magic."

Bon Bon nodded vaguely, suddenly appreciating the power that Faust had been described as having. "Crème, get on the speaker stone to Fleur and tell her what we just saw. Now."

"Yeah," Crème said dazedly, before shaking it off and complying with Bon Bon's order. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"A whole new plethora of spells are probably opened up to you when you have that kind of power," said Tootsie. "This is bad. Like, really, really bad."

Bon Bon stamped a hoof at Tootsie's words, "Faust isn't our problem, so stop thinking about it. Only worry about it if the princesses can't stop her, in which case, we've lost anyway."

"Griffon at four o'clock," Rocky shouted as he spotted a laden griffon wobbling through the air towards them. "Wait, if he was flying over the city, why are we meeting here?"

Bon Bon ignored Rocky as the griffon came in to land roughly on the emptiest patch of factory floor he could find, and slid off the box that was strapped to his back. "Pleasant flight?" she asked, waiting for the counter reply. She also noticed he was wearing mismatched armour, and had twin daggers sheathed to his legs earth pony style, with the hilts pointing downward.

"What the fucking hell was that big magic thing?" the griffon gasped breathlessly.

"I said, pleasant flight?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, the weather were perfect," the griffon said as sarcastically as possible. "Now seriously, what the fuck were that?"

"That's was weather management Faust style," Bon Bon replied. "Now why are you dressed like a Bloodfeather? It's making me a bit nervous."

"Nah, I'm definitely with G.I. We're running our own op here for a little bit, trying ta find out why the Bloodfeathers are fighting for Mareitania."

"Oh? It's nothing to do with the Empire then?"

"Not in the slightest, now quit askin' 'cause I probably told you too much already."

"Are you sure it wasn't elements within the Empire that have an interest in seeing Equestria fall?"

"I. Don't. Know. Quit asking." The griffon growled and ruffled his feathers, "It's already bad enough that I'm having to be a glorified delivery boy without you delving into G.I operations. What's even in that box?"

"High powered explosives hopefully," Tootsie said as she pulled the crate open. Then she squealed happily, "With radio detonators! They're spoiling us! They even gave us short range communicators as well. Best Hearthswarming ever!"

"Just don't," Rocky said to the griffon as he gawped blankly at Tootsie. "She's really into this stuff."

"Riiiiight... anyway, is there anything you want to tell me for my own safety?"

"Not sure we're at liberty to say," Bon Bon said smoothly. "However, we advise you to avoid being around the tank factory tonight."

"For how long?"

"Up until the point there isn't a tank factory to go back to."

"Y'know, you ponies can be a lot less cute than you look."

"Ooooh," Rocky hissed. "Now, a pony can call another pony cute, but when a non-pony does it, it's kinda... y'know, not cool."

The griffon snorted a laugh, "Yeah, you can fuck right off with that crap. You ain't fooling nobody. Anyway, I better be off, so good luck with your crazy demo mission."

"And good luck with yours," Bon Bon said before the griffon took off. She watched him go for a while, then turned back to Tootsie, who was still grinning broadly. "Any other toys in there?"

Tootsie smiled a little wider and pulled a quartet of sleek back suits out of the box, "They gave us back our suits." She held one up to her nose and breathed deeply, "Aah... they still smell the same."

"I fucking hate those bloody gimp suits," Rocky grumbled quietly.

"And I never understood why," Tootsie said back.

"That's because you're not a stallion. All you get is a small case of camel toe, which is great, don't get me wrong, but not worth what it does to my own bits."

Bon Bon laid back in her hiding spot, flexing her right hoof back and forth, activating the spring loaded dagger that was strapped on there, making sure it still worked after how long it hadn't been used.

Bon Bon uncurled her hoof, and the dagger slid back inside its housing. Originally designed with the intention of being able to punch through both the chitin of a changeling, along with what armour it might be wearing, she was sure the blade wouldn't have any problems with ponies and their armour.

If Lyra ever learnt the whole truth about me... Bon Bon sighed and pushed the thought away, and pressed a hoof to the small device hooked around her left ear, activating its microphone. "Check in please."

"Tootsie ready to go."

"Rocky is a go."

"Crème ready."

Bon Bon nodded with satisfaction as her teammates checked in, then looked at her watch. "Okay, it's coming up to twenty to one now. I'm giving us an hour to do this, which is well before the next shift change. If you have any complications, get in touch, and we'll try to sort it out."

"How deadly are we allowed to be?" Rocky asked.

"As deadly as you want. Anypony still alive in the area is only going to get caught in the explosion anyway. Just pick your fights wisely, and try not to get caught." Bon Bon held up her watch and kept and eye on it as it counted down the last minute until twenty to one. "And we're a-go. See you back at the rendezvous."
-+
Bon Bon clicked the microphone back off, and heard the clicks of the others as they did the same. Then she stood, grabbed hold of the secured grapple in her hoof, and dropped backwards off the roof of the building she was on, rappelling swiftly down to the ground where she swiftly tugged three times on the rope, causing the grapple to go loose so she could pull it down after her. She'd always hated those things, as she never trusted when the intuitive spell woven into them to go off at the wrong time.

Her rope and grapple secured, she slipped across the street to the boundary wall of the factory while keeping an eye out for any guards. There seemed to be very few around the factory, and their daytime scouting had shown that most of the forces they'd brought to the city had either departed again, or were being used to patrol the entire city, instead of just the factory, which made things easier. There was also very few griffons, which helped even more since the sharp eyed griffons could spot her a lot easier than a pony could.

The coast appearing to be clear, Bon Bon backed off a dozen meters, then sprinted at the wall before jumping up and using her momentum to run up the wall far enough to hook a hoof over the edge and pull herself up on top. There were short spikes atop the wall, but were spaced out enough to not be a problem as she jumped down on the inside, keeping to the shadows.

The rear end of the Heavens Grace sat on the ground to the side of the factory, having broken off after impact while the rest of the ship sat lodged awkwardly inside the factory at a roughly forty five degree angle. Bon Bon wasn't the kind of pony to question the princesses, but couldn't Luna have seen fit to set the vessel on fire before she lobbed it at the factory? It would have negated at lot of the destruction work Bon Bon needed to carry out since she was in charge of making sure the airship was destroyed.

The sound of two voices coming closer made Bon Bon freeze, and she pressed herself deeper into the shadows as they came around the side of the factory towards her, a mare and a stallion, whom idly chatted back and forth as they patrolled.

"I'm telling you, those griffons are weird," said the stallion. "I'm not sure what possessed the Council to employ them."

"Thank the Lady they did though, right? Those fucking pegasi could do anything to us, and there was hardly a thing we could do to them."

"I guess, but why are we so in favour of griffons though? They're basically smart birds with cats asses, and that's it. My problem with them is that they have no loyalty to our cause, or any cause. All they do is fight for money, so what happens if Equestria makes a better offer?"

"They wouldn't do that," said the mare. "Surely once they see the reasons we fight, they'll want to fight as well."

"Or they won't have a choice once the brainwashing sets in," Bon Bon mumbled to herself once the two guards had moved on. Fanatical griffons was not something Bon Bon was keen to see in action, not when that same bloody-mindedness that went into acquiring riches was put into something else.

With the coast now clear, Bon Bon cautiously walked over to the broken off end of the airship, and slipped in through its opening, thankfully finding it deserted. It only took a minute to find a couple of suitable spots to place some explosives that should hopefully destroy it entirely. That done, Bon Bon put some thought into destroying the rest of it. Mostly in how to get up to it.

It didn't take long to conclude that the only way to do that was from inside the factory, so Bon Bon exited the fallen section of airship, and studied the outside of the factory for an unguarded way in. There were plenty of smashed out windows offering a way in, so she picked one a few floors above the ground, and tossed her grapple up to it before quickly climbing up.

There was a metal walkway inside the window which Bon Bon dropped onto, keeping her hoofsteps as light as possible to reduce the noise. As she'd thought, the front of the Heavens Grace reached the floor, although the very end was mostly smashed. It should be easy enough to get inside it from the ground, plant the explosives, and get back out again.

A quick flash of movement caught Bon Bon's eye, and she turned her head enough to catch the sight of Tootsie grab a guard from behind and bury her blade under his chin and into his brain, quickly silencing him. She dragged the body into the dark she'd been hiding in, then crept out to plant some explosives under the workbenches there.

Bon Bon smiled briefly, glad to see her team hadn't lost their edge over the last few years. Then she set her mind back to the task, and started walking around the walkway until she found some stairs leading down.

The factory floor was a mess of scaffolds, components, and half built machines, providing plenty of cover to sneak through towards the remains of the airship. Bon Bon stopped as a guard passed in front of her, idly humming to herself and not paying a massive amount of attention to her surroundings. Bon Bon was about to let her pass, then thought that the mare stood a chance of running into one of her teammates, and decided that a dead mare saw nothing. One alarm, and this was over.

Bon Bon kept low as she crept swiftly towards the mare, staying right behind her until the last moment, all while keeping an eye out for further guards. None came, so Bon Bon jumped forwards alongside the mare and thrust her weapon up under the mares chin. She flexed her hoof, shooting the blade out and killing the mare before she could make so much as a noise, then caught the body as it fell, pulling it sideways and hiding it in the hollow structure of a half built tank.

The coast remained clear for the rest of the distance to her destination, although she did see Crème planting some explosives around the foundry at the far end of the factory, the area suspiciously clear of guards. Bon Bon shrugged and carried on to the end of the airship touching the ground, a lot of which had been cut away to allow easy access, something that Bon Bon made happy use of.

Ropes had been set up down the central corridor of the airship, and thin strips of wood nailed to the floor, making it easier for ponies to traverse the steep floor made of lacquered wood. It also confirmed Equis's worst fear about the stranded airship in that the Mareitanians might try to copy it, either entirely, or to make smaller designs. Without the magic to negate the weight of the gondola, something this size would never fly, assuming that the Mareitanians could find the right way to construct and inflate the envelope. However, that didn't mean that other designs couldn't be based off of what they had conveniently sitting here.

As if she needed further proof of the Mareitanians intentions of the airship, Bon Bon found surveying equipment in some of the rooms she went in as she planted her explosives, left overnight to be picked back up the next morning. She was highly tempted to mess with it, but soon thought of how pointless that would be once they set the explosives off.

Bon Bon kept going until she reached the highest point of the airship, and she could see the night sky beyond. She could also see a griffon nestled in the end, curled up sleeping. Bon Bon didn't want to take a chance on it waking as she worked, so she crept up beside it, held her weapon next to its head, and curled her hoof, shooting the blade out, and killing the griffon without disturbing it. Not a move she was proud of, but one that was necessary.

The coast once again clear, Bon Bon planted the remainder of her explosives, and started the journey back down through the gondola. She exited through the cut open end, and looked left, seeing a raised room at the end of the factory that she assumed was some overseers' office. Not remarkable in itself, but there were candles lit inside the room, and a guard posted at the top of the stairs outside the door. That alone made it worthy of investigating. Even more so since there was still plenty of time on the clock.

Keeping low, and moving from cover to cover, Bon Bon made her way closer to the office. The bored looking stallion standing guard hadn't so much as twitched a muscle the entire time, and Bon Bon wondered if he'd actually managed to fall asleep while standing up. The theory didn't hold though as she reached the bottom of the metal stairs and tapped a hoof on them before hiding. As she expected, the guard looked over to investigate.

"Who's there? If that was you again Dale, this shit ain't funny." Bon Bon stayed quiet, and the stallion snorted as he returned to his position. "Fucking assholes."

Bon Bon frowned quietly, unsure of how she was supposed get up the stairs and into the office without being spotted. She needed to take the guard out, but that was hard to do without getting spotted either. She sat there for a minute until she saw Rocky across the factory, hiding in the shadow from the airship's hull. She clicked on her microphone and very quietly whispered into it, "Rocky?"

It was a few moments until she got an answer, but eventually she heard a click, then Rocky himself. "Yeah?"

"Do you see the office at the end of the factory, by the main entrance?"

Another moment. "Yeah, I see it. Guard standing outside the door?"

"That's the one. I'm underneath the stairs, and I need to take the guard out. Any chance you can come over here and help me?"

"Sure, I was about to plant my last explosives and head out anyway. Give me a minute, and I'll be right there."

"Save one for the office."

"Can do."

Another click came over the radio, and Bon Bon clicked her own off and waited. She didn't see Rocky do anything, and was a little surprised when he appeared almost next to her. He gave her a friendly nod, then held up his remaining bomb for Bon Bon, who pushed it away, then pointed under the office, gesturing for him to plant it there.

He did as Bon Bon directed, pulling the strip of the package and sticking to the underneath of the office, then pressed a box with two gems in, and waited for one to turn green. That done, he returned to Bon Bon, who gestured for him to pick her up and lift her so she could reach the landing before the second flight of stairs leading to the office's door. It was also behind the guard where he hopefully wouldn't see them until too late.

Rocky crouched down, letting Bon Bon jump up onto his back, before standing and raising Bon Bon enough so she could grab the stairs and pull herself up. She crept up them slowly, thanking the small amount of padding the suits gave them on their hooves to reduce noise, and very quietly raised her right hoof so it was behind the stallions head, the blade pointed between where the neck armour and helmet met. Then she flexed her hoof.

The guard started to fall forwards, but Bon Bon grabbed him before he could fall off the stairs and draw attention. Where she was standing was already exposed enough without having him fall off the stairs in full armour, so stopping him was a priority, followed by propping him up against the wall so he at least looked like still doing his job.

"You okay?" Rocky whispered after a few moments of quiet clattering as Bon Bon tried to get the guard to sit and remain mostly upright.

"I'm fine," she grunted back. She finally got the guard in a halfway decent position, then moved back so she could see Rocky. "Stay out here and radio me if anything changes."

"Gotcha. Still don't know why we're doing this though, since we're blowing this place to pieces anyway?"

"Just-" Bon Bon couldn't deny that she had no real idea why she was doing this either. Sating her curiosity would hardly stand up to scrutiny as a reason, yet that was exactly what she was doing. It was no loss if it was nothing, so that had been enough reason to think 'why not?' "Just stay there. I'll be back soon."

The door opened with a low squeak, and released a waft of air that smelled mostly of candle smoke, which led Bon Bon to wonder if any ponies within were trying to kill themselves through smoke inhalation. Bon Bon poked her head in through the door, finding a single pony within, a pale yellow earth pony mare, who was slumped over the desk at the far end of the room. She was still breathing though, so if it was an attempt at self annihilation, it had failed.

Bon Bon ignored the sleeping pony for now, choosing to focus on all the sketches of the airship gondola, with cross-sections and all the other things that went on with this sort of thing. Bon Bon wasn't an expert, and made no claims to be. Tootsie would probably have been right at home though. All Bon Bon could get from it was that the Mareitanians had taken a strong interest in the remains of the Heavens Grace.

Bon Bon studied the drawings a little longer, but getting nothing from them she decided to move on. They'd be destroyed when the factory blew, so that wasn't an issue. Instead, Bon Bon decided to face the burning question of who the mare in the room was. She wasn't in a uniform, so there was no telling who she was, other than the mare making these designs. She did match the description of a pony that was given in their briefing. A very important pony in the Mareitanian government, whom Bon Bon was sure would be greatly missed for her technical knowhow rather than as a living, breathing pony.

It took Bon Bon several seconds of internal debate over whether to kill the mare, leave her to the bombs, or to wake her and ask some very pointed questions. She theorised that again she had nothing to lose by saying hello.

Bon Bon positioned herself ready to drop her weight on the mare in a way that would clamp her muzzle down against the desk, since she was like that already, stopping her from shouting. The last thing she needed was to get caught in the middle of an already unnecessary endeavour.

Bon Bon dropped on the mare, her left leg pressing down on the mare's muzzle, while her right leg grabbed the mare around the neck. The mare woke immediately, but held down like she was she could only emit a whine as she struggled to free herself in her confusion. "Stop fighting," Bon Bon hissed. The mare slowly stopped struggling, but became no less tense. "The guard outside the door is dead, so he can't help you. However, if you scream, or shout, I will be forced to kill you, understood?" The mare nodded weakly, tears falling. "Good." Bon Bon released some of the pressure on the mare's muzzle, "Who are you?"

"H-Honeydew. I'm the-"

"Chief engineer for the Mareitanian government. I thought as much. What are you doing here?"

"I've been instructed to make a blueprint of the ship that crashed here."

"So you could make your own?" Honeydew nodded. "How far into that are you?"

"I could build one, b-but I don't know how to make it fly. Please don't kill me."

"Stay quiet, and I won't have to."

"You're Equestrian, aren't you?" Bon Bon didn't answer. "Please, get me out of here and I will help you in this war however I can."

"You defected from the Duke's side during the civil war, didn't you? Now you want to defect again. Do you have an issue with loyalty?"

"I joined the rebels so I wouldn't have to build weapons. Then Faust came, and now I'm building nothing but weapons! Please, I don't want to be here any more!"

"Why aren't you going ga-ga over Faust like everypony else here? How are you immune to the magic forcing everypony to love her?"

"Magic? What magic?"

"You really don't know anything about that?" Bon Bon hummed as Honeydew shook her head. "Alright, I'm going to let you go. If you scream, I will kill you. If you try to run away, I will kill you. And if you try to attack me, I will kill you. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

Bon Bon released Honeydew, and took a step back as she sat up and massaged her muzzle. "So you really hate what they have you doing?"

"I do. I just wanted to live a life of peace, using my inventions to help ponies, not hurt them."

"Then do you at least realise that if you were to defect, again, that you'd only be building weapons for us to beat the Mareitanians with?"

"A victory for Equestria ends the war. A victory for Faust just means more conflict. Please, even if you don't use me to create weapons, I still know enough to make getting me out of here worth it!"

Bon Bon silently regarded the mare before her for several long seconds, trying to decide if it was worth the effort of getting her out of there. At the very least she could paint a better picture of the political landscape than they currently had.

"Alright, we're getting you out of here. But, if at any point you become a problem, I think you know what I'm going to do. For your sake, you best not be a problem, because getting you out of here is pretty far from my purpose here."

Bon Bon gestured towards the door, giving the hint that Honeydew should go first, mostly because Bon Bon didn't want the mare behind her. She also clicked her mic on and asked Rocky if the coast was clear.

"I honestly think most ponies in here are dead by now," Rocky replies blithely. "Can't say how long it'll be before ponies from outside start coming in though."

"Right, we best wrap this up then. Crème, Tootsie, if you aren't already getting out, do so. We're extracting a prisoner, and you don't need to get caught if this goes sideways."

"Wait," Crème said slowly, "we were taking prisoners? Since when?"

"Since just now. Trust me, this one might be worth the effort. See you at the rendezvous, over." A pair of clicks was all Bon Bon got back, but that was enough. She prodded Honeydew forwards through the door, and marched her down the stairs, past the still propped up guard, and down to where Rocky was waiting.

"I hope you know what you're doing Chief."

"You and me both. I think it'll be easier to use the tuck in and carry method to get her out of here."

"Aww, I hate that way. You always make me do the carrying."

"What's the tuck in and carry method?" Honeydew asked nervously. Bon Bon couldn't imagine how such a wet blanket of a mare ever achieved the statuses she did in both the Duchy, and the Republic. Still, she was valuable, and Bon Bon didn't really care either way.

"It goes a little like this," Bon Bon said soothingly, right before she punched Honeydew on the head as hard as she could, knocking Honeydew out. Bon Bon cursed and shook her hoof, trying to stop it throbbing. "Think I'm out of practice doing that."

"Worked like a charm though," Rocky said as he hoisted Honeydew up onto his back, and tied her forelegs together around his neck for extra security. "How are we getting out of here then?"

"Silently I hope." Bon Bon led the way, aiming to go back out the way she came in, and then use the rear of the airship to get over the boundary wall. A simple enough method, but getting caught created all kinds of problems, beyond the obvious ones. Trying to hide away with the chief weapons designer in Mareitania would probably trigger one hell of a marehunt as they tried to get her back. Not a desirable situation to be in.

The way back to the window was at least clear, and Bon Bon took a moment to listen out for any patrols before placing her grapple and rappelling down to the ground. A quick look around in all directions, including up, and Bon Bon gestured for Rocky to follow her down, Honeydew dangling off him like an afterthought as he descended.

A trio of rapid tugs brought the grapple down after them, and she led the way to the rear of the airship, slipping back inside it, and shushing Rocky as the sound of talking reached their ears.

"Guess we found the guards," Rocky said with a dirty grin.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes, and made her way through the airship, a blush growing on her cheeks as the two guard ponies changed from regular talking to talking dirty. It was at least a relief that they'd shut themselves in one of the rooms, leaving the stairs up to the top deck, and their way out, clear. All they had to do then, was jump the couple of meters between themselves and the wall.

"This would've been impossible if there were still griffons here."

"There was a griffon here, sleeping up there." Bon Bon pointed up at the broken off part of the airship that pointed up out of the factory. "I imagine there'll still be plenty of soldiers, griffon and otherwise, between us and the rendezvous."

"And here we are carrying a pony that's easily recognisable by them. What fun."

"Oh come on, it's not that far. We'll just have to stick to the quieter streets, like we would have anyway." Bon Bon sighed and set into something between a canter and a trot, that quickly carried them towards their destination, an abandoned building on the east of the city that Fleur told them about. It overlooked the old pegasus compound that had yet to be demolished, although why they hadn't thought to demolish it and build the tank factory there instead was anypony's guess, rather than demolish a functioning part of the city, even if they were slums.

Caution extended the length of the journey, but it was worth it as soldiers patrolled the city at regular intervals. The patrols weren't as heavy as Bon Bon had thought they might be though. She suspected that they knew that nopony was likely to attack them now, not after how things went last time. It would soon come as a surprise to them how wrong they were in that supposition.

The rendezvous was in darkness as they reached it, scurrying across the street and in through the half open door. They could hear the low talking of Crème and Tootsie above them, leaving Bon Bon relieved that they had also made it back. Honeydew was also starting to stir, having stayed out long enough for them to get away.

"Hail, Chief," Tootsie said cheerfully as Bon Bon and Rocky made their way up the half rotted stairs and into the room they were using. "So that's the pony you made such a big effort to extract?" she said as Rocky dumped the half conscious Honeydew onto the floor. "Who is she?"

"Honeydew," Bon Bon answered curtly, leaving Tootsie to work the rest out.

"Honeydew? As in the chief engineer of Mareitania, who designed the tanks and such? Oh wow, this day keeps getting better and better!"

"But why is she here?" Crème asked with a sniff. "I don't remember kidnapping prominent members of the Mareitanian government being on our to-do list."

"She wanted out, so we gave her out."

"You talked to her, didn't you? Why?"

"Because she knows stuff Crème, stuff that we might benefit from knowing. This way we get what we want, and so, possibly, does she."

"Possibly?" Crème chuckled darkly, "You have no idea if we can get her out of here, do you? You've already resigned yourself to the fact we might have to kill her anyway."

"I haven't resigned myself to anything, Crème, now shut your mouth before she hears you." Bon Bon turned her back on Crème as the mare still grinned unpleasantly, and untied the ropes from Honeydew's hooves, only to re-tie them to her back hooves in a way that completely immobilised her. Just in time as Honeydew grunted in pain and started struggling.

"Agh... ow."

"You okay there?"

"Rngh."

"Yeah, sorry about that whole hitting you thing." Bon Bon paused as Honeydew started to struggle against her bonds and cry. "Uh, could you stop that? I know it doesn't look good, but it's just a precaution until we know we can trust you enough."

Honeydew nodded and sniffed, trying to fight back her tears. "Okay," she squeaked in a mouse's voice.

"Good. Now I should probably tell you what's going to happen next. Firstly, there's going to be a massive explosion at the factory, destroying it, the airship, and Mareitania's ability to produce tanks. Then we're going to ask you some questions."

"You're going to destroy the factory?"

"We are. Is that a problem?"

"There are ponies in there."

"Wrong. There are soldiers in there." Bon Bon smiled weakly, "I'm afraid they don't get the same consideration as ordinary ponies. Not that it should bother us too much if that wasn't the case, since your Shades don't seem to have an issue with blowing up civilians."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's not important right now. Tootsie, the detonator please."

"Aww man," Tootsie whined, pulling the detonator out and tossing it to Bon Bon. "I wanted to push the button."

Bon Bon deftly caught the detonator and held it in front of Honeydew, "I push this button, and the factory explodes. Of course, if you're serious about wanting to get out of Mareitania, the honour is all yours."

Honeydew stared wide-eyed at the detonator, then shook her head. "I already have far too much blood on my hooves without being the one pulling the trigger directly. Destroy the factory by all means, but please don't make me do it."

Bon Bon smiled slightly, impressed that Honeydew could maintain her morals in the situation, weird as they were. She'd at least gotten the second best response she'd hoped for out of the trussed up mare. "Alright. Tootsie," Bon Bon tossed the detonator back to Tootsie, "the job's all yours."

"Aww yis!" Tootsie scrambled over to a window where she could see the factory. "Big boom in three, two, one!" Tootsie slammed her hoof on the button, and a split second later the entire city lit up in a flash, followed very shortly a deafening boom that swallowed all other sounds until it moved on, leaving behind the crash of the collapsing factory. "Ooh," Tootsie sighed as she fell to her rear, a broad smile on her face. "I think I'm going to need to wash my suit after that."

Bon Bon turned back to Honeydew as the thunder died down, only to find her looking the other way. "If I didn't know for a fact that Lady Twilight never enjoyed the acts her role as leader of the rebellion necessitated," she said sadly, "or that some of her friends refused to kill, I might be inclined to think all Equestrians are bloodthirsty killers."

"None of us enjoy what we do-" Bon Bon told her.

"Except for the explosions," Tootsie interjected.

"Apart from those, but for the most part, we only do what we have to so others don't need to. Right now we need to fight because Faust seems intent on destroying Equestria, as I'm sure you well know."

"I don't know actually. I've only ever seen Faust once, and nothing about her felt right. It certainly didn't tell me her intentions. Honestly, I don't think the council really knows what she wants, but they seem happy enough to do as she asks. You said something about magic forcing everypony to love her?"

"I did. It's how she's forcing everypony to go along with what she wants, but that just makes me wonder how you're immune?"

"I don't know. I've been getting headaches a lot since Faust turned up, especially when I go to High Rock. Is that something to do with it?"

Bon Bon shrugged, "Could be I suppose? We're not the kind of ponies who know about that sort of thing, but it would be good to know if there are others that also seem to be immune like you?"

"I don't know. I've just been keeping my head down and doing the inordinate amount of work they've thrown at me. Questions tend to get a pony in trouble if you ask the wrong ones. I do know Daybreak's been acting a bit off since Twilight attacked him. He keeps trying to fight the Council over decisions, like about hiring the griffons to fight."

"Do you know how the griffons came to end up fighting here?"

"No, but I do know that we can't afford to pay them. Or at least that's what Daybreak tried to argue anyway. I guess it didn't work."

Bon Bon sighed, without knowing why. Getting the answer to the griffon mystery would have been nice, but alas it was not to be. "Alright, what do you know about the three mares and the dragon that was kidnapped from Equestria?"

"Them? They're at High Rock."

"And they're all alive?"

"As far as I know, yes. Are they important? I mean... yeah. Sorry, I guess they are if Faust wanted them."

"Do you know why Faust wants them?" Honeydew shook her head, which Bon Bon accepted, mostly because she knew why herself. "How big is Mareitania's army now?"

"I think there's over twenty thousand ponies in it now, I think? I don't really know, but it's more than there was during the rebellion."

"Does that include griffons?" Rocky asked. The way Honeydew cringed told him enough. "How many griffons are there?"

"A few thousand I think. It's not really my job to know these things."

"And how did you know our side was going to attack the tank factory?" Crème asked.

Honeydew shrugged, "Most of our military manufacturing takes place in Stalliongrad. It was the only real viable target for you after you burnt the shipyards in Brayside."

"What did you do with the bodies of our fallen?" Tootsie asked quietly, her excitement from the explosion having died down from the topics they were discussing.

Honeydew winced guiltily, "They were taken to Whiplash and... incinerated. There was some very mixed opinions about that, but ponies wanted revenge."

"What's the point in desecrating our dead?" Rocky grumbled angrily. "How is that revenge for anything?"

"I don't know okay? How was destroying our lumbermills in Hoovendale fair? That's a civilian target! And what was the point of releasing all the prisoners in Whiplash? Huh? Most of them have either been caught, or surrendered themselves anyway, so it was meaningless!"

"And what was the idea behind killing two dozen civilians with a bomb back in Equestria?" Rocky shouted back.

"Really?" Honeydew scoffed. "And just how many civilians do you think got killed just now from debris from your explosion? Or do they not matter compared to Equestrian civilians?"

"Enough!" Bon Bon shouted, cutting both of them off before they could argue more. "Rocky, not a word. Honeydew, we did not drag you out of there just for you to throw accusations at us. I could have killed you there, or left you to die in the explosion. I spared your life."

"Only because I'm useful to you!"

"Your use is yet to be determined, because so far you've not told us anything particularly useful to our cause."

"So put me to creating weapons then, because that's all I seem to get used for!" Honeydew cried, struggling against her bonds.

Bon Bon pursed her lips, holding back her irritation at Honeydew's sudden change of attitude. If it wasn't for the fact that Honeydew was right about her uses being more mechanical in nature, Bon Bon might have been more annoyed.

"Fine," Bon Bon said calmly. "I'm going to go talk to our superiors. Tootsie, Rocky, keep an eye on our guest. Crème, come with me."

"Do you think Honeydew is really worth this effort Chief? Do you really think she's willing to work with us?" Crème asked as she and Bon Bon sat side by side, waiting for orders from Fleur after she left to relay their findings to Muckraker and Eclipse.

"I don't know," Bon Bon admitted. "I'm starting to think I should have just left her where she was. We already have all the blueprints we need to build tanks back in Equestria, so I don't really think we need her for that. Maybe I'm just an idiot."

"A nice one at least. Merciful, as it were."

"That's not why I did it. I would have killed her there, but she asked me to get her out of there. She wants Equestria to win, because Faust winning means more war, although why she knows that when she doesn't know Faust's intentions is beyond me. Maybe she'll be more cooperative once she calms down."

"And if she doesn't help?"

Bon Bon shrugged, "That's up to her now." There wasn't much else to say on the issue, so Bon Bon was glad when the speaker stone crackled back to life a minute later.

"Can you hear me Bon Bon?"

"I can hear you Fleur."

"Good," Fleur sighed, "Although part of me hoped you wouldn't be because of what I have to tell you. Firstly, Muckraker wants to congratulate you on completing your mission, and for the small amount of information you gleaned from Honeydew. However, there's bad news."

"How bad could it be?"

"Your confirmation of Faust's magic returning earlier has upset some ponies. They're convinced that it means Faust's attack is imminent. Between that and the griffons, well, lets just say that extracting Honeydew isn't possible. Neither is extracting you, I'm afraid. Even if it were, her involvement would be to little, too late."

"Understood," Bon Bon replied evenly. "We always knew that was a possibility. What should we do with Honeydew?"

Fleur released a drawn out sigh, "Alright, before I say, I want you to know that these orders come from Eclipse with the support of Muckraker, not me."

"Understood," Bon Bon said back, shrugging at Crème, who merely shrugged back, neither of them sure what Fleur meant by that.

"They want you to kill her, to make sure she doesn't fall back into enemy hooves."

Bon Bon nodded sadly, "I understa-"

"Wait. That's their orders, not mine, although they are my superiors. I'm going to ask you to not do that."

"Really?"

"Really. While there are likely plenty of ponies who would say she deserves to die for creating what she did, I say she's done nothing to deserve such a calloused end, especially since she never wanted to be part of any of this in the first place. I believe that she could be a huge asset to you, and the future of Equestria, but that can only happen if she lives. Obviously I can't tell you to disobey orders, but ultimately you're there, and we are not, so the choice is yours in the end. I won't ask what you're going to choose to do, but if you should spare her, get back in touch with me so I can talk to her myself."

"Underst-" Bon Bon started to say, but the stone died before she could finish. Clearly this had Fleur more upset that she had let on, and knowing what she did, Bon Bon could sympathise.

"What are you going to do Chief?"

"I don't know. What would you do?"

"Me?" Crème thought about it for a few seconds, then sighed and shrugged, "Orders are orders. Frankly I suspect Eclipse and Muckraker know more about this sort of thing than Fleur does."

"That doesn't make them right."

"Are you seriously considering disobeying them?"

"I'm keeping my options open." Bon Bon stood and started making her way back to the others, her mind churning over the possibilities. If she was honest with herself she didn't actually want to kill Honeydew, but disobeying her superiors didn't exactly sit right either. She'd done that quite a lot today already.

"What's the news?" Rocky asked as they re-entered the room. Bon Bon ignored him at first, instead walking over to stand in front of Honeydew.

"Because of the return of Faust's magic, and the arrival of the griffons, we aren't able to arrange an extraction for Honeydew or ourselves. We're effectively stranded in Mareitania unless you fancy rowing back home in that inflatable dinghy."

"Not as such," said Rocky. "What are we going to do with her then?"

"To stop her falling back into the enemy's hooves, we've been ordered to kill her."

"Ah well, can't be helped," Rocky said as Honeydew whimpered and begged as she struggled even harder to escape her bonds.

"Please! Don't kill me! Ple-e-ease! I'm begging you!"

"However," Bon Bon continued, "Fleur has asked us herself that we spare her. She feels that Honeydew could be of use to us."

"Yes!" Honeydew shouted, jumping on the straw that had just been offered to her. "I swear, I'll do anything to help you, please, just don't kill me!"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Why not?" Tootsie asked as Bon Bon kept standing over Honeydew.

"Because while our paymasters are Equis right now, we are ponies of Smile, and Smile doesn't kill unless totally necessary. I don't know if this is necessary. Crème, activate the stone."

Crème did so, then passed the speaker stone over to Bon Bon. Within seconds Fleur answered with a flurry of words that went unanswered until she slowed down. "Bon Bon? Are you there?"

"I'm here."

"Oh good. Bon Bon, I really can't thank you enough for-"

"Slow down Fleur, I haven't decided anything. What I need first is a confirmation from both you and Honeydew that sparing her life is something we all want. Say hello to Fleur, Honeydew."

"H-hello Fleur."

"Hello Honeydew," Fleur said back. "I'm not sure if you remember me, since we had little to do with each other, but I'm one of the ponies that went to Mareitania with Twilight Sparkle to overthrow the Duke-"

"I remember you. Tall. White with pink hair. Had your leg burned in High Rock."

There was a short sigh of irritation from Fleur, "That's me. I'm working for the Equestrian Intelligence Service now, and, well, I'm pretty sure you've met the ponies I'm in charge of."

"You're the one telling them to kill me?"

"No, that's my superiors. I'm trying to convince the ponies with you to spare you. I know you hated building weapons for the Duke, and I know you probably hate doing the same for Faust."

"I do."

"Good. I also suspect you know quite a bit about Mareitania and it's current inner workings?"

"I know some, but I doubt there's any one pony that knows all of it."

"As long as you know enough. I'm not going to bother to ask you if you know what Faust's intentions are, because I think the only pony to know that is Faust herself. Instead I'm going to focus on what we know, which is that she wants to see Equestria, as it currently is, destroyed, and judging by the things she's doing to get what she wants, she seems perfectly happy to burn Mareitania along with it so long as Equestria is taken out of the picture. Obviously we don't want that, and I hope you don't either."

"I can't speak for the others, but I remember what Twilight Sparkle, yourself, and Equestria did for us. Until Faust came and warped things, Equestria was our friend."

"And we would like to be so again. Unfortunately, to do that we will have to stop Faust and win the war, which could be done easier if we eliminate Mareitania's ability to wage war-"

"Which is why you took out the tank factory?"

"Exactly. Unfortunately we can't destroy her source of soldiers, but perhaps we can destroy her means of arming them and suchlike. I imagine that through your position you know plenty of ways we could do that. The only question I have after that is if you're willing to betray your country to help us?"

"I already have once, hoping to build a new country that was better that the one the Dukes built. That didn't happen, and Mareitania ended up becoming something worse in other ways. I can assure you that I have no loyalty to a country that betrayed me. I do have something to ask of you once this is all over though."

"And that is?"

"A new life away from Mareitania, where I can forget all the things I've been forced to do throughout my life."

"Sounds do-able. You have a deal. Satisfied Bon Bon?"

Bon Bon nodded, a little unsure at first, but growing in confidence that if Fleur was wrong about this, Honeydew could still easily be killed. "I think so. What should our next move be?"

"Getting out of Stalliongrad, but I very much doubt that you can do that with Honeydew. While they're probably going to think that she died in the explosion, that doesn't mean that she won't get recognised, so your first move is to formulate a disguise for her. Get some coat dyes to change the colour of her coat and hair, try to cover up her cutie mark, and maybe get her a dress or something to cover it just to be sure. And, most importantly, think of a new name for her. Once that's all done, Honeydew is pretty much gone."

Honeydew snorted a bitter laugh, stirring up some dust on the floor around her. "That's all I ever wanted."

Bon Bon shifted her bags, making sure their contents were very much hidden since black, armoured full-body suits weren't common in Mareitania, and would probably get her in trouble. She was incredibly thankful that ponies weren't getting searched before they got on the train.

Standing beside Bon Bon, bare of bags, but wearing a light summer dress, was a pale blue mare with a lavender mane and tail, almost bouncing up and down in excitement. The only telling thing about her that something wasn't right was the faint briuses around her ankles from having been tied up, and the large one on her head. That was the only thing connecting her back to the yellow mare known as Honeydew.

"You're bouncing like an idiot Bluebelle, stop it before you draw attention."

"But I'm excited!"

"And there was a massive explosion here earlier, killing dozens, including a well known pony called Honeydew. Getting where I'm going here?"

"Ah." Honeydew stopped bouncing, her heart suddenly feeling heavy in her chest. "Sorry. I guess the thought of getting out of here made me forget."

"It's fine, but just try to keep it a bit subdued until we're back in Neigh Orleans."

"Okay." Honeydew shielded her eyes from the blast of steam the train released as it passed them and slowed to a stop. Bon Bon nudged her forwards after Rocky, Tootsie, and Créme had already boarded, hinting she should get on-board as well. She followed them to a seat, fighting back the grin that wanted to spill onto her face. For all it's strange occurrences, today couldn't have turned out better, so long as you forgot that it could've turned out a lot worse.

Author's Notes:

It occurred to me recently that I might have branched out into too many different storylines. Not sure how it's all going to turn out, so I might have to prune some back if I need to. I don't know. *shrugs internally*