"And just what exactly are we supposed to do that's worth the risk of dealing with all these extra soldiers guarding everything?" Rocky asked as Bon Bon tucked the speaker stone back into her bags. "I really think we would have done more as it is if it were actually that simple."

"We'll find something," Bon Bon retorted. She stood and moved to the small window of the hotel room they currently occupied, and observed as much as she could of the city of Prance, for all it was worth. Even she had to admit that coming to the city was barely worth the effort considering there was no real industry or anything here that supplied the Mareitanian military.

"Like it matters that much," said Crème. "Unless we're going to disrupt the supply runs moving into Equestria, which would be pretty much impossible for us, their army already has pretty much everything it needs, and the rest it can claim from their newly conquered parts of Equestria."

"I know," Bon Bon said quietly. She turned to the newest member of their little group and asked if she had any ideas.

"Not really," said Honeydew. "If you're no longer going after industrial targets, I'm afraid I haven't many ideas to help you with. My only suggestion is that if you're not hitting the industries themselves, you may be better off-" Honeydew swallowed hard as the words fought to not be said, "-killing the ponies that run them."

"Would that really make a lot of difference?" Crème asked. "Who even owns the industries?"

"The noble families mainly," said Honeydew. "After the civil war their agreement with Twilight Sparkle left them in a position to purchase the old industries that had been under the Duke's control, or develop new ones using the ideas coming in from Equestria. Since the current government was in no position to do this themselves at the time, it was seen as a benefit to both sides as making Mareitania functional was the main goal at the time. Of course the government does have its own privately owned industry, such as the tank factory you destroyed, but a lot of the others are owned by the noble families."

"And how many of those did you help build?" Rocky asked Honeydew.

"Too many," she replied.

Bon Bon moved from the window and sat by Honeydew. "And what would happen if we did start assassinating the nobles owning all these companies? Wouldn't ownership just revert to their descendants, and nothing really change?"

"Or it'd fall under the full or temporary control of the government if it was essential to the war effort. But as you said, with the army invading Equestria, a lot of these industries have a lesser importance. Well, apart from arming new recruits into the army."

"I hadn't even considered that," said Crème. "I suppose there are probably a lot of ponies still seeking to join the army and join their comrades in Equestria, wanting to cast down the treacherous princesses that dared harm their precious 'Lady.' How many ponies do you think there are at this Puddingarde place?"

Bon Bon shrugged, "Who knows? With this mind control business, there could be thousands, with more joining up every day."

"I still don't know how you're immune to that," Rocky said to Honeydew. "Seems suspicious."

"You said it affects a pony through their magic, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then maybe this is why." Honeydew raised the bangs of her mane up, revealing a small scar in the middle of her forehead.

Rocky raised a eyebrow in surprise, "You're a unicorn?"

"I don't know," Honeydew said earnestly. "I've never been told that I'm a unicorn, but I've suspected I am for a while now because of the scar. The thing is, this sort of thing only happens in the noble families, where having a unicorn in the family is considered taboo. My family wasn't noble, and my mother was actually a unicorn, so I don't see why they'd have had my horn removed."

"Haven't you asked them?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because they're dead." Honeydew leant back and sighed. "Father died a couple of years ago now. My mother died years before that. She suffered a complication while pregnant, which killed both her and my younger sibling. Now all the ponies I could have asked are gone." Honeydew sighed again and shrugged. "Since it's saving me from Faust's influence, I guess I can't complain too much."

"As sad as that is, can we stick to the point?" Crème said curtly. "Equis is expecting some results off of us, and so far we've not given them a huge amount. No offense Honeydew."

"None taken."

Bon Bon lightly smacked Crème on the back of the head, then turned to Honeydew. "Where are the army's weapons made?"

"Depends which weapons you mean. Crossbows are made in Bitmark, swords, blades, and explosives in Stalliongrad, and their armour and uniforms are made in Neigh Orleans by the same ponies that made them during the civil war, although there are more of them now, and they don't operate out of Puddingarde any longer."

"And there's nothing made in Prance?"

Honeydew hummed for a second as she thought the question over. "Not in a production sense. Being surrounded by farmland, Prance is where the army's food is gathered, sort of. I don't really know the full story behind that one since I didn't have to design anything for it."

"At least now we have some ideas of what to hit," said Rocky. "If we can slow down the amount of Mareitanians heading to the front lines, that'd be something. Since we're in Prance, I guess we're taking out their supply depot first?"

Bon Bon nodded, "Once Tootsie gets back from scouting around the upper city, yes. Do you know where the supply depot is Honeydew?"

"It's in the east of the city, where the wall was broken down in the civil war. They decided to rebuild the gap as a private entrance for military business, so they didn't have to keep carting everything through the city. There should be a warehouse near there, although it's possibly in the industrial quarter near there, which was heavily remodelled since a lot of it was burnt down in the riots before the civil war, and damaged again during it."

Bon Bon patted Honeydew on the shoulder, "That's a good a place to start as any. When Tootsie gets back we can go for a little walk to see what the situation is."

"Are you sure?" Bon Bon said to Tootsie as the blue mare delivered her report.

"I'm not lying Bon Bon. The Shades are operating out of a house in the upper city, rather than from the castle. From what I've heard, with the army deployed in Equestria the castle is largely empty, but if they weren't deployed, the castle would be home to a garrison."

"I don't care about that!" Bon Bon half shouted. "I care about the part where the Shades are operating out of Prance and not High Rock Keep!"

"Maybe it's just a safe house for them or something," said Rocky. "Seems odd to have them based here of all places. Are you really sure about this Tootsie?"

"I saw a pony that I recognised from the description of all the known Shades Fleur could remember. Flicker I think her name was. A dark grey unicorn with a purple mane and tail, although her horn did look damaged. Has a cloudy night sky for a cutie mark. I saw her slinking through the streets, which honestly caught my attention more than if she was walking normally, so I followed her to a house in the north west corner of the upper city, which was unnamed."

"That's probably worth investigating then." Bon Bon ran a hoof down her face and sighed under her breath as she found them with two jobs to do. "Great. Tootsie, you head back out with Honeydew to find this supply depot."

"Supply depot?"

"She'll fill you in. The rest of us are going to find out what's going on in the upper city."

"Sneaky or no sneaky?" Rocky asked.

"It's daylight with few places to hide, so no sneaky. We'll meet back up here in three hours at most, although nopony should be surprised if any of us are late." Together they left their room and the hotel, where Bon Bon gave them a friendly nod. "See you two later."

"Good luck boss," Tootsie said back, both of them waving to the others.

"You don't believe her, do you?" Rocky asked Bon Bon as they started walking the opposite direction towards the upper city.

"Do you?" Bon Bon asked back.

"Something does perhaps seem a little bit off, I admit, but it's not like Tootsie to imagine things either."

"Exactly," Bon Bon agreed. "That's why we're going to investigate."

It was only a short journey to the upper city, and compared to the lower city it was almost deserted. Barely a pony could be seen doing anything, and the sheer absence of... life, save for a few soldiers guarding the gates around the castle, put Bon Bon on edge. Still, at least it made it easier to find the place, which was unnamed as Tootsie had said, but only because somepony had taken great effort to tear off the plaque if the scratches around where the name should be were any indication.

"I guess this is the place," Crème said, hopping up the steps to the front door to open it, but stopped as she noticed the wood around the lock, as well as the lock itself were busted, and had been for some time by the looks of it. "Or maybe it isn't."

"It's not like Tootsie to get her places wrong," Bon Bon said firmly. "We're going in."

"Alright then." Crème pushed the door, but stopped when it resisted her efforts. A quick scan with her magic told her it had been bolted from the inside. Shrugging to herself she flicked it open with her magic and tried again, opening the door with ease.

"That lock looks recent," Rocky observed as they entered. "Whoever put it in has no idea how to use a screwdriver though," he added, noticing that a lot of the screws weren't in properly, and had at times been bent and hammered down. "This really doesn't feel like a Shades operation."

"I know," Bon Bon said, fully agreeing with him. "Something is definitely wrong here." She stopped by a picture hanging crookedly on the wall above a sofa covered in a dust sheet, depicting two young mares in fancy clothes. One was a very light brown with blonde hair, and the other a pale blue with almost black hair. Behind them, with his hoof over the back of the brown mare, was a rotund grey stallion. Something in his eyes gave her the creeps.

"Hey guys," Crème whispered as loud as she dared, "I found some hoofprints." She pointed at a trail of hoofprints that went further into the house. "Still pretty fresh too."

Bon Bon gestured for Crème to lead the way, and followed quietly as she led the way deeper into the house. The hoofprints soon ran out, dried up by the thick carpeting, so they had to rely on what they could hear of their target. Eventually, through a process of elimination, they were led to a large double doors, through which gentle snoring could be heard.

Bon Bon put a hoof to her lips, then pushed the door open. Beyond it was a bedroom, with a large king sized bed, in the middle of which was a small dark grey unicorn curled up in a nest of blankets. Bon Bon gestured for Rocky to stay out of sight outside the door, then crept with Crème up to the bed. Not sure what else to do, she tapped the unicorn on the side to wake her.

"Hmm?" Flicker opened her eyes to peek at Bon Bon, then closed them again, mumbling to herself. A second later she slammed her eyes back open and leapt to her hooves. "Aah! What the fuck!"

"Relax," said Bon Bon, gesturing with her hooves for Flicker to calm down. "We're not here to hurt you." Now that she was standing and moving, Bon Bon could see the unicorn was sweating and trembling. "Are you alright? You look a bit ill."

"What?" Flicker shook her head, then winced at the motion. "Never mind. What do you want from me?"

"We just want to ask you a few questions."

"I'm not telling you anything!" Flicker leapt off the bed and over the two of them, stumbling slightly as she landed. She recovered quickly, and shot out through the door, only to meet Rocky who stuck a leg out and hit her hard enough to flip her onto her back. She screamed as she landed, and squirmed in pain as Rocky placed a firm hoof on her chest.

"You ain't going nowhere missy. Now how about you..." Rocky trailed off as pus oozed out of a crack on the unicorn's horn, and went into her mane. "Now that's just nasty." He hauled her back to her hooves and shoved her back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him and standing guard to stop her running again.

"Who are you guys?" Flicker asked as she backed up into the corner of the room. "Are you Shades?"

"Why should that worry you?" said Bon Bon. "Aren't you a Shade?"

"Not any more. Now answer my question; are you Shades?"

"No, we're not. You seem awfully concerned about that. Are you hiding from them since you claim to no longer be with them?"

"I very much doubt they look kindly on ponies that abandon them." Flicker eyed them all suspiciously, "Who are you if you're not Shades? Nopony knew I was here until you walked in."

Crème smiled kindly at the grey unicorn, "You're name's Flicker isn't it?"

"How do you know that?"

"That doesn't matter. You're horn's damaged, and I'm guessing from the pus that it's badly infected. I can help you clean it up if you want? It could do some serious harm if you don't get it seen to soon."

Flicker shook her head and backed up into the corner even tighter. "No. If you clean it up it'll heal, and I'll end up back under her control."

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You're aware of the magic Faust is using to control ponies?"

"Magic? Is that what it is? I just know that after my horn was cracked it was like I could think clearly again. I only assumed having a broken horn stopped whatever was twisting my thoughts."

"You're not wrong," said Crème. "But if you put on an inhibitor you'll be protected from the magic as well, which is a lot better for you than having a cracked and infected horn, which could leave you magicless for life at best, or kill you at worst. Now please, let me help you before either of those things happen."

It was several moments before Flicker made a move, like she was weighing up her options. Eventually she seemed to reach a decision and jumped back onto the bed, wrapping herself back in her nest of blankets. "How do you know it's magic she's using to control ponies? Are you working for her?"

"No more than you are," said Bon Bon. "We're..." Bon Bon bit her lip, unsure on whether she should really tell this pony who they were. The problem was that she knew they were unlikely to get much further if Flicker didn't trust them a little, and telling her who they were was the first part of building that trust. In this case it seemed that trust was going to have to be a two way thing. "We're Equestrian intelligence. We know all about the magic Faust is using, which is also why we know your broken horn is saving you from it."

"Equis? Great..." Flicker sagged into her blankets and sighed. "Just my luck to be found by you."

"Sorry, but we recognised you from a dossier on known members of the Shades. We assumed this was a Shades operation until we found out this was an abandoned house. Why are you running from the Shades?"

"Because... I..." Flicker lapsed into silence for a moment. "It's a complicated story."

"We got time," Bon Bon said as reassuringly as she could.

"I'm guessing that since you're with Equis, you know all about what the Shades did in a place called Ponyville?"

"We do. You kidnapped some ponies."

"Right. I was part of the group that went after an earth pony called... Applejack, I think it was?" Flicker smiled wryly, "Put up quite the fight. Gave me this to remember her by," she added looking up at her horn. "After that I slowly started to see how wrong things were. Equestria sent us food and supplies during the rebellion, and it was Equestrian ponies that started and led the rebellion. Yet ponies kept talking like Equestria was some big enemy, and I remember agreeing with them, but I don't know why. And Faust..." Flicker shuddered. "She pretty much took control of everything, and we wanted her to."

"And once you started seeing clearly-"

"I had to get out of there in case ponies started to suspect me. I was still confused about the whole thing then, but things got clearer as time went on."

"You know running away would only have made you more suspect?" Rocky said to Flicker.

"I know, hence why I'm hiding. It doesn't hurt that they're rather distracted with other things either." Flicker went quiet again and shifted her hooves uneasily, "So now I've told you all that, what do you want with me?"

"Since you're not with the Shades, nothing, except perhaps your silence."

"You've got it," Flicker said quickly, making Bon Bon smile. "Since you're here though, I don't suppose you have an inhibitor I could borrow? Perhaps I should get my horn looked at before I die."

"Actually, I have a proposition for you." Bon Bon sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at Flicker. "I'm guessing you're no fan of Faust and what she's doing?"

"I didn't join the rebellion to fight a tyrant, only to wind up with a psychopath leading us instead. I want things to go back to the way they were before Faust turned up."

"So do we," said Bon Bon. "If you're willing to join us, we'll happily take care of your horn, and make sure you never fall under Faust's control again. That way you can help us start changing the country back to the way it was before Faust came along. What do you say?" Bon Bon didn't care that this is probably exactly the opposite of what Equis would likely order if what had happened with Honeydew was any indication. She was trusting her gut with this one.

"You're really trusting me, a former Shade you don't really know, to help you sabotage my own country?" Flicker looked sceptically at Bon Bon, "Really?"

"Really. The problem here is that you're a former member of an intelligence service working for a country currently at war with our own. We should probably kill you to stop you revealing us."

"Even though I have no desire to go back to the Shades in case they kill me," Flicker said flatly.

"The information you could tell them might save your life. Or you could accept our offer, get your horn fixed, and help us protect our country in a way that undermines the problem with your country. How about it?"

Flicker pulled her blankets tighter around herself and shivered. It wasn't hard to tell at this point just how unwell the mare was. "So you're going to kill me if I refuse?"

"No, but if we start getting hunted we'll make sure the Shades get you as well. They're probably less gentle than we are."

Flicker shivered again, "I'm not going to argue with that. Look, if you help me get better, I will help you with whatever you want."

Bon Bon clapped her hooves together gleefully, "Excellent. Rocky, head back to the hotel and grab our stuff along with the others'..." Bon Bon frowned as Rocky stared out of the window behind the bed, ignoring her. Then she noticed Crème was doing the same. Then she looked herself, and saw the large plume of smoke rising from the east of the city. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. I'm going to kill her."

"Kill who?" Flicker asked, sounding a little panicked.

"One of our other members. Rocky, get back to the hotel, grab the others and our stuff, and drag Tootsie back by her ears if you have to. Crème, get started on cleaning Flicker's horn."

"What are you going to be doing?" asked Crème.

"Picking up a few things."

Bon Bon quickly rifled through the supply cupboard of the small hospital Prance had, keeping an ear out for anypony that might be approaching. She doubted that anypony would be impressed to see her there stealing things that were as precious as gold dust now that trading with Equestria had stopped. That was also why she wasn't surprised to see that the disinfectant, the antiseptic cream, and the antibiotics had writing on them saying they were made in Baltimare. The bandages didn't, but Celestia help the Mareitanians if they couldn't even make their own bandages.

Quickly bagging the four items, Bon Bon slipped out of the cupboard and back into the corridor, largely unnoticed by all as they were far too occupied with ponies coming in from the fire suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Like the guard pony, who was far too distracted to pay attention to Bon Bon as she brushed up beside him and slipped an inhibitor off his belt.

Stepping quickly to the side as a nurse rushed past, Bon Bon made her way back to the exit and slipped out of the hospital, like she'd never been there at all. She might've felt guilty for stealing medicine from ponies that needed it, but she was in the wrong country to worry about that. What they were going to do once they ran out of medical supplies was anyponies guess, but it certainly wasn't her problem.

Everypony else was there as Bon Bon sauntered into the bedroom of the house and dropped the small bag of supplies off next to Crème, who was gently washing Flicker's horn with a cloth and warm water. "I think I got everything you need."

Crème tipped the contents out on the bed and nodded, "Thanks Chief. Hopefully this shouldn't take too long, although I can't do much for the fever."

"Don't worry about it. We aren't rushing anywhere." Bon Bon turned to Tootsie, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Tootsie tapped her hooves together nervously, while behind her Honeydew did her best to look like she had nothing to do with anything. "Well, y'see Bon Bon, the entire building was made of wood, save for some of the foundations, and there was a big dragon that attacked, burning it all down. Then we came back."

"To escape the heat?"

"Maaaybe?"

"You're a total shit Tootsie, but whatever. I guess that achieves one of our objectives for now."

"Did the fire at least smell good?" Rocky asked them.

Tootsie grinned at Rocky, "Once it got going, yeah. I think we must have found some apples, because there was a really nice baked apple smell for a while."

"Nice."

Bon Bon stamped a hoof to get their attention. "As pleasant as that sounds, could you at least consult us before you go setting things on fire?"

"Okay, sorry. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Besides, it's not like you can say much either, trusting a wounded former Shade to join us even though we know nothing about her or her loyalties."

"Don't you worry about me," Flicker mumbled, wincing and hissing as Crème wiped the disinfectant over her horn. "If you're looking to take Faust down I won't stop you. Assuming this doesn't kill me, I might even help you."

"But why?"

"Because she mind-raped us all into doing her bidding perhaps? Because she's happy to destroy Mareitania fighting a stupid war with Equestria?" Flicker sniffed hard and coughed wetly into her blankets, "Fuck Faust, and fuck whatever it is she wants. Fuck this fever too."

Tootsie stared at Flicker for a moment, then turned back to Bon Bon. "Even so, I still think it's too big a risk after we defied certain orders concerning a certain pony."

"I know, but if Fleur really is in charge of us now, I doubt she'll object to it either."

"That's because Fleur's a soft touch," Tootsie grumbled.

"Do you mean the Fleur that worked with the rebellion in the civil war?" Flicker asked.

"That's right," said Bon Bon. "I take it you remember her?"

"Yeah, she was nice. A lot nicer than that fucking zebra was anyway."

"Why? What did she do to you?"

"Broke three of my legs and accused me of being a spy for the Duke, even though she was the spy all along." Flicker stared flatly at Bon Bon. "I'm really not fond of her."

"Fair enough. Anyway, now we're all here there are some things I want to talk about. You mentioned being part of the team that kidnapped some of the Bearers of Harmony. Where are they, and do you know how to rescue them?"

"They're in High Rock, and no. The only pony that pulled a rescue from there off was Lady Twilight, and I doubt any of us have the skills she has."

"I guess that's out the window then," Bon Bon muttered.

"What about Faust?" Rocky asked Flicker. "Do you even know what she wants? What she's planning to do? Or were you all too wrapped up in her mind-fuckery to question it?"

"I guess it's the latter. I know she wants to take down Equestria and the princesses, but now that I'm free of her control I can see that's only of benefit to her. All of this is only of benefit to her."

"So you have no idea what her plans are beyond conquering Equestria?" Flicker shook her head, and Rocky lightly stomped a hoof. "Well damn it. How about the Shades? Do you know what they're up to?"

"Not for a while now. I've been on the run for a couple of months now, so they've probably done a lot I don't know about. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Bon Bon told her. "Do you at least have any idea what 'the plan' is?"

"The plan? What plan?"

"Faust's grand plan once she finishes conquering the world. It's kind of a concern for us."

Flicker shrugged helplessly, "I have no idea what that is. She tends to keep a lot of things to herself, so there's a lot of stuff we don't know. How do you know she wants to conquer the world?"

"That's as much as we do know. She wants to conquer the world and enact something she calls 'the plan.' What that plan might be is a mystery, although we guess it's nothing we want to happen."

"And she wants to do that to Mareitania as well?" Flicker bit her lip as Bon Bon nodded at her, "Fuck. Okay, you know what? I was going to help you anyway, but now I'm all in if she intends to fuck up my country even more than she already has."

"Good. Now I know this might seem a bit redundant since you've not been in touch with them for a while, but do you know of any Shades operations going on in Mareitania?"

"Actually we aren't operating in Mareitania much. Or at least not in the way you mean. Apart from their base of operations in High Rock, they tend to put all their focus on Equestria."

"Why is everything good in High Rock?" Tootsie groaned out loud. "The damage we could do if we got in there without getting caught."

"What about the griffons?" Crème asked Flicker as she squeezed the antiseptic cream into the crack on her horn. "Do you have any idea how they ended up fighting for Faust?"

"Well, yeah. They just came and offered their services one day. Apparently they were told of the possibility of work by the Emperor's brother, although how he knew is a different matter."

"And what did the griffons want in return?"

"Their pick of the riches in Equestria, and maybe more, but I have no idea what."

"The Emperor's brother?" Bon Bon said thoughtfully, having ignored the conversation after that. "I wonder why he would want the Bloodfeathers to fight for Mareitania?"

"Isn't his nephew in the Bloodfeathers?" said Tootsie. "Maybe he's trying to get his nephew killed to remove his claim to the throne."

"Or maybe he's trying to give the nephew a chance to prove himself to the Emperor," Rocky suggested. "Maybe he wants his nephew to get his claim to the throne back?"

"I'd say Tootsie's closer than Rocky," said Crème.

Bon Bon shrugged at all of them. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way I'm smelling some kind of power play by the Emperor's brother if this is true. I guess we should report this back to Fleur either way."

"Then I guess we're moving on?" Rocky asked.

"Yep, to Neigh Orleans, to pay the Mareitanians' blacksmith a visit."

Flicker's expression turned worried, "What do you want with him?"

"To kill him," Rocky said bluntly, "and destroy his operation."

"Oh," Flicker said quietly before shrugging. "Can't be helped I guess. I don't suppose I could have a shot at a pony named Rusty while we're there?"

"You're too ill to be doing anything too extreme," Crème told her firmly.

"Aww, fine. So what's the plan after killing Iron Prize?"

"That's something you can find out when we're doing it," said Bon Bon, taking note of the relief showing on Tootsie's face. "Anyway, Crème and I have something that we need to go and do, so pack whatever you have and then we're off to sunny Neigh Orleans."

"I think there's a flaw in the whole weather thing," Rocky said as they stepped off the train and into Neigh Orleans. "Without Faust here, there's nopony to control the weather. It's just going back to being permanently grey again."

All of them looked up at the blanket of grey clouds that filled the sky and blocked the sun. "It's almost like when the Duke still ruled," Flicker said sadly. "Only with less, y'know, enslaved pegasi." She coughed and pressed a hoof to her head as it throbbed. "Urgh, I hate this. Thanks by the way, for doing this."

"You're welcome," said Bon Bon, still looking up at the sky. Without seeing the sun it was difficult to tell the time without getting her watch out, which was probably a bad idea considering nopony in Mareitania had anything like that. If she was any judge, it should have been around seven in the evening, meaning they still had a couple hours of daylight to go. "Okay, first we need to find somewhere to stay. Any suggestions Flicker?"

"There's a place called the Rising Sun here that might suit your needs. It's not too far from the foundry you're looking for either."

"Lead the way then."

"I'm curious," Rocky said after a couple of minutes of walking. "Why make the armour here when all the metal production's in Stalliongrad? Seems a bit inefficient if you ask me."

Honeydew gestured with a hoof towards where she thought the north was. "There was a small mine to the north west of here, a bit past Puddingarde. It was abandoned, but the rebellion took it over at the beginning to make weapons and armour since they couldn't exactly get them from Stalliongrad. It's still in use now, and quite a bit bigger, so I suppose that's why the armour is still made here."

"Makes sense," said Tootsie. "Do you want to add the mine to our to do list?"

Bon Bon considered it for a second, then shook her head. "Nah, we have enough to do. Frankly we're going to end up as the most wanted ponies in Mareitania as it is, without buying ourselves more notoriety. Let's try to get our main objectives done first."

Ten minutes later they were at the Rising Sun, paying for a room that smelled more than a little used. "You know, we could try for two rooms," said Tootsie.

"We're not made of money," Bon Bon replied with a faint grin. "Anyway, I thought you liked snuggling up with Rocky?"

"I do," Tootsie said primly. "It's the rest of you that bothers me." Tootsie opened her bag and pulled out her black tactical suit, placing it on the bed beside her. "What's the first move Chief?"

Bon Bon turned to Flicker, "Do you know where Iron Prize lives?"

"I know he lives in the city, but that's it. I can tell you he's a bit of a workaholic, and is probably still at the foundry right now. You could either take him out there, or follow him home since the foundry will probably have guards."

"Okay, Flicker and I will follow Iron Prize to his home and deal with him there- Wait, does he have a wife or kids or anything?"

"Not that I know of," said Flicker.

"Okay, good, that'll make things easier. Now as I saying, Flicker and I will follow him home and deal with him there. You guys deal with the foundry once it goes dark."

"What about me?" asked Honeydew.

"You can either go with them, or stay here," said Bon Bon, pointing at Rocky, Tootsie, and Crème. "Unless you have some other ideas you want to share?"

"Neigh Orleans, Neigh Orleans..." Honeydew muttered to herself. A second later she shrugged and smiled helplessly, "Not much I can think of here that I can tell you about. There's Puddingarde not far away, and the old hideout of Pierre under the city, but one's a fortress, and the others a set of dank old tunnels. There's not much to do with either of those."

"Alright then. Make sure you stay here then, otherwise we will take great pains to find you again. Understood?" Honeydew nodded rapidly. "Alright then. Come on Flicker, let's go."

"So what's the deal with Bluebell?" Flicker asked as they waited in the shadows near the entrance to the foundry. "It almost sounds like she's your prisoner."

"She's only been with us like a couple of weeks, so I'm not willing to trust her that much, even if Fleur does. Same goes for you by the way." Bon Bon blinked as she remembered something. "By the way, Fleur says welcome back to the good guys."

"Whoopee..." Flicker said tiredly, suppressing another shiver.

"Excuse me? You're not thinking of backing out of this are you?"

"No, not at all. It's just we're going to be killing a pony that was once one of the good guys as well, and still would be if it wasn't for that fucking Faust. You'll have to excuse me if I'm not too excited by this."

Bon Bon nodded, not saying anything. She hadn't really considered Flicker's position on this, so considering the mare was still willing to help said a lot about her. Bon Bon wasn't entirely enthusiastic about it either, as the ponies here weren't exactly working of their own free will. It felt like they were killing innocents if she thought about it too much. Perhaps claiming to be the good guys was also a bit much when your enemy were the good guys, once.

"That's him," Flicker said a few minutes later, pointing at a large brown stallion that was walking out of the gates, a hammer and tongs emblazoned on his flank, visible just behind his bags. He paused for a moment, then turned right, walking away from them.

"An earth pony that big might be an issue if he fights back," said Bon Bon.

"Actually, he's a unicorn."

"But he's got no horn. Oh, wait, you mean he's one of those that had it removed when he was young, don't you? Bluebell's the same."

"Welcome to Mareitania," Flicker said sarcastically. She started trotting after Iron Prize, leaving Bon Bon to catch up as she maintained a reasonable distance behind him. "I guess having no horn would make him immune to the magic Faust is using, but he always was a true believer of the Lady, so I suppose it doesn't matter."

"What was your job in the Shades?" Bon Bon asked, genuinely curious about her new companion. Even with a broken horn and a fever she was still performing admirably.

"Field work mainly. My talent's in stealth, so anything where that was useful really. Of course I'm better when I can use my magic to help me. I feel almost useless without it."

"I think you're doing fine," Bon Bon said to reassure the smaller mare. She stopped as Flicker did, waiting as Iron Prize stopped outside a takeout shop. Ten minutes later he left again, a paper bag of food in his mouth as he trotted towards the waterfront.

Not long after that he stopped outside a modest house in a street not far from the waterfront itself. He fished a key out of his bags, unlocking the door and entering. A few seconds later there was a click as he relocked it. Lights started coming on in the house, but other than that it seemed pretty quiet.

"Now what?" Flicker asked Bon Bon as they walked up the opposite side of the street until they were directly across from the house. "Do we wait for him to go to sleep? Or what?"

"I guess so. At the very least we have to take him out before the others attack the foundry. If he sees something wrong there he'll definitely go back there, and we'll miss our chance."

"Then we should go now."

"I suppose we could. I'm just wondering how we should do this. Should we make it look like a burglary gone wrong?"

"That won't work. Ever since Faust took control, the crime rate's really dropped. Something to do with anything that hurts another pony, hurts the Lady. Or something." Flicker rubbed her head hard, "You seriously have no idea what's it's like to have that kind of stuff going on in your head. Besides, they'd only connect the foundry to Iron being dead, so it hardly seems worth trying to make it look like something else."

"I guess. I'm starting to get the feeling that we're going to start having ponies come after us if we do this."

"All part of the fun, right?"

Bon Bon smirked at Flicker's confident grin, but it was mostly for show as her words had triggered a thought. She started actually wondering if the mare really had been part of a Shades operation to find them. Have her play to their sympathies, then use her to report on their activities. Bon Bon had maintained some healthy suspicion before, but now she suspected herself of being an idiot for letting Flicker tag along. She supposed there was only one way to find out.

"Let's see if there's a back entrance to this place." Taking a second to memorise the position of the building, Bon Bon turned back the way they came until she found a narrow entrance that led to small, damp back alley that squeezed between two rows of houses.

Taking care to be quiet, Bon Bon led the way down it, counting the houses off until she was reasonably sure they behind Iron Prize's house. There was a door there, much to her relief, but it was locked. Taking a moment to cinch the bags she was wearing a little tighter, she pulled out her spring loaded blade and wrapped it around her right hoof. Then she found her lock picks and set to work.

"I could do that in seconds if I had my magic," Flicker whispered as she kept an eye on the alleyway. "Guess I won't be doing any of that for a while."

"Shh." It was only a few seconds until Bon Bon unlocked it herself, and as the door clicked open she paused to try and hear if it had been heard. Ten seconds later there hadn't been any noise from inside, so she placed her lock picks back in her bags and gently opened the door into what appeared to be a kitchen, although a rather underused one by all appearances.

"Okay then Flicker," Bon Bon whispered to her erstwhile companion. "I'm guessing you don't want to see this since you know this pony, so you can either stay here or wait outside. Your choice." Bon Bon raised an eyebrow as Flicker bit her lip and shifted awkwardly on her hooves, but didn't say anything. Eventually Flicker nodded.

"I'll stay here and make sure our exit is good."

"Alright then." Bon Bon nodded at Flicker, hoping to whatever might be listening that she hadn't made a mistake in bringing the mare along. She moved out of the kitchen, moving slowly so to not advertise the fact that she was there, and passed into a living room that doubled as a dining room. The remains of a half eaten meal were on the table, but there was no sign of her target.

Bon Bon sat quietly for a moment, moving her ears about as she tried to work out where he had gone. A muffled thump from upstairs told her where he was, and she crept over to the stairs, cautiously peeking up it to check that he wasn't about to come back down. Things went quiet after a minute, so she started climbing up the stairs, only to be surprised when Iron Prize came around the corner and saw her.

"What in the Lady's light do you think you're doing?"

"Uh... shit." Bon Bon charged up the stairs at Iron Prize, and ducked under the punch he aimed at her, ending up behind him. She ducked again as he bucked at her, then rolled away as he almost brought his hooves down on her. Springing back to her own hooves as he turned to face her, she ran in close, dropping low as he swung a hoof at her, then got in even closer and raised her right hoof to just under his jawbone and flexed, triggering the blade to spring out and stab him, killing him instantly.

She stumbled and fought to keep her balance as all his weight suddenly ended up on her, and as she twisted out of it she pushed the body enough so it fell down the stairs in a series of sickening crunches. Gawping at the battered body as it came to a rest at the bottom of the stairs, Bon Bon very quickly decided that she could have done that better, and quickly decided to leave.

Running back down the stairs and leaping over the body, Bon Bon skidded on the threadbare carpet as she turned to the kitchen, but quickly righted herself and kept running. Much to her surprise Flicker was exactly where she'd left her, although she did look ill for different reasons this time.

"I take it that wasn't exactly what you planned?"

"Not exactly."

"Want to torch the place?"

"What? No, the entire street will go up if we do that. Let's just get out of here." Bon Bon opened the back door and glanced outside, finding the back alley as empty as when they arrived. Both of them slipped out, and Bon Bon spent a moment relocking the door before removing her weapon and walking away, trying to look as innocent as hell as a bright glow lit up the sky from elsewhere in the city.

"I guess the others succeeded then," Flicker said as she noticed the distant conflagration.

"Seems so," Bon Bon replied stiffly.

"Good. Can we head back to our room now? It's like twenty degrees out here and I'm still freezing."

Bon Bon stopped, letting Flicker trot on for a few steps before she stopped as well. "Why the hell are you really helping us Flicker? You're on the run from the Shades apparently, and running a fever, which is more than enough of a reason to refuse to help, yet here you are, letting yourself suffer to sabotage your own country. I wish I could say I honestly believe your intentions here, but the more I think about it, the more I question it. What is it you want Flicker?"

Flicker silently regard Bon Bon for several seconds before speaking. "You're not the only one with a trust issue here. You waltz into my hideout, patch me up, then drag me along on the merest word of me saying I want to help, which I actually do, but I still think you're insane for accepting me like that. Thankfully it seems you're not that dim."

"Believe it or not I wasn't kidding when I said we could kill you to protect ourselves. The thing is though, is that none of us like thinking like that. If we could drag you along where we can watch you, all the better for all of us. But you seem far too eager to help, and that's actually making me more suspicious. So I'm asking again, what do you want?"

Flicker went quiet again, but for much shorter this time. "My father was a noble," she said. "Took one look at me and threw me away for having a horn. I'm not here to cry about it, because it's probably the best thing he ever did for me, rather than try and turn me into a 'proper' earth pony."

"And what? You want us to help you get even?"

"Yes and no. To me the nobles represented the worst excesses of the Duke's rule, living like they were the most important things in the world, and that nothing could touch them, no matter what terrible things some of them did. I despised them, but when the rebellion started, I came to hate some of them even more. A lot of them cozied up to the rebellion for fear of losing their wealth and comfort, and while I could understand the practical reasons for Lady Twilight accepting their allegiance, it pissed me off to no end that she gave those bastards more than the noose they all deserved. I actually have more respect for those that stuck with the Duke, because at least they stuck to their principals."

"Your point?"

"My point is that I want nothing more than the noble houses torn down, and I will help you if you help me, because you helping me also helps you."

"So you want us to help you kill your father, who's a noble, for abandoning you? How does that help us?"

Flicker shook her head slowly, "No, I want to kill all the nobles, which helps you. I wasn't going to bring this up until I was sure I could trust you, but time's an issue, so here we are. Think about it Bon Bon, killing the ponies that run all these industries at once could do so much to help your cause, more than destroying one factory at a time ever could. I have a plan to kill all of them, including Lord Hayfield."

Bon Bon swallowed nervously, even though she tried to hide it. Earlier they'd dismissed the idea of killing the nobles as impractical, yet Flicker's plan had the merit of being effective, if still horrific. Killing one of the ruling council whom happened to be among those nobles almost made it worth it alone for the chaos that would cause. "I'm not agreeing to anything yet, but I would like to know how you intend to do this?"

"There's a gala coming up for the nobles at Lord Hayfield's country manor. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who he is. My plan was basically to trap them inside somehow, then burn the whole thing down with the nobles still inside. But then I got sick, so I couldn't really do much until I got better, although that apparently wasn't going to happen if Crème was right. I was happy for the Shades to do whatever they wanted to me once I'd done that, but if you help me do this I will help you do whatever you need to do."

"I..." Bon Bon didn't want to say one way or the other to this plan, as it could in theory still be a trap set by the Shades. There was also the fact that it was a horrific plan, and that was winning the fight against the practical effect taking out all those nobles might have had. "Surely not all of them are that bad to warrant this?"

"Maybe not, but if you start picking them off one by one they'll only increase their security to the point it's impossible to take them out. Killing them all at once removes that issue."

Bon Bon nodded, seeing Flicker's point. "I'll need to discuss this with my team first."

"Understandable."

"When is the gala?"

"A couple of weeks from now. If you want to spend that time going after your other targets, whatever they are, I'm more than happy to help, so long as you agree."

"I don't know Flicker. It might take a while to think this one over. You're welcome to stick with us for now, but any help you give is purely voluntary as we might still refuse. As I said, I'll have to talk this over with my team, and probably Fleur before we make a decision. Until then, we have work to do."

Celestia stopped outside the door to Ambassador Deetra's quarters in Canterlot castle, trying to decide how best to broach the issue she was about to bring up. It seemed to odd to her that their agents in Mareitania had found a reason for the Bloodfeathers joining Faust, while the griffons themselves, who should have easily found the truth, found nothing. It was more than a little suspect.

Still not sure of how to go about it, Celestia knocked on the door, and listened with interest to the string of curses uttered in the griffish tongue. There was a thud, then a second later she finally got the response she wanted. "Come in."

Celestia pushed the door open, but slowed as she saw the room beyond in chaos, with everything being rapidly packed away into a collection of travel trunks, with a bewildered silver griffon standing in the middle of it, trying to smile for Celestia's sake.

"How can I help you your Highness?"

Celestia studied the scene a little longer before answering with a question of her own. "You're leaving?"

"Unfortunately yes. I received the order to return to the Griffonia this morning."

"And you weren't going to tell us?"

"I was, but I thought I'd start packing while I thought about how to tell you. Apparently the Emperor wishes me to return to the Eyrie now that Faust has actually attacked Equestria."

"I see," Celestia said carefully, picking up a dress and carefully folding it to place in one of the trunks. "And this has nothing at all to do with his brother being the reason the Bloodfeathers are fighting for Faust?" Celestia took note of the way Deetra cringed. "You've known about that for a while, haven't you?"

"Long enough," Deetra admitted. "I was forbidden from telling you, in case you decided that Griffonia was working against you."

"I take that to mean you aren't?"

"Not intentionally. I'd say it matters little now since you've almost wiped most of the Bloodfeathers out, including the Emperor's son."

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Please pass my condolences on to the Emperor."

"I shall, but I doubt he'll care. He washed his claws of his son years ago, so his death at the hooves of ponies would only reaffirm to him how weak his son was." Deetra remembered who she was talking to and winced, "No offense."

"None taken," Celestia lied. "Do you know why the Emperor's brother would suggest for the Bloodfeathers to fight for Faust?"

"That's... hard to tell. The prevailing theory is that if Faust wins, he could win political favour with her by being the one that aided her victory by bringing the Bloodfeathers into her forces. However, he also gains by removing opposition to his claim to the throne should the Emperor's son die fighting. There's also the small possibility that he hoped Faust and the Bloodfeathers would be enough of a distraction to make his move for the throne."

"If he had appeared to have actually done anything?" Celestia asked, Deetra nodding in reply. "I see. How popular is this brother's claim to the throne?"

"Amongst the old families, not very, but he tends to be popular amongst the general population for being a modern, forward thinking griffon. None of that is true, as he's... well, I probably shouldn't say what I want to, but I will say that the griffon he is behind closed doors is very different to the one the public sees. He's just out for power, and is happy to play to the public to get their support."

"But that support doesn't actually win him the throne," said Celestia. "Hence why he's happy to do silly things like deal with Faust."

"So it would seem. Suffice to say that the political situation in the Eyrie is rather taut right now."

Celestia nodded sadly, "I suppose that means we'll no longer have access to information from your intelligence services?"

"I'm afraid so. We'll be keeping an eye on things for security reasons, but until this situation is sorted Griffon Intelligence will be looking mostly inwards." Deetra sat and sighed as she ran a claw back over her head, "I'm sorry about this Princess, I really am. The timing couldn't have been worse if we tried."

"It's really not your fault Deetra, and for what it's worth I thank you for your efforts on our behalf. I'll leave you to your packing." Celestia paused at the door, and looked back at the griffon who had yet to resume packing. "Goodbye Deetra. Hopefully we can meet again under better circumstances."

"Hopefully. Goodbye, your Highness."

Celestia closed the door behind her, and stopped to sigh just as she heard Deetra do the same. "Like rats from a sinking ship," she muttered to herself.

Author's Notes:

So, that season 7 ending was pretty darn good, at least in my opinion. Nice to see the ridiculous 'Rainbow power' was quietly put to bed in favour of the old-school Elements. Of course I can't really adapt this into the story easily, which is a shame simply because Somnambular is a cutie, which all the reason I need sometimes. Most importantly, the Pony of Shadows being a spoopy dark magic alicorn. Yaaasss... this pleases me. Now I have Trixie from when she fought Twilight at the end of Freemare going "This isn't even my final form!" This whole season has had so much lovely lore to it. It's been great!

So cute!