Bon Bon stopped by the body of a deceased guard, an arrow sticking out of his side. If this wasn't proof that Flicker had come this way, she didn't know what was. Apparently the mare had been busy in the few minutes that had passed since they'd spotted her running for the manor.

"How the hell are we supposed to know where she's gone?" Rocky whispered urgently. "A dark coloured pony with a talent for stealth in the dark? Give me a break!"

"We'll find her," Bon Bon stated. "We have to, because if she gets caught she could compromise us. Never mind the fact that we don't exactly want her to do what she's planning on doing."

"Definitely a few too many bats in her belfry. Especially if she's doing sloppy work like this. We should have brought Tootsie with us."

"She needs to watch Honeydew. I'm also not convinced she could taker Flicker in a fight, and I don't want her getting killed over this."

"But we're expendable?"

"We all are," Bon Bon grunted, acknowledging that they could all die, and Equestria would deny their existence. Even if they didn't die they'd still be left hung out to dry. "Doesn't mean I'm okay with it though."

"In that case we better get on and find Flicker before she wrecks Crème's mission, or gets her killed." Rocky was about to stand up when a thud from up ahead alerted them to a guard falling off a roof. "Y'know, for her lack of magic, she's handling that crossbow pretty well. I hate to think how good she is with magic."

"That wouldn't change anything about what we need to do."

Bon Bon stood and crept forwards out of the gap between a bush and a shed, sticking to the shadows as best she could as they followed the sounds of Flicker being lethal. The manor lay across the gardens to their left, the bright lights of which illuminated patches on the ground that would give them away pretty quick if they stood in them.

It did give them a view inside the manor though, and it was through one of the windows that Bon Bon was able to catch sight of Crème being escorted somewhere by a group of well armed ponies. "Shit, that's not good."

"I dare say that's worse than not good," said Rocky. "What now?"

"We split up." Bon Bon adjusted the strap on her ankle blade, making sure it was firm before testing the blade. "There's no way we're leaving Crème in there. I'll get Crème, you keep going after Flicker."

"After last time? I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I don't have my suit either, with it's wonderful pieces of armour in certain places."

"Which is exactly why I'm going after Crème. Get moving Rocky."

"Ugh, yes ma'am."

Bon Bon waited until Rocky had moved on before moving herself, and took a moment to appreciate the irony that Flicker killing some of the guards was helping them. It certainly made it easier to sneak over to the side of the building without getting spotted, and find a window to climb in through.

Bon Bon raised her head to see in through the window, finding it to be an unoccupied bedroom with two beds in it. Judging by the smell of food emanating from nearby, she could only assume it was part of the servants quarters, and happened to be near the kitchens. That could be a problem as it was likely to be busy around there, which ironically meant her tactical suit was less advantageous as she though, as it made her stick right out.

Bon Bon briefly considered finding a window further along, but decided not to as this one at least put her along the same direction that she saw Crème being taken.

Pushing the window up, she clambered in and quietly closed it behind her. She knew the room was empty, but drawing attention to herself so soon would only create trouble, and that's the last thing she wanted.

Bon Bon felt her frustration boil over for a moment, irritated that it had come to this, rescuing a teammate from a botched mission. "I should never have agreed to any of this. I should've left Flicker to her own fucking devices. Idiot." She hoped Rocky could get Flicker alive, just so she could make her displeasure known by giving the mare a swift kick in the kidneys.

The hallway outside the room was empty, although there was plenty of commotion coming from her left, leading her to suspect that was where the kitchens were situated, or was where the washing up was done, as events such as the one currently happening at the manor tended to accumulate mountains of dirty dishes.

Thankfully Bon Bon was going the other way, and slipped out into the corridor unnoticed by anypony, which was lucky for them as there was only one reason Bon Bon checked her weapon was functioning properly. Even so, she kept her eyes and ears open, and stayed ready to slip into the nearest room if she had to. Very few of the doors had locks, which helped considerably.

Nothing happened though. Nopony came out of the rooms, nopony saw her, and nopony heard her as she slipped through the lower depths of the manor like a ghost. This served to make her more suspicious than relieved. There should have been ponies around, and there should have been guards. Either she was lucky beyond measure, or this was in fact a trap. Bon Bon would sooner expect the latter, than even consider the former.

That left her with two poor options. Either she had to leave to avoid springing the trap, or fall into it and hope she could get back out of it along with Crème. Neither option thrilled her. Still, she'd come to save Crème, and that was what she intended to do. Somehow.

At the end of the corridor was a stairs leading downwards into what Bon Bon could only assume was the cellars. Perfect trap territory as there tended to be few exits. Too bad they were trapping her down there with them, as she would fight her way out if she had to.

Bon Bon stopped at the bottom of the stairs before it turned left into a large open area. She peeked around the corner, trying to assess the situation before charging in. There were a lot of doors leading off the central area, but again there was no guards to see, although there was plenty to hear as smacking sounds and a pained grunting came from one of the rooms on the right.

Bon Bon's blood boiled as the sounds continued. Wasn't it enough that they'd caught Crème? Did they really need to beat her as well? They weren't even asking her questions.

Throwing caution to the wind, Bon Bon ran over to where she thought the sounds were coming from, stopping at a few doors to listen in before moving to the next. She stopped at a door where the sounds were loudest, and she could tell they were coming from within. There were probably only a couple of ponies inside by the sounds of it, so she thought she'd be better off attacking head on, rather than trying to be clever. Not that there were many ways to be clever about it.

Placing her hoof on the latch, Bon Bon took a breath to prepare herself, then pushed the door open, running into the room after it. She was surprised as a pony stood to the right of the door kicked her legs out as she ran in, and before she could recover a pony pinned her down, then another. She tried to lift her leg to extend her blade, but a hoof stamped down on it, making her squeak in pain.

Bon Bon followed the leg up to its owner, finding a cream coloured earth pony mare with long blue-grey mane smiling down at her. Behind her was Crème, gagged with her forehooves shackled around the wooden support of a large wine rack. She was completely uninjured.

"Hello there," the pony standing on her weapon said in a darkly seductive tone. "I see you have fallen into our little trap." Rose followed Bon Bon's gaze to Crème, and giggled. "No we weren't actually hurting her. Didn't need to." She gestured to two ponies, and mare and a stallion. The stallion punched a sack of grain, and the mare grinned as she faked a grunt of pain.

"Shit." Bon Bon dropped her nose to the ground, purposely pretending that she hadn't seen the eye roll Crème had given her.

"Indeed." Rose reached into her dress and pulled out a knife, using its tip to unlock the clasps on Bon Bon's weapon to remove it and pass it to one of the other ponies in the room. "I don't know how you've managed to elude us for so long if this evening is the best you could manage. I almost feel embarrassed. I will be if we don't find the rest of your merry troupe."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Rose," the mare replied politely.

"Uh-huh, and how did you know we'd be here?" Bon Bon asked, hoping to keep the mare talking while she tried to think of a way out of their predicament.

"Like you wouldn't take interest in this large event where quite the number of influential ponies, including Councillor Hayfield, would be. Judging by the way dear little Crème here tried to poison Lord Hayfield, I think it's obvious what your intentions were."

"You told her your name?" Bon Bon said to Crème, the mare shrugging sheepishly in return. "For crying out loud..."

Rose smiled confidently at Bon Bon, "That's not all you'll be telling us in time. First though we need to track down whoever else might be lurking around here."

"There's nopony else here."

"No? While we might have been a little slow to catch on to your use of trains to travel around, once we did it wasn't hard to learn that there's five, maybe six of you. Yourselves, two blue mares, a big red stallion, and maybe one other. The simple fact is that we know there's more than two of you, so don't try and pull that kind of poorly thought out misdirection with me."

"I didn't say they don't exist. I'm saying that they aren't here."

"Evidently." Rose gestured at the ponies pinning Bon Bon down, and stepped aside as they dragged the mostly helpless mare to an upright opposite Crème, chaining her forehooves around it in much the same way. As that was happening Rose pulled the gag out of Crème's mouth, allowing her to work the stiffness out of her jaw.

"Sorry," Crème said after a moment.

"Yeah, me too," Bon Bon said back as Rose left the wine cellar along with most of the other ponies, save two that were left to keep an eye on the captives. "I don't suppose that maybe we were a bit cocky coming here?"

Crème looked up and down the large piece of wood she was chained to and shook her head, "Nah. We might have underestimated these ponies though. Totally different thing."

Rocky sighed bitterly as he tried to follow after Flicker, not even sure what the mare was trying to achieve as all she'd done so far was kill some poor bastards guarding a party for what was probably a low wage. All because of some convoluted idea that she couldn't get out of her head.

He wasn't going to say it to Bon Bon, but he'd thought from the start that bringing Flicker along was a bad idea. Too bad it had taken until now for her to agree with him. They should have left her in Prance after patching her up, because he wasn't totally heartless, to save them from the kind of situation they found themselves in now. At the very least it was confirmed that Flicker wasn't setting up a trap for them. She didn't need to as Crème had gotten caught anyway.

He was also getting frustrated that he hadn't seen head nor tail of Flicker. She could've been dancing circles around him for all he knew, and he'd be none the wiser. There was plenty of evidence of where she'd been, mostly because of the bodies, but that was only going to get her caught, which was why he'd started on the habit of hiding them when he could. Such as the poor bugger he was dragging under a bush right now.

"Rest well ya poor bastard," Rocky said to the departed stallion, shoving him under the bush before moving on, keeping low to the shadows. At the end of the row of bushes he stopped, finally catching sight of his prey as she sat outside a pair of double doors, her head grasped in her hooves as she rocked back and forth.

Rocky raised an eyebrow at Flicker as she brazenly sat in the open, a faint murmuring escaping her lips. He glanced about quickly, seeing nopony around, and crept over to Flicker, being careful not to spook her and her itchy trigger hoof.

"I can't do it, I can't do it, I can't do it!"

"Can't do what?" Rocky asked. He held his hooves up as the crossbow swung round to point at him. "What can't you do Flicker?"

"This! Any of this! Trapping everypony inside and burning the place down? That's impossible! I-I don't... I don't know why I thought I could do this. I..." Flicker dropped the crossbow and resumed holding her head in her hooves, "My head hurts, like it's full of bees buzzing around."

"Hey, it's alright, we all make mistakes." Rocky gently picked the crossbow up and removed the arrow, then slung it over his back. "Come on Flicker, you're in full view here. Let's go somewhere quiet for a little chat."

Flicker nodded vaguely, letting Rocky pull her onto her hooves and lead her away. "I'm sorry I attacked you before. I don't know what came over me. I just felt like I had to do this, but now I'm here I... I feel kinda lost. I sound like such a stupid little filly."

"Look, a couple of weeks ago you were feverish, and might've been suffering some effects from having your horn banged up and infected. It's been known to affect unicorns in funny ways when that happens. You were also cut off from some strong magic controlling you, so delusions of wanting to kill all the nobles might just be part of that."

Flicker hit Rocky on the side, "This isn't a delusion! I want nothing more than to kill every one of those bastards. It's just that now I'm here I have no idea how. Maybe if you were helping me I could, but you all refused!"

Rocky gestured with his hooves to lower the volume. "Hush up will ya? There are ponies around. And frankly, a refusal to kill innocent ponies and children isn't exactly a hard choice."

"Apples don't fall far from the tree," Flicker said darkly, but didn't resist as Rocky led her on. "I get the feeling Bon Bon's not going to let me stay with you guys after this."

"We'll see. Frankly we have bigger problems. Crème got caught, and Bon Bon's trying to rescue her as we speak."

"What? And you still came after me? You should be helping her!"

Rocky ground his teeth as Flicker's voice rose again, "And I would be, except she ordered me to find you and stop you from making a mistake like killing Crème in whatever plan you concocted."

Flicker pulled her hoof free from Rocky's, "That doesn't matter now. We need to help Bon Bon save Crème." Flicker held Rocky's cheeks in her hooves as he looked like he was about to refuse, "Come on Rocky, those are your friends in there."

Rocky eyed Flicker suspiciously, wary of the sudden change to her demeanour. Not a minute earlier she was having a minor breakdown, only to be fully aware and insisting on saving the others. "My orders were to get you somewhere safe."

"Forget orders! Those orders don't mean anything if Bon Bon gets caught as well. We save Crème together, get out of here, I apologise for getting you into this mess, and we all live happily ever after."

"Happy ever after? Are you kidding me? They probably know who Crème is now. After this we have to lay low, or even seriously think about getting out of the country. Until we're safe back in Equestria we don't get a happily ever after."

"Does that include me?" Flicker asked nervously, her eyes dropping to the ground. It finally struck Rocky that for all the bravado and proficiency at killing, Flicker was really not much more than a child, and a vulnerable one at that, even if she was a bit crazy. As a Shade she should've known that orders came first.

"Yes, and you, since I'm guessing you have no real desire to stay in Mareitania now?"

"Not really. I don't know what I want."

"The same as the rest of us I imagine, an end to this war." Rocky shrugged, "That's not easy though, and it starts with ponies following orders." Flicker cringed at Rocky's words, but nodded in agreement. "Alright then, come on."

Rocky led the way again, drifting from cover to cover as they made their way to their exit, a small door in the wall around the manor that opened out into the fields, and beyond that the woods where their camp was. There was a lean-to next to it, used to store various bits and bobs, and lurking in the shadow of it was a pony. Their exit was being watched.

Rocky cursed under his breath as his concern for Crème and Bon Bon grew. If this pony was here right next to their exit, who knew how closely they were actually being observed? Had this really turned out to be a trap, sprung without the help of Flicker?

Rocky jumped as a hoof poked his side, then wiggled the crossbow on his back. Fully understanding Flicker's intent Rocky shook his head. He looked around for a moment, and to his lack of surprise there was a pony across from the gate, hiding in a pool of darkness between two windows, and another on the roof. The exit was being heavily watched. They'd have to find another way out.

They doubled back, aiming to take the long way back around the house and leaving through the front of the gardens. It carried a high risk of being spotted, but none so high as two ponies stood next to and opposite their preferred way out.
They had barely made it halfway around when they saw that there were ponies coming the other way, a line of them that stretched across the gardens. Thankfully Rocky didn't have to tell Flicker how to hide as the mare was better at it than he was. It didn't seem to make any difference though, as the line stopped and prepared their weapons to fire.

"We know you're there," a stallion said. "Come out and sit down with your hooves behind your heads." Rocky did nothing, clinging onto the slim hope that the stallion was bluffing. "Fire a warning shot."

Rocky squeezed himself tighter to the ground as one of the ponies fired their crossbow, a little too low to be a warning shot, but not low enough to hit either of them so long as they ducked.

"I won't ask again."

Flicker grabbed at Rocky as he stood, "What are you doing?"

"They have us Flicker, there's no point fighting it." Rocky walked out of their cover, theatrically dropping his crossbow before sitting and placing his hooves behind his head. A few moments later Flicker joined him.

"Good choice." The stallion gestured to his subordinates who gathered around the two ponies, "Take them to the others. The rest of you, keep searching for the remainder of their group."

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... C."

"If it's cellar I'm going to have to kick you."

Crème smiled smugly at Bon Bon, "You say that, but you can't actually reach me."

"I never said I was going to do it now." Bon Bon rolled her neck and set about finding what Crème was thinking of. "Chains?"

"Nope."

"Uh, ceiling?"

"Not even close."

"Ummm..."

"Will you two shut up?"

Bon Bon smiled up at the mare that had spoken. "Is that a question or a request? You should at least try to sound like you're in charge when you're guarding somepony."

The mare's horn lit up, grabbing Bon Bon's ear and pulling her head down to the ground as her male counterpart grinned at her. "Does this make it clear that I'm in charge?"

"Oh yes, nopony would ever question your ability to intimidate ponies that are tied up ever again," Bon Bon gushed falsely, not sounding the slightest bit intimidated, even if what the mare was doing to her was quite uncomfortable, if not actually painful.

"You're being a bit too smart mouthed for captives," the stallion said, an earth pony that could easily be mistaken for a mare even in a good light. "I suggest you start showing us some respect."

"You say that," Crème purred seductively, "but I'm questioning whether you realise who's trapped in here with who?"

"Uh, you are, with us."

Crème nodded thoughtfully, "I can see why you might think that." Crème didn't flinch as the stallion stomped over and pulled her up by the collar of the maid uniform she was still wearing, until they were muzzle to muzzle.

"I don't know what you're trying here, but were in charge here. Not you. Us."

Crème kissed him on the nose, making the stallion drop her in surprise as Bon Bon laughed. Even the unicorn guarding them had to suppress a snigger. "Keep telling yourself that big boy."

The laughter stopped when the stallion backhoofed Crème across the face. "You won't be finding this so funny when we cart you off to High Rock for questioning. I'll be sure to visit you as often as I can to remind what's left of your broken husk that I'm in charge."

Crème wrinkled her nose and rubbed it gingerly with a hoof, "Looking forward to it." She then turned to Bon Bon and shrugged, "Seems we're going to High Rock. Guess that means they aren't just going to kill us."

Bon Bon shrugged back, "I don't think I'll be starting any long books though, just in case."

"Oh that is it!" The stallion pulled back a hoof and swung at Bon Bon, only just missing her as the door to the cellar slammed open, rattling the wine bottles in their shelves. More ponies entered, leading Rocky and Flicker in at crossbow point.

"Were you about to hit that prisoner?" One of the stallions asked, eyeing the stallion next to Bon Bon suspiciously.

"No sir."

"I thought not. Just to make sure you don't, you can go find Mistress Rose and tell her we've apprehended more of their party."

"Yes sir!"

"Found her then?" Bon Bon said to Rocky as the pony that was going to hit her scurried away. The fact that Flicker was a prisoner along with Rocky mostly put an end to her thoughts that this trap was set up by her.

"Yeah. Wish I was the only one doing the finding though." Rocky gestured with his head at the ponies behind him, "They were a bit more on the ball tonight."

"I'm really sorry," Flicker said softly. "This is all my fault."

"Sort of," Bon Bon agreed. "But not all of it since it's pretty clear this wasn't a trap made by you."

Flicker grunted as she was pushed over to the wall and her hooves shackled like Bon Bon's through a rusted loop set in the bricks. On the opposite side of the room the same thing was happening to Rocky. "I was so stupid to think any of this would work. I don't know why I ever thought it would."

"Because you were always prone to flights of fancy," a strongly feminine voice said from the doorway as Rose entered the room. "Still, this is a pleasant surprise Flicker. We'd lost track of you after you entered Prance, although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you ended up in the company of these ponies."

Flicker shrank at the sight of Rose, "Aww... shit, this explains so much."

"Explains what?" Bon Bon asked, having no idea what Flicker was talking about.

"Don't you know who this pony is?"

"I know she's called Rose, but that's it."

Flicker's face went flat. "Her name is Black Rose, and she's the head of the Shades. How could you possibly not know that?"

"Because we went to efforts to not let them know that," Rose told Flicker. "As far as they know the Shades are still led by Head Shade Mouser, who was appointed by Fleur de Lis herself. If you had been more attentive to your job you might have been allowed to know these things."

Flicker fumed at the insult, "I was perfectly attentive!"

"Out in the field, sure. You were actually one of our more capable field agents, but you're weren't cut out for the rest of it. None of us were surprised when you turned traitor."

"You mean when I started seeing the truth? That Faust is controlling all of us with magic to fight this stupid war against the ponies that helped us?"

Rose slapped Flicker across the muzzle, performing the action like it was nothing more thoughtful than brushing some crumbs off her coat. "That's Lady Faust to you, Flicker. And if she wishes to remove the false rulers of Equestria, who are we to stop her?"

Flicker looked at Rose with disgust, "You're so wrapped up in her shit you can't even see how wrong it is."

"Mm-hmm, and I look forward to seeing your treacherous face swinging from the gallows." Rose smiled nastily as Flicker closed her eyes and cowered at the mention of hanging, "As for the rest of you, a pleasant trip to High Rock for questioning is in order before you join the traitor here. We'll be leaving in the morning, once we find your other companions, so I suggest making the most of your time."

Bon Bon stared defiantly up at Rose, "There are few times I relish the thought of killing, but I think I can make an exception for you."

Rose gasped into a hoof, "Oh my, such bravado. Too bad it'll do you no good. I will see you all in the morning. Sleep well." Rose swept out of the cellar, leaving the four ponies in the darkness as the door slammed shut.

"This is a damn fine mess," Rock grumbled, heaving on his shackles. He gave up, quickly working out there was no chance of breaking them. "I'm guessing you have a plan Chief?"

"What? Of course I don't. You actually bought that?"

"Who am I to question you?"

"Well, you should," Bon Bon sighed. "I got us into this mess, and I have no idea how to get us out of it."

"Pretty sure I got you into this mess," Flicker said apologetically. "Guess I'm getting what I deserve for it soon enough."

"Nopony deserves to hang," Crème told Flicker, offering the mare a smile that went unseen in the darkness. "I guess all we can do is hope Tootsie comes up with something."

"Not likely," said Bon Bon. "I told her to leave with Honeydew if we weren't back in three hours. Hopefully the ponies searching for her will encourage her to go sooner."

"So we have nothing then?"

"Nope."

"...Shit."

"Yep."

"Who's this Black Rose?" Rocky asked Flicker as an awkward silence threatened to fill the cellar. "How come we've never heard of her?"

"She got the position not long after Faust came about, although how they kept it from you is anyponies guess. She's related to one of the noble houses in some way, but I really can't tell you more than that."

Bon Bon sat up, her interest peaked, "And what happened to Mouser to let her get the position?"

"He quit. Couldn't handle being the Head of the Shades, and there Rose was ready and willing to take over." Flicker went to tap her chin thoughtfully, but failed as she forgot her legs were attached to the wall. "Now I think about it though, it seems a bit suspicious. I suspect some kind of blackmail might have been involved, or something."

"Oh good," Crème said airily, "a mystery mare. Can't wait to find out what the story behind this is."

Bon Bon shrugged, "Who cares? As long as she dies like the others I don't care where she's from, or what her story is."

Rocky chuckled at Bon Bon and rattled his shackles, "Counting your eggs before they hatch are you?"

"You bet I am. I've got absolutely nothing else to go on here."

"One question?" Flicker said a moment after Bon Bon's declaration. "Did you just say Honeydew a minute ago?"

"Ah... fuck."

It was a long and uncomfortable night. Their means of going to the bathroom was a single bucket thrown at Bon Bon after a few hours. She'd been unable to pass it to the others, and hadn't been able to unzip her suit to use it anyway. Suffice to say she was not very happy by the time they were rounded up for transport to High Rock.

"Good morning darlings," Rose said cheerfully as she waltzed into the cellar, devoid of her dress, but still wearing a black choker and her dagger. She stopped and wrinkled her nose at the smell, and showed her first twitch of annoyance as she shouted back out of the door. "I gave you strict instructions to care for the prisoners properly! Did you not think about whose cellar this is?"

Rocky raised an eyebrow at Rose as she turned back to them, all smiles again. "So sleep deprivation counts as proper care does it?"

"Of course not, but it does tend to make ponies a bit more malleable. The former rulers of this country used to rely on torture to get what information they want out of ponies, but we like to think we're not so crass any more."

"Uh-huh, and yet your minions couldn't even be relied on to give us a pot to piss in."

Rose dismissed his query with a wave of a hoof, "That's more out of respect for our host's property than anything else. I'll be sure to have those responsible for letting this happen give the place a thorough cleaning before they go."

"I can tell High Rock's going to be fun already," Rocky muttered darkly.

"Whatever enjoyment you get out of it is between you and yourself," Rose informed him before stepping aside to let other ponies into the room, bearing ropes and sacks that were thrust over the four ponies heads to keep them disorientated as they were hauled up out of the cellar and outside.

They were roughly thrown into a cart where they were re-shackled to loops in the floor, forcing them into a sitting position, the bags left over their heads so they couldn't work out what was happening, not that it took much imagination to figure it out.

Bon Bon wouldn't admit it, but she was worried, besides the obvious reason for being so. Director Mouser was a known figure, and could be reliably counted on to follow the habits the Shades were instilled with from their inception. Rose changed that. She was an unknown quantity, and at this point Bon Bon couldn't tell if her demeanour was an act to hide the intelligent pony beneath, or was actually who she was, and she'd gotten the position as Head of the Shades by other means. Either way it made her unpredictable.

"Tootsie isn't here," Crème said quietly after a minute when she was reasonably sure nopony was listening. "Only four of us got in."

"Unless they have a separate cart," said Rocky.

"Seems unlikely," Bon Bon argued. "Apart from being a waste of effort, knowing Tootsie and Ho- Bluebelle got captured would hurt us, and they'd take great joy in letting us know. What do you think Flicker?"

"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah, you're probably right. I'm just wondering why they has this cart here to transport us when they didn't really know we'd be here."

"Clearly they were super prepared," said Crème. "Too prepared even. Or we were sold out."

"Not by me if that's what you're thinking," Flicker blurted quickly. "I wouldn't exactly do this to myself."

"And I doubt Bluebelle would do something like this," Bon Bon surmised, shrugging helplessly even though she knew none of them could see it. "I don't know. Maybe they have genuinely outsmarted us."

The cart lurched as they set off, the bags over their heads making the sensation oddly pronounced in the absence of sight. Nothing was said. There was nothing to say. They all knew that for all their joking and false confidence they were well up shit creek without a paddle.

It was over an hour until they stopped, but by Bon Bon's reckoning it was hours too early until they should be stopping. Even without her vision being obscured she doubted she could see what was going on, but thankfully she could still hear.

"What are you doing griffon?" the voice that distinctly belonged to Black Rose asked. "All your kind should be fighting in Equestria."

"I'm on my own mission," a different voice said, possessing that certain resonance that only a creature with a beak could create. "What's in the box?"

"It is no concern of yours griffon!" The cart rocked as somepony stood quickly. "Remove yourself before we do it for you!"

"Mmm... nah. I want what's in that box."

"Are you deranged? Be gone, or we will attack."

"Now you're speaking my language!" the griffon said happily. "Six against two sounds like good odds."

"Two? What do you mean two?"

There was a scream from behind the cart, although what caused it was a mystery to the cart's unwilling occupants. They didn't have much time to ponder on it as the cart rocked hard, the griffon leaping onto it and roaring. A moment later something dripped onto the floor in front of Bon Bon. Even through the bag she could tell it was blood. The cart rocked again as the griffon jumped back off it, a pained scream following the action.

"Run!" Rose shouted, meaning that at least more ponies than herself had survived the ambush.

"Yeah you better run!" the griffon shouted after what fleeing ponies there were.

"What the fuck just happened?" Rocky asked as things went quiet. "Did we just get saved by a griffon?"

"You better believe it," came his answer from outside. There was a crack from the rear of the cart as the lock was torn out of the wood, and the cart moved as the griffon climbed inside. "Seriously, you might as well call this meals on wheels."

"You better be kidding," Bon Bon snorted, her worry suddenly increasing tenfold. Her ears twitched at the bag was lifted from her head, and she found herself looking up into the green eyes of a griffon hen.

"Of course I'm kidding," she said, pulling the bags off the other's heads. "Although temptation is a very real thing," she added, making it sound obvious that she was joking. "Agent Sonny, nice to meet you."

"You're with Equis?"

"That's right. Uhh... I suppose it's a bit much to hope they left the keys. Hey Tootsie, you got anything to pick these locks with?"

"Yeah, hold on."

"Tootsie's with you?" Crème asked, relieved that their fellow agent had escaped being apprehended. She looked back at the exit to see Tootsie grinning at her as she patted the pockets of her suit. "Not that I usually aren't, but I'm really glad to see you."

"You didn't really think I was going to leave you here did you?"

"Those were your orders," Bon Bon reminded the blue mare, but she quickly softened into a smile. "Guess orders are overrated anyway."

"Actually I was all set to go." Tootsie found what she was looking for in her pockets and tossed it to Sonny. "You hadn't come back, and I figured you were either captured or dead, so I was going to leave as you ordered when Sonny found us. I figured having her to help would change things a bit, so we came out here to ambush the most likely looking cart."

"And where's Honeydew?" Bon Bon smiled sheepishly as Tootsie's eyes flicked to Flicker. "Yeah, I fucked up a bit."

"Uh-huh... Honeydew's in the woods. Anyway, less chatting more moving. I don't want to be here when more ponies turn up."

Bon Bon felt her ankles come free, and thanked Sonny. She stumbled exiting the cart, her legs not feeling particularly alive after the night they'd had. Tootsie caught her as she started to fall, then scrunched her nose up as she caught the various odours coming off Bon Bon. "Rough night?"

"You have no idea. Which way did those ponies go?"

"The opposite way to where Honeydew is thankfully."

"Good. Too bad you didn't get all of them. Especially that mare with the long hair."

"Why?"

"According to Flicker she's the leader of the Shades. Head Mouser quit months ago, but we never found out."

"Why would the Head be out on a field operation?" Tootsie asked, her expression changing from surprise to confusion in the space of a second. "Does she usually do that?"

"No idea. Maybe she's here because she was invited to the party?" Bon Bon shrugged and made a face, indicating how little she cared about the nuances of Rose's presence. "The point is that she knows what we look like now, so we are super screwed."

"It gets worse than that," Tootsie said sullenly. "I'll give you the full story when we're safe, but there's a good reason we haven't heard off Fleur for so long."

"She's not dead is she?"

"No, but a large amount of the rest of Equis is. There was a bo-"

Bon Bon blinked as blood sprayed out of Tootsie's mouth, an arrow hitting her in the neck so suddenly that it took both of them a moment to register what had even happened. Bon Bon caught Tootsie as she fell, pawing at her neck and struggling for breath as blood gushed from around the wound.

Out of the corner of her eye Bon Bon saw one of the ponies that had escaped the ambush reloading his crossbow, his magic slotting an arrow into the weapon with a practiced ease that gave her very little time to react. She snatched a knife out of Tootsie's belt and dove to the side as the arrow tore through the space where she had been a second earlier.

Grabbing the knife in her mouth she sprinted for the attacker, leaping at him before he could reload his weapon. She rolled to the side as he tried to slam the butt of the crossbow down on her, and spat the knife into her hoof as she darted back towards him, piercing it deep into his chest where she held it until he stopped struggling. As soon as he was dead she ran straight for Tootsie.

Crème was holding her limp body, the wound having killed Tootsie in seconds. Bon Bon collapsed to her knees, her mind totally blank save for the agonising point that Tootsie was dead. They'd killed her. She'd killed her by distracting her with chatter. Bon Bon closed her eyes, fighting back her tears as Rocky held both of them. Thankfully Flicker and Sonny had enough presence of mind to keep watch.

"Why?" Crème asked out loud, her voice breaking with grief. "Why her? She wasn't dumb enough to get captured, so why her? Fuck!" She choked a sob as Rocky hugged her tighter.

"There's a cart coming," Sonny said after a moment. "I'm sorry to do this guys, but we need to get off the road."

Bon Bon nodded stiffly, lifting Tootsie up onto Rocky's back with Crème's help. She wanted to give the order herself, but words failed her, her voice simply gone, stolen away by pain and shock. Her team were like family to her, and now one of them was gone in the blink of an eye. She wasn't sure she could say anything anyway, not without screaming.

They buried her in a clearing in the woods, her grave unmarked. It wasn't what any of them wanted for Tootsie, a sad grave in the woods of a foreign country, but it was all they had to give at that moment, save for a few words if they had been able to say them. None of them had been able to bring themselves to speak yet, either not wanting to disturb those who knew Tootsie the best, or because their voices fought to stay hidden.

"I always thought I'd go first," Rocky said eventually, having to break the long silence. "Something about that just felt right. But Tootsie? She was the brains of the outfit, she... she shouldn't have gone at all."

None of them dared to say that Tootsie knew the risks of being there. They didn't need to. A sudden and untimely death was a risk they always lived with, but that didn't make it any easier to say goodbye when it happened, and it certainly didn't help having to do so and carry on.

"She said something had happened to Equis," Bon Bon said to Sonny, not taking her eyes off Tootsie's grave. "What did she mean?"

"The Shades bombed Equis' headquarters. Killed Muckraker, Eclipse, and dozens of others. Less than twenty at the offices survived, including Fleur, who's in charge now. That's when we lost contact with you. That's why I'm here." Sonny reached into her armour and pulled out the speaker stones, tossing them to Bon Bon. "We thought having a spare might be sensible."

"How did you even find us?"

"I've been looking for you for almost two weeks, but I only found you because Fleur said you'd be in this area at this time. I saw your campfire from the air, and Found Tootsie and Honeydew. You know the rest."

"And the operation?"

"You mean last night?" Bon Bon nodded. "Fleur didn't want you to go ahead with it," Sonny told her, making Flicker wince guiltily.

Bon Bon stared at the grave a little longer, then whispered a goodbye, pulling herself away before she stayed there forever. "Can you carry Honeydew back to Equestria?"

"What?" Honeydew gasped, shocked. "You're sending me away?"

"We're wanted ponies now, and it's going to get even more dangerous for us. You're too important to get killed. Sonny, can you take her?"

Sonny rocked her head side to side as she thought, "Yeah, I think so if I dump my armour and she brings nothing with her. You want me to get her back to Equis?"

"I do. I promised I'd keep her safe and get her back to Equestria, so that's what I'm doing. I'm sorry Honey, but I'm not taking any arguments on this one. You are going, and that is final."

Honeydew nodded sadly, "I understand, and thank you. But I still want to know what you're going to do now?"

"That's up to Fleur. Are you still with us Flicker?"

Flicker nodded once, "I am. I at least owe you that much, even if I didn't get what I wanted."

"Then I think we'll be okay," Bon Bon finished, giving Honeydew a faint smile. "You two better get moving if you want to get back safe, because they're bound to be keeping an eye out for any rogue griffons now."

"We'll go south," said Sonny. "It's riskier going over the ocean, but if I can make it to the coast around the Undiscovered West, I can make it to Equestria."

"Good. Thanks for helping us out of this mess Sonny."

"Anytime, really. I'd stay if I could, but I guess getting Honeydew back is a higher priority now." Sonny started removing her armour, but paused as a thought struck her. "That's assuming there's an Equestria to go back to. Ironically you're probably just as safe here as you are back in Equestria."

"I think I'd take my chances with Equestria," said Bon Bon. She waited quietly as Sonny stripped off and crouched to let Honeydew climb on her back. "Finally getting your wish Honeydew, so try and make the best of it."

"I'll try. Goodbye Bon Bon, Rocky, Crème... Tootsie. You too Flicker. Thanks for everything, and good luck with whatever you do next."

"You too Honeydew," Bon Bon said as Sonny took off, Honeydew gripping on tightly as she raced into the sky and out of sight.

"I can't help but feel you have an ulterior motive here Chief," Rocky said to Bon Bon as they watched them go out of sight.

"I think it's pretty safe to say Flicker didn't betray us, but we can't say the same for Honeydew. On the off-chance she did sell us out, I think it best she no longer be anywhere near us in case it happens again. Crème?"

Crème wiped her eyes and blinked rapidly, turning her red, puffy eyes to Bon Bon. "Yeah?"

"I think it's time we talked to Fleur."

Fleur had hoped for good news from Bon Bon, and some of it was, but the loss of Tootsie had been a blow she hadn't expected, and the existence of Black Rose was also surprising. Her own news for Bon Bon hadn't exactly been encouraging either, telling her how far Faust had crept into Equestria while they were gone. At least the safe passage of Honeydew to Equestria was good news.

"I know you're looking to me for orders Bon Bon, but I'm not sure I could give you any that wouldn't cause you issues. You've already done a lot to damage Mareitania, but it seems to make less of a difference than we expected."

"Our ability to travel quickly has also been ruined without the trains," said Bon Bon. "Not unless we get disguises. I honestly don't know how much more use we can be to you if we can't travel quickly. I'm sorry Fleur."

"Don't apologise Bon Bon, you've already done so much. Perhaps it would be best if you laid low for a while. Get those disguises and stay put somewhere safe for a few weeks until I have something for you, and hopefully by then the heat will have died down enough for you to travel again. Fleur sighed guiltily as Bon Bon sighed.

"Understood ma'am."

Fleur pushed the stone aside as it crackled to silence, feeling that they'd lost yet another asset. Equis bombed, Bon Bon hunted, and the building situation around Las Pegasus.

Fleur stood and walked over to the small map she used to keep track of the Mareitanians movements. Luna's actions had essentially trapped Faust's forces in the west of the country, unless they braved the open ground to the north. If Luna failed to keep them from crossing the Canterhorn river and taking the city, losing Bon Bon as an asset would be trivial in comparison.

Author's Notes:

In a fit of festive cheer, work has decided to drag me in tomorrow, claiming that I agreed to work anyway, which is the dumbest piece of shit I've heard in ages because I never work sundays. I decided to post today anyway, since you'd have to wait to Wednesday if I didn't. There's also nothing next week as I said because I'm not getting much writing done, but that does give me two weeks to work on what should be a fun chapter, although it'll be nearly a month until you see it.

Have a merry Christmas, and since I won't be posting for a while, have yourselves a happy new year too.