it started when the phone rang.

Bon Bon (or Special Agent Sweetie Drops, but most ponies didn't know that) closed the folder of super secret documents that she had been flipping through. She grimaced and picked up another folder of equally secret documents. So far nothing that revealed the source of an increase of magical hornets in one subsection of Baltimare. But they were close. She could feel it.

Her day continued when the phone rang.

Right.

She put the folder down, adjusted her super cool sunglasses, and picked up the headset. "Six-one-one-four."

Now, the other pony was supposed to say two-nine-nine-eight to show that they were part of her super-secret organization and had something to tell her. Instead...

"Hello, this is Legit Collector from the Equestrian Revenue Service. I am calling to inform you that you are under investigation for tax evasion. If you do not...

Bon Bon's eyes narrowed and she walked over to a pair of ponies all sitting at computers, typing away at whatever super secret things had been assigned to them. She waved to get their attention and pointed to the phone, pulling the mouthpiece of the headset away for a moment.

"Scammer," she whispered.

The tech team grinned and one of them opened up a new program on her computer, while another one stood up and put a small device on the headset. Bon Bon nodded and readjusted the headset.

"Just keep him on the line for a few minutes," the tech pony at the computer said, typing away quickly.

"Definitely." Bon Bon cracked her neck and went back to paying attention to the scammer.

"--passports and other assets we may use to help pay off your debt."

"Oh, uh, that sounds kind of serious," Bon Bon said, taking a seat next to the computer tech. "So I think I should have the bits on hoof to pay that off. How much was it again?"

"It was four thousand, nine hundred and fifty-two bits and ninety nine cents. You say you have that amount on hoof?"

"I think so," Bon Bon replied.

"Just a little longer," the tech muttered. "He's bouncing his signal through a lot of places from Baltimare to Canterlot. He's even bounced it off of the one tower in Yakyakistan."

"Well, what do you want me to do, then?" Bon Bon asked the scammer. "Should I leave a bag of bits outside of my door to be collected, or can I Just go to the ERS offices on 165 West Celestial Street in Canterlot?"

""Oh, uh... n-no, we don't usually need you to do that. It would take a lot of bits and be a little unwieldy."

Bon Bon frowned and tilted her head. "If I'm doing the math right, and I was paying in hundred bit coins, which I would be, then I'd need about forty-nine coins. That's not terribly ridiculous. Besides, the ERS is a government agency. Why do you care how many bits there are, as long as I get a receipt for them to show that I actually paid, of course. I can be on the next train to Canterlot once I stop at my bank. It's not like I'm going to mail that many bits."

"Just a little longer..." The tech pony poked her tongue out the side of her mouth, her hooves almost a blur from the speed of her typing.

"Also, should I give them directly to you, Legit?" Bon Bon asked. "We're the ones who've had this conversation and all, and I'm sure that you're supposed to file paperwork stating that we've talked. So--"

"Oh shit, you're tracing this? Fuck you! You'll never find me!"

*Slam*

Bon Bon groaned and slid the headset off. "Did you get him?"

The tech grumbled to herself and thunked her head on her desk. "So... close. Probably just another five seconds or so. I've traced his general location, though."

"Oh?" Bon Bon stood up and put the headset back on the receiver. "Where?"

"Ponyville."

"Of course."