As the soldiers of Badger Squad sat in their barracks tent outside Ponyville, cleaning and maintaining their weapons, Twilight Sparkle poked her head in through the flaps.

"Hey, Lt. Redford?" she asked. "General Eisenhower needs you, right now."

"Rog'." Redford replied, shouldering his M1 Garand and heading outside towards the command tent. As he walked through the streets of Ponyville, he could see signs of progress everywhere. Shops and homes wrecked or looted by the Caribou were being rebuilt or renovated with the help of US Army engineers, and a stockpile of nefarious instruments was being catalogued and then disposed of in the fields. Several other soldiers headed out to drill new recruits, and the sight made Redford smile.

As he entered the command tent, Eisenhower beckoned him in and the two of them sat down.

"What's the problem, sir?" Redford asked.

"At 0600 hours this morning, three Caribou managed to escape the stockade and vanish towards the mountain rage to our northwest." Eisenhower said. "In our investigation, we found notes leading us to believe somepony here in town is spying on us and allowed the Caribou to escape custody. Find the prisoners, then find the spy. You may proceed when ready."

Redford nodded and departed, making a quick stop at the Requisitions Area to pick up flashlights and extra ammunition.

====

"A spy?" George Nash asked as he readied his BAR. "Who'd want to sell us out to the Caribou? Doesn't make sense."

"Well, there's always going to be someone or somepony like that." Drake replied. "What's our heading, boss?"

"Whitetail woods." Redford said. "One of our Piper Cups noticed a Caribou ore mine or outpost in the area. We'll start there. Keep your eyes open for the escaped prisoners."

As the soldiers entered the woods, Redford huffed quietly. His rifle twitched ever so slightly as his nerves began to settle. Then, he held up his hand and motioned for the men to go prone and quiet.

The men looked at each other in surprise, but they could hear faint voices coming from ahead of them.

"...Are you sure they're not pursuing us?"

"I've been looking over our shoulder this whole time, Osif. We'll make it to the raid camp, and then we'll get our revenge on those filthy humans who dared to take us prisoner."

"What about our friend in Ponyville? Will she know what to do when we attack?"

"Yes, I made sure of it. Do you remember the pass phrase she'll say at the gate?"

"Of course! It's "the Flowers in the Basket". Let's go before someone finds us!"

As the sounds of hoofsteps faded to the east, Redford motioned everyone to follow him.

"What's the plan, sir?" Wilson asked.

"Keller, take Wilson and Drake, head back to Ponyville. Find that spy. We know how she's going to communicate, which gives us the advantage. Keep an eye on the gate. We'll find the prisoners."

"Then what?" Jackson asked.

"We find this raid camp they're talking about and take it out of the picture." Redford said. "Move!"

As the three soldiers headed back, Redford led the others after the prisoners.

===

"So, where do we start?" Drake asked when they returned to Ponyville. "If you were a Caribou Spy, how'd you do the job and get away clean?"

"I'd find a place to hide near the objective and keep myself inconspicuous." Wilson said. "I have an idea. The main reason spies get caught is because they get overconfident and make a mistake. We need to flush her out. And I know how to do just that."

"What do we do?" Keller asked.

"Keller, you watch the gate for any pony that comes near it. Drake, start spreading the word among the Caribou and the Ponies around town that the three prisoners successfully lost us and we're moving up the schedule on patrols. I'll make sure that when the Caribou attack comes, we'll be ready."

As the soldiers nodded and broke off, Darke headed to the Stockade and towards a group of Caribou prisoners eating their rationed meals.

"What do you want?" their leader asked.

"I just wanted to let you all know that your three buddies who made it out escaped." Drake smiled. "Security's going to be tighter around here because of it. And we've already found out how they escaped, so don't try to copy their little fluke. Thought you should know."

As the Caribou raised their eyebrows in surprise, Drake moved around the corner to eavesdrop.

"They found the tunnel? I thought we disguised it!"

"No matter. We've got to tell our mutual friend that the raid can move in sooner than expected."

As Drake headed off, a yellow-colored earth pony mare with a pale pink mane approached the fence to the stockade, where a Caribou prisoner approached.

"Are we still moving ahead?" she asked.

"Yes, we can move ahead sooner than anticipated. Go unlock the gate and tell our warriors at the camp to attack." the Caribou whispered.

The pony nodded and departed, unaware they had been spotted by the sharp-eyed Wilson. As he followed the pony, Drake and Keller headed to the radio room.

"Redford, you copy?" Drake spoke into the microphone.

"Loud and clear." Redford replied.

"We've got the spy. She's planning to incite an attack on Ponyville. She's heading your way now. We'll bring her in."

"Good, and alert the Generals about what's going on." Redford replied. "Get moving!"

As Keller sprinted for the command tent, Drake and Wilson reached the gate, where the spy was fiddling with the switches. Drake placed his M1 Carbine to the back of her head and spole.

"You wanna know something funny, spy?" he asked.

"Try me." the mare replied.

"Every good spy never gets ahead of themself. We played you like a violin. Hooves up and come with us or we will use force."

The mare snorted and did so, Keller restraining her. As she was dragged to the command tent, they were surprised to see the three escapees being grappled back into the stockade by Redford and his remaining men, to the shock of the other Caribou.

"Did you find the spy?" Redford asked.

"Right here." Keller said, bringing the mare forward. "What should we do with her?"

"I'll handle her." Twilight Sparkle said, approaching the mare, who spat at the Princess's hooves.

"Why'd you do this?" she asked.

"Because King Dainn ordered me too." the spy replied. "His gloriousness will soon surpass all of you monsters, and he will rule Equestria forever! He will crush all of you miserable humans like an ant beneath a stone!"

"Can I shoot her, for god's sakes?" Drake groaned as the mare began to laugh evilly. Redford smacked her with his rifle butt, and she fell to the ground.

"She's not worth a bullet." Redford said. "We'll let the Generals take it from here."

"What about that raid camp we heard about?" Nash asked.

As if to answer his question, there was the sound of several bomb impacts and gunfire in the distance as a few A26 Invaders flew overhead.

"Well, that solves that problem." Wilson laughed as the soldiers hauled the spy away. Twilight saw General Eisenhower approach and nod with approval.

"I knew they could do it." he smiled. "There's bound to be more of them, though."

"Certainly." Twilight said. "By the way, I have an idea for our next target."

"What might that be?"

Twilight smiled and looked to the sky.

"We're going to Cloudsdale."

Author's Notes:

Update!

Next time - The Army receives reinforcements for the Cloudsdale attack, and Dainn consults with his council of Generals.