Mexico City, 2012

The old hotel smelled like dirt. There were other underlying scents that Sweetie Belle tried not to think about. It was not a great place to stay, but hopefully the mare would be checking out soon. The next time she visited, better lodging would be found.

The white unicorn lay prone on the hotel bed cradling an awkward human weapon. Her eye was to the telescopic sight of the rifle, where she had kept a single target sighted in for nearly half an hour.

There was a much nicer hotel across the street. A large ballroom faced Sweetie Belle’s position. A few of the windows near the ceiling were open to take advantage of the pleasant evening. It was through one of the openings that the mare was aiming. A bullet passing through a pane of glass might be deflected.

A quiet voice that was marred slightly by static spoke in her ear. “Melody, this is Wheels. Flower is in position. I’ll let you know when the time comes.”

Two buildings away and at a significantly higher altitude sat an orange-coated pegasus. Listening to her earpiece, she heard a reply. “Wheels, this is Melody. Roger that.”

Wheels’ given name was Scootaloo. She clung to the sloped roof beneath her, also hanging on to a pair of binoculars. From her position, she could look down through the windows of the ballroom and see most of the crowd gathered on the floor, or at tables around the perimeter.

Scootaloo brushed a little of her purple mane back and raised the binoculars again. She peered at a mare wearing a fancy party dress that matched the pink ribbon that was tied in her crimson mane. The dress concealed most her her pale yellow body and the cutie mark on her hip. She was the one called Flower.

The pony in the ballroom sat at a table with a fat man in an ill-fitting tuxedo. The two did not appear to get along. Scootaloo frowned a little, remembering some of the problems he had caused in the past. Hopefully the human would be on his best behavior this night.

Apple Bloom, alias Flower, glanced at the stage at the front of the room. The special guest had not yet arrived. Beside her, Malcolm shifted his considerable bulk and looked uncomfortable, which is how he had looked for most of the night.

The mare’s arrival at the event had caused a minor stir, but every person in the crowd had mostly forgotten her. After all, ponies had been public knowledge for two decades now.

“I’m getting tired of waiting,” said the earth pony, enunciating carefully. It had taken considerable speaking practice to quash her natural accent.

“I’m just here to point him out for you.” The man shrugged. “It’s not my fault he decided to come late.”

“Well, it was you who helped him hide his finances,” pointed out Apple Bloom. “It’s lucky that you’re getting out of this at all.”

A man stepped up to the podium on stage and tested the microphone before he began speaking. In the broken Spanish the pony knew, she could tell he was heaping lavish praise on someone. People began to clear the center of the room and return to tables. The mare tensed, sensing the moment of action was near.

Another person walked out from behind the stage curtain. He was tall and trim, wearing a sharp suit and a pleasant-looking smile. This was Thomas Lakes, the founder of Food Aid Universal. FAU was an established charity organization that brought assistance to impoverished areas. Lakes had invited celebrities, politicians, and the wealthy to the ballroom that night to raise money for a new aid center in the area.

“The man himself,” said Malcolm from the side of his mouth.

Apple Bloom fought to keep her face expressionless. “The head of a major charity organization?”

“I never asked his name, and he didn’t want me to know,” replied the man. “I may be as surprised as you are.”

Apple Bloom hesitated, but decided to go ahead. The signal was innocuous, but distinctive enough to be noticed. She leaned forward to take a sip of her drink, blinking twice.

The mare’s sensitive ears caught a muted sound from across the street combined with a simultaneous twang of high-tension steel. The cable holding a chandelier to the ballroom's ceiling had been neatly severed, and the fixture plunged to the recently vacated floor. It worked perfectly as a distraction.

Back at the hotel, Sweetie Belle began hurriedly breaking down the rifle. She’d made a perfect shot as always, her magic control of the trigger giving an advantage over any human. The rifle’s suppressor came off the barrel, which came off the action. The stock folded in and everything fit into a small suitcase.

The mare walked downstairs, putting on a grumpy look. At the front desk, she shouted, “I don’t know what’s going on across the street, but I’m tired of the noise!”

An apologetic clerk offered another room, but the pony would have none of it. She threw down enough money to pay the bill, and stomped out.

Outside, Sweetie Belle put her earpiece back in. “Wheels, this is Melody. I’m clear.”

The reply came quickly. “Melody, it's Wheels. Flower and I are converging on the target.”

Sweetie Belle told the other mare to stand by for pickup and got into a sedan the three of them had rented. With its modified interior, it was obvious at a glance that a pony drove it, but that couldn’t be helped. The unicorn pulled out onto the street and headed for a predetermined meeting place.

From the rooftops, Scootaloo saw the car begin to move. She spread her wings and stepped off into space. There was the familiar rush as the mare traded gravity for speed, tracing a catenary curve - the quickest way to build velocity for horizontal flight. The pegasus was not a fan of math, but she knew how to get the most from her body.

Pulling up to skim over the hotel roof, Scootaloo dropped down the other side and took up a concealed position near the back doors of the ballroom.

When the chandelier came crashing down, Apple Bloom had been one of the first to move. Thomas Lakes had either been planning for disaster or was just really afraid of loud noises. He turned and fled backstage. The mare charged after him, hoping the crowd would assume she was merely evacuating the building.

Apple Bloom heard a door slam open. She navigated a maze of backstage equipment and caught the exit door seconds later before it managed to close itself. Running footsteps sounded on the pavement outside. It was a good thing Lakes was wearing dress shoes, but the mare could have run him down anyway. She didn’t have to, however, as a winged shape materialized out of the night sky and dropped onto the fleeing man.

Scootaloo crammed a bag onto Lakes’ head. As distinctive and easy to remember as most ponies were, it was important that she and her two cohorts were not seen. The man struggled underneath her. As a lightweight pegasus, the mare’s main advantage was speed and agility, not grappling. Luckily, Apple Bloom showed up just then to help. The earth pony easily held down the prisoner.

Seconds later, a car pulled up and the trunk popped open. The two ponies tossed Lakes in and took seats in the passenger compartment. Sweetie Belle glanced up from the steering wheel. “How was it?”

“No problem,” said Scootaloo, flashing a smile.

“Ah’m gettin’ tired of always bein’ the inside pony,” complained Apple Bloom, her speaking accent relaxed.

“But you’re good at it,” pointed out Sweetie Belle. “You don’t have to like it.”

“Story of my life,” muttered the earth pony.

Scootaloo checked a map. “We’re going to stop and get gas before we do the rest, right?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “I have a nice place picked out to get Mr. Lakes kicked out.”

There was a moment of silence, and then the three mares cracked up laughing at her inadvertent rhyme. For a moment, the three of them felt like fillies again, back when life wasn’t so complicated and all they needed was each other.

Apple Bloom was the first to get serious again. “So it’s the standard scare-and-scram?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Yep, just like we talked about. Once we drop him, we’ll get back through the doorway to Equestria. We’ll debrief there.”

Thomas Lakes’ organization, Food Aid Universal, had been quietly implicated in narcotics deals. It usually would not have been a concern for any citizen of Equestria, expect that some of the dealing was going on across the two dimensions.

There were a number of things that could be done. If Equestria operated like the United States, Lakes would probably be in custody at some interrogation center. Less savory countries would probably just order his death. Ponies prided themselves on taking the high road, however, and merely kidnapped him to prevent his attendance at a meeting with some of his business partners, thereby ruining his credibility and making him think about his life choices.

The plan was to dump Lakes out on the side of the road, shaken up but unhurt. First, though, the three mares had to stop at a gas station.

The signs on the pumps were in Spanish, but the buttons for different octane ratings had regular numbers. Even if they accidentally picked one of the more expensive grades it was no big deal because the government was picking up the bill.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went inside to examine the wares. They hadn’t had much time when setting up the operation to check out interesting local things. That was something all three of them agreed on: traveling and having new experiences was the best part of the job.

Scootaloo came in when the pump shut off. The other two mares had collected a few things to buy and brought them to the register.

Outside, a pickup truck drove up, pausing near the rental car. A man leaned out the window and threw something to the ground. The truck took off.

“What in tarnation-” Apple Bloom started, but was cut off by the explosion of a grenade directly beneath the car. Shrapnel broke a few of the gas station’s windows, and the car’s punctured fuel tank began to catch fire. The pool of burning gasoline spread out, making any approach to the car impossible.

The three ponies stared at each other in shock. Clearly, Lakes had more enemies than just them. There was no time to think about it, though. They ran.

The Puerto Interdimensional de Ciudad de Mexico was not far away, and the ponies were able to get there on hoof. It was lucky that the Mexican regulations regarding the dimensional doorways were more relaxed. Three mares wanted for not returning their exploded rental car were able to slip through.

On the other side of the doorway was Canterlot. The terminal building was busy, even at night. The three of them found their way through the crowds and outside. The familiar building where their operations were run from was nearby, but they didn’t go in right away. It was always important to make sure there weren’t any followers.

They split up but stayed close, watching the area around each other. Apple Bloom stopped at a coffee shop to buy some late-night joe, which she had developed a taste for during her time in the army. Scootaloo paused at a convenience store to pick up a can of Monster energy drink, which had been her primary beverage ever since the company had sponsored her while she competed in the X Games. Sweetie Belle thought about getting something to eat, but decided to cook for herself later.

Once the three mares were satisfied, they entered the building, which was the Human Services of Equestria headquarters. Such a facility was needed as more and more people were beginning to live and work in Equestria. HSE was not affiliated with the special activities that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle performed, but it made a nice cover.

The trio went downstairs and through a security checkpoint. Their Human Services ID’s had quite a bit more clearance than standard ones. Deep beneath the building was a small room with secure communications gear and other, more dangerous hardware.

Sweetie Belle looked at the weapon rack sadly, knowing one was missing. Her rifle had been abandoned in the burning car. It was not traceable back to Equestira, but it had been one of her favorites.

Apple Bloom pulled off the party dress and discarded it near where other clothing hung neatly. Some of the clothes were for looking good, while some were for protection, and still others were for concealment.

Scootaloo gave the earth pony a disapproving look for being careless with the dress, but turned away, logging into a computer. After verifying her information, the mare opened a connection to another machine.

Down the street from the HSE building was the castle where the two Princesses of Equestria lived. It had been retrofitted over the years with new technology, but no renovation had been as extensive as the one that was required to install human-sourced electronics.

Princess Celestia’s office had been one of the most reworked rooms in the castle. Most of the additions were tastefully hidden. In a small alcove off the main room sat a desktop computer. The machine received a query from another. Security was checked and access was granted. At that time of night the Sun Princess was not available, and her computer instead sent back a video that had been recorded previously.

In their underground headquarters, the three mares crowded around the computer screen as Princess Celestia’s face appeared.

“I’m afraid that I’m not able to meet with you tonight.” The white regal pony always managed to look prim and proper, no matter the situation or time of day. She’d had thousands of years of practice.

“Your debrief will instead be handled by First Sergeant Bedrock of the Royal Guard. If there are any problems, contact Captain Peachtree.” Celestia smiled subtly. “Please don’t skip the chain of command by going directly to Colonel Shining Armor. Good night.”

The video ended. Scootaloo put in a code for contacting another computer. Within seconds, a stallion of the Royal Guard was on a live connection.

“Good evening ladies.” He glanced to the side, perhaps at a clock. “Beg your pardon, good morning.”

The three mares laughed. They had worked with Bedrock before, and much prefered him to Peachtree. The First Sergeant was an experienced older soldier. He was coated with grey beneath his golden Guard armor, heavily muscled, and also highly intelligent.

“It might as well be morning now,” said Sweetie Belle. “The evening didn’t go so well.”

The three mares filled in Bedrock with all the details of the mission. They knew his computer was recording the conversation, but the stallion also took notes. He asked a few questions and supplied more information that the Guard had been able to gather.

“So you have no idea who threw the grenade?” asked Bedrock. “Needless to say, this is a problem.”

“We know why we wanted Lakes,” said Apple Bloom. “But we didn’t want him dead.”

“I’ll try to get this sorted out for you, ladies,” promised Bedrock. “Get some sleep.”

Ponyville, 2009

Scootaloo clocked out at the end of the day. Being a weather pegasus had plenty of benefits and guaranteed that she got lots of exercise, but after the career she could have had, the job was more than a little unfulfilling. Today, though, there was no time to think about what a broken leg bone had cost her. He friend Apple Bloom was coming home to Ponyville.

Before departing her home in Cloudsdale, Scootaloo stretched her legs in preparation for spending time on the ground. Her left rear leg hurt a little above the hoof, as usual. As she went out the door, the mare glanced at a small trophy case that hadn’t had a new addition to be displayed in years. The centerpiece was a silver medal from the X Games. She’d won it almost four years previously, and had been a favorite for the gold the next year. Instead, she’d shattered her leg on a hard landing in the Freestyle competition.

The mare sighed as she closed the door. She wouldn’t have a scooter wheel for a cutie mark if she hadn’t been good at extreme sports. Now, there was a limp in her walk and she was pushing clouds around for a living. She didn’t even own a scooter anymore. The orange pegasus started down through the sky towards Ponyville.

At the Carousel Boutique, Sweetie Belle was closing up for the day. She finished locking the cash register and waved as the last employee departed.

The unicorn supposed that it was nice to be in a leadership position. She was in charge of the Ponyville shop. In the twenty years since the doorways had opened, her older sister's business had expanded quite a bit. Rarity operated the main store from New York City, in the United States. At first, running a shop seemed fun, but Sweetie had grown bored of the monotony. Her special talent was in singing, not clothing.

She’d never exploited the double-eighth-note cutie mark on her hip, however. There had either been no time with running the shop, or never the right connections to spread her voice to a larger audience.

Sweetie stepped out the door of the Boutique and locked the door. Her friends were gathering, and she didn’t want to be late. The mare smiled with pleasure for what felt like the first time that day and hurried on her way.

A jostle in the rails brought Apple Bloom out of her nap. She glanced out the window of the moving train, seeing familiar scenery rushing by. The mare yawned and sat up, adjusting the pink bow in her mane that she’d put on for old times’ sake. She hadn’t worn it for most of the last four years. It wasn’t allowed by regulations.

Looking back on it, Apple Bloom remembered the exact reason why she’d joined the Equestrian Army. She’d wanted to leave Ponyville and look for a life unrelated to apples.

Her cutie mark, a pink flower of an apple tree in bloom, was completely relevant to her special talent. The young trees responded better to her care than any other pony. It wasn’t what Apple Bloom wanted to do with her life, though, regardless of whether she was good at it.

So one day she made the decision to leave the family farm, figuring the best way to see a lot of both worlds was to go with the military. Instead, she’d spent most of her time in Afghanistan helping with some war that Equestria didn’t start.

The train pulled into Ponyville Station on time. Apple Bloom collected her duffle bag and stepped down onto the platform. She’d purposely been vague about her time of arrival, and nopony was there to meet her. Turning towards Sugarcube Corner, the mare headed out to meet with her two closest friends.

There were a lot of good memories at the bakery. The three mares had spent a lot of time there as fillies. Mr. and Mrs. Cake still owned the place, and even with their children helping out, they still worked as hard as always.

Pinkie Pie, arguably the hardest working baker ever, was still a legend around Ponyville. She’d left in the nineties to work at the White House. Bill Clinton himself had recruited her. The Cakes had been sorry to see her go, but the recognition of being a former employer of the famous Ms. Pie brought in plenty of business.

Pumpkin Cake looked up from the cash register as the mares came in. “Oh hey, it’s good to see you three. Apple Bloom, how long has it been?”

“A mite too long,” she replied. “Can we have a table in the back?”

“Sure thing,” the younger mare replied. “Oh, your brother was in here earlier. He said he was looking for you to come in on the train.”

“Yep, Ah’ll find him,” Apple Bloom said quickly. She followed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo away from the front of the shop to a more secluded place to sit.

“Is your family still sore about you leaving?” asked Scootaloo in a low voice.

“Don’t know,” muttered Apple Bloom. “Haven’t talked in awhile.”

The three of them sat quietly for a moment. Through mail and phone calls, they’d been able to keep up on each other’s lives. There was not much new to talk about, but it was nice to just be together.

“So what are you going to do now that you’re out of the army?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Not sure,” admitted Apple Bloom. “Ah’m goin’ to Canterlot tomorrow, maybe Ah’ll start there.”

“Me too!” said the other two ponies simultaneously.

Apple Bloom blinked. “All three of us?”

“I got this letter,” said Scootaloo.

“Yeah!” agreed Sweetie Belle.

“So did Ah.” Apple Bloom frowned. “This is mighty strange, all three of us gettin’ one.”

The three mares looked at each other. “What do you think it’s about?” asked Scootaloo.

“The wording was kind of vague,” said Sweetie Belle. “I don’t have any idea why anypony at Human Services wants to have a meeting.”

The trio shared a look. Scootaloo smiled mischievously. “I want to get to the bottom of this. Are you with me, girls?”

Sweetie Belle grinned. “Of course.”

“Hell yeah!” said Apple Bloom. The other two looked at her, surprised. She ducked her head. “Sorry. Bad habit Ah picked up.”

“All right then,” said Sweetie. “I’ll get us tickets on the next train to Canterlot. I think mentioning you, Apple Bloom, should make it a little easier for me to convince my sister to let me take the day off.”

At the mention of sisters, Apple Bloom's face fell.

“Is something wrong?” asked Scootaloo.

“Aren't you excited to see your family later?” questioned Sweetie.

“Um, not really,” admitted Apple Bloom.

The other two gasped. Scootaloo demanded, “Why not?”

“We haven’t talked in a long time,” said Apple Bloom.

“How long?” chorused the other two.

“Uh...since Ah left.” The earth pony couldn’t meet the surprised gazes of the other two mares.

“Four years?” shouted Sweetie Belle. Pumpkin Cake, who had been on her way over to take the three mares’ orders, quietly turned around and went back to the kitchen.

“What happened?” asked Scootaloo. “Come on, talk to us, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom continued to stare at the table. “Ah didn’t want to work on the farm, and things got a little outta hoof.”

“What was different with you?” asked Scootaloo. “Didn’t Applejack leave the farm a while ago?”

“Yeah,” said Apple Bloom. “She had a useful talent outside of apples, though.”

Apple Bloom’s sister Applejack worked as an investigator for the Royal Intelligence Service. She was good at getting the truth and gauging honesty.

“That doesn’t sound like the whole story,” observed Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom gulped. “Right. Uh...Ah said some things Ah shouldn’t have.”

The two other ponies stared at their friend. “Promise us that you’ll talk to them,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Okay,” mumbled the earth pony.