• Published 26th Jun 2016
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Shellstrings - shortskirtsandexplosions



After freakish happenstance turns Lyra Heartstrings and Queen Chrysalis into a symbiotic being, they find themselves putting their superpowers to heroic use in an ever-changing Equestria.

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Burning Bridges That Were Never Crossed

Headquarters for the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria – Deep Inside the Canterlot Mountains – Six Hours After the Vanquishing of Queen Chrysalis From Equestria's Capital

Sweetie Drops sat silently on a wooden crate, staring into cavernous space. The mare was surrounded by ancient furnishings and age-old tapestries depicting League Chiefs from the past.

She inhaled and exhaled in long, melancholic breaths. Every now and then, she'd glance at her hooves—still stained with her father's blood.

This brought a shiver to her person. Pensively, she lifted her eyes just high enough to spot a shrouded figure stretched-out on a red-stained cot several feet in front of her. Her ears folded back as a lump formed yet again in her throat.

"Agent Sweetie Drops..."

Eventually, she glanced up at the griffon standing in front of her.

Secret Agent Sharp Quill's eyes narrowed. "Did you hear what I said?"

She nodded. "Yes." A gulp. "And I'm fine."

Sharp Quill's metal beak clenched tight. "You don't have to be 'fine.' What happened... none of us could have expected."

"Couldn't we have?" Her brow furrowed. "We should have opened up to the Regal Sisters sooner. Even if it meant going public with the League for the first time in eons." Her nostrils flared as she stared past the shroud again. "What mattered was that the barriers of Tartarus remained secure... and we failed on that front."

"I'm not certain that greater numbers would have prevented what happened, Sweetie Drops," Sharp Quill calmly said. "The Treacherous One's invasion was on a scale never before precedented. And besides..." She cleared her throat, glancing at the equipment lining the crystalline walls. "...with the Elements of Harmony in the grasp of mortal bearers... I'm guessing we all thought that the era of the League was over."

"Well... it is now..." Sweetie Drops sighed, gazing at the obscured figure lying between them. "Nothing short of a direct harmonic blast from Princess Celestia could actually slay that infernal Ursa Arthropodica." Her eyes narrowed. "That thing is still out there... alive. And so long as there are beasts just like it running free from the shackles of Tartarus... then there's a vendetta against us. So long as the League still exists—these horrible monsters will stop at nothing to make sure we are all slaughtered... along with our families." She tilted her head up, shaking it. "It doesn't matter how many innocent ponies might get in the way."

The sound of clattering medical equipment echoed across the cavern.

Special Agent Horizons winced, hobbling on a make-shift prosthetic across the domain. "All the more reason to enact Project Field Fire as soon as possible!"

Betsy and Haze stumbled up behind the mare. "Special Agent Horizons!" Haze hissed. "For Saros' sake! You lost a limb today! Now lie down so you'll bleed less, ya stupid bastard!"

"That's Chief Agent Horizons now..." Horizons brushed the two agents off of her, lingering beside Sweetie Drops. "I heard Sugar Cane's last few words..." She gazed at the youngest recruit, sighing. "And... I'm sorry that it had to come to this."

Sweetie Drops limply nodded. "He..." Her breath shook. "...he would wish to be cremated."

"Yes, well..." Horizons hobbled across the domain, gesturing at the tapestries and ancient plaques. "...the same can be said for the rest of this stuff. All up in smoke."

"Must we really do this?!" Sharp Quill grimaced. "Countless generations of ponies, griffons, and other brave souls gave their lives while operating out of this place!"

"It doesn't matter anymore," Horizons grumbled. "Project Field Fire is a go. Now somepony go grab a canister of kerosene."

"For Celestia's sake, ya ass!" Betsy grumbled. "Have some heart!" The rhino pointed a bruised hoof at Sweetie Drops. "She lost more than the rest of us combined today!"

"No..." Sweetie Drops stood up. "The Chief is right."

"'Chief?'" Betsy frowned aside. "You're quick to label her with the new moniker! Seein' that Miss Sassy Plots has been Jonesin' for your dear-old-daddy's position for years, now!"

"That..." Horizons pointed angrily across the cave. "...was out of line!"

"Girl, the only thing out of line is your neckbone! Too weak to support your fat head!" Betsy spat. "How about you come here face to face and I'll show you what a true horn is!"

Swoooosh! Haze glided in and landed in the center of the group. "Okay... calm the buck down!" He frowned, fangs glinting in the manalight. "The last thing we need to do is jump at each other's throats in the presence of our beloved boss' dead body!"

Sweetie Drops shook as the sarosian's voice echoed loudly against the crystalline walls.

Horizons sighed, leaning on an ancient wooden table. "Look... the fact of the matter is... we're no longer safe. Queen Chrysalis may have been banished by Captain Shining Armor's spell... but she's still out there. And so is that Bug Bear... and—for all we know—so are countless other Tartarusian beasts who will want nothing more than to hunt us all down and rip what's left of this threadbare organization apart from its very foundation!" She gestured with her good hoof. "And if we're no longer safe... then Equestria is no longer safe. It's like Sugar Cane said. We're not retreating... we're advancing backwards. The only way anonymity will save us now is if we all spread out to the furthest reaches of Equestria. We're not giving up our agency... we're simply operating from the outside in. Until the coast is clear... we cannot pretend to function from a centralized hub. It'll attract too much attention and the collateral damage will encompass far more than we can contain."

"We did pretty damn well on our own earlier!" Betsy barked. "Just a few more hours, and all those sniveling changelings would have become changepuddles!"

"Yeah, well..." Haze's slitted eyes glared at her. "...just a few more minutes, and we'd all be trophies atop the Bug Bear's purgatorial mantlepiece. Face it... the only reason any of us are alive right now is that something somehow triggered Shining Armor's spell to overload. Not even Celestia or the Element Bearers could banish those monsters."

Betsy tried to protest... but she ultimately hung her head with a sigh.

"This is it, isn't it?" Sharp Quill murmured. Her titanium beak quivered as she looked at the rest. "This is the lowest of our League's lows?"

"Now don't dramatize," Horizons growled.

"Think about it!" The griffon frowned. "Even when our founding chief went batshit insane and enslaved the crystal ponies of the north, there was at least a sizable force to oppose him!"

"The League's never been about size," Horizons said. "It's been about tenacity. We've performed efficiently in fewer numbers before." She gazed at the shroud between them. "Chief Sugar Cane knew this... and he had every reason to trust us... because we're the best agents of this generation." Her hard eyes swept across the group from where her bandaged figure teetered. "And we shall continue to serve competently and diligently from our separate posts."

"Where... exactly shall we haul our asses to?" Betsy murmured.

"I've got an even better question," Haze remarked. "When will we know that it's time to regroup?" His leafy ears drooped. "If there's a time..."

"Let me be the one responsible for that," Horizons muttered.

"What do you have in mind?" Sharp Quill asked.

Horizons took a deep breath. "I shall expose the state of the League to Her Majesty."

"Princess Celestia?"

The mare nodded. "Yes. The monarch may be immortal... but there's no telling whether or not her memory is." She gestured. "No doubt, she will enforce complete deniability."

"Well, for our sake, I hope she will keep the League's presence a secret," Haze said. "Or lack thereof."

"I will remain here in Canterlot," Horizons murmured, hobbling about. "Take on the identity of... a royal guard." She winced, gazing at her haphazard prosthetic. "...or a veteran."

"Right." Betsy tilted her horn aside, squinting. "And what of the rest of us?"

"Spread out," Horizons commanded. "Head towards the four corners of the continent. Keep only enough resources that you can carry on your person. Set your sound stone frequencies to our lowest leyline... and listen for my voice." Her eyes narrowed. "Trust nopony but each other. And if you see another member of the League..."

Sharp Quill was already nodding. "Blood test for dopplegangers." She bore a brief smirk, shrugging in the sarosian's direction. "Or in Haze's case... just bite the neck and taste."

"Hardy har..." Haze droned. "Remind me to crack a joke over your parent's grave some day."

"Well then... enough is enough," Secret Agent Sweetie Drops murmured, reaching for a manatorch. "Let's get Project Field Fire underway already—"

"Not so fast, Sweetie Drops," Horizons said, waving her good hoof. "You're leaving first."

"What?!" Sweetie Drops' muzzle scrunched. She gazed at the shroud, at the manatorch, then at Horizons. "What for?"

Horizons stared at her. She spoke to the others without looking. "Prepare the bonfire, agents. Let's make this quick."

"Aye, chief," Sharp Quill murmured, joining Haze in gathering wooden supplies—both new and ancient.

As the other two rummaged in the background, Betsy drifted closely past Sweetie Drops. "Take care of yourself, girl." She braved a gray smile. "I'm gonna miss a lot of things from this gig. But you and your optimism? Your chipper voice? Well..." She cleared her throat, stumbling past on thick hooves. "...let's just say he had a whole hell of a lot to be proud of."

Sweetie Drops bit her lip, watching Betsy walk off. She turned just in time to greet Horizons, hobbling up towards her.

The orange unicorn came within breathing distance, then proceeded to murmur: "We all know the real reason why you were inducted into the League. And while your track record is more than exemplary... I suggest you do us all—and yourself—a favor."

Sweetie Drops squinted. "And what's that?"

"When the call goes out for the League to rejoin—however long from now..." Horizons' eyes narrowed. "Don't answer it."

The young mare blinked.

"You won't be disciplined for it," Horizons said. "In fact... I won't even note it in the royal logbooks."

"Special Agent... Chief..." Sweetie Drops grimaced. "...are you discharging me from the agency?"

"Sweetie Drops, there's no telling how long we will be spread apart. For most of us, this is a second life that we are being forced to live. But you? You're young as shit. You haven't even begun a first life."

"I do have a life," Sweetie Drops hissed. "And it's this! The League! The agency is my whole existence!"

"Only because your father wanted to protect you," Horizons calmly remarked. "But he cannot do that anymore. Your life—as you choose to live it—is now in your own hooves."

Sweetie Drops blinked. "...this has been all I've ever known. If I give up on it... I will dishonor his legacy."

"No, Sweetie Drops," Horizons said. "You will dishonor his legacy if you never seize the opportunity to make good of the life that he sacrificed to protect." She took a deep breath. "You've done your service to him... and to us. But now... I do believe that you have every right to serve yourself."

Sweetie Drops' muzzle lingered open, fumbling for words.

"Please..." Horizons sighed. She rested her good hoof on the young mare's shoulder. "Take it from a pony who's... f-falling apart... literally." She shook her head. "A cold fate befell his wife... don't let it happen to his only child as well..."

A hard lump formed in Sweetie Drops' throat. Her eyes teared up as she whimpered: "I... wouldn't even know where to go..."

Horizons inhaled sharply. She nodded towards the corner of the cavern with her head. "There's a brown satchel by my cot. I want you to take it to wherever you're headed."

"Huh?" Sweetie Drops glanced at the item in question. She blanched. "Chief... your... your life's savings?!" She stared incredulously at the mare. "But... but I already have my own! You can't expect me to rob you of—"

"I'll be working directly with the Royal House," Horizons said. "Believe me. I will be sustained. But you?" She patted the mare's shoulder. "You will need a hoofhold in wherever you choose to settle. Let this be a gift to you... like your father's gift."

"My... f-father's...?"

Horizons nodded. "So that you can accomplish what we both heard him wish with his final breath... and find a life of love and contentment that you can protect..."

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