//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Covert Mare Corps 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Los Angeles, 2012
Malcolm stared out the peephole on his hotel room door.  One of the three mares outside called, “We don’t have all day!”
The fat man sighed and unlocked the door.  “I swear, I didn’t know they were going to kill Lakes.  I got out of Mexico City as fast as I could.”
“But do you know who ‘they’ are?” asked Sweetie Belle as she and the other two trooped into the room.
“I have a couple of leads,” admitted Malcolm.  He closed the door.
“We’re waiting,” said Scootaloo.
In a few minutes of searching, the man managed to piece together a small stack of paperwork.  “Here.  Probably better that you have it anyway.”
“Just how many shady characters have you on their payrolls for your accounting skills?” asked Apple Bloom.
Malcolm laughed.  “I think that falls under client-practitioner confidentiality.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a trip to pack for.”
He opened the door and got hit with an incapacitating taser.  The three ponies watched him fall, thin wires protruding from his chest.  The man holding the stun gun stepped into the doorway, surprised to see the mares.
With a quick beat of her wings, Scootaloo tackled him, the par of them ending up in the hallway.  Previously unseen other men grabbed at the pony, trying to pull her off.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle leapt into action.  The earth pony kicked the first man she came to in the stomach.  He flew backwards, hitting the floor.  The unicorn menaced another attacker with her horn, distracting him with a light show before driving a hoof into his groin.
Scootaloo freed herself and twirled on her front legs, smacking the last man upside the face with a rear hoof.
Malcolm coughed, starting to get up.  “I thought only Chuck Norris could roundhouse kick people in the head like that.”
“I had good training,” explained the pegasus, looking at the pile of incapacitated assailants.
“We need to get going,” reminded Sweetie Belle.
“I can’t stand,” whined Malcolm.  His legs were still shaky from being shocked.  Apple Bloom nosed under his arm and then rather forcefully lifted him clear of the floor.  It was no trouble for a fit earth pony.
The three mares and their unhappy companion left the hotel and piled into a rental car.  It was slightly amazing that they could get their hooves on enough fake IDs to keep them from running afoul of the rental companies.  Something always seemed to happen to the cars.
“So while we have time, why don’t you explain who wanted Thomas Lakes dead?” suggested Scootaloo.  She was crammed in the back seat with Malcolm.
“Um, well, I think it’s a little ironic that he was one of the good guys,” said the man, shuffling his paperwork.  “Or at least one of the better guys.”
“He died because he was too nice?” asked Apple Bloom from the front seat.
“As you know, his organization was implicated in smuggling,” said Malcolm.  “It’s my opinion that Lakes was either trying to cut back on it, or stop it completely.  His business partners didn’t take too kindly to it.”
“I guess we’ll just have to find them,” said Sweetie Belle.
Malcolm handed the paperwork off.  “Drop me at the corner, if you’d be so kind.”
The unicorn stopped the car and he got out.  Scootaloo examined the files as the three mares pulled away again.  “There are a lot of names here.”
“Just start at the top of the list,” suggested Apple Bloom.  “Where are we going?”
The pegasus consulted the papers.  “Colombia.”


• • •


Canterlot, 2009
“Well, this is it, but I don’t see who we should be talking to,” said Sweetie Belle.  She and her two friends stood in front of the Human Services building.
“Pardon me, ladies,” said a deep voice.  A stallion stood behind them.  He looked buff and his mane was cut short.  Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes, recognizing a military pony when she saw one.  He wasn’t wearing any kind of uniform, however.
“Yeah?” said Scootaloo.
“My name is Bedrock.  I’ll be escorting you on your tour of HSE.”  He watched as the three mares looked at each other, reaching the unspoken agreement to go forward with finding out why they had received the mysterious letters.
With their consent, the stallion led them into the building.  After swiping an ID card, they went past a restricted-access door and down a flight of stairs.  At the bottom, there was a door.  This one was even tighter security, with a code that had to be put in.  When the door swung open, the three mares gasped and sank to their knees.  
“Come in,” invited Princess Celestia.  The regal mare waited in dark chamber, the only thing inside was a computer terminal.  “I suppose you’re wondering why I asked you to come here.”
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and then nodded their heads at the Princess.
Celestia smiled.  “I’d like to offer you all a job.”
Still, the three mares did not speak.  Meeting the Princess unexpectedly had shocked them into silence.  Scootaloo fidgeted a little.  Sweetie Belle caught her eyes drifting to the floor.  Apple Bloom realized she was standing at the military position of attention and forced herself to relax.
“It’s unfortunate that Equestria needs this position filled,” said the Princess.  “I don’t like shadow games, however it’s sometimes necessary to use subtle action behind the scenes.”
“Are we talkin’ about somethin’ like black ops?” asked Apple Bloom, catching on.
The Princess smiled humorlessly.  “Something like that.  I believe you three have the skill set and attitude to be very good at it.”
“What…planting bombs and stuff?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Assassinations?” cried Scootaloo.
Celestia’s eyes went wide.  “No!  I like to think Equestria has more moral fortitude than that.  I promise that I will never order you to kill someone.”
Sweetie Belle gave her a curious look.  “Someone…?”
“That’s correct.”  Celestia nodded.  “This will be external affairs, outside of Equestria.”
“Earth.”  Apple Bloom had spent much of the last four years there.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back.
“Wow,” murmured Sweetie Belle.  It was a lot to take in.  She knew Rarity expected her to run the Ponyville shop, so she couldn’t walk away at will.  And anyway, how was she qualified for this?
Scootaloo said nothing, staring at her hooves.  After the X Games, she didn’t think there was anything on the other side of the doorways for her.  Worse, what if someone recognized her distinctive appearance?
Princess Celestia looked at the three mares, frowning.  There had to be a better incentive to get them to agree to the job.  But what?
“I’d like to show you something,” said Celestia.  “Hold still.”  Bedrock stepped back as the Princess’ horn glowed with strong magic.  In a flash of light, she and the three mares were transported somewhere else.  The room was small and unadorned.  From behind the door, there were sounds of ponies working.
Celestia opened the door, briefly consulting a small electronic device.
“What’s that, Princess?” asked Apple Bloom, ignoring the dozens of ponies using desks and workbenches behind the door.
“It’s a Blackberry,” she explained.  “I was checking to make sure I hadn’t missed anything while I was underground and out of signal range.”  
“Looks cool.  Where’d you get it?” asked Scootaloo.
Celestia laughed.  “I had a meeting with President Obama last month, and he convinced me to try one.  I suppose it’s useful, if a little impersonal.  Tech Support tells me the iPhone might be better.”
“Did somepony say my name?” asked a stallion, poking his head out from behind a desk piled high with electronics.
“Just talking about cell phones, Mr. Support,” said Celestia.  Turning to the three mares behind her, she suggested, “Let’s find a place where we can discuss this new job.”
The Princess led the three mares through the room.  Each of the workers seemed to be working on something high-tech.  Sweetie Belle paused for a moment, staring at a device that resembled a syringe hidden inside a pen.  Her eyes narrowed.  That’s exactly what it was.
There were a few empty desks.  The Princess sat, gesturing for her guests to sit as well.  “Now, I want to ask you all a very serious question.  What do you want out of life?”
The three ponies did not respond.  Celestia prodded, “Apple Bloom, what did you do in Afghanistan?”
“Ah, uh, sat in a hole and waited for somethin’ to happen,” responded the earth pony.
“Sweetie Belle, how do you like working at the boutique?” asked the Princess.
“It’s all right.  I’m already manager, though.  Not much opportunity for advancement.”  The unicorn sighed.
The royal pony turned to Scootaloo.  “Do you make lots of friends at the weather factory?”
The pegasus nodded, casting her eyes downwards.  “Yeah.  We talk about…weather.”
“Do you see those ponies over there?” asked Celestia, nodding towards the various workers making gadgets.  “Their work is secret.  Nopony knows what they do.  All their job satisfaction comes from knowing they helped Equestria today.”
“Ah still don’t understand how you think we would be good at this,” commented Apple Bloom.  
The Princess nodded.  “A pony’s talent in life goes beyond cutie marks.  As I understand it, none of you three are working in fields that make use of yours?”
There was silence for several seconds.  Sweetie Belle said, “I think we’re going to need some time to think about this.”
“Take as much as you need.”  Celestia smiled and got up.  She turned to go, but Apple Bloom called after her.
“Wait!  Ah don’t have anything to go back to.  I want to do this.”
The Princess briefly arched an eyebrow, as if saying Are you sure there’s nothing for you at home?  She smiled however, and nodded.
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo.  “I’m in.”
Sweetie Belle looked at her two friends.  “I suppose I could recommend a replacement at the boutique.”  She smiled.
“Very well,” said the Princess.  “The basement room where we first met will be your base of operations.  You’ll be provided with the means to fit it out as you desire.  I know you’re all very creative young mares.  This will be a very unconstrained employment.  I tell you the what, and you figure out the how.  If you need anything that you can’t get on your own, let me know.”
Three credit cards magically appeared, presumably from the same place Celestia’s Blackberry had disappeared to.
“Those are American Express Centurion cards!”  Sweetie Belle eyes were wide.  “Princess, do you really trust us with unlimited charge accounts?”
Celestia smiled.  “I said that I would let you figure things out on your own.”
The three mares said goodbye to the Princess, thanking her again.  They left the room, discovering that Celestia had merely transported them to another part of the HSE building.
“This is sure a lot to think about,” said Scootaloo.
“Sure is,” agreed Apple Bloom.
“This is about the last thing I expected,” added Sweetie Belle.  “It's a far cry from our Cutie Mark Crusader days, right girls?”
They laughed.  “More like the Covert Mare Corps now,” chuckled Apple Bloom.
“I think there have to be more than three members to be considered a true Corps,” said Sweetie Belle.
“What’re you, a dictionary?”