Blue Crescent – Meeting Room – Late That Same Night
"As for my agents in the field—whom I've already referenced at great lengths..." Princess Plasma looked up from where she sat at the end of a lengthy table. "They are experts at reconnaissance, and they can locate most escaped abominations from the cells of Tartarus. However..." Her ears drooped slightly. "Veteran monster hunters they are not."
Bon Bon, Horizons, and the rest of the agents sat around the far end of the table, nodding collectively.
"That's where the former members of S.M.I.L.E. come in," Haze remarked.
"Such would be ideal," Plasma said. "My vision of this current collaboration is that Blue Nova Industries provides the resources. In the meantime, you and your team act as the mighty sword in this new defensive initiative. Essentially speaking, you would be doing the same exact thing in the field that you've always been doing."
"Only now," Sharp Quill murmured, "We'd have the backup we've always wanted."
Plasma nodded. "It is my hope that things will become a great deal more... agreeable for each and every one of you." Her eyes took on a solemn glint. "I've read extensively about the League's past." She slowly shook her head. "I do not wish to make you suffer another tragedy like that which happened in Stalliongrad."
Bon Bon bowed her head. Betsy rested a hoof on her shoulder.
Garnet glanced over at them, although he said nothing.
"Sergeant...?"
Garnet looked over, standing up straight. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Captain Shining Armor has given you a new place to live and funds to support an alternate identity, correct?"
Garnet cleared his throat. "That he has, Your Highness. It is my intent to... not attract too much attention."
"Gonna be a little hard when you're a walking dildo," Betsy muttered.
"Although I... do not understand that reference," Garnet droned, "I can agree that it will be rather difficult given my crystalline standing. However, I embrace challenges, and for the sake of the League I shall perform my duties with utmost zeal."
"Good. Because a great deal will be required of you," Plasma said. She pointed across the table. "From now on, you shall take instructions directly from Chief Agent Horizons. Is that understood?"
"Absolutely, Your Highness." Garnet turned to bow slightly to the orange unicorn. "Chief."
Horizons nodded back. "If I may ask..." She looked up. "When is our first mission?"
"While I appreciate your strong-headedness, Chief," Plasma spoke, standing up from her seat. "I have no mission to send you on. At least not yet." Her eyes narrowed from afar. "I believe it is only fair to give you and your team a full day to deliberate on the most recent proceedings. For your fellow agents' sake, such time to reflect would be most paramount. Wouldn't you agree?"
"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Chief Agent Horizons spoke. "If you're questioning the loyalty of my brothers and sisters in the field, I can assure you that we will protect and serve all Equestrian interests as mandated by the Royal Canterlot Council—"
"Be that as it may..." Plasma and her guards made a slow trot for the furthest door. "I think we all know that this is a rather dramatic change for the basic infrastructure of the League. Twenty-four hours from now, there will be a meeting with the head financiers responsible for making the renovation of Blue Crescent possible. They will all show up here in this very room. If you and the rest of the League are present to meet them, then and only then I will be fully assured of your commitment, and the House of Trottingham shall not endeavor to prosecute anypony who chooses not to collaborate with us on this new dawn of Equestrian intervention." She bowed low. "Fillies and gentlecolts..."
And with a swish of her royal tail...
...she was gone.
"Hrmmfff..." Betsy exhaled. "Just who's gonna be here tomorrow? Kevin Buckin'?"
"I suppose we'll have to find out," Haze exhaled. "On the eucorn's terms."
"I'm warming up to this," Sharp Quill said. "This is the kind of backup we've always... always wanted."
"Yeah, but for how long is it gonna be so peachy?" Betsy's wrinkled lips tightened. "With the House of Trottingham catching us in a hammock made from bits, there's no way in Hell that we can keep a cork in it from now on."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we could very well be exposed," Betsy hissed. "I can tell that Plasma's got a bit of an ego. Before the tax collectors and accountants in Central Canterlot trace the money vacuum to the House of Trottingham, she'll likely come out and admit to being the head of a new monster-hunting agency."
"Only... it's not quite so new," Sharp Quill said.
"Exact-to-mundo!" Betsy frowned. "She's gonna make the League public knowledge! That's basically instant castration!"
"We've been secret for thousands of years, Betsy," Haze said. "I doubt even a princess would break that mandate."
"You sure about that?" Betsy asked. "She's pretty much hijacked a deep dark prison for Princess Luna and turned it into a changeling storage device! I mean... just where does the epicness end?!"
"Where she chooses it to," Horizons said, hobbling past the agents.
"And you!" Betsy snorted, turning to point. "Naturally you're first in line to squat at her bedside and suck on her—"
"Can it," Horizons grunted. "And if all you're gonna do from now on is bark up the wrong tree, then you should think twice about showing up tomorrow, Betsy."
"Pffft. For real?" Betsy smirked crookedly. "After all we've been through?"
"In a heartbeat," Horizons hissed. "I'll go out into the wildrness, lasso a hippopotamus, tape a cardboard tube to her forehead and call her 'Betsy 2.0.' There's too much at stake right now to bitch about bitching. So straighten your horn out and stand up to bat. Because I need you more than ever now." She tapped Bon Bon's shoulder. "You. Me. Other room. Now."
Bon Bon nodded, then trotted after the Chief.
The rest of the agents watched in dull silence. At last, when they had exited, they turned to look at Garnet.
Garnet looked back, blinking.
"So... uhm..." Sharp Quill clenched and unclenched her metal beak. "Thrown out of time by a few thousand years, huh?"
"Seven thousand," Garnet said. "Or so I'm told."
"You good in the field, kiddo?" Betsy asked.
Garnet swallowed. "Captain Shining Armor seems to think so."
"Shit gets hairy when battling changelings and tartarusian prisoners," Betsy said. Her eyes narrowed. "Would be a shame to get cracks in that shiny flank of yours."
"Madame, the only crack I see in this room belongs to you," Garnet said. "And from this angle, it looks far darker and deeper an abyss than could ever hold the malevolent spirit of Sombra."
Betsy blinked.
Sharp Quill and Haze were already laughing. The sarosian punched Betsy in the shoulder. "I think he'll bring something snazzy to the table after all."
Garnet's lips curved ever so slightly. "Uhm..." He gulped. "F-forgive me if that was too forward a joccular statement."
"Aaaaaaaaaand he ruins it." Betsy hobbled over and gave his shiny shoulder a slap. "Stick close to us, kiddo. But not too close." Her nostrils flared. "Right after breakfast, I tend to let loose the malevolent spirit of Sombra when I bend over... if you catch my drift."
Garnet gulped. "I... will stay vigilant."
Blue Crescent – Balcony Overlooking Chasm
At last, Chief Agent Horizons shuffled to a stop. She turned and folded her flesh-and-metal forelimbs while casting a squinting glance at Bon Bon. "I'm sure you've been dying to ask me all day about the lack of communication, Sweetie Drops."
Bon Bon took a shuddering breath. "I've been a teensy bit distracted by Princess Prim and Proper—not to mention the collection of living and breathing bug ponies—but yeah..." She folded her own forelimbs and nodded. "I kinda have been."
Horizons took a deep breath. "Sweetie Drops, there's a reason why I did not yet summon you via the sound stone."
"Oh, I get it." Bon Bon's eyes narrowed. "You pitied me after the death of my father. Once Sugar Cane was gone, you felt I was no longer mentally or emotionally equipped to follow in his hoofsteps."
"No." Horizons shook her head. "I wanted to contact you later... separately... alone." A breath. "After this meeting took place."
Bon Bon blinked. "... ... ...I'm afraid you have me confused."
Horizons looked over her shoulder... then leaned in to speak in a breathy tone. "This is between you and me, agent... but I have my... reservations regarding this alliance."
Bon Bon cocked her head to the side. "But you just made it clear to the League that we're to follow through with the merger—"
"Something that we have no choice in." Horizons clenched her jaws. "Maybe the last twelve or so months have limped by for you... but for me? They've been a blur. Things are moving fast... too fast. I'm terribly alarmed at the swiftness with which the Canterlot Royal Council has just hoofed over the fate of the League to the House of Trottingham and Blue Nova Industries."
"Meaning...?"
"There's been a lot of changes in Equestria—most evidently in the upper echelon of the central government," Horizons said. "It's never been the League's job to meddle with politics, but as the sole representative of the League situated in Canterlot for the past year, I've had to deal with countless bureaucrats and penpushers and I'm telling you..." Horizons gulped. "There's a power shift in the Equestrian government, and I believe that the League has become a pawn in such a game."
"How so?"
"So much has happened in the last three years," Horizons said. "The Rise and Fall of Nightmare Moon... the brief reign of Discord... the resurfacing of the Crystal Empire... the crowning of a new alicorn and the birth of another. Then the changelings and Tirek..." Horizons breathed deeply. "Each and every one of these events have directly involved the avatars of Harmony who—as we all know—are fully sanctioned by the Regal Sisters."
"As well as they should be," Bon Bon said. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have long been attributed to the Elements of Harmony."
"And where there's Harmony, chaos is quick to follow. While the actions committed by Princess Celestia's star pupil—the Princess of Friendship—have been heroic and noble..." Horizon's eyes narrowed. "There are several within the Royal Council who feel that her rise to power has been too swift... too dramatic." She waved a hoof. "There's a rising phobia... an alicornphobia among the mortal populace... and the fact that Princess Cadance has been swiftly assigned with stewardship over the Crystal Empire doesn't exactly quiet anxious rumors. And now... she's foaled a living alicorn infant—the first in recorded history. Some ponies within the Executive Branch are starting to wonder if we're ultimately destined to be dominated by a global Alicorn Order."
"I... wasn't aware of this paranoid movement," Bon Bon said. "Where exactly are you going with all of this, Chief?"
"Essentially this." Horizons gestured. "From what I've observed, there's a very credible reason to believe that ponies within the Royal Council are working together to influence the Equestrian Legislature."
"Influence them towards what?"
"Towards adopting new and dramatic amendments that will afford executive powers to elected mortals," Horizons said. "All part of a grand plan to change Equestria permanently."
"You mean... from a monarchy to a democracy?"
"When has the world ever worked that decently, Sweetie Drops?" Horizons droned. "I'm talking about an oligarchy... with the dukes and duchesses of this land harboring power instead of the Regal Sisters and their alicorn associates."
Bon Bon blinked off into the abyss. "...you refer to ponies such as Princess Plasma."
"Precisely." Horizons nodded. "And with Prince Blueblood conveniently out of the picture, she's appropriated a grand prison formerly constructed to house the Princess of the Night. If she does become public with the appropriation of the League... imagine the sort of support she would win via our merit alone."
"You think she will take the credit for the re-imprisoning of the Tartarusian escapees and use it for her political benefit?"
"I believe she's already achieved several benefits," Horizons said. "And these 'financiers' that she's wanting us to meet tomorrow? They've all got something to benefit from as well... which is precisely why they are helping her. Together... they'll gradually mold this monarchy into something else... and I'm not sure if that 'something else' is a good thing for ponies abroad."
Bon Bon took a deep sigh. "Why... are you telling me all of this?"
"Because you are your father's daughter."
"Huh?"
"I was going to come to you later, Sweetie Drops." Horizons squinted. "I didn't want you to show up today because I didn't want Princess Plasma to know that you existed."
"Seems hard to hide," Bon Bon said. "The noble's done her homework."
"Trust me. I have my own edge over the Blue-blood." Horizons snorted. "I could have claimed you dead... M.I.A. Anything."
"To what end?"
"I was hoping... to have eyes and ears on the outside," Horizons said with a sigh. "The ability to examine this latest merger without being tracked."
"You... wanted me to become a double-agent?"
"Something that still might be feasible." Horizons swallowed. "You know that new recruit we just got?"
"Sergeant Garnet. The crystal pony."
"Indeed."
"You don't trust him?"
"I think that—on his own—he's harmless. But there's got to be a reason why Plasma selected him personally. From the paperwork I've seen, I believe he may be the start of something."
"Of what, exactly?"
"Plasma's own personal roster of League recruits," Horizons said. "Ponies that are young, impressionable, and—most of all—affordable to the House of Trottingham."
"You think we're being replaced?"
"With all of the implications that I've sniffed up, you bet your candied butt," Horizons grunted. "Well, I've caught wind that Garnet is being situated in the Princess of Friendship's village."
Bon Bon blinked. "You mean Shining Armor has planted Garnet in Ponyville?"
Horizons nodded. "I need somepony to keep an eye on him... to see if Plasma is sending him to do any funny business for Blue Nova Industries apart from the League's sphere of influence. And if he is..."
"You want me to spy on him and give you intel."
"Don't be so stupid." Horizons took a breath. "I want you to become friends with the shiny turd... butter him up... maybe even share a nuzzle or two... and then spy on him."
Bon Bon sighed. "... ... ...how do I know you're not making this all up at the last second just to win back my trust."
"Agent Sweetie Drops..." Horizons stared at her. "When the Bug Bear attacked and ravaged what was left of our League, only one pony faced up to it with relentless zeal more than once... and I'm looking at her right now. You've had my trust for ages. And—right now—you have my hopes in the crook of your fetlock. There's something very... very fishy about this Blue Crescent business. The League has always been abount liberating ponies from monsters. But now? We've been given power... and I fear that it is far too much power... and we need to keep an eye on it before it balloons into something even more frightening. Now... what do you say? Are you up for being extra vigilant for me? For the League? For the legacy that Sugar Cane has left behind?"
Bon Bon leaned back with her forelimbs folded. With a contemplative expression, she stared silently into the black chasm.