The sun had long since set over the horizon of Equestria, but nopony was asleep this night in Ponyville. All of Ponyville's residents were still celebrating the long awaited union between Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda Marple Donkey. After the vows had been said and Cranky and Matilda were officially married, the ponies had moved the festivities from the Town Hall to the park, where the reception was being held. (The mix-up in dates had meant that Cranky had to convince the members of Ponyville's hoofball team to reschedule their scrimmage, which he had accomplished by taking part in a one-on-one hoofball match against the team's quarterback. It was pretty epic.)

Now, everypony was enjoying the reception - Vinyl and Octavia continued to provide music for the ponies to dance to, with the dance floor overcrowded with partiers. In the center of the dance floor were Cranky and Matilda themselves, who were proving to everypony present that just because they were getting on in years, didn't mean they couldn't dance.

From their table, eight ponies watched the newlywed couple dance with smiles on their faces. "Oh, this is one of the most romantic weddings I've ever seen!" Rarity gushed, tearing up and blowing her nose into a napkin, folding it with her magic.

Applejack chuckled from beside her. "Well, I can surely say it was the most romantic wedding I've ever seen...through a window,"

Across from Applejack, a gray and blonde cross-eyed mare sheepishly rubbed her head. "I'm sorry I accidentally locked you guys out of the hall," Derpy Hooves apologized. "I guess I didn't really pay attention and make sure everypony was inside,"

"Oh, that's okay Derpy!" Pinkie Pie said, having to look around the massive stack of wedding cake slices that sat on her plate to see Derpy. "We were gonna be late anyway! That bug bear fight took foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever!"

"No kidding! I'm still itching from that bite it gave me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, poking the wound on her side and wincing from the pain...before immediately doing it again. And again.

Beside her, Fluttershy gave her a worried glance. "Are you sure you don't want to go get that checked, Rainbow?"

"Nah, I'm fine!" Rainbow Dash said. "Now which one of you Fluttershy's said that?"

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and turned to her left. "Twilight, can you please explain to Rainbow Dash why she shouldn't-Twilight? Twilight?"

Twilight didn't answer the yellow pegasus, as she was too busy looking over a series of diagrams and blueprints that had been haphazardly strewn across her end of the table. "But I thought that the lack of real potassium nitrate ensured that no ignition would occur?" she asked in an excited tone.

"No, no, it was the exact opposite!" Dr. Time Turner, a local scientist and good friend to Derpy Hooves, exclaimed. "By replacing potassium nitrate with a formula created with essences of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, the fireworks could only be activated by high levels of the natural pheromones that are produced by the body during heightened states of romantic affection!"

"Fascinating!"

"I know right?!"

Derpy rolled one of her eyes at. "Sorry Fluttershy, the nerds are geeking out," she said sarcastically.

Everypony laughed at the joke, and then laughed harder when Twilight and Time Turner didn't even register that Derpy had insulted them. The entire park was filled with such humor and positivity, as there was not a single soul present that wasn't filled with happiness. It was the perfect feeling to feel on a wedding day.

However, there was one guest that was feeling something else.

Sure, she was feeling the same joy and happiness as everypony else - how could she not? Cranky and Matilda were absolutely perfect for each other, and seeing them finally be able to call each other husband and wife after being separated for so long was heartwarming. But there was another feeling that had swept through her body ever since she saw the members of the Friendship Council knock out the Bug Bear, after she had witnessed a group of Royal Guards safely secure the beaten down creature, and taken it off to Tartarus for immediate imprisonment.

Relief.

Sweetie Drops was so, so relieved.

Four years of hiding. Four years of always looking over her shoulder whenever she turned a street corner, of keeping weapons hidden all over Ponyville just in case she needed them, four years of pretending to be somepony she wasn't - changing her name, cutting ties with everypony she used to know in Canterlot, and living in a completely new town. Sure, she grew to love Ponyville like a second home, and she had sincerely befriended most of the other ponies in town...but she couldn't truly enjoy her life there. Not with the constant fear of the Bug Bear hanging over her head - knowing it was out there somewhere.

But now it was locked up again. She had personally made sure that the Royal Guards took the proper precautions to make sure the creature would never escape again. And now...Sweetie Drops was feeling completely and utterly safe for the first time in four years. For somepony whose had a life like hers...

It was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world.

"Yo!"

Sweetie Drops looked up in surprise. Lyra, her closest, best friend since moving to Ponyville, was staring at her with an annoyed look.

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" the unicorn demanded.

Sweetie Drops cheeks blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry Lyra," Sweetie Drops said. "I was just...thinking about stuff,"

At that, Lyra grinned. "Are you thinking about..." her voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. "...super secret spy stuff?"

Sweetie Drops reflexively looked around to make sure nopony had been close enough to hear, before glaring at Lyra. "Lyra, remember what I told you before?" she asked. "You cannot, under ANY circumstances, reveal to any one my true identity! Don't you understand that?"

Lyra leaned back in her chair and laughed. "Calm down Bon-Sweet-uh...calm down! I know! I'm not gonna breath a word of it!"

Sweetie Drops stared at Lyra. "Are you completely sure you can keep this a secret?" she asked.

Lyra's smile faded. She leaned across the table, gripping Sweetie Drops hooves in her own. She stared the other pony right in the eyes. "Bon, I swear as your best friend, I will NEVER reveal your secret,"

Letting go of one of Sweetie Drops hooves, Lyra began to move her own hoof in specific motions. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,"

The mint green unicorn smiled at Sweetie Drops. "You matter too much to me to do something like that,"

Sweetie Drops felt her heart warm at those words. Sighing in happiness, she wrapped her hooves around Lyra in a hug. "Oh, thank you Lyra. You don't know how much this means to me, for you to accept my secret,"

"You know I'd always accept you, no matter what," Lyra said, hugging Sweetie Drops back tightly. She leaned back and smiled at her, lifting one hoof up and brushing it on her cheek. "You're my best friend,"

"And you're my best friend," Sweetie Drops replied. The two mares hugged once again, before finally releasing it and settling back down into their chairs with big smiles.

"So..." Lyra started speaking again, now looking a bit awkward. "What...What should I call you now? Cause, you know, you're real name is apparently Sweetie Drops, but I've been calling you Bon Bon for four years, but you would probably want to be called by your real first name instead of a fake first name, which I would completely understand, but I'm still kind of not really sure if I can get used to calling you a different name, but like I said it is completely up to you, and I know that if I was going by two names and somepony found out that they'd been calling me the name I didn't prefer being called I'd be upset, so I can understand why you would want to be called by your first name, it's just that I don't know if I can automatically switch to calling you Sweetie Drops out of nowhere like-"

"LYRA!"

The unicorn's mouth shut closed, and she smiled sheepishly at Sweetie Drops. The earth pony rubbed her eye for a moment before clearing her throat. "You can keep calling me Bon Bon. It would be for the best - everypony else in this town knows me as that, after all,"

"Oh, okay," Lyra nodded her head, looking rather relieved. A moment of relaxed silence passed, before Lyra was once again awkwardly shuffling her hooves. "Can I ask you another question?"

"As long as I can answer it without betraying national security, sure," Sweetie Drops said in a joking tone.

"...Is that your real cutie mark?" Lyra asked, peeking over the table to see the three striped candies adorning the earth ponies flank.

...Huh, of all questions I didn't expect that, Sweetie Drops thought to herself. Out loud, she said only this:

"...What?"

"Well, if you're really a monster hunter and not a candy maker, then you MUST have a monster hunting cutie mark right? And those candies on your ass are like, a super elaborate spy gadget!" Lyra guessed, looking more and more excited as she spoke.

Sweetie Drops raised a brow at that. "Super elaborate spy gadget on my ass?" she asked in a questioning tone.

Lyra huffed and slumped in her chair, visibly disappointed. "So it's not?"

Sweetie Drops shook her head. "No, my special talent is still candy making," she said. "I...actually got into candy making before I got into monster fighting..."

Lyra watched her friend in worry, as an expression of sorrow briefly flashed on her face. Sweetie Drops immediately started to smile again, and although Lyra could tell it was a sincere smile, she had still caught that moment of sadness.

"Can I ask...how did you get into it?" Lyra asked tentatively.

Sweetie Drops opened her mouth...but shut it again soon after, and began to poke at her cake, untouched on the plate in front of her. "I...I'll tell you another time, okay?" she said.

Lyra sensed that she shouldn't pry, and nodded. "Yeah, sure," she said. Deciding to put the conversation back on a happier note, she picked the first thing that popped into her head. "So, who do you think is going to be the dominant one in bed - Cranky or Matilda?"

The Ponyville clocktower had just struck midnight by the time ponies began to trickle away from the park and to their homes to get a good nights rest. Matilda and Cranky had actually left about two hours prior, leaving in a private chariot to their honeymoon in Neigh Zealand. However, the craziness of the day seemed to translate into endless energy for all the ponies present, and so they continued partying until they were literally falling asleep on the dance floor. Parents carried exhausted foals on their backs, friends and lovers supported each other due to their tired hooves, and Derpy and Dr. Turner assisted Fluttershy in taking a slightly delirious and hallucinating Rainbow Dash to the hospital. All in all, it had been quite a day, but a good day nonetheless.

Sweetie Drops chuckled as she walked out of the park. She glanced at Lyra, who was pressed against her side, practically asleep already. "That...That was probably the longest party I've ever been to!" she gasped, her entire body aching from the impromptu dance off that Aloe and Lotus had forced everypony into.

Lyra managed to find the energy to laugh. "Yeah...Pinkie Pie would be proud," she said.

"It was quite a fun affair," a new voice said. "I am quite pleased with how the night turned out,"

Both Lyra and Sweetie Drops's eyes widened when they saw the two ponies who had walked up to their side.

"Princesses!" Lyra cried, pushing herself off of Sweetie Drops, intending to bow - only to fall flat on her face due to her exhaustion. "Ooh, my faaaace...and my hooves...and my everything..."

Princess Luna chuckled. "No need for that tonight, my friend. It is a day of celebration,"

A taller alicorn standing beside Luna laughed as well. "Yes, but I must admit, I was not quite expecting it to last as long as it did. I dare say that the sun may be coming up a tad later than usual tomorrow morning,"

"Ha!" Luna said. "I've seen you go two weeks without sleep and still find the energy to raise the sun each morning at the same time! You just want an excuse to be lazy and sleep in,"

"Well, can you blame me Luna?" Celestia said with a grin. "This is the perfect opportunity!"

Celestia and Luna shared another laugh, before Celestia turned to Sweetie Drops, who had been standing there silently, amused by the sisters conversation. "Hello Bon Bon," the princess of the sun greeted.

Sweetie Drops nodded. "Hello Princess Celestia," she said. "Did you enjoy the party?"

"Oh, I did! I do so love weddings," Celestia said, sighing. "Although I'm sure everypony was quite happy that it went off without a hitch. Especially considering that awful monster that was rampaging here earlier,"

Sweetie Drops didn't let her expression change, but internally she instantly became at alert. What reason did Celestia have to speak to her directly concerning the Bug Bear? Especially after... she began to think, only to quickly shove those thoughts into the back of her mind. No matter what happened before, it was certainly strange of the princess.

"Yes," Sweetie Drops continued speaking casually. "Thankfully Twilight and the others subdued it before anypony got hurt,"

Celestia hummed in agreement. "Well, I'm happy that everything turned out okay. Have a good night, Bon Bon," she said.

"Good night Princess," Sweetie Drops replied.

Celestia nodded to Luna, and the two began to walk away. Sweetie Drops could see a chariot in the distance, presumably ready to take the princesses back to Canterlot. However, before they got too far away, Celestia suddenly paused and turned back to Sweetie Drops.

"Oh, by the way, do you know if the skies would be clear tomorrow? I haven't spoken to the weather crew here in some time," Celestia asked.

Sweetie Drops felt her blood run cold. She may have been out of the business for four years, but she would know codespeak anywhere she heard it. The use of certain words, in a certain order, and a certain vocal context, all of it hiding a message within the sentence itself. Has your secret identity been compromised in any way? was what Celestia had truly said.

(Codespeak was extremely complicated, in case it wasn't obvious. Took her eight damn times to pass the test)

Keeping her face composed, Sweetie Drops shrugged. "I'm not sure what they plan on doing," she replied.

My identity remains secret.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Oh, how unfortunate. Well, I at least hope that there will not be any clouds,"

You are lying.

"I wouldn't mind a cloudy day myself," Sweetie Drops said, adding a giggle to the beginning of her sentence.

There is no reason to use any procedural measures. All is secure.

"Oh, everpony loves a cloudy day now and then. But sunny days are so much nicer for a day at the beach," Celestia laughed as well.

Do not misplace your trust. If they break your trust, there will be consequences.

"Well, I hope that the weather works out to your liking, Princess" Sweetie Belle said in a kind tone.

Do not dare try anything to hurt her.

Celestia did not speak again. Instead, she smiled pleasantly. "Well, enjoy the rest of the night!"

With that, both princesses continued on to their chariot. Luna briefly looked back at Sweetie Drops, an openly questioning look on her face. Sweetie Drops merely smiled and waved goodbye. So Luna has no knowledge of codespeak. Interesting, she thought.

(Unbeknownst to Sweetie Drops, Luna turned around and whispered something to Celestia. "Are those two...merely friends? We find this to be very confusing,")

That entire exchange came completely out of nowhere. She and Celestia had met several times after the agency was disbanded, but they had never truly talked face to face in the four years Sweetie Drops had been hiding out in Ponyville.

"Is no one going to take account of the suffering unicorn lying on the ground?" Lyra suddenly spoke up, her voice muffled due to being face down in the dirt.

Sweetie Drops looked down at the unicorn, and couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry Lyra," she said, quickly leaning down to help her up. Lyra immediately pressed herself up against Sweetie Drops's side once more, sighing in contentment as she snuggled into her neck fur. Sweetie Drops chuckled. "Come on, let's get you home,"

"I wanna...hands..." Lyra muttered sleepily.

"I know you do, Lyra, I know you do,"

Sweetie Drops didn't bother fighting back her yawns as she closed and locked the front door to her cottage. After dropping off Lyra at her own house across the street, Sweetie Drops was ready for bed. The conversation with the princess still weighed on her mind, but she had concluded that Celestia was merely trying to make sure that all knowledge of her agency remained with those who were a part of it. She seemed to be aware she told Lyra, but Sweetie Drops would face that when it came, if Celestia pushed the issue further at all.

For now, she just wanted to sleep. Entering her bedroom, Sweetie Drops shut her door, and was about to lock it...but she stopped.

Every night since she came to Ponyville, she locked her bedroom door. No matter that she had already locked her front door, and kept all the windows shut and locked at all times, she still always locked her bedroom door. It was all leftover paranoia, out of her fears of the Bug Bear finding her and...

Sweetie Drops looked at the door. After a moment of reflection, she left the door unlocked, and climbed into bed. She could not help but smile in pride at herself.

"I'm done hiding," Sweetie Drops mumbled as sleep began to overtake her. "I'm going to live..."

Sweetie Drops groggily pushed open the front door to her store, Bon Bon's Candy Confections, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Why didn't I turn my alarm off before I went to bed?" she asked herself, walking over to the front desk and doing her morning register check. "I could have opened late, but noooooo, my stupid alarm clock had to wake me up..."

"Talking to yourself again, boss?"

Sweetie Drops sighed, not surprised at all by the voice speaking to her from the other side of the room. "Candy Floss, how is it that you always somehow end up coming in before me? I run this place, not you,"

The mare in question laughed, returning to putting merchandise on the shelf. "You know me," she said, beaming at her boss. "Not a huge fan of sleep in general. Why sleep when you can be awake?"

"I didn't see you at the wedding," Sweetie Drops said, closing the register and walking to the back to get started on making more candy. She had a lot of orders in the past few weeks thanks to Hearts and Hooves Day coming up.

"Had a prior engagement," Candy Floss said.

"Meaning you were with Star Bright," Sweetie Drops surmised.

Candy Floss laughed. "Come on, you would totally hit it if he wasn't mine," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. With that, Sweetie Drops let out a laugh.

"Oh yes, I burn with jealousy that I will never get a taste of his sexy unicorn cock," Sweetie Drops said sarcastically. She smirked in satisfaction as her vulgar language caused Candy Floss to misstep, her face red.

"Why do you have to use the c word..." Candy Floss muttered, moving to the front desk to take over cashier duties.

Sweetie Drops shook her head. Candy Floss could sometimes be a bit much to handle, but she was a damn good worker. At the very least, hiring her meant that Sweetie Drops could focus all of her energy on making candy - and she would need it. One of the orders was from PINKIE PIE.

She had a lot of work to do.

However, just as she was about to put on her goggles and gloves to begin preparing the batches, the door opened with a ring. Sweetie Drop turned around, ready to give her first customer of the day a warm welcome...then froze.

It was a stallion wearing a delivery ponies outfit. He was a dark blue pegasus with electric blue hair for his mane and tail. On his flank was a very interesting cutie mark - a Hazard symbol. He was smiling at Sweetie Drops, looking completely ordinary and normal.

What are YOU doing here?

Candy Floss smiled at the stallion. "Hi. What can I do for you?" she asked.

Sweetie Drops shook herself out of her shock, and stepped forward. "Yes, what can we do for you...sir?" she asked, trying not to betray her familiarity despite her surprise.

The stallion smiled at her. "I just have a package for you. Sorry we couldn't get it here on time. A lot of delays at the office," he said.

Damn, Sweetie Drops thought. I should have seen this coming. The way Celestia was acting last night! Damn, damn, damn!

"Thank you sir," Sweetie Drops said with a smile. She took the package and set it on the counter, ignoring Candy Floss as she immediately began to tear it open. "How much do I owe you?" she asked the stallion, tilting her head slightly.

"No need for money, miss. Special discount!" the stallion replied.

"Thank you so much! I'm very grateful," Sweetie Drops said.

"You're welcome," the stallion said. He lowered his head briefly, but kept his eyes on Sweetie Drops.

Buck, now?!, Sweetie Drops thought. What could she possibly want?!

"Have a nice day, gentlecolt," Sweetie Drops said.

"You too, miss," the stallion said. He turned around and walked out the door without another word. Sweetie Drops stared after him, her smile slowly transforming into a scowl.

"What the heck?" Candy Floss said from the counter. "This is just an alarm clock. Why do you need an alarm clock?"

"Candy Floss, you're in charge of the store for today," Sweetie Drops said.

The other mare looked up in surprise. "What? But what about the orders?" she asked.

"I just remembered...something else came up. I need to go to a meeting," Sweetie Drops said. She began walking slowly to the front door to her shop.

Candy Floss looked after her, a confused expression on her face. "Meeting? With who?"

"No one important," Sweetie Drops answered. "Have a good day, Candy Floss,"

Sweetie Drops barely heard her assistant give a quiet goodbye in return. Instead, she shut the door and began making her way to the train station.

It was time to find out what exactly Celestia considered so important as to send one of her own former trainees to her. The very notion insulted her. After what happened yesterday, the last thing she wanted to do was deal with any more memories of D.E.F.R.O.S.T.

"This better be good, you royal pain in my ass," Sweetie Drops mumbled under her breath.