The beasts need time to manipulate espionage! (6)
I believe the answer is:
ponies
'the beasts' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ponies that I've seen before include "Small breeds of horse" , "rides" , "Small horses" .)