//------------------------------//
// 12 - Naked Truth 
// Story: Hidden Hands 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

All three peered at one another, tension thick in the air.

A soft trademarked jingle played from within Bon Bon. She reached for it with a grunt. "I have to get this. Hello? Middle of something here."

A voice whispered into Bon Bon's ear from the portable phone she held, "The agents are closing in on the unknown."

"That's great news, but I'm having a civil chat with Derpy and Turner."

"Why did you answer? Is your cover compromised?"

Bon clenched her teeth powerfully. "I'm fine, talk to you when I have news, bye!" She clicked the phone closed and stuffed it away with an annoyed grumbling. "Where were we? Right, biped, details now."

Derpy spread her wings, blocking much of the view of Time Turner. "You can't have him!"

"Have..." Bon's eyes narrowed at what she could see of Turner. "He is not bipedal, or naked. Get to talking, Derpy."

Turner nudged Derpy aside with a gentle brushing of a hoof. He stood beside her instead of behind her. "Miss, did you mean what you said?"

Bon Bon tilted her head faintly. "Mean what, precisely?"

"That this is for the good of Equestria."

Derpy hopped forward just far enough to thrust a wing in front of him. "No! Don't listen!"

Bon nodded softly. "Yes, yes it is. I just want to know what it is and what threat it may or may not pose. It hasn't... done anything, besides frighten Miss Hooves here, and she doesn't seem upset about that anymore."

Derpy shook her head fiercely. "He didn't do anything! Leave him alone!"

Bon Bon crossed her arms, standing up on her hind legs. "Derpy, you are terrible at this."

Turner reached out for Derpy's wings and ran a hoof along it slowly, slow enough to tickle the mare into a sudden fit of giggles. "I think it's alright."

She retracted her wing and turned to face him, confusion clear on her face. "But, she..."

"She's just trying to help, right?"

Bon Bon nodded quickly. "Right. So... can I get some answers?"

Turner considered a quiet moment. With what Bon Bon knew, running and hiding again wouldn't work very well. "Alright, so... let's all sit down. I'll tell the story, ma'am."

Bon Bon flopped back to all fours with a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

Turner took the lead, walking past Bon Bon as he guided both mares to his workshop and got to making up some tea. "Miss Hooves and I were becoming... something of an item... It was a lovely evening..."





I had surprised her on her way home from work and invited her to get something to eat. She had laughed in that cute way she does, and came with me. I was pretty sure she liked being surprised, especially by good things.

My stomach was in knots. I had hoped to ask a big question that evening, but everything had to be perfect. I had her favorite food piping hot and ready as we entered my house. The dessert, of course, her favorite muffin.

"Muffin," interrupted Derpy, clopping her hooves. "I never did finish that one."

As I was saying. We talked, and ate, and it was going well... but the tension was building within me. Muffins... is the most important mare in my life.

"Doctor..."

I was too embarrassed to say that. I kept entertaining her, making jokes, playing games. I kept putting off the big reveal, and kept getting more worried. My self doubt is the only reason any of this had to happen... Part of me wondered what she would do. How would she react, if she knew...

It was, perhaps, poetic justice that my insecurities forced the matter. I reached to put a hoof on her cheek, but that wasn't a hoof. Naked fingers spread through her fur. It was... lovely... I could feel her in a whole new way. The moment of wonder didn't last long.

Muffins screamed. It was like a dagger through my soul. She was so scared.

"I'm so sorry," mumbled Derpy, hiding her face behind her hooves.

She beheld me... naked, ungainly, and very much not the pony she knew... She ran, fled...





Bon Bon nodded slowly. "Was this a one-time... thing?" She rolled a hoof at Time Turner. "I'm guessing not. You weren't surprised, she was."

"Spot on," sighed Turner as he sank in place a little. "I've had this... condition... since birth." He quirked a smile. "Quite a vexing challenge for my mother, but she did right by me." He glanced away and back. "She, um, she told me about what she had shared with you."

Derpy shook her head. "I was surprised! If I knew it would have made you run away, Doctor, I wouldn't have! I swear!"

Turner raised a hoof. "It's alright, Muffins. I'm not angry at you."

Derpy smiled at her nickname. "I'm not scared of you," she replied as if the two sentiments were equal in importance.

Bon Bon seemed to consider things. "Well, if you've always been this way, that's fairly solid evidence that you are not a risk." She clapped her hooves together. "Case closed. May I see it then?"

"Mmm?"

"Your other form, can you do it when you want to?"

Turner flushed in his nose. "It's an unsightly thing... I don't want to--"

Derpy bounced up. "The water's boiling, and you won't scare me, not again."

Turner plucked the kettle free of the fire and got to pouring tea for his guests with a twist of his head. A thought occurred to him and he set the kettle down. "Watch then." He reached a hoof out and it spit as it went, smoothly transitioning into a curious human hand. Fur began to pull back into his body as he became truly naked. With new fingers, he grasped the handle of the kettle and poured with new dexterity.

Bon Bon's eyes widened at the sight of it. "How... Hmm... Some strange variation of lycanthropy? Do you experience shifts in your mood when you do this?" She advanced  on Turner, eyeing him intently, only to find her view blocked by an agitated pegasus.

Derpy's wings had gone out to either side. "Don't bother him!"

Turner reached down and gently scratched along one of Derpy's turned back ears. She gasped and twitched the tickled organs even as she wriggled. "Doctor!" She went pink in her cheeks, perhaps enjoying the strange new touches.

"It's alright," he insisted. "The gig is up, as they say. Miss Bon, are you here to capture me then?"

Bon Bon shook her head. "That's jig--" The jingle cut her off, the same ringtone echoing from her pocket. She thrust her forehooves in the air a moment. "For Celestia's sake! One moment." She fished out the flip-phone like device and angrily opened it. "Yes?!"

"We've captured the unknown. Any update on your end?"

"Mine is harmless, and a citizen of the country. He's a good pony."

Turner relaxed a little. Being called a good pony by what was clearly an agent with the power to arrest him was quite a relief.

"Good pony? Are they a pony at all?"

"Sometimes." Bon Bon rolled a hoof though it couldn't be seen by who she spoke to. "Shapeshifter, two specific forms. Pony, naked biped. Male as reported, one Time Turner. Law abiding."

"Is he there?"

Bon Bon put a hoof to her head. "Along with Miss Hooves. She is aware of his unique nature."

"Switch to video feed."

Bon Bon reared back, peering at her phone a moment before pulling it back up. "They are not authorized, I remind."

"I'm authorizing them."

"By your command." She set the phone down and pressed a button with the corner of a hoof.

Up sprang the holographic image of a severe stallion. "Good afternoon."

Derpy clapped her cheeks with both hooves. "It's like a spy story!"

Turner sat down beside her, crossing his legs. "This is no story, however."

"Oh, right..." Derpy tilted her head at the bust of a pony. "Hello."

"Mister Turner, we have captured a being similar in appearance to yourself. It does not appear to have any shapeshifting ability, though we are monitoring it. It is also not a citizen of our fine country."

Turner nodded nervously. "R-right? How can I... help, sir?"

The holograph smiled faintly. "Your presence may help calm them. I am enlisting you, if you accept. We need someone who can approach and communicate with the creature that is on our side."

Derpy suddenly hopped up onto Turner's lap and spread her wings. "Leave him alone! He's my doctor!"

Turner gently pushed her wings down in the process of hugging her from behind. Her fur was nice and warm against his unclothed form. "I don't think Miss Hooves will allow me to accept unless she can accompany me."

"Bring her, but she will not visit the unknown until we can be certain that her presence won't alarm it further." He turned his floating head towards Bon Bon. "Bring them both into the branch. We're long past making progress in this case."

Bon Bon saluted even as the holograph faded away, leaving an inactive phone. "You heard the stallion. Duty calls all of us." She grabbed her phone and tucked it away. "Do you need something to get back to your pony shape?"

"N-no..." Turner was enjoying giving Derpy a hug, but all good things... "Just a moment." He slipped out from under her and fell forward, landing on firm hooves that clopped against the floor. With a fitful twitch of his regained tail, he turned to the two mares. "Where are we going, precisely?"

"Precisely is exactly the answer I'm not giving." She pulled out a blindfold. "Neither of you are sworn in, so you're going in blind, literally.

"Oh yeah!" Derpy exclaimed suddenly, bouncing towards Bon Bon. "I have a letter for you!"

Bon Bon blinked dumbly. "You... do?"

Derpy dug out the envelope in her teeth and held it out towards Bon Bon. "Here you go."

Bon Bon accepted the letter curiously, her eyes roaming over it. The from address was one of the agency's many drop points. It was from work. What had she missed? She wondered if it would have made things easier. Irritated and short on patience, she tore it open and two photos flopped to the ground.

Derpy peered at them, as if she could see both with her eyes focusing on either. "Hey, it's like Turner!"

The images showed a skulking biped. Unlike Turner a moment ago, they appeared to be fully clothed. They seemed to be hiding in the back alleys of the city, avoiding ponies, at least from the two pictures.

Bon Bon snatched up the pictures before they could be peered at for too long. "That's who you'll be talking to, I imagine."

Turner approached with a nod. "Well, I did make tea. It would be a shame if we didn't enjoy it before we left."

Bon Bon sighed softly. "If it will help keep everypony calm, go ahead." She had enough hysterical ponies for one mission. "That reminds me, have you had any contact with changelings in the past week?"

Turner blinked even as he picked up his cup. "I can't say that I have, why? Aren't they reformed now?"

"Most, but not all." Bon Bon sipped from her tea lightly. "I have a changeling filly I'll be taking with us for deportation and care. I hear their new leader's a nice one, so she should be fine."

Derpy bobbed her head. "I've delivered a few letters to there. Thorax is a nice pony."

Bon Bon raised an ear at Derpy. "I thought you were local to Ponyville."

"I am, but a mailmare goes where she's asked to go." She puffed out her chest, looking proud. "I've been to lots and lots of places before, making sure the mail gets to where it needs to be." She pointed a hoof at Turner. "Now that you know that I know, you're coming back to Ponyville, right?"