//------------------------------//
// 14 - Going Dark 
// Story: Hidden Hands 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Derpy nudged sideways into Turner, the two blindfolded and seated. "Do you think it'll be scary?"

"I'm certain we'll be fine," mildly lied Turner. "Just... don't leave without me, if you would?"

"Never!" Derpy thrust a hoof skywards. "Besides... this is kinda my fault."

"I had this long before I met you, Muffins." He smiled, not that she could see it. "It's just the way things are."

"Not that!" She waved a hoof through the air, unseen by anyone but Bon Bon, watching them from across the aisle. "If I had just been a grown pony when you first, um, showed me, this wouldn't be happening."

Turner went quiet and still a moment, just the sound of the tracks rolling under them. He turned to her, not that he could see her, or she see him doing it. "Derpy Hooves."

"Yes, Doctor?" She perked her ears. He sounded serious.

"I had wanted to ask you something, that night..."

"Yes.... Doctor?" She leaned towards him. "You can ask now, if it's, um, still a thing."

"It is..." He looked around, though that was a misnomer. He saw nothing but darkness. "Muffins... I..."

"And that's enough of that." Bon Bon poked Turner gently. "We don't need you slipping here of all places, now do we?"

Turner sighed softly, but a small smile formed on his furry snout. "You may be right, ma'am. Derpy, we'll continue this later, promise."

"This is where you get off." Bon Bon turned to Spring Rain even as the train slid to a halt. "You'll be alright."

Spring shook her head. "I don't know anyone... I know you! Why can't I just stay with you?" The answer seemed to come to her even as she said it. "Because you don't like me."

Bon Bon reached out for the shaking little changeling in disguise. "I like you enough to get you to where you'll be happy, just not enough to adopt. My life is no place for a filly, of any species. Now, if you ever visit Ponyville, stop by." She got a hoof around Spring and gently began leading her to the exit.

Their conversation faded in the ears of the two left behind. Derpy leaned over towards the doctor. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"One would hope. Not to sound callous, but her odds are a far sight better than ours." He raised a hoof to adjust his collar-line. "But I... don't think we're bad off, so she must be fine."

"Wake me up when we're there," said Derpy with a thunderous yawn. Before Turner had even finished processing the words, she flopped against him, snoring softly.

Turner felt some of his tension fleeing him. No matter what was coming, he had Derpy. He reached a hoof to rest on her far shoulder, supporting her gently as she slept. It couldn't get too bad, not while she was there.





They disembarked. The first thing Turner noticed was that it was relatively quiet. They were not in a city. Bon Bon was leading the way, her firm clip-clops a beacon through the darkness of the blindfolds they both wore.

Neither could be certain how far or in what direction they had gone, but she eventually calm to a stop. "Inside, sit down, and give the toilet paper a good firm tug."

Derpy shoved ahead. "Oh thank goodness!" She vanished into the outhouse without delay. A happy sigh emanated from within not long after, then a sudden yelp, and quiet.

Turner turned as best he could to face Bon Bon. "What happened?!"

Bon Bon pointed to the outhouse. "Your turn, Doctor."

Turner could not see where she was pointing. "Is she alright? Derpy! Miss Hooves!?"

"Turner, she's fine," sighed out Bon Bon, nudging the blind doctor towards the outhouse. "The sooner you get in there, the sooner you'll see her."

He almost fell over the potty before the door slammed shut behind him. He looked around a moment, but couldn't. With a muttering, he reached up and yanked away his blindfold. "Derpy?" There was no room for her in the little outhouse. He peeked down the hole, but there was nothing there anyone wanted to be around. "I say..."

"Tug the toilet paper hard when you're done," commanded Bon Bon, leaned against the outhouse. "Sooner you are, sooner you see Derpy."

"Right..." It was like a spy movie,  he decided. He had to go with it. He hopped up into place, but he didn't have to 'go'. He just reached for the toilet paper and gave a pull.

He was falling and screaming. He was on some kind of slide, whizzing along through a tunnel of sorts. With a thump, he landed on something that squealed with his impact. He had landed on a still blindfolded Derpy. "Oh dear, are you alright?" 

He scrambled free of her and rushed to help her to her hooves.

"Welcome." A well-dressed stallion approached them from the other side of the room. Given a reason to look, Turner could see they were in some kind of metallic bunker. Electric lighting cast white and sterile illumination across the area from the corners where the ceiling and floor met the walls. "You may take off your blindfold, though I see one of you already took the liberty."

Derpy wrenched her blindfold free with a bright smile. "That's much better!"

With a thump, Bon Bon arrived behind them, landing on her hooves without difficulty. "Reporting."

"Good to see you." The stallion nodded. "Shall we get straight to the matter at hoof?" It wasn't much of a question, he was already turning to go right back the way he came. "The target is quite unresponsive to attempts to interrogate it."

Turner perked an ear. "Wait, you've already captured them?"

He looked over his shoulder. "We have, they are quite unresponsive." He stopped in front of a door that looked like so many others in those narrow corridors. "Before we proceed, while we appreciate your volunteering, we must remind both of you that this is entirely confidential." He turned back to face them. "Speaking of that, are you prepared to become bipedal when the command is given?"

Derpy thrust a hoof out in front of Turner. "You mean when you ask nicely, right?"

Turner softly coughed into a hoof. "It's alright, Derpy. This is... something of a military facility. Orders are the way they do things, and yes, I am. I brought a set of clothing with me."

"Very good." He turned and pressed open the door. The room beyond flickered into gloomy light. The left side of it showed a brighter room, seperated by glass. "They can't see us, one-way mirror."

Derpy rushed ahead, brushing past even the taciturn stallion to get a peek at the biped. They were laying on a bed, an arm over their face. "Are they sleeping?"

Bon Bon slid up beside her superior, speaking in a hushed tone, "Shouldn't we do briefing before leaping right into the thick of things?"

He held up a hoof for her to be quiet, his eyes on Turner as he approached the glass.

Turner shook his head slowly, looking over the biped with wide eyes. "They're not... exactly like me."

Derpy tilted her head at Time Turner. "What do you mean? They have two legs and they're, um, naked, and they have fingers!"

Turner pointed. "Are they well? They have... lumps, here." He rose up onto his hind legs and pointed at his chest. "Is that normal, or are they suffering from some malady or another?"

Derpy looked back at the human. "Oh yeah, huh. I didn't even notice that."

The stallion coughed into a hoof. "They are in fine physical condition, so far as we have been able to discern. They are also female. Those appear to be their teats."

Turner's eyes zipped away from those bumps as quickly as they could, his face going red. "Oh dear! I... had no idea." Wait... "Hold on a moment!" He spun to face the stallion. "Those are teats?! I have... things there. Are you saying I have teats?!"

Derpy burst into giggles. "They didn't take anything from you, Doctor. You're a perfectly handsome stallion... with teats."

Turner's blushing did not improve at her words.

"We have attempted conversation," spoke the stallion, ignoring the outburst. "They refuse to speak to 'strange aliens'." He arched a brow. "As if she had a leg to stand on."

"She has two,"  helpfully pointed out Derpy.

"We want you to enter in your bipedal form. You should not make any hostile motions, nor should you approach. Simply be seen, and offer conversation." He pointed past the biped to a door on the opposite side of her room. "You'll come from there. As you can see, we will be watching you, and can act if things go poorly. Do you understand?"

"Fine... Very well, sir. Where can I change?" He looked around the bare room. There was pretty little there save a table with some paper on it.

Bon Bon waved. "Follow me and bring your luggage." She led the way out of the room, leaving the stallion with Derpy.

It grew quiet a moment before Derpy tilted her head at the dour male. "So, you work here, huh?" He didn't reply. "Must be exciting..." He offered no response. "I mean, this is just another day for you. I wonder what sorts of things you see... Um..." She rubbed at her cheek. "Thank you."

He perked his ears at her. "What are you thanking me for?"

She smiled brightly. "For being braver than I was. Thank you. Being all secret and hidden, I bet you don't get thanked enough, so at least I can do it."

He almost smiled. Almost... "Duly noted. Keep your eyes on that room." He pointed into the brighter room that held the biped. "Do not tap on the glass. This room is fairly sound proof, but she'll hear that."

Derpy had been considering doing just that, and moved a hoof away as if in guilt. "Okay... Will the doctor be safe? She isn't... mean, is she?"

"She has shown little signs of aggression." He pointed to the door. "Presuming Mister Turner follows the instructions, he should be in no danger.

In another hallway, Bon Bon gently knocked on the door. "Everything alright in there?"

"Just fine," came Turner's voice through the door. "Teats, really..." What manner of strange creature did he become?! He slipped on a shirt to cover the appalling mistake and made sure it all looked decent. Belt buckled, buttons buttoned, zipper zipped. Yep... "Here we are." He emerged, holding the doorknob in a hand as he opened the door.

Bon Bon's eyes quickly roamed over him, but she didn't flinch. "Are you ready?" When he nodded, she began walking, but stopped at the next intersection. "We don't know how keen her hearing is, so I'll stop here. Just take a right here, and it's the last door right at the end." She pointed the way. "Good luck."

Turner looked left and right. There were no signs to help somepony get around. If it weren't for Bon Bon, he was sure he'd have lost his way long ago. "Just at the end?" He began walking down the hallway, his sneakers making their non-hoof-like noises.

Bon Bon thrust a hoof out in front of him. "Before you go, where'd you get all these clothes, anyway? You're not a tailor, or a cobbler."

Turner quirked a little smile. "That's a bit of a curious thing. The shirts I import. Turns out, minotaur fashions do the job quite nicely. The sneakers are actually dragon in origin." He lifted each in turn. "The ones that live in a city don't mind a pony customer. Their legs, when bipedal, are also a match. Sometimes I get a shirt from them too, but I find I prefer the minotaur fashions."

Bon Bon withdrew her hoof and redirected it down the hall. "Interesting. You're on."

"Right." He advanced towards the door and the curious biped that waited on the other side of it.