//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Secret Soldier // by computerneek //------------------------------// “Good morning!” Lyra greets, as Bonbon walks into the kitchen.  It’s the day after her Contact Agent got caught; she hasn’t had the opportunity to report that just yet, but she knows the Guard reports are fast and efficient- and that the Agency keeps their eyes on them.  Thus, it’s entirely plausible- though not very likely- they’ve already released him from the Guards’ custody. If they have, it’s also possible he’ll be here today. She pauses on her way in, looking down at the table as Lyra finishes her salad. There are three bowls. She raises an eyebrow at the table, resuming her walk.  “Expecting company?” she asks. The unicorn shakes her head.  “No. Why would you think that…?” “Three salads?” “Well, I thought you might be extra hungry this morning, after that candymaking marathon last night.” “Uh…  You know, that kind of thing tends to have the opposite effect, right?  And why not put it all in one bowl, anyways…?” “It’d overflow,” she states calmly.  “Then, um, if you’re not going to eat the second one…  I donno. Share it with the first pony you see?” She raises an eyebrow. “Other than me, of course.”  She winks. She raises the other eyebrow.  “Ahh… Right then. I suppose I’ll be toting a salad halfway to Sugarcube Corner.” Snort.  “Nah, I doubt you’ll be getting that far.  Anyways, I gotta go- I promised Cheerilee a Lyre-ical display today.  Have a good day!” With that, she trots out the door. Bonbon watches her go.  She’s tempted to feel into the security fields to see if she can find whatever her friend is referring to- but no, she wants to wait until the aforementioned friend is outside the fields herself- that way, she won’t feel her search…  Won’t realize she’s looking. She seats herself at her dining room table.  It most certainly isn’t him again; he would have attacked, and Lyra most certainly wouldn’t have made him a salad.  Except maybe as an apology salad, but she kinda doubts that; the unicorn had coached her through accessing the recording function of the security fields…  and she’d found the full recording of his attack on her. The result… It had been highly amusing to find that he’d been temporarily trapped in a birdbath in the middle of the kitchen.  With a fountain shooting off the tip of his horn, to boot. Given his particular transgression, the part of the record she isn’t willing to even remember for its repulsiveness, he’d gotten off light. Had she been in the unicorn’s position, she would have trapped him in the birdbath for three days- much longer, and he’d have trouble surviving- and enjoyed several feasts in the room while he was immobilized but not desensitized.  Then she’d have wrapped a thaumic thaumic inhibitor around his horn so thick it’d take weeks to wear off and packed him in a crate of hay- labeled with the security recording, keyed to the recipient- to the Princess of Love herself.  He would have enjoyed that unpacking experience… Correction:  She would have.  He might not have survived it, especially after Prince Shining Armor viewed the recording. Honestly, she hadn’t a clue it was that bad. That reminds her.  Lyra had also coached her through all the hows of using the security fields to their fullest- even before they’re triggered by an attack.  She’d also explained some of the workings. During that training exercise, Lyra had provided the power for everything they did.  She didn’t seem to have even noticed the drain- consistent with the footnote compilation.  The unicorn had specified that, whenever she accessed the fields on her own, without her within the fields to power them, they would feed off her innate earth pony magic to perform the requested function.  If she runs out, it’ll feed off any other source of magic it can find in the building- and she’ll have to be very careful about that, as most ponies will feel that kind of a thaumic draw. Of course, she’d asked about the first incident with…  him. “Oh, that?” Lyra had asked, and shrugged.  “The trigger works fast enough to wrest thaumic control from any imposter before he realizes what’s happening- and feeds on that.  If they run out and you continue to request function from it, it’ll have to draw from you anyways.  On that note, you probably want to be aware that earth ponies tend to have miniscule thaumic reserves on their own- I guess it doesn’t take much magic to be physically strong.  I’ve noticed the farmers- like Applejack, say- tend to have larger reserves than the rest… and no, your reserve is one of the smallest I’ve seen. Sorry about that. As such, you probably won’t be able to pull too many functions out of the fields independently- but the more you do, the stronger you’ll grow.”  She’d grinned almost maniacally. “Did you know, I was the weakest unicorn in my class back in Magic Kindergarten- but, through long and hard practice, I made it to the top of Celestia’s school as the second strongest unicorn, behind Princess Twilight herself?” She’d scowled.  “But Unicorn magic doesn’t work that way.  Princess Twilight isn’t much stronger than she was when she first came to Ponyville, for example…  Erm, she wasn’t, until she ascended, but she’s still no stronger than just after her ascension.” Lyra had grinned again.  “That’s the thing: It does.  Princess Twilight doesn’t exhaust her reserves, no- she converts her physical stamina into mana when she gets about halfway down.  Most unicorns do that instinctively- and she was born powerful, so I’m not surprised she does that. “I was born as a virtually powerless unicorn.”  She’d looked up at the ceiling. “Might as well have not had a horn.  I mean, I got my cutie mark by plucking at a lyre with my hoof because my magic was so weak I couldn’t levitate so much as a spoon for more than three seconds without passing out because of that same instinct. “But that same limit meant I could pluck at most six strings before passing out.  So I focused myself on not passing out- and learned to control that instinct. I can still convert physical stamina into mana, but I don’t- it’s rather pointless.  Instead, I discovered that every time I run myself almost out- or even completely out- of mana, I get a hornache. Except it’s not a restraint ache or something silly like that- no, it’s not unlike the burn you’ll have in your muscles if you push yourself to the limit for hours on end.  It’s a positive burn, showing it’s growing. “And every time that would happen, I could pluck more strings than last time before running out.  When endurance became a problem, the same thing would happen- and that would last longer.” She’d grinned at her again.  “Nowadays, neither limit poses a problem unless I do something over the top. And when I do, they just get harder to reach.”  Shed shrugged. “So, last week, when you were at both limits…” “You’d be surprised how hard it was to hide from Tirek.  Especially once he got the Alicorn magic.” “...  Ahh. I suppose that would count as ‘over the top’ for everypony, wouldn’t it?” Needless to say, she’d added some of that information to her footnote compilation.  Of course, she’s being careful not to mention the security fields- or whatever Lyra had said about her own thaumic potential, she’s pretty sure earth ponies don’t have those.  The Agency doesn’t need to know about that- and she’d prefer to be able to pull the earth-pony-controlling-magic trick on the next unsuspecting, abusive schmuck they send her.  That trick he had inadvertently triggered and experienced…  before triggering it again against her friend.  Her little time-as-a-birdbath spell had drawn mostly from Lyra’s own magic, rather than his- but it had still reduced his power by half, putting him right on the edge of passing out.  She’s pretty sure that had been deliberate- and fairly certain she won’t be able to reproduce it. But in any case, as she reaches for her salad bowl, she glances out the front window; Lyra is… She never sees where the unicorn is.  At that very moment, the room goes dark.  She recognizes the effect; it’s the Fog, that spell Contact Agents are supposed to use to conceal their contact from any outside interference.  It does have a nasty side effect of concealing them from their Field Agents, though- and most Contact Agents aren’t very willing to share their codenames. She very nearly goes for the security field senses, but stops herself.  Lyra might still be on the property, and she most certainly doesn’t want to attract her attention while a Contact Agent is on premises.  If her friend catches too many of them, she’ll be forced to move out- probably sleep on the floor in her shop or something. Then again, this Fog doesn’t feel malevolent, like his always did.  Could it be that they sent her a different Contact Agent instead? She returns her forehooves to a neutral position on the table in front of her while she waits…  Was that a cabinet door landing closed? “Uh, Hi,” a voice says, from someplace to her right.  Definitely not him- she sounds worried.  Frightened, almost. She turns to look in that direction, ears swiveling.  “Hello,” she greets. “Uhh…  Um… Sorry, just a second.”  The sound of a scroll being unrolled.  “Uhh… Right then. I’m here to… Uhh…”  She sounds very distracted for some reason.  “Um… Something about orders… Er… Um… Maybe if…?  No…” She tilts her head, fairly confident in the direction of her conversant.  “Something bothering you?” she asks. Silence.  “Uhh, yes, sorry…  Um… Your, uhh, last Contact Agent…  uhh…” “You’re worried about getting glued to the floor by your own magic?” she asks. Her answer is a frightened squeak. Bonbon shakes her head.  “Don’t worry- I only do that when ponies…  touch me.  He did.”  She shudders visibly…  Or, at least, what she hopes is visibly.  Her Contact Agent’s vision will be unaffected; the Fog doesn’t hinder its caster. “Then…  There’s no hidden traps or anything…?” She shakes her head.  “Not that I’m aware of.  I suppose there could be, but I doubt it.”  She pointedly does not mention the ‘trap’ that her Contact Agent is already well ensconced in:  The security fields, effective anywhere on the property, in and out of the building. Not only would they constitute a ‘significant danger’ she’d be required to remove herself from immediately, nevermind that they’re protecting her, she’s not certain her Contact Agent’s psychological state would tolerate such a revelation. The sigh of relief is perceptible, but the mare’s voice continues to exhibit her worry.  “Ahh. Right then… Um… Shall I start over?” She nods gently.  “Sure, if you want.” “Okay, um, let’s see…” A stomach growls.  She’s fairly certain it’s not her own. “Um, Ahem.  Field Agent Sweetie Drops, in light of the standing suspicion against your last Contact Agent and his recent-  Oh my! Uhh… And his recent imprisonment by the Royal Guard while on your property, the Agency has seen fit to assign you a new Contact Agent, being myself…  Um, a new Contact Agent, and requests the fullest possible report on the imprisonment event at your next opportunity, to assist in the investigation.  Furthermore, the Agency acknowledges… Oh, I hate this part. Um, the Agency acknowledges that your new Contact Agent is a new Contact Agent, both for you and for, uh, herself…  It says themself, but…  Uhh, and for herself, and therefore requests detailed analyses of all contact with them…  Her… until further notice.” Silence holds for a second. “Did…  Did you get that?” Nod.  “I did, thank you.  Sounds like he is getting his comeuppance- and it’s nice to hear they trust me, as a new Field Agent, with a new Contact Agent as well.”  She smiles. The distinctive sound of paper crumpling followed by the sharp stomp of a hoof on wood sounds from in front of her.  “Whew! They said I could throw it away once I read it to you and confirmed it was received. Where’s the nearest trash can?” “Don’t use a trash can,” she states.  “Burn it. It contains sensitive information.” “Yes…  I suppose I should wait setting the trash can on fire for when I can do that with my own can.” She snorts.  “So long as it gets burned.” “Right.  Um… What was next?  Right, um, delivery of orders…  and if there’s any reports, if I recall correctly, I’m supposed to pick those up as well.”  The sound of a unicorn rummaging in saddlebags then graces her ears- a sound she had heard many thousands of times when she was an Outside Agent.  And a sound she’s learned to distinguish from that of an earth pony- or pegasus- rummaging in saddlebags. She reaches a hoof back into her mane, as she feels into the home security fields.  Apparently, they even contain a teleportation function- and, while she had already finished the report on his arrest, she hadn’t actually stashed it in her mane for delivery; she hadn’t expected anypony today.  She does have her updated report on her housemate’s backstory stashed in her mane; she’d planned to bring it with her- and work on it- as she investigated today. She distinctively feels the drain of the security fields, like she’s holding the entire house up herself, as they respond to her query.  No, Lyra is not within the secured zone… Yes, her report is upstairs… Oh, and she forgot to append the thaumic recording of the second incident.  The first of the recordings is… sitting next to the scroll, in the cabinet upstairs. She tries requesting the scrolls.  The first recording blinks effortlessly into her mane, waiting for her hoof; makes sense, it’s already made of energy.  The other scroll… She feels herself run out of strength while the teleportation spell is still building.  She instantly feels weak- but she can feel where the spell is getting its power from, and it’s not the unicorn in front of her. I thought you might need some backup today, the recorded message reports, from the new source of power…  which appears to be a simple power supply spell set on the handle of the fridge, explicitly designed to allow her to pull this off in Lyra’s absence. The report scroll blinks silently into her mane- and the first of the recording scrolls, on her command, zips inside it.  The second one… forms itself inside it, drawing from that power supply spell. “Sounds about right,” she states, pulling the scroll from her mane.  “Here’s the report on both of his incidents- the latter being the imprisonment.”  She sweeps her other hoof up into her mane; like any good agent, she has two copies of any given report; she has another copy of this one in her dresser upstairs, and she removes it.  “And here’s my updated report on my new housemate’s past.” Silence for several seconds, and finally, she feels the two scrolls being levitated off her hooves.  “Uhh… Um… How…? Uhh… Wait, is that a thaumic recording!?  Wow, uhh…” She tilts her head.  “Yes, that’s a thaumic recording- two of them, actually.  Might I ask, how what?” “Uhh…  You’re an earth pony…  Right?” Nod. “Then how did you just generate a teleportation signature…?” She smirks.  “Turns out my housemate is an excellent spellcrafter.  She makes teaching an earth pony to teleport scrolls look easy.”  Then she gives a chuckle.  “Come to think of it, that makes me wonder if she could teach a unicorn to fly.  Or Fluttershy to Rainboom- that would be worthy of an ascension on its own.” “Uhh…  She’s not an alicorn, after teaching an earth pony to teleport…?” She blinks.  “Huh… Yes, that would seem ascension-worthy, wouldn’t it?  No, she’s still a unicorn. Unless she’s ascended since she left five minutes ago, that is.” A snort of laughter.  “I doubt it. Anyways, they have sent you orders…  Want me to read them, or leave them on the table…?”  Her stomach growls. She snickers.  “Whichever you prefer.  Would you like this other salad she prepared?  She said something about sharing it with the first pony I see, but I rather doubt I’m going to be able to share very much salad on the road.” The stomach growls again.  “Sorry! Um… Uhh… No, I’m fine…  Uhh…” “You’re starving, aren’t you?” “Uhh…  I’m fine.  So, um… Shall I read, or…?” Shrug.  “Sure.” “Okay.  Um… One scroll.  I think… Um…” The sound of an unrolling scroll once again.  “Uhh… Um… Wow. Are orders always this wordy?” Nod.  “They usually are pretty wordy.  It starts with the ‘we have orders’ section and ends with the ‘signed’ section…  What’s in between?” “Uhh…  Your orders are…  to continue to maintain your cover for the following month.” “What?” “Yes…  Oh, you are specifically allowed to use full Agency practices in discovering the complete backstory of Lyra Heartstrings…  Railroad might be a clue… Oh! It says here, ‘Attached, you will find the full records of the Royal Equestrian Railway for the last thirty years, up through the last.’  So that is why they gave me that…”  Rummaging in her bags, and something heavy lands on the table.  “I’m not reading that to you, though, sorry.  Um… I don’t see anything else important in here…  and that does empty out my saddlebags, save for your reports and…  Still not sure why they gave me so many sticks. You’d think they wanted me to make arrows.  Um…” The scroll rolls up again. “I’m going to leave the orders with you?” Nod.  “Yes please.” “Okay…  I guess that’s me done here?” “Unless you’d like the salad, yes.” Her stomach growls.  “I… Sorry, but no. Um…  Maybe next time?” She sighs.  “Maybe next time, I guess.” She ends up eating one of the salads and putting the other in the fridge…  Come to think of it, she hasn’t investigated the low hum the appliance emits from time to time…  Nor how the hot water she uses in her showers seems so amazingly steady. That… Could be a clue.