Secret Agent Dinky
Chapter 2
by Rixizu
“Dinky, how did you get in here?” Bon-Bon took a step forward.
“No, stay away!” Dinky cried in a panic looking for some way, any way of escape. Darn it, the front door was too far away for her to reach. Bon-Bon, or whoever she was, would be on her in a moment. She’d seen how fast this mare moved.
Bon-Bon held her hooves up in a placating gesture. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a friend, you know that.”
“You’re a spy!” Dinky pointed to the room beyond Bon-Bon.
Bon-Bon sighed and nodded her head. “You’re right, I am, but I’m one of the good guys. I promise.”
A good guy spy? Was that even possible? Though still wary, Dinky heard the mare out. “Really?”
“Let me show you.” Without another word, Bon-Bon trotted back into her office and Dinky followed behind watchful of any traps or tricks.
“I work for the Royal Intelligence Service Corps, or R.I.S.C. for short.” Bon-Bon produced a badge from her desk. It had Bon-Bon’s picture on it with the letters for R.I.S.C. in bold silver letters.
“You work for the Princess?” Dinky hazard a guess.
Bon-Bon brightened. “Something like that. We’re a secret organization that protects Equestria from the shadows.”
“Like from monsters?”
“Yes, vamponies, demons, flutter ponies, Horswolf*, wendigos, aliens, horrors from beyond our reality," Bon-Bon said, "that sort of thing."
Flutter ponies? Aliens? Vamponies? Those exist? This was a lot to take in and Dinky’s mind whirled from the implications.
“Okay, ignoring the fact that those things exist for a moment, what are you doing here as a candy maker?” Dinky asked.
"Ponyville has always been a center point for the supernatural since its founding," Bon-Bon replied, "being next to the Everfree Forest has played a big part in that. Though, for some reason, Ponyville has always been a magnet for other strangeness. Like the alien invasion that happened years and years ago. I was only a little filly at the time.”
“Alien invasion?!”
“By a race called the Siltheen. It happened before you were born, few ponies know about it.” Bon-Bon replied.
“Right…”
"So, Dinky I would appreciate if you keep all this hush-hush," Bon-Bon said in a whisper, "It's vital that I keep my cover."
I guess. Dinky couldn’t fault Bon-Bon for wanting secrecy, but one little thing still bothered her. “Does Lyra know about this?”
“No!” Bon-Bon said in a panic before regaining her composure. “No, she doesn’t. Please don’t tell her about this!”
“Why not?” Dinky tilted her head in confusion.
“She can’t okay!” Bon-Bon replied. “It’s for the best.”
“I don’t see how. She’s your marefriend!”
Bon-Bon’s face contorted in pain. Deep sadness etched into it and Dinky had never seen the mare this upset before. “It’s complicated.”
Dinky sat on the floor and crossed her hooves. This was important, and she refused to let this go. It wasn't right at all that Bon-Bon was keeping this from one the loved. Like her mother had always told her, secrets between couples were bad and destructive.
“I’m not leaving until you tell me.”
Bon-Bon’s whole body sagged onto the floor. “Just like your mother,” she sighed. ”The thing is, I, well, it’s just that I’ve…” Just saying these words brought Bon-Bon a lot of pain. Dinky guessed the older mare had been keeping this in for a long time.
Bon-Bon sighed. “I can’t tell her, if she knew the truth, she’d hate me!”
Dinky shook her head. “Come on, that isn’t true. She loves you.”
"She loves a lie," Bon-Bon muttered, “Lyra doesn’t know the real me. What she loves is the falsehood I created to fit in with normal ponies. She knows nothing of the dark world I really live in.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
“I've never been normal," Bon-Bon said, "they scouted me young, a little before high school. They saw my talent and trained me in secret. To keep my cover, I always pretended to be a little stupid. Let my grades be not a good as they could be. And that was fine, I liked ponies not knowing my real ability. That was when Lyra showed interest in me. We were always foalhood friends, of course, but we didn’t really get close until high school.”
“It was hard lying to her day after day, but it got easier.” Bon-Bon let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Now I don’t even think twice when I look her in the eye and lie to her face. I grew to love her, but never once let her see the real me.”
“She can’t know!” Bon-Bon pleaded. “Lyra’s always been so honest and open to everypony. She wears her heart on her sleeve. She’d be so betrayed if she knew the truth. Please don’t tell her!”
Dinky nodded. All this complicated adult feeling stuff was far beyond her. Besides, it didn’t feel right to tell Lyra. It was Bon-Bon responsibility to tell her this secret.
"Thank you," Bon-Bon said a little calmer now, "it's for the best, you'll see."
Dinky wondered if the mare was saying this more to convince herself than Dinky. Poor thing. Dinky vowed she would help fix this somehow.
“Now, you will have to promise to tell nopony about this," Bon-Bon said as she led Dinky out the door, "I'm putting a lot of faith in you to keep this secret."
Dinky nodded with some enthusiasm. "Got it, I promise." Besides, keeping this type of secret was like the coolest thing ever. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would be so jealous if Dinky could tell them about it. She supposed their hypothetical jealousy would be good enough.
“Have you ever fought an alien yourself?” Dinky asked as Bon-Bon escorted her home.
“Once," Bon-Bon replied smiling down at her, "it was a little after Lyra went to magic school. An evil race of giant spiders crash-landed on Earth near Canterlot and tried to take over Princess Luna's mind with their psychic powers so they could invade the planet.”
Dinky gasped and shuttered. Spiders were the worse and she couldn’t even fathom facing one larger than a pony. “What happened?”
“We stopped them with some help from a friend. He used some science gizmo to stop them and sent them into a pocket dimension where they couldn’t hurt anypony anymore, but one escaped," Bon-Bon said with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Never figured out what happened to it. Apparently, they were from the future and were once native to Earth. I never really got that part, but it was what he told me."
Time travel? Come on, things like that don’t exist.
"Sounds scary," Dinky said.
“It was, but it wasn’t as scary as the thought of those things ruling the world.” Bon-Bon made a small smile.
Being a secret agent sounded so cool. Fighting monsters, saving the day, and making the world a better safer place. Dinky’s mind flashed with imaginings of herself as a heroine on adventures fighting a nasty creature with sharp teeth and tentacles. She would be a hero just like her mom.
If only. Dinky almost slumped to the ground. She’d never get cool adventures like that. All she could hope for is getting kidnapped by the baddie of the week.
No, wait! She had it. It was possible she might change her fate and become a hero she'd always wanted to be. Never again would she ever be a victim.
“Bon-Bon.”
“Yes Dinky.” Bon-Bon looked back at her.
"I want you to train me to be a secret agent," Dinky said with more conviction than she ever felt in her life, "I want to join R.I.S.C.!"
“Excuse me?” Bon-Bon blinked down at her.
“Please!” Dinky said grabbing the older mare’s hoof. “I’ll do whatever you say, and learn anything you want.”
“Dinky, I can’t do that.” Bon-Bon let out a nervous chuckle. “Your mom would kill me for a start.”
“Please.” Dinky used her secret weapon. She gave Bon-Bon the hurt puppy dog eyes look. It always worked against its target, except for her mom of course. Her mom was about unmovable as a mountain.
“Dinky.” Bon-Bon looked conflicted. “It dangerous.”
"Yes, but I want this," Dinky replied, "please."
Bon-Bon’s face distorted in indecision. “I suppose I could ask the higher ups if I could take you on as an apprentice, but only for a trial period! Just to see if you really want to do this or not. If you still want to do this after a month, I wouldn’t stop you.”
“Yes!” Dinky jumped up into the air in triumph and did a little dance.
Bon-Bon put her face into her hooves. “Ditzy is going to kill me.”
---
"Put the basket on the cart over there." Applejack said pointing at the cart they used to transport their goods.
Apple Bloom did as she was told and wiped the sweat from her brow. It was hard work hauling apples and Apple Bloom marveled how easy her sister seemed to find it. How long would it take for her to be as strong as her sister? She felt so feeble in comparison.
It took a few minutes, but they got their goods loaded for the day. It had been a busy day today selling apples, and they’d had done well. Her sister even allowed her to help pitch their goods and even made a sell or two. She beamed with pride when she convinced Trixie to buy five bags full of apples. Applejack had been so proud. The Apple Trust was in good hooves and there was no doubt about that.
“Ah shoot.” Applejack looked up at the sky and pulled her hat over her eyes. “Ah forgot we were due for a storm today.
Apple Bloom looked up to see Pegasi pushing dark grey clouds into place mashing them into one large cloud. It looked like it wouldn’t take much for the droplets of rain to fall from them. “We have to hurry then!” she said, and they ran with everything they had for the safety of the farm. The cart behind she was hauling didn’t seem to slow Applejack down at all.
Apple Bloom winced when a cold droplet of rain hit her on the forehead and a few moments later it started pouring. It had been getting colder of late and it wouldn't be long until winter came. By the time they got to the barn both were drenched. Apple Bloom shook herself like a dog to get herself dry and her sister laughed as some droplets landed on her.
“Easy sis.” Applejack said. “Some of us want to get dry too.”
“Sorry.” Apple Bloom blushed.
“Let meh get these apples put away and ah’ll make us some hot cocoa." Applejack said pulling a basket from the cart onto the floor.
“Yes!” Apple Bloom nodded with enthusiasm. “Let me…”
Both ponies froze when they heard a rustling sound. Apple Bloom looked around, but the source of the sound wasn’t anywhere in sight. Her sister’s eyes narrowed, and she scowled.
“Is that you Caramel ya lazy bum.” Applejack walked up to a barrel of hay. “Ah better not catch you sleeping in the hay again.”
Apple Bloom gasped as a green liquid sprayed from the dark onto her sister. It hardened a moment later and it locked her sister in place.
“What the hay?” Struggle as she might, it was impossible for Applejack to get free.
Apple Bloom screamed as three black figures emerged from the darkness. She’d seen nothing like them. They were like ponies but twisted beyond recognition pure black with bent horns and holes in their legs. The one in the middle was huge almost the size of Princess Luna with stringy blue hair that hung from her head almost to the floor. They looked at her with a predatory smile.
“Get out of here!” Applejack screamed. “Now!”
It took no more prompting and Apple Bloom was out the door. She needed to find Big Mac. He’d know what to do. She shivered at the cold, but she didn’t let that stop her. Apple Bloom took a careful look back, but those black creatures were nowhere in sight. She needed to get to the house, and she’d be safe. Her brother would take care of these things.
“Big Mac! Granny!” Apple Bloom screamed as she entered the house and locked the door behind her. She used every lock and bolt on the door. She doubted even Big Mac could force himself through that door.
“Big Mac! Granny! Please!” Apple Bloom tried again. “Sis is in trouble!” Nopony answered her. Dread filled her bones. What if they weren’t here? What would protect her against those things?
Calm yourself, Bloom! Apple Bloom slapped her face. Check the house. If Big Mac ain’t here then the best I can do is run to town and find Trixie. She’d smash those things real good!
It never struck Apple Bloom before how creepy her house could be. Empty and silent it was like walking in a graveyard. A house should be fun of laughter and life, or at least Granny's snoring. Try as she might, she found no sign of her family at all. Her mind traveled to the worst possible scenario. She prayed desperately to Luna that her family wasn’t hurt or worse dead.
No, you need to be brave Bloom! Apple Bloom approached the front door and took a deep breath. Trixie would fix this. Everything would be fine.
Apple Bloom yelped as she bumped into a figure as she exited the door and gasped. “Sis?!”
“You!” Applejack said pulling her sister in a great big hug. “Ah’m glad yur safe youngin.”
“Sis!” Apple Bloom snuggled into her sister and tears poured from her eyes. “I was so scared. I thought those monsters got you!”
“Who me?’ Applejack said. “ Nah, ah’m too tough for some silly little bugs to get me.”
“Applejack!” Apple Bloom cried into her sister.
“There, there.” Applejack patted her on the back. “Ah’m here. There’s no way ah’ll let those things get to you.”
Apple Bloom sniffed and nodded and taking comfort in her sister's presence.
“Now let’s get ya to bed.” Applejack said pushing her sister towards the stair. “Y'all be nice and safe there.”
“Okay.” Apple Bloom wiped the tears from her eyes. It was a little early for bed, be she didn’t argue. “Did ya take out all the monster?”
Applejack smiled. “Darn tootin' ah did. Beat’m up real good.”
“Ya should be a Galaxy Ranger." Apple Bloom said imagining her sister as a superhero. "You'd be great at it!" The Red Apple Ranger maybe? No, that wasn't right. The Galaxy Rangers were named after constellations. Where there any apple-based constellations? She'd have to ask Cheerilee tomorrow.
Applejack led Apple Bloom up into her room and pulled the covers of her bed over her. She felt warm and safe and snuggled against an extra pillow she liked to sleep with.
“Now get some rest.” Applejack said laying a kiss on Apple Bloom’s head. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
Apple Bloom blushed. Her sister hadn’t put her to bed like this in a long time. It was nice even if she was a little too big for it. Just this once it would be okay.
“Night, sis.” Applejack said.
“Night.” Apple Bloom replied. “Are you sure there are no more monster and they’re gone for good?” She didn’t know why this point still bothered her. Some voice in the back of her mind told her she wasn’t safe and put her on guard. It made no sense, but the sense of dread didn’t dissipate
“Don’t worry, Ah’ve gotten rid of all the monster, little one.” Apple Bloom screamed when her sister’s eyes glowed green and a sadistic smile looked down at her. “You’re safe.”
Apple Bloom threw off her covers and ran. Whatever that thing was it wasn’t her sister. She screamed when three more of those black creatures appeared behind her room’s door cutting off any escape.
“We’ll make sure you’re real safe, little sis.”