//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Found A Safe Shore // Story: Jumping In At The Deep End // by Anotherrandom //------------------------------// Everypony has a secret. A side of them not revealed to anypony, be it their family or friends. A part of them forever hidden from sight and scrutiny.  Equestria, the land embodying the ideals of harmony. Even here, in the era of peace and prosperity, there are those who must put on a mask and hide their true selves for the sake of others. A group of dedicated individuals who wage a secret, eternal battle against those who would wish harm upon the innocent. Unseen and unsung, these brave ponies deal with dangers unimaginable. Monsters from beyond the veil, long forgotten artifacts of great power, warlocks using forbidden magics and the worst of all. Bureaucracy.  Bon Bon, on a first and all subsequent looks, appears as nothing more than your average confectioner. An unassuming earth pony mare, living in the small town of Ponyville.  Just as she wants you.   Agent Sweetie Drops, alias Bon Bon, call sign BB. A mare of a thousand faces, able to blend into any background and pass without notice. The best of the best, sent to Ponyville in advance of Operation Harmony. Her new mission may be the most difficult and arduous of all. Taking care of Anon.  The Ponyville train station was a busy place in the last few days, bursting at the seams with the huge number of ponies coming to witness Princess Celestia raise the sun. The Summer Sun Celebration was in two weeks and anypony wishing to see it rushed to the town before all the inns were filled to capacity. Most ponies would dislike standing in such a crowded space. Most ponies weren’t Agent Sweetie Drops, who couldn’t hope for a better place to hide in plain view. Yet there were some complications with that.  “I can't believe this is actually happening!” Lyra squealed, cupping her partner's face in her hooves and yelling at the top of her lungs. “We are going to adopt!” She gently diverted Lyra's hoofs away from her muzzle so she could speak. “Technically, we are only fostering, not full on adopting.”  “We are going to foster! Yay!” She chuckled. Despite her own thoughts on the situation, seeing Lyra so happy never failed to make her smile. She was always quite open about her wish to have a foal one day. And while Bon Bon, the confectioner, wasn't opposed to the idea, Sweetie Drops, the secret agent, would sadly stand in the way of that dream.  Or at least that's what she thought until today.  Then the new mission details came.  “Bonnie, are you alright?”  Sometimes it was scary how well her marefriend was able to read her emotions, despite hers, what would most ponies call, scatterbrained nature.  “No… I'm worried.”  That was a beautiful understatement. She felt like a hive of angry, psychopathic hornets made from acid were stuck under skin. Just thinking about the mission dossier left her wanting to kick an unnamed famous cake eater's flank.  An extra-dimensional entity was supposed to crash at her house for over a month?!  The mission statement was equally confusing: make Anon safe and comfortable.  The Boss did not share much detail beyond that. Other than the physical features of the entity, her identity as some sort of traveler, with strange, mostly unknown powers supposedly able to affect spacetime. The lack of information did very little to assuage her fears.  Lyra pulled her into a tight hug. “Don't be worried! You are going to do great! I know it!”  She let herself be embraced, for a moment. “Thank you, but remember what we spoke about.”  Lyra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you had me read through the whole stupid file. Remember?”  The Anonymous file was truly an exquisite creation of the fine art of making stuff up. Made mostly to serve as an explanation for the entity's strange behaviors and lack of general knowledge.  “I mean, a foal smuggling ring in Equestria. It's hard to believe.”  Bon Bon sagely nodded while fighting an urge to cringe. Whoever made the file may have gone just a tad overboard. “Right.” she said. “It's just… You can be quite the hoof-ful at first, Lyra. We want to make a good impression and not spook them.” Lyra gave her a quick salute. “Don't worry, commander Bon Bon! This here soldier will be at her best behavior!” her smile faltered slightly. “But seriously, I want this to go over smoothly. This is going to be so great!” The secret agent felt her heart flutter. Lyra was so determined for so long to make this happen, and now they finally got a chance. She wouldn't stop gushing about it from the minute the letter informing them of the filly's arrival landed in their mail box.  And it was all a lie. The letter was a forgery, if a forgery made by the head of government still counts as a forgery. It wasn't the mailmare who delivered the letter, but her who planted it in there for Lyra to find.  She was a secret agent, Sweetie Drops told herself. The mission always came before her, or her relationships. Bon Bon can love Lyra all she wants, but Sweetie Drops must always put the mission first. It was a dumb move to fall for Lyra, even dumber to actually start dating her.  Dating civilians wasn't banned by the agency, only discouraged. Her relationship with Lyra undoubtedly made her job harder. And yet… she couldn't bring herself to see it as a mistake. No matter what. But this mission affected Lyra directly, robbed her marefriend of one of her dreams and gave her a pretense instead. Guilt settled itself in her gut, whispering treachery to the earth pony.  Lyra gave her a strange look, before whipping her head around as the whistle of an arriving train sounded through the station. “Is that the train?” It was. Sweetie Drops memorized all the train schedules in preparation. Second-to last-wagon, seat number forty one, the entity was probably going to exit by using the doors in the middle.  In a wave of bodies, all exiting the train and hurrying away, a small, green filly hopped carefully onto the platform, one front leg held close to her bandaged chest.  She would call herself Anon, but to these ponies, she would have to become someone, no, somepony else. Tabula rasa, a fresh start.  Spring Break. What the hell. Anon would facepalm again, but learned from her first attempt that a fast impact of hoof to face isn't exactly pleasurable, so the filly made do with the feeling of extreme exasperation.  For a being with a thousand years of experience, Celestia sure is bad at naming stuff. At least it explains how places named Ponyville or Fillydelphia are allowed to exist. Two familiar royal guards accompanied her, Stalwart huffing and puffing as he carried her new saddlebags.  Not only did she get all her possessions back, but Anon also received all the little convenient items that you don't miss until you have to live without them. From a toothbrush to a blanket and the saddlebags. And also a few other things she had… borrowed from the palace. It's not like they will miss them. They have storage rooms filled with those. Just gathering dust. Her eyes started to search for the pair of ponies that were to become her “guardians” for the next few weeks.  She saw them almost immediately, a unicorn mare holding up a sign with Anon's fake name and gesturing wildly next to a beige earth pony. "Looks like this is where we part ways,” she said to the guards. Steel Wind gave a single nod towards the waiting due. "Yup, sure looks like it. Have a good time. I'm hitting the hay."  Stalwart placed the saddlebags on the ground with a loud *clang*. "Enjoy Ponyville! And, if you get into trouble, don't be afraid to look for us. We are stationed here for a few weeks, by the mayor's office!" "Got it." And with that, the guards took off into the sky. Leaving her alone to stand around on the platform, surrounded by a sea of strangers. Around her, ponies continued, swarming and moving, the murmur of their conversation turning into a cacophony of sound. Her heart began to race. The smells and sights blurring together, attacking from all sides. Giving her no space to breathe.  Encircled! I need to find cover! Fast before- “Hello there!”  A voice snapped her back to reality. “You must be Spring Break!” the unicorn said, offering a hoof. Anon gave her a deadpan look, raising the bandaged foreleg. “...Well this is awkward.”  “Lyra!” a beige earth pony trotted onto the scene. “Don’t bolt on me like that!”  Lyra gave a bashful smile and pulled the mare closer. “Sorry Bonnie, I just couldn't help myself.”  Bon Bon gave a sigh and nuzzled her partner back. “It's okay, just try and have some patience in the future, yes?” Anon coughed, less in the usual way of clearing one's throat and more in the ‘this is getting uncomfortable, have you forgotten that i'm standing right here’ way. “So you are Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon?” The duo scrambled to straighten themself, blushing furiously as they did.  “Ehm, yes. Nice meet you,” attempted the earth pony mare. “Likewise.”  The building tension in the air was quickly dissipated by Lyra jumping into action. “Now Spring, it's time to show you around Ponyville! Are you excited?”  Anon shrugged. “I guess. Aren't we first going to your house? I kinda want to lie down for a bit…”  In truth, Anon was exhausted, talking with Celestia late into the night and only getting some sleep on the train ride to here. Most of her brain power was devoted to trying to keep the facts of her false history straight. “We wanted to give you a tour and go shopping while we are at it,” Bon Bon explained. “We could use it to get to know each other a little.” Anon's saddle bags floated into the air, enveloped in an amber aura, and landed on the unicorn's back, who nearly fell under the weight, until Bon Bon grabbed them in her mouth and threw them over her shoulder like it was nothing. “Ouch, thanks Bonnie,” said Lyra. “Also, we have absolutely nothing to eat back home other than sweets.”  “That too,” Bon Bon admitted. “The news was very sudden.”  Anon's mouth started to water. She did have a generous breakfast of pancakes at the palace and wasn't hungry yet, but the idea of living in the same house as someone who owned a candy shop and all the sweet sugary goodness they must have stashed was enough. “I see nothing wrong with eating sweets for lunch.”  “I think you will get along with Bonnie just okay,” Lyra chuckled. “But we are definitely getting a real lunch. Sugar is important for a foal, but everything in moderation.” Bon Bon glanced at the watchtower and its clock. “And we have absolutely no reason to hurry at all.”  Anon brows arched. The way she said it, there was some secret meaning in it, but what? Before she had time to ponder the hidden meaning of the statement, the two mares already turned to walk towards the town proper.  “Come on, Spring! Onwards to town!”  Anon took a deep breath. Let's see what grim fate awaits me this time. The town of Ponyville, even with all of its rustic beauty, colorful banners for the upcoming festival, and quirky architecture, was far from the strangest or most beautiful places the jumper visited. And yet, slowly walking down the cobblestone road, encountering nothing but friendly faces and tail ends of pleasant conversations as they were interrupted to say hello or good day to her companions, elicited an eerie feeling in the filly. It simply wasn’t natural, the sheer amount of happiness around her.  Ponies hugging and nuzzling each other, families and friends laughing together, the simple chatter between merchants and their customers. And when they saw her, a foal wrapped in enough bandages to make one think she came back from the dead to hunt down Brendan Fraser, they looked on her with pity and concern.  So Lyra’s continuous blabbering served as a great distraction from the unwelcome attention.  “And this is the Carousel Boutique! We could get you a nice dress there if you wan’t.” Anom hummed to herself, thinking. A new dress did not interest her much, but somebody capable of repairing her old jacket would be appreciated. This sounded as close to a tailor as she would get.  “Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?” offered Bon Bon. The mare was slowly getting buried under more and more bags of groceries.  Anon shook her head, preferring to walk her good three legs. Another building, this one looking like a gingerbread house, caught her eye. “Over there is the Quills and Sofas and-” “What’s that one?” She interrupted Lyra’s tour guide speech. Lyra followed her gaze to the diabetes giving building. “Oh, that's Sugarcube Corner. The best bakery in all of Ponyville!” The earth pony looked up from where she was buying, stacks of golden coins exchanging hoofs for a bag of vegetables. “It's the only bakery in Ponyville, Honey.” Unless those are some very good vegetables, my guess about gold having a different value was correct. “My point still stands!” “Can we go in?” Anon asked. “I could go for some baked goods…” The bakery may have reminded Anon of a certain fairy tale, but by her calculations, the probability of finding cake highly outweighed the possibility of a flesh-eating witch hiding inside.  I mean, what’s the chance of that happening a second time? Lyra sadly killed her vission of the soft, sweet goodness lying ahead. “No, it's closed right now. They are off to… prepare something.”  Anon sighed. The dream of cake escaping her grasp once again.  “Howdy Bon Bon, the usual?”  The accented speech rang a bell in Anon's mind.  The orange mare standing behind a stall was instantly recognizable. Applejack, the farm-pony who saved her life and also one of the mare's she was tasked with protecting. “Yes, but could you double it?” The mare bagged the merchandise, Anon staring at the finesse with the mare handled the apples, with hooves no less. “Double the usual? That's a lot of apples.” Applejack asked. “You makin’ taffy apples for the festival?” Bon Bon shook her head. “Not this year. Applejack, I like you to meet somepony. This is Spring Break.”  That was her cue.  She put on a smile; it was in her best interest to look cute and endearing. Her cover story should do a lot to help build sympathy.  I really should have taken those acting classes when I had the chance. “Hello ma’am. I believe we have met briefly before.” A brief flash of recognition flashed on Applejack’s face. “Howdy, it‘s good to see that you are alright.” With an ease that still kept Anon awed, she grabbed and tossed it into the nearly full bag. “On the house for ya.” “Thanks ma’am!” “Ah shush. And it's just Applejack, not ma’am. I’m not gray like Granny Smith yet.” She leaned towards the two mares and lowered her voice so it was harder for Anon to hear. “So she lives with you now?” The pair looked at each other before nodding quickly. “And her folks?”  Lyra shook her head. “Ah see… “ Applejack looked at the green filly inspecting a perfectly red and flawless apple, sitting together in a bushel with its similarly perfect siblings, her voice solem. “Take care, she will need it.”  Bon Bon threw one more bag on her back. “What’s on the program now?” “Now it's time to get lunch!” Anon found herself in a predicament. Which, to be fair, happened often. Though normally the predicaments she had to solve involved explosions, wild chases, giant monsters with more teeth than the whole Osmond Family, and a risk of dying horribly.  And less this… The restaurant they chose for their lunch was more of a cafe than a true restaurant. Seated outside, the three ponies soon received the menu from a unicorn stallion with a mustache who Anon would describe as ‘unbelievably posh.’  And here stemmed the source of Anon's trouble. “Having trouble deciding?” asked Lyra.  Anon looked over the menu again in a vain attempt to see if the universe decided to change the unreadable horse-related hieroglyphs into anything resembling coherent writing.  “In a sense,” she answered honestly. “I don't understand any of it.” It took a few moments but a light bulb lit above Lyra’s head as the realization hit, “You can't read?” “I can't read Equish. I understand the griffon script just fine.”  That was true. It was in her long conversation with Celestia where she learned about the different scripts used by the numerous races living on Equus, the name of this world. The griffon script was close enough for her to read and understand. Though it did little to raise her spirit. She always disliked kurrentschrift.  “Hmm, that could be an issue.” Bon Bon trailed off.  Anon couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Out of all the things she was worried about, academic pursuits were about the last thing on that long list. Most knowledge assembled here would immediately become obsolete the second she jumped into another world branch. The only things worth remembering would be things that might potentially become a constant between realities, which writing rarely ever was.  “I'm sure I will be okay, I learn fast.”  Lyra smiled and pulled her chair closer to Anons, looking over the filly’s shoulder to read the menu for her. “And I'm sure you will! Anyway, do you like daffodils?”  She did, it turned out. Looking back, she might have been too picky with the plants she could eat in this body. If other flowers tasted anything like this, that was a missed opportunity! There were these blue ones she saw in the forest, those could make a good snack. As she ate her sandwich, it struck her how… normal this scene was. Just three people eating at a restaurant.  There were ponies at other tables, the waiter running between them, balancing orders in his magic. Some of the other customers looked at her, but quickly diverted their gaze when she whipped her head around and returned the favor. Her ears swiveled towards every noise. A fly flew around the table, a wasp was trying to get into an empty glass of juice. A gray pegasus mare laughed at a joke told by a stallion with a hourglass cutie mark. There were crumbs of the sandwich, stuck on the fine hair of her muzzle. She started to smell smoke.  Bon Bon said something to her, but the words slurred together, nothing more than just another noise in the pile.  “Excuse me, I… I need to use the toilet.” Anon got up. The smell of smoke got stronger. She tasted iron in her mouth - bit her cheek too hard, didn't even notice. Everything was numb, drowned out by the barrage of upcoming signals.  Walking through the restaurant, she entered the tiled white room. Bathroom. Found an empty stall and opened the doors, her movement jerky and robotic. She sat on the floor, back against the wall, only focusing on her breathing.  And then the dam broke.  The filly curled into a ball, whole body trembling and shaking.  What the hell are you doing?! Why were you listening to that Celestia? Why are you trusting anybody? Why are you still here, trying to help these people? Why are you going along with this ridiculous plan? Thinking you can be a difference. A hero? She started sobbing. You are a cheat, a fraud. A no-good fake. A coward. Everything was wrong. The world was wrong. Fuzzy and unfocused and blurry and- Not the world. You. Her leg went through the floor, reality slowly breaking around her. An uncontrolled phasing.  Anon stopped. Eyes narrowed, every ounce of her being behind singular purpose. Years of practice and trials weighed against her emotional turmoil.  And ever so slowly, reality started to right itself. Her resolve won.  She took a deep breath, still shaken. Questions whirling in her mind. Why now? She made it through things so much worse, but she starts breaking now that she finally caught a break?  Steel yourself, the real danger is still yet to come. You cannot give up now. She got up, like she always did in the end. It could be worse. It always can be worse. And on cue, Lyra knocked on the door.  Anon didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door, she didn’t know what to expect of the future most of the time.   But whatever were her expectations, they didn’t matter much, as she wouldn’t be ready, anyway. Concern.  From the nurse, she could accept it. It was her job to care. But this was a stranger. An unknown. Unknown in Anon’s personal dictionary usually meant something that wanted to turn her skin into shoes.   “I’m sorry.” Even less she could understand the apologies. What were they sorry for? That she had a mental break in the bathroom of a restaurant?  “It’s not your fault,” Anon tried to reassure the unicorn mare, who herself looked almost on the verge of crying, her head hung low and ears pinned to her skull.  Lyra continued. “We should have paid more attention. You said you just wanted to lie down, and we dragged you through the entire town and-”.  “You didn’t drag me anywhere,” Anon said sternly. “I cried a little. That's all. Nothing to get worked up about.”    Her speech did little to alleviate the concerns of the mares. Bon Bon reached a hoof to Anon, only for the filly to evade it. “Are you really okay?” “Yeah, I just… don’t do well with crowds.” They arrived at a house not dissimilar from its neighbors, except this one was darkened, its windows shut, the structure immersed in foreboding silence. An alarm bell rang in Anon's head, her carefully honed survival instinct screaming at the filly.  You are being paranoid after you broke down. Don’t make another scene. Bon Bon stopped, a puzzled look on her face. “Haven’t we forgotten something important?”  Lyra shrugged. “If it's important, we are going to remember later.” She opened the doors and entered the darkened house. Anon following in close.  Bon Bon staggered. Realization hitting like a speeding train.  “Oh no,” she whispered, eyes wide. Too late to do anything.   “SURPRISE!”