//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven: Tugging At The Heartstrings 
// Story: Jumping In At The Deep End 
// by Anotherrandom 
//------------------------------//

Everypony had secrets, Bon Bon was well aware of that fact.

She just had more secrets than average. 

“Does it still hurt?” she said towards Lyra.

It was the late evening of their first day as Anon's foster parents. The Welcome Party ended a while ago and the ponies that had gathered downstairs went home, leaving them a quiet house.

“A bit.” 

The pair laid in their shared bed, Lyra's back bent at an awkward position for most ponies. “But it was my fault for falling for it. Now Spring feels bad, even though it wasn't her fault! She was only trying to catch the prankster.” Lyra pouted her cheeks. ”That filly,  she is so… scared. All of the time. And I don't know how to make her feel better.”

Bon Bon nodded whilst arranging the pillows under Lyra’s head. “I think she just needs some time to settle. So many changes happened suddenly in her life, it's bound to be stressful.” 

Lyra gave a saddened sigh. “Yeah, you are probably right.”

The secret agent swallowed more guilt.

The whole fiasco at the party was her fault. Wanting to spy on the entity, she threw on a basic disguise and blended into the crowd. She just wanted to make sure Anon didn’t do anything dangerous. The entity had already endangered a pony - that knife only missed Pinkie Pie by pure luck. 

It was clearly a panicked response to being frightened, so Sweetie Drops didn't activate the contingency, but the entity proved herself to be highly unstable. Keeping a close watch on her to make sure she did not attempt anything just made sense.

No, this was all a sound plan, but it all went wrong when she let her emotions cloud her judgment. 

Bon Bon looked at Lyra, the most beautiful and perfect mare in the world. Not in a million years would she ever imagine her luck. 

It never got old - holding the love of her life in her hooves. 

When she heard those rotten brats say that, she couldn't take it, she had to do something. The hot sauce would be her petty revenge. 

Lyra shifted slightly, wincing and gritting her teeth. Her back was acting up after today's activity. The walk through Ponyville and the running around after she drank the hot sauce, it all came back with a vengeance.

“I’ll go get you the heating pad,” Bon Bon said, ready to leave the comfortable warmth of their bed, but a hoof gently wrapping around her barrel stopped her, Lyra resting her head on her chest. “No, I'm okay. Just… stay here, please?” the unicorn begged. 

Bon Bon nuzzled her back.

Oh, how much she hated that word. How much she wished to destroy it, burn it, make it disappear. Make all the pain it caused go away. Give Lyra a better life. But there were some things that nopony could change, and so Bon Bon had to continue hating that word and Lyra had to continue living with it. 

Lame.

Such an innocuous, small word. Extraordinary - just how much suffering could hide behind only four letters. 

The agent sighed. Lyra always took it in stride. If the pain was too much for her to climb the stairs, so she had to carry her to bed? Lyra would call it ‘romantic’ and tease her the whole way up until she resembled a blushing tomato. When ponies looked at her weirdly for sitting in that peculiar way to ease the strain on her back? She would play it up as a joke! 

The lameness never stopped Lyra from playing her instrument, from creating, from being her. 

The most perfect mare in the world. 

But Bon Bon hated the word, what it represented for Lyra, and her anger had spilled onto those two bratty fillies. A mistake. She was an agent, for Celestia's sake! She should have known better.

And she had underestimated Anon, risking her mission.

She would not make the same error twice. “Goodnight Honey.” 

“Goodnight, love you,” Bon Bon heard Lyra mutter, half-asleep already.

“I love you too,” she said, knowing that no matter how sweet a dream she had, it would never be better than the pony she would get to wake up to.





The jumper stood, someone else’s blood soaking his jacket. Hands curled into fists as the monster approached. 

Unmoving and scattered around him were people he couldn’t save - people he’d failed to save.

The armored giant took its time. This wasn't a fight, but an execution. 

Battle consumed the great city. Blasts from the orbital bombardment could be heard closing in, mixing with the screams of those who were trying to escape and the cries of those who could not escape anymore. 

If hell was real, he had found it. 

The jumper was scared. His legs refused to work; sweat was dripping down his forehead; he was heaving, his stomach already emptied. 

The thing looked human, at least vaguely. A towering giant fully clad in black and gold power-armor. But whatever was hiding under those thick metal plates wasn't human, definitely not anymore. It moved silently despite the armor's bulk, its hateful, piercing gaze from within the red visors focused on him. Crimson dripped from its weapon. 

A monster. 

The sheen on its armor looked almost oily in the light of the flames. Unnatural and repugnant. It walked through the destruction it had wrought, through the piles of soldiers and civilians that it had stolen the life from. 

The monster laughed, seeing him. One more puny little human amidst the devastation. It taunted him, hands spread wide, inviting him to try anything to stop it, knowing that such a common foe stood no chance against it. 

He was shaking, fear and anger filling him. This was the end. 

A punch aimed at the monster's lower torso, the highest point he could reach. A foolish attempt -  there was nothing he could do to harm it. But there was nowhere to run, either. His last trump card was useless against the armor. Only the wall of flames behind him and the behemoth in front of him remained. His fate was sealed. 

The monster's laughter stopped. Both stared at the jumper's hand.

His hand blurred, becoming fuzzy, as if it was made from static. It disappeared through the warplate, ignoring the thick metal.

The jumper let go of the plasma grenade. The monster roared as the force of the explosion tore it apart from the inside. But it still delivered one last, vengeful blow. The attack came faster than his eyes could follow; the jumper sidestepped in a desperate attempt at avoiding certain death.

He was too slow.





Anon woke up, gasping for breath, looking around her, eyes wide open with fright, before slowly calming down.

Just a dream, a bad memory. Nothing else.

That world was an especially nasty one, and she had only escaped by the skin of her teeth. The visions of that place had been haunting her ever since. 

First time I phased. If only I learned a little faster.

The room was quiet. The sun wasn't up yet, but the horizon was already colored in soft orange, promising a peaceful morning, followed by nothing but pleasant weather and a calm summer day.

And it put her on edge. 

It's not the danger you see coming, but the one you don't, that gets you. 

Anon freed herself from the mess of blankets on the floor. It wasn't that the bed was uncomfortable, but the exact opposite. The hospital bed was great for her, because while it was far more comfortable than what she was used to, it still wasn't without flaws -  the mattress was a little stiff and the frame was a little narrow, just enough to be reminded of it every time she turned. 

The bed here was big, soft, and felt great, and she couldn't stand it. 

She needed those bumps and imperfections, to remind her of reality. To have something pull her back, something to think about except her own thoughts. 

She stretched like a cat, her back giving a satisfying pop. The bedroom was… charming.  Somebody must have put in a lot of effort to make it look that way. From the cute, child-oriented furniture, to a plethora of stickers of musical notes and instruments marking the walls, together with posters for some kind of pony pop-star.

Yawning, she walked to the bathroom. The clean, white-tiled room immediately struck her as aggressively ordinary in contrast to the colorful bedroom. 

First order of business, she checked her bandages, carefully looking for any signs of infection. Afterwards, it was time to get clean.

The jumper let her thoughts wander for a few moments. Standing in the shower, letting the water flow down the drain. Such a normal thing, an everyday morning routine for most - hers too, in a time that now seemed so far away. Yet it now felt so… alien. 

Done with the shower, the filly grabbed a few towels and dried herself, her attention now drawn to the sink and the toothbrush waiting there.

The sink had a mirror, the reflective surface showing the jumper her still relatively new face. Ears twitched as she willed them to move. The little nicks and scars on her face were hidden by green fur, even the big one on her lower jaw, where it had been shattered by the monster. She opened her mouth. Her teeth, while slightly crooked, were all still there.

I have to admit, that world was dark and grim, but their dental was top notch.

She had been through this same exact situation numerous times. Time and time again, she found a stranger waiting for her when she faced a mirror. 

Those scars served as a good reminder that it was still her, beneath it all. Despite the transformations, despite her lost name. 

Despite everything, it's still you.

Anon sighed.

Isn’t it?

The jumper finished her business in the bathroom and went downstairs. The remnants of yesterday's party had miraculously vanished from the living room. Faint sounds of muted conversation and the smell of something sweet carried from the kitchen.

“Morning, Spring!” 

Lyra sat behind a table, a plate of waffles in front of her. “You had a good sleep?”

Anon limped towards them, choosing the seat closest to the doors. “Ehm, good… morning? Isn't it a little early? The sun isn't even up yet.” 

Bon Bon, busy in the kitchen, filled another plate and handed it to the filly, who eagerly dug in. “Well, we didn't expect you to be up yet.” 

Anon stopped, a piece of a waffle halfway to her mouth. “Am I interrupting something? Sorry, I’ll go.”

“No!” exclaimed Lyra, standing up partially before wincing and sitting back down, earning a concerned look from Bon Bon. “We just got up a little early, that's all. And it's a special day for you.”

“Special?” Anon asked. 

“Your first full day with us!” Lyra said cheerfully. “Is there anything you want to do?” 

Anon took a bottle of syrup, pouring it over her food. The waffles were delicious, of course; she suspected it was impossible for any food here to taste bad. 

Except grass. Grass was horrible. 

“Not really.” 

She still needed to set up a communication array, and she had neglected her journal longer than she liked too. Both were pretty simple tasks, but until they were done, the nagging voice in the back of her head would not shut up. 

And she also had a trap to set up. 

Lyra frowned. “What about going to the park? Sounds good?”

Anon shrugged. “Yeah.” 

The pair sent each other meaningful looks, the nonverbal communication between the two conveying the general message of: Help me, what do? 

 “Can I ask you something?” said the green filly, interrupting their trains of thought. 

Lyra's reaction was immediate: shoulders sagged, ears lowered. The dreaded question, it always came.

Most days it was manageable, the pain from her back a dull ache she would be able to almost forget was even there. 

This day, sadly, wasn't one of those. It hurt, a searing kind of hurt that didn't want to go away, her mangled muscles and bent spine just had to scream at her brain, demanding attention. 

So she sat in a way that eased it a little, her hind legs hanging over the edge, back straight. Most ponies would find that position very uncomfortable, but for her it helped. 

“Why do you-”

And here it was. The same old thing. She wondered what version it would be today.

What's up with the way you sit? Hey, you sit kinda funny. Why do you sit weird?

It was… tiring. Answering the same question over and over again, but what usually followed was far worse. The pity, the remarks. All the ponies acting like her life was forever ruined.

It didn't put her into the best mood. 

Explaining it away as mimicking a mythological creature had to be one of the greatest ideas, ever. Yes, it got her more than a few strange looks and whispered rumors about being some kind of crazed fanatic or conspiracy theorist, but all of that was worth it. Not to mention how much fun she got from messing with ponies. 

“-eat waffles plain? The syrup is right there.”

Lyra choked, the unicorn coughing until she dislodged the pesky piece of breakfast from her throat. 

“Pardon, I… plain waffles?” 

Anon nodded. “I take food very seriously.” 

 Lyra fought the urge to hug that adorable puff of green fur.

Anon stiffened as a pair of minty green hooves pulled her close. 

The urge won. 

"Please let me go," Anon asked, feeling more than a little undignified. The fact that Bon Bon was wheezing in the kitchen did not help. The dead glare she gave her only served to make the earth pony lose her composure completely, exploding in a laughing fit.

Note to self, trying to look intimidating while in the body of a pint-sized unicorn doesn't have the desired effect.  

After that was over and the grumpy filly was released, the three of them finished their breakfast in a display of violence against waffle-kind. Their massacre would be forever embedded into the minds of the few survivors, who were put into a brown paper bag for later. 

The sun, meanwhile, finally showed up after some encouragement from the princess. Lyra grabbed a case with her precious instrument, eager to get out.

"Honey, haven't you forgotten something?" said Bon Bon playfully. 

The unicorn did a one eighty turn, placing a quick goodbye kiss on the earth pony. "Have a nice day at work Bonnie, love you!"

Bon Bon chuckled. "I was talking about your coin purse."

"Oh… thanks, you are the best," Lyra said. 

Anon raised an eyebrow. "You’re not going?"

Bon Bon shook her head. "No, I have a lot of orders to make before the festival. Candies don't make themselves, you know. But you two have a good time out there."

Lyra gave her a mock salute. "You can count on it! Come on, Spring - to the park!"

Sweetie Drops watched them leave, waving as they vanished into the town, then she waited. One minute, three, five…

The agent opened the cellar doors, her chosen tools resting inside a hidden compartment there.

"Operation Anonymous' Following is officially underway."





Anon's gaze hardened. All her senses were sent into overdrive. 

Somebody's watching me again. 

The town square was still mostly empty, same as the marketplace, where only the most enterprising ponies had set up a shop this early.

So it should have been easy to spot whoever was spying on them. 

But Anon had no such luck, their follower ever elusive. A list of suspects formed in her mind, from the party-ruining prankster to someone sent by Celestia to keep tabs on her, or maybe a member of a shadowy organization, following her after they discovered her powers? 

Lyra, oblivious to the fact that they were being followed, trotted down the street, the happy clip-clop of her hooves making Anon's ears twitch. 

They were slightly out of rhythm. 

"You’re limping." 

The unicorn mare stopped, the look of shame on her face hidden by a strained smile.

"I…" Anon's mind went back to the moment she punched that cursed cup. "I didn't hurt you yesterday, did I?"

Lyra waved her off. “It's just a foalhood injury that sometimes acts up." Her smile brightened. "Besides, it was pretty funny. The hot sauce definitely got me!" 

Her attempt at cheering Anon up was not working. The filly continued her own limp at her side. 

"Look at us," Lyra tried. "Both soldiering on. Like two peas from the same… uh, nevermind.” 

The filly didn't acknowledge her, one hoof scraping against her bandages nervously. A look of mortified realization appeared on Lyra’s face. "We forgot to clean your bandages! We have to turn back, I’m sorry, but it's important that-”
 
Anon stopped her. "I changed them already. Wasn't much trouble."

"Oh… “ Lyra slumbed down. “Doesn't it hurt to clean them by yourself?"

Anon thought about it for a second. She hadn’t even thought about asking for help, simply not realizing that it was now an option. 

"A little, but I'm used to it.” 

The unicorn mare’s expression softened. "I don't think foals should get used to things like that."

"Well, I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter." 

Lyra restrained herself from pulling the filly into a hug again. The resignation she heard from Anon's voice…

It broke her heart to see anypony like that, much less a foal. 

Her muzzle scrunched up in determination. 

She may have lost her chance at motherhood - after yesterday, it was a shock that the filly didn't hate her already. 

But she could still help, make the life at least a little brighter for Spring Break. An idea came to her. 

Anon felt the change in the air, and so did the few other ponies around them. There was a barely-perceptible aura around them. A spark, charging up the atmosphere with something. It sent a tingle down her spine. It made her want to move.

Is that a click track?

It made her want to dance. 

And she wasn't alone. 

Anon could only watch as Lyra suddenly sprung up.

And started singing. 

"Hey now, come on. Let's go, the music's playin'!” Her voice was energetic, it wanted Anon to be swept away, to go with the music. The filly put out resistance, but the music was only just starting. “We gotta move on. No more delayin'. Carefree adventure's waitin'.“ 

"Yeah, yeah!” The surrounding ponies joined the impromptu musical number. Anon’s legs started to move seemingly on their own accord. 

Its magic.

The whole town square was joining in. Ponies were popping out of their windows, just to chime in at the chorus. 

“So kick it up to stir it up! Alive will make us feel,” sang a pegasus coming down from napping in the clouds.

“Press reset with no regret. Make sure to keep it real,” piped out a brown stallion with an hourglass for a cutie mark. 

“The possibility's right in front of me. Oh, all the things that I can be. Got me feelin' free.” Lyra was leading the singing, and the singing was… lively. The whole place was lively, brimming with life, with hope. 

For a moment, Anon remembered. A time that now seemed so long ago. She remembered the feeling of peace, of happiness. 

For the first time in forever, she smiled. 

All as one, the voices conjoined, each one coloring the song different, yet it all worked together into something that fit together. 

Something harmonious. 

"Walk a new path, and go on, and let the cares fly by. And if you take some time to ask me why, you always see me with a smile, I'll tell you that.”

Lyra took in a breath, watching the green filly bob her head in tune. The heartsong carried the whole performance. A magic so ancient it was hardly magic. The words found them, not the other way around. 

“Life is grand, life is great, life is good.
Life is beautiful!
You've gotta give it all you've got.
Everything you've got to give, time to shine, time to live.”

The green filly stopped resisting the pull, the chorus building up. The music was getting faster and faster. 

“Life is grand, life is great, life is good.
Life is beautiful!
Now you’re living out your dream with your hopes up high.
Your only limit is the sky.”

Anon sang with them now, surprised by her own voice and her ability to sing in tune, despite normally being unable to hold a note to save her life, once even literally. 

Deadly talent shows were a thing in some dimensions, apparently. 

“Standing in a brand new place.
I feel the sunshine on my face.”

Anon started slow, still unsure, but others were encouraging her. The music itself was encouraging her. 

“The weather's good, the day is bright.
I watched it turn from dark to light.”

Lyra gestured at her to go on, and the filly swallowed nervously. 

Just… let go. 

“And keep the music going.
Keep the good times rollin'.”

The words just appeared in her mind. In all her travels, she had never experienced something like this.

“And now I'll never let it stop.
You'll only find me growin'.”

The words were resonating with her; the song turned into a duet between her and Lyra. The unicorn mare was positively beaming seeing Anon finally crack a smile. The newly-gathered crowd moved and danced with them.

“Come on and sing out a song, and don't be shy," Lyra sang, hooves skidding on the cobblestone floor, pushing through the pain the movement brought her. “Cause you'll never know 'til you give it a try,” 

Anon picked the song back up, the magically-enhanced vocals easing her into it like an invisible hand guiding her. “Colorful like a work of art. A brand new world, a brand new start. And once you go up, you'll never come down!”

Lyra chimed back in. "And if you take some time to ask me why you always see me with a smile, I'll tell you that.” 

The chorus was back, building up and up with every voice singing all at once. 

“Life is grand, life is great, life is good!
Life is beautiful.
You've gotta give it all you've got!
Everything you've got to give, time to shine, time to live.”

Side by side, the ponies were now in the park proper; the music reaching its crescendo.

“Life is grand, life is great, life is good!
Life is beautiful.
Now your living out your dream with your hopes up high!
Your only limit is the sky!”

And just like that, the moment was over. Anon was left standing in the middle of the park, stunned and trying to explain what had just happened to her brain. The ponies all waved and went back to their normal business. Lyra happily shoulder-bumped the filly as she returned to her side. 

“That was good! You have a great singing voice, Spring.”

Lyra’s praise was lost on her, as Anon was too busy trying to compartmentalize the situation.

What. The. Actual. Hell?!?

There were no words to describe it, and if there were, they were probably contained in some dark grimoire; the kind written with blood that drives you insane when you read it. 

Her bewilderment ended when Anon registered the familiar feeling of being watched, and the filly snapped back to reality. 

“It was a very pretty heartsong."
 
A yellow pegasus mare picked up a squirrel, the critter running to her pink mane.

“Hey Fluttershy, had a nice morning?” 

She nodded. “Mr. Squirrel needed a little help finding where he stashed the nuts from last winter. But we found them.”

“Good!” Lyra pointed at the shell-shocked filly. “I have somepony I want you to meet. This is Spring Break, she’ll be staying with me and Bon Bon for a while.”

Fluttershy slowly approached the filly, kneeling on the grass in front of her. "Hello, I'm Fluttershy," she said softly. 

"Ehm, hello ma'am." 

The pegasus' big, blue eyes bored into Anon. The feeling was similar to Celestia's soul-searching gaze, except more gentle. Tender, in a way. 

There was sadness in there, too. It made Anon shiver. 

Fluttershy turned to the squirrel resting in her mane, whispering something to the critter who answered by chirping and a quick salute. 

"Would you want to play with Mr. Squirrel?"

"Play?"

The squirrel jumped, landing on Anon's muzzle and began the assault. Anon quickly discovered a new fact about her pony body.

She was extremely ticklish. 

More small animals appeared from the trees and bushes, the small army of critters joining the fray. The filly retaliated by petting them mercilessly while giggling her lungs off. 

Lyra shot the pegasus a big smile. "You handled it super well, Fluttershy! Introducing yourself to others like a true pro already? I knew you could do it!” 

Fluttershy didn't smile back, her gaze still glued to the laughing filly, expression somber. "Who hurt her, Lyra?"

Lyra stepped back. "The bandages? She got lost in the Everfree and a pack of timberwolves attacked her. But little Spring is a fighter! She’ll be alright."

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment. "You remember Harry?"

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Wait, he’s that bear, right? One of your animal friends?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Harry is a rescue from a circus. He is truly a gentle creature, but in that horrible place… " She sighed. "I'm so glad the guards shut it down."

Anon squealed in the background, a mouse tickling the very sensitive frog of her hooves with a borrowed feather.

"That’s sad to hear, but what does it have to do with Spring?" Lyra asked.

Fluttershy’s wings were slumped down her side, and a few small tears escaped her eyes.

"She has the same scars as him. Those circular ones around her hooves." Her voice turned into a whisper. "From chains."

Silence reigned between the two mares for a while. Eventually, Fluttershy spoke again. "I'm sorry Lyra, I have to go. If you need any help...” 

The pegasus was interrupted by Anon, yelling at the top of her lungs while laughing "Mercy! I surrender! Hahahaha! Please! You got me!"

The critters relented their assault, chirping excitedly between each other while Anon laid on the grass. 

"Enjoying yourself?" asked Lyra. 

She raised her hoof, trying to give a thumbs up, before remembering that doesn't really work without thumbs. "Yeah, but whatever that was? I think I lost."

Lyra helped her get back up. The filly shuddered at the touch.

"Wanna go for some ice cream?" she offered. 

Anon closed her eyes for a moment, letting the summer sun wash over her, feeling the slight breeze in the air. 

"Yup, let’s go."

Life for Anon, at least at that very moment, was beautiful.