//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty: Things That Go Wrong // Story: Jumping In At The Deep End // by Anotherrandom //------------------------------// Anon woke up.  That by itself wasn't that surprising. Anon had been going through extreme lengths for the past several years to ensure that would keep happening. What was surprising was that her sleep was peaceful.  With the night terrors fought off, her dream was mostly pleasant… after Luna showed up, at least. She'd even learned something during her slumber - which by itself was a pretty big success. Most people don't learn anything during sleep, except that their back hurts. Anon had learned things about Luna - about her dream walking abilities and about her - who she was and why. The jumper now felt like she understood the night princess a little better, though she wasn't so sure if that was a good thing. And Anon also learned that Luna was a big dirty cheater who'd definitely done something to the cards.  Seven wins in a row was just too lucky. I bet she marked the cards when I wasn't looking. Stupid dream magic… With a yawn, Anon slipped out of bed and shot a look out the window. Still dark.  The filly paused, rubbing her chin.  On the one hoof, she could go back to sleep, and hope it wouldn't result in terrible things from the space between escaping the confines of the dream world and attacking her slumbering mind. Or she could go get breakfast. I do feel a bit peckish… Deciding on the latter, the filly went first for the bathroom.  Here a battle was bitterly fought. First with her shower. Drowsiness still not fully beat out of her system, Anon too late realized she accidentally put her head under the water.  Not a problem, someone may think, and it really wasn't.  Until her mane began to dry, that is. Anon stared at her reflection in the mirror, observing the mass on her head.  I hate when my mane does this. I get it’s puffy, but this is beyond ridiculous. It’s almost bigger than me!  Coming to the conclusion that looking like a victim of a lighting strike wouldn't fly with her parents caretakers, Anon went on the offensive and attacked her mane. A new brush brandished in hoof, she went into battle with the intent of less brushing her mane and more beating it into submission.  Anon lost this battle. Her morning routine done, Anon went downstairs with a spring in her step. Or more accurately, Anon tried. In the middle of the staircase sat Lyra, hind legs sprawled at a strange angle under her lower body, staring vacantly into nothing.  "Ehm, you alright?" Anon piped up, tilting her head.  Lyra didn't seem to react, but Anon could tell something was wrong even from where she stood up the stairs. The strain on her neck as she clenched her jaw, the shallow irregular breaths, and the twitches of movement as the minty mare commanded her legs to move made it plain to see.  She was in pain.  Lyra craned her neck to face Anon - still sitting on the stairs, momentarily frozen - and shot her a weak smile.  "Yup. I'm-" Lyra's voice hitched, as she gasped for breath. "-fine," she finished, her smile faltering. "Nothing to worry about here."  Anon took a step towards her, noticing the scratched surface of the wooden stairs - the place where Lyra probably slipped and fell.  "Do you want me to call Bon Bon?" Anon asked hesitantly, but Lyra just shook her head. "She had to go take care of some emergency," Lyra said. "But I'm fine. I just need a minute."  And as if to prove the point, Lyra started to slowly get up. Her legs were still wobbly and she was barely hiding the pained effort this took, but she was getting up nonetheless. And then her hoof slipped.  Anon rushed in to help, but without tapping into her power, she would be too late. The jumper reached inside for her power, reality receiving yet another smackdown as the jumper forced her will upon the weave.  She wouldn't be fast enough. A green light lit the staircase. Just for a split second a blur of something translucent appeared and gave Lyra a boost, to regain her stability.  Flashing a bright smile to the bewildered jumper, Lyra started walking down the stairs. "See?" Lyra said. "I'm fine."  Anon stared for a moment.  I must have used my magic accidentally, came the logical explanation. Green magic is mine, but… Isn't my magic a bit lighter shade of green?  "You're up early," Lyra piped up, interrupting Anon's train of thoughts. The mare suddenly came to a stop, worry creeping up to her features. "It's not the bed, is it?"  Anon shook her head. Choosing that mattress had been a challenge, but she liked her choice. It was kinda hard, and had a lump, and the imperfections were what made it perfect for the jumper.  "No," Anon said slowly. "I had some… dreams."  Lyra gave her a strange look. "Good ones, I hope?" she asked Anon shrugged, trotting up to the minty mare, standing side by side with her. "Something like that." The mare waited for a moment before she spoke up again.  "Hey," Lyra said. "Wanna watch the sunrise with me?"  Anon nodded, and the two of them walked outside to the small porch in front of the house. Lyra simply sat on the ground next to a flower bed, tapping on the space next to her. Giving a shrug, the filly plopped herself there, and they both gazed at the pinkish horizon. It was nice.  Anon, sticking by a sudden urge she didn't care to resist or explain, leaned on the minty mare, to her great surprise.   "I still don't get it sometimes," Anon said suddenly. The bigger pony cocked her head at this, brow rising.  "Don't get what?" Lyra asked, curious. "Why I made it," Anon explained. "Why others didn't." Lyra gave her a confused glance before her expression changed to something more somber.  "I don't think there is an answer for that," Lyra said carefully. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here, Spring." Anon smiled.  She was still stuck. Stuck pretending, stuck lost so far from what used to be her home. Stuck wondering what tomorrow would bring, or if it would come at all. But for now, it seemed tomorrow did come. There was a future. Her memory was a mess, her body patchwork of scars and her soul itself was torn and tattered.  But tomorrow came nonetheless.  "What brought that up?" asked Lyra. Anon fidgeted in place.  "I was just… thinking about stuff," Anon said as noncommittally as possible. "About peo- ponies," Anon interrupted herself. "Moving on- well, trying to move on, from the stuff they did and wanted to do, the consequences of it all." The filly paused. Her mind flashed back to the night princess. To all the things she wanted to do, all the things she would do.  But this Luna didn't choose any of that. No, this Luna went down a different path instead. She was now left to accept that, while capable of exacting revenge, she needed to move past that and live in a world that had damned and all but forgotten her. Continue in a place she hardly recognized as home anymore. And Anon, despite all her complicated feelings about the night princess, had to admit that put Luna into nearly the same shoes as her.  If she can go forward, why can't I? "Do you think that..." Anon paused, searching for the right words. "That if you try, anybody can get a happy ending?"  Lyra reached a hoof over, scooping Anon up and pulling her into her chest.  "Eh, you really go for the hard hitting questions, do you?" Lyra said, patting the filly.  The mare looked at the sun - the sunrise was beautiful. The colors on the horizon were almost playful.  "I didn't have a happy foalhood."  Anon sat quietly, listening as Lyra spoke.  "Me and my family… we never really saw eye to eye," the mare continued. "They were so dead set in their ways. So opposed to change." Lyra gave a chuckle. "Kind of ironic, really." Anon raised a brow at that, thinking she'd missed something, but Lyra continued.  "Well, I thought I found a better way to do things," she said slowly. "Thought that I could prove them wrong." Anon's eyes trailed towards Lyra's back. Her mind returned to the doctor's picture of Lyra's injury - the bent spine, fused together vertebrae, and the scar tissue running so deep it showed on the scan, spread through her muscle like some kind of a demented spider's web.   "It didn't end well," Lyra finished.  "Did you ever forgive them?" Anons asked.  Lyra looked away. "No," she said after a while. "But that's not where it ended." Lyra continued. "I came to Ponyville, found an audience for my music," Lyra paused, a smile growing on her lips. "Met Bon Bon." The mare pulled Anon into a hug; the filly letting out a surprised squeak.  "And now I've got you!"   Anon squirmed as Lyra descended mercilessly on her quite ticklish belly. To Lyra's surprise, the filly somehow managed to get free from her grasp and maneuver herself until she was holding both her front hooves. A smug look appeared on Anon's face, so sure of her victory. But Lyra still had magic.  The filly's smugness vanished in a flash as she began to levitate, surrounded by an amber aura, right back into Lyra's waiting hooves. "No fair!" Anon struggled out between laughter as Lyra descented on the filly, tickling her. "That's cheating!"  In a stunning display of maturity, Lyra blew a raspberry, only to be taken down by a surprise tackle from Anon.  None of them noticed the sunrise behind them as they played. Not that they cared. Meanwhile, around the jumper's neck, the orb glowed a little brighter.  They ended up nearly late for school.  Anon had no regrets.  Lyra huffed and puffed, and her limp was noticeably slowing her down - it seemed that she still wasn't feeling well. Anon didn't mind, trotting beside the mare at her own pace until they arrived at the schoolhouse - all the while she enjoyed the almost unfamiliar feeling swell in her chest.  Happiness. The jumper let out a content sigh. It's going to be a good day.  Things went downhill from there.  Almost immediately, Anon noticed Diamond Tiara by the schoolhouse, which by itself wasn't strange at all. It would be weirder if she wasn't there, all things considered. What was strange was the mare standing next to Diamond, with a light pink coat and elaborate mane cut, holding her nose at a very improbable angle.  If she was anypony else, Anon would probably ignore the gut feeling she was getting. But the jumper being a jumper, her gut feeling was finely tuned, not some vague sense of unease.  A normal sense of unease leaves you scared and worried. The air tastes different as you observe your immediate surroundings for dangers you cannot see, but know are there, somewhere.  The jumper's gut feeling didn't work like that.  Hers pointed. With neon signs. And billboards. And a blue inflatable figure holding a plaque reading: "PREPARE!!!" in big, bold letters.  Anon called him Ronaldo. Anon is not a stable person.  But all of it - especially Ronaldo - was aimed at the mare.  She was bad news, and it wasn't hard for Anon to realize why.  Diamond Tiara was standing behind the mare and looking down, keeping her head low and her ears flat against her skull, trying to make herself seem smaller.  Diamond Tiara was afraid of her.  "Hello Spoiled Rich," Lyra said, and Anon could swear she saw Diamond flinch from the corner of her eyes.  Spoiled Rich? That's just unfair… "Good morning Heartstrings," came the overly sweet voice of Spoiled Rich. When that was put together with the plastic smile that didn't reach the mare's eyes, Anon couldn't help but instinctively reach towards her mane and check that the True Spork was still hidden there. The moment was quick and subtle, but was, unfortunately, enough to bring Spoiled's attention from Lyra to Anon.  Spoiled Rich's expressions changed, her features softened, and her smile broadened.  But her eyes stayed cold.  Anon shuddered.  She'd had experience with people who had eyes like that. Eyes that somehow ignore that there is another person right in front of them and see only things instead - only pawns, only tools, to use, expend, and throw away. Anon had no desire to relieve those experiences. "And hello there little one," Spoiled Rich said, leaning down towards Anon, while the green filly coiled back. "I've heard a lot about you."  Somehow, that sounded like a threat.  A minty hoof suddenly appeared, blocking Spoiled Rich from going any closer. Lyra smiled awkwardly as she positioned herself between Anon and the perceived danger.  "Sorry, we have to go. The class is starting soon," Lyra said, trying to push forward around the mare, who simply waved her off. But for just for a moment, Anon could see the surprise on Diamond Tiara's face and the small frown breaking through Spoiled Rich's facade.  "Of course, we wouldn't want to hold you back," Spoiled said sweetly. "Taking her to school must be so difficult with your… condition." As she spoke, Lyra flinched back, her ears drooping. "But I just wanted you to invite you for tea today," Spoiled Rich said, voice dripping with fake reassurance. "Have Tiara and Spring over, for a play date of sorts. Last I heard, these two were as thick as thieves. Basically sisters already. And goodness knows that Spring doesn't have many other friends to play with." Lyra cringed, her eyes narrowing angrily at the other mare, but Anon was entirely distracted. Her mind focused only on one part of what Spoiled said. Sisters already? What's that supposed to mean?  "That's up to Spring," Lyra spoke out, sounding more than a little annoyed. "And I don't think-" "I want to go."  Both mares turned to Anon, Lyra with a look of confusion and concern and Spoiled with a victorious smirk.  "You sure?" Lyra asked, panic slowly creeping into her voice.  Anon stood there, her own eyes trailing towards Diamond Tiara cowering behind her mother. No, not cowering. Hiding. From Spoiled. "Yeah," answered Anon.  Lyra hesitated for a moment.  "Okay," Lyra said finally, extending her front hooves to offer a hug Anon gladly accepted. "Have fun and be careful!" "I always do," lied Anon with a smile. Spoiled Rich turned towards her daughter, expression turning sour. "Tiara?" "Yes mother?" Diamond said slowly, voice rising at the end to express something almost approaching hope.  "Don't disappoint me." Diamond Tiara looked away in shame, staring at the floor until both adults disappeared behind a corner and even as the school bell rang in the building behind them. Anon slowly walked up to Diamond, sat next to her, and sighed. "And it was going to be such a nice day, too," Anon said to nopony in particular. "You didn't need to do this," Diamond managed to get out, still looking away. "She told you to get close to me so I would agree to this," Anon said flatly. Diamond didn't respond at first. She was shaking, still staring at the ground. Anon continued, "She would have punished you if I didn't."  At the last part, Diamond flinched. "I could have figured something out," Diamond grumbled. Anon sighed again, shoulders sagging.  This… was getting complicated. She didn't know what punishment Diamond Tiara would face if she failed, but Anon couldn't simply leave her to her own fate. Whatever happens, I've been through worse. "How…how did you know she would punish me if you didn't agree to go?" Diamond asked hesitantly. "Experience," Anon answered with a shrug. At first Diamond gave her a questioning glance, before the realization dawned on her and her eyes widened. "S-She isn't like that!" Diamond stuttered out. "Mother isn't like the ponies who hurt you! She just… says things," the filly trailed off, trying to avoid the flat look Anon was giving her. "It doesn't matter!" Anon took a deep breath, fighting the urge to scream at the universe in general.  "You and Silver Spoon are friends, right?" she asked after a minute.  Diamond paused, raising a brow. "What? Of course we are," Diamond answered, and Anon smirked. "So," Anon began. "If somepony else said those things to Silver Spoon, would it matter?" Diamond shrunk and faced away.  Deciding to not push the matter, the jumper gave another sigh. There was still the main issue at hoof. Spoiled Rich. "Do you know what she's planning?" Anon asked. "No." Diamond Tiara shook her head. "She asked about 'that new pony in class' and if I'd made friends with her yet… and I may have exaggerated a few things."  Diamond's ears drooped. "I just… I just wanted her to be happy with me," she added quietly.  Anon leaned back, scratching her front hoof where one of her scars had just now started to itch. "I don't think you can," Anon said slowly. "I don't know her but… if she is anything like I think she is, anything like-" Anon cut herself off, letting the sentence hang in the air. "Well, there's nothing anyone can do to make those kinds of people happy."  At least not anything that's worth it, Anon thought, but decided to keep to herself.  "She isn't like that," Diamond hissed. "My mother isn't evil. She loves me, cares for me, and-" "Then why are you so afraid of her?" Anon asked, head tilted to the side.  The pink filly hesitated, her whole posture lowering. A puzzled expression grew on her face.  "I'm not…afraid," Diamond said, though much quieter this time. "She's just… hard on me because she cares."  Anon only hoped she was right.  She had a bad feeling they were going to find out.   Silver Spoon was already waiting for them when they entered the school house. Cheerilee was just about finished with roll call when they successfully snuck in. Silver Spoon only needed one quick glance at her friend before she gave a saddened sigh. "Hey, Dia," she said quietly. "How was it at home?"  The other filly grit her teeth, sat down behind her desk, and looked away - away from her best friend. "Normal," Diamond answered. Normal is a strange word. It's the status quo, the familiar with what we're used to.  Sometimes, what we're used to isn't very good. "Oh," Silver Spoon said.  They didn't talk for the rest of that class. Anon sat behind her desk, drifting off and on. Her mind was far too abuzz with thought to concentrate on anything. A shame, too, as Cheerilee was really trying to make the history of Griffonian-Equestrian relations seem interesting. She was also using far more visual aid than before, but that only made Anon wonder where she'd gotten so many drawings of sneering, mustachioed griffons. Again and again, Anon went back to the conversation with Spoiled Rich, one sentence ringing in her mind. Practically sisters already.  It didn't make any sense to her. Well, there was an explanation, but it was so far-fetched Anon refused to even entertain it.  No, why would a mare like Spoiled Rich want to do anything with me of all ponies? It must be something else. So, not seeing any alternatives, Anon thought of an explanation that made far more sense. She probably just wants to make a coat out of my skin. Well, it made far more sense to her.  Despite the rather grim implications this had for her afternoon, Anon couldn't help but be a little excited.  There was still the issue of Lyra and Diamond being present. Having to hide her jumper powers, while trying not to get peeled like a meat banana by a blood crazed madmare, could be a problem. A plan was needed. Or at least an escape route.  Or maybe another bomb… Fortunately for the sanity of the local bomb crew - meaning Steel Wing, but in an improvised EOD suit made of pots, duct tape, and wishful thinking - her further planning was interrupted by the school bell. "Recess, finally!" announced a rather loud orange pegasus filly, before dive-bombing into the river of foals all trying to leave the classroom at once. "Please, no running in the classroom!" cried Cheerilee, more from habit than any actual hope that it would do anything to slow down the stampede.  Once outside, their little group avoided the swings - after yesterday it was decided that they should leave them alone, preferably forever - and found a new, much more exciting activity.  Gossip. "Have you seen Dinky?" Silver Spoon said. "She got her cutie mark!" Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Yeah and it's pretty lam-" she stopped herself, a glance, who was currently busying herself trying to kick small pebbles into a hole. "I mean, dumb. A few stars. So unoriginal. Almost every unicorn has stars." "But at least she has one," Silver Spoon whispered sadly, kicking a small pebble straight into the hole, much to Anon's surprise.  "We'll get something better," Diamond said resolutely. "You'll see." Without paying much attention to it, Silver Spoon sent another pebble right into the hole, while Anon missed again. The green filly raised a brow at this, going to inspect the hole and the pebbles in it, only to get one thrown at her forehead. The mouse living in the hole found their game rather disagreeable and, using a miniature catapult, was now valiantly defending its home.  "What would yours look like, Spring?" asked Silver Spoon.  The filly dodged another stone slung at her by the world's smallest siege engine, only to stare in mute horror and confusion when the mouse upgraded to a trebuchet.  "Spring? Are you even listening?" asked Diamond.  Anon raised a small white flag, hastily made from a handkerchief, and the mouse retreated victoriously into the mouse hole.  "Hmm?" Anon answered, still feeling somewhat dazed and staring in disbelief at the mouse hole. That's it, Luna definitely did something to my mind.  … Or they are putting something in the water here? One of those things, definitely. "You still think my mom is evil or something?" Diamond said. Anon gave her a look, for a moment contemplating having to explain… whatever that was.  "...Yes." But only for a moment. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "She isn't." The rich filly then hesitated for a second, looking for the right words. "She just wants the best for me so she pushes me hard. It's normal." Anon looked at her, green eyes boring into hers, before she shrugged.  "If you say so."  "I do," Diamond said sharply. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Anyway, what would your cutie mark look like?" The jumper paused.  I'll never get one - was the answer, but if she said that it would raise an uncomfortable amount of questions. Cutie marks serve as a reflection of a true name and it's pretty hard to reflect something which doesn't exist. But she figured she should at least give an answer. "I dunno," Anon said. "Never thought about it." Anon winded the moment the words left her mouth.  Great. I really need to take acting lessons one of these days, I'm almost as bad as Celestia.  Silver Spoon tilted her head, one ear laying flat against her skull, the other staying up.  "Well, what's your special talent?" she asked, Anon giving her a blank stare in response. "I mean, something you really like doing. Something you wanna be the very best at." Anon gave it some thought. She liked watching things go boom, but that probably wouldn't go well with the authorities, and anyway was less a talent and more a worrying personality quirk. She was pretty good at baking, all things considered, but that wasn't something she wanted to do and more something she picked up because she needed too.  After racking her brain for more ideas, there wasn't anything she would say was her special talent. Yes, there were few things she was good at, but nothing she wanted to be great at - nothing she wanted to be the best at.  "Huh, don't think I have a special talent," Anon said after a moment of thoughtful silence.  "Don't worry, we also don't have one," Silver Spoon tried reassuring her, earning a scowl from Diamond.  "We don't have one, yet!" Diamond declared suddenly, the two other fillies turning her way with curious looks.  "What? It's an important distinction," she said, but Silver Spoon simply shook her head, pointing behind the filly.  Behind Diamond Tiara stood the orange pegasus filly from earlier, a determined look settled on her muzzle.  "Ehm, hi?" Anon said. "You wanna sit with us? Or- "Why are you hanging out with them?" The newcomer blurted out, cutting Anon off and leaving her befuddled.  "Sorry?" Anon asked, turning towards Diamond and Silver for guidance. "I think I'm missing some context here." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes at the orange filly, letting out an annoyed huff. "Scootaloo, go away," Diamond said.  Scootaloo's eyes narrowed as she marched over to Diamond and leaned towards her, jabbing at the earth pony's chest with an outstretched hoof - without actually touching her.  "Why? We aren't good enough for you?" Scootaloo said, wings fluttering angrily on her back. "You don't wanna be around us ugly mud ponies?" Anon turned. There was a crowd forming. Other foals were forming a circle around them, most of them nodding along every time Scootaloo spoke.  That's a bad sign if I've ever seen one.  Silver Spoon stood up, now nervously standing behind Diamond, probably all too aware of how outnumbered they really were.  "Scootaloo," Diamond's voice was low and somehow still commanding, but Anon could feel the hint of desperation in it. "I'm feeling generous today, so I'm giving you your last chance. Go. Away." "Or what?" Scootaloo pointed at Anon. "You sic your new lap dog on us?" The orange filly cut her a look. "You know they're just using you, right?"  Anon shrugged, glancing briefly at the foals encircling them, watching the confrontation. Don't freak out. It's just kids. Don't. Freak. Out.  She hated this. She was surrounded and could do nothing.  "Maybe, maybe not," she said as calmly as possible. "But I do think you should turn it down a notch." Scootaloo frowned, approaching Anon, who stayed still and kept her expression blank.  "I see how it is," Scootaloo said, before turning around and walking away. "Enjoy this time with your new friends. While it lasts." "While they still want you," Scootaloo added so quietly Anon suspected she wasn't supposed to hear it.  With that, the foals encircling them slowly went back to what they were doing before, leaving the trio alone again.  "Sorry about that," mumbled Silver Spoon, while pawing at the ground with her front hoof. "We aren't exactly… popular in class right now," Diamond explained.  Anon sighed. Things were getting better and better by the second. "Let me guess," she said, facehoofing. "Your parents told you to not associate with them, and they didn't take it well." Silver Spoon grimaced, avoiding eye contact, while Diamond sighed. "Basically…" Diamond said. "We may also have called them names when they wouldn't leave us alone," noted Silver Spoon ever so helpfully.  Anon took a deep breath.  And it was going to be such a nice day, too.  "Dammit," Anon said. "Well, at least they can't do anything during class." She paused. "What's next, anyway?" The two other fillies exchange a look. A foreboding look. The kind of look a doctor might have when they remember they were supposed to tell a patient that they only had one day left to live - yesterday. "It's PE." "Fffff-" Keep it pg, keep it pg.  "-Fffffuuuidlesticks." Nailed it.