//------------------------------// // Broken Promise // Story: A Kaleidoscope of Doors // by eraser //------------------------------// “—Do not worry. Your secret is safe with me.” The alien bibliographer and the embarrassed violet pony eyed each other. Ponies had little trouble reading humanoid facial emotions. Unless the uniform hats got in the way. The guests claimed those broad brims were just low-profile head armour, a necessary precaution for more savage worlds, but she was sure those face-concealing brims were meant to make them faceless and opaque. Was it really an accident, when he walked in on her? How much did he see? Did he understand how much it meant for her? She couldn't see through the hat. Time was ticking. Finally, the alien broke the awkward silence: “Do you want me to Pinkie Promise not to tell anyone?” “Y-yes... That... will be OK.” Good. Just as planned. “I, Curve Lightning, promise to never tell anyone what I saw here. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Making all the necessary motions the agent calling himself “Curve Lightning” mused how much it reminded him of the promises he made as a kid. Usually they involved a promise to cease fighting his brother and a permission to fight dirty if the other party breaks the peace. “And let us never speak of it again,” he added. The violet pony looked relieved and... perhaps a bit disappointed her guest was so disinterested in her secret vice. But relief dominated. After getting out of her sight the agent touched his bracelet to signal the completion of stage one. An hour later he convincingly imitated surprise, when an embassy messenger brought him an order to leave the planet. Apparently his linguistic talent was urgently needed elsewhere. Digitizing all those books would be done by someone a few pay grades lower. And discussing them with Equestrians can wait. * * * What followed was a mad rush through interstellar gates. False documents, rubber masks, being smuggled in a cryostat across at least two borders, collapsing gates right after arrival... He mentally sneered every time he violated “No Mutants Allowed” law. Then was a tedious sublight flight to a frozen asteroid fortress deep inside a denial zone. When his employer wanted the trail fouled, no effort was spared. After the mostly fun stage two came waiting. Even more tedious two weeks. Just sitting in his cabin under many kilometres of rock, rereading the books he copied. His boss refused to meet him and locked himself in his own cabin. The fortress was too small for any sightseeing — at least outside forbidden areas. Even the daily scans (that pronounced him clean every time) did little to alleviate the boredom. Finally, stage three was over. On the fifteenth day “Curved” was woken up by an intercom call. His boss wanted to see him immediately. Four minutes later “Curved” locked the vault door behind him and turned to face his immediate superior. “'Curved', eh? Why do you still use this name?” For some reason the new boss wanted to know the story behind his new nickname. Not much to tell, really. “I liked 'Curve' better than my real surname. It's not easy having such an infamous great-uncle. Somebody misheard, and it became 'Curved'. I don't mind.” “Yeah, the first time I saw it, I thought 'The hell?!' too. You can always make the change official if you want.” “I'll think about that.” “Now, what was the secret you've been burning to tell me?” Finally! “Curved” inhaled, preparing to speak. But something felt wrong. He turned around and saw the door was open and an unhappy pink pony was standing in front of it. “Lightning! You've Pinkie Promised your friend to never tell. Why did you make a Pinkie Promise you were going to break?” Just as planned. Now came the tricky part. “I wasn't going to tell. We just pretended to attract your attention.” “OOOOOOOOH! That was a fun prank!” She jumped excitedly. “Now that you are here, could you tell us how did you track me down? And how did you get here? That's gotta be some story. Perhaps over some tea and cakes?” “Yes-I'd-really-love-to-stay-and-chat-but-I-promised-to-folasit-the-twins-later-today-and-I've-left-muffins-in-the-oven-and-I'm-already-getting-late-so-I'll-have-to-talk-to-you-later-bye!” and she dashed through the open door before “Lightning” could ask her to come back tomorrow. Well, that part could've gone better. He threw an inquiring glance at the boss. “Yes, I tried to restrain her with non-corporeal means, and yes, she shrugged them off without noticing. Optic cameras in this room saw her. Cameras in the corridor didn't. Other detectors paint an interesting picture...” “How interesting?” “With a bit of luck we are going to get a new communication technology in a year. Either that, or a new FTL drive. And a plethora of security holes to cork. Well done, Curved.”