# Chapter 5 - Meetings
Rose pettles on the floor and swirling lines of smoke from lit candles gave the otherwise dark room its cozy atmosphere. A heavy scent of sweat and other such odors filled the air. Nonny lay spooned and held in an air-tight embrace by a mare with a sea-green coat.
Nonny smiled contently (plenty pleased with herself). Around her mouth red lipstick kisses were planted.
Her ear twitched as she heard the creaking of a door being opened. She opened her eyes and saw the one pony she didn't want to find her in this position: Her mother, Bon Bon.
She flailed with her hooves and tried to distance herself from the pony behind her as if that would extriciate herself from the situation.
”Mom! It's not what it looks like!” Anon shouted while bringing her hooves up to protect herself.
Bon Bon looked as if she was on the verge of tears. She inhaled sharply.
”How can it not be what it looks like, Nonny?!” Bon Bon wailed.
Nonny hung her head.
”I'm sorry.”
”You expect me to forgive you after this?”
Anon's head dipped even lower.
”Not until you do one-hundred push-ups. Attention!” Bon Bon said.
”What?” Anon looked up in surprise.
”You dare to speak back to me, private? You failed abortion!”
Anon immidiately stood up straight and saluted.
”Now march! Hut two three four. Hut two three four...” Bon Bon pointed away with a powerful hoof.
Anon jumped off the bed and started trotting in a circle.
As she did this, she heard the sounds of hoofsteps getting louder and louder. She turned around. Lyra sneaked passed her, out the door.
She caught something in her peripheral, in the dark corner of the room. A large, dark silhoutte was there. What seemed like a midnight blue curtain billowed to the side of it and glittered like twinkling stars.
Pomf!
Suddenly, she found herself on her back, ontop of the bed. Her mother straddled her. She clasped her face with her hooves and stared softly into her eyes. Something Anon thought was strange since it was a quirk Bon Bon did to show motherly affection, not something you expect her to do after you just cucked her.
However, her eyes suddenly turned cold and she whispered in and unusually haughty voice.
”To think you'd leave yourself open like this? No locks. No alarms. No traps. No counter-measures. You really are just a foal, aren't you? I could so easily kill you. Right here. Right now.”
Anon felt as if there was a hungry pit in her stomach ready to shallow her whole.
”Mom, wha... What are you saying?”
It was as if she'd hallucinate the whole episode because her mother's eyes melted and regained their softness as if they never been anything but. Her face shone with the warmth that she rarely shown but that made Anon feel so beloved.
”I told you, Nonny. From the first time you asked me to teach you, that the life of a S.M.I.L.E. agent was a balance act on the edge of a knife. You can't relax now, you're on a mission. Don't. Underestimate. The danger. Stay. Razor. Sharp... And come home.” Her mother pleaded.
”Mom...”
”Now wake up! Wake up, my filly.”
The world around Anon seemed to be collapsing.
”WAKE UP!” Bon Bon screamed as she face morphed into something hideously demonic and her mane caught fire.
---
Anon jerked awake and her gaze darted around till it locked with a pair of yellow eyes. For a moment, she thought it was a predator but then she saw that it was just a pegasus.
”Woah, you're a deep sleeper,” said the pegasus. ”Breakfeast is ready and set in dining room. I was ordered to fetch you.”
The corners of her mouth curved upwards like devil horns and she looked down at Anon with half-lidded eyes.
Anon blinked a few times at the pony, then it hit her.
”You're the maid from-” She began but stopped and took in her surroundings. The room was striped from the floor to the wall in the color of bright sunlight falling in from the tall windows to her left. When she saw the colossal grapefruit painting at the otherside of the room, the memories of yesterday all rushed back to her.
”Yes, I'm Cloud Wrangler, one of the Crystal Palace's personnel. I think we saw each other briefly both here and in dining hall yesterday,” Cloud Wrangler said with a bit too wide smile and half-lidded eyes.
Cloud Wrangler wore the same black and white maid outfit from yesterday. Beneath the fabric, her fur was purple and her mane and tail were wine-gummy red. Her long mane was tied into a bum on the back of her head but not so tight that she didn't have any fringe. Two curtains of bangs obscured her face, her right one cover barely anything of her face while she could almost hide her eye behind the left one. Her tail was also done in a bum, which made her look a bit like a rabbit. She had stuck some of her own feathers into the bum on her head.
Anon started to push the blanket off her and sit up on the edge of the bed but quickly got a unsolicited help from the maid. She tossed the blanket off her and the helped Anon up to a sitting position with her wing.
”Uhh... Thanks. But I can manage myself,” Anon said and gave a polite smile towards the maid.
She had expected the maid to pull away but instead she used her feathers to squeeze her. Anon turned to look at the mare to find her staring right at her.
They just sat there staring at eachother. It felt like an eternity. Anon pulled her gaze down, into her own lap.
”Yeah, I can feel that.” Cloud dragged her feathers along Anon's neck, lingered there for a but a moment; then continued down over her shoulder; and then onto her back before pulling away. ”You don't look like much. But you got some tough muscles underneath all this... Absolutely, lovely furrrr. Hmmm... Like a little warthog, you are. Oink oink. Oink oink.”
Anon faced her again. Cloud's facial expression almost seemed sultry to Anon.
Is she hitting on me? Wondered Anon.
Anon blushed.
”But,” said Cloud, still with a coy smile on her lips, ”I kept you too long. Go, the filly princess is waiting. I'll do your bed in the meantime.”
”Sure,” said Anon and jumped off the bed before speed-walking out of there.
---
Breakfeast had been a pretty formal affair. Flurry seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of bed. She spared Anon only a glance before feasting upon her meal. Her parents had given Anon a quick exchange on the courses she'd be attending and that the litterature for the subjects had been purchased for her. After breakfeast, Anon placed those books into her saddlebag and brought it to school, much to Flurry's dismay.
They were driven through crystal streets, passed prestine crystal buildings, by a crystal carriage.
Flurry glared out her window and Anon felt like she ought to follow her example by looking out hers instead of trying to start a conversation.
Another dream of her, huh? Anon thought to herself. That's the second night in a row.
She felt bad. She wondered why she even felt this way towards Lyra. Was it because the obvious relationship that her mother had with the mare had effect her views on other females, or was it because Lyra liked to affectionally play-wrestle with her. She was ashamed to admit it but what she enjoyed with their little tussles was not the competition but the closeness to her mother's mare. One thing was for sure, she was glad no one else was prived to her dreams.
But it wasn't the weirdest dream she'd had though: Once she dreamt of being one of those mythical creatures Lyra was so obsessed with, a male one at that. Yes, she had confirmed this in the dream.
The crystal empire was not what Anon had expected. The train ride had been a long trip, and she still slept through about half of it, through desolate snowland with only a only few high notes: A big lake; a tunnel through a mountain chain; a forrest; and a big town, called Pine N' Tow. They had passed by some hamlets near the tracks too.
So when she arrived at the train station and felt the jewish weather on her back, her expectations of the Crystal Empire being a cold-ass place, had been vindicated thus far. But as she followed Flurry into the city, the warmer it had gotten. Flowers had no problem growing in the garden of ponies. The heat peaked at the palace, where it felt like it was summer. She had no idea why.
Flurry still seemed mad. Anon didn't know if there was some reason for this or if it was just... normal.
Anon realized that they had arrived at Crystal Private Acadamy when she saw horde of old foals and young adult ponies streaming in towards a building complex with a tower in the middle of it with big clock on it. It was eight o'clock.
They were driven off the main path and the carriage parked in a secluded area near the complex' courtyard.
Flurry turned over to Anon for the first time during the trip and said, ”Don't talk. Just follow.”
With that, they stepped out of the carriage. Anon followed Flurry through a garden with tree-colonnades, colorful flowers, and small ponds before they arrived at the complex' courtyard with the rest of the crowd of ponies. There they found a pair of fillies their age sitting on a bench, chatting.
As they saw Flurry, one stood up and raised a hoof high up into the air to greet her. The other remained seated but gently wave a hoof at her.
Suddenly, the frown Flurry had woren all morning flipped upside down as she saw the pair, despite herself it seemed.
”Woah, didn't know you could walk? Where are all your maids that carry you everywhere you go as you nip off grapes? Getting the day off? How nice of you,” the one who stood up said.
She was a marine-blue pegasus with a black mane done in a mohawk with several long spikes that had a blueish gleam to them. She had green eyes and her cutie mark was a pair of laughing skulls being tapped by two drum sticks. Her tail was short, same color as her mane, and spread out into several spikes. She also wore a leather jacket and braclets with metal spikes on them and a similar spiked collar.
Flurry's grin revealed teeth.
”Ha-ha,” she said and then paused for a moment. You could see the gears turning in her head. ”At least I don't share my table with racoons.”
The sitting filly stood up. Her bangs were short and her fringe cut even. If she leaned forward, it would cover her eyes. Her mane was black but you could see the blonde hair at their roots. Her fur was grey but she had powdered her face till it had become completely white. Under her right eye, she had drawn a red heart and under her left, she had drawn a black spade. Anon noticed as she blinked that she had drawn the red square on her left eyelid and the black clover on her right. She also wore a mask on the back of her head that she clearly could flip down, which was a biasically a horse skull with horns attached to it. Her cutie mark and tail was hidden behind an intricately desgined cloak which had a pattern with queer symbols.
Stuck to collar of the cloak though, was a brooch wtih a big blue gem as its centerpiece and what looked like some kinda of crest inside of it. It looked very out of place with the rest of the outfit.
But Anon noticed something more. The filly's hooves, and the blonde roots of her mane were transparent. Having been here in the crystal empire now for about twenty-four hours she had seen enough crystal ponies if only in her peripheral to recognice one.
This filly smiled as she rolled her eyes at Flurry and the pegasus filly's back and forth bantzing. Then she blinked as she noticed Anon and how she stood next to Flurry.
”Uhh, hi. Who are you?” she asked.
Anon didn't know how Flurry reacted but it felt like she sort of froze up as if she had been found out about an awkward secret or something. The other filly noticed her for the first time as well and didn't seem to know what to make of the situation either.
Anon wasn't sure what to say, and having just been told not to say anything made her a bit anxious about answering. However, just staying silent was even more awkward and stranger so she resorted to her cover story.
”Aah, hi,” Anon said nervously. ”I'm Anonymous Filly, but you can call me Anon, or Nonny if you like. Ehh, I'm from Baltimare. I'm staying with Pri- Fury for the time being.”
Flurry shut her eyes.
The filly with the spikes grinned so much she showed teeth while the other giggled quietly into her hoof seemingly more so because she seemed to anticipate the other filly's reaction.
The pegasus filly released a hearty laugh.
”Flurry, you actually tricked her into using our bandnames?” The spikey-haired pony said.
Flurry looked like she just bit into something gross.
”Nah,” the spikey one said as she looked over towards Anon. ”Her real name is Priiiincess Flurry Heart. Always refer to her as, 'yooouur majesty'.”
The pegasus filly went low in front of Flurry and looked up at her with mock reverance as she said this. She opened her mouth wide, and spread her pupils wide apart as well, as well as shaked her head in retarded manner.
Flurry blushed hard but overcame it like she did everything else, with anger. Though, it seemed as if it was hard for her to direct any real anamosity towards the pair, considering her face was stuck in a goofy grin.
”At least my food is cooked rotten from having been in bin for a month,” Flurry blurted back but her face was still flushed.
Something about the absurd situation made Anon laugh as well, which made Flurry looked at her with surprise and the spikey filly with a sort of welcoming look.
”Though, if I may ask,” the crystal filly asked between fits of giggles. ”Why are you staying with Flurry, Miss Anon?”
Anon opened her mouth to speak but Flurry beat her to it.
”Appearently, her mom help my mom once when she was sick so to return the favor my mom offer Anon a place to stay while studying here. That's about it, right?” flurry said.
”Yeah, that's right.”
”Woo, so you're from Baltimare. Ever gone to one of Absolutely Peeved's concerts.” pegasi filly asked.
”Ehh, no, sadly. I'm relatively new to metal. So... I never been there. They play in Baltimare?” Anon asked, hoping the question would shift the focus away from her.
”Yeah, since it's their home town they sell tickets for extra prices there. Anyway, I like your clothes. They rad.”
”Hmm-mmm, I really like the skulls,” the crystal filly said and nodded to herself.
”Aw, thanks. Yeah, I... Bought them yesterday actually at Plot Topic. Flurry help me pick them out.”
”You should have heard her. I look... pretty hawt actually. Also, we didn't buy them. You know that my parents won't allow for that big of an allowance because they want me to experince what it feels to be a hobo, like you,”-She winked at the pegasus filly and she grinned.-” except for living in a palace, I guess. Which I welcome cuz then I can steal like you.” She tapped the mowhawk filly's chest.
”My mare!”
They hoof bumped each other.
”You really shouldn't be stealing. It would be such scandal if you got caught.” the crystal filly said.
”Don't worry my parents will bail me out you know,” Flurry said winked at her.
”I hate you the pegasus filly,” said with a grin.
Then the bell rung and the trio, now a quadro move towards their morning class.
---
First class was homeroom, whereupon her new teacher introduced Anon to the class. Her introduction went well. She went with her cover story that she was from Baltimare but left out that she was staying with the Princess. She kinda made a fool of herself when she snapped into attention and saluted upon being called by name by the teacher. Something about her authority caused Anon's military reflexes to kick in. The class seemed to have been somewhat shocked at first by the intensity Anon carried herself with when she stood attention but as Anon realized what she done and sheepishly put her hoof back to the floor, they'd all laughed. Flurry had cringed at that but beyond that the introduction and the rest of the school day had gone smoothly.
Anon had hanged with the Flurry's two friends for most of the day. During lunch, she had learned that they had a band together called the Tartarus Zone. Appearently, though, their lead singer, Rave Smite, was not here. The crystal filly said that in Smite's last letter to her, she said that she would be returning today with an airship so it was strange that she was abscent. Flurry had been staring off during the exchange and her two friends and been looking at her knowingly.
Flurry's two friends went home together, sadly they couldn't join them because Flurry had private magic lessons with Sunburst, she didn't look to unhappy about this. The spikey one told her to, ”go and get him,” playfully before asking Anon if she wished to join them as they were going to hang out in the crystal filly's home which appearently was a mansion. Flurry clearly felt a bit uneasy with the idea of Anon spending time with her friends alone but that worry was elviated fast for her because Anon remembered her mission and declined, saying she need to get started with her studying so she didn't get behind on her studies now when she was new an all. But she thanked them all the same for the offer.
The carriage came to pick them up and take them back to the Palace. Flurry didn't say much during the trip back home, seemingly have something on her mind and when they got back she was immidiately off to the chamber with her lesson with Sunburst.
Anon found herself alone in the Palace. She felt somewhat exhausted after the school day, so many new impressions had kinda tired her out so she slumped down onto her bed. She pondered for a moment if she was suppose to still keep an eye on Flurry in the Palace but decided against it. If they wanted that then they should have made it so that they sleept in the same room, besides the palace was filled with guards, the plan was probably for her to secretly guard Flurry in the public.
He eyelids felt heavy and so did her body. Soon she fell asleep despite the sun still being up and it just being afternoon.
She was awoken by a knocking on her door. She realized that she most have sleept for a while. She opened it and found the maid from before, Cloud Wrangler standing there. She told her that Shining Armour wished to see her and that she'd guide her to his office, so she followed. After being escorted to the door, Cloud went away and Anon entered the office. She found Shining Armour sitting behind a large bench with a big pile of papers on one side and a comedically big cup of steamy coffee on the other.
He looked up as he saw Anon and put away whatever he was working with. He levitated a chair over and gestured for Anon to take a seat.
”You wanted to see me, Sir,” Anon said.
”Yes, Private. I realized that I might have some time today in my sechcdule to continue our brefing from yesterday and since Sunburst is teaching Flurry right now, this would be a fitting time,” he said.
He leaned back and via his magic took a sip of his coffee.
”So... Where to begin? I suppose you can report on the day. Any unusual activity?” Shining asked.
Anon barely thought about it.
”No, Sir. Just a normal school day as far as I notice,” Anons said.
He nodded and took another sip of coffee. He massaged his forehead. He looked tired.
”Good.” A pause. ”Well then, onto the main topic. Yesterday you asked what the threat was, which is a good question. Are you familiar with the Coven of Nightmares?”
”Yes, more than the average pony I think at least. I was informed about them through S.M.I.L.E. Nightmares were unicorns that transformed themselves through dark magic. The Coven is what they call themselves. They resides in three underground cities, which they call nests: One nest is beneath Canterlot, one is beneath Trottingham, and one is in Tartarus. All manner of illegal activity happens in their cities. They also share these caverns with Everfree-grade level of monsters. Their black market and smuggling empire is what is most relevant to us in S.M.I.L.E., I think.
”But that's about how much I know. I was told that most of it is not our department but the Order of Daymares'.”
Shining nodded.
”You're well informed. Have you heard that we were in war with them about sixteen years ago?”
Anon's eyes widen.
”No, I haven't. What happend?”
Shining took a swig of his coffee and looked past Anon out a window.
”It was my first year as Captain of the Royal guards. The previous captain had not dared to touch the nightmares and had adviced me not to get involved. Maybe it would have been for the better. I can't tell if I did it for glory and to show off my might in front of uhhh... *cough* Anyway, or if I did it because I couldn't stand the injustice of plaguing the ponies under the rule of the nightmares but I used that fact that they had been dealing with changelings to justify my campaign against them. We conquered the shallows part of their underground city, Dark Horse town.
”Many ponies died in the fighting, though, and we didn't defeat our enemy, however, we still have Dark horse town under relative control today.”
He was still looking into the distance.
”I... Once had an attempt made on my life. I don't know if resentment of me still exists among the nightmares of the Coven or not, since so many years has passed since then, but I do know one thing.”
He turned towards Anon who was listening intently.
”A few months ago, one of my guards died out on patrol. He was killed by Night Assassin.”
”A night assassin?” Anon asked.
”In the Coven, Nightmares have houses, each house has by tradition a night assassin and an apprentice unicorn mare, and also a bunch of servants. The assassin is like their beloved pet and the apprentice is kinda like their foal. They are meant to become nightmares themselves eventually and continue the house's legacy ”
”How do you know that it was a night assassin that killed ur guard?
”Because I have seen their hoofy[s];^P[/s] work first hoof during the war. They have a special killing techinque called the owl twist where they disjoint the neck boulet with each other before twisting the head a lap around like an owl. They are experts at preforming it and many other martial arts technques. They are their house pride and joy besides the apprentice, of course.”
Anon ponderd this for a moment.
”But that technique sounds difficult. Wouldn't it be more normal to kill somepony in any other possible way? To me it almost sounds like they wanted us to think it was night assassin because of such an elborate neck snap,” Anon thought aloudd but then realized that. ”But that's just my opinion, sir.”
”That's fair however, the technique is only taught to night assassins by previous night assassins belonging to a house and also, they have practice this techinque during their train endlessly. They can do it in their sleep. The Order of Daymares said the same thing, that the murders probably just did it to scare me personally because I know about the techinque but I doubt it.
”The body had been mutilated as well, almost as if to hide the cause of death. I have witness an owl twist once. The night assassin's hooves blurred in their speed and in a morbid gracefulness my fellow guard friend's head spun around with ease.
Sadness and disgust washed over his face for a moment.
”But the Order just doesn't wanna send any daymares here because the Empire has the Crystal Heart. The crystal Heart keeps out dark magic and creatures infused with it, such as nightmares, so the daymares doubt nightmares would send one of their assassins here. That's why I turned to S.M.I.L.E. and pleaded to them to send me one of their juniors because I know I'm right and I won't risk my daughter's life just because they dismiss the possibility.”
He looked intently at Anon.
”And now you're here.”
---
Rave Smite plumped down in her seat. The white filly let out a big sigh of relief and pushed her back throughly into her seat for comfort. She looked out the window and saw the famous Canterlot fall, the green valley beneath it, and the snowy mountain ranges in the distance.
As the ship took off and left the airship port, it turned and gave her a clear view of Dark Horse town on the underside of Canterlot Cliff. The cutout sections of the mountain wall revealed a bunch of stone buildings servering the dual purpose as pillars as well. To think that these caverns went even deeper and to think that the peaceful Daymare Temple rested just above the greatest of the nightmare Nests.
On the opposite of her was another pair of seats and between them was a table, they were vacant. This was the third class so she excepted company from fellow bit-savers, though in Smite's case she hadn't spent a single of her own dime on the trip. The Order had paid for all of it, but she still travel third class because the Order was the Order.
But it was nice to finally get a break from the temple and return home, even if she was going straight back to her school bench. It would be nice meeting her family again. In her latest letter, she been informed that her brother had taken a job at one of the fast food joints at the Crystal Mall. She was a bit nervous about meeting Flurry again after the left on such a sour note, maybe she would just stay away, she thought bitterly. Though, she was still friends with the rest of the band even if they didn't talk much due to the distance.
She unzipped her bag and pulled out a pair of headphones. She put them let the techno metal seep into her ears and calm her mind. She closed her eyes and realized that she was definitely about to fall asleeps so she lowered the volume as not to let it wake her up later.
But she never got there, as an orange filly her age with an out of place scarf around her neck sat down on the opposite side of her. She looked at the thick which turned out to be just blanket just used as a scarf.
Rave grinned goofily to herself.
She took off her headphones with the magic from her horn and let them slide down onto her neck. She pointed at the orange filly.
”First time visiting the Empire?” she asked with a knowing look.
The filly looked up. She looked up at her like she seen a ghost or as if she was carrying around a bomb or something.
She was also squinting her eyes so narrow that it almost looked like she had them shut which she had at times considering she was constantly blinking. It was strange to rave. The room they sat in wasn't that bright. She figured that she must have just woken up, which was fair since it was early in the morning.
”Uhm... Yes, how did you know?” the orange filly asked.
”Your scarf.” She indicated it with a hoof. ”Only on the outskirts of the Empire do you need one. You see the Crystal Heart emits so much heat that it keeps the whole empire warm. It also keeps out dark magic so beings like Nightmares can't enter in it's effective radius.
”So unless you're planning on living at the train station. You won't need it.”
”Ah.” It looked like gears were turning in the other filly's head. ”So... Uh... Is that a gem in your horn?” the orange filly asked and pointed a hoof towards the dark blue gem in the Rave's horn.
Rave didn't even notice that conversation had moved away from the fact that the filly had a scarf on in a warm airship.
”Yes, it's my magic compass. It's what shows that I'm a dayfilly, a daymare in training.” Rave added when she noticed the filly was not following.
When she saw that she still wasn't following, she continued.
”You don't know what Daymares are? Uh, well I suppose we aren't wonderbolts. Still a Daymares are suppose to bring a feeling of safety to their fellow ponies so it's sad to hear that you haven't even heard of us.
”Daymares are really a special task force of unicorns that fight against dark magic and creatures. We're basically just guards with extra juristiction and some real arcane muscles.”
Rave winked at her.
This was Rave's go to explanation to outsiders. It was short and simple and true if only a bit limited. The more accurate truth was they were Equestria's elite soliders that woreshiped Celestia and had a religon called Harmony where Princess Celestia and the alicorns were a big deal.
They were kinda seen as guardians of Equestria from dark threats and they worked both as a powerful military force but also as a symbol, kinda like the wonderbolts. They were the paladins outside of Ogres and Oubliettes, she supposed.
They were kinda like the opposite of the organisation, which she had only heard of through the Order, S.M.I.L.E., which was Equestria's secret service booru and did most of their things undercover.
”I just got a break from the Temple and on my way home to study normal school filly stuff at Crystal Private Academy.”
The orange filly blinked a few times.
”Wait, I thinks that's where I'm going as well,” the orange filly said.
# Chapter 6:
The following day at lunchtime Anon sat in the cafeteria, munching on banana chips while Flurry's two bandmates explained the complex social ecosystem of Crystal Private Academy.
"Over there are the sports-ponies," said the blue pegasus with the mohawk, who called herself Acid Burn. She pointed to a group of beefy-looking colts sitting at a table in the center. "You probably won't have to interact with them much if you stick with us, just watch out for them."
Anon looked at where the other was pointing, and appraised the group of colts. They all had buzz-cropped manes and wore jackets with the school's logo on them. She didn't think they looked especially tough. Sure they were big, but they were just sitting there wolfing down hayburgers and laughing; no situational awareness whatsoever. They didn't look like they had any combat training at all. Anon could see at least sixteen ways to take each one of them out just from where she was sitting.
"Are they dangerous?" she asked.
Acid Burn shrugged.
"Not really," she replied. "Like I said, they don't talk to us much. If you ever get roped into a conversation with one of them, just say something about buckball."
"I don't know anything about buckball."
"That shouldn't matter. As long as your words sound more or less sports-related and you end every sentence with 'bro', you can pretty much just say whatever to them."
Anon nodded. This environment was a lot more complicated than she'd initially thought, but she was confident she could figure it out. She'd spent most of her life (the parts she could remember at least) on military bases and in training camps. Everypony had a rank, and you had to address them accordingly. This place didn't seem to be all that different.
Meanwhile, Acid had pointed to another group. This group consisted of mostly scrawny and gawky foals. Most of them wore glasses and bow ties.
"Over there is the science club," she said.
"What do they do?"
"Nothing, as far as I can tell. I'm pretty sure they only reason they exist is so the sports-ponies have somepony to throw tater-tots at."
"Oh."
Anon scanned the crowded cafeteria with a practiced eye for detail. At first glance, it appeared to be a motley assortment of foals dressed in all different styles. However, when you looked closer, it was clear that the foals at each table were dressed in a distinct, uniform style different from all other tables. Moreover, the decision of which group sat at which tables appeared to have been made according to some invisible pecking order. She couldn't quite see the logic in it yet, but she was certain it was there.
"What about those ponies?" she asked, pointing to a group in the corner, not far from where they themselves were sitting. These foals were all wearing black clothes and spiked jewelry similar to what Flurry and her friends had on.
Acid scoffed and made a face.
"What [i]about[/i] them?"
Anon swallowed the banana chip she'd been chewing.
"They're dressed kind of like us," she observed. "Why aren't we sitting with them?"
Crash Override, the grey crystal filly who wore the skull mask, put her hoof up to her open mouth and made a gagging noise.
"Ew, don't even joke about that," she said. "[i]Those[/i] ponies are into deathcore. We like grindcore."
"Oh," said Anon.
The two fillies leaned in, each raising an eyebrow.
"You're not into deathcore, are you Nonny?"
Anon rapidly shook her head.
"No way," she assured them. "Deathcore sucks."
This seemed to more or less placate the two fillies. Anon sighed quietly and made a mental note:
[i]Find out what deathcore is, then find out why it sucks.[/i]
She cleared her throat and pointed quickly at another table.
"What about those ponies over there? The ones in clown makeup?"
"The Juggapones?" Acid Burn cast a disparaging glance at a table of scraggly foals with dyed, dreadlocked manes and fake-gold medallions around their necks.
"Just stay the hell away from them if you know what's good for you," Crash advised. "Those ponies are like, social cancer."
"Social cancer?"
"Oh, yeah. They're so lame the sports-ponies won't even throw tater-tots at them."
"Uh, wow." Anon could think of no better response than this.
"Didn't they have Juggapones at your old school?" inquired Acid.
Anon shook her head.
"Oh. Well, lucky you then. They're obsessed with some weird rap band from Detrot."
"Insane Clown Ponies," muttered Flurry Heart.
The other three immediately looked at her; this was the first thing she'd said out loud since lunch began. She seemed to be in an even worse mood than usual today.
"I've...never heard of them," said Anon.
"Good," replied Flurry. "I'd kick you out of my house if you had."
An uncomfortable silence descended upon their table.
"Hey, look who's back!" Acid exclaimed suddenly, pointing.
A tall white unicorn filly had just entered the cafeteria. Her mane was pink and blue striped, done up in a simple pony tail, and her eyes were bright, fiery red. She had a curious blue gem attached to her horn, Anon noted. Although she had no cutie mark (Flurry was also a blank-flank, and if her friends had their marks they kept them hidden under skirts), she was at least a head taller than any of them, and looked to be a year or two older.
Anon appraised her quickly. Unlike Flurry and her friends, who dyed their manes and seemed determined to dress as garishly as possible, this pony wore nothing but a pair of headphones and a couple of spiked bands around one of her forelegs. Despite this, she seemed to project more "attitude" than Flurry's whole trio put together. Anon still didn't fully understand this school's fashion-based caste system, but one thing was clear to her: whatever sort of image the other three were trying to pull off, this pony was the real deal, and she had it without even trying.
However, as soon as she caught sight of the filly walking behind her, Anon forgot all about the tall unicorn.
Anon's jaw almost dropped. There was nothing especially remarkable about her on her own, but...it was like looking into a mirror.
The new filly could have been Anon's twin. She had the same unkempt, black mane, the same eyes, the same face. They were both the same height and the same build. If it weren't for the fact that this other was orange, there would have been no way to tell them apart. They were even wearing the same clothes: pink and black striped socks, a skull-shaped hair accessory, black eyeliner, ear studs. The only obvious difference was that the orange filly was wearing a rather conspicuous black scarf in place of a dog collar. And, though it was partially obscured by the skirt and difficult to read, it looked like this filly even had the same cutie mark that Anon did: a mysterious '?' symbol.
[i]What in the world is going on?[/i] thought Anon, as the hair on the back of her neck began to prickle.
"Check it out," Crash Override hissed in her ear. "That filly is totally copping your look! Are you gonna stand for that?"
"I...uh..." Anon was speechless.
They all suddenly looked at Flurry, who was grinding her teeth and staring daggers at the tall white unicorn.
"This is gonna be wild..." whispered Acid Burn, more to herself than to anypony else.
The unicorn filly noticed them and came up to their table, wearing an indifferent, almost bored expression.
"'Sup guys," she said, nodding to Acid and Crash in turn. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added: "Flurry."
Flurry continued to grind her teeth, and gave only the slightest of nods.
"Hey Rave," said Crash, keeping a nervous eye on Flurry. "Uh, who's the new foal?"
The unicorn spared a bored glance for the orange filly who drew in beside her.
"Oh, this is my friend Anon. We met on the airship."
The orange filly, whose name was apparently also Anon, came forward and gave them all an awkward nod.
"Uh, hi," she said. [i]Jeez, even our voices sound the same,[/i] thought Anon. "My name's Anonymous Filly. You can call me Anon or Nonny if you want."
"Oh man, this is getting sooooo freaky..." whispered Acid Burn, again to nopony in particular.
Crash said nothing. Flurry continued to grind her teeth. Anon and Anon could only stare uncomfortably at each other. Meanwhile, the unicorn, whose name seemed to be Rave, seemed more interested in the food counter at the other end of the room. Anon could hear faint, tinny music coming from her headphones.
"Today's pizza day," she said. Nopony seemed sure how to respond to that, or even if they were supposed to respond.
Without saying anything else, Rave turned and headed off towards the counter. A moment later, the orange Anon turned and followed, casting occasional backward glances at the green Anon.
Meanwhile, Flurry gave out a loud grunt. Without a word, she levitated her tray, dumped the remainder of its contents in a nearby trash bin, and stomped off towards the exit. Anon watched her, knowing that she probably ought to follow, but unsure about whether or not her company was wanted.
As soon as Flurry was out of earshot, Crash and Acid started chattering.
"Ohmygoshdidyouseethat...?"
"...Ijusttotallycanteven..."
"...thatwasjustsototallylike..."
Anon listened to the two of them for a moment, her head swimming. Then, she forced herself to snap back into focus.
"Who was that?" she demanded suddenly. The other two stopped their chatter. "The unicorn, I mean."
Acid and Crash looked at each other hesitantly.
"Oh, that's right, I guess you wouldn't know anything about it," said Crash. "Her name is Rave Smite. She's, well..."
"She used to be the singer in our band," Acid finished.
Crash nodded.
"Right. She [i]used[/i] to be."
"What happened?"
The two of them exchanged another look.
"Well..." began Crash.
"She got into EDM," Acid whispered, as though it were some kind of scandalous secret.
Anon forced herself to smile.
"Ah...I, uh...I see."
[i]Note to self: find out what EDM is,[/i] she thought.
Crash rolled her eyes.
"There's a [i]little[/i] more to it than that," she said. "Those two have [i]always[/i] been rivals."
Acid was nodding.
"Yeah. After all, you know what it's like when you've got two giant egos in one band."
"Oh...uh, yeah. Totally," Anon assured them.
[i]Note to self: find out what it's like when you've got two giant egos in one band,[/i] she thought.
"They used to be really good friends," Acid went on. "Like, they've known each other a really long time. But they're, like, the kind of friends that...also kind of hate each other...and...try to one-up each other. Does that make any sense?"
"Oh yeah, totally," Anon assured them again.
[i]Note to self,[/i] she thought. [i]Find out if that makes any sense.[/i]
- - -
Flurry's dark mood persisted throughout the rest of the school day, and Anon felt it was best to keep her distance. The carriage ride home was spent in total silence, and when they returned to the palace Flurry headed straight to her room without a word. Anon decided it was best to give her some space, so for a couple of hours she kept herself busy by writing reports, doing her homework assignments, and completing a few other odd tasks that she'd been neglecting. After a time, though, it all began to feel like busy work.
After all, she was supposed to be Flurry's bodyguard, and that job would be difficult if she had to keep her distance all the time.
She went down the hall to Flurry's room. There were muffled sounds coming through the door; ghastly noises that sounded like somepony being tortured.
Alarmed, she rapped on the door. There was no answer, so she rapped again, harder this time. The handle glowed with a faint blue aura, and a moment later the latch clicked and the door swung open.
Anon had to immediately cover her ears. The most god-awful racket she had ever heard in her life accosted her as soon as the door was out of the way. For a moment, she wondered if she was too late and the assassins were already running Flurry through a meat-grinder. Then she saw the giant speakers in the corner, and realized it was music.
"Uh, could you turn that down please?"
Flurry looked at Anon with intense disdain. Her horn glowed, and a moment later the volume of the music dropped to a barely-tolerable level. Anon gratefully lowered her hooves from her ears.
"Thanks," she said.
Flurry said nothing. She just sat there, staring at a candle that sat on her desk. There was no other light in the room, save for the few slivers of sunlight that managed to peek in from under the thick window shades. Anon fidgeted awkwardly for a bit, and then cleared her throat.
"So, uh, what are you listening to?"
"White Line Disease by Horny Laminae. It's their fifth EP."
"Oh. Uh...cool."
Anon's best guess would have been 'Garbage Can Filled With Marbles Rolling Down a Flight of Stairs' by 'Who Would Even Record Sounds Like This And Why?', but she decided it was best not to say this out loud. In any case, Flurry said nothing further. She continued to stare at the candle. Anon continued to fidget.
"So...uh...you like this band?"
Flurry gave her an irritated look.
"No, I'm listening to them because I hate them."
"Uh..."
Anon was rapidly running out of things to talk about. She silently cursed her mother for not giving her more information before sending her on this mission. How could she just ship her off to the Crystal Empire without explaining any of this stuff about fashion, and music, and whatever the hell Juggapones were? Might as well just drop her into the Forbidden Jungle without a compass.
Meanwhile, she realized that Flurry was staring at her impatiently, as if she were expected to say something.
"Uh..."
She stared helplessly at the posters on the wall. They all depicted ponies wearing elaborate costumes and makeup, tongue-kissing skulls or vomiting stage blood on each other. At least she hoped it was stage blood. The band names were all written in completely illegible script, and Anon guessed that even if she [i]could[/i] read them, it wouldn't make the meaning of these images any clearer.
[i]At this point, I think I'd [/i]rather[i] be in the Forbidden Jungle,[/i] she thought.
Flurry was still staring at her.
"So...uh...is this band......grindcore or deathcore?" she finally asked.
Without warning, Flurry suddenly burst out laughing.
"Yeesh, you really are a nerd, aren't you?"
"Y-yeah, I guess so," said Anon, smiling weakly.
To Anon's eternal gratitude, Flurry lit up her horn and shut off the music completely.
"And to answer your question: yes, this is a grindcore band. I wouldn't be caught dead listening to deathcore. What kind of music do they listen to in Baltimare, anyway?"
Anon could only shrug helplessly.
"I...guess I don't know. I don't really listen to music," she admitted.
"Gee, really? I never would have guessed."
Flurry laughed again. She wiped away a tear.
"Look, I don't care that much what music you're into I guess. As long as it's not EDM, we'll probably be fine."
"EDM is music? I thought it was some kind of soap."
Flurry laughed again. Anon hadn't meant this as a joke, but she decided to laugh along with her. At least she seemed to have cheered up a little.
"Hey," said Flurry. "You wanna get out of here for awhile?"
Before Anon could reply, she found herself encapsulated in a magic aura, being levitated toward the ceiling.
"Wait a minute--"
She was propelled into one of several small shafts cut into the crystal of the ceiling. A moment later, Flurry herself landed next to her, tucking her wings to her sides.
"Come on," she said, and took off at a gallop.
Anon wasn't sure about this, but seeing as how it was easily a fifteen foot drop back to the bedroom floor, she didn't have much choice but to follow. Flurry led them through a webwork of narrow corridors, passing the occasional surprised-looking pegasus maid, and Anon quickly lost all sense of direction. Whoever had cut these shafts had obviously not designed them for wingless ponies: they frequently zigzagged up and down at steep angles, and more than once Flurry had to levitate her across a chasm that was too far for her to jump.
Eventually, they turned a corner and galloped out into the sunlight.
"Careful," advised Flurry.
Anon felt herself being levitated again, and a second later she realized why. Beneath her was a drop of at least four hundred feet; the shaft they had emerged from was cut just below the roofline of the palace's highest tower.
"WAAAAAH!!" she screamed, flailing her hooves helplessly.
Flurry laughed, idly flying in place next to her.
"You could have warned me!" shouted Anon, her heart still pounding.
"I did warn you," said Flurry. "That's why I said 'careful.' Now let's go, before the tower guards spot us."
Flurry tucked in her wings and dive-bombed toward the pavement below, still holding Anon in her aura. Anon could do little besides flail her limbs and scream. Just when it looked like they were about to hit the ground and make a splat, Flurry spread her wings gracefully and began to glide, using the momentum of the drop to carry her forward. They zigzagged lazily between rooftops, and Anon did her best to hold on to her lunch.
Flurry suddenly tucked in her wings again and lurched downward, spread them again at the last second, and set the two of them down gracefully on a patch of grass.
Anon plopped down on the grass, wheezing and panting, happy to be back on terra firma. Her heartbeat sounded like the drums in Flurry's terrible music. Little white specks were floating in the corners of her vision.
"What--the---" she wheezed.
She did her best to remember her training (what little of it she'd had before they'd sent her on what was increasingly looking like a suicide mission), and tried to calm herself. She focused on taking deep breaths, and tried to take in her surroundings.
They appeared to be in a deep artificial pit, cut in the exact shape of a square. Thick stone walls rose up on all four sides, and the walls were covered with moss and vines. The bottom of the pit was overgrown with grass and weeds. In the corner was a pool of stagnant water covered with floating moss and lily-pads, where a few frogs were croaking lazily. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was low, so the entire pit was cast in shadow.
"What do you think?" asked Flurry.
"This is...pretty cool, actually," said Anon. "What is this place?"
Flurry walked to the corner opposite the water. The grass here had grown so high it was taller than the two fillies, and it felt like they were stepping into a small jungle. Flurry led them through the tangles until they came to a small structure, that appeared to have been made out of the frame of a sky-carriage and random pieces of wood and metal.
"Originally there was supposed to be this huge building here," explained Flurry. "I don't know what they were planning to build, but I guess they lost their funding or something, and then there was this big legal dispute over who owned the lot."
Her horn lit up, and she began to fumble with a padlock hung across what looked like a door. A few seconds later it clicked, and the door swung open.
"All they ever got built was the foundation, so for the longest time there's just been this giant hole at the edge of the city."
Anon followed her into the structure, which she now saw was a surprisingly sturdy-looking clubhouse made out of discarded junk.
"Are they ever going to do anything with it?" asked Anon.
Flurry shrugged.
"No idea. I remember hearing my parents talking about it, how a bunch of different ponies have tried to buy the rights to it or something, but there's some kind of complicated legal thing that makes it hard to do. I don't know; I don't really understand shit like that."
She walked over and ignited a camping lantern that sat on a small wooden crate.
"I know my mom is trying to get the rights to it for the State, so she can turn it into a public park," she continued. "Put in stairs and fountains and whatever, and make it into some kind of terraced-garden type thing. That would be cool, I guess, but I sort of hope she can't get the rights to it either. I like this place the way it is."
Anon looked around her, admiring the clubhouse. It probably wouldn't look like much to a professional builder, but for something that had just been slapped together out of random parts, it appeared quite well-built.
"Was this always here?" she asked.
"No, I built it with--"
Flurry cut herself off suddenly, and there was a spark of anger in her eye.
"I built it with a friend," she finished sullenly.
"Oh," said Anon. "Uh, cool."
Flurry went around the crate to where a discarded mattress lay, and plopped down onto it. There was another one on the other side, so Anon followed her example. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments.
Anon cleared her throat.
"Uh, maybe it's none of my business, but this friend of yours...her name wouldn't happen to be Rave, would it?"
She'd half expected Flurry to explode into a rage, but to her surprise she didn't. Instead, her face took on a melancholy expression, and she stared off into the distance.
"I guess you heard about it from Crash and Acid," she said. "I might as well tell you; you'll probably get the whole story one way or another."
"I'm not trying to pry or anything..."
"No, it's okay. Have I ever told you about my band?"
"The Tartarus Zone?"
"Yeah. Well, Rave Smite was our singer. More than that, actually. She and I [i]started[/i] the band. We came up with the idea last year, in an AP spellcraft class we had together. I was getting super into thrash metal at the time, and she was huge into metalcore, and we started talking one day and we had this idea to start a band. I had a history class with Crash and knew she played drums, and she was friends with Acid, so we got things going pretty quick. But last month, Rave started getting into all this darkwave and EDM shit, and she started making all these changes, wanting Crash to switch to an electronic kit, and then she was talking about adding a DJ and switching to programmed drums..."
She trailed off when she realized that Anon wasn't following a word of what she was saying. She sighed.
"I guess the details don't matter," she admitted. "The point is, she [i]always[/i] has to have everything [i]her[/i] way, and it pisses me off. Tartarus Zone was supposed to be [i]our[/i] band, not hers! So, I finally told her off one day, and it turned into this huge fight, and..."
She trailed off again, still gazing despondently into the distance.
"...and that was the end of it, I guess," she finished lamely. "After the fight she had to leave on some kind of mission, and we haven't spoken since."
"Mission?"
Anon's curiosity was suddenly piqued. Flurry glanced at her.
"Yeah," she said. "That's another thing about her. You ever heard of the Daymares?"
Anon nodded. She didn't know a ton about them, just the overview she'd gotten during basic training. They were some kind of religious paramilitary order, technically part of the Equestrian army, but they were allowed to operate independently of the diarchy's command. S.M.I.L.E. collaborated with them on ops sometimes.
"Well, Rave is one of them. Or a Daymare in Training, or something like that. She thinks she's so cool."
Flurry sighed again. Most of her anger seemed to have cooled, and now she just looked sad and thoughtful.
Anon tried to think of something to say that might cheer her up, but this newest bit of information was too distracting. Her mother hadn't said a word to her about the Order being involved in this mission, but if a Daymare was stationed at the school...could it be a coincidence? And what the hell had been the deal with that orange filly, anyway? She'd looked exactly like her. Anon made up her mind to call in to base command in the next couple of days. It was probably about time she made a progress report.
Besides, she had more than a few things she wanted to chew out her mother about.
- - -
By the time they returned to the Palace it was almost sundown. Flurry had cleverly timed their little excursion so that they would be back in time for dinner. In fact, she timed it perfectly: no sooner had they crawled through the air shafts and returned to Flurry's room than the door latch clicked open.
Flurry tucked her wings in mid-glide and landed as swiftly and gracefully as she could manage, immediately dropping into what she hoped was a relaxed-looking pose on the floor. She practically threw Anon into the beanbag chair in the corner.
The door creaked, and Shining Armor poked his head through the opening.
"Dinner's ready, hon," he said.
"Yeesh, Dad, do you ever knock?" Flurry demanded rudely.
Shining ignored the question.
"Oh, good, Nonny's in here too," he said. "Everything's ready, we're just waiting for you two."
Flurry gave an exaggerated sigh, but trotted obediently out into the hall. Anon followed suit, but Shining held out a hoof and stopped her.
"Why don't you hang back a minute, Nonny," he said. "I need to have a word with you."
Flurry glanced over her shoulder and saw her father gently nudging Anon back into her room. A moment later the door clicked shut and locked. She frowned curiously, but decided not to make it her business for now. She resumed her trek to the dining hall.
When the two of them were alone, Shining gave Anon a withering look.
"So, did the two of you have a fun little trip?" he demanded.
Anon sighed.
"So you knew?"
"Of course I knew," he snapped. "You think I don't know what goes on in my own castle? The tower guard spotted the two of you flying away. Even if he hadn't, he said you were screaming so loud they could probably hear you all the way in Yakyakistan! Not exactly your finest performance."
Anon felt herself reddening slightly.
"I'd like to see how well [i]you'd[/i] handle it," she muttered.
"What was that, Private?"
There was nothing left of Flurry's Dad; this was Shining Armor, Captain of the Guard speaking. Anon instinctively snapped to attention, though inwardly she cursed herself a little for reacting this way.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?"
Shining narrowed his eyes.
"Granted," he said.
"Well, sir," Anon began. "With all due respect, do you see any wings on me? How about a horn? If I suddenly find myself tossed out of the highest tower in the castle by your [i]alicorn[/i] daughter, exactly what am I supposed to do besides scream?"
Shining frowned.
"Alright, that's understandable," he admitted. "But all it does is prove my point."
"And what exactly is your point, sir?"
Shining's frown deepened. Anon's tone had a clear note of defiance in it, and Shining was obviously not accustomed to being addressed this way by his subordinates.
"My point," he said icily, "is that your mission is to protect my daughter. As in, the two of you shouldn't have been outside the castle in the first place, let alone jumping out of the high tower. Do I really have to explain why letting her wander around the city without a guard detail is a bad idea?"
Anon swallowed. He was right about that much, at least.
"No sir," she muttered. "But...it's not like she was alone. I was with her the entire time."
"Yeah, for all the good you did her. Forgive me if I'm not exactly brimming with confidence."
Anon looked away, reddening again. Shining snorted.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Private," he said. "I'm not especially impressed with your mission performance so far. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if I ought to contact your superiors at S.M.I.L.E. and have them send me somepony who can actually handle the assignment."
He moved in closer, glaring down at Anon.
"Do you understand what that means, Private? Do you understand what will happen to you if I send you back to S.M.I.L.E. and tell them you failed in your mission?"
To his surprise, Anon returned his glare.
"Oh yeah," she said, her voice thick with sarcasm. "I'll be stripped of rank, boiled alive, sent to Tartarus, all that good stuff. You made that all pretty clear to me earlier."
Without warning, Shining smacked her across the face with his front hoof and sent her sprawling.
"Do you think this is a joke, Private?" he demanded.
Anon climbed slowly to her hooves. She knew that she ought to stop, that she was on extremely thin ice now. Somehow, though, she just couldn't keep the words from coming out.
"Are you asking me what I think, sir?"
Shining continued to glare.
"Because in the interest of the mission, I really think you should hear what I have to say."
"Go on," he said finally.
"I think it's been pretty well established that I'm completely expendable and at your mercy, so you can stop harping on it. I also think that if you really want to call up S.M.I.L.E. and have me demoted or sent to Tartarus or whatever, I can't do much to stop you. But you might want to think long and hard before you actually do that. Because let's look at the situation here:
"Say that you call them up and request a different agent. So they call me back to headquarters and send somepony else in my place. Since it's an undercover job, it would pretty much have to be another junior agent, probably one who's about as well-trained and experienced as I am. And, since let's face it, your daughter is completely out of control and could give a fuck less what you forbid her from doing, since she knows you're not going to do anything to stop her or punish her regardless (great parenting by the way), we can assume that the new agent probably couldn't stop her from drinking or shoplifting or running away, or whatever other kind of crazy shit she gets up to, any better than I have so far. Not while maintaining cover, at least.
"So, you decide you don't like [i]her[/i] work either, and you have [i]her[/i] sent to Tartarus to roast for all eternity right next to me, and you tell S.M.I.L.E. to send somepony else. And somepony else after that. And so forth and so on. Don't you think Flurry might start to get a little suspicious after awhile, when her parents keep assigning her a new best friend every week, right after the previous one mysteriously disappears?"
Shining cleared his throat.
"I suppose you've got a point--"
"I'm not finished yet," snapped Anon. "Because here's another angle you clearly didn't consider. Your daughter is the Princess of the Crystal Empire. Or sub-Princess. Or Princess-to-be. Or however the hell it works. Clearly, somepony pretty important. You told S.M.I.L.E. about a plot to assassinate her, and requested an agent for protection. You'd expect that to be a high-priority mission, right? And they sent me.
"So, there are only two possible scenarios here. First sceneario, I am the most qualified junior agent S.M.I.L.E. has to offer, which means that you should shut up and let me do my damn job. Second scenario, I am an untrained, unqualified rookie agent who has no idea what she's doing, which means that S.M.I.L.E. doesn't take the threat against your daughter seriously and sent me because they consider this a garbage detail. Which means that even if you get rid of me, they're not going to send you anyone much better.
"So either way, guess what? You and I are stuck with each other for now. So what do you say we just cut the macho drill-sergeant crap? I'll get back to work protecting your daughter, you can go back to doing whatever it is you do besides smack fillies around, and everypony'll be happy. Capiche?"
And with that, Anon turned her flank on him. She gave her tail a bratty little flick, which bopped him square on the nose and made him blink.
"Oh, by the way," she added when she reached the door. "You'd better hope you didn't hit me hard enough to leave a bruise, because otherwise dinner is going to be pretty darn awkward for you. Flurry is probably already wondering why you want to be [i]aloooone[/i] with me so much."
She said that last bit in a mock-seductive tone that made Shining blush. Then, she turned up her nose and trotted haughtily away, letting the door close behind her.
- - -
Later that evening, Anon sat staring at her reflection, alone in her room. Her anger had cooled somewhat, but she was still in rather a foul mood.
She leaned in close to the mirror, examining her cheek. Shining really had socked her hard enough to leave a bump, but not a huge one. She wasn't sure if Flurry had noticed. However, the eight feet of hostile body language between the two of them could have been seen from space. Even Cadance had picked up on it.
Anon sighed. This mission was getting more complicated by the minute, and to make things even worse, the more she thought about it the more it really did seem like it was probably a garbage detail.
"Either that or I'm being set up to fail," she said out loud.
She couldn't imagine why her mother would do that to her, but...it wasn't exactly like Bon Bon and Lyra were conventional parents. Anon didn't have much experience interacting with foals outside of the S.M.I.L.E. junior agent program, but she knew enough to know that most fillies her age didn't spend their afternoons training to be expendable military operatives.
Still though, an assignment like this? Covert assassination plot, high-profile target, international stakes...and they send her? A rookie JS, fresh out of the academy, no experience whatsoever? And on top of that, they just throw her right into the thick of things? No intelligence, no background on the target, not even any basic info about the nature of the threat? No matter how often she turned it over in her mind, it just didn't add up.
She shook her head rapidly and stepped away from the mirror. Maybe a little work would take her mind off the futility of...well, work.
She rummaged around in her school saddlebag, until she found what she was looking for: an old yearbook she'd pilfered from Flurry's room when she hadn't been looking. It looked to be from the previous schoolyear.
"Hmm..." she said, flipping through the pages.
Flurry Heart was pretty easy to find. Anon snerked as soon as she saw her picture. No piercings, no make-up, no crazy hair-dye, no spiked necklaces. Just an ordinary-looking schoolfilly with a big, silly-looking smile on her face. She even had braces.
"Heh. Flurry'd probably go ballistic if she ever found out I saw this. I'll have to make sure I put it back before she notices it's gone."
Underneath her picture was a list of clubs and accomplishments.
"Hmmm...4.0 grade point average, debate club, Filly Scouts...this girl used to be straight-arrow. Looks like she was even in the Science Club. I wonder what happened to her? Maybe she got hit with one too many tater-tots."
She flipped a few more pages. Rave Smite was there as well, only she looked about the same. She also had a 4.0 average. No clubs, but her involvement in the Daymares was noted.
Anon continued to flip through the book, and frowned. No mention of anypony named Acid Burn or Crash Override.
[i]That's a little peculiar...[/i]
Then she saw it. On the page dedicated to the school marching band, two fillies in the front row. One of them was a marine blue pegasus with a light blue mane, the other was a crystal pony with a blonde mane. Both of them perfectly normal and harmless-looking. When Anon read the names printed underneath the photo, she burst out laughing. No wonder she hadn't been able to find them.
"Cornflower and Lemon Sunshine," she said aloud, still laughing. "Oboe and trombone. Oooh, looks like Lemon Sunshine was first chair. Good for her!"
She wiped a tear from her eye and tossed the book aside. Suddenly, she felt a lot better. She yawned.
"Probably time for bed I guess."
She switched out her light and crawled underneath her covers. Next to her was that weird little stuffed snail-toy. She picked it up and held it between her hooves, staring at it. At first she had thought it was just a decorative pillow, but it looked old and a little beat up. Some foal had obviously loved this toy.
"I guess I still gotta figure out what grindcore is," she told the snail. "At least, assuming I'm still supposed to be Flurry's friend and not a rogue agent on her way to Tartarus. You don't happen to know anything about grindcore, do you Mr. Snail? Or deathcore? Or EDM?"
The snail did not reply. Anon yawned again. Her eyelids were getting heavy.
"I'm guessing whatever it is, it probably doesn't involve oboes and trombones," she mumbled.
Not long afterward, the snail tumbled from the bed. The room was dark and silent, except for the sound of a filly snoring.
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