>Be Anonymous Green
>A lowly Earth Pony colt in Stable 2
>And mom is so going to kill you
>That is if starvation and dehydration didn’t get to you first
>Somehow, in your infinite wisdom, you have gotten yourself trapped inside the Apple Orchard’s maintenance shed
>In the middle of your Cutie Mark Party too!
>You don’t even exactly remember why you came here, something about using your new pip-buck to find the next mystery to solve or whatever your imagination came up with
>Confound your child-like reasoning!
>Goaning, you sat down on your haunches, miserable
>As you stare at the door in front of you, your mind drifts back to your pitiful attempts at escaping the shed
>You tried bucking, use that natural strength everyone kept saying you have
“What a load of shi-!” you yelled in frustration as you stood up and kicked the door for what seems to be the millionth time
“I-I mean, what a load of horse apples!”
>There weren’t any grownups nearby, right? You really didn’t want to get soap in your mouth again
>Well, it wasn’t like there was anyone here to hear you swearing.
>Wait…
“Hello?! Anypony out there?!” you try calling for help. “Help! I’m stuck inside the shed! Please, anypony?!”
>There’s going to be a lot of scolding from mom, but punishments be damned, you’ll go crazy if you didn’t get out of here soon
>You wait for a minute, hoping to hear the clop of hooves heading toward your way and getting a reply.
>No dice.
>The gardeners must have left for the day.
>But you were stubborn, like your Earth Pony ancestors before you, so you kept on yelling and banging
>It went for what seemed to be hours upon hours of futility, or was it minutes?
>Might have been the latter and you’re just being melodramatic
>Whichever one it may be, eventually you got tired
>Returning to your current dilemma, you let out a tired sigh
>Your moping was cut short when you hear a knock on the other side
>“Hey, um, are you the colt everypony’s been looking for?”
>Standing up, you make your presence clear
“No, I’m a pair of pruning shears.”
>The filly on the other side giggles
>“Okay mister pruning shears, I’ll be going then-”
“Wait! I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”
>The first Pony you met and you’re already talking faster than you think
“I’m sorry, I’ve been locked up here for so long!”
>“No kidding, it’s after-hours -- no one’s awake.”
>Well crap, you’re lucky the filly found you, but...
“How?”
>“Hold up, let me pick this door open and I need to focus. I’ll explain later.”
>There’s a series clacking noise coming from the keyhole
“Won’t you get into trouble?”
>“Not if you don’t say anything.”
>Makes sense
>After nearly a minute in, the sweet noise of a door being unlocked sang sweet freedom to you
>Letting your heart do the thinking, you push the door open and jump toward your saviour
>You gave her the biggest and tightest hug you ever have ever given to anypony in your life
>Except your mom, of course
>Hey, why hasn’t the filly said anything-?
>“Can’t. Breath.”
>Oh, right! You’re a strong Earth colt
>Just not enough to break open a shed door it seems
>You pulled away and took a step back, giving the grey mare space to breath
“Thank you so much! I would’ve died of hunger if it weren’t for you!”
>“Stop it, you’re being hyperbolic.”
>She waved a dismissive hoof, looking away with a set of blushes on her cheeks
>That’s a big word, you’re not going to lie
“Hyper what?”
>This causes the Unicorn to focus on you again
>“It means you’re making it sound worse than it is.”
>Wait, is she saying…?
“I’m not a liar-!”
>That was when you croak
>All of the shouting has left your throat parched, making it difficult for you to talk clearly
>“Here, drink this.” The filly unclipped a canteen from one of her many pockets stitched on her barding
>You should ask mom to get you a utility barding, having so many pockets would be really useful
>Once the canteen’s in reach of your hooves, you greedily drank its content down
>“I’m not saying you’re a liar. You’re… adding flair to your words.”
>Guess you did
“I guess,” you finally managed to get your words in
>You hand the canteen back to her
>“Keep it, I don’t want you to get dehydrated.” She took a good look at you. “You-
“I know what that means,” you interrupted her. “Thank you, really. I would’ve been a goner.”
>“Would you?”
“Nopony found me until now.” Your eyes spotted a pip-buck and you motion a hoof toward it. “Is that how you did it?”
>The filly nodded, sitting down. “Your parents came by to the Technician’s Stall. Worried about a missing son.”
>You follow suit right next to her and staring at the pip-buck wrapped around her hoof
>Funny, you only have your mom. Which means she’s probably talking about your uncle and aunt who lives right across the hall as you and your mom did
>You’ll correct her later
>“Every pip-buck has a tag, allowing anypony with that tag code and another pip-buck to locate them.”
>That you did not know
“Wow, that’s so cool!”
>The Unicorn takes a good glance at you.
>“You really think so?”
>You nod her head excitedly, your inner detective wanting to discover more to how pip-buck functions
>Your approval seems to spark something in her eyes. “One of the most overlooked capabilities of a pip-buck is that it can track tagged objects” 
“So, uh, that’s how you found me? You followed my tag.”
>“I had to key it into the E-F-S compass.”
>A thought came to mind.
“Why didn’t you use the map instead?”
>“It is, but having it programmed into the E-F-S makes it easier to pinpoint your location. Not to mention I don’t want to give myself away to Security every time I look at the map.”
“Aren’t you helping them?”
>This got her real nervous. “About that… I’m not part of the search party.”
“Why not? I bet mom’s going to reward you for finding me!”
>She shushes you down. “I don’t want to get in trouble, as you do too.”
>Right, she’s totally going to lecture you all day and night
“I won’t tell anypony, I promise.”
>“Good.” She got up.
>You were about to do the same until you saw something on her flank
“That’s a cool cutie mark you got! No wonder you’re so smart with pip-bucks.”
>“Huh?” She spun her head, staring at the image of a pip-buck. “Is… is that my cutie mark?”
“Of course it is, it’s right-”
>That’s when it hit you
>They weren’t there before, which means she got it by saving you
“Oh my Celestia, we should totally hang out together at your cutie mark party! I didn’t really get to enjoy mine much.” 
>She says nothing, staring at her brand new marks instead 
>That got you really worried, so you got up and try to comfort her with a hoof wrap around her withers
>Isn’t she suppose to happy?
>This was enough to break her sight away. “Sorry, I did not expect to get my cutie mark. I thought I was going to be a blank flank forever.” 
“You’re not a blank flank anymore, right?”
>“Yeah…” The grey filly embraced you for the second time.
>The hug lasted longer than you like to
>You guess all you can do is pat her back and tell her how grateful you are for saving you from a night’s say in the shed
“Thank you, again.”
>“No, thank you for showing me my destiny.” She broke away and extended a hoof for a shake. “My name’s Littlepip by the way.”
>You accepted the shake.
“Anonymous, but everypony calls me Anon. Wanna be friends?” 
>“Friends? Really?”
“Yeah really.”
>She gave you the same look as same as when she discovered her cutie marks
>It’s like she never had a friend before this
“We should go.”
>Again, that broke the stare. “Right, see you tomorrow?”
“If I’m not grounded, that is.”
>“Oh.”
“Hey, don’t worry about me, you worry about getting back to your dorm. I’ll find my own way.”
>You put up the most convince reassuring smile you can muster
>It works, Littlepip lets go of your hoof and start to make her way out of the garden
>This was when you realise hoofshake had turned into something else
>The both of you were holding hooves
>You don’t know how to feel about this
>Shaking your heads, you put that thought to the side and trot your way back home
>It can’t be that hard to sneak past Security, right?

>They spotted you pretty quickly
>So much for stealth
>At least your new friend snuck past the security ponies
>It isn’t hard to figure that out when the Pony on the radio calls off the search and mention nothing about anypony else sneaking about
>One of the guards is dragging you back home to your mother
>Mom’s going to have a field day with you
>Passing by several guards, both of you enter her office and stand at attention
>Or at least the guard did
>You instead sulk, make yourself small, and let the adults speak
>“Thank you for bringing my son back safely, Officer Hermit Gnomes. I will be recommending you to Chief Pole Cannon.” Your mother’s voice is stern, full of authority; her job requires it
>“Thank you, ma’am.”
>“That will be all, you’re dismissed.”
>He salutes. “Yes ma’am.”
>Celestia, he’s such an ass kisser
>Your mom salutes back and he takes his leave, putting you in the spotlight
>Her gaze is now upon you and the burning stare could melt through the steel Stable walls
>You got to ease the tension here
“Uh, what’s up mom-?”
>She interrupts you, “don’t what’s up mom me, young stallion. Do you have the slightest idea the trouble you’ve caused for everypony involved?”
>Here we go, you had to be the tough colt act now or else you’ll never hear the end of it
>You look up at your mother straight in the eye and stand tall
>It was hard to not falter in her presence, especially for a colt like you, but this was not your first rodeo
>“Time, ponypower, and energy were wasted tonight. Ponies who either woke up in the middle of the night or stayed up for most of it trying to find you, I had to make excuses to the rest of the residents for the sudden spike of Security patrols, dealing with complaints after complaints and making sure they didn't panic. And for what? Just so you can run off from your own Cutie Mark Party? I better hear a good answer, Anonymous.”
>Your little child brain was screaming to you to panic and wail in despair
>You know there’s no excuse you could make that would lessen your mother’s wrath 
>But you have to be strong, you’re not little any more
>You’re a big colt now, Anon
“I was t-trapped in a shed.”
>“A shed, huh?” She is suspicious
“Yes ma’am, the Apple Orchard’s m-maintenance shed,” you clarified.
>“And pry tell how you got there?”
>Your mom is already dissecting every word you say, years of dealing with lies has made it easier for her to filter through the deceit
“I…” You can’t lie, at least not something convincing and consistent. “I want to test my cutie mark and see if I can find more mysteries to find.”
>“You certainly made yourself a mystery with the stunt you pulled.”
>Low blow, mom
>Whatever, you nodded and moved on
“I was stuck in there until a few minutes ago.”
>“And what did you do to get out?”
>Shit, she’s really drilling you this time
>Worst of all, you were keeping Littlepip’s promise not to snitch on her, and friends don’t snitch
>Maybe a half-truth didn’t hurt?
“I kicked the door.”
>“You kicked the door down?”
>Please take the bait.
>“Once?”
“No, I kicked it plenty of times.”
>“Oh? You’re going to have to pay for the door then, Anon.”
>Wait, what?
“Wait, what?”
>“Straight out of your allowance.”
“But moooom-”
>“Don’t but mom me, mister. It is not a door for you to break, and Ponies have to replace it now. It is high time you start footing the bill, especially with the scare you caused for everypony involved.”
>Logically it made little sense why a child had to pay for damages when it was a life or death situation, enough you knew this
>But if you had to choose between losing your piggy bank and your new friend, you’d take Littlepip
“Fine, I’ll pay.”
>You notice this made your mom pause
>“Are you sure? It’s a really expensive door. You’re going to have to pay up most of your bits, maybe even all of them.”
>Your mom is not making this easy for you
>You tell yourself money is temporary, you’ll get it back in due time
>Friends last longer
>Do it for Pip, Anon
“Y-yeah, I’m sure, mo- er, ma’am.”
>An even longer pause
>Eventually she spoke again, “Anon, I know you’re lying.”
>Yet it was true, you did try to kick down the door
>Granted you didn’t actually break it open, not like you could
>So how did she-?
>“One of the officers decided to do some sleuthing near where Security caught you. Guess what he found? An open shed door, still wide open. You did try to kick down the door as you said, the hoof markings on it shows, but somepony had unlocked it for you. It isn’t hard to tell when there’s a bobby pin still stuck inside the keyhole.”
>Aw come on, Pip!
>“Son, tell me who rescued you?”
>You gulped
“I don’t wanna say. She'll get punished if I do.”
>This gets mom very interested
>“She, huh?”
>You and your big mouth
“Nuh-uh, I’m not talking anymore. I want my lawyer.”
>That’s what all the adult Ponies say when they get in trouble with the law, right?
>This got a chuckle from your mom
>Score!
>You can’t help but smirk at your little accomplishment of breaking the ice between you and your mother
>Thanks detective drama holotapes!
>“Anon, she helped save you. Your friend isn’t going to get into trouble.”
>You did a double-take
“She won’t?”
>“No, in fact, she might even get a reward.”
>Your friend won’t get into trouble and can get something out of this?
>Awesome!
>Pip will totally be cool with this
>Maybe she’ll get a toy or, like, a lot of bits!
>It’s best to play it safe though
“You promise not to hurt my friend?”
>Her features soften, even if slightly
>“She won’t, I promise.”
“Okay, since you promised. Her name’s Littlepip...”
>You told your mom the full story of your kicking and calls for help, the grey filly lock picking the door open, and even how she used her pipbuck to track you down
“... I think she’s the smartest filly I ever met.”
>“I see.”
>Your mom was in her own world right now, in deep thought
>Of what? You don’t know
>Your mom breaks out of her little trance when your stomach growls. “Oh dear, you must be famished. I’ll cook something for you before we go to bed. Is that alright with you, Anon?”
>This was a surprise for sure
>Normally she would talk your ears off the top of your head for at least another half an hour
>She was skipping all that tonight? Why?
>“By the way, prepare for… Littlepip was it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
>“Get ready to go to her Cutie Mark Party.”
>You’re going from one surprise to another
“Really?!”
>“You didn’t get to celebrate your own Party for long, did you?”
>Before you knew it yourself, your little green hooves had wrapped around your mother’s neck
>It took a moment for you to realize you were hugging her
“Thank you, mom! You’re the best!”
>Any seriousness she had left in her is all gone, replaced by the warm heart of a mother
>“You’re welcome, dear.”