>Codename: Secret Agent Sparkle
>Mission: follow the Hu'mun and figure out what he's doing
>Support: hidden supply caches, Big Brother Best Friend Forever
>Location: 15 steps ahead of the Hu'mun
>Your secret mission is going great!
>The secret agents in your books follow their target, but they always lose track of the bad pony at the worst time.
>You're too clever for that.
>As Princess Celestia's best student, you know her daily schedule.
>And with Shiny to slow Anon down whenever you're about to get spotted, you can beat him to her and find a good hiding spot.
>You are a genius!
>As you approach Princess Celestia's dining room, you slow down.
>Where to hide, where to hide?
"Ahah!"
>You crawl underneath a serving cart, and pull the cover back over you. Not a moment later, you hear Anonymous as he walks through the door.
>As you peek through the covers, you see Shiny right behind him, looking around to check if you're too visible.
>He looks at you and starts waving his hoof real fast. You'd wave back but you'd get caught.
>He whispers something to you but it's too quiet to hear.
>When you don't respond, he starts to shake his head at you but all of a sudden the brush you borrowed from the cleaning pony's cart falls off.
>He's gonna get caught! You knew you should have used more string but there just wasn't time!
>Shiny grabs it, and before Anon can turn around and see what happened he takes off at a gallop.
>On the way out, he passes Princess Celestia. Luckily, neither of them seem to notice what just happened. You'd hate to get your brother in trouble!
>"Oh, hello Anonymous, I didn't expect you to be free right now. How has my day treated you so far?"
>"Actually, it's been really troubling. I have some serious concerns about the feasability of this project." he replies.
>"Hm. Well, I did warn you your schedule was very optimistic, you know how my little ponies are. I hope Twilight wasn't too much of a hassle?" she - wait, did Princess Celestia just call you a hassle?
>"Eh, relative to the rest of the class? A bit disruptive at times but I can't say I'm surprised, given how you described her."
>He called you disruptive!
>Princess Celestia said you were disruptive!
>"Yes, well she can be quite the hoofful at times."
>And now she just called you a hoofful! Why are they being so mean?
>"I'm having trouble keeping half a class on track, I'm not sure how you put up with a nation."
>Put up with? Princess Celestia loves all her little ponies!
>"I'm not sure how I do it either, some days."
>You thought Princess Celestia loved all her little ponies...
>No! Princess Celestia wouldn't lie like that! Something's going on here!
>"On that topic, I actually came to ask you about your whole 'personal student' thing, how it works."
>"Well, it's quite simple. I observe Twilight until she makes a serious mistake, look for the root personality flaw, and then arrange for a correcting influence to occur, often in the form of a test. She's been quite the project, let me tell you, but she's coming along nicely."
>You're just a game to her? You thought she loved you back.
>He laughs at you!
>"That explains a lot actually, but I meant more the logistics of it, and what are the expectations from both parties. I have a very promising pony in mind, and I think she'd take to this thing like a fish to water, but I want to be sure I understand the implications before I make the offer. I have a general idea but I'm the first to admit I'm an outsider looking in, and miss important details sometimes."
>Is he trying to get Princess Celestia to replace you? She would never do that! You're her best student!
>Right?
>You thought you were... but a few minutes ago you thought a lot of other things about Princess Celestia too.
>"Well, as you can see I was about to have lunch. I know it's a touch impolite but I do need to be somewhere at noon. Do you mind if we talk and eat?"
>"Ah, I'd be happy to, but I don't think I can eat any of what you have on the table."
>"That's quite alright."
>She lights her horn, and the sound of a bell echoes through the room.
>"Silent Service, could you fetch a griffon-style charred salmon from the kitchen, no pluck stuffing?"
>Somepony canters up to you, and the cart you're hiding under starts to move!
>Oh no!
>You try to listen for as long as you can, but the wheels are too squeaky and their voices are getting quieter.
>All you hear are snippets like "substitute" and "long-term project" and then you're too far to hear anything else.
>You knew it! That Hu'mun is trying to get Princess Celestia to replace you with that stupid earth pony Cheerilee!
>It's not your fault you don't understand Hu'mun magic!
>But that doesn't matter, does it?
>Princess Celestia doesn't love you anymore.
>She never did.
>You're going to cry.