Surprise Visit
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*Ding-dong*
Lyra stuck her head out of the kitchen as Bon Bon looked up. “I wasn’t expecting anypony to come by. Were you?”
Bon Bon shook her head in denial, then got off the couch. “I’ll see who it is. You go back to making lunch.”
“Sure thing.” Lyra pulled back into the kitchen, and the sounds of chopping and stirring filled the air as Bon Bon headed to the door.
Bon Bon stuck her head outside and looked around. Several ponies were nearby, but none of them were close enough to have been the one to ring the bell. Just as she began to turn back inside, however, she heard a scrabbling on the roof straight above the door, and stepped out to look up. It was at that moment that the pony climbing on the roof slipped and fell, ending up hanging in the air in front of Bon Bon.
“Oh, hi! Do you know Sweetie Drops? She’s an old friend of mine, and somepony told me she might be here now. Only I didn’t see her when I tried to look inside, so do you know where she is?”
Bon Bon stared. The pony hanging by her tail in front of Bon Bon was a white pegasus with a poofy blond mane and currently-stretched tail, who by all appearances seemed to have forgotten that she had wings. “Um, could you come down before we talk?” Bon Bon asked. “It’s a little disconcerting having you just hanging there.”
A gentle frown covered the suspended pony’s face. “Aww, but I thought hanging out was what friends are supposed to do! What if Sweetie Drops comes back and I’m not hanging out here? I don’t want her to get mad at me!”
“I… don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.” A nasty suspicion was growing in Bon Bon’s mind, one she felt she had no choice but to investigate. Her eyes narrowed, and seemed to briefly flash, as she spoke. ”May I ask you your name?”
“Yuppers!” There were a few seconds of silence, then the pegasus spoke again. “Well, aren’t you going to ask me? I gave you permission to.”
“Right, right.” Another couple of seconds as the pegasus’s eyes bored into hers, and then Bon Bon cleared her throat. “So, what is your name?”
The pegasus gave her a sweet smile. “I’m Surprise!”
Bon Bon groaned. “Of course you are. And from the sound of things… tell me, when you came into town to find ‘Sweetie Drops’, did you meet anypony?”
The pegasus nodded her head so violently that she began to bounce a bit. “Yuh-huh! There was this pony who looked at me and gasped, and then told me she had to throw me a party but I told her I had to find Sweetie and she said she’d help me find her at the party or that I could ask for Lyra because Lyra knew who Sweetie was but that I still needed to come to the party because what good is a party without the guest of honor and–”
Bon Bon cut Surprise off with a hoof to the mouth. “I get the idea, dear, now breathe.”
“Bonnie?” Bon Bon looked up and through the open door, to where Lyra stood just outside the kitchen. “Bonnie, why is there a strange pegasus hanging in front of our door?”
“Oh, Lyra. It seems–”
Before Bon Bon could get out another word, Surprise spun around to face inside. “You’re Lyra? Then you’re the pony I was supposed to find to tell me where Sweetie Drops is! Please, help me find her! She was one of my bestest friends and now I don’t even know where she is and I’m afraid I’ll have to leave without finding her and that would be just awful!” Then, almost as an afterthought, "Oh! I forgot! My name's Surprise!"
“O~kay.” Lyra eyed Surprise carefully, then motioned her head. “Why don’t you come down and step inside, and I’ll make sure this friend of yours can find you. Sound reasonable?”
Surprise broke into a big grin. “That would be absotively posilutely wonderful! I’ll be right in!” She flipped in midair and began to float through the door, ignoring the fact that her tail was still caught until she bumped into the ceiling as said tail stretched out to its maximum reach. “Oh, excuse me!” She flew back out the door and straight away from the house until her tail pulled out from between the tiles that had caught it and regained a bouncy shape, only then coming back inside. “Is this better?”
Lyra stared. “Um, yeah. How about you sit down for a little while, and I’ll talk to my roommate about finding your friend.” At the pegasus’s nod, Lyra gave one in return, then stepped outside and pulled the door shut. She then turned to her roommate and began to speak in a whispered hiss.
“Bonnie, what in Equestria is going on here?” She continued as Bon Bon tried to find a response. “I mean, I’m the one who handles your rent paperwork for my folks. I know this ‘Surprise’ mare is here to find you, although I’d thought I was the only pony in Ponyville who knew your real name. But if she really was your friend, then why didn’t she recognize you? And what’s up with that behavior of hers? It’s like something I’d expect from–”
Bon Bon interrupted her. “From Pinkie Pie, I know. In answer to your first question, it’s been some time since I last visited most of my old friends, and I’ve changed my appearance a bit in that time. Between that and the fact I’m going by a nickname these days, I’m not surprised that Cypress didn’t immediately recognize me.”
Lyra looked up at the name. “Cypress? I thought she said her name was Surp… wait, I see. Same name, but through a ‘Pinkie’ filter, right?”
Bon Bon nodded. “Don’t know for sure, but I’d stake a few bits on it. Although by now, I suppose she’s introduced herself to enough other ponies by that name we might as well continue to use it, at least with everypony else. As to her behavior, all I can say is ‘Sorry you had to see that’. Cypress is normally better behaved than this, it’s just that she’s always had this tendency to imitate those she’s around, and, well…” She trailed off.
Lyra picked up the thread. “I see where you’re going. You’re saying your friend got run over by the local welcome wagon, and the bouncing ball in my living room is the result.”
“Got it in one.” Bon Bon turned her face down in thought for a moment, then back up. “Lyra, can I get you to do me a favor?” At the unicorn’s nod, Bon Bon gave a relieved smile. “Could you go over to the Day Spa and ask if Aloe could prepare a couple of Detox Specials? I get those to relax after a tough day at work, and I’m hoping if it helps me calm down, it might help get Cypress away from her current manic state.”
Lyra nodded and began to trot off, then turned back. “You really think it’s going to take two of them to calm her down?”
Bon Bon shook her head. “I’m hoping one will do the trick. The second one’s for me; I’m going to be trying to ride herd on Cypress while you’re gone, and if past experience with Pinkie is any indicator…”
“Aww, Pinkie Pie’s not that bad, Bonnie!”
Bon Bon briefly glared at Lyra. “In small doses, no. In larger ones, yes she is. And I shudder to think what might happen if Cypress meets up with Pinkie again while she’s like this.”
“You’re overreacting, Bonnie.” Lyra reached a hoof out to comfort her roommate. “How bad could it be?”
Bon Bon’s response was literally growled out. “Remember Miss Sparkle’s little doll incident last week?”
As Lyra heard her roommate’s teeth begin to grind together, the unicorn mare’s eyes went wide. Bereft of anything else to say, she simply gave an informal salute and started to gallop away.
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As Lyra headed off, Bon Bon stared after her. “Thank you, Lyra,” she whispered. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the real reason I wanted you to go.” That said, the cream mare went back inside.
There appeared to be no sign of her visitor, which was deeply disturbing. “Cypress? Are you still here?”
“Up here!” At the cry, Bon Bon turned toward the ceiling. Cypress, or under the current circumstances Surprise, was in a seated position right in the center of it, her mane and tail loosely dangling downward a bit before floating up in defiance of gravity. “Is miss Lyra going to bring back Sweetie Drops for me?”
Bon Bon sighed, then responded. “Cypress, look at me.” The inverted pegasus did so, her face crinkling in confusion. “Now, look deeper.” For the barest of instants, Surprise’s eyes seemed to glimmer silver, and then a wide smile broke out on her face.
It was only after Surprise launched herself at Bon Bon that the cream mare realized the flaw in her plan, and by then it was too late. A gold-and-white rocket hit her, knocking her onto her back and carrying her into the ground as it wrapped her up in both wings and hooves. “Sweetie! It’s you! Miss Pin was right about finding Lyra leading me to you!”
“Ack-thbt… Cypress, please, get off of me.”
“Aww, but I–”
“‘Press, cadt breeve!” With an effort, Bon Bon managed to shove herself upwards, knocking Surprise back and giving Bon Bon a few instants to enjoy sucking in sweet oxygen once more. “It’s lovely to see you again, but… wait, Miss Pin?”
Surprise nodded. “Yeah, Miss Pin! The pony who wanted to throw me a party and who told me to come find Lyra so I could find you and hey we can go to the party together and I can show her that she was right and I–” Once more, a hoof to the mouth halted an imminent conversational derail.
“It’s Miss Pie, or probably Pinkie, Cypress. And from the look and sound of things, you’re drunk. How long did you spend with her, anyway?”
A look of intense concentration covered the pegasus mare’s face. “Um, maybe ten minutes?”
Bon Bon’s face hit her upraised hoof. “Ten minutes. Ten minutes, and you managed to get thoroughly drunk off of her. I know you. I know her. I really shouldn’t be surprised by that.” She looked back up. “And how much more trouble did… you…” Her voice trailed off as she stared at her friend’s flank. “‘Press, please tell me I’m imagining that.”
“Imagining what?” Surprise turned to look at what Bon Bon was seeing, and spotted the trio of purple balloons on her flank. “Hey, I’ve got Miss Pin’s cutie mark!” she said, beaming.
Bon Bon exploded. “YES! You do! And you’re not supposed to have it, you’re supposed to have a mask and mirror there!” Face met hoof again. ”‘Press, please tell me nopony saw you when that changed! Please?”
“I dunno, I don’t remember it changing.”
A few seconds later, the small animals just outside the house ran away at the blood-curdling scream that came from within.
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“Wow, that was pretty loud! Have you been practicing, Sweetie?”
Bon Bon turned to glare at Surprise. “No, dear,” she said through gritted teeth. “That one was pure inspiration.”
“Then you’re good at it!” Surprise flew back to the middle of the room - the exact middle, hovering in midair. “I don’t know that I’ve ever met a screamer as good at it as you!”
“Do tell.” Carefully, Bon Bon worked on lowering her anger. “Cypress, I think we need to worry about who might have seen you change your cutie mark. I know you can’t recall, but if I could look through your memories I might be able to see something. May I please do so?”
“Sure, if you… wait a minute.” The pegasus’s face was taking on a look of alarm. “Miss Lyra called you ‘Bonnie’.”
“Yes,” said Bon Bon. “What about it? Everyone here knows me as Bon Bon.”
“Yeah…” Surprise flew higher. “You’re going by a different name and didn’t let your own roommate know it. That sounds suspicious to me.”
Bon Bon craned her neck to keep her eyes on her flying friend. “Cypress, what are you talking about? Of course Lyra knows my real name!”
“Then why didn’t she call you by it? Better yet, why did she tell me she’d talk to you and then look for Sweetie? Besides, that’s not the only thing suspicious. You look different from the last time I saw you, you don’t seem too happy to see an old friend, and you’re acting really grumpy.”
“The only difference is that my mane and tail are two-colored now! And the only reason I’m acting this way is because I’m worried you’re going to give us both away! Now will you please help me keep that from happening and let me look through your memories?”
“Nu-uhn!” Surprise flew back toward the ceiling, keeping as far away from Bon Bon as she could. “You’re not acting like the Sweetie I remember, you’re acting like some kind of big meany-pants!” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re a big evil meany-pants darkling Sweetie, aren’t you! That’s why you want to look at my memories, so you can turn me into a big evil meany-pants darkling like you! Admit it! Well I’m on to you, and I’m not going to let you do it!”
Bon Bon stared. “Darkling? Just because I’m not as hyped up as you are right now, I must be a darkling? ‘Press, that’s crazy! Of course I’m not a darkling! I’m just me, the same Sweetie Drops you remember!”
Surprise gave a self-satisfied nod. “That’s exactly what a darkling would say!”
Bon Bon glared up at Surprise. “‘Press, stop it. Let me look at your memories, and you can look over mine! That will prove I’m not a dark–”
“–ling!” Bon Bon looked up, into the empty room, and groaned. ‘She didn’t,’ she thought. A glance outside argued against that, though, as Bon Bon saw a white-and-yellow streak halfway out of sight and hurrying fast. “This is just great,” she muttered, then ground her teeth and closed her eyes.
‘Aloe? Star? Either of you hear me?’
A lighter ‘voice’ with a touch of an accent to it responded to her thoughts. ‘Oh, Bon Bon! Lyra just told me your request; I am afraid it will take a little while to gather the ingredients.’
‘Hold off on that for a bit longer, Aloe. It seems Cypress has added ‘jumping to conclusions’ to her list of talents; she’s decided I must be a darkling, and she just zoned me long enough that she could ‘escape’. I need help tracking her down before she does something to give us away.’
‘Ouch.’ Bon Bon could feel the wince in Amethyst Star’s voice as she spoke up. ‘That doesn’t sound good. Any clue why she–’
A touch of bitterness laced Bon Bon’s mental voice as she responded. ‘Because she’s currently drunk off her alae on Pinkie Pie, that’s why. Combine Pinkie-like responses with the difficulties I have dealing with them, and...’ The silence as she trailed off spoke volumes.
‘Understood. Let me leave a note for Derpy and grab Dinky, and I’ll head out to help. What does your friend look like, and where is she headed?”
‘Good idea.’ Bon Bon grabbed a quill and scratched out a quick message for Lyra - ‘Cypress got loose, gone after her’ - and stepped outside, shut and locked the door, then broke into a trot. ‘Sorry, needed to leave a note myself. Anyway, ‘Press has gray chitin just barely off-white, gold elytra, and purple eyes. She’s currently in pegasus mode, with a purple copy of Pinkie’s cutie mark stuck on her flanks; her normal one is a purple mirror and mask. Her aura makes her look like she’s standing in shallow water with a bunch of little wooden knobs around her like some kind of monster paw is reaching up to grab her. And from the direction she went, her likeliest destinations are the train station or possibly Sugarcube Corner.’
‘Right. I’ll try to catch her at the station, then head on if she’s not there.’
Bon Bon gave a sigh of relief both in the real world and across the telepathic bond. ‘Thanks, Star. I owe you one.’ She let the connection lapse and began to run harder.
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As Bon Bon galloped on, the cupcake-shaped tower on top of the Sugarcube Corner came into view. She slowed back down to a trot as it did so, looking every which way for any sign of Surprise or her passage. Every few seconds, she allowed her vision to slip into the empathic, searching by aura rather than sight. None of it was successful.
As she finally drew to the base of the building, Bon Bon started asking around. “Excuse me, have you seen a white pegasus come through here? She came to visit me and I accidentally managed to lose track of her.” After several negative answers, she finally got her first clue.
“Bon Bon? Hey, Bon Bon!” It took Bon Bon a minute to identify the speaker, a purplish-blue mare with a light brown mane and tail. “I overheard you asking about your friend, and I think I saw her flying into the top floor of the Corner a few minutes ago. You might want to check and see if she’s talking to Pinkie Pie.”
“Oh, thank you,” said Bon Bon, nodding her thanks. “I’ll do just that.” She trotted towards the door. ‘Star? Somepony said she thinks Cypress went into the Sugarcube Corner. I’m heading inside, could you come meet me here and see if we can find her before she gets into too much trouble?’
‘Will do, Bon Bon. We’ll be there in a minute.’
Another ‘voice’ broke in. ‘I am coming too, Bon Bon. You may need my help.’
‘Thanks, but are you sure you can afford to leave the spa, Aloe?’
‘Lotus says she will cover for me. And who is this ‘Aloe’ you speak of?’ An image flashed across Bon Bon’s mental gaze, a short-maned pegasus in Aloe’s colors with a cloud-and-droplet cutie mark. ‘I am ‘Rainshadow’, dear Bon Bon.’
Startlement caused Bon Bon to stumble, falling against the door instead of opening it. She righted herself and tried again, successfully this time. ‘Aloe, what in Equestria is that about?’
‘I thought about it, and I felt you might wish for a pegasus guise to aid you. Since Star has only just begun learning feathered flight from Miss Hooves, and you have your, erm…’
Bon Bon grimaced. ‘My ‘issues’ with flying, yes.’ She paused, devoting a moment to looking around the customers of the bakery, then continued. ‘Unpleasant reminders aside, thanks, Aloe. And I really hope we get to hear the full story on ‘Rainshadow’ someday. For now though, if you’re going winged would you please do a flyby on Pinkie’s window? Hopefully we’ll be able to catch Cypress in here.’
‘I shall, my dear. Best of wishes to you as well.’
By this time, Bon Bon had made her way to the bakery counter. Mrs. Cake, seeing her, came over. “Can I get you anything, dearie?”
“Um, just a plain chocolate-covered cupcake, I guess.” Bon Bon continued looking around the room, but there didn’t appear to be any sign of Cypress.
“That’ll be three bits, please.” As the coins changed hooves, Mrs. Cake leaned over to get the cupcake out. “Here you go, dear.”
“Thanks.” Bon Bon moved over to a table and sat down, carefully looking around the room. In the slightly-darkened interior of the place, she didn’t dare let her gaze slip into the empathic for more than a second at a time; the gleam from within her eyes would have been noticeable had she let it rest there for longer. Still, if Cypress came through she should be easy enough to spot.
“I’m headed out now, Mrs. Cake!” Bon Bon jerked her head upwards at the sound, but it was just Pinkie, coming down the stairs. “I’m gonna go meet the girls and get started on that party for tonight!”
“That’s nice, Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake replied. “I hope you have fun.”
“I sure will!” Another few seconds, and Pinkie was out the door. At that knowledge, Bon Bon felt a previously unrealized tension in her muscles relax, and she continued looking around. ‘Star, you out there yet?’
‘Dinks and I just got to the intersection, Bon Bon. And I think I see Aloe up above. You have anything to report, Aloe?’
‘Nothing. I see no sign of Miss Cypress up here; Pinkie is alone in her room.’
Bon Bon felt her heart freeze within her chest. She hadn’t. Surely, she hadn’t. Even stone drunk, Cypress couldn’t be that crazy, right? ‘Pinkie’s up there?’
‘She is. Why do you ask?’
‘Aloe, please, scan her! Now!’
A brief pause was followed by the response. ‘No aura. It is just Pinkie.’
A half-mangled curse burst into Bon Bon’s thoughts before she could clamp down on it, prompting a chastising remark from Star. ‘Hey, Dinky can hear you, you know!’
‘I’m sorry, Star, but this is bad. Do you see Pinkie out there?’
‘No, I… wait, she just turned the cor...ner… ’ Bon Bon could practically hear the wheels turning. ‘Is your friend insane?!’
‘She’s hopped up on Pinkie Pie! Probably worse now than she was earlier! What do you think?!’ Even as she was ‘speaking’, Bon Bon was frantically swallowing the last bits of the cupcake and heading toward the door. ‘Aloe, please, get in there and try to run some kind of damage control with Pinkie. Star, can I get you to help me catch Cypress? At least now she’s locked on foot.’
Aloe was the first to respond. ‘I shall do what I may. Try to herd Miss Cypress toward the spa, if you can. The sooner we detox her, the better.’
‘You don’t have to tell me twice! Star?’
‘I’m on it. I’m going to go incommunicado for now, though; even if I’m trying to hold back, Cypress might hear me once I get too close.’
‘Do whatever you think best. I’m on my way.’
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As Bon Bon began to trot in the general direction of the Day Spa, she heard a familiar voice from behind her. “Bonnie! Wait up!”
Bon Bon slowed down just a bit. “What is it, Lyra?”
“I got your note,” Lyra panted, out of breath from her running. “I want to help. What can I do?”
Go back home, Bon Bon thought with a mental grimace. Lyra didn’t know the real situation, and without that knowledge, there wasn’t really anything she could do to help out. But Bon Bon couldn’t make herself actually say that. As worthless as Lyra’s help might be, she was making the offer, and Bon Bon couldn’t bring herself to slap that hoof of friendship away. After all, it wasn’t Lyra’s fault she didn’t know the truth; that had been Bon Bon’s choice. As a result, Bon Bon’s mind went into overdrive trying to figure out something she could say. Something other than ‘she looks like Pinkie Pie now.’
“Somepony thought they saw Cypress go into the Sugarcube Corner,” she said at last. “I looked inside without seeing her, but it’s possible she’d gotten upstairs somehow, and I only spent a couple of minutes looking around before Amethyst Star said she thought she saw Cypress heading down the other way. You can either wait and see if Cypress actually was in the Corner, or you could help try to run her down and herd her towards the spa. Either one would probably be about equally effective at this point.” After all, both of them will go nowhere.
“I’ll stay and check, then follow you if I don’t find her,” said Lyra. “I hope that helps.”
“It’ll probably help as much as anything. Thanks, Lyra.” And maybe someday I’ll have the guts to tell you the truth so I can ask you to forgive me.
After Lyra turned around, Bon Bon picked up speed again. ‘Aloe, if you’re finished with Pinkie I need your birds-eye view. I managed to lose them.’
‘Give me a minute to get high enough to… ah, there we go. Your friend is running down the lane near the bowling alley; from the look of things, Star is going to intercept her path about four stores down from Miss Rarity’s shop. If you can make it to the library by then, you should be able to help chase her towards the spa.’
‘Thanks, Aloe.’ Bon Bon made the necessary course corrections. Then, ‘wait, how did Cypress manage to get over there that fast?’
‘I do not know. Perhaps she has picked up more from Pinkie than merely her attitude?’
Bon Bon groaned. ‘Now that,’ she said, ‘would be trouble.’
As Bon Bon drew near the library, she saw no sign of either Cypress or Amethyst Star. ‘Aloe, did I miss them?’
‘No, they are coming up. Be prepared to act.’
Bon Bon heard the running hooves, now starting to slow down, as Aloe finished speaking. With that in mind, she stepped up to the side of the library, just out of sight, and waited. A few seconds later, ‘Pinkie’ stopped in front of the library, her withers heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Bon Bon chose that moment to step forward. “Hello. Can I speak with you for a minute?”
The moment of panic was over almost as soon as it had begun, but Bon Bon had seen it on Cypress’s borrowed face. And now, she didn’t have to have access to Cypress’s thoughts in order to read her mind; to a changeling, experienced in reading nuances in a pony’s body language, her expression was saying it all: ‘Bluff it out.’
“Sorry, but I’m a bit busy right now getting a party together. Maybe later?”
Bon Bon stepped forward. “Oh, really? Don’t you think the party can wait a bit while you speak with a friend?”
“Um, not really. Not if I’m going to be ready on time. We don’t want the party to be late, do we?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Bon Bon caught a flicker of pink and purple approaching, and stepped around to change the angles Cypress could take when she ran. “I don’t think it would matter too much, my dear. After all, it can’t really get started until the guest of honor shows up, can it?”
Cypress’s eyes went wide in horror, and she turned to run back the way she’d come just as Star and Dinky drew close. Both Star and Bon Bon watched, a bit in awe, as Cypress somehow put an earth pony body through a ninety-degree aerial turn in order to escape. They then started the chase anew.
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“Any clue how much further we’ve got to go?”
Bon Bon shook her head. “Not from here, although I… wait, she’s turning. Why is she turning?”
‘We are getting help, that is why.’ Bon Bon looked up, seeing Aloe’s ‘Rainshadow’ guise about twenty feet overhead and moving across their path.
‘Thanks for the info, Aloe,’ Bon Bon thought back, ‘but who’s helping us?’
‘I will leave that one until we get to the spa. For now, she is about to enter it, and I must sneak back inside to intercept her. Just keep following her and you should have no problems.’
‘Good,’ came Star’s response. ‘It’d be nice for something in this to go right. Hang on tight, Dinks.’ The two running ponies sped up as Aloe glided away.
A few minute later, Bon Bon caught a glimpse of a poofy pink tail disappearing inside the Day Spa’s door. She nudged Star, and the two ran forward, then stopped just outside to catch their breaths. “You ready, Star?”
“As much as I’ll ever be. And about what you said earlier? After this, you owe me two.”
“Fair enough.”
Bon Bon pulled the door open, allowing Star to step inside, then followed her into the spa building. As they stepped inside, the receptionist looked up. “May I help you?”
“Yeah,” said Bon Bon, “We were hoping to get a couple Detox Specials from Aloe. Will there be much of a wait?”
“None at all,” came a voice from the back. Everypony looked up to see Aloe, back in her normal earth pony guise. “I can take you now, if you are ready.”
“Thanks.” Bon Bon started down the short hallway, Star right on her tail.
As they drew near the back of the spa, Bon Bon began to hear snatches of conversation from the specialized room the detox procedure used. “Do not worry, you will be safe in here.”
“Promise?” The last was Cypress’s natural voice. That implied she’d gone back to either her real appearance or her pegasus guise; hopefully only Lotus had been watching when it happened.
“Yuppers! We won’t let anything bad happen to you, Surprise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” At Bon Bon’s startled look, Aloe nodded and softly opened the door, allowing Bon Bon and Star to slip inside before stepping in herself and closing it.
“Sister? We are here.” At Aloe’s gentle call, the three mares in the room looked up. A tired smile spread out over Lotus’s face, and a bigger grin briefly covered Pinkie’s.
Surprise, however, didn’t react as well. Her eyes went wide, her feathers began to hum as her wings trembled, her lips started quivering, and she backed into a corner of the room. “No,” she said, “no!” Her eyes darted back and forth between Lotus and Pinkie. “You said I’d be safe here! You promised!”
Bon Bon stepped forward. One step only; just enough for her to get in front of Star and Aloe. “Cypress, they’re telling the truth,” she said, her voice as soft and placating as possible. “None of us wants to hurt you. I just need to look at your memories, that’s all.”
“No! You want to turn me into a meany-pants darkling like you!”
Bon Bon put her head into her hoof. “‘Press, none of us are darklings. I already told you, you can look over my memories and see that I’m telling you the truth. I promise I won’t interfere.” She took a single step closer.
In response to that action, Surprise appeared to be about to dig her way into the floor. “No,” she whimpered. “I don’t want to be a darkling!”
Star put out a hoof, gently touching Bon Bon’s withers. “I think we have to go with Plan B, Bon Bon. I know you hate that, but I don’t think we have any other choice.” She then craned her neck around to look at the filly on her back. “You ready, Dinks?”
“Yes, Miss Star.” The purple-gray filly jumped off of Star’s back, then stepped to one side. She scrunched up her eyes in concentration, and after a few seconds, a ring of white fire covered her. When it passed, a wingless gray changeling nymph stood there. She walked across the room, settling down about ten feet in front of Lotus and Pinkie. “See?” she said, softly, “Not a darkling.”
Surprise looked the nymph over, then turned teary eyes upwards to the other three. Star and Aloe transformed as well, the white fire revealing a pair of pink changeling mares, firm of limb, one with purple elytra, the other with light blue. The two stepped aside, Aloe going over to stand next to Lotus. “Your turn,” she said to Bon Bon.
Bon Bon gulped, and turned toward Surprise. “You’re sure there’s no other way I can convince you?” At the look of panic in her friend’s eyes, Bon Bon shut her own. “I really wish I didn’t have to do this,” she said, and called forth the fire.
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A wave of white-hot pain seared along Bon Bon’s side as she transformed, and her legs gave out and dropped her to the floor, the impact sending another burst of agony running along her side. She clenched her jaws shut on a scream, transmuting it into a low hiss as her lungs emptied, and then simply lay there until the raw pain subsided into a dull throbbing. Only once that was done did she attempt to climb to her feet again and open her eyes.
Lotus, Aloe, and Star had their gazes averted, politely allowing Bon Bon the fiction that they didn’t see her crippled state. Star’s hoof was also covering Dinky’s eyes as well. Pinkie was staring straight at Bon Bon, and cringing. Ultimately, though, none of those mattered, and Bon Bon focused on the one mare present who did. “I’m still me, ‘Press,” she said, her voice quavering from her pain and her legs locked to prevent herself from falling again. “I just wish you didn’t have to see me like this.”
Like Pinkie, Surprise was cringing back, and she looked like she was going to be ill. “I, I’m sorry, Sweetie, I’m sorry, I…”
The cream-chitined changeling shook her head. “Doesn’t matter now,” she hissed out. “Are you satisfied that I’m not a darkling?” At the tear-filled head nod from Surprise, Bon Bon gathered her strength in again. “Good,” she said, glancing down at the blue-discolored elytra and permanently-broken flight wing on her left. “I’m changing back; I don’t want to see or feel this reminder of my stupidity any more than I have to.” She suited her actions to her words, calling forth the fire once more and setting aside her damaged natural form. In seconds, the cream earth pony stood there again, with only a phantom ache she knew would fade within the hour. She walked over, past everypony else, and knelt down in front of Surprise. “‘Press, may I please take a look at your memories?”
Surprise nodded, then bowed her head and closed her eyes. Bon Bon closed her own, and began.
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It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Blue sky, singing birds, flittering butterflies, and a sweet, gentle breeze filling the air. The atmosphere in the small town was simply perfect as well, and as a result it seemed that every inhabitant of the village was out and about, whether going about their business, carrying out the day’s tasks, or simply visiting with those they knew. Finally, standing at the far edge of the town, there was a small white pegasus. One who was desperately wishing the previous night’s heavy cloudburst had been slated for the middle of the day instead.
Cypress stared forlornly out into the crowd, wishing she didn’t have to step into it. When she'd realized her travel plans would take her near Ponyville, she'd decided to tack an extra day on and check the small village out; she'd heard through the grapevine that her nestmate Sweetie Drops was living there now, and Cypress thought it might be fun to catch up on old times. Now, though, she wasn’t sure she was ready for this. Back home, she wouldn’t have had a problem. Baltimare was big enough that seeing a pony you didn’t recognize was fairly common. From what she’d heard about small towns, though, even as a pegasus she was going to stick out like a sore hoof here.
Lost in thought as she was, Cypress didn’t hear the crackling of grass behind her. She did , however, hear the sudden outburst of noise accompanying it. “Hi, my name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?” Then, as Cypress tried to right her orientation from ten feet up, “Ooh, I know! It’s Jumpy, isn’t it?”
Carefully, Cypress lowered herself to the ground, hoping her heart rate would do the same. “Um, no. I’m Cypress.”
The mare appeared to have misheard that. “Surprise? Wow, that’s a neato name too! Hey, does that mean you like parties? I’m the best party-thrower in Ponyville, and hey, I just realized! I haven’t seen you before!”
Cypress edged back a step. “No, I’m just travelling through, and–”
Pinkie gasped. “You’re new here! That means I need to throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party! Now tell me, do you prefer chocolate cupcakes, vanilla ones, or strawberry?”
“Um, I’m just looking to find a friend of mine,” Cypress said. It was somewhat hesitant, though, because she’d just begun to touch the edges of Pinkie’s enthusiastic friendship, and the love she could feel flowing from the pink pony was some of the richest she’d ever tasted. Surely just a few minutes, just a little taste, couldn’t hurt anything, right?
“I’ll help you find your friend at the party, if you like; everypony in Ponyville knows that a Pinkie Pie Party means the funnest time ever!”
“Well, if you insist…” Cypress started talking, nibbling at the edges of Pinkie’s friendship as they spoke. Within a couple of minutes, they were laughing it up like old buddies, and Cypress found herself wanting to be more like the funny pink pony in front of her. In the end a part of her relaxed, slipping her into the role of Surprise that Pinkie had set for her. When they finally parted ways, Pinkie called up to Surprise. “Hey, Surprise! Who was it you wanted to find, anyway?”
Surprise looked down at Pinkie. “Sweetie Drops. Do you know her?”
“Silly, I know everypony in Ponyville! Go ask at Lyra’s place; Lyra usually knows where she is!”
“Thanks, Miss Pin! I’ll see you at the party!” She took off, heading into town. Gee, she thought, this small-town stuff isn’t so bad!
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Bon Bon pulled back, shaking her head ruefully. “I felt it when your Cutie Mark slipped,” she said. “Right in front of Pinkie Pie.” She turned to the mare in question. “Pinkie, I need you to promise me you won’t talk about this with anypony who doesn’t already know about it. Do you mind?”
Pinkie looked at Bon Bon in surprise. “I already promised that! Didn’t Aloe tell you?”
Bon Bon glanced up at Aloe, who nodded. “I decided that it would be easier and, given her attitude toward promises, safer to get Pinkie to promise me than to try anything else. Other methods might have let it slip in the end.”
“I… see. Thank you, Aloe.”
“You are quite welcome.” Aloe then turned to Star. “We should get dressed now, I believe. It is unlikely, but possible that somepony might want to come through here, and I do not believe we can keep the door sealed forever.”
“Oh, right.” Star glanced down at Dinky, and three rings of white fire replaced the changelings with their pony forms. “Sorry about that.” She plucked Dinky up from the floor and set the filly on her back. “We probably need to get back to Derpy’s place before she gets home. I’ll see you guys later, okay?”
“Yeah,” Bon Bon said. “I need to get home too.”
At the tone of Bon Bon’s voice, everypony in the room looked up at her. “Are you feeling well, dear?”
“No, Lotus, I’m not. This whole mess brought something home to me that I haven’t been letting myself think about for a long time; I’ve got another friend I need to talk to. Sorry, Aloe,” she said, turning to leave, “but I think I’ll take a raincheck on that Detox Special. Could you still give Cypress one, please? Or however many it takes to get her back to being herself?”
“It will be my pleasure.” A pause, then “I hope that you and Lyra resolve your troubles.”
“Thank you, Aloe. So do I.” Bon Bon stepped out the door without looking back.
Twenty minutes later, Bon Bon was standing in front of Lyra’s house. “Lyra?” she called inside, “Are you home?”
“Back here, Bonnie!” Lyra came trotting out of the kitchen. “Sorry, but I didn’t see any sign of your friend, and I kind of gave up at the end.”
“That’s all right, Lyra. We found her and got her into the spa.”
“Hey, that’s great!” Lyra’s smile could have been used as a reading lamp.
Bon Bon’s own grin was somewhat more pale. “Yes, it is. Please excuse me, Lyra, but it’s been a tiring couple of hours. I need to go relax and think for a while.”
“Um, sure, no problem. You want me to save your salad?”
“If you’d like.” Bon Bon slipped past Lyra, into the guest bedroom she normally thought of as being hers. Now, though, she couldn’t help but wonder if that was really true.
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“There! There goes the monster!”
Bon Bon ran through the streets of Ponyville, her legs seemingly stuck in molasses as she tried to get away. Her useless wing hung at her side, hampering her motion as she attempted to turn corners and whistling in the wind, the sound drawing down her pursuers with every step.
“Please,” Bon Bon cried out, “It’s not what you think! I’m not a monster!”
“Liar!” Bon Bon looked up as Applejack drew near. “Ya killed ‘er, ya varmint! Gettin’ rid of ya’s tha only thing ta do!” The farm pony’s lasso flared out, almost catching Bon Bon’s throat.
“I didn’t kill anyone! I’m innocent!”
“Oh, we all know that isn’t true. It’s time to face what you’ve done, Bon Bon… if that’s your real name.” A blast of magenta light tore through Bon Bon’s broken wing, shattering it further and causing her to stumble in pain. “Give up,” Twilight Sparkle called from behind as another blast flew by. “We’ll give you the mercy you didn’t give. We’ll kill you immediately, instead of by pieces.”
Bon Bon screamed and dodged down a short alleyway, somehow gaining the speed to peel out of it again before any of her pursuers could find her. She looked up, seeing the door to Lyra’s house only a few yards away, and charged inside just as the ponies following her began streaming out of the alley.
Inside the house, Bon Bon frantically started throwing furniture against the door as it began to vibrate under the pounding hooves of the crowd outside. “Leave me alone!” she shouted.
A noise from the other side of the room, however, brought her up short. “Why, Bonnie?” Bon Bon froze. “Why did you do this to me?” Fearfully, Bon Bon turned to face Lyra. When she saw the unicorn mare, she screamed.
Lyra’s body was so emaciated she appeared to be a skeleton with hide over it, nothing more. Her mane was frazzled and falling out, and her eyes were simply dull yellow orbs without any signs of life. “Why?” she moaned again. “I thought we were friends, Bonnie. Why did you do this?”
Bon Bon rose from her nap with a stifled scream. The pounding from her dreams continued, although lower in volume, and she heard Lyra calling through the door. “Bonnie, you awake? It’s almost time to go to the party Pinkie’s throwing your friend.”
“I’m… not sure I’ll be going, Lyra.”
Lyra pushed the door open and looked inside. “What? Why not? Is something the matter?”
Bon Bon took in the open, concerned, trusting expression on her roommate’s face, and felt the bile rising in her throat. I have to tell her, Bon Bon thought. No matter what, no matter how bad this gets, she deserves to know the truth.
“Bonnie? Are you okay?”
“No, Lyra, I’m not,” said Bon Bon, rising to her feet. “You asked if something was wrong. Yes,” she said. “With me.” She swallowed, trying to open a throat suddenly closed by dryness, and tried again. “Lyra, you weren’t much help this afternoon, were you?”
Lyra drew back, stung. “Hey, I was trying,” she protested.
Bon Bon waved her aside with a hoof. “I’m sorry, Lyra, that didn’t come out right. I’m not saying you weren’t doing your best, I’m just saying that what you could do didn’t have any effect.”
“Well, yeah, but I–”
“Please, Lyra,” said Bon Bon, “let me finish.” The apparent earth pony turned to face her roommate. “The reason you couldn’t help was because of me, Lyra. I misled you, because I didn’t want to tell you the truth about what was going on. It was only after we parted ways that I even let myself realize what I’d done, and I’m hoping that someday you’ll be able to forgive me. I deceived you, Lyra. I deceived you this afternoon, and I’ve been deceiving you ever since I moved in here. I just finally reached the point where I couldn’t simply ignore it anymore. I’m sorry, Lyra. I’m not the pony you think I am.”
Lyra stared at Bon Bon. “Who are you then?” she asked, “A Canterlot secret agent? A disguised unicorn? Really a stallion? The Princess’s secret lovechild?” At the look Bon Bon gave her, Lyra took on a sickly grin. “Hey, I’m trying here. Throw me a line, wouldja?”
Bon Bon shook her head. “No, no, good heavens no, and no.” She raised her eyes to stare straight into Lyra’s own. “I’m not even really a pony, Lyra. I’m a changeling.”
“A what?” Lyra asked, her eyes crinkling upwards in confusion.
“A changeling. Part of a race of telempathic shapeshifters who secretly dwell among ponies and feed off of their love for each other. So is Cypress. That’s why you weren’t able to help; she was disguised as somepony else when you offered your assistance.”
Slowly, a grin filtered over Lyra’s face. “Good one, Bonnie,” she said, “I almost believed it.”
Bon Bon shook her head slowly. “Lyra, step back please.”
“Huh? Why?” Despite her questioning, Lyra did as she was asked. In response, Bon Bon called forth her fire and transformed.
Going from earth pony to unicorn, Bon Bon only awoke the same phantom ache a transformation always left. Lyra, however, was unprepared for either the fire or the doppelganger of her that replaced the mare she’d thought she knew. “Now do you believe me, Lyra?” asked Bon Bon, in Lyra’s own voice, before changing back.
“You… you’re serious.” When Bon Bon nodded, Lyra continued. “Then the rest of it’s true too? Including the part about eating love?”
“I’m afraid so.”
A pained look crossed Lyra’s face. “Is that the only reason you’ve been staying here? Because you see me as some kind of personal smuggerborg?”
“It’s ‘smorgasbord’, and I… up until this morning, Lyra, I’d have given a vehement ‘NO’ in response to that question. I’d honestly thought we really were friends, but with how I treated you today…” Bon Bon’s voice shrank to a whisper and she turned her gaze aside. “I’m not sure I haven’t been deceiving myself as well.”
“Go to the party.” Bon Bon looked up, into Lyra’s glistening eyes. “I need to think about this without you around, and Cypress is your friend, 'Sweetie Drops'. Go to the party and enjoy her company. But it might be better if you found somewhere else to stay afterwards.”
“I understand.” Bon Bon fished around in her saddlebags until she found the key Lyra had given her when she moved in. Carefully, she set it on the edge of her bed, in full sight, before quietly leaving the room.
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Bon Bon stepped out of the Sugarcube Corner, drinking in the chill night air. The party was still going on strong inside, but she’d found within the first few minutes that she wasn’t able to pay enough attention to participate. As a result, she’d simply said her pleasantries, made small talk with a couple of frequent customers, checked on Surprise, who Aloe had thankfully managed to get back to some state at least remotely connected to normal, and asked Pinkie if she was willing to host Surprise for the night, which had garnered a gleeful response. That done, she’d decided to take her leave.
Away from the Sugarcube Corner, the streets were fairly quiet. That wasn’t really a surprise, as most of the ponies in town were currently in the Corner, but Bon Bon was thankful for the peace it provided. Carefully, she made her way onwards. Not towards home, because it wasn’t home anymore, but to her small candy shop. The rug in the storage room would do for the night, and she could see about getting it set up as a proper bedroom in the morning.
Once inside, Bon Bon fixed the door, then headed to the back. She pulled a few boxes away from the rug, leaving enough space to curl up, and tried fitfully to sleep.
The ringing of the bell on the door woke Bon Bon from her slumber. I thought I locked that, she thought blearily as she grasped for a brush to neaten up her mane. “I’ll be out in just a minute,” she called.
Once satisfied she looked at least halfway presentable, Bon Bon stepped towards the door to the main shop. “What can I get for you today?”
“I’d like a smuggerborg of bon-bons, please.” Bon Bon froze, then peeked around the corner. Lyra was standing there, looking like she hadn’t had any sleep the night before, but with a gentle grin on her face. “I can see your nose, Bonnie. You might as well come out.”
Bon Bon did so. “Lyra, I…”
“Don’t bother saying anything. I spent most of the evening wrestling with my conscience; best two falls out of three. After that, I went to talk to Cypress about you.” She shook her head tiredly. “I wanted to know how much was real.”
“Wait, what?”
Lyra sighed. “You’ve been living in my house for several years now, Bonnie. That’s a long time to keep up an act. I wanted to see how much of the mare I thought I’d known was real and how much was just a put-on for my benefit.”
“And?” Bon Bon couldn’t have stopped herself if she’d tried.
Lyra laid her house key on the edge of the counter. “Barring yesterday, as far as I can see the only thing you’ve actually lied to me about is what you look like. I wish you’d told me about yourself a long time ago, but after hearing Cypress, and Aloe and Amethyst Star, I can understand why you didn’t. And you were right, Bonnie. We were friends. I hope we still can be.” She yawned, a sudden wide-mouthed motion, then shook her head. “I think that’ll have to wait until after I get some sleep, though. You mind if I crash here? I’m not sure I’ll make it back home.”
“All I’ve got is the rug in the storage room.”
“Hey, if it’s good enough for you, it’s good enough for me. Can I come back there?”
Bon Bon stepped behind the counter, motioning for Lyra to pass. A few minutes later, she heard a gentle snoring coming from the back, and a slight snicker passed her lips.
Half an hour after the official opening of business, Pinkie and Surprise stepped into the shop. While Pinkie just went over and started looking around the shelves with a critical eye, Surprise came up to the counter. “I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said.
“Forgiven and forgotten,” Bon Bon said. “Just… please don’t do that again, all right?”
“I’m keeping the persona up until I leave town, but otherwise yeah, I won’t.” Surprise glanced back at Pinkie, then whispered “How do you avoid the temptation, though?”
“As rich as her love is, it’s married to a personality I can’t deal with very well. You’d be surprised at how much that cuts the temptation to gorge.”
“Oh. I guess I just need to learn better discipline, then.”
“Probably,” Bon Bon said, picking up a dust rag and wiping the counter down. “Did you want to purchase anything, or just say hello?”
“Actually, I wanted to see if Lyra found you. She came over to Pinkie’s and we spent a lot of the night talking, about changelings in general and you in particular. I think she still wants to be your friend, Sweetie.”
Bon Bon grinned, and held a hoof to Surprise’s mouth. In the silence, the light ‘snrks’ from the back room were just barely audible, and Bon Bon let her eyes speak for her. “I still want to be hers too,” Bon Bon said softly. “So please, ‘Press, don’t wake her up just yet.”
Surprise grinned back. “Fine with me,” she whispered. Then, in a bit louder tone, “I’m afraid I can’t stay in town but another hour or so if I’m still going to make my schedule, but I have some free time on my way back home. You mind if I come by and hang out with you then? I promise not to do it in front of your door.”
“I think I’d like that,” Bon Bon laughed. “Just let me know beforehand, all right? One surprise visit is enough for me.”
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