The Mare Who Loved Me (Boncord II)

Season 3 Episode 19
Document Status: Top Secret/Eyes Only
Location: Olde Valley Family Eatery & Burlesque Pub - Sire's Hollow

The old pub was a dive of an establishment sticking out like a sore thumb on the extreme outskirts of the otherwise beautiful valley that Sire's Hollow occupied; remaining intact only to both preserve history and obscure shame- although the hotel directly next door seemed better suited for the latter.

Princess Luna sat at a small table in the depth of the evening crowd and across from her sat secret agent Candy-Gram- the mare who looked almost identical to Bon Bon (except for differences in coloration and an envelope below the candies on her cutie mark) and who would eventually go on to take Bon Bon's place as Lyra's marefriend. Jazz music pierced the dull roar of the crowd.

"Do you always wear your sunglasses inside and at night?" Luna queried.

"Oh, these." Candy-Gram adjusted her sunglasses. "It's so my target can't tell where I'm looking." she explained.

"Don't worry." Luna laughed nervously. "I think they look good on you." her blushing contrasted conspicuously with her coloration.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as she staggered up to the table. "Did you see my wings yet?" She abbreviated with a hiccup as she stretched her wings to full span, knocking a drink over on the serving platter of a passing waiter and receiving a room full of stares.

"Return to your table, Twilight Sparkle. You have clearly imbibed too much cider. This is no way for a royal princess of Canterlot to conduct herself in a public place!" Luna lectured sternly.

"I will. But first you have to tell me." Twilight's words were slurred. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

"I should ask the same of you. I'm here on official business!" Luna boomed defensively.

"C'mon sugar cube!" Applejack came by and took Twilight by the hoof. "Let's get back to our table- the show's about 'ta start." The two wandered off and disappeared into the boisterous, smokey room.

"Sorry." Luna apologized to her companion after they were alone once again.

"Don't be!" Candy-Gram began to swirl her front hoof around the rim of the half-empty glass of cider in front of her. "So now that we've been on a few missions together, what brings you to the agency?" Candy-Gram smiled and stared across into Luna's eyes.

"My sister. She thought it would be good for me- to help me adjust to the Equestrian ways again- to work on the front lines of keeping it safe." Luna explained as she stared back and cracked a smile.

"Do you like it?"

"It feels good to give something back." Luna looked down. "Though it hurts that no other pony was willing to volunteer to work with me." she finished with a sigh.

"Hey." Candy-Gram reached her hoof across the table and met Luna's in the middle. "It's intimidating, I'm sure. Lots of pressure to do things by the book. But they really missed out on somepony special."

"Do you really feel that way?" Luna cracked a smile.

"Of course. Come closer. I have something for you." Candy-Gram beckoned and leaned across the table as the more sultry music of the burlesque show began to fill the room. Luna froze.

"I-" Luna was interrupted by the pounding of her own heart. She leaned forward, nearly meeting Candy-Gram half way across the table.

"Close your eyes." Candy-Gram whispered.

Luna closed her eyes and Candy-Gram approached the rest of the way, kissing her passionately. Luna's heart pounded and her body shook- she had never been kissed before and as the kiss ended and the two mares faces parted; she struggled in her mind to assemble the words to explain that. Luna remained silent and a tear came to her eye as she stared longingly at Candy-Gram.

"I'm sorry, I thought-" Candy-Gram whispered.

"Whatever you are feeling- I feel it too." Luna interrupted softly as she cracked a smile. "I suppose I just wasn't expecting it to happen; let alone this fast."

Candy-Gram's face became serious and she pulled away from Luna, pointing off into the crowd. "That's our mark."

"Colonel Blackmane." Luna breathed a sigh of relief at the welcome interruption as she levitated a file folder onto the table with a magical glow and swung it open. She pulled out a photograph and held it up in comparison to the distant face- A crystal pony stallion with an appropriate black mane which barely contrasted against the rest of his dark, smokey coloration.

"That's him alright. The real question is what a Crystal Empire separatist is up to in a boring place like Sire's Hollow." Candy-Gram pondered.

"He's certainly not staying for the show." Luna said as they watched him heading toward the front door of the pub. "Let us follow him."

The two mares cautiously shadowed Blackmane as he hastily trotted out of the pub and headed up a winding path to a distant hillside. Their breath was visible in the chill of night.

"What's out that way?" Candy-Gram pondered.

"The Sire's Hollow Observatory." Luna answered.

"So The Sleepless Dusk is interested in astronomy now? This is really confusing."

The two mares laid quite a distance back as cover along the path became sparse as the observatory came into view. The building was white and cylindrical with a dome shaped turret on the top which had a very large telescope peering out into the heavens. A nearby boulder on the hillside provided one final point of cover with a good vantage point of the front door of the observatory. At this distance Blackmane was inaudible compared to the crickets as he approached two crystal mares standing guard outside. After a brief conversation and an affirming nod from all parties Blackmane walked past them and went inside.

"We could be dealing with a hostage situation." Luna warned.

"It looks like going in through the front door isn't an option then." Candy-Gram sighed.

"Let me take care of this." Luna closed her eyes and magic began to shine around her as Candy-Gram watched intently. After a while Luna opened her eyes again and the spell she was channeling ceased. "That's it!" Luna said triumphantly.

"That's what?" Candy-Gram looked confused.

"There's a service entrance in the rear. There's only one pony guarding it." Luna explained.

"How can you tell?"

"Because he fell asleep." Luna said with an uncharacteristic confidence.

"You're absolutely incredible." Candy-Gram said with a smile before giving Luna a quick kiss.

"Follow my lead and stay low." Luna ordered,calmly, as she crept through some tall grass. The two trotted a broad path around the building until they found themselves staring at the rear service entrance where, as promised, a crystal stallion dozed off.

The mares crept past the sleeping stallion and quickly stepped through the service entrance and quietly closed the door behind them. They were faced with a narrow, dimly lit, hallway. Pipes ran along the length of the hall. The otherwise emptiness of it amplified their hoofsteps along with the sound of a pair of ponies conversing with each other as both groups approached an abrupt corner.

Luna signaled for Candy-Gram to halt as she looked around for a way out. Her eyes zeroed in on the grate to an air duct on the ceiling and in a flash of magic both mares found themselves up in a tight air duct. They stared down through the grate as the two ponies continued their patrol to the end of the hall.

"You're late!" A stallion called out as the sound of the service door swinging closed sounded. "I almost fell asleep out there. Your shift started half an hour ago."

After a while the commotion in the hall passed and the two mares slipped further into the air duct. The flimsy metal of the duct made a commotion along with all of their movements as they crossed over a wall and found themselves looking down into a dark room.

"What was that?" They could hear a mare's voice asking as they stared nervously out through the duct. Two crystal ponies came into view and quickly wrenched open the grate, sending Luna and Candy-Gram tumbling down into the room below. A unicorn stallion was bound and gagged near a control console.

"Well look at what we have here." The mare taunted. "Alert the others!" She ordered to the other crystal pony.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep on it first?" Princess Luna asked with a smug smirk as she let off a flash of magic which sent the two crystal ponies crashing to the floor in a deep slumber.

"That was a close!" Candy-Gram yelped.

"You watch the door. I'll free the hostage." Princess Luna ordered as she used her magic to pull the gag out of the unicorn's mouth.

"Thank you!" The unicorn gasped in relief as Luna loosened his ropes.

"Are there other hostages?" Luna asked.

"No. It's just me here after-hours. I'm the maintenance pony." The unicorn explained. "They took over the place and had me show them how to remove the arcane focusing prism from the enhancement array. I told them they have to wait for the maintenance cycle to complete otherwise it could destabilize and cause an explosion. They didn't believe me!" he warned. "We have to get out of here before it blows!".

An alarm began to sound throughout the observatory and the sound of hoofsteps began rushing around. "Sweet, Celestia! They didn't listen!" The unicorn cried out in fear.

"Blackmane will have to wait!" Luna shouted as she helped the unicorn up and headed toward the door.

"Darn, this close!" Candy-Gram complained as the trio burst into the hallway.

Smoke billowed into the hall which flashed red with emergency lights. The sound of the alarms was deafening.

"Which way?" Luna asked the unicorn, shouting over the deafening racket. He cocked his head to the left and the group took off to the left down the hall but quickly ducked for cover in a nearby doorway as a crossbow bolt narrowly missed them and stuck in the doorway.

"Not now!" Candy-Gram complained.

Luna popped out of cover and fired a blast from her horn, quickly dispatching a crystal pony who wore a hoof-mounted crossbow. The trio resumed their path down the hall but stopped as they passed by the doorway to the mechanical room.

"Blackmane!" Candy-Gram pointed in at Blackmane who was moving deeper into the room.

"There's no time!" The unicorn warned." The blast door will close any sec-" the warning was ineffective as Candy-Gram rushed in and was quickly closed off behind a heavy metal door that slid down into place.

"Candy-Gram!" Luna cried out before firing a futile blast of magic at the door.

"If she's in there she's already dead!" The unicorn warned before resuming his dash down the hall.

Luna turned her head up and followed the unicorn. As they approached the front doors of the observatory the two crystal mares who were guarding the front ran inside.

"You fools!" Luna called out. With a flash of magic the four appeared outside.

"The Colonel!" One of the mares called out as they both ran back inside.

Luna and the unicorn dived for cover behind a nearby berm right as an explosion ripped outward from the heart of the observatory. Tears rushed down Luna's cheeks as she channeled a blue energy shield which lit up white wherever the abundance of shrapnel plowed into it. The unicorn fainted from all the excitement. Luna looked him over to be sure he was still alive and then trotted mournfully toward the smoldering wreckage of the observatory.

A cough sounded from below a pile of debris some distance away from the observatory. Luna quickly rushed over and began using her magic to desperately move the debris out of her way.

"Luna...I'm sorry." Candy-Gram whimpered as Luna freed her from the crushing debris.

"We need to get you to a hospital!" Luna cried out in relief to see her alright.

"No." Candy-Gram struggled to her feet. "I'll be fine. We can't afford to blow our cover. Let's just get back to the hotel."

Luna looked down the path and saw fire and police ponies rushing in with sirens sounding and looked over at the passed out unicorn. "Plausible deniability." She said with a sigh as she squeezed Candy-Gram between her front hooves and spread her wings, carrying her off into the night and back to the hotel next to the pub.

Luna helped Candy-Gram into the bed at their hotel room and laid down beside her. "What were you thinking? You nearly got yourself killed." She sobbed.

"Blackmane got away. I followed him through a maintenance tunnel. It's what shielded me from the blast."

"That's not what I asked." Luna turned away as tears gleamed in her eyes.

"Hey!" Candy-Gram placed a hoof on Luna's cheek and turned her face back toward her. "We're here now, together, and that's what matters. But with Blackmane on the run not everypony will be so lucky."

"I just-" Luna interrupted herself with a heavy sigh. "I don't know what I would do if anything were to ever happen to you. I-"

"I love you." Candy-Gram interrupted.

Luna's heart pounded. The words were familiar but never before had they been uttered to her in this context. She leaned in and kissed Candy-Gram. The flames of passion escalated and the two mares made love before falling asleep in each other's embrace.

The next morning.

"Housekeeping!" A voice called out along with the sound of a hoof knocking on the door.

"Oh no!" Candy-Gram jumped out of bed and strained her eyes against the morning sun which beamed in through the window. "I fell asleep. I mean we slept in!"

"What's the rush?" Luna asked as she lazily rose from bed. "Our train back to Canterlot doesn't leave until this evening."

"Hey. You're right." Candy-Gram said nervously.

"Why don't we go grab brunch at the pub? It's on me." Luna offered. Candy-Gram nodded and the two quietly gathered their belongings and headed next door.

The morning business at the pub was much more sedate as the pub catered more toward the 'family eatery' side of the equation.

"I wonder what Blackmane could possibly want with an arcane focusing prism from a telescope." Luna pondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Candy-Gram sighed. "There's lots of things you can do with one."

"Yes, but each prism is specific to each machination. Unless he's building a replica of that exact telescope then this makes absolutely no sense-"

"Luna, I wasn't completely forward with you. There's something I need to tell you." Candy-Gram said with a sigh.

Luna felt a piercing sensation in her heart as she looked Candy-Gram in the eyes with an expression as though she had just seen a ghost.

"I won't be getting on the same train as you." Candy-Gram explained.

"Don't be silly." Luna shuddered nervously. "How will you get back to Canterlot?"

"I'm not going back to Canterlot." Candy-Gram said insistently. "I have a deep cover assignment lined up after this one and I'll be leaving this afternoon. I probably should have told you about that before we-"

Luna's jaw dropped and her chest felt like it was being crushed. "But that means-"

"It means I won't be seeing you again for a very long time." Candy-Gram said curtly.

"But you'll leave me some way to get in touch, right?" Luna asked.

"I'll look you up when the assignment is done." Candy-Gram offered disingenuously.

"Please. But I love you. You were my first-" Luna pleaded.

"I'm sorry. You're not the only mare who can make that claim." Candy-Gram said as she got up from the table and flipped some bits on the table to cover her share of the meal.

"I don't want your money!" Luna's voice boomed angrily and everypony in the pub stared in their direction. "I want you!".

"Sorry, babe. It's all part of the game." Candy-Gram said as she turned her nose up and walked away.

Luna slumped her head down on the table and began to sob as the morning burlesque act took the stage. A voluptuous mare in long, striped socks trotted out seductively onto the stage as a band played a melody that was both melancholic and sultry.

"I remember your kiss-
I remember your touch

I remember the bliss-
when I loved you so much."

The mare worked her way around the outside of the stage with a seductive pace, making seductive gestures to the crowd.

"I remember the lust-
I remember your smile

But you betrayed my trust-
And you turned out so vile!"

The mare's voice intensified into an operatic crescendo as a smoke effect flooded across the stage and was illuminated a deep crimson red by the stage lighting as the music broke into a refrain.

"The mare who loved me-
Is now the prey that I hunt!
The mare who loved me-
It was only a front!"

Other burlesque mares flooded onto the stage along with stallion dance companions and lined the edges of the stage as the lead mare worked her way back toward the center of the stage. Behind the smoke effect she appeared only as a silhouette.

"I remember the pain-
Every sorrowful day.

But I feel strong again-
And I'm coming your way!"

Through the smoke effect the lead mare removed her socks and tossed them out into the crowd one at a time as the dance moves of the backup dancers became more salacious. As the music rose into another crescendo she burst back out of the smoke dressed in a pinstriped zoot suit.

"The mare who loved me-
Her time is running short.
The mare who loved me-
is now the danger I court."

One last tear made its way down Luna's cheek as the show carried on and years later an identical tear broke from her cheek, leaving a dark watermark on an open file folder on a desk in a dark, cramped, reading room deep within the Canterlot agency. Luna let out a wistful sigh as she placed the case files related to the 'Sire's Hollow Observatory incident' back into the folder and tucked it into a nearby drawer.