-
Riding high on her little victory and the assurance of her freedom in the near future made Bon Bon feel more than a little bit cocky. She strode from mirror to mirror, looking for one her three captors to harass. The first changeling didn’t seem to hear her. The second was walking with Lyra. She couldn’t find a third.
What was that? Bon Bon’s ears swiveled. I could swear I heard something…
While snooping around for the sound, she found a mirror with a confusing, shifting view. Following it with a tilted head, the world swung and swayed in the glass. Somepony is carrying it, she realized. Eventually the mirror was set down in the narrow space between buildings, reminiscent of where she was captured. As it settled, one of the Non-Bons stepped into view. Judging by the raw forms of candy still clinging to him, it must have been the colt, Web. When he saw a mare in the mirror, Web jumped back in surprise.
“Weren’t expecting to see me again so soon, huh?” Bon Bon leaned forward. She stuck her head forward, bumping her nose on the mirror. She silently hoping the changeling didn't notice. “Bet you really won’t be expecting it when I kick your collective buggy rumps out of my life and into the flypaper!”
Web leapt at the mirror. For a moment, Bon Bon smugly thought that he would be as impulsive and stupid as Buzz. She took a step back and prepared to buck his confection-covered face.
“Please don’t hurt my sisters!” he begged.
Bon Bon tripped and caught herself in mid-buck. “Beg pardon?”
Web had placed both hooves on the glass, pressing his nose into it as well. His pleading eyes seemed close to tears. “Please don’t hurt my sisters! It’s not their fault!”
“Excuse-” She paused. There was that sound again. Was she hearing things? Nevermind. Not important now. “Excuse me? ’Not their fault’? It is completely their fault! Yours too! You lot cast the spell that trapped me in here!”
He tried to shy away, but the sticky taffy coating his hooves stuck him to the mirror. “It’s… mostly not their fault.”
If it weren’t for Colgate’s expert dental advice, Bon Bon’s teeth would have ground to stumps right then. Her tooth grinding made a sharply audible sound that had Web recoiling further. “Mostly? You tricked me, surrounded me, trapped me, took my life from me, and took my love from me. This is entirely your fault!”
The changeling managed to snap a hoof free. “Yes. It’s my fault.” He gestured to himself, getting the hoof stuck on the crème coat he should not be wearing. Ignoring it, he continued, “Blame me. I should have stopped Sting. Buzz wouldn’t stop her; she does everything we tell her to! So blame me. I knew she was going too far and didn’t lift a mandible. I wouldn’t have done it, but when they told me you had a candy shop-”
“What. Did you do. To my shop.” Bon Bon’s darkest voice was still as light as white chocolate, but it did the job of terrifying the candied colt. “Do you know what that store means to me? If I find out you filled it with hives and cocoons I will personally jam you in a candy tray and throw you in the oven!”
“N-no! Nothing like that!” Web closed his eyes and trembled. “We were just looking for some sugar. We always-”
“Sugar? I thought you little creeps ate love!”
“Well, we do. But Sting and Venom found out that enough sugar is sweet enough to-”
“Then take the stupid sugar and let me out before I let myself out and zap your buggy butt but good!”
Web tried to hide behind his own hoof, but ended up getting it stuck on his face. He shoved his words into the brief pauses between his own sobs. “You d-don’t understand! We n-need a lot… we need too much s-sugar. Never enough! It always runs d-dry in a week! I’m… I’m trying… but… not g-good enough. Please don’t hurt my sisters! Sting was just trying to protect us! I t-tried to make… I wanted to…”
Bon Bon’s ears drooped as she watched the taffy-covered Non Bon try to sob more of his story. He must have been lying- changelings were good at that, right? Her jaw silently opened and closed, chewing on the gobstopper Web’s confession had presented. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go! I say, ‘Halt, evildoer!’ You say, ‘Great Bon Bon, whose power and beauty we were fools to attempt to capture! What would you have of me?’ I would go ‘Thy time is nigh, you noxious knave!’ And you would shout about woe and such! You’re not supposed to give in! Or hand me a sob story! I bet this is all a ruse, its not like you aren’t used to lying! You’re all a bunch of- ugh, what is that sound?
“Um… excuse me, miss Bon Bon?” Web murmured, working to free himself of a convoluted knot he had made of taffy and limbs. “Are you okay? For a moment there you sort of…”
She shook her head. “I do not space out! And I do not fall for the lies of ponies whose very nature is deception!”
“We’re not actually ponies…”
“You’re lying little bugs, and you’re going to get what you deserve!”
“You just have to believe me! Venom and the others don’t even-”
“Bon Bon!”
The true confectioner looked about for the newcomer that had called her name. Web took a moment to realize it was his name as well and searched the narrow alley. A set of children ran into Bon Bon’s view, greeting her imposter.
A golden filly with purple eyes was the first to speak. “Bon Bon! Why is the candy shop still closed?”
The assorted mob of children chorused agreement.
“Well, kids, I’ve been… very busy… today…” Web lied. He gave his hooves a fruitless tug to try and pull them apart.
“Yeah, right!” Shouted an orange filly. “Stop fooling around and open the store!”
“Yeah!”
“Hurry up!”
“Well… I… Er…” Web gave a sidelong glance to the mirror. If he was expecting help from Bon Bon, he wasn’t getting it. The peace and quiet was an unexpected benefit of being trapped in some mirror dimension.
The kids had effectively cut off the conversation, so Bon Bon left Web to drown in a sea of sugar starved adolescents as she tried not to think too hard about his words.
ZAP.
Okay, I KNOW I heard it that time!