//------------------------------// // 52 - Intermission: A Different Perspective // Story: Change: Queen of The Hive // by tom117z //------------------------------// Bon Bon sat nervously in her chair, her eyes scanning the almost empty room. The lights were dim, and there were no windows. She knew how silly it was to feel this way, she’d been here countless times before, but she couldn’t shake the bad feeling. Lyra gave her a squeeze around the barrel, reminding her of her presence, and brought a small smile to her face. There had been all sorts of crazy rumours surrounding the pair of them over the years; were they lovers, friends? All Bon Bon knew at the moment was that she was grateful she was here, and what they had after this was going to change. The single door to the room opened, and a chocolate brown stallion walked in, his grey mane hanging to the side limply. He was as generic as generic could get, but that was the point, he was forgettable. Exactly the kind of appearance any EIS agent sought after. “I’m afraid your guest can’t…” Bon Bon cut him off. “She stays or I go. She already knows.” The stallion blinked for a moment, before cracking the barest of a smile. “Never thought I’d see the day. She can stay.” He shuffled across the room, and took the seat on the opposite side of the table. “Special agent Sweetie Drops, you are the only member of any defence or government organisation to make it out of Ponyville.” “The Element Bearers did,” Bon Bon pointed out. “They’ve always been a… special case. And while we trust the Element Bearers’ own account of things, we also acknowledge that they were operating under stress and we must take their stories with a grain of salt.” He looked past her to the back of the room, eyes unfocused for a moment. “I’m sorry if this opens up extremely fresh wounds you don’t want to think about, but command would like you to recount the events of Ponyville as you saw them.” Lyra took a sharp intake of breath. “You can’t be serious!” The stallion had the decency to look ashamed. “I am. This war has not gone well for Equestria, and anything the agency can do the change that must be implemented. And for that, new intel may provide an avenue.” Lyra’s next outburst was halted when she felt Bon Bon nuzzle into her neck. “It’s OK. If this can help Equestria in any way… I’ll tell you what I saw.” Ponyville, a few days prior A squad of armoured ponies trotted past at a brisk pace, their armour clanking in time with their movements. Bon Bon gave the EUP a nod as they approached, earning a smile back from a few of them. Once they had gone, she carried on her journey towards the market, meeting the familiar sight of the bustling hub. Even in the middle of a war, the ponies of Ponyville could carry on like normal. The cynical side of her blamed that on their repeated exposure to hostile attacks, but she preferred to believe that it was because her townsfolk were simply made of tougher stuff. Her eyes caught the flower trio. OK, most of them were made of tougher stuff. Bon Bon stopped to check her shopping list, making sure she had noted down everything she needed. She had been making her sweets and candies almost nonstop since the last attack. Free candy for the troops kept their morale up, and energy levels high. Free candy for the school foals kept them happy and distracted. It was the least she could do, a former washed up agent with no other part to play… As she made her way into the crowd, the sounds of music caused her ears to flick. Twitching them back and forth, she pinpointed the source to be off to the left; Lyra’s favourite bench. A smile splitting her muzzle, she decided to finish her shopping quickly. Looking around, she noticed that the centre of town seemed to be missing something today. It wasn’t until she past the fountain that it struck her - there were no birds today. There were none bathing in the fountain, none joining Lyra from the tree tops… All the birds had gone. Vanished. Almost as if they could sense a coming storm… That was when she heard the first scream. Spinning around to face the direction it came from, Bon Bon saw the sky go from a clear blue, quickly fading into a black as a swarm of changelings that blotted out the sky. More screaming filled the air, as the advanced changelings made their way through the streets. Within moments, the screams were drowned out by the sound of helicopter rotors, and buzzing wings. Within but moments, all Tartarus had come to Ponyville. Her mind clicked, abandoning Bon Bon and pulling out all her past experiences as Sweetie Drops in the drop of a bit. Dropping her belongings, Bon Bon grabbed the nearest pony. “Town hall, now!” she shouted at him, before pushing him towards it, and moving onto the next pony. The smell of ozone was becoming overwhelming, the magical discharge of both the EUP aircraft and the swarm making the air feel static. Fires began to spring up in Bon Bon’s peripheral vision, flames of both green and red in colour. The swarm had split when it had reached the town, circling around and completely surrounding them. By the time she had found Lyra, the southern edge of town was already engulfed in flames, and the EUP were routing, back towards town hall. Looking at the roads leading out of town, she could still see ponies and changelings engaged in hoof to hoof fighting, bodies of both sides littering the floor; there were colour schemes she recognised. She had fought monsters before, but not monsters like this. And then a changeling landed in front of her. Gripped by panic, Bon Bon froze. “Agent Sweetie Drops. Agent, you’ve stopped.” The stallion waved his hoof in front of her face. Bon Bon stayed silent, staring past him. “Hey,” Lyra shouted. “Back off. You just made her remember that we lost friends, and that a changeling almost got her, you ass.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry for sounding insensitive. But we need to know what happened. How did you get away from that changeling?” Lyra smirked. “I hit it over the head with my lyre, snapping it in two, and then I dragged Bon Bon back to town hall. After that we stayed inside as a few stragglers showed up. The guards had a shield around the building, so we were safe for a few minutes.” The stallion browsed through a few papers he had brought it with him. “And it was the arrival of the Element Bearers that led to the escape through the cave system?” “Yeah. Apparently Pinkie and her sister had been using them for years. If it had been anyone but Pinkie, I would have been concerned.” Bon Bon stirred. “Don’t forget the Commander,” she said in a low voice, earning a raised eyebrow. “He and his ponies made a distraction, which is the only reason we reached the caves. I want that noted on their files.” A tear ran down her cheek. The stallion absorbed the information for a few seconds. “It already has, the Element Bearers said the same thing. We know all about the fates of the EUP in Ponyville.” He shuffled his notes, and stood up to leave. "I can't say this gave us any new intel, but it never hurts to hear an alternate perspective." "You're welcome," Bon Bon deadpanned. “Thank you for coming in today Sweetie Drops. I know this can’t have been easy. If you want, you and your marefriend can stay here until you are ready to leave.” Bon Bon’s mouth dropped open. “But she isn’t…” Lyra shut her up with a kiss to the cheek. “If he’s worked it out, so has everypony else.” Bon Bon went a deep shade of red. “You don’t get it.” She pointed at the stallion, “Agent Chocolate always joked I swung that way. I didn’t want him to know he was right; I think there was even a bet on it.” The stallion chuckled to himself. “Agent Swe- Bon Bon, we never stopped keeping tabs on you, we’ve always known. And you know what? So has everypony else. Surely you didn’t think nopony would notice in the past ten years?” he said, before bursting out into laughter as the door swung open from the other side, and a bag of bits flew onto the table. Bon Bon growled angrily. “Bastard stallions!”