“So why are we going again?” Lyra asked, a slight whine in her voice.
Bonbon sighed and fought to keep her eyes from rolling. “I told you, it's unwise to refuse an invite to a Pinkie Pie party,” the local agent replied, evenly, as the two were out in Ponyville's streets heading towards the town library. No other pony was close enough to hear the contents of their conversation, but Bonbon knew from training and experience that tone could carry surprisingly well. “Plus it would look incredibly suspicious if I wasn't there. And eccentric or not, as my friend you ought to be there as well to keep up appearances.”
“Okay,” Lyra replied, though she dragged the second syllable out a bit to reveal her disbelief.
Bonbon rolled her eyes at that, and then sighed. “Besides,” she added, tiredly. “It's tradition to stay up all night before Princess Celestia raises the sun in the morning, and parties are the favored method of staying active and awake throughout the night. You should have been taught this important cultural fact.”
“I was, but it doesn't make all that much sense to me,” Lyra retorted, with a huff. “It would make more sense to just wake up early and get some sleep at night.”
“Well, ponies do it this way, so adapt or go home,” Bonbon flatly stated, as they pair made the last turn and the Golden Oaks Library was spotted at the end of the street.
“Yes, mother,” Lyra sarcastically replied. She thought for a moment, and then grinned. “Though I don't know why you guys do something so pagan without going full in and just have an orgy while you're at it.”
The strangled noise that Bonbon made at that statement sounded half like an utterance, half like a gargling gasp. It was, however, overshadowed by the earth pony mare tripping over her front hooves at the unicorn's observation, whereupon the confectioner fell face-first into the dirt road. “Bleh,” Bonbon muttered, after a moment to gather her wits.
“Heh, gotcha,” Lyra said, as her grin turned into a smirk. She did however move to Bonbon's side as the latter began to stand and offered a hoof to help her up, which the earth pony took. “You should've seen the look on your face; priceless.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” Bonbon deadpanned, as she finished standing. “Do you take anything seriously?” she asked, and shot a dirty look at Lyra as they both began to walk forward again.
“Lots of things,” Lyra easily replied, with a small smile. “But a seemingly pointless tradition? Nah,” she added, with a shake of her head.
“That doesn’t seem very nice of you,” Bonbon dryly observed. “Aren’t you supposed to respect our culture?”
“Respect doesn’t mean I can’t point out some things I find funny,” Lyra replied, with a nonchalant tone. “If anything, not pointing out things I dislike would be patronizing, like saying you and your culture couldn’t handle a little bit of criticism.”
Bonbon merely harrumphed at that. “Just so long as you can take what you dish out, then,” she said, dismissively, with a toss of her head.
“But of course,” Lyra replied, friendlily. “T’would be hypocritical of me, otherwise.”
Bonbon grunted at that, but kept her peace. The two thus fell into a mutual silence as they approached the library, and the quiet only broke when Pinkie Pie popped out of the tree-building’s front door exactly on time to meet the two agents. “Bonbon hi it’s so nice to see you and you brought the new pony whom I haven’t met formally yet but I can’t wait to get to know her so what’s your name mine’s Pinkie Pie and I’m sorry I didn’t stay and meet you properly but you were the second new pony in one day and I just had to run off and get everything ready and I hope you enjoy the party because I love throwing parties and ponies say I’m a bit too excited about it but I can’t help it especially when there’s going to be another bigger party tonight that this party is part of so it’s like a compound party but without the methyl hydrazine!”
This entire run-on sentence was delivered without pause, breath, or even punctuation, and during it Pinkie had turned from addressing Bonbon to seamlessly greeting Lyra, who now stood in befuddlement as her brain attempted to play catch-up. “Are you a robot?” the unicorn asked, without really thinking.
Bonbon was amazed as the question actually made Pinkie Pie stop in her tracks for a moment, and the pink mare just stood there at a loss. Fortunately for Bonbon’s sanity, however, the moment was brief, and Pinkie’s smile returned full force. “Oh wow! Nopony’s asked me that one before! I’m gonna have to remember it,” she added, and then bounced in place once. “I’m just Pinkie Pie, though. Who are you?”
This finally prompted the former human’s brain to kick back into gear, and she smiled warmly as she proffered a hoof. “I’m Lyra Heartstrings; it’s nice to formally meet you, Pinkie.”
“Oooh! All fancy!” Pinkie Pie said, as she reached out and then shook Lyra’s hoof almost perfunctorily. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Lyra! Why don’t you and Bonnie come in and mingle and enjoy your Welcome-to-Ponyville Party!”
“Don’t mind if we do,” Lyra replied, and then followed Pinkie Pie in as the latter spun about to prance into the library.
Bonbon followed them in, and then paused just past the threshold to let her eyes adjust, and when they did she took a moment to nod appreciatively at the decorations the party planning pony has set up; tables with food and drink were spread about the main room, though they were set a decent distance away from the bookshelves and their tomes, and bunting and banners were spread about the place. “Looks like you've really gone all out today, Pinkie,” Bonbon noted.
“Of course!” Pinkie Pie replied from where she and Lyra had stopped by one of the tables covered with confections. The former had turned back to face Bonbon, while the latter was already using her magic to lift up a cupcake from the table and began to munch on it even as Pinkie continued to speak. “It's not every day that we get a Summer Sun Celebration and not one, but two ponies to move to Ponyville!”
“Hmm?” Lyra hummed, as her mouth was currently full of food, though she did snap her head around to look at Pinkie. The unicorn then took a moment to swallow, and then lightly shook her head. “Oh, I'm just visiting, Pinkie; I won't be here long.”
“Huh, really?” Pinkie asked, with a confused look on her face. She then sat back on her haunches and then brought up a hoof to rub it against her chin. “That's odd, I totally could have sworn the Pinkie Sense said we'd be getting two more residents soon.”
“What sense?” Lyra bemusedly asked, as she continued to levitate the cupcake beside her muzzle.
“Oh hey!” Bonbon suddenly said, as she quickly moved to stand next to Lyra, and then reached up a foreleg to wrap it around the unicorn's withers. “Who knows, maybe there's more ponies coming?”
Lyra turned her head to give Bonbon an even more confused look than she had given Pinkie Pie, but was preempted from saying anything as the baker gasped much like she had when she had met Lyra earlier. “I hadn't thought of that! Oooh, I'd better keep an eye out for them!” Pinkie said, and then smiled so broadly that the two who looked upon it felt a brief chill run up their spines. “Thanks for the idea, Bonnie! I'd better go and get some more supplies in case they come calling! See you girls soon!” And with that Pinkie turned and then bounced away.
Lyra watched her go, and then calmly moved to the side so that Bonbon's leg slid off her back. “Okay, what the smeg was that?” she asked of the earth pony, as the two turned to each other.
“Rule Number One of Ponyville,” Bonbon began, solemnly, as she looked into Lyra's eyes. “Never, ever, try to figure out Pinkie Pie or her ‘Pinkie Sense’. All those who've tried have only gained pain and suffering for their trouble.”
The former human frowned at the native, and then glanced over to where the aforementioned pink pony had bounced into the library's back room. Or is that a kitchen? Lyra mused, and then shrugged as she took another bite out of her baked good as she pondered what Bonbon had just said. Then she swallowed her masticated bite and returned her attention to the earth pony. “You're messing with me, right?” she asked, carefully.
“I'm as serious as that cupcake is your favorite flavor,” Bonbon evenly stated.
Lyra froze for a moment in shock, and then glanced down at the cupcake she was levitating to make sure she hadn't made a mistake. “How the Hell did you know that?” she asked of the earth pony.
“I didn't,” Bonbon said, and then jerked her head towards the door Pinkie had disappeared through. “But she did,” she added, and then leaned in towards Lyra until their muzzles were only an inch apart. “The Pink One does things like that, and the sooner you accept that without questioning it, the sooner you'll be able to sleep at night.”
The two ponies stared at each other for a few moments, until Lyra let out a small chuckle. “Okay, good one,” she said, and then took a step back, towards the table even as Bonbon moved her head back to its normal position. “You really had me going there, but honestly, it's not like marble cake with cream cheese frosting is all that hard to guess at,” she added, and then chomped down the last of her cupcake. She then took her time to chew it as she stared Bonbon down, but the cream-colored pony patiently waited without a hint of her facade cracking. “Now,” Lyra began, after finishing her mouthful, “if she had brought out my favorite ice cream flavor—”
“Ice cream!” Pinkie Pie shouted, as she sprung up from underneath the catering table. Lyra yelped in surprise as she leapt up and spun to face towards the source of the noise in one smooth motion, but then froze as she saw the party planner standing there with a cardboard tub on her back. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, just blissfully smiled as she watched the unicorn pant a bit in shock. “I totally forgot about the ice cream until I went back to check for supplies, so thanks again, Bonnie!” she said, and then turned to shimmy the tub onto a spare corner of the table. “Hey, Lyra, do you know the charm for keeping something in a container cool for a few hours?”
The transmogrified agent merely blinked at the question. “Uh, no?” she replied, confusedly.
“Okay then, I guess I'll have to ask Amethyst Star when she gets here,” Pinkie Pie said, with a tone of complete nonchalance. She then reached up with a hoof into her mane and then pulled out and set down a stack of bowls before Lyra could even register the movement; a split-second later had a pile of spoons put next to the ice cream tub, as well. “'Til then, enjoy!” Pinkie declared, as she turned around and began to bounce towards the back room once again. “I've still got more supplies to dig up!”
Lyra and Bonbon watched Pinkie leave for a second time, and the former slowly turned her head to the latter. Bonbon merely had a calm, almost bored look on her face and said nothing, to which Lyra turned her head away from her partner and over to the cardboard tub, which was even now gaining a thin layer of ice crystals. Slowly the unicorn inched over to the table, and then sat down on her haunches so she could lift up both of her forelegs to carefully grasp the chilled container. Then she cautiously, almost fearfully began to lift the lid up, and then peered inside. This lasted for only half a second before she sharply inhaled and then violently slammed the lid back on the tub. Another second passed, and then Lyra snapped her head around to stare wide-eyed at Bonbon. “How?” she demanded of the earth pony. “This flavor isn't even common back home, and I didn't think anyone here had even conceived of it yet!”
Bonbon's calm mien finally broke as she smiled. “Because Pinkie Pie, that's how,” she said, and then lightly shook her head. “Like I said, the sooner you get over the need to explain her, the better off you'll be.”
Lyra merely stood up and inched back and away from the table. Her movement turned into a full backwards walk, which soon placed the now-quizzical earth pony between her and the table. Bonbon turned halfway to regard the unicorn, but then was briefly frozen in surprise as Lyra nearly bounded forward and then sat on the floor next to her. The native didn't even have time to consider moving before Lyra placed her forelegs over the top of Bonbon's back, and then used the earth pony as leverage to slowly pull her forward half upwards to regard the ice cream tub with eyes barely above Bonbon's spine. “She's a witch,” Lyra stated, in awe. “If I eat that I'll turn into a newt!”
A roll of the eyes and a heavy sigh were Bonbon's immediate response. “No, you won't,” she said, tiredly, and then sidled to the side, which got her out from under Lyra's forelegs. The unicorn let her go and simply settled into the standard pony sitting stance as Bonbon turned to face her. “Now, it's almost six in the evening, so one of us needs to pick up Amethyst Star at the train station.”
“How'd she know Amethyst was coming?” Lyra asked, even as she still stared at the ice cream container. “It's supposed to be a surprise.”
“Because Pinkie Pie,” Bonbon repeated, and then shook her head. “Look, you still need some time to adjust, so I'll go pick up Amethyst and bring her back here, okay?”
“Are you sure it's safe to leave me with that Pink Demon?” Lyra asked, as she finally turned her gaze to the candy-maker.
Bonbon frowned at the unicorn. “Pinkie's crazy and doesn't make sense in any known system of physics, but she'd never hurt anypony unless they were a threat. So you'll be fine so long as you don't try to throw her into a cage or something.”
“I'm not sure I could even do anything to her,” Lyra breathed, and then shook her head. “I'm scared she's going to tunnel into a lower energy state and bring the universe with her.”
Bonbon blinked at that. “What?” she asked, perplexed.
Lyra blinked back, and then sheepishly grinned. “Nevermind; it's a cosmology joke,” she explained, and then took in a deep, calming breath. “Okay, if you say she's safe enough to be around, then I'll be fine while you go get Amethyst.”
“Are you sure?” Bonbon asked, with a raised eyebrow. “Pinkie Pie can be rather intense, even for ponies used to seeing magic every day.”
A moment of pique flickered through Lyra’s mind at the earth pony’s words and dubious tone. I’m beginning to think she doesn’t really like humans, the unicorn mused, even as she sat more upright and squared her shoulders. “I’ll be fine,” she evenly stated. “I am a grown wo—mare, after all,” she added, with only a brief hitch at nearly using the wrong word.
Bonbon slightly narrowed her eyes at the slip, but then mentally shrugged and nodded to her temporary partner. “Alright, I’ll be back soon,” she said, and then turned and trotted towards the door.
Lyra watched her leave, and then took in a deep, calming breath. Okay, they warned you about Eldritch Abominations in the academy. Remember the Lovecraftian Antithesis: “Humans Are Not Small-Minded Fools Incapable of Accepting the Unusual.” Just because you ran into the fluffy, adorable version of a Shoggoth does not mean you need to lose your marbles.
With that affirmation, Lyra took another calming breath, and then stood up and began to look around the library again. This time she was less focused on the food tables and more on the setting itself, which she found quite pleasant. Ahh, a good ol’-fashioned library, with nothing but paper books. Something like this hasn’t been around on Terra since the Twentieth Century. She felt buoyed by the notion, and soon was smiling slightly as she walked over to a nearby bookcase and then began to peruse the titles. “Yesteryear”, looks like a novel. “Your Horn and You: A Guide for Developing Unicorns”, okay, that sounds… awkward. “Yogg-Saron: Not Even Once”, I don’t even want to know. “Zebras of the Marenghetti”, oh God the pun names are going to kill me. Wait a tick, she suddenly stopped her review as a thought entered her head. Are these organized alphabetically? That’s crazy. Well, except that Yogg book, but that could be up to patrons not putting books back in the right place.
The door to the outside opened again, and Lyra turned around to see two mares walk in, one of which she was familiar with. Said mare, upon gaining her bearings in the room, sighed when she spied the minty green unicorn. “Oh bother,” Octavia muttered, and she seemed to deflate a little.
The smaller white unicorn next to her, however, started to beam, and then began to walk over. Her spikey, two-toned blue mane and tail were cut just a bit longer than boyish, and she wore a pair of purple sunglasses on her face. The latter was soon wrapped in a telekinetic grip and lifted up as the mare reached Lyra, and the agent noted the other unicorn’s pale rose eyes and broad grin. “Hey, you must be that mare Carrot Top told me about,” the newcomer said in a raspy voice, and then raised up a hoof. “Name’s Vinyl Scratch.”
“Lyra Heartstrings,” Lyra replied, as she brought up her own hoof and traded bumps with the other mare. “And yeah, I kinda played that joke a bit overboard,” she said, with a sincerely sheepish grin.
Vinyl’s smile faded a bit at that, and she grimaced a bit. “Oh, so you’re not really an alien then?”
“No, just from out of town,” Lyra smoothly lied, as the two ponies set their hooves down. “I was just playing a joke on Bonbon.”
“Aw,” Vinyl muttered, even as Octavia walked over to join them. “After what Carrot said I thought you’d at least know a bit about them since you echoed the stories so well.”
“Stories?” Lyra asked, curious.
Vinyl’s face seemed to light up again, but a sigh from Octavia preempted any reply. “Oh please don’t get her on about that,” she said, in tone of tiredness that went well with her posh accent. “She’ll spend the entire holiday talking about aliens and conspiracies and the like.”
Vinyl Scratch rolled her eyes at that. “Don’t listen to Octy, she’s just jealous that her music is boring compared to mine.”
“Excuse me?” Octavia cried, even as she snapped her head around to glare at the white unicorn. “Orchestral is not boring, it’s classic!”
“Classically boring, you mean,” Scratch countered, with a smirk on her muzzle.
Lyra frowned, and then took a half step forward. “Ladies, ladies!” she said, and then waited for the arguing siblings to return their attention to her. “We all have our favorite music types, I’m sure; there’s no need to fight about it.”
The pair of arguing mares glanced to each other, and then huffed and turned their heads away. “Perhaps,” Octavia allowed, and then returned her gaze to regard Lyra, most specifically, her flank. “Though I see you too prefer proper instrumentality,” the aloof mare observed.
Lyra shrugged. “It’s a hobby,” she said, matter-of-factly. “But I really like all kinds of music.”
“Nothin’ wrong with that,” Scratch allowed, with a shrug of her own. “Even if some of it is boring,” she added, with a smirk directed at Octavia, who harrumphed in return but held her peace.
“…So you were talking about stories?” Lyra asked, cautiously, in the hopes of preventing another argument.
Vinyl smiled at that and turned her full attention to the mint-colored unicorn. “Yeah! See, there’s this radio show called Post-to-Post AM that’s on in the middle of the night, and they get ponies to come in and tell their stories of all the stuff they encounter. What Carrot Top told me you said was a lot like some of those stories.”
“Really?” Lyra asked, even as her thoughts started to run behind the friendly façade she projected. Command has to know about this, right? If so, why wasn’t I told about it?
“Yeah,” Vinyl continued, oblivious to Lyra’s thoughts. “Just last week they had this stallion on, though they used some kind of spell to mask his voice because he didn’t want to be identified,” she explained, even while Octavia rolled her eyes and walked away. The latter was ignored as Vinyl continued to speak. “He told a story about how when he was a colt he was kidnapped by diamond dogs, along with some other foals, and he was rescued by giant aliens in gray armor. He said they dropped out of the sky on wings of fire and basically beat the snot out of the diamond dogs before taking the foals to the edge of their village and then ran off just as the Royal Guard arrived.” Vinyl Scratch paused for breath, and then shook her head all the while she wore an odd little smile. “Sounds cool, doesn’t it?”
Lyra blinked a few times as she processed the story. “Uh, yeah,” she temporized, even as she thought yup, sounds like a Marine platoon. Well, except for the whole ‘leave kidnappers alive’ bit, Marines usually love to just slaughter slavers. Maybe they didn’t want to traumatize the foals?
Vinyl, meanwhile, was speaking again. “So yeah the whole ‘observe and protect’ thing Carrot Top mentioned made me think of it, and I thought that even if you were joking you’d at least be a fan of Post-to-Post and we could talk about it,” she said, and then paused to sigh. “It’s kind of hard not having anyopony who’s into that around here,” she added, and then glanced over towards Octavia, who had moved across the main room and was talking with another pony who had shown up; a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark.
The minty mare followed Scratch's gaze, and then turned back to the slightly glum unicorn. Adorable ponies should not have to frown! A manic part of her whispered, but Lyra soon clamped down on the emotion and then proffered a wan smile. “Well, I may not know about such stuff, but I'd be glad to hear about it.”
Vinyl Scratch turned her head back to Lyra at that, and her face lit up a bit. “Really?” she asked, with a tinge of hopefulness in her tone.
“Yup,” Lyra replied, with a nod, and a broader, more sincere smile.
“Awesome! So supposedly there's like three alien races and they're all these weird bipeds...”
* * * *
Bonbon watched the train arrive with a practiced nonchalance as she waited on the station's sole platform. Inside she was eager, if not excited to see Amethyst Star, as she had come to know the unicorn decently well over the years given their shared employer and Amethyst's regular visits to her sister. Friendship alone would make the candymaker/agent look forward to a visit, but the presence of Lyra in Ponyville and the recent chat with Princess Cadance had Bonbon looking forward to speaking with Amethyst for an entirely different set of reasons.
Nevertheless, she held herself back from the edge of the platform and apart from the few other ponies who were waiting for friends or family. At least, I presume they’re waiting for travelers, Bonbon mused, since none of them have any luggage and I can’t think why anypony would leave when Celestia herself is coming tomorrow.
The thought of Equestria’s senior princess made Bonbon’s mood darken a bit, and she had to work at keeping a frown off of her muzzle. Fortunately she didn’t have long to mull over such thoughts as a whistle sounded in the distance, and everypony on the platform turned their heads in the direction the sound had come from. Soon enough the squealing of metal-on-metal was heard as brakes were applied, while the deep hissing of slowly-released steam underscored the entire cacophony even as the noises grew in volume. Several moments of this passed before the train rolled into view, and then to a stop with the passenger cars precisely aligned with the station platform. Bonbon felt a sense of relief as the doors opened and a small flood of ponies trammeled out and amongst them was a familiar purplish unicorn.
Bonbon didn’t have to feign the friendliness she put into her wave, and it even helps my cover, she rationalized. Thus she had no compunction in making herself more visible as she rapidly shook her foreleg in the air. Amethyst saw it quickly and then made her way across the platform to the earth pony, whereupon they both shared a quick, friendly hug. “Bonbon, it’s nice to see you again!” Star friendlily said.
“You too, Amethyst,” Bonbon replied, as they parted from their brief embrace. The earth pony then turned and beckoned the unicorn with her hoof, and the two set off. “I admit I was a bit surprised to hear about your visit,” Bonbon added, her tone completely at ease. Her eyes, however, tightened just a bit, which let Amethyst know just what her friend was really speaking about.
“Well, it was kind of a last-minute thing,” Amethyst allowed, as the two exited the station and began to walk along Ponyville’s dirt roads. “We’ve had such a terrible time trying to balance the books at work. Fortunately, we got a windfall that helped us out and I could take some time off.”
“Hmm,” Bonbon hummed, even as she surreptitiously scanned the area. After a moment, the agent sighed upon noting that the small crowd had spread out to head in different directions, leaving the pair alone. “Would that windfall be a certain ape-turned-pony?” she asked, sotto voce.
Amethyst Star frowned at that, but soon banished the expression from her muzzle and replaced it with a bland mask. “You should know better than to ask that in public,” she replied to Bonbon, in an equally low volume. “But yes, Lyra’s arrival was not only timely, but she actually helped us think outside the box a bit so I could be here, as well.”
Bonbon frowned at that. “That’s her pony name; what’s her real name?”
“That is her real name, Bonbon,” Amethyst countered, and then gave her friend a brief glare. “Can you get over your dislike of our allies for now? This is bigger than any of us.”
The candymaker/agent grit her teeth at that, but then nodded. “Right, fine,” she said, and then sighed. “So what now?”
“Now, we sit back and observe,” Amethyst Star replied, and then put on a smile as the pair rounded a corner and came onto a street filled with ponies all moving towards the library. Bonbon likewise adopted a pleasant mien, even as Star continued to speak in a hushed tone. “Not much else to do, given the nature of what’s going on.”
“Yes, I got that from… Lyra, and also Cadence,” Bonbon replied.
Amethyst gave her a curious glance out of the corner of her eye, but then grunted and resumed looking forward. “She mentioned your conversation briefly before I got on the train, so I’m sure you’re up to speed on the stakes,” she said, and then let out a brief sigh. “So let’s just get through the night and try not to let anypony pick up on anything.”
Bonbon nodded her assent, and then schooled her face as she and Star reached the library door. Amethyst did likewise, and so the two appeared perfectly natural as Bonbon opened the door and they stepped inside. There they paused to look over the room and the ponies who had started to fill it in the time Bonbon had left for the train station. Then their eyes fell upon Lyra and the pony she was speaking with, and both of the newcomers froze. “Oh shhhh—” Amethyst muttered, barely catching herself in time.
“Of all the ponies…” Bonbon said, and then shook her head. “Let’s get over there and make sure there’s been no damage to the masquerade,” she added, and then started off through the growing crowd. Amethyst Star only took a moment to follow, and soon they were upon the speaking pair of unicorns.
“…So you really think that one is just a female version?” Vinyl was asking as the newcomers approached.
“Yeah,” Lyra said, with a nod and the barest hints of a hidden smile on the corners of her lips. “I mean, it’s entirely possible they’re just more sexually dimorphic than ponies.” She then glanced over and blushed a bit as she saw her fellow agents. “Uh, you know, if they’re real at all.”
“Yeah yeah,” Vinyl said, with a wave of her hoof. “This is all hypothetical depending on whether they’re real or not, you said that—oh, hello!” Vinyl said, interrupting herself as she finally noted the recent arrivals, and then turned to face them. “How’s it goin’ Bonnie, Star?”
“Well enough,” Amethyst replied for the both of them. “How’s the music career going, Scratch?”
A bit of the smile left Vinyl’s muzzle at that, but she remained upbeat. “Not as well as I’d like right now, but hey, we all gotta start somewhere, right?”
“Indeed,” Amethyst agreed. “Even the greatest tree comes from a tiny seed.”
“Unless it’s some kind of super-sized mega-plant with giant seeds,” Lyra chimed in. The three other mares all paused and then turned their heads to give her a uniform series of looks. Lyra smiled crookedly at that. “What?”
“You’re a silly pony,” Vinyl Scratch said, as she smirked and shook her head. “Anyway, you girls come to tell me I’m off my rocker again?” she added, after turning her head towards Bonbon and Amethyst Star, and her smirk turned into a frown.
“We don’t think you’re off your rocker,” Bonbon proffered, with a sheepish smile. “Just that you should really think about which you want to pursue more: your music career, or those silly conspiracy stories.”
“They’re not silly,” Vinyl replied, with a huff. Then her expression turned contemplative, and she glanced to the side. “Though… I guess you do have a point about how I spend my time.”
Both Bonbon and Amethyst blinked at that. “Oh? The latter asked, sounding surprised. “If I may ask, what brought this change on?”
“I was talking to Lyra here—you know her, right?” Vinyl said, interrupting herself long enough to get affirming nods. “Thought so, since she mentioned you all—and she was telling me how ponies back where she’s from don’t always follow their cutie marks, so they can get sidetracked and stuff.” Vinyl Scratch paused at this, and then shrugged in the equine manner. “Like how she’s barely done any music despite having a mark in lyre-playing.”
“Yeah,” Lyra agreed, with a nod and a sincere smile. “I mean it’s not so bad for me, but some ponies back home are really unhappy.”
“Yeah, so,” Vinyl said, and then returned her attention to Bonbon and Amethyst Star. “You two might have a point,” she allowed, with a huff. Then her face hardened a bit, and she let another smirk roll along her muzzle. “But! I’m still going to find the truth one day… It just might take me longer,” she said, and then shook her head. “Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been talking for a while and I want to get some of Pinkie’s white chocolate espresso cupcakes before they’re gone.”
“Oh, of course,” Bonbon said, and then smiled warmly at Vinyl. “We’ll be seeing you later, then.”
“Groovy,” Vinyl replied, and then walked off towards one of the concession tables.
The trio of agents watched her go for a moment, but soon enough both Amethyst Star and Bonbon turned to give bewildered looks at the subtly smug unicorn in their midst. “Okay… how did you really do that?” Amethyst asked. “We’ve been trying to dissuade her for years from following the alien stories too closely.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that,” Lyra said, and then let her expression shift into bemusement. “But why? I mean, from what she said a lot of ponies are following this, why did you two focus on her?”
“Two reasons,” Bonbon began. “Firstly, she’s a mutual acquaintance, since Ponyville is small enough for most ponies to know each other, or somepony who knows somepony. Thus she’s the closest one, figuratively, to us who might actually pay attention long enough to pierce the veil.”
“And secondly,” Amethyst chimed in. “Vinyl is talented enough that she could make it big someday… If she actually focuses, that it,” she added, with a sigh. “We care enough about her that we really want her to stop obsessing and get on with making a name for herself.”
Lyra absorbed these words, and then raised an eyebrow. “And I suppose making sure a potential future celebrity isn’t going to rock the boat with ‘silly stories’ factors in there as well?” she knowingly asked.
Both Bonbon and Amethyst had the decency to blush a bit at that. “You’re a lot sharper than you act,” Bonbon muttered.
“I do try,” Lyra replied, and then let out a sigh of her own. “Anyway, to answer your question, Star, Vinyl told a few stories to me and we spoke about ‘aliens’ and whether they had cutie marks, and I got inspired to lead her away with that bit about wasting your life by not following your own, and I guess it took root.”
“Very sharp,” Amethyst Star said, after a moment to think about Lyra’s words. “Well, this seems like a good omen for tonight,” she added, with a genuine smile.
“Let us hope,” Bonbon added, somewhat grudgingly.
“Amy!” a new voice interjected, followed by the sudden appearance of a certain pink pony in the agents’ midst, which caused them all to startle. “I’m so glad you could make it!” Pinkie Pie said, as she quickly reached over and wrapped Amethyst in a crushing hug. “Derpy and Dinky will be so happy to see you!”
“Glad to see you too, Pinks,” Amethyst replied from within the pink forelegs, somewhat out of breath. Pinkie seemed to understand the unspoken message and released the unicorn, who then took a moment to breathe deep before she turned a warm smile to the party planner. “Are they here yet?”
“Not yet, but they should be here soon!” Pinkie replied, her face alight with joy. “In the meantime, could you do me an eeensy, teensy little favor,” Pinkie asked, as she held up a hoof in a pleading manner.
Amethyst sighed good-naturedly. “Lemme guess, you want me to enchant an ice cream tub to keep it from melting for a few hours, right?” she asked, with a smile.
“Uh-huh!” Pinkie replied, with a nod so fast that Lyra was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. “I found a new flavor the other day and something told me I just had to bring it here for tonight’s party and then I found out we’re getting new ponies speaking of which the other unicorn is probably on her way now so if you could do me that favor I’d be really really reaaaaaalllly happy and make you a cake in whatever flavor you want so pretty please with sugar a cherry and chocolate sprinkles on top?”
The verbiage flowed out and over the trio of ponies like a tidal wave, but where it left Lyra blinking in confusion, both Amethyst and Bonbon had had enough experience with Pinkie Pie to weather the storm, and the lavender-pink unicorn chuckled, and then gave a nod. “Alright, take me to it and I’ll see what I can do,” Amethyst replied.
“Yay!” Pinkie cheered, and then reached a foreleg around Amethyst’s withers and began to lead the unicorn away. “C’mon, it’s over here!”
Lyra and Bonbon watched them go for a moment before they turned to each other. “Well… that was something,” the latter said, cautiously.
“Yeah,” Lyra agreed, and then took in a brief, calming breath. “So, now what?”
Bonbon was temporarily put off by the echo of her own words only a few minutes in the past, and she blinked in confusion for a moment before she regained her wits. “Well, for the moment we’re just going to sit back, enjoy the party, and keep our eyes open; it’s just about all we can do until the other horseshoe drops.”
The unicorn thought about that, and then grinned. “Sounds good,” Lyra said. “Speaking of enjoying myself, if you’re really sure that ice cream won’t turn me into a newt, then I’m going to get some; want any?”
“Er, no, thank you,” Bonbon replied, and then watched her partner move off. You know, this is almost normal, she mused, as she glanced around the library’s main room, which was still filling up with ponies as more arrived. Maybe tonight won’t be so bad after all.