//------------------------------// // Chapter 38 - The Revised Ultimatum // Story: Dadonequus Discord (Book 2) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// You made your way to Bonbon’s house, with the thought of professorship leaving your mind and being replaced with having to be a student and having to deal with Chrysalis. For now, you’d focus on the more important latter. Chrysalis was focused on you now, possibly in such a way of wanting you dead. But is that what she truly wants? If it is, that would mean you might have no other choice than to… No, Anon, don’t think about it. No, you’ll be able to talk about it when you talk to Bonbon about it. Speaking of Bonbon, you probably had to prepare for Lyra to be with her as well. They are rarely apart and you could feel Lyra was going to be rather nosy about it. Then again, she was very good hearted, so you knew she wouldn’t say anything to hurt you. When you reached Bonbon’s home, you took a moment to prepare yourself, take a breath, and then knock on the door. “Hello? Bonbon? You there? It’s me, Anon!” You shout as you plop your butt down, wagging your tail about as you wait for the cute mare to open the door. The door opens, but Bonbon is not the one to pop her head out. Instead, it’s Lyra. She looks left and right, then looks down at you with a cheery smile “Well looky here! Long time no see, Anon. How are you doing today?” You look to Lyra with a smile as you give her a gentle wave of your hoof “Heya, Lyra. I’m doing alright, just came to talk to Bonbon. She’s here, right? I mean, it is her house.” “Yup, she’s here. Come on in, we’re playing ‘Doctor’! Would be nice to have a colt like you play with us.” Lyra says as she turns around and walks inside, leaving the door open for you. “D-doctor?” You immediately blush, there’s no way… “I mean, I-I guess I can play, What kind of game is it?” You ask as you follow Lyra inside. “Hm?” Lyra stops, and turns to look at you, she could see you were blushing red. “Anon, why are you blushing like that?” Shit! Were you blushing?! “U-umm, just had a thought.” “Oh, is it because you’ll be playing with us? C’mon, Anon.” Lyra giggles at you “I know its a bit of a silly game, but me and Bonbon like playing it from time to time. And there’s no shame in losing to mares like us.” Lyra gives you a wink and a cocky grin as she enters the living room. A simple room with wooden walls, a couch, some cabinets, and a small table for drinks and such. Damn, looks like it’s not the “Doctor” you were thinking of. Why would it be anway? In fact, as you follow Lyra into the living room, you could see Bonbon over a table, with some tweezers in her mouth, as she tries to pluck something from a game board with a sleeping pony with holes in it. Oh, this was just “Operation: Pony Edition.” . “Nah, it’s not that. Erm, it’s more like-” “SHHHHHHHHH!” Bonbon gives you both an evil glare, then went back to trying to pick out what seemed to be the heart. Christ, she’s taking it seriously. “Wow, I didn’t expect her to be this into any game” You whisper to Lyra “She must really be good at it if she can focus that much” Lyra stifles a giggle, and whispers to you “Not really, Bonbon actually isn’t good at this game. But she wants to be, she gets kinda angry just thinking about it. I think it has to do with her agent stuff. Y’know, as in she’s probably really precise when she’s working, but she somehow can’t do it when she’s just being herself.” Huh… “Interesting, so then, how is this game going anyway?” “Oh, I got the leg bones, the ribs, the tailbone, the horn, and the wing bones.” Lyra whispers “And what does Bonbon have?” You ask “Well, if she manages this? The heart” Lyra replies Oh christ, poor Bonbon. “Oh. Oh geez,I didn’t think she’d be that bad.” “Shhh, don’t be mean. Bonbon just has trouble not touching the sides. She’s still really amazing at-” Lyra is suddenly cut off by a loud buzzing noise “not that” “EVERYTIME! EVERY DANG TIME! I CAN EASILY SLIP A SLEEPING NEEDLE RIGHT INTO THE CENTRAL POINT OF A BUGBEAR, BUT I CAN’T REMOVE A HEART?! A FAKE PLASTIC HEART?! THAT’S IT! I’M DONE WITH THIS STUPID GAME! TO TARTARUS WITH ‘DOCTOR’ AND TO TARTARUS WITH ’MARETTEL’! YOU WON’T GIVE ME YOUR HEART?! THEN I’LL BREAK YOU IN TWO! RAGHHH!” Bonbon furiously flips the board into the air with her hooves. It flies, spinning, right into your head. However, the board was so light and rather flimsy, that it splits into two and still continues at a blazing pace into the next room with no sign of slowing down. As for you, you didn’t even feel it. “Anon! Are you alright?!” Lyra gasps, watching the split board fly by as you continue to look towards Bonbon, undeterred by such a hit. “Yep, gonna take more than a flimsy plastic board to phase me. Hey, Bonbon, you alright?” You ask her. Bonbon was still obviously upset as she just looked forward in rage. After a moment however, she snapped out of it, and looked at you. Though, she wasn’t as fearful about the smash as Lyra was “Yeah, I just needed a moment. So, that didn’t hurt at all, huh?” “Nah, I’m fine. Can’t say the same for the board though, that alicorn won’t be doing any princessing any time soon. Can’t imagine how many ‘patients’ you’ve been through already” You say with a gentle chuckle, giggling at your own joke. “Yeah, yeah.” Bonbon groans as she walks towards her couch and hops on top of it, sitting as any normal pony would as she rests her head on the arm rest, defeated. “It's just a stupid game anyway.” “Awww, Bonbon, don’t take it so hard. I know! How about I go grab your cards from the closet and we all play ‘Go Fish’ “ Lyra said, in an attempt to lift the spirits of her friend. “Eh, I guess. Anon, you wanna play?” Bonbon asks you. “Um, actually you guys. I really did only come to talk about something important. And since I guess Lyra is gonna find out anyway, it’s about Chrysalis.” You decide to just flat out say it. You didn’t have time to play a few rounds of ‘Go Fish’ and you didn’t want to seem dodgy either, especially around Bonbon, who’d probably figure out you had something to hide. Bonbon just hides her head on the arm of the couch and shakes it from side to side “Oh good, here we go again.” “Oh wow, Anon. Erm, I’m kinda with Bonbon on this one. Not that any of us should hate our good friends and all… It’s just she’s not really good at all. Didn’t you say she had the look of vengeance in her eyes when you last saw her?” Lyra says, her cheerful demeanor changing to that of worry the moment you said those words. You figured you’d get these reactions. “Sorta, yeah. Look, I already know how you both feel about it. I know I should drop it, but there’s been an update recently that kind of plays into my favor… maybe.” “Wha? An update that plays into your favor? Anon, did you run into her recently?” Bonbon asked as her raised. She hopped off the couch and slowly approached you, awaiting your answer. “Not really, look, let me explain…” And so you explained. From what happened at the test to what Scrappy revealed to you and Scootaloo. Needless to say, it worried Lyra. But Bonbon, she was deep in thought about it. “Hmm, so that's what you meant. She’s solely focused on you, either as a reluctant protector or a rider of vengeance. Which means she won’t make a move until she has your undivided attention.” Bonbon says as she ponders your words. “Wow, really poetic Bonbon! But uh, what does that mean exactly?” Lyra replied, ignorant to what Bonbon meant Bonbon shrugged, with an awkward smile on her face as she raised her hoof to explain. “It means Anon is in a better situation than even he may have realized.” Better situation? “I mean, yeah if she’s protecting me. But I’m kind of stuck on what to do if she just wants to destroy me. I want to find at least one more way to convince her to the side of harmony, but until I know what she’s actually doing, I can’t make a move.” “And I mean yeah no matter what she’s doing. Look, Anon, you have to realize you’re at the advantage here. Don’t say a word, just let me explain.” She says as she puts her hoof to your muzzle before you can retort. “You have to realize that you have a ridiculous advantage with that horn of yours. Really, if you use it properly, she can’t touch you. She doesn’t have her hive nor does she have home advantage, meaning she’s pretty weak on the power scale right now. If Scrappy’s intel is correct, it means, at the worst, she’s going to try to destroy you. But here’s the beauty of it! How can she when you actually outrank her in power? You just need to be dutiful with your horn and have it prepped at the ready at any moment’s notice. Which, unfortunately, comes the part you might not want to hear…” “Wha? Bonbon, are you saying Anon should actually put himself in danger? Isn’t that the opposite of making sure he’s safe?” Lyra asked, still lost on the whole matter. “I mean, what if she hypnotizes him? Then what?” “No, I’m pretty good at resisting her hypnosis. And, I…” Huh, how did you not realize you outpowered her that hard? She didn’t have an anti-magic throne or an army of bugpones anymore. She can’t even remove your horn from your neck in any way. You could totally take her one on one if she tried to take you down. But then, what did Bonbon mean by 'you might not want to hear…’ “Guess I can outmatch her. But, what do you mean by not wanting to hear?” “Anon, Chrysalis is dangerous and has committed crime and crime across Equestria. She wants to conquer us all and use us as food… At least, that’s what we knew about her before she lost her children. The part you may not want to hear is that you’d have to give Chrysalis an ultimatum. Either harmony, or Tartarus. You have to realize that even if your friendship with her was genuine, she was still trying to stall for any time she could borrow to try to make her plans come to fruition. If you can’t convince her now, then there’s no convincing her at all. She still has the potential to be dangerous, Anon, to any and all ponies. Letting her go after having your chance at her at this point is just outright stupid. Do you understand?” Bonbon gives you a sagely yet demanding stare, hopeful that you understood what was at stake. Your ears droop as memories of Celestia basically telling you similar shit filled your head. Sure, Bonbon wasn’t forcing you, and if anything, made you realize you have quite the advantage in the situation as a whole. But there was that whole ultimatum thing again. Then again, if Chrysalis had lost a few of her marbles due to the loss of her children, it really may be the final chance you’d get. You look to Bonbon, and give her a more determined nod as you quickly come to terms with the situation. One chance, because letting her go would do nothing at this point. “Alright, I understand. But just so you know, I don’t want any lip if I manage to do it.” Bonbon shook her head at you “You won’t have any lip from me. I’ll be happy for you actually. Heck, she can’t even really trick you either, given she’ll transform like the rest of the hive if she accepts your offer. She could fake it, sure, but if your Dad could lock up her abilities to transform at her own will, then so should you. It’d make it easy to tell then.” “Wow! Bonbon, that’s true!” Lyra sat and clapped her hooves together for her friend “Amazing as always!” Bonbon takes a bow to Lyra’s words “Well, I may not be good at ‘Doctor’, but I’m good at my job, which includes figuring out all the possibilities. So, Anon, you’re alright with all this then? You’re not just going to tell me you are, and then back down from it later, right? I mean, you’re still free to try it your own way, I won’t stop you. But I just want to know, honestly, what you plan to do.” “Unless something else opens up, it looks like all I can do is confront her when she makes her move. I really hope she just wanted to protect me, it’ll make it a lot easier then. Thanks Bonbon for the ideas, It’ll help me figure out what I want to say to her.” You move in close, and give Bonbon a gentle hug. “Just let her know what’s in your heart, alright? If she’s really your friend, she’ll make the right choice.” Bonbon says, as she returns your hug. Lyra got teary eyed, she sniffed as she wiped her cheek with her hoof “This really hurts, y’know? You’re both besties, but you can’t be friends because of something as silly as good and evil.” “I wouldn’t say silly. But the situation could be better, I know I’d have a hard time with my feelings if you suddenly turned out to be evil, Lyra.” Bonbon said, the philosophy of the situation making her wonder what would happen if she was put in your situation. “Ohh…” Lyra’s ears folded as she frowned, looking to Bonbon with hurt in her heart “I feel the same way. If you were evil, I don’t know what’d I’d do. But I’d do my best, I’d never let anypony hurt you until I could show you the goodness of friendship again.” Bonbon let out a melancholic chuckle “I appreciate that, but it just goes to show that Anon is gonna have a harder time than even I made it out to be.” She then looks to you, and sighs “I guess I can’t really blame you if you let her get away, but just try not to let her take advantage of you, alright?” You nod, at least they both understood how hard it really was. “I promise. Thanks guys, I really needed this.” “Aww, Anon, it’s no biggie. You’re our friend! So we’ll always do our best to steer you right!” Lyra grabs you, pulling you in with her magic, in which she then snuggles onto you gently. “No more worries, alright? We know you’ll manage it! So cool your head, and come play a game with us! We can talk about your whole wedding thing! It’ll be fun!” “Well” How could you resist the company of this cuddly mare? Though, her mentioning the fake wedding did make you feel bad you were enjoying her affection a little more than you should. “Ok, but just one game. I still have something else I gotta do.” “Well, I guess I’ll grab the cards then, a few drinks, and a small flask of water for you to use. Just give me a sec.” Bonbon says as she walks off to her room. You probably needed this anyway. You needed to destress before talking with Starlight and Trixie, didn’t want to be all strung out before Discord’s little show after all.