//------------------------------// // 14 Tactful Non-Deniability // Story: A Balance of Fire and Light // by Stolenalicorn //------------------------------// Twilight felt far more comfortable about the upcoming dinner than she had expected to feel. She was still stressed out and writing lists of both questions to ask and reasons to avoid the dinner all together, but she didn't feel nearly as much anxiety as she had expected to. “Everything okay Twilight?” Spike asked as he waded through the papers strewn about the room. A disheveled Twilight poked her head up from another stack of papers with a wild fake grin and twitching eye. “Just fine Spike. Why do you ask?” Spike stared at Twilight a moment. “And you're Twilighting … I'll find somepony to help.” Twilight's eyes went wide as she scrambled out of the discarded papers. “Nonononononononononono.” She quickly caught up to Spike, her gold-flecked violet luminescence easily lifting him off the ground. “I'm just … a little stressed about dinner tonight.” “This seems to be a lot for just dinner.” Spike answered. “Oh, right; I didn't tell you. I'm actually going to be having dinner with Lyra and Bonbon tonight.” “What's so stressful about that? You don't have anything to worry about.” “Yeah, if it were just dinner.” Twilight said before adding uncomfortably, “I'm going be asking some uncomfortable questions while I'm there.” Spike raised an eyebrow and smacked his lips. “I don't think I want to hear more.” Twilight sighed as she let Spike back down. “I'm sure it's nothing. Really. But after talking to Lady Seto I can't help but imagine all the worst possibilities.” “Uhm … Okay, maybe I do need to know more.” “That's the problem! I don't know more. Now Bonbon is offering to answer my questions but I can't help but wonder if I should even ask. What if there's a reason I don't know? What if it's something really bad? What if this changes everything in Ponyville, or even Equestria?!” Twilight asked as she worked herself up. “Twilight …” Spike gently said. Twilight quickly looked to him, half crazed and half worried. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” He calmly finished. Twilight gave a resigned sigh and dropped her head. “You're absolutely right Spike.” She admitted, “And I won't either until I ask her. … Thanks Spike, you really helped.” “Uhh.” Spike got out as he looked to Twilight confused. “I really should bring something nice with me. It's only polite since they were nice enough to invite me over after all.” Twilight gave a defeated smile as she looked to Spike again. “So … can you think of something I can bring with me to dinner?” Spike mulled the question over a moment and opened his mouth to answer. “Oh, I know!” Twilight interrupted happily, “One of those bottles I got yesterday should be just right. I mean, they were trying to interest us as potential customers, it just makes sense that it would be good at least. Thanks Spike, you're the best.” Twilight said as she hugged the dragon and left to collect the bottle. “ … Glad I could help.” *** Twilight peeked once more at the bottle she had brought with her, quietly wishing that she knew just what it was, but held out hope that the surprise would be fun. If nothing else it would make an interesting subject to talk about. "Maybe I should tell her I don't actually need to know." She whispered to herself as she examined her choice. The drink was a vibrant green and in an oval bottle. The design of the bottle actually made it look larger than it was, but it should still be enough for the three of them to have a glass each. Putting the bottle back in her saddle bag Twilight sighed and walked out of her castle towards Lyra and Bonbon's house. Her mind raced as her panic mounted over what she wanted to ask. Her eye twitching again as she considered running away once more. “Come on Twilight,” She muttered to herself, “you can't just run off whenever something gets awkward or uncomfortable.” She took a moment to look around to make sure nobody could hear her talking to herself. “You may be just the Princess of Friendship again, but that's still important, especially here in Ponyville.” Her pace picked up as she felt her resolve stiffen. “And if you want to prove you're worth what everypony puts on you, you have to step up.” Without more trouble, Twilight finished her walk to the home of her two friends. Lyra was quick to answer the door as Twilight knocked. Seeing her guest, Lyra pranced at the door and smiled. ”Oh this is so exciting!” She said instead of a greeting. “Come in Twilight, dinner is almost ready.” “Thank you.” Twilight answered as she walked in. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Lyra blew a quick raspberry, “No,” she almost laughed. “We invited you, you don't have to do anything.” “Oh, well I did bring this.” Twilight said as she used her magic to bring out the bottle she had been given earlier. Lyra's own golden magic took the bottle and brought it close as she eagerly inspected it. “Thank you.” She happily said, “What is it?” “It's …” Twilight started before remembering that she didn't have an answer. Lyra noticed the pause, and unbothered by Twilight clearly not knowing what the drink was, she smiled. “It's green.” She offered with a giggle. Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, I got it at the trade conference and thought it would be fun if we tried it tonight.” “That does sound fun.” Bonbon said as she walked up to the pair. “I'll get some glasses and we can try it after dinner. Which I just got on the table.” “Bon!” Lyra happily cooed, “You are just amazing.” “I know.” Bonbon said with a coy smile before turning to Twilight. “I hope you're okay with grilled potatoes and broccoli with a light salad.” “That sounds great.” Twilight said, happily following the pair to a table, Bonbon continuing past the table through a door Twilight guessed lead to the kitchen. Soon she came back with three wine glasses, holding one by the stem with her hoof and two by the base with her mouth. “Oh, I can …” Twilight began before being silenced by a golden light. Twilight looked to Lyra who just quietly shook her head. “That's alright Princess.” Bonbon said as she finished placing the glasses. “We earth ponies can manage well enough.” “Sorry, I didn't …” “I know you didn't.” Bonbon interrupted, not sounding upset. “Maybe we should start dinner. I'm quite interested in whatever this is.” She added as she inspected the bottle Twilight had brought. “Yes.” Twilight quietly said, watching as Bonbon poured half a glass for each of them, leaving just over half the bottle remaining. After that the three talked easily, not focused on any one subject long. Twilight found herself actually relaxing as it seemed as though they had forgotten the reason she had come in the first place. That is, until Bonbon broached the subject. “So Twilight,” Bonbon began, showing a bit of hesitation herself. “maybe we should start with what you do know about … Sweetie Drop.” Twilight was a bit uncomfortable being confronted by the question directly. “First, uhm, this isn't something that will get anypony in trouble if you tell me, is it?” “Well, you're a princess so I think you should be okay to know.” Bonbon admitted. “Then maybe we should just go over everything. The most I know is Tenyo felt you had skills she needed you to use for New Guardia.” “Yeah.” Bonbon said with a sigh, “I got the waiver I had apparently signed. I have to admit, it's a little disconcerting that there are apparently operations I've been involved in that I'm not even allowed to remember.” Bonbon paused to collect her thoughts before beginning again. “I guess it seems odd to anypony who doesn't dig too deep into government, but there are secrets everywhere. I didn't when I first started as an EUP guard with all the usual aspirations of becoming a personal guard to Princess Celestia. I worked very hard to stand out in my job, mastering whatever skill I thought would help my career.” “It certainly worked and I got the Princess' attention, just not in the way I was expecting: I was scouted for a shadow operations agency that worked directly for The Princess. We did the work nopony could know about.” “Really?” Twilight asked, astonished. “I thought you just captured creatures, maybe like for research or something.” Bonbon smiled at the thought. “No. We did do a lot of capture and containment though. But that was just one facet of our work. For instance: one mission I was on found us in the Dragonlands. There was anti-pony sentiment growing among a faction of dragons, led by a powerful dragon that would have taken the scepter for himself and brought a war on Equestria.” “What did you do?” Twilight asked, wondering just how often Equestria had been so close to war without anyone even knowing. “Satchel left a small pile of assorted gems, topped by a rare frost sapphire …” “Like a peace offering?” Twilight openly hoped. Bonbon shook her head, resuming after a pause. “I had the softest voice, so I whispered rumors of gems in his ear as he slept. He found the stash in the morning, and fortunately he didn't eat the sapphire immediately, he just licked it and hid it away for later.” “Oh.” “It doesn't end there. We kept an eye on everything for the next few days, he licked the sapphire twice a day, eager to eat it but wanting to savor it as long as he could. Soon he “found” a less rare thunder topaz to accompany it. I remember that Spike had an incident years ago, so you should know that look dragons get when they start to get greedy. That was exactly what we were looking for.” Bonbon took a sip of water before continuing. “That night we stole the remaining gems back and found his most trusted friend. We hid the topaz nearby and smashed the sapphire, leaving most of the pieces around his friend's mouth. Going back to make sure we kept him on the hook I whispered of theft and hunger as he slept. The next day distrust and dragon greed did the rest. The would be dragon lord went mad, stealing everything that wasn't nailed down until the rest of the dragons managed to banish him from the Dragonlands. His movement got much quieter after that, though if not for you, Spike, and Ember, I'm afraid it would have just resurfaced by now anyway.” “You used their friendship against them?” Twilight asked, horrified. “That was the job, and we needed to keep the peace between ponies and dragons. But that's how it always was with us, anything to get the job done. No matter what the job was.” “So that's it? Anything that the public couldn't know.” Twilight reasoned more than asked. “Obviously there was more, this operation had been in service for years before I came along, and though our branch was shuttered I doubt it's really stopped. But basically … yeah.” Twilight took a minute to process the story she had just heard, nodding as she considered the answer she got. “Well, you've already answered what I needed to know most about this. Sorry to bring up old memories.” Bonbon shook her head and smiled. “I don't regret what I did or what I was part of, but I am glad that with you around it may not be as necessary.” Silence dominated the room as Twilight absorbed the information. Lyra, who had been uncommonly quiet looked between the two before daring to speak. “I think now may be a good time to finally try these drinks.” She offered, lifting her glass. Bonbon laughed lightly and nodded. “That sounds nice, it's too serious in here.” “Exactly!” Lyra said with a wide smile. “Sounds good.” Twilight agreed lifting her glass. “To moving forward?” She offered. Bonbon chewed her lip a moment. “To old times and new: and living as best we can with those we care about most.” “Aww.” Lyra cooed. Twilight nodded and smiled warmly. “To old times and new.” With a chaotic clinking of all the glasses (several times and with giggles shared by all) eventually the glasses found their way to their lips. The green liquid was sweet, but left a tangy taste on their tongue and lips that almost demanded they take another drink, but more telling was how it burned on the way down. Twilight and Lyra coughed as they realized that whatever the drink was it was alcoholic … and strong. “And they just gave this to you?” Lyra asked, excitedly. “Yeah, I don't even remember which stall I got it at, there was so much going on.” “Whatever it is, it's good.” Bonbon said as she went back to take more than a sip. “Mh-hm.” Lyra agreed as she took a swig and held it in her mouth a minute before swallowing with a smile. “Good thing we went with dinner, wouldn't want to drink this during the day.” “Yeah,” Twilight agreed as she took another drink, “I don't remember the last time I actually drank other than a glass of wine or two at some official dinner I attended a little while back.” “Yeah, we don't usually keep alcohol around.” Bonbon said. Lyra chuckled as Bonbon spoke. “Because somepony gets drunk a bit too easily.” Bonbon finished as she looked to Lyra. Lyra, however, was using her magic to make a golden arrow pointing at Bonbon just out of her sight. “Oh, should I …” Twilight started before Bonbon interrupted her. “Nah, it's just the one bottle between the three of us. Let's have a little fun.” *** “Woah.” Twilight gasped as she stumbled out the door into the night. “Yeah.” Bonbon said as she looked around before turning suddenly to Lyra, nearly falling over as she did. “You think Celestia went to bed early today?” Lyra only shook her head, and didn't stop for a few seconds. “Twi … Twilight, Twiight.” She eventually said. “That stuff was stronk. You, you, you maybe wanna sleep on our couch tonight?” “I've … I think I ken find my way home.” Twilight said moments before wheeling around and pointing her wing to the castle looming over Ponyville. “There it is!” She excitedly said before breaking into laughter. “If, if you're sure you're okay.” Lyra said as Bonbon hung off her, giggling uncontrollably. “Aww.” Twilight cooed before staggering over to Lyra and hugging her tight. “I'm okay.” After a moment she broke the hug and stumbled back to the street, barely keeping her hooves beneath her. Despite turning around several times on the way, Twilight did eventually get back to her castle and staggered through the halls. As she tried to find her way back to her room she noticed for the third time that she was walking past the door to James' castle when it occurred to her that she still didn't know what it was she just drank. Rather than cursing herself this time for being lost in her own home she acted on her whim and stepped through the door. Losing her footing and tumbling headfirst into the hallway as the sensation of vertigo overtook her when she crossed the threshold. The moment she realized she fell she began laughing once more. Shaking off the fall with a smile Twilight walked through the halls, eagerly looking for James. Twilight's drunken staggering didn't go completely unnoticed, however, as a quiet unassuming elf woman watched her peeking into doors, and calling out for James. “Miss Twilight.” The elf woman quietly said, not wanting to bother the pony more than she had to. Twilight wheeled around once more and first noticed the long straight silver hair hanging down over the simple dress the woman wore. She took a deep breath and smiled wide “Hi Alicia!” She happily said, “How are you doing?” “I'm well, Miss Twilight. I assume you're looking for Mister Glastos?” Alicia asked, her voice quiet enough that Twilight had to focus to catch what she said. “Yeah. Izzy here?” “I'm afraid he's attending the last day of the conference at the moment. But I can tell him that you're here if you would like.” “Aww, that woube so nice. Thank you!” “Of course Miss Twilight.” Alicia nodded and brought out a small handheld device, tapping it several times. After a few moments James' voice could be heard coming from the object. “Hey Alicia, everything alright?” “Yes Mister Glastos. Sorry to bother you, but Miss Twilight is here to see you if you're available.” “It's not a bother Alicia, and sure, I'll be up in a minute. There's not that much for me to do today anyway.” James said, speaking up after only a moment. “You're not working, are you?” Alicia flinched slightly and calmed herself quickly. “No, Mister Glastos.” “Good, it's your day off, you should spend it doing something you enjoy.” “Yes, Mister Glastos.” The device Alicia had been using went dark and she stored it in one of her dress' pockets. “Mister Glastos will be with you shortly Miss Twilight, is there anything I can get for you while you wait?” Twilight shook her head and smiled. “Thank you.” As promised, James arrived shortly and watched as an unstable Twilight happily waved her hoof at him. “Hi James!” She practically shouted. The odd behavior was enough to catch James off guard as he approached. “Are you alright?” He cautiously asked. “Aww, thas so sweet of you.” Twilight slurred as she stood on her hind legs and practically fell forward as she went to hug him. James was quick to react, rushing to catch her in an awkward sort of hug. “Oh,” he commented, suddenly understanding, “you're drunk.” He couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Twilight tried to hold him to keep standing as she was. Twilight began to laugh as she held onto him. “We dint know it was … was … Wha izis anyway?” Twilight backed off and used her magic to bring the nearly empty bottle from her saddlebag, dropping it the moment it left her bag. James winced as the bottle hit the tile floor, but much to his relief the bottle merely bounced before Twilight caught it awkwardly with her magic. “Hey!” She said with a wide smile,clearly proud of herself. “Got it.” “You certainly did.” James agreed as he reached down and collected the bottle from her. “Wha izzat anyway?” “It's green … but that doesn't help as much as it should.” James commented as he pulled the stopper out of the neck of the bottle. He gave it a quick swirl as he sniffed at the opening, it was a familiar smell, but not anything truly distinct. Taking a look in the bottle he saw that there was just enough for a sip left. With a shrug he brought the bottle up and tasted the last of it. Smiling at the tangy sweetness, he immediately recognized the drink. “You had a bottle of Orion Rum: One of Lucca's favorites.” “Ih was goooood.” Twilight said, smiling up at James. “I didn't know you drank.” “Not off … nomuch. I idn't know thizz rum.” Twilight blinked hard a couple times and shook her head and smiled again. “I got it't the, the …” Twilight laughed a moment as she looked up to James. “I don ... uhhmm.” “Well there's not many places you could have bought Orion Rum.” “Buh I din't buy it,” Twilight said emphatically as she once more used James to stand on her hind legs and do her best to look him in the eyes. “Iwas given to me ah the,” Twilight slowed down as she spoke, determined to use the right word. “con-fer-ence.” “I got it!” She happily said as her face lit up. James looked at the bottle once more before looking down to the smiling pony. “It's not a big bottle, but I'm surprised they just gave you one this size. Who'd you share it with?” “Lyra and Bonbon.” Twilight poked James with her hoof as she spoke, as if trying to accentuate some point. “We had dinner, I was the first gust they had since, since they sarted dating. They're so nice.” “I'm glad to know you're such a friendly drunk.” James casually commented as he looked down at Twilight. “You're blinking a lot. Are you tired? Still smiling Twilight nodded. James just shook his head and reached down, gently lifting her and turning towards the guest rooms. Twilight giggled and hugged his neck tightly as he carried her down the hallway, sighing as she began to relax. And within moments of that she was snoring, her head limp on his shoulder. “Looks like I'm on drunk duty today.” James mumbled to himself.