It was the dead of night, almost two in the morning, when Bon Bon jolted up from her sleep in a cold sweat, rustling her sleeping bag. For some reason, her ears rung like bells. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes while yawning like a foal and looked around for her companion.
"Lyra?" She called out. Bon Bon and her were both alternating keeping watch incase there were attacked during the night, and it was her friend's turn as of now. Bon Bon was dead tired, although she couldn't sleep if her friend wasn't there next to her. "Hello?"
The only sound she heard was the crackling of the fire, and the nearby crickets. She looked around, she didn't see her friend anywhere. She scooted herself out of the sleeping bag and stood up, the fear of loneliness slowly filling her. As soon as she did, her head began to spin to the point where she thought she was going to pass out. Ugh...stupid high blood pressure. she deduced that it was caused by all the sweets she makes from time to time. But there's nothing she could do about it now.
Bon Bon reluctantly left the campsite. Lucky for her, she already had a slight idea where she went, since their campsite it right next to a trail in the jungle. She looked at Lyra's side of the campsite to see that her items are still there, including her randomly selected First Aid Kit(Bon Bon couldn't stop commenting on how lucky she was), and her backpack.
The beige mare walked down the path, slowly and carefully. She squinted to see in the dark, but failing to see. But she forced herself on. She used the light from the campsite to light her way for a few feet, but as she gained some distance from it it very much began to dim.
"Lyra?" Bon Bon called out again, hesitantly. Her nerves began to get to her as she imagined getting attacked in the darkness, and not being able to defend herself.
"Bon Bon?" A voice shot back, the cream pony's ears flew up at the sound of her friend's voice. She let out a relieved sigh, and looked around frantically.
"Lyra! Where are you?"
There was a slight pause before Lyra shot back at her. "Over here."
Bon Bon groaned. Yeah, that's helpful... She walked over in the direction that she thought she had heard her friend.
It didn't take long before Bon Bon's eyes adjusted to the dark, but even still it was fairly difficult to see. She caught herself many times before she ran into objects. Eventually, she say a bright turquoise object in the distance, a shining color that she could recall from a mile away. "There you are!" She shouted. The turquoise pony turned around to look at her, but quickly looked back in front of her.
"Oh, hey!" She said half enthusiastically. Lyra was wishing that her friend was still asleep.
Bon Bon looked around in the darkness and shrugged. "What are you doing here?" Lyra said nothing, and pointed out to where she was looking just a few moments ago. What Bon Bon didn't notice was that she had been walking up hill, as they appeared to be on top of a large hill. They could see for miles, even though all they saw was the lining of the tall trees. Bon Bon stared, awestruck at the beautiful sight, as the moonlight shone down on the area perfectly.
"Wow..." She uttered, not taking her eyes off the gorgeous sight in front of her.
"Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Lyra looked over at her friend, snapping her out of her trance. They both gave a small smile to each other. Bon Bon didn't say a word and looked at the ground, a tear falling down her cheek. "Hey...hey what's wrong?" She scooted over to her friend side.
"Well...you know only one of us can get off this island..." Bon Bon whispered, looking at the ground.
"Hey! Don't talk like that!" Lyra exclaimed, but her friend didn't seem to listen.
"I doubt that I'm going to be the winner, it just pains me to know that I'll never see this kind of beautiful sight again." The depressed mare explained. Lyra was going to offer a rebuttal, but didn't after she realized she was right. Lyra wasn't sure if she was going to be getting off the island either. The last thing she wanted to do was kill some pony. But to win, she was going to have to kill at least one pony, say if it came down to her and one other pony. She just hoped that it wouldn't have to be Bon Bon, and that her friend won't have to perish here. In all truthfulness, she cared more about Bon Bon than herself. They had been best friends since grade school. They've both been through thick and thin, and that wasn't about to change.
"Look, Bon Bon..." Lyra rested a hoof on Bon Bon's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure out a way. Okay?" She responded. Bon Bon looked at her buddy with hopeful eyes.
"But how?"
Lyra hesitated, and the beige mare's hopes fell once again. "Just trust me on this. Okay?" Bon Bon sighed and gave a quick nod. Instantly, putting a smile on her friends face.
A rustling noise was heard at that moment, and Lyra and Bon Bon both turned to look at the jungle behind them. A few moments passed of pure silence, but nothing happened. Bon Bon was a little spooked however.
"I'm sure it was just the wind." Lyra assured.
"Let's go back to camp..." Bon Bon suggested. Lyra didn't really want to leave this beautiful view, but she decided that it was for the better that they headed back to their makeshift camp.
They didn't say a word to each other. Lyra was mainly lost in thought for most of the time, and Bon Bon was genuinely scared, almost sprinting to the camp. The mint pony jumped into her sleeping bag, as it was her friends turn to keep watch. Bon Bon reluctantly sat down on a nearby rock, but not before grabbing her sleeping back and using it as a blanket, wrapping it around herself like a foal.
"Night Bon Bon, sweet dreams." Lyra said, before turning away from her friend to get comfortable.
"Yep..." She simply uttered. The thoughts running around in her mind were killing her. She couldn't help but shake the thought. Bon Bon had been keeping track of how many ponies were left, and as far as she knew, there were 19. The odds were dangerously low of her winning, and the same for Lyra.
Bon Bon didn't want to die, but she also didn't want to leave Lyra. If she died, then Lyra would be all alone. But if her mint companion died, then she would be alone...it was all so, unfair! She wanted to be friends with Lyra forever. That's what they promised each other a long time ago. 'Best Friends 'Til The Very End!' was there motto back then. But the saying has never been more relevant than it has right now.
It didn't take long for the mare's eyes to begin to betray her. The heaviness was too much to bear.I'll only rest my eyes for a second... she lied to herself, she slumped down off of the rock, her rump on the ground and her head hanging down, and she was quickly overtaken by sleep.
Bon Bon didn't know how much time had went by, but she knew it wasn't long. Due to the fact that the night sky hadn't changed a bit. Her eyes jarred awake at the sound of another familiar rustling noise. She didn't move out of fear. Lyra was still asleep, and didn't move as a figure was literally 5 feet away from her, scrounging through her bag. Bon Bon saw the figures eyes beam at the sight of the first aid kit.
"Hey!" She loudly yelled, causing Lyra to shoot upright from a sound sleep, and the dark figure to jump and stagger back. Lyra looked at her friend, and then to the noise behind her, noticing the figure.
"What the hell..."She asked, rubbing her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness of the fire. In the back of her mind she was still wondering how the fire didn't burn out yet. The dark figure was tall, but not much taller than Bon Bon, who saw it give her a nervous stare, before the eyes suddenly went soft on her.
"Bon Bon?" The figure asked politely, and rather formally. Both mares raised an eyebrow. The figure looked at Lyra and laughed. "Lyra too! Am I glad I found you two!" He/she chuckled.
"Who are you?" Bon Bon asked, wanting to know how the figure knew their names. The figure apologized and stepped in front of the fire, lighting his body up entirely. His dark coat and blue eyes almost shone in the light, along with his hourglass cutie mark.
"Doctor Whooves!?" Both mares questioned, surprised that his presence. Whooves simply chuckled again.
"Yes, 'tis I." He said. Setting down his own backpack. "Am I ever so glad I found you girls! I was starting to get worried. I thought I was going to be alone in this...monstrosity forever!" He exclaimed, humbly closing his eyes.
Neither Bon Bon nor Lyra had seen him on the ship, and wanted to question his presence, but they both unknowingly called the bluff their own and decided not to question it. Lyra glared at the Doctor.
"I'm glad to see you're safe!" Bon Bon smiled, unwrapping herself from her sleeping bag cocoon she had made during her sleep and walking towards the stallion. She stopped just a few feet in front of him just as she remembered something. "Wait...why were you going through Lyra's bag?" She questioned. Whooves' eyes darted around suspiciously.
"Oh, yes. Well...uh...that was my mistake. I mistook you both for one of those ponies that were actually playing the game. I deeply apologize." He announced. Bon Bon seemed to believe it, but Lyra wasn't so sure...
"Oh, well that's okay! I understand why you would think that." Bon Bon trotted next to the Doctor, and she hugged him. Whooves was also a friend to her, much like Lyra. But they haven't really been talking very much anymore. Actually, this is the first time she'd seen him in what...a year?
Lyra got out of her sleeping bag and shoved Bon Bon away from him, while the beige mare profusely objected. "Lyra! What are you doing?!" She asked her, as she continued to push her to the other side of the campfire.
"The 'Doctor' is nothing but a fake." She explained. "He was going for my bag, and say I had a good enough weapon, he was going to kill me with my own weapon!"
Bon Bon furrowed her brow. "How do you know for sure? Whooves is a great guy!" She waved over to the Doctor, who kindly waved back, looking around.
"I can prove it using simple logic. You see his bag he dropped?" She pointed, Bon Bon followed her gaze and saw the Doctor's bag on the ground which he had previously dropped.
"Yeah? So?"
"If you look, his weapon fell out." She looked back herself to make sure she had seen everything right, which she had. Hanging out of his bag was, indeed, a weapon which no one else in the death match had: An air horn. The Doctor had unluckily grabbed a dud backpack whilst inside of the ship. Bon Bon knew what Lyra was getting at, but she explained anyways. At this point, Whooves looked down and had realized his error, and put the horn back into his bag.
"Since he had a weapon that he couldn't possibly use to murder anyone, when he saw us, he was going to steal a weapon from my bag. It was simple. If I woke up, then he'd kill me with my own weapon, and if not, he either got off scot free, or he would have killed me in my sleep." Bon Bon's jaw dropped at her friend's logic. Nopony ever knew it, but Lyra had a keen eye for detail.
"Is this true, Whooves?" Bon Bon asked her friend, who's eyes continued to dart around nervously.
"That's ludicrous!" He exclaimed, quite hurt at the accusation. "We're friends remember? Why would I kill one of my friends?"
"Because you're playing the game, Doctor." Lyra added. The Doctor's heart dropped upon hearing those words. It was true that he did plan to steal a weapon for self defense. But he honestly hadn't known from whom he was stealing from, as when he approached the mares he couldn't see Bon Bon, as she was camouflaged with her sleeping bag, and Lyra was facing the opposite direction as she slept. But he wasn't going to kill them! He's not a murderer! He wouldn't stoop that low.
"T-That's not true!" He argued. "Okay, I was trying to steal a weapon, that part was true...but I didn't know it was you two! If I had known then I wouldn't have done it!" He added. Bon Bon wasn't sure to believe anymore.
"Leave Doctor!" Lyra demanded. She was not going to be fooled, and she was not going to get killed because of him either. Bon Bon alternated glances between Whooves and Lyra, conflicted.
"Bon Bon, please! You have to believe me!" The Doctor shouted. The beige mare finally made up her mind.
"You don't talk to me for a year, and even after said year the next time I see you, you're trying to rob me and my friend?" Bon Bon said calmly. Whooves' eyes dilated at the thought of being abandoned.
"Please! Don't leave me alone out here!" He shouted once again, and in return, getting hard stares from the two young mares. The Doctor had tears in the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry!"
"Leave!" Bon Bon shouted, following Lyra's previous tactics. She wasn't much for being demanding, but now's a better time than ever. Tears began to stream down Whooves' cheeks as the feeling of loneliness struck him like lightning. He didn't know what else to say, or do to convince them that he was on their side. He was just going to have to accept that his friends are ditching him, and that he's going to have to continue this deathmatch without his only friends. How can one win this alone?
The Doctor passively hung his head in shame, and turning around to disappear into the woods. He looked back at the two mares with pleading eyes. But Lyra only pointed her hoof down the trail, silently motioning him to leave. As tears stained his cheeks, he ran down the trail, a pit inside of his stomach.
Lyra turned to Bon Bon and smiled. "Do you care if I go back to sleep?" She asked, yawning, and acting as if none of that just occurred had even happened. Bon Bon nodded again.
"Go ahead...I'll try not to fall asleep this time." She giggled, wrapping herself in her little sleeping bag cocoon again. Lyra didn't even bother getting inside the sleeping bag, and just slept on top of it. Neither mares were sure that they were going to get much sleep anyways.
************
WHOA! No deaths? That's a shocker!
Once again, thanks for reading, and I plan to post more chapter as soon as humanely possible!
Have a great day!!
-Cyneryk