//------------------------------//
// Issues of trust 
// Story: Dead Ponies Don't Wear Plaid 
// by JohnnyNorthrain 
//------------------------------//

	The sun was set low in the sky and the clouds obscured it from view. A soft breeze blew in from the lake and made her black hair dance in front of her eyes. I brushed it back over her ear and my lips softly kissed her eyelid. She blushed and warmed under my gesture. I couldn’t have been happier then to be here on the boardwalk with her overlooking the water. She pressed her body up against mine and turned her back to me allowing my arms to slip around her front and rest over her belly. Through her dress I could feel the upper line of her panties and I traced it with a finger lightly while nuzzling her ear. 
She danced away from me and those violet eyes held such promise as she winked and headed towards the soda parlor. I watched with a smile as the light gray sundress slipped around her frame while she moved. Inhaling deeply I caught the scent of roasting peppers in the air. Lightly licking my lips I headed after her intent on kissing her to within an inch of her life. 

I sat up with a start and shifted my gaze around confused as to why I was in the back seat of a car. It took me a good ten seconds to realize that the girl with the sundress had been a dream. I picked my hat up off the floor and let myself out of the vehicle. I’d ended up in a garage that had two doors. One big enough for the car and the other smaller and set into the far wall. The corridor beyond the small door turned and headed down. Following it I allowed my thoughts to wander back to the dream. 
The woman was definitely Octavia. I did not know why she was human or why we were in Chicago. I remembered walking the boardwalk several times but I had never been with her. The scent of peppers continued to grow stronger as I made my way down the corridor. Octavia, the damned pony that I’d seen in Canterlot. She played an instrument but I couldn’t remember what. She spoke with a soft German accent that made electricity shoot through certain parts of my body. She’d known about the fight with Chrysalis and that had been kept quiet. What else did she know about me and why could I only recall snippets about her? It almost felt as if I had known her before. That look she gave me in the car while speeding past was of annoyed recognition. 
I had come to another door and opened it seeing a living area about the size of an aircraft hangar. Along the far wall were radio banks and all sorts of electrical equipment and parts. Another area was sectioned off for bed and bathrooms. My partner was napping on a sofa and in the open kitchen her friend was cooking a stir fry. I closed the door behind me and took off my hat and coat. Setting them on an empty chair I sat down on the sofa next to Lyra and ran my fingers through her mane. She nuzzled up to my leg and continued to sleep. I leaned my head back and dozed off again. 
My sleep had been dreamless the second time and I awoke seeing Lyra and Bon Bon sitting at the dining table near the kitchen eating the stir fry and rice. Stifling a yawn I joined them at the table and the three of us ate in silence for a few minutes. Several looks were exchanged between Lyra and Bon Bon before I finally broke the tension by withdrawing the Walther from my pocket with the note. I sat both on the table in front of Bon Bon and raised a brow. She picked up the note and read it before dropping it back to the table top. 
“How does that even work? A pony being able to fire a gun made for a human hand?” I asked her bluntly. 
“It’s called a squeezer. Rigged up to the trigger and was invented by a human years ago. Ponies squeeze the grips and the gun goes off. That’s what my pistol has.” She pushed her plate aside. 
“I don’t even know who you are anymore…” Lyra whispered from across the table. 
“I’m still your friend.” She rested her hoof on the table. “I’m still the same Bon Bon you’ve known for years. I just… I was just keeping a secret from you. I work for Celestia and only a couple other ponies even know that MI6 exists.”
“How many humans are there in Equestria?” I asked while picking up the Walther. 
“We don’t exactly know. Johnny you are the most prominent but there are at least three others here in Manehattan and another in Fillydelphia.”
Lyra was remaining quiet and I stood from the table taking the three plates to the sink. I looked back over my shoulder and my best friend was nearly in tears having had her trust ripped apart. It was not exactly like Bon Bon’s secret hurt her but she felt betrayed that her friend had been living a double life. I grabbed a glass and stepped away from the sink heading towards the bathroom. Locking the door behind me I set the glass against the door and my ear so I could hear their conversation without being a part of it. Several more moments passed before Lyra started speaking. 
“I don’t know what to do. Half of me wants to run away from here and never talk to you again. The other half of me wants to forget it all and just kiss you.”
“Why don’t you?” Bon Bon’s voice was muffled since her back was to the door. 
“Because I don’t know if I can trust you.” I could hear that Lyra started softly crying. 
“I’m a spy for the Princess. I never spied on you.”
“Coming to Ponyville, was that part of your cover?”
“Yes but you never were. Lyra I found you and fell in love. I can’t lie about those feelings. I don’t want to lie to you anymore. I’ve been spying on Johnny but I’ve never done anything to hurt you.”
“I want to believe that Bon Bon I really do. I love you and I don’t care who knows it but I don’t want to even be near you right now.” 
“Lyra… Lyra wait!” Bon Bon said as a door slammed. 
Removing the glass from the door I waited in the bathroom. So it was true and I had my suspicions that they were more than just friends. The way I’d been raised that type of relationship went against the natural progression of life but hearing the tears in Lyra’s voice cut straight to my heart. I couldn’t sit by and let her run out on someone she loved even if I did not entirely approve of it. In the months since Chrysalis I’d grown to care for Bon Bon as a friend and I never would have suspected that she was spying on me. I should have figured that Celestia would have enlisted somepony to keep tabs on the only human in Ponyville. I opened the door and Bon Bon was sitting at the table with tears rolling down her cheeks. I walked over to her and handed her my handkerchief. 
“I’ll talk to Lyra.” I said and she nodded. “I don’t want to see either of you torn apart over this. She’ll come around. It’s not like she caught you with another pony.”
“That’s how she feels though.” She wiped away the tears. 
“Since I came here she’s been my connection to this world. I’ve made other friends but I never felt close to them, not like I do to Lyra. She loves you deeply then to find out you’ve keeping secrets… well it’s going to be alright.” 
“Can you promise that?”
“No.” I said and retrieved my coat and hat. 
“Then why even say it? I like you Johnny but you are dumb sometimes.”
“Find the Brickle that can modify guns. I’m going to go talk to her.”
I couldn’t have told any pony where Lyra had run to. Leaving the safe house put me in an unknown part of the city and I wandered around the blocks trying to catch a glimpse of my friend. She might have been avoiding me but it was easier to guess that she had just run off and I couldn’t find her. I wouldn’t give up the search just yet and I decided that the best place to start looking was the waterfront. Somewhere out there she might be sitting on a bench with her thoughts bubbling and I might just find her. There was the old main bridge spanning across the river and I headed down from the sky scrapers towards it. 
The sun was set low in the sky and the clouds obscured it from view as I approached. A soft breeze blew in from the ocean and tugged at the brim of my fedora. I sat on an empty bench and looked out across the skyline. She was not here and I did not quite know where to go or even how to get back to the safe house. With a soft sigh I folded my arms across my chest. In a city such as this she could hide for days without any trace of her being found. There were times that life decided to give you a spot of luck and deliver exactly what you needed when you needed it. 
This was not one of those times. Something hard pressed up against my shoulder and I knew what it was. The barrel of a gun pushed itself into my coat and the owner stood behind me ready to deliver my death. I waited for them to pull the trigger and send my blood spiraling out of my chest. They hesitated and I turned my head to the left seeing her. The wind tugged at the corners of her gray coat and fedora as well as made her hair dance. She wore a purple ribbon around her hat with matching bow tie and she was holding a German Luger against my back. 
“You aren’t that hard to find Mr. Northrain.” Octavia spoke with that sweet accent again. 
“I like the new threads. Trying to copy my look now?” I smiled. 
“I always wear this outside. Really it’s lucky that I found you without the others around.”
“Are you going to shoot or not?” I nodded towards the gun. 
“All I want is to talk.” She slipped the pistol under her coat and sat on the bench next to me. 
“If you just wanted to talk then why did you open fire on me back at the Velvet Revolver?” I leaned back against the bench and shifted my focus to her. 
“It was one of the hot headed colts that decided to perforate you. I was going to pull you into a back room and conduct an interrogation.” She looked out across the water. 
“There’s just the two of us out here now. What do you want to ask me?” I couldn’t help but stare at those gorgeous eyes. 
“I’m going to ask you to go back to Ponyville and forget any of this ever happened.” 
“I can’t do that.” I shook my head. 
“I know. The boss won’t like to hear it but she’ll be sending you a special present very soon.” 
“The expensive kind?”
“The kind that gets you killed Mr. Northrain. Forget the guns, forget Melba and forget Manehattan. You’ll live longer that way.”
“Why are you even with these thugs? A bright pony such as you should be playing the symphony not sticking around a jazz club with crates of weapons.” 
“They’ve…” She hesitated and turned to look directly into my eyes. “They have something on me that I’d sooner forget about.”
“And they gave you a way out if you work for them.” I said and she nodded. “You can’t trust any pony that says that.” 
“I can’t trust any human either.” She stood from the bench and adjusted her hat. 
“Who was that woman at the club? The other human?” I watched her turn around. 
“She goes by Sydney. You should stop in sometime. I’ll make sure you name is on the guest list if you can promise me one thing.” 
“What would you like?”
“Stay out of our way.”
“For you…”
I let it hang in the air and she turned on her hoof and walked up the stairs on two legs. She’d let slip one crucial piece of information. Her boss was a woman. That narrowed it down to half of the city. Just a few more weeks and I might be able to push it down to ten percent of the population. I laughed and stood from the bench. The chance meeting with Octavia had lifted my spirits and I set out to find my partner again. She wanted me to stay away from the operation but I couldn’t. They were blackmailing her which only fueled my desire to help and break up the ring. She’d mentioned Melba and the only way she could have known is if the gun runners were connected to that death. I’d take their organization apart. I’d help Octavia out of her debt and in doing so hopefully score some favors from her. I’d go to the Velvet Revolver and see this Sydney perform. I’d do all of these things just as soon as I located Lyra.