//------------------------------// // Bon Voyage (Or Not?) // Story: The Element of Magic // by Blue Dragon //------------------------------// Bon Bon sighed, resting her head on the counter in her boredom. Nopony was coming inside her shop, and even Lyra was nowhere to be seen. That was odd, as the unicorn mare was always hanging around her. The earth pony shrugged it off, sure that she'd be around soon enough. But that did nothing to soothe her mind now. Living alone had its perks and its downsides. As of right now, with no company, she was sure this was the worst day ever. Well, she could be a drama queen sometimes, but that part of her only came out when Lyra wasn't around. The hyperactive mare usually required the utmost attention from only the most level-headed of ponies to keep her under control. Otherwise, Bon Bon could be a different pony entirely. What was really strange, though, was that there were no customers browsing her infamous candy. It was a wonder in itself how anypony could keep away from a candy store knowing the owner's name was Bon Bon, for Pete's sake. She trotted away from the counter with a furrowed brow, moving toward the door. She was going to solve this mystery. Her first realization upon reaching the door: the open sign was facing her, so that meant everypony else saw it as closed. Of course... Ugh, why is that when Lyra's not around I can be such a ditz? She flipped it around with an annoyed grunt, and then she noticed something else. There was smoke in the skies around Ponyville. That caused her to switch the sign again, trot outside, and lock her store. Bon Bon glanced back at the ponies, and they seemed to be going about their day normally. Had they really not noticed the obvious smoke billowing up by the clouds? The earth pony wasn't sure what to do about this situation, so she simply stood there while her mind worked furiously, begging somepony to notice her distress. Before meeting the others, Bon Bon would usually have ignored this, knowing that somepony else would come along and take care of it, but now that she had so many real friends... She knew she couldn't just leave this for somepony else to do. She couldn't be a bystander--or as she'd called herself a few times before--a Bonstander. Though she'd been working on it, she always fell back into being just a pony in the background--a bystander, and a follower. Almost as if... she were a one trick pony. Bon Bon let out another sigh, thinking about who she used to be before making friends. She never knew how to handle situations like these, as all she ever knew how to do was to walk away. It's not like she wanted to, it was just the only think she'd ever known. Just as she settled onto particularly upsetting thoughts, still remaining completely still in front of her store, somepony finally made a move. "Everypony! Don't worry, but smoke is spreading over all of Equestria! Princess Celestia has sent me a letter informing me that it isn't coming from a fire... It's coming from a dragon." Twilight announced to the town as if to calm them. Everypony gasped, and Bon Bon's eyes widened. A dragon? "Twilight, what the hay is a dragon doing in Equestria?" Spitfire questioned, flapping her wings furiously. Things had been awkward recently between the captain and the scholar, as well as with everypony in town, but they seemed to just ignore the unspoken conversation as a whole. Neither Lyra nor Octavia had gotten the information from anypony, though they did try on numerous occasions to pry. Obviously, the cello player was more subtle about her attempts. "Well..." Twilight began, flipping through a book, "According to the Princess, he's taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all the smoke." "That's possible?" Lyra giggled, "I just thought of an awesome joke. Bon Bon, why are you getting sent to go do something about the dragon? Because, we'll have a bonfire!" She fell over, laughing. Bon Bon didn't find it amusing in the least. "Lyra!" "We must try to get him to consider sleeping elsewhere, right?" Octavia questioned, focusing everypony's attention on her. She was sporting the smaller violin case, and, from experience, Bon Bon had a feeling it was full of medical supplies. For some reason, instead of bringing assurance, it only made her more nervous. Wasn't there somepony else that could take care of this? Like, the Princess? "Precisely. And we have to do so with--" "With muffins?" Derpy suggested, grinning toothily with a basket of muffins in her hooves. Bon Bon wasn't sure where they'd come from. Twilight shook her head disdainfully. "Well, no. By peaceful terms, yes, but this dragon may not appreciate your generosity, Derpy. Full-grown dragons are known for their ruthlessness and selfishness. They won't spare a single pony, especially if that pony endangers its hoard. Anyway," Twilight looked over her friends as if she were assessing them for boot camp, "Princess Celestia has assigned us the task of moving the dragon by any means possible, preferably with peace. We cannot fail, or else Equestria will be covered in smoke for at least a hundred years." "That's a lot of time for sleep..." Derpy commented with an eyebrow raised. Lyra laughed. "Yeah, I would say he's gotta get his beauty sleep, but dragons aren't exactly beautiful." She tried to maintain a serious expression as she cracked another joke. "Hey!" Spike called from upstairs, offended. "You know she's just kidding, Spike," Bon Bon called up the stairs, "You're very cute." Both Lyra and Bon Bon shared a conspiring look with each other. His silence suggested he was blushing. Though the two had been known to play a few harmless pranks, Bon Bon knew where to draw the line. She wasn't lying; Spike was a cute baby dragon. Just maybe not that kind of cute. Twilight looked over at the earth pony thankfully, before gathering everypony's attention once more. "We need to get going within the hour... Meet me at the northern edge of town, girls, and make sure to pack light. You never know what could happen in mountainous terrain." Slowly, everypony fanned out to their respective homes. Octavia stayed at the library with Twilight, obviously all ready; Bon Bon had been right in her guess. The candy mare absent-mindedly packed, not even paying attention to what she put into her saddlebags from the shop. And, not long later, she was already making her way to their meeting place. She was completely zoned out as she stared off into space. A dragon? How in the wide world of Equestria were they going to convince him to move? Bon Bon already knew that she'd be absolutely no help in that aspect. Maybe Lyra's jokes would convince him to leave the country, or Derpy's way of making you want to leave the room could make him leave. Or Octavia's beautiful music could move him so much he'd listen to her. There was always Twilight's negotiating skills, too. Spitfire could probably knock him off his high horse and back to where he belongs, if you'd ignore the pun. But what about Bon Bon? She had nothing to give. She was a small town mare that made candy. That was her talent. Like she could totally give the dragon a Burning Baby Blue Bon Bon and that would somehow convince him to leave. Right. Twilight, Octavia, and Spitfire had already arrived. The pegasus was impatiently flying in place. That mare was always like this when something was being threatened, and there was no reasoning with her. As great a quality as that was, her impatience could get annoying. Octavia was helping Twilight map out their route, though she mostly just watched. Not long later, Derpy and Lyra joined the crew, smiling. "Everypony here?" Twilight questioned, though she already knew the answer. Bon Bon watched as everypony nodded in sync, and too late did she realize she'd done it too. Falling back in to the same routine... She swallowed a sigh. "Good. We should get going, then..." Twilight said, leading her friends out of town. Derpy flew up next to her with a look of confusion. "What about Spike? Can't he talk to the dragon and try to get him to leave?" The unicorn shook her head, an incredulous expression plastered on her face. "Don't you remember what I told you, Derpy? 'Dragons are ruthless.' They won't spare a single pony--or dragon--that threatens its hoard. They get extremely territorial about it, especially if another dragon shows up. I don't want to endanger him with that. Besides, I told him to make sure nopony was panicking..." The sound of ponies shrieking in fear went of behind them in the background, but Twilight shrugged it off. "He can take care of it." Silence reigned as they trotted to the mountains in the distance. Spitfire groaned. "Can't we go any faster?" As the ground began to slope upward and became rockier, Bon Bon found herself slowing down. Everypony else seemed to be doing just fine on it, and she tried her best to keep up. When Lyra noticed her having trouble, she began walking slower. The unicorn whispered to her friend. "Hey... You okay, Bon Bon?" Her voice was quiet and gentle. When you heard her speak like that to you, you knew that you were one of the ponies she truly cared about. Bon Bon had heard her use that tone many times before, back when the were little. Spitfire was itching with impatience. "Look, I'm going to go scope it out up there..." "No!" Twilight was quick to intervene, "You can't, Spitfire. This is a team effort. I'm sure you know how that works, seeing as how you're the captain of the Wonderbolts. Besides, we're talking about a dragon here..." The captain sighed with resignation, regaining her cool. "I guess you're right, Twilight... I just wish I had time to get my team here." She frowned, and she didn't complain again. The slope began to get even steeper, causing everypony to go even slower. Bon Bon lagged behind. "I'm... fine... Lyra..." She panted to her friend in reply. Lyra said nothing, but helped Bon Bon along. She was thankful to have such a nice friend. And, if memory served, she'd had this friend for approximately 7304 days. Bon Bon didn't necessarily think it counted as a "talent" like everypony else's secondary skills, but she had a knack for remembering things she really shouldn't. She didn't even know how she knew that number from the top of her head, but it was true. Something similar had happened when she was smaller, and that was one of the reasons she didn't like standing out. The very same day was the one she'd met Lyra, too. After what happened back then, she never did anything that'd make her stand out; instead just blending into the crowd. ...Jerks. "You sure? I could ask Twilight to slow down a little." Lyra promised, but Bon Bon didn't want to be a burden. She shook her head, and picked up the pace even more. "No... I can handle this, Lyra." The unicorn shrugged (or tried to) and followed closely. After what seemed like fifty miles of walking, they finally came across some different terrain. Well, a little gap in the rocks. Everypony got across just fine--until it was Bon Bon's turn. She didn't even bat an eyelash as she began to cross it, but the rocks on the other side gave way. She was falling. She was falling fast. Bon Bon wasn't afraid of heights at all, but she definitely felt the adrenaline rush as the ground rushed up to meet her. Just as she was beginning to think she was a goner, somepony's hooves wrapped around her torso, slowing her descent. "I-I gotcha," Spitfire said, "Just hold on, you're okay..." The pegasus began flying back up to the others, dropping Bon Bon down safely. Bon Bon couldn't quite get her heart to slow down, even after landing on solid ground. She grimaced as she looked down at where she could've been flattened. "Thanks, Spitfire... You're a life saver. Really." The Wonderbolts captain nodded in acknowledgement, but said nothing. No other words were exchanged between the group of ponies, and they continued on their way up the mountain. Well, Lyra was still talking, but that hardly counted.The free-falling scare definitely gave Bon Bon enough energy to keep going, and she didn't even feel tired anymore. Such is the effect of a rush of adrenaline from a near-death experience. However, that made her a little too jumpy. As the mares passed through a deadly gorge were even the lightest of sounds could cause an avalanche, several of their members could barely keep still. Well, that is to say, Derpy, Lyra, and Bon Bon. Spitfire kept Derpy in check in the skies, making sure she didn't "accidentally" bring about their early deaths. Bon Bon, though spooked herself, had to keep Lyra quiet. That was a difficult task. "Shh," Twilight whispered urgently at Lyra, who was giggling like a maniac, "You have to be quiet! If you make any sudden sounds, then that could cause large rock to fall on us." Lyra tried to stifle her giggles, but it was near impossible. "Sorry, Twilight, it's just that this trip is draggin' on!" Her laughter increased in volume, annoying everypony but Derpy. Bon Bon had just about enough of her friend's antics. And to think that earlier she was actually being considerate. "Lyra--"Twilight began, but was swiftly interrupted by the mare herself. "Wait! Sorry for cutting you off, but scaling this mountain has been such a chore!" Her snorts were getting louder. That lame pun was the last straw for Bon Bon. "LYRA!!!" She exclaimed. Only two seconds later did she realize her mistake as five other sets of eyes stared anxiously back at her, and then up at the mountain. Nervewracking silence was audible throughout the gorge, but then the certain unmistakable sound of sliding rocks took its place. Everypony grimaced as they saw tons and tons of rocks racing down the mountain straight toward them. Bon Bon felt terrible for having caused it, but didn't have time to think about it before she was forced to take action and save her life. Spitfire and Derpy didn't have as much trouble as the others, simply flying above the debris. Twilight tried her best to avoid all the huge boulders, but there were too many. Just before a rather large one was about to crush her, Octavia managed to push her out of the way. Lyra dodged them with ease, though her expression said otherwise. Bon Bon did her best to follow Lyra's example. Finally, as the earthquake began to subside, the dust cleared. Bon Bon pushed herself onto her feet and looked around for her friends nervously. Lyra was already standing, and both Spitfire and Derpy were alright in the air. The candy mare could just barely see Twilight and Octavia, but something was wrong... Bon Bon hurriedly trotted over, and as she grew nearer, it was made clear that a rock had landed on Octavia's hind leg when she'd saved Twilight earlier. It looked like it hurt. The unicorn, obviously shaken from her close encounter with the boulders, tried to physically remove it. It caused more pain for the earth pony. Then, as Twilight remembered that she was a unicorn, she used magic to get rid of it. Luckily, it worked. Octavia pushed herself up, but winced when she put pressure on her injured leg. "Are you okay?" Bon Bon questioned, feeling guilt twist her stomach into knots. Octavia shook her head, grimacing. "I think I twisted my leg..." She reached down to make sure it wasn't broken. Bon Bon swallowed, but she still felt bad. Derpy quickly swooped in to help in any way that she could for her hurt friend as both Spitfire and Twilight spoke in hushed tones. Bon Bon stayed away from the rest of them, unable to stop herself from thinking about what a terrible pony she was. I can't believe I did that... Octavia's hurt now because of me and my big mouth. What's wrong with me? "Hey... Bon Bon..." Lyra began quietly, startling the earth pony. She hadn't even noticed the unicorn trotting up next to her. "Sorry for that. I didn't mean to get so carried away.It's my fault; not yours." "What?!" Bon Bon couldn't believe her ears. How could Lyra even think of blaming herself for a mistake that was clearly not hers? Just goes to show you how much of a true friend she could be. "No, Lyra, it's my mistake. I was the one who shouted, after all..." Lyra nuzzled her in a friendly, encouraging way, as if to say Whatever you think, I'll always be there for you. "Can you stand?" Spitfire asked Octavia. The gray mare struggled onto her hooves and tried to walk with it, but ended up limping. "I can, but I'll slow you down..." She frowned, staring accusingly at her injured leg. Twilight watched her with a concerned expression. "We aren't going to leave you behind, but we really need to get up there quickly..." Everypony paused, trying to come up with a solution to this problem. After only a few moments of silence, Derpy raised her hoof with a sad little smile. "Let me take her back down to Ponyville, Twilight Spark! I'll take her straight to the nurse, and then you girls can stop the dragon!" Spitfire was immediately at her pegasus friend's side, her brow furrowed. "No, let me take her. It would be dangerous for an injured pony to go down there without a professional leading them to safety..." Derpy shook her head. "Spitfire, they need you to help with the dragon! I can take care of Octavia." The Wonderbolt captain was about to protest once again, but Twilight rested a hoof on her shoulder, halting any words that she might've said. "We are going to need you, just in case things go wrong, Spitfire..." The unicorn then trotted over to the earth pony that'd saved her life. "Thanks for... you know..." She hugged the cellist. Then they remembered that they had to hurry. So, Derpy and Ocavia made their way down the mountain slowly, with the pegasus making sure she didn't hurt herself anymore. Bon Bon was glad nopony brought up the fact that she'd been the one who nearly killed them about seven minutes and thirty-two seconds ago. Now that they were two ponies short, everypony was getting nervous. Even Lyra stopped speaking. They were nearing the dragon's den. Bon Bon wasn't afraid of the dragon. Well, not anymore than a regular pony. She hoped it'd be a friendly one like Spike, but knew that was unlikely. As the remaining four ponies reached the cave, Twilight cleared her throat and turned to her friends. "Okay, everypony, we're here. So... without Octavia and Derpy, we're going to have to change our plans a little bit. I'll go in and talk to the dragon, and if that doesn't work, Lyra will tell him the best jokes she knows. If all else fails, Spitfire, we'll need you to use force. Is everypony clear?" Bon Bon stared at her friend. "Uh... What about me?" Twilight turned to the earth pony with a thoughtful frown. "You can be Spitfire's back-up, Bon Bon. Okay girls, I'm going in." The unicorn trotted into the cave alone. Bon Bon felt left out that Twilight had forgotten about her altogether, and annoyed at herself for not standing out at all. Why did she even come up if she wasn't even going to be able to help at all? Seconds later, Twilight returned with wide-eyes and a burnt mane. Everypony stared at her questioningly. "He's... He's not sleeping..." "Seriously?!" Lyra exclaimed, "I bet he's got good taste!" For some reason unknown to everypony else, the turqoise mare disappeared into the cave in a fast trot. "N-No, Lyra!" Bon Bon shouted after her surely-dead friend. She chased after Lyra, ignoring the unicorn and pegasus behind her, who were trying to get her to stop. Large amounts of smoke clouded her vision, but she continued inside. Once she got past all the gray air, she ran into Lyra. "Oh, hey, Bon Bon!" She said as if they were in a normal situation. Bon Bon stared open-mouthed at the dragon behind her friend. He was nowhere near being asleep, but a stove behind him was smoking terribly. "So, like I was saying..." The unicorn continued, turning back to the beast, "Since you're awake and we were expecting you to be asleep because that's what Princess Celestia told us, so I'm gonna have to wing it." The joking mare waited expectantly for some sort of recognition for her clever pun, but the dragon snorted. "What a nuisance! Can't you see I'm trying to make my dinner?!" Lyra blinked. "Is that what's causing all the smoke? I could be wrong, but I don't think you're a very good cook." That was the wrong thing to say. The dragon roared angrily at her, and raised his foot to step on her. Lyra shrieked and ran back out of the cave, leaving Bon Bon and the beast alone. The red dragon growled, turning its fiery gaze onto the candy mare. "What do you want?!" He snapped loudly, causing Bon Bon to jump. "U-Uh," she stuttered. She then began rummaging through her saddlebag for anything that might be able to help her, despite her not having any idea of what she'd packed. Of course. All she packed was ingredients for candy. Typical Bon Bon. "Well?!" The dragon agitatedly stomped his foot on the ground, glancing back at his stove in concern. "W-What are you trying to make?" She attempted, unable to keep her hooves from shaking. The beast stirred the foul smelling concoction in the pot, causing more smoke to billow out of it. Jewels surrounded the rest of the cave, along with gold. "Jewel soup, but I can't get it to come out right no matter what I do!" He threw the pan back at the entrance of the cave with a snort. An idea suddenly popped into the earth pony's mind. "Excuse me, sir, but I could make you something to eat." His brow raised questioningly, so she continued, "My name's Bon Bon, and I own a candy store down in Ponyville. I packed some basic ingredients, and all I'd need is a few jewels to make it taste good." He had a thoughtful expression, but Bon Bon could see the greedy gleam in his eye. "Fine, pony. Make me food, but if you take a single jewel from my collection..." A snarl echoed throughout the cavern as the dragon picked up the earth pony and dropped her non-gently onto the stovetop. Bon Bon swallowed nervously, and couldn't help but wonder what her friends were doing out there. Bon Bon had never been so thankful of her strange ablity to remember numbers. Okay... Since this guy's bigger than the average customer and he wants to be full... Guess I'll have to try baking a jeweled cake. Glad I grabbed flour, I guess. Twelve cups of flour... Four cups of sugar... Two hooffulls of jewels... Oh, glad I got milk--put in a gallon. And a dozen eggs. Mix it all up... Ready to bake! Bon Bon turned back to the dragon, who'd been watching her closely. "Um... Could you put this in the oven?" She requested awkwardly. The red lizard lifted the pan and shoved it into the oven as Bon Bon turned the heat up. She couldn't help the anxious glance she sent to the opening of the cave. Now that the smoke had somewhat cleared, she could see Lyra talking with Twilight and Spitfire. Just as Lyra had obviously finished her tale, Bon Bon saw Spitfire take off into the cave. The candy mare tried to tell the pegasus to stop and that she had it under control, but Spitfire wasn't paying attention to her. The dragon noticed Bon Bon's anxious looks, and turned just in time to see the charging Wonderbolt. "Let my friend go!" The flaming mare shouted as she flapped her wings furiously, glaring at the dragon. "Or I'll knock your block off!" The beast swatted at the flying pony, but she dodged everything. Through the commotion, Bon Bon knew the cake was done. She waved for Twilight to come over while the dragon and Wonderbolt feuded, and the candy mare told the unicorn to pull out the cake. Luckily, all the smoke had stopped wafting through the air, and the smell of a beautifully made confection took its place. Lyra had somehow gotten comfortable laying on piles of gold. "Mmm, that smells great!" The smell distracted the dragon from his fight, and Spitfire took the opportunity to buck him in the snout. He reared back at the powerful hit and his claws instinctively grabbed at it. "Gotcha!" Spitfire called mockingly. Suddenly, tears welled up in the dragon's eyes, and he was unable to stop them. "W-What did I ever do to deserve this?! I've lived in this cave for t-thousands of years, and never have I been bothered by ponies! Just once, I wanted to eat something other than plain jewels, but I'm not allowed to?" Everypony watched with sympathy at the sobbing dragon, and even Spitfire calmed down. She landed next to Bon Bon on the stovetop, giving her a questioning look. The earth pony shrugged in response. "Excuse me, mister dragon?" Twilight called up to him, "You are allowed to eat what you please in Equestria, it's just that the smoke from your cooking could cause many animals and ponies problems..." "What am I supposed to do then?! Give up my cave and my riches to live with the rest of my kind, with which I've cut ties to? Have you seen the apron I'm wearing?! I'd be blown to bits before I even crossed the border!" He cried, "I can't stand another meal of just jewels!" Only then did everypony notice the frilly, pink polka-dotted apron the dragon was wearing. The mares shared looks with each other. Bon Bon swallowed thickly, not wanting to cause this dragon sadness. There was a win-win solution for the dragon and Equestria, but it'd be a problem for the candy mare. Even so, her integrity and growing need to stand out and make a difference made her answer to this hungry beast. "Don't worry, mister dragon... You can stay here in Equestria. I know how it feels to be made fun of by your friends and family at home, so none of us will make you feel that way," she gave Spitfire a look, "and as for your plain meals, I promise I'll make you something to eat whenever you want me to. Is that... Is that okay?" The huge lizard sniffled one last time before nodding. Everypony relaxed with a thankful smile directed toward Bon Bon. Even though it'd be a lot of work, Bon Bon was willing to do it. For Equestria, and for this single dragon's happiness. So, everypony had fun while eating a slice of the gigantic cake, and they soon became friends with Draco the dragon. Spike would surely be jealous.