//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 - The Generous // Story: The Code of Harmony // by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch //------------------------------// ~~~~~~Ponyville, Third day of the festival~~~~~~ As the sun began to sink in the western skies, Bon Bon reflected upon the scene that lay before her. Normally, it was a point of pride for Bon Bon that her shop was efficient, tidy, and above all else - organized. Even during Nightmare Night, her biggest business day of the entire year, her shop never descended below the level of mild chaos and the occasional piece of wanton destruction. But after three days of the biggest festival Ponyville had ever seen in all of its long history, Bon Bon’s Sweetie Drops and Lolly Pops was an unabashed wreck. Well, perhaps that was being a bit too dramatic. It would be a touch more accurate to describe the place as looking as though a whirlwind had swept through it, leaving behind a flurry of white candy wrappers and shelves barren of the sweet bounty they had once held. Not that Bon Bon was going to complain about good business, but this was quite ridiculous. She had been completely cleaned out of her stock. Even the Sun Pops - the Sun Pops, for pity’s sake! - were gone: the once bright yellow-and-orange lemon flavored lolly’s vanished into the ether.. Were it not for the utterly unflappable nature of her soul mate, Bon Bon was quite sure she would have lost her marbles completely. As it were, she was only indulging in minor dramatics and the occasional moment of panic. After all, replacing her stock was going to take at least a full day of high-intensity cooking, and that was if she could tempt Cherry Berry away from her balloon to help. Lyra, bless her, was absolutely useless in the candy kitchen adjoining the shop. Thinking of her beloved conjured her out of the blue, as it so often did, as Lyra continued to dutifully and calmly sweep up the wrappers and other detritus from the shop interior. With the shop closed due to a lack of anything to sell, Bon Bon elected to take that moment to observe her lady-love in motion. She was always calm, for some reason. Bon Bon had never seen Lyra get over wrought. Even in the midst of pure chaos and panic she held steady. Like a mountain amidst the storms of life, she was a rock - Bon Bon’s rock, more often than anything else. “Bit for your thoughts, love?” Lyra said without so much as turning around, her magic knotting up the string on the large paper waste bag. Bon Bon blinked in surprise at that one, then shook her head with a slow smile. “What else? You.” She winked at Lyra, who smiled gently back at her. “Aside from that,” Bon Bon continued in a slow voice, turning her head to gaze out the window, “well, the same problem that’s been itching at me for the past two weeks. Tia.” She sighed expressively - and to her surprise, so did Lyra. Lyra tucked the broom into the corner of the shop, trotting over to the table where Bon Bon sat and hopped up on the stool. “Yes, that is a thorny problem. Between the secrets she’s keeping and her emotional state...” Lyra shook her head slowly, leaning her chin into her hoof. “Right in the middle of this whole festival too. Did you know Princess Luna’s been staying in the library?” Lyra asked, and Bon Bon felt her jaw hit the table. She hadn’t known that, and suddenly Tia’s apparent absence from the presence of the festival for much of the last three days made much more sense. Lyra nodded. “She’s got to be feeling the stress at this point.” Bon Bon gently pinched at the bridge of her nose, trying to focus her thoughts a little better. We can close the shop at this point. I hate leaving profits on the table, but this has to take precedence. That meant coming up with some way to improve Tia’s mood. She seemed to have a powerful protective streak in her, so... Say... that’s not a bad notion. “Do we still have those Sweet Mistake boxes at home?” Bon Bon quickly asked Lyra, who nodded the affirmative to her. Bon Bon felt a grin tug at her lips. “Okay, go get all of them. I’m going to go find Tia. I’ve got an idea!” ~~~~~Golden Oaks Library~~~~~ Finding Tia proved easy enough. The state she found her in, however... Tia was sitting at the desk in her room, and from the state of the melted wax under the barely flickering candle she’d been there practically all night. The desk was scattered with dozens of papers scrawled with remarkably elegant horn-writing in equally remarkable tiny print. Tia herself didn’t look like she’d slept much, her head held up in her hooves and half-a-dozen empty mugs smelling of strong coffee scattered on a nearby table. Alongside those were half-finished snacks of one kind or another, as though she had tried to eat and given up several times. It was morbidly interesting to see how she dealt with stress in contrast to how Twilight Sparkle had. Where the latter had bottled up her feelings or concealed them behind constant obsessive-compulsive behavior towards other ponies, Tia drank a lot of coffee and isolated herself. She’d obviously been up for quite some time, agonizing over some event or incident that probably only mattered to her. That tracks with what Cheerilee told me. Abuse does that to ponies. Now... what would Lyra do? Bon Bon thought for a long moment, Tia completely oblivious to her presence - and then an idea popped into her head. Without a word, she gathered up the empty coffee cups and spirited them downstairs, continuing her task with the plates. The dishes now soaking, she started up a brand new pot of coffee and went on to her second task. Keeping things neat and organized was something she excelled at, so that’s what she did. She peeled the wax off of the desk and replaced the candle, with Tia either so absorbed in her thoughts she did not notice or asleep. Bon Bon tidied up the pile of notes for her, keeping them in much the order they’d been on the desk. By the time that task was done, the new coffee was ready to serve. This she brought up to the desk, setting the cup upon it and brushing the dust from her hooves. Tia’s own hoof came up - almost on automatic - and grasped the coffee. “Thank you Spike,” she said in a low monotone, and drank down the piping hot brew straight and in one slow go. Bon Bon arched an eyebrow and gently laid a hoof on Tia’s shoulder. “Spike, what’s wron—” Her head came up and her words failed upon seeing that it had not been Spike. Sweet harmony, she thought Spike was a pony for a moment there. The poor dear. “Bon Bon? When did you... Why is everything...Wait. What time is it?” Bon Bon kept her smile gentle. “Nearly dinner time, dear. Have you been cooped up in here all day?” she asked, keeping her tone as equally gentle as the smile. Tia nodded hesitantly, and Bon Bon blew out her cheeks with a gust of breath. “Well that certainly won’t do. Whatever you’ve been working on can wait.” She gestured imperiously at the documents, and then tugged Tia up to her hooves. “Come on, you’re going to have dinner with me and Lyra - and we’re going to go do some good deeds.” Bon Bon tried a saucy wink - Lyra was very good at those. “Maybe catch a concert or two and find some dinner while we’re at it.” Tia didn’t look terribly enthused at first... which meant that she needed a hoof to the posterior to get her going. Bon Bon pulled her out of the chair insistently, the young librarian not resisting much more than a token moment or two before letting Bon Bon pull her out of her room. “That’s a good filly,” Bons gently teased Tia, who half glared at her for all of five seconds before her face transformed into a weary smile. “Been acting the fool again, have I?” Tia asked in a tired sounding voice. Bon Bon decided to simply give her a stern look, hoping she could imbue it with plenty of motherly concern. It seemed to have the desired effect, as Tia’s weariness lifted a little as they walked - her lips turning up into a more genuine smile. “Ah... yes. Perhaps that was the wrong way of putting it.” Bon Bon gave a little snort of derision, then shook her head, “I know none of this is easy for you Tia, but we are here to help you, you know.” Bon Bon injected no small amount of lecturing into her tone, and was pleased to see Tia sheepishly rub the back of her head. Should I tell her about me and Lyra? That particular story that had just leapt into Bon Bon’s head was a little too personal perhaps, but the circumstances certainly fit how Tia had been acting. Maybe... Maybe showing a little trust might help. After all, Bon Bon knew what it was like to live with a mistake you could never erase. “Tia?” Bon Bon ventured quietly, and Tia turned her head towards her as they stepped out into the streets of Ponyville. The town hadn’t slowed down one bit even as the town-wide party lurched into its third day. Luckily, that made for an atmosphere in which a private conversation could still be held as they walked. “Maybe... Maybe you have been acting a little foolish, but...” Bon Bon sucked in a deep breath and exhaled it. “Well, I think we’ve all done that at some point.” Bon Bon felt her lips twist into a wry smile, noting the curious look on Tia’s face. “I know I myself have not always thought things through as I should have.” Tia nodded belatedly as they slowly made their way through the crowds, the look on her face suggesting deep thought. “That sounds like there’s a story there,” Tia said quietly, turning her head. Bon Bon nodded with a pleased smile as Tia continued to speak. “I... I would not wish to be rude, but... I would like to hear it, if you would wish to tell me.” Bon Bon couldn’t help it - her smile tugged wider at Tia’s high-class accent and speaking mannerism. It was just so... cute when she lapsed into it. She sounded like Octavia had before she’d finally hooked up with Vinyl - all stiff Canterlot formality. Bon Bon carefully cleared her throat. This wasn’t going to be easy, but... “Well, I’m not originally from Ponyville. I was born in Baltimare, actually. My father and mother were from here, though. They’re tinkers. Ah... that is to say, they are very good at mending pots and pans, and doing all sorts of other odd jobs. They’d moved to Baltimare for the excitement of the city, but after I was born they wanted me to grow up in the same environment they had.” She felt a small smile cross her lips. “I’ll have to introduce you to them sometime. They’re very self-sufficient ponies and they wanted me to be the same way.” Bon’s blew out a sigh, and then gave off a soft laugh. “I don’t blame them, to be honest. They believed in letting me figure things out for myself whenever it was possible. I actually was quite the wild little filly, believe it or not.” Bon grinned slightly at Tia’s disbelieving look. “Oh yes. My parent’s really didn’t chastise me or the like, especially when I came up with... creative ways to get what I wanted.” She paused for a moment to emphasize that point, before continuing onwards. “Anyway - they never really provided any structure in my life. Which was fine when I was little and didn’t much care one way or another... but as I grew up, I began to crave some kind of order in the world. We lived very much day by day in our family, which meant that some years were very good... and some years weren’t.” Bon Bon winced a little, recalling some of those harsh winters. “I set myself very specific goals, and met them one by one. By that point, I’d discovered my talent for the confectionary arts and learning how to make different candy lent itself well to a very rigorous and regimented learning program.” Bon Bon smiled slightly, her hoof waving airily. “I learned a few things from the Cakes, but I mostly had to teach myself. So I made a lot of checklists and followed them to the absolute letter. When I was trying to come up with new sweets, I would approach them less as cooking and more as chemistry. Soon though, I wasn’t approaching just cooking like a tyrant - I was trying to bring every single facet of my life under a ruthless control.” Bon Bon sighed softly as they rounded a corner, Tia’s face a study in careful attentiveness. “I take it that did not turn out very well?” Tia asked quietly, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. “I too was guilty of that once upon a time. I did not consider the consequences of my actions, I thought only of the risks.” Tia sighed expressively, hanging her head. “I... lost so very much because of that.” Bon Bon nodded, feeling a tightness in her chest - a feeling of camaraderie with the unicorn next to her. “I did too.” Bon Bon said quietly. “I moved out of my parents home as swiftly as I possibly could. I believed I knew all they could teach me about life - to me, they were all of the things I should not do. The last thing I ever asked of them was help to start up my business, which they provided without so much as a question.” Bon Bon felt her eyes begin to burn, but squinted them shut to drive away the tears. Tia gently placed a hoof on Bon’s shoulder, and after another deep breath Bon Bon continued to speak. “I opened my shop up to much fanfare. There hadn’t been a proper candy shop in Ponyville in a long time, and I filled the niche beautifully. For the first few months, everything went perfectly.” Bon Bon put on a smile, knowing the smile would probably look rather fractured. “Then... I started to become more and more driven. I was fanatically devoted to my work, and the more popular my sweets became, the more determined I was to improve myself.” Bon Bon stopped for a moment, quietly feeding a few bits into a vending machine and extracting the bottled juice from within - using the action to give her a few moments to collect herself. “My patterns of regimented self-education backfired on me. Every time I improved my skills, I believed that I had to move to the next level. I neglected what little social life I had in favor of countless hours spent in my kitchens. It became a self-perpetuating cycle... and when I finally hit the wall...” Bon Bon looked down into the bottle she held before chugging it down in one go, using the shock of the sharp juice to spur her into further speaking. “It got bad quickly. I started to get nervous tics, you know? Always starting my day the same way - always the same cup to dose out the sugar, that sort of thing.” Tia’s eyes were widened, and she looked fascinated. Bon couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t every day one met a recovered mental case like her. “I kept trying to find some way to improve, not realizing I was already a master confectioner. I lost track of the business end of things, constantly working and reworking my formulae. I no longer cared about income or the like, I only cared about my skills improving. I gave away countless batches of sweets as I tried to find the magical spark that would indicate I’d done better... and as you can imagine, my life began to unravel around me.” Tia tilted her head to one side quizzically, and Bon Bon forced another smile - trying to keep herself from wallowing, as Lyra called it. “It was a slow sort of unraveling, which only made it worse. I never lost customers... but I was losing bits hoof over horn. My home - usually organized, neat and tidy - fell into disrepair and chaos. I began to drink and indulge in salt tablets on a daily basis. I started smoking. If I hadn’t met Lyra...” She paused and felt the forced smile become a little more genuine, some of the tension draining out of her just at the mental image of the mint-green musician. “Somedays I think it was fate that led me into the park one day. I was never usually one for walking around town, but I couldn’t find anypony who wanted to try a new salted truffle I’d devised.” Bon Bon looked into the distance as they started walking again, feeling a little wetness around her eyes. “I’d never seen her before. She looked like just another park musician with her case laid out with a scattering of bits inside - but there was something about the way she handled everything going on around her. There were a big group of foals who were harassing her, jumping on her lap and tugging at her mane... and she just sort of laughed it off, and played them a cheerful little tune. While I was handing out candies, somepony walked by and snatched up a bunch of her bits... and she just smiled and let it go.” Bon Bon bit down on her lip for a moment, realizing her voice had drifted into a dreamy tone. “She never let the world get to her in the littlest way. She was a feather drifting along a stream, with not a care in the world where the water took her.” They came to a halt just outside the entrance to the park, and Bon Bon could take things no more. She sat down in something of a heap on the nearest park bench, with Tia tentatively taking a seat next to her. “My emotions at that moment were the most conflicting they had ever been in my life. I hated her and I loved her with equal intensity. I began to find every excuse to go into that park, and she was there nearly every day - playing her harp. At first, I refused to even speak with her - although I always found a way to sneak her a candy from my samples.” Bon Bon felt a bright red blush flare in her cheeks and Tia gave off a happy little giggle. “Then we began to speak, and... well, you’ve heard her philosophize a little by now. She can get quite wordy when she has something to say, and she always had things to say to me. I couldn’t tell if it was pity or if she really liked me back. For the longest time, I didn’t care... I had never known anypony quite like her. Unlike my parents, who simply did not care about rules or structure - Lyra saw the world for what it was, and went with the flow.” Bon Bon crossed her hooves and felt Tia touch them hesitantly again, remaining silent while Bon Bon’s story crossed into the part that she hated the most. “But things didn’t improve in my life. Lyra was an island of calm in a sea of chaos and self-hatred, and I never spoke of my troubles in front of her... until the day she walked into my shop. I hadn’t had many customers, lately. I’d begun to neglect the shop’s exterior and you know how ponies can be when the rumors start flying.” Bon Bon lowered her head, her voice barely audible now. “She came in because she was concerned about me and my health. She said she was worried about what was happening to me. I’d been... drinking.” She looked away from Tia, not wanting to face her for a few moments. “And hitting the salt hard. I lost my temper.” Bon Bon paused again, then spoke more firmly, “No, that isn’t accurate. I lost my mind, is more appropriate.” “I... I attacked her,” Bon Bon finally forced out after several moments of silence. “She a unicorn, and I an earth pony. I hit her. Over and over and over again...” Bon felt her voice becoming raw and ragged. “And what did she do? She wrapped her hooves around me and didn’t let go. I broke six of her ribs and her left leg, I cracked her collarbone, and I beat her black and blue; and she never once let go of me.” Bon Bon’s voice was rushing now, as she tried to force out every word before her courage dried up and blew away. “By the time I’d expended all of my rage and personal hatred upon her, she was a complete mess - she was bleeding all over, and she was obviously in an immense amount of pain... and she didn’t care. The first words out of her mouth were ‘Are you alright?’” Bon Bon buried her face in her hooves for a moment, trying to scrub away the traitorous tears. “I had never felt so much shame before in my life. I rushed her to the hospital, and berated the doctors until half a medical team saw to her.” A smile broke through the tears, a grin of remembrance. “Lyra threatened to beat the crap out of Captain Struggle if he tried to press charges on me. She spent nearly three months in recovery.” Bon Bon looked back to Tia, feeling the calm and control slowly coming back to her as she focused on the story. “I cleaned up my life. I swore off anything that could impair me until I had my act together. I cleaned up the shop, my house, everything. The customers came back, and I threw every spare bit I had into paying for Lyra’s hospital bills.” Tia opened her mouth for a moment, then shook her head and gestured in a clear command for Bon Bon to finish before she spoke. Bon Bon nodded silently, then spoke with much more calm - this part of the story was so much better. “When Lyra finally came out of the hospital, I took her to my shop and asked her why she’d held me.” Bon Bon felt a warmth surge in her chest at the memory... And then to her surprise, a familiar voice spoke with a gentle warmth from just behind her shoulder. “And I said - Because you needed me to,” said Lyra Heartstrings, with a gentle grin on her face. “And then she started crying like a little filly, and hugged me so hard my ribs nearly cracked again.” Bon Bon stared in abject horror at Lyra, having not even heard her sneaking up on her. Again. “I moved in the next day, and I’ve been keeping her on the straight and narrow ever since,” Lyra finished, planting a firm kiss on Bon Bon’s cheek. “Or at least - the mostly narrow, and not even remotely straight,” Lyra finished with one of her trademark toothy grins. Bon Bon glared at Lyra for a moment, who simply smiled in response to her lover’s momentary annoyance, before turning back to Tia. “Anyway, the point I was getting to was this: we have all done things in our lives that we regret. Sometimes, those things were how we chose to live our lives, and sometimes they’re specific events or actions we took that we now realize were wrong.” She gestured to Lyra with one hoof. “Every day of my life, I remember what she did for me - and have tried with all of my heart to give as freely of my friendship and love as she once did for me. I will never be able to repay her for what she did for me that day... and in a sense, I do not want to.” Then Bon Bon smiled, feeling an odd warmth surge through her - a feeling of love and affection for the white unicorn who sat next to her. She was so like Bon Bon had been all those years ago... and now... now she could help Tia, as Lyra had once helped her. “Why?” Tia asked softly, as Bon Bon knew she would. Lyra chuckled richly and hopped up on the bench on the other side, leaning back into it as was her odd sitting habit. “Simple,” Bon Bon replied with a gentle smile. “Because it helps me remember that when I was at my very lowest, she was there for me. Even though I had lost all hope, even though I felt worthless and hurt her terribly - she never stopped caring about me. And no matter what happens, Tia - I’ll be there for you in the same way... because once upon a time, a certain unicorn held me in her arms and never let go, and if you need it I’ll do the same for you. So don’t you forget it.” Then Bon Bon leaned over and gave Tia a gentle kiss on the cheek. Tia lifted her hoof to her cheek, feeling with the kiss had landed - and Bon Bon giggled brightly, soon to be joined by Lyra doing the same thing. Tia just looked confused for a moment, tilting her head quizzically. Bon Bon felt the words bubble up out of her, unable to restrain her laughter. “Oh, sweet Harmony, you looked so adorable!” she laughed out loud as Lyra did a little pantomime of the look Tia had just worn. Soon enough Tia joined in the giggling - her cheeks blushing a bright rosy red. Several onlookers smiled at them as they walked past the trio of giggling ponies, and Bon Bon shook her head - wondering why it felt so right to wrap her hoof around Tia’s shoulder and hug her close. Bon Bon had been right - she needed to keep this pony close, so she’d never have to suffer the way Bon Bon had suffered. “Now come on. There’s a whole evening ahead of us, I’ve got no work for the next few days, and I intend to spend them getting absolutely hammered on hard cider and salt tablets and making a whole bunch of vague and embarrassing memories. Who’s with me?!” Lyra and Tia gave off a cute little cheer, which set the three of them once again to laughing helplessly as the sun shone gloriously on the horizon. And somewhere in the sky, white whispers of power began to grow...