They passed a small wooden windmill an hour from the city. Its frame was old and unadorned, and its sails stood like silent sentinels against the wind. Simple and worn down as it was, it was still a welcome break from the monotony of the endless corn fields where last year’s stalks were left to wither until spring came back around. If only it was summer and the fields were golden and green, at least then they might lighten the spirit. Bonbon turned her head, watching the mill long after it had disappeared from sight, as if she could still picture it through the tall rows of corns.
Rainbow Dash returned from scouting and fell into place alongside Lyra and Bonbon. She spat out a stick of licorice she had been chewing since they left the city and licked her teeth as she looked up at the dull gray cloud cover.
“Is it going to rain?” Lyra’s voice was muted, and she had to repeat her question a little louder before Rainbow Dash realised that she had spoken.
“Yeah,” the pegasus said and smacked her lips. “That’s a quality cover we’re looking at, too. It’s working up to a real nice shower.”
Bonbon gave Lyra a sideways glance. “Pegasi,” it said. She turned her eyes back at the clouds. “I don’t see anything nice about them at all.”
Rainbow Dash huffed at their obvious ignorance. “Don’t you dare diss a good drizzle. There are weather ponies back in Cloudsdale—true masters of the craft—who could make a drizzle that’d dazzle and blow your lowly ground pony minds.” The Wonderbolt grinned and turned around, flying backwards in front of them. “See, you’ve gotta get the drops as small and the downfall as steady as possible. Then you want to get rid of any wind, too, and the temperature’s gotta be just right. Nothing worse than a warm drizzle, take it from me, but it can’t get too cold either. There’s this golden zone, and a true rain pony knows just how to hit that sweet, sweet spot.”
“Is that what passes for a refreshing shower to you cloud rutters?” Bonbon stuck out her tongue at the pegasus.
“Hay yeah!” Rainbow chuckled. “You should try it.”
“I’d prefer an hour long bubble bath, thank you very much.” Bonbon sighed at the thought of just such a bath after all this wandering through snow and ice, across oceans, and down cold, muddy roads that seemed to have no end and nothing to see but corn.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and turned back around. “Soaking in a tub for hours? No thanks. A flight through a well-crafted rain storm on the other hoof, that’s the real deal! That’s where it doesn’t get any better.”
“I’d like a warm shower,” Lyra said with a longing look at the ground in front of her hooves. “A real warm and steamy shower.”
A drop of cold water landed on Bonbon’s muzzle. She looked up at the sky about to break and sighed. “Can we talk about something else? Like where to find some cover.”
“Nothing around here,” Rainbow Dash said with obvious pleasure at being the bringer of bad news. “Besides, we didn’t exactly get an early start on this journey, so we’ve got to put in a good march to make up for it, especially if we wish to find a village or something before nightfall.”
Bonbon grumbled a reply and dug out the thin cloak she had brought with her. At least she had been able to prepare pretty well for most mundane circumstances back in the city. It had made her saddlebags a bit heavy, but it was worth it. She had even managed to get her hooves on a quality set of bags with lots of pockets and straps for strategic and easy access to all her most critical items.
“I want to stick to the wild,” Lyra said and brushed the first few drops of rain off her face. “We need to avoid any more settlements and any more attention.”
“I thought—But …” Rainbow Dash turned around again. “Isn’t it better if we stick to the road and pass through any villages for as long as we can? That way we can restock supplies and ask for information along the way. Once we leave griffon territory we may not see any more civilization.”
Lyra was silent for several seconds. The sky broke, and cold water fell in curtains of gray that seemed to drown the world in silence. Lyra looked up at Dash and brushed her soaked mane out of her eyes. “We can do that if we come across any settlements during the day, but I want to leave well before nightfall and not stay longer than it takes to pass through. We’ll camp in the wild the rest of the way.”
Rainbow Dash considered that for a moment. “That’s cool, I suppose. What’s the plan, anyway? Where are we going from here?”
“We’ll just continue east for now,” Lyra said. “That’s the plan.”
“Huh.” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her neck as she turned back to the road ahead. “Any idea what we’re looking for or something? I mean, east is cool, but it’s not much to go on. None of our maps are any help once we leave the griffon lands.”
“I have some idea,” Lyra muttered and left it at that, her mood reflecting the gray rain pouring down her face.
Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at the unicorn, then shrugged. She picked up pace a bit, flying up ahead again. She was soon just a vague silhouette seen through the dense shower of rain, even though it wasn’t actually very far she had gone.
Lyra turned and looked at Bonbon through the pouring rain. Her mane clung to her face and neck. “I want you to stay where I can see and hear you from now on,” she said.
The statement came out of nowhere and took Bonbon by surprise. She wiped some rain from her eyes and looked at Lyra. “What the hay are you talking about, Lyra?”
Lyra kept her eyes on the pegasus flying up ahead. “I want to trust you, Bonbon, I really do, but I can’t afford to trust anypony. You’re the only one who knows, and I need to make sure it stays that way. I’ve made too many mistakes and listened to my heart too many times when I knew I should have locked it up and shut it out. I don’t want you out of my sight, do you understand?”
Bonbon glared at Lyra. “What, so I’m your prisoner now?”
Lyra stopped and turned, glaring back. “You wanted to get close to me and get to know me. Well, you got your wish! I never should have let you. I knew I’d only hurt you.” More than rain was streaming down her face as she said it. “This is what you’ve got, and there’s no turning back or regretting it now, Bonbon. You want to know what the alternative is? Because I’ve thought about that too. I’ve thought about what I’d have to do if you turned around now.” She kept her eyes fixed on Bonbon, her jaw tense.
Bonbon opened her mouth to speak and felt a cold touch run down her spine. The words that came out surprised her. “You scare me, Lyra.”
“What do you think you do?” Lyra hit back, her voice breaking. “You terrify me, Bonbon. And you make me terrified of myself too! All the time I worry about what you’ll do, or what you’ll let slip to someone, or what kind of monster you will force me to become to keep you silent. I tell you to leave me alone, you follow anyway. You have my life in your hooves, Bonbon. If others find out the truth, I’m done for. I need to make sure my secrets are safe with you, and I can’t do that if you run off or leave me.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Bonbon said as the rain washed down her face and into her eyes. “I thought I made that clear back in Ponyville.”
Lyra watched her sadly until Bonbon turned and continued walking. Lyra waited a moment longer before trudging through the rain behind Bonbon.
* * *
Bonbon threw another hoof-full of dry corn stalks on the fire and sat down, trying to dry herself out in the growing heat. Lyra dried out another piece of old wood by magic and fed it to the flames. Even if everything was wet from the rain, they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of material to burn out here, and the old abandoned barn where they had decided to set up camp provided cover from both wind and rain, at least for tonight.
Bonbon looked up and turned her head to look over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash was lounging on the roof of the barn behind them, writing in her book and paying the two of them no mind.
Lyra picked up her instrument and looked at the strings in the flickering light. She closed her eyes and lowered her head while her magic plucked at the strings.
Bonbon listened for a time in silence to the lyre and the soft crackling of the fire. Her thoughts drifted back to Lyra’s journal and the words she had read back on the ship. “Lyra, why did you come to Ponyville in the first place?”
“When I left Canterlot,” Lyra said but kept her eyes closed, “it was because I wanted to search the rest of Equestria for signs of my kind, including my parents. Ponyville is almost dead in the center of Equestria, and it has good connections and a library. It’s not an old library or an old town, but a lot of old books and manuscripts were actually moved to the Ponyville library from other, much older archives around Equestria, even before Twilight took it over.”
“But that’s not why you stayed in Ponyville, is it?” Bonbon kept watching the unicorn on the other side of the fire, trying to catch any signs of what she may be thinking from her expression.
Lyra said nothing, looking down at the ground.
Bonbon decided to leave it be. “And you never found anyone else? Of your kind, I mean.”
Lyra shook her head. “All I found were these pieces of legends and songs that I’ve told you about. It was something, though. Certainly more than I could have hoped for, in hindsight.”
Bonbon poked the fire idly with a piece of dry wood. She threw it on the fire and looked back up at Lyra. “But you found something down in those ruins, didn’t you? At the fallen stairs.”
Lyra looked up at the roof where Rainbow Dash was still lounging with her book.
“What did you find?” Bonbon pressed a bit further.
Lyra looked back down at Bonbon, a little hesitant. She pulled her saddlebags over and got up, walking around the fire to sit close to Bonbon. She opened her bag and unwrapped the bundle of cloth, holding it out of sight of Rainbow Dash on the roof.
Bonbon looked down at the small skull. “Is that …?”
Lyra quickly wrapped it up again, but kept looking down into the bag. “A child. It’s too small to be an adult. It was buried under the collapsed stairs. Someone had made a sort of grave there and scratched a message on one of the stones in a foreign language.”
“Do you know what it said?” Bonbon looked down as Lyra took out one of her notebooks and opened it to a small passage that she must have written from memory when they got back from the ruins. Bonbon couldn’t read it.
“I’m not sure. It may be in a dialect of Neaponitan, and I think maybe it says Day’s Glory or something like that here.”
“A name?”
“Maybe,” Lyra shrugged and left the book open in her lap as she looked down into the saddlebag with the skull wrapped in clothes. “I took the skull and covered the rest of the bones. I don’t think they should be found by others.”
Bonbon nodded, and a thought occurred to her. “Makes you wonder about the fate of other such remains. If they’re lying around, then some of them must have been found.”
Lyra hesitated as she considered Bonbon’s words. “I don’t think there are many of us left, and certainly not in Equestria or even here. I think …” She trailed off, staring into the fire. “I think my father came to Equestria from far away, and maybe he had a brief affair with a mare from Canterlot. Maybe he’s still wandering Equestria, maybe he’s moved on. He probably doesn’t know that he fathered a child. Mom later gave birth, only to find that her child was a monster. So she probably left me in a panic. That’s how I imagine it might have happened, anyway.
“I don’t think there are a lot of humans out there,” she continued, speaking into the fire. “And I don’t think there are any in Equestria other than me. Maybe there have never been any in Equestria, except the odd wanderer from far away, and maybe a few like me who grow up in hiding and eventually move on. It’s why I knew I had to go beyond Equestria.”
Lyra looked down at the bag she was holding. “I don’t think Equestria was ever meant to be my home. I don’t know where I’ll end up, or what I’ll do there, but I don’t think it is my fate to return to where I began. Maybe this is the fate of all my kind. Maybe there is a home waiting for me out there, a place where we all eventually find our way.”
Bonbon watched her hug the bag as the clouds turned darker with the gradual onset of night. “What fate does that leave me?” she wondered quietly to herself.
* * *
Heya Sis.
Twilight’s on a strict “NO worrying” order from her friends, which involves a lot of spa time and long, boring talks with Rarity, so I’m writing for her instead. She kinda freaked out a little bit and tried to teleport all the way there when you vanished, but I guess it was a bit too far, or maybe she just overdid it or something. She’s fine though, but she’s not allowed to stress or worry herself over anything for the next few days.
Oh, and Ponyville is now slightly south from where it used to be, but you’d hardly even notice.
Anyway, you’ve totally got me to write to instead, so how about that?
Your little sis,
Scootaloo
*
Hey Scoots.
Tell Twi that I told her to listen to her friends and stay put, alright? And that I love her, even when she’s a silly worryhead. And if you could show her that drawing I made below, that’d be cool … Actually, nevermind, she’ll just obsess over it. Show it to Fluttershy instead.
Stay cool, kid.
*
Sure thing, Dash!
That’s one weird critter. Any idea what it was?
*
I haven’t the faintest clue, Scoots. It wasn’t all that big, though, and I think it was wearing a sweater. Actually, the sweater … Weird. Nevermind, I guess it was kinda dark and I didn’t get a good look. Just show it to Fluttershy. I’m sure she’ll know about it.
How are things going for you? I haven’t heard much from you since your trip to Canterlot.
*
You could say I’ve been kept busy. Luna is really strict and demanding. It’s tough, and there’s so much I need to learn. I began my first combat training with the royal guards the other day. They don’t pull any punches either. I’m still sore all over from being thrown around like a bag of oats for hours, but I guess they wanted to hammer home the point that this isn’t a career for most ponies, and anypony who can’t stand up and take a beating might as well just pack up after the first session and find something better to do with their lives.
I’m not doing that, though. Not in a million years. I’m really proud that Luna has chosen me, and that she believes in me, and I know I can do this and that there’s nothing I want more than that.
It’s weird. Even though she’s really strict and barely gives me time to breathe, when she’s looking at me and when we’re talking together I know that she’s a friend, and I know that she only wants the best for me. Those moments when we’re talking, even if it’s about difficult and important stuff, those moments are so worth all the pain and hardship.
I think all of those who protect one of the princesses see her as their friend. My first loyalty is to the princess I serve, and ultimately I have to be willing to give my life to protect her, even above everypony else. That’s a really scary thing to think about doing, but I know I’d do it to protect Luna, not just because she is my princess, but because she is my friend too.
I guess this is growing up, right? When you have to deal with a lot of really difficult stuff all of a sudden. I don’t have as much time for my old friends, and I wish I could tell them more about what I do for the princess, but I give them all the time I can and tell them as much as I’m allowed to tell them, because they are still just as important to me as ever, and I know how important true friends are.
Apple Bloom got her cutie mark, like, just now. It was funny. That whole thing with Twilight freaking out and teleporting Ponyville a hundred yards to the south? Well, there was a train coming in, and suddenly Ponyville moves south and there’s this big gap in the trail ahead of the train. Bad stuff about to go down. So we all rush to fix that or stop the train or whatever. Chaos all around.
Big Macintosh sprained his back from carrying the heavy beams in such a hurry. But AB, she knew just how to lay those beams and get everypony working, and before we knew, a hundred yards of rails had been laid and the train raced right through without barely slowing down. It was like it just came to her in that very moment, and when it was all over and she caught her breath, she looked back to see her cutie mark was there. I thought for sure she’d be jumping around like crazy, but she just looked so relieved and sat down, like she’d been the one carrying all those beams and finally got to drop them off.
Sweetie’s taking it really well and joking a lot about it. I know she’s a bit jealous and trying to hide it, though, but I can also tell that she’s happy for both of us. And I bet that she’ll get hers soon. It’s funny how we tried so hard to find our cutie marks, and in the end we got them while not trying at all, just having fun or doing what had to be done. Almost makes you think someone is messing with us.
Anyway, I’ve gotta gallop. I’ve got a dream with a princess to catch.
Scoots out.
*
Hey Scoots.
I’ll have to show you properly just how damn proud I am of you when I get back, because these letters really don’t work at all for that stuff. But believe me when I say, that I am so damn proud of you, kid!
Tell AB she did great too, and that I’m proud of her too!
* * *
The fields of corn slowly gave way to scattered groups of trees as the journey continued the next day. A proper night of sleep—even if it was in a tent she now shared with Lyra, who insisted upon not letting Bonbon out of sight, even during the night—and the welcome change in scenery had left Bonbon in a much better mood than the day before.
They stopped at a small lake to drink and snack on the dense growth of honeysuckle nearby. Bonbon chewed the sweet flowers and fibrous leaves and looked up as Lyra joined her. “I haven’t had honeysuckle in forever,” she commented as she looked for the most appetizing flowers among the thicket.
Lyra let her eyes drift over the plant silently.
Bonbon caught a glance over her shoulder to see Rainbow Dash drinking at the lake. “Why don’t you just tell Rainbow Dash everything?” She looked back at the flowers. “That way she won’t accidentally find out or do something that’ll reveal it to others. If you need to keep her close anyway, is it not safer to let her in on the secret?”
Lyra followed Bonbon’s gaze, then back at the flowers. She sank the flowers she had been chewing and considered Bonbon’s words. “Or it just means she freaks out and tells everypony what a monster I am.”
“You really think she’d do that?” Bonbon raised an eyebrow and looked up at Lyra.
Lyra looked down. “Maybe not, but I can’t risk it. I don’t know if the curse is going to turn everypony against me. Maybe it tries to make it so that ponies find out.”
Bonbon looked back at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus looked up, water dripping from her muzzle as she noticed that she was being looked at. Rainbow rolled her eyes and turned around, walking further away to a tree leaning over the lake, its green leaves inviting her over. Bonbon looked back at Lyra. “You know, I get the impression she knows more than she lets on. Frankly, I bet she already knows the truth and just isn’t saying anything out of respect for you.”
Lyra tensed and glanced at Rainbow eating from the low branches of the tree. “You … you really think she knows?”
“I think so,” Bonbon confirmed. “But there’s only one way to know.” She sighed and nudged Lyra. “Look, what if she writes something in that book of hers? Not intentionally, but … you know, maybe she mentions something, and Twilight is pretty smart. If you ask me, you’ve got her here, she’s shown loyalty to you so far, and she probably already knows or suspects at least something. It would be more dangerous to not let her in on the secret so that she better knows what not to say or do. Have her swear not to speak a word about it to anypony outside the three of us. A pact, just us three.”
Lyra looked down for a long time. “I don’t know.”
“Think about it,” Bonbon said and returned to chewing honeysuckle.
* * *
Rainbow Dash looked around and slowed down a bit. “Oh, hey Bonbon,” she said as Bonbon caught up with her and trotted along beside her. “What’s up?”
Bonbon could almost feel Lyra’s eyes on her neck, watching her for any signs of treachery. It really would be easier if Rainbow knew. Or admitted that she already knew. “Just strolling. Such a nice day today. Barely any cornfields in sight.” She looked around at the trees around them and smiled.
“Uhuh,” Rainbow said.
“You know more than you’re telling, don’t you?” Bonbon watched Rainbow’s reaction closely. There was none.
Rainbow merely shrugged. “Sure. I know that Apple Bloom got her cutie mark yesterday because Twilight decided to move Ponyville a hundred yards south. Cool, huh?”
Bonbon blinked and almost stopped. “What?” She shook her head. “That’s … well, good. Her two friends will be all over themselves to get theirs too, then. I almost feel sorry for the ponies back home who have to deal with them.”
“Oh no,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Scootaloo already got hers a week ago.”
Bonbon stared at the path ahead. It took her slightly longer than before to shake off the surprise. “Okay, fine, but that’s not what I meant!”
“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow looked at her indifferently.
Bonbon sighed and rolled her eyes. “Look, why are you here? I know what Lyra paid you, and I don’t believe for a second that you’d be here for a song.”
“It was a damn good song, and Twilight loved it.” Rainbow Dash grinned, a slight glint in her eyes. “I got way more than a song out of that deal, believe me.”
“But it’s not why you’re here.” Bonbon fixed her with a look. “You would have gone for free. You almost did, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, and my reasons are my own.” Rainbow looked back. “Look, you and Lyra have your little secret talks back there. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. But I don’t care, it’s cool. It’s not my business, and I’m not sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong. What Lyra is and why she’s here, that’s none of my business, and my reasons are none of yours either. Got it?”
Bonbon glowered, then blinked. “Wait. ‘What Lyra is?’” She grinned. “You know!”
Rainbow Dash frowned and picked up speed, outpacing Bonbon to end the discussion. Bonbon watched and didn’t pursue the pegasus.
* * *
There was stone on all sides, surrounding her. The air was earthy and tense with fear, but mostly not her own. Bonbon dropped down in the dark and sat perfectly still, listening with bated breath to the hooves galloping past above. She kept holding her breath, afraid that they’d hear and turn around. Pebbles lay his big, doggy head on her shoulder. She could feel his worry, but he knew as well as her not to make a sound.
Minutes passed, and then the silence was broken by the sudden breath of the pony who wasn’t a pony by her side. Bonbon could hear her frightened gasps in the dark, frantic and on the verge of panic. Bonbon had been forced to knock her out when she started screaming. They would have heard them and killed them if she hadn’t done that. She had no other choice.
It had all gone so fast. She hadn’t had time to realize that it wasn’t a pony she was dragging off into the old animal den. She didn’t need eyes to know that, but she hadn’t given it a second of thought at the time. At the time, she had only one thought in mind, and that was to get the princess to safety.
Bonbon could feel the princess’ attention fixed upon her, fearfully wondering what Bonbon was going to do to her now that she knew. Bonbon turned around slowly and felt her way towards her. The princess scrambled backwards and hit the wall of the den. “Don’t hurt us! Please!” she cried.
Bonbon looked up at where she imagined the princess’ eyes were and hoped that the look on her face would get the princess to hold still. She found the princess’ leg and the arrow stuck just below the knee. The princess shivered with fear and cried feebly as Bonbon grabbed the arrow in her teeth. She let out a shriek as Bonbon pulled the arrow out and pressed a hoof hard against the wound to staunch the bleeding.
Blood was pouring out from under Bonbon’s hoof, warm and thick and smelling of metal. Bonbon wracked her mind for where to get something to wrap the wound with to stop the blood. Maybe it would stop by itself if she just kept pressing against the wound long enough.
The princess fumbled with something, and Bonbon heard the sound of cloth tearing. “Our … shirt,” the princess said and pressed something soft against Bonbon’s hoof. “P-please?”
Bonbon picked up the cloth in her teeth and carefully wrapped it around the wounded leg. It was very fine yet strong cloth, nothing like anything Bonbon could have ever afforded. They probably didn’t even make it except for royalty to wear. She pulled it as tight as she could to stop the bleeding and sat back to give the princess a bit of room again.
The princess sniffed and pulled her legs away. Bonbon got the impression that her eyes had been watching Bonbon the whole time, afraid of what the pony might do if she looked away. “W-we still have magic, whilst t-thou remain a lowly pony. Do not get any treacherous ideas!”
Bonbon lowered her head, staring with blind eyes at the floor.
A long silence followed. The princess seemed confused by the gesture. “Why dost thou bow to us still?” she asked in a voice that was, for the first time, almost soft. “Thou art allowed to answer my questions.”
“Because I am but a simple earth pony, and you are still a princess,” she said. “I am no more than common dirt compared to you, and my place is at your hooves, or under them. Please forgive me for touching your Highness. I did not mean to befoul you.”
“But we are not a pony.” The princess fell silent before adding, almost in a whisper, “And we have brought nothing but evil and ill will against your kind.”
“You are still a princess, much higher and wiser than me, and I have sworn my life to you.” Bonbon looked down even further, averting her already blind eyes from the princess. “That is all that matters. It is not for me to question my place or my princess, whose word is divine. Please forgive me for befouling your Highness.”
Another long silence ensued before the princess spoke. “Thou art forgiven, for thy touch could not befoul us more than we have done ourselves. What is thy name, peasant?”
Bonbon shifted uncomfortably. “I am but a common pony, your Highness.”
The voice of the princess took on a commanding tone once more. “And we ask to know thy common name, pony.”
Bonbon hesitated. “It is Bonbon, your Highness.”
The princess stood up unsteadily in the dark cave. “Thou hast shown us faith and loyalty beyond our expectation, Miss Bonbon.” She hesitated before adding, “Our name is Humble Soul.”
* * *
How are you, my love?
I hear Scootaloo told you about what happened. It’s like Discord’s turned the world upside down of late. I’m the princess around here, but it’s my friends telling me what to do and when to do it.
I am so relieved to hear that you are alright. I’m sorry that I can’t write much, but this unexpected vacation left me far behind on my schedules.
Please just be careful.
♥ Your Princess,
Twilight Sparkle.
*
Hey Twi.
You’re doing great. Did you see the drawing I made last night? I told Scootaloo to show it to Fluttershy too. I thought maybe either of you would know what it was.
Love you too, Twi.
*
I see. No, I haven’t seen your drawing.
I am apparently going to have a very long and very serious talk with Scootaloo about treating books with respect and care. That little rascal tore out the page! I can’t believe she’d do such a monstrous thing. I’m going to find her and make sure she understands the gravity of her actions!
♥ Twi
*
Twilight? Remember to breathe! Seriously, give the kid a break. She probably just gave the page to Fluttershy to show her the drawing. It’s just a diary anyway.
*
Just a diary? This is not just a diary! This is the personal account of our love and your epic and unprecedented journey. In these pages we share some of our deepest and most intimate thoughts as we are away from each other! It could well become a classic text for future generations, providing a unique, first-hoof account of a historic event and a look into the minds of two young lovers on opposite sides of the world!
I am going to have such a talking to you when you get back home, Rainbow Dash! I’m making a note of this right now! Don’t think I won’t remember this.
*
Mm, yeah! You know I love it when you talk tough to me, Twi.
Now go see Fluttershy. I want to hear what she thinks of that drawing.
* * *
Bonbon opened her eyes and lay in the darkness of the tent, listening to the wind in the leaves and branches outside. Lyra was breathing softly next to her, still asleep. Bonbon sat up quietly and pushed her blanket aside. She sat for a minute before opening the tent flap and crawling out into the cool night air. She paused in the opening of the tent and looked around.
Everything was quiet except for the wind rustling in the shadow of the trees where they had camped for the night. The low, massive trunks of the trees made Bonbon think of old, kindly guardians. There was something comforting about the grove, like it had stood here since the dawn of time and would remain here until the end of times too.
She looked up at one of the trees, its whole trunk and crown leaning over the glade below. Rainbow Dash had forgone the tent and simply settled down in the branches of that tree, snoring softly in the darkness before dawn with her hooves dangling on both sides of the branch.
Bonbon crawled the last bit out of the tent and looked around. For a moment her eyes met another pair looking back at her, two gleaming points in the darkness of a tree on the edge of her vision. They backed away a little, but didn’t disappear. Bonbon held her breath, afraid to scare the watcher away as she took a step closer.
“Bonbon?”
The eyes vanished with but a faint rustle of leaves at the unexpected voice. Bonbon breathed out and turned around. “You scared it away,” she said and sat down.
Lyra peeked out through the opening but remained within the shadows of the tent. “What?”
“I had another dream,” Bonbon said. “And I think I know who our mystery follower is now. I think it was her down in the ruins too, the human I told you about?”
Lyra looked suddenly awake with interest. She glanced quickly at Rainbow Dash to make sure the pegasus was sleeping. “Who? What are you talking about, Bonbon?”
Bonbon looked around at the glade again, but whatever had been there before had fled and wasn’t likely to return tonight. The fact left a strange stab of sadness in her chest. “My dreams are all events and memories that could only really belong to one person. Lately I’ve been dreaming of the princess and the pony she forced to be her servant, but the first dream was about Humble in the royal court of some pony prince. There was a servant there too, but it felt like a different servant. The only constant in my dreams is the human princess.”
Lyra sat in the shadows of the tent, watching Bonbon. “You’re—”
“I’m saying I think … No, I’m certain of this, Lyra. The thing that has followed us since the mines back in the mountains, it has to be Humble, or whatever sad shadow remains of her anyway, and somehow I’ve been dreaming her memories since. I knew there was something strangely familiar about what we saw down in the mines. It’s because it was a human. It reminded me of you, or rather of the glimpse I had caught in the forest on Hearth’s Warming Eve.
“Maybe it was her who drove the miners away all the way back then. She must have been hiding down there in the darkness and cold all alone that whole time, until we stumbled through and awoke something in her. I think she’s confused and angry, and those emotions are seeping out and causing conflict wherever she goes.”
“Like with the griffons back in the village,” Lyra said, and Bonbon could see the pieces falling into place in her head too.
Bonbon nodded. “That’s what the zebra warned us about. I think Humble caused that storm with the lightning bugs too. She had just left the eternal darkness of the mines and was terrified of the light. Maybe her anger made that thing go out of control too.”
“Why would she attack me, though?”
“Maybe she doesn’t know what she’s doing. She just lashes out at everything. I don’t know, Lyra.” Bonbon looked down for a moment. “I don’t think there’s much rational thought left, she’s just a wreck of a girl wrapped in a thick layer of fear and anger and confusion which has taken on a life of its own. I had a dream back in Mais. She was shot by ponies who were out hunting them, and her servant tried to help her. Perhaps the memory of that fear, the fear of being revealed, was too traumatic. She started screaming, and all that emotion she wraps herself in just exploded and made all the rats and mice down there go nuts.”
Bonbon nodded as she continued her thought. “All that was left, beneath all the layers of anger and confusion was the frightened and ruined girl, too weak to do anything but cry when I found her there. That’s what I think.”
Lyra rubbed the back of her head and looked around. “What do you think she wants?”
“I don’t know.” Bonbon looked up at the shadowy canopy of the massive trees, beyond which the sun was slowly rising. “I don’t think she knows either.”
* * *
The air kept getting warmer as they continued their travels the next day, walking at a steady pace through forests and fields. They were making good progress and putting several miles behind them, passing through many small villages and farmsteads on the way, mostly at Rainbow’s urging. The pegasus seemed intent on showing everypony they met the wanted poster and asking about the flame-maned pony in the picture.
Bonbon restocked their supplies as they went, while Lyra merely passed through. They never spent much more time in any place than it took to walk through it.
Evening approached, and they were nearing the edge of the lands settled by the griffons when they left their last village for the day behind and headed off the road and into the wild. Bonbon looked around as Rainbow Dash caught up with them, stuffing the crumpled wanted poster back into the pocket of her saddlebag.
“So?” Bonbon prodded at the tight-lipped pony.
“She was here,” Rainbow said. “Didn’t pass through, though. One of the griffons told me she saw her fall out of the sky and crash about ten miles from here. Couldn’t find her afterwards, though, just the place where she crashed. She must have continued on hoof from there.” Rainbow Dash looked ahead, a distant look in her eyes. “Sounded like a bad fall.”
Bonbon looked at Rainbow Dash, trying to read her face. “Was she a friend?”
Rainbow Dash looked away and scowled as she set off, flying ahead without a word. Bonbon shook her head and looked back at Lyra and the sun behind them.
* * *
Bonbon picked up another piece of wood and turned back towards the camp. She paused and looked at her two traveling companions sitting around the unlit fire. Lyra was plucking the strings of her instrument, the tones dancing in the air around them. Rainbow Dash was poking through her bags, looking bored. If not for Lyra, the pegasus would have no doubt been happy to continue for several hours before setting camp for the night.
If not for all these secrets, things would be so much easier for all three of them.
Bonbon walked back to join the others. She dropped the wood on the fire unceremoniously and sat down on her haunches, looking between the two.
Rainbow Dash pulled her head out of the bag and noticed Bonbon looking at her. She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Lyra looked up from her instrument, but kept playing quietly.
“I’m bloody tired of this charade,” Bonbon said and looked hard at both of them. Lyra tensed. “I’m not the one who should be talking, and I won’t, but I sure as hay want to hear some talking.” She turned back to focus her gaze on Rainbow Dash. “Why are you here? And don’t you dare run away or ignore me! We’re in this together, all three of us. If we can’t trust each other, how the hay are we supposed to get anywhere like this?”
She looked back at Lyra before either of them could respond. “And you! You’re going to tell Rainbow Dash everything!” She looked at both of them. “We’ll make a pact. No pony is to speak a word about anything to anypony outside the three of us.”
“Look,” Rainbow cut in, “Lyra’s business is not my business, and my business is none of yours. I’m not trying to be a jerk to you, okay? I just really don’t wanna talk about it. Trust me, it’s not important anyway.”
“It bloody well is!” Bonbon snapped back. “Maybe you’re spying on us! Huh?” she gave Lyra a glance. “How are we to know that you’re not here to find out everything about Lyra and tell your pretty princess back in Ponyville about it? How much have you told her already? A song! A bloody song was all you got out of this, and you would have gone for free. That sounds like you’ve got a bloody good reason to want to hang around Lyra. Maybe Lyra should be concerned?”
“Gee, take a breath!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and sulked. “Fine. I’ll tell you the whole damned story, but this is between the three of us and nopony else, you got that?”
“My lips are sealed,” Bonbon said and folded her hooves, eyes fixed upon the pegasus, waiting for her to spill the beans.
“Lyra?” Rainbow Dash looked at the unicorn across the still unlit fire.
Lyra looked at Bonbon. When that yielded nothing, she sighed and looked down. “You have my word, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash stared at the wood piled in front of her. After a moment she sighed too. “I haven’t been a full member of the Wonderbolts all that long. When that thing, whatever it was, fell from the sky on Hearth’s Warming Eve, Twilight was put in charge of investigating it. She knew that something had crashed into the mountains as well, and she believed it was the main thing of something that broke up. She ordered the Wonderbolts to find whatever it was and bring it back for study.
“Spitfire chose me to lead that team. It was just a small team, just three ponies and myself, but it was my first time as team leader of an official mission for the Wonderbolts. Lightning Dust was on the team. I guess you wouldn’t know much about her. She and I were teamed up for a while at the training camp, and she became a full member a few months after me. She got off to a really bad start, kind of an idiot, but she recovered and I think she learned her lesson. I guess we did become good friends after that.”
Rainbow Dash poked at the flames slowly spreading through the wood as Lyra lit the fire. “Anyway, Twilight warned us that we were to be extremely careful and not touch whatever we found. We knew pretty well how to handle it, so we didn’t expect that we’d have much trouble. I told everypony I wanted them to do it by the book anyway, just in case.
“When we found the place, there was a snowstorm. It wasn’t anything huge, and we didn’t really have much trouble with it, but it made it impossible to see each other if we didn’t stay close. That’s not usually a problem at all, because we just use our voices to keep formation, but I told everypony to stay together and proceed with caution.
“Lightning Dust signaled that she had found something. I called back for her to stay put until the rest of us could get to her. She didn’t reply, and when we arrived at her location she wasn’t there. I didn’t know if she had moved on despite my orders, or if something had happened. I had the rest of the team stay together as we searched for her.
“Something happened, and I don’t know what it was. All I remember is a sudden sharp flash of light and a scream. I think it was Lightning Dust. I must have passed out for a second, because the next thing I remember is hitting the ground. I jumped back into the air and found the other two, and then the next moment we see Lightning Dust speeding off, out of there. I ordered the team to pursue, and all three of us took off after her.
“We’re all fast fliers, and Lightning Dust is no exception, but I’ve never had a hard time keeping up with her in a race. She’s fast, but nowhere near as fast as me when the gloves come off. Only other Wonderbolt to give me a run for my money before is Fleetfoot, and she’s been the fastest for a long time. Fleetfoot is our top racer, she has loads of experience racing, but Lightning Dust?” Rainbow Dash looked away. “She beat me. Lightning Dust beat me! I don’t know how the hell she did it, but it sure as hay wasn’t natural. She just … looked back, with this totally blank look in her eyes, and the next moment she was gone.
“I tried to follow, but she was already lost. We searched the crater but found nothing. I ordered the team to search the surroundings once the storm had cleared, just in case Lightning Dust hadn’t gone far or had turned around. We stayed a full day, just in case, searching and finding nothing. Eventually we had to return and report that we had lost one of our members and that the mission had been a total failure.
“My bloody first time in charge. Naturally they had to investigate whether I had acted irresponsibly or something. Spitfire kept it very hush, but I was officially discharged while the whole thing happened. They soon cleared me of any charges, deciding that I had acted as I was expected to.” She stomped a hoof in the ground and grit her teeth. “But it was my first time in charge, my first serious mission, and I lost a team member, I lost a friend, and even if they say I did the right thing, that it wasn’t my fault, I know what it looks like. First mission a complete disaster. It’s not the sort of thing that makes others have confidence in you.”
There was a long silence as Rainbow Dash stared into the fire, shoulders hanging. “I lost Lightning Dust, and that’s the worst. I knew if there was anything I could do to find her and get her back, I’d do it. I’d do it even if it cost me my reputation and my place in the Wonderbolts. But I had no idea where she had gone, so there was nothing I could do. Not one damn thing.”
She looked up, the remains of tears in her eyes. “Not until Lyra began asking about the crash. It didn’t take a genius to tell that she knew something, and when she asked me to be her guide and show her the crater, I knew she might be headed in the same direction as Lightning Dust.
“So that’s why I’m here,” she finished. “Because I’m going to get Lightning Dust back. I trust Lyra, and she’s always been a great pony to me and all my friends, so I didn’t poke my nose in her business. I just follow, because I bet she knows where she’s going, somehow, and I bet wherever it is it’s the same place Lightning Dust is going.
“Spitfire allowed me to do this, although I’m not sure if they’ll let me stay with the Wonderbolts when all this is over. If it wasn’t for Twilight, I don’t know if they’d have let me go at all. Twilight gave me the book to keep in touch with her about what happened along the way, and just to, you know, stay in touch.
“So that’s my story. My big disgrace and shame,” she said and hung her head.
Bonbon looked up and tried to find what to say. “I’m sorry,” she said, knowing there wasn’t much else to say. “Losing a friend is hard. I hope we can find her and bring her back safely.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said and rubbed her eyes.
Bonbon looked at Lyra. The unicorn fidgeted nervously with her sweater. “Lyra,” Bonbon said. “It’ll be better this way, trust me.”
“Look,” Rainbow Dash said and looked up. “I’ve already figured it out, and I seriously don’t mind. The hiding away at night and stuff? It didn’t take a genius, Lyra, but you’re still a great pony to me. If you don’t want to tell me about it, I’m cool. I’ll pretend you don’t turn into a wolf every night, and I won’t say a word to anypony. It’s cool,” she said with complete earnestness.
Bonbon blinked and looked at the pegasus.
“What?” Rainbow Dash looked at them. “Come on. It’s obvious, right? I really don’t care one bit what you look like at night, or whether you howl at the moon. It’s cool. Really.”
Bonbon blinked again and looked at Lyra. The unicorn was staring too, gears turning in her head. Bonbon blinked a third time as a smile crept over Lyra’s face. Lyra did her best to hold back the chuckle, and poorly, as Rainbow’s words finally clicked for her.
Rainbow Dash watched in bewilderment as Lyra and Bonbon laughed. “What?”
“I’m—” Lyra took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “I’m not a marewolf, Rainbow Dash. I don’t turn into a wolf at night to howl at the moon and hunt chickens.”
“You don’t?” Rainbow Dash was looking truly lost now.
“I don’t,” Lyra said and took a deep breath. Her smile turned serious again as she looked at Bonbon. Bonbon nodded, and Lyra sighed. “I … I guess it is better if you know. But you must swear that you’re not going to tell anypony, not even Twilight.”
Rainbow Dash stared at them. After several seconds she blinked a few times. “Uh … well … Alright, you’ve lost me, but I swear I won’t say a word. I wasn’t going to anyway, you know.”
Lyra looked up at the sun hanging low in the sky and sank nervously. “I … I hope I’m not making a great mistake,” she said, her voice now feeble. “I guess I need to start from the start with the whole story,” she said and pulled her lyre close, hugging it as she prepared to tell everything.