I arrived back home and could hear Lyra playing a song on her lyre. It was a song I wasn't familiar with but I enjoyed its sweet and romantic melody. I was glad that she was still awake. The night would be better knowing that I would be able to speak with her before I needed to fall asleep myself.
I opened the door and there was Lyra in all of her beauty.
"Well done", I said to Lyra, "that is beautiful."
"It makes me so happy to hear that from you", Lyra grinned, "the next concert is Friday night at the Ponyville Theater... you will be able to make it, right?"
"I don't see any reason why I couldn't at this point of time."
"You know, the work thing."
"That shouldn't be a problem."
"I hope not, as you know, it means a lot to me if you are at the theater."
"I appreciate that. Oh, Lyra, I heard some great news today at work."
"You met a human?"
"No, even better! I got a raise at work."
Lyra giggled with glee and asked, "How shall we celebrate?"
"Hmmm.. I will need time to think about the best way to do so."
"You're Bon-Bon, so I know whatever you want to do will be super classy."
I decided to not tell Lyra about the extra project I was taking on for work. She would very likely whine about the extra hours I would be working. I also certainly wasn't going to tell Lyra about my encounter with the most-likely changeling today.
"I was thinking we could just have dinner over at the Apple barn - over by the pigsty."
"Ooh, that sounds like an adventure!"
I wouldn't dare. Getting mud all over me was not my idea of fun at all and Lyra knew that.
"Surprise me", said Lyra with a grin, "you know I can handle any kind of situation."
"Yes, because you're Lyra."
Lyra jumped off the couch and landed right on top of me, kissing me on the neck.
I was tired but I was in the mood for some fun. We rolled around on the floor for a bit and giggled like two silly teenage girls. It definitely was turning me on. I was getting wet from thinking about what Lyra and I could do tonight. She suddenly used a spell to pin me on my back. I couldn't move. Lyra's way of having fun involved having her way with me. It was also a major turn-on for me. Lyra was fondling my breasts with her front hooves and kissing me.
All the stress and seriousness of a long day of work was leaving my body. Lyra and I were definitely a fantastic couple. It was just.. oh.. too much. I was paralyzed by Lyra's magic but in heaven. I could still feel the sensations of pain and pleasure. I never wanted this to end.
That heaven lasted for some time. Lyra knew how to make me feel like a mare. I don't know when I finally fell asleep but I woke up on the floor with Lyra cuddled up next to me.
I still was wearing a watch. It was 9 AM.
Oh shit shit shit... this was going to look so bad... I got rewarded by Rich and I was going to repay him by showing up late. Fuck.
I needed to get ready too. It would be even worse to go to work looking like I just rolled out of bed. I immediately called Rich on my cellphone.
"Hello, Rich speaking."
"Hi Rich, this is Bon-Bon. I apologize but I will be an hour late."
"Ho ho ho, that's okay. The janitor told me that you must have worked four hours overtime yesterday. I'm not upset at all."
"Oh thank you. I won't let this happen again."
"Not a problem. I'll see you at 10."
"Thanks Rich."
I had to get ready now. Good thing Lyra was a heavy sleeper or I would have probably woken the poor unicorn up from all the pacing and hurrying I was doing.
I arrived at work at 9:50. I was confident that I looked clean and classy. I also think I got rid of all of the smells associated from a fun night of sex.
I could hear giggling. It sounded like Flitter. She flew over to me and said, "Hey, Bon-Bon, Bon-Bon, Bon-Bon, guess what?"
"You beat me to work?"
"Tee hee.. yea.. but something even more funny than that. So, I told you about Mareia and Buck, right?"
"Yea?"
"And how Mareia definitely doesn't deserve Buck unlike me... so I actually got to work around 8:15 and painted Mareia's chair with a fresh coat of red paint. Her big ugly plot will be all red when she sits on the chair. Oh my... Buck will never be able to look at her the same way again. Isn't that hilarious?"
"Honestly, that sounds kind of horrible."
"You never even met Mareia, so don't feel bad for her!! Feel happy for me. I will finally have a shot with Buck with that uptight cunt out of the picture."
This wasn't going to end well for Flitter, but why spoil the fun for her! It will be a surprise.
"Oh, Flitter. Since I was so late to work this morning, I can't chit chat. I have to finish all of this stuff or Rich could hand me a pink slip."
"Oh no, I wouldn't want that for you, Bon-Bon-Bon-Bon! I probably should get to work too. I want to see the look on Mareia's face. She's probably crying like a little baby right now or even better, she's trotting around the office with a red ass and she doesn't even know it!"
As Flitter turned around, I noticed that her plot was bright red. The joke was all on Flitter now. Like I said before, why spoil the fun!
From the corner of my eye, I could see Clean chuckling. He is a prankster, isn't he?
As for me, I really needed to get to work.
It was tough going through all of the store records and matching the revenues and expenses. Tough, but nothing I couldn't handle. Barnyard Bargains had seven stores in Equestria: Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehattan, Marelington, Vanhoover, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia. A store was expected to open up in Appleoosa in three months and there was that whole potential griffon expansion. I needed to look extra closely at the Vanhoover store. It was the pony-run city with the largest griffon population.
Vanhoover bordered the Griffon Kingdom. Did the griffons in Vanhoover shop at Barnyard Bargains? And if so, did griffons who live on pony territory have different attitudes in general about Barnyard Bargains than griffons who didn't live on pony territory?
This was actually somewhat fun to think about.
I suddenly hear a, "Wait what, but why?"
Flitter.
"Based on your job performance", I heard Rich say to Flitter, "we have decided that it would be best if your employment at Barnyard Bargains is terminated as of today."
"This is the worst day ever. My plot is all ugly now thanks to that Mareia. She wants to sabotage me, I swear to it."
"Even if Mareia did pull that prank on you, that has nothing to do with why you are being asked to leave."
"Huh?"
"Your coworkers never see you doing work."
"I barely even know what I was hired for."
"For the record, you were hired as an accounts payable clerk. Now, you must leave now."
Dreams do come true.
"Ugh", groaned Flitter, "this totally sucks, boss man. But hey, Buck, we should totally go out sometime on a date."
"Maybe", I heard Buck, the athletic black pegasus, say politely.
Flitter stopped by my desk. I noticed tears in her eyes.
"Bon-Bon", cried Flitter, "I'm going to miss working with you so much... too bad my prank fell flat."
"What was that", said Buck loudly, "your prank?"
"Ugh.. no.. I meant.. Mareia's prank failed to faze me."
"Hmmmmm, perhaps that would explain why the janitor switched your chair with Mareia's chair this morning."
"The paint on my plot looks sexy for me though, right?"
"Ummm... shouldn't you be out of here by now?"
"Yea, whatever... you know my number if you wanna set up something with me, Buck."
"Whatever."
Flitter left. Buck sighed with relief. I wasn't paying much attention to office dynamics but I imagined that Flitter harassed Buck all the time.
"You know her outside of work", Buck asked me.
"Nah, Flitter is just really friendly with me."
"Too bad. I was hoping you could tell her that I'm not interested in her at all."
"Be a stallion. Stay strong."
"Flitter knows my address."
"Get a restraining order if things get bad."
"Yea", Buck sighed, "I guess I'll have to. She'll probably get over me pretty fast."
"I hope so too."
"How's Lyra doing?"
"She is doing well, working overtime for a concert this Friday night."
"You must be excited for that, huh?"
"Definitely."
"Sorry for that distraction with Flitter. I can see that you have a lot of work."
"It's not a problem at all."
"Of course, you're Bon-Bon."
I smiled at Buck. That is something Lyra would always tell me.
"Now we can work in peace", I said with a smile.
"Agreed, I'll see you around."
"See ya."
I hoped that Flitter wasn't too crazy for Buck's sake.
Like promised, I would talk to Clean at 7 PM. Rich left for the night and the only ponies in the office were me and Clean.
Clean was humming the "Smile" song, that song which Pinkie Pie sung causing the whole town to follow her with glee over the amazingness of the song.
"Hi Clean."
"Hello, Bon-Bon. Yet again, we are the only two ponies in this building. Ah, yes. It is so funny to see how things are operating in Ponyville these days. No pony seems to realize that things are going to change pretty soon."
"Things are going to change? Well, everything and everypony is changing all the time."
"You know what I mean."
"Then explain it less cryptically."
"Very well. I hope that no pony is watching us. I have something important to show you."
I watched as the elderly unicorn glowed a greenish color all around him. The glow became so bright that I couldn't see Clean at all anymore. He transformed into a black bug-like creature with wings, pincers, and antennae. I knew it. Clean was a changeling.
"I hope my true form doesn't frighten you."
I shook my head.
"Good, Bon-Bon. I thought you would have ran in fear of my ugliness."
The changeling sounded younger than the old pony he pretended to be.
"I don't care. I am sure you're perfectly good-looking in the changeling world."
"No changeling is pretty. No changeling is good-looking. We are all ugly. That is why we take pleasure in changing our forms so much."
I looked at Clean with sadness. Was this really the changeling attitude towards themselves? They changed because they were inferior to other species.
"It is fortunate, Bon-Bon", said Clean, "that you were born the way you are."
"I didn't choose to be born a pony, Clean, you know that."
"Ho ho", chuckled Clean, "you are more than a pony. Your childhood has left you sheltered from the truth about yourself. Your father, incredibly admirable, had wanted you to live a normal life as a normal pony."
"My father had to leave us when I was six", I said angrily, "that didn't exactly lead me to live a normal life."
"Perhaps the better word of choice is safe. You still are alive after all."
"Yes, I suppose so. So, what is this all about?"
"First of all, I would like to say that your father, Lemon Drops, is a changeling. Around when you were six Princess Celestia had set up prison camps for any changelings in pony territory. Queen Chrysalis declared war on Equestria. Your father knew he had to leave. He returned to the changeling hive and has stayed there since."
"Is?"
"Yes, your father is still alive. He still very much cares about you. Changelings like me have been feeding him information on you, your mother, and little brother all the time. He is incredibly proud of you."
"So if I have a changeling father and a pony mother, what does that mean for me?"
"You are a halfling, Bon-Bon. Times are changing on our planet. I would like to teach you how to utilize your changeling powers. Halflings always look like ponies but they can always change forms. You simply haven't been taught how to use those powers by anypony. I am here to train you if you wish to accept. There's a steep learning curve but being a changeling will become second nature."