//------------------------------// // 15. Bon Bon Voyage // Story: The Undesirables // by DEI Caboose //------------------------------// “No.” “Lyra, I'm being serious.” “Bon Bon, we are getting married in three weeks! You can't just run off now!” Bon Bon did not cease packing her bags despite Lyra’s incessant questioning, continuing to stuff seemingly random items into a disused brown saddlebag she’d dug out from under the bed. The objects she packed were, unknowingly to Lyra, in actuality advanced gadgets concealed as normal everyday items, littered around the house disused and dusty. One explosive alarm clock, guaranteed never to wake up anypony who uses it. A waist belt with a build in piton. One of Bon Bon’s favourites was perhaps the trick toothpaste, which was in reality a plastic explosive. Bon Bon would never forget the time Lyra’s friend Minuette had misplaced her own toothpaste and then somehow stumbled across Bon Bon's, coming unnervingly close to blowing her own face off. All Minuette had done was complain about the taste. Bon Bon often wondered why she still kept these old things lying about after that little incident. She had chalked it up to nostalgia, even though most of the memories were ones she'd rather forget. “Believe me, Lyra, there's no place I'd rather be than here,” Bon Bon huffed out as she threw the saddlebags onto her back, swiftly strapping them into place. “But I need to go to The Crystal Empire, it's really really important and I can't say no. We talked about this, I told you that one day I might be called off somewhere for some reason.” “Yeah, but you never said why!” Lyra shot back gruffly, instinctively placing herself between Bon Bon and the door. “I thought us being together meant we trusted each other, but you're still keeping secrets!” she stated yearningly. It was a question Bon Bon battled to avoid answering daily. After Luna had come and gone some time ago now, Lyra had immediately noticed something was up with her betrothed, after getting over her inexplicable joy of being accepted by basically every high value music venue south of Canterlot that is. After persistent questioning, Bon Bon had simply told Lyra ‘not to worry about it’ and that ‘she was working things out.’ Then this morning Bon Bon informed Lyra she was leaving for The Crystal Empire. No warning, no explanation, no nothing. All Bon Bon had said was that she needed to go, just like she said she would need to some day. And Lyra refused to accept that answer any longer. “You are not leaving this house until you tell me what is going on! Pronto!” Bon Bon hated it when Lyra’s made her feel guilty like this, and given the secrets she kept, Lyra’s general workload and accumulating stress about the wedding, this had not been a unique occurrence. Yet Bon Bon told herself the same thing every time her feelings on the matter strived to take over. Telling Lyra about her employment under Princess Luna would only cause harm for both of them. In the long run, an ignorant Lyra was a happier Lyra. “I don't know if I can do this anymore, Bon Bon.” And with that, Bon Bon’s facade crumbled and her internal reasoning shattered under the weakened glare of her fiancé, who stood slackened before the looming form of the once retired special agent. Bon Bon's new mission, her continued insistence to keep secrets… It was a burden. A burden, which despite how much Bon Bon hated to admit it, was starting to affect their relationship for the worse. Lyra wouldn't understand, she'd grow angry, confused, even raging if Bon Bon told her the full truth. But then again a half-truth was no better, a lie of an omission was still a lie. And Bon Bon was tired of lying. As Bon Bon stood their in a daze, she came to realise that the consequences if she refused to open up were too great to comprehend any longer. Lyra deserved to know, Lyra ought to know. “I work for Princess Luna to protect Equestria.” Either way could result in her losing Lyra… But they agreed to trust one another, they were willing to vow it. Bon Bon’s answer had been so abrupt that it took Lyra several moments to fully realise what she’d meant. She blinked in sequence, her eyes jolting around to avoid Bon Bon’s gaze. Once the answer appeared to sink in, Lyra practically erupted where she stood. “You're doing secret agent stuff and you didn't tell me!? Why didn't you tell me? What possible reason could you have for not telling me? And don't say ‘to protect you’ or something like that, I already know you're an agent, Bon Bon!” The candy maker stood still, the veering form of Lyra doing little to reassure her of this course of action. “I didn't have a choice,” Bon Bon stated looking at the ground, unwilling to meet Lyra’s eyes. “Pony feathers!” Lyra shot back, her glare faulting for a moment as a new thought came to mind. “She's not forcing you to work for her is she?” She said, but her tone remained fierce. “No but-” “But nothing then!” Lyra interrupted. “No one's making you do this and you told me that you were done with all this secret agent business, so what's the deal huh? Why are you walking out on me!” “Because how else am I going to provide for us, Lyra?!” Bon Bon eruption startled Lyra enough that she couldn't think of a response. Bon Bon ran a hoof through her mane, gripping locks of her hair as if she was in pain. “Think about it, Lyra! I sell candy! Next to Sugarcube Corner! That doesn't exactly scream smart investment does it? I can barely make enough bits to meet my half of the rent.” Her grip on her mane tightened. “And with the wedding and you… what else am I supposed to do, Lyra? Princess Luna just came out of nowhere saying that I could have whatever I wanted from her if I just did this job for her. How could I say no? Why would I say no?” She paused as if she was waiting for Lyra to give her a sign of approval; a touch of her foreleg or a kiss on her cheek, something to show that she understood where Bon Bon was coming from. But a worried whimper was not what Bon Bon was expecting. “But what about you, Bon Bon?” Lyra weakly soothed. “If you don't want to do this then you don't have to. We’ll get by, you know we will. I'm even getting work now! Someday soon we might even be able to get a place of our own outside of Ponyville! Landlord be damned!” Bon Bon grimaced, not having the heart to tell Lyra that all that work she was acquiring was because of Luna’s doing. The fact of the matter was that Luna had held up on her end of the bargain, so now it was Bon Bon’s turn to do her part. Once she was through with that, her and Lyra could start that life they had always dreamed of together. There would be no need for anything else. This was a temporary problem at worst. “I gave her my word, Lyra,” Bon Bon said with a determined glare, gripping Lyra’s hoof tight. “I can't back down, not now. She wouldn't have called me if she didn't have a reason.” The green mare stood firm, her face contorting into a variety of expressions. Pain. Anger. Sadness. One after the other until they all seemed to meld into one, a demeanour of indifference being the end result. A smile creepily made its way onto Lyra’s muzzle as she pecked Bon Bon on the lips with a quick jolt forward. “Running off to save the world then?” Lyra asked with an amused smirk. “You just make sure Luna pays for our wedding in full, and I want Celestia to officiate. If she's giving you whatever you want for doing this then we are going to milk it for all it's worth!” Bon Bon adjusted her bags and held Lyra in a warm embrace, her face turning stolid at Lyra’s next words. “Just come home safe.” This was it. The world was out there waiting for Bon Bon to concur it. She was soon to face whatever it was that had Luna spooked. But at the end of the day, she knew she had one thing to look forward to; Lyra, sat at home awaiting in their bed. Their future together looming on the horizon. Bon Bon had to come home safe. She needed that future. She'd earned it. The trot to the awaiting train positioned on the platform of Ponyville’s train station was quiet that morning. The sun was barely a quarter of the way through the sky, a blue glow reflected off the meticulously positioned clouds. Bon Bon still had a whole day waiting before her, though most of it would be spent cooped up on a train speeding in the direction of The Crystal Empire. The crystalline walls of the carriages shimmered as Bon Bon walked alongside them in the direction of the front of the train where the Princess's personal carriage resided. Princess Luna apparently wanted her journey to be a luxurious one. It was in that moment that Bon Bon’s attention was drawn to the task ahead. A new threat had apparently emerged and Luna saw fit to call upon Bon Bon to deal with it with all the experience and expertise she possessed from many years serving Celestia. Bon Bon distinctly remembered Luna mentioning a team when she had met with her and Bon Bon couldn't help but wonder who they might be. Did they possess similar skills to herself? Might they have been former members of the agency also? It only took Bon Bon opening the carriage door to realise just how mistaken she was. “Come on, Lightning! You've almost beaten your best time!” “Forget my best time! As long as I beat you that's all that counts!” The sight Bon Bon was met with once she stepped upon the lush red rug of the exotic cabin left her with a look of astonishment and bemusement. To her right was a lime-green pegasus, standing on her forelegs on top of a wooden table, her wings flapping at her sides to support her in remaining up straight. On each of her rear legs was a empty glass bottle, rattling about as the mare struggled to keep them balanced upon herself. Upon hearing the carriage door slam shut the mare’s concentration broke and she fell off the table, one of the bottles bouncing off of her head as her body hit the floor. Bon Bon watched the display with a single brow raised. “Ow ow,” the pegasus mumbled out, the blue unicorn sat on a cushion near her laughing at the show. “Ha! It's seems Trixie’s dexterity is unmatched, though that is to be expected.” Despite the mocking tone, the green mare just shook her head with a playful shrug. “You know you're lucky you're endearing,” she replied as she too sat on one of the cushions, both then turning in Bon Bon’s direction upon noticing her presence, wearing warm grins and welcoming stances. “Hey! You going to the Crystal Empire too?” spoke the green mare. “Well obviously, why else would she be in this carriage?” replied the blue mare rolling her eyes. “She could be the ticket collector or something! It's not like either of us know who's going to turn up,” retorted the green mare. “But even if she was the ticket pony she would be going to the Crystal Empire regardless! Your question was faulty.” “You're faulty.” “Like your balance?” “More like your taste in clothes!” Bon Bon had absolutely no idea what to make of any of this. The blue and green mares kept up their verbal battle for several more moments before the topic completely flipped to something else entirely, the hurtful words and trash talk between them seemingly forgotten. Bon Bon still had no idea what was going on, half listening to the ongoing random conversation and half wondering if she had walked into the wrong carriage. They then started to argue again, how it had started Bon Bon had no idea. “Clothes are an essential part of maintaining decency, the ponies of Delamare would never roam the streets in the nude!” “This ain't Delamare you broad!” ‘What are they even talking about!’ Bon Bon though with a hint of alarm. “Okay, stop you two!” Bon Bon spoke out in a huff, causing the other two quite immaturely acting mares in Bon Bon’s opinion, to look up at her as if she was a scolding parent. “Who are you two? What are you doing here and why does this place stink of booze?” she finished with a wrinkle of her nose. The two shared a look, the green one pointing to one of the bottles that littered the floor with a lopsided grin. “Drinking, duh,” she stated factually before she decided to run a hoof down her face. “In seriousness though, I’m Lightning Dust and this is The Great and Powerful Trixie. We're both on our way to the Crystal Empire in the service of Princess Luna!” “I prefer the term in accompaniment of Princess Luna, service sounds to much like servitude. Trixie is no servant.” “What about your whole ‘I perform in service of the populace’ bit you said earlier?” Lightning replied with exaggerated waves of her hooves in imitation of Trixie’s displays of grandiosity. Trixie merely scoffed. “That's hardly relevant you blithering-” Bon Bon refused to allow them to start up again. “Oh no! No more trash talk!” She stated firmly with a growl before her gaze soon turned onto Trixie, the purple hat and scheming eyes stirring buried memories. “And you,” Bon Bon continued as she veered towards the recoiling Trixie. “You mean to tell me that Luna picked you to help her? You?! A sideshow clown and a part time dictator?” Despite her initial wariness Trixie once again scoffed, this time at Bon Bon’s tone. Her smile then turned sickly sweet, her teeth practically glowing against the light. “Hello,” she said lovingly as she rose her hoof in greetin, much to Bon Bon’s confusion. “My name is The Great and Powerful Trixie, and I'm the one not judging you on your past. Nice to meet you.” Bon Bon only frowned deeper at the obvious mockery. “You don't even know me, mainly because I don't get up in everyponies faces about how great I supposedly am!” The two met eyes and their glares burrowed into the other, Trixie even rose from her seat to meet Bon Bon directly, growing rather annoyed at the fact Bon Bon towered over her slightly. A green blur shooting up between the two forced them to retreat. “I'm sensing some hostility here,” Lightning nervously chuckled out, holding a hoof against each mares chest to deter each for pouncing on the other. “Think you guys could calm down a bit? It's a long way to the Empire and we basically just met and may or may not be working together so how about a truce? Just for a few hours?” Trixie drew back first, averting her gaze and sticking her chin out. “Only if she stays on her side of the cabin!” “This is stupid…” Bon Bon drolly shot back, turning away and seating herself on one of the velvet sofas on the far side of the cabin. For some reason the curtains were drawn, leaving Bon Bon dampened in shadow. Within time the tense atmosphere seemed to dissipate and Trixie and Lightning returned to babble to each other about nothing like a pair of excitable teenagers. Bon Bon only chose to glare at the sight as she reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a book, relaxing into the seat as the train began to depart. Her mind refused to focus however, her attention constantly being stolen by the two mares at the other end of the carriage, one now throwing candy into the air for the other to catch in their mouth. ‘These are the ponies Luna wants to save Equestria? They're acting like foals!’ Bon Bon turned away, refusing to allow herself to become distracted by the two, however ungodly annoying they appeared to be. All Bon Bon could do was reassure herself that Luna would answer everything in full the second she arrived, the thought of getting all of this over and done with and returning to Lyra’s side driving her to persevere. She could not however shake the terrible feelings of dread that accompanied her on their entire journey up into the snowy mountains of the Frozen North.