Norrath, Earth, Equestria. A Construct's Journey

by Nimnul

Musings and Memories

The seven of them ended up playing a few hands of poker for about ninety minutes, giving Landshark time to observe the other players. Lyra and Twinkleshine clearly had primarily been happy to be spending time in good company and making pleasant conversation. They had had difficulties concealing their excitement about good hands, which had limited their winnings.

Twinkleshine had been betting brashly, even carelessly, compared to the others. The construct doubted that the few bits being played for were going to hurt any of these ponies, but it had seemed that Twinkleshine had brought along a larger amount of change. She didn't strike Landshark as foolish, the unicorn just wasn't suited to the game while at the same time apparently unconcerned with the money she had been losing. After all, it went to ponies she presumably valued.

At least Lyra had obviously been willing to try and have a perfectly ordinary good time with her friends, sharing anecdotes from Ponyville and her father's decision to withdraw from the shipping business. "We got a decent guest room at our place in Ponyville. It'll be nice to have my parents visit occasionally." Her smile had nearly been back to it's normal, almost upsetting width, displaying more teeth than ponies usually showed.

Landshark had considered this a good sign. She had never been entirely blind to the fact that Lyra's face contorted into its expressions somewhat differently from the norm. She had briefly entertained the notion that her unicorn friend's smile was poorly faked. She'd dismissed the idea quickly, but had been no closer to an explanation until just recently. Plenty of times, she had observed Lyra offer a small smile like any other pony, nodding along with a conversation.

Perhaps that toothy, wide-eyed grin was just Lyra's ways of signaling 'You have my full attention, please do go on.' Her friends didn't seem to mind, and most citizens of Ponyville were by now numb to it as well.

Moondancer hadn't seemed particularly confident. She had made few mistakes and her pokerface had been acceptable, but she had lacked confidence to run a decent bluff. Occasionally she had pulled in a few extra bits through timely slow play, betting weakly on a strong holding to get others to raise confidently.

Bon Bon had been acting her heart out. She leveled murderous glares at her cards, or smiled brightly, frequently ruining clumsily attempted bluffs or causing the other players to fold early whenever Bon Bon attempted a slow play on a strong hand.

Landshark herself had started out conservative. She thought she was really quite skilled at appearing to be a terrible player, but that sort of advantage only tended to be good briefly, to get an advantage over players who didn't know her. Whenever her unit had been transferred to another location, it had been good for a laugh to try and get a leg up on the local personnel.

She hadn't bothered this time. Bon Bon had obviously been running the same manner of deception, so Landshark had been content to focus more on sharing some information about humans than on the psychology of a poker game. Lyra seemed to feel immensely vindicated by the obvious interest her friends were showing.

To her credit, Lemon Hearts hadn't been fooled by Bon Bon for long. Perhaps working at the castle had given Lemon Hearts some sense for when someone in her vicinity tried to pull a scam, and when to get out of the way. The castle was probably some kind of social shark tank, considering the nobles and politicians that likely frequented it. The employees might have developed survival instincts.

Once Bon Bon had most of Lyra's friends underestimating her, the earth pony managed to pull in a reasonable share of bits, reversing her fortunes.

She seemed pretty satisfied with herself, too, offering a small, but real smile. "Don't feel bad, everypony. We'll settle the bill with Joe."

Lemon Hearts returned the smile. "And we should have a round of applause for a fairly convincing 'guileless rural bumpkin' impression. Almost had me fooled, there."

"I'm multi-faceted like that." She turned her head, eliciting an audible crack from her neck. "Always useful to be underestimated."

Minuette tossed her cards onto the table. "Caught yourself a real sneaky type, Lyra. Good games."

Landshark thought she could notice a growing tension in Bon Bon. She suspected her friend was nearing the limit of her ability to socialize. Mental exhaustion was probably setting in. Even so, she imagined that the mare had enjoyed herself.

The earth pony slid the stack of coins she'd won over to Lyra. "Here you go, Lyra. I think it's time for me to split. Don't forget, we're covering the bill." She nodded to the others. "Been a real pleasure. Hope to see you in Ponyville sometime."

Lyra gave Bon Bon a quick peck on the cheek. "We'll see where the night takes us. Don't wait up if you're tired."

"You just make sure to have a good time, okay? Don't worry about me." Bon Bon pulled Lyra into a quick hug. "Love ya. Thanks for dragging me out to Canterlot."

---

Landshark and Bon Bon weren't in any particular hurry to get home to Lyra's place. Leaving Donut Joe's establishment was more about getting out of the social interaction, less about immediately heading home.

"You know, I wonder if maybe Ponyville was founded by changelings."

Bon Bon cracked a grin despite herself. "It wasn't, but I've got to hear this. Lay it on me."

"Well, I've only done a little traveling in the mortal realm closest to the Underfoot, but there weren't any places called Dwarftown or Elfville or anything like that on Norrath. On Earth, I never heard of a place called Humanville. It's just a weird way to name a town."

"Uhuh." Bon Bon nodded along.

"Okay, to be fair, they got a lot of languages so maybe one just flew under my radar because I couldn't tell that the name meant anything. But there's tons of places named after persons, and I've been to cities named after other, older cities, some have weird names, but they don't normally just point out the species of the inhabitants, you know?"

"Okay, I get that, but why changelings? Wait, don't tell me."

They walked in silence for a moment before Bon Bon chuckled to herself and offered her answer. "You're always performing your little tics and habits to seem more alive, you probably figured some really witless changeling named the town for vaguely similar reasons, doubling down on how much he clearly was a pony?"

"Bah." Landshark crossed her arms. "You didn't have to make it sound so stupid."

"All on you, Shark, all on you." Apparently deciding to change the topic, Bon Bon went on. "So, plans for tomorrow?"

"Figured I'd just stay in. Lyra and her dad are going to see the play, right? Too many people at once, don't feel like dealing with it." She was still somewhat surprised at her own sense of unease regarding the idea of being around so many ponies at once. At least among humans she could dress to blend in, or at least make it so only those closest to her could notice that she didn't belong.

"I wonder if I'm getting tired of people being curious about me? Maybe I just don't want to distract them from the play." The audience at Ponyville's school play would have been much smaller and already at least passingly familiar with her, after all.

"Eh. We can be curmudgeons together. No reason to intrude on their father-daughter time. You can help us in the kitchen, if you want. But we start early." Bon Bon might navigate and blend into crowds proficiently, but it was still exhausting for her. Her constant vigilance would just make a major event at a Canterlot theater too stressful to be enjoyable, Landshark assumed.

"I guess you're not the type to sleep in, but why? How much do you two plan on baking?"

"A lot!" Bon Bon was never going to be as exuberant as some other ponies, but she did enjoy working on various sweet creations in the kitchen, even beyond her talent for candy, that much was obvious. "Enny likes to hoof out cookies to her tenants. She wants sweets or pastries for that orphanage she volunteers at. It's Hearth's Warming, you can never have enough cake and cookies and candy. She'll want to saddle us with a bunch to take home, too." The earth pony smiled fondly. "She knows we got friends with their own fillies, that just motivates her more."

"Fair enough. I can follow instructions. Still, I'm looking forward to hearing Lyra's impression of the stage effects Trixie's supposed to have a hand in. I guess another unicorn would appreciate it better than me, anyway."

"Huh, I'd just about forgotten about that job she mentioned." Bon Bon frowned briefly. "You think Twilight's done with Trixie? Cause I was real surprised the Princess of Friendship was willing to just leave me alone and accept that I'm not that fond of her, once we talked it over."

"Well, you are a pessimist." Landshark was about to place a hand on Bon Bon's back, but recalled in time that in the cold, the construct was rather unpleasant to touch. "Let's assume for the moment, unkindly, that Twilight has some odd notion that anyone who doesn't want to be friends with her has something wrong with them."

"Technically the case for both of us."

The construct emulated a disapproving click of the tongue. "No need to be pedantic. You know that's not what I mean. I meant a severe moral flaw, not this stuff you're saddled with. But even if that were the case, and even I can't quite make myself believe that, Twilight cares too much what Celestia thinks, and Celestia knows the crown at least owes you a bit of peace."

"Maybe that's so," Bon Bon conceded. "But in that scenario, that doesn't really help Trixie. She's nopony to any of the other princesses."

"Which one of us is supposed to be the cynical one here?" She rubbed her chin. "I don't really think comparing yourself to Trixie is the right approach anyway. You've been in Ponyville longer than Twilight. She was just surprised to realize how little she knew you. Trixie and Twilight? That's been one huge mess from the start, the way I'm hearing it."

Landshark shrugged. "I mean, tell me if I'm getting this wrong. Traveling entertainer comes to town. Unbeknownst to her, local witless rubes don't understand the concept of a stage persona and take grave offense when the entertainer challenges some apparent hecklers and makes them look stupid. Additionally, no one seems to understand the concept of tall tales, so her stories offend certain high-profile citizens and cause a pair of idiot colts to endanger the entire town by getting a monster to attack. The entertainer's belongings, reputation, and as a consequence her livelihood are all destroyed in one single catastrophic day."

She held up her hands to preempt any comments. "Now I'm not looking to make excuses for the entertainer in question becoming obsessed with Twilight Sparkle and returning as a super villain. But honestly it's just the idiotic capstone on a shockingly stupid series of events kicked off by the harmless decision to try and practice her trade in Ponyville. I think at this point both of them would be better served by forgetting the other even exists."

"Hmm." Bon Bon furrowed her brow. "Well, I'm always the first to want ponies to leave me alone, so I won't argue against you on the point." With a wry grin, she continued."'Sorry my idiot town ruined your life, Trixie. By the way, everything went amazingly well for me since then. Check out these wings!' 'Oh yeah, sorry I went mad and tried to conquer Ponyville. Very tasteful giant palace you got looming over the place now, by the way.' Yeah, I don't really see it."

"Not that I'm the friendship expert," the earth pony admitted. "I mean, I've talked to Trixie like, twice, and you don't know her that much better."

"That's true, and I guess I'm a quitter compared to Twilight. There's a reason I'm not besties with Applejack. I rubbed her the wrong way? Cool, there's plenty of other ponies to go around, no sweat. I'd be shocked to learn she feels in any way diminished by not being friends, and I sure don't. Acquaintances is good enough." Landshark paused and tilted her head. "Trixie did call me 'menial' on first meeting but I guess that's just how she rolls. Probably feels naked without the third person thing, too. And it didn't feel like she would have acted much different to a pony, that's good enough for me."

"Nopony ever claimed Trixie was sane, anyway. I hear theater ponies are good at putting up with weirdos, so here's hoping things turn out right for her even if she won't drop the gimmick."

Landshark nodded. "Yeah. Maybe I should write her a card or something. Apologize for missing her show." She tapped her forehead. "Y'know, any time I hear a real crazy story, there's a unicorn in it. Sombra? Trixie? Those Flim Flam guys? Some of the stuff that involved Twilight? I'm probably forgetting or haven't heard some. Are we sure that magic doesn't make ponies crazy? How's it feel to score the one unicorn with the quaintly ordinary issues?"

That obviously wasn't fair, there were plenty of perfectly normal unicorns to go around, she still couldn't shake the feeling. Maybe it was just a dislike for magic. It was very useful for causing trouble.

"The implications can be a little scary, to be honest." Bon Bon smirked. "Presumably her friends are mostly normal too, though. A little too giggly, maybe, but then I'm not as good at ignoring minor irritants this time of year." After a moment, she added, "I'm real glad you went along, in hindsight. I got no issue splitting early but often, Lyra will want to accompany me home, cutting her night short too. Now she gets to enjoy the rest of tonight with her friends."

"No problem at all." The construct nodded again, letting her eyes wander as they trudged homewards. It was getting dark, and in the twilight, with the street lamps lit and the silhouette of the castle tastefully illuminated, Landshark had to admit that she was starting to appreciate the city's aesthetic.

"You've been having a pretty good day."

"Mmm." Bon Bon appeared to agree. "Familiar venue, manageable number of ponies, and I got to leave early. Perfect conditions." She smiled. "Life's good. Me and Lyra, we're a good team. Her parents are great. I actually kind of like Canterlot in small doses."

"You were right," she added after a moment. "It was a nice feeling to be introduced to her old friends. I didn't worry about that sort of thing, y'know, but it still felt good to hear it. 'This is my marefriend'. I guess her worrying didn't just slide off me without leaving some mark."

"It's a mistake to think people like us don't benefit from the same emotional inputs as others. At best, we are a little better at not noticing their absence." She snapped her jaws. "And, of course, we're often downright terrible at talking about how we feel even if we are bothered by isolation."

"Don't I know it."

"I was pretty surprised how relaxed you look around Lyra's mother. I haven't seen anypony get to hug you but Lyra, Ditzy and the kids."

"Leaving one entire pony among our friends who hasn't hugged me. Were you going somewhere with this?" With a sigh, Bon Bon added, "And I guess I wouldn't break Berry's legs over it either. Celestia knows that mare coulda used a hug or three herself, the last few years. Still, took me a while to really get used to Enny. Crazy old mare."

---

It was Bon Bon's second or third visit to Lyra's home. She credited her parents for attempting to make her feel welcome, but Bon Bon hadn't been a great guest, by her own estimation. Although Lyra's mother had seemed happy to foist chores onto the earth pony. She hadn't complained. Being busy was good.

Lyra was off on one of her little concerts or wherever she played her music. Or out with friends? Bon Bon almost never went along. Too many strangers, and places she didn't know. The earth pony had been in a terrible mood all day, and unfortunately things had escalated into a shouting match with Lyra's mother over ... she couldn't remember. It was never anything of real consequence that made her snap. She tended to realize that once it was all over. Still, the large unicorn was awfully pushy.

She was used to not feeling much of anything, but sometimes, a hundred minor irritants (so many ponies were careless and sloppy in their lives) would suddenly cause her to explode, like a bomb with a fuse she hadn't even been aware of. Self-loathing followed, not always, but frequently. She hadn't been a volatile pony in the past, and she didn't really understand why she changed. Having Lyra's mother constantly asking her if she was alright had certainly been annoying.

She'd gone to bed in Lyra's room. Tossed and turned, presumably. She was woken up in a cold sweat, feeling an enormous hoof shake her awake.

Bon Bon easily resisted the urge to leap up and away. Ponies were nothing to be scared of, even if the one in question was rather large. Still, she tensed and scowled by reflex. Lyra's mother sometimes didn't respect a pony's personal space, another one of those small annoyances.

"You were having a nightmare," Enny stated evenly, looking down at her guest with sadness.

The earth pony didn't want anyone's pity and persisted in her scowl, although secretly glad to be awake. "It happens. What do you want?" She couldn't have been asleep very long, otherwise Lyra would have been the one to wake her up, coming back from where ever she was.

"Chase the dream away, of course." The large unicorn lowered her head slightly. Her expression was hard to read – the only light cast by her own magic, but offering sparse illumination barely sufficient for not tripping over anything in the dark. "And also, I wish to apologize for raising my voice. That was wrong."

"Hardly your fault. I got that effect on ponies." Bon Bon had absolutely no conception of what Lyra saw in her, maybe just a charity case, but she still wanted to at least try to get along with her parents – although her father was frequently on business trips.

Enny plopped gracelessly onto her rump to sit in front of the bed Bon Bon was still occupying. "Nonsense. A proper host must have patience. I make no excuses, but would like to explain."

Bon Bon grunted noncommittally.

"I am wondering, what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? I invite you into my house. You make yourself useful. All should be well. This is a place of shelter and of plenty. You are entitled to that, little Bonny."

Bon Bon rarely felt entitled to anything, but she wasn't prone to expressing that sort of mopey sentiment. She said nothing, although she grimaced at the pet name.

"I was not patient," Enny again admitted. She pointed a sizable hoof at Bon Bon. "Always, you are afraid. Never at ease. I felt my hospitality insulted. Why do you stay in my house if you do not trust me? I am not so fearsome, am I?"

She had honestly thought that she'd been faking it as well as always, offering the proper smiles and saying inoffensive things. Except for the earlier bout of rage, naturally. Getting called out on her constant vigilance had been unexpected. "Jus' bein' big doesn't make a pony scary," she mumbled.

"Good, good." Lyra's mother nodded and smiled placidly. "I have little use for fear." Her tone turned more thoughtful. "Perhaps I cannot yet see what little Lyra sees in you, but I think it would be best if you and I could come to an understanding."

"Can't help you there. S'not like I've been trying to win her over." Lyra had simple introduced herself one day while Bon Bon was brooding in the back corner of a coffee shop and taken a seat.

That day they'd had the first of many long, very one-sided conversations, the unicorn talking about pretty much anything that popped into her head, the earth pony rarely saying much of anything except to occasionally comment. Usually, she had at least tried to be encouraging.

Some days, surly comments or angry outbursts had driven Lyra off, but she had always returned before long. By this point, it felt as if Bon Bon knew Lyra better than the earth pony knew herself, although that might not be saying much.

Ponies weren't meant to be solitary creatures, so Bon Bon had been glad for the company, despite initial mistrust for the stranger with the frightening grin. Still, she'd come to the conclusion that Lyra was almost completely guileless. The earth pony had found herself increasingly less patient with lazy, irresponsible ponies whining about insignificant things. Any time somepony didn't follow through on an agreement, however petty, or showed careless behavior, Bon Bon was likely to get shockingly angry about it. As a result, she had isolated herself as much as possible.

Lyra was different, somehow. Granted, their friendship had grown quite slowly, but the unicorn had been an important part of Bon Bon's routine. She'd doze during the day, meet Lyra in the evening, then go to work. The earth pony preferred to work nights. Guarding warehouses at night was poorly paid, but coffee tended to be plentiful and nothing ever happened. Minimal contact with other ponies. At the time, she had told herself that she slept better during the day. In truth, the thought of sleeping too deeply troubled her.

Bon Bon sighed. "She could do a whole lot better than me, that's for sure. That what you're getting at?"

"Oh, nonsense! Do you take me for some Canterlot snob? You are not your lineage or your wealth."

Again disregarding the smaller mare's personal space, Lyra's mother moved onto the bed and positioned herself alongside Bon Bon. The earth pony suddenly felt smaller.

Enny turned her head to make eye contact with the smaller pony and smiled encouragingly. "Hardship changes ponies. I can see you know that. But hardship alone doesn't make you strong. It may make you hard, and brittle. For real strength, you need joy, and hope as well."

"Can we just not have this conversation now?" Bon Bon tried to scoot away from the larger pony. "Tired."

"Humor your host, please. Look at me," she continued with good humor. "Am I not the largest and the strongest pony in this house? My heart is very big as well." She smirked. "I married young, and I would rather not be considered an elder yet, but still I have seen many years of beauty and of joy. One little pony's grief or rage cannot overshadow that."

"Two things I promise, Bon Bon. While you are welcome here, all of you is welcome here. All that you are and all that you feel. I have never known whether you were a different pony once, and I'd never ask to meet that pony."

Words were cheap, of course, and Bon Bon hated the idea of sharing her feelings with anypony. Even with Lyra she had been extremely reluctant. Still, Lyra had spoken highly of her mother, and the larger mare seemed genuine enough. "So what's the second thing?"

"It would be wrong to turn away anypony in need of shelter. There are not many things you could do to change my mind about that. I am still a mother, though. If you hit Lyra, you will no longer be welcome here."

Bon Bon grimaced. She told herself that it was a parent type thing to say, but it still reminded her too much of ponies who had known her in the past and no longer trusted her now that she had changed. Ponies who hadn't been able to cope with Bon Bon's irritability, or her newfound anxieties. "I'd never hurt anypony! I'm ... I'm not dangerous just because I'm a mess."

Lyra's mother shifted her weight slightly and nuzzled Bon Bon gently. "Shh. I am sorry. Remember my first promise." That said, the unicorn started humming a soothing tune.

She had tensed at the unwelcome physical attention and felt deeply embarrassed, but only briefly. There was nopony else here to see them, after all, and she couldn't bring herself to feel real shame. "I'd never hurt Lyra. I owe her."

Bon Bon told the story haltingly. "A few weeks ago I ask her if we can talk. Well, we talk all the time but she seemed real excited to have me take the lead. Sure, she says, I'll listen to anything, Bonny."

"So I tell her, I just ... I just couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't handle my feelings, like I didn't belong anywhere, and ... I was getting tired of the memories. I just wanted it all to stop. I was struggling to keep my head above the water."

Certainly talking about that provided the shame she hadn't experienced earlier. "I hate whiny ponies, and my old buddies, they didn't know me as a quitter. But it was getting hard not to disappoint them."

"So she's looking real scared and just says 'Okay'. Told me to take a sick day and that she'd spend the night at my place. We'd just gotten there and I just start crying, just couldn't keep it together anymore."

"I hated it," Bon Bon admitted. "But I guess Lyra didn't make me feel like a useless foal for cracking."

The large unicorn didn't say anything for a time before heaving a sigh. "Lyra is my daughter. Perhaps she, too, can tell a soul in need of kinship." After a moment, she continued. "We did not have doctors for the mind and soul where I am from. Our settlements are small and distances great, there is no living to be made with such things."

"So it is on the elders and the leaders of the households to try and provide such services." With evident regret, she added, "I have not had occasion to gather experience of that sort. Life in Equestria has been kind. So, I cannot offer help, and of course, I am a stranger to you. If you had been raised in Iceclad, my home, you might trust me, because in your heart and in your bones you would know what is expected of one such as I, yes? It is a culture thing."

"S'okay. Don't worry, I'm fine now." That was probably an unconvincing thing to say at this point, but it had essentially slipped out by reflex. "I'm ... I'm not just a charity case, am I? I don't want to drag her down with me. She's got more potential than that, I bet."

"I suppose that might be true. But I am an optimist. I like to think ponies are capable of love without logic and devotion without design. In the end, you both will just have to see where this goes, yes? I wish you well." With a sudden change of topic, Enny continued. "Tell me, what's the meaning of your cutie mark?"

"Making candy."

"Excellent! First thing tomorrow, you will judge my kitchen. Then we shop! Buy things that are missing. Then you will show me some recipes, yes? You will enjoy it, and I know a lot of little fillies and colt who do love candy! It will not go to waste."

Bon Bon groaned. "Fine, if that'll get you to leave me alone tonight." She supposed it was a trivial expense for Lyra's family, so she didn't argue about it.

"I will be quiet." Enny smiled softly. "But I'll not be moving until my daughter returns to take my place. Try to sleep, little pony. You're safe under my watch."

"Could you just stop treating me like a foal? I'm older than Lyra!"

The outburst didn't seem to move the unicorn. "Nopony is too old for restful sleep, my friend. I won't be anypony but myself. Please, at least try and be comforted by my presence." Enny snorted. "I admit that I do not know what to do with you. But then, if I refused to do anything for fear of not doing it quite right, we may as well spell it 'paralysis', no?" She started scooting forward, off the bed, coming to rest on the carpet. "There. I will maintain distance. Now sleep."

---

"She slept on the floor? That's pretty funny."

"Only until Lyra got home. Didn't exactly crack me up at the time," Bon Bon groused. "I mean, I was nopony, just barely making ends meet, and here this rich lady treating me like a little filly and then sleepin' on the floor because of me? Wasn't real sure how to react, but I didn't feel like arguing anymore. Lyra seemed grateful when she got home, so I tried to take my cue from that. Figured she was used to her mother being a weirdo. Besides, you've seen their carpets. I've slept on worse, and I expect you can get Enny to claim she used to sleep on a pile of snow up in the north or something."

Bon Bon cleared her throat and tried to imitate Lyra's mother. "So few Equestrians know how good they have it! So many warm months every year, time enough to grow food for everypony. The weather is so easily tamed!" She shook her head. "Anyway, she's a cold blood that way. That was the only day I got a real rise out of her. And trust me, wasn't the only time I got short with her. I'm a little less irritable these days, I think."

Landshark had to concede that Bon Bon was pretty good at doing various voices, for the most part. She wasn't going to fool anyone, but the similarity was notable. "I'd say so. I guess it's a good thing I don't have any compunctions about accepting freebies." She paused. "Well, since she expects us to actually help out while we're there, I guess the hospitality isn't actually free."

"Yeah, well, maybe if I'd refused to help out around the house and insisted on proper Canterlot hospitality she wouldn't have been so pushy about makin' me feel better. That's not me, though. I like feeling useful, that was the only part about visiting Lyra's place that didn't get on my nerves at the start." She grinned briefly. "And I guess it worked out right, anyway. Lyra's father wasn't home much, and he was mostly like 'if you're cool, I'm cool.' I guess he figured Enny could just hurl me out of a window if I was trouble."

Bon Bon chuckled. "I guess I didn't believe that at first, y'know. Sure, she's pretty big and all, but she's just a civilian, right? And she was trying so hard to just be cuddly and comforting. But there's two things ponies don't normally realize. Well, I didn't. You know how they say 'my home is my castle'? Nowhere is that more true than north of the border. If you're a homemaker, you're expected to be able to defend that home while others are out trading or working or hunting. Maybe it's not quite as scary there as most ponies think, but it's not real pleasant either. Second thing, they still teach all of their unicorns that their horn is a weapon. Nopony in Equestria thinks that way unless they've had either experience or training."

"Okay," Landshark nodded slowly. "Sure, I might buy that maybe she would have hurled you through a glass window to send you falling down three stories and then bleed out - because trust me, going through a pane of glass is a lot riskier than fiction makes it sound. But do we need to explain that with her being a foreigner with only a veneer of civilization? She's Lyra's mother, and she loves her. Maybe that sort of instinct wanes once the children are grown, but if you turned out to be trouble, wouldn't she still want to protect her only child? I mean, I'm the machine here, but the idea is fairly common in entertainment media I've observed, and well, we are friends with Berry and Ditzy ... know what I'm sayin'? Or did they fire you in a kiln, too?"

"That's not what I mean," Bon Bon scowled, her mood soured. "And let's not drag my parents into this. We're not on speaking terms."

"Alright. I'm sorry." The construct hadn't meant to make the conversation about that - a lot of people she'd worked with preferred not to speak of their background. Some were just afraid to jinx themselves by talking overly fondly of their civilian life, but since they were technically an armed group without legal sanction, it was generally best not to know details about one another, just in case of capture somewhere, or by someone, even more unsavory. As a result, she'd really only known family details from one of her old friends.

After some time, Bon Bon spoke up again. "Never could tell them what I was doing with my life, and once I was out of that business, neither they nor I had the patience to put up with one another. They were always waiting to get the mare they raised back. Wasn't healthy for anypony involved, so I went back to Canterlot. Least I met Lyra here." After another pause, she added, "We write, sometimes. But a bit of distance is better for everypony involved. They're happy I'm doing well, but we don't get along up close, not really."

"Well, that's about all you can ask. At least they take an interest?" The construct shrugged. "Don't look so down. We're heading back, maybe you can have a glass of wine with Lyra's parents to wind down, tomorrow's Hearth's Warming, right?" Landshark rubbed her chin. "Hope they can recommend something for me to read tonight. I'd rather not wander Canterlot by myself to stave off boredom."

"Shoulda brought some books yourself, Shark. Maybe if you timed it right you'd only have to deal with Spike in the library wing of the palace, huh?"

"I never claimed to be good at planning vacations. Maybe if Lyra hadn't convinced me to come along on such short notice I might have remembered. And I'm trying not to be that petty, you know." Deliberately avoiding Twilight just seemed weak. Sure, Landshark made no particular effort to come up with reasons to talk to the princess, either, but that wasn't the same. Plus, trying to be acerbic during conversations, or just the minor discourtesy of leaving without a goodbye, were actively enjoyable without actually upsetting Twilight particularly much. She imagined the Princess of Friendship would find it more concerning if Landshark was deliberately avoiding her.

Landshark snapped her jaws. "Sometimes, introspection just makes me feel a little silly."

"I'll take your word for it, pal."

Comments

[Greatazuredragon]

Now I'm not looking to make excuses for the entertainer in question becoming obsessed with Twilight Sparkle and returning as a super villain. But honestly it's just the idiotic capstone on a shockingly stupid series of events kicked off by the harmless decision to try and practice her trade in Ponyville. I think at this point both of them would be better served by forgetting the other even exists.

Ain't that the truth.
Very nice chapter, good work.

[thewriter133]

And I am all caught up. Very good story. Keep up the good job