Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Root

Bon Bon stared out the door of the house they'd slid into for a moment, then drew back in. "Mind finally telling me what's up with you?"

It had only been a couple minutes at most. Soldiers were probably still looking for them, and they wouldn't stay there long, but for the time being they were resting there for a moment and hoping they wouldn't come that way. They'd gained enough of a lead by escaping while everyone was still blinded that the soldiers couldn't be sure where they'd headed towards, and Lyra was masking their tracks as best she could too in case they tried to trace them.

She looked unnaturally tired, and she'd been the one to ask they rest there for a moment. She was lying on a couch, breathing heavily. Her mane was messier than the commotion accounted for, the kind of messiness stress created. "Do you have a coin with you?" she asked, turning slightly towards Bon Bon.

Bon Bon was too confused by the question to answer it at first, staring at Lyra and blinking instead. "Of- Of course I don't have a coin on me! What's this about anyway?"

"Do you think they have a coin around here?" Lyra asked, looking around. "It'll be easier if I show you. You're going to ask me to prove it to you anyway."

"Prove what?" Bon Bon asked, getting closer. Her tone was raised, but still kept in check to avoid making their position known to anyone in the vicinity.

Shaking her head and dropping herself back on the couch, Lyra just sighed. "Ten seconds," she said.

Bon Bon paused. "Ten seconds what?"

"That's how much I can pull back," said Lyra, looking at the ceiling while her body seemed to deflate under some unspecified strain.

Bon Bon got a little closer. "Pull back?"

Lyra nodded. "You know when I dodged all those blasts from that one spell? I did that by trial and error. Took me about half an hour, if I had to give you an estimate. And no by the way, I can't chain it. I need to set it up in advance, though it sets itself up on its own if I let it be, so that's convenient. I think it also works by itself if I go into shock, but I've never actually tried considering that would be risking death and I don't know if I wasn't just reacting on instinct."

Bon Bon got closer still, a confused expression on her face, shaking her head slightly. "Slow down a little."

"Just answering questions."

"I didn't ask any of those questions."

"Not this time. Because I already answered them." Lyra turned to Bon Bon. "I'm not going to bother doing it again right now. I'm too tired for it. Go for it if you have anything else you want to know."

Bon Bon swallowed. She got to the couch and sat down beside Lyra. "How long?"

"Couple of months or so, at most. Probably closer to weeks."

"How did you find out?"

"By chance. I think that's how most find out, unless it's the kind that bashes them in the face."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because it was fun. It was silly. It was for optimising time and pulling harmless stunts to look cool. I didn't think we'd end up in a situation like this."

"Why didn't you tell me when you knew we would though?"

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