Stability

by SlightlyOnline

Breaking and Entering

“So what do we have here? A candy maker and... Batmare? Oh Celestia, we bring in weirder and weirder ponies every day.”

Lyra’s horn glowed as she ripped off her mask. There was no point in wearing it anymore; they were caught.

The stallion in front of her turned to another uniformed pony. “Get these mares out of my sight. I mean, really? Breaking and entering? A health food shop, no less!”

Her hind hooves scraped against the ground. There was no point in moving them; they were cuffed.

“I’ve put away a lot of scum in my day, but you... you are some of the worst,” the officer dragging her spat.

She clenched her mouth shut. There was no point in arguing; she was trapped.

Her eyes fell closed as she was thrown into a dark room. She heard the sound of a cell door loudly slamming shut, making her eyes clench tighter. She shivered. It wasn’t cold, but she shivered. She could feel the cell walls closing in around her as the loneliness of her solitary confinement truly sank in.

But she wasn’t alone, was she?

“Bon Bon,” she croaked, her throat dry and exhausted. “Bon Bon, you there?”

She heard a groan from the other end of her cell. “Lyra? Is that you? What happened?”

Lyra began to crawl towards the source of the voice. Eventually, her hooves met something that wasn’t the cold, unforgiving floor. She hugged it tightly; it was the soft fur of her marefriend. “I... I think we got caught.”

“Caught?”

“Yes, Bon Bon. We’ve been caught. We’re done for. Busted.”

“What? How could this happen?”

Lyra couldn’t see her face in the dark, but she could tell that she was scared. “I... I just don’t know. We were just pulling a harmless prank, right? And he deserved it!”

Instead of a response, Lyra only heard choking sobs. Bon Bon was crying, but what could she do? Slowly raising a hoof, she searched around until she found Bon Bon’s head. She pulled herself in closer, feeling Bon Bon’s tears run down her own coat.

“Shh. Shh, Bon Bon. It will be okay. We’ll get through this, you and I. It’s all just one big misunderstanding. We’ll explain what happened and how that stallion insulted you and we’ll be free, alright? Just please don’t cry.”

She felt Bon Bon nod.

Lyra took a deep breath. “I know that it’s dark and cold right now, but we’re still together. As long as we stick with each other, we’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about, alright, Bon Bon?”

The mare nodded again. Lyra then felt a pair of soft hooves pull her closer in. She could feel Bon Bon’s labored breathing upon her neck. “I’m just so scared, Lyra. I- I’ve never been in prison before. Prison isn’t right for me. I’ll never survive.”

“Neither have I, Bon Bon. I just know that we won’t be here long. Just wait, and I’ll find a way.”

Bon Bon resumed crying. Her tears were cold, like a storm in late fall. They didn’t stop; the salty torrent of fear came in a constant stream. Despite Lyra’s previous reassuring words, there was nothing else she could do except hold her marefriend and wait for something to happen.

“You should have stayed with Octavia,” Bon Bon suddenly said in between sobs.

“What?”

“If you had just stayed with Octavia, this never would have happened. You’d still be safe and happy. The only reason you’re even here is because of how I overreacted.”

Lyra just stared for a moment. Was she right? Could this entire mess be because of Bon Bon?

She shook her head vigorously. No. There was no way she could pin this all on the mare she loved.

“Don’t you ever say that, Bon Bon. You know that I will be there for you. I won’t let you take the blame.” She kissed something. She guessed it was a cheek, but she wasn’t positive in the dark. “Now, I’m going to go find an officer to talk to, alright?”

Bon Bon whimpered as she left her hooves, but released her. The moment Lyra turned around, she heard the noisy clank of the cell door once more. She was just about to say something to whoever was on the other side, but decided to listen to the two ponies who were talking instead.

“-we’ll take the unicorn to the other cell. We can’t have these two together; they broke into a poor pony’s house and vandalized it, so they’re probably pretty crafty together.”

“What about the fat one?”

Lyra’s ears perked at the exaggeration of her marefriend.

“Leave the fat one here.”

Almost instinctively, she lunged out. She didn’t know what she was tackling, but it was solid and felt like a pony. An angry yell resonated from her muzzle. The consequences didn’t matter at this point; nopony, nopony, talked about Bon bon that way.

Her hooves repeatedly slammed into her victim. Whatever it was she was hitting, it screamed at her assault. She was pretty sure she heard a tooth clink against the ground.

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Some ponies needed to learn to never talk about anypony that way.

A minute may have passed. An hour may have passed. Two seconds may have passed; she couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she was fighting and she was crying. She couldn’t stop now. She had to keep fighting. She had to make things right. Somehow.

Suddenly, she stopped. Not by choice, but by force. An electric warmth shot through her body, locking her muscles and shocking her nerves. Her entire body shook violently, falling to the ground. She felt two metallic prongs in her chest then she could hardly feel at all.

She just wanted to sleep. She wanted to relax. Every part of her started to do just that. Even her bla-

No. Not this time.

Lyra jolted awake. Besides her gasp, the only sound in the room was Bon Bon snoozing softly. At least she was safe.

Fear overtook her. She threw the sheets off of herself and felt the area around her legs.

Still dry.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t think that she could take explaining to Bon Bon all over again that she wet the bed; it was bad enough the first time.

As comfortable as the bed was, she knew that she couldn’t stay there. Reluctantly, she pulled herself up, wobbling slightly in an early-morning stupor. Although it was dark, she passed a glance at the clock. She could just make out three-twelve.

She sighed and began the painfully long walk to the bathroom. Her fear subsiding, she quickly found that her mind was turning to thoughts of her dream. Unlike her last one, this one seemed pretty straightforward; the police had caught her and Bon Bon and charged them with breaking and entering and vandalism. But that didn’t happen. She and Bon Bon were safe, right? Safe enough, she supposed.

But what was it that Bon Bon said about Octavia? That she should have stayed with her? Lyra shook her head. Bon Bon would never say that. She knows that I love her. I mean, yeah, I’m having some problems, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love her, right?

“Why does Octavia invade my dreams?” she said out loud.

Finishing her business, she stood up and slowly trotted back to her bed. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness; she saw the impression her body left and the misaligned blankets. More importantly, however, she saw Bon Bon sleeping soundly. Silently, she slipped under the covers and cuddle up next to her marefriend.

I’ll figure it all out later. For now, I just need sleep.

*** *** ***

“Come on, Lyra! I want to see what happened to Herb!”

The unicorn wouldn’t admit it, but she was afraid. The criminals always return to the scene of the crime. “Do we have to? I mean, I’m sure he’s really devastated after the pranks we pulled. We should just get to work on your shop.”

“We can do that later; it’s in the same area. C’mon!”

Reluctantly, Lyra allowed herself to be pulled all the way to the square where Bon Bon’s, and Herb’s, shops were located. The whole time, however, she kept her eyes open for any ponies in uniform trotting about.

She hadn’t told Bon Bon about her dream; she figured that her marefriend had enough to worry about without her telling her all about her own increasing insanity. It wasn’t too pressing of an issue, anyway. The worst case scenario would be that she would just have to change her sheets again.

They passed Bon Bon’s building, and, despite Lyra’s protests, dove into some bushes across the street from Herb’s store.

“Shouldn’t you be trying to sell sweets right now?” Lyra asked sarcastically, only to be shushed by an excited Bon Bon.

“Lyra, hush up or he’ll hear us. I think he’s about to come out.”

The earth pony hunkered down in anticipation, but Lyra soon turned her attention elsewhere. Her eyes were peering out of the opposite end of the bushes, searching for any officers that might apprehend them. She tried to ignore Bon Bon’s excited giggling.

“Oh! There he is!”

Lyra stole a quick peek. Well, their pranks definitely had their desired effect. Quickly, she returned to her post, looking out for the police, first glancing at Bon Bon.

Her marefriend looked like a volcano that was about to erupt. Her hooves were clamped over her muzzle as tight as possible, and her hind legs were about to collapse in on themselves.

“Ooh! Look at that!” she said in between giggles. “Now that was a great use for the glue.”

Lyra just shook her head. It was almost like it was the first time Bon Bon had pranked anypony.

Oh wait, it was.

She was just riding out the high that came with causing another pony, albeit a pony who deserved it, misery. “You ready to go?” Lyra asked, just wanting to not be associated with their joke.

“Almost,” Bon Bon squeaked. “That mare Carrot Top is about to walk by. I want to see her reaction.”

This actually made Lyra a little curious. Carrot Top had been known to be a little... jumpy at times. Increased exposure to Ponyville’s mailmare would do that to a pony.

Perfect.

Carrot Top took off full speed at the sight of the thoroughly pranked Herb, screaming her head off. Lyra had to admit, that would definitely be worth going to prison over. Maybe this prank wouldn’t have adverse consequences after all.

Herb immediately went back inside his store and changed his “open” sign to “closed” and closed the blinds.

Mission accomplished.

Lyra received a quick kiss on the cheek from Bon Bon. “Thank you, Lyra.”

“What for?”

“For helping me deal with that awful pony. There was no way I could ever have done that without you.”

“Oh, don’t mention it,” Lyra replied. “I got to be Batmare for a day. And a night,” she added with a wink, making Bon Bon blush. “Anyway, now that the show’s over, want to head back and work on your store? We’ll have to start selling candy again tomorrow, so if we can get it usable by tonight, we can really start making those sales.”

Bon Bon nodded. “I almost forgot. Let’s get on that right away. I just can’t wait to finally have a real shop instead of my kitchen.”

The two mares walked side by side, Lyra’s fears of apprehension by the police completely gone. They continued to laugh about their little expedition, Bon Bon continuously complementing Batmare’s alter ego and her skills. Even though it was only a few hundred feet back to Bon Bon’s building, it was a very enjoyable walk.

The pair was just about to start working when they caught the sound of a cough. They looked back and forth, but nopony was to be found. They heard the cough again, and this time looked up.

It was none other than Ponyville’s local mailmare, Derpy Hooves, hovering above them.

“Did I hear you guys right? You two were the ones who those things to Herb?”

Lyra’s fears were realized; they had been caught.

“Um, of course not,” Lyra stammered. “Why would you think that?”

“I just heard you two talking about it.”

“That doesn’t prove anything!” Lyra snapped, trying to do anything to defend herself. She was met with Bon Bon’s hoof on her shoulder.

“Lyra, it’s okay. I’m sure that, if anypony, we can trust Derpy.”

Reluctantly, Lyra nodded; Bon Bon was right. “Alright, Derpy, you caught us. We played those practical jokes on Herb, but only because he said some mean things to Bon Bon. Please don’t think that we’re mean ponies or anything.”

“Think you’re mean ponies?” Derpy said, landing on the ground. “I came over here so I could thank you two. Herb is the one who’s the mean pony.” Her expression and tone changed to one that was a bit more somber as her wings drooped. “Some time back, he saw my eyes and called me all sorts of awful things. I wanted to get back at him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’m glad that you guys could.”

Lyra smiled. Everything seemed like it would work out for the best. “Yeah, well we didn’t exactly have the best first impression when we met the guy. We just couldn’t let any of his nastiness stand. Especially not after what he called Bon Bon.”

“Which was a complete lie and exaggeration,” the earth pony quickly added.

“So we did what we could.”

Derpy giggled in glee. “Well, I wanted to say thank you. I know you weren’t standing up for me, but I’m happy that you put that pony his place.”

There was a smile on Bon Bon’s face. “Say, Derpy, why don’t you come over for a bit? You can have some candy, on the house.”

Derpy’s wings flapped. “Oh, I’d love to, Bon Bon, but I’ve really got to get back to my mail route. Maybe some other time?”

“Of course.”

Her wings began to flap harder until she was hovering in the air. “Thanks, Bon Bon! And, both of you, thanks again for dealing with Herb!”

“No problem!” Lyra and Bon Bon replied in unison.

With that, the pegasus took off and flew away...

...right into the front wall of Bon Bon’s shop.

Author's Note:

The exact nature of such a prank is a secret hidden deep within the Canterlot Archives.

This chapter was somewhat of a test to see what I could write in a short span of time. I passed, I believe.

Comments

[thehalfelf]

...Meaning you couldn't think of what they actually did. You should have asked for help, I just updated my own story about pranks. I'm sure we could have come up with something, instead of you just copping out like that.

Chicken.

[SlightlyOnline]

2452228
Thank you very much for catching that and for the great complements. More is always to come.
2452309
Oh, I could have made up a prank for them to pull easily. I just chose not to. It both makes the story easier and leaves it up to the readers imagination. I did the same thing with the letter Octavia wrote to Bon Bon.

[Kail]

I think Lyra really needs that therapist. There's something in her psyche that's causing this and the sooner she figures it out the sooner she'll feel better.

[psp7master]

Great chapter, as usual. You never fail to deliver the goodness.

[Zer0prototype]

I blame you for all the fanfics I want to read. I really like this story but it doesn't have nearly as many like as it deserves. So now I'm giving anything that looks even kinda interesting a chance. Now I have over 1100 stories in my read later tab. 1100+ ! ! ! And it's all your fault.

Btw awesome chapter as per the norm.

[Meetwad]

Such inadequate recognition for such great storytelling.

You've got the skills to pay the medical bills, but do you have the drive and determination necessary to put on your sexiest fishnets and turn the tricks on the street corner?

You can take that last statement as a metaphor if you like btw, though noone is really stopping you from doing anything in particular... Except maybe police.

But yes, you and this story deserve more recognition. Perhaps you dont really care for that, in any case you have the appreciation and support of this degenerate! (points to self).

[MysteriousStranger]

Lol, you caught me at the beginning!
That mean pony deserved that!

[Redbook]

I think that Lyra might be good and bad for Bon Bon. Great chapter.

you get that many, I didn't count

[ToxicTalon]

2872234 Lyra is the immature guy in the relationship... Not that sem-sex relationships work like that, so yes, good and bad.

[silverfangia]

2452455 The letter, I imagine an unending slew of bleeps and a few actual words thrown in. The prank, I'm imagining a skull eating candy.