The defeated changelings lie scattered around me, a paltry effort to stop my advance. But with my attention no longer focused on defending myself, I noticed the clouds in the sky had gathered and darkened. Thunder followed shortly. They were concealing their movements. I chanced a glance at the few injured bodies around me. Too Few. Their attacks, spread too far apart. They were merely a distraction. They had succeeded.
My gaze returned to the sky in time to find something massive ripping its way through the clouds in a dive with me as its heading. A dragon? Working for changelings? Impossible as it was I searched for its heart with my magic. Would that I could claim and constrict its beating, I could lay low the beast in moments.
Three, four, five times I grasped. But try as I might the spell could not find its mark. As precise as the power must be to succeed, it had never failed me so many times. An illusion? In desperation I fired a beam, but it made no contact. The dragon’s body split in half to avoid it, then rejoined. The realization hit me like a cart full of apples. This was no dragon, nor was it a trick.
I dove to avoid the deadly swipe of their talons, the gust from their lunge whipped about me and I could not resist the need to shut my eyes. Dust filled the air and the taste of dirt flooded my senses. I coughed in fits as I stood once more and batted the air around me.
When I caught my breath and chanced use of my sight, I found the monstrosity silhouetted against the moon, turning in for another swoop against me. A dragon made of changelings… Just when you think you’ve seen all they have, they throw a curve-ball… A [omitted] Voltron dragon made of changelings…
Bon-Bon: Are you sure you didn’t want to stay, especially with word that everypony is on their way back from the Changeling Kingdom? I’m sure Princess Celestia would have liked to hear your speech much more than an imposter. Lyra: She knows where we stand. Besides, it’s better if the Elements don’t know about our involvement when we can help it. Plus, I kinda like the idea of Raindrops being celebrated as a big hero that saved all of Equestria. Bon-Bon: Ha, she certainly deserves it after the courage she displayed.
[Pause]
Bon-Bon: Quite an eventful few days. Lyra: Yeah. Feels like it was way longer. Ugh… Bon-Bon: Is your side alright? Lyra: No worse than Vinyl, probably. Did they get you any? Bon-Bon: Just a little dusty from when they blew the pillar up. Lyra: Lucky.
[Pause, Light breeze]
Lyra: B? B: [Deep breathing] Lyra: B! Where have you been?! All Tartarus was breaking loose in Ponyville and Canterlot! We needed your help and you were gone! B: Where…? I… was in the Crystal Empire… FIGHTING A [omitted] VOLTRON DRAGON MADE OF CHANGELINGS! [Deep breathing]
Bon-Bon: Uh… How did that go? B: Unsatisfactory.
Lyra: I’m happy for them. Ecstatic even! Sweetie Belle and her friends worked really hard and they deserve their cutie marks.
B: Sure.
Lyra: It’s just… No. I’m happy for them. Nothing else. That’s it.
[Pause]
B: This has never happened before.
Lyra: No it hasn’t… In all of recorded pony history there has never been such a thing as a shared cutie mark.
B: Unique cutie marks are rare as is. Even a pony like Twilight doesn’t have one.
Lyra: I know. Rainbow Dash’s tri-colored lighting cloud is unusual enough. But three unique cutie marks, all bearing an obvious connection?
B: More than strange. But compared to the last thousand years there’s been more reality shaping events than ever before. The Nightmare, Discord, Tirek. Magic and Cutie Marks being stripped away and restored. Dimensions crossing. Harmony being disrupted. The unseen forces that guide us may be reacting to it all.
3) Well, I mean, clearly it’s a trick to get me to move away so I’m out of the picture and she can set Bon-Bon up with some rich jerk. Ribbon couldn’t be more transparent if she chucked a brick through glass. I’m just… having trouble figuring out if that would be a bad thing or not…
4) The Sonic franchise gets a lot of flak, but really there’s some decent games. Even after Sonic 3.
5) B: … I’ll consider it.
1)
Wouldn’t it be more clear if you just asked ponies about a date and
time? Snow turning to rain isn’t noteworthy. It happens all the time.
2) I did not, no. I just don’t really watch others playing games.
3) B: Do
you know that? Can you guarantee it? How much time passed between when
Princess Twilight lost her powers to Tirek and when Tirek was defeated?
4) I’ve
scared myself with a strand of my hair landing wrong more than a few
times. But, I mean, how often do you consciously pay attention to your
hair? I was literally holding this thing in my mouth.
5) I dom’gtf knmoswae? Basicaiodly itf’s just gfunjniser tghisd waay.*
*I don’t know? Basically it’s just funnier this way.
And
these things suck. Seriously. Who designed this? If it had fifteen
buttons it could just function off a combination of two keys, instead of
also gauging pressure and timing! So simple only a child could do it!
1) B: Not now. There’s still too much work to be done. There has to be.
2) I have hooves, Strong Nombre. Shouldn’t just typing normally be more of a spectacle?
3) Probably not. Not that I’d know or anything.
1) B: I don’t watch television.
2) Got something in mind, do you? I’m sure you know the rules by now.
3) Bon-Bon: Well, I offered to chaperone because Liza expressed interest. But she wound up not going. I was still obligated. It was fun though!
B: Because I don’t have to. I already know the answer. You’re the one still struggling with the question.
Lyra: But I’m not!
B: And I’m not a trained psychologist. Which is something you happen to see on a regular basis. Maybe you should talk about this with her.
Lyra: I don’t want to talk about this at all!
B: Then why did you bring it up? I certainly don’t care. I’m concerned with your life, not your denial.
Lyra: I’m not-!
B: Stop. Instead of refuting every single thing you hear that you disagree with, why don’t you try turning it around into something that might have some real impact? Not “Am I jealous?” But “Why am I jealous?“ What is it about Twilight that makes her worth comparing yourself to? There are a hundred or more mares that have had an easier life than you that are better off to boot. Why Twilight? Has it always been Twilight?
Bon-Bon: [Sigh] B is very strange. He does… something… When you look at him, you see a pony. It doesn’t look remarkable. Nothing about it stands out. And when you look away, you won’t remember what the pony looked like.
Bon-Bon: I’ve tested it before. I’ve wrote down a characteristic about
him, like “long mane”, then held it up next to him. And periodically
it’ll make sense. But then it… won’t? I’ve even tried writing down
something while looking at him, but I could never even finish a word
before I disagreed with what I was writing. Same thing with his voice.
Bon-Bon: He’s very serious. Not that he looks very serious, but…
Bon-Bon: I don’t really like him. I’ve tried to talk to him, but he’s just this… intimidating… thing… I don’t think anypony should have the kind of power he has. I don’t even like him being in the house. But let’s face it, there’s nothing I could do to stop him. At least this way I can see him. Sometimes… Even if I don’t know what I’m looking at…
1) Did I say I hate adventurers? I don’t remember saying that. Strawberry is, or was, an adventurer and I don’t hate him.
B: I hate adventurers-
He loathes adventurers. But he’s not my roommate.
B: Allegedly.
Allegedly.
2) Lyra: An entire police force? I wouldn’t be cut out to be that either. What about making candy?
Bon-Bon: One apprentice is enough, thank you.
Lyra: Oh. What about gardening or farming? A name like Black Strawberry sort of sounds like a pony that deals with produce.
3) Bon-Bon: I can’t stay away from the shop that long. It has to be something short and to the point. There and back. A weekend. A few of days max.
Lyra: Apprentice not ready to run the shop yet?
Bon-Bon: She could sell things in my absence, but I wouldn’t trust her with my supplies to make more candy. At least, not yet.
1) Lyra: I’ve tried. I think the phrase “lost cause” was used last time.
Bon-Bon: I was talking about the food, not you.
2) I know that Hanukkah isn’t the huge deal in Judaism that Christmas and Hearth’s Warming is. It’s the celebration of a victory and a miracle, but there are bigger holy days in their calendar.
And I know that Kwanzaa is relatively new. As a celebration of African heritage, it has no religious subtext. This means that it can serve as complementary to the celebration of any other holiday with no regard to its origin. I also know that it’s not widely celebrated.
3) I guess Dark Souls 2… Not really happy with that answer, but I haven’t played very many games that came out this year.
4) Stop. Forced memes are not okay.
For those struggling at home, the last meme of the year is “blank is the last meme of the year”. You’re welcome.
5) B: I’m at a loss for words here. Did they really just say four-twenty blaze it instead of just blaze it?
2) B: Your “house” was a deathtrap of wards and enchantments designed to capture and harm intruders while practicing dangerous experiments, possibly on dangerous animals- I never asked because I didn’t want to know. I specifically warned you not to reactivate any of those traps after I left, but knowing your adventurous, defiant ways, there’s no way you complied. So if I told you where you live, instead of being stabbed you’d be dead. You’re welcome.
3) Only in that it’s original connotation referred to those who had lost their virginity before marriage as without purpose in formal romantic affairs, regardless of how it happened. But this was also before the full physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual damage of rape was known. That the phrase’s use today is often associated with other, less horrific things is the result of melodrama and the dulling of society into a numb and uncaring state.
Lyra: I can take care of myself. It’s a… very complicated question. I’m not sure what I’d do unless I was there. I mean, there’s a lot of subtitles that could change everything- things I wouldn’t even know to ask about.
Lyra: … I don’t think I like this question very much…
1) Why is that a thing, anyway? Why is that a specific “feel”?
2) B: No. You don’t need to be living out in the middle of nowhere.
3) Oh hey, that’s something I totally want to hear about, being a mare and all. Next you’re gonna tell me teal-maned unicorns were their favorite.
