You kneel down and wrap your arms around Aunt Bon-Bon. You don’t fully understand what’s happening here, but it hurts you to see her in so much pain. You tell her it’s okay and give her time to calm down.
After she stops crying you both stand back up and talk about what to do next. Bon-Bon asks you about the ponies you came here with and, after describing her, says she’s seen Blossomforth. She hasn’t seen the Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon you came with, but says not to worry.
“I’ll find everypony you came here with one at a time if I have to. But Liza…“ She puts her hand on your cheek, “This world is a lot more dangerous than ours. And you’ve already gotten hurt once.” She reaches out to the statue and puts her hand into it. You see an image of her hand turned back into a hoof before she pulls it back out. “I want you to go home. Tell Princess Twilight. I’ll suffer whatever punishment I’m due.“
You argue with her. Lyra was the one that went through first. She should be the one that’s punished when everypony gets back!
Bon-Bon looks away, “… I don’t think Lyra is coming back… But don’t worry. She’ll be okay. I promise. For now, I’d feel a lot better if you went home. Will you trust me?“ You nod instinctively. “Then I’ll trust you to go back on your own. Stay safe, and I’ll see you soon.“
Aunt Bon-Bon gives you a tight hug, turns around and races off back toward the school. You watch her until she disappears from view. Then you turn toward the statue and stare. Your hand reaches out toward the statue, and…
The two of you reach the statue in front of the school as you get to the part where you found Bon-Bon and Lyra. You weren’t really paying attention to her while you were talking. You take another good look at Aunt Bon-Bon’s face. She… looks like she’s in so much pain. Her face is red and twisted. You ask her if she’s alright. She looks over at you and smiles through the pain. Then drops to her knees and puts her hands on your shoulders.
“I’m… so sorry, Liza.“ She sobs and shakes her head. “I never… I only meant to come here, find Lyra, and bring her back. But…” She swallows. “At first I was angry. Then confused. Then…“ Bon-Bon’s eyes glaze over and she stares out into the distance, “She’s just like her. She’s funny. And sweet. And smart. And she cares… so much.“ Bon-Bon looks deep into your eyes, like she’s trying to see if you understand. “It was like a dream,“ she whispers. “Here… It was everything I ever wanted. It was like a dream… and I didn’t want to wake up.“ Her eyes go wide and she covers her mouth, like she said something she didn’t mean to. She breaks eye contact and sobs quietly into her hand.
Bon-Bon stands up and grabs you by the hand, “Come on. We need to get home.“ Then turns to Lyra, “I have to go.“ Lyra takes a step back, “What?” She glances at the school, “Now?“ “It’s an emergency.“ “A-alright. Sure.“ She hesitates, “Sh-should I-?“ “No. You go ahead to class. We’ll be fine.“ “Okay.“ Lyra answers slowly. Bon-Bon starts to lead you away when you hear Lyra speak up behind you, “I’ll see you later, right?“ Bon-Bon stops and closes her eyes, “Sure. I’ll see you soon.“ “Alright.“ Lyra’s voice still sounds uneasy, “Bye.“ Bon-Bon never replies. She just continues to lead you away.
You look back as you round the corner and see Lyra still just standing there. That didn’t seem like something Aunt Bon-Bon would do. You start to say something, but when you look over to her face, you see tears crawling down her cheeks. She wipes them away and asks you how you got here. You begin to tell her the whole story, beginning with when you got home from school yesterday.
…
…
…
”HEY!”
The voice sounds foreign. You’re not sure where it came from, but the pair
are both staring at you now. You’re out in the open and your hands are
clinched into fists so tight it hurts. Your entire body is trembling.
The world begins to blur, but you blink back the tears. All you can do
now is stand there.
Bon-Bon’s smile is gone. Her jaw is slack and
the color fades from her cheeks. Her hands fall to her side. Her eyes
are wide with horror. With recognition. She mouths the word “Liza“.
“Isn’t that your niece?“ You hear Lyra ask.
Bon-Bon
turns to look at Lyra, then rushes toward you. Her run is off-balanced
and she almost trips once. When she reaches you, she drops to her knees.
“Liza,
are you alright? I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” She pushes your hair
away from your bandage, “What happened to you? Are you alright?“ She
keeps repeating herself. Lyra catches up to her and bends down to
you, “Hey! Eh Tootsie, right? That’s a nasty bump you got there.” Why is
she acting like she doesn’t know you? “What are you doing here?“ Her
head is tilted to one side and she has a soft, kind smile across her
lips. Why is she acting like she doesn’t know you?
You take another look. They’re holding hands and talking. You try to find some kind of fault- some way to disprove them. The way Lyra is standing? Her weight is on one leg with her other leg spaced out behind her. Her body is tilted forward and her head is curved down. You try to picture your Lyra standing that way. Proud, but humble… it matches up perfectly. Both on four legs and on two.
But Aunt Bon-Bon is always busy. She always looks like she has something else on her mind. She’ll hardly ever look directly at you when she’s talking. You’ve watched her eyes shift down and to the left and right countless times. And sometimes she’ll pause mid-sentence when she does it too! You don’t know anypony else that does that the way she does!
You stare into this Bon-Bon’s eyes and watch her mouth. Sure enough, you catch her mouth hanging open and her eyes dart down and to the side.
They… look like Aunt Bon-Bon and Lyra. The only Bon-Bon and Lyra you’ve ever known. Smiling. Laughing. They look happy here. Happy away from Ponyville. Happy without you…
You’re not comfortable watching them kiss! Not because it’s kissing, but because it’s them kissing! It’s just so… wrong! Kissing is for when you love somepony. But all Aunt Bon-Bon and Lyra do anymore is fight! They don’t sit together. They don’t play together. They don’t even hug!
You’re frustrated and confused and angry and… scared?
You expected them to be in trouble. You thought you were going to be the hero. But now it’s like you’re watching something you can’t understand- impatiently waiting for somepony to come along and explain what’s going on. Only… nopony is coming. You feel helpless. Like a foal. Like a baby.
Why is this happening? Was this a mistake? Was it a mistake to look for them? Should you just… go?
What should you do?
Minus Princess Twilight? Okay… Well let’s see… There was Rainbow Dash. And… Um… Roseluck? Was Aunt Bon-Bon an Element of Harmony? She always seems to be busy.
As you approach the pair you quickly realize exactly why they seem so noteworthy. That mix of pink and blue next to that blend of minty green and white. That’s Aunt Bon-Bon and Lyra! You found them! Although, you still have no idea why they’re here, what they’re doing, or why they left in the first place.
You’d run over to them as fast as you could if your stupid, backward legs would let you! As you get closer you get a good look at their faces. They’re not pony faces, obviously, but it has to be them! You can see it in their eyes! There can be no doubt!
They slowly turn away from you. Fearing they might walk off you get ready to call out to them. But just before you do, Aunt Bon-Bon leans close to Lyra. Is she whispering? Telling a secret? You expect Lyra to turn her head so she can hear, but instead she copies Aunt Bon-Bon. Is this a game? Are they playing mirror?
…
You practically fall behind a column to hide yourself. You try to make sense of what you just saw, but how can you? Nothing makes sense anymore!
Yesterday you were a pony. Today you’re some kind of minotaur-dragon… thing. But this…? This is too much even for fantasy!
Bon-Bon: As unlikely as I thought it’d be, I looked anyway. Nothing.
Bon-Bon: What kind of emergency would have made her do that? And to leave without telling me? No. That can’t be it…
Bon-Bon: I’m going to look back through her blog. Maybe she mentioned something.
Bon-Bon: Okay. So, Lyra never came home yesterday. And originally I was really angry because I figured she went drinking. But I-I went to work and came home. And then I searched all over town and I can’t find her anywhere. Nopony’s seen her. If anypony knows anything, please let me know. I’m very worried.
Incidentally, I dressed up as a mummy for Nightmare Night once. So whether intended or not, there is a logical connection.
3) B: Has the existence of marijuana ever been established in this world?
Lyra: As far as I can remember the only narcotic that’s ever been confirmed by name was arid.
4) Bon-Bon: … No. Why would you have a cutie mark for candy and dream of being a model? There’s no logical progression there. Also, only one of us can sing. And it isn’t her.
5) …
Bon-Bon: Where are you going? Was that the last question?
Lyra: Oh nothing. I’ll be back later. I just gotta …go do something.
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?
4) You were stabbed?! You were stabbed in Ponyville?! How did this happen?! There’s a shelter in Ponyville!
I… [sigh] I can’t visit you now. I have to get up for work in six hours and I can’t cancel. I shouldn’t even be awake right now. Just… hold on. I’ll be there tomorrow to see you.
