INTRO:   http://pastebin.com/6ETeJZdT
PART 1:  http://pastebin.com/ACSQ11iw
PART 2:  http://pastebin.com/vuDWd0gN
PART 3:  http://pastebin.com/FHsBM3FS
PART 4:  http://pastebin.com/JQQyvrGT
PART 5:  http://pastebin.com/qA7iNnNK
PART 6:  http://pastebin.com/MC8nJrAD
PART 7:  http://pastebin.com/TMPtZnp9
BONUS 7: http://pastebin.com/BWztXa7k
PART 8:  http://pastebin.com/cd1hAeip
PART 9:  http://pastebin.com/wzuDCRry
PART 10: http://pastebin.com/UUDTmuwB
PART 11: http://pastebin.com/hnziXggh

LAST TIME
After escaping the AEIOU you had a pleasant lunch with Lyra, ate Mom's Spaghetti, almost choked on spaghetti, rescued Lyra from choking on spaghetti, and decided that in order to get on Bonbon's good side, you'd need to spend more quality time with her.

AND NOW
Lyra's out gift shopping while you are home alone with Bonbon in the music room. Lyra had you buy a box of condoms just in case, but really, the notion of getting to bed this ostensibly non-anthrophile and ostensibly spoken-for and ostensibly-liable-to-burn-you-alive-when-she-finds-out-what-you've-been-up-to pony is... less than sensible. Still, you humored her.

That aside, you introduced Bonbon to the beauty of the Beatles and helped her tune an autoharp.

"Music is a powerful thing, isn't it, Anon? It reaches across cultures."

...

>>3213195
Trip fell off...

"You can pluck anyone's heartstrings, just have to find the right tune." You idly strum chords out on the autoharp. It's easier than you might've guessed. "What's your favorite song?"
"Oh, it's... nothing popular, you wouldn't really want to hear it."
"Well, I do. Just tell me about it."
"You don't want to hear it?"
"You were going to sing?"
"Well, yeah, if it's my favorite song and I can do it justice, why not?"
"...Point." You set the autoharp down so you can focus. Bonbon fiddles with the piano keys.

"It's actually this folk song in the Old Language. It was in one of Lyra's songbooks. It's an old fairy tale but I always felt so connected to it, after I heard it and read the translations."
"I wasn't aware Equestria had an Old Language."
She utters a low ululation rolled across her equine tongue, cut off by loving coos that sound like she's savoring a square of chocolate in her mouth. It's nothing like the phonetics of human languages, more tonal, and very sensual. You're utterly dumbfounded by the literally unearthly beauty of the sound. "Th-that's how it starts, anyways. Lyra says I have a nice voice but I hardly ever sing let alone practice..."

The conversation is yours to guide. You can encourage her to hear more of the song or change topic.

...

>>3213627
>>3213653
>>3213682
"Please keep going." You try not to stare at her too much, still processing the strange new sound you just heard. "That was beautiful."
She blushes and has to take a full minute to collect herself. Bonbon continues her song: it's somewhere between a ballad and a whispered lullaby, lacking a dramatic rise and fall in favor of a continued strain of wistful sound. Even the harsher syllables of this strange tongue are but grains of sand rolling in the gentle ebb and tide of pitch. You aren't aware it's over til she turns to you and talks intelligibly again.

"It's a fairy tale about a lost soul who wanders forever. Like the story, the song doesn't really have an end."
"Well, how do you think it ends?"
Bonbon smiles and goes back to fiddling with the piano keys.

"What did you say Lyra was buying for me, again? She's been out there for a while. I know she knows her way around Downtown, but still..."

...

"I said it was a surprise, Bonbon. Gotta keep my word."
"I dunno, after the last couple surprise gifts..." She chuckles. "You know she's been trying to get me into the whole anthro, uh, 'human enthusiast' scene. I'm sure you've seen her junk, all the paraphernalia she keeps around."

(In your mind, you recall that Lyra's gift to Bonbon on Hearth's Warming was a custom pair of human-style panties. And on previous occasions at least one human-shaped dildo—whether that was used or not is a mystery for the ages best dwelt on at a later date.)

Bonbon sighs. "Just makes me wonder what else she's got in store for me. I like how she gets so nerdy about it, but sometimes it's more than I can handle."

...

>>3214435
"It's the thought that counts, right?"
"I just keep thinking she'd want me to get into it like she is. I mean, she doesn't really force them on me, but still..."

>>3214437
"Well, what do you do when she goes too far?"
"We've talked about it. She tells me that they're mostly gag gifts, but if you ask me the joke's getting kind of old. Sometimes I wonder if she's just going to outright ask me to... never mind."

...

>>3214672
>>3214675
You and Bonbon exchange a knowing look and roll your eyes in almost perfect sync. "Ask you to what?"
"If I'd ever thought about having sex with a human."
"I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. Half of us aren't much to look at even by our standards."
"You got that right... I mean, it's disconcerting. I hear about it. And in the back of my head I'm just praying Lyra isn't one of those. I mean, you know people like that, right?"

>>3214564
"Sometimes a fetish is just a fetish. You've been together a long while, you know what makes her tick."
"It still makes me feel... doubt. I don't like that feeling. I trusted her with so much, but this one thing still eats at my mind. I mean, no offense to you and your kind. It's just her level of obsession, and she's kind of wild, and sometimes I don't know if I know who she is—ugh, why am I gushing to you about this!" She throws her hooves down on the keys, sending a discordant riff crashing off the acoustics of the chamber.

...

"Does it really matter what species?"
"That's not the point. I just don't want to lose her."
"She does love you, though, you know that. Even if she does stupid things sometimes." You turn around in the piano bench to face the keys along with her and lean in. "She doesn't want to lose you, either."

After a moment's contemplation you lean back and cock your head. "Anyway, don't knock it til you've tried it."
"Oh, and you would know?" She turns around to look at you with a smirk. "I didn't see you strutting through Ponyville with a lady on either arm."
"H-hey now..."
"You could be plowing through half of SoHoof right about now!" She leans against the piano and laughs. "And instead you're here listening me be a stupid, lovestruck fool. You really are a good friend, but—pfffthahaha—we gotta get you hooked up."

Slight backfire, but she's lightened up. Response?

...

"Shut up, I'm good where I am." You lightly tap her on the withers and laugh along with her. "Besides, I can think about getting laid once I've got that steady wage going."
"Maybe I'll just hire you part-time, reduce your hours..."
"I thought you were trying to help me out! I thought we were friends!" You mock injury and share another laugh. It's cut short by a ring from Bonbon's saddlebag nearby.

"Hey, maybe that's her." Bonbon just about leaps off the bench, and you have to steady it to keep from falling. The verve in her step is quickly weighted down when she picks up the call on her cell phone.

"No, she's Downtown... No, he's right here. —What do you mean? I-I can give it a try. Five minutes? Okay." Bonbon puts the phone down. "Weird. That was Mr. Travis. He needs us to look for something in Lyra's room; I don't blame him for asking, really."

...

"What's he looking for?"
"Some papers. He didn't say what kind, though. They were supposed to be from the AEIOU? I know he's investigating them but why would he keep his files in Lyra's room?"
You open the door to Lyra's room. Saying it's a bit of a mess would be a bit of an understatement—except the room is quite tidy and clean.
"You're sure this is the right room?"
"Servants must've tidied up while I wasn't in. I'll have a look around, I know this place. Just, uh... stand there, I guess."

Go in or stay in the doorway?

...

"This sounds important. I think I should help."
"Okay, start on that side, then."
While Bonbon is looking away, you pop open another vial of Karma Jolt. [spoiler]YOU SEE EVERYTHING YOU KNOW EVERYTHING[/spoiler] It tastes just like before, marginally better than unflavored cough syrup with half the buzz.

You go straight for the closet to look for Lyra's luggage, but it's all been emptied out. Other than that, you realize you don't even know where to start, and hopelessly step out into the hallway to catch some air. You hear a cough down the corridor, and turn to see Kiwi Keen looking at you from a service door built into the wall. She's beckoning for you to come inside.

This "Karma" stuff works pretty fast, when you think about it.

...

Expecting the worst, you sneak into the side room with Kiwi Keen. These look like servant's quarters, more functional than the outside architecture and stacked with shelves and supply cabinets. You're alone with her when the door closes behind you.

On the table is a scroll with a familiar seal on it: Lyra's AEIOU papers.
"Wooster told me to put it back where I found it, but I had a feeling..."

...

"What is it?" You play dumb to see what she knows. She flicks it over with her hoof, a pained look in her eyes. You take the papers and reread them intently. "I don't understand..."
"Do you know who did this to her?" Keen sounds uncommonly dark compared to her previously awkward eagerness. "Who put this thing inside of her? You are other human, you would know human friends. How could... a monster..."

Your response?

...

"Who knows?"
"Wooster and Lord Travis, and now you. I found it while cleaning, I-I thought it was part of his case files but when Wooster and I looked at it... I don't know what to think. I don't want Bonbon to know, it would hurt her so much. But whoever did this to my friend, they will pay dearly."

...

You take a deep breath and look into Kiwi Keen's eyes.
"Anon, why are you looking like that?"
"Miss—Kiwi, I'm sorry. It was me. It IS me. Lyra is carrying my child. I didn't know until she showed me this."
"You... you!" The fire in her eyes breaks your concentration as you try to calmly explain. In a flash, she leaps over the table and tackles you. Despite barely reaching your waist, she can put out quite a trampling.
"Kiwi, no! Please, Kiwi!" You manage to get a hold of her and push her off, holding her to the side as you try to catch your breath.
"Taking advantage of her trust like this how could you!"
"You've got it all... all wrong. Lyra wanted this." Kiwi's eyes widen as you explain. "We were... and it just happened. It just happened, but she wants this child. She doesn't think it's a monster. I'm sorry, I know it's wrong in so many ways, but... Things are just..."

Kiwi pulls herself away from you, withdrawing to the other corner of the room to sit and stare at the wall. "Poor Bonbon," she mutters over and over.

"Anon, where are you?" Bonbon is calling from the hallway outside. "They're gonna be in the driveway any second now!"

...

"Kiwi, how do I open this door?" You raise your arm to search for a lever and realize you may have a bruised rib.
"Just knock three times."
"Okay..." You get up to your feet and gather the papers. "I know you care about her a lot, but Lyra and I need to sort this out on our own terms. Thanks for keeping it a secret, and, uh, not killing me yet."
"Yet." She turns to you with tears in her eyes, but you decide to rap your knuckles on the door and get the hay out of there regardless.

Bonbon looks a little confused to see you coming out of the service room. You hold up the scroll, Union seal facing outward. "Found it."
"Oh, right, if the room was cleaned they would've kept his files somewhere safe. Makes sense." Bonbon snatches it from your weakened grip quite easily. "Good thinking, Anon."

You struggle to keep pace with Bonbon as you meander towards the foyer, not just from your minor injury but with the weight of a heavy heart. Your final march down the front steps to the driveway feels especially cold in the winter night. Luna's moon shines full.

Lord Travis' carriage pulls up, and the driver comes around to open the door. Both of Lyra's parents step out, followed by their daughter. There's a momentary spark in her golden eyes when she sees you and Bonbon again. Wooster and the driver take the carriage around to the stables, leaving you five—six—in the driveway at the bottom of the front steps.

[contd]

Lord Travis magicks the AEIOU document to himself without saying a word. Lyra walks over between you and Bonbon and pulls both of you close to her. Bonbon is thoroughly confused. Lady Travis has a surprisingly frightening countenance when she isn't smiling or guffawing.

"Guys, what's going on?" Bonbon tries to examine the looks on everyone's faces, yours included. "What's in that document?"

"It's not my place to say." Lord Travis coughs and looks squarely at Lyra.

...

You decide not to say anything, apart from embracing Lyra in return. You can feel Bonbon's weight pressing against her from the opposite side. Lyra looks up at her parents and says, "I can't do this out in the cold. Let's go sit inside, like a proper family."

[END]