“Lyra! It's already half past eight and I have to open the shop at nine!” Bon Bon yelled in a sharp tone. “I don't care if you're half asleep, just get down here.”
The unicorn was more than half asleep, but grudgingly removed the pillow from her ears. “Could've let me lie in,” Lyra grumbled to herself as she rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the door, one eye still closed until it got used to the light.
“Okay, I'll be back at quarter past five, and by then you need to have done everything on this list,” the earth pony said, handing Lyra the list so she couldn't claim she'd been unable to find it, as she'd done the past few days. “You can go back to bed if you want, but make sure you do it at some point.”
Lyra didn't make a reply, preferring to just gaze sleepily at the list.
“I'll bring home something for dinner, so don't worry about that. You could see about getting a job too, I hear there are a few openings around at the moment,” Bon Bon added, but in a resigned tone that suggested it was more out of hope than expectation. “Just don't waste the day.”
With that, she left for work, leaving Lyra standing in the hall, alone except for the list of household chores she was reading with apprehension. If there was one thing Lyra didn't like, it was doing chores while Bon Bon was at work. It was so easy to just lay on the sofa all day and do nothing, especially since Bon Bon was away and couldn't complain until she got home. Plus, when she got back she was too busy doing the chores to spend more than five or ten minutes berating her lazy housemate.
First thing on the list was 'Return books to the library', something Lyra was sure Bon Bon had included just because it would make her leave the house. The books still had a few days left on their loan, even if Bon Bon had finished reading them. Lyra wasn't really too interested in reading, which seemed like a dreadfully boring way of spending the day. Part of the unicorn began pining for the comfort of her bed, and that part (as usual) managed to win over her responsible side and she found herself drifting off happily before long.
Unfortunately, the responsible side of her grew in stature as she slept, until when she woke at lunchtime, it was telling her that she really needed to get on and at least do something from the list, else the wrath of Bon Bon was going to know no bounds. She got up for the second time that day, the list playing heavily on her mind as she showered and cleaned her teeth. It seemed like no time at all until she was donning her saddlebags (or, more accurately, Bon Bon's saddlebags because she'd lost hers) and heading for Golden Oaks Library. She only got halfway there before realising she'd forgotten the books she was meant to be returning.
Now on her second attempt, Lyra let the sunshine warm her mane as she walked. It was a little chilly in the shade, so she weaved between the shadows. Her erratic manner would probably have drawn looks if the whole of Ponyville didn't already know that she was a bit weird. The unicorn didn't mind. She liked the idea of being a bit of an eccentric; it gave her more pleasure than being like everypony else. And as it happened, her strange mannerisms had never caused trouble back in her hometown of Canterlot, but then again everypony was a little bit strange there.
It had been hard to make friends in Ponyville at first, because not everypony wanted to hang around with the only unicorn in Equestria with a foam finger, but Bon Bon had always been kind to her. Bon Bon constantly said that she must have done something bad in a previous life to get Lyra as a housemate, but Lyra just took that to mean that it was fate that brought them together. In fact, Lyra actually really admired Bon Bon... there was something mature about going out to work and looking after the house. At first, she'd been sure that she thought of Bon Bon as a big sister, but it had proved difficult not to be attracted to a pony who cooked all of her meals for her. Anyway, while Bon Bon vehemently denied it, Lyra thought that Bon Bon was actually really pretty.
Her thoughts lingered on the earth pony as she strolled towards the library, which was slowly coming into view. It had been over three months since she'd decided that she had a crush on Bon Bon, a fact she knew because it had been the day after Winter Wrap Up that she'd come to this realisation. Without her magic, Lyra couldn't do that much for the festival, but she loved to watch Bon Bon working hard planting seeds for the flowers that were now starting to bloom all around the town. There was something about Bon Bon's manner when she was working hard, the way she arranged her face and seemed to forget about everything else.
At first, Lyra had thought that she just wanted to be Bon Bon, a self-confident mare who owned her own business and seemed to know nearly everypony in town. Okay, maybe she constantly complained about her plain features, and maybe she hated her birth name, (Lyra giggled; just thinking about the name Sweetie Drops was enough to make her laugh,) but those seemed to be her only flaws. At least, they were in Lyra's mind. But after they'd spent the day at the Spa, Bon Bon's treat for a Winter Wrap Up well done, Lyra was convinced it had to be love. She just knew, and as she walked in the sunshine, Lyra Heartstrings decided that three months was long enough. Time had come to take action; she was going to confess her feelings to Bon Bon.
“Good morning Twilight,” she said breezily as she stepped into the library, her magic already undoing the straps on her saddlebags.
The purple unicorn peered at her over her latest book. “It's the afternoon, you know.”
“Well, whatever. Bon Bon asked me to return these books,” Lyra added, taking no notice.
Twilight got up and walked over to her desk, levitating the books from Lyra and over to the correct shelves. “Ah, excellent. Carrot Top has been asking me for The Ballad of Unicornia all week.”
“Where's little Spike today?” Lyra asked, a plan forming in her mind.
“Hmm? Spike? He's over at Sweet Apple Acres. Something to do with an experimental jam recipe,” Twilight replied, her tone making it clear that she did not approve of her assitant taking days off to experiment with jam.
Lyra glanced around to ensure nopony else was in the library, skulking behind a stack of hardbacks, but there didn't seem to be anypony. “Twilight, I need to ask a favour,” she whispered urgently.
Bemused, Twilight looked at the other unicorn. “What is it, Lyra?”
“I need a particular book, but it has to be a secret.” Carefully, Lyra raised a hoof and tapped her nose.
“I see. And what might the subject matter be? Because if you're looking for 101 Uses for Vegetables, you're out of luck, it's booked solid until next year.”
“No, no, it's not that one, I had that three weeks ago. I need a book... about romance.” She said the words as if they were blasphemous.
“Romance?” Twilight asked, drifting towards the fiction section. “We've got a whole pile of romance novels, I always thought they were really-”
“Not a novel. Something... instructional. About how to tell somepony you like them.”
“Like them? You mean, like like?”
“Yes, that.”
Twilight took a deep breath and beckoned Lyra closer. “I've got just the thing. I've read it personally a number of times and it is solid gold. I'd be reluctant to lend it to just anypony, but since we're old friends, I think I can make an exception.” With a flourish, she levitated over an old-looking book, clearly well-read. “It's called Courting A-Maiden, but don't let the title confuse you. It's really good.”
Lyra took the book with reverence, tucking it deep into her saddlebags. “Are you sure it'll work?”
“Guaranteed. At least, it seems like everypony in those romance novels has read it, and they always seem to be successful.”
“Excellent. Thanks Twilight,” Lyra said, giving her a kind of half-salute.
Twilight didn't know what to make of the gesture, but just smiled. “Good luck with your courtship!”
Lyra hurried back home, occasionally glancing furtively around in case somepony was watching her. She braved the cold and darted from shadowy alleyway to shadowy doorstep, attracting even more attention than she usually did. She just had to get the book home and read it straight away. There were only a few hours left to get ready.
List of chores forgotten, (Lyra wasn't actually sure where it was,) she settled onto the sofa and extracted the book from the bags. It did seem very old-fashioned, and it kept using words like 'thy' and 'thine', but she just assumed it was the 'language of love' she'd heard so much about. Most of the chapters were about what to do with your maiden once you'd confessed your undying love, and there was even one entitled 'engagement parties', but Lyra was sure she wouldn't need them for a while. Thankfully, there was one dedicated entirely to telling a maiden how you felt about her. When she thought about it, Lyra wasn't entirely sure what a maiden was or if Bon Bon was one, but she trusted Twilight's judgement.
To ensure that her confession went well, Lyra decided to follow every instruction in the book to the letter. It had a lengthy introduction that the unicorn skipped, moving swiftly onto the section about 'wooing'.
Firstly, thou must present thy love with a number of gifts to showcase thy worldly wealth. Fresh flowers are heartily recommended, and sweet treats such as chocolates are also an excellent choice.
Both was better than only one, so Lyra carefully hid the book under a sofa cushion, discovered the remains of a chocolate bar she'd hidden there a few weeks ago, ate the rest of the chocolate bar and then rooted around under the sofa for her purse. It was where she'd left it, although the dust was getting thick.
The first stop was Ponyville florists. Lyra wasn't sure how much flowers would cost, but she hoped it wasn't too expensive. She'd been saving up to try and pay Bon Bon back for the Spring Selection Chocolate Box she'd scoffed, and her finances were still recovering from the time she'd cracked the bathtub in a fit of high spirits and Bon Bon had demanded she pay for it to be fixed.
“Good morning Daisy,” Lyra announced as the bell tinkled.
“Good afternoon Lyra. Not often we see you in here,” Daisy replied, leaning on the counter and looking up from her magazine. “Are you here to pick up something for Bon Bon?”
“Not today! Today I would like to buy your most resplendent bouquet,” Lyra said, tapping her nose.
“Do you need a tissue? Quite a few ponies get hayfever in here, with all the pollen,” Daisy asked, producing a box of tissues from under the counter.
“No, no tissues, only a bouquet, if you please.”
“Hmm. Well, I don't know about resplendent, but we've got a lovely arrangement that Roseluck did yesterday. Carnations, giant daisies and roses?” Daisy suggested, pointing to it.
“Are the flowers fresh? It's very important that they're fresh,” Lyra remembered, fixing Daisy with a gaze that suggested that only the truth was acceptable.
“They were picked yesterday, so I'd say so.”
“Fantastic! I'll take it!” the unicorn said happily, producing her purse. “How much do I owe?”
“Four bits. Do you want a card?” the flower pony asked, wrapping the flowers in brown paper.
“No, thank you. Just the flowers,” Lyra said, counting out four bits with utmost care. “Bon Bon gave me these bits, so they must be real ones this time.”
Daisy raised an eyebrow but said nothing, sweeping the bits into the till. “Okay then, here are your flowers. Just put them in water when you get home and they should last until the end of the week at least.”
“That's okay, I will. Thank you Daisy,” the unicorn said, twirling on a hoof and leaving the shop, the flowers tucked into her saddlebags.
Next thing on the list was chocolates. Unfortunately, Ponyville only had one confectioners, and Lyra couldn't buy Bon Bon a present from her shop, so she had to improvise. There were some boxes in the store room at home, and Lyra had suspicions about what was inside them.
Her instincts were right as usual, and the boxes turned out to contain extra stock from the shop. They weren't even sealed! It was almost as if Bon Bon had been wanting her to take them, Lyra mused as she picked out a Hoof-Made Caramel Spectacular and then replaced the other boxes so it didn't look like she'd taken anything. She was pretty much a master of the art.
Flowers and chocolates done, Lyra put them on her bed, forgetting to put the flowers in water entirely, and went back to her book. It was only slightly sticky from its hiding place, and she was sure it'd wipe clean.
Next, thou should scatter rose petals in the required area. Be sure that thou use plenty, as this will demonstrate thy internal romantic nature.
Lyra had a problem. She couldn't go back to the florists now she'd been already, plus she wasn't sure she had enough bits remaining to buy more flowers, but she needed rose petals otherwise her plan would come to nought. She stroked her chin in thought for a few moments, wondering whether she could abandon the plan and just raid the fridge, but her steely resolve won through. There was only one thing for it; the rose petals from the bouquet.
Now she had the petals (and the stems were stuffed in the bin), Lyra needed to work out what the 'required area' was. There was no guidance in the book, and since Bon Bon lived in the house, she would be walking nearly everywhere. That meant that everywhere was required, so Lyra set to work scattering rose petals all over the house. They were rather thinly spread, she thought, but there were at least three in every room and more in the hallway, since she was one hundred percent sure Bon Bon would need to go there. Back to the book, as soon as she'd peeled the rose petal off the bottom of her hoof and re-scattered it.
It is well-known that in order to demonstrate fine taste to thy chosen love, thou should provide a high-quality chilled drink and two glasses.
With relish, Lyra looked in the fridge for something to drink. She was already feeling thirsty from her busy afternoon, but there was nothing in the fridge except milk, and she was sure that Bon Bon would be mad if she used it up. Water didn't seem to exactly be 'high-quality', so Lyra had another problem. There was always the local shops, but funds were still low and she couldn't borrow money from Bon Bon until she got home. It looked as if it was going to be something home-made.
The only fruit they had was apples, (Bon Bon had been buying lots of them ever since she came back with two sackfuls one afternoon,) so apple juice it was. Lyra had seen Bon Bon making juice before and it was fairly easy, you just had to squash the apples and drain all of the juice into a bowl. The bowl was easy enough to find, but the unicorn couldn't remember what Bon Bon had used to squeeze them. Her magic was too weak to just crush them. In the end, she found a big heavy board and decided to squash the apples underneath it, then clear all of the leftover apple chunks into he bin.
This worked quite well until she discovered it was quite hard to remove all of the apple from the juice and get it all into the bowl. However, after a moment of unbridled frustation, she discovered that flinging the apples against the wall released a lot of juice, which ran straight down into the bowl, leaving her to pick the apple up and fling it again until satisfied. It was rather messy though, but she planned to tidy up later so Bon Bon would think the apple juice was high-quality stuff from the market.
However, once all of the apples were squashed and the juice strained, it was only half an hour until Bon Bon returned home. There was no time to tidy, so Lyra just hung a towel on the wall to cover the splatter marks, and covered everything else in a big cloth so it didn't look too bad. The juice went into an empty bottle and she located two glasses, both mostly clean, and they all went in the fridge. She was sure that chilling the glasses would help keep the juice colder for longer.
The unicorn forgot to wipe her hooves before picking up the book next, so there was a certain amount of wetness on the pages, but she was sure nopony would notice on such an old book.
It goes without saying that thou must look thy best at all times, but something extra-special might be in order. Perhaps a rarely-worn formal outfit.
Now a rarely-worn formal outfit was something Lyra definitely had. She dashed upstairs to her bedroom and rifled through the wardrobe until she found the black bag that the dress was kept in. Bon Bon had insisted that she couldn't just fold it up at the back, and that it had to be kept in a bag. Anyway, Lyra unzipped the bag and pulled out her bridesmaid's dress from the Royal Wedding. It looked as good as the day that Princess Cadance had given it to her.
Once she'd managed to squeeze into it and get everything fastened properly, she did a twirl and imagined the look on Bon Bon's face when she saw it. Okay, so she'd poked fun at it before the wedding, but Lyra knew she'd admired it deep down. Well, deep down and on the surface, because she'd actually said she admired it, but never mind that. There wasn't much time left before Bon Bon got back and the moment of truth arrived.
Finally, thou must pen a heart-warming speech to convey thy true feelings to thy love. Consider practising in a mirror beforehand to ensure thou adopt the right expression.
She wasn't sure how to pen something, but she trotted to the bathroom mirror, admiring her reflection for a moment before pretending it was Bon Bon she was talking to.
“Bon Bon, I don't think I give you enough credit for how much you bring to my life. Not only through being my housemate and helping to look after me, but through being my friend and introducing me to Ponyville, my new home.”
She paused for thought before continuing.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you my true feelings. I simply can't remain silent any longer; Bon Bon, I really like you.”
Really like you? What kind of sentiment was that? She shook her head vigorously and tried again.
“I simply can't remain silent any longer; Bon Bon, I think I love you. No, I love you. I think I love you. I do love you. Ugh!”
But then there was no time left. Bon Bon was due home, and Lyra dashed down to get the partly-chilled apple juice and put it in her bedroom. Everything was set, so she waited in the hall, occasionally stepping from hoof to hoof nervously. After the manic activity of the afternoon, the magnitude of what she was about to do hit her. She was actually going to confess her feelings to Bon Bon, the object of her affection. And because she'd followed the book exactly, (the book that was now hidden under her bed,) she was sure she was going to be successful.
Her imagination was full of the dates she was going to go on with Bon Bon when the lock clicked and Bon Bon pushed open the door, looking harassed from a long day at the shop.
“Ugh, we had a bunch of foals in and they moved practically everything. Took me an hour to get it all straightened out,” she complained as she hung up her saddlebags and keys. The earth pony turned to look at Lyra and frowned. “Why are you wearing that dress?”
This was it, Lyra told herself. The moment of truth.
“Bon Bon, I don't think I give you enough credit for for much, er, you bring...” Lyra started, but the nerves made her forget her lines. “Bring to being my housemate and...”
“Well, I think the same. I just hope you've done all of the chores I left you,” Bon Bon said, a smile playing on the corner of her mouth. “Did you do everything on the list?”
“Um, you introduced me to Ponyville and I can't say... stay, um, opportunity...”
“What are you mumbling about? Don't tell me you forgot?” Bon Bon asked in an exasperated tone, rolling her eyes. “I can't believe it. It was the only things you had to do all day. What were you doing? Why are there petals everywhere?”
Lyra had no response and just stood, mute.
“Ugh, come on. Don't think this is the end of it,” Bon Bon said, glaring at her housemate and pushing past to get to the stairs. “I'll be back.”
Of all the emotions the unicorn had been expecting, humiliation was not one. She could feel tears welling up, and as soon as she heard Bon Bon's bedroom door shut, she bolted up the stairs and shut herself in her bedroom, sparing a scornful glance for the apple juice before she lay down on the floor beside the bed and cried into the carpet, silent sobs to begin with but eventually noisy crying that she struggled to keep in.
She had been sure that the plan would work, and that if she did everything for Bon Bon she might forget about the chores for an evening. But instead, she hadn't even had a chance to give the earth pony her presents. Lyra felt miserable and wondered why she'd ever wanted to do it in the first place.
“Lyra? Are you okay?” Bon Bon asked through the door, knocking gently. “Can I come in?”
“Mmhmm,” Lyra sniffled, pulling herself off the carpet and sitting on the floor, her dress pooled around her.
Bon Bon pushed open the door slowly and stepped inside. “I heard you crying... I didn't mean to upset you. I just had a hard day at the shop and I was in a bad mood, I'm sorry.” Her expression was caring, but as she took in the bottle of juice and glasses, the two rose petals placed carefully on the bed and the flowers and chocolate looking forlorn, she suddenly realised what was going on. “Oh Lyra, darling...”
Lyra felt Bon Bon put her hooves around her and pull her into a hug. Some of the finer decorations on the dress were getting crushed, but it didn't matter. It was tear-stained as it was.
“I'm sorry Lyra. I didn't realise you were doing... this.”
“It was meant to be a surprise,” Lyra replied, sniffing.
“It's a lovely surprise, but I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry. I'm flattered by how much you've done for me, though,” the earth pony said gently, hugging tighter.
“It's okay,” Lyra managed to get out before fresh tears arrived, these ones without warning or reason. Bon Bon kept hugging her and the unicorn felt bad that her tears were soaking into her friend's coat.
“We might as well not waste the juice and chocolates,” Bon Bon said when Lyra's tears had mainly subsided. “Do you want some?”
Lyra nodded, and managed to cheer herself up a bit by eating two chocolates at once. Bon Bon even partook in some, which was rare because she usually didn't snack before dinner.
“I think you're more like my little sister than anything else,” Bon Bon said, gently ruffling Lyra's mane. “The little sister I never had.”
“I'd like to have a big sister like you,” Lyra replied, mouth full.
“I'm glad. Anyway, I brought home dinner, so do you want me to go and put that on? I'll do all the chores, just this once,” Bon Bon said, getting to her hooves and smiling. “You can just lounge around.”
“Okay,” Lyra said, Bon Bon's infectious smile causing her to join in. “I'll be down in a few minutes.”
“Make sure you put the dress away properly when you do,” Bon Bon added, winking and closing the door behind her.
Lyra didn't move for a few moments, instead just letting everything sink in. She sipped at the apple juice and sighed, simultaneously wishing it had gone better and also feeling glad that Bon Bon wasn't upset.
“LYRA! What in Celestia's Mane is all this mess in the kitchen?!?”
Well, not too upset.
