I promise... A Heartstring story.
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My Training Ground Stories

I promise... A Heartstring story.

"Come on, Noteworthy," Lyra bounded up the hill. "Sowing dresses making you lazy?"

It was a beautiful weekday afternoon in Ponyville Park. Lyra and Noteworthy had just gotten off of work, and had looked forward all day to unwind. Now was the time. This particular date had been planned for a long while, and it looked like other couples had the same sense she had.

There weren’t many, but in Lyra’s mind she saw it as enough to keep them from standing out but not enough to make the park feel crowded. Also, the less eyes to glimpsed what she planned to unfold within the coming hours, the better.

She had picked a good spot for their big date, a small hill with a large tree that could conceal them within the more, engaging moments of the day.

"Hey," the blue stallion huffed between breaths once he caught up. "I only know a thing or two about sequences because my baby sister made me memorize it when I babysat her.” Lyra rolled her eyes. “Besides," he set their picnic basket and blanket down and advanced upon her. "I’ve been pacing myself so I can focus all my energy on this." He them planted a good long kiss on her lips.

Lyra shuttered, then she brought her own hoof around him as the two reminded locked at the lips for several minutes longer. Their eye’s close, their tongue’s invaded each other’s mouths, and lost themselves in the passion of young, senseless love.

They could have stayed like that all day, but their bellies had other ideas.

*Rumble

"I, um," Lyra broke and blushed, "suppose we should take a break to eat." She peaked Noteworthy's cheek. "We can always pick up later."

Noteworthy chuckled. "Agreed."

He fixed the sandwiches and set plate like gentlecolt should, and the two carried on a typical picnic date. They chatted about her upcoming swimming competition she would judge, his recent students’ progress on the piano, and they laughed back at their first date at the Pet-Center fundraise, and whatever else they could think of until the highlight of their day began.

Lyra leaned in to whisper. “It’s starting.”

They both turned their heads with every other couple in the park to the setting sun. Getting themselves more into the mood, they began to snuggle up against one another.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Lyra snuggled deeper into her coltfriend.

"Not as beautiful as you." His wise answer rewarded him with a kiss.

While Lyra wanted a long kiss, she kept it short and sweet for the time being "Indeed, but let's hold off any more... passionate moments until the sun sets, okay?" She could feel Noteworthy skin tingle. "I just want to stay like this forever."

"Me too, Lyra, me too."

She placed her head in the crock of his neck. In the heat of the moment, she spoke what her heart was telling her to say. "Promise me we'll always be together."

"I promise,” Noteworthy responded quickly. A wide grin had plastered itself on his face. “I love you, Lyra."

That was all she needed to hear. She hugged her stallion and locked him in a deep fiery kiss as the last rays of sunlight shone across the land.

"Wait," Lyra said between kisses, "wait," she levitated a camera from the basket. "I want to take a picture of this moment before it gets too dark. I want to remember this night forever. Then, we can get right back at it."

Noteworthy grinned ear to ear. "Hee-hee, whatever you say, my love." They held each other and smiled as the camera flashed.

*************

Six years later, the photo laid by Lyra's bedside just as it had when it came out of the camera. It had a nasty glare to it that no amount of photo-touching could fix, but it still captured every pleasant moment that night had brought her; and then that night ended.

She slammed the frame down as she groaned through her week old bedhead, too beaten to care. It had been this way for weeks, wake up to feed herself and make sure C-note got to school, then wallow. She used to hang out with Bon-Bon when things weren’t well, but that was before she pushed her ex-best friend away.

When Bon-Bon, her best friend, came to her to warn her that Noteworthy was eyeing another mare, Lyra refused to believe it. Noteworthy had promised to her, and she wouldn't accepted that a pony, especially the stallion she loved, would break a promise.

She had said some regrettable tings that day to Bon-Bon, and now she would give anything to take it all back. She would sell her soul to Discord right then and there a chance like that. It sounded a lot better than being alone.

“What went wrong?” She asked herself again as she looked at the photos on the wall. Each one with her and Noteworthy place in chronological order since their first date. Each one before their night on the hill had shown them growing happier, and happier, and then slowly, but surely, displayed a more depressed pair of ponies as the years ticked by.

That wasn't to say that things went straight downhill after the first night of intimacy. They had a few others after that, but they were never as magical as their first time.

She let out a groan and buried her face into the pillow.

She use to brush off the distance that seemed to grow between them in past as anxiety. Confident that it was her pregnancy hormones or other things that caused mothers and wives to imagine things. Sure, Noteworthy had argued with her a lot after the wedding, but that was what couples did, she convinced herself. She would hear of Spike and Rarity going at it one night, only to see them holding each other in the park the next morning.

She thought back to how she would always dress up as the hot wife in her human role-playing costumes that he had liked before.

“It wasn’t the human obsession, was if?” she asked the pictures. They remained silent as they stared back her in the same way they always had.

She shook her head after she realized how crazy she was sounding. The problems had started long after she told him that little quirk about herself. He had seemed fine with it at the time, and even called it adorable.

The thought of him saying that caused Lyra’s face to turn red. Then she remembered, he wasn’t with her anymore. All she had now was a bed, a room full images from better times, and the bottle.

She had bought before Noteworthy left with that pegasus… it had to be a peagasus, she thought. Somehow she would have felt better if it was a unicorn, or even an earth pony. But no, he ran off with a peagasus.

She didn’t know why that was such a big deal, maybe she would have imagined the same thing if that stupid mare had been an alicorn. She didn’t care if it was Princess Celestia herself, she would hate that mare for the rest of time.

With nothing else to think about, she looked hungrily at the parasprite poison. It was never meant for ponies, but the label said it guaranteed a painless death for up to 500 parasprites, which added up to at least one pony her size.

Noteworthy wasn't just her first husband, but her first love. Except for maybe Bon-Bon during that brief period of time before they graduated.

The point was, her heart was broken, and she didn’t want to face another day with it.

She levitated the bottle over to the bedside.

Just one long gulp, and the pain would all go away. She was scared of dying like everypony, but if she was going to die in a few more decades anyway, why suffer through it when she had a choice?

Aside from the idea of dying, she had mostly put it off in a vain hope that Noteworthy would come back. He would see the errors of his way, and beg to be taken back with all the works, chocolate, flowers, shinniny armor, and they would make love like they had their first time on the hill.

That was over two months ago. She had tried to carry on like nothing was wrong, but the pain in her chest hadn't stopped. He had broken his promise, and she didn't want to live in a world like that.

She unscrewed the bottle.

This was it, she realized. One gulp, and she would close her eyes and take a long nap that would end the pain forever.

She levitated the bottle towards her mouth.

"Lyra," somepony shouted from behind her bedroom door. "Lyra, I've come to say..."

The gods must have hated her, because of all ponies, Bon-Bon had to show up at that moment, and her door just happened to not be closed all the way.

When the earth pony attempted to knock on the door, she unexpectedly opened the door and walked in.

"Lyra are you ok… Lyra! What are you doing?”

Darn, Lyra cursed to herself. She would have to act fast.

She lifted up the bottle, and poured the entire content into her mouth. When she tried to shallow, Bon-Bon had rushed the bed and was now on top of her.

"Spit it out!" Bon-Bon ordered as she slapped the back of her head. The majority of the content sprayed out of her mouth, but she still should of had enough in her to do the job.

"Just let me be," she moaned as she tried to push Bon-Bon off, already feeling dizzy.

"No,” Lyra felt herself being pulled out of bed. “You're coming with me."

*************

She couldn’t remembered the trip to the hospital. Impaired by the poison, and after Bon-Bon's right hoof left her face when she resisted, she had passed out.

She could remember seeing the occasional flower or staring pony, and being loaded into a wheelchair, but anything else was pushed out of her mind as she realized something. I’m going to die, a little too late.

************

When she came to her senses, she was in a hospital gown, hooked up to a fluid machine in a lot of pain. It took her only a minute to realize what she had done, or rather, what she hadn't done.

On one hoof, she let out a sigh of relief that she wasn't dead. On the other hoof, she wasn't dead. She would have Tartarus to pay for this.

Before she had time to consider what would happen, the curtain pulled open to reveal Bon-Bon carrying a bundle of flowers.

"Oh," she squeaked, "doctors said you wouldn't wake up for a few more hours. Still," she set the flowers down to give her a big hug, "I'm so glad you are okay." Lyra could feel tears rolling down her back

Not sure what to do, or even if Bon-Bon was still her ex-friend, Lyra returned the hug. Or as best as she could hooked up to a fluid machine.

The hug was interrupted by a sharp pain across her shoulder.

"Ow," she looked back up at Bon-Bon as the earth pony sat down her left hoof. "What did you do that for?"

Bon-Bon’s eyes narrowed. "How about for almost killing yourself for a start? You want to explain what in Tartarus you were thinking?"

Lyra remained silent save for a few nibbled words.

"Well?" She gave Lyra a stern look as the unicorn lowered her head. "Darn you Lyra, I knew you were upset about Noteworthy leavening you, but I could never imagine you would..."

"How would you know?" Lyra shot up to looked at Bon-Bon coldly. "How could you know what it's like for a pony you know to promise you that they would never leave, and then break that promise?"

The look on Bon-Bon's face was enough for Lyra to throw the covers over her head. "Just go, I'll understand."

Instead of the sound of a pony walking away, Lyra felt the warm sensation of a hoof against her back.

"I'm not leaving you." She heard Bon-Bon coo through the covers. "I promise," she said took a breath, "that I will not abandon you."

Lyra might not have been the best pony at the moment to believe a promise, she did lift the civets over off and peaked at the teary eyed earth pony.

"But, how can you not be mad at me? After all I've said, after how I treated you," she looked right into her eyes, "how can you forgive me?"

"Because,” Bon-Bon toke a moment to wipe away a tear. “I promised you we would be best friends forever, and unlike some ponies, I don't break my promise."

With her emotional dam broken, Lyra threw herself on to her best friend.

Before she could cry herself dry, an aqua-blue blank flanked unicorn filly threw herself between Bon-Bon to get to the unicorn.

"Mommy!" She cried out as she buried herself into her mother’s chest. "Are you okay? I wanted to come sooner, but some ponies in suits told me to wait in the lobby. I was afraid I would never see you again.” The filly C-note looked up at her mother wide her brown eyes. “You’re not going to leave me too, are you?”

Lyra stared at her daughter, mouth wide.

What was she thinking, how could she have been so selfish? If she had left, then what would have happened to her daughter?

She was sure that Bon-Bon would have stepped up and taken care of her, but who knew what mental scars the little filly would have?

She pulled her daughter in tightly as she caressed her blue-green mane while Bon-Bon got off the bed to address the nurse and Foal Service worker at the door.

Lyra wanted to promise to C-note that everything would be okay, that she wouldn’t leave her. But how could she promises something like that after everything that had happened.

She thought to herself, well, yes, I screwed up. I’ve neglected my duties as a mother for the past several days, and I nearly killed myself. If Noteworthy were to try and claim her, it wouldn’t look good for me. However, I’ve got my friend, she sighed as she held her daughter tighter. Yes, friend, who knows a thing or two about the legal system. If I step up my act, then even the worst case scenario would be visitation rights every month or so.

Yes, I think I can keep that promise.

“No, honey,” Lyra said once her tears dried up, “I promise, I will never leave you.”

*****************************

Even with her faded vision, Bon-Bon was still able to keep a close eye on the photo in middle age aqua-blue pony with the silver whistle cutie mark up front as the funeral service continued on. It had been 40 years since that photo had been taken. Happy times those were Now, it’s faded yellow edges were in danger of being soaked by the unicorn’s tears.

It had been a trying week for C-note, from going over the will, to other legal jabber, it was one thing to stress about after another. That wasn't to say that Bon-Bon wasn’t a wreck, she was the most distressed pony at this funeral service, Aside from C-note and maybe Melody, the closet to Lyra of the three grandchildren.

The cancer had come without warning, one day her wife was fine, and the next she was in a hospital gown coughing blood. Even though they had plenty of time to set there affairs in order and properly say goodbye, it still felt like nopony had enough time to deal with the whole thing.

“You were a good friend,” Derpy coughed as her husband helped her down into her wheelchair. “Rest well, Lyra, we will all see you soon, Heartstring.”

The audience gave a round of applause as C-note made her way up to the stand with her precious photo in her hooves.

“Thank you for being here everypony.” C-note began after taking a minute. “So um, mom,” she turned her head away from the coffin as Bon-Bon held her breath.

What made the whole thing worse was that Bon-Bon had no way of knowing how hard C-note was taking this. Even sense Lyra was diagnose, C-note had shut herself up, only talking to her children or dying mother.

C-note was always an unpredictable child, most of which was brought on by her fathers abandonment. Bon-Bon couldn't have imagined how she would have turned out if C-note had been separated from Lyra.

The aqua unicorn was a troublesome child, easily provoked, and easy to upset. when Bon-Bon married Lyra, C-note didn't take it well. She would go out of her way to spite her, kicked her, and even bit her. Through it all, Bon-Bon stayed strong, and one day C-note became her daughter to.

Whenever C-note was sad, she and Lyra would go get some ice-cream, and her daughter would let herself be tucked in by both of her parents. Now the young mare had only had parents to comfort her.

Bon-Bon would try to cox C-note out of her shell when C-note went into a depression after the diagnose, but the stubborn mare always found some reason to avoid her. Whiter it be because of work, or just wanting to spend more time with her mother or children. Then whenever Bon-Bon offered to join her, the aqua mare would politely say no thank you. It was their first year as a family all over again.

Lyra claimed that C-note was taking everything well. She spoke of C-note always having a smile on her face whenever she visited her in the hospital. A lie, Bon-Bon knew, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell Lyra that in her last days.

Lost in thought, she didn't even notice C-note get up to make her speech without an excuse me. Bon-Bon shook her head, they where going to have a long talk after all this.

At first, all C-note did was stand their, shuffling her cards. A blank expression on her faces as she clearly made an effort to avoid eye contact with either Bon-Bon, or the mare in the coffin.

“I’m fine,” everypony heard C-note say when the pastor when he walked up to her. “I’ve got this, I promise.” She waved the gray stallion off as he politely backed down

“So,” C-note snorted, “mom,” she snapped her head around to her still mother. She then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and threw her picture in the air. “How could you?” she leapt off of the stage and on to the coffin. “You selfish mare,” she then threw herself on to the coffin and began to violently shock the limp unicorn out of the casket. “You promised, you bucking promised me! How could you do this to me? You're no better than dad!”

The crowd soon went into and uproar of chatter as ponies watched the spectacle of C-note unfold in front of them.

Bon-Bon raced up to the stage, ignoring the pain in her hip or the hoof that tried to push her away..

“Come on, C-note,” she pulled the sobbing unicorn away from the body, “how about we take a little walk outside.” The shacking pony resisted for a minute before she began to act like an adult. Bon-Bon lead her past the gawking ponies, one of whom was kind enough to hand Bon-Bon the photo C-note had dropped.

Bon-Bon tucked it away in her pocket without looking at it.

*******************

The pair made their way outside, where the fresh air had an immediate effect on the unicorn. She still breathed heavily, but at least the shacking had stopped.

“Alright, young lady,” Bon-Bon spoke once they sat down on a bench. “You want to talk about it now?”

After wiping away another tear, C-note straightened herself out in a futile attempt to look composed. “I don't know what you're talking about," she twisted her head away from Bon-Bon. "I'm fine, I promise.”

Bon-Bon stomped down her wrinkled hoof. “I don’t need to be the bearer of honesty to know that’s a lie.” She then made C-note look directly into her eyes. “I thought we raised you better than that to make a promise you can’t keep, and are not true.”

Bon-Bon rubbed her sore hip. “I once knew another pony who tried to convince me she was alright after a terrible thing had happened to her. She almost lost her life, and daughter, because of it. I will not let the same thing happen to you.”

C-note had some mucus dripping from her nose.

“Now then,” she pulled out a tissue, “while we have all day, we have a whole crowd of ponies in that funeral home who don’t.” She handed the tissue to C-note. “So, the sooner you let off your chest what’s bothering you, child, the sooner we can get back in there and enjoy some of my delicious candies you love.” It warmed her heart when C-note let out a laugh. she then cough, gave Bon-Bon the quickest glare in the world, and proceeded to turn her head around

“Come on now,” Bon-Bon straighten up her wig, “I hate seeing you like this. What is the matter, C-note?”

C-note blew into the tissue. “I… I just..." she stomped her hoof into the ground. "I just can’t believe you both lied to me.”

“Yes,” Bon-Bon rubbed her chin, “you mentioned something like that back there. Would you like to remind me what we lied about? My poor memory seems to be failing more often then I like.”

C-note looked down upon the soggy tissue. “The promise mom made to me when I was a filly after dad left. Then the one you made to me after your first wedding anniversary. You both promised me that she would never leave me, but she did, and, how can you keep that promise?” Bon-Bon began to speak, but held her tongue once she realized the C-note wasn’t done. “All my life, I always believed that nothing was more important than keeping your promises. I thought that only bad ponies like my father broke promises.” She then looked at Bon-Bon, eye’s heavy with tears. “But if somepony like my mother can break a promise and leave me, then what’s the point?” She then closed her soaked eyes as Bon-Bon wrapped her hooves around her.

"I'm sorry," C-note sobbed between tears. "Ive' been treating you so horrible since this all began. I didn't mean to, Bon-Bon, but even though I have no reason to, I was, maybe still am, mad at you. Now that I know that mom can die, how can I know that you won't leave me?"

Bon-Bon sighed and rubbed her daughters back. “Now you listen here young filly," she let out a cough. "Your mother didn’t lie to you, and neither did I. Never had, did, or will.”

“But,” C-note stuttered, “but…”

“Now don’t interrupt your elders,” the cream colored pony gave the stunted mare a friendly smile. “As I was saying, your mother didn’t leave you.” Even though she knew he next lines were going to sound cliché, she knew that it was the best way to put it. “No, child,” she placed a hoof on C-note’s heart, “she may be gone from this world, and one day I will join her before you do." She deiced not to sugar coat it. "But we'll always be right here,” she tapped her own heart, “in me, your foals, and in everypony else she loved.”

C-note cracked up. “That is the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Bon-Bon shook her head. “Doesn’t make it any less true you know.”

“Hee-hee,” C-note wrapped herself around her second mother.

“Oh,” she heard C-note sigh sometime later as she picked the photo of her pocket. “Sorry, but thanks for grabbing this me.”

“It’s nothing,” Bon-Bon nodded looked at how happy she and Lyra were on their wedding day. She decided to dress up as the stallion in the tux, as Lyra wore the best wedding dress Rarity could make. "And the best part, was I didn't just gain the greatest wife in the world, but I also gained the greatest daughter in the universe.

C-note blushed. "even when I was at my worst?" she kicked a rock.

"I promise you," she hooked a front leg around C-note. "Even during our first year together, I loved you like you were my own." she could tell that C-note believed her, but wasn't any better than when they came out her. "Something else wrong?"

“Yeah,” C-note rubbed the back of her head. “Why do ponies like my father break their promises? I know I asked you two as a filly, but I can never remember why.”

Bon-Bon chuckled. She knew that C-note wouldn't forget that easily. Yet, she told her anyways just because she loved her.

“Well, young one,” Bon-Bon placed a hoof over her. “I recon, from what your mother told me, when he made his promise to never leave her, he said so right away. He only spoke with his heart. Which is important, don’t get me wrong. However, just making a promise with only your heart is not a proper way to make a promise,” she knocked on her head. “You have got to make a promise with your head as well. Now, I can say that I will live forever, but my mind knows that I’m going to die soon. Don’t protest,” she held up her hoof to C-note, “poor choice of words I realized. My point is, if I’m going to make a promise, I’m going to make sure that I could keep it.”

She took a moment to drink some water from a bottle she had carried with her. “after the, incident, when foal services wanted to take you away, your mother knew that it wouldn’t be easy to convince them to let her keep you. But she knew that it could be done. Wasn’t going to be easy, but she knew that with my help, and some fierce determination to get better on her part that it was possible.”

“Your mother wasn’t a bad pony, she was just going through a bad time. So I was able to promise her that you wouldn’t get taken away, and I kept that promise.”

She began to stroke C-note’s blue-green mane. “So I’ll tell you what,” she took a deep breath, “I promise that, as long as I live, I’ll always be here for you when you need me. I also promise that, even when I’m gone, I’ll be joining your mother to watch over you for the rest of your days.”

“So,” she gave C-note a finaly pat on the back, “do you think you’re ready to go back in there and properly say goodbye to the mare who gave birth to yah?”

C-note wiped away a tear. “Let me think about that.” Bon-Bon watched her rub her blue chin. “Yeah, I know I can promise not to freak out again.”

Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

C-note took another moment to ponder. She answered with a toothy grin. “I promise, mom.”