So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

by Blueshift

Rating: everyone
Tags: Bon-Bon, Lyra, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6220

When Lyra finds her old pet fish in the back of the freezer, she sees an opportunity to recapture the glories of her youth. Lyra and Flipper are back together after ten years. After all, a bit of ice never got in the way of true friendship...

When Lyra finds her old pet fish in the back of the freezer, she sees an opportunity to recapture the glories of her youth.

Lyra and Flipper are back together after ten years. After all, a bit of ice never got in the way of true friendship.

Published 2014-06-02 00:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-02 00:30:03 UTC

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

“That’s amazing!”

Lyra stared upwards wide-eyed as the last of the tin cans toppled. A giddy, dizzying thrill pounded through her, and she leapt up and down, bouncing against her dad’s leg, heart bursting with pride. “You got them all! All of them! I bet no-one’s ever done that in a million years! Or even more, a thousand maybe!”

Her dad just smiled that mildly pitying smile that most fathers give to their offspring at one time or another. “Yes, Lyra. Now, you can choose a prize.”

Lyra’s mouth dropped open in utter amazement. She leapt onto her hind legs, her forehooves scrabbling for purchase against the front of the stall, mouth agape at the bounty that lay before her. The sights and sounds of the Ponyville carnival dimmed into the background as she faced her destiny. “Anything?” she breathed in sheer wonder.

“Yeah,” the stallholder mumbled, eyeing her father with slight annoyance. He saved the rest of his annoyance for the remains of the glue that had failed to stick the tin cans to the shelf, kicking the nearest one as it rolled across the floor.

Lyra’s eyes moved along the rack of prizes. There was a ball and a hoop and a spinning top and even a little wooden boat! She gave a little gasp of astonishment as she saw a sponge. Her dad owned a sponge, maybe she could have one too! She craned her neck around to look at him. “They have a sponge!” she whispered in awe. “I could have a sponge!”

Her dad rolled his eyes. “Lyra, maybe you could get the ball. You could play catch with one of your friends.”

“I could play with you?” Lyra looked back towards the ball. It was big and red and round, perfect for a game of catch. “I uh…” Her voice dipped slightly. “I don’t really have any friends at school.”

“I know.” Her dad smiled softly again. “I know, darling, but friends are important. Maybe if you had something that others could play with, you could –”

“I want that!” Lyra yelped out, hoof pointing straight head. “That’s what I want! That!”

Her dad followed her gaze, furrowing his brow in disapproval. “No, Lyra, that’s not the sort of thing I mean. You want –”

“You said I could choose!” Lyra’s eyes trembled with little tears at her father's betrayal. “You said I could choose and so I did! I want that!” She bit her bottom lip. “I want that more than anything in the world! Please?”

Her dad nodded at the stallholder. The stallholder sighed and took down a large glass bowl that sloshed with water, passing it into Lyra’s eager hooves.

Heart racing, Lyra rested her newfound prize on the grass in front of the stall, wrapping her hooves around it and hugging it tight. She peered over the lip of the bowl into the watery depths. Two big round eyes peered back. “The ponies at school don’t like me,” she whispered. “But you can be my friend! My bestest friend ever!”

***

“Lyra, if you don’t help clean this house, Celestia help me, the bin-bags are all going in your room!” Bon-Bon finished venting her frustrations at the ceiling and scraped a mysterious growth off the sofa and into a black bag. She was pretty certain she had not been the cause of that particular mould, as she ate her dinner at the table like a civilised pony, and not off the couch.

Bon-Bon used plates.

“How? How is this possible!?” She shook her head as she picked up a cushion, shaking free a collection of old bean cans that had ended up inside the lining. “How long have you been sitting on this?” She breathed in and gave one final yell at the ceiling. “LYRA!”

There was a thump from upstairs as if someone had fallen off a chair. This was, in fact, pretty probable. With a clattering of hooves, a bleary-eyed Lyra bounced down the stairs, landing in a heap on the ground.

“What?” Lyra mumbled, pulling herself up and looking about in a dazed confusion. “I’m doing it,” she mumbled, making a show of slightly adjusting a lampshade before collapsing back onto the sofa. “Ugh!” She shifted, prodding the cushion suspiciously. “This doesn’t feel right!”

“Probably because it’s not full of beans,” Bon-Bon grumbled, taking a brush and cleaning around Lyra in the most violent, noisy way possible. Lyra didn’t seem to mind.

Bon-Bon had considered herself very lucky to find a room for rent in Ponyville for such a cheap price. She had been so impressed at Lyra for owning her own house at such a young age. Of course, it became apparent that Lyra had inherited the property from her parents, and her sole motivation in life revolved around sleep, thoughts of sleep, and powernaps in which to prepare for her main sleep. Sometimes Bon-Bon would catch her just pacing aimlessly around the house in the dead of night - it wasn’t surprising she could never sleep if she spent half the day napping.

“Stop it!” Lyra pulled a face as Bon-Bon lifted Lyra’s hooves to dust under them. “I’ve got everything where I want it!”

“Oh yes?” Bon-Bon put the brush down momentarily. “Where’s this week’s shopping list then? It just vanished off the freezer door; don’t tell me you actually went out and did it yourself?”

Lyra rolled her eyes and without hesitation reached down behind the sofa, pulling out a half-eaten sandwich. To Bon-Bon’s horror, she opened the sandwich up to reveal the shopping list. She passed it to Bon-Bon, who recoiled from the piece of paper that was dripping with cheese.

“I swear, Lyra, you’ve got to pull yourself together.” Bon-Bon shook her head, moving to the freezer. “I don’t know why I put up with you!” She pulled the freezer open: inside was a flurry of ice that would have made the Crystal Empire blush. When she was younger, she had thought that freezers worked via complex magical spells. As an adult, the mundane reality was that they worked via an awful lot of expensive ice jammed into the back.

“Look at this!” Bon-Bon waved in the direction of the freezer contents. Inside was a solid block of ice with the occasional item of food poking out. “Has this ever been defrosted?”

“You’re supposed to defrost it?” Lyra paused, in the middle of licking the cheese off the shopping list. As she realised Bon-Bon was watching what she was doing, her face took on the expression of a rabbit caught in the glare of a runaway cart. Carefully folded the piece of paper up and put it back in the sandwich. “Anyway, you’re supposed to put ice in it, not take it out!” She sank back into the sofa, staring up at the ceiling and stifling a yawn.

A frenzied chipping noise filled the room as Bon-Bon took out a chisel and went to work on the freezer. “If I find a woolly mammoth in here, I wouldn’t be surprised!” she grumbled as the freezer released its frosty grip on a punnet of raspberries. They toppled onto the floor and shattered like glass.

“Shh, I’m power-napping,” Lyra mumbled back to her, stretching her forehooves out across the top of the sofa.

“Carrots!” Bon-Bon called out. “Peaches. In a tin! In a tin in the freezer, Lyra! Socks!” Her hacking at the ice became more frenzied as she ventured deeper into the permafrost that lay within the small rectangular box. “Chilli peppers!”

“Yeah,” Lyra called back, keeping her eyes closed to shut out the throbbing light of the morning sun as it streamed through the windows. She might have to close a curtain or two in a bit. “They were a bit hot, so I put them in the freezer to cool down.”

“That’s not how it – whatever.” Bon-Bon realised the futility of her words as she worked free an ice shelf made entirely out of spilled peas. “Peas!” She threw the pea-infused ice onto the growing pile behind her. The freezer was nearly empty now. There was just one more thing, pushed right at the back of a shelf.

“What the…” Bon-Bon braced herself for whatever new terror it was that would reveal itself. It was some sort of plastic bag, entirely crusted with ice crystals, and within its misty frozen interior could be seen something small and orange. “Carrot in a bag?” she wondered out loud.

Lyra’s eyes opened in a flash. She gave a gasp, and in a flash of energy that had been hitherto unwitnessed by Bon-Bon, leapt over the back of the sofa to join Bon-Bon at the freezer, pushing her out of the way to get access.

“Flipper!” she gasped in a half-squeak, carefully pulling out the bag and cradling it in her hooves like one would a newborn. She looked up at Bon-Bon, eyes wide and trembling. “Bon-Bon, it’s Flipper!”

Bon-Bon stared at the bag. It looked like a lump of ice with a piece of carrot in the middle. “Flipper?” She raised an eyebrow.

“My fish!” Lyra slumped to the ground, landing heavily on her hindquarters, and lifted the bag to the light. The small orange object within sparkled in its icy prison. “He was my best friend! My best friend in the whole world!” Her voice sank to a whisper. “I’ve not seem him in ten years!”

For once, Bon-Bon was at a loss for words. “I… uh… wow.” She gently patted Lyra on the shoulder. “Look, we probably shouldn’t keep him in the freezer; do you want to ah… bury him? We can say a few words.”

“What? No!” Lyra looked at Bon-Bon, mouth hanging open in utter shock and hugging the frozen fish bag to her chest protectively. “He’s just frozen! He might be okay if he thaws out! He wasn’t that well when he…” her face crumpled “…when he went in the freezer.”

Bon-Bon stared at the fish. “W-what was wrong with him?”

“He died.”

“Oh. Look, Lyra…” Bon-Bon gingerly put a hoof around her friend. “You realise that you don’t just ‘un-die’ because you got frozen, right?”

Lyra flinched away from Bon-Bon, clutching her fish even harder. “No, I mean…” She lifted the bag, tilting it every way in the light. “We did everything together, you know? They were such great times; we were inseparable. I was so happy. Then one day, he just stopped moving. I thought he might have fallen asleep or was hibernating or something; I cried for days, and then my dad said we should put him in the freezer to see if he got better.”

Bon-Bon attempted the warmest smile she could, in the circumstances. “And you just left him in there?”

“Yeah.” Lyra nodded. “I was too scared to see how he was, and then I guess I just… forgot about him.” She pushed her face close to the frozen pile of ice and fish. “Sorry, Flipper,” she whispered. “I suck. I’m the worst best friend ever.”

Bon-Bon stood awkwardly by the open freezer, surrounded by the detritus of ten years of frozen hoarding. “Look, I can put all this away; do you want me to deal with… Flipper?”

“No.” Lyra shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll deal with him.” She carefully picked the bag up in her mouth and shuffled slowly up the stairs.

“Wow.” Bon-Bon pushed her mane back, shaking her head in astonishment. Then something crossed her mind, and her face screwed up. “Flipper?” she whispered to herself. “But fish have fins!” Somehow, she wasn’t surprised.

***

Lyra sat at the kitchen table, staring at her best friend in the world. It had been nearly an hour since Flipper had been released from his frozen tomb of ten years, and now the ice had started to glisten as it melted. She could see his cheeky little tail, those big round eyes. She sunk her head into her hooves, eyes craned up to watch the bag.

Bon-Bon had finally left the house, after much fussing. It was peaceful and quiet now, just the distant sounds of voices from outside echoing through the curtains. Lyra sat stewing in her own silence as she stared at her fish.

It had been good. Those days. She and Flipper had done everything together, they had been inseparable throughout thick and thin. And then, one day, it had just ended.

Lyra put the bag down. She had an idea. The best idea she had ever had.

It didn’t have to end.

***

“Morning, Lyra!”

“Morning!” Lyra waved to Mr Breezy as she walked though Ponyville. No, not walked – skipped. The sun was beating down on her back, the air was full of a hundred different voices all going about their day, but most importantly of all, she had her friend back.

She clutched the handle tightly in her mouth. Her dad had made it for her, years ago. He had taken the handle off an old bucket and carefully attached it to the top of her fish bowl. Of course, in the past Lyra had to be careful not to spill any water. It was easier now: she was an adult, and could lift the heavy bowl easily, but more importantly it was now full to the brim with as many ice cubes as she could fit into it.

The first stop of the day was obvious. Lyra rounded the street and entered Sugarcube Corner, carefully placing her precious cargo down on the counter.

Pinkie Pie stared at it.

“Hi, Lyra!” she chirped, eyeing up the bowl. “Wow, how did you know our slushie machine was out of ice?” In an instant, she snatched the bowl away and upended it over a large hopper full of whirring blades.

“No!” Lyra vaulted over the counter top, twisting mid-air as she launched herself at the hopper. A pile of ice landed on her stomach as she wedged herself flank-first into the machine. “Whew!” Lyra hugged the ice tight, being careful not to squeeze too hard, lest the shard that contained Flipper shatter into little pieces. “That was almost too late!”

Pinkie Pie froze in mid-pour, looking at Lyra with utter confusion. “You’re not supposed to sit in that!” she whispered. “That’s for drinks, Lyra!”

Lyra held up her frozen fish accusingly, wobbling off the slushie machine. “I know! You put my fish in there!”

“Oh!” Pinkie Pie frowned. “You’re not supposed to put fish in there either, it’s for fruit and stuff!”

“No, no.” Lyra carefully placed the fish back into the bowl, scooping up as much fallen ice as she could and packing it around her pet. “It’s my pet fish from when I was little. He’s uh…” She pursed her lips. “Frozen. You know, like cryogenic suspension? I thought I’d take him out for a walk around Ponyville just like we used to do, get him some fresh air. He always used to like ice cream!”

“Fish like ice cream?” Cogs started to whirr in Pinkie’s mind and her eyes lit up with all sorts of new and exciting party-related opportunities. “Does it need to be a special flavour? I don’t even know what fish eat, do they eat?”

Lyra shrugged. “He doesn’t mind, I used to just drip it into the top of his bowl, and he’d bob up and take a few gulps.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “And now he’s dead.”

Lyra clapped her hooves around the side of the bowl as if covering the ears of a vulnerable foal from some terrible universal truth. “Cryogenically frozen!” she corrected. “Did you never see that play about the pony who went into space and got frozen for hundreds of years, and then defrosted in the future? Buck Rogers, his name was! So it’s fact!”

“Oh!” Pinkie clapped her hooves together in delight. “Do you want help thawing him out? I’m sure he’ll be best friends with Gummy!”

“No. No, no, no.” Lyra hugged the bowl, turning it away from Pinkie slightly. “He’s fine as he is, Pinkie, there’s no need. Just ice cream, please. Strawberry, that’s the best!”

“Okay!” Pinkie Pie gave an enthusiastic nod and ducked behind the counter, popping up with two large cones full of pink ice cream. “One for you,” she chirped, passing the first cone to Lyra. “And one for you…” She waved the cone at the fish bowl, as if expecting Flipper to reach out and take it in one of his fins.

Lyra gracefully took the second ice cream from Pinkie and waved it over the bowl. “Here you go, Flipper!” she smiled, placing it on top of the ice. “Yum!” That job done, she waved to Pinkie and turned to trot out the shop.

“Hey, Lyra!” Pinkie called after her. “It’s Gummy’s half birthday party tonight, you should come?”

“Me?” Lyra pointed to her chest in confusion. “A party? I guess…” She hefted up her bowl. “Can Flipper come?”

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie beamed. “The more the merrier. It can be… a Flipper resurrection party too!”

“Yeah. Yeah. I like that… Thanks.” With a firm nod as the idea settled into her head, Lyra walked happily out of the shop into the sunshine.

Lyra couldn’t help but crack a grin as she proudly strolled through the streets. Everywhere she went, ponies were stopping to stare, clearly pretty jealous of her fish. She waved at Lickity-Split, who had set up her own ice cream stand opposite Sugarcube Corner and was desperately trying to entice ponies away from Pinkie Pie. Lyra hadn’t realised that Lickity-Split sold ice cream; she always assumed it was just some sort of cold nutrient sludge she was ladling out.

Lickity-Split saw Lyra with her two ice creams and waved her hoof back. Actually it was more like shaking her hoof, but Lyra assumed this was in a jolly, light-hearted manner. “What shall we do today?” she mumbled through the fish bowl handle in her mouth down at Flipper. “Ponyville doesn’t have a public pool anymore, so we can’t go swimming unless you want to go to the lake, but there’s lots of big scary fish there, remember?”

Flipper remained silent in his icy prison. Strawberry ice cream slowly melted into the cracks.

Lyra shrugged. “Skating! No, wait, it’s summer!” She looked down at Flipper, pondering, and as she did so walked straight into Fluttershy.

“Oh, sorry!” Lyra span to catch the bowl before it tumbled out of reach and shattered on the ground. “I was just taking my pet fish for a walk and wasn’t looking where we were going.”

“A fish? How delightful!” Fluttershy clapped her hooves together. “I love fish, they’re so cute! Let’s see hi –” Her face froze mid-sentence into a mask of horror as she beheld the fish bowl full of ice, ice cream, and (somewhere in amongst that) a tiny yellow fish. “Lyra, I think fish need water.”

“Ice is water! He’s fine!” Lyra snatched the bowl away from Fluttershy, defensively. “He’s just frozen, that’s all!”

“Do you want me to…” Fluttershy reached out for the bowl. “Oh, that poor fish! Let me look after it!”

“No!” Lyra hugged the bowl to her, turning around to shield Flipper from Fluttershy. “Flipper's happy with me! I’m his best friend!”

“Well…” Fluttershy paused, her ears flapping over her face in shame. “Maybe Flipper would like some more friends? Not best friends, of course!” she hastily added. “But he can come round to my place any time he wants to play with my animal friends.”

“What do you say, Flipper?” Lyra lifted Flipper’s bowl up to her ear. Of course, Flipper couldn’t reply, but she used to always do this to let him feel more involved in things. Her face brightened. “That’s a great idea; I’m sure he’ll have lots of fun.” Her expression dropped. “You don’t have any cats, do you?”

“No! No cats!” Fluttershy replied quickly.

“Oh. Well, that’s a great idea!” Lyra repeated with a smile on her face. “Flipper doesn’t get on with cats, do you?” She raised the bowl to prove the point. Flipper stared back at Fluttershy from his frosty tomb.

“And there won’t be any polar bears either!” Fluttershy added. “I think they eat ice. But I can’t make the same promises about penguins.”

“No, polar bears don’t eat penguins!” Lyra hugged her fishbowl again and did a little twirl on the spot. “See, Flipper, you’re going to make some new animal friends! Not best friends, remember, but second best friends!” She started to skip off, hoisting Flipper’s bowl onto her back. “See you, Fluttershy!”

“Y-yeah…” Fluttershy just watched Lyra happily depart. She looked down with a sigh. “Oh my.”

***

Lyra pushed open the door to her house and stifled a choke as the musty air hit her. “Ugh!” she mumbled to Flipper, carefully putting the fishbowl down on the kitchen table and forcing open a window.

It had been a lovely day so far. Lyra and Flipper had revisited all their old haunts, from walking down by the river, fishing for coins in the wishing well, and even popping down to the theatre to see a morning play. The usher had been confused when Lyra asked for a fish ticket, but she had explained that was how they used to do it when she was little.

“You’re a good fish!” Lyra kissed the bowl gently and made her way to the freezer. Bon-Bon’s defrosting had been pretty thorough, but there was still some ice at the very back. Straining, she reached all the way in and scooped as much of the slushy ice out as possible, dumping it in the top of the bowl to replace that which had melted earlier in the day.

“There, that’s better!” Lyra patted Flipper’s bowl and looked around. Her face wrinkled. “Ugh.” How can Bon-Bon live like this?” She drew the curtains back fully to let in the sunlight and cracked open the window. “When you get defrosted, Flipper, we’re going to make sure this place never gets dirty again!”

She stumbled into an old sandwich that was lying on the floor. “Huh, that’s mine.” Lyra gingerly picked up the moulding slab of bread and threw it into the bin. “You know…” she pondered gently. “I think I might have let myself go a bit. What do you think?”

Flipper didn’t respond.

“Yeah, I get it!” Lyra sighed. “But now you’re back in my life, I’m gonna make a new go of it! Now, let’s get this place clean before Bon-Bon gets back from wherever it is she goes. That, uh, you know. Non-play thing. Uh…” She furrowed her brow, thinking hard of the word. “‘Job’.”

It took a surprisingly short amount of time. Lyra bustled around with rags and polish, and Flipper helped by keeping various items safe under his bowl. Finally, Lyra stepped back and admired her work. Everything was gleaming. She could see her face in all the surfaces, even those where this shouldn’t have been technically possible.

“What a team!” She flashed a grin, giving Flipper’s bowl a friendly tap. “Lyra and Flipper, look what we can do! Bon-Bon’s going to be amazed. Or think someone broke into our house to clean it!” She picked up the bowl and rolled onto her back, holding it in the air in her hooves and staring happily into the depths. “What do you want to do next, Flipper? No, we can’t sleep!” Lyra pondered for a moment. “You used to like the park, but I don’t think full-grown ponies are allowed on all the play equipment…”

***

“Wheee!” Lyra tumbled down the slide, holding Flipper triumphantly above her head. All around her, little fillies were making cross faces as their play time was interrupted.

Lyra leapt off the bottom of the slide and ran past the broken swing, which had not been able to take her weight. “That was fun, wasn’t it!?” She smiled at Flipper, letting the sunlight reflect off his bowl. “Yes, yes, I’ll fix the swing later, but this is quality me and you time. Hey!”

She perked up with a start as she saw some ponies at the other side of the park playing with a ball. Excitedly, she hoisted the handle of Flipper’s bowl back into her mouth and galloped over, eyes wide.

“Hey, can we join in?” Lyra put down Flipper and looked at the two ponies who had frozen in mid ball game.

“We’re on a pony pet play date!” Sparkler stepped forwards, her little pet ferret nipping about her hooves. “You can join me and Skylight, but you need a pet!”

“I’ve got a pet!” Lyra hoisted Flipper up, proudly. “Flipper is only the best fish in the entire world! And he loves ball games!”

“He… loves… ball game?” Skylight looked between Lyra and the fish. “Does he, uh, come out of the ice?”

“Not yet!” Lyra snapped back defensively. “He’s not ready yet, but he will! It doesn’t mean he can’t still have fun though! He’s a good fish and he always liked ball games!” She waited for a reaction from the two ponies, who just stood there with their own pets, looking rather puzzled.

“Yeah, sure,” Skylight said after a while, motioning to her own pet pigeon that perched on her back. “I guess if a pigeon can play ball, so can a frozen fish. Who am I to judge?”

The three ponies and their pets played the ballgame in the park for a good hour. To Lyra’s delight, Flipper proved the best out of all the pets at catching the ball. Or at least, his bowl proved an excellent hardy target for the ball, with the ice inside forming a crunchy cushion as it landed. It still counted as winning though.

Lyra’s new friends left her, with promises of more ball games to come, and Lyra stretched out lazily beneath the nearest tree, curling in the grass and giving the bowl a quick nuzzle. “You’re a good fish,” she mumbled again, before falling asleep in the shade.

***

“Lyra, wake up!”

“Eeeh?” Lyra opened a bleary eye. The world was swimming and blurry, and the sun was beating down on her. The sun had moved around, chasing the shadow of the tree away, but it felt so nice and warm, she could easily sleep for a few more hours.

“Lyra, wake up!”

The high-pitched voice continued to squeak in her ear. Lyra gave another annoyed moan and tried again to open her eyes. A flash of sheer panic stabbed through her as she saw the state of the bowl: it had been lying in direct sunlight, and as a result the ice had completely melted. She sat bolt upright with a whimper, a cry of anguish escaping her throat. It stopped as soon as it began, a wave of relief washing over her as she took in the whole scene.

“Hey, Lyra! Good to see you again!” A tiny orange fish clung on to the lip of the bowl with one fin, looking up at Lyra with big, googly eyes. He waved with his other fin. “It’s good to be out of that ice and able to stretch my tail!”

“Flipper!” Lyra felt tears of joy prick at the sight. “You’re alive! I thought… I mean, I knew, I always knew you would be, but I was just too scared to find out, I guess!” She ruffled her mane back frantically. “Oh, can you ever forgive me? I could hug you right now!”

Flipper shook his head. “Better not, I’m a fish!”

“Oh yeah, right.” Lyra wiped her brow. It was covered in beads of sweat. She leaned in closer to her pet, marvelling at how good he looked. “I’ve missed you, Flipper,” she finally whispered. “I’ve missed the old days when everything was good. It’s not been any good since… y’know…” She trailed off for a moment.

“I know.” Flipper reached out of the bowl to pat Lyra’s hoof with his fin. “But the old days weren’t really that much better, were they?”

“They were!” Lyra frowned at Flipper’s accusation. “Yeah I didn’t have any friends, but I had you! Me and you, against the world! We had all sorts of fun times, Flipper! We’d have all sorts of amazing adventures, and then we’d go home and tell Mum and Dad and they’d make us dinner. Remember when we went camping? And when we accidently flooded the school? Then it was just me on my own, and…” She sank to her haunches. “I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t good anymore.”

“No!” Flipper pulled himself out of his bowl a bit more, to look right up into Lyra’s sad eyes. “I saw you today, Lyra! You’re doing it! You’ve got friends, you don’t need me anymore!”

“I need you!” Lyra bundled the bowl, Flipper included, into her hooves and pressed her cheek to the fish’s. “You’re all I’ve got, Flipper! Me and you, just like old times! It’s gonna be perfect!”

“Sorry, Lyra.” Flipper nuzzled against Lyra’s cheek, before slipping back into his bowl with a splash. “You’re going to have to do it without me.”

Lyra pulled away to stare at Flipper in confusion. “What? What do you mean? You’re here, it’s perfect!”

Flipper sank his head down into the water with a forlorn disposition. “Silly Lyra. Fish can’t speak.”

***

“No!” Lyra sat bolt upright again, blinking in the sun. Frantically, she turned and to her horror saw the fish bowl sitting on the grass in the sun, the ice reduced to slush. Bobbing to the surface was a large chunk of ice, a small orange fin protruding as it was slowly freed.

“No! No, no, no!” Lyra pushed the ice under the cold water in a panic. Small chunks broke off and rose to the surface. “I’m not ready! Please!” She grabbed the bowl, holding it tight to her chest as she looked around the park. There were ponies skipping and happily playing in the afternoon sun, but no-one had any ice or cool confectionary.

“Hang on, Flipper!” Lyra cried, gripping the handle of the bowl tightly in her mouth and dashing across the park to Ponyville as fast as she could. Her heart pounded, and a stitch stabbed at her side; Lyra cursed herself for not keeping in shape, but she pushed on through the pain, for Flipper’s sake. Water from the wildly swinging bowl splashed everywhere as she hurried on her frenzied quest, crashing through groups of ponies who could only turn to look at her agape.

Finally, Lyra burst through the doors of Sugarcube Corner and collapsed on the floor clutching her stomach, wheezing in agony. “I-ice!” she panted, trying to focus on Pinkie Pie, who was looking at her with a large degree of concern. She held up the now half-empty bowl, one solitary piece of ice floating sadly in it. “Please! Ice cream! Anything!”

“Sorry!” Pinkie chirped, somewhat nervously. “We’re all out; it’s been a super-hot day! You and Flipper will have to come back tomorrow when I get a new delivery in!”

Lyra gulped back a panicked whimper. “No!” she whined, looking down at the ice. Part of Flipper’s tail was now revealed. It was sad, floppy and lifeless, rippling in the water. “It’s not time, not yet! I’ve got to save him! Please!”

Pinkie bit her lip. “We’ve got snowballs, but they’re actually marshmallow and chocolate, I don’t think that counts. Maybe Lickity-Split has –”

Lyra didn’t need to hear any more. She was off, tearing back through the door into the sunshine and racing as fast as she could towards Lickity-Split’s ice cream stall. “Please!” she shouted across the street. “I need some ice!”

Lickity-Split finished pouring the last of her lukewarm, gooey ice cream down the drain. “Oh, right!” She rolled her eyes at Lyra. “Now I get a customer!”

Lyra’s face reddened, and she felt a tear pricking at her cheek. She fought it back; she wasn’t going to cry, not in front of Flipper. She had a job to do, for his sake. She ruffled her mane frantically, glancing this way and that about town, for any inspiration. “You saved me so many times, Flipper! I’m gonna save you, I promise!” she shouted.

“Bon-Bon!” Lyra spotted her roommate standing outside the library with a tray of sweets around her neck. Bon-Bon turned almost in slow motion as she saw Lyra bolting towards her, unable to react in time as Lyra collided with her head on, sending a shower of sweets into the air.

“Lyra?” Bon-Bon goggled at Lyra from the ground, frowning at her friend’s manic countenance. “What’s wrong? I went home earlier, I think we got broken into…” Her words trailed away. “Are you okay?”

“I…” Lyra gulped hard again. She could feel the tears coming but she was better than that. “No,” she simply whimpered, pulling Bon-Bon in for a hug, feeling her body shake as it pressed itself to the other pony. “I need some ice, for Flipper! Find me some ice, Bon-Bon, it’s ah…” She broke away to rub her eyes with her forehooves. “I don’t want him to defrost! Not yet!”

Bon-Bon rose unsteadily to her feet, taking in the sight of a sobbing Lyra on the grass surrounded by sweets and a bowl of slush. “Lyra,” she said softly. “I don’t have any ice. You used it all. Maybe it’s time –”

“No! I need more time!” Lyra snatched up the bowl and looked about wildly. Another thought entered her head. A better thought. She ran straight for the door of Golden Oaks Library, almost breaking it down as she burst through it.

“Whoa, Lyra, hi!” Twilight Sparkle dropped the cake she had been eating and quickly picked up a book. “I didn’t expect to see you in here; have you just discovered the magic of reading?”

“It’s Flipper, my fish!” Lyra half-sobbed, placing the sad-looking fish bowl on the table. “You’re clever, Twilight! Everyone says you’re the cleverest pony in Ponyville, you’ve gotta save him!” She looked at Twilight with large, pleading eyes which began to traitorously prick with more tears.

“I… uh…” Twilight peered into the fish bowl. “I’m not a vet, Lyra; maybe you should ask Fluttershy…”

“No! He needs ice!” Lyra gulped down as her voice started to wobble. “He’s going to defrost otherwise, and I want him to be okay, but I uh… I mean, stuff can still be alive if they have been frozen, right?”

Twilight thought about this for a moment. “Well, mammoths have been found to be fine after being flash-frozen, but it really depends.” She took a concerned step towards Lyra. “Was he okay before he was frozen?”

Lyra’s face just crumpled. She fell at Twilight’s hooves. “Please!” she begged, sniffing hard. “You’ve got to save him, he’s my only friend! He’s all I’ve got in the world! I’ll do anything; I just want him to be all right!”

Twilight awkwardly patted Lyra on the back. “I’ll be right back,” she whispered. “I’ll go and get someone. Stay here.”

“Okay,” Lyra croaked. She stayed huddled on the floor, doing her best to hold back the whimpering as Twilight left the building. Then the door opened again, and a new pair of hooves wrapped around her.

Lyra turned, snivelling. “Bon-Bon!” she exclaimed, collapsing into Bon-Bon’s chest and hugging it tight, letting her tears soak in to Bon-Bon’s coat. “It’s Flipper, he’s going to defrost, and I think…”

“I know.” Bon-Bon spoke gently, pulling Lyra up. “I know, Lyra.”

“I… I think he’s dead!” Having finally said it, Lyra burst into tears again, collapsing on Bon-Bon in a limp mess. “I don’t want to be alone again; he’s my only friend in the world!”

“No.” Bon-Bon looked Lyra straight in the eyes. “No, Lyra, he’s not. You’ve got so much, you’re not alone.”

“That’s what Flipper said.” Lyra hoisted her forehooves onto the table, holding onto the bowl and watching forlornly as the last piece of ice inside began to crack under the warmth of the room. “I thought that if I kept him frozen, I wouldn’t know if he was alive or dead, so it wouldn’t matter, and he’d be with me forever.” She sniffed again. “I don’t want to know, I want everything to stay like it was. I don’t want to do this.” She looked desperately across at Bon-Bon. “Please, don’t make me do this.”

Bon-Bon patted her hoof gently. “You don’t have to do it alone, Lyra.”

“He might be okay…” Lyra mumbled weakly in the direction of the bowl. The ice around Flipper began to break away, leaving a tiny body encrusted by rapidly melting ice crystals. “He might wake up and start swimming again, and it’ll all be fine, or… or he…”

“Yes.” Bon-Bon gave a weak smile. “But you don’t have to do it alone. Never think that.”

“I know.” Lyra attempted to smile back. She held tightly onto Bon-Bon’s hoof.

Together, they watched the bowl.

And waited.

Author's Note

Thanks to Aquaman, Twilight Snarkle and NickNack for looking this fic over.

And PK. This one's for you!