Lyra stalked her prey silently. Keeping low, in the shadow of the alley she carefully lifted her head to look over the top of a sandwich sign advertising hoofwear. She controlled her breathing, nervous sweat dripping down her face as she spotted her target.
There was no point in her efforts at stealth. Her quarry wasn't being stealthy, shifty or even slightly guilty at all.
A box of chocolates in mouth the mare of Lyra's dreams greeted the tan stallion. Without hesitation the apple of Lyra's eye traded an affectionate kiss with the scrawny worthless beta of a male before joining him in the privacy of his home.
A terrible chill ran down Lyra's spine. It was true. Bonbon was cheating on her.
She paced back and forth in the narrow alley way. Her mind and heart raged. It couldn't end like this. They had been together for two full years now. A year and a half as full on near daily red hot passionate lovers.
Bonbon had helped support her through her fathers death a year ago, had helped her celebrate getting a gig at the grand galloping gala after that, cared for her in sickness and helped her move into a larger apartment together.
The Bonbon Lyra knew wouldn't just leave her like this.
But her eyes proved otherwise.
So Lyra did what seamed reasonable at the time.
She galloped up to the door of that low-life, Bonbon stealing, no good bastard and bucked it down. In her rage she stormed through the house. She heard a scream, some sort of objection from Bonbon, she ignored it. Dragging the stallion up from the couch she held in her telekinetic grip. She knew she was yelling something, but she couldn't remember what it was.
That lovely and familiar weight crashed into her throwing her across the room.
A hoof clipped her horn distorting her magic field and she lost her grip.
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Why are you doing this? Always following me! Always giving me your creepy looks! I was your roommate only because I had no where else to go! It was my only option! I don't like you! I don't even like mares!”
Lyra stared up into the crying eyes of the mare she loved more then Celestia her self. Her mind contained no thought. Her heart was empty.
“But, I...” love you, died on her lips. “... Should go,” she finished instead.
“Yes, yes you should.”
Lyra made her way to the door.
“I don't know how I put up with you as long as I did. It was the worst six months of my life.”
Lyra stumbled as the words struck her.
Steadying herself she managed to escape the scene.
This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming. Or maybe she was dead and this was hell? Maybe Celestia really wasn't to keen on filly-foolers.
The unicorn made it to back to the alley before she vomited.
She had to hold it together. So the world had gone mad. Or she had. She needed to get home. Sit down. Lay down. Curl up into a ball and never move again.
“Lyra, you look terrible! Did something happen?”
Lyra's brain stopped working at that point.
A hoof went over her shoulder pulling her into a hug. It was more habit then anything else that made her bury her muzzle into the offered neck.
“You can tell me. It's okay.”
A hoof petted her neck tenderly, lovingly.
Lyra broke. She didn't understand any of this. Barrel heaving in stuttering sobs she finally returned Bonbons grasp.
* * *
Bonbon was downstairs. Lyra could hear her. She was making her those special hay pancakes she liked so much.
Lyra hadn't told her. Not about that other Bonbon.
If it had been another Bonbon. It could be the same Bonbon telling some terrible lie, a joke, making a fool out of her.
Lyra rolled in agony.
Or that Bonbon could be fictional. A figment of her imagination. A hallucination. Or this Bonbon, the one downstairs, making her food and taking care of her could be hallucinatory.
The worst six months of her life, she had said.
That kind of made sense. Lyra had always had a crush on Bonbon and the first while that they had lived together had been awkward and painful. It had taken a long time to get Bonbon to open up to her. It had taken a lot of hard work. In fact just before they had gotten together they had the biggest fight and Bonbon had threatened to move out.
But right after that everything changed. The fighting had stopped and everything just started to click.
Nothing suspicious about that at all. Right?
Lyra grasped a book off the shelf. It was one of Bonbon's old recipe books. It had dust on it. New recipe books hadn't appeared for at least a year.
It was time to do a test.
* * *
“Bonbon?”
“Yes, hunny?”
“If I took one cup margarine, two pounds confectioners' sugar, fourteen ounces of sweetened condensed milk, three cups of shredded coconut, one cup chopped walnuts, one teaspoon of vanilla, twelve ounces of chocolate and two tablespoons shortening, what could I make?”
“It sounds tasty but you'd need a little flour if you wanted to make a good cookie.”
“But what could I make if I wasn't making cookies?”
Bonbon raised her eyebrow.
Lyra gave her the list of ingredients again.
Bonbon shrugged in confusion.
It didn't make a lot of sense.
“It involves ice, a double broiler and wax paper.”
Bonbon gave her a blank stare.
“It's the ingredient list for bonbons, from out of your first cook book. Your first recipe.”
“I... I'm making you your pancakes.” Bonbon's eyes were wide with terror.
“How long have we known each other?”
“Stop it.”
“How long has it been!” A plate smashed.
“You're not making any sense!”
“Why won't you answer the question?”
“She didn't deserve you!”
“What?” Lyra sat back dazed. It felt like she'd been stabbed.
Hooves clattered and Lyra found herself on the ground, under a sobbing Bonbon for the second time that day.
“It was me! I'm your Bonbon! The one you love!”
Bonbon threatening to move out. Bonbon with that miserable excuse for a stallion.
“Please! I'm right here, right in front of you! Can't you see me? Can't you feel me?”
There was only one Bonbon at Dads funeral. Even if they hadn't been lovers, they had been pretty good friends. She could have at least shown up.
“I've been here for you. It meant something. It meant everything.”
Had this false Bonbon turned her away? Turned away what little gesture she might have made when she was sick?
“You can't leave me. Not after everything we've been through. Not like this.”
For the second time that day Lyra got to her hooves and made her way to the front door, leaving a weeping Bonbon behind her.
“But your pancakes. I couldn't cook. It took me forever to learn how to.”
Lyra was burnt out. She felt dead inside. But she could understand that. She could understand pancakes.
“Please stay, just long enough for the pancakes. I can try to explain everything.”
Lyra turned. Bonbon was so beautiful. Even in this mess of a day she was there to hold her up. She took her moods and her antics and carried on. She carried on no matter what.
“I know how hard this has been on you, I can feel it. I'm so sorry you had to go through this on my account.”
Lyra walked back into the kitchen. To her pancakes, made by her Bonbon. They were delicious.