The Sweet Cailín
"Why do you always sit like that?"
"I've always done it like this," Lyra Heartstrings said, setting straight-backed onto the park bench, her hind legs and tail dangling off the edge. Next to her on the bench, Bon Bon rolled her sapphire blue eyes, a small smile crossing her face. "You're so weird."
"Eh, but you like it," Lyra replied with a cocky smirk. Out of the corner of her eye, she was more than certain that she saw her almost-marefriend blush, the red coloring complimenting her creamy coat.
To give herself an excuse to hide her face, Bon Bon looked up at the sky. Celestia had cast a particularly beautiful pattern of stars across the black tapestry of night. The distant lights twinkled at them, like a thousand eyes winking. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"
Lyra looked up, examining the night sky. "Yeah."
"You know any constellations?" Bon Bon asked.
"Nah," Lyra said. Bon Bon saw the twinkling in her date's golden eyes and knew what was coming. "I flunked astronomy. It was too Sirius for me." A huge grin like the crescent moon spread across the musician's face. "Get it? Sirius?"
Bon Bon tried. She focused every ounce of willpower she could on the task. But it was futile. Laughter burst from her lips at the bad pun and she collapsed against Lyra, her body convulsing with chortles, giggles, and snorts. Lyra did not mind at all, sneaking a foreleg around the laughing mare. Eventually, Bon Bon calmed down and noticed Lyra's foreleg around her. To the surprise and quiet delight of the unicorn, she did not resist, and actually curled up closer to her.
"I love nights like this," Lyra said, settling back onto the bench. "Back home in Trotterford, me Da would take me out onto the back porch and tell me all the old Mareish legends. All those old stories and creatures...faeries and leprechauns and..." She paused when Bon Bon let out a little incredulous snort. "Don't laugh. Me Ma saw a leprechaun once when she was picking clovers."
"I'm sure she did," Bon Bon said quietly, knowing better than to argue with the story-loving mare.
"And I'd practice my lyre on the porch," Lyra said, pulling out the instrument in a magical grasp. The polished instrument shone in the light of the stars, glimmering burnished gold. "It was right out there on that porch that I earned my cutie mark, playing a ballad that I'd written."
"You write your own music?" Bon Bon asked.
Lyra fidgeted slightly. "Well...there was one song that I wrote recently."
"Will you play it?" Bon Bon asked sweetly. For me?
Lyra licked her lips, fighting back a triumphant smile. Taking the lyre in both hooves and cradling it like an infant, she reached out with her magic, feeling the strings of the lyre, testing them. She closed her eyes and took a breath, allowing her heart to settle and doing her best to ignore the feeling of Bon Bon's touch against her side. Recalling the tune, Lyra began to play, the notes floating off the musician and into the air, where they were soon joined by her voice:
In Ponyville, cross the Canter hills
One morning last July
Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín
And she smiled as she passed me by.
Oh, she looked divine from her blue eyes shine
To the sheen of her pink and blue hair,
Such a winsome elf that I pinched myself
To be sure I was standing there.
From the Horseshoe Bay to the Filly's Quay,
From the Badlands to the Northern Hills,
No mare I've seen like the sweet cailín
That I met in Ponyville.
As she onward sped, I shook my head
And I looked with a feeling rare;
And I said, says I, to a passerby,
"Who's that mare with the pink and blue hair?"
Well, he smiled at me and "My friend," says he,
"I can see that she gives you a thrill;
"She's Bon Bon fair, the town's candymare,
"She's the Honey of Ponyville."
From the Horseshoe Bay to the Filly's Quay,
From the Badlands to the Northern Hills,
No mare I've seen like the sweet cailín
That I met in Ponyville.
Well I've traveled a bit, but I've never been hit
Since my roving career began.
But fair and square I surrendered there
To the charm of young Bon Bon fair.
I'd a heart to lent and no tenant yet
Did I meet in shawl and gown;
But in she went and I asked no rent
From the Honey of Ponyville.
From the Horseshoe Bay to the Filly's Quay,
From the Badlands to the Northern Hills,
No mare I've seen like the sweet cailín
That I met in Ponyville.
With a flourish, Lyra ended the song, holding the last note for a bit before letting it drift up to the stars. For a moment, she allowed time to pause, forgetting everything else but the moment, the cool air in her mane and the touch of the mare beside her. Then she opened her eyes and turned, trying not to give away her anticipation.
Bon Bon had her head tilted a little to the side, her blue eyes half-lidded, lips pursed as if in thought. "Did...did you like it?" Lyra said. She felt a nasty swooping sensation in her stomach, like she had missed a step going downstairs.
"It was a very interesting piece," Bon Bon said, her voice quiet. So quiet that Lyra had to lean in slightly to hear her clearly. "You must have been very inspired to write that."
"I was," Lyra replied, her voice quiet. So quiet that Bon Bon had to lean in slightly to hear her clearly. "I was inspired by a certain mare." Bon Bon was close, so close that Lyra could count her fluttering eyelashes. "A certain beautiful..." Her heart trembled. "Kind..." Her breath caught. "Generous..." The sapphires sparkled once more, drawing her in.
Both mares leaned forward and kissed, taking in each other's scent and taste. Lyra hummed into Bon Bon's lips, becoming intoxicated on the her candy-like aroma. Bon Bon replied in kind, falling into Lyra's minty fragrance.
Finally, the two separated, both of them staring in surprise. Nervously, Lyra let out a little laugh, turning away and rubbing the back of her head.
To her surprise, Bon Bon reached up and nuzzled her cheek. Blushing, she gently pushed up against her, reaching a foreleg around to cuddle.
"And I liked the song," Bon Bon said.
Lyra just giggled quietly and graced the Honey of Ponyville with a kiss on the forehead. The musician and her cailín sat for a while longer on the park bench beneath the starry sky, savoring the sweetness of each other's company.
Author's Note
I came up with the full lyrics for the song, a variation of the Irish ballad Star of the County Down, and wanted a story to go with it, so I wrote it down. I hope you enjoyed!
Notes: This story takes place before Luna's return, while Lyra and Bon Bon are just starting to date. It's my headcanon that Lyra is Irish (Mareish), which is where the song came from. Bóithrín is an Irish word for a small track or lane: cailín is an Irish word for a young girl.
