A Dinner at Lyra's
[A/N] Just so you guys know, in case you didn't read the description completely. Pete is a human, and Ryan and Alex are ponies that were once human.
There, I hope you find this enjoyable. If not, let me know where I need to improve, thanks
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************
"So we're open until nine-thirty?" Pete asked Mr. Cake, hoping that he had misheard the bakery-owner.
“That’s right, we can make much more money if we stay open a little longer.”
“You’d be surprised with how many ponies are hungry for sweets that late at night.” Mrs. Cake added as she began to lie out some more baked goods to be sold during the night shift, which both Pete and Pinkie Pie had to run.
Pete couldn’t argue Mrs. Cake’s observation. After all, he and Pinkie Pie had often seen stray ponies eating cupcakes during the late hours when they went on their nightly walks.
Well, for Pete it was walking, for Pinkie it was more of a bouncing while humming a little tune.
Also, once they returned from their walks, Pete would watch as Pinkie Pie would often snag a cookie or some other quick baked treat to eat before she and Pete went to bed. In that one moment, all of Pete's questions regarding why Pinkie was so hyper in the morning were answered. Then again, Pete thought that even without the late-night snack Pinkie would be literally bouncing off the walls.
It wasn’t everypony that did this, but there were definitely those late-night snackers in this town and Pete could definitely see Mr. Cake’s point, especially when he was dating one such late-night snacker.
Whether they would head out to the bakery at such a late time to purchase such goods was still yet to be seen.
Unfortunately, this new late schedule that Mr. Cake had laid on them also meant that he and Pinkie Pie had to cancel their dinner with Lyra and Bon Bon that they scheduled.
Pete had recently given Lyra a list of times and dates that he and Pinkie could have dinner at their house. Lyra picked this day at seven because it was an hour after the bakery closed at six, and both she and Bon Bon were home from their own jobs as well.
But now the bakery would still be open at seven, and the dinner wouldn’t work out. Pete wasn’t the type of person to ever complain or raise a question to someone, especially when that someone was his boss who was nice enough to let him live with his mare-friend in the room above the bakery, while being a species that most ponies had never seen before until that month.
Pinkie, however, was the complete opposite of Pete in this regard and began to put on her best begging face and act.
“Oh, come on Mr. Cake, can’t this late-night schedule thingy wait until after tonight? I’d just hate to cancel on Lyra and Bon Bon on such short notice!” Pinkie complained, giving Mr. Cake puppy-dog eyes.
Mr. Cake sighed and shook his head, “Sorry Pinkie, but that’s final. My wife and I are heading out to dinner and won’t be back until ten, so it’s up to you and Pete to run shop until closing time."
Pinkie Pie looked down and nodded as if she was defeated, unable to come up with anything else that could get them out of work early.
Just then the bell to the shop rang and everypony, and Pete, looked up to see four familiar ponies walk in; Ryan, Rainbow Dash Alex and Applejack.
Ryan and Alex were still in their pony forms, having been so for the part month and a half. Ryan was a blue pegasus with the mane of alternating tones of brown, while Alex was his red-orange earth pony self with dark green eyes. Behind the two stallions were Applejack, Alex's marefriend, and Rainbow Dash, who was Ryan's marefriend.
Ryan and Alex were both telling each other funny stories involving them adjusting to lives as ponies. Such stories usually consisted of Ryan crashing to the ground and Alex bucking a tree with branches that were too long, causing the apples to fall onto his head.
Meanwhile Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sharing similar stories about their coltfriend’s misfortunes, and how they reacted to it, which was always laughing like crazy.
“So ya crashed into Derpy when ya’ll were going through town yesterday?” Alex asked, obviously trying to stifle a laugh.
Ryan let out a sigh, “Yeah.”
Just then Rainbow Dash let out one of her obnoxious laughs from behind him, “Ha! And the best part was that it was your fault, not hers! The first time Derpy was in an accident that wasn’t her fault in any way.”
Ryan blushed a deep crimson. He had gotten pretty good at flying, scratch that he had gotten to be VERY good at flying. In fact, he was now able to keep up with Rainbow Dash when she went three-quarters of her top speed, which was very impressive considering how fast she could really fly at 100%, meaning that even her going 75% her top speed was very fast.
The problems with flying arose because Ryan was a, for lack of a better word, klutz.
Actually, "klutz" was a very appropriate word for him.
Even on Earth he would always be the one to drop his soda all over the floor, break a dish when he was washing it, or stub his toe on every, single thing that happened to by laying on the floor.
So when he flew, while good at it, he always seemed to crash into something or somepony else. This was usually brought on when he lost his concentration when thinking about Rainbow Dash. Once his eyes fell on her graceful body, streaking through the clouds like a cyan and rainbow-colored bullet, Ryan entered "lovey-dovey" mode and was doomed to fall to the ground or crash.
One time, he even crashed through the window of Fluttershy’s cottage, scaring most of the animals into hiding, including Fluttershy herself, who dove under her sofa until she realized it was only Ryan being…Ryan.
Angel was the only one of Fluttershy’s animals that didn’t hide. Instead, he angrily stuck a baby carrot up Ryan’s nose. Once Rainbow Dash found him on the floor, a smug looking bunny standing over him as he looked up at her with an annoyed expression and an orange protrusion coming out of his nostril, she fell to the floor and laughed like she always did when Ryan did something this clumsy, which happened to be almost every day.
“Hey you guys!” Pete said excitedly as the four ponies walked up to the counter, “what can I do for you?”
“Heya Pete, we were just wonderin’ if ya got any of those cupcakes with those funny lookin' symbols on ‘em.” Applejack asked.
“You mean the NFL cupcakes?” Pete asked, pointing to an array of cupcakes, each one with a very well detailed logo for each NFL team.
Except the Patriots of course. Pete, being a Bills fan, would never allow such pure evil make its way into Ponyville.
Instead, Pete made cupcakes with the remaining thirty-one teams’ logos on them, and they were surprisingly popular for being in a dimension where nopony knew what the NFL was, let alone the actual teams.
“Yep!” Applejack said as she pointed to the Dallas Cowboys cupcakes, “We’ll take a dozen of them there Cowpony ones.”
“Cowboys.” Alex corrected, earning a glare from Ryan.
Ryan cleared his throat and pointed to the most epic cupcakes in the shop, the most beautiful and badass pastries in all of Ponyville, and possibly in all of existence.
“A dozen of the New York G-MEN!!!” Ryan said before turning to Alex with a cocky smile.
“Ha, Giants suck.” Alex spat back
“Really?” Ryan asked mockingly as he put his hoof to his chin, as if he were pondering the question when he was really just being snarky, “I seem to recall them winning the last Superbowl.”
Alex glared as Ryan stuck his tongue out at him. Just then, Applejack put her hoof onto Alex’s back, “Well ah think the Cowboys, or whatever they’re called, are just dandy and can beat yer Giants any day of the week.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow Dash asked as she trotted over to Ryan’s side, now entering her competitive mode, “Well I’ve talked with Ryan, and he says the Giants whooped the Cowmares twice this year on their way to the championship, so they’re clearly the better team.”
Now, like the rest of Equestria, Rainbow Dash and Applejack knew nothing about the NFL, but anytime Alex or Ryan got competitive with something, they would side with their coltfriend and join in the fun by defending their own side. Actually, ever since moving to Ponyville, Alex and Ryan got dragged into more competitions than they had ever been in at home, simply because of Applejack and Rainbow Dash being competitive with each other. Not that they complained about it, after all, being bronies made competing on the behalf of Applejack and Rainbow Dash the biggest honor they ever had in their lives.
“Doesn’t matter, Cowboys have more Super Bowls.” Alex shot back, responding to Rainbow Dash’s comment about the Giants.
“That’s the past man. Right now, Eli is the most clutch quarterback in the league, and Romo is a choke artist.” Ryan snapped back.
“Okay, well enough of that.” Pete muttered, wanting to change the subject, as Pinkie Pie hauled up two boxes with the cupcakes in them.
“Here you four go! A dozen Cowboy cupcakes and a dozen Giant cupcakes!” she said happily, “I hope you enjoy them guys!”
Ryan and Alex put five bits each onto the counter as Rainbow Dash and Applejack started to strap the boxes on the boys’ backs with their teeth, as they didn’t have magic, so they could be carried back.
“We will, thanks Pinkie.” Alex said before suddenly remembering to ask, “Hey, don’t ya’ll have a dinner with Lyra and Bon-Bon tonight?”
Pete and Pinkie Pie looked down before Pete spoke up, “We were supposed to, but we’re going to have to cancel.”
“Why?” Applejack asked.
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Cake want us to work until nine-thirty.”
“Doesn’t the bakery close at six?” Rainbow Dash asked
“Not anymore, it’s going to stay open later to sell more cakes.” Pinkie Pie said with disappointment before perking back up, “but, we can always re-schedule; right Petey?”
Pete looked down at her and nodded, “Right.”
“Hey, ah’ve got an idea.” Alex said as he turned to Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Ryan, “why don’t we take over their shift so they can go?”
Everypony behind him nodded with smiles while Pete and Pinkie Pie just stared at them, small smiles cracking on their faces.
“You’d do that?” Pete asked.
“You betcha’.” Applejack said with a wink, which made Pinkie excited.
“Would Mr. Cake mind?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I don’t know, let me ask!” Pinkie Pie said with complete enthusiasm before she bolted off into the back, where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were. After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie burst back through the door, bouncing around happily.
“He said yes!” she said giddily, bouncing around while humming a happy tune.
Mr. Cake came through with a small smile on his face
“We can take over their shift?” Ryan asked.
“Yes, it shouldn’t be an issue. I mean, the cakes are all pre-made or being finished right now, so all you’d have to do is sell what we already have out.”
“Wow, ah can’t believe you trust so much when we ain’t even employees.” Applejack said.
Mr. Cake shrugged, “To be honest, you’re more trustworthy than some of my current employees.”
He then motioned his head over to the back, where Pinkie Pie was holding a can of whipped cream up to her muzzle, hoping to just get a teensy, tiny bit into her mouth to enjoy. Unfortunately, she pressed down too hard and sprayed a massive stream of the cream right into her face.
Once she realized what had happened, she quickly used her tongue to lick most of the whipped cream off her face, leaving only a little on her muzzle.
Once again, cartoon physics you never cease to amaze.
“I think we see your point.” Said Rainbow Dash with some disgust as Pinkie Pie turned to them and waved, some whipped cream still dripping out of her nose and mouth, giving her the appearance of a pony with rabies.
“Like I said, it’s like trying to understand The Tree of Life.” Pete said with a sigh, but smiling. After all, it was her wacky antics that made Pinkie Pie so endearing to him. After a bit, the four ponies left to bring their cupcakes back to their homes before they would come back to take over the shift at six-thirty.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake left for dinner around five forty-five, and were planning for it to be a long and relaxing evening so, as they said, they wouldn’t be back until it was roughly ten.
Pete and Pinkie Pie finished adding frosting to the last few cupcakes when Ryan and Rainbow Dash walked in, ready to take over the night shift.
“Oh hey you guys, are you ready?” Pinkie Pie asked and both Ryan and Rainbow Dash nodded.
“Yeah, definitely,” Ryan said as he looked around, “um, where’s Alex and AJ?”
“Not here yet.” Pete said as he took off his apron, which had been made by Rarity so it could fit his human physique, and walked back to hang it up. “But Pinkie and I are gonna head out now. It’s almost seven and I don’t want to keep Lyra and Bon Bon waiting.”
“Yeah, especially Bon Bon, she can get kind of cranky, which is sort of ironic considering how sweet-sounding her name is. Bon Bon, he-he, Bon Bon.” Pinkie Pie kept repeating the name and giggling as she started to trot out of the shop, Pete right behind her. Pete turned and pointed to the baked goods, “Remember, only sell what we have in stock and do NOT use the oven for any reason.”
Ryan and Rainbow Dash nodded.
“Don’t worry guys, we’ve got this covered!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly before Pete and Pinkie both walked out.
Once they were gone, Ryan and Rainbow Dash walked behind the counter and put on two of the four chef’s hats that were laid out for them. They then walked over to the register and sat down.
“So, did you apologize to Derpy yet for smashing into her?” Rainbow Dash asked with a teasing smile, something that Ryan had grown accustomed to. For being opposites in personality, Ryan being more passive and less confident versus Rainbow Dash being more assertive and more confident, they both got along splendidly, which should be surprising after everything they’ve been through.
Besides, Rainbow Dash’s cockiness wasn’t mean; Ryan knew that it was just in good fun. After all, she wanted Ryan to become more assertive and confident in himself, and she always tried to get him to be the best possible flier he could.
While not being better than her, of course.
“Of course I did.” Ryan said with a blush, as he was embarrassed for having made such a fool out of himself.
“How did you say it?”
Ryan looked at Rainbow Dash and sighed, “I said, I was sorry and I just didn’t know what went wrong and…”
“That’s what she says.” Rainbow Dash said flatly.
Ryan’s face fell as he suddenly realized he had mocked Derpy without realizing it. Well, not mocked, but impersonated her in a way that was pretty rude.
Ryan put his face into his hooves from shame, “Oh crud.”
“Watching us on TV made you do that without realizing it, didn’t it?” Rainbow Dash asked with a knowing smile as she nudged Ryan playfully before laughing, “Man you’ve got to be careful, most ponies still don’t know about them being part of a cartoon and they’d freak out if they found out.”
“Did you?” Ryan asked.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, “No way! I thought it was awesome! Creatures in a distant universe get to see my awesomeness, what’s not to like?”
Ryan rolled his eyes at Rainbow Dash's cockiness. Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh before she hugged and kissed him on the cheek, earning a smile and blush from the male pegasus.
“Hey love-ponies, what’s goin’ on?”
Rainbow Dash looked up, somewhat surprised, to see Alex and Applejack walk into the shop with smiles on their faces, making both Ryan and Rainbow Dash blush slightly.
“Not much, we just got here. What took you two so long?” Ryan asked.
“Ugh, tell them Alex.” Applejack said in a way that suggesting that something irritating had happened.
“Well, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying out clay-molding to see if it was their special talent, so they got a pottery wheel and clay and, well, do ah need ta say anything else?” Alex said as he used his hoof to try and get some wet clay out of his mane.
“Messy?” Ryan asked.
“It was like somepony painted the entire room in mud.” Applejack muttered as she walked back to grab her and Alex’s chef hats. She put her own Stetson hat down on the counter where the picked up the chef’s hat and trotted back over and placed the hat onto Alex’s head.
“Well did they get their cutie mark?” Ryan asked. Both Alex and Applejack shot him a, “what do you think?” look before Ryan held up his hooves defensively, “I was just asking, geez.”
“Whatever, hey look let’s just get started with this whole “taking over Pinkie Pie’s shift thing.”
They all nodded and proceeded to begin the long wait for customers...if there even happened to be any.
Lyra and Bon Bon’s House
“Pete! Pinkie Pie! You finally made it!” Lyra said excitedly as she wrapped her hooves around both of them, squeezing them tight.
Once she broke the hug, she moved to the side and gestured them inside, “Please, make yourselves at home, dinner’s almost ready.”
“Thank you Lyra.” Pete said with a smile.
“Thank you very much Lyra!” Pinkie said as she bounced in after Pete.
Lyra and Bon Bon’s house was very quaint, as was the rest of Ponyville. The floors were covered in red carpet and the walls were a green, giving the home a very relaxing feel.
“It reminds me of Christmas.” Pete thought to himself with a smile.
“Well, dinner should be ready shortly.” Lyra said with the same, welcoming smile she always seemed to have.
“Where’s Bon Bon?” Pinkie Pie asked, moving her head quickly from left to right.
Lyra rolled her eyes and pointed upstairs.
"She's still getting ready," she muttered as she trotted to the bottom of the stairs, “Bon Bon get down here, we have company!”
“Give me a minute Miss Impatient, I’m still washing up!” came Bon Bon’s voice from upstairs.
“Well hurry up!” Lyra shouted back before turning to the other two, “Sorry about that, you’re welcome to sit down if you’d like.”
She pointed towards an opening that led to the dining area, which Pete and Pinkie Pie both went into.
Lyra used her magic to pull the chairs out so they could sit down, “There you go.”
Pete and Pinkie Pie both thanked Lyra before taking their seats at the table. They talked for a little bit, Lyra not asking any questions about humans as this was strictly a get-together between friends, and she didn’t want to force her obsession onto her friends anymore than she already had over the past month and a half.
After a little bit, there was the familiar sound o hoof-steps coming down the stairs, followed by Bon-Bon making an appearance, her eyes half-closed and her face lacking any sign of interest in her company.
Now it’s time for some more explanation. Even though she wasn’t scared of humans, Bon Bon was never the most welcoming towards them. Lyra always tried to act like she did, but Bon Bon’s attitude proved otherwise. Whenever Pete ran into Bon Bon, she would just have a look of annoyance on her face.
He assumed it was because of Lyra’s immense interest in humans that Bon-Bon was not really welcoming of Pete, Louis and James. She didn’t mind Carl, Ryan and Alex as much, though, as they were no longer humans and Lyra only expressed a slight interest in them, namely asking questions involving “what’s it’s like to go from being a human to being a pony”. Also, there was word that she had a bit of a crush on Alex, who seemed to be the stallion all the girls wanted a piece of, but never dared say so for fear that Applejack would find out and put a vendetta on them involving their heads and her back-legs.
“Sorry for being late, my hair just wouldn't stay tame.” Bon Bon muttered as she made her way to her seat, which Lyra had graciously pulled out for her. She looked as she always did, her blue and pink mane curled in the front and turquoise eyes.
“No problem.” Lyra said with a smile, nervous smile before she began to use her aura to dish out the food.
Pete noticed that Bon Bon was looking away from him; with the occasional hate-filled glare that made his blood run cold and his head almost instinctively turn away.
Geez, what's her problem? Pete thought, though he was pretty sure it had to do with him being a human, and her apparent annoyance at Lyra's obsession.
Sugarcube Corner
“Ugh I am soooooo bored!” Rainbow Dash moaned as she face-planted into the counter before hitting it a few times in frustration. She and Applejack were at the register in case any customers decided to show up, while Ryan and Alex were having a friendly arm-wrestling contest behind them on a table. So far, not one pony stopped by.
“Well suck it up, we got another two hours of this.” Applejack said with an equally bored tone as she spun a bit coin around on the counter, watching as it spun around before coming to a stop, falling tails-up.
“Where are all these supposed customers?” Rainbow Dash asked, gesturing to the door, where not a single pony had entered since the four had taken over.
“Ah don’t know, maybe because it’s the first night and most ponies don’t know about the later hours yet.” Applejack answered as she spun the coin again. "Ah mean, they just started runnin' later today, so most ponies probably still think it's closed."
Rainbow Dash wasn't listening to Applejack's explanation, she was to busy watching her spin the coin around on the counter. Maybe it was the extreme boredom getting to her, but Rainbow Dash suddenly saw spinning a coin around without a purpose as fascinating, and possibly fun.
“Um AJ, what are you doing with that coin?”
Applejack stopped the coin in mid-spin and looked up at Rainbow Dash, her green eyes showing how she was as bored as the cyan pegasus was, “Ah’m just spinnin’ it cause ah ain’t got anythin’ else ta do.”
Rainbow Dash continued to watch as Applejack spun the coin again and it falls over, this time heads-up. Applejack was about to spin again when Rainbow Dash held her hoof out and spoke up.
“Wait!" she said. Applejack stopped and looked up at Rainbow Dash.
"What?"
"I bet it falls heads-up again.” Rainbow Dash said.
Applejack gave her friend a sly grin, “Oh, do ya now?”
“Yeah, I do.” Rainbow Dash said with a very cocky smile, “in fact, how about we have a little contest to see who can guess which side the coin lands on the most?”
Applejack nodded, “It’s on!”
They did their spit-hoof-shake like thing to make it a deal and began to compete. Alex and Ryan watched from a distance, no longer arm-wrestling and just enjoying the sight of their two girls competing against each other. Both of them had big, dopey grins on their muzzles.
“Um, Ryan, are we really watchin’ a contest start between AJ and Rainbow Dash?”
“Uh-huh.” Ryan said.
Just then, both boys looked at each other as their brony nature, which never really left them, flooded back and turned them into the two fan-boys they had been before they met he girls. The both sprinted over so they were right behind the girls, leaving a cartoony dust-cloud in their wake. They had often see the two compete with each other, and every time they'd react in the same way.
Like they were now.
“This is gonna be so awesome!” They both whispered in ecstatic unison as they continued to watch the girls finish their first game.
Rainbow Dash guessed right on the last spin and began to dance around, “Hah! I won! Wanna go again AJ?”
Applejack nodded, “Of course, ya’ll ain’t gettin’ off that easy.” She then turned to the boys and smiled, “Are ya’ll enjoyin’ watchin’ us?”
Both Ryan and Alex nodded like the two lovesick ponies that they were, cheeks red and smiles still plastered on their faces. Two bronies, now ponies, slipping from sane, regular ponies and suddenly entering the stage known as the "fan-gasm".
Both girls looked at each other and laughed at the boys' reactions.
“Well, let’s give these two fellas a show.” Rainbow Dash said as she and AJ continued to spin the coin, shouting happily with each victory they obtained, while Alex cheered for Applejack and Ryan cheered for Rainbow Dash.
Lyra and Bon Bon’s House
“Mmmmm!!! Lyra these daisy sandwiches are deeeeeeelicious!!!” Pinkie Pie said with excitement as she continued to eat the sandwich that was laid out in front of her, having trouble limiting herself to smaller, polite bites. She normally would have finished the sandwich in t-minus thirty seconds, but Pete convinced her to slow her eating down when they were in the presence of company, something she still had trouble doing.
“Thanks Pinkie,” Lyra said with a kind smile. She turned to Pete, “Pete, what do you think?”
Pete smiled and gave Lyra two-thumbs up, making the unicorn laugh.
“Ah that’s good, glad to hear you like it.”
“What does that mean?” Bon Bon asked, looking at Pete’s two-thumbs up with her eyebrows raised.
“A thumbs up means he likes it,” Lyra said as she lifted her sandwich up with her magic, ready to take a bite, “it’s a human thing; a thumbs up means good while a thumbs down means bad. I got two thumbs up for these sandwiches, so I’ve done great.”
Lyra laughed a little bit before taking another bite of her sandwich, but Bon Bon didn’t seem so willing to drop the subject.
“I take it those things are the thumbs you seem so fascinated with?” Bon Bon asked Lyra, just as she took a bite out of her sandwich. Lyra shot a glare at Bon Bon while she chewed her food.
“Yeah,” she answered with a mouthful of the sandwich before she swallowed it, “humans have this….”
“Please don’t talk about humans right now, I’m so tired of them.” Bon Bon muttered as she rubbed her forehead before she looked up at Pete and flatly said, “No offence.”
Pete nodded as if he accepter her obviously faux apology, but still could feel a knot grow in his stomach.
“You’re the one who started it by asking about thumbs.” Lyra shot back.
“Well now I’m ending it, your little obsession really grates on my nerves and I’d rather just eat without hearing every little tidbit about humans that you know.”
“Oh like you’re so much better? You talked about your love of candy just as much as I talk about humans!”
“I do not!” Bon Bon snapped back, a look of pure insult on her face.
“Really? You don’t come in every day and say how I’ve got to try the new chocolate you’re selling that’s all the rage in Manehattan? That you just got a new shipment of butterscotch candies? What makes you think I have any interest in those things!? It's candy for Celestia's sake!!!”
The two ponies continued to argue while Pete and Pinkie Pie just looked at each other nervously. Both of them were so used to Lyra’s friendly behavior, and seeing her so angry was sort of frightening.
“You know what, I’m done for the night,” Bon Bon spat as she turned and looked back at Pete and Pinkie Pie, “Good night you two, don’t let your two weird hind legs trip over each other on the way out Pete.”
And with that, Bon-Bon stormed upstairs to her bedroom. Pete and Pinkie Pie just watched her go, their jaws on the floor and eyes wide.
“Um…okay.” Pete muttered, still taken aback by Bon Bon’s outburst.
“Sheesh, what’s nipping at her flank?” Pinkie Pie asked Lyra, who was looking down at her still unfinished sandwich as some tears rolled down her eyes and landed on the bread.
“I’m so sorry about all of that you two.” She managed to choke out, “I…I didn’t realize that Bon Bon would act like that. she had kind of a bad day at work, I'm so sorry.”
Pinkie Pie shrugged it off with a smile, “Oh, it’s not a big deal Lyra, really.”
“Excuse me, I’m going to go try to talk with her.” Lyra said as she jumped out of her seat, eyes still showing the all too familiar shine of tears, and trotted to the stairs. Pete and Pinkie pie just silently nibbled at their sandwich, Pinkie having no longer having any desire to wolf down her sandwich like she had before.
Sugarcube Corner
“Come on AJ, ya can do it!”
“Dashie, she doesn’t have anything on you!!”
"Don't listen ta that jamoke Applejack, you own!!"
"Make her taste the rainbow!!!"
Alex looked over at Ryan, "You know based on all of the fanfics with these two," he gestures to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "that's possibly the most wrong thing you could possibly say."
Ryan ignored Alex and continued to cheer Rainbow Dash on.
After nearly two hours of waiting for customers to come in, and having no luck, the four ponies had decided to find any means to entertain themselves that they could.
And with Rainbow Dash and Applejack present, the ensuing competitions were inevitable.
Right now, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both standing on their front hooves, like a hand-stand, and seeing who could keep their balance the longest. Rainbow Dash had won the coin-spinning challenge, as well as a strength competition, using flour bags as weights. This victory surprised even Rainbow Dash, as she knew how strong Applejack was, which led to a very flamboyant victory dance, which included her doing the moonwalk, the robot, and break-dancing while in mid-air.
Those two victories for Rainbow Dash led to Applejack pushing for more competitions, which is why both mares were now upside down on their front hooves, trying not to fall over until the other succumbed.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash felt her arms wobble and she was the first to fall forward, finally losing a competition.
Applejack happily jumped back up onto all four hooves and cheered, “Ye-haw! Ah told ya nopony can beat mah balance.”
“I could if you let me use my wings.” Rainbow Dash complained as she got back to her hooves.
“Now, now RD, we already agreed on no wings so it would be fair.”
“Whatever. Hey, what do you guys want us to do next?” Rainbow Dash asked as she and Applejack turned to their coltfriends, only to see them still staring at them in the same lovesick, fan-boy way they had before. But it wasn’t really just their love, but their fan-boy natures that were causing them to stare in astonishment.
“Um, ya fellas all right?” Applejack asked, snapping them both out of their trances.
“Huh? Oh ya, sorry AJ ah was just letting mah brony side take over.”
“So you live with us for over a month, and you ogle us like you did when we were your favorite, fictional characters on the show?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well…yeah.” Ryan said with a blush and sheepish smile.
Both girls looked at each other and smiled, “Ah think it’s time for them to do some competin’ against each other while we stare at them.” Applejack said while trying to stifle a laugh.
“I think that sounds great, we’ll see how they like it.” Rainbow Dash responded as just then the bell rang, signaling that a customer had just entered the shop for the first time that night.
“Hey there.” Said the green earth pony, “I’m here for my usual.”
All four ponies looked at each other in confusion before they turned back to the pony, “Um…usual?”
“Yeah…you know…." He gestured like they were supposed to know, oblivious to the fact that all four of them were on their very first shift of work at Sugarcube corner. He eventually stopped gesturing with his hoof when he realized they had no idea what he was talking about and pointed to the display counter, “Look, just give me one of those green cupcakes.”
“Green?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah.” The stallion said as he pointed at the line of NFL cupcakes, singling out the one with the Philadelphia Eagles logo on it. “One of those cupcakes with the white bird on it.”
Applejack put two pairs of covers on her hooves, which were like sterile gloves for handling food. She pulled the tray of cupcakes out of the glass enclosure and gently picked up the cupcake with her hooves, balancing it delicately before putting it onto the counter while Rainbow Dash quickly boxed it up.
“You sure you wouldn’t prefer a nice Giants one?” Ryan asked the pony, pointing to the blue and red iced cupcakes with the “NY” on it.
“Or a Cowboys one?” Alex added, pointing to the silver and blue-iced cupcakes with the blue star on it.
“No, the green one is fine.” the pony replied.
"How about a Redskins one?" Ryan asked, "we don't care about them, they suck anyway."
The pony simply pointed his hoof down at the Eagles cupcake, a very annoyed look on his face, like a Hans Landa impersonator. It was a look that told Alex and Ryan that he wasn't yielding his desire for the green-iced pastry to anypony.
Alex and Ryan looked at each other with angry expressions as Rainbow Dash handed the box to the pony, “There you are sir, enjoy!"
The pony's serious expression fell, replaced by the happy smile he had upon entering the store.
“Thanks!” he said as he dropped a bit onto the counter and lifted the box by the ribbon that went around it, almost as if it were a gift rather than a simple snack, and trotted out with the box handing from his muzzle. His eyes were closed and a satisfied smile was on his face.
Alex and Ryan just stared as he left and sighed, “Why did he have to want the Eagles one?” Ryan asked.
“What’s the big deal?” Applejack inquired as she closed up the display counter and walked opened the register to put the coin in it.
“The Eagles are in the same division as the Giants and Cowboys, and Ryan and ah hate them more than any other team. Heck, ah hate them more than the Giants.”
"And I hate them more than the Cowgirls."
Alex turned and gave Ryan a "stink-eye", "Don't push it, man."
“You two act strange when it comes to this football stuff.” Applejack said flatly, showing how little interest she had in the human sport that in no way shape or form influenced her life in Equestria.
“So, are you boys ready to do some competitions for us to watch?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smile.
Both boys went back into fan-boy mode and nodded furiously at their marefriends.
Both girls grinned and looked at each other, “Great!”
Lyra and Bon Bon’s House
"Come on Bon Bon, you can’t stay in your room like this.” Lyra said as she knocked on the door.
“No, you tell your little obsession and his marefriend to leave.” Bon Bon called out from the other side.
“No! Bon Bon, they are our guests and you are being completely rude!”
“I don’t care, I’m so sick of you talking about those creatures.”
Lyra sighed, “Bon Bon, you’re being a real jerk. I invited them here and so that we could have a great evening. But instead, you went out and ruined it because of your grudge with me.”
“It isn’t a grudge, it’s an annoyance!” Bon Bon shouted in fiery aggravation.
“Please Bon Bon, don’t make this evening any worse than it already has been. Now look, I understand that you had a bad day at work when you got into an argument with that customer over the quality of your chocolate, but please don’t take that out on Pete or Pinkie Pie, they didn’t do anything.”
"It wasn't just that Lyra."
"What do you mean?"
"She said I was weird for living with you," Bon Bon said. "Every day, ponies talk about your little obsession with humans and I can often just ignore it, but that mare called me out in front of everypony in town. I've never been so humiliated."
Bon Bon might not have been visible to Lyra, but the sea-green mare knew that her roommate was crying.
Lyra sighed, "Look, Bon Bon, I understand how my interest can get a bit out of hoof; you have no idea how much I appreciate you putting up with it. But you can't let other ponies make you feel bad about yourself. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm the one who's weird, not you."
"Lyra you're not..."
"No Bon Bon, don't try to deny it, I know my interest in humans is odd, and can be a bit much at times." Lyra said quietly, "but those two downstairs don't judge either of us. They are our true friends. They won't judge you because you hang out with me, and I would greatly appreciate it if you'd give them a chance."
After a few minutes, Lyra looked down in defeat, thinking that Bon Bon wouldn’t come out and she mentally gave up
“If you need me, I'll be downstairs.”
Lyra turned and started to walk off to the staircase when she heard a door open. She turned to see Bon Bon standing behind her with tears in her eyes, but they weren’t tears or anger, they were tears of sorrow.
“Lyra, I’m…I’m sorry.” Bon Bon looked down as she continued to silently cry.
Bon Bon walked over to her friend and hugged her as Lyra hugged her back.
“It’s okay.”
They broke the hug and smiled at each other before they both went downstairs to salvage the dinner. Once back in the dining room, they saw that Pinkie Pie was going on and on about a time where she accidentally dropped an entire cake on a customer.
“That must’ve gotten them pretty mad.” Pete laughed.
“Oh, yeah it did, but when they realized they could just lick it off, I mean…that I could just lick it off, it was fine!”
“Off of their body or yours?”
“Mine, oh no they didn’t like my method of cleaning, and wouldn't let me lick them clean for some reason. Thought it was disturbing…or disgusting…or something like that.”
“I can’t imagine why.” Pete said sarcastically just as they heard somepony clear their throat behind them. They turned to see Lyra standing behind them with a very sorrowful looking Bon Bon.
“I’m sorry for everything.” She muttered. "I'm sorry that I acted so rude earlier when you two just wanted to have a nice evening."
Pete and Pinkie Pie looked at each other and smiled before Pinkie turned back to Bon Bon.
“Don’t worry about it Bon Bon, it’s water under the bridge. Wait! Petey is that the right saying?”
Pete nodded and Pinkie smiled even greater before turning back to Bon Bon and Lyra.
“Great!” Lyra said as she pointed her hoof over to the empty seat where Bon Bon was sitting before she had her little meltdown. Bon Bon gave Lyra a thankful smile and walked over to the seat, her green friend right behind her as they prepared to salvage what was left of the dinner.
Sugarcube Corner
Alex and Ryan were back to what they were doing before, which was arm-wrestling, or hoof wrestling or whatever you want to call it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were with them, cheering on their respective coltfriends, just as Ryan and Alex had done with them before.
This competition wasn’t their first, either. The girls, in their attempt at revenge against the boys, made them compete in a push-up contest a few minutes before, which Ryan had won due to the practice he had with Rainbow Dash. And by “practice”, I mean “screwing up so bad that his marefriend turned coach would punish him with a set of 50 push-ups”.
“Come on sugarcube, that feather-winged weaklin’ ain’t got anything on you.” Applejack said as she flashed a competitive glare at Rainbow Dash.
“Don’t listen to her Ryan, you’ve got this. Just finish off that apple-bottomed wuss.” Rainbow Dash laughed before shooting an equally competitive glare at Applejack.
“Now don’t be insultin’ our cutie marks RD.” Applejack shot back.
"Whatever...GO RYAN!!!"
"GOOO ALEXXXXX!!!"
Both girls continued to shout at their boyfriends with increasing volume until Alex managed to not only pin Ryan, but did it so effectively that Ryan went toppling over onto the ground. Alex raised his two front hooves into the air and closed his eyes while Applejack cheered.
“Ye-haw, nice work there Alex!”
She and Alex kissed while Rainbow Dash walked over to help Ryan up.
“Need a hoof?” she asked with a smile.
Ryan shook his head, “Nah, I’m okay.”
He stood up as Rainbow Dash chuckled, “You know, now I’m gonna have to make you do extra push-ups to get your arms stronger.”
“But I beat Alex with push-ups.”
“Well then how in the hay did you lose to him arm-wrestling?” Rainbow Dash asked with a laugh, “tomorrow you’re doing more of them, no excuses.”
“Yippee.” Ryan said unenthusiastically.
Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash noticed Ryan's sarcasm and wasn't too happy.
“Aaaaannnnd, for being such a wise-guy, you’ll have to do those extra push-ups them while I lay on your back.” Rainbow Dash said with a wink, making Ryan blush. He had to quickly stifle a fit of laughter that threatened to make an appearance had he not held back his emotions.
“Well ah do think it’s almost time for Pete and Pinkie ta get back here.” Alex said as he looked toward the door, seeing nopony coming.
“What time is it?” Applejack asked.
“Um…” Alex looked up at the clock that hung on the wall just above the door, “it’s eight-thirty, so they should be getting back soon.”
The four friends decided that they had enough competition for the night and decided just to talk; occasionally a kiss between each couple would make an appearance.
Lyra and Bon Bon’s House
“Wait! So you actually told her to get away from your stand before you kicked her flank back to where she came from?” Pete asked, suppressing laughter while Bon-Bon, now blushing in embarrassment from her story, nodded.
“I’m not the mare you can just push around.” She giggled. "Especially when she picks on my closest friend."
She gave Lyra a smile, which made the unicorn giggle and wave her off, clearly flattered at the compliment.
“I can see that.” Pete said as he at the last bit of cake that Lyra had set out for dessert.
“That’s why we’re such great friends,” Bon Bon said as she put her hoof around Lyra, “she’s more of the passive type and I’m more assertive. So when something happens, we can balance each other out.”
“Like when we had that great big parasprite infestation here in Ponyville, our house needed major repairs and the person who came by had the most ridiculous price you could imagine.” Lyra said as she took another bit of cake, using her magic to maneuver the fork so she could bring the delicious treat up to her mouth.
“Even in Ponyville people try to screw you over, eh?” Pete asked and Lyra nodded.
“Yeah, but fortunately Bon Bon here was able to haggle the price down significantly so we could afford it.”
“Oh, how did you do that? Did you do what I do and ask for a price that’s less expensive and then switch it mid-conversation to the more expensive price to the pony you’re talking to changes to the lower price and you wind up paying less for the service offered?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Um…not sure about everything you said there.” Bon Bon said with some uncertainty, which reflected the atmosphere of the entire room after Pinkie Pie’s long-winded explanation, “But, as for what I did, I said that if he didn’t lower the price, Lyra and I would refuse his business and spread word around town that he wasn’t to be hired for his ridiculous prices.”
Bon Bon said as she finished her cake and leaned back in her chair, letting out a relaxed sigh.
They group talked for about ten more minutes before they all decided it was time to go their separate ways. Pete and Pinkie Pie walked towards the door while Lyra and Bon Bon followed them.
“Thanks for inviting us over again you two, we really appreciate it.” Pinkie Pie said with a big smile.
Lyra waved her hoof, “Don’t mention it.”
Just then, Bon Bon said something that nopony expected.
“Hey! Maybe we should schedule something for next week.”
They all turned to her with shocked looks on their faces while she just blushed, “What we…we should. We had a good time tonight, didn’t we?”
“We sure did.” Pete said with a reassuring smile as he got down and hugged Lyra and Bon Bon to say thanks. No it wasn’t anything romantic, it’s just how ponies give thanks, and they are much less rigid than humans are in that regard.
Pinkie followed up and hugged the two mares, who returned hers as well, before she and Pete waved and left the house.
Once they were gone, Lyra used her magic to close the door and turned to Bon-Bon with a smile. Once Bon Bon looked back at her, Lyra hugged her roommate, “Thanks for being so nice.”
Bon Bon hugged her back before they broke it off, “No problem, they’re pretty nice anyway. It was great to have them over for dinner.”
“So you really want them to come over again?”
Bon Bon didn’t answer immediately, but then gave a nod, “Definitely.”
Sugarcube Corner
Pete and Pinkie Pie finally reached Sugarcube corner, still laughing and talking it up when they turned to see four ponies asleep at the counter, apparently overcome with boredom.
“Well, this is a welcoming sight.” Pete muttered. “I hope they were awake when the shop was still open.”
Pinkie Pie walked over to the four unconscious ponies, cleared her throat into her hoof, and shouted, “Hey wakey, wakey we’re back! How was the shop, did any customers come by!?! I hope you didn't miss them because you were asleep!! ”
Now, all four of the ponies opened their eyes. Ryan, Rainbow Dash and Applejack jumped back a little in shock at seeing Pinkie Pie so close to their face, but Alex took things to a whole other lever.
“Oh mah God we’re under attack by a giant cotton candy monster!!!” Alex screamed before he recognized Pinkie Pie, falling onto his back in an embarrassing display of fear.
Ryan, Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked over at the now embarrassed Alex, who was looking away, face red from his outburst, as the all tried to stifle their own laughter at his antics.
“A giant cotton candy monster?” Applejack asked.
Alex smiled sheepishly and let out a little, nervous giggle, “He-he, mah bad.”
“How long were you asleep for?” Pete asked.
“I think only about ten minutes or so.” Rainbow Dash said with a yawn, “sorry it’s just…hardly anypony came by.”
“How was your dinner by the way?” Ryan asked as he leaned forward on the counter.
“It was very nice.” Pete said. "Started a little rocky, but in the end we all had fun."
“Uh-huh, and we’re gonna do it again reeeaalll soon!!!” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle.
They six friends talked for a little bit before Alex, Applejack, Ryan and Rainbow Dash left.
Rainbow Dash still reminding Ryan about the more intense work-out she had planned for the next day, making him fly off into the night to escape her talking about it. She just laughed and flew off after him.
Pete and Pinkie waited for Mr. and Mrs. Cake to come back before they headed upstairs to bed. Apparently their dinner had to change locations from the nice restaurant to a quick fast-food joint when a pony got into a fight with somepony else over a mare that he used to date.
Regardless, they thought the night went exceedingly well just because the act of spending time with each other as husband and wife was always welcome.
Once they closed up shop, Pinkie Pie and Pete both went up to Pinkie Pie’s room and crawled into bed.
“That was an interesting night.” Pete muttered as he got under the covers, “I’m just so glad they didn’t burn the place down.”
Pinkie Pie giggled, “Oh Petey, you worry too much. Sure Rainbow Dash can be a bit rambunctious and Ryan can be a bit clumsy, but Applejack and Alex would be there to handle things responsibly if anything went down.”
Pete and Pinkie Pie nodded and kissed each other before Pete turned the lights off and they went to sleep.
Lyra and Bon Bon's House
Lyra and Bon Bon were both upstairs, Lyra going to her bedroom while Bon Bon went towards the bathroom to brush her teeth. They stopped and smiled.
"Good night Lyra."
"Good night bon Bon." Lyra said as she trotted off towards her room, only to be stopped when she heard her friend call out to her.
"Lyra."
Lyra stopped and turned to Bon Bon, who had a guilty look on her face again.
"I'm sorry again." Bon Bon said with a hint of shame, "You were right, they really are our friends, and I can't beleive how badly I treated them.
Lyra turned to Bon Bon and walked over to her and put her hoof onto her friend's cream-colored coat and nodded.
"Don't worry about it." and with that, Lyra turned and trotted off to her room.
"Good night Bon Bon."
"Good night Lyra."
Once the door to Lyra's bedroom shut, Bon Bon sighed and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, which was surprisingly easier than one might expect for an earth pony.
But before she brushed her teeth, she stood in the middle of the bathroom to reflect on the night, and how she now realized how blessed she was to have a friend like Lyra, no matter what her eccentric interests were, and no matter what anypony else thought about her, Bon Bon didn't care anymore.
Lyra had a good heart, and that's all that counted in a friendship.
********************************************************************************************************************************************************
[A/N] Okay, I'm not sure how good this idea to have short stories based on "Wilmont" is, but I hope this story was an enjoyable read nonetheless.
Anyway, thank for reading and, as always...
Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!!!
