There's Always Room for Another

by Evictus

Rating: everyone
Tags: Lyra, Cheerilee, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Bon-Bon
Length: 1852

It's already been long-since established that Lyra and Bon Bon are inseparable. But what happens if a third mare is added into the mix?

It started out with a somewhat average day. Lyra bought a cake from Pinkie and proceeded to accidentally drop it, Bon Bon went off to do some secret-agent-y stuff, and at some point, the former fell asleep on a bench. What makes this day unusual? There's a new mare on the ship.

Edited by TheMajorTechie
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/234887/TheMajorTechie

Published 2018-01-30 15:30:11 UTC
Last updated 2018-01-30 15:30:11 UTC

Chapter

Lyra cantered cheerfully through the streets, on her way to Sugarcube Corner. She'd ordered a cake recently for her marefriend, Bon Bon, and didn't exactly want anypony else to see her at the moment. It wasn't that her crush on the mare was taboo or anything, but rather that it was just a bit... awkward to have Pinkie suddenly shouting the word everywhere.

"Hey, Lyra!" Pinkie waved with a grin as the unicorn entered the bakery, "I got your cake right here, just how you wanted it!"

As Pinkie disappeared into the back room, Lyra nervously glanced about the place. There were very few customers at the moment, given how early it still was. The mare turned back with a surprised shout as Pinkie seemingly materialized before her, the cake in hoof.

"Tada!" Pinkie exclaimed, "One large cake for two! I even put down little hearts on it for--"

Lyra frantically shoved a hoof over Pinkie's muzzle as a few of the customers turned their gazes on the two.

"Shhh," The unicorn whispered to Pinkie, "This is supposed to be secret, remember?"

Pinkie frowned, but quickly shrugged it off. "Okie dokie!" she cheerfully agreed, returning to the counter, "Aaaand you already paid when you ordered, so you're good to go!"

Lyra nodded, and left in a hurry, the cake hovering tediously in her magic. She narrowly avoided several ponies as she swerved and weaved through them while they set up shop for the day. The cake likely wasn't going to last very long in the dry heat of summer.

"Watch out!"

Lyra glanced up from the cake just in time to collide with Bon Bon, the very mare she had bought the cake for. Her eyes widened with shock as she watched the cake become airborne, flipping in the air several times before falling with a resounding splat onto the cobblestone road.

As for the latter mare, she simply stared at the now-ruined cake, the frosting now coating the path rather than the cake itself. "Lyra," she began slowly, "...was that for me?"

The unicorn nodded nervously. She felt the trickle of sweat begin to break beneath her mane, and she didn't need a mirror to know her cheeks were turning redder than Big Mac; she could feel them already.

"Welp." Bon Bon replied passively, "I guess that's gone then."

"But--"

"Shhhhhhhh shh shh shh..." the Earth Pony jokingly hushed, dragging her hoof down Lyra's face, "It's alright. I've got candy in my own shop, remember?"

"But that's just your alias..." Lyra whined loudly, turning a few heads, "You said it yourself even. You're--"

"NOPE!" Bon Bon hollered, leaping towards the mare.

Lyra was abruptly cut off by a rough tackle from the former secret agent Sweetie Drops.

"C'mon, sillyhead." Bon Bon chuckled, peeling herself off of the unicorn, "If you're gonna be shouting that anywhere besides my place, I'm gonna have to take you in for some... questioning."

Lyra froze, a chilly shudder running down her spine as she remembered the last time her marefriend had taken her in for a supposed interrogation.

"C'mon," Bon Bon ushered, a small piece of candy sitting in her hoof as she waved it under Lyra's nostrils, "You know you waaaant iiiiit..."

"St...stahp..." Lyra coughed in return, "I like the blueberry flavored ones better!"

"Come on..." Bon Bon replied, holding the candy even closer to her marefriend, "Strawberry isn't that bad. Just try it!"

Lyra shook her head, unwilling to remember those times.

"Fine, fine." she sighed, turning back to Bon Bon with a goofy smile, "Let's go to your place..."

"...Tonight, though." Bon Bon teased, "I've got some stuff I gotta do first. Just try not to paint the rest of Ponyville with melted frosting while I'm gone."

Lyra watched with a frown as she watched her marefriend disappear into some random unlabeled building donning a pair of sunglasses. It was gonna be a long wait for her.

"C'mon, Cheerilee!" Lyra exclaimed happily as she dragged the mare towards the ferris wheel, "Bon Bon's already there! Let's not keep her waiting."

"But I want cotton candy!" Cheerilee whined as she pointed towards a stand. It was almost as if the foals in her classes had rubbed off on her.

But that was also what Lyra liked in the mare, her playfulness. Being a teacher, she naturally had to understand a foal's mentality, and just that alone made her all the more likeable.

Of course, however, there was already Lyra's long-standing devotion to Bon Bon. While the secret-agent-disguised-as-a-candy-maker was just as fun as Cheerilee likely would've been, she was much more protective, and gave Lyra the comfort of security. Especially so after she revealed her secret agent side to the mare.

Suddenly, the carnival had vanished, and instead Lyra found herself in a tug-of-war between Cheerilee and Bon Bon, with herself tied in the rope they pulled on.

On yank, and she came hurtling towards Bon Bon. Another one came from the other direction, sending Lyra flying towards Cheerilee. Bon Bon, Cheerilee. Bon Bon, Cheerilee... she couldn't quite decide anymore.

"Lyyyy-ra..."

The unicorn let out a snore, oblivious to not only the time of day, but also to the fact that she had slept through lunchtime and dinner, and that the bench she was currently sleeping on also happened to have a large pile of bits gathered in a nearby tin can beside the mare.

"Lyyyyyyy-raaaa" Bon Bon chimed again, playfully ruffling the unicorn's mane with a hoof, "Wake up, bench-dweller. I'm off from work now!"

Lyra groaned, teetering unconsciously on the edge of the bench as her marefriend continued in a futile attempt to wake her.

Finally, with an annoyed huff, Bon Bon glanced down at the can of bits sitting on the ground beside Lyra, and grinned devilishly.

"WAAAKE-UP-LY-RA! WAKE-UP-LY-RA! WAKE-UP-LY-RA!" Pinkie hollered at the top of her lungs, rattling the can of bits mercilessly next to Lyra's ears, "YOUR MAREFRIEND IS WAAAAITING!"

Lyra groaned again, and finally woke, rubbing her eyes with a yawn. "Uh..." she sighed tiredly, "Did I miss anything?"

"You're going to if you don't wake up." Bon Bon deadpanned with a smirk, "C'mon. My place, remember? I've got a little surprise for you..."

The unicorn's eyes shot open as a grin spread across her face.

"Surprise?!" Pinkie shrieked excitedly, "Ooh, can I join in?"

Bon Bon shook her head. "No, Pinkie. Not this time, but I promise that I'll come to your next party... without crashing it."

"Aaaaaand?"

Bon Bon shook her head with a smile. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Satisfied, Pinkie bounded off without a word.

The sound of Bon Bon's hoof on her door echoed through the empty streets of the night. There were very few ponies still out and about, and the ones who were still awake were likely doing some inane task... or reading something.

"Come in!" a muffled voice sounded through the door. Bon Bon took her marefriend's hoof, and began to push the door open.

"Wait--" Lyra hesitated, pulling back from Bon Bon, "Why'd you have to knock on the door of your own house?"

Bon Bon smiled. "You'll see." she answered, entering the house with Lyra in tow.

The two mares entered the darkened house, themselves reduced to nothing but vaguely pony-shaped silhouettes creeping across the moonlit walls.

"Bon Bon?" Lyra whispered to the mare in question, "What's going on?"

Almost as if answering the question, the lights in the house suddenly flickered on, with none other than Miss Cheerilee.

"Wait..." Lyra began with a nervous frown, "Why's Cheerilee here?"

Bon Bon raised a brow, before turning to leave for the kitchen. "She's just here to help set up the little party I've been planning for us. What's wrong with that?"

Lyra turned to face Cheerilee with a blush beginning to form on her face. "I..." she began, "I--"

"You what?" Cheerilee cut off, staring at Lyra.

"I... I think I have a crush on you..." Lyra whispered meekly, shrinking back with every word.

Cheerilee burst out laughing, Bon Bon staring confusedly at the two as she reentered the room with a bowl of popcorn.

"Oh, oh my..." Cheerilee exclaimed, recovering from her fit of laughter, "I honestly didn't expect a mare like you to be interested in me."

"Wha--" Lyra stalled, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"I-I'm sorry." Cheerilee replied, regaining her composure as she patted the mare on the shoulder, "It's just that--"

"Alright, alright." Bon Bon cut in, separating the two as she turned from a loveable candymaker to a stern government agent, "What's going on here?"

"Oh," Lyra quickly answered, "I... is it okay that I also have a crush on Cheerilee?"

Now it was Bon Bon's turn to burst out laughing, with Cheerilee only hanging her head low, remembering that she was the one who had laughed moments prior.

"Wow, Lyra!" Bon Bon exclaimed with a wheeze, "I didn't know you were the kind of mare who'd be into teachers!"

"Hey!" Lyra angrily responded, her tears now streaming down her cheeks in embarrassment, "I'm only saying!"

"Heheh... sorry about that." Bon Bon chuckled, turning to pick up the bowl of popcorn again, "It's just kinda unexpected to hear you, of all ponies, be into not just me, but Cheerilee as well."

The mare paused for a moment, before bursting into laughter again. "And here I thought you were going to someday run off through the mirror portal and marry one of those humans!
Ha!"

"Please..." Lyra quietly wailed, cowering from embarrassment, "Please stop it..."

"Aww, come on." Bon Bon joked, lifting her friend from the floor, "We're just joking. After all, you've gotta expect something to come down if you're admitting something as big as that."

Lyra sniffed, wiping a tear from her eyes with an unsteady smile as Cheerilee pat her slowly on the back, almost as if Lyra were a hurt foal in one of the her classes.

"It's alright..." Cheerilee soothed, "It's okay to like more than one pony, y'know. I've seen my fair share of foals making fun of each other for having crushes. I guess we just got a bit carried away without thinking about what you were feeling."

Lyra nodded shakily as she stood back up, taking Cheerilee in for a hug. "Thanks..." she whispered quietly, the teacher still patting the mare on the back as Bon Bon joined the embrace as well.

Author's Note

Golly-geez, was this a writing exercise for me. I've never quite done romance myself, and I routinely had to refer back to Evictus for clarification on what was what. I've tweaked a few things here and there under his permission to get the story's flow to feel a bit smoother, and hopefully this fluffy little shipfic should help a bit. Also, Cheerilee treating Lyra like a little filly. :rainbowwild:

Anyways, here it is. The story's been planned, drafted, written, edited, rewritten, and published. I hope you enjoyed!

The Editor, TheMajorTechie