Lyra Grows Bigger For No Reason

Bonbon approached the counter of the bookstore and put down the small armful of books she had been carrying.

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but do you have this in hardback?” said Bonbon as she held out the top book of the stack for the clerk to look at.

“Oh, hello Bonbon, let me see,” she gave a little amused exhale as she read the title, “You’re really looking for a hardcover of ‘True Tales of Cryptid Encounters’? I’m afraid that such a- er, ah -such a niche subject does not have more professional publishing. Forgive me, but why are you interested? It doesn’t seem like your kind of reading material.”

Bonbon let out a frustrated groan, “It’s not for me, it’s for Lyra. She loves garbage like this and I wanted to get some Hearth’s Warming shopping done while she’s away. So, what about these books?” she began to shuffle through the couple other softcovers she was holding, “How about ‘The Real Facts About Space Visitors’ or ‘Ten Real and Terrifying Encounters With Spirits’? Do you have any of those in hardcover?”

“I could check the back, but I’m fairly certain we do not. If I may ask, what’s wrong with the softcovers?

“I mean just look at them,” said Bonbon as she fanned out the three books, “They’d be fine for you or me, but I’m just afraid they might be hard to read for someone like Lyra.

“Oh? Oh. Oooohhhhh of course. Hmm,” the clerk mused, taking one of the books and holding it herself, “Yes I can see how that could be tricky for her. Her hands are that big?”

“I mean, she could make due, but I’d like something comfortable for her. When we’re baking something big like the cookbooks with their wide margins are good since her thumbs won’t cover up all the words. Little paperback volumes like this though? Just imagine if you had to read a whole novel that’s sized like one of those little pocket books.”

“Hmm, that would be frustrating. One moment.” She pulled out a catalogue and began to flip through. “We do have a number of new releases trying to sneak in before Hearth’s Warming. So you’re looking for a larger book about, er, what genre would this be exactly?”

Bonbon shook her her head and smirked, “Really anything with a title that sounds like it was written while wearing a tinfoil hat. Nothing with ‘How-To’ in the title though. I’d really prefer her not putting any of these wacky ideas into practice.

“Okayyy let’s see what I can find. Hmm hmm hmmmmm ah! Here’s one from a more popular author on the supernatural. I large hardcover complete with illustrations that’ll be in by next week. It’s called, ‘Eyes In The Trees: My True And Shocking Encounter With Extradimensional Apes’ by Cracked Pot.”

“Perfect.”

“What in Celestia’s name am I supposed to get for her!?” fretted Lyra as glanced worriedly at the shops she paced past.

She had managed to get away from Bonbon for a time through a simple yet effective strategy of announcing that she had to do something in Canterlot and then running away to avoid follow-up questions. Bonbon by this point knew not to bother asking what she was getting herself up to since she felt that most of the time she was better off not knowing.

As the winter air blew past her she shivered a little as one would expect from her insufficient winter coat. Even though her pants were too short her boots still made up the difference, but her coat revealed a hint of her tummy and about half of her forearms. She avoided getting a new one since the cost and time to make something like this meant it would probably be a lot of money spent only for something she’d have already outgrown. She still enjoyed being big, but perhaps reaching 8’8 was not as fun when it brought the risk of freezing to death.

Her large winter boots clunked against the stone path as she walked back along the route she’d already come, hoping that maybe a store would suddenly inspire her. That didn’t happen so she took the safe option and ducked into a nearby jewellery store.

The bell announcing a new customer entering dingled loudly as the door nearly came off its hinges from the force of her opening it. When she was excited like this she could forget just how much muscle was packed on to her large body. She also tended to forget just how tall she was and the bell dinged again accompanied by the sound of metal rending as she bonked her head on it and its supporting frame when she stood up too quickly after ducking under the doorway. She chuckled nervously at the shopkeeper and easily bent it back into place, though it still looked a little wonky.

“And how might I help you today, Miss Heartstrings? Struggling for a gift I take it?”

Her eyes bulged in surprise, “How did you know that?” Did he have psychic powers!?

“I saw you walk past about five times now. Don’t worry, I know the look well. Though I am quite surprised to see you in so soon. Normally you wait a couple more weeks before come in desperate for a gift.”

She laughed, “Am I really that predictable? I must not do this every year.”

“About five years now, which is probably about as long as you’ve been desperate to shop for Bonbon? Again, don’t worry, I’ve had the same yearly conversation with Mr. Cake for what must be fifteen years at this point. Now, what are you envisioning?”

Lyra felt uneasy again. “I really don’t know. I want something she’ll really like, but it’s so hard for her!”

“Well, I know she’s a more practical girl from what you’ve bought in the past. We do have some lovely amber rings in which could be-”

Lyra continued, having been too lost in her thoughts to listen, “It’s just that it’s hard to think of other stuff she likes! We do stuff together a lot so I know she likes me, I mean, of course she does, but getting something like lingerie would be a bit selfish and tying myself up with ribbon would just embarrass her at our Hearth’s Warming party.”

The jeweller reminded himself that he was a married man and to not think about it. “We do have some lovely stone necklaces in too. One is actually made of-”

“And she likes reading, but she already has a like a dozen books she hasn’t gotten to! I can’t get her a new one to add to the pile. Otherwise we do a lot of baking for our store and friends, but what do I do with that?”

The shopkeeper browsed his wares trying to find something to grab her attention, but ultimately sighed and looked up at her. “Well, perhaps there’s something to do with that you could find for her. I must say, you two are quite good at what you do. Like those little mint things you-”

“That’s it! Ow!” Lyra exclaimed. She had shot upwards from her sulking position and banged the back of her head against the chandelier. She turned around and steadied it then faced the shopkeeper again when she was reasonably sure that nothing had been broken. “Sorry, I sometimes forget to duck! It’s easy since 8 foot ceilings are so low I have to, but I forget with these 9 foot ones. Oh! Yes, right, thank you! It’s so obvious! We make all sorts of different sweets, right? But why order in herbs and stuff when we can grow them ourselves! Bonbon would love an herb garden even for normal cooking and stuff. Thank you so much! I- I gotta go!”

Lyra hurried out the door, then quickly popped her head back in. “Oh, and I might be back later for something. Actually, I definitely will. But I gotta do this first. But I’ll be back! Later!” And the door slammed shut again.

The shopkeeper smiled. Well, it wasn’t quite a sale, but at least he helped. And now he looked forward to seeing her again Hearth’s Warming Eve when she absolutely wouldn’t remember to come back until the last second.

*****

Lyra walked briskly down the busy street. She just needed some simple gardening equipment to wrap up for Bonbon. They agreed not to go overboard and get each other too many gifts especially since they didn’t want to embarrass anyone by repeatedly opening presents from each other when they were having a Hearth’s Warming party with friends. But a trowel with some seeds all together in one package would be fine. Hmm, but gardening gloves would be a good idea too. Maybe a sun hat too? Ooh she’d probably look super cute in one of those straw- ah! No, just the trowel and seeds. Focus!

Her long legs carried her quickly and at her size it meant that most who saw her coming got right out of her way. Unless, of course, that person’s vision was obscured due to carrying too many boxes of presents already. Someone like Pinkie Pie.

Lyra barely moved as Pinkie collided with her, but the other much smaller girl got knocked right backward onto her butt as packages scattered everywhere. Pinkie laid there giggling madly while Lyra crouched down and did her best to gather the boxes strewn about.

“I’m so sorry, Pinkie! I should have been looking down more.”

“No, it was fun! Maybe not as much fun or soft as when I was boob height, but I still liked it.” She sat up and her head swivelled from side to side. “Is Bonbon not with you? Ooh! Are you already getting her a Hearth’s Warming Gift?”

“Yes, I told her I was going to be in Canterlot today so shhhh. Don’t let her know.”

“Oooookie! But if you don’t want her to know then you should probably hide because she’s over there.”

Lyra whipped her head around to see her girlfriend walking up the street behind her. She frantically scanned the area for anywhere she could hide herself. She wasn’t exactly able to blend into the crowd and ducking into a store wasn’t an option either since in her hurry she was likely to take out the whole doorframe. That left a narrow space between two of the shops she could sneak into. She had to risk it.

She remained crouched with Pinkie until Bonbon turned to look into a shop window then stood up and hurried to the alley. Turning sideways she got ready to sidle in which would be no mean feat considering how much of her stuck out from the front and back.

She was about to go into the alley when she got pulled back from something holding the front of her coat. She looked down to find that part of the metal used for hanging a sign for the local general store had entered one of the gaps in the buttons of her coat. She stepped towards it in an attempt to unhook herself and let out a little hoot when she felt the cold metal press against the bare skin underneath.

She looked back in horror to see if that had alerted Bonbon behind her only to find her girlfriend trapped in conversation with a very enthusiastic Pinkie who had positioned herself to face Lyra so Bonbon’s back would remain turned to her. In between excitedly babbling about Hearth’s Warming and her stack of gifts she gave a subtle wink at Lyra which to her felt more seductive than conspiratorial, but she got the message.

Lyra returned to attempting to free herself, but the decorative design had apparently wound its way into loose, frayed stands of thread that were all too common for her with the amount of clothes that tore against her body. She just needed a good tug to free herself. Not too hard to destroy it, just a solid pull and she’d be free. She counted down. Three. Two. One.

She pulled way too hard.

With a metallic shriek as the sign bent sideways and a tear of fabric as her coat shredded itself she tumbled into the alley. She looked up to see the sign was now at a ninety degree angle the wrong way and half of her coat was now hanging from the bottom, swaying in the chill wind. Wind that she now really felt since her entire right side was uncovered and what remained of the left part hung limply down at her side.

She quietly cursed at the attention she no doubt drew to herself only to hear Pinkie loudly cry, “Oopsie, I dropped all my gifts again! Mind helping me?” She knew she could count on that girl.

Lyra got to her feet and tried to continue down the alley, but found the experience very unpleasant without her coat. Her chest was large enough that moving sideways like this, even with her back pressed against the other side, had the tips of her breasts touching the other building. This may have been mildly annoying with her coat, but with them bare and with the cold making her nipples harden the sensation was downright unpleasant. Maybe vaguely erotic, she couldn’t help but think, but definitely not something she’d do a second time.

She wasn’t sure what to do now though since she certainly couldn’t step out into the streets like this. She got away with public nudity once on Nightmare Night and didn’t want to risk it again. She didn’t even have the excuse of a growth spurt, she was just dumb!

Trying to look around she was able to lean to the side and see a back door to the general store she had just vandalized and figured that was the best option out of anything. Leaning sideways she could reach down to open the door, cringing when she felt the lock break from the shove she gave it, but trying to duck in just made her head bonk against the wall. Instead she got her feet in the doorway then shimmied down with her back against the wall to fit progressively fit more leg in until she was on her back and could wiggle in the rest of the way. Without anything to hold her breasts they fell to the sides and she had to hold them up with her arms as she got her chest through.

Once inside she sat up and made her way through what was apparently a store room until she found another door and opened it to behind the counter. The poor shopkeeper practically jumped out of his skin at the sudden appearance of this half naked woman that stood over half of his height again.

Lyra smiled politely yet stiffly as she held an arm around her chest. “Heyyy, I doubt you have any coats but do you have a tarp or something I could buy?” She looked around the shop then excitedly pointed, “Oh, and that trowel! I’ll take that!”