• Published 22nd Dec 2012
  • 3,519 Views, 341 Comments

Stability - SlightlyOnline



Even the closest of couples can experience turbulence; it's climbing over the obstacles that block their path that pulls them that much closer. Can Lyra and Bon Bon dispel their troubles in time?

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The Auditions: Part One

The coming days were some of the busiest Lyra had seen in a long time. With the audition swiftly approaching, she had to write a lyre piece astounding enough to impress ponies who judge musicians for a living. And, of course, every mistake possible was being made. Her lyre was out of tune, her timing was off, and every note she struck sounded sour. Despite playing at the Everfree daily, she felt like she just couldn’t improve. Worse yet, she only had one more day to get it all straightened out before her audition. She groaned in disgust at her instrument.

“No! Nothing works!” She felt like she was about to toss the lyre across the room, but luckily, she restrained herself. “Every single note is awful!” Before she caused any damage, she lightly tossed her instrument upon the couch beside her, folding her arms across her chest. “‘Special talent’ my flank!” She wanted to scream.

“Maybe you should take a break, Lyra,” came Bon Bon’s voice in a soft tone from a chair beside her. “You’ve been practicing for days.”

“A break? Nopony succeeds at an audition by taking breaks, Bon Bon! I can’t afford to rest for even a minute, especially with how bad I am right now!”

“Working yourself into the ground isn’t going to help anypony, Lyra!” Bon Bon snapped, causing the unicorn to recoil. She took a breath and gathered her normal, calming voice back. “Look, Lyra. You’ve been on edge all week. Maybe if you take a breather, you can gather yourself.”

Lyra wanted to lash out at her, but she knew that she was right; exhausting herself wouldn’t make her chances at the audition any better. “Fine, fine. I’ll stop, but just for a little bit.”

“That’s all I ask for,” the earth pony said with a warm smile. She then turned her head down to the papers in front of her. Without the twang of the mint pony’s out-of-tune lyre, silence engulfed the pair.

The silence was making Lyra far too uncomfortable. Her heart was racing at the thought of the audition while her eyes darted around the room, looking for something to distract herself. Her legs constantly shifted positions, crossing awkwardly while she tried to find something to do. Finally, she looked to Bon Bon. “So, what are you looking at?” she asked with an uncomfortable grin.

“Some plans,” came her flat reply, her attention not breaking from the papers.

“For?”

The earth pony scribbled some lines on her paper before looking up at Lyra. “The plans for my sweet shop? The ones I told you about days ago? Don’t you remember?”

She thought for a moment. Upon searching her brain, she found that really none of it rang a bell. “Yes, of course,” she lied, not wanting to invoke her marefriend’s wrath. “I meant, uh, what are you working on specifically?”

Bon Bon’s eyes lit up. She shuffled some papers around before lifting one up. “This,” she said, her voice full of pride.

Upon the paper was what looked like the front of a building. Slightly to the left was a large window with a cover overhead, the glass display all sorts of delectable and pretty treats. ‘Bon Bon’s’ was written in large letters on the pane, announcing the business for all to see. Above the window was a simple sign in the shape of a wrapped candy, the title of the shop repeated upon it in more pretty lettering. “Wow,” Lyra said to her, her eyes growing wide while she forgot about all of her troubles and took in the sight of what her marefriend had drawn. “That’s really, really good. You could have easily had a pencil for a cutie mark.”

“So you like it?”

“Oh, I love it. I think that will be absolutely perfect for the shop.”

“Thank you, Lyra,” Bon Bon happily chirped before looking away, her expression falling. “Do you... do you think we’ll be able to afford a sign and window that nice? I mean, I know I got a deal on the building, but all this work is going to be expensive.”

Lyra put on her most reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t worry about that. The way things are going, I see us having plenty of money for the building. And if I do this audition right, that could open many more doors for me, as you’ve been telling me. Speaking of which, I need to get back to practicing.” Like an obsessive junkie, she longingly reached for her instrument, only to be stopped by Bon Bon, who had left her seat.

“No, Lyra. Five minutes does not equal a break.” The earth pony pushed her back to the couch and pushed the lyre away. “You really need to relax; you’re really stressed out.”

“I’m not stressed out!” the unicorn retorted, just a tad louder than she anticipated. She stared into Bon Bon’s worried eyes for a moment before dropping her gaze. “Okay, fine. I’m stressed out! I’m freaking out because my entire future could depend on that audition tomorrow!” She groaned. “Why is trying to make something of myself so damn difficult?!”

“Lyra, dear, please relax. I’m here for you.”

She felt her marefriend’s soft hooves wrap around her and was already going stir crazy in her embrace. “Relax? How can I relax?” Her aggression slowly began to turn to sadness; there was no way she could be mad at Bon Bon for no reason. “It’s just... everything goes wrong at once, you know? It’s like the world is out to get me...” She slowly snuggled into the mare’s forehooves, shutting her eyes tight. Slowly, she began to choke out quiet sobs.

“Shh, shh...” Bon Bon comforted. “It’s okay, honey. Just try not to think about it, alright?”

Lyra slowly nodded, still tight in her hug. She began to question what was wrong with her. She didn’t usually get such violent mood swings. Was it the stress? Something else? She wanted to apologize. She wanted to hug Bon Bon tighter. She wanted to do a million things, but all she did was cry. Her tears slowly ran down her face, creating a wet spot on Bon Bon’s coat.

The earth pony wordlessly ran a soft hoof through her mane. Lyra continued to cry softly as she felt her marefriend’s gentle touch run along her neck. In between sobs, she allowed herself to breath once more, feeling her own warm breath reflected back at her by Bon Bon’s fur. Slowly, she wiped her face on the mare’s coat, allowing one last tear to roll down her muzzle before pulling away and kissing her marefriend.

“There,” Bon Bon said, “feel better?”

Lyra nodded, clinging to Bon Bon like her life depended on it. She could feel the indents her hooves were making on her back, but she didn’t let up; she feared she would just float away if she let go for even a moment. Her marefriend moved her hoof from her mane to her back, slowly caressing the tense muscles of the lyrist.

Suddenly, another wave of panic overtook Lyra. She quickly broke away, reaching out with her magic for her lyre. “But I just need to-”

“No.” Bon Bon hopped on top of her, pinning her to the couch and breaking her magical focus. She used her superior weight to her advantage, immobilizing the unicorn. “You are going to relax, even if I have to chain you to the bed to do so.”

Lyra really wanted to laugh at the irony, but decided it was not the best time to. Instead, she just exhaled heavily, staring into her marefriend’s beautiful blue eyes. Her mind processed her options. Of course, Bon Bon could restrain her body, but she could just as easily reach out with her magic and grab the lyre. However, she decided that would not be the best course of action considering how worried it would make Bon Bon. She quickly shut her eyes tight, averting them from the mare.

“I know, I know,” the unicorn said with a sigh. “I’m just so damn worried. This is the future we’re talking about, here.”

Bon Bon shook her head, standing up and allowing Lyra to move freely. “I get it, but running yourself into the ground won’t help anypony. Follow me.”

Lyra felt her hoof grabbed tightly as Bon Bon led her from the couch to the stairs. “But-”

“But nothing. Follow me.” Lyra finally wordlessly complied, curious as to where she was being taken. They trotted into their bedroom together, side by side. Bon Bon quickly sat down and patted a spot on the bed next to her. “Have a seat.”

The unicorn did so, immediately wondering if this was some sort of new, adventurous and totally acceptable bedroom game they were about to try. However, she continued to hold her tongue, waiting for Bon Bon to tell her what they were doing. She was pleasantly surprised when Bon Bon didn’t tell her, but rather showed her; her gentle hooves ran across the unicorn’s shoulders, softly working away the tightness of her muscles.

“Now,” the earth pony said into Lyra’s ear, “isn’t this so much better than worrying?”

“Mmhmm,” was all she could reply, lost in a dream-like state. She had received massages before, but never when she really needed them. For the first time, she actually could feel her troubles just melting away from her body and floating off into nothingness. She would have been perfectly, content with feeling Bon Bon’s hooves on her shoulders for the rest of her life. Naturally, she was disappointed when her marefriend removed them.

“Lay on your stomach,” she said in a more commanding tone than Lyra was used to. However, she was in no position to argue, so she easily complied.

She waited for what felt like an eternity before, all of a sudden, she felt Bon Bon put her weight on her back. With a strange intense yet gentle touch, she felt the mare’s hooves work away all of the knots and tenseness of her back. She was wrong; she would be perfectly content with this for the rest of her life.

To her, there was a strange comfort in the fact that there was nothing sexual about it. There was an interesting, relaxing relief that came from the mare she loved driving her stress away with the power of her hooves. She wished and hoped that it would never stop.

“Comfortable?” the mare said above her.

“Y- yes...” she almost squeaked out. “Very, very comfortable. Just... p- perfect.” She sighed softly, enjoying the calming sensation. “Wh- where did you learn this?”

“A book,” Bon Bon said flatly.

“A book?”

“Yeah. I, uh, I saw that you were getting a little worried earlier this week, so I went over to the library.”

Lyra couldn’t help but laugh in between little relaxed sighs. “So I freak out and you check out a book?”

“Hey.” Lyra grunted as she felt Bon Bon press down on a particularly tense spot on her back. “It’s working, isn’t it?”

Lyra didn’t say anything. She just let the pony work her magic. She could swear that her marefriend could have easily had both a pencil and a massage table as a cutie mark. The way the earth pony so deftly moved her hooves was nothing short of amazing.

It could have been an hour or it could have been days that passed, but Lyra could feel that Bon Bon’s movements were slowing. Feeling her worries and fears completely alleviated, she turned an eye back to her marefriend. “Uh, Bonnie? It’s okay. You can stop now.”

Almost immediately, the mare removed her hooves from her back. She flopped down on the bed while Lyra crawled up to meet her. The unicorn saw how exhausted she was and immediately threw a sloppy kiss onto her, her coordination lacking due to her relaxed state. She had a lot to be thankful for.

“I love you, Bon Bon,” she said, kissing her on the forehead. She knew the mare heard her from the massive smile spread across the exhausted masseuse's lips. Before Lyra could get a proper response, the earth pony drifted off into a cute and well-deserved snooze. Lyra watched her for a moment before turning onto her back, contemplating while she stared at the ceiling. I really don’t deserve somepony as amazing as her, was all she could think. In her state of euphoric relaxation, she slipped into a deep sleep, not thinking about what the next day held.

*** *** ***

She was Captain Lyra Heartstrings, scourge of the seven seas. She took a breath of the salty ocean air as the ship splashed against the waves. Drawing her sword, she shouted out to her crew, almost all of which looked like Bon Bon.


“Prepare, mateys! We be in dangerous waters! All mares to their posts, on the double!” Ponies scrambled all around on the deck, climbing up to the crows nest and manning the cannons and sails. Lyra walked up to one mare in particular; she was one of the few that did not look like Bon Bon. “All except for you.”


The red pegasus gulped, but tried to retain her posture. “What would you have me do, C- Captain?”


The unicorn levitated a bucket and mop forward, “I need you to swab the poop deck from top to bottom. When I come out of my quarters, I expect this wood to shine.”


Cinnamon sadly lifted the mop to find that it wasn’t a mop at all. “But Captain, this is a giant fork.”


“I said swab!” Lyra said in her most commanding tone, watching with a satisfied smirk as the mare began to awkwardly scrape the fork on the ship. Happy with her progress, she turned around, heading to her quarters. “Now,” she thought out loud. “Where are my wenches?” She opened her door to find a room full of more Bon Bons. With a wide smile, she shed her captain’s coat and hopped onto her bed, happily closing her eyes.


“Glad to see you here,” came a voice that definitely didn’t belong to one of the Bon Bons. It was softer and more elegant. Lyra immediately jumped up to see a familliar gray mare.


“O- Octavia?! What are you doing here? You’re not Bon Bon!”

The mare looked at her with a sweet little smile. “No, I’m not.” She trotted over to the unicorn and hopped on the bed next to her. “But you don’t have a problem with that, now do you?”


“I... uhh... well...”


Before she could finish, she was interrupted by another Bon Bon bursting through her door. “Captain! Sorry to intrude, but we have a ship on the port side! They’re raising a red flag!”


Octavia looked disappointed when Lyra immediately hopped up and donned her coat. “A red flag?! Ready the cannons! Man the harpoons!” She rushed out to the deck, almost tripping over Cinnamon who was still scraping away with the giant fork. “At the ready, mares! Today, we fight!”


A united “yarr!” resonated through the ship, Lyra drawing her sword with her crew. She decided this was no time for motivational speeches and quickly ran to the side of the ship, drawing her spyglass.

“Yes,” she said to anypony who would listen, which was everypony. “They’re close; almost within range. “Bon Bon!”


The mares at the port cannons all saluted at once, saying “Yes Captain!” in unison.


“Fire on my mark!”


With each passing moment, the ship only drew closer; just where Lyra wanted it. She raised a hoof, her eyes scanning the outline of the sloop. There was indeed a blood red flag hoisted on top of the sails. A few more agonizingly long moments passed before she forcefully dropped her hoof.


“And, fire!”


The ship rocked from the force of multiple cannons launching their payloads at once. Lyra kept her eyes trained on the opposing vessel, watching as less than half of the cannonballs tore into the hull of the enemy ship. “Reload!” she ordered. The Bon Bons wasted no time in preparing a second volley.


“And, fire!”

The ship shook once more. This time, most of the projectiles struck true, ripping massive holes into the sloop. Lyra gave a hearty chuckle, imagining how scared their opposition must be. The distance between the closed in fast, and she prepared another order.


“Gentlemares, prepare to board!”


Once more, there was an excited “yarr!” as the ponies drew their swords and pistols, readying the gangplanks for their next course of action. It didn’t take long at all for the ships to be side by side, and it didn’t take long after that for the captain to give another order that anypony could understand.


“Charge!”


A sea of cream coats ran from one ship to the other, cutting right through the grimy, small-time pirates. Swords clashed and limbs flailed, Lyra’s crew proving themselves to be better trained and better armed. The enemies had nowhere to retreat and some abandoned ship, only to be shot by one of the Bon Bons. All was just as it should be.


Lyra casually trotted aboard the other ship, occasionally levitating her sword up to block without even breaking a sweat.
She made her way to the helm of the ship, finding its captain cowering in fear.

“No! Please! Don’t do this! I- I didn’t know who you were! I didn’t mean to declare war on the greatest pirate in Equestria!”


“Unfortunately, it’s too late for apologies.” With a quick slice, the cowering stallion was dispatched. Lyra turned around the
see that all of the enemy’s crew were either dead or taken prisoner, and that her crew of Bon Bons were awaiting orders.
Slowly, she raised her sword.


“Yarr!”


It was another victory for the invincible crew of Captain Lyra Heartstrings. She gave a happy cheer before her celebration was interrupted by the elegant voice.


“Congratulations,” Octavia said with a slight smirk. “Another victory for your crew.” The mare trotted closer to her, making her back up. “But what does your crew mean when you can’t even save yourself.”


“Wha- what? I’m fine!”


“Are you?” In a flash, the grey earth pony gave her a quick shove, pushing her over the edge of the ship. She hit the water with a loud splash. Quickly, an awful wetness surrounded her as she sank into the depths. She was warm, as if the life was leaving her body and an awful smell filled her nostrils.

The smell.

*** *** ***

The awful smell.

Lyra sat up with a start, gasping for the breath that was now attainable. Her eyes darted around the room, slowly adjusting to the low light. First, she noticed Bon Bon, softly snoring as she did. She took a deep breath, taking solace in the fact that she was still next to her marefriend. Next, she noticed that the salty, foul smell wasn’t just in her head.

The unicorn erratically moved, feeling the uncomfortable and disgusting wetness of the sheets she was under. She felt her nostrils plugged with the acrid stench. Her heart began to race. This hadn’t happened since she was a filly; why did it have to happen now?

She froze in fear. How would she explain this to Bon Bon? She couldn’t have her lovely marefriend think that she was some sort of disgusting, foalish bet-wetter. Her eyes darted to the mare next to her and then quickly back to the soiled blanket. Her head dropped to her hooves; there was no way that Bon Bon would ever let her live this down. She just wanted to cry. There was nothing worse that could have possibly happened on morning that could decide her future.

She looked at a nearby clock. It was only one, so there was still an entire morning that she should be sleeping through. As quietly as she could, she groaned, partially in fear. This was just the icing on top of her stress-cake. Soon, she was sure, everypony would know all about it. She’ll walk down the street with everypony pointing their hooves at her and calling her names. Her vision was like an awful flashback to her foalhood, only everypony was bigger. Her desire to cry was fulfilled, the tears flowing forth from her ducts.

With a dismal look, she slowly slid out of the bed, gingerly taking the ruined sheets and blankets with her. She dropped them off in the washroom, found a spare blanket and draped it over Bon Bon, giving her a fearful but internally reassuring kiss on the cheek before turning and heading into the bathroom. Seeing that a shower would disturb her marefriend too much, she damped a washcloth with soap and water and wiped down her rear legs, hopefully removing any trace of her accident.

Relatively clean, she made her way back to the laundry room. Seeing the messy fabric only brought another wave of tears, but she didn’t hesitate to fill a nearby bucket with soap and water. Just as she began scrubbing, more tears streaming down her face, she heard a soft voice.

“Lyra? What’s wrong?”

The unicorn didn’t look back before responding. “Go away.” She focused her attention on the washing, but she knew that Bon Bon was still there. She had to be. In silence, she continued to sloppily drag the sheets through the soapy water, hoping with all of her heart that Bon Bon would just leave and she wouldn’t have to talk about it.

She heard the mare take a breath, dispelling her hopes. “Please, Lyra. Tell me what’s going on.” She just continued washing, doing her best to ignore her. “Please...”

There was a certain shakiness in Bon Bon’s pleading now. It was an almost hurt sound. With a heavy sigh, Lyra stopped washing. She threw the wet sheets and blanket out of the way and angrily turned around.

“You want to know what’s wrong? What’s going on?” She felt her own voice shake and crack as she almost yelled at her marefriend with tears in her eyes. “Absolutely nothing is wrong, Bon Bon! It’s just that I woke up with a Luna-damned pee stain on the sheets and I’m a foal again!”

“Lyra... I... i- it’s not a big deal... I-”

“Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! Oh please! Just because I have a big bad audition tomorrow doesn’t just excuse everything! I’m a stupid damn filly who can’t control her bladder! Soon everypony will know and I won’t be able to walk down the street without somepony pointing and laughing at me or throwing stuff at me! It will be just like...” She paused, her words failing as she hung her head. “Just like...”

“Just like what, Lyra?”

She aggressively shook her head and pushed Bon Bon out of the way, heading down the stairs. “Don’t talk to me. Just... don’t.”

The unicorn stomped down the stairs and threw herself into the living room. Disregarding her magic, she took pillows into her hooves and angrily threw them upon the couch until they began to pile up into something that resembled a structure. She flung herself into the sloppy fort and buried her muzzle in her hooves, wanting to disappear. She released a string of curses at her inability to be who she wanted to be: to be a good pony and a good marefriend.

Loudly, she sobbed into her forelimbs, hoping that her tears would somehow allow her to melt into the couch. She shivered, cold, partially from the lack of blankets, but mainly from fear. Her ears perked at movement outside, but she didn’t pay it any attention, only letting her flood of tears leak out.

A warm body pressed against her. She felt Bon Bon’s soft fur on her back as the mare wordlessly warmed her. Slowly, Lyra turned around, moving her muzzle from her hooves to her marefriend’s coat. She dug in, finding comfort in her coat. The mare calmed her with her hoof and slowly began to sing.

Hush now, quiet now,
It’s time to lay your sleepy head,
Hush now, quiet now,
It’s time to go to bed,

Her voice was rocky, off-key, and, as many would call, awful, but it succeeded; Lyra joined in.

Drifting off to sleep,
Leave the exciting day behind you,
Driftin off to sleep,
Let the joy of dreamland find you.

They both stopped, Bon Bon giving Lyra a comforting nuzzle. It didn’t take long for her crying to finally subside. They laid there, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Is there...” Bon Bon began, breaking the silence. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

Lyra sighed heavily. “No, but I’ll talk about it anyway.” She took a deep breath, the air not feeling satisfying at all. “Back when I was a little filly I... I sort of had a problem...” Bon Bon nodded coherently. “And... well, I got made fun of for it. A lot. Ponies would call me names and throw things at me all because this one time I... I fell asleep in class and...” She let out an unsteady breath. “And you can guess what happened.”

“Oh... oh my. That’s terrible.”

The unicorn nodded. “Yeah. It was. In a couple years, though, the name-calling stopped and not long after so did the... the bedwetting. The urinating unicorn was no more.” She let out a pained laugh at her awful former nickname. “I guess... I guess I didn’t want to have that happen again.”

“Oh, Lyra. That could never, ever happen again.”

“But it did. I peed the bed and it’s my fillyhood all over again. I... I was worried that you would laugh at me...”

She looked into Bon Bon’s eyes for a while before the earth pony opened her arms. “Lyra, come here.” She complied, feeling her hooves wrapped around her back. “You know that I would never do that, right? And I would never tell anypony.”

“I know, I know. It’s just... I was scared. I didn’t want to be banished to the couch because you thought I was disgusting. I thought-” Her voice began to shake once more, but she was all out of tears. Immediately, Bon Bon held her closer.

“Shh... shh... It’s alright. I’m here, you’re here, and it will be all okay. Just relax.”

Lyra drew a couple of raspy breaths before settling down. “O- okay.” She listened to the sound of her marefriend’s breathing for a moment before another issue caught her attention. What about that dream she had? What did it mean? She could ask Bon Bon, but there was no way she could tell her about how Octavia was in it. It was all just so strange, and she really didn’t like keeping secrets.

She forced the issue from her brain; now was not the time for that. With a clear mind, she slowly slipped into a nice, dreamless sleep.

*** *** ***

“Are you nervous?”

Bon Bon’s voice broke the silence between the pair. They were sitting on a carriage together on the way to Canterlot. Lyra was tightly hugging her lyre case.

“Me? No. Just a little... uneasy.”

“In other words, nervous.”

Lyra didn’t even bother to respond. She just turned her attention to the road, watching as it rolled past her. It didn’t take long for the shiny gates of Canterlot to come into her vision. Her eyes lit up at the brilliant sight; each time she went through them, it was always magnificent. It wasn’t long afterwards that the carriage came to a halt.

“Thank you very much,” Bon Bon said to their driver, paying him with a little extra for the tip. Lyra exited after her, her eyes lighting up once more at the sight of her marefriend’s elegant gown shining in the morning sun.

“Wow,” she said to her. “You look amazing.”

“I should say the same to you. I’m glad you listened to me.”

Lyra had originally wanted to go naked, as they would any other event, but Bon Bon overruled her, deciding that they would both don the most beautiful dresses they owned. “Yeah, well, I guess I do want to do this audition right. Come to think of it, it would be pretty funny if we came and we were the only ones without dresses. We’d look like nudists from Ponyville.”

Bon Bon chuckled. “Well, that is the basic truth.”

Lyra excitedly grabbed her by the hoof. “Come on, let’s go!” Without another wasted second, she pulled Bon Bon down a random street, taking off in the direction she thought could possibly be the right one. It had been too long since she was in Canterlot and she wanted to enjoy it.

“Lyra, do you have any idea where you’re going?”

“Nope.”

“Shouldn’t the letter have an address or something?”

The unicorn came to an abrupt stop. “Oh yeah. I should probably take a look at that.” She levitated it out. “Oh, I know where this is. It’s pretty close to Canterlot College.” Again, she took off, Bon Bon in hoof and her lyre slung over her back. It didn’t take long at all for them to arrive.

“Wow,” Bon Bon said as they looked at the building. “Fancy.”

Fancy was an understatement. Lyra looked at the building in awe. “‘Fancy’ is right. I’d be surprised if I’m even allowed in there.”

“They’ll have to. They invited you.”

“Right,” Lyra said with a smile. She was glad that her nervousness had changed to excitement. “Well, let’s head on in, shall we?” The unicorn scooted next to Bon Bon, her flank rubbing against hers as they pushed open the door to the building. It was just as breathtaking as it was from the outside. She wanted to rush in and see all of the ponies, the ones who would be her competition, but was stopped by somepony at the front.

“Do you have you invitation, madame?” It was a middle aged colt dressed in a very suave suit who spoke with an elegant cadence.

Lyra turned to Bon Bon. “Wow, I’m glad you convinced me to play dress up.” Turning back to the stallion, she levitated out the fancy little piece of paper. “Here you go, Tames Bond.”

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Y’know. Tames Bond? Spy?” She pantomimed shooting and sneaking around, which was made difficult in her dress. She decided that she would make a much better Miss Moneybit.

“I don’t believe I’ve heard of him.”

Lyra leaned back to Bon Bon. “Gee. Somepony’s been living under a rock,” she said to her quietly, drawing a small giggle.

“Well, your invitation all checks out, Miss Lyra Heartstrings.” He placed it behind him among other invitations. “And who might this be?” the colt inquired, turning to Bon Bon with an almost condescending tone. “Your sister?”

“Significant other,” Lyra quickly said before Bon Bon could respond with something silly. “She’s my marefriend.” To emphasise her point, she tightly wrapped a hoof around her and pulled her in close. She debated diving in for a deep, passionate and awesome kiss, but she could see that the colt was uncomfortable enough.

“Very well,” he said, almost tripping over his words, but keeply regaining his poise. “Not necessarily the norm, but I was told it was acceptable.” He took a gulp of air and then directed the pair through to the hall. “Right this way. You’ll find the auditions immediately down the hall.”

“Awesome. Thanks, Pantsy Fance,” Lyra happily said as she took off, pulling Bon Bon with her. She was just about to reach the door when Bon Bon stopped her in her tracks.

The earth pony spun her around and looked into her eyes. “What was that about?”

Lyra sighed. “Look, I know that not everypony has seen Tames Bond, but-”

“Not that! The whole, ‘let’s flaunt our lesbianism,’ thing. Why’d you mess with somepony who was so obviously uncomfortable?”

“Well, I mean, somepony’s gotta take these Canterlot snobs down a notch. He just made a prime target. That was fun.”

“Well not for me!” Bon Bon snapped, but still in a hushed voice as two ponies walked by. “I would have been perfectly fine with him thinking we’re sisters. It’s just one pony.”

“Gee, Bon Bon. It almost sounds like you’re embarrassed to be around me.”

“I am embarrassed to be around you!” she said a little bit louder than was necessary, drawing a look from a passerby. “Look, this is your big chance, so first impressions are important. You can’t just walk around accusing ponies of being Tames Bond and then cuddling up to me. You’ve got to act proper. You and I both know that that’s how it is in Canterlot.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Pfft. You and I both know that I don’t care how it is in Canterlot. You learned that in college. Now don’t worry your beautiful little head. I’ve got this whole thing under control. Soon enough, I’m sure you’ll be the envy of all of Equestria when you have the great Lyra Heartstrings as your hot marefriend.”

Bon Bon giggled, but quickly silenced herself and looked sternly once more. “But could you tone it down a bit? I mean, back there, I was worried that you were going to put your tongue in my mouth right in front of that poor colt.”

“Oh, I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to. But, at the same time, I didn’t want to give the poor guy a heart attack. It would be funny at first, but we’d probably have to stop laughing when the ambulance comes.”

The earth pony stared at her sternly. Lyra was worried that Bon Bon was suddenly in a humorless mood, but was relieved when she started giggling. Those little giggles soon erupted into all out laughter, which Lyra joined in on. The pair shared the good chuckle for a while before they were interrupted by the sound of a stallion clearing his throat.

“Ahem. Ladies. I know Miss Heartstrings must have said something dreadfully hilarious, but the auditions are about to start. I suggest you participate.”

Lyra slowly let her own laughter die down before looking up at the speaking pony. Upon seeing him, she raised her hoof and forced him to bump it. “Oh, hey. Concerto, my friend. You remember me, right?”

He put on what was obviously a fake smile. “Of course,” he said in a sardonic tone. “How could I ever forget what a joy you are?”

“Awesome. Hey, there’s free food here, right?”

The colt sighed. “Yes. There is a snack bar.”

“Cool beans. See you later, C-colt,” she said before trotting into the hall, Bon Bon in tow. As she walked away, she turned her head around and gave him a teasing wink while she swished her tail back and forth. Happy with the shade of red he turned, she looked back to Bon Bon.

“That’s the creepy stallion that you told me about?” the earth pony asked her.

“Yeah. He’s fun to mess with.”

Bon Bon shook her head. “It sounds to me like you’re the creepy one.”

“Heh. I’m okay with that. As long as I-” Her next sentence was cut off as they entered the hall that the auditions were being held in. Lyra’s jaw immediately dropped at the sight of the amazingly elegant room and massive stage. She looked at the judges table which had three stern looking mares observing the stage. Even scarier, though were the seats that were filled with different ponies. More ponies than Lyra had ever imagined herself playing in front of by herself. Worse, though; they were all also her competition. She was snapped out of her trance by the voice of another mare.

“Hello, Lyra. Glad you could make it.”

The unicorn turned to see the all too familiar grey earth pony, clad in her own elegant gown, accented by her signature bowtie. “Oh. H- hey, Octavia. I didn’t know you were auditioning too.” There they were; her nerves were back.

The cellist laughed. “Well, of course. This is only the auditions to perform at one of the most prestigious musical events in Canterlot. Who do you think recommended you, anyway?”

“B- but you’ve never even seen me play.”

“Call it a favor,” she replied with a smile. “I would have loved to, but they decided to send Concerto as a representative to observe your skills. He told me that he was impressed with your playing, but not with your behavior. I told him not to worry about it.”

“Oh. Well, thanks, Octavia.”

“Don’t mention it. That’s what friends are for.”

Lyra gave a genuine smile, but couldn’t find what to say next. Luckily, Bon Bon spoke for her.

“So when are these auditions supposed to start?”

“In a couple of minutes. In the meantime, we could go on over to the snack bar; I know how much you love free food. Vinyl’s already over there, wreaking some sort of havoc on the quiche and then complaining about it.”

The unicorn was about to speed off in that direction, but stopped herself, another question in her mind. “Wait... How’d you get Vinyl in here?”

“Oh, easy.” Octavia laughed her proper laugh. “I just told him she was my sister, as outlandish as it seems.”

Bon Bon flashed Lyra the ‘I told you so’ look, but didn’t have enough time to let it sink it before Lyra ran to the snack bar to find Vinyl eating what looked like some sort of improvised sandwich.

“Hey, Vinyl! What’s up?”

“Myra! No’ muph. Juf eatin’.” The DJ quickly swallowed her food and gave the Lyra a hoof bump. “My favorite drinking buddy. How are you doing? Would you believe that they only have wimpy wine here?”

“I’d believe it. And great, thanks. I’m pretty excited about this audition.”

Vinyl nodded. “Yeah, so is Octavia. I mean, she must be nervous or something, because she’s doing all these weird things. She told the dude at the front that we were sisters.”

Lyra turned and smirked at Bon Bon, who had just arrived next to her. “Really? Now that’s just silly.”

“I know, right? I’m just glad to be here, though. Free food is always a plus, and messing with snobs is the most fun thing on the planet.”

“Oh yeah. Definitely.” Lyra wondered if she and Vinyl were somehow sisters. That’d be pretty awesome. “Half of these ponies have a-”

Before she could continue, she was interrupted by the sound of a mare speaking into a microphone. “Fillies and gentlecolts! I would like to ask that everypony report to the seating. The auditions are about to begin!”

Lyra felt her heart rate suddenly spike. “Well,” she muttered to herself as Bon Bon took her by the hoof into the auditorium. “Here goes nothing. Celestia be with me.”

Author's Note:

I was going to write an original song for Bon Bon to sing, but, due to time constraints, I decided against it. Maybe next time.

If there are any lines missing, please let me know. The Google Docs import feature will sometimes delete some.