My Mom: "So, Lyra and Bon Bon are gay, right?" (A ship sets sail.) · 4:51am Oct 14th, 2019
The above question was asked by my mother several months ago based on my writing. (Note: she is fine with this and actually linked me an article about Scootaloo’s Auntie Lofty and Holiday when episode aired.) My response was, “Well, it’s just implied, but the fans are pretty convinced.” But now… well, let’s talk Episode 23. (Spoilers after the break.)
So, in terms of shipping fuel, few ponies have had more pairing confirmation than Lyra and Bon Bon. I mean, the fandom has been shipping them ever since the start of the series and folks noticed how often they were seen together…
For the record, this collage was something I found on a forum post dated in 2011. So, yeah, this ship has been around for awhile.
Heck, they’re how my parents both know the term “shipping” outside of FedEx. In fact - side story incoming - my mother, inspired to look into Terry Pratchett as a result of my Pratchett tribute story “Reaping Rainbow,” watched the recent Amazon Prime series Good Omens (based on the book by Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman), and called me up excitedly to tell me that she’d seen an article discussing how people had been “shipping” the two main characters and she was excited that she knew what that meant because of me. Yeah, my folks are pretty awesome. 
Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens. Christ, they even have a bench… what is it about benches and shipping?
But anyway…
Lyra and Bon Bon as a couple may have started as a fandom thing, but the show staff really ran with it, and there’s a certain point at which implications became a lot less subtle. Like, I mean, there’s this, from “Slice of Life”…
This, from “Rainbow Rocks”…
This on Hearts and Hooves day…
That episode with the yaks…
That “Friendship Games” short…
That dream sequence in “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?”...
There’s this…
And of course, this...
But, honestly, it could all have been seen as mere “implication” without confirmation. I was pretty sure that was all we’d ever get!
Then, apparently some folks on the staff decided to quit messing around.
When I was catching up on the series with Greenfinger yesterday, we got to Episode 23, which had a “blink and you’ll miss it” scene in the background. As we were watching, I caught sight of it and yelled, “Wait! Go back!” And lo and behold…
...And the two of us basically started squealing like a couple of teenage girls.
And just to drive it home, Episode 26 comes along and…
All of this makes me really happy. Though, I guess the question is… why? Why am I so pleased at the official confirmation of my favorite lesbian horse couple?
I suppose there are a few reasons. For one, it’s basically a nod to the fans about something that has been pure head canon from Season 1 onwards, and it’s nice to see such care given to the little details even at the show’s end. For another, there’s the joy we all feel in seeing characters we’ve grown to love, both in canon and in our fan-created stories, find happiness, much as we find joy in the happiness of others in our real lives.
And, I suppose, in a society that still isn’t very accepting of homosexuality to the point that even MLP had to go with the “best friends” approach (and even had to walk back from the above-mentioned Auntie Lofty and Auntie Holiday a bit), it’s gratifying to know that they just pulled the trigger on it, critics and haters be damned. (I mean, what were they gonna do, cancel the show? It was already ending in a week!) While other ships are varying degrees of implied to be canon, this makes them the only 100% confirmed lesbian relationship in the show, no mincing words about it.
So, congrats to these two, congrats to the show staff, and congrats to us the fans. I’ve got more thoughts about the finale that I’ll share later, but for now I just wanted to celebrate something I feel unambiguously happy about.
Until next time!
...Awww! 
Indeed, it was quite a nice touch, I think. :)
And glad your parents had fun there!
I always knew were gonna end up together. It's real sweet. As it should be
One thing I admire about the show's staff is their ability to go along with fan-based ideas that the higher-ups in Hasbro would throw a fit over (and for good cause, since 'Go woke, go broke' is a real thing), and yet do it with a light enough touch that it remains both cute and adorable instead of the in-your-face. LyraBon and Aunts Holiday and Lofty are two good examples. Oh, and AppleDash. Seriously, some shows are as subtle as a crutch in their rush to show wokeness. We were blessed by a bunch who actually have a sense of humor.
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I absolutely agree, Georg. It might have been too risky earlier in the show's run, and it's sad that "go woke, go broke" is a thing. I'm just super pleased that we got a subtle confirmation at the 11th hour when they could just as well left it ambiguous. It's not often you encounter a show staff that show that much love for their audience. We were really lucky.
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I'm glad this is canon.
Honestly, Lyra and Bonbon wouldn't feel like a "get woke, go broke" worthy thing, given how much background detail supports their relationship, leaving this feeling like a natural progression, but maybe that's because I'm well versed in that fanon.