Finally, I shall rate the LyraBon appearances in season nine

Having done it for the previous two seasons, it is once again, for one last time, my duty to rank the ways Friendship Is Magic depicted Lyra and Bon Bon as a couple during the year.

Halfway through the season, I was worried that I wouldn’t have much to talk about. Many of the episodes didn’t take place in Ponyville, which meant that neither Lyra nor Bon Bon (let alone the two of them together) were making appearances. I thought that maybe I would have to break from my previous tradition and rank their appearances outside of the Friendship Is Magic television series – for example, the “Rarity’s Biggest Fan” short (“Normally, it would look like lazy animation for two characters to walk at exactly the same cadence at exactly the same time, but with Lyra and Bon Bon, it shows how in tune they are with each other”).

And even before this season began, I had to remind myself that it was unlikely we’d see anything as adorable as last season’s LyraBon moment in “The Break Up Break Down,” so I shouldn’t get my hopes up for any more great appearances. There are a lot of main and background characters on this show vying for attention, and canonically, Lyra and Bon Bon haven’t been an integral part of any storylines. They got their moment together in the Valentine’s episode, and I should be grateful for that much.

I was hoping for more, of course, but especially as the first half of the season went by with barely any LyraBon, I concluded that last season’s hug would be the apex of their moments together. I was relieved when, during the second half of the season, they started showing up together again, as it meant that at least I would have more than two episodes for my annual list.

And then… I turned out to be wrong. Oh boy, did I turn out to be wrong. This was a very good season for Lyra and Bon Bon. Better than last season – and last season was really good!

But we’ll get to that in due time. First, let’s look at all of the other moments where Lyra and Bon Bon got to be together during this final season of Friendship Is Magic.

As always, my list is sorted by one entirely subjective criterion: Are Lyra and Bon Bon being adorable together during the episode? If the answer is “yes,” then their appearance is a success. Of course, not all moments can be equally adorable. Hence the rankings. I’ll start from the least adorable of this season’s appearances and work my way up to the most adorable.

(And when I say I’m working my way up to the most adorable, I don’t just mean Lyra and Bon Bon’s most adorable moments of this season. I’m talking about their most adorable moments of the entire series. Like I said: This season was very, very good.)

Let’s begin!

Episode 15: 2, 4, 6, Greaaat

Why does the School of Friendship use the same team colors as Ponyville’s buckball team? So that Ponyville residents don’t need to purchase any new fan gear, making it more likely that a greater number of them will show up to cheer the school team on. Devious. (If you don’t feel like playing Where’s Waldo?, Lyra and Bon Bon are in the center bleachers at the bottom of the screen.)

Are they adorable?: It’s difficult to tell, considering that we only see the very tops of their heads. Because they’re barely in the shot, this one ranks the lowest.

Episode 17: The Summer Sun Setback

Equestria is celebrating another annual Summer Sun Celebration, bringing the ratio of Summer Sun Celebrations to Hearth’s Warming Eves up to 3:5. Lyra and Bon Bon are in the crowd of ponies that look way too alert for having stayed up all night.

Are they adorable?: They’re just sitting next to each other, staring straight ahead. It’s a standard crowd appearance. Although I have to ask: What kind of connections do these two have that they received second-row seats?

Episode 6: Common Ground

As early supporters of Ponyville’s buckball team, Lyra and Bon Bon make it a point to paint their faces and cheer the team on, even at the away games. It’s a good thing these two don’t have canonical jobs, or else I’d be asking why they aren’t doing them.

Are they adorable?: Not especially. Any background pony could be used to fill the stands. Since the animators already have “Lyra and Bon Bon in buckball fan attire” models from “Buckball Season,” it’s logical that they’d be among the ponies used to fill the stands during a buckball game.

It’s always a good sign when the neutral crowd-filler scenes are all the way at the bottom of the list.

Episode 2: The Beginning of the End - Part 2

If the Mane Six want to get into Canterlot, they’re going to have to make their way through their Canterlot and Ponyville friends, including Lyra and Bon Bon. The couple may be mind-controlled, but they’re still naturally drawn to one another.

Are they adorable?: Maybe? It’s hard to tell. I mean, I always think it’s adorable when they present a united front, but the blank faces kind of ruin it. They may be next to each other, but they’re not together, you know?

That isn’t the show’s fault, of course – in fact, the way they’re depicted is exactly what this scene requires.

If it had been up to me to write a page in the show bible about Lyra and Bon Bon, one of the rules would have been “It’s fine if one of them appears without the other. But if both of them are in a scene, then they should be together.”

As I was watching this episode, instinctively scanning every crowd shot for my favorite two ponies, it occurred to me that this would be the one instance where I wouldn’t have minded if they were separated. After all, the mind control has them focused solely on stopping the heroes. But the animators naturally put them together. And I am always happier when they’re together.

Ultimately, they’re not all that adorable here, but it wouldn’t make sense to the plot if they were. This one’s hard to rank.

(And if nothing else, it’s nice to know that as soon as Sombra was defeated and Lyra and Bon Bon “woke up,” they were next to one another so each would immediately see that her marefriend was okay.)

Episode 22: Growing Up Is Hard to Do

Appleoosa is holding a county fair. You know which ponies like spending time together? Lyra and Bon Bon. These two statements don’t have anything to do with one another, but the county fair does give Lyra and Bon Bon an opportunity to be together while enjoying the Ferris wheel.

Are they adorable?: Most ponies, when they ride a Ferris wheel, would focus their attention on the view that the ride provides. But not Lyra and Bon Bon. Their priority is looking at each other. As far as they’re concerned, the scenery simply serves as a nice backdrop.

Episode 16: A Trivial Pursuit

At Ponyville’s Trivia Trot, Lyra and Bon Bon sit in the audience and watch the competitors. They would put their names on the list to play, but getting split up and randomly paired with some other pony? No thanks.

Are they adorable?: For most of the episode, they simply fulfill their duties as background ponies. (Although, to refer back to a comment I made for “The Maud Couple” last year: Note that this time, they’re sitting on the same side of the table. Doesn’t that look so much better?) But this episode surpasses the “they’re just background ponies” episodes because of the scene set during the refreshment break. Look at those two making flirty eyes at each other. I wonder what they’re saying. And, if we found out, whether the show would retain its Y7 rating.

Episode 18: She Talks to Angel

Bon Bon and Lyra plop a blanket down in the middle of Ponyville and have a picnic. Perhaps they had a more remote location in mind, but they just couldn’t wait any longer to eat together.

Are they adorable?: Lyra and Bon Bon having a picnic together is adorable, no doubt about it. The way Bon Bon carries the basket while Lyra lays down the blanket is cute. And the way they clink their teacups together is cute.

What bothers me, though, is the fact that they’ve decided to have their picnic along the side of the street in the middle of town. That’s an objectively bad place to have a picnic! Especially if they want it to be about just the two of them!

Don’t get me wrong – I understand why it was staged this way. As soon as Fluttershy and Angel switch bodies, they need to be next to the marketplace so Angel can cause trouble. And while I haven’t paid close attention to the layout of Ponyville, I take it that the park isn’t located next to the marketplace. So if the plot requires that Fluttershy and Angel see a picnic so they can discuss having a picnic, then that picnic is going to have to be in an abnormal location.

Even with that understanding, the picnic’s baffling location normally would have knocked this episode down my list a fair amount. But carrying this episode right back up the list is the fact that this is the only episode of the season in which Lyra and Bon Bon are deliberately the focus of a scene, even for a brief second. The story required that a couple of ponies be seen having a picnic in order to keep the plot moving. And who better to be out having a picnic together than Lyra and Bon Bon?

Episode 19: Dragon Dropped

While Spike and Gabby hurriedly suck down their milkshakes, Lyra and Bon Bon take the time to enjoy their beverage and each other’s company.

Are they adorable?: They’re only in the one brief shot. They don’t even move. For those reasons, I kept thinking that this would land somewhere in the middle of my list. But look at them! They’re sharing a milkshake! It may be simple, but every time I see it, I can’t help but think about how adorable that is. On a list where adorability is the one determining factor, this episode ranks high.

I’m not going to do such a thing, but if I were to try to rate all of Lyra and Bon Bon’s appearances across the entire series, “The Break Up Break Down” would go here. “Slice of Life” would be a tiny bit below it, as would “Rock Solid Friendship.” But as great as those three episodes were for Lyra and Bon Bon, they wouldn’t be at the top of a series-spanning list. Not after season 9, episode 23 aired.

Episode 23: The Big Mac Question

Lyra has something very important to ask Bon Bon. Bon Bon is prepared to ask the same thing.

Are they adorable?: Are they adorable? Are they adorable?! They just proposed to each other at the exact same time! It’s making me abuse the italics tags, and that’s while I’m showing restraint!

Hands down, this was my favorite individual moment for Lyra and Bon Bon. It even edges out last season’s Hearts and Hooves Day hug. I may find Big Mac and Sugar Belle to be an unconvincing couple, but I’ll allow it if that’s what it takes to get some of the best LyraBon moments of the series.

The entire scene lasts for less than two seconds. But look at everything that Morgan Shandro managed to pack into those 41 frames of animation:

• Lyra is down on one knee(!), asking Bon Bon to marry her. Bon Bon is surprised.
• But why would Bon Bon be surprised? She reaches back and we find out.
• Lyra’s irises go small as she looks at the ring in shock. Bon Bon was going to ask her! Bon Bon’s face is that of someone who acknowledges that while the secret may be out, she’s perfectly happy about that.
• Lyra takes her eyes off the ring and looks back at the pony who is now her fiancée. That answer was even better than what she expected.

The scene then cuts away before what I can only presume is a long, happy embrace.

And later that afternoon, as they were telling Golden Harvest about the news, the carrot farmer asked them how they reacted to the apple monsters running around Ponyville. To which Lyra responded, “What apple monsters?”

Once that episode aired, I was more than satisfied. I had been hoping for a final LyraBon moment even half as cute as last season’s hug, but I was prepared to accept it if the show chose to give other background characters their due. Instead, the people working on the show used the second-to-last air date to put a big, beautiful bow on Lyra and Bon Bon’s story. I reasoned that the series finale would be all about the Mane Six – I was grateful that the show gave Lyra and Bon Bon such a wonderful ending and I was sure that I knew which episode would be topping my list this season.

But fans of these two ponies will notice that there’s one episode that has yet to appear on this list. And seven days after we saw Lyra and Bon Bon propose to each other, we got even more.

Episode 26: The Last Problem

I recognize that some people might disagree with my placing this one at the top of the list, making this the most adorable LyraBon episode not just of the ninth season, but of all time. But hear me out.

That’s adorable, and by itself, would have landed somewhere in the middle of this season’s list. But that moment had absolutely no bearing on this #1 spot.

Yes, Lyra and Bon Bon proposing to each other is the single most adorable moment for those two in the entire series. But this list isn’t a ranking of moments – it’s a ranking of episodes. And look at what we saw in this episode.

A short time after the defeat of the three villains, Ponyville’s local newspaper has covered Lyra and Bon Bon’s wedding. The two look so happy together, which is exactly how they should look.

Then, decades later…

A middle-aged Lyra and Bon Bon are out for a walk in the town they call home. Look at their eyes. They still love each other.

And that’s why this episode was the best LyraBon episode of the series. Individually, each of those two moments is delightful. But together, they tell the story of two ponies who fell in love and really did live happily ever after. Adorable, yes. And heartwarming, too. It makes me say “Awww” every time I see it – and that’s why I’ve placed it at the very top of the list.

What else is there to say? Lyra and Bon Bon got the ending they deserve, and it was beautiful. Not that they’ll ever read this, but still, I want to thank the Friendship Is Magic staff and crew for all of their hard work. They didn’t have to put any effort into fan service, but they did anyway. And believe me, it was greatly appreciated.