Tell LyraBon About It (a supplementary one-scene story) · 8:27pm Sep 13th, 2021
(there will be spoilers after the break)
Hello to everybody who read and enjoyed One Wavelength of the Rainbow! Your views and likes were much appreciated, and I too mourn the decrease in activity on Fimfiction that allowed one of my stories to make it into the featured box.
You may have noticed that I've written an unusually high number of LyraBon stories. Over the years, I've developed quite the affinity for the adorable couple, and while I was writing One Wavelength of the Rainbow, I was also writing this supplementary scene (not enough to be a story on its own). It had always been my intention to post it to my blog shortly after I published the story, so here it is.
A few weeks before the events of One Wavelength of the Rainbow...
It was impossible to earn Applejack’s friendship without first earning her respect. In Bon Bon’s case, she had impressed Applejack when, the first time they teamed up to make caramel apples, she asked to taste the specific variety of apple to be used so she could adjust the cooking time of her caramel to complement the fruit’s sweetness and tartness.
Although they were friends, the two rarely saw one another outside of the marketplace or major public gatherings. Which was why it was a surprise when the farmer showed up at the home of Bon Bon and Lyra asking if she could chat. The couple said yes, of course, and invited her in.
After the three settled in the living room – Applejack in a chair; Bon Bon and Lyra together on the loveseat – Applejack said, “You mind if I ask the two of you kind of a personal question?”
“How personal?” Bon Bon asked.
“If it’s too personal, just say you don’t want to answer and I won’t press the issue. I’m askin’ ’cause I’m lookin’ for… I guess kind of like advice.”
“All right…” Bon Bon said, only slightly hesitantly. “Advice on what?”
“Well, first of all – if I tell you something, can you keep it under wraps? At least for now.”
Although her face displayed some concern, Bon Bon said, “Of course.”
Lyra pointed to her wife and said, “This one’s great at keeping secrets.”
Bon Bon winced and then looked away, down at the floor.
“Sorry! I’m sorry! I knew I shouldn’t have said it as soon as I said it.”
Lyra wrapped her left foreleg around her wife’s withers, reached around, and used her hoof to nudge Bon Bon’s face to look at her. With genuine pain in her voice, she said, “I’m really sorry.”
“I know,” Bon Bon said. She offered a small smile. “It’s all right.”
Applejack looked at the two of them. “Erm…”
Lyra remembered that they had company. “I can’t tell you what that was about,” she said. After a moment’s thought, she added, “Which proves that we can keep your secret.”
“Okay…” Applejack replied. She then took a breath and said, “Well, I don’t know whether y’all figured this out about me, but I’m gay.”
Lyra’s joyous expression indicated that they had not figured it out.
“Hey – that’s great! Glad to have you on Team Mare Love!” She got up to shake Applejack’s hoof.
Bon Bon offered an encouraging nod. “And we won’t tell anypony else if you don’t want us to tell,” she said.
“Thanks. Yeah – I figured you two would be understandin’.”
Lyra smiled as she returned to her seat. “Although wouldn’t it be hilarious if we weren’t? Oh, I have to remember to do that next time – be all, ‘What? You’re gay? How dare you!’ And then I immediately kiss my wife on the lips.”
Bon Bon lightly punched Lyra in the foreleg. “Be nice. Coming out is hard, even if you know it’s a safe space.” She turned back to Applejack. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, but have you told anypony else?”
Applejack nodded. “Granny and Big Mac know, and they ain’t judgmental. I haven’t told Apple Bloom yet – not ’cause I don’t think she’ll understand, but ’cause I don’t quite trust her not to accidentally let it slip ’fore I’m ready. If she ever asks, I won’t lie to her, though.”
“It does feel good not to hide it,” Bon Bon said. “And if you’re looking for a town that won’t make you feel bad…” she gestured toward all of Ponyville outside their house.
“I know,” Applejack said. “I guess once I got famous for helpin’ save Equestria, I was a little nervous about it. I liked being known as the Element of Honesty – I didn’t want ponies to forget all that and start thinkin’ I represent every single one of us as the Element of Gay.”
Bon Bon nodded. “I understand where you’re coming from,” she said. “Ponyville is great, but I do sometimes feel like Lyra and I are only known as ‘the gay couple.’”
“Yeah – of course you get it,” Applejack said. “To be honest, it made me feel guilty comin’ to y’all with this. ‘I’ve got a gay question – better go ask Bon Bon and Lyra!’”
Bon Bon chuckled. “But you’re our friend,” she said. “Even if you weren’t, the fact that you realized it at all shows more consideration than some ponies. And also, there’s the fact that you’re on…” she looked at Lyra “…Team Mare Love.”
Lyra smiled. “So it sounds like you’ve already got a good grasp on everything,” she said. “What did you need to ask us about?”
Applejack fidgeted with her hat for a couple of seconds. “Well, it’s like this,” she said. “You two were just friend-friends before you started datin’, right?”
Bon Bon nodded. “Right.”
“Well, I’ve got a friend that… that I think I might have a crush on. Or at least, I’d like to see what happens if we go out on a date or two. But I don’t know whether she’d even like me that way. And I don’t want to mess up our friendship if I ask her out and she don’t even like mares like that.”
Bon Bon laughed.
Applejack glowered at her.
“I’m sorry,” Bon Bon quickly said. “I’m not laughing at you. It’s… you just described the two of us to a T.”
Applejack’s expression softened. “So you know what I’m talkin’ about?”
“We know exactly what you’re talking about,” Bon Bon said. Lyra nodded.
“So how did you two go from friends to datin’?”
“For a long time, we didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Lyra said. “My advice to you: swallow your fear and ask her if she would be interested in going on a date with you. My only regret is that I didn’t come out to Bon Bon a lot sooner than I did.”
“And my only regret is that I probably never would have come out at all.”
“We get being scared of how she’ll respond,” Lyra said. “I was terrified of telling Bon Bon how I really felt about her. But if she’s your friend, even if she wouldn’t want to date you, she’ll let you down gently. And she’ll still be your friend afterward. Worst-case scenario and she cuts you off because of it, then it means she wasn’t a very good friend to begin with.”
“And the best-case scenario is that you get an amazing marefriend.” They briefly locked eyes and held hooves.
Applejack thought for a moment. “I reckon you’re right,” she said. “I just gotta figure out the best way to tell her. Heck, she’d probably take it as a compliment.”
She got up from the chair. “Well, you’ve given me some stuff to think about,” she said. “But I’m glad you did. Thank y’all for all your help.”
Bon Bon and Lyra got up as well. Lyra stepped over and gave Applejack a hug. “Good luck,” she said. “And if Rainbow says yes, let us know.”
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to— hold on a minute!” She pulled away from the hug and stared at Lyra. “How’d you know it was Rainbow Dash?” Then, eagerly: “Did she tell you she likes mares?”
“No, no,” Lyra said. “We don’t know which way Rainbow Dash swings, either.”
“We’ve wondered just as much as you have,” Bon Bon said. Then, after a moment’s consideration, said, “Well, I suppose you’ve thought about it more.”
“But the few times we’ve seen the two of you together,” Lyra said, “we’ve agreed that you’d make a good couple.” She smiled. “We want to see it happen almost as much as you do.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about y’all imaginin’ me datin’ one of my friends.”
Bon Bon said, “Back before Lyra and I started dating, did you ever think to yourself about us, ‘Those two would make a really cute couple’?”
Applejack blushed. “Er… maybe.”
She chuckled. “You’re not the only one who’s admitted that to us. And in our case, it turns out we did!” She gave her wife a loving glance, then put her hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “I hope that it’s the same for you.”
Lyra swung her hoof in the air and said, “Go get ’er!”
“Okay, okay – I will,” Applejack said. “Guess it’s a good thing she won’t be back in town for a few weeks so I have time to get my courage up.”
Bon Bon said, “You know her schedule of when she will and won’t be in town?”
Applejack simply gave her a look.
“Right – secret crush. Got it.”
That genuinely made me laugh. Bravo.
This was a really sweet snippet. I really appreciate the sensitivity and gentleness you have with these characters.
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Aw, thank you! Yeah, I really do enjoy seeing them just generally being happy around each other. I wasn't expecting it to happen, but I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that I was captivated by lovable ponies being lovable.