//------------------------------// // 55 - I Win! // Story: Fading Suns: A New World // by David Silver //------------------------------// As they floated over the town, watching the three ponies dart from place to place in a frantic rush to complete their lists, Pinkie leaned towards the mayor. "Was that the only change you made?" "Perhaps," she replied edgily. "You have the best seat in the house. Why don't you just enjoy the show?" Pinkie stuck out her tongue, but did just that, leaning over the side for a good view of the action. "Last one," declared Twilight with a smile. "Then this contest will be over and we can get back to our lives." It wasn't even a complicated thing. She just had to buy a cherry, a single cherry. She took off towards the fruit stands, wishing she had the time to check the list fully before she ran off. It wasn't like she hadn't been past the fruit stands a few times. When she arrived, she saw Lyra and Bon Bon were already there, arguing with the stallion that ran the booth. There were no cherries in sight. Bon Bon's voice had become a harsh shriek, changing as it did once in a while. "What do you mean?! Go back there--" she thrust a hoof at the barrels behind the stallion. "--and get us a cherry!" He shook his head. "Now why w-- Oh." He seemed to perk when he saw Twilight approaching. "Alright, yeah." He turned around and slapped the top of the barrel with a hoof. It flipped and he got out a single cherry, placing it on the counter. "Only one left." Bon Bon looked aside at Twilight, then him. She waved a hoof between the two, her mouth moving without words a moment. "For her you pull out the cherry?! We could have won this contest already and this stallion's playing favorites." Lyra focused on the cherry, wrapping it in her magic and lifting it. "I'll take this." The color of the cherry distorted as Twilight's magic competed for it. "I'll pay double for it." "Triple!" quickly blurt out Bon Bon, slamming a hoof beside the desired fruit. The salespony just smiled. It would be a good day for him. "Ladies, kindly don't bust the fruit before you finish buying it." The cherry dropped gently to the counter surface, magic withdrawing from it. Bon Bon moved in front of Twilight. "We were here first, you saw it! If you have any honor, you'll let us have the dang thing." Twilight pointed at the small red contention. "This stand belongs to that stallion, and he seems to think we have an equal bid on it. Besides, didn't you want to lose?" Bon Bon colored, stomping the ground. "What kind of friendship princess are you?!" Twilight recoiled, a hoof raising to her chest as her wings fluttered. "You take that back!" "I will not!" She advanced, her face moving dangerously close to Twilight's. Lyra waved a hoof softly. "If we keep fighting, our stallion never gets the cherry for his pie." "Be quiet, Lyra, Twilight needs a talking to." Bon Bon huffed, glaring at Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes. "As if I should just roll over because you asked nicely. I may be the princess of friendship, but that isn't the same as the princess of pushovers." "I was here first!" cried Bon Bon, flailing a hoof in Twilight's direction "Mares, we really don't have to fight about this..." complained Lyra in a soft tone. "C'mon..." Twilight glanced up at the rebellious fruit. "Why don't we play a game for it?" Bon Bon sat down, her glare unrelenting. "A game in our game? Sure, why not, since you just won't accept that I was here first." She clopped her hooves together. "Since you're challenging, I get to name the game." Lyra darted between them. "I say we play the 'We're actually friends so maybe we should just not fight over a cherry' game. Oh, look at that, I'm already winning! Ha ha!" Her laugh was forced and hysterical to match her broad grin. Twilight hiked a brow at Lyra. "Lyra, what are you even suggesting?" Bon Bon rolled a hoof in agreement. "Yes, what are you even saying? There's only one cherry and we both need it." Lyra pointed at the fruit of contention. "There's only one cherry, right?" The other two nodded. "But there's only one stallion, right?" They nodded again. "So why fight?" They both looked confused. "We both want it for the same reason for the same stallion, why not just put that cherry on the one pie he'll get. Does it matter who gives it to him so long as he gets a pie with a cherry on top?" Both the argumentative mares sank thoughtfully, muttering thoughts to themselves. Twilight was the first to speak up, "So what would that mean, for the contest?" Lyra pointed at Twilight. "It means we put aside our differences?" Twilight shook her head. "Then who gets Laud? We tried just stopping and they didn't allow that." Bon Bon sat up suddenly. "You don't mean?" She clapped her hooves down on Lyra's shoulders. "You mad mare! You don't mean!?" Lyra's ears pinned against her head. "Maybe? I mean... maybe? Ever wanted to marry a princess?" Twilight flopped forward, faceplanting right where she had been sitting. A hysterical laugh bubbled free of her. "Of course... If we're... oh my..." From above Pinkie peered at the arguing ponies with a set of binoculars. "What are they saying? They've been arguing over that cherry for a while." "I can hazard a guess." Mayor Mare watched them without such help, smiling as she did so. "It remains to be seen if this ends the way I was hoping it would. It's up to them now. Any of them could walk away with the cherry and victory." "Any?" "Oh, yes, possibly all three of them, or any one of them." She smiled confidently. "Whomever does will be wed shortly to that strange alien. I don't envy them, to be perfectly frank. If I ever find a special somepony, I would rather they have hooves, nice... strong hooves... They would hold me close and--" She trailed off quite abruptly, realizing she was gushing at Pinkie about a theoretical romantic interest. "Hm, nevermind that." Pinkie tilted her head. "He's alright, not really my type though." She tapped at her chin. "Way too 'everything is so serious!' for me. Might be a good match for misses 'let's make a list for everything' down there." She pointed at Twilight. "They can freak out together." She burst into airy giggles. "I'd like to see that, actually. Go Twilight!" Bon Bon offered a hoof to the downed princess. "It's nuts, but... technically an option." Twilight rose with her help, sitting up with a slow cleansing breath. "This has been some day... Look, I already peered in the mirror and had these discussions. I was ready this morning to be married, for the good of Equestria." She folded one hoof across her front. "I'm not being asked to do anything I don't want to do. He is honorable, possibly to a fault. If I don't want him to touch me, he never will, but we can save Equestria by putting up a united front." Lyra bobbed her head. "But you're busy, Twilight. You have, you know, princess stuff. I want to just be his friend. He's... right out of my filly dreams." She colored dark. "I used to dream of some strong, brave, battle-ready stallion sweeping me right off my hooves, and here he came, right from the stars!" She made a grand gesture across the sky to emphasize it. Bon Bon threw a foreleg over Lyra and pulled the mare close. "And I just have to keep an eye on her. I want my mare to be happy, possibly despite herself sometimes. If that means she wants to be wooed by a freaky alien on two legs, then that's what I'm getting done." Twilight pointed at Bon Bon lightly. "So you're not interested in him then?" Bon Bon shrugged. "I'm interested in this mare right here." She squeezed Lyra close. "And that means caring about what she wants and chasing her dreams like they were my own. That's what a pony should do for their best friend. I may be strong, brave, and battle-ready, but I'm not, you know, a stallion." Lyra's darkness spread from her snout to encompass much of her face as she shrank back. "Dear Celestia, I didn't mean it like that! Bon Bon! I love you so much!" She buried her blushed face into Bon Bon's chest, rubbing it back and forth. "You were always my shining knight, there to rescue me from myself." "Still not a stallion," she noted with a raised hoof, the other wrapped around Lyra, holding her. Twilight glanced away, coughing into a hoof softly. "Y-yes, well... I feel I should point out that I have little... interest in... that." She stood up on all fours, ears forward. "You three will have to deal with that on your own. Laud and I have a world to save." Bon Bon looked ready to fight before the more subtle meanings of the statement trickled in. "Yeah..." She smiled a little and pulled Lyra along with herself, grabbing at Twilight with her free hoof. "Come here, you! If we're going through with this, that makes us all wives, and I won't have a wife that won't accept a hug." Pinkie grinned so wide her cheeks squeaked. "They're making up! I think? Or are they playing some kinda game to decide who gets the cherry? Lyra looked really weird for a moment there... This may be the best seat, but it still has a lot of problems..." Mayor Mare smiled confidently at the exchange beneath her. "I have a feeling it will all work out. Whatever they decide, it will be with clean minds and without grudges over this entire affair." She glanced towards Pinkie. "And without stepping on our laws along the way." "Whattaya mean?" Lyra's horn glowed and a cherry floated over to their group-huddle, a few coins left behind. "So... we all win?" She smiled hopefully, her face still a dark and bashful red. "We really win?" Bon Bon rolled her eyes dramatically. "Seems I've gained two best friends to protect. Are you as difficult to watch as she is, Princess?" Twilight's wings spread. "As you just mentioned, I am a princess. I don't need to be foalsat." Bon Bon grinned mischievously. "Oh, right, I forgot. You already have a foalsitter. I wouldn't want to step on Spike's tail." Twilight jumped at Bon Bon and the two wrestled on the ground with rough cries and laughs, the tension broken fairly completely. Lyra set her hooves on the ground as she floated the cherry into her pocket. With a grunt of effort, she hefted both mares up and away from one another. "Now don't force me to be the mature even-headed one, but I will be if I have to!" She poked Bon Bon on the nose. "Don't make fun." She poked Twilight on the nose in turn. "You're cute when you blush." Twilight blushed for Lyra. "W-what?" Bon Bon landed on the ground and stood up. "Let's go report in. Princess Twilight Sparkle, do you agree to join our herd?" Twilight nodded. "I must insist on taking your position, however." Lyra's ears went up. "You're going to be the serious defender and make candy?" Twilight shook her head. "I need to be the top mare. It will create undesirable eddies for the princess to not be at the lead of whatever social group she becomes involved in. This could be forgiven in, say, an O&O game, but not with marriage. I must insist on this." Bon Bon nodded firmly. "I actually agree. I have my own term, but I doubt you will object to it. No party of this marriage is to be coerced into doing what they don't want to do. While I am glad to report that none of us find the others outright repugnant, that doesn't mean we'll be falling into one another's arms, nor should it be expected." "Agreed," echoed both Twilight and Lyra. Lyra held out a hoof and it was met with the two others in a loud clop. An agreement had been reached. "Since when were you top mare?" whispered Lyra as they hiked back towards the arena they had begun in.