//------------------------------// // Chapter 1*** // Story: What If...? // by solsticebrony888 //------------------------------// BonBon stared at the white ceiling as she contemplated what to say. It was hard for her to even admit feelings to her friends, but now that a therapist stood just a few feet away, notepad in hoof ready to write down whatever he felt necessary, she felt choked up. It was an odd silence while the cream colored mare considered what she should say him. Just the thought of spilling her feelings made her chin quiver, the hot tears ready to pour down her cheeks. BonBon wasn’t somepony known to hold back her feelings and definitely was an emotional mare, which caused this whole situation to seem much more threatening to her. However, she spent all of her bits just to have the opportunity to release bottled up feelings and wouldn’t waste this opportunity. When the only pony she could confide in was the subject of her own infatuation, she had nopony else to go to. After a minute or so, the grey stallion spoke up in a calm, deep voice, “Why are you here today, BonBon?” He was wearing glasses, while using his magic to keep a pen suspended in the air ready to write what he felt he should. BonBon kept her attention straight up at the wall, “I-I…I’m here for many reasons,” “What’s most important to you?” Lyra… “Love…” She squeaked out with a tiny voice crack. Just thinking the teal mare’s name brought about a flurry of emotions. The therapist jotted down a note, switched positions in his seat then looked up towards the mare lying on the black leather couch in front of him, “Ah, such a common topic among ponies these days. Feel free to start whenever you deem necessary. I have water and tissues on the counter next to you for whenever you need them. Of course I can start anytime, I’m paying you by the hour... “I-I…I guess I will start with what happened about 6 months ago, at Sugarcube Corner. It was Lyra’s birthday,” “May I ask who that is?” “A friend…” She sputtered after a shaky sigh. No need to admit everything at once... <><><><><><><><><> BonBon, finally added the finishing touches as she put up a streamer across the bakery’s main room. In bright chrome letters it read ‘Happy Birthday Lyra’. It was the final piece on a mountain of effort that the earth pony put into this surprise party. Balloons surrounded the whole main party room, with confetti ready to be blasted in air when the unicorn arrived. She had a massive teal and white cake set up on a table in the middle of the room. The theme was Lyra’s colors which could be seen everywhere in the bakery. Everything that could be, was altered to be turquoise. If BonBon could find it, she made it blue. It was the first surprise party she had ever hosted and she couldn’t bear to see a single flaw in its setup. Arriving at the party was Roseluck, a mutual friend of Lyra and BonBon greeted the cream colored mare with a giddy smile. “OH MY CELESTIA, BonBon! Lyra is going to trip OUT when she sees this! Everything is so blue! The cups, the walls, the cake! Oh!” After a hug, BonBon couldn’t hold back a squeal of excitement as she looked around at her finished work. “I don’t think I have worked harder on anything in my life!” BonBon exclaimed with a jubilant laugh, “I really hopeshe’s blown away by this!” “Of course she will be! I know her just well as you do, I bet fifty bits she’ll faint!” The red-maned earth pony trotted around the main room for a good hiding place. Pinkie Pie, Mr. and Mrs. Cake plus several other ponies were stacked up being the largest table, ready to burst out and shock the teal unicorn. “I don’t want to lose fifty bits after all I spent on this surprise party!” The cream colored mare said with another laugh, “It’ll all be worth it when she comes. She should be here any minute, we should get into place!” They a huddled together as they waited for Derpy to knock the code knock to let them know Lyra was just about to enter. “So what gave you the idea to hold a surprise party for Lyra?” Roseluck asked in a whisper, as she sat next to BonBon. They were all well hidden behind the a table in the center of the room. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were in front, Raindrops and Cloud Kicker next. “Ever since we were fillies we always have tried to out do each other, and sugar, I always win!” After a quick hush and a few ‘be quiets’ they huddled together excited and ready to surprise the birthday mare. <><><><><><><><> “So, how did Lyra react once she arrived?” The therapist question. BonBon now knew his name was Dr Buckington. The cream colored mare bit her lip, still holding back tears, “She didn’t…” . She turned her head away in frustration. “What do you mean?” The earth pony turned back over with a sigh, “After all my planning and all my work, she didn’t even come. Derpy couldn’t find her. She was in Manehattan with her coltfriend,” BonBon emphasized ‘coltfriend’ with a hint of spite. Her hooves were now crossed as she waited for the grey stallions response. “So Lyra left without telling anypony?” The cream colored pony shook her head, “She said it was on a whim, she didn’t really have time to tell anypony, even her best friend...” Dr. Buckington wrote a note, and then spoke again, “That sounds like an awful experience after all of that planning!” “It wasn’t just that I had it all set up, I-I told her to stay in Ponyville for her birthday, so I could surprise her….but she didn’t. B-but, I couldn’t stay mad, after all, we had been best friends since grade school, I was sure she was sorry,” After jotting down a few more notes, Dr. Buckington responded, “When you talked to her about it, how did she react?” “Well, I had waited for her to return to Ponyville and she was with her coltfriend. Up until then, I didn’t know she had one. When I saw him, I could just tell she was too good for him. Even after just meeting him, I could tell he was a grade A jerk, sugar. But that was when I told her about how, she um…well, forgot about staying in Ponyville on her birthday. She seemed awfully sad about it, but she was so happy with this stallion, I didn’t want to make her feel too bad. I played it off as if it wasn’t a problem, she...she just seemed so happy…” “Mhmm,” Was the therapist’s only response. He continued writing down on his notepad. BonBon grabbed a tissue, before she started again. “All our lives we’ve been best friends…we didn’t really ever have coltfriends, because we had so much in common that we could hang with other and avoid the need to have one, you know? It was like a bond between us that I didn’t expect it would break. I don’t know why…looking back on it now, it was quite dumb of me to expect such a thing…but it bothered me more than I think it should have… we just graduated from school, maybe drifting apart from friends was natural, you know, sugar?” “I think everypony has had experiences like that with best friends, I think it’s best just to trust that they feel the same about you as you feel about them,” if only… “You’re right,” She said with a sigh, “About one or two months later, me and Lyra haven’t actually hung out in a while and I, being the single lonely friend I was, I basically had to beg her just for us to have a mare’s day out like back in the good old times, but when I saw her, there was clearly something really wrong,” <><><><><><><><> All morning BonBon was excited to finally spend time with her best friend. She went to town and bought Lyra a present just out of kindness. To make a friendship last, you need to put effort into it. It’s what they have done since they were fillies and something she wanted to continue to do. Blue roses, created from magic, were Lyra’s favorite. She knew everything about the teal unicorn and it always helped when picking out something random just to be a nice friend. BonBon imagined the day that awaited her, a day of full of reminiscing on their past together as friends, while also creating moments to reminisce about in the future. They felt so comfortable around each other; they could be weird and say the most random stuff without worrying about being judged. They could gossip about other ponies in town, play pranks on each other without worrying about going too far, because they were sincere best friends. However, today was different. When BonBon trotted merrily to her friend’s home, it took a while for Lyra to even answer the door. The door opened slowly, and seeing Lyra’s condition wiped the smile right off BonBon’s face. It looked like Lyra had been crying for hours, her eyes were reddened and she just looked tired. “L-Lyra! What happened!” BonBon exclaimed at the site of her distressed friend, “were you crying? What’s wrong?” Lyra’s head hung low, ears lowered, “Nothing,” Her voice sounded course and was almost too quiet for the earth pony to hear. Lyra’s home was dark because each window was covered by a drape with all doors shut except for the front door. This scared BonBon, knowing she only did this during some sort of depression. “Lyra, you know you can talk to me about anything, sugar! What’s going on?” She walked inside her home, turning on the lights with it. Lyra meandered over to her couch, while BonBon found a vase to set the blue roses in. “I brought you flowers, will that help your mood?” BonBon asked, but knew it would take more. “Please, don’t tell him what I tell you…” Lyra’s was voice was harsh and quiet as if she was sick. BonBon had the sinking pit in her stomach she hasn’t felt in years from seeing her friend like this. “I’d never do that to you Lyra,” The cream colored pony said sincerely. She understood that ‘him’ was Lyra’s coltfriend. “We got in a fight last night, after we went out on a date,” Lyra said, voice stronger, “Because I accidentally spilled juice on his coat,” This disgusted BonBon even though she had actually had personally predicted something like this happening. How could someone get in a fight over getting their coat a little dirty, that’s just so wrong to do to someone you supposedly love! If I were him I’d cherish Lyra, treat her perfect… BonBon stopped herself from continuing her thoughts. Thoughts like those confused her, no matter how prevalent. We’re just best friends, we could never be more, we’re both mares… That thought has become increasingly less convincing for BonBon. “Does he really worry about his coat that much?” The earth pony asked from inside Lyra’s kitchen. She was fixing her up some hot chocolate, which was always Lyra’s drink of choice when she was sad. “He yelled at me for an hour about it, he said I was worthless, that I was clumsy and…” The unicorn’s voice broke apart mid sentence but she quickly regained her composure to continue, “H-He apologized later though…” BonBon walked over from the kitchen meet Lyra with two cups of hot cocoa. The tiny smile on Lyra’s face brought warmth to BonBon’s heart. It made her feel good to know she can help her friend so much so easily. “Do you think he was sincere?” The cream colored pony said as she hopped up next to Lyra on her couch, Lyra holding their cups of cocoa with magic until Bonbon and could hold it herself. “I-I don’t know…he promised not to do it anymore, I hope he doesn’t…I give him my heart and he treats me like this…? “I’m sure he can change, sugar. Just give him the time he needs to mature,” BonBon was being more optimistic than she truly felt. She considered Lyra’s coltfriend as a piece of scum that wasn’t good enough for Lyra. But then again, who was? “Thank you, BonBon…you’re always here for me whenever I need you to be, you’ve always been such a great friend…”