//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Well, I did Nazi that coming. // Story: Only Chapter 12 is any good // by SRC //------------------------------// Approximately 37 minutes earlier, at the Ponyville Royal Park... "Something wrong, Lyra?" asked the worried cream-colored pony to her best friend across the table, over their plant sandwiches. "Eh? Ah, no it's nothing! Don't worry about it, Bon Bon," answered the unicorn after she had been caught wandering off into one of her frequent daydreaming episodes. "You kinda zoned out for a moment there... Sure you're feeling okay?" "Yeah, absolutely! I was just... thinking about something. Nothing big, really!" Lyra replied nervously. "You're not still mad about... that, right? We talked about this..." "What? Oh! No, no, no! It's not that, not at all!" "Oh, alright then. If you say so. Also, please sit like a proper pony." concluded Bon Bon before taking a bite of her food. "Yeah, whatever," was Lyra's answer. What she was really thinking about though, was another one of her fantasy encounters with a creature that can only be described as a fur-less and unorthodoxly bipedal creature with traits similar to those of an ape. This beast was called a human. Not that anyone in Ponyville had the most remote idea as to what an ape looked like, or even a primate for that matter. You see, the ponies' planet didn't even have primates to begin with, and the closest thing to it could only be found in some distant and foreign New World jungle in the opposite hemisphere! Evidently, there weren't any humans either. (The closest ones being roughly seven thousand parsecs away, nuking each other.) In other words, the average pony wouldn't know anything about them or what they resembled. Except, Lyra did know! A lot, actually: how they walked, how they talked, how they shook hands, how they smelled... Even how they tasted. In fact, her knowledge about them was so extensive, it disturbed the previous narrator out so much he quit. How, you might ask yourself, did she come across all of this, and why? That's what I ask myself too. Evidently, one her greatest wishes was to meet such a human. To spend the afternoon with him; learn about his culture, his likes and dislikes. To watch the sunrise together with her at his side, protecting Lyra as the world bathes in the heavenly display of warm colors characteristic of the breaking of dawn. She was absolutely fascinated by this idea, mesmerized, even. Nevertheless, it would be an exaggeration to call this an obsession. Far from it, in fact: she had gotten used to the absurdity and improbability of it all years ago. There were too many other things preoccupying her mind for her to consecrate excessive amounts of time to mere wishful thinking. However, it wouldn't take much to revive the flames which lurked deep within the unfortunate unicorn's heart. Of course, explaining all of this to Bon Bon would take quite a while. Not to mention the fact that it would freak the hell out of her! (While making her question her friend's sanity.) There was truly no safe way to approach the subject, so Lyra kept all of it to herself. It wasn't easy though, it frustrated her greatly not having anyone with whom to be open about this, especially considering that Bon Bon was the person she trusted the most. Such a revelation would certainly be... deleterious to their relationship. She knew could tell her anything. Anything but this. "Were you thinking about that time I-" "Leave it, Bon Bon." "Fine." After they had finished eating, they decided to take a walk. The sun shone delightfully, the birds happily chirped away in their summer symphony and the sky was a burnished aestival blue. They followed the path which traveled around the resplendent ponds, under the jovial trees, and over the exquisite flowers and dandelions. Along the way, they talked about everything and nothing, the usual, really: their noisy neighbor, taxes, poutine, biophysical thermoeconomic entropy... It was a sweet and peaceful day: no impending disaster, no worries... Just a remarkably beautiful evening with her best friend. It was as if Fate had finally decided to leave the poor inhabitants of Ponyville alone for a little while... Except he hadn't, however. Fate didn't do this voluntarily, what happened was he got indigestion after eating all that Mexican food last night at his cousin Irony's bachelor party. Indeed, the enchiladas proved too much for him. But truth be told, the routinely-unfortunate town wasn't exactly better off this way. One could always make the argument that bad supervision is preferable over no supervision at all. In other words, uncontrolled chaos is worse than controlled chaos. No, that is not an oxymoron. Theoretical thoughts aside, Lyra was having such a nice time I'd hate to ruin it all, but this... ...is where it all goes wrong. The faint sound of music could barely be heard emanating from afar, its direction unclear. Bon-Bon, unlike her distracted friend, was profoundly immersed in the peace of the surrounding nature; her eyes closed, secondary senses receiving maximum attention. Such a meditated state allowed her to perceive the distraction easily. Immediately, she began looking around for the source of the disturbance. Noticing this, Lyra asked her why. “Can you hear that?” “Hear what?” “An instrument. Sounds like a trumpet... I believe it’s coming from the plaza.” “Well, then! We gotta go take a look, right? After all, it would be a pity to miss out on any fun... Besides, it's been a long time since the last time we had an adventure, you and I,” teased Lyra with a comforting smile. “An adventure? What makes you think this is going to be an adventure?” giggled her friend back. "Oh I don't know, I don't know! My adventure-sense must be tingling!" Bon-Bon burst out laughing after hearing this. "Please, you know what happened last time you felt that! I mean, seriously, how did you even think sneaking into Twilight's house in the middle of the night was a good idea? More importantly, how the heck did you convince me to go with you?!" Lyra explained while blushing: "C'mon, it's not like I could have seen that coming! It's not my fault she-" "Oh really? You didn't see anything wrong whatsoever with that idea? It was worse than the time you set fire to Rarity's cat. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that you totally owe Pinkie Pie two chickens and a pair of socks after you threw hers into the river." "Umm, they slipped?" "Is that so?" "Things... happen?" *Squee smile.* "You are so crazy, Lyra! If you ask me, it's the best part of your personality." "Thanks, Bon-Bon. I'm so lucky to have a friend who likes me for who I am! So, shall we take off?" "That's what I was about to say." As they galloped towards the plaza, Lyra kept repeating those words over and over again to herself. I'm so lucky to have a friend who likes me for who I am! I'm so lucky to have a friend who likes me for who I am! I'm so lucky to have a friend who likes me for who I am! Certainly her friend would understand, Lyra thought, but yet the fear of rejection was strong... In the end, it all came down to one question. What is stronger: her fear, or the trust she places in her companion? After a short reflection, she concluded: "I'm going to need to tell Bon-Bon one day..." -------------------------