//------------------------------// // Couch Forts // Story: Stability // by SlightlyOnline //------------------------------// It had been five years. Five years since the mint green unicorn first laid eyes upon that cute, cream coated mare from science class at Canterlot College. Five years since she had accidentally tripped eying her candy embossed flank while walking down the halls, and five years since she was called a “creepy stalking weirdo.” Things had changed since then. It was only one year after her awkward confrontations that she found out that she would be roommates with the pony that had so interested her, and one more after that for her to work up the courage to ask that blue-eyed beauty out to dinner. That was all behind her now as she looked upon the face of her marefriend, lover and soulmate with a wide smile, observing her familiar features as the candy maker giggled and laughed. She hugged the pony tightly, thoroughly enjoying the time they spent together during quiet evenings like these. “Well, the afternoon is all ours until our dinner reservations at eight,” the earth pony said to her, excited about the evening. “So what would you like to do until then?” Lyra smiled. “Well your bed’s nice and warm. I think you know exactly what I want to do.” The cream mare blushed, although she completely expected this to be the answer. “No. I mean yes, but not now,” she giggled. “I mean, three years together is an achievement. We might as well enjoy the afternoon before some waiter ruins it. For you at least.” The unicorn glared, being reminded of how waiters always seemed to mess something up for her whenever she ate at, well, anywhere. She broke her expression and smiled back at her partner. “I want to do what you want to do.”  The pony had gotten used to saying that; she figured it scored her extra points for later. “Hmm...” Bon Bon thought for a moment. “Well I do like laughing at you, and we have known each other for quite a while. Why don’t we look through each of our high school yearbooks?” Lyra nearly sighed at the lameness of the idea, but quickly remembered what she had just said. “Sure, I’d love to see you in braces,” she replied with a smile as she hopped over the back of the couch. “Great,” the earth pony smirked. “I’ll go get mine.” The mint colored pony quickly trotted up the stairs, walking straight up to the attic and uncovering an old tome with the words “Canterlot High” strung across the top. She picked it up with her magic and blew off the dust, coughing as it dispersed through the lofty room. Her thoughts drifted to of what life would be like if they had attended the same high school, but she quickly tossed them aside. Seeing that all was as well as it could be, she levitated the book down the stairs with her, slightly grumbling to herself. Upon her arrival at the bottom floor, she looked upon Bon Bon already casually flipping through her book. A wide grin spread across the unicorn’s face; in one motion, she hopped over the couch, loudly landing next to her marefriend and drawing a startled “Eep!” from her. Lyra fell on her back, rolling in laughter. “My Celestia, you need to stop doing that!” “No,” the unicorn replied, pecking the mare on the cheek. “Now let’s look through these, shall we?” Receiving the invitation from her partner, the earth pony eagerly turned the pages of the Ponyville High yearbook, occasionally pointing out different ponies that Lyra might know. The unicorn tried to suppress a yawn, hoping that her marefriend wouldn’t pick up on her false interest. To her dismay, Bon Bon forcefully shut the book and turned to her. “Why don’t we look at yours now?” she commanded more than asked. “Uh, sure,” came all that the unicorn could respond, realizing she was caught as she levitated up her yearbook. The mare swiftly opened it, a picture flying from the pages and into the air towards Bon Bon. Seeing what it was, Lyra instantly reached out with both her hooves and her magic, only for it to be snatched up by the earth pony before she could reach it. “What’s this?” she questioned, looking it over to find a gray, purple eyed mare kissing her Lyra on the cheek. Her eyes narrowed. “More importantly, who’s this?” “Oh, uh, just somepony,” the unicorn stammered, lunging for the photograph, only for it to be kept just out of her reach. Bon Bon held the picture in the air, examining and judging Lyra’s high school sweetheart. The unicorn was nearly sweating, fearful of what the candy maker might say. “She’s cute,” the pony suddenly stated. “But not your type. I know you made the right choice.” Lyra exhaled, wholly relieved that her partner wasn’t mad at her for some reason. “Of course I did. Now could I please have that back?” “Hold on.” The earth pony flipped the picture over, revealing a pretty hoof-written message. “Dearest Lyra,” she read. “I wanted you to know that I had a most wonderful time with you throughout our years here at Canterlot High,-” “Yeah, it’s all warm and fuzzy, but can you please give that back to me?” “- and I am ever so glad that you decided to enroll in Canterlot College with me. Hopefully we can take this relationship to the next level, just like you always wanted.-” “You don’t need to read on, do you? I mean, it’s just some boring sappy stuff.” “-I look forward to seeing you-- all of you-- and eagerly await our next year together. Forever the mare in your life, Octavia.” Lyra had dug herself into the couch, covering her head with her hooves. She slightly peeked out to be met with a stern gaze and a questioning raised eyebrow from her marefriend. “Well Lyra?” The unicorn immediately hid herself again as the pony spoke. “W- well what?” “Are there any other lovers I should know about? Any other special someponies?” “No! Of course not! That was a long time ago. Octavia was just...” the mint green pony trailed off. “You’re thinking about her, aren’t you!” “No!” Lyra shouted, snapping herself out of a trance as the treble clef on the flank of the pony became refreshed in her mind. “... A little...” “A little!?” Bon Bon stood up, trotting towards the stairs. “H- Hey! Where are you going?” The earth pony was already up them by the time she had turned around. “I’m going to lock myself in our-, MY room, Lyra Heartstrings.” The unicorn stammered, trying to speak but no coherent words came out. “You can forget about dinner and you can forget about how warm my bed is!” The door slammed, the noise echoing through the home. Lyra sat, dumbfounded at what had just transpired. A sigh escaped her lips as she wondered what she could have done. “For starters, I could have lied better about picturing her rump,” she emptily laughed to herself. “Well, I guess it will be one of those nights.” She levitated out her, as she called it, “emergency supply kit”, complete with pillows, blankets, snacks, comics and anything a pony could need when sleeping on the couch. As she had done multiple times before, she began constructing her fortress of solitude, stacking up pillows and blankets into a small tent to keep herself entertained. The unicorn smirked to herself, trotting into her doghouse and laying down with a loud sigh as she cracked open a comic book. The mare found her eyes aimlessly wandering the pages, unable to focus on the characters of the latest issue of Batmare. With a grunt, she shut the story, throwing it to the side and falling to her back. “It never gets any easier, does it?” she muttered to herself as she stared at the ceiling of her fort, her hooves behind her head as she relaxed. “Why in Luna’s name did I keep that picture? It’s not like I’ve even seen Octavia since college.” She wrapped herself in her hooves as she shivered, turning to her side. “I’m sure Bon Bon will remind me of my mistakes in the morning.” Her eyes closed slowly, her last thought being of the image of that grey mare, it slowly disappearing as she fell into sleep’s embrace. ***                        ***                        *** The unicorn’s eyes slowly opened in her foalish fort, bright sunlight breaking through a strategically placed window in her pillow and blanket structure. Slowly, the mare sat up, brushing her messy mane out of her eyes as she stretched while yawning loudly. Her ears perked up swiftly as she heard the sweet voice of another pony. “May I come in?” “Sure. Nopony in here but me and Batmare.” Bon Bon ducked into the structure, tripping onto the couch as she entered while the unicorn tried to suppress a giggle. The tan mare pulled herself up, immediately embracing her marefriend. “I’m sorry, Lyra. I overreacted.” “And I’m sorry that I’m such an attractive mare,” came the mint colored mare’s quick reply. The earth pony laughed. “You’re pretty quick to forgive, you know that? Almost as quick as you are with building these forts.” Lyra kissed her on the cheek. “Years of practice.” Bon Bon sighed. “Well, we missed dinner, and I’m quite hungry. What do you say that we grab a bite to eat?” “Oh, you’re hungry, are you? I’m right here, come and take me.” The earth pony’s face lit up a bright crimson. “Not that kind of hungry, my dear. Well... Not right now.” The unicorn looked up at Bon Bon, turning on the puppy dog eyes and the quivering lip guise, only for it to be broken by her own rumbling stomach. “You know what? I’m hungry too, let’s go grab a bite.” “First we should probably clean up th-” Lyra jumped up, destroying her couch fort and sending pillows flying across the room. “Did you say something?” Bon Bon almost facehooved before the unicorn levitated all the pillows back to their appropriate places and returned her doghouse supply kit, complete with Batmare, to its hidden crevice, should she need it again. She looked over the still wrecked area, muttered “close enough” and turned back to her marefriend. “Well, where would you like to eat?” The earth pony thought for a moment. “Wherever you want to go is fine, Lyra.” The mint green pony cleared her throat and recited as if she had practiced “I want to do what you want to do.” “Oh yes, right. I nearly forgot your mantra,” her mare replied sarcastically. “Well how about where we usually go? Sandy’s Sandwiches is usually nice and quick.” “Well it depends. Is that what you want to do?” Bon Bon sighed. “Yes. I want to go there. Now comb your mane.” Lyra levitated a comb as the couple began to trot towards the door. “Yes, mom.” ***                        ***                        *** “Tell me about Octavia.” “Mmph?” Lyra questioned, in the middle of her sandwich. “What was she like? How did you two meet?” The unicorn swallowed, unsure of what she was to reply. “Are you sure you want to know that?” Bon Bon smiled. “Yes, of course. Now tell me the story.” After taking another bite, Lyra cleared her throat. “Alright, story time with Lyra I suppose.” The cream colored pony giggled as she began her tale. “Well, as you know, I have a thing for earth ponies, and back then I was playing in high school band. Pretty boring stuff, right? But then one day, a dragon came swooping in and scooped up Octavia. Naturally, I was the only one who could save her, so I did.” Her marefriend frowned as she spoke the final lines. “There, end of story.” “Has anypony ever told you that you’re a lame story teller?” Lyra leaned back and propped her hind hooves up on the table, sipping on her drink in hoof. “Yeah, but it is what it is,” she replied smugly. “You’ll have to tell me the real story sometime, and you know it. But for now...” Bon Bon focused on the bill in front of her that the water had plopped down, opening her coin purse to see a couple of dusty flies float out. “For now we need to figure out how we are going to pay the check. Did you bring any bits with you?” “Yeah-” the unicorn patted herself down. “-no.” Her partner sighed, flipping out her checkbook. “I’m tired of doing this; just scraping by by the strands of our manes. That dinner would have killed us.” “Good thing you got mad at me, then. Much cheaper.” “I’ll have to do it again sometime. I mean...” The earth pony leaned in. “I don’t think we’ll be even be able to tip our waiter.” “What a tragedy,” Lyra sarcastically stated, putting on her best surprised face to remind Bon Bon of her dislike of waiters. “I never understood why you hate them so much,” the pony giggled. “I mean, put yourself in their horseshoes. They have to deal with snotty customers who don’t tip all day.” “They’re always passing tables like they’re planning something. One of these days I’ll figure out what they’re up to.” Bon Bon kissed her on the cheek. “Sure you will, my dear. Shall we head out?” “Yeah, before the waiter figures out that I’ve uncovered their secret plan.” Lyra hopped up, taking her place beside her marefriend as they slowly made their way back to Bon Bon’s candy store. ***                        ***                        *** The mint colored pony seated herself on the couch, clutching a cup of soda in the cleft of her hoof as she sipped on it. One room over in the kitchen, her partner was sorting through the day’s mail that a grey pegasus had just dropped off. Lyra listened to the letters being tossed aside, Bon Bon muttering as she sorted through them. “Spam. Spam. Bill. Check? Oh, wrong house. Spam. Bill... There we go!” “What is it?” the unicorn inquired, hopping off of the couch and trotting into the kitchen. “Note from the bank,” the pony said as she tore the letter open, throwing it’s contents onto the island in the middle of the kitchen. “I’ve been eager to see how we’ve been doing over the past couple of months for a while now.” She picked up her account details, her eyes quickly darting over them while Lyra watched as her expression grew cold. The earth pony slowly let out a heavy breath, throwing the piece of paper back on the table. “Bon Bon... Bon Bon, what’s wrong?” The pony allowed herself to fall to the floor, her flank hitting the ground with a thud as she sat up. “Lyra... We’re broke.”