“C’mon, Bon Bon. You know you wanted to.”
“No.”
“You totally were up for it.”
“No. I wasn’t.”
Lyra looked at her slyly. “You mean you weren’t eyeing that DJ’s round and toned flank each time she turned away from you?”
“No, I... I mean-”
“You mean that you had absolutely no desire to reach out and feel her soft, velvety fur?”
“Well... Just... I...” Although Bon Bon couldn’t speak coherently, the deep blush on her face said it all.
“I knew it.”
“Whatever!” The flustered earth pony just couldn’t seem to find the words. Lyra just smiled at her success at calling her out. It was the simple victories that she enjoyed.
Of course, she totally would have been down with it. Hopping in the sack with three other ponies would make her dreams, literally, come true. It was just a matter of pushing Bon Bon’s buttons enough for her to agree. It’s not like there was anything wrong with that.
Given the recent happenings, now was probably not the best time to do so, however. Her marefriend was still recovering from the events of the past few nights. Besides, getting the proper Octavia to agree would be even more difficult, especially in her current state. Although, Vinyl seemed charming enough to be able to pull off such a feat. Regardless, Lyra decided to abandon the notion, if just for the time being.
The pair hopped on their couch. It had been a quiet, yet comfortable walk home, both of them wanting to finally return to relaxation. They held each other in their forelimbs; a long desired feeling of normality somewhat returned to them. It felt good for Lyra to have the furnace of Bon Bon’s body against her once more. A question floated in her mind. “What do you think of Octavia’s offer?”
“What? The foursome?”
“No, that was Vinyl’s. I mean the dinner. Should we take her up on that?”
“Well, I don’t see why we shouldn’t.” Bon Bon shrugged. “Besides, we don’t treat ourselves to nice dinners, well, at all.”
“Because we haven’t had the money,” Lyra reminded. “I’m sure that’s to change, however. I mean, I still have a job and you have your business. Plus that boost that Octavia and Vinyl gave you helps too.”
“Well... that kind of doesn’t matter anymore...”
The unicorn sat up and looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“I sort of had to close the store of the past couple of days to gather myself and, well, fix myself. Or try to, at least. So we’re back to barely scraping by.”
“Oh...” This was disheartening news for Lyra. Maybe she should take up prostitution after all. She perked up and grinned. “We’ll make it up, I’m sure. I know you, and you don’t quit when something means so much to you.”
Bon Bon smiled back at her. “Thank you, Lyra.”
Upon hearing her name, she looked to the side of the room. “Oh yeah, that reminds me,” she said as her horn glowed. “I wanted to try something.” Soon, an instrument of beautiful metal levitated into her lap.
“Your lyre? But you’ve hardly touched that in ages.” It was somewhat of a harsh reminder of Lyra’s own decline.
“Yeah, but I’m thinking that I should pick it back up again. After seeing all the musical equipment at Octavia’s, it reminded me of what I used to love doing.” She had unfortunately drifted away from what was supposed to be her special talent in the recent weeks. All she really needed was a little reminder.
She ran a hoof across the instrument, producing a sound comparable to the whine of a timberwolf. “Heh,” Lyra said, quickly adjusting the string. “It’s just a little bit sharp.” Years of practice had trained her ears to be able to tune into the proper pitch. It didn’t take long at all until she was able to strum the lyre and produce a light, pleasing sound.
Her hooves danced across the instrument. Despite being out of practice, her muscle memory was still sharp; soon, she was playing the most beautiful rendition of Smoke on the Water that anypony had ever heard. Bon Bon laughed as Lyra smiled. I’ve still got it, she thought to herself.
“Yep. You’re still good with your hooves, I see.”
“Oh, you know it. I think I’ve proven that more than once.” She played one last scale before setting down the instrument and looking at Bon Bon with a sly smile. “I could prove it again if you want.”
The earth pony leaned into her. “I don’t know if you can prove anything. I now know your weakness, after all.”
“Weakness? And what would that be?”
Bon Bon answered by slowly running a hoof up the mare’s stomach, resting it gently on her body. She traced it back down, circling her soft tummy. The unicorn could only respond with a gasp and a shudder at the feeling of her deepest secret being acted upon.
The candy maker was right; Batmare did have a weakness.
*** *** ***
An exhausted Lyra was buttoning her work uniform, looking at herself in the mirror in the early hours of the morning. She heard yawning behind her and looked in the corner of the mirror to see the reflection of Bon Bon. “What are you doing up so early, my little seductress?” she asked her.
“I should be asking you the same thing. And that’s Miss Seductress to you.”
“Just getting ready for work. It’s Thursday, and I can’t risk being fired all over again.” She knew that chances were that that wouldn’t happen under these circumstances. Her boss did say to come in when she was in a condition to work, after all.
“Well, do you want me to at least make you breakfast? You know, as payment for last night’s under-the-covers performance.”
Even though it had only been a couple of days, Lyra had so missed Bon Bon’s bedroom etiquette. Still, she frowned at herself in the mirror and turned and kissed her marefriend. “No time. I really need to get going. Don’t worry, I’ll let you make me whatever type of food you want when I get back.”
“I suppose I should open up the shop as well. Some ponies are probably lost without their weekly fix of candy.”
“That, and we just need more money. How long do we have until rent is due?”
“Two weeks or so.” Two weeks was too close for Lyra’s comfort.
“Dang. I’ll be extra nice at work today, then. Need to soak up some tips. I may even bring people the correct drinks this time.”
Bon Bon giggled and hugged her. “I’m sure you’ll be tipped fantastically. You have a way of making ponies smile.”
“Glad you think so.” She pecked her with one more kiss before she levitated a case and began to make her way down the stairs. Bon Bon followed her closely.
“What’s that?” she inquired, gesturing to the case.
“Oh, just my lyre. I figured that it would give me something nice to do on break.”
The earth pony smiled. It was apparent to Lyra that she enjoyed that she was picking the instrument back up again. “Well have fun! I can’t wait to hear what beautiful songs you create.”
“I don’t think ‘fun’ and this job go together all too well, but I’ll try my best. Anything to bring us home more money.” She smiled. “And, you know, bedroom points.” Bon Bon kissed her and she set off on her merry way.
She was rather merry, in fact. Going to work not to avoid her marefriend and instead to make more bits was a good feeling to her. Maybe she would have to start being nice to her customers after all. She found herself with a spring in her step, nodding and smiling to the ponies that passed her by on the way. An early morning trip that would normally feel grueling, her walk to the restaurant didn’t take long at all.
The doors were unlocked and her boss was already inside. She figured that it would be a good time to let her know that she would be working today. Lyra happily, or as happily as a pony with an awful boss could be, trotted into the mare’s office. Cinnamon looked up from her newspaper. “Are you going to make me money today?”
“Yes,” came her reply. “I’m ready to get to work.” She glanced at her lyre case. The real reason she wanted to get to work was so she could get to her break and play some.
“Good, because Spring Skies still hasn’t been able to come in. Apparently she needs some ‘time to spend with the baby’. I can’t believe she thinks that’s a valid excuse.”
Lyra and Bon Bon probably wouldn’t be having that problem. “You don’t date much, do you?” the unicorn asked her flatly. Receiving a stern glare in return.
“Get to work.”
*** *** ***
Through whiney foals and non-tipping customers, the time had finally come: her break. It was time for her to let loose on her instrument and let some emotions flow for a bit.
Of course, there was a matter of where she would play the thing. She could have played it right outside the restaurant, but that made her worry that she would look like a bum begging for money. She could hide somewhere in the corner of the kitchen, but with cooks, if they were even deserving of the title, running in and out, it could be a rather troublesome place.
She continued to scan the restaurant until her eyes came upon one of the corners. It was a small little area with one chair and a small table; nopony ever sat there. The unicorn figured that if there was a good place to play, it would be there, in the corner that everypony always avoided. One seat can’t hold a whining family.
Lyra trotted over to it, levitating her lyre by her side. She plopped down on the chair and magically opened her bag, her eyes taking a survey of the area to make sure she hadn’t drawn attention to herself. The instrument in her hooves, she prepared to play. A quick pluck of each of the strings confirmed that she was in tune and ready.
Slowly and quietly at first, her forelimbs ran across the instrument, soft notes sounding out where only she could hear them. She relaxed, allowing herself to be taken away by the music she played. Her eyes began to close. It wasn’t until the awful twang of a missed note that she snapped out of her trance.
The unicorn looked down at what she held in her hooves. She knew that nopony was listening, but she still felt a small amount of embarrassment at the mistake; she felt like a failed performer. The mare looked around the restaurant, seeing ponies eating and going about their own business. None of them were paying her any mind, luckily. Slowly, she took a breath and positioned her hooves to begin again.
The plucked notes rang true this time, her comfortable trance returning. She allowed herself to melt into her improv once more, and as she did so, her confidence rose. The notes became louder and brighter. Her pretty song resonated throughout the restaurant. She danced up and down a tapestry of scales, bringing her improvised tune into a final crescendo before she plucked the final note. She relaxed, preparing herself for the deafening silence that would enclose her.
The silence never came. Instead, she was greeted with what sounded applause.
Immediately, Lyra looked up to find herself surrounded by ponies; she looked upon the faces of the customers that she had just served. Each of them was cheering. Not just cheering, but cheering for her. She was left speechless, her eyes drifting across each of their faces.
It took a shrill voice to break their applause. “Alright. What’s going on over here?” Lyra did not need her boss to butt in right now. This was her time. The pegasus cut right through the crowd. “Lyra? What are you doing to my customers?”
“Nothing, Cinnamon. I was just playing my lyre.”
“‘Just playing’? See me in my office.”
“But-”
“Now.”
Lyra sighed. Maybe it really was the time for her to get fired, although she didn’t realize that playing an instrument and accidentally entertaining ponies was a crime. She levitated the lyre into its bag and followed her boss into the room in the back of the building.
By the time she had reached it, the mare had already hopped behind her desk. “So. You’re a little performer, are you? Decided to do something else on your break?”
The unicorn didn’t want to deal with this. “Look. If this is about what I do on my break, then-”
“No, you look.” Lyra caught her boss’ stern gaze, watching the pony lean over her desk for further emphasis. “I’m not paying you to play the lyre.” The mare shifted back down into her seat, relaxing back to her neutral posture. “But I could be.”
Lyra had expected some sort of harsh reprimand. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“You saw how all those ponies flocked to your playing. How would you like to make that a regular thing?”
“I... I don’t know.” The unicorn fidgeted with her bag. “I’m pretty rusty.”
“Who cares? You could play the instrument with your bum and people would still listen to it. Music sells, no matter how awful it is.”
Lyra stared at her quizzically. “Um. Thanks, I guess?”
“Don’t mention it. Now when does your shift usually end? Five? Six? Ten?”
Shouldn’t her boss already know this? “Five. Well, I think it’s supposed to end at that time.” The unicorn realized how often she had stayed later than that. Working sucked.
“Perfect. It ends at nine now.”
“Wait. What?” This was one of the most ridiculous ideas she had ever heard.
“Your shift is now from whenever-the-hell-you-get-here to nine, the latter part for your playing. I’m just thinking about it now. I can totally jack up my food prices and send them through the roof!”
“Is that really the bes-”
“Your pay will increase too.”
“I’ll do it.”