I was worried when Caramel broke up with Colgate, if you could even call it that. Colgate really was in a state and Berry had stopped me from seeing her, although now I realize that maybe it was the right call to make.
So you can understand why I grew even more worried when I hadn’t seen the dentist for a couple days.
I tried to be rational about it. I was doing my paper rounds and she her dentistry appointments; how could we both spare the time to hang out? That said, we probably could’ve managed a friendly ‘hello,’ especially when I delivered letters to her house. Maybe I was fretting too much about it.
After minutes of standing outside her house, I told myself I should have just walked in. After a couple more minutes to become calm and collected, I did. At least I knocked, instead of the usual waltzing in like I had the habit of doing.
Colgate opened the door and offered me a little smile. I thought it was wavering a little, bless her heart. “Hi, Lyra.”
“Hey Colgate,” I replied, giving her a kind smile. “Wanna talk?”
She nodded and stepped aside to let me in. “Can I get you anything?” she asked as we approached the sofa. I waved my hoof and said no, sitting down with her.
Awkward silence started to set in so I threw aside any dancing around the issue and got to the heart of the matter. “How are you feeling?”
Colgate rubbed her foreleg with a hoof, never fully meeting my eyes. “What aren’t I feeling?” She attempted to laugh, but it sounded hollow and lifeless. “Sad, obviously. Upset, empty, lost.” I saw her legs tense up. “... Angry.”
I raised my eyebrow, but let that last issue drop for the time being. “What did Berry say?” Can’t fault me for being curious. A part of me was a little worried that Berry had pinned all the blame on me, but she was never the deceitful type; she preferred to tackle her problems head on.
“Just that I would find another pony someday, and that I was still very attractive, beautiful … lots of compliments. Told me to be strong and soldier on. And I’m trying, but…” Her gaze fell to the floor.
Time to hug. I shuffled over and wrapped a foreleg around her blue body, pulling her close. “First of all, everything Berry said was true. You’re cute and a way better mare than I am.” I covered her lips with a hoof before she could object. “If I can find a special somepony, then you sure can. You’ve got the looks, and being well organized and clean are very attractive qualities for a pony to have.” Colgate’s eyes went down to look at my hoof on her mouth. “Oh, right.” I drew it back so she could speak.
“I think I get it now, Lyra, thanks. But even if I am the prettiest mare in all the land, that’s not gonna get rid of this pain I’m feeling.” Her gaze went away from me, up towards the ceiling. She got a dreamy look in her eye, but it clashed with the frown she was harboring. “I could see it. Caramel and I. We were so close, but…”
I sighed. Telling a pony the harsh truths of love was never an easy thing. “But it’s just not gonna work, Colgate. That’s something you have to accept and deal with it. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but you’ll get better. The pain will hurt less. Right now it’s a burning hole in your heart, but later it’ll just seem like a bruise.”
Her head snapped back to me. “But—”
“But nothing.” I locked eyes with her, trying to convey the most deadly seriousness I could. “Trust me, Colgate. I know.”
At first, she blinked. Then her brows furrowed, her eyes narrowing. Then they slowly widened and her jaw dropped slightly. “Who?”
“Who do you think?”
She shook her head. “No, really, who?”
I did the usual rolling of the eyes, coupled with a sigh. “Cloud Kicker.”
“Oh. Right.” She gave me one of her looks—the one where she’s examining a child’s teeth and seeing a lot of plaque; a scrutinising frown. “You’ve never talked much about you and her, other than your ‘arrangement.’”
I moved my hoof across dismissively. “Because it’s not relevant, is it?” My heart felt like it just got clamped, admitting that. “What’s important now is you. And I say that you’re going to be fine—me and Berry will help, you know that.” She leaned into me, and I squeezed her comfortingly, pursuing that one train of thought that was still waiting in the station. “Why are you feeling angry, anyway?”
The couch was subjected to much scrunching from Colgate’s hooves. “Time Turner,” she said with an venomous disdain that was pretty shocking, coming from her.
In fact, it creeped me out a little; my body really wanted to move away a little from her. Thankfully, I kept that urge under control. “Er… what about him? He seemed pretty cool.” Sure, he lacked a little tact, but in comparison to Thunderlane, he might as well have been Fancy Pants.
“Pretty cool?” Colgate shot me an annoyed look. “Lyra, he’s the one that messed everything up for me.”
Or saved you from both from impending disaster, I thought. Putting a hoof on her shoulder—whew, could I feel the tension—I made an attempt to rationalise things. “Colgate, he was trying to help.”
She snorted and shrugged my hoof off her. “Yeah, good joke,” she sarcastically shot back.
I took a deep breath and summoned up extra reserves of patience; when dealing with a pony still delusional and lost in love’s grasp, you need it. “Colgate, be honest with yourself: was Caramel really happy to be with you?”
“Yes!” she replied without any hesitation.
“As a lover?” It’s usually pretty easy for ponies to tell if somepony likes your company, or is in love for you. Granted, friends can slowly turn into lovers without a sudden transition, but if that happens they’re both okay with it. “Or as a friend?”
All the fire that was seemingly in Colgate’s belly turned into a dying spark. She cringed, slumping down. I held her close, feeling just how limp she had become, while she said nothing. “I’m sorry,” I told her. It took me a few seconds to realise that my words could be interpreted as feeling sorry for her as opposed to… actually being sorry. “For starting things off between you two.”
“Lyra, you idiot.” I got a soft whap ‘round my head. “Who did you see together on Hearts and Hooves Day?”
That was a no-brainer. “You and Caramel.”
“Exactly.” I heard a sniffle come from her. “It was all my fault… I was so deluded and stupid. Didn’t think at all.”
For the next few moments, my body language did all the talking. I pulled her a little closer so that she ended up with her head leaning against my chest. My odd sitting position meant I could easily stroke her pretty little mane and rub her back at the same time. Turns out she needed the comfort; I felt damp spots on my chest. I just wanted to squeeze the hurt out of her, but obviously that wouldn’t have sufficed—a peck on the forehead settled instead. Her ear twitched, although she said nothing.
“You’ll be okay, Colgate,” I whispered into her ear. “I promise.”
It’s a bit odd, walking around in a military compound all dolled up. A lot of the recruits start eyeing you while the higher-ups give you scrutinising looks. I was wearing an orange gown that covered my legs and had an orange flower in my mane to complete the looks. Tonight I was going on a fun little date with my bang-buddy, Cloud Kicker. She told me to go fancy, so I did. I just wish we had arranged a place where I didn’t stick out like a sore hoof…
I found Cloud Kicker’s bunkroom and hastily knocked upon the door. It opened soon after, revealing my date for the evening. She looked very nice, decked in a fancy dress uniform. The kind with lots of buttons and military symbols that I didn’t really understand.
Suffice to say, the sight of Kicky alone made me instantly feel better. “Hiiii there. You're looking rather dashing,” I greeted her, grinning.
She shot back a grin of her own. “And you look like a very proper and lovely young mare.”
Trust her to come back with the most flattering of compliments. “Awww, thank you! Now, ready to show me a good time?
“Of course; I’ve been preparing all day,” she replied, walking out and locking the room behind her. It was then that I noticed one problem with her uniform; it covered her flanks, which swayed enticingly in time with her tail flicks. “I know a great place. Guessing you don't go by the Cloud district much, do you?”
I snapped back to reality, walking along with Kicky. “Nope. Never had a reason to, really.”
Cloud nodded. “Figured not. It is kinda the pegasus part of town, what with my clan's compound and the House Cumulus stuff.”
“Hmm, yeah.” I had known Cloud for a few weeks now and it still amazed by how she lived in a compound. It didn’t seem normal to me. “Taking me there, are you?”
“That I am,” she said as we went outside. First, she gazed up at the night sky, then looked me over. “Hmm. You okay with a quick pega-back ride?” Vaguely gesturing at my attire, she explained, “Not sure if it would be alright with your dress and all…”
I checked myself over. My dress wasn’t the most durable of things, but I thought it could’ve survived I quick air trip. “Hm... should be okay.” I flashed a suggestive smirk at her. “And how can I turn down an opportunity to ride you?”
Kicky snorted. “Exactly—you can’t. Anyway, in that case, you'll get a real treat: we're gonna eat at Cloud Nine.”
I blinked and gasped at the same time. “The Cloud Nine?!” Cloud Nine was about as five star as you could get. Located in the clouds above the Pegasus district, it was where all the fancy ponies ate. It promised fine food and an even finer view of Equestria.
“Yeah. Bet you've never had dinner on a cloud before, have you?” she asked, lightly nudging my side.
“Never! But…” I looked down at my bare hooves. “Won't I need thunderforge stuff?”
“Nah, they've got it set up so you don't need any of that. Part of what makes it such a nice place for ponies without wings.” She gazed aside and mumbled something under her breath.
I tilted my head, my ears straining to hear what she had said. “Didn't catch that last bit.”
Kicky waved her hoof dismissively. “S'not important. Whatever the case is, you're gonna have a nice night on the town.”
“Alright then! Can't wait—let's go!” I cheered, resisting the urge to make a fool of myself by stomping my hooves in applause.
Cloud gestured to her back. “Yeah, hop on.” I did, making myself quite comfy. Her uniform was in the way, but I could still feel those lovely muscles of hers. All that training really paid off to give her a very sexy figure.
She took off, me holding on to her as tightly as I could without hurting her. We’d done this a couple of times before, so I wasn’t afraid. “Feeling alright back there?”
I snapped out of daze; feeling her powerful muscles at work makes a pony think of … things. “My mane's getting a little messed up, but I'm fine.”
“Alright.” The buildings below us gradually became smaller and smaller, but this being Canterlot, they never lost their grandness. Cloud pointed towards an especially impressive red structure down below. “Oh, there's the clanhold, by the way. Just in case you were curious.”
I had to double take to make sure I was actually looking at the right thing. “Damn ... that's impressive.” It really was. Granted, it really did stand out against the other buildings of Canterlot… like an old relic from a forgotten era. But it was still standing tall against the crowd.
“It is pretty nice. Not so impressive when you realize that the tiny little speck right there is where I actually live,” she said, pointing… I dunno. I couldn’t see it.
“Pfft, still impressive to me.”
“Oh yeah? Well, it’s home to me.” Kicky fell into silence. I wasn’t sure if it was a awkward or thoughtful considering I couldn’t see her face. “Um,” she began carefully, “you haven't really told me much about your family situation.”
Aaaw, Cloud Kicker. Not wanting to accidentally upset me if I was an orphan. How sweet. “Only child. My parents are still very much in love, it's sweet. Not the biggest family around, but I'd say we're perfectly fine.”
“Noble or common?”
“Noble, although not too major,” I answered. “Having a successful music career in Canterlot can really do you wonders.”
“So just an honorary title?” she asked.
“Not exactly.” I scrunched up my muzzle. The fact that the Heartstrings were formally part of covert operations for the crown… well, it was still a bit of a secret thing, really. Protocol and all that. “The Heartstrings started off as bards, as far as I know, so they don't have noble blood.” To be honest I didn’t see us as nobles anyway; we were just way too fun-loving.
Kicky was running along a similar train of thought to my own. “Cool. And if you make beautiful music, that makes you more useful than most of the dukes out there.”
That made me giggle a little, mostly because it’s so true. “I suppose so, yeah.”
“Never would've figured you for noble, really. You don't act all stuck-up and stuff.”
“Acting stuck-up never got a pony anywhere.” I grinned and prepared a suitable quip. “Well, except maybe up their own plot.”
“Truth,” Kicky replied, rather seriously at that. Shame. I was expecting one of her one-liners. Granted, I guessed she was concentrating on landing—Cloud Nine was in sight and it looked amazing. Imagine a mini-recreation of Pegasopolis: white pillars standing tall on even whiter clouds. Due to their blank color, the dying purples and oranges of the retreating sun were cast upon them.
“Then again, for a long time I thought all nobles were like my mom. She's ... atypical,” Cloud continued, slowly turning in the air. I assumed she wanted more private time to chat in the skies.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she's—” She quickly cut herself off and went on regardless. “Honestly, she could teach most of my clan a lesson in being stiff and duty-obsessed.”
“Sounds like she needs to lighten up,” I summarised.
“Yeah.” After a beat, she added, “She's still Mom, though.” Aaaw, a Mommy’s girl? Cute.
“Nothing can change that.” Carefully, I leant forward so I could hug her. “She loves you, right?”
“'Course she does, even if she's not so great at the whole parental affection thing. And I love her.” The last sentence was said assuredly, without any hesitation whatsoever.
So that of course made me start to gush. “Aaaaw, that's good to hear.”
“How about your parents?”
“Oh yeah, they love me to bits. Not too pushy—they give me the space to grow the way I want. But they also provide for me a lot, so I'm lucky.” A part of me wanted to keep my Dad’s wiseassery from her, but she had told me about her Mom’s stuck-upness, so I only figured it was fair. “Plus, my Dad’s a bit of a prankster.”
I was tempted to mention my babysitter as well, but… cool as it was to have had her as one, she wasn’t family, and she was in higher places now.
I heard a small snicker come from her. “Can’t wait to meet him, then.” She looked up at the horizon, the sunset almost completely overshadowed by the darkness of the night. “I wouldn't mind a family that's not quite so demanding. I mean, I get it, they want me to be the best I can be. But still…”
It was the wistful nature of her tone that piqued my interest. I leant my head closer to hers so I was able to catch her every word for certain. “I thought you wanted to be an officer?”
“Yeah, I do. Of course I do. It's just, my family expects a lot from me. And, y'know, I've got all that family legacy hanging over my head and stuff. S'like, I gotta ask myself if I'm upholding the whole honor of our clan.” Somepony was asking themselves the tough questions, it seemed.
Good thing I had tougher ones of my own. “Do you want to? And what the hay is honor, anyway? It's not like you can see it.”
“I want to.” She turned her head, staring at me with a most stoic look. “And honor is everything.” Her look faltered though and she went back to facing forwards. “I mean, it's intangible, but …” She sighed. “Kinda hard to explain, I guess.”
“It's just reputation. And I can see why that is important, but I hardly think it's anything to die for.” But love? Yes, that’s something worth fighting for, I reckon.
“It's like ... I wanna think I'm doing right by my ancestors, doing a good job with everything they gave me. And I want Kickers a hundred years from now to look back and say, ‘Yeah, Cloud Kicker was a good pony.’”
I scrunched up my muzzle. “I don't know... I think it's kind of silly to throw everything away just for ponies to say in the future ‘She was good.’”
After a bit of silence, Kicky answered me. “Well, I wasn't planning to throw everything away or anything.”
“Ask yourself what you want from life.” I poked her back for extra emphasis.
We kept on flying for quite some time, following on from that. Kicky needed to think—rightfully so—and I was content to feel the wind blow through my mane.
“What I have right now seems good,” Kicky suddenly said, looking at me.
I resisted the urge to kiss her for that compliment. “Well yeah, you have me as a friend.” Okay, so I didn’t kiss her, but I did giggle-snort.
“Yeah.” Deciding we had enough time in the air, Cloud headed towards the front of the establishment, slowed down and landed. “Well, here we are.”
I still held onto her though, even more tightly than when I had in the air. Peering over her, down I bit my lip. “Can I get off and not fall down?”
“Yeah,” Cloud said, kneeling down so that I could test the waters. Or clouds, as it were. I poked my hoof on the fluffy surface and it went through, but not all the way. There was something solid there, which was good enough for me. “Place is set up to let unicorns and earth ponies walk around.”
“Okay then…” I took my time in sliding off Kicky, still holding onto her as my hind hooves touched the cloud. They felt cold and even a little damp, but it was refreshing as opposed to chilling. When I put all four hooves down, I could instinctively feel a hum of magic through the cloudy surface. I didn’t question it, considering magic is magic and all that.
“Thanks for being my transport.” A nuzzle, a hug and a peck on the cheek was Kicky’s reward.
“Well, I do enjoy having you ride me,” Kicky said with one of her trademark grins.
There wasn’t much else to say but: “Oh you.”
Cloud walked up to one of the staff watching the door—a real posh type, moustache and all. He gave us an assuming look as we approached.
“Table for two, please. For a Miss Cloud Kicker and a lovely Miss Lyra Heartstrings.” Kicky stepped aside to show me off a little. Really, she didn’t need to; I was blushing already and the date had only just begun. I’m such a sap.
The waiter glanced over a list of guests, then nodded in confirmation. “This way, if you’ll please, ladies.” We followed him into the main building, which was actually kind of empty. They were tables, yeah, but not nearly as many as I expected. It was only when we went out of the backdoors I realized why.
“Step onto the cloud, please,” the waiter instructed, pointing at a small cloud floating just away from the larger cloud mass. It was a small gap, so we stepped on no problem. Beneath us, I spotted two pegasi take our cloud up to another one, about the size of a large booth in a restaurant. It had a table for two (candlelit of course) and some Pegasopalian themed architecture for theming.
I stepped off the taxi cloud and looked at the view in the distance. My breath was taken away.
I could see the lights of towns and villages below, see the rolling fields and the bumpy hills that marked the land. Cloudsdale was in the far distance and I could just make out it’s famous rainbows. In the very very far distance was the beginnings of a dusty desert, where Appleloosa probably was. It was Equestria. Almost the entirety of it. Like a dreamscape come to life.
I had to sit in my chair, which Cloud had pulled out for me. “Kicky… this is amazing!”
“Yeah, it’s really something alright,” she replied, sitting in her seat. It was hard to believe that she could just take a view like that so casually. Did pegasi really see this everyday? Did they all appreciate it like I did?
I managed to tear my view away from the scenery to look at my wonderful date. “Why are you doing this, anyway?”
Kicky smiled warmly. “You happy?”
“Of course I am. Are you?”
“If you are, then I am,” she answered, completely sure of herself. Her smile grew warmer, which of course made her cuter.
“I'm surprised I haven't exploded 'cause of the amount of love and care you've given me.” I snickered to myself, picking up the menu in front of me and reading what dishes were available that night. It was the typical fancy stuff, although some things sounded like they came from Zebrica or Griffonia.
Cloud chuckled quietly to herself and picked up her menu. We went into a comfortable silence, choosing what we wanted. Out of the far reaches of my vision, I could see Kicky’s menu falter, like she was trying to peek at me or something. “Hey, Lyra?” she asked. Her voice was hesitant.
I lowered my menu. “Yeah?”
She put down hers too, although her hooves remained on it. “What do you think about, like, romance and stuff?”
My ears instantly perked up and I began to divulge in what amounted to a speech. “I think it's the most magical, wonderful, special thing a pony can experience. It gives us the passion and drive to do things we'd never think of doing. And I think we're all destined for it in some form—it completes us.”
“So… what if, say, you found that one special pony…” Her hooves flipped the menu open, then shut. “And then it all went wrong?”
Ears flattened against my skull, I blinked. “It would hurt. A lot. And nothing would ever replace that love I would have felt.” I rubbed my chest, right where my heart was. “But I'd learn to move on. I'd have to. Otherwise the hole that was made by heartbreak would eat at me forever.”
I spotted her touch her heart as well, but her contact was a lot more gingerly than my own. “So... if that happened to a pony, they should try to find somepony new?”
“Of course!” I exclaimed, nodding. “In fact, I'd recommend it. It would help them a lot.”
“Oh, I see.” Silence crept on us again, but it wasn’t alone. I watched Kicky’s forehoof unsurely creep away from her menu, right towards my own. I tilted my head, but I met her halfway, squeezing her hoof. She squeezed it, licking her lips. When she spoke, her words were slow, quiet and drawn out. “Um... Lyra... I…”
I gave her the best smile I could. “Yes, Kicky?”
“Have you ever thought about maybe—” She got herself off, then sighed. “I dunno. We've been pretty good together for a while now…”
My smile vanished, replaced by an inquisitive uplift of my brow. This wasn’t the Kicky I knew. My best (okay, only) bang buddy was a charmer. A feisty mistress, not afraid to show off her stuff. “What are you asking?”
She took a deep breath and I squeezed her hoof; anything to help calm her down. “I don't even know. I just... I know you make me happy. I know I like spending time with you. I know banging you makes me feel twice as good as anypony else I fool around with.”
I shuffled on my seat, my tail curling around my body. It was time to ask the biggest question of them all. “Are you ... in love with me, Kicky?”
“I don't know,” she replied lamely. Which of course, wasn’t good enough for me.
With my free hoof, I pointed somewhat accusingly at her. “Do you, or don't you? Ask yourself: ‘Would I like to spend the rest of my life with this mare?’”
“I…” I could feel her hoof slip away from mine—I didn’t let it. Call me harsh, but in matters such as love, it helps to be direct. Dancing around the issue causes a whole bunch of misunderstandings. “You're a lot of fun to be around, Lyra. You brightened up my day. But I don't know if…”
“If...?”
“I mean, the rest of my life? That's ... big.”
I shrugged off the pinprick on my heart that her comment may have inflicted. “Yeah, it is. But do you think the idea could grow on you?”
“I dunno.” She shrugged, but then looked up at me with a hopeful, if shaky, smile. “Maybe?”
“Are you scared?”
Kicky took a moment to ponder, licking her lips. “Yeah.”
I let out a little sigh and did some thinking myself. So this was happening. Check. Was I liking it?
… yeah. Yes, I was. It was uncertain, definitely, but I could see the potential. Kicky was definitely attractive in every regard and she was right: we did have a lot of fun together. Those were some of the important pre-requisites for a relationship, so...
“I don't know, Kicky. It's something we could try. Love doesn't always happen instantly.”
That smile of hers got just a bit stronger. “Yeah?” I even saw her tail flick a little. “Try for a bit, and see what happens?”
Again, I put some thought into it. What’s the worst that could happen? We both decide it wasn’t gonna work and we go back to the way things were? I think that was something we could handle. And if it did work… well, we’d be happy, so there wasn’t any problem.
“Yeah... yeah, we can.”
“Thanks.” Some of that Kicker charm came back in the form of her kissing my hoof. “So... uh... I guess I shouldn't bang around anymore?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I'm not going to stop you from being who you are. It was how we met, after all.” I paused and then thought to add a little disclaimer. “As long as you don't bang for love love.”
“'Course not. Thanks for understanding, love.” My stomach suddenly got a small case of the butterflies upon hearing that last word.
“It's fine, Kicky,” I smiled and took stock of our surroundings once more. Everything felt different. A lot more… romantic. “So this is kinda like our first date.”
Once I saw that classic grin of hers, I knew the awkwardness was over. “Guess so, yeah.”
“Shall we stop staring into each other's eyes and actually order some food?” Love was great and all, but my belly wasn’t gonna agree with that.
“In a minute or two.” She stared into my eyes, a very content smile forming on her lips. “Shadow, you're beautiful tonight.”
Aaaaaand there went my cheeks. Red and boiling hot from all the attention. “And you're being really charming tonight.”
“Well, gotta impress my new fillyfriend.” That was when I fully realized that we were actually a thing now. A legitimate, romantic couple! It felt… nice. Better than nice, actually. Super nice? No no, not charming enough.
Luckily there were better ways of putting across my affection for her.
“It's a shame that this table is in the way.” I leant forward, smirking.
“Nah,” Kicky instantly shot me down. “This is all ... romantic.”
Charming as my fillyfriend was, it seemed that she still had some things to learn. “Oh, I agree. But I wouldn't mind giving you a kiss.”
She blinked, seeing me strain across the table. She quickly recovered, however, and was all too glad to meet me in the middle. “Yeah. Maybe we can…”
Our lips met and we shared a loving kiss. And thus, the beginning of a beautiful relationship came to be.
I stayed at Colgate’s place for a couple more hours until the sun fell, I went home to Bons and a new day began. Like what was almost the norm, I got up early and set off to work. But this time, I’d be handing in my satchel.
That’s right: I had completed the job! Tornado Day was over, which meant that I could hand things back to Derpy now. All I had to do was to collect what little pay I was owed and head back home. I think the first thing I wanted to do after being set free was just sleep like a Lyra-lump.
“It’s paydaaaaaay!” I sang as I waltzed through the post office’s door. The stallion at the desk, my boss, didn’t seem very amused. Catching wind of his frown, I coughed and walked up to him, smiling sheepishly. “Uh, seems my time here is over.”
“Seems so,” he grunted. He waved a hoof for me to hand over my mailmare satchel, badge and all the other stuff a good mailmare needs (not much). With the post office’s things returned, he gave me my reward. A piece of paper entitling me to my pay—a check! My very own check! I stared at it in awe, holding it up high, looking at the scribbled number seventy on it. It was shoddy hoofwriting, but who cared?! I had my own—
“What’s the big deal? It’s like you’ve never seen a check before…” he grumbled.
I stopped and levitated my check close to my mane. “Heh heh… uh… thanks for the opportunity!”
“And thank you for your time. See ya.” He waved me off to attend to the other customers. Of which they were none. Jerk.
I kept my composure as I walked through the post office but as soon as I was a good few meters away from it, I burst into a fit of giggles, my hooves rapidly dancing on the spot. “I got paid! Lyra Heartstrings, paid mare! Not a slob!” I released the most triumphant of squees. “I did it!”
I skipped all the way home, humming a merry tune to myself. Even the town seemed to revel in my enthusiasm. The birds were especially chirpy today, singing a symphony to which I skipped to! Friends and acquaintances said warm hellos to me, and I to them! Even total strangers smiled at me—but not in the creepy ‘don’t touch me, freak’ way!
Okay, it wasn’t that perfect. Passing Cherry’s house, I could see her tampering with her mailbox, wearing an annoyed scowl. Even one of the birds that flew by her suddenly stopped singing and awkwardly ventured off course.
It was inevitable that she’d notice me. Grumps are always like that; looking for something happy to corrupt. But I was confident that today she wouldn’t get me down!
“Lyra, was there anything in the mail for me today?” she asked, eyes piercing through me.
I kept skipping past her, not missing a beat. “No idea what you’re on about, Cherry!”
“A package. Pretty small. Should have been here a couple of days ago.” She raised a scrutinising brow. “Are you sure you’re not, I don’t know, lying through your teeth?”
My skipping slowly transformed into a walk. “Package?” I flipped through my memory of the last few days.
I dropped to my knees. “No. No.” My stomach lurched. My spine shivered. The urge to retch was uncontrollable. “Oh my Celestia, no…” I spun around and pointed a hoof right at her. “That dildo was yours?!”
“What?!” Cherry took a couple steps back from me, her face consorted in disgust. “It was a toy, not a—” She stopped. A second passed and she blinked, speaking very slowly, “You tampered with my mail…” A very sinister grin slowly spread across her face. “You tampered with my mail.”
Unfortunately, my mind was breaking too much for me to even consider what evil scheme she was forming. I was lying on my side, coughing and desperately trying not to puke something up. “Oh buck…” I brought my trembling hooves to my face. “I-I touched it…” My throat burned as I swallowed down something that tried to pop out to say hello.
Cherry took to walking around me, like a predator stalking around their hapless prey. “I could have you arrested for that, you know.” That same stupid evil grin was plastered on her face the whole time. I even heard it in her words.
“Wh-what?” That was enough to snap me out of my horrified daze. I grabbed her hoof, desperately looking up at her. “You wouldn’t. Please, you wouldn’t!”
“I don’t know…” She shook me off her. “It’s not like you’re useful out here. Prison might be perfect for you; all you do is sit and get fed. See? It’s a matching fit for you!”
I opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out were shuddered mumbles. I couldn’t go to prison, locked behind bars, fated to only see Bon Bon through a reinforced glass pane! She needed me, and I her. Oh Celestia, I wasn’t perfect, I knew I wasn’t, but if I was ever separated from Bons…
“No!” I shouted, holding onto her shoulders. “I’ll do anything. Just don’t send me to jail, please!” My eyes itched, but they weren’t exactly my highest priority right now.
“Oh? Anything you say?” Cherry moved my hooves off her, forcing me to stand upright. Then she placed a hoof on my head, lowering me down so that I was kneeling. “I have a few chores I need taken care of. So if you could help me with them, maybe I might forgot about all this…”
I clenched my eyes shut, biting the inside of my cheek. It was either jail or… blackmail.
Cherry blinked. “Oh, and bring me my dildo, too.”
Yep. I was officially doomed.