Chapter 9: Best job ever- another lame title
"You're a moron."
"..."
"Silly, dumb stallion, that's who you are. You know that?"
"...yes."
"I mean, seriously, how stupid can a pony be?"
"Ok, I get it! I blew it, geez, sue me!"
"Can't. There's no law against stupidity. Believe me, I checked."
"Shame. Because I feel like a criminal."
Caramel sighed heavily. Despite having her about about a hoof away, he didn't dare look her in the eyes. The memory of yesterday was way too strong, or else he wouldn't have spent last night and first half of today wallowing in self pity, or whatever ponies were supposed to do when they're depressed. In his defense, he had no idea what went wrong, even after Soarin and Cloud Chaser came to his rescue. Mostly Cloud Chaser though, because despite all his claims and experience, Soarin was as helpless as he was. Thankfully, his lovely secretary wasn't afraid of ginger maned carrot farmers and managed to have a long, heartfelt conversation with her, while two stallions sat quietly in the back. Whatever she told her, it worked to some degree. Carrot Top was about a hoof away from him, surrounded by a bunch of crates and heavy objects and none of them got smashed on his head. That alone marked a humongous progress.
"Caramel?" Carrot Top asked, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, but failing as he constantly avoided her "Look, maybe we started on the wrong hoof. I mean, I might have kinda gone a little overboard..."
"You threw a table!" Cloud Chaser interjected, rolling her eyes "With plates, bowls, utensils and all..."
"Ok, I went A LOT overboard, but I just... you know..." she shifted a little "...I also wanted to say... you know... sorry."
Caramel slowly turned towards her, now blushing slightly.
"Y-you mean it?"
Carrot Top opened her mouth, but quickly closed it and instead stepped forward and gave him a small peck on his right cheek. His ears immediately perked up as he covered himself in a blush.
"I... I-I'll take that as a yes."
Carrot Top giggled, and soon Caramel was as well. Cloud Chaser took that as a god sign and retreated into the background to join Soarin, who up to this point was sitting quietly and observing from a safe distance, hoping not to break anything else. But what he saw now didn't seem like it would break that easily.
"Come on, help me packing," he heard Carrot Top say to her friend "the sooner we get home, the better."
"Did I hear a 'we'?"
"Of course. I promised you a dinner, did I not? Unless you're not hungry..."
"I'm starving!"
And so they spent the rest of the day cleaning up the carrot stand, chatting and giggling like mad, before slowly but surely departing from the marketplace, with Caramel being gentlecolt enough to offer to ride the cart for her. A feat that was greatly appreciated and regretted later. Carrot Top might be just a simple mare living simple dreams, but she was also freakishly strong, not quite Apple family level, but a farmer nonetheless, while Caramel wasn't. He got a dinner and a little extra for his efforts, so it was more than worth it, at least that's what Soarin heard later.
"Well, I'd say that's a job well done!" Cloud Chaser cheered for herself, as the two matchmakers left for home "But damn, am I good or what? You'd think being committed and gay would disqualify me from being the most awesome matchmaker ever, but there ya go! Ha, if only I knew this was so easy, I would've started a business myself! Hey, now there's an idea! Maybe I could open my own... uhm, studio? Clinic? What do we even call ourselves?"
The silence that followed her question finally made her stop on her tracks and look behind her.
"Soarin?"
"One Golden Rainbow!"
"Comin' right up!"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, along with his heart, focusing on his thoughts alone. It wasn't quite as hard as usual, if only because Monday early evenings were not among the most crowded work days. Barely few ponies aside from him resided at the seats, quietly sipping soft, alcoholic beverages and quietly talking with each other, while a soft, moody jazz from an old jukebox played in the background. He could imagine the topics were as usual: hoofball, work, movies, dating.
Ever since discovering Nirvana, it was his favorite place to be, other than his own bed at home. Today, he couldn't bring himself to cheer up like he always did when visiting this place. He noticed some familiar faces all around, mostly some mares from Ponyville chatting among themselves, gossiping and giggling, but he quietly ignored them and concentrated on his multicolored, unhealthy and overpriced drink. He took a single sip. And he couldn't bring himself to take another, as if it lost all the flavor he loved it for. He sighed deeply and just stared at it, only occasionally nudging the small, paper umbrella. And for some reason, he didn't find it amusing.
"Bartender, one Pina Coltada for me," said a mare walking to the counter "and another, umm... whatever he has, for the gentlecolt over here. My treat."
Soarin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He didn't realize there were lonely mares here, but apparently his charm worked even when he turned it off. He turned over to notice a familiar, unique mint green coat he saw so much both here, as well as in Ponyville, but never had a chance to talk to her, until now. She smiled sheepish and waved at him. Even despite the dim lighting, he could still see the sweat coming from her forehead.
"Umm, hi!" said Lyra, still smiling ever so wide.
"...hi?" he greeted her back, mostly confused than anything else. He could swear Lyra didn't swing his way, yet here she was. His gaydar was never wrong. Except the day he met Cloud Chaser and Flitter. And Stephen Magnet. But these were exceptions. Unless she wasn't here for that.
"So yeah, hi, umm..." Lyra scratched her head and hesitated for a moment. After a longer while than it actually was, she coughed and extended a hoof towards him "I'm Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings, but friends call me Lyra. In fact, everypony calls me Lyra, because Ms Heartstrings is my mother and..." her ears fell flat, as she looked at Soarin's raising eyebrow "I'm not very good at first impressions, am I?"
"Well... you have potential." which was a nice way to say...
"I know, I suck." she sighed heavily and shook her head in resignation, sitting right next to Soarin right when she got her drink "I mean, I've been trying to approach you for over a week now, but every single time something went wrong!" Soarin was about to raise a hoof and ask for details, when Lyra grabbed a necklace she had on her and put it on the counter. She looked at it for a moment, before rolling her eyes and pouting "Okay, by something went wrong, I mean myself. Darwin was the only friend I could turn to but unlike him, I never listened! Then again, that's the story of my life, I never listen to anything, especially not the good ideas!"
"Darwin?"
"Yeah, he's my," she grabbed the necklace to show it to Soarin, but she instantly realized how it made her look, holding out a rock on a chain, with a nameplate to a boot. Her face covered itself in a heavy blush "Oh, uhm, this isn't what it looks like. He's... it's just a..."
"Pet rock?"
"...a pet ro--... wait, how did you know that?"
Soarin shrugged "I was raised in Manehattan in my early years. Pet rocks were all the rage back then. I never got one, instead my parents gave me a goldfish."
Lyra blinked "Wait, so pet rocks are actually a thing? And not something Pinkie Pie made up on spot?"
"Her family runs one of the largest rock farms this side of Equestria, ponies all over the world pay a hefty price for their stuff. You really didn't know that?"
"Y-yes, of course I knew, I... well, okay, I didn't know," her ears flattened, horn glowing, slowly bringing the glass closer "I always thought they were the placebo-thingies, that if you believe in them they talk back, but it's all in your head... and... and I sound like a crazy pony again!" resigned, she put the straw in her mouth and started slowly sipping, if only to stop herself from crying.
As miserable as she looked right now, Soarin couldn't take a pity on her, if only because she was so funny to watch. Cute too, which was a shame that her mind was set on a single pony that wasn't himself, otherwise he would've hit on her right there, day one since he arrived to Ponyville.
A hoof slam shook him away from his thoughts again and Lyra looked at him with determination in her eyes. He had shivers just wondering what was going in her mind.
"So anyhow," she coughed and looked Soarin straight into eyes, blushing "I wanted to ask you for... you know, a little something..." another smile cracked at Soarin's face. Almost as adorable and awkward as Shining Armor "...b-but don't take it the wrong way, It's not like I'm hitting on to you, not that you're not handsome and probably really good in bed and stuff, but I just... damn, now I sound like a character from a teen novel, I just wanted to ask for... for..."
"You want to hook up with Bon Bon?"
"I want to hook up with Bo--..." she stopped, her mouth still opened "...how did you...?"
"Everypony can see it."
"Yeah, that... I could kinda use some help with that. There, I said it! Huh, not nearly as hard as I thought!"
"Sorry, but I can't."
"Oh," she scratched her head "well okay, I guess you're tired, so I'll come back tomorrow? I only make really bad first impressions, which is a good thing we're past that already."
"No."
Lyra blinked "What do you mean no?"
"No more," his hooves shivered "I-I can't do it anymore. It was a stupid idea in the first place. I got caught up in the hype with everypony, but deep inside, I knew this was going to crumble."
Lyra raised an eyebrow and carefully inspected Soarin's face. If he was lying, he was really good at it. If it was a joke, then it was the least funny thing she heard in years. She gulped.
"I'm afraid to ask, but... financial problems?"
"Not anymore."
"Not enough clients?"
"No, I had a busy week."
"So what, ponies don't like it?"
"Everypony seems satisfied, with few exceptions."
"It's tiresome?"
"Not more than any other job I had."
"Trouble with coworkers?"
"Nah. My secretary is awesome."
Lyra thought for a while before shrugging.
"I give up."
For a moment, Soarin contemplated just ending the conversation here and now, but he couldn't just leave Lyra hanging. One simple glance at her pleading, caring face instantly melted any resistance he ever had. He explained the entire situation with Caramel and Carrot Top, starting from the moment Caramel first entered his office, up until parting with Cloud Chaser.
"So... you're just upset because somepony had to clean your mess? That doesn't sound like a big deal to me."
"It's not about that!" his head dropped "I just... because I acted like some kinda know-it-all and made Caramel trust me, I-I almost got them both hurt! No, scratch that, I hurt them! A lot! And I would've hurt them even more if Cloud Chaser wasn't nearby to help me. I knew this was going to happen eventually," his head lowered even more "I knew I was going to fail, someday, somehow... but I didn't know it would be this bad!"
"Oh come on, you make it sound like this is the end of the world! You said it yourself, everything's fine now, no need to worry!"
"It is now.... but what next? What if something happens that's beyond me or Cloud Chaser? What if I mess up so bad, nothing will help?" he slumped over the counter and covered himself in his hooves "I-I don't know how I could live knowing that somewhere out there, ponies are heartbroken and hurt because of me!"
"Okay, you're over acting a little there..."
"Am I?" he turned to Lyra and moved a little too close for comfort "Who do you think comes to me for help? Strong, confident types that can handle rejection? No, the opposite- the shy, the unpopular, the wea--..." he stopped mid sentence, slapping his hooves on his mouth. Lyra was not amused.
"Go on," she raised an eyebrow and crossed her hooves "say it."
"... l-look, the point is... just thinking about it makes me feel sick! Seeing Caramel in tears, then realizing I can't help him at all, I... I don't think I can take it! I can't live knowing that one day, another pony will come back in tears, except this time, I won't be able to help at all! I can't be responsible for ruining other ponies life, even if I didn't mean it. This is too much responsibility for one pony to have!" for the emphasis, he slammed his head to the counter and left it there, faced away from Lyra and rest of the world.
With that dramatic declaration over with, Soarin sighed deeply. His dream job of helping other ponies, making them happy the way only he knew how, was over. He couldn't picture himself ever going to his office again without fearing the worst. Today he was saved, but not everything can be solved that easily. This time was a fluke, but he wasn't perfect and gingers were the least of his problems. He knew it deep inside, his talent was only a boon to himself and as much as he wanted to share it with the world, he couldn't guarantee everything would be fine. And nothing less than 100% was good enough for him.
"Who the buck do you think you are?"
His ears perked as he slowly turned towards Lyra. The shy, meek smile she sported before was gone, replaced by a visible frown and twitching eyebrows.
"I get it, you made a mistake. I make a lot of them myself. I mean, for Pete's sake, last few days I was talking to a rock because I'm too scared to spit it out! I needed your help because I thought you were an expert. But you aren't."
"I'm sorry..."
"You're just a guy with god complex!"
"I... what?"
Out of all the things said to him, some were true, some were false. Some he heard often, some less so, but as far as his memory could go, this was the first time he heard it. God complex, him? And yet, Lyra didn't flinch and seemed like she knew what she was talking about.
"I heard all about you. Super playcolt Soarin, can get any mare in his bed with sweet words and confident smile! An all out expert in all things love related, knows and controls everything, if ponies fall in love, it's because he says so!"
"That's not how I think!"
"Do you?" she closed herself to his face, dangerously closely looking him deep in his eyes "Then what was that you said about Carrot Top and Caramel? That you ruined their lives because one of them happened to be a ginger (which by the way, is the dumbest reason I ever heard)? That their lives are over because you messed up? That you had to be saved by somepony else, a lower pony than a God of Love himself?"
"I-I never said anything like that..." he tried to interject, but was swiftly ignored.
"Well then here's a newsflash to you- ponies got together and broke up waaaaay before you were ever born! And there were others like you, who claimed to know it all and failed. Do you think anypony blames them for that"
"Well..."
"Of course they blame THEM! Because they're too much of wimps to do what it takes by themselves! And when that doesn't help, they shift all the blame to everypony BUT themselves! And guess what? That's a normal thing to do. What isn't normal, is thinking that all the problems of this world revolve around you!"
"But I hurt them..."
"Hurt shmurt! Another newsflash for you- we always get hurt! We hurt when we fall, when somepony says mean things, when your loved one doesn't return your feelings..." she stopped for a moment and sighed. Soarin couldn't help but notice that her eyes gravitated towards one of the few occupied tables at the bar, where Bon Bon and two other mares chatted and giggled, oblivious to everything else that happened nearby. Lyra collected herself and continued "...bottom line is, stop with this whole 'I don't want to hurt the world' thing someponies have and just deal with it. Yeah, we hurt all the times, whatever, concentrate on the good side. I've seen those you helped. From what I can tell, most of them hurt before you met them. Look me deep in the eyes and tell me, wasn't it all worth it? "
Soarin hesitated for a moment and turned away. Lyra was still too close and didn't seem like she would be going anywhere.
"I... guess..."
"And besides, if you mess up with something, you always have friends who can help you, like they did today." she leaned towards Soarin and grabbed his hooves with hers "you have Cloud Chaser. Prince Blueblood, Shining Armor, Big Macintosh, Thunderlane, and..." she stopped for a moment to look at Soarin's raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and sighed "Three new stallions appear in the town on the same day, of course we know your names! Whatever, the point is, friends are for just that, helping you fix your mess. And I know for a fact, that if they ever asked you, you would've been there for them as well. Or, if they failed, you could ask, well..." Lyra blushed a little, and scratched her head, before slightly turning away and saying it "...me. I mean, after all this talk, I guess we're friends too... if you want."
Soarin opened his mouth to answer... but couldn't. He honestly tried to think a good counter argument, he wanted to win this little debate and go back to... wallowing in self pity? It was then, that something dawned on him. Last hour or so, especially before coming to bar and talking to Lyra, he was doing something really wrong, not because he wanted to, but because he panicked. He was thinking. Instead of doing what he always did and stick to his feelings, he started analyzing stuff like he was some sort of scholar, which he obviously wasn't. In fact, the last action he performed when it came to his feelings, was calling Cloud Chaser for help. And that was his last good idea in a while.
He looked over at Lyra and managed to crack a small smile. She smiled back and nodded. All of a sudden, everything went back to normal. He wasn't afraid anymore. He wasn't alone in this and all his problems so far were fixed with someone's help. That's what he loved that was different between this and being a Wonderbolt, where his mistakes were his to fix. To think that he was about to throw that all away in a moment of weakness, it made him feel really silly. And all thanks to a mare he barely knew.
"Three more to our table please," a cream colored mare walked to the counter, before noticing Soarin and Lyra, at which point she chuckled and smiled brightly "Oh, don't mind me, lovebirds."
"B-b-bon Bon!" Lyra covered herself in a blush at the sudden appearance of her loved one. And then she noticed that she was still holding hands with Soarin, looking into each other "I-I can explain!"
"From what I can see, you don't have to," she exclaimed with a bright smile "I'll leave some dinner in the fridge and the keys will be, well, you know where."
"B-b-but..."
"Not that I expect you to come home tonight, if you catch my drift," she winked at Lyra, completely shutting her friend's brain with last comment. Lyra released Soarin's hooves and turned away, sulking. Bon Bon turned to Soarin "Please take a good care of Lyra. She can a little silly sometimes, but she's a good mare."
"I noticed." he nodded.
Bon Bon smiled even wider, before closing herself on Soarin. Her face all of a sudden darkened and her glare pierced his soul.
"And I mean, take GOOD care of her. No UNFUNNY business. Understand?"
Soarin gulped "Y-yes, m'am."
Few seconds later, Bon Bon smiled again and walked back.
"Alright then, have fun you two! Bye!" and then she was gone to her table, leaving with three glasses of new drinks.
It took a few seconds for Soarin to shake the cold feeling he got from Bon Bon. He looked over to Lyra, who at this point was slumped over the counter, sobbing. He nudged her, but other than whine, she didn't do much to show her life signals. Soarin walked over her to notice what he expected- a tear-eyed mint unicorn.
"Sh-she thinks w-we're t-toge-togeth..." she couldn't finish the sentence on her own, so she did the most sensible thing, got up and jumped at Soarin's shoulder, crying herself into it. Soarin patted her head gently and glanced at the table where Bon Bon left to. The view from here was rather poor, so none of the three mares saw much of what was happening at the counter, which worked to his advantage.
His plan was simple and consisted of two easy steps. Step one was, obviously, calming her client down. And he knew just the thing to say.
"You know, I'm also in love with my best friend." he said calmly. It took a moment, but Lyra stopped her tears and slowly rose her head to look at him.
"R-really?"
"Yup. I've been in love with Spitfire for years. But I never told her."
"Why?"
"I dunno. I'm too shy. I'm not sure what she feels about me. I don't think I'm worth it. I think she deserves better than a playcolt like me. I'm ashamed I had to leave Wonderbolts. Something along those lines. Also she's ginger, so anything could go wrong."
"Again with the gingers..."
"I can't help it! They're cursed, that's all there is to it!"
Lyra chuckled at that. Now that he could see her smile, he was ready for step two.
"Okay then, you wanted my help? You got me. This one's on the house."
"Y-you will?" she jumped at him and hugged him tightly "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"B-breath... n-need... to..."
She un-hugged him instantly and blushed "Oops, sorry!"
After taking a few deep breathes and making sure Lyra made herself presentable, he went on to describe the plan to her in every detail. Which took about five seconds.
"Trust me, I got this. Come on, let's get going!" he grabbed her hoof and lead her towards their target.
"W-wait, we're doing it now?"
"No better time than present!"
"B-but I'm not ready!"
"You'll never be ready!"
All the way over, Lyra tried to force herself out, but couldn't overpower her new former sports-star trained by Spitfire friend and had to go with the flow. She stopped struggling once she ended up right next to the table three sets of eyes concentrated on her. Or Soarin. Or both.
"Hello again, Bon Bon," Soarin nodded to cream mare, then looked at the other "Cherry Berry," he nodded towards the hot pink earth pony mare with blonde mane, and she nodded back, giggling "Colgate." and towards the blue coated unicorn with white and blue hair.
"Hey Soarin, Lyra, what brings you here?" asked Bon Bon, still smiling as brightly as ever.
"Oh you know," Soarin hoofwaved "just saying that me and Lyra are not dating, because she's madly in love with you and never had the courage to tell you so she hired me to do it for her. Enjoy."
As expected, the floors of 'Nirvana' shook slightly and even the music screeched to a halt, which happened sometimes when multiple jaws hit the ground. Soarin looked smiled as he noticed four mares with their mouths agape and waited patiently for the events to unfold themselves. He glanced at his new mint-green friend, who grew redder by the second. Her eyebrows started twitching as she turned to him.
"SOARIN!" she shouted at the smiling pegasi. He just shrugged "W-why..." she trembled and her eyes started tearing, before she couldn't take it anymore and did what everypony would in her place.
She turned away and started running, with her eyes closed and crying, not even in slightest caring where she would end up, just as long as it is far away from here. She didn't care about ponies she would run into, walls she'd have to either crash or crash on, anywhere was better than here. She had so many regrets along the way- not being able to take care of her own love life, falling in love with a perfect mare, her best friend at that, a friendship that was now over forever. She regretted being born a mare herself, thus making her life that much harder. And most of all, she regretted ever trusting Soarin, who just up and ruined her life in five seconds flat. She hated him. But she hated herself even more.
It took her around thirty seconds to realize few more things. For one, despite running in an enclosed area blindly, she never ran into any object or wall. She slowly opened her eyes to take a peek to see that she was still in the bar, in the exact same place she was before, running in one place without progressing even an inch. Something held her back by the tail.
"Soarin, leave me alone! You've done enough, let me go!" she cried.
"But I'm right here." the pegasus answered. She turned to her right to notice him, waving to her from distance. Still running, she slowly turned her head to her left side and noticed Cherry Berry and Colgate, still sitting on their chairs. Her pace slowly decreased, gallop turned into trot, then to simple walk before she eventually stopped and slowly and carefully turned around. Only then did Bon Bon finally spat out her tail and straightened herself out. Their eyes met, but both quickly turned away, blushing furiously.
Somewhere in the background, the bartender went over to music box and bucked it a few times, bringing back the jazz song it once played. Colgate and Cherry Berry joined hooves and held their breathes, looking at the development. Soarin chuckled as he watched the two mares carefully shooting a glance at each other. Once in a while one of them coughed and opened their mouths, but nothing ever came to it, as each one waited for the other to say something first. Few minutes of awkward silence later, Soarin rolled his eyes and went to Lyra and jabbed her in the back, making her squeal, pushing her a few steps closer to Bon Bon. Once that close, she hesitated, before finally breaking the silence.
"W-well... what he said," she scratched her head. Bon Bon opened her mouth to say something, but Lyra held a hoof forward and interrupted her "look, before you say anything, I just have to say that, yes, I... I've been having a slight crush on you since we were fillies. Then it turned into a bigger crush, then I realized I'm a filly fooler and I hid it from the world for years, and then you asked if I wanted to be your roommate and I was so ecstatic I said yes before thinking about stuff, but then it was too late and I told myself that I should stop liking you, but I couldn't and it was driving me nuts! S-so I thought, heck, why not, I'll get this over with, get a bunch of chocolate ice-cream and cry myself into a pony sized pillow with your image on it, and by the way, yes, I realize how creepy that sounds and I don't blame you if you hate me for eternity,"
"Me too."
"I just wanted you to know that you are the most beautiful, kind, generous mare I ever known and... and... you what?"
"I... I love you too, Lyra!"
"...what the huh?"
"D'aaaaawwwww!" Cherry Berry and Colgate cooed happily.
"I gotta be honest with you, Lyra, I also liked LIKED you since the day we met," she also scratched her head, almost perfectly mimicking Lyra in that motion "b-but I never thought you felt like that... too... so, you know..."
"But, what about back there, at the counter, you said you don't mind me and... him..."
"She was sooooooo jelly," Cherry Berry interjected into the conversation "she was all like, 'ugh, look at that bozo, if he so much as touches her...' "
Colgate giggled and added some comments herself "And don't forget the classic 'but I only want her to be happy, so I'll just scare him a bit'. That was so cute!"
"Cherry, Colgate... shut up."
The moment of awkwardness suddenly stopped and both mares finally looked straight into each other, still blushing but no longer ashamed of each other.
"Kiss already!" shouted Cherry Berry, Colgate nodding and cheering them to do so. Lyra rolled her eyes and looked at them with annoyance.
"Girls, please! We're trying to have a mo--" she stopped for a moment, as Bon Bon pecked her on the cheek. Anypony who believed there couldn't be more blush on a pony had something new to work with "...-ment."
The moment was interrupted by somepony walking by them. Whatever brought the pink party planner over to the bar at this hour, on Monday no less, was beyond anyponys guess.
"Hiya everypony, what's up?" Pinkie Pie asked cheerfully.
"Oh hey, just the pony we needed!" Soarin walked over to greet her "Pinkie, do you know what time it is?"
"It's seven PM."
"No Pinkie, it isn't."
"What?" she looked at her hoof watch and shook it a bit "I swear it worked properly just this morning, unless... Ooh, of course!" she produced a small canon from nowhere and put it on the ground "It's time for CELEBRATION!" she shot the cannon, covering the entire bar with colorful streamers, confetti, balloons and even a large banner saying:
'Congratulations, Bon Bon and Lyra Forever Love'
Soarin tilted his head looking at the banner.
"Pinkie Pie, how did you..." he shook his head "...no, actually, never mind."
The rest was a history, as they say. Nopony was wise, or dumb, enough to ask how Pinkie managed to get all the party supplies with her or what that cannon was all about. All that mattered were two mares that always belonged together but only just now realized it and used it as an excuse to celebrate with their friends and anypony in general that they could find in the bar as well. Soarin's service might've been free of charge this time, but the drinks for everypony from the new couple were definitely not cheap, but worth it.
Soarin sighed with relief as he looked at the party in full swing. The foul mood he had before? Gone. If this celebration was in a small part his deal, then he couldn't be that bad of a pony after all and this job, while flawed, couldn't be evil if it made so many ponies happy.
SMACK!"
"OW!" Soarin massaged his hurting head. He looked over at the mint-green assailant "Why did you do that?"
"You could've warned me! Jerk!" Lyra pouted and looked away "Be glad it ended well, or else I would never forgive you for that."
"I am glad," he chuckled "I don't want to lose a friend as good as you."
Lyra smiled and nodded.
"Thank you."
"What are friends for."
The party was at full swing, now that every single random pony from Ponyville and Horsetown appeared and all of a sudden everypony lost any idea on why it begun in the first place. All it was now, was a bunch of half-drunk ponies dancing and having a good time, nopony even bothering the new couple. And to be perfectly honest, that’s what they wanted the most right now, as they danced together in the middle of the crowds, which to them might have been an empty hallway for all they cared. And all they cared, was a pony right in front of them. Unlike every other subject in life, this was one place where Lyra was the superior, musically inclined pony and among her talents dancing was one of them. For Bon Bon, it wasn't and by the end of the night, Lyra's hooves were aching from the attempts of her new fillyfriend. She was no less perfect anyway.
Soarin considered staying for a while. Unlike their two best friends, Colgate and Cherry Berry were definitely single and straight, and at this point pretty available and open to suggestions. He himself didn't have much action past few weeks. In fact, he didn't score a single mare in that period, work making him too busy to live for himself. If there was ever a moment he was allowed to let loose and live like he used to, it was now. He was justified and ready...
Stompstompstomp.
Flitter was tired. Her co-worker had to take an early leave, meaning she was forced to work overtime or else the whole company would break down, burn to cinders, get teleported into another dimension or, probable resolution, nothing would happen. And yet her manager insisted and even baited her with some extra payment, which she couldn't easily reject. Since coming back home, all she ever wanted was to lie down, eat dinner and calmly read some good book before going to sleep. First two items were easy enough, but third one proved to be a challenge, courtesy of her nervous fillyfriend.
"Could you please stop walking around? You'll drill the hole in the floor!"
Stompstompstomp.
"What if something happened?" Cloud Chaser asked mostly herself, still walking around dinner table in a circle "What if he had an accident? Or... or... or somepony attacked him?"
"You're panicking," Flitter rolled her eyes "He's a big stallion, he can take care of himself."
"But-but... what if he accidentally went to Everfree Forest?"
"Okay, now you're being ridiculous!"
"What if he... what if he was attacked by a wild manticore? Or-or some ghost? Or a giant pony-eating plant monster!"
"Pfft, where did you even get that idea from?"
"Flitty, I'm not kidding!" Cloud Chaser stopped circling to lean over her fillyfriend, for once not there to ravage her in a good way (or bad) "What if I hurt his feelings? What if he really took my bragging to himself? I didn't want this to happen, it just felt good to talk him down, but I never meant anything mean, I was just teasing, that's all..."
"Honeys, I'm home!" Soarin shouted from the door as he entered, encountering his two roommates, one over the other, acting all spooked as they turned towards him. Caught red hooved, as always. He smiled "Don't mind the super handsome stallion and carry on."
For once, their reactions didn't involve screaming and throwing random stuff his direction, instead both looked at him.
"Soarin, where have you been?" asked Cloud Chaser "I've been worrying sick about you!"
"Sorry," he scratched his head "I was just, umm, working on some special case. Lyra and Bon Bon hooked up, with little help of yours truly." he announced proudly.
"Jeez, took them long enough!" Flitter commented, rolling her eyes.
"Well, as much as I would love to stay and enjoy the view," Soarin yawned "I'm tired, gonna hit the hay for now." that said, he stretched his hooves and slowly walked over towards stairs. Just before taking the first step up, he stopped and turned towards the pair "Cloud Chaser?"
"Hm?"
"Can I... can I count on you tomorrow? Or, any day, in case I... you know..."
Cloud Chaser blinked and waited a moment. She smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing, boss."
"Sweet. Goodnight." and with that said he was gone upstairs.
With him gone, the stressed out secretary finally earned the right to sigh with relied. Her fillyfriend, still lying under her, rolled her eyes.
"See? Told you he'll be fine."
The seconds passed, but Cloud Chaser still sat in the exact same position, directly above her fillyfriend. They blinked.
"So, wanna bang?" asked Cloud Chaser, smiling sultry. Flitter sighed and dropped the book. The mystery of Platinum Crown will have to wait.
"Damn, I can't believe he just up and left!" lamented Cherry Berry, ordering another beer from the counter. The party was in full swing, but lacked a thing she needed the most- stallions "Wasn't he supposed to be some sort of playcolt? I could use one right now."
"He was probably just tired," Colgate patted her friend on the back, keeping her company was the least she could do "there will be another time."
"Yeah, right," she sighed heavily "I'll die old and lonely at this rate."
"Hey, you're not the only single mare around!"
"Heh, sorry."
The two fell silent and concentrated on their drinks.
"Colgate?"
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we're just doing it wrong?"
"Doing what?"
"You know, waiting for a nice stallion, you know... doing it the old ways."
"Are you implying what I think you are?"
"I dunno, what do you think I'm implying?”
Both mares looked into each others eyes. They practically grew up together and held no secrets between each other and always had each others backs. If there was anypony they could trust, it was the mare in front of them. Both noticed how cute the other is, especially after a few drinks. They stared at each other for a moment... until they cracked a smile.
"Pfft, naah!" they announced simultaneously and started laughing. Even if they were alone in the crowd, at least they were alone together, as friends and nothing more. And they wouldn't have it any other way.