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// 25 Party by TaviPlaysTheBass 
// Story: Rhythm and Harmony: The Octascratch Prompt Collab 
// by lyra_lover777 
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Party by TaviPlaysTheBass



"Happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Lyra
happy birthday  to you!"
The table erupted in cheers as Lyra blew out her candles. The mint green unicorn looked around and smiled, seeing all the ponies sitting around the table, having a fantastic time. Everypony but two.
Vinyl and Octavia were both looking down angrily into their cups, pretending not to notice each other.
A palpable tension radiated from both, so strong that even Lyra could feel it.
I wonder if those two will ever be able to interact normally again.  She doubted it after the way things had ended between them.
It was hard being friends with the two ponies on either side of a bad breakup. Both expected you to take their side, both expected you to hate the other just as much as they did.
She had been a shoulder for them both to cry on, and a listener whenever either just needed to vent. In fact, she had gotten much closer with both ponies since the breakup, a fact that had made planning her birthday party very difficult.
In the end, she had elected to invite both, but she regretted that in retrospect. As much as she loved them both, they were being huge downers.
Vinyl had sat at one end of her living room the entire time, and Octavia had sat in another. Both unwilling to get up and join the games with everyone else in the fear that the other might have the same idea.
Lyra sighed, and remembered a time when the three of them had been a trio. Back in the conservatory, they had done everything together.
Then when Vinyl and Octavia started dating, she had become a bit isolated from the two. She had been really happy for them, and yet she saw less and less of her best friends.
After the split, they had both reached out for her, desperately in need of a good friend, something she had been happy to be.
Her bonds with both had grown stronger again, and yet the trio was dysfunctional. They’d never all stay up till four in the morning, watching horror movies, or spend lazy Sunday afternoons walking through the park.
Lyra sighed again, more deeply this time, and took a long drink of whiskey.