//------------------------------// // Lyra is an Inventor // Story: Lyra is a Mother // by Paton Pendeng //------------------------------// Bon-Bon stood silently with her mouth agape. Shock couldn't begin to describe her right now. She couldn't exactly explain what she felt. On one hoof, she was very terrified for a multitude of reasons, one of which being a simple regret of not really paying attention to Lyra when she went on about these... creatures. On the other hoof, she was completely dumbstruck. No matter how her mind tried approaching this situation, it could not begin to wrap her head around the fact that a human foal was here in her house, sleeping as peacefully as she was not a moment ago. She looked over to her marefriend who had a smile that Pinkie Pie would approve of. The questions bombarded her relentlessly and seemed to battle for the right to escape her mouth. Bon-Bon looked back to the baby as if to make sure it was there. When she looked back to her marefriend, the smile only seemed to grow bigger. Her eyes switched back to the baby to check again that the baby was there. If there was any doubt in her mind that it wasn't real and she was dreaming, it was shattered as the foal coughed, breaking the awkward silence. The sudden disturbance caused Bon-Bon to jump a little and switch her attention back to Lyra whose grin was too big for her face. "Lyra-" "Shh..." the mint green mare silenced with a gesture. "She's asleep." "How do you know that it's a she?" Bon-Bo whispered exasperatively. "Um, hello?" Lyra whispered with a low voice. She leaned down towards the bundle and pointed to her head. "Look at those eyelashes!" "Lyra!" Bon-Bon shouted in a concerned whisper. "Don't touch it! It could be diseased!" "Bonnie..." Lyra sighed. "She's not gonna jump up and suck out your brains or anything." Bon-Bon responded with a raised eyebrow. "Look, do you want to just throw her out?" Lyra asked rhetorically. " 'Cause I won't do it." The cream colored mare looked down at the bundle with a scrutinous gaze that began to soften. Lyra chose to make her move. "Isn't this what you wanted? I mean, think about it," Lyra began with confidence. "We both wished on that star and now it's come true!" Bon-Bon's gaze had softened into a look of cautious uncertainty. Lyra was right. She still wanted to have a baby and start a nice family, but she have this kind of baby in mind. "Well..." the earth pony thought to herself. "She does know more about humans than anypony else in town..." Her eyes met the green mare's own. She could always see the good in Lyra's intentions, even if they were crazy. She could see the good in those eyes that anypony else would've called crazy. A smile crept over her lips, as well as a small tear that was wiped away quickly. "... alright..." Bon-Bon sighed. "Woohoo!" Lyra cheered quietly. Before her happy dance could continue, Bon-Bon's gaze recomposed itself into a serious look. "However," the cream colored mare spoke with authority. "You're going to commit to this child one-hundred percent. She's not going to be your pet. We're going to raise her and love her." "Yeah, of course!" "She's also not gonna be like your pet goldfish you won at the fair a year ago," Bon-Bon continued. "You're not going to be all excited after one week and then forget about her the next. She's our child and we need to treat as such, so I really need you to focus and really absorb my words." "Okay," Lyra nodded. "I got it. I'll be totally focused! Anything else?" "Y-yes..." the cream colored earth pony hesitated as her authoritive look wavered. "Now... Babies cost a lot to take care of, Lyra. More than you or I can possibly afford... so, we're going to need to-" "Work harder?" Lyra interjected. "Don't worry. I pluck those strings 'til my hooves bleed." "I know you will, hon, but..." Bon-Bon began. This caught the unicorn's attention. Whenever she called her hon, something was wrong. "You're... You're going to have to get rid of it." "Get rid of what?" Lyra asked with confusion. "The..." Bon-bon bit her lip in preperation for the insanity that was about to come. "The... The Finger..." A heavy silence penetrated the room. Lyra's expression was unreadable. This was the calm before the storm, and Bon-Bon waited for the inevitable explosion. "Okay," Lyra said in a seemingly indifferent voice. "I mean, we do need some intial cash for her, so..." "Wh-what?" Bon-Bon gasped. "You mean to tell me that you're going to give it up that easily?" "Yeah, well..." the mint green mare looked down to the floorboards. "I still have all my notes and original blueprints, so I could rebuild it later." "You're serious. You're actually serious," Bon-Bon said to herself with a small shake of her head. "Of course I am," Lyra answered with an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone. "You just told me to be serious." Bon-Bon opened her mouth to say something but it seemed to get stuck in the process. "I should probably get to disassembling it," Lyra mused with a hoof under her chin. "I should also get the cart too. Would you mind taking the first watch?" Lyra's magic enveloped the small child and floated it over to the cream colored mare. "I'm gonna have to start tonight if I'm gonna finish anytime soon." Bon-Bon looked at the bundle before her and careful reached out to cradle the child in her arm. She saw something in this little babe, much like she did in Lyra. Whatever the cause or reason, she now held something that she had wanted for a long, long time. She smiled softly, which was all the answer Lyra needed to see. The mint green unicorn left out the door. Upon its close, Bon-Bon was brought out of her daze with a few blinks. With a careful step, she conducted herself to bed. Lyra walked briskly to the other side of the small home. She passed her snipe nesting ground and approached the doors to the cellar. Her magic threw them open and she trotted down with a purpose. Once there, she quickly clicked on a gas powered lamp and grabbed a pair of goggles which she put on deftly. She then turned toward a cloaked object sitting upon a large workbench. With a dramatic tug, she revealed a large contraption. It was a sleeve of copper, wire, hinges, pulleys, rotors, and pylons. She gazed upon it with a certain nostalgia. She remembered how much time and effort she had put into this dream of hers. She was a pretty decent harpist, as far as unicorns went. However, the instrument itself was inteded to be used by gryphons. With their opposable claws, they could execute more dexterous pieces of music. Magic could only become so precise, and when her position a world-class symphony was replaced by a pegasus who could strum her feathers meticuoulously over the delicate strings in such a way that no magic could imitate, she went a little crazy even by her own standards. However, after hitting absolute rock bottom and breaking, Lyra found herself being slowly pieced together by Bon-Bon. She found her confidence, some semblance of self-respect and a determination to get back to her spot in that symphony... or at least that was the plan originally. She had decided to create a device that would mimic a gryphon's talons. She began passionate research as well as practice, slowly building this construct from out of thin air. As time went on however, she found herself practicing her harp less and more time researching... She soon stumbled across her would be obsession in a World Mythology book. She soon began to emulate their mannerisms. Her plan of returning to her place of honor fell apart into settling down with a marefriend who helped up from the deepest despair. This Finger 1.1 was perhaps the cause for most of her happiness, and it wasn't even finished. She levitated a screwdriver over and, with a deep breath, began to deconstruct the the mighty machine. The next morning, Lyra entered the abode with a smile. Her mood seemed no less chipper than the night before. Bon-Bonstood in the kitchen boiling a pot of coffee. She seemed a little worse for wear. "Morning, Bonnie," Lyra said as she kissed her marefriend's cheek. "Coffee?" she offered without looking up from the pot. "Nah. I'm good," Lyra said as she obtained a banana. She peeled the skin of of it and began to eat. "How are you holding up?" "I'm on the second pot of coffee," Bon-Bon replied with a sigh. "She's upstairs. Still asleep. She woke me up once, but I calmed her down." The coffee makers percolator bubbled and Bon-Bon quickly poured a large cup of the stuff and took quick sips. "Aww..." Lyra cooed. "I'm sorry." "It's fine," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "So... what now? You've torn it up, right?" "Y-yeah..." Lyra said sheepishly. "I've got it loaded into the cart and I have an idea of who might want it." "That's amazing," the cream colored mare replied while perking up. "You're one of a kind, Lyra. Tearing apart something that took you so many years to build..." "Eh... it's not that important," Lyra said nonchalantly. "So who are you selling it to?" "Nopony important," Lyra replied. "Just the librarian."