Tugging at Her Heartstrings

by neutralmilk

Tugging at Her Heartstrings 2 - Chapter 4

“You’re kidding…” You find yourself staring at the cream-coloured mare blankly, mouth agape. “There’s no way that would work! This isn’t some cheesy 80’s movie!” Your arms flail wildly as you emphasize the incredulity of Bon-Bon’s master plan, darting about the kitchen as you do so. You stagger over to your downed chair and sit it back upright before plopping down on the seat, facing Bon-Bon.

“An 80’s movie?” The mare stares back at you, confusion printed in her expression. She waves her hoof dismissively. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” (You sigh internally. She really didn’t…) “I think this plan is perfect, if I do say so myself!” A satisfied smirk crosses her face as she leans back in her seat victoriously.

“Well of course you would!” You practically bark, folding your arms on the kitchen table.

Bon-Bon furrows her brow and shoots up from her seat. “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?”

You open your mouth to retaliate but before venom pours out, you pause. Your sudden rage leaves you feeling scared and more than a bit alone. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that…” Your voice trails off, suddenly weak and sounding extremely tired. Defeated, you say the only words that come to mind: “I don’t know what to do.”

Bon-Bon’s expression immediately lightens up. She slowly trots to your side and places a hoof on your shoulder. “As I expected. Follow my plan, please. Let me help you.” Her voice is soothing. “Besides…” a wry smile slowly crosses her face. “My plan’s the only one you got.”

You sigh, clearly defeated. “So…” you begin, taking a brief pause to think over Bon-Bon’s plan once more. “You want me to pretend to go out with other ponies?”

“Not exactly. Pony, not ponies. Singular.” She corrects, matter-of-factly.

You sigh. “Ok, so you expect me to ‘date’ another pony.” You state plainly with massive airquotes.

“Yup.” She nods, smiling.

“And you think that… well, this will make her incredibly jealous.” You continue, parroting her earlier reasonings.

Another nod. “Most likely.”

“And finally,” your voice gains the slight tone of mocking. “In the most cliché way imaginable, she will come galloping back to me and we will go off into the sunset to live happily ever after.”

“Totally!” She pumps a hoof victoriously and winks all while sticking out her tongue in some bizarre anime-esque pose. She sits there frozen for what seems like eternity.

Your fingers instinctively work their way to your temples. Slowly, methodically, you begin to massage them. “I like your enthusiasm.” You deadpan.

She breaks free from the pose and flashes a million-dollar grin. “Thanks!”

You sigh. “But, I have one question.”

“Shoot.” Bon-Bon leans in, curiosity splayed across her face.

“Who the hell would want to go out with me?!” Your shouting practically bowls Bon-Bon over. “Even if it’s all fake, I don’t exactly fit in around here anyway. I mean, humans and ponies aren’t exactly the most common couple! I don’t think anypony besides Lyra would even be able to fake it!” You start to groan, sliding down in your seat until you can practically be defined a liquid. Your body rests in this position for a minute before sharp pains bring you back upright, much against your will.

Bon-Bon opens her mouth to respond, but pauses. You can feel her eyes meet yours and slowly move away to glance over your body inch-by-inch. Her gaze starts at your legs before slowly, surely moving upwards caressing each curve of your frame. You can feel your body warm over as Bon-Bon’s eyes finally once again meet yours. Her mouth is still wide-open, as if she had forgotten she was going to speak to at all.

“Um…. Bon-Bon?” you start slowly. “Is everything ok?”

The mare quickly shakes her head, seemingly knocking herself back into reality. As she does this her long, flowing mane flips in the air luxuriously, barely grazing your face. Your nose twitches instinctively, eliciting a surprising giggle from Bon-Bon. Sweat begin to form on your brow.

“You know…” she starts, one of her eyebrows raised seductively. “I can’t believe that I’ve never noticed this before…”

A lump in your throat prevents you from speaking, but you aren’t sure what words would have come out regardless. Your feet are made of lead, holding you in place before the swooning mare.

Bon-Bon giggles once more, cantering closer towards you. The sudden movement frees your feet and sends you toppling backwards onto the floor. You instinctively claw yourself backwards as she continues forward, finally stopping when your back is pressed against the wall. The candy-coated mare does not cease her delicate advance. She stops with her face mere inches away from yours. There is no escaping her blue eyes.

“I never noticed how…” her voice starts again, practically purring. Her sweet breath is warm on your neck; shivers shoot up your spine. “How…”

You gulp audibly as she traces a hoof up and down your chest. The sweat on your brow is pouring down your face now. “How…” Bon-Bon is wearing a soft smile as she gradually leans in closer to your face.

“How ugly my roommate is! Count me out for this.” Bon-Bon drops her hoof and trots away back to the kitchen table. Your eyes and mouth are agape in disbelief.

“I-I… uh…. Um-I…” you stutter in confusion. The mare stares back at you and nods.

“If Lyra had seen that display she’d have killed me.” She states flatly, turning away. You nod in agreement, slowly regaining your composure. It takes a moment before you are comfortably back on your feet. “Plus,” Bob-Bon continues, “there’s no doubt in my mind she would have kicked your butt clear out of Ponyville.”

You brush your pants clear of whatever dirt and debris they acquired from the kitchen floor and turn to the cream-coloured mare. “Then what’s the point in even trying? If we’d both be d-”

“Let me finish.” Bon-Bon interrupted matter-of-factly. “First of, what do you mean ‘we’? This isn’t my show here. I was just giving a demonstration. Second, even though she would go totally berserk, that would be a victory for you.”

You raise an eyebrow, clearly confused. “What do you mean?”

“Do I really need to spell it out for you? If she gets like that, you’ve succeeded in making her jealous!”

The wheels finally seem to start turning in your brain. This makes sense. Bon-Bon notices this newfound understanding and continues speaking. “If she gets jealous of you and some other mare, she’s bound to try and snatch you back. You know how possessive she is.”

You nod reluctantly. The logic seemed sound, to be honest, but it left you uneasy. The idea of pursuing a relationship –even a fake one – with another mare made you immensely uncomfortable. And to make matters worse, it could have the opposite effect and push Lyra away even more. This thought was enough to send your heart racing in distress.

Bon-Bon seemed to read your mind and clopped her hoof on the table to get your attention. “Look, it will work.” Her soft voice was enough to calm you for now. Reluctantly, you agree. A sigh escapes your lips unbeknownst to you. However flawed the plan was it beat doing nothing at all.

“But who-”

“Anypony.” Bon-Bon interjected immediately. “You just saw how easy it can be. Even I was able to fake it. Just pick a friend of yours. One that isn’t too close to Lyra that she would suspect anything.”

You take a moment to think of the many ponies you’ve met since your arrival, but come up short of anypony who would be up for this monumentally uncomfortable task.

“Take some time, get some air.” Bon-Bon offers, stepping toward the apartment door. It opens without any resistance and a cool breeze rushes in from the hallway beckoning you to step outside. Your body moves without any input from your brain and soon you find yourself strolling the streets of Ponyville, deep in thought.

Pinkie Pie? Your mind brightens instantly with her name. No… too random… Perhaps Twilight? You grit your teeth remembering the many bizarre experiments she’s performed on you in the past (and the many more that would certainly come with spending more time with her).

Your body continues to wind you through the many streets and alleys of the town, roaming on autopilot. I guess I could ask Applejack… A smile crosses your face at the thought of spending some time hanging around with the Apple family. The thought lasted only moments however. Except she’s the Element of Honesty, of course… Deep down you feel relieved knowing that you’ve avoided having to then work on the farm. A life with Lyra hadn’t exactly prepared you for performing hard physical labor day-in, day-out…

You close your eyes and sigh, dejected. Lost in the march-like rhythm of your feet on the ground, your mind continues to list a slew of names of ponies you’ve encountered: Derpy? I do love muffins… No, how about Octavia? Hmm, too close to Lyra… Fleur delis –who am I kidding, she would laugh me down the streets of Ponyville… Princess – nope already… I suppose that maybe I could ask-

THUD!

Your body slams into an unseen object, sending you sprawling onto the ground. Your eyes shoot open, greeted by the sight of a humble wooden cart – one that you’ve seen innumerable times since your arrival in Equestria.

“Didn’t I just sell you flowers yesterday?” a voice calls from behind the counter. “What in the hay did you to this time?”

You elicit a small grunt as you rise from the ground and brush dirt off your clothes. A green-eyed mare stands before you, leaning her head on her hoof. Her eyes betray no surprise at your arrival and subsequent oblivious tumble. She wears a small smile on her face just the same.

“Roseluck!” you exclaim excitedly, rushing to the counter. “I gotta talk to you!”

Author's Note:

This may be the last individual chapter I post. I really want to finish it and post the remaining ones in one big fell swoop. No more of these intermittent chapters.

Thanks again to everyone for reading! Leave a comment and let me know what you think of it all so far!

-neutralmilk

Comments

[Viper Pit]

8983438
so soon is almost 2 months got it great read btw

[Dustchu]

Whew... it's been a while since this was updated, I am excite!

Nice job!

[neutralmilk]

9100098
Hope I didn't disappoint!

[Dustchu]

9100864
You've yet to disappoint me so far, I don't think you will, so keep it up!

[HumanSVD]

Man, I hope she isn't cheating on him.

[Betsuni]

Too cliche I like this story but the thought of what going to happen next makes me cringe

[LinkAndEpona]

Geez, dragging RoseLuck into this?

Well she is my favorithe background Pone so I am quite interested in where this is going