Lyra returned home with a smile. It had been a hard day's work, but well-spent, she thought. "Hey, Bonnie! I'm home!" She set her things off to the side and trotted eagerly to find her marefriend. "How are things?" But there was no answer, just a note laying on Bon Bon's bed.
She approached the note curiously, plucking it up with her magic and looking it over.
My sweet harp,
I know you've been working hard lately, and I wanted to be here today of all days, but my past's caught up with me. Believe me when I say I'd be at your side if it was even a remote option, but when Celestia's Secret Service calls, you have to answer. Please forgive me.
For Princess and Country,
Agent Sweetie Drops
Lyra sank to her haunches and let the letter flutter to the ground. She felt anger swell up in her, at Bon Bon, then the princess, then the world entire. She mashed a hoof against the ground. "Why today?! I had everything planned! I..." She sank to the floor, sniffling. "Please be safe..." That wasn't the way she planned to spend their anniversary night.
There was a soft tapping at the door and Lyra perked an ear at it before gathering herself up. She approached the door with a bit of a frown. "Who is it?!"
Whoever it was heard the irritation in her voice, and a male voice spoke cautiously. "Oh, uh... if it's a bad time..."
Lyra recognized the voice and sighed gently. "No, come in..."
Shattered Stone opened the door with a cautious smile. "Hello Ly-- Oh what's wrong?"
Lyra rubbed at her face with a fetlock, trying to scrub away the tears. "I'm fine, really. What brings you by this way?"
Shattered ruffled his wings as he stepped inside and nudged the door shut behind himself. "I... was going to invite you two to a little show tonight? Is Bon Bon available?"
Lyra trembled, a few fresh tears escaping her despite her best of efforts. "N-no, she's not here right now. Maybe later... What show?"
Shattered pointed with a wing upwards. "There's going to be a huge meteor shower and I thought it'd be nice to share it with friends, and no, uh, pony, has been as much a friend to me as you have, and you can't invite a friend without their lover. That's just rude, right?"
Lyra blushed a little. "Right... But she's not... here right now. Work called her away."
Shattered looked confused. "How does candy making call you away, Lyra?"
Lyra snorted softly, shuffling in place and trying to think of better reasons. "She's, uh, cooking competitively, yeah."
Shattered stepped up to Lyra, making her shrink a bit before he grabbed her and pulled her tight. "You don't have to lie to me, Lyra. Ponies are pretty bad at lying."
Lyra wanted to refute it, or to shove Shattered away, but instead she melted into that warm embrace and let her tears loose into his fur. He was a perfect gentlecolt, just holding and patting her without trying anything untowards. When the tears slowed, Lyra gently squirmed away and sat down. "I'm sorry for lying, but it's... kind of a secret. I can't say where she is. I don't even... really know. She got called away, and it is business, I swear."
Shattered nodded. "I believe you. So, want to go?"
Lyra blinked at him, then considered what else she'd do that evening. "I... think I'll take you up on that offer. Is your marefriend going to be there?"
Shattered smiled. "She's setting out a nice little picnic for us to watch it by. Want a ride?" He turned away from her and lowered, offering his back.
Lyra snorted softly as she approached him. "That's awful forward of you."
Shattered went stiff. "I-it is? I thought it was just a nice thing to do, since I can fly fast and all."
Lyra chuckled with obvious amusement. "Have you given rides to anyone but your marefriend?"
"N-no, but that's just because, oh wait, I gave Darrell a few rides before? Is that bad?"
Lyra poked Shattered in the side. "You just told anypony that saw you that you two are very close. Maybe just very good friends, or maybe something more."
Shattered went dark, shuffling in place. "We could walk instead?"
Lyra pulled a chocolate from her bag on the floor and floated it to Shattered's snout, where it vanished quickly. "Relax. You made a few ponies giggle, that's about the worst of it. Let's walk, together." His discomfort somehow made her feel a bit better, and she left the building with him, locking it shut behind herself and setting off at a trot to see the spectacle in the sky. Far better than pining alone in the dark.
Shattered spoke quietly to his marefriend when they arrived. Lyra suspected he was talking about her, and it was proven true when both went out of their way to make her comfortable and welcome. Lyra briefly considered fighting it, but it felt nice to be doted on, and she instead put her effort into being a courteous guest and appreciative friend. Ultimately they crashed on either side of her, and she was surrounded by warmth as the sky became a dazzling show of streaking lights and the night was alive with good ponies and better friends.
She'd have her perfect anniversary date whenever her sweet Bon Bon came home.
Nice to see Stone coming along. And a friend appearing just when Lyra needed on. A little help for the one that helps so many others.
Even professional friends need to lean on somepony else from time to time. Especially when their significant others have to do something that can't be disclosed for the sake of national security. I just hope it isn't related to the new mirror portal...
I'm happy to hear from Shattered Stone again.
Seems he's doing well.
Man, hard to believe this fic's got over 40 chapters already. Glad I've stuck through it, makes for a relaxing read!
Sure Stone made life easier for Lyra, but now he's made things harder for our beloved Author @.@
Always nice to have a little pampering every now and then, ESPECIALLY when it's a lot less balanced of you taking care & helping others.
Eh, piggyback riding being treated like that seems unlikely. I mean, you have a species where 1/3 of the population can fly, 1/3 can move stuff telekinetically and occasionally teleport, and 1/3 of the population is much stronger than the rest and probably has much better balance. Piggyback riding would be a necessity.
Also, when Rainbow Dash carries Daring Do away from the piranhas in Daring Don't and Daring starts flying as well, that's pretty close to piggy backing.
...Sorry about the nitpicking. It's just that random things having romantic connotations is a bit of a pet peeve of mine after reading a few HiE fics where pretty much every part of the pony body is an erogenous zone.
6111328 No one said anything about sensitive bits. He clearly didn't think much of it, but giving someone a ride without an obvious need to is -close-. Does it mean you're kissing, no, but you're obviously friendly.
I mean how many friends RL would give other friends rides on their back, even if they were decidedly faster than said friend? People just don't do it much unless it's a kid or they're already kinda very close.
6111343
Actually, I think some of the groups I was in when I was in school had people that would just give out piggy back rides to anyone in the group that requested it. Of course, there were some people that wouldn't offer at all, and nobody would give out rides to complete strangers...
If anything, I'd say it's a little less affectionate than giving hugs. (I have seen some people advertising free hugs in my school years too, so maybe I just lived in affectionate places.)
(Edit: Actually, yeah, that happened plenty in Washington, but almost never in Arizona.)
6111365 So we agree that different places look at it with different levels of intimacy, but that it can be a thing, and really has nothing to do with 'erogenous' zones and simple intimacy and acceptable contact/closeness.
It's not always about sex, I swear!
6111388
Yeah, but Washington is a better place to live than Arizona. And I don't know about the rest of the states, but I think places that have more openly affectionate people tend to do better and have higher quality of life indices.
6111407 My other argument would be that we really don't see ponies riding each other very often at all, even in situations where it clearly would save time. Once in a while, yes, but not even close to a day-to-day expectation.
6111422
Okay, that's fair I guess.
I wonder how it would work for a hiking or adventuring group though. I imagine they'd be on each other's backs practically all the time. (And before you say anything, the mane six are not hikers or adventurers. In fact, they're not really qualified for their jobs as the equivalent of navy seals/diplomats either, but they make for good entertainment.)
I just sat down to read "a couple chapters" of this, and here I am having finished everything posted!
I really liked 39 and 40, and Lucy, and the whole thing with Sam... well, there's a lot to like about this, even though some of the conversations get awkwardly written in a few of the later chapters. Definitely going to be reading more of this.
6113005 Glad you're enjoying the ride.