My Sweet Passion

by Locomotion

Chapter 6: Lonesome Lyrist

The weeks passed, and Lyra found it harder and harder to carry on as normal in Bonbon's absence. The events of that fateful evening when she had returned from Rainbow Falls played on her mind day and night, and far from her original upbeat personality, she became rather gloomy and closed off. Even when playing the lyre, she no longer bore that peaceful expression that seemed to match the beauty of her music; in its place was a look of sorrow and regret, and the tunes she played were so sombre and melancholy that anypony listening in could only feel sorry for the mint-green mare.

“I don't like it,” said Carrot Top to Berry Punch one morning. “Lyra seems a completely different pony now that Bonbon's been hospitalised.”

Berry Punch nodded in solemn agreement. “Yeah, I can see why that might be so. She and Bonbon had been getting on like a house on fire since she first came here; I guess it stands to reason that she should be so worried for that mare.”

“Maybe so, but she's rather worrying me too. She's been getting pretty thin lately, and yet she hardly buys enough to feed a family of mice, let alone a full-grown mare like herself.” Carrot Top frowned and gazed out across the marketplace to where a solemn Lyra was reclining forlornly against a nearby tree. “It's...it's just not healthy for her.”

“I know, Carrot, but what can we do?” objected Berry Punch unhappily. “We've tried everything to snap her out of it – heck, even I've tried to be a bit more positive about my pregnancy just so I can cheer her up, but she just...doesn't want to know. Unless Bonbon makes it out of the hospital okay, then I don't see us getting the old Lyra back any time soon.”

“Yeah, come to think of it, I still haven't heard back from them yet,” remarked Carrot Top thoughtfully. “Perhaps we'd better go see how she's doing – if they'll let us into the ward, that is.”

Berry Punch was about to reply when she noticed a pure-white Earth mare with a pale pink mane and tail approaching her juice bar. “Ah...just a minute, Carrot Top,” she said hastily, and trotted across the marketplace to the other pony. “Sorry, ma'am, but we're closed for the moment. If you'd care to come back in...say, half an hour?”

“Oh, that's alright, I'm not here for refreshment,” replied the mare. “I was just looking for a mare named Golden Harvest; I've already tried her stall, but she wasn't there when I looked. You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?”

“Who, Carrot Top?” Berry Punch raised an eyebrow. “Well, come to think of it, she's right nearby. Why do you ask?”

“I've been sent from the hospital to speak with her about a mare named Sweetie Drops.”

Berry Punch's eyes widened. Could this be the message from heaven that they had all been waiting for? “Hey, Carrot Top,” she called, “there's a nurse from Ponyville Hospital wants to speak to you!”

“What about?” asked Carrot Top, cantering over to the two mares with an expression of curiosity and anxiety.

“Something about Bonbon, she says. Is that right?”

“That is the name by which I'm told she goes, yes. Anyway, she's in a stable condition now, so we've taken her off life support and are keeping her in the post-anaesthesia recovery unit until she's fully recovered,” explained the nurse. “If any of you wish to visit, we'll let you know when she wakes up.”

“What about her stomach? Did you manage to fix that okay?”

“It took a fair amount of open surgery to repair all that damage caused by the fabric softener, but we think she'll make a complete recovery.”

Both Carrot Top and Berry Punch breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, that's a mercy,” mused Berry Punch softly. “Lyra's sure gonna be relieved to hear that. Thanks a lot, nurse.”

“That's alright.”

“Oh, and by the way, do you reckon I could come in for an ultrasound at some point soon? I'm about two months along, you see, and I want to be sure my foal's okay too,” added Berry Punch, clearing her throat and indicating towards the barely noticeable lump in her abdomen.

The nurse smiled and nodded. “I'll see to it, Miss Berry Punch.”

“What's that about Bonbon?” The three mares noticed Lyra trotting up to them with an agitated look on her face.

“Consider your troubles over, Lyra,” stated Berry Punch cheerfully. “One of the nurses here has just informed us that she's off life support and in post-anaesthesia, so it won't be long before she's out of the hospital.”

“Won't it? Oh, thank Celestia for that!” Almost at once, Lyra felt the immense burden of Bonbon's illness lift itself from her shoulders. “When can I come and see her?”

“As soon as she's awake,” affirmed the nurse. “It'll be a while yet before she comes round, but we'll let you know when she does.”

Lyra smiled gratefully in reply, though with a minor twinge of disappointment at not being able to see Bonbon sooner. “And there was I thinking she'd never wake up ever again,” she murmured as the nurse headed back to the hospital.

“Yeah, and you weren't the only one either,” put in Carrot Top. “Seeing her in such pain that day...goodness, I'm surprised she managed to make any kind of recovery!”

“Ah well,” observed Berry Punch brightly, “at least she's past the worst of it now. Few more weeks if not days, and she should be as right as rain.” She then assumed a more solemn expression and returned her attention to Lyra; “You really were scared for her, weren't you?”

The mint-green unicorn sighed and looked down at her front hooves, mildly ashamed. “Yeah, I guess I was. I know Bonbon and I have only known each other for something like...six months or so, but she's the sweetest pony I've ever come across,” she confessed. “I just didn't like the idea of losing her for good.”

Berry Punch couldn't help but smile knowingly at this point. Lyra's words seemed to ring a similar tone to her conversation with Bonbon before the fabric softener brownie fiasco; and in any event, she could have sworn she'd seen a light blush creeping onto the mint-green mare's face. “I don't think any of us would, not after all she's done for the little fillies and colts of this town. All the same, I think it's really sweet you should care about her so much.”

“Yeah, you make a good...what?!” Now Lyra really did blush! “What in the hay gave you that impression?!” she blurted out, noticeably flustered.

“What wouldn't?” quipped Berry Punch. “You already told us once that you didn't really go for stallions, and we've all seen how you've been getting on with Bonbon. I mean, thinking about it,” she continued knowingly, “you came straight out with your love of that...that human book series with her during her Welcome Party, and it usually takes several months! And think of all the trouble you went through to help her settle in; that was the most generous and neighbourly thing you'd ever done for anypony.”

“So what?” objected Lyra defensively. “I'd do the same for anypony who's just moved into Ponyville; why should Bonbon have been any different?”

“Is that so?” remarked Carrot Top. “Well, if it's what you'd do for 'anypony who's just moved into Ponyville', then how do you explain your obsessing over poor old Bonbon while she's been out?”

“Exactly!” put in Berry Punch triumphantly. “Every time we tried getting you to engage with us, you either turned us away or started muttering to yourself about 'Gee, I hope Bonbon's okay' and this, that and the other. You never got so wound up about me spraining my fetlock when we were fillies, did you? And what about the time when Carrot Top had to be treated for appendicitis last year?”

Lyra considered this. Embarrassed though she was to admit it, Berry Punch was quite right; never once had she let either mare's afflictions bother her, and yet, even though Bonbon's inflamed stomach lining was all but healed, a feeling of anxiety was still lingering in the mint-green unicorn's mind. In any event, she could by no means deny that she missed the cream-coated Earth pony dreadfully. “True...I guess,” she murmured at last. “I just wish I wasn't so scared of telling her how I feel.”

“So you admit...uh...I mean, don't worry about it, Lyra,” soothed Carrot Top. “You never know – she might feel the same way.”

“I'm pretty sure she does, actually,” said Berry Punch. “But there's only one way to find out – and if you don't, then you might find yourself going down the exact same path as Bonbon just did.”

Lyra didn't say anything, but simply nodded her acknowledgement.

---

Three days later, Lyra finally received the news that she had been longing to hear – Bonbon had awoken from her coma at long last, and the hospital had permitted her friends and family to visit. The mint-green unicorn was glad to be able to see her again, but even as she sat and waited outside the post-anaesthesia ward, she still felt an uncharacteristic twinge of self-doubt for what she wanted to tell the cream-coated mare.

“I still don't know about this, Berry,” she whispered. “What if she turns me down? And more to the point, how do I know she's interested in mares in the same way as me?”

“Believe me, Lyra,” asserted Berry Punch, “as long as you stay the same old Lyra Heartstrings we all know and love, it'll all be fine.”

“Yeah, maybe,” replied Lyra with a light shrug. “I'm just so nervous. This is the first time I've had these kind of feelings for anypony – for all I know, I might end up ruining our friendship the very instant I tell her what's going on in my head.”

“You won't,” soothed Carrot Top, giving Lyra a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Even if Bonbon doesn't feel the same way, you'll still be friends, I'm sure. And even if you aren't, Celestia forbid, then at least you have us two.”

“Make that three in about nine months' time,” added Berry Punch.

This did little to put Lyra at ease, but she humoured her two friends with a soft smile. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Just then, one of the nurses came out of the ward and into the waiting room. “I've spoken to Bonbon, she says you can come in and see her now.”

“Thanks, nurse,” replied Berry Punch. “You'd better go in first, Lyra; the sooner you get this off your chest, the better for both of you.”

Lyra hesitated for a few seconds, trying to build up courage. “Will do,” she muttered at last, and trotted uneasily into the ward. Berry Punch and Carrot Top waited patiently outside, mentally wishing their mint-green unicorn friend the best of luck.