Chapter Three: Ruminations
One day before the party, and Twilight Sparkle was pacing anxiously in the shadow of the Books and Branches Library. The sky was slightly overcast, taking on a light grey tone. Today, Twilight was sure, the weather ponies had scheduled the clouds for the sole purpose of mocking her downcast mood.
Okay, so, she thought, summing up her predicament, I’m in love with Lyra Heartstrings.
… Now what?
Twilight groaned in frustration, bonking her head against the bark of her home. She had never been in love before (bar a crush on the Princess when she was a small filly, though Twilight had long since managed to convince herself that it was just idol-worship), and certainly had no experience with romance whatsoever beyond what she’d read. She hadn’t even had friends until a couple of years ago, so how could she? This left her without so much as a clue of what to do about her feelings.
You could just tell her.
But how? Twilight puzzled. Lyra was beautiful and talented, and Twilight was just a homely librarian. How could she possibly hope to win Lyra’s affections? She’d never give her a second thought unless she took some initiative.
She found her mind drifting to the pink invitation letter still sitting on the table in her study. Could that be it? The Hearts and Hooves party was tomorrow, so she would need to act quickly if she wanted to ask Lyra to attend with her.
Uncertainty crept back into her mind, and she stopped pacing, eyes toward the ground. Would Lyra even accept her invitation? Maybe Twilight should just…
No! Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground. I refuse to mope or vacillate any more! I’m going to find Lyra, and I’m going to ask her—
“H-hey, Twilight?”
“Gack!” Twilight yelped in panic at the distinctly familiar voice, vanishing in a puff of lilac-red light as she teleported inside.
Lyra frowned sadly, staring at the ground. Oh well, she moped. I guess there’s always later. Resolving again to muster up her courage, she trudged off back home to revise her strategy.
Twilight breathed heavily for a moment, then groaned loudly, smacking her hooves against her face. “Twilight, you idiot…!”
Spike glanced up from the latest Daring Do novella to peer curiously at his caretaker. “Go on?”
“Lyra came up to me, and I just… panicked! How am I ever going to ask her to Pinkie’s party at this rate?” She draped her forelegs over the table, laying her head on it and slouching. “She probably thinks I’m a giant dork.”
The young dragon sighed with some relief, glad that Twilight had finally managed to clue in about her crush on Lyra. Closing the book, he did his best to put on a reassuring tone of voice for his surrogate sister. “Twilight, she does not think you’re a giant dork. You’re one of the most likeable ponies I know! You just need to have some confidence.”
Twilight met his gaze miserably. “I just can’t!”
“Twilight,” Spike pressed insistently, “you defeated Discord, tamed Cerberus, and took on Nightmare Moon herself! Is telling the pony you like about your feelings honestly any scarier?”
The pony seemed to curl up on herself a little more. “Maybe.”
The dragonling sighed, pressing his claws against his forehead. “How, exactly?”
Fixing Spike with a somewhat aggrieved look, Twilight frowned. “Because defeating evil creatures is simple. You don’t need to worry about their feelings.” Puffing a bang of hair out of her eyes, she continued, “But if I tread incorrectly in a situation like this, somepony could end up seriously hurt – whether me or Lyra.”
“Twilight, you have to stop worrying about what could go wrong and just remind yourself of what can go right.” Spike crossed his arms. “You’ll never get anything you really want in life if you spend your time being such a worry-wart.”
The unicorn peered accusingly at her assistant, sniffing indignantly. “What would you know about romance?” she grumped.
Spike gave an affronted snort. “Plenty!” He took on a cocky smirk. “I don’t know if you know this, Twi, but I’m kind of an expert on romance.”
Arching a brow, Twilight let out a startled snicker and covered her muzzle with a hoof. “Oh, really now?”
Spike nodded confidently, hands on his hips. “You can just tell that I’m beating away the fillies with a stick every time I step outside.” The playful grin soon melted into a more genuine smile. “So just trust me on this, okay?”
Twilight giggled, her trepidations quickly replaced with the help of her number one assistant. “You’re right, Spike.” She rose, lifting herself onto all four hooves. “I can’t let my fear of what might go wrong control me!” Smiling down at her assistant, she continued to reassure herself. “I have to take charge of my own destiny and take some chances, or I’ll never be happy!”
At this point, Spike thought he might have seen Twilight’s mane and tail being blown dramatically by an imaginary breeze. Before he could have time to make sense of this, Twilight was off. “I’m going out, Spike! To take hold of my destiny!” Chuckling quietly at Twilight’s theatrics, he shook his head proudly and watched Twilight stroll briskly out the front door.
A few moments later, he returned to his reading. Having painfully learned his lesson the previous day, he sat far away from the door, atop a small stack of books. As he found his spot in the book in which he had engrossed himself, he heard a noise approaching - quickly. Raising his head to peer curiously at the window, his vision exploded in stars as he was barreled into the floor by a blur of many colors.
“Oof! Sorry there, Spike!” The raspy voice was easily identifiable as Rainbow Dash. Spike wondered for a moment why he had left the window open. “Still have trouble sticking landings indoors.” The pegasus gave a sheepish grin, trotting about the room in a circle. “Was Twilight in here a minute ago?”
Spike gave a long-suffering groan, trying to pull himself up to sit again. “Uh-huh…”
“What’d she say before she left?”
Spike gave Rainbow a suspicious glance. “You saw her leave?” he asked. “… Have you been watching the Library?”
The pegasus gave a shifty glance around. “Just answer the question.”
The baby dragon picked the book back up, opening it again. “She’s heading out to confess her feelings to somepony and ask them to the party tomorrow.”
Dash grinned. “Awesome! I’ve got to tell Pinkie that it’s all working out!” Before he could question the blue pony, she was talking again. “I’m attending too, you know. With Soarin'. Who's my coltfriend.” She bobbed her head excitedly, prompting a flat stare from Spike.
“Er. Right. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get back to—“
“Daring Do?” Rainbow asked, trotting over and eyeing the cover of the book. “Oh, sweet! I just read that one this morning. I like the part at the end when Daring discovers that Ahuizotl was a corrupted version of her dead uncle's spirit all along!” She shot a grin over her shoulder. “Seeya!” The pegasus shot off out the window, disappearing into the distance.
Spike stared after her for a moment, then back at the book. Novel thoroughly spoiled, he chucked it over his shoulder and slouched off for a much-deserved nap.
Bon-Bon had her snout buried between her forelegs as she lay atop a bench along in Ponyville's central park. It’s just not fair.
Her thoughts, like most of those to late, were occupied by her goofy, lovely roommate – the room-mate who had no idea just how much she meant to the crème-colored confectioner, and likely never would. Lyra had been the light of the Foalish pony’s life since she had arrived here, little more than a lost foreigner with a few words of Equish under her belt.
Lyra had made Bon-Bon feel wanted when she’d had nopony else, given her a friend in a time of change and uncertainty. In return, Bon-Bon had always strived to repay the green unicorn, cooking her meals, being a friend, giving her a shoulder to lean on.
And who should her roommate fall for? Some no-name librarian who barely even knew she existed!
No – not quite. Try as Bon-Bon might to convince herself of it, Twilight Sparkle was certainly not a nopony. She was a champion of Equestria, right-hoof pony of the Princess herself. How in the world was Bon-Bon supposed to compete with something like that?
Jealousy knotted in the earth mare’s stomach. By her heroics, by her celebrity, this mare had stolen Lyra away from her, at least in the mind of the subject of her affections. But… at the same time, she did seem to make Lyra happy. Bon-Bon’s heart sank a little. Maybe she should just be happy that…
Her mind trailed off, ears flicking as she picked up the distinct clip-clop of hooves on the cobblestone path running nearby. Turning her gaze upward, her eyes widened, and then narrowed at the source of the sound. It was her. The purple unicorn responsible for her woes – and, by the looks of it, heading toward her and Lyra’s house. Forgetting any misgivings she might have had, Bon-Bon scowled, standing and sliding off of the bench.
Twilight paused as she noticed the mare approach, vaguely recognizing her as Bon-Bon, a local confectioner and sometimes-competitor of Sugarcube Corner. A greeting died on her lips as she noticed the stormy expression on the mare’s face, and she stopped in the path uncertainly.
“Just who are you thinking you are?” Demanded Bon-Bon angrily, poking Twilight’s collarbone with her hoof in accusation. Twilight stared down at the hoof, taking a moment to decipher her thick accent.
“Erm… I-is that a Foalish accent I hear? You know, I heard that in Foaland-“ Twilight tried vainly to swerve the topic away from whatever bad place to which it was swiftly hurtling, but Bon-Bon would have none of it.
“Who are you thinking you are, trying to steal Lyra away?”
Twilight blinked apprehensively. “… You’re a friend of Lyra’s?” She quirked her head, frowning faintly. “I’d never steal friends away from one another, if I could help it.”
Bon-Bon furrowed her brow at Twilight’s incomprehension. “You do not understand. I love her!”
Twilight blinked. “Oh.” Her face took on a sympathetic expression, though a bit of disappointment crept its way in. Was Lyra already with this mare?
“I love her and she will not even look at me twice…” Bon-Bon’s face was still twisted in a frown, but Twilight thought she saw tears brimming in her eyes. Twilight was unsure whether or not she was a bad pony for feeling some relief at this revelation; in any case, it soon turned to sympathy for the mare before her. She could understand her feelings very well.
Paying little attention to the mare in front of her, Bon-Bon was more focused on airing out all of her pent-up desires and frustrations. “Everything I do to make her notice me, everything I do to make her loving me back, doesn’t work!” She let out a choked sob, head hanging as she fell onto her haunches. She whispered something which Twilight couldn’t quite discern: “How can she love you, but not me?”
Twilight bit her lip, feeling somewhat uneasy with the situation. This pony had been yelling at her a moment ago, but now she was sitting there, sniffling and crying, heartbroken. Under the circumstances, the Element of Magic found it hard to begrudge the crying mare – she hated to see anypony cry. Stepping forward hesitantly, she wrapped a foreleg around Bon-Bon’s neck, pulling her into a comforting hug. The mare offered no resistance, leaning against Twilight and crying on her shoulder.
After a few moments of this, Twilight spoke up softly. “Secrets like this only end up causing you pain as long as you keep them bottled up. You need to go talk to your friend and tell her how you feel.” Bon-Bon glanced up, eyes red and bleary from her crying, and Twilight met her gaze with a gentle smile. “Who knows? She might feel the same way.”
“Why must you be so nice?” the earth pony inquired hoarsely. “It would be so much easier to stay angry with you if you were mean.”
Twilight gave an awkward chuckle when Bon-Bon managed a weak smile.
“You are right, of course,” Bon-Bon said, picking herself up. “I have to tell her.” She smiled apologetically at the purple mare. “I am… sorry. I had been holding that in for too long.”
Nodding understandingly, Twilight replied, “Good luck.”
Nodding once more, Bon-Bon hurriedly trotted off in the direction of her house, newfound confidence filling her heart.
At the same time, watching the earth pony leave, Twilight felt the confidence which, it felt, she had only just mustered quickly slipping away. A sad smile on her features, she turned back towards the Library.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,012 users online
1,312,331 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
AHHHH!!! YES NEW CHAPTER!!!
1331565
Yes! New chapters for all!
1331565
Humbug, I seem to have forgotten to tack a scene onto the end of this chapter. Guess I'll just have to go and make the last full chapter extra long.
No Twilight! What about your needs and desires?
1331597
She's just too nice for her own good!
1331592
You only just released it. It wouldn't be that difficult to update if you want. But if you'd rather do that, I doubt there'd be anyone unwilling to wait.
The best answer for all of these cases is the old, reliable Threesome!
1336756
Egghead love.
1314563 i feel u man about smarts and bronieness
Thumbs up and a big gold star for Grue... er, for you! Kudos for exploring an unconventional pairing. Also for SoarinDash, when most authors stick RD with Spitfire or another of the Mane6. Here's hoping that it doesn't go the threesome route.
Waiting eagerly for more chapters!
1354653
You won't have much longer to wait. I hope to have the next chapter up some time tomorrow at least.
1354657 It's been a week and four days
1414265
I'm a lazy sonuva bitch. I'm also rather busy with classes and various other things, but I *am* working on it when I get the chances.
All right, all right! I'm writing!
1470832
We have trust in you and aren't going anywhere.
ok im still waiting this better be good cause im am waiting for so many other stories to update and all that