Hear You In My Heart

Bon Bon is a former monster hunter, now living in Ponyville to protect her cover after a breakout in Tartarus. She doesn't have many friends, but the Summer Sun Celebration is too big of an event to skip.

Lyra is a student and musician going to the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. Maybe it'll be what she needs to finally find a home.

Both have no idea the impact this one decision will have on their lives.

Written for the LyraBon Contest.

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Comments ( 7 )

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Stahlseele

Stahlseele #1 · Sep 30th, 2022 · 2 · ·

This was good.
Consider writing more.

Flutterflyer

Flutterflyer #2 · Sep 30th, 2022 · 2 · ·

11379488
Thank you! I have some more stories planned so I hope you enjoy them!

Stahlseele

Stahlseele #3 · Sep 30th, 2022 · 1 · ·

11379586
If you keep the quality at this level, i see no reason why one would not enjoy reading them.

Briny Rivers

Briny Rivers #4 · Sep 30th, 2022 · 4 · ·

so good! definitely looking forward to seeing more from you

Flutterflyer

Flutterflyer #5 · Oct 1st, 2022 · · ·

11379862
Thanks so much!

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #6 · Oct 10th, 2022 · 1 · ·

Near the end of what she had decided was her last year, they invited her to the Summer Sun celebration. It was held in a quiet village, one full of cheer and peace and joy. Her eyes sparkled with each word she was told.
She was always rather impulsive. But she was certain it was a place that finally sounded like a home.

aww, this is beautiful! it’s great that it was Lyra’s impulsivity and tendency towards romance that drew her to move to Ponyville from her life in Canterlot

She doesn’t remember the name of her village. She remembers colour, pride, love, sweets and the feeling of fate’s touch on her skin as the mark appeared.
She remembers fate being ripped away. She remembers screams, claws, and beasts that climbed from Tartarus itself.

oof, even more beautiful. really love this as a tragic origin story for Bon Bon.

But as she entered that quiet village, looking up at happy ponies, colourful skies and sheer peace, she saw just what she had spent so long fighting for. So maybe. Maybe living here wouldn’t be so bad after all.
As she took her first steps, she realised it already felt good to be Bon Bon.

and that delicious LyraBon contrast! Lyra drifted into Ponyville as a dreamer, while for Bon Bon Ponyville is a living dream and a respite, getting to live the peaceful life that she fought for other ponies to be able to live. great stuff

After a life of adventure, excitement, and exhaustion, she wanted nothing more than to settle into the background, a fitting fate after all she went through.

aww, she loves being a background pony!

“Oof!” She cried, nursing her head with her hoof, struck by shame that all her years of training hadn’t been enough to stop her from bumping into one pony. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going…”

aww, classic meet-cute moment!

”Oh, do you know her?” Asked Bon Bon in interest, an old habit from her agency days rearing its head.

ah, love the former intelligence agent’s need to always analyze whoever they come across

Twilight's appointment had happened not long before that fateful breakout that put an end to her second life, and from what she gathered, the pony didn’t keep much company aside from her family, something she had taken as strange.

there is an irony in that judgment there since Bon Bon herself doesn’t keep much company. and oof, she doesn’t even have a family to fall back on. now i’m sad again :(

“More like a friend of a friend. I’m in the same class as her and while we hang out with her and Moondancer a bunch, both of them are in their own little world most of the time. Minuette calls it Egghead Land.”

ah yeah, Twilight’s Canterlot friend situation was more like a group of friends that kept trying to include Twilight and Moondancer in their friendship rather than actual friends! and i guess Lyra being on the side in her own way would explain why she never showed up in “Amending Fences”

Besides, this place is great! Especially when there’s interesting mares like you around.”

smooth, Lyra! and i get the feeling Bon Bon is going to end up being a lot more interesting than she expects!

“Sorry! I-I just don’t talk to ponies on equal footing that often…

hoofing!

”W-well I... wow, your parents must have had great foresight.” She groaned internally at her response, especially considering it was the best her shocked mind could conjur.
“Oh funny story about that, you see-“

ooh i hope this comes up later

“Nice to meet you Bon Bon! We really should get a move on though! Don’t want to keep the princess waiting! This could be the start of something really special!”
And as they trotted away, Bon Bon’s heart agreed with her.

aww so true

If you could call what followed a first date, it was one of the worst Equestria had ever seen.

i mean i am sure it was a very frightening time, but if all ends well then going through something like that together really does accelerate getting to know each other!

The other remembered going back to Canterlot that morning and beginning to pack.
She had found her home.

and yes that home is with Bon Bon so true

Things really had escalated over the last few minutes, Pinkie dragging her and several other ponies to throw some improv celebration for Twilight in some sort of desperate plan to get a ticket or something. Said ticket then turned out to be one for the Grand Galloping Gala.

ahaha yeah, that is what that would look like from the perspective of the conscripted background ponies!

Now, she loved her town. She really did, but the general intelligence of its inhabitants was not one of its strong suits.

it’s okay Bon Bon, it’s just that everypony in this town is crazy, is all

Not that she had been thinking of Lyra often. That would be weird. She just had a habit of getting into her thoughts every other minute since they met. That wasn’t weird. That was totally normal.

extremely totally normal

“You’re… moving here because you enjoy being invaded?” Bon Bon asked with a raise of her eyebrow, the unicorn giggling at the question.

i mean, Lyra did pick a great place if so

“Doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me! Trust me, enough years of being in Canterlot and you start craving nothing but excitement!” Lyra said, having no idea at the ironic laughter Bon Bon had to fight from slipping out.
“I can’t imagine.” She answered with a knowing smile.

nooooo Bonnie that is bad OPSEC!

“You think so? How about we get some pie then, bestie?”

yay besties

And in return, she helped her do the same, even if she didn’t realise it. She was the ice breaker, the excitable source of energy needed for that loner to open up to others.

aww love that part of their dynamic

Sitting on benches together and talking.

best shipping dynamic

And having your garbage dumped on you by an impatient pegasus did have a habit of making her slightly grumpy.

aww i remember that episode! Bon Bon just wanted to chat with her friend and she did nothing wrong

“The magician! From a few months back? I think I went to school with her. Good to see she’s doing well.”

i do love the little connections these characters have. it’s almost like the prominent secondary characters aren’t random citizens of Equestria at all!

“As long as you don’t hurt your back. I still can’t believe you tried to do the running of the leaves bipedal…”

though we do see ponies doing stuff bipedally more and more as the show progresses. maybe it just caught on?

“I would have if you didn’t stop me!”
“How in Celestia did you survive without me…”

classic LyraBon dynamic

“I knew you only cared for me for my common sense!” She giggled. “And so you have somepony to swear to Celesta for you. Still not sure why you don’t do that.”
“Eh.” She shrugged. ”Kinda hard to see Celestia as a god after she teaches you calculus.”

also do particularly love this contrast in how the characters would see Celestia. it’s an aspect i think about a lot

“Oh it’s really tight lipped at the moment. I don’t think even Twilight knows. But yeah, I knew her a little while I was going to school. She’s really down to Equestria though. I honestly kept forgetting she was supposed to be royalty sometimes. Guess she just liked me and my friends!”

i always do forget that Lyra was one of Cadance’s bridesmaids! maybe Bon Bon has a point about Lyra being the most interesting mare in the world

“Well… I'd love to go with you Lyra! What are best friends for?” She answered happily, smiling at Lyra’s cry of excitement as they leaned into a nuzzle.

aww best friend nuzzle!

When she saw the wedding coming up, she thought of it not as something that would need protection, or something that could have put the agency on high alert, it was just a happy event for the kingdom and the ponies that lived in it.
That only made what happened next sting all the more.

oof, yeah, i can imagine what those events would have looked like from the eyes of a Bon Bon trying to enjoy her retirement

Lyra could have been replaced by a Changeling. Lyra could have spirited away to the Changeling hives all alone and be lost to her forever while the monster that replaced her remained. Would she have even noticed that? Would she have even realised her best friend was gone forever as the creature in her place fed on Sweetie’s lo-

oh wow, it’s funny how the canon directly supports the reverse of the whole “Changeling Bon Bon” scenario that had a bunch of fics written about it

”Oh...” Said Lyra, her smile soon returning as she attempted to salvage the conversation. “I told you, I didn’t move to be invaded. If I wanted that, I would have just stayed here!”

nice ironic callback

Slowly, she nodded. The memories of too many unlucky visits to the hospital haunting her like spectres. She didn’t expect Lyra’s presence, squeaking as a foreleg wrapped around her in comfort as the unicorn held her close.

augh so cute

Lyra froze after those words left her lip, her eyes widening as she seemed to realise something, quickly putting up a smile. “Anyways! Train! Got a train to catch! Don’t want to miss that train!”

aaaaaa so close!

But later that day, as Bon Bon lay in Lyra’s lap, listening to the beautiful sounds of the strings echo though her heart, she thought of two things.

oh, come on!

After all, she was just worried about her very close female friend that made her happier than anything else ever had.

aaaaaa

It taught her two things.
That she had serious bad luck around weddings.
And she couldn’t run forever.

oh that is a great setup later for the Bon Bon fearing a third disaster wedding at her own, with Lyra!

“Fine! But we’re going to talk about this later!” Shouted Lyra, watching as the other pony backed into a crowd, her breath hitching as she slammed the window shut.

yay continuing a canon scene in a fanfic!

She remembered the fear and worry in her eyes after the royal wedding. The heartfeltness in her words. The subtle twitches of ears and shine in her look whenever she did something she enjoyed. Those little hints she tried to hide. Nopony could fake that.

augh so good i love it

Right now though, she really needed something to help calm her down.
“Huh. Bon Bon did buy those expensive oats a couple of weeks back… wonder what it’s like to reveal something dark and secret that won’t ruin everything…”

ahaha love the idea that Lyra did this deliberately after the fact on purpose, that is just great

But they would remain that way as long as she kept those thoughts to herself. And that is what she planned to do. Unwilling, perhaps, to give up the life and wonder she had for the faint chance of a fulfilled fantasy.

augh, that is painful to read, especially with how understandable i find Bon Bon here. it makes too much sense that she would be so scared to lose this precious thing she had waited her whole life to have, no matter how obvious it is how taking that risk would turn out

Of course, she always got on better with Vinyl. Those two were on frighteningly similar wavelengths, despite how different their styles of music and composing were. Bon Bon, meanwhile, found it far easier to get along with an earth pony that was just as done with the craziness of her best friend as she was, while caring for them more than anypony else.

honestly so true. there are a lot of similarities between the OctaScratch dynamic and the LyraBon dynamic

She doubted Octavia had gone through anything as intense as her, but she could tell when someponies filled a hole in each other’s heart.

awwwwww

”Should have known! You always overthink things without me. One time she was wondering if Starlight's redemption was part of a bigger plot to take over Equestria!”
“Lyra!” The earth pony hissed in embarrassment. “You promised we would never speak of that again!”

oh yeah she definitely would be thinking out such contingencies

”Anyways, honestly Bon Bon, I’m surprised you haven’t made a move already. I think everypony has had more than enough of you both prancing around each other by now.”

Octavia says what we’re all thinking

”I’m not sure I understand.” She concluded after a minute of pondering. “What move do I need to make? Do you mean dancing or something?”

oof!

”Oh my Luna Vinyl, she's asking me what I mean.” Said Octavia. “This is really happening. I have no words. None. Is this what it’s like to be you?”
The unicorn nodded with a growing smirk.

ehehe, also love the OctaScratch interactions in this story

”Bon Bon. I am not asking you if you are. I am telling you. You are in love with her. Your relationship is literally the most cliche, romantic, sappy mess I have ever bore witness to and I’m dating this idiot.”

so true

”I-I... nononononono. You’re looking at it wrong! That’s all! I’d have noticed if two ponies were interested like that!” That was obvious after all, she was trained in all manner of observation. Two ponies liking each other was easy to notice. At least she assumed. Could it really be much harder than finding a maulwurf’s habit in a tropical jungle? No she didn’t think so! So there was no doubt that she-

that is exactly what i was thinking, that Bon Bon is in fact very good at noticing that in other ponies, which makes her obliviousness about herself even better!

“Wait. You’re… dating? You and Vinyl?” She asked in dawning horror.

oh, or maybe she’s not so good at that haha

“Well, have fun with that.” She said with a smirk, Vinyl silently laughing behind her as Bon Bon found that Octivia’s marefriend may have rubbed off on the earth pony more than she’d have liked to admit.

hehe, though i imagine Octavia has always had a good dry wit, and enjoyed a nice smirk now and again

They had just experienced their first major argument. Not about living spaces. Not about jobs. Not about Lyra trying to run for mayor without telling her or anything even remotely important.
No. Their first argument had been about cupcake favours.
This entire thing was getting ridiculous! She was stressing so much about being in love that it was making her overthink almost every single interaction they had. It was only causing the general frustration to rise, the desire for more and fear of rejection making her stomach stir as she took some deep, heavy breaths.

love recontextualizing silly bits of the canon like this to give them more weight! it makes much more sense that there was more going on there besides the cupcake flavor argument on the surface

“Ha! That isn’t going to happen for a while. Are you seriously doubting my skills in anthropology?”
“That is still a word you made up Lyra. No matter how real it sounds.”

hehehe

“I’ll make it a word one day! I can write a song and everything!” She laughed, the earth pony blushing as her worries were spirited away by a beautiful, unplanned melody. Tension seemed to evaporate from that sound, the worry fading until it was replaced by a feeling of pure peace.

love turning fandom references into seamlessly integrated character moments

No, you helped me realise that I was more than my past. More than Sweetie Drops. You showed me that Ponyville wasn’t my end. You showed me it was a new beginning.” She paused, debating her next works as she stared into her best friend’s shocked eyes.

so true yes Lyra is the light of her life

“You know, there actually is something I should have remembered from the organisation.” Bon Bon whispered. “Rule 12. Don’t waste time on what ifs. Just act.”
Their lips met.

love it

Their first attempt was the first of Twilight’s festivals of friendship. That had admittedly started off well, up until the point it was invaded by an army from outside the kingdom that had very quickly thrown them into jail.
It was difficult to make that romantic, to say the least.

yeah, seeing Lyra in those chains was heartbreaking! and augh, yet another moment of crisis in Equestria that Bon Bon couldn’t protect Lyra from

The second was more simple. A dinner at a local restaurant, one that had been going better than the previous attempt until Pinkie had suddenly appeared and decided she would be third wheeling while watching her sister do stand up. At least didn’t go as badly as the first.

oof, no wonder they were so annoyed!

Things had never felt more perfect, their wedding fittingly held in the same town hall where one of them had lowered the last of her walls, and all of it right before Twilight’s coronation. It was a fairy tale ending like, the ones the earth pony had secretly dreamed of since she was a filly, right as Equestria entered its new age.

such poetic timing i love it so much! how did i not make this connection directly before?

Until that era, like all things, came to its end.

augh my heart just dropped

“I know that! But… but isn’t it obvious!? How could anypony believe this when villains doing this is recent history!? This is stupid! This is pointless! This isn’t fair!” Bon Bon ranted, before falling silent as Lyra’s legs wrapped around her.

exactly my feelings about how the ponies were like in that comic!

“Bonnie.” Said Lyra, with a warm, loving smile. “Ponyville was never my home. You’re my home. You’ve always been. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be ok.”

augh so true

They know that while the world is in despair, while it has taken damage, the land and kingdom they love so much will return. It may take years. Decades. Centuries. But they know that one day, heroes will set the wrongs right.
But now is not that time.
Their reward is this.
And this is how it continues.

and a beautiful ending! augh it just makes me tear up.

as frustrating and sad the IDW telling of Equestria’s end is, there is a bittersweet beauty to this interpretation of it. the characters that we know and love getting to live out their lives continuing the old ways in quiet isolation, despite the world around them descending into a dark age of its own making. such lives have been had before in our history, and we may very well see such again in the future. it’s something that i think of often.

and of course it is the love of Lyra and Bon Bon, a love between a unicorn and an earth mare of very different backgrounds, that would survive in the face of such a thing. what a beautiful telling of this wonderful ship, from its very beginning to its end. thank you so much for it!

Flutterflyer

Flutterflyer #7 · Oct 10th, 2022 · 1 · ·

11389607
Ahhhhhh thank you for such a nice comment! It makes me really happy to see so much praise for my fic!

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