One Moment, Please
Lyra blankly stared at the grey mare who continued to pour over her menu. She wished she had taken that break.
“Yes? Do I know- Lyra? Lyra Heartstrings?”
The unicorn could but gaze in disbelief. A sudden fear washed over her as she questioned how her former marefriend would react to seeing her again.
To her surprise, Octavia stood up and hugged her. “How long has it been, Lyra? Two, three years?”
The mint mare’s brain slowly began to click as she processed the wall behind the booth that she was staring at. “Yeah.”
The classical musician released her giving her a disheartening look at the slow response. “It’s so great to see you again. And you’re doing well for yourself I see. We should catch up and swap musical adventures.”
Lyra couldn’t help but detect a hint of snarky sarcasm in the mare’s voice. “Well, I’m on break soon.” She looked at where she could be spending it. Her boss was not her favorite option. “That actually sounds like a great idea-”
“Hey waiter lady! My colt needs another juicebox!”
The unicorn almost groaned. “I’ll be right back. I’ve got a few more tables to get sorted out. Can I get you anything to drink?” She remembered Octavia’s love of finer beverages.
“Water would be fine, thanks.”
“Coming right up.” She was glad she wouldn’t have to bring out another wine glass. She had learned the hard way that those stains don’t come out.
After dropping off a juicebox, she grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it into a glass, excitedly trying to make her way back to where her high school sweetheart was seated. She was stopped one booth short of Octavia’s.
“Excuse me, waitress?”
“One moment, please.” She considered brushing this new intrusion off, but thought of how the pony had asked nicely. “Yes? How may I help you?”
The water glass shattered as it slipped from Lyra’s magical grasp.
“Oh, um, hi Bon Bon.”
Unknowingly back to back with Octavia sat the earth pony, a smile on her face.
“Did I surprise you? You sure look surprised.”
Lyra quickly found her breath to be ragged. “A- a little bit,” she wheezed.
“I decided that it would be a good idea to come visit you so you’re less lonely on break.”
The unicorn tripped over her words. “That- that’s cool. One moment, please.”
She quickly trotted over to Octavia’s booth, setting a broken glass on her table.
The musician giggled. It was that proper giggle that upscale ponies rarely did in public. “I don’t think there’s any water in there.”
She stared at the shattered glassware. “Right. One moment, please.”
Magically multitasking, she levitated a mop, broom and dustpan, making short work of the mess. Running on false urgency, she quickly grabbed another glass of water, setting it down on the table with a thud.
“I didn’t ask for any water.”
It was the voice of Bon Bon. Lyra looked up to gaze upon her marefried, quickly turning once more. “One moment, please.”
She found herself to be stopped by Bon Bon’s hoof. “Oh no you don’t. You need this break more than I thought. Those other tables can wait. Your sanity is much more important.” The earth pony directed her to sit in a seat, taking a sip of the water that had been set out for her.
“But... Oct-” She quickly caught herself. “Other tables.”
“No. No other tables. Sit down and relax.”
Lyra let her rear fall into the seat for a moment, contemplating. She looked at the smiling yet concerned face of her marefriend. She took a slow breath, almost pretending to relax. “One moment, please.”
She darted up from the seat once more, heading for the bathroom. “This is bad,” she muttered to herself as she entered it, this time positive that it was the mare’s. “Real bad.” The unicorn splashed some water on her face. “On the one hoof, Bon Bon is here. On the other, Octavia’s water.” She thought for a moment. “Octavia’s water!”
Seeing the dire emergency, she rushed out of the bathroom, quick to fill a glass. She barely stopped herself from running past Bon Bon’s table once more. In a split second decision, she snuck around the other end of the restaurant to where a gray earth pony was seated.
“Your water, Octavia,” she said proudly as she sat in the booth. She watched as the mare examined the glass-bound fluid.
“This isn’t water,” Octavia said. “It looks like,” she took a quick sip, “diet Sparkle Cola.”
Lyra looked at her, taking another deep breath. “One moment, please.”
“Actually, it’s fine. I was just about to head to the little filly’s room to freshen up a bit. Rest assured, I’ll be right back.”
The unicorn watched as she left, breathing a sigh of relief. She stood up and trotted one booth over to where Bon Bon was seated, to find that her marefriend was nowhere to be found. Panic shot the her, worrying if she scared her marefriend off. She spun around, frantically searching for where the pony could be, even going as as far as scanning the underside of the table.
“There you are, Lyra.”
“Bon Bon! Where’d you run off to?” she almost shouted nervously.
“Just the restroom.”
“Oh no,” the mare muttered to herself.
“It’s funny, really,” Bon Bon asserted as she strode over to seat herself. “I met a mare that looks surprisingly like your Octavia.”
Lyra looked side to side, trying to find some sort of escape. “Yeah, heh. It’s always interesting how mares can look alike.”
She was pulled into a seat by the candy maker, the pony glaring at her.
“Well, I had a nice chat with this mare. She told me a lot about you, Lyra.”
“I think I hear my boss calling,” the unicorn stammered quickly.
“She can wait.” Bon Bon’s stare bore down on her. She could almost feel herself sweating.
“She told me...” the earth pony moved closer, her stern look continuing to intensify. Lyra’s eyes shot open in surprise when Bon Bon’s lips came to hers. “She told me that you are a very nice mare, and that I’m lucky to have you.”
She felt like her breath had been taken away by a vacuum cleaner.
“Wait, what?”
“She told me that she’s glad that you found somepony that works for both of you.”
Lyra sat dumbstruck. There was no way that Bon Bon was telling the truth. Octavia had to have told her every last embarrassing little detail about their old relationship, and her current marefriend had to have done the same. It was the only logical turn of events.
“Lyra, are you alright?”
“Huh?” The mare shook her head, snapping out of her trance. “Oh, fine, fine. Is it really warm in here? It feels really warm.”
Regardless of the mare staring at her, Lyra released a sigh of relief. The worst of her conversation was over.
“It was very interesting meeting you here, Bon Bon.”
Or not.
“Likewise, Miss Octavia.”
The unicorn slowly turned to see that the earth pony had crept up on them.
“I’d love to chat more, but I really need to head out. A musician needs her practice. Treat that crazy unicorn well, Miss Bon Bon.”
Lyra emptily opened her mouth, about to beg for a moment to chat with Octavia, but quickly decided that was not in her best interests. She watched as the grey mare began to walk away, only to see her spin around and move close to Bon Bon.
“And don’t forget about Lyra’s little secret that I told you about,” the mare whispered to her earth pony, causing her to giggle.
She was positive that she wasn’t supposed to hear that.
Little secret? What could that mean? Lyra’s mind quickly ran through every little thing she had done in the past that Octavia had caught wind of.
Let’s see, she thought. There was the string-tension-projectile incident, although that’s not really a secret. There was that time that I switched the playlist to Metallicolt and Dream Pasture while the Princesses were visiting. Again, not a secret. What could it be?
Her eyes widened while her face flushed. Oh no... She didn’t tell her about that with truth or dare when I admitted that did she? The mare found herself sinking into her seat. There were some things that not even Bon Bon should know.
“I’ll see you this Saturday!” the gray mare called as she slowly trotted out of the restaurant.
Once again, the unicorn’s ears perked up. “Saturday? What happens Saturday?”
“Octavia is going to bring a friend or two over to help keep the sweet shop open. You’re not working then, are you?”
“No...” Lyra was worried that if she sunk into the seat any more, she would become attached to it.
Great. Not only did the love of her life meet her past marefriend, but they had become best friends in the five minutes they had known each other
“Good,” Bon Bon replied, only to stare at the mare inquiringly. “Lyra, are you feeling alright? You’re looking a little pale.”
“What? No, I’m doing fine. Just I...” She quickly scanned the room for some sort of excuse to escape the questioning look of her marefriend. “I forgot Octavia’s water!”
She made an attempted at running out the door of the restaurant to find herself running in place, her tail caught in Bon Bon’s muzzle.
“I honestly don’t know what has gotten into you, Lyra. It’s almost like you are keeping a nice little secret.” She watched the earth pony smirk. She had to be toying with her.
The unicorn’s eyes jumped around the room, landing on everything except for Bon Bon. She was about to make up another fake excuse, when a real one came.
"Heartstrungs! Get in here!"
The one thing she didn't want to do: have a chat with her boss that didn't even know her name.
“Bon Bon, I’m going to have to head in there. Y’know, so I don’t get fired.”
The cream colored mare smiled. “Of course. I’ll see you later tonight; make sure you hurry home.” The pony quickly kissed her on the cheek, trotting out into the street. Lyra questioned what she was so excited about.
“Lee-ra! Hurry it up!”
There was no point in not quitting if she didn’t at least try to not get fired. Hurriedly, she trotted into the office of her boss.
“Yes, Miss Swirl?”
“Have a seat, I wanted to update you on your hours.”
Lyra quickly complied, plopping into a wooden chair.
“Now, I know you’ve only been working here a couple of days and are still learning the ropes, but you really need to step it up. Better service means better tips, which means I don’t have to feel bad for giving you minimum wage.”
Because her boss must just feel devastated.
“That being said, I’m going to have to ask you to come in on Saturday. Spring Skies is having a baby or something stupid like that, and won’t be able to make it. I thought she was just fat.”
Lyra thought she hated this mare before, but apparently hadn’t learned what hate meant.
“Are we understood?”
At this point, the unicorn considered that it may be worth it to get fired. Her thoughts quickly floated to those of the mare she had back home, and how she couldn’t disappoint the one pony who trusted her. “Yes ma’am.”
“Good, now get out of my sight.”
The mint green pony quickly trotted out of her chair, wanting to leave the presence of her boss as fast as she possibly could. She found her body running on autopilot as she resumed waiting tables. Her thoughts drifted to her dilemma; on the one hoof, she has a job that brings her money, however little it is. On the other hoof, she has a mare that brings her multiple forms of love, and it seemed like either way, she was going to disappoint her.
This will be a fun conversation when she gets back home.
*** *** ***
“That monster! She can’t just expect you to drop everything and come in this weekend!”
“Apparently she had expected an eleven-month pregnant mare to do it instead.”
Lyra had danced around the subject as long as she could, but there was no way that she could just not tell Bon Bon. Her marefriend’s reaction was worse than she had expected; she had hoped for her to just push it aside, but nothing was going right for the unicorn this day.
“I have half a mind to march on over than and punch her lights out for this!”
Lyra had to kiss her for that. “I’m sure we could get an angry mob going with the way she treats both her employees and her customers.”
Bon Bon’s gaze softened. “I still wonder why you took that job.”
“For you, of course. That, and to infiltrate the establishment and find out what all these waiters are up to.” Lyra was glad to see the mare laugh, the tension being released.
The unicorn hopped onto the couch and reclined back, quickly followed by Bon Bon. She let out an exhausted sigh. This day had been better than her first, and the customers seemed to get a bit better about tipping, but she was absolutely worn out. She much worry and stress had been put on her mind ever since Octavia showed up. The things that she told her marefriend still lingered in her mind.
“Hey, Bon Bon,” she started, receiving a ‘hmm?’ in return. “What else did you and Octavia talk about in those few minutes?”
“Oh, this and that. She confirmed that you never saved her from a dragon.”
“Alright, so I stretched the truth a bit with that one, but really. What did she tell you?”
Bon Bon laughed. “Just some of her hopes and dreams. Innermost desires and things like that.”
The unicorn sat up. “Really, what did she say?”
“Nothing important.”
Letting out a heavy exhale, Lyra moved closer to her. “Look, if she told you about that time during freshman year at college that replaced all the textbooks with Playpony magazines, the professors totally deserved that.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like tha- wait. That was you? I failed my biology final because of that!”
“Whoops.” She wished she hadn’t let that one slip.
“Where did you even get all thos- nevermind. I don’t want to know.”
“Well you see, there was a store down by the-”
“I don’t want to know!” the earth pony interrupted.
“Alright, alright. Well if that’s not my secret, then what is?”
Bon Bon shook her head, putting on her best pout. “I’m not telling you.”
The unicorn searched her brain, finding it far too exhausting to run through everything she had done in the past. She eventually landed on the notion that if she couldn’t get the information out of Bon Bon, she could at least make her squirm.
“Say, since I told you one of my secrets, how about you tell me one of yours?”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
“Come on! It’s only fair.”
The mare sighed. “Fine, but only because you ask ever so nicely.” She inhaled before she began her story. “You remember back during freshmen year when they didn’t have enough carrot cake for everypony that one week?”
“Yes?” Lyra replied, her word dripping with anticipation.
“And you remember how they said you can only have one slice?”
“Yes, and?”
“Even though they said that, I took two.”
Lyra drew back in mock shock. “Oh my Celestia, that is groundbreaking and devastating. I can’t even stand to look at you. You: the great carrot cake thief.” She dropped her act and frowned. “Really, do you have a secret that isn’t lame? Turning on the sprinklers? Throwing a smoke bomb? Clogging all the toilets? Because I’ve seen what you can do and-”
“Lyra!”
“Sorry.” The unicorn figured out that it was best not to take it down that road. “But really, do you have any really big secrets? Go back to your rebellious days. Y’know, back when you’d stay out until 9:01 or use the oven when your parents weren’t home.”
Bon Bon couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, there is one thing.”
The mint pony found herself scooting closer. “Well don’t just leave me in suspense. Spill the beans!”
“Well, it was some years ago. I was going about my college life like a normal pony, but then I decided to do something crazy.”
“And that was?”
“I decided to run off with this wacky mare, and we went on all sorts of adventures. There was dinner, dancing, and all sorts of fun. We went to clubs and shows. We had a really good time together.”
Lyra was visibly surprised. “Really? I never expected you to live a bit on the wild side. Must have taken quite the mare to do that. Who was she?”
“It was you, Lyra Heartstrings.”
The unicorn’s face contorted as she realized that she had her own love story recited back to her, but she found herself laughing it off. “Kind of funny. I remember sitting in the back of a nightclub with a reserved earth pony who didn’t want to interact with the crowd. Took a while to get her to dance, but with my unicorn charm, anything is possible.”
She felt Bon Bon’s lips come to hers. “Well I’m glad you remember and still cherish that.”
“Yeah, Octavia was a nice mare.” Her comment was met with a swift jab to her shoulder. “Yeah, I deserved that.”
Despite the abrasiveness of the pony, Bon Bon laughed. “You’re really something, you know that?”
“Apparently there’s a lot of things that I don’t know, but that’s not one of them.”
She watched as Bon Bon yawned and hopped off the couch. The mare made her way to the stairs.
“Well, I’m going to head to bed. Hopefully I won’t be alone for long, because I hear that somepony has a little secret, and I want to find out about it.”
“Oh,” Lyra said, surprised, her face losing all of it’s color. “So it’s one of those secrets.”
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Yay! New Update
This chapter was awesome!
I loves me some lyrabon for some reason.
Dang Lyra, what didn't you do in college?!?!
LOL!!! Great chapter!!!
Okay, that made me LOL and scare my cat
Also -and I know this because I did some research- horses are pregnant for about eleven months, not nine.
"Metallicolt and Dream Pasture"
I'm already loving this!
I apologize for not understanding so many parts of this story, but what is that kind of secret?
1950525
I would read on and find out.
I thought that reading a story with just Backround ponies would get me bored... I was wrong!
Lyra what in the hay did you do back then. I bet Bon Bon is loving every moment of this. I kind of like the generic evil boss, she add enough trouble and pain to the all ready painful job. Now back to reading more of this awesome story.