A Guy, A Lyre, and a Park Bench -Chapter 2-

>You sat on your small bed as you stared at the two cardboard boxes in front of you.

>Those boxes held every single thing you owned in this world.

>Which included your clothes, toiletries, your sketch books, and a tea kettle.

>That's all you owned.

>Nice.

>The walls were barren and the floors were clean, but that's to be expected from a guy getting evicted from his apartment.

>You place your hands on your face and let out a sigh, rubbing your temples as you did so.

>One missed rent bill.

>You only missed ONE payment, and they were throwing you out of your house.

>This was just perfect.

>Really.

>At least they were giving you a week to get your stuff and leave. That was better than you expected.

>You grab your sketch book and flip it open, riffling through the pages as you decide to try to pass the time.

>You stumble across the page that's littered with doodles of that mint green pony you met the other day.

>What was her name?

>Leera?

>Liara?

>No... no it was Lyra.

>As you examine your drawings, you're surprised at how carefully you payed attention to her in order to draw her.

>Despite the lack of color in your sketches, you could still see the gold of her eyes.

"Weekly meetups huh?... alright. That could work."

>You put the sketchbook at the foot of your bed and slip under the thin sheet you called your covers.

>Tomorrow would be a long work day.

>Thankfully, being a busboy wasn't that hard.

>At least you weren't the waiter.

 

The Next Day

 

"What do you mean I'm the waiter?"

>Your boss, a mare by the name of Roseluck, had just informed you that one of the head waiters wouldn't be making it in today.

>So you would be his replacement.

>"Anonymous, I'm sure you can handle it. It's not that bad."

"Yeah, but-"

>"It's easy, just walk up to them, ask them what they want, then go tell the cook."

"Oh... okay, that sounds easy enough."

>"Which reminds me. Harold, our cook? He called in sick."

"......no."

>"Anon, please."

"But I- Seriously? I don't know how to-... fine. Fine, whatever. I'll be the waiter AND the cook. Fine."

>Roseluck smiles.

>"Thanks dear. I'll pay you double, just do your best."

"Yeah, thanks.."

>Well.

>Today just got more interesting.

>The ring of the bell from the front door catches your attention and you spin around to see a pair of colts come in, chatting.

>As they take some seats, you walk up to them and pull out a small notepad.

"Uh... hi? What uh... what can I get you guys? Ponies. Colts. What can I get you, I mean?"

>"Uh yeah, one sunflower sandwich for me and a fruit salad for him."

"On it."

>You dart to the kitchen and begin making a fruit salad.

>Once that's done, you struggle with finding the sunflowers.

>Seriously, where the hell are these things?

>The door bell rings again as more customers arrive.

>Oh god.

>More ringing.

>Sweet jesus no.

>You finally find the sunflowers and slap it in between two bread slices.

>You throw in a tomato.

>Because... why not?

>You walk back into the lobby and see that-

>Ponies.

>Oh god all these hungry hungry ponies.

>You dash over to the two colts from before and drop the plates in front of them, then dart over to the next table.

"What can I get for-"

>"I want a white rose salad, garnished with dandelion petals and tulips. If you could put the tulips on the side, that'd be great. Oh! And maybe some sparkling water? More water, less sparkle? Thanks."

"Could... could you repeat some of that, you were talking a bit fa-"

>The colt from before pipes up.

>"Uhm, why is there a tomato in my sandwich?"

"Variety?"

>"I never asked for this."

"I'm sorry. You can always remove the to-"

>"Can you make me another one? One without a tomato slice?"

"Sure, let me just-"

>The mare interrupts.

>"Sir, when are you going to go make my salad?"

"In a minute let me go and-"

>A new voice chimes in next to you.

>"My daughter would like a glass of berry punch."

"We don't serve berry punch. We have apple juice, if that's alright?"

>"She want's berry punch. You're sure you don't have berry punch?"

"No ma'am, we don't have- Yes I'll get to your salad in a- No sir, no tomatoes this time, let me just- AAAGH."

>You cry out and burst back into the kitchen, your hands pulling onto your hair.

>Oh good GOD.

>This... this would be the end of you...

>It's bad enough you were being evicted soon.

>Now you were a one man restaurant.

>You walk over to a nearby wall and proceed you knock your forehead into it for a good thirty seconds.

>You hoped that maybe it would help you concentrate.

>Instead, it just made your head hurt.

>You rub the spot that you've punished and shake your head, getting a grip on yourself.

>You'd serve these horses.

>You'd give them what they wanted.

>And you'd do it as quick as humanly possible.

 

Four Hours Later

 

"For the last time, NO. We do NOT. HAVE. BERRY. PUNCH."

>"But she wants berry pu-"

"I KNOW WHAT SHE WANTS."

>You take a few deep breaths as you try to reason with the magenta mare.

>She's the only customer left in the restaurant so far.

>You closed up shop a little after noon, so rush hour was all breakfast orders.

>You rub the space inbetween your eyes.

"Ma'am."

>"Yes?"

"We don't have berry punch. All we have when it comes to juice, is apple and orange juice. I can get you one of those, but I cannot get you berry punch. We don't have any."

>"Oh."

"So, with that being said, what can I get you today?"

>"Uuuhhmmm..."

>You weren't even going to acknowledge the fact that she did not, in fact, have a daughter with her. She was here alone.

>"...can I get some berry pu-"

"Get out."

>"What?"

>You lightly shove the mare out of her chair and shuffle her over to the front door.

>"What about my berry pun-"

"Get out."

>You toss out the magenta mare, and close the door behind her.

>She stumbles about and walks off around the corner.

>You walk back to one of the tables, and slump into a chair, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

>Only half an hour now.

>Then you'd be done.

>Then you could go home and get ready to get kicked out of it.

>Fun.

>Then the door bell chimes open.

"For the love of god, WHAT?"

>You glare at the door, and see two ponies.

>One is cream colored with a purple and pink mane, slightly curled in the front.

>The other is...

"Lyra?"

>Indeed, it's the mint green pony from the park you met.

>She smiles and waves at you, while her friend looks at you cautiously.

>"Hey, it's the guy who draws. Nice. Anonymous, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's me. Who's your friend?"

>The two of them walk in and sit down at the table you rest at.

>"This is Bon-Bon. She's my roommate. Say hi, Bon-Bon."

>BON: "Hi."

>You nod.

>LYRA: "So, waiting for your order? You seem kinda beat."

"What? Oh, no I uh... I actually work here."

>Lyra looks surprised.

>LYRA: "You a waiter?"

"Well today I am, yeah. Normally I'm in charge of... uh... dinnerware maintenence."

>BON: "You're a bus boy?"

"Eeeerrrhhhh yeah, yeah I am."

>LYRA: "So you're a starving artist?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

>You and Lyra laugh, and Bon-Bon remains deadpan.

"Did you two want anything? To eat, I mean."

>BON: "We are at a restaurant, aren't we?"

"Right. Sorry."

>LYRA: "Ignore her. She's a bit of a sourpuss. Could I get a smoothy? Strawberry, if you can. Keeping it simple."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. What about you, Bon-Bon, can I get you anything?"

>BON: "Water."

"Anything else?"

>BON: "Make sure it's wet."

>You glance over to Lyra as you stand from the table.

"I bet she's just a hit at parties."

>Lyra rolls her eyes and giggles.

>LYRA: "You'd be surprised. Thanks, by the way."

"No problem. Part of the job."

>You go back to the kitchen and fill up a glass of water and make a quick fruit smoothy. You decide to throw in some banana slices.

>You hoped she wouldn't get angry and ask for another one.

>She seemed pretty cool though.

>You walk back out with the glasses and hand the to the mares, sitting down with them.

"The water wet enough for you?"

>Bon-Bon takes a sip of her cup.

>BON: "Adequate."

"I'm so proud, truly."

>LYRA: "Is this banana I taste?"

"Yeah. Strawberry-banana smoothie."

>LYRA: "I never asked for this."

"Oh...well let me just go make you another-"

>LYRA: "What? No way, this is good! Unexpected surprises are the best as I always say."

"Oh... cool. Glad you like it."

>She smiles as she takes more sips from her straw.

>BON: "So, this job pay well?"

"I'm a bus boy, what do you think?"

>BON: "I think it must pay dick."

"You would be incredibly correct."

>BON: "Thought so."

"In fact, now I'm being evicted from my place."

>LYRA: "Really?"

"Yup."

>LYRA: "How long till they kick you out."

"Bout a week, give or take. I've been looking for vacancies in the area but... well there's not that many at the moment."

>Lyra nods, sipping her smoothy, and the three of you are silent.

>Then she perks her ears up and nudges Bon-Bon a bit.

>She whispers into her ear, and Bon-Bon shakes her head.

>Lyra gives her a stern look and whispers to her more.

>Bon-Bon rolls her eyes and nods, reluctantly.

>LYRA: "Hey."

"Hm?"

>LYRA: "You need a place to crash, right?"

"Right..."

>LYRA: "If you promise to pay a bit of the rent, and make more of these smoothies, then you can stay with Bon-Bon and me."

"Wait... really?"

>LYRA: "Yeah."

"Just like that?"

>LYRA: "Uh-huh."

"Um... wow. Yeah. yeah that'd... that'd be great!"

>LYRA: "Awesome."

>BON: "I'm overjoyed at the moment, honest."

>So... rooming with two ponies.

>One of them is pretty freaking cool.

>The other is... well she's pretty good so far.

>For once, things were finally looking up.

 

~END~