Chapter 1

Lyra sighed, as she tied together a bunch of papers, with a thick long cord. Her hooves weren't built for this sort of thing, and they were already red with the sensation of rope burning tightly into her skin. If only she was human - if only she had Bon Bon by her side. Then she wouldn't be in this awful situation.

She focused on the rope, racking her brains to remember just how Bon Bon used to tie ropes in such lovely fashions. She'd always felt that her boss, Caramel, had preferred Bon Bon a worker better than her, but it never mattered to Lyra until now. She was always the lazy over-excited one...all untill...Bon Bon went..missing.

Slip! Lyra watched in horror, as her elbow slipped off the table, and into a small glass of water. The glass toppled over, spilling its fresh contents all over the papers she was working with. A look of fear overcame Lyra's trembling face. If Caramel found out what had happened - he'll fire her for sure!

"Here, Caramel..." she groaned, as she passed on the paper bundle to a handsome colt beside her. Caramel beamed at her with pleasure, obviously not noticing the drenched side of the bundle. "Thank you, Lyra. AppleJack will be so proud," he smiled, as he tidied the various bundles of paper on his desk. His shrill voice rang loud in the air, "Two bits per bundle! Discount - three for the price of two!"

The first customer, was a rather shrewd pony with a pink mane, and a magenta coat. Her cutie mark had three smiling daisies on it, and by the looks of it - she was the sort of kind caring teacher that everypony loved. "Excuse me, sir," she said, pointing a hoof at a bundle of paper. "May I have one of those? Here's the pay."

She gently slid two golden coins on his desk, and Caramel took them as quick as possible. "Thank you, ma'am," he muttered, as Cheerilee slipped away. It was almost a whole ten minutes, when Cheerilee came back and *kindly* demanded a refund.

"Why, what's wrong? I packed the papers well, and without flaw." Lyra said, sweetly, even though there was a glint in her eyes that suggested otherwise. Cheerilee shook her head. "No, it's not that," she replied. She held up a drenched bundle of soaked paper, with others ripping and tearing due to the water. Lyra gasped, and Caramel glared at her. "It's the second time this week!" he cried out. "AppleJack would NEVER accept me now!"

He carefully handled the bundle, and dumped it in the sunshine to dry. Regardless, it was ruined. After Cheerilee's bundle was replaced with a new copy, he turned to Lyra, and lashed out his feelings to her. "Look, I called you here to help," he snapped. "Not to make a fool out of me! What if AppleJack was watching me? What if it was her instead of Cheerilee?"

Lyra raised her hooves up in defense. "I- I'm sorry," she whispered, before shying away in the corner.

Caramel refused to forgive her. He tried his hardest not to stare at her puppy-eyes, or else he'd fall under the spell she had weaved with her emotions. "Look, Lyra," he expained. "Maybe you're not..cut out for this job. Perhaps - you should go..and get another job, you know what I mean?"

Lyra stared at him with big wide golden eyes, before running off, crying. No job?! How - how can she live? She can barely take care of herself - with or without Bon Bon's help.

As the sun rose, warming the chill winter air, Lyra returned to her home, every muscle burnt and stretched - every joint worn out and stiff. She and Bon Bon were the only two who were really able to put up with the other ponies' wants and needs, even though Bon Bon had gone missing a few years back. Between the two of them, it was still going to be tough to finish collecting the tips from the remaining half of the crowd. Her cool breath still hanging in the air, the unicorn turned back towards the large house that she and Bon Bon had shared together a long time ago.

Opening the thin door that separated her room from the rest of the house, Lyra heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at the small plushie tangled up in the sheets of her bed. It was a plushie of Bon Bon, made by Rarity on request of the unicorn mare. Lyra dropped back on her comfy bunk bed (which she has shared with Bon Bon once upon a time), her soft teal mane rumpled and her forelock covering her eyes. It was nice to be home again, after a day of hard work. Better still, you never get a home like Ponyville.

"Night, Bon," she whispered with a drowsy smile, her voice still heavy with sleep. She cuddled the plushie tight, as if the plushie was a replacement of the mare she had known and loved so much. She shut her eyes, as she drifted off to sleep, off to another world full of excitement and smiles, at last.

Lyra didn't have to be awoken to be up at midnight. Shivering in the cool morning air, she stood up on her hooves, and slowly made her way to the kitchen, careful not to wake Bon Bon's cousin, Sweetie Bon, up. Sweetie Bon - that mare had stayed with Lyra in change of the missing Bon Bon, out of complete charity, as soon as she glanced at Lyra's tear-drained golden eyes. Lyra was glad she had somepony like Sweetie Bon to stay with and comfort her, but deep in her heart, she knew that nopony - NOPONY - could replace somepony as kind and supportive as her dear friend Bon Bon.

As Lyra found herself in the kitchen, she noticed Sweetie Belle fetching a cup of water. Sweetie Bon turned to Lyra, and smiled, asking, "Is something wrong, Lyra?" Lyra shook her head, and muttered a quick laconic answer, "It's my job....Fired for spilling water on papers. AGAIN."

Sweetie Bon saw the sadness in his partner's eyes, even felt it in the small distance between them. She looked down, and put on a brave face before she looked back at the other pony. "I understand," she whispered, with a smile that was only slightly forced. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you because of me."

"But Sweetie!" Lyra cried out, her eyes trembling with fear and anxiety - not to mention worry. "You're not leaving me, too, are you?"

Sweetie Bon sighed, and said, "I wasn't gonna tell ya till tommorrow." She went back to her room, packed up a few various objects in a rather spacious luggage, and slowly made her way outside, dragging the luggage behind her.

Drawn to the larger pony, Lyra silently followed Sweetie Bon outside, biting her hoof in worry. "Sweetie, wait!" She cried out quietly, getting the other pony's attention. She reached out a hoof, and placed it on Sweetie Bon's shoulder. Sweetie looked at her, turning back. "I'm sorry, Lyra. Candy Bon's sick - and she needs me there for her."

Lyra sweat nervously, as she continued grasping the pony's shoulder. "But - but I need you there too!" she argued, pulling Sweetie Bon back to her. Sweetie Bon shook off Lyra's hoof, and shot her a glare. "Lyra - Candy's broken her back. What can be more important than my own sister when she needs me?" she asked. She quickly stepped out of the way, causing Lyra to fall face-flat in a puddle of mud.

Lyra pushed herself up, and stared in horror and shock, as her best friend for the past years since Bon Bon went missing left for a cab. Her first reaction was to scream out and panic, but something inside her somehow kept her together, and all she did was return to her home, with bitter tears stinging eyes.

First Bon Bon...and then Sweetie Bon? However shall Lyra survive now? She didn't even get a job!

Trying to flush those thoughts of worry out of her head, Lyra grabbed her headphones, turned up the volume, and drifted off to sleep with some cool, soothing music killing her pain and sorrow.

It was five in the morning when Lyra woke up. She grabbed a cube of hay from the table-top, and settled down to the table, scanning through a thin worn out newspaper she had picked up off the road last afternoon. Usually one cube was not enough for a regular pony - but Lyra had no time to think about small things like that, as she flipped the pages of the dirty paper, hoping there was any free slots for work in Ponyville.

A-ha! She skimmed through the paragraphs, until she lay eyes on a headline named "New Company: Looking For Employers." Her irises and pupils shrunk to crazy tiny dots, and her eyes grew wide and interested. She bounced up and down, with the excitement she experienced for a long time - since Bon Bon went...you guessed it - missing.

She rang up the company, and soon, hours went by, and Lyra had finally been able to secure herself a new job. Hopefully, she would live up to expectations - and not screw up.

There was a knock on the door, and Lyra opened it wide, crying out to whoever opened it, "I found a new job!"

The visitor happened to be a beautiful unicorn named Rarity. The generous pony she was, she squealed, "Oh my stars! Darling, you've done it at last!" She started bouncing up and down, like Lyra, even if she was far more graceful than the latter. When she got over the joy, she dug a hoof into her stylish back-pack, and brought out a hoof-stitched scarf, a hat, three s'mores and two apples she had gotten from AppleJack's. "Oh, that reminds me, Lyra darling, here is your daily wages! Oh, thank you for helping me in my boutique, Lyra."

Lyra grinned, flashing her shiny white teeth. "Thanks, Rarity! You're a great buddy! I can't WAIT to get my fingers on those babies," she cried out, as she took the stuff and placed them on the table behind her. Rarity gave her a weird look, "Fingers, darling?"

Lyra chuckled lightly - yet nervously, and she corrected, "I mean - hooves. And no problem, Rarity. I've found a new job - I've rung up them - and I'm all set to go! I..." Here came a brief pause, as Lyra hung her head low. "...I just hope I won't mess everything up like I always do."

"Oh, Lyra, darling," Rarity consoled. "You're not Derpy Hooves - why, I'm sure you'll be the best worker they ever had! But please, it's freezing out. Here, darling, try on this new scarf. I made it myself this morning. A fine specimen - if I do say so myself." After a small giggle, the unicorn tied the scarf onto Lyra's neck - not too loose and not too tight. Lyra felt the warmth of friendship enter her heart, even as the chill in the wind that was rapidly blowing into the cob-webby house through a curtained window sent shivers down her spine and up. Her eyes brightened up, and soon - she was the same Lyra her friends knew and loved. "Don't worry, darling," Rarity spoke again. "My friends and I shall help you the most we can."

Lyra smiled, and bit hungrily into an apple. "Thanks," she muttered, as she trampled on her newspaper, and kicked it away. "One thing is -- I don't even know what I do in the job."

"What - you don't?!" Rarity asked, quite suddenly. "But darling, what if they make you clean the filly's room? Oh my stars! You should be ashamed of yourself, Lyra!"

Lyra shook her mane, to stop it from hanging over her eyes. "I think it's a "shipping" company. Geez, I don't know, Rarity. It doesn't matter, does it?"

"Oh, but it does!" Rarity argued. "Darling, you could be a model - or you could be sweeping the streets or - or doing any other type of dirty hideious work that ruffians like Rainbow Dash do! Please, darling, don't over-run youself, okay?"

Lyra shrugged. "Work starts tommorrow," she said, smiling. "I'm pretty sure I've to help load cargo and stuff. You'll still remember me even when I'm the lowlife sea-pony, will you?"

"Of course, darling," Rarity replied, as she walked alongside Lyra to the new company. Who knows? Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

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