Tap tap tap! Tap tap!
A cream-colored hoof anxiously slapped the keys of a mechanical calculator. A tiny print ribbon scratched and rattled, producing strings of numbers reflected off a pair of worried blue eyes.
Eventually, Bon Bon sighed. She leaned back from the counter of her candy shop and rubbed her forehead... ears drooping.
"That bad, huh?" Lyra murmured, sitting at a lone table across the empty front lobby.
"No." Bon Bon gulped, her face forming hard, frustrated lines. "It's worse."
Lyra winced. "Come on, B.B. No reason to fret that much!" She smiled hopefully... nervously. "Everypony's just... out and enjoying the weather! Now that the gutters are clean, all we need to do is set up a few more chairs outside and that'll bring the clients rolling in like a stampede!"
"Lyra..." Bon Bon trotted lethargically around the counter, her hooves making woeful clops against the cold tile floor. "...honey." She slowly shook her head. "This is just the pattern of things over the past month. Ponyville isn't as easy a place to sell sweets like it used to be. Now that the Castle of Friendship has been established here, local tourism has reeled in a bunch of new businesses with way better funds than my establishment ever had. I just... I-I just can't compete!"
"It's... it's not all downhill, is it?" Lyra stifled a whimper. "I-I couldn't stand to see all that you worked for sink to Tartarus!"
"Oh Lyra..." Bon Bon smiled gently. She leaned in to nuzzle the unicorn. "I'm not so foolish that I haven't drummed up a backup plan." A deep breath. "Even if things are as bad as they seem, I've invested enough money in savings to float for a bit as I... seek new avenues."
"But this store means so much to you!"
"Yeah..." Bon Bon stared out the window. "...yeah."
"Maybe..." Lyra's tail flicked. "I-I can go out and do more music gigs! Rake in the bits for the two of us!"
"You mean just like Vinyl and Octavia have tried?" Bon Bon smiled crookedly. "Only to come up dry—over and over again?"
Lyra's muzzle hung open. She deflated in her seat, suddenly close to tears. "Oh B.B.... what are we going to do?"
"It's okay, Lyra. As long as we have each other—"
"But you deserve so much more!" Lyra sniffled. "I-I should have helped you gain so much more! If... if only something magical in this world could fall into our laps as it did for the Princes of Friendship—"
The front door's bell rang.
Both mares turned to look. They both did a double-take.
"What the...?"
"Brad...?"
Flash Sentry stepped in—struggling to catch his breath. His mane and wingfeathers were wind-toss'd, and the handsome stallion standing behind him looked no neater.
"Heya, girls!" Flash wheezed through a dumb smile. "You busy?"
Bon Bon and Lyra exchanged glances.
Bon Bon then squinted at him. "Busy when...? You mean right now?"
Flash grinned. "I mean for the rest of your lives."
"Uhhhhh..."
"Brad? What are you talking about?"
His teeth glinted. "I'm talking about the opportunity of a lifetime." He motioned with his hoof. "Come on."