//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: A Heart Full of Bubblegum // by Teyeson Bee //------------------------------// To say that Tyler was excited to go back to the orphanage the following day would’ve been a serious understatement. I hadn’t seen him that excited since the day he first told me that Clarissa was pregnant. He was practically skipping down the streets of Canterlot on our way to the orphanage. A little silly? Maybe, but I wasn’t complaining. This was exactly what I wanted to happen. Of course, Tyler wasn’t the only one who was ecstatic to see him return though. As soon as Bubblegum caught sight of him, her face lit up like a firefly. She instantly sprinted over and gave Tyler a big hug, which he gleefully returned. As expected, the two spent the entire day together. Throughout the weeks, Tyler opened up more and more, to the point where his attitude at the beginning of the trip seemed nonexistent. He even started spending time with the other kids as well, who in turn all grew fond of him, just like the human kids of our old days at Daycare. Tyler grew to care for all the kids at the orphanage and loved seeing them, but Bubblegum? She was a special case. The two became practically inseparable. They played together, ate together, laughed together, every moment between them was so precious, it would’ve made Norman Rockwell’s paintings seem pale in comparison. You’d have never seen a stronger bond between a human and a pony. To list all of the cute moments the two shared during our stay would take an hour at least, but I can definitely pick out some of the highlights. One afternoon, during playground time, some of the pegasi kids got together for a game of Wonderbolts. When Bubblegum asked if she could play, they said that she couldn’t because she wasn’t a pegasus. It also didn’t help that Silver Star was among the kids and she just happened to make another mean remark about Bubblegum’s mane. The other kids laughed, and, as expected, Bubblegum burst into tears and ran away. While Miss Care went over to the kids to berate them for teasing, Tyler went over to comfort Bubblegum. I watched as she buried her face in his chest and he stroked her mane as she sobbed. “There, there, Bubblegum,” Tyler said soothingly as he patted her head gently. “It’s alright.” “T-t-they said I c-couldn’t play cause I wasn’t a p-pegasus,” Bubblegum hiccuped through her tears. “A-and then Silver Star c-c-called me Bubblegum Mush again!” “I know,” Tyler replied. “That was wrong of them. You shouldn’t let that get to you though.” Bubblegum cried a bit more into Tyler’s shirt before adding, “I wish I wasn’t a boring, old earth pony.” Tyler instantly broke the embrace to look at Bubblegum’s tear-filled eyes. “Hey now. You shouldn’t say stuff like that. You are special just the way you are, Bubble! Just because you don’t have wings or magic, it doesn’t mean you’re boring. I happened to have learned that earth ponies have more strength and hoof speed than the other pony races. That’s something to be proud of.” Bubblegum sniffed and looked down at her hooves, still looking doubtful. Tyler placed his hand under her chin and lifter her gaze to his. He then wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled softly. “And don’t you mind what they say about your mane. Nobod- I mean, nopony is made the same, Bubble. Every pony has something different about them, but that’s what makes them so special. That includes you, kiddo!” He gently poked Bubblegum over the heart. “Your mane shows that you’re special!” Bubblegum’s mouth slowly curled into a smile at these words. “Y-you mean it?” “Of course I do,” Tyler responded. “Something I used to say to the kids I looked after back home was, ‘If nobody was different, the world would be pretty boring,’ You are unique, Bubblegum. Never let anypony tell you otherwise.” Bubblegum sniffed deeply and wiped the few remaining tears from her eyes, smiling even more broadly, and hugged Tyler tightly, who returned the hug and stroked her mane lovingly. I looked over at Miss Care, who had just sat the kids who teased Bubblegum on the bench by the door as a timeout, and she was smiling widely. She looked over at me, and I gave her a thumbs up. I then looked back at Tyler and Bubblegum as they broke their hug. Bubblegum’s smile had dropped a bit. “It still would be nice to know what it’s like to fly,” she said. Tyler nodded understandingly. Then, Tyler’s face suddenly shot up. His eyes went wide, and an open-mouthed grin curled across his face. As someone who had known Tyler as long as I had, it was too clear that he had just come up with a great idea. “I think that I can help with that!” Tyler said to Bubblegum. The filly tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?” she asked curiously. “You trust me, right?” “Uh-huh.” Then, without another word of warning, Tyler scooped Bubblegum into his arms. Bubblegum squeaked in surprise, but didn’t squirm. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miss Care gasp slightly. Even I raised an eyebrow, curious at Tyler’s motives. He then stretched his arms upward so that Bubblegum was just a little bit above his head and positioned her so that she was flat on her belly with Tyler holding onto her sides. One by one, the other kids turned to see what was going on. I saw Bubblegum blush a bit as all eyes turned towards her. Tyler, however, was still smiling widely. “Stretch out your legs in front of you!” Tyler commanded. Bubblegum hesitated a bit, but then obeyed. She reached out her front hooves as if grasping for something, or like she was trying to fl- Lights flickering on in my head as realization hit me, I smiled as well. This technique never failed to cheer a child up. Then, just as I thought, Tyler moved forward swiftly, holding Bubblegum over his head and making plane noises. Almost instantly, Bubblegum’s mouth stretched into a wide grin and she stretched her legs out further. Everypony watched as Tyler flew the filly around the playground, making her laugh with every turn. They weaved in and out of the swingset, circled around the jungle gym, and zoomed passed the slide, happily laughing all the way. Some onlooking kids’ mouths dropped in awe, and some started to giggle themselves. Nopony was happier, though, than Bubblegum. “I can fly!” she cheered as she started to flap her front legs up and down like a bird. “I can fly!” “You can fly!” Tyler cheered back. As soon as Bubblegum had come in for a landing, fillies and colts quickly ran up to her. She was finally getting some good attention, and there wasn’t a trace of shyness on her face. Tyler was getting attention too. Fillies and colts were begging for their own plane rides, even pegasus kids. Tyler was too nice to say no, so he must’ve given ten or more laps around the playground. Unfortunately for him, carrying the kids constantly around the playground finally started to take its toll on Tyler. He was in decent shape, but repeatedly lifting kids and zooming them around a decent-sized playground would take the wind out of anyone after a while. After his 12th lap, Tyler finally said no and plopped down on the bench, huffing and puffing, while Bubblegum chatted on with him. And of course, being the good friend that I am, I made sure to tease him about his aching back later on that night. Not long after that, during learning time, Bubblegum was having some trouble with her math. Tyler started to help her out by teaching her how humans first learned to count; with their hands. “Alrighty, Bubble,” Tyler said, holding up his hands for Bubblegum to see and balling them into fists. “For every finger I put up, it represents a number. So,” he then uncurled his index finger, “one,” then his middle finger, “two,” then the ring finger, “three,” then his pinkie, “four-” Bubblegum, who was listening intently, suddenly gasped with realization and reached forward to uncurl Tyler’s thumb herself. “Five!” she proclaimed. “Very good!” Tyler said smiling. “Now, if a human has five fingers on one hand, and a human has two hands,” he uncurled all the fingers on his other hand and wiggled them, “how many fingers does a human have in all?” Bubblegum paused and scrunched up her face in concentration as she glanced back and forth between Tyler’s hands. After a few seconds, the lightbulb finally clicked, and she gasped again. “Ooh! Ooh!” she said excitedly. “Ten!” Tyler’s smile widened. “Excellent job, Bubble!” He raised his hand to her, and she happily slapped her hoof against it. “Now, what you just did there was five plus five in terms of discussing addition. So,” he directed her to the worksheet in front of her on the table, “five plus five is…” He waited for her to answer, which she did almost instantly. “Ten!” “You got it!” he proudly exclaimed as he ruffled her mane playfully. “Thanks a bunch, Mr. Tyler!” Bubblegum said cheerfully. “Ah it’s no problem, kiddo,” Tyler replied. “Always ready to help.” Bubblegum then looked back at his hand and leaned against the table with interest. “Humans are so lucky to have fingers. Are they used for anything else?” “Tons of stuff,” Tyler said, wiggling his fingers in front of Bubblegum again. “The most important thing though would be to pick stuff up with. Without fingers,” he then balled up his hands again and tried to pick up a pencil, but to no avail, “we couldn’t grab anything. I mean look at this!” Tyler let out some silly grunts as he softly banged on the table with his fist, desperately, yet goofily, trying to pick up the pencil. Bubblegum giggled. “But with fingers,” Tyler put his fist against his mouth and blew into it, making all his fingers pop out, and Bubblegum giggled even harder, “humans can pick stuff up with ease.” He casually picked up the pencil between his index finger and thumb and showed it to Bubblegum like it was a magic trick. “Why don’t you just use magic?” Bubblegum asked, her head cocked slightly. Tyler chuckled. “Well, believe it or not, humans can’t do real magic. At least, not the kind unicorns can do.” Bubblegum gasped. “So, you can’t do magic, and you can’t fly?” “Yep.” “Then…” a joyful smile spread across Bubblegum’s face as she looked at Tyler, “you’re like an earth pony. Like me!” Tyler smiled back. “I guess I am like you! Aren’t I the lucky one?” Bubblegum positively beamed at him. After a second’s pause, Tyler’s eyes lit up and he clapped his hands together. “Oh! I just remembered something else fingers are really good for?” “What?” Bubblegum asked excitedly. Tyler quickly looked around, like he was seeing if anyone could hear him, and then leaned in closer to Bubblegum. When he spoke, it was in an exaggerated whisper. “C’mere. It’s a secret.” Bubblegum looked around as well in the same way and leaned in, still shining with anticipation. “Now, you wanna know?” Tyler whispered. “Yeah!” Bubblegum responded, nodding her head vigorously. “Ok,” Tyler placed a hand next to his mouth and leaned in closer to speak in Bubblegum’s ear. Luckily, I was close enough to still faintly hear what came next. “Fingers are also really good for…” He paused, and Bubblegum looked at him, her expression practically begging for the answer. Then, quite suddenly, Tyler finished, his voice suddenly magnified in silliness, “TICKLING!” In an instant, the corner was alive with Bubblegum’s fits of laughter as Tyler tickled her tummy, laughing maniacally himself. I started to laugh too, and others who were looking smiled and some tried to contain their own giggles. Finally, Miss Care came by and had to tell both to settle down a bit. It was so weird seeing Tyler apologize like a kid caught in school, but it was the same goofy nature he was known for at times back then, so it still warmed my heart. And then, at one point during our stay, there was a festival going on in town called the Summer Sun Celebration, and Miss Care decided to take the kids as a field trip. Every pony had a blast, and, as expected, Tyler and Bubblegum spent the whole time together. Tyler even won Bubblegum a big, stuffed cat in a ring toss game, giving her an “official” Mr. Snuggleworth. He also held her close when they went on the ferris wheel, and, even though Miss Care had told me Bubblegum was afraid of heights, she laughed the whole time. Near the end of the night, Tyler bought her a giant helping of cotton candy, which she happily ate the whole thing. This turned out to backfire, for when everypony had gotten back to the orphanage, Bubblegum had gotten a horrible stomach ache. Feeling responsible, Tyler decided to stay a bit longer to comfort her. I stayed as well to help. “Mr. Tyler, my tummy hurts!” Bubblegum whined as she lay in her bunk with a hoof over her stomach. Tyler was in the process of pouring out some thick, purple syrup into a spoon. “I know, kiddo,” he responded. “I shouldn’t have let you eat all that cotton candy by yourself, but this will help.” He then knelt down so that he was eye-level with Bubblegum and held out the spoonful of medicine towards her. “Open wide, Bubble.” The little filly took one look at the spoon, and instantly retreated back a bit and shook her head with her lips pressed tightly together. Miss Care, who was standing in the doorway, leaned over toward me and whispered, “I forgot to mention how much Bubblegum hates getting medicine. Last time, it took almost an hour to finally get her to take some.” I chuckled softly and looked back at Tyler, who had carefully placed the spoon on the bedside table, not looking defeated, but understanding. Little did Miss Care know that this wasn’t the first child Tyler had to persuade to take medicine. Smiling comfortingly, Tyler leaned closer to the still unyielding filly and said, “Would it help if I took some with you?” Immediately, Bubblegum’s tight jaw slackened and she sat up a little more. She still looked cautious as she glanced down, obviously thinking. After a few seconds though, her looked back up at Tyler and nodded. Tyler looked over his shoulder at Miss Care, who also nodded and left the room. A minute later, she returned with another spoon and gave it to Tyler. After pouring some medicine into it, he picked up Bubblegum’s spoon, and raised it in front of her lips while raising his portion to his own lips. Bubblegum didn’t back away. “Together on three,” he said. “Ok?” Bubblegum nodded again. “One, two, three!” Both Tyler and Bubblegum’s mouths opened and enclosed around their spoonfuls. Instantly, both of their faces scrunched up with disgust. Miss Care and I laughed quietly as they swallowed, which looked like it took a lot of effort. “Yuck!” Bubblegum exclaimed, sticking out her tongue. “I know what you mean,” Tyler replied, shaking his head slightly. “Turns out Equestrian medicine is just as icky as human medicine. But that’s a good thing. My mom always said that the ickier the medicine, the better it’ll work.” He placed both spoons on the bedside table and added, “I guess that means this stuff will work pretty fast!” Bubbled giggled tiredly. She then laid her head back on her pillow and turned to face Tyler, who pulled the covers up over her body. He then grabbed her new Mr. Snuggleworth and placed it under the covers right next to her. “Feeling a little better?” Bubblegum wrapped a hoof around the stuffed cat’s neck, pulling it closer to her, and said, “Uh-huh.” “Good,” Tyler said soothingly. “You get some sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning, kiddo.” He then made ready to stand up, but Bubblegum suddenly held out a hoof for him to stop. “Wait! Can…” she hesitated, then continued, “...can you stay a little longer? At least until I fall asleep?” Tyler looked unsure at first. He was about it say something, but Bubblegum must have sensed his thoughts, because her eyes seemed to grow twice as big and her lower lip stuck out in a pouty way. By this point, Tyler said that he had grown immune to the puppy-dog pout, and maybe that was true for human kids, but it was still clear that he had yet to work up an immunity against an Equestrian pouty stare. He looked back at Miss Care again, who smiled sweetly and nodded. “Ok,” he said as he stood up to sit at the edge of the bunk, closer to Bubblegum. The little filly smiled widely and started shifting herself upwards and closer to the edge so that when she stopped, her head was resting right against Tyler’s hip. Tyler smiled and reached out to stroke Bubblegum’s mane. Bubblegum hummed and nuzzled Tyler affectionately as she pulled Mr. Snuggleworth even closer to her and closed her eyes. After a moment, Tyler started to hum a song as he continued to stroke Bubblegum’s mane. I recognized it instantly as a tune we heard as kids. As if by instinct, I started to sing the words in my head. You’ll be in my heart, Yes you’ll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forever more. You’ll be in my heart, No matter what they say. You’ll be here in my heart always. It wasn’t until Miss Care whispered to me, that I snapped back to the present. “You were right to bring him, Mr. Jack. He’s a natural.” She was looking, almost teary-eyed, at Tyler humming and stroking Bubblegum’s mane as she drifted off to sleep. I looked back and smiled. “One of the best.” I sighed. Yes, it was too clear how close Tyler and Bubblegum became throughout our stay, and just how much one truly affected the other. By the time our last week rolled around, Tyler was a mirror of his previous self. I had succeeded in my mission. Of course, we still had one more night, and then the next afternoon, we would be heading back to Humansport. It was that night, however, where Tyler and Bubblegum’s relationship had hit its peak. I remember it so well. On that day, Tyler and I had agreed to stay past the kids’ bedtime because some of the evening caretakers had called in sick, and Miss Care needed help calming the children down and tucking them in. We were too glad to help of course. Tucking the kids in was a little harder that night, because a storm had sprang up around bedtime. Some of the younger one were a little afraid of thunder. However, as much as they cried about how much they didn’t want to go to bed, when those kids touched their sheets, they dropped like a rock. I was just in the process of tucking in the last few colts (Miss Care was handling the fillies). “Alrighty,” I said as I pulled the covers up to Slugger’s neck and stood up. “Good night, Slugger.” “G-g-g-g-good night, Mr. Jack,” Slugger stammered softly before turning over and closing his eyes. I stood up straight, took one last glance around the room to make sure all the beds were filled, turned out the lights, and closed the door on my way out. I walked down the hall, humming to myself, and stopped at the doorway to the fillies’ room. Miss Care was in the middle of tucking the last one in when I entered. “All the colts have been tucked in, Miss Care,” I said softly. “Wonderful,” she replied as she turned around. “Thank you so much for staying longer, Mr. Jack. I know it’s getting late-” I shook my head and waved my hand unconventionally “Ah it’s no big deal. Always happy to help. And I know Tyler is too.” Miss Care smiled back and turned to look around the room at the bunks, which at this point looked like they had sacks of potatoes in them. Suddenly, she stopped near the end. “Hold on,” she said, pointing towards one of the lower bunks in the corner, which, unlike its brethren, was flat and non occupant. “There’s a bed empty. Who are we missing?” I had just started to look myself, when one of the fillies spoke up from one of the higher bunks. “Miss Care. I think Bubblegum isn’t back yet.” “Oh that’s right,” Miss Care nodded, “Last time I checked, she was in the study with Mr. Tyler.” “I’ll get her,” I said as I turned to leave the room. Once I had reached the doorway to the study, I started in. I had a moment’s glance of what was inside, about to tell Tyler about Bubblegum’s bedtime, when I quickly whipped back around outside the doorway. After pausing for a moment, I slowly leaned to the side and peeked into the room. What I saw nearly stopped my heart. There was Bubblegum, happily sitting on Tyler’s lap, as he read her a story by the fireplace, which was crackling warmly and casting a soft glow into the room. I instantly felt my insides warm up and a smile spread across my face as I gazed upon the pair. The scene was so precious, it belonged on the front of a Hallmark card. It turned out that he was reading The Three Little Pigs, and by the sound of the part he was currently reading, they were almost done. I, in all good conscience, couldn’t bear to interrupt such a picture perfect moment, so I leaned against the wall besides the entrance, out of sight, and waited for Tyler to finish. “And then the Big Bad Wolf said,” Tyler was reading. When he spoke next, his voice was like a growl, “‘Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll BLOW your house in!’” “Did he do it?” Bubblegum asked, a mix of anxiousness and excitement in her voice. “Well, let’s find out,” Tyler replied, and there was the sound of a page turning before he continued. “The Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed, but no matter how hard her blew, the house would not fall down.” “That’s because it was made of bricks!” Bubblegum cheered. “Very good, Bubble!” Tyler responded enthusiastically. “What kind of pony head makes a house out of sticks and straw anyway?” “Y’know, I don’t know.” The two started to laugh, causing me to chuckle along with them. I was momentarily distracted, however, by the sounds of approaching hoofsteps. I looked up to see Miss Care trotting down the hall in our direction. She stopped next to me and opened her mouth, but I answered her question before she could speak a word. “He’s reading her a story,” I whispered. “They’re almost done.” Miss Care nodded understandingly and continued down the hall toward her office door. I was just turning back to the doorway, when a quick, blinding flash shone through the windows, followed closely by a loud crack of thunder. The sound made me flinch in surprise, but not as much as the shriek that quickly followed that. Curious, I peeked back in to the room and saw Bubblegum, shaking like a leaf, with her face pressed into Tyler’s chest as he had his arms wrapped tightly around her. “Hey now. It’s alright, Bubble,” Tyler said soothingly as he patted Bubblegum’s head. “It’s just a little thunder.” “I-I-I don’t l-like thunder,” Bubblegum whimpered back, lifting her face a bit to look at Tyler. “It’s s-s-scary and loud.” At that moment, another flash lit up the study, to which an even louder boom echoed throughout the room. Bubblegum shrieked again and buried her face even deeper into Tyler’s chest. This time though, she had begun to cry. “Hey, hey. It’s ok,” Tyler said, hugging the sobbing filly even closer to him as he began to rock back and forth, stroking her mane in a nurturing way. “Shhhhh, shhhhh. It’s ok. I’m here. I’m here.” He continued to whisper this for a minute while Bubblegum continued to cry into his shirt. By this point, Tyler had gotten used to Bubblegum’s crying fits, and knew what to do. He was in his element. As he rocked her, he started to hum again; the song that he did when she was sick. It proved rather effective, because halfway through the song, Bubblegum’s sobbed gradually died down into hiccups and sniffles. By the time the song was practically over, it had stopped almost completely. Luckily, the last bang of thunder seemed to be the worst of the storm, and all that could be heard for a while was the patter of rain against the roof. Bubblegum, her eyes red, puffy, and streaked with leftover tears, rested her cheek on Tyler’s free hand, and the two just sat there for a bit. It wasn’t until a minute had passed when Tyler spoke up again. “Y’know, when I was a kid,” he said softly as he continued to stroke Bubblegum’s mane, “I was afraid of thunder too.” The filly lifted her head and looked up into Tyler’s eyes. “R-Really?” “Mm-hmm,” he nodded. “How did you become n-not afraid?” “Well,” Tyler reclined a bit, “my mom taught me about how thunder works. Do you know how thunder works?” Bubblegum shook her head. “Whenever lightning flashes through the sky, it heats up the air. As it gets hotter, the air gets bigger and bigger,” Tyler slowly stretched his arms out to the sides to demonstrate,” until it suddenly claps together,” he brought his hands together and clapped, making Bubblegum slightly flinch, “which makes the big boom. Get it?” It was clear from the look of utter confusion on her face and her cocked head that she did not get it. Tyler chuckled. “I didn’t get it at first either,” he then leaned in a bit like he was going to tell Bubblegum a secret. Bubblegum leaned in closer as well. “So my mom also said to just think of thunder as the sky’s burps.” Bubblegum’s attitude changed immediately as she burst into a fit of giggles. “Its burps?” “Yep. That used to make me laugh every time,” Tyler said with a smile. “It worked though. I wasn’t really scared after that.” Bubblegum continued to giggle until a more distant, but still loud, rumble of thunder broke the almost silence. Bubblegum flinched a bit and moved closer to Tyler, but she didn’t start crying. She looked up at Tyler with a weak smile, no doubt trying to be as brave as she could be. “L-Looks like the sky is just burping again,” she said confidently. Tyler’s smile widened. “There you go,” he calmly cheered, “Feel better?” “A little,” Bubblegum nodded. “Thanks, Mr. Tyler.” She then stretched her hooves out, pressed herself against Tyler in a loving hug. Tyler happily returned the gesture. I watched as the two stayed like that, locked in a caring embrace, and just then realized that I hadn’t stopped smiling since Tyler had comforted Bubblegum. As I relaxed my cheeks for a moment, I then remembered about Bubblegum’s bedtime. I was just about to enter the room when- “I-I wish my momma taught me stuff like that.” The statement took me so much by surprise that I stopped dead midstep. Tyler broke the hug and made to sit Bubblegum up just as I whipped around the corner and out of sight again. “What?” I heard Tyler say gently. “I wish my momma taught me stuff like your momma did,” Bubblegum repeated, and she sounded like she was on the verge of tears again. “I never knew my parents.” “Oh yeah,” Tyler said. “Mr. Jack told me about your parents leaving you here. I’m sorry, kiddo.” “It’s ok. I just don’t know why they did it. Sometimes I think,” I heard Bubblegum sniffle deeply, “I-I wonder if I d-did something wrong!” “Oh no, no, no!” Tyler interjected, sounding deeply sympathetic. “Don’t even think like that, Bubblegum.” Taking a chance, I peeked in again and saw that Tyler had raised Bubblegum up to eye level. She had tears forming in her eyes again. “I’m sure you’re parents loved you very much,” Tyler continued. “Then why would they give me up?” Bubblegum whimpered. Tyler leaned the filly forward so that her head rested on his shoulder as he started to stroke her mane again. Bubblegum didn’t object. On the contrary, she brought her hooves up to wrap around his neck as he held her. “Sometimes, parents do things that we don’t understand as kids,” Tyler said comfortingly. “I’m positive that your parents loved you more than anything. They just couldn’t take care of you, and had to leave you in more capable hooves. I’m sure that they wanted to keep you, but they knew that you’d be much better taken care of here. They were only thinking of your well being.” I can only hope that what Tyler said was true. From what Miss Care had told me, Bubblegum’s parents didn’t leave any trace when they left her at the orphanage; no note, no reason, nothing. It was possible that they just didn’t want Bubblegum, but Tyler was not about to let a fragile child think that there was something wrong with them. If there was one thing Tyler strived for, it was making every kid he came in contact with feel like they were special and worth while. “You are being well taken care of here,” Tyler continued, “aren’t you?” “I-I guess,” Bubblegum answered, wiping her eyes on Tyler’s shoulder. “Miss Care has been so good to me, and I have a warm bed and food, but-” she broke off as more silent tears were forming faster than she could wipe them off, “It still hurts.” “I know,” Tyler said as he held her closer. “I know it still hurts.” He then pulled Bubblegum out of the hug to look at her face. “But you know what they say; ‘Every cloud has a silver lining.’” “I thought clouds were white,” Bubblegum said confusedly. Tyler chuckled softly. “It’s a saying,” he said. “It means that for every sad thing to happen, there’s a good thing to happen as well. We just need to keep our heads up and our thoughts optimistic.” Bubblegum cocked her head slightly in more confusion. “Optipistic?” “Optimistic,” Tyler corrected. “It means to find the good in a bad situation.” He then put a hand gently on Bubblegum’s head. “Can you think of something good from being at the orphanage? What’s your silver lining?” Bubblegum closed her eyes and scrunched up her face in concentration. For a minute, she was silent. Then, her eyes opened and a deep blush spread across her cheeks when she spoke. “Well...I c-can think of one thing. If I was never brought here,” her blush deepened even more as she looked at Tyler with a timid smile, “I w-would’ve never met you.” Zing! As if the moment couldn’t have gotten any more precious, she had to say that. Even from a distance, I could practically feel Tyler’s insides warming up as a big smile spread across his face. “I’m glad I met you too, kiddo,” he responded as he ruffled her mane. Bubblegum giggled embarrassingly, but then quickly dropped her smile. “It’s too bad you’re leaving tomorrow.” More tears had started to form in her eyes, but Tyler was ready this time. “Hey now,” he said, taking her head in his hands and wiping her eyes. “No more tears, alright?” Bubblegum sniffled loudly and straightened up, obviously trying to hold back her crying, if anything, for Tyler. “D-Do you have to go?” she asked with a trembling lip. “I’m afraid so,” Tyler responded. Bubblegum began to hang her head, but Tyler quickly raised it back up. “But I’ll come back and visit,” he said, trying to sound positive. “I promise. But even after I leave, I want you to not forget about what I taught you, alright?  You,” he lightly poked Bubblegum over her heart, “are special! Don’t let any pony tell you different. Never you mind what ponies may say about your mane, or personality, or anything! You are perfect the way you are. Remember; if nobody was different-” “-the w-world would be a boring place,” Bubblegum finished with a smile. “That’s right,” Tyler nodded, smiling from ear to ear. “And you know what else? You won’t be lonely forever. I know that one day, you’re gonna have a momma and daddy who’s gonna give you all the love and care that you deserve. I just know it!” This was too much for Bubblegum. With that last statement, her boundaries broke, and tears began to flood down her cheeks as she reached out and hugged Tyler tightly around the neck. Tyler held her lovingly as she silently sobbed into his shoulder. The two stayed like that for another minute. All that could be heard was the rain outside. And then, finally, Bubblegum had calmed down enough to whisper something to Tyler. Something that, even with the pitter patter of the rain and her own sniffling, somehow made itself heard above everything else. “I wish you were my daddy.” It was these words that snapped me back to attention. Realizing how late it was and how long I had been standing still, I finally entered the study. Tyler was still cradling Bubblegum in his arms, and the book they were reading was lying on the ground beside the chair, forgotten. It wasn’t until I audibly cleared my throat that they looked up and over to me. As I looked at Tyler, I couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were shining, maybe just from the light of the fire, or maybe, something else. When he saw me, he smiled. “Hey, Jack,” Tyler greeted. “Hey, you two,” I said back. “Listen, I hate to break up this moment, but I just wanted to say that it’s passed Bubblegum’s bedtime.” Tyler looked over at the grandfather clock in the corner. “Oh snap,” he exclaimed. “I completely lost track of time. I’m sorry.” He looked down at the filly still clutched in his arms. “Alright, Bubble. Time for bed.” “Ok,” Bubblegum yawned as she climbed down from Tyler’s lap and headed for the doorway. She had just about left, when she suddenly paused, and then turned back. “Mr. Tyler?” “Yeah?” “C-Can I…” she mumbled as another red blush spread across her face, “...may I...have a goodnight kiss? Please?” I looked over at Tyler, who just stared for a second, as if a loss for words had taken him over. It almost looked like he wanted to run over and scoop the filly up in his arms again. He then smiled sweetly and said, “Of course you may.” Smiling, Bubblegum trotted back, where Tyler knelt down, took the filly’s head in between his hands again, and lowered it. He then planted a small kiss on her forehead and then let go. Bubblegum, still blushing furiously, but smiling broadly, galloped back to the doorway, where she stopped again and waved at Tyler. “Goodnight,” she said. “See you in the morning,” Tyler responded as she disappeared behind the corner. Tyler and I stood there, practically rooted to the spot. I glanced over at him, and he was still staring at the doorway, a warm smile glued onto his face. I honestly hadn’t seen him smile like that since his wedding day. It was the same smile he had when he saw Clarissa walking down the aisle; a smile of pure, unadulterated love. Tyler’s eyes started to glisten even more, as I finally noticed his own tears starting to form. “Tyler?” You ok?” I asked concernedly. “What? Oh yeah,” Tyler responded as he quickly wiped his eyes. “I’m great.” We continued standing in silence for another minute until he spoke again. This time, his voice cracked. “Thank you, Jack.” “Huh?” I asked, turning to him again. “Thank you for bringing me here,” he repeated with a warm smile as he looked at me. “You were right. This is exactly what I needed.” “No problem,” I replied, a feeling of warmth and satisfaction flooding over me. “We better get back to the hotel.” Tyler nodded, and the two of us walked out of the study, down the hall, said goodnight to Miss Care, and left the orphanage, both spirits high once again. Just like old times. I should have told him though.