//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Days of Their Lives // by alexmagnet //------------------------------// Days of Their Lives Not all too far from Canterlot was a small town, Ponyville it was called, and in this town there was a modest looking house. There was nothing fancy about this house, nor the ponies that lived inside of it, but that was the way they liked it. In this ordinary house lived two ordinary mares. They sat at their dining room table pouring over an old photo album. One of the two, a unicorn with a light green mane striped with white and fur that was a sort of minty green, was using her magic to turn the pages of the photo album. Next to her sat a cream colored earth pony. Her mane's color was split down the middle, one half a dark blue and the other a vibrant pink. As they flipped through the pages, they would take turns laughing and smiling at what were no doubt pictures of the other pony. Pointing at a particular photograph the earth pony said to the unicorn, "Oh Lyra look, you're just a little filly here. This must've been right after you got your cutie mark. You're showing it off so proudly." She smiled at Lyra. The green mare’s cheeks reddened a little. Looking down at the picture Lyra saw a little filly version of herself. An enormous smile was spread across her face as she stared straight into the camera. A golden lyre was emblazoned upon both sides of her flank. "It was because of you, Bon-Bon," said Lyra, tapping a hoof on the photo. "If I hadn't met you I never would've gotten my cutie mark." "Don't be silly,” giggled the other mare, waving a dismissive hoof, “you would've gotten it even if I never existed.” "Maybe. But still,” Lyra said softly, though with a hint of sadness, staring lovingly into Bon-Bon's eyes, “I wouldn't be the same if I hadn't met you." "And I'm so glad you did" she whispered back. Lyra, still looking at Bon-Bon with both love and sadness in her eyes, asked, "You remember it, don't you? The day we met? I rescued you from those bullies." "How could I forget my hero Lyra?" the earth pony chuckled a little at her own joke. Lyra smiled sadly, tears hiding just out of sight. "That was also the day you got your cutie mark, remember?" she asked softy. "I remember like it was yesterday," answered the green mare, her fake smile still hiding her true feelings. “What was it they called you again?” Lyra paused momentarily, “Oh wait, I remember now. It was…” --- "Blank Flank! Blank Flank!" Several young ponies were surrounding another pony and jeering at her. They took turns laughing and pointing at her markedly blank flank. The filly was crying and covering her ears with her hooves, doing her best to shut out the other ponies' mean words. "Look at her,” said a powder blue unicorn colt who had his hoof outstretched, pointing at the cowering filly. “She must be the only one in our class who doesn’t have her cutie mark. What a loser." "Maybe she doesn't have any special talents," replied an amber pegasus filly. The group began laughing again, pointing at her flank and dancing around her. "Hey! Leave her alone!" shouted a voice. From behind the jeering ponies a new pony appeared, this one a mint green unicorn. She trotted over to the crying pony's side and patted her on the back reassuringly. "Hey, you okay?" she asked. The crying filly nodded. Turning back to the group of bullies she said. "What's your problem? Why are you picking on her?" The powder blue unicorn who appeared to be the leader of the group stepped forward and answered her, “She's a blank flank. She doesn't have any special talents. She’s a loser.” "No cutie mark huh? Well ain’t that a coincidence." She turned sideways so that the group could see her cutie mark free flank. "It just so happens that I don’t have my cutie mark either. But, who knows,” a smile spread across the unicorn’s face like wildfire, “maybe when I kick your butts I’ll get my cutie mark for bully beating.” A terrified look came over the unicorn leader, "Wh-whatever, you blank flanks aren't worth our time anyways. Come on guys let's go," said the little colt, motioning for his group to follow him. With the other ponies gone, the two ponies left turned to each other. The scared little filly looked up at her savior, tears trickling down her face. "Thanks... umm..." "Lyra, the name's Lyra,” the green unicorn answered quickly, “and don't mention it. I couldn't just stand by watching some helpless little filly get picked on, now could I?” She looked over the other pony, making sure she wasn't hurt. "You okay?” she asked. “You look pretty upset still. C'mon let's cheer you up,” Lyra lent a hoof to help the earth pony up. As she helped the other pony to her feet she asked “What did you say your name was by the way?” The little cream coated earth pony sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes before responding, “Bon-Bon, my name’s Bon-Bon” “I know a place we can go that'll put a smile on your face Bon-Bon,” the unicorn said, a smile already plastered on her face. Without waiting for any sort of reply Lyra helped her up and waved a hoof to let Bon-Bon know to follow her. The two walked together towards Ponyville's heart, Lyra leading the way. Bon-Bon didn't say much on the way and Lyra remained as cheerful as always, doing her best to cheer up the teary earth pony next to her. As they approached their destination a look of understanding washed over the cream colored filly. "Wait, I know where we are,” she said, a smile beginning to spread across her face, “There's a candy shop right around here, Sugarcube Corner." "Yep, I figured you might like some candy to help cheer you up... always helped me,” said Lyra, shrugging. She continued with, “Plus I know Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They sometimes let me have a bit of candy for free," the mint colored filly said matter-of-factly. Bon-Bon’s smile grew and her eyes lit up with excitement. Her steps became visibly more enthusiastic as they approached Sugarcube Corner. Bon-Bon’s excitement was infectious. It quickly spread to Lyra, growing her already large smile. The two fillies trotted up to the door. Lyra opened the door first, and motioned for Bon-Bon to enter. A charming little bell jingled as the door opened and they walked into the store. Despite having been to this particular establishment many times, it never ceased to amaze Bon-Bon just how many different candies there were. Surrounding them were shelves and aisles loaded with buckets and jars and boxes each filled with a different candy. Near the front of the shop was a rack of lollipops. There were large circle shaped lollipops that spiraled with many different colors and there were long thin ones that looked like they were covered in crystals. In the back of the shop, lined against the wall, was a row of jars each containing a different type of toffee and next to them was the largest assortment of chocolate that could be found in all of Ponyville. Pastries and cakes filled the shelves underneath and behind the register. Nearly overwhelmed with choice the two fillies began browsing the candy selection, taking in all the delicious scents of each candy "Oh, hello there dear," came a voice. Lyra spun around, recognizing the kind voice of Mrs. Cake. Bon-Bon was still browsing when Mrs. Cake noticed her and said, "Oh my and who's this? I've seen you before but, I don’t believe you’ve ever told me your name." "This is my friend, Bon-Bon," said Lyra, speaking up for the shy filly. "She was getting bullied at school by a bunch of jerks so I rescued her." A proud smile filled the tiny unicorn’s face while her friend merely blushed and looked away. “I brought her here,” she continued, “I thought it might cheer her up.” "Oh, you poor dear,” said Mrs. Cake, frowning slightly. A smile quickly replaced that frown as she thought up an idea. “I’ll tell you what,” she began, “I'll let you have any kind of candy you want for free." Mrs. Cake said to Bon-Bon, smiling kindly. Waving a hoof across the entire store she said, "Pick anything." After a small amount of deliberation pink and blue maned filly pointed at a small box of candies determinedly. "Can I have some of those?" she said, her hoof resolutely aimed at a box of bonbons. Smiling, Mrs. Cake scooped a hoof full of the candy into a bag and handed it over to Bon-Bon. The filly smiled widely and said, “Thank you very much Mrs. Cake.” "What about you dear? What would you like?" said the older mare, turning her attention to the minty green filly. "I don't want anything, thank you. I only came here for Bon-Bon." Lyra responded, politely refusing the generous offer. "Nonsense dear, you’ve got to have something," she said. “Oh! I know,” Mrs. Cake continued, “I just baked a fresh batch of cupcakes. Why don’t you take one of them?” she said. "Really, I'm fine,” Lyra again refused. "I insist,” Mrs. Cake said pushing a cupcake into her hooves. “No thanks” “Just take the cupcake” “I’m not hungry” “Really now, I want you to have it” “I appreciate that but I’m fine” “Maybe some other time” “Take it!” “No thank you” “I said take it!” “… okay” Acknowledging defeat Lyra accepted the cupcake and thanked Mrs. Cake for her generosity. "Come back again soon!" called Mrs. Cake as the two fillies left the store. The bell jingled again as they left. They walked around town for awhile, munching on their snacks. Lyra had finished her cupcake, an exceptionally delectable one that she was glad she had taken, relatively quickly. Bon-Bon, however, was still slowly eating her way through her candy and was sharing some with Lyra. "You really like bonbons don't you?" questioned Lyra as she stuffed another bonbon into her mouth. "They're my favorite. My mom always makes them for me. She loves them too. I guess that's why she named me Bon-Bon." She giggled happily, sticking her hoof into the bag and retrieved another delicious treat. She licked her lips then popped the candy into her mouth, chewing somewhat loudly "Looks like I was right,” Lyra chuckled, “candy always makes me happy.” Lyra was glad to see her friend was smiling now, she didn’t know why but she hated seeing Bon-Bon cry. She felt like she would do anything to make sure that smile stayed on this filly’s face. “I'm glad that those jerks didn't get to you too bad. I'd hate to have had to teach 'em a lesson,” she said while taking one hoof and making in a punching motion. “Do they always pick on you like that?" Bon-Bon nodded silently, her smile fading. "Well don't you worry about them. If they ever bother you again you let me know,” she winked, “I'll show 'em a thing or two" she said standing on her back hooves and putting her front hooves in a mock boxing pose. Bon-Bon smiled again, "Thanks, again. I'm so glad that I met you." "It was nothing,” responded Lyra, “just another day in the life of Ponyville's number one hero." She said standing on her back hooves and puffing out her chest. Bon-Bon laughed at Lyra's mock pride. She was glad to see that her friend was enjoying herself. "So what do you like to do? I mean besides eat candy of course,” she asked jokingly. Bon-Bon giggled a little bit, "I like to make candy too. I always help my mom whenever she's making sweets." "Hey! Who knows, maybe that's your special talent! Well, that or eating candy," Lyra chuckled. Bon-Bon blushed a bit, she had eaten what was probably more than any little filly should. "Well what about you, what do you like to do?" questioned Bon-Bon. "I'll show you." Lyra grabbed Bon-Bon by the hoof suddenly and took off running, clearly excited about something. For the second time, Bon-Bon found herself being led through the streets of Ponyville by Lyra. The unicorn filly led her all around the town. Bon-Bon was fairly certain Lyra had no idea where she was going. She led her past the mayor's office, around the library, through the stalls in the middle of the town, basically everywhere. Eventually they came to a stop at shop that Bon-Bon didn’t recognize. The sign hanging above the door read “Major Minor’s Majestic Music Shop” and underneath that in a smaller font it said “get it?” Bon-Bon looked at the storefront, puzzled. “I don’t get it," she said. "I think it’s some kind of reference,” replied Lyra. “I never really questioned it.” "Oh…" Bon-Bon replied, confusion still clouding her face. "Anyways, why are we here?" Lyra nudged Bon-Bon towards the door with her head, "C'mon, I'll show you why we're here." They entered the shop with Lyra leading the way. Bon-Bon's head spun as they walked through the store. She had never seen so many instruments before. There were guitars and cellos and violins, pianos, drums, clarinets, and even xylophones and plenty of instruments she didn’t even recognize. Bon-Bon's mouth opened slightly in awe, she couldn't believe how many different instruments there were. It was like the candy shop all over again, but this time the candy was something else entirely. Each instrument appeared to have been hand carved, most likely by the owner of the shop. "Hey! What're you doing? C'mon!" shouted Lyra. Bon-Bon snapped back into reality looking around for where her friend had gone. At the end of the aisle Lyra was waving a hoof at Bon-Bon, motioning for her to come over. Trotting over to her, Bon-Bon noticed that they had entered the string instrument section. She could see harps, guitars, violins and a number of other string instruments lining the aisle. Lyra held what looked like a small harp in her small mint colored hooves. "What is that?" asked Bon-Bon. "It's called a lyre" Lyra answered, running a hoof over the lyre’s exterior. "I came here with my mom once and she showed it to me." "Can you play it?" Bon-Bon asked, pointing at the lyre. Lyra shook her head, "Not really. I mean, my mom showed me how, but I'm not very good.” Bon-Bon shook her head from side to side, "That doesn't matter,” she said. “Go on, I want to hear you play it." Lyra’s cheeks reddened a little and made half-hearted attempts to refuse Bon-Bon. But, the cream colored filly wouldn’t give up, she insisted, “Please,” she asked with the most adorable smile she could muster. “For me?” Lyra waved a hoof at Bon-Bon, "Alright, alright but don’t expect too much. I told you I’m not very good.” Bon-Bon smiled and clapped her hooves together. Lyra couldn’t help but smile at the sight. She hefted the lyre and began to pluck the strings, slowly at first then a bit faster as she grew more confident. It started off a bit choppy but, it became smoother as Lyra found her stride. She strummed the instrument lightly but with a hard determination, like this was the only thing in the world that mattered right now. Lyra had said she hardly knew how to play but, it seemed to Bon-Bon as if she had a natural talent for playing the instrument. Bon-Bon listened quietly as Lyra played. It wasn’t enough to get the little unicorn onto a symphony orchestra, but to Bon-Bon it was the most beautiful music she had ever heard. After a short time, Lyra stopped and put the lyre back down. "That was amazing," Bon-Bon said quietly, her voice trailing off. Lyra flushed red and looked away. "I'm really not very good,” she said, scratching the back of her head. “I'm still just a beginner. There are ponies out there that are way better than me," Lyra said. She was still trying to hide her quickly reddening face and keep herself from smiling too widely at the other filly’s compliment. "We should have come here first," said Bon-Bon suddenly. Lyra raised an eyebrow, confused. "Why?" "That cheered me up more than any candy ever could." Bon-Bon smiled at her, "I'm glad that you rescued me. You may not be Ponyville’s number one hero, but you are mine," she said, only half-joking. A small blush crept through her cheeks as she looked back at Lyra and asked, "Can you please play some more for me? I would love to hear more and it would really make me happy." Both Lyra and Bon-Bon blushed hard and could scarcely look each other in the eye. Lyra nodded, still blushing and avoiding Bon-Bon’s gaze. "I guess I could. Alright this song is dedicated to you,” she said, “I'll call it...uhhh.” "How about you call it, Bon-Bon's Hero," Bon-Bon said, a small smile on her face. Lyra laughed out loud, “That’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard!” Bon-Bon looked dejectedly at the ground, “I thought it was good,” she said so quietly that Lyra didn’t hear her speak. However Lyra quickly changed her mind once she saw Bon-Bon’s face. “I mean… uhh… That’s the greatest name I’ve ever heard!” she said, smiling at Bon-Bon hoping she hadn’t upset her too much. Bon-Bon looked back up at Lyra, her eyes watering. “Really?” “Definitely, that’s like the best name of all time and totally not cheesy in the least,” Lyra said reassuringly. Bon-Bon smiled, “Good!” Lyra let out a sigh, “this filly”, she thought. She lifted the lyre back up and began playing again with renewed vigor. This time something was different, the music sounded even more beautiful than before to Bon-Bon. It seemed to her like Lyra was being controlled by the lyre, as if it was telling her what to play and moving her hooves for her. Without questioning it Lyra strummed the lyre. The music was pure emotion. It was Lyra's thoughts and feelings translated into music. It was remarkable for a beginner to play so well. Playing for somepony else, for Bon-Bon, brought out the best in her. She played as if she had been doing this for years, with all the skill of a professional. To Bon-Bon it was the most beautiful song she has ever heard, far more beautiful than the one Lyra had played earlier. She couldn't believe how incredible her newfound friend was. She found herself feeling incredibly fortunate to have met this amazing little minty green unicorn. She felt her smile growing as she stood and listened to musical emotion coming from the lyre. As Lyra finished Bon-Bon clapped her hooves together in applause. “That was…,” she said, “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” Lyra blushed again. This filly had a way of making that happen a lot. “I did it for you,” she said. Suddenly there was a quick flash of light and both Bon-Bon and Lyra were left blinking away the brightness. Bon-Bon noticed first and pointed at Lyra's rear, "Look, your cutie mark! You got it!" Stunned Lyra looked in disbelief at her newly acquired cutie mark. "Huh? But... what?" "Congratulations Lyra. I'm so happy for you," said Bon-Bon. Lyra stood, still stunned by her new acquisition. "But how come I got it just now? I mean this isn’t the first time I've played the lyre." "Maybe there was something special about today" Bon-Bon suggested. "Maybe it was because of the song I played,” Lyra wondered aloud. “It felt different when I was playing. I just thought about you and all of a sudden I was just playing, I wasn't even thinking. I don’t know what happened," she said. Bon-Bon looked surprised, “Are you saying that you think you got your cutie mark because of me?" "I dunno. I guess so," Lyra shrugged. "This is so great! I finally got my cutie mark!" she exclaimed, bouncing around excitedly. Bon-Bon's face grew gloomy, "Yeah, great,” she said quietly. Concerned, Lyra went to Bon-Bon’s side and lifted her face up. "What's the matter? Why do you look so sad?" Bon-Bon put on a fake smile, "I'm fine, it’s nothing," she said shaking her head. "That's not true," said Lyra, “Tell me, what’s the matter?” "It's just that now that you have your cutie mark I was kinda thinking that wouldn’t want to be friends anymore. I mean I'm still a blank flank remember?" Bon-Bon's face couldn't hide her sadness. She turned away from Lyra and started to leave. "I guess I better get going,” she began to say quietly, “you probably won’t want to talk to me anymo-" "What!? Are you crazy? You think I don't want to be friends with you because you don't have a cutie mark?" Lyra stared straight into Bon-Bon's eyes, "Of course I want to be friends with you. I got my cutie mark because of you. I want nothing more than to be friends with you. I stood up for you because you didn’t have your cutie mark remember?" Tears welling up in her eyes Bon-Bon let them flow out and swooped in to hug Lyra tightly. "Oh Lyra, you’re the best friend I could ever hope for," she said crying into the other filly’s shoulder. Wiping her tears away Bon-Bon pushed away from Lyra so she could look her in the eye and she said, "Thank you for the song." Lyra looked away to hide the red gathering in her cheeks. "It was nothing, really." Lyra said, still trying to hide her blush. Bon-Bon shook her head vigorously, "No, it was not nothing." She leaned in for another hug, embracing the mint green filly tightly. "Thank you, so much" Bon-Bon whispered into Lyra’s ear. “Thank you Lyra… for everything… thank you.”