---
Lyra's laughter filled the room, startling Bon Bon. “What's so funny?” she asked.
“I was just thinking about our first kiss,” Lyra said in response, her eyes watering from the laughter. “We were so bad,” she said, “but it's not like we knew any better.” The green pony gazed at the photo strip. It told a story of its own, with each picture it was fleshed out more and more. The two ponies stared into each other's eyes and grew closer until they became one, locked in a passionate embrace and their first kiss. It was funny thinking back on it. They were both so inexperienced, but so in love. The raw emotion they felt made up for their lack of skill and experience.
Lyra looked at Bon-Bon, remembering the feel of her lips on hers, their warmth, their tenderness, the love she felt emanating from her. Now all of that was just a shadow of a memory, nothing was the same anymore. The kisses they shared now didn't have the ardor they did before. Bon-Bon felt somewhat distant now, like she wasn't really there. Lyra knew that Bon-Bon still loved her, and she still loved Bon-Bon, that wasn't the problem. It was just different now. Lyra didn’t like to linger on such thoughts. She turned her mind and her head back to Bon-Bon.
The other pony was eyeing her suspiciously. Her eyes squinted, she stared Lyra down, trying to decipher the unicorn's thoughts. Spotting this, Lyra quickly drew the earth pony's attention away from herself and back towards the photo album. She indicated the picture they had just been looking at.
“Remember our first date?” she asked.
“The one where you galloped out of the theater because you were too afraid to watch The Wicker Mare?” Bon-Bon joked, “Yes, I remember it.”
Lyra's face flushed red in embarrassment. She could feel the tips of her ears light on fire as she fumbled to come up with a retort. “Well…” she stumbled through the word, “You… Umm…” After failing her witty response roll, Lyra eventually replied “Yeah, that's the one,” resigning herself to Bon Bon's ridicule.
“I remember it,” the earth pony said shaking her head. “I told you at the time that I had already seen the movie,” she said. Lyra looked questioningly at her, “But that was actually a lie,” she said. Before Lyra could open her mouth to respond, Bon-Bon cut her off. “I told you that because I didn't want you to feel bad,” Lyra attempted to say something again, but Bon-Bon put a hoof up, “I don't regret missing the movie,” she said. “I'm glad that we left early. Look at what it led to.” Bon-Bon said motioning at the picture. “However,” she started again suddenly, “this means you still owe me one movie date,” she pointed a hoof at Lyra emphasizing her point with a quick jab to the minty unicorn's chest.
Lyra laughed. Bon-Bon looked at her sternly, “I was being serious,” she said. Lyra waved a dismissive hoof at her, her laughter calming down.
“Don't worry,” she said, “I'll make sure to make it up to you.” Lyra grinned widely, doing her best to assuage Bon-Bon's pouting face. “I promise,” she said. Her smile faltered but for a fraction of a second as realization hit her. “I promise,” she said again, quietly this time.
The earth pony didn't notice any change in Lyra's demeanor and she went on like nothing had happened. “So, anyways, where were we?” she asked, nodding her head towards the photo album. Lyra had forgotten all about the pictures they were looking at for a moment. She looked back down at the page they had left it on. A strip of photos of two love struck fillies looked back at her, she remembered everything. Taking one last longing look at the photo, she lit up her horn and flipped to the next page.
Her horn emanated a faint green glow as the pages of the photo album began to turn of their own accord, with a little help from Lyra’s magic, stopping finally on a page adorned with a picture of one extremely happy unicorn standing in front of one thoroughly destroyed Ponyville. Instantly Lyra's smile grew larger as she recalled the events that led to this picture, and the events that took place afterward. If she hadn't been there herself, Lyra doubted she would even believe that it happened now. Bon-Bon must have had a similar reaction to the picture because her face lit up at the sight of it.
The creamy earth pony's eyes glazed over as she undoubtedly fell into her memories of that day. Lyra chuckled. For once she wasn't the one getting lost on in her own memories. Opting to let her partner take a stroll down memory lane, Lyra waited in silence for her to come back.
It only took about a minute for Bon Bon to work through the memory in reality, but Lyra knew from experience that it probably felt like hours to her. The glazed over look on the earth pony's face was gone and she had a small smile on her face, a sort of smirk. Lyra smirked back, knowing what Bon-Bon had remembered.
“You're back,” said Lyra, resting her chin on her hoof and wearing a smug look on her face. “Interesting day wasn't it?” she said.
Bon-Bon blinked, regaining awareness of her surroundings. She looked at the smug look on her roommate's face raising an eyebrow. “I said: Interesting day wasn't it?” Lyra repeated. The earth pony's face made an 'O' shape as she realized what Lyra had said.
“It was… interesting,” she said hesitantly, “among other things.” Bon-Bon's look of confusion from before was now one of simple happiness. The day Ponyville was completely destroyed in a freak “natural” disaster was one of the happiest in her life, and she remembered it fondly. The idea that the destruction of their town, and their homes, could be one Bon Bon's best memories seemed strange. But, it was true, and for a good reason. She was about to say something when Lyra beat her to it.
“I remember it too,” the green pony said, “that day. It was the first time I… well… it was the first time for a few things,” she said chuckling. “I'm glad for all of them though,” she assured herself, nodding slightly.
Now it was her turn to travel back in time, again, as she journeyed back to the day Ponyville was destroyed. It was an eventful day to be sure, though not for the most immediate reason. She fell into the memory like she fell into sleep, slowly at first then the details became clearer and eventually the memory played like a movie. She let it happen at its own pace. After all, that was why she had decided to look through the album in the first place, to remember.
---
“GET OUT!”
A door slammed shut. Lyra stumbled backwards into her room. Her hooves were still shaking from the rage she was feeling. She fell onto her bed, laying face up staring at the ceiling. She burst into tears. The tears streamed down her face, soaking her fun and mane. She turned over, crying into her bed sheets.
She was furious. Her father had been yelling at her again. He told her that she was unwanted, that she was just a useless waste of space. He said that ever since her mother had died she had just been taking advantage of him. He was drunk of course. At least she assumed he was. He usually was. That didn't change what he said though, the words still hurt all the same.
He used to apologize to her after his outbursts, usually after he had sobered up. But recently he hadn't been apologizing. He would just yell and scream then storm out and Lyra would inevitably end up crying. This cycle had been repeating for some time now. Lyra told herself that she didn't care what he said. She told herself that he didn't mean it, he was just drunk. It was still painful though, your father telling you that you are useless is hard to take. The only thing that was keeping her from going over the edge was her relationship with Bon-Bon.
They had been dating for over a year now and things couldn't be better. She would see her as often as possible. Mostly it was at least once a day, sometimes more. She loved being with her, just the mere thought of her brought her more joy than anything in Equestria. Bon-Bon was everything to her, her whole reason for living. Without her she would be lost, like one lonely star in vast, but empty, night sky.
As she thought about Bon-Bon, her best friend, her companion, her lover, a smile broke through the tears that were dominating her face. Lyra didn't know what she would do without that wonderful, cream furred pony. Bon-Bon was the closest thing she had to family right now. Her father didn't even feel like a father anymore, he was just a stallion that she shared a house with. A stallion that drank constantly, and yelled, and threw things, and made her feel terrible.
The thought of her father made the anger from before bubble up and her smile died and in its place was an angry scowl. She pounded on her bed, the mattress bounced with each impact. She assaulted her pillows, throwing them across the room. The soft sound they made when they hit the wall left her feeling unsatisfied.
Her horn glowed green as she lifted up objects to throw, hoping one of them would make a more satisfying sound. She flipped her mattress, and threw the sheets around the room. Anger filled her, replacing all other emotions. She threw a small, slightly heavy, something at the wall. It shattered. All her anger melted away instantly as she realized what she had thrown. It was the picture she and Bon-Bon had taken on their first date, of their first kiss.
Realizing what she had done she rushed over to the wall were the picture lay. Luckily it wasn't damaged, just the frame that held it was. The shards of broken glass glowed a faint green as Lyra used her magic to repair the broken frame. Each piece of glass went back to its original place, and then fused back together. The frame repaired, she replaced the picture and set it down on her dresser.
She smiled at the picture, rubbing a hoof across Bon-Bon's face. Leaning forwards she placed a light kiss on the cheek of her beloved. She felt happy again, smiling as if nothing had happened. The sound of hooves tapping on wood entered the room as she heard her father knock on the door. She ignored it. The knocking became more persistent until it stopped suddenly.
Silence.
The door was flung wide open with a loud crack as its weak locking mechanism was torn off. Her father stood in the opening, his face calm but serious. He took one step into the room and instantly the tension skyrocketed. Lyra already knew what was about to happen, she had been expecting this for quite some time.
“I want you out,” he said calmly, “gather your belongings and leave. I want you out of this house in the next 5 minutes, and I don't ever want to see you here again.”
Lyra knew he was being serious. Not just the tone in his voice but also the fact that he was completely sober told her that he wasn't messing around. She had been planning for this day, she knew that it was just an eventuality, and so she had everything she needed packed already in a bag under her bed. Silently she used her magic to float the bag from under her bed and unzip it. The few things she hadn't packed were scattered about the room, so to keep herself from moving she floated the objects into her bag using her magic again. It was just a few simple things, a brush, a couple books, and lastly the picture she had recently repaired.
Her father silently watched as she packed everything and when she was done he merely stood to one side to allow her to leave the room. She walked past making sure to never break eye contact with him. Slowly she walked out of the house with her father walking closely behind her. When she reached the door he opened it for her and she left.
And without so much as one final word he slammed the door behind her.
Despite having expected, and planned for, this event, Lyra found herself at a loss. She stood facing away from the house, her whole life in a bag on her back, her whole life, except for Bon-Bon. She knew what to do. Resolutely she began walking away from her house. Wrong. Her father's house. It was no longer hers. She was strong though, she knew that she would make it through whatever she had to. With each step she gained more confidence, each stride gave her more strength. She felt that while this might not have been the ideal way to leave home, she was glad that she had, albeit not by her choice, at least not directly.
She had a little money saved up from working odd jobs and such. She knew that she could support herself, at least for a little while until she found a stable job. Plus she had a plan know, she just needed to find Bon-Bon. Deciding that her house was the most likely place to find the earth pony, Lyra adjusted her steps to lead her towards the pink and blue maned pony's house.
It was morning when she left the house. The sun had barely risen above the hills to the east of Ponyville. Now it was high in the sky, spreading its warmth and light across the small town. Lyra had been sidetracked on her quest. She strayed from the path she had set herself on, but for a good reason.
On her way to town she noticed a blue pegasus sleeping on a cloud. She was surrounded by what looked like strings of colored lights. Lyra stopped to examine the odd cloud. She had never seen something like it. The pegasus sleeping on the cloud had probably set them up, some kind of Hearth's Warming Eve decoration she supposed. Odd thought, considering that Hearth’s Warming Eve wasn't for a few months. She knew that some ponies liked to get a head start on decorating, but this seemed pretty early, even for the most extreme early birds.
Wait a second. This pegasus looked awfully familiar, her rainbow mane and tail were hard to forget. Rainbow… something. That was her name. She couldn't remember the second part of her name. The rainbow part was easy enough to guess. It didn't really matter what her name was, Lyra supposed. The point was that she knew her from somewhere. She had seen her around many times, usually high up in the sky, or on a cloud or something. She had seen her during Winter Wrap Up, with the weather ponies. That was it! She was weather pony. But that still didn't explain why she was sleeping on such an odd cloud.
Lyra still couldn't figure out if they were lights, or something else. If they were lights though, then where the hay had they been plugged in! Unless, maybe they were magical lights? Hung by a pegasus? That didn't seem very likely. Whatever it was, it wasn't like anything she had ever seen.
How long had she been sitting here? Apparently she had sat down at some point in her pondering. Her haunches were sore. Lyra remembered that she had somewhere to be. She stood up, rubbing her sore backside. As she walked away from the pegasus and towards the village she felt like she saw one of the lights move. She was probably just seeing things. This morning had been tough on her.
The sun had really warmed up the surrounding countryside since its first light. Lyra felt a pleasant warmness permeate her body as she walked through the town, though that could have just been her anticipation getting the better of her. She picked up her pace to a light trot, her anticipation growing to excitement. Soon she would be able to see the light of her life, Bon-Bon. That split-maned, cream furred, candy-baking, earth pony always seemed to bring a smile to her face, no matter the situation.
Shops, houses, and restaurants passed her by as she trotted through the town. She passed Major Minor’s Majestic Music Shop, the music store where she had composed her first song, entirely impromptu. A little further on she saw off in the distance the movie theater were her and Bon-Bon had their first date. She didn't actually see the photo booth, but the theater alone was enough to remind her of the place where she and Bon-Bon had shared their first kiss. And what a terrible kiss it was, great at the time, but terrible in retrospect. They were much better now.
She waved at Mrs. Cake as she passed by Sugar Cube Corner. The pink maned earth pony had a sweet smile on her face, just like always. Mr. Cake was undoubtedly inside baking something for a customer, like usual. That or he was out shopping for supplies, or running errands. Either way, he wasn't in front of the shop cleaning with Mrs. Cake.
Bon-Bon had told Lyra that she wanted to open her own bakery someday. It was her dream to sell sweets for a living. Mrs. Cake had always been something of a role model to Bon-Bon. The younger earth pony saw her as a pony to look up to, a goal to shoot for. It was good that she had a goal in mind. Lyra felt like she didn't know what she wanted to do. She enjoyed playing music on her lyre, mostly only for Bon-Bon though. She hadn't preformed in front of a large audience since she lost the talent show competition years ago. Well, there was one time where Lyra had attempted to serenade her earth pony companion at a park and a large crowd gathered around because they thought she was a street performer. That didn't really count though. Lyra enjoyed performing, but she was always afraid that somebody wouldn't like her music, that somebody wouldn't like her. That was what really kept her from attempting another performance. Bon-Bon had told her many times that it didn't matter what anyone else thought of her, only that she was happy with herself. It was easy enough to say that though, not as easy to live it.
Lyra trotted through the town lost in thought, and not for the first (or last) time. She didn't even notice when she trotted right past the very house she was looking for, and in fact she didn't even notice when she was trotting straight into a park bench. It took a very painful tumble, and subsequent untangling to realize that she had passed Bon-Bon's house by quite some distance. Wincing as she stood up, and mumbling something about poor bench placement, Lyra righted herself and picked up her belongings once again.
Somehow or other her bag had unzipped itself and some of its contents had spilled onto the ground. The green unicorn used her magic to begin picking up each item and replacing them in her bag. She wasn't as skilled as some other unicorns were with magic. She could only move one thing at a time. She didn't have the raw magical ability to multi-task. It took a minute or so to clean up the mess and as she was picking up the last items she heard someone trot up behind her.
“Going on vacation?” asked a sweet voice.
Lyra turned her head to face her questioner. Standing there with a slight smirk on her face and saddle bags on her back, was Bon-Bon. She knew who it was even before turning around. The sound of her voice was unmistakable. Lyra grinned and scratched her head, doing her best to look nonchalant. “You could say that.” Bon-Bon knelt down to pick up the last object that had ejected itself from Lyra's bag, a small brush. As she tossed it into the bag she gave Lyra a questioning look.
“Alright, fine,” the minty unicorn sighed, “I just decided that I wanted to get out of my house for a while was thinking about staying at an inn or something.” She lied to Bon-Bon with a straight face. She didn't exactly know why she was lying. She just didn't want Bon-Bon to know that she had been thrown out of her own house. That was Lyra's own problem to deal with. She needn’t worry Bon-Bon, she was sure that the earth pony had her own problems to sort out.
Bon-Bon gave the unicorn a piercing gaze, trying to draw the truth from her. She was sure that Lyra hadn't just decided to leave, out of nowhere. There had to be a reason, something that she wasn't telling her. She decided to let it pass for now however and instead gave an offer of help to the facetious pony. “You could always, you know, stay with me. I am your fillyfriend, remember?”
It had always been Lyra's plan to ask Bon-Bon if she could stay with her, but she felt better now that she had suggested it first. Now it didn't feel so presumptuous. “Well if you don't mind,” Lyra answered. She still didn't want to assume anything, even though she was sure that Bon-Bon wouldn't turn her away.
“Of course I don't mind,” the earth pony waved a hoof at Lyra. “My house has been feeling a bit empty anyways, it'll be good to have somepony else there. Especially since that somepony will be you.” She said the last part more to herself than to Lyra, in a quiet, almost whisper.
Bon-Bon had moved out of her parent's house a few weeks earlier, under slightly different circumstances than Lyra. She wanted to prove to her parents that she could be independent, and that she could support herself without their help. The creamy pony had found a job working at a bakery, Sugar Cube Corner in fact. The pay wasn't exactly six figures, but it was enough that she could afford to rent her own small apartment.
“Sleep over!” shouted Lyra. Bon-Bon giggled.
“Let's go take your stuff to my house then,” she said motioning in the direction of her apartment. After helping Lyra heft her bag, and stealing a quick kiss, Bon-Bon started walking towards her complex. As she walked away, Lyra noticed once again the saddle bags strung across her back.
“What's in the bags?” she asked. Bon-Bon turned her head back towards Lyra, tilting it slightly to the side. Lyra pointed at the saddlebags.
Looking as if she had just noticed them, Bon-Bon jumped a little in the air. “Oh horse apples, I completely forgot. I was supposed to be bringing these supplies to the Cakes.” She shook her head and sighed. “Oh well, I suppose they can live without out them for a little while longer.” She sighed again and began walking again.
Lyra caught up to her companion, walking alongside her she asked, “How's working for the Cakes going, by the way?”
“I love it,” Bon-Bon replied, “they pay me well enough, and I love baking. So, this is pretty much a win-win.” The earth pony looked wistfully to the sky, “I wish I could own my own bakery.” She sighed. “But, it'll be a long time before that happens.”
Lyra followed her gaze to the sky. She didn't have any aspirations like her partner. She just wanted to live her life as it happened, one day at a time. But, she knew that she wanted to help Bon-Bon realize her dream in whatever way she could. Maybe someday they would be like the Cakes. They could co-own a bakery and spend their days making baked goods for hungry customers. That sounded like a nice life. Maybe they'd even get married too. Lyra shuddered, maybe that was too much to think about right now. Marriage was quite the commitment. She hadn’t even started living with the mare yet. In fact, she had yet to tell Bon-Bon those three magic words. Lyra didn’t quite know why she hadn’t told Bon-Bon that she loved her yet, she knew that she did, with all of her heart. It was just… there was something about actually saying it that always made her pause, like she wasn’t sure. But, she was sure. She knew she loved Bon-Bon, more than anything. Maybe when they started living together she could finally bring herself to say it.
“Don't worry,” she finally told Bon-Bon, “I'm sure that you'll get your own shop someday.” After all, she thought. Things always seem to have a way of working out in the end. The two ponies walked side-by-side in silence, each mulling over their own thoughts. As they approached the apartment Lyra broke the silence. “Bon-Bon,” she said, “I’ve been thinking.” Bon-Bon cocked her head to the side, awaiting the rest of Lyra’s statement. “Well,” she continued, “would you mind if I moved in permanently?” Bon-Bon’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?” she asked. “Not that I have any objection mind you,” she quickly clarified. “It’s just, why now? What’s going on?” Bon-Bon’s piercing gaze filled Lyra’s vision.
Lyra sighed, “I may not have been entirely honest with you before,” she said. “I told you that I just wanted to get out of my house but that was only half true,” Lyra was nervously kicking at the dirt as she confessed to Bon-Bon. “You see,” said Lyra, “I was actually kicked out of my house by my father.” A look of concern came over Bon-Bon, which Lyra quickly sought to quell. “I wanted to leave anyways,” she said, “I just didn’t know when.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that before?” asked Bon-Bon.
Lyra looked at the ground sheepishly. “I didn’t want to worry,” she said quietly. “Plus,” she continued, “it’s my own problem to deal with, not yours.”
Bon-Bon looked at her incredulously. “Lyra,” she insisted, “you know that you can always come to me for anything. I’ll always be there for you. We’re… together now. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“I’m sorry,” Lyra answered apologetically, “but I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”
Bon-Bon shook her head, “They’re not just your problems anymore,” she said. “They’re our problems. We’re in this together now. Actually, we’ve always been in this together, ever since our first meeting.”
“I know that bu-“
“Who was there for you when you didn’t win the talent show?”
“You were”
“And who was there for me when I was getting bullied?”
“I was”
“What about that time you got pneumonia? Who was there then?”
“You”
“What about when I got my cutie mark? Who was that because of?”
“Me”
“See?” finished Bon-Bon. “We’ve always been there for each other. So please, don’t feel like you need to hide things from me.” She sighed once again, pulling Lyra in close for a hug. “Don’t worry,” she said soothingly, stroking Lyra’s mane. “I’m sure everything will work out in the end. But, for now, you can come live with me.” Bon-Bon disentangled herself from Lyra and began walking towards the apartment complex across the street. Looking over her shoulder at Lyra she said, “Well come on then. Let’s go put your stuff in our apartment.” Turning back around she trotted happily across the street. Lyra found herself overwhelmed with emotion. She loved that mare so much. She had to tell her, she had to say, “I love you”.
“Bon-Bon!” she called out. Bon-Bon turned back around to face the mare. Lyra swallowed and then opened her mouth, “I – Watch out!” she shouted suddenly as a pink blur came whirling down the street. Bon-Bon barely had enough time to contort her face in confusion before the pink blur whizzed past her causing her to spin around like a top. Lyra rushed over to a very dizzy looking Bon-Bon. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Bon-Bon nodded, her head swimming. “Yeah,” she answered, “I think I’m fine.” Lyra looked off into the distance where whatever had run into Bon-Bon had gone and she saw a cloud of dust building up. “What was that?”
Lyra squinted her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of something. But, the cloud of dust was obscuring her vision. “I’m not sure,” she answered.
Bon-Bon shook her head, clearing the grogginess. “I think that was a pony,” she said.
“A pony?” asked Lyra doubtfully. “What makes you say that?”
“I heard it, whatever it was, say something about a ‘banjo’.”
“Weird,” said Lyra, still staring off into the distance. “I wonder what that was all about.” Lyra reached down and pulled Bon-Bon to her feet. “Let’s go inside,” she said, “at least it’s safe in there.” Bon-Bon chuckled, and nodded her head. Lyra then remember what she had been about to say before she was cut off. But, the moment had passed, she couldn’t say it now. She exhaled. Maybe she’d find another opportunity later. After dusting herself off, Bon-Bon led Lyra to the front door and then inside the apartment to her room where they dropped off Lyra’s bags and, after sharing another quick kiss, headed back downstairs.
Lyra pointed at the bags that Bon-Bon was still hauling around. “Do you want me to carry those for you?” Bon-Bon hit herself on the forehead with hoof.
“I completely forgot I even had these bags… again.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “Sure,” she said, handing one of the bags over to Lyra. “You can help me carry these. The Cakes are a probably wondering what’s taking me so long. I left like 2 hours ago to go get these.”
Lyra snickered, “Hope they don’t fire you,” she joked.
“Ha Ha,” laughed Bon-Bon sarcastically. “You better hope they don’t fire me,” she pointed out. “How do you think I pay for this apartment?”
“Oh… right,” Lyra groaned. “Forgot about that.”
Bon-Bon laughed, “I was just kidding,” she said. “They wouldn’t fire me over this. I just wanted to see what you would say.” She laughed again, shaking her head. The two ponies left the apartment and headed off towards SugarCube Corner bakery. This time, wary of any blurs, pink or otherwise, that might cross their paths.
As they approached the bakery, which was curiously shaped like an actual cake, they saw a fancy looking stallion leaving the shop. He stormed out, letting the door slam behind him. His head rose in the air haughtily as he hailed a cab and ordered it to take him to the train station. Bon-Bon and Lyra exchanged confused glances and then looked back at the shop were Mr. Cake had just come sprinting out the door shouting. “Wait!” he screamed at the cab. But, it was too late. It had already started tearing down the street, undoubtedly at the insistence of the passenger. Mr. Cake hung his head and turned back inside the shop dejectedly.
The bell on the shop door rang as Lyra and Bon-Bon entered shortly after Mr. Cake. He was standing behind the counter when they came in, a half-finished cake on the table behind him. He looked up at the chiming of the bell. Noticing the two mares and the bags they carried his eyes widened. “Finally decided to come back huh?” he said, venom in his voice. Bon-Bon started to speak but he cut her off. “Do you know who that was?” he asked pointing at the door that had recently received a harsh slamming. Again, before Bon-Bon could answer he interjected again. “That,” he said emphasizing his words with sharp jabs, “was our only client this whole month. And,” he continued, “that stallion was the only thing keeping us out of the red.” He shook his head, slamming his hooves on the countertop. “And this,” he said pointing at the half-baked cake. “was his cake that we we’re waiting on you to finish.” Bon-Bon just stood in the doorway, her mouth slightly open. Lyra stood next to her, equally wordless.
“I’m sorry—” Bon-Bon said quietly as she hung her head in shame.
“Sorry!” shouted Mr. Cake. “Do you think ‘sorry’ is going to pay our rent?”
Lyra felt herself getting angry, it felt like she was listening to her father speak again. “Hey!” she yelled. “You leave Bon-Bon alone. It wasn’t her fault that she was late. It was mine, I kept distracting her.” Her voice was shaking with anger, all the memories of her father yelling at her flooded back into her.
“So, I should be angry with you then?” he asked, turning his attention to Lyra.
“I guess so,” Lyra said. Her face was hard.
Mr. Cake turned his anger back on Bon-Bon. “You’re fired,” he said calmly. “And you,” he said, addressing Lyra. “I want you out of my shop.” He pointed at the door as he stomped his hooves. Lyra and Bon-Bon silently dropped their bags and opened the door. The bell’s chiming was oddly cheery for the scene that had just unfolded.
“Well,” Lyra said quietly. “That wasn’t exactly the most ideal outcome.”
Bon-Bon sat on her haunches, staring up into the sky. “I just lost my job,” she said, like she had just finally realized what had transpired. “How am I going to pay my rent?” she asked rhetorically. Bon-Bon raised her front hooves and held her head in them, tears working their way down her face.
Lyra sat down next to her, pulling the crying mare’s head close to her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It was entirely my fault that you were late.”
Bon-Bon looked up at Lyra, tears still filling her eyes. She wiped them away with a forearm and gently told Lyra, “I don’t blame you for what happened. It was my fault that I was late and not you or anyone else’s.”
“I’m sure Mr. Cake was just upset,” Lyra responded. “He was just really emotional. I’m sure that if you come back tomorrow and apologize again he’ll probably give you your job back.” She smiled at Bon-Bon and used her hooves to lift the other mare’s face into a forced smile. She giggled and her forced smile became a real one.
“You’re probably right,” she said. “Mr. Cake has always been very reasonable. I bet if I come back tomorrow he’ll probably apologize to me. I’ve never even heard him raise his voice like that.”
Lyra stood up, offering a hoof to Bon-Bon. “See?” she said. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Bon-Bon grabbed her hoof and pulled herself up, wiping the rest of her tears away. Lyra hugged the teary mare, her warm embrace comforting the mare and telling her that everything was going to be okay. “Let’s go get something to eat,” she said, “I’m starving.” Groans came from her stomach indicating that she was indeed starving. In fact, the last time she ate had been the previous night. She didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast since she was too busy yelling at her father and getting kicked out of her house.
Bon-Bon chuckled. “Okay,” she said, “where do you want to go eat?”
“I know a place,” Lyra answered mysteriously. She glanced around, her eyes shifty. “But you can’t let anypony know about it,” she whispered.
Playing along, Bon-Bon answered, “I swear I won’t tell a soul.” Satisfied, Lyra nodded and began walking away. Bon-Bon, giggling, followed behind her. When they reached their destination Lyra smiled back at Bon-Bon, the must smug look on her face. She pointed at the shop, The Rusty Horseshoe, and said,
“Pretty great, isn’t it?”
Bon-Bon’s mouth made a straight line, her lips pursed. “Lyra,” she muttered, “we ate here three days ago. This place isn’t exactly a secret. It’s one of the most popular places in town.”
Lyra scratched the back of her head nonchalantly. “Yeah, I had to think of something to trick you into coming back here.” She beamed. “This place has, like, the best pies ever,” she explained. “I don’t think you understand,” she said, “these are grade-A pies, top of the line. And yes, the A stands for ‘awesome’.”
Bon-Bon snorted, “grade-Awesome?”
“Yes”
“Pffft,” Bon-Bon burst out laughing, rolling around on the ground. “Lyra, you’re so weird,” she said.
A brief laughing fit and a couple of pie jokes later and the two ponies had situated themselves at one of the outdoor tables and were looking through menus. Upon deciding what to eat they gave their orders to the waiter and shared a couple of drinks. After eating the main course they both ordered a slice of pie, Lyra licked her lips in anticipation. As they waited for their pies Lyra looked up at the sky. It looked like there was some kind of multi-colored cloud floating up there. She pointed it out to Bon-Bon. “I wonder what that is?” she said. Bon-Bon glanced up at the sky and saw the oddly chromatic cloud that Lyra was pointing out.
“I have no idea,” she answered. “It’s odd though,” she stated, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
“I have,” responded Lyra.
“You have?” the other mare questioned.
“Yeah, but not exactly like that,” she said. “It was earlier this morning, when I was walking into town. I saw this cloud that looked like it was surrounded by a bunch of colored lights, and there was this pegasus with a rainbow colored mane sleeping in the cloud.”
“You mean Rainbow Dash?” asked Bon-Bon.
“That’s her name?” replied Lyra. “I was close. I knew it was Rainbow-something.”
“What?”
“Nothing, I was just talking to myself.” Lyra looked back up at the sky, “Hey wait, where’d the cloud go?” Bon-Bon followed her gaze, and she saw that the cloud had indeed disappeared.
“Huh,” she said, “clouds don’t usually move that fast, do they?”
“Not unless it’s really windy or something.”
“How curious.”
Their conversation and their thoughts were interrupted by the waiter’s return, and the slices of pie he carried with him. Lyra instantly forgot about the peculiar cloud and immediately focused her attention on the delicious pie she was about to receive. She licked her lips excitedly. She could almost taste the pie already. It’s delicious, savory sweetness was about to find itself being shoved down her gullet, and she was going to love every second of it. The waiter placed a slice of pie in front of both Lyra and Bon-Bon and then disappeared back inside the restaurant. Bon-Bon was about to dig into her pie when Lyra noticed something behind her.
“What the—”
Bon-Bon turned around to look at what Lyra was so inadequately describing. Behind her was little blue ball, with eyes, and it was flying. The creature’s tiny wings were flapping furiously to keep itself aloft. Bon-Bon’s eyes widened and a smile stretched across her face, “Aww, it’s so adorable,” she said. The creature, whatever it was, had large eyes, a petite blue body, insect-like wings, and, as Bon-Bon so accurately described it, it was incredibly adorable.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Lyra as a smile worked its way across her face too, “but it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Suddenly the little blue ball turned into a large ‘c’ shape as its mouth opened up cartoonishly wide and it swallowed Bon-Bon’s pie in one bite. Realizing the clear and present danger they were in Lyra attempted to protect her slice of pie. But, the creature was too fast. Before she had even moved a centimeter it had already devoured her pie whole, leaving nothing behind but an empty plate and a broken-hearted, tearful Lyra.
Bon-Bon was too stunned to even fully realize what had just happened. The cute little critter had just been floating there one second and then the next second it was throwing their pies into its black-hole-like stomach. She glanced over at Lyra to see how the mare was holding up. Not well, it seemed. She just stared off into the direction the little creature had flown, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked back at Bon-Bon, tears in her eyes, and said, “this day has been awful. First my dad throws me out of my house, and then I get you fired, and now some stupid bug thing just ate my pie. How could this day get any worse?” She immediately regretted asking that question as the sound of thousands of little buzzing wings filled the air. Whatever that thing was it wasn’t alone. There were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of the creatures now. They swarmed all over the place, eating everything in sight. Well at least, just the food.
The two ponies screamed and covered their heads, running for cover. They found shelter close by inside the restaurant they had just been eating at. They had locked themselves inside the bathroom and they were both peering out the window, trying to get a grasp on the situation. Outside the multi-colored balls were now eating literally everything, not just food. Entire buildings were being demolished in seconds. Lyra grabbed Bon-Bon’s hoof shouting, “We’re not safe here! We have to get out of here.” Bon-Bon just nodded her head and the two ponies sprinted out of the restaurant. Once outside they could fully appreciate the havoc these adorable creatures were causing. It was chaos as ponies ran through the streets, crashing into each other and knocking over everything in their path.
Lyra pulled Bon-Bon close and told her, “I think I know somewhere we’ll be safe, or at least safer. We need to get out of town. These things seem to only be eating objects and not ponies, so if we get to the park then we might be safe.” Lyra snatched Bon-Bon’s hoof again and they ran towards the park. As they ran through the town they watched entire streets get wiped out, ponies’ houses, and shops, and workplaces, all were destroyed by the bugs. Upon reaching the park they hunkered down beneath a tree, hoping to use it to shield themselves from the insects.
“Are you okay?” asked Lyra, breathing heavily. Bon-Bon nodded her head. “Good.”
“What about you,” Bon-Bon asked, breathing equally as heavy.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Thank goodness. So, what do we do now?”
“Well, to be honest, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” Lyra laughed as she caught her breath. “I kinda just assumed things would resolve themselves. I have no idea what to do.”
At that moment the sound of a great many instruments being played all at once reached their ears. They both strained their eyes to locate the source of the sound. Way down at the other end of the park they saw a pink pony leading a stream of the monsters into the Everfree forest. In fact, Lyra was fairly certain that pink pony was the one that ran into Bon-Bon earlier because she could swear that she heard a banjo among the instruments being played.
“What the—” the two ponies said quietly in unison. Their mouths hung agape at the sight. They both just sat underneath the tree watching the bizarre parade from a distance. “Huh,” said Lyra eventually, “I guess I was right. Things did resolve themselves.” She chuckled quietly. Bon-Bon looked at her incredulously, how could she laugh at a time like this? Then as she watched the last of the bugs bounce its way into the forest she found herself laughing right alongside Lyra. The two eventually were in stiches, the whole situation, while horribly destructive, was one of the weirdest things they had ever seen and the fact that it was ended by a pink pony leading an insect marching band into the forest was just unbelievable. The situation was beyond bizarre. This, by far, would be remembered as the most outlandish day Lyra and Bon-Bon had ever seen. After a while they calmed down and looked each other in the eyes.
“Sooooooo,” said Lyra slowly. “I guess we head back to your apartment now, huh?”
Bon-Bon was still laughing slightly as she answered, “I suppose so, assuming it’s still there.” She sobered instantly realizing what she just said. Lyra’s eyes grew large as she realized the implications of losing the apartment. It also meant losing everything she owned since she had just so recently moved in. “Oh Celesia,” whispered Bon-Bon. They both got up immediately and began galloping towards the apartment. Passing through the town again was like passing through a warzone. It looked like Ponyville had been bombed. Houses lay demolished in the streets and ponies wandered around aimlessly.
“About that whole ‘getting your job back’ thing, not sure how that’s gonna work out,” said Lyra suddenly. Bon-Bon looked at Lyra questioningly. She pointed over at a pile of rubble, “Yeah… uhh… that’s SugarCube Corner right over there.” Bon-Bon watched her rent crumble away, her food, her livelihood, all of turned to dust. She only said one word before leaving, “Crap…”
They finally reached the apartment after working their way through the virtual wasteland that Ponyville now was. Rubble is all that was left of their apartment. Bon-Bon nearly broke down and cried as her whole world fell apart. Lyra ran over to the pile. She dug through it, looking for any remnants of either her or Bon-Bon’s stuff. As she used her hooves to tear through the rubble Bon-Bon joined her. There was no sign of any of Bon-Bon’s former apartment, no sign of anything.
Out of the corner of her eye, Bon-Bon noticed a glint of light. “What’s that,” she asked, pointing it out to Lyra. The green mare worked her way through the debris to whatever it was that Bon-Bon was pointing at. Lyra nudged away some of the broken wood and cement and underneath she found a pile of broken glass. Under the glass she found the picture, the same one she had inadvertently smashed earlier in the morning. She swept away the glass and picked up the picture, smiling as she did. She looked into her own eyes and brushed her hoof against Bon-Bon’s cheek. “Small miracles, huh?” she whispered.
“What was that?” asked Bon-Bon.
“Nothing,” she replied. “Hey,” she said, “I found something.” She held up the picture so Bon-Bon could see. She strained her eyes to see. Once she realized what Lyra was holding she made her way over to the mare.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked. Lyra smiled and handed the picture to her. Bon-Bon took it and looked down at the two fillies in the photo. She smiled back at Lyra, saying, “You still have yours?” Lyra nodded. “At least something survived,” she said. Lyra walked over to her and hugged her.
“We survived,” she said.
Bon-Bon laughed, “Now you’re the one being cheesy!” she said. Lyra giggled.
“What? I’m not allowed to be cheesy sometimes?” joked Lyra.
Bon-Bon sighed, “Well, I guess there’s no use in looking around here forever.” She stood up and dusted herself off, walking out of the debris field. “Come on,” she said, “I’m sure we can find a place to sleep somewhere.”
As she walked away Lyra looked at the photo that Bon-Bon had handed back to her. She saw Bon-Bon’s embarrassed face looking back at her. She chuckled. Then realization hit her. Something she knew, but had never had the guts to say, at least not out loud.
“Bon-Bon,” she called out. Bon-Bon turned around. “I love you.”
Bon-Bon smiled. “I know,” she said.