//------------------------------// // How Are Things Going // Story: The Ending of the Love // by BrawnyBold //------------------------------// Lyra woke up to smell something cooking. She got up from her bed and made her way to the kitchen to see Minuette making some eggs. "Morning Lyra!" Minuette said with a cheery tone. "Morning Minuette," Lyra said while smiling. She took a seat on the table. "I'll have breakfast ready in a jiffy!" Minuette said. "I appreciate it," Lyra said as she waited patiently. Both of the mares enjoyed their breakfast while swapping funny stories. "So those living apples began to say crazy riddles?" Minuette said in surprise. "Yeah, it was so crazy. I was still able to drown them out while I propose to-" Lyra stopped when she remembered that was the same day she proposed to Bon Bon. "Oh, my bad." Minuette cringed as she caused Lyra to bring up a memory involving Bon Bon. "No, it's alright." Lyra waved a hoof. "I just forgotten about that part until now." It was dead silent between the two unicorns for Celestia knows how long. "Are you feeling any better?" Minuette asked in attempts to cheer up her friend. Lyra took a moment to think of a good answer. "Yeah, I'm alright." Lyra replied. "I just needed to clear my head from everything that has happened." "Especially when everypony was divided. Most of my friends didn't want to say anything to me because I was a unicorn." Minuette recalled her experience before the villains attacked. "I was lucky that I knew a few unicorns who joined in on escaping Ponyville." "I should be the one who should say she was lucky as you and the other unicorns helped me escape. I didn't know what else to do." Lyra praised. "I'm still glad that battle is finally over." Minuette said. "Now we just have to move on from all of this." "I don't think I can," Lyra said while her head was down. Minuette grew concerned from hearing Lyra's response. "Everypony may have forgiven each other after that final battle, but it felt difficult for me to forgive Bon Bon. I'm just afraid that Bon Bon will behave like that again if we get married." Lyra formed tears in her eyes and sniffled. Minuette offered a tissue to Lyra so she could blow her muzzle again. "W-which is why you're here," Minuette assured. "to take some time off and really think about this decision of marriage." Lyra took some deep breaths and she was able to calm down. "Thanks for being with me, Minuette." Lyra said as she gave her friend a hug. "Say, how about we both head out to catch up with our friends?" Minuette suggested. "Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Moon Dancer would love to see you again!" Lyra simply smiled from remembering her old Canterlot friends. "That sounds like a great idea, Minuette." Lyra nodded. At the Canterlot Park, all five unicorn mares trotted down the path while enjoying the beautiful scenery. It felt wonderful for Lyra to see her old friends. Lyra was also surprised to see Moon Dancer as she would normally be busy reading books. "It felt like a long time since I have been here," Lyra claimed as she took a closer look at one of the ponds. "This park is still the same even though you were gone, Lyra." Lemon Hearts said. "I'm so glad that I was able to get some free time after cleaning up the magic school." Moon Dancer said. "It took some time to remove the nailed wood from the windows and clean up the classrooms since we used them as bunkers." "Oh yeah, I heard that you're going to work at Princess Celestia's magic school as a teacher. Is that right, Moon Dancer?" Twinkleshine said with curiosity. "Correct, Princess Celestia herself hired me as I provide an incredible amount of knowledge about unicorn magic." Moon Dancer said with a sense of pride. "Wow! That's so cool!" Minuette said in amazement. The mares were interrupted by a mare's scream. They looked around to see that the scream came from the other side of the pond. One mare had her mouth covered with her hooves while a stallion kneeled down to present a small box with what looked like a ring inside. "Oh yes my love, I will marry you!" The mare hollered as she gave the stallion a tight hug. "Ah! Isn't that so sweet." Lemon Hearts cooed. "I really hope that one day my coltfriend will propose to me like that." Twinkle said. "Don't you think so, Lyra?" Twinkleshine asked but she noticed Lyra was just staring at the newly engaged couple. Lyra started to see herself and Bon Bon on the other side of the pond while offering each other engagement rings. Lyra started to form tears in her eyes and it flowed down to her cheeks. Minuette noticed this and she then turned to the couple. 'Uh oh,' Minuette thought as she realized that Lyra was getting reminded of some bad memories. "Lyra," Minuette said as she placed a hoof on Lyra's shoulder to startle her. "Huh?" Lyra said as she turn to see her friends looked concerned. "Are you alright? You have tears coming out of your eyes." Moon Dancer informed. Lyra noticed this and quickly wiped her tears away. "S-sorry, I was just feeling...overjoyed for the couple!" Lyra lied as she faked a smile. Her other friends looked at each other in confusion. "W-we should get a move on! How about we go to Donut Joe's shop? I haven't been to his place in a while." Lyra said as she hurried out of the park. Minuette felt a bit worried while her other friends were a bit concerned of Lyra. Back at Ponyville Bon Bon dragged her hooves while trotting on the streets. She didn't sleep last night as she crying for most of it. When Bon Bon stopped crying, her thoughts continued to be clouded with her yelling at Lyra and then Bon Bon started to cry once again. It became morning when Bon Bon was burned out from all of her crying. She didn't want to be inside of the house as it made her remember of that wrong move she made. Bon Bon's mind was completely blank as she didn't know what to feel or think. 'Lyra is gone,' Bon Bon thought as she found herself at Ponyville Park. A few fillies and foals were playing around while some couples were spending time with each other. Bon Bon decided to take a seat on one of the benches. She then started to remember all the times she and Lyra sat on these benches after spending time together. It really soothed Bon Bon as she and Lyra watched the day go by while sitting. 'It's like this whole town is cursed to haunt me of my past.' Bon Bon thought as she hung her head in sadness. As she closed her eyes, she started to hear some bouncing noise and decided to ignore it. It wasn't until the bouncing noises stopped and the sound of hoofsteps was getting closer. "Hey Bon Bon," A mare's voice said. Bon Bon lifted her head to see that it was Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter and resident party planner of Ponyville. If there's anypony who can make any creature smile, Pinkie was the perfect mare for the job. "What's wrong?" Pinkie asked as she noticed Bon Bon looking down. "There are a lot of things that's wrong, Pinkie." Bon Bon grumbled. Pinkie took a seat next to Bon Bon. "Is there any way I can help?" Pinkie offered. "I'll be fine, Pinkie." Bon Bon replied. "But Bon Bon-" "I SAID BUTT OUT, PINKIE!" Bon Bon hollered. Bon Bon then saw flashes of a scared Lyra from Bon Bon yelling at her. Bon Bon breathed heavily as she regretted yelling at Pinkie. "I'm sorry, Pinkie." Bon Bon said as she placed her hooves on her face. "It's fine, you were just stressed that's all." Pinkie said as she patted Bon Bon on her back. Bon Bon whimpered before she cried in her hooves. Pinkie slowly gave Bon Bon a caring hug and told her that everything was alright. The party pony then pulled out some tissues from her mane and gave it to Bon Bon. "Thanks," Bon Bon said as she blew her muzzle. "Is it alright that you talk to me about it? I'll Pinkie promise to pay attention." Pinkie said as she placed a hoof on her eye. Bon Bon knew from experience that Pinkie always kept her word if it involved a Pinkie promise. So Bon Bon began with how it started with her accusing Lyra and getting the letter saying that Lyra doesn't want to see her again. When Bon Bon was done, Pinkie nodded as she understood. "It wasn't your fault," Pinkie claimed. "it was the three villains who spread those false rumors." "But it was my actions that drove Lyra away," Bon Bon admitted. "I chose to believe those rumors instead of believing the one pony who I truly loved." Pinkie felt really bad for Bon Bon as she never thought that those false rumors left such a severe scar on Lyra and Bon Bon's engagement. "At least you're admitting your mistakes, that's the first step towards healing." Pinkie said. "Yeah, but I don't know what to do now." Bon Bon said. "I'm not sure if Lyra will take me back if she saw me again." "You can't force her to take you back. You just need to say you're sorry. It will show that you thought a lot about what you have said. If Lyra still doesn't want to go back to you, then you will have to move on and learn from it." Pinkie advised. Bon Bon felt a bit surprised to hear such great advice from Pinkie. Bon Bon would normally see Pinkie as some crazy party mare who gets easily distracted. Bon Bon guessed that Pinkie must've grown a lot thanks to the magic of friendship. "Thanks Pinkie," Bon Bon said with a smile. "Oh! There's that smile!" Pinkie cheered while giving Bon Bon another hug. When Pinkie's hug was over, Bon Bon began to trot out the park and made her way to find Lyra. Bon Bon could only think of one place Lyra would go as it was Lyra's birthplace, Canterlot.