Bonbon settled very nicely into her new home. Though it felt rather alien to be living alone at first, within a week or two she had become so used to her new surroundings that one could be forgiven for thinking she must have lived there her whole life. Over the same time period, she was to be found eagerly making preparations for her new stall, from baking a wide variety of sweets to buying herself a marquee in which to sell them.
By the beginning of the following month, all was ready, and that Monday, the young mare could finally open up her stall for the first time. After a hearty breakfast, she trotted cheerfully down the road towards the marketplace with a fully laden cart, humming softly to herself and thinking of all the happy fillies and colts to whom she would be selling her confections that day – but barely had she made it halfway when a furry pink object seemed to jump out at her. Bonbon jolted backwards, startled, but quickly realised that the object was just a teenaged Earth pony mare.
“Hi there!” chirped the mare in a cheery, high-pitched voice. “Don't think I've ever seen you around here before. You new to this place?”
Bonbon simply rolled her eyes and carried on, mentally chiding the other pony for giving her such a start; but to her consternation, the pink-furred mare simply followed on.
“What you got in there?” she asked curiously, cocking her head towards the cart.
“Nothing special,” replied Bonbon in an off-hoof manner.
The pink-furred pony stared in disbelief. “Nothing special?!” she repeated. “Whatever you're carrying, it smells way too sweet to be 'nothing special'. You throwing a party or something?”
“Well not ex...” but Bonbon didn't have a chance to finish before the exuberant mare gleefully interrupted;
“Ooh, can I help you with the planning?! I could come and decorate the place if you want! Maybe I could bake you a few cupcakes, muffins, cookies......hey, maybe you need some music?! I've got a friend who can give you some really cool tunes! Who's this party for, anyway?”
Bonbon rolled her eyes again. Already, she was starting to wish this mare would just go away, but she tried not to show it. “I'm not throwing a party,” she replied bluntly. “I'm just taking some of my candy out to a stall I've set up in the marketplace, that's all.”
The pink-furred mare's eyes widened with intrigue, and she let out an excited gasp. “You've got a candy stall in the marketplace?!” she squeaked.
“Uh...yeah, I have,” stuttered Bonbon, taken aback, “but I don't see that that's anything to get all excited about.”
“Are you kidding?!” objected the mare. “You've just made my day! I can never get enough candy, not if I look right the way across Equestria! I so love the stuff – I just love it! Okay, so maybe I live and work at a bakery, but so what?! I just...”
“As in Sugarcube Corner?”
The mare nodded wildly in response. “Yes indeed-y! How did you know?”
Bonbon shook her head resignedly. “Market research – enough said. It's the whole reason I moved here last month,” she went on. “See, I wanted to give myself a good start, so...”
“Wait just a minute – you mean you've been living here for a whole month without even throwing a party?!” The mare's jaw dropped, and she stared in shock at Bonbon for what seemed like an age. “I knew my Pinkie Sense was trying to tell me something! I gotta go make plans, bake some treats, buy some party hats...”
“No thank you!!” cut in Bonbon, a little more sharply than she intended. “Look, I'm sorry, miss, but I don't exactly feel ready for a party yet. I still need time to get used to this place, you know. Maybe come back to me on that one?”
The pink-furred Earth pony paused, mildly disappointed; but she regained her cheery demeanour just as quickly. “Okey-dokey-lokey,” she chirped. “You want your party to wait, you got it – oh, but hey, before you go...”
Bonbon groaned, almost at her wits' end. “What now?”
“...I've got something I wanna try out,” said the other pony, and trotted over to a side street before Bonbon could question her. She returned only a few seconds later, towing what looked like a small, colourful wagon. The cream-coated mare stared dubiously at it, unsure what to think.
“You like it?”
“Uh...I don't get it,” admitted Bonbon, tilting her head in confusion.
The pink-furred mare giggled. “I only just put this thing together,” she stated proudly. “It's what I call my Welcome Wagon – and it comes with a super special welcome too! You wanna see it?”
Bonbon pondered for a moment. “Well...okay then.”
“That's the right answer!” The mare trotted round the wagon and pushed a bright red button on its rear panel. Almost at once, its roof opened up to reveal a small oven with shelves full of cupcakes either side, while a mixture of flags, trumpets and striped chimneys rose high into the air from within the wagon. Bonbon watched with interest as it began playing a cheery tune, the pink mare singing along with it;
“Welcome, welcome, welcome,
A fine welcome to you;
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
I say how do you do?
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
I say hip hip hooray!
Welcome, welcome, welcome
To Ponyville today!”
Barely a few seconds after the song finished, the oven door swung open to reveal a larger cake waiting to be served, and a shower of confetti erupted from the wagon's chimneys to the sound of party kazoos. Right on cue, the pink-furred mare pulled a knife from seemingly out of nowhere, cut a generous slice of the cake and placed it on a small plate immediately in front of the newcomer. “Want some?” she offered.
But Bonbon barely seemed to notice her. All she could do was stare in awe at the Welcome Wagon, noticeably impressed. “Wow,” she murmured under her breath. “That's...that sure is some cart.”
“I know, right?” beamed the pink-furred mare. “And you can count yourself lucky too, 'cause you're the first pony to see it working – well, aside from yours truly, of course,” she added with an awkward grin.
“Yeah...I guess so,” mused Bonbon thoughtfully. She then returned her attention to the cake with which she had just been presented, trying to decide whether or not she should accept the offer. Her mother had often advised her against accepting gifts from strangers when she was a filly, but the pink-furred mare seemed so friendly and the cake looked so delicious that she found it hard to resist. “I suppose I could maybe take some of this,” she decided at last. “Haven't really got a lot for lunch, so...”
“Then it's all yours, friend!” Before Bonbon could even think of anything else to say, the pink mare whipped the cake out of the oven, returned the piece she had just cut and placed the whole confection inside the cart among the other sweets. She then hitched up to the Welcome Wagon and turned to give a final cheery smile; “See you round,” she chirped. “Let me know when you want that Welcome Party!”
“Uh...sure...I guess.” Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by what had just transpired, Bonbon set off down the road again without another word, silently praying that not everypony in Ponyville was as random as this exuberant teenager.
Less than five minutes later, the cream-coated young mare arrived in the marketplace and parked her cart next to her candy stall. It wasn't very large, but it was a colourful affair nonetheless, with bright red and white stripes on the marquee while the counter was festooned with images of chocolate bars, candy canes, lollipops, pear drops and other confections. All in all, it looked very cheerful and inviting.
Because of its small size, Bonbon quickly found that there wasn't nearly enough space in the marquee to store all the sweets she had made, so in the end, she decided to leave most of them in the cart and come back for more as and when they were needed. This in turn meant she was finished with stocking the counter a lot sooner than she expected, leaving her with a long, boring wait until it was time to open up – or so she thought.
“Morning, Bonbon,” called a familiar voice. “Opening up for business already, are we?”
Bonbon looked up, and was pleasantly surprised to see Lyra standing nearby. “Hello, Lyra,” she replied. “Didn't expect to see you out here so early.”
Lyra chuckled. “Ah, I always come down and help prepare one or other of the local shops for customers.”
“Oh, right? Which ones?”
“Oh...none in particular,” said Lyra cheerfully. “I'm something of an odd-jobs mare around here. Some days I'm working at Sugarcube Corner, some I go help the local greengrocer – heck, I've done stints in every shop and every workplace in Ponyville...except Sweet Apple Acres, that is.”
Bonbon raised an eyebrow. “Sweet Apple Acres?”
“The local orchard,” explained Lyra. “They grow some wonderful apples there – best in Equestria, so I'm told. They're a bit particular about employing other ponies, though, it being a family business and all. But yeah, regarding jobs, I don't really mind what I do,” she added. “Anything suits me as long as I can get a few decent meals out of it.”
“So let me get this straight – you're saying you kind of drift from job to job?” Bonbon stared in confusion. “Why not land yourself with a more permanent one as a lyrist?”
Lyra chuckled again. “Well, in an ideal world, yes, I would be putting that lyre to use as a profession,” she admitted, “but the trouble is, there's no full-time call for a lyrist in Ponyville. I do have the odd party or festival, but it's only really good as a hobby most of the time, so I have to make use of lesser talents in order to earn my keep.”
“I see.”
“Anyway,” went on Lyra, “seeing as we've got time before this place opens, how about I take you to meet some of my friends?”
Bonbon pondered for a few seconds. She wasn't too sure about leaving her stall unattended for too long, and admittedly she was still a little nervous about meeting new faces; but on the other hoof, she would be selling her goods to complete strangers anyway, so she could do a lot worse than take up Lyra's offer. Besides, it was better than sitting around and doing nothing. “Yeah, why not?” she decided.
“Okay then, let's go.”
Lyra led Bonbon across the street to a cheery pink half-timbered building with cherry-red woodwork and a hanging sign depicting a strawberry and a bunch of grapes. It almost looked like an old-time tavern; but when the two mares entered, Bonbon noticed that the interior was much more welcoming and less claustrophobic, with soft, comfortable sofas and bright, happy colours – in fact, it looked more like a cocktail lounge. The air smelled sweet and fragrant, as if she were wandering through an orchard at the height of summer, and everywhere she looked, she could see images of various kinds of fruit from apples and berries to mangoes and bananas printed onto the walls, carpets, furniture and even the bar on the far side of the room.
Behind the bar stood the owner, a mulberry-coated mare with cerise mane and tail aged somewhere in her twenties. Her Cutie Mark matched the image on the sign, and she was humming quietly to herself as she prepared for business. As Lyra and Bonbon approached, she looked up with a cheerful smile. “Morning, Lyra,” she greeted. “Come for breakfast already, have we?”
Lyra chuckled. “Thanks, Berry, but I've already eaten. Wouldn't mind a minty pineapple smoothie, though.”
“Coming right up, friend,” replied the mare, reaching under the counter. “How's life been treating you?”
“Not bad, thanks,” said Lyra. “Bit of practice with the lyre here, odd jobs there, it all adds up. So how's business? I heard from Flitter that you were working on a new summer fruit cocktail for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration.”
“New summer...oh yeah, my Sunny Sweet Surprise! Well...yeah, it's getting there,” said the mulberry-coated mare as she stood up again with the required ingredients for Lyra's smoothie. “Still needs a little more work, but I'll get there in the end.”
“Oh, I don't doubt you will, not for a second,” smirked Lyra. “By the way, you know how I happened to mention a new friend of mine named Bonbon?”
The mulberry-coated mare stopped. “Oh? What about her?” she asked curiously.
“Well, as a matter of fact, she's opening up shop today, so I thought I'd bring her over.” Lyra turned to her cream-coated new friend; “Bonbon, I'd like you to meet Berry Punch, the proprietress of the Mulberry Bush Juice Bar. Berry Punch, this is Bonbon.”
Berry Punch gave the newcomer a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, Bonbon,” she greeted. “Welcome to Ponyville.”
“Thanks,” replied Bonbon. “This sure is a neat little set-up you've got here.”
“Oh...you're too kind,” laughed Berry Punch, visibly flattered. “It's only a drinks outlet really.”
“Not from where I'm standing,” retorted Bonbon. “You've done a neat job of making it all cheery and appealing, especially to little fillies and colts.”
“Yeah, and she does an even neater job of mixing smoothies and fruit cocktails and such,” put in Lyra sagely. “You ought to try some, Bonbon; you don't know what a proper smoothie tastes like until you've had some of Berry Punch's finest.”
“Uh...well...” Bonbon looked uncertain. “I don't know, Lyra – it's all a bit new to me...”
“Ah, go on,” goaded Lyra. “Just a tiny sip of smoothie.”
“Tell you what, Bonbon,” offered Berry Punch helpfully, “I'll give you one on the house and you can see if you like it.”
Bonbon hesitated for a few moments before finally nodding her approval. “Yeah, I suppose I might as well give it a go. What do you recommend?”
“Well, what fruits do you like?”
“Anything as long as it's sweet.”
“Okay then...how about a Sunny Sweet Surprise?” suggested Berry Punch. “With a bit of luck, I might actually get it right this time.”
“Sure.”
With that, the mulberry-coated mare reached under the counter again and resurfaced with a small selection of summer fruits. Bonbon watched with interest as she placed them in what appeared to be a rather odd-looking kitchen appliance, which responded by filling the small jug by its side with a sort of hot-pink liquid. Once Berry Punch was satisfied that she had made enough, she stopped the machine and poured the liquid into a paper cup, which she then passed over to Bonbon.
“Well,” murmured Bonbon, raising the cup to her lips, “down the hatch,” and she took a cautious sip. Almost at once, her eyes widened, and she set the cup down with a look of awe on her face.
Berry Punch tilted her head, unsure how to react. “What's up?” she asked anxiously. “Don't you like it?”
But the cream-coated young mare wasn't listening. “Wow, Lyra!” she remarked. “You were right about Berry Punch and her drinks – this really does taste like summer!”
Lyra grinned, feeling a small sense of triumph as she turned to Berry Punch. “Well, Berry, seems you've got yourself another hit,” she quipped.
“Oh, well that's something,” mused Berry Punch, visibly relieved. “For a moment, I thought I might have made a hash of it – again!”
“Nah, I wouldn't say that,” observed Bonbon. “Just needs a teeny bit of lychee juice in it, and I reckon you'll be onto a winner. I should know – I've grown pretty good at working out how to get perfect flavours ever since I first started making candy,” she added proudly.
“Hmm...might not be a bad idea, I guess. Yeah, I'll give it a go some time.”
“Other than that, I'd say you've done a smashing job with this stuff,” finished Bonbon. “Best drink I've ever tasted so far.”
Berry Punch blushed modestly. “Oh, it's...it's nothing really. It's what I do, after all.”
“Morning, Berry Punch. Business as usual, I see?” Bonbon looked up from her drink to notice a goldenrod mare with a curly orange mane and tail approaching the bar. Her Cutie Mark consisted of three carrots on each flank, and two heavy-looking saddlebags were draped either side of her back.
“Oh, hullo, Carrot Top,” said Berry Punch cheerfully. “Are those the fruits I ordered last week?”
“Yep,” replied the mare. “I tell you what, though, you wouldn't believe the trouble I'd gone through for the lychees and the mangoes you wanted,” she went on with a wry smile. “I thought I'd have to go straight to Chineighsia and Zebrica in order to get them!”
“Ah well, at least you've got them, that's the main thing,” mused Berry Punch. “And just as well too – my newest customer here has recommended that I use lychee juice in my Sunny Sweet Surprise.”
“Oh yes? And who would that be?”
Lyra decided to step in at this point; “This one right here, Carrot Top,” she clarified, pointing to the cream-coated mare. “Her name's Bonbon; she's only just moved in from Delamare and has set up a candy stall here. Bonbon, this is Golden Harvest, our local whole-food dealer. We all call her Carrot Top for her Cutie Mark.”
“How do you do?” said Carrot Top politely.
“Not bad, thanks,” answered Bonbon. “Still getting used to this place, but I seem to be managing okay so far – apart from being tormented by some pink party animal, that is!”
Carrot Top laughed. “Oh, that's Pinkie Pie,” she explained. “She's a right bundle of energy, always throwing parties and playing jokes and just generally being ridiculous in a lovable way.”
“She can get extremely random at the best of times as you've probably already guessed,” put in Lyra, “and there's so much we don't understand about her that you could make a complete dictionary out of it! But her heart's in the right place, and we all just tend to make out like we do understand her. By the way, I don't suppose she offered to throw you a Welcome Party?”
Bonbon paused. “Well...now you come to mention it, yes she did. I had to refuse, of course, seeing as I don't have any real friends here yet, but......well, I still think it'd be good if I could at least have a little gathering at my place sometime.”
“Yeah, sounds a pretty cool idea,” agreed Lyra. “Only when you feel ready for it, though.” She then looked up towards Berry Punch; “I have to say, though, I'd have thought my smoothie would be ready by now.”
“Ah...sorry about that, Lyra. I'll get right on it.” With a sheepish grin, Berry Punch began preparing the smoothie that her mint-green friend had ordered not fifteen minutes ago.