> Lyra's True Feelings
>  by OtenBrony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Lyra the Baker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ponyville was bustling with business, ponies buying products from stalls and stores and ponies traveling to or from, but it was also a very quite town in many ponies' eyes. Many ponies were traveling to their work with a happy smile and wave to anypony that they traveled by. Everypony in the town seemed to be busy with some sort of task, except one cyan, unicorn mare sitting on a bench in the park of Ponyville. Her mane was turquoise blue with a white stripe within the sea of green/blue mixture. Upon her flank rested a cutie mark of a lyre, showing that the mare's destiny was revolved around playing the small instrument. Her cutie mark did not lie to anypony. The unicorn mare, who's name is Lyra, was one of the best lyre players in all of Equestria, and she held that title with pride. Whenever she grabbed and played her lyre, everypony stopped to admire the beauty of each note that was strummed across the strings. They chained together to tell a story of beauty and magnificence that anypony could love.   
The skilled mare was sitting on the bench in an odd way that nopony would ever fully understand like Lyra did. The position was one of a bipedal form, one used by the fabled creatures she called humans. Nopony really accepted her ideology of humans except one of Lyra's friends, Bon Bon, an earth pony mare. Lyra had met Bon Bon about two months ago while she was playing her lyre in a cafe. Bon Bon heard the song Lyra was playing and complimented her playing. Lyra always accepted compliments but she was struck by the earth pony's beauty and her sweet voice, plus her personality was even better. She was sweet and very kind to Lyra even though they just meet the same day. 
They sat at the cafe and talked for quite some time. Bon Bon talked about how she was hoping to open a sweet shop and Lyra talked about her past with playing the lyre and eventually slighty got on the topic of humans. Bon Bon found it quite odd, but did not judge Lyra because of it. Lyra had always appreciated that Bon Bon accepted her love for humans. Even though she hadn't proved it yet, Lyra was sure would prove them real one day in her life. 
Bon Bon just closed her eyes and shook her head with a slight smile on her muzzle whenever Lyra went on one of her human rants. Although Lyra was always slightly saddened when Bon Bon did this, due to the fact that Lyra always loved looking at Bon Bon's beautiful blue eyes. They always mesmerized Lyra and seemed to be staring straight through Lyra and into her soul. The combination of Bon Bon's gorgeous eyes, cream colored coat, and her curly blue and pink mane always made Lyra keep her gaze on Bon Bon for the longest time. She just couldn't resist taking in the sight of the beautiful mare that had captured her heart since around the time that they first met. 
Lyra only wished that one day Bon Bon would return these feelings that she was feeling. If Bon Bon ever did, then Lyra would be able to just hold Bon Bon close to her in her hooves and plant sweet tender kisses on her lips. The thought of being able to do these actions with Bon Bon made Lyra sit on the bench and just smile like a little foal on Hearth's Warming Eve.
Then, when we get alone together, Lyra began to think with a sly smile on her face, we could then...
"Hello? Equestria to Lyra?" came a soothingly calm voice from reality. Lyra's dirty thoughts were suddenly cut off by a certain earth pony. Lyra looked towards the voice to see Bon Bon standing next to her. 
"Oh hey, Bon Bon. What's up?" asked Lyra not being able to hold a smile back knowing her secret love was next to her.
"Well you asked me to visit you here remember? You didn't actually tell me the reason. You said it was a secret." 
Lyra scrunched up her muzzle until the past telephone conversation that happened yesterday came back to her. "Oh yeah! Well you remember how you said your sweet shop was open now, right?"
"Mhmm, it is. And the business is going great," came Bon Bon's reply with a smile, "although maybe a bit too great. It's hard to keep up with all the ponies that come in to order."
"Yeah, well I called you here to offer my hooves to help with the store. I could help with all the customers that come in," Lyra said with a confident smile.
"But Lyra, you play the lyre. Are you sure you'd be able to handle a sweet shop job?"
"Are you doubting my powers? Don't you worry about me not being able to handle it. My amazingness knows no ends," said Lyra with false cockiness with a confident smile still on her face. Despite what she just said, Lyra knew that she wouldn't fair too well in the shop. Even with this in mind, Lyra still wanted to help Bon Bon with her job. She wanted to help Bon Bon in anyway possible. It really made Lyra happy knowing she made Bon Bon's life better in anyway possible. Plus, it could score some time with Bon Bon. And maybe I'll finally be able to tell her my feelings this time when we're together at the shop...hopefully,thought Lyra remembering all the times she had told herself to tell Bon Bon the truth of her feelings, but cowered out in fear of how Bon Bon would react.  
Bon Bon sat there, obviously in deep thought about the proposition she was just offered. She was staring at the ground with her hoof rubbing through her curly mane. She eventually looked back up towards Lyra and smiled a sweet smile before saying, "Alright, I'll take your offer. I could really use the help."
"Don't worry Bons. I can handle it," said Lyra smiling back at Bon Bon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can't handle this," mumbled Lyra to herself whilst breathing heavily. She believed working at a candy shop would be nothing than just handing ponies their orders or grabbing treats out of the oven, but oh was she wrong. Lyra then began to recollect all the events that took place in the shop while she was there. 
When Bon Bon first lead Lyra into the shop, she could not help but just take in the scent of the sweets and the sight of the store. The shop was overwhelming with the smell of baking goods which probably came from the pre-baking goods Bon Bon put in the ovens before she left to meet with Lyra. The aroma headed all the way to the front room in which Lyra and Bon Bon walked into, the waiting/reception room. 
"This room is for customers to place orders and wait for their order to be completed," Bon Bon explained. She then walked behind a counter that sat near the back of the room "And this is the counter in which the customers place their orders or pick them up when they're completed."
Lyra looked to a stairwell in the room and pointed a hoof towards it, "What's up there?"
Bon Bon looked towards where she was pointing and looked back towards Lyra with a smile, "Oh, that's just part of the building, not part of the shop. There are some rooms up there and just some things like that." She then walked through a doorway in the wall behind the counter that lead to the source of the baking smell. "And this is, kinda obviously, the kitchen," she said which a smile on her face looking back towards Lyra who had just walked through the doorway. 
"Wow, it smells amazing in here. What are you cooking, Bon Bon?" asked Lyra with great curiosity.
"Truffles, bonbons, cookies, little creme cakes, and full sized cakes for special orders," was her reply.
"Alright. So what will I be doing to help out? Cooking, cleaning, orders, or what?" questioned Lyra.
Bon Bon first asked Lyra to decorate some truffles while the other sweets were being baked. 
"Just make them as beautiful as possible for the customers," stated Bon Bon as she left to turn the shop sign to OPEN.
"Alright, no problem. Just some simple decorations. I can handle it." Or so she had hoped. Lyra grabbed some items that she deemed would be useful, such as sprinkles, icing, chocolate bits, and things of the sort. Lyra grabbed the trey of truffles with her unicorn magic and brought it over to herself. She then prepared to try and become a part time baker to help Bon Bon, or at least try. "Because she's worth it, especially to me...," whispered Lyra to herself. 
Lyra had done her best with the decorations, but for some reason there seemed to always be at least one thing wrong with them. Lyra's hooves always fumbled when adding sprinkles or icing or any form of topping decoration and could never get it completely right. It would be piled too high on the sweets or the decorations would fall off the top or it would just look completely horrible. One specific attempt unfortunately consisted of all three failures. "You belong in a fire and to never be witnessed by anypony," Lyra told the truffle in a hushed voice.
After a little while of Lyra's failed attempts, Bon Bon came to check on Lyra in the kitchen. Her smile faded a bit when she saw Lyra's...'handiwork' with the sweets.
"Uh...Lyra, maybe uh...maybe you can just go take orders. I'll finish up with the sweets, don't worry," encouraged Bon Bon with a small, forced smile. 
"Yeah, they're pretty bad. Don't worry, I know. I did a horrible job on these," stated Lyra looking at her decorated creations that would probably make a foal cry a bit. 
"Hey, you did your best, Lyra. I'm sure you'll do better if you work the front counter," offered her friend. Lyra just nodded her head and trotted towards the front counter with her head low to take and hand out orders.
Then began Lyra's second task in the shop, which, in Lyra's mind, went worse than the first. Lyra took and wrote the orders down well enough with a pencil and small piece of paper wrapped in her magical grasp. But after that, the chaos began. Lyra would hand orders to the wrong customer, make the pony wait too long due to the fact that she couldn't not find them in the sea of customers, or simply lose her concentration and let the pony leave without paying for the sweets.
Damn it! That's another order I'll have to pay for myself. Freaking cheapskate ponies, they could at least be nice enough to pay without me having to remind them that this food is NOT FREE, thought Lyra to herself when she realized somepony had walked off without paying the bits. She usually would have chased after them, but the swarm of customers dismayed the mare from the idea. The stress was beginning to really get to Lyra at this point. She was becoming exhausted from the work that she didn't excel at and she began to get angry at the customers for being so never ending. 
"Do they ever stop coming in!" Lyra mumbled to herself as she levitated a piece of paper enveloped in magic that contained an order to Bon Bon before she disappeared into the kitchen to produce more sweets for the customers. Lyra sighed to herself, "Only for you, Bon Bon."   
After about what seemed like forever for Lyra, Bon Bon walked towards the door and swapped the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Lyra felt a rush of relief wash upon her at the sight of the sign changing, and felt like she could have toppled to the floor right then and there. 
"Lyra," began Bon Bon, "I can't thank you enough for this. You were a tremendous help to me. Well at least at the counter you were." She finished her sentence with a giggle remembering how Lyra had decorated the sweets. 
The exhausted Lyra looked at Bon Bon with a smile before saying, "It was no problem, glad to...glad to be...of help." Lyra swayed and almost fell right into the floor. Bon Bon rushed over to her friend and a hoof around her, supporting Lyra to make she that she didn't fully fall. Lyra was so tired from the work that she didn't even register that Bon Bon was holding her.
"You're probably completely worn out, Lyra. Why not just stay here tonight? Your house is a far ways away and I don't wanna risk you passing out on the way home; I'd feel completely awful if you did since you were helping me all day." Lyra was so tired that it took her a few seconds to comprehend what Bon Bon had just said, but when she did she almost burst with complete joy. Then she fully recognized that Bon Bon was standing right beside her, close enough for them to be touching bodies, and one of her hooves was wrapped around her. The urge to burst with joy came back in full force, but Lyra shook the feeling away and decided it would be best if she didn't act like a little school foal in front of the one she loved.
Bon Bon lead Lyra to a guest room in the upstairs part of the shop in which there was a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand with a lamp on it next to the bed. The walls were a simple blue paint coat with nothing designed upon them. 
"So wait, you live in the shop? Since when? I thought you lived in that apartment complex next to the Cake's." questioned a confused Lyra, looking at Bon Bon.
"When i first bought this place a week or so ago, the upstairs wasn't being used at all when i got the shop finished up on the ground floor, so i decided 'Why not bring home and work together'. It really does help with bits when you only pay for one rent.," was Bon Bon's reply.
"Huh. Okay, cool." Alright, this is a good time as ever. Just tell her the truth of your feelings. Come on...you can do it,thought Lyra, mentally pushing herself to tell her friend about her feelings. "Hey...uh...Bon Bon?" began Lyra.
"Yeah?" came Bon Bon's reply.
"I...I..have to tell you some...someth..something," Lyra stuttered out eventually. It was just both of them standing in the guest room, but it felt to Lyra like a million eyes were staring at her at the time. She was nervous beyond all belief and started to shake. She could only hope that Bon Bon wasn't noticing and it kinda made the fact that Bon Bon let her walk by herself to the guest room better so that Bon Bon couldn't feel the shaking if she were still holding her up.
"I...I lo...," began Lyra, but she wasn't not able to finish her sentence. The sentence was cut short by the pressure of lips being pressed against hers. A pair of lips that belong to a cream colored mare named Bon Bon.
	
	
> Chapter 2: Forgiveness 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Lyra just stood there as the mare she loved was kissing her. She could not believe that her luck had actually turned in her favor at this moment. But that did not matter to her, the only thing that mattered to her was that mare she loved was showing feelings back to her. Lyra soon began to close her eyes and return the kiss.
"Um...Lyra?" droned a voice into Lyra's ears.
"Mhmm?" was Lyra's muffled reply since her lips were locked up at the time.
"What exactly are you doing?" was the voice's next question. Suddenly Lyra recognized the voice as the voice of Bon Bon. But the thing was, the voice of Bon Bon was coming from beside her, not in front of her, which is where the Bon Bon Lyra was kissing had been standing. Lyra suddenly spun her head towards the sound of the voice and saw the beautiful mare with a curly blue and pink mane staring at her with concerned, blue eyes. Lyra's eyes suddenly grew wide with shock as her brain finally comprehended what was happening.  
Lyra's fear began to grow at the realization that the Bon Bon she had been kissing was not really Bon Bon, but just some hallucination from being so tired. As much as Lyra hated to do it, she had to find out what she had been kissing. She slowly began to turn her cyan head back towards the fake Bon Bon. When her head was turned around, there was only one thing in front of her that could have been the perpetrator, the bookshelf in the room.
Oh you have got to be bucking kidding me. Really? REALLY!? Lyra's anger began to swell insider her unicorn body at the predicament. The reason not just being because the kiss wasn't real, but because she probably just looked like a complete crazy pony to Bon Bon just then. She had just KISSED a dresser in front of the earth pony. Lyra had told herself to act cool and calm and not embarrass herself in front of her secret love when she offered to help Bon Bon with the shop, but yet here she was, standing in front of a dresser that she had been making out with whilst Bon Bon stood there and watched.
Lyra could only imagine how Bon Bon was going to react to this display of her own stupidity. She had embarrassed herself before, but this was the icing on the cake. Lyra began to think of excuses she could use to make the situation better. Lyra put her brain into overdrive while trying to find a way out of this without losing any chances with Bon Bon.
Just as Lyra was about to say one of the excuses that she came up with to her friend, Bon Bon spoke up first. "Thinking of a special somepony, Lyra?" she asked with a sly smile across her face. 
Lyra was surprised and taken back by her friend's question and tried to quickly think of an answer. "Wh...what?N..no!" stammered Lyra. Yeeaahh, great answer, thought Lyra while mentally rolling her eyes. 
"Aw come on, you can tell me," insisted Bon Bon. 
"No! I wasn't!"
"Tell me,Lyra! Come on, please."
Lyra's frustration from the entire situation and from Bon Bon persistently trying to pry information from her began to build, and unfortunately it showed itself against Lyra's will. 
"No! Okay!? I wasn't! Just drop it, okay!?" spouted Lyra in a tone louder than she wanted. Bon Bon grew wide eyed and seemed a little taken back at her friends sudden anger. Lyra swiftly placed one of her hooves over her mouth at the realization of what she just done. She had just yelled at the mare that she loved with all of her heart. She wanted to always be there for the gorgeous mare, help her whenever she needed it, cheer her up whenever she was sad, and hold her whenever she called for it. But instead of what she wanted, Lyra had just acted like the opposite.
Lyra slowly removed the hoof from over her mouth and looked straight towards Bon Bon, who was just standing there in complete silence still looking at Lyra with her wide eyes. Lyra looked straight into her blue eyes that felt like they were staring right into Lyra's being and intensifying her guilt. Bon Bon's eyes usually showed kindness and understanding but they didn't right now; they showed a hurt pony. Lyra had hurt Bon Bon, the mare of her dreams.
Oh Celestia, what have I done....., thought Lyra, I...I have to fix this. I caused this, so I have to handle it.
"Bon Bon....," Lyra began, "look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's just I don't have a special somepony, so I was frustrated at the fact that I couldn't answer your question. So about the dresser then, I didn't even mean to be kissing it. I'm just so bucking tired that I didn't even know that I was kissing it," explained Lyra. And that's not I complete lie. I really didn't know I kissing a dresser; I thought I was kissing Bon Bon,retorted Lyra, justifying her explanation to herself. 
Lyra stood there and awaited a response from Bon Bon. She closed her eyes and began to expect the worse from the cream colored mare: a yelling, a hoof across the face, kicking her out, or anything that meant that Lyra would be punished. 
I deserve it....I hurt her when she didn't deserve it, so I deserve the hurt. I'll happily accept any punishment from you, Bon Bon, thought Lyra as she opened her eyes a little to look at the floor at her hooves, and with a small smile on her face knowing that the person who brought Bon Bon pain would not go unpunished.  Lyra braced herself for what was to come, but after a few seconds of bracing, she felt the tug of hooves around her. The surprised Lyra opened her eyes fully and looked up to see that Bon Bon was giving her a hug. 
What? But why? I hurt you..., thought Lyra.
"I'm sorry too, Lyra. I shouldn't have pushed the question on you so much. It was my fault too. You were tired because of me, and I basically teased you because of it. I'm sorry," were the words that came from Bon Bon's mouth. The cyan unicorn could only stand there in awe and respect for the forgiving and caring Bon Bon.
This is one of the reasons why I love you so much, you amazing mare, thought Lyra before wrapping her own hooves around her friend and returning the hug. When she did, the unicorn could only smile and feel happiness from the experience. Then Lyra suddenly realized, this is the first time that the two had ever hugged. The thought only made her smile more and become even happier. While they were embraced in each others hugs, Lyra happened to take in the scent of the lovely earth pony. The cream colored mare turned out to smell just like the delicious treats that Lyra smelled when she first walked into the sweet shop/home. 
I wonder if she taste like....no! Bad Lyra! This is a sweet moment, don't ruin it!, thought the unicorn to herself secretly. Although it was no secret that she began to blush at the thoughts that had begun to form in her head. She was just glad that Bon Bon couldn't see her face right now.
Bon Bon was the first to break off the hug after a moment or two. After doing so, she looked at Lyra with a bright smile upon her face. The cyan mare could only just stand there while she wished the hug between the two had lasted longer.
"Lyra?" came the question from Bon Bon along with a hoof waved in front of Lyra's face. Lyra was suddenly snapped out of her day dreams and realized that she hadn't been paying attention to what Bon Bon was saying.
"Sorry, Bons. What'd you say?" 
The mare just giggled a little bit that Lyra found absolutely adorable. "I said, you should probably get some rest. You've had a long day," she replied with a sincere smile on her face.
"Oh yeah. I probably should. Thanks again for letting me stay the night, Bon Bon."
"Well it's the least I could do. You helped me out so much today with the store. I should be the one thanking you," replied Bon Bon
"Well that is kinda true. You know, I don't think you would have survived the day without me. I am just that awesome, you know," joked Lyra. Bon Bon just rolled her eyes and smiled before telling Lyra where her room was in case she needed anything. 
"Well goodnight, Bon Bon."
"Goodnight, Lyra. Try to not dream too much about dressers in your sleep," joked Bon Bon before closing the door while laughing at Lyra's reaction. Lyra's muzzle scrunched up with a frown upon it at Bon Bon's last statement. She then proceeded to walk over to the infamous dresser.
"Let's get one thing straight. You and me? We're not a thing," hissed Lyra while narrowing her eyes at the dresser. After she was down with the stare down with the dresser, Lyra walked over to the bed and laid down in it to finally get some rest from the day. The mattress turned out to be excitingly comfortable to Lyra and the raspberry comforter set rested upon the mattress was even more so. She snuggled deep into the covers and felt all of the stress of the day leaving her as sleep began to beckon her.   
Ironically enough, she did actually dream about dressers. But in the dream, it mostly consisted of her beating one to nothingness.
"Hey, Lyra. It's time to get up."
"No, mom. 5 more minutes...," groaned Lyra from under the covers.
"Well seeing as how I'm not your mom, I don't think that excuse is going to work on me," said Bon Bon. Lyra lazily sat up on her hindhooves on the bed and looked towards the mare. 
"I still wished it worked though," stated Lyra as she roughly tried to manage her bed mane. Bon Bon just stood beside the bed and couldn't help but laugh at her friends bed mane. "Oh hardy har har. I'll fix it after a bit," grumbled Lyra giving up on fixing her mane.
"Well the bathroom is down the hall and on your left. You can just use one of the spare brushes that I have in there. Oh! There's also some breakfast prepared and everything. That's why I decided to wake you up this early, sorry," said Bon Bon trying to offer Lyra a forced half-smile.
"Oh it's all fine, Bon Bon. I really needed to get up anyway. I've gotta go around Ponyville and book an act," stated Lyra as she stepped out of the comfortable bed. She then turned around, looked at the bed, and used her magic to completely fix it back up, good as new.
"Where do you think of trying to get an act?"
"Uh....I honestly haven't thought that far ahead yet," chuckled Lyra rubbing her head with one of her hooves.
"Well I could always use a nice act here at the shop for full time," offered Bon Bon.
"What? Really?"
"Yeah. You're great on the lyre, and I'm sure it would really help keep the customers happy while I make their orders," answered Bon Bon. Lyra thought about the offer for only a second before taking it.
"Sure, sounds like fun to me," said Lyra, trying to suppress the inner joy she was feeling. 
"Awesome! You can start tomorrow if that'd be alright with you." Lyra nodded her head at the offered date, and Bon Bon then turned and headed out towards the kitchen where breakfast for the two mares was waiting.
"Well, I might have not made it too far yesterday, but at least I'll be able to help her a lot now and be close to her. It's defiantly a start, " Lyra said silently to herself with a smile across her muzzle, "because she's worth it to me." And with that, Lyra headed downstairs to the breakfast that had been prepared for her.
> Chapter 3: Positive Thoughts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	About a week or so had passed since Bon Bon had first given Lyra the job at her sweet store, and Lyra felt like the only way her life could get any better would be if Bon Bon and her were together. The job, first off, paid quite well. Bon Bon had made the payment offer when Lyra stepped into the shop of her first day. Lyra still couldn't believe the amount of bits Bon Bon offered her per hour.
"18 bits an hour!? Just for playing the lyre? Bon Bon, you don't have to pay me that much!" said the unicorn in disbelief.
"Oh nonsense. You'll be a great help here at the store. And plus, business has been so well that I can easily pay you that much, so no worries," replied Bon Bon with a huge grin across her face. Lyra wanted to argue some more against the outrageous pay to work ratio, but she had learned through their times as friends that Bon Bon will hardly ever change her mind. Lyra didn't even know if it was possible for Bon Bon to change her's; she's never seen her friend change her mind before. So in the end, Lyra reluctantly accepted the offer and was truly grateful for it.  
Secondly, Lyra got to spend practically almost the whole day close to the mare she loved. Sure, Lyra played her lyre in the reception room to easily reach the customers and Bon Bon was only there to take the customers' orders, but Lyra still loved the thought of the amazing mare being close to her. There were several times during the work day that Lyra just wished to stop playing her songs to the customers and just talk to Bon Bon, but she always resisted the urge since she knew that Bon Bon and her both had a job to do, and neither of them needed interruptions while working, especially Bon Bon. In the end of these urges, Lyra just sighed and refocused her mind on playing her lyre for the continuous waves of customers. 
"Jeez, they REALLY don't ever stop coming," said Lyra to herself one day while observing the enormous crowds of ponies swarming into the shop, "but I know Bon Bon can handle this crowd easily." And it was true; Bon Bon seemed to always stay calm, collected, and organized when faced with huge crowds of customers. She quickly took the customers' orders on her notepad, expertly rushed to the kitchen when the order was written down, and collected the complete order in an amazing time frame. Everypony that came into the shop seemed to be pleasantly surprised with the fast service that Bon Bon did along with a smile upon her face when she delivered the order to the customers.
The customers also seemed very pleased with the music that Lyra presented to the them. She sat upon a stool in her usual bipedal formation behind the reception counter, but out of Bon Bon's walking path. The bipedal sitting position made some of the customers confused and slightly uneasy, but these feelings were pushed aside when they heard the beautiful sound produced by Lyra with her lyre. The customers were quickly surprised by the quality of the music and were soon enticed and mesmerized to the point that they slightly forgot why they were in the shop in the first place. 
While at work, on this particular day, after Lyra had finished one of her songs, a little unicorn filly walked up to the  reception counter. "Miss Unicorn?" squeaked the young foal shyly. Lyra's eyes sprung open at the new sound, and they soon found their way to the filly. Lyra looked at the filly for second before smiling kindly at her and stepping off her stool. 
"Hehe. You can just call me Lyra. What's your name?" asked Lyra while trotting closer to the counter towards the filly.
"It's...it's Rising Hope," was the soft reply. "I..I just wanted to tell you that your music was really good." Lyra looked at the small unicorn while a huge grin began to spread across her.
"Well thanks. I try my best to make sure you all are happy while here," replied the smiling Lyra.
The unicorn foal suddenly began to smile back at Lyra, her shyness seeming to almost fade from existence. "It definitely made me happy while I was here. It was really beautiful," said Rising Hope before quickly looked behind her towards a stallion and mare. The stallion and mare seemed to be ushering Rising Hope towards them. Lyra could only assume that they were her parents. Soon Rising Hope returned her gaze back to Lyra, "Well I have to go back to my parents now. I hope I get to see you play again someday!"  
"That'd be amazing! I hope to see you then," said Lyra while waving goodbye to the now leaving filly. Lyra watched as Rising Hope's parents smiled at their foal as they left the shop. Lyra's happiness began to swell at the loving sight of the family. Lyra then trotted back over to her stool and sat back on it. As she did, a thought began to rise in her head, Will Bon Bon and I ever be a family like that? 
The question lingered in her mind for a bit as she sat in the stool. The thought of actually having a family with Bon Bon only made Lyra happier, but there was a doubt in her mind about her being able to get Bon Bon in the first place. The gloomy doubt made Lyra question if any of her work towards winning over Bon Bon was even worth it. The smile that had spread across her began to fade from the thoughts. She could just be trying to move an unmovable force. She would spend all her days trying for a dream that would never come true. She would die without Bon Bon in her life because she could never bring Bon Bon to love her back. 
But as quickly as the doubt came, she shook it away and told herself that one day she and Bon Bon would be together. They would live happily together one day. Lyra would eventually win Bon Bon over, and her dreams of the two being together would come true. The sunlight would beam in through the window waking her up, and she would be able to wake up next to her cream colored lover. The thoughts soon reawakened the smile that had been dashed by the doubt. She then proceeded to pick her harp up again with her magic and began to play another song she had been practicing at home. 
The crowd listened with perked ears at the new song that was emitted from the instrument. Several turned towards the source of the elegant song and smiled towards the player of the lyre. The fact that she was well received with the customers and even made a little fan made Lyra proud and extremely happy. When Bon Bon had first offered her the job, Lyra was so excited for it. Yet, when she returned back to her apartment, she began to worry and panic about it. Lyra began to drift off and recollect of her panicking of that day as she let her magic play the customer's music for her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What if the customers don't like the music or don't care about it? What if they yell at me to stop playing? I'm supposed to make them happy while they wait, but what if I fail? I don't wanna let Bon Bon down....she hired me to help her and I need to help her as much as I can." Lyra had paced around the apartment room for quite some time while contemplating such ideas out loud. The ideas only made her fear of going to the job even worse. The only thing that brought Lyra away from such thoughts was somepony knocking at her door. A questioning look grew upon Lyra's face as she began to wonder who was knocking on her door. 
When the unicorn opened the door, she was greeted by her neighbor, Berry Punch. She was a purple hued earth pony that had a distinct love for drinking alcohol and was also a mother to a filly named Ruby Pinch. 
"Oh hey, Berry Punch. What's up?" asked Lyra. She and Berry Punch were friends for sure, but not to the point in which they drop by each other's rooms for no reason. So Lyra was curious as to the reason why her friend had dropped by randomly.
"Hey, Lyra. Well I was just at the store getting a refill on my drinks and when I walked by your room, I heard you talking about something and you sounded a little distressed, so after I set down my groceries I wanted to check to see if everything was okay," was the friend's reply. She was obviously sober at the moment. 
Wow. I'll admit, I'm slightly surprised that she's sober. I can't even remember the last time I saw her like this. A year, I think? Something like that...,  thought Lyra. 
"Oh. Well it's nothing. Just a little worried about a new job I have. But thanks for the concern."
"Alright. Well if I may ask, does the job have to deal with you playing your lyre?" questioned Berry Punch.
"Uh...yeah it does. Why?"
"Are you worried that you may do bad or fail in front of some ponies?"
Can she read minds or something?  asked the unicorn to herself. Lyra just simply nodded towards her friend.
"Well I might not be a music pony or anything of the sort, but why not try to think happy thoughts while you're playing? Don't worry about messing up, just keep thinking about succeeding," suggested Berry Punch. Lyra just stood there for a moment, thinking about what her friend had said. Lyra had to admit it, Berry Punch was right. If she kept focusing and thinking about failing the job, then it would only worsen her performance when she did perform. She had to keep her head held high and keep her eyes on the prize. 
"You're actually totally right, Berry Punch. I've just gotta keep a positive attitude and keep my thoughts on succeeding. Thanks a whole bunch, really," replied Lyra with a new outlook on her new job.
"It's no problem. Anything for a friend in need. So I'm just wondering, but what are you trying to succeed in?"
"Oh...it's uh....noth...nothing...,"stammered Lyra while her cheeks began to turn red since succeeding to her meant getting Bon Bon to love her.
"Ooohhhh. I gotcha. I'll leave you alone about it then," replied Berry Punch, catching on to Lyra's blushing. The two mares stood in awkward silence for a moment with neither of them knowing what to say.
"Well you wanna hang out for a bit?" offered Lyra trying to break the silence.
"Oh I'd love to Lyra, but Ruby's still at home. Plus, my drinks are there," answered Berry Punch with a wink to Lyra. Lyra just smiled and shook her head while rolling her eyes. 
"Alright, well see ya later then."
"Goodbye, Lyra. See you later," replied Berry Punch before turning and walking towards her own apartment room. Lyra shut her apartment's door after she had heard Berry Punch open her own.  
"I can only imagine the good she could do for ponykind if she didn't drink so much."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra suddenly snapped back to attention when a certain noise penetrated her thoughts. When she opened her eyes, she quickly realized the noise was cheering. All of the customers in the store were all turned towards Lyra with their mouths in full open smiles and wide eyes. Lyra sat there in shock in confusion. Her eyes scanned the reception room to any hints of what had happened, but no hints were to be found. Then, in her peripheral vision, Lyra saw a cream coat standing near her. She turned towards Bon Bon and noticed that even Bon Bon was cheering at her.
"Bon Bon, what's going on? What happened?" asked Lyra in a hushed voice while leaning towards her friend. 
"Lyra, you....you just played the most beautiful song ever! I've never heard anypony play something as amazing as that! How did you do it?"
Lyra was stunned and taken back at what Bon Bon had just said. The most beautiful song ever....from me? No way... thought Lyra to herself.
"Come on, Lyra! Tell me your secret, please!" begged Bon Bon while placing her hooves close to the back of one of Lyra's hindhoof since she was sitting in her bipedal formation. Lyra looked towards Bon Bon's hooves with wide eyes. She could practically feel her face burning with redness. Lyra gulped and tried to gain her bearings.
Don't think about her hooves....just don't think about them....even if they are close to...NO! Stop thinking about it! she kept mentally telling herself. 
"Well, um....I just think po...posi...positive thoughts and...and keep my mind on succeeding. It re..really helps," stuttered Lyra to her friend, hoping that Bon Bon either didn't notice her blushing or blamed it on the sudden publicity she was getting. When Lyra looked at her, Bon Bon was staring at her with an awe struck look and her beautiful deep blue eyes were beaming into Lyra's.
Damn it! Why does she have to be so cute and sexy at the same time! thought Lyra frantically. The hooves were practically impossible for Lyra to ignore.
"Well combined with your skills, those thoughts made a beautiful song, Lyra. I'm so glad I hired you; you truly are a help around here. I mean, just look at all the customers," said Bon Bon while removing her hooves from Lyra and gesturing a hoof towards the crowd that was still excited and cheering from Lyra's song, "I've never seen them so happy before! It's great!" 
"Oh, well I'm just happy I could help you out, Bon Bon. Don't mention it," replied Lyra while smiling at her friend. The smile coming from both sincerity and the fact that Bon Bon had removed her hooves.
"Well you just keep doing a great job out here while I head back to the kitchen," said the earth pony while leaving to fill customers' orders.
"Alright! I'll do just that." After saying that, Lyra looked towards the customers that were still in awe of Lyra's previous performance. Lyra thought about it for a second, and decided to step off the stool, stand on all fours, and bow towards the crowd of happy customers. She then proceeded to sit back on her stool and play more songs from her lyre for the crowd. 
What you don't know, Bon Bon, is that you're what I was thinking of... 
> Chapter 4: The Special Ingredient 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In her apartment room, Lyra was suddenly awoken by her alarm clock that sat next to her bed. The unicorn sat up and looked towards the source of the annoying noise and realized that it was the alarm. She let out an annoyed groan at the thought of having to get up. After a minute or two, her ears could no longer take the harsh sound coming from the little box. She lazily reached towards the clock with a hoof and turned the damned thing off with great pleasure. "MUCH better," said Lyra out loud to herself. She then proceeded to head towards the room's kitchen to make herself a meal before heading off to work at Bon Bon's shop. 
In the simple, white coated kitchen, she fixed herself a light salad to fill her stomach up, but not make her feel bloated. Lyra had never really operated well when her body felt uneasy or fat. Her magic would begin to have a mind of it's own or she would have random spouts of exposition that she didn't want to say. Her mentality had been like that for as long as she could remember. She had tried to figure out what caused it and a way to fix it, but all of her searches ended to no avail. She eventually gave up on her searches and just tried to her best to stay out of situations in which her 'condition' would show up.
After the quick breakfast, Lyra hurriedly rushed to her bathroom to quickly brush her mane out. She had been so busy with eating that she didn't notice that her insufferable clock read 7:30 on it's face until she had gotten on her bed to rest some more. She had to be at Bon Bon's shop by 7:50, and just the path to get to the shop took about 15 minutes for Lyra. She quickly grabbed the brush with her magic and levitated towards her bed mane. Even though it hurt her from the tangles, she vigorously ran it through the mane to get it in its usual manner. The cyan mare looked at her rushed mane and decided that it would have to do. She rushed through the living room and out the front door while she levitated her bag that contained her lyre behind her. She had never been late to her job at Bon Bon's shop before, and she didn't want to start now. On most jobs, Lyra would have just accepted being a little late to it, but she didn't want to disappoint Bon Bon by making her wait. 
As she ran away from the apartments and down the street towards the shop, she began to think of ways to keep her head straight. Just think of something other than being late. Just keep calm, yeah! I've just gotta keep calm and run on! she told herself. She suddenly felt as if the phrase had a familiar ring to it. She tossed it around in her head for a bit as she rushed to her job, but nothing came to mind so she quickly discarded the thought. She then turned her thoughts back to ones that would occupy her mind without causing her to go insane from curiosity. 
Her mind soon became settled on the thoughts of how her job was going, but not of being late. So it's been what....2 weeks or so since that major performance? Hmm...well no matter how long it's been, the shop has definitely been booming, contemplated Lyra. Indeed, this was the truth. Ever since Lyra's performance of the song that everypony loved, the shop's business had easily been tripled.  Ponies from all over Equestria had begun to hear rumors of a shop where the sweets were extremely tasty and delicious and a mare played beautiful music with her lyre. Lyra thought that the shop had been jam packed with customers before and could not receive more business than it was, but she was wrong. 
From opening to closing time, the entire store was full of ponies trying to experience the rumors of the sweet shop themselves. This new influx of business was bittersweet for Lyra. On one hoof, the crowds brought in a lot of income for Bon Bon and she seemed very happy to be such a popular sweet store. On the other hoof, Lyra barely received anytime to talk to Bon Bon at work anymore. Lyra always felt a pang of sadness when she tried to talk to Bon Bon to only be cut short from the cream colored mare having to either take more orders or fix more orders for the customers. Lyra always just sighed and had to remember that Bon Bon's shop is now a huge hot spot in Equestria.  
As Lyra walked down the road thinking about such thoughts, she suddenly felt a strong force in front that caused her to fall on her rump. "Ow...," quietly said Lyra while rubbing her muzzle. Wondering what the cause of the pain was, she looked up towards the source of resistance. What she saw made her want to punch herself a million times over in the face with both hooves. She was looking with a VERY unamused face right to the door of the sweet shop. "Yeeahhh very good job at not embarrassing yourself, Lyra. You deserve an A+!!" mumbled Lyra mockingly to herself while rolling her eyes, "At least Bon Bon didn't see..."
She shook her head to do her best to forget the incident completely. With her muzzle still stinging a bit, she decided to ignore the pain and walk into her work place. She reached out with her magic and turned the knob and pushed the door open. She took in the sight within the shop, which both surprised Lyra and made her curious. The shop was completely empty in the reception room, not a single pony in the shop to be seen. She questioningly looked towards the clock that hung in the room and noted that it read 7:58. Lyra knew she had arrived late, but that was not what she was interested in right now. The shop should have been open and bustling with customers at this time. With her curiosity reaching to new heights, Lyra tried to get straight facts from somepony.
"Bon Bon? You here?" called Lyra.
After a minute or so, a reply came from the kitchen, "Yeah, I am. I'm back here, Lyra." Lyra noted that her voice had a bit of distress tied in with it, so she decided to trot with some extra speed to the kitchen.  When Lyra entered the kitchen, she saw a frantic Bon Bon rushing around in it. She was rushing from one cabinet to the other, throwing the doors open with her hooves and darting her eyes inside them. 
"Um...are you looking for something, Bon Bon?" asked the curious Lyra while watching the sporadic Bon Bon.
"Yeah, I am. Well to be more specific, I'm looking to see if I have any of it LEFT," answered Bon Bon all while not missing a beat on her search.
"What is 'it' exactly?" questioned Lyra.
Bon Bon then relaxed off her search and turned towards Lyra. Her curly mane seemed to be in shambles from her running around. She sighed and looked at the floor with a long face. "It's my secret ingredient for my sweets. I hadn't payed well enough attention to it since the business has boomed here. Now I'm out of it, and without it I can't cook my sweets like the customers like them. So I'll just have to close for today..."
So that's why there's no customers. She closed the shop since she can't make the sweets, thought Lyra.
"I have a shipment of the ingredient ordered and it should be in Ponyville now, but the sweets wouldn't be made in time. There's a baking stage before the ingredient is added and that stage would take some time. And if I go to get the ingredient, I can't start the first baking stage. If I start the baking stage and go get the ingredient, there's a very good chance the sweets will ruin while I'm gone," explained Bon Bon. While Bon Bon explained the predicament, Lyra sat on her rump and thought for a minute, but she already knew what she had to do. She had to help Bon Bon in anyway possible, no matter the cost. Making Bon Bon happy and at ease was Lyra's first priority. Lyra soon conjured an idea inside her head that would solve Bon Bon's problem easily.
"Well...I can't cook the sweets for you, but I can go get the shipment of the ingredient while you tend to the first baking stage of the sweets," offered Lyra. Bon Bon's head shot up and looked towards Lyra. Her majestic blue eyes began to widen and her lips began to form a smile. 
"Lyra, you'd do that? It's not part of your job so you don't have to if you don't want to," replied Bon Bon. 
Lyra just waved a hoof at Bon Bon's statement and replied, "I know, but I'm just so awesome that I could let this go without lending a hoof to help."
Bon Bon just sighed and smiled at Lyra's false cockiness. "Well...alright. I'll accept the offer of help. I could then open for at least some time today for sure." Bon Bon then proceeded to tell Lyra all of the information that she would need to pick up the delivery.
"Alright. I'll head there right away!" shouted Lyra with a mighty smile on her face. Bon Bon just couldn't help but smile back at her. 
"Lyra, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. Everypony can get their sweets when they want, and no have to wait."
"Hey it's no problem. I'm glad to be able to help." After saying that, Lyra trotted out of the shop and began galloping towards the Ponyville Post Office. 
Alright. List: Get to post office, get package from the desk pony, and return to Bon Bon and look like an amazing, irresistible mare to her, recited Lyra to herself several times as she tried her best to focus completely on the task at hand. This time even she shook her head at her wild dreams. I'm just getting a package. The irresistible part will come later, thought Lyra with a sly smile spread across her mouth. Then another thought came into Lyra's mind as she was galloping. I wonder if I'd be considered a creeper or stalker of Bon Bon if ponies knew I had these thoughts... The idea swirled around in Lyra's head for only a second before she dismissed it due to the fact that it was not important to her current task. 
"Must focus on job. Gotta do it for...Bon Bon. She's...worth it...," panted a tired Lyra. She must have been galloping for 15 minutes or so straight. The time that elapsed while Lyra thought really surprised her. Due to her tiredness, she slowed her pace to a slight trot to catch her breath. As she gasped air inside her screaming lungs, Lyra assessed her current, geographical position in Ponyville. She wondered how much longer it would be before she reached the post office. If she remembered correctly, she had passed the town square about 5 minutes or so ago. With that in her mind, she ran a hoof through her mane and thought about what that meant in relation to her time until she reached her destination. 
If that's so and I remember correctly, then that means I have a good 10 minute gallop before I reach the post office. Ugh...why must it be so far away? It's almost like it's not even a part of Ponyville! She stomped a hoof in the ground with enough force for her to feel pain from the resistance. Lyra was so fed up with the galloping that she didn't even care about the pain that quickly shot up her hoof. Even though she was complaining about the distance, her anger mostly came from the fact that she was very fatigued from her galloping. No matter what time of the day, Lyra would always get grumpy or angered when she was tired.
Lyra stood there for a moment in anger but then decided that the anger wouldn't help her task at all. She let go of her pride for that one second and sighed to help relieve the anger. She shook her hoof to escape the pain for a second before galloping once more towards the post office. As she was heading towards the destination again, Lyra focused her mind on the thoughts of being able to help Bon Bon in her time of need. Lyra knew that it was just getting a package of an ingredient, but she took the fact that Bon Bon would be happy with her to heart. The thoughts of Bon Bon smiling and being happy with the package delivery caused Lyra to forget her body's tiredness and gallop even faster towards the Ponyville Post Office. Her hooves began to work overtime while they began to slowly feel the burning sensation of fatigue. The sensation soon turned to pain that began to spread thought her body as she kept pushing her body further. Her body registered the pain that she was feeling, but her mind blocked the feelings and kept focused on succeeding so that she could keep heading towards her goal with great pace.  
Just as Lyra felt like her body was gonna pass out from exhaustion, the building of the post office showed up in her view. When she saw the beautiful sight, she mentally began to rejoice and feel very pleased with herself with how far she galloped to get there. Her thoughts were cut short by the sudden realization of the pain her body was feeling. 
"Ow.....," groaned Lyra when her mind finally allowed the pain to be felt. She slowed her pace to a brisk trot and quickly gasped for air to help ease the pain. Her mind had finally registered the pain, but she was still intent on not slowing up too much.  She trotted to the door to the post office and began to feel eminence joy at the fact that she had finally reached her destination. Unfortunately the joy was suddenly cut short when she closely looked at the door and saw a sign that read CLOSED upon it.  
"Are you fucking KIDDING me?!" yelled Lyra, not even caring that she had said one of her fabled human words in public. 
I can't fail Bon Bon! I have to get that shipment of ingredient!
> Chapter 5: The Retrieval 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Even though the chances were slim, Lyra dashed her eyes all around the front of the building to see if there was any possible way in Equestria to get in the office. She assumed all the doors were locked after she tried the front door only to be meet with resistance from the knob. Lyra began to flood her mind with ideas of how to gain access to the building, even thoughts of breaking in came up in her mind. 
No. I won't resort to theft...will I? It would just be one day of the shop being closed. Bon Bon would understand if I can't make it in the office legally. She would...right? Lyra knew that Bon Bon would since she's always kind and understanding, but the small fear of Bon Bon being angry or disappointed still held a strong grip on Lyra's heart and mind. She lowered her eyes to the ground and couldn't help but worry about the fear even though she knew it was unnecessary. 
Lyra began to think about how she basically promised Bon Bon that she would come back with the ingredient. Bon Bon had smiled at Lyra for taking the job and being there for her, and now Lyra would fail her. Thoughts such as those began to grow in Lyra's head and brought a sense of sadness and failure along with them. The sadness began to envelope Lyra and the feeling of being a failure caused her to feel like a completely useless pony. 
Just when the dark feelings seemed like they were going to dissuade Lyra from succeeding in the retrieval of the ingredient, Lyra forced herself to think positively and feel nothing but hope in her quest. She forced herself to think nothing except returning to Bon Bon with the special ingredient that she wanted. She quickly began to think of ideas of getting into the office again. Some of the ideas seemed to be either nearly impossible or just plain crazy, but it didn't matter to Lyra. All that mattered to her was that she return to Bon Bon with the ingredient. "I won't fail her. I can't fail her," said Lyra quietly to herself. 
A thought that she had a few minutes ago suddenly came back to her: theft. She trotted and looked around the building and eventually saw an open window on the side of it. She cocked an eyebrow in suspicion at how conveniently placed the window was for her new found plan, but she didn't argue with it.  Am I really gonna resort to theft? It seems kinda extreme...even for me, thought Lyra. She pondered the idea for a moment before making her decision. 
Yeah I am...I guess. I DID say I'd get the ingredient and it DOES belong to Bon Bon and the office shouldn't be closed anyway! So yeah, I am. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Lyra swiftly cut the last question from her thoughts in fear of what her mind might come up with for an answer. 
Lyra silently moved over to the window and laid down beneath it in case somepony was inside the room. She popped her head up above the window edge for a second to get a glimpse of the room. There seemed to be nopony inside the room that she could see. Lyra took a deep breath and tried to gain some self-confidence for her heist. Okay...okay...it's all good. Just remember how it went down in Metal Gear Pony, Lyra. Gotta be stealthy.
She then quickly vaulted her body over the window and landed on the floor of the room with a thud that she felt was louder than wanted. To take precaution in case the thud was heard by somepony, Lyra hid under the desk that was inside the room. Lyra, while under the desk, listened with all of her might for the sound of any hooves coming towards the room. All Lyra could hear was silence from the post office. After a minute of hiding, Lyra decided that it was all clear and decided to move out from under the desk.
She crawled out of the small space of the desk only to feel a slight pain in her back. Note to self, desks are way to small to hide in...ow, thought the unicorn while rubbing her back with one of her fore hoofs to try to settle the small pain. While doing so, Lyra finally took in the sight of the room that she was in. It was easily distinguishable as an office of somepony since it had a desk, a computer on top of the desk, and several filling cabinets pushed against the right wall.  
Lyra duly noted this finding as her mind snapped back to the job at hoof. She moved over to the door of the room and silently cracked it open to peer into the next area. She poked her head out of the door and noticed that she was looking at a hallway that was lit up by a chandelier with light bulbs instead of candles. She then saw a light switch on the right side of the hallway right next to the door she was looking through. 
Okay, so somepony must be here to have turned the lights on, concluded Lyra. With that in mind, she tried her best to move even quieter through the building. She silently creeped through the hall and tried to head to where she saw ponies disappear when they went to retrieve a package for customers. After heading through the hallway and several other rooms that were empty, she found the reception room and the front desk. When Lyra reached the front desk, she started to mentally picture the worker ponies and their paths to get an idea of where to go to find the package of ingredient. From her mental images, she believed the door behind the front counter would more than likely lead her to her desired location. 
Lyra quickly and quietly hopped over the counter and hid behind it in case somepony did hear her despite her attempts of being quite. Once again, Lyra could only hear silence from the office. She began to get concerned from the deathly silence. She knew that somepony had to be there, so where were they? It's not that she wanted ponies to be around to catch her, it just made her nervous when the post office was like a ghost town. Lyra shook her head of the thoughts and forced her mind to focus on her task and forget the fact of the ghost-like office. 
When she opened the door and walked into the next room, Lyra found the prize she had been searching for: the room where they hold the packages. Lyra's face lit up and a smile spread across her muzzle when she saw the room. Unfortunately, the happiness that she began to feel was short lived. 
She knew that the package she was searching for was in this room, but she didn't know WHICH package she needed to get. The room was packed from all of the packages inside of it. Lyra couldn't do anything besides just look at all of the packages that could potentially be the one she was searching for. Her mind couldn't even begin to think of a way to narrow the search down.
After a couple of moments of not being able to think of a plan, Lyra just mentally sighed and decided she would have to look at all of the packages until she saw one that said Bon Bon's Sweets Store upon it's label. Lyra dreaded this plan, but nevertheless she started putting it into action with the package that was nearest to her. She picked the package up with her unicorn magic and drew it near her. She held the label close to her face, but she couldn't read it because of how dark it was in the room without the lights. Forgetting that her mission was one of stealth, Lyra also used her magic to flip a switch that rested near the door that she entered through. 
The lights on the ceiling of the package room suddenly flipped to life with great force. When they did, Lyra quickly saw that the label on the package she had been holding with her magic read Rarity's Boutique. Lyra set the package down on the ground with disappointment. Lyra continued to do this for many more packages, all of which held no luck for her. She searched about twenty packages and began to fall into a routine of the package searching, but her routine was suddenly stopped when she heard the door behind her open. 
Lyra's concentration on her magic began to fumble and she dropped the package she had been holding. She then whipped around and stared with wide eyes at the pony that stood in the doorway. It was a pegasus mare with a light tan coat and a well-brushed, brown, straight mane. She seemed to be older than Lyra but not by much. Her emerald green eyes opened wide and looked at the room that Lyra had made a mess of with her searching. Her eyes saw that boxes that were supposed to be delivered to ponies soon were all tossed around in the room and not in order anymore. The eyes soon found their way to Lyra and quickly revealed anger to the unicorn mare. 
"Just who the buck are you?! I saw the lights of this room on from the lobby and when I investigate it, I find somepony in here when we're closed. You better start telling me who you are right now, thief!" ordered the mare with a harsh, venomous tone.
"Hang on! I can explain all of this!" replied Lyra.
"Well I think you better explain it all to the police when they arrive after I call them," retorted the mare. The thought of going to jail petrified Lyra and caused her to go into panic mode.
"No! No no no no no no! Please, just hear me out for a second! Please! I can't go to jail!"
The pegasus angrily stared at Lyra before releasing some of her anger and finally letting out, "Alright. I'll give you one chance to explain why in the hoof you broke into the post office and made a complete mess of the packages."
"Okay. Well I work at Bon Bon's Sweet Shop and I went to work today to find that Bon Bon was out of her special ingredient. She said she ordered some more but couldn't come get it. So I offered to get it for her and she accepted the help. When I arrived I noticed the place was locked up and closed, but I didn't want to fail Bon Bon so I broke in to find the ingredient," spouted Lyra in one deep breath, still in her panic mode. Lyra's heavy breathing was the only thing to be heard in the silence of the two mares. The pegasus mare stood there in the doorway for a bit, obviously in deep thought. While the mare was thinking, Lyra began to shake and become more frightened than a filly that had been caught stealing from the cookie jar. Her legs began to feel like they were going to give out and let her fall to the ground beneath her. 
The mare eventually started speaking again. "Hm...well your intentions seem good and everything, but I'm afraid I'll still have to turn you into the police for breaking and entering. I mean, do you even understand how crazy and extreme this was to do? It's just a package anyway," said the pegasus while pulling a cell phone out of the bag she was wearing. That statement was what pushed Lyra over the edge. 
When she was pushed over the edge Lyra fell down to the ground as her legs finally gave out from fear and sadness, and began to sob uncontrollably. Lyra usually didn't do this because she knew that she shouldn't let her emotions get the best of her, but she just didn't care at this point. She just laid on the ground and placed her head in her hooves. She let her body expel all the sadness and regret that she was feeling from failing Bon Bon.
The light tan mare suddenly turned her eyes back to Lyra at the new sound. She was in shock to see the cyan unicorn on the floor in tears. She was confused as to why the unicorn was crying and suddenly felt a sense of pity for her. Against her mind's wishes, she put the cell phone back in her bag and decided to talk to the unicorn some more. 
"Hey...uh...don't cry. Come on," said the pegasus awkwardly. She had never had to deal with a crying mare in a situation like this before.
Lyra turned her head up towards the mare and sniffled while trying to hold back more tears so that she could talk. "You don't understand. I failed Bon Bon. I tried being there for her whenever she needed it, but now I failed her and I'm going to jail as well..." 
The mare quickly caught onto Lyra's feelings for Bon Bon and suddenly felt two feelings from out of nowhere. One was sympathy for the lovestruck unicorn that had begun to cry on the ground again. The other was one that the pegasus hadn't felt in a long time: understanding. Lyra's story reminded the pegasus of her own love life before she settled down in Ponyville. The pegasus sighed and knew what she had to do.
Lyra was still crying on the floor when a hoof was suddenly extended out towards her. Lyra looked questioningly at the hoof and the pegasus that was extending it. Her tears and sadness were replaced for a second by confusion. Even though she was still in confusion, Lyra decided to take the hoof. When she did the pegasus helped Lyra to her feet. 
"I'm File Folder. I know, what a name right? I went through a lot of teasing because of it. I think my parents hated me and that's why they gave me that name. Anyways, what's your name?"
Lyra was still confused while in this emotional roller coaster that she was riding, but she managed to get out, "I..uh...I'm Lyra."
"Alright. Well, Lyra," Folder sighed, "I REALLY should turn you into the Ponyville police, but I'll let you go. But before you go, you need you package right?" Lyra could only stare in both confusion and gratitude at Folder for what she just said she'd do.
"You..you mean it? You'll help me out?"
"Yeah. I'm a sucker for love stories. Let's leave it at that," said Folder, "Also, if you did manage to steal the package, we would have to tell the owner of it, Bon Bon, that it was stolen. I don't think that would have gone over well between you two." Lyra was suddenly was really glad that she had been caught instead of making off with the package. She hadn't even thought about that consequence. 
"Just wait here and I'll return with a sign-off sheet that says that it was picked up. Don't move," ordered Folder as she walked out of the room. Lyra's body and nerves soon began to relax and feel some happiness returning. She would be able to return to Bon Bon without empty hooves and not be a failure after all. A slight smile of happiness began to spread across Lyra's mouth. 
When Folder returned, she was caring a clipboard with a sheet on it that contained many entries and numbers. "Just sign your name here. And since you're not the official owner of the package, you'll need to sign the code of release right here," explained Folder while pointing her wing to certain places on the sheet. Lyra easily remembered the code that Bon Bon had told her and quickly filled the sign-off sheet with ease. 
"Alright. So what's next?" asked Lyra.
"Now we find your package," replied Folder after making sure the code was correct. "Well I'll do most of the finding since I can read the coordinates on the sheet and actually find it. No offense meant."
"None taken."
While she was rummaging around a stack of packages deep in the room, Folder asked, "So if you don't mind me asking, how did you make it into the building in the first place?"
"Oh well I came in through an open window that I saw outside."
"Ah it must have been the one to my office. I opened it for some fresh air."
"You mean 'opened it for convenience'," stated Lyra to herself playfully.
"Huh? I didn't hear you."
"Oh nothing," replied Lyra mentally giggling to herself, "So if I came in through your office, where were you? I walked through a lot of the building and I didn't see you at all." 
"I was probably in the coffee room getting something to drink," answered Folder. After a few more minutes of Folder searching for the package, she suddenly yelled with enthusiasms, "Ah-ha! Found it."
Lyra jumped from the unexpected loudness, and it took her a while to comprehend what Folder had said. But when she did, Lyra felt like one of the happiest mares in all of Equestria. She didn't even try to hide the smile that was spreading across her muzzle. She looked towards the package that Folder had distinguished as Bon Bon's. It wasn't as big as Lyra had expected. It was slightly larger than a hoof, but no where near the size of some of the other packages in the room. 
"Hang on, Folder. I'll use my magic to carry it. It'll probably be easier that way for the both of us," offered Lyra. Folder looked towards Lyra and nodded her head, giving Lyra permission to do so. After Lyra and the package were out of the room, Folder turned off the lights and closed the door as she left. After doing so, Folder followed Lyra to the front door and unlocked it for her with the employee key that she had in her bag. 
As Lyra began to exit the building through the unlocked door, Folder stopped her with a hoof. "Hang on a second before you go. Now I have two favors to ask of you since I let you go. The first favor, don't you ever try something as stupid and extreme as this again for everyponies sake. As for the second favor, go win Bon Bon over."
Lyra gave Folder a confident smile and nodded her head, silently making a pact with her to keep the promises. And with that, Lyra galloped off back towards Bon Bon's shop with the package in her magical grasp.
	 
	
> Chapter 6: Return of the Lyra
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Lyra finally returned back to Bon Bon's shop after galloping for about 20 minutes from Ponyville's post office. Lyra felt a wave of relief wash over her body when she saw the shop come into her vision. The feeling of relief and relaxation only intensified when she reached the door of the sweet shop. Lyra looked over to the ingredient package that she held in her magical grasp to make sure that she hadn't imagined the whole experience of getting it. She sighed with happiness in between her exhausted gasps for air from the fact that she had succeeded. She felt happy that she wouldn't fail Bon Bon, but Lyra had to admit that she also felt very proud of herself as well. She had managed to get the ingredient while the office was closed with the help of Folder. Lyra knew that she had broken the law but the thought of making Bon Bon happy had erased that from her mind. Lyra just knew that Bon Bon was worth all of it.
At the door, Lyra grew a confident smile on her face and used her magic to use her shop keys to open the door. After she pushed the door open, Lyra trotted into the shop with the package floating in behind her. She looked around the reception room, but saw no Bon Bon in the room with her. Lyra grew confused after a minute or two of waiting in the reception. Surely Bon Bon had heard the bells on the front door jingle when Lyra walked in. So where was she? After waiting another few minutes, Lyra's confusion grew to concern. Lyra went and checked the kitchen to see if Bon Bon was there. Lyra inspected the entire kitchen to only be disappointed by the fact that Bon Bon wasn't there. She placed the package on the counter in the kitchen and began to rattle her brain about the situation. 
Okay. Um.....maybe she went upstairs to her room or something. But wouldn't she have heard the bells if she was up there? Where is she? Well I guess I should still check the upstairs, just in case. With that thought, Lyra began to head to the upper floor of the building. Her sunglow eyes began to dart and examine everywhere upstairs to see if she could ever find the mare she was searching for. Eventually, Lyra came across a room that she had never entered before. If Lyra remembered correctly, it was Bon Bon's room. Lyra glanced around the room while standing the doorway of it. She saw no cream coated mare, but she did see a book laying upon the bed in the room. Her curiosity outweighing her concern for a second, Lyra decided to inspect the book that was in the room. She imagined it would just be a simple thing like a cookbook, but Lyra was proved wrong very fast. 
When she reached the book, she easily saw that the front cover read "Diary" upon it. Lyra knew that she shouldn't invade Bon Bon's personal matters without her consent, but her curiosity was making it hard to resist. Lyra concluded that Bon Bon had gone out to Ponyville somewhere since she wasn't in the shop, so she would have ample time to read the diary if she wanted to. Lyra was seriously torn about what she should do with the diary. The morally right thing to do was to leave it alone, but to solve her fast growing curiosity, she should read it. After several moments of standing in front of the book on the bed and mentally debating with herself, Lyra decided to open the diary to read it's contents. She used her magic to levitate the book and open it to the first page. 
"Dear Diary, 
Well today was very interesting. I met a unicorn mare today. She said her name was Lyra. We meet at a cafe and talked for quite some time. She seems like a...
After Lyra finished that bit, she heard the bells of the shop ring. "Lyra? Are you here?" asked a familiar voice from the reception room. The voice belonged to Bon Bon! Lyra quickly became very scared and frantic from the idea of being caught reading Bon Bon's diary. 
"I'm up here!" called Lyra to Bon Bon. As much as Lyra wanted to read on and find out what Bon Bon thought of her, she had to make sure Bon Bon didn't find out that she had read the diary. She lowered the diary back onto the bed. She placed it as close to where she had found it as she could. She didn't have time to adjust it anymore so she just prayed to Celestia that Bon Bon didn't notice the difference. She rushed out of Bon Bon's room and tried to play it cool when Bon Bon appeared up the stairs.
"Hey Lyra. Um...just wondering, but what are you doing up here?" asked Bon Bon with a titled head and cocked eyebrow.
"Oh...I was...uh...looking for you. I came back from the post office and didn't see you down below. I decided to check to see if you were up here," replied Lyra with a forced smile, hoping Bon Bon didn't catch onto the lie.
Thankfully for Lyra, Bon Bon believed the lie. Bon Bon quickly dropped her questioning look for a smile towards her friend. 
"Oh alright. Well I wasn't here because I went into Ponyville to try and find something at the market, but I didn't find it. So oh well," stated Bon Bon joyfully with a huge grin on her face. "Also, I remembered almost as soon as I sent you off that the post office was closed today for a workers' day off. So I guess you didn't get the package?"
"Actually, you underestimate my power, young one. I did get the package," stated Lyra with a playful, haughty attitude.
"Wait...what? How did you....?" asked Bon Bon, her questioning look returning.
"Well there was a pegasus there who helped me get it. Her name was File Folder. She was pretty cool and kind."
"Oh okay," said Bon Bon in disbelief, "Well, where's the package then?"
"I placed it down in the kitchen," answered the cyan unicorn while pointing a hoof towards the stairs.
"Ah okay then. Do you think we can go inspect it? I'd be pleased if you'd help, Lyra," offered Bon Bon. Lyra didn't even have to think twice before agreeing to go with Bon Bon to the package.
After Lyra agreed to the offer, the mares both walked down to the kitchen to where Lyra had left the package she had picked up. When they reached it, Bon Bon shyly looked at Lyra. "Um...this may sound silly but can you turn around, Lyra?"
At first, Lyra found this pretty odd, but she disregarded it since it was Bon Bon's SPECIAL ingredient and all. Lyra shrugged and complied to Bon Bon's wish. Lyra shuffled around and quickly heard the fumbling of a package. After a while of the sound filling Lyra's ears, it suddenly stopped. 
"Okay. You can turn around now!" said Bon Bon with a cheerful attitude. Lyra quickly spun around to see that Bon Bon had placed a bottle of wine next to herself. Not only that, but the wine seemed to be expensive and very high shelf. Lyra quickly became very confused at the sudden presentation of alcohol.
"Um...Bon Bon, is your special ingredient wine or something?" asked Lyra. The bottle had obviously come from the package, so that's what Lyra thought it was. 
Bon Bon placed a hoof over her mouth while she tried to suppress a giggle. "Oh no! I got this," she answered while pointing the hoof she covered her mouth with at the wine bottle, "for us."
Lyra had never felt so flustered by anything in her life. Did I miss something? A bottle of wine together? Oh Celestia I'm so bucking confused! Lyra then began to think about what she should ask Bon Bon next to try to sort this out. Many answers came to Lyra's mind that would have worked well and not embarrassed herself, but she was so lost in the moment that she asked the worst possible question.
"Wait...Bon Bon, is this a date or something?" When Lyra realized what she had said, she mentally started beating herself up for being so stupid. Really? A date?! Come on brain, work with me!
After a moment or two, Lyra decided to assess the damage of her question. She looked over at Bon Bon to see how she had reacted. Bon Bon was still just standing in the same place except now she was blushing and giving a shy smile. Oh great. I probably made her feel really uncomfortable..., thought Lyra to herself.
After a quick moment of awkward silence, Bon Bon rubbed her head with a hoof and said, "Oh it's nothing like that. Don't you remember what day it is?"
Now it was Lyra's turn to rub her head while she tried to think about what day it was. "Um...I don't remember anything specific about today. Why? What day is it?" she asked her friend with a questioning look.
Suddenly Bon Bon's shy smile was replaced with a genuine, sweet smile. "Well, it's been one month since you became my employee. I don't know if many people celebrate their employee's one month anniversary, but I wanted to. You've been such an amazing help here and you are my very first employee. So I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate your help around here. The wine was ordered straight from Canterlot and I had it shipped over by today so that we could celebrate," explained the earth pony with a growing smile upon her muzzle.
Hm...well it's not like we're drinking together as marefriends, but having a celebration time with Bon Bon is enough to make me happy, thought Lyra while returning Bon Bon's smile.
"Ah I gotcha. Alright well thanks, Bons. That's really kind of you."
"Hehe. It's not problem at all. I'll go get us a couple of glasses," replied Bon Bon while trotting over to a nearby cabinet. When the cream colored mare returned with two wine glasses, Lyra used her magic to grab the wine bottle and pour each of the two mares a glass full of the wine. With that, the two mares began to drink the expensive wine together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra used her magic to grab the wine bottle and study the remaining contents of it. There was about one small swish of the wine left inside the bottle. Lyra's drunken sight forced her to keep staring at the bottle in case more of the alcoholic substance magically appeared. 
"Hey...Bon Bon, tha wine ish gone. Where dis ish go?" asked Lyra while slurring her words almost incoherently.  Bon Bon could only smile and shake her head at her drunken friend's absent mindedness. 
"Lyra, you drank a lot of it. That's where it went," answered Bon Bon. Lyra just continued to stare at the bottle for a while before nodding her head to what Bon Bon had said. Bon Bon wasn't sure if Lyra had fully comprehended what she had said, but she eventually just decided to ignore that thought.
Lyra then levitated the wine bottle towards Bon Bon and asked, " 'Ey Bon Bon, there ish still soom more wine left. You wanna ist?"
"No thank you, Lyra. Two glasses were enough for me," politely answered the earth pony. Lyra shrugged to Bon Bon's decline and proceeded to lift the bottle of wine to her own mouth and drink the rest of the alcoholic liquid.
After a while of talking non-sense and slurring many words, the day became very late for the two mares. After Bon Bon noticed how late it had become, she said she should probably be heading off to bed soon.
"Will you be okay to get home, Lyra? You're kinda...intoxicated," inquired Bon Bon.
"Oh yesh. Don't worre 'bout me. I'll be fine, Bons," answered Lyra while placing a hoof on the mare's shoulder.
"Well...alright. Be safe. I'll see you later then. Remember, we're closed tomorrow also. I've gotta restock on basic supplies," said Bon Bon. Lyra nodded to what Bon Bon had said and stumbled out the door to head back to her apartment room. That's the last thing Lyra remembered before blacking out and letting the alcohol take over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra was suddenly awoken from the sudden chill she received from her apartment's usual coldness. She reached a hoof down to pull her covers up, only to discover that she didn't have any covers. Through her hangover headache, Lyra squinted open her eyes to see where she was if she wasn't in her bed. When she looked, she quickly noticed that she was in her living room. She just assumed that she was on her couch. She didn't want to move her head to look around as to not risk worsening her headache. Even though she was cold, she was too tired and too hung over to want to go to her actual bed. The unicorn just accepted the couch and closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Lyra may have made it back to sleep too, if wasn't for the fact that she suddenly noticed a warmth around her belly area. 
She had an idea of what the warmth was, but Lyra didn't want to believe it. Against her own will, she forced herself to look to the warmth. It was what Lyra had feared it was. It was a hoof wrapped around her waist. Lyra forced her body to turn around to see who the hoof belonged to. When she did turn around, Lyra found herself muzzle to muzzle with Berry Punch.
Oh nononononononono!!! What happened!? What the fucking hell happened!? Lyra racked her brain to try to remember what had happened last night. 
Eventually, slight glimpses of memories came back to her. She saw herself met up with Berry Punch and hanging out together. Then somehow...they began to start making out. Then they ended up on the couch and Lyra straddled on top of Berry Punch. Then some memories of what happened between the two of them returned to Lyra. The memories caused Lyra to blush uncontrollably. She then tried to shake her head of all of the memories that were coming back to her.
Lyra didn't want to believe the memories. She just wanted them to be fake and for Berry Punch to be here for no reason whatsoever. Lyra wanted that to be true so badly, but a very important piece of evidence pointed to the memories being real: Berry Punch and herself lying on the couch together.
Okay. So Berry Punch and I....oh no! Wait...it's okay...no need to worry. It was a drunken mistake. It can just stay between me and Berry Punch. Nopony else will have to know, thought Lyra to herself trying to calm her nerves.
The plan to keep the incident between the two mares might have worked out well, if it wasn't for the door of the apartment suddenly opening. Lyra instantly turned her body back around to see who had opened the door. She easily noticed the cream coat and knew who the pony was before seeing her face. Much to Lyra's dismay, Bon Bon stood there in the doorway of the apartment.
Bon Bon just stood there a moment before connecting the scene together. "Oh. Sorry. I just wanted to check on you to see if you were okay from last night. The door was unlocked so I just decided to walk in. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I'll just leave," stated Bon Bon solemnly while swiftly averting her eyes. She then backed out of the doorway and closed the door on her way out. 
Lyra suddenly ignored all of her hangover pain and sky rocketed off the couch. She rushed over to the door and quickly remembered the sleeping mare on the couch. Lyra looked back at the sleeping Berry Punch. Lyra hated to just leave her there, but she had to go catch Bon Bon before it was too late.
When she walked out to the balcony of the apartments, Lyra saw Bon Bon galloping away in the front lot of the building. "Bon Bon! Wait!" yelled Lyra, rushing down the apartment building's staircase towards the fleeing earth pony. The cream coated mare stopped in her tracks and turned towards the cyan unicorn galloping towards her.
"What is it, Lyra?" asked Bon Bon with an obviously hurt tone.
"I just wanted to explain what you say back there. You see, I...," started Lyra.
Bon Bon quickly cut Lyra off, "I don't want to hear about it! I'm sorry, but I don't wanna hear about your 'personal' life!"
The angry, hurt tone in Bon Bon's voice caused Lyra to flinch and extreme anguish. Why is she being so angry? It's not like her...
"Bon Bon, why are you so upset about it? Please just tell me," begged Lyra.
"You wanna know why? Wanna know why I'm upset right now? It's...it's because...it's because I love you, Lyra! I always have had feelings for you! Now I found out you're sleeping with somepony else. So yeah, I'm upset!" yelled Bon Bon with tears starting to roll down her face. Lyra could only just stand there, dumbfounded by the words that Bon Bon had just said. Her mind couldn't wrap around the sudden forthcoming of Bon Bon's feelings. 
"I...I just want to go home. And be alone for a while. I don't want to talk. So please just leave me alone, Lyra. Don't worry about coming into work anymore. I'll...I'll just mail you your paychecks...goodbye." With that, Bon Bon started to go away back to her shop with her head hung low and tears falling to the ground. Lyra was still just dumbfounded by the events that just occurred. But Lyra was sure of one thing, she had screwed up big time.
> Chapter 7: Retribution 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	*Knock knock*
.....
*KNOCK KNOCK*
.....
"Lyra, I know you're in there. Please just come and socialize for a bit. It'll do you some good," called a voice from the other side of Lyra's apartment door.
"Berry, I don't want to talk. Just leave me alone...please," replied a hoarse Lyra from inside the apartment.
"Lyra, please just consider coming outside soon. You've been in there for almost 3 weeks now."
So...that's how long it's been. Close to a month. Close to a month without seeing...began to think Lyra. Although she couldn't finish the thought without tears forming in her eyes. Even though Lyra had fixed everything with Berry Punch and had been assured that it was all a drunken accident, she still couldn't fix everything with Bon Bon. After the incident on that horrible day, Lyra hadn't heard from Bon Bon or anything of the sort. The closest thing Lyra had gotten was a simple paycheck that was sent to her from Bon Bon's shop. Ever since that day, Lyra had taken it upon herself to never let her forget the incident she had caused from drinking too much. Everyday she forced herself to remember the tragic accident and the repercussions of it. 
You'll never get Bon Bon back now. Even if you went to her house and tried to explain everything, she'll probably just throw you out. You deserve it. You hurt her with your stupid drunken self! You deserve all of this. Every last bit of it. This is what Lyra told herself almost everyday. Each day, the venom and harshness in the voice seemed to grow immensely. Tears always rolled down her eyes and soaked deep into her cyan coat as well as her pillow. Usually, Lyra would have cared and dried her coat and washed her pillow but at this point she just didn't care. She didn't want to care. The only thing that Lyra wanted was to see the beautiful mare named Bon Bon. 
"Did you hear me, Lyra? I know that Bon Bon was important to you, but you still need to come outside at some point," stated Berry Punch, snapping Lyra back into the world. Lyra just stayed in her laid position on the couch and let the silence answer for her. After a few moments, Lyra heard the sound of hooves walking away, indicating that Berry had gone back to her own apartment. Lyra let out a sigh of disappointment due to the fact that she knew that Berry was right. She did need to go out. Lyra accepted that Berry was right, but she just didn't want to face Bon Bon in fear that she would turn Lyra away. The thought of Bon Bon turning her away brought on another wave of sadness over Lyra. 
Lyra thought she would have been used to this feeling by now, but it still caused her days to get even darker and more lonely. She buried her muzzle deep into the couch and just wished for everything to over. She just wanted to see the warming, sunny smile of Bon Bon once more. 
You've brought this on yourself. You caused Bon Bon a lot of pain. This is your punishment... punishment that you deserve. thought Lyra to herself bitterly as tears began to seep through her eyes. Lyra closed her body into a ball as much as she could and finally let her emotions take over her body. Tears began to flow unending from her eyes as she began to cry out for Bon Bon.
"Please....just come back to me. I...I just want you back so badly. I'm so...so sorry....," cried out Lyra in her dark, empty apartment. Lyra then forced her eyes shut to try and stop the tears to no avail. The unending tears caused Lyra's couch to become very soaked and disgusting. After a while, Lyra finally forced herself to get up from laying on the couch and try her best to clean the mess. As she lethargically walked into the bathroom to get a towel, she looked into the mirror that hung in there. It had begun to gather dust from not being cleaned, but it was clean enough for Lyra to see her own reflection. The bright and happy mare that had once stood in front of the mirror everyday with excitement of going to work was no longer there. Instead, she was replaced with a mare that was in shambles. 
Her mane was a complete mess. The usual brightness and neatness of it was replaced with dullness and it was strewn all across her head. Her eyes, that usual conveyed happiness and eagerness, were red and puffy from crying, and showed a deeply hurt mare. Her coat that was once washed neatly everyday was now dirty and demolished from the wetting stains from tears. 
"Is this really what's happened to me? Look at me....I'm a horrible wreck," stated Lyra sadly while running a hoof over her reflection in the mirror. "Why am I just laying around here...? What am I supposed to do though...?"
Lyra knew the correct answer, but she didn't want to face it. After a while of thinking, she looked at the ground and let out a long sigh. Lyra knew that she had to go see Bon Bon. Even if it meant getting turned away, Lyra had to at least try to talk to her. Lyra had to apologize and try to make amends for her wrong doings. It might not get Bon Bon back for her, but Lyra owed it to Bon Bon to make things rights.
The cyan mare's gaze at the ground ended as she closed her eyes and accepted the truth. Alright...I'll go see Bon Bon. I won't back down or give into fear....I can't. I have to do this...for Bon Bon's sake.
With a new found determination, Lyra looked around the bathroom for a instrument vital to her final mission. She quickly found it and grasped it in her magical grasp.
"Long time no see, brush," stated Lyra flatly as she brung the brush up to her mess of a mane. Even with the determination she just received, nothing could have helped Lyra with the pain she was feeling from the resistance her mane was giving to her brush. "Ow..ow...ow...Celestia damn it! Why in Equestria is this hurting so bad?!" questioned Lyra while magically throwing her brush onto the sink countertop in anger. Her answer came quickly as she looked at her bathtub. Lyra realized that she hadn't bathed in a long time and needed to, especially for her coat's sake. 
After she had finished bathing and washing her coat in a nice, relaxing bath, Lyra brushed her mane out with much ease. Lyra then decided to take a look at herself in the mirror now after her rejuvenation. Lyra's mane shined and actually showed some liveliness in her. Her coat was clean, looked soft, and also radiated new liveliness. Her eyes had also returned to their normal state. 
"Alright. I can do this. I'm...I'm going to see Bon Bon right now!" exclaimed Lyra, mostly to try and calm her own nerves. Going to see Bon Bon was going to be easy for Lyra, but fixing the wrongs she did was what scared her so much. She had no clue about what she was going to say to Bon Bon or do to try and fix the wrongs, but at this point that didn't bother Lyra. Lyra knew what she had to do, and planned to stick to it to the end. 
Folder's warning words of not doing things too extreme resurfaced inside Lyra's head. This caused Lyra to smile a little bit, something she hadn't done in quite some time. "Sorry, Folder. But if it comes down to it, I'll do something extreme for the relationship between Bon Bon and me." And with that, Lyra set off out of her apartment building with great speed to find the mare that consumed her heart's feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hot, blazing sun was beating against Lyra's coat and caused her to quickly lose her stamina from her galloping, causing her to have to slow to a steady trot in the streets of Ponyville. She gazed up to the sun with a hoof raised over her eyes and admired the beauty that had recently become a rarity for her. The sweet, gracious radiance of the sun only reminded Lyra of the unending beauty of Bon Bon and how sweet she was. The mental picture of Bon Bon's radiant smile caused Lyra's heart to feel uplifted and caused another smile to spread gleefully across her muzzle.
It also caused Lyra to feel a small ping of saddness within her heart from the memory of the pain that she had caused Bon Bon. The dark, sorrowful feelings slowly began to spread within her, demolising her resolve to even go see Bon Bon in the first place in fear that she would just bring even more ruin to the situation. But Lyra knew she could not have these thoughts fill her mind. She must achieve her goal no matter what. So with that in mind, Lyra hurriedly resolved the gloomful feelings with the hopeful thought that she was going to fix her wrongs. With the quick withdrawl of the sad memory, Lyra was easily able to regain her stamina with the hopeful thoughts of being able to see Bon Bon's smile, her gleaming beauty, and mesmerizing eyes once again. With the wonderful mental images playing throught her head, Lyra speed down the street to the sweet shop faster than ever before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the same time that the cyan unicorn was racing down the street with dexterous speed, a certain cream earth pony was packing up items in her sweet shop. The cream colored mare let out a long sigh and looked around at the place that she once called her room. I wish there was another choice, she thought to herself. But the picture that still sat upon her dresser told her that there was no other choice for her. The framed pictured two mares sitting beside each other, wearing a wide smile on both of their faces. The cyan unicorn in the picture was holding a lyre in a magical grasp of golden mist while the earth pony mare just gazed at the unicorn with a bright smile upon her face. But Bon Bon wasn't smiling anymore, at least not since she had her...incident... with Lyra. Bon Bon could barely recall what had happened without tears forming in her eyes and her heart tearing at her chest. 
Of course, Bon Bon blamed Lyra for nothing of what had happened. She was just being a mare...unfortunately for Bon Bon the mare wasn't her. The feeling of jealosy swarmed inside Bon Bon's heart whenever she pictured Lyra and that mare laying together, cuddling up next to each other with hoofs intertwined. Bon Bon knew that her jealosy was not justified since she had been too slow to express her true feelings to Lyra, but that still didn't stop the feeling from breeding inside of her along with a coupling of saddness and regret. Saddness from the loss of the mare that she had true feelings of love for. Regret from not telling Lyra the truth of her feelings from the moment that she figured out that she had feelings for the cyan mare.
While she had been in deep thought about the unicorn she loved, Bon Bon didn't even notice that tears and begun to run rampant down her face into her coat while some fell straight to the cold, wooden floor. When she noticed this, Bon Bon closed her eyes and tried her best to cease the flow, but all of her efforts were futile. After several more moments of fruitless attempts, Bon Bon finally succumbed to the tears and just sat on the floor, crying like a little filly that had lost her beloved friend. 
After what seemed like a horrid eternity to her, Bon Bon was finally able to dry her tears away and resume her packing, but with much slower pace now. "There are just too many memories...I'm sorry...Lyra...for everything," stated Bon Bon solemnly to the empty shop. With her packing fully completed, Bon Bon rested her saddle bag upon her back and gripped her suitcase in her mouth and began to lethargicaly walk towards the front door of the shop. 
When she eventually reached the door in the waiting room, Bon Bon grabbed a small piece of paper that rested on a coffee table with her hoof. With pain-filled eyes, Bon Bon looked down at the ticket that would greet her with a one way trip to Manehatten, where she planned to open a new shop in a small building that she saw in an ad in the newspaper. When she got set up there, she planned to sell the shop here in Ponyville. The plan wasn't the greatest in Equestria to Bon Bon, but it was all she could think of at this point. She wanted to stay and be happy in Ponyville and make amends with Lyra, but she just couldn't face all of the pain she would feel knowing that Lyra wouldn't be hers. With those thoughts in mind, Bon Bon made her plan resolute and headed out the door to the train station, leaving behind her past life...and Lyra.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra quickly rushed up towards the wooden door of the sweet shop. When she reached it, she banged her hoof against it with great force to alert anyone inside that she was there. After a moment or two, her hoof began to feel immense pain from the continous knocks, but Lyra didn't care at all. Every second of contact between her hoof and the door lead to another round of pain being shoot up her body, but she still contiuned to alert the shop to her presence in hopes that somepony would eventually answer the door.
"Hello?! Bon Bon? Are you there?! Please answer!" yelled Lyra as loud as she could. "Listen, I'm sorry about everything that I did to hurt you. I never meet to hurt you. NEVER! What happened between me and Berry Punch was all just a drunken mistake. A mistake that I made like an idiot. I don't feel that way about Berry...at all. She was always just a friend to me. But from that one mistake of mine, I caused you so much pain and misery. I...I screwed up. So badly."
Tears began streaming down Lyra's face from the confessions she was giving, but she couldn't stop. She gasped through her sobbing breaths and tried her best to continue her confessions despite. "Bon Bon, I'm so sorry that I hurt you...I just wanted to help you. I wanted to help you anyway I could. I wanted to help you with your shop by baking for you and helping with the customers and by playing the lyre in the shop to the customers and by retrieving that package for you and by being here right now, to apologize to you. You're the one I want, because....I love you," sobbed Lyra in a low voice with her gaze falling to the ground. Her tears began to fall to the stone pavement below, covering it in the saddness and sorrow that Lyra was feeling. 
"What was...that last part?" asked a sweet voice from behind Lyra. Recongizing the voice, Lyra quickly whipped her head around to see the pony that had uttered them. There, standing behind Lyra, was Bon Bon. In total disbelief, Lyra tried to find words to say, but she couldn't muster a single word to be escaped from her mouth. "I...was walking towards the train station when I saw you run by towards the shop. I don't know what implored me, but I immediately started following you here. Then I...heard your confessions just then. Lyra...did you mean all of..."
Bon Bon's sentence was suddenly cut off by a pair of hoofs wrapped around her in a tight hug. Bon Bon then felt the cool, wetness of tears streaking against her coat. "I love you, Bon Bon! I meant everything I said back there! I promise with all of my being."
With that being said, Bon Bon began to let tears escape her eyes as well. She wrapped her hoofs around Lyra and returned the hug with a smile spreading across her face. 
"I love you, too, Lyra."