Well, this is an odd turn of events.
Bon Bon felt pretty lightheaded by that point. And the almost painfully awkward moment that was suddenly developing didn't help much. Her eyes were still halfway open, and even after the initial burst of confusion, she was surprised to see one of her friends - in the looser definition of the word - in front of her, her lips pressed against her own.
There doesn't even seem to be a reason, though, she thought quickly, counting the seconds tick by. It'd been four, and counting. Why me of all ponies?
Suddenly, after six and a half seconds, she felt the light suction on her lips release. The shock had knocked the wind out of her, and she gasped, followed by a cough. Before she was even able to understand in the fullest what had just happened, she heard her friends begin shouting over the music in the background.
"You go, Carrot Top!" one of them said with a whistle.
"Right on!"
"Romance in the air!"
A few laughs from the group and a snort from Lyra in particular blocked out the music. She glanced over at them and then back up at Carrot Top, who'd turned a shade or two of red and whose pupils had dilated almost comically. Right after Bon Bon opened her mouth to say something, maybe in surprise or defense or something else she hadn't quite figured out yet, Carrot Top clumsily got up from the table and turned tail, trotting off away from the party.
There was relative silence as the group's giggles subsided and they all watched her depart. "Well, aren't you going to do something?" Lyra asked, breaking the silence.
Bon Bon looked back at her, realization finally dawning. "Wh- uh -" was all she managed to get out before taking off from the table like a tipsy pony rocket.
The group watched her leave, too, still giggling periodically. "That was weird," Triple Flip remarked.
"Wait!"
That was all she could manage to yell before giving in to panting her lungs out. Her gallop slowed to a walk as she approached the old, stone, overgrown bridge that Carrot Top had finally decided to come to a halt on. She was leaning her forehooves on the side of the bridge, and Bon Bon could hear her sigh when she caught her out of the corner of her eye.
Bon Bon gasped for air again, and leaned against the side of the bridge, trying to keep from getting suddenly dizzy. She suddenly felt hooves on her, helping her steady herself. "Hey, c-calm down, Bon Bon," Carrot Top said almost nervously. "You alright? You were about to fall over."
"Yeah, thanks... I probably drank too much," she murmured in reply as Carrot Top let her go. There was a moment of silence, much more full than the relative party-silence, and therefore much more awkward.
"For, um, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about that. It was sort of an accident."
Bon Bon nodded, looking into the running water below. "Y-yeah. But... you didn't have to run off."
"I - I know. I just got embarrassed."
"Yeah, but... not so far," she replied, coughing again.
"I, uh... don't want to be near the party," Carrot Top responded quietly.
Bon Bon glanced over at her briefly, and sighed. "I'm... not sure what to say now. I mean, I would ask for an explanation, but I don't think that's - that's what I mean." There was a short pause as a chill brought by the wind swept around them, a stark contrast to the otherwise-warm summer night. "I'm just kind of... confused."
Carrot Top stayed a few meters away, tapping the stone beneath with her back hooves periodically. "It was just a kiss," she said under her breath, and put her head in her hooves.
Bon Bon stared at her, in thought, for a moment, and shook her head. "You're right. I'm sorry, I - I shouldn't have come after you, or -"
"I feel kind of stupid, really," she interrupted quickly, leaning forwards, her chin on her hooves. "I actually..." she trailed off, shuffling her back hooves again. "I actually do kind of have a bit of a crush on you."
A few alarms went off in Bon Bon's head at that affirmation."I - oh, uh, I thought - the party - um - b-but - wh - me?" she stuttered, looking back at a still-flushed Carrot Top, who nodded quickly. "I assumed it was just... well, I, um... why?"
Carrot Top smiled, still looking away. "I don't know. It's been a while. I remember you coming up to the stall I have in the marketplace, and something kinda just clicked. I don't know." She paused. "Still, I didn't mean to tell you like that."
"Yeah." She looked over at her again, still trying to digest everything. It was strange to think somepony she didn't know all too well had feelings for her. "You can come closer, you know," she said softly, tapping a hoof on the stone. Carrot Top obliged, albeit still rather nervously, and slid her hooves up closer to Bon Bon's on the side of the bridge.
Bon Bon closed her eyes as an odd thought popped into her mind - a thought that hadn't come to her in years. "... Do you think we should?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean..." she paused. "Do you think it'll work? For us?"
Carrot Top looked over at her, the remnants of a blush still on her cheeks. Just for a moment, Bon Bon felt a twinge in her chest as she saw just how radiant her eyes were in the moonlight. "You don't have to, you know."
There was suddenly some kind of an undertone to Carrot Top's voice. Mysterious... alluring. She swallowed, pushing the thought out of her mind. I don't have to. "I know."
Carrot Top tried to hide a smile in response. "I, um, hoped it would. I don't know, though. It could be taking a chance. I mean, we don't really know each other very well yet, and..."
"Well, why not start now?"
She looked back, slightly surprised. "Hm?"
Bon Bon smiled. "Yeah. Go ahead. Uh... who do you know from the party?"
"But that was the best part in the entire thing, though, and that made it for me!" Bon Bon laughed. "Kind of a stupid reason to like a book, but whatevs."
Carrot Top laughed with her, a bright twinkle in her eye. "Amazing choice of words, there," she teased.
"I know, I'm still a little drunk," Bon Bon replied, snorting back a laugh.
Eventually, though, the bridge grew quiet again; the noise fell to little more than the trickle of water and the chirping of crickets.
"... Hey, Carrot Top?"
"Huh?"
"What do you think about romance?"
Carrot Top cocked her head. "Well... I'm kind of on both ends of the spectrum," she began, taking her sweet time. Bon Bon picked up on the amazing smoothness in her voice again, and it drew her much further into the conversation than she honestly wanted to be. "I like working hard in the fields before relaxing with good wine by the fire... I like loud days and quiet nights, beaches in the morning and bedsides in the evening..."
Bon Bon could sense Carrot Top getting closer, and suddenly realized she'd had her eyes closed. She snapped them open and almost gasped. Her bright green eyes were sparkling like clean-cut emeralds in the thin moonlight. They looked unbelievable.
"I like thinking dirty and talking clean... or was it the other way around?" she giggled. "I like curling up with somepony just to unwind a few seconds later... and I like fresh, new love in the dying moonlight."
She paused, and for a moment, their lips were closer than ever. Her own eyelids began growing heavy as she felt her pulse jump.
"I'm done with this, Bon Bon."
In a moment, Bon Bon found herself softly pushing a hoof against Carrot Top's lips. "I - I'm sorry, Carrot Top," she said, looking up to mildly shocked eyes that, nonetheless, remained as bright as gemstones. "We're both a little bit - a little bit out of it. And, look, the party's dying down. And I still have to go back and say happy birthday, or congratulations, or something. How about we just... save this for tomorrow?"
Carrot Top hesitated a moment. "But... alright," she replied quietly. "Yeah, you're right. I probably had a bit too much, too."
"... If it's any consolation, that was really pretty."
"Thanks."
"Carrot Top?"
Carrot Top glanced up from the shelf she was staring at in her stall. "Um... hey, Bon Bon," she replied, rather quietly.
Bon Bon smiled gently. "Hey, you know... um, how are you out here in the sun? I can barely appease my brain with two pints of water and sunglasses."
"I just don't get hangovers," she laughed in reply, "especially not for that minor stuff last night."
Bon Bon stared at her for a moment, and shook her head, moving a hoof to her face to steady the sunglasses. "Anyways, I've been thinking. Obviously."
Carrot Top nodded slightly.
"And I was thinking I'd like to give it a shot. Just a shot, okay?" She paused for a moment, picking her words. "I mean, I don't want to promise anything, and I don't want anything to be awkward if -"
Carrot Top laughed again. "It's okay. And definitely. Just name the place and I'll be there."
"I'm sorry," she added, shaking her head and adjusting her sunglasses. "You have to understand, I... get in trouble a lot. It's not really my fault. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but it always seems to follow me, and I don't want it to happen to something like this."
Carrot Top just nodded again. "Yeah, of course."
That voice. "Um... how about the ice cream place on Willow Street? At seven?"
"You know," Carrot Top began, "I'm about to close up for the day. I usually give the whole business-duty thing over to my big brother at about lunch. We could just... spend the day. If you don't have any other plans."
Bon Bon shook her head. "Not today. I... wait, what time is it?"
"Almost lunch."
"I need to stop drinking."
Carrot Top grinned, pushing her drink away."Ice cream place was a good choice."
"Um-hm," Bon Bon agreed, trying to keep her double-chocolate-whatever-whatever scoop from falling off the cone. "It'sh a great choish."
Carrot Top giggled, and leaned back, waiting for Bon Bon to finish keeping the melting ice cream at bay. "... How can you even eat that?"
"Wh-mf - what'd you mean?"
"Chocolate ice cream. It's just, like, milk, which is already kinda gross, but frozen, with crushed-up beans in it, put into more milk that was frozen."
"Hey," Bon Bon replied, "carrots are just big, orange roots that grow in dirt."
"That's..." Carrot Top paused. "... Sadly true."
There was a snort, and Bon Bon looked up from her cone, her muzzle covered in chocolate ice cream. "... Don't make me laugh when I'm trying to eat ice cream."
"Filled with frozen milk that has crushed beans in it."
Another snort. "Carrot Top!"
"You weren't eating, though!"
After a short round of laughter, Carrot Top shook her mane into place and leaned back into her seat. "You know, before we start actually talking about things, I wanna say that, well, I'm really glad that you decided to do this with me."
Bon Bon smiled, wiping off her mouth. "It's no problem. I'm kinda glad I did, too."
With a sudden coyness, Carrot Top looked down at the table. "I'm also glad that you - you know - um, 'swing that way.'"
"Really? I thought most ponies around here knew."
"I kinda live on the outskirts of Ponyville, you know."
"Oh." Bon Bon turned and looked out the window, squinting slightly as the sun at its apex reflected brightly off the clock tower in the distance. "... You know, I used to have a marefriend."
"Hm?"
"Mm. Lasted a really long time, too. That's why I was surprised you didn't know."
Carrot Top tapped her hoof on the table, fighting off her nerves. "What happened?"
"She died."
The tapping stopped abruptly. "... Celestia, Bon Bon, I - I'm really s-"
"It was years ago, though," she interrupted, not turning from the window. "And a while after that, I-I went through months of on-and-off dating that never seemed to work out. I just kept getting into trouble over and - and over, and eventually I just gave up and decided I wasn't going to date again."
There was a few moments of silence that descended on the table, feeling almost pressurized, like it couldn't be lifted. "... Why are we here, then?"
Bon Bon turned back from the window, her mouth slightly open and her eyes searching for an answer. Eventually, a hint of a grin crossed her face, before disappearing.
"I don't know."
"I hope you're having a good time," interjected the waitress, who began clearing dishes completely unaware.
"Definitely," Bon Bon replied cheerfully, as though nothing had happened. Carrot Top was a bit taken aback, naturally, but was thankful for the break in drama. She tried to keep from staring across the table for a second, but decided that ten seconds while Bon Bon was talking with the waitress was okay.
I wonder why I'm so nervous today, she mused briefly. Usually, I can keep my cool when - oh, her smile is really cute. ... Wait, what was I... As Bon Bon turned back towards her, she smiled quickly and moved her hooves from the table to the seat in an attempt to appear casual.
"Well, where do we go from here?
Carrot Top sighed happily as she followed Bon Bon past the double doors. "Jeez. I haven't been to a movie theater in years."
"Yeah, well, I figured it's a pretty good second date."
"No, it is, it is, it's just..." she trailed off, looking up at the high ceiling of the inner-city cinemaplex. "It's just weirdly reminiscent."
Bon Bon cocked her head. "What, have you been to this one before?"
"I don't even know. It would have been forever ago."
"Well," Bon Bon began with a chuckle, "I just chose this place for the variety. Sorry for the walk, though."
"It's cool."
Bon Bon giggled, shaking her head quickly.
"What?"
"It's just weird to hear 'it's cool' from you. It doesn't fit your voice."
"Heh. Ponies tell me I have a weird voice."
"What?" Bon Bon replied in surprise as the two of them reached the ticket counter. "No, it's not weird. It's... really nice, actually."
Carrot Top chuckled, badly trying to hide a blush. "Thanks."
"Hi, tickets?" the mare behind the counter asked, eyeing the two with disdain.
"Oh, uh, what do you want to see?" Bon Bon asked.
"I don't know. Whatever's starting now."
"That would be 'Fifteen's A Charm', thriller-slash-horror, Theater Six in seven minutes."
"That's good," Carrot Top replied. "If we get that one, we have just enough time to -"
"B- b- wait. Horror?"
"Yes," the mare behind the counter answered dryly.
Bon Bon looked worriedly over at her date, who was looking back, the confusion on her face turning into a mischievous grin. "... Two, please," Carrot Top said smoothly, turning back to the counter.
"Carrot Top, that was mean," Bon Bon whispered as they left the concession stand, carrying as well as they could all the popcorn they'd bought.
"No, it wasn't. Come on, it's just a little fun." She paused, turning to Bon Bon and putting a hoof on her shoulder, adopting the most serious of faces. "The ponies on the screen can't actually hurt you."
"Wh- y- Carrot Top," Bon Bon replied with a groan, before quickly reverting to a whisper as they entered the darkening theater. "Pinfeathers, it's starting. Find a seat, hurry, before everypony gets mad at us."
Carrot Top giggled. "P-pinfeathers? -"
"Tease me about it later. Get a seat."
Carrot Top obliged as quickly as possible, and smiled for a moment as Bon Bon sat next to her. It was such a nice experience, just sitting together and watching a movie. She couldn't even remember any more exactly how long she'd been crushing on Bon Bon. Ever since she saw that naturally pretty, innocent face of hers. Since then, she -
"THIS WILL END IT!"
Carrot Top nearly jumped out of her seat, and in less than a second, she noticed Bon Bon actually did. That was kinda rude, starting a thriller off on a jumpscare like that... "Bon Bon, you okay?" she whispered. Maybe she'd been too teasing.
"Y-y-yes. Yeah," Bon Bon whispered back, shuddering. "Uh... th-that's not gonna happen often, is it?"
"I don't know, I haven't -"
"RAAAAAAGH!"
Bon Bon shrieked, along with about half the audience. At the odd cacophony of short, shrill screams, Carrot Top had to physically strain to hold in laughter. Before, of course, she noticed that Bon Bon had scooted slightly closer to her. Well.
It was about two hours of this. Two hours of build-up and jumpscares with a creepy little plot to keep the audience on edge, etcetera, etcetera. But Carrot Top wasn't really paying attention, and for that she thanked Celestia Bon Bon didn't decide to test her afterwards. All she could notice, as Bon Bon became more invested in the film, were her reactions. They were funny, yeah, but Bon Bon kept coming closer to her. Probably because she was scared, of course, but nonetheless, she couldn't help but feel a bit of a tingle inside every time.
By the climax, Bon Bon was practically up against her, holding on to her foreleg. What a scaredy-pony. Not that I'm complaining.
"C-Carrot Top?" she heard Bon Bon whisper in her ear.
"Huh?"
"Uh... c-can we not ever watch horror movies ever again ever?"
Carrot Top chuckled. "Yeah, totally." Unless you keep doing that. In which case, no, we are so watching more horror flicks together.
By the end of the film, Bon Bon was simply lying back, periodically smiling at the screen, finally starting to enjoy it past the creepiness. She'd already seen two ponies leave the theater, and had decided early-on she wouldn't be one of them. Thank Celestia she could control herself.
About then, though, she realized how tightly she was holding onto her date. She glanced over at her, and nervously released her grip. "S-sorry. It got to me a bit."
"A bit," Carrot Top agreed, nodding sagely. "It's almost over, though."
"Yeah."
Finally, when the credits rolled, Bon Bon was out of popcorn (which she'd been eating anxiously throughout the movie) and out of any nerve she'd been feeling. "That was pretty okay, I guess," Bon Bon said, hoping that maybe Carrot Top would forget the whole everything-that-just-happened thing.
"Y-" Carrot Top looked over, standing up to file out. After a moment of staring, she burst into laughter. "You were scared as hell, Bon Bon! I still have hoof marks on my shoulder!" She looked over at her shoulder. "Yup. Still white."
Bon Bon grinned sheepishly. "I tried to warn you," she murmured.
Carrot Top bit her bottom lip as they fell in line, almost tripping over her hooves trying to stabilize herself. "Did I mess up the date?"
"Well, it was an experience," Bon Bon replied, laughing despite herself.
"Sorry."
Bon Bon turned to face her date, who was suddenly trying to avoid eye contact. "No, it was okay, just - just not entirely what I was expecting." Carrot Top laughed. "Tell you what, though, I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
"... In more ways than one?"
Bon Bon's mouth hung open for a second as she tried to comprehend what Carrot Top was getting at. "... M-maybe."
"Carrot Top, why are we in the West Fields?"
"I knew you'd ask that. The minute I brought you out here, I knew you'd ask that." She laughed briefly and began to trot through the light windbreaker that separated one field from another. "Come out here, I want to show you something."
They arrived finally at a flowered-over clearing, surrounded by some stray trees and centred with a huge, semi-flat stone, taller than both of them combined. Bon Bon looked up and around at it, the hints of the beginning of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "What is this?" she breathed, walking out into the center and tapping at the rock.
"When my daddy was still around, and I was just a little filly, we'd lay down here and look at the clouds together. And if it was night, we'd stargaze. And if it was raining, we'd look up at that tunnel of water droplets you can only see by looking straight into the stormcloud. You get the idea."
Bon Bon nodded, and smiled fully, looking down at the grass and up at Carrot Top. "Honestly, I love these kinds of secret-place things."
"I, uh, I'm only really using this kind of place because I'm not all too familiar with Ponyville restaurants or shopping centers or whatever."
Bon Bon chuckled, and groaned dramatically, lying down. "Ugh. I hate shopping. Too much work for just spending money. Give me the farmer's market any day."
"Me, too! Well, obviously, I make money off it," Carrot Top agreed lightly, lying down next to her, at that perfect range where she wasn't too far away, but she wasn't being too familiar. Bon Bon could have sworn that she was experienced at this kind of thing.
Bon Bon felt a smile cross her lips just looking up at the deep blue sky, and, tearing her eyes away for one moment, looked over at Carrot Top just as the shadow of a cloud shrouded her face with dappled sunlight. There was just so much to enjoy that it was hard not to just sit back and enjoy it. I haven't felt like this in years.
"Hey, Bon Bon."
"Yeah?"
"I was just thinking. It's been two and a half dates, and, um, nothing's really gone wrong, and I just get this feeling..." She paused, as the wind picked up slightly, a quiet breeze sweeping through the fields. "Do you... do you think we're... like, good for each other?"
"... What do you mean?"
There was a second of silence. "Uh - I - I mean, maybe... was this meant to happen?"
As the seconds of quiet ticked on, the tenseness became almost palpable. "I... I don't know yet. I don't want to... I mean, I -"
"I think that maybe we were meant to be together."
"I haven't heard that... in a really long time."
Another pause. "... Was it your first marefriend?"
"... Yeah."
"Hey."
"Mm?"
"What was she like?"
Bon Bon smiled, memories vivid and fresh in her mind just begging to be recounted. "Well... she could be a bit awkwards, sometimes. And she could be rambunctious. But she knew how to listen, and knew when to have a quiet moment. She wasn't the best conversationalist, considering how blunt she could be, but... well, you take what you can get." She lost herself in thought and memory for a moment. "She had a long, curly, blonde mane and tail, and a cutie mark for painting, which she was amazing at. I still have a few paintings of hers, actually."
"Can I see them?"
Bon Bon stopped her train of thought. Ever since the reading of the will... how long was it? Four years ago? Ever since she was given all of her old paintings (as a gift for my very special somepony, in her own words), she hadn't let anypony see them. At all. They were hers - not Carrot Top's, not the public's, but hers. "I... don't know."
Carrot Top sat up. "Oh, I'm - I'm sorry. I don't need to, i-if you don't want me to -."
"No, it's okay. Really. Lay back down."
As Carrot Top obliged, Bon Bon began again, thinking over everything in her head. Not too clingy, not too abrupt, not too soon... come on, Bon Bon. "Look, I don't want to... get too far into this without making sure that everything is okay. I just... I want a really good relationship. I haven't been in one for years, and all I'm really hoping for is something that... something that lasts, I guess."
"I'm still glad we're here, you know."
She felt a smile play on the edges of her mouth. "Yeah."
"Well," Carrot Top began quietly, "you're home. ...Listen, I - I'm sorry if I said anything stupid. I mean, I just got kind of... caught up in the moment."
Bon Bon shook her head in reply, smiling warmly. "No, not at all. It was a great date. It just... made me think a bit." Seeing the look on Carrot Top's face, she added, "That's a good thing, by the way."
Carrot Top smiled and tossed her mane out of her eyes - that one little nervous tendency that Bon Bon had seen so much out of her - before looking over at her. "Um... have a good night."
Ah, the voice again. "Yeah, y-you too," she stammered, giggling awkwardly at her own slip-up. With a bright blush, she glanced up at Carrot Top, who was turning to leave. She caught a glimpse of her eyes, pale and glowing that luminescent kelley.
Do you want to?
The voice in her head was sudden and unexpected, as was her answer.
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.
Without any more forethought, she'd approached Carrot Top, turned her around, smiled, and leaned in, much to her obvious surprise. "B-Bon..." she trailed off, sighing and relaxing as Bon Bon drew slightly closer to her lips. This kiss, the first goodnight kiss, would finalize it. They would be in a relationship. They would be for-real dating.
"I guess I'm just not ready yet."
A thought shot through Bon Bon's mind, but she felt the tingle of shallow breath below her, and screwed her eyes shut, standing firm. Just a bit closer.
"I don't think this is working out."
N-no, stop it. Please.
"Maybe we should see other ponies."
"I'm in love with somepony else."
"I need somepony stronger."
"You just turned out to be not my type."
"We're moving too slow."
"I'm really sorry."
"Sorry, Bon Bon..."
"I'm sorry about this."
"I'm sorry," she heard herself say, pulling away again. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it wasn't - I mean - I'm sorry." She stepped back until she was against the door. "I - I - I just c-can't do it anymore. I can't. I'm sorry." With this, she whipped around, away from the kind mare with the pretty face that was too good for her anyways, and fiddled anxiously with the doorknob.
"B-Bon Bon?" Carrot Top replied, trying to catch her breath.
Bon Bon heard slow hoofsteps on the cobblestone path behind her. "Please, just let me go inside..."
"Bon Bon."
There was a quiet gasp as Bon Bon felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder and as a voice, firm but smooth as silk, entered her ears. She let out a quiet, huffed sigh before finally unlocking her door.
"I would never hurt you."
She turned her head, slowly, to face Carrot Top, who was trying to smile, but still radiating a kind of pleading aura. "I promise."
"Look -" Bon Bon began, reaching up with a hoof and rubbing away her tears. "I - I have to say something. I think you're w-wonderful. I do, really. A-and you're kind and funny and have beautiful eyes and a more beautiful voice." She chuckled, despite herself. "And I'd be lying if I said I d-didn't enjoy the past few days a lot. B-but... I just can't. I m-made a mistake. Again. I'm s-sorry."
At this, Bon Bon turned back to the door and opened it slightly before she was interrupted. "But - but, Bon Bon, I..." Carrot Top trailed off, taking her hoof off Bon Bon's shoulder. "Can I tell you something?"
After a short moment of thought, Bon Bon looked away and nodded. With a sigh, Carrot Top stared down at her hooves and began. "These have been my first dates. Ever. And I was hoping - a lot - that they would be my - my last, too. Honestly, it was like... some kind of magic. It was really special, at - at least to me."
She paused, and shuffled her hooves a bit on the ground. "Even that, um, accidental kiss - it was new. And the same kind of special. I'd never kissed anypony at all before then, n-not like that." Another short sigh, and looked behind her for a moment before back at the ground. "These last few days, I - I - I realized that it's not just a crush anymore.
"...Bon Bon, I - I love you."
Less than a second of silence followed before Carrot Top continued, but it was a heavy silence nonetheless. "If it's too early, or - or late to say that, then I'm sorry, but... it's true."
"... What do I do now?"
"Wh-"
"I want to. I want to fall in love again so badly. But..." Her voice faded with a shudder, and she began feeling that intimate, familiar tingling in her eyes.
"Just trust me."
Another quiet moment, slightly less awkward and more introspective. "...I can't do it again," Bon Bon murmured, more at herself, and bit her lip. "I can't d-do it anymore." Taking a small step backwards, she kicked the door open lightly with her back hoof, and closed it behind her. The solidity of the door felt heavy against her back, providing the only resistance between her and...
She heard a short breath on the other side. "... Is that it?" she heard through the door. "Is that all? Are we - are we finished?"
She couldn't bring herself to say anything.
"I - I'm so confused. I thought we were doing well. I th-thought we had something. Together. I... what did I do wrong?"
A shock rushed through Bon Bon. "No - Carrot Top - that's not what I -"
It was too late for any remedial words. Carrot Top had turned tail and began trotting away. She couldn't hear anything else. She slunk slowly to the floor, her back scratching against the door. It was those stupid memories - those stupid memories again - they caught her off-guard and ruined everything again and it was all their fault -
She clambered back up to her hooves and threw open the door. "Ca-"
There was nopony in sight.
She was already far gone. Out through the orchards, down the road. She'd trotted away and Bon Bon had no idea where she lived. I'll ask somepony, she thought first, still staring numbly at the path. I'll find her farm no matter what it takes, and I'll find her, and go up to her and say... and say...
She closed the door gently, staring at the floor. A whirlwind of emotion surrounded her. Maybe I need to sleep on it.
But do you like her like that?
What would you say?
Can you fix it?
What have you done?
She pressed a hoof against her mouth and sunk slowly to the ground, feeling bitter tears come to her eyes. What have you done?
The sun had barely come up. Bon Bon held her forelegs against her chest tightly, shivering. The few merchants who'd gotten there already were setting up around her with quiet conversation, nopony questioning why a small earth-pony was huddled up in a blanket against the carrot stall.
She finally felt a thump behind her as the back of the stall fell open. Finally, she thought, and bit her lip to calm herself. When she was able to climb to her hooves and look over the counter, her heart fell from her throat into her stomach.
It wasn't her. It looked like the 'big brother' she mentioned once or twice. Same hair, same coat color, same eyes. The bright emerald eyes.
"Um... ma'am?"
She'd been staring. "Oh, I'm, um, I'm looking for... I'm actually looking for Carrot Top," she said, stumbling over her words.
"She's not coming out to work today, she's been - wait," he said, standing up, "are you Bon Bon?"
"Uh... y-yes -"
"Get away from my stand."
His eyes narrowed, and glinted in the early-morning sun. She felt tears. "I -"
"I don't want to see you anywhere near this stall again. Am I clear?"
His voice was ice. Bon Bon nodded slowly, trying to keep her composure. What was going on? What happened? "I - I didn't meant to hurt -"
"Do I have to call somepony?" he asked, tapping a hoof on the counter.
"N-no. I'm sorry, I - I'll leave," she murmured, and trotted off, wrapping her blankets around her. She could feel the clack of the stone against her hooves as she trotted quickly through town, avoiding the gazes of anypony and everypony.
It'd been four days. Four days weren't long enough, definitely, but it was longer than her parents/employers would allow her to sulk. Without further ado, she was back out in the field with her carrots.
She was glad there weren't that many customers today. She couldn't handle more than one at a time - too much was on her mind. With a quiet sigh, she stared at the ground, which, by this point, was probably feeling very uncomfortable with the amount of time she'd spent staring at it.
She couldn't even stand to ask those silly questions anymore. Was I harsh? What happened? It didn't matter. What she felt had gone, for little to no reason, and she felt every pain she expected to feel, but it was time to get back to life.
"C-Carrot Top."
She heard an uncomfortably familiar voice in front of her, and froze. There aren't many words to describe the emotions that circulated through her head like hot blood. Slowly, she looked up at that naturally pretty, innocent face.
Bon Bon was standing in front of her, facing her at an angle as a sort of a defensive body language, a cowl pulled over half her face. "Can you... walk with me for a second?"
Carrot Top noticed that her mouth was still open and closed it quickly. Yes, of course I do, I want to try to fix everything so that we won't have any problems ever again and then we can get back into a relationship and love each other and maybe we could get married sometime in June when the flowers still look nice and -
"... I... don't want to."
It felt strange to say, but it was almost the truth. It felt nearly liberating. Some kind of closure. She didn't know where it was coming from, only that it tasted fresh and renewing.
Bon Bon stood there for what was almost ten seconds, with no sound but the murmurs of the merchants around them. "Please, Carrot Top," she said finally, her voice dropping. "I... I need to... explain, or apologize, or something. I need to talk. Please."
She looked up at her, and suddenly felt strangely exposed. She was asking, almost begging, for a chance, and Carrot Top felt for all intents and purposes like refusing her. But she couldn't. She couldn't see it happen.
Slowly, she stood, and flipped the 'OPEN' sign to 'BACK IN FIVE MINUTES'.
The first few minutes were totally silent, as the two mares walked side-by-side down a dirt path leading out of Ponyville.
The crushing silence around them was pressing on Carrot Top's chest. She wasn't sure whether the situation was awkward or not, but desperately wanted to say something.
"I'm so sorry," Bon Bon began, her voice breaking.
Carrot Top couldn't muster the courage to look into her eyes.
"I was scared. I was scared really badly. I've been in at least a dozen relationships that ended wr-wrong. And it was my luck that everything went to garbage the minute I really started... liking it."
Carrot Top felt a flutter in her chest.
"This is what I meant when I said trouble follows me everywhere - I mean, I - I just got scared, and - and I felt the entire weight of it come down on me at once and -"
"It's okay," Carrot Top interjected, despite herself. "As long as you're alright now," she added, slightly confused as to how quickly the words seemed to jump out of her mouth. But... it was true. She still cared for her. She still cared a lot.
Bon Bon said nothing for a moment, and rubbed at her eyes with a hoof quickly. "I was hoping you'd be more angry."
Carrot Top said nothing for a moment, and instead just looked back at her hooves. "... Why?"
"I don't know," Bon Bon replied, finally taking a left turn off the path and up into the light woods that surrounded Ponyville, with Carrot Top just behind. "I - I'm just so angry at myself. I didn't mean it - it just happened. And I had no idea what to do."
"Well," Carrot Top began softly, catching up to Bon Bon and trotting alongside her, "if every time you were broken up with was as bad as us breaking up, I can - i can understand."
"But - I didn't mean to break up. I couldn't communicate and I didn't know what I was thinking considering I..." she trailed off into a heavy sigh. "... Was it really that bad?"
Carrot Top nodded silently. "Did you hear what I said?"
Bon Bon finally showed a hint of a blush. "Y-yeah, I did. And I've been thinking about that, too." She sighed, as she turned around a short line of birches to face a small waterfall. "We're here."
Carrot Top looked closely at the waterfall, nothing more than a trickle of clear spring water running through cracks of old rock. But it was beautiful. It was about noon and the sun shone through the light canopy above, casting a lattice of shadow over the ground. "It's... what is it?"
Bon Bon chuckled. "Just a little waterfall."
"Well, yeah, but... why are we here?"
Bon Bon closed her eyes for a second, and turned her head to Carrot Top. "I loved everything we did together, and I just want to do it again. I want to be... in love, I guess."
Carrot Top felt the pressure on her chest suddenly relieved. "R-really?"
"... I brought you out here because it's the most romantic spot I've ever been to," Bon Bon added, her voice falling quiet.
Carrot Top flushed a dark red. "Uh... I - I - um - b- I don't know what - I mean -" she sputtered, before sitting down next to Bon Bon. "...Wh-what do you w-want me to do?"
Bon Bon looked over at her, and smiled a gentle, full smile, before looking back to the waterfall. A calm silence descended, with nothing but the sound of flowing water trickling down against the rocks in the background.
Carrot Top fell apart as their lips touched.
She felt a gentle hoof on her cheek, and shivered as it moved to her neck. Bon Bon was good. She knew exactly what she was doing. Her body relaxed, and she fell into the kiss, absolutely boiling over inside. It carried a weight that was new to her: something that she couldn't entirely define. It was different from anything else she'd ever felt before.
She felt her pull away, and opened her eyes, upset at how quickly it seemed to have gone by. Bon Bon's eyes were still closed, and the tips of their muzzles were still touching. There was silence for a moment, less than a moment, before she kissed her again.
She pulled away after a few seconds, short of breath. "... I won't lie, that was - that was kind of my first kiss."
Bon Bon smiled. "Really? With everything you told me on the bridge?"
The bridge? Oh, yeah. "I was just quoting something. A novel, I think. Or something."
Bon Bon chuckled, and began to laugh, encouraging Carrot Top to giggle along with her. "That's messed up," she said with a grin, poking her chest with a hoof.
"Yeah."
Another pause.
Carrot Top sighed. "Bon Bon."
"Hm?"
"If you're - I mean, if you don't want to be in a relationship right now, we don't have to be."
Bon Bon smiled again, looking away. "It feels nice to be loved," she replied quietly. "And... and to love somepony back."
Carrot Top stared at her. Just stared at her for a second, and wondered what caused it. "I..." she began, and paused, tilting her head over for another kiss.
She didn't pull away until she felt a tear on her cheek.
