Summers with Lyra and Bon-Bon

by Midnight_Blue

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Original Character, Bon-Bon
Length: 22209

When a pegasus who is down on is luck gets his latest weather assignment, he flies off to his destination: Ponyville, where things turn worse. Then he meets a unicorn named Lyra. Can this unicorn make him happy again, or will is all hope lost for him

Midnight Blue, a lonely pegasus, works for the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. He makes sure that all the weather goes directly as planned in Equestria. Some ponies would say it's fun, but not him. When his boss gives him a rookie location, Midnight isn't happy, but the location is the least of his worries. When tragedy strikes in his location, Ponyville, he meets a unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings. Can Lyra cheer up Midnight and bring him out of his gloom, or will Lyra only assist in making matters worse?

Based off of the song by JackleApp, Summer.

Published 2013-06-22 06:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-31 03:03:47 UTC

Summer 1 Month 1

Summers with Lyra and Bon-Bon

By Midnight_Blue

“Every summer, I go see my new friends. Hmmm, I never thought I would say that...friends. I usually never have friends. My name’s Midnight Blue, I’m a dark blue Pegasus, and I have two friends that are very dear to me. I’m about to go see them for the year, we've had much fun together; I still remember the first time we met, back in Ponyville. Well, I actually have some time to spare, so I’ll tell you the story, let’s go back to the beginning…”

I didn’t have much of a job back then. Yeah, the pay was good and I barely did much actual labor, but I don’t think it really specifies as a “job”. I work for the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, and all I do is fly to a major city every summer and check their weather supply, make sure everything is running smoothly. Yes, some would call this important work for important ponies, but it was really nothing difficult; But this year I got something different. “Sir, this must be a mistake, I’m one of the fastest, most skilled, pegasi you have. Going to some small town named…” I stared at the paper, hoping what I saw was a mistake. “…Ponyville…. This is completely out of my league, this is for amateurs!” slightly frazzled at what I had been given as an assignment. Still, I knew better than to talk to a supervisor as such, but my emotions were just so scattered at the time. “Midnight, I trust that you could handle the rigid challenges, but you need to step down, give some of the newbies a try.” My boss only meant the best for the factory, I knew this, and sending me to Ponyville would help give the others some well needed experience in my ‘easy-anypony-could-do-job’ “But sir..!” I tried to intervene, “Here is your map, takes you right to the place” he looked at me with a rather agitated look, “I’m sure it’ll be no problem for you, Midnight” I was never real fond of him, but I think I didn’t have a choice. I bowed my head, and walked out the door.

I kicked my hoof at the cloud I walked on. “Man, this isn’t fair.” I was right. We only do this once a year, at the beginning of Summer, and the farther you go and the bigger the city, meant more pay you get. This money usually is supposed to last me till next Spring, give or take the few odd jobs I do around the factory like sweep and clean out the various machines. “Maybe I’ll get a second location when I get back. One very far from here. I’d take one out of Equestria if we shipped weather that far.” I said to myself. I squinted to the east, but didn’t see Ponyville. I sighed and began to flap my wings.

I’d been in the air for an hour or two. I saw a very small town approaching me. ‘The infamous Ponyville.’ I thought. Then, at that exact moment, a cyan coated pegasus came up and flew into me. I let out a loud grunt from the impact. I heard my wing snap. I was going to chase after the cyan blue pegasus and give her a piece of my mind. At least, I would have, if I wasn’t free-falling down towards the ground at alarming speeds.

“Come on, Midnight! They taught you what to do in this situation!” I yelled to myself. I tried opening my wings, but the collision I had with the cyan pegasus must have broken my right wing. It stung with pain, causing nerve endings to pulse and burn. I looked down at the ground, and opened my left wing. I began to spin in the air, and was on a collision course for the ground. I flapped my wing, causing me to stop falling for a semi-second. I fell and landed into a tree, hitting arms, head, and my wings against any branch I came across. My left wing made an identical snap sound. I was in pain and the final impact knocked me unconscious, but I was at least still breathing.

I awoke in a hospital. I looked around the room, and then groaned. A doctor walked in. “Ah, good. You’re awake. My name is Doctor Stables. We ran you into here after your crash landing outside of town. Tell me, what’s your name?” The doctor said. I sat there silenced for a couple seconds, still feeling a little dizzy from the whole ordinal, “Name’s Midnight Blue. How long have I been out?” I asked. “Several hours, we assume. You seem to hit your head pretty hard, but you’ll be fine. Those wings on the other hand.” The doctor said. I turned to see my wings wrapped up and put in a sling. I moaned. “How long will I have to deal with this? A couple days? A week?” I asked. “They were broken pretty bad. I say they will need the whole summer to heal up.” Doctor Stables said. “What!! But, but, that’s impossible! I work for the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. I NEED to fly to do my job.” I said. “Well, that won’t be happening anytime soon. You should try to find our own weather pegasus, Rainbow Dash. She may be able to help you.” Doctor Stables said. I moaned and slammed back down onto the hospital bed. A white mare walked in holding a tray of food in her mouth. “Ah, lunchtime, Midnight Blue. I’ll let Nurse Mare take care of you.” Doctor Stables left. Nurse Mare sat the tray down on the bed. She looked at a few charts, and nodded. Placing a couple pill containers down, she noticed me looking at her with a confused look. “What are those for?” I asked. “The left one is to relieve pain, and the right one is to keep your wings from expanding, it numbs them.” she replied. I moaned loudly. “Relax, sir, we’ll release you in a couple days.”

Nurse Mare was right, I only spent a couple days in the hospital before they let me leave. I checked my saddlebags, but I didn’t have much on me. I was really hoping on getting paid big for this job. I walked around this town, Ponyville, and what I saw, I just couldn’t believe. Fillies laughing; Playing. This was completely different from Cloudsdale. Colts and fillies their age were usually preparing for their Flight exams. They were worried about what they were gonna do after they got out of flight school. The sight appalled me. Hay, it even outraged me to see this. I felt like yelling at them, but I felt like I was a bigger stallion then that. “Yelling at stupid foals. Ha, what was I thinking. They’re probably still too young to even know what I would be angry about.” I said to myself. I had a very bad problem with talking to myself. I really never trusted nopony other than myself. I didn’t have friends, and I never thought I would need them. “All I need to do is find this Rainbow character, and find a way back home.” I said. “Rainbow character? As in Rainbow Dash?” a high pitched voice yelled from behind me. ‘Oh, no. don’t turn around, Midnight, just keep walking.’ I thought. Then, a bouncy pink mare hopped up beside me. “Do you mean Rainbow Dash?” The mare asked. I refused to talk to her. “Well, do ya?” she asked again. She was already getting on my nerves. Her constant bouncing, it was driving me insane. “Yes!" I barked, "I’m looking for this, Rainbow Dash. Why, do you know her?” I asked. The pink mare giggled. “Know her? She’s my best friend, silly.” She said. “Great, do you know where I can find her?” I asked the bouncy mare. “I do, but you must be new. Don’t you want to take a tour around Ponyville first?” the mare asked. “Look, bouncy pink mare po-” “Pinkie Pie.” She interrupted. I sighed. “Look, Pinkie Pie, I just want to talk to this Rainbow Dash, and find a way home. Can I please do that?” I asked. “Sure, I can show you where she lives.” Pinkie said.

“...So then I asked her which sounds better, Chimmy-cherry or Cherry-chonga, so then I…” “Look, Pinkie, could we possibly get there without talking.” I said. “Oh, yeah, we could, but where’s the fun in that?” Pinkie giggled. I sighed and thought I was going to lose my sanity if I had to spend even one more minute with this Pinkie Pie. “We’re here.” Pinkie said. “Oh, thank Celestia!” I yelled. The pink mare looked up at her house. I also looked up. 'Wow...' I thought. “It must have cost a lot of bits to pay for that house.” “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie yelled. A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane poked her head out from on top of the cloud. “Yeah?” she asked. I looked at the pegasus. 'It couldn’t be. The same pegasus that hospitalized me? The same pegasus that caused this whole problem?' I thought. “Somepony’s here to see ya.” Pinkie shouted. Pinkie looked at me. “Well, nice meeting you ...” Pinkie looked at me. I knew she wanted to know my name. I sighed. “It’s Midnight Blue.” I said. “Yay, you finally told me your name! That means we’re finally friends.” Pinkie hugged me, while I just groaned. Pinkie stopped hugging me and then hopped away. Rainbow Dash flew down to the ground and looked at me. “Hey, do I know you?” she asked. “Wow, it IS you! You hospitalized me for the whole summer! You broke my wings!” I yelled. “Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” Rainbow said. I sighed. “Keep calm.” I said under my breath. I looked back up at Rainbow Dash. “Look, I'm from the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, and seeing how I can't fly now, thanks to a certain pegasus. So, can you help me with my job?” I asked. “Sure, I guess.” Rainbow said.

“…and clouds?” I asked. “Uh…yep. Got plenty of clouds.” Rainbow Dash said. I checked clouds off of my list. “That should be all of it.” I said. “Great, glad I could help. Hey, could you mention my name around the factory, or maybe tell The Wonderbolts of how awesome I am!” she said with excitement. “I’ll be sure to do that.” I said as I wrote down 'Rainbow Dash = obsessed with herself' onto my tablet. “Great, thanks. Well, see ya.” Rainbow flew off. I looked at the clock tower that stood high above the town. It was barely past noon. I was so used to these missions taking days or weeks. Hay, I had to go on a mission that took me all summer. I was debating on flying back to try to get another location, but then, I remembered, “Oh, wait...” I had broken wings. I couldn’t fly until Summer was over. There was no way to get back to Cloudsdale until my wing was fixed. There had to be some way to get this wing fixed immediately. I needed somepony that knew the town and everypony in it, but then, a mare came to my mind...A pink bouncy annoying mare. “NO! I won’t. I refuse.” I said, but I knew there was no other option. I sighed. “Pinkie.” I said. The pink mare ran up by my side with lightning quick speed. “Yes, Midnight Blue?” Pinkie asked. “Is there any way that I could get these wings fixed immediately?” I asked her. “Hmm, my friend, Twilight might have a magic spell that could help.” Pinkie said. Ugh, Unicorns. I disliked them more than Earth Ponies. I actually hate Unicorns. I despise them. They always thought they were special because they had magic. They were snobs, but right now, I was game for anything. “Ok, take me to this Twilight.” I said.

“So I thought, what can I do to get these buffalo and ponies to stop fighting. And then, I got an idea, sing a song!” she said. “I’m sure that turned out well.” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Here it is.” Pinkie said. I looked up to see a building that was inside a giant tree. The building seemed to be a public library of some sort. I sighed. “Let’s get this over with.” I said. As we walked inside, a purple unicorn had a bunch of books magically suspended in mid-air. Slowly, one by one, she looked at each book and levitated it to it’s rightful place. Ugh, unicorns and their cruddy magic. They’re always so snobby about it. Always looking down on everypony just because they can levitate things. What smug jerks! “Hey, Twilight!” Pinkie yelled into Twilight’s ear. She let out a quick yelp and lost magical hold on the books. With a loud thud, they all hit the floor in unison. “Pinkie, what did I tell you about knocking!” she yelled. “Sorry, Twilight, but I have a friend here who wanted to see you.” Pinkie reached out and pulled me close to her. “Don’t call me that.” I said. “This is Midnight Blue, and he would like a spell that would accelerate his healing rate on his wings.” Pinkie said, completely ignoring my comment. Twilight looked at my wings intently. She then ran over to an open book, and flipped between pages. I sighed. ‘Why did I have to get stuck here with all of these crazy ponies in this crazy town!’ I thought.

Twilight levitated books up from the floor and quickly flipped through them. One after another, just flipping. I wasn't even sure if she looked at them all. Hours upon hours of just flipping! After what seemed like an eternity of levitating and flipping, Twilight moaned and said, “I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I can’t find a spell for that.” I groaned. “That figures!” I yelled as I walked outside of the library, slamming the door behind me.

“…Maybe if I just plead to the boss next year, maybe I can get a real location, one that doesn’t have so many crazy ponies.” I said. I wasn’t looking where I was going and I accidently bumped into a yellow pony. We both fell over top of each other. I quickly got up to see another one of my kind. “Oh, I’m sorry.” I said as I helped the yellow pegasus up. She just looked at me. “Oh…uh…thank you...” she said as she hid behind her pink mane. I looked down to see an assorted set of vegetables and fruits lying on the ground. “Oh, I’m really sorry.” I said as I put all the food back into the bag. I picked it up and handed it over to the pegasus. “Oh…thank you.” She repeated, still hiding behind her hair. Her voice was hardly audible. She grabbed the bag and put the handle in her mouth. I just looked at her, and she looked back sheepishly. I cleared my throat, turned around, and kept walking. 'Strange. Must be shy or something.' I thought.

It was starting to grow dark, and I slowly realized that I had no place to stay. I had a few bits on me, but not much. I looked at the local hotel stable, but the no vacancy sign was lit up. “Oh, great. Could this get any worse?” I asked. Then, it begun to rain, right on cue. I sighed and began to walk through the rain. The wind howled and started pushing against me. “This is one weird storm.” I said. Loud lightning cracked, and it poured down furiously. Then, I heard a voice shout behind me. “Hey!” it said. I turned around to see mint green pony. “Yeah, you. What are you doing out there?” She asked me. “I was looking for a place to stay, but apparently, the local hotel is full.” I explained. “Well, I can’t let you get a cold. Come in.” She said. I stammered my way up to her. “Are…are you serious?” I don’t know why I asked, but it just felt weird. Nopony’s ever been this nice to me before. Nopony has ever let me stay with them, yet her, a complete stranger, promising a shelter from the rain, It just felt weird to me. Then noticed that she was staring at me for quite some time. “So, do you want in or not?” she jokingly asked. I quickly walked into the house.

I looked around the mare’s living room. It looked bigger than any other houses I’ve seen in town, well, aside from Rainbow Dash's. “So, what were you doing out there? Were you looking to get sick?” the mare asked. “Oh, I was just…” I turned to see the mint green pony had a horn. I knew it was too good to be true, she was another snobby unicorn. “I…uh…work for the Cloudsdale weather factory and I broke my wings.” I said. “Yeah, I noticed.” She said. She held out her hoof. “The name’s Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings.” She said. I looked at her then looked at her hoof. I shook her hoof. “Midnight Blue.” I said. “Well, sit down,” She said as she walked over to the couch, “Tell me about what happened.” I took a seat on the chair opposite from the couch. “I was flying when another pegasus crashed into me. I awoke at the hospital and the doctor there said it would take all summer for my wings to heal.” I said. “Aww, well you can stay here for as long as you need to.” Lyra said. “Are...are you serious?” Did I just hear that right? A unicorn just lets me into her house, and lets me stay here for 3 whole months? Something about this was off. “Uhh, thanks.” I said. “Well, you’re quite welcome, Midnight. But I’m pretty sure you’re tired. I’ll show you the guest room.” Lyra walked upstairs and I shortly followed. She opened a door and inside was a nice and neat bedroom. “You can sleep here for the night.” Lyra said. “Thanks, I actually am pretty tired.” I admited. “Oh, well, we’ll talk about yourself tomorrow, goodnight.” She said as she closed the door. I looked around the room. “Wow...” I was still in awe from all of this. Lyra, a unicorn, let me stay in her house for 3 whole months. There had to be a catch...right? “All these thoughts can wait. I need some sleep.’” I thought as I walked over to the bed.

The next morning, I woke up, forgetting where I was. I looked around frantically, but then quickly remembered what happened last night. I looked out the window to see I wasn’t the only pony awake. I shook my head, and tried to forget about my troubles; like that fact that I was in the house of a unicorn. At least it was sunny outside. I opened the door, and tried to be quiet. I didn’t want to wake up this Lyra pony. She was nice, I’ll give her that, but I wasn’t here to make friends. I slowly descended down the stairs without making a single peep. As I snuck through the living room, I noticed the mint green mare standing in the kitchen. I tried to sneak past her, but she turned around and noticed me. “...Are you trying to sneak out?” Lyra asked me. “I…uh…” I stumbled upon my words. “Come,” she pointed her hoof at a kitchen table chair. “Sit. I’ll make you something to eat.” I couldn’t believe this. I just tried to sneak out, not giving her a single bit, and she just ignores it. I don’t know what came over me, but I walked into the kitchen and sat down on the chair. She put a plate down and brought over a couple pieces of hay bacon and eggs. I looked at her, “Why are you being so nice?” I asked. “Well, I couldn’t let you stay outside last night in the rain. Plus, Bon-Bon likes meeting new ponies.” Lyra said. “Bon-Bon? Who’s that, your roommate?” I asked her. Lyra walked over and put a glass of apple juice down onto the table. “Yeah, she’s my marefriend.” She said. I nodded while I took a taste of the apple juice, but what Lyra just said just hit me. I spat up the apple juice in shock. “You mean, you and this Bon-Bon are…” “What, you never met a lesbian couple before?” She chuckled. I shook my head. “You’re not a homophobe, are you?” She asked. Lyra tried to approach me, but I quickly fell back on the chair, and got onto my hooves. “Thank you, Lyra, for everything, but I gotta go!” I quickly stormed out of the house.

'Oh, Celestia, I slept in their house! What if it rubbed off onto me? What if I start liking stallions?' I thought. I shook my head. 'No! I like mares, for this I am certain! It’s just the mares here are crazy beyond comparison.' I continued to think. I decided to put this whole Lyra and Bon-Bon nonsense behind me. It’s a new day, and I need to think of a way to get back home, back to Cloudsdale, and back to sanity. Maybe there’s some pegasi around here that aren't complete loons. I sighed, knowing what I had to do next. “Pinkie.” I said. Pinkie Pie shot up beside me. “Yes, Midnight Blue?” she asked. “I need help finding some pegasi. Do you know any that could help me get home?” I asked. “Sure, I know a lot of pegasi.” Pinkie said. She began to walk off, and I followed her.

“…then I said, Oatmeal, are you crazy!” Pinkie said. “Uh-huh...” I said. “Well, here we are. Pegasus number one.” Pinkie said. We walked over a bridge, that was over a tiny creek. The path led up to a big cottage. Many little animals scurried around the house. Pinkie knocked on the door with her hoof. The door slowly opened and the yellow pegasus poked her head out. “Hey, it’s you.” I said. She looked at me and put her head back into her house. “Aww, come on, Fluttershy, Midnight’s really a nice guy.” Pinkie said. 'Really? You don’t know anything about me.' I thought. “I…uhh…already met him.” Fluttershy said from behind her door. “Well, he needs some help from some pegasi. I thought you could help him.” Pinkie said. “I’m…rather…no. I can’t. Try Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy shut her door. “Well, that was…helpful.” I said, walking away. Pinkie ran up beside me. “We’ll try somepony else.”

We continued walking and searching to find some pegasi, and we tried everypony. Cloudchaser and Flitter, Raindrops, Blossomforth, Thunder Mane, but none of them wanted to help. The only thing I learned was, Pinkie really is friends with everypony. I sighed.

“Thanks, Pinkie, but I don’t think anypony is gonna help me.” I said. “It’s OK. Maybe we can try tomorrow.” Pinkie said. “Yeah, maybe.” I walked away. All this walking around, it made me hungry. Thanks to Lyra not wanting me to pay, I had some money to get something to eat. I walked towards the center of town. At least walking around with Pinkie actually gave me a basic look of where everything was. I walked to a restaurant that was in the center of town. The waiter pony sat me down at a table outside. I sat and enjoyed it. This wasn’t close to what Cloudsdale is like. Here, everypony enjoyed themselves, enjoyed the sun, their friends, just loved the world. In Cloudsdale, all we did was work on the weather, work on our flying skills, or just sit around and watch contests about flying. Maybe, Ponyville wasn’t a bad place. Everypony was still crazy though. At that moment, I spotted Lyra. She was also eating here, but she was with somepony. A pale cream coated mare with a navy blue and pink mane. It must have been this Bon-Bon pony she mentioned. Something, though, felt off to me. They…looked happy. They were smiling, giggling, enjoying other pony’s company, what a normal pony couple do. ‘No, wait, this isn’t right, it’s not right, it’s...weird. It’s just not natural.’ I thought. Then, Lyra leaned in and kissed Bon-Bon. My entire stomach turned, and I felt nauseous. But…they looked so happy. Like, they belong together. “Can I take your order?” The waiter said. I was so deep in thought, I didn’t notice that the waiter pony walked up to me. "Sir, can I take your order?" He repeated. “Oh, uh, I want a hay sandwich and some fries.” I said. The waiter jotted it down on a tablet, and left. I went back to looking at Lyra and Bon-Bon. ‘Maybe I should go talk to her.’ I thought. Then, I shook my head. ‘What am I doing! I’m talking about them like they’re my friends.’ I thought, ‘I should probably find a place to stay for the night.’ I pondered. The waiter pony came back with my order. I continued looking at Lyra and Bon-Bon, slowly putting a single fry into my mouth.

It was now getting around sunset and I still have no pegasi to help me. It seems that I’m actually seemed like I was going to be here all Summer. I sat on a bench, sitting in my self-defeat. I lowered my head, having no idea what I would do next. “Hey.” A familiar voice said. I looked over to see Lyra standing there. “Oh, hey, Lyra.” I replied. “Mind if I sit down?” Lyra asked. “I...guess not.” I said. She sat down next to me, and several minutes passed by. “So, apparently, you’re not into my lifestyle.” Lyra said. “It’s just weird. It’s not normal.” I said. “What makes it weird? Are Bon-Bon and I not entitled to our happiness? You saw us today at the restaurant, and you saw how happy we are. Don’t pretend that you didn’t.” She said. “You did look pretty happy.” I admitted. “Can you just let us show you how normal our love can be? Just come home with me, and I’ll show you.” Lyra said. I looked up to the sky, then back to her. I don’t know why, but I trusted her for some reason. I…trusted somepony other than myself. “Ok, Lyra, I’ll trust you.” I said.

We walked back into Lyra’s home. The first thing I saw was Bon-Bon sitting on the couch. “So, this is Midnight Blue?” she asked. Lyra nodded her head. “And you’re Bon-Bon.” I said. She nodded. Lyra looked at me, and then turned to Bon-Bon. It was silent. Lyra sat down beside Bon-Bon. “So, Midnight, tell us about yourself.” Bon-Bon said. “I’d rather not.” I said. “Come on, Midnight. For us?” Lyra asked. I went to say no, but something made me actually want to tell them. I never opened up to anypony. Never. But, these two mares, these Lrya and Bon-Bon characters, they’re something else. Something I just simply can’t explain.

I sat down on the chair adjacent from the couch. “I never enjoyed life. I never had friends, not even growing up in school. That’s why I keep to myself. I never trusted anypony other than me. No friends, no marefriend. Hay, I think I wouldn’t even have parents if I could change that. Just me, sitting in the void of space, nopony to talk to but me. That’s how I would like it. Nopony would be there to hurt you...just nothing but me.” I said. Still, to this day, I don’t regret saying that. For one reason, what was gonna happen next. Lyra and Bon-Bon just looked at me, then they started whispering to each other. Between each whisper, they looked back at me. “Maybe I said too much. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything at all.” I said, trying to end this conversation and awkward moment. They both stopped whispering and looked at me. Lyra was the first to speak. “Midnight, when I first saw you in the rain, I thought, ‘There looks like a pony who is down on his luck. Two broken wings, lonely, and in the rain. I should help him, I should care for him.’ That’s when I called for you. That’s when you walked into my house. That’s when we became friends.” Lyra said. I hated it when people called me their friend. I usually yell at them and leave, but not this time, not with Lyra. I didn’t feel rage or anger, It just felt…right. Like, everything lined up in the cosmos. It felt like it needed to be said, that I had to hear that. Could it be true? Could I have made a…friend...by simply accepting somepony’s hospitality? I pondered on that thought for many moments. “Now, maybe you should go to bed. It’s late, and you’ve had a rough day.” Bon-Bon said. I got out of the chair, bobbed my head to both of them, and walked back into the guest room. My room. Bon-Bon sighed. “Do you think this will actually work?” she asked Lyra. “It has to.” Lyra said.

I awoke from my slumber. I couldn’t remember what had happened last night. It was just a giant blur. I walked out of the room and entered the kitchen. There was Bon-Bon, sitting in the chair while Lyra was cooking up some breakfast. I sat down at the table. They both continued to do what they were doing. Lyra sat a plate down in front of me. She sat down some toast and a haycake on the plate. Lyra patted me on the head. “So, Midnight, how did you sleep?” Lyra asked. I looked up at her. “Nopony’s ever asked me that before.” I chuckled. “Lyra, you never seize to amaze me.” I smiled at her. “Hey, you’re smiling.” She said. “I…I am? Wow, that’s the first time I smiled while I was in Ponyville.” I said. “Well, that’s a start.” Bon-Bon said. “Start? Start of what?” I asked. Bon-Bon and Lyra chuckled. I gave them a look. The clock on the wall chimed. Lyra looked at it, then looked at Bon-Bon. “Ready?” she asked. Bon-Bon nodded, and then looked at me. “Hey, Midnight, we were going to head into town. Do you want to tag along?” Bon-Bon asked. “Do I have a choice?” I replied. “Not really.” Lyra smiled.

The three of us were walking about the town. “So, what are you guys planning?” I asked. “Nothing. We just thought that seeing how you’re going to be here for the whole summer, you might as well get used to how we live.” Bon-Bon said. “Oh, okay.” I was suspicious. I knew that was only part of their plan, but that statement did hold some truth and reasoning. We walked up to three mares who were talking amongst themselves. The ponies were all different coat colored. One was light magenta, the second, pink, and the third was a cream-ish color. There cutie marks were all different kinds of flowers. “Hey Daisy, Lily, and Rose. How’s it going?” Lyra asked. They all looked at her and smiled. “Oh, hey Lyra.” Daisy said. “Good morning.” Lily said. “How are both of you?” Rose asked. “Oh, you know, just fine. It’s a little warm, but I don’t mind. The sun feels good on my coat.” Lyra said. They all smiled, but then, they noticed something. They looked past Lyra, and looked towards my direction. I turned around to see what they were looking at, but I saw nothing. I turned to look back at the mares. They were still looking at my direction, when I realized, they were looking at me. “What?” I asked. “Oh, girls, this is my friend, Midnight Blue. He’s from Cloudsdale, and he broke his wings. He’ll be staying with me and Bon-Bon for the whole summer.” Lyra explained. I looked at Lyra. I still didn’t want any friends. I just tolerated Lyra calling me that, no matter how nice it felt to be called her friend. I had to fix it. “Well, Lyra, I would actually say that we are more acquaintances than friends.” I corrected her. Lyra leaned over to the three mares I just met. “We’re trying to help him open up.” She whispered. This time, I heard that. ‘Am I really that bad? Do I really have ponies trying to help me? I did smile for the first time in Ponyville today. Isn’t that enough?’ I thought. I looked down at the ground. “Well, good luck with that.” Lily said. “Come on, Lyra, let’s show Midnight some other ponies.” Bon-Bon said. “Ok, bye girls.” Lyra and Bon-Bon walked away while I followed behind them. “Well?” Lyra said as she looked back to me. “What?” I asked. “Did you like them?” she asked. “They…seemed alright.” I said. Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at each other and then looked forward. I lowered my head. I didn’t really care what they thought of me. It’s not like I was gonna come back here. Ponyville is still weird. Granted, I was meeting some mares that weren’t all that far from normal and that actually seemed friendly, but again, I wasn’t looking for friends. I was just looking for a way to get past this Summer as painlessly as possible.

While we walked, we met up with a mare. She had a moderate cerise colored coat. She seemed to have some intelligence to her. Lyra and Bon-Bon talked to her, while I stayed behind them. I think they said her name was ‘Cheerilee’ or something like that. I took a mental note of Cheerilee. I started doing this for everypony Lyra and Bon-Bon showed me, because, hay, you never know who I might need a mental note on. We walked up to a couple more ponies, Carrot Top, Berry Punch, a foreign sounding pony named Doctor Whooves. I didn’t know why they called him that, but I just shrugged it off and continued following Lyra and Bon-Bon.

My stomach growled loudly. “Umm, I’m getting kind of hungry. Can we stop to get something to eat?” I asked. Bon-Bon turned her head and looked at me. “Well, we’re close to Sugarcube Corner, do you like cupcakes?” she asked. “I can eat them, I suppose.” I said. “Good, I could also go for a cupcake.” Bon-Bon said. They walked into Sugarcube Corner. There were two ponies in this shop. One mare, and one stallion. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Can we get a dozen cupcakes?” Bon-Bon asked. “Hey, Bon-Bon, Lyra. We’re actually busy with Poundcake and Pumpkincake.” Mr. and Mrs. Cake raised their filly and colt. They were crying. “We can get Pinkie to help.” Mrs. Cake said. “Wait…” I said. “Coming!” rang from upstairs. I leaned up against Bon-Bon. “she doesn’t mean Pinkie Pie, does she?” I whispered. “Midnight Blue!” Pinkie Pie yelled from behind me. I sighed and muttered something under my breath. Pinkie ran up and hugged me. “Now I knew we were friends, but I didn’t expect you to come to my home and see me.” She said with excitement. “Pinkie, we’re not exactly friends.” I said. Pinkie stopped hugging me and backed away from me. She was looking at me with a blank look on her face, then her face quickly bounced back into a smile. “Of course we’re not, silly. We’re best friends!” Pinkie hugged me again. I sighed and looked at Lyra and Bon-Bon. They giggled to each other. “Pinkie, do you think you can make us a dozen cupcakes?” I asked. Pinkie looked over at Lyra and Bon-Bon, then back to me. “You’re already making friends! Good for you.” Pinkie said. “Pinkie, the cupcakes.” I reminded her. “Oh yeah.” She ran into the kitchen. “So, you and Pinkie, huh.” Lyra said. “What a cute couple, right Lyra?” Lyra and Bon-Bon laughed. “Ha ha ha, very funny. I’m not here to make friends.” I said. They both stopped smiling and then shook their heads. Pinkie came out, holding a box of delicate, moist, mouth-watering cupcakes. "Freshly baked, and just frosted!" she announced with pride. The aroma of the cupcakes was a sweet tangent smell of hot freshly baked bread, while the frosting that sat on top smelled of sweet sugar with just a hint of vanilla. The appearance of these scrumptious yummy cupcakes wore pink frosting with yellow and blue sprinkles, while the cupcakes were white with chocolate chips baked into them. The thought of these delicious pastries entering my mouth made my mouth water and my stomach growl. “Thank you, Pinkie.” Bon-Bon said with a grin. She also was seemed anxious to eat the delectable cupcakes, eyeing them up once more before closing the box.

Pinkie laid the cupcakes on the counter as I dug into my saddlebags to get out some bits, but all I had was 2 left. Lyra looked at me with a distraught look on her face. I noticed her looking at me, but I didn’t want it to seem like I had no money. I continued to dig through my saddlebags, to give the illusion that I had some money. Lyra smiled at me. I could tell she could see right through my ruse. Lyra pulled out some bits and gave them to Pinkie. “Here you go, Pinkie.” Lyra said with a smile. My face turned red, I didn’t want to seem like a mooch, even though that’s exactly what I was becoming. It wasn’t completely my fault. These broken wings leave me without payment, and I was out of money. Lyra levitated the cupcakes onto her back, and we walked out of the pastry shop. “So, how long have you known Pinkie?” Lyra asked. “3 days too long.” I said.

As I bit down onto the moist cupcake, it felt like it had melted in my mouth. I moaned with delight. “I’ll give Pinkie this, she sure can bake.” I said as I took another bite. “Yeah, these are something.” Bon-Bon said as she took a bite out of her cupcake. “yeah, these are good, but do you know what would be better?” Lyra asked. We both looked at her in question. “Hey, Derpy!” she yelled into the sky. A light grey coated pegasus flew down from the sky. She tried to land in front of Lyra, but she tripped and fell into the ground before us. It was quite a gruesome sight. It looked painful. The pegasus looked up at Lyra. “Hey there, Lyra!” She said. She looked at the mare pegasus. She was cross-eyed and talked funny. I tried to hold in my laughter, but I grunted out a laugh or two. Bon-Bon kicked me in the flank and made me drop my cupcake. I looked at her with an angry, evil look. “Hi, Derpy. Do you think I could have a muffin?” Lyra asked. Derpy gasped with joy. “I have many muffins! I have banana, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, nut, oat, bran, raisin…” Derpy ranted on about all these muffins. I picked up my cupcake and dusted it off. I went to take another bite when Bon-Bon stopped me. She smacked the cupcake out of my hoof again. “…and I also have…” Derpy stopped and looked at me. “Hey, who’s your friend?” Derpy asked, while stopping in the middle of her sentence. ‘Why does everyone think I’m Lyra and Bon-Bon’s friend?’ I thought to myself. “Oh, this is Midnight Blue. He’s staying with us for the Summer while his wings heal.” Lyra explained. Derpy looked at me and approached me. She started walking towards me, but tripped on a rock. As she fell to the ground, she tried to hold on to something to bolster her, but the only thing she could grab was my broken wing. Derpy grabbed and clutched onto it for dear life. I screamed in pain. The fiery, intense pain shot through my wing again, just like when It was first broken. I fell to the ground, my face was sweaty and my throat burned from the loud screaming that just occurred. Derpy got back onto her hooves, and helped me get onto my own hooves. “Sorry about that. My name’s Derpy, Derpy Hooves.” She said. I just panted in front of her. I drew in a big breath and said, “I’m Midnight Blue.” She looked at me and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Midnight Blue.” She said. Derpy turned around and back to Lyra. “Well, Lyra, here’s your muffin.” Derpy dug through her mailbag and pulled out a muffin. She handed it over to Lyra. “Now, I need to get back to delivering mail.” She said. A beautifully genius idea popped into my head. “Wait, Derpy!” I yelled to try and stop the mail mare. She turned around and faced me. “Yes, Midnight Blue?” she asked. “You...deliver mail? Do you think you could take something to Cloudsdale for me?” I asked. “Well, that’s a long flight and is out of my general area, but I suppose I could it for a friend of Lyra’s.” Derpy said. “Good.” I pulled out the weather inventory paper I had made a couple days ago. “Now, Derpy, listen carefully. I need you to take this to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. Tell them it’s from Midnight Blue and tell them to give you my paycheck. Can you handle that?” I asked. "Uh-huh," Derpy nodded and put the paper into her bag. “You can count on me, Midnight Blue!” Derpy said as she took flight, and she flew off. “I’m doomed.” I said.

The three of us returned to the house after walking around for countless hours. We all walked into the house laughing and giggling. Lyra and Bon-Bon put their things beside the couch and sat down, while I sat in the big chair. We all continued to laugh, but it slowly began to die down. It just died down from laughter, to chuckling, to just plain silence. We just stared at each other. “Midnight.” Bon-Bon got my attention. “Hmm?” I looked up at her in question. “Why do you have no friends?” Bon-Bon asked. “Bon-Bon!” Lyra yelled. “No, Lyra, it’s okay.” I said. It was a reasonable question, I will be living with them for three months after all, they might as well know something about me. I cleared my throat, while Lyra and Bon-Bon settled in for a long story.

“I guess I’ll tell you the whole story. I was born like any other pony, normal and fragile. My parents were protective of me, but that soon died down. They soon stopped caring about me. I normally just sat in my room and stared at the wall. My parents were too lazy or didn’t care about me enough to teach me how to fly, so they enrolled me into the Junior Speedsters flight school. In flight school, I was one of the fastest and greatest flyers in my grade. I wasn’t track record fast, but still, I could go. You think other ponies would be envious or the teachers would be proud of you, but instead, they weren’t. I got beat up constantly. Kicking me, hitting me in the face, blood running out of my nose and ears. Pulling my mane and tail out. Getting kicked in the stomach to the point were you're throwing up and gasping for breath. Bruised and beaten, and nopony around to stop it. All I could do is endure it, wait for them to tire out, and pray to Celestia I didn't run out of blood before then. Some days, I'd wish I just died there...

"They said that I had nothing else to do, that I was only good because of genetics, or that I was only there to make them look bad. They kept saying ‘Midnight Blue, Midnight Blue, your parents don’t care about you!’ The teachers just looked at me, disgusted by me, thinking I cheated through it all. I did nothing wrong, I was just fast, plain and simple.

“My parents were never around to congratulate me on my accomplishments, or even told me that they loved me. Can you imagine, never being told that your parents love you, not even once. They were always held up in the factory. I didn’t want to become like them, ignoring their own colt, but, at least I had a home to live in. When I graduated from the Cloudsdale Junior Speedsters, I was the valedictorian, but I didn’t show up to graduation, I knew what would have happened. The shame and embarrassment brought to me by my fellow classmates would have saddened me for the rest of my days. I still remember the anthem that they had us sing, ‘Junior Speedsters are our lives, sky bomb soars and daring dives. Junior Speedsters, it’s our quest, to someday be the very best.’

“After making no friends in flight school, I moved out of my parent’s house, and got my own apartment. I searched high and low for a job, but there are not many jobs in Cloudsdale that don’t involve the factory. It saddened me to admit it, but I put in my application. With my parent’s reputation inside the factory, and the fact that I got valedictorian in Junior Speedsters, I got a good job high up on the corporate ladder. My dad finally said he was proud of me, but this isn’t what I wanted him to be proud of me for. They instantly got me onto Weather Supply Check, one of the best jobs you could have at the factory. Sadly, the ponies at the factory were worse than the ponies at flight school; some of the ponies from flight school even worked at the factory. That’s when I started becoming an independent pony; A pony that kept to myself, a pony that trusted nopony else, because i was afraid any of them would stab me in the back, just to get up higher in the ranks.

"Apparently, the factory trusted me a lot for my first job; I figured it was due to my parents. My first job was straight to Las Pegasus, and to stop at Baltimare on the way back. A job that they didn’t even send some of their experts on. They must have thought I was something special. The job only lasted me a month and a half. They paycheck was nice, about seven hundred, seventy five thousand bits. Some might say that’s a lot of money, but that had to make me last all year.

“I was able to buy a small house, nice and cozy. I was able to live through the year, but barely. Food was plentiful and edible, which was nice, seeing how I’m not a good cook. I'll bet that I can burn water. I continued to work for the factory for a few more years, the jobs kept getting harder and longer, but the more difficult the job, the bigger the pay. Then, I got this job; the Ponyville job. I’ll be honest, I didn’t like it. I’ll be even more honest, I still don’t like it. And now, here I am, just trying to make it through this Summer, trying to get through it as painlessly as possible. I’ll admit it, Lyra, Bon-Bon, I’m still not sure about this idea. I don’t want any friends. Friends will just become enemies in the end.” I finished. Bon-Bon shook her head. “Wow, ok then.” She said. Lyra sighed. “Midnight, sooner or later, we’ll show you that friends can be the best thing a pony can have. Nothing compares to friends, not even money.” Lyra said. I got out of the chair and onto my hooves. “Thanks for the pep talk, but I’m gonna head to bed.” I said. I headed to my room without a goodnight. I was surprised about one thing though, nopony ever took an interest in me. Nopony ever listened to my life story before. Maybe, having two friends wouldn’t be a bad idea, even though I don’t know how to be a friend, Lyra and Bon-Bon will surely try to teach me.

I woke up hearing a sweet melody. The beautiful sound of a string instrument swam through the air and into my skull, swirling about like leaves in the wind. I wasn’t into music, but I was enjoying this melody, I was attracted to it. But then, a sharp distraught note cut through the beautiful melody and killed it instantly. “Dang it!” Lyra yelled from the other room. The melody continued, sounding nicer and dreamier than before, but another missed note brought the whole thing crashing down. “Come on!” Lyra yelled. I got on my hooves, and walked out of the room. Lyra and Bon-Bon’s room’s door was open, and inside was Lyra trying to play a lyre with her hooves. I walked in. “Hey.” I said. “Oh, hey,” She replied, and went back to playing. “What are you doing?” I asked, trying not to get swept away by the sweet song. Lyra missed another note and sighed. “I’m trying to play the lyre with my hooves.” Lyra said. That’s when I first noticed Lyra’s cutie mark. It was a lyre; quite ironic. “Isn’t your special talent playing the lyre or something to do with it?” I asked. “Yeah.” She sat the lyre down on the bed. “Watch.” She levitated the lyre up with her unicorn magic and started playing it. The song that came from it was gorgeous, a masterpiece. It was relaxing and inspiring. She dropped the lyre down onto the bed. “I can play it with ease with my magic. It takes a lot to focus on one particular string. But playing it, with your hooves? I would be famous if I could learn how to do that.” Lyra said. I looked at the lyre, now resting upon the bedspread.

To my surprise, I got a little something in the mail today. I walked outside of the house around noon, when I heard the words “I brought you a letter!” I looked up to see Derpy, the mail-mare holding a letter and a package in her mouth. She flew down to ground level and gave me the package. It was from the factory. I’ll admit this, for Derpy being…well, Derpy, she was a fast flyer. I was expecting two to three days to get my payment back, at the most, but in one day? She must have been good at her job. I opened the package first. Inside was a box filled with bits. I counted them out, and I was given a payment that looked like to be about five hundred thousand bits. ‘This should be enough to last me all summer!’ I thought. Then, I read the letter. It read, “Dear Midnight Blue, we are sad to hear of what happened to you. We gave you a little extra for the accident. We hope to see you back in the factory soon. The CEO of the Weather Factory, Dark Eclipse.” ‘Yeah, love you too, boss.’ I thought, being sarcastic. I put the bits in my saddlebags, but gave Derpy some as payment. I thought of what my next move should be. Then I got an idea. I put the letter in my room of the house, then ran towards the shopping district.

Lyra sat on the couch, she was still trying to play the lyre with her hooves. Bon-Bon sat next to her. I walked through the door with an acoustic guitar strapped to my back. “Uhh, Midnight, what is that?” Bon-Bon asked. “It’s a guitar. I heard Lyra playing this morning, and I figured I could play with her,” I said. “Do you even know how to play that thing?” Lyra asked. “I taught myself when I was young. Seeing how all I did was sit around my room all day, I obtained a lot of spare time. So, I learned guitar. Now, It’s been a few years since I played, but I still remember some.” I said. I sat on my rump on the chair and put the guitar into my hooves. I started playing. It took precision, you had to put the very end of the hoof onto the fret, while you strummed the string with the end of the other hoof. It was difficult, but not impossible. It seemed Lyra and Bon-Bon really enjoyed my song. I missed a couple notes, but the two mares seemed to enjoy it. I switched up between basic frets, to some chords, to some complex solos. I finished my instrumental melody. “Wow. Do you know any songs?” Lyra asked. “I might be able to come up with one.” I started to play a couple chords, and sang, “Plucking strings and, ugh...broken wings, are the things that define my Ponyville summer.” I sang. I suddenly froze. I just acknowledged that I was stuck in a low-life town with a bunch of nut job ponies…and I was ok with it, in fact, I was perfectly fine with it. I put the guitar down. “That’s all I got.” I said. “Well, I think you make a good guitar player.” Bon-Bon said. I smiled and said, "Thanks." I stood up, and put the guitar in my room of the house. I walked back downstairs and walked back into the living room. Lyra and Bon-Bon were whispering to each other. “Hey, what are you two talking about?” I asked. “Oh, nothing.” Bon-Bon said. I figured it was another plan to get me to open up and be friendly with everypony, but I don’t want to. Lyra and Bon-Bon was enough. And as far as we went, we were just acquaintances that I slept in their house. Nothing less, and surely nothing more. “Ok, whatever.” I walked up the steps.

The next day, I was on my way downstairs, when I passed by Lyra and Bon-Bon’s room…and I heard a weird sound. A sound I haven’t heard in this house before, the sound of crying. I slowly opened the door and peaked inside. On the bed, Lyra was sitting, hunched over and crying. ‘This isn’t something you should be intruding on, Midnight,’ ran through my head, but before I was able to bring my head back out of the room, Lyra spotted me. “Oh, Midnight!” Lyra quickly put something she was holding in her hooves down. “Lyra! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to intrude in on you!” I turned my head. “No, Midnight, it’s okay. Come in...I want to show you something, actually.” Lyra said. I walked up to her and sat down on the bed. She grabbed a picture frame off the ground and showed it to me. The picture inside was of a pegasus, a dark blue pegasus. The same color I was. His mane was black with a blue tint running through it, same as mine. “H…He looks just like me? Who is this?” I asked.

“You see, I wasn’t always into mares. I used to have a stallionfriend. A handsome one. He was something else. He always took care of me, he always was there for me, he always loved me.” Lyra said. Tears ran down her face like rain falling down a window. “What happened to him?” I asked. “One day, he went out in a devastating storm...I begged him not to go out, but he went out anyway. He...He said that it was something urgent, but he refused to tell me...When the storm stopped, he didn’t come back. A search party went out and looked for him...They found his mangled body out by the sea. He drowned.” Lyra sobbed. She laid her head on my neck and cried. I didn’t know what to do, but then again, does anypony know what to do in a situation like this? Never having a marefriend put a real toll on me now. I’ve read romance novels, but does that stuff really work? I put my hoof on her shoulder and rubbed her arm, trying to comfort her. “That’s why I let you in during that storm, You reminded me so much of him. I couldn’t let what happened to him, happen to you.” Lyra said, still sobbing upon my neck. She sat up and hugged me. It was such a surprise to me. I blushed, I have to admit. This was the first time I actually looked at Lyra as a mare, as a lovely mare. I’ll admit, I was never attracted to another pony before, but when I saw Lyra in such a vulnerable state as she is, I actually liked her. I thought she was rather pretty. Somepony who listened to me, somepony who took care of me, and now I’m there for them; listening to her, caring for her, comforting her. Besides the more sexual things, what else does a stallionfriend do? “You know, you even act like him.” Lyra sat up and looked at me. I blushed even more. Then it happened. I looked at Lyra and realized, I liked her. Maybe even more than that. ‘Could I have possibly be in love with Lyra?’ I thought. I had to say something. “Uhh…Lyra...” I began to say. “Lyra, Midnight! We better leave now, or we're gonna be late!” Bon-Bon yelled from downstairs. Lyra wiped the tears from her eyes. “Anyway, I have Bon-Bon now. Besides, he would’ve wanted me to move on.” Lyra got on her hooves. “Coming, Bon-Bon.” Lyra said. I sighed. What ran through my head there, I still don’t know. I had decided to put these new found emotions for Lyra aside, for now. It wasn’t the best time to tell her anyway. I got on my hooves and walked out of the room.

As I walked down the steps in the house, I gazed upon the living room and at my two roommates. Lyra managed to pull herself together in time before she met up with Bon-Bon down here. It appeared to her that what just happened was all just a fevered dream. Bon-Bon looked at me. “You’re going to a party with your mane like that?” Bon-Bon asked. “What’s wrong with my ma…wait, no, no, no, no, no. Midnight Blue don’t do parties.” I said. “Listen, it’s either you go to this party, or you’re gonna sit here, alone in the dark, and I know you don’t want to do that.” Bon-Bon said. ‘She’s right. Can they really read me that easily?’ I thought. I lowered my head and slowly walked back upstairs. “Very nice.” Lyra said, complementing Bon-Bon. “Thanks. I really wasn’t sure if he was going to go for it or not.” Bon-Bon said.

I walked into the bathroom and picked up the brush. “What’s wrong with my mane? I kept my mane like this for years!” I said to myself. The same black and blue manecut. The blue tint mixed in with my black mane. It all hung down in front of my eyes. My bedhead was all the style I needed. Sure, ponies saw it as a mess, but it was a mess that I liked. I slowly raised the brush to my mane, and slowly stroked the brush through it. As my mane came down and curled up, losing its original shape, it slowly became neat, and brought back horrid memories. The memories I had before I changed my mane, before I changed who I was. Memories of when I was young, when I was still an adolescent colt. Memories that I went so far out of my way to forget. I brought the brush down another part of my mane, it curling up. I put the brush down onto the sink. I looked in the mirror and at my new appearance. Blue, seperating a black mane. I looked away. It reminded me of my past self, the pony I despised. The pony that got pushed around, and did nothing to stop it. I walked out and slammed the door behind me. I walked down the steps. “That’s much better.” Bon-Bon said. “Let’s just get this over with.” I said as I stormed by them, not giving either of them a stern glance. I open the door and walked out, not even knowing where to go. Lyra and Bon-Bon shortly followed.

It had been night for a few hours. You think with a serious injury such as my own would make you think time was moving slow, but for me, I had a hard time hanging on. “Where’s this party even at?” I asked. “We’d rather it be a surprise.” Lyra said. “Meaning I’m not gonna like it” I thought. As we walked into Ponyville, I took some of my, oh so precious time and looked around the town. The brightly lit town was actually quite a sight. They had different colored lights lighting up the shopping district, like it was a tree during Hearth’s Warming Eve. But it was vacant. “Wow, the shops are completely closed,” Bon-Bon pointed out. “And nopony’s around.” Lyra added. “Is everypony at this party?” I asked. “I suppose so.” Bon-Bon said. “Man, when Pinkie throws a party, everypony goes.” Lyra said. “Pinkie? As in Pinkie Pie!” I yelled in shock. ‘I knew it! They’re trying to get me more friends!’ I thought. “Lyra!” Bon-Bon exclaimed. “Oops..." She said. “No! That’s where I draw the line.” I said. I turned around and began to walk back. Then, Lyra jumped in front of me. She put her face close to mine. “Midnight, look. You’re here for three more months, and if you don’t have fun, time’s going to go really slow. Now, stop, turn around, and walk with us to the party with us.” Lyra said. I leaned my head closer to her. I tried not to blush, I did start to love Lyra, and this a little close for comfort. I looked into her golden eyes, and said “Make me.”

As Lyra pushed me into Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie spotted me before anypony else did. An, even bigger, smile grew upon her face. She begun to bounce and approach me. “Lyra, look, I’ll pay you 100 bits to get me out of here now.” I said, trying to get out of Lyra’s grasp and run out the door, but Lyra held on to me so tight, that I could barely even walk. Pinkie was getting closer. “200 bits? How about 300 bits? Please, Lyra. Don’t do this.” I pleaded. “Come on, Midnight, It won’t be that bad.” Bon-Bon said from behind Lyra. Pinkie bounced up to me. Lyra let me go, and I was about ready to run, but before my legs could produce any movement, Pinkie hugged me. “Midnight Blue! I’m so happy you could make it!” She said with excitement. “Yeah, well, it was an offer I really couldn’t refuse.” I said as I looked at Lyra and Bon-Bon. They both just smiled. “Well, I’m glad you made it. Here, let me show you around.” Pinkie practically dragged me away from Lyra and Bon-Bon. “I’ll get you back for this, Lyra and Bon-Bon.” I grunted.

She drug me up to her friends, five ponies standing in a circle. I knew some of them too. There was Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle, but I didn’t know the white coated one or the orange coated one. Pinkie drug me into the circle. “Hey, girls. I want you to meet my newest friend, Midnight Blue.” She looked at me. “Of course you know Fluttershy, Twilight, and Dashie.” She said to me. “Yeah.” I said. She put her hoof out towards the orange coated one. She had a cowpony hat on top of a blond mane. She had a cutie mark of three apples. “This is Applejack.” Pinkie said. “Howdy, Midnight Blue. Sure is nice to make y’er acquaintance.” Applejack said. “Yeah, hey.” I said. Pinkie then pointed her hoof at the white unicorn. “And this is Rarity.” Pinkie said. “Charmed, darling, and may I add, your mane looks quite...kempt this evening.” Rarity said. “Yeah, same.” I said. “So, Midnight, it seems you’re staying with Lyra and Bon-Bon.” Twilight said. “Oh, yeah. They seem like nice ponies.” I said. ‘Especially Lyra.’ popped into my head, finishing my sentence. I quickly shook my head to get the thought out. 'It was obvious Lyra's not into me. She moved on from that other pony, and went out with Bon-Bon. She’s with Bon-Bon. She’s gonna be with Bon-Bon!' I thought. “Well, how are you enjoying your time in Ponyville?” Twilight asked. “Well, it’s not that bad of a town. It’s a lot different from Cloudsdale, that’s for sure.” I said. “Yeah, that’s the truth.” Rainbow Dash interrupted. I rolled my eyes. I looked over at Lyra. My heartbeat started to elevate. She was talking to some other ponies, then, she turned her head and looked at me. She smiled and waved. I quickly looked away. I couldn’t let Lyra get the suspicion of my affection towards her. Besides, I probably don’t actually like her that way. It was probably something I just ate. Yeah, that had to be it. I must have eaten something bad, or I had gas, or something. I looked up at the six mares that circled me. “So, um, how did you all meet?” I asked. “Oh, well, that’s actually an excitin’ story. See, a couple years back, Twilight here came from Canterlot. Turns out, she was on some fancy pants mission for the Princess.” Applejack explained. “Really?” I turned to Twilight. “You’re friends with the princess? The Princess Celestia?” I asked. “Well, I’m more of her student.” Twilight said. “And what was this special mission?” I asked. “It was to make some awesome friends, which we then became the elements of harmony. We used them to defeat her evil sister, Nightmare Moon. It was awesome!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Oh, that’s cool.” I said. I really didn’t care, I was just trying to get the party over as fast as possible. I looked over at Lyra, who was now with Bon-Bon talking to somepony. “Well, I better get back to Lyra and Bon-Bon.” I began to walk away. “Nice to meet you!” Rarity yelled. “Uh-huh.” I said without turning back. I walked up to Lyra. “Lyra, can we possibly go?” I asked. “But, Midnight, you only just got here.” She said. “This just doesn’t seem like my kind of thing.” I said. “Let it sink in. You know, I heard Pinkie got a big shot DJ to come for this. You should stay.” she said. I sighed and looked up at her. “Okay, fine. I guess we can stay.” I said.

I talked to some more ponies while I was there, but everypony I talked to, I just ended up looking back at Lyra. I walked outside to get some fresh air. All the lights were now off, and it was quite dark. I sat down by the side of the building. I sighed and thought how with my feelings for Lyra would make the rest of this Summer now very difficult. “Hey.” A voice said. I let out a loud scream, jumped, and fell onto my side and hit the ground hard. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She said with a monotone voice. I got back up and brushed myself off. “It’s okay.” I said. I looked at who I was talking to. By the sound of her voice, I would say she’s a mare. I think she had a white coat and a double blue colored mane, but it was too dark and she was hard to see. It was all spikey. She had a cigarette in her mouth, which gave a little light towards her face with each inhale she took. She had these purple glasses on, making it hard to tell what her eye color was. Her cutie mark, which was really hard to make out in the dark, was a black double eighth note. She lifted the cigarette out of her mouth with magic, which led to my discovery of her being a unicorn. She shook the cigarette so the burnt ashes would fall, and then she lowered it back to her mouth. “You from the party inside?” She asked. “Yeah.” I answered. It went silent. She let out a breath of smoke and looked at me. “How many ponies are in there?” she asked. “Oh, well, I don’t know. About 30 or so.” I answered. She sighed. “Sometimes, I don’t get paid enough for these gigs.” She commented. “Are you the DJ for this party?” I asked. “Geez, kid. What was your first clue.” She mocked me. I looked down at the ground, now knowing how stupid my question was. The cutie mark was kind of a dead giveaway. “The name’s Vinyl Scratch, but most of my friends call me by my DJ name, Pon-3.” Vinyl said. “Mine’s Midnight Blue.” I said. “Look kid, if you like her, then tell her.” Vinyl said. “What! Is it really that obvious?” I asked. “Look, Mid, I’ve been doing parties for years. Your dilemma is quite a common thing. The lonely pony leaves the party and stands outside to think about the girl he likes, but he’s too scared that the girl won’t like him back. Now, tell me I’m right.” Vinyl asked. I just looked down at the grass I was sitting on, my face red and my ears drooped. “That’s a yes.” She said. “Ok, what should I do? She has a marefriend.” I said. “Marefriend? Swings both ways, that’s nice. Some of the freaky stuff happens with bisexual ponies.” Vinyl said. She then let out a quick chuckle. “And?” I asked. “Look, go in there and tell her you like her. Nine times out of ten they will like you back. Sometimes marefriends don’t give the ‘benefits’ a stallionfriend has.” She said. I looked up at the night sky, then stood up, feeling confident. I quickly ran into the party. “Go get her, kid.” Vinyl said. She flicked her cigarette and walked behind the building and into the back entrance.

I ran into the party, to see everyone was crowded at the door. “Lyra!” I yelled, but I didn’t get any answer. The lights dimmed down, and everypony started cheering. Vinyl walked up onto a stage that held a pair of already set up turntables. “How’s everypony doing!” Vinyl yelled. Everypony cheered louder. “That’s great, that’s great. But enough talk, let’s make it loud!” She yelled. Everypony cheered again. “Ok, this first song goes out to a pony I just met. His name is Midnight Blue.” She said. At that exact moment, the entire crowd went dead silent, split down the middle, both sides moving apart, and then, everypony looked at me, still standing in front of the door. My face turned red. “Woo, go Midnight!” Pinkie yelled. The dance lights came on, and loud electronic music filled Sugarcube Corner. Everypony then got back together and started dancing, but not me. I was on a mission. I had to find Lyra and tell her how I felt about her. I quickly ran around the room, shouting “Lyra!” but I don’t think anypony could hear me over the loud dubstep. “Lyra!” I yelled. I ran into the crowd. I quickly looked around frantically, but I couldn’t find my mint green friend. “Lyra! Lyra!” I kept shouting, but to no avail. It seemed I wasn’t getting any closer to finding her.

I lowered my head in defeat, my confidence now faded. I walked back out of the crowd and sat on a chair next to the bathroom. “Oh, Lyra.” I said. “What?” somepony asked who was standing next to me. I looked over to see Lyra standing next to the bathroom door. “Lyra! Look, I want to tell you something.” I said. “What is it?” she asked. “Lyra, after this past week, I went from not even liking you and despising unicorns, to liking you and liking unicorns. And after what happened earlier today, I realized…I don’t want to leave this place. I want to stay here, with you.” I said. “Midnight, what are you trying to say?” Lyra asked. “What I’m trying to say is…Lyra, I love you. You are the most beautiful pony I have ever laid eyes on. I want to be with you. Lyra, would you please go out with me?” I asked. Lyra just looked at me. It felt like time slowed down. The seconds became minutes, the minutes became hours, and so on. It was a long silence, except for the loud dubstep. I had to break this tension. “So, Lyra, what do you say?” I asked. “Midnight…No, I won’t go out with you.” Lyra answered. My jaw dropped, my ears drooped, and my heart….my heart shattered, into a million little pieces. “Look, Midnight, yes, you look and act just like…him, but that was in the past. I love Bon-Bon now. She even asked me to marry her, and I said yes.” Lyra said. I couldn’t believe this. A mare I finally take a liking to, and she’s getting married! “but…but…” Lyra held a hoof up and cut me off. “Midnight, all I asked of you was to open up a little bit more, but not like this. Look, I don’t really feel comfortable with this right now, with you living with me and Bon-Bon. Not now. Not after knowing you have feelings for me. Look, could you please possibly stay somewhere else?” She walked away. I couldn’t take it. I looked around to see that everypony wasn’t dancing, they were looking at us. The music was even off. I quickly ran out of the store in denial. I couldn’t take it. This couldn’t be happening. This can’t be happening!

As I sat behind Sugarcube Corner, which was now dark, and almost empty of all the party goers, I did something I thought I would never do…cry. I loved Lyra, and I just got rejected by her in an instant. In all fairness, It was foolish, but love makes you do foolish things. “Hey.” Vinyl poked her head out of the back door. “What do you want?” I asked in an angry tone. “I saw what happened.” She said. “Yeah, well so did everypony else.” I wiped the tears off of my cheeks. “So, how bad is it?” Vinyl asked. “I got kicked out, I have no place else to sleep, and my heart’s broken. Thanks for that pep talk at the beginning. It surely made my life better.” I said angrily. I snorted, not caring if she found it gross. Vinyl looked at the ground, then back at me. I’m guessing she felt guilty for what had happened. “Hey, kid. I’m staying at a friend’s house for the next couple days. I have a lot of gigs around here and I don’t feel like getting five different hotels. Wanna come stay with me?” she asked. My options were all out. I put all my eggs in one basket, and now, I’m homeless. I had only one choice. I stood up and looked at Vinyl. “I’m out of options, I have no place to stay, and all my stuff is at Lyra’s. I don’t think I really have a choice anymore.” I admitted. Vinyl chuckled. “Come on, Midnight. Let’s take you to your new home.”

‘And that’s where we’ll stop for now. I’m quite hungry, and I need to do a little packing for Ponyville. Look, I’ll resume this story in a little bit. You just have to be patient. Come back tomorrow, we’ll continue the story then.’

End of summer 1 Part 1

Author's Note

*Authors note: Ok, many things inspired me to write this; one, the awesome bronies on the internet that gave me great music to listen to while I typed this. Two, JackleApp, (This is hugely inspired by his song Summer, great song). Three, the many Lyra fanfictions out that encouraged me to write such a compelling story about her and Bon-Bon, especially the horrible ones that made me say ‘I could write a better one than this.’

Summer 1 Month 2

‘Ok, how is everypony feeling? I got some of my stuff packed, and with a full stomach, I think we can continue our lovely story. Now, when we last left off, things weren't going well for lil’ old me, but things were about to take a dramatic left turn…’

The first month had finally passed. As I awoke in the guest room I was now sleeping in, I knew what I was gonna do. The same thing I’ve done for the past three weeks! Eat a lot and stay in my room till my wings heal! I got up, and opened the door. I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, and there she sat. The nicest, most caring, nurturing, pony I have the privilege to know. Octavia, Vinyl Scratch’s friend, who was nice enough to let me stay here for the rest of the summer. Now Octavia was a light gray coat colored earth pony. She had a dark gray mane, and was quite calm for being a loud DJ’s friend. She was nice and timid, the kind of pony I liked.

Octavia, like Lyra, was also a musician. She plays Cello at fancy formal events, which really brings to mind ‘Why does she live in Ponyville’ but, hey, I didn’t judge her. She had a purple treble clef as a cutie mark. “Hey, Octavia.” I said as I slowly walked over to the cupboards. “Midnight, how long do you plan to keep this up?” she asked. “Keep what up? The constant depression? The endless heartache? The ‘staying here for free’ thing?” I asked. She sighed and said, “I know how hard heartbreak is, I’ve been there. But you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on.” She said. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.” I said as I opened the cupboard. Inside the cupboard, was completely empty. “Hey, where’s all the food?” I asked. Octavia sighed once more, “You ate it all, again. I guess you have to go buy some more.” Octavia said. “But I have no money. All of my bits are back at Lyra and Bon-Bon’s place.” I said. “Well, I guess you better go get it back.” Octavia said. I groaned. “Think of it as the first sign of you moving on.” She smiled at me. I groaned again and slammed my head off the table. “.....Ow.”

As I slowly walked in front of Lyra and Bon-Bon’s house, I realized something. I didn’t want to go in there. I knew the first thing I would do is see Lyra, bring up my emotions I still had for her, and then somehow make everything worse, if that was even possible. I sighed, took a deep breath, and slowly approached the door. I gave it a firm knock. Bon-Bon opened the door. “Oh, Bon-Bon. How’s it going?” I asked. I figured the first thing Lyra did after I left was tell Bon-Bon what stupid atrocity of a thought I have bestowed upon Lyra. “Oh, hi Midnight Blue! Wow, It’s been awhile since we saw you. How’s it going living with Pinkie for three weeks?” Bon-Bon asked. “What? Me living with Pinkie? I’m not living with Pinkie.” I said. “That’s not what Lyra said.” Bon-Bon admitted. That’s when it hit me. Lyra didn’t tell Bon-Bon what happened. Instead, she told her that I had moved out and lived with another pony. I guess Lyra didn’t want to make any of us fight. “Oh, yeah. Well, I wouldn’t call it living with Pinkie.” I said, trying to cover up the fact that I just broke the lie. “Then what do you call it?” she asked. I gave her a blank look. “Uhh, sharing a room together.” I said quickly. “Hey, Midnight, that’s called living together.” She said. “Yeah, well…Hey, can I come in?” I asked. “Sure.” Bon-Bon opened the door the whole way and moved aside so I could enter. I walked into the house, noticing that not a single thing changed since I had gone. “Lyra went out to the shops. She’ll be back any minute now. We can wait for her.” Bon-Bon suggested. “No! No, that’s fine. I wouldn’t want to bother her. I just wanted to grab my things and go.” I said. The three of us being together would just be plain awkward. “Oh, well, by all means. You’re always welcome here.” Bon-Bon let me go among my own business. I walked up the steps and into the guest room, where something surprised me. The room was clean. Not in any state that I left it. ‘They…they still took care of my stuff, they still took care of me, without me even being around.’ I thought. Bon-Bon walked up beside me. "Lyra kept it clean, in case if you ever wanted to come back. She really likes you.” She said. ‘Yeah, but not the same way I like her.’ I thought. I looked around the room, then I suddenly remembered the reason why I was here. I grabbed all of my things, and we both walked downstairs. “Thank you, Bon-Bon, but I’m afraid I must leave rather urgently.” I said as I walked in front of her. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait for Lyra to get home?” Bon-Bon asked. I stopped in front of the door. “Yes, I’m quite sure. In fact, she really doesn’t even need to know I was here.” I said. I opened the door, and on the other side was Lyra, standing with her house key being held in the air with her magic.

“Oh, hi Midnight Blue.” She said in a monotone voice. “Hey, Lyra.” I returned the greeting. “Oh, good, Lyra, you’re home. I’ll go make us some tea.” Bon-Bon walked in the kitchen. “So, uhh, how’s it been, Lyra?” I asked. Lyra looked at me. “Sit down, Midnight. I want to talk to you.” She said. I scurried over to the couch, and sat upon it. I lowered my head, like a puppy who knows he did something wrong. Lyra sat in the chair, the same chair I used to sit in. “What are you doing here, Midnight?” Lyra asked. “I just came to pick up my stuff, then I was gonna go.” I said, making sure not to make eye contact. “I see.” Lyra just stared at me. I looked at her. “Lyra, please, I miss the fun days we had. I miss the conversations that we talked about…I miss having you and Bon-Bon as my friends.” I said. I…I just admitted it. Something even worse than telling Lyra that I loved her. I just admitted I had friends. Two friends that I cherished for their company, no matter if I showed it or not. “Look, Midnight. I don’t want it to be weird between us, I just wanted to be friends. I just wanted to get to know you. Look, I realized being rejected took its toll on you, but I still want us to be friends.” Lyra said. “Then why did you kick me out for three weeks?” I asked her. “Because I knew you would heal your broken heart on your own, and it would never heal If we kept seeing each other every day. I also needed some time alone. You being here reminded me of…him…and I started to have feelings for you too, but I knew it would be wrong if we advanced on those feelings, and it would be wrong for Bon-Bon. She doesn’t deserve that kind of drama in her life.” Lyra said. I looked at the floor while Lyra continued to look at me. She chuckled. “I see you returned your mane to its original look.” She said. I chuckled, and then we both laughed, but it shortly died. I looked up at her. “So, what do we do know?” I asked. “Well, do you still have feelings for me?” she asked. I looked at her. “Lyra, you are my friend. My only friend. I would do anything to make you happy. And that’s all you are to me now. Just a friend.” It was obvious that I just lied, but I wanted Lyra to think I was sincere enough to lie about it. I walked over to her and hugged her. “Then I guess you go tell Octavia that you’re moving back in with us.” Lyra said. I looked at her and smiled. “Thank you, Lyra.” I said as I hugged her again. ‘Is this the felling of having friends? This happiness that I have never felt ever before?’ I thought. Bon-Bon walked into the living room. “What did I miss?” She asked.

I walked back into Octavia’s home. She was still sitting at the kitchen table, still reading the newspaper. “Welp, Octavia, I have to admit. It’s been fun staying here, but I’m afraid I must go.” I said happily. “Why, did you develop feelings for me too?” She asked sarcastically. “Very funny. No, Lyra agreed to let me stay there again.” I said with a smile on my face. “Well, good for you. Glad to see that you matured enough to fix your problems.” Octavia said. “Thanks. And here.” I put a tiny bag on the table. “What’s this?” she asked. “It’s rent money. I know I ate all of your food from the past weeks and I slept in your bed, and I know I kept you awake with all of my late night sobbing, so I figured I’d give you a little something.” I explained. She opened the bag and emptied it upon the table. She counted the bits, then was surprised. “Midnight, this is three hundred bits!” She exclaimed. “Yeah, and I almost got you more, but then I thought, ‘Now what would she do with that much money?’” I smiled at her. She got up and hugged me. “Thank you, Midnight.” She backed away. I was on my way out when Octavia stopped me. “Midnight, wait.” She said. I turned around and looked at her. She was standing over at the cupboards. “You opened the wrong cupboard again.” She opened the other cupboard door to reveal a cupboard full of food. I looked at her, and then we both laughed.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I opened my old room in Lyra and Bon-Bon’s house. “It feels good to be back.” I said. I walked over to my bed and took the guitar that was strapped on my back, off and laid it upon the bed. Lyra entered the doorframe. “Midnight, can we talk?” she asked. “Sure, Lyra.” I answered. She shut the door. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened to you…you know, three weeks ago.” She said. “Lyra,” I looked at her, “It was my fault. I never should have put you in that kind of predicament.” I said. I turned around and looked out my window. “I knew you were with Bon-Bon, and you two were happy together. Then I showed up and almost ruined everything. I should be the one apologizing.” I said. She walked up beside me. “I guess we’re both to blame.” She said. We both looked out the window together. We watched all the happy couples walking outside of the house, smiling and laughing. “Hey, Lyra. What was his name?” I asked. “Who?” she asked me. “you know, him. You’re old stallionfriend.” I answered. She looked at me. “I can’t tell you that.” She began to walk towards the door, then stopped, “It’s too painful to mention.” She said. I could see her eyes starting to water. She opened the door and began to walk out, but I stopped her. “Hey, Lyra.” She stopped and glanced over at me. “Bon-Bon doesn’t have to know about what happened, does she?” I asked. Lyra chuckled. “Let’s just call it a secret between good friends.” She left the room and closed the door with her magic.

The day shortly died down, I mostly stayed outside for the rest of the day to avoid anymore of Lyra’s ‘talks’. While I laid in my bed, I thought about what I would do after my wings healed. Yeah, I would go back to Cloudsdale, but I thought, what if I come back? Sure, Ponyville wasn’t my favorite town, but Lyra and Bon-Bon were here and that was enough for me to return, and really, what would stop me from coming back? As my eyelids began to grow heavy and my eyes started to burn, I rolled over, and said one thing, “I’ve been home this whole time.” Today was great! I finally found a place I fit in, and I had two great friends. The next day, however, was completely horrible. I didn’t expect what was gonna happen next, but I don’t think anyone could.

As I awoke, I peeked outside my window. There was really nopony in sight, which was weird because I can see the shopping district from it. I walked downstairs, but my two friends were gone. “Where is everypony?” I asked myself aloud. I began to approach the door, when my two friends jolted down the stairs and bowled me over. We all hit the ground with a thud. Bon-Bon was the first to notice me. “Sorry, Midnight.” She said as she helped me up. “It’s fine. What’s going on? Everypony seemed to have disappeared.” I mentioned. “Some pegasus is coming down from Cloudsdale to recruit new pegasi for the factory.” She explained. “The…factory. Did they say who it was?” I asked. They both shook their heads. “Well, why do you two care? You’re not pegasi.” I pointed out. “We want to say goodbye to any of our friends that get picked.” Lyra said. I sighed. “Ok, I guess I can say hi to one of my co-workers.” I said as I walked out, with Lyra and Bon-Bon shortly following.

Everypony was gathered outside town hall. Mayor Mare was standing on top of the stage. Lyra, Bon-Bon, and I shortly entered the crowd. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to say goodbye to some of our pegasi citizens and congratulate them on their accomplishment of joining the elite of the elite at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory!” she announced. Everypony cheered. All of the young, brave pegasi lined up upon the stage. “Now, let me introduce the representative for the Cloudsdale Weather Factory…” Mayor Mare paused. The curtain opened and standing in the center of the stage, was a dark blue pegasus. A little darker than me. He was tall. His wings had special machines attached to the bases of them, allowing him to fly faster than most pegasi could ever imagine. He wore big sunglasses, which were completely black and was unable to see through them. His mane had a blown back look, like he just flew Mach 3, and had the colors of black and blue. I gasped at this sight. “No, not him! Anypony but him!” I shouted. “…Mr.” The pegasus held his hoof up to Mayor Mare, stopping her before she could say his name. “I’m looking for a pegasus, and his name…is Midnight Blue.” He said.

Everypony looked around for me. “Guys, can we go? Like, Now!” I whispered to them. “Midnight, who is this pony?” Lyra asked. “Yeah, and why does he want you?” Bon-Bon added on. “I’ll answer questions later, but can we please just go before he spots me.” I answered. “Hey, here he is!” Pinkie yelled right next to me. She held her hoof up in the air, and waved it at the pegasus on stage. “Pinkie, no!” I grabbed onto her hoof and drug it down, but by then, the crowd split apart and there was just a clear line of sight from the pegasus and me. “Ahh, Midnight Blue. There you are.” The pegasus said. “Well, look who it is. Dark Eclipse, or should I just call you father.” I said. Everypony gasped. Lyra ran up beside me. “That’s your father!” She yelled. I started walking towards the stage. “Yep, Dark Eclipse, the fastest flyer in Cloudsdale and the CEO of the weather factory, is also my dad.” I said angrily. “You were close to beating my record, Midnight, but you just didn’t have it in you.” He said. “Let’s cut to the chase, father. Why are you here?” I asked. “Well, I’m here to take you back to the factory, son.” My father said. “Why, just so you and mom can just send me on more tedious tasks, or maybe you want me to clean the rainbow filters again.” I said as I walked onto the stage. “Now son, we need you. Nopony can clean the factory as well as you can.” He said. “No. I like it here. I have friends here, and I’m not leaving.” I ordered. “You, having friends. Midnight, we both know how ridiculous that sounds. You never had friends your entire life.” He said. Lyra and Bon-Bon ran up to me. “It’s true, Mr. Midnight Blue’s dad.” Bon-Bon said. “Yeah. We like Midnight.” Lyra added. My father slowly approached the three of us. “Oh, and who are these two? Do you three do each other’s make up and have girly slumber parties together? How absurd. Now I’m not joking, Midnight. Let’s go.” My father said. “No!” I barked at him. He stood over me. “Midnight Blue, I am your father! Now, you listen here.” “NO! You listen to me! For my whole entire life, you and mom have bossed me around and treated me like I was your own little slave pony. Well, no more! I’m tired of being pushed around! I’m tired of waiting on you all day and night! I’m tired of being everypony’s lap dog! And I’m tired of you!” I yelled at him. He just stood there, awestruck. It felt good to get in my father’s face and tell him how miserable my life was because of him. He looked at me and then towered over me. “How dare you! Do you think it’s easy running a factory AND supporting a colt? It’s not! But of course you wouldn’t know that. You never even had a marefriend. You just sat in your room, and cried. All day and all night, like a wimp. I’m amazed you made it this far in life.” He said. I hit my boiling point then. I began to flap my wings. I got up in the air, but then my wings made cracking sounds, and I fell, except my hooves didn’t hit the stage. Instead, they hit furry flesh. I looked down to see that I was being held up by Lyra and Bon-Bon, and I was now taller than my father. “Yeah, and you chose work over your own son! Over your own flesh and blood! I’m not a bad son, you’re a bad father!” I yelled. “That’s it! I had enough of your intolerance!” he flew into the air, and flew into me, flinging me down off the stage and hitting the ground hard. As I laid there, in pain, I opened one eye to see my father was now walking towards me. As I closed my eye, I heard more hoofsteps and then a voice. “If you want him, you have to go through me!” Lyra yelled. I opened my eye to see Lyra standing in front of me; protecting me. Then, Bon-Bon walked up next to her. “And me.” She added. Then, Pinkie bounced up next to them. “And me!” she said. I lifted my head and opened my other eye. More of the ponies joined Lyra and Bon-Bon in their fight for my safety. I looked around the expanding group that was raising up against my father. In front of me stood Lyra, Bon-Bon, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Derpy, Lily, Daisy, Rose, Octavia, Vinyl, Carrot Top, Berry Punch. Hay, even Fluttershy was in the group. I got to my hooves, and looked at my father. “You see, dad. I have friends, and many of them. And they all love me more then you or mom ever did.” I said. My father looked across the group of ponies that were between me and him. He shook his head and then took flight. “I can’t believe this. You’re no son of mine. Don’t expect a good location next year.” He flew up into the sky and away towards Cloudsdale. “I’ll be looking forward to it!” I shouted up at him. Everypony turned around and cheered for me. Lyra and Bon-Bon ran up to me and hugged me. “Thanks, you two.” I said.

As I sat in my room back at the house, I felt satisfied. I had completed one of my lifelong dreams. I stood up to my father, and won! I was proud as punch. I decided to have a celebration. I stood up and walked out my room. “Lyra? Bon-Bon? Are either of you here?” I asked. I had no response. I walked down into the living room, but it too was vacant. “Am I the only one here?” I wondered. Then, I heard hoof steps below me, but the beat was off. I didn’t know we had a basement. I looked around the floor, but all there was, was a kitchen and the living room. But then, I noticed something. There was a hidden door built below the staircase. The door wasn’t completely shut. I opened it, and put my head through the crack. The hoof steps got louder and I started hearing somepony panting. Instead of calling out Lyra or Bon-Bon’s name, I instinctively walked down the steps, but what I saw was something I never expected for. What I saw was Lyra, standing on her hind legs, and she was standing up. Straight up! She was holding onto the adjacent wall. “Lyra!” I said with astonishment. Lyra quickly turned and faced me. “Midnight!” She quickly pushed herself off the wall and put her front legs on the ground. We both just stared at each other.

“What were you doing?” I asked, still shocked at what I just saw. She ran up the stairs and shut the hidden door. She sighed, then looked down at me and sighed. “I guess I might as well tell you now.” Lyra said. She walked down the stairs and over to a nearby table. “Have you ever heard of the humans?” She asked me. “You mean those ancient mythological beings?” I asked. “They’re not a myth! They were real! They lived with our ancient ancestors, and they co-existed.” She said. “Lyra, that doesn’t make sense.” I said. “Look at this.” She grabbed a stone slab from the table and gave it to me. It had a giant oval shape with 5 small circles around the top. “I don’t get it. What is it?” I asked. “It’s a fossil of a human’s footprint.” She answered. “Ok, so you believe that these human creatures existed some time ago. That doesn’t explain what you were just doing.” I said. Lyra sighed. “Humans were said to have only walked on two feet instead of four. They had a different spinal structure then us ponies do.” She answered. I looked at her. “So, you try to walk…like a human.” I said. “Let me guess, this sounds weird, ridiculous, and arbitrary.” She looked at the floor. I saw that I wasn’t the only pony to have seen this, and she was judged about it. I looked at her. “I think that makes you special.” I said. She looked up at me. Anypony could tell that she was confused. “Wh…what?” She asked. “I think that makes you special.” I repeated. “So, you have a weird obsession with ancient mythological creatures. That’s fine. I’m hydrophobic. I’m petrified by huge bodies of water like oceans. It’s these little things that make us stand out among ponies. But, why keep this in secrecy? Why hide it?” I asked. “Because Bon-Bon doesn’t like it. She first thought that I was different, and she liked that. But now, she says this obsession is making me crazy.” She answered. I looked at her and put my hoof on her shoulder. “Then your secret’s safe with me.” I said. She smiled at me. “Thanks.” She replied.

As I awoke from slumber, I wore a smile on my face. It felt good to be back. I felt like I was one with myself again. I got up and walked downstairs. Bon-Bon was in the kitchen, looking through the cupboards. I decided to walk in and join her. “Hey, Bon-Bon.” She looked over her shoulder and at me, “Good morning, Midnight.” She closed the cupboards and sighed. “What’s the matter?” I asked her. “Well, it seems that Lyra forgot to get groceries this week, again. I tell you, she would forget her own mane if it wasn’t attached to her head.” Bon-Bon said as she sat down at the table. “Well, I can go get some. It would be the least I could do,” I felt up for the task. “Really? That would be great!” She ran over to the counter, grabbed a long list, and gave it to me. “This is everything you will need to get,” she ran her hoof down the list, showing me every item. I gulped at the tedious task bestowed upon me, but I grabbed the list, and walked out the door. Lyra poked her head out of the living room closet. “Did he buy it?” She asked. “Yep.” Bon-Bon said, feeling confident doing a good job.

I walked around and gathered the items that I could pick up from the market district of town. I felt uplifted, seeing how I knew some of the shop owners. The flower mares were some. I said hi to each of them. Rose blushed when I said hi to her. ‘I think she has a thing for me.’ I remember thinking. As I worked my way down the list, I saw a note beside the item ‘Apple Pie.’ It read ‘Go to Sweet Apple Acres.’ I knew my way around ponyville like the back of my hoof by now, but I didn’t know where Sweet Apple Acres was. I felt somepony lean up against me. I turned my head and found Pinkie Pie smiling at me. “Need my help?” she asked. “Wow, you’re good. How’d you know?” I asked, seeming confused as ever. “It’s just my thing. My Pinkie sense.” She walked in front of me. “Powerful stuff. I need help finding Sweet Apple Acres.” I looked at Pinkie. She sighed, picked me up, and turned me around. She then pointed her hoof towards a sign that was an arrow that said ‘This way to Sweet Apple Acres’. My face got red. “Thanks, Pinkie.” I slowly walked towards the dirt path the sign pointed to. “No problem.” Pinkie waved goodbye.

As I walked towards Sweet Apple Acres, I was trying to think who the pony in charge was. I suppose it was that one pony that I met at the party that…the one thing with Lyra happened three weeks ago; Apple, something or another. As I reached the top of the hill, it revealed the apple farm. The orchard was massive, the barn was big, and the apples looked luxurious. I began my trek down towards the farm, I noticed the familiar orange mare carrying a large basket of apples into the barn. In the orchard was a big red stallion, kicking trees and knocking the apples out of them. As I walked down to the barn, three small fillies ran past me. I remember that I saw them when I first walked out of the hospital. The first thing I noticed about them was that none of them had their cutie marks…just like me. I never found out my special talent, therefore I never earned my cutie mark. I don’t even think I have one, but now wasn’t the time to think of that. I was on a mission.

I walked down in front of the barn. “Howdy, Midnight Blue!” the orange mare walked up to me. “Oh, hey, Apple…” “Hey, Applejack!” one of the small fillies ran up to her. ‘Applejack! That’s her name!’ I remembered. “Howdy, Apple Bloom. You and your two friends going cutie mark crusadin’ again?” Applejack looked down at her little sister. “If that’s okay with you, big sis?” she asked. Applejack nodded and said “Go, you little fillies. Have fun.” She said. The three fillies smiled, giggled, and ran off. “So, Applejack, I need an Apple Pie.” I told her as I watched the little fillies. “Sure thing, Midnight, let me just go ‘n’ get one for ya,” Applejack walked into the house. She waved a hoof at me, signaling that I could go in. As I walked in, I noticed how it looked like an old 50’s styled house. On an old rocker chair was an old green pony. I continued to follow Applejack into the kitchen. “So how’s staying with Lyra ‘n’ Bon-Bon?” she asked me. “It’s great! They’ve actually sent me on a grocery mission.” I answered her. “I heard about the wedding. Ah’m sure ya must be happy for both of them.” Applejack reached into the oven and pulled out a pie. “Well, after I got over what happened at the party about a month ago, yeah, I am happy for them.” I answered. She put the pie down on the table in front of both of us. “But are you happy for them, or are you pretending to be happy for her. You still have feelings for her, don’t ya?” she looked at me. I avoided the question. I put the bits for the pie down and picked up the pie. “Well, thanks for the pie, Applejack.” I walked out of the house and walked out of the farm.

As I walked back into town, I spotted Applejack’s little sister, Apple Bloom. She was with the other two fillies she was with back at the farm. They were having fun, but then they spotted me. They smiled and ran up to me. I didn’t know what they wanted to do with me. I didn’t know them, and I don’t think that they hardly knew me. They ran up to me and Apple Bloom said “Hey, Midnight.” As I stood there looking down at Apple Bloom, and her two filly friends, I had no idea what to say. “uhh, hey Apple Bloom.” I could feel the tenseness. It was surely awkward. “So, Midnight Blue, my sister says that you don’t have your cutie mark.” She said as she tried to look at where my cutie mark should be. I sighed. “Yes, I don’t have my cutie mark, but I don’t find it important. No, I never found my special talent, and I don’t know if I ever will, but it’s not important. I have an okay life without it. I have a job, I have money, and now I have friends. I didn’t need any cutie mark to show that I can have a successful life.” I said proudly. The orange filly standing behind Apple Bloom moaned and said “I told you he wouldn’t help us get our cutie marks. Come on, crusaders, let’s go.” The three fillies walked away and my ears drooped. ‘Well, that sucked. I thought I was being quite inspirational.’ I thought, but then, I realized the three fillies were stopped by two other fillies. A pink one wearing a tiara, and a gray filly wearing glasses and a pearl necklace. They began laughing and taunting the three fillies who did not have their cutie marks. I heard the two fillies yell “blank flank!” and other taunts like that. It reminded me back when I was a small colt, still in flight school, and the same taunts were used against me. The three fillies sat there, lying down on the ground, sad and probably on the verge of crying. I couldn’t stand for it. That whole speech that I just said, that was only because that’s what I told myself after getting laughed at, but no more!

“Hey!” I shouted. All five fillies turned and looked at me. I walked up to the two fillies. “What’s wrong with you? You think making fun of fillies that don’t have their cutie marks makes you cool? I’m surprised you two even have friends! I bet your classmates despise you!” I shouted. They looked back at me, and then at the blank area where my cutie mark should be. They both laughed. “Oh, look, Silver Spoon, the blank flanks found an adult blank flank. Let me guess, you still live with your parents?” the pink one said and both of them laughed. I looked at their cutie marks, a tiara and a spoon. “Oh, let me guess, you hardly see your dad.” I said as I smiled at the pink pony in front of me. She stammered to say something and began to stutter. “Wh..what?” she struggled to ask. “Well, it’s obvious that your parents never pay any attention to you. Your parents are obsessed with money. They’re too busy with their jobs to even stop and notice you, but you think you’re miss princess, and that’s what your cutie mark tells you. That all you’ll be is a little princess in your mind, but you’re not. You have to make other foals fell horrible just to feel the tiniest bit good, but at the end of the day, and you’re lying in bed, crying because your life is horrible, you’ll think ‘is it worth it?’ and the answer is no, so stop it. You’re a horrible pony for doing it.” I stood above them. I looked back at the small fillies I was defending, who were looking up at me and smiling. I looked back and saw the gray filly now standing up to me. “How dare you! Do you feel big for picking on a small filly?” this Silver Spoon defended her friend. “I could ask you the same thing! What I’m doing to you two is a small fraction of what pain you two brought to these three fillies. And let me guess, your parents gave you everything. ‘Born with a silver spoon in your mouth’, huh. It’s a shame that your cutie mark tells you that all you are is a spoiled brat.” I said. She looked down at the ground. “Let’s go, Silver Spoon.” The pink one said and both of the fillies ran away. The three fillies ran up to me and bounced around me, thanking me.

As I returned home and held the groceries, I opened the door to Lyra sitting on the couch sipping a hay smoothie. “Hey, I thought we were out of food?!?” I acclaimed. “Oh, yeah. That was a lie so you could go see Applejack. Sorry.” She apologized. I dropped the bags and sat on the chair. I crossed my arms and looked at Lyra with a hatred look on my face. Lyra looked at me and said “don’t look so angry. We thought you should meet some of Ponyville’s country folk.” I let out a sigh and said, “Whatever.” I looked at Lyra. She sat in this weird position. Her back was straight against the back of the couch. “How can you sit like that?” I asked. “Huh?” Lyra looked at me in confusion, then she realized what I meant. “Oh, come over here. I’ll show you.” She said. I got to my hooves, and walked over to the couch. Lyra got up and put her hooves on my stomach. I could feel my face got hot. “Now, try to stay firm and still.” She lifted me up and put me on the couch. My back made a loud crack, but then it felt comfortable as I sat like how Lyra did. “how do you feel?” she asked me. “Surprisingly good.” I said. “I told you!” she yelled as she sat back down on the couch. She sat with a pomf. I wriggled around, trying to maintain my balance in this new sitting gesture. “Stop fidgeting.” Lyra laid down and put her head on top of my legs, and was now looking straight up at me. Lyra laughed and said “You’re blushing.” I quickly turned my head away from her and let out “No I’m not!” Lyra hit her hoof on my shoulder and said “Don’t lie to me, I can see it on your face.” I snorted, turned to face her, and gave her a light shove, “Whatever.” We both sat there and laughed. Lyra snuggled up to my stomach and said “You’re warm.” I looked at her. “Stop it, I know what you’re trying to do.” Lyra then let her front left hoof fall off the couch, and then started running it up my leg slowly. While she continued to do this, she licked her lips and fluttered her eyelashes up at me. My face got warm again and I blushed once more. “Gotcha!” she yelled. I pushed Lyra off of the couch; she landed on the floor with a thud. She got up, and drove her hoof into my shoulder. “Ow!” I yelled as I began to rub my shoulder. “Then you shouldn’t have done that.” We both gave each other angry looks, but then we both laughed once more. Lyra hopped back onto the couch, and sat down. I looked at her, a million thoughts rushing through my head. “Hey, Lyra, what did you ever do as a filly?” I looked at her. She looked back up and asked “You mean about my foalhood?” she answered my question with another question. I nodded as a response. “Well, let’s see… I started out living in Canterlot. My parents were both unicorns, and unlike somepony, I did a lot with them. Then, that changed when school started. I wasn’t the best at school, in fact, I didn’t do very well. Every unicorn there could do magic so easily. Every unicorn, except me. The teachers thought I had some type of magical block, thought I could never use magic at all. A unicorn that couldn’t do magic! How absurd! I mean, sure, we all can’t do the spells Twilight Sparkle can do, but levitation is like, the first spell unicorns learn, and I couldn’t do it.”

“Now, when I was in around third grade, the class started having music class. The teacher never expected us to be any good; she just wanted us to try. I was one of the last unicorns to get an instrument, and all that was left was the lyre. At first, I didn’t know what to think. A string instrument that was so easy to hold, and was so light, but had 10 strings and seemed so difficult. I held it and felt a unbreakable bond with the instrument. As I walked back to my chair, I remember one of the other unicorns asking, ‘Teacher, what is Lyra holding?’ and the teacher responded ‘That there is the lyre, a golden string instrument that takes a lot of focus and discipline to use. Unicorns have to focus on a single string and make it shake and vibrate. Lyra, why don’t you pick something a little easier.’ I slumped down in my chair and said ‘I’ll just play it with my hooves.’ The other unicorns laughed at me because I couldn’t use my magic to play, but when we started playing, it turned out that I was quite good at the lyre. I closed my eyes and focused all my energy into playing the lyre. Sweet melodic music came from the instrument, but when I opened my eyes, I saw that the whole class was looking right at me. Wondering what they were all looking at, I looked at my lyre to see that my hooves weren’t hitting the instrument, and in fact, was floating just out of my reach. I quickly let out a gasp, and the lyre began to fall, but instead of falling, it stopped and was covered by a mint green aura. I looked around to see who had stopped it, but I realized, the only pony’s horn that was glowing was my own. I was happy, ecstatic, elated, and the only thing that made me happier that realizing I could do magic, is that I got my cutie mark the very same day.” Lyra told as she laid her head back down onto my legs.

“And after that?” I wanted to get more out of Lyra.

“Then, I completed school, knowing how to play the lyre perfectly with ease, and I joined an orchestra. I traveled around with them, played a few galas at Canterlot, then I decided to get away from it all and decided to move here, in quiet ol’ Ponyville.” She said as she begun to close her eyes. “Then what?” I barged on. “Then…he happened. After that, I met Bon-Bon and a couple years later, we have a broken down pegasus living in our guest room.” Lyra said with a smirk on her face. I nodded and took in all I just heard, when the final part hit me and I looked down at Lyra, an angry glare pointing right at her, but I decided to let that one go. As I sat there in thought, I wanted to ask Lyra more questions. “Hey, Lyra?” I sat there, but didn’t get a response. I looked down to see that Lyra had fallen asleep with her head resting on my lap. “Well, looks like I’m not going anywhere.” I tilted my head back on the couch as I also drifted off to sleep.

I awoke with the sound of the door opening. I shifted my whole head over to see Bon-Bon walking in. She spotted Lyra sleeping and snuck inside the house. She quietly shut the door, and sat down on the big chair. “I see Lyra taught you how to sit ‘her way’”, Bon-Bon whispered. I chuckled. “Yeah. I found it odd to see how comfortable it is.” I looked down at my legs. Lyra was still sleeping peacefully on me. “So, I’m guessing today was exciting.” Bon-Bon said. “Oh, yeah. We were so exhausted, we had to rest.” I laughed and Bon-Bon chuckled. It went quiet, but then I looked up at Bon-Bon and asked, “How did you two meet?” Bon-Bon looked up and said “Well, if you really want to know”…

“Lyra played in the Royal Canterlot Orchestra in Canterlot, but then she wanted to get away from the fancy dresses and décor, and wanted to live here. She actually moved in a couple houses away from me at the time. She didn’t start with much; I remember that she only had one small box of stuff when she moved. At first, I didn’t really care for her. I remember seeing her in the market a few days later. She was confused and was looking for some carrots. Now, she could have asked anypony, but for some reason, she chose me.

"After showing her where to get them, she asked me to accompany her and help with her shopping. By the end of the day, I thought it was a safe bet to say we were friends, at the least, but she didn’t seem to leave her house much. Then, I didn’t see much of her for at least a month or so. I did see her once after that, and she was walking with some stallion. I assumed that they were going steady or something. Now, I didn’t think much about it. I wasn’t into Lyra at the time, in fact, I had somepony else. Then, after that, he…died, in a storm if I recall. It was a tragic day. Everypony in Ponyville liked him and enjoyed his company. After a few days, ponies starting getting apprehensive about Lyra. Nopony had seen her since the stallions death, and the only other pony that had seen her since her arrival was me. So the ponies came to me and asked me to check up on her, to make sure she was all right.”

“I slowly approached the door to Lyra’s house and knocked. ‘Go Away!’ she yelled from behind the door. You could tell she was crying. Her nose sounded stuffy, she gasped for breath, and you could hear weak moans coming from her. ‘Lyra, it’s Bon-Bon. You’re friend from the market, remember?’ I tried to get her to trust me, but it didn’t seem to work. ‘Look, Bon-Bon, I lost the only pony that ever liked me. I have no friends anymore’ she said. Sound familiar at all, Midnight?” Bon-Bon paused from her story. I just gave her a little smile, and she returned one back. She took a deep breath, and continued. “ ‘That’s not true, Lyra. The whole town is worried about you. I…I’m worried about you. Please, Lyra, let me in.’ I said. Sobs continued to come from inside the house, but then a small snort was heard, and the door opened. In the doorframe stood a bloodshot eyed, mane a mess, tears running down her cheek, broken Lyra. ‘Ok, Bon-Bon, come in.’ she said. I walked up to her and gave her a hug. ‘Thank you.’ I replied.”

“And after that, we realized that we were perfect for each other, and we started going out ever since.” Bon-Bon finished. I looked down at Lyra, her head still nuzzled into my warm lap. I chuckled. “There used to be an old song my dad listened to, it was more a less a little nursery rhyme. He actually named me after it. It went ‘I remember what my father said, he said ‘Son, life is simple’, it’s either cherry red or midnight blue’”. I don’t know what it meant, but he said the meaning was something like at the darkest of times, or midnight, we must see the joyfulness in life. Don’t see the midnight black, but instead, see it blue.” I told Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon looked at me, and asked “Do you live by those words?” I looked at her and sighed. “I remember my dad well enough to know he didn’t live by them. I tried to see happiness in life, but when you live a life like mine, it got hard.” I stared at the floor, and Bon-Bon did the same. Awkward silences filled the room. “…But, after meeting you two, and gaining friends so fast, I guess this is the joyful side of life. Having great ponies there to help you through life’s problems...There’s another part of that song that I also hold dear to my heart, ‘Things could be different, but that’d be a shame, ‘cause I’m the one who could feel the sun right in the pouring rain.’ And for once in my life, I do. I finally see life’s happiness.” I looked at the sleeping Lyra. ‘Even if that happiness doesn’t belong to me, I still enjoy it.’ “You love her, don’t you?” Bon-Bon asked. I quickly looked up at her, “What!?! No, I don’t! She’s just my friend!” Bon-Bon chuckled. “Relax, Midnight. It’s okay. Octavia told me that’s why you weren’t with us. I understand, and I wanted to thank you for what you’ve done.” She said. I instantly became confused. “Wait…huh?” I asked. “You put aside your own emotions and feelings, so Lyra and I can continue our relationship. Most stallions would try to take Lyra from me and have her for himself, but you’re different. You’re a true friend.” Bon-Bon said. I looked down at Lyra, then back up at Bon-Bon. Then, a yawn came from my lap. I looked down to see Lyra opening her eyes. “Oh, hey Bon-Bon. When did you get home?” she stretched. “Oh, just about ten minutes ago.” Bon-Bon gave me a wink. “Come on,” Bon-Bon got off the seat and helped Lyra, “Let’s get you to bed.” Both of them walked upstairs. I leaned back onto the back of the couch and let out a huge sigh. I let myself fall onto my side. ‘Why do I do this to myself?’

As I laid in my bed, I realized…I wasn’t tired at all. I sat up and looked out the window. The empty streets of Ponyville were so peaceful. I got out of my bed and grabbed my guitar. As I played a little bit of it, but not loud enough to wake Lyra or Bon-Bon, I thought about that song I started making. As I hit the first chord, then the second, the music just began to write itself. “Plucking strings and broken wings are the things that describe my Ponyville summer. When nice Nurse Mare from urgent care put my wings in slings…” I looked back at my broken wings. “Man, what a bummer.” I sang. My door opened and Lyra walked in while holding her lyre. She sat down next to me and began playing the same chords that I was. “But you wouldn’t care when you’re in the care of.” I paused. Lyra cleared her throat “When you’re in the care of Lyra and Bon-Bon.” she sang.

I awoke very early in the morning. I yawned and stretched to prepare myself for the day. I got up and looked in the mirror. With one run of my hoof, my mane fell into its shape. My eyes were bloodshot from having my little playing session with Lyra last night; It’s only been a few hours since that. I looked out in the hallway, and figured out that both of my two roommates were still asleep. I decided to let them stay that way and creep down the stairs, slowly opening and exiting the front door.

As I walked through town to say hello to some of my pony friends and get some fresh air with the smell of morning dew, I realized something was off. Instead of seeing bright and smiling faces of ponies when I walked by, I got angry stares and mean looks. ‘What’s everypony looking at? Do I have something in my coat?’ I quickly gave myself a quick look over, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I went into a gallop and ran towards the center of town, but as I ran, I still only got mean and angry looks. ‘What did I do wrong?’ I thought. As I slowed down, the other ponies began to circle me. I looked to find a hole I could run through, but I was only seeing ponies getting closer and closer to me. “What’s going on! What is everypony doing?” I asked. The mayor of Ponyville walked in front of me. “Midnight Blue, we let you stay in this town and greet you with smiling faces, and this is how you repay us! By yelling at our fillies!” she proclaimed. “Wait, this is about those two from yesterday! They deserved it!” I yelled back. All the ponies gave out a huff of breath in disgust. “Those two fillies were innocent, they were doing nothing wrong, and you just yell at them!” the mayor yelled once more. I looked over to see Apple Bloom standing next to Applejack. “They weren’t innocent, they were…” “Apple Bloom, Shush up and let the big ponies talk!” Applejack cut off her little sister with an order. “But they were…” “Apple Bloom, head back to the farm with Big Macintosh!” Apple Bloom looked at me with quivery eyes. Then, the red stallion picked her up and walked her away from the group. “Is this him?” Another stallion asked behind me. I turned my head to see a grayish amber coat colored pony dressed in what seemed to be a tie and collar. By his leg sat the pink filly from yesterday, Diamond Tiara, except she was crying into her father’s leg. “Yes, that’s him! He said nasty things to me like how you never loved me and how I’m so alone in life!” She yelled. Everypony turned and gasped at me. Diamond Tiara then turned her head at me and gave me an evil smile. She then waved a hoof at me as if she was signaling a goodbye. “What!?” I yelled. I looked all around me, I saw Pinkie Pie standing at the front of the crowd. “Pinkie, please, believe me.” I hoped she would take my side. A single tear ran down her check. “I thought you were nice. I thought you were my friend.” She said. My jaw dropped and then I looked at the mayor. “Midnight Blue, I hereby banish you from Ponyville and into the Everfree Forest!” She ordered. As the group came closer to apprehend me, I quickly opened my wings and flew into the air. My wings ached in pain, and I began falling down to the ground once again. I hit the dirt just a little bit away from the circle. “Get him!” the mayor yelled from inside the crowd. I quickly got to my hooves and started making a dash for the one place that was still safe for me in Ponyville; Lyra and Bon-Bon’s house.

I kicked in the door and slammed it shut behind me. “Lyra! Bon-Bon! I need your help!” I yelled. Then, I noticed the door underneath the stairs was open. The same door that led to Lyra’s secret hideout. I looked down the stairs, and I heard yelling. I walked down the stairs and there was Lyra and Bon-Bon both yelling at each other. “You’ve been lying to me all this time! Lyra, you said you quit this stupid fascination!” Bon-Bon yelled. “It’s not stupid! Humans did exist!” Lyra yelled back. “I can’t take this.” Bon-Bon walked upstairs, passing me without a single glance. “Get back here!” Lyra quickly followed her. I walked upstairs and continued to witness this nightmare of a day unfold onto me. “Lyra, I can’t be with someone who will just constantly lie to me!” Bon-Bon yelled. “That’s fine by me! All you ever did was try to change me to who YOU wanted me to be!” Lyra returned the yelling. “Well then it’s settled, WE ARE THROUGH!” Bon-Bon yelled. She opened the door and stomped out. “Yeah, well good riddance!” Lyra walked upstairs. I sat there with an open mouth. “This can’t be happening!” I bit myself to try to wake myself from this terrible nightmare, but sadly all it did was bring me pain. I ran out the door and tried to follow Bon-Bon. “Bon-Bon, wait! We can settle this thing out!” I ran outside, forgetting why I ran to the house in the first place. I stood outside of the house, looking in every possible direction Bon-Bon could have went, but sadly, I didn’t see her. I sighed, laid down, and lowered my head. “There he is!” my ears perked up, suddenly remembering why I ran, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Not after what just happened. A group of unicorns surrounded me, the leader of them was Twilight Sparkle, horn glowing with spells at the ready. Spells that I didn’t know what could possibly do to me. “Get up.” She ordered.

The group had apparently walked me out of Ponyville and into a terrifying, petrifying, stupefying, most evil forest I have ever seen. “This is where I’m being banished to?!?” I commented. “Be glad. It could be worse.” Twilight said. “Yeah, how so?” I asked. “It’s still daytime.” She responsed. The group walked me into a clearing. “This should be far enough. We’ve been walking for about an hour or two by now. Hold him down.” Twilight ordered the rest of the unicorns. The other unicorns used their telekinesis to hold my hooves down to the ground, yet I found it redundant. I had no place to run off to now. Twilight approached me with her horn glowing. “This spell with erase the past few hours of your memory. You won’t remember the path that we took you. You won’t remember how to get back to Ponyville. Any last words?” She asked, sounding cliché. I sighed and looked at her, “I’m being banished to a creepy forest for no reason, My wings are broken, and worst of all, my two best friends just broke up with one another. How can things get possibly worse?” I asked. Twilight grew a smirk on her face. “Just wait, you’ll find out when they show up in just a little bit.” She leaned her head forward, putting the tip of her horn onto my forehead. At that instant, my memory blanked out, and I had passed out onto the grass.

End of summer 1 Part 2