My Sweet Passion

Chapters

Chapter 1: A Crushed Apple
Chapter 2: Bonbon Comes To Ponyville
Chapter 3: New Friends in New Places
Chapter 4: A Tug at the Heartstrings
Chapter 5: Chocolate Brownie Catastrophe!
Chapter 6: Lonesome Lyrist
Chapter 7: A Sweet Reunion
Epilogue

Chapter 1: A Crushed Apple

“Come on, come on, how much longer are those three gonna be?!”

“Dunno,” murmured Sweetie-Belle, perplexed. “Not like Apple Bloom to be late for a Cutie Mark Crusader meeting, I know that much.”

Tornado Bolt growled with frustration. She and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been told by their group leader, Apple Bloom, to convene at their clubhouse in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres so they could discuss new ideas for gaining their Cutie Marks; but for whatever reason, the yellow farm filly herself, along with Rumble and Scootaloo, had failed to turn up at the appointed hour. “Well I wish they'd hurry up!” she muttered impatiently.

“They'll be here soon enough, Tornado,” soothed Tootsie Flute, the eldest and always one of the more sensible and mature of the Crusaders. “They're probably just a bit stressed at the moment, what with our school essays on the Great Griffin War, and Rainbow Dash's new foal...”

“Wait, what's Scram Jet gotta do with them being late?” interjected Noi, noticeably perplexed.

Before anypony else could reply, they heard an excited call from outside the clubhouse. Sweetie-Belle stared out of the window in confusion, and was amazed by what she saw; Scootaloo and Rumble were soaring and swooping jubilantly overhead, almost as if they were performing an aerial victory dance before their fellow Crusaders' eyes. “O...kay, what's gotten into them?” she wondered out loud. “Is there, like, some sort of Wonderbolts extra...vol......thingummy coming to Ponyville or something?”

“Hardly,” mused Pipsqueak. “Scoot would 'ave told us if there was.”

“Then...could it be...”

As if in response to Dinky's question, Scootaloo gently touched down on the balcony outside the clubhouse, beaming with pride as she turned her right flank towards the doorway for all the others to see. “What do you think, guys?” she announced.

Sweetie-Belle goggled in amazement when she saw what Scootaloo was trying to show her. “It is!” she squeaked. “Scoot's got her Cutie Mark at last!”

“Yeah, and Rumble too!” added Noi, excitedly pointing up at the grey colt as he landed next to his fillyfriend. Sure enough, each of his flanks now sported a black thundercloud with a bolt of lightning shooting out from underneath, while Scootaloo's Cutie Mark consisted of a black wheel with fuchsia wings. Their fellow Crusaders stared in awe, completely lost for words.

It was Dinky who broke the awkward silence first. “That's...wow!” she gasped.

“Neat, huh?” boasted Scootaloo proudly.

“But...how did you...” stuttered Noi, flabbergasted.

“You know that Cutie Mark Crusader Stunt Pony thing we tried a couple of days ago? How I was the only one who seemed to be any good at the whole thing?”

“Hey! Me too, don't forget!” chortled Rumble, giving Scootaloo a playful shove.

Scootaloo laughed heartily, and continued; “Well, just this morning, I did kinda wonder whether I should have another go at it myself, so I thought, 'hey, might as well give it another shot.' So anyway, I got Rumble to help me build up an obstacle course so that...well, both of us could try again.”

“Yeah, and there was I thinking that she only intended it for scooter stunts,” added Rumble. “Turned out she had been planning on a few aerobatics as well, so I had to go borrow some used clouds from the weather team so I could lay out a slalom and a few cloud rings and so on. Anyway, we got the whole thing laid out, did the course, and...yeah, I think you can let your imaginations do the rest.”

“Whoa!” remarked Sweetie-Belle, noticeably impressed. “So your special talents really are as stunt ponies after all?”

“And weather control in my case,” Rumble pointed out. “But yeah – seems this whole Cutie Mark Crusaders thing really did help after all.”

“Well, it's good to know we're doing something right,” chuckled Tootsie Flute.

“It sure is,” agreed Scootaloo eagerly. “I can't wait to show this to Rainbow Dash when I get home! And my Dad...he'll be over the moon when he sees my Cutie Mark!”

“Yeah, and I wonder what Apple Bloom will...” but Sweetie-Belle never finished, for at that very moment, she and the others caught sight of the yellow farm filly plodding gloomily up to the gangplank that led into the clubhouse, staring solemnly at her hooves as she approached. Almost immediately, the Crusaders' delight gave way to utter dismay, and even Tornado Bolt forgot to be impatient with her.

“Blimey, what's bitten her?” wondered Pipsqueak.

“That stuck-up Diamond Tiara again, I'm guessing,” remarked Scootaloo feelingly. “Honestly, can't she just leave us alone for once?!”

“Obviously not,” murmured Dinky unhappily.

Tornado Bolt groaned and slapped a hoof to her face. “Where's Loco when you need him?”

“Uh...engine sheds?” suggested Noi helpfully.

“Most likely,” decided Tootsie Flute. “Seriously though, Tornado, we can't keep depending on Locomotion to defend our honour whenever Diamond Tiara tries to mess us around. He's lucky to be able to set any time aside for us, what with his part-time job on the railways and such.”

“Yeah, and even then he's focussing on all his silly fanfictions and so on,” retorted Tornado Bolt huffily.

Rumble shot her a look of disapproval. “What do you mean silly?” he reproached. “I think they're brilliant; they're very well written, they have a lot of depth to them...I really enjoy the pairings in them, even if I do find the ones between the steam engines a bit hard to believe...” but he broke off as he heard a half-stifled sob. Apple Bloom had only just entered the clubhouse by this point, and was now sitting in the doorway shedding tears, her head hanging in depression.

“What's wrong, Apple Bloom?” asked Sweetie-Belle anxiously.

Apple Bloom barely seemed to notice her. “He's been taken,” she mumbled, trying to brush her tears away, though to no avail.

“He...who?” Scootaloo raised a confused eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Apple Bloom?”

“Chip Mint! He's been taken!” burst out Apple Bloom, the volume of her somewhat strained voice nearly shaking the whole clubhouse. “Ah tried gettin' 'im ta go out with me again yesterday, an' Ah saw 'im with this......this whitish filly with light blue mane and tail!”

“What, as in Cotton Cloudy?” asked Rumble. Apple Bloom nodded wordlessly in reply.

“What's so special about all that?” quizzed Tornado Bolt.

“Ah heard them talkin' sweet stuff as Ah came near!” wailed Apple Bloom hysterically. “He was talkin' about how cute she was, an' that he never la'ked me anyway 'cause Ah wouldn't leave 'im alone...”

“Why am I not surprised?” muttered Scootaloo sarcastically under her breath.

“...but that ain't the worst part – Ah was just about ta go an' ask 'im what was goin' on when...Ah...she...” The distraught filly ground to a halt in mid-sentence, unable to control her sobbing.

“Yes?” prompted Rumble after a while.

By now, Apple Bloom could contain herself no longer. “THEY KISSED!” she hollered out loud. “THEY ACTUALLY KISSED EACH OTHER RIGHT BEFORE MAH EYES!!!” Overcome with emotion, the yellow farm filly collapsed onto the floor and buried her face in her front legs, bawling loudly for all the time she had wasted trying to win Chip Mint over. The other eight foals could only look on in sorrow, unsure how to try and comfort her.

“Oh, Apple Bloom,” sympathised Noi at last. “That must have been really awful.”

“You've no idea,” faltered Apple Bloom, barely able to speak she was crying so hard.

Tootsie Flute heaved a deep sigh and rested a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. She and many others had seen this bombshell coming for a long time now, and yet, in her stubbornness, even though her fellow Crusaders had tried countless times to explain to her that Chip Mint simply didn't want to be her coltfriend, the farm filly herself had failed to recognise that they were telling the truth, let alone accept it – and now, just as they had all feared, it had ultimately led to heartbreak. “I'm sorry, Apple Bloom,” she said softly. “I guess it's just not meant to be.”

“I'm surprised you never saw it coming yourself,” added Tornado Bolt solemnly. “Surely you would have at least got the hint after a few weeks or something.”

But this did little to soothe Apple Bloom's hurt feelings. “Why me?” she mumbled sadly. “First Ah fail at gettin' mah Cutie Mark, an' now Ah can't even get mahself a coltfriend. Why me? Why, why, why?”

Scootaloo cringed, almost ashamed of having been so jubilant about her and Rumble's new Cutie Marks; but Rumble remained philosophical about the whole affair. “Never mind, Apple Bloom,” he soothed, “there are plenty of other birds in the sky – and one bird in particular who might just be the one for you.”

“What's the use?” mourned Apple Bloom, staring glumly at the floorboards. “No colt would ever wanna go out with me.”

“And you'd been calling me a chicken every so often?!” retorted Scootaloo. “C'mon, girl, where's the Apple Bloom we know best? Where's all that strength and determination of yours?”

“Gone to Tartarus where it belongs. Face it, guys, Ah'm gonna be alone forever.”

“Not necessarily,” replied Rumble knowingly. “Chip Mint might not care very much for you, but we all know a certain editor-in-chief of the Foal Free Press who almost certainly does – specifically, one whose name ends with 'eight' and begins with 'Feather'.”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes with exasperation. “Why in the hay does everypony keep thinkin' Ah'm gonna start datin' Featherweight?!”

“Well, the way you keep starin' at 'im durin' recess is a pretty big give-away,” observed Pipsqueak.

“Ah keep tellin' y'all, that's only 'cause Ah'm worried about 'is figure!!” snapped Apple Bloom, visibly flustered.

“Just his figure?” Sweetie-Belle smirked broadly. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, it shows how much you care for him anyway,” remarked Noi.

“So what?!” argued Apple Bloom. “There ain't nothin' goin' on between me an' Featherweight...”

“...but you want there to be, don't you?” interrupted Dinky. “It's no use trying to deny it, Apple Bloom – we all know how you feel about him, and it all runs a lot deeper than you make it out to be. Even Noi told me how you'd been mumbling to yourself about him a few weeks back. Now look, we all want to help you, but we can't if you won't let us, so please, tell us what's on your mind.”

“Yeah, Apple Bloom, we know you're yellow, but that doesn't mean you have to act like a coward,” added Scootaloo; but she was firmly hushed by the others.

Apple Bloom sighed and looked up at the roof, her frustration melting away as she became lost in her emotions once again. “Ah dunno,” she mumbled uneasily. “Featherweight's a real cute colt, Ah know that much...but...well......Ah just don't see us workin' out together.”

“Why not?”

“Well...we're worlds apart,” explained Apple Bloom. “He's a journalist in the makin', a colt who could easily make a livin' from travellin' all over the world an' seein' so many sights that most ponies can only wish ta see. An' then there's me – just a simple farm filly who's probably gonna be stuck in the one place fo' most o' mah life.” She paused pathetically. “If Ah start gettin' close ta him, Ah'm only gonna get in the way of his career. Ah couldn't possibly do that ta him.”

“You won't,” objected Tornado Bolt. “Sure, you might get into a few arguments, but chances are they'll only improve your relationship further. I should know – my Mom and Dad sometimes get into arguments, but they've never once considered getting divorced because they love each other too much.”

But Apple Bloom wasn't so sure. “Yeah, but what if yo' all wrong? What if he an' Ah just don't get on as well as y'all think we might? Ah don't wanna go through a' that which Ah just did earlier – it'll just be agony!”

Tootsie Flute frowned. She could clearly see what Apple Bloom was going through. “Yeah, I can see how you might feel about the whole thing,” she mused. “Matter of fact, my Mother went through the exact same thing when she first came to Ponyville.”

“Which mother?” asked Apple Bloom.

Unlike most ponies, Tootsie Flute actually had two mothers rather than just the one, so this wasn't the first time she had had to explain which one she was referring to in conversation. “Haven't you forgotten?” she reminded Apple Bloom, stifling a giggle. “By 'Mother' I mean Bonbon, and by 'Mom' I mean Lyra.”

“Oh yeah – Ah 'member now!”

“But they did get together in the end, didn't they?” put in Dinky.

“Oh, they got together alright – but it took a fair bit of time for Mother to get used to the very idea alone,” commented Tootsie Flute; and here is the story she told...

Chapter 2: Bonbon Comes To Ponyville

It had always been Bonbon's wish to enter the confectionery business and open up her own sweet shop when she grew up. Throughout much her youth, she had spent hour after hour of her spare time learning how to make her favourite candies from barley sugars to Turkish delight, and in some cases, she even managed to create some delicious new concoctions of her own – a talent which made her highly popular with many a little filly or colt in her home-town of Delamare. Now eighteen years old, the cream-coated young mare was on her way to Ponyville to finally realise her foalhood dream.

After what only felt like half an hour of gazing out of the carriage window, silently wondering what her new life would be like (it was actually a good two hours since she had left), she heard the conductor calling out the name of the next station;

“Fillies and gentlecolts, we're now arriving into Ponyville Central. Please ensure you have all personal belongings with you when you leave this train. Ponyville Central is your next station stop.”

With a light groan from its brakes, the train began to slow down for the home stretch. Not long now, thought Bonbon as she gathered her belongings together and made her way towards the carriage door.

Barely a minute later, the train came to a complete stop, and Bonbon stepped out of her carriage and onto the platform, ignoring the cheerful throng of passengers all around her as she made her way to the station building. Now that she had arrived, her next challenge was to try and find the bungalow her parents had helped to secure for her. Upon entering the waiting room, she was glad to see a wall-mounted map of Ponyville and the surrounding area nearby; but to her dismay, she found that her bungalow was located right on the other side of town, meaning that she would have a long way to walk in order to reach it.

“Oh well,” she murmured unhappily as she turned to leave, “I suppose I'd better get a move on, or else I probably won't be getting any dinner tonight.”

But deep down, she had a bad feeling that it would be early morning by the time she did find the bungalow. She had only ever been to Ponyville once, and then only as a filly, so she could barely even remember the place. This in turn made it difficult for the young mare to find her way, and by the time the sun had begun to set, she still didn't seem to have gotten any closer to her new home.

Realising that she was now hopelessly lost, Bonbon stopped in her tracks and heaved a deep, rueful sigh – right now, she was beginning to wish she had bought a map while she was at the station. At this rate, she would probably have to book into a guest house if she was to get any shut-eye at all. But where, she asked herself, would she find one at this hour? Would there be enough room for an extra pony? Would her only option be to sleep under the stars?

As if in answer to her mental plea for help, she heard the sound of somepony playing a harp nearby. It was a calm, soothing, relaxing sound which seemed to echo softly around Ponyville, almost as if an angel had descended from on high to offer its guidance. Captivated by the sweetness of the tune that was being played, Bonbon slowly began to wander towards the source of the music. When at last she reached it, she could only stand and stare in awe – there, in the front garden of one of the houses, sat a mint-green unicorn mare of barely the same age as Bonbon, who was playing what did indeed look like a harp, only smaller. Both her hooves were surrounded by a soft golden aura, which seemed to extend outwards like magical fingers as it softly plucked the strings on the “harp”, and the expression on her face was so peaceful and content that she could very nearly have been in heaven at that very moment.

Only when the music drew to a climax did Bonbon finally find her voice. “Wow,” she breathed in awe. “That was......that was beautiful.”

“Say what now?” The unicorn looked up from her instrument, and could only smile when she saw the cream-coated young Earth pony mare gazing at her in admiration. “Oh...you mean my music, huh? Yeah, quite impressive if I do say so myself,” she replied modestly.

“I'll say,” mused Bonbon. “How did you learn to play the harp so well?”

“Just a natural talent, I guess – and technically it's a lyre, not a harp.”

Bonbon raised an eyebrow. “What's the difference?”

“The strings on a lyre run from the curvy bit in the middle to a sort of “bridge” between the ends,” explained the unicorn. “Harps are much bigger and have their strings attached from one side to the other.” She smiled again upon seeing the awkward expression on Bonbon's face; “Don't worry about it – easy mistake to make.”

“Oh...okay then,” replied Bonbon.

“Don't think I've ever seen you round these parts before,” the unicorn continued. “You only just moved here then?”

“I sure have – and I'm having a hard time trying to find the bungalow I was going to move into,” said Bonbon ruefully. “I don't know if you know the place; it's at No. 77, Stirrup Street...”

The unicorn's eyes lit up. “Oh yeah, I know it alright! A few friends of mine live up that neck of the woods. You want me to show you the way?”

“Oh...uh, no thanks,” answered Bonbon, shying away a little. “I don't want to be of any inconvenience.”

“Ah, inconvenience nothing!” chuckled the unicorn. “It's only a few blocks away; and besides, I'm in no rush to do anything else. Come on.”

Bonbon hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave in with a light shrug. “Well...if you insist.”

With that, the unicorn stepped out onto the street and started to lead Bonbon towards her new home. The cream-coated mare was rather quiet at first; but the unicorn turned out to a very amicable sort of pony, and the two of them were soon chatting away like old friends, the mint-green mare about her general interests, and Bonbon about her plans to make and sell her own sweets for a living.

The unicorn was amazed when she learned of Bonbon's talent at making candy. “Golly!” she remarked. “You seem to know an awful lot about this sort of thing!”

“Yeah, well...it's something I've been interested in doing ever since I was just a filly,” replied Bonbon, blushing modestly. “Any recipe I thought I might be good at, I was more than happy to give it a shot. My Mom's a baker by trade, so she was a pretty big help in that regard.”

“Well, I'm sure looking forward to trying out a few for myself,” chuckled the unicorn, “me having a sweet tooth and all. It'd make a nice change from what they've got at Sugarcube Corner, that's for sure.”

“That's pretty much why I decided to move here in the first place,” observed Bonbon. “I wanted to get off to a good start, but I didn't fancy having to compete with seven other candy stores back where I lived. If I'd tried to set up shop there, I probably wouldn't have lasted five minutes...”

“Seriously?!” The unicorn suppressed a laugh. “With your hand at making candy, you'd probably knock 'em dead!”

“Yeah, prob......'hand'?!” repeated Bonbon, confused. “Why would I have anything of the sort? Ponies don't have hands!”

The unicorn grinned sheepishly and rested a hoof against the back of her head. “Ah...sorry about that. I guess that's just the same old slip of the vocab,” she replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Well...I've just had this weird obsession since foalhood with these creatures called humans,” admitted the unicorn. “You know – similar to apes, but they don't have tails, they only have fur on the top of their heads, and from what I've read, they wear clothes pretty much twenty-four seven. They're like hens' teeth here, but apparently there's a whole island full of those animals on the other side of the Titanic Ocean – and I also heard that there's some parallel dimension in which you can find them too!” she went on, letting out a fan-girl squeal as she spoke. “Boy, I'd give my left leg to see one of them up close!”

“Humans, is it? Well, that explains a lot,” murmured Bonbon, smirking faintly in spite of herself. Deep down, she couldn't help finding the concept of “humans” rather alien, but thought better of saying so for fear of hurting the unicorn's feelings. “Anyway,” she went on, “the thing about Ponyville as opposed to Delamare is......well, it's pretty much as you said; the only real competition I've got is with Sugarcube Corner.”

“Ah – 'gap in the market' thing, eh? That's real smart thinking,” smiled the unicorn. “So how soon do you plan to open up?”

“Pretty much as soon as I can,” answered Bonbon. “It's only going to be a stall in the marketplace for starters, but if I get enough money, I'll most likely see if I can buy myself a more...'permanent' property.”

“Sounds like you have it all worked out,” mused the unicorn. “Actually, speaking of property – we're here.”

“Where's here?”

“Where else?” said the unicorn, pointing along the road. Bonbon looked ahead to see a small single-storey building with a thatched roof up ahead, its front garden lined on all sides with lush green hedgerows, and the number 77 engraved onto the gate. Reaching into her saddlebag, she pulled out a photograph her mother had taken with which to compare – sure enough, the bungalow matched the image right down to the base.

The cream-coated mare breathed a sigh of relief. “And there was I thinking I'd never get there,” she mused.

“You be okay from here?” asked the unicorn.

“Yeah, I reckon,” replied Bonbon gratefully. “Thanks for helping me, Miss...uh...”

“Heartstrings – Lyra Heartstrings. Yourself?”

“Well...my real name's Sweetie Drops, but my friends all call me Bonbon.”

“Bonbon, eh?” chuckled Lyra. “That's a nice name. See you round, Bonbon; and good luck with that stall of yours.”

“So long, Lyra. Thanks again,” and with a hearty smile, Bonbon turned and made her way over to the front door while Lyra headed back down the street.

Once inside, the cream-coated mare took a few moments to explore her new home. The bungalow was a cosy, well furnished affair, with a combined kitchen and dining room on one side of the hallway, a living room on the other, and two bedrooms and a bathroom right at the back. The interior design consisted mostly of a rather flowery wallpaper and light green carpet, the only major exceptions being the slate-grey linoleum of the kitchen floor and the all-over marble tiling in the bathroom, and the former appeared to be very nicely equipped with cookery appliances – just right for a confectioner, she thought. All in all, it felt very homely and very welcoming.

Feeling a lot happier for having reached her bungalow at long last, Bonbon decided to treat herself to a small but tasty dinner of alfalfa salad and a hay smoothie before unpacking her belongings. As she sat and ate in silent solitude, she couldn't help but ponder over the day's events, and in particular about her new friend. Yes, Lyra Heartstrings may come across as being a little...eccentric to say the least, but in an endearing way, and in any case, she seemed a very nice pony to be with; she was very helpful and very sociable, she knew Ponyville very well indeed, and her skills as a lyrist were like none she had ever seen or heard before. Perhaps, the young mare thought to herself, the whole ordeal with her losing her way had actually been worth it...

Chapter 3: New Friends in New Places

Bonbon settled very nicely into her new home. Though it felt rather alien to be living alone at first, within a week or two she had become so used to her new surroundings that one could be forgiven for thinking she must have lived there her whole life. Over the same time period, she was to be found eagerly making preparations for her new stall, from baking a wide variety of sweets to buying herself a marquee in which to sell them.

By the beginning of the following month, all was ready, and that Monday, the young mare could finally open up her stall for the first time. After a hearty breakfast, she trotted cheerfully down the road towards the marketplace with a fully laden cart, humming softly to herself and thinking of all the happy fillies and colts to whom she would be selling her confections that day – but barely had she made it halfway when a furry pink object seemed to jump out at her. Bonbon jolted backwards, startled, but quickly realised that the object was just a teenaged Earth pony mare.

“Hi there!” chirped the mare in a cheery, high-pitched voice. “Don't think I've ever seen you around here before. You new to this place?”

Bonbon simply rolled her eyes and carried on, mentally chiding the other pony for giving her such a start; but to her consternation, the pink-furred mare simply followed on.

“What you got in there?” she asked curiously, cocking her head towards the cart.

“Nothing special,” replied Bonbon in an off-hoof manner.

The pink-furred pony stared in disbelief. “Nothing special?!” she repeated. “Whatever you're carrying, it smells way too sweet to be 'nothing special'. You throwing a party or something?”

“Well not ex...” but Bonbon didn't have a chance to finish before the exuberant mare gleefully interrupted;

“Ooh, can I help you with the planning?! I could come and decorate the place if you want! Maybe I could bake you a few cupcakes, muffins, cookies......hey, maybe you need some music?! I've got a friend who can give you some really cool tunes! Who's this party for, anyway?”

Bonbon rolled her eyes again. Already, she was starting to wish this mare would just go away, but she tried not to show it. “I'm not throwing a party,” she replied bluntly. “I'm just taking some of my candy out to a stall I've set up in the marketplace, that's all.”

The pink-furred mare's eyes widened with intrigue, and she let out an excited gasp. “You've got a candy stall in the marketplace?!” she squeaked.

“Uh...yeah, I have,” stuttered Bonbon, taken aback, “but I don't see that that's anything to get all excited about.”

“Are you kidding?!” objected the mare. “You've just made my day! I can never get enough candy, not if I look right the way across Equestria! I so love the stuff – I just love it! Okay, so maybe I live and work at a bakery, but so what?! I just...”

“As in Sugarcube Corner?”

The mare nodded wildly in response. “Yes indeed-y! How did you know?”

Bonbon shook her head resignedly. “Market research – enough said. It's the whole reason I moved here last month,” she went on. “See, I wanted to give myself a good start, so...”

“Wait just a minute – you mean you've been living here for a whole month without even throwing a party?!” The mare's jaw dropped, and she stared in shock at Bonbon for what seemed like an age. “I knew my Pinkie Sense was trying to tell me something! I gotta go make plans, bake some treats, buy some party hats...”

“No thank you!!” cut in Bonbon, a little more sharply than she intended. “Look, I'm sorry, miss, but I don't exactly feel ready for a party yet. I still need time to get used to this place, you know. Maybe come back to me on that one?”

The pink-furred Earth pony paused, mildly disappointed; but she regained her cheery demeanour just as quickly. “Okey-dokey-lokey,” she chirped. “You want your party to wait, you got it – oh, but hey, before you go...”

Bonbon groaned, almost at her wits' end. “What now?”

“...I've got something I wanna try out,” said the other pony, and trotted over to a side street before Bonbon could question her. She returned only a few seconds later, towing what looked like a small, colourful wagon. The cream-coated mare stared dubiously at it, unsure what to think.

“You like it?”

“Uh...I don't get it,” admitted Bonbon, tilting her head in confusion.

The pink-furred mare giggled. “I only just put this thing together,” she stated proudly. “It's what I call my Welcome Wagon – and it comes with a super special welcome too! You wanna see it?”

Bonbon pondered for a moment. “Well...okay then.”

“That's the right answer!” The mare trotted round the wagon and pushed a bright red button on its rear panel. Almost at once, its roof opened up to reveal a small oven with shelves full of cupcakes either side, while a mixture of flags, trumpets and striped chimneys rose high into the air from within the wagon. Bonbon watched with interest as it began playing a cheery tune, the pink mare singing along with it;

“Welcome, welcome, welcome,
A fine welcome to you;
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
I say how do you do?
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
I say hip hip hooray!
Welcome, welcome, welcome
To Ponyville today!”

Barely a few seconds after the song finished, the oven door swung open to reveal a larger cake waiting to be served, and a shower of confetti erupted from the wagon's chimneys to the sound of party kazoos. Right on cue, the pink-furred mare pulled a knife from seemingly out of nowhere, cut a generous slice of the cake and placed it on a small plate immediately in front of the newcomer. “Want some?” she offered.

But Bonbon barely seemed to notice her. All she could do was stare in awe at the Welcome Wagon, noticeably impressed. “Wow,” she murmured under her breath. “That's...that sure is some cart.”

“I know, right?” beamed the pink-furred mare. “And you can count yourself lucky too, 'cause you're the first pony to see it working – well, aside from yours truly, of course,” she added with an awkward grin.

“Yeah...I guess so,” mused Bonbon thoughtfully. She then returned her attention to the cake with which she had just been presented, trying to decide whether or not she should accept the offer. Her mother had often advised her against accepting gifts from strangers when she was a filly, but the pink-furred mare seemed so friendly and the cake looked so delicious that she found it hard to resist. “I suppose I could maybe take some of this,” she decided at last. “Haven't really got a lot for lunch, so...”

“Then it's all yours, friend!” Before Bonbon could even think of anything else to say, the pink mare whipped the cake out of the oven, returned the piece she had just cut and placed the whole confection inside the cart among the other sweets. She then hitched up to the Welcome Wagon and turned to give a final cheery smile; “See you round,” she chirped. “Let me know when you want that Welcome Party!”

“Uh...sure...I guess.” Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by what had just transpired, Bonbon set off down the road again without another word, silently praying that not everypony in Ponyville was as random as this exuberant teenager.

Less than five minutes later, the cream-coated young mare arrived in the marketplace and parked her cart next to her candy stall. It wasn't very large, but it was a colourful affair nonetheless, with bright red and white stripes on the marquee while the counter was festooned with images of chocolate bars, candy canes, lollipops, pear drops and other confections. All in all, it looked very cheerful and inviting.

Because of its small size, Bonbon quickly found that there wasn't nearly enough space in the marquee to store all the sweets she had made, so in the end, she decided to leave most of them in the cart and come back for more as and when they were needed. This in turn meant she was finished with stocking the counter a lot sooner than she expected, leaving her with a long, boring wait until it was time to open up – or so she thought.

“Morning, Bonbon,” called a familiar voice. “Opening up for business already, are we?”

Bonbon looked up, and was pleasantly surprised to see Lyra standing nearby. “Hello, Lyra,” she replied. “Didn't expect to see you out here so early.”

Lyra chuckled. “Ah, I always come down and help prepare one or other of the local shops for customers.”

“Oh, right? Which ones?”

“Oh...none in particular,” said Lyra cheerfully. “I'm something of an odd-jobs mare around here. Some days I'm working at Sugarcube Corner, some I go help the local greengrocer – heck, I've done stints in every shop and every workplace in Ponyville...except Sweet Apple Acres, that is.”

Bonbon raised an eyebrow. “Sweet Apple Acres?”

“The local orchard,” explained Lyra. “They grow some wonderful apples there – best in Equestria, so I'm told. They're a bit particular about employing other ponies, though, it being a family business and all. But yeah, regarding jobs, I don't really mind what I do,” she added. “Anything suits me as long as I can get a few decent meals out of it.”

“So let me get this straight – you're saying you kind of drift from job to job?” Bonbon stared in confusion. “Why not land yourself with a more permanent one as a lyrist?”

Lyra chuckled again. “Well, in an ideal world, yes, I would be putting that lyre to use as a profession,” she admitted, “but the trouble is, there's no full-time call for a lyrist in Ponyville. I do have the odd party or festival, but it's only really good as a hobby most of the time, so I have to make use of lesser talents in order to earn my keep.”

“I see.”

“Anyway,” went on Lyra, “seeing as we've got time before this place opens, how about I take you to meet some of my friends?”

Bonbon pondered for a few seconds. She wasn't too sure about leaving her stall unattended for too long, and admittedly she was still a little nervous about meeting new faces; but on the other hoof, she would be selling her goods to complete strangers anyway, so she could do a lot worse than take up Lyra's offer. Besides, it was better than sitting around and doing nothing. “Yeah, why not?” she decided.

“Okay then, let's go.”

Lyra led Bonbon across the street to a cheery pink half-timbered building with cherry-red woodwork and a hanging sign depicting a strawberry and a bunch of grapes. It almost looked like an old-time tavern; but when the two mares entered, Bonbon noticed that the interior was much more welcoming and less claustrophobic, with soft, comfortable sofas and bright, happy colours – in fact, it looked more like a cocktail lounge. The air smelled sweet and fragrant, as if she were wandering through an orchard at the height of summer, and everywhere she looked, she could see images of various kinds of fruit from apples and berries to mangoes and bananas printed onto the walls, carpets, furniture and even the bar on the far side of the room.

Behind the bar stood the owner, a mulberry-coated mare with cerise mane and tail aged somewhere in her twenties. Her Cutie Mark matched the image on the sign, and she was humming quietly to herself as she prepared for business. As Lyra and Bonbon approached, she looked up with a cheerful smile. “Morning, Lyra,” she greeted. “Come for breakfast already, have we?”

Lyra chuckled. “Thanks, Berry, but I've already eaten. Wouldn't mind a minty pineapple smoothie, though.”

“Coming right up, friend,” replied the mare, reaching under the counter. “How's life been treating you?”

“Not bad, thanks,” said Lyra. “Bit of practice with the lyre here, odd jobs there, it all adds up. So how's business? I heard from Flitter that you were working on a new summer fruit cocktail for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration.”

“New summer...oh yeah, my Sunny Sweet Surprise! Well...yeah, it's getting there,” said the mulberry-coated mare as she stood up again with the required ingredients for Lyra's smoothie. “Still needs a little more work, but I'll get there in the end.”

“Oh, I don't doubt you will, not for a second,” smirked Lyra. “By the way, you know how I happened to mention a new friend of mine named Bonbon?”

The mulberry-coated mare stopped. “Oh? What about her?” she asked curiously.

“Well, as a matter of fact, she's opening up shop today, so I thought I'd bring her over.” Lyra turned to her cream-coated new friend; “Bonbon, I'd like you to meet Berry Punch, the proprietress of the Mulberry Bush Juice Bar. Berry Punch, this is Bonbon.”

Berry Punch gave the newcomer a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, Bonbon,” she greeted. “Welcome to Ponyville.”

“Thanks,” replied Bonbon. “This sure is a neat little set-up you've got here.”

“Oh...you're too kind,” laughed Berry Punch, visibly flattered. “It's only a drinks outlet really.”

“Not from where I'm standing,” retorted Bonbon. “You've done a neat job of making it all cheery and appealing, especially to little fillies and colts.”

“Yeah, and she does an even neater job of mixing smoothies and fruit cocktails and such,” put in Lyra sagely. “You ought to try some, Bonbon; you don't know what a proper smoothie tastes like until you've had some of Berry Punch's finest.”

“Uh...well...” Bonbon looked uncertain. “I don't know, Lyra – it's all a bit new to me...”

“Ah, go on,” goaded Lyra. “Just a tiny sip of smoothie.”

“Tell you what, Bonbon,” offered Berry Punch helpfully, “I'll give you one on the house and you can see if you like it.”

Bonbon hesitated for a few moments before finally nodding her approval. “Yeah, I suppose I might as well give it a go. What do you recommend?”

“Well, what fruits do you like?”

“Anything as long as it's sweet.”

“Okay then...how about a Sunny Sweet Surprise?” suggested Berry Punch. “With a bit of luck, I might actually get it right this time.”

“Sure.”

With that, the mulberry-coated mare reached under the counter again and resurfaced with a small selection of summer fruits. Bonbon watched with interest as she placed them in what appeared to be a rather odd-looking kitchen appliance, which responded by filling the small jug by its side with a sort of hot-pink liquid. Once Berry Punch was satisfied that she had made enough, she stopped the machine and poured the liquid into a paper cup, which she then passed over to Bonbon.

“Well,” murmured Bonbon, raising the cup to her lips, “down the hatch,” and she took a cautious sip. Almost at once, her eyes widened, and she set the cup down with a look of awe on her face.

Berry Punch tilted her head, unsure how to react. “What's up?” she asked anxiously. “Don't you like it?”

But the cream-coated young mare wasn't listening. “Wow, Lyra!” she remarked. “You were right about Berry Punch and her drinks – this really does taste like summer!”

Lyra grinned, feeling a small sense of triumph as she turned to Berry Punch. “Well, Berry, seems you've got yourself another hit,” she quipped.

“Oh, well that's something,” mused Berry Punch, visibly relieved. “For a moment, I thought I might have made a hash of it – again!”

“Nah, I wouldn't say that,” observed Bonbon. “Just needs a teeny bit of lychee juice in it, and I reckon you'll be onto a winner. I should know – I've grown pretty good at working out how to get perfect flavours ever since I first started making candy,” she added proudly.

“Hmm...might not be a bad idea, I guess. Yeah, I'll give it a go some time.”

“Other than that, I'd say you've done a smashing job with this stuff,” finished Bonbon. “Best drink I've ever tasted so far.”

Berry Punch blushed modestly. “Oh, it's...it's nothing really. It's what I do, after all.”

“Morning, Berry Punch. Business as usual, I see?” Bonbon looked up from her drink to notice a goldenrod mare with a curly orange mane and tail approaching the bar. Her Cutie Mark consisted of three carrots on each flank, and two heavy-looking saddlebags were draped either side of her back.

“Oh, hullo, Carrot Top,” said Berry Punch cheerfully. “Are those the fruits I ordered last week?”

“Yep,” replied the mare. “I tell you what, though, you wouldn't believe the trouble I'd gone through for the lychees and the mangoes you wanted,” she went on with a wry smile. “I thought I'd have to go straight to Chineighsia and Zebrica in order to get them!”

“Ah well, at least you've got them, that's the main thing,” mused Berry Punch. “And just as well too – my newest customer here has recommended that I use lychee juice in my Sunny Sweet Surprise.”

“Oh yes? And who would that be?”

Lyra decided to step in at this point; “This one right here, Carrot Top,” she clarified, pointing to the cream-coated mare. “Her name's Bonbon; she's only just moved in from Delamare and has set up a candy stall here. Bonbon, this is Golden Harvest, our local whole-food dealer. We all call her Carrot Top for her Cutie Mark.”

“How do you do?” said Carrot Top politely.

“Not bad, thanks,” answered Bonbon. “Still getting used to this place, but I seem to be managing okay so far – apart from being tormented by some pink party animal, that is!”

Carrot Top laughed. “Oh, that's Pinkie Pie,” she explained. “She's a right bundle of energy, always throwing parties and playing jokes and just generally being ridiculous in a lovable way.”

“She can get extremely random at the best of times as you've probably already guessed,” put in Lyra, “and there's so much we don't understand about her that you could make a complete dictionary out of it! But her heart's in the right place, and we all just tend to make out like we do understand her. By the way, I don't suppose she offered to throw you a Welcome Party?”

Bonbon paused. “Well...now you come to mention it, yes she did. I had to refuse, of course, seeing as I don't have any real friends here yet, but......well, I still think it'd be good if I could at least have a little gathering at my place sometime.”

“Yeah, sounds a pretty cool idea,” agreed Lyra. “Only when you feel ready for it, though.” She then looked up towards Berry Punch; “I have to say, though, I'd have thought my smoothie would be ready by now.”

“Ah...sorry about that, Lyra. I'll get right on it.” With a sheepish grin, Berry Punch began preparing the smoothie that her mint-green friend had ordered not fifteen minutes ago.

Chapter 4: A Tug at the Heartstrings

After some more cheerful banter with Berry Punch and Carrot Top, Lyra took Bonbon to some of the other shops and stalls and introduced her to their staff and proprietors. Their first stop after the Mulberry Bush Juice Bar was none other than Sugarcube Corner, where the cream-coated mare met Mr and Mrs Cake for the first time; and even though they were meant to be business rivals, she quickly became good friends with them too.

Then there was Applejack, who graciously told her that if any of her sweet recipes called for apples, then she and her family would be more than happy to supply her; while a kind and urbane stallion named Filthy Rich, the owner of Rich's Barnyard Bargains, was also generous enough to offer her an extra outlet for her confections should she so wish. Indeed, by the time she returned to her stall, Bonbon had met so many new faces that she could barely remember all their names!

All told, her first day of business was a great success. Though customers were few and far between at first, she gradually found herself with more and more as the day rolled by, and by mid-afternoon, there were dozens of excited fillies and colts and even the odd adult queuing up outside her stall to get a taste of her candies. These went down a huge treat, and soon the whole town seemed to be singing Bonbon's praises – so much so, in fact, that she was almost sorry to shut up shop and go home.

As she set off back towards Stirrup Street, the cream-coated mare quietly reflected on the day's events. It had only been her first day of selling sweets in Ponyville, but in that time, she had gone from just being another mare to ranking among the best known shop owners in town – but how, she wondered, was this possible? Were her candies really so well made? Was it because Lyra had been recommending her to every other pony she came across? Could that Pinkie Pie mare she had met earlier have had anything to do with it? Not that she minded, though; she was just grateful that her confectionery business had got off to a good start – better than she could have hoped for, even.

Her mind went back to Lyra at this point, and how much of a help she had been with making all those new friends. Even after Bonbon had gone back to her stall, the mint-green mare had been good enough to stay with her for an hour or so and try to attract customers; and while she may have been a little...exuberant to say the least, her efforts had more than paid off even without the use of her beautiful, melodic lyre music. It was only a shame that she couldn't have stayed longer...maybe they could have got to know each other a bit better...

Bonbon sighed softly. This mare really was beginning to rub off on her, she thought – and after they'd only known each other for something like a fortnight. She couldn't quite understand what was going on in her head right now, but Lyra was definitely no ordinary pony. Speaking of whom, she realised, the mint-green unicorn happened to be sitting on a nearby park bench with a hayburger and some horseshoe fries.

“Evening, Lyra,” called Bonbon, halting her cart. “How's it going?”

Lyra looked up. “Oh, hi, Bonbon. Yeah, I'm good, thanks. How was your first day of selling candy?”

“Oh, it was great!” gushed Bonbon enthusiastically. “I knew my sweets were good, but I never expected anywhere near as many customers as had come to my stall today. One of them even said to me, and I quote, 'These chocolate brownies are almost as good as my Mom's muffins'! How about that, huh?”

Lyra laughed. “Oh, that'd be young Derpy Doo,” she explained heartily. “She's an absolute slave to muffins, so I'm told – bit clumsy sometimes, yeah, but she means well, and she's much, much brighter than she makes out to be. Really friendly too.”

“Sure sounded like it,” agreed Bonbon with a broad grin. Only then did she notice something about Lyra's posture that made her raise a confused eyebrow. “Doesn't that feel a bit...painful?”

“Say what now?”

“The way you're slouching on that bench.”

“Oh, that,” remarked Lyra with a wry smile. “Nah, it doesn't bother me – matter of fact, I find it surprisingly comfy.”

“Comfy?!” Bonbon could hardly believe her ears. “How is that possible?”

“It isn't – not with most ponies,” replied Lyra. “Only reason I can sit like this is because I've got a hypermobile spine. It's a bit of a handicap when I'm carrying things, but at least I'm in no danger of slipping a disc if I suddenly decide to take up acrobatics!” and she suppressed a small chuckle at her own wit. Even Bonbon couldn't help but crack a small smirk in her amusement. “But yeah, as long as you don't ask me to lug anything too heavy, I'm good.”

“Don't think I've ever known a pony to sit like that myself,” mused Bonbon. “I only thought it possible with, like...dragons, primates, that sort of thing...”

“...and humans,” Lyra pointed out. “I've seen loads of pictures of them in this kind of posture.”

“Yeah, well...you'd know better than me, I guess. Anyway,” went on Bonbon, changing the subject, “I just thought I'd stop and thank you for helping me out this morning.”

Lyra blushed modestly. “Ah, c'mon – it's not as if I did anything useful. All I did was show you some of my friends and drop hints to others about that stall of yours.”

“Exactly!” replied Bonbon. “By telling others about my stall, you gave my sales a huge boost before they had even gotten off the ground. I really appreciate that.”

“Ah, don't mention it,” smiled Lyra. “Always happy to help a friend. By the way,” she added, “if you wanna come visit sometime, you're more than welcome.”

“Thanks,” said Bonbon cheerfully. “I might just take you up on that. Certainly be good to get to know you better......uh, and all your other friends, that is,” she added hastily, secretly wondering if that might have sounded a little forward. Lyra didn't seem to notice, though. “Anyway, I guess I'll see you later then.”

“Okay, see you round.”

Tornado Bolt raised an eyebrow. “Hang on a second, Tootsie,” she objected, “where does the whole conflict thing come in? It doesn't sound anything like what Apple Bloom's going through.”

“Yeah, Lyra and Bonbon sounded really friendly towards each other back then,” put in Sweetie-Belle.

“Oh, they were,” smiled Tootsie Flute sagely, “but back then, Mother didn't even realise she had feelings for Mom. That didn't come until about five months later.”

“So what happened to make her realise those feelings?” asked Rumble.

“Well, as time went by, Mom started spending more and more time helping Mother with her stall than at any of the other shops and such,” explained Tootsie Flute. “She even brought her lyre along sometimes and played these really sweet tunes for all the fillies and colts. Mother sort of got used to having her around – so much so, in fact, that she found herself feeling a bit lonely when she wasn't.”

“And that's what led to her discovering her feelings for Lyra?”

“Yeah, that's right, Scootaloo. See, when September rolled in, Mom was offered a gig in a music festival at Rainbow Falls which would see her out of Ponyville for a week,” continued Tootsie Flute. “Mother was left to mind the stall alone – and boy, was it tedious for her!”

Bonbon sighed heavily as she sat slumped against her cart, silently wishing for somepony to speed up time so that she didn't have to wait for her afternoon rush of customers. Normally she didn't mind waiting, but that was mostly because she had somepony else to talk to for the duration, usually in the form of that mint-green mare whose obsession with humans seemed more of a charm to her than an abnormality. Now, with the start of the new school term, she barely seemed able to go for five minutes behind the counter without growing painfully bored.

It had only been five days since Lyra had left for Rainbow Falls, but to Bonbon it felt like she had been gone for decades, and though the cream-coated young mare tried her best to maintain a cheery expression in case the odd customer did turn up, she couldn't stop thinking about the happy-go-lucky unicorn, and how much she missed her. But why, she wondered? Why was it that, out of all the ponies she had ever met in all her life, the one who stuck in her mind more than anypony else was none other than Lyra Heartstrings? After all, they had only known each other for something like half a year.

Then again, she thought, was that really such a big deal? So perhaps five months wasn't that long, but in that time, she had learned a great deal about Lyra; aside from her obsession with humans, she harboured a part-time interest in aquatic creatures, and sometimes indulged in reading about the history and culture of seaponies in particular. She also liked to try and compose her own music for the lyre, something which frequently kept her up until late at night – and oddly enough, even though the mint-green unicorn didn't consider herself that good a composer, her tunes were so well written that they could have made Beethoofen jealous!

“Good morning, Miss Bonbon.” The sound of a chirpy teenaged mare broke Bonbon's train of thought, and she trotted briskly into the marquee, trying to push her thoughts aside. Her prospective customer was a light golden Pegasus with a cyan mane and tail and a Cutie Mark consisting of three raindrops.

“Hullo, Raindrops,” said the cream-coated mare. “What can I get you today?”

“Any sugar mice in your stall?” asked Raindrops hopefully.

“Oh yeah, plenty of those,” affirmed Bonbon. “I only just made up a fresh batch yesterday evening. How many would you like?”

Raindrops' eyes glimmered with enthusiasm. “Ooh, three, please!”

“Any particular colours?”

“Uh...I'd quite like the pink ones, please.”

“Three pink sugar mice coming up,” and Bonbon began picking out three pink mouse-shaped candies from one of her jars. As she was doing so, Raindrops couldn't help but notice a hint of sorrow in the older mare's expression, and this filled her with a sense of dismay.

“Are you okay, Miss Bonbon?” she asked anxiously. “You don't seem very happy today.”

Bonbon nodded slowly, feigning tiredness as she placed the sugar mice in a paper bag. “I'm fine, Raindrops,” she replied in a low, weary tone. “Just didn't get much sleep last night, what with all my candy making and such. You know how it is.”

“I...yeah, I suppose so,” said Raindrops doubtfully, placing three bits on the counter. “You just looked a bit...sad is all.”

“I'll be alright,” Bonbon assured her. “It's not as if I can't catch up on my lost sleep further on, after all. Anyway, here are your mice; hope you have a good day.”

“You too, Miss Bonbon. Thanks,” and with her bag of sugar mice safely stowed away in her saddlebag, Raindrops trotted off towards home. Once again, Bonbon was left at a loose end – but luckily, her long wait for more customers was broken a second time as Berry Punch came up to the stall from her juice bar.

“Hullo again, Berry Punch,” remarked Bonbon. “You here for more barley sugars?”

Berry Punch chuckled ruefully. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. Might I have four bits' worth this time, perhaps?”

Bonbon rolled her eyes in mild amusement. “That's the fourth time this week you've come here for barley sugars,” she mused. “You ought to go easy on them, or there won't be enough for my regulars.”

“Yeah, sorry, Bonbon,” apologised Berry Punch, scuffing her hoof against the ground with shame. “It's just...well, I've developed a bit of a craving for them lately, what with my current condition and such.”

“Condition?” repeated Bonbon, raising an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? Have you gone hypoglycaemic or something?”

“Well, it's a side effect of what I'm going through, I'll give you that; but that's not the condition I'm talking about.”

“What is, then?”

“Well, firstly, before I go into details, there's something you should know – I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol,” explained Berry Punch. “That's kinda what got me into this fix; see, about three weeks ago, I was at this party which was being thrown for my friend Minuette, and I...rather overdid it on the punch.”

“What's the punch got to do with it?” asked Bonbon.

“It was mostly berries, and...well, obviously you know how fond I am of that variety of fruits; but it also contained a fair amount of red wine. Anyway, I was okay for the first few hours, but after I'd had about three glasses, I got a bit tipsy and started getting...well, 'friendly' with this unicorn stallion whose name escapes me.”

“Don't see anything wrong with that,” said Bonbon, not quite understanding what Berry Punch was getting at.

“Maybe not, but what happened afterwards is where it gets awkward. See, I got into a one-night stand with him, and...well...” Berry Punch cringed with embarrassment. “...to cut a long story short, I'm due to take responsibility for a son or daughter whom he'll probably never know.”

Bonbon's eyes widened with disbelief. “Hang on just a second – are you saying you're pregnant?!”

“Well...frankly, yes,” admitted Berry Punch glumly. “I'd only just found that out yesterday morning, when I started getting morning sickness and decided to see a doctor about it. I tell you what, I was just as shocked as you were just now – probably more...”

“So who else knows about this?” asked Bonbon anxiously.

“Nopony yet. I'm planning on telling my parents, but I'm still not sure how to broach the subject.” Berry Punch paused, hanging her head pathetically. “I hate to say this, but I'm not even sure I'm cut out to be a mother myself, let alone as a single parent. It's bad enough that I have to face an earful out of Mom and Dad for having a foal out of wedlock, but having to raise it as well...” but she quickly trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

Bonbon gave a soft, sympathetic smile in reply. Yes, it might have been a bit of a bombshell to...well, both of them, but now that the cream-coated mare had gotten over the initial shock, she felt deeply sorry for her mulberry-coated friend. “Take it easy, Berry,” she soothed. “Just because you're with foal right now doesn't mean you have to raise it yourself. You never know; somepony else might be happy to take it off your hooves if you don't feel ready to be a parent. Besides,” she added, “I'm sure your parents will come round to the whole thing, given time. You'll work it all out in the end.”

“Yeah...I suppose,” conceded Berry Punch doubtfully.

“And don't worry about the barley sugars,” added Bonbon. “I'll see if I can bake a few extra so you don't run short.”

Only then did Berry Punch manage a small smile. “Thanks, Bonbon. That's really generous of you.”

“That's okay. Just don't overdo it, or you might make your morning sickness even worse,” quipped Bonbon, trotting round the back of her stall for a fresh jar of barley sugars.

Berry Punch nodded wryly. “I'll bear that in mind. By the way, how's business at the moment?” she added.

“Um...pretty quiet so far. Sure seems pretty lonely in here without Lyra, that's for...sure.” No sooner had the word “Lyra” come out of her mouth, however, than Bonbon felt her spirits starting to drop again. This perturbed her even further; why was it that the mere mention of that mare's name seemed to make her chest feel so heavy and her mood turn so gloomy?

“You're really missing her, aren't you?” sympathised Berry Punch softly.

Bonbon sighed deeply as she returned to the counter. “Yeah, I am, rather. It's just...it feels like I can't go for five seconds without her popping into my head, and I want to see her so badly that it hurts. I don't know what that's all about, but...”

“That bad, huh?” Berry Punch raised a thoughtful hoof to her chin. “Well, that's interesting.”

“What is?”

“Forgive me for being intrusive, but which do you...you know...'like' better; stallions or mares?” asked Berry Punch in as tactful a manner as she could.

Bonbon directed a bewildered look towards the mulberry-coated Earth pony. Here they were talking about Lyra, and all of a sudden she had to bring up her preferences? What was the point of all this? “Uh...well, to be honest, I've always preferred mares myself. What's that got to do with Lyra anyway?”

“Well, from what you'd just told me, I couldn't help thinking you might be...well...getting a crush on that mare.”

“I...what?!” Bonbon's jaw dropped open, and she stared at Berry Punch in shock and confusion. Surely this couldn't be true, could it? No, surely there must be some mistake – she couldn't possibly be falling for Lyra! But the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise just how right her mulberry-coated friend might be; Lyra had, after all, been the very first friend she had made in Ponyville, and though many other ponies had found her rather odd, the cream-coated confectioner had come to accept, and even embrace, her quirky mannerisms. In the five months since she had first set up shop, the two of them had got along so famously that you would have thought they'd known each other for years.

“I, er...didn't mean any offence or anything,” stuttered Berry Punch, finally breaking the awkward silence. “I just thought...since you...”

“Oh, no, none taken, Berry,” interrupted Bonbon, taken aback. “I just hadn't realised I might be...you know...”

“Well, you did say you were a...I mean, that you liked mares,” Berry Punch pointed out. “Personally, I thought it stood to reason that Lyra might mean so much to you on that basis.”

“Yeah, there's no denying that I...uh, 'bat for the other team', so to speak. But what I'm not sure about is how Lyra might react if I say to her that I'm a fillyfooler and I'm getting a crush on her,” confessed Bonbon uneasily. “I mean, how do I know her door swings the same way as mine? How do I know she'd go for me even if it did?”

“I wouldn't use the word 'fillyfooler', personally, but if it's any help to you, I have often heard her fantasising about meeting some really sweet mare who loves to hear her play the lyre and is really good at making tasty treats. It's been that way since before you came here – and if I didn't know better, the way she's been talking lately, I'd say you might be the answer to her prayers.”

Bonbon gazed into space, unsure what to think. She herself had never heard anything of the sort from Lyra (though perhaps it might be because the mint-green unicorn had been keeping it to herself, she thought), and part of her was still in doubt as to whether there was any truth in what Berry Punch had just said. It seemed almost too good to be true at any rate; here she was, a simple confectioner from Delamare, getting a crush on this stunning young musician, somepony clearly destined to go on to far better things than the cream-coated Earth mare could ever achieve, and one of their mutual friends was telling her that she, Bonbon, just an ordinary mare from another town in another region, had been her dream mare all along?

But why, she asked herself? Why would the mint-green mare go for her and not somepony smarter and more attractive? Part of the reason she herself had never had a fillyfriend before was because so many of the mares in Delamare were just so......plain – no extra special qualities that made them really stand out. If that was the case, then why should she have been any different?

“I haven't freaked you out, have I?” asked Berry Punch anxiously.

Bonbon shook her head in reply. “Not really, Berry, I'm just...kinda lost is all. Anyway,” she went on, quickly changing the subject as she remembered the reason Berry Punch was here in the first place, “you said you wanted barley sugars?”

“Yes – four bits' worth.”

“Okay then.” Bonbon opened up the jar and poured out some of the sweets onto the scales. “Right, that comes to three bits and ninety-eight cents. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that's fine,” smiled Berry Punch, passing over four one-bit coins. “And try not to worry too much about Lyra – you'll work it all out in the end.”

“Perhaps,” murmured Bonbon with a soft smile as she gave the mulberry-coated mare two cents in change. “Thanks for talking with me about it anyway, Berry Punch.”

“Hey, no problem. You did try to put me at ease with him or her yet to be born, so it's only right that I hear you out with regards to your own quandary,” chuckled Berry Punch. “Anyway, I'd better get back to my bar; I can't afford to keep my own customers waiting. See you later, Bonbon.”

“So long,” said Bonbon, trying to restore her genial façade; but deep down, she still had her doubts.

Chapter 5: Chocolate Brownie Catastrophe!

For the rest of the day, Bonbon could feel the conversation she had been having with Berry Punch eating away at her like a fruit bat at an apple. Even when the after-school rush brought extra customers, it seemed to question her with every little filly and colt who came to splash out their pocket money on sweets, and by closing time, she was beginning to wonder whether talking to somepony else about her woes had actually been worth it.

As she made her way back to her bungalow for the night, she happened to gaze into Lyra's front garden along the way, and solemnly thought back to the first time she had laid eye on the mint-green mare. That soft, peaceful expression on her face, the soothing tune she played on the lyre, the beautiful atmosphere it all created...it may not have seemed like much at the time, but on reflection, it was perhaps the most beautiful sight Bonbon had ever seen in her entire life. How she would have loved to relive that very moment.

But in the back of her mind, those horrible feelings of self-doubt still lingered. Was she really good enough for Lyra, even after growing up among such a plain lot back in Delamare? Did the mint-green unicorn really feel the same about mares as she did? And even if they did start walking out together, where would it all go from there? Would she still be able to pursue a career as a professional lyrist, or would her confectionery business get in the way? That last possibility shook Bonbon to the core; it was clear from Lyra's Cutie Mark that she was destined for a life of music, and if they were to start a relationship with each other, she would probably never achieve that ambition.

Perhaps, then, this was as far as it was meant to go. Perhaps the closest she should ever allow herself to get to a romance with Lyra was to simply gaze from afar upon that...that angelic young unicorn mare as she continued to hone that enviable talent of hers. With a gloomy look on her face, she plodded onwards towards home, still brooding over her own feelings.

Every evening, after returning home from running her stall, Bonbon would usually take stock of all her sweets, and if there were any varieties that seemed to be in short supply, the rest of her day was spent making fresh batches for the following day. On this particular evening, when she checked her jars, she quickly discovered that Berry Punch's barley sugars weren't the only things that needed to be addressed; by the looks of things, her dolly mixtures were running low, and her chocolate brownies had sold out completely. Perhaps it was lucky, she told herself, that she had already bought the ingredients she needed for the latter only two days ago.

After a quick bite to eat, the cream-coated mare set about the job of baking some more brownies ready for the morning – but with her crush on Lyra still playing on her mind, she was so distracted that she barely seemed able to concentrate. Still, she couldn't just slack off because of some unicorn she couldn't stop thinking about, and there was no way she would let her customers down because of it, so she simply shrugged it off and tried to carry on.

This, however, turned out to be a big mistake. As chance would have it, she had left a bottle of fabric softener on the same counter on which she was mixing up her ingredients, and when she reached for the milk, she failed to notice that she had got completely the wrong bottle. To make matters worse, the colour of the fabric softener was such that she couldn't even tell the difference until after the brownies had been in the oven. Having allowed them to cool, she took an experimental bite out of one of them to see if it was properly done – but almost immediately, her face scrunched up in disgust.

“Ugh!” she exclaimed, hastily swallowing her mouthful and trotting over to the sink for a glass of water. “How in Celestia's name did I manage to make that so...vile?!”

After a quick sip of her drink to take the taste away, she tried another one; but to her annoyance, it tasted exactly the same. Bonbon let out a frustrated growl – this really wasn't her night, was it?

“Never mind,” she grunted, trying to make the best of a bad situation, but all the while unaware just how bad it was about to get. “I'll just make another batch – no biggie!”

With that, she tipped the remaining brownies into the bin and began to gather more ingredients...

Carrot Top was feeling pleased with herself as she made her way home from the marketplace. It had been a good day of business for her, added to which she had been promised a visit by her coltfriend Written Script, a grey unicorn stallion with a purple mane and tail and an unfurled scroll for a Cutie Mark. Her house lay at the far end of Stirrup Street, only a few doors away from Bonbon's bungalow; perhaps she ought to look in on the cream-coated mare on the way.

But just as she was making her way down the street, she heard a distant scream of agony. The goldenrod mare stopped in her tracks.

“Sounds like it's coming from Bonbon's house,” she remarked. “She must be in some kind of trouble. I'd better go see what goes on,” and she galloped down the road towards No. 77.

As Carrot Top approached the bungalow, she happened to glance into the kitchen. She couldn't see much, but could just about make out the shadow of a mare against the cupboards – and from the way the shadow was shifting about, it didn't look too healthy. Without a moment's hesitation, she ran across to the porch and delivered a hard kick to the front door, breaking it off its hinges.

“Bonbon!” she called anxiously. “Bonbon, is everything okay?!”

“Agh...in here!”

Following the reply back to its source, Carrot Top was shocked by what she saw. The kitchen was a right mess, with spilt milk, broken glass and pieces of chocolate scattered all over the floor, while a distressed Bonbon lay close to the counter, writhing and clutching her stomach in pain.

“Bonbon!!” exclaimed Carrot Top in alarm. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“No!!” cried Bonbon in a strained voice. “Brownies...failed...stomach pains...help me!”

Only then did it hit home to Carrot Top – clearly Bonbon must have poisoned herself with her own cookery by mistake, and was in desperate need of medical attention. “Right, stay where you are and try not to panic!” she shouted. “I'll go get an ambulance!” and she darted out of the bungalow as fast as she could. Bonbon was in too much pain to respond, and perhaps it was lucky for Carrot Top that she was unable to move in her state.

Only a quarter of an hour elapsed before the ambulance arrived, but so excruciating was Bonbon's agony that every minute felt like an hour. All the while, her digestive system was burning so horribly that it felt like she was being stabbed from the inside – indeed, if what her aunt had once told her about kidney stones was anything to go by, then this was probably five times worse! By the time the paramedics came in and started lifting her onto a stretcher, the cream-coated mare was in a state of delirium, and could barely even see or hear what was going on around her, let alone tell them what had happened.

The events that followed seemed little more than a blur. After Carrot Top had hurriedly explained about the brownies, the paramedics rolled the stretcher into the ambulance, and as it rushed them back to the hospital, they gave her a general anaesthetic by way of a long, clear plastic tube which they inserted into her mouth. With every breath of the gas she took, the pain slowly began to subside; and at the same time, Bonbon began to feel drowsy and disoriented. The last thing she remembered was the sound of Carrot Top anxiously imploring her to hang on...and then her world went blank......

Lyra returned home from Rainbow Falls a few days later filled with a deep sense of pride and achievement. Her part in the music festival had only been a small one, but it had won her the award for Best Solo Musician on her last day, and she was looking forward to telling Bonbon about it that evening.

Much to her surprise, however, she turned up on Stirrup Street only to find Bonbon's bungalow seemingly unoccupied. All the lights were out, and there wasn't even a shadow to indicate anypony's presence.

“That's funny,” thought Lyra. “Bonbon should have been back ages ago.” She paused, looking down the road. “Hmm...perhaps Carrot Top might know what's going on. Pretty unlikely, but I might as well ask all the same.”

As chance would have it, Carrot Top was just leaving her house as Lyra approached. To the mint-green unicorn's further consternation, she had a look of deepest worry stamped on her face as she passed through her front gate and into the street.

“Hey there, Carrot Top. Something troubling you?”

Carrot Top looked up, startled. “Oh...hullo, Lyra,” she stuttered. “Uh...back from Rainbow Falls already, are you?”

“Where did you expect me to be – down in Sydneigh?!” joked Lyra, trying to sound cheerful. “Music festival finished only yesterday, remember?”

“Yeah, I do remember,” replied Carrot Top uneasily. “I just...oh, grief, how should I put it?”

“Put what?” Lyra raised an anxious eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Carrot Top?”

The goldenrod mare frowned and looked away. Deep down, she wished she didn't have to answer; but Lyra would have to find out the truth sooner or later, no matter what she said or did. “Well...this may come as a bit of a shock, Lyra, but...something awful has happened while you were gone. See, a few days ago, I was walking down this very street when I heard this...this horrifying scream from further along.”

“Where exactly?”

“From...well...” Carrot Top gulped hard and closed her eyes. “It was coming from No. 77,” she explained in an almost breathless voice.

Lyra's eyes widened. “What?!”

“She was lying on the kitchen floor all paralysed with agony, and I had to break into the bungalow in order to see what was wrong with her,” replied Carrot Top, clearly too worried to even think of mentioning whom she was referring to. “I don't know how exactly it happened, but from what the doctors were telling me at the hospital, the fabric softener seemed to have found its way into some of her chocolate brownies. They had to use a stomach pump to get the stuff out before it did her guts any further damage, and even then she needed emergency surgery.”

The mint-green unicorn stared at Carrot Top with an expression of fear and dismay. “Is she okay?” she asked, almost desperately.

“I...I don't know. Last I heard, she was in the intensive care unit in a deep coma,” said Carrot Top gravely.

This was more than what Lyra wanted to hear. Without stopping to wonder how or why fabric softener had gotten into the brownies, she galloped off in the opposite direction, praying to Celestia for her cream-coated friend to be alright.

“...what do you mean I can't see her?!”

“I'm sorry, Lyra, but Bonbon still needs her rest if she's to recover,” replied the nurse. “She's taken some serious damage to her stomach lining, and we're having to keep her under general anaesthetic until she's in a stable enough condition. Until then, we daren't allow any visitors into the room.”

The anxiety on Lyra's face quickly gave way to a despairing look as the information sank in. She wanted so badly to help the cream-coated mare, but having run all the way across town only to discover that there was nothing she could do, she was now overwhelmed with a sinking feeling of helplessness, almost as if the forces of nature were slowly sapping her energy while barring the mint-green unicorn from reaching her at the same time. “She...she will be okay......won't she?”

The nurse sighed unhappily. “I'm afraid I can't answer that question,” she confessed.

“Well......thanks anyway,” answered Lyra morosely. With a small tear in her eye, she turned and plodded wearily out of the hospital, still brooding over Bonbon and her predicament. “I just...I still don't get it. Why would that mare do such a thing to herself......?”

Chapter 6: Lonesome Lyrist

The weeks passed, and Lyra found it harder and harder to carry on as normal in Bonbon's absence. The events of that fateful evening when she had returned from Rainbow Falls played on her mind day and night, and far from her original upbeat personality, she became rather gloomy and closed off. Even when playing the lyre, she no longer bore that peaceful expression that seemed to match the beauty of her music; in its place was a look of sorrow and regret, and the tunes she played were so sombre and melancholy that anypony listening in could only feel sorry for the mint-green mare.

“I don't like it,” said Carrot Top to Berry Punch one morning. “Lyra seems a completely different pony now that Bonbon's been hospitalised.”

Berry Punch nodded in solemn agreement. “Yeah, I can see why that might be so. She and Bonbon had been getting on like a house on fire since she first came here; I guess it stands to reason that she should be so worried for that mare.”

“Maybe so, but she's rather worrying me too. She's been getting pretty thin lately, and yet she hardly buys enough to feed a family of mice, let alone a full-grown mare like herself.” Carrot Top frowned and gazed out across the marketplace to where a solemn Lyra was reclining forlornly against a nearby tree. “It's...it's just not healthy for her.”

“I know, Carrot, but what can we do?” objected Berry Punch unhappily. “We've tried everything to snap her out of it – heck, even I've tried to be a bit more positive about my pregnancy just so I can cheer her up, but she just...doesn't want to know. Unless Bonbon makes it out of the hospital okay, then I don't see us getting the old Lyra back any time soon.”

“Yeah, come to think of it, I still haven't heard back from them yet,” remarked Carrot Top thoughtfully. “Perhaps we'd better go see how she's doing – if they'll let us into the ward, that is.”

Berry Punch was about to reply when she noticed a pure-white Earth mare with a pale pink mane and tail approaching her juice bar. “Ah...just a minute, Carrot Top,” she said hastily, and trotted across the marketplace to the other pony. “Sorry, ma'am, but we're closed for the moment. If you'd care to come back in...say, half an hour?”

“Oh, that's alright, I'm not here for refreshment,” replied the mare. “I was just looking for a mare named Golden Harvest; I've already tried her stall, but she wasn't there when I looked. You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?”

“Who, Carrot Top?” Berry Punch raised an eyebrow. “Well, come to think of it, she's right nearby. Why do you ask?”

“I've been sent from the hospital to speak with her about a mare named Sweetie Drops.”

Berry Punch's eyes widened. Could this be the message from heaven that they had all been waiting for? “Hey, Carrot Top,” she called, “there's a nurse from Ponyville Hospital wants to speak to you!”

“What about?” asked Carrot Top, cantering over to the two mares with an expression of curiosity and anxiety.

“Something about Bonbon, she says. Is that right?”

“That is the name by which I'm told she goes, yes. Anyway, she's in a stable condition now, so we've taken her off life support and are keeping her in the post-anaesthesia recovery unit until she's fully recovered,” explained the nurse. “If any of you wish to visit, we'll let you know when she wakes up.”

“What about her stomach? Did you manage to fix that okay?”

“It took a fair amount of open surgery to repair all that damage caused by the fabric softener, but we think she'll make a complete recovery.”

Both Carrot Top and Berry Punch breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, that's a mercy,” mused Berry Punch softly. “Lyra's sure gonna be relieved to hear that. Thanks a lot, nurse.”

“That's alright.”

“Oh, and by the way, do you reckon I could come in for an ultrasound at some point soon? I'm about two months along, you see, and I want to be sure my foal's okay too,” added Berry Punch, clearing her throat and indicating towards the barely noticeable lump in her abdomen.

The nurse smiled and nodded. “I'll see to it, Miss Berry Punch.”

“What's that about Bonbon?” The three mares noticed Lyra trotting up to them with an agitated look on her face.

“Consider your troubles over, Lyra,” stated Berry Punch cheerfully. “One of the nurses here has just informed us that she's off life support and in post-anaesthesia, so it won't be long before she's out of the hospital.”

“Won't it? Oh, thank Celestia for that!” Almost at once, Lyra felt the immense burden of Bonbon's illness lift itself from her shoulders. “When can I come and see her?”

“As soon as she's awake,” affirmed the nurse. “It'll be a while yet before she comes round, but we'll let you know when she does.”

Lyra smiled gratefully in reply, though with a minor twinge of disappointment at not being able to see Bonbon sooner. “And there was I thinking she'd never wake up ever again,” she murmured as the nurse headed back to the hospital.

“Yeah, and you weren't the only one either,” put in Carrot Top. “Seeing her in such pain that day...goodness, I'm surprised she managed to make any kind of recovery!”

“Ah well,” observed Berry Punch brightly, “at least she's past the worst of it now. Few more weeks if not days, and she should be as right as rain.” She then assumed a more solemn expression and returned her attention to Lyra; “You really were scared for her, weren't you?”

The mint-green unicorn sighed and looked down at her front hooves, mildly ashamed. “Yeah, I guess I was. I know Bonbon and I have only known each other for something like...six months or so, but she's the sweetest pony I've ever come across,” she confessed. “I just didn't like the idea of losing her for good.”

Berry Punch couldn't help but smile knowingly at this point. Lyra's words seemed to ring a similar tone to her conversation with Bonbon before the fabric softener brownie fiasco; and in any event, she could have sworn she'd seen a light blush creeping onto the mint-green mare's face. “I don't think any of us would, not after all she's done for the little fillies and colts of this town. All the same, I think it's really sweet you should care about her so much.”

“Yeah, you make a good...what?!” Now Lyra really did blush! “What in the hay gave you that impression?!” she blurted out, noticeably flustered.

“What wouldn't?” quipped Berry Punch. “You already told us once that you didn't really go for stallions, and we've all seen how you've been getting on with Bonbon. I mean, thinking about it,” she continued knowingly, “you came straight out with your love of that...that human book series with her during her Welcome Party, and it usually takes several months! And think of all the trouble you went through to help her settle in; that was the most generous and neighbourly thing you'd ever done for anypony.”

“So what?” objected Lyra defensively. “I'd do the same for anypony who's just moved into Ponyville; why should Bonbon have been any different?”

“Is that so?” remarked Carrot Top. “Well, if it's what you'd do for 'anypony who's just moved into Ponyville', then how do you explain your obsessing over poor old Bonbon while she's been out?”

“Exactly!” put in Berry Punch triumphantly. “Every time we tried getting you to engage with us, you either turned us away or started muttering to yourself about 'Gee, I hope Bonbon's okay' and this, that and the other. You never got so wound up about me spraining my fetlock when we were fillies, did you? And what about the time when Carrot Top had to be treated for appendicitis last year?”

Lyra considered this. Embarrassed though she was to admit it, Berry Punch was quite right; never once had she let either mare's afflictions bother her, and yet, even though Bonbon's inflamed stomach lining was all but healed, a feeling of anxiety was still lingering in the mint-green unicorn's mind. In any event, she could by no means deny that she missed the cream-coated Earth pony dreadfully. “True...I guess,” she murmured at last. “I just wish I wasn't so scared of telling her how I feel.”

“So you admit...uh...I mean, don't worry about it, Lyra,” soothed Carrot Top. “You never know – she might feel the same way.”

“I'm pretty sure she does, actually,” said Berry Punch. “But there's only one way to find out – and if you don't, then you might find yourself going down the exact same path as Bonbon just did.”

Lyra didn't say anything, but simply nodded her acknowledgement.

Three days later, Lyra finally received the news that she had been longing to hear – Bonbon had awoken from her coma at long last, and the hospital had permitted her friends and family to visit. The mint-green unicorn was glad to be able to see her again, but even as she sat and waited outside the post-anaesthesia ward, she still felt an uncharacteristic twinge of self-doubt for what she wanted to tell the cream-coated mare.

“I still don't know about this, Berry,” she whispered. “What if she turns me down? And more to the point, how do I know she's interested in mares in the same way as me?”

“Believe me, Lyra,” asserted Berry Punch, “as long as you stay the same old Lyra Heartstrings we all know and love, it'll all be fine.”

“Yeah, maybe,” replied Lyra with a light shrug. “I'm just so nervous. This is the first time I've had these kind of feelings for anypony – for all I know, I might end up ruining our friendship the very instant I tell her what's going on in my head.”

“You won't,” soothed Carrot Top, giving Lyra a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Even if Bonbon doesn't feel the same way, you'll still be friends, I'm sure. And even if you aren't, Celestia forbid, then at least you have us two.”

“Make that three in about nine months' time,” added Berry Punch.

This did little to put Lyra at ease, but she humoured her two friends with a soft smile. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Just then, one of the nurses came out of the ward and into the waiting room. “I've spoken to Bonbon, she says you can come in and see her now.”

“Thanks, nurse,” replied Berry Punch. “You'd better go in first, Lyra; the sooner you get this off your chest, the better for both of you.”

Lyra hesitated for a few seconds, trying to build up courage. “Will do,” she muttered at last, and trotted uneasily into the ward. Berry Punch and Carrot Top waited patiently outside, mentally wishing their mint-green unicorn friend the best of luck.

Chapter 7: A Sweet Reunion

Lyra found Bonbon in a private room on the far side of the ward. The cream-coated Earth mare was still in a noticeably weary state, and her right arm was hooked up to an IV tube; but this didn't stop her from giving her lyrist friend a small smile as she entered. “Hey, Lyra,” she murmured. “Long time no see, huh?”

As those weary words slipped out of Bonbon's mouth, the mint-green unicorn felt her heart flooding with a whole myriad of different emotions; on the one hoof, she was overjoyed to see her closest friend again, but seeing her all weak and sickly in a hospital bed brought on such a huge wave of dismay that she found it almost impossible to fight back her tears. “Bonbon!” she cried, cantering over to the cream-coated mare. “Oh, boy, am I ever glad you're okay. You wouldn't believe how scared I've been for you – when I heard about the incident with the brownies, I...I......what in the hay were you thinking, putting fabric softener in your candies?!”

Bonbon looked away, visibly ashamed of herself. “I didn't mean to,” she replied ruefully. “I'd just had so much on my mind that day, and I guess I just wasn't concentrating properly.” She paused pathetically, staring out of the window with a solemn expression on her face. “Truth be told, Lyra...I'm in a bit of a muddle over my own feelings. Had been ever since you went to that gig in Rainbow Falls.”

“What sort of muddle?” asked Lyra anxiously.

The cream-coated mare placed a hoof against the back of her head. “Well, it's kind of embarrassing, really.”

“Aw, come on, Bonbon,” pleaded Lyra, “please tell me. I can't bear the thought of you going through all this again. Heck, you might even...” An ominous shudder coursed its way down her spine, causing her to stop in mid-sentence. “Look, I understand if you're scared to talk about it, but I really, really want to help you, and I can't if you don't talk to me.”

“You'd only freak out if I told you.”

“I'd rather be freaked out than run the risk of you hurting yourself again,” persisted Lyra, an almost desperate look in her eyes, “so please, tell me what's troubling you and why.”

Bonbon hesitated. “Well, before I do,” she confessed at last, “there's something you ought to know about me – I'm a fillyfooler.”

Lyra's eyes widened, and for a moment, Bonbon wished she hadn't said anything of the sort. So much for letting it slip that she preferred mares to stallions, she thought despairingly – now her friendship with the mint-green mare was permanently...

“What did you just call yourself?” exclaimed Lyra breathlessly, cutting off Bonbon's train of thought.

“A...a fillyfooler,” repeated Bonbon, hanging her head and bracing herself for what Lyra had to say next. In a way, she was right to do so – but the earful she received was far from what she had expected.

“How...how dare you put yourself down so harshly!” the mint-green mare burst out. “Here I am in the company of one of the most beautiful and talented mares I've ever met, somepony whose personality matches the candies she makes, and you have to call yourself...that word?! Just because you like mares?!”

Bonbon's guilt and shame were suddenly replaced by a sense of amazement and mild relief rolled into one. A light blush crept across her face, and she gazed in wonderment upon Lyra. “You...you mean you...don't mind...?”

“Bonbon, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's when mares like you call themselves fillyfoolers,” answered Lyra sternly. “That's the worst thing anypony can say about mares who go for other mares, and if you think I'm gonna let you call yourself something so derogatory, you're mistaken. You never catch me calling myself...” but she stopped when she realised what she was about to say.

“Wait a minute – are you saying...”

“Yeah – and I'm proud of it too,” stated Lyra unashamedly. “I never really cared that much for stallions, not even when I was just a filly. Okay, so perhaps I myself was a bit embarrassed about it at first, but after a while, I just thought, 'If that's what floats my boat, then who cares what anypony else thinks of me?' It's the same with that human obsession of mine – other ponies might think me weird because of it, but it's who I am, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. Think of it how you want, Bonbon, but there's nothing wrong with...with playing for the other team, so to speak, so if I don't let it bug me, then...”

But Bonbon wasn't quite listening. In fact, the whole world seemed to fade out as Lyra's words began to sink in, filling her with a deep sense of realisation and hope that the mint-green unicorn might well feel the same about her as she did. “Wow,” she remarked under her breath. “That makes things a whole lot easier......I guess.”

“Say what now?”

“What you just said,” explained Bonbon. “It's just made things a bit less...awkward. See, the whole reason I was so distracted that day was because I...well...there's this...” but she was quickly overwhelmed by shyness and embarrassment before she could finish. Perhaps this confession she wanted to make wasn't going to be so easy after all, even now she knew Lyra was a filly...uh...that she liked mares just the same as she did.

“Yes?” prompted Lyra after a while.

Bonbon frowned and redirected her attention to the window. “Well, it's kind of complicated, really – not because I'm into mares or anything, but because...well...because I'm scared I might get in the way of your pursuing a potential music career. You've got a life of fame and fortune ahead of you, whereas I'm just a simple confectioner.”

That was when the bit finally dropped, causing Lyra to gaze in awe upon the cream-coated mare. “A...are you saying you've...”

Bonbon closed her eyes and nodded, letting a small tear slip through her eyelids and course its way down her cheek. Far from lifting the weight off her withers, she somehow felt that her confession had only increased that burden tenfold – until she heard what Lyra had to say next.

“And you thought letting the truth out would get in the way of me turning professional?!” Bonbon wasn't sure, but she thought she could detect a hint of dismissive mirth in Lyra's voice. “No offence, Bonbon, but that is without question or shadow of doubt the most random thing you have ever said!”

“It...huh? What's so random about it?” Bonbon was so taken aback that she forgot to feel sorry for herself.

“Well, first off,” explained Lyra, “just because somepony gets a crush on me doesn't mean I have to give up the idea of being a musician altogether. Okay, so perhaps it might pose a few difficulties, but I'm sure I could still work round them, no matter whom I'm dealing with. And another thing...” She paused impressively. Bonbon waited anxiously for her to finish. “...music may be a passion as well as a talent for me, but there are far more important things than some lyrist career – and the most important one happens to be lying on the bed in front of me.”

This threw the cream-coated mare for a loop. Resting a hoof against her pounding heart, she directed an open-mouthed stare of wonder upon Lyra as her eyes began to water again. Surely this couldn't be true, she thought – no, she was probably still in a coma, and this was probably just a dream. But heck, if it was, she certainly didn't want to wake up just now. In fact, such was her amazement that she could barely even move her mouth to form words, let alone speak.

“That's pretty much why I was so scared for you when I heard you'd been taken sick,” Lyra clarified. “You and I, we may not have known each other for very long, but I already feel a lot closer to you than any other pony I've met – even my own parents.”

“B-b-but...why would you?” stammered Bonbon. “Me, just a simple confectioner?”

Lyra smiled wryly. “Call yourself 'just a simple confectioner' if you will, Bonbon, but the way I see it, you're way more than that. You're really, really talented, you're good with kids, you do anything in your power to help your friends – and on top of it all, your personality matches your candies.” A light, shy chuckle escaped her lips, and she began to blush. “That and you...you're really pretty,” she added.

Pretty...it seemed like ages since anypony outside of Bonbon's family had used that word to describe her. While some ponies had commented on her appearance in the past, such comments tended to be off-hoof remarks about the style of her mane and tail or her mildly plump shape among other features – yet here another pony was openly describing her as pretty, and without any hesitation whatsoever. “You...you really think me pretty?” she asked softly.

“Oh, I don't think it – I know you are. Truth be told...I never truly realised this until fairly recently, but I'd been getting feelings for you too.”

“Then...you...”

“That I most certainly do, Bonbon,” affirmed Lyra. “They can offer me all the fame and fortune I could ever dream of, but nothing in this whole world can ever compare with you...my sweet passion.”

Bonbon broke out into a tearful smile and weakly lifted a foreleg to wrap around Lyra's shoulders. Taking the hint, Lyra leaned forward and hugged the cream-coated Earth mare fondly, running a hoof through her mane and taking in that sweet scent she always seemed to wear. Neither of them said any more, and neither did they need to – the gentle silence and the warmth of their embrace spoke volumes for their emotions.

Sweetie-Belle let out a small sniffle and brushed away a small tear of her own. “Aww, isn't that sweet?”

“I'll say,” agreed Dinky.

“Must have been a huge relief to know Lyra felt so strongly for her,” put in Tornado Bolt. “But what about that stomach operation? Did she come out of it okay?”

“Yes, as it happens. Horrible though those burns may have been, Mother made a complete recovery and was back home after only another week,” replied Tootsie Flute. “She still needed plenty of rest after all that, so Mom paid her regular visits to make sure she had everything she needed. But it didn't end there by any means; as the months passed, they spent more and more time with each other until they were ready to take things to the next level – and who would have thought it would be Berry Punch of all ponies who gave them that final push?”

“How so?”

“Purely by coincidence,” said Tootsie Flute knowingly. “See, eight months after all that, Mother had managed to gain enough money for some more permanent premises than just a stall in the marketplace, so she moved into what I believe used to be an antique shop on Baltimare Road. By then, Mom was no longer able to keep up with the rent on her own house, so she moved in with Mother – and only a few weeks later, news came through that Berry Punch's foal had arrived...”

Berry Punch lay wearily on her hospital bed, smiling fondly upon the bundle of blankets cradled in her arms. Lyra, Carrot Top and Bonbon were all gathered round her, taking in the heart-warming sight of the mulberry-coated mare holding her newborn filly for the first time.

“Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen?” cooed Bonbon softly.

Lyra nodded in agreement. “She's certainly not far off you in terms of colour, Berry,” she put in. “Only thing is, I would have thought she'd be an Earth pony like you – so why the horn?”

“Well, her father was a unicorn after all,” Carrot Top pointed out.

Berry Punch wiped away a small tear. “Well, unicorn or Earth pony, I still love her,” she murmured tiredly. “Kinda funny, really – ten months ago, I wasn't sure I wanted to be a mother...and now that I've given birth, I never want to let her go.”

Lyra grinned and gave Berry Punch a friendly pat on the shoulder. “You're gonna be a great mother, Berry, I just know it,” she said heartily. “Thought of a name for her yet?”

“I sure have,” affirmed Berry Punch. “I'm going to call her Ruby Pinch.”

“Sounds a fitting choice of name,” mused Carrot Top. “It certainly matches the colour of her fur, that's for sure.” A small frown crept across her face at that point, and she gazed out of the window. “Just a pity her father couldn't have been a bit more considerate of the mare he left behind.”

Bonbon, however, tried to offer a more optimistic point of view. “We needn't worry too much, Carrot Top. I'm sure Berry Punch will find somepony else someday – and besides, even if she doesn't, at least she's got the rest of us by her side.”

Berry Punch smiled appreciatively. “Thanks, Bonbon. You girls are the best.”

“As we've been told many times before,” chuckled Lyra. “Anyway, we'd better not disturb you any longer. We'll see you later, okay?”

“Okay, Lyra. See you round.”

With that, the three mares bid their farewell and left Berry Punch and little Ruby Pinch in peace. But even as they left the hospital and headed back towards home, Bonbon couldn't seem to stop thinking about the new arrival.

“Gosh,” she murmured to herself, “Berry Punch sure is a lucky mare, even if the father isn't around to help her raise that filly.”

“Well, you say that,” remarked Lyra, “but from what she'd been telling me a few weeks back, she's already gone and gotten herself a proper coltfriend. You know those two ponies who moved in from Dodge City?”

“Uh...no, I don't think you told me about them,” admitted Bonbon, confused.

“Oh.” Lyra rolled her eyes with mock dismay. “Silly of me not to mention it. Yeah, there's this sort of hot-pink mare named Cherry Berry who rolled in two months ago with her brother Cherry Fizzy,” she explained. “They were looking for work, but both wanted to carve out their own paths in life instead of working on Cherry Hill Ranch, so they came to Ponyville and bought themselves a bungalow on Stirrup Street. What they're doing now, I don't know; but what I do know is that Cherry Fizzy has been getting along really, really well with Berry Punch. I think those two must be growing on each other.”

Bonbon was amazed. “Wow – that's a hay of a stroke of luck, and no mistake. All we need now is for them to start planning a wedding, and that's the family completed.”

“Might not be for some time yet, if ever,” said Lyra gravely. “You forget that Berry's been feeling a bit uneasy about this sort of relationship ever since she...” but she promptly broke off when she noticed a solemn, longing expression on her lover's face. “What's wrong, Bonbon?”

“Oh...nothing,” muttered Bonbon, who wasn't really listening.

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You seem a bit down all of a sudden.”

“I'll be fine, Lyra. I'm just a bit tired, what with all the excitement about Berry's foal and our new shop...”

“...and something you've obviously keeping a secret,” interjected Lyra. “Come on, Bonnie, please tell me. I don't want us to go through the whole fabric softener mishap all over again.”

Bonbon took a deep sigh. “I'm just...I can't help feeling a little...sort of envious of Berry Punch,” she confessed sadly. “She may not have a special somepony, but she's got a daughter to call her own, and that...it just feels a bit...well......oh, forget it!”

“No, Bonbon, don't let's forget it,” urged Lyra. “I'm not standing here and letting my fillyfriend brood over something so sensitive – the last time you did, you ended up in hospital yourself.”

The cream-coated mare shuddered. Even now that her digestive system was back to normal, the mere mention of the incident with the brownies and the fabric softener still caused the odd twinge in her stomach. “Alright then, Lyra, I'll tell you – but only if you promise not to freak out.”

“Oh, I promise alright.”

“Well, to tell you the truth...I kinda wish I could have a foal of my own.”

Lyra's eyes widened, and for a moment, Bonbon was afraid that she might yet freak out after all. “A foal? As in...a real live juvenile pony?”

Bonbon closed her eyes and nodded.

“You mean you want to start a family?”

“Yes, Lyra,” affirmed Bonbon. “I know it's probably a bit too soon for you, and okay, I can't have a foal without a stallion, but I still feel a bit...empty, if you see what I mean.”

Lyra shook her head in amusement. “Who says you can't? I may not be very much into magic studies, but I happened to come across a spell once that enables two mares to have foals, and guess what – it never said anything about needing a stallion. Don't believe me? Head over to the Golden Oak Library, look up Medical Magic and see for yourself.”

Bonbon perked up. “Seriously? You mean...if and when you're ready, then it'll still be possible for us to have a family?”

“Yes – and regarding that other point about when I'm ready for such a commitment, consider it your lucky day.”

Lyra wrapped her right hoof around her left fetlock, and gently slid it down her leg as if she were removing something from it. Bonbon watched with interest, wondering what she was up to. Then the mint-green unicorn's horn began to glow softly, and after a few seconds, she swung her hoof around to reveal something that made her cream-coated special somepony gasp in amazement – a silver bracelet with a small cluster of gemstones on one side that formed a likeness of her Cutie Mark.

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed breathlessly. “Lyra...is that...”

“It sure is,” replied Lyra fondly. “We've known each other for about a year now, and I'd started to think maybe it was time to take things to the next level, so I got this bracelet and kept it concealed beneath a cloaking spell on my hoof, which only allowed me and nopony else to see it. Two long months I'd had it with me, just waiting for the moment when I could ask the mare I love the most if...well......if she would like to marry me.”

A long silence ensued. Bonbon's eyes began to brim with tears as she gazed upon the engagement bracelet, and at first, the only response she could manage was to raise a hoof to her heart. Lyra didn't say anything either, but simply waited for her beloved to regain composure and give her reply – although deep down she had a feeling she knew what it would be.

“You...you really want to go all the way with me?” stammered Bonbon at last.

“All the way – and beyond,” said Lyra softly. “The question is – do you?”

Bonbon flung her arms around the mint-green mare. “Oh, Lyra,” she sobbed happily, “nothing in the whole world would make me happier. I love you so much.”

“And I love you too, Bonnie,” murmured Lyra. She then pulled back from their hearty embrace and slipped the bracelet over Bonbon's right hoof. “There – that should just about seal the deal.”

“And am I ever glad it does.” With both her front hooves still resting on Lyra's shoulders, Bonbon leaned forward again and pulled them both into a deep, meaningful kiss...

Epilogue

“Without a doubt, that was by far and away the happiest day in Mom and Mother's lives. They were married within three months of Mom's proposal, and about fourteen months later, Mother gave birth to me,” finished Tootsie Flute. “Mom certainly wasn't joking about her commitment to her family either; when I was about eight years old, she was offered a music course at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She accepted the invitation, but only on the grounds that half her studies took the form of 'open university', so as to make it easier on me and Mother – and the rest is history.”

Apple Bloom was the first to break the silence. “Wow,” she murmured. “That sure was a great story, Tootsie Flute.”

“Yeah, it's good that those two managed to work it all out,” added Rumble.

Tootsie Flute smiled and nodded in agreement. “The point is, Apple Bloom,” she explained softly, “if Mom and Mother could work around their differences and enjoy a happy marriage, there's every chance that you and Featherweight will be able to do the same with your relationship. Yes, certain issues have a habit of getting in the way at the best of times, but it's how you feel about him that counts.”

Another brief silence ensued as Apple Bloom let Tootsie Flute's words of wisdom sink in. Even though the tiniest element of doubt still lingered in the back of her mind, she could no longer deny her feelings for the off-white Pegasus colt, let alone the truth in what the aqua-furred unicorn had told her. “Ah guess yo' right, Tootsie. Perhaps it was wrong o' me ta ignore Featherweight a' this time,” she decided. “But Ah'm gonna go make it up to 'im. If Chip Mint wants Cotton Cloudy as 'is fillyfriend, then let 'im, say Ah!”

“That's the spirit, Apple Bloom,” cajoled Scootaloo heartily; and the rest of the Crusaders watched as the yellow-furred filly strode determinedly out of the clubhouse, intent on finding Featherweight.

Sweetie-Belle grinned broadly at her old friend's renewed gusto. “Looks like Apple Bloom's back to normal,” she stated cheerfully.

“Sure does,” chimed in Dinky. “All we need now is for her to hit it off with Featherweight, and then – mission accomplished.”

“Ah, she'd be a fool not to go for him after what Tootsie has been telling us,” laughed Tornado Bolt.

“Oh, I'm sure it'll all work out between them,” mused Tootsie Flute. “Still, only time will tell.”

“Yeah, and if I didn't know any better,” remarked Pipsqueak, who wasn't quite listening, “I'd say it's already about to tell us something even worse.”

Tootsie Flute raised an eyebrow. “What are you talk...?” she began, but suddenly broke off when she saw what Pipsqueak was talking about. To the surprise of all, including Apple Bloom who momentarily forgot about her resolution and came to a stop halfway down the gangplank, they could see a distraught grey filly approaching the clubhouse. Her braided mane was somewhat dishevelled, her blue-rimmed glasses appeared to have been scratched rather badly, and there was a noticeable bruise on her cheek. Her eyes were brimming with tears, and she barely even seemed to take any notice of her surroundings until the Cutie Mark Crusaders, in almost perfect unison, blurted out her name in confusion...

“Silver Spoon?!”