Bittersweet Memories

Chapters

The Photo Album
A Day at the Park
First Day of School
True Calling
A Party and Memories
Tis the Seasons
The Funeral
You Make Me the Happiest Mare in Equestria
Born, Dead, and Alive Again

The Photo Album

"Ugh, late again." Bon-Bon said to herself. She galloped up to the door, stopped instantly, and before entering she wiped her hooves on their "Welcome" doormat. As she walked into her home she was greeted with a soft welcoming "hello" from her wonderful girlfriend, Lyra, who was probably one the kindest, yet strangest, ponies she'd ever known.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Bon-Bon said while she panted.

"It's all right Bon-Bon, really. You're busy and I understand." Lyra said. She was up on her back legs and was leaning against the wall to keep her balance.

The tired pony let out a long, stressful sigh. "You're too kind."

Lyra smiled. "Follow me" She dropped back down to all fours and walked down the hall, making a right, into the kitchen. Bon-Bon let free a smile and followed her girlfriend. "Ok, stop." the mint colored unicorn said. Bon-Bon did as instructed. "Now close your eyes."

"Lyra what are you..."

"Just do it."

Bon-Bon closed her eyes, but couldn't help but let out a little giggle as she done so. "Good, open your mouth." The blind pony didn't hesitate. She opened her mouth and waited for something to be put in it. The wait wasn't long and in her mouth Lyra had placed something round and very bitter. Bon-Bon instantly spat it out onto the wooden floor.

"What was that?" Bon-Bon exclaimed.

"Chocolate." the minted color unicorn said. "I watch you make them all the time, so I was like 'what the hay'. I'll give it a shot. So I think now we can agree I'm not gifted in making chocolate." Lyra giggled and so did Bon-Bon. The smiling earth pony grabbed some squares of paper towels with her mouth and cleaned up the mess.

While Bon-Bon was cleaning up the mess, Lyra was getting dinner started. In front of her was a ball of lettuce. Bon-Bon looked over at her girlfriend and saw she was trying to use the knife with her hooves. Lyra wasn't exactly being successful with knife. Bon-Bon shook her head. "I don't understand why you don't just use your magic to cut the lettuce." Bon-Bon said.

"Maybe one day you'll understand." Lyra said. Bon-Bon threw the napkins in the waste bin.

Half an hour later Lyra placed plates of salad at the table, which stood next to a window and had a plant in a small vase in the center. Bon-Bon hardly touched her salad, she just stared out the window into the starry night sky. Lyra was already half done when she took notice of Bon-Bon's lack of eating.

"Bon-Bon, are you ok?"

"Hmm," Bon-Bon said as she looked over at her concerned lover. "oh, yes I'm fine."

"What are you looking at?"

"The stars."

"Why?" Lyra asked.

"Wishing." Bon-Bon responded.

"Ok, now I'm confused."

"When I was younger, my grandmother told me that if you wish upon the first star you see that it'll come true." Bon-Bon went back to looking out the window. After Lyra was finished eating, she took her clean plate and Bon-Bon's untouched plate back to the kitchen. Lyra turned on the sink and began washing the dishes. Bon-Bon walked away from the table and went over to help Lyra.

"So." Lyra said.

"What?" Bon-Bon asked.

"What did you wish for?"

"I didn't wish for anything."

"What are you talking about?" Lyra asked confusedly. "We were looking out that window at the stars for half an hour. You had too be wishing on them or something."

"I wasn't wishing, I was remembering another wish I made." Bon-Bon said.

"Did it come true?" the mint unicorn asked.

Bon-Bon turned to Lyra and looked deep into her golden eyes. In those eyes she saw her future. A lifetime with this beautiful mare. In those eyes she remembered the first time she looked into them.

"Did your wish come true?" Lyra asked again.

Bon-Bon nodded and said, "Yes."

Lyra was fast asleep in their bed for two. Bon-Bon, unfortunately, was not. She tried and tried to go to sleep but it seemed the more she tried the harder it became to do so. She slid out of the bed and left the room. The house was lit up by the light of the full moon, making it easy for her to see her surroundings.

She stepped out of the house. The night was warm and in the sky shined thousands of stars, but only one really stood out to Bon-Bon. A blue-silvery looking star that was not too far from the moon. Crickets chirped loudly and frogs croaked noisily into the night sky, but Bon-Bon hardly took notice to them. She sighed softly and went back inside, closing the door behind her.

Down the hall, just on the opposite side of her bedroom, was a white door. She went down the hall to the door and opened it. Behind the door was nothing more than a broom closet, filled with cleaning supplies and had a single shelf with a photo album on it.

She reached her hooves up to the shelf and knocked the photo album to the floor. She slid over to the middle of the all way and then opened it. On the page she opened to were four photos of her and Lyra together, one of which they were kissing, and there were two of just Lyra. Bon-Bon let up a smile onto her face.

She turned the pages backwards about three pages. On this page there were pictures of her family. One photo was a family photo of her mother, her father, her older sister, and of course her. They all looked happy together. In another photo her mother and father were close together smiling.

She put a hoof on the photo and a tear slipped out and ran down her face, dropping onto the photo album. "I miss you." Bon-Bon said.

She turned the pages back some more, all the way back to the first page. On this page were pictures of her. She looked so small in these photos. There was a picture of her when she was first born, she was in her mother's arms, sound asleep. In the photo next to it was of her, around three years old, baking sweets with her grandmother.

Those were the days. Bon-Bon thought to herself.

"Bon-Bon?" said a tired lovely voice behind her. Bon-Bon jumped and turned to see Lyra standing by the bedroom doorway.

"Oh, hey." Bon-Bon said.

"What are you doing up?" Lyra asked.

"Oh, nothing." Bon-Bon closed the photo album and picked it up with her mouth and placed it back on the shelf in the broom closet. "I'll be in in just a second."

"Alright." Lyra turned around and went back into the bedroom. Bon-Bon looked back at the album on the shelf one last time before returning to her bed.

A Day at the Park

There was a wonderful smell of pancakes in the air. Bon-Bon slowly opened her eyes to find that she was in her bed. The room was lit up by the sun shining through the window. Bon-Bon slid out of her bed and the first thing she did was check the mirror hung on the wall just above the dresser. Her hair was a wreck.

"Bon-Bon!" shouted Lyra from the kitchen. "Are you up?"

"Yes, Lyra, I'll be in there in a minute." Bon-Bon responded. The crazy maned pony went to the bathroom and took a nice hot shower. After her shower, Bon-Bon dried herself off, blow dried her mane, and brushed her teeth. She then proceeded into the kitchen to find Lyra sitting at the dinner table in her usual weird upright seated position, eating pancakes.

"Well, good morning sleepy head." Lyra said. "Sleep good?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I made you pancakes." Lyra said.

"I can see that." Bon-Bon smiled and so did Lyra. Bon-Bon took a seat on her end of the table in the normal pony sitting position and began to eat the pancakes that laid before her.

"So, I was thinking," Lyra began. Bon-Bon took a bite of her pancakes and looked up at her mint green marefriend. "if you're not busy, we could go to the park, have a picnic, take a walk on the trail, and maybe watch the sunset on our special bench."

"Of I'm not busy," Bon-Bon said. "it's Saturday and I'm off work."

"Excellent." The mint green unicorn smiled a large smile and went a head and finished off her pancakes. Bon-Bon giggled, it always filled her heart with joy when Lyra got this happy.

How did I get this lucky? Bon-Bon thought to herself. The navy blue and pink maned mare ate most of her pancakes, leaving behind a few pieces on the plate, and brought both her's and Lyra's plates to the dishwasher. "So, when do you want to leave?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Maybe in an hour." Lyra said. "I still have too take a shower and brush my teeth and also pack a lunch."

"Ok."

Lyra started to make her way to the hall. "Lyra," Bon-Bon said, just before Lyra turned the corner to go down the hall. The unicorn turned and looked at the earth pony, waiting to see what she was going to say. "I love you." Bon-Bon said.

"I love you too." Lyra said. Bon-Bon knew that was true, but she didn't think Lyra completely understood her feelings. She loved her more than anypony could love another.

Lyra left the kitchen and Bon-Bon was left with the dishes. About half an hour later Lyra came back into the kitchen with a smile on her face.

"You're very cheerful today." Bon-Bon mentioned.

"I feel cheerful." Lyra said. "So, what do you want for lunch?"

"We just ate pancakes."

"I mean for later." The two marefriends laughed.

"Just some daffodil sandwiches will be fine."

"You don't want anything special?" asked Lyra. "I can make hay grain pasta or..."

"Sandwiches are just fine." Bon-Bon said.

The two ponies whipped up some daffodil sandwiches and placed them in a small wicker basket, which had a picnic blanket already stored neatly inside it. Lyra put in a teapot filled with tea and some white teacups. She closed the wicker basket and attempted to hold it with her hoof, but was unable to walk with only three hooves on the ground.

With her mouth, Bon-Bon took the wicker basket from Lyra.

"Thanks." Lyra said.

Bon-Bon nodded.

It was a beautiful day at the park, birds were chirping, the sun beaming its warmth onto Equestria with a slight breeze coming from the trees. Bon-Bon and Lyra were sitting on their picnic blanket up on a hill, under a tree. Lyra was eating her daffodil sandwich, but Bon-Bon was not. The earth pony just stared at Lyra with loving eyes.

Lyra looked up from her lunch at Bon-Bon. "What's wrong?" Lyra asked.

"Oh, nothing." Bon-Bon responded. "Nothing's wrong."

"You've hardly touched your lunch."

"Not really that hungry." Bon-Bon said.

"Well you must be thirsty, I haven't seen you drink anything all morning." Lyra pulled out the teapot and two white teacups. She proceeded to fill both of them up and handed one of them to Bon-Bon.

Bon-Bon took a sip at the tea. It was cold and very sweet. Lyra drank down the entire cup, but Bon-Bon savored her's. The navy blue and pink maned pony turned here gaze from Lyra to the lake, just down the hill. The sun's light reflected off the water giving the illusion that the lake was sparkling. Fillies and Colts were playing in the fields and their parents sat in the grass watching them.

"What's been on your mind?" Lyra asked.

"What do you mean?" Bon-Bon said. Her gaze switched from the playing fillies and colts to her mint colored marefriend.

"Well, you were up late last night looking at that photo album and you hardly eat anymore. Is something bothering you? Anything I can do to help?"

"Just promise you'll never leave me."

"I promise."

"Pinkie Promise?" Bon-Bon asked.

With her hoof, Lyra made an X over her heart, flapped her hooves like wings, and then put one hoof on one of her eyes. They laughed and then shared a kiss. After the kiss was broken they took a moment and just stared deep into each other's eyes. The world had seemed to have stopped turning and that time had frozen.

"I love you." Lyra said. There was a pause (not an awkward one though) before Bon-Bon responded.

"I love you too."

"Come on, lets go for a walk." Lyra said and she got up off the blanket.

"Shouldn't we pack this up?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Nah, just leave it. We'll come back for it before we leave."

Bon-Bon giggled and got up off the ground. "Alright then." The two ponies walked away from their picnic site and went down the hill. Just at the bottom of the hill there was a dirt path that went down to the center of the park and also went around the lake. They walked slowly towards the lake. A flock of geese flew in over Bon-Bon and Lyra and landed in the lake.

Throughout the rest of the day, Lyra and Bon-Bon walked around the park talking about life and expressing their feelings for each other. They also rented a paddle boat and spent an hour on the lake. By around seven that evening Lyra and Bon-Bon took rest on a bench which was very special to them and watched the sunset.

The sky was orange and most of the ponies that were there earlier had already left. Bon-Bon was sitting on the bench like a normal pony being, Lyra on the other hoof was sitting in her usual upright position. Bon-Bon hasn't felt embarrassed by this for years. She loved Lyra too much now to even care.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Bon-Bon said.

"Just like you." Lyra said.

Bon-Bon smiled. "You're so cheesy."

"Well, it's true." The two marefriends looked at each other and then back at the sunset. "You know you still haven't told me why you were up late looking through that old photo album."

"It's hard to explain."

"Try, please." Lyra said and gave Bon-Bon puppy dog eyes. Bon-Bon looked away to avoid being persuaded.

"Maybe another time." Bon-Bon said. "But right now, let's just enjoy the sunset."

"Ok."

The sky turned from a dark orange to nice shade of orange and purple and from there it went dark. The moon was now up and it was time to head home. Bon-Bon and Lyra went back to the hill and packed up their stuff and walked home.

First Day of School

~17 Years Ago~

Knock! Knock! Knock! After a short moment the door opened. Behind the door was an older mare with a brown coat and a white curly mane. "Hello, Bon-Bon." She said. Bon-Bon galloped up to her and hugged her as hard as she could.

"Grandma." Bon-Bon said with excitement. Her voice was a bit high pitched, but not to high.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were getting ready for your first day of school."

"Grandma, I'm scared." Bon-Bon said with a worried tone.

"Why?"

"Because, what if it's not like preschool and everypony makes fun of me?"

"Why would they make fun of you, deary?" Bon-Bon's Grandma asked in a very sweet tone.

"Because I'm different. Because of my voices." Tears were building up in her eyes and her voice was getting shaky.

"Well, I happen to love your voices." her grandmother said. She wiped the tears from Bon-Bon's face.

"You do?"

"Of course. It's what makes you you, and I love you."

"I love you too." Bon-Bon said and they shared another hug.

"Now," the older mare said. "come in side, I was just about to make home made chocolate."

"Oh, boy." Bon-Bon said and she darted, happily, into the house. Inside the house were hundreds of antiques. There was an old grandfather clock in the corner, a dresser with little dolls resting on top, also there was a a wooden table with designs craved into its legs to make them looks like vines and flowers. This was only the living room. There were to doorways, one led to the stairs and the other led to the kitchen.

Bon-Bon waited for her grandmother and then followed behind her to the kitchen.

After making a wonderfully delicious bowl of chocolate Bon-Bon went home. The streets of Canterlot are much safer now than they used to be due to Princess Celestia's increase in security.

On the way home Bon-Bon passed the school she would be attending the next day. For a moment she stopped to just stare at it and go deep into her thoughts. What if they do make fun of me? she thought. Bon-Bon lowered her head and continued walking down the streets.

The young filly turned a corner and up a head was one of the fanciest mansions in all of Canterlot. She went through the gate and continued up the path towards the big white stone door. She knocked on it and waited. After a short wait the door was answered by a gray coated stallion who wore a butler's uniform.

"Ah, Master Bon-Bon, welcome home." he said.

"Thanks." Bon-Bon said and walked right inside. The living room was painted all white and a large golden chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting up the whole room. There were potted plants up on tables and the floors were made from the finest wood in Equestria.

"Bon-Bon, where have you been?" asked Luck.

"Over at Grandma's house." Bon-Bon responded.

"Well, we're suppose to be getting you ready for school tomorrow and you haven't even put you books in your saddlebag yet."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Bon-Bon's head was lowered.

"Hey, are you alright?" her dad asked, looking a bit concerned.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause between the two and then silence was broken. "Come on, Bon-Bon, tell me what's wrong." Luck said.

"Well," Bon-Bon started. "I'm nervous."

"Oh, I see." Luck said. He sat down on the floor to get to her eye level. "First day of school is always frightening, but then, as the day goes on, you'll notice that it's not so bad after all. You'll make a bunch of new friends and learn so many new things. You'll be fine tomorrow."

"What if things don't go alright?" Bon-Bon asked.

"OK, I'm gonna teach you a little trick that got me through my first day of school. When ever I felt scared or nervous I just closed my eyes and count to ten."

"Did it work?"

"It sure did. Now, why don't you go get ready for bed. I'll finish packing your saddle bag for you."

"Thanks, Daddy." Bon-Bon said and she and her dad shared a hug. Luck kissed Bon-Bon on the head and then let her go. Bon-Bon raced through the kitchen and up the stairs. She brushed her teeth and went to sleep in her nice warm bed.

The next morning Bon-Bon was woken up by her mother. "Bon-Bon, it's time to get up." Life said. The sleeping filly groaned then just rolled to her side. "Come on, Bon-Bon. You're five years old, you shouldn't be this tired. Life grabbed her daughter's blanket and pulled it off the bed. "Now get up, you'll be late for school."

Bon-Bon let out another moan and proceeded to get up out of bed. She went to her private bathroom, showered and the brushed her teeth. After getting ready she went downstairs to he dining room where her family was already seated at the table eating breakfast. Her dad was reading "Equestria Today" newspaper and her mom was talking to Starlight, telling her that if she needs help with homework she can always ask her.

"Ah, the sleeping princess has finally awoken." Life said. "We got to leave for school soon, so, hurry up and eat your breakfast."

"Yes, Mommy." Bon-Bon said. The navy blue and pink maned pony sat down and ate the plate of eggs and biscuits in front of her. At the instant Bon-Bon finished eating the maid came in and used her unicorn magic to take the plate to the kitchen. Bon-Bon and Starlight left the table and went back to their rooms to grab their saddlebags. When they returned they found their mother standing by the door.

"Come on you two." Life said, waving one of her front hooves towards her. "We're going to be late." The two fillies hurried to the door and when they went outside they were met by a carriage hooked up to a white stallion.

"Morning, madams." Said the white stallion.

"Morning, Dutch." Life said with a smile on her face. The three mares got into the carriage and the moment the door shut it started moving. "Ok, remember to be on your best behaviors. Starlight, no throwing pencils at the teacher or putting frogs in other children's lunch bags." Starlight rolled her eyes. "Bon-Bon, relax and just pay attention to the teacher. Remember, just be yourself."

"Ok, Mommy." Bon-Bon said.

"You'll be fine." Life said putting a hoof on her youngest daughter's shoulder. The carriage hit a small bump, making the three ponies rock in their seats. Shortly after the bump the carriage came to a complete stop. Seconds later Dutch opened the door. "Alright you two, have a good day, I love you." Life said to her daughters. She kissed both of them on the cheek and then let them step out of the carriage.

Bon-Bon stepped onto the hard stone path that lead to the entrance of the two story tall school. The school grounds were large for an elementary school. Bon-Bon took a deep breath and slowly let out. She then proceeded down the path to the school.

The halls were filled with young fillies and colts with saddle bags on their backs. Many of them were either standing in the middle of the hall or walking to their class rooms. Bon-Bon made her way down the hall to her classroom. The door was wide open, so Bon-Bon walked into her classroom. Inside were about thirty desks, more than half of them filled. In the front row was a cerise colored filly who looked completely ready for class.

Bon-Bon went to the back of the class, put her saddlebag under a desk in the center of the back row and took a seat. There was no pony sitting next to her but there was a red coated pony sitting just in front of her. Not much later the room became filled many colored fillies and colts.

Finally an adult unicorn mare, who had a black coat and a book for a cutie mark. "Morning Class," she said. "My name is Ms. Literate and welcome to your first day of kindergarten." With her magic she levitated chalk from the desk and wrote her name on the chalkboard. "To start, I'd like us all to share our names with the class, starting with you." She pointed a hoof at the cerise earth pony.

"Cheerilee." the cerise pony said. The next pony was a colt with a silver coat.

"Sparks" he said. Eventually almost everypony had shared their name and it all came down to Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon didn't say a word. Sweat build up on her forehead and a worried look appeared on her face.

"And how about you sweetie?" Ms. Literate said to Bon-Bon. The whole class was looking at her, waiting for a response. There was so much pressure on her. "What's your name?"

"Bon-Bon." She said finally, but her voice was now deeper and sounded more like a colts. The class burst out with laughter. Tears began building in her eyes. Her worst fears had come true.

"Her voice is ridiculous." Somepony near the center of the room yelled out. Bon-Bon burst into tears and instantly ran out of the classroom. She went down the hall, tears quickly falling onto the ground, and went into the mares restroom. She went into one of the stalls and locked the door behind her. There she cried her heart out.

It was half an hour before Bon-Bon came out of the stall. She went up to one of the mirrors to take a good look at herself. Her eyes were red and half shut from all that crying. The depressed pony grabbed some paper towels and wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes.

She put the now ball of paper towels into the trash and stepped out into the hall. She wasn't alone in the hallway. By the lockers were three ponies ganging up on a younger mare who she recognized from her own class room.

"What's you name filly?" The largest pony said.

"Dits...Ditzy Doo." The surrounded filly said.

"More like Derpy, if you ask me." The shorter colts said. The three ponies laughed while Ditzy was cowering in fear.

"What's wrong with her eyes? Just look at them." said the third colt. "Duuuuuuuuuuuu," they all burst out laughing again.

"Hey, leave her alone." Bon-Bon shouted. The three bullies turned around to look at her.

"Hey, look everypony, it's Bon-Bon." said the larger colt, but when he said 'Bon-Bon' he deepened his voice. "Now, get lost peewee."

"No, now leave her alone!" Bon-Bon said, trying her best to be intimidating.

"Oh yeah, and what if we don't?"

"Then...then I'll tell on you."

"Oooh, I'm so scared." the larger colt said and they all laughed. "Come on, let's put this hero in her place." The three colts began ganging up on Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon began to panic as the three bullies drew closer and closer to her. She quickly reacted. She turned around and bucked the larger colt right in the face. He flew backwards.

Bon-Bon turned back and saw the colt's nose was bleeding. The three bullies panicked and ran away. Bon-Bon walked up to Ditzy Doo and held out a hoof for her to take. She took it and Bon-Bon helped her up. She saw that Ditzy's eyes were looking in separate directions, but she said nothing about it.

"Are you alright?" Bon-Bon asked Ditzy Doo.

"Yeah." Ditzy said sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes. "I think so."

"What were you doing out here?"

"Ms. Literate sent me to check on you, but then those bullies cornered me."

"Well, here I am and I'm fine now." Bon-Bon said smiling. "Come on, lets get back to class."

Soon after returning to class the lunch bell went off and all the fillies and colts left the room. When Bon-Bon was about to leave the room, Ms. Literate stopped her and wished to speak with her. "Bon-Bon," she said. "I am terribly sorry about what happened earlier. It was extremely rude of them to do what they did and I'm glad to say I had a little talk with them when you left."

"Thank you." Bon-Bon said.

"Now go along and eat, you must be starving." Bon-Bon took off to the cafeteria. She saw Ditzy sitting by herself at a table and decided to sit with her.

"Hello Ditzy." Bon-Bon said.

"Hello Bon-Bon." Ditzy said.

"You feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you"

The cafeteria was very noisy and loud so Ditzy and Bon-Bon had to speak loudly for them to hear each other.

"May I ask about the...the..." Bon-Bon try to say.

"About the eyes?" Ditzy finished Bon-Bon's sentence. Bon-Bon nodded. "Well to be honest I'm not exactly sure. My mom told me I was born with them. I think it's the reason she sent me here instead to flight school in Cloudsdale."

"So when are you going to learn to fly?"

"My mom says when I'm a little older we'll move to Cloudsdale so I can take flight school."

"Well at least you get to take it."

"Yeah."

The conversation between the two fillies went on for another fifteen minutes before interrupted by the bell. They through away their trash and went back to class. During class they learned about the different areas in Equestria and the significant role they play in their every day society. Soon the bell rung again the whole class went outside to the play ground.

"So, Ditzy, what do you want to do?" Bon-Bon asked her new best friend.

"Wanna play hide and seek?" Ditzy suggested.

"Sure."

"Not it." Ditzy said quickly.

"Not...darn." The two laughed and then Bon-Bon closed her eyes and started to count to ten. "One...Two...Three..." Ditzy took off in a dash. "Four...Five...Six...Seven...Eight...Nine...TEN! Ready or not here I come." Bon-Bon started her search by the slides. She wasn't there so she looked by the teeter totter, but she wasn't there. Eventually she found her burried under the mulch by the swings. "Found you." Bon-Bon shouted.

"Aww, you found me. I guess that I'm it." They went back and forth hiding and seeking each other out and eventually the bell rung once again. The ponies went back inside to their classrooms and an hour later it was time to go home.

"See you later, Ditzy." Bon-Bon yelled as she waved goodbye to her new friend. She and her sister got into the carriage, closed the door, and the carriage began to move. Bon-Bon and her sister didn't say word the entire way home, but Bon-Bon couldn't help but smile.

Looking past all the ridicule and torment, it was a really good day. She had a new friend, not only was Ditzy a new friend but she was her first friend ever.

True Calling

Bon-Bon was walking down the road. Up a head was her Ponyville famous candy store, with a sign outside that read "Bon-Bon's Sweet Treats", where she sells candy she made herself. It was seven in the morning. Bon-Bon had already drank her morning coffee and was awake for the most part. Once she was at the store she opened the door. A tiny bell rung. She stepped inside and the bell rung once again as the door closed behind her.

The tired mare grabbed a chocolate candy from one of the displayed boxes and ate it. She moved to behind the counter and just stood there, patiently, like she did every morning. "I don't know why I open the store this early." Bon-Bon said to herself. "Who buys candy at seven in the morning?"

At that instant a pink earth pony burst in through the door. "Good morning, Bony Bon-Bon." the happy hyper pony said.

"Oh, right." Bon-Bon mumbled to herself. "Morning, Pinkie Pie. How can I help you this morning?" Pinkie Pie trotted up to the counter with a large smile on her face.

Pinkie Pie took in a deep breath. "Oh you see I'm throwing this huge huge party this afternoon, so I invited one pony and then another pony and another and another and I began thinking I need some candy for my party, so I came here and I was hoping you'll be able to make me and my guests some different kinds of candy." Pinkie finally stopped talking.

"Any specific candies?" Bon-Bon asked and then broke into a yawn.

"Ooooh how about some chocolate balls with caramel center and some regular chocolate balls and maybe some vanilla lemon drops and what's a party without your scrumptious bonbons."

"Will that be all?"

"I think so."

"Alright, that will be ten bits." Bon-Bon said as she pressed a button on the cash register. There was a dinging noise and an empty tray popped out from the bottom of the register.

"Okie dokie lokie." Pinkie Pie said and she pulled out a bag of bits out nowhere. Bon-Bon emptied out the small bag of bits onto the counter and counted ten. She put the ten bits into the register and shut it closed, making another dinging sound. Pinkie Pie put the remaining bits on the counter back into the bag and she returned the bag back to...where ever she had it last.

"They should be finished by noon, so stop by around then."

"Alrighty." Pinkie Pie said with a gleeful smile. "I'll be back at noon."

"See you then." Bon-Bon said.

Pinkie Pie was on her way out of the store when she shouted out 'Goodbye'. She she pushed open the door the bell rung but she stopped walking and turned around back to Bon-Bon. "If you wan you can come and of course Lyra is welcomed to join as well."

"That sound nice, I'll try my best to make it."

"Great, see you later then."

"See you later." At that Pinkie Pie left the building. Bon-Bon made her way to the kitchen in the back and went to work.

~17 Years Ago, a week since Bon-Bon and Ditzy became friends~

"...and then the substitute teacher called out Sparks name and Thundercloud said 'here'." Bon-Bon said and she and Ditzy began laughing. The two best friends were standing by the slide at the school playground. "You should have been there."

"I know, but I had a doctor's appointment for my eyes." Ditzy said.

"Anything new?"

"Not a thing different, these appointments are very pointless if you ask me."

"Well, what are you doing after school?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Nothing really, since my mom took me to that doctor appointment this morning she has to work late tonight. Why?" Ditzy informed.

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come over with me to my grandma's house. She's never met you and I'm sure she'll want to meet you."

"That'd be great. But I'll have to be home before it gets dark."

"Awesome." Bon-Bon said really excitedly. At that moment the bell rang and all the fillies and colts went back inside and returned to their classroom. An hour later everypony was sent home. Bon-Bon went up to her carriage puller. "I'm gonna walk today Dutch." Bon-Bon looked inside the carriage and saw that her sister was already sitting in her usual spot in the back.

"As you wish madame." Dutch shut the door, hooked himself to the carriage and began to pull Starlight home. At that Bon-Bon and Ditzy began walking down the edge of the street.

"So what is it like?" Ditzy asked Bon-Bon.

"What do you mean?" Bon-Bon responded, not fully understanding the question.

"What's it like to be rich?"

"Oh, um probably not much different than not being rich. Honestly I've always lived a rich life so I don't know what not being rich is like."

"I mean you got your own carriage and carriage puller." Ditzy mentioned. "My family doesn't have any of that."

"Actually, he's our butler." Bon-Bon said.

Still, we don't have those fancy things."

"Well, maybe my parents will let you spend the night this weekend and you can have a little taste." Bon-Bon suggested

"And maybe you can spend the night at my house next weekend."

"It should be fun." They both giggled. Before too long they had arrived at Bon-Bon's grandmother's front door step. Bon-Bon knocked on the door and they waited. Soon the door opened and there behind the door was Bon-Bon's grandmother.

"Bon-Bon," the older mare said. Bon-Bon ran up to her grandmother and gave her a hug. "It's good to see you. Who's your friend?"

"This is..."

"Ditzy Doo, mam." Ditzy finished.

"Isn't she just precious." Bon-Bon's grandmother said. "Come in. Come in." Bon-Bon and Ditzy Doo made their way inside. Ditzy was astonished by all the antiques.

"Where'd you get all this stuff?" Ditzy asked, completely in awe.

"All over Equestria, my dear. I got this one in Manehatten." She pointed at a vase on a shelf by the fireplace. "And that I got at Fillydalphia." She then pointed at the grandfather clock at the other end of the room.

"Wow." Ditzy said. Bon-Bon just stood there watching Ditzy take much interest in her grandmother.

"Yes, I have lived and still living a good life." Bon-Bon's grandmother looked at Bon-Bon with a smile and gave the filly a wink. Bon-Bon returned the smile. "Alright, now Ditzy, do you like chocolate?"

"Like it, I love it." Ditzy was now jumping up and down with much excitement.

"Well how do you feel about making homemade chocolate?"

"You know how to make chocolate?"

"Yes, deary."

Ditzy dashed into the kitchen. Bon-Bon and her grandmother giggled and went into the kitchen.

"Grandma, I think mine are done." Bon-Bon said. Bon-Bon opened up the fridge and pulled out a tray of chocolate. She placed the tray on the counter.

"I wanna piece, I wanna piece." Ditzy said while jumping up and down.

"Alright, alright, let me cut you a piece." Bon-Bon's grandma said. She used her mouth to use a knife to cut a decent size piece of Bon-Bon's chocolate. She took the piece and gave it to Ditzy, who instantly ate it.

"Oh, sweet Celestia." Ditzy said. "This is the greatest chocolate I have ever had."

"Really?" Bon-Bon questioned. She didn't believe her, she's just being nice.

"Oh yes." Ditzy took another bite of the chocolate and sunk into it's heavenly delight. Bon-Bon's grandmother cut herself a slice and ate it.

"Oh my, this is incredible." the older mare said. "Bon-Bon you have a gift."

"I do?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Oh yes, and that's not the only thing you've got."

"Huh?"

Bon-Bon's grandmother pointed at Bon-Bon's flank. Bon-Bon turned to look at it and before her she saw three candy wrappers printed on her flank. "MY CUTIE MARK!" Bon-Bon shouted in extreme joy. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

~Present Day~

Noon had come quicker than expected. Bon-Bon was just pulling out the last batch of bonbons when the bell rung in the other room. "That must be Pinkie Pie." she said to herself. The baker packaged the bonbons and added the box to the stack of other boxes filled with candy. She lifted the boxes with head and eased them to her back. She then brought them into the other room and there at the counter was Pinkie Pie. "Hello, Pinkie."

"Hey Bon-Bon, are those the sweets?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes they are." Bon-Bon transferred the boxes onto Pinkie's back.

"Will you be joining us this evening?"

"I think I will, I might be a little late, but yes I should be there."

"Great, see you then."

"See ya."

A Party and Memories

Bon-Bon flipped the two sided sign that hung the store's entrance door to "Sorry We're Closed." She turned off the lights and then left the store. It's five in the evening and she had to go pick up Lyra. The shadows of the homes and other buildings darkened the streets and nearly everypony was either inside or at Pinkie's party, so it was very quiet.

Should I wear something nice? Bon-Bon thought to herself. Nah, Pinkie Pie's parties are never formal.

Bon-Bon turned right onto Trotting Avenue. Up ahead was Rose watering her roses. "Good evening, Bon-Bon." she said as Bon-Bon passed by. Bon-Bon stopped.

"Evening, Rose." Bon-Bon said. "Your roses look lovely today."

"Thank you. Did you just get off work?"

"Yeah, I'm heading home to get Lyra and we're going to Sugarcube Corner for another one of Pinkie's parties."

"Well have fun and I'll see you later."

"Thanks, see you later." Bon-Bon said and at that she turned around, but before she could start walking Rose stopped her.

"Wait! Give this to Lyra." Rose took a rose with her mouth and gave it to Bon-Bon. It was beautiful. The most beautiful out of the whole lot of roses. "I know how much Lyra loves roses."

"Thank you." Bon-Bon said with the rose in her mouth. She turned back around and began walking down the road again. Before too long she was home. She opened the door to her house and just at the end of the hall was Lyra, looking as beautiful as ever.

"Hey, Bon-Bon." Lyra said. "Are you ready to...Oh a rose. It's beautiful." Bon-Bon gave the rose to Lyra, who quickly went into the kitchen and put it in a vase. She filled the vase most of the way and placed the vase on the counter.

"Do you like it?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Like it? I love it. Oh how could I get stuck with such a wonderful mare." Lyra kissed Bon-Bon on lips. Bon-Bon returned the kiss. Lyra spoke once the kiss was broken half a minute later. "So, you ready to go?"

Bon-Bon was to lost in the moment to say anything, so she just gave a nod.

"Alright, let's get going." Lyra left the kitchen, but Bon-Bon just stood there in a dreamy state. Lyra poked her head into the kitchen. "You coming?"

Bon-Bon snapped out of it. "Huh? Yeah. I'm coming." Bon-Bon left the kitchen and together she and Lyra left the house.

~17 years ago~

"Thank You very much for letting me stay the night." Ditzy said to Bon-Bon's parents. Next to her was Bon-Bon waiting impatiently for Ditzy to stop being polite so they could up to her room to play.

"It's our pleasure, Ditzy." Luck said.

"It's not everyday Bon-Bon brings home a friend to spend the night." Life said, smiling.

"You wanna go up to my room and play?" Bon-Bon asked Ditzy.

"Yeah, lets go." Ditzy said excitedly. The two fillies dashed upstairs into Bon-Bon's room. The room was much like any normal five year old filly's room; many toys scattered around the room, posters of famous ponies up on the wall, books on the bookshelf. The only real difference was that the stuff was much more expensive than the usually toys, posters, and books a normal filly would have.

"What do you wanna do?" Bon-Bon asked Ditzy.

Ditzy was in awe by all the fancy possessions. "I don't know." She responded. "It's your room, what do you think we should do?"

"Do you want to play with some of my dolls?" Bon-Bon suggested.

"Ok." The two friends played with Bon-Bon's dolls; combing their manes, making them wear ridiculous outfits, and even pretending that two of them were a married couple. Time seemed to have just flied by, because before they knew it Bon-Bon's mother called them down for dinner.

The two fillies galloped down stairs and joined Bon-Bon's family at the dinner table. Of course Ditzy sat next to Bon-Bon. Dutch came in with four plates of green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, and daisies on his back. Ditzy was the first to get a plate, but she was polite and waited for everypony else to get their's before she started eating.

"So, Ditzy what do your parents do for a living?" Luck asked.

"Oh," Ditzy said, not realizing she would be having to answer questions. "um, both my parents are weather ponies, sir."

"Are they now. I know a few ponies in the weather business and it seems to me like a very hard working job."

"It is, sir. My parents come home everyday extremely tired and just pass out in their beds."

"Ah, I see and what do you hope to be when you get older?"

"I'm not sure, sir." Ditzy said.

"Please, call me Mr. Luck." Luck said.

"Yes, sir...I mean Mr. Luck."

Luck chuckled.

"You must have some kind of dream, Ditzy." Life said. "We know Bon-Bon here is destined to be a candy maker, but you must have some kind of hopes of what your special talent will be."

"Well...there is one thing, but...it's kinda silly."

"Ditzy, there's no such thing as a silly dream." Luck said.

"Well, I always wanted to be a baker." Ditzy confessed.

"Now, that's not silly at all." Luck said.

"I'm no good at it."

"All you need is some lessons and practice." Life said. "I'm sure Bon-Bon's grandmother will love to teach you how to bake."

"Really? That'd be great." Ditzy said very excited.

After dinner Bon-Bon and Ditzy galloped back up to Bon-Bon's bedroom where they continued playing with Bon-Bon's dolls.

There must have been thirty ponies at Pinkie's party. Lyra and Bon-Bon were by the punch bowl, talking to Pinkie Pie.

"I'm so so so glad you could make it." Pinkie Pie said with joy.

"Well, we're glad we could make it too." Lyra said, smiling.

"Thank you Pinkie for the invite." Bon-Bon said. "We'd probably end up just sitting around the house doing nothing." The three mares giggled.

"You're welcome." Pinkie said. "Well excuse me, I better go welcome the ponies that just arrive." Pinkie Pie took off, leaving Lyra and Bon-Bon alone with each other. There was a silence between them and then a song came on. A song they both knew and love.

"Oh, I love this song." Bon-Bon said.

"Care to join me in a dance?" Lyra asked, holding out her hoof to he marefriend. Bon-Bon took it and Lyra dragged her out onto the dance floor. It wasn't a slow song, more of a party dance song. As the couple danced they recognized a lot of their friends dancing as well. Twilight Sparkle was there and so was Rose, who gave Bon-Bon a wink when they saw each other. Bon-Bon smiled.

~17 years ago~

It was Friday, school had just let out for the weekend, and Bon-Bon and Ditzy were walking to Ditzy's place. At one point a dog ran up to Ditzy and began licking her face. Ditzy laughed for the feeling of the dog's tongue on her face tickled. The dog eventually got off and ran back to its owner.

"So, Ditzy, what is your family like?" Bon-Bon asked.

"They're kind of like your family." Ditzy said. "Kind, generous, good ponies. The only real difference is is that they're a bit goofy."

"What do you mean goofy?"

"Well..." Ditzy tried to think of a good example. "On the day of their wedding, during the reception my mom and dad started a food fight with the cake." Bon-Bon burst out laughing almost to the point of tears. Ditzy joined on the laughter. By the time the laughing subsided, the two fillies arrived at Ditzy's home. It looked to be a decent home, not rich, but not poor either.

Ditzy opened the door and Bon-Bon walked inside right behind her. The house was mostly what you'd expect after seeing the outside. There was a dining room with a dining table, not to big though but of decent size, there was also a living room with couch fit for two and also a chair.

"Ditzy, is that you?" a female voice called out. A mare poked her head around the corner from one of the other rooms. "Ah, it is you, and this must be your friend."

"Bon-Bon, miss..." Bon-Bon said, not sure what Ditzy's mom's name was.

"Storm Cloud, Mrs. Storm Cloud." Ditzy's mom informed Bon-Bon.

"Mrs. Storm Cloud, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Same here, Ditzy's always talking about you." Storm Cloud said. Bon-Bon nearly blushed, knowing that she played an important roll in Ditzy's life just as much as Ditzy's roll in her life.

"Hey, Bon-Bon, wanna go play in my room?" Ditzy suggested.

"Ok." Bon-Bon said and then they took off. The house was not two stories like Bon-Bon's, but the size livable. The room was just around the corner. In the room was a bed and beside the bed was a mattress, a blanket, and a pillow, which Bon-Bon suspected was for her.

On the walls were many drawings done in crayon. There was one which appeared to be of Ditzy and her family, one that looked like a dragon, and another that looked like a bunch of muffins.

"So, what would you like to do?" Bon-Bon asked Ditzy Doo.

"Do you like drawing?" Ditzy asked Bon-Bon.

"I love drawing."

"Ok, um, hold on a second." Ditzy galloped into her room and started digging through her toy box. Bon-Bon waited patiently by the door. Ditzy finally pulled out a large bucket of crayons. She placed it down in the empty space in her room and then grabbed two pieces of blank paper.

Bon-Bon sat lied down by the side of Ditzy's bed and Ditzy was lying down just across from her. Bon-Bon grabbed a blue crayon from the bucket with her mouth and began shading in what was suppose to be the ocean. Once she finished coloring in the ocean she tossed the crayon back into the bucket and went in to grab a gray one. She then started drawing dolphins jumping out of the water. Bon-Bon paid no attention to what Ditzy was drawing, she was too caught up in her own.

Fifteen minutes passed before Bon-Bon mentioned to Ditzy that she had finished. Ditzy looked up from her drawing at Bon-Bon's.

"Wow, that's really good, Bon-Bon." Ditzy said with a smile. "A lot better than mine."

"May I see yours?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Sure." Ditzy scooted her drawing towards Bon-Bon and turned around so it was facing Bon-Bon's direction. The picture was of Ditzy and Bon-Bon together, holding each other's hoof. There was a rainbow and just below the rainbow was written "Best Friends Forever".

Tears made its way to Bon-Bon's eyes. She was at a lost for words.

I'm her best friend?

The tears fell from her eyes as a smile appeared on her face.

There were only a few ponies left at Pinkie Pie's party. Lyra and Bon-Bon were two of the few that remained. The lights were dim, the music had gone from party music to soft slow dancing music, and Lyra and Bon-Bon were both on their hind legs, leaning against each other, dancing with the music. Bon-Bon's head was on Lyra's shoulder.

"I love you." Bon-Bon said.

"I love you too." Lyra said.

Pinkie Pie was in the back of the room crying to how beautiful the scene was. Other ponies were also watching but the two marefriends didn't notice, nor would they have cared. But soon this magical night had end and the two mares had to head beck to their home.

Bon-Bon looked up into the sky, on their way back, at the particular blue star near the moon. Lyra noticed her marefriend looking at the star and then looked up at the night sky and then back at Bon-Bon. "So, when will you tell me what you wished for?" Lyra asked.

"Maybe one day." Bon-Bon said. "But not today."

"Can you lat least tell me which star your looking at?"

Bon-Bon stopped and so did Lyra. Bon-Bon pointed up at the star and then spoke, "The blue one. The one close to the moon. Do you see it?"

"Yes, but I don't understand what wish would be worth thanking the star over."

Bon-Bon just smiled and the two mares continued down the road.

Tis the Seasons

~Nightmare Night 17 years ago~

Bon-Bon was looking at a full body mirror. Her face had painted scars and black eye shadow around her eyes. She was also dressed in old torn up clothes and her hair was messy instead of its usual curly self.

An older mare walked up behind Bon-Bon and took a moment to look at her in the mirror. "Ooh, you looked scary." Bon-Bon's grandmother said with a fake terrified tone.

"Thanks, Grandma." Bon-Bon said.

"Now, where's your sister?" The older mare went up to the foot of the stairs. "Starlight, come on out. It's time to leave." She shouted.

"No, I look ridiculous." Starlight responded.

"Oh, I'm sure you look great. Please come out." There was a long pause, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. Starlight walked up to the top of the stairs for all to see. She was dressed in pink and white froufrou dress and wore a cone shaped princess's hat, which matched the dress. "Oh, you look precious."

Bon-Bon walked up next to her grandmother and looked up at her sister. She instantly fell to the floor in laughter. Starlight's face turned red in embarrassment. Bon-Bon laughed for a good minute before there was a knock at the door which took her mind off her ridiculous looking sister. The zombie got up off the floor and went to open the door.

Standing there on Bon-Bon's grandmother's doorstep was Ditzy Doo, dressed up in paper bags. Four small paper bags covered her hooves and a larger paper bag was used as some sort of hat. Around her neck hung her candy bag, which was also just a paper bag with a long string attached to both sides. Bon-Bon was confused. Very confused.

"Hey Bon-Bon, happy Nightmare Night." Ditzy said with a large smile on her face.

"Happy Nightmare Night." Bon-Bon said. "Um, Ditzy, what's with bags?"

"It's my Nightmare Night costume."

"I understand that, but why are you dressed as paper bags?"

"Oh, well it's sort of a family tradition to wear paper bags for Nightmare Night."

"Who came up with it?" Bon-Bon asked.

"My dad." Ditzy said.

"You aren't you just the cutest thing." Bon-Bon's grandmother said. She was standing right behind Bon-Bon.

"Hello, how are you doing tonight?" Ditzy asked politely.

"I'm doing great, thanks for asking. You ready to go collect some candy?"

"Yes, mam."

"Oh, she's so polite."

Starlight came downstairs. Ditzy took notice of her princess outfit and smiled, but did not laugh. "Nice costume, Starlight." Ditzy said very kindly.

"Shut up, Ditzy." Starlight said. Ditzy was confused but she just shrugged that confusion off.

"Alright kiddies, let's get going." Bon-Bon's grandmother said. Bon-Bon and Starlight grabbed their candy bags and placed them around their necks. Bon-Bon's had a jack-o-lantern on hers and Starlight had a spider on hers. The mares all head out of the home and began their night of collecting candy.

Bon-Bon and Ditzy galloped up to their first house of the night, slowly followed by Starlight. Ditzy knocked on the door and the three fillies waited for a good fifteen seconds before the door opened.

"Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite." Ditzy and Bon-Bon said together.

The house they had knocked on was the home of Ms. Blossom. She was a tall yellow unicorn with a blooming flower for a cutie mark. "Aww, don't you all look adorable." Ms. Blossom said. Bon-Bon and Ditzy Doo had smiles on their faces, but Starlight was embarrassed and tried to hide her face behind her sister and her friend.

Ms. Blossom, using her magic, levitated a bowl of candy from somewhere out of site and put two pieces of candy in each of their bags.

"Thank you." all three fillies said and galloped off back to Bon-Bon and Starlight's grandmother. They moved on. In the end they stopped by nearly sixty homes and now was the time for another Nightmare Night tradition. The four mares headed back to Bon-Bon's grandmother's house, where the fillies gathered around grandmother's rocking chair. The fire in the fireplace lit up the room in a dim orange glow.

"Alright, kiddies." Bon-Bon's grandmother said. "Do you know what tonight is really about?"

"Dressing up in costumes?" Ditzy said.

"Candy?" Bon-Bon said.

"No," the two sister's grandmother said. "It's the longest night of the year and also is said to be the night Nightmare Moon returns from the moon to feed." There was a slash of lightning, followed by a roar of thunder. "Nine hundred eighty four years ago, Equestria was ruled by two princesses instead of one. Both were sisters and both ruled the land peacefully for many centuries but one day the younger princess was possessed by greed and was transformed into Nightmare Moon. So, the older sister was left no choice but to banish her younger sister permanently to the moon. But it is said on the longest night of each year she returns to Equestria and must feed before returning to the moon."

"When the younger princess had become Nightmare Moon and before she was banished to the moon, foals began disappearing. Some say she ate them and gained energy from their souls. So, every year we dress up as monsters and fairy tale characters so that she does not recognize us and we leave a candy offering outside our doors to help satisfy her hunger."

The the three fillies were shaking in fear. Bon-Bon and Ditzy were holding each other in shear terror.

"What, are you waiting for?" Bon-Bon's grandmother asked. "Go leave a nice tribute to Nightmare Moon so she doesn't gobble us all up." The three fillies immediately jumped up from where they were sitting and galloped outside where they dumped half of their candy on the doorstep. Bon-Bon slammed the door shut and locked it behind her. "Well, I think it's time for all three of you to hit the hay. Ditzy I'll show you to your room."

The next morning Bon-Bon was the first to wake up. She went down stairs and walked outside to see what the weather was like. She looked down at the doorstep to find that the candy they had left the night before was gone. Bon-Bon gasped in terror and then whispered to herself. "She's real."

~Hearth's Warming Eve 17 Years Ago~

It was around seven in the evening. The house was warmed by a toasty orange fire in the fireplace. Bon-Bon's home was decorated top to bottom in traditional Hearth's Warming Day decorations. Wreaths hung on every door, in the living room was a pine tree decorated in ornaments and colorful lights, and underneath the tree were dozens of presents, all wrapped up for the fillies to open on Hearth's Warming Day.

It had been snowing for a week now and there was no sign of it stopping soon.

Luck was on the sofa, reading his newspaper and drinking eggnog, Life was upstairs in her and her husband's bedroom with her mother, finishing wrapping the last ten presents, and Bon-Bon and Ditzy were playing with Bon-Bon's dolls downstairs by the fire.

"Hey, Ditzy." Luck said. "Has your parents said anything on how long it's suppose to snow for?"

"My dad said that it's gonna snow till the day after Hearth's Warming Day." Ditzy informed.

Luck just nodded and went back to reading his paper. There was a knock on the door. "Ah, that mus be your parents, Ditzy." Luck said as he got up off the couch. He let out a small grunt and then went to open the door. He would usually have his butler do it but he gave him the week off.

Outside, wearing coats and scarfs, were two pegasi looking overjoyed. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" the two pegasi said with much enthusiasm. They greeted their host with a hug, which Luck had no way of avoiding.

"Hello Hail, hello Storm." Luck said. The hug was finally broken. "Please, come in."

"Thank you kindly. Luck." Hail Storm said as he and his wife entered Luck's home. "Brrr, it's freezing out there. Even after being a weather pony for seven years you never get use to cold weather." The three ponies laughed.

"May I take your coats?" Luck said.

"Oh yes, thank you so much." Hail said and he and his wife handed their coats and scarfs to Luck who hung them up on the hat rack.

"Ditzy, your parents are here." Luck shouted.

"Ok." Ditzy yelled back, but there was no sign of her coming. The three ponies chuckled.

With in the hour the two families had Hearth's Warming Eve dinner. Ditzy and Bon-Bon sat next to each other, Luck was at the head of the table, Hail Cloud Storm and Storm Cloud sat next to each other, and Life and her mother sat side by side. On the table was a bowl of salad, a plate of variety of different flowers, hay, and bread rolls.

"The weather outside is just dreadful." Life said, scooping some more hay onto her plate.

"Oh yes and it's only going to get worst." Storm Cloud said. "It's gonna be a real doozy getting home."

"Well you're always welcomed to stay the night here." Luck offered.

"Oh, we don't want to impose on your families Hearth's Warming Day." Hail Storm said.

"You won't be imposing, will they dear." Luck said. Everypony turned to Life who had a mouth full of salad in her mouth. She just shook her head with a chubby smile.

"Well if you insist."

Ditzy Doo and Bon-Bon began cheering. Life and Luck looked at their happy daughter and smiled.

"So, what do you usually do on Hearth's Warming Day?" Storm Cloud asked.

Life looked up at Storm and spoke, "Well first we wake up early in the morning, open presents, and after that was just sort of let things run it's course. We let the children play with their new toys and sometimes at the end of the day sing Hearth's Warming Day Carols."

"We, love singing Hearth's Warming Day Carols." Ditzy's father mentioned. "We do it every year. Kind of a tradition."

"Well, then we'll be sure to sing some tomorrow." Luck said.

Soon after dinner everypony agreed that it was time to hit the hay. Luck and Life showed Hail and Storm to the guest room. Starlight went to her room and Bon-Bon's grandmother went to bed in the second guest room downstairs. Bon-Bon and Ditzy went to Bon-Bon's room where they crawled into their beds. The pink and navy blue maned filly was nearly asleep when Ditzy spoke up.

"Bon-Bon?"

"Yes, Ditzy?" Bon-Bon responded, sounding annoyed.

"Happy Hearth's Warming."

"Happy Hearth's Warming to you too. Now go to sleep."

"Ok" Ditzy said the two fillies went to sleep.

The next Day didn't come quickly for the little fillies in the household, but when it did arrive Bon-Bon was the first to wake. She shook Ditzy awake.

"Ditzy! Ditzy wake up!" Bon-Bon said as she shook her friend mildly.

"Huh, what?" Ditzy grunted. "Bon-Bon? What's going on?"

"It's Hearth's Warming Day."

Ditzy shot wide awake and jumped up from her mattress bed. Ditzy galloped into the guest bedroom to wake up her parents and Bon-Bon did the same in her parent's room. "Mom, Dad, it's Hearth's Warming Day." Bon-Bon was now jumping up and down on their bed.

"Alright, Bon-Bon, Bon-Bon. We're up." Luck said as he slowly woke himself up. "Just please stop jumping on the bed." Bon-Bon jumped off the bed and took off into her sister's room.

"Starlight wake up." Bon-Bon said.

"Bon-Bon, get out of my room!" Starlight said and she tried to throw her pillow at Bon-Bon, but missed. Bon-Bon then woke up her grandmother and with in minutes everypony was downstairs ready to begin opening presents. Luck pulled out the first present from under the tree and read the label.

"To Bon-Bon, from Mom and Dad." Luck scooted t he present over to Bon-Bon who was nearly jumping with joy. Once she received the present Bon-Bon began tearing off the wrapping paper with her teeth like a wild animal. Underneath all that wrapping paper was a boxed up doll. The one of which Bon-Bon had been asking for years now. She let out an ear piercing squeal and began hugging her parents and kissing them on the cheeks.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Your welcome." Life said with a tired smile. The tired mare yawned which caused everypony else to yawn, even Bon-Bon.

The next present went to Starlight and the one after that went to Grandma. Very soon all the presents had been open. All except one, which sat patiently at the back of the tree. It was a small red and white square box shaped present with a tiny red bow on top. Luck read the label.

"To Ditzy Doo, from Bon-Bon." Ditzy's eyes widened with surprise. Everypony, except Bon-Bon, looked just as shocked as Ditzy. Bon-Bon sat next to Ditzy with a large smile on her face. Luck slid the present over to Ditzy Doo who slowly began opening it. She kept looking over at Bon-Bon with a smile.

It was a white box. Ditzy used her mouth to open up the box and inside was the greatest gift she could ever hope for. She pulled out two dog tags with "Bon-Bon and Ditzy Doo, Best Friends Forever." engraved in it.

"One for you and one for me." Bon-Bon said, taking one of the dog tags and putting it around Ditzy's neck. "So no matter how far away we are from each other we'll never forget that we are best friends." Ditzy latched onto Bon-Bon with huge hug and spoke softly as tears began flowing down her face.

"I love you, Bon-Bon." Ditzy said as she cried.

Bon-Bon hugged back and responded, "I love you too, Ditzy."

Everypony else just sit back and watched, not knowing what to say. The hug lasted for a good five minutes and the silence was broken when Luck said, "Who wants breakfast?"

"Oh, I do." Hail Storm said. "I'm starving." So Luck made breakfast and for the rest of the day Bon-Bon and Ditzy Doo played with Bon-Bon's toys. At the end of the day, after Ditzy and her family went back home to open their own presents and finish Hearth's Warming Day with their own traditions.

~New Years Eve 17 Years Ago~

The entire city had gathered outside the Canterlot Castle. Only minutes remained till the start of the new year and at any moment Celestia would come out of her castle and announce the start of the new year. Bon-Bon and Ditzy were up at the front while both their families were near the back.

The whole place was quite loud and it was really hard for the two fillies to talk to each other. Soon all the lights lighting up the area dimmed down and everypony went quiet. Princess Celestia stepped out from her bedroom balcony, which was very well lit.

Everypony cheered loudly. Celestia raised a hoof to her subjects and everypony went quiet. "Welcome everypony to this year's Canterlot New Years Eve Celebration. In just a few moments I will move the moon to hang straight up in the sky and thus beginning the new year." Everypony cheered once again. Celestia let them cheer for a while and then she once again rose her hoof and the whole crowd went silent once more. "And now let us all count the seconds as we fall into yet another year of harmony. Ten!"

"Nine!" Everypony shouted in a massive chorus. "Eight! Seven! Six! Five!"

Bon-Bon and Ditzy had huge smiles on their faces as they counted down along with everypony.

"Four! Three! Two! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The crowd roared in excitement. Fireworks shot up into the air lighting up the night sky with an explosion of colors. Many couples hugged and kissed one another at that moment, others opened up bottles of champagne and sparkling grape juice, and some just watched the fireworks go off. The only one who didn't do any of these things was the Princess Celestia, who was looking up at the mare in the moon. She sighed and shed a tear.

"Happy New Year, sister." Princess Celestia said under her breath.

Bon-Bon and Ditzy Doo were in complete awe from the fireworks. Some of the fireworks made shapes, these impressed the fillies the most. One looked like pegasus, another looked like a unicorn and there was one that looked like a regular earth pony. The one that really impressed the fillies was the one at the end that looked like the symbol of Equestria.

Bon-Bon and Ditzy Doo cheered wildly along with thousands of other ponies. Afterwards everypony outside went home to either have their own party or to go to bed. In Bon-Bon and Ditzy's case it was to go home and sleep. But Bon-Bon couldn't sleep though, she just laid on her porch and stared at the night sky.

Somepony placed a hoof on Bon-Bon's shoulders making her jump. She turned around and saw her grandmother. "Oh, hello grandma." Bon-Bon said and she turned her gaze back to the stars.

"What in Equestria are you doing out here this late?" Bon-Bon's grandmother said.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know." The pink and navy blue maned filly said, not taking her eyes off the stars above her.

"Looking at the stars, huh?"

Bon-Bon nodded her head.

"I used to look up at the stars every night when I was a filly." Bon-Bon's grandmother mentioned. "My mother would tell me that you can wish on a star and that it would come true."

"Really?" Bon-Bon turned her attention back to her grandmother.

"Oh yes. But she told me you can only make one wish, so you must make it count."

Bon-Bon turned her head and stared at the stars for a moment and then back to her grandmother.

"Did you wish for anything, honey?"

Bon-Bon shook her head and then spoke, "I want to saver it. Use it when I feel like i need it."

Bon-Bon's grandmother nodded and smiled. "Very wise, but I think it's time for all wise fillies to hit the hay."

Bon-Bon got up off the ground and she and her grandmother went inside to get some sleep.

The Funeral

It was bright Spring afternoon. The sky was clear of all clouds and everypony seemed to be out enjoying the sunshine. Lyra and Bon-Bon were taking a walk down one the many roads in Ponyville. Bon-Bon looked up at the sky and saw Rainbow Dash do a loop and then take off out of site. Bon-Bon smiled and then moved her attention back to Lyra.

"...and then Rose told me that when she went into Lily's shop she heard Lily talking to her flowers." Lyra finished and then the two mares broke out in laughter. Coincidentally they saw Lily outside her shop, waving hello to the couple. Lyra and Bon-Bon laughed even harder. Lily looked confused, but then she shrugged it off and went back to watering her lilies.

As the couple continued walking down the road they noticed that they were entering the country area of Ponyville. As they passed Sweet Apple Acres they could see Applejack and Big Macintosh in the orchard, bucking trees.

"I miss having them around all the time." Bon-Bon said. "They're such good ponies."

Lyra nodded.

Applejack stopped working for a second to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She saw Bon-Bon and Lyra from the corner of her eye. She turned to them. They both waved 'hello' to the farm pony. Applejack tipped her hat to them with a smile and then went back to work.

The two mares went on walking. The road started to go down the hill and at the bottom of the hill was a cemetery. Bon-Bon stopped walking and just stared at the many graves in the cemetery.

Lyra noticed that Bon-Bon wasn't walking beside her, so she turned around to see Bon-Bon at the top of the hill. She looked saddened and Lyra didn't know why. "Bon-Bon?" Lyra said. "You alright?"

Bon-Bon said nothing.

~16 years ago~

Bon-Bon was standing on a white fluffy cloud. The air felt cool on her face and it felt nice. The clouds she stood on were like a path. A path to the large castle up ahead. It was beautiful. The castle was white as the clouds and over it hung a bright rainbow.

Bon-Bon began walking towards the castle. As she was walking somepony began yelling from the castle. "Bon-Bon."

Bon-Bon turned her walk into a gallop. The castle just seemed to get farther and farther away. The clouded road turned black and began falling apart. "Bon-Bon!" The voice yelled.

The clouds collapsed underneath the running filly and she fell into total darkness.

"Bon-Bon, wake up." said her father as he shook her till she was awake.

"Wa...What's going on?" Bon-Bon said, while she rubbed her eyes.

"We got to go?"

"Why? Where to?"

"I'll tell you later, but right now we have to leave." Luck sounded very worried and anxious.

Bon-Bon slipped out of bed, tiredly. Luck galloped out of Bon-Bon's room. It was still dark. What could be so important that she had to get up this early. She walked out of her room and saw that her father had just woken up Starlight.

"Hurry kids, go get in the carriage." Luck said. "Your mother's already in there."

"But Dad..." Starlight began.

"Shut up, Starlight, and do what your told." Luck snapped at her daughter. The two fillies didn't want to test these waters, so they just galloped down the stairs, left the house, and got into the carriage. Their mother was sitting in her usual seat in the carriage, crying her eyes out.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Bon-Bon asked.

Life didn't answer, she just wept loudly. Soon the two fillies could hear Dutch talking to their father. "You ready to go, sir?"

"Yes."

The door to the carriage opened and Luck quickly gotten. Dutch closed the door and soon after the vehicle began to move quickly. Luck immediately began comforting his wife by rubbing her back and stroking her mane.

"Dad, where we going?" Starlight asked.

"We're going to the hospital." Luck said sounding annoyed. "Grandma's really sick, now be quiet!"

Starlight shut up and Bon-Bon dared not to speak, But now that they knew what was going on they grew worry, almost to the point of crying.

Within minutes the carriage came to a stop and Luck opened up the door before Dutch could. Everypony got out and quickly galloped into the hospital building. Luck left Life behind with the kids and went up to the counter. Life was crying even harder now. No pony seemed to be able to look at her, not even the pony sitting in the waiting room.

"Where is she?" Luck said anxiously.

"Mr. Luck." The nurse said a bit surprise. "She's just down the hall, but they're still trying to get her stabilized."

"What's wrong with her? What happened?"

"Well, umm..." the nurse started but didn't know how to say it.

"Come on, I need to know what's happened to my mother-in-law." Luck shouted. Everypony in the waiting room was looking at him, but Luck paid no attention to them.

"She went outside her home and just went into cardiac arrest. Luckily she wasn't the only one out there and she was rushed to the hospital."

"Will she be ok?" Luck asked, much calmer now that he was getting answers.

"It's hard to say." The nurse said. "Best to just wait for the doctor. There's some open seats just over there." She pointed at a large bench that could easily fit six ponies.

"Thank you." Luck went back to his family. They took a seat on the bench. Life's crying calmed, but was still going on.

"How can this be happening?" Life said. She grabbed a tissue from a tissue box that was on the table in front of them. She blew her nose into it. Luck began stroking his wife's mane again.

"It'll be alright." Luck said softly to the crying mare.

"She always looked so healthy, I don't understand how..." Life broke out in tears again, letting out a heartbreaking cry. She has always been known for being so cheerful so seeing her like this was almost unbearable.

Luck moved his hoof from her mane down and began rubbing her back. "Shhhhh." he said.

Bon-Bon leaned in towards Starlight. "Do think she's going to be ok?" Bon-Bon whispered.

"I don't know." Starlight said.

"But what if she dies?"

"She won't...she just can't die." Tears began building up in Starlight's eyes and she began to cry alongside her mother. Bon-Bon said no more to any of her family members. Not long after a man in a white lab coat came out into the waiting room. His mane was all scruffy and he had a stethoscope around his neck.

Luck leaped from the bench and galloped over to the doctor. "How is she doctor?" He said immediately but quietly. He did not want to let his wife hear.

"Oh, Mr. Luck." the doctor said. "We got her heart stabilizing and we got her on life support at the moment."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Mr. Luck, there no easy way to say this, but she's dying. I'm not gonna lie to you, but your mother-in-law is dying. The heart failure she experienced has damaged her heart tremendously and it could give out any day now." There was a long pause between the two stallions. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Luck said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Just don't know how I'm going to break this to my family."

"It's a lot to take in, I know." the doctor said. "The hospital can treat you and your family to some therapy sessions, free of charge."

"Thanks, I'll let you know if we need them." There was another pause, but Luck began to speak once again. "So, what should we do now?"

"I suggest you take you and your family home and get a good night rest. Right now she's heavily sedated and won't be awake till tomorrow afternoon. You can come and see her then."

"Thank you, for all your help." Luck turned around and went back to his family.

"How is she luck?" Life said, looking desperate to know.

"Uh, umm..." Luck turned around and saw the doctor had left the waiting room. "Uh, she's fine. She's just weak. The doctor suggested that we go home and get some sleep. He said she'll be awake tomorrow afternoon."

Life let out a sigh of relief. She stood up from the bench and gave Luck a hug. Luck was not so happy though. She was happy now but how was she gonna react when her mother does die. Guilt built up inside of him as his wife hugged him tighter.

She's happy now, that's all that matters right now.

Luck began to hug back, but he couldn't shake off the guilt that hung on his shoulders. The two fillies were dancing and singing with joy. Soon the hug ended and the four ponies left the hospital and went home.

The next day had arrived fairly quickly. Everypony in the household had slept in till eleven that morning, but when everypony was up they immediately got ready and were out the door, heading to the hospital, by one. When they entered the hospital they were greeted by the doctor whom Luck talked to the night before.

"Oh, good morning, Doctor...uh..." Luck said, not sure that the doctor had shared his name with him the night before.

"Hearts, Doctor Hearts." the doctor said.

"Doctor Hearts. How is she doing this morning?"

"She's currently awake, but she's very weak. I recommend you all see her one at a time so that she isn't over whelmed."

Everypony in the family nodded. "I think you should go first honey." Luck said to his wife. Life nodded with a small smile on her face.

"Ok, if you'll follow me please, Mrs. Life." Doctor Hearts said. "The rest of you can sit in the waiting room." The four other ponies went to go take a seat on the bench they sat on last night, while Life followed Doctor Hearts down the hall to her mother's room.

The doctor stopped Life right outside the room. "Now, she's hooked up to a bunch machines, so it might not look to pretty. I just wanted to warn you so your not so surprised when you see her." the doctor said.

"Ok." Life said. The doctor nodded and then opened the door. Life walked into the room to see her mother lying in a skinny bed hooked up to many monitors and an IV. There was a small tube that was just under her nostrils, feeding her air. Her eyes were barely open. It was hard for Life to see her mother like this, but she stayed strong. "Hello, Mom." Life said.

Life's mom turned her head towards her daughter and a smile instantly appeared on her face. "Life." She said with excitement.

Life walked over to her mother and hugged her delicately, as if her mother were now made of paper. "How are you?" Life asked, fighting to hold back her tears.

"I've been better." Life's mom said and then gave weak chuckle followed by a cough. "A bit sore and very tired, that's all."

"I love you, mom."

"I love you too, Sweetie." The gave each other one last hug.

"I'll visit you everyday until you're all better." Life said. "That's a promise." Life turned around and left the room. When she returned to her family she spoke to here husband. "Ok, your turn."

"I don't want to go." Luck said, looking really nervous and scared.

"Why not?"

"I JUST DON'T!" Luck snapped and then tears began to build up in his eyes.

"Ok." Life said, not sure what's gotten into her husband. "Starlight, why don't you go? It's the last door down the hall on the right." Starlight got up from the bench and quickly galloped down the hall to her grandmother's hospital room. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, I don't know." Luck said and he then burst into tears. Life held him tight, trying her best to comfort him. Bon-Bon just sat there on the bench, watching, not wanting to talk to her father about why he was crying, yet she felt guilty for not. So she kept to herself. She felt like she was waiting forever. Eventually Starlight came galloping back to the waiting room. Bon-Bon's dad had stopped crying, but the look of guilt and depression was still printed on his face.

No pony really noticed Bon-Bon getting up and slowly making her way down the hall. She entered the room and was immediately introduced to the sounds of machines beeping and pumping. Bon-Bon saw her grandmother, wired up to these machines. In a way it broke her heart and made it a bit difficult to continue looking at her. But she didn't turn back, she walked closer into the room.

"Bon-Bon?" her grandmother said in a soft tone.

"Hi, Grandma." Bon-Bon said. She walked up to her grandmother's bed side. Her head was just above the mattress and was just able to see her grandmother. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm good. Just a bit tired that's all." There was still a smile on her tired face. Bon-Bon always loved that about her grandmother, no matter how bad things are she can still work up a smile.

"When will you be better?"

Bon-Bon's grandmother chuckled and then let out a violent cough. She reached and grabbed a glass of water from the side table and took a drink. "I don't know yet, Sweetie, but when I do, you, your sister and I will go get some ice cream from the ice cream parlor. How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" Bon-Bon was now jumping up and down with excitement. "I love you, Grandma." Bon-Bon jumped up to her grandmother's bed and gave her a big hug.

"I love you too, Bon-Bon." She hugged back. Bon-Bon let go of her grandmother and got off her bed. "Now why don't you go find your mother and father, I think I'm gonna take a nap."

"Ok, Grandma." Bon-Bon left the room and returned to her family. When they got outside the sun was setting and the sky was a light orange and purple. They got into the carriage and headed home.

Bon-Bon was standing in the center of one of Canterlot's streets. She looked around and saw that there was no one around. Not a single carriage or a single pony was on that street.

"Hello." she shouted out. She began to walk down the road, yelling out 'hello' every other minute. She took a turn onto Trotting Avenue and there at the end of the road was a figure of a little old pony. "Hello." Bon-Bon shouted again.

"Bon-Bon?" the pony shouted back. It was such a familiar voice. Bon-Bon drew closer to the figure and was soon able to make out who it was.

It was her grandmother, standing there with a smile on her face and looking better than ever. "Grandma." Bon-Bon shouted. Bon-Bon found herself galloping down the road towards her grandmother who was just standing there, smiling with joy.

"Come here, Bon-Bon." her grandmother said with such a sweet voice. Bon-Bon galloped faster, the sound of her hooves clopping against the stone road echoed through the city. She was so close to her, but then something happened. A wind picked up and her grandmother disintegrated into dust and blew away with the winds.

"GRANDMA!" Bon-Bon shouted in fear. She stopped galloping and broke down and cried.

Bon-Bon woke up. Her mother was holding her tightly in her arms. The filly could feel the tears running down her face and falling onto her bed.

"Shhh," Life said to her daughter while she stroked her mane. "You were just having a nightmare." Bon-Bon buried her face into her mother body and cried.

The next morning Bon-Bon woke up in her parent's bed. Her mother was sleeping on her right, but her dad was not in the bed. She got out of the bed and went down stairs to find that her dad was on the couch reading the paper, as usual. Dutch was over in the kitchen making breakfast, which smelled like eggs and toast. Luck looked up from his newspaper and saw his daughter standing there quietly looking back at him.

"Morning, Bon-Bon." Luck said, turning the page to his newspaper.

"Good morning, Dad." Bon-Bon said back to her father.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes." Bon-Bon lied.

"Well, we better get your mother and sister up. We're leaving right after breakfast, which should be ready in about ten minutes. Can you go wake them up?"

"Yes, Dad." Bon-Bon said almost emotionless. She went back up stairs, woke both her mother and her sister and went into her bathroom to take a shower. The warm water felt good on her face and woke her up. After her shower she blow dried her hair and went down to eat breakfast with the family.

After breakfast the family got into the carriage and headed towards the hospital. The family entered the building and were once again greeted by Doctor Hearts, who didn't look to happy this morning. In fact he looked rather depressed.

"Morning, Doctor." Luck said, smiling.

"Mr. Luck, Mrs. Life." the doctor said in a low tone of voice. "May I have a word with you two in my office?"

The smiles disappeared from Life and Luck's faces. "Um, sure." Luck said. "Kids, why don't you go over to the bench while me and your mom talk to the doctor?"

"Ok, Dad." Starlight said and the two sisters galloped quickly to the bench. Life and Luck followed the doctor down a different hall and into a well organized, office. There were bookshelves filled with medical books and a few fictional books as well. The desk had a few folders and papers on it, but they were neatly at one side of the desk. The doctor went around to the back of the desk.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Life asked.

"Mrs. Life, you best take a seat." the doctor said. Both Life and Luck took a seat in the two comfy red chairs that faced the desk. "Mrs. Life, you mother passed away last night."

Life's mouth dropped and her entire body went cold. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"She did die peacefully in her sleep and she wasn't in any pain at the time." There was a long pause. Both the doctor and Luck looked at Life during that pause. "Are you alright?" the doctor said softly. Life nodded but didn't say a word. "Now the hospital is willing to help in anyway possible. There are many therapists that will gladly help you and the rest of your family through these rough times."

"She's gone, I can't believe she's gone." Life said. She burst out into tears. Luck held onto her tightly, rubbing her back and stroking her mane like he usually did when she was upset. The doctor didn't say anymore. Luck looked over at him and told him 'thank you'.

The doctor nodded.

The couple got up from the chairs and left the room. When they entered the waiting the room the two fillies sitting on the bench took notice of their crying mother. Their hearts sunk, what ever happened can't be good. They went up to their parents and asked what was wrong.

"We're leaving." is all Luck said to his children.

~2 days later~

Bon-Bon stood in a cemetery, under a canape with dozens of other ponies. They were all talking to one another, most were crying. An adult mare walked up to Bon-Bon and spoke.

"I'm sorry for your lost."

"Thank you." Bon-Bon said. Her heart ached. She felt like her life was now empty.

"Hey, Bon-Bon." came a voice from behind her. She turned around and saw standing Ditzy Doo standing in front of her with a frown on her face. "I..." Bon-Bon launched at Ditzy and wrapped her hooves around her tightly. Bon-Bon was in absolute tears now. Ditzy returned the hug. Once the hug was broken they noticed every pony was bowing. The two fillies turned to see Princess Celestia standing right in front of them.

The two fillies bowed down before her. "Bon-Bon, I knew how close you were your grandmother." Celestia said. "you have my sympathy."

"Thank you, Princess." Bon-Bon said as she rose from the grassy ground. Everypony else also rose from the ground.

"Alright everypony, I'd like to get this started." Celestia said and at the end of those words everypony took a seat in their chairs. Up at the front was a coffin, inside it was Bon-Bon's grandmother who was now resting peacefully forever. Another tear fell from Bon-Bon's eye. Celestia moved to the front, just in front of the coffin.

"Welcome, everypony. Today we are here to say goodbye to a pony we all knew and loved for so many years. A pony which has shown the light of everyday of every week of every month of every year. But like saying hello, we must say goodbye, even when it seems like the hardest thing you can do." Celestia paused for a moment. Many ponies, Bon-Bon included, were crying. She spoke again. "If any pony would like to say a few words before we give her body to the earth."

Bon-Bon's father stepped forward. A tear fell from his eyes, but he stayed strong, for both his wife and his two daughters. "I'd like to say a few words. Love was always there for me, even before I met her wonderful daughter. As a child she would ask me about my days at school, she always listened to what I had to say, and if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have the incredible family I have today. Thank you Love for always being there for me and my family. Bless your soul." He took a step back and his wife whispered a complement in his ear.

"Thank you, Luck for those beautiful words." Celestia said. "Anypony else want to say a few words?"

An older mare stepped up. She was actually much older than Love. She spoke. "Ten years ago I was put into a retirement home. I thought my days would be nothing but lonesomeness, but then came Love, who spent hours upon hours talking to me. Making me feel not alone. She did this three times a week and for that I thank her. I thank her for those many hours of talking, making me feel not so alone. Bless her soul."

"Thank you, Ms. Stitches." Celestia said. "Now we lower this body of a good soul into the earth, with a happy heart, knowing her spirit is out there watching over us."

Bon-Bon jumped out of her seat and yelled. "NOOOOOOOOO!" She galloped over to the coffin and leaned up against it, shedding more tears than she's ever shed in her life. "She can't be dead, she can't be."

"Bon-Bon..." Celestia started but Bon-Bon began yelling again.

"She's not dead! She's alive! She's Alive!" Luck galloped over and dragged his daughter away from the coffin. She screamed louder. "NOOOOOOOOO! She's alive, she's not dead. She can't be dead." The ponies still in their seats began to cry as well. Everyponies' heart ached, even Princess Celestia's.

After the funeral the family went straight home. Bon-Bon went up to her room, slammed her door shut, and cried herself to sleep.

You Make Me the Happiest Mare in Equestria

Bon-Bon and Lyra were out that Saturday evening at the Ponyville cafe. During the day the place didn't seem like much but once the sun went down the cafe can become the most romantic place in all of Ponyville. The tables outside each had a small lit candle that glowed dimly in the night.

The cafe was packed that night, like every night. Bon-Bon couldn't believe Lyra was able to get them a table. She had to have reserved a table weeks, maybe even months in advanced. But, why would she go out of her way to plan a date months in advanced? Maybe she got lucky and there was one free table left. For some reason she doubted that was the case. Curiosity built up inside until she felt like she had to know.

"Lyra." the blue and pink maned pony said. Lyra looked up from the menu at Bon-Bon. "How were you able to get us a table? It's nearly impossible to get a table here with out reservations."

"Well, yeah." the mint green unicorn said. "That's why I reserved us a table early."

"How early?"

"Oh, since January."

Bon-Bon nearly choked on her own saliva, letting out a monstrous cough that brought the attention of nearly half the ponies there.

"You alright?" Lyra asked. Bon-Bon nodded as she continued to cough. A waiter came by with a large glass of water and gently placed it on the table in front of the hacking pony. She chugged it down and for a moment the only sound that could be heard was her, gulping the water down her throat. She drank it until the glass was empty and she slammed it onto the table.

All eyes were on her. She felt embarrassed, but luckily they didn't laugh, nor stare for a long period of time. The waiter took the glass away back inside the building. Bon-Bon breathed heavily through her mouth. She couldn't believe Lyra had made reservation six months ago. Something was up. What was she planning?

"What's going on?" Bon-Bon asked Lyra.

"What do you mean?" Lyra responded, actually feeling a bit confused.

"I mean, why did you go out of your way to reserve a table six months ago?"

"Well...umm...you'll just have to wait."

Bon-Bon let out a groan. Her curiosity was starting to consume her. She hated secrets, but she also knew that it was nearly impossible to break Lyra from a secret. "Fine." Bon-Bon said, sounding annoyed and impatient.

"Trust me, Bon-Bon."

She did trust her. She trusted her more than she trusted anypony else, including herself.

The waitor soon returned to the couple's table. His horn was glowing and floating in front of him was a notepad and a quill. "Canz I starts youz two with some wine?" he said with a strong accent.

"No tha..."

"Yes, please." Lyra cut Bon-Bon off. The waitor ready his quill and waited for Lyra to speek. Bon-Bon didn't say anything, after all Lyra was the one buying. "We'll have some 1962 Manehatten Red, please."

"Very good." He wrote down the wine name onto the notepad and then walked away.

"I didn't know you knew so much about wine." Bon-Bon said.

"I don't, Berry Punch recommended it for this special occasion."

"Special occasion?" Now she was really confused. What was Lyra planning? Knowing her it would be something probably unexpecting. I guess that's one of the reasons Bon-Bon loves her so much. Each day being something new and the next day being a complete mystery.

"You'll know soon enough." the mint green unicorn said.

The waitor, again, returned to the table, this time with two crystal wine glasses and a bottle of 1962 Manehatten Red Wine. "You're wine, madames." He proceeded to put the two cups onto the table and fill them both.

Bon-Bon paid no attention to him, she just stared at Lyra, thinking to herself about what Lyra might have planed. The stallion slid one of the glasses over to the earth mare. She wrapped her hoof around her the glass and began to chug down the wine, not realizing she was doing so.

"Umm...Bon-Bon you reallyu shouldn't..." Lyra began but Bon-Bon began to violently cough again. "Sweet Celestia, Bon-Bon."

The coughing stopped. She grabbed her own throat with her hooves as the expression of fear appeared on her face. Bon-Bon pushed herself away from the table as Lyra watched her choak.

"PLEASE, SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING!" Lyra yelled. "SHE CHOKING!" No one did anything. They just watched as the poor mare choked. Tears filled the unicorns eyes.

Bon-Bon collapsed and her struggling stopped. "BON-BON!" Lyra galloped over to her marefirend. She lifted her up off the ground, wrapped her legs around her, and began performing the heimlick maneuver. She squeezed the choking pony's stomach, loosened her grip, and repeated.

All the other ponies had a look of worry and confusion for they've never seen the heimlick maneuver before. No pony has.

Lyra did this for about fourty seconds until Bon-Bon coughed up a ruby onto their table. It was bright and shiny and covered in saliva.

The mint green unicorn layed Bon-Bon down onto the ground. She was breathing heavily, but she was breathing. Lyra let out a sigh of relief.

~16 Years ago~

Bon-Bon was lying in her bed, her face in the pillow, soaking it with her tears. She couldn't believe she was gone. How could something like this happen? Why to her? She was such a kind and caring mare, it just didn't make any sense how she could just die.

There was a knock on the door and then the door opened. The crying filly looked up from her pillow at her mother who stood just inside her room. Bon-Bon's eyes were red from all the crying she has done. Life looked at her daughter, her heart aching seeing her like this. It has been about a week since the funeral and every night she would cry herself to sleep. It has been terrible. A little bit of snot ran down from her nostrils to her upper lip.

"Bon-Bon, Ditzy is here." Life said. At that moment Ditzy Doo walked into the room. One eye was looking up at Bon-Bon and the other was looking down at the ground.

"Hey, Bon-Bon." Ditzy said softly. "I wanted to see how you were..." Bon-Bon leaped from the bed and wrapped her hooves around Ditzy. Tears fell from her eyes onto her best friend's shoulder. The grey pegasus hugged her back.

"Promise me you won't die too." Bon-Bon said. Ditzy could feel her friend's body shaking as she held her tightly, as if she something was trying to take Ditzy away from her. "Please, promise me."

"I promise." Ditzy was ready to let go, but Bon-Bon still held on tight. The grey pony didn't feel right pushing her away so she just kept hugging her until she finally let go. For a while there was nothing but silence, excluding the occasional sniffle made by Bon-Bon. Ditzy finally broke the silence and spoke in a hushed tone, "So, would you like to go get some icecream or something?"

Bon-Bon nodded and the two fillies left the house. The weather outside was perfect. It wasn't to hot, but it wasn't cold. The sky was cleared of all clouds, letting in the sun's light to shine onto the magnifcent city. The two friends didn't talked much, but the lovely weather made both their moods more upbeat.

It only took the duo fifteen minutes till they arrived at the Canterlot Ice Cream House. When they opened the door they were greeted with the sound of a bell ringing.

"Hey, girls!" said a tan stallion who was wiping down one of the tables. "Haven't seen you two in a while." He stopped what he was doing and walked over behind the counter and then asked them what they were interested in getting.

"I'll have a vanilla flavored milkshake, please." Ditzy said with a smile.

Bon-Bon stared at slightly older colt, who was seated at one of the tables eating a strawberry ice cream on a waffle cone. On his flank was a single pink frosted donut covered in sprinkles. She turned her attention back towards the stallion behind the counter.

"And you, miss?" he said.

"I'd like chocolate, please." the swirly maned filly replied. "Two scoops."

"Would you like a cup or a cone?"

"Cone, please."

"Coming right up. Joe, come give me a hoof over here!"

The stallion took one last humungous bite, which finished off the ice cream, and proceeded over to behind the counter.

"And wipe your face, there are ladies present."

After finishing their dessert the two fillies spent the rest of their time walking around Canterlot, talking about just about everything there was to talk about. The weather, funny stories their parents had told them recently, boys. Well Ditzy was talking about a certain stallion.

"He was so handsome." the walleyed filly said. "He had a light brown coat, a dark brown mane, and he wore the cutest tie."

"And he just magically appeared in your backyard?" Bon-Bon questioned, not believing a word of it.

"Yeah! I know it sounds strange but it really happened. He had this big blue box which he calls the TARDIS, and it crashed in my backyard."

"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

"Positive."

"Right."

"He also had this strong Trottingham accent, but when I asked him if he was from there he just asked me 'where's Trottingham?'. He says he's from the planet Gallifrey, where ever that is."

"Yeah, you were dreaming." Bon-Bon said with smirk on her face.

"Well, it doesn't matter what you think. I know what I saw and one day he'll be back."

Bon-Bon giggled.

~present day~

The sun shined down through a window onto Bon-Bon's face as she awoke. She squinted her eyes and was about put a hoof over the sun when a figure blocked it out.

"Bon-Bon, you're awake." said the the mint green unicorn.

"Lyra?" Bon-Bon said, noticing her voice had changed slightly. It was more high pitch and calmer. She definately perfered it over her deeper voices. "Where are we?"

"You're in the hospital. You choked last night and passed out after I slipped something in your wine. My bad." Lyra chuckled. "The doctor says they'll release later this afternoon. They wanted to keep you over night just to make sure you don't stop breathing in your sleep. You know, because what happened when you were born."

Bon-Bon was about to speek when suddenly there was a knock at the door. The door opened and a caramel colored stallion stepped in. He wore a white a lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck.

"Good morning, Bon-Bon." the doctor said. "How are we feeling today?"

"Tired." she responded.

"Well that's to be expected."

"Umm, doctor. We were kinda in the middle of something." Lyra spoke up. Lyra never interupted somepony before. What was up with her?

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said backing up out of the room. "I'll just leave you two alone then." The doctor closed the door behind him, giving the two mares complete privacy.

"Alright, Lyra, what's going on?" Bon-Bon said. "You've been acting odder than usual."

"Well I guess I'm just kinda nervous."

"Nervous about what?"

"Might as well get this over with now." she whispered to herself. She got down on one knee with one hoof in front of her.

"Lyra, what are you doing?" Bon-Bon asked, really confused. It was probably a human thing or something.

"Bon-Bon, we have known each other for over ten years and I look forward each day knowing I'm going to be spending it with you. You make smile. You make me feel love. You have done more for me than anyone else in Equestria."

"Well, yeah, you're my marefriend. We do these things because we love each other."

"I want to be more than just marefriends, Bon-Bon." Lyra said.

"What do you mean?"

"This would be much easier if I still had the gem." she paused trying to release those words that would change both their lives. "Bon-Bon, will you marry me?"

Bon-Bon was stunned. Marry? Lyra? Had she heard that correctly.

"What?" the cream colored pony asked, wanting to clarify on what her marefriend had asked.

"Will you be my wife?"

The earth pony's heart beat heavily. A tear ran down her cheek from her eye. This was for real. After all these years of being together they were finally going to let their relationship take a new step up the stairs of love. She felt like she was going to choke again.

"Yes!"

Born, Dead, and Alive Again

~22 years ago~

"Push, Mrs. Life, Push!" said the doctor. Life was screaming at the top of her lungs as she was lying on her back on the hospital bed. "I can almost see the head."

Life's husband, Luck, stood next to her bed, letting her hold onto his hoof with hers. Surrounding the bed were three other nurses. One was patting down the sweat coming down Life's forehead, and the other two were assisting the doctor, who wore a white lab coat. In the back of the room was Life's mother, who stood patiently with a smile on her face.

"Just breath, Honey." Luck said to his wife. Life squeezed Lucky's hoof extremely tight as she pushed with all her strength. Lucky grunted with pain.

"Almost there Mrs. Life, just one more push." The doctor yelled over Life's screaming. Life took a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could. "Nurse, we need to get this filly into the surgery stat."

"What's wrong with my baby?" Life asked, completely exhausted. The nurse rolled in through the doors a small metal crib. The doctor used his magic to lift the child into the crib and he and two of the three nurses rushed her out of the room. "Where are you going with my child?" Life yelled. "Honey, go see what's wrong with her."

"I'm not leaving you." Luck said, who was now holding Life's hoof.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Life." Said the remaining nurse. She was a white earth pony with a red cross for a cutie mark. "Your baby will be fine."

Life was afraid. More afraid than she ever been in her entire life. Her body was shaking and sweat began soaking the bed.

An hour past before the doctor came back in. Life quickly sat up. "How's my baby? Where is she?"

"She's fine." Said the doctor, "She's just fine."

"What happened?" Luck asked, very concerned for his new born filly.

"She wasn't breathing and for a moment her heart stopped."

"Oh my gosh." Life said, tears falling from her eyes onto the blanket.

"Luckily we were able to get it starting again and her breathing is normal." the doctor said. "Now from the lack of oxygen and the fact that her heart did stop, her brain might have suffered minor damage. The effects of this will show over time and hopefully it's nothing too severe."

"Can I see her?" Life asked.

"I'm afraid not." the doctor said. "But while I'm here, may I ask what name you have decided to give your new daughter?"

"We really haven't thought of it." Life's husband said. "What do you think, honey?"

"I...I don't know." Life said, still i shock to find out that her daughter had stop breathing and was dead for a short time.

"Well we have to name her something." said Luck.

"How about Bon-Bon?" Life's mother said. She was still standing in the back in the room with a smile still on her face.

"Why Bon-Bon?" Luck asked his mother-in-law.

"Because, it's my favorite candy."

"What do you think, Life?"

Life's eyes were closed, but she spoke. "I think it's beautiful."

Later that night a unicorn nurse brought a sleeping Bon-Bon back into her mother's room. Her coat was a light cream color and her hair was a mix of both pink and navy blue. Life opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of the crib. "May I see her?" Life asked.

The nurse nodded and the sleeping filly, all wrapped up in a pink blanket, was gently lifted from the crib and moved over to her mother's arms. She was so small. Barely bigger than Life's hoof.

"She's beautiful." Luck said, looking down at his new child. He changed his gaze from his daughter to his wife. "I love you." He said. Life looked up at her husband and smiled a tired smile. They kissed and once the kiss was broken Life fell asleep, still holding Bon-Bon in her arms.

The nurse's horn glowed and the sleeping filly lifted from the sleeping mothers arms and was laid nicely in the crib. Luck nodded at the nurse, who nodded back. The nurse left the room.

The next morning, around eleven, a young filly at the age of five galloped into the hospital bedroom. "Where is she, where's my new sister?" asked the child with much excitement and energy.

"Settle down, Starlight." Luck said.

Life was still in the bed, smiling at her joyful daughter. "She's in the crib." Life said, pointing her hoof at the crib in the back of the room. Starlight dashed over to the crib and stood up on her back hooves, just barely able to see Bon-Bon.

"What's her name? What's her name?" Starlight asked.

"Bon-Bon." Luck said.

"Bon-Bon?" Starlight repeated. "That's stupid."

"Starlight!" Life exclaimed.

"What? Why can't we call her Ruby or Sunflower or Starlight Jr."

"You're grandmother suggested it." Luck informed. "And here she is now." Starlight turned around too see her grandmother just walking into the room.

"Grandma!" Starlight shouted excitedly and she zipped fast as lightning towards her, giving her grandmother a tight hug.

"Starlight," said her grandmother. "How are you? Have you seen your new sister yet?"

"Yeah, but why is her name Bon-Bon?"

"Well, Bon-Bon's are a type of candy and they're simply my favorite."

"That's strange."

"Maybe right now, but I think it'll grow on you."

There came a sound of crackling and then it turned to crying. Starlight and the rest of the family turned to look at Bon-Bon. "I think somepony's hungry." Luck said. He walked over to the day old child and picked her up and laid her on his shoulder. He carried her to the bed and give her to her mother. Life proceeded to breast feed the baby.

As Bon-Bon drank from her mother's breast she proceeded to fall asleep.

"Come on young one, lets go downstairs and get something to eat." the grandmother said.

"Ok Grandma." Starlight said and the left the room.