“I call them ‘Floodgates!’ Here, try one!” Bon Bon pushed the small bowl over to Lyra. The turquoise unicorn eyed the multicolored orbs in the bowl with some suspicion. She had learned to be wary of Bon Bon’s “experiments” ever since that one time where she had mixed pepper with vanilla and lemon. Not wanted to disappoint her friend, Lyra grabbed one out of the bowl, examining it for a moment before throwing it into her mouth.

It was hard, like a gumball. However, unlike a gumball, the exterior was unusually sweet, tantalizing Lyra’s taste buds. Deciding that it was safe to bite down, Lyra soon found why they were called Floodgates. As soon as her teeth cracked the shell, a flood of super sweet liquid poured out, deluging Lyra's mouth in candied goodness. For once she didn't even care that it was rotting her teeth to the core. It was just that good. "Wow, Bon Bon! You've really outdone yourself this time!"

The cream colored mare blushed in response. "Why, thank you, Lyra! It is my special talent, you know.” She popped one of the candies into her mouth. “And it just makes me so happy to hear you say that. I’m so lucky to have a taste-tester like you!” Her shower of praise was interrupted by a large crash from the back of the shop.

“Uh...Mith Bon Bon? Can you come back here?” A young filly’s voice rand out. “I think thomthing dropped.” Bon Bon sighed, and got up from the table.

“Excuse me, Lyra. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, no problem! I’ll be fine right here.” As Bon Bon left the room, Lyra slouched in her chair, and glanced around the shop. The shelves were lined with jars of all sizes and shapes, each holding a different sweet. She saw N&Ns, Jawbreakers, and her personal favorite, Rainbow Bits. But she would never tell that to Bon Bon; Rainbow Bits were the one thing in the store she didn’t make completely by herself. Well, that and the cinnamon twists, but they didn’t count as candy. Or maybe they did? Is cinnamon candy? Maybe just sweets...

Lyra was so focused on her thoughts that she didn’t notice Bon Bon walk back in, a tired look on her face. “Uh, Lyra?” She asked. It took a moment, but Lyra shook herself out of her thoughts and looked back to her friend. “It seems there’s been a... problem,” She shivered as as she said it. “with the taffy machine. So, I’m afraid I’ll have to cut our session short today. Sorry.”

“I understand completely. Do I want to know what happened?” She asked, trying to glance over Bon Bon’s shoulder at the back room. “Anything I should worry about?”

“No no, nothing to see.” She noticed Lyra glance at the half-eaten bowl of candy. Chuckling, she said “Yes, you can take them. I can make loads more.” The green unicorn nodded happily, taking hold of the bowl with her teeth. “Have a good day!”

“Ymuu tff!” Lyra responded through the bowl in her mouth. She walked out the door, leaving Bon Bon alone in the front room.

She started talking to herself, as she she sometimes did without noticing. “She liked them! She actually liked them! Now, I need to make more; it’s just candy, it’s not that hard to invent new kinds!” Suddenly, a horrible grinding noise erupted from the back room.

“Mith Bon Bon? It didn’t work.” The store owner sighed. This would have to come first.

----------

“Ymuu tff!” Lyra responded through the bowl in her mouth. She walked out the door, leaving Bon Bon alone in the front room. When she reached the end of the street, she glanced back to where she had come. While the shop was small, a giant sign graced the roof, reading:

BON BON’S

BON BONS

OPEN MONDAY THRU FRIDAY

Lyra smiled, careful not to drop the bowl in her teeth. She remembered the day her friend got that shop, having bought it from an old pony a few years ago. When she started, it was very small, but soon she was rivaling Sugarcube Corner in sales of sweets. For years, it had been a one mare show(with the exception of some help from Lyra), but once Bon Bon had heard that Twist had gotten a candy-related cutie mark, she took the filly on as an apprentice of sorts.

Walking through the streets, Lyra took time to notice what a beautiful day it was. The beauty was amplified further once she reached her cottage, a little ways out of town. You have to understand, she loved Ponyville, but the ponies there could be a bit strange at times. She had learned to deal with it, having been around for a while. But, one fateful night, she lost it.

It was pitch black out, and Lyra was trying to relax after a stressful day. Her concert had been rained out, a date stood her up, and it had taken her at least an hour just to find where she put her keys once she returned home(they were around her horn). She was just sitting in her living room, strumming on her lyre, glad to be alone, when came a knock on the door. She was confused; it was close to midnight, who could be coming to see her now? She opened up the door, only to get a face full of blue uniform as a Ponyville Police Officer stepped in. “PPD here, we got a noise complaint?” Lyra was flabbergasted. Her? A noise complaint? She had been barely making any sound! And even if she was, lyres were supposed to calm ponies down. In reality, she was actually helping her neighbors go to sleep. That was the final straw. Two days later, she bought her new cottage and moved out.

She pushed open her door, letting the afternoon light stream into her home. She walked into the living room, placed the bowl of candy on a nightstand, and sat down in her chair. Grabbing her lyre from the stand beside the chair, she began to play.

A high-pitched whirr came from the taffy machine, letting Bon Bon know that it was starting up. It had taken Twist and her all day to clean the machine, and it was nightfall before Bon Bon had actually gotten the godforsaken thing to turn on. Satisfied with her work, the mare walked back to her room, all sorts of papers strewn about. She cantered to her desk, and sat down. Pushing aside some bills, a sales report, and a rather crumpled document entitled “Galloping Toward Love,” Bon Bon focused on the task at hand: creating a new candy. She needed something that would not only sell well, but impress Lyra. So far, she had:

Shapes?

5-Pound Gumballs

Carrot Candy?

Chocolate mixed with cream mixed with horseradish

Chocolate mixed with peanut butter no, that’s stupid

It wasn’t going well. Bon Bon had managed to deceive herself into thinking that making an entirely new kind of candy would be easy, and she had managed to keep the illusion up for quite a long time, but it was starting to fade. Candy was just such a well-researched field! It was just a fluke that she had managed to think up Floodgates so easily. It seemed that every time she had an idea, she would remember that it had already been invented, or that it was terrible.

She glanced around the room, looking for something, anything that would give her inspiration. Nothing came to her. She glanced at her flank, adorned with three pieces of wrapped candy. “Maybe I’m just not cut out for the candy business...” She thought, her head drooping.

She remembered when she got her cutie mark. She had just made her first gumball. She remembered picking the special blue and yellow wrapping, thinking it was so pretty. She had just finished twisting the end when she felt a soft tingle on her flank, the cutie mark emblazoning itself upon her flank. The wrapping was exactly the same...

Bon Bon’s head shot up, a new idea forcing itself into her head. It was exciting. It was new. And most importantly, it was good. She began to write. She had some work to do.

Lyra pushed the shop’s door open. There was a mare and a filly at the counter, no doubt a mother and child. Twist was happily conversing with them about the different types of candy available, gesturing to the shelves behind her. When she saw Lyra, the red-maned filly called over to her, “Oh, Mith Lyra! Mith Bon Bon ith in the back, if you want her.” Thanking Twist, Lyra passed through the double doors that separated the store from the yellow-walled work area, calling her friend’s name as she went.

“Bon Bon, I’m...here?” Bon Bon was asleep at a small table in the corner, her mane disheveled and her eyes baggy. Walking over to the tired mare, Lyra gave her a firm shake.

“NO WONKA NO!” Bon Bon screamed, leaping from her chair. She tumbled to the floor. Lyra helped her friend up, giving her a quizzical expression.

“Uh, Bon Bon...are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Bon Bon rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m fine, don’t worry. It was a long night. Anyway, how have you been? It’s been so long!”

“Uh, Bon Bon? It’s only been a day. I got your letter this morning.”

“Oh, what does it matter? A day, five days, who cares?” She gave a slight laugh. Lyra backed up a little. “Anyway, I made a new candy! Try some!” Bon Bon picked up the bowl and thrust it toward Lyra.

For some reason, Bon Bon had forgotten to unwrap the candies before serving them. Lyra could understand this; Bon Bon was a hardworking mare, she was bound to forget something every once in a while. Lyra picked one up, and started to unwrap it.

Before she could open it, Bon Bon had hit it out of her hooves. “No!” Lyra recoiled. What had just happened? Bon Bon shook her head once more. “Oh, I’m sorry Lyra, really... I should have shown you how to eat these things first!” Bon Bon grabbed one out of the bowl and, not caring to unwrap the treat, threw it into her mouth.

“Bon Bon! You’ll choke!” The cream-colored mare shook her head.

“No I won’t! See?” She stuck her tongue out at Lyra, showing her friend the candy. There was the shell and liquid reminiscent of a Floodgate, but there was something else too...gum? “Edible wrappers!”

Lyra giggled. “Yeah, that is pretty cool! But...” She looked at the candy that had formerly been in her hoof, now on the floor. Despite the cleanliness of Bon Bon’s shop, the entire candy was now covered in dirt. Lyra, not wanting to touch it, attempted to pick it using telekinesis.

Lyra didn’t use magic much. Unlike most unicorns, she preferred to do things by hoof. As such, her telekinesis spell wasn’t the greatest. Even so, it should have been easy to pick up the candy. But no matter how much she pulled, it wouldn't come off the floor; the force of impact combined with the natural stickiness of the treat had merged it to the tiling, creating a large blue-yellow blob. “Uh... Bon Bon?”

In the time that Lyra had taken attempting to lift the candy, Bon Bon had decided to rest her eyes a bit. Unfortunately, that had developed into resting her neck. That had led to resting her body. Eventually, she ended up sprawled on the floor, snoring lightly. “Bon Bon?” Lyra asked again. Noticing the cream colored mare lying on the floor, she yelled “BON BON!”

“FIGS!” Bon Bon yelled, jumping to her hooves. Slowly opening up her mouth, a yawn so powerful Lyra could swear she felt herself being pushed away emerging. “Oh, Lyra, I must have dozed off. It was a long night. Anyway, how have you been? When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here for at least five minutes already!” Lyra cried out, her turquoise face reddening for a moment. She took a calming breath, and continued. “Bon Bon, are you sure nothing is wrong? You seem extremely tired.” Bon Bon yawned again.

“No, really, I’m fine!”

Lyra hesitated for a moment, thinking hard. Bon Bon and her were best friends; they were always honest with each other! “Well, would you like some critique on your candy?”

Bon Bon’s baggy eyes lit up. “Oh, of course! What did you think?”

“Well, I hate to say it, but I couldn’t have any! The one you gave me was so sticky, that it just stuck to the floor like glue!” Bon Bon’s face darkened slightly. “Oh, I mean, I’m sure they’re great! It’s just, you might want to tone down the stickiness just a little bit?”

Bon Bon frowned for a moment, before returning to her chipper, albeit tired, expression. “Right! I’ll be sure to do that. Now, is there anything else you need?”

“Uh...you invited me over here.” Bon Bon looked surprised, and was about to respond, but Lyra held up a hood to stop her. “But, I can see you’re tired. Get some sleep. I’ll see you later?” Bon Bon stared for a moment before nodding slowly.

“I’ll...be sure to do that, thanks.” She walked Lyra to the door, waving goodbye as the Unicorn left. Turning back, she saw Twist at the counter. “Twist...*yawn* you can leave, if you want. I think I’m closing early today.”

“Okay, Mith Bon Bon!”

Bon Bon trotted into the backroom, walking toward her bedroom. Entering, she walked to the bed, only to pass right by it. Instead, she walked to her desk and sat down. She picked up a pen, and quickly drew a line through “Edible Candy Wrappers.”

What now? Last time, she had gotten an idea by looking around. Deciding to attempt this again, the mare slowly rotated her head around the room, looking for anything that might inspire her. As she had expected, nothing came to her. She yawned. Maybe if she just rested her eyes a bit. Her eyelids slid together. Images of candy lazily floated around her head, slowly fading to black...

SMASH CRICKKK GRRRRRR

Bon Bon’s head shot up, a terrible sound throwing her out of the stupor she had fallen into. She rushed out of the room, quickly identifying the source of the noise: the taffy machine. Something had fallen into the mechanics, jamming the entire machine. She dared a look into the machine. Inside, pieces thrown about, were the remnants of what had been a very nice vase. “Aww... I got that for my birthday!” Unplugging the power cord from the wall, Bon Bon proceeded to pick the pieces out carefully. She was reaching for a particularly stuck piece when she leaned too far, and feel into the steel basin. She silently thanked Celestia that the machine wasn’t on. Turning back to the piece, she pulled it out with ease, only to see the petals of a vibrant red flower.

It was at that moment that a new idea hit her. Rushing back to her desk, she flipped to a new page and began to write.

“‘The Exotic Equestria?’ Yeah, I think we have it somewhere...” Twilight Sparkle scratched her chin. “SPIIIKE! Can you get up here?”

A small dragon, whom Bon Bon assumed was Spike, appeared, running from a small staircase that appeared to lead into a basement. "I just finished polishing your lab equipment, Twilight! What do you need?"

"Can you get Bon Bon a copy of The Exotic Equestria? It should be over by-" But before Twilight could finish her sentence, Spike had already left and returned, a large blue book held in front of him. "Thank you." She levitated the book over to the counter.

"Ok, how much do I owe you?" Bon Bon asked, eyeing the large book.

"Oh, it's no charge. This is a library, after all!" She pointed to a small sticker on the book, which designated that the book was property of the Ponyville Public Library. "Just sign here..." She slid a paper over to Bon Bon.

Taking the pen in her mouth, Bon Bon leaned forward, ready to write... but, suddenly, she froze. The paper was multiplying and returning to normal form quickly. "Uh... which do I sign?"

Twilight must have misunderstood the question, for she responded "Oh, right here." She pointed her hoof to a blank line. Bon Bon furiously rubbed her eyes, trying hard to see just which of Twilight's hooves was real. Eventually, the forms blended into solid matter, and Bon Bon gave a quick, unusually messy signature.

"Thank you!" She said cheerfully, picking up the bag Twilight gave her. Turning to the door, Bon Bon started to whistle(badly) as she cantered out.

She stopped about halfway through the doorway. She looked back to the door. “Now that I think about it... Do you have any books on Taffy Machines?”

Lyra was dreaming. Her mind was filled with vibrant images of music come alive. Lyres were strumming soft, angelic chords... At least, they were. The chords started to change...

Dim dumm... lim lyummm... lyyyra....LYRA!

Lyra’s turquoise eyes shot open and she flailed her legs wildly, to no avail. Edging to the side of the bed, her flailing eventually caused her to fall out, mind still racing. She looked up, not completely ready for what she saw: staring down at her, blood vessels crossing her eyes, was Bon Bon. “BON BON! W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”

“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood, and I thought *achoo* of a great idea, so I went to Twilight and got these books, and they’re really good books, but you know I haven’t taken anything out of the library in a long time, so she had to show me where to sign, I was embarrassed but not really, then I *achoo* was walking home, and I passed by Sugarcube Corner and I smelled a WONDERFUL smell from inside, and before you know it I’ve had five cups of coffee! Really, why didn’t *achoo* anypony tell me how good that stuff is? So, I stayed up all night, working on a new *achoo* candy, and I was already up, so I came over here!” Bon Bon looked around. “Nice place you got here!”

Lyra scratched her head and looked at the clock beside her bed. It read “4:14 AM.”

“Bon Bon, did you really come all the way out to my house in the middle of the night, just to give me candy?” Bon Bon thought about it for a moment.

“Yep!”

“And why do you keep sneezing?” Bon Bon considered the question.

“I don’t know!”

Lyra sighed. There wasn’t going to be any reasoning with her, not in this state. “Okay. Where’s the candy?”

Bon Bon reached into her saddle bag, pulling out a small plastic bag, filled to the brim with small polka-dotted orbs. “I call them...well, I don’t have a name yet. Maybe *achoo* you can make one!” Lyra, glad they had been kept in a sealed container, put one into her mouth, noting that it wasn’t anywhere near as sticky as the wrappers were last time. “And, just to make this extra special, I didn’t have any! You’re the first one to ever try one! Isn’t that great?”

Lyra froze. Bon Bon didn’t test these? That wasn’t a good sign. However, the candy had already been broken, and was currently covering the inside of Lyra’s mouth. It tasted strange; like nothing she had ever tasted before. Bon Bon went into her bags again, this time taking out a blue, strangely familiar book. Lyra could have sworn she had seen it somewhere before, but where?

“I got the idea by myself, but this book helped me out so much! It had so much *achoo* info, like where to find the plant, what it looked like, everything! I can’t believe more people haven’t checked it out! Or maybe they have. Maybe I was lucky. Isn’t that great, Lyra? I’M LUCKY! *achoo*” But Lyra had stopped listening at the word “plant.” Now she recognized the book. It was “The Exotic Equestria.” It was most commonly used as the main textbook in Mrs. Uproot’s herbology class at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Despite the fact that Lyra had gotten straight D’s in her class, there was one thing she clearly remembered about the textbook: the plants in it were never normal.

The unicorn rushed over to the tome, suppressing a severe mental breakdown. “What if Bon Bon poisoned me?! No, she would never do that. The plant she used was probably something simple, nothing to worry about...” She turned to the bookmarked page. Her skin ran pale. Her heart started to beat faster. “Ohnoohnohnohnoohno.” She placed her hoof upon her head, rubbing her head to stop the massive headache that had just made itself known. When she put it back down, something else came with it: a clump of light cyan hair. “Bon Bon. You didn’t.”

“Didn’t what? What did I do? Was it bad? It couldn’t have been bad, it was candy, and *achoo* candy is never bad, you know that!”

A few more strands of Lyra’s hair fell to the floor. “You really don’t know what you put it that thing?” Bon Bon shook her head. “*sigh*. Look.” The balding mare held the book up to Bon Bon’s face.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Bon Bon said, putting the book down. “No wonder I can’t stop sneezing! *achoo* I just wanted to mix candy with flowers, and these looked so pretty!”

Lyra was over at her vanity table, watching strands of hair slowly fall off of her scalp. “YEAH. NO WONDER. Now, quickly, what’s the cure?!”

“Let’s see...cure...cure...*achoo*...oh, here we are, ‘Cure!’ Uh...oh, it’s a bubblebath! Cool! I love bubblebaths. Don’t you, Lyra?” Bon Bon bounced up to her friend. “Huh? Huh? Huh? Huuuhhh?” Her eyes drooped. As quickly as she had bounced forward, Bon Bon had fallen to the ground, experiencing a caffeine crash for the first time in her life. Lyra could hear a small snore come from the cream-colored lump on the floor.

“Bon Bon...” The unicorn stamped a hoof on the floor in frustration. The resulting vibration carried up her legs, into her torso, and up to her head, causing the remainder of her hair to fall out.

“WHAT THE HAY!”

----------

Lyra could ignore the snickering. She could ignore the mares scolding their foals, saying “Don’t point, it’s rude.” She could even ignore the sideways glances those who were walking beside her were giving. But, what she couldn’t ignore, was how itchy the wig was. “Did Rarity really have to give me the most extravagant wig she had?” She wasn’t exaggerating. For some unknown reason, the fashionista had chosen to give Lyra a bright pink, frilly, and noticeably artificial wig to replace her missing hair, much to Lyra’s aggravation. There was another pony she was angry at: herself. Why? Because, once again, she had agreed to taste test a candy.

Most ponies would call her a chump; she knew that. But she couldn’t just abandon Bon Bon. They had been friends for years, and it wasn’t like Bon Bon had done what she did maliciously. In fact, she had even offered to pay for both their bills at the spa(with no protest coming from Lyra). They were the best of friends, and nothing would, or could, ever, ever change that.

The door to Bon Bon’s jingled as Lyra stepped inside. The large number of fillies, colts, and parents in the room made Lyra realize just what day it was: the last day of school! No wonder it was so crowded. Parents always liked to get their children little rewards for finishing the year, especially if they had gotten good grades. Walking through, ignoring the amused giggles of foals laughing at her wig, Lyra could understand what her friend meant when she said it was the busiest day of the year.

Bon Bon was working at the register alone, no doubt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of customers trying to get their candy. Lyra hesitated; was it really right to distract her from her job? Maybe she should come back later...

“LYRA!” Bon Bon yelled from behind the counter. “Wait up!” Digging through the space under the counter, Bon Bon proceeded to pull out and place a large sign that read: “BE BACK IN FIVE MINUTES --- THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!” A large groan came from the crowd, but if Bon Bon had heard it, she didn’t let it show. Instead, she motioned for Lyra to pass through the double doors that led into the backrooms. She quickly rushed in, trying and failing to cover her “hair.”

Once the doors had closed behind them, Bon Bon gave a sigh of relief. “Well, thanks for getting me out of that crowd. I mean, today is the moooh my Celestia, what happened to your head?!” Bon Bon shrieked. Lyra responded with an irritated stare. “Oh, right.” She shuffled her hooves. “Look, Lyra...I’m sorry. You have every right to hate me forever.”

Lyra gave a musical giggle. “Hate you? Bon Bon, I could never hate you. You’re my best friend!” She touched her muzzle to Bon Bon’s. For a moment, it looked like Bon Bon was going to cry tears of joy. She stepped back.

“Well, that’s good, because I’ve got a present for you!” From behind her back, Bon Bon pulled out Lyra’s lyre. “I upgraded your lyre!”

Lyra’s headache started to return. “Bon Bon? Where did you get my lyre?” She stated as calmly as possible.

“Well, when I woke up at your house, I just felt so bad! So, I decided to make a few adjustments to your lyre! Look, I’ll show you-”

Lyra snorted. “No, Bon Bon! I don’t want to see! Give me back my instrument!” She grabbed at Bon Bon. But Bon Bon, expecting that Lyra wouldn’t see her genius right away, had seen the attack coming, and expertly dodged.

“Lyra, just listen to me! I’m telling you, this will increase your playing time by, like, 300%!” Lyra jumped at Bon Bon again, not caring about what she was claiming. Bon Bon dodged again, and pushed Lyra to the floor. “WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME?!”

Lyra picked herself up. She sighed, and looked to Bon Bon. “Fine. I trust you. Do what you wanted to do.”

Bon Bon turned the instrument over, revealing a small mechanism with a tube wrapped around it. “You see? You take the tube here, and put it in your mouf lak dis... then ya pwech dis buffin rff heya.” She pressed down a small button. For a moment, it seemed as if nothing would happen.

Then the lyre burst into flame.

“OH MY CELESTIA!” Lyra’s horn started to glow, and a large fire extinguisher appeared in front of her. Grabbing the hose in her teeth, she slammed down on the handle, causing a stream of lightly-colored carbon dioxide to erupt out of the dark appendage. The fire, now surrounded by the extinguishing chemical, let out a soft hisssss before dying down, leaving nothing but a badly charred lyre. There was silence as Lyra stood over her now ruined musical instrument.

Bon Bon, who’s heart was beating with the speed of a bullet train, made a cautious step forward. “...Lyra? Are you okay? I’m so sorry-”

“Sorry?” Lyra interrupted, still looking at the lyre. “Sorry?” Her head whipped up, and Lyra fixed a icy glare upon Bon Bon. “WHAT THE HAY DO YOU MEAN, SORRY?! Do you know what you just did?! I’ve had this lyre ever since I was a filly! I’m a musician! That thing is how I make my livelihood! And you...BURNED it!” Bon Bon recoiled. “All for some stupid candy! Well, you know what?” She lifted the lyre as carefully as she could with her magic. “I’m done. You can keep your candy.” She searched for another insult, one that would really hurt. “It wasn’t even any good!”

Bon Bon felt a sharp pain through her heart. Tears started to well up in her eyes. “Lyra...I-”

“SCREW YOU!” Lyra slammed the back room door behind her.

Bon Bon sat for a minute contemplating what had just happened. Lyra. Her friend. The one pony she cared about more than any other. Gone. She trotted slowly into her room, and lay down on the bed against the wall. The sounds from her shop faded in, but she didn’t care. “Maybe I really am a failure...” She started to sob, her head buried in a pillow.

Unbeknownst to her, Lyra slamming the door had knocked something off of a shelf, causing it to land in the great machine that had been causing Bon Bon trouble all week: the Taffy Machine. As it it, something clicked. Then, the grinding came.

Neither Bon Bon nor the ponies in her shop could hear it over the sound they were already making.

Lyra slammed the door to her cottage, shaking the walls. She was angry; to say the least. Furious would be a better word. “What is Bon Bon's problem? Why is she so obsessed with candy? Why is she so obsessed with making new stuff? Why is she so obsessed with...me?” Lyra thought for a moment.

“Was I too harsh?”

“What? No. You know what she did. You’ve had that lyre since you were a foal. It was your first instrument!”

“Yeah, but it’s just a lyre! It can be replaced! But Bon Bon...”

“Who cares? You have other friends! It’s been a while since you gave Vinyl a call, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess...” Lyra closed her eyes. At that moment, the image of what Bon Bon had looked like flashed in her mind. She looked so sad, so disappointed. Lyra shook her head. What had she been thinking? To hay with her mind!

“Bon Bon is my friend! I can’t just leave her like this!” She galloped out the door.

She had a friend to help.

“Where is that mare?”

“Mommy, when do I get my candy?”

“It has been much longer than ‘five minutes!’ And what is that terrible sound?!”

This was the scene that greeted Lyra upon returning to the candy shop. Out of all they days she could have picked to yell at Bon Bon, it had to be today, the busiest day of the year. Entering the crowd, she tried to make her way from the door to the counter, only to be pushed out onto her rear end. “WAIT YOUR TURN, LADY!” A buff unicorn stallion yelled, spinning around to look straight into Lyra’s eyes.

Lyra froze up. “OH MY CELESTIA HE’S BIG.” Lyra thought. She braced herself. When a few seconds had passed and she wasn’t yet a smoldering pile of ash, she inched an eye open. Surprisingly, the stallion had backed off, and seemed to be retreating.

“W-what is that thing on your head?!” He screamed. Lyra’s ears drooped as the rest of the crowd heard his yell, and turned to look at the pink-and-turquoise freak. “Little Hoof, get away from her! She might have a disease or something!” The grey filly behind him backed away, as did a number of other ponies. That was when a plan popped into Lyra’s head.

She swung her head toward the crowd. “STAY BACK! I have pink hair, and I’m not afraid to use it!” The crowd backed up, pressing into the walls as Lyra began to cross the room easily. “Let me across, and no one gets hurt!”

After just a few more threats, Lyra had made it into the back room. It was at that moment that she noticed the horrible screeching noise that was invading her eardrums like jackhammers. A small piece of orange plastic landed by her foot. Looking to see where the object had flown from, her eyes rested upon the Taffy Machine, which was now shaking and sputtering uncontrollably. She made her way over to the machine, covering her ears. Once she was close enough, she noticed a small piece of yellow paper that graced the front of it. ripping it off, she read:

Lyra, taking a guess as to where her friend was located, cantered quickly to the small bedroom down the hall. She peeked her head in a called, “Bon Bon? Are you in here?” As she uttered the final word, she realized that the pudgy mass on the bed was not a pillow, but a pony: Bon Bon! “Oh, Bon Bon, I need-”

“A new friend? Yeah, I know.” Bon Bon spat angrily, not even bothering to raise her head. “GO AWAY!” She yelled, sniveling.

Whether it was simply the intensity of the yell or maybe some hidden earth pony magic that Lyra didn’t know about, the unicorn found herself outside the room within seconds. She walked back to the taffy machine. “Great.” She said, barely able to hear herself over the machine. “Twist is gone, and Bon Bon is an angry wreck. Now what?” She glanced at what appeared to be the control panel.

She gaped. How did Bon Bon do this? There were at least a dozen buttons, each a different color, and none of them labeled. In the corner, there was a small red control stick. Slightly above that, a blue knob. And, at the very top, three gray buttons. Lyra glanced around the machine, looking for anything that might tell her how to differentiate the buttons and knobs. Eventually, partially hidden under the machine, was a small pamphlet. It was labeled “Tafftastic 3000 Owner’s Manual.”

“SCORE!” Lyra whooped, picking up the book. She flipped to the table of contents. “There! ‘Buttons,’ page 30.” She flipped quickly through the pages, not bothering to look at any other instructions. Her hoof stopped at the page designated with a small diagram of the panel. Under it, in very fine print, it read:

For detailed instructions on the function of each button, please consult Owner’s Manual Part Two.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Lyra yelled, on her hind knees, at no one in particular. Now what? She eyed the panel again. For once, she decided just to let common sense take over.

The multicolored buttons probably didn’t have anything to do with starting or stopping. Most likely, they were just to adjust minuscule settings. The knob was probably for speed, or intensity. And the stick...she had nothing. But it didn’t look like the kind of object used to stop or start a machine. That left the three large, gray buttons. Due to their size, Lyra reasoned, they must have some importance. But they weren’t labeled; even worse, they weren’t even colored! It was a 33.3% chance. Not the best odds, but what was a pony to do?

Lyra thought back to all the things Bon Bon had said about the machine. None of them were good. For all the unicorn knew, she could be sending dozens of ponies to their deaths with the push of a button! Lyra started to sweat, but eventually just bonked herself on the head. It was just a candy machine! What was the worst thing that could happen?

----------

Bon Bon had stopped crying, and now was down to just the occasional sniffle. She probably would have been fine already, if Lyra hadn’t shown back up. She wasn’t really angry with Lyra; she was just angry at herself. Why did she have to go and mess up her friendship? Right now, Bon Bon didn’t want to see anyone. The mare hopped off her bed, and stood on shaky legs. Chances were that Lyra had left already; what reason did she have to stay?

“OH SWEET BABY LUNA!” Bon Bon heard being yelled by a familiar voice from outside her room. A few seconds passed. Then came a blood-curdling crack. Bon Bon, now in a frenzy, galloped out of her room. It sounded like Lyra was hurt!

Reaching the yellow room, Bon Bon was relieved to see that Lyra hadn’t been the source of the sound. However, she then saw what was: a large strand of plastic-filled taffy had attached itself to the wall, and due to the spinning of the machine, that piece of the wall had been ripped off. Lyra was pressing herself into the ground, hooves covering her face, trying to avoid the chunk of plaster that was now flying around the room sporadically. The turquoise mare, sensing someone had just entered the room, let out a wail. “Helpmehelpmehelpme!”

Bon Bon, even though she knew what she should do right now, hesitated for a moment. The depression she had been in before started to seep back in. “I’ll probably just mess it up again, and hurt Lyra...” She backed up a step. She couldn’t do it.

“BON BON!!! HELP ME!!!”

Bon Bon’s legs stopped moving backwards. Lyra’s cry resonated in her ears as she sprang forward, leaping toward the control panel. Why would she fail? She was Bon Bon; handling candy was her special talent! It was the thing she was better at than anypony else! She expertly dodged the taffy strand as it came toward her, ducking to the floor. Diagrams from the book she borrowed from the library, “Tafftastic 3000: The Complete Guide,” flooded her mind.

First, she spun the knob to its lowest setting. The taffy machine slowed, the flying chunk of wall eventually crashing loudly to the ground. She tapped in a quick combination of buttons, causing the large mixing blades to retreat slowly into the topmost chamber, where they locked into place with a click! And, finally, she slammed a hoof down onto the middle gray button. The whirring stopped. The spinning metal death-trap had been shut down. Bon Bon gave a sigh of relief, and went to help Lyra, who was still shaking in fear on the floor, up onto her hooves.

“Bon Bon... I’m sorry.” Lyra shuffled her hooves, and kept her head down as she spoke. “I acted like a jerk today. Is there any way you can forgive me?”

Bon Bon stared at her for a moment. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “Forgive you? Can you forgive me?! Lyra, I destroyed your lyre! I MADE YOU BALD! I should be the one apologizing for how I acted! Not you! Just for some stupid candy...”

Lyra placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Well, how about we both apologize, and we call it even, okay?” Bon Bon nodded in agreement, the two silently deciding to forgo the traditional spit-in-hoofshake that usually followed negotiations. “But, Bon Bon, I have to ask...why were you so hung up on impressing me with new candy?”

Bon Bon’s ears drooped. “Do you...do you remember the old stallion I bought this shop from?” Lyra shook her head. “Well...”

“It’s not much, but it’ll get the job done.” Gumball said, running his crimson hoof through his dull grey mane. “Served me well for forty years! That it did...” As he took the sale forms out of his ragged brown satchel, Bon Bon marveled at the shop. Light filtered through the window, casting a beautiful light upon the wooden floors. Bon Bon gave a polite cough. “Oh, sorry there, just taking a stroll down memory lane.”

“Oh, it’s perfectly fine!” She responded cheerfully. “And I can understand. You’ve had this place for so long! It must be hard to give it up.”

“Well said, young lady. Now, about the price...” He did some calculations in his head, the contents of which Bon Bon didn’t attempt to figure out. “Well, if I were to average together everything I’m giving you here...it would come to about 30.” Bon Bon’s scratched her head.

“30 what? 30 bits? Because that seems pretty cheap...”

The stallion gave a jolly laugh. “Oh, young lady, you kill me! 30,000 bits.” Bon Bon’s mouth fell open. 50,000 bits?!

“I...I see. Well, thank you. I’ll definitely take it into consideration.”

He shook his head. “Right. This is about the money, isn’t it?” Bon Bon nodded in agreement. “I get it. Young mare, just branching out on her own for the first time...” He glanced at her, then closed his red eyes, deep in thought. His eyes were still closed when he continued, saying “Well then. Maybe we can work something out here.” He turned to Bon Bon, who noted a hint of sadness in both his voice and eyes. “You’re a mare of candy, are you not?” Bon Bon nodded. “So the cutie mark does not lie.

“Well, that’s something we share.” He motioned with his head to the mark adorning his flank: a peppermint wheel. “I’ve been making ponies happy ever since I was a colt. I’ve been making myself happy.” Bon Bon wasn’t surprised; there wasn’t much else a cutie mark like that could mean. “And I’m honored to see that the craft lives on. Everypony loves candy. It’s one of the joys of life. And that brings me to my point. Ms. Bon Bon, I would be willing to give you this place, no money required.” Once again, Bon Bon’s mouth fell open.

“I-I-Thank you! But...I can’t accept it. What about you? You can’t just give away your home for free!”

“I’ve been in this business for years. I’ve got quite a sizable amount saved up, enough to let me live comfortably for my last few years. And I’m not planning on giving it away for free. I just said that no money would be involved. Ms. Bon Bon, I want you to make me a promise.”

“Uh...okay?”

“Even if it may not seem like it at first, making candy can be a hard job. You have the power to control the emotions of hundreds of ponies, without even lifting a finger. It’s difficult. Unless, that is, you have the gift. Young lady, something, whether it be fate, destiny, or even Celestia herself, has given you that gift. Now, it’s up to you whether you want to use it.” He took in a deep breath. “Ms. Bon Bon, will you carry on this old pony’s legacy?”

“Yes!” Bon Bon yelped. “Yes! Of course I will! Who wouldn’t want to make ponies happy?”

Gumball chuckled, his mane bouncing with a newly gained vigor. “Good, that’s the spirit. Now, that’s a promise?” Bon Bon held a hoof to her head in a mock salute. “Right. Well, looks we’ve got it all figured out. I wish you luck, young lady, and do hope we meet again somehow.”

Bon Bon nodded in agreement. “The same to you. And don’t worry; I won’t disappoint you.”

Lyra noticed tears starting to roll down Bon Bon's face. "I-It's just...I made a promise, you know? I promised I would make everypony happy. I disappointed you, I disappointed everyone...”

Lyra draped a comforting leg over her friend's shoulder. "You can’t really think that, Bon Bon! Don't you see all those ponies out there? They've been waiting for hours, just to get a taste of what you have to offer them!" She turned her body so that she was now gripping the earth pony's cream-colored shoulders. "You're Bon Bon. You’re the greatest mare I know! I could never do what you do and stay sane.”

Bon Bon sniffled a bit, and wiped her red eyes. “Do...Do you really mean that, Lyra?”

“You know I do. You’ve more than repaid your debt.” Loosening her grip, Lyra levitated a small cloth over to Bon Bon. “I guess I made you cry twice today, huh?”

Bon Bon gave a shaky laugh. “Yeah. Well, can I consider that payback for the poison joke?”

“Sure.” She helped Bon Bon to her hooves. “Now, let’s go.”

“Wait, what? Go where?”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you hear that buzz?” Bon Bon listened; she could hear it! That was when she realized: none of the ponies in her shop had left. “They’re all still here! I think that’s proof enough that your candy makes ponies happy.” Lyra opened the door, letting all the ponies outside know that Bon Bon had returned. The buzz turned into a roar. “ARE YOU READY TO MAKE SOME CANDY?!” Lyra yelled over the noise.

Bon Bon walked up to the register and removed the offending sign, a confident look on her face.

She was Bon Bon. She was always ready to make ponies happy.