She was dumbfounded. She was caught at her most vulnerable moment by a complete stranger.

“You seem pretty upset…is there any way I can help?” Bon-Bon smiled lightly and looked over her, with the concern of a mother.

“I don’t think so, unless you know how to go back in time…” Lyra looked up and smirked squeamishly.

“Heh, I’m sorry I can’t help you with that one! But I could walk you back to town, are you new to Ponyville?” something about this pony is so sweet and calm, Lyra thought to herself.

“I guess that will have to do, close enough, right?” She was now somehow enjoying herself talking to this new friend, while not five minutes ago she was at rock bottom.

“Well, follow me, I’ll give you the grand tour!” Oh no, not another grand tour. Please don’t tell me the complete history of Ponyville.

“This is Sweet Apple Acres, it’s owned by a pony named Applejack, and her brother Big Macintosh, but we all call him Big Mac,” Huh. No fun facts about the exact year and date that they established it? About the gross yearly income and profit they receive each year? I’m liking this pony already! They continued walking until they got into town.

“Over there is Sugarcube Corner, it’s a bakery, it’s run by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, cliché right? Also Pinkie Pie works there, and makes sweets for the parties here in Ponyville, which nearly all of them are organized by her anyways!” she’s funny too!

“The centerpiece of the town square is town hall, that’s where we will be having the Summer Sun Celebration, and over there is Rarity’s shop, she makes clothes, like dresses. That tree over there is the library, obviously people go th…”

“STOP!” Lyra yells, louder than she had intended, “Is there a party there tonight?”

“Not that I know of, yet nopony ever tells me anyth…”

SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!! The sound of a freshly turned on megaphone roars through the town square.

“Attention Ponyville!” yelled an enthusiastic pink pony with crazy hair “There will be a surprise party for our newest Ponyville visitor at the library tonight! Be there or be square!”

“Did I say “Not that I know of”? I of course meant, “Yes! Lyra, there is most definitely a party at the library tonight!”” Bon-Bon laughed to herself and Lyra joined along. “Well good thing Pinkie Pie created that distraction because there are barely any more defining qualities of this town, and I was boring myself, did you want to go pick up something to eat? There is a restaurant in town that has the best daffodil and daisy sandwiches.”

“I would love to.” She smiled to herself as she followed close behind Bon-Bon.

…

After lunch, they walked back out into the late afternoon sunshine.

“So why are you here? Visiting a friend?” Bon-Bon asked, trying to make conversation.

“I guess you could say that…” she answered apprehensively.

“ Is there something wrong?” inquired Bon-Bon, worried.

“Well…no, I don’t want you to think I’m some crazy pony.” Lyra said, half-jokingly.

“No worries Lyra, I’m a great listener,” Bon-Bon winked and sat down on the ground, looking at Lyra expectantly.

Well I can’t really explain it to you with without telling the whole story…”

“That’s fine!” Bon-Bon smiles.

“You’re sure?” she tried to stall, uselessly.

“Yes Lyra, I’m sure,” Bon-Bon took on a more serious tone, but not a condescending one.

“ Okay, well, when I was just a little filly my father died, which only left me and my mother. So we lived together for about four years without him, when my mother was killed by Princess Celestia. Well…technically it was part of her castle, I just have a little bit of a grudge on her at the moment…” she began to trail off, but Bon-Bon kept her going.

“Go on…” she said.

“Oh. Yeah. Well anyways, after my mother was killed, erm…died, I ran away into the Everfree Forest for about a week, when some of Celestia’s guards came to save me, which I greatly thank them for, and I wouldn’t be standing here right now if it weren’t for them. They were actually the ones that flew me…”

“Go on…” Bon-Bon said very seriously.

“Right. Sorry. So the guards took me back to the castle, where I went to see Princess Celestia, and she offered me my very own room in the castle, but I declined. She asked if I would like to go back to my old house to get some closure and I disdainfully agreed. At my house, I found my lyre, the one I was playing before. My mother’s harp, which I forgot to mention she played, was turned into my lyre by some sort of magical accident. My mother now resides in this lyre, and it makes me feel that much closer to her. After receiving my lyre and getting my cutie mark, which is a whole other story, I went back and told the Princess I will be taking up a room in the castle.”

A single tear rolled down Bon-Bon’s cheek, “Go on..” She tried to cover up her sympathy until the story was done.

“Well that night, the day I moved into the castle, I met my best friend, Twilight Sparkle. We were inseparable, until she began reading books about the Elements of Harmony, and Nightmare Moon. She stopped talking to me and began to completely dwell on her studies. And that is my story up until today.”

“Well then why are you here in Ponyville?” Bon-Bon asked, sounding more sympathetic now.

“Well Princess Celestia sent Twilight here to ‘Check up on the Summer Sun Celebration’ which actually means she wanted her to come here and make some new friends…” Lyra dropped into a tone of sadness.

“That’s not very nice of her to do at all, but that still doesn’t tell me why you are here”

“Oh, well…now that I think about it, it was pretty foolish for me to come here in the first place. I guess I just didn’t want to lose another person that meant everything to me…” Lyra started thinking about her mother and father, buried her head in her hooves, and began to cry. “I just want somebody to love me…” she sobbed.

“Oh Lyra…” Bon-Bon gets up and hugs Lyra, trying to calm her down.

“Bon-Bon you should probably go, I don’t think you want to be friends with me.” Lyra said between tears.

“Lyra, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She picked up Lyra’s head, and looked her in the eyes, “Lyra I have a question to ask you…”

“Yeah…?”

“How would you like to stay with me, here in Ponyville?”

“I wouldn’t rather do anything else Bon-Bon…Thank you…” She buried her head in Bon-Bon’s arms and they sat together in the evening sunshine, Lyra happier than she had ever imagined. For once in her life, since she was a little filly, she felt as if she belonged somewhere, and she knew it was here in Ponyville.