Special thanks to my editors Starfall and neutralmilk for putting up with my complaining (I was not whining) and for making this chapter much better than it originally was.

A loud and frantic banging on her front door woke Berry Punch slowly from her deep sleep. At first she thought the pounding was in her head, the all too familiar sign of an enjoyable night beforehoof, before realising somepony was at her door. She frowned and glared at the clock on her wall.

“Nine…thirty?” Berry let out an annoyed groan and threw back the bedcovers. “Who calls this early?”

Grumbling, she trudged down the stairs, her visitor still banging on her door.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!” the earth pony yelled angrily. If this was some flimsy salespony trying to sell her their worthless crap there would be hell to pay. Berry rummaged through the bowl on the small table next to her door with her mouth in search for the keys to her front door. As she picked them out they slipped from her teeth and fell to the floor. Berry let out another annoyed groan and bent down to pick them up … only for her forehead to slam against the table.

“Ah, son of a…!” She cried angrily, rubbing her hoof against her forehead. “Celestia-damn it that hurt!” She carefully reached down and grabbed the keys from the ground in her mouth. Berry didn’t care if the Goddess of the Sun herself was at the door - whoever it was, they were about to get an earful. She unlocked the door and flung it open to find a cream earth pony with a pink and blue mane gasping for breath on her doorstep. Berry blinked and tilted her head.

“Bon Bon? Why … what are you doing here?” She looked at Bon Bon; the mare wasn’t looking too good. Her normally curly mane and tail were a dishevelled mess and her breathing was fast and ragged, as if she had just taken part in the Running of the Leaves. Berry’s anger and throbbing pain were subsiding, instead turning to confusion and concern.

Bon Bon stood on Berry’s doorstep struggling for breath. She felt her lungs burn from the intense exercise she had just put herself through - Bon Bon wasn’t unfit but she wasn’t exactly a marathon runner. Even back in Fillydelphia she had paid for a monthly gym membership that she must’ve used about seven times in three years. Had…had she even cancelled the membership? Was she still paying for that? Bon Bon shook the irrelevant thoughts from her head as she remembered why she had decided to come to Berry’s house.

“Berry,” she panted. “I’m … I’m sorry to bother … you like this. Is Lyra here?”

“No, I haven’t seen her.” Berry watched as the cream pony sighed heavily and lowered her head.

“Okay.” Bon Bon mumbled. “If you … see her, tell her …” Bon Bon hesitated. “… tell her I just want to talk to her.” The cream pony turned and slowly trotted away from Berry’s house.

“Bon Bon, wait.” Berry quickly trotted in front of Bon Bon and faced her. The cream pony slowly lifted her head, her normally calm blue eyes were at odds with the painful red surrounding her irises. They were filled with hurt and fear. “Is everything okay?”

Bon Bon sighed dejectedly before shaking her head slightly. Berry put a reassuring hoof on her friend’s shoulder.

“What’s happened?”

Bon Bon closed her eyes and hung her head low.

“It’s Lyra.” The cream pony sighed. “She’s gone.”

Hooves pounded the dirt path away from Ponyville. A pale blue and white mane clung to a sweat-laden coat of mint green. Tears streamed from eyes that once shone delicate amber.

This was what Lyra was good at; running away from things. Whenever things got too much for her, whenever life got too much for her she ran far and she ran fast. Not that it did any good of course, her problems always seemed to find her, snaking themselves around her chest and constricting tighter and tighter.

Lyra winced as she felt the familiar pain behind her ribs. Her subconscious reacted, putting a hoof to her chest and momentarily forgetting she was galloping like a racepony. With one of her forelegs gone Lyra quickly lost her balance and crashed to the ground face first at speed, tumbling down a slope and across the hard dirt before coming to a stop at the side of the path.

Lyra lay on her stomach and waited for the world to stop spinning around her. Once it righted itself she gazed up at the sky despondently. The cold winter air caused her gasping breath to form a light fog as it exited her mouth. The ground was covered with frost that had formed the night before, causing her body to shiver.

Slowly she began to lift herself up onto front hooves only to feel a sharp twinge shoot through her left foreleg. She cried out in pain and surprise and inspected her hoof. A slight purple bruise was beginning to mingle with the green coat around her fetlock. Lyra took her injured foreleg and delicately pressed it against the ground. Even from that small amount of pressure against it the hoof throbbed with a dull pain. The unicorn sighed. It looked like she’d be limping away from her problems now.

“Berry, you don’t need to do this.” Bon Bon cried half-heartedly. “I need to go open the shop, I should’ve done it forty minutes ago!”

“No, the shop can wait.” The magenta pony insisted from her kitchen. “You’re in a time of need and when a pony is in a time of need you give them a nice hot drink and a shoulder to cry on.” A loud clanging was heard followed by some whispered obscenities. “Where the hell are the teabags?”

“As much as I appreciate the concern,” Bon Bon sighed, “I don’t need a shoulder to cry on, what I do need to do is open my shop. You wouldn’t believe how many customers I get the day before Hearth’s Warming, rushing to buy last minute presents. Also …” Bon Bon was suddenly interrupted by the sound of pots clanging noisily to the floor and a magenta blur rushing to a stop in front of her.

“You mean to tell me it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve today?” Berry Punch cried. Bon Bon cocked her head in disbelief.

“Um, yeah.” Berry’s face turned pale.

“So that means that tomorrow is …” she began.

“Hearth’s Warming Day? Yes.” Bon Bon finished, smiling in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you forgot.” Berry blinked vacantly before slapping a hoof to her forehead.

“Oh shi …” Berry began before noticing Bon Bon’s raised eyebrow and coughed. “… I mean, oh sugar.” The pink pony smiled nervously. “So, you said you needed to open your shop?”

Lyra staggered along the dirt road. As more and more ponies began to appear on the route she had forced herself to stop tearing up publically. She didn’t want to be noticed or spoken to or to have pity taken on her. She just wanted to be left alone. Her appearance however didn’t help matters; her coat was dirty, her mane was dishevelled and she was limping. She probably looked like she had been attacked.

Fearing interrogation and a forced return to Ponyville Lyra turned off the dirt road and made her way across a grassy plain. The soft wet strands of green felt heavenly compared to the cold hard path she had been walking on for the past hour. The further into the field she travelled the more peaceful it grew; very few ponies were around with the exception of the odd pegasus flying above her.

Lyra’s injured hoof grew more and more painful with the prolonged use and screamed out for rest. She could have used some basic first aid magic to treat it there and then when she had fallen but currently the ache was keeping her mind off of other things. Besides, she felt like she deserved the pain.

“I do deserve it.” She muttered with gritted teeth.

Lyra continued to walk through the fields in no particular direction. Everything was silent and still; there were no animals, no ponies, not even flowers although this was common in Equestria during the middle of winter. Lyra hated the silence - it was almost as if it was tormenting her, giving her no distractions or excuses to keep her subconscious at bay.

Eventually Lyra approached a small lake that had completely frozen over; beyond it stood the Everfree Forest. The unicorn gazed fearfully at the intimidating woods that lay ahead, even in daylight the forest somehow managed to stay dark and scary. There was no way she was going to risk her life in a deadly forest just because she wasn’t strong enough to … there was no way she was entering the Everfree Forest that was for sure.

Lyra turned and gazed sorrowfully in the direction she had walked from and in the distance could make out the taller buildings of Ponyville. In retrospect Lyra hadn’t journeyed that far away from the town but due to her slow pace and injury it felt like she had walked for miles. She was exhausted, hungry, thirsty and in quite a lot of pain from the prolonged use of her sore hoof. Her gaze shifted back to the frozen lake.

“Might as well have a drink and rest before I begin the trot of shame back home.” The unicorn sighed, limping towards the lake.

“Berry, even for you this is a new low,” Bon Bon laughed. The two of them made their way to Bon Bon’s sweet shop, the cream pony giggling at Berry’s lack of awareness. The magenta pony on the other hoof was less amused.

“So I forgot what day it was,” she replied, pouting. “Everypony does it, I just happen to forget more days than most.”

“It’s Hearth’s Warming Day, nopony forgets it!” Bon Bon giggled. “It’s the most celebrated holiday in the whole of Equestria!”

“Hey, I knew it was gonna be soon,” Berry stated defiantly. “I’ve just been busy and have a lot on my plate just now.” Bon Bon looked at her with a raised eyebrow and snorted.

“Berry, spending your Hearth’s Warming time off going to bars and clubs getting drunk and waking up at two in the afternoon does not constitute ‘having a lot on your plate’.” Berry rolled her eyes.

“Says you.”

The two earth ponies walked on in silence. Berry glanced at Bon Bon every now and then; she could see the worry etched into her face. Bon Bon had always been good at masking her emotions - like the time Berry had broken a vase at her house or the time Berry had also dropped one of her plates. The magenta pony blushed while she reminisced and smiled sheepishly at Bon Bon, eliciting a confused look from the cream pony. Berry could tell she had been a bit upset about it but it had never showed, although Berry could tell. Bon Bon was always considerate and mindful of others feelings and didn’t want to drag anypony into her own problems. In other words, she was a pain to try and help.

“So…” Berry began. “What’s the deal with Lyra?” The minute the words came out of her mouth Berry facehoofed. “I meant to put it more delicately than that.” Bon Bon chuckled.

“It’s fine … to be honest I’ve been asking myself the same thing all morning,” Bon Bon replied with a small sigh.

“Have things been, I dunno, strained with you guys or something?”

“That’s the thing Berry, things have been great. We were really happy to see each other again last night, sure we were tired but we still managed to have …” Bon Bon trailed off as she noticed Berry’s shrewd expression, “… have some fun before we went to sleep.” Bon Bon coughed and smiled awkwardly.

“So why did she leave and where did she go?” At this point Bon Bon lowered her head despondently.

“I don’t know Berry. When I came downstairs this morning she wasn’t there so I made myself a quick breakfast and waited for her to come back. After about half an hour I began to get worried so I went to see if she was at Derpy’s but she was out on her mail run. I left a note at hers and then went to Lyra’s old house which was still locked and empty and that’s when I went next door to see you.” Berry put her hoof to her chin as they walked, thinking.

“Was she upset about something? Like, I dunno, maybe something happened on her trip?” Bon thought about this before shaking her head.

“No, I don’t think anything happened. I would’ve been able to tell when she got off the train; Lyra has the worst poker face in the history of Ponyville.”

“That’s true.” Berry laughed fondly remembering all the free drinks she had won from the unicorn.

“Although,” Bon Bon continued, “she was a bit weepy this morning. You know how she gets like that sometimes.”

“Did she say anything about it?”

“No, she just apologised for crying.” Bon Bon sighed.

The two ponies turned the last corner before Bon Bon’s store only to be greeted by a line of unhappy ponies waiting for the shop to open. Bon Bon took one look at the angry line and her ears immediately drooped.

“Oh, fudge.”

Lyra brushed the snow away on a small patch of ice and lowered her head so her ear was almost touching it. She could feel the cold radiating from the frozen surface. Lyra began to tap it gently with her injured hoof, wincing each time it made contact. Satisfied in finding that the ice wasn’t very thick she turned round and lifted one of her hind legs before bringing it down in a sharp blow. There was a pleasant cracking sound and some of the ice broke away, allowing the unicorn a means of drinking the water.

Pleased with herself for finally doing something right today she lapped hungrily at the water, only for her to recoil in pain clutching her head.

“Gah,” Lyra cried. “Brain freeze! Damn that’s cold!”

The unicorn sat on her haunches and massaged her temples waiting for the headache to gradually leave and sighing for what must have been the thousandth time that day. As Lyra opened her eyes she was shocked by the sight of the reflection that greeted her in the calmness of the water. Her coat was filthy and covered in dirt from her fall and there was a big scratch on the side of her face that had gone completely unnoticed. Her usually crisp green fur had dulled, looking muted and almost lifeless. Her mane was just a mess; most of the light hair had been turned brown by the dust from the path and it was badly dishevelled. But it was her eyes that shocked her the most. Her normally bright amber orbs were surrounded by a strained reddish colour and her irises were severely dimmed.

Lyra slowly put a hoof to her face, watching as her reflection confirmed that it was indeed her it was showing. Her eyes just looked so … lifeless. Everypony always said they had a spark to them, ‘a kind of strong-willed optimism shining through’ her parents had told her, and now it was gone. Forever? She didn’t know, all she did know was that she had failed, again.

Lyra whimpered and held her head in her hooves. Why had she run away, why? The sad truth was that she didn’t even know. She had let her emotions get the better of her again, had not thought things through rationally and look where it had gotten her. She was hurt, cold and alone, not to mention starving and exhausted. Lyra gazed sorrowfully back at her reflection and watched as its eyes began to leak with tears. The unicorn’s face contorted into a look of disgust.

“Look at you,” she sneered at the water surface. “Crying like a foal as usual. You cry at everything, you’re pathetic.” Lyra took her unharmed hoof and splashed the water, causing her reflection to distort and break.

“You’ve failed at everything you’ve ever set your mind to. School, friendship, you haven’t had a job that lasted more than three months!” Lyra’s voice was beginning to rise as she hit the water surface again only this time harder.

“Even your special talent is useless. The lyre? Oh what a fantastically useless instrument for you to excel at Lyra, if you’d picked the triangle at least you’d be part of an orchestra but no, you had to go for something that you can’t even play with your damn hooves!” Lyra was nearly shouting now. Without thinking she used her injured hoof to strike the water, gasping in pain. She cradled her sore hoof for a second before frowning and hitting the water again with it. Lyra saw her reflection wince in pain before it dissipated.

“I’m glad it hurts. You deserve it for all the pain you’ve caused Bon Bon. She lost her fiancé and she’s still stronger than you.” Lyra began to sob uncontrollably which only fuelled her anger.

“Stop crying!” she yelled, hitting the water with both her hooves. “You don’t deserve to cry! You’ve got nothing to cry about!”

Splash!

“You’re nothing but a stupid …”

Splash!

“… weak …”

Splash!

“… useless …”

Crack!

Lyra screamed in agony as her left foreleg struck something hard in the water and pain once again shot through her hoof. The unicorn fell on her back, her whole body was trembling and she held her hoof to her chest as she cried with renewed pain. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before, like a great pressure building up in her leg.

Fresh tears spilled from her eyes and harsh sobs rattled from her throat. She slowly lifted herself up and inspected her hoof. The bruise had now worsened and it was beginning to swell, the pain was so intense Lyra half expected her leg to burst. Slowly and carefully the unicorn touched it with her other hoof; the leg tingled under slight contact. Lyra did not dare to apply any more pressure to it for fear of the excruciating sensation it would undoubtedly cause.

She didn’t know what kind of injury she had just sustained let alone how to treat it and the journey back to Ponyville would now take forever, that was if she didn’t pass out on the way. Lyra looked around despairingly she honestly didn’t know what to do; there was nopony around to hear or help her, she was a long distance from home and had suffered an agonising injury.

She was helpless.

“Do you know how long we’ve been waiting?” a purple unicorn demanded.

“We’ve been freezing our flanks off standing here!” This outburst from a blue pegasus was followed by murmurs of agreement from the other customers. Bon Bon looked from one pony to the next trying to get a word in.

“I’m sorry I’m opening late today but …” she began before she was interrupted by another angry consumer.

“Your sign said you would be opening at ten to nine and it’s now five past ten!” An earth pony exclaimed. Bon Bon gave an apologetic smile.

“Yes, I know but there was a personal emergency I had to deal with; my …” the cream pony hesitated. “… my partner has …” The same earth pony, a male, gave a snort of derision.

“Why am I not surprised? You filly-foolers are all the same, never taking other ponies into account. You show up late blaming a ‘personal emergency’ with your partner, we all know what that means of course, and you turn up with her, the town drunk!” The stallion pointed at Berry who had been silent and hoping to avoid any confrontation. “Your kind makes me sick.” There were a few gasps from the rest of the line and Berry’s mouth hung open in shock. She heard a small whimper next to her and turned to see a distraught Bon Bon trembling. The minute she saw this, her eyes flashed red with rage.

Now, Berry Punch was not a particularly angry pony. Sure she could get annoyed easily if she had a hangover but she was usually an easy-going mare. However, it was common knowledge in the clubs and bars of Ponyville (and a few neighbouring cities) that it was wise not to get her mad, really, really mad. This included trying to spike her drink, trying to steal from her, charging too much for vodka shots and, her most valued rule, ganging up on defenceless ponies.

She marched straight up to the stallion, who backed away slightly from her advance but she didn’t stop until she was nearly muzzle-to-muzzle with him.

“What did you just say to her?” Berry’s voice was shaky from trying to control her outrage at the bigoted earth pony. The stallion looked taken back from her actions but regained his composure.

“You heard me; she’s a good-for-nothing filly-fooler.” Berry winced and closed her eyes letting out a small smile.

“Say that again.”

Bon Bon looked on in shock, still trembling. The rest of the crowd had backed away slowly.

“Excuse me?” The earth pony asked confused.

“Just repeat it one more time please,” Berry replied still with a calm smile.

“She’s a good for nothing fil…” The stallion didn’t even get to finish his sentence before being thrown face-down against the ground by Berry. The crowd gasped and it was Bon Bon’s turn to stand with her mouth open.

Without faltering for a second the magenta pony pounced on the fallen stallion, holding his back hooves down with her hind legs and twisting his fore hooves behind his back. The stallion tried to wriggle free from Berry only to let out a cry of pain every time he moved.

“Get off me!” he cried.

“If you stop moving and pay attention I’ll let you go,” Berry said sweetly. Slowly the stallion did as he was told.

“There’s a good colt! Now, here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re going to apologise to my nice friend here for being mean to her and then you’re going to leave, very quickly I might add, that clear?” She batted her eyelashes. The stallion mutely nodded.

“Good.” she beamed. She released the stallion who got up slowly and turned to Bon Bon.

“I - I’m sorry for … insulting you,” he said quietly. All he wanted was to leave before the aggressive mare stopped him.

“One last thing sweet cheeks,” Berry added, strolling back up to the male pony. He whimpered and made as if to back away quickly. “If I ever catch you speaking like that to anypony else, I will shove my hooves so far up your rump I’ll be tap dancing on your liver.” Berry grinned, flashing the stallion the most sinister look she could muster. The hapless stallion let out a tiny cry before galloping away as fast as his hooves could take him. Berry turned back to the crowd who all stood watching her with their jaws hanging open.

“Now, unless anypony else has something they would like to say to me or my lovely friend here, I think we should open the store.” She said nonchalantly turned to Bon Bon and raised her eyebrows expectantly. The cream pony stared at her before shaking her head and taking the key from around her neck. She opened the door which elicited a jingle from the bell mounted above it.

The line of ponies trudged in slowly, avoiding eye contact with either mare. As soon as they were all in Berry shook her head and giggled.

“That was so much fun!” she laughed, nudging Bon Bon. “You okay?” Bon Bon nodded and grinned.

“That was amazing Berry! Where’d you even learn to do stuff like that?” Berry shrugged and pretended to inspect her hoof.

“Ah well, when you enjoy as many nights out as I do, you learn to protect yourself.”

“I’ll say, that was … you were …” Bon Bon waved her hooves about as she tried to come up with an adequate description. Berry just smiled.

“I know right? I’m such a badass.”

The two ponies laughed and quickly entered the candy store embracing the welcome change in temperature.

Lyra stopped crying. Not because of her own strength or will she was just too tired and too weak to continue.

Lyra felt incredibly dizzy and was so nauseas that whenever she gasped for breath she felt herself retch. Her hoof felt … so unnatural, it was beginning to go numb and Lyra was unsure if that was a good thing or not.

Exhaustion crept up upon the unicorn; she was drained of energy both physically and mentally. She closed her eyes, lying down and turning on her side so the injured appendage was off the cold, hard ground and began to rock her body gently. Her hoof began to throb once more and Lyra winced again before letting out a trembling sigh.

“… I …deserve it.” she croaked.