On the 25th of September, Lyra and Bon Bon were in Canterlot.
It was a special morning: they would go to the orphanage to adopt a foal.
Sitting in the waiting room, the teal unicorn noticed her mate was shaking a little, so she squeezed her hoof.
"Are you nervous?" she asked softly.
"A bit. Do you think about it? We'll be leaving here in a few hours with a child of our own!"
Lyra smiled at her, and she mentally retraced all the stages that had led her to fall in love with Sweetie Drops, known by everyone as "Bon Bon".
They had met for the first time as children, during Pinkie's eighth birthday party, as she had asked and obtained from her parents to let her taste the famous Sugarcube Corner sweets. She was there with her parents, and coincidentally Bon Bon with hers too. It had been a casual encounter that was soon archived, but it had made a strong comeback when she had decided to move to Ponyville at the age of twenty, eager to escape from the frenetic pace of the city and happy to have rediscovered that intriguing figure from the past.
While she was lost in her thoughts, the director of the orphanage mentioned their names.
Moonlight Raven was a powder-colored unicorn, with golden eyes and prettily curled dark blue hair. The heavy makeup on her eyes gave her an austere look, but the director had a heart the same color as her eyes.
"Now I will lead you to the room of our little guests. Be careful, many of them have suffered traumas that are still vivid in their memory."
Once Moonlight had flung open the door to the cubs' bedroom, Lyra and Bon Bon found twenty eyes of children, ranging in age from zero to eleven, upon them.
The eldest was an earth pony, while the youngest was a six-month-old pegasus.
"I'll leave you in the children's company for a couple of hours. Try to get to know each other. For any information, just press this button, it is connected to my office bell." pointed out the dark-haired unicorn, showing them a button placed next to the door.
The two spouses thanked her and Moonlight closed the door. Immediately, the little ones gathered around the two mares:
"Wow, you are very cute!" commented a little yak about four years old.
"Did you bring any toys?" a seven-year-old mischievous unicorn asked.
Lyra and Sweetie laughed, moved. At one point, however, their laughter broke against an irreverent tone:
"Have you smelled this unbearable perfume?"
Lyra and Bon Bon's eyes fell on the speaker, namely the eldest of the orphans, Raspberry Dawn.
"Actually this strawberry and…and…" the earth pony began.
"Caviar!" concluded her wife, wrinkling her nostrils, "... Strawberry and caviar smell."
"Yeah… It's pretty strong." Bon Bon asserted.
"It's nauseous, like the pony that came here two days ago." Raspberry muttered, from above her eleven years of life spent in the orphanage.
"What pony?"
"A tramp…"
"Rasp! Mrs. Raven doesn't want us to say those words!" Fruity Rose, a ten-year-old zebra, scolded her.
"Yes yes, as you like!" Raspberry shrugged, "…Wearing makeup and jewels like she's going to a disco! She brought Updraft here and left, pretending to cry and leaving this awful scent trail behind!"
"Updraft?"
"It's the pegasus sleeping in the cradle." Liongriff, a nine-year-old hippogriff, informed them.
Lyra and Bon Bon approached the newborn. The little one was awake and warbling happily. He had deep indigo eyes, deep lilac fur, and a pretty tuft of light blue and turquoise hair. He had a calm and placid look, and he immediately captured the hearts of the two girls.
"He is Updraft." Raspberry confirmed.
"He's beautiful!" Lyra exclaimed, taking him in her arms and cradling him a little.
"Hello, little wonder! I am Bon Bon and she is Lyra. We will be your mothers!"
A single glance was enough to bring the two spouses to an agreement. Updraft would become their son.
Shortly after, the two ponies went to Miss Raven's office.
"You decided?" asked them the unicorn with probing eyes.
"Yes!" the two girls answered in unison, holding each other by the hoof and exhibiting a radiant smile.
"Who would you have chosen?"
"Little Updraft."
"Ah, him… Two days ago he was abandoned here by his biological mother. She was a model, and she didn't feel like giving up her job for this motherhood. I hope you wouldn't judge her."
Lyra and Sweetie nodded with a light gesture, even though it remained an agonizing choice for them.
"Updraft is six months old, he's a pegasus and he doesn't have any particular health problems or needs. He doesn't cry too much, he's a cheerful and gluttonous child. I believe he will be the perfect son for you."
Finally, the austere director allowed herself to smile, handed the girls the adoption papers and sealed everything with a warm squeeze of her hoof.
Lyra and Bon Bon had officially become mothers.