“Hey, Toffee, could you help me with this plank?”
Caramel groaned. As a worker for a construction company, he had built plenty of houses in his time. Now, his coworker, Hard Hat was asking for more help. Hard Hat was a modest red stallion with a mustache, and true to his name, he was oft seen wearing a hard hat.
Caramel grabbed a plank of wood to give to Hard Hat, he looked Hard Hat dead in the eyes. He hated that name, it was a name that he never liked in the first place. One that harkened back to a time in his life where he felt uncomfortable in his body and wanted to get out by any means possible, including death.
“Yeah, sure,” Caramel said. He didn’t have the guts to say anything about the name. He didn’t want to correct anypony when they didn’t mean to say anything delegitimizing or uncomfortable..
Unfortunately, Hard Hat was already looking away and not paying attention. “Thanks for the help, Toffee, I’m going to have to talk to the boss about raising your pay. You’re always so helpful.”
“I can talk to the boss myself about this,” Caramel muttered.
“Really? I was just going to put your name in, the boss would take care of it pretty easily.”
“No,” Caramel groaned, again, he couldn’t say anything. He could only think, and right now, he was thinking. It’s because my name isn’t Carmel. He’s also told the boss about his name anyways, he didn’t know if the boss listened.
Hard Hat looked at Caramel intensely, “Whatever floats your boat, Toffee.”
Caramel turned away, broken up inside, and started to work on his sector of the building again.
“See you around!” Hard Hat said.
Caramel walked away to work on his sector of the building again. By the time Caramel had gotten his part of the building up, it was time for lunch.
He had the same old same old, a couple sandwiches, a lot of water, and most other construction workers had the same. He’s been doing this job for a while, and he’d packed his lunch the same way everytime. It was boring, but it got the job done.
He’d input ‘Toffee’ into the sign-up sheet because he was too nervous to use his actual name. It didn’t matter that he already looked like a stallion, because transitioning was quick and easy in Equestria, he was still nervous. Despite letting ponies know that he didn’t like that name, they never seemed to take it to heart.
Caramel ate his lunch in silence. Apparently, somepony noticed.
“Hello, Toffee,” a stallion with some pronounced stubble said.
“Hey, Rivet,” Caramel said, feeling constrained by the name that had just been uttered.
“You know, you do really well.”
“Thanks, Hard Hat already gave me the bit today,” Caramel mentioned halfheartedly.
“Did he actually mean it, though? Because let me tell you, you’re a killer worker.”
“I’d assume so,” Caramel mumbled. I can’t be sure if anyone using the name Toffee is being sincere at all. He added with his mind.
Rivet looked around. “We should get going back to work soon, anything else you’re up to?”
“Not really,” Caramel said, but there was more, there was always more. More things he could never say.
Rivet got up, and Caramel followed him. He was prepared to work on more construction.
Ponies kept telling him he was a good worker, but he wasn’t sure if he was. Maybe someday, perhaps, they’d make him truly feel better. Better than an aside comment when they called him by the wrong name.
Caramel went right back to work, and the rest of the day went on much the same. Some ponies would ask for help, some pointing and yelling, some calling him out by the wrong name. Most of the time, he’d just keep to his section and ponder why the heck he was using a different name in the first place.
What was the point of a name if nopony used it?
When work was over and the night was breaking, Caramel left the site. He was prepared to go home and sit in darkness and contemplate whether or not the happiness of not being uncomfortable in one’s body was worth the pain of constantly being called the wrong name.
As he was walking away from the site, he gave a long sigh. Maybe tomorrow would be better. He wandered the streets of Ponyville for a bit, trying to think about things. Somehow, he managed to walk past a a pony he used to talk to back in high school, a pegasus named Thunderlane. A black pegasus with a mohawk cut, he was a fun pony to hang with, at least as far as Caramel could recall.
“Hey, Toffee.” he said, almost nonchalantly.
Caramel sighed. He had to take a long look at Thunderlane, but he recognized him. “Hello, Thunderlane,” he said, exasperated.
“What’s gotten your feathers in a mesh?” Thunderlane asked, before noticing his conversational partner was an earth pony. “Or whatever your guys’ phrase is. But still, you seem a little off.”
“It’s nothing,” Caramel said.
“Come on, you can spit it out. I mean, I notice that you’re a stallion now, pretty sure you were a mare in high school, anything else I should be aware of?”
Upon realizing that his old friend was completely fine with that fact, Caramel said, “I don’t really like Toffee, I prefer Caramel.”
“Caramel... Caramel.” Thunderlane said, trying out the name. Caramel waited with baited breath. “I like it! Well, let’s try that again, hello, Caramel!”
Caramel stopped in his tracks before he realized that Thunderlane was being completely serious. “Sorry, you just caught me off-guard with the name there.”
“You said that you preferred to be called that.”
“I know, but literally nopony else does. Most just say they understand and are calling me Toffee the next day. My coworkers at the construction site do it all the time. It doesn’t really make me have a good day.”
“Well, I hope the day gets better. You deserve it, considering all the time we spent together didn’t feel like it was wasted.”
“It’s just, hearing you pronounce my name so casually, and saying you like it no less. Like, I told you and you actually listened. It helps... it makes the day...” Caramel started.
“Would you say it’s a good day?” Thunderlane asked?
“No, but I’d say it’s a whole lot better,” Caramel said. “There’s still the others. But still, I need to get home, get prepared for another day at work. What are you doing out here anyways?”
Thunderlane looked at him, “I’ve just been surveying the weather, but you know what? I’ll come with you.
“Caramel.”
It didn’t take long for the two to become friends again. All it took was an understanding hoof.