> Your Name
>  by Zeck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> First Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sweetie Drops stood at the front of the school, a lump forming in her throat as she stared at the building. It felt as big as the apple her mom had given her for breakfast, and for a terrifying moment, she was afraid she hadn’t chewed enough and the apple was now stuck in her throat. Oh no! That would be so embarrassing. Walking around on the first day of school with a huge lump in her throat. All the other ponies would tease her for sure! She had to get that apple down!
Sweetie Drops closed her blue eyes and focused on her throat. She took a deep breath and then swallowed. She didn’t feel the apple slide back down her throat, but it did go away. She sighed and opened her eyes again, her smile returning instantly.
Another thought passed through her head then, and she quickly ran her hoof over her forehead. Her blue and pink bangs brushed her fur as she wiped her face, and when her hoof came back dry, she felt her body become as soft as last night’s pudding. Good. She didn’t want to go to school like that on her first day either. She would have preferred to have the apple stuck back in her throat than that other…thing. 
“Sweetie Drops, are you ready for your big day?” her mom asked. 
“Yes Mom,” Sweetie Drops said, looking up at her mom and smiling. She was nervous, and being nervous was bad. She knew it was bad because of what it did to her. But her mom was here, and if anything went wrong, her mom would protect her. That made the nervousness much less, and kept her condition under control. 
“That’s my big girl,” her mom said, rubbing her hoof through Sweetie Drop’s hair. “Now get your bag. I’ll walk you to class and we can meet your new teacher.”
Sweetie Drops bent down and wiggled herself into her saddlebags. She stood up and the strap fell perfectly across her back. She looked at them and smiled. They were blue with a pink swirl in the middle of each bag, and her mom had made sure to stich the swirl into the shape of her favorite candy. She was also hoping that her mom had stuffed some extra sweets into her bag for her first day of school. 
Sweetie Drops took another deep breath, then looked up at her mom and smiled. “I’m ready, Mom.”
With that, Sweetie Drops took her first step onto the schoolyard. Her eyes tried to drink in every detail as she walked. There was a jungle gym off to the side, with perhaps the tallest swing set she had ever seen. And the slide was taller than her mom by far, which meant Sweetie Drops would go really fast when she went down it. She decided that would be the first thing she would have to try once playtime came.
There was a sandbox over to the side of playground, along with a merry-go-round. Several fillies and colts her age were spinning on it, trying to make it go faster. Sweetie Drops thought that looked rather dangerous, and she winced when a unicorn lost his balance and fell off. He rolled across the ground a few times, but stood up right away and dashed back to jump on the twirling object. 
Sweetie Drops decided the merry-go-round could be toward the bottom of her list of things to try. 
After she finished marveling at the playground—it was so big compared to her own playset at home—her eyes turned toward the school. It was tall. Very tall. Taller than her house, and taller than her neighbors’ homes too. It was probably the tallest building she had ever seen, outside of the stores in what her mom called the heart of the city. Sweetie Drops had been to that part of the city many times, and she had never seen a heart. She didn’t understand why her mom kept calling it that.
The school also wasn’t as tall as the Princess’ castle. Sweetie Drops had only seen it from afar, but she knew no building in the entire world could be as tall as that.
Still, the school was very tall. She stopped as she stared up at it, then put her hoof out to see if she could reach the top. Her hoof could barely reach the tip of the building, but try as she might, she couldn’t get it to cover the school bell. Yep. The building was very tall.
It was also made of very white stone, with giant columns at the top of the grey steps that Sweetie Drops now stood at the bottom off. At the top of the columns were letters, and she knew those letters formed words, but she couldn’t read them yet. She was getting good at reading—her mom said so—but these were big words, and she could only read small words so far. But she knew what the words were. Her mom had told her.
Canterlot Fillies and Colts. 
Mom had told her that all the ponies her age would be going here, and that she’d probably make lots of new friends. Sweetie Drops hoped her mom was right as she climbed the steps. She didn’t want to be in such a big school without any friends. It would be super lonely. 
When they reached the top of the steps, Sweetie Drops saw two massive doors that were wide open. There were lots of ponies inside the building. Some of them were her age, while others were older. Some looked like they were even as old as her mom. And a lot of them were wearing clothes. Sweetie Drops thought that the ponies with clothes on were probably teachers, but she was confused when she saw other moms and dads with clothes on too. And even some fillies. Clothes had never made much sense to her. She liked to be able to run around free without feeling constrained, but Mom had said that a lot of ponies in Canterlot put a great deal of worth on appearances. 
“Wow, she doesn’t have her cutie mark yet,” Sweetie Drops heard a voice say. She immediately turned in the direction of the voice. Two boys were standing off to the side and pointing at a little girl who was ahead of Sweetie Drops. Sweetie Drops looked, and sure enough, the girl ahead of her didn’t have her cutie mark. The boys started laughing, and Sweetie Drops decided that she didn’t like them. All ponies got cutie marks eventually. Why did those boys think it was funny that the girl didn’t have one yet? Did they honestly believe she wouldn’t get one?
“Hey! You leave her alone!” another voice said. Sweetie Drops looked over and saw a group of girls stomping toward the two boys. Some of them had cutie marks, others didn’t, but they were all looking angry as the marched toward the boys. The boys looked at them once, and then bolted down a side hall. 
“Make sure you don’t behave like that, dear,” Mom said as she walked. “Teasing other ponies is never okay. If your teacher told me that you did such an awful thing, you wouldn’t get any dessert for a month.”
Sweetie Drops suddenly felt very dizzy. No dessert for a month? She looked down at her own cutie mark—which she was very proud of and had just received a few weeks ago—and decided that she would never tease another pony. She couldn’t live that long without dessert. 
As Sweetie Drops and her mom continued to walk through the hall of the school, the filly noticed that there were less and less ponies around. The ones she did see where all her age now, and they were all walking very closely to their moms or dads. None of them were talking, and they were all looking at each other and then hiding behind their parents’ legs whenever they made eye contact. 
“Ah, here we are,” Mom said with a smile. “Room one oh four. Mrs. Bloom’s room.”
“That sounds…what did you say it was, Mom?” Sweetie Drops asked. Something about those last two words was funny, and Sweetie Drops liked the way they sounded in her head.
“They rhyme, Sweetie Drops,” Mom said. 
“Rhyme,” Sweetie Drops repeated, memorizing the word. “And…what does rhyme mean?”
“My, aren’t you full of questions on your first day,” a pony said as Sweetie Drops and her mom entered the classroom. “Rhyme means that the words sound alike. I like it because it makes it easy for my students to remember me. Bloom’s Room.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Bloom,” Mom said. Sweetie Drops looked over and saw a mare standing in front of a chalkboard with a smile on her face. She was a pretty shade of red with an orange mane that was all curly. She was a unicorn, because Sweetie Drops could see the horn poking out from under the curls. 
“Good morning Mrs. Sweets,” Mrs. Bloom said. “And this must be…”
Sweetie Drops cleared her throat. Mom had said that she needed to make a good first impression with her teacher. “My name is Sweetie Drops, Mrs. Bloom. My mom said that I needed to introduce myself so you would remember me.”
“Oh, well I haven’t forgotten a student yet, but I’ll make sure I keep you in mind,” Mrs. Bloom said as she closed one eye toward Mom. What did that mean?
“Okay Sweetie Drops, you make sure you behave for Mrs. Bloom, okay?”
“Of course,” Sweetie Drops said with a smile. Then, she realized the tone of her mother’s voice. “Wait. Mom…are…are you leaving me?”
“Of course I am silly,” Mom said as she ruffled Sweetie Drops’ mane. “I can’t stay with you in school.”
“But, but…” Sweetie Drops’ mind was suddenly full of bubblegum, because she could not find the words she wanted to speak. Before she managed to clear her brain, her mom turned and walked out of the classroom, leaving Sweetie Drops stammering in front of Mrs. Bloom. 
“Alright, Sweetie Drops, go ahead and take your seat,” Mrs. Bloom said. She pointed to a chair and desk toward the back of the room and Sweetie Drops found her hooves carrying her there without her mind telling them to. In a moment, she was seated at her desk and her saddlebags were resting near her back hooves. 
This wasn’t good. She hadn’t realized that Mom wasn’t going to stay with her once she went to school! What was she supposed to do now? What if her condition started acting up? What if she needed to go to the bathroom? What if she was hungry for a snack? What if the other ponies teased her?
As if that thought was a magical phrase, the two colts from the hallway suddenly walked into the classroom. They were laughing quietly between themselves, but the moment they saw the teacher, the both stood up straight and stopped laughing.
“Good morning, Socket. Good morning, Bolt,” Mrs Bloom said.
“Good morning, Mrs. Bloom,” the two said together. 
“Take your seats, boys. Class is about to start.”
The boys nodded and started walking to their desks. To Sweetie Drops’ horror, she noticed that they were walking straight toward her. Her eyes darted left, then right. There were empty seats on both sides of her! Oh no. Were they going to sit next to her? She didn’t want them to. They weren’t nice. They had been teasing that poor filly in the hallway, and Sweetie Drops was certain they’d tease her too if they found out about her…problem. 
At the last second, one of the colts turned to the left and started walking behind his friend. The first one slid into the seat right next to Sweetie Drops, while the other boy sat down next to his friend. Well, at least they weren’t sitting on both sides. If worse came to worse, she supposed she could just turn in the other direction.
“Hey,” the boy sitting next to her said. Sweetie Drops pretended not to hear him, so he tapped her gently. “Hey.”
“Um…hello,” Sweetie Drops said, her ears going a little flat against her mane and her eyes darting between the boy and her desk.
“My name’s Socket,” the boy said. He was a dark brown pegasus with some sort of tool for a cutie mark. He flapped his wings once and smiled at her. It was the first time a smile had ever seemed mean to Sweetie Drops.
“And I’m Bolt,” the other boy said, tapping his chest. He was a unicorn with a light yellow coat, and his cutie mark was a bunch of those little metal things Dad was always using to build things.
“So what’s your name?” Socket asked. 
“Um…Swe-Sweetie D-Drops,” Sweetie Drops said, wishing she could burying herself in her desk. She didn’t like talking to these to colts. The way they were looking at her made her feel uncomfortable. They just looked…mean. 
“You got any candy, Sweetie Drops?” Socket asked. He held out his hoof in front of Sweetie Drops’ face and smiled that uncomfortable smile again. “Your cutie mark is candy, so I bet you have a lot of it. Give us some.”
“We’ll be your friends,” Bolt added as he poked his head over Socket’s shoulder.
“No,” Sweetie Drops said, scooting her saddlebag to the other side of her desk. “I do not want to be your friend. You two were mean to that filly in the hallway. You two aren’t nice.” She folded her forelegs across her desk and turned away, hoping her actions hadn’t caused her condition to start acting up.
“Tch, fine,” Socket said. “Whatever. Who wants to be friends with a girl anyway?”
Sweetie Drops held her breath, but that was the last thing Socket or Bolt said to her. She let the breath out slowly and turned toward the head of the class, doing her best to not look to her right, and waited for her first day of school to start.
As the last fillies and colts entered the room—most of them without their parents—and took their seats, Mrs. Bloom walked to the front of the class. She used her magic to pick up a piece of chalk and started writing her name on the chalkboard.
“Hello, everypony,” she said after she finished writing her name. “My name is Mrs. Bloom, and I’ll be your first-year teacher while you are at C.F.C. Please feel free to ask me any question you may have, or come and talk to me if you have any problems. Well, now that you all know who I am, how about you all introduce yourselves to me and your fellow classmates?”
Sweetie Drops felt her ears go completely flat. Her eyes went so wide that they felt like they were going to rip her face open. She also didn’t feel well all of a sudden. She felt like she had spun around on that merry-go-round outside for too long on top of not eating anything all day. Her hooves quaked and her mane was very itchy. She lowered her body as far as she could into her seat, then squished her neck down so that only her eyes were above her desk. She checked her fur and was relieved to find that at least her condition hadn’t acted up yet. If she could just keep herself calm, she would be okay.
The first student was called. The young unicorn pony opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Bloom stopped her. 
“Oh no, Minuette,” Mrs. Bloom said. “Come stand at the front of the class so everypony can see you.” No! Not that. Sweetie Drops was going to have a hard enough time talking in front of so many other ponies, but to do so in front of the classroom?
“Okay Mrs. Bloom!” The small blue unicorn got out of her seat and walked to the front of the class. She turned and smiled, and Bon Bon noticed that her smile wasn’t like Socket’s or Bolt’s. Minuette’s smile was nice and warm. It was also very white. “My name is Minuette! Nice to meet all of you,” she said.
How does she make it look so easy? Sweetie Drops thought as she tried in vain to sink further into her seat. 
One by one, Mrs. Bloom went down the isles, calling each pony to the front. Sweetie Drops watched hopelessly as the pony in front of her was called up, introduced himself, and then walked back to his seat.
“Okay, dear, your turn,” Mrs. Bloom said. Sweetie Drops didn’t move, and a strange sound escaped her mouth.
“Hey you,” Socket whispered loudly. He jabbed her slightly with his hoof. “She’s talking to you. Get up there already.”
Sweetie Drops forced her hooves to move. She carefully put her hind legs on the ground, then put her forelegs down as well. She knew she was shaking, but she forced her limbs to keep her upright. She hung her head and stared at the floor as she slowly walked to the front of the classroom, each step feeling worse than the last.
Finally, the young filly reached the front of the class. She stood as close to Mrs. Bloom as she dared, and kept her head down so her mane covered her face. She felt her tail twitching behind her as she stood, petrified, in front of her classmates. 
“Well, Sweetie Drops?” Mrs. Bloom asked. “Aren’t you going to say hello?”
“H-Hello,” she whispered, not raising her head. That apple was back in her throat again, only this time it felt twice as big. And that meant…oh no!
“Not like that, honey,” Mrs. Bloom said. “Introduce yourself to your classmates.”
Sweetie Drops’ eyes had gone even wider now. She could feel her condition acting up. Her fur itched and the taste of salt came to her lips. She wanted to cry, but she knew that would only make it worse. Plus, she did not want the other ponies to think that she was a crybaby. That would only add to her misery. 
“Come now, dear,” Mrs. Bloom said, putting a hoof on Sweetie Drops’ back. Sweetie Drops tensed at the touch. Mrs. Bloom had touched her! She had felt her. She had to think Sweetie Drops was the most disgusting pony she’d ever seen now!
“Raise your head and say hello to your classmates,” Mrs. Bloom said, still keeping her hoof on Sweetie Drops’ back. How was she doing that? Wasn’t she disgusted? Didn’t she want to wash her hoof off the second she had touched her?
“M-My na-na-name is…is…” Sweetie Drops swallowed, trying to force the apple in her throat to go back down into her stomach where it belonged. She raised her head, trying to force it down, and suddenly realized her mistake. 
The young yellow filly froze. Her eyes locked with the entire class. They were all looking at her. They could all see her. Worse, they could see her sweating! She could feel the drops running down her face as the eyes dug into her. She could feel her coat getting matted by the second, and a small river running down between her eyes and hooking around her muzzle to end at the side of her mouth, adding to the salty taste. They were all thinking how gross she was now. She knew it!
“My…my name is…Sweetie Drops,” Sweetie Drops said in a voice that she didn’t think was her own.
“There, that wasn’t—oh.” Mrs. Bloom stopped as Sweetie Drops started back to her seat the moment she finished saying her name. She just needed to make it to her seat, then she could calm down and the sweating would stop. She’d be safe if she could just sit down and relax, and no pony would even remember what they had just—
“Sweetie Drops? More like Sweaty Drops,” Socket said in a loud whisper as Sweetie Drops neared her seat. The colt started laughing and Bolt quickly joined him. Several fillies and colts nearby also chuckled slightly.
“Class!” Mrs. Bloom said in a stern voice. “Behave yourselves.”
The laughing stopped, but Sweetie Drops didn’t move. She stood frozen again. The horror of what she had just heard made her feel sick. Why was Socket so mean? What had she done to him? 
“Sweetie Drops, please return to your seat,” Mrs. Bloom said from the front of the class. Sweetie Drops hung her head and resumed her long march back to her desk. 
“Hey, welcome back, Sweaty Drops,” Socket said as Sweetie Drops slid into her desk. “Careful, you don’t want to slip and fall out of your seat now.”
“Ha! Good one,” Bolt said.
Sweetie Drops lowered her head onto her desk and covered her face with her hooves. She did not like school. Mom had left her. Mrs. Bloom had made her get up in front of the entire class. All the kids were mean, and Socket and Bolt were especially mean. She hoped she didn’t have to come back tomorrow. She just wanted to stay home and make sweets with Mom.
The sweating had stopped, but Sweetie Drops felt a different type of liquid running down her face now. It started in her eyes, and then it trickled down her face until it fell onto her desk. 
She did not like school at all.
	
> First Fight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon Bon sat in the front row of the class. She had her pencil and notebook laid out in front of her. They were in the perfect positions on her desk, nice and straight and ready for her to take notes. Or draw. Mrs. Bloom let the class draw a lot. Her saddlebags were sitting squarely under her seat, tucked away so no pony would trip over them if they walked past, but easy enough for her to grab once recess came.
Recess. Recess was really the only part of school she still didn’t care for. It was the time when she was taken away from Mrs. Bloom and forced to go outside, away from the adult ponies and where Socket and Bolt could find her. Their teasing had died down a lot over the first two months of school—especially after Bon Bon had told on them—but they still came around and picked on her from time to time.
Bon Bon’s first day at school had been bad. Socket and Bolt had teased her relentlessly for the entire day, calling her Sweaty Drops over and over until she had broken down in tears. When she had finally gotten to go home, she had gone straight to her mom and told her everything that had happened. How the kids had picked on her, how everypony had made fun of her name, and how she didn’t want to be called Sweetie Drops anymore.
Her mom had done her best, but Bon Bon had refused to budge on the matter. So her mom had made a fresh batch of bonbons—Bon Bon’s favorite candy—and the two of them had eaten all of them except for one, which Mom had always let Bon Bon have.
But not that time. She had taken the last piece of candy and placed it on Bon Bon’s head, then said, “Sweetie Drops, you will always be my little girl, and so you’ll always be my Sweetie Drops. But look: Now you’re my little Bon Bon too.”
Bon Bon had gone by that name ever since that day, and even though she found herself slipping up and calling herself Sweetie Drops in her head sometimes, she had asked Mrs. Bloom to call her Bon Bon from now on. That had done the trick, as all the fillies and colts—except those two meanies in the back—now called her Bon Bon. It was as if the whole Sweaty Drops thing had been just a bad dream. 
Bon Bon had also asked for a new seat. Mrs. Bloom had been reluctant at first, asking Bon Bon why she had wanted a new seat, but once Bon Bon had told her that Socket and Bolt teased her, Mrs. Bloom had agreed to her request. And had a talking to with the two colts. That had made them even more upset at Bon Bon, but it had also made them back off.
Now Bon Bon sat in her new desk, right in front of Mrs. Bloom’s desk, waiting for class to begin. Most of the other children had already arrived and were in their seats, but Bon Bon noticed that the desk next to her was empty. She also noticed that there was, in fact, a desk next to her. That hadn’t been there yesterday. Was it the special desk? Or was it the time-out desk? Whatever type of desk it was, she hoped that Bolt or Socket didn’t get to sit in it. She didn’t want them coming up and teasing her again. 
“Good morning, my little ponies,” Mrs. Bloom said as she entered the room.
“Good morning, Mrs. Bloom,” Bon Bon said with the rest of the class. She noticed that a filly was trailing behind Mrs. Bloom. When the teacher stopped, Bon Bon had expected the filly to stop and hide behind her, but instead she kept on walking until she stood at the front of the class.
“Everypony, we have a new student joining us today,” Mrs. Bloom said. “She’s all the way from the other side of Canterlot. Why don’t you introduce yourself, sweetie?”
Bon Bon’s ear twitched slightly at the last word. She hoped the new student hadn’t noticed it too much. 
“My name is Lyra Heartstrings,” the filly said. She seemed to stand up straighter when she said her name, and her chest puffed out as she smiled confidently at the class. Bon Bon liked the colors of her coat and mane. They reminded her of mints, and she suddenly wanted to reach into her bag and see if she had any. Maybe the new pony would like a mint too.
Bon Bon also noticed that she had her cutie mark too. It was some sort of horseshoe, and a really strange one too because it had a bunch of lines going through it.
“Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Lyra?” Mrs. Bloom said. 
“I’m going to be the first pony to find humans!” Lyra said, puffing her chest out even further. 
There was a moment of silence, then everypony in the class burst out laughing. Bon Bon laughed too. She was almost seven years old. She had realized that humans were nothing but make believe creatures a long time ago. Stories that her mom used to tell her when she was a baby. How could this new pony still believe in such tales? Was she stupid? 
The laughter continued as Bon Bon closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling. Finally, a pony that Socket and Bolt could tease instead of her. There was no way they were going to leave Lyra alone after what she had just said. Bon Bon would be completely forgotten and she would finally be safe. 
“Class!” Mrs. Bloom’s shouted, silencing the laughter in a second. Bon Bon opened her eyes and suddenly felt very small as Mrs. Bloom’s gaze met the eyes of everypony present. “That is no way to greet your new classmate. I want you all to apologize this instant.”
“We’re sorry, Lyra,” the class said in hushed voices. 
“And, as such, you will all be taking a pop quiz on last night’s homework.” 
There was a lot of groaning, but Bon Bon was no longer paying attention.  Her eyes had fallen on Lyra. The mint-green unicorn was still standing at the front of the class, her stance still tall and her chest still puffed out and the smile still on her face. She looked as if the teasing hadn’t bothered her in the slightest, but then Bon Bon saw her eyes. She recognized the look in them as they stared out, unseeing, at the class. She recognized it because it was the same look Bon Bon had had when  everypony had made fun of her name.
Is…is that what I did? Bon Bon thought as dread filled her being. Oh no! If Mom finds out that I teased another pony, she’ll take away my desserts! She immediately bent down and dug through her bag, trying to find the pieces of candy her mom had no doubt put in her saddlebags. 
“Lyra, why don’t you sit next to Sweet—I mean, Bon Bon up front, okay?” Mrs. Bloom said and Bon Bon’s heart felt lighter. Good. If Lyra was sitting next to her, then she could apologize properly, and then Lyra wouldn’t tell Mom and Bon Bon would get to keep her desserts. Now, if only she could find…
Bon Bon’s hoof found her snack bag and she pulled out a mint that was the same color as Lyra’s coat. Good. Lyra was sure to forgive her now. As the unicorn walked over to the desk, Bon Bon smiled and held out her hoof.
“Hi, my name’s Bon Bon,” she said. Lyra glanced at her once, then sat down in her seat. That wasn’t right. “Um…would you like some candy? It’s really good. My mom and I made it.”
Lyra turned away and stared at the wall, but she put her hoof out and took the mint. Bon Bon was happy about that, until Lyra just placed it on the desk and continued to look away. That wasn’t right either. She was supposed to eat it. Did she not like candy? Or did she just not like mints?
“Um…do you not want it?” Bon Bon asked in a whisper.
“Just leave me alone,” Lyra said, still looking away. “You’re no different than all the other ponies I’ve ever met. All you do is laugh at me.”
“But I—”
“Don’t say you didn’t,” Lyra said, turning on Bon Bon and giving her a look that made Bon Bon scoot back in her chair a bit. “I saw you. You were right in front of me. You think I’m weird, just like everypony else. Well guess what. I don’t care. I don’t need you, and I don’t need anypony else.” She swept her hoof across her desk and the mint fell to the floor and rolled away. 
Bon Bon suddenly didn’t feel very well. She had a strange feeling in her stomach. It was like when she had been asked to speak in front of the class, but it was different. This sensation made her uncomfortable in another way. Her stomach felt hollow, and her cheeks were warm. Her eyes hurt, and she noticed that her mouth was hanging open and she had her front hoof reaching out slightly. She suddenly didn’t care about her mom taking away her dessert for a month. She felt that, if Lyra told her mom, she would be…happy? Was that it? It didn’t seem right, but that was the only word she could come up with.
“Um, I—”
“Okay class, take out a sheet of paper and your pencils,” Mrs. Bloom said before Bon Bon could finish…what was she about to say anyway? The words weren’t there. “Lyra, sweetie, you don’t have to take the pop quiz. You may just color if you wish.” Lyra nodded, but didn’t move to get her paper or crayons. 
At a lost for what to do about the mint unicorn or the feelings she had, Bon Bon pulled out a sheet of paper and readied herself for the pop quiz. She decided that it wasn’t too bad. She had done her reading homework like Mrs. Bloom had said, but her mind was barely registering the questions. As she gave her sheet to Mrs. Bloom, she again looked over at the unicorn sitting next to her. She had her forelegs crossed across her chest and was staring at the wall, refusing to look at Bon Bon or anypony else. Why did that bother Bon Bon so much? 
“Okay my little ponies,” Mrs. Bloom said as the last of the quizzes were turned in. “It’s time for recess. Go outside and play while I grade your quizzes. And remember to be nice.”
Perfect! Bon Bon thought as a smile came to her face. She bent down and began to pull her saddlebags out from under her seat. I can talk to Lyra and—
Bon Bon looked up, but the unicorn was gone. Bon Bon looked to the door just in time to see a flash of white and green disappearing through the doorway. Maybe she should leave Lyra alone. She clearly didn’t want anything to do with Bon Bon or anypony else. But the look in her eyes was so sad, and Bon Bon still felt funny about talking to the unicorn. No, she decided as she slid her saddlebags on, she would go and try to talk to Lyra again. She had to get this feeling to go away.
Bon Bon walked out the door, following the flow of her classmates as they all made their way outside.  Once the were outside, everypony split into groups and dashed off. Some went to play on the playground, others went to play in the field with balls, and some just went and sat down to talk to each other. Bon Bon herself began looking around for the mint unicorn. 
“Can you believe she still believes in humans?” she heard one of her classmates whisper. Bon Bon immediately turned to her classmate and saw that she was whispering to a friend and pointing. Bon Bon followed the invisible line the hoof made.
Lyra was by herself in the sandbox. She was furiously digging in the sand, putting shovelfuls into a nearby bucket and then dumping the bucket in another area of the sandbox. Bon Bon swallowed and then made her way over to her. 
“Um…” Bon Bon said as she walked up, suddenly at a loss for words. “H-Hi,” she stammered. 
“What do you want?” Lyra asked, not looking up from the hole she was digging. 
“Well, uh…” Bon Bon’s mind raced as she tried to form sentences from the words she knew. “What…what are you doing?” she asked finally.
“Why do you care?” Lyra asked, still not looking up at her. “You’ll just laugh at me again,” she said in a much quieter voice.
“No I won’t,” Bon Bon said, and she meant it with all her heart. “I promise.”
Lyra stopped digging and looked up at her. Her eyes were a little red. Had she gotten sand in them from digging so much? “I’m looking for human arty-tacts.” 
“Oh,” Bon Bon said. She was not sure what an arty-tact was, but she was making sure she didn’t laugh. Not that she wanted to, but she was putting all of her effort into keeping even a smile off of her face.
“Well?” Lyra asked, still staring up at her. “Aren’t you going to laugh like you did in class?”
“Of course not!” Bon Bon said, frowning. How dare Lyra think she was lying about that! How rude! 
“Well, then what do you want?” the unicorn asked, going back to digging and lowering her head. 
“Um…” What did Bon Bon want? She wanted this feeling in her body to go away, but she didn’t want to say that to Lyra. She’d think she was weird. “C-Can I…join you?” she asked before she realized what she was doing.
“Really?” Lyra asked, her head shooting up and her eyes becoming so wide that Bon Bon thought they were going to pop out of her head. “You mean it?”
“Well, I don’t know what an arty-tact is, but I can help you dump the sand,” Bon Bon said, stepping into the sandbox and sitting down next to the bucket. It was halfway full, so she picked it up and dumped the sand where Lyra had been dumping it. 
“Thanks,” Lyra said, a smile spreading across her face. Bon Bon felt the feeling in her stomach shrink when she saw the smile. So that was how to get rid of the feeling. She just needed to make Lyra smile more.
“Do you want a piece of candy?” she asked as Lyra put another shovelful into the bucket. “I…I have some extra ones. Chocolates, mints, and a lot of other sweets.”
“I’ll take a mint please, uh…” Lyra stopped digging and looked up, scratching the back of her neck as she smiled. “I…I don’t know you’re name. Mrs. Bloom said it, but I wasn’t paying attention.
“My name is Swe—” Bon Bon stopped herself. She didn’t want Lyra to know about her name. What if she made fun of her like Socket and Bolt? “My name is Bon Bon,” she said with a smile as she pulled out a mint. 
“My name’s Lyra,” Lyra said as she scooted across the sand and sat down next to Bon Bon. Bon Bon held out the mint and Lyra bent down and ate it right off of her hoof. Bon Bon almost said something about how weird that was, but the smile on Lyra’s face kept her from saying anything. She was happy that she could make Lyra smile. 
“So, do you like it?” she asked as Lyra closed her eyes and continued to suck on the mint.
“Mm-hm,” the unicorn said. She bit down after a moment and Bon Bon heard the sound of the mint snapping in Lyra’s mouth before she swallowed it and opened her eyes. “Um…thanks,” she said, looking at the sand.
“For the mint?” Bon Bon asked. “I have plenty more if you want some.”
“No, not that,” Lyra said as she picked up her shovel and started digging, much slower this time. “For…for talking to me. Most ponies never talk to me, or they tease me. They think I’m weird. I…my parents had to move me to this school because I kept getting in fights at my old one.” A tear ran down Lyra’s cheek and Bon Bon felt the feeling returning to her stomach. She needed to act fast if she was to hold it off.
“Well, I’ll be your friend,” Bon Bon said. Lyra looked up and smiled, and the feeling vanished as Bon Bon looked at her. She liked making Lyra smile, and she liked the feeling it gave her. Plus, she didn’t have many friends herself, so she was happy to finally make one.
“Well well, look who it is,” a voice said from behind Bon Bon and she felt the happiness flee from her body.  She didn’t want to turn around now. 
“What are you two doing?” said another voice, and Bon Bon’s ears drooped even lower. Why did they have to be here?
“It’s none of your business,” Lyra said, turning around and glaring up at the ponies behind her. Bon Bon did the same, but she kept her head down and only looked up with her eyes.
Socket and Bolt were standing at the edge of the sandbox, both of them wearing those mean smiles they always had on whenever they spoke to Bon Bon. 
“Hey, watch how you talk to me,” Socket said, stepping into the sandbox with Bolt right behind him. “I don’t need to take that from some human-believing baby.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t have to listen to meanies like you!” Lyra said, standing up on all fours as the two colts drew closer. “Leave us alone.”
“It’s a free playground,” Bolt said. “We just want to dig in the sand.”
“No you don’t,” Bon Bon said as she stood up, a strange feeling coming over her again. “You just want to make fun of us.”
“Oh, what’s the matter, Sweaty Drops?” Socket asked with a mean look. Bon Bon felt the feeling she had felt just moments before disappear and she hung her head. “Are we picking on your new friend?”
“Leave her alone!” Lyra said, stepping in front of Bon Bon. Bon Bon looked up to see Lyra’s tail swishing before her eyes. “You two need to leave us alone right now.”
“Oh, is she your marefriend?” Socket asked, the teasing in his voice becoming almost unbearable. Bon Bon felt her face go red from embarrassment. Why were Socket and Bolt so mean?
“And if she is?” Lyra asked, and Bon Bon felt the blood drain from her face. Did Lyra know what a marefriend was? Did she understand what she was saying?
“Ew, that’s gross!” Bolt said, sticking his tongue out as Socket made a face too. “You’re both girls!”
“So?” Lyra asked. “Who said girls can’t be friends?” 
Bon Bon felt relief flood her body. Okay, so Lyra didn’t know what marefriend meant. She was just standing up for Bon Bon. Confidence came back into her then and she stepped forward so she was next to Lyra.
“Yeah,” she said. “She’s my friend. My best friend!”
“Oh yeah?” Socket said. “Well, if you love her so much, kiss her.”
“What?” Bon Bon shouted, her face going red and her ears standing up so straight that they started to hurt. “W-Why would…I mean…I don’t see you and Bolt kissing!” She smiled a little when she saw the two colts trip on the words a little. 
“We’re not the ones saying we’re a couple!” Socket shouted back, much louder than before. “Well? Go on. If you two love each other so much, then why don’t you—“
Bon Bon started to turn to Lyra to see how her friend, her best friend, was handling the teasing. Socket and Bolt were such mean ponies, and she didn’t want Lyra to start crying because of them. As her face turned, she noticed that Lyra was looking straight at her. Bon Bon started to open her mouth to comfort her friend, but Lyra moved too fast.
Before Bon Bon knew what was happening, Lyra kissed her right on the lips. Her eyes went wide and she froze from shock. It was just a quick kiss, faster than the ones her mom would give her on the cheek, but it left her brain in complete chaos. Why had Lyra done that?
“EWWWWWW!” Socket and Bolt said at the same time, and Bon Bon slowly returned to the present. “You two kissed! You’re both freaks! You deserve her, Sweaty Drops! You’re both disgusting! I can’t believe you—”
“Bon Bon,” Lyra said, her voice very quiet but also sounding very angry.
“What did you say, freak?” Socket asked.
“Her name is Bon Bon,” Lyra said. Bon Bon noticed that the unicorn was shaking. “Stop calling her that right now.”
“I’ll call Sweaty Drops whatever I want,” Socket shouted. “Sweaty Drops, Sweaty Drops, Sweaty Drops!”
“Say you’re sorry right now,” Lyra said and Bon Bon noticed that she was shaking even more. “Say it, or I’ll make you sorry.”
“And what are you—” Socket never got a chance to finish what he was saying. One moment, Lyra was standing next to Bon Bon, next she had tackled Socket into the sand and was pulling on his mane with her teeth. Socket screamed and Bolt instantly jumped in, slamming his body into Lyra’s side. The unicorn fell down, tearing a chunk out of Socket’s mane, and Bon Bon felt anger boiling up inside her.
How dare Bolt hurt Lyra! 
Without thinking, Bon Bon jumped. She crashed into Bolt, knocking him to the ground. Sand flew up around them and Bon Bon felt some of it go into her eyes, but she didn’t care. She raised her front hooves and brought them down on Bolt’s face, chest, and hooves. She swung again and again, smiling as the bully let out little wails 
Suddenly, she felt something tugging at the back of her mane. It was tugging hard too. Bon Bon looked over her shoulder and saw Socket pulling on her mane as hard as he could, a scary look on his face. 
More tears came to Bon Bon’s eyes as Socket continued to pull, and she suddenly felt something slam into her stomach, but then Lyra knocked Socket to the ground, freeing Bon Bon’s mane. She turned back to Bolt, still pinned beneath her, and caught his front hoof in her eye. Bon Bon screamed, more angry than hurt, and began beating on Bolt even more, ignoring the blows that he was giving her.
She didn’t stop until a teacher came and lifted her into the air with magic. “Principle’s office,” the teacher said, an angry look on his face. “All of you.”
Bon Bon looked over and saw that Lyra was floating in the air beside her. She was gasping for breath and blood was running from her nose, but she had a smile on her face as she looked over at Bon Bon.
Bon Bon couldn’t help but smile back, even though she knew she was about to be in serious, big-time, grounded-for-the-rest-of-her-life trouble.
The four fillies spent the rest of their school day in the school’s office. Socket and Bolt sat as far away from Bon Bon and Lyra as they possibly could in the small room. They kept giving the two fillies mean looks, but all the girls had to do was look at them and then shrank back. They were both a complete mess, with Socket having some nasty cuts along his face and sides and missing a chunk from his mane, and Bolt sporting not one, but two black eyes. Bon Bon smiled to herself as she realized she had been the one to give him those.
Of course, she and Lyra didn’t look much better. Lyra’s nose had stopped bleeding, but she still had a piece of tissue stuck up her nose. Her mane was a complete mess and a bruise was starting to show on her left cheek. For her part, Bon Bon’s front hooves were starting to ache, even with the icepack the teacher had given her, and her face was sore right below the jaw from where Bolt had hit her. She didn’t want to look in a mirror to see what she looked like now.
Socket and Bolt were called into the principle’s office first. When they went in, Lyra scooted closer to Bon Bon on the bench they were sharing.
“Sorry about all of this,” she whispered, hanging her head and kicking her hooves as they dangled over the edge. She sure sat funny. 
“It’s okay,” Bon Bon said, trying to cheer her friend up. “They’re always mean anyway, so they deserved it.”
“Yeah, but…” Lyra looked up and Bon Bon was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “You’ve…you’ve never been a fight before, have you?”
“No,” Bon Bon said, blushing a little. “Did…did I do good?”
Lyra’s face lit up. “Are you joking? You did amazing! The way you taclked that jerk, that was fantastic!” Bon Bon felt her face blush even more, but then the sad look returned to Lyra’s face. “But, um…now we’re going to get in trouble, and I’m probably going to have to…” 
“Have to what?” Bon Bon asked.
“Nothing,” Lyra said, wiping her hoof across her face. “Hey, Bon Bon? Thanks…for being my friend.”
“Sure!” Bon Bon said with a smile, but inside she felt sad. Why did it seem like Lyra was saying good-bye to her?
Socket and Bolt came out of the principle’s office then. They each shot a mean look toward the fillies, but then they quickly disappeared out the door with their heads down and their tails between their legs. 
“Girls,” came a deep voice from the room Socket and Bolt had just exited. “Please come in here.”
Bon Bon suddenly felt very nervous. She tried to stand, but her head began to spin, as if she’d been going around in circles too fast. She started to fall, but then a hoof caught her on the side. She looked over and saw Lyra propping her up. She had a smile on her face, but it was a sad smile. Bon Bon smiled back, hoping to change it to a happy smile.
The two fillies sat down in front of the principle’s desk. He was a rather big pony, with a round belly and a thinning mane grey mane. His name was Mister Tremble, and right now Bon Bon understood why he was called that.
“Bon Bon and…I believe you are Lyra Heartstrings, yes?” he said in a deep voice. It didn’t boom across the room, but Bon Bon knew he could make it do that if he wanted to. She was surprised that he had called her by her new name though.
“Yes sir,” Bon Bon said quietly. Lyra just nodded, not looking up. 
“Lyra, this is your first day with us, and you have already gotten into a fight,” Mr. Tremble said. “Not the best impression to make on your first day. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes,” Lyra said in a voice even quieter than Bon Bon’s. 
“And if I remember right, your parents had to move you to this school because you kept getting into fights at your old ones.” Bon Bon’s blood ran cold. Was Lyra going to be forced to leave because of this? That wasn’t fair! “You are not off to a good start here either, it seems.”
“It wasn’t her fault!” Bon Bon said, causing Lyra to jump a little. Mr. Tremble slowly turned his head until his piercing green eyes feel on Bon Bon and she suddenly realized how small she was. 
“Very well,” he said. “Tell me what happened. Socket and Bolt said you two attacked them.”
“No!” Bon Bon said. “I-I mean, we did, but…but they deserved it!”
“That’s not true!” Lyra said. “I did it. I attacked them. Bon Bon only started fighting when both of them started attacking me. It was my fault.”
“I see,” Mr. Tremble said, his eyes going back and forth between the two mares. “Tell me, Bon Bon. What makes you think they deserved it? We take fighting at this school very seriously, and hardly ever is it justified.”
“Well, they were…they were teasing us,” Bon Bon said quietly. “Mommy says that hitting another pony is wrong, but they wouldn’t stop. They called us names.”
“Names?” Mr. Tremble asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Lyra said. “They kept calling Bon Bon Sweaty Drops, even after I told them to stop. They also said we were gross and called us freaks.” Bon Bon’s ears perked up slightly at that last name. Socket and Bolt had called them that, after Lyra had kissed her. Bon Bon had completely forgotten about that until now.
“And you think that makes it okay to hit them?” Mr. Tremble asked, his voice going slightly deeper and causing Lyra to sink all the way into her seat.
“No,” Bon Bon whispered. 
“I have contacted your parents,” Mr. Tremble said. “You are both being sent home for today, and you will both be suspended for an additional day.”
“Suspended?” Bon Bon asked. “What does that mean?”
“It means you cannot come back to school tomorrow,” Mr. Tremble said. “Socket and Bolt were suspended for three days. Those two are constantly causing problems, and I feel it is time their parents had a long talk with them.”
“So…we’re not in trouble?” Bon Bon asked, hope again returning to her body. Staying home from school for one day didn’t sound bad at all. If fact, she didn’t think it was fair that Socket and Bolt got to stay home even longer, when they were the ones who started it.
“Oh no,” Mr. Tremble said, crushing the hope. “You two are most certainly in trouble. You forget, Bon Bon, that you will have to talk to your parents about this, and I am certain your day off from school will not be the happy experience you are thinking about. You two may go now. Your parents have arrived. I expect you both back in class the day after tomorrow. And Miss Heartstrings? No more fighting. I am tolerant, but it would be wise not to push my limits.”
“Yes sir,” Lyra said as she and Bon Bon stood up and walked out of the room. 
They walked out of the office, Lyra’s head still hanging very low and Bon Bon wondering what she could do to make her friend smile again, when she saw her mom waiting for her. She did not look happy.
“Young lady, you have some serious explaining to do when we get home,” Mom said in a tone of voice Bon Bon rarely heard. “And you can forget about any sweets for two months. Your room is going to be spotless too, because you are going to spend the rest of today and all day tomorrow cleaning it. And the rest of the house. And if you finish that, I’ll find more stuff for you to do. You are in very big trouble.”
“Yes, Mom,” Bon Bon whispered. She looked over to say good-bye to Lyra, but saw that the unicorn had already walked over to her parents.
“Lyra, you can’t keep doing this,” her dad said. “We can’t send you to another school.”
“This is your last chance,” her mom added. “If you get kicked out of school here, we’ll have to move to a new city, and we can’t afford that right now.”
“I’m sorry, mother,” Lyra said.
“Honey, you need to learn to control your temper,” her dad said. “No pony is going to want to be your friend if you keep getting into fights with all of them. Don’t you want to have friends?”
Bon Bon couldn’t take it. She didn’t want Lyra’s parents to take her to another school, and she wanted to show them that Lyra did have a friend. So she walked over and stood beside her, then put her hoof around Lyra’s neck.
“Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Lyra’s Dad and Mom,” she said. Lyra’s head instantly jerked up. “I’m Lyra’s friend. In fact, I’m her best friend. She got into a fight because some colts were picking on me, and we beat them up real good, even though Mom says fighting is wrong. Please don’t take her to another school.”
“Is this true, Lyra?” her mom asked.
“Um, yes,” Lyra said, tears coming to her eyes. Oh no! Had Bon Bon made her cry again? She hadn’t meant to.
“Well then,” Lyra’s dad said with a smile. “I suppose that’s a good reason for you to stop getting into so many fights, right? You wouldn’t want to leave your best friend, would you?”
“No!” Lyra said, tears starting to stream down her face. Bon Bon began to panic. She needed to make Lyra stop crying right now because it was making her sad. But what could she do? All of her candy was in her saddlebags, and pretty soon she wasn’t going to be able to have any of that. What could she do?
An idea sprang into Bon Bon’s head. She turned her head and placed her lips on Lyra’s cheek. She kissed her quickly, tasting her tears as they came down from her eyes, and then wrapped her friend up in a hug. 
“Bye Lyra,” she said as she pulled out of the hug. “See you in a few days!” She walked away smiling. She was pretty sure she had made Lyra happy because her eyes had gone wide and she was touching the cheek Bon Bon had kissed, but she couldn’t be sure because Lyra was standing perfectly still too.
“That was very sweet of you, Sweetie Drops,” Mom whispered as Bon Bon walked back over.
“Mom, my name is Bon Bon!” she said as Mom ruffled the top of her head. 
“One month with no sweets,” Mom said as she started to walk out the door with Bon Bon. “And maybe, if you’re extra good, I’ll let you have dessert every now and then. But no more fighting! Do you understand?”
Bon Bon looked back over her shoulder as she went out the door. Lyra was smiling at her and waving, while her parents were just staring at their daughter and Bon Bon. Bon Bon waved back and smiled too. If Socket and Bolt picked on Lyra again, Bon Bon wasn’t sure she’d be able to not get into a fight, but she would try her best.
“Yes, Mom,” she said as she walked out of the school. 
	
> The Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon Bon stood in the kitchen of their apartment, staring at the counter in front of her. Today was the day. Today was the day she would finally work up the nerve to tell Lyra. They were best friends all through grade school and middle school, and in high school something had started to change. Now that they were in college, that feeling of friendship had blossomed into so much more. Bon Bon could not see her life without Lyra in it, and Lyra had made it painfully clear that she felt the same.
So why did Bon Bon feel sick to her stomach? She trusted Lyra completely, and Lyra trusted her the same. This wasn’t supposed to be so hard, and yet, as Bon Bon held her hoof in front of her face, the fact that it was trembling uncontrollably was proof that what she wanted to do was near impossible. 
She and Lyra had been together for over two years. They were well past the awkward stage of both of them being mares and were comfortable with each other. They knew what made the other one laugh or cry. Bon Bon knew exactly where to kiss Lyra behind the ear to make her collapse, and Lyra had found Bon Bon’s secret massage spot on the bottom of her neck with her magic. They had been living together for over a year. They shared a bed. For crying out loud, they had slept together countless times and just last night Lyra had used her magic to send Bon Bon to the moon, in a way.
So why was this so hard for her?
Bon Bon stomped her hoof on the kitchen floor harder than she meant to. A slight jolt of pain raced up her front leg, and that in turn only made her angrier. She swung her hoof across the counter, sending dishes spinning into the sink and onto the floor. She heard something break. When she looked down, she saw that a glass had shattered into several pieces.
“Why is this so hard?” she said as tears began to well up. “It’s easy. All you have to do is say, ‘By the way, I’ve been lying to you all these years. My name’s not Bon Bon. It’s Sweetie Drops.” Tears streaked down Bon Bon’s face as she said the words out loud and she wiped them away in anger. “‘But I hope that’s okay.’ Celestia, that sounds so stupid! What if she hates me?” 
Bon Bon sank to the floor and began to cry. She hadn’t meant to keep her name from Lyra. She didn’t even dislike her name anymore. It was just, the opportunity had never come up. All through grade school, she had been too embarrassed, and by the time she had gotten over it, things had never lined up right for the reveal. It had never seemed important. 
So why is it important now? she thought as she laid on the floor. She didn’t even know what had caused the feeling, but one night she had woken up with something eating away at her mind. She had rolled over and watched Lyra sleep when a thought had sprung into her head: Lyra doesn’t know your real name. That one thought had been consuming Bon Bon for over a month now, and if she didn’t do something about it, it would break her.
“But what am I supposed to do?” she whimpered. “What if she gets mad at me? What if she doesn’t want to be with me because she can’t trust me?” Even as the words left her mouth, the rational part of her brain told her how ridiculous that was, but her feelings wouldn’t back down. 
“Hey Bon Bon,” came Lyra’s voice from the doorway, “I’m home.” Bon Bon’s blue eyes went wide at the sound of her love’s voice. She couldn’t let Lyra see her like this! Lyra would think something was wrong and then she would keep pushing Bon bon until the truth came out. She wasn’t ready! She needed more time to compose herself.
“Hey, are you making snacks, because I’m…woah,” Lyra said as she entered the kitchen. “What happened?”
“Oh, um…I dropped a glass,” Bon Bon said, making sure she kept her face pointed away from Lyra so she wouldn’t see her tear-stained eyes. “I was just getting ready to clean it up.”
“Are you okay? You didn’t cut yourself, did you?” Lyra asked. “Because I can kiss it and make it better. Unicorn magic’s good for that sort of thing.”
Bon Bon felt a smile come to her face and her tears vanished. “No, I’m okay. Just give me a minute and I’ll get started on a snack.” She picked herself up and went to get a broom.
“Okay,” Lyra said. “Hey, do we have any ice?”
“It’s in the freezer,” Bon Bon replied as she began to sweet up the broken glass. 
“Thanks. I’ll be on the couch, resting.” Bon Bon heard Lyra open the freezer and gather some ice, but she still didn’t turn around to smile at her. She needed to make sure her eyes weren’t red anymore, so she finished cleaning up the spill and then began making a batch of cookies.  Fifteen minutes later, she was carrying a plate of fresh mint cookies with chocolate chips out to their living room.
“Here you go, Lyra,” Bon Bon said as she balanced the plate on her backside. “Fresh out of the oven. And they’re your favorite.”
“Great,” the unicorn said and she raised her head, causing the ice pack she had resting on her face to slide down her neck.
“Lyra,” Bon Bon groaned as she saw the bruise on her forehead. “Did you get into another fight?”
Lyra’s golden eyes looked at the floor. “Um…yes,” she said.
“Lyra!”
“But! I made a new friend!” she added quickly, holding up her hooves to stop Bon Bon. “I swear.”
Bon Bon narrowed her eyes. “Uh-huh,” she said skeptically. 
“I did!” Lyra protested. Lyra was…a difficult pony to get along with. Bon Bon had grown up with her so she knew all the unicorn’s weird little habits and how she acted, but other ponies didn’t. Lyra could be very annoying to a pony who wasn’t familiar with her. So her making a friend, especially after coming home with a huge bruise on her face, seemed highly unlikely. 
“And what is your friend’s name then?” she asked. 
“Um, well…” Lyra scratched behind her ear and refused to look Bon Bon in the eye. “You’re…not going to believe me.”
“I’m having a hard enough time of that already,” Bon Bon said, sitting down on the couch next to the unicorn. “Now give me a name.”
“Octavia Melody.”
“What?” Bon Bon shouted. Octavia? The mare that nearly every pony at the university, mare or colt, seemed to be attracted to? Bon Bon hated to admit it, but she even thought the mare was rather breathtaking, and because of that she avoided her whenever she could. Not that it was all that hard, since they barely had any classes together. 
Lyra, on the other hoof, was studying music and so had several classes with her. At first, Bon Bon had been worried that Lyra might end up being drawn to the earth pony, but Lyra had come home from the first day of class saying that Octavia was nothing but a stuck up music snob who didn’t feel music, no matter how good she played.
“Um, Lyra,” Bon Bon said carefully, those old jealousies suddenly resurfacing. “I…thought you didn’t like Octavia.”
“I didn’t,” Lyra said. “Her marefriend, uh…what’s her name? The white one with the blue mane?”
“Vinyl,” Bon Bon said, glad that Lyra at least remembered that Octavia had a marefriend—even if those two were too stubborn to admit it to each other. 
“Yeah, her!” Lyra said, her eyes lighting up. “She’s the one that gave me this bruise, after she heard me and Octavia fighting.”
“I’m still not hearing how you’re suddenly friends with that girl,” Bon Bon said, growing more relaxed now. It was clear she didn’t need to worry about losing Lyra. At least, not because Lyra would end up wandering away on her own. 
She might still leave if she finds out I’ve been lying to her though…
“Oh, well, Vinyl came up and slammed her head into mine really hard because I said Octavia’s music was boring.”
“That’s not very nice, Lyra,” Bon Bon said. “It’s that type of attitude that gets you in trouble so much.”
“But it’s the truth!” Lyra said, then quickly continued. “But that’s not the important part. Vinyl threated to make it so I couldn’t play my harp with my magic—”
“In which case Vinyl would have been in serious trouble,” Bon Bon said, remembering fondly what Lyra could do to Bon Bon with her magic, and what would happen to anypony who dared to take that away from her. But if Lyra herself chose to take that away, what would she do then? She didn’t want to think about it.
“When Octavia said that it’s called a lyre, not a harp!” Lyra’s eyes lit up at that, and Bon Bon could understand why. Ever since she had started playing, ponies had always called Lyra’s instrument a harp. It drove her nuts, to the point where Bon Bon had had to pull her away from several conversations before she tore a pony’s head off. 
“And bam! Just like that, we were friends!” Lyra continued. “It was great! We sat and talked about all sorts of music for hours. I think Vinyl got a little jealous, but we were comparing notes and theories, talking about our favorite artists, and all sorts of stuff.” Bon Bon smiled as she saw Lyra come to life, but at the same time she suddenly felt all those worries come welling back to the surface. She couldn’t tell Lyra her secret now. If she broke up with her, Lyra would go running straight to Octavia, and judging by the way the unicorn was talking about her, the two had a lot in common. 
“Bon Bon?” Lyra asked, and Bon Bon’s mind came snapping back from the dark places jealousy had taken it. “You still with me? You were getting kind of silent there.”
“Um, yes,” Bon Bon said, blinking quickly and reaching for a cookie. She stuffed it in her mouth so she wouldn’t say anything embarrassing. 
“Wait a second…” Lyra said, a familiar grin coming to her face. “Are you jealous?”
“What? No!” Bon Bon said, bits of cookie spitting out of her mouth as she spoke.
Lyra wiped the crumbs off her face and continued smirking. “You are. You are totally jealous.”
“I am not!” Bon Bon said, but it was too late. She knew Lyra had her because she could feel her cheeks burning. Lyra had a special ability to cut right through any defense Bon Bon tried to put up.
“Whatever you say, love,” Lyra said, leaning back on the couch and winking at her. “So, just to show you that you have nothing to worry about, I think the bed’s a little too neat.”
Bon Bon’s face blushed even harder. “Fine,” she said, glaring down at the couch cushion. “But only if you carry me.”
“As you wish.” Bon Bon closed her eyes and waited. She always loved what came next. 
For a moment, she remained on the couch, her eyes closed. Then she began to feel as though she was being enfolded in a warm blanket of air. It flowed over her, brushing every strand of her coat and streaming through her mane. She felt it go up her nose and tickle the edges of her eyes. She giggled as she felt the sensation tug on the tips of her ears, and then her body felt as though it was no more. She carefully opened one eye and saw that she was floating above the couch, encased in a soft glow that matched her coat.
So she’s being extra special, Bon Bon thought as she looked at the color of the magic surrounding her body. She sighed and closed her eye again, allowing Lyra to carrying her all the way down the hall and into the bedroom. The closest she could come to describing the sensation was what she dreamed it would be like to nap on a cloud. 
“So, the usual then?” Lyra asked. Bon Bon didn’t open her eyes but just nodded. She heard Lyra climb onto the bed and lay down on her back, and then she felt herself slowly being turned in the air until she knew she was facing the ceiling of their bedroom. Any moment now, Lyra would start—
Bon Bon let out a little gasp as she felt Lyra’s magic focus on the back of her neck, a gently breeze of energy that slowly began to swirl in her fur. She shuddered as her body began to tingle. She felt a hoof reach up and brush through her mane, then the tip of it began to work its way down her neck and spine, until it was brushing her tail.
Why am I letting her do this? Bon Bon’s eyes snapped open at that one thought, and all the excitement she had been feeling, all of the anticipation that had been building up, fled her body like a burst river. 
I trust her enough to let her encase me in magic. I trust her enough to have sex with her. Yet I don’t trust her with you name? I don’t deserve her. The thoughts began to beat at the inside of Bon Bon’s brain with relentless force. She could feel the anguish from earlier coming back, along with the tears. She tried to fight them back, tried to recapture the feelings and sensations she had been having moments before, but it was too late.
She closed her eyes and curled up, hoping she wasn’t shaking while Lyra held her. 
After what felt like a lifetime, she felt confident enough to open her eyes without tears spilling from them. She opened them and let out a small shriek.
“There you are,” Lyra said in a soft voice with a little smile.
“What…? No! No, you…” Lyra had turned her over in the air so that she was no longer facing the ceiling, but instead was staring straight down at the unicorn. “How long have…?”
“About five minutes,” Lyra said, and Bon Bon could see traces of sweat starting to appear on Lyra’s forehead. Sweat…“You weren’t into it, so I was going to ask what I was doing wrong, but then I saw your face. Bon Bon, if you want me to go—”
“NO!” Bon Bon shrieked, kicking her legs out and desperately reaching for Lyra. Lyra couldn’t go! She couldn’t. “I need you! Please don’t leave me!”
“Okay…we need to talk,” Lyra said, lifting one eyebrow. “What’s bothering you?”
“Nothing, just…tired,” Bon Bon said, suddenly wishing she wasn’t being held up. She wanted to get away so Lyra couldn’t see her like this. She was a complete wreck, and her irrational fear was starting to twist anything Lyra said into something completely different. She turned her head to the side and stared at the floor, hoping to get away.
“Not buying it,” Lyra said, her hoof reaching up and turning Bon Bon’s cheek so that they were looking at each other again. “I didn’t want to ask when I came home, but I could tell something was bothering you.”
“You…could?” Lyra nodded and Bon Bon tried to turn her head again, but Lyra refused to move her hoof.
“Come on sweetie,” she said and Bon Bon’s ears twitched at the pet name. Did Lyra know? Had she always known? What if she did, and it hurt her knowing that Bon Bon had never told her? What if she was just waiting to throw that betrayal back at Bon Bon and then storm out? “I’ve known you forever. Do you honestly think I can’t tell when something is bothering you? You can tell me.”
“I…can’t,” Bon Bon said, and her mind immediately demanded to know why not and her heart broke at the sight of Lyra’s hurt expression.
“Look, there are two ways this is going to end,” Lyra said, crossing her forelegs across her chest. Sweat was really starting to trickle down her face now, and Bon Bon couldn’t help but watch it with dread. “We both lay here, staring at each other, until you tell me. Or I eventually pass out, you fall on me, crush me, and I have to go to the hospital. So what’s it going to be?” The hurt look left her face for a moment and she winked. “Honestly, I’m hoping you chose to talk, and soon, because I’m getting really tired of holding you. Using levitation this long isn’t easy for me, Bon Bon.”
“That’s…” Bon Bon took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could do this. “That’s not my name.”
“Excuse me?”
Bon Bon’s eyes snapped open and tears blurred her vision. All she could see was the color green before her, and she wanted desperately to wrap her body around the color and hold it. Green was safe. Green was understanding. Green was comfort. She reached out with her forelegs for the color, trying not to cry, and failing miserably at the attempt. 
She kept kicking out until she felt her hoof brush something. She felt her body press down against something warm and soft, and then two forelegs wrapped around her and she wrapped hers around the warmth, then buried her muzzle into the soft green fur of Lyra’s chest and cried quietly. 
“I’m sorry, Lyra,” Bon Bon said, burying her muzzle as deep as she could into Lyra’s chest. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep it from you. It’s just…please don’t hate me.” She felt a hoof rest on the back of her mane and she waited in silence, treasuring every moment she spent wrapped in the unicorn’s embrace. 
When Lyra didn’t say anything, Bon Bon raised her head to see the unicorn looking down at her with a confused look. “So, um…you want to start that whole thing over?” she asked with a confused smile. “I’m a bit lost. Why do I hate you?”
“You…you do?” Bon Bon asked, panic rising again. Lyra hated her! She had just said so! She was about to dump her, on the floor and out of her life, and Bon Bon was going to lose the most important thing in her life. She couldn’t take it! She needed— 
“Um, no, just a little joke,” Lyra said, her smile spreading to cover her embarrassment. Bon Bon felt the panic slowly ebbing away again. “Sorry. But really, I’m completely lost. I thought you were upset about something that happened at school, but…”
Bon Bon blinked and gathered her thoughts. She stared at the yellow eyes gazing back at her. They were so bright, so full of energy, even when they were worrying about something. She could trust those eyes, and she could trust the pony behind them. And now she was going to do just that.
“My name isn’t Bon Bon,” she said, her voice coming out with a squeak. “I-I mean, that’s not the name I was born with. It’s a nickname my mom gave me when I was a filly.”
“Uh-huh,” Lyra said, blinking once but saying no more. Bon Bon noticed that the hoof hadn’t stopped caressing the back of her head though, so that was a good sign.
“My…my real name is…” she swallowed again and closed her eyes, “…Sweetie Drops.” She opened one blue eye halfway. Lyra was still staring at her, only blinking once in a while and still stroking the back of Bon Bon’s head. 
“Okay,” she said.
“When I was little, I used to get really nervous and I sweated. A lot.”
“You still do,” Lyra said, a grin crossing her face. “When you’re excited, anyway.”
Bon Bon blushed and playfully shoved Lyra in the chest. “Anyway, when I was little, at my first day of school, some colts started making fun of me. They kept calling me—”
“Sweaty Drops,” Lyra said.
“You…you remember that?” Bon Bon asked, horrified. 
“Of course I remember it,” Lyra said, her eyes shifting away for the first time. “How could I forget? It’s when we first met, and when I…” She trailed off, still refusing to look at Bon Bon.
“When you kissed me?” Bon Bon asked, smiling at the memory. Of course Lyra would remember everything about their first meeting.
“Did…was that okay?” Lyra asked, her eyes coming back up and looking sad. 
“Seems a little late to ask that now,” Bon Bon said. “I’ll admit that it caught me completely by surprise, but I’m glad you did, looking back now.”
“I didn’t want to,” Lyra said quietly. 
“What?” Bon Bon asked, more shocked than anything. “Why not?”
“I…I thought it was kind of gross,” Lyra said, smiling sheepishly. 
“Then why did you kiss me?” Bon Bon asked, now sitting up straighter and pulling slightly out of Lyra’s embrace. She wasn’t upset in the slightest—Lyra loved kissing her now—but she was curious. The unicorn had been so forward about it back then.
“I…I didn’t know what else to do,” Lyra said. “Socket and Bolt wouldn’t leave us alone, and I thought that was the only way they would. I was so afraid that if I didn’t kiss you, they’d keep picking on us. On you. But at the same time, I was afraid you’d hate me if I did it. I spent the rest of the day wondering if you thought I was gross, and worrying I’d scared away my new friend. It was torture.”
“But then I kissed you when we went home that day. Didn’t that help?”
“A little,” Lyra said with a smile as she rubbed her cheek. “I mean, at least I didn’t think you hated me.” Their eyes met and neither pony said anything for a long time. Finally, Lyra blushed and let out a nervous laugh. “So let me get this straight. You thought I’d hate you because you never told me your real name?”
Now it was Bon Bon’s turn to blush. “Yes. Silly, isn’t it?” Now that Lyra knew the truth and she wasn’t running for the door, Bon Bon began to realize just how big of an issue she had made over something so trivial. 
“Very silly. Why would you think that?”
“Well, it’s just…I always say you know everything about me. It just seemed like I was lying to you for all these years, and the longer I went without telling you, the harder it got. I started coming up with all these horrible thoughts about—mmph?” Bon Bon stopped as Lyra placed a hoof on her mouth. 
“Sweetie Drops, huh?” she said with a smile. “Well, I can call you that if you want…”
“Nu-uh!” Bon Bon said, though her mouth was still covered. Lyra took her hoof away. “You’re calling me Bon Bon. No pony else can know about my name, okay? Promise me.”
“Alright, but why?” Lyra asked, a smirk coming to her face. “I mean, it’s not like Socket and Bolt are around anymore, and I’m the only one who knows how much you sweat, especially under certain conditions, so I’d be the only one calling you—ouch!” 
“That’s another reason I never wanted to tell you!” Bon Bon said, though she couldn’t help but smile. “So…you don’t hate me?”
Bon Bon saw Lyra’s horn glow with magic and felt a gentle push on her mane, guiding her toward Lyra. She smiled, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to be pulled into a kiss. 
“What do you think?” Lyra asked in a whisper.  “Although, I have to admit that this does answer something that I’ve always wondered about. I overheard your mom call you that once, back on my first day at school. I thought it was kind of mean that she called you a name that was so close to what the bullies called you too. But I never asked you about it because you gave Bolt such a thrashing that I was too frightened to.”
Bon Bon smiled and snugged up against her mare. “And don’t you forget it,” she said. “Now, I believe you were in the middle of something.”
“Was I?” Lyra asked, a mischievous smile coming to her face. “I can’t remember. Could you—” Bon Bon gently kissed Lyra’s neck, “um…remind…” she kissed the curve of her chin, “…me…of…” she kissed the tip of her ear and bit down slightly, blowing softly into her ear, “…um…what was I saying?” 
Bon Bon smiled as she felt the familiar warmth envelope her again and she began to rise off the bed.