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The Paradise We're Dreaming Of
Author's Note: Macerated strawberries are mentioned in this story, and I would just like everypony to know that they are bucking delicious. Seriously.

It was spring in Ponyville, and once again, Winter Wrap-Up had been successfully concluded on time, thanks to Twilight Sparkle's organisational prowess. The temparature was once again at the perfect level, and the ponies were expressing their delight by spending more time outside. It was a perfect scene, and Bon Bon and Lyra could not agree more.
The emotions of Lyra Heartstrings changed with the weather. As much as Bon Bon had attempted to cheer up her marefriend, Lyra had been, at her best, in a state of melancholia that anypony else would classify as depression. The mint unicorn had spent all of the cold months complaining, mostly about her harp-playing. She went on and on about how her music would have been so much easier and nicer if she had hands.
Bon Bon had tried everything from jokes to, well, bon bons, but the only thing that could cheer her marefriend up was the Spring, which had finally, blissfully, arrived.

They were celebrating this crisp Spring air by sitting in a teeny cafè on a street corner, watching ponies go by. Lyra in particular, was estatic at the change in weather. Nopony who looked at them could figure out why, but Bon Bon, who had spent more time with Lyra than anypony in town, knew.
As they waited for the waiter to arrive, Lyra kept up a stream of chatter as they waited for the waiter to come and serve them. Bon Bon, while slightly bored, was glad that Lyra was feeling happy once more. '...I mean, while hands would be good, who needs them? I mean, really. Everypony knows that we get on well enough with hooves. I mean, look!' she gestured wildly around, almost severely injuring the waiter, a young pony, who had finally come to their outside table.

'Ahem,' he said.
'Oh, yes, sorry!' said Lyra. 'How fresh are your flowers?'
'Erm, they were hoof-picked this morning,' the slightly confused stallion said.
'Oh, good! I'll have a sandwich then,' said Lyra, smiling widely.
'Which flowers would you like in it?' asked the waiter meekly.
'...Surprise me. What do you want, Bons?'
'Hay fries, please,' Bon Bon said, smiling at the waiter briefly, before turning back to her marefriend.
'Um, any drinks?'
'Oh, no thanks,' they said. The waiter left.

Lyra looked Bon Bon in the eyes.
'So what shall we do this month?' Bon Bon considered.
'Well, we should definetely get us some more gigs. What say you?' Lyra shook her head.
'No. I meant, what should we do?' The cream-coloured pony's eyes widened. She had been expecting this question, but perhaps not so soon. It was only the first week of Spring, after all.
'Well, you go first,' she said. 'What do you want to do?'
'Closets are for clothes,' she said frankly.
Ah. Nopony knew about Lyra and Bon Bon's... Situation. All the ponies just assumed they were extremely close friends. 'Okay,' said Bon Bon simply.
'Wait, really?' said Lyra. She obviously hadn't been expecting Bon Bon to agree so easily.
'Yeah, sure. We've hidden it long enough. I reckon it's time. We've been together for years, we may as well tell somepony. But, just one thing. Who do we tell?'
Lyra considered. 'Hmm. How about anypony who's looking our way right now?' Bon Bon looked a tiny bit affronted, but that expression soon passed.
'Okay,' she said, and lost herself in her marefriend's kiss. Less lost at the massive crash from behind them. Bon Bon broke away, and looked around. Their clutz of a waiter had dropped all the plates he was holding, and way now staring, open-mouthed at the sight he had just witnessed.
'Is there some kind of problem?' Lyra asked cooly.
'N-no,' he muttered, and took the ruined food and dirt-soiled plates back into the kitchen.
Bon Bon blushed. 'Was that a bad idea?'
'This cafè? Most definetely,' said Lyra.
'You know what I mean Lyra,' said the earth pony.
'Absolutely not,' she said confidentely. 'It was time. Just because some ponies aren't used to it, does not mean we can't do it. Bons, I love you more than anything. It's time we stopped hiding it.' And there it was, the moment where their lives changed. Bon Bon and Lyra Heartstrings could not have been happier.

The next day, they were busy at their house practising for their live entertainment performances, which consisted of Bon Bon's stand-up comedy, and Lyra's harp-playing, when something red and juicy hit their window with a splut. Both ponies looked up, startled, at the tomato-ey juices running down their window. Lyra frowned.
'Do not open the windows. Is the door locked?' An egg hit with a splat on another window.
'As far as I know,' said Bon Bon. 'Double check it. And the back door,' she said, assuming the position of commander, 'We're under attack.'

Bon Bon rushed around the house, double checking all the windows and doors. Whenever she passed a clean window, a horrible combination of all kinds of food assaulted it. Eventually, Bon Bon joined Lyra in the lounge room. She had packed away her beloved harp and music, and probably hidden it somewhere that even Bon Bon would be hard-pressed to find. Lyra looked her marefriend in the eyes and breifed her on the situation.
'They're on all sides, armed mostly with fruit, eggs and cake. I think they're all earth ponies, and let's face it, if they weren't they'd be in here by now,' she said. Bon Bon nodded. 'I think they're all stallions,' Lyra continued in a military fashion, 'but you never know. I'm going to try and get up onto the roof so that I can talk to them, and maybe get some help.'
Bon Bon nodded again. 'Why are they doing this?'
Lyra admitted the truth guiltily. 'Probably because they saw us yesterday. This is my fault, I'm so sorry Bons.'
'Hey, I forgive you. Let me help you get to the roof. We'll sort out the why's of this later,' said Bon Bon.

Lyra opened the attic door and climbed up the drop-down ladder into the empty space. They had plenty of storage space in the rest of the house, so the attic was effectively unused. There was a small skylight that could be removed to gain access to the roof. Lyra's horn glowed with magic, and she used the small levitation powers she had to remove the heavy glass panel, and set it down on the attic floor.
'Much help I was,' Bon Bon muttered.
'You can help me talk to them,' said Lyra.

They both climbed onto the roof, looking down at their assailants. Yes, Lyra had been right, it was mostly stallions, but it looked like a couple had brought along their marefriends too. Upon seeing the two mares on the roof, the ponies started to launch their food upwards, but all their throws fell short by quite a wide margin, as it was a fairly high house. Luckily, there were no pegasi among the bunch, just as Lyra had predicted.
'What do you want?' she asked loudly.
'To see your faces covered in shit!' one of the stallions yelled out.
'Why?' yelled Bon Bon, as this was her fight too.
'You filly foolers just aren't right! Why don't you go find yourselves stallions?' shouted another.
'What's wrong with loving a mare?' yelled Lyra.
'Don't you love anyone?'
'I love mares, just like Faust intended! The only difference is, I'm not one of them!'

Bon Bon looked around, searching for somepony to come to their aid. No, there didn't seem to be anypony except... Rainbow Dash snoozing on a cloud. 'Oi, Rainbow Dash!' yelled Bon Bon. 'Rainbow Dash!!'
Meanwhile, Lyra was still trying to reason with the undersized mob. Well, perhaps reason wasn't the right word..
'What's your problem, anyway?' yelled Lyra. 'Why can't you just leave us alone?!'
'If this town lets you carry on like this, you'll turn is all into faggots!' a burly male yelled.
'Bullcrap!' yelled Lyra. 'We're not mental cases! And even if we were, those kind of things aren't bucking contagious! They're not even hereditary!!'

Rainbow Dash had finally awoken from her slumber, and noticed all the commotion. She flew over, perching on the roof alongside the two defiant mares. 'What's going on here?' the cyan pegasus asked, looking from the stallions to mares to food-covered house.
'They're throwing food at us,' said Lyra bitterly.
'Why in the hay would anypony do that?' asked Rainbow Dash looking confused.
'They think we're filly foolers,' said Lyra.
'We are filly foolers,' said Bon Bon.
'They think we're mental cases,' said Lyra. 'Or sick. Or something,' said Bon Bon.
'Lemme go get Mayor Mare for you. She'll be able to help out. No offence or anything, but I have some stuff I need to get done,' said the rainbow-hued pony.
'You were napping,' said Bon Bon.
'Yup, that's top of the list. Be right back,' she said, and flashed away, leaving nothing but a trail of rainbow behind.

'I hope she gets the Mayor...' Bon Bon said.
'I'm pretty sure she's on our side. Unlike these guys,' said Lyra, casting her dissaproving glance downwards at the jeering group.
'Ignore them,' said Bon Bon flatly. 'We can't reason with them. At least not until we're on the ground.'
'Agreed,' said Lyra.

After about five minutes, Mayor Mare came rushing down the street, guided by Rainbow Dash. Upon seeing the mob, the Mayor frowned and walked right up to them. Losing their bravado, some of them started away, but the leaders of the group stopped them. 'What in the name of Celestia is going on here?' asked Mayor Mare furiously, looking at the defiled house and the two trapped ponies on the roof.
'Don't blame us! It's their fault!' said a stallion, pointing to the roof. The Mayor regarded him icily.
'What happened. Tell me exactly what happened, and do not leave anything out. Where did this start?'
'These fags started eloping in public-'
'Whoah woah woah. What?'
'They're filly foolers,' another stallion exclaimed in a rough voice.
'How do you know? And what were they doing wrong?' asked the Mayor.
'They were making out with each other in a cafè,' said one of the mob, like it answered both questions.
'So?' said the Mayor, in a haven't-we-all-done-that voice. The stallions seemed at a loss for words. One of the marefriends spoke up.
'It's not right!' The others cheered along with her.
'Actually,' said the Mayor, 'I think you'll find that it is. Unless they were actually engaging in intercourse, there is nothing illegal about what they were doing.'
'Well why not?'
'What do you mean, why not?' asked the Mayor, 'They're perfectly allowed to kiss each other, just the same as anypony else. Unless one wasn't consenting, which is a different matter entirely.'
'But they're both mares,' said a stallion.
'So?'
'Isn't there laws against that kind of thing?'
'I don't see why there should be,' said the Mayor. 'You can come down now, girls! Now,' she said, looking at the mob, 'I want you all to clean their house. I'm not leaving until you do. Spotless.'

The stallions and their marefriends tried to protest, but the Mayor was having none of it. So, grudgingly, they started to clean the house. One was excused by the Mayor to try and find some soapy water and sponges, while the others started scraping the partly-dried food off. Lyra, after cautiously setting foot outside, allowed her marefriend to follow her into their front yard. They noticed the mob grudgingly cleaning their house, and Lyra grinned.

'Thank you,' she said to the grey-haired pony, who frowned once more.
'I haven't gotten the whole story yet. What happened from your point of view?'
'They saw us kissing in a cafè. Or somepony did, and told them. Anyway, that was yesterday. Today we were inside, and they just started fooding our house!' protested Lyra.
'We climbed up onto the roof,' continued Bon Bon, 'And noticed Rainbow Dash nearby. We called her to get you, and, well, you know the rest.'
'Well, okay. Your story seems to check out with the other. Do you want to press charges against them? We can take it to court if you want..?'
'No,' said Bon Bon, before Lyra could say anything, 'As long as they clean our house we're fine.'
'I'll stay here and make sure they get it done,' said the Mayor. Lyra and Bon Bon thanked her and decided to take a walk into Ponyville.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the house, Lyra stopped and regarded Bon Bon with a pained expression. 'I'm so sorry, Bons,' she said, 'This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me... Argh! I was so stupid!' Bon Bon sat down with her marefriend and took Lyra's hooves in hers.
'No, don't be sorry. Just because some stupid stallions thought your sexiness was wasted on me, doesn't mean it was the wrong decision.' Lyra smiled. Bon Bon could always cheer her up. When the weather was good, at least.
'So what shall we do today?' Lyra asked.
'Hmmm,' Bon Bon considered, 'I want to talk to Daisy. We haven't seen her for a while. Is that okay with you?'
'Sounds fun,' said Lyra.

The couple headed for the town square of Ponyville, towards the shops, where the flower fillies of the town usually set up their stalls. They spotted Daisy chatting with Rose Luck at their stand. The other flower-selling mare whose name escaped Bon Bon wasn't there.
'Hey guys,' Bon Bon greeted them cordially. Lyra, who didn't know the two mares very closely, greeted them with a nod and a smile.
'Hello,' said Daisy, 'What's going on?'
'Nothing much,' said Bon Bon evasively. 'Hey, have you ponies met my marefriend? This is Lyra.' The red and green maned ponies looked surprised, but shook Lyra's hoof just as enthusiastically as any other pony that they met.
'Marefriend, huh?' said Rose Luck, 'So you two...?'
'We dabble,' Lyra put in, earning herself a weird look from Bon Bon.
What? She mouthed back defensively.
Bon Bon shook her head vigorously, yet briefly, as if to shake the thought from her mind.
'Uh huh,' said Daisy, 'And what's that like?'
'It's wonderful,' Lyra answered. Bon Bon was a little weirded out at Lyra's attitude, but said nothing.
'So why'd you drop by?' asked Daisy.
'We just wanted to see how you ponies are doing,' Bon Bon said, with another smile.
'Not much,' said Daisy, 'Business is good, as usual.'
'Where's Lilac?' asked Bon Bon.
'Didn't you hear?' said Rose Luck excitedly, 'She's having a foal!'
'Oh, how wonderful!' said Bon Bon, 'Who's the father?'
Rose and Daisy looked at each other awkwardly. Bon Bon's face fell. 'Oh...'
'As far as we know, it was consented, but... He left. Just after. Nopony knows who,' said Daisy. The four ponies stood in awkward silence for a while, until Lyra perked up.

'Who wants to go for coffee? It's on me!' Everypony agreed, and they headed for Lyra's favourite coffee place, The Golden Bean, nicknamed "Goldie" by it's regulars. The four ponies arrived at Goldie and found a table. The coffee place also made fine quality chocolates. Lyra didn't really know how to identify quality ingredients, but the chocolates sure did taste good.

They walked up to the counter to place their orders. 'I'll have a triple espresso with chocolate cake,' said Lyra. This was her standard fare.
'Cappuchino with milk and two sugars,' said Bon Bon, 'With a brownie.'
'Rose tea for me,' said Rose Luck, 'With a turkish delight.'
'I'll have a hot chocolate and the flourless chocolate-orange cake,' said Daisy. The mare at the counter nodded, and left the mares to find a table. They went outside and sat on the small hay bales around a table. Daisy critically inspected the arrangement of blue and pink flowers that was the centrepiece.
'Needs work.'
'Agreed,' said Rose.
'I think it's beautiful,' said Lyra.
The two flower fillies frowned. 'No,' said Rose, 'The flowers are clearly not in their prime. Leave them there any longer and the petals will start falling off.'
'I like the colour,' Lyra said persistantly.
'Mmm,' said Daisy distractedly.
'So are you ponies coming to our next performance?' asked Bon Bon.
'When's that?' asked Rose.
'Tonight, at the Drunken Stallion,' Lyra answered. Rose wrinkled her nose,
'Ugh, I'd really rather avoid that place.'
'Fair enough,' said Bon Bon, 'They're paying us well, is all. You don't have to come and watch.'

That night at the Drunken Stallion, the two mares were preparing for their performance. Bon Bon was drinking a cup of water and going over her lines backstage, while Lyra made sure her harp was perfectly in-tune. At the other end of the pub, opposite the stage, was the bar.
In the middle of the room were tables, all occupied by ponies who were varying levels of drunkedness, from buzzy to passed out.

When the clock chimed 10pm, Bon Bon and Lyra started their performance. Bon Bon did her comedy, while Lyra provided background music, occasionally making other sound effects to accompany the performance. It went very smoothly, and after they had packed up for the night, the couple found themselves with nothing to do.
'Want to grab a few drinks?' asked Bon Bon.
'Sure,' answered Lyra. 'No running away with any stallions!'
'Haha, yeah right.'

The two mares entered the thrumming atmosphere, trying not to buck anypony out of the way as they made for the bar. As with all types of food and drink, Lyra and Bon Bon had different tastes in alcohol. Bon Bon preferred the sweet wines and liquors, whereas Lyra tended to head for the heavily intoxicating vodkas and shots. She held the proud title of being unbeaten in drinking contests. Neither of them, however, had much taste for beer. New music had started up over the other side of the pub, making it extra hard to hear.

'STRAWBERRY COCKTAIL PLEASE,' Bon Bon yelled to the barpony. While her drink was being mixed up, she politely asked the author to refrain from using caps lock.
'Whatever's strongest!' Lyra told the barpony when he served Bon Bon her drink. She slid some bits across the counter for both of them, and downed the shot in a single gulp. As they were chatting loudly, a pair of stallions came up.
Ugh, thought Lyra and Bon Bon simultaneously. They both looked pretty drunk, and Lyra, sensing something fun to do, piped up. 'I challenge you two to a drinking contest!'

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. She knew she'd have to stay sober enough to drag her dunk unicorn home later. The stallions, having nothing better to do and assuming they'd end up getting bucked later that night, agreed.
'Six more shots please!' Lyra ordered. The shots arrived, and she divided them up. 'Whoever passes out first loses!' she said. The stallions, one red and one yellow, grinned eagerly.
'Okay... First two shots on three. One, two, three!' said Lyra and gulped the two shots in quick succession, feeling hyped up immediately. She knew alcohol was a depressant, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on her, at least for a while.
Bon Bon surveyed the scene, ready for when her marefriend passed out, as she aways ended up doing after winning these contests. 'Six more please! One, two, three!'
The yellow stallion was the last to consume his shots, he was definetely slowing down. His eyes looked kind of glazed, and as Bon Bon sipped her cocktail, she wondered how many drinks he'd had. As the total number of shots consumed hit 30, Bon Bon started nibbling at the macerated strawberry that had come with her cocktail absentmindedly. The only surprise was when the red stallion passed out after drinking 12 shots. He seemed to have been holding together rather well until that point.

Oh well, it was nothing really. Bon Bon knew that Lyra could take much more liquor than that. Lyra looked down at the passed-out pony, then back up to yellow. 'Well then,' she slurred, 'Just you and me.' After another four shots each, yellow passed out.
'Let's go home, Lyra,' said Bon Bon.
'Kay,' slurred Lyra.

At home, Lyra surprisingly managed to hold on to all the alcohol she had drunk. Bon Bon thanked Celestia that she wasn't stinking up the house with puke, but she still forced Lyra to take a shower to clear away the fumes. After the steamy-hot shower, Lyra was acting lethargic, and so they hopped into bed together.
Lyra tried to reach between Bon Bon's legs, but Bon Bon fended her off, saying 'No drunken sex. We agreed, remember?' After a while, Lyra seemed to get the message, and laid her head on Bon Bon's chest. Bon Bon liked it when Lyra did this, and they both drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

The next day, Lyra woke up veeeeery sloooowly, drifting in and out of conciousness a couple of times, before realising she was awake. Without even opening her eyes or moving an inch, she could tell she was in a bad state. Her mouth and throat were completely parched, her limbs sore. Lyra tried to open her eyes, but found them too caked with sleep. Upon lifting up her hoof to rub it away, she felt a huge pain in her neck. Lyra groaned as she realised she must have slept on it the wrong way.

Slowly massaging her neck with her hoof, she managed to revive the muscles in order for her to get up. When she did, there was a brief spell of dizziness before she managed to straighten up and walk to the kitchen, with food being the first and only thing on her hungover mind.
Three minutes later, and the fridge still had not yeilded under her laser-glares. Empty empty empty ugh why?
If looks could kill, that fridge would have shaken hooves with Inlè long ago, but nope, it was still refidgerating all the nothing that was inside of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Lyra spotted a note on the bench.
Gone out shopping, be back about 10am
Love ya,
Bons.

Her anger at the fridge dissipating, Lyra walked to the clock and checked the time. 11am, huh. It wasn't like Bon Bon to be an hour late. Oh well, Lyra could wait. She needed to freshen up anyway. She took a cold shower, then a warm one, making sure not to get the water too hot (it always made her drowsy!), put some shampoo into her hair, dried off, brushed hair, teeth, excetera.
Once she had sufficiently cleared away her hangover and was thinking more clearly, Lyra became far more concerned. It definetely wasn't like Bon Bon to be late. Checking around the rest of the house for more notes and finding none, Lyra decided to head for the markets and find out what was going on.

When she arrived, everypony seemed tenser than usual. There was a lot of whispering, and some ponies that Lyra Heartstrings vaguely knew pointed at her excitedly. Lyra, for her part, was extremely weirded out by this entire affair. And there was still no sign of Bon Bon...

'You look confused!' a shockingly blue pony popped up in front of her.
'Oh. Hello, Colegate. Do you know what's going on?' Colegate frowned with concern.
'Didn't you hear?'
'Hear what?' asked the yellow-eyed pony irritably, 'I only just got up.'
'Oh,' said Colegate, even more worriedly than before, 'Don't shoot the mail-mare, but... Bon Bon's in hospital. I thought you knew!'
'WHAT? What happened?! Is she okay? Oh my gosh, tell me what happened!' said Lyra frantically.
'It's okay, she's not badly hurt,' Lyra breathed a sigh of relief, 'So, um, you should be able to see her. I don't know the details, but apparantly somepony attacked her. I think they were caught...' Colgate broke off as she realised that Lyra was no longer in front of her. The mint unicorn was already halfway to the hospital.

The front doors of the hospital burst open, and Lyra headed straight for the reception desk, almost knocking several ponies over. 'What ward is Bon Bon in?' she asked. The receptionist, after consulting her papers, said to Lyra:
'Ward 34, second floor.' Lyra took the stairs four at a time. In a different situation, she would have paused to reflect on how much she was owning those stairs right now.

Lyra was glad Bon Bon was not on the first floor. Reserved for patients who were in such a condition that they couldn't be moved, the first floor had little hope for non-permanant damage. Lyra looked up at the sign at the top of the stairs. "Second floor: Moderate breaks, fractures and lacerations. Serious burns and food poisoning. Stabilised internal bleeding and organ damage."
Lyra didn't want to have a guess at which her marefriend had sustained, instead, she rushed to the appropriate ward, which read: "Ward 34: Stabilised condition." Lyra entered, scanning for Bon Bon. Eventually her eyes just directed themselves to the sexiest thing in the room; who was currently lying in a bed sporting heavy bandages and an IV drip. Lyra rushed to Bon Bon's side, her brow furrowed with concern.

'What happened?' she asked. Bon Bon grimaced.
'I was at the shops. I didn't really see it, they came up behind me.'
'Wait, what did they do?' asked Lyra, looking at the bandages that wrapped around her marefriend's middle. A doctor walked up.
'Miss Bon Bon has sustained three slash marks in the back, from a knife.' Lyra paled.
'How bad?'
'Her condition is stable, though if she was in a more remote location it is likely that she would not have survived.' said the nurse, who had just appeared to take some blood tests.

Lyra couldn't say anything, she just froze up.
My - my Bon Bon? Might not have... Whaaaa? Who did this? Why?
Bon Bon took Lyra's hooves in hers. 'Lyra,' she said softly, 'It's okay. I'm okay, okay?'
'I just... You might not have...?' she stammered. Lyra couldn't even begin to imagine a life without Bon Bon. They had been together so long, she was the one constant in Lyra's life, and the Nurse had just said it could have ended this morning, while she was hungover in bed? Overcome with grief for something that had never, and hopefully never would, happen, Lyra wrapped herself around Bon Bon in a protective embrace.

They held each other, each concerned for the other's safety. One question raged around Lyra's mind: Why? Who had done this, what was their motivation? Another one of the hospital's workers informed her that Bon Bon would be ready to leave the hospital in four days.

After another week would be the court date. Lyra couldn't wait to find out the motivation behind all of this. It was an agonising four days. Lyra hardly left Bon Bon's side the entire three days. On the fourth day, she realised that they had a serious problem.
Lyra and Bon Bon were not rich enough to afford a good lawyer, and neither of them knew much about legal affairs. So Lyra headed to the one place where she was sure to get all the information she needed. After making sure Bon Bon was comfortable, Lyra Heartstrings made a beeline for Ponyville Library.

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A minute later, she and the polished, well-kept door made a bad aquaintance as she ignored the brass knocker and rapped upon the wood itself, as many a pony did. After some muffled yelling from inside, Lyra heard a latch being undone, and Spike the baby dragon answered the door.

'Oh. Hey, um-'
'Lyra,' Lyra finished for him.
'Hey Lyra. Do you want to see Twlight, or..?' Spike asked.
Lyra considered. She had planned to just browse, but the egghead unicorn might actually prove useful in finding information. 'Yes please,' she said, and Spike motioned for her to enter the immaculately clean library.
Twilight Sparkle was standing at her little alcove near the window, finishing off a letter to the Princess. She turned to dip the quill in her ink, and out of the corner of her eye, spotted the newcomer.

'Oh, hello Lyra. Where's Bon Bon?' after she had moved to Ponyville, she had noticed those two in each other's company quite frequently.
'Um, that's- that's why I came,' Lyra stammered, 'She's in hospital.' Twilight frowned with concern.
'That's terrible! What happened?' Lyra retold the whole tale, or as much as she had heard, at least. After she had finished, which didn't take very long considering how uninformed she was, Twilight still had a couple of questions.

'Does anypony know why Bon Bon was attacked?' she asked.
'No, no idea. I don't even know who it is.'
'Is there anything you could have done to upset a random stranger?'
'Not as far as I... Hold on, that's it! Bon Bon and I... We're intimate. And anyway, it got out, and I guess not everypony is as okay with lesbians as they should be. But to actually stab Bon Bon?!' Lyra could see Twilight's brain going into overdrive.
Using magic, she brought several books down from their shelves and flicked through the pages. As she read, she spoke. 'There have been several recorded cases of violence and discimination crimes committed against confirmed homosexual ponies over Equestria in the last twenty years...' Twilight trailed off as she read through the specifics of some cases.

'What happened to them? The ponies who were hurt?' asked Lyra eyes wide.
Twilight looked from the book to the scared unicorn before her. 'It would probably be best if you didn't know.'
Lyra knew that while this was probably the truth, her burning curiosity would not allow her to leave without the answers. 'Tell me. Please?' she asked.
Twilight sighed. 'Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. Hmm, let's see, oh,' her face fell, 'These are really horrible, it would probably just make it worse if I told you.'
Lyra gave her the best death laser she could muster. She figured that Twilight would crack in about three seconds. One... Two... Thr- 'Okay, okay!' Twilight said.
Opening the book, she read: 'Two years ago, a colt in Las Pegasus who was accused of being gay by fellow classmates, was bullied every day. The teachers paid no attention to it, and eventually it got so bad, that - oh Celestia - he hung himself with a length of cord.' Twilight looked up, and Lyra motioned for her to go on. She just couldn't stand not knowing.
'Five, no six years ago, a stallion who regularly attended a gym in Hoofington with his friends, was cornered one evening when everyone had left, and his friends asked him if he was gay, as he had turned away a very good-looking mare that afternoon. He said that he was, and they... They beat him to death.'

'Are there any about mares?' asked Lyra stiffly.
'Yes,' said Twilight, not wanting to lie, 'But they're even worse than all of these! Trust me, you don't want to know, Lyra!'
'Tell me.'
'Wha-'
'Please. I need to know. For Bon Bon. I have to know what's out there.' Twilight bit her lip.
'I think I'll have ask you to leave,' she said.
Lyra's jaw dropped. 'Is it really that bad?!'
'Yes,' said Twilight.
'Fine,' said Lyra, 'Bon Bon and I have never been to court before. How can we win the case? I don't know who did it, but I want to see them in prison.'
'Well, I'll help you with that, I just don't want you going near this book,' the lavender unicorn said, snapping it shut and levitating it to the highest shelf in the room.
'Okay,' said Lyra, acting defeated. She didn't know how, but she'd get the book from Twilight eventually. Something inside of her just had to know.

'Hmm, said Twilight, thinking hard, and pulling some law books from the shelves, 'We need to collect some more information before we can present our case,' she said, completely changing her attitude and pulling a clipboard and checklist from nowhere, 'I need you to collect some information before we talk again,' she scribbled down some stuff, adding boxes for Lyra to check when she had gotten the information.
'You should be able to obtain most of the information at the police station. They may tell you to contact the accused's lawyer, in which case you can get them to give you the information. Legally, they have to tell you what their case is.'
'Thanks, Twilight. Hey, if it's not too much trouble - could you oversee the court case? We may need some help, Bons and I haven't done anything like this before.'
'When's the case?' Twilight asked, summoning her calender from it's place on the wall.
'Eight days away,' said Lyra.
Twilight scanned her calender. 'Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm in Canterlot that day! I'm visiting my parents and Shiny! Sorry, Lyra,' said the purple unicorn.
'Ahh, that's okay,' said Lyra, but she could feel a lump forming in her throat.

After visiting Bon Bon for one last time that night, Lyra returned home. She extracted her harp from it's case and strummed the strings, wishing Bon Bon was there to hear her music. On a normal day, she would have enjoyed watching the cream-coloured pony drift off beside her. It was one of the simple things she enjoyed, along with dreaming of humans and peanut butter-nutella sandwiches.
Oh well. Lyra continued to play the harp, simultaneously working the strings with her hooves and her magic. The magic made up for the awkwardness of hooves, balancing out the slightly clumsy chords with finely-picked harmonies. Lyra took pleasure in working the strings to shape her emotions into a real, tangible sound. Today was melancholy, but with an occasional slight upbeat.

Bon Bon would be home tomorrow, and then Lyra would get more information for the court case. It would be okay. It would all be okay. The sounds she worked from the harp gradually became more and more passionate. There wasn't a particular tune Lyra was following, she just followed her heart, like a dressmaker weaving fabrics together. She took the finest threads, the perfect colours and tones. They were ordinary on their own, but with a good hoof she crafted them into something magnificent and golden. For Bon Bon.
The melody became something more, and soon enough Lyra could not help but slip into the land where everything was a plentitude of brilliant hues and patterns. At first all Lyra saw was the purple, but beneath that was the layers of a finer work. Passionate reds and sombre blues. For a minute she was engulfed in the deep sea of blue, it swirled around her. With a sharp intake of breath, Lyra returned to the land of the living. As her hooves automatically finished the melody, she realised the quality of music she had been playing. The blues, layer upon layer of them, had been a sad tune that had consumed her, and, in raising a hoof to her face, Lyra realised that she had begun to cry.

Lyra had always made a point to be strong for herself, and for Bon Bon, but sometimes just a simple tune that was, in truth, complex beyond tangibility, was all that it took to make her cry. 'Oh Bon Bon...' said Lyra, and she cried herself to sleep.

The next day Lyra Heartstrings dried her tears and welcomed Bon Bon home to a house that, while slightly less clean than she would have liked, was no less welcoming because of it. Lyra's failed attempt at cooking had left them with nothing to eat, but still she insisted that Bon Bon remain in bed and let her do the work. After popping out to the store, Lyra presented the love of her life with grilled cheese sandwiches, the unicorn's signature dish.
Bon Bon didn't really care about the quality of the food, she was just glad to know that nothing had been set on fire (she hoped, she was in bed while Lyra had tried to cook). After eating, the two mares sat down to talk.

'So what's happening with your injuries?' asked Lyra, trying to think of a way to give Bon Bon a reassuring hug that wasn't painful. She failed.
'I'll be fine in another week or so,' said Bon Bon, who really wanted a hug right now, even though she knew it would probably hurt.
'That's good,' said Lyra.
'Yep,' said Bon Bon, her need for a hug overwhelming her sense of smell and taste.
'After the doctors worked their magic, it was mostly just a matter of painkillers. I should be able to do whatever I want if I get some more.'
Lyra perked up a bit. 'Anything for my fair maiden!' she said, adopting a knight-like voice, 'I shall return with painkillers!'
'Some that actually work,' said Bon Bon.
'Yes.'
'And not too expensive.'
'Of course,' said Lyra.
'Nooooooooww, go!' Lyra galloped to the shops in search of painkillers.

When she returned, Bon Bon was clearly in great pain, even if she didn't want to admit it. Her breaths were more like gasps, and Lyra issued her with some painkillers immediately. After that she seemed a lot better. Lyra went around the house doing her best at the household chores, all the while insisting Bon Bon stay in bed. In the evening, Lyra's failed attempt at a cooked dinner resulted in them deciding to eat out. They went to one of the finest retaraunts in town, savouring some delicious wine, and afterwards they returned home.

'How are you feeling?' asked Lyra kindly.
'I actually feel really brilliant,' said Bon Bon, 'I feel amazing. I think I'm on the path to recovery!'
'That's great! I'm going to find out some more information for the case tomorrow.' said Lyra, giving Bon Bon the hug she'd desparately been needing, and then they shared a kiss. They spent the rest of the day lounging around, Lyra playing Bon Bon some uplifting tunes on her harp. Talking, playing, hugging. Perfect.

But it was eating away at Lyra's heartstrings, the fact that Bon Bon could have died, and she wasn't even there to do anything about it. Was it really because they were lesbians? Would anypony really be that cruel because they loved each other? Lyra just didn't understand why. It didn't affect any of them in any way at all. Lyra just didn't understand homophobes, she probably never would.

The next day, Lyra inspected the list of things Twilight had told her to find out. The court case was six days away, but she didn't think she would have any trouble collecting the information before then.
[] Which gender was the attacker?
[] Who found Bon Bon after she was attacked
[] Where did Doctor Whooves leave Bon Bon?
[] Where was she stabbed?
[] Can you form some kind of time frame for the entire thing?
[] Was the attacker alone?
[] Were there any witnesses? If so, who are they and what did they see?

Lyra decided to find out the first step first. She contacted the court, and they gave her the number of Bon Bon's attacker's lawyer. She called up, and a rather sleazy voice answered the phone. But then, all lawyers sounded sleazy to some degree.
'Smarty Pants the lawyer, how may I help you?' the voice came.
'good morning. This is Lyra Heartstrings, I am Bon Bon's lawyer, overseeing the case in six days,' said Lyra, much more confidently than she felt, 'I would like to gather some information for the case.'
'What do you want to know?' said the lawyer reluctantly.
'As Bon Bon was attacked from behind, we don't know what gender the attacker was. Could you please tell us?'
'Female,' said Smarty Pants shortly.
Lyra wanted to ask for the entire case, but she stuck to Twilight's notes, saying 'Will you be calling any witnesses?'
'Yes, we will be calling one witness. Good day,' said Smarty Pants, hanging up promptly.
'Hey!' yelled Lyra into the phone. She tried calling back, but nopony picked up. Faustdamn lawyers.

Sighing loudly, Lyra kissed Bon Bon goodbye and went to talk to Doctor Whooves. She walked to the street corner and knocked on that funny blue box of his. She wondered how he fit in there, it seemed awfully small for a full-grown stallion like him. Oh well.
After a few seconds of waiting, she heard hoofsteps approach the door in a very erratic pattern. The door opened and a brown pony's head poked out at her.
'Oh, hello Lyra. How are you?'
'I'm... Okay,' she said. She tried to peek behind Doctor Whooves, and catch a glimpse of the interior of his home, but he was obscuring it quite well, and it would have been rude anyway.

'How's Bon Bon?' he asked kindly.
'That's why I came over. She's fine, but the court case is coming up, so...' Lyra trailed off.
'Do you want me to come in as a witness?' he asked.
'Well, yeah. Do you know exactly when you left her?'
'No, sorry. I wasn't really keeping track of the time. I suppose I could go back...'
'What?'
'Hmm? Nothing. It wouldn't work anyway, timelines and stuff, can't cross myself.'
'O...kay then. Do you know where you were when you last saw her?'
'Oh, yes. We were just outside the alley where she was attacked,' he said.
'Did you see anything?' The Doctor's brown face scrunched up as he thought,
'No. I heard Bon Bon scream, but I didn't see anything else. When I heard her scream, I went straight for the Mayor. Sorry, Lyra.'
'Thanks anyway. See you,' said Lyra, turning and heading down the street, back to the scene of the crime for some further investigation. When she got there, she noticed ponies staring at her. Of course they were - in a small town like Ponyville news travelled quickly - and she was usually in Bon Bon's company.

A few ponies came up to her, some concerned, others merely hungry for gossip. Lyra shook them off, assuring them that Bon Bon was fine. Directly in between her house and the markets lay the scene of the stabbing. The alley wasn't a particularly out-of-the-ordinary one. Nope, it was just your average run-of-the-mill, slightly thin street, with tall buildings casting their shadows over it. Well, usually.
It was about the middle of the day, and the sun shone directly into this crack. The sunshine perfectly illuminated the bloodstain. The one nopony had bothered to clean away. Yes, a stabbing would have bled a lot, and there was the product of the blood loss. Lyra made a mental note to buy Bon Bon some iron supplements. Pills perhaps. Or at least some cereal.

She inspected the site, not really sure what she hoped to find. Once again, she checked Twilight's checklist. There were still some things missing. Well, a lot of things, but she had tried the mysterious mare's lawyer, and that hadn't helped at all.
Forlorn, Lyra returned to her home, but just as she was about to cross the threshold, a pony tapped her on the shoulder. She looked around, and saw a caramel face staring at her. Lyra blinked. It was Caramel.

'Hello,' she said.
'Hey,' said the blue-eyed stallion.
'What... Are you doing...?' asked Lyra slowly.
'Oh, yeah. I was there, at the stabbing. Y'know, with Bon Bon. Um, I was wondering if you wanted some more information?'
Lyra's confused expression cleared and she smiled warmly. 'Yes, please come in, that'd be great.'
They entered the living room. It was a mess. With Lyra's cleaning unskills - for they were more of a hinderance than a help - and Bon Bon incapacitated, the house had been reduced to a trash heap. Caramel was obviously unhappy at being caught in such unclean conditions, but he was polite and didn't say anything.

The two were distracted from the messiness of the lounge area by a pained moan from Bon Bon's bedroom. Lyra's eyes widened, and they rushed in, to find a red-faced, sweat coated Bon Bon, with glazed eyes and a pained expression.

Le Third Segmentio

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Lyra rushed to Bon Bon's side. 'Where does it hurt? Bon Bon, tell me where it hurts. Bons?'
'Mm... Back,' she mumbled. A spasm of pain rocked through her, and she gave a loud yelp.
Caramel rushed out, yelling back, 'Where's the phone?!'
'Kitchen bench!' Lyra yelled back, before turning to her beloved. 'Bons, it's gonna be okay, you'll be okay.'

She continued to speak reassuring words, but she could see that Bon Bon was in great pain. Every two minutes or so, another wave of pain would hit her, and soon the cream pony's screams reached a height that a banshee would be hard-pressed to match.
Lyra held Bon Bon, whispering to her, until Caramel returned. 'A Doctor is on the way,' he said, with an appropriate level of concern for the situation. Lyra ignored him, she was too scared for Bon Bon.

A while later, a knock on the door snapped Lyra out of her delirium. Caramel answered it, and Nurse Redheart plowed in, heading straight for her patient. While her beside manner was very subdued, this nurse was a Nazi if someone was hurt.
Carefully, yet quickly, and without speaking, she removed Bon Bon's bandages, revealing the horrible sight beneath. The wounds that had almost healed were now inflamed, and red.

Over Bon Bon's screams, she asked Lyra, 'Can I use your phone?' Caramel was holding the phone. Lyra snatched it up and thrust it into the nurse's hooves, desparate for something to help her marefriend. Nurse Redheart immediately jabbed the buttons with her hooves and held the phone to her ear, ignoring everyone but the patient and the end of the phone.
While she called, she went to the kitchen and grabbed some water in a bowl. 'Tea towel,' she said commandingly.

Lyra went to the cupboard, grabbing a light blue tea towel. She handed it to Nurse Redheart, who dipped it in the water, and started to dab away at the wounds. Finally, she sighed and turned to Caramel and a panic-stricken Lyra.
'I can't really do anything until the nurse arrives with my things.' Lyra gulped and nodded. Caramel placed an foreleg around her. He couldn't think of anything better to do.

'Is there anything we can do in the mean time?' he asked. Redheart glanced at Bon Bon.
'Keep her calm. That's about it. I'm bringing in some stuff to clear the infection from her system.'
'Infection?' groaned Lyra. Nononononononono.
'Yes,' said the Nurse, 'It's not fatal, but there could be some lasting damage if we don't get her some antibiotics and rest.'

Lyra tried not to hyperventilate as she sank into the chair that was conveniently placed just behind her. Caramel dipped down beside her, a look of deep concern on his face. Lyra cringed as Bon Bon gave another scream. She flattened her mint-coloured ears and tried to block out the sound, to no avail.
If there was one thing that was a guarantee, it was that Lyra heard her marefriend, no matter how softly she spoke. It was a skill she had honed in the years previous, and usually it helped. Not today.

But Lyra was not the kind of pony to give up, or huddle in fear. She rose from the seat, ignoring Caramel's worried eyes, and went into the living room. Lyra picked up her harp from it's resting spot on the coffee table, strumming the strings a couple of times, just to make sure it was in tune. Then she brought it back into the bedroom. Sitting beside her love, she began to play the most uplifting tune she could think of, the most feel-good song.
It was called "The Wizard and I".

Lyra knew it from another human thing she fanmare'd. Bon Bon had never really appreciated the background, but had liked the music. And so she sang.

'...I see who you truly are - A girl on whom I can rely!
And that's how we'll begin, The Wizard and I,' sang Lyra.

Bon Bon stirred from her almost comatose-like, sweat-coated state and moaned in pain again. Lyra tried to ignore her and kept singing. She had never been much of a singer - leave that to ponies like Sapphire Shores - but she'd make an exception to any rule for Bon Bon. That, she reckoned, was true love.

'...When I'm with the Wizard,
My whole life will change.
Cause once you're with the Wizard,
No one thinks you're strange!
No father is not proud of you, No sister acts ashamed,
And all of Oz has to love you,
When by the Wizard you're acclaimed!'

Lyra hadn't seen her father or sister in ages. She knew her father was somewhere in Baltimare, doing something or other, but she had no idea about her sister. She needed to catch up with her family, tell them exactly what kind of relationship she was having with Bon Bon.

'Unlimited,
My future is unlimited,
And I've just had a vision almost like a prophecy
I know, it may sound crazy,
And true - the vision's hazy
But I swear some day there'll be
A celebration throughout Oz,
That's all to do with me!'

Bon Bon rolled over, and now she was facing Lyra, her eyes open but not alert. There was a tiny smile on her face. Lyra smiled back as she sang the rest of the song. Where would their lives go next? It could be anywhere, they could do anything. It would all be okay, just as long as she had Bon Bon by her side.

After the song was over, Caramel cleared his throat. Lyra looked around at him, blushing, and he spoke. 'You're a great singer.'
Lyra blushed again. 'Thank you,' she said.
'I really mean it,' said Caramel insistently. His eyes were wide. 'You're amazing.'
Lyra smiled, then said 'I'm... Sorry, but in case you didn't know... I'm with Bon Bon. Um, yeah, sorry.'
Caramel's face changed, from admiring to mortified, 'Oh, Celestia, sorry, no! I'm not interested in you! No, I was just saying. Yeah, no, I wasn't flirting!'
Now Lyra was dying of embarassment. 'Sorry, I just thought... Because I'm really not a good singer... Agh, sorry!'

Then there was that awkward silence.

'Oh, I just remembered! The reason I was here, I was going to tell you about the other day.'
'Oh, yes,' said Lyra, 'Were you there when Bon Bon was.. Um...'
'Yes, I was. I was a bit of a distance away, but I definetely saw it. I'll come into court if you want...?'
'Oh, that would be great! Thank you, Caramel! Do you know when the trial is?'
'Yep, I'll just -' They were cut off by a knock at the door.

Nurse Redheart was the first to cross to the front door, which she opened, revealing a male pegasus pony. He had a light blue coat and a red mane. His head was adorned with a red cross, just like Redheart's. He carried two saddle bags on his back, resting just behind his wings.

Redheart immediately ushered him inside, removing the saddle bags and extracting the medicine from within. She shook up a mixture of several clear liquids, transferred them into a syringe and injected it into Bon Bon's upper left foreleg, elliciting another moan.
'That should help her metabolic system compromise for the medicine she'll be recieving,' the nurse explained briskly as she worked. She drew out three different kinds of tablets from the bags.

Pointing to one, she said 'These are antibiotics. They should help fight the infection. Give her one every morning and evening until you run out. These second ones are iron tablets. Give her one every day for a week, and if the wound bleeds again after that, keep giving them to her for another week. If you run out, you should be able to get more at the chemist.'

'What are these?' asked Lyra, motioning to the third packet.
'Those will help prevent other sicknesses and infections that could make her worse. If she does get worse, you should take her to hospital,' said the Nurse seriously, 'Don't let her drink alcohol or smoke for at least three weeks. It would probably be best not to engage in intercourse, don't go swimming or do anything that requires too much energy, and make sure she gets at least ten hours sleep a day.
'Try and get her to take as many naps as possible. Avoid eating too many dairy products, and if she gets too hot, try and cool her down with a wet cloth. Don't alter her temparature drastically in a short period of time.' Lyra nodded, absorbing the information like a sponge.

The Nurse sighed. 'Celestia's healthcare policy at the moment isn't the best. We're understaffed, so I can't send somepony to check on her in a few days like I would normally. I'm leaving it up to you to keep her in good condition. But you need to let us know if something goes wrong.'
'Okay,' said Lyra dutifully. One of her ears twitched, and she clamped a hoof to it, grinning bashfully despite the situation.

Why was she grinning? This situation was just so other-worldly, she had never expected anything like this to happen. It felt like a story, a fiction. But it was real - painfully so - and Lyra had to be there for her marefriend.

And so, over the next few days, Lyra Heartstrings nursed Bon Bon back to health, as best as she knew how. It wasn't easy - Lyra was actually forced to cook a couple of times - but she managed it. Bon Bon had been brought back by a combination of peanut butter on toast (Lyra's favourite), harp playing, and really bad jokes, along with the medicine Nurse Redheart has prescribed.

Three days before the court case, an eggheaded purple unicorn with a well-kept mane and clean hooves came calling by. 'Hey Twilight,' said Lyra, upon answering the door.
'Hello, Lyra. How's Bon Bon?' said Twilight.
'She's a lot better. Do you want to come in? You can talk to her if you want,' Lyra motioned into the door, with a smile as large as her exhausted body could possibly muster.
'Thanks. I came to talk to you, actually,' said Twilight, 'It's about the court case.'
'Oh,' said Lyra unenthusiastically, her smile dropping, 'That.'
'Yeah, I found out some stuff that I thought might help,' said Twilight Sparkle, and she followed Lyra into the house.
Bon Bon was sitting on the living room couch, drinking a lemonade through a straw. She looked slightly more tired than usual, but no less cheery.

Midgetty interlude thing AKA "The Plan"

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Lyra sat down beside Bon Bon and offered Twilight the marshmallow-ey chair opposite them. 'Do you want a drink?' asked Lyra.

'Oh, no thanks, I've just had lunch.'
And then they got down to business.

'So did you get the information we needed?' asked Twilight. Lyra looked guiltily at nothing in particular.

'Most of it. The lawyer hung up on me, so...'
Twilight looked disgruntled. 'Well, let's start with what we have got. We need to accumulate the data and see where we'll go next.'
'Okay,' said Lyra. She took out Twilight's list of questions and reviewed it.

'Thee attacker was female, but we didn't get a name. She was attacked down Nocturn Alley, you know the one? Doctor Whooves had left her just outside. He heard the scream, but didn't see anything. Caramel saw it from a distance, though. The mare was a yellow earth pony. They'll be calling one witness, I have no idea who.'
'Do you have any witnesses?'
'Yes. Caramel said he'd come in. Doctor Whooves too, but I don't really see what he could do.'

Lyra could practically see the cogs in Twilight's brain go into overdrive. After a while, Twilight sighed. 'Ponyville was founded by Earth ponies, as you should know. Out of all three Equine races, not including Alicorns, Earth ponies have been seen as the ones to uphold traditional values and morals,' she said, 'Do you see where I'm going here?'

Twilight obviously didn't want to say it, so Lyra spared her the pain. 'They attacked Bon Bon because we're lesbians,' said Lyra stiffly.
'Yes,' Twilight admitted, 'They view it as unnatural and undermining of their mare/colt marriage.'

'But that's so not fair!' said Lyra loudly.
'That's not for me to decide,' said the purple unicorn.
'So what do you think of it?' asked Bon Bon.

'To be honest, I think everypony should be allowed to love anypony they want. I'm not really one way or another, just so long as nopony's being homophobic. Which they are, which is why I'm taking your side. I just can't believe they'd justify it to themselves.'

'Some ponies are unbelievable,' said Lyra, 'But what do you think will happen in court?'
'You say the accused was female, and calling one witness? Here's what I say. I say that they'll claim GP defense.'
'What's that?' asked Bon Bon.

'Gay panic defense,' said Twilight, 'If the accused claimed Bon Bon was trying to chat her up, and she freaked and attacked Bon Bon in a lapse of judgement, there's nothing you can do. They'll get away with it.'
'What?' said Lyra, 'How does that even work? It's no different from chatting up a colt!'

'It's a completely predjudiced and corrupt, but there's nothing you can do. Even if Bon Bon had been killed, the mare would get as little as 3 months on parole, if she pleaded guilty to ponyslaughter and used the GPD,' said Twilight dismally.

'That is so unfair,' said Lyra.
'I'm sorry,' said Twilight, 'But I don't know what to do. If you're both calling witnesses, then there will be two different stories, and they won't be able to prove anything, or put anypony behind bars. The most important thing is to not lose your cool in front of the jury.'

'That is such utter bullcrap,' Lyra seethed.
'I'm sorry,' said Twilight again. Then after a while she left, for there was nothing to be said.

They sat in silence for a while, not speaking or moving. After a while, Bon Bon's seasoned voice broke the silence. 'Wh-what are we gonna do Lyra?'

Her words felt like a hundred knives stabbing into Lyra's chest, then twisting themselves around in an endless circular motion. She wanted to protect Bon Bon so badly, but she just couldn't. The despair in Bon Bon's voice was almost too much for her to bare.

Lyra's ear twitched, not in a nervous way, but the way it did when she got an idea. She perked up, held her hooves against Bon Bon's and said:

'We go to the court case. Then we go to Canterlot. We spread the love. Then, finally, we go to Princess Celestia. That's what we do. What do you say?'
Bon Bon's eyes widened. 'We could do that?' she said, 'We could take this to Celestia?'
'If we don't, then who will? Bons, we've been together for years, and we love each other more than anything. I know that without a doubt I would die for you. And I think it's about time we fought for something that everypony in Equestria has been denying us our whole lives: The right to get married.'

'You... You want to get married? To me?' asked Bon Bon incredulously.
'Bon Bon, don't you?' asked Lyra worriedly.

Bon Bon smiled, 'It's all I've ever dreamed.'