Author's Note

A warning about this chapter and the next. Up till now this story has been mostly sad, but here's where the dark tag comes in. If you have any aversion to depictions of attempted rape you might want to skip this chapter and the next... Thought the story will be missing a chunk out of it.

Chapter 3: Rebellious youth

Lyra filled the large automated coffee machine with new beans. She wore a barristia cap and a black vest with a coffee shop's logo on it. A small little bell rang off to the side of the counter. "Hi welcome to BuckingStalion's Coffee House!" Lyra greeted the new customer who walked in.

It had been two months since Lyra had visited the department dean at Grand Galloping University. Lyra's parents had given her an ultimatum after her last rejection letter, find a job or move out. She had been working at BuckingStalion for the past three weeks. It was the third job in as many months. While it wasn't the greatest job in the word, it put some money in her pocket. Well, a little bit any way.

Since her parents started charging her rent most of it went back to them. She earned a meager, but liveable wage from the job. Provided she could keep from spending it.

"One caramel frappuccino, no whip.” Lyra overheard the order and walked to the blender to start making it. She put the skim milk and caramel into it along with a healthy heap of ice. She put the top on the pitcher then hit the setting marked high. The unit shook for a second before launching the blender's pitcher off it's motor base.

The frappuccino mixture went every where. It covered Lyra, her coworker, Chip, and even splashed on to a few customers as well. Lyra just stared and blinked at the unit with a blank look of surprise. She knew that something went wrong, but couldn't quite process it.

"My new sweater!" Lyra heard one of the patrons yell. She closed her eyes and smacked her forehead. She didn't check that the pitcher was on the housing correctly before she started it. This wasn't the first time either.

"Lyra!"

The next yell was from her manager. She was going to be chewed out. Again.

She managed to clean her self up a bit before meeting the manager in his back room. Parts of her mane still stuck to hear head, and her fur was still a bit of a mess. It was better then it could have been but she would need a shower to get rid of the rest.

The manager's office was small, and split into two even smaller sub spaces, a work space for her manager and smaller table for staff. "Lyra, what am I going to do with you?" Her manager scolded her again, "This is the forth time this week you've screwed something up. And you ruined that customer's sweater!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Buck. It wont happen again." Her voice was low and soft. She knew it was her fault, that she had to pay more attention but it was so difficult. This job was boring and it was hard for her to focus. Plus Mr. Buck gave Lyra the creeps sometimes.

Mr. Buck laughed at the statement, "Lyra you've said that the past four times this week, and the in-numerous other times before that. I'm putting you on notice, if it happens again. I'm going to have to let you go."

Even though she knew it was fair, Lyra still tried to speak up and defend her self, but Mr. Buck would have none of it. "I'm sorry, this is your last chance Lyra If you want to keep your job there's only one thing you have to do. Stop screwing up!" With that he sent her out of his office.

Lyra stood up and walked out of the office, unconsciously swishing her tail once as she walked away. Mr. Buck couldn't help but stare at her plot as she walked out.

'Well, maybe there's something else you could do.' He thought to him self as a particularly evil smile crept over his lips. Mr. Buck started to think about the opportunity that just flung it self through his coffee shop, and he felt a subtle familiar tingle. Mr. Buck wanted her golden mint leaf, and Mr. Buck always got what he wanted. Always.

Lyra walked out the office and went behind the line to help Chip clean up her mess. The dark brown pony with black mane was trying to clean up the display case when she walked by. "Chip, I'll clean that up. It's my mess anyway." Lyra and Chip actually got along fairly well despite her constant screw ups.

"Aw, don't worry about it Lyra." Chip went back to cleaning the case as Lyra gave him a warm smile. She thought he was actually kind of sweet, just like his chocolate chip cutie mark.

Another customer came in. "Hi! welcome to BuckingStalion's Coffee House!" So the day continued. Lyra made it a point to double check everything. She wasn't going to screw up again. She couldn't.

The next few orders came in and Lyra double checked everything. Leaving nothing to chance this time. She only had another hour today, and then she could go home and shower. Maybe even write a little.

Lyra paused for a moment and shook her head. 'No.' she thought. She wasn't going to do this again. She had to focus. Be in the moment, live in the now, pay attention to what you are doing. She repeated to her self. This was going to work, she was going to make it work. She just had to focus.

Everything went smoothly for the rest of her shift. Well, aside from her manager watching everything she did. Lyra knew he was looking for just one excuse. His constant attention actually made her uncomfortable. It feel like he was staring more at her then her work. On more then one occasion it felt like he purposefully bumped into her.

Eventually the day ended for her. Lyra sighed and walked back into her manager's office to punch the clock. She was free to go but didn't leave right away. She wanted to wait for Chip to get done so they could walk home together. It was a simple ritual they had settled into after she started.

Lyra enjoyed the colt's company, even if he was a bit dense sometimes. In truth, Chip was a bit of a do nothing, but he seemed nice and was a good friend. Part of Lyra wondered if maybe they could be a bit more then friends. She knew it wasn't a good idea since they both worked together. Still if he ever asked...

Chip's head popped around the corner of the manager's office, "Oh, hey Lyra." She smiled at him. "Hey Chip, want to walk home?" His eyes darted to the side and he looked down. "I-I'm sorry Lyra. Mr. Buck wanted to talk to me about something. He says it's going to take a while."

She paused for a moment "Oh, I see... Well I could wait..."

Chip interrupted her, "No! That's ok Lyra. I'll see you at work tomorrow." He forced a smile, a bead of sweet dripped down the side of his head. Lyra couldn't see the rest of his body.

His behavior was odd, even for him. Lyra wondered if she had done something to make him wary of her. Maybe she thought, he really was upset that he had to clean up after her? "ok chip. I'll see you tomorrow than."

She walked out of the coffee shop, unaware of Chip staring at her as she walked. Mr. Buck came out of his small office and stood behind the dark and brown pony. "Trust me Chip, she needs this job."

Chip looked at the ground, studying the lines and contours in the tiling. He was unsure about what Mr. Buck had told him, but he did like Lyra. This would make her like him he thought. Wouldn't it?

The walk home was lonely, and gave Lyra time to think about things. She thought about money first and for most right now. She needed to save up at least a few hundred bits. Preferably a thousand before she moved out. It was going to be difficult with how much her parents were charging for rent, but she could do it. Five months of working at the coffee shop. “Just five months.” She whispered to herself.

She entered her parents home calling out to them that she was home. Their response was a flat and detached "Welcome home." Lyra was about to go up the stairs, when her mother came out to great her personally. Lyra was taken a back by the personal contact from her usually distant mother. For a moment Lyra was actually afraid of what her mother was going to say.

"I wanted to give this to you." Her mother levitated a yellow and pink envelope to Lyra. "It was sent by your old friend Bon Bon a month ago. I completely forgot to give it you."

Lyra took the letter, "Thanks mom." Her response had just the subtle edge of sarcasm to it. Which her mother either ignored or missed as she walked back into the depths of the house.

Lyra walked up stairs and put her apron on the handle above her door. The shower could wait, she had to read this. Lyra took the letter and began to open it. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It had a surgery sweetness to it. Just like a candy shop she thought as a smile came over her mussel.

Lyra was happy for her friend, she had opened a fairly successful candy shop and was no doubt doing well. 'Unlike me', Lyra thought.

The letter was short,

"Dear Lyra,

First how are you? I haven’t heard from you in a while, I know you were set to graduate a few months back. I hope everything has worked out. You used to talk about your research all the time. I didn't know your address in canterlot since you moved so I sent this to your mom's house. I just hope she actually gets it to you!

Me? I moved out to the small town of Ponyville. It's nice here, kind of quite. My candy shop isn't doing as well as I hoped. I had to close it down for the time being. The local bakery was more then helpful in getting me started too, but starting a business is difficult. Don't worry too much about me though, I'll be able to start it up again eventually. Just need to get some odd jobs together in the mean time.

You should stop by to visit some day when you get time. There's a train from Canterlot that runs daily. Or I could visit you if you have a room for me to stay?

Take care of your self, and write back sometime! Your such an airhead sometimes!

-Love you,

Bon Bon."

Lyra was a little disheartened to hear that Bon Bon's candy shop wasn't doing well, but she was confident in her friend. If Bon Bon put her mind to it then she could do anything.

Lyra sat on her bed and levitated some parchment paper and a quill. She was going to write a letter to Bon Bon. She couldn't come out to Ponyville, but maybe Bon Bon would be willing to visit her?

A few weeks later.

*knock knock*

The door knocker's sound rang through the house rousing Lyra from her sleep. Looking at the clock before she got out of bed she saw how early it was. Her parents were still asleep no doubt. She quietly and stealthfully walked down the hallway to the stairs, making sure not to make any noise. The last thing she needed was her parents yelling at her for waking them up.

She had no idea who it was, probably some delivery person, or door to door marketer, she thought.

Lyra opened the door, and was not expecting to see the yellow pony with the pink and purple maned in front of her. "Bon Bon?!" Lyra forgot about being quite and shouted her friend's name.

She opened the door and came out to give her the biggest hug she could. It had been almost a year since the last time she saw her dear friend.

The two let go of each other, "Bon bon! I didn't expect to see you so soon? What brings you out to Manehatten?"

"Well I got your letter, and figured why not take you up on your offer to visit. Honestly I needed to get out of that town for a while." The two smiled at each other, and Lyra shook her head. "I'm sorry Bon bon, why don't you come inside?"

The two talked for hours at the kitchen table. Swapping stories and talking about things in the world, more then each others lives.

Eventually Lyra's mother woke up and came down stairs for breakfast. She was not expecting to see Bon Bon.

"Oh. Hello Bon Bon." Clarinet smiled at the pony, "Haven't seen you in a while I thought you had moved?"

"She did mom. I sent Bon Bon a letter seeing if she could visit for a day or two. I didn't think it would be a big deal." Lyra was a bit concerned that her mother or father would be upset.

"Oh, of course it's fine for your friend to visit." There was some sarcasm in her voice, very subtle, but Lyra could hear it. "So where will Bon Bon be sleeping, on our couch?"

"No, she'll be sleeping in my room. I have a sleeping bag she can use." It suddenly hit Lyra that maybe Bon Bon might want other accommodations

"A sleeping bag will be fine. It will be just like we're in school again!" Bon Bon answered as if reading her friend's thoughts. The two squeed and smiled at the thought of reliving their school days even if it was just for a few days.

The two continued to talk well into the later morning, eventually Lyra's father came down and was equally as surprised as Clarinet was.

Bon Bon was happy to be here, but she had a hard time smiling. She just couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend. While Bon Bon's life could certainly be going better she didn't feel as deep in a hole as Lyra. "Lyra. I'm sorry. Those guys at the university are jerks, you're better then they are and your ideas sound amazing!"

"Hump", Lyra's mother laughed to her self under her breath. Yet it was loud enough to be heard by both ponies at the table.

Lyra held her head down slightly, "My parents didn't approve of my choice in majors." She whimpered slightly.

A hoof brushed over top of her's. Lyra looked up at her friends smiling eyes. "Lyra, I think your ideas are really interesting. I'd love to try and read your thesis if you have?" Lyra smiled, her eyes beginning to water up slightly. "Yeah! I've got the copy on my desk!"

There was a mint green streak as Lyra bounded through the house and ran up the stares. She dug through the mess of paper work on her desk and uncovered the red and golden tome.

Lyra turned around and was about to head back to kitchen when she saw Bon Bon enter her room. "Sorry, do you mind if I read it up here? Your mom is giving me the stink eye."

Lyra held her ears back and silently cursed at her mother. "I'm sorry Bon..."

"Stop with the sorrys Lyra. You act like a kicked puppy. Your mom and dad are dicks, we both know that." Lyra smiled and let out a light little laugh. It felt good to laugh for a change. "Yeah, they kind of are pricks aren't they." The two shared a laugh as Lyra handed the tome over to Bon Bon.

Lyra felt good. For the first time in months, she truly felt happy. Even if it would only last for a moment.

The two sat in Lyra's room, Bon Bon engrossed in Lyra's book while Lyra laid on her bed day dreaming about things. Occasionally Bon Bon would ask a question or two about the text, and Lyra would try to answer. Some of it was difficult though. Most of the text was mired in ancient culture's and there were some foreign languages sprinkled about. Otherwise though there wasn't much for the two ponies to discuss, both were just enjoying each others company.

Eventually the sun started to creep down along the horizon. Somewhere deep in the house an old clock chimed three bells. Lyra got up and picked up her apron. She turned to Bon Bon as she put it on. "I'm sorry I have to go to work Bon Bon."

Bon Bon looked up from the book and gave a shrug. "Eh, it's ok. I'm sure I can find something to do while you're gone." She motioned down to the large book which she wasn't even half way through.

"Hey maybe you can stop by when I get off work. I'll buy you a coffee."

Bon Bon smiled at the offer, "I'd like that."

Work was very strange today. Both Chip and Mr. Buck were working incredibly close to Lyra all day. Even worse then they had over the past two weeks. She felt like they both were waiting for her to fail or screw up. Well they were going to have to look to someone else to screw up. Lyra was a model employee now. She checked and double checked everything.

An over weight blue pony came into the store and made her order. A frappuccino, a double Espresso, and a Daisy Field Salad, no nuts.

Frappuccino, check ingredients, check blender, hold blender while blending.

Espresso, check ground type, check pressure, lock everything into place.

A Daisy Salad with fresh fruit and hold the nuts, check.

Everything was perfect, as chip handed the large order to the rather plump pony. Chip even went the extra mile to help Lyra by checking the salad contents and putting them in a bag.

Yes, everything was going well. Lyra thought, as she broke down the espresso machine to clean it.

"I want to talk to your manager!" The slightly overweight pony had come storming back into the store and yelled at Chip. "Now!" She barked at Chip's stammering.

Lyra walked over to Chip to support him if nothing else. Just what was this pony on about she thought?

Lyra and Chip were both intimidated by the large pony. Mr. Buck had come out to investigate the source of the disturbance.

"Hi, I'm Mr. Buck, owner of the BuckingStalion. What seems to be the problem miss?"

The large pony looked like she was going to hurt someone. "The problem is my daughter!" She pointed to the little green foal next to her. "I bought this salad for her to eat, and I explicitly said no nuts!" The blue pony's face turned a shade of purple as he face flushed with anger. "My daughter is allergic to nuts!"

Lyra shook her head. "I'm sorry miss, but your salad didn't have any nuts in it. Chip and I both saw that. Didn't we chip?" Chip couldn’t look Lyra in the eyes as he stammered.

*Thud*

The blue pony plopped a salad bowl down on the counter. Lyra couldn't believe what was on top of the salad. Sitting there like tiny little brown and shriveled gremlins were walnut fragments. There is no way she could have missed them she thought.

"But I checked..." She whispered.

"Well clearly you didn't check hard enough!" the pony barked back.

Mr. Buck came between the counter and his two employees. "Please Ms. I'm sure I can make this up." Mr. Buck took the recipe next to the cash register, and made note of the amount, '10 bits'. He opened the cash register and gave the pony back her bits and also coupon for a free coffee on her next visit.

She took the bits and huffed at the empty gesture, leaving with out the coupon.

Lyra knew she screwed up, and she also knew that this was probably her last screw up too. "Mr. Buck I'm so..."

"In my office Lyra. Now!" He walked away from the counter to the back of building. Chip started to follow them. "Not you Chip. You'll be next" he said, with a very subtle hint of a smile.

Chip watched the two walk into the office, in his stomach a knot started to form. Something was deeply wrong with the whole situation. He knew that, but what else could he do? He liked Lyra, a lot, but Mr. Buck was instant. He always said there was no way she could like an idiot like him, was there? This was the only way he would be with her, he thought.

The idea provided little comfort to him. It was wrong, yet still he would do nothing. He walked back to the counter to server the line that had started to form.

Lyra entered Mr. Buck's office and sat down in front of his desk. Mr. Buck, gave a quick lick of his chops as he shut his office door, quietly locking it behind him. Outside Chip watched the door shut, his mind full of confusion.

Mr. Buck Walked around Lyra who had her head down. She was nervous, and scared.

"Please! Mr. Buck, I need this job. Just..." She thought about what to say. Begging seemed to be her only option. "just give me another chance."

"Oh I know you need this job Lyra." He put a hoof on her shoulder. Lyra couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable with the gesture. "But, you screwed up again Lyra. Why that poor foal could have eaten that salad. Gone to the hospital." He stood behind her, rubbing her shoulder ever so slightly, "Maybe even died." His voice was hollow, he didn't really care the little foal one way or the other. The only real thing on his mind was between Lyra's legs.

Lyra's head perked up. She knew it wasn't her fault. She made that salad by hand. She check it twice, there were no nuts. "Mr. Buck I checked that salad twice. There were no nuts in it. Chip even..." She paused. A thought crept into her mind, a terrifying and horrible thought. What if Chip did this to her?

"Oh, Lyra. What am I going to do with you?" Mr. Buck's hoof had moved to the center of her back. Lyra was starting to become really comfortable by Mr. Buck's touches.

"P-Please Mr. Buck. Stop touching me." She half whimpered.

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh, why should I?"

She pulled away from his hoof. "I don't like it. Please stop." She wanted to get out of the office now. She was tempted to just tell Mr. Buck to shove it at this point. As she turned to face him, she saw something dangling from underneath Mr. Buck.

'No.' She thought, she didn't want to be here. 'To hell with this job.'

Lyra began to get up when Mr. Buck reached his hoof around to grab her flank. Lyra hit his hoof as hard as she could. "Stop it! I'm not interested Buck. You can go find someone else to fuck." When she turned around Buck tried to jump on top of her attempting to pin her down. Lyra was having none of it though, she gave a hard kick from her back legs, Bucking buck back into his own desk.

She walked over to his door and found it was locked. She glared back at Mr. Buck was just starting to get up.

“Go to hell!” She screamed and ripped the door off it's hinges with her magic. The coffee shop was in dead silence when she walked out. Lyra's head was down, her mind working connecting the dots of what had happened. She had heard stories about Mr. Buck, almost everypony did. Now she knew they weren't just rumors.

Buck limped out of his office and screamed at Lyra that she was fired. Of course by now she couldn't even care. Chip walked up to Lyra, he wanted to apologized, "Lyra I'm..."

*Smack* She hit Chip across his face as hard as she could. "How could you Chip?" She had tears in her eyes, "I thought you were my friend. I might have actually liked you. you... Pervert!" The tears were replaced by a growing rage. "You and your boss can stay the fuck away from me! You two are fucking nuts if you think I'm going to fuck either of you over this shitty job!" She looked back at the stallion still in his office, his mouth agape. "I quit!"

The entire coffee shop watched in silence as Lyra walked through the coffee shop. A brief thought crossed her mind, about what she would do now, but she ignored it. She could worry about it later. Before leaving she removed her apron and hat and let them fall on the floor. With that last act she walked out of BuckingStailion's coffee house for the last time.

Lyra took the long way home, walking through the city park on her way back. The park was quite and serene, it was the only part of this city she ever really liked. She walked down a small path towards a small hill. On the top of this hill was an equally small bench. Lyra approached this bench, and sat on it. Her back pressed against the hard wood a strange posture, for a pony.

There was a very slight breeze which caught part of her mane. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked out towards the distant cityscape and setting sun. This place was a small eye of calm admits the maelstrom of her life. A moment to breath, as the hurricane outside blew more of her sanity away.

'What am I going to do?' She thought. She had lost her job, and who knows how the coffee shop incident would be seen by others. She doubted any merchant down town would give her a job now even if she was in the right.

Lyra looked to her side. It felt empty with out her lyre. She wished she had thought to bring it this morning. The sun slowly crept bellow the building skyline. The approaching shade and night had a bitter cold to it.

Lyra sighed, as she got up and made the journey back to her parent's house. This was not going to be a fun night. She hoped her parents would understand what happened, but she held her doubts.