The look of tiredness sat on the bags of her eyes, her skin paling slightly. Reading all night, her stomach full of coffee, she seemed to have worn herself out more than expected. Her body felt stuck to the couch, begging her mind desperately to just go to bed already. Bon-Bon walked into the dimly lit room that was their living room, her eye mask pushed to her forehead. Trotting towards the desk light that sat just beside her girlfriend, she turned it towards Lyra’s face.

Lyra shied away from the blinding light, hissing slightly. Bon-Bon looked at her confused and shocked. She knew that Lyra hadnt been in bed recently when she was waking up at night, but she just chalked it up to her using the restroom. However, she didnt expect it to be because she would stay up late into the night to read.

“Lyra, what are you doing?! You look insanely tired, you need to get to bed!”

Bon-Bon’s face contorted to one of concern, not wanting to see her girlfriend like this. She softly stroked her hair, a smile forming on her face. Lyra looked at Bon-Bon and sighed. She didnt want to tell her, but she knew she had to.

“I've been trying to find more books on anthropology. But, it turns out, I have read all of them that the local library has to offer. Not even just that, I have read all of the books that the stores in Canterlot had too. I can't find anything I haven't read… I don't know what to do.”

Bon-Bon stared at her, a slight smile forming on her face. She knew that Lyra had a slight obsession, and she wanted to help her keep it low, but she also found it cute how she was so fixated on it.

“Oh, Lyra. Here, I know that Twilight has a library with tons of books from all across Equestria. After you get some sleep and eat a full meal, you head down to her treehouse and ask? She knows you well, and she will most likely say yes.”

Lyra’s eyes brightened, the spark coming back to her eyes. Nodding, Lyra hopped up from the soft sofa in their living room and trotted to the hallway where their bedroom sat.

“Well, what are you waiting for? I wanna sleep!”

Lyra’s sudden want for sleep made Bon-Bon chuckle loudly. Going next to her, she gave her a small kiss on her cheek. They laughed as they headed to their bedroom, ready for rest.

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The morning came along quickly, but not quickly enough for the horned pony. After trying to stop her girlfriend from continuing to tell her to be careful, Lyra was finally let on her way. A sudden rush of excitement coursed through her veins, her eyes bright and happy. She knew that Twilight had to have had something on anthropology, she just knew it!

Luckily, her house wasn't a far walk from the treehouse. Arriving at Twilight’s, she knocked her hoof on the door, making a little song while knocking. Just as she was about to continue, Twilight opened the door. Lyra paused with her hoof in the air and blushed slightly, embarrassed.

“Lyra! It's nice seeing you here! Why don't you come on in!”

Smiling, Lyra nodded and walked in happily. Twilight stood beside the door after she shut it, calling out from the little spot.

“What brings you here? Is BonBon sick again?”

Lyra shook her head but was happy in her heart that Twilight still cared about it.

“No, I've come to ask you something… Do you happen to have any books on anthropology?”

Twilight smirked and laughed. She knew the mint pony was bound to ask her at some point, but didnt expect it this soon.

“I do! I have a specific section in my library for it! I knew you would probably ask, but I did it!”

Lyra felt a certain warmth in her chest, happy someone other than her girlfriend would dedicate something to her. She followed Twilight to her little section, sitting in the tall parts of the A section. Twilight skimmed through a couple and grabbed out the anthropology ones to give to Lyra.

“Here are all of them! It's not a lot, but I assume you read most of them.”

Lyra nodded, sorting through the 10-book high mountain. After skimming through pages, inspecting covers and backs, she was down to her last one. Lyra had not much hope for this one, seeing all of the other ones she had already read or knew what it talked about. Opening and flipping through the pages, she notices familiar notes, assuming it would be about stuff she already read previously.

However, turning the page one more, a starry page caught her eye. In an odd language, it announced what lay further. Shutting the book immediately, Lyra looked at Twilight with an excited expression.

“ This book is it! Can I borrow it?”

Twilight jumped, unsure of how to feel at her sudden enthusiasm. She picked up the book and flipped through the first couple of pages. To her, it looked like one of the many other anthropology books she threw into the new pile.

“Oh! You definitely can. I just am surprised you picked this one. It looks a lot like the other books you put back.”

Twilight knew never to judge a book by its cover, so she slid it over to Lyra. Using her magic, the mint pony picked it up, intrigue dripping from her face.

“Thank you so much, Twi! You have no idea how much this means!”

Running out of the treehouse, she trotted to her little cottage rather quickly. Twilight just smiled and laughed, waving her off.

| ─────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────────────── |

Shutting the door behind her, she shouted out for her girlfriend.

“BON BON!!!!! IM HOMEEEEE!!!”

The quiet crickets croaked, and no response was seemingly made to her. Lyra thought nothing much of it, knowing she often goes out to harvest plants. Rushing to their shared office, she set the dusty, big book on the rather small table.

Opening the page with the stars on it, she examined the letters more clearly. Comparing them to a diagram she made from other anthropology books, she was able to narrow the language down to English. She smiled and read it very slowly, translating each letter quickly.

The text read ‘ The Ancient Magic of Humans’. Her eyes widened, surprised at the discovery of a new language Twilight somehow managed to miss. Flipping the page, her hoof shook, desperately trying to take as many precautions as she could.

The slam of a door caught her off guard, anger bubbling inside of her.

“ Honey? Im here!”

BonBon slowly stalked through the dark house, creaking open the door to the single office. The only light from the room was the small desk lamp. A shaky, caffeinated Lyra sat at the desk, flipping slowly through the pages of the old book while taking notes sporadically.

“Lyra?”

BonBon stalked over to her girlfriend, shaking her shoulder slightly. Turning her head towards her, Lyra’s eyes were bloodshot, hair scattered. Jumping away at her girlfriend's antics, BonBon backed towards the door slowly.

“Uh… Im gonna get started on… dinner…”

Slamming the door, BonBon’s hooves hit the floorboards heavily, running to the kitchen. Lyra tilted her head back to the book that rested on her desk. Sighing, she closed it and began to clean up the rather messy space. Slowly leaving the room after cleaning, she walked towards the kitchen, hearing weird noises. As she rounded the corner, she spotted a crying BonBon standing by the stove.

Lyra’s heart hurt, guilty of how she treated her girlfriend. She trotted over and tapped on her shoulder. BonBon jumped and turned around to face her partner. She saw the guilty look in her eyes, and how tired she seemed.

“I know… that was incredibly rude of me. Im… im so sorry. I've just been so caught up with the book.”

BonBon looked at Lyra solemnly and sighed. Realizing that there was no true way to solve this besides an apology, BonBon accepted it and kissed her.

“Im not mad, my love. It just scared me to see you like that. If you are truly feeling stressed and need a break, take one. And I don't want you to take it out on me. It hurts.”

Lyra nodded, going in for a hug, feeling each other's heartbeat.

Little did BonBon know that this wouldn't be the last time this happened.

Author's Note

1430 Words!

aaaaa this is my first work! Hope you guys enjoy it!