Even through her tears, Bon Bon could tell that Patch was mad. Beyond annoyed and right onto anger; no, outrage. That edge of venom in her voice was enough to give that away. But she also stomped, her hooves' resonance barely audible above the sound of Teddy yelling down the street. And her shoulders hung forward, her neck hunched backwards. Someone her size trying to appear intimidating was quite the sight. But her expression on her face screamed bloody murder as she led Starlight and Bright Eyes in the charge to do… something to the boys running the lemonade stand.

Her heart was broken; absolutely shattered by one of the boys running the lemonade stand.

Ace.

She still didn't comprehend it. Ace was always so nice to her. He offered her cookies, and complimented her, and even helped her study that once. For months before the lemonade stand ever happened, he was nothing but a gentleman. He saved her from Teddy's wrath just yesterday. That particular incident had seemed like the start of a new era; where Ace and she could get started having babies and name them names that combined their interests, like Soccer Cake and Baked Football.

But no. Somehow, he'd manipulated the pony he supposedly loved.

Patch had seen right through the ruse. And when she'd tried to warn her, Bon Bon guiltily remembered yelling at her, calling mean names and hitting her across the cheek. Then Ace came in and joined the party, wrapping his hoof around her shoulder and suggesting ditching her. Of course, Patch got nippy and scared her, so she wasn't very good in her presentation anyway, but Bon would have given anything to go back before the heartbreak.

Bon Bon wiped a few more tears off her cheek, closing her eyes so she could clean them too. Then she opened her eyes slowly and delicately to watch the scene in front of her, though her own thoughts kept on getting in the way.

I bet she hates me now, Bon Bon noted, more tears coming out of her eyes as she watched her friend wave her hooves about dramatically as she explained something over the sound of the crowd. While Bon Bon couldn't pick out the words, she could hear the determination in her voice. Occasionally the bookworm and the teacher's pet at her sides added in their own jabs, but it was mainly Patch.

But if she hates you, why is she defending you?

Bon Bon whimpered. "I have no idea…"

A hoof snaked around her back, and Bon Bon found herself jumping as she looked over and saw a sad-eyed Clover at her waist. The yellow pony pushed her off, not at all comfortable with the contact. Everyone's eyes were glued to the scene that opened up before them.

Right then, Starlight and Bright Eyes began trotting back in their direction. Bon Bon's frown firmed up when she realized that they didn't look happy. "Those boys aren't listening to reason, so we have to kick this into high gear."

"RIGHT!" Clover, Sweetheart and Melody exclaimed in unison.

Starlight stood on her hind legs, putting one hoof on her hip. She pointed at Clover with her other hoof. "Alright, Clover, you spruce up our sign. Sweetheart, take inventory and go with Patch to get some more lemons, sugar, cups, and don't forget the mint leaves. Bright Eyes, count our money and figure out what we need to do to get them out of commission. The girls will rise!"

"RIGHT!"

Things got pretty busy after that. Clover busily painted up the next sign, her tail waving about as she worked. Ace hadn't even spared a glance at the brokenhearted little pony with the purple mane. After she realized that he wasn't going to bother acknowledging her, she buried her face in her hooves and smelled the wood on the lemonade stand, occasionally whimpering.

"Alright, we've got everything!"

Bon Bon stuck her head up at Sweetheart's voice. She was sitting on the front of a big red wooden wagon Bon Bon guessed was Patch's… and it was filled to the brim with crates of lemons. Patch had been pulling it, and at the moment, she, Sweetheart, Melody and Starlight were already getting started stacking the boxes by her side. "Heads up, Bon Bon, you've got some lemonade to make. Melody, you're helping her. We'll unload."

The yellow pony stared at the lemons and gulped. "That's an awful lot of them…"

"Never mind that, Bon Bon. They grabbed the expensive pink sugar balls," Melody said nonchalantly, motioning to a box that'd been dropped off on the counter. "All we gotta do is make some cups, and they'll rush over here in no time."

I sure hope so...

"Please squeeze the lemons," Bon Bon said as she inspected the bottle of the sugar packets. A gram of sugar each… Okay, so five or six of the little things would make one good thing of lemonade?

Dumping one of the pink things on her tongue had it dissolving and leaving an explosion of sugary goodness on her tongue. Definitely five. Lots of flavor.

There were lots of ups and downs when it came to the lemonade business, as Bon Bon quickly learned. At one point, the groups had a war over prices, where they had to lower their price to three cups to the jangle (which Bon Bon didn't understand in the slightest, considering most ponies only bought one, but she digressed) and Bright Eyes had brought out a battery-powered miniature oven, with which Bon Bon made some cinnamon buns, which flew off the shelves at a jangle per bun.

And, by the time she'd made about a hundred cups of lemonade, she'd been getting a bit exhausted. By then, she'd made, what, four hundred cups of lemonade? And then about five dozen cinnamon buns while tasting only one? Oof, she was tired… And, check it, there were only about fifty jangles in the cash register!

"Starlight, we're running poor Bon Bon ragged over there." Bon Bon heard Patch's voice, just behind her, talking to the leader of the group.

"Agreed."

Was I that obvious? Bon Bon thought as she stirred what felt like the millionth cup and panted heavily. Then she faced the brown boy pony in front of her (his name was Spinner, he was a tentative friend) and said, "One jangle."

He slid the currency across the stand's surface and took his cup of lemonade. Clover watched the transaction (Melody was playing her new song Something About Oranges; Clover was about the third pony who'd helped her there) and, as he walked away, a tan hoof connected with her shoulder. "C'mon, Bon Bon, let's go for a walk. Starlight's taking over for a little bit."

Bon Bon gave her a tired nod before getting out of the crate that had been mercifully provided as a chair. Patch slipped her arm around her shoulders, but Bon Bon was too tired to tell her to keep her hooves off (she was never one for physical contact). And by then she had a massive headache anyway, so she acted sort of like a barrier for all of the noise, so… yeah.

Still. Even if she had to walk with her friend's arm around her back, it was a relief not to deal with those lemons.

Luckily for Bon Bon, Patch led her along to the park, where an empty bench was right at the front of it. Bon Bon all but jumped out of her friend's grip and flopped on it, throwing her head back with a sigh. It felt good just to be sitting there.

The yellow pony was minimally surprised when her friend didn't respond, just sitting next to her. Bon Bon noted the close proximity, and the fact that her hooves were folded on her lap. "Thanks."

Patch looked over, her cheeks covered with pink. "Huh? F-For what?"

Bon Bon blinked in confusion for a moment before replying. "For getting me out of there. It's…" she sighed contentedly, "…tough work to make lemonade."

"Oh. Yeah; uh, anytime."

And, it was right then that Bon Bon remembered: that wasn't it… And then the apology. "Also, um, thanks for protecting me earlier."

"Protecting?" Patch's eyes were soft and wide.

"Well, you told A- um, him off," Bon Bon pointed out. She sure she was blushing a bit herself, too. "Um, I don't know what that is, b-but you stood up for me. A-A-And I wanted to say I was sorry for yesterday. Ace really isn't good after all…"

Wow; eight hours after Ace's treachery was revealed, and Bon Bon still found tears in her eyes when she thought of what he did. Hadn't fully registered yet, huh…?

"Duh-Don't worry 'bout me," Patch insisted, her cheeks deepening in shade. "And, uh, Ace… I'm sorry about him. I wish I was wrong."

"No… I'm really sorry, Patch." The yellow pony scooted a bit closer to her friend on the bench, aware that her emotions were getting the best of her. "I shouldn't have even given that a shot, if you knew it wouldn't work."

Suddenly, Bon Bon felt herself being yanked. "Eep!" she exclaimed, her eyes snapping open to see taupe fur at extremely close range.

It was then that she realized that Patch had pulled her into an embrace. Her friend's hooves were tucked under her armpits. Her friend nuzzled her hair slowly. "It's fine. That's what friends are for."

For a moment, Bon Bon leaned her head back into the embrace, squeezing her arms to her side so Patch's hooves were lodged deeper in her armpits. She delicately rubbed her eyes against her friend's arm fur, warmth coming from her core and-

Bon Bon froze all movement, her eyes widening as she realized exactly what she was doing. What she was doing was cuddling Patch in the middle of a park. Another female. Second, Patch was totally into it? Finally, her armpits were starting to smell through the deodorant from that morning, so it was gross that Patch put her hooves there.

What should I do? Bon Bon asked herself. Get out of this, or continue…? Even if it made her stomach churn, she had to admit that it felt nice…

"I care about you," Patch blurted out.

"I-I care too," Bon Bon responded, at a blank for anything else to say. All that she could think was, What is going on?!

But still, for some odd reason, she leaned back into her friend's chest again, resigning to her own desire for closeness. It'd be fine for right then… none of their friends were around to see, after all. And it wasn't like she had any pride left to lose anyway…

Besides, Patch was into it, and disappointing someone was never fun, now was it?

Sorry for the long wait; I've been trying to invest myself in a few longer, deeper Tales stories, and I think I have a winning idea for the Patch/Bon Bon pairing, at least. My goal is to get the next five confessions out by July 7th, though, so stay tuned!