//------------------------------// // Thread by Thread // Story: A Lyre's Song // by TaviTurnip //------------------------------// "You two did what?" "Er... that is to say..." One perplexed mint-coated unicorn stood in the doorway of her study, staring at her friend with a disbelieving look on her face. "Look, things just went that way!" Bon Bon protested. "I didn't even really think about it. It just happened." She stood beside Lily, who didn't seem particularly phased by the circumstances. Little did Bon Bon realize that the human girl saw the situation in a different - and much more fulfilling - light than the two ponies did. "Oh, Bons," Lyra sighed, shaking her head with a smile. "You really did take her out on a date, didn't you?" "Lyra..." the earth pony hissed through gently-closed teeth. She had been hoping the teasing would have stopped by that point. "No, I'm serious this time. You two were out there for hours. How could you not have shown her any of the important sights?" Lyra pointed a hoof toward the two as she said this, chuckling to herself. "What other explanation is there other than that you spent quality time together instead?" Bon Bon frumpled her face up, at a loss for words as she had no way to deny that they hadn't exactly fulfilled their objective. Lily, however, recognized this kind of teasing as if it were straight from Lyn's mouth, and she knew that Lyra was tugging at all the right strings in Bon Bon's heart to make the poor mare feel bad... but not too bad. "I got to see lots of lovely places and ponies," the human spoke up, putting on her best face of wonder and excitement, knowing how to get her kindred spirit out of the mess that was Lyra's teasing. "We saw lots and lots of ponies at the park, and we took a walk through the main square, and I met this really nice pony named... Cheerilee! She was really kind. Everypony was." Lyra's stance faltered for a moment. "O-oh," she replied, immediately catching glance of Bon Bon's face, which no longer seemed quite so flustered. "And," Lily continued, trying not to grin at the move she'd pulled so many times on her best friend. "Lots of other ponies saw us too, and didn't think too strangely of me. Lots of them wanted to see me around town again in the future!" Her eyes sparkled innocently as she reached the driving point of her story. "Then we took a long walk around the outskirts of the town, and I could see Canterlot Castle in the distance, up on the mountain. I'd really like to meet the princess now more than ever!" That had certainly done it. Lyra looked away sheepishly, but not before catching a haughty "hah!" that came from her cream-coated friend's mouth. Looking back, Bon Bon now had a look of triumph in her eyes, as every reason why she didn't fail to show Lily around town was shoved into Lyra's face. "Alright, alright," the unicorn surrendered, stepping out from her study doorway and into the hallway where the others were. "But next time, make sure to take her to the Mayor and other important places, okay? It's the least we can do to honestly help Lily fit in until we find a way to get her back home." Bon Bon nodded her head. Teasing or no, Lyra was right, and she'd done little more than take Lily on a glorified stroll. It had been a beautiful, heartfelt stroll, one that had lifted both their spirits high into the clouds, but nevertheless the red-haired girl still didn't know very much about Ponyville, never mind Equestria in general. "What about you, Lyra?" the pony asked, watching the owner of the house began to walk down the hall in front of them. "Did you come up with anything while we were gone?" "Not really," Lyra replied, leading the others back into the main sitting room. "To be honest I've mostly been relaxing since you two left. I know time is potentially a factor here, but after spending so many words with Twilight, my head wanted a bit of time to cool off." Lily, who was at the back of the trio at that time, noticed Lyra had been carrying a glass mug with her since leaving the study. There was a brown ring near the top, and presumably it had contained yet another helping of coffee. Lily really hoped by that point that Lyra didn't live off the stuff so much as she seemed, but figured that only time would tell. "One thing comes to mind, though," the unicorn spoke up again, her voice projecting from the kitchen as the others sat down on the couch like they had earlier that day. "It's no problem for Lily to stay here, but when I go back to work, what are you going to do during the day?" That question struck the other two girls, moreso Bon Bon than Lily. While the earth pony didn't really think Lily would be in the slightest trouble for "freeloading", she figured it could quickly get boring stuck in the house. Of course, that was to suggest in the first place that she had a reason to hide there instead of experiencing Ponyville to her heart's content. As Bon Bon considered the ups and downs to a few situations, Lyra returned to the sitting room once more, eyeing the two as they once again shared the same loveseat as before. "Oh," she stated, looking toward her best friend for the moment. The immediate grin on Bon Bon's face said "don't even" and Lyra contented herself to not get smacked in the head again that evening. "Well if you wanted to get a job or something, there are a million places to go, but I don't really mind if you just chill here either. Like I said, we're going to get you home. There's no need for you to work if you'd rather focus on that." "I'll... probably explore town a bit more first," Lily said, speaking softly and going over the places they'd been in her mind. "I haven't really seen too much yet, I don't think. I'd really like to meet some more ponies, too." Lyra shot her friend a glare, and Bon Bon looked away with a smile. "It's okay; tomorrow you can have a more focused tour guide." Her tone was laced with playful snark, and everyone in the room knew it. "What about you, Bons? Are you heading home soon?" "Well, I don't have work tomorrow either," the cream mare said thoughtfully. "Although I'd really like to show Lily the shop. I wonder how many of my treats you have where you come from, Lily." As if waiting for a chance to enter the conversation, the light groan of a stomach could be heard. Both ponies turned to Lily, who chose to grin foolishly rather than show any telling embarrassment. "I'm a bit hungry," she spoke plainly, stating the blatantly obvious. "I don't mind if you do the cooking," thought Lyra aloud. "Feel free to make yourself anything you want. If it's anything like what we had earlier, I'd be happy to have you take over food duty." "What Lyra means," Bon Bon followed up immediately. "Is that she's too lazy to prepare real food. Just pretend she's Lyn and you'll understand everything there is to say about it." The two sweeter girls shared a laugh, eliciting a bemused look from the unicorn mare. "Already making jokes like that, eh?" she asked, a hint of play in her tone. "Did you two share your life's stories out there?" "Something like that," Bon Bon smiled, looking over to Lily for confirmation. The human girl just smiled back, content to leave the explanation at that. "Oh, there is one thing I almost forgot about. I've been curious about this since we were out." "What is it?" Lyra asked, turning around and stepping back into the kitchen. "Come in here and let's talk about it over dinner." Bon Bon hopped off her cushioned perch, looking back toward Lily expectently. "Earth ponies," she said, in such a way where she was clearly referring to something specific, though Lyra couldn't tell what it meant from the other room. "Oh, yes!" Lily replied, putting a fist down to her palm in understanding. "That's right, I wanted to wait to explain that to you, now didn't I?" "You girls have totally lost me." Lily and Bon Bon giggled lightly, as they walked into the kitchen to join Lyra and make something to eat for the night. ~~~ There were clouds. Encompassing every corner of her vision, clouds of light pink and blue floated on by, minding their own business as if there was nobody there to watch them at all. The gentle sound of wind whistling through a tunnel could be heard all around, and despite the sun being nowhere to be found, everything was bright with life. Lily sat down on her cloud platform, crossing her legs and staring upward into the infinitely deep blue. There were so many clouds here. Maybe one of them had something for her? She reached her hand up, seemingly going as high as she willed it to, as her fingertips grazed a smallish, deep pink cloud. At her touch, the cloud instantly poofed into nothingness, causing Lily to draw her arm back in surprise. Oh, that wasn't what I wanted. She reached up again, this time standing on her feet as she tried a second time to grasp one of the clouds above her. As her hand wrapped itself gently around a pale blue shape, it poofed away just like the first. Lily scrunched her face up. This was getting her nowhere. Come on, I just want to hold you! As the girl looked around for another suitable target, she felt something poke her in the back of the head. Spinning on the spot, Lily brushed her red hair out of her eyes to find a small, more solid-looking cloud of the same colour. It vibrated mischievously, as if giggling about what it had done. Lily grinned, thrusting her hand out at once to grab the cheeky little wisp... but it just moved away. You can't escape me! Several times, she tried to grasp the red cloud, and each time it dodged perfectly to the side, occasionally spinning around her head and poking her playfully. Lily started laughing each time it poked her, growing more and more amused by the situation even as her success at reaching the cloud continued to stay just out of reach, so to speak. After many more failed attempts, Lily started to grow tired. She'd been having a lot of fun with the little sentient puff of cloud, but she just couldn't keep up with it any longer. Resigning herself to her defeat, she sat back down, crossing her legs as she had before. You win, she told it kindly. I'll get you next time. The cloud quickly formed into the shape of a pony, taking a courteous bow. It was clearly pleased with itself, Lily figured. A tongue then appeared from a seemingly random crease in the pony cloud, wiggling teasingly at Lily before retracting itself, as the wisp suddenly spiraled out of existence altogether. All around her, the other clouds did the same thing, and much like her previous dream, Lily was soon left floating atop nothing but solid blue as far as the eye could see. It seems like it's time to go back to sleep, she thought, closing her eyes and finding herself in the same comfortable red-sheeted bed as the night before. ~~~ Thankfully for her and the others, Lily did not wake up in Lyra's bed that morning like she had before. She'd opted to sleep on the loveseat, finding it especially welcoming after having spent so much time sitting on it in the first place. Bon Bon had spent the night, and despite Lyra feeling brave enough to make just one more quip at their expense, the two of them had most likely slept in the same bed as far as Lily could guess. It was certainly big enough to fit the two of them comfortably, or even all three of them, if her memory served. The night before had been enjoyed by all before it was time to rest. Lily did her best to explain that ponies back home (and more accurately, horses in general) were barely the same as the ones in Equestria. Both Lyra and Bon Bon were quite surprised at the concept of ponies that did no talking and were used primarily for riding. Lyra in particular was further intrigued by the lack of any magical pony species, and after prodding Lily for more answers, magical anything. Things were certainly different where humans lived. After dinner and further talking, they all decided to retire for the night, and Lily realized she had nothing particularly appropriate to wear to sleep. She had to explain behind flushed cheeks that being without clothing held certain connotations where she came from, not that it bothered her to be naked, but she didn't quite want to be that way in front of the others. Lyra in turn contented to explain that associations with clothing in Equestria were "sort of weird and picky", leaving the explanation about as vague and unhelpful as the associations themselves tended to be in the first place. Folding her blanket off of herself, Lily yawned, stretching all four limbs before nearly rolling herself off of the loveseat. It took her a few moments to remember that she was no longer at home, and at once two sides of her thought processes tried to take the lead of her vulnerable morning brain. Oh, that's right, I'm here... I hope you're okay, Lyn. I'll be fine, girl, came the other voice. While it was the voice Lily came to love and cherish so much, it was, of course, not the real Lyn speaking. This didn't change her words from being any less honest and to the point. We already had this argument. You're supposed to be finding a way home and enjoying your time with the ponies. Lily could have sworn she felt the familiar flick of Lyn's middle fingernail against her forehead, and reached up to rub the spot that had received the treatment so many times before. Looking down to herself, she was glad to find out that her clothing hadn't been too messed up or sweaty from her sleep. It was all she had to wear for the time being, as nothing Lyra had was even close to fitting onto her properly, aside from certain articles like scarves or winter hats. Just as Lily was patting down her black vest, the sound of steps against wood creaked through the room, and she turned to see Bon Bon stepping delicately down the staircase on the opposite side. "Good morning," Bon Bon whispered, smiling warmly to her new friend as she descended the stairs carefully. "One guess who's still fast asleep and needs her coffee." "You're lucky," Lily whispered back, holding in a bit of a chuckle. "That doesn't even work on Lyn. You can't even threaten that girl with anything or a lack thereof. You just have to wait until she wants to be up." "Poor girl," the earth pony grinned. "I'm sure that when the time comes, a nibble on the ear will be all Lyra needs to start her day." Lily felt her cheeks turn pink, partially in response to the nature of the subject, and partially because Lyn had done that to her several times in the past. Bon Bon caught the blush and let herself laugh, keeping her voice low as she reached the floor. "How did you sleep?" she asked, speaking a little louder. "Sorry to say, it seems like you're still in Ponyville." "I feel okay, so I must have slept well," Lily replied thoughtfully, starting a set of standing stretches as she did. Even without her duties on the farm, there was no need to break morning routine. "Although I don't expect my clothes are going to want to suffer too many nights." "We can take you to Rarity's place today," Bon Bon said, scanning Lily's outfit and deciding it didn't look the slightest bit worse for wear. "She owns Carousel Boutique, although it's kind of a fancy place. More often than some would probably admit, however, she's been known to make very practical outfits for anypony who needs one." "A seamstress?" Lily asked, not at all expecting a pony to have such a profession, but also not feeling particularly surprised overall. "How would a pony use a thread or a needle? It's hard enough work with hands." As Lily opened her palms in front of her to express her point, Bon Bon replied by tapping her own forehead. "Unicorn," she replied, indicating where a horn would be. "Trust me when I say, she can do anything with fabric. I'm more surprised that you do it by hoof -- or, hand, I guess -- by hand, with no help from magic at all." Lily put a finger to her chin in thought, wondering how many other everyday tasks were performed by both earth ponies and unicorns. While it made sense that magic could solve most problems, she couldn't help but feel that earth ponies would be, to use a term that she heard from Lyn all too often, shafted. "Either way," Bon Bon continued, sensing the other girl was in thought. "We'll ask her if she has time to set you something up. Just, ahh... don't mind if she gets a little overeager with the measurements." "Ahh?" Lily wasn't sure how much weight she should have taken that warning with, but figured it couldn't be all too bad. "Well, I'd like to have something else to change into, so I'll have to be brave..." The mare nodded, stepping toward the kitchen doorway and disappearing. Lily finished her stretches, following a moment later and spotting Bon Bon setting the coffee pot. At the edge of the sink, no less than six mugs from the previous day sat, each with a faded brown ring around the inside, as if to tell the same story six times. "She doesn't live off of that, does she?" Lily asked, wondering what sort of long-term effects a pony could suffer from too much caffeine. "One in the morning is okay, but..." "She does and doesn't," replied Bon Bon, sighing in a way that Lily couldn't quite read. "Despite how much she drinks, she's not so bad that she can't start the day without it. It just makes it much easier for her to get her head going, she says. Back at the university, it was common for most of the unicorns to keep up a steady intake of coffee with the amount of research and practice they do... or so I'm told." "You talking about me?" Lily and Bon Bon both turned their heads to face the sound of the raspy voice. While Bon Bon had seen this look countless times before, Lily was struck by the state of Lyra's face. If such a thing were possible, she would have described it as someone who looked completely ready and able to face the day, while having no desire whatsoever to actually do so. Even Lyn had never looked quite that bad, and that was saying something. "Yes, dear," Bon Bon teased sweetly. "Now you know what they say. Make sure you don't operate a carriage if you're feeling too tired or sleepy. I know all the mares at work tease you about it, but I packed you a sandwich just in case you get hungry and just in case they take away your lunch money again. If it gets to be too much, just talk to Miss Twilight and she'll make sure they stop, okay?" Lyra just stared. As she often did, Bon Bon simply grinned in return. ~~~ One coffee with breakfast later, and Lyra was more than willing to start the day. The three girls departed her home about an hour after the unicorn had gotten up, and Lyra took the lead to ensure they didn't get distracted again... whatever it was they'd gotten caught up with the day before, she considered. "We'll do the shop later, okay?" Lyra asked, her attention on Bon Bon. "Considering how close together we live, it can be a first stop or a last stop before returning to my place." "It's probably best for us to see Rarity early," the pink and blue-maned pony responded, nodding her head. "You don't mind, do you Lily?" Lily was, predictably, looking around the village as eagerly as she had been the previous day, taking in anything she may have missed and trying to catch a look at any ponies she could spot. It took her a moment to notice she'd been addressed, and by then she realized she had no clue what Bon Bon had said. "Sorry, what?" she mumbled, not even looking back to the others. "I don't think it matters to her," Lyra chuckled, eyeing the human girl amusedly. "Was it like this yesterday?" "As much as you could expect." In the distance, the sound of the clock tower bell could be heard, the grand bell ringing ten times in succession. Lily subconsciously caught ear of this, and she wondered whether it was considered late or not for Ponyville's early risers. Considering she didn't see nearly as many ponies on the streets as she did the previous day, it was hard to say for certain. As things were, it didn't take the group very long to reach Carousel Boutique, and Lily couldn't help but stare as the structure came into view. Although Ponyville had proven to be a colourful place with even more colourful residents, Lily couldn't help but feel the boutique felt just a little... gaudy? She wasn't sure that was the word she wanted, but the shop quite plainly stood out from the others around it. As they walked closer, she was able to get a better look at the finer details. The first thing she noticed was that it was decidedly "frilly" in as many senses of the word as a building could be. From top to bottom were various decorations of pink and white colour, often patterned with a checkerboard texture. Heavy yellow drapes could be seen inside the windows, and up on the second floor was, seemingly matching the name of the shop, a mock carousel, two mauve pony statues facing outward from the sides. At the very top of the building, a small orange flag blew, following the light eastern wind. Lily stared, not sure how to vocalize her thoughts on the outward appearance of the shop before her. It wasn't that she felt it was off-putting, so much as that any single idea simply wasn't enough to convey her feelings. "Well, here we are," Bon Bon stated, almost as if to fill the otherwise silent gap. "I don't see a sign, so Rarity must be in right now." The mare pushed the front door open, a bell overhead jingling to signify a potential customer as she and the others stepped inside. From the floor above, they could hear a voice calling, although Lily wasn't sure what it had said. She hardly dwelled on it, however, when she looked around the room she was now in. There was fabric everywhere. From front to back, strands and ribbons and whole sheets of fabric lay all around the shop, over every surface imaginable and coming in every colour of the rainbow. Several dress forms littered the floor, predictably in the shape of ponies, and most were adorned with half-complete clothing of some sort. Around almost every area of work, various tools lay about, most notably measuring tape and scissors (of which Lily could immediately count at least seven scattered pairs). And yet, somehow, Lily couldn't consider any of it a true mess. It was chaotic, but it was somehow completely organized. Organized chaos. "Here I am, here I am~" came the voice again, seemingly from the back of the room. Lily looked up to find the source of the voice, spotting a white unicorn approaching them. This unicorn easily had, as far as Lily could tell, the smoothest-looking coat of any pony she'd seen since arriving in Ponyville. Her pearl-coloured exterior was better kept than even Bon Bon's was, and every step she took spoke of the purest elegance and finesse. She held her head high, a mane of various shining purples bobbing about as she stepped. Her curled tail matched her mane to a tee, and although she had her eyes closed, a pair of short orange glasses sat atop the unicorn's nose, completing the already perfect look. "Well hello there," she spoke, opening her eyes and looking to the two ponies. "Lyra, Bon Bon, so good to see you darlings." Looking up, she caught Lily's gaze, and at once her smile faded to a look of startled wonder as her eyes scanned the girl top to bottom. "Oh my," the unicorn exclaimed, gently removing her glasses to make sure she was seeing correctly. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you before." "Hi there," Lily waved, having faced that particular kind of greeting at least a couple times the previous day. "I'm Lily!" She extended a hand to the unicorn that was now in front of her. "You must be Rarity. It's nice to meet you." "Oh, such manners," Rarity beamed, at once taking the hand with her hoof. "Bon Bon, dear, did she learn that from you? She definitely didn't learn it from Lyra." To this, Lyra rolled her eyes knowingly, trying and succeeding to hide a grin that wanted to creep out. Rarity didn't take any notice as she continued looking up at Lily, unable to make heads or tails out of the girl in front of her. "I must say, and you'll have to forgive me for being so forward about it, but I've never seen a creature such as yourself before." "She's a human," Bon Bon explained. "And we were wondering if you'd be willing to make her at least one set of clothing, since nothing anypony has will fit her properly." "A human?" the dressmaker asked, using the query as an excuse to make yet another top-to-bottom scan of the redhead. "I believe I've heard Twilight mention humans before, but I don't know much about it myself." Nodding to herself, Rarity stepped back, taking yet another look at the human girl. "Well, no matter. It's my pleasure to meet you, darling. And you're in luck! For once I have absolutely nothing on order or commission and nopony else has come to the boutique today for any kind of custom work. I thought perhaps I could take the day off to relax by myself and read a good book, but by the time I had my breakfast I realized I wanted to keep my hooves busy, and yet I didn't know what to do! But then, what luck, you walk into my shop asking for a complete set of clothes for somepony new? I could not ask for a better diversion." Taking only a brief moment to cease talking, Rarity quickly put her glasses back on her face, twirling on the spot and shooting a confident look toward Lily that could have passed as seductive if the girl didn't know any better. "I shall make you the most fabulous outfit you could dream of," Rarity concluded, a bright twinkle escaping her deep blue eyes as she held her gaze. "You're going to love it." Silence. Somewhere below everypony's hooves, a tumbleweed that was twice removed from its family and exiled from Dodge Junction rolled by, trying desperately to fulfill its purpose in life. "Ahh, Rarity?" came Lyra's voice, as she looked toward Lily to make sure the girl hadn't been overwhelmed. "It's great that you're so eager, but how about something with less... flourish?" This earned Lyra a stare from the other unicorn, as if to suggest flourish was a bad thing under any circumstance ever. "Besides," she gulped, considering the best way to back up her suggestion. "Isn't practical in this season?" "I suppose you're right," Rarity submitted, putting a hoof to her chin and looking back to Lily. "I must say, I do enjoy the attire you have on right now. It's a little simple for my tastes, but it certainly earns a pass at the end of the day. Would you be wanting something similar to that?" "Ahh, sure?" Lily responded, not really having expected to be asked anything like that. She realized at that moment that she had no idea what she was expecting. She just wanted another change of clothes. "Maybe with long sleeves and pants," she said, speaking as her mind worked. "In case it gets cold?" A moment of silence passed, and Rarity continued to hold her hoof where it was, narrowing her eyes as she continued to look in Lily's direction. The human girl wasn't sure if that meant she was considering or judging, and chose to break the silence with the first idle thing that came to mind. "... Ponies do wear pants, right?" Before anything else could be said, a loud outburst pierced the tranquility of the room. All eyes turning, Lyra was found to be laying on the floor, attempting to keep her balance as she laughed her heart out. She had apparently found the exchange to be the height of hilarity, as she held her stomach in her attempts to maintain any semblance of control. Looking up, she attempted all at once to cut the laughter when she saw Bon Bon approaching, glaring down at her. Rarity turned away, ignoring the brief cry of pain behind her as she faced Lily again. "Of course we do, dear," she said, smiling assuredly. "Don't worry; I promise I'll keep myself in check. I can tell just by looking at you that you're better suited for a more 'everyday' style than anything too glamorous." "Thank you," replied Lily, nodding. "Truth be told, this is the only outfit I have here. I'd at least like to have something different to change into each day." "Only one outfit?!" the unicorn cried out, rearing back as a look of genuine shock overtook her features. "No no no, we can't have that! There's simply no time to waste if this is the case. I shall make you enough clothing to last all week, mark my words." Looking around the room frantically and spotting what she wanted, Rarity hovered two rolls of measuring tape over to herself, each surrounded in her magic aura. "I must measure you at once, darling. Please take off your clothing for me." At that command, Lily looked away and blushed, realizing to herself that there was no good way for someone like Rarity to do any work without understanding either her measurements or her clothing sizes. Thankful for the fact that she had the barest of undergarments on, Lily resigned herself pensively to the situation as the designer pony approached her with a dangerous smile.