Background Pony

by shortskirtsandexplosions

XV - Being There

Dear journal,

How does a pony affect the world around her? Does she play an active part in the community? Does she work closely with individuals, or does she work from the shadows, pulling strings from a distance?

What if she can do neither of these things? What if she still wishes to make the world a better place for everypony she knows and loves? What if those whom she cares about could never know a single thing she's done, good or bad, to properly thank her for the motivation to begin with?

I'm rediscovering a truth. In this village that serves as my prison, and on the fringes of a haunted landscape between the firmaments, I'm starting to grasp something that was taught to me long ago, but only now makes sense.

Improving the world is not always about adding things to it, or removing important factors. Construction and destruction are simply means of shifting around the elements that are at our disposal. It's far too easy to forget that we ourselves are factors that mold and shape this universe, and oftentimes the best way to solve a problem—or at least understand it—is by simply being there.

It is suddenly storming. I don't think I will make it home in time to stay dry. I'm running and running as fast as I can. Gaaah! Slippery puddles! Gotta be careful. Mommy's gonna be mad at me for ruining my mane. Of all the worst times to go outside...

There's a flash of lightning. I hear myself shriek and I gallop faster through the rain-slicked streets of Canterlot. I can see my apartment up ahead. Oh sweet Celestia, I am so soaked!

I come to a stop in the stairwell to my home, skidding into the shadows. I bump into a wall and wince. I don't realize how cold I am until right now. I shiver in the crook of the alcove, watching as streams of rain trickle down from the overhang above. The planted trees and flower gardens along the sidewalk are being flooded in the ugly, gray weather.

“Ohhhhhh...” I moan. I look at the candied cone levitating in my telekinesis and pout at the sight of all the ice cream having washed away. “Unnnngh!” I moan again, stamping a green hoof. “And I just gave away my only two bits!”

I turn the cone over and over in my magical grasp. There's another boom of thunder, but it no longer frightens me. With a dull spirit, I lean forward and lightly nibble on the edge of the cone. It's soaked and soggy and thoroughly ruined by rainwater, but a tiny piece beneath it all is still sweet. I suckle on the sensation, hoping it will prepare me for the tongue lashing I'm about to get from Mommy. With a heavy sigh, I trudge up the steps of the stairwell towards my apartment door on the second story.

I hear something. It's different from the rain and my hoofsteps and the thunder. I stop in my tracks, feeling thunder again, this time in my chest, for I realize that the odd sound is coming from directly beneath me. Slowly, I squat down and peer through the gap between the steps, curious as to the source of the labored whimpers and sobs.

It is then that I see her, curled up in the corner, shadowed from the rain and lightning. She's small, about my age, only tinier than me. She doesn't have a cutie mark either. I can't see her face from all of the red and violet tangles of wet mane hair muffling her cries.

For some reason, I'm not afraid. I swallow the cone whole and nearly gag. “Bleachk... Tastes like cardboard!”

I giggle at myself, but the filly doesn't laugh one bit. She's too busy crying. It's like she doesn't even know that I'm here.

“Hello?” I march quietly down the steps and move towards her, smiling. “Did you get caught in the rain too? It's all because of those lazy pegasi! Ugh! I wonder if this happens everyday in Cloudsdale. Heehee! What do you think?”

She says nothing. She shivers, hugging herself and curling even further into the deepest part of the corner. She's wetter than I am. How long has she been out in the rain?

“Hey, are you okay?” I say as I squat down in front of her. “Are you sad because you got your mane all wet? Well, don't worry. I'm sure it's very pretty. You have some nice colors. Me?” I smile and toss my head left and right, allowing the gray and turquoise strands to whip about. “I could blend in at a greenhouse. Heeheehe! That's such a funny word, 'greenhouse!' It's not even green until you walk inside!”

She still doesn't say anything, but I think she's noticing me. She lowers her forelimbs and tilts her face up. I see a pair of eyes. One's violet. The other one's violet and... blue? No, wait... what's wrong with her face?

“What's wrong with your face?” I ask. I then bite my lip, blushing. “Erm, I mean... did you hurt yourself?”

She gulps, trembling as a flash of lightning catches a bruise on her cheek. “I...” She speaks, and it is a very gentle sound, like icicles snapping. “I b-bumped into something trying to get out of the st-storm,” she says.

I make a face. “Bumped into something? You're a unicorn, not some bumbling earth pony!”

“I'm... v-very clumsy,” she stammers.

I think that's very silly, but it doesn't matter. It's been a lonely weekend, and she looks like she could use a friend. “My name is Lyra,” I introduce myself properly, as Mommy always tells me to. “Lyra Heartstrings. What's your name?”

She looks at me, and for a moment her trembles stop. “Uhm...” She bites her lip before ultimately confessing, “Moondancer. My name is Moondancer.”

I took several heavy breaths, finding my center, steeling myself for the freezing waves to come. When they finally hit, I was ready for them, but it didn't make the experience any less excruciating. As soon as “Twilight's Requiem” was finished, I tilted my head back and clung tighter to the Nightbringer. When my hooves landed on the rusted platform, it was like touching death itself. A bitter shiver ran up my spine, culminating in my skull as my eyes were forced open in a determined glare.

Before me, the unsung realm billowed with lightning and twirling tendrils of water. Constellations of rusted chains undulated towards and away from my body as the platform I stood on spun perpetually in the chaotic nether. As soon as I breathed, and my vaporous exhales lit the cold hellscape, shackled ponies crawled like spiders out of their metallic holes, shuffling blindly towards me on the lengths of their rattling fetters.

I did not fear them. After all, Alabaster was gone, and they weren't the ones I journeyed here to speak with. Gripping the Nightbringer tighter, I ran a hoof along its onyx strings. A high tone lit the tempestuous air, and a sphere of golden energy encased me. The unsung ponies trotted as far as they could, ultimately colliding with the translucent barrier and banging their tormented limbs against it. I stared past them, shouting into the thunderous, cyclonic heavens.

“Do not hide from me!” I exclaimed, my voice echoing above the anguished moans and ringing of metal. “You are a goddess! I am a but a mortal, equipped with a piece of the same song that bound you here! Show yourself! Show yourself and be my audience!”

Only thunder and turbulence answered me. I felt a gale of wind surging across the platform. Several unsung equines flew off into the nether while the Nightbringer's barrier fluctuated, but I did not budge an inch.

“I am not leaving until I see you!” I bellowed bravely, gnashing my teeth into the frigid winds and moisture. I held tight to the Nightbringer's golden body as if it was a lost child. Its ancient energy and presence served as my anchor while I clung to the bones of forgotten chaos. “Do not... nnngh—” I hissed and summoned an angry vibration from the center of my being. “—do not confuse this with a request! Show yourself! Now!”

Just then, the heavens parted. A surging arch of water dissipated with a blast, like a bomb going off beneath the surface of a gigantic ocean. The moans around me doubled, quadrupled, as the shackled ponies prostrated themselves across the platform and moaned into their twitching limbs. I looked straight up in time to have my vision devoured by runes.

There it was, her home, her floating fortress on high. The spheres within spheres rotated towards me, like a globe of spiraling menace. Runes blurred over one another as the round sarcophagus loomed closer overhead, brimming with violet beams of pulsating energy. I heard deep bass noises, and soon sharp salvos of unbridled sound reverberated off the archaic throne, sending rivulets of energy barreling through the cloud of moisture above the platform.

The squirming ponies all around me mimicked her epic cry with moans. I broke through the chorus with a snarling voice, “No! I will not sing your song!” There were two more claps of thunder, but I sensed it was her this time and not the realm. “I will not become nothing!”

Then she fired the first volley. A bolt of lightning rocketed towards me, sending a wall of sparks surging along the platform. The equine bodies caught flame in a screaming second. When the energy reached me, it splashed off the Nightbringer's shield with the sound of dying bells.

I gritted my teeth and held my ground. “Join me!” I strummed a few strings and strengthened the shield against her furious discharge. “I've learned the ninth elegy! I've memorized 'Desolation's Duet!' You know this!”

The spheres spun faster. Twin bolts of lightning flew my way.

The golden shield pulsed around me, staving off the white hot energy blasts as the platform started to melt from the heat. “Join me in the instrumental!” I shrieked against her fury. The spherical fortress was starting to float away, and my voice cracked in desperation as I implored her, “How many times do I have to tell you?! I don't care about this realm! I don't care about this secret! We can finish the Nocturne together, and I can move on! Release me from this curse, and I won't bother you ever again! Please, help me! I must learn ‘Dawn's Advent!’”

The spheres within spheres were indiscernible now; ll I could see was smoke and rain. The alicorn goddess was gone.

“I must learn it...” I whimpered, hanging my head. I was alone, now more than ever. “I m-must get home.”

All traces of her were gone. Even the thunder had dwindled. I started to hear the whimpers of the unsung ponies stirring up again. I knew better than to wait for another appearance. With a sigh, I regripped the Nightbringer and telekinetically played a new tune. “Penumbra's Echo” lit the purgatorial realm with its heavenly notes, and soon everything was blurring away as if a cosmic hoof was wiping a chalkboard clean. The moans flew into obscurity, as did the moisture, the lightning, the chains, and the bone-chilling cold. The world settled into a gentle amber kiss, and I was once again sitting on my stool in the bottom of a cellar, surrounded by dirt walls and lanternlight.

The Nightbringer hung in my grasp. I looked at my moist hooves as I cradled it. Not a single limb of mine was shivering; it made very little difference. With a defeated moan, I closed my eyes.

“Ten times, Al,” I said, squatting in the center of the cabin as I tossed another wooden log into the fireplace. “I've played the first eight elegies and taken myself to the unsung realm ten times in a single week, and still I can't get her to show herself.” I threw in another log, sighing as it suffered a crackling fate amidst the burning embers. In a lethargic slump, I stretched my wet limbs towards the center of the tranquil furnace and warmed myself. “Just what am I doing wrong? I mean, I have the Nightbringer; I have a piece of the same song that created her. Why can't she recognize that? Why can't she face me like a responsible goddess so I can simply end this?”

Behind me was the sweetest sound in the whole world. A tiny orange thing was purring, his rumbling sounds punctuated by the crackling of dry food between his jaws as he patiently ate from his freshly filled bowl beside my cot. Tilting his head up, Al glanced at me with calm, amber eyeslits before returning to his food. The tabby's ears pricked at attention, as if knowing I was only going to ramble on. Smart cat.

“Maybe that's just it. Maybe she's just mad at me for having received the Nightbringer from [color=cornflowerblue=]Alabaster right under her nose.” I sighed as I gazed up at the cool October evening from beyond the windows of my home. “Maybe she's always been mad at the Cosmic Matriarch, and now that I've gotten a piece of her voice, she won't even give me the light of day...” I chuckled bitterly. “Or of chaotic day. Seriously, that stupid place could use a flashlight.” I gave Al a goofy smile.

The cat merely stared back at me, his whiskers twitching.

I winced. “Yeah, okay, that was lame.” With a groan, I stood up and marched my rain-slicked self towards the far side of the cabin. “Still, ten times in a row? And it's not like she's completely ignoring me. I mean, she appears in her huge spheroid throne every time to try and scare me away. Just what is that thing, anyways? Was it a means of transportation for alicorns upon the dawn of creation? That would make some sense, right? I mean, she had to have been around as long as the Cosmic Matriarch was here on this planet, right? She couldn't be any older than Celestia, at the very least...”

I levitated a towel from a shelf and dried my mane vigorously with it. As I dragged the rag to my wet shoulders and spine, repeating the motions I had gotten far too used to over the past week, I paused. I dropped the towel around me and looked Al's way through a disheveled mane.

“What if... What if that structure is part of the unsung prison?” I gulped and gazed out the window yet again. “And maybe... maybe the sphere does the same thing to her as the curse does to me. Maybe she's powerless to remember anything but her song.” A shudder ran through me upon contemplating that. “Blessed Luna, do I even have a chance of reaching her?”

Al's answer was to hop onto the cot, curl in the dead center, and proceed to lick himself.

I exhaled. I dried the rest of my body before tossing the towel into a nearby hamper. “Well,” I murmured as I trotted across the light of the fireplace, “perhaps what I need to do is more studying. I sure have enough books checked out from Twilight's. Heh...” I chuckled as I looked upon a huge stack of research manuscripts lying beside Al's food dish. “At this rate, she and Spike will think that Diamond Dogs raided their archives overnight. I should return these soon. But still...”

I pivoted and stared at the source of an immense golden glow in my cabin. The Nightbringer stood on an end table, blessing this mortal equine with its timeless presence. It was a little bit alarming how easily I had gotten used to seeing the holy artifact with my naked eyes.

“There are bigger things at stake here,” I murmured. A frail smile crossed my lips. “What do you think it'll be like, Al, the day I finally get her to play the duet with me? The day I finally end this curse?” I turned and gazed softly towards him. “Would Celestia and Luna be grateful to have me return their holy instrument to them?”

Al looked towards me, blinking sleepily. His ears twitched, and he shook his head into one of those prolonged, devilishly freakish yawns that only felines can pull off.

“Hmmm...” I gazed at the floor as I trotted towards the bed. “Curious thought...” I murmured aloud as I levitated a brush and comb over to myself along with one of the library books. “The curse couldn't possibly be affecting her. I mean, she reached out to her sister when Luna osmotically learned about the 'Nocturne of Firmaments' and transformed into Nightmare Moon those many years ago.”

I squatted in the crater of blankets beside Al while brushing the tangles out of my mane. I flipped the page open and looked over several historical documents detailing Canterlot music tradition.

“Also, there is her beloved. For Alabaster to have learned about the topic, she had to have been missing him, and thus had to be retaining memory of her beloved's banishment.” I frowned slightly as I levitated another book towards me, then another. My amber eyes danced across the many pages in search of an answer. “So I can’t really imagine that she is forgetting me each time I visit the realm, but instead she's just flat-out ignoring me. But why? Does she think it's her job? Does she just want to break contact with any pony who's not willing to become her shackled slave?”

I felt a soft, furry body of warmth. I glanced down to see Al curling up against me, raising two playful paws to bat at the many floating objects.

Blankly, I stared at the books, books, books, brush, comb, and other objects crowded around my side of the room. With a nervous chuckle, I lowered everything in place except for one book which I propped up beside myself and Al.

“Thanks. I know, I know. I'm starting to overdo it again.” A sigh escaped my lips as I looked up from the pages and once again graced the Nightbringer's golden brilliance. “Seems like I've gotten stronger overnight. I think whatever it was that kept Alabaster alive for so long is happening to me. I mean, I don't know about having long life, but I certainly feel stronger.” I gulped nervously. “And... And I know I wouldn't have lasted a second against her if I didn't have a piece of the holy song with me in the unsung realm.” I squatted down and nuzzled Al closely. “But still,” I murmured. “I'd gladly give up all the strength in the world if it just means learning 'Dawn's Advent,' if it just means finishing this blasted symphony.”

The cabin was silent, save for the crackling of embers in the fireplace. I felt warm, toasty, safe, anything but free.

“The powers of a goddess at my hooves...” I muttered, “And I can't get a single alicorn to listen to me.” I sighed and buried my face into the blankets. “Mmmmff... How will I ever receive an audience?”

Al mewed and rubbed up against me, purring.

Limply, I smiled and nudged him back. “I know, I know. But of course, I already got you, ya fuzzhead!” I giggled lightly and relished in his affectionate purr. “I promise, if there's an encore, you're the first one who's gonna hear it.” I stared calmly into the haze at the far ends of the room. The sunset fell outside the windows, and the hush of evening lulled me into a reflective trance.

“Could you repeat that, dearie?” Mommy asks with a gentle look of concern across her face. I don't know what her problem is. We're both absolutely fine.

“Mmm...” My new friend treads at the floor with her hooves. She avoids my parents' gaze. I don't understand why she's so shy. She's no more wet than I am. The storm is still brewing outside our Canterlot apartmet. Maybe she's frightened by it? I don't know. I step through the puddle and stand in front of her, smiling.

“She bumped into something along the way here!” I say with a proud smile. “She might be clumsy, but I think she's okay! Isn't her mane pretty? I mean, I know it's tangled and all now, but just wait until it gets dry! She was telling me earlier how much she loves going to the salon with her mom! Can I go with them sometime? It's just a block away! They don't live that far away from us! Heehee! We've been neighbors and we didn't even know it!”

“Is that so?” Daddy remarks. He glances across the way at Mommy.

Mommy is already stepping forward. She gently pats my shoulder and makes me step aside as she kneels down in front of my brand new friend. “Moondancer, was it...?”

She slowly nods her head. Why's she so shy in front of them? She was chatting like crazy a second ago. She likes banana splits and practical jokes and sunny days at the beach and—

“Let me see your face, darling,” Mommy says softly. She isn't angry at us. That's a relief. Why's she so curious about Moondancer's face? “You don't have to be afraid, dear. I won't hurt you, I promise.”

Moondancer takes a deep breath. Her face is wet, even though we marched in from the rain minutes ago. She tilts her horn up and allows Mommy to see her twitching eye.

“My, that's quite a nasty bruise you got there,” Mommy coos. She presses the side of Moondancer's face. The blueness on my new friend's skin is slightly larger than Mommy's hoof. “Mmmm... Sweet Celestia...” She turns and gives Daddy a pointed look.

He's nodding for some reason. Grabbing a coat and an umbrella, he marches towards the door, passing just beside Mommy to whisper something into her ear. She nods and murmurs something back. I eventually hear: “Don't go alone. Get Dusk to go with you. He should be home; I saw his and Stellar's son, Shining Armor, playing in the courtyard this morning.”

“Yes, I believe Dusk has dealt with Nightrot before. Don't worry, honey. We'll have the Guard with us this time,” Daddy says quietly. He casts me and Moondancer a brief smile. For some reason, it makes me feel nervous. He opens the door, shoots the umbrella open, and is gone in the storm. Before I can gaze out the window after him, Mommy is standing before us, and she also has that strange-looking smile.

“Moondancer, we're so glad to have you here to visit. It's a nasty storm outside, so we're going to let you stay here for the night.”

“I, uhm... I...” Moondancer's eyes flicker with bright violet, then blink. She fidgets, backtrotting and lowering her head as if part of the ceiling might fall on her. “I... I don't think my dad will like that...”

“Shhh...” Mommy talks to Moondancer in a gentle voice. It's like how she used to talk to me when I was just a little, itty bitty foal. “We won't tell your dad unless you want us to.” Her yes are trained on Moondancer.

Just like that Moondancer responds, “Uhm... You... You can tell my Mom.”

Mommy slowly nods. “Your mother, hmm?”

“Mmmmhmmm.” Moondancer nods back, and she's trembling again, only this time her eyes are bright and happy. “Could... Could she stay the night too?”

Mommy smiles gently. “Don't you worry. Your mother can come here and stay as long as she likes as well...”

“Woohoo!” I jump, gasping for joy. “Slumber party! I've always wanted to have one! Oooh! Oooh! I can show you my room! Daddy bought me all of these amazing musical instruments! I'm gonna be in a band someday!”

“Lyra, dear,” Mommy chides gently. “Moondancer needs some time to rest and relax. Calm down some—”

“I... I uhm...” Moondancer bites her lip and squirms where she stands. “I don't mind. I like Lyra. She's fun.”

“See, Mommy?” I hop in place, beaming. “She likes me! She's my new best friend and we're gonna do fun stuff together!”

Mommy takes a breath before saying with a warm smile, “Okay. Go on and show her your room. Just don't get too rowdy. It'll be bedtime soon.”

“Okay! We won't be too loud, I promise!” I tug Moondancer by the hoof and all but drag her into my room. “Come on! Come on! You gotta see all the cool things I got for Hearth's Warming!”

Moondancer giggles. She makes such sweet sounds. I bet she's also going to have a talent in music. How lucky could we be? Maybe we'll both get matching cutie marks. I hear of ponies who get their cutie marks at the same time. Maybe she can join my band when I grow up?

“Lookie! Lookie!” I bounce around my room, showing off my xylophone, my flute, my drumset. “Isn't it neato? I can't figure out which I'm best at. I'm guessing it's the stuff that my parents yell at me less for. Heehee!”

“Your... Your parents yell at you?” Moondancer murmurs.

“Pffttt! Only when I make too much noise. But, y'know, they got me these! So they must have wanted me to make some noise! Heehee!”

“Heh... Heeheehee...” Moondancer laughs until she's red in the face. “I guess I never thought of that...”

“I bet you'd be good at the trumpet!”

“Oh, I'm good at the trumpet alright,” she says as an evil smirk crosses her lips, “after I've eaten a whole bunch of Mexicanter fried beans!”

“Ah!” I shriek, bouncing away from her and hiding behind a stuffed animal. “Moondancer! How unladylike!”

She giggles and bounces toward me, waving her horn around. “En guarde, magical musician!”

“Oh no!” I feign horror and trot around the far lengths of my bedroom. “She's an evil unicorn witch come to steal my super special talent! Help! Help!”

“Hehehe!” She giggles and chases me for a while.

I'm still running in circles until I realize that I'm the only filly giggling. I stop and turn, panting. I see her staring at a wall full of pictures taken of me and my mom and dad. I trot over, smiling. “Moondancer? What is it?”

Her smile is gone. Well, no, it's there, but it's a different kind of smile. She sniffles, but it doesn't look like she's crying. “Your... your house...”

“What about it?”

She gulps. “It's really warm,” she says.

I blink at her. A rumble of thunder echoes outside the window, and I shudder under the refracted light of rain water. “Well... Well of course it is, Moondancer!” I grin nervously. “Why wouldn't it be?”

She stares into the shadows briefly, her eyes fluttering. Suddenly, just as quickly as she had stopped, she turns and charges at me, horn-first while grinning. “En guarde! Arrrrgh!”

“Ack! Heehee! No fair! You cheated! Cheating cheater!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not—”

My eyes fluttered open. I shot up with a sharp breath, staring at the lonely lengths of my cabin. The fireplace had long died out. Al was lying asleep, curled up at my side, his soft orange body rising and falling. The world was black outside, but the faintest hint of dawn was creeping over the distant, forested horizon.

It wasn't until the waves of cold assaulted my figure that I was finally brought back to the cursed present. I rubbed my forelimbs over each other, my teeth chattering. I realized it was a long time since warmth was anything but an illusion in my life. Lethargically, I gazed down at a book lying open before me, speaking endless drivel of forgotten Canterlot songs into the dim air of the cabin.

“Nnngh... The first day I'm no longer cursed, I'm taking the longest nap in recorded history.” I muttered as I daintily climbed over Al and crawled out of bed. “Because it will be recorded, dang it!”

With a brief hiss, I slithered into my stone-gray hoodie. Feeling comfortable enough, I reached for my lyre, slid it into my saddlebag, and strapped the thing to my shoulders. I made for the exit, but not without pausing. With a groan, I turned around and marched back towards the golden body of the Nightbringer.

“If I have the literal song of the Cosmic Matriarch in my possession, I might as well exercise her responsibilities.”

Al gave no response to my muttering voice. He slept soundly as I went through my new habitual task. I wrapped the priceless instrument in a pouch of regal velvet that I had Rarity produce for me at the cost of an entire bag of bits. Then, after rolling up a round carpet, I telekinetically pulled at a latch, opening the floor of the cabin to a rectangular enclosure I had carved out of the floor with magic the week before. Gently, I lowered the shrouded Nightbringer within, closed the trap door, and rolled the rug back over it.

Finally, I was ready. Marching towards the cabin exit, I shifted the weight of my lyre across my back and pointed at Al. “Don't you get any thieving ideas, ya little scamp.”

The tabby yawned, rolled over, and purred towards the ceiling. With a creak of the front door I was gone, marching out to greet the coming dawn with my thoughts.

The brightness of morning accompanied my labored thoughts. Autumn was in full effect, and I could feel it in my bones. The arrival of October chased the residual heat of summer away. The dew on the blades of grass bending beneath me was positively freezing. In truth, I wasn't looking to feel comfortable. I needed to exercise the restless energy of my mind, and every jolt and chill of the autumnal morning assisted me in such a venture.

The nature of my curse would make me a regular insomniac, somepony would think. The fact of the matter is I hadn't had trouble sleeping until just recently. Having unlocked the structure of the ninth elegy, I had every reason to feel proud of myself: as if I had made some priceless progress in my pursuit of freedom. Things couldn't be further from the truth.

I was at an impasse. The ninth elegy turned out to be a duet, and there was only one soul in the history of everything that was eligible to carry me musically into the final, redeeming instrumental of the Nocturne.

How did I come to realize this? Twilight Sparkle knew nothing of “Dawn's Advent.” None of Alabaster's journals described the true nature of the song. Nowhere in the entire archives of Ponyville library did I find a single listing of that title. As an experiment, I had several ponies perform “Desolation's Duet” along with me, including Applejack with her fiddle and Pinkie Pie with her accordion. Nothing worked to get me any closer to my goal, and I was starting to understand why.

The purpose of the “Nocturne of the Firmaments” was to seal an alicorn goddess away from the rest of reality. Who but the alicorn herself could possibly have been a better candidate to usher such a lonely prisoner through her unsung realm and back into the dimension of the living?

I couldn't stop thinking about the spherical structure within which her spirit was housed. When I first entered the realm—when it was up to Alabaster to save my amnesiac self—she had approached me from up high, summoning her bolts of diabolical energy, as if I was any other lost soul flung into her domain. On the second visit, when I played the Threnody with a protection shield and entered her realm lucidly, she had approached me in person. I must have been an anomaly to her, having visited for a second time to grace her plane. Perhaps that was the first time she saw me as a threat, and for that reason she had to tell me to my face that I needed to sing her song and become nothing.

But now that I've returned, now that I have the Nightbringer, now that I am strong and virtually untouchable in her domain, she keeps herself at a distance. She purposefully avoids coming into close contact with me. Do I frighten her? Does the fact that I know her secret and still walk this globe give her a sense of unease? What could one unicorn mortal have in her possession that could intimidate an undead alicorn lost unto time? Is it all the Nightbringer? Or is it something else?

This is why I can't sleep. I don't know what's worse, knowing that I was helpless from the beginning, or knowing that I've made so much progress only to become twice as helpless as when I first started. There was a time when playing music relaxed me. I've been trying to remember that, to incorporate that back into my life. These days, all I find myself doing is playing the one tune that has brought me more joy and ease than any other tune in the grand history of my existence.

“Penumbra's Echo:” I played it over and over again from where I sat on the edge of a meadow beside a long brown path. I was close to the west edge of Ponyville. The sun was just then coming over the horizon. The birds sounded across the treetops, and their chirps got lost in the gentle melodies wafting off from my vibrating strings.

I tried to imagine, if even for a brief moment, that I was just like any other pony living in that town. It must be a delightful feeling: to not be a ghost, to not have to worry about disappearing, to know that there're voices left on this earth that will say your name out loud. I don't even want to be popular. I don't even care if I have no more than five, four, or even two friends. I want my name to be spoken, whispered, laughed, sung, and even grumbled.

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and played the song at a slower tempo, allowing my heart to beat in between each plucked string, as if I was playing the fated duet with myself.

It seems a bitter twist of irony that out of all the instrumentals of the Nocturne, the most important tune is the only one I absolutely can't perform alone. After all, the tough part isn't performing the song. The challenge is to get her to agree to doing it with me. But how does one appeal to a timeless spirit imprisoned by oblivion? Who am I? I'm no goddess. I'm no—

“Oh, my! A lyre! That's such beautiful music! Are... Are you from Canterlot?”

I fluttered my eyes open. Before me stood several bright blurs in the dawn light: a ruby coat, a fuchsia mane, and eyes of forest emerald. A smile broke out that could illuminate the dew-laden world twice over.

“Oh please, oh please tell me you're from Canterlot!”

“I... might be,” I stammered under a breath of confusion. Clearing my throat, I nevertheless sat up from under the tree and smiled her way. “Miss Cheerilee, I presume.”

“Oh! I knew it!” She hopped in place, nearly dropping a saddlebag full of graded papers. “You came after all! And they claimed that you were too sick to show up this week! Oh, I was so afraid of letting the students down!”

“I... uh...” I chuckled nervously and stood up, shaking the morning moisture off my mane. “I-I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage.” Gulping, I leaned forward with a suspicious breath. “Were... Were you expecting me?”

Before she answered, I already knew that it was too good to be true. “You... You are from Canterlot, aren't you?” Cheerilee was nervously biting her lip. It was devastating to see the enthusiasm draining from her face. I've enjoyed several conversations with Ponyville's resident schoolteacher, and it's hard to come across another pony in all of Equestria who contains that much joy and yet so little annoyance. “Oh dear, I hope I haven't jumped to conclusions. You see, I've been in constant communication with Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and Professor Blue Noise of the Music Department was hoping to assist me in setting up a music program for the little foals of Ponyville.”

“Hey! Professor Blue Noise!” I grinned wide. “I know him! He taught me in my senior year—uhm...” I winced, already realizing that my excitement had forced me to say too much. “What I mean is—”

“So you're the one he sent?” Cheerilee beamed, nearly leaning off her hooves. “He had promised that one of his best pupils would arrive to give my students a dissertation on musical history, but the last letter said that you had fallen terribly ill and had to make a stop at Trottingham to recuperate. I figured that I would have to change this week's study topic back to basic geometry yet again.”

“Heh. Yes, well, math is math, I guess.” I gulped, feeling my insides curling up, and not in the good way. It isn't often that I fall into these bizarre niches of happenstance. But when they do happen, they're hardly anything but awkward occasions. “Miss Cheerilee, I do happen to have quite a bit of musical expertise. But I fear that there's been a horrible misunderstanding...”

“Oh?” She tilted her head aside, blinking innocently. I was intrigued at how naïve an instructor of foals could be. I suppose the world can never be too innocent. My heart went out to her, especially as she murmured, “You're... not the pupil of Professor Blue Noise after all? The one sent from Canterlot?”

“Well, I am from Canterlot, but...” I winced at myself. What was I doing? I shouldn't have even been tempting the notion. Somewhere, someplace, some poor sap from my home town was coughing his or her lungs out and the last thing I should have been doing was contemplating taking the pony's place. Just because I was a ghost didn't give me license to play with false identity, but...

What else would I have been doing that morning? Sitting down? Moping? Philosophizing? True, if I tried to pass myself off as a history teacher to a bunch of Ponyvillean children, it would hardly have made a difference. They'd completely forget everything I told them by the time they got home. I would have essentially robbed Cheerilee and her classroom of an entire day's worth of studying far more important and permanent things. So what if I could have possibly informed, enlightened, and even brought a few smiles to a bunch of foals for one day and one day only?

But, then I realized: the moment I skip out on any opportunity—no matter how insignificant—to bring happiness to other ponies' lives, then that means I would have given in to my curse. I would have let the likes of her win. And I don't care how many bleak circumstances I have to deal with in my pariah state; I'm not here in this town to watch the world crumble into misery. If I have a chance to spread sunshine, for even just a blink, then—darn it—sign me up.

However impulsive the notion, it made me smile, and I found myself standing up to look at Cheerilee eye to eye. “You know what? There's no point in hiding it anymore. Professor Blue Noise promised to have those kids learn a thing or two, and who am I to let a silly case of the sniffles stop me from making that dream come true?”

“You... You mean you're up for it?” Cheerilee held back her smile as her cheeks burned upon the precipice of ecstasy. “You're not too ill after all?”

I took a deep breath, sucking the autumnal crispness of early October in through my nostrils and exhaling it out through a wide grin. “That's the thing about this town. Just one morning walk can clear the body and the spirits. You know what I mean?”

“Heeheehee! And how!” If Cheerilee suddenly sprouted pegasus wings and floated around me, I wouldn't have been too shocked. “Oh, the kids are absolutely going to love this! I've been prepping them on basic Equestrian music theory for a week! Any knowledge you have to share concerning the pre-modern royal ballads would be absolutely stellar!”

“Oh, well...” I ran a hoof through my mane before trotting down the morning-lit path alongside her. “I might know one or two... heh...”

“And the charade didn't stop until I finally got a chance to pull her foster mother, Milky White aside and tell her about the whole issue,” Cheerilee said as we strode up to the schoolyard in the early morning light. The sounds of giggling children and pattering hooves lit our ears. “The three of us had a sit-down together, and the little darling got several things off her chest. Ever since then, Scootaloo's been a great deal more well-adjusted, and she’s started forming close friendships with the other children. Why, she and two other foals are practically inseparable now!”

“Wow...” I shook my head in awe and smiled her way. “I can't imagine how stressful that must have been. You mean you actually let the little pegasus convince the entire class that you were her older sister?”

“Mmmhmmm.” Cheerilee nodded with a smile. “For a little while, at least. I later explained it off as Scootaloo practicing for a local play and needing my help for acting lessons. Our 'sisters' charade was a fabrication of a fabrication, if you think about it. Heehee! The little dear is dead-set on performing on stage when she grows up, after all. In the end, I was able to give the filly a chance to exercise her emotional needs without suffering the ridicule of peers who wouldn't understand what she'd been through before moving here.”

“Whew! It's a good thing I'm just a guest speaker for the day,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “I guess I never really imagined what teachers like you must deal with on a regular basis. But, seriously, that was a genius move on your part. Ever thought of getting into psychiatry on the side, Miss Cheerilee?”

“Oh ho ho ho, Miss Heartstrings,” Cheerilee uttered with a giggle and a wave of her hoof. “Please, you flatter me! Besides, I have too much of an affinity for gardening as it is.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” I replied with a smirk as we came upon the yard. “Whoah, hello there...” I froze in place, blinking at a big red sight.

A familiar stallion paced to a stop in the middle of the schoolyard, having given several giggling fillies and colts a bareback ride. Upon seeing Cheerilee, Big Mac smiled and lowered to his knees, letting the various foals descend onto the lawn, upon which they proceeded to scamper up to Miss Cheerilee and dance in gay little circles around the teacher.

“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee!”

“Big Mac gave us a ride around the school building!”

“I wanna be as big and strong as him someday!”

“Oh yeah? My big brother is even larger than he is!”

“Hey! T'ain't true! Big Mac is the biggest and strongest there ever was!”

“Nuh uh, Apple Bloom!”

“Yuh huh!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yuh huh!”

“Children! Children!” Cheerilee knelt down and parted Apple Bloom from a colt giving her a raspberry. “It's true. Big Macintosh is strong and dependable, but you think he got that way by spending all his time bickering and fighting with other ponies his age? Not at all! He spent his foalhood exercising and working hard to get to where he is now! Now why don't you take his example and be nice to one another, because if you waste all your time with frowning, how will you be there for little foals when you're as old as he is?”

“You're riiiiiight, Miss Cheerilee. Apple Bloom, I'm sorry for being mean.”

“Heehee! It's okay, Spring Gaze! I ain't mad at ya! You're not mad at him either, are ya, Big Mac?”

“Nope,” the stallion said with a definitive shake of his head.

The children giggled, then gazed up at me. Several of them gasped, and soon I found a veritable train swarming around me as if I was a Hearth's Warming tree.

“Oooh! Oooh! A musician!”

“Look at her cutie mark!”

“Are you from Canterlot?”

“Are we gonna learn about old songs and stuff?”

“Do all unicorns from the Princess' city wear clothes like that?”

“I...” I fiddled where I stood, biting my lip. “I seem to have gotten celebrity status already... eheheh...”

“Students, this is Miss Heartstrings,” Cheerilee said to the fillies and colts gathered around us. Half of the schoolyard's crowd had formed a thick cluster of eager, bright, blinking faces. It was like a living lake of adorableness. I tried not to develop cavities from the sheer sight of it. “And you're right! She's here to teach us a thing or two about the history of Equestrian musical development! I'd say we're in for a treat, so say hello to our special guest!”

“Hello. Miss. Heartstriiiiiings.” The chant was positively electric.

“Heh...” I waved back, feeling butterflies in my stomach. The cold tendrils of my curse were continents away all of the sudden. “Back at ya, kiddies.”

In the meantime, Cheerilee was turning to smile at Big Mac. “Thank you so much, Macintosh, for playing chaperone for me this morning. I had to stop by the post office along the way here; you have no idea how much of a blessing this was to me. By the way, did you restock the firewood in the back?”

“Eeyup.”

“Wonderful!” Cheerilee beamed, her cheeks red again; I wondered if she had a condition. “That will come in handy during the winter to come. I can't thank your family enough.”

“Yeah, I've... uh... only been in this town for a little while,” I said with a smirk aimed Big Mac's way. “And I already get the feeling that Ponyville wouldn't survive long without the shoulders of the Apple family to lean on.”

“Eeee-nope,” Big Mac said with a teeth-glinting smirk.

Cheerilee giggled again. “Well, you can go on your merry way, Macintosh. I know you have a great deal of farmwork to do. Alright, students! Just ten minutes until class begins! Then Miss Heartstrings and I will be—” She turned and gazed across the schoolyard, and instantly her smile waned. “Oh, heaven help me, not again,” she muttered with a rolling of her eyes.

I blinked curiously at that. But then I heard a squealing voice, followed by two grunting laughs. Turning, I looked over at the swing set to see two young unicorns on either side of a familiar, gray pegasus. The petite, winged colt was bouncing up and down, trying desperately to grab a ball being bounced out of his reach between the two bullies.

“I mean it, guys! Give it back!” Rumble squeaked. He seemed no bigger than the day I saved him and Morning Dew from an imploding hotel building. His cheeks were red as he huffed, puffed, and blurred his wings in desperation for the lift that could help him grab the ball from his peers. “This isn't funny!”

“I dunno, I can't stop chuckling!” A stout young unicorn rasped. His rough turquoise coat clashed with a scraggy orange mane and thick brown eyebrows as he headbutted the ball over Rumble's head and towards his lanky partner. “Heheheh—What about you, Snails?”

“Yeah, Snips! Hahahah!” A ridiculously tall colt with a tan coat and lime green mane hair guffawed as he balanced the ball on several limbs and passed it back to Snips. “This is funnier than that one time you called Rumble a ‘penguin’ and he cried ‘cuz penguins smell!”

“Yeah, you remember that time, Rumble?” Snips snickered and spun the ball on the tip of his horn. “Which was funnier? That or this? Heheheh!”

“I don't care!” Rumble stomped his hooves and pouted. “Just give it back!”

“Why do you want this stupid ball so much anyway?” Snips grunted.

“It's not my ball! Now give it back!” Rumble said, shifting nervously. It was then that I spotted a silky white filly crouched shyly behind a sandbox a few trots away.

“Uhm... It's okay, Rumble,” Sweetie Belle said, her cheeks red and her eyes moist. “I don't want it back that badly...”

“But it isn't fair!” Rumble growled. “They should give it back!”

“Awwww! What a knight in shining armor!” Snips hissed forth a raspy laugh as he dribbled the ball between his forelimbs. “Is this your wedding gift for when you marry her? Huh? Heheh...”

“Uhhhhhh...” Rumble backtrotted, red as a beet. He looked over his shoulder; Sweetie Belle was hiding her identically inflamed face. “Uhhhhh... uhhhh...”

“Heheheh...” Snails rolled his eyes, grinning loosely. “It's funny because they both look like marshmallows!”

“We do not!” Rumble and Sweetie Belle simultaneously chirped.

“Pfft! If you want to give her the ball so badly, here!” Snips gave the thing a vicious buck. “Catch!”

The sphere bounced roughly off Rumble's pale forehead. “Ow!”

“Hahahahah!” Snips and Snails leaned into each other, cackling wildly. Just then, the shadow of Cheerilee hovered over them. They looked up and instantly paled. “Aw snap.”

“Snips! Snails!” Cheerilee's eyes were hard enough to cut glass, and they burrowed their way into the colts' guilty brows. “When will you leave Rumble alone already?! What has he ever done to you?”

“Hey! We were j-just playing a little game!” Snips said. After a beat, he bumped Snails in the side.

“Ohhhh! Uhhhhh...” Snails' mouth hung open. Before he could drool, he instead managed, “Yeah! We were playing 'bounce the ball!'”

Snips looked Rumble's way. It came across as a vicious glare. “Isn't that right, Rumble?”

Rumble shyly dug his hoof into the ground while Sweetie Belle murmured something under her breath.

“Don't try fooling me!” Cheerilee exclaimed, frowning even harder than before. “This is the second time this week I've had to stop you from giving other classmates a hard time! Did you forget that talk that we had last month? Do I need to speak to your parents again?”

“Our parents?” Snails blinked, as if the concept was new to him.

Snips, however, was suddenly lucid. All traces of a mischievous frown left his body as he cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, Miss Cheerilee, ma'am. You don't have to talk to our parents or nothin'.”

“Uhhhh... Yeah!” Snails nodded, osmotically following his companion's example. “We'll be good!”

“You'd better! We have a guest speaker from Canterlot here today, and I expect you two to be on your best behavior. Now sit on the bench here for the rest of pre-school recess! I don't want to see you on the playground for the rest of the morning!”

“Awwwwwwwwww...”

“Don't give me that tone! You're lucky I don't have you cleaning the blackboard again! One of these days, I'm finally going to teach you two some manners!” She turned and trotted past me, heading straight for the school building. “I do love my job,” she said in a low voice, winking with a subtle smile. “But it helps to be firm every once and a while.”

“Heh, yeah...” I nodded and gave the two sullen colts a lasting glance before staying in close proximity to the schoolteacher. “I'd hate to see 'soft.'”

“And that's how the Great General Chucolt single-hoofedly defended the entire city of Old Trottingham from an army of one hundred thousand Lunar Imperialists without brandishing a single weapon!” I said with a smile at the culmination of the tale. “Unless—heheh—you count a lute as a weapon.”

The entire classroom full of bright eyes cooed in wonderment.

“Any questions?” I asked from where I squatted on a stool with my lyre.

A filly raised her forelimb.

“Yes. You with the glasses.”

“That wath tho thpetacular! Did the General of the Tholar Monarchy actually thcare off an entire army with a thingle thong?”

I did my best to not collapse into giggles. Darn, if she wasn't the cutest thing alive. “Ahem. Yes, Miss...” I glanced Cheerilee's way.

Cheerilee winked from her desk and mouthed a name.

“Miss Twist!” I said, smiling in the filly's direction. “You see, Chucolt was a famous strategist, a master of his craft. The leader of the Lunar army had battled with him on several occasions. So, when Chucolt found himself and his meager allotment of forces surrounded in Trottingham, he resorted to using history's most infamous bluff to save the entire population he was sent there to defend. In a way, you can say it was all a matter of his reputation...” I managed a wink. “But I still chalk it up to the power of music.”

“Oooh! Ooooh!” Sweetie Belle raised her hoof wildly.

“Yes, you, with the lavender mane.”

Sweetie Belle blushed and squirmed her front hooves together as she shyly asked, “Wh-what song did Chucolt play when the enemy came into Trottingham?”

“Why, funny you should ask that. He chose a folk tune from the sarosians who used to live in the Shadow District of Canterlot.”

“Sarosians?” Sweetie Belle made a face.

Cheerilee spoke up, “They are a race of nocturnal ponies, predominantly pegasi, with leather wings and powers of echolocation: meaning they can hear things very easily in the dark so that they can fly around at night. They served as Princess Luna's royal night guard before the Civil War with Nightmare Moon began a thousand years ago.”

“Plus,” I said with a warm chuckle. “They have the most adorable ears.”

The classroom laughed lightly, all except for a pair of groaning colts.

“Could you play us the tune?” Silver Spoon asked. “Erm... if that's okay, Miss Heartstrings.”

“Why, I would love to!” I said with a smile and levitated the lyre in front of me. “Forgive me if I'm a little bit rusty...”

The children sat on the edges of their seats. I closed my eyes, summoned the tune from memory, and played it as gently and calmly as I could. Ancient sarosian tunes, as it so happens, are typically fast in tempo and a little grating to most ponies' ears. After all, it was made to be listened to by the likes of Alabaster and his fellow kin. Still, I think I managed to produce a tranquil interpretation of it. I marveled at how easy it was for me to translate the tune from the deep past of university study.

I don't know if it was the act of performing the Requiem so much each passing day, or if my constant use of the Nightbringer had heightened my senses, but I felt like my musical skill had increased exponentially in the span of a few weeks. I was no longer just any amateur musician; I was a unicorn blessed with the physically manifested song of the Cosmic Matriarch, and there I was sharing such enhanced gifts with a bunch of children. It felt... right, in a way, as if I was doing something I was meant to do.

When the tune ended, half of the group looked hypnotized, and the other half looked ready to bounce out of their desks. Like good little foals, though, they waited for Cheerilee's own outburst:

“Now wasn't that spectacular? Let's give Miss Heartstrings a round of applause for such a wonderful rendition of an old classic!”

The children cheered and clapped their hooves together. I smiled warmly, hugging the lyre to my chest. Perhaps all of this adulation and learning would only last for a few minutes, or a few hours at most, but somehow it didn't matter. I was feeling a piece of what I was struggling for: recognition. One of these days—I promised myself—I would volunteer to teach ponies like these and they would remember me forever, so that these smiles could resurface on their faces. One of these days...

Around that time, an excited Rumble spoke up, “That was very pretty! I liked it!”

“Pfft!” The voice of Snips grunted. “Of course you'd like it, ya fruitcake.”

“Hahahah!” Snails slapped his desktop and chuckled. “He called him a cake of fruit!”

“Why don't you serenade Sweetie Belle with that, casaneighva! Hahah!”

Rumbles bit his lip, his ears drooping above a shy face. A unicorn filly two chairs from him was hiding her blushing cheeks.

“Snips! Snails!” Cheerilee stood up, practically growling.

“Wh-what?! Snails and I like fruit! Isn't that right, Snails—?”

“Don't play dumb! That was very rude, to both Miss Heartstrings and Rumble!” Cheerilee pointed. “Snips, I expect an apology! This instant!”

“Hrmmf...” Snips folded his forelimbs, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “Iapologizeforsayingthat,” he muttered.

Cheerilee glared. “That didn't sound very sincere.”

“What? I said I was sorry!”

“Uh huh...” Cheerilee motioned towards the far end of the classroom. “Over in the corner, Snips. Right now.”

“Awww... I hate the corner!”

“You heard me, young stallion! You've been given enough warnings today!”

“Ughhh...” He lurched limply towards a stool in the far edge of the room.

“Snails, the other corner. No dragging your hooves.”

“Weee!” The colt bounded towards the side of the classroom opposite of Snips. “I love dust!”

A few young ponies chuckled at the two colts' expense. Cheerilee sat back at her desk, rubbing a sore head with her hoof. She looked towards me and managed a weak smile. “Do continue, Miss Heartstrings. I apologize sincerely for the interruption.”

“H-hey! Don't feel bad!” I said with a nervous grin as I looked at the two delinquents with their flanks to me. “What's a proper concert without its intermissions?”

More chuckles lit the room.

“Now...” I cleared my throat and raised the lyre higher. “Who would like to learn about the song written by Starswirl the Bearded to pacify the armada of evil sea serpents in the Age of Tempests?”

“Oooh! Oooh!”

“Tell us!”

“Yeth! Thea Therpentth are thuper awethome!”

“Heheh...” I concentrated as I strummed the strings of the lyre and prepared another melody. “Remind me: are there any small rodents in the forest directly outside? This has been known to cause stampedes...”

“That was absolutely marvelous, Miss Heartstrings,” Cheerilee said in the afternoon air of the schoolyard.

“I couldn't agree more,” I said with a breath of relief. Obviously, she was referring to the lessons I had given the youngsters. Little did she know that I was simply thankful to still be having a sane conversation with her. How many hours had I been there? I couldn't tell anymore, but I had somehow managed to spend an entire session at the school without her forgetting about me. The chill of my curse was still there, and I witnessed at least a dozen foals giving me perplexed expressions. However, their teacher hadn't lost comprehension of me, and for that I was insanely thankful. It the was best possible day I couldn't have asked for. “I just wish that they'd remember all of these lessons in the future.”

“Oh don't be so modest!” Cheerilee stifled a giggle. “You're positively unforgettable, Miss Heartstrings. Professor Blue Noise should be proud of your talents.”

“Eh heh heh... Y-yeah,” I stammered before gulping. “Still, I kind of envy your job. Well... most of it, at least.”

“Yes, yes.” Cheerilee rolled her eyes slightly. Still, her smile came back as the two of us looked across the schoolyard. Several parents arrived in groups to walk their children home. We waved at Big Mac as he trotted off with Apple Bloom. Thunderlane flew skyward with his little brother Rumble on his back. Milky White escorted Scootaloo down the path, along with Sweetie Belle—Rarity must have been busy with some project or another that afternoon. “I do apologize for the actions of a few less-than-polite characters.”

“Hey, we've all been there,” I said in a dull tone before winking her way. “Most of us.”

“Don't tell me you were a problem filly when you were young!”

“Heh. Not exactly.” I fiddled with the sleeves of my hoodie. “But I definitely grew up with one who became a spitfire when she hit her teen years.”

“Hmmm... You make it sound like they were sweet memories.”

“A little jarring in places, but ultimately happy,” I said with a nod. “We are the sum of our parts, for better or for worse,” I added in a low tone. I thought of Alabaster, of her, of all the elements—both horrifying and glorious—that had brought me to such a place of understanding and comprehension that day. “I'm learning to accept the bumps of the past for smoothing out the future.” There was still a Duet to perform, one last hurdle. Was I prepared for all the challenges that entailed? “I can't be too harsh on other ponies for figuring out their own places, no matter how clumsily.”

“Well, some of us have to be stern in order to help them in the process,” Cheerilee said. She shifted on her hooves and began walking away. “If you would excuse me, Miss Heartstrings, there's a pony I've been meaning to talk to.”

“Uhhh... Sure.” I said, blinking. I watched as she approached a tall, rugged stallion. He was a unicorn, pale in complexion, with a tangled brown mane and a five o'clock shadow around his muzzle. The stallion was well built, brandishing a jackhammer for a cutie mark, and I could see the stains of sweat and dust on his forelimbs, indicative of a hard day's work. I guessed that he must have been a construction pony, or perhaps a paver of sidewalks. “Must be a blue bridle job,” I muttered to myself with a smirk. I contemplated walking over to join him when a tiny shape wandered into my cloud of thought.

“Hmmph... Dumb colt,” Snips grumbled, his eyes trained on the grassy floor of the schoolyard as he waddled in my general direction. “Go home by yourself, Snails. Try and have fun on your lonesome. See if I care.” Blindly, he bumped into my side and fell on his haunches. “Ooof! Unngh...” He rubbed his horn and squinted up at me. “Oh. Sorry about that.”

“Hey!” I remarked with a proud grin. “Looks like you're not without manners after all!”

“Uhhh...” He blinked, his face blank. “Do I know you, Miss?”

“Oh. Uhm...” I fidgeted, shifting the weight of the lyre in my saddlebag. “I... I guess you don't.”

“Ah. You're not Snails' mom, are you?”

“No,” I said in a calm voice. “I assure you, I am definitely not Snails' mother.”

“Cuz he went home without telling me. Pfft. Stupid colt. His life is dull as mud without me. Heh.”

“Fascinating,” I muttered. I hesitated briefly, cleared my throat, and squinted down at him. “Could I ask you something?”

He shrugged. “Sure. I'm not afraid of strangers.”

“Cute.” I smiled gently. “Why are you so...?”

“So what?”

I just spat it out: “Why are you so mean to other kids your age?”

“Mean?”

“Y'know, calling Snails' 'stupid.' Saying that Rumble is a 'fruitcake.' Stealing Sweetie Belle's toy ball.”

“Hahaha!” Snips kicked at the ground, waving his messy orange mane. “You saw that?! Ohhhh, she was practically whimpered for that silly thing back!”

“You... enjoy being cruel?”

“Oh please.” Snips rolled his eyes, and it was then that I noticed something curious about his face. “It's their fault that they're such wusses! They could definitely learn a thing or two from me! Heheh!”

“Uh huh...” I was staring at him.

He gave me a weird face. “What are ya lookin' at?”

“How...” I leaned my gaze aside. “How did your eye end up like that?”

“Uhhh...” The gruff exterior to the colt melted in an instant. He tilted his head in a way that's instinctual for unicorns such as ourselves. He must have thought that the shadow of his horn would hide the blue discoloration around his left eye. He was wrong. “I... I bumped into something today at recess.”

I gazed fixedly at him. Eventually, I muttered, “You don't say.”

“Hmmph...” He shrugged, picking at the grass with his hooves. “It's no big deal.”

“You sure?” I remarked softly, reaching a gentle hoof towards his skull. “It looks like it must sting—”

“I'm fine, okay?!” he suddenly snarled, batting my hoof away. His teeth showed as he squawked, “Snails is a big clumsy moron and he runs into me a lot! That's all!”

Just then, a deep voice resonated from across the schoolyard: “Snips? C'mere, son.”

Snips instantly paled. His eyes twitched and he stood tall. “Uhm... G-Gotta go,” he remarked hoarsely. He trotted off, but not without adding, “S-sorry to have bothered you, Miss.”

“It's fine,” I stammered, gazing curiously as he trotted off. The schoolyard had almost entirely emptied of students. There was nopony in his way as he shuffled limply towards the tall shadow of a stallion looming before him. After a few seconds of staring, I realized that it was the unicorn adult with whom Cheerilee trotted off to speak to a few moments ago.

The young and old ponies were too far away for me to hear them, but I could tell it wasn't a pleasant conversation that they were having, at least where Snips was concerned. The stout colt had his head bowed, at least until a stomping of his father's hoof forced the young one to look up, trembling. My eyes wandered up to the stallion's grizzled face. The unicorn was frowning. It was a very stern expression, but I couldn't help but detect something akin to a dizzied weariness to the glare in his eyes. Suddenly, his horn was glowing. I couldn't tell why at first, but then I looked down to see Snips standing up on his hindquarters.

Only... Snips wasn't standing. I saw his forward limbs twitching and curling awkwardly in the air. His weight wobbled precariously on his haunches. I was shocked that he wasn't toppling over within the first ten seconds, until I saw how hard his nostrils were flaring. For a moment there, it looked as though his face was taking on a blue complexion. With a jerk, he was suddenly standing on all fours yet again, panting heavily. My eyes traveled up to see that the stallion's horn was no longer glowing. Frowning, Snips' father stomped down the path, motioning firmly for the colt to follow him. Limply, Snips obeyed.

My lips pursed. I was about to say something out loud when Cheerilee's smiling face was suddenly occupying my vision.

“Oh! Hello, Miss! Are you looking for somepony?”

“Did...” I squinted past her and pointed at the two figures trotting away. “Did you just see that?”

“Hmm?” She blinked quizzically at me. “See what, ma'am?”

“That. Just now. Between Snips and that stallion...”

Cheerilee glanced over her shoulder, only barely catching a glimpse of the two figures marching off. “Huh?” She looked back towards me. “Are you a member of the Edge family?”

“Is that the stallion's surname? Cheerilee, I think that—” I froze. I looked at her.

She gave me an innocent smile. “I'm sorry. Have we met?”

I took a deep breath. I gazed over at the distant curve of the path. “If you'll... uh... excuse me...”

I trotted slowly, quietly through the heart of town. My hooves moved like water, following the wake of the two ponies ahead of me. With calm breaths, I trailed Snips and the older unicorn. I passed by familiar sights and sounds. I heard Rarity's airy voice as she chatted with Fluttershy. I smelled the burning embers of Spike's flaming breath. I heard music wafting out of Sugarcube Corner and tasted the scent of baked candies from Bon Bon's house.

I ignored all of these sensations of Ponyville, instead honing my vision on the father and colt ahead of me. Their march was a somber thing, like a funeral procession for a dead pony that no one knew about. They moved in a sluggish fashion, the elder swaying a little bit, grumbling indiscernible things to himself. Snips made no attempt to branch off from the path, and instead he paced like a melting glacier after the unicorn, his head bowed, his breaths even. All of the spunk and vigor of the young schoolyard bully was gone. If I didn't know better, I would have imagined the little creature incapable of smiling.

Eventually, they made it to the heart of Ponyville. A series of two-story condominiums lingered two blocks away from downtown. The gardens and lawns were colorful and well kept, all except for one. To the front door of this house, the stallion trudged. He fumbled magically with a set of keys and eventually opened the door. With a dull grunt, he turned and glared at Snips. The colt's limbs sprung into action, and he bolted out of his lethargic slump, desperate to enter the household as swiftly as possible. From a far glance, two mares could be seen inside, and they looked just as dead and unenthusiastic as Snips did that very moment. Then, everything disappeared as the stallion stomped into the house, wiped his hooves on the mat, and slammed the door shut behind him.

I was standing behind a tree on the opposite end of the street. I made sure nopony was looking before resuming my constant study of the household before me. For several minutes I sat there, looking for anything. The place was eerily still. The sun was beginning to set. With a weary breath, I finally tore my gaze from the house, turned around, and carried myself towards the north edge of town.

Then there was a rattling sound, followed by what sounded like a muffled yell.

I spun around. I looked at the house, my eyes squinting at the windows. A light remained on for the space of ten seconds, and then went out. Everything was still once again.

All I could feel was the steady thuds of my heart beating heavily. Gulping a dry lump down my throat, I hesitantly turned from the sight and headed for the cabin.

It's dark, and I'm so very thirsty. Why does it have to be so hot this time of year? This isn't Dream Valley. Canterlot is up in the mountains. Can't the Princess make things cooler? She's in charge of the sun, after all.

Ugh. Thirstyyyy.

I kick the covers off of me. Yawning, rubbing my eyes, I slide out of bed. I gently step over Moondancer's cot. After two weeks, I've gotten used to her lying in the middle of the room. I don't know how she can sleep so soundly. Every night, I'm tossing and turning, and yet she's still as a rock. Maybe she wears herself out in the daytime. She's very good at playing hide and seek. She can outrace me, and I've seen her float three feet off the ground with magic. I'd never tell her, but I'm super crazy jealous of her talents.

Anyways. Water. Water water water waterrrrr.

I open the door to my room and walk out into the dimly lit hallways of the apartment. I can't stop yawning. Why is it that as soon as I'm out of bed is when I start wanting to go back under the covers? Sleep is so weird. I haven't had any cool dreams since Moondancer showed up. Maybe that's why she's sleeping so well; she stole all the dreams. I wouldn't put it past her. Heehee. I swear, she's like a wolf in pony's clothing—uuuhh...

What's going on here?

I see a bunch of ponies in the living room. There's Mommy and Daddy. And there's Moondancer's mom. Isn't she supposed to be asleep on the couch? How can she get any shuteye with so many ponies sitting around: and just who are they? Wait, I recognize two of them. I think their names are Dusk and Stellar. They live across the street with two kids. One's an egghead who never shows her face. The other's a blue-haired colt that Moondancer always blushes upon seeing.

What are they talking about anyways?

“...just glad that I can enjoy nights without having to worry about Moondancer's safety. I can't thank you enough for everything. If only I had done something sooner.”

“Don't blame yourself, Satine. You've dealt with so much as it is.”

“What's important is that you've told the Guard the truth. They have what they need now to put Nightrot where he belongs.”

“I... I just feel so horrible. I feel like I should have reached out to him sooner.”

“Hey. Satine, look at us. Don't sympathize with him. He's been feeding you lies all this time, taking advantage of your good nature.”

“And besides, there's no helping ponies who refuse to help themselves.”

“I can't believe that it came to this. He... He was so happy when we met. So peaceful. What happened to him? I wish I could put my hoof on it, but every time I think about it... I can only remember how far I dragged Moondancer with me. Oh, sweet Celestia, what have I done?”

“Shhh. Satine, what's important is that you've let us help you now. You're safe, and so is Moondancer.”

“And now all I'm doing is taking up space in this house and... and...”

“Hey, our house is your house. We're going to see you through this. And when the Court is done analyzing the situation, we'll fight for your own property back.”

“But... But Nightrot—”

“It's your house, Satine. Yours and Moondancer's. You've earned it. Not him. Don't even doubt that for a second...”

Blearily, I blink and shuffle into the living room. “I don't get it. Is it Moondancer's birthday or something? Is she getting a new house?”

All of the adult faces swivel to face me. Mom speaks, and it's really stern. “Lyra! Lyra Heartstrings, what are you doing out of bed?”

“Uhh... I-I was thirsty...” I look nervously at all of the ponies. “Is something wrong?” I turn and look at Moondancer's mom. “Mrs. Satine? Why are you crying?”

Mommy hugs the old mare as she takes a deep breath and smiles calmly at me. “We're having a little talk, Lyra, darling. Between grownups.” She looks at Daddy. “Honey, would you...?”

Daddy is already standing up, shuffling towards me. “Come along, princess. It's not time for walking around the house.”

“But... B-But I just wanted—”

“I've got you some water right here.” He levitates a cup across the nearby kitchen, fills it, and hands it to me. As I take a sip, he kneels down in front of me and places two hooves on my shoulder. “You know that Moondancer and her mom are staying with us for a while, right?”

“Mmmhmmm...” I nod. I feel nervous. My eyes are staring at the carpet.

“Well, they need our help right now. Mommy and I are doing our best to take care of Mrs. Satine. In the meantime, you keep taking care of Moondancer. Huh? Whaddya say...?”

“She's not a doll, daddy,” I say with a pout. “How am I taking care of her?”

“You're being her friend, darling.”

“But I like being her friend!”

He smiles gently. “That's what makes it so wonderful. She needs you right now, and we all know how much you like hanging out with her. Just keep being a sweet, good filly to her. Mrs. Satine is telling me how happy Moondancer is now that she's got you to share time with.”

“Really?”

“You bet, princess. Done with your water?”

“Uh huh.”

He smiles and runs a hoof through my mane. “Think you can sleep now?”

I smile softly. “Mmmhmmm...”

He leans over and kisses my forehead. “There's a good girl. You need your rest for school tomorrow.”

I frown. “We're going to learn about frogs.”

“Well, how better to avoid warts?”

“Heehee...”

He swivels me around to face my bedroom door and gives me a final pat on my head. “I'll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, daddy.”

“Goodnight, Lyra.”

I enter my room and close the door behind me. I trot towards my bed. I stop in my tracks, blinking.

Something is wrong.

The cot is empty. What's more, I hear a quiet sound from the far edge of the room.

Curious, I crane my head to see. It's coming from the closet. I shuffle over and slide the door open. Moondancer's inside, squatting in the middle of my stuffed animals. She's hugging herself.

“Moondancer?” I squint at her. “Are you crying?”

She says nothing. She usually isn't like this. The last time I saw her shed tears was back when she first showed up at my apartment stairwell in the rain.

“Moondancer, what's wrong?” I sit down and look at her closely. “You're my friend. You should be happy.”

She sniffles. She peeks up at me from beyond her forelimbs and murmurs. “I don't want to go away...”

“Huh?” My face scrunches up. “Go away?”

She shudders, gulps, and stammers, “They're talking about leaving, aren't they? They want Mommy and me to leave! I don't want to leave!”

I smile. “Moondancer, you aren't leaving! You're staying here even longer!”

She sniffles and squints mistily at me. “We are?”

“Mmmhmmm.” I nod. “I just heard them,” I say in a hushed tone, leaning forward. “My Mom and Dad want you to stay. So do Mr. Dusk and Mrs. Stellar from across the street. You're not going anywhere.”

Moondancer nods slowly, her breath coming out in tiny little gasps.

I squirm where I sit. My eyes fall to the floor between us. “Uhm... was it a bad dream?”

She shakes her head, the tears still falling. “No,” she says.

I don't know what to say.

“But...” She sniffles again and looks at me. “If I said that it was... would you stay here with me?”

I blink. I slowly smile. “Daddy says that I'm supposed to be your friend.”

“He... He does?”

“Yeah. It's kind of funny, cuz I already like being your friend so much already.”

She giggles slightly, her face cracking a smile. “Okay...”

I look at her. I don't know why, but I feel like I've found my special talent. I slide over and hug her. I don't care if it's silly for two little fillies to be hiding in a closet. I don't want her to be alone.

“Don't worry,” I say as I nuzzle her. “You don't have to worry about bad dreams around me, Moondancer.”

She whimpers something and leans into me. Her limbs feel cold. I feel bad for her, and yet happy that she's here all the same.

“I'm glad that I met you, Lyra,” she says.

“Mmm... I'm glad that you met me too.”

And we both giggle. Her sobs eventually stop. One of us falls asleep before the other. I can't tell who.

I sat on the edge of my cot, restless, petting Al's purring body as he lay curled in my lap. His fur was the only source of warmth in a grand ocean of cold. I took a deep breath and gazed up out the windows. The morning sun was rising again. Another October night, and I had barely slept a wink.

With a deep breath, I stared at the contents of the cabin. I looked at the mountains of books pilfered from Ponyville Library. I glanced at the dozens upon dozens of tomes still left for me to read and peruse in my endless quest of pursuing a duet with the unsung goddess. I turned and gazed at the golden brilliance of the Nightbringer, a little piece of Creation standing within the confines of my mortal abode.

There were so many roads to freedom, all of them twisting and turning crazily into one another, forming a labyrinth of frigid madness and desperation. Half of the time, I wonder what's the biggest thing to solve: the problem that brought me there, or the problems that only a ghost like me is capable of seeing in the first place.

With a deep sigh, I moved Al to the center of the cot, stood up, and reached for my hoodie.

“We have a special guest for you today, students!” Cheerilee beamed as she paced before the classroom of gawking, blinking foals. “As it turns out, our speaker from Canterlot showed up after all! I know you've all been eager to learn about Equestrian music history! So give a warm welcome to Professor Blue Noise's prized student, Miss Lyra Heartstrings!”

The crowd of youths politely applauded and stomped their hooves as I took center stage and sat on the stool. “Well, hello there. Feels like only yesterday that I was sharing my knowledge with an eager group of youngsters just like yourselves! And believe you me... heheh... it only gets more and more special every time.”

“What is that?” Diamond Tiara asked, squinting at my golden instrument.

“This...” I said while levitating it for all to see. “Is a lyre. It's one of the oldest instruments in Equestrian civilization. In fact, many scholars believe that the holy Nightbringer itself was likenened unto a lyre or a harp.” I smiled Cheerilee's way.

The teacher winked and spoke to the class, “Remember our lesson on the Creation Tale two weeks ago?”

The foals murmured and nodded in understanding.

“The world began with a song,” I said, breathing evenly as I presented a variation of the previous day's lecture. “Because of that, whenever we sing, or express ourselves musically, we are—in essence—getting in touch with Creation itself. It's not enough to acknowledge the rhythm of our heartbeats. No, my little ponies.” I smiled. “There are songs older than time, for they define the ages; they define us. What's more, we discover the lost parts of ourselves as we explore the creative spaces available to equine expression. It's worked for Equestrian culture over the grand course of history—as I shall demonstrate to you—and it can very well work for our futures. Each and every one of you has a fantastic destiny to fulfill, and I would like to show you how to get in touch with it. Like everything, it starts in the past...”

“Heh...” Snips grumbled as he leaned his chin against a bored hoof. “History through music. This will be as thrilling as watching paint dry.”

“Hahahah!” Snails laughed, as did a few other students.

Cheerilee frowned. She looked ready to stand up and snap at Snips—

“Well, why don't you share with us your favorite kind of music, Snips!” I interjected. “Surely it can't all be boring!”

He blinked, as if caught in an enormous spotlight. “You... You know my name?”

Cheerilee was squinting at me. “You know his name?”

I merely chuckled and continued, “Don't be shy, Snips. Tell us all your favorite kind of music. You might not think it's relevant, but I'll show you that it is.”

“Uhhh...” He fidgeted slightly, tapping his hooves at the end of his desk. “I... I always liked Pony Punk, I guess...”

A couple of ponies cheered. Scootaloo smirked. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon rolled their eyes. Sweetie Belle merely blinked.

“Hmmm... Pony Punk... Pony Punk...” I tongued the inside of my cheek, thinking hard. “Ah! I think I know something close to it!” I cracked my limbs, flexed my telekinetic “muscle,” and strummed the lyre with golden flashes of energy. The air filled with heavy thrashing, melodic and chaotic all at once. Several ponies' jaws dropped, the most dramatic of which was Snips'.

When the swift, psychotic, and altogether vicious tune was over, I sat back on my stool in a slump, as if trying to catch my breath.

“Whew! And I thought I was out of practice!”

“That...” Scootaloo stammered. “I-I had no idea you could do that with a harp...”

“Lyre!” Apple Bloom corrected with a hiss.

“Whatever.”

“Well... uhm...” Cheerilee shuffled nervously at her desk. “That was certainly the... uhm... most interesting rendition of the Griffon National Anthem I've ever heard...”

“Way to go!” I grinned at Cheerilee and nodded. “It most certainly was the Griffon National Anthem, albeit it's not the type you'll likely hear at the next Equestrian Olympics. Heheh...” I turned and grinned at the crowd. “You see, there's been a counter culture movement in the Griffon Kingdom as of late. With shifting power structures between the old religious oligarchy and the new democratic union, several younger generations of griffons have sought an outlet to express themselves. Thus, they took many classical songs and turned them into harsh, passionate renditions with fast tempo and heavy percussion. Thus began ‘punk,’ a griffon invention. This movement has been very popular over the last thirty years or so, and its influence has spread to Equestria where several famous artists have developed...” I smiled. “'Pony punk,' which is a slight variation” I turned to look at Snips. “I assume you've heard of Filly Talent?”

Several colts snickered and nodded among themselves. Snips, his jaw still agape, produced a bright smile. “Heheheh. Yeah. Yeah, I've heard of them.”

Cheerilee looked at the class, at me, and at the class again.

I smiled, leaning back. “Now, go back in time to several hundreds of years ago, and there were similar movements in Equestria at the time of the great civil war between the Lunar Empire and the Celestial Monarchy. Granted, they didn't produce something like 'Pony Punk,' but the symphonies born from such turbulent periods were considered fresh and shocking for their time. How would you like to learn some of these tunes? It'll be like time travel! Imagine if a few centuries from now, ponies decide to perform 'Pony Punk?' Wouldn't they be getting in touch with our generation? Music is very much a part of us, you see. It's a part of who we are, who we've been, and who we will be. As we explore songs, we explore ourselves. How can it be anything but fun?”

Several of the ponies were on the edge of their seats at this moment. Many murmured with excitement. Others squirmed in anticipation. All the while, I had Snips' avid attention.

And he had mine.

“Well, for starters...” I licked my hoof and strummed a few melodic strings of the lyre. “Let's learn a little something about a stallion from olden times named Voltrot...”

I stood on the edge of the playground, a few feet away from Cheerilee. I was strumming on my lyre while the foals ran in circles, enjoying the warm noon sun as recess occupied the middle of the October day.

“Slow down, Twist!” Cheerilee called out from where she was grading papers at a picnic table. “Remember how you sprained your ankle last month! You promised your parents you'd take it easy on the jungle gym!”

A lisping voice acknowledged Cheerilee's warning, and the giggles from the playground doubled.

Cheerilee smiled, scribbled a few marks on a sheet with red pen, and looked my way. “I can't thank you enough for showing up this morning, Miss Heartstrings. I had expected a simple review of musical history, but today you had the entire classroom riveted. You should take up teaching more often!”

“Yes, well...” I murmured in mid-strum. “I guess you could say I had some practice for today's lesson.” I winked her way. “Expect nothing less from one of Professor Blue Noise's own, huh?”

“Heehee! Absolutely!” Cheerilee crossed her forelimbs and smiled. “The Equestrian education system could use more ponies with your ability to approach the foals' level of thinking and expression.” She bore a bashful grin as she graded another sheet. “I've always been told that I carry the permanent personality of a young filly. I figured it was my special talent's way of allowing me to relate with those who are blooming in the discovery of life, learning, and everything in between. I find that happiness is just as infectious as knowledge.”

“Heh... Yeah. I think I get it.” I plucked a few more strings and glanced at her. “That reminds me. About the foals here...”

“Yes?”

“I've been meaning to ask you something—” My voice lingered as I blinked at a sight waddling up towards us. “Oh. Hello there, Snips. How can I help you?”

“Uhhh... Hi there, Miss Heartstrings, ma'am.”

I blinked, smiling curiously. “You remember my name?”

“But of course he does!” Cheerilee remarked, giving him an appreciative wink. “He knows a thing or two about being polite. Ahem. Isn't that right, Snips?”

“Er... Yes. Yes, ma'am.”

I glanced at the playground. Snails was on the far side of the schoolyard, playing a game of four-square with Scootaloo, Rumble, and Featherweight. It occurred to me that Snips must have not left my proximity for the last two hours at least. Something must have been distracting him. In a way, it felt like part of my “mission” had been accomplished.

“Is there something on your mind, young sir?” I asked, using the pretentious “Canterlot voice” with which I had addressed the schoolroom for most of the day's lecture.

“The way you played Pony Punk earlier on that lyre thingamajig was really awesome!” Snips said with a joyful hop. “I never expected to hear that at school! Much less in Ponyville at all!”

“Heh, yes, well...” Cheerilee interjected with a playful wink. “Don't get used to it, Snips. You can listen to that at home, but from now on, expect to hear classical music or easy listening tapes at best. I don't think the Ponyville Education Headmaster would appreciate heavy griffon thrashing on a regular basis.”

“I...” Snips bit his lip and dug a hoof through the grass. “I don't think I'll ever hear any of that at home...”

I stared carefully at him. The bruise around his eye had mostly faded. This time, I couldn't help but notice what looked to be a nasty bump on his skull, just to the left of his scraggy orange mane. Ignoring the heavy spike in my heartbeat, I asked, “Does your family not like music, Snips?”

“Mmm... I wouldn't know.”

“Oh?” I remarked.

“Nah...” He shook his head, his eyes gazing with a blank expression towards the woods bordering the schoolyard.

I tilted my head to the side. “You trotted all the way here just to say 'Nah?’” I took a deep breath. “Snips, is there something you would like to tell us?”

“Uhm...” He squirmed slightly. His head lifted up. “Y-yeah. Sure...”

My ears twitched. “What is it, young sir?”

He blinked, then smiled. “That's some really pretty music you're playing, Miss Heartstrings.”

My spirit plummeted and rejoiced all at once. With a gentle sigh I grinned his way and nodded. “I'm a major fan of it myself. I play it all the time when I can. Would you like to give it a listen?”

“Uh. Sure.”

“It's not Pony Punk, though...”

“Heheheh,” he chuckled and sat on his portly haunches. “I don't mind! I'd like to hear it.”

“Very well then. Here goes...” I played the tune in full. It had a delightful melody, sweet and lulling and altogether devoid of sharp tempo shifts. There was a melancholic tone to the ballad, but the passionate edge in the plucked strings made the entire piece undeniably triumphant. When I finished, even Cheerilee was wowed. I heard her hooves clapping lightly at the picnic table beside me.

“Bravo! Bravo!” She managed a sight chuckle. “That was absolutely splendid. May I ask what it's called?”

I took a deep breath and said, “'Penumbra's Echo.' And it's a tune that is near and dear to my heart. Whenever I feel down, or whenever my life is at a confusing crossroads, I know I can play this song and make everything feel all right again.”

“It certainly is...” Snips murmured, his eyes blinking as if they were receding downhill from the two adults above him. “...relaxing.”

I looked calmly at him, my hooves gently gripping the lyre. “Do you feel as though your life could use more relaxation, Snips?”

His nostrils flared. With a brief creasing of his brow, he stood up straight and mumbled, “Nah. I just...” He shuddered and turned to leave. “I was just bored, I guess...”

“It helps me when I'm bored too,” I said. I watched as Snips froze in place. I continued, “Or when I'm sad, or dull, or tired. It doesn't matter what words I use to describe it. All I know is: music makes me feel better. It's a part of who we all are, just like I said earlier today. And if there's one immortal truth to ponies, Snips, it's that we all deserve to be happy. We shouldn't let anypony tell us different, no matter how big or important they might seem in our lives.”

Slowly, he turned around. He looked up at me with a vulnerable expression. “You... You really think so?”

I nodded. “I know so.”

He seemed ready to say something, but his jaw clenched tight at the last second. He fidgeted, stuck between staying and going. After a few seconds went by, we both heard Cheerilee's happy voice:

“You've been a very polite young colt today, Snips,” she said. “I didn't have to stop you from bothering Rumble or any of the other ponies. Not even once! I'm proud of you.”

“Uhhhh...” He smiled nervously, his stubby little tail flicking. “Okay.”

“Keep it up, and I'm sure your parents will be proud of you too.”

His smile waned, but he gave us a calm nod regardless. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. Thanks for the song, Miss Heartstrings.”

“Don't mention it.”

Snips trotted off. A slight chill filled the air, and I shuddered to think that I might never get a chance to reach that vulnerable side of him ever again.

“I wasn't just blowing hot air, you know,” Cheerilee said.

“Oh, perish the thought!” I smirked.

“He's been quite the hoof-full since he transferred here,” she continued. “His heart is brimming with excitement and yearning and curiosity, and yet it's prone to mischief and trouble-making all the same. Snips can be endearing when he wants to be, but more often than not the colt is a little sadist, and I'm constantly having to keep him and his buddy Snails in check, or else they might hurt the feelings of the schoolfillies around them or even worse.”

“Seems like there're always bad apples in a bushel,” I muttered.

“It presents a challenge, for sure,” Cheerilee said with a nod. “But I won't let these youths go sour so long as I'm watching over them. I just wish Snips wouldn't pick on Rumble so much. Snails doesn't know any better; he just thinks it's a big game.”

“You suppose Snips thinks it's a big game too?” I said, looking towards her. “As in... a way to distract himself from things he'd rather not think about?”

“How do you mean?”

“Well...” I took a deep breath, looking towards where the stout unicorn had walked off. “I can't be the only one who's noticed somewhat... glaring injuries on his person.”

Cheerilee nodded. “He and Snails live quite the rough and tumble lifestyle, Miss Heartstrings.”

“Oh, no doubt.” I looked at her. “Colts will be colts. But what if it's more?”

Cheerilee took a deep breath, and for once her smile was lacking. “You mean to suppose that there's another reason for the occasional bruise he shows up to class with?”

“Wouldn't you think as much?” I asked. “I mean, I'm not around kids as often as you are. But the little dude's rough around the edges. He picks on other classmates. He gets all shy when he tries to express the tiniest of sincere emotions about music.” I leaned towards her and asked in a quiet voice, “What if things aren't so peaceful around his home? Maybe the reason he doesn't get along with other students is that he can't form a connection with his folks?”

“I'd be lying if I said I didn't think that myself,” Cheerilee said in a calm voice. “But teachers twice my age with well established careers have had their jobs stripped from them for acting on such assumptions, only to be completely incorrect.”

“Oh. Well. Uhm...” I blushed, fidgeting where I stood. “Yeesh. That's gotta be a tough call to make.”

“I care for all of my students, from the bottom of my heart,” Cheerilee said. “Taking care of so many of them at once is indeed quite the juggling act. It's easy to read too much in between the lines,” she remarked. This was followed by a nervous gulp. “Or too little...”

“You know anything about Snips' parents?”

“I've met his father on a few occasions.”

“Oh yeah?” I looked towards her, my ears twitching. “What's he like?”

“Mr. Straight Edge is his name,” Cheerilee remarked. “He works in construction around Ponyville. He's a model citizen, if you ask me.”

“Does that come with a model personality?”

Cheerilee chewed on the corner of her mouth. I stared at her patiently.

She sighed and gave me a tired smile. “There's a reason why I went into teaching and not into psychiatry, besides the fact that a cutie mark of smiling, blooming flowers goes horribly with ink blots. Eheheh...”

“I think you're a decent enough judge of character. What's your opinion of him?”

“He's worked all his life doing rough, menial labor,” she said. “And, as a result, he strikes me as a simple, rough stallion who's more equipped for dealing with machinery than with anything else.”

“And how does he deal with the fact that his own son is quite often a delinquent in school?” I asked, thinking about the little “meeting” Cheerilee had with the stallion the previous day. “Surely you've talked to him about it?”

“He... deals as calmly and dispassionately as most stallions do with such information,” Cheerilee said.

“And Snips' mother?” I asked. “Or does she never show up for any parent-teacher conferences?”

Cheerilee slowly shook her head. “No. I can't say that I've ever had the grace of seeing her since the family first showed up in town.”

“Don't you find that a little strange?”

“Heheh... What intrigues me, Miss Heartstrings,” Cheerilee remarked, “Is your avid interest in the matter. Is there something you know that I don't? Because, by all means, if there's a chance to get in better touch with Snips' parents, I would be happy to do so.”

“Actually...” I put my lyre away in my saddlebag and turned to look directly at her. I was hoping that a moment like this would present itself. As a matter of fact, an entire day's worth of planning was about to go into the next few seconds. “It's funny that you should ask that. When Professor Blue Noise sent me here to be a guest speaker, I decided to stay with the distant cousin of a friend of mine. She owns a condominium bordering downtown Ponyville.”

“Oh, I'm quite familiar with the district.”

“Well, I've had the hardest time sleeping since I came here.”

“Oh?”

“Yes...” I took a deep breath. “I could have sworn I heard noises. Like...” My eyes traced the edges of their sockets as I recalled the sound from Snips' family household the previous day. “Like muffled shouts through the walls. I've lived in apartments before, Miss Cheerilee. I think I know the telltale sign of domestic troubles when I hear it. Well, when I left the condominium this morning, I saw a colt marching out of the dwelling beside where I had stayed.” I simply looked at her.

Cheerilee slowly nodded. “No wonder you've endeavored to reach out to Snips. That must have weighed heavily on you all day.”

“I believe things are anything but peaceful at his home,” I said. For once, it was the honest-to-Celestia truth. “I'm... not quite sure what to do about it.”

“Well, in all fairness, Miss Heartstrings, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done about it either.”

My heart sank. “You really feel that way?”

“It's not about feeling so much as it is about thinking...” She folded shut her notebook full of half-graded papers. “We have to keep in mind that any terrible supposition is unsubstantiated unless provided with a modicum of decent evidence.”

I winced visibly. “Yeah. And I'm the last unicorn who would want to endanger your job here at the school...”

“Oh, absolutely. I would never suspect you of anything. However...” She gave what appeared to be a mischievous smile. “What a terrible teacher I would be if I allowed a piece of my students' personal property go to waste without doing anything about it!”

I blinked awkwardly upon hearing that. “Uhhh... What?”

“Why...” Cheerilee put on a mock gasp. “Snips' umbrella! The poor little fellow forgot to take it home! What a good deed it would be to personally bring it by his family's household so that it won't get devoured by moths in its neglect!”

“But, he didn't bring an umbrella at all with him this morning! There's not even a cloud in the sky! It—” I froze in mid-speech, blinking. “Wait...” I turned and squinted at her. “Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?”

Cheerilee replied with an innocent smile. “Tell me, Miss Heartstrings, are you in a hurry to get back to Canterlot this afternoon?”

I looked at her, then grinned. “I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere, ever.”

Cheerilee rang the doorbell to the Straight Edge family household. A dog barked two condos down. Birds chirped and flapped about in the reddening sunlight above.

“I've done this two or three times before,” Cheerilee murmured aside, balancing the umbrella in her saddlebag. “I used to teach in Fillydelphia, you see.”

“Were there a lot of troubled households in Fillydelphia?” I asked her just as quietly.

She merely looked at me.

“Oh. Heh. Right. 'City of Brotherly Shove,'” I said with a slight chuckle. “How stupid of me.”

“Shhh. Somepony's coming.”

I nodded and let Cheerilee take the spotlight.

There was a fumbling noise from just beyond the door. Soon, the entrance opened, and my heart stopped at the sight of a tall, pale unicorn with a brown mane and even browner stubble. His eyes squinted at us with a cold, bored expression.

“Oh, hello there, Mr. Straight Edge!” Cheerilee said... cheerfully. “I do apologize for bothering you, but I think your son Snips left his umbrella at the school today!”

“Hmmm... You don't say...” Straight Edge mumbled, his dull eyes flitting towards me. “Who's this?”

I fumbled for words, feeling the urge to shiver... and not from the cold.

Thankfully, Cheerilee spoke up for the two of us. “Oh, this is Miss Heartstrings. She visited from Canterlot today to give the students a speech on music history. Snips seemed very pleased to learn about the topic, and he even asked a few exciting questions that the entire class was happy to have answered. Heheheh—But I digress. The umbrella.” She raised it before the stallion's grasp. “I'd hate for it to collect dust at the classroom.”

“Mrmmfff...” He telekinetically snatched it from her grasp and levitated it around before his eyes. “Can't say I've ever seen it before.” His tone was dull, unmelodious, like a ringing of metal against metal. “You sure it doesn't belong to another one of your students?”

“Oh. Oh dear... I could have sworn he brought it to school this morning.” Cheerilee smiled and gave an awkward laugh. “I've been grading so many papers lately, I could very well have been mistaken! Heheh...”

“Hmmph. No harm, no foul,” he muttered.

“Exactly! Your house was on my way home from the school building, and I thought I'd return the item just in case.”

“Well, thank you for the thought, Miss Cheerilee.” He gave the umbrella back. “But I'm afraid it's not ours—”

“My, you do have such a lovely home!” Cheerilee said. “Has anypony told you that?”

Straight Edge glanced lethargically at the sparse garden flanking the prettier ones of the neighbors. “Really?”

“Oh, it's such a tranquil side of town. I almost wished I lived here instead of the edge of Ponyville. I’m sure you and your family have some amazing stories to tell,” she said, laying the charm and friendliness extra thick. She smiled his way. “Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had a chance to sit down with you and Mrs. Edge for a personal conference between parents and teacher.”

“Why...?” His eyes narrowed like dagger tips. “Has Snips been acting up again?”

I bit my lip and looked Cheerilee's way.

She was already smiling and saying, “As a matter of fact, he's been on his best behavior as of late! If you allow me, I'd gladly fill you in on it!”

He stared at Cheerilee, then at me, then at Cheerilee again. “Hmmph...” His nostrils flared. “Sure, why not?” His voice was neither angry nor optimistic; he snorted like he was marching through a cloud of fumes. Pivoting, Straight Edge marched into the household. The two of us didn't realize it was an invitation until we heard his bass voice shouting through the atrium ahead, “Autumn! Snips! Windsong! We've got company!”

Cheerilee trotted ahead. I followed her, hesitant at first. I telekinetically closed the door behind me, becoming engulfed in the scents of the household. The air was sour and unpleasant. I couldn't tell if that was the condominium being rank or just my forlorn imagination telling me that it was supposed to smell bad. I always feel a certain disconnect from myself when I walk into a stranger's household.

Everything appeared normal as we walked into the living room. Photographs of colorful, happy ponies lined the walls. I saw a kitchen with a refrigerator full of bright, foalish sketches. The dish cabinet was fully adorned with pretty, antique saucers and silverware. If I blinked my eyes, the snapshot I'd receive would look no different from the inside of the houses that my aunt and grandmother used to own. The whole place was... normal, peaceful looking. What was I expecting from Snips' household? Was I letting my assumptions get the better of me?

For a moment, I felt fearful for Cheerilee, but she looked like she was on top of the world. She smiled and sat on a sofa across from a mare who was... suddenly there. A yellow unicorn with a long red mane sat with a folded book before her forelimbs. From the way she was parked on the furniture, I could only assume she had been sitting there for the majority of the sunlit day. She smiled and shared a few words with Cheerilee before giving me a polite nod. Her smile was as fragile as porcelain, and there was a slightly hollow look to her eyes. I felt my nervousness rising again, but I said nothing.

There was another pony in the room, a filly. The little unicorn was perhaps three or four years younger than Snips. At a glance, I wouldn't have imagined the two ponies were related. She hardly took notice of Cheerilee and myself when we walked into the room. She busied herself with a series of crayons that she was sketching along a white sheet of paper. I saw gentle, colorful strokes that illustrated houses, castles, dragons, and other fantastic Equestrian sights.

“Snips?!” Straight Edge was uttering again, louder this time. “Where are you, son?!”

“Oh, you don't have to summon him,” Cheerilee said. “I already told him how proud I was of his behavior as of late. His grades have been improving too since the school year began. Do you know that he scored the second highest in our pop quiz on paleo-Equestrian biology? He has an avid fascination with leviathans and sea serpents. I sometimes wonder if his cutie mark suggests an innate desire to dissect old fossils! Heheh!”

The mare on the sofa beside her chuckled as well. “Oh, that's such a joy to hear,” she said. “There are times when I think Snips forgets that he's earned his cutie mark.”

“Sometimes, I think he just forgets to care,” Straight Edge added.

“Mmmm...” The mare took a deep breath, fiddling with her book as her eyes fell to the sofa's hoofrest. “It's taken a bit of coaxing, but I can vouch for the fact that he's paying more attention to his studies. I imagine it hasn't been easy for him, what with my disability lately...”

“Oh, I remember hearing about that!” Cheerilee remarked with a concerned look on her face. She leaned over and placed a gentle hoof on the mare's forelimb. “Just how is your horn faring, Mrs. Autumn?”

“It aches less these days, Miss Cheerilee,” Snips' mother replied with a calm smile. “With therapy, I've managed to have less and less seizures. The doctor says I've been making a great deal of progress.”

“This ain't a medical checkup, honey,” Straight Edge uttered from the kitchen. Through my peripheral vision, I saw several containers stacked on top of one another. When I turned to look, the grizzled stallion was standing there behind the counter, staring unemotionally towards us. The containers were gone. “Miss Cheerilee is giving us her sweet time to talk about our son's learning.”

“Mmm... But of course.” Autumn swallowed and looked towards us with sleepy eyes. “I'm sorry if he's giving you more trouble—!”

“Nothing of the sort!” Cheerilee said happily. “As a matter of fact, I figured I'd drop word of how good his behavior has been as of late! On the side of scoring well on pop quizzes, he's displayed a vast improvement in civility! Why, just the other day, Miss Smith showed up to deliver some lunch for her granddaughter Apple Bloom. On the way out of the schoolbuilding, the old mare stumbled and fell. Snips was the first and only colt to walk over and help her up. I thought it was the most charming gesture I'd seen all week!”

“Ohhhhhh...” Autumn smiled gently. “That does sound awfully sweet.”

“Heh...” Straight Edge marched over towards the center of the room. “You're just making that up.”

“Hardly!” Cheerilee shook her head. “Snips is a great deal more mature than the other colts his age, he just hasn't chosen to show signs of it until recently. Would you like to hear some more?”

Straight Edge merely exhaled. His wife, Autumn, leaned forward and said, “I would love to.”

As Cheerilee continued, I stood by her side, trying my best not to look nervous. I glanced up a flight of stairs to see a tiny, portly figure staring down from a thin bedroom door. As soon as my eyes reached the second floor, the coltish face disappeared. Curious, I glanced down at the filly, who I presumed to be the one named “Windsong.” The longer the conversation lasted, the tighter and tighter she curled up to the sheets of paper she was drawing on. I saw her shoulders bunching together, and I couldn't help but notice how close Straight Edge was standing to her the entire time.

I took a deep breath and tried to relax. It was not my place to come to wild conclusions. After all, Cheerilee was doing more in a single breath than I could ever hope to accomplish in an entire day's worth of rambling speech. I listened as she expertly plugged little details—both accurate and exaggerated—about Snips' behavior as of late. She found tiny moments to summon a word or two from his parents, and I could see how she was structurally turning the “conference” into something akin to an unofficial interview.

What was more, with each passing minute, the portrait of the household was becoming blander and blander. Eventually, the dialogue digressed into Straight Edge's line of work, the homemaker hobbies that Mrs Autumn engaged in, the friends Windsong had been making next door, and other subjects of everyday conversation. Admittedly, I was starting to feel more at ease. However, each time I glanced up at the second floor, I could make out no sign of Snips, and a part of my heart kept beating at a tense, steady tempo.

“Well,” Cheerilee said as the door to the Straight Edge household closed behind us. The sun was halfway through setting, and the two of us trotted out of the yard and towards the sidewalk bordering the adjacent street. “That went awfully well, wouldn't you think?”

“I didn't realize Snips' mother was dealing with so many health issues,” I remarked dully. I was staring at my hooves as we trotted along.

“It was a detail I almost completely forgot about until I saw her again. If I recall correctly, Snips' family came to Ponyville because Nurse Redheart and several of her colleagues at the local hospital had experience in the field of leyline therapy.” She turned and smiled at me. “I don't suppose any unicorns in your family have suffered from Acute Magical Disconnect? It can be terribly troublesome to the nervous system.”

“I've... heard stories,” I murmured. “It's very painful, and it takes years to recover from.”

“And I can't think of anything more distracting than having one's mother suffering and not being able to do anything about it.” Cheerilee paused to turn and rest a hoof on my shoulder. “Miss Heartstrings, I greatly appreciate your initiative in bringing your concerns about Snips to me. But what I think we have here is a case of a young and growing colt feeling anguish over his mother's health. With the inability to express himself, it's not uncommon for a young male pony to exert his frustrations through senseless outlets. However, all is not lost.” She leaned back and smiled. “Mrs. Autumn, as it turns out, is getting better. And now, thanks to our little 'conference,' I think I know what to talk to Snips about the next time he acts mean to one of his fellow students.”

“Yeah, I guess so...” I took a deep breath. “Still, isn't it strange that he didn't show up the entire time that we chatted with his parents? Not even once?”

“Heeheehee. Shyness shows up in the most unlikely of places, Miss Heartstrings. Don't let Snips' rough exterior fool you. He's a darling at heart, and I think there's still hope of reaching out to him.”

“Yeah...” I nodded, smiling gently. “I guess you're right.”

“Well, I have to go home and get caught up on grading,” Cheerilee said. “Miss Heartstrings, I can't thank you enough for all the contributions you've made today. This goes above and beyond what I requested of Professor Blue Noise.” She smiled sweetly, her eyes sparkling. “Is it possible that you might bless the school with your presence again sometime before the year's over? Perhaps you would like to chaperone for the upcoming field trip to the Canterlot Gardens!”

“Eh heh heh heh...” I chuckled nervously, avoiding her gaze. “Well...” I gulped and gave her a weak smile. “I'll definitely consider it. One thing's for certain. I will never forget what happened this day.”

“Then perhaps my students aren't the only ones who learned something,” she said with a wink, shuffling the umbrella in her saddlebag. “Have a happy evening!”

“Yeah. Sure thing.” I turned and trotted away. “You too.”

“Uhhh... Miss Heartstrings?”

I turned and looked at her. “Yes?”

She blushed slightly, blinking in a confused manner. “Where are you off to? I thought you were staying at your friend's relative's house next door to the Edge family.”

“Oh. Uhm...” I smiled awkwardly. “I... enjoy going for walks. And Ponyville is a pleasant town for a stroll!”

“Heeheehee... Isn't it, though?” She waved and trotted off. “Toodaloo!”

“Yeah. Uh. Bye.” I waved back, limply. I took advantage of the fact that her back was to me and stood there, watching her bright figure walk away until it became one with the crimson advent of evening. A sigh escaped my lips and I looked with exasperation towards the unkempt lawn of the Edge family household.

I could only blame my analytical self. I could only blame the ponderer, the scavenger, and the pillager of forsaken songs within this weathered unicorn soul for such pathetic awkwardness. Had I changed so much over the past year that I was bound to forever see things between the lines that weren't really there to begin with? I was no schoolteacher, nor was I a psychiatrist. Cheerilee was inifnitely more qualified for both of those things than I ever could be. Who was I to assume so much about Snips without seeing it with my own naked eyes?

Colts will be colts, and cursed ponies will be cursed ponies.

With a shrug of my shoulders, I turned to trot towards my distant cabin to the north of town... when I heard a noise. It was more pronounced than the muffled shout that I thought I had heard the previous day. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn I detected something breaking.

I almost ignored it. I almost kept moving. But a part of me that was still lonesomely cognizant, the part of me that shivered from the throes of her unsung touch, forced my hooves to swivel around. I turned and glared at the front of the house. There was another sound, louder than the first, and this time I could have sworn I saw the windows to the front of the house shaking.

I peered down the sidewalk. Cheerilee was a distant speck. I looked towards the other end of the path. Ponies were going about their daily lives, returning home, engaged in conversation: not a single one was looking my way.

In a single breath, I strolled back towards the house, snuck past the gate, and slid up to the condominium until my ear was almost pressed up against the building face. I took a deep breath and listened. Beyond the punctuated thuds of my heart, I heard voices from within. In perfect clarity, Straight Edge's growling breath was the loudest of all:

“I had to lie through my teeth for you, boy! To think of all the slack I give you—Look at me when I'm talking to you!”

“But I don't understand! What did I—?”

“You were out stealing random crap from the ponies around town! How many times have I told you to quit snatching whatever you can get your grubby little hooves on?!”

“What?! Dad, I wasn't—”

“Don't talk back! She told me you left an umbrella at school today! We never bought you an umbrella! So how did you end up with one, huh?”

“Umbrellas?! Pfft! Who cares about umbrellas anyway—?”

Snips' voice was cut off by what could only be described as a clap of thunder. I felt a bone-chilling thump, and some female voice gasped amidst the echoes of it.

“I won't stand to have thieving ponies in my very own house!” Straight Edge's rumbling voice resumed. “We stand to lose enough as it is by moving to this stinkin' town!”

“Straight! Honey, for Celestia's sake! Can't you see he doesn't know a thing about the umbrella—?”

“And you! What in the hay was that all about just now?! Nopony outside the household needs to get an earful about your sickness! Certainly not Miss Cheerilee! Next thing you know, they'll think we're begging for bits out on the street!”

“I was only making polite conversation! There's no need to take this out on our son—!”

“If he wasn't such a brat to begin with, his teacher wouldn't have to be poking her head around! And she certainly wouldn't have to pick up the slack for the crap he's stolen!”

“I didn't... nnngh... t-take nopony's umbrella—”

“Shut up and go to your room because I'm sick to death of you sassin' me.”

“I'm telling you, I didn't—Ulp!”

“Something wrong with your ears, boy? Go to your room and do your homework. Nnngh! I swear to Luna! Is it enough that I work my spine off for your ungrateful hide?! Or do you wanna go back to Manehattan? Cuz I can pack up our stuff and take the whole family tonight! How long you think your mom's gonna last back in our old home town, you selfish little turd?!”

“No... I-I don't want that...”

“Huh?”

“Erm... N-no sir.”

“Now scram. All I wanted was to have a peaceful, quiet evening, but you've screwed that up... again!”

All this time, there was a sobbing voice, rising in pitch and volume; that is until Straight Edge snarled once more.

“Dammit, Windsong, shut up and go back to drawing! You’re almost as bad as your worthless brother. Heck, you're already twice as brainless.”

“Straight Edge—”

“I don't wanna hear it, Autumn. Bits are thin enough without me having to pay for another one of your damn seizures. So just can it.”

The house was gravely silent, save for the tell-tale thumps of Snips' hooves limping—not walking—up the stairs to his lonely room. I could barely stand straight at that point, for I was trembling too much. Gulping, I turned, looked down the sidewalk, and scampered in the direction Cheerilee had trotted off to.

In less than two minutes, I caught up to her. “Cheerilee!” I galloped to a stop, panting. “Quick! You gotta come back!”

“Huh?” she turned around, blinking at me.

“I was right all along!” I exclaimed. “As soon as we left, there were noises coming from the house! I listened in, and—as Celestia is my witness—I heard Straight Edge shouting at his family! I think he may have even hurt—”

“I'm sorry... uhm...” Cheerilee squinted at me. “What's all this about? You know Snips' father?”

“I...” I paused, blinking stupidly. I felt the chills catching up to my sweaty body. “Yes. Yes, Snips' father. We... You just finished having a conference with him and his spouse.”

“Huh... Straight Edge... Autumn...” Cheerilee's eyes scanned the horizon. She reeled, as if dealing with a wave of dizziness. “I think I met with them when they first came to Ponyville.” She smiled thinly at me. “Why, is something the matter with them? I teach for their son at my school in the west side of town.”

I blinked at her. I groaned, running a hoof over my face. “I was there. Of course, I was there with you the whole time. That’s why. For the love of Celestia. Isn’t it enough that ponies just forget about me and me alone?”

“Huh?” She made a strange face. “I.. I-I’m afraid I don’t understand. Somepony’s forgotten you? Are you looking for somepony in Ponyville that you know?”

I chewed my lip. Shivering, I looked back towards the house. As the sun melted beneath the west horizon, a foreboding shadow loomed over the building, obscuring the dull surfaces like a worn gravestone.

“Ma'am?” Cheerilee blinked.

Without saying a word, I turned and trotted away from her... and swiftly abandoned the condominiums altogether.

I breathed evenly, peacefully. I was in control of myself. Every inhale was calm and every exhale was precise. Clutching the Nightbringer, I tilted my head up and looked beyond the tempestuous fountains and chains of the unsung realm.

High above the metal fields of moaning prisoners, her sphere loomed. The object spun circles within itself, brimming with lightning.

I stood where I was on the rusted platform with the chaotic cosmos churning all around me. I didn't say a word. I simply played “Twilight's Requiem” over and over again, staring at the levitating throne of an aloof goddess, my eternally stubborn music partner.

With quiet patience, I had hoped to coax her out of hiding. I sat there for the space of an hour, the longest time I had ever spent in the dimension beyond the firmaments. Nothing happened. She didn't approach me. Her sphere didn't even float a single inch closer.

I was the only mortal creature in eons to have entered the realm of the unsung, and in spite of all my power and abilities and knowledge, I couldn’t do a single thing about it but sit there and soak in the annihilation. At least if I was a shackled pony, I might have had purpose there. As the tempests consumed the heavens and echoed thunder across the Firmaments, I felt like I could just as easily have been watching a picture show of a faraway, fantastical place, rather than actually being there. All the fear was gone, and so was the charisma to surpass any of it.

I exhaled a defeated breath and hung my head. Gently, I played “Penumbra's Echo,” and departed from the unsung realm, as if I hadn't even been there to begin with.

I sat on the cot in the middle of my cabin, surrounded by books. I swear that I read the same dozen pages over and over again, and on each perusal I failed to take in a single paragraph to memory. Night lingered outside. Al was playing with a ball of string in the corner. The fireplace crackled, and its amber light glinted off the brilliant body of the Nightbringer atop a nearby end table.

After several minutes, I groaned and rubbed a hoof over my face. I had spent an hour in the unsung realm. I had spent twice as much time pouring through ancient books on Canterlot music. Still, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the shouting tone of Straight Edge out of my head. Autumn's murmuring voice lingered along the corners of my memory. With each heartbeat, I felt the thump of Snips' landing body, and then the whimpering sounds of Windsong stabbed at my consciousness.

On top of that, I still couldn't sleep. The crazed enthusiasm that had made me visit Cheerilee's school two days in a row was fading. What lay beneath was a manic unicorn, somepony I hadn't associated with for months, when madness was something fresh and alarming instead of enlightening.

“I don't know what to do, Al,” I muttered. “I'm in the right place and the right time, but what does it matter? Even if I intervene, what impact will I have? It's the same as it was with Morning Dew, and with Twilight Sparkle and Moondancer. Heck, the only reason I ever saved Scootaloo's life was because she saved mine.” I chuckled bitterly. “It seems as if this curse has me making better use out of my uselessness...”

Al rolled over the string, paused to catch his breath, and gazed innocently my way with a flick of his tail.

“I should stop thinking so much about it,” I muttered. “I've not been to every single household in Ponyville. For all I know, horrible things happen in this town on a daily basis. I should just...” I fidgeted. “I should just focus on the goal that I have, cuz it's the only thing I have in my power to fix, so long as I get her to help me and... and...”

Something inside me twitched. The room felt colder, even with the embers of the fire dancing brightly just a stretch away.

I bit my lip. “It's... it's easier just to finish this damnable Nocturne. It's...” I stifled a whimper, as my insides knotted up. Shivering, I looked over towards the orange tabby on the floor. “Al, could it be possible that... th-that I'm less afraid in the unsung realm than I am in this town? Have I grown that distant?” I gulped. “That aloof? Just like she is?”

Al barely moved. He didn't even purr.

My nostrils flared. I turned towards the Nightbringer once more. It was momentarily blinding to my weak eyes. “The power of a goddess in my hooves...” I murmured, frowning. “And I ran like a filly... a cowardly little filly from Snips' house.”

I sighed hard. The walls of the room started to bend and buckle. In order to not collapse, I forced my eyes shut and drifted.

“And then he said, 'Why, of course, Miss Moondancer, I would be more than happy to carry those bags for you!'”

I nearly choke on the glass of water. I slap the container down onto the table in the school courtyard and gaze in shock her way. “Moondancer! I don't believe it! You mean to say that—?”

“Yup!” She smiles devilishly, her pale features shining in the sunlight beneath flowing locks of red and pink mane hair. “Shining Armor carried all four suitcases for me! He was really sweaty by the time we got to my room on the fourth room of the hotel at the Equestrian Embassy!”

I squint curiously at her. “Just how 'sweaty' are we talking about?”

“Ohhhhh girl...” She fans herself with her notebook full of homework. “Not sweaty enough!”

“Ack! Moondancer!”

“Heeheehee!”

“This is... This is Twilight's older brother we're talking about!” I say, nearly shrieking. Still, I'm having a hard time containing my giggles. “For goodness sake! Isn't it enough that he agreed to act as bodyguard during your study program in the Dragonlands?! You and the other students owe him your lives!”

“Oh Lyra, sweetcakes, don't get your bridle in a tangle!” She waves a dainty hoof and shuffles through a few notes. “It was all in good fun. Besides, we were hardly in any danger. The Dragonlands is about as dramatic as a Saturday night in Trottingham, which is the least I can say about their lame excuse for an education system.” She rolls her eyes before leaning forward and smirking at me. “Besides, Twilight's 'Big Beau, Best Flank Forever' was just showing off an extraordinary amount of silly machismo. It's his first year into being a guard, and already he thinks he can flex his horn and get us unicorn schoolfillies to melt! Ha! Well, I made him deflate big time! That's for sure!”

“Moondancer...” I stammer, my eyes staring wide at her. “Did you...?” I gulp dryly. “You didn't let him in the hotel room, did you?”

“Mmmm... Nope.” She smiles and sips at her own glass of water. “But I sure made him wish he was.”

“Ugh. You are so evil. Twilight's gonna kill you.”

“Not if she keeps being Princess Celestia's third hemisphere, she won't.”

“Hey! She's more than just an errand pony for Her Majesty! She's being trained to be a high ranking sorceress!”

“She's ranking with something alright. Have you visited her room in the palace? Whew! Place smells like dust, old books, and backsweat! And I don't mean the sexy, Shining Armor kind! I swear, that filly's gotten nowhere with being the Princess' apprentice! She's still a sad little egghead who refuses to see sunlight!”

“Well, I still think she needs our support in everything she puts her heart and horn to,” I say. “She's been there for us in the past, Moondancer. Celestia knows her parents have as well.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She places her glass down and gives me a bored glance. “So, how's plucking the proverbial string treating ya?”

I give her a smug grin. “My musical education is going well, Moondancer. How's your quest to become a teacher?”

“Eh. It's alright.”

“'Alright?'”

“Yup.”

“Since you came back from the Dragonlands, I thought you had a newer, tougher curriculum to undergo.”

“Oh, you mean Advanced Unicorn Sociology?”

“Yeah, that. Isn't that your minor?”

“Eh. I dunno. I'm thinking of changing it.”

“Really? What to?”

“Kiss My Flank 101.”

“Seriously...”

“I mean it,” Moondancer grumbles. “All the ponies in my class are total snobs. Cream of the crappy crop of Canterlot, if you catch my drift.”

“Have they been giving you a lot of sass?”

“Well, if they weren't a week ago, they certainly are now!” She smiles with a wag of her eyebrows. “On account that they lost all their tail hairs yesterday.”

“Uhhh...” I squint curiously at her. “I... don't read you.”

“Somepony might know somepony who might know another pony who laced their luxury seats at the rear of the class with superglue.” She sips from her glass again and blushes slightly. “And that somepony might be me.”

I blink, staring at her breathlessly. “You're... You're serious?!”

“Well, I’m certainly not cinnamon!”

“Moondancer!” I squawk loudly, summoning several curious glances from the ponies surrounding us in the courtyard. “How... How could you?! What is this, Magic Kindergarten?! You're nineteen, for Luna's sake! What makes you think that you can do that kind of crap and get away with it still?!”

“Uhhhh... The fact that I did get away with it and those bratty, upstart snobs are now forced to walk the halls with their bare tails between their legs?!” She giggles wildly. “They all made up a story about a bunch of diamond dogs sneaking into their dorm at night and slicing their hair off to sell to the Zebra black market in Los Pegasus!”

“Oh jeez! That... That almost makes it worth it!” I clutch a hoof to my forehead and laugh until tears line my eyes. “Ohhhh Moondancer, when will you ever learn?!”

“Hahahaha... Ohhhhh... 'Learning...’” She chuckles, her face red. “If only I could sleep half as well...”

“I dunno! Heehee! You seem to have all your charm and spunk, as usual!”

“Heheheh... Heh... But no, really...” She continues to chuckle, but her laughter has become increasingly hollow, labored even. “I've been bunking at Canterlot Heights.”

I chuckle a few more times. Catching my breath, I look at her and blink. “You... You mean the hotel?”

“I certainly don't mean the asylum, though I wouldn't mind that one bit at this point.”

“Wow. Why... uh... Why aren't you staying at home? Ever since you quit dorm life, I thought you decided to stick around the house.”

“Heheheh... Because... Heh...” Her laughter dropped off the edge of a limp smile. “Because he's back.”

I stare at her. Slowly, my face grimaces. “He...? You mean...?”

She sips calmly at her glass.

My brow furrows. I squirm nervously where I stand. “But... But that's...” I shake my head and squint at her. “He moved to Baltimare. He has a business there now.”

“That was just an excuse.” Moondancer is mumbling now. I don't know what's more alarming: the news she has just told me or how rapidly she can switch from euphoric to deadpan. “The world's full of them, Lyra. Excuses, that is. And Mom's used one of them to lasso him back out of hiding.”

“But...” I gulp and feel my forelimbs shivering. “But why?”

“Pfft... Why else?” She exhales firmly, her mouth hardening into a frown. “Cuz she's a withered old tart who doesn't know how to keep her tail down.”

“Moondancer!” I hiss, looking over our shoulders at everypony around us. I lean in and speak hushedly, “How could you say that? She's your mother—!”

“She's an idiot,” Moondancer grunts. “And I'm sick and tired of idiots. The only thing is that it makes no difference if I pull a prank on her. Her life is the biggest joke there is, and I'm tired of it.” She downs the rest of her water in a single gulp and slaps the glass onto the tabletop. “So, as soon as I get a chance, I'm finding a place on my own. No more dorms, no more hotels, and certainly no more bullcrap.”

“Moondancer, it... it can't be a permanent thing!” I try to sound strong. It comes out as a squeak. “Your mother—She has to be going through a phase or something! You know how it is for mares that age! I'm pretty sure she'll kick him out in a week—”

“And then what?” She chuckles, but this time it is a dry and lifeless thing, like dragging a cat's tongue across sandpaper. “She'll invite him back just a few months later, or else go crawling to Baltimare herself. It's the same old song and dance, and the music just won't get out of her dang head.” She brushes a few stray leaves off her notebook before slapping it and glaring at me. “You know what the sickest part was? I spent the entire weekend yelling my head off at her over how pathetic she is to let that jerk back into our house for the umpteenth time, and she has the gall to say that I'm being 'heartless,' that I'm being a 'bad daughter...'”

“Moondancer—”

“A bad daughter?! Do you know what that heartless stallion used to do to me? Huh? Did I ever tell you about the time he made me stand outside on the balcony all night for wetting the bed, and slap me upside the head if he found out I sat down even once? The friggin' pissant would even sit down beside the window and watch me! Like he had nothing better to do...”

“I... I...”

“Or what about the night he thought I spoke back to him, and so he filled a pot full of boiling water and asked me which hoof I'd like to stick in first for being such an petulant child?! This is the same stallion my mother is choosing to respect over her own daughter. Who here wants to bet it's because he's always had one extra limb than me as long as Mom's known the both of us?!”

“Okay, Moondancer,” I mutter, stirring uncomfortably. “You made your point. You're right.”

“Oh! I'm sorry!” She stands up, gasping with ridiculous melodrama. “Is this too much for Lyra's little ears?! You can't handle your best friend venting a little steam?”

“I... I didn't say that!” I exclaim, shifty-eyed. “You know that you can always come to me...”

“Then why do you look like a changeling caught in a magical spotlight?!”

I bite my lip. I don't say anything. I can't say anything.

Apparently this is enough. Fuming, she stuffs her things into her schoolbag. “You know what? I get it. I'm ruining your precious lunch. Heh. Not like it's the first time.”

“Moondancer, please...”

“What? I'm sorry, Lyra. I'm sorry that I can't make this day any more enjoyable for you. Celestia knows you can't make my week any less crappy than it already is, so don't bother planning to do anything about it, not like you were trying in the first place.”

“Hey!” I frown. “Now you're just not being fair—”

“Hah!” She flippantly laughs, grinning venomously at me from where she stands with her bag. “Now that's a tragedy! Something in my best friend's life is not fair! Next thing I know, my other friend will become the pampered satellite to a princess!” Her eyes go wide as she slaps the side of her head with a hoof. “Oh, duh! That already happened! Oh well, I mustn't weigh down your high and mighty lives with my stupid baggage! You know—the stuff I've only had to deal with all my goddess-forsaken life!”

“Moondancer, don't do this,” I plead with her. “Don't make a scene. You know I've only ever been there for you.”

“Been there for me?” She frowns. “You? You've 'been there for me?'” She frowns even harder. “As if you could somehow relate? As if anything you've ever done or said ever held any kind of sincerity? What do you know, Lyra? What crap have you ever gone through? Has a single thing in your life ever gone south and made you question your very own existence? You with your 'outstanding lyrical talent' and your 'career in Canterlot music history?'”

“I... uh...”

“The fact of the matter is, you've never been there for me, Lyra. And it's laughable that you'd think as much. Your parents bailed my mom and myself out, sure. But you? Did you really think that a bunch of slumber parties and stupid trips to the city park or local doughnut shop ever truly made up for all the junk I went through? Life must be really dang simple for you if that's how you clear your conscience of all the troubled ponies you'll ever have to deal with. But, please, don't ever let me rock your perfect little world. That just wouldn't be 'fair,' now would it?”

I bite my lip, avoiding her gaze. The light around us is turning foggy, and I feel a soreness in my throat that I know would make any sort of reply a mere whimper.

She knows it too, and she scoffs at it. “Yeah, go ahead and cry,” she says. “A little bit of warning for the wise: it only works for a little bit.” She clenches her jaw and trots off on iron hooves. “And I'm sick to death of only doing things halfway, like somepony I once thought was my friend.”

She leaves. The courtyard is quiet. I hear a brief stirring of nervous ponies returning to their distant conversations and studies. It isn't until her hoofsteps are completely out of earshot that I bury my face into my hooves and allow the tears to flow.

I heard Alabaster's strings. I heard his gentle melody, his masterful reinterpretation of the finer movements of the Nocturne. I heard every rising and falling cord that marked the song that had saved me multiple times from the depths of the unsung realm, and yet it did not solace me any longer. I knew that I was not the mare he had always meant to hear that heartfelt tune.

Still, that did not stop me from playing “Penumbra's Echo” over and over again, adamantly and faithfully, with hope that some sort of peace would come. Hope, after all, has been the one thing keeping me alive in this place. It was the same thing that pulled a mad pony away from the roof's edge of the town hall building. It was what made me ask for a hug from an amnesiac friend who could never remember me.

For the moment, it was what made me sit on the edge of the park on the side of town, anointed by the rays of an afternoon sun, with the crisp breeze of October circling soothingly around me as if I was just any other blessed soul. For a second, I wondered if dust would someday cover my body when I no longer had breath to give, or if even in ashes I would forever be an anomaly to the lengths of time.

I heard a pitter patter of hooves. Looking over, I saw four familiar foals. Scootaloo was drawing a red wagon, within which Apple Bloom was seated, wearing a ridiculously cute cape. She stared down a spyglass, licked her lip, and pointed adventurously towards the edge of a hill while Rumble and Sweetie Belle caught up with the pair on waddling limbs. They glanced at me as they scampered by. Then, in a second breath, they looked to my side and grimaced. With mutually blushing expressions, they hid their faces and hurried along.

I raised a curious eyebrow at that, until I heard a rasping voice beside the bench upon which I was squatting.

“That's a relaxing song.”

I turned to look; my heart skipped a beat. Awkwardly, I smiled. “Funny. I had another colt your age say the same thing the other day.”

“What?” Snips squinted up at me. “Do you perform around town? Like a traveling minstrel or something?”

“Uhmmm...”

“Cuz we once had a showpony visit Ponyville once.” His ears drooped. “That didn't turn out so well.”

“Don't your parents ever warn you about talking to strangers?” I asked, and almost immediately winced for doing so.

“Hmmph!” He raised his chin and horn and marched across the path before me in an extraordinary show of pride. “I can look after myself! I'm not a little foal, y'know! I've got a cutie mark!”

I looked at the symbol in question, but was instead distracted by a brand new limp to his gait, a limp that he tried in futility to hide. My ears twitched at the memory of the sound his body made after being tossed across the condominium. “You certainly seem like a tough little pony to me,” I remarked, trying my best to maintain an adult smile. “Since when did rough and tumble stallions trot clear across the hillside at the sound of sweet music?”

“I didn't trot across the hillside! I...” He fidgeted, gnawing on his lip. His face hung towards the dirt path. “Meh... I was just killing time.”

I looked at him, at the grassy fields, then at the bright blue sky. “Seems like such a beautiful day.” I glanced Snips' way again. “Don't ponies usually see you hanging out with another colt? Some lanky fellow?”

“Hmm? Oh, you mean Snails?” He shrugged his stout shoulders. “He's off chasing bugs or something. I dunno.”

“Well, it's a shame to be alone on an afternoon like this.” I strummed a few more notes of “'Penumbra's Echo.' “Why not go and see what he's up to?”

“Mmrff...” He dug at the dirt and sighed. “You ever have a day when you just don't want to see other ponies?”

I smiled a bit more genuinely. “You're seeing me, aren't you?”

“Well, you play such good music, Miss...” He looked up at me, and his eyes were bloodshot. It appeared as though I wasn't the only soul in Ponyville dealing with insomnia. “And it's not like anypony's paying you or forcing you to do it. You're just doing it because you like to, don't you? I mean, why else would you be here?”

I took a deep breath, shrugging. “Silence is hardly a fitting friend.”

He chuckled lightly, then gazed at the grass bordering the path. “That must be a really cool special talent to have.”

“What? Music?”

“Mmmhmm...” He nodded, flicking at the emerald blades and upsetting a few leaping aphids. “All I got on my flank is these stupid scissors. I still don't really know what they mean. So many ponies my age want to get their cutie mark badly, and I don't even know what mine's all about. Isn't that stupid?”

I lean forward, narrowing my eyes. “Don't you have ponies where you live to share these thoughts with?”

His nostrils flared and a frown crossed his face. “Nothing's gonna change the fact that I have a lame talent.” He looked up at me, and his expression was once again soft. “I don't know why, but when I hear that music, I don't feel so bad anymore. Even if it's your talent and not mine, there's something very... relaxing about it. Too bad I can't make that kind of sound with scissors. Heh...”

I looked at my lyre, running a hoof over its smooth edges. “Music is a lot more special than we give it credit for. It was part of the foundation of the world, after all. It's older than both talents and feelings combined.” I chuckled slightly and looked at him. “I really don't blame you for being drawn to it.”

“You mean I'm not bugging you?” He asked, his stubby tail flicking anxiously. “Cuz... y'know... I was just walking around and... and... Meh, I dunno...”

“Heheheh... Just relax,” I said. My lungs exhaled peacefully as I heard myself say, “A song is never meant to just be played, but to be heard.” I smiled for myself as much as for him. “I was hoping to have an audience.”

“Huh...” He sat on his haunches, wincing slightly from the fresh bruise, but nevertheless smiling. “Would you... Would you play that song one more time? Erm, that is, if you don't mind...?”

I shook my head. “I would love to.” I began strumming “Penumbra's Echo” once more, and already I could see Snip's eyes closing as his ears relished the soft melody. “The world we live in has many joys,” I said beneath the lulling rhythm. “We should never, ever feel guilty for wanting to be happy.”

I took even breaths, squinting from where I crouched behind a tree and a cluster of bushes. Just beyond the nearby length of fence, the condominium of the Straight Edge household lingered under a waning sunset. Hours after treating Snips' to as many renditions of Alabaster's song as I could, I had followed the colt from a distance while he wandered around Ponyville before eventually—hesitantly—returning to his home on the edge of downtown.

My body was tired and my eyes were dry from three nights of very little sleep. I couldn't deny a sharp tremor that was shuddering through my system. What was I doing there? Being cursed didn't give me the right to act like a stalker. My only consolation was the firm knowledge that Snips wasn't the pony I was looking for.

Finally, I saw my target: Straight Edge. The grizzled stallion was trotting home, or at least he was trying to. He swayed a bit in his step, his hooves shuffling in an inebriated pattern that I only found moderately surprising. After several minutes, he stumbled up to his front door. His shoulders heaved in an exasperate sigh, as if he had instead showed up to the worst night job imaginable. After telekinetically lifting a pair of keys up to the door, he marched into the dimly lit condominium and slammed the entrance shut behind him.

I took a deep breath and gazed around me. The sun had completely set. The stars were coming out overhead. Crickets were signaling through the air in a denser and denser chorus. There was nopony around to see what I was about to do.

On stealthy limbs, I hurried towards the front lawn of the Straight Edge household. I opened the fence gate and slithered up to the entrance. Hiding my body safely from the windows, I pressed my ear up to the building front. My heart was pounding. My coat hairs were standing on end. In over a year of haunting the lengths of Ponyville, I had never done something like this. True, I had helped myself to the interior of Twilight's library on occasion, but she was my foalhood friend, and every occasion that I stumbled upon her place of research it was to acquire more important reading materials or do more study on the Nocturne or play the “Song of Summoning.”

But this? This was trespassing in the worst possible way. The same spirit that kept me from robbing Rarity blind or stealing Rainbow Dash's thunder or taking advantage of Applejack's hospitality was slicing a dagger of guilt across my heart. I almost pulled myself away after twenty minutes of hiding there, when I finally heard what I came for.

Windsong's unmistakable sobs sounded off first. It was followed by Straight Edge shouting one horrible thing after another. Snips' voice rushed up to the sounds Windsong was making, and then Straight Edge shouted some more. For the briefest of moments, Autumn's whimpering breath tried to intervene, but Straight Edge's growling drowned her out, followed by the sounds of bottles breaking. A dog two condos away started barking.

I took a deep breath, and felt a tug on my lips. I was smiling, for I now had what I needed. Swiftly, I turned away from the door front and ran like an emerald lightning bolt across Ponyville.

Inside the front lobby of the Ponyville Police Department, one stallion in blue finished polishing his horseshoes while murmuring across the lanternlit station. “And so I said to him, 'Sir, unless your neighbor's socks have the magical power of breaking laws of probability, I sincerely doubt they sprouted hooves, climbed out of your neighbor's hamper, and somehow made it into the drawers of your work desk across the street!'”

“Hahaha!” Another officer flipped the pages of his newspaper from where he lazily sat behind a counter. “Blessed Celestia! Is that when you arrested him?”

“Dang straight. Turns out the old pervert was stealing the lady's stockings for months.”

“This thing that old stallions have for mares' socks...” The other shrugged and sighed. “I just don't get it.”

Right then, the doors burst open. The two officers stood up abruptly and spun to look. “Uhhh... Can we help you?”

I stood, panting, and gulped. “Yes! You can help! But not me! Somepony else! There's a house in trouble on Burton Street!”

“Could you be more specific, ma'am?”

“I-I wish I could!” I exclaimed, my eyes glistening as I raised two shaking hooves up and toyed demurely with my cyan locks of mane hair. “I heard some horrible noises and yelling! I think that there might be a robbery in progress! I was walking by one of the condominiums when I heard the most terrible racket! I... I was so scared! You gotta go investigate!”

The two officers exchanged glances. With a firm nod, they bolted up, grabbed their equipment, and rushed out the door along with me. “Don't worry, madame. We're on it. Just show us the way.”

I watched them. Stifling a proud smile, I cleared my throat and broke into an anxious gallop. “Oh thank you, officers! Thank you, so very much!”

“Here! Right here!” I exclaimed a few minutes later, pointing shakily at the front lawn to the Straight Edge family's household. “I was walking past the sidewalk when I heard the noise!”

“Hmmm...” One officer murmured, adjusting his hat as he stepped up to the fence. “The front gate's still open...”

“Oh... Yes... Uhm...” I fidgeted and smiled nervously. “Must have been a robber!”

“We'll take care of this. Please step back.” One of them marched up to the front steps. As he did so, a few muffled shouts rattled the windows of the home. I was both terrified and jubilant all at once. “Hello?!” The officer knocked on the front door. “This is the police. Is everything alright in there?”

Again, there was a wave of noise. I instantly detected Straight Edge's growling voice. Windsong was whimpering. Or perhaps it was Snips. I no longer cared. Everything was collapsing and coming together in beautiful poetry.

“I repeat, this is the police! Please respond!” The officer put his ear against the door. He frowned. He looked back and gave the officer a firm nod.

His partner patted my shoulder. “Stay here.” He whipped out his baton and gripped it in his teeth as he galloped up to the steps.

“On three.” The other officer pivoted around, coiling his rear legs. “One... Two... Three!” He bucked the doors open, snapping the hinges. His partner rushed in as he shouted, reaching for his own baton. “Everypony freeze! This is the police!” Gripping his own weapon, he rushed in after his partner.

I stood outside, squatting on my haunches, waiting. A minute went by, and all was silent inside the condominium. I took several jittery breaths, fiddling with the stone-gray sleeves of my hoodie. More minutes passed by. All I could hear was crickets.

I started to panic. Did Straight Edge do something horrible to his wife and children? Did he turn out to be too strong of a stallion for both officers to handle?

“Oh dear Celestia,” I murmured out loud as a sharp chill ran through my figure.

Could I have inadvertently traumatized Snips and his little sister? I knew that Straight Edge was asking for it, but did the colt and filly really deserve to see two grown ponies tackling their father to the floor? Could I possibly have given Autumn another seizure?

Worry turned to despair, and despair turned to action. Hesitantly, I trotted up the path and approached the door to the room. “Uhm... Officers?” I heard nothing. I looked through the dimly lit foyer, seeing the paintings and furniture and normal bric-a-brac of domestic life. “Is... Is everything okay? Okay, so I confess; there wasn't a robber after all.” I gulped and trotted deeper into the household, my breath coming out in vapors. “But you needed to see this. You needed to stop this from getting any worse—” I froze in place.

The two officers were standing casually with Straight Edge in the center of the living room, sharing glasses of lemonade. Autumn was sitting on the couch, cradling a sobbing Windsong. Snips squatted on the bottom step of the condo's stairs, staring lethargically into the carpet.

“Yeah, but the Wonderbolts are soooo out of shape this year,” one of the officers said with a smirk while swirling his glass. “On account of Fleetfoot and Mercury having gone on tour in the Griffon Lands back in spring.”

“Those darn Griffons never cut pegasi a break,” Straight Edge said in a grumbling voice. The corner of his grizzled face curved upwards. “Fleetfoot and her buddy never got to show off. They just hung around in pony hotels waiting for the Griffons to kick 'em out of the country so they can get back to real work. Shoot, I don't even know why Canterlot bothered with the exchange program to begin with.”

“Yeah! Heh... Those two beaked morons they borrowed could never fly in formation anyways! Thank Goddess they showed up after this year's Best Young Flier's Competition and not before!” One officer took a sip, turned, saw me, and nearly spat out his drink. “Koff! Koff—Auck! Ahem. Can we help you?”

“I... I...” I stood dumbly in place, squirming.

“Hrmmf...” Straight Edge's eyes were thin. “She must have seen the door from outside.”

“Nothing to be alarmed about, ma'am,” one officer said, waving at me. “An honest-to-goddess mistake on the force's part.”

“I swear, I've been on the beat for fifteen years, and I've never done anything like this!” The other said. “I promise you, Mr. Edge, the Department will pay for the damages.”

“Hey, nothing that I can't fix myself. It's good to know that you guys are always around at a moment's notice.”

“Yes...” Autumn stammered, trying to get Windsong to calm down. “It's nice having the police cl-close by...”

“That's just what I said, honey,” Straight Edge growled lightly.

“This... This can't be right!” I exclaimed, my lips quivering. I frowned at the officers and pointed at the walls of the room around us. “You mean you just charged in here and saw nothing going on?! I knew I heard shouting!”

“That was probably the poor foal here being scared by Ponyville's finest,” an officer said sheepishly. “Heh. If the Lieutenant doesn't chew us out for this mixup, I dunno what will tip him over.”

“I don't know what got into us,” the other remarked. “I suppose it's these late night shifts, y'know? One second you're at the station, and the next you're swinging a baton around at loud noises! This town's made basket cases out of us all, what with Nightmare Moon, Ursa Minors, and parasprites!”

“Hey, didn't I tell you to forget about it?” Straight Edge chuckled. “If anything, you made my evening more exciting. It certainly shook me out of the damnedest stupor. I think I got the energy to get some work done around here for a few hours thanks to you guys.”

“But... But...” I blinked, then frowned, then snarled. “No!” I stomped my hoof. “This is wrong! Things aren't right with this household!”

“Excuse me?” Straight Edge glared daggers my way. I almost stumbled back from that. Almost.

“Ma'am, please...” One officer put his glass down and marched firmly towards me, his face serious. “I understand if you or any of the other neighbors may have been startled, but this has all been nothing more than a terrible misunderstanding—”

“No! You just don't know anything! You've forgotten! All of you!” I started panting. I pointed a heavy hoof towards the mare and her child. “Why are they so freaked out, huh?! Why is she still crying?”

Straight Edge sighed and looked lethargically at the two police stallions. “Officers, it's really late. Could you do us a favor and...” He gestured towards me with his head.

“Ma'am, if you would come with us—”

“Snips!” I pointed at the colt. He jolted from the sound of his name. “Ask h-him! Ask him what's been going on in this household!”

“Okay, that's quite enough—”

“How'd you get that limp, Snips?!” I almost shrieked as the first officer grabbed my shoulder. I tugged away at him and pleaded with the youngster from afar. “And those bruises on your face?”

“Mmmm...” He hugged himself, scraping his hooves across the carpet. “Snails... and I g-got into a fight...”

“Ungh...” Straight Edge rolled his eyes. “Darn kid...”

“Snails?” One officer made a face.

“His... Uhm...” Autumn shivered where she sat. “His friend. From school.”

I frowned. “He's lying! She is too! They're afraid! They're afraid for their safety! Can't you see that?!” As the one officer tried pulling me towards the entrance, I grunted and shouted at Snips. “You didn't have those bruises earlier when I played that music for you, Snips! How did you really get them?! Huh?!”

“I...” Snips gulped, looked at his father, and flinched. “I-I've never seen this unicorn before... Honest...”

I felt all the color leaving my sweaty face.

“I think you need to come with us down to the station,” the stallion uttered, tugging at my forelimb.

“Nnnngh!” I snarled and summoned a burst of magic. A shield of protection energy bubbled away from my horn in a green flash. The officer gasped, not even remotely expecting such a show of power. Before he could recover, I was galloping out of the household and charging into cold Ponyville night. My eyes twitched with fury, and my ears rang with the thunder of my churning heartbeat.

“So lemme get this straight,” Rainbow Dash squinted from where she hovered above Twilight Sparkle and Applejack in the town library the next day. “You’ve lived in this town for over a year, but nopony has ever known about it because you’ve got some mystic curse that keeps any soul from remembering a single thing about you? And instead of trying to get us to help you fix this craziness, you’re asking that we investigate some stallion beating up on his kid?

I took a deep breath, stood tall, and firmly nodded. “Yes.”

Rainbow Dash pivoted and looked at her two friends. “Now can I say it?”

Applejack muttered, “Reckon ya can, sugarcube.”

Rainbow Dash spun and hissed at me, “Horsefeathers!”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. I was low on sleep, strength, and sanity. It took a cosmic effort to stand upright in the midst of these mares, much less keep a sane expression.

“Of all the crazy, low-brow, lame attempts at grabbing attention!” Rainbow Dash hovered circles around me, tossing accusatory glares. Her incredulous rambling was of little comfort to my frayed nerves. “Your randomness makes Pinkie Pie look like a college professor! Oh, so you heard about the Elements of Harmony! So you heard about Twilight Sparkle, the magical apprentice to Princess Celestia, and how she and her bestest friends defeated Nightmare Moon! And now what? You just want a slice of the popularity pie! I mean, hey, kudos on subtlety! At least you're not making us go on some global quest to a 'Nocturnal Locker' on the opposite side of the world or some other epically unrealistic crud! Still, this whole Straight Edge nonsense is downright creepy! Just how long have you been sticking your nose into other ponies' business, huh?! And making nasty claims of child abuse?! Bah! This is a clean town, filly! I'm Ponyville's eye in the sky! I would know this crap!”

I turned and looked coolly at her. “And you would also know that the only reason you haven't already gone off to join the ‘awesome’ Wonderbolts and leave everything else behind is because your new and altogether ‘boring’ friends here in Ponyville have unwittingly filled a niche in your life, dissuading the biggest fear you've ever had: of being perpetually alone.”

Rainbow Dash's ruby pupils shrank as she fell flat on her haunches. “Derr... wh-what did you just say—?” She began to whimper, shivering like a foal.

Applejack was frowning. “Now see here, Missy—”

I turned towards her. “And you—whose father was the inspiration for both the physical and metaphorical foundations you constantly lay down for yourself and the ponies around you—you just can't stop staring at this hoodie that I'm wearing, can you? Perhaps it's because deep down inside, Applejack, you know that there's a reason for its familiarity; it's the same jacket you once wore when tending the orchards of your farm. You loved it because its color reminded you of your father's coat in winter when he held you close and sang you songs passed down for half a dozen generations.”

“Uhhh...” Applejack's face paled as she pulled her hat off and held it to her chest. “Land's sakes...”

“And you...” I pivoted and smiled at Twilight, who flinched visibly. “A pony who fears the greatest horror of all: being forgotten. When you came to Ponyville and you saw the spark of friendship that solidified your place here forever, you discovered what it meant to cry tears of happiness for once. Beforehand, whenever you sobbed, it was always in the lonely confines of the Canterlot Castle study halls. But you never dared share your concerns and sorrows with Princess Celestia. 'After all,' you had once told me, 'Starswirl the Bearded was the greatest mortal magician who ever lived, and he died alone with nothing but his scrolls.' You used to believe that a lonely existence was a necessary means to greatness. But since you found your friends here in Ponyville, a piece of you was willing to be forgotten by the Equestrian history books, because you'd rather be happy in the now than despondent for the future.”

Twilight stared at me, her lips quivering. “I... H-how...?”

“There isn't enough time to explain 'how,'” I said, leaning forward and smiling gently. “All that matters is why. And the answer is: I want to help ponies, just like you do. Right now, we have an opportunity to do just that, but no good will come to Snips' family if we just sit around on our flanks.” I stood back and gazed at the group as a whole. “You would be completely different, completely lonely mares if you didn't take the leap of faith by becoming friends. But in doing just that, you turned into the three strongest, the three most dependable ponies in the whole of Equestria. Won't you take another leap of faith, right here, right now?”

Rainbow Dash was shivering. Twilight Sparkle sniffled. Applejack placed her hat back on her blonde head and gazed at the other two silently. They looked back at her.

“I don't see or hear anything,” Rainbow Dash muttered under the fall of evening.

“Shhh!” Applejack exclaimed hoarsely from where we crouched on the sidewalk outside the condominium. There was a light inside and shadows shuffled within. “Remember what Miss Heartstrings said. Give it time! Apparently this Straight Edge fella gets all hotheaded at random.”

“I still think this is really weird,” Rainbow Dash remarked, frowning. “Not to mention really uncool. I mean—we're totally spying on other Ponyville ponies! In their apartments!”

“If you're afraid, then go home,” I grunted sullenly.

“Lyra,” Twilight whispered to me. “That wasn't very nice. We're taking a 'leap of faith' for you, after all.”

“I know...” I sighed and ran a hoof over my exhausted complexion. “And I'm sorry, girls. It's just... You won't believe what I've gone through to try to intervene on this family's behalf.”

“And y'all mean to suggest that neither Miss Cheerilee nor the police could help any?”

“I'm afraid not, Applejack. It's the curse, remember?”

“It's just so much to take in,” Twilight Sparkle remarked. “The search for Scootaloo, the hotel collapsing on Rumble and Morning Dew, the parasprite infestation: you mean to say that you were there for each of those occasions?”

“Yes,” I said, then winced. “Though... that last part would take a really, really long time to explain. And even then I'm still a bit sketchy on the details...”

“I... I-I saved Scootaloo...” Rainbow Dash gulped and foalishly gazed at her two friends, her wings drooping. “Didn't I?” she almost wimpered.

“Shucks, girl,” Applejack remarked, fanning herself with her hat. “Next thing we know, y'all gonna tell us you were responsible for gettin' Wind Whistler and Caramel hitched!”

“Heh...” I grinned wickedly and doubled over. “Heh heh heh heh heh heh!”

Rainbow Dash made a face. “What's so dang funny?”

“Ohhhhhhh...” I mumbled into my hooves. “I really, really need to get some sleep...”

“Twilight, darlin'.” Applejack looked at my foalhood friend. “Ya sure this spell is helpin' us blend in with the shadows all good and proper?”

“For the millionth time, yes, Applejack,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “Unless Princess Celestia herself shows up and lights up this part of the neighborhood with her horn, we're darker than a thundercloud. Nopony will see us all sitting here.”

“Good.” Applejack shivered. “Reckon it's a might rotten feelin' to be sitting here all incognito.”

“You said it, girl,” Rainbow Dash added.

Twilight Sparkle stirred nervously. She glanced over at me. “Miss Heartstrings?”

“Nnngh...” I tiredly gazed at the household with bloodshot eyes. “Yes, Twilight?”

“Assuming everything you've told us is completely true—”

“And it is.”

“Right. Absolutely.” She cleared her throat. “This curse sounds like an awful ordeal for any single pony to go through. Could it be possible that—between the fantastical tasks of being chased by an undead alicorn and trying to learn a forgotten magical symphony—you've simply imagined this little detail about Snips' family?”

“I know what I've heard...”

Applejack poked in. “Heard?”

I sighed. “Seen and heard. Heard and seen—Nnnggh. Look! This Straight Edge stallion is bad news! And no matter how horrible my situation is, I'm not going to let a tragedy like this slip through the cracks! It just... It just isn't fair! This world...” I grimaced as memories shot through my head. In a blink, I thought I saw the misty sight of a school courtyard beyond a veil of tears. It looked too eerily similar to a rainy Canterlot street beyond a shadowed stairwell. Groaning, I rubbed my forehead with a pair of hooves.

The three mares shared nervous glances. I could already sense that I was losing whatever threadbare confidence of theirs I had earned thus far.

“Twilight...” I muttered, tilting my head back up. “You... You remember Moondancer, right? I mean... You remember what she went through?”

A sharp breath escaped from Twilight Sparkle's lips. Her violet eyes began quivering. “You... You knew Moondancer?”

I blinked, my heart beating hard. Oh dear, sweet Celestia. I forgot. I always, always forget about this little part.

“Uhm... Ahem.” I smiled nervously at her. “You... you told me about her. Y'know, during our past meetings...”

“And I've since forgotten...” Twilight Sparkle nodded, begrudgingly accepting that. She sighed and murmured, “Just how much did I tell you about Moondancer, exactly?”

I swallowed and said. “Enough.” I placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “You remember how much your parents, Dusk and Stellar, helped Moondancer and her mother Satine in their time of need?”

Twilight slowly nodded. “How could I forget? I was really young at the time, but I became close to Moondancer later.” She smiled gently and glanced towards Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “She was the one friend I had long before coming to Ponyville.” A sharp pang surged through her system. “But... all of that has changed now...”

“Do you still love her?”

Twilight flashed me a look. She blinked a few times, and her eyes became moist. “Of course I do. I... I suppose I always will, in a way...”

I smiled gently. “Could you imagine how her life would have been if she never knew you? Or if her mother never knew your parents? I mean...” I gestured while speaking. “What if Dusk and Stellar overlooked the little details, the tiny yet significant signs that things weren't very...” I lingered, gazing briefly aside at the other two mares. “Ahem... weren't very happy in Moondancer's household?”

Twilight chewed on her lower lip. “I... I shudder to think...”

“Twilight,” I said, “We are not just strangers in this world, or mild acquaintances or even simple neighbors for that matter. We are all placed on this planet for a reason. I mean... we are all crafted out of the same song, molded out of the same chorus that sang Creation into being. It is our duty—no—it is our nature to reach out to each other when we notice a great problem that needs to be addressed. Even the most horrible curse ever conceived by ponydom can't change the fact that we are meant to be the living salvation of each other, chasing away evil, blowing away the ashes of chaos with our righteous breaths of harmony. So, you see, helping Snips and his mother and his sister is like your parents helping Moondancer! Because... Because it's all part of the same glorious movement! Like a beautiful instrumental that knows no end...”

Twilight Sparkle stared at me. Slowly, she gave me a very gentle smile.

“You’re frickin' high,” Rainbow Dash grunted.

“Rainbow!” Applejack hissed.

“Jeez! Just listen to the lime-green fuzzhead!” Rainbow Dash whispered, gesturing wildly. “Have you ever heard a pony say so little with so many stupid words?!”

“We ain't here to be judgin' no poetry contest!”

“Ugh! I hate all this waiting around! Either let's bust some guilty, child abusin' heads or go home! Goddess almighty...”

“Shhhh!” Twilight exclaimed, raising her hoof as she tilted her gaze towards the house. “Did you hear that?”

“What? What?” I exclaimed, jittery all of the sudden.

“Give her some ear room, sugarcube,” Applejack said, resting a gentle hoof on my shoulder.

Even Rainbow Dash was leaning forward, craning an ear from where she hovered. Her eyes circled around the edges of their sockets. Suddenly, there was a sharp cry, followed by a heavy thud. Her wing feathers stood on end. “Horseapples!”

“Sounds like a hog wrasslin' contest in there,” Applejack added, her features hardening.

“If only it was,” I muttered icily. I glared at the three. “Still doubt me?”

Twilight Sparkle gulped, her body jolting as several more shouts echoed from the condominium a few steps away. “That... Is that actually Snips' father?”

“Stick a feather in my eye!” Rainbow Dash hoarsely exclaimed. “Sounds more like an angry dragon!”

“If there's somethin' I can't stand for...” Applejack grumbled angrily. “It's a self-respectin' parent tossin' his own young'ns around like bales of hay.” She adjusted her hat to add shadows to her glare and turned towards us. “Reckon we should fetch the cops?”

“Didn't you hear Miss Heartstrings earlier?” Twilight retorted. “It didn't work last time!”

“Nothing good will come of this if we just repeat what I did previously,” I said, trying to keep my cool as the windows of the house rattled again and again. “What I need is for the three of you to witness this all at once—” My body was assaulted with a sudden chill. I saw vapors spreading from my muzzle. My eyes twitched. “Oh no...”

“What is it?”

“Oh no no no no no no!” I leapt into Twilight's face and all but yanked at her mane. “Who am I?!”

“L-Lyra Heartstrings!” she exclaimed.

“What's goin' on—” Applejack started.

I turned towards her. “Say my name!”

“Uhhh—Lyra!”

I flashed a glare at Rainbow Dash. “And you!”

“Fuzzhead!”

“Rainbow—”

“Er, I mean Lyra!” She shook her head wildly. “Seriously! What's the big deal—?!”

“Praise Celestia!” I moaned, then frowned. “There isn't much time! It's now or never!”

“For what?”

“No questions!” I tugged at Twilight again. “You gotta teleport us in there!”

“Wh-what?!” She flinched from me as if I had the plague. “Are you nuts?”

“Just about! I can't risk the curse undoing everything right now!”

“Everypony calm down. Let's just mosey up to the front door and do this all civil-like—”

Another cry came from the house.

“Yeah, screw that,” Rainbow Dash said. “Twi?”

“Okay, but this feels like a bad idea—” She started to concentrate, her horn glowing hot.

“Just do it!” I growled, my bloodshot eyes quivering. “Before it's too—”

There was a bright flash of lavender light. The shadow of evening dissolved in a blink, and the four of us landed in the Straight Edge household's kitchen. Glass bottles, porcelain plates, and metal silverware settled all around us. The air was sour with the smell of alcohol, and I was seeing stains on the carpet that weren't there the previous day.

“—late!” I murmured, freezing on the sight of what was before me. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle were identically still as statues.

Straight Edge was levitating Snips in the air. There was a bright glow around the struggling colt's throat, and tears were streaming from his eyes. Autumn was draped halfway off the couch, her weak forelimbs stretching in desperation towards the struggle. In the far corner, Windsong was curled up in the corner, her eyes bright and full of trembling horror.

“—don't you ever, ever tell me what to do, boy!” Straight Edge was snarling. “I know what's best for your mother, and I don't need none of your goddess-awful attitude! I'm the one workin' my flank off for her therapy everyday! Just what in the hay have... you... ever... contributed...?” Straight Edge's eye twitched, then locked on the four trespassers. He hiccuped, swayed, and merely growled. “What in Luna's name is this crap all about—?”

Applejack was pouncing across the room like orange lightning. “You get yer dirty magic off him, ya mangy demon!” She barreled right into him, head first.

“Ooof!” The stallion fell back and crashed through an end table.

“Straight!” Autumn shrieked.

Windsong wailed.

Snips fell limply toward the ground, only for Rainbow Dash to fly over and swoop him up. “It's okay, lil guy. I gotcha!”

“What in the hay is the meaning of—?” Straight Edge gasped as a pair of heavy hooves landed on his chest. “Ooof!”

“Nopony... And I mean nopony should be treatin' their own flesh and blood that way!” Applejack snarled.

“What are you doing to my husband?!” Autumn shrieked.

“Lady!” Rainbow Dash barked from where she cradled a sputtering Snips. “You're dang lucky she's not kicking his lousy teeth in!”

“Everypony, just calm down!” Twilight exclaimed. She was shivering heavily; I had never seen her this scared.

“You come into my house?!” Straight Edge struggled and shoved against Applejack's pressure. “You stick your manes into my life?! I should be calling the cops on you stupid wenches!”

“Oh, wouldn't that be a hoot!” Applejack almost spat on him. “I'd like to just see you rat yerself out of this, ya varmint!”

“Get off my husband!”

Windsong wailed even louder.

“Auugh! Can somepony help that filly to... t-to calm...” Rainbow Dash started to teeter in mid-air.

“Rainbow?” Twilight stammered. “What's wrong?”

“Just... Just so dizzy...” Rainbow Dash muttered, almost letting Snips fall from her grasp.

I looked at her, or at least I tried to. A breath of cold vapors was blocking my sight of the pegasus. I gasped sharply, gritted my teeth, and yanked Snips from her hooves as gently as I could. “It's happening already!”

“Huh?!” Applejack looked up. “What's happening already—Whoah nelly!”

“Rrgggh!” Straight Edge was shoving the mare off of him. “I swear to Tartarus, you're going to pay for this!”

Applejack stumbled back and slammed into a china cabinet. Glass shattered. The shadows of the room swayed from a lamp teetering.

“Applejack!” Twilight cried out.

I was dashing over to scoop Windsong up. I planted her on my back and spun about. “Twilight! Get us out of here!”

“But... But...” Twilight began summoning a force field as Straight Edge picked up a metal poker from the fireplace and stormed angrily towards Applejack's dizzy figure. “Everything's gone to heck—!”

“Where do you think these two kids have been living in their whole lives?!” I exclaimed.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash saw Straight Edge charging Applejack with a weapon and immediately went into action. “What's the big idea?!” In a blink, she was tackling the stallion to the ground, rattling paintings off the condo's walls with the impact.

“Darn it, Twilight!” I exclaimed. “We gotta get these foals out of here! This may be our only chance—” Just as I said this, a frigid chill ran through the house. “Oh Celestia, please—”

“Nnnngh!” Twilight was already charging energy through her horn. Just as Straight Edge shouted something and swung a hoof at Rainbow, the two of us were blurring away along ethereal leylines. I clung tightly to the shivering bodies of Snips and Windsong. In less than two seconds, we stumbled to a stop against the side of a building across town. “Ooof!”

“Unngh!” Twilight rolled to a stop in the moonlit grass. She coughed and sputtered. “I... g-got as far as I could...” She winced and tried standing up. “But Applejack and Rainbow Dash—”

“They're stronger than the two of us,” I stammered, hugging the two foals close and catching my breath. “What matters is that these kids are safe.”

“Kids...?” Twilight remarked, shaking her head wearily. “I... don't understand. Applejack... Rainbow Dash...”

“Twilight, we both know they've got it covered—” I stopped, blinking at her, noticing how she was rubbing her head as if coming out of a migraine. “Wait...”

Just then, a bright light shone on all four of us. I winced and squinted towards what turned out to be the double-doors to town hall opening wide.

“My word!” The Mayor of Ponyville trotted out, gasping in shock at the sight of two unicorns and a pair of traumatized children. Several elder ponies walked out with her, squinting and studying the awkward scene. “What's going on out here? It sounded like a bomb went off!”

“We're sorry about that, Mayor,” I said. “Twilight teleported us here. You see, something horrible has been happening on Burton Street and—”

“M-Mayor!” Twilight Sparkle stood up, blinking wide. “Why are you up so late?”

“We were having a late night meeting of the City Council to discuss preparations for Nightmare Night. What, may I ask, are you doing out here in the middle of the street? It looks like you just fell from the sky.”

“I... uh... I dunno...” She looked my way, then scrunched her face at the sight of the trembling, bruised unicorn in my grasp. “Snips?! Oh my goddess! What... What happened to him?!”

“Twilight, you...” I gulped. I reached a hoof out towards her. “Please. Think carefully. I know you had to have retained something...”

“Huh?” Twilight was trotting over. She and the Mayor knelt down to examine Windsong and Snips. “Retain what? I don't understand! What happened to these foals?”

“Hey! Twilight!” Rainbow Dash's voice exclaimed.

I gasped. I spun around and looked up high.

The pegasus was flying towards us, breathless. “There you are! We need your help!”

“What is it?”

“It's Straight Edge!” she exclaimed.

Twilight gawked. The Mayor and her fellow council members murmured in concern. Windsong and Snips sat up, shivering in fright. A part of me deep inside was smiling...

“You won't believe it!” Rainbow Dash's voice cracked. “There's been a break-in at his house! We think somepony nabbed his kids!”

I stopped smiling immediately. “Hoboy...”

The Mayor breathlessly stammered, “Straight Edge's and Autumn's children?! Kidnapped?!”

“Uhhh...” Twilight Sparkle raised an eyebrow and pointed at the two foals. “You mean these kids?”

Rainbow Dash did a double-take, her ruby eyes twitching. “What in the hay?!” As she touched down, two figures trotted up from a moonlit block over.

“Twilight! There you are! Did Rainbow tell y'all?!” Applejack was also out of breath. She brushed a blonde bang up beneath her hat and exclaimed, “Somethin' plum evil's ahoof! Rainbow Dash and I just woke up in Straight Edge's house like we came out of a spell! Next thing we knew, his kids were gone!”

“It must be some kind of sorcery,” Straight Edge remarked. “I thought you ponies defeated Nightmare Moon! For Pete's sake, my family and I moved to Ponyville to avoid this kind of nonsense! We have to tell the police or else—” The stallion froze as his eyes narrowed rigidly on the two tiny unicorns in the center of the group. “Wait a second. What in the heck is going on here?!”

“I... I-I wish I knew!” Twilight Sparkle remarked, gazing at all of the equines and trembling under the cold starlight. “Applejack? Rainbow Dash? You mean to say that you woke up in Straight Edge's house just now?”

“Reckon it was on our way home from helpin' you at the library, Twilight,” Applejack said. “Plum flummoxed if I know how we got inside his home...” She scratched her chin. “Oww... My limbs feel banged up somethin' fierce. Whatever it was that knocked me and Rainbow Dash must still be out and about!”

“Perhaps the children could shed some light on this situation,” the Mayor suggested.

“Windsong? Snips?” Straight Edge stared down at them. “You know what this is all about?”

Windsong merely whimpered. Snips was blinking dazedly, rubbing his neck with his hoof.

“Well?” Straight Edge's eyes narrowed.

“I...” Snips trembled, his lips quivering. “I... I don't know...”

“Nnnngh!” I stomped at the grass with my hooves, startling everypony. “Snips, tell them! Tell them the truth! You don't have to be afraid of him!”

Straight Edge cast me an awkward glare. “Who's this crazy mare?!”

“Uhhh—” Twilight started.

I shouted again. “Snips, don't let him intimidate you! You're surrounded by ponies who can help you and your sister and your mother! Tell them how your father throws you around and abuses your family!”

“What...?!” Straight Edge backtrotted, his face twisting.

“The hay?!” Rainbow Dash looked crookedly at Twilight. “Twi?! Do you know this freaky unicorn?”

“Uhm... Ma'am?” Twilight gently trotted towards me. “I... I don't know who you are, but I think you should calm down—”

“Nnnngh!” I shook her off, hyperventilating. I knelt down before Snips, pleading with him. “Snips. Please. Everypony deserves to be happy, especially you, especially right now! Tell them the truth!”

“I...” He wilted away from me, his eyes moistening. “I-I'm scared. I want to go home...”

My heart fell. I whimpered. “Snips. Snips please...”

“Y-You're scaring me, lady,” he whimpered, clutching his little sister tightly and shrinking away from my frenzied expression. “Please, I just want to go home...”

I almost collapsed right there. The elder ponies behind the Mayor were murmuring hushedly among themselves. I felt the shadows of Applejack and Rainbow Dash converging on me.

“Simmer down there, sally. Seems like you're a stranger around these parts, but I reckon you might be able to shed some light on this recent kidnappin'...”

“Unless...” Rainbow Dash's eyes grew narrow as she hissed suspiciously at me. “...you are the kidnapper.”

I turned. I looked at Straight Edge. Perhaps it was a glint from the moon. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw a pearly-toothed smile. “Nnnngh—!” Everything turned to hot, bright emerald. As soon as the flash was over, half of the ponies were sprawled out on the ground, including Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

I didn't bother to help them back up, for as soon as I let loose the magical discharge, I was galloping as fast as I could towards the north edge of town. The cold of my curse pelted me between each heaving breath. My hoodie was heavy with the sweat that had soaked it from my every pore.

The world flickered with a kaleidoscope of moonlight through the trees overhead. The October breeze froze my nerves. Once I was out of earshot of the downtown area, I skidded to a stop and leaned against a park bench. It was a very familiar spot, a place where a tranquil unicorn had once played the gentlest of songs for a lonesome colt.

There was no room for peace, no room for happiness, not for Snips and most certainly not for this pariah.

A low growl fluttered up my lungs, boiled through my throat, and exploded out my mouth. The world flashed emerald again. There was a crackle of thunder, like her furious wrath rippling across the unsung realm, and with a weight akin to the holy Nightbringer, I unleashed a wave of unbridled magic ahead of me. The bench shattered to wooden splinters, splattering debris all across the grassy hilltop beyond.

The only thing more distressing than my wanton act of destruction was the bitter knowledge that anypony who saw it the next morning would simply explain it away with some accursed excuse or another. Shaking my head and fighting the tears, I galloped towards my cabin.

The Threnody bled into the Requiem. The strings of the Nightbringer rang shrilly, harshly, like my gnashing teeth. I lifted my head and glared into the swirling tempests. Lightning radiated all around me, but the thunder of the unsung realm wasn't enough to drown out my shouting voice.

“Come down from there!” I growled. “Come down from your high throne and play 'Desolation's Duet' with me!”

The spheres within spheres levitated, loomed, but did not descend. Bolts of lightning illuminated several moaning ponies crawling across the platform in the shadow of her lofty presence. Jets of water sprayed across the scene, and yet nothing changed.

“I'm not asking you! I'm telling you!” I hissed and sneered into the freezing gale. “You're going to come down here and help me finish the Nocturne and you're going to do it now! Then I'll be out of your life, out of your mane, and out of this damnable pit in the universe that you call a home! I know you don't want me around, so let's get it over with! Get your undead flank down here and let us kill the music together!”

A ring of lightning boiled around the sphere, coalesced into a furious branch of energy, and rocketed down towards me. I clung heavily to the Nightbringer, summoning a shield around me that deflected all of her wrath. The concussive blast blew the rusted platform dry, knocking moaning souls off their haunches.

“Nnngh!” I fought against the vaporous tumult, shouting over the ringing body of the Nightbringer. “I will not sing your song! You will sing mine, dammit!”

Another strobe of energy bulleted my way. I weathered the onslaught, fighting it back with my energy, grinding my hooves into the rust and grime below. As the thunder settled, I stared up, gnashing my teeth as tears ran down my face.

“I hate you...”

The sphere slowly, gently flew away.

“I hate you!” I screamed into the chaos between firmaments. “Damn you and damn your putrid symphony! Damn you and your booming voice and your shattered wings and your cold spirit and your pathetic neutrality and your holier-than-thou aloofness! It's no wonder that the only ponies you have to rule over are pathetic waifs! You're the queen of nothing but the heartless, thoughtless, trotting dead! Who in their right mind could ever possibly love you?! Certainly not the Cosmic Matriarch! I think it's fitting that she dumped you inside this horrible toilet between dimensions! What kind of a goddess has so much power and so much strength and yet doesn't lift a single hoof to make the world any better?! What's so special and tragic about your life that you have to hide in here like a stubborn little foal having a tantrum in her room?!”

The sphere flew off, disappearing into the tempests, looming beyond earshot.

Nevertheless, I snarled, “You're selfish! You hear me?! You're selfish and you're a coward! Maybe instead of rewriting history, you should think of improving the future! Your sisters are doing it! Why can't you?!” I clutched the Nightbringer to the point of breaking and spat, “All I want is to be real! To make a difference! To help ponies around me! But you just can't have that, can you?! You know what?! I don't care how powerful you think you are! I have the Nightbringer, you insufferable demoness! I have all of eternity to scream at you! And so help me, if all you want is for me to be a ghost, then I'm going to haunt you until the end of time! You hear me?! You will not have any rest in this pathetic grave you call a home! I won't let you rest! I won't let you rest, you stupid waste of song! I won't let you!”

All was madness and cold. I sat upon the brink of the drowning abyss, shivering, standing on the only source of warmth I had left.

And the source of that warmth bred a lasting scream through my lips as I tossed my hooves in frustration, grumbled, and played “Penumbra's Echo” on the Nightbringer.

I stood before my cabin, my hooves occupying the middle of the dirt road to the north of town. I was several feet away from my patio, but I couldn't bring my limbs any closer to it. I was perfectly still; not even the lingering cold of the unsung realm made me shiver.

There was a light from behind the windows where I had left a lantern lit. I knew that somewhere inside, Al was either sleeping or inspecting his half-empty food dish, perhaps purring—wondering when I would show up again.

I couldn't see him. Not then. Not anytime soon.

With a deep breath, I turned and glanced at the morning light glowing over the edge of the horizon. I teetered briefly, remembering all of the things I had been through recently, and yet still ignoring all of the sleep I had lost over them.

My hooves shuffled. I pivoted and mutely faced the path towards Ponyville.

“Hmmm?” Ambrosia lifted her hard hat, wiped the sweat from her pale brow, and plopped the article back down in the afternoon light. “Straight Edge? Yeah, the feller works with me all the time; he's a good laborer. It's not often that we have a unicorn who's willin' to get his hooves dirty in our line of construction. Plus, heh, I reckon that horn of his is pretty darn useful, what with all of our machinery goin' on the fritz from time to time. T'ain't no accident that he earned himself a jackhammer for a cutie mark. Ya feel me?”

“I'm... not concerned about how he works,” I slurred, standing before her on the edge of a partially built house on the edge of town. Drills and hammers were sounding off on either side of me. I winced and tried to keep my hooves straight. “I was wondering where he goes when he's done for the day.”

“Hey, you alright, Missy?” Ambrosia asked, her green gaze narrowing. “Them eyes of yours are pretty dang bloodshot.”

“I'm fine,” I grunted. “If you wanna know the truth...” I gulped dryly, brushing my mane straight with an errant hoof. “I'm... I'm the stallion's neighbor, and his shouting is keeping me up at night.”

“Shoutin'? Straight Edge?” Ambrosia made a face. “Ya tryin' to say that things ain't all that peachy-keen in his household?”

“Does that surprise you?”

“Well... Heh...” Ambrosia shrugged, smiling awkwardly. “He complains a lot about his wife naggin' on him, but that's just usual talk, y'know. It's custom to make jabs at our significant others, what with how much tougher our line of work is than most ponies'. But I never thought much of it. Heck, even my coltfriend has overheard us from time to time and he's snickered quite a bit—”

“Look, can you just...” I shook my head, sighed, and murmured “Could you just tell me... uhm... where he usually goes before heading on home? Because I happen to know for a fact that he doesn't return to the condominium until evening time.”

“Well...” Ambrosia fidgeted. “There's really only one place where most hard-workin' ponies go when the sun goes down...”

I stood inside the atrium of the Copper Crown Tavern that night. I'd never entered that place before. Upon smelling the interior, I realized why. The air hung with a hazy mist. In the furthest reaches of the dimly lit establishment, ponies coughed, muttered unintelligible words, and surrendered to deep mugs of ale. A record player was playing a crackling rendition of a thirty year old folk song. The speakers were in need of repair, and the music that came out of them resembled the grinding of sandpaper. Nopony seemed to mind; they all had glossy-eyed expressions, especially the closer they hovered about the bar at the lengthy end of the place.

Two figures in particular were louder than the rest of the tavern's occupants. One of them was a pink-coated unicorn mare with even pinker locks of hair. The other one... was the target of my insomniac escapade.

“Yup...” Straight Edge smirked blearily, took a sip of his mug, and scratched his stubbled chin. “I was part of the crew that built the Equine State Building. I trotted catwalks and platforms with the best of them, riveting pillars into place with pure magic. All the earth ponies had to follow my lead, of course. You know how it is with those poor saps. Without magic, they're as useful as mud.”

“Heheheh... You said it!” The unicorn cooed, batting her eyelashes. “They must have really depended on your expertise.”

“Darn tootin'.”

“How's the skyrise of Manehattan from such a high place?” Her eyes narrowed as her cheeks flushed. “It must be breathtaking!”

“Mmmff...” Straight Edge took another sip, gulped down his ale, and smiled liquidly her way. “Trust me, I know a thing or two about taking breaths away, and they both involve my horn.”

“Heeheehee...” She fluffed her mane and leaned back against the counter. “Do they, now?”

I took a deep breath. Icily, I trotted forward.

“This place stinks,” Straight Edge muttered.

“What, the bar or this country hick town?”

“Both. Wanna go somewhere that's really sweet, babe?” Straight Edge asked. “Someplace where it's easier to take your breath away?”

I hopped up and squatted on the stool next to the stallion. “I'd not choose the couch. Autumn sleeps on it all the time, apparently.”

Straight Edge paled.

The mare craned her neck and raised an eyebrow at me. “I beg your pardon?”

“I don't mean the October weather,” I muttered without looking. My tired eyes blinked as I stared into the bar. “I mean the name of a mare, a mare who happens to be this pony's wife.”

The unicorn squinted hard. She looked quizzically at me, then back to Straight Edge. “I don't... What is this?”

“Pffft... Please...” Straight Edge chuckled awkwardly. “You gonna believe the first words to come out of the mouth of any dumb broad who just trots in here?”

“No,” she muttered, then frowned. “I suppose I could just stick around long enough until I become a 'dumb broad' to you as well.”

“Uhhh... Uhhh...”

“Excuse me,” the mare grunted and dismounted from her stool. “But you're right. This place stinks. I think I'll be leaving before it gets more rank.” She slowly left the tavern with a toss of her mane.

Straight Edge took a deep breath. His hooves scraped viciously across the bar as he swiveled to aim a glass-cutting glare my way. “Bet you had fun there, huh? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bend your horn into your eye, lady...”

“I know what you do to your children, Straight Edge,” I droned.

He stared blankly at me. Something wet was soaking his rear legs. He jumped, seething as he realized that he had let his mug tip over into his lap. He slapped the container down onto the counter and brushed himself off before flashing me an odd squint. “How... did you know my name?”

“You heard me just now, didn’t you?” I turned to stare unemotionally at him. “I know what you do to Snips and Windsong.”

He was silent as stone. I saw no flicker of conscience in his eyes.

That didn't stop me from murmuring onward, “I know that you strangle Snips' until he can barely breathe. I know that you pile all of your troubles, hate, and fear on the poor colt's innocent head. I know that you insult Windsong's intelligence and stunt her growth. On top of all that, I know that you hide all of your ugliness, all of your cruelty, and all of your vices behind the façade of being a good husband for a poor unicorn invalid whom you stopped loving ages ago, as if you ever did to begin with.”

Straight Edge glared at me, his weathered features frozen in place. In the background, the record was skipping. The sound of scratching thundered briefly through the speakers as the bartender flipped the disc over and trotted back to the bar.

“Another drink, Edge?”

Straight Edge mutely nodded, holding up his mug. The bartender filled his container, then walked up to me. I gently waved him off, and he went back to his duties.

Coolly, Straight Edge took another drink, swallowed, and gazed at me. “What the heck is this, anyways?”

I stared tiredly at him. It had been twenty-four hours of restless wandering before this moment came, and I could still smell the unsung rust on my exhausted body. I hoped to Celestia that he could smell it too.

“This is the closest thing you're ever going to have to a conscience,” I muttered. “You need to stop what you're doing. You need to stop destroying yourself. I don't know what grief you've been going through, or what pain you're trying to mask. But you are meant to be the pillar of your family. As soon as you let yourself collapse—your faculties and your strengths and your morals—your family will only cave in along with you. That's three lives that you could have been protecting that instead you are throwing into the garbage. Autumn needs you more than ever; that was the reason for moving to this town to begin with, yes? Snips needs a father that can inspire him, not intimidate and anger the poor guy. Your frustration and your wrath: it is being channeled into Snips' peers and friends at school, and if left unchecked it will turn him into a monster. And Windsong? The filly is young, innocent, and full of potential. She's an artist at heart who has yet to discover her cutie mark, and you're wrecking any chance she has to enjoy the most endearing, most pivotal moment of her young life.”

I finally pivoted on the stool and faced him, leaning forward with a sincere glint to my eyes.

“And what for? Another day spent hiding your anxiety at the bottom of a mug? Another night of yelling fits and domestic strife? I know you hate this town, Straight Edge. I don't know the reason for your hate, but if you took a step back and looked very carefully, you'd realize that this town doesn't hate you. This place is full of love, full of hope, full of ponies who only want what's best for each other. Why can't...”

I choked on a seething breath, gritted my teeth, and whispered.

“What's so hard, so difficult, so goddess-awfully challenging about the simple notion of accepting help, and admitting you need to change? Admitting that... that you're going about this the wrong way? That it's not too late to begin again, for your family, for yourself?”

Straight Edge looked at me, his nostrils flaring. He took another sip of his mug, exhaled, and muttered to the musty air of the place, “You know, I used to believe in love.” He stared at the edge of his container as he swirled it around in his grasp. His eyes were twin, jaded marbles. “I used to believe in change. I used to believe in hope and prosperity and all that fruity junk. Heck, I was once as bright and colorful as you. I believed in all that crap so much that I married myself into it. Autumn and I had a wedding. Both of our families were there, smiling. There was celebration, cake, balloons. We had our honeymoon, and it was... really... really sweet. And after that, you know what I found out?”

I blinked curiously at him. “What was it? What did you find out?”

He took another sip, sighed, and—with a snarl—flung the mug murderously into my face.

The shot to my horn was electric enough to wake me from death. Instead, I fell to the floor amidst shards and suds of ale. My ears rang from my collision with the floorboard. Grimacing, I looked up through a trickle of blood to see Straight Edge's hooves landing beside me. My vision trailed up his limbs until I saw a dragonesque snarl to his face as he spat at me.

“That all mares are good for nothing leeches!” Straight Edge's voice roared above the sound of nearby patrons gasping. “Acute Magical Disconnect is genetic! That conniving harlot knew she had it before she even started dating me! And a single year... a single friggin' year into our marriage, she becomes a coughing, hacking fit! This so called 'love' you speak so highly about is what ensnared me into being her lifelong money wallet to begin with! Do I hate my children?! You're damn right I detest those stinkin' brats! I hate every goddess-forsaken thing that's squirted out of her! Balls and chains are still balls and chains, no matter how cute they are or much they sob their stupid heads off every time I try to teach them right! You wanna talk about change?! You wanna talk about hope?! Well nothing's ever gonna get frickin' fixed so long as they treat me with the same disrespect as their worthless mother!”

“That's enough, Edge!” the bartender growled over the counter. I hadn't realized until now that he had spent the last thirty odd seconds trying to yell above the stallion's enraged voice. He gripped his hoof around what resembled a metal a club as he glared at the drunkard. “I don't care how horrible your Missus is. You don't go tossing patrons around. Not in my tavern.”

I stared silently up at Straight Edge, my brow quivering from the fresh pain still coursing through my body.

He stood, fuming, cracking the joints in his neck. As everypony nervously watched, he picked a saddlebag up from a nearby stool and fitted it calmly over his haunches. Eventually, he pointed at me and grumbled, “I don't know what stunt you're trying to pull, lady. If it's the bleeding hearts back at Manehattan Social Services, then you can just take a hike. But if I found out that she sent you... if she thought that this was her cowardly way of getting back at me...” He leered as he marched out the door. “I swear to Luna, they're gonna find both of your heads wrapped up in that dirt rag you call a jacket.” He brushed past two patrons and kicked the door open with a rattling of hinges. Starlight briefly parted the haze and disappeared as the door shut on the stunned crowd.

I sat up, running a hoof up and calmly feeling the warm blood crawling down my cheek. I looked at my stained limb.

“Like that punk even deserves a tab at this point,” the bartender grumbled from behind. He sighed. “I thought I left all the filth back at Mareami....” He leaned over and looked down at me. “Hey, you look busted up pretty bad. Can I get you something for that?”

My eyes returned to the door and the cold October night lingering beyond.

“Ma'am?”

I took a deep, deep breath.

“Ma'am, are you okay?”

Straight Edge marched down the center of Ponyville. The moonlight cast a lanky reflection across the dirt and grass. Teetering left and right, he mumbled and grumbled to himself. His eyes blinked, growing progressively more tired with each flutter.

He approached a series of closed shops in the market district. Every store was abandoned. Every light was out. A cold wind blew through the street, rustling dust and leaves across the emptiness.

“Hrmmf... Frickin' bunch of dirt farmers, I swear to Tartarus...”

After such an eloquent statement, he reached back into his saddlebag and pulled out a steel flask. He twisted the cap off with telekinesis, his lips curving slightly. He raised the thing to his lips and took a deep swig.

“Mmmmff... nnngh... heheh... 'Ambrosia.' Heh... wonder if she tastes as good as she sounds. Heheheh...”

He swirled the flask and lifted it to his lips once again. Nothing went down his throat.

“Huh?” He blinked, then realized that he was no longer holding the container. Looking down, he saw that the flask had fallen into the dirt, leaking fluid everywhere. “Oh, for pete's sake...”

Straight Edge bent down to pick the flask back up.

It suddenly shifted from him.

He blinked, his brow furrowing. “The hay?!” he remarked, his breath coming out in cold vapors. He watched with a slight shiver as the flask slid out of the street and into the shadow of a nearby alley. His face grimaced. In a drunken stupor, he gazed up at the night sky. He wasn't feeling a brisk wind. Nevertheless, Straight Edge frowned and marched directly after the flask.

The darkness of the thin alleyway enshrouded him. He stumbled into a trash can or two, cursing under his breath as a rat squeaked and darted past his teetering legs. Marching over a pile of lumber, be squinted into the deep niche between buildings. Finally, he saw a dim glint of moonlight.

“There you are. Ugh... Dang thing's probably covered in filth now.” He walked over to the flask. He bent over to pick it up.

And that was when the two-by-four slammed mercilessly into his rear fetlocks.

“Aaaaugh!” He shrieked, immediately collapsing forward onto his chest. Straight Edge's muzzle plowed into the concrete. His entire body jerked as he tried to rock his weight back.

The same two-by-four pivoted in mid-air, spun with a glow of green magic, and slammed into the knee of his right foreleg.

“Nnngh—Goddess!” He yelped, his echoing voice muffled by the height of the two-story brick walls. He rolled over to the ground, paralyzed, clutching his right forelimb and hissing. “Snkkkkt... Aaaagh... haaugh...”

The two-by-four was cracked down the center, splintering at the edges. Still, this didn't stop me from dragging it telekinetically across the floor as I marched out of the shadows and loomed above him. My eyes twitched. The shadows were alive with sparks, my sparks.

He squealed like an animal giving birth. I could only wish this moment was that holy. He squinted my way, and a bolt of fear shimmered across his glistening eyes. “Who in the hay are you?!”

That snarling voice: I suddenly imagined how fitting it would be for rusted shackles to be covering his lips. I adorned his mouth with the full length of the wooden bludgeon instead. With a crack of nebulous thunder, he keeled over, spitting blood into the moonlight. The air smelled of copper, like the rust of the unsung realm. I hovered above him, allowing him a feeble chorus of wheezes and whimpers to the bricklaid theatre surrounding us.

“Who am I?” I monotoned. “It doesn't matter. You won't remember. And even if you did, it wouldn't matter. You'll still be the one thing poisoning three innocent ponies... a family who has let your anger, ignorance, and bitterness imprison them for far too long.”

“Nnngh... Is... Is this... Is this about money?!” Straighted Edge hacked and sputtered my way. I saw his brow furrowed in the dead kiss of night. Even in pain and paralysis, all he had to live on was anger. “Just take my damn saddlebag, ya frickin' psycho!”

“This is not about bits!” I shouted and pressed the sharp edge of the sundered bludgeon against his bruised knee. He winced and squirmed as I howled down at him, “This is about tranquility! This is about happiness! Things that will never see the light of day in your household so long as you have power in that worthless horn of yours to bully your children to lifeless husks!”

“This... This is about those brats?!” Straight Edge squeaked, his eyes turning round in horror and disbelief. “Lady, you can have them! Say the word, and I'll do anything! J-Just stop hurting me!”

“No...” I hissed. “No, you won't change.” My entire body was shivering. Somewhere, the Nightbringer could have been vibrating, and I still wouldn't have been able to tell from the divine ringing in my blood-rushed ears. “Which is why I'm the one who has to make the change, while it's still within my power to do so...”

“What...” His face grimaced in confusion. “Wh-What?!”

“Didn't you hear me the first time?!” I was fuming; my horn had become a hot, emerald beacon. The shattered two-by-four lifted in my telekinetic grasp, casting a haunted shimmer across the coffin-thin alleyway. “Nopony will know the difference! Not even you! I'm a ghost in this town. History will lurch by, and not a soul will know I was ever here. But you?! Who will miss you when you're gone?!”

“Please. Please, lady—”

“Who is going to miss you?!” I screamed.

He raised his good forelimb over his face, trembling.

I was raising the club higher and higher. I seethed.

Just smash his horn. Get rid of it. He won't be able to torture his children anymore.

He shivered beneath an emerald shadow. I smelled garbage and sweat and urine.

Just get rid of the horn... That's all...

I clenched my teeth. The air was full of vapors. I saw tempests billowing beyond him with each pulsing artery. Thousands upon thousands of souls wailed her song forever. It was melancholic, wholesome, righteous...

Just get rid of him. Get rid of him. Get rid of...

The closet was full of stuffed animals. Moondancer sat in the midst of them, hugging herself, sobbing. I curled up close, but Snips said nothing. She was covered in bruises, confused and alone, with the rain pouring beyond the stairwell like a funeral veil. I pleaded and pleaded for him to tell Twilight and the others the truth, but he refused. The school courtyard was lonely and foggy after she left me. I could never understand pain, could never understand suffering. Straight Edge couldn't understand it either, even then, even as he stared up at me with a bleeding mouth, waiting for me to deliver the final stroke. Soon, nopony would be left to understand.

Except me.

My seething melted into heaving breaths. My horn stopped glowing. The alleyway reverberated with the echoes of the falling club as I fell to my haunches. My hooves covered my mouth, but it was not enough to dam up the sobs. They came out of me like scalpels, tearing me wide open and inviting tears to wash away the horror of the moment. They failed.

I hyperventilated, cowering against the alley wall across from the quivering stallion. His body was branded in my name with bruises and cuts. Every second I spent staring at them, they disappeared beneath a curtain of mist. I was a shivering, crying wreck. Somewhere, a voice whimpered forth.

“Are you... Are you...” I squeaked, wheezed, and stammered, “C-can you feel your legs?”

He didn't answer me. He was too busy shivering. A cold chill had fallen over the thin space between buildings, and he was spitting blood and vapors into the space between his aching limbs.

I gulped. I reached a hoof out towards him. “Sir... Sir, are you okay—”

“Nnnngh!” He shook me off, snarling, the whites of his eyes flaring wildly in the moonlight. “Aaaugh! Get away from me!”

I jolted from him, gulping a lump down my throat. “I... I'm not...” My face cracked. “I'm not going to h-hurt you...”

“Haaaugh... Goddess! Goddess, where am I?! H-how'd this happen?”

“Please. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you...” I tried smiling. I only sobbed more instead. “I'm going to get you some help. Please...”

“Gnnngh... Just what I friggin' need! Damn it to Tartarus!”

“I'm going to get you healed. Just...” I shook my head and gently enshrouded him with emerald magic. “Just trust me, Mr. Edge. Shhh... You're going to be okay.”

“How... How did you know...?” He started, but hissed in pain as I did my expert best to levitate him slowly off the floor.

In a slow lurch, I carried him across town under the stagnant stars. It took an arduous amount of time. He forgot me at least four times along the way, each time falling into a steeper and steeper panic attack, until the pain and confusion finally overwhelmed him and the battered stallion fell unconscious. It was the first chance I had to hear my own panting breath, and I detested it more than anything that had ever graced my ears before.

The next afternoon, I sat on a bench outside Ponyvile Central Hospital. My mane was a mess. My hoodie smelled of sweat and tears. I heard the hooves of ponies shuffling to a stop as they trotted by me. They must have been taking their sweet time to stare at my figure. I could only guess; I had my face cradled in my forelimbs the entire time.

There was no sleeping. There was no falling unconscious to this. My heart pulsed steadily, guiltily, for the better part of the agonizingly long day. For once, the chill of the curse wasn't enough to cool the heated knot forming in my stomach.

Finally, once my sanity had stretched to the breaking point, I heard the doors to the hospital's front entrance sliding open. I stood up, rubbing the crusty stains of tears off my cheek. I turned and looked, my lips quivering.

Straight Edge limped out. He had a crutch around his right forelimb. His rear limbs were bound in gauze, but they managed to carry his weight. A bandage covered half of his face. To my mixed shock, he looked far more angry than in pain. Grumbling to himself, he gave the sunny sky a dejected look, and shuffled ahead with an awkward gait.

He was in one piece. Never before in my life did I want to rejoice and hide all at once. Instead, I boldly jumped off the bench, winced from stiff legs, and trotted over to him.

“Mister... uh... Mister Edge...”

“Nnngh...” He took an extraordinary amount of time to turn around and glare at me. “What in the hay do you want?”

“Are you... erm...” I fiddled with the sleeves of my hoodie. “Are you okay? I mean, did the doctors say if you suffered anything truly—?”

“Ughh!” He retched and tilted away from me. “Get away from me, ya stinkin' hobo! Goddess, I hate this town!”

“Please, I must know—”

“For one, no, I'm not okay!” He snarled. “The damn doctors want to suck me for every bit I got. And for another, why in the flippin' heck would a bum like you care?”

“I—”

“Get lost, lady!” he grumbled. “I swear to Luna, I can't swing a dead cat in this world without running into a stupid broad! Gaaaaghh!” He growled as he lurched ahead, swearing up a storm beneath his breath before adding, “Last time I have more than three drinks at the Copper Crown. The place is a dump anyways...”

I sat on my haunches, gazing after him, hugging myself. The afternoon wore on, and I eventually swiveled about and trotted slowly north.

The door opened limply to my cabin. Al immediately pattered up and mewed, rubbing my front limbs affectionately.

I gazed dully at him. I saw his empty food dish. Without saying a word, I hovered his bag of feed over and poured some of its contents into the container. I was about halfway through the task when my magic went limp. The bag slumped to the ground, and so did I. I sat with my flank to the cot, staring into space.

Al's tail flicked. He gazed at me, then at the mess of food. His whiskers twitched, and suddenly I felt his warm paws crawling up my sweaty body as he sniffed at my muzzle.

I blinked a few times. I looked at him. I weakly raised a hoof up.

He rubbed against it, nuzzling me closely and purring.

I gulped. Quietly, I brought both forelimbs up and engulfed him in a hug. I felt his warmth close to me, and I began sniffling. Clenching my eyes shut, my lips moved to outrace the tears.

“Why can't I do it, Alabaster?” I whimpered. “Why do I have to be so terribly, stupidly grounded? Why can't I do what needs to be done? I've been a ghost f-for a year now, and... and I just w-won't embrace it. I... I can do so much. I can make a difference. Nopony would need to know what it took. Nopony would n-need to know what I've done to m-make the world more harmonious...”

Al curled up against me, adjusting his little furry body to my shivering curves. He tilted his orange face up and meowed.

A whimper escaped my mouth. I shuddered and said, “But I would know.” I held him close and nuzzled him, the tears flowing. “I would know.” The sobs came softer this time. I released into the feline's purring side, my voice muffled. “Heaven help me, Alabaster. But I'm glad you're gone. You won't have to see it when it happens...” I raised my head and stared, hyperventilating, towards where the Nightbringer was hidden. “You won't have to see me become her...”

Al innocently clung to me as my tears dried up on their own. An hour or so later, I finished feeding him. Then, as evening fell, I turned the lights out, curled up into the cold of my cot, and finally—fitfully—fell asleep.

I strummed my lyre in the crisp morning air, testing each experimental note against the October breeze, in a desperate attempt to eke whatever lonesome dreams I may have had the night before. I didn't have a chance to remember anything, for soon Cheerilee's voice was merrily chirping in my ear.

“I'm so glad that Professor Blue Noise sent you in the first place, but I'm even happier that you overcame your bout with the flu to show up today!” She grinned brighter than the rising sun. In the schoolyard before us, the schoolfoals frolicked and played, enjoying their spare time on the playground before it was time for the start of class. “You can't believe how much of a blessing your visit is to my students. They've been dying to hear about Equestrian music history ever since I made the announcement that we'd have a guest speaker!”

“Out of curiosity,” I tiredly mumbled. “What have you been studying all week before I came by?”

“Oh, the usual rudimentary math, geometry, and—” Cheerilee paused, her emerald eyes blinking. “Huh...” She rubbed her chin, squinting. “Or did I teach those geometry lessons last week? It's... all a blur for some reason...”

I took a deep breath. “Well...” I gave her a weathered smile as I played another tune on the lyre. “I'm sure you kept them happy all the same. And that's what matters when it comes to children.”

“Well, happiness is a good thing. Learning, however—heheheh—We can't forget that, now can we!”

“We... can forget many things,” I said. I cleared my throat and shrugged. “I guess what I'm trying to say is that you mean more to these kids than knowledge. You... you bring them joy and excitement, Miss Cheerilee. That's something that can't fade from the mind, for it becomes embedded in the heart.”

She smiled, her ruby cheeks flushing, if that was even possible. “I like the way you think, Miss Heartstrings. Or... heehee... should I say 'feel?'” Her eyes squinted in a brief expression of concern. “Might I ask, though, if you're sure that you're in good health?”

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee. I'm quite fine.”

“Because if you're still under the weather, I'm sure Professor Blue Noise would be more than willing to reschedule until sometime after the upcoming field trip to Canterlot—”

“Trust me,” I said with a hint of a growl. Clearing my throat, I gave her the most serene smile I could manage. “I've... I've never been more lucid in my life.”

She blinked at that, smiling sheepishly. “Well, alrighty then. I guess we all could do with a bit of—” Her head pivoted aside and her eyes lit up. “Big Mac! You're here!”

“Eeeeyup.”

“Oh! And you brought more lumber for the upcoming winter!” She shot up from the picnic table beside me. “Here, let me help you with those!” She turned and winked at me. “Excuse me just one moment, Miss Heartstrings. This shouldn't take long.”

“Just... uh... don't wander too far,” I remarked.

“Heehee! Perish the thought! Ahem...” She trotted over to the big red stallion as he stood beside the woodbox next to the school building. “Now be careful! I know you're a big fellow, but anypony can get splinters!” He merely chuckled and allowed the schoolteacher to lend a hoof.

I watched from afar. I was still strumming on the lyre, but was barely aware of the melody I was making, if any. After my first night's sleep in days, that entire morning felt like a dreamy haze. Then, just like any other vision, I had a wake-up call in the sound of a familiar, rasping voice.

“How many times do I have to tell ya, Snails?” Snips grumbled as he waddled within proximity of the picnic table. “I don't want to play any games right now!”

“Awwwwww come onnnn!” Snails bounded after him, pouting. “But you never wanna hang out anymore!”

“I'm just tired,” Snips grumbled. “And if I wanna get better at pop quizzes, I gotta study and stuff!”

Snails' face contorted in confusion. “Errrr... Since when were you so concerned about quizzes?”

“Who cares?!” Snips snapped at his tall companion. “So maybe I don't wanna be goofing off all the time! Maybe I don't wanna be worthless!”

Snails leaned his head curiously to the side. “You're not worthless, Snips,” he muttered. “You're my bestest friend.”

Snips closed his eyes, revealing a slight bruise along his left lid. He sighed and grumbled, “We can hang out later, okay, Snails? Go somewhere and... chase butterflies, or whatever it is you do when I'm not around to keep you out of trouble.”

“Butterflies?” Snails stood up straight, blinking steadily. He suddenly gasped, his entire body jumping. “I gotta go save the flowers!” He scampered across the busy playground in a tan blur.

“Unnngh...” Snips waddled over until he all-but-bumped into me. “Oh. Music!” He looked up at me, or more appropriately my lyre, squinting. “Hey, uh... You must be that musician that Cheerilee kept telling the class about.”

I looked calmly at him. I didn't say anything... not at first.

“But... like... I thought you were too sick to show up or something?”

After a breath, I gave him a weathered smile. “I got better.”

“Oh.” He nodded, then gazed towards the grass beneath his hooves. “That's good, I guess.”

“I couldn't miss an opportunity to teach a schoolroom full of foals,” I said, strumming another random tune. “Sharing music is the joy of my life, and I feel that... that everypony deserves to be happy.”

“Heh. If you say so,” Snips muttered, toying at the ground with one hoof and then the other. “You picked a silly place to do it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. School is so... so boring,” he muttered. “Now if this was a stage or the Ponyville talent show or... or...”

“Do you hate school?” I asked.

“Well...” His brow furrowed. “No, I guess not. I mean, yeah, sure, it's boring. But I get to see a bunch of other foals. I get to play jokes on classmates.” He snickered. “I get to hang out with Snails, even if he's a clueless dunce half the time.”

“It's relaxing, isn't it?” I said. “Like a good song that keeps changing but stays gentle all the time?”

He bit his lip. I heard a sniffling sound, and his head tilted away from my eyes as he muttered, “'Relaxing' is good...”

I looked at the lyre, then at him. “When was the last time you got a chance to listen to music?”

“I...” He was still looking away from me. His little shoulders shook. “My mom used to sing to me. But... But she doesn't do lullabies anymore.”

“No?”

“Nah...” He sighed. “It wouldn't be right.”

“Wouldn't be right?”

He was silent.

“You remember them at least, right?” I asked. “Do they relax you to think of them?”

He turned to look up at me. His eyes were misty.

“Listen to me...” I leaned over, smiling softly. “The music doesn't ever have to die, not so long as we can stand to be happy, wherever we are. It's what we deserve, after all, each and every one of us.”

Slowly, his face reflected my smile back. His tail flicked. “You're really gonna share some songs with the class today?”

“Mmmhmmm,” I said with a nod. “It's... It's the least I can do for you, kiddo.”

“Heh...” He nodded slowly, gazing towards the school building where Cheerilee was helping Big Mac with the lumber. “I think I'd like that.”

“Hey, boy! C'mere!”

Snips' body instantly jolted. I saw his teeth clench. With a shiver, he spun about, briefly blurting, “Gotta go!”

I watched as he scampered out of the schoolyard, up a grassy knoll, and into the shadow of a haunting stallion along the dirt path. My breath left me and I stopped strumming the lyre.

“You deaf, brat?” Straight Edge grumbled from where he stood on the side of the road with his crutches. “I said get your flank over here!”

Snips was frozen in place. For a moment, I didn't understand why, until I saw him shiver from a cold chill running up his body. “Unnngh... Huh? Dad? How did—?”

“What are you waiting for?”

“I... I don't know. I was just... What was I doing?”

“You come to me when I call for you! Ya hear?”

“Mmm...” Snips hung his horned head. “Yes, Dad.”

“Don't 'yes, Dad' me,” Straight Edge grumbled, then motioned with his bandaged neck. “Shut up and come along. We're going home.”

Snips' face scrunched up in confusion. “Uhhh... H-home?”

“Yes. You heard me. Home.”

“But... But...” He turned and looked over his shoulder at the playground and the bright red building beyond. “It's a schoolday! Should I really be going home?”

Straight Edge spun about, his eyes burning like hot coals. “What have I told you about sassin' me in public?!” His horn glowed and there was a fierce, telekinetic tug to Snips' forelimb, dragging the colt towards the adult unicorn. “I got battered by Goddess-knows-what on my way home last night! I'm already paying the doctors out my ears, and now I just found out from my boss at the construction site that I'm not allowed to work until my leg heals up! Which means you're going to have to be at home to help your dear old father around the house!”

“But... But...”

“You gonna give me lip?! After years of me cleaning up after your crap and buying the food on your plate? You owe me, boy. Don't worry about school. I'm sure your mom has some books for you to learn from at home. Celestia knows she spends all the dang time sitting on her flank, reading them.”

“Okay...” Snips dully murmured, hanging his head.

“Ugh...” Straight Edge began limping towards the center of town, wincing with each twist of the crutches against his right forelimb. “And let's not drag our tails, ya hear me?! This is embarrassing enough as it is, not that I expect you to understand any...”

I saw them beginning to march away. I turned and looked the opposite way. Cheerilee and Big Mac were finishing up with the lumber, completely oblivious. I could have said something. I could have rushed over and told them about Straight Edge whisking Snips' away. I could have done so many bold and dramatic things.

I chose to do something else instead. With a calm breath, I levitated the lyre in front of me and loudly—but steadily—strummed a very dear tune to the October winds.

Straight Edge and Snips were trotting further down the dirt road. I was starting to have a hard time making out the colt's cutie mark. The muttering curses of his father became a distant hush.

Patiently, persistently, I played through the entirety of the song, allowing its melodic notes to rise and fall. I watched with dry eyes. My lungs were frozen with the chill of my ghostly curse.

And then—with beauty that rivaled a tiny candle being lit—Snips' body froze as well. He stopped in his tracks, his tiny ears flicking with each rhythmic pitch of “Penumbra's Echo.” Any twitch or shiver to his limbs instantly melted. He stayed put where he was.

Straight Edge noticed this, of course. Perhaps it was the absence of Snips' pitter-pattering hooves. Perhaps it was the fact that another body wasn't close by to echo his grumbling curses. He swiveled about, blinked at the empty space in the path behind him, and ultimately turned around with a confused frown.

“Boy?! Didn't you hear me?! I said we're going home, and that's final!”

Snips didn't move. An October breeze wafted by, carrying the sound of Alabaster's soothing composition. Colts and fillies giggled in the background. I hung in a breathless lurch, waiting.

And it happened. “No,” Snips said.

Straight Edge turned and loomed viciously over the tiny unicorn. “What... did... you... say...?”

It happened again. “No.”

I exhaled, only to produce a sharp gasp as Straight Edge flung his crutch down to the dirt, leaned over the petite colt, and hideously snarled, “Boy, I'm not gonna let you push my buttons...”

“Nnngh—You're not gonna let me do anything!” Snips suddenly barked up at him. The shivers had returned to his body, but they were righteous quivers of fury. “You're just gonna shout at me and throw me around and call Mom names and make me feel bad about it all!”

“Shut your stinkin' trap!” Straight Edge raised a hoof. “Do you know who you're talking to—”

“Yes!” Snips shrieked, tears falling from his face as he growled and hissed, “I know how much you hate me and Mom and Windsong! I know how grumpy you get for no good reason! And I'm not going home to that! Not again! Ponies should... sh-should be happy!” He whimpered and yelled at the same time. Foals' heads were turning. The playground was growing silent in the echo of his divine outburst. “All ponies... d-deserve happiness! I don't care how angry you are, but I won't let you stop me from being happy anymore!”

“Boy, if you open your mouth one more time—”

“Get away from me!” Snips shouted, his teary eyes clenched shut as he started howling over and over and over: “You're a bad father! You're a bad father! You're a bad—”

“Nnngh!” Straight Edge slammed his hoof across Snips' horn. With a glowing telekenis, he lifted the sputtering colt up by the neck. “Damn you, brat! I'm gonna do what I should have done the day that stupid wench popped you out!”

Colts gasped. Fillies were sobbing. I heard Scootaloo's feareless voice shouting something over and over. I did absolutely nothing, nothing but play the Echo.

Cheerilee had trotted over, drawn by the hellish racket. “What in Equestria's name is going on over there?!” She gasped, her eyes flashing wide. “Good heavens! Snips! Mr. Edge, what are you doing—”

“Stay out of this!” Straight Edge growled. “Family business!” He lifted Snips in the air once more.

“He... He can't breathe!” Cheerilee shrieked. She spun around, then yelled towards the schoolhouse. “Big Mac! Quick! He's going to strangle Snips!”

“Eeeenope,” Big Mac growled, his teeth gritting. On thundering hooves, he galloped across the schoolyard. Dust kicked up in a storm as he barreled directly into Straight Edge, body-slamming the yelping unicorn to the dirt road.

“Aaaaugh!” Straight Edge sneered. “What the—Get off me, you lousy hick—!” Big Mac's response was an iron hoof bucked through Straight's teeth. “Grrnkktl—Aaaugh!”

“Woohoo!” Apple Bloom jumped up and down, pumping a forelimb. “You show that creep, Macky!” Scootaloo joined her cheers. Sweetie Belle trembled and covered her eyes while Rumble hugged her comfortingly, smiling from a distance.

“Nnngh—You lousy piece of farm filth!” Straight Edge was rambling, raving, his eyes bright and murderous. He could only struggle and moan as Big Mac shoved him prone to the soil. “Ghhh—Worst town ever! I'll rip all your hearts out! So help me—Ooof!” His mouth ate dirt as Big Mac applied his weight into the back of his head.

In the meantime, Cheerilee was rushing over to Snips' quivering body. She squatted down and scooped him up. “Snips! Snips, you poor, poor thing! Can you breathe?”

Snips sputtered, gasped for breath. He curled up into Cheerilee's embrace and nodded weakly. “Y-yes,” he murmured. “Please, k-keep him away from me. He's so horrible. All the time... so horrible...”

“Oh Snips...” She leaned in and nuzzled him as if he was her own foal. “Absolutely! You have my word, he won't touch you ever again!” Her eyes were moist as she stammered, “If I had only known sooner. Oh good heavens, you poor thing!”

“Mom... Windsong...” He shivered and clung to her in between desperate sobs. “They... They need...”

“He won't touch them either. Don't you worry one bit.” She looked at the line of gaping foals. Clearing her tears, she managed to summon one of them. “Snails. Come here...”

The tall colt wandered over, shivering, staring at his sobbing friend with wide eyes. “Y-y-yes, Miss Ch-Cheerilee?”

“Snips is going to be okay. But I need you to run into town and fetch the police. Can you do that for me? For your friend?”

“Uhhhh... S-Sure thing!”

“Good. Don't worry. Big Mac has things taken care of here. Now go, Snails! Run!”

Snails ran into the center of town, beyond earshot of Straight Edge's frustrated growls.

Cheerilee cradled Snips closer, smiling and murmuring to him, “Shhhh. It's okay, darling. You're safe now. Don't be afraid...”

“N-not afraid...” Snips hiccuped, covering his wet eyes with his forelimbs. “Not afraid anymore... Not afraid anymore...”

“Shhh... It's alright, Snips,” she said tearfully. “It's alright to cry. Just let it out... It's alright...”

“Penumbra's Echo” finally stopped, only because I couldn't manage it anymore. I was clinging my lyre to my chest, hugging it like Cheerilee hugged Snips. My head tilted towards the morning sky as my face cracked, letting loose the first of several heavy sobs. My lips stretched between a smile and a grimace as I clenched my eyes shut and whimpered to the sky. Two little words squeaked through my teeth, over and over again, until I no longer had the strength to remember who exactly I was thanking anymore.

And neither did I care. Eventually, the police came by to assist Big Mac with the raging unicorn. The schoolfoals gathered around Cheerilee to help comfort Snips. And a certain ghost who may have never been there to begin with was suddenly gone. Only the music remained.

“There's some news about Straight Edge,” Twilight Sparkle said at a table in Sugarcube Corner a few days later.

“You mean that unicorn jerk who was beating up his kids or whatnot?” Rainbow Dash paused in sipping her soda to frown. “Did they hang him from the gallows?”

“Rainbow Dash, honestly!” Twilight Sparkle made a face. “What is this, the Solar Civil War era?!” She calmly folded up a newspaper and gazed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “They decided not to give him bail. He's remaining under lock and key until they can get him into court. There was some dirt dug up on the workhorse, and apparently Mr. Edge was wanted for insurance fraud back in Manehattan. The Equestrian Bureau of Investigations have been looking all over for him for years. Guess they never thought to check in Ponyville.”

“In other words, he's gotta go through a lot of lousy red tape before anypony punishes him for treating foals like punching bags,” Rainbow Dash grunted. “Where's the justice in that?!”

“I don't think it's anythang worth complainin' about, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “What matters is that he's been caught red-hoofed, and t'ain't nothin' more he can do to them poor ponies he was livin' with.”

“Yeah, but still, it just really stinks,” Rainbow Dash said, folding her forelimbs and frowning. “Doesn't it bother you guys to know that he was living in our very own neighborhood, abusing his own flesh and blood, and none of us were any the wiser?! I mean, how does junk like that happen in this day and age?! Wouldn't it, like, freak the heck out of Princess Celestia to hear about this kind of stuff?”

Twilight took a deep breath, fiddling with her hooves on the edge of the table. “If Celestia can't stop every bad thing from happening, what makes us think any single one of us can do any better?”

“Yeah, but...” Rainbow Dash sat back with a slump, sighing. “When crud like this makes the light of day, it makes me wonder if we're not trying hard enough. I mean, are we the Elements of Harmony or aren't we?”

“Oh don't get all mopey like that, sugarcube,” Applejack said with a gentle smile. “Heaven knows, yer the bravest, most thoughtful pony in town. The first hint you'd catch of bad things happenin', you'd be there to play hero in a jiffy!” She turned to wink at Twilight. “Reckon that's the same for everypony seated here, and the rest of the gang to boot.”

“There's no perfect way to make a perfect world,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Making life harmonious is... is just like making friends.” She smiled sweetly. “There's bound to be a lot of bumps along the way.”

“And most likely everypony in Ponyville has more than a lick of sense ever since Straight Edge showed his true colors.” Applejack turned toward Rainbow Dash. “If you wanna get started on playin' neighborhood watch, Rainbow, now's yer chance.”

“Heh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is.” She lifted up towards the ceiling on flapping wings. “Say, I don't normally suggest this, but what if we call the other girls over to the library for a special meeting or something? I think it'd be totally cool if we set up some community thing to... I dunno... try to reach out to the families around town about what's happened. What do you think?”

“I, for one, find that to be a brilliant idea!” Twilight Sparkle hopped up with a grin. “And I think you deserve the honor of setting it up, Rainbow!”

“Darn tootin'!” Applejack added. She stood up and planted her hat on her head. “Where to, Cap'n my Cap'n?”

“Let's round up Rarity from the Boutique first!” Rainbow said, pointing towards the door as the three made their exit. “You know how long it takes her to get ready for last-second get togethers!”

“Pfft! That fussy filly! If it was the end of the world, she'd be frettin' about her eyelashes!”

“Well, thankfully, we won't be having to hold back the apocalypse anytime soon,” Twilight said.

The three friends giggled as they left. Passing by them, several young foals scampered into the heart of Sugarcube Corner. It was a veritable parade of school-aged ponies. Cheerilee stuck her head in through the door and called out to them.

“Now, don't spend all your lunch money! And only get fruit or juice! We have a long train ride ahead, and I can't have my little ponies bouncing completely off the walls!”

“Yesssss, Miss Cherileeeee,” the group chanted back in unison. Cheerilee giggled and stood in the doorway, speaking with Big Mac and another chaperone.

“Oooh! Strawberry Supreme! Strawberry Supreme!” Snails hopped up and down while a few other kids hoofed bits over the counter to Ms. Cake, receiving juice boxes and apple slices in return. “We gotta combine our bits to get the Strawberry Supreme juice!”

“What?!” Snips retorted, snapping him a crazy look. “But it's just one juice box! I know it's big, but how are we both gonna share it?”

“Uhhhhhhhhh—We'll buy two straws!”

“Snails!” Snips gasped. “You're a genius!”

“Hehehhhh.”

“But... Uhm... Oh drat!” Snips fiddled with a saddlebag on his portly haunches. “We're both one bit short! I think we gotta have the smaller juice boxes. That means no Strawberry Supreme.”

“Awwwww...” Snails' ears drooped as his muzzle hung low to the floor.

Just then, three golden coins landed between the two colts. “There you go. Get yourself two Strawberry Supremes.”

The two young unicorns gasped at that bits. They turned and looked at me. “Whoah! Lady, are you serious?!”

I smiled softly from where I sat in a chair with my lyre. “I'm always serious,” I said, then chuckled. “To a fault.” I motioned towards the distant counter. “Knock yourselves out.”

“Sweeeeeeet!” Snails exclaimed.

“Here, Snails!” Snips slid the bits over to him. “Go buy us the Strawberry Supremes, and all the straws you can fit into your mouth!”

“Sure thing, buddy!” The taller colt grabbed the coins in his teeth and galloped towards a grinning, cheerful Ms. Cake.

“You going somewhere special today?” I asked.

Snips spun to look at me. “Huh? Oh...” He smiled, his tail flicking excitedly. “Miss Cheerilee is taking us on a field trip to the Canterlot gardens! We're gonna see a huge maze and a bunch of statues and flags and stuff!”

“Wow...” I said with a nod. “Sounds really boring.”

“Snkkkt-Hahaha!” He broke into giddy laughter. “Heh... Yes, well...” He exhaled calmly and glanced at the far wall of the eatery. “I never used to go on field trips.” He gulped. “My... uh... My dad would say that they were just a waste of time.”

“That doesn't sound very nice... or sensible.”

“Yeah, well, that's my dad for ya,” Snips momentarily grumbled. A joyful smile returned to his lips. “But I don't have to worry about him anymore. He's somewhere else right now, and the family's better off.”

“I'm... I'm sorry,” I said softly. “I shouldn't have pressed...”

“No! No, it's okay... I just...” Snips breathed deeply and looked up at me. “I just never knew that things could feel so... so weightless, y'know? Heehee... I feel like I have pegasus wings hidden beneath my skin, cuz it's like I'm flying!”

I nodded. “So you're happy, then?”

“Happiest I've been in a while,” Snips said. “And so's my Mom and sister. We're staying at Snails' family's house, and they're all so nice and fun to be with. Plus, a bunch of ponies came to help my Mom. They say that she's going to get better, that they're gonna help get rid of her sickness. And... And...”

“Hey...”

He blinked, staring fixedly at me.

I smiled. “This happiness you feel? You can get other ponies to feel it, in ways that your dad never did.”

His lips hung open for a spell, and soon he murmured, “I know.” He gulped. “For a while there, I was afraid that... that...”

“Shhh...” I leaned forward and smiled at his eye level. “We all have plenty of time, kiddo, to become that which we want to be, and not that which we fear.”

Snips stared at me. His next smile was a warm thing, like one of Cheerilee’s cutie marks. At around that time, Snails scampered up, levitating two containers.

“Juuuuuuuuice boxesssss!” he triumphantly chirped.

At the exit to the eatery, Cheerilee was calling forth, “Okaaaaay, my little ponies! Time to go! The train won't wait!”

“We gotta go, Snips!”

“Yes! Just one second!” The stout unicorn turned around. “Hey, ma'am, thanks for the talk. I think...” He blinked. The space before him was empty. “Ma'am?”

“Who were you talkin' to, Snips?”

He teetered suddenly. With chattering teeth, he crubbed his forelimbs together. “Yeesh. Did somepony leave the freezers open in this place?”

“Uhhhh—Snips! We gotta go! Cheerilee is frowning at us! I haaaate it when Cheerilee frowns!”

“Er... Right! Onwards to Canterlot!”

Snails scampered out of Sugarcube Corner, as did the rest of the schoolfoals. Snips followed up the rear, balancing the juice box atop his head, as well as a song that he hummed in the pleasant air of the place, a very relaxing tune...

I hear the knock on the dormitory door, and somehow I know it can't be anypony else but her. I trot over and open it. Nothing can prepare me for how miserable, how utterly cold and lonely she looks.

“Moondancer!” I exclaim. It is true shock. I rest a hoof over my chest as she fidgets in the sorority hallway. “I... I...” I gulp and smile nervously. “Why don't you come in?”

“Uhm...” She squirms where she stands. “Are... Are your roommates...?”

“We're alone. The girls are out partying on the edge of the Shadow District.”

“Hmmph...” She finally trudges in, dragging a saddlebag limply behind her. “You should be with them.”

“I'd rather be here, really,” I say in a low tone. I slowly close the door behind her. “Besides, those... uh... those bat ponies freak me out in that side of town.”

“Liar,” she grumbles, pacing across the shadowed room. “You're just like Twilight. Anything you fear has an academic buffer.” She looks with disgust at the cluster of junk lying around the place. “Blessed Luna, your roommates are a bunch of slobs!”

“Moondancer...”

“Or did a certain mint-green unicorn lose her ladylike grace since the last time we chatted?”

“Moondancer, I know why you're back in Canterlot,” I say as I trot towards her. I raise a hoof up to her shoulder, but I think twice about making contact. Biting my lip, I hesitate, then say, “When I heard, I... uh... I visited your mom.”

She gulps. She hangs her head. “I know.”

I blink in surprise. “You... You spoke with her?”

“Mmmhmmm.” She nods slowly. “Just now.”

The room is silent for a while. I shuffle my hooves and circle through the gray shadows until I am standing in front of her. Her violet and red mane is so straight. Her violet eyes are so jaded. This is my good friend, and yet it isn't. I try to keep my voice steady.

“Moondancer, I... You know that when I try to say things, I only ramble on endlessly. You were right all along about me. You always were. I never went through all the horrible things you did. How could I possibly relate? And furthermore—”

“What's worth relating to?” she mutters. “It's very simple, Lyra.” She tilts her head up and stares blankly at me. “He's dead. He croaked, kicked the bucket, knocked on death's door. Heck, Lyra, you're a poet...”

“Musician.”

“Whatever. Describe it any way you want.” She takes a deep breath and marches over to stare out the window. She doesn't bother to push the curtains open. “He's gone. He's gone and... and...”

“And what, Moondancer?”

“I talked to Mom. I even paid Twilight's folks a visit. And yet... And yet none of them could help me... Not like you could...” She rubs her other forelimb with a hoof and whimpers the next part out. “Like you always could...”

“How...” I stammer, honestly perplexed, flabbergasted even. “Moondancer, really?” I give a bitter chuckle. “How did I ever help you? I was—”

“You were there, Lyra. You were always there, each time I needed you, and even the times when I didn't... or pretended that I didn't. And I treated you like dirt for no good reason.”

“Heh... Moondancer...” I shake my head and look at the carpet. “You didn't treat me like—”

“I treated you like dirt!” she snarls, her voice starting to shake. “I crushed you and ditched you because... because I was so angry, and so...” She shudders visibly, her back hunching. “So scared that this day would come, and I would have to tell you... t-tell you...”

I look up, concerned. “Tell me what, Moondancer?”

She turns around, and her eyes are glittering with tears. “That... That I feel so horrible.” She inhales sharply, her face grimacing. “He's dead, and now that he is, I feel s-so horrible, Lyra, and I... I-I don't understand why!”

“Well... uhm... he was your father, Moondancer—”

“He was a jerk!” she shrieks, grimacing harder. “He was a sadist and an abuser and a dirty, dirty creep and now that he's dead I should be happy, but... but I-I can't feel it, Lyra! You say that you could never relate?! I was his dang d-daughter, and I can't understand either! How does that even make any s-sense?”

“Moondancer, I don't think you give yourself enough credit!” I exclaim. “I know you must think that the two of you were always cut from the same cloth, but—”

“But what?!” Moondancer sobs. She staggers slightly, running a hoof over her face. “Lyra, he... he was everything bad and h-horrible in my life! He w-was... was like the sc-scale I had for all things awful!” She hiccups and hugs herself. “I-I think the real reason I... I haven't settled down with a stallion yet, or even g-gotten a coltfriend, is that... that I'm afraid, Lyra. You know I've always wanted kids of my own someday. But how...” Her eyes clench shut and she shudders. “H-how could a pony like m-me do anything but mess that up?”

“Oh Moondancer...” I smile and clear the gap between us finally, flinging my forearms around her. “You would have the best, most healthy, most fortunate foals in the world...”

“I've been so sc-scared for so long, Lyra...” She clings to me, burying her face in my shoulder. “I don't want anything like th-that to happen. Celestia, help me, I-I don't ever want to b-become him...”

“Shhh... You won't become him, Moondancer,” I say, holding her close. “I won't let you. You hear me? I won't let you become him...”

She sniffles, sobbing and laughing at the same time as she surrenders to my embrace. “Thank you, Lyra. I just... I just need you to be here... Th-that's what I've always needed. Just for you to be here...”

“Shhhh...” I nuzzle Moondancer, rocking her gently as I murmur into her ear. “And I always will be.” I smile. “Always...”

As the Requiem played in full, I stood alone, a dot of warmth in the center of the unsung realm. Slowly, I tilted my face up. The shackled ponies on either side of me barely stirred. The thunder was low.

The spheres within spheres loomed overhead, as they always did, an eerie accompaniment to the fluctuating tempests.

“I know that you're here,” I said calmly, clinging to the Nightbringer. “What I don't know, and what I'll never know, is just how long you've been here.” I gulped and murmured, “Just like nopony knows how long I've been haunting the grounds to which your curse has anchored me.”

The spheres floated in place. There was no song. No lightning. No stirring whatsoever.

I bravely continued, “I've been a very fortunate pony. I wake up everyday knowing that; it's what makes the curse so potent. But...” I hesitated slightly, then hoarsely spoke, “I also know that I've been a very blind pony, and an ignorant one. I look back at my life before all of this happened and I think—no—I know that I'm better for all that's happened to me. I'm wiser, stronger...” I clenched my eyes shut and saw Straight Edge's frightened face in the midnight of my mind. “...but I'm far from perfect.”

A few of the ponies rattled on the lengths of their chains. Mists of water flew coldly over the platform before rejoining the chaotic nether.

“I want to become better. I want to be a good pony, to reach out to those around me. I...” I bit my lip. My eyes opened from the tears springing forth as I shuddered and looked up at her throne, whimpering. “I want to bless others in this world. I want to leave my mark, if only to guide ponies along the path towards harmony and righteousness. And now that... now that so much has happened in my life and I've learned what I've learned, I...” I hiccuped on another sob and squeaked forth, “I can't do a single thing. Not without a miracle or an event of pure happenstance.”

I clung tighter to the Nightbringer, falling on my knees as I gazed up at the spheres, teary-eyed.

“Is it so selfish of me, so unholy of a demand, that I ask for yet another miracle?” I gulped and tried to keep my breaths even. “Please... Please speak to me. Sing to me. I ask of you... I beg of you... Come and play the Duet with me. Help me break free from this curse. And maybe—just maybe—I can find a way to help you too.” I gulped and stammered, “Because nopony—mortal or immortal—would live in a place like this unless it was their prison. And though I may never want to become you, that doesn't mean...” I smiled weakly through the tears. “That doesn't mean that I can't try and understand you.”

The spheres hovered coldly ahead. I saw strobes of light, distant and erratic, illuminating the lengths of the firmaments beyond.

“Please...?” I squeaked again. “All I can do is be here. Won't you help me? Won't you free me?” My limbs went limp, and I almost dropped the Nightbringer right then and there. “What is it that keeps you from at least talking to me? Must we play this game of hide and seek for eternity? Must you ignore me? I beg of you, what's keeping us from finishing the Nocturne?”

Just then, the lightning bolts in the distance doubled, tripled. I heard the rattling of chains. They intensified all around me, forming a cacophony of passion and chaos, until the chanting chorus of every shackled pony in every corner of the unsung realm broke through, moaning the same hideous phrase over and over again.

“Her beloved wakes! Her beloved wakes! Her beloved wakes!”

I gasp, my wide eyes staring at all the quivering equines as they thrashed and howled around me.

“Her beloved! Her beloved! Her beloved! Her beloved!”

They were surrounding me, lashing at me and each other, writhing in agony and fear and joy all at once. Overwhelmed, I scrunched down on the ground and telekinetically strummed “Penumbra's Echo” in quick fashion. Before their chains and chants could drown me, the unsung realm flew away in a blur, and I was once again situated on the lantern-lit floor of my cellar, surrounded by dust and the echoing sounds of my panting voice.

I sat up, running a shivering hoof through my mane as my tears dried and my voice found its way back into my throat. “Her... 'H-Her beloved wakes?'” My brow furrowed. “But... But what...?”

The air was still. I felt as though the world had stopped rotating.

Yet again, nothing had become of the trip to purgatory.

With a sigh, I bagged the Nightbringer, extinguished the lantern, and trudged up the steps to the surface. “Something... doesn't make sense. She didn't try blasting me off the face of the platform that time. Did I actually reach her?” I sighed again. “Alabaster, how did you dwell in that place for a single day, much less a thousand years? No wonder you lost your mind...”

I opened the door to my yard. Instead of sunlight, I was greeted with a pie to the face.

“Gaaugh!” I stumbled back, reeling. Clumps of cherry, custard, and whipped cream covered my horn, eyes, and muzzle. Wincing, I brought two hooves up and wiped the edible material out of sight. “For the love of Celestia,” I was already growling. “Pinkie Pie! If you're tossing baked goods at random again...” I froze as soon as my eyes could blink.

There were four more pies where the first one came from, and they were... levitating over the lawn behind my cabin in tight formation. I saw more things floating in the distance. Squinting, I made out what was undeniably a flock of winged pigs. To my horror, there were spherical clusters of landscape floating, embedded with trees and upside down cottages. Above this chaotic sprawl, bright clouds of pink fluff lingered, occasionally precipitating disgusting brown sheets of rain onto a Ponyville fragmented into labyrinthine facsimiles of what it was just hours ago.

It looked far too goofy to be true, too haunting and bizarre to be taken any way but seriously. In a way, it looked perfectly like—

“The end of the world...”

I looked at the mess above and beyond. Slowly, I tilted around and gazed down the steps to my cellar. I blinked, hearing several eerie words repeating in my mind. In a flash, I galloped towards the cabin, flinging the last flakes of pie off my face.

Even an entire year of understanding new things couldn’t prepare me for what happened next...

---

Background Pony

XV - “Being There”

---

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Special thanks to: RazgrisS57, theworstwriter, Props, theBrianJ, Warden, Led Zeppelin, and capitalism

Cover pic by Spotlight

Comments

[Ponky]

First. Because I cheat and talk with you all the time until 3:whatever in the morning.

EDIT 5:20am -- Finished half of it. Darn my cinematic reading. I wish I was quicker. It's great so far. Well, great and terrible. You're really churning my gut over poor little abused ponies. I like that it's tick-tocking between Lyra's innocent experience with Moondancer and her nervous shortcomings with Snips. Though faced with similar problems, she's a very different pony as a mare than a filly. Speaking of Great and Terrible, her glowing golden orby throne reminds me of that chapter in Ezekiel.

Gonna sleep for a couple hours. Will finish in the morning. Er... midmorning.

EDIT 3:31pm -- Well, it's not midmorning, but I finished it. And holy crap. Part of me wants to write a big old paragraph of praise... but I'm gonna. This was amazing, Skirts, as usual. Back to the "Background Pony" we all know and love... with a brand new (shocking) twist at the end. Lots of deep themes in this one. I loved how Lyra had to go through the process of figuring out how to help--and that sometimes the oppressed have to learn strength for themselves.

And now I'm ridiculously excited for BP16. Moreso than I've ever been for... well, anything.

[Spotlight]

Claiming first to read the whole chapter. I installed lasers in my eyes, and while they bleed a lot now, it was so totally worth it to read this ponimastarpeec

[tomboy enjoyer]

Where do you live that uploading this at such an insane time is normal?

[ZeroOmega]

40k.
O__________O

[Alchematic]

Looks like I missed out again. Why do you these things? Pfft, I was pretty close.

[Cador_2004]

*checks FiMFiction before going to bed* Oh hey awesome Background Pony updated.

*sees update is 43 K words long*

...

*slams Soldier helmet on head and charges* LAST ONE ALIVE, LOCK THE DOORS!

[Emberspeak]

I just spat my drink out when I saw how long it was.
5 days you say? Jesus, how much Dr Pepper did you drink?!

[Diabolic Gnome]

Beautiful Chaos like a song in it of itself

[Teraphim]

I think you're just trying to kill me now...
Nearly 44k words? I bow down to your ungodly writing speed.
I'll comment after I finish reading... this... monster of a chapter.
static1.fjcdn.com/comments/dalebguy+rolled+a+random+image+posted+in+comment+2571041+at+_bc25586f8ca3e42f577ff96e29d058b4.jpg

[OrphiusOlyandra]

Holy cow. That stinger at the end. Just... just... holy cow. That is bloody brilliant beyond belief.

[Tanglemane]

Sir, your keystrokes are hammer-blows. Reading that took a year off my life, I'm certain.

Also, totally worth it.

[Scarves]

43 K?! WHAT! I don't even... I can't.... argh. All nighter, here I come.

Took me 1 hour and 32 minutes to read all that. I need a break.

[Cirrus Sky]

*Shakes fist*

Go get 'im Big Mac!

Owned his sorry flank.

Also, That Cliffhanger!!

[ZeroOmega]

It WAS Discord!
I thought so, but this is just.....yes!

[The Great Turnip]

Bloody excellent, as usual.

[Snow123]

I'm... conflicted... on one hoof, this is a great and suspenseful story, well written, and we can see Lyra's plight, even as she helps the ponies around her... On the other hoof... a lot of it is watching Lyra suffer with no true hope in sight...

To fave, or not to fave, that is the question...

[Weeeman]

43k words.

troll.me/images/sexy-twilight/my-body-is-ready.jpg

[Baree]

Ooooh... Ok, did not see that coming. So we are going to see some Discord history too then. Wonder if Lyra will end up helping him as well.

[RaptorCalloftheShadows]

1296257 :I *puts on my Balaclava and suit* Right Behind You... *vanishes into that good night!*

[Katamariguy]

Well, that went a lot happier than I expected.

[Iydak]

Why?????? I have things to do today, and then you go and post 43k words that I have to read!

[Scarves]

Also HOW ARE YOU STILL WRITING THIS?
How long will this go on? What will the epic conclusion be?

[Emberspeak]

"At least you're not making us go on some global quest to a 'Nocturnal Locker' on the opposite side of the world or some other epically unrealistic crud!"

Hahaha, you're right Dash. That sounds like a completely contrived and unbelievable idea. Nobody would be mad enough to try take that idea and turn it into and extensive and cult-gathering story.
Wait a minute...

Oh and SPOILERS

DISCORD IS HER BELOVED?! :O

[Bravais]

As in the memorable words of Mr. Reeves...

Whoa.

Took me about 50 minutes from start to beginning.
Please keep it coming. I needed my fill.

[darthvader45]

Oh god, Discord is free. Maybe Discord is her beloved? Maybe now Lyra can finally break the curse! WOOO!

[Cleopatra]

Gah!

[Spotlight]

and end of ponies was banished to the moon for a thousand years

but in the sky, the stars groaned inexorably towards their destination. Someday soon, they will hit their mark. Soon, they will aid in its escape. And then maybe i can go back to reading something i had months of investment in.

[djthomp]

Savage beating of an unrepentant child abuser? I'm having a hard time finding any sympathy.

“Eeeenope,” Big Mac growled, his teeth gritting. On thundering hooves, he galloped across the schoolyard. Dust kicked up in a storm as he barreled directly into Straight Edge, body-slamming the yelping unicorn to the dirt road.

I nearly stood up and cheered. If I wasn't reading the chapter at work I probably would have.

“Well, thankfully, we won't be having to hold back the apocalypse anytime soon,” Twilight said.

Please be Discord next chapter, please be Discord next chapter.

Snips spun to look at me. “Huh? Oh...” He smiled, his tail flicking excitedly. “Miss Cheerilee is taking us on a field trip to the Canterlot gardens! We're gonna see a huge maze and a bunch of statues and flags and stuff!”

Yes!

Definitely glad to hear there are still enough Sarosians around to be populating the Shadow Quarter, though I'm a little concerned that they may be living in what amounts to a ghetto.

Holy shit, Discord is her beloved. How the hell did I never guess that?

[kajisora]

Wow...
That was... youch.
Thank you for making me think.

And now for the silly stuff!

“Well, thankfully, we won't be having to hold back the apocalypse anytime soon,” Twilight said.

yayyy foreshadowing!
....
didn't expect it THAT quickly

Wait a second...
Her Beloved!?
Dissy? Whuh!?
Did NOT see that coming. HOW did I not see that coming?

[Written Word]

Oh hey, look, it's your longest chapter yet.
This wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't FORTY-THREE THOUSAND WORDS LONG.

Great writing, though (although that compliment's probably wearing a bit thin at this point): I don't think I can recall a time when I've been filled with more genuine anger and rage towards a character than I was while reading this.

...Also, shit. Discord, her Beloved, returns.
Can't wait.

[The Truth of Chaos]

For some reason I continue to get the feeling that she and her unsung will become Chrysalis and her changelings.... But this is already overruled by the mention of changelings. Still, it would be good au to show who Chrysalis really is. I mean, when you think about it... Just... Nevermind. Anyway, very good read. Can't wait for the Discord chapter.

[Antaeus Eveningstar]

desmond.imageshack.us/Himg833/scaled.php?server=833&filename=antfearright.png&res=landing 43.8k words?!

Well this is officially the longest chapter i'll have ever read in the history of fanfiction. man it's gona take all night. img18.imageshack.us/img18/5794/antsmileleft.png

[KMCA]

Oh. My. Sweet. Pony. Lord. She is with HIM?

[Delerious]

Man, at this rate I'll need to start packing lunches for your updates, SS&E.
Long time reader, first time poster, and holy WOW, this story just took a turn for the awesome.

[Qussar]

I saw this update on my return from school
The sun just came down and i'm finished ...

Totally knew discord will rise this chapter ,but he is her beloved ?!!!!!!!
That, i didn't expect

Shed a tear of joy when snip stood up for himself , my smile was doubled when big mac tackled edge

I love this with the intensity of a thousand burning suns, please continue ...

[henke37]

One could argue that the lesson here is that Lyra is limited to direct physical changes in her world, being unable to change the memory of the world. But is that really the lesson here? No, I believe that there is a deeper lesson here.

Powerful and blunt methods may be required to solve a problem. But what does one do if one does not have enough time to solve the issue? Not even enough time to tell others about the issue? Sometimes you just have to be lucky and have the problem present itself to those who can fix it.

The true lesson here is that the solution to a problem might be as simple as you not getting involved and not doing anything so that things can resolve in their own way.

[Fr0st]

Step 1:- Come from a tedious work zone
Step 2:- takes sum coffee
Step 3:- turn on PC and open Fimfiction
Step 4:- Check updates and blogs
Step 5:- New Background pony update, must read
Step 6:-

[CyborgSamurai]

You just gave me chills, you magnificent bastard.

[Selen Vine]

You need to publish something. Honestly.

[Baboosh]

But...but....but....
prequeladventure.com/this/story35.gif
WHY DO YOU TORTURE US SO!

[loststone]

Here comes Discord... i cant wait tofind out what happens next

[q97randomguy]

Ok so Lyre is responsible for the formation of the CMC that's cool.
Was there a Smiling Flowers reference with Cherilee being good at gardening?
You really like making terribly sad back stories for your characters.
We're up to season 2 now, cool! I wonder how Discord's reign will effect the curse. He managed to completely block Luna and Celestia's powers so might he be able to block her power (which manifests as the curse)?

[Kurohitsugi]

Well, that hit a little close to home. Anyway awesome new chapter.

[Silver Slip]

DISCORD! I'm howling at the moon, and sleeping in the middle of a summer afternoon....

[Divine Path]

Oh dear, Discord.
Also, YAY!

[Autumn Wind]

This fic is the best novel I've ever read.

Can't wait to see how Discord plays into it all.

[Nasty Mister Monket]

Well. Several hours later. I have returned from a dramatic story of child abuse, love and hate, emotional torture and hopeless and heartbreaking endeavours on Lyra's part.

And all I have to say is:

OH SHIT SON.

I think I might be a little shallow. Just a little.

[mrjerrio]

I... finished... so good. Brain broken... Mind shattered... Totally worth it.

And now I have 3 hours of lectures to go to. And I still haven't gotten to play Borderlands 2 yet.

[RazgrizS57]

This works too well.

[demonoid47]

this only took 4 hours to read. i see people complaining about how long it is... Tis not long enough!