Shellstrings

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Interview With a Dragon

Ponyville – Downtown – Morning

The wagon wheels creaked and creaked as the tiny vehicle slowwwwwwwly rolled its way through the heart of town. Spike pulled the weight almost entirely on his own. Meanwhile, Lyra Heartstrings sat back in the tiny thing—resembling an oversized green cat squatting inside a dinky sandbox on wheels. Biting her lip, she glanced to her right.

A mule drawing a full-sized carriage gawked at her in mid-trot.

Fidgeting, Lyra looked to her left.

Golden Harvest and Roseluck froze in mid-conversation, watching with scrunched muzzles.

Lyra bit her lip. "Ahem..." She leaned forward, tapping the spiney shoulder of the whelp that was drawing her across town. "Say, uh, Spartacus—"

"Spike."

"Right. Y'know... I-I can totally trot on all fours!" She smiled nervously. "Despite what the rumors may say—"

"Nonsense..." Spike wheezed, sweating and huffing as he pulled the wagon towards the crystalline spires of Twilight's castle in the distance. His pace was agonizingly slow—not that the dragon was in the presence of mind to take notice. "You and Twilight go waaaaaay back, Miss Heartstrings. It's... mrmmfff... only f-fitting that I make this... grnnngh... reunion happen as painlessly as possible!"

"Dragons must have a super masochistic view on life," Lyra droned.

"Huh..." Spike wheezed. "...funny."

"What is?"

"That word. That m-word." Spike swiped the sweat from his brow and continued tugging at the wagon's handle. "Grnnngh... every time I... tr-try and ask Twilight to define it f-for me... she just... grnnngh... makes an off-hoof joke about Rarity, blushes, and then changes the subject! Grnnngh..."

"You don't say..." Lyra gazed aside just as an orange figure streaked by.

"Tch..." Scootaloo shook her helmet head as she sped past the two on her scooter. "And I thought I was lame." Fwooooosh! The filly was gone.

Lyra huffed. "Alright. That's it." When Spike wasn't looking, she leaned over the wagon's edge and ZAPPED the front right wheel with a full blast of mana.

POW! One of the tires broke off. The entire wagon slumped into the dirt.

"Guh!" Spike lurched backwards, falling on his tail. He blinked at the loose wheel as it rotated to a dull stop. "Awwwwwwww..." His sweaty face pouted. "Not again!"

"Damn!" Lyra gasped in faux shock. "Those gopher holes show up out of nowhere, don't they!"

"You're telling me!" Spike stood up, rubbing his chin. "I'm looking as hard as I can and I can't even spot it!"

"Oh well!" Lyra hopped out of the wagon and lifted the thing—and its loose wheel—effortlessly with telekinesis. "Guess I'll just have to carry this the rest of the way and let you tow it into shop!"

"Wow... you'd really do that for me?" Spike blinked. "That's so nice of you."

"Hey..." Lyra wheezed out the side of a fragile grin. "What are fr-friends for?"

"Still..." Spike sighed, his spines drooping as he trudged along. On foot—both he and Lyra moved five times as fast as they did with him dragging the wagon. "...that really stinks. I was hoping to be a valuable chauffeur for Twilight's invited guest today."

"Well... you're... uh... being super useful!" Lyra exclaimed, shouldering the weight of the wagon on her flank.

"I am?"

"Yeah!" Lyra grinned. "You're filling me in on what Twilight Sparkle's been up to the past few... uh... y-years!"

"Huh?" Spike blinked.

"Oh... uhm... right!" Lyra cleared her throat, stammering: "...care to fill me in on what Twilight Sparkle's been up to these past few years?"

"Oh! Totally!" Spike counted off his clawed fingers as they shuffled along. "Well, first off, she became Princess Celestia's star pupil. She studied up on the spells of Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Then she moved to Ponyville, became the Element of Magic, and defeated Nightmare Moon all in the span of a single day. Thennnnnnn she and her best friends defeated Discord, the Lord of Chaos. Then after that, she and I helped save the Crystal Kingdom from the evil spirit of King Sombra. Twilight then invented the first new spell in eons, which transformed her into an alicorn—the Princess of Magic. Then when the Everfree Forest went crazy, she and her friends returned the Elements to the Tree of Harmony, restoring balance to Equestria. Then there was Tirek... also all that weird high school she-demon stuff beyond the mirror... mmmmm... am I forgetting anything else...? Oh yeah! Then she and I went through a crazy trans-dimensional adventure through time and space where we stopped Starlight Glimmer from maniacally destroying the fabric of reality across the multi-verse as we know it!"

Lyra stumbled in mid-step. Blinking. She had to reshuffle the weight of the wagon on her back. "That... uh... that's all, huh?"

"Eh... yeah." Spike shrugged. "Give or take a random friendship adventure. Y'know... pony flanks vibrate... the map shimmers... we go somewhere, hug a bunch of ponies, come back in time for supper." He yawned. "Rinse and repeat."

"Okay..."

"Whew! Lemme tell ya..." Spike grinned. "Being a hero can sure be tiresome! I dunno how Twilight can handle that and be a princess at the same time! That pony suuuuuure is good at multi-tasking."

"Right..." Lyra sighed, glancing aside. "I wouldn't... know anything about that..."

"How about you, Lyra?!" The whelp turned in mid-step to smile at her, his green slitted eyes sparkling. "What have you been up to all these years?"

"Me?" Lyra blinked. "Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." She blinked again. "Making music," she blurted.

"Whoah, really?" Spike's scaley dimples showed. "Cool!"

"Yeah. I think so, at least."

"So... like... how many songs have you written since you last hung out with Twilight?" He winked. "I bet you've made a whole ton of musical hits!"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Lyra sweated. Her eyes lifted up, reflecting crystalline spires. "Heh-HEYYY!" She beamed, gesturing wildly at the looming castle. "Check it out! We're here! Heheh!"

"Whoah... That was quick!" Spike blinked, then stepped up to the massive front door while fumbling for his keys. "Time flies when you're catching up with old buddies, huh, Lyra?"

"Oh... believe me..." Lyra gulped, shivering slightly while he wasn't looking. "...it doesn't fly quickly enough..."

Comments

[RoboRed]

"Dragons must have a super masochistic view on life," Lyra droned.

"That word. That m-word."
"Grnnngh... every time I... tr-try and ask Twilight to define it f-for me... she just... grnnngh... makes an off-hoof joke about Rarity, blushes, and then changes the subject! Grnnngh..."

[childish giggling intensifies]

[Doctorfoxwolf]

Spike is so small and cute, we should just call him Needle.

[IceKitsune]

Spike sure is trying his hardest!

[Skeeter The Lurker]

I'd say this was awkward, but it was only a prelude to the real awkwardness.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[Razzy]

Awkwardness levels rising.

[Booster Spice]

Spyro, Spartacus, Spitball, Striker, Slap.

Lyr:I needed that.

Pinkie:I knew today was a bad day to give up snorting sugar.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Making music, being brainwashed, meeting cool ponies.

[Derpmind]

7405101

The awkwardness shall blot out the sun.

[StardustSurvivor]

7405543 The awkwardness shall consume the sun and celestia will have no choice but to pass the sun onto it's new proper owner: lyra heartstrings, princess of awkward, new head of state.

[Telaros]

The flanks vibrate, you go hug some ponies, back before supper.

Dayum. These girls sure do get around. I wonder how much of that is consensual hugging.

[Razzy]

7408487 I do, what's your point?

[FanOfMostEverything]

7405543
Then they shall make awkward small talk in the shade.

[Scorch215]

which transformed her into an alicorn—the Princess of Magic.

Didn't this story conenout well after we already knew she is the Princess of Friendship?

I'm starting to wonder if this story should as the AU tag as it has divisted drastically from the show several times