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RainbowDoubleDash


“If the youth are not initiated into the tribe, they will burn down the village, just to feel its warmth.” — African proverb

T

Lyra Heartstrings, graduate of Luna's Academy of Magic, is going to have her first solo show - tonight! It's nothing major, just a few pieces for the Academy itself to play for the new student body, but with some of the most talented musicians in all of Equestria set to be there, the chances to make contacts and get her name known in the right circles is just the opportunity she's dreamed of! She just has to do a quick favor for Trixie first, and then it's off to Canterlot. Surely nothing can go wrong?

A Lunaverse story.
This story is happening simultaneously with Family Matters, but you don't have to have read Family Matters to enjoy this one.

Rated T for (non-sexual) nudity

Chapters (11)
Comments ( 471 )

Yay, everypony loves Lyra! :heart:

Incidentally, the opening stinger is a slight re-wording of part of the The Pied Piper of Hamelin: A Child's Story, by Robert Browning, and basically ends with these two images:

th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/253/8/b/morning_bon_bon_by_johnjoseco-d49efcj.png
deviantart.com/download/257507148/morning_lyra_by_johnjoseco-d49b9sc.png

As with most else from the lunaverse, looks very good!

Oh god the lurking cloak is down, ABORT ABORT.

I foresee this not going well.

Love the characterization of Lyra and Trixie here. They really do work well together to read. And I'm also liking Lyra's thoughts on things like Bonbon and the big performance.

Interesting premise and set up. I like the explanation of the zebra and Trixie's own issues with magic. This story sounds like it's gonna be a crazy ride, can't wait for more.

Obviously, there's a little translation error: The spell that says it transforms a pony into a zebra? The word's not actually 'zebra', it's human!

My body is not ready for this. But I will soldier on anyway, because it's that awesome.

Alright, that intro was pure crazy. I'd like to say crazy awesome, but it maybe dragged on just a little too long. Still, props for being able to keep up all the flowery stuff, even if you sorta cheated by copying.

Love Lyra unintentionally suggesting some bondage play, love even more that she just goes with it anyway after the realization settled in.

And ooh, Trixie casts by 'ear' this could have some interesting potential in future fics, though I guess it also means that the books she salvages from Twilights wagon will be less use than some where hoping.

Otherwise not much to say specifically about this story yet, but I can't wait for things to start getting interesting.

Trixie is pretty great then :trixieshiftright: but she doesn't really live up to her potential does she?

This can't end well... can't wait to see what happens.

Great start, I really loved the intro sequence.

Definitely curious to see where this is going.

Okay, this has me hooked! I like Trixie and Lyra, here, and how Trixie's talent can backfire against her. VERY clever! :heart:

Gee, if only there were somepony around who knew how magic worked, and could teach Trixie.:trollestia:

781433
There is. Her name is Lyra Heartstrings.

781441
I think what I'm trying to say is more like, her admission here that she's the Element of Magic, she should be able to cast spells seems at odds with her argument in Boast Busted that the Element of Magic is about more than just spells. Does being a Bearer of Magic imply superior spell-casting ability, or not?

781570 What she's saying here is that, to quote a certain hilarious fanfic, "her cutie mark is magic". The element of magic isn't the same thing as her cutie mark.

I think the real problem is that the zebra's spell-books are so different from normal Unicorn magic. Trixie does actually know how to read magic from spell books, it's just that her learning process is backwards. Instead of reading the steps of how to cast a spell, and then putting the steps together to cast a spell, Trixie prefers to copy the casting process and then piece the steps apart. Learning spells the normal way is harder than normal for her, and zebra magic is very different and new. She's translating the complicated rituals zebras use into the kind of spells that Unicorns use. Or at least, that's my headcanon right now.

Ah yes, this will turn out swimmingly.

I liked this before it was approved by EqD.

781570
My personal take on the matter (but this is in no way meant to be a Word of God statement) is that being the Element doesn't augment anything. Trixie happened to be in the right place, at the right time, with other ponies who happened to be in the right palce at the right time. As Trixie herself said when blasting Corona, anypony could have used the Elements.

"Make me a zebra,": the kind of words one regrets for years afterwards...

Several hours ago: :yay:, the new RDD Lunaverse story is up! Gah, have stuff to do, will read later.

Now: Totally worth the wait, though partly because of what I know is going to happen...
I can't wait for more! :twilightsmile:

I love that description of ritual magic. Also, Trixie, a blue unicorn, learns spells just by seeing them. I C WAT U DID THAR!:trixieshiftright:

Poor Lyra, she wont see it coming. :unsuresweetie:

Sounds like somepony put all of her skill ranks in Bluff, Concentration and Perform, and didn't leave any for Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana). I can see it, too - Trixie really isn't the type who cares much for studying (unlike either version of Twilight), but she obviously has a knack for magic regardless. This can only end well.

“Yeah, but she’s not as good at is as she thinks she is,” Lyra countered, as she glanced to the clock on BonBon’s kitchen wall, which showed that it was currently 11:09 AM. “I’ll get there by eleven thirty, and be an hour, tops. Then I’ll stop of here, get my stuff, and grab the one o’clock to Canterlot. Even if I miss it, there’s the three o’clock train. Plenty of time.”

I think you mean 'she's not as good at it'

783404
Just like "Make me a pony." No, wait ... I'd be okay with that. :raritywink:

Let's just hope this will work out, preferably without a trip through the Everfree Forest and pleading to Zecora for a remedy.

And then everything went to shit.

Behold the hideous creature that Lyra has transformed in to!

Specifically, the one holding the crown. Except that Lyra is even more hideous, for her pale, fur-less flesh is apparent for all to see, rather than mercifully covered!

It's kind of fun to write a pony trying to describe a human in pony terms, or at least terms that a pony would understand. On a related note, there was originally a scene of Trixie watching the transformation go down. I cut, it, though, because I managed to make it read like something from The Thing, and it substantially changed the tone of the story towards more horror than anything, despite Lyra becoming what would, to us, look like a perfectly normal young woman. Except for hair color, but whatever.

Incidentally, the magic words are Swahili, inasmuch as anything from Google Translate can be said to be in a given language (I do not speak Swahili). I won't provide translations, though, 'cause I think it's more fun if we don't know the meaning of the magic words. And also they're kind of lame.

Fingers!? THE HORROR!!!!

So Lyra is home alone at the Residency, and Trixie is getting chickens.....


Oh god, Bonbon is gonna wonder what's keeping Lyra so long, and than.....Oh man.....


EDIT: And I just noticed Trixie was lying about needing only the chicken's feathers........She's not gonna hurt the chickens, is she?

Wonderful!

Poor Lyra. She just can't get a break in the Lunaverse lately, can she? :-) I loved the interaction between Trixie and Lyra here. Very well done.

RDD, ONLY YOU could get away with this.

And thus a major fanon thing is turned sideways. I love it. :rainbowlaugh: yes, we would be rather hideous to ponies, wouldn't we? At least if turned into one.

And much later, the L6 find out what Lyra got turned into...
Something more substantial than myth, but less than truth. An ugly creature of strange habits, but crafty and cunning and I just made humans sound like dwarves, didn't I?

OH MY GOD, CHANGE HER BACK, FOR THE LOVE OF - wait. She's naked? :trixieshiftright:

798420
Yup, naked. The spell doesn't magic in clothes.

Does this technically mean I should up the rating? It's not like anypony will be interested in taking advantage of this fact, or even really acknowledging it...

Eh, probably not.

Which story is the scene with Ditzy a callback to?

Trixie really isn't very good at admitting her mistakes, is she? :trixieshiftleft:

I never thought about the fact that humans have canines. I like the idea that that's what freaks Lyra out the most, more than the ridiculous udders or the lack of hair.

Love the twist on fanon, and it is nice to see the other story that was happening alongside Family Matters.

OH THE HORROR!:raritydespair: THE HUMANITY! :fluttershbad:

Humans! Horrible half-minotaur-half-ape naked creatures! Cursed to wander the world without fur they kill other creature to WEAR THEIR SKIN for protections! :fluttershyouch: AAAAAH!

Anyway this is hilarious... do they need to sacrifice a chicken to make the counterspell work?! :fluttercry:

Predatory teeth are great motivators.

Oh the possibilities this opens up. How exciting. :pinkiehappy:

798713
It ties in to another Lunaverse story, Family Matters. Which is happening in the same time frame. The scene with Ditzy is in there too, but from her POV instead of Trixie's.

This is hilariffic! The description of a human through pony eyes was very amusing, and Trixie is always fun when she gets into her panicky moods. (She has more in common with Twilight than either of them would probably like to acknowledge.)

I'm looking forward to the further developments, and whether Lyra gets to Canterlot in time! (Also, curse the lack of L6-based smileys! Derpy and Trixie are not enough!)

Hah. Great so far.

Lyra had previously intended to spend more time at her parent’s house before fully moving in with BonBon,

Is that a typo or does she only have one?

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