"Princess Celestia," a Royal Guard named Blazing Dawn knelt down before the millennia Princess of the Sun, he was a Princeton orange colored earth stallion, with hooves large enough to distinct himself away from his comrades. His coal black pupils had not budged an inch away from the floor since then, until Princess Celestia herself walked over to him, smiling.
"I know that you're fairly new here, but there is no need to treat me like an absolute monarch, in fact I do get quite sensitive about such detailed behaviors."
"Pardon me for my noncooperation, your highness, but there is something I must inform you in secrecy."
She nodded, and lowered her head to allow the Guard to whisper into her ear, and what she has heard was nowhere on a positive note.
"Times come, and then they go." Celestia exasperatingly sighed. "I am concerned about her future. What will become of her now that she is all on her own?"
"Bon Bon, I know this is hard for all of us, but I'm worried about you too, we've been standing here for hours." Minuette was the first to speak after their silent day standing beside Lyra Heartstring's tomb. "We even skipped lunchtime."
But the former agent would not respond, her front hooves and back hooves were parallel to each other, creating this safe rectangle for her heart to fall in place. Her eyes did not twitch nor blink as she continued to stare at Lyra's picture frame besides the flowers given by her colleagues from Canterlot, her facial gesture was cold and hard like the stone tomb itself. Lemon Hearts put a hoof to her own chest, more concerned with her friend than her own hunger. Moon Dancer wrapped her hoof around Lemon's shoulders.
From the corner of her right eye, Sweetie Drops recognized that action all too well, and it is all too well for her to lash out at them again, but she held it back this time, not wanting to lose anymore friends is the best way to get a hold of her fragile piece of life.
"Bon Bon, I know you're still there, so please say something." Minuette was on the verge of shedding a tear.
"Minuette, leave her be."
"What, Twinkleshine!" The tearful blue unicorn almost cried, "We can't let her suffer alone here! Enough is enough!"
"I know what you mean, Minuette, but listen to me, from the anger Bon Bon took out on me in the hospital the other day, I can feel her demon erupting." Twinkleshine hesitated on that last word, when she realized that everypony around her shivered even by the slightest.
"And no, I do not mean by an actual demon, but she's been hit with our loss far worse than any one of us. It may be scars in our heart, but to Bon Bon, it's this impenetrable fog of storm raging over her flesh and mind, do you understand how deep her wound is on the inside compared to ours?!"
Minuette opened her mouth to argue, but once more, and the final time, she turned her head around to take a glance at the only earth pony besides Lyra's grave. Her eyes were still pinpointed onto Lyra's self portrait next to the lovely, colorful flowers, her poker expression never left her face. Giving up, Minuette sighed in defeat before walking over to the rest of her friends.
"I really wished that I could do something to help," she sobbed quietly in front of her colleagues, "I really wish I could."
"Minuette, it's okay, you don't have to do this alone." Lemon Hearts nuzzled her friend on the cheeks. "Besides, we all need some time for ourselves, losing somepony important isn't always easy."
"Yes, and I can just about say that to anypony, even the Princesses."
The unicorns began to walk away, trying to keep their disappointment in place. Sweetie Drops remained silent, and rather cold in a sense. Her breathing became heavier when Moon Dancer turned around, engaging her in yet another conversation.
"Bon Bon, are you sure that you can take this toll on?"
The earth pony nodded, a rush of breeze entangled them in an incessant war waging hide and seek of countenances. Moon Dancer sighed before levitating a particular muslin over onto her, it was woven with a fine pattern of creatures with two legs and two upper limbs in elegant positions. The acute and pungent scent struck the mare with a certain familiarity, her eyes widened in response.
"She kept this gift in my residency for years, until your birthday would arrive, but by that time I was foolish enough to abandon my friends, beautiful ponies like her."
"And when Twilight brought me back to my true home, she was not there, she was somehow forgotten, and I regretted that." Moon Dancer put a hoof to her heart. "Bu-but now, I regret the times that I could've spent with her, and now I have to live with the fact that we can't be together like before anymore."
Slowly, Sweetie Drops turned her head to Moon Dancer who grinned before finishing up her final words.
"Well, I guess that's it for today... Thank you for listening to me, Bon Bon, you're an example of a true friend."
She quietly turned away, slowly walking down the grassy hill, the hill that Sweetie Drops and Lyra would used to play on together before it was renovated into a graveyard, and they would sleep in the most peaceful slumber that anypony could imagine. But now, it was just Sweetie Drops (with Lyra who was done with the stage of life). So she took the muslin off her back, and nudged the creatures on the quilt that Lyra always admired. She never ceased to talk about it every single day.
'Yep, those were the good memories, alright'
She placed the muslin onto Lyra's tomb, carefully adjusted it so that it will not be blown off by the wind. She smiled and kissed her tomb, and her portrait, before walking away back to her Ponyville residency, only to be stopped by a larger force of threat.
"It's been weeks since you rushed into the town's hospital, Miss Bonne."
The mare gulped, sweat trickled down her face. She was only half the size of her familiar enemy, who was armed with unthinkable illegal weapons that were banned in Equestria and foreign nations elsewhere. She bit her lips in concern, and almost helpless, because he was not here to consult with her, but to settle everything from last time.
"Don't play dumb with me, Special Agent Sweetie Drops, I know all too well of your identity, I have been hunting you down for years since you single hoofed-ly took down our organization. You ruined our profit, our wealth and our glory."
"Right, and you guys were once the criminal organization of the Equestrian underworld, known for the will to do anything to make illegal markets, whether it be taking lives of the innocent, or your own hench-ponies. It was only justice to put an end to all your intolerable evils—"
Right at that instant, a hoof swung over from Sweetie Drops' right, who had no means to dodge the delivered blow, as it went into her face, blood spurring out in result. The mare was knocked down onto the ground, and pinned by her enemy.
"You killed all my comrades, including our leader Hoof Chain 'Shirov' Cuff." The stallion then snapped back to reality, noticing his actions. "Funny how you chose not to dodge that incoming attack, I expected a lot more from you."
Sweetie Drops spat out more blood to her side. Unable to do anything at the moment, her mouth formed an irritating grin that triggered the angry stallion to deal another blow to her face.
"You were never worth my time to be dealt with, Surge 'Metal-head', I took no interest of you since the beginning of your organization's downfall, and that is why I spared you and a couple of others who were thrown into prison."
"Well tough luck for you, the police and the Royal Guards never found me." Surge Metal strangled Sweetie Drops' neck with his brutal gray hooves, the mare squealed in pain, close enough to the point where she could no longer feel blood running through her head. The stallion smiled in response and pulled out a crowbar, pointed to the helpless damsel.
"I could just kill you right now with a sharp blade or some magic projector that can destroy a small village, but I chose to let your humiliation torture you. Any last words?" With that, Surge Metal brought down the first strike onto Sweetie Drops' head, causing her to scream louder than the blows by the enemy's bare hooves. Everything became a blur to her, she continuously trembled as if she was a fish bouncing on land, struggling to keep her fragile life on the red line.
"Anything?!" He yelled into her ears and continued to beat her with the bloody crowbar. There was no point in screaming for help in this silent and desolated graveyard. There were only trees and cold stone tombs, and only one of them mattered to the dying mare at the moment. Nevertheless she faces these trials only for the sake of remaining quiet, just like the lifeless graveyard. Either way she was done for, when there will be no help arriving for her.
"Hey Bon Bon, do you believe in afterlife?" Lyra asked as she was sipping her orange juice. The two were as always, sitting on the same bench that they always sat on, with no other ponies in sight this early morning. Tranquility whispered into the mares' eardrums, tapping their hearts with soft and dulcet beats. Sweetie Drops had her attention toward the simple but thought-provoking projects of the suburban Ponyville, under the cheerful orange cast by the sun. She could not help but to continually stare at them, a discomforting, but enclosed zone with just enough space for herself.
"Bon Bon!" Lyra reached her hoof to pinch on the agent's nose, who flinched in response.
"Huh? What? Afterlife? Oh yeah." She breathed in slowly, keeping the same pace as she exhaled. "Well, that is a tough question to begin with."
"I mean, once we die, we no longer exist in Equestria anymore, but with the idea of heavily filled magic on this land as pollen on a flower, I'd say that our spirits will not die. But to be honest, I never find religious stuffs convincing, if we're gone, we're gone, it's that simple."
"Oh I hate you realistic believers who only see and assume what is around you."
"Well excuse me—"
"Sh! Listen!" Sweetie Drops quickly cut her words out short, and there Lyra was, plucking her lyre with her eyes closed. What was unique about the seven strings this time, was that they resonated with the incoming brush of wind, combined with the ruffling of the grass and the trees. Even the wooden bench absorbed the melodies and converted them into their own hollow voices. Sweetie Drops put her hoof to her mouth, astonished and deeply moved. Lyra, smiling whenever she plucked her golden lyre, lightly swayed her head over and back to resonate with the music.
"You heard that, Bon Bon? Every sound around you can affect the main cuisine." — Sweetie Drops looked at the instrument — "These sounds only become powerful when you feel alive alongside, and dance away with them."
Without hesitation, Sweetie Drops, the former agent, tried to escape Surge Metal's dreadful abuse as she slowly crawled towards Lyra's tomb. Without effort, the stallion once again grabbed her with his gray hooves into the air, and smacking her rapidly with the crowbar. He smiled as the mare's blood flew onto his face, licking them in the process.
"I never knew how easy this would be, but the bad guy never plays fair." He finished before hurling Sweetie Drops into a tree standing behind the tombs. A spot of blood appeared on the trunk, and lying next to the stained tree was the blood's owner, who once had lost everything, and practically her own life now.
Surge Metal walked over to the severely wounded mare, who was breathing heavily as she lied on the red colored grass. Surge dropped the crowbar, and picked Sweetie Drops up once again, only this time he choked her against Lyra's tombstone. Drooling and sputtering more blood, she could not help herself but to squeal choppily.
"So what are you trying to prove here?" The mare raised her brow.
"When you live in that moment, you are able to hear deeper things than just physical noises. Those external sounds that pieced my music were not artificial. Wind, wood, grass and trees come from refined nature. Especially the wood, despite they came from trees that have long left Equestria, they still produce melodies equal to that of a phenomenon."
Still confused, Sweetie Drops gazed at the clouds floating by, blocking out the fresh sunlight. Lyra was far from done with her lyre, for the more she plucked, the closer she was with the gods of peace.
"Only spirits can hum with natural sounds, and that alone is pure, innate magic."
"You're a real confusing mare, Lyra." Sweetie Drops shook her head, and ruffled her friend's cyan mane, who leaned into her neck in response. "You're so confusing..."
Memories hung aboard still even when he was brutally snatching her life away, piece by piece. Satisfied and aggressively excited, Surge Metal stroke deep into her nerves, making the agent scream to the top of her lungs. She managed to injure Surge's eyes, who toppled back and winced for a brief moment, and to the stallion's bemusement, she gripped onto Lyra's tombstone, wrapped it around with her hooves.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Surge Metal demanded, and threw a punch into Sweetie Drops' head, knocking her into the stone.
"T-the spirits... I-I can still h-hear them..."
"Not even a god can save you now, Agent Sweetie Drops, just give up and let me have you done for good!"
'No, the spirits are still whispering into my ears. They are alive!'
"Those lost souls still fly around us, Bon Bon. They were never 'dead' from the start."
"Well then, how come I couldn't hear them this whole time?"
Lyra giggled, "Silly! You're an earth pony, you can only feel the magic from Gaia earth!"
"I guess spending all my life with you almost made me a unicorn!"
The two mares giggled again, joy replenishing their hearts. The lyre began magically plucking itself, and every sound was its own gracefulness. Though, they was blown away by another shallow breeze.
"No, now I can't hear anything." Sweetie Drops frowned.
"Don't worry, Bonnie, the wind is just carrying our music to elsewhere, and sharing the love all around Equestria!"
Without a word, the two mares laid on one another's shoulder, gazing at trees and the heavenly sky above full of clouds.
"I hear it, I hear it now, Lyra!" Sweetie Drops cried as Surge continued to stomp on her, but this time the pain was senseless, and only the thin strings of the golden instrument laid beside her friend's tomb, vibrating through her chest. "I can truly feel the voices calling over me from above!"
"What is this goddamn madmare saying?!" Surge roared as he picked up the crowbar, and beat on her spines. But even then, he stopped himself once he heard the golden lyre plucking all on its own. Pluck, pluck, pluck as it goes on and on.
"No, no, no! That's plain blasphemy!" Surge Metal dropped the stained crowbar once again, reacting in horror as he saw something else that sent a shrill down his veins, as if he was the victim now.
"B-back off! What are you?!" The stallion plopped onto the grass, as he tried to scoot himself backwards. Sweetie Drops was astonished herself, for an ancient creature was floating next to her, with no eyes, but the rest of her body parts were untouched by any means of artificial contact.
"Some spirits may look scary, and some don't, but the point is, they will never harm you in anyway. They may be curious and frighten some of their neighbors away."
"As if, she's a natural spirit... Wow..."
The unknown creature inched closer towards Surge Metal, who was for some unknown reason, at the hooves of mercy. Sweetie Drops, who was now scarred, beaten and blood bathed, gawked at the turning point of this intense scenario. The mysterious creature leaned down to take a closer view of her opposition, whose heart was racing against the possibility of death. She tilted her head to her left, and reached for Surge Metal with her claws.
"How do you even know all this, Lyra? Are you some sort of exorcist?"
"No! Stop! Get away from me!"
So the villain fled away, abandoning his original motive of seeking vengeance. Sweetie Drops, much wounded and bruised, questioned the reasoning behind such miracle. What powers did this spirit wield that can be so powerful and potentially dangerous?
All was answered once the spirit turned her head back to face the retired agent, everything became clear when the mare retained her memory.
"No silly!" Lyra giggled, poking her friend on the nose once more. "You just have to acknowledge the spirits' presence around you. They exist."
The earth mare shook her head and ruffled Lyra's mane, to which the beautiful and majestic unicorn giggled in response.
What they might have missed, were the millions of countless souls whizzing by them without a chance to stop and bring auras of joy.
But Sweetie Drops did not care, because the aura of joy she had was her very best friend, also known as a true lover of ecstatic fantasies. She could walk pass another hundred million and not care when just one mare valued more to her than anything else in life.
Just now was a familiar, turquoise unicorn who stood behind the curious spirit. She did not wave a hoof, nor did she speak a word, but her glamorous sparkling was more than enough to draw the attention of Sweetie Drops' sad blue eyes. She rubbed her eyes to make sure that they were not lying to her, and they were not. The unicorn, who's cutie mark is that of a lyre, with cyan mane and a crazy smile, was standing there waiting for her friend to embrace her.
"Oh. My. Goodness." Sweetie Drops put a hoof to her mouth. "This really can't be..."
"Lyra, Lyra? Can you hear me?"
But the unicorn would not respond, as she continued to emit yellow orbs of light. Desperate, Sweetie Drops crawled over to get the sketchbook and their photo album, before limping all the way to where her friend was standing. The spirit's head turned to observe their reunion, although somewhat confused. The mare opened the pages of the photo album to receive a reaction from Lyra Heartstrings, but she remained there, with the same bright smile she had when she just appeared. Sweetie Drops reached a hoof out to touch her, but it went through the mare's body, who never responded still.
Finally, the unicorn began to march forward at a steady pace, time always awaits when a pony is no longer existing anymore. Sweetie Drops followed, and so did the eyes of the unknown spirit. Lyra stopped at her own grave, staring at it and feeling it.
The beauty of irony tied within oneself can be so fascinating.
Slowly, she reached her hoof to touch the golden lyre that she once owned, and it was practically the instrument of her soul. She touched a string, and it plucked one of the most reverberating sounds one can never wish to hear, but Lyra can produce it, and Sweetie Drops heard it, even the spirit creature could not help but let out a grin.
Satisfied, Lyra began touching more strings, and they became a slice of uplifting drama ringing above the sunset on Ponyville. Sweetie Drops' heart flew out of her chest, beating as the string echoed across the air. Contented, she stuck her hoof out into Lyra's body once more, even though she was physically impossible to interact with.
The latter still was in her own world, laughing quietly, plucking string by string through the heavens.
On the verge of tears, Sweetie Drops fruitlessly flipped pages of both Lyra's sketchbook and the photo album, but even the long term memories that filled the gap between the missing pieces of the creaking wooden bridge were only illusions, when she realized that Lyra was beginning to fade away. A shocking wound rushed through her blood, forcing her to bend down, and helplessly watch her friend disappear into nothingness once more.
"No, Lyra, Lyra! Please, please... Don't leave me here..."
But this time, Lyra turned back, and mouthed familiar words that only she out of the whole wide world, knew by her heart. Sweetie Drops gasped, and swore to God that this will be the last time she will cry, and never again.
She took out the shades that she always used during her missions, and dropped them besides her friend's lyre, that shed gold against the raging sunset.
‘Agent Sweetie Drops was no more, Princess, and she already had decided that awhile ago, for her friend's sake.’
Lyra Heartstrings is now gone, the spirit creature was also gone. There stood Bon Bon, lying on her knees as she smiled at Lyra's photo besides her permanent resting rock.
"I guess we can't be Bacchus and Philemon after all."
~Fin