"I'm heading out for the train station," Lyra shouted from the hallway. A large suitcase levitated next to her. "I've washed most of the dishes and breakfast's on the table." She glanced at her reflection in the mirror.
No answer. Lyra waited a few moments more—enough to magic a few locks of her mane into place—then trotted out. Closing the door with a gentle push, she took a deep breath.
Well, it's finally time. Lyra looked at the road, hesitating to take the first step. Fifteen years had finally come to this moment. It was silly, when she thought about it—this was just a simple meet up, a gathering of friends and strangers. The occasion was neither the most significant nor the most terrifying of her life, yet she felt like a swarm of butterflies were waging war in her stomach. The anticipation before her first date was two times less than this. Then again, who would have thought that her "stupid obsession" would lead to this?
"We've come a long, long way since Mistmount," Lyra quoted. It was one of her favorite phrases. She'd lost count how many times she'd uttered it in the last few months: every time she had an exam, every time she went to a job interview, every time she was about to talk to her parents… Lyra shook her head. That was a topic she would leave for later. The next few days were reserved for fun, laughs, and absurd arguments.
The streets of Ponyville were empty. Hardly surprising since it technically was still night. Sunrise was more than an hour away—enough for Lyra to pick up her friend, probably spend some time helping her pack at the last moment, then catch the early train to Canterlot. Doing a quick mental check to make sure she had taken everything, Lyra set off.
"Nightling convention, here I come!" Her hooves clopped along the pavement. She was no longer Lyra of Canterlot! For the next three days she was LyraHooves of Midnight Castle: a place where magic—real fantastical magic, not the aether manipulation they taught in school—was part of life, and mythological creatures from other realms popped by on an hourly basis.
Just like when I was a filly, Lyra, thought. Everything was possible back then.
"Lyra," her mother snapped. "Will you remain still for five minutes?!"
The filly pouted. Each time she would come close to having fun her mother would grumble at her. And it wasn't like Lyra even wanted to go shopping in the first place. She'd much rather spend time with her friends prancing about the schoolyard. Amethyst and Minuette were probably having a wild time, while she was forced to join her mother and shop for school materials.
"Look, I know you're bored, but we need to buy you books and..." the mare's voice trailed off as Lyra's expression changed from pouty to bitter. "Why don't you pick up a story book?" she said, winking and smiling.
"Really?" Lyra's eyes grew wide.
"Yes, just don't—"
Before her mother could finish, Lyra dashed to the foal section of the bookstore. The filly couldn't call herself an avid reader, despite her parents' numerous attempts, but all those years being dragged to shops had taught her one thing: where there were adventure scrolls there were toys.
The adventure section was in the back end of store. Four full shelves loomed over Lyra, reaching up to the ceiling. The vast part were popular filly series along with new releases making their debut with the start of the new school year. In the corner, was the colt section—less popular, somewhat neglected, but the one that had the best toys. Lyra could stand there for hours looking at all the cool things that colts, unjustly, got.
Wow! She gasped, staring at the upper shelves. There were dragon dolls, stallion miniatures—in full armor, naturally—monster sculptures, and the most peculiar creature she'd ever set eyes on. From what she could tell the creature was bipedal, fully clothed, standing out from the rest like a pegasus in Canterlot.
"That's a human," a voice whispered next to her.
"Huh?" Lyra hopped to the side. She hadn't noticed there was somepony else nearby.
"An imaginary mythological bipedal creature from another realm," the pony next to Lyra recited, making a point to stress on every word. She was the same age as Lyra, with a dark red mane, yellow coat, and a pair of saddlebags packed to bursting point with scrolls. "That one is part of the Midnight Castle series," she added with a definite nod.
"Um, okay?" Lyra arched a brow. "So you like toys too, huh?" She asked. "I'm Lyra and I love toys!" She extended a hoof in greeting.
"Err, hello." The filly moved a step away, looking at Lyra's hoof suspiciously. "You're not supposed to talk to strangers." She narrowed her eyes. Lyra's ears dropped. "But since we'll be starting school together, I guess I could tell you. Moondancer."
"We're in the same school?!" Lyra's ears flicked up again.
"I saw you at the magic exam," Moondancer sighed. "You turned an orange into a harp...made of orange."
"Ah, right!" Lyra nodded. In truth she had completely forgotten about the entrance exam. "So, you must like toys a lot! I'd never even heard about humans!"
"No, not particularly." Moondancer levitated a scroll from a nearby shelf. "I just like to be informed. And this is a colt series. Not a very good one either."
"So you have read it!" Lyra shouted, bringing several layers of pink on Moondancer's cheeks.
"Err, I try to keep in touch with current book trends," Moondancer squeaked, droplets of sweat covering her face. "I like books. It's not that this particular story is any better than the rest. In fact I only skimmed through the first scroll to see what a human was."
Again that word. Something about it sparked Lyra's imagination. Turning to the bookcase again, she carefully started reading the titles on the shelves. The Thousand Year Prince, Iron Horseshoe Adventures, Midnight Castle. That was it—the series Moondancer had mentioned! Focusing her magic, Lyra grabbed the book from the shelf and levitated it down.
The very first thing that caught her interest was the picture on the cover: a pegasus, along with, what she assumed to be, two humans fighting an enormous dragon. The artist had made it so realistic that Lyra felt like she was looking through a portal into another world. My strings, what is this? She gasped, moving it closer to her face.
Ten years have passed since the war for Midnight Castle. The pool between worlds, warded off after the Lada invasion, has reopened bringing with it the threat of nightmares. Six new humans and their pony allies must find their calling and take the mantle of protectors and face a new danger.
Lyra swallowed, then reread the blurb. She could feel magic after every word.
"What's the Lada invasion?" She whispered, unable to look away from the back of the cover.
"I don't know." Moondancer moved besides her. "Something that happens in the first volume, I guess. What you're holding is Midnight Castle volume two."
"Midnight Castle volume two," Lyra repeated, mesmerized.
"Are you really going to read that?" Moondancer arched a brow. "It's colt fiction. Weird colt fiction. It can't be good since it's on the discount shelf." The filly looked up at the shelves. "I can recommend you something better, if you—"
"I'll take this one." Lyra gripped the book tightly with both hooves. "It sounds so exciting and full of adventure!"
"All colt fiction is full of adventure." Moondancer narrowed her eyes. "It isn't real. It's not like humans will appear out of nowhere and—"
"It's real." Lyra whispered. "As long as you read it everything is possible." She levitated the miniature statue down from the shelf. "Even humans."
"Even humans," Lyra chuckled to herself. "Mare, I was such a dork!"
The houses on either start of the street were dark. The only exception was Twilight's eastern tower, which in defiance to any sleep schedule, remained always lit. Apparently, even a pair of wings weren't able to get rid of her unhealthy book reading habit. Lyra could imagine her asleep on the table, drooling head smack in the middle of a book. On the other hoof, there were also ponies who didn't have the least bit of trouble sleeping through any meeting.
Judging by the lack of lights from the house in front of her, Lyra's friend had not bothered to set her alarm. That didn't surprise Lyra in the least. With a mental grumble she went to the door and knocked. She had hardly started when the door creaked open, revealing a small blond unicorn filly.
"Dinky?" Lyra blinked. "So sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up—"
"I've been awake for two hours," the filly said. "Sis went to 'close her eyes just for a minute' an hour ago," she sighed, moving aside for Lyra to enter. "Her saddlebags are ready. Sis says she'll travel light and get more stuff from Mom and Dad's place when we get there."
"Typical." Lyra went in. "Amethyst, get your lazy flank here, or I'll post your romance poetry all over my site!" she shouted. A loud thump resounded from the upper floor followed by an 'aww' and a series of curses. "That should speed things up." Lyra winked to Dinky, who giggled. "So how have you been? Everything okay at school? Sorry I couldn't visit as much as I wanted, but work and such."
"School's fine, I guess." Dinky looked to the side. Her smile disappeared completely. "Lyra, is RRBB okay? I haven't been able to talk to her the last few days and am worried."
"RRBB." That was a topic Lyra would have preferred not to discuss. The truth in the matter was, that RRBB wasn't fine in the least. They had had several aethernet exchanges in the last few days, and despite all of Lyra's efforts she wasn't sure she had managed to reach her virtual friend. Strictly speaking, RRBB hadn't confirmed she would even go to the meetup. "Well, she's dealing with some stuff, but she'll be fine." I hope. "If she comes to the meet up, I'll—"
"Lyra, you witch!" A purple unicorn head popped from the top of the stairs. "You dare post a word of that and I'll bribe Tech to do a takeover of your site and—" the unicorn yawned, her body and legs trembling as if trying to shake off her tiredness "—and, I have no idea what I was about to say." She climbed down the stairs with the grace of a chipped boulder, gave Lyra a semi-conscious hug, then stumbled off towards the kitchen.
Lyra and Dinky looked at each other, neither saying a word.
"Mayor Mare has been giving sis more work this week," Dinky whispered, as the sound of something smashing to the floor came from the kitchen. "That and all the hysteria on your site. I don't know who that Jade pony is, but she's been keeping sis up most nights."
"He," Lyra corrected as a new wave of curses came from the kitchen. "Jade is a he, and I've dealt with the situation. One more mess up and he's banned for good."
"Lyra, you want any coffee or something?" Amethyst shouted. "I've got orange juice and waffles."
"I'm fine, Amethyst," Lyra shouted back. "Just eat up and let’s go!"
"I don't know what Jade is, but I don't like her." Dinky went to the corner of the living room, where two sets of saddlebags were waiting. "She's mean to everypony, has no sense of humor... even PaintDrop said she's tired of Jade's posts. And you know how much PaintDrop loves drama."
Drama. On my own site. Lyra giggled. Three years ago she would have laughed at the thought. Back then, before she had created her fansite, all Midnight Castle discussions took place in the comment section of an obscure part of Writer Prose—the most popular aethernet site for writers to post their works. They were four ponies, all posting and commenting alone...until they decided to meet.
"I can't believe you roped me into this!" Amethyst whispered, hiding behind the restaurant menu. "Me, a respectable city official, brought down by one of my best friends."
"Oh, will you relax," Lyra laughed, adjusting her 'I <3 Midnight Castle' hat. "Look, nopony's even paying attention. If anypony’s attracting attention, that's you. Just chill and order something to eat already!"
The first face to face. It was remarkable how much time and effort it had taken four ponies to organize a meeting. The main reason for this was their vastly different schedules: Lyra was a college part timer doing a double major in Magic and Music. Combine that with her complicated love life, and latest significant other, and it was really difficult to get more than a few hours to herself. The other members of the Midnight Castle group had things even more complicated. For that reason it had been decided that Ponyville would be best suited for a meeting place.
"If Brush and RRBB weren't such good writers I wouldn't even be here," Amethyst grumbled across the table, then waved to get the waiter's attention. "Vine rings with a side dish of fried petals. And a bowl of cider."
Lyra laughed behind her hoof. It was no surprise that one of her best friends, and former classmate, would join the Midnight Castle craze. True, she wasn't a veteran like Lyra, she didn't even particularly like the original series, but when it came to Mistmount Chronicles—better known as Volume 3—she was a walking encyclopedia.
"What do you think they'll be like?" Amethyst whispered, taking a sip from Lyra's bowl. "They both are, you know..." she raised an eyebrow.
"Will you stop worrying?" Lyra pulled the bowl of lemonade closer to herself. "They're perfectly normal ponies who share our passion for Midnight Castle."
"I'd say passion." Amethyst stifled a chuckle. "Brush sounds like she'd—" she glanced around, making sure nopony had turned their ears in her direction "—snuggle anything that's male. And RRBB... Some of her stories shouldn't even be allowed on the site!"
"Oh, come on!" Lyra frowned.
"Hands and Hands was borderline erotica!" Amethyst whispered, pulling Lyra's bowl towards her again to get another sip. "And quit hogging that drink! I'm parched! The Mayor just started me on reorganizing town hall. Things are such a mess it'll be a total disaster."
"Well, you jumped to the opportunity to become a Mayor's aid. Important job, bright future, great atmosphere."
"Shut up!" Amethyst scrunched her muzzle. "But aren't you a bit curious? Like, I totally see Brush as Vinyl."
"You had to bring that up." Lyra rolled her eyes. That was one of her least favorite topics of discussion.
"No, hear me out! She's wild, extremely flirty, never sleeps—"
"Umm, excuse me," a soft voice interrupted. Both Lyra and Amethyst turned around to see a yellow pegasus standing at their table. "I, umm, heard. Umm. You were talking about me?"
"Fluttershy?" Amethyst gaped.
There wasn't a soul in Ponyville that didn't know Fluttershy, from taking care of the town's animals to her being the Element of Kindness. She couldn't sneeze without somepony taking notice, then promptly ignoring her completely. To have her come here was extraordinary, let alone approach them.
"Umm, I'm Brush," Fluttershy squeaked, closing her eyes as she spoke.
"Wait, what?" Amethyst jumped out of her seat. "You're Brush? You?" She pointed at Fluttershy, who was shivering with fear. "Brush? You? Brush? The author of The Human and I?
"Umm, yes?"
There was a moment of silence. Never in a thousand years would Lyra have expected this. She prided herself on having an open mind, but Fluttershy being one of the sauciest fan writers and a huge Midnight Castle admirer came as somewhat of a shock. Her writing style, while extremely suggestive, was nearly flawless, conveying such amounts of emotion that Lyra had found herself crying on more than a few occasions. There even were discussions among Fluttershy's—or Brush's—followers that she was in fact a stallion. Ironically, there also had been a few users claiming she was Fluttershy all along.
"Umm, may I sit?" Fluttershy asked with a polite smile.
"Oh, sure, right." Amethyst moved to the far end of the table giving Fluttershy enough space.
"Thanks." The pegasus took her seat. "Is it okay if I don't order anything? I grabbed a bite a moment ago."
"No worries." Lyra nodded, as the waiter arrived with Amethyst's order. "I'm LyraHands, by the way." Fluttershy politely smiled at her. "But, I guess that was pretty obvious. Love your The Human and I. Only complaint I have is why does it take you so long to update?"
"Buck it, this is unbelievable!" Amethyst mumbled undetected her breath. "We see each other every day and I... Argh! Do you have any idea how many questions I have for you?"
"Well, the messages you sent on aethernet me gave me an idea." Fluttershy's ears relaxed down slightly. "And thank you for your kind words."
"Kind words? Mare, I don't know how you manage to describe humans so well, but your work is incredible!" Amethyst moved a little closer. "And incredibly hawt!" she added in whisper, making Fluttershy blush. "Seriously, how are you so skilled? You and RRBB are just so out there."
"I have some practice." The pegasus slid her hoof along the table. "I've been writing since I was seven. It's a good way to calm my nerves."
"I'm not surprised. With all the things you do in real life it's a miracle you write as much as you do."
"I still hope you get more things published, though," Lyra interjected. "You're done so many great things, half of them unfinished, that I just want to read more! No pressure though. Well, not too much."
"Heh heh heh," Fluttershy let out a tense laugh.
"Wow, you really are a whole lot different in real life." Amethyst crossed her forelegs. "It's almost like you're a totally different—"
"What's up, losers?" Before Amethyst could finish, a pink filly hopped onto a seat next to Lyra and unapologetically leaned on the table with a heavy sigh. "Sorry about being late. I got into a scuffle at school and Cheerilee made me stay an hour after class, then—" She stopped. All three mares were staring at her, speechless. "What?!" The filly asked in her most annoyed tone of voice.
"Umm, Diamond Tiara?" Fluttershy began. "Why are you here?"
"This is the Midnight table, right?" The filly glanced at Lyra's hat. "So here I am. I don't see what... oooh!" She said, coming to the realization. "Right, right. I'm RRBB. What are your usernames?"
"Brush," Fluttershy said, looking around for a menu.
"This is just wrong!" Amethyst rolled her eyes. "My two favorite authors are Fluttershy and a schoolfilly?"
"Hey, I'll have you know I was chief editor for the school newspaper!" Diamond Tiara grumbled. "And I bet you're MixaMax. You're not nearly nice enough to be LyraHands."
" Lyra also happens to my name," Lyra said with an amused smile.
"Oh. That works too." Diamond Tiara shrugged. "So, what now? We're all here. What do we do?"
"How the hay should I know?" Amethyst started eating her fried petals. "We get a water bottle?"
Get a water bottle, Lyra reminisced. That was probably the most dramatic moment of the afternoon, followed by a series of arguments about the Midnight Castle characters.
"Are you still bringing those stupid handshoes?" Amethyst shouted from the kitchen.
"You know me," Lyra replied, winking to Dinky. "Always crazy. Did you find a sitter for your sis?" The filly narrowed her eyes in the very same fashion Amethyst did. "Or are we bringing her along?"
"She bullied me into it!" A faint sound of sweeping came from the kitchen. "Threatened me with inequine torture if I refused!"
"I told her I'll change her Midnight Castle password," Dinky whispered, a cheeky smile on her face. "She believed me."
Well, aren't you a smart one? Lyra patted the filly on the head. Everything was fair in love, war, and the aethernet. Besides, having Dinky was a good idea. Maybe she'd be able to get Diamond Tiara to feel a little better.
"Well, if you don't hurry up, there will be a whole site of ponies threatening you with torture." Lyra looked at the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes had passed just like that. There was still plenty of time to catch the train, but if Amethyst kept being slow as she was they might as well settle for the afternoon express.
"Sheesh! Some Midnight Castle society this is." A grumble came from the kitchen. "Helping each other, my flank! I'm surrounded my cruel heartless mares who—"
"If we're late Brush will steal all the cute stallions," Lyra cut her short.
The comment did its job. Two grumbles and a chuckle later, the three unicorns were on their way, trotting through the still-empty streets. Ponies clearly liked to enjoy their sleep, even if Ponyville was mostly an agricultural town. It was only when they reached the train station that small crowds of ponies began to appear, slowly building up as the day was about to progress.
"Two and a filly," Lyra said at the ticket booth. "Second class."
"The early train to Canterlot, I take it?" the clerk asked.
"Yes, right." I really need to focus. It's no big deal. "Early train to Canterlot." She levitated fifteen bits towards the clerk. No big deal at all...
"That's a huge deal!" Amethyst said in awe. "Making your own site isn't a trot in the park. Do you know the amount of ponies that register an aethernet site, then abandon it a month later? Seven hundred and twenty-two this month alone. And I'm only talking about Ponyville."
Lyra smirked. The same argument over and over. For almost a year each time she'd float the idea of them making their own fansite—one that wasn't plagued by absurd rules and bad coding—Amethyst would make her reconsider. Actually, that was false. It was Lyra who chickened out, scared by the amount of effort required to set up even the most basic of sites. It was one thing to criticize others, but as she had found out, aether code was extremely difficult. The little she had learned in university barely managed to scratch the surface. However, three hours ago she had finally done it: casting all doubt aside and wasted half her savings on an aethernet domain.
"It really is no big deal. Even Diamond has her own site." Lyra turned to the filly for support. Diamond Tiara looked back, shrugging while drinking a chocolate shake.
"My mom paid for it to be done," she said, once she had halved her drink. "I don't even touch it. Tried to read it once, but quit. It's like the most boring thing ever. My favorite part is logging on under a false name and writing crap. Then I get to watch ponies freak out and try to fix the mess."
"You troll your own site?" Fluttershy giggled. "That's, so... so..." She circled her hoof in the air searching for the appropriate word.
"I know, right?" The filly grinned. "You should try it sometime. It's fun."
"Girls, we're losing focus here!" Amethyst slammed a hoof on the table. "Who's going to code it? No offense, Handy, but you're total crap."
"Hey!" Lyra frowned. "I can do some code."
"'Do' some code?" her friend laughed. "Good thing you're not a writer."
"I can ask Discord if—" Fluttershy began, but instantly stopped. Three pairs of eyes were glaring at her, shouting unequivocally that it was a bad idea. "Or not," she quickly added, attempting to hide her face behind the cup of tea on the table.
"I can handle the nonsense part," Amethyst offered. "Messages, legal documents, making sure everything gets paid on time, taking care of hosting issues, but I can't code. Not something as complicated as this."
"One thing I don't get, why Equestrian Fanfiction?" Diamond Tiara waved her hoof in the air, making a sign to the waitress to give her another drink. "Aren't we focusing on Midnight Castle? That or Mistmount Chronicles would have been much better."
"I tried." Lyra leaned back. "But both were taken. This was the best I could come up with. We'll just call it Equestrian Fanfiction: Midnight Castle."
"Works. Not as catchy, but it works."
"Maybe you can get Minuette or Moondancer to help you out?" Amethyst suggested. "From what I remember they were both great at a-code."
"With their work schedule, I doubt it," Lyra snorted. "Besides, Moony's getting serious with her coltfriend, so I doubt she'll have any time. Pity, since she loves the series. I can ask Minuette, I guess."
"I'm sure it will work out great." Fluttershy flapped her wings. "In no time at all we'll have a site of our own. Then, before we know it the site will grow, we'll become aether-famous celebrities with hundreds of thousands of followers. Even Amethyst, who hasn't posted a story in her life, but keeps criticizing every update I make."
"Well, I wouldn't if you could write worth a broken horseshoe." Amethyst smirked. "Your sensual scenes are beautiful and thought provoking, your dialogue is okay, but everything in-between..." she covered her face with both forehooves.
"Don't you dare insult the all powerful Princess Brush!" Diamond Tiara chuckled. "Brush is love! Brush is life! Brush is so much better than me that I want to eat my hooves! Tell me, Princess, what is your secret?"
"Lots of cuddly animals?" Fluttershy smiled.
"I bet you want a cuddly animal in your life." Amethyst wiggled her eyebrows.
"Amethyst!" The pegasus' face turned pink. "You can't say that in public! Let the other mares have a chance."
Laughter burst around the table. The amount of times the quartet had gathered to discuss their favorite human series had managed to get even a Fluttershy to relax and crack jokes in public. Not the best ones by any stretch of the imagination, but there always was a moment at which she'd drop a gem.
"Would be nice," the pegasus added once the laughter had subsided. "For the site to become popular, I mean. We'll get to meet all sorts of new ponies, read their stories, maybe even organize a convention?"
"Yeah, right." Amethyst snorted. As on the aethernet sites, she kept being the mare contrary of the group. "With cosplayers, and scroll signings, and what have you? Suuure. Lyra's site will become the next Daring Do Central. Just bigger and better."
"It would be nice, though." Lyra sighed. "It doesn't have to be that huge. It just had to amount to something."
"Only good thing about getting the early train—" Amethyst levitated her luggage to the overhead compartment "—we get a whole wagon to ourselves. Go ahead and take a nap, Dink."
"Sis!" The filly groaned. "I'm fifteen! I don't need sleep."
Lyra remained silent, placing her own luggage in the designed areas. Six o'clock. Her enthusiasm had mostly worn off, making it difficult to kept her eyes open. All of the sudden the train’s whistle sounded. Ponies galloped along the platform outside making sure all the passengers had boarded and all the doors were closed.
"All clear!" A loud yell came directly from outside the window next to Lyra. Moments later the train started moving.
"Do you think everypony will show up?" Amethyst yawned, as she took the bench across her sister.
"Hope so," Lyra whispered. She very much wanted everypony to be there, even if she knew it would be impossible. Hopefully, most of them would.
Just a short nap, Lyra thought, the rhythmic rocking of the wagon plunging her to sleep. On the row beside her Dinky and Amethyst had already fallen asleep. Just a few hours. She closed her eyes. The next time she'd open them she'd be in Canterlot, and then the magic would begin.