Lyra Heartstrings - 20th of Solar Dusk, 17 EoHLyra Heartstrings - 20th of Solar Dusk, 17 EoH
11 Forward: Bar & Grill - USS Pheonix
Six months. I’d managed to be mostly okay for six months. Longer than I thought, but not as long as I’d hoped. At least living inside the Emerald Hive was sort of interesting. I’d wanted to get into this particular changeling hive for almost a decade now.
Too bad I got in as a refugee with the rest of Ponyville.
I’d heard that they finally finished the initial decontamination of Ponyville last week. There’d be a few more rounds of clean up, a short wait to see if anything came back, and then the town could start reconstruction. Had it been that bad? I didn’t think it would have taken six months just to do that.
Then again, it wasn’t just the portal to Tartarus which had opened up there. We probably brought a lot of weird stuff back with us when we transported the town back from the dream realm.
Good tactic, Luna. Hide the whole city from the demons within the shadowy place dreams become real.
That sounded sarcastic even in my head. But I didn't mean it that way. It had been a good idea. We saved sixty percent of everypony. Sort of. Lots of them came out different than they went in…
Like Bonbon.
Six months since she’d taken that shot for me. How normal everything had seemed for those first few weeks. Nothing had been wrong at all.
The Nightmare had seen me. It turned, fired two pale blue rays from its eyes. Bonbon jumped to take the shot for me since she was the stronger of the two of us. The beams hit. Nothing seemed to happen. We were confused, drove the Nightmare off, evacuated the Hay Burger. Chakled the weirdness up to being in a world where logic itself could change at random.
If only…
“I need another, please,” I asked the barkeeper while staring at the stainless steel bar top.
I could see my reflection in the shiny metal. The reflection of the whole bar was there. The oval shaped, red and green neon lit, all metal and black vinyl, futuristic themed bar just sort of there. Framing my blank face.
I liked the futuristic look the Emerald Changelings gave their hive. I really did. But I missed the Bronze Star’s rustic theme. Something about the rustic looking wood and leather paneled walls made it feel homey. This felt more like grabbing a drink at one of Vi’s clubs. Not like having a drink at home to calm down.
“I sort of want to cut you off,” the barkeeper, a burgundy colored pegasus (or maybe a shape changed changeling, I couldn’t tell), said hesitantly, ears half drooped. “But, you don’t seem drunk.”
“I’m a vampire. We’re immune to poison. I can’t get drunk,” I mumbled in reply.
“Uh, then why-”
“I’m trying to anyways,” I explained with a weary sigh before he could finish asking.
And bourbon tasted nice when I was sad.
The pegasus shook his head tan mane swishing like he’d walked out of a shampoo commercial. “No. I was going to ask how come you don’t burst into flames in the hallway. We use full spectrum lighting. No different from sunlight,” he corrected.
“It doesn't work like that…” I explained wearily. “Look, if you're curious, ask any of Luna’s other knights. We’re all vampires. They’ll explain. I just want another drink please. I’ve got the money for it.”
The pegasi raised one eyebrow. “Um, I get that Princess Luna is supposed to have a darkness and night theme going for her, but… Really? All of you?” He asked incredulously. “She’s got to have a few hundred knights at her beck and call, and all of you-”
“Princess Luna has six knights. That’s all,” somepony corrected from behind my left shoulder.
Catching sight of Rarity’s reflection in the bar I realized she had decided to speak up for me. She’d gotten the cybernetic parts used to save her life removed a few months ago. Her white coat was back to its old, not-metal, immaculate self.
“And from what I recall, Luna had nothing to do with their status. It was an accident involving some poor word choices and a game of twister. Isn’t that right, darling?” Rarity continued, walking up beside me.
I nodded. “Yeah. It’s a long story. Now can I please get another drink?” I asked looking up at the bartender finally.
Rarity frowned, her eyes narrowing in concern. Her eyes creeped me out a little now. I could see which one was the mechanical one. Not everypony could. It was too close to being organic. Not organic enough, or stylized enough, to not creep me out.
It wouldn’t be an issue if I had normal pony vision. But since I could see the difference…
“Lyra, do you need somepony to talk to?” Rarity asked sympathetically. “Drinking won't solve anything. Especially for you.”
“It tastes nice. And Bonbon always makes me Bourbon Drops for my birthday,” I countered.
Rarity paused, biting her lip in thought. “W-well, I mean, she still can,” she pointed out.
I nodded. “Yeah… If she cares to. Assuming she’s not too busy with what's-his-face,” I sighed, ears wanting to fall further in despair.
The bartender winced, and quickly poured another glass. “I’m sorry. We’ve all gone through one break up before,” he said as she slid the glass over to me with a flick of his hoof.
“I haven’t,” I mumbled.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “You- You’ve never been through a breakup before?”
I shook my head twice. “Nope. Bonbon was the first and only mare to ask me out and we’ve been together since we were seventeen,” I said, trying not to think too hard about the last sixty seven years. “Yep. We were the middle school couple who ‘made it’. Then this horse apples happens…
“Of all the stupid things that could have happened to us in that realm, she gets hit with a hex that makes her straight. Everything we’ve gone through, everything she and I have worked for… All gone.”
“You can’t dispel it?” The Bartender asked with a confused frown.
I closed my eyes tightly for half a minute. Trying not to snap.
“I can. But that’s illegal,” I explained, managing to keep an even tone of voice. “It’s not some mind control charm. She got hit with a spell that changed a fundamental part of her very being in such a way as to make it her ‘natural self’.
“Could I change that with magic? Yes. But that’s a felony. Because it’s mind control. Because her actual normal self changed. She feels normal and comfortable like this. She doesn't want to like me again either, because now she honestly can’t imagine liking mares despite all of her memories still being intact. Just like how she used to not be able to imagine liking a stallion. Complete inversion of her natural state. Nothing I can legally or ethically do.”
I’d woken up to my wife sobbing because she couldn’t love me anymore. That had literally been my worst nightmare since forever.
It had found me…
“I’m sorry,” Rarity said, giving me a quick hug. “I know you’ve probably already thought about this, but why not ask Doctor Lily to-”
“Tried it,” I dismissed.
“Mmm, yes. I figured you would feel uncomfortable being a stallion,” Rarity said with a small nod.
I laughed, actually smiling for a second. I was comfortable being lots of things. I studied transformation magic for fun as a filly and used it now as a means of disguise.
“Oh no, that’ was fine,” I grumbled. “Did that for two months. It didn’t work for her because she always remembered that it was ‘fake’. She used to work for an intelligence agency. Bonbon can’t really ignore little details, you know?
“I could have done it forever if she’d accepted it. No skin off my nose. Tartarus, I spent half a year as a male griffon once, I liked it. I like being other things. To the point of being jealous of changelings. C-could you just leave me alone, please?”
Rarity shook her head. “Leave you alone? Not without at least trying to offer some real help!” She scoffed. “It’s hardly fair that-”
I turned to look Rarity in her eyes. “That you came out of the war with a starship and I lost my wife to a Nightmare that managed to make itself real?” I said flatly with a blank expression.
Her ears drooped sadly. Ah, crap! I didn’t mean it like that.
“Look, Rares, I’m happy for you. I really am. But I’m living through something I’ve woken up in cold sweats before just from dreaming about, okay?” I asked giving her a pleading look. “I kept it cool till now mostly because I thought it would wear off over time. I tried all of the things I could think of. She can’t stay with me. It’s weird for her because of the memories.
“She’s pretty sure we can still be friends. But that’s all. And… I let her go today. I signed the divorce papers. So she can be happy again whenever. I’m worried I’m going to wind up a cliche. The morose vampire in a remote crypt, yearning forever after their lost love… If that happens, stake me. Please.”
Rarity winced. “I um… I’ll go. But please, after you’re done will you come see me? We can talk and hopefully find something to help you get through this,” she asked hopefully.
I nodded. No sense in letting my feeling bad make her feel bad because she couldn’t help. It’s not okay to drag others down with you. Sucks she didn’t care for me enough to agree to do that favor for me though.
“Yeah… Sure,” I agreed with a nod.
Rarity turned to leave, taking a few steps away from me before I remembered something.
I’d never seen Rarity in Ponyville’s bars. Ever. And I spent a lot of time in them playing the lyre for the whole time she’d lived there.
“Wait, Rarity,” I called, noting Rarity stop and turn her head by her reflection in the bar. “Why are you here? I’ve never seen you drink publicly before.”
Rarity pointed to a table a short distance from me where I saw Derpy and Sky sitting, a small number of glasses and bowls littering their table. They had been here for a while and I hadn’t noticed…
“I needed to talk to Sky about an appointment to get my upgrades back,” Rarity explained. “He’s here because he needed a drink.”
I blinked twice, Rarity’s statement breaking through my depression with it’s sheer absurdity.
“YOU, want to get metal body parts, BACK?” I asked, mouth hanging open slightly.
I mean, I would. Because being a cyborg would be badflank! But her? Rarity? Seriously?!
She nodded. “Yes. I think I do at least. Lily…. Well, I’d decided to keep a few things. I didn’t explain that clearly enough and parts were removed which I wanted to keep when Lily healed me. I miss being immune to heart attacks and blood born disease. And well, the overall look could be very striking if more art design had been put into the way the prosthetics looked.”
I cocked my head. “Y-you found being a cyborg to be in vogue?”
Rarity smiled and nodded once. “Exactly! I’m not completely sure I want to go back to that, so I asked Sky about setting up a sort of therapists visit to talk about it. But it will have to wait till after we have Twilight back again.
“That’s a good thing. You don’t want to just dive in to any notion that gets into your head, you know. I’m already quite experienced with major life changes, after all. If the idea hasn’t left my head in a year or two then it’s something to pursue seriously.
“But I still want to know about the technical details of what would be needed to go through with it now. That’s sort of a key part of weighing the decision.”
Rarity finished speaking, frowned, then stepped back over and gave me another hug. “I’m sorry about Bonbon… You will come and talk when you’re up to it, right darling?”
I nodded and returned her hug long enough for Rarity to let go so I could go back to my drink.
“Yeah. I will,” I confirmed.
“Goodbye. I hope you can get through soon,” Rarity said sadly as she trotted away.
“Bye,” I called after her.
Well, at least somepony’s turning point had been positive.
“Hi!” A cheerful voice stated more than exclaimed as Derpy plopped down on the barstool to my right.
I sighed and turned to look the gray pegasus mare in her good eye with as honest and respectful of a gaze as I could. Which is a hard thing for a Lyra to do while irritated.
“Derpy, your table is close enough to overhear me asking Rarity to be left alone to drink in peace,” I said in as polite of a way as I could. “I want to be left alone. You know this.”
She nodded once. “Yep. But I’m not going to do that,” she informed adamantly, her wings twitching slightly. “Because I’ve been hunched over the bar after losing a loved one before. I’ve been you. You need a friend right now even though you feel you don’t.”
“I’m pretty sure I just want to forget…” I countered with an irritated sigh.
Derpy rolled her eyes. In different directions. I couldn’t help but smile. Stupid adorable pegasus.
“You’re drinking a drink which reminds you of something she made you for your birthday as a treat. You’re not drinking to forget. You’re drinking because it hurts,” she pointed out, with a small grin.
“Yeah… But so what? You have to deal with pain somehow,” I countered, swishing my tail in irritation.
“Sure, and for some people drinking a few glasses of something can help. But um, well, you can’t get drunk. You’re just wasting your time and money. Like I did, only without the hangover and vomiting,” Derpy admitted with a silly smile. “It won't work for you. You need a friend, and I know you have a sister, but she’s not here right now. So I’m not going to leave you alone.”
I frowned. Derpy and I had never really known each other that well. Sure, i saw her sometimes around town. I knew of her, who didn’t? But we had never been friends.
“You’ve lost a loved one?” I asked sympathetically. “I’m sorry…When did that happen?”
I didn’t have to say I knew how bad it hurt. I could tell she was being honest. Which meant she’d felt this before too.
“Lots of times,” Derpy sighed. “Most recently when Dinky’s father refused to move in long enough to raise her with me. I didn’t cry over that one since, well, turns out he was a bit of a plot hole. But I’ve lost loved ones who weren't jerks too.
“I spent most of my adult life traveling. Only staying one place long enough to know where to go next. But, well, I can’t NOT make friends. I kinda have a compulsion to help anypony I see who's genuinely sad. Sometimes, you help someone, and they are fun, and nice, and just a bit good looking, you hook up and then you have four wonderful years together-”
I gave Derpy a disgusted look.
“I’m not trying to pick you up,” she explained quickly, giving me a soothing smile.
“Good. I don’t want that,” I grumbled. “I- I know I’ll want somepony later. But not now. Besides, aren't you dating Dusk?”
Derpy shook her head. “No. After four months she decided she wasn’t ready for a serious relationship, and I realized she’s not a suitable mate for me. We’re just friends now,” she said matter of factly. “Though since we do occasionally hook up, a lot of ponies seem to still think we’re a couple. Uh, I guess it also doesn't help that we’re roommates.”
“I thought you said that Dinky’s father was the most recent one,” I asked with one eyebrow raised.
“Most recent lover. As in, somepony I’d been with for a significant amount of time as an official couple. I’ve had plenty of colt and marefriends since then, but none serious,” she explained before her eyes grew distant. “I- I have had serious ones before… And I’ve lost them. I imagine this is worse than when somepony you love dies. Because she’s still there, but out of your reach.”
I blinked, not even remotely having expected the town klutz best known for demolishing the town hall accidently to be this nice a pony. Why were we not already friends?!
She was honestly sad about my situation. She wasn’t sad because I was sad and bringing her down. She actually cared. That was… That was nice. That was what Bonbon had always been like with me.
She’d genuinely cared that I’d been the mopey mare obsessed with fantasy because I was afraid reality had nothing nice for me.
“You know what? I think I do need somepony to talk to,” I decided with a nod. “ Would it be okay to take this someplace private? Maybe a corner table or something?”
She nodded once. “Sure, we can do that. Um... “ Derpy paused, frowning as she looked around the room before giggling. “Actually, we can’t this room is an oval.”
I blinked, looking around myself. Sure enough, the bar was built in a large oval shaped room.
“Well, I look like an idiot,” I sighed, doing my best to avoid slapping a hoof to my forehead.
“I guess we’re doing it here… Do you have any cool vampire ‘quiet bubble’ powers?” Derpy asked playfully.
I rolled my eyes. “No. It thins down with each ‘generation’ away from Vi’s dad, and I was the last one bitten. All I have is the physical enhancements, dietary requirements, and well, bare minimum stuff,” I explained. Again. “Didn’t you read the pamphlets Luna had made when Hollow Shades went public? I don’t think you did, because seriously, NOPONY seems to know what vampires, werewolves, or anything else that lives there can actually do.”
I slumped down in my seat in a huff. It’s like people refused to be educated or something… It would be hilarious if Derpy asked me what would happen if I bit someone and drank enough blood to force them to change, since I was the ‘minimum’ in a diluting curse.
I always loved how ponies reacted to ‘You’d become a batpony, well, basicly. That’s where they came from in the first place, from the first vampire. Wanna be one? Just takes half an hour.’
I could use the laugh.
“I did read it,” Derpy apologised before giving me a quick hug. “I’m sorry for upsetting you. It’s just that there are a LOT of different kinds of vampires.”
“There’s three, and that’s only if you count changelings feeding on psychic energy created by emotions, and wendigos feeding on the heat living beings produce,” I said with an incredulous shake of my head. “How’s that hard to keep track of?”
“Yes, Equis has three kinds of vampire. Possibly four. But that depends on whether or not a particular cryptid is real or not-”
I gasped in honest shock. “You're into cryptozoology too?”
Play it cool and maybe she’ll let you ramble about humans in our distant past for a while and that might make you feel a bit better, Lyra!
Derpy nodded once, her lazy eye synchronizing with her normal one for just a moment. “Yes! But let’s not get off topic,” she urged. “Equis has three kinds, maybe four. That’s easy to keep track of. But do you have any idea why I’m helping with getting Twilight back?”
“Honestly, I have no clue,” I admitted with an embarrassed frown. “No offense, but you’re not an engineer as far as I know. Also, you’re not a unicorn, so the odds of you being a wizard are pretty low, though you could maybe know a few useful spells… As far as I know you’re just a klutzy mailmare who keeps winding up as the Solar Dawn pinup mare in my calendars.”
Derpy blushed lightly. “That’s not me. That’s my friend Clee. I gave her permission to use my shape when she wanted too. I um, I didn’t know she was a model at the time… I’m a bit jealous, actually,” she sighed half upset half amused before smiling and looking into my eyes as best she could manage. “Anywho, I’m here because I have experience in traveling between dimensions! Probably more than anypony else.
“Fun fact, almost every world I’ve ever visited has had vampires. Equis has the three you know. Then the world I grew up on alone has vampires, nosferatu, ghoules, stirges, vrykolakas, dhampir, and Aswang. And that’s all just the standard ‘creatures cursed to drink the blood of the living’. There’s at least fourteen different species which could be described as vampiric, and remember that’s just my own home.
“I’ve got a LOT of vampire types to keep straight in my head. I’m sorry for messing up, it’s a bit hard.”
“I um… I thought you grew up in White Nest? I mean that’s what I heard ponies say,” I mumbled slowly, trying to process the fact that Derpy of all ponies was a cooler adventure than me.
It felt… Weird. I’m Lyra Heartstrings, I’m supposed to out weird others, not be outwierded!
Brain, what do I do!?
Get her to take you someplace so you’re even.
Good idea, brain!
You’re welcome.
Derpy giggled. “I did grow up in White Nest. Just not the one you’re thinking of.”
“Sooo, you lie about your past to everypony then?” I asked sadly.
And here I was starting to like her…
Derpy quickly shook her head no twice. “I’ve actually never lied about anything. They ask where I’m from, I answer ‘a village called White Nest’. They ask what I did with my life, I answer ‘I traveled around looking for the place I was born’. Ponies never really tend to ask things like ‘what universe are you from?’ and if they do the honest answer is ‘This one.’
“I was born here. I just got my cutiemark at age six… Turns out that um, I can sort of just wander off into other universes if I get lost in my imagination. Literally.”
“I figured you were just really good at blowing bubbles,” I admitted sheepishly.
She shook her head no. “Nope. The bubbles represent the boundaries of a universe, and there’s a group of them because I can go between them… But I really hate that method. There’s no picking a destination… It’s made me kinda paranoid about not knowing where I am at a given time… It took a LOT of work to find my way back here.”
“I don’t lie… I just don’t go into detail about myself very much. I’ve always answered direct questions truthfully though. A few ponies know. I’d be totally honest like I was with everywhere else I went, but I wasn’t here because I was enjoying just being a pony up until now.
“That was the entire point of coming here. Live here for a while, learn how my birth species lives, make friends, then go back home one day. If I let everypony know I'm not normal, I’d have wasted the three hundred years I spent looking for Equis,” Derpy explained.
I jumped out of my chair, reflexively landing and balancing atop my hind legs, and pointed a hoof at Derpy.
“Horse apples! You don’t look a day over fifty three!” I protested. “You are NOT at the end of your lifespan.”
She nodded.
She just nodded.
“No. I’m not. We’ve got a lot in common. Not vampirism, but there’s lots of ways you can live longer,” Derpy admitted with a small blush. “I-I think you’d like mine. But that’s not anything I want to get into. And we’re supposed to be talking about you.”
Oh.
I narrowed my eyes in thought. She wasn’t a litch, I’d followed Twilight’s friend Repose around enough to be able to spot them. That left alchemical, technological rejuvenation therapy, consciousness transfers-
Ooooo! Maybe she was an android with an uploaded pony consciousness! That would be so cool! Then we could date and my sister and I would have another thing in common. I could invite Sev to a ‘come up with a better nickname for yourself’ party and be like ‘Look! Twins!’ and she would laugh!
I stopped, letting the bunny trail die. Derpy was right. We were here to talk about my problems.
I sighed and got back onto the barstool I had been using. “I know what my problem is, Derpy,” I stated as clearly as I could. “I- I just don't know how to deal with it. My happiness depends on knowing I mean something special to somepony else. It always has.
“First my parents. Then they became disappointed in me and withdrew from my life a bit and I became this mostly grumpy mare you can see right now. But then I made some friends, and I got a bit happier. Then one of them asked me out and I became borderline hyperactive and upbeat again because I finally meant something special to someone else again.
“But now it’s back to square-”
“Is something wrong with your old friends?” Derpy interrupted with a bemused look on her face.
“Huh?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.
“You just said things got better when you made some friends. You still have those friends, right?” she asked again.
I nodded. “Y-Yeah. And I still love them all, but well, they are kind of a package deal with Bonbon. We ALL go back to school. I’m not going to abandon them, and I’m going to hang out with them and Bonbon once I’m my old self again but… But I can’t hang out with them right now. Because Bonbon is…”
“And that would be too painful right now,” Derpy said with a nod. “What you need to do is make a new friend.”
I blinked, and then facehooved. “Oh, my, Luna! I even SAID that when explaining the-”
Derpy giggled and winked at me with her lazy eye. “Hi, new friend!” She exclaimed with a little wave of her left wing
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well played, Derpy… I guess we are friends. You helped me out of.. This. We both like Cryptozoology, we’re both adventurers, apparently both going to live a long time…
“We’ve got a lot in common. We should work out something to do together. Do you like tabletop roleplaying games? Or maybe we could go camping someplace cool sometime?”
“There we go!” Derpy exclaimed with a bright smile. “Now you’ve got the motivation needed to do something productive instead of just being sad. I’m really busy helping Sky and Ay right now, but I’ll happily do something with you when I can!”
I smirked and shook my head slowly. “Yeah, I guess I do! What are the odds you have something I could help with? You know. With that whole ‘find Twilight’ thing,” I wondered aloud.
Derpy scratched the back of her head with one hoof. “W-well, not really. The only problem I have right now is trying to help find a way to prevent an object from being ripped apart when passing through an energy field because of small scale differences in time dilation at random points within the field.”
“Wait, what?” I asked my eyes widening slightly.
“That’s why we haven’t gotten Twilight back yet,” Derpy explained with a sad sigh. “The portal we’ve made-”
“Is Kenji-Samo’s Ethereal Blanket not working?” I asked as my lips twisting into a frown.
Derpy blinked. “Um…”
I facehooved. Lyra, you’re an idiot. That spell is common in one nation on the other side of the world, and you only learned it by befriending that cute mare who deserted the Yakuza.
Obscure neighponese spell is obscure!
“I know a spell meant to protect against a fairly common ray spell used in neighpone which has that same effect. I learned it when Luna sent us to Neighpone because I was afraid we’d fight ninjas. It’s called Kenji-Samo’s Ethereal Blanket,” I explained. “I can’t cast it on something the size of a pony, but I’m certain a better mage could. I can write it down for-”
Derpy jumped up from the table, her forehooves slamming into the table hard enough to simply rip two sections out of the metal.
While I stood staring a that freakish display of strength, immediately understanding why she had a reputation for being a super destructive klutz, Derpy shouted across the bar to Sky.
“SKY! SHE KNOWS A SPELL THAT DOES THE EXACT THING WE NEED!” Derpy proclaimed urgently.
Oh, no! I felt my heart skip a beat as my ears fell and eyes widened. They were about to be REALLY disappointed!
“Wai-” I began.
Sky almost knocked over his chair as he jumped up and almost flew over to me.
“Do you really know a spell which can compensate for a random pattern of mismatched time-dilation because we were in here drinking because we determined that coming up with an algorithm to compensate for that effect at the portal’s side would take six years of computational time on a Luna damned Matrioshka Brain!” Sky beg-explained, his words blurring together almost exactly the same way Pinkie’s did when she was excited.
I held up my hooves defensively. “I um, well, let’s make absolutely sure that we’re all on the same page,” I began slowly, trying my best not to stammer nervously.
I didn’t want to upset the guy who kept my temporary home running…
“When you say ‘mismatched time-dilation’, do you mean that bits and pieces of the thing start moving at different speeds relative to each other?” I asked.
Sky nodded. “Yes, well, no. They all experience time at a slightly different clock rate and so they rip apart,” he elaborated.
I nodded, a little hope starting to build. “Okay, then I do know a spell which prevents that-”
“YES!” Sky and Derpy exclaimed in unison, turning to give eachother a high hoof.
“- but I am totally crap at casting it.” I finished.
“How ‘crap’?” Derpy asked, her delighted smile fading slightly.
“It’s a Fifth Tier spell, that’s as advanced as I can comprehend. And it’s a complex spell for the Fifth Tier. The best I can do is cast it on a small object. I have absolutely no chance of applying it to a shield spell, or anything big enough to contain a pony. Or even a loaf of bread,” I admitted with a shy blush.
Sky blinked once and gave me a look. I couldn’t read it. Was he experiencing some kind of whiplash? We had been frenemies for ages since I kept pestering him about making me a cybernetic human suit… And sort of never thanked him for what he did wind up making because it wasn’t what I asked for….
So I was basically being an ass to him again now.
Great…
“How big of an object can you cast it on?” Sky asked matter of factly.
“I was able to cast it successfully once on a small brass plate the size of a standard envelope,” I answered, shuffling my hooves slightly. “I used that plate as a physical shield to block the ‘disintegration’ spell cast at me at the time. I can’t go into details. That operation is classified.”
“How complex can the item be? Is that a limit?” Sky asked again, his look shifting to a thoughtful one.
“Pretty simple. No moving parts. And the less mass the better,” I answered again.
I sighed nervously. “I um, Sky?” I asked with an apologetic dip of my head. “I’m sorry for the last few years.”
“About what?” Sky asked raising an eyebrow.
Not in confusion, not completely. More of a surprised satisfaction.
“For not thanking you for making me that exoskeleton to help me learn to walk upright. It wasn’t what I wanted, and that made me upset. But it did help me out a lot. I learned what I needed to do to make a transformation spell to allow me to stand up on my own with it.Thank you,” I said, trying to hold back a long sigh. “I- I don’t want you mad at me for two things at the same time. I mean, I can’t exactly help you here.”
Sky facehooved. “Lyra, the suit became a game to me. You’d complain, I’d counter, and we’d see who's stubborn wore off first. It was a bit fun. I’ll make you what you wanted now that you’ve apologised,” Sky informed as he drug his hoof down the side of his face. “Oh and by the way…”
Sky paused to take a deep breath. “You just said you could shield things the size of an envelope, you silly filly! You have the power to allow us to send test samples to find Twilight, and once we found her, you have the power to let everypony who misses her send her letters. That alone is a HUGE deal, but if you show my sister how that spell works I guarantee she can make a device to shield anything we need! So, are you going to help?”
WOW!
My eyes widened in shock. Clearly, while depressed, I was a pretty dense pony. I absolutely COULD send letters safely!
“Yes! Absolutely,” I agreed instantly. “Why would I NOT help Twilight? All of Ponyville owes her at least twenty favors!”
Sky smiled in relief and delight, his wings doing a bit of a happy flutter. “Awesome. Welcome to Project Lavender, Sir Lyra, Slayer of Roadblocks. Congratulations! A reward is in order, name it!”
I blinked twice. “Um, you already said you were going to-”
“Yeah, I’ll make it. That’s a separate thing. I like making things. Lyra, you have NO IDEA how much work that spell will save us. Decades, Lyra. Literally Decades. I have the data. I know what’s needed to find the pattern in that data. Building a powerful enough computer alone…” Sky trailed off, shaking his head slowly. “Just name something!”
I paused, mulling it over for a few minutes as I rubbed my chin with a hoof.
At the moment, there was only one thing I wanted. At least, one thing I wanted which wasn’t extremely unethical and probably very unhealthy to dwell on.
I looked over to Derpy and smiled politely. “Well… After Twilight’s safely home again, I’m kinda just a bit jealous that my sister got to live in another universe, and do all that traveling around. How about you take me some place cool? Preferably somewhere we can get up to some shenanigans, have a bit of an adventure. Something to help me… Move on.” I asked hopefully.
Derpy blinked in surprise. “Oh! Well, s-sure. I could do that,” she agreed with a nod.
“Sweet!” I exclaimed with the biggest grin I’d had in months. “Oh hey, we should go round everypony up and get them to write letters.”
Sky shook his head. “We need to confirm that it will work first. I trust you, but before we stir up everyone’s hopes…”
I nodded. “Right, right! Sorry. Kinda not thinking too well right now. Pretty depressed.”
“Science can be a pretty good distraction,” Sky suggested poignantly.
“Yep. It can be…” I leapt upwards, standing on my rear hooves in order to thrust my left hoof up in the air dramatically. “TO THE LABORATOR- WOAH!”
I yelped as I tottered backward, having leaned to the left too much, crashing to the floor in a heap.
“Ow,” I said reflexively, even though it didn’t hurt at all.
Sky nodded solemnly. “Bio-suit Build Log: The suit will need a robust self-balancing system,” he noted.
I smirked to mask my embarrassment. “It’s the booze! I swear!”
Central Operations Facility - The Observatory
Epoch 19005184082
Director Red hunched over his desk, alone in his darkly lit laboratory. The only source of light came from the dim sun’s light streaming through a foot thick sheet of transparent aluminum set in the laboratory's ceiling. Even then, the only reason light came into the room at all was due to that particular window’s broken shutters.
The intention of this darkness was not to create a gloomy mood, nor in morning for some lost friend or tragedy. No. It was purposeful. The darkness carefully arranged to facilitate the replication of tiny biomechanical robots whose purpose could only be said to involve SCIENCE!
And the director’s personal hobbies.
Red glanced over his shoulder, looking away from the dimly lit display projected above his desk to the large hexagonal tank atop a lab table behind him. Or rather at the blanket thrown over it to block out the light the window let in.
The tiny machines he was growing were extremely sensitive to photons of almost any energy level, and as this was a personal project, he couldn’t exactly requisition the proper equipment to grow them in complete darkness.
The blanket remained trapped over the tank, blocking out as much light as possible. It had not moved.
“Good,” Red said happily to himself, turning back to the white holo display.
Project InfiniBrew was proceeding just as he expect-
The room’s darkness crumbled under the bright blue-white light of a holographic projection composed of random ever shifting geometric vector shapes flaring to life. Red’s display flashed a series of warnings as the sudden surge of photons overwhelmed the delicate machines, destroying their organic components in a heartbeat. Red’s internal scream of rage echoed through the halls of his mind like the roar of a mythical beast.
“Red, there has been an import-” Blue tried to warn, the AI’s voice holding a high level of worry.
“Blue, I’m off work,” Red sighed, internalizing his anger at his plans to make a mug which converted atmospheric gasses into beer having just gone up in a flash of light. “You just destroyed three months of excruciating work!”
“That is irrelevant,” Blue dismissed. “We have received a large number of correspondence from the alien homeworld intended for our most recent anomalous specimen. I do not know whether or not we should forward them to her within the system.
“This violates the regulations regarding contraband, however the individual is not a prisoner. While not written within the regulations, this seems like a place there would be a legal exception. However, Green is out of system speaking at a board hearing.
“You are the only human Director within reach. I am not authorized to make a decision regarding this matter. You are required by company regulation twenty eight to make the decision on the Company’s behalf.”
Red nodded, closing his eyes before rubbing them with a thumb and forefinger for a moment. “Well… It’s pretty rude to not deliver mail to a tenant. We’ll pass it along to her,” he decided with little thought. “BUT, the board will kill me if we don’t use this opportunity to gather some intelligence on their culture and species. Bring the letters here, I’ll scan them and forward translations to them.”
Blue’s geometric patterns shifted oddly, as if expressing an emotion. “Odd. You are normally more ethical than I am required to be,” she remarked.
“I’m still being ethical here,” Red countered, holding up one hand objectionantly. “If we ever want to get them out of this legal hell our government has to know what kind of government they have so we can even start thinking about trying some diplomatic arrangements.
“Hell, we don’t even know if they are really just getting lost by accident. Sure, Nyota was, but what about Star, Clover, or Twilight? I know what we believe, but half the board is convinced that the aliens discovered our prison system and are sending us their prisoners, and the other half assumes this is an attempt at diplomatic contact gone horribly wrong simply because they have no idea what these stations are.
“We NEED to give them enough information to learn the truth. Otherwise, they will just debate this matter till they get bored and everyone in there is just forgotten about when the next big thing comes about.
“Besides, this is a prison. I’m certain that Twilight’s people read inbound mail at prisons before passing it on too. We’re just following existing procedures here. But for a different reason. Go ahead and teleport the letters to my desk. I improved my translator so we should get more precision in the wording. Their language is more context based than ours. It can lead to errors.”
“I wasn’t objecting to your course of action, Red,” Blue stated flatly. “I was expressing interest in the apparent anomalous nature of your response. One moment…”
Another flash of blue light illuminated the room, doubtlessly killing the one or two stray microscopic cyborgs which had survived the previous illumination armageddon. The light cleared, revealing a fairly large metal box, its top open, revealing an unbelievably large selection of letters and perhaps most unbelievably, parchment scrolls.
“Huh,” Red mused, reaching out to pick one of the scrolls up, and turning it in his hands to examine it. “Why are they still using parchment? Nyota demonstrates an exceptional knowledge of mechanical systems… Woah, is… Yeah this is a wax seal. What is this? Records of some fantasy roleplaying games she’s missed?”
“I don’t know. I am incapable of reading their language,” Blue reminded.
“Sorry, I’ll get the files off my personal network for you soon,” Red put the scroll down and picked the first letter from the box, setting it face down on his desk beneath a small silver armature. “Computer: Scan contents and record all text. Forward text through Translation Function Five.”
The two directors waited for the translation to finish, peering closely at the computer’s output…
Dear Twilight,
I am so relieved to finally see progress on our attempts to get you back home. Sky assures me this letter can reach you, and that we will be able to send a team of ponies through in a month, two at the most.
I wish your return home could be nothing but celebration. While there will be a party upon your return, there is also quite a bit of work that I need help with. Equestria has been suffering without her youngest Princess…
Red grew pale as his soul snapped like a Twix bar.
“THEY’RE A MONARCHY!” He shouted in terror, turning to stare into the projector Blue was using. “BLUE! THEY ARE A MONARCHY AND WE HAVE THEIR GODDAMN PRINCESS IN A PRISON FULL OF MONSTERS!”
“I hope they wont see our altering her form as an act of war,” Blue said with almost no real worry.
Red’s eyes widened as he realized that exact thing was not only possible, but probable given the nature of most historical kingdoms. At any moment, a military detachment would arrive to retrieve the lost princess. A group of trained warriors, armed and armored for war. Their equipment produced by a race of actual space wizards whose leader he had heard could casually move stars with but a thought.
“PANTS TO BE DARKENED!” Red yelped as he sprinted for his communicator to call the Board.
Twilight - Day 15
The Machine Shop, South Jungle - The Island
“Okay, I think I’m starting to get it,” I said to Nyota while looking over the map she’d drawn of the Broodmother’s den. “What I do is run from the teleport pad to here, take one shot at her, and then immediately jog backwards to here, then around the rim of this gorge to this exact rock. Right?”
Nyota nodded, flashing me one of those extra-affectionate smiles she’d been giving me ever since I’d come back from the volcano on my own. I was still processing exactly what to think of somepony who found me attractive for my accomplishments. I was pretty certain that I liked it… But still…
“Yes. She’s a brute, but not very smart. If you stand there, she think’s she can reach you, but can’t and will fall right into the gorge. She’ll think she can climb the side, but she can’t because she’s too massive for a spider to even have a hope of clinging to the sides of things. So she’ll just scuttle there and try to spit venom at you, but can’t hit you because her head doesn't tilt back far enough, she can only hit the underside of the rock,” Nyota reminded.
I could think of love life stuff later. Right now I had to memorize her method for killing the first of the ARK’s Apex Predators. If I didn’t I couldn’t use Nyota’s tek equipment, nor could I use the advanced armor until I’d beaten all of them. Which unfortunately prevented Nyota from making me anything more advanced than modern tactical armor.
“That doesn't seem very sporting,” I mildly objected, running a hand over my chin in thought.
“It’s not. But if you want the proper challenge, we can do it after I’ve got you properly equipped. We need to do this fast, Charlie’s pissed and if she launches a full scale attack… I don't have any attack Dinos. Everything On Ragnarok. I need your help,” she sighed.
I nodded, opening my mouth to reply when someone pounded against the nano-weave door urgently.
“Nye! Nye open up!” A voice I recognised as Camo shouted urgently.
Nyota frowned, looking up in surprise before quickly moving to the window next to the door and opening that instead, peeking out quickly to check before opening the main door.
The golden hex-tiles dissolved, revealing Camo standing in the doorway, a large shiny steel box big enough for a pair of winter boots held in his arms, still dressed in that leaf-outfit. I knew what those were called now, but the name escaped me at the moment.
“Hey, long time no see,” Nyota greeted with a smile.
“Later!” Camo practically yelped, rushing over to me and setting the box on the desk.
I blinked in surprise, noticing the box to be full of scrolls and letters. Bearing Celestia’s personal crest.
“Hello, your Majesty,” Camo greeted worriedly. “I am extremely sorry about literally everything, here’s your mail. It just arrived. Your mother’s letter says they should be able to retrieve you in a month or two.
“I’m trying to get you better accommodations but the board is completely against me. Things are really hectic right now. Please put in a good word for me with your guards when they get here! I’m just a geneticist! Bye!”
Before I could say anything, he sprinted out of the garage, vaulting over the porch railings and vanishing out of view behind the wall.
“Umm… Well, I guess they found out you're a princess finally,” Nyota remarked, smirking a little.
“D- Does he think Equestria would declare war over this, or something?” I asked myself, biting my lip to hold in a laugh.
Oh please! Like Celestia would be upset that employees had to do their jobs and politicians were locked up by paperwork and the law.
Okay, well, maybe a bit. But she wouldn’t launch an invasion or anything.
Wait a second! “He said they’ll be here in a month or two!” I exclaimed excitedly.
Nyota blinked. “By the gods, so he did!”
“I need to confirm this,” I decided, reaching into the box and taking out the loose letter on top of the pile.
It had Celestia’s seal on it, and being on top of a whole box of letters and scrolls it had to be the ‘introductory letter’. If I knew Celestia, those scrolls were probably pre-prepared spells ready to go with just a bit of activation energy. She’d want to send me supplies.
Opening the letter I unfolded it and begun to read.
Dear Twilight,
I am so relieved to finally see progress on our attempts to get you back home. Sky assures me this letter can reach you, and that we will be able to send a team of ponies through in a month, two at the most.
I wish your return home could be nothing but celebration. While there will be a party upon your return, there is also quite a bit of work that I need help with. Equestria has been suffering without her youngest Princess…
I sputtered, almost dropping the letter.
“What is it?” Nypota asked worriedly, looking back as she closed the door.
“There’s a temporal mismatch between this place and Equestria!” I exclaimed in dread. “One day here is… About ten days there if my math’s right. It’s been six months back home. But only fifteen here.”
Nyota’s ears drooped immediately. “O-Oh… Oh no…” She whispered.
I frowned wondering why she was looking like someone just ripped out her so-
“Nye… How long have you been here for? Please tell me,” I asked as politely as I could, concern bleeding through with my expression.
“T-three hundred and sixteen Equestrian years…” She mumbled, falling down into a sitting position next to the door.
I quickly covered my mouth to keep the shocked gasp in. Nyota had been here that long… Which meant if she went back home, over three thousand years would have passed for her there. Her entire world was long since unrecognizable to her.
I walked across the garage and sat down next to the emotionally destroyed zebra and gave her a tight hug.
“It’s okay…” I whispered. “It's alright. When this is all over, you'll come with me, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied quietly after a few long moments.
“Now… I hate to be rude, but we need to get those Apex creatures over with really quick,” I said as I stood up, gently pulling Nyota back onto her feet.
“W-why?” she asked with a confused frown. “Charlie’s not going to attack for at least three days.”
“Forget that,” I said with a dismissive hoof wave. “One day here is ten back home. They said a month or two. I have two and a half days at the minimum to find Star and Clover, and I’m NOT going to leave here without at least talking to my probable parents!”
Optimally, I’d take them back with me. That would definitely make the war a massive victory for Equestria. Also, they could definitely handle whatever trouble Celestia had been talking about.
Because after this, Nyota and I deserved a vacation.