//------------------------------// // 7. The Day After // Story: Equestrian Fanfiction: The Meet-up // by Lise //------------------------------// If there is ever another meet-up, I’m officially banning confetti! Lyra paused to get some rest. Last night had been one crazy party, apparently. Lyra had only lasted for half an hour before retiring with BonBon, just as things were getting crazy. Up until then there were no toppled tables, the human cakes were mostly untouched, and the balloons were in their rightful places. Now, when Lyra had arrived, half the tables were wrong side up, half the dishes were scattered everywhere, not to mention the floor had been covered in a sea of balloons and confetti. It had taken her half an hour and nearly all her magic to reduce the mess to a more manageable quantity. At least I’ll have everything cleaned up by noon. Lyra sighed. The event over, the reality of everyday life had started leaking in. Small things, trivial things that reminded her that the meet-up magic had started to fade. BonBon had already left when she woke up, leaving a note that her work needed her, along with what could pass as a kiss impression on the bottom of the note. At least we’ll have tonight to ourselves. Until then I better clean up this place. “Morning, Lyra.” Amethyst entered with a yawn. “Didn’t expect to see you this early.” “It’s an hour to noon,” Lyra said, levitating the confetti off another patch of floor. “Is your sis okay? She was quite down last night.” “Haven’t seen her yet, but I’m sure she’s fine. The foals were playing human piñata when I went to bed.” “Oh, Stars!” Lyra winced. Apparently, Pinkie had worse ideas than human cake. “What in Equestria was Pinkie thinking?! Who in her right mind would—“ She stopped. Only now, for the first time she saw the state her friend was in. Amethyst’s mane was such a mess that it would make a whole block of manestylists faint. And that wasn’t the weirdest thing. “Ammy, what did you do?” Lyra glared at her. “What?” Amethyst shrugged. “I’m not even awake and you’re already accusing me of—“ “Ammy, you’re floating!” Lyra cut her short. “One hoof above the ground!” There was a long silence. The two looked at each other, until Amethyst slowly lowered herself onto the floor. Even so, the giant grin didn’t leave her face. A purple tint flushed over her cheeks. “Ammy!” Lyra broke the silence. “He’s still in college! What were you thinking?” “It’s not like I planned this!” Amethyst said, gathering some confetti from the floor in front of her. “And trust me, he was more than willing. You won’t believe how different he is in real life.” Having in mind you thought Jade was a mare, I won’t argue with that. Lyra snorted. As much as she tried to be indignant, she was happy for her friend. So much time had passed, she didn’t imagine Amethyst would ever find somepony. The whole idea Fluttershy had come up with was more on the comical side, yet it had somehow worked. An unadulterated miracle. Good luck, Ammy. I just hope your sister is as fortunate. Both unicorns focused on cleaning. There were tables to be rearranged, shelves adjusted, plates gathered, confetti found. Every now and again, Amethyst would start a sentence, only to stop midway and move to another part of the room. After five minutes Lyra could take it no more. “Fine,” Lyra relented. “You can boast about it. If it’s only to keep you from glowing again.” “He was incredible!” Amethyst rushed to her. “And, trust me I know how cliche that is, but he really, really is. It’s like he’s on a whole different level. All it took was a few minutes talking to each other and we clicked.” She clopped her forehooves together. “Princess. He called me Princess.” Amethyst giggled. “Like a shy collegecolt, he came to me to the train station and started talking about his feelings before I could interrupt. Well, I might have chosen not to.” I bet. Lyra gave her friend a disapproving glare. “You can’t blame me, though. I did tell him I wasn’t Twilight... after we chatted for a bit. Remember how they describe stallions in romance novels?” Amethyst asked, to which Lyra nodded. “That’s what he’s like. And apparently I can be quite the sensitive mare when not shouting on the site. So we’re just perfect together.” “I saw you do more than just talk last night, Ammy...” “It’s like he’s a crystal doll. Delicate as a pegasus and sparkly as a crystal pony. You know, I’m so glad you made the site!” The statement didn’t make sense, but Lyra nodded nonetheless. A while back she felt exactly the same way. Did she change her mind? Lyra shivered Should I change my mind? She paced to and fro in the room. Right now she couldn’t tell if she was moving too fast or too slow. This was such a giant step she was taking, that she felt completely unprepared for it. Calm. I must remain calm, Lyra told herself. Everything was fine. They had known each other with Vinyl for a while. Lyra had shared her deepest, darkest secret and Vinyl hadn’t seen in the least bothered. What was more she had even taken it as invitation to flirt. Now, however, things would go beyond flirting. They had rented their very own cottage at the edge of Canterlot for a week. Lyra felt so embarrassed she had nearly changed her mind twice. The old-fashioned clock in the cabin showed thirty-seven past two. Vinyl was more than half an hour late. Usually, that wouldn’t be an issue. Wild as she was, the blue-maned unicorn had never been on time in her life. Today, though, questions floated in Lyra’s fearful mind. What if flirting and a few kisses were all that Vinyl wanted? What if she didn’t want to get tied down in a relationship? What if— A bubble of white light popped in the corner of the room. Any words Lyra had were kicked out of her like an apple tree in harvest season, at the sight of what had just appeared. The mare expected—or rather hoped—that Vinyl would show up, but never dreamt she would witness such a transformation. Vinyl’s coat was so white it sparkled in the sunlight. Her mane, usually wild and unwieldy, was flawlessly styled in dozens of small braids that went to her back. Even the ever present glasses were gone, revealing the most magnificent of purple eyes. Lyra could feel her pulse rush as her heart thumped in her throat. “Vinyl...” Lyra gasped. “You can teleport?” Idiot! Lyra’s face turned red with shame. There were hundreds of ways for her to respond such a sight and she had made a comment about magic? “Sorta.” Vinyl winked. “Rich family, remember? Plus I know somepony who owes me a few favors, so he did it for me.” She trotted to Lyra and, without warning, pecked her on her cheek. “Sorry about being late. I know what a big deal this so for you, so I thought I’d get changed a bit.” “Well... I... you...” Words had trouble forming. Lyra wanted to say how much this meant to her, how special Vinyl made her feel. Instead, she could only stand there, trying desperately to form a sentence. As she tried to calm down, she noticed Vinyl shiver. It wasn’t much, just a slight movement of the rear leg, but it seemed like a yell. You’re nervous, Lyra thought. You’re as nervous as I am and you still came? “It’s okay,” Lyra whispered, wrapping her forelegs around Vinyl in a tight hug. “You’re here.” Vinyl didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to. Lyra could feel the warm sensation enveloping her, lifting her of the floor. A feeling indescribable by words, warmer than the sun, fluffier than clouds, only surpassed by the emotion she went upon noticing it wasn’t one force, but two keeping her in the air. It wasn’t only her, floating, Vinyl was as well. “W-what do you want me to do now?” Vinyl asked, voice shivering, her cockiness completely gone. “Just hold me,” Lyra whispered, tightening her hug. “Just hold me. The next would come later.” The rest would come later. Lyra smiled. And it had. Their first night had been so intense, Lyra had remained floating for almost an hour after. Amethyst had gone through a similar experience by the sound of it. No matter what they tried to talk about, the conversation inadvertently returned to Jade. And once more, the only thing Lyra could think of was guess Jade must remove the Evervirgin part of his nick. “Wow, you certainly are early!” Fleetfoot flew in. She was followed by all the Nightling Wonderbolts. One by one then landed in a clean spot of the room, looking critically around. “Captain ordered us to help clean up before practice today,” Fleetfoot added. “And, of course, she went off with Blue!” Soarin grumbled. “She could at least pretend she was of to do some work. Like that she needed to check the weather preparations, defrost a cloud, or something.” He snorted. “And what are you smiling at?” She glared at Amethyst. “Seriously, you need to grow up, Max! Stars, sometimes I honestly think your sister is the mature one.” If only you knew. Lyra shook her head with a smile. “Oh, and in case there’s any doubt, I received a message that Pinkie Pie is off to organize another party and wouldn’t be here to help with the cleaning.” Soarin picked a paper cap from the floor with his hoof. “She has graciously allowed her ‘assistance’ to help, though.” Lyra laughed. “You’re just being bitter because she kept telling you about party stuff all night.” “Well, if one unnamed organizer hadn’t sacrificed me to the party demon, maybe I wouldn’t be as bitter.” Soarin glared at her. “Besides what do you know? You went to bed early. The things I’ve seen afterwards... even Danny would have had trouble surviving that.” “Ignore him.” Fleetfoot flapped her wings, thrusting a wave of confetti toward the edges of the room. “It was just a few remarks between captain and Derpy. If you listen to him, you’d think they had started fighting in the room, which would have made far less a mess, if you ask me. Still, it was awkward having them at the same event, even after all this time. Good thing that Derpy has calmed down since.” “Yeah.” Lyra thought of her breakup with Vinyl. “Good thing.” The cleaning continued in full force. Everypony focused on the task of getting the room back to its former state. Every ten minutes a new pony would appear, and stop work for half that long. First was Twilight, who had apparently spent most of the night working on shipping theories to argue her case. Next arrived Fluttershy and Goldenboy, fortunately out of humieware, along with Moondancer and Sunburst. The two couples had spend their breakfast at Gustave Le Grand’s pastry shop, and had brought a few boxes of fresh eclairs to share with everypony. The foal menagerie arrived at the same time, loudly arguing about Midnight Castle inconsistencies and the like. The only filly silent was Dinky, who quietly went to a distant corner and started cleaning. Lyra’s heart sank. There had been no miracles for the young unicorn, it seemed. Once the event was officially over, and they had returned to Ponyville, Lyra was going to have a long talk with Dinky about life. Diamond Tiara, on the other hand, seemed far happier, constantly keeping suspiciously close to Scootaloo. Jade appeared slightly later, keeping a deliberate distance between himself and Amethyst. Not that the mare mattered. She was so engaged right now that breathing the same air as him was enough to return the smile on her face. A few times she’d “accidentally” wander nearby, just to engage in small talk, before moving close to Lyra once more. Minuette And Derpy were the last to arrive. Exhausted from their involvement in the party events the previous night, they wobbled about like zombieponies, doing their best to remain upright. On occasion somepony would turn then in a new direction, and let them roam in a clean part of the room. It was obvious to everypony that once the room was fully cleaned, the event would come to an end. There would be a few photos, lots of hugs, plenty of goodbyes, then everyone would go back from they came from. Lyra’s ears flattened. She didn’t want the magic to end. Despite the difficulties and the few moments of drama, this had been the best experience she’d ever had. She didn’t want the magic to end. If only this could continue for another week, or even one more day. There were so many things they could talk about, so much fun they could have, instead of returning to their painful reality. Lyra sighed. The entire floor was clean. The tables were grouped near the entrance, ready to be taken away. Hours after they had started, the annoying confetti fragments had been gathered and swept away. The only thing that remained was to take down the decorations from the walls and ceiling and— “Excuse me,” a male voice said in a Trottingham accent. “Do you happen to be Lyra Heartstrings?” Lyra looked up. A white-maned unicorn stallion was standing at the entrance, looking at her expectantly. Beside him was a colt of fifteen, his coat and mane of nearly identical colors. Both remained on the threshold, almost as if not daring to continue. What mess up did we do now? Lyra bit her lip. She glanced around. Most of the others had gathered at one spot and were sharing inside jokes from last night. A few—such as Amethyst and Twilight—were finishing with the cleaning, focusing on the minuscule things that nopony else would bother with. Here goes nothing. “Yes, that’s me.” Lyra flashed her most polite smile and trotted towards the stallion. “How can I help?” “Oh, my apologies. I’m Morning Light, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The stallion bowed. “And this is my son, Cloudmane.” “Hello, Miss.” The colt nodded in turn. Son? Lyra thought. Mixed families weren’t as common in Canterlot as elsewhere. Personally she didn’t know any unicorn that had an Earth pony child, but looking at the common features between the two she could see the family resemblance. “The pleasure is entirely mine.” Lyra’s Canterlotean manners kicked in. “I do hope that everything is alright.” “Oh, it most certainly is, even if we had a bit of an adventure getting here. The weather patterns near Canterlot were a bit of a surprise. I thought rain was scheduled for the city, not around it” “Oh.” Ooops. And of course Prince Blueblood isn’t here to provide an explanation. “It happens at times.” “You don’t recognize me, do you?” The stallion smiled. “Err, Maybe?” Lyra tilted her head slightly. “Was it during a rehearsal at the Conservatory?” Morning Light shook his head. “What about...” her words trailed off, as she tried to think of where she possibly could have met anypony with a Trottingham accent. “Maybe...” “I’m the TechNightling,” the stallion said. “Tech?” The word hit Lyra like a brick. There was confusion, followed by an instant of disbelief. For several seconds she stared forward, looking but not seeing, until her mind clicked. “Tech!” Lyra glanced him all over. “Oh my stars!” She gave him a sudden hug, then noticing his discomfort let go and moved back. “I’m so glad you’re here! Didn’t you say you wouldn’t make it?” “Yes, that was the initial belief.” Morning said with a slight cough. “However, after considering the likelihood of such an event taking place again, I decided to do my best. And there was also the matter of my son moping.” “Oh? He’s a fan as well?” “You could say that.” The stallion chuckled. “He’s DannyFan.” “DannyFan is your son!?” Lyra shouted in disbelief. In an instant all eyes and ears turned to her direction. There was a moment’s pause, after which everypony rushed towards Lyra and the newcomers. “Girls, this is Tech!” she announced loudly. “Our Tech!” “I’m here too, you know,” Cloudmane tried to say, his voice drowned by the sudden commotion. “You’re the evil mod?” Diamond Tiara squinted. “I thought you’d be taller.” “Height isn’t everything, filly.” Amethyst scoffed. “Hey, I’m MixaMax. Why so late? I mean I’ve heard of fashionably late, but you missed the entire thing!” “Ah.” Morning nodded. “Quite true. To be honest we weren’t sure we’d make it at all. It was a sort of last moment thing.” “Well, I’m definitely glad you did!” Lyra felt herself being pushed aside by the mass of ponies. “And you were even lucky enough to miss the human cakes.” “Human... cakes?” Morning blinked. “It’s better you don’t know.” The noise level increased. Feeling the last moments of the meet-up approach, everypony spoke over one another, trying to get in a few words with TechNightling and his son. Events of last name were hastily retold, injustices on the site were mentioned. What was to be a gradual parting quickly turned into a whirlpool of activity, like the last gasp of a fire before it went out. Five minutes turned into ten, then half an hour, with no end in sight. Stars damn it! Lyra sighed. Her train was leaving in twenty minutes and as much as she wanted she couldn’t afford to miss it. If there was a spell for her to stretch time, Lyra would definitely cast it, regardless of the consequences. Unfortunately, there wasn’t. All she could do was wish her friends and fellow Nightlings goodbye and talk to them again on the site. However, before she did that there was one thing in her power to do. “Everypony!” she shouted, her voice ringing through the room. “Gather round so we can take a group photo!” Tears started gathering in her eyes. “Let’s make this meet-up last forever!” Let it keep us going on.