When she went back to Canterlot to meet her old friends, Twilight hoped that Lyra would be there as well. Unfortunately, she wasn't, but Twilight still wanted to meet her again. It's very important that she does. You see, they had something going on between each other, something extraordinary. But circumstances prevented that from ever happening.
No matter, those circumstances did lead to Twilight and her newfound friends saving Equestria. A valid reason to sacrifice a relationship, except there was no real need to do that. It was more like an unfortunate manifestation of some serious personal flaws.
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Twilight couldn’t sleep one night. Her eyelids just simply refused to stay closed long enough for her to fall asleep. After tossing and turning for a while, she decided to not bother, as she now spent actual effort into it, which as we all know, never works. She took a completely random book off the shelf and went out to the balcony. “Complete History of Confectionery.” Perfect. She sat down under the stars, surrounded by the chirring of the crickets and began reading.
But faintly, among the insects of the night, a different music could be heard. A more harmonious, but at the same time, rhythmically complex kind of music. It was quiet, but Twilight could recognize the sound of the instrument, because she has heard it many times before. It was the sound of a lyre. And there’s only one pony she knows, that could play such an odd tune so beautifully. She looked over the edge of her balcony and noticed the faint silhouette of a pony sitting by a nearby pond. Could it be, that the hands of coincidence interweaved two restless nights?
Twilight went down to investigate. As she slowly approached the source of the music, her heart beat stronger and stronger. What is she going to say? What if she isn’t interested anymore? What if it is a different pony playing the lyre? Could there be another eccentric lyrist in Ponyville? When she reached the source, those questions were soon to be answered.
Firstly, no, there is only one eccentric lyrist in Ponyville and that is indeed, Lyra Heartstrings. Twilight stood there for a bit, listening to the vibration of the magical strings, coming from under that willow tree, thinking of the answer to her first question, namely, “What is she going to say?”
“You can’t sleep either?” It was apparently that.
The music stopped. Lyra turned to her, surprised at the unexpected visitor.
“Twilight?” That’s all she had to say, since she hasn’t been given the time to think about it.
“Sorry, am I bothering?”
“No, no. I just... didn’t expect an audience, that’s all.”
Twilight slowly and nervously approached the perplexed Lyra, thinking of the next thing to say.
“May I listen for a bit?”
“Sure.” Lyra scooted over.
Twilight sat down next to Lyra as she began playing again. Lyra started slow and quiet, but the notes kept piling up, as she closed her eyes. The moonlight danced on top of the waves to the music, as the summer night breeze took the waves to a swinging waltz. The notes flowed to the disorganized beat of the crickets. The vibrating strings left blurry images of the moonlight in the air. Twilight could have gone to sleep right there, but she recognized the opportunity, to resolve some unfinished matter from the past. It’s unfinished because of her after all.
“This reminds me of that evening we spent together...” She said quietly.
The music stopped again as Lyra suddenly opened her eyes and stared at Twilight.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...” Twilight apologized, thinking she has opened old wounds.
Lyra looked away from Twilight and onto the stars. “I thought about that evening for a very long time...” She mumbled.
There was no turning back now, Twilight had to continue that thread. “I’m sorry, that shouldn’t have been our last time together.” There was a brief silent pause, at least as silent as the crickets were. “Recently, I met up with Minuette and the others in Canterlot.”
“They weren’t too torn up about it, were they?”
“No, but it was still nice meeting them again.”
“What about Moon Dancer?”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, because she understood the connection. “She... I never had to apologize so badly to anypony before...” Lyra was silent. “But we reconciled.” Twilight tried to make an excuse.
Lyra looked at her with an impossible to read expression. Somehow she looked sad, angry and sassy at the same time, while not actually moving a single muscle in her face. As if she was waiting for some kind of reaction.
“Look Lyra, I’m sorry, I left you like that. I deeply regret doing that.”
“The way you run past me was a very nasty thing to do.”
“I know, I’m sorry!”
“And you know, I was living not too far away from you this whole time.”
“I know, I just...” Tears started to form under Twilight’s eyes. “I just didn’t know how you’d feel... I wasn’t sure you’d forgive me. I don’t know why, but I was too afraid to approach you.”
At this point Twilight was in fact crying. Not a mournful waterfall of tears kind of crying, but a quiet held back sobbing. But Lyra’s heart isn’t made of stone, she put one hoof over Twilight’s shoulder and pulled her close.
“Oh Twilight,” she whispered in her ear, “I forgave you as soon as you approached me tonight.”
“Really?”
“I admit, I was very hurt when you left me. And honestly it did fill me with an odd sort of satisfaction to tease you like that.” She put her other hoof on Twilights teary cheek. “But it still pains me to see you cry.”
“So, can we start over?” Twilight said between two sniffs.
“I think we should continue where we left off instead.”
Twilight kept crying, but her tears of regret turned into tears of joy. They embraced each other, for longer than the crying actually lasted. Lyra’s hug was just as firm but soft as Twilight remembered. She is a very good hugger, there’s no denying that.
“So, did you figure out what those four stars are?” Lyra leaned out.
Twilight chuckled in relief. “Yes. And did you figure out the deal with those human pelvises?”
“Yeah, I figured out quite a lot since then. But I’m sure you’ve read all about it already.”
“Yes, I did. So please don’t tell me about any of it.”
Lyra laughed lightly. “I also remembered and wrote down my piece ‘Twilight’s a jerk’, wanna hear it again?”
Twilight laughed and leaned onto Lyra’s side. “Oh, how much I missed you!” She sighed.
“Tell me about it.”
They laid down onto the ground under the willow tree, staring into each-other’s eyes, their sides softly brushing against one another.
“What about that mare you live with, by the way?” Twilight asked suddenly.
“Bon Bon?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know, what about her?”
“Are the two of you...? You know...?”
“Ah, no. She’s not interested in mares. She’s not interested in anypony as far as I can tell.”
“Are you interested in her?” Twilight smiled cheekily, though she was a bit nervous about the answer.
“No, not like that, that would be weird...” Lyra paused. “Well, she is really pretty, but that’s where that stops for me.”
“Are you saying that just to make me feel better?” Twilight feigned jealousy.
“Look, if you really want to be sure, you can ask her. Her ‘no’ will be as blunt as a sledgehammer.”
“I know, I know, I’m just teasing. I can’t be too jealous of you; I know you like to stare at every passing mare’s cutie marks.”
Lyra giggled. “You know me well.”
Their laughing softly overpowered the sound of the crickets. They snuggled up to each other very close. Twilight put a wing around Lyra. It was very warm. Their cheeks rubbed together and they laid down under the tree, Twilight’s wing becoming a makeshift blanket for Lyra. Twilight closed her eyes briefly, as she no longer had trouble sleeping. Lyra couldn’t take her eyes off her. The Moon was now low in the sky, almost touching the edge of the lake.
“Alright, it is late now.” Twilight yawned. “We should probably go to bed before the morning.”
“Wait, let’s take a dip first.”
“Really? Right now?”
“We shared a sunset, I think it’s time we do some late night swimming as well. Come on!”
Lyra got up and pranced down to the lake. She stepped into it and turned back to Twilight, who slowly and cautiously stopped at the lakeside.
“It’s still warm.” Lyra said.
“Really? It should be cold this late at night.”
“Well, why don’t you try it yourself?”
Lyra bent down and took a sip from the lake. Her cheeks puffed up as she kept the water inside her mouth, which she then spat out onto Twilight. Annoyance appeared on Twilight’s wet face, but under the angry eyes a sideways smile appeared. She took the waves softly pushing against the sand and folded them up onto Lyra, completely soaking her.
“Hey, that’s not fair, I can’t do that!” Lyra complained.
“So you want to do this the old-school way?”
Twilight put her head down and kicked the mushy ground under her like a bull ready to attack. She charged towards Lyra, kicking up huge waves all around and tackled her, sending the both of them into the water. They laughed as they came to the surface and sat in the chest-deep water facing each other. At this late at night, they didn’t have the energy for much more playing, so they continued with staring into each-other’s eyes, their smiling failing to fade.
“Isn’t love just one big paradox?” Lyra asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for one thing, when I first got to know you, you were the least affectionate pony I’ve ever met. Yet, you still managed to bring out intense affection out of me.” Lyra swam very close to Twilight. So close, that their noses were touching. “Then you disappear for years and completely wreck all that affection for me. But then out of nowhere, you appear again and I feel like that gap never happened.” She put a hoof up to Twilight’s cheek. “When I said that you’re like a wonder to me way back then,” she whispered,” I meant it. Right next to the mystery of the stars, the endless thirst for knowledge, the moonlight dancing on the waves of this lake, or even my life changing friendship with Bon Bon, you are among the most beautiful things in my life.”
Twilight waited for Lyra to finish that train of thought. Her eyes widened, in amazement. But then she couldn’t hold it back and burst into laughter.
“Lyra that was so bad!” She howled.
“Yeah, but you still liked it.”
“Only because you’re the one who said it.”
“Isn’t that a paradox as well?”
“I guess it is.” Twilight lifted her face up, their mouths almost touching. “You’re my very own wonderful paradox.”
Before she could even finish that sentence, their lips moved closer and closer, and as soon as she stopped talking, their mouths embraced each other, in a slow and heartfelt dance. They stayed there, for who knows how long, inside the Moon’s stretched image reflecting off the waves. There was no way to tell how time passed; nothing else existed for them in that moment. Only each other and their loving embrace and the kiss they finally got to have.