//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: And Now For Something Exactly the Same 
// by Damaged 
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"Bon Bon? What are you doing here today?" Lyra Heartstrings had been running a few laps of Ponyville before sundown, something she did every day. On one side of her her wife, Sweetie Drops, had fallen in at a canter that quickly stepped up in pace to the gallop Lyra was setting. On the other side, Rainbow Dash was keeping pace with the pair, though she wasn't wearing E.U.P. Guard armor (heavy armor in Sweetie Drops' case, light armor in Lyra Heartstrings'), and she definitely wasn't towing Scootaloo along behind her.

"We got some leave for the Summer Sun Celebration and I figured I'd come see my favorite unicorn and pegasus." Turning her head, Sweetie winked to Scootaloo. "So, what's happening? There's a party, right?"

"It wouldn't be a Summer Sun Celebration without a party, but you're not going to believe where it's at or who's house it is." Lyra didn't miss a single stride as she kept her legs pumping at a heavy rhythm. 

Rainbow Dash, still working on her stamina, wasn't doing nearly so well as the two experienced guardponies at her side. She galloped, there was nod doubt about that, but she would have struggled to get a word out with the effort she was putting in.

"Oh, let me guess." Sweetie Drops ran comfortably in the heavy armor. She'd gotten used to its weight over several months and now it was as much a part of her as her cutie mark. "Princess Celestia sent Twilight Sparkle—your friend—here to oversee some parts of the event while also putting her in charge of the Ponyville library?"

"Who told you?" Lyra asked.

"Zest Spiral and Sure Fire flew her down here on a chariot with the strict instructions that she wasn't allowed to ride back. At least, that's the rumor going around the Guard." Turning her head, Sweetie looked back at Scootaloo. "How you doing back there?"

To prove how well she was doing, Scootaloo angled herself a little forward on her scooter and buzzed her wings for all she was worth. It would have been dangerous to do if she'd been using a rope to trail behind, but with Lyra's magic she could easily outpace the others for a burst and not risk getting a rope stuck in her wheels. "Like this!"

It was something every earth pony had to live with—the ability to run or grab something with a hoof, but never at the same time. "Wow! Doing great!" Sweetie could only watch as Scootaloo did a quick flip in the air on her scooter before landing perfectly back on her wheels.

"I did two whole laps today!" Scootaloo only kept up now because Lyra was holding the handle beside Sweetie. "Did you hear that the Wonderbolts will be performing tomorrow?"

"And you'll have to get home and go to sleep if you want to see them," Sweetie said.

Blowing out her lower lip, Scootaloo's buzzing wings stopped. "Yeah. One day I'll be old enough to stay up all night too!"

Lyra felt a pang in her heart for Scootaloo. "I promise we'll come and get you before dawn."

"Alright!" Scootaloo jumped her scooter again, but this time using her wings to give her a little extra hang-time. "I'll head home when we get near it on our next—"

"This'll be the last—lap for me," Rainbow Dash said. "I gotta make sure—the skies are clear before nightfall—then I'll have to do the same as soon as—Princess Celestia raises the sun. I figure I shouldn't exactly collapse—after a run before I can do that."

"A good reason, yeah. Alright, you get the night off, but tomorrow morning—after your morning work—let's run a few laps to show off to the Wonderbolts." Lyra ignored Rainbow's groan. "Come on, you know they do morning and evening runs too, right?"

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah. I'll tell you what, we'll ask them tomorrow." Lyra didn't need to be a genius to see the excitement on Rainbow's face. "Okay, coming up on the last straight. Let's make this a charge!"

Bracing herself, Scootaloo could see the "home point" ahead and buzzed her wings for all she was worth. She dropped the magic baton from Lyra and managed to keep up as all three adults lengthened their gallops into a ground-thundering charge. 

As they all passed the point at the same time, voices lost to actual panting as they fought gravity, their bodies, and in some cases their armor, all four began to slow down first to a normal gallop, then down to a canter, a trot, and then they wheeled around and kept the trot going all the way back to Scootaloo's house. 

Scootaloo, more agile than the other three and able to slow faster, beat them all to the house and rushed upstairs to clean up.

Rainbow rolled her shoulders and stretched out her wings. She couldn't deny that the running was making her more powerful on the ground, but her flying had become easier too. "Okay. Before I lose the light, I'll do a quick check on clouds and meet you there?" 

"Sure!" Sweetie barely got the word out before Rainbow was gone, having literally launched herself into the sky. "Well, her stamina's improving. Remember how she was a few months back? A run would barely leave her walking by the end."

"She's started recognizing the changes herself. Probably why she's sticking with it. I don't know if she realized it, but there's some other ponies around town that have noticed her running." Lyra used her magic to open the door for Sweetie. "I'm not sure what way she swings, but there have been more than a few from both sides watching her."

"Are you sure they're not watching you?"

Lyra let out a disgusted noise. "Don't they know I'm married?" She jerked when Sweetie leaned in and nuzzled her cheek.

"Maybe they're looking because they see a gorgeous mare who's smart and fit and moves her butt in all the right ways." When Lyra turned her face toward her, Sweetie took advantage of the situation and kissed her more thoroughly.

Left panting by the time the embrace was finished, Lyra felt the urge to grab her wife and run off with her. "Let me go tuck Scootaloo in and have a shower."

"You do stink a bit. Come to think of it, if you do, I definitely do."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We do have a big shower."





The surprise party had gone exceptionally well, or so Lyra thought. Twilight was being constantly accosted by five ponies, only two of which Lyra knew all that well. It was magnetism, she realized. There was a heavy hoof guiding the six, and Lyra knew its name. "Fate."

"What?" Sweetie asked. "Have you tried these cupcakes?"

"You're kidding, right? Would I ever miss a chance to eat Pinkie's food?"

"Lyra!" Rushing up to Lyra and Sweetie, Derpy reached out and shook a hoof with each of them. "I've seen you around town, but you've always looked busy. Did you really move in?"

Seeing Derpy filled Lyra with a spark of excitement. She could trace her recent bout of mothering instincts directly back to seeing Derpy and Dinky. "We did! We live in the old house on Windy Lane. How's Dinky doing?"

Chatting about friends and her daughter was just about Derpy's favorite thing to do. "She's doing great! She loves the playhouse you built for her. Though, I am a little concerned about her classes."

A weight touched Lyra right on the cutie mark. It wasn't her wife (though she had hoped), but rather a metaphysical touch. Fate. Destiny. She kept listening.

"She's having a lot of trouble understanding math and magic, and how they work together. Normally I'd ask a unicorn parent who has a pegasus that needs help learning something, but I don't know anypony who has…" As she spoke, Derpy noticed a peculiar look on Sweetie Drops' face. "Is something the matter?"

Sweetie broke into a case of giggles. "It's Lyra. It's always Lyra. You don't happen to have an earth pony foal who needs some help too?"

"N-No," Derpy said. "Should I?"

The touch had grown insistent enough that Lyra couldn't ignore it. "It's your lucky day, Derpy. I'll have some spare time during weekdays, and we have a pegasus filly we're looking after who might need some help with learning to fly." The words poured out in time to music that sang in Lyra's head. "Would that be alright for you?"

Derpy's wings shot out and she flapped them excitedly… "Y-You mean you can help? That would be amazing!" …invariably knocking over a drink on a nearby table.

The raw excitement hit Sweetie like a hammer and she felt her mood boost even further. Derpy, she decided, was impossible to not like. "Of course, silly. That's what friends are for."

So overcome with happiness was Derpy that she rushed up to Sweetie and Lyra and hugged them tight. "You're the best!"

At that moment, across the room, Twilight Sparkle stormed out of her own surprise party and went to her new bedroom. She pulled a pillow over her head to dull the music, and tried her best to forget about how conflicted she felt.





"Go to her." 

Celestia looked at her jailer, Joyce Mango, and felt trepidation. The sight of Twilight Sparkle and her friends fighting Nightmare Moon had almost broken her heart. When she'd seen the Elements of Harmony respond to the six friends, she felt terror. 

The cries of her sister still echoed in Celestia's ears as did the bright rainbow that had wrapped Nightmare Moon up. "But—"

"Go to her. That's my last order." The weight of the moment was heavy, and Joyce felt it, but she also felt fate weigh in. "Don't make me shove you out there. Raise the sun and…" She trailed off as Celestia walked out of the shadows and toward the six heroes—and one defeated alicorn.