"Where's Twilight?" Mayor Mare looked around the inside of the library. In the middle, Lyra Heartstrings was reading a book while off to the side she saw Trixie Lulamoon talking to two of the town's fillies. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but…"
"Princess Twilight?" Lyra asked, lifting her book away and to the side to look at the town's nominal leader. "She's with her friends taking care of something in the Everfree Forest. How urgent is it, and can I help?"
"I don't believe so. Not unless you've sprouted wings too?" The moment she said it, Mayor Mare slumped her shoulders. "No, that's not fair."
Lyra's must help pony alarm went off (metaphorically speaking) and so she marked her book, set it aside, and walked over to Mayor Mare. "Something the matter? How about some tea?"
Giving a little squeak and a nod, Mayor Mare followed Lyra up the stairs to the living quarters of the library. She was surprised how fast Lyra was able to get two cups of tea brewed and on the table. The hot drink smelled amazing, and without so much as a second thought she took a sip. "This is really good."
"Yup, but tea isn't why we're up here, is it?"
"This is going to sound an awful lot like whining, but I assure you this is a serious problem for the town." Taking a long, steadying sip of the tea, Mayor Mare counter to ten slowly. "I can't get anything done. Everypony who used to listen when I'd say, 'We need somepony to work on the road leading to Canterlot,' or 'The town's railway station needs work," now just—"
Lyra reached her right hoof across the table to rest on Mayor Mare's.
Composing herself and taking strength from the tacit show of support, Mayor Mare continued, "Now, if I'm lucky, they'll ask me if Princess Twilight has approved it." Getting it out helped. Just sharing the burden with another pony split the problem in half inside her. "If I'm not lucky, they will just mutter to somepony else and completely ignore me."
"Ugh." Lyra hated just about everything about that mentality. "Not just is that a stupid attitude to take to the pony who's run this town for years, what do they think Twilight is going to think when they're shirking off work like that?"
Hearing her thoughts in another pony's voice robbed Mayor Mare of the ability to hold back her tears. Rubbing at her eyes with a hoof, she tried to steady herself with more tea. "That. It's been wearing away at me and I am at my wit's end!"
"So, all the maintenance tasks around town?" Lyra asked.
"Have lapsed. The roads are starting to get divots."
"And the public buildings?"
"Are showing signs of neglect. Normally we pay ponies from the town's budget to do this work, but even if I offer extra bits, everypony keeps asking if Twilight has approved the work."
"Then we need a town meeting as soon as possible. Preferably without Twilight."
"Without her?" Mayor Mare felt surprise. "But if she just turned up and said to do what I say—"
"… your authority would be completely undermined as leader of the town. Twilight would then be leader and you'd just be the mare who handles the day-to-day stuff." Sipping her own tea now, Lyra shook her head. "No. You need to lead the town and that's it. What the ponies of Ponyville have to realize is they need you."
When Mayor Mare just stared at her blankly, Lyra smiled. "You're going on a holiday."
That shocked Mayor Mare back into the conversation. "I never take holidays. There's too much to do for holidays."
"Exactly. How many things do you do every day that the town needs doing?" Lyra held up a hoof when she was about to be interrupted. "We'll work out the truly important things, don't worry, but all the little events and work you do around town is going to stop for two weeks."
"Two weeks?!"
"Four weeks." Lyra raised an eyebrow, daring another outburst. "This will be paid leave. How many staff do you have working at town hall?"
By now Mayor Mare's mouth was working but sound just didn't escape. She felt like a millstone had been lifted from her back, sure, but it was a millstone she was comfortable with. In her own mind she could see a wonderful Mayor Mare-sized indent worn into it by her own spine. "This—I shouldn't go—How will it work?"
"I notify Canterlot that you are taking your leave. Everypony who was working with you, if they haven't taken holidays, will be going too." Lyra could see her plan coming together nicely.
"But—But what if things need doing?" It was the last line of defense Mayor Mare thought she could use. The threat of something needing to be done. "Weddings. There's the Running of the Leaves to organize. I—" She stopped herself this time, expecting Lyra to cut her off. "They won't get done, will they?"
"Nope." The word slid from Lyra's mouth with a wrapping of finality. "There won't be any weddings for a month. No Running of the Leaves festival. There won't even be Hawaiian-shirt Friday."
"What?"
"Don't care, it's not happening. You have two hours to tell your staff they are on leave too, get everypony to pack their bags, and we're going to Canterlot to organize you a holiday somewhere. Do you prefer hot weather or cold?" Lyra downed her tea and jumped to her hooves.
Mayor Mare's mind was racing. It got both warm and cold in Ponyville, but she really liked the idea of a nice, sunny beach. "H-Hot weather. A beach…"
It was madness, of course, but from what Lyra had heard—the town had gone mad. She walked out on an unadorned stage with no fanfare and nopony to work the curtains. It was probably the least momentous entrance ever.
The crowd of Ponyvillians was all chatting to each other. Some were asking if anypony knew what was happening while others were just chatting about the weather. When one asked, "Where is Princess Twilight?" Lyra knew it was time to make her announcement.
"Everypony, Mayor Mare and her staff are on leave for the next month. Thank you." She neither raised her voice nor waited for anypony to stop talking. Lyra could have shouted them all down. She could have gone full parade-voice and barked orders that would have had the assembled masses snapping to attention—instead she turned and started walking for the exit with a big grin on her face.
The voices behind her got louder and Lyra could hear them asking each other what she'd said. Waiting in the wings was Twilight. "Hiya."
"What have you done, Lyra?" Twilight had gotten back from the Castle of the Two Sisters only to find the town all in this meeting. Now she wanted to know what was going on.
"Handling things. Hey, have you noticed ponies asking you questions about inconsequential things since you got your wings?" Leading the way to the side door at a fast walk, Lyra was trying to make her escape before ponies got the idea of rushing the stage.
Twilight could heard the raised voices and knew that if they saw her, she'd be duty-bound to talk to them about—She had no idea. Racing after Lyra, she slipped out the door and put a quick and dirty wedge of force into the ground beside it to hold it closed. "Library, now."
Running some numbers in her head, Lyra could spot the front door of the library through the gaps in three houses. She flicked out a little golden magic and, with a pomf, was standing right in front of it. A second, purple, teleport just beside her revealed Twilight was getting far more canny with spells as well as showing off her better math skills. "Want some tea?"
"What does all this have to do with ponies pestering me about potholes and parties?" Twilight asked, nodding as she walked into the library.
"Mayor Mare is the connection here, or rather, was the connection." Lyra brewed up two cups of tea as she spoke. "Since you got your wings, everypony expected you to take over running Ponyville. So much so that they second-guessed Mayor Mare's instructions and requests."
Sitting down, her mind working over the problem, Twilight winced when she figured it out. "So, how can I fix it?"
"Way ahead of you, Twilight." Lyra floated a cup of tea to the table and then carried her own as she walked over. "Mayor Mare and all the administration team for Ponyville are now on holiday. They have a whole month off with no responsibilities. Did you know she hasn't had a holiday in nearly twenty years?"
"Twenty?" The tea saved the room from Twilight shouting her question. Just the smell of it—soon followed by the taste—soothed her. "Sorry. This seems odd. So everypony thought they needed my permission to do the same things they've been doing for years?"
"It was driving Mayor Mare more than a little crazy. She—Oh, hi Trixie." Waving a hoof at her friend, Lyra scooted across a bit to make room. "Mayor Mare came here in tears yesterday morning. She didn't know how to get out of the hole the town had dug for her."
Lifting her hat, Trixie pulled a steaming cup of tea out of it and put the headware back on her head as she sat down. "Is this the drama of the week club meeting?"
Trixie's wit had grown on Twilight in the weeks she'd known her. She nodded. "Apparently I missed the signs that the town has gone crazy again." More tea. She needed more tea and maybe coffee. "So, what do I have to do to help with this lesson?"
"See, that's the easy bit. All you have to do is say—"
Twilight looked at the stairs of the railway station. Ponies had been dragging her from the library every day now for a week to see such things. "I'm sorry, but I really need to work on this paperwork for Princess Celestia. Doesn't Mayor Mare normally schedule maintenance?"
"She did, but—"
So far it had always been the ponies whose job it was to do the work who complained. The ponies this time were Joist and his brother Bearer. Joist ran a joinery business in town with his brother, and the town hired them to do repairs. "She did? Well, I'm sure the ponies she hired will be along shortly to repair it."
Twilight almost got four steps away when she heard the first "But princess" from them. It came thus, "But, princess, we were waiting for you to approve it."
Looking back, Twilight tried to school her best look of confusion she could manage. "Why? How many times have I ever had to approve public works in the past?"
"Uh." Bearer fished for a solution to help his brother. "We just kinda figured, what with you being a princess now, that you would be in charge of the town."
"You could have asked." Twilight was going a little off script, but she felt the pair needed a bit extra. "Besides, I have to work for every town in Equestria. I can't spend time managing every single one." Resuming her trot, she left them with those words to mull over.
Standing out front of her library, arguing, was Rainbow Dash and Applejack. For the briefest moment Twilight hoped that they hadn't noticed her. If she timed it right, she could teleport inside without them seeing her. This plan failed the moment it came together as Rainbow noticed her. "Twilight!"
Applejack was so excited to see Twilight that she even forgot to use some of her better countryisms. "Hey, Twilight, who is organizing the Running of the Leaves this year?"
Would it work? Twilight had to hope it would work. "Sounds like something Mayor Mare would organize." Threading between the pair, Twilight used her magic to open the door.
"Where is she, anyway?" Rainbow asked, following Twilight into the library.
"Holidays, I think." Twilight had hoped they would stay outside. Much as she loved her friends, this lesson for the ponies of Ponyville was starting to become repetitive. She was happy to see that Lyra was in the far end of the library with Sweetie Belle and Dinky Hooves, and from what Twilight could see they were working on a teleport spell.
There was a big part of Twilight that wished she could just take her wings off, peel off her cutie mark, and go sit with the fillies and absorb a lesson on magic.
"So who's going to organize it this year?" Applejack asked.
Twilight walked over to the guide book she'd gotten from Sweetie Drops and opened it back up. Earth pony magic was far more intuitive than unicorn, but she was slowly making headways in the theory and didn't want to stop. Finding out that yet another friend had written a book left Twilight suspicious of all her friends now—she just couldn't tell who was a published author or not. "You could try organizing it yourselves. It would mean you couldn't compete, but at least it would get done and a lot of ponies would appreciate it."
"She's coming back today, right?" Twilight asked with far too much hope in her voice.
Lyra was surrounded by books on magic and had two notepads she was jotting down her insights in. "Yup. You sound relieved."
"It might not come as a shock, but the rest of Ponyville weren't the only ones to realize how important Mayor Mare and her staff are to keeping things moving smoothly here. Did you know it is up to her department to ensure that the mail-route has all the equipment it needs?" Twilight sighed and settled down a little firmer on a beanbag chair she'd claimed. "I only realized something wasn't working when I hadn't gotten my book of the week delivery for three weeks."
"You got your books, right?" Lyra asked.
"I had to fly to Canterlot. On the plus side, there was soooo much paperwork to fill out. Did you know the post office have a form for everything?" Wiggling a little in the beanbag, Twilight closed her eyes and recalled the huge array of pigeonholes that held stacks of crisp forms ready for filling out. "I wonder if I could get a part-time job with them?"
Levitating half a dozen books, two notebooks, and a pair of pens wasn't too great a stretch for Lyra's focus, so she picked up a cushion with a little more concentration and sent it flying toward Twilight. "You are a menace to bureaucracies everywhere."
Having caught the cushion, Twilight slipped it under her head and squirmed more to get more comfortable. "How are the foals coming?"
"Sweetie Belle is a challenge. She has so many instinctive insights for magic that will make her a far better unicorn than I am, but at the same time she can't get her head around some more basic concepts. If I give her an advanced spell to memorize, and it has a pattern she can mnemonically memorize, she will literally never have to memorize that spell again—she just knows it. If there's a simple spell that's too chaotic, though, she won't be able to ever memorize it.
"Which is why I'm trying to make these friendship magic spells be orderly, but it's fighting me. It wants to be chaotic and spontaneous. I bet Star Swirl didn't have this much trouble." Lyra used a little magic to attempt to form the shape she wanted, but it got angry about that and burned her nose instead.
Twilight tilted her head at the explanation. "You know you could make this a lot easier on yourself and just let the spells be as complicated as they want to be. It's not like you have to memorize them."
"Oh. Right. I guess I'll just do that then." It was the driest tone Lyra had used in over a week.
"Now you act all tough and uncompromising, but"—Twilight giggled—"you're working your tail off to make these spells as easy to use for everypony as you can."
"Shh. Don't tell everypony or they'll all want one." Lyra had to catch a different cushion that came winging toward her. "Seriously, though. We only have one chance to make friendship magic spells. I want them easy enough to be used by most unicorns."
Her wings half spread to each side, her butt sunk deep in the grip of the beanbag, Twilight sighed. "And that's why I asked you to work on them. The only mare I know who could reduce complex military tactics down to a group of simple spells any foal could learn—definitely my best decision so far."
"Wait a second. You told me to work on these spells before you knew about that." Glaring at Twilight, Lyra was trying to work out what angle her friend was about to use.
"Mmm, that's the beauty of being an alicorn, Lyra. The historians listen to you more than just a unicorn." As soon as she said it, Twilight put a shield up to stop the flurry of cushions that came her way. She turned her head to gloat, only to have Lyra teleport past her shield and bop her on the snoot with a cushion. "I deserved that."
"Yes. Yes you did." Lyra giggled and teleported back through the barrier. "I almost have the next one done. Unlike the first, which was a bit of a mess with what Sweetie Belle insists are parakeets halfway through taking off, this next spell will use a repeating theme of diamond patterns that repeat over and over again."
"Diamond… Oh! That reminds me. Princess Celestia suggested I might be able to find a book on the chest the Tree of Harmony made—in her old castle in the Everfree Forest." Dispelling the shield, Twilight floated a scroll over. "Spike is off getting supplies, but tomorrow we're heading to the Castle of the Two Sisters."
"Ahhhh. No. No you're not." Lyra shook her head. "You're waiting for me to request a squad of dragoons and maybe a few squads of monster hunters. Then we can go in as a group and guard the castle while you—Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You can come with me if you want, but it'll only be me and Spike. I don't want a mess of ponies there to encourage the timber wolves."
Lyra took her time to carefully close the books around her, stack them neatly, and put her notebooks on top before counting to ten. "Twilight, timber wolves don't need encouraging. If they smell living creatures, while they're mobile, they'll attack."
"That's the trick. I did a little research on them. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I asked Zecora for help. She gave me a potion to drink that will make us smell like dragons instead of ponies." Using her magic once more, Twilight lifted down a little bottle from a shelf where she'd set it. "I'm all ready. And, if we do have any timber wolves come, we'll deal with them."
It was a reminder to Lyra that her friend, despite being a relative combat novice, was a powerhouse with magic. As an alicorn, Twilight was capable of sustaining a magical output that Lyra couldn't hope to match. "Okay. I guess it's a date. I'm going to grab some lunch from Sugarcube Corner. Would you like something?"
"I'd like to get some fresh air for a start. Let me put some things away and I'll join you." Twilight carefully put the potion bottle back, put away the small stack of books beside her beanbag, and shook out her wings before folding them at her sides. "After I'm done learning to earth pony, I need to spend more time with Derpy. You were so right about her—she's great at teaching flight lessons."
Opening the front door, Lyra put the light sign up that said The Librarians Are Out To Lunch, and stepped out into the warm midday weather. "Yeah. Even when Scootaloo couldn't fly yet, Derpy was helping her with all the theory she needed. Uh, what's that crowd over there doing?"
About to walk over, Twilight paused and remembered she had a unique talent for dealing with line-of-sight related problems. Stretching her wings, she took off and hovered about three ponylengths off the ground. "Mayor Mare's back. I think everypony is asking her for help at the same time. She's smiling from ear to ear."
Lyra laughed. "Sounds like she has things in hoof, why don't we go get lunch before anypony notices you're out and about?"
Landing, Twilight trotted to catch up to Lyra and walk beside her. "It's funny, but if I keep my wings folded, most ponies seem to forget I have them."
"Could be confirmation bias," Lyra said. "They see your horn and they lock in their heads the image unicorn, and even if they happen to see your sides, they look past what obviously shouldn't be there for ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of the population who have horns."
Twilight blinked for a moment in confusion. "Bias? Oh! Cognitive biases? I didn't think of that. You might be right, too. I wonder if I wore a hat to hide my horn if everypony would just see pegasus?"
"We could make an experiment of it." Lyra reached out with her magic for Sugarcube Corner's front door and opened it. Beside her, a pomf of magic revealed a sun hat that Twilight was putting on—it hid her horn perfectly. "Right now?"
"Right now," Twilight said as she walked in.
"Well, we're not completely free from influences here. These ponies all know you. They already have an image of Twilight Sparkle in their heads." Stepping in behind Twilight, Lyra closed the door behind her. "You know what would be interesting? If you hid your horn and wings. Would ponies still treat you as an alicorn or as a unicorn?"
"One experiment at a time. Today I am just a pegasus looking for some lunch with a fellow E.U.P. Guard pony." Leaning to the side, Twilight nudged Lyra with her shoulder. "You don't wear your armor much around town anymore."
"Well, my job has become far more about non-combat duties, though I will request some time off soon so I can brush up on things." Reaching the counter, Lyra smiled at Pinkie Pie. "Heya, Pinkie."
Looking between Lyra and Twilight, Pinkie Pie leaned across the counter and held her hoof up to mute her words from the latter of the two. "Who's your cute friend, Lyra?"
"Doesn't count," Twilight said. "I have learned that where scientific method is concerned, Pinkie is the exception that proves the rule."
"… and how does she know my name?" Pinkie added.
Pausing for just a moment, Lyra decided to just go with it. "This is Butterwings, a friend I was in the Guard with. She likes flying, reading, and cute pink ponies who like hugs."
"Reaaaaaaaaly?" Pinkie shifted across the counter, still leaning forward, until she was looking Twilight in the eyes. "Hugs?"
It took two seconds for Twilight's straightness to reassert itself after the barrage of pink eyelash-batting. "Pinkie! It's me, Twilight!" Reaching up, Twilight removed her hat. "See?"
Jumping back, Pinkie let out a gasp. "Twilight! How dare you mess with my heart like that? I was in love! Lyra was in love!" She turned to look at Lyra. "You understand, don't you, that we can't continue like this?"
"I don't know if I can go on, Pinkie." Lyra raised a forehoof to her brow and turned her head demurely to the side. "I shall surely perish of a broken—Ohh, you have lemon muffins again?"
Pinkie nodded. "We have the lemon ones and a new blood orange. Those are both really tasty!"
"Has Derpy been in yet for her lunch muffin?" Lyra asked.
"Nope."
"I'll take a lemon and an orange one for me, and a chocolate shake, and I'll pay for Derpy's muffin when she comes in." It had become a game now. Lyra enjoyed getting into the bakery before Derpy, if only so she could make the mare smile a little more.
"Okie dokie lokie! Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
"Strawberry shake, and I'll take a blueberry muffin and a chocolate eclair." Twilight's tummy rumbled just as she spoke the words. "Hush, you, I haven't done enough for more than that."
Pinkie giggled at Twilight's antics. "Just find a table and I'll bring your things over."
Following Lyra to a table, Twilight put her hat back on. "I still say Pinkie Pie's reactions don't count."
"Pinkie knew exactly who you were, Twilight. She just saw a chance to have some fun." Lyra pulled out a paper napkin and summoned a pen with her magic and started drawing diamond patterns on it.
"What's this spell going to do?" Twilight asked, then gestured at the napkin when Lyra looked at her strange.
"Oh, well, the last one took all the friendship bonds of everypony it touched and used them to raise the mood and cast out negative pressure. I think one that reveals to somepony all their own bonds of friendship." More diamonds were definitely needed, Lyra realized, and so she started reaching for another napkin.
"Let me summon some pap—"
"No. This is better. Friendship magic should be about friends. The first spell was a whole country of friends needing reassurance and help. I made it on the spot. This one"—Lyra reached across to Twilight with her hoof—"this one is being made by a friend for a friend."
"Just so long as this friend doesn't have to spend hours trying to reconstruct the spell from a dozen napkins with bad drawings and food stains on them." Twilight bumped her hoof against Lyra's.
"If I make the spell, I can always write it down later. This is just to keep my mind focused on a pattern that is easier to memorize."
"Here you go, ladies." Pinkie Pie slid two trays down from her back, balancing the shakes on each perfectly so neither spilled.
"Thanks, Pinkie." Lyra drew her hoof back and took a sip of her drink. "Oooh, that's good."
When Pinkie withdrew and they didn't immediately start their conversation back up, Lyra took the time to try something. She focused on simple and small, squeezed it through the intent of wanting to show her friend how she felt, and then prodded the resulting basic spell with magic until it finally fired off.
Twilight froze as the magic affected her. She looked at Lyra and felt a mirror of admiration, pride, and a sisterly love that echoed with what she felt in her own heart. It was such a unique sensation that Twilight found herself on the edge of tears. "Wow."
Lyra watched her friend and asked, "Did that wor—?"
How Twilight avoided colliding with the drinks and food on the table she'll never know. One moment she was living through a rush of pure friendship and the next she was hugging Lyra. "Best. Spell. Ever."
Squeezing her friend back, Lyra felt the new spell take root in her head, like the previous one she'd created, as something that she'd always retain. "It worked, then?"
"Lyra!" Twilight laughed and slipped back to her own seat, still charged with emotion and friendship magic. "Of course it worked! I can feel your feelings for me and—and I can feel mine for you!"
"Well, want to give it a try?" Lyra eased back her magic to a trickle and made the pattern in the air before her. It was simple, in the end, and featured just a dozen diamonds in various positions around a central larger diamond. She had only a moment's warning before she was hit with her own spell.
It felt like the entire world liked her. She was slammed with joy, excitement, pride, and a blast of raw emotional friendship unlike any Lyra had felt before. Staring back at Twilight, tears leaking freely from both eyes, her smile threatened to split her face in half. "Wow." Her own feelings only swelled in reaction to the raw adulation Twilight felt for her.
"Guess that's all my feelings for you, Lyra." Leaning back in her seat, Twilight let out a relaxed sigh. "It feels good to cast it, too."
Unable to contain herself, Pinkie Pie pronked over to her friends. "Do me! Do me!"
Looking at Twilight, Lyra had to use her foreleg to wipe the tears of joy from her eyes. "Should we?"
Twilight giggled and nodded. "On three. One."
"Two," Lyra said, preparing the spell that she would never forget.
"Three!" Pinkie shouted, and two spells slammed into her. For a moment all she could do is stare ahead, eyes widening and smile growing. "Wooooooooow!" Pronking around in a few circles, Pinkie laughed with pure joy at how much love and friendship rushed around inside her. "You girls are amazing! But—I wish I could cast it so you could feel what I feel for you."
"Pinkie," Lyra said, "you show me how you feel every single day. You are the least reserved pony I know."
"Yeah, Pinkie, I th—" Twilight froze as she saw Pinkie start to buzz and vibrate in place. She'd seen this before and braced.
Pinkie didn't let things like physics get in the way of a hug. She grabbed Lyra and Twilight up in a tackle-hug that made all her previous tackle-hugs look like much littler tackle-hugs. She squeezed them both, their friendship boiling inside her to fuel her emotional outburst. "You're the best!"