//------------------------------//
// Lyra's Day 
// Story: Mark My Words 
// by Goldfur 
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Mark placed the last of the paperwork into the outbox.  He sighed and leaned back into his office chair. Relations with so many parallel dimensions had increased the workload of all three rulers.  Adding oversight of Harmonic Composites cut further into his personal time. The Triarchs’ plans included rapidly expanding interaction with his home dimension, so the problem would only get worse. 

Mark made a note on his To Do list to look into suitable candidates to delegate the running of the company. Phil and Rosa were best suited as hooves and talons-on managers involved with everyday work and problems.  Strategic planning and, for lack of a better term, glad-handing CEOs of other companies were not their strong suit.  Xyrdur would have been a perfect fit but Mark doubted anything could tempt the dragon away from running the largest financial institution on all of Equus, now expanding to other realms with branch offices and partnerships.  Perhaps one of the changeling princesses or one of the four human assistant managers?

Chrysalis sashayed into the office carrying a scroll in her green magic. His fourth wife’s smirk made Mark half-expect her to close the door behind her so they could have some quality personal time.  On second thought, he remembered that the changeling queen had no compunction about showing off her stallion’s virility.  

With a flash of his horn, Mark closed the door.  “Shall I clear off the desk?  Or is it more fun to knock everything off as we go?”

Chrysalis showed all of her fangs.  “Such an impatient and impertinent stallion.  Would you debase yourself by taking advantage of your advisor in your office?”

Mark snorted.  “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Very true.”  His wife stopped at the edge of the desk and leaned forward, closing her eyes.  Mark stood and tried to kiss her, only to be stopped by a hoof.  “But not quite yet, my husband.  For context, you must read this report from Agent Sweetie Drops.”

“Bon Bon?”  Mark took the scroll from Chrysalis’s magic field and opened it.  His wife’s hoof interrupted his attempt to read the contents. She guided his head to look her in the eyes.  

“… and her mate.  One of my Ponyville drones shared this with me.  I will give you a preview of the contents.”

The kiss began as normal then blossomed into something else.  Mark felt euphoria fill his body in a way no kiss had done since his first kiss in high school.  By the time he could think clearly again, Chrysalis faced away from him, opening the door with her magic.  She looked over her shoulder, fixing her husband with one eye.

“I will arrange with Loopy to open the portal to the secret grotto.  Bring your angry and possessive self, my lover. I will be disappointed if I do not require minor medical attention when the evening is through.”  With an especially wide swish of her tail, Chrysalis left the room and closed the door behind her.  

Mark sat down to get off his shaky knees.  So, it was going to be one of those sessions.  

Curious about what could have brought all this about, he began reading the scroll.  





Lyra Heartstrings scowled then huffed out her nostrils. If she could have stomped her hooves like an earth pony causing tremors in the ground, she would have. Trying to do so as a unicorn would make her look like a spoiled filly.

Once again, her application for work at Harmonic Composites had been turned down. No matter the position: administrative assistant, manufacturing, watchpony, logistics management, purchasing, and most recently, finance; the answer was always the same. “Sorry, you’re just not a good fit.”

The light green unicorn grumbled to no one in particular. “It’s just not fair. If I had a lance cutie mark instead of a lyre, I could get one of the security guard spots. Could I get an illusion applied? No, that would never work. Their detection spells would find me when I took my first step into the facility … just like it did last week … and the week before.”

Through a gap in the houses, Lyra spotted a human in the market – one she had not seen previously. A mare, shorter and rounder than average, and with a beaming smile. The unicorn knew that the four new Harmonic Composites managers from Earth occasionally visited Equestria in their natural forms. This was a rare opportunity. She stopped in her tracks and looked in every direction, including up. No Bon Bon in sight.

Perfect.

With a spring in her step and perked ears, Lyra cantered forward, eyes locked on her prize. No one else registered in her perceptions until she stood next to the human. Time for introductions. “Excuse me! Do you know who I am?”

The human turned and gave Lyra a huge grin. “Well, Ah reckon you’re the cutest little pony Ah’ve ever seen!”

A shiver rolled up the unicorn’s spine, leaving her head buzzing. The unicorn gasped as the rest of the world slipped away – only the dazzling smile and tiny eyes of the creature before her remained. “Yes. Yes, I am.”





Bon Bon finished bagging the love-infused truffles. The confectioner had no idea how a Pinkie Pie Hug could impart love into a bag of sugar but she knew better than to complain. Business was up … way up with a whole new demographic making regular trips to her store. So much so that the storefront expansion was nearly complete and half paid for. She had already held a few Interviews and tryouts for an apprentice candymaker. She smiled inwardly at Prince Mark’s response to her scroll asking if he wanted to try a career change, reminding him of his first trip to Ponyville. Bon Bon had no idea what “LOL! ROTFL!” meant, but he visited Ponyville often enough that she would learn soon.

The earth pony set the bag onto the counter and rang the cash register. “That will be three silvers, Ms. Orthoptera.” When her customer didn’t reply, Bon Bon looked up. The crystal changeling stood gaping with her eyes vacant. A dribble of spit rolled onto the floor.

Bon Bon frowned. “Orthoptera?” She reached out a hoof. “Can you hear me?”

In answer, the changeling’s wings snapped open. “Bliss alert,” Orthoptera said dreamily. Flying out the front door, she yelled, “Bliss Alert!”

The mare went to the window. Several changelings buzzed through the air, all heading for the Marketplace. In the distance, dots resolved themselves to be more changelings on their way. As a Royal Auxiliary Guard, Bon Bon stayed briefed on the latest intelligence concerning all the races on Equus. This behavior didn’t line up with anything she knew of.

Stepping outside the shop, she heard two changelings call out to each other.

“Is it the crazy green unicorn?”

“Yes!”

The earth pony mare pulled a pair of sunglasses from her mane and placed them over her narrowed eyes. Even with them obscured, the scowl betrayed her mood. Agent Sweetie Drops a.k.a. Bon Bon should have felt professionalism descend over her like a cloak. It failed, however, to remove the hint of anger from her voice.

“Lyra!”





Agent Sweetie Drops scanned the scene before her. Six or seven concentric rings of changelings surrounded a spot in the center of the market, away from the stalls. Dozens more changelings filled the air. There were Canterlot changelings, evolved and unevolved crystal changelings from King Thorax’s hive, red changelings, pale green changelings from Queen Polistae’s hive, and a few she couldn’t place. Even the orange-chitined drones of Queen Sanguine Dreams joined the swarm. Sweetie Drops was certain this was the first time anypony had seen them undisguised. All faced the center of the area, their wings outstretched as if to catch an imaginary wind. Every bugpony had their eyes closed and expressions of pure rapture on their faces. Over the constant buzz of their wings, she could just make out voices coming from the center.

“An’ your coat is so soft Ah just can’t believe it! An’ your mane is so purty Ah wanna fill it with bows! An’ these squishy cheeks of yours are so gosh-darn adorable! Ah’m gonna call you Squishy!”

“OK.”

The earth pony projected her anger outward to convince the gathered changelings to step aside as she marched forward. To her surprise, none of them seemed to notice her as she pushed through the gathered throng.

Reaching the center, she found a circular space a dozen pony-lengths wide. To one side, Phil Martine pivoted to look around, his neck arched to study the patchwork quilt of colorful bugponies that surrounded them. In the middle of the area, a human mare sat cross-legged. This must be the replacement manager Jolene Harris. Sweetie Drops had only seen her pink earth pony form before now.

Lyra Heartstrings sat motionless in the human’s lap with the unicorn’s legs folded beneath her. Her eyes were closed and a euphoric smile stretched across her muzzle. At least, it appeared to be a smile. Hard to tell with the human’s hands gripping Lyra’s cheeks and wiggling them up and down.

Jolene let out a squee. “Outa all the Squishies Ah know, you’re mah absotively favoritest! You’re cuter than button eyes on a plush doll! Ah’m of a mind to keep pettin’ your mane and pretty tail forever!” Lyra answered with a foalish giggle.

Sweetie Drops peered over her sunglasses. “Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. I think you’ve had enough for one day.” This caused no reaction from the unicorn mare … not even an ear flick. The earth pony blinked and spoke again. “Lyra?”

“She can’t hear you.”

The mare turned to see a red changeling princess stride through the crowd. Unlike Sweetie Drops’ walk through the throng, changelings instinctively made room for bugpony royalty. The princess made it a body length and a half further into the circle before her step faltered and she put her hooves down. Sweetie Drops saw a strained smile on the changeling’s face and her furled wings trembled at her sides. Sweetie Drops recognized the distinctive pattern of scars across the bugpony’s chitin.

“Princess Tarsalia? What do you mean?”

The Red Hive Princess nodded toward the two centers of attention. “Miss Heartstrings is in a state of bliss. Pure, life-fulfilling, existential bliss. From my race’s perspective, it is the highest form of love that a pony can feel. As such, it is also the most prized by all changeling hives.”

That explained the undisguised changelings coming out of the woodwork. “Really?”

“Indeed. Many ponies go their entire lives without feeling this emotion. Miss Heartstrings is most fortunate.”

That made Sweetie Drops hesitate. Could she deny her wife this opportunity? From the edge of the circle, a small red nymph looked up at the earth pony with pleading compound eyes. “You’re not going to make her sad, are you, Miss Bonnie Bonnie?”

The mare felt attention shift to her from many of the assembled changelings. What would happen to her business if she interrupted this pony/human séance? Would she lose half of her customers? In any case, no one was in danger of being hurt. Best tread cautiously for now and wait to see if Lyra snapped out of it on her own. “Maybe … you could tell me more about this ‘bliss’?”

An evolved crystal changeling in the front row said, “Princess Cady gave a concert in Canterlot Stadium a year ago. She’s the one from the dimension where she and Queen Chryssy married their Shining Armor. Cady projected out all the types of love she knew to the one hundred percent changeling audience, naming each as she went. Bliss was the last one and it brought the house down!” He laughed. “Everyling helped out to fix the damage before the Canterlot Comet’s hoofball game the next weekend!”

A red changeling smiled. “That was the best concert ever!” Murmurs of assent came from several of the assembled changelings along with head nods.

A green changeling said, “But this bliss is fresh … and spontaneous … and … and …”

“Exquisite,” said Tarsalia. The Red Hive princess snapped her wings to their full extension. Her mouth hung open and her eyes rolled into her head.

Sweetie Drops sighed. It seemed the princess’ strict discipline could only help her hold out for so long, especially this close to the source of the waves of bliss. She looked at Phil Martine who shrugged.

“A bit outside my pay grade and way outside my job responsibilities. So long as town life isn’t disrupted too badly, and not on company time, I don’t see an issue.”

Speaking of that, Sweetie Drops stood on her hind legs and looked across the stalls in the market. The congregation of changelings had increased in size, now crowding out the pony shoppers and some of the vendors. The earth pony mare said, “Alright, everybeing, you’ve had your fun. Time to wrap this up.”

The surrounding changelings slowly opened their eyes and sighed at the same time, which Sweetie Drops had to admit was kind of adorable. Princess Tarsalia raised her muzzle and chittered something in High Changeling, of which the earth pony didn’t know a syllable. The responses were in Low Changeling, which she knew enough to make out unanimously positive responses.

The Princess spread her wings. “As good a time as any for me to return to my duties. I’ll speak to Prince Mark about a job requisition.” Before the earth pony could ask what she meant, Tarsalia shot through the air on a direct route to Canterlot. Drones flowed out of her way and reformed behind like water in a pond.

“Not quite everybeing has had their fun.”

Sweetie Drops turned to see her wife giving her a calm and confident smile. Behind Lyra, the outer rings of changelings flew off, or in the case of those on the ground, lowered their wings. They walked away while talking in hushed voices. The closest hundred or more bugponies stayed where they were, content to lap up the remaining positive emotions. For her part, Jolene wove the unicorn’s mane into a tight braid with deft movements of her fingers.

The earth pony mare folded her sunglasses and stored them in her mane. Once again Bon Bon, she scowled. “What exactly do you mean, O Queen of the Multi-Colored Ponyville Hive?”

Lyra let out her silvery laugh that made Bon Bon’s heart skip a beat. “Is that what I look like?” She glanced upward without moving her head. “What do you think, everyling? Should I demand a seat at the next changeling Queen’s Council?”

Chitters of laughter rolled across the marketplace, punctuated with a “Yes, Ma’am!” from the diminutive red nymph.

The unicorn mare smiled even wider. “In my first action as Her Majesty, Queen Lyra Heartstrings the First…”

Bon Bon braced herself, thinking, “Here it comes.”

“… I decree from the Jolene Harris royal throne that the fun will not cease until you, Bon Bon, have sat in my place for… a half hour.”

“What? Absolutely not!”

“Awwww…” The collective moans from the surrounding bugponies tugged at the earth pony’s … heartstrings.

“OK, fine. Five minutes. That’s it.”

Lyra’s grin expanded to show all her teeth. “Fifteen or I’ll sit here for that long before asking you again.”

Bon Bon thought to herself, “When the heck did she get so good at negotiating?” She sighed. “Fine.” Bon Bon ignored polite clapping from the assembled changelings while more of them drifted away.

Lyra stood and moved to the woman’s side. “Jolene, let me introduce you to my wife, Bon Bon.” The unicorn’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “If anything, she’s even more adorable than me.”

The human grinned. “Ah can see that as plain as day. ‘Specially when she’s all grumpy.”

The earth pony marched to her fate with as much grace as possible, imagining hair curlers, bows, glitter, and all sorts of humiliating mane and tail treatments in her immediate future. After kneeling in the human’s lap, she mumbled, “Pleased to meet you, Miss Harris.” The answering hug did make her feel better.

“Don’t you worry your purty li’l noggin, Miss Bonnie. Ah’ll have you know that Ah’m more than a mite familiar with ponies from mah childhood.”

“You don’t say.”

The human missed the sarcasm. “Yep! Used to spend every summer with mah cousins on their horse an’ pony farm. One of the hired hands, Miss Natalie, took me under her wing, so to speak. Learned me a bit ‘bout how to massage horses and how to read their moods.”

Jolene didn’t miss the ear flick as her hands roamed across Bon Bon’s neck. “Mah apologies. Forgot that ain’t a polite word here. A-a-a-anyways, just touching your splenius and cervical trapezius muscles let me know how much tension your holdin’.” She laughed. “Ah could drive a nail into a board with your brachiocephalicus right now. Why dontcha take some deep breaths.”

“Wonderful,” thought Bon Bon. “Even the human has a way to read emotions.” Still, the mare dutifully followed Jolene’s request. In … hold … out. In … hold … out.

Lyra spoke up. “Jolene, why don’t you try those little mane pulls?”

The earth pony said, “I’d rather you…Oh!” Waves of relaxation radiated out from where the human’s fingers had gently tugged small sections of mane. Bon Bon closed her eyes. “That does feel…” Her words trailed off. A minute later, her mouth hung open as her jaw relaxed. She barely registered the sound of buzzing wings increasing as the changeling swarm reformed.

Sometime later, Bon Bon heard, “That’s fifteen minutes, Bones.”

“I’ll let you know when I’m done. Would you apply that rhythmic pressure above my withers again, please, Jolene?”

“You betcha, you cute thang!” The human gripped and wiggled the mare’s cheeks. “You’re even cuter than your marefriend. Ah’m gonna call you Squishy Junior!”

Bon Bon smiled. “OK”





The next morning, Lyra straightened her green jacket. She counted the forms on her clipboard: four, just like the last two times she checked. The unicorn next inspected the curious metal quill that humans used … what was it called? … oh, yes … a Fountain Pen. She had rejected the Bic Pen as too flimsy and the clickity-clicky Ballpoint Pen as being altogether too addictive. That left her with a familiar writing instrument, though with the ink hidden cleverly inside.

A below-average height Canterlot changeling came up and hugged her. “Have a great first day, Miss Heartstrings!”

The unicorn gave him a nuzzle. “Thanks, Femur. I feel like a million bits today!”

“Must be all that good luck rubbing off our chitin!”

“Hey, I got more than enough from the first dozen to wish me luck!”

The bug pony waved and went through the portal to Baltimare. For her part, Lyra willed herself to be patient …

…

… though it was harder than she thought. Maybe she should have held onto that super-clicky pen after all. Surely the other ponies and buggies around wouldn’t mind her playing with it.

Just then, her first assignment stepped through the Houston portal. The unicorn trotted up to the human mare and gave her a beaming smile.

“Good morning, Ms. Van Dijk. My name is Lyra Heartstrings and I’m with…” The unicorn couldn’t help herself and danced a quick jig. “… Human Relations. May I have a few moments of your time to gather some ergonomic data?”


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