It was actually going to happen.
She actually going to court to fight for her rights. And the more she thought about the events of the last week, nay, the last year in general, the more she felt like this was suicidal. Utterly insane and hopeless was probably a closer approximation. With all her bad luck and poor decisions, she was more than likely to fall flat on her face in the court room.
Staring down at a bowl of wok fried veggies on a bed of rice, she shivered inside, stifling another bout of tears. Her gracious human host sat across the table from her, taking slow bites from his dinner and lazily reading the city's newspaper. Rustling the pages, he turned the page to look at tomorrow's weather. Satisfied with a sunny and warm forecast, he set down the paper and looked across the table.
"So, you gonna eat, or am I going to have to force feed you?" he asked, taking a bite of his takeout stir fry.
Lyra sniffled, her mind stuck on the tumultuous events of the last few days. Her stupid decision to try and adopt a human child, her even less intelligent decision to challenge the Terran government to a bout of legal fisticuffs, and Bonbon leaving her. Of all the mind shattering and depressing things to happen, her wife's departure was the one that hit the closest to home and sank the deepest. Bonbon, the only pony in all of Equestria she loved enough to want to start a family with, and now she was gone from her life. Any day now, Lyra expected the divorce papers to be flown in via pegasi express mail from Ponyville.
"I'm not hungry," she barely whispered back.
Aaron pushed the issue, feeling his own brand of guilt for letting such a once happy pony fall down this low. "Come on, starving yourself won't make anything better. And neither will beating yourself up. Lyra, I'm concerned for you, and I know that Twilight and the others were concerned for you too. They knew you long before I did, and they all told me that you were such a happy mare that loved smiling almost as much as Pinkie. And there's nothing that hurts me more than seeing happiness get put down like this. Please, listen to me when I say this, your decisions are in the past, and nothing can change the past. What you have to focus on is the future. And the future isn't something you worry about, the future is just something you plan for."
Lyra looked up from her melancholy, and her horn glowed a soft yellow, scooping a spoonful of the delicious smelling meal up. And even though this kind of human food was an astounding ballet of flavors in her mouth, it still didn't help with her problem, and right now it could have tasted like ash in her mouth.
Taking another slow bite, she wondered what in Tartarus she was going to do. "Mr Patterson, what do I do? I've never been to court before, I always just paid my fines and left. What do I do?"
Aaron bit his lip and sighed to himself. "I can't help you because of who and what I am. My job is far too political for me to intervene any more than I already have with this. Shit, people might think I'm pulling the strings just because you live here. I can't help you directly and I can't even take an official stance, but I can tell you to start building your case while you can. You get a half hour of oral argument before the Justices, then the respondent gets half an hour to build a case against you. It goes on like that for around two weeks every month or until both the petitioner and the respondent both rest."
"Two weeks every month? How long does that go on?"
Aaron snorted, taking another bite of his dinner. "Around six months. Typically October to April, but since they called a conference to look at your case outside of the normal time, it might be shorter or even longer. With the government being so unbalanced and wonky, who really knows? And since there's only 152,000 humans, as opposed to the 300 million in pre-War America alone, I expect a quick decision on the parts of the Justices."
Lyra sighed, thinking of the one person who this truly affected more than anyone else. "I hope it's shorter. I hope it all just closes after a few weeks. I can't stand the thought of that baby growing up without a momma. Waking up every morning to see a different person, not knowing anyone as a parent. No one there to rock her to sleep, no one to kiss her good night or read her a story. Nobody to catch her when she falls or kiss her boo-boos. I'm not worried about my future anymore, I'm worried about hers." She sniffled, a single tear falling down her cheek and splashing down on the table.
The man across the table looked like he was fighting off a small heart attack, and he let out a hnnngggg as he clutched his chest. "God damn it, you really need to win this. You'd be a better mom than any mom I've ever had." He seemed to space out for a moment, his eyes gaining that thousand yard stare. "Yes, a hell of a lot better than you!" he snapped suddenly. "You freakin' killed me once, and you steal my body on a nightly basis! You're not exactly winning any 'Mother of the Year' awards!"
Realizing he was ranting out loud, he sheepishly grinned to Lyra. "Sorry, that was supposed to be...private. But, uh, anyways, you really should hit the books and start writing down all the merits of your case. There's a couple law books in my office." Rising from the table, he started clearing away the dishes. "So just....keep your chin up, okay? Don't let this ruin you as a person. And since you violated my bed, I guess I'll be taking one of the guest bedrooms."
Dropping off the dishes in the sink, Aaron left his for his man-cave in the den, pulling a pair of ear buds out of his pockets and plugging himself in. The mare slid out of the chair made for a human sitter, walking slowly to the room she had respectfully stayed out of for her entire vacation. And since vacation time was over, there was work to be done.
Stepping into Mr Patterson's office, she could have gasped. Whereas his den contained wonders, curios and artifacts from cultures all around the world, his office was purely human. The last fading rays of daylight came in through a large window in the back, splashing down on row after row books on history, law, philosophy, science, religion, anything and everything that the human mind had ever contemplated with deep thought. Had this been a year ago, had this been before she knew she had human neighbors, she would have leapt with joy, her inner conspirator overjoyed at the enlightening texts on human civilization that coated every wall.
Levitating a book on civil law, she dropped it on the office desk carefully and cracked it open. Almost instantly she was buffeted by terminology and phrases she did not understand that were spoken in some kind of language that was long dead. Latin, yeah, that's what the book called it. Whenever they wanted to make something sound important, they always threw in some Latin, seemingly just for the hell of it.
For hours she pored herself into reading and understanding as much as she could from that book. She skimmed over the pages, cramming as much knowledge of human law as she could in so little time. In two days, she would be brought into the Supreme Court of the Republic of Terra, and she would have to plead her case before nine Justices bent on protecting their people.
Darkness fell, and Lyra switched on those fancy, newfangled "light bulbs" using the switch on the wall. Far easier than reading by candlelight, that was for sure. And as she grasped at these barren descriptions and confusing concepts, she started to learn. Human law was based on common law, the laws that a previous, older civilization had worked out. And since most of these people in this city were "American" in origin, she focused on American common law above all others.
Based on the common laws of another, older nation called "England", American laws lacked the social distinction between nobility and the commoners that English law insisted upon enforcing. Lyra began to understand something, that Equestrian law shared many traits with both sets of laws, doling out the blind justice of American law while enforcing the social distinction of commoners and nobility. And the more she read, the more she seemed to favor American law.
It was meant to be fair while being completely unprejudiced. Judges, lawyers, lawmakers and law enforcement officers all had to follow the strict tradition of the common law, since that was what their predecessors had decided was the fairest and most impartial judgement. And that whenever something like new, something unexpected like her case came along, typically it went through the legal gauntlet, starting low with a petition or a case in a civil court. And if the judges at the lower levels felt this went higher, it did, passing through appeals and circuits and all the way up to the Supreme Court of the state. And if state or provincial Justices felt it needed to go higher, it took another tour of the federal system.
Her case however, was different. She reasoned that since the youthful nation of Terra didn't have the territory nor the population or even the time to justify the stratification of a justice system to both state and federal levels that all cases would be considered either very high or very low, whether they were considered at all. Hence the possible expediency of her hearing.
And though this was all rather fascinating, she could only take so much of it. Lyra searched for any inkling of laws and legal precedents that might adhere to her case, and all of Aaron's law books only held the most famous of criminal cases, not civil cases. After awhile, she began to get frustrated, skimming only through the glossaries of books, searching for anything that might help her. In a fit of magic that would have made Twilight proud, she levitated Aaron's entire collection of law books, circling them around in a storm of text, seeking out anything that might have escaped her before.
And for all her study, nothing. She may have understood the judicial process a micron better than when she started, but nothing here was going to help her. Her eyes felt like iron weights, and the extended use of her magic made her tired and achy. And around three in the morning, she lay her head down on the desk and succumbed to exhaustion.
She woke up the next morning with bleary red eyes and less hope than ever on her horizon. And as soon as Lyra worked out the kink in her neck, she levitated another law book over and started to flip through it. Only when the sun finally started creeping in the west window again did she stop and look at the time.
"Eighteen hours. I've been at this....for eighteen hours." She looked down at the book open on the table and sighed. "And I still haven't learned anything useful."
Her ears perked up for a moment, and she had a thought. "Wait, I don't know human law very well, but I'm pretty good at pony law. Maybe if I gave them examples from Equestria, they'd think it was a better idea than their own laws!" Later in her life, she would look back on that moment and seriously ponder how stupid that sounded. Lyra was a decently smart mare, but desperation, lack of sleep and recent tragedy made for the biggest idiots.
Rummaging through the drawers of the desk, Lyra sought out a pad of paper and a pencil. She wondered why Aaron kept a baggie of grass clippings in his desk, and she thought about throwing it out for him. After all, any plant that smelled that skunky had almost certainly gone bad. But there was no time for that!
Trying every memory trick and spell that she knew of, she tried to bring back any memories of family law from Equestrian history. Almost instantly she came up to a perfect draw. "Twilight and Spike! They're not even from the same family of animals, yet they're one of the happiest little families in Ponyville! If anything will get 'em, that will!" Desperately she scribbled that down, wanting anything put down on paper to say that she at least had some stake in this, and not just a desperate sob story about her failing life and her want to make the life a child better.
It was better than nothing, but a nagging sense of doubt told her it was next to nothing.
*******************************************
Lyra stared in the mirror, trying to control her breathing. With her comb shivering in her magic, she tried once again to untangle her knotty and unkempt mane. Setting down the brush, she dug through her meager beauty kit, trying to find something that would fix baggy, red eyes. For once she cursed her usual apathy to her looks, and knew that the judges would hold it against her for looking this shabby.
"I wish I had somepony around who knew how to make me look acceptable! Somepony like Rarity or Bon-" Her heart twinged at her accidental mention of Bonbon. She had been too focused on cramming for today's opening hearing to check the mail for her divorce papers. But....she was almost certain they would come. And after that, all she had left in her life was her lyre and this trial. And if she made a complete fool out herself before the Supreme Court, she could always just start a life as a wandering musician. After seeing all the desperate creatures in this city, she would never be able to live down the shame of failing to represent them in court. And after news reached Equestria, she would be a laughing stock in every household.
She wondered what she would do if she failed and both Terra and Equestria were no longer options for her. Well, she'd always heard Snowreach was fairly nice this time of year. If you could get past the backwards frontier folk, swarms of black flies, rampaging tribes of trolls, and the occasional unspeakable horror that sometimes wandered down from the tundras. Yeah, Snowreach was probably a good place to hide in shame forever and ever. Perhaps those simple mining folk were in desperate need of...classical musicians. Okay, so Snowreach was off the list. Maybe Zebrica, or even Taurissian....
"Lyra!" Aaron called through the door, rapping on the door with his knuckles. "Are you ready?"
Looking at her reflection one last time in the mirror, she swallowed the forming lump in her throat, shaking her head. "No," she whispered to herself. But she accepted fate, and nodding to herself, she told herself over and over, "I know I can do this. I know I can win this."
A scant ten minutes later, the pockets of her pony made jacket stuffed with notes and papers, she walked with her human escort out the front door and towards the courthouse.
To her surprise, the address delivered with her subpoena led them to an above-ground building on the vague crossroads of Fort Greenewell, the suburbs and the market. A small ordeal that looked like it would be a schoolhouse when the infant generation started needing their proper education. Right outside the door of the impromptu courthouse stood a solitary Terran Marine on guard duty, and as the mare walked up he waved her in. Recognizing Dr Patterson, the Marine stopped him.
"Sorry sir, we're under strict orders to keep an eye out for you. We can only allow you in if you consent to be under a Tesla field at all times." The soldier nodded over to an inert micro Tesla device on the stoop, ready to use at the push of a button if needed.
Aaron shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't consent to that." With his very particular set of responsibilities, he had to be able to psionically reach the spirit world at any given time. Looking over to Lyra, he wanted to give her all the support he could in this her darkest hour. "Lyra, I can't come in with you today. You're going to be all alone in there, so try and be strong for yourself. Be strong for the little girl down there in the hospital."
The mare quivered in anxiety, but she shakily nodded to her friend. "Okay," she peeped. Walking in the door, she passed the threshold of no return. She thought about that baby girl, her silky brown hair, her perfect little fingers and toes. She thought about her losses, and how shouldn't give up because of adversity. And she found the strength to take the leap into the deep end.
**********************************************
The courthouse was almost empty. Inside the only people currently present were a few court clerks laying out all the papers and setting the places for the Justices, the respondent lawyer in his place on the left, and an earth pony janitor idly sweeping the floor in the public gallery.
It brought a small sense of calm to her that another pony was at least here, that she wouldn't be completely ostracized from her kind during the hearing. But her hopes were once again dashed when the janitor swept the dirt up and left. So much for the comforting racial instinct amongst ponies to have others of their own kind close by.
Another soldier in dress uniform stepped over to her from beside the Justice's table. "You're the petitioner?" he asked. Recognizing him as some kind of impromptu bailiff, Lyra nodded. "Alright, you're seated over there. Court will be in session in ten minutes. When I call for all to rise, stand from your seat until told otherwise. Since you're the petitioner, your argument is first. Expect questions from any Justice at any given time, and you will properly answer beginning with 'Mr or Ms Justice.' In the case of Chief Justice Haliburton, you will answer to her as 'Madam Chief Justice'."
The bailiff dropped her off at her desk before taking his place by the Justice's podium again. Lyra stole a glance over at the respondent's table, and nearly had a heart attack. The Attorney General, the man acting as respondent on behalf of the Republic, seemed to have everything he needed to crush her like an ant.
He had several stacks of official documents laid out on the table, and he seemed to be organizing them, trying to see in which order they would destroy the opposition best. Lyra looked down at her own stack of tattered, ratty papers. He had at least two hundred sheets, while she had just over ten, all hoof written. One of them was even on a large napkin.
Leaning down, she banged her head on the table, wanting the imminent slaughter to just be over already.
"Hey, you must be Heartstrings," a man's voice said to her. Looking up from the table, she saw the Attorney General standing by her table, taking a sip out of his coffee mug. He had a slick look about him, a look that came with years of experience on the courtroom floor. But he had taken some stresses; though he was still in his prime, he was graying at the temples, and the corners of his eyes showed crow's feet.
"Yeah, I'm Lyra," she said back.
The respondent grinned, holding out his hand in greeting. "David Bennett, Attorney General." Lyra carefully took his hand, noticing the gleaming ring that reminded her of rings or bracelets that they gave to law school graduates in Equestria.
"I just wanted to say that there's nothing personal about what happens today, but I'm going to do my job as best as I can. Really thought I should be a part of this one, one pony against the whole nation of Terra, never mind the fact that it's the first case to go through the Terran Supreme Court." He looked around for a moment, hooking a thumb in his belt. "So uh, where's your representation?"
"My what?" she asked, obviously confused.
"Your representation. You know, legal council, maybe a lawyer or something?"
Lyra laid her ears flat, her facing lightly flushing pink in embarrassment. "I uh...I don't have any."
Attorney General Bennett whistled, impressed at her daring. "Wow, not only does she have the guts to stand up to the whole human race, but she also represents herself. This really is one for the books." He checked his pocket watch, one probably crafted by pony hooves, and nodded to himself. "Well, Court convenes in two minutes, good luck. Lord knows you'll need it," he murmured once he was out of earshot.
Well pony feathers! If she'd known she could have hired a lawyer to do all the fighting for her, she wouldn't be right here in the frying pan waiting for the respondent to turn the heat up! Well it was too late now. Besides, all the money she earned here went back to Ponyville with Bonbon. She didn't even had a tarnished bit to her name in this city. All her material wealth was back in Equestria, and it was likely that Bonbon would either sell it all or move it out as soon as possible.
The bailiff cleared his throat. "All rise for the honorable Justices of the Supreme Court of the the Republic of Terra."
Lyra stood hastily from her seat, following the lead of Attorney General Bennett. A door to the right of the Justice's podium opened, a woman wearing a black robe walking in followed by eight others all dressed the same. Chief Justice Haliburton took the center seat, the other Justices taking the seats on either side of her.
"Be seated," the bailiff said. Clearing his throat once again, he took on his secondary duty, the invocation. "God save the Republic of Terra and this honorable court. May he bless us with swift, righteous judgement."
Chief Justice Haliburton nodded to the bailiff, who took his leave. Grabbing Lyra's petition, she flipped to the first page. "We will hear argument this morning in case No. 1 of the Terran judiciary, Lyra Heartstrings against the Republic of Terra. Mrs Heartstrings, you may begin."
Lyra froze, hoping for a moment that there was some other Mrs Heartstrings in the courtroom. A quick and uneasy glance around, and the only people in her sight were the human Justices, her opposition, and herself. Swallowing the knot in her throat, Lyra tried to begin.
"Um, Madam Chief Justice, I, uh, I pass." Almost instantly she regretted saying that. She'd just given up her turn, and court had only been in session for a minute!
Chief Justice Haliburton raised her eyebrow. "You "pass"?"
"Yes ma'am. I mean, yes Madam Chief Justice. I'd like for him to go first." She shakily pointed a hoof over at the respondent.
The Justices murmured amongst themselves for a moment, whispering their opinions to one another. The Chief Justice decided to proceed with the petitioner's request. "Very well. Mr Bennett, you may present your, ahem, response."
The Attorney General rose smoothly from his seat, a thumb comfortably hooked under his belt. "Thank you, Madam Chief Justice. I would like to begin today by saying that I come before you as a grateful citizen and expectant father in this great nation. We are here today because humanity is a race that strives everyday to better itself and to protect itself. Sure, the sins of our forefathers have come crashing down on our heads, but we are over that as a people. For the first time in history, mankind is completely united. We are one people. And this unity between all the peoples who once saw themselves different as a result of creed or heritage is enforced by our right, nay our duty as human beings to protect one another, and to assure the future of our children. The state may not have always been as stalwart as we are now in the interests of our next generation, but today I appeal to the caring heart that beats inside all of us. I ask you to simply think of our children."
The Attorney General scooped a stack of papers off of his desk, handing them to the bailiff to pass out to the Justices. "As you can see here, the government's role in the prevention of child mistreatment and abuse as per parens patriae is to cover for the child's possible opinion if they are unable to assert their own. Now, I would like to point out that young Ms Appleton, the child in question, is without parents at the present time. Since she is a burden of the state, the legal rights of two out of three parties involved, the child and the state, are completely subject to the will of the government at large. Now, I assert that the government was completely within their rights to deny parentage to the petitioner."
"And how do you say that, Mr Bennett?" Justice Brockmann asked.
Mr Bennett slowed paced back and forth in front of the Justices, completely at ease with the situation. "Being that Terran Social Services are burdened with the responsibility of handling the young girl's affairs, it is only natural that they are the ones who decide what becomes of her. While I will be the first to admit that the presentation of the Guardian Clause by Mr Alexander Sanders to the petitioner was not socially acceptable in his mannerisms, he was in the right. As far as her parentage is concerned, she belongs to the state, and thus the human race. Madam Chief Justice, the respondent will allow for the petitioner to begin her argument."
Mr Bennett took his seat, a smirk of an easy victory on his face. Chief Justice Haliburton glanced over to Lyra as she tried to comprehend half of what had just been said. "Mrs Heartstrings, you may present your argument."
Lyra felt cold inside. Bennett had this in the bag. Only five minutes of his argument, and he was resting for the duration?! Standing from her seat and levitating a few of the papers, she cleared her throat and began.
"Um, Madam Chief Justice, I would like to present a few cases from my people....i-if it pleases the court."
Haliburton nodded once. "May the petitioner be reminded that the laws of her people hold no true bearing in this court, and are only exemplary."
"No bearing? O-okay. Ahem, Madam Chief Justice, in Equestria we believe in the simple idea that who you are is not what you are. This simple principle has driven our nation for thousands of years. Though the majority of my people are ponies, any creature that resides in harmony and wishes to have the same rights as a pony is given them. Even creatures that you proclaim to be monsters; diamond dogs, gryphons, even dragons are welcomed as a part of society if they show the interest and the aptitude. Every creature is given the rights that they have both earned and deserve. If a gryphon serves in the Equestrian military, he is subject to earn the same veteran's benefits as a pony soldier. If a dragon finds work in industry, he still has to pay the same taxes as a pony worker for his labor. And most important to my case, if a pony or other creature wishes to adopt a creature of a different species, it is allowed and encouraged. In my home town of Ponyville, the local librarian has formally adopted a dragonling to be her son. You know this pony, her name is Twilight Sparkle, and she is one of the reasons you are even here today. And the dragon, Spike, is raised in a kind, loving and gentle fashion, as is the pony way. And though he has questioned his heritage, he does not wish to return to draconic society. Spike accepts his heritage as a dragon, but he embraces the civility and love of pony society."
Lyra stopped for a moment, draining the entire glass of water at her table in nervousness. "Anyways, adoption between species is completely legal and morally right in Equestria. Equestria is a society that has flourished for two millenia, and we only want to help a society that is just getting back on its feet. Never, ever has the question of family threatened to destabilize pony society, because to us family is something that you make, not something that fits in some predefined terms."
For another fifteen minutes Lyra babbled on as best as she could, draining the water jug on her table. And the entire time, not a word of what she said was legally applicable. She prattled on about the first example of interspecies adoption in Equestrian history between a pony family who adopted an orphaned gryphon. She regaled them with examples of when minotaurs legally called colts and fillies son or daughter. All of her legal knowledge meant nothing here. And when she finally ran out of ideas and breath, she called it and sat down.
And though it felt like an entire day had passed since she had walked in that courtroom door, only forty-five minutes had gone by since the invocation was given. Never once did the Justices interrupt her to ask a question. And never once did their expressions change.
And when the Justices dismissed the hearing for the day, Lyra walked out of the door and blankly wandered for hours. None of the evidence or arguments she had presented had even made a positive dent in her case. For all the Justices were concerned, she might as well have been an empty space in the courtroom, and all her efforts were for naught.
****************************************************
She wandered the city for hours, wondering if it was possible to just throw this case out completely. There never was any hope that she might pull off a stunning victory in court, not with such legal precedent and a top notch representative like Mr Bennett. And all she wanted right now was to see the city from her dreams one last time before she grabbed her lyre and struck out alone.
Lyra looked at sights she thought she would never see in her life, technology that made the most innovative pony material look clunky. Art that made her heart twirl with wonder and emotion. Homes that would be filled with loving families.
And through it all, Lyra knew that she never stood a chance against such a powerhouse as humanity. She actually managed to be surprised when she looked up and saw the sky painted with the purples and oranges of twilight, the barest glimmers of stars poking through the sun's last fading rays. She'd wandered the city for hours, with no purpose in mind other than to be alone with her thoughts.
And Lyra wasn't surprised by where her restless hooves had taken her, the peaceful and idyllic Park. She sighed, taking one of the twisting and winding path through the ancient forest, passing by statues and benches, fields and meadows. until she came to the one place in the entire Republic where everyone was absolutely welcome, the gazebo. But she noticed that it wasn't unoccupied, a certain mage human stood in front of the Singing Crystal, facing a small crowd of eager faces and giving some kind of lecture as they scribbled down notes.
His magic classes, she suddenly realized. That's right, Aaron was teaching some kinds of magic to these people, magic that all creatures could use, not just unicorns. Aaron stopped his lecture for a moment, checking his watch and declaring that class was over for the evening. The students all rose, chattering to one another and looking very excited about their latest lesson as they took the pathways back to their homes.
A pair passed by Lyra, and she recognized the woman of the pair by her voice from the radio.
"Wow, an actual healing potion recipe! I can't wait to try it out!" she exclaimed to her friend.
"Me too! But what I love is this locking rune! I wonder if it'll work on cabinets. You know, to keep a certain somebody from snacking before dinner." The pair laughed at the jest, continuing down the path. Lyra looked ahead to the now empty gazebo, and decided that maybe she needed a little of the hope that people said this place gave.
Stepping lightly onto the wooden steps, she ascended into the shrine to the spirits that this place had become. The glowing crystal stayed in its place, not changing its harmonious song with the nighttime world.
Lyra looked at the crystal, her eyes probing into its facets, seeking some kind of answer to her prayers. Dropping to her haunches, she sighed. "Please," she whispered to the crystal on its podium. "Please, I need help. I broke apart my marriage, I've picked a fight I can't win, and I'm going to fail the little girl who needs me. All of my friends have abandoned me, all I have left is my lyre. Please, I need hope. I need help."
She looked longingly into the crystal, waiting for it to light up and banish away her desperation or give her the strength to overcome this challenge. "Please answer me," she begged to it. "Please!" she cried.
The crystal did not change, it just continued its eternal song.
Lyra sniffled, standing up and walking over to one of the benches along the side of the gazebo. She lay down on her side, like a pony should, and she started to cry again. Her tears splashed down on the smooth, alabaster wood of the shrine, and she lost everything. She couldn't take it anymore. As soon as she was through here, it was back to the house to grab her lyre, and then the open road until she died in some ditch.
The trotting clop of hooves brought her bleary eyes up. A unicorn mare like herself trotted up to the gazebo, her head held high as she hummed a little ditty. She had a dark green coat, with a curly black mane. A splash of freckles danced across her smiling face, and she had the look of a filly who had just claimed her marehood.
"Excuse me," the stranger asked. "Is this seat taken?" She pointed a hoof to the bench next to Lyra's, and with such a pretty young face like hers, who was she to say no?
"Knock yourself out, kid," she said quietly, still miring in her failure.
The mare happily trotted over to the bench, laying down neatly and gently. Settling herself in, she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the night.
Lyra tried to contain her emotions around this stranger. Whoever she was, she was interrupting a good session of self pity. But her sniffles overcame her civility, and a fresh batch of tears rolled down her face.
The stranger opened her eyes, cocking an eyebrow at Lyra. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern.
"I'm fine," Lyra trembled.
"You don't sound fine. With all that sniffling, you sound a little sick. Are you sick? Do you have one of those icky summer colds? Oh! Maybe it's allergies! I hate allergies, they make you all icky and sick so you can't enjoy going out and having fun!" Her ramble was soon cut short by a firefly as it flew into the gazebo, lighting its little bottom and completely enrapturing the odd mare. "Oooooohhh, pretty," she said quietly.
Okay, what could have been pleasantly silent company was turning into an outing with a repackaged Pinkie Pie. And of all the ponies in Ponyville that she disliked spending too much time with, it was that pink sugar rush on hooves. And what was worse, this one actually had magic!
The strange mare snapped out of her fixation. "Are you allergic to the flowers? That would be bad 'cause the flowers around here are all so pretty this time of year. Or maybe it's all the pollen from the grass! Oh wait, you'd be pretty hungry all the time if you were allergic to grass." The odd little mare giggled at her own observation, snorting between her sweet, girlish giggles.
"Look, I'm not sick, okay!" she snapped to the girl.
The girl cocked an eyebrow. "Then why are you crying? Did you get hurt? Did one of your friends say something mean?" She gasped, covering her mouth with a hoof. "Did something really bad happen?" Her look was of actual, real concern. Something that nopony ever really gave her unless they were afraid for her, like during her human obsessed years.
"I don't want to talk about it," Lyra replied solemnly.
"Oh. I understand." She went silent for a moment, looking around the gazebo with a bored expression, one that demanded that something interesting happen right now. "I'm Dreamy," she said to Lyra, extending a hoof in greeting.
Lyra looked at her hoof with contempt, and only out of common courtesy she took it and shook once. "Lyra Heartstrings," she said back.
"Woooooooowww," Dreamy said. "That's a pretty name. I wish I had a name that beautiful."
"Tell ya what," Lyra grated, desperate to rid herself of this oddball. "When I run away from the Republic, you can have my name, okay?"
Dreamy clapped her hooves together in excitement, very pleased with this little faux-pas. She went silent for a few minutes, just looking around at the gazebo and all the beautiful things inside and outside of it. She started humming that little ditty again, and for some reason Lyra felt like it was incredibly familiar.
"I like coming here," Dreamy remarked. "Right about now all the fireflies come out and light up like little stars on the ground. And sometimes if I sit here really quite, a forest animal will come and graze in the clearing. It's really a magical place, but it is kind of small. But hey, it's always the little things in life that make it worth living. I mean, why sweat the big bad things when there's so much beauty in the little things?"
Lyra rolled her eyes, her tolerance for this obviously crazy pony at its limit. "Look, I didn't come here to look at the small things or to be happy. I came here to find some hope in an obviously hopeless cause. I came here to find some way to salvage my life and hopefully leave this country with my pride! I came here to get my prayers answered!"
And in a blink of an eye, Dreamy lost her girlish demeanor, and a coy smile began to creep up her face. "So, is that what this is all about? In need of a little hope are you?"
"Yes, and you and your constant chatter aren't helping! This damn thing here," she jerked her head towards the crystal on its podium, "needs to do something. Because...because I just need somepony to help me for once."
Dreamy started to chuckle. Very dignified and controlled, unlike her snorting and guffawing only moments ago. "And what if someone has already answered your prayers?"
"What could you possibly-" Lyra cut herself short. Dreamy sat up on the bench, holding her head up high as she extended a pair of light, delicate wings from her back. "Horn....wings....you're a...a-a princess," Lyra managed to say.
"Correction," Dreamy said. Her entire body gained a strange aura of light, and her small pony form dissipated. And in its place sat an awe inspiring creature of beauty. An alicorn like Princess Celestia, she still had Dreamy's forest green fur and her black mane. But that mane was like Luna's, a window into the stars and galaxies of the universe. And when Dreamy had arrived clean of any jewelry, this new her wore a crystal diadem and a necklace bearing the seal of the Elements of Harmony. "'Queen' would be a more accurate title, Lyra Heartstrings."
Lyra trembled before this creature, wondering if she should leap to the floor and grovel for her insolence only moments before. "Who are you?" she asked timidly.
The alicorn goddess chuckled. "Certainly you must recognize me? After all, I have known you for your entire life, I even witnessed the very day you first opened your eyes, and your mother hummed you that song when she first looked into your amber eyes." The alicorn once again began to hum that little song, and it struck the unicorn. That song was the one her mother sang to her every night before bed, and it was the first tune she ever played on her lyre.
"You, you're her. This shrine...it's for you. You're The Mother."
The Earth goddess nodded. "Yes. And no. This shrine is not for me, it simply acts as a place where people can come to see me." She ran a hoof along the polished white wood. "Do you like it? It took six hundred years of planning and gentle persuasion to get all the plants to grow in just the right way. But it wasn't me alone, no no. This was a family effort. In this place reside the magical touches of all your celestial aunts and uncles; Aries, Aphros, Jove, Oronos, even Father Sol came to give his respects to the Fallen and add his own touch."
With her troubles momentarily forgotten, Lyra really did see the beauty of this place for all it was. "It is beautiful. But, how is this possible? You're a spirit, how am I seeing you right now?"
Once again she smiled. "You aren't. This, my dear, is a dream. I thought Dreamy's name gave it all away. After all, it isn't only the bison of the mighty plains who call me by so many names; Great Spirit, Earth Mother, Wind Shepherd, The Dancing Flame, the Dream Walker."
"But I thought that Princess Luna was the dream keeper, she's the one who banishes nightmares and such."
The goddess scoffed. "And who exactly do you think taught her how, hmm? None other than dear old Mom!"
Lyra looked down at her own hoof, wondering something. "This is a dream. A lucid dream. Does that mean I can-"
"Do whatever your imagination will allow? Yes indeed." Lyra started when the alicorn in the seat next to her faded away, leaving a human woman leaning back, her dazzling golden eyes and flowing black hair still the same as Dreamy's.
Lyra held her hoof up to her face, and she closed her eyes, concentrating on one things in particular that had fancied her dreams so many years ago. Carefully opening an eye, she smiled in awe, a lithe human hand taking the place of her digitless foreleg.
The goddess chuckled. "My my, you are a pretty one. But all of my children are beautiful in their own way." The goddess summoned a mirror, holding it up for Lyra to see. And when she looked into the silver surface, the creature that looked back was familiar, yet alien.
Her skin was hairless except a short minty crop atop her head. Her muzzle had receded, and only a little button nose remained. She still had her amber eyes, but her ears had rounded off and become smaller. Here in this dream reality, she had done what only a few unicorns had accomplished in their labs. "I'm...I'm beautiful," she said. Raising a delicate hand she softly touched her own face. It felt so real, so smooth and flawless, yet it was insubstantial compared to her real form.
"You're beautiful no matter what form you choose to have. Now come with me, I have something to show you." The human goddess stood from the bench, holding out her hand for Lyra. She hesitated, wondering where in this dreamscape the goddess was taking her. "Come on, I don't bite," she said with a smile.
Lyra gently took her hand, and the gazebo flashed away from both of them, replaced by a misty hallway. "Where are we?"
"The Undercity. Or at least a dream world image of it. Some things exist here that do not exist in the waking world, and some things in the waking world are different here in the dream world. Now come, we must make haste." The goddess glided down the hallway, turning to a door that she opened with a wave of her hand. "Go, someone needs you in there."
Lyra walked through the open door, and found herself in the hospital's nursery. The misty room looked much the same as it did the day she and Bonbon had walked in there together. Happy landscapes and smiling suns still decorated the wall, and rows of incubators lay ready for the new babies of Lazarus. Going to a certain row, she came to the only occupied incubator in the whole nursery. And in it was that little girl, still swaddled in her little blanket.
Lyra smiled, reaching down with her new hand to gently stroke her cheek. "We're in her dream, aren't we?"
The Earth Mother appeared next to her, reaching down into the cradle to softly stroke her forehead, her finger delicately touching the mark that was Her own sign. "Yes. This is the only world she has ever known, and the only place she can dream of. She deserves something more than this, and she needs someone better than a nurse to feed her or care for her. She needs you, Lyra. And you need her." The infant opened her eyes, looking at the women above her with wonder. The Earth Mother smiled, cooing softly to the infant girl. "Hello little one."
A small tendril of magic reached out from the infant's mark, seeking a comforting companion. "Look, she still dreams of your magical touch. But I think she deserves something more." The goddess looked at Lyra and nodded down to the infant.
Lyra felt a warmth in her heart, and gently lifted the baby out of her resting place. Cradling her in her arms, she hummed her song lightly to the little girl, rocking her back and forth as gently as she could in this form. Taking a step back, the Earth Mother watched the scene with love. A single tear fell from her golden eye, and she felt the warm love of both the child and the person who wanted to be her mother in her heart. Moments like this were why she had tried so hard for millenia to see life blossom on the world she embodied. If love like this could be in everyone's heart, maybe....maybe the War wouldn't have been necessary.
"Lyra," she said gently. "Our time is short. She will wake up in moments, and I must get you out of this place before her dream fades away."
Lyra nodded slowly. Placing the child back in her cradle, Lyra leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Sleep tight, dear little angel." She took the goddess's outreached hand, and once again the world of dreams flashed before her eyes as they returned to the gazebo.
Letting go of her hand, Lyra noticed that both of them had returned to pony form, and the alicorn stood by the Singing Crystal on its podium. Lyra took a few deep breaths. "Thank you for that," she said.
"My pleasure," the goddess replied.
But she couldn't help but feel that it was all a temptation of something that she could never have. Even if she had found her hope once again, it wouldn't make a difference in court. "Even though that was the kindest thing anypony has ever done for me, it still doesn't help. I need you to help me in court. Can you do that, please?"
The Earth Mother shook her head. "No, I cannot. Even gods have rules that they must follow. Rules laid down by entities that transcend both the material and energy realms. And if I break these rules, it could mean that I myself end up in a kind of court. I can't infringe on a sentient species' right to self governance, and personally interfering in something like that could be disastrous to both me and everything I protect."
Lyra slumped over in her bench, shaking her head. "Then I'm back at square one."
The Earth Mother's lofty stoicism began to fall, and she turned to the crystal on its podium. "No, you're not." Holding her expansive wing around the crystal, she let out a wispy breath of mist that coalesced into an orb over the pinnacle of the crystal. Turning back to Lyra, she held the orb gently in her hoof. "Catch!"
She lobbed the orb to Lyra, who fumbled it in her hooves before carefully catching it. "What's this?" she asked excitedly. "Some kind of magic power that will give me the ability to change opinions? Some kind of telepathy or-or something like that?!"
The alicorn goddess laughed heartily. "No my dear. That will be your legal council! I cannot interfere on your behalf, but there are no rules concerning the souls of those who have passed on! Now, do everything he tells you to do, down to the letter. He's gotten me out of more than one legal jam with other gods. His name is Clarence, but he prefers that you call him "Mr Darrow". Lyra, meet your lawyer, the greatest civil rights attorney in all of human history, the Attorney for the Damned, or should I say Of the Damned!"
The goddess laughed at that like it was pure comedic gold. The orb in Lyra's hoof shivered with a kind of life, levitating into the air. "You never get tired of that one, do you?" The voice was thick and husky, like it came from a large and imposing man.
"Never in a million years! Now, you should be off Lyra, you and your attorney have work to do! You're going to bring the good fight where it needs to go! And remember, this is far more than just you Lyra, this is for all the creatures of this nation! Now away, you have rights to fight for!"
A golden light enveloped the alicorn, sweeping away the dream world and tearing down the misty image of the gazebo.
*******************************************
Lyra snapped awake, her amber eyes looking around at the gazebo. Leaning up on the bench, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "What a weird dream."
"You think that's weird? Little sister, you haven't seen anything yet."
Lyra nearly leapt out of her own fur at the thick, husky voice that sounded like it was right next to her. Scrambling to the other end of the bench, she stared at the floating spirit orb that lazily sat there. "Sweet mane of Celestia! That was real!? You're really real?!"
The orb bobbed once, nodding. "Clarence Darrow, attorney at law. The Big Gal tells me you managed to stir the hornet's nest and you need a little help."
"Uh, yeah," she replied meekly. "But, how can I see you? Don't spirits need to be inside a rune circle to be seen?"
"The Big Gal altered both of us, so get used to having a ghost whispering in your ear during the trial. Now, it has been over two thousand years since I last practiced law, so I need to refresh my memory and take in any precedents set after my timely demise. Take me to a library or archive."
Lyra rubbed her neck with a hoof. "Um, it's kind of late. And my roommate must be worried sick about me. But-but he has a lot of law books!"
"Good enough."