//------------------------------// // Reunion for the first time // Story: Switching Bodies // by Lunatia //------------------------------// Switching Bodies Chapter 3: Making friends '1, 2, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 3, 2 4- Dammit!' Alicia landed in a heap on the library floor. Twilight giggled at the mare. She had been perfecting her walk around the room while she wrote her letter, resulting in many trips and falls. "What are you laughing at?" The green unicorn scowled as she forced herself up, for about the tenth time in the last five minutes. "Nothing, nothing." Twilight waved a hoof, dipping her quill in some more ink. "It's just that the way you're walking is so... foalish. It's almost like teaching a newborn to crawl." Smirking, she returned to her work. "Well, isn't that such a confidence-booster. I think I've got it anyway, see? Look! Look! Hey, you're not looking!" Alicia strutted casually over beside the purple mare. "I guess I just needed practice." "Uh-huh... Got it!" "Got what?" "Oh, my letter's done. Hang on a second, SPIKE!!!" Twilight's voice screamed through the library. "Youch. Maybe a warning next time?" Alicia spoke from her awkward position of sitting on two hooves, the front two covering her ears. "...You called, Twilight?" The unicorn's jaw dropped at the sight. In the doorway to the other room, a little purple and green lizard...thing was standing expectantly. He didn't look like a lizard, though. More like a dragon. 'Dragons in this world? Holy shit, I have got a lot to catch up on.' Alicia watched as Twilight hovered the letter over to the dragon, who's name was apparently Spike. "Deliver this to Princess Celestia, pronto." She ordered. The dragon took in a deep breath, and the next moment the letter had been covered by emerald-green flames. The smoke flew out the window and around the library. "How did you-" Alicia started, but Twilight put up a hoof to stop her. "Not here, let's go in the other room and I can tell you everything, while we wait for the reply." Alicia nodded and followed Twilight to the other room, another area of the library, except this place had couches to sit on, which they settled themselves upon. "Alright, we'll start things simple." Twilight said with a small cough, levitating some parchment and a quill over to her. "What is your name and age? What are 'humans' and what do they look like? Where do humans stand in your world? What is your world like? And do you have ponies in your world?" Alicia stared at her, head dropping a little as if to say 'Seriously?' But she thought for a while, hoof tapping her chin. "Alicia Wellspring, 29 years old, think of them like tall monkeys with shorter arms, and less hair, except on top of their head, and no tails. We're pretty much the top dogs of the world, among all of the species. Uh, round, and split up continents. We do have ponies, but they're... different. Usually depicted with brown coats, and long snouts. And they can't talk, either." Alicia finished, a smug look on her face for memorizing all the questions. "That's great... Great!" Twilight nodded in approval, finishing her notes with a flick of the quill. "Well, since you're in Equestria, I guess I can show you around sometime. You'll get the hang of things." "Aren't there any history books? Something I can do without having to figure out myself?" The sea-green mare laughed nervously. However, Twilight shook her head. "There's simply too much to know. As of your world, I'm sure there is more to know as well, but that will be known when the time comes. Anyway, would you, um, like to do anything while we wait? The Princess isn't exactly a fast replier." "Well, I guess you can show me around now. I mean, since there's no books." Alicia made a point to look around the room, taking in the rows of books on the shelves. "Well..." Twilight bit her lip. "Alright. Just don't say anything suspicious, and if anypony talks to you, go along with it. And I can't be calling you 'Alicia Wellspring' anymore, that would cause suspicion. You're Lyra Heartstrings, now. A musician who recently moved here from Canterlot. I also might add that we grew up in Canterlot and attended Magic Kindergarten together." "A-Alright." Lyra nodded, understanding. "But what about my, or should I say, Lyra's friends?" "Just go along with what everypony says." Twilight repeated, and they walked over to the front of the library. "Ready?" She asked. Lyra nodded, and Twilight opened the door. She gasped at what she saw. Ponies, ponies everywhere. Ponies of all different colours, and each had their own tattoo on their hip. Some were pulling carts. She even saw young fillies and colt running around, laughing in joy. All of the houses had the same design, with pale walls and thatched roofs. With a nod from Twilight, they departed. They walked around, Twilight remaining silent for the first while. Lyra took in the scenery around her, trying to catch on to them. The way any of the ponies could talk to any other of the ponies, the way they seemed to peaceful. Heck, some were even flying! It was almost like... A small paradise. "And?" Twilight grinned. "It's..." Lyra tried to find proper words. "Amazing. So peaceful. I could get used..." Her words faltered, mouth trembling. Did she want to stay here? Or did she want to go home? She hadn't really thought about home, she thought. Yea, she missed home. But now was not the time to thin about it. She had homework to study on. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard her name, or, she should say, her new name, being called. "Lyra! Hey, Lyra!" Her head immediately turned towards the source of the sound. What she saw was a cream coloured pony, with bright blue eyes. She had a dark blue and pink mane and tail, with a tattoo with three candies. She trotted up to the two. "Oh, hello Bon Bon." Twilight said, a big implication on the 'Bon Bon'. So it was pretty obvious Bon Bon was her name. "Hello, Twilight." Bon Bon nodded in the unicorn's direction. "Lyra, how are you? Twilight wouldn't let me in the library earlier, said you were resting." Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Lyra spoke first. "Oh, nothing serious. The magic just caused me to fall asleep, and I couldn't be woken up. I'm fine." "Oh, that's good. Just checking it, everypony is excited for your show." Wait, show!? Lyra looked at Twilight desperately. She gave back a slightly embarrassed look, smiling as if to say "Oopsies." She shot back a dirt look, then looked back to Bon Bon, nodding. "Oh, yes. This will be a wonderful show. Everpony just knows I'm an expert at, uh... what I do." She smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to say. 'Your tattoo, dammit. You play the lyre.' Oh, right. Maybe that's what those are for. Something you're good at. "My lyre, of course. I'm going to be just great in my preformance. Um, whenever it is." "Seriously? You forgot the time of your preformance?" Bon Bon gave her a look that said 'seriously?'. "It's at 9 o' clock, tonight. I hope you're prepared." "YES! Well, I guess she has to prepare for it then while she can! Heh heh, cm'on Lyra!" Twilight interrupted, shoving the unicorn in the opposite direction. "Bye Bon Bon!" "Bye Twilight, bye Lyra. Um, see you two at the concert." Bon Bon waved, a confused look on her face, and considered following them to spy on their suspiciousness. However, she turned and continued on her way. Finally, Twilight had pushed Lyra into the park, and stopped by a large tree. Fillies and colts ran and laughed, playing in the spacious area. "That was close." Twilight panted. "You're not as light as I thought you were, Lyra." "I'm not Lyra!" The mare snapped. "At least, not in my mind. I may look like your friend, but I'm still Alicia-mmpph!" She wasn't able to finish her sentence as Twilight had covered her mouth with her hoof. "Be quiet! We don't know who's listening! We also don't want to get any unwanted attention. Now, do you want to me to explain the concert to you or what?" Lyra nodded, and Twilight let her hoof go. "Lyra Heartstrings is famous for her musical talent with her lyre. I remember how you got famous, when you were younger you got into an instrumental battle with that cello player, and won." Twilight started. "From time to time you preform concerts here in Ponyville. That's your job." "Ok, but I don't know how to play the lyre! And I have a concert in... What time is it?" Lyra suddenly wondered. "Erm, well, by the sun's position, it's about 4 o' clock." Twilight shaded her eyes as she looked into the sky. "Don't worry about not being able to play, I can give you some books on how to play the lyre! It'll be easy." "Well, I've given up." Lyra slammed the musical book shut at first glance. "I can't read music, either!" Twilight groaned. "Look in the back of the book, it shows you which note is which." "Ooooh." Lyra struggled flipping the book's thin pages, however managed to get to the back. On the back page it displayed the different notes, a full note, half note, quarter note, and what it meant when it was between or on a line. "Interesting." For the next hour and a half Lyra did nothing but study the notes, understanding which string was which note, and how long to hold it for. Every few minutes she would flip a page to look at the different songs, and named the notes when Twilight pointed at them. Spike came in later with some sandwiches for dinner. "I think you've got it!" The purple mare cheered. "Now you should practice playing." Twilight encouraged. "Here, Spike went to your house and picked up your lyre for you." She levitated over a golden lyre, and Lyra couldn't help but admire it a little. "It's just like my tattoo." She commented. "Your tattoo?" Twilight questioned, giving a confused look. "Yea, my tattoo. Or whatever it is." Lyra pointed to her flank, which proudly displayed a golden lyre. Twilight chuckled. "That isn't a tattoo, that's a cutie mark. Everypony earns their cutie mark when they discover their special talent, and it represents what they're good at. For example, my cutie mark represents my talent for magic." Twilight looked at her own, a purple star with 5 smaller, white stars. "Now enough of that, pick up the lyre and play a song." Lyra nodded, and held the lyre in her hooves. It wasn't light, but it wasn't heavy either. She could see her own reflection in it, and the initials "L.H." were engraved in the bottom. She strummed the strings, which she struggled to do while holding it with one hoof, however a melodic sound came out from the instrument. "How am I supposed to hold this at the concert?" She asked. Just then the lyre slipped out of her grasp and landed with a clunk on the floor. Lyra blushed, and sheepishly picked it up, biting the golden lyre. "Use magic- Ohhh right. You don't know how to use magic..." Twilight took a deep breath, and sighed. "I can teach you the basics, all you need to know is leviation for the concert. And every unicorn starts out with magic by learning levitation." Lyra blinked. Magic? She hadn't really fully thought out why her horn was there. "You're saying... That I, Alicia Wellspring, now Lyra Heartstrings, can preform magic?" Lyra pointed a hoof at herself, an unbelieving expression on her face. "Of course." Twilight nodded. "From your reaction, I'm guessing that humans don't have magic. This makes things more complicated, as you're now reaching a part of yourself you never had before. Are you ready?" She asked. Lyra nodded eagerly, and stood up. "All right." Twilight began. "The first step to magic is igniting your horn. Focus on your mind, and what you want. You want to preform magic, and you have to do it yourself. Focus on your horn, and the magical muscles that you can flex there." Lyra snickered at the words 'magical muscles'. However, Twilight ignored it. As a demonstration, Twilight ignited her own horn, a lavender aura covering it. Lyra tried it out herself. She knew she had a horn, and the capability to preform magic. She closed her eyes to focus better, and thought of how her horn should work, the magical muscles that were inside of her. "I saw a flicker!" Twilight exclaimed. Lyra opened her eyes. "You did? My horn ignited? Where's a mirror, I wanna see!" Lyra looked around the room enthusiastically. Twilight giggled. "No, it's not ignited. I saw an orange glow around you horn for a second, faint, but it was definitely an aura." Twilight waved her hoof. "Try again." Just then, Spike ran into the room, a sealed letter in his hand. "Princess Celestia wrote back!" He told Twilight, giving her the letter. Twilight picked up the letter with her magic and opened the scroll. "Dear Twilight, I apologise for taking so long to reply. My royal duties kept me from writing back to my most faithful student. This discovery is truly remarkable. As much as I would like to talk to this Alicia Wellspring you speak of, I trust that you have asked her many questions, and answered the questions of hers. I sadly cannot come to Ponyville, however, due to more work piling in on my desk. However, I believe that Luna has an open schedule and it would be possible for her to come to Ponyville herself to discover more about the entire incident. If you would like her to come, respond as quickly as you can, as letters are getting buried in my documents faster than I can see them. Yours truly, Princess Celestia." "Princess Luna?" Lyra asked. Twilight nodded. "She's Princess Celestia's sister, she raises and lowers the moon, like Princess Celestia raises and lowers the sun. She's been gone on the moon for 1000 years after trying to overthrow Princess Celestia. But she's good now, don't worry." Twilight quickly added at Lyra's shocked expression. "Just don't bring it up in conversation unless she does so first. Most ponies still prefer to speak with Princess Celestia, however Princess Luna has as much power as her sister." "Well, if Princess Celestia can't come, then Princess Luna can." Lyra shrugged. Twilight nodded to Spike, who pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill from the desk drawer. She cleared her throat, and Spike held the quill, ready to write. "Dear Princess Celestia, It would be wonderful if Princess Luna could come. Any time tomorrow would be great. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike took in a deep breath, then blew fire into the letter, sending it out the window and flying towards Canterlot. "Now, get back to practising magic, Lyra. Keep doing those exercises." Lyra nodded, and closed her eyes, concentrating. However, 2 minutes later after concentrating, Spike burped up a letter. Twilight picked it up and read it. "Dear Twilight, I have spoken to my sister and she says that she cannot come tomorrow, however is available at 9 o' clock tonight..." Twilight's words faltered. "That's when the concert starts!" She exclaimed. "There's nothing we can do, Twilight." Lyra shook her head. "She's a princess, right? We'll just have to go with it. Tell her that she can come at that time, but I'll be doing my concert." Twilight groaned, thinking. Finally, she nodded. "Alright. Get back to practising your magic." Lyra nodded, and closed her eyes, focusing on nothing but her magic. In the background she could hear Twilight telling Spike what to write down, and then the letter being sent out the window. But she remained still, breathing evenly. She could hear something happening on her head. But she didn't open her eyes, knowing that it would just throw off her concentration. She could hear sparks flying out from her horn, and sounds of an aura flickering. She could only guess that Twilight and Spike were watching eagerly. After what seemed like forever, she felt it. She opened her eyes, making sure to keep concentrating on her magic. Twilight was smiling proudly, and Spike was in awe. Twilight reached over, pulling a mirror out from the desk, and Lyra looked, gasping at what she saw. Her horn was lit up, a full on aura of orange magic covering her green horn. "I'm... I'm..." Lyra started, but didn't know what to say. "You're making magic." Twilight ended her statement. "This is great! You're such a quick learner." "What time is it?" Lyra asked, not taking her eyes off of the mirror and her flowing, orange aura. "Uh, it's 7 o' clock." Twilight laughed. "You've been standing there forever, and now finally, you've produced magic." Lyra gave her an unbelieving look, but then she finally managed to look away from the mirror, and to her golden lyre, which was lying on the ground. "How do I levitate objects?" She asked. Twilight joined her at her side. "Simple. Now that you've ignited your horn, you can preform levitation. Levitation is something every unicorn is capable of doing, there's no studying, or anything. Just imagine your magic reaching out to grab the object. Carefully, though." Twilight watched as the lyre was slowly, yet surely, encased in an orange glow. Lyra beamed at her work. "I can feel it! Wow!" She exclaimed, amazed. "This is amazing!" "Excellent! Now imagine your magic moving the object around." Twilight instructed. Lyra nodded, and the lyre was lifted into the air, hovering. She brought it over to her, and feeling the lyre with her hooves, felt a slight tingly sensation." "I can hold it with my magic, and play it with my hooves." Lyra said to herself. Twilight nodded. "Just like the other Lyra. Try playing a song." She suggested. Lyra, instead of opening the book with her hooves, opened it with her magic. Beaming, she flipped the pages, ripping about every one as she did so. Twilight bit her lip, watching as Lyra ripped one of her precious library books, however Lyra didn't seem to care, and let go of her grasp on the book when she got to a random page. Holding her lyre firmly in front of her, Lyra strummed on the strings, a wonderful sound coming out. She smiled in satisfaction, then carefully followed the notes in the song. For the 2 hours she had left, she played different songs, picking out ones she wanted to play at her concert. Her concert was short, about 30 minutes long, which seemed like forever to her, but she was also reminded of the money, or "Bits" was their currency in Equestria, she would make. At 8:45, Twilight interrupted her playing and they both left outside into the chilly night. "You're a natural." Twilight praised her as they walked to the town auditorium. Lyra had her lyre still held with magic, and she was practising the songs she wanted for her concert, and had spent most of the time she had memorising them. "I couldn't have done it without you, Twilight. Thank you so much for having the patience to help me." Twilight blushed. "Anything for you." She said. Lyra looked at her suspiciously. 'She better not have a crush on me or anything.' She thought, however the two continued, Lyra playing her music, until they reached the auditorium. They approached the ticket booth, where many ponies had lined up. 'How many ponies are in this town?' She wondered, the line doing twists and turns. She heard shouts of "Good luck!" as she passed by. The ticket booth pony, a purple earth pony mare, opened the door for her to get inside the large concert hall, lined with rows of seats with a circular stage in the middle. "Well, good luck! Go ahead on stage, everypony's going to come in soon." Twilight walked her over to the platform, helping her up. "What about Princess Luna?" Lyra asked, lifted her lyre up magically. 'Ok, I'm kind of addicted to magic.' She thought. "I don't know, Princess Celestia didn't reply to my letter." Twilight shrugged. "The doors are opening, I'll stay and watch, though." Just then, the doors opened, and in poured a stream of ponies, which seemed to go on forever. They found their seats, and chatter filled the auditorium. After 3 minutes, everypony was in their seat, and all that could be heard was loud chatting. The lights dimmed. Lyra held her lyre, preparing for everypony to go silent. She didn't even feel that scared or nervous any more, she just wanted to get the concert over with. But everypony kept on talking, with no intentions to quiet down. "Uh, hello?" Lyra spoke quietly. The chatter continued. "I'd like to preform now!" She said louder, however her words fell on deaf ears. "HEY, EVERYPONY! SHUT UP AND LET ME PREFORM! She yelled. "...And I was like, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?" Somepony was last to speak, beginning an awkward silence. All eyes were on her. She cleared her throat. "Thank you." And she started to preform. She had her eyes closed the entire time, concentrating on nothing but her music. At the end of every song, the audience would cheer and clap and whistle, making her wait a full minute before she could continue. 'Wow. Talk about a good crowd.' She mused, and for half an hour, played her songs. After the lights came back on, everypony poured out of the doors, and in 10 minutes, the hall was empty. Almost. As Lyra came down from the stage, she saw two ponies walking towards her. Twilight Sparkle, and somepony taller than her, with a dark blue coat and flowing, starry mane. She had a crescent moon cutie mark, and was wearing a crown, necklace, and sparkly boots. Basically her appearance screamed 'I'm royalty!'. "Alicia, meet Princess Luna. Princess Luna, meet Alicia." Twilight introduced them. 'Crap. Do I bow to her? Thanks for the awkward situation, Twilight.' Lyra remained a normal expression as her mind raced, however Princess Luna extended a hoof, which Lyra shook. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Alicia." Luna said. "You played wonderfully." "Yea, uh, sorry you had to wait, heh. But thanks." Lyra tried to avoid eye contact with the pegasus, unicorn, pegacorn, whatever she was. "She was a very quick learner." Twilight beamed proudly. "However, Princess Luna, I understand that you have more duties to attend to during the night. So why don't we go to my library and discuss the... Issue at hoof there." She suggested. Luna nodded, all while scanning Alicia. "Yes, we shall. Do not worry about my other duties, Twilight Sparkle. There is plenty of time for a situation like this." Luna turned around and Twilight held the door open for them as they went out.