//------------------------------// // Day 10: Lyra Heartstrings // Story: Otherworldly // by twisparkle95 //------------------------------// “Hold still. I don’t know if this will hurt,” Spike said as he wrapped a claw around Sapphire’s bandaged shoulder. Sapphire braced himself as Spike began to unwrap it. Soon, the bandage fell to the floor. No sign of the wyvern bite remained except for the color of the new skin. Sapphire gave his shoulder a little shake. He felt nothing. He started walking, then trotting. No pain. Sapphire’s shoulder was fully healed. Twilight looked on from her bed as the excited Sapphire trotted around her room. “It’s great that you’re all better, Sapphire,” Twilight said. She used her magic to pull back the sheets. “But some of us aren’t so lucky.” “The doctor said just three more days and you’ll be on your hooves again,” Sapphire said. “So what are your plans for today? Now that Rarity has given you a day off?” Twilight asked. Sapphire came to a stop near Twilight’s bed. “I’m gonna go see Lyra Heartstrings. She’s been wanting to meet with me since Pinkie Pie’s party and I figured the sooner I go, the sooner she’ll stop pestering me. Besides, if she can give me any information about how to become human again or get my powers back or get back to my world, I’ll take it!” Sapphire said. Twilight frowned. “I don’t want you to meet with her. She can be a... bad influence on somepony so... impressionable as you,” Twilight said. “I’m going to meet with her. At least she believes that I’m a human and not suffering from false memories!” Sapphire said. “Because it’s completely illogical! Just admit that you have a problem and we can get Equestria’s finest doctors help you get your true memories back!” Twilight said. “My only problem is a bunch of technicolor pony weirdos who think I’m a liar!” Sapphire stormed out. Twilight couldn’t even respond to his outburst. He was fuming as he approached Lyra’s house. He knocked on the door. Bon Bon answered the door. “Oh, ‘ello. It’s nice of ya to be ‘ere,” Bon Bon said in the thickest and worst British accent Sapphire has ever heard. “Lyra! That human you wanted to dissect is ‘ere!” she called. Sapphire smirked and rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you have a southern accent the last time I met you?” Sapphire asked, “I ‘ave an undiagnosable disease where my accent changes everyday,” Bon Bon explained. Lyra descended the stairs. “Sapphire! You’re here! Perfect! Come with me to my study. I have a questionnaire for you,” Lyra said. Bon Bon moved so Sapphire could enter the doorway. He followed Lyra up the stairs and into the study. Using her magic, she placed the questionnaire and a quill in front of Sapphire. “Fill this out. These are a bunch of questions relating to humans and their culture. Just by filling this out, you’ll be accelerating research on humans by about 300 years!” Lyra said gleefully. Sapphire took a look at the packet. There was at least 50 pages to it. All of it was written responses. Sapphire gulped and got to work. He answered questions relating to human biology and the purpose of organs, questions related to human use of magic, questions about cultural differences, questions on literature. Sapphire began to see double after the first hour of this, and he was only 11 pages in! By the time he reached page 50, he was so exhausted, he fell to the floor. “Why did I do that?” he said, moving his jaw from holding the quill. Lyra was flipping through pages with an excited look on her face. “I can’t believe it! Do you realize what you’ve done? It’s like a treasure trove of information! We knew almost none of this! And some of what we thought we knew was wrong! This is amazing! Thank you so much Sapphire!” Lyra said reading his responses. Sapphire’s stomach growled and Lyra snapped back to attention. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry, I completely forgot! I made lunch for you. It’s downstairs,” Lyra said. Sapphire’s face brightened and he headed downstairs leaving Lyra with the packet. He arrived just in time to see Bon Bon finish the last of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich Lyra had left for him. His mouth opened in horror as he felt his heart shatter. Bon Bon noticed the look on his face. “What? Is ‘ere some jelly on my face?” Bon Bon asked. “No it’s... Lyra made that sandwich for me...” Sapphire said. “What? Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” Bon Bon said. “Hold on, I have an idea.” Bon Bon walked over to her bag on the counter. She reached in and pulled out a piece of candy. “Eat this and drink some water,” she said as she handed it to him. With a confused look, Sapphire ate the candy and drank some water. He instantly felt his stomach fill up as if he ate a full meal. “How is this possible? That candy was so small,” Sapphire said.. “Perfect! It works just as it should,” Bon Bon replied. “Wait, you mean you just experimented on me!” Sapphire shouted. “Terribly sorry, I just wanted to know if my new dehydrated candy worked,” Bon Bon said. Those words failed to soften Sapphire’s face of stone shock. “Oh come, now. You got your lunch and I get a new candy to sell. Nothing bad happened.” Bon Bon tried to reason. Sapphire grumbled under his breath and reluctantly saw the logic in Bon Bon's words. Lyra came down the stairs. "Sapphire! I had something I was going to tell you later, but I'm just too excited," Lyra said. "Deep in the Shagya Desert in Saddle Arabia, the ruins of a temple were found. It's believed to have been left behind by humans. I'm leading an expedition to explore it in a few days. What do you say? Maybe it'll have some clues as to who you are or where you came from?" Lyra continued. "Are you kidding?! That sounds great!" Sapphire shouted, unable to contain his excitement. "Great! I'll add you to the list of archaeologists, " Lyra said. "There are some preparations that need to be done. Why don't we go to Sugar Cube Corner for some celebratory shakes?" "I can agree to that," Bon Bon said. The three of them left the house and headed to Sugar Cube Corner. Lyra and Bon Bon went inside to order the shakes while Sapphire stayed outside and held the table. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie came by while he waited. "Hey, Sapphire, why are you sitting outside all by yourself?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Lyra and Bon Bon are inside ordering some shakes," Sapphire explained. "Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon? Why are you with them?" Rainbow Dash asked. “Because I was helping Lyra with her research and she invited me on an expedition to Saddle Arabia,” Sapphire said, prepared for the negative response. “Are you kidding?!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You’re still adamant about being human?” “Yes, because it’s true,” Sapphire said “Yeah, Dashie! If I think about it hard enough, I believe that I can talk to a bunch of ponies who can see me, but I can’t see them,” Pinkie added. Rainbow and Sapphire followed her gaze. She was looking at nothing. There were no ponies or buildings where she was looking. “Hi, reader! How many hooves am I holding up?” Pinkie continued to say at nothing. “Uh, Pinkie? What are you doing?” Sapphire asked. “Just being Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash sighed. She turned back to Sapphire. “Anyway... Sapphire you need to stop. This is crazy and you need to admit the truth,” Rainbow said. “Yeah! Even I’m not that loco in the coco!” Pinkie said. Sapphire’s face of indifference began to shift. “Are you kidding me! I came out of a portal that you have no idea how it was made, I have a full set of unbroken memories with zero holes that has no information about this world, and you say that I need to admit the truth?! You’re supposed to be the Element of Loyalty; maybe it chose the wrong pony!” Sapphire spat. Rainbow Dash began trembling as her cerulean blue began turning a bright red. With a loud scream she took off at a blazing speed, fast enough to cause a Sonic Rainboom that shook the town. Sapphire clung to the table for life as a powerful gale shook Ponyville. When things had calmed down Sapphire lifted his head to see Pinkie Pie with a serious face. “That was mean.” Sapphire watched as Pinkie went after Rainbow Dash. Lyra and Bon Bon emerged from the store carrying three milkshakes. “Did Rainbow Dash just do a Sonic Rainboom?” Lyra asked. “Yeah,” Sapphire responded. The three toasted their milkshakes. As Lyra began explaining the plans, Sapphire became distracted. He had a strong feeling of guilt rising up. Hey! She’s the one who doesn’t believe me! Why should I feel guilty about this? The guilt was replaced by anger towards Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle. He refocused on Lyra and her expedition.