//------------------------------// // "Friends" // Story: The Mare Formerly Known as Lyra // by Dubs Rewatcher //------------------------------// "Tonight's the countdown 'Til the day we're not around... And you're gone, And we're on with our lives! No...I don't want an ending..."         Noteworthy could barely contain his excitement as the music faded away, leaving nothing but a white mare standing alone in the recording booth. He clapped mercilessly, not even waiting to remove his headphones. “YES YES YES!” he shrieked. Lyra, on the other hoof, had long since lost her enthusiasm for the singing. She played idly with her hooves as her friend sang. She definitely felt happy for her and all. It was great that she was all...confident, and happy now, but...she didn’t know. Something was wriggling at the back of her mind that kept her a bit on edge. All the while, one question sat in her mind: ‘What am I doing here?’ She didn’t know why it was there, or even when it arrived. All she knew was that it was there, and it was annoying her like nothing else. It was only compounded by the fact that she had gotten almost no sleep the night before. She usually wasn’t one to stay up all night crying, but it seemed like that was what Bon Bon had driven her to. She silently cursed the mare. Who did she think she was? “Backbeat, that was amazing! Even better than last time!” Noteworthy praised as Backbeat walked back in. The red-maned mare only giggled and flipped her hair back. “Thanks. What did you think, Lyra?” The turquoise unicorn rested her head on her hooves. “Yeah. It was great.” Noteworthy shuffled a few papers on the console. “So, last night I heard this great song on the radio that I think you would be great at. You wanna-” “NO!” Both stallion and mare stared at Lyra, who had her front hooves stretched out in front of her. “I mean, uh...I’m kinda getting a headache from all the music,” Lyra said. “Can we, like, go somewhere else?” Backbeat and Noteworthy looked at each other. “Well,” Backbeat began, “we could go up to the roof or something. The view of the city is amazing from the cafe.” The pony pony nodded. “Yeah, that’d be cool. Let’s just drop these papers off at my office first, then we’ll be good.” ---------- Ponies buzzed about the halls of Galaxy, doing everything from making phone calls to filling out spreadsheets. Lyra felt oddly alien in the office space; desk jobs were not her style. It was at that moment that Noteworthy stopped dead in his tracks. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. “Stop. Look,” he said, pointing down a row of cubicles. Walking right toward them, flanked by two mares with clipboards and pens, was Two Step himself. Noteworthy started walking again, and signaled for his companions to do the same. “Don’t make eye contact. Just keep walking, and maybe he won’t-” “Ah, Noteworthy!” “-notice us. Crap. Get ready for insults. The gray stallion trotted calmly up to the trio. His assistants matched his every step. "Noteworthy, the stallion that could!" he said. "I have heard only great things recently!" Noteworthy gaped. "You have?" "Yes! Your little concert was very well-received. Exactly what I was hoping my test would bring about." Noteworthy was shocked. Two Step had never directly complimented him before. At least, not without an insult tacked on at the end. “Oh, uh, well, thank you, sir. It means a lot to hear that from you.” He gestured to Lyra. “And this,” he said, “is the mare responsible for all those good reviews! Ly...I mean, Heartstrings!” Lyra offered a hoof. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr....?” “Two Step,” the pony replied, returning Lyra’s hoofshake. “But you can call me ‘Sir.’” “Oh. Well. It’s a pleasure to meet you...sir.” Suddenly, a small tapping noise entered the ears of everypony present. Two Step was the first to find the source: Backbeat’s hoof. The mare was tapping it quickly against the floor, as if she were waiting for something. Two Step glared. “What, do you have a twitch or something?” Backbeat glared right back. “Oh no...just a habit. Don’t mind me.” The stallion nodded and turned back to Lyra. He opened his mouth to speak. “But you know,” Backbeat interrupted, “I was the one who booked the gig in the first place. So, you know, I’m really responsible for it all.” She gave a toothy grin. Everypony simply stared at her for a moment. “Well, it is great to see that we have a new singer!" Two Step started again. "Any chance you could give me a sample?" Lyra blinked. "What?" "Well, I am not about to let you leave without hearing what all the buzz is about! So, go on." The turquoise unicorn looked at her manager, who was looking right back. "Oh, um..." they both stammered in unison. "I have no idea what to sing to you!" Lyra explained, laughing as if it were some big joke. "Sorry, but I-" Two Step chuckled. "It does not matter to me. When you have worked in the music industry for as long as I have, you learn to like all kinds." Lyra looked around nervously for a moment before hearing a short, quiet giggle. Once again, the errant noise came from Backbeat. "Well?" the unicorn asked, smiling. "Show us that great voice everypony loves. We're waiting, Heartstrings." The lip syncer shot Backbeat a dirty and confused look. Her voice was bringing back memories of a certain tiara-wearing filly from Ponyville. With a nicker, Two Step's expression began to darken into something more familiar. "I do not have all day, Heartstrings." Lyra gulped. “I-I, uh, don’t think I...” she jabbered. And she probably would have been found out, if it weren’t for a conversation occurring just a few feet away. “Vinyl, I’m telling you, you can’t just go do a rave at some sleazy Manehattan club! We have appearances to keep up!” “Yo, Goldy, calm yourself! I didn’t do nothin’ wrong. Just havin’ a little fun, is all.” Vinyl Scratch shot back. The first pony, a fully crimson mare with a gold chunk on her flank, facehoofed. “Yeah, yeah...and we all know what your idea of fun is...” “Ah, Gold Bar!” Two Step suddenly yelped, alerting the mare. “I have been wanting to see you!” Gold Bar sighed before putting on a weak smile and facing her boss. “Oh, hello there, sir. Just talking to Vinyl about something which will not happen again. How are you? Was there something you needed?” “Yes, just wait one minute.” Two Step turned back to Noteworthy. “Well, Noteworthy, it seems you have found somepony that will work...even if she does seem a little slow,” he said. Lyra’s ears drooped. “I wish you the best of luck. Celestia knows you will need it for Monday.” At that, he walked away, his two mares in tow. Gold Bar proceeded on with him, leaving Vinyl behind. Vinyl grinned and walked up to the trio. “Yo, Blues, Beats...Ly, I think?” she asked. Lyra, the previous encounter completely forgotten, nodded enthusiastically. “Cool. Thanks for gettin’ me out of there. Goldy’s been ridin’ me like a bull ever since my last trip to Manehattan. I mean, you take one drink, punch one bartender in the face, and the press is all over you. It just ain’t fair! You know what I mean?” There was silence. Noteworthy chuckled nervously. “Uh, yeah, I suppose...” Backbeat smiled. “No, thank you!” she cheered. “We would have been doomed if you hadn’t stepped in when you did.” Lyra didn’t know why, but that last line really ticked her off—even if it was true. She eyed Backbeat with suspicion; the mare was annoying her more and more each minute. Nopony else seemed to notice. Instead, the blue-maned mare simply stared dully at Backbeat. “Yo, Beats...you feelin’ okay?” “Fine. Why?” “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you go a sentence without stutterin’.” The unicorn laughed. “Oh, I’ve just been feeling so great lately. It’s like I’m a whole new mare. Ever since the concert yesterday, where I sa-” “Sat and watched Lyra do such a great job!” Noteworthy interjected, laughing as he pulled Backbeat into a hug. “That’s why she’s so happy! That and nothing else!” Vinyl stared for a moment. “Uh...okay, cool. Whatever it is, you’re hot.” Backbeat glared at Noteworthy for a moment before returning to Vinyl, nodding. “Thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have somewhere to be.” The DJ seemed taken aback by the mare’s momentary roughness, but she nodded. “Yeah, whatever. Thanks again. See y’all later.” Noteworthy let go of Backbeat, and the trio moved forward. However, the stallion stopped once again when he heard from behind: “Yo, Notes, wait up!” He turned to face Vinyl who had just run up to him. “Yeah?” “I almost forgot to tell you: watch out for Key Change. I’ve been hearin’ from everypony today that’s he’s even pissier than usual. Just this mornin’, when I said hi to him, he pushed past me like I was some piece a’ garbage or somethin’! I was about to smack him!” Noteworthy gulped. ‘Oh...is this about yesterday?’ he thought. “Oh, yeah? Well, that’s Key Change for you,” he said. “Thanks for the info.” “No problem. See ya, Blues.” ---------- Noteworthy closed his office door, hard. “Backbeat,” he began, “what was all that out there?” Backbeat let her papers and clipboard drop noisily onto the desk. “I was about to ask you the same question. Why did you interrupt me? Why can’t we tell Vinyl how great I was?” The blue pony rubbed his temples. “Listen, I like Vinyl as much as the next pony. But you know as well as I do that she can’t keep her mouth shut, especially when she’s drunk. Which is all the time. We can’t let anypony know about you.” He took a quick glance at Lyra. “At least, not yet,” he muttered. “Oh, right,” Backbeat fumed, “I forgot, we have to cater to Little Miss Lyre over here.” Lyra, who had just slumped down on the couch, jumped back onto her hooves and narrowed her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?” “It means that, in a perfect world, everypony would get the credit that they deserve. But that’s not how it works, so I guess I’ll have to get used to it.” Noteworthy felt a bead of sweat form at the base of his mane. “Backbeat, maybe we can tone it down a bit...?” “No,” Lyra said. “I want to hear what she has to say.” “I’m not ‘saying’ anything,” Backbeat insisted. “But why should Lyra be praised while I sit in the dust? All she did was move her lips! I’m the one everypony should love!” Lyra laughed. “What, so you’re jealous of me?” “Me? Jealous of you? I think you’re the one who’s jealous of my singing!” “WHAT?!” the turquoise unicorn screeched. She started toward Backbeat. “You stuck-up, little-”         KNOCK KNOCK         All three ponies looked at the door. Sighing, Noteworthy opened it inwards. Standing in the doorway, saddlebags on his back and sunglasses over his eyes, was Key Change. Everypony stared as the stallion stepped inside, and smiled. “I heard yelling. Is everything alright?”         Noteworthy wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but found himself unable to do so. “Yeah,” he said. “Everything’s fine.” Lyra and Backbeat glared at each other for a moment before turning up their noses and walking away. “What do you want?”         Key Change snapped his gum. “What, I can’t just visit my fellow co-worker without wanting something?”         “...No.”         “That hurts, Blues. That just hurts,” Key Change lamented. “In fact, I actually wanted to give you all something. It’s for the ladies, in particular.”         Lyra rolled her eyes as hard as she could. “Oh, wow. I’m so excited.”         Key Change rummaged in his bags for a moment. He pulled out a small, glass bottle filled with a clear liquid. Running vertically up the side were bold, black letters reading “One Day.” As he uncorked it, a very strong scent filled the room.         “I just wanted to share a bit of my success, is all. You, my dear friends, are the first in Equestria to get a whiff of Bustin’ Jieber’s new perfume, ‘One Day!’” Without warning, he held it up to Lyra’s nose. Lyra’s eyes abruptly widened before filling up with tears. She started coughing violently.         “*cough* Oh, Celestia! That’s terrible! *cough* I can’t breathe!”         Key Change pulled back. Noteworthy could have sworn he saw the stallion glare for a second, before quickly laughing it off. “Oh, well, I suppose not everypony can be as perfect as you, right?” he joked. Across the room, Backbeat huffed.         “Yeah, I guess not,” Lyra said loudly. At that, Key Change simply laughed before spitting his gum into the garbage. As if by clockwork, he went into his saddlebags and pulled out another piece. Lyra eyed the packaging. ‘Blue-and-yellow...hey, that looks kinda like...wait.’         Just before he had finished unwrapping it, Lyra grabbed it out of his hooves and began to inspect it. Strangely, Key Change didn’t protest. Within seconds, the mare’s unease turned to pure dread. She recognized the gum. “Where...where did you get this?”         “From my new assistant.”         “You have a new assistant?” Noteworthy asked. “What happened to Sunset Bliss?”         Key Change glanced at Noteworthy with one deep red eye. “She quit.”         Lyra grabbed Key Change by his shoulders “Where did you meet her?!”         The stallion smirked. “My, feisty, aren’t you? I hadn’t even mentioned that it was a she. Anyway, I met her just yesterday, after your show. She was all alone, crying. I asked her why, she mentioned you, I told her I worked with you, and just like that she accepted my job offer. Funny, how that works-”         “Where is she now?!”         “My office.”         “Where?”         “One floor up.”         And with that, Lyra galloped out the door.         The three remaining ponies looked at each other. “Well,” Key Change started, “I’ve got no more business here. Have a good day, everypony!” He quickly sauntered out the door before anypony could protest. Noteworthy took a deep sigh. “Oh Celestia,” he whispered, “what did I get myself into?” He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he barely noticed when Backbeat wrapped a leg over his shoulders. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Now that all of them are gone, we can have a nice, quiet time on the roof. Right?” “Don’t you think we should wait for Lyra?” “What? No, no, no, she’s obviously got problems of her own to deal with. I don’t think I want to get wrapped up in those. Do you?” The stallion looked at his...friend. “I...suppose not.” ----------         ‘What the hay what the hay what the hay what the hay what the hay...’         The walls shook as Lyra thundered down the halls of Galaxy. She desperately wanted to be wrong. Maybe she had just misread everything Key Change had said. Maybe the candy was just a coincidence. Maybe-         “Oh my, you really are great!”         Nope. She would recognize that voice anywhere.         As she rounded one last corner, the pony the line had come from came into clear view. She was standing in the middle of the hall, talking to Blue Belle, who had a sheepish look on her face. She was carrying a saddlebag, into which a clipboard had been stuffed. Lyra stopped and stared for a moment. ‘DAMN IT, BON BON. DAMN IT,’ she screamed inwardly. Taking a calming breath, the unicorn cantered up to the other mares.         Blue Belle was the first to notice her approach. With a small wave, she said: “Oh, hello, Lyra! I was just talking about you!”         Bon Bon nearly jumped in surprise. She looked at the turquoise pony with shock, but her expression quickly shifted to menace. “Oh, hey there, Lyra. What’s wrong? You look worried.”         Lyra held back a growl. “You know what’s wrong, Bon Bon. What the hay are you doing here?! Why are you working for Key Change?!”         With a little sashay, the cream mare walked right up to Lyra. “Because I want to. Do you have a problem with that?”         “Yes, I do!”         “Really? I thought you didn’t want to have to look over me! Isn’t this what you wanted?”         “I, you...shut up!” Lyra spat, earning a wince from Blue Belle. “This isn’t about me, this is about you! The only reason you’re doing this is to spite me, and you know it!”         Bon Bon laughed. “Oh, really? To spite you? Can you prove that?”         Lyra rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah. I can. First off, you don’t know the first thing about music.”         “What?! Yes I do!”         “Really? Name The Rolling Rocks’ first album.”         “I, well, um-” Bon Bon sputtered. “T-That doesn’t matter for this job!”         “And don’t you have your own candy shop back in Ponyville? What’s going to happen to that?”         At this, Bon Bon’s troubled expression cleared up. Putting one prideful hoof on her chest, she stated: “I’ve been training little Twist in the art of making candy for over a year now. She can run the shop fine without me.”         “Bon Bon. Twist is still in middle school.”         By this point, Blue Belle had just taken a seat on the ground, a few feet away from both of the angry mares. She had seen fights like this before. Eventually they would both run out of insults and it would be over. It was really too bad that they didn't like each other no; Blue Belle would have liked to ask Bon Bon about Lyra, but it didn't look like that would be happening anytime soon. "I know that!" Bon Bon said through grit teeth. "I have other employees who can help her. Everything is going to work out fine." Lyra smiled as she heard Bon Bon's ragged breaths. The earth pony was never one for confrontation, and could usually only go a few minutes without crying. All she had to do was keep this going for a little longer, and the fight would be hers. “You know this isn’t going to work,” said Lyra. “Why don’t you just go home now and save yourself the time, the money, and the trouble?” Bon Bon glowered for a moment. “So what if this ‘doesn’t work out?’ It will! But, let’s just say it doesn’t. Like you said, I have my own candy shop to go back to. What are you going to do when you don’t make it here?” Lyra smiled. “I don’t know, and I don’t need to. I’m gonna make it big here, and then you’ll regret all this. You’ll be saying, ‘Gosh, I wish I was nicer to Lyra, and didn’t bug her the entire time!’” The cream mare swallowed. “Listen, Lyra. We’ve been friends since we were foals. I’m just telling you the facts; things don’t work out for you. You should be the one who’s worrying about wasting money, considering how little of it you have.” “What did you say?!” Lyra yelped. “I have plenty of money!” “Really? Then why do you live in a shack in the middle of the woods?” Bon Bon asked. Lyra looked offended; good. That’s just what she was aiming for. “Why is it that, whenever I look in your fridge, all I see are those cheap alfalfa bags? Why do you still owe me three-hundred bits?” “Be quiet!” Lyra said. “I live that way because I want to. That’s it! I play music for a living. It’s what I always wanted to do, and I’m completely happy doing it! I make more than enough to be happy.” Blue Belle frowned. She didn’t like where this was going at all. They had already been arguing for three full minutes, much longer than usual. It just seemed like whenever it was about to end, somepony would open a wound and start it all over. Part of her felt that she shouldn’t be there; this fight was a personal matter for the two of them to work out. “Oh, yeah, I bet you’re soooooo happy, Lyra. Playing all those little garden parties and senior centers. I bet they pay so well.” “I told you, I don’t care about the money!” “Then why did you come here?” Lyra gaped. This wasn’t turning out like she had planned at all. ...Not that she really had a plan to begin with. All that was driving her now was a desire to hurt this mare. But it was like she just refused to take it! Usually by this point, Bon Bon would be sobbing between every other word. Not to mention that last question. She was speechless, thrown completely off-guard. “Wh...What did you say to me?” Bon Bon took a step forward. “If you’re so happy, why are you even here? I think I know why.” “...Why?” “Because you’re tired of being a failure.” “What?!” “I mean, really. You’re a unicorn...who can’t do magic. And you don’t have the strength of an earth pony, so that makes you useless in about 99% of life. The only thing you could think of to do is play music. And Celestia forbid you play something people actually want to listen to! No, you play the lyre.”         Lyra tried to back away, but Bon Bon matched her every step. “S-Shut up.” Lyra stammered, looking to the side.         “So, you came here because you thought it meant you would finally have some validation for your cutie mark. But it doesn’t matter, because you’re going to fail here too!”         Lyra looked deep into Bon Bon’s blue eyes. “Shut up,” she ordered. She stopped moving backwards.         “Why? Because I’m telling you the truth?”         “I SAID SHUT UP!” Lyra screamed. She launched herself at Bon Bon. Unprepared for the assault, Bon Bon tumbled, head over hooves, with the unicorn, almost crashing into Blue Belle, who was now frozen in shock. She just barely dodged a punch from Lyra that most certainly would have left her with a black eye.         “What the hay are you doing?!” Bon Bon yelped, trying to pin her assailant to the floor. “You’re a madmare!” But Bon Bon couldn’t hope to keep Lyra down. Unlike Bon Bon, the unicorn had not spent a large portion of her life making and eating candy, and, despite Bon Bon’s earth pony heritage, was much more physically fit. Lyra easily wrestled out of her grasp and delivered a swift punch to her side.         The punch sent Bon Bon sprawling across the floor, crying in pain. Lyra rushed up to her, set on doing more, but quickly found herself enveloped in a deep blue magic. Blue Belle had woken from her trance, and was now holding the crazed mare far away from the earth pony.         “W-What do you think you’re doing?!” Blue Belle cried. “Lyra, how could you do this? I thought you were better than that!” She turned her attention to Bon Bon, who was trying to lift herself up. “Oh, Bon Bon, are you okay?”         Bon Bon groaned. “I think so...ugh, my side...”         Lyra stared in fear for a moment, before galloping away.         ‘What did you do?!’         She closed her eyes to block out the thoughts. Luckily it was late, and the halls were almost completely clear, so she didn’t bump into anypony. It only took a minute to make it to the elevator, where she smashed on the button that would take her to the lobby.         ‘You just hurt Bon Bon. You bucking punched her.’         She lay down on the floor of the elevator, covering her eyes with her hooves, if only to stop the tears from coming out. “B-But,” she whimpered, “I, I didn’t mean to...”         ‘You wanted to hurt her. You wanted to make her cry.’         “Oh, Celestia, why did I do that? Why am I such an idiot?!” ----------         “...and I’m just thinking the entire time, ‘Why won’t you stop talking?’ Hahahaha!”         Noteworthy simpered and took a sip of his coffee. He gave a small, forced laugh, if only to get Backbeat to stop staring at him expectantly like that. He had lost count of how many stories the mare had told him in the past half-hour that had ended the same exact way. Evidently, Backbeat wasn’t one for telling ponies how she really felt.         And, honestly...Noteworthy was starting to think that he liked it that way. The entire day, Backbeat had been acting really different, and it was kind of irritating. He liked it better when she was...well, when she was nice. Not to mention the fact that she kept looking at him and sighing.         Backbeat put her head on her hooves and stared deeply into the stallion’s eyes. She sighed. “The sunset is so beautiful tonight, isn’t it?”         Noteworthy averted his eyes and looked out over the view of Canterlot. She was right; it was pretty beautiful. It was probably his favorite part of working at Galaxy, even if Backbeat was leaning towards him, her lips puckered. He really needed to come here more often.         Wait.         Noteworthy pushed his chair back, eyes wild. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?!”         The unicorn pouted. “Well, I was going to kiss you, but—”         “Wait, you...” Noteworthy stammered, jaw hanging loose. “W-What the hay is your problem?!”         Backbeat looked confused. “What do you mean? I thought we were really connecting.”         “I, but, we- I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!” Noteworthy screamed into the heavens. “I’m not going to kiss you! Do you really think you can just act like a jerk all day, make fun of people who I happen to be friends with, and then kiss me?!”         Backbeat shrunk a bit. “But...I just thought that-”         “I don’t care what you thought!” he said. Noteworthy threw a few bits on the table. “I’ll see you on Monday. And I hope that when I do, you’ll be back to normal. Because, right now, I’m pissed.” He walked away, out of sight.         Backbeat stared after him for a few moments, gaping. What had just happened? For the first time in her life, she felt strong and confident. So, she tried to use that strength to win over the stallion of her dreams. And she had just royally messed up. In fact, Noteworthy...probably hated her now.         Her mind blank and numb, the mare put her own bits on the counter. She then proceeded to go to the ground floor, walk the five blocks to her apartment, get in, go to her bedroom, lie down on the bed, and stare at the ceiling. She wanted to say something to herself, something that would fill the deafening silence, but she couldn’t get anything to come out. (The song Backbeat did at the beginning is "Don't Want An Ending" by Sam Tsui.)