"Oh, Celestia...no, no, no..."
Lyra twisted and turned under her covers, unable to escape from her nightmares. This had been going on for more than twelve hours. She had gone to bed at eleven o'clock the night before, and it was one in the afternoon now. And, yet, she had only gotten, at most, an hour of sleep. Guilt rode her like a bull.
With a shudder, she opened her bloodshot eyes once again. She winced at the light that filtered through the window. She hadn't felt like this in years. Groaning, she lifted herself out of bed and onto the floor. Maybe she should get lunch...? Nah, she wasn't hungry. Playing her lyre always put her at ease, maybe that? Yeah, that could work.
She hadn't even looked at her lyre since she had arrived in Canterlot. The black bag it sat in was coated in a fine layer of dust, sitting right in the sun. Lyra picked it up and brought it out to the balcony, hoping that the brass hadn't gotten too hot that it burned the strings or something.
"Okay," she whispered, "let's calm down and play, Lyra. No worries, no...no worries."
A familiar chill ran down her spine as she hit the first notes. It was one of the first pieces she had ever written. She hadn’t heard it in such a long time...yet, she still knew every chord, every note by heart. It gave her a sense of knowing, a sense of security; things that she desperately needed.
Celestia, what had she done? Bon Bon hadn’t looked too banged up, but still, Lyra had punched her! And then she just ran, like a coward! How had she gotten so angry?! Why was she such an idiot?!
She hit a sour note. When it happened, the unicorn jumped. Lyra simply stared for a moment before groaning and throwing her head backwards, falling into a steep slump.
“This is all their fault,” she muttered. “Backbeat, and, and, Bon Bon! Telling me I’m not good enough.” She got up and started to pace around. “Yeah...that’s it! It’s all their fault! They both provoked me! They were mean to me, and I just got them back, is all!” She thrust a hoof into the air, punctuating her accusations. “Yeah!”
There was dead silence in the hotel room. Lyra blew a lock of white hair from her eyes and sat down on the bed.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING
Lyra jumped again. The room phone was ringing. That was a first. Hesitantly, she picked it up. “Hello?”
“Uh, yeah, Lyra? It’s me.”
“Noteworthy? What’s going on?”
“There’s something kind of important I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. After everything that happened yesterday...”
Even though she knew he couldn’t see it, Lyra frowned. “Why couldn’t you just come over here? It gets kind of lonely here, you know.”
“I’m...busy.”
“Busy? Doing what?”
“...Taxes.”
“Oh...okay. Well, what did you want to talk about?”
There was a burst of static, like Noteworthy was sighing. “Um...how should I say this...? Lyra, I want to talk about what happens after Monday. You know, after the test and all that. Do you have any sort of plan?”
Lyra chuckled. That was a strange question. “Well, I’m gonna keep working with you, of course. I came to Canterlot for a reason, didn’t I?” she said. There was a long silence. “...Noteworthy? Are you still there?”
“So, wait. You’re okay with being Backbeat’s face? Really?” he said, sounding almost relieved.
The unicorn blinked. “Huh?”
“Oh, wow, that’s great to hear! I was expecting you to be mad about it, but this is great! Now we can stop worrying about that. Well, Lyra, tha-”
“What do you mean, ‘be Backbeat’s face?’”
“...You know, what we’ve been doing. With the lip syncing and all. You’re okay with doing that, even after the test is over, right?”
“I, but, I thought...no! No, I don’t want to do that!”
“Oh. Damn. Well, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. What were you expecting?”
Lyra pulled the receive away and just stared at it for a moment. Had he just made a joke?! “Well,” she said, “I was kind of expecting, oh, I don’t know, something for me.”
“...Right.”
“Have I just been your slave for the past week? I want to play my lyre! Where’s the contract you promised me when we first met?!”
There was another burst of static. “Lyra, it’s just not that easy...”
“So, you just lied to me?! Why can’t you get me signed on? Are you just too obsessed with Backbeat?”
“Lyra, don’t be like that. I want you to get a contract. Really, I do! It’s just...the lyre.”
“What about the lyre?”
“I’m not trying to be mean here, Lyra, really. But the lyre isn’t...it isn’t really a, you know, popular instrument anymore. Not that it isn’t good! But ponies don’t really-”
“Plenty of ponies listen to the lyre!” Lyra practically screamed. “I, I, I have great turnouts! I won the bucking music festival, didn’t I?!”
“Yeah, but what ages were those ponies that were listening?”
“I don’t know,” Lyra sputtered, throwing her free hoof into the air, “adults, I guess? So what?”
“They’re seniors, Lyra.”
“I, but...shut up!”
“Lyra, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings!” Noteworthy insisted. “But the kind of music Two Step wants here at Galaxy is the kind that younger people will listen to. The best you’re probably going to get are the hipsters, and even that’s not guaranteed. That’s why Backbeat is good; she’s a singer, so she can basically do any kind of music we ask her to.” There was a silence. “I don’t like it either. But I just don’t have that much influence, Lyra. I’m sor-”
“Yeah, well, thanks a lot,” Lyra growled through grit teeth.
“Lyra, are you o-”
She hung up.
Lyra stared at the phone for what seemed like an eternity. She was literally shaking with rage. Her mind argued with itself as to what to do next. Part of it wanted to throw the phone off the balcony. Another part wanted to find an axe and murder everypony in sight, starting with Noteworthy and Backbeat.
Yet, one thought stood out in particular. Every time it appeared, it felt like her stomach was trying to blast through her chest. It was a thought that she had been worried about for quite a while.
‘Bon Bon was right.’
In a fit of pure impulse, Lyra picked up her lyre and flung it across the room. It smashed against the wall with a sharp bang. It left the brass body with a large dent and knocked out a few strings.
Sure, it would cost a lot to repair. In fact, she might have to buy a whole new lyre! But who really cared? According to everypony she knew, the lyre was useless!
If Lyra had any magic at all, she most certainly would have burst into flames at this point. Yet, all she could muster were a few thin wisps of smoke. This just made her madder; even foals could get at least a spark going! What was wrong with her?!
‘Bon Bon was right.’
“SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!” she screamed, bucking wildly at an invisible mare. “I HATE YOU!” That was when the tears started to come—no. No, she wasn’t going to cry. She couldn’t. Instead, she flipped around, stood on her front hooves, and prepared to give the nightstand the hardest buck she had even given. She imagined it was some conglomerate of every pony she ever knew.
knock knock
She stopped, only a few inches away from the wood, and glared at the errant noise. She recognized that knock. It was one of the ponies she hated more than anything.
Taking a deep, annoyance-filled breath, Lyra cantered over to the door and opened it. “Hello, Backbeat,” she said through grit teeth.
Backbeat stared up at her fellow unicorn with bloodshot eyes. If it weren’t for the differences in color and shape, they would have been twins. She slowly cantered in, legs barely making it off the floor. After a moment, she collapsed onto the bed and began to wail.
“Oh, L-Lyra!” she cried. “I...oh, I’m such an idiot!” She began to sob into Lyra’s bedsheets, soaking them in tears.
Lyra didn’t hear her. Instead, she stared down angrily at her broken lyre. A small pang of regret hit her; that lyre had been expensive, after all. It had taken months of saving to buy it, and upgrade from her dinky old one that she had used since foalhood. But anger quickly took the reins again, as she realized: the investment had been useless! She hadn’t made any more money after upgrading. It barely sounded different! She was still poor and useless!
It occurred to her at that moment that there was still another unicorn in her room, crying hysterically. Not to mention the fact that said unicorn wasn’t very high on her list of ponies she wanted to see at that moment. She walked over to Backbeat.
“What’s up with you?” Lyra asked unenthusiastically. To be honest, she was the least bit interested; Backbeat was going to be famous. She should have been on top of the world.
Backbeat lifted her head. Her lower lip trembled. “I-It’s Noteworthy...”
Lyra laughed. “Oh, did he screw you over too?”
This, for whatever reason, sent the demure mare into another fit. Wailing loudly, she stuffed her face back into the sheets.
“Backbeat, what do you even want from me?” Lyra asked, sitting down and rubbed her forehead. “I’m really not in the mood.”
The crying pony lifted herself back up and took a deep breath. “I...on Fr-Friday, I was with Noteworthy...and, and, I tried to...kiss him,” she whispered. “Oh, I was such an idiot! I was acting like a jerk all day, then I had to go and make Noteworthy even madder! I just hate myself!”
Lyra frowned. “Who cares? He’s just one stupid pony,” she said. Backbeat looked at her like she was crazy. Lyra stared right back. “Considering the way you look and how submissive you are, I’m amazed you haven’t made it with, like, fifty stallions already.”
Backbeat trembled. “No...I know it sounds cheesy, but all I’ve ever wanted, I found in Noteworthy. But I guess h-he just didn’t feel the same.” She sighed. “Oh, nothing matters anymore.”
This made Lyra very, very angry. The aquamarine mare bit back a nasty comment. Instead, through grit teeth, she said: “You should feel lucky, you know. At least Noteworthy still likes you enough that he’ll give you a chance to be successful.”
Backbeat stamped her hoof. “Oh, who cares about being famous?”
If it was possible, Lyra would have burst into flames at that very second. No more Ms. Nice-pony. "WHAT," she screeched, "IS YOUR PROBLEM?!”
“Huh?!” Backbeat stammered, backing up a bit.
“You, you...I HATE YOU!” Lyra screamed. The tail was thrashing wildly. “You don’t know what you have! Do you know how long I’ve worked to get where I am?!”
“N-No-”
“Ever since I was a foal! My first word was ‘song!’ The first ‘A’ I ever got in school was for music! I’ve had to give up opportunity after opportunity, just because of this damned symbol on my bucking flank!” Lyra screamed, not even looking at the other mare anymore. “And for what? Love? No. Enlightenment? No. Success? NO. I’m not going anywhere with my life! In fact, just by staying in Canterlot for so long, I’ve probably put my bucking cottage into foreclosure!”
Backbeat backed up against the wall. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t kn-”
“Yes! I know you didn’t know!” Lyra interrupted. Her fiery, golden eyes bored into Backbeat. “But here you are! You come waltzing in, acting like some sweet little angel, then you steal what should be mine! You didn’t work for it! You don’t even want it! Why should you be better off than me, the pony who’s worked her entire life?!”
Backbeat started to cry. “But I didn’t-”
“SHUT! UP! Stop whining! No wonder Noteworthy didn’t want you! Nopony wants you! Nopony needs you! You’re the useless one, not me! YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE, SO LEAVE!”
“I-I-I...” Backbeat stammered, bloodshot eyes wide. She let out a small squeak before bursting through the door, and running down the hall, bawling. Lyra waited until the wails were out of earshot before settling from a battle stance to a normal one.
She thought she would feel, at the very least, satisfaction, bringing down Backbeat like that. But she didn’t. She just felt like an ass. She fell back on her rump.
Lyra glanced at her closet, in which her suitcase and bags sat. She didn’t need this. Not anymore.