//------------------------------//
// V - Another World 
// Story: The Crimson Sunrise - a fan-written alternate ending to 'Background Pony' 
// by Malckeor 
//------------------------------//

	Dear Journal,

What can we do to deal with an unstoppable change? Should we learn to live alongside it even when it's painful? Or throw ourselves in against all odds and try to inhibit its process?

These past eighteen months have taught me that change can be beneficial more often than not. I'm proud of the pony that I've been molded into, but getting to this point involved fighting and succeeding against impossible odds. If I could conquer the song of a Goddess, would it not be illogical to think I could right any wrongs that have adapted into my life?

I have two homes now, and one of them often makes me feel as though I'm going through another curse.  I've tried to find happiness in my old home of Canterlot, and it's there, but the distance and silence of the situation keeps it obscured. After all I've been through, with all said and done...

How can one adapt to so much without getting lost in the wreckage left in her stead?













"Just twenty more minutes!" Bon Bon exclaimed from my left. Her scarf shook under the two hooves she held on her cheeks. "I've never seen a play in Canterlot before! I'm so excited!" 

"You and me both!" I adjusted the sleeves of Rarity's refurbished sweater. "It's been years since I've seen a production from around here, and ponies I know are going to be up there this time!" The seated crowd around us were oblivious to our words. Each adjacent conversation might as well have been a loud jumble.

"Ohhh, poor Fluttershy," Bon Bon said with a dip of her gaze. "She must be worried sick backstage. I hope she does alright."

"She'll do fine!" I said. "By the time Fluttershy steadies into her comfort zone, she becomes just as sociable as any other pony! I'm sure I've mentioned that time she helped me with Al, and the parasprites." I rubbed my chin. "Although acting in a play doesn't really involve animals... Eh, she'll be fine. I have a feeling."

She giggled. "Do you? Well then, I guess I have no choice but to trust the instinct of she who brought Princess Aria home."

"Oh, stop it," I said, blushing.

"Something's on my mind, though," Bon Bon began.

"Hmm?"

"The tradition is that every town across Equestria has a pageant for Hearth's Warming, right?"

"Yeah, I believe so," I replied.	

"Well, what about Ponyville? I've heard nothing about a play of any sort back home, and a lot of Ponyvilleans are here because of Celestia's cast choices." She pointed to Caramel and Wind Whistler a few rows up. "Not that that's a bad thing."

"The Ponyville pageant was actually cancelled this year."

We both turned to see a certain red-maned photographer who was a seat to Bon Bon's left just a row behind us. "Oh! Hey there, Scarlet!" I waved a hoof. "Was it? That's unfortunate. I'll bet the Mayor had something to say about that."

Scarlet laughed. "Mom was pretty furious when we got the letter, but I kept her under control. Almost everypony from our little town made train plans for Canterlot when Twilight went public with the news, and so it was decided that the royal pageant would serve as Ponyville's as well. I'd imagine that's why they changed the booking to Madison's Saddle Garden. There's more than enough seats here for the occasion." She laughed again. "Aptly named, don't you think?"

"Ha, it is!" I replied. "I never thought of that."

"Where is Mayor Mare, anyway?" Bon Bon's question was answered as soon as she voiced it.

"I've got the flower bits, Scarlet!" The Mayor squeezed through several seated ponies. "Two bags! This should be good for the whole play by my count."

Bon Bon and I giggled. "Enjoy the show, you two," I said.

"Thanks, and you girls as well!" Scarlet replied.

I put my gaze back on the stage as Bon Bon spoke past me. "So how have you been, Nova? Are you as excited for the play as we are?"

"Hmm?" Mom looked distantly towards my friend. "Oh. I've been fine, and yes. I can't wait to see Twilight." Her eyes rolled down to the floor. "If you girls would excuse me, I'll be back." She stood and squeezed her way out of the row. 

Bon Bon watched her go through the exit with a raised eyebrow. "What was...?" I shook my head, running a hoof over my face before I felt her gentle touch on my shoulder. "Hey, is everything okay?" Bon Bon asked in a hushed tone.

"The split-up," I said while looking down. "She hasn't been taking it well since I re-entered her life. I thought coming back home with her for a little while after our week-long celebration would lift her spirits, but it didn't." I rubbed my forehead with a frustrated hoof. "Dad isn't here with us for the holidays because of how she's acting. Why does it have to be like this?"

"Shhhh..." Bon Bon ran a hoof along my back. "This is a rather unique situation they're going through, Lyra. The light of their lives was snuffed out without warning for almost two years. I don't know why they drifted apart, or if there's any chance of them coming back together, but I do know that your mother will come around eventually." She nuzzled me close. "All you have to do is support her in any way you can, and be patient." I sniffled before returning her nuzzle with a smile. "And I'm always here for you if you need to talk. We all are." She gestured towards the stage.

"I know," I said. "It's just difficult to process that after how long the Firmaments held me. To realize I'm no longer alone." I remembered when Dad came to Ponyville with Scarlet. "I'm so used to my words getting lost in time, and letting everything out to Al and no one else. Part of me can't believe I've even made it this far. I wake up some mornings hysterical like I used to when I was cursed, before realizing I can't hear the Nocturne."

"Lyra..."

"I feel like I'm losing my mind," I continued. "And Mom is distant, Dad is still traveling around Equestria... I know Mom will get better with time, as you've said, but what about me? What if there's some kind of long-term damage from the degeneration my mind was subjected to?" I gulped. "What if I'm slipping?"

"Lyra..." She had two hooves on my shoulders. "It's okay. I think you're giving all this a bit more worry than it's worth. We've all seen that you still talk, laugh and function just as any pony should." Bon Bon smiled while stroking my mane. "If this curse had any lasting effects, they would have been more prominent by now. You've been through a lot in a relatively short amount of time, and I don't think this is anything more than the stress of both old and new events piling up."

I stared into her blue eyes, letting out a sigh.

"And I'm thinking, how about you and Al stay with me for a little while when you come back to Ponyville after Hearth's Warming is all wrapped up?" she suggested. "I think you could do with a change of scenery from that cabin you were cooped up in all those months."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Bon Bon, I don't want to be a burden to-"

"You won't be! Really!" she said with a giggle. "I've seen how well you take care of your own place, and I could do with some company myself. I just want you to be okay, Lyra, and I feel getting out of that cabin for a little bit could help you."

She kept her hooves on my shoulders with an unrelenting smile. How could I say no? With how my former home of Canterlot had treated me since I'd broken the curse, it felt like I was being saved again. "Alright. For a little while. I could help you with the baking, and maybe spruce up your shop a bit with some music? N-not that it isn't already spruce-y enough..."

Bon Bon giggled. "Yes. That sounds wonderful. I'd love it!"

"Yeah," I replied. "It does sound wonderful." Right there in the crowd, I threw my hooves around Bon Bon and held her in the same fashion as she had me nearly three months before. She returned the gesture without hesitation, stroking my mane again without a thought of the ponies around us. "Th-thank you for everything, Bon Bon."

We separated at the sound of a little dragon's amplified voice. "Attention, everypony! Our journey through history will begin in just ten minutes!" Dead silence filled the air. "Uhh, you all excited?"

A few ponies cheered with claps of their hooves.

"Great! Uhh, we'll see you soon!" He retreated backstage, and we both giggled.

"Maybe Fluttershy isn't the only one we should be worried about," Bon Bon joked. Her eyes opened wider, and she gestured behind me. Mom was trudging back through the row, turning a blind eye to the other seated ponies. She plopped into her seat with a sigh. Dry streaks covered her cheeks.

I smiled, taking her hoof and wiping one of her fresh tears away. "It's okay, Mommy. I'm here."

She returned my smile, moving close for a nuzzle. "And thank goodness for that," she said. I put a hoof around her, and the three of us sat in comfortable silence awaiting curtain call. Not a few moments later, however, something caught my eye.

Two radiant circles appeared straight ahead, brightening near the stage. They turned a blinding violet and moved above the audience, vanishing near the far right wall. I took a quick glimpse around. Nopony seemed to bat an eye.

"Umm," I said to my company. "Did you guys see that?"

"Hmm?" Bon Bon tilted her head. "See what?"

"Did somepony peek through the curtains?" Mom asked.

"I think so, actually." The right-side doorway entered my sight. "I'll be right back."

"Lyra?" Bon Bon grabbed my hoof. "What's going on?"

"There's someone who wants to see me," I replied. "I'll be quick. Don't worry."

Bon Bon let me go, and I was soon excusing myself as I moved up the aisle. The hallway on the right was empty, with the exception of a crinkling poster ad for some group called Iron Mare Den. "Hello?" I trotted past the ad and was hit by a cool winter draft. One of the balcony doors was opened, and her thin figure stood just outside against the crimson sunset.

"There you are." My legs shivered as I crunched through the snow to her side. "Hi there, Aria."

She gave me a nod with her eyes towards the sun, the cool wind whistling in the distance. "Lyra Heartstrings," she said in greeting. "I apologize for reaching out in this way. I was unsure of how to approach you directly."

I scraped a hoof in the snow as the crowd's faces filled my vision. "Yeah, I don't blame you for that." I giggled. "You look great, Princess." Her figure was filling in, as was her black coat, obscuring the runes burned into her flesh. Even her wings showed a hint of feathers. "You have your mother's mane."

Her gaze was on me at last, and she smiled. "My sisters have me on a 'diet', as it's called. They want me to be as healthy as can be. It unfortunately doesn't involve that wonderful cake substance the pink one gifted me, but it's good. I... I feel alive." She flapped her wings, smiling bigger as her ethereal violet mane flowed in the breeze. "I never thanked you, Lyra Heartstrings."

"Oh!" I fiddled with my sleeves. "It was nothing, Princess. Really. I just did what I had to do."	

"You thought you were going to die here, didn't you?" Aria asked.

I gasped, stepping back through the all-too-familiar chills. "Huh?"

"When we came here to Canterlot," she said. "You thought you wouldn't make it, but you wanted to see us reunited if it was the last thing you did. How is that 'nothing?'"

"Well," I cleared my throat. "I-I didn't exactly have a choice, your highness."

"And that's my fault," she said, looking away. "Things would have been different if I hadn't intervened when you first met with Celestia."

"Uhh..."

"And if I hadn't interrupted Alabaster Comethoof..." Her voice trailed off, and she turned towards me before speaking again. "Despite all that, you still went on with me here in Canterlot to guide the way and be there by my side, after everything I did to keep you confined. After I hurt so many." Aria moved down to my eye-level. "So thank you for helping me to see the error of my ways, Lyra Heartstrings. We're all grateful for the sacrifices you've made."

I stared at her, my cheeks flushed. She blinked at my silence. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No! Of course not." I ran a hoof through my mane and let out an awkward giggle. "This is just so much, and so sudden."

"I see," she said. "Forgive me. I'm still getting used to conversing."

"Yeah, I'm having a bit of trouble myself after everything." I thought of Al's tear-smeared fur, and of Bon Bon. "You're doing just fine, Princess. Don't worry about the times you used your spell. Given your situation, it was beyond your control."

She paused for a moment, her ethereal mane flowing. "Call me 'Aria,'" she said with another smile.

I snickered. "Okay, Aria." My hoof scraped at the snow again. "Oh! I just had an idea!"

She moved back at my sudden realization. "What?"

"I could write you!" I said. "Kind of like how Twilight sends letters to Celestia! We're both trying to get used to everything after how long we were gone. I myself still haven't fully grasped that I can talk to ponies again without my words falling on deaf ears." I stepped closer. "We could learn and re-learn together. What do you say?"

She blinked. "It sounds appealing, as many concepts are foreign to me. My sisters have been helping me to learn how to write, as well."

I giggled. "I'll try to keep everything short. No promises." The sunset glimmered behind her. "So what have you been up to since your second visit to Ponyville? What's been going on at the Royal Palace?"

She eyed the most prominent structure on the beautiful horizon. "Well, through much trial and error, we've managed to unlock some secrets of my alicorn magic that the Firmaments kept obscured."

"Have you?" I asked. "What's come of that? What can you do?"

"Well," Aria began. "It seems that I'm capable of entering another plane. I can enter a realm that holds those who have passed on from this world." She looked up towards the lone, bright star that twinkled in the dim sky. "It's similar to how Luna can enter the realm of dreams. Some ponies have needed guidance and understanding in regards to their morality, which is what I provide. Rather than just caring for those who had been affected by the song, I now calm and soothe all who have passed with what this world has taught me. Through exercise of our magic, we were able to move those who served as my choir to this realm for their overdue rest." She looked me in the eye again. "This is how I know of your thoughts from just weeks ago, Lyra. That morning, you were close to this place, but you held on thanks to your sheer will and my mother's song."

A strong chill had settled within me, and it wasn't from the breeze. "Wow," I said. "Well, that's something. You definitely need to come back to Ponyville with Luna on the next Nightmare Night. The foals would have a blast."

She nodded. "Luna has already made me aware of this Nightmare Night. It sounds fun, as she says." She took a slow step in the snow as her expression became blank. "There was something else. One stallion in particular approached me when I made myself known. He'd inquired about a certain mare who'd visited him several times in his final days; a mare he'd forgotten about until weeks after his passing." There was a glint in her eyes as she smiled warmer. "His name was Granite Shuffle."

A bittersweet, unexpected note was plucked deep in my soul, striking me speechless. Something as beautiful and happy as this was the last thing I'd expected all throughout my cursed months. I stood there, melting under a single warm tear as Aria spoke on.

"Both he and his companion wanted to thank you for giving him the most memorable days he'd had in years. I told him what it was that led to your omission from his mind, and he felt that a part of your visits broke through the curse and resonated with him. You lifted his spirits before the end, and he couldn't be more grateful, in his words."

I hadn't realized how much I'd needed that until just then, to know that Granite was okay and with Grace. Aria crunched closer and placed an unsure hoof on my shoulder. "I wanted you to know."

I took her hoof and held it close. "Thank you, Aria. You have n-no idea how much this means to me."

She gave me a silent nuzzle until I was composed, in the same way she had the other lost ones before breaking their chains.

The other lost ones...

"You said there were other cursed ponies wandering the world besides Alabaster and me, back when we first spoke." I sniffled. "What happened to them? I haven't noticed anypony new or out of the ordinary since coming back."

She sighed. "Most of them were taken to the choir shortly after hearing the song. None of them lingered in the world as long as you or Comethoof," Aria said. "We've had reports of ponies reintegrating into society, but these are few and far between. The majority have been put to rest with those who were on the choir." She looked towards the side of Canterlot that Twilight and I used to live on. "Have you not heard? We're planning on having a memorial placed in the Alabaster District."

My ears perked up. "No, I haven't! That sounds amazing, but I thought you said there was 'no number' regarding those who were cursed. How do you plan on immortalizing them all?"

"Oh, there's a number," she said. "83,932."

I blinked.

"The Firmaments were rather selective all throughout history, resulting in a much lower amount of lost ones than we'd anticipated. It was easier to keep track of those in the unsung once we got them out. All of their names will be engraved, and Luna herself has made plans to have a sculpture of Alabaster Comethoof constructed, holding the Nightbringer."

"Wow!" I said. "When will everything be finished?"

"Two years at most," she said. "We wanted to have something featuring you as well, perhaps a sculpture of your own?"

I raised a hoof, picturing what Alabaster would look like in my mind's eye. "It's okay. I think my friend deserves the spotlight for this one. It was his actions that ultimately led to the curse's end."

Aria smiled. "Well, we're still going to name you on the engraving. You were a part of bringing their names back to history, after all."

I giggled. "Okay, that I can handle."

"Lyra?" I heard Bon Bon calling my name from the hallway. "Where are you? It's almost-" She stopped at sight of the opened balcony door and joined us outside.

"Hey there, Bon Bon," I said. "You've met Princess Aria."

"Oh! Hello, your highness! You look well." Bon Bon gave her a slight bow, and Aria replied with a nod.

"Is it almost time for curtain call?" I asked. Bon Bon turned my way and nodded. "Forgive me, Aria, but I don't want to miss a second-"

"It's fine. I enjoyed the time we had to talk," she said. "You are going to write, correct?"

"Of course!" I replied. "I'll send you a letter every week! Mail from Ponyville to Canterlot doesn't take too long. And once you get good enough yourself, you can send me letters of your own!"

She smiled and let out a hint of a snicker.

"Are you here to watch the play, Aria?" Bon Bon asked.

"Yes. Celestia said it would be important for me to see this part of Equestria's history." She looked over both her shoulders and spoke in a lower tone. "The three of us are sitting just above the audience, all the way in the back behind an invisibility spell. Don't tell anypony. Celestia doesn't want our presence to affect those on stage."

I snickered. "We won't, Aria. It was good seeing you again. I'll write." She nodded, and with a brilliant glow of her horn, she was gone. "Alright, let's head back."

We stepped onto the red carpet. "Is everything alright?" Bon Bon asked.

I imagined a middle-aged Granite Shuffle dancing with Grace as other ponies looked on with glee. I pictured what the stone sculpture of Alabaster would look like with the etched slabs around him. In light of it all, I saw myself at my mother's side, and playing an old rendition back in Ponyville at Bon Bon's shop. "Yeah," I said. "Everything is perfect."

"Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia..."

"It's starting!" I said.

"Hurry!" We both broke into a trot.

"...and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony. It was a strange and dark time. A time when ponies were torn apart...by hatred!"

We reached our seats just as the entire crowd gasped. I threw a hoof around Mom as Spike continued the introduction.

While some odds might be conquerable by sheer will and determination alone,

"...cared not for what befell the other tribes, but only for their own welfare."

...there are others that just can't be swayed in your favor no matter how hard you try to fix things. What I need to focus on is helping the ponies who have been affected by these odds while grasping that I myself don't have to keep everything inside anymore.

"The normally industrious Earth ponies were unable to farm their land."

Bon Bon, Twilight, Moondancer, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity... They're all here now to help me see the way through this wreckage. With their help, I in turn can be there for ponies like my mother, like Aria, who are scared and afraid in this world that I've spent the past 18 months observing.

"And so it was decided that a grand summit would be held to figure out a way to cope with the blizzard."

We cheered when Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity came on-stage. A violet radiance shone from behind, and I looked to see the Princess of Twilight up in her seat. Nopony else turned around. Her eyes met mine, and she closed one of them in a wink. I returned it.

No matter what life throws at me, be it the ancient forgotten song of a goddess or a fissure that couldn't be averted, I'll always do my best to support and save those ponies around me who have lost sight of the music in their lives, and seek support for myself when the going gets tough.



Yours, as real as she is harmonious,

-Lyra Heartstrings.