The door closed with a faint thud. Lyra had really been expecting more of a violent departure; her decision had come as a shock to Bon and she wouldn't have faulted her friend for losing her temper. Bon, however, proved her wrong and handled the whole situation quite carefully instead. She simply accepted Lyra's decision with a strange glare and a slow, hesitating nod, then left the room right away.
Lyra guessed that her friend would take a while to return. The infirmary wasn't that far from the lodge, true; but Bon had absolutely no idea what was going on. Why would she hurry anyway? To watch Lyra and her would-be murderer discuss a matter she had no idea about? Or - even more likely - to wait in the corridor until that discussion was over?
I owe her a big apology, Lyra bit her lip and breathed in deeply. Even she hated her own self when she was making such split-second decisions.
She was left alone in a room with the very viscount that wanted her dead. She had a windigo at her aid and the knowledge that her continued existence benefited the noble more than her demise; but those were some real flimsy safety ropes to trust her life on.
I think I owe my sensible self an apology as well.
She didn't say anything, though. She just eyed the noble, the anxiety plain visible through her small, fiddling motions. She had no idea what to say; she didn't even know where to begin asking, to be frank. She knew too little about the amulet to form adequate questions, and had no idea what the viscount would know either. Or whether if she could trust a word he would say.
Flash Freeze dropped his head low after Bon's departure, eyeing the carpet with a vacant expression. He seemed to be contemplating, but the contents of his considerations were anypony's guess. Maybe he was pondering how much he could tell Lyra and how he could phrase his lines. Or maybe he was mulling over the ways he could rectify his mistake and get rid of a troublesome witness.
One or the other.
Snowy proved to be most practical among the three of them. She eyed the two ponies for a little while and then began inching towards the fireplace, the lure of the crackling flames far greater than that of the two awkwardly silent adults.
No matter how careful the windigo was, her master still caught onto the glacially slow movement. Lyra wrinkled her eyebrows and motioned in the opposite direction with her head. Keeping the room warm temperature was the least of her concerns; she just wanted the windigo to stay close to the viscount. She would have preferred Snowy to be at the ready if things got hairy. Not that she was expecting the discussion to turn out that way - but having the windigo pointed at the viscount's head would have eased her nerves a great deal.
And she had a feeling that she would really, really need calm nerves.
"Alone at last," Flash Freeze broke the silence and glanced up, the pair of brown eyes peeking at Lyra from the cover of his white mane.
"Don't you try anything funny," Lyra growled and motioned with her head again. Then once more, for a third time. Snowy seemed to have issues understanding what she meant; the windigo stopped and stared at Lyra with a puzzled expression.
"I can assure you I have nothing ill on my mind," Flash Freeze muttered and looked to his left, his gaze following Lyra's repeated hints. A fireplace was all he could see, though.
"Got killing me out of your system or what?" Lyra rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "I didn't hit my head, you know. I remember everything."
Flash Freeze snapped his head back as if he got stung, his face twisting with horror. His stun didn't last too long however.
"What? Is the Miss out of her mind, accusing me of such things? Me, the twenty sixth descendant of a prestigious family?" he snorted and sprang up, the silver amulet in his neck swaying so wildly that it almost landed in his mouth. "This is scandalous! This is an outrage! How dare you even say such things!"
"Is making nobleponies angry a regular hobby in this new Equestria, or is it just one of Master's pastimes?" Snowy cringed and held her head between her ghostly hooves. "If it's a problem of lacking choices, I can help introduce Master to safer hobbies. I got rather good at counting splinters in wooden beams, for example!"
The promise of new and exciting hobbies didn't faze Lyra too much. She was paying more attention to how the windigo still didn't budge from her spot, a fact that began frustrating her to no end.
Argh, why can't she do what I want her to do? Do I need to put a leash on that idiot?
Leashes for ghosts better have been a thing.
"Prestigious family, eh? So what?" Lyra turned her attention back to the noble. "I had to spend some time listening to your goons a little while ago. All the things I heard them talk about... did you ever wonder why I picked such a strange route back here?"
"As if I cared for what a lowly plebeian does!" Flash Freeze yelled and spat onto the carpet. "You dare accuse me of crimes, you peasant? The nerve! It was my doctors that saved your life! And by proxy, it is only because of me that you are still breathing! Who am I kidding though - a simpleton from the streets could not be possibly understanding more than the shallowest concepts of life."
The derisive tone and tacit denial really interfered with Lyra's thought process. It was the last straw; she didn't need to hear more from a bastard whose goons were openly blabbering about ripping the amulet from her own cold corpse. A red mist descended on her, clouding her vision and letting her mouth get ahead of her brain again.
"Misunderstanding? ME? Bwhaha, that's rich!" she broke into a cackle. She had to tone it down rather quickly; laughing made her sides move, which in turn pulled on her stitches. "Your guys were only looking for my corpse. At least have the guts to admit how you tried to kill me, you two-timing bastard! All for the sake of some... experiment of your-"
She bit onto her tongue, but her jaws were already too late. That 'game' was solely organized by a pony she had only seen in her delirius dream - the Source, as it called itself. There was really no need to blame that on the viscount as well. Actually, there was no need to even let the viscount know about it! The last thing she needed to do was blabber about something that could get the viscount to take interest in her.
"This would be an ideal time for Master to just STOP!" Snowy slapped herself on the face. "I have no idea what Master is doing, but Master should definitely stop doing it right away!"
A leash and a muzzle, Lyra added another item to her mental shopping list.
"ENOUGH! Cease your inane babbling or I will show you how a noble-" Flash Freeze boomed - then fell silent abruptly. His words were still echoing in the room when his expression changed; the fire left his being. His posture let up and he stumbled, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. "Did... did you say experiment, just now? What experiment?"
"Pfff, what experiment, he asks! Gee, I wonder which it could've been? I've been involved in so much shady stuff lately!" Lyra rolled her eyes. She imitated a thinking pose, her chin resting on her right hoof and her eyes staring at the ceiling. It may had been a mistake to drag the Source's game into the discussion - but that mistake seemed to pay off handsomely, so she ignored her misgivings and played along. "I don't know, maybe the one involving your precious amulet. The one you said would save my life. When did you want to tell me you'd test that theory by causing the accidents yourself? All for the sake of drawing out that... demon the tale spoke of. Because that was your goal, wasn't it?"
The reaction she got wasn't exactly what she had been expecting.
"Demon? That's... that's me, isn't it?" Snowy rubbed the side of her head, the windigo visibly struggling with that puzzle. "In that case, that's the tale left behind by the old Master. Indeed, old Master always called me that."
Still saying things I really should not, Lyra realized and fought off the urge to slap herself in the head.
"You... you know! You indeed know," Flash Freeze gawked, his earlier rage all but completely gone. He stared at Lyra as if she'd beoame a ghost herself, the lips of the normally immaculate noble trembling with fear. "H- how? How can you know? Who told you?"
Still saying things I really should not, Celestia be thanked! Lyra straightened herself and made a smug grin.
"Does it even matter?" she shrugged, her mind high with the scent of her small victory. "Tell me something, viscount. What's your stake in this wicked game? What makes it worth killing ponies you don't even know?"
Flash Freeze flinched at the questions. Something in him broke, and did so quite visibly. The way he sat down could have qualified for crashing to the floor, his head dropping down and then bouncing back as if it was suspended by a rubber string.
"How could she have betrayed me like this?" he mumbled. A smile began forming at the corners of his mouth, the expression completely at odds with his tone and posture. "I did everything she asked of me... why throw me away like so?"
Utterly perplexed, Lyra could only react by raising her eyebrows and leaning forward.
"Well, the cat is out of the box... might as well tell you my side of the story, then. Celestia be my witness, this secret has been eating away at me long enough already!" Flash Freeze snorted with an oddly happy tone. "Why, you ask. My motivation... that would be tradition, of course. The single goal we ever had since our family started safeguarding this remote bastion of Equestria."
"Tradition!" Lyra cocked her head to the side. That sounded all sorts of wrong. She had really hoped there was more to the story than the Flash Freeze dynasty making themselves busy with killing innocents for twenty-six generations. Very little prevented her from going into a tirade that involved all the previous generations that had lived in the Dancing Lights; and had the viscount waited only a little longer, he might have gotten to hear it.
"Yes, tradition. You see, the founder of our family, the very first Flash Freeze... he was a distinguished knight of her Highness," Flash Freeze explained as his head swayed from one side to the other. "It was she who gave us this estate and our title. A mixed blessing if there ever was one! It was such an honour that we did - and still do - everything to stay worthy of it. But that was a task more daunting than facing the monsters of the icy mountains. The Dancing Lights is an ever-hungry beast, devouring whatever riches we can acquire. Save for the pine trees, these lands are barren. There is ever so little income to be had here, everything has to be shipped from lands far away..."
"That's why you opened up to the public," Lyra shrugged. She really wasn't into listening to a story she already knew.
"Hahaha! I always wonder why commoners like you believe their pitiful wealth could compare to the sums we deal with," Flash Freeze burst into a laughter and raised his head higher, locking his gaze with Lyra's. "You were looking for a deeper reason than that, were you not? Look no further, then. We are practical ponies, up here. We know what we want and how can we keep it. We would need to tax hundred thousands of your kind to maintain the glory that is our château! That is hardly feasible, though... no, the kind of riches we require only exist in a select few places."
That was a twist Lyra had not expected, and she scrambled to find who the viscount could have been talking about. She didn't have very good chances of actually coming up with anything, though; this field was hardly near her area of expertise. Even her very own financials were managed by Bon.
"Old Master also had issues with the expenses," Snowy added her own flavour to the commentary. "He grumbled how he had so few underlings to tax, and how he had to take loans to keep the castle going. His son even wound up begging around, I believe. Whatever deal he made probably wasn't so good, however. Old Master got real angry when the news reached him. He frothed about his land being mortgaged to that... 'crowned white hag', to quote him. He even called his son a demon worse than me... I still can't decide if it would be in bad tastes to feel flattered at that!"
Would it kill you to just keep silent for TWO SECONDS? Lyra ground her teeth. It was hard enough listening to the viscount and piecing his story together from the cryptic remarks. She certainly did not need a distraction yammering about long past events-
-wait, what? A white noble? With a crown?
The true usefulness of Snowy's off-the-hoof comment only dawned on her with some delay. That changed the nature of her struggles; instead of looking for answers, she was now wondering whether she could believe them.
There's no way Celestia would be funding THIS madness!
Lyra shifted again and licked her dry lips. The air around her felt thinner and cold, yet she started sweating as if she was in the middle of a desert. And beyond the shock those possibilities provided, there was another one; only lingering in a dark and cobwebbed corner of her mind, but clawing its way to the front of her consciousness.
This isn't the game the Source plays. The viscount is mistaking your topic for his... you are hearing things you really should have not.
She wasn't aware of danger yet though. She only had an inkling, a fleeting impression that was so easy to gloss over.
For the time being.
"You're sure you didn't get your orders wrong?" she asked with a heavy gulp. She had been prepared for some real strange thriller to unfold, but the depth of the topic was rapidly proving too deep for her liking. "Did you ever clarify?"
"As if such orders sat fine with me," Flash Freeze groaned and glanced away from the other pony, letting his gaze rest on the fireplace. "I asked, yes. Many messengers were dispatched, all returning with the same message. >>You can retain your funding if you remain loyal to our orders.<<"
The tension rose to the point where no amount of fiddling could prove sufficient for Lyra. She remained sitting by the sheer force of her will; but she felt ready to explode with all the pressure she kept bottling up.
"And those orders were to give the amulet to random tourists... and then kill them," she stated, her voice quivering.
"No! Heavens forbid, no!" Flash Freeze yelled and sprang back to his hooves. "I would never agree to anything like that! My orders were to research the properties of the amulet. I am not a skilled magician however, so I had no idea how to achieve that. I had no choice but to rely on the advice I received."
The viscount's outburst was so powerful and abrupt that it made Lyra forgot about her own anxiety, pushing her confusion into the spotlight. She wouldn't have imagined a cold-blooded murderer taking her accusation so harshly. So either she had been wrong in her ideas about psychopaths, or the viscount wasn't such a bad pony after all.
She would have liked the latter to prove true; so much that her other concerns completely disappeared from her thoughts.
"Why the tourists, though?" Lyra turned her head, keeping the viscount in focus even as he started to move in small circles. "Why not just ask for volunteers? There would be many who would jump at the opportunity!"
"How many times do I need to tell you that I am NOT MAKING THE RULES?" Flash Freeze yelled and kicked the table. The small piece of furniture flew away, bouncing on the carpet before smashing into Bon's bed, its formerly glossy surface shattering and raining glass shards onto the floor. "I would be the happiest pony in Equestria if I could devote my time to astronomy instead of humouring the plebs! All I know is that once in a while a name is marked on the arrivals' list. Those are the few this whole charade is kept for."
Lyra didn't respond. She was backing away slowly, staring at the noble with frightened eyes. She was coming to admit how she had absolutely no clue just what kind of a pony he was. She backed away until she reached the back of the room; pressing firmly against the painted rocks, she gulped and took a ragged breath.
It was only at this point the realization of her grave mistake struck her. She should have excused herself and left when she had taken notice of the strange direction the discussion had taken. She should have fled while she had the chance. Instead she had decided to satisfy her curiosity, dug too deep... and had awokened something that had so far slept beneath the surface of a regular noble.
"And there is no respite, never! One after another they keep coming, these marked ones! These- these candidates! You and the likes of you, those who turn my abode into a frozen cage and my life into a constant play where I may never err!" Flash Freeze raged on as he made his circles, the shards of glass crackling under his hooves. The dam in his mind had burst and his woes finally poured forth, trampling all his saner thoughts and attention. "Do you know how long we have been playing this game? She failed to mention that, didn't she! That for almost twenty generations we have toiled away at her whimsical project... ever since the Ninth went crazy and hallucinated, the old coot. But who knows? Maybe he was not even the first. Maybe he was also a candidate. That would be quite iconic, would it not? After all, that was what she had been trying to recreate ever since. Luring newer and newer candidates here, putting them in harm's way and hoping to recreate that one fateful night... do you have any idea what is it like to live like this? DO YOU? OF COURSE YOU DO NOT!"
The viscount stopped and looked around. The fires of his rage had consumed everything they could and had died down, leaving but a frothing pony behind; one who was dazed and confused about the destruction that greeted him. He surveyed the room with a sour expression and a hint of disgust. It didn't take him long to focus back onto Lyra; the unicorn was quivering at the far end of her bed, her back against the wall.
"Hahaha... what? Are you surprised? What for?" Flash Freeze cackled and wiped the white foam off his mouth. "Is it so different, hearing it from me than from her Highness? Is-"
The grin disappeared from his face.
"Heavens. You... you did not... did not know."
The shivers left Lyra alone, and she stood perfectly still. Her own realization happened in parallel to that of the viscount, rivalling his in shock and severity. They had both just understood how deeply they had hosed themselves.
Stuck in the corner marked by a wall and a bed, Lyra immediately knew how trapped rats felt. Her sole way out was blocked by the viscount, the blue pony staring at her with a horrified expression. A quick look at him and she had no doubt that she had misjudged his motives.
She had only been a little worried before, but she was certain now. There was no way he would let her simply walk away. Not after what she had heard.
"Of- of course I knew," she stuttered and ran her eyes across the room, desperately searching for something - anything! - that could save her. "Some parts anyway!"
"Who told you?" Flash Freeze took a step toward Lyra. He appeared a lot more threatening now than any moment before, his head low and all his teeth showing as he sneered. "Who told you?!"
Lyra backed what little she could, plastering her back against the wall. It didn't take a genius to know she was running out of options; she had no idea how she could get out of this pickle. Nothing apart from the appalling possibility of using her windigo as a weapon.
"The Source did," she stated flatly, her mind working through the details of her newest escapade. Suppose she did prevail over the viscount; then what? He had a small army at his bidding. Could she find Bon and get on the train in time? And even if she did, wouldn't the pegasi catch up to them anyway?
"The Source?" Flash Freeze broke his approach and cocked his head to the side. "Who in the devil is that?"
"I don't know! I just saw her when I fell into that mine!" Lyra explained. Her voice lacked any tone whatsoever, short and shallow breaths punctuating almost every one of her words. She spoke without much thought; she only wanted to buy time. Delay the inevitable. "She wore a green cloak and offered me some... some contract!"
Flash Freeze resumed his walk towards her, albeit at a greatly reduced pace. He also appeared to listen intently to every word, his ears pricking up as his eyes focussed on the panicking unicorn.
"Contract? What contract? What was it about?" he took another step forward. His whole being became more and more unsettling by the moment; the way he uttered his question made the icy world outside look tame in comparison.
"That I would partake in this game! This experiment... it's the one you talked about, isn't it!" Lyra cried out and gave a pleading look to the windigo. Snowy reacted without delay; unburdened by physical constraints, she moved with supernatural speed and arrived right next to her Master with a single, ridiculously long leap. The closeness of her ghostly servant quelled Lyra's distress somewhat; but that respite was too small and too late to seriously calm her. She resumed her delaying tactic, throwing words at the viscount to buy a little more time for... for some miracle to happen. "She only explained the rules and didn't say more, I swear!"
"Rules...?" Flash Freeze narrowed his eyes. He reached Lyra and leaned close to her face, his hot breath ruffling the unicorn's mane. "What rules?"
"Ah... ah, there aren't many! It's... it's kind of a free for all!" Lyra complied and shut her eyes. The viscount's absolute proximity unsettled her, taking away what little composure she had gathered. She wasn't breathing any more but gasping instead; she could feel her nerves snapping one by one, each torn tether bringing her closer to unleashing the windigo on the unsuspecting noble. She fought against that desire as much as she tried to oppose the viscount, however; so she kept talking, hoping something she said would get the noble away from her and allow for a peaceful resolution. "That was all! And, ah, another! That only the players can see each other's servants! Nothing more, really!"
"Servants? What servant-" Flash Freeze wrinkled his eyebrows; but that confusion proved very short-lived. He burst into a hollering laughter, right in Lyra's face; his loud voice ringing in her ears and a few pieces of saliva landing on her face. Then he smacked the cringing unicorn in the head, sending Lyra tumbling and onto the floor.
She didn't quite understand what had happened to her. It wasn't that the situation wasn't clear enough; but the gears in her panicking mind had seized up, preventing her from forming even the most basic thoughts. She became a prisoner of her own terror.
"You did it! Oh my- I simply can not believe it was you who did it!" Flash Freeze slammed a hoof onto Lyra's side, the rough push squeezing a pained groan out of her. "I never once thought there was a real point to this experiment... but what do I know, eh? Ahahaha... bwahahaha! Her Highness will be so pleased! And my days... my days of being stuck in this never-ending loop... this nightmare... it is over! Finally over! No more! You hear me? NO MORE! Gyahahahah!"
The viscount punctuated his relief by lifting his hoof and bringing it down again. Lyra wasn't sure if the stitches in her side or if her ribs pained more. She had plenty of hurt either way, evidenced by how she couldn't breath deeply enough to even cough. It was an absolutely pathetic feeling, lying sideways on the floor and struggling not to choke to death.
And that was precisely the moment when she gave in. Morals and conscience ranked high with her; but so did her very own life.
Do something, she turned her gaze to the windigo, begging without audible words. Anything!
"Let Master go! Let go, or else!" Snowy snarled at the noble. There wasn't much fire in her words though; either because she was a being of ice... or because she was aware how she wouldn't be heard anyway. "Keh! I'm sorry for the descendant of the old Master, but you really leave me no choice...!"
The crimson eyes flashed and Lyra felt a wave of chilly air rush over her. She closed her eyes and kept herself from breathing, a foolhardy attempt at protecting herself from the worst. The deadly freeze never came, though; only a wave of mild chill battered her coat. Uncomfortable but absolutely survivable.
Ineffective as the attack was, it still bore some fruits. Flash Freeze snorted loudly and took a step back, surveying the room with wild swings of his head.
"Ha! This cold... it is you, is it not? Ghost! Demon! You are nearby, are you not?" he yelled, his grin deepening until all his teeth showed. It was clear he retreated on his own volition, the sudden drop in temperature piquing his interest. His search didn't last long though; he turned back to Lyra once it was clear he wouldn't be able to spot anything. "It was you, correct? This is the demon which used to trail the Ninth... and now it trails you! It even tried to protect you just now, did it not? How curious... how amusing! How intoxicating! All the possibilities, all the rewards..."
Pushing herself back up with her left leg, Lyra snarled at the raving noble. She stood no chance against him, that much was clear; her unicorn magic was far outweighed by her wound and her exhaustion. She had to rely on her ghostly servant - but the windigo's last attack had been an outright fizzle.
"What happened!" she growled as she finally returned to standing. Her legs wobbled under her weight as she took an unsteady step away from the crazy-grinning noble.
"I'm... not quite sure what Master expects of me," Snowy gave her master a confused stare. "I can't really freeze a whole pony... not quickly anyway. Even a smaller fireplace took a good few minutes!"
That was not what Lyra was prepared to hear. She had been expecting something on the level of traditional Faustian bargains - power that had no rivals. A force of nature. Something that she could barely keep in check. Definitely not something she could achieve with two dozen blocks of ice.
I never watched her actually use these powers, she realized and made a mental note to spend more time practising with Snowy. She had to be clear on the windigo's abilities and limits. IF I make it out of this mess alive, that is.
"That was a plenty good warning," Flash Freeze cackled to himself and rolled his head around, his neck making faint popping noises. "Now you got me curious! Show me what this demon can do... show me what news I can make her Highness pleased with!"
You're frigging insane, Lyra gulped and glanced around her. She would have welcomed anything that could have aided in her escape; but only small shards of glass littered the carpet. She remembered some movie heroines using those as makeshift weapons, but in truth, the shards looked way too flimsy for anything such. She could only see them enraging the viscount, nothing more.
"Snowy!" she cried out, uncaring for the longer-term consequences. "DO SOMETHING, you hear me? I don't care what you do or how you do it! Just get this psycho off me!"
"Snowy?" Flash Freeze frowned at the name, clearly missing a beat or two. "That... is that your demon? Not very threatening- wait, what? Did you just call me a psychopath?"
"Do what, exactly?" Snowy sat down and held a hoof to her chin, her concentration only matched by her frustration. "I just tried my best at draining him of heat. I can continue but it may take several minutes-"
"Surely you can do more! Something else!" Lyra shrieked as she hobbled away from the noble, moving until her back pushed against the bed at the other end of the room. "I've signed a whole contract to get you as a servant! That couldn't have been for mildly discomforting a few-"
"The demon only presented itself when the Ninth was truly in danger... same with you. It only left the amulet when you were gravely wounded," Flash Freeze cut into her words. He began pacing towards Lyra ever so slowly as well, licking his lips as he approached. "That gives me a few ideas how to draw out some real potential here. Do not worry, I will allow you to escape your demise! Even if narrowly. I do need to present something to her Highness, after all. I just want to see what I struggled so long for, that is all. Mmm, I wonder what would be the best... strangling, perhaps? Yes, that is easily controlled and there is little chance of overdoing the injury..."
"You wouldn't!" Snowy jumped up and lunged to in front of Lyra, shielding her from the noble. "Stop! STOP!"
I'm so doomed, Lyra mused to herself as she backed onto the bed and collapsed onto the soft sheet. There was no way Snowy could block the noble, not with her intangible form. She had no real power either; such little bursts of cold air probably only served to refresh Flash Freeze.
Her ears dropping to horizontal as her head dipped low, Lyra tried to prepare herself for the inevitable. Of all the ways to go, being murdered by a crazy noble was pretty low on her list of probabilities. She did not for a second believe he would spare her. He would realize how weak Snowy was when he would meet no resistance; and then both master and servant would become useless. No matter who that 'Highness' of Flash Freeze was, they surely had no use for cheap gimmicks. Even if they came in extraordinary packaging like Snowy.
At least Bon isn't here to see this, she made a bittersweet smile. She really hoped at least her friend would get to get away.
"I said STOP!" Snowy boomed. She had become increasingly agitated as her efforts at stalling Flash Freeze proved to be in vain. The transition went beyond her voice; small blue lights danced around her form, her crimson eyes burning with quickly dissipating plumes of red. "Stop or I will do something... put EVERYTHING I have into a punch! Something all of us will regret! I'm telling you! Leave Master alone!"
Flash Freeze didn't heed those warnings and proceeded towards Lyra unabated. He couldn't even see the ghost; but even if he did, he wouldn't have cared much. He was drunk with the excitement of finally getting to see the demon in action - he wouldn't have stopped until he got to witness something truly impressive.
Lyra watched him step through Snowy. Wavering between a giggle and a sob, she closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate. At least be quick about it, she thought as a sigh rushed out of her mouth. She was trembling to the point where she couldn't keep her lips closed.
"You made me do this!" she heard Snowy cry out. "I- I have no idea what I'm about to do, but remember that you made me do this!"
Lyra was about to laugh as sarcastically as only somepony scheduled for execution could. The laughter got pre-empted, however; something hit her square in the head and she lost her balance. She stumbled and fell; the bed sheet caught her, and she bounced softly before coming to a uncomfortable sitting position, her legs randomly sprawled out.
Ow. Owowow, she winced at her joints flexing to their limit. What am I doing, jumping on a bed like this?
She had the oddest sensation. She could remember having been concerned about something real important, but the exact thoughts evaded her. The last time she felt like so was when she had walked into the kitchen and spent a half hour wondering what she went looking for in the first place.
She held a hoof to her idiot head and sighed.
Eh, no matter. Might as well get back to packing our stuff... Bon could be back any moment.
She opened her eyes and quickly sprang up, screaming bloody murder.
There was a blue pony in front of her, looking at her with eyes betraying nothing but utter confusion.
"SOMEPONY! GUARDS!" Lyra screamed and grabbed a pillow with her unicorn magic, using it to slam the burglar in the face. "Guards! There's-"
"Ugh! Oof! La- lady! Miss!" the stranger reeled at the 'powerful' attack and took a hasty step back. He rose his front hooves into the air and waved them a little, trying to disarm the situation by being obvious of how he meant no harm. "Miss! Stop that, Miss! I am-"
"-a freak! I don't know you! What are you even doing in my room!" Lyra kept on screaming anyway, throwing whatever happened to be in her reach. Pillows first, small pieces of debris afterwards. "Get out! GET OUT! GUARDS! Argh, where are these idiots when you need them?!"
"I already told you everything I know! Three times, in fact!" Lyra massaged her forehead with a hoof. She had reached the point where it provided no comfort, however; only a drink could help her. That and an XXXL sized pill of aspirin.
"Sorry Miss, but this story kind of bears some repeating," the Guard turned to the paper floating to his left. "So your version is as follows... you came straight here after you were discharged from medical care. Your friend realized a few papers were left unsigned and she left; you used this time to pack your things and catch some sleep. Then you woke up to the Viscount staring at you."
"I don't care if he's a Prince or whatever. He had no business checking me out like that," Lyra glared at the Guard. She was fed up with the whole routine of random strangers asking her the same questions over and over, no matter what kind of fancy armour they wore. "Seriously, I dictated the very paper you're reading less than ten minutes ago! Couldn't you just, you know, read it instead of pestering me?"
"It's really disrespectful, treating Master as if she was delusional," Snowy grumbled with a hearty nod. The windigo was sitting on the top of a tall drawer, looking over the whole room as if she was a sovereign of a small land. Reality was a little more nuanced though; it had been Lyra who commanded her up there, in an attempt to keep her out of everypony's way.
Half a dozen Guards repeatedly walking through the translucent creature had made for a very distracting experience.
"I'm sorry, Miss. I really am! It's just... I don't get it," the Guard admitted with a heavy sigh. "I don't claim to know the Viscount, but... I've been serving him for a while now, and I know he's not this kind of a pony. He doesn't just wander into other pony's rooms to throw a tantrum."
"Yeah, sure. And this table just broke itself," Lyra motioned at the battered remains of the small table, the wreckage neatly piled up against the side of the bed. "How many such wild and unruly tables do you know, sarge'?"
"It's Second Lieutenant," the Guard rolled his eyes. All the talk with the frustrated civilian was starting to make him frustrated as well. "And no, I would not expect tables to have suicidal tendencies either."
Lyra tilted her head upwards and moved her hoof out of the way, giving the Guard a clean view of her face. That was important as she just made her most honest then why are you even asking me this expression.
"I think they are blaming Master," Snowy fiddled at the top of the drawer. She had been growing more and more restless by the minute; being confined to the drawer-top was making her frustrated as she clearly wanted to inspect the investigators.
Lyra sneaked a quick glance at the windigo and wrinkled her eyebrows in disapproval. Why would anypony suspect her of breaking a table? That didn't make any sense.
Then again, it also took these idiots three repeats to get my testimony right, she went back to facehooving. Her explanation wasn't even that long - just a few lines! Surely any officer not challenged in the head could have memorized that. She needed fewer rehearsals for intricate plays.
"Then why are you even asking? Are you saying I did it?" Lyra bumped her hoof against her head lightly. She used her right hoof this once, as rising the leg brought her bandages into a more prominent position. "Sarge, I have so many stitches that I could pass for a pinata. Do you think I would have the strength to just fling a table away like that?"
"Well, the Viscount hearing the noise and coming in to inspect the room would be a very sound theory," the Guard rolled up the paper and tucked it into the side of his armour. "Then again, your wounds are a rather solid proof, Miss Lyra. I must say I honestly have no idea what to make of this! ...and it's Second Lieutenant, got it?"
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say!" Lyra brushed the trivial matter of military ranks aside. "So which question should I answer for the fourth time? I mean, I would write my answers down and spare your time, but you know... I kind of had already done that! Seriously, somepony broke into my room. I thought this was a clear-cut situation!"
"Just because it's clear-cut doesn't mean it's so easy to believe," the Guard shook his head and put his helmet back on. "Though I don't think it'll get any easier to stomach even if I spend the whole night here. Might as well call it a night... we've got everything wrapped up anyway. I hope you don't misunderstand, Miss Lyra - we take your case very seriously and I can promise that it will be followed through properly. We won't be turning a blind eye just because the Viscount is involved."
Lyra listened to that promise but didn't feel anything in her resonating to it. She really didn't care. She was scared of the stranger in her room and felt incredibly thankful for the six Guards to have arrived to her screaming; but that was really all she had wanted of them. She absolutely had no desire for the hour-long Q&A session. So what if they would investigate? She was set to leave the next morning already. Why would she even care about what happened in that icy, remote patch of Equestria?
"Thanks," she mumbled without meaning - or even really thinking about - anything. She was only really glad the soldiers were finally leaving her alone.
"I can have one of my colts make rounds outside your door, if you would prefer," the Guard proposed as he adjusted the leather strap of his helmet. "I understand the aftermath of such situations can be a bit rough. I wouldn't want you to spend this night in terror."
As if another stranger circling around me would really help with my worries, Lyra chuckled dryly to herself. Especially since she had no idea who would happen to guard her. The memory of hiding in a shack and listening to two colts chat about her demise was still fresh in her mind; fresh enough for her to not want any help from anypony in the military. Except as a last resort.
"No... it's all right," she rejected the offer much more politely. It was so much easier to act polite and respectful when she knew that the soldiers were leaving her alone in a matter of minutes. "Bon will be back soon enough."
She also had an ice ghost watching over her, though she couldn't exactly explain that to the soldier.
"It's your choice," the Guard shrugged and turned to the five other ponies that were still mucking around the room. They had already inspected everything worth inspecting; to the point where they had already started cleaning up instead, collecting debris into neat little piles that were easy to avoid. "All right! Everypony, we're done here. Let's let the cleaning crew do their own job. Form up and follow me! We're returning to the barracks. Miss Lyra, I wish you a good... eh, better night."
Lyra moved her hoof to the side of her head and did a ridiculously scrappy salute; but she only started smiling when the last of the soldiers had left her room.
"Finally. I was thinking they would become my new room-mates or something," she sighed and threw herself backwards, straight onto the soft bed. "Sweet Celestia, I'm so tired I could fall asleep on my hooves."
"I thought ponies sleep upright all the time," Snowy raised her eyebrows. She took a more natural pose as the room fell quiet, crouching down on the top of the drawer and peeking out from her cover like an oversized blue kitten.
"Pfff, shows what you know!" Lyra rolled her eyes and gave the bed sheet a few pats. "Do you know how uncomfortable it is to stand on this stuff? It's way too soft... always feels like I'd trip over any moment. No way I'd try sleeping while standing on this thing!"
"Makes sense," Snowy ceded and perked her ears up.
"Seriously, what are you good for?" Lyra groaned as she fiddled around, trying to find a comfortable spot on the bed. "You can't touch things and the little you know is a few hundred years out of date. Heck, you can't even freeze things! I thought that was something all windigos could do!"
"I'm truly ashamed to have no reply to that," Snowy crouched even lower and dipped her ears. That was somewhat of a neat trick; she hid so well that she completely disappeared from sight. Too bad she was invisible for almost everypony anyway. "I will look into improving myself, Master. As I said, I would hate to be a liability! I am sure I will make myself useful somehow."
"Tsch. Don't take it that seriously," Lyra closed her eyes, and waved a hoof in the air. "Don't take me that seriously either. What happened to not calling me Master? Remember that bit?"
"Feels like a quite inappropriate thing to do," Snowy moaned from her cover. "To be honest, I am fine with just being allowed to look Master in the eyes! Old Master used to reprimand ponies for doing that."
"Ugh. You know, there is one thing you excel at. You sure make me glad I'm not living a few hundred years in the past!" Lyra grimaced as she imagined herself being thrown into prison for the heinous crime of having looked a noble in the eye. "I wonder why they never talk of that stuff in history class."
...or maybe they did, she mused. I should have really paid more attention.
As far as most classes went, she had done the same thing over and over. She had drawn small figures onto the side of her books and daydreamed of saving the world one day.
Fun times.
"I'm sorry," Snowy whined. "I will try to-"
The door bursting open cut her sentence off. Lyra was already back on her hooves by when she woke up, staring at the door with wide eyes and ready to pelt any intruder with the small hill of debris she happened to be close to.
Then she relaxed when a familiar face came through the doorway.
"Bon!" she yelled as cheerfully as if she had received the presents of her next thirty birthdays in one go. "Am I glad to finally-"
"What the heck did you do this room? It looks as if there was a brawl in here!" Bon gasped at the sight, utterly oblivious to Lyra's joy. "Wait - don't tell me... Lyra, were those Guards I met coming from here?"
"They... might have been," Lyra immediately dialled her jubilant mood back all the way to zero. "Look, I can explain-"
"You got into a fight with the viscount, didn't you," Bon slapped herself on the face. "Oh for the love of... can't you be left alone, even for a second? I expected better of you."
"Hey! I wasn't the one who started it!" Lyra broke into a yell. She had had enough of explaining the issue over and over to the Guards; she didn't need her best friend starting the same game. "Besides, how would I know he was the viscount? I don't even know that pony!"
"You what?" Bon balked at the denial, her head tilting to the side as if the different angle helped her hear better. "What do you mean you don't know him? Lyra, he was that Flash Freeze. You can't just claim you don't know him because-"
"I. Do. Not. Know. HIM!" Lyra snapped and stomped on the ground with her right hoof. It was a pitifully weak stomp, the carpet and her wounded shoulder only making some suspiciously odd noises. She needed the healthy left leg to stand on though, so it couldn't have been helped. She only really needed that move to vent some stress anyway - she might have blown up otherwise. "I was grilled for an hour by those bone-heads and you know what? No matter what anypony says, I don't know anything about that idiot noble and that's it! Seriously, what's wrong with all of you all of a sudden? With you, especially! Coming back so late and accusing me right away..."
Bon recoiled, the barrage of sour accusations hitting her square in the jaw. She bit her lip and looked away; she waited for Lyra to finish her rant while staring at the brown door frame. She only lifted her head back up when Lyra was done. Her expression had completely changed by then; the beige earth pony bore a warm smile as she looked at her friend.
"Okay, okay. I get it. Sorry, I was just- it's just this whole thing is confusing!" she tried to excuse herself. There wasn't much conviction in her voice; she was either feeling really guilty or didn't believe in those words herself. "But you know what? The FF we saw wouldn't have tried to do all those things to you. He still did anyway, though. So I guess you're right - we really didn't know the true him, after all!"
Blinking in confusion, Lyra gave an absent-minded nod. Sure, she could have settled for that explanation - especially if it meant avoiding a useless fight with her best friend. Might as well go with Bon's version instead of going through the troubles of explaining how she really didn't have any idea who that viscount was.
I swear, everypony is crazy today.