A white earth pony with a pale blond mane wandered into the room. She was looking at Trixie with her golden eyes–a normal looking filly, but then not really, for two other things marked this pony, one of them quite literally.
White and red and black were the burns plastered on her front, her chest and her upper front legs, while the right side of her face had more scars than fur. The area above her front hooves wasn’t a sight Twilight could bear to watch, yet she couldn’t bring herself to look away.
Not only that, but this earth pony’s lips were drawn into a smile so wide, Twilight wondered if it did not hurt even more than the marks. It was like this new filly was forcing herself to laugh at an unfunny joke that she’d told herself in the back of her head.
Twilight had no idea what to make of her.
However, it wasn’t hard to guess Trixie’s feelings about the newcomer, considering she was glaring daggers at the earth pony. “Thanks for ruining the show, Lyra,” she said with so much venom in her voice that Twilight shrank instinctually.
She might have been enjoying the fluffy blanket more than was necessary, yes, but the bigger reason was the fear from seeing how Trixie's face contorted at the sight of the newcomer.
“Can you do it, though? Can you? Can you? Can you?” The filly rambled, bouncing closer and closer towards Trixie.
Her grin was the most spectacular thing, mostly because, unlike Trixie, and despite the burns, she had at least teeth of clean, white color. They made the smile almost beautiful, yet Twilight couldn't tell whether or not this “Lyra” was merely insane or playing her own mood up for reasons that escaped her grasp.
Not only that, but whatever Trixie read into it mustn’t have been very flattering either. A filly with such an ugly face looked truly horrifying when she was angry like this.
The "mightiest" magician slowly managed to calm down, breath by breath, before she spoke up again.
“No, Lyra,” it was amazing, Twilight thought, just how much spite Trixie squeezed into that one name, and how much disappointment went into the two words that followed; “I can‘t.”
She sounded truly downtrodden as she said that and it was obvious to Twilight, because those three tiny words did hurt the caped foal. Her shoulders fell visibly and she looked at the ground. It was actually really weird how much the admission took out of her.
Twilight was a smart filly though, and she had read that there was no magic in the world. She knew that, so she needn’t be sad.
The smile didn‘t even waver on Lyra‘s face even after Trixie's denial. Instead, she literally hopped over to Trixie.
“Well, don‘t you worry. Maybe one day you‘ll be able to do it,” she told the unicorn with a bright smile, which Twilight took for encouragement. “I mean, you‘re still a fully functia-, funtio- … working unicorn, right?”
She gave Trixie a nudge, the blissful smile still plastered on her face. Yet, with the big hat falling down her face, and the cape with the stars resting on her shoulders, Trixie just looked at her, eyes teary. From one second to the next sadness swayed to anger and she pushed the earth pony away.
Strands of pale blond hair fell atop Lyra’s right eye, covering the worst of her burns as she stumbled back. As quick as it started it also ended, as Lyra only stood there for a second, mouth open, staring at Trixie. Then, she started to laugh.
Trixie fumed, but instead of letting her rage out in a more violent manner, she decided to just take a very long, very, deep breath before speaking again.
Thank goodness, Twilight thought as she looked from one to the other.
“Anyway, Lyra-” Really, Twilight couldn't understand how Trixie was able to fit so much hatred into one word.
Equally astonishing was Lyra's ability to just ignore the obvious distaste Trixie had for her; or she didn’t even notice, plain and simple. Before the “fully functional” unicorn could even finish her sentence, the white newcomer spotted Twilight.
Just for a moment they caught each others’ eyes and what Twilight saw sent a shiver down her spine. The filly’s smile was so wide, yet her eyes seemed so cold and distant. It was only for a moment that she saw through the facade, for then the silence was broken.
“WOAH!” Lyra shouted and pointed at Twilight, “Who‘s she?”
Trixie glanced back at Twilight, but she did not say another word. She grumbled, clearly upset how Lyra had interrupted her.
With both the fillies' full attention focused on her, Twilight began to feel more and more aware of how she looked. She was ragged and small, covered by a blanket that must’ve made her look pathetic.
Even the armchair became itchy and uncomfortable, making her fidget in the passing seconds. She felt cold and yet sweat started to run down her forehead, she tried to avert her eyes, to find something on the ground in hopes that the others would just go ahead and ignore her. She didn’t anything, and for another moment, only the sound of her heart hammering against her chest disturbed her silence. Oh, alicorns, give me strength, she prayed.
She found some relief as she remembered that Trixie had spoken about meeting others, so this might well become a good thing. Yet despite the knowledge of Trixie's support, she couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation, one she couldn’t quite pin down. She had rarely ever talked to strangers before, and, despite her outward joy this new pony wasn’t easily to be judged. She might've appeared quite engaging, but there was just something so forced about her. It was for the best when Trixie answered in Twilight’s stead, apparently noticing how she nervously shifted in her blankets.
“That‘s Twilight Sparkle, I met her in the hospital.”
Twilight and Lyra gave each other an appraising look while Trixie spoke. Twilight couldn’t understand why she was unable to speak up, unable to try and befriend the earth pony. Since she hadn’t really had friends before, she should be enthusiastic. After all, there was only so much time she could spend with them.
When Trixie fell silent, Twilight tried her best to look welcoming for the two of them. Weirdly enough, Lyra’s expression changed a little, showing fewer teeth for a split-second, but otherwise, there was no reaction. Lyra looked at her and then at Trixie, while Twilight didn’t quite get what was going on. She realized a couple seconds later that an awkward silence had befallen them. It seemed as if none of them knew where to go with their conversation. Twilight wondered if she could continue the talk.
But how? How could she pick it up? Maybe she should take initiative, but she could still feel the beating of the drums in her chest. She didn’t want to break down just after waking up again, so instead of risking it, she stayed silent. Twilight felt angry with herself, or more specifically, with the miserable state of her body.
Whose cruel idea was it to make it dangerous to simply open ones mouth, and speak some words? Why couldn't she say, 'Let's explore this place!' without fear? Why couldn’t she just become healthy right there and then?
Because some things just aren't meant to be.
To calm her rising heart, Twilight breathed deeply again. If she couldn’t win against it, she decided, she would still live her life as best she could.
Returning to the silent fillies, Twilight tried to think of something to break the ice. What interests could we share? Should I ask about their past? She thought about the times she had talked to her brother, her father and nurse Redheart, all those conversations that had gone so easily, naturally even. She thought about her books and how the characters spoke to each other in them, but she still wasn't sure how to proceed. Then, she looked at Trixie, and all her bruises and her bandages.
That was something.
“So … Why were you at the hospital?” Twilight asked.
Instead of answering, Trixie immediately looked at her hooves. Twilight tilted her head in confusion, wondering whether Trixie had understood the question, or if she had just stepped on a landmine. It took a moment, but she thought that Trixie visibly shook for a moment, and maybe she even tried to speak, but only a whimper reached Twilight’s ears. That was indication enough that she had just asked the wrong question, but there was nothing she could say then, even though she was smart. Luckily for both unicorns, the earth pony took charge of the situation before it could get worse.
“So you‘re Twilight,” she said stepping up to her, still smiling bright and welcoming, almost as if she hadn’t noticed Trixie’s behaviour, once again. “I‘m Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings and no, I can‘t play any kind of instrument, even if my name might suggest so.”
“Oh,” was all Twilight could manage, still worried about Trixie, and despite the joking tone that carried through Lyra’s speech.
“Yeah, I know, everypony reacts the same. You should‘ve seen Tavi when we first met, she was like ‘wow, you make music?‘ and I was like ‘No I totally don‘t even know what music is,‘ and she was like ‘Whaaa-‘ and I was like ‘yeah, I am totally unaware of what music is, what I do know however is, that you look like you might know how I get hands,‘ to which she replied-”
Twilight glanced over Lyra‘s shoulder, at the small filly with her cape and hat, who had recovered only moments after Lyra had opened her mouth. The innate sadness had faded, and was instead replaced with a seething hatred, a feeling Twilight could understand less and less, as the earth pony carried on.
Lyra told her own, irrelevant tale, and she did so with a wide smile. It was actually pretty funny to watch, especially since it seemed like her sentences never stopped either, and all while she kept her enormous grin up the entire time. Pretty soon, Twilight had forgotten about her question and how it had caused Trixie to break down, if only for a short moment.
She quickly decided that Trixie only looked weird and Lyra was all-around weird, but not in a bad way.
While the words that came out of the earth pony’s mouth held little meaning, the voice itself was beautiful, too. There seemed to be something about Lyra, something naturally melodious, it was in her voice, and in her movements. The way she articulated and intoned her words led Twilight to the assumption that Lyra was, well, musical, in her own, weird way, even if it didn’t involve instruments.
She forgot all about her frail heart during these moments, and she completely forgot about the excitement and the stress she had felt. But she still listened to the strange filly in front of her and noticed everything about her. Lyra‘s mane for example, was a tangled, wild mess of hair that looked like it had never seen a comb before. Twilight only considered it because it just drove the point further in, that Lyra was different, even when compared to Trixie. The unicorn had a not-so-good looking face but her mane was well cared for. Now that Twilight thought about it, she saw how Lyra was constantly moving, never standing still for more than a second, even her eyes were constant shifting around. The only constant being the smile.
While Lyra talked, Twilight noticed more and more about her with every word. She started to feel like she was learning the filly's core personality through her extremely long monologue.
As the lull of her voice drifted over them, Trixie turned away, probably angry that nopony was paying attention to her, but Twilight closed her eyes and gave in to the voice, finding it relaxing. The sound reminded her of something, a distant field, the smell of apples, and all the other things she often dreamt of. Why that was, she couldn’t tell, but it resounded with her, melodious and dreamlike.
And within that imagination of hers, she found a second sound, a small whisper in the wind, a tiny voice preaching on without the words truly reaching her. For a moment she wondered why she thought about another voice, but let it not bother her. Then, the tiny voice became bigger, and suddenly, it started talking to her.
Tell me, little filly. What do ponies dream of?
Her eyes flung open, “What?”
Lyra had her hoof raised to the sky and seemed like she was about to make some kind of world-shaking speech when Twilight posed her question loudly. “What?” she asked in return.
“There-” Twilight began, looking around in confusion, “there was a voice.”
“What are you talking about, Twi?” Trixie asked as she stepped towards them both, dropping her sullen, angry mood instantly.
“There was a voice, like from an old stallion. Is one here?” Twilight asked, looking around frantically. Both ponies looked first left, then right, and then shook their heads in unison. Twilight felt slightly frazzled. “But I heard it.”
Had she been day-dreaming? No, she couldn‘t have, she wasn't all that tired, and she-
Well, well, well. I didn’t expect for you to hear me. I mean, I’ve been talking for a while. Did you ignore me? That would be a bit sad, but I have to admit, actually pretty funny too. Really, it is. You‘re the first in quite a while to hear my voice.
Twilight‘s eyes widened, her heart began to pound. “Wh-what?”
Trixie and Lyra looked at each other, clearly weirded out. Twilight didn‘t know what to say, what to tell them. There was a voice in her head. Her eyes moved across the room, looking for a source of the voice, something that might help, while her heartbeat grew faster and faster once more, just as her breath grew quicker. She felt a drop of sweat on her forehead and really wanted to start panicking.
Such a talent, so young and already having such a connection with magic that she can actually hear my voice. Well, not that that’s really helping you, right, my little pony? Don‘t fret, I‘m a friend.
“Where are you?” she asked loudly.
“Who?” asked Lyra
Sad to say I am everywhere. Think of me as the ghost of Canterlot and you‘re the only one I can talk to ... So please, don‘t stop breathing.
The voice was still talking calmly to her and that, surprisingly, was the weirdest thing. She didn‘t know how to respond. She didn‘t even know what exactly was going on. Twilight just looked at Trixie and Lyra. Maybe she should tell them.
“There‘s a ghost here.”
I doubt they will believe that, the voice stated, sounding amused.
“What? Does that mean Trixie‘s ritual from three weeks ago worked?” Trixie asked, suddenly all signs of negativity exchanged by a smile as she jumped up thrice, “Praised be Trixie!”
At the same time, Lyra answered with her big smile, seeming even faker than before; “Wow! Really? I didn‘t know you could talk to ghosts, that is so exciting. Tell him ‘hi‘ from me!”
And I stand corrected. Kids these days ...
For a moment only silence remained, Twilight didn‘t know what to say.
Wait, we can make this work, we can get you all in on this conversation. You‘ve got a lot of raw talent and you three are unicorns. Put your horns together and … believe? … That’s a bit cheesy, but, yeah, believe, that‘s the right thing to do. That way we maybe can make them hear me too.
Twilight frowned, the only unicorns here were Trixie and herself, Lyra was … Wait, hadn’t her father said something to her before? Something important, what had it been? She frowned, but then she remembered his words, how he had once told her brother that he would’ve had better chances at finding work and a decent wife if he just got rid of his horn
She looked at Lyra. The filly looked scrawny, yes, but earth ponies weren’t just pure muscle mass, some could be thin too, some could be weaker than others, especially among kids.
“Uhm, he wants us to do something unicorn-y, but you’re an earth pony, right?” Twilight decided to ask her.
And so Lyra simply grinned as she was asked that question and shook her head. “Nope, my uncle just didn‘t want a freak of nature to run around their house.”
Magic didn’t exist. It was a truth she had been raised to know. Some stories said it may have existed when alicorns still roamed the world, but even then it was gone and it would never come back again. The stories were just that, and no matter what Trixie said, she wasn’t a real magician, and Twilight was a smart enough filly to get that.
It's why, when nurse Spot Syringe had told her that the horn on her forehead was a sign of her impurity and worthlessness, she had taken it for granted.
Ah, right, I forgot, things changed a bit since I was still alive. Well, damn. No, wait, before that … I just remembered, even if you have the talent you can’t do magic anymore. Just having found one pony I can talk to is a miracle enough.
“There has never been such a thing as magic” Twilight said, continuing to the others: "He didn‘t know unicorn horns are merely decorative.”
Lyra smiled, that was all she ever seemed to do, but didn’t disagree. Trixie on the other hoof glowered at Twilight now. She really does believe her own lies, Twilight thought, because she was a smart filly, and smart fillies weren’t superstitious.
Heh. Don‘t tell me you really believe that? The little filly, always reading stories, always drawing pictures of knights and mighty princesses who can move the sun.
She tugged her blanket closer, stared into the nothingness. “What do you mean?”
For a few seconds silence reigned while the other unicorns glanced at her, and then at each other. They didn’t know how to handle the situation at all, but what Twilight did was look up, as if the one she was talking to was in the ceiling.
Twilight Sparkle. That‘s a good name. A very good name. You’re probably a smart filly, Twilight, so listen. Magic does exist, that you can hear me should be proof of that. It vanished with the fall of the last dragonequus, but I can feel it coming back. Sadly, knowing this, I need to ask something of you. Twilight, I know this is sudden, but you need to be quick. Stand up, take your friends. Go. Run. Don‘t look back. Go to the old castle plaza and then take the dive. If you don‘t-
The voice tried to say something else, but at that moment, Twilight’s attention shifted. The ground began to shake, every stone moved and every piece of wood creaked. With a loud, roaring noise, the quake broke loose.
Things fell down, a mirror shattered on the other side of the hall, and somewhere outside, thunder crashed, and someone screamed. It took her not even a second to realize what it was, because once in a while, the city trembled with the force of the earth, and so she did the only thing she could and cowered beneath the blanket.
She clutched her legs and prayed to Celestia, to Luna, to Cadenza for it to end. As the world around her shook, the unstable items began to fall. A cabinet fell over, the bang as loud as an explosion to her ears. Terrified, she could only close her eyes, too scared to even pray.