“So, let me get this straight,” I interrupted, “You’re saying that your Celestia is a Principal at a school; Spitfire is a PE teacher; Discord has a job for teaching art; you live on a street called ‘Pony Hill Road,’ just got into the candy making business part-time, you’ve been dating your Lyra for a few months, and that she thinks that unicorns are real?”
My double nodded, “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
The four of us, me, Lyra and our other selves decided that instead of meeting up with the others in either their Cafeteria or Gym, we would just chat in the hallway with a thousand lockers. I admit, when I first saw her, it was both weird and concerning at the same time. On the one hoof, I know they are really me and my Lyra, yet on the other, the more we talked, the more… interesting things became.
Oh don’t get me wrong, we both shared some similarities, sure. Like her Lyra was interested in music while my duplicate said that she’s improving her confectionery skills. And the fact that we the four of us have more or less the same relationship dynamic, so to speak.
Yet at the same time, both of us couldn’t help but notice a few things.
Her Lyra asked, “What’s so surprising about us dating? Aren’t you doing the same thing?”
“Well not quite,” I responded, “Truth be told, we’ve been married not too long ago.”
“Really!” they both nearly shouted in surprise as their eyes went as wide open as their mouths.
“Yeah,” my Lyra nodded, “We’ve been hitched for several months now.”
“Hold on! Hold on!” my counterpart interjected, “How old are you two?”
“I’m twenty-seven and she’s twenty-six,” I answered, “Why? How old are you two?”
“I’m seventeen and she’ll be my age come July,” she said.
“Yeah, and I’ll be turning twenty-seven in July too,” my Lyra said. “You know, this is really fascinating.”
“Tell me about it,” the other Lyra agreed, “I mean, just now, we've learned that unicorns exist!”
“And humans too!” my Lyra grinned while I and I think my other self rolled our eyes.
“Let me guess,” my counterpart said, “Your, uh… Wife is a bit nutty too?”
I sighed, “Oh yeah. I’ll be admitting that my Lyra isn’t what you call… normal compared with other ponies. I mean sure, she tends to sit weirdly or plays on an instrument that no one ever plays anymore. And not to mention her interests in, well, you guys. Yet at the same time,” I put my left foreleg to wrap it around my Lyra, “That’s what I like about her, you know? It’s because she’s weird that life with her never gets boring. Don’t get me wrong, making candy is great, but it can get repetitive at times doing the exact same thing. Plus being around somepony who has a weird little mind, she can get surprisingly creative in ways that I never thought possible before.”
“Awe, come here,” my wife leaned in, both to kiss me on the cheek and to use her new… hands weren’t it? Yeah, she used her new hands to mess up my mane a bit. Smiling, I didn’t stop her.
“Although, I have to ask,” My wife said, “You didn’t suggest to her to make jalapeno peanut butter truffles yet have you?” they shook their heads. “A bit of advice, whatever you do, don’t make it. Trust me, I suggested it, she made it, and we both ended up regretting it. Okay?”
They nodded.
“So…” their Lyra started, “If it’s true that everybody here has magic, how do I do it?”
“Oh! That’s easy,” my Lyra beamed, “Perhaps it’s best if I show you. Can I see your lyre?”
She said sure and that she’ll get it from her locker, the other Lyra went down a bit until she got to a particular locker and opened it. Out of it, she took out a small but familiar black case. She came back to us with the case and opened it up to a familiar golden lyre.
“Okay, so what now?” she asked as she handed the instrument over to her double.
“Here, watch this,” my wife said before her head glowed with her magic. It was rather odd to watch because not only she doesn’t have a horn, but the way her aura worked was rather weird too. Instead of her usual wavering aura that stays in one place, this time, it was like watching bright yellow fireflies’ whizzing around her head.
She picked up the lyre in her magic, “The way I do it,” she said, “Is that I imagine hard enough of me picking up the lyre. Of course, the key is to concentrate on what you want to play, and to practice just like any other instrument.” Then suddenly, the same misty claws formed beside the instrument and she just let them slide up and down the strings before giving it back to her other self. “Now you try.”
I noticed that the other Lyra looked hesitant but my other self put a hand on her Lyra’s shoulder, “Come on,” she said, “You can do it.”
“What if I mess up?” she asked.
“Look,” my wife said, “Everypony that starts out using magic is always guaranteed to mess up. Even I messed up too. But it takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it. But at least try though. Try to picture your hands picking up the instrument first.”
Her counterpart nodded before closing her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened until we saw the same fireflies going around her head, and the light on her lyre was taking hold as my wife let it go. Eventually, she was holding the thing on her own.
“Lyra! You’re doing it! It’s floating!” my other self cheered. The other Lyra opened her eyes and saw her achievement, that was before her aura flickered and dropped it. Luckily, my wife was able to catch it just in time.
“Whoa, that was close,” my Lyra commented, “But that was a really good try though. Just don’t feel bad about it; sometimes it takes a bit of practice.”
“That was incredible!” the other Lyra exclaimed, “Did you see that!? I just lifted that thing without touching it… Hmm… I wonder what else I can do with it.”
“How about we tell you what,” I said, “I really need to get back to work and so does Lyra. But maybe we could come back sometime and Lyra could teach ya some more?”
“You can do that?” the other I questioned.
“Well, given what’s been going on, we can now.” I said, “But I don’t know if I would come back tomorrow since mom will be swinging by.”
“Same here,” the other me said, “I have a math test I need to take. Perhaps sometime Saturday is alright with you two?”
“Sure,” my wife nodded. “I can come back to teach you some more magic and my Bonnie here can teach your ‘marefriend’ a few tricks as well when it comes to sweets, deal?”
Before we could shake hoo- eh, hands on it, we felt a sudden gust of wind along with somepony chanting, “Thisisbad! Thisisbad! Thisisbad! Thisisbad!” we looked to see what ran passed us.
“Was that Mr. Disc?” my other self asked.
Not too long after that, both Celestia’s and a Luna lookalike speed right by us, calling out for him to stop.