Lyra walked along with three grinning foals arrayed around her. One of them, Peppermint Twist, was looking especially excited. "Gosh, I've never been camping before!" She had a bit of a lisp as she spoke. "Have you, Lucy, Feather?"
Feather Weight, the colt of the group, shook his head. "Can't say I have. I took pictures of some ponies doing it before. I know what you're supposed to do."
Lucy chuckled a little and moved around Lyra to be closer to her friends. "Knowing what you're supposed to do and knowing how to do it are verrrry different things."
Lyra was relieved to hear Lucy sounding like a reasonable voice. She wasn't entirely certain what to expect, and she was thankful for her bulging saddlebags full of supplies to hopefully make that a safe trip. "At least we're not going to the Everfree," she murmured under her breath.
Twist perked her ears, hearing it easily. "Oh my! I wouldn't want to camp there! I don't wanna get eaten by a big monster!"
Lucy pointed at Lyra. "And that is why we have a powerful wizard with us."
Feather Weight tilted his head at Lyra, looking at her with wonderment. "You're a wizard?! Can you show us something?"
Lyra tapped at a chin as her other three legs carried her along. "Well... Alright, but we should get there first. I prefer being a friend over being a 'wizard' though."
Twist stuck out her tongue. "Anypony can be a friend! I want to see your magic too."
Lucy shook her head. "That's not true. Lyra's a very good friend, and has helped ponies recover from very bad situations." She bumped into Twist. "You had a really 'good' friend before, and she ran off, didn't she?"
Twist's expression fell. "I don't want to talk about that."
This made Lyra curious. "You don't have to if you don't want, but you're surrounded by friends. Maybe we can help?"
Feather came up alongside Twist. "Yeah, we're your friends. It's alright to tell us."
"Well..." Twist kicked at a small pebble. "It's just... I used ta be real good friends with Apple Bloom, but then I got my cutie mark before her and she didn't want to hang out anymore..."
Lucy looked to Lyra for assistance, and Lyra nodded. "That wasn't right of her, but I understand. She's very sensitive about it." She reached out and put a hoof on Twist's shoulder. "It's not your fault. She has to find her own place in life. That's why she gravitated towards other foals that are in her situation."
Twist looked pensive a moment. "I guess that makes sense... But I still kinda miss her. We used to hang out allll the time. She'd even defend me from real jerks like Diamond Tiara."
Feather bumped into Twist lightly. "You have us now! We won't let any big rich brats pick on our friends, right Lucy?"
Lucy bobbed her head. "Of course not. Apple Bloom's loss is our gain. I for one am very happy to have you as a friend."
Twist smiled at Feather, then Lucy. "Aw you guys... Thanks."
They arrived at the campsite, not too far or close to a river. The sky was clear, as it was supposed to be for a few days, and the terrain was flat and ready for them to set up their tent on. The remains of a fire circle revealed that others had used the same spot for such activities before. Lyra let her bags slip to the ground with a sigh of relief before pointing at an empty spot. "Let's get the tent setup first."
Lucy and Feather advanced to take care of that, while Twist smiled at Lyra. "Show us some magic spells!"
Lyra tilted her head. "Alright. I did promise... Hmm. Where once was a rock, now something furry. Behold as I make this stone scamper and scurry!" With a flash of her magic, the small rock became a mouse. As promised, it scurried away in a rush, vanishing into the underbrush.
Twist clopped her hooves together with an excited joy. "That was amazing!" she gushed as she looked out at where the rock-mouse had gone. "Will it turn back?"
Lyra nodded. "I'm no Twilight Sparkle. It'll be a mouse for a minute, tops, then back to being a rock."
Twist pointed at herself. "You could make me a huge dragon if you wanted to, right?"
Lyra held up her hooves. "Woah! Hold that thought. I can't do that much. Maybe a teeny baby dragon, like Spike?"
Twist bobbed her head furiously. "Yes yes! Do that!"
Feather wandered over, the tent erected and ready to shelter them all. "What are you talking about?"
Twist turned on him. "Lyra's gonna make me a dragon!"
Feather's eyes went wide. "No way! I want to see that."
Lyra felt trapped and glanced around nervously. "Well... alright... but you have to stay still. No trying to run or fly away! OK?"
Twist sat up and put her forehooves to her cheeks. "I can be a baby dragon with wings?! Do it do it!"
Lyra damned her mouth silently as Lucy came over to join the commotion. "What's going on?"
Feather pointed at Lyra. "Lyra's going to turn Twist into an awesome baby dragon."
All eyes were on Lyra expectantly. Lyra took a slow breath and sat down before tapping the ground. "Lay down and relax. This will tingle a bit, but shouldn't hurt. If it does hurt, let me know and I'll stop right away. If you want to go back early, just let me know. There's nothing to panic about, alright?"
Twist bobbed her head. "Of courth!" Her excitement made her lisp a bit worse. "I'll be good, promith!"
Lyra let her magic fly, and Twist became a dragon hatchling like Spike, subtly female, with white scales and red fins. Twist tried to bounce to her new claws, only to fall on her snoot. "Ow!" Her friends gathered around her, amazed alongside her and they seemed to be having a good time with it. Lyra kept an eye on them, and let the spell go after a few minutes. Turning a foal into a dragon wasn't anywhere as easy as she made it look.
She distracted them from asking for repeat performances with a hastily organized smores baking. Stories were shared, and good times were had. In the end, Lyra was happy Lucy had dragged her along, and that she spent time with the little ones.