//------------------------------// // 39 - Returned // Story: The master and the windigo // by stupidswampdragon //------------------------------// The list never seemed to end; though truth be told, Lyra had no idea how she was supposed to read it in the first place. There were numbers scrawled all over the page. They must have adhered to some sort of logic, but its nature completely eluded her. She lowered the long sheet and scratched her head, finally sneaking a peek to the side, but there was little help there. The windigo also seemed to be struggling. "I... think I remember this. From my time in the northern castle. I used to be locked up with an older pony there... he did a lot of this stuff. He called it double-entry bookkeeping," Snowy mumbled, holding her head crooked and to the side. "This is way more complex than what I can remember, though. I don't know any of these categories!" You're still ways ahead of me, Lyra flashed a smirk, then gave the paper back to Luna. "With all due respect, your Highness... this looks like accounting stuff. I'm a musician - I have no idea what I should be looking at." Luna nodded and placed the paper back into the binder. She didn't hurry, and her slowness seemed doubly annoying with the complete silence. There was nothing to make a sound; the thick walls of the room ensured that no noise filtered in, and Luna had ordered all the soldiers to wait outside. Nothing better to do, Lyra surveyed the room again. It was a waste of time; there were no additional details to notice. The room was fairly small and absolutely spartan, old cobblestone walls with some torches hanging here and there. Decoration was inexistent; some empty drawers and three tables were the sole contents of the room. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a cell - one that had gone unused for too long, and finally found itself converted into some sort of a storage area. Lyra gulped nervously. She didn't particularly relish the idea of having a talk with Princess Luna in such a place; the choice of location sent a rather foreboding message. "These are the accounts of the Golden Oak," Luna spoke up. The end of her sentence was punctuated by a loud bang - the binder slamming closed. "We were hoping that you would understand on your own, but we now see that we do need to explain." Why are you so hung up on that library? There's one pony missing, boo-hoo! What about the changelings? Why is no-one looking into how they almost wiped out a WHOLE BUCKING TOWN?! Lyra pulled a face, then quickly dropped her gaze to the floor, before the princess could notice. Careful, girl. This alicorn IS the second highest authority in Equestria, she quickly chided herself. "I would be pleased if you did, Highness," she lied through her teeth. "Accounting is a fairly precise business. Every record must be properly maintained... because if not, if there are mistakes made? Then the numbers will fail to add up." Luna pushed the binder away, to the farthest corner of the table. "In this case, the Golden Oak's credits and debits do not match. We first wondered if this was a mere oversight, but these errors are too consistent for a naive mistake. However, the differences are way too small to justify a forgery. Nopony would risk a crime for such measly amount of bits." Glancing up, Lyra's heart turned to stone. Luna's explanation left her completely cold - it was the image she had issues with. Snowy was standing right next to Luna, studying the alicorn so close that the windigo's nose practically touched the alicorn's face. "She's pretty smart... and pretty pretty, too." Snowy mused out loud, then dug her nose into Luna's mane. "Hmm... I wonder what makes her sparkle?" Watching without being able to as much as breathe, Lyra gave a silent thank to every imaginary and non-imaginary God she could suddenly recall, simultaneously deciding to visit temples more often. It was an incredible stroke of luck that Luna couldn't sense servants. Were she able to, Snowy would have just awarded her master a long prison sentence- Her mouth curling to a small but amused grin, Lyra watched Snowy dig her whole head into Luna's mane. Aside from giving her the cold shiver, that scene was as good as any confirmation could get. There's no way Luna would let anypony get away with that... not even servants. It was just a hunch before, but she now felt confident that Luna wasn't a master. "We shall spare you the details... but there is one important fact you should be clear on. The discrepancies in the ledger are for a fairly small, but monthly recurring expense - in the liability accounts." Luna kept on explaining, her tone as the dry as her topic of choice. "The gist is that there has been a pony at the Golden Oak's payroll. A pony who is now missing. Or rather... has been missing for almost three years, somehow." The last sentence was interesting enough to get Lyra's attention back to the discussion. "Three years?" Lyra raised her head, making an utterly surprised face. "You mean, the Golden Oak had a phantom employee for three whole years?" "The older ledgers do not show any errors," Luna raised her eyebrows. "The numbers do not lie. This case started three years ago." Tsk. Lyra licked her lips. Didn't think that erasing Twilight from everywhere would trip other records. Should've asked Discord to fix those, too... Though then again, fixing those records might have necessitated changing even more things in turn. Why is changing ANYTHING so darned difficult in this world?! Lyra fumed, taking a deep breath to gain time to calm down. Okay, let's see. They have no proof that I'm involved, right? "I don't see how this connects to me," she declared. "I went to the Golden Oak maybe once or twice in my entire life." "But you still were there. You borrowed maps of Canterlot, for example." Luna nodded, confirming that the soldiers did, indeed, search Lyra's home. "Also, we fail to see why you needed to borrow those papers at midnight. Could you be as kind as to explain?" "Midnight...?" Lyra blinked. "A few ponies saw you exit from the Golden Oak a little after midnight, earlier this week." Luna narrowed her eyes, then motioned at the binder. "Would the exact date make any difference? Would you prefer us to drag this out and find the testimony?" Struggling to keep her calm face, Lyra gulped as silently as she could. Witnesses... somepony saw me? There were ponies staring at the library that late? It seemed so unlikely that anypony could have been watching her. Unless- Unless those testimonies are forgeries... or those ponies were woken up. Either way, Lyra held no illusion that she had been set up. The question was whether Celestia or the Source was trying to land her in jail - but as she considered both her enemies, it was more of an academic curiosity than anything making a practical difference. "I had a tight schedule and I needed those maps urgently." Lyra flexed her muscles, trying to keep her face as straight as possible. "I don't see how it's a big deal, though. Or are you questioning everypony who visited the Golden Oak in the last three years?" That question made Luna chuckle; the first time she showed anything other than factual indifference. It was unusual enough to make Snowy take a few steps back and stare at the princess with puzzled face. "We have reasons to believe that the former librarian was the student of our dearest Sister," Luna squinted at Lyra. She didn't openly say, but her thoughts on the matter were clear: she was already talking to a suspect. "Those two exchanged mails... how shall we put it? With extremely high regularity. One almost every day." Nodding hesitantly, Lyra immediately saw where that was going to lead. Frig! I had no idea about those mails either. "Now, those mails seems to have become damaged." Luna narrowed her eyes, as if the additional facts pushed her suspect even further into a corner. "But more interestingly, they ceased coming for some reason. We could check when the last one arrived... but we trust you to already understand the point we are trying to make." "I had nothing against the librarian," Lyra smirked dryly, pulling the best poker face she ever had ever done. "Why would have I done anything to her?" "Her?" Luna echoed the word, her expression turning openly anticipating. "Curious... we had no idea of the gender so far. Would you happen to know anything else, perchance?" Blinking as her mind screamed in terror, Lyra was pretty sure that she had just sent her own self to jail for a long, long time. Her mouth felt dry and she could feel herself sweating. Even time itself seemed to slow down - she thought she could see every individual breath Luna was taking. Which was all fine and well, because she needed time to devise some way to salvage the situation. A pretty hard task, given the glaring error she had just made. If only she could take that sentence back! If only... She glanced at the windigo and felt the gears in her head snap back in place. "I didn't say anything," she exclaimed, just now noting that her lips were trembling. "The last sentence... simply didn't happen." "What-" Luna squinted, the rest of her sentence lost for eternity. Snowy flashed in a bright in the next moment, and the alicorn could only blink - silent and apparently confused. "I only ever talked to Spike in that library," Lyra took up the thread from a few moments earlier. "That's... not really useful, is it? I'm really sorry." "No, it is... ugh. What is this... we have the feeling we are forgetting something." Luna rubbed her forehead. She then yanked the binder from the table and stormed out of the room. "Excuse us, but we need to check on something. We are certain that we are forgetting something, and these tasks do not permit such failures." "As you wish, Highness!" Lyra waved at the alicorn - and kept waving right until the door closed shut. Then she sighed out loud and collapsed to the floor. "That was close," she whined, her legs spread out wide. "I thought I was finished for a second." Snowy stared at the door where the alicorn had left and rubbed the top of her head. "She left very fast," she cocked her head to the side. "Isn't that odd? Most ponies only get confused when I use my powers." Staring at the old, mouldy ceiling above, Lyra hummed thoughtfully. "True. I wonder if we managed to scare her somehow." Not sure if scaring a princess is a good idea, she squinted and placed a hoof against her head. Then again, I'll meet Celestia a lot sooner if Luna refuses to talk to me. That's progress, isn't it? Wrinkling her eyebrows, she couldn't help but feel wary at such definitions of progress. She would be closer to attaining her goal for sure, but... she couldn't bring herself to like the method of doing so. "Well, I suppose only time will tell," Snowy sighed and turned to her master with an obviously forced grin. "But, at least Master didn't get thrown into a cell this time-" She was cut off by the door bursting open. Soldiers streamed in - the same Guards which Luna had ordered to stay outside a little while ago. Lyra sprang onto her hooves. She was fast, but she only managed to stand up just in time to see three spears being held ten inches from her head. I'm getting on the pointy end of these things like, WAY TOO OFTEN lately, she noted with some degree of resignation. A few of the thirty-something troopers began moving around, clearing a way so a peculiar Guard could pace forward. Taking a glance at the small corridor, Lyra noted the stocky stallion approaching her. So it's the small boss who gets to talk to me, she chuckled dryly. Guess I'm no longer important enough to talk to princesses, huh? "Lyra Heartstrings." The stallion cleared his throat and held his head high. "You are now under arrest. The charges are foalnapping, murder, conspiracy against Equestria... and failing to submit tax forms on time. You have the right to remain silent; everything you say may be used against you in the court." Glaring at the spears pointed at her, Lyra decided to make use of that right. She snorted loudly and shook her head. As it turned out, even prisons could have their rating levels. A room with a measly doss and a smelly mattress, also a small window with lots of bars and a limited look to the outside; three stars, would maybe revisit on a harsh winter day. A room with cobblestone walls, with a magical lantern and... well nothing else: one star. Maybe a half. Avoid at all costs. Sitting on the hay that covered the entire floor, Lyra surveyed her newest - half star - cell with absolute contempt. She had no idea that such places actually existed in Canterlot - or in the entirety of Equestria, for that matter. The cell was dark... very dark. There were no windows; it wouldn't have been possible to make one in the first place, as the room was many levels below the surface. The magical lantern hanging in the centre provided all the meagre light. It wasn't much - and that little light was almost completely drowned out by the serious overdose of black. Everything around Lyra was black. The walls, the floor and even the ceiling were all made from the same volcanic rock. A sensible material for sure; it looked rigid and sturdy. But surrounding Lyra on all sides, the black rock also proved incredibly oppressive. The room was fairly small to begin with - three by three metres or so - but this design-induced darkness made it feel even more claustrophobic. Glaring at the black-painted door, Lyra wondered how much longer she could languish in there and still remain sane. "This isn't simply keeping me bottled up," she moaned and bumped her hoof against the wall behind her. "This is torture, that's what this is." Freaking Sunbutt. The more I deal with her... and I haven't even met her yet! Ugh. "Aren't those charges valid, though?" Turning her head sideways, Lyra gave the windigo a tired glance. "Oh come on. Conspiring against state? Murder? They are literally throwing everything at me. I'm surprised I wasn't charged with some other heavy stuff... like, uh, I don't know. Trying to end the world?" Snowy didn't seem satisfied with the satiric comeback. Her blue figure almost shimmering in the gloomy environment, she turned her red eyes towards the ceiling, prodding her chin up with a hoof. "Master did make Twilight Sparkle disappear, though. That's already between foalnapping and murder, depending whether the new personality is Twilight or not." The windigo mused out loud. "And well, we did do that to make the Princess easier to take down." "Nonsense," Lyra chuckled wryly. "They wouldn't know-" Faltering away, she realised that Snowy did make a legitimate point. Accidentally or not, the charges were quite appropiate. "That's impossible," Lyra rubbed her sore forehead. "Nopony knows about Twilight. Nopony could!" Her back against the damp stones, Lyra was certain that the charges were made up. Nopony could have known the truth - not even the princesses themselves. "Pinkie knows," Snowy cocked her head to the side. "She wouldn't sell us out," Lyra rejected the idea with a wave of her hoof. "If that was her plan, she would have done so before we bleached Twilight's head clean." "True," Snowy smirked and moved her hoof to rubbing the back of her head. "What about Discord?" "Eh? What about him?" Lyra squinted at the windigo. "How does he-" She bit onto her tongue. "He's privy to all details... or at least to enough details to figure everything out," Snowy sighed. "Couldn't have he...?" Rubbing her chin, Lyra shook her head vigorously. "After their history, I doubt he'd help Celestia," she worked the gears in her head. "Though then again, he is the element of chaos... so acting in line with ponies' expectations wouldn't really be his thing either." She fell silent and simply kept rubbing her chin. It was at that time she had noticed how silent her cell really was. Silent and dark... almost like a bad dream. One where she floated in an endless void, lost and completely alone. Totally built to punish prisoners instead of simply making them stay put, Lyra sighed and slumped onto the hay-littered floor. In the end, it didn't matter who had tipped Celestia off - or whether she had known anything in the first place. The validity of the charges didn't matter either. All that mattered is that she was in Canterlot, and would meet the princess sooner or later. "Ugh. Can't wait to be out of this dump already," Lyra muttered, her face resting in the damp, smelly hay. There was one thing nopony had ever mentioned about prison. It's not like many could have. Few talked about prisons, as very few had ever seen one from the inside; in a land where getting slapped on the face was among the meaner punishments, getting sentenced for actual jail-time was something of an achievement. And, most often, those who had managed such achievements didn't stop there either. They kept advancing their careers until they reached greater heights, such as being exiled to Everfree Forest, or to the Moon - or to Tartarus, depending on mood and age. As such, prisons rapidly became a curious relic of history. Most only knew of them from movies and books, learning just enough to know they wouldn't want to wind up in one. Small cells, lousy service and isolation; nothing good awaited those locked away in there. Sitting on the smelly hay and glaring at the ceiling as the damp rocks kept dripping water on her, Lyra Heartstrings quickly realised a very irritating aspect of her confinement. She had lost the track of time. Stuck in a sound-proof cell complete with an ever-constant source of light and no windows to look at, she had no idea how long she had been languishing in there. She had tried to do rough estimates based on when the Guards brought her food, but even that plan failed quickly: either because of devious planning or sheer carelessness, the troopers seemed to arrive at random intervals. At first Lyra thought it was just her confused sense of time, but evidence kept piling up; sometimes she would starve between two meals, while other times she wasn't even hungry when the next plate was put in front of her. It wasn't before long that she had resigned herself to obliviousness. So what if she had no idea how long she had been in there? Big deal. She would get out eventually, and that was what mattered. ...or so she had thought at first. But as her time in solitary confinement grew longer, she started considering - and later, dreading - the possibility of never getting out. "Surely they can't just simply lock somepony away," she mused out loud. She didn't mean to; but after so much time spent alone, even listening to her own voice was refreshing. It was better than the never-ending silence. The windigo in front of her turned around and looked at her, the ghostly head cocked to the left. Thank Equestria you're here, Lyra grinned lightly. I would have really gone mad if not for your company. "Well, is there any authority higher than that of a princess?" Snowy raised her eyebrows. "I don't want to sound alarming, but I've been thinking on the subject, aaand... I arrived to some troubling conclusions." Even the half-hearted grin vanished from Lyra's face. She wasn't so keen on listening to even more bad news - but her desire to talk to somepony had easily triumphed over her need to remain positive. "Not even a princess can keep us in here forever, Snowy." Lyra sighed, delivering an absent-minded kick with her leg. Her hoof scraped along the cobblestone floor, throwing wet hay into the air. "I mean, yeah, they have a lot of power... but not this much power. They can't do this." "So Master says, but I distinctly remember reading about Luna being banished... to the Moon of all places," Snowy smirked dryly. "There wasn't any trial either." Lyra bobbed her head back and forth. Indeed, she had thought of that accident quite a few times herself. She had always found the analogy to be severely lacking, though. "Luna had attacked Celestia that night," she explained - and shuddered, as a particularly large droplet landed on her back. "Gah! Anyway, don't read too much into that story. It was really just combat to life and death. Decisions come easily in such tight spots." "So claims Her Highness Sunbutt as well," Snowy shook her head with a grim grin. "But even in that case, how do we know that ours isn't a life and death struggle? There may be many ways to interpret an attempt to steal servants... but in the end, most would consider it a hostile manoeuvre." "Celestia doesn't know about our plan though," Lyra snorted loudly, then kicked at the hay again. "Had she known about us, we would be on the Moon already... or in Tartarus." "But she needs the other servants to win the game! Me included." Snowy spread her front legs wide in the air. "Surely keeping me - or rather: us! - locked away within Canterlot is a more secure plan than keeping me on the Moon." Glaring at the windigo over her back, Lyra was forced to admit that the possibility hadn't crossed her mind. She had always approached her predicament in more down-to-Equestria fashion. "Even so, I doubt that keeping us inside her Palace is the best idea she could come up with," she threw herself to the ground with a grunt. "We're smack in the middle of Canterlot, Snowy. It'd be an outrage if ponies learnt that their beloved princess imprisoned ponies for life... just because she felt like it." Contrary to Lyra's expectations, her servant wasn't swayed by the argument. "That's a pretty big if." Snowy pointed out with a frown. "First of all, I doubt that anypony would know of Master being kept here... with the exception of a few guards. Maybe not even Princess Luna knows. We have no idea what sort of lies Princess Sunbutt could have told her!" Lyra remained unmoved. "Don't worry so much. Ponies know - and ponies talk. They always do. Word will get out eventually. Sooner... or later." "Assuming that none of Sunbutt's servants are able to modify memories," Snowy gave a sombre smile. "In which case suppressing the leak would be trivial." Lying on the floor, Lyra found herself looking for her jaw. She had completely overlooked that aspect - and in hindsight, this felt like a pretty dumb mistake. She had allowed herself to be put into a trap, all in the vague hope that she'd get to confront Celestia easier this way. Only, now all Celestia had to do was wait. Lyra knew she wouldn't last forever in that cell; she would either go crazy or develop some illness. Being kept in a small, sunless room obviously wasn't good for the health. She stared at the door and contemplated banging on it - screaming loudly, demanding to be set free, or at the very least to be granted an audience. Foolish notions, all of them. Nopony would hear her out; and nopony would comply with her demands either. Only the Palace Guard was allowed near her cell, and those colts were all loyal to a fault. They would take the word of a Princess over a commoner's any time of the day. No, Lyra was stuck in the cell - like a rat in a sprung trap. "I could make the guards forget about me," she wondered out loud, panting and licking her dry lips. "Just when they bring the food, yes. Then I could walk out the open door." "Master would still be stuck in Canterlot, though." Snowy sighed dejectedly. "No matter how much we erased, Princess Sunbutt's servants would always remember Master. And with the Princess after Master, the Guard would be always be on Master's trail, too. I mean, we could keep continously erasing the orders from their minds, but... after a while, even Master would forget everything, so..." Nodding silently, Lyra rolled to her side and cackled - loudly and with an utterly hollow tone. Ain't I one bloody genius. Loud clacks rang out. Resting on the top of the haphazardly gathered hay, Lyra didn't pay the noise too much attention. The door didn't even open yet, but she already knew what was in store for her; another soldier would waltz in, bringing some more tasteless food. The colt would throw the plate on the floor - always keeping his eyes on her, of course - and then hastily back out of the cell, finally slamming the door closed behind him. Then he would return a little while afterwards and take the plate away. Those soldiers, while apparently brave, were never alone either. Lyra had tried peeking a few times, and she did see more soldiers standing with their pikes at the ready, just a little beyond the open doorway. She may have been a helpless prisoner, but her 'fame' as a dangerous witch still endured. While the fact did little to placate her ire, she did feel a tinge of vindication. The door creaked and finally began tilting, light filtering in through the widening gap. Lyra rose her hoof to block the intense shine out; she may have longed for the sun, but she didn't enjoy her eyes burning and watering. Then, once the door fell silent, she heard hooves clapping on the cobblestone floor. Clap, clap, clap... And then the show began deviating from the usual. "Are you sure you want us to close the door behind you?" Even that ordinary sentence was enough to fire Lyra up. Her ears perked and she hopped off the hay, twisting her head with a curious expression on her face. She hadn't heard a pony talk for so very long... "I mean, we'll stick around on the other side... but this thing is heavy, see? It takes a while to open. Should anything happen in there, you can bang away as much as you want, we won't be able to rush in in a hurry." But of course, Lyra smirked to herself, holding her leg so it blocked out most of the light. You're entering a monster's den, interloper. No, she wasn't bitter. Not at all. "Oh, I'll be fine. Besides what's she gonna do, turn me into a newt? Hahah!" The giggling, almost foalish laughter stunned Lyra. She recalled the voice from earlier - almost as if she was remembering a previous life of hers. "Pfft, whatever you say. Go on in, then! But don't blame me if you don't come out." "What, you saying I might like it so much in there?" Cocking her head to the side, Lyra was pretty sure that voice belonged to- -to the pink pony who had just stumbled into the small cell. "Pinkie...!" Lyra whispered, her words drenched out by the loud creaking of the door closing. "Whoa," Pinkie looked around in the dank cell, then rubbed her nose. "This place stinks! Why did they even think I'd stay in here?!" Standing in silence, Lyra slowly pressed her hoof against her forehead. Somepony please save me from the pony who came to save me. "Three months?" Lyra giggled in disbelief, her head shaking. "Three months..." "Yeah, more or less. I really thought you simply dropped off the face of Equestria," Pinkie nodded. She and Lyra were sitting in the middle of the room, almost directly underneath the magical lantern. "You'd be surprised how few ponies know about you, by the way! It took some favours, metric tons of sweets... and some of Rarity's old connections to find you." "Rarity," Lyra muttered aloofly. That was a name she hadn't heard in a while. "How's she doing?" "She's fine," Pinkie waved a hoof. "She's less about dresses and more about gemstones lately, though. She was talking about trying some new waters, you see. That little mishap with the dresses had left some bad taste in her mouth, I guess." Lyra nodded with a sour face. So not a full blown tragedy, but not a happy ending either. "I did that to her," she murmured to herself. "If not for my meddling, she would be still running the Carousel..." She snapped out of her stupor on short order. She shuddered and moved her eyes to Pinkie, then flashed a sour smirk. "You know, I'm still surprised that you're helping me. After all the things I've done..." "You know, I'm still surprised how much you can worry about things that turned out all right in the end. Though then again, you're missing all sorts of context, only stumbling around blindly... like me whenever I try navigating by map." Pinkie whistled all innocent-like. "You're saying I'm stupid," Lyra drooped her head. "Sure you are!" Pinkie patted the other pony on the head. "But that's okay. It's normal, even! You have the only servant who has no idea about the history of this game." Her head bobbing up and down as the pink hoof pushed it, Lyra sneaked a glance at Snowy. The windigo looked as puzzled as she felt; so they both stared at the pink figure. "History...?" She had heard foreboding mentions before, but she had never learnt any of the game's actual history so far. She had never really cared either - she didn't think that events of past times long-gone could have affected her. "Yeah. You know, all the mistakes the previous masters have made," Pinkie glanced at the lantern, holding a hoof to her chin. "You're hardly the first master to be stupid, you see. And to be fair, the others made mistakes for stuff far less worthwhile than your goals. Aaaand... they kinda wrecked and ruined more than you have, too. Or so Axiom has told me." Forcing a smile onto her sombre expression, Lyra couldn't help but notice how the spider was missing. He really doesn't want to be in the same room as Snowy is, huh. "It's not a contest, though." She shook her head, focusing on what Pinkie said instead of wondering about the spider-servant. "Of course it is, stupid!" Pinkie giggled. "Games are always about competition!" Glaring at the pink pony in utter exasperation, Lyra wondered on the ways she could explain how causing collateral damage was not the point of the game. She kept wondering for so long that she remembered of the Source, and quickly became unsure whether the whole game was just a mean - and deadly - prank or not. She then gave up on the whole point altogether - before her worldview fell out of its axis. "Doesn't seem like I'm doing such a good job at this competition thing though," Lyra snickered, drawing an arc with her hoof in the air. "Got myself stuck in this place." "Yeah. Looks like you're gonna' need to roll a six, or you'll be missing a few more turns." Pinkie nodded, then threw a wink at Lyra. "Unless we rig the game, if you get what I'm saying." "Thought about that one already," Lyra dismissed the idea right away. She did think about cheating - many times, in fact. She had even tried to summon to Source to her aid once, but nothing happened; the game master had either given up on her, or was interested in seeing how she could escape her predicament. "No dice." "Not with that attitude," Pinkie frowned. "C'me on, there's surely something you can do. I mean, be creative! Like when I used pepper when the cinnamon ran out!" "You WHAT!?" Lyra blinked, then shook her head. "Never mind that! I don't even know why I'm being held in here, so I can't really think of anything to get myself free." "Well, when you can't poke the piece of eggshell out, you just flush the whole dish down the drain," Pinkie shrugged. "It's wasteful, but it still beats serving a... tee-hee, crunchy cake, right?" "Yeah, because turning myself into an amnesiac wreck is such a great idea." Lyra rolled her eyes. She had thought about that one too - and was immediately reminded of how Twilight looked when she was reset to zero. It wasn't a nice sight; it had always made Lyra shudder, in fact. "Besides, even if I had done that, the servants and the paperwork would both remain. More than enough to keep me in here - especially when my jailer knows that I can tamper with memories." "Teehee, you're being silly again." Pinkie giggled. It was a trait that quickly got on Lyra's nerves, but she knew better than to complain. "How would your jailer know that you can tamper with memories... after she forgot everything about you?" Blinking with a glassy gaze, Lyra slowly turned to Snowy. Master and servant then blinked at each other, neither of them seeming to know how that hadn't occured to them; then they both turned back to the pink baker. "The servants could still alert the princess," Snowy pointed out. "She has multiple ones too, doesn't she?" "Even servants can be made to forget," Pinkie grinned deviously. "Discord?" Lyra squinted, already worried about that answer. "How would you make him listen to you, though? I mean, you don't have a Geis scroll with you... or anything else that'd interest him." "He spent the last thousand years in stone. Surely the best baker in Equestria could whip up something that'd catch his fancy... even he likes eating, right?" Pinkie declared with utter pride, her legs folded on her chest. "That and, well... I'm pretty sure I'd only need to mention that it was Celestia who jailed you." Wrinkling her eyebrows, Lyra nodded slowly, contemplating. It sounded such a reasonable and thought-out plan that she doubted she was talking to the crazy baker. "What of the papers?" Snowy asked again. "Could you make Discord make Master's name disappear from everywhere, as well?" It was Pinkie's turn to hum. She mused for a few moments, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "Would there be a need to, actually?" she finally asked, her blue eyes focused on the windigo. "After the stunt with Twilight, I bet that no princess would be trusting of any written document. I mean, Celestia wasn't quite that formal to begin with. Try imagining her after you've rendered her collection of letters junk! Besides..." That tacked-on word caught Lyra's interest. "Besides?" Scratching her nose with the hoof, Pinkie moved her eyes to the cyan unicorn. "Besides, I think I know someone who could... convince the princesses to not trust papers." "Hahaha, really now? You, a simple baker would-" Lyra broke into a loud laughter - one which she regretted almost right away. "Ah - sorry. I mean-" "Well, I'll have you know that I make the best cakes in all Equestria!" Pinkie declared, pointing her hoof at Lyra. "What makes you think that I couldn't make use of that fact, huh?! DO YOU UNDERESTIMATE CAKES THAT MUCH?! Even Celestia eats cakes regularly, didn't you know?! CAKES DRIVE EQUESTRIA! ALL HAIL THE CAKE!" "All... hail..." Lyra mumbled, completely taken aback. That faltering, half-hearted whisper was enough to placate Pinkie. "Good! And now that we're clear on that, let's discuss ZE PLAN!" she winked at Lyra, and began fiddling with her mane. Okay! I've definitely gone insane, Lyra thought as she saw the pink pony pull a tiny, furled up scroll from her curly hair. "Thanks, sarge!" Pinkie giggled to the soldier as she left the cell. "It's corporal, actually..." the soldier pointed to the badge on his armour. "Details!" Pinkie shrugged and hopped onwards, ignoring the tired sigh the soldier made. She had other things to concern herself with; such as the big spider which crept out from behind an archway. "Took ya' long enough, Boss." Axiom greeted her with the same tired frown he produced two dozen times every day. "What the heck happened in there? Did ya' two exchange life stories or somethin'?" "As if life stories could take that long!" Pinkie giggled in a hushed tone. "Don't be a silly spider now." "I ain't havin' no idea, Boss." Axiom folded his front two legs under his head, using his other six to scurry next to his bouncing master. "I still have no clue why'd ya' make them guards think they saw Celestia orderin' 'em to let ya' in. Couldn't have ya', I dunno', asked her for real? Ain't ya' two buds or somethin'?" "Tee-heee!" Pinkie winked at the spider. "Do you want me to ruin the surprise? Everypony hates spoilers, you know." She took the next to the right, heading back to the palace gate, going back the way she came; but a very unexpected guest made her stop at next intersection. Staring so hard her eyeballs threatened popping out of their sockets, Pinkie Pie could only watch in silence as Discord gave her a deep, theatrical bow. "D'awww. So spooked! You look as if you've seen a demigod," the draconequus chuckled and righted the red handkerchief in the top pocket of his black suit. "Or is it my attire? Should I've picked something more... casual?" A flick of his fingers and Discord's black suit turned into a torn-worn shirt, complete with a haphazard rendition of a beach. "Totally blending in," the draconequus extended his arms, cracking his claws and chubby fingers. The shirt did do a fine job of breaking the spell that bound Pinkie's mind still. "How...?" she mumbled and cocked her head to the side. "Well, I kinda' got bored while ya' were chattin' in the cell, Boss. So I've started wanderin' around... and I kinda bumped into him," Axiom scratched his head. He sounded a little unsure - he was really careful to retell the story in a way that no blame could fall on him. "I figured I might as well told 'im that you wanted to meet 'im. Spares us the time of looking 'im up, nope?" "You could have mentioned that on our way here!" Pinkie glared at the spider. "Couldda' sworn nopony liked spoilers," Axiom rolled his many eyes. Biting onto her lip, Pinkie conceded that round with a bob of her head... then she turned her gaze to the draconequus. "So what are YOU doing here?" "Oh, nothing much... just the usual. You know, hiding, eavesdropping, freaking out a random soldier and being content knowing that no-one would believe him," Discord waved his chubby paw. "I mean, what are the chances I would be stupid enough to hide in the palace itself?" "Pretty good, it seems." Pinkie noted dryly - and immediately returned to her usual smiling persona. "Listen, would you fancy a deal?" "A deal. I'm sorry... but are you nuts?" Discord wrinkled his eyebrows and leaned forward. "The would-be destroyer of the world pops up in front of you... and the first thing you do is propose him a deal?!" Both Pinkie and her servant nodded in complete unison; it was a response that left Discord quite disillusioned. "You're not even freaking out! What in Gods' name did 'Tia do to my reputation?!" he smacked himself over the head, then smeared his paw down his face. "Bah! Fine. A deal... what kind of a deal do you want?" "A sweet kind of a deal!" Pinkie grinned in her amusement, trying to pipe the excited giggling down. "Say... how long has it been since you had cake?" "Is it time yet?" Her back to the damp rocks and listening to her ragged breathing, Lyra nodded slowly and completely absent-mindedly. How was she supposed to know? "I have no idea," she mumbled with another nod. She was completely on autopilot and had difficulties getting her bodily faculties under control. There was too much to consider, too much to worry about. It was all too much. It was like carrying a whole hill on her back. She could almost hear her back cracking. "Miss Pinkie said that she would be ready in about two days' time," Snowy stared at the closed door. "We can't be too early or too late. It is imperative that Master is-" "I'll know when it's time," Lyra muttered and gave her face a rub. Her hooves smelled of rotting hay, but she didn't mind. All the time she had spent locked up in the cell had desensitized her to the putrid smell. "IF everything works as intended," Snowy turned to the numb unicorn. "Miss Pinkie will order Axiom to make Master, uh... remember when it's time, right?" "That was the plan," Lyra dropped her nose to the ground, the hair on the tip of her nose brushing against the damp hay. The next thing she saw was a blue shade. Blinking in confusion, she spotted the windigo looking at her from a single step's distance. It was a surprise that she'd managed to sneak so close so perfectly - though then again, for a being who was effectively a ghost, that could be considered standard fare. "Why does Master look worried, then?" Snowy purred like a cat - but her voice was coloured by worry instead of excitement. Lyra stretched her legs and pushed her head up, moving her neck until her head was pushing against the wall behind. She flinched as a droplet landed directly on her face, just a little below her left eye. "Because this... I had never imagined having to do this. That I'd have to resort to this," she mumbled, explaining to the windigo and to her own self at the same time. "Snowy, this is..." She didn't go on. She closed her eyes instead and drew a deep breath, trying to calm her raging thoughts. She tried to understand, she really did - but she kept failing no matter how many times she tried. And that was the most frustrating part of the whole exercise. To think that she, a pony who was supposed to change the whole world, a hero who was supposed to end so much suffering by ending this wicked game, a victim who was supposed to rebel with all her might... that she of all ponies was being held in a bind by the mere thought of putting herself at risk. It was difficult to accept that her determination would be so shaky. That she would shirk away when she was putting her own self in harm's way. Her lips flexing and pushing against each other, Lyra gulped deeply and steeled her face. She decided that she hated that coward who lurked inside her. "I will-" she spat the words out - then abandoned this sentence as well. Her head felt funny for a moment. She thought she was being light-headed from the lack of meals - the Guard and their irregular timings were really eating into her stamina - but that worry went away moments later. For some reason, she suddenly remembered - with exact clarity - that Pinkie had told her to give Snowy an order in this exact moment. "Snowy," she turned to the side, giving the windigo a worried, yet excited grin. "We got the green light! Erase Lyra Heartstrings from everyone's memories... with the exception of Pinkie Pie." The self-destructive order didn't make the windigo hesitate. No big surprise; Snowy was also aware of the plan, after all. "Right away, Master," the windigo bowed, her figure flashing with a brilliant blue colour. An intense headache seared through the unicorn's mind. She staggered and fell forward, crashing onto the damp hay with a dull thud. The small cell wobbled around her as she opened her eyes, the dizzying pain in her head numbing the other pains of her body. She didn't attempt to get up; she dragged a shaky hoof to her head and rubbed her temple, hoping that the light massage would ease the throbbing pain. Then she caught sight of the blue ghost next to her. "Sno... Snowy!" she mumbled, smiling at the ethereal figure. "We did it! We... uh, we..." She paused and wrinkled her eyebrows. "We..." she echoed again, her mind stuck on a pretty obvious detail that was supposed to be there - but was somehow missing. She turned her head a little, dragging some hay around, then finally mumbled the question that was on the fore of her mind. "Who... Snowy, who am I?"