Chapter 1 – A Small World
“Ladies and gentlecolts, this is the 13:21 train service to Las Pegasus South. Calling at Stoke on Trot, Ponyville, Manechester, White Tail, Las Pegasus Applewood and Las Pegasus South. Our next scheduled stop will be Stoke on Trot. Thank you for travelling with Friendship Express.”
Lyra was forced to slide that little bit more across her seat as a new influx of passengers swarmed onto the train. The train was already packed to capacity when she got on at Canterlot, including with all of her bags on her knees, and now she felt herself getting dangerously close to the window. She turned her gaze around as she felt another shove on her right.
“Excuse me, but there’s someone sitting her…”
About halfway through her speech, she felt one last thrust and her cheek crashed against the glass of the window. Her open mouth let out a prolonged “Ppppppppppt” as the air escaped her mouth, her eyelids tightly pressed together in a wince of discomfort. When she opened them, she looked across to see a grey earth pony similarly pressed up against the glass. However, the mare was glaring at her, with her face glistening with spit. Lyra’s cheeks went pink with embarrassment.
“Ummm… You have some of my…”
“I noticed,” the mare coldly responded, her glare not softening. Lyra’s horn illuminated, and then a small handkerchief hovered across and in front of her face. Though at first the mare was hesitant, she did take the handkerchief in her hoof with a begrudgingly polite “Thank you,” before wiping her face with it. When she had finished wiping herself, Lyra finally managed to get a good look at her; the mare clearly maintained her appearance very carefully, with her mane having not a hair out of place and the pink bow adorning her neck fitted neatly and matching her eyes. Just looking at her made Lyra feel self-conscious about her own rugged appearance, with the messy mane and slightly dirtied mint coat. Lyra looked for any topic for small talk, hoping to dispel some of the awkwardness of their position, and her eyes eventually settled on a large black case behind the earth pony.
“So… you play the cello?”
The mare didn’t answer for a second, just giving Lyra a look like she had been asked if she had ears. Lyra smiled awkwardly, before carrying on. “Ok, silly question, sorry about that… umm… do you play other instruments?” To this, the grey mare’s demeanour seemed to very suddenly improve, at least upon being given the chance to talk about her own talents.
“I’ve dabbled, shall we say. Harps, bassoon, piano, viola… of course, the cello is my own true love,” she said. With more than two words to say at a time, her Trottinghamshire accent became very apparent. “If I may blow my own trumpet, I actually play the cello professionally. I’m going to be playing at the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville for Princess Celestia herself.” To this, Lyra listened with increased enthusiasm, and decided now to pipe in.
“I’m going there too, as a matter of fact! And you must have a great musical talent if they want you there.”
“Thank you, but you’re much too kind,” The grey mare asked, now seeming a bit more willing to chat. “If I may ask, do you play anything?”
“Ummm… well, my dad did,” Lyra said, feeling a bit self-conscious now. “He played drums in a rock band, but I don’t play personally. I actually repair instruments.”
“Why not play?”
“Well, I just… this is going to sound really cheesy, I’m sure you won’t care.”
“Try me.”
To this, Lyra looked up. The grey mare was looking a little less intimidating than before, and that alone made Lyra confident enough to adjust herself in her seat, her cheek sliding awkwardly against the window, before explaining herself. “I just enjoy helping people. I know fixing banjos and pianos isn’t exactly on the same level as saving orphaned kittens from burning buildings and diseases, but I want to do what I can and it’s what I’m good at,” she said. The grey mare just listened patiently to this. “I mean, someone in need is someone in need, y’know? I practised a lot for Dad when I was a filly, he was really cool about it even when I got stuff wrong. I had to cut it down a lot when I started school, but I still want to do repairs. It’s why I’m going to Ponyville, got a client who’s paying a fair packet for an obscure job.” She then found herself blushing, and attempted to shift her head to hide it though instead just made a loud squeaking noise as her face dragged along the glass. “Sorry, this must sound really stupid.”
“Au contraire, I think that’s remarkably admirable,” the grey mare reassured her with a gentle smile. “And your father must be a good pony to you if he’s willing to let you fixing his drumset.” Lyra beamed.
“Wow! You know, most of the classical fans I meet kind of look down on him for being a rock drummer. It’s good to know that not of you think rock music is just for…”
“Oh sweet Celestia no!” The grey mare suddenly spoke up with a sarcastic smirk on her face. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d sooner have my ears filled with concrete than rock music…”
“Oi!”
“- but a pony is not the music they listen to or play,” the grey mare clarified. “Most of my company in the orchestra are complete pigs, and the nicest mare I knew was a DJ. I have my snobbish moments, I must admit, but I think your father sounds wonderful, regardless of how much rock music makes me want to throw up.”
“I… thank you?” Lyra said tentatively, not sure if it was a compliment or not. The grey mare tittered a little, before extending a hoof.
“Octavia.” Lyra smiled, and extended her own.
“LyraaaaAAAA!”
Both ponies immediately yelped as a sudden influx of more passengers coming onto the train slammed into both of them, and a suitcase crushed their hoofs.
“Is she here yet?”
“Hold on, kid, I’ll find out. ‘scuse me, but has the 13:52 to Las Pegasus South arrived?”
“Not since you last asked, no.”
“Thank you. No, kid, just a few more minutes.”
“Oh, ok… is she here now?”
“Hold on, kid, I’ll find out. ‘scuse me…”
All of a sudden, the pony that Rainbow Dash was talking to turned tail and left, a very grim expression on his face. The Pegasus blinked, before looking down to the small grey unicorn filly who sat by her, her large pink bow blowing gently in the wind and accompanied by her hair. Rainbow gestured to the pony who was walking away. “Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed.”
“Maybe he’s nervous. He could be waiting for someone on the train too,” the little filly pointed out.
“Maybe, Dinky, maybe,” Rainbow Dash said, idly playing with her fringe as it fell in front of her face. “Whatever. I just can’t wait for your mom to get back, coz then I can get on with training for the Wonderbolts.” The unicorn looked confused.
“What about the weather?”
“What wea… oh, right, yeah. That weather. I’ll sort it out just before the ceremony, it’ll take me like… I dunno exactly, though not long.”
“You could always practise while we wait,” Dinky pointed out, a cute smile on her face. “I won’t mind.”
“Nah, I need to stick to glue like you according to the boss. At least until your mom’s here,” Rainbow Dash explained. The last three words instinctively made Dinky perk up, even if she intentionally took them out of context.
“Is it just her you’ve been helping on your part time work?”
“Nah, but she’s the only one I’ve enjoyed helping. Well, her and that pony over there,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing to a white unicorn who was walking by, her eyes hidden behind large purple shades. “Hey! Vinyl!” To this, the white unicorn shifted her gaze and waved politely back. Then, with her two front hooves, she made a series of gestures. To this, Rainbow Dash just shook her head. “Not yet!” To this, the white unicorn just smirked before walking away. Dinky blinked in surprise, her eyes fixing to Rainbow Dash.
“That was sign language, right?”
“You betcha.”
“I didn’t know you knew sign language.”
“Are you kidding? The only words in sign language I know are ‘have you learnt sign language yet?’”
There was a rushing wind that threatened to take Dinky’s bow with it, followed by an ear-piercing screech. When both mares looked back to the train platform, there was a huge pink vehicle where a blank space once sat. The doors were literally bulging outward, and when they opened a dogpile of ponies collapsed onto the stony platform. It was a frankly surreal scene to behold, but Dinky just impatiently glared at the pile.
“Mom?”
There was no response. Rainbow Dash peered at the pile herself. Unbeknownst to either of them, a third pony had joined their side and was also looking at the pile. Dinky decided to try again. “Mom?”
“No, I don’t see her in there.”
Dinky’s head whipped to her right at the sound of the voice. Rainbow Dash whipped her head to the right upon seeing Dinky look there. Muffins whipped her head to the right, pretending to try and see what they were looking at. Dinky just grinned to this.
“Mommy, you’re being silly again!”
“But I’m always acting super serious,” Muffins protested, both her eyes drifting apart further than usual. “Now, have either of you fine gentlemen seen my little girl? She’s about your height, wears the bow you’re wearing and has the same coloured coat and mane.” Rainbow Dash had a grin on her face as well by now.
“How was Trottingham?”
“It was nice, but work made it less so,” Muffins said. “It’s not as fun to go to a new place when you’ve got work to do.”
“Urgh, I know,” Rainbow Dash said. “I like taking care of Dinky and helping you around the house, but just the fact that it’s work makes it suddenly terrible, y’know?” All of a sudden, Muffins’ face became quite steely, which Dinky recognised and Dinky alone recognised; it was difficult to notice a steely look when the wearer of the expression was looking in two different directions.
“This is your last contract, isn’t it?” She said. Rainbow Dash nodded.
“Yep! Next week is the first week of my pay rise, so no more needing two jobs for me!” To this, Muffins inhaled sharply in determination.
“Ok, Muffins! This is it!” She thought to herself. “She’s flat out said she enjoys coming around. No more excuses, no more chickening out! Now is the time to take the initiative and show her how you really feel!”
“You can still come around as a friend whenever you want, you know?” She asked casually.
“Oh, yeah, definitely. Just give me a shout and I’ll be there,” Rainbow Dash answered easily casually. “But right now, I’ve gotta fly.”
“See you ‘round,” Muffins said calmly, watching as Rainbow Dash took off to the sky. A warm smile came to her face, her lips curling upwards. Her eyes looked longingly upwards, her heartbeat increasing as it always did when her crush was around. Then she heard a groan of derision.
“What was that, mommy?” Dinky asked. Muffins looked irritated to this.
“Hey! Baby steps,” Muffins pointed out. “I have to be gradual about this.”
“You’ve been saying ‘baby steps’ for months now,” Dinky pointed out.
“Well, it took you two years to walk, so actually I’m going quite quickly!”
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Nyaaah!” Both of the ponies said at once, sticking their tongues out at one another, before they both fell to their knees with giggles. With one swoop of a wing, Muffins plucked Dinky up effortlessly and placed her on her back. “Come on, let’s get to Sugarcube Corner! I’m starving!” Muffins said, much to Dinky’s delight.
Neither of them saw the huge pile of ponies shift as they pulled away. Lyra and Octavia were lying on the platform, wheezing breathlessly. Lyra looked up to see a white unicorn wearing purple shades, her spiky blue mane appearing as dark as the sea. The unicorn pointed to a piece of paper that she recognised as her advert. Lyra then gasped, pulling herself up.
“Yes, yes, I’m Lyra Heartstrings!” She wheezed, trying to catch her breath. “You must be DJ Pon-3?” To this, the white unicorn nodded enthusiastically. “Brilliant! Well, I’ll let you lead the way to your home, and we can take a look at the instruments in question. So, how are you today?”
The white unicorn nodded enthusiastically but said nothing, something that Lyra was not expecting.
“… that’s… good…” she said slowly, before offering her hoof to shake. The white pony took it enthusiastically. “So, I know about the mixing desk, but you said you had some other stuff I’d be looking at. I brought all my tools just in case, but what is it I’d be seeing to?”
The white unicorn nodded enthusiastically but said nothing, something that Lyra still was a little surprised by.
“My word, it really is you!” Octavia suddenly shouted from behind Lyra, causing the mint unicorn to leap several feet into the air. The white unicorn paused, before taking her purple shades off slowly and then pulling Octavia into a massive hug, something that Lyra was only sort of expecting so far as she was expecting anything and every by this point. Octavia pulled away from the hug first, a huge grin on her face. “What have you been doing, Vinyl? It’s been years!”
To this, Vinyl began to make a long winded series of gestures in rapid succession. Their meaning was lost entirely on Lyra, but it was clear to her that the case was not the same for Octavia, who watched with rapt attention. Her eyes were fixed tightly to her, her expression changing several times from shock to joy to sorrow, but she finally settled on a gently Trottingham chuckle.
“Oh ho ho! We never did find the body,” Octavia giggled, before looking to Lyra. “Was Vinyl your client all along?” To this, the mint unicorn nodded awkwardly, prompting another chuckle from the grey cellist. “Small world. I must say, it’s almost like fate brought us together! Tell you what, I’ll join you to Vinyl’s house; we have a lot to catch up on!”
Lyra’s heart skipped a beat at the idea of making new friends so easily, and nodded vigorously in agreement. However, the moment she did, she felt a terrible chill down her spine, simply at mention of the word ‘fate’.