George arrived at his pony home and took a moment to look at it. It was the first time he really had the chance without feeling immediately pressured. It seemed curious to him that a pegasus would live on the ground, Fluttershy excepted, but Aqua had been a creator, and he wanted his creations to sit comfortably on something, so there it was. It was a little larger than a single-pony house needed to be, and brightly colored in complimentary shades to his riot of colors.
It felt like... Aqua's home. For a moment, George wondered if his ponysona had actually constructed the house or not. Putting the thought aside, he brushed the door open with a wing and proceeded inside for the mess he... It wasn't there.
Twilight was though. Everything was put away cleanly, likely triple-organized. She turned to see him and smiled brightly. "Oh, hello there! How did the visit with Octavia go?"
George blinked blankly before it hit him. "I'm not the Aqua you saw before."
"There... is more than one?"
George sighed softly. "The other Aqua you saw was my... He was my friend, but once he heard how I reached Equestria, he took the opportunity."
Twilight put a hoof over her mouth. "He didn't! Oh no! We have to warn Octavia. I mean, you're at least part of Aqua, but your friend..."
George blinked at that. "Part of him? I already told Octavia."
She winced a little. "The way you said that... She knows, doesn't she?"
"Everything."
Twilight sank dismally. "She's going to be so upset with me. Wait..." She sat up. "Does that mean you've made up your mind?"
Had he? Of course he had. "I'll get out of everyone's way."
Twilight held up a hoof. "If you were just going to go anyway, why did you come back at all?"
George looked over his shoulder, but there was nothing there but a closed door. "I thought he was hurting you, and he was, just... not physically. He told Octavia he was the original Aqua."
For just a moment it looked like Twilight might ask why that was bad, but it came to her quickly enough. "You did the right thing... Are you... going back to your, um 'life' then?"
"Yeah..." He walked past Twilight. "I can't just vanish like that."
Twilight sucked in a breath softly. "I wish the original Aqua thought that..."
George looked back at Twilight and they met one another's gaze for an uneasy moment.
She coughed into a hoof. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"What was he like?"
"Hmm?"
George turned to face Twilight directly. "Aqua, the real Aqua. What was he like?"
"W-well, he wasn't my friend, not specifically..." Twilight ran a hoof over the floor. "He was nice, creative, and..."
The door burst open, admitting Lyra into the house, her horn still glowing from the effort. "Wait!"
George blinked at the mint-green unicorn. "Hello?"
Lyra let out a huge breath of relief. "You're still here, thank Celestia. Please, don't run off!"
George settled to his haunches. "You caught me. What's up?" Hearing Lyra out didn't seem like much to ask.
Lyra leaned against the side of the entry hallway, panting for breath as the door swung shut behind her. "I... wanted to talk to you. I started this whole fiasco." She pushed off the wall and approached George. "You really do look like him... It's uncanny..."
George quirked a smile. "That's thanks to Twilight."
"Not entirely." Lyra shook her head. "I saw the, uh, other Aqua, flying off... You're a much better fit." She reached out a hoof for his chest. "Please, don't go..."
George recoiled at the request. "Look, I'm just a painful reminder."
Lyra pressed close. "You can be a fixed mistake. Please... I know Octavia's hurting right now, and I know what you told her, but it was right, and the truth. Give her time..."
"I shouldn't make her! She doesn't have to adjust to me, wearing the sk--"
Lyra stuffed a hoof in his mouth. It was just as annoying as ever he saw in the cartoons, but it didn't taste as poorly as one might guess. Lyra tasted kind of minty. "The other Aqua, he was wearing the, uh, skin. You? This is you..."
Twilight glanced between the two, obviously confused. "He's a human."
"Well, sure, he was born a human, but he could be a pony, and he wants to be." She spread out her hooves. "Vinyl showed me the song you made... It was great! Kinda sad, but great. Please, there's a spot for you, just waiting..."
George shook his head slowly. "You, uh... You know humans?" Twilight he could figure, she had been to Canterlot High, but Lyra?
"Oh, yeah, for sure. I dated one once, didn't work out, long story. Look." She reached with both hooves and directed his face directly at hers. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want any of this and I'll wish you luck."
He tried to force the words, to claim he didn't want any of it. That he... was... He was ready to accept his little job, and his circle of dubious friends, minus one, and his family with their smiles that hid what...
Lyra wiped away a tear from his cheek. "You can have it... The, uh, multiverse lost one Aqua. We learned our lesson. Let us take care of this one."
He tried harder to speak, but all that came was a choked sob. She pulled him in and he wept into her neck, feeling useless and weak. "Cry all you want," she insisted. "Let it all out..."
Twilight looked less sure than Lyra by far. "Is this..."
Lyra moved to shove a hoof in Twilight's mouth but she hopped back out of the way. "Is this really a good idea?"
A soft knocking drew eyes to the door.
"Who is it?" asked George, voice thick with his tears and snot.
"It's me," came the refined voice of Octavia. "May I come in?"
George smirked a little. A pony with proper manners. "Please."
She opened the door gently and slipped inside. "Lyra? Twilight? I didn't... We need to talk, after this." Her eyes settled on George and she shivered softly. "I... was hoping to speak to you first, before you... did anything."
If not for Twilight and Lyra, he would have already left, but there he was, and she was. He dipped his head towards her. "I'm sorry for... parading him around like this. I know it must hurt."
"It does." She advanced on him, nudging Lyra out of the way. "But... he would never forgive me."
"For looking at me?"
She smiled thinly. "For turning you away. You... I wasn't lying. I want to know you better, the source of this music that echoes with Aqua's soul. Will you share it with me?"
He shrank a little. "I... Don't you want me gone?"
She swallowed thickly. "It hurts, yes... but so do many things we learn to cope with." She looked at George appraisingly. "You could have tried to take advantage of me, but you didn't. You could have let your friend have his way with his terrible lies, but you wouldn't allow that either. I... can't and won't promise you will ever have my heart..." She put a hoof to her chest. "But I think we could become friends."
Lyra bobbed her head enthusiastically. "Please, join us. We want you."
"And my music?"
"That too." Lyra grinned hugely. "We want the whole package. We want the painting and the drawing and the composing and even the part that just likes to sit around talking about how things work." She leaned in. "You do that too, right?"
George laughed softly. "I usually did that alone, though one of my friends liked listening when he was, uh, intoxicated." High as a kite was a better description.
Lyra pointed at herself. "Well now you can do it with us, in the open, without any of us being drunk at the time."
Octavia pointed past George to his room. "May I?"
"May you what?"
"I would like to finish your statue." She smiled a little. "I would like to make the last stroke that brings you to us, if you agree?"
Twilight raised a hoof. "If you'd rather go home, we'll do that instead. Nopony here is going to force you, right?" The other two mares looked properly shamed before all three sets of eyes settled on George, awaiting a reply.
George opened his mouth, reply leaping forward. He would...