Canterlot – Downtown – Memorial Courtyard
Lyra couldn't feel her hooves. As far as she was concerned, her entire essence had been reduced to a single throbbing heart that levitated a few ghostly feet above the concrete. In a daze, she lurched forward, trying desperately to outrun the sensations wriggling inward from all sides—like ants.
She clenched her eyes shut, fighting the urge to hyperventilate. Despite her best efforts, her mind still flickered to a moment just a few breathless seconds ago. She stood in a crowded train station, and far across the sea of shuffling pony bodies...
...she had seen it.
And it had seen her.
And the most damnable thing about the whole ordeal...
...was that it was far from the first time it had happened to her.
"It's not real, Lyra," she stammered, wandering blindly forward across the courtyard. "It isn't real. You're just... traumatized." She gulped. "Just imagining it. Just imagining it. Just..."
Ponyville – Town Hall – Months Ago
"You're just imagining it. Do you hear me?" Bon Bon braced Lyra's shoulders with both hooves. The two sat side by side at the end of a banquet table. "It's okay. It isn't real."
"But I-I see it... I saw it!" Lyra shivered in Bon Bon's grip. Her lungs hiccuped on the edge of outright hysterics. Beside the two mares, partially-eaten slices of wedding cake lingered. Ponies mingled throughout the building, most of them congregating around the newly-wedded donkeys, Cranky and Matilda. "It was looking r-right at me, BB!" Lyra whimpered, sweating profusely as she trembled. "Sitting... right across the table!"
"Lyra, I'm your friend and I'm telling you there's nothing here but us ponies!" Bon Bon smiled reassuringly. "And maybe a sea serpent. But he's nothing to be worried about either!"
"I'm telling you, Bon Bon..." Lyra's eyes reopened, brimming with tears. "I saw one of them." She gulped dryly. "It has followed me... all the way from Canterlot." She sniffled. "It's going to report me to the Queen!"
"Lyraaaa..."
"Chrysalis! She's g-going to f-find me again!"
"If there was a changeling at this reception, wouldn't somepony else see it too?"
"But... but..."
"Shhhh..." Bon Bon hugged Lyra close. "Nothing ever is going to happen to you. Not again." She stroked Lyra's shoulders. "Not so long as I'm around to kick its butt."
Lyra shook and shuddered. She clung to Bon Bon, staring nervously into the corners of the crowded room. "You're... y-you're really a super b-badflank secret agent monster hunter and st-stuff...?"
"That depends." Bon Bon smiled, nuzzling her friend. "...did you really eat those expensive imported oats I was saving up?"
Lyra couldn't help it. At first, it came out as a titter... then fully evolved into a breathy giggle.
Bon Bon stroked the mare's mane. She gave Lyra a sympathetic look. "There... feeling better?"
"I... I'm so sorry, Bon Bon..." Lyra gulped. "It's just... just..." She grimaced. "Me and weddings, y'know?"
"Shhhhh... it's okay..." Bon Bon smiled. "For what it's worth... you're doing fine."
"You... you th-think so?"
"I know so."
Sniffling, Lyra calmed slightly. She leaned against Bon Bon's shoulder, staring at her plate of half-eaten cake. "I'm... s-sorry for getting mad at you earlier today..."
"It's okay," Bon Bon said, patting her friend's side. "It's a lot to take in."
"If you c-can handle a demented basketcase like me..." Lyra gulped. "...then I can more than take in a super awesome secret spy like you..."
"Heh... yes, well... that remains to be seen..."
Canterlot – Now
Lyra tripped on a curb.
Gasping, the mare awoke from her stupor just in time to catch her balance. She stumbled to a stop, blinking.
She stood in the center of a strangely familiar courtyard. Most of the Canterlot populace was sparse here. Looking around, it wasn't difficult to see why. There were no shops in sight, and even the hotels and apartments were far away. As a matter of fact, the courtyard was nearly empty—save for a series of marble pillars erected from a soft bed of planted grass.
Lyra slowly trotted towards the structures. As she came closer, she saw that they were engraved with names—not just any names, but those belonging to the ponies who were killed, lost, or abducted during the changeling attack over a year ago.
The mare stood in the shadow of the memorial. A cold lump formed in her throat... and her ears drooped more and more as she took into account the sheer volume of the names and the unseen bodies they must have belonged to.
"Sweet Celestia..."
The air over the courtyard hung in silence.
It wouldn't remain that way for long.
Lyra didn't know what she was doing until she felt the cold touch of her golden lyre emerging from her saddlebag. It was the first sensation she enjoyed since galloping out of the train station in a numb panic. At last, a sacred warmth flowed through her body, and she unleashed it with immaculate grace... plucking at the strings of her lyre as she produced a melancholic hymn into the mountain air.
It was the only time that entire day that she made music that she wasn't ashamed of. She knew this, because the image of the monument turned foggy before her as she realized where she was... and the reason for the soft earth that had been placed in the middle of an otherwise unshakeable concrete courtyard.
Months and months ago... this very spot was the site of where a trio of bridesmaids had been rescued... and a certain unicorn met her heroes.
Lyra felt like crying. She allowed the lyre to do the honors for her. The rest she carried with a tender smile, melting the minutes into nothingness.