A Delightful Journey

by FeverishPegasus

Small Steps

I sit up and groggily wipe the grime out of my eyes. Once I get my vision clear, I see that Lyra is rushing around, once again, to get ready for her street performing job. Wait...

“Lyra?”

“Yeah?” she says, exasperated and out of breath, stomping about the room.

“Why are you rushing about for a street performance? You'll only miss a few donations if you get to your spot late.”

“Chocolate Truffle,” she says, matter of factly.

“What do you mean Chocolate Truffle? You could buy one at any time of the day.”

“The pony, Chocolate Truffle, is my biggest contributor. She's got a daily pattern set up for herself, walking down the streets of Ponyville at the same time every day. If I miss her, I miss at least a quarter of my daily earnings. Grab my lyre for me will you?”

“Sure.” I get up out of my blankets and lean over Lyra's un-made bed. Just barely, I manage to pluck it off the shelf and hand it off.

“Did you want to come with me today?” Lyra asks.

“Eh...let me get some more sleep first. I know how to get to your spot now.” I plop back down into my blankets, exhausted. Over on Lyra's bedside table, I can see that it's seven in the morning. 5 hours of sleep is hardly enough...

“Cya,” she calls out while leaving the room.

“Bye.”

After a few moments I sigh, relax my body, and go to sleep.

---

“How's he doing?”

Mumbles

“He's still alive. That's got to mean something.”

Mumbles

A sigh

---

“Mommy?”

“Yes, honey?” she asks, her blue eyes gleaming with kindness.

“I'm not going.”

“Of course you are.” She looks at me with pity-filled eyes. Every now and then, her brown hair swishes over her eyes and she's forced to blow it out of her face. “How're you going to grow into an intelligent young man?”

“Homeschooling.”

She laughs at this and it feels as if I'm being embraced by a comfortable blanket. “Hon. There's more than just knowledge to be gained at school. You'll thank me later for forcing you to go through this.”

I turn around to head out, but am immediately overcome, once again, by my fear of the unknown. “Mommy! Mommy!” I run up to her and hug her, clutching at her waist. “I can't do it.” I start to cry into her stomach.

She pushes me away at arm's length, brushing the hair off of my forehead. After finishing, she grips my shoulders, addressing me in a serious tone. “I understand, ok? But we have to do this today. You'll never--” A bus stops a few feet from where we are conversing on the sidewalk.

“Be brave for me ok?” she says, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

Weakly, I smile back, not ready to leave, and yet, not about to disappoint my mother.

She pushes me forward. “Go on now. I'll see you later today.”

I look at her, grasping for some reassurance.

She smiles at me.

Slowly, I turn, tearing myself away from her comfort.

I'm so scared.

So terribly scared.

---

“Yoohoo!”

I groan, readjusting the pillow underneath me, in the hopes that I could regain my unconsciousness.

“Yoooooooohoo!” the voice persists.

“Gahh!” I protest. “What the f-f-frig do you want from me?!”

“Yeep!” Bon Bon screeches in response to my outburst. “S-sorry, could you just...c-could you just--”

Quickly, I wave my hands in front of me as a sign of non-aggression. “I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that, honest.”

Bon Bon looks at me for a second, not sure what to say. Eventually, she comes up with, “Oh...ok.”

I try my best to smile past this awkward situation. “So, you wanted something?”

She hoofs at the ground nervously. “This'll sound weird...and quite frankly, it's going to make no sense, but...I really need you to put up those blankets you're sleeping on.”

“Like...right now?”

She nods, bashful. “I-I won't be able to think clearly.”

“Er, ok...I guess.”

Bon Bon sighs with relief. “Thank you so much. You don't know how much pressure this takes off of me.”

I pause, not really sure what to say, my mouth agape.

“So, I-I'll just, y'know, leave, I guess,” she says.

“Yeah,” I say, still at a loss for words.

---

“You can't say I didn't warn you,” Lyra says derisively, setting next to me on a bench by the main street.

“I know, I know. It's just...” I trail off, not sure how to say it without being mean. “I think Bon Bon might need to see a psychologist.”

“Don't fix what ain't broke, human.” Lyra punches my arm. “How could she keep the house so clean without being so fussy?”

“I know, but how does she feel about all this? I'd go crazy if I went as far as regulating other ponys' rooms.”

“Why don't you ask her?”

I put a hand on my chest. “Y'mean me? You know her better.”

“Yeah, but I think she's doing just fine. If you're worried about it, ask her.”

I sigh. “These things aren't easy for me. Y'remember?”

“What I said last night meant nothing to you then?”

My face goes red as I remember what transpired last night. “You think we could forget about that?”

Lyra looks at me, astounded. “You're seriously embarrassed about all that?”

I sigh. “Yeah.”

She doesn't respond.

I look up to see a two-story apartment building in front of me. The sky above it is a perfect light blue with small puffy clouds dotting it like blotches on canvas. I see a blue pegasus lounging on a cloud a little in distance. Her rainbow colored mane lazily drifts in tune to the wind. Another pony that strikes me. I chuckle a little as a grey mare with a yellow mane crashes into her. The blue mare waves and waggles her hooves at her, scared out of her wits.

“Who're those ponies,” I ask while pointing to the two pegasi on the cloud.

Lyra giggles, seeing their antics. “Those two are Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves. They're polar opposites when it comes down to it. Still, against all odds, they’ve managed to stay friends for as long as I can remember.”

I see the gray pony hunch her head with sadness at Rainbow Dash's scolding. Quickly, the blue pony grabs her into a hug, petting her yellow mane. After some time, Derpy lifts her head back up and makes some wry remark, made apparent by Rainbow's reaction. The blue pony waves her arms in the air, chest heaving with laughter. Looking closely I can see tears of mirth fly in all directions as she pulls Derpy into a tighter hug, who tries to struggle out of it.

They're so...

A tear slides down my cheek before I can catch it. I try to wipe it away before Lyra notices, but my rapid hand motion attracts her attention.

She looks at me, grinning. “Caught that.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” I mumble, avoiding her gaze.

“Seriously.” Lyra punches me in the arm. “You can be so uptight sometimes. How about you chill out? You know me better than anypony.”

“Yeah...”

Lyra punches me again. “You're stubborn, you know that human?”

“Could you stop punching me?” I say, a little irritated. “It doesn't hurt, but anything after the first time just gets frustrating.”

Lyra smiles. “It's just...you're so punch-able. I dunno, sometimes I can't help it. Something tells me you're just trying to avoid the topic at hand though.” She looks at me expectantly.

“About me being stubborn?”

“About your inability to chill out.”

“I really do try, you know that right?”

“Yeah...”

I look at Lyra incredulously. “Now you're the one to drop from the conversation?”

“Just thinking.”

I let her think and look out to my surroundings once more. Both Rainbow and Derpy are gone now, most likely hanging out on a different cloud or visiting some friends. I gaze at the apartment building in front of me again. All of the windows are closed, shutters drawn; there is nothing to catch my attention, nor stimulate my brain. I let out a sigh, feeling restless.

“What is your status with Twilight?” Lyra asks.

“Ehhh, I guess you could call us acquaintances.”

“She's got some psychology knowledge, I bet she could help.”

“Eurgh. I'm not sure I want to consider that an option.”

“Comon. Don't be a wuss.”

I look at her, grinning. “Don't you use my weakness against me.”

She sticks her tongue out at me. “Quite frankly, it's too late, and even if I could, I wouldn't take it back.”

“Well.” I stand up. “I guess we're off to Twilight's house.”

---

I hit myself in the face with my hand. “Why am I regretting this already? Nothing but trouble comes with Twilight involved, even with her on my side.” I can see Twilight's house pulling up in front of me as I walk forward with shaky limbs.

Lyra looks at me, frowning. “Really? Have you thought about how Twilight might be feeling? Who knows what emotions she's got stoked up from that whole monologue fiasco? It's our job to make sure we didn't cause any harm.” Lyra pushes me forward a bit with her shoulder. “Get a move on.”

I jam my feet into the cobblestone pathway, trying my best to hunker in place. “Y'know, this idea never felt good from the start, I think I'm just gonna--”

“Move!” Lyra yells, shoving me forward. “I had to listen to you whine and complain all the way up here! This is going to happen!”

Stunned, I managed to stutter out, “J-jeez, t-tone it down a bit. I was just testing your resolve.”

Lyra continues to herd me forward until we reach Twilight's door.

“Now knock,” Lyra growls.

“S-sure.” I lift my hand and knock on Twilight's door. Just seconds later a pink aura surrounds it and swings it open.

“Hello! My name is--” Halfway through her pre-planned introduction, Twilight notices that it's me. “Come in.”

I inspect her face, afraid of the mood I might find. To my surprise, it’s neutral.

I follow her in.

Lyra follows me, but not without whispering menacingly in my ear, “Now tell her why you're here.”

“I...I...uh...” I trail off.

Twilight looks up at me expectantly.

Lyra gives me a nudge in the back with her elbow.

“Could you?...uhhhh...What I wanted was...uuuhhhhhhhh...I...okay.” I take a deep breath. “Psychology. You do psychology right?”

Twilight crinkles her face with confusion. “Err, what do you mean I do psychology? I've studied it before, sure, but what exactly are you asking?”

I scratch my head, embarrassed. “Ahhhh, I need...I need help. I have a lot of trouble loosening up around ponies, and I want you to help.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Loosening up as innnnn...”

“It's just...I have a lot of trouble expressing emotion around others without feeling scared, much less embarrassed.” I rub my arm.

“Social distress huh?” Twilight says, rubbing her chin. “I can help, but it'll take some time. Let's say...about a month of visits every three days?”

“Ahhh,” I say, my voice dry with doubt. “You're saying that something I've had to live with for who knows how long can be fixed in the space of a month?”

“Who said anything about fixing?”

---

I walk out of Twilight's house, my head throbbing from the amount of introspection I had been forced to do. While it was a large amount of mental effort on my part to keep up with Twilight's questions, something about this visit’s cleansed me. “Well, that was fun,” I say to Lyra, who trots on my right. “You think you want to attend the next meet-up?”

“Nah. This whole meeting wasn't exactly meant for me and it isn't going to be in the future.”

“Yeah...” I trail off, but quickly come up with an idea. “Since this whole meeting thing's over, how about you teach my how to play the harp?”

“Sorry human, I still have some street performing to do. This whole meeting with Twilight has already delayed me three hours.”

I frown. “You wouldn't mind if I just stuck by and listened would you?”

“Of course not.”- Lyra says while punching me in the arm -”I'd be glad to have you as company.” She grins for a moment as a thought strikes her. “After all, as a human, you've certainly been this pony's best friend.”

---

For the rest of the day, I listen to Lyra play her harp.

It’s fascinating really, how those hooves can produce such melodious sounds, moving passionately across taut strings. Beautiful notes make their way into my brain, coding it with peace and joy.

I watch as the sun sets before me, the blue sky turning into a powerful dark orange.

I watch cheerful ponies walk past me, so full of life, abundant with love.

I watch as the sky turns black, stars shining brightly in it’s peaceful, comforting embrace.

I watch the cheerful ponies settle down, saying their goodnights, and eagerly awaiting the dawn of a new day.

I watch as I myself change in accordance to Lyra’s soul melting tones, the beauty of the sky, and the lives of countless pony folk unmarred by the fears of Darwinist life.

Truly, this world is perfect.

I want to stay here forever.

Author's Note:

New chapter! Yay! Hope you guys were patient enough to stick with me!

Pre-readers of awesomeness:

AntiquatedAnnomaly:
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/AntiquatedAnnomaly

and

Bro41:
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