Shellstrings

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Who Watches the Watchmares?

485 Faust Lane – Two Hours Later – Bon Bon's Room

Bon Bon drooled. Just a little bit.

Her body draped in mid-air, carried aloft by a beam of amber telekinesis.

Lyra strained, sweating visibly as she shuffled up the stairs. Step after careful step, she levitated her roommate with unicorn magic and guided her into her bedroom. At last, she laid Bon Bon gently down onto her bed and released her magic.

Exhaling with relief, the mare reached forward and tucked Bon Bon in. Lyra wiped the sweat from her brow and turned to make a quiet exit—

She lingered in place.

"... ... ..."

Lyra turned to gaze at Bon Bon in mid-slumber. Then, with stealthy magic, she slid the drawer in Bon Bon's bedside table slightly open. She peeked in, catching the metal glint of a crossbow, the polished surface of a sound stone, and the glossy frame to a photograph featuring Bon Bon and an old stallion with a graying mane.

Lyra bit her lip. At last, the guilt of the moment overtook her, and she slid the drawer back shut with a sigh.

"You're getting rusty..." Lyra smiled tiredly at her roommate. "...Secret Agent Candy Butt."

Bon Bon stirred slightly, turned over, and nuzzled her fluffy pillow.

Lyra turned around. She headed out of the room, then paused in the doorway. Grasping the handle, she peered back at the bed where her best friend lay.

"Bon Bon, I may never understand who you really are," Lyra whispered to the walls. "But one of these days... I promise..." She gulped, her voice slightly shaky. "...I'm gonna protect you... just like you've protected me." She bit her bottom lip. "I'll... make it all up to you." She closed the door. "Somehow."

Bon Bon was alone with the shadows.

---

Lyra rummaged and rummaged through several old, dusty drawers in her bedroom.

At last—beneath three or four plastic-wrapped scrapbooks—she unearthed a tiny picture frame of even tinier ponies.

Squinting, Lyra levitated the frame until it hovered before her eyes in the lamplight.

Six unicorn fillies sat around a colorful table, munching on doughnuts, giggling, smiling. At least such was the case with most of them. Two ponies in particular looked a great deal more distracted than the others. Lyra spotted Twilight Sparkle with face nose stuck muzzle-deep in a textbook.

And then she saw herself... staring out the Canterlot cafe window and away from the camera. She was the only filly not smiling. Even Twilight—despite being monumentally distracted—bore a noticeably intellectual grin.

Lyra stared for a prolonged period of time. At last, after satiating her melancholic nostalgia, she slid the frame back into her mostly-forsaken drawer of scrapbooks. In so doing, she accidentally knocked loose an old, faded newspaper clipping that had yellowed over time. Her horn's magic caught the sheet as it fluttered to the floor. As the thing spun around, Lyra caught the bold-printed words of "APARTMENT" and "FIRE". She clenched her eyes shut and shoved the clipping away before she could register anything more. With a sigh of finality, she shoved the drawer shut.

Lyra leaned against the wardrobe for a while.

"Get out of your head."

Limply, she turned around, reached into her closet, and started packing several of her belongings—horseshoes, hiking boots, outdoor jackets—into one of two saddlebags.

"Better get prepared before cowardice sets in." Lyra sighed through a bitter smile. "One week... Ahhhhhh... buck my life."

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Some days you get the Slurm, some the Slurm gets you.

[zaponator]

"But one of these days... I promise..." She gulped, her voice slightly shaky. "...I'm gonna protect you... just like you've protected me."

Dat foreshadow though.

[Razzy]

Everything's going to be fine, Lyra, once you're one worth the greatest and most prefect creature ever.

[RoboRed]

Her horn's magic caught the sheet as it fluttered to the floor. As the thing spun around, Lyra caught the bold-printed words of "APARTMENT" and "FIRE". She clenched her eyes shut and shoved the clipping away before she could register anything more.

[IceKitsune]

I kind of wonder how much of the trip we will actually get to see, given how the story has gone so far it's going to be quite a bit of it before anything happens to Lyra I bet.

[VNilla]

I'm guessing that the trip starts next chapter and the fusion/whatever hits in Ch 50.

[PoisonJoker09]

Okay, I caught up with this story, love it by the way, and it is spectacular in making me get into these characters, they all have very conflicting and deep personalities, well, those that have been here for a while.

None of them are perfect or, blameless either, they all are trying to live their lives how they can, and trying to be the best they can, but...

Well, noponies perfect, Lemony Hearts is, in some way, fighting for that old life her friends had, perhaps Twilight's visits spark that idea that they could all be in that one photograph again, Lyra...is, well, that one puzzle piece that doesn't fit...she's the outside element to her friends right now, and considering none of them are getting better, Lyra is the one to blame, since she can't directly blame the friend, she has to blame Bon Bon, the girl who took her away.

...I ship Bon Bon and Lyra so hard, you understand that?

Final note is, I am suprised that it's taken nearly one hundred thousand words, and you STILL haven't got to the meeting with Chrysalis, despite it being in the description, it's a very unique approach from the ones that usually, GET straight to the point.

I hope to see more of this in the future, seeya till then.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Ah yes. Octavia's earlier allusion to Lyra's mother hints at a history of misfortune that goes far deeper than the royal wedding. Still, Lyra does seem committed to the path ahead of her... I think. Hopefully she won't sabotage herself.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Next chapter starts with Lyra waking up far away from Ponyville, after having a panic attack and running from responsability.

[Cotton Fluff]

Lyra smiled tiredly at her roommate. "...Secret Agent Candy Butt."

The best pet name.

Hmm, well, there goes my theory of her dream being the product of her fears and not a flashback to her past.

7432449
I could totally see this happening, Lyra hasn't exactly been the most reliable of characters and this is quite the commitment.

[remnants]

7432414 are you kidding, this is a Skirts fic... Protagonists sabotaging themselves is par for the course here

[dzamie]

I know it's a Skirts fic, but I do kind of wonder when Chrysalis will show up. She's in the first sentence of the description and it's been nearly 50 chapters...

[The_K_Man]

"Bon Bon, I may never understand who you really are," Lyra whispered to the walls. "But one of these days... I promise..." She gulped, her voice slightly shaky. "...I'm gonna protect you... just like you've protected me." She bit her bottom lip. "I'll... make it all up to you." She closed the door. "Somehow."

That's the spark that administrators and queens look for.

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Oh lord. A fire.

Yeah that'd leave a mental scar or two.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[ErisHDiscordia]

Hold up, this chapter name... did you just pull a Terry Pratchett?

[Scorch215]

Looks like that dream a while ago was fact or at least mostly so.