• Published 16th Feb 2022
  • 1,522 Views, 315 Comments

A Unicorn and an Alicorn Walk Into a Library - Damaged



It's a new life for Lyra Heartstrings, a new set of responsibilities, and a new princess to serve. Now she just needs to survive Ponyville to fully enjoy this new future.

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Chapter 12

Lyra sat on the map room table. The normal view of the map was gone and, instead, there were only clouds and twisting patterns of light. Not that Lyra looked at the pattern, it had been something she'd meditated on, opening herself to friendship magic and letting the castle breathe it through her.

After a hectic week during which she had tried to help Twilight in keeping a group of Yaks from declaring war on Equestria, Twilight had headed to Canterlot to take care of some research project (and collect more books for the castle library) and left clear instructions for Lyra to take at least one step toward expanding herself into a second magic source.

So, Lyra meditated, quite literally, with the castle.

Hours slowly eased by. She'd had a light breakfast, not intending to need much fuel for physical labor, and now it was getting toward early afternoon. What helped detach her further from the physical was that the magic itself was sustaining her.

Pony metabolisms were horrendously efficient at turning sugar into energy, be it magical or physical. Lyra, at least in her own mind, was reversing the effect and using magic to sustain her physical self. Breathing evenly, she opened herself just a little wider—hoping to coax another magic type into her.

It took her an entire hour to recognize the new tendril slipping through wasn't just more friendship. It was hesitant, given the blazing path friendship had carved through her, but the longer it lingered the stronger it got.

As night fell outside, the thread grew strong enough for Lyra to actually identify it. She'd been expecting harmony or change—what she was surprised to find was dark. No less welcome, she guided it through her, letting it strengthen and stretch out. She had so much magic roiling within her that it wasn't going to struggle to find purchase. When it finally started to flow, Lyra sank into a deeper trance. The castle and the very night itself cupped her spirit and supported her. As the dark magic poured in and then out, she felt another hoof—distant—reach out through the magic.

An alicorn, one who embodied dark magic and maintained it in the same way that Twilight did friendship.

"Lyra Heartstrings. I am unsurprised. This is your second link to a source?" Luna, princess and alicorn, stood huge in the dreamspace Lyra shared with her.

Feeling the flood of dark magic coming from Luna, Lyra smiled and nodded. "Darkness." The word embodied the magic, coiling with unseen and unknown power, writhing with the concepts of what cannot abide the light. Swirls of deep green, red, and black mixed together around Lyra. "Beautiful."

Luna laughed, the sound tickling the dream and magic both—echoing into Lyra and back out again. "You are a surprising pony, Lyra. I look forward to meeting you here again when you wish to explore change."

The dreamscape ended, Luna having pulled back from the trance Lyra was still meditating in. Dark magic still streamed through her, growing stronger by the second now she had the consent of the source of it.

It might have been dark, but it was cold as ice too. It wasn't just a lack of light, no, darkness was its own thing and it was definitely every bit the force of magic that any of the others were. And, the longer she channeled it, the stronger it got within her until, some moments before the dawn, it just clicked home.

Spreading golden wings, Lyra let loose a silent scream as a thunderous tempest of magic roared through her. Moments before morningtide truly began, the dark magic nestled into her and calmed, releasing Lyra from her focus and allowing her to fold, slowly, down onto the table and sleep at last.


Lyra woke hours later when the castle started allowing light to filter through its walls into the map room. She felt the warmth of the sun and a gentle prodding from the map itself. "Alright, alright. I'm getting up. What time is it?"

The only answer Lyra got was the castle allowing the normal amount of light that midday would bring. Lyra cried out and fell off the table, barely getting her hooves under her and drawing darkness up to shroud her eyes. Darkness that moved and flowed without the need for a spell. Darkness that felt as cozy within her as friendship did. "Oh."

Slowly, with cautious movement, Lyra drew back the shroud over her eyes and let sunlight gather around her. "Thank you, castle. I couldn't have done that without you." She wasn't sure if the castle responded or not, but Lyra liked to think they were friends. Walking out of the map room, she trotted her way to the front door and outside.

It was about then that Lyra's stomach announced that it was absolutely and without a doubt—empty. "Well, I guess there goes my idea of living off my magic resources. There's only one place to go."

Even plump with magic, Lyra didn't want to just teleport to Sugarcube Corner. She walked through the warm sunlight, waving to ponies and doing a little prancing as she went. Within her, she guarded the cache of dark magic and kept it safe from the depredations of its polar opposite.

When she reached the shop and stepped inside, it was almost an hour after the lunchtime rush and she found the place empty except for Carrot Cake behind the counter. "Good afternoon, Carrot!"

"Lyra?" Carrot Cake tilted his head a little to the side in confusion. "Did you have a mishap with your magic again?"

"Huh? What do you—" Turning her head, Lyra spotted her wings. The gold was more intense and seemed, somehow, more solid. Despite them being literally magic constructs, she had to get used to the idea that they might just be real one day. "Oh, right. That again. Yup! I tried copying a spell idea Dinky made, only it turns out it has a few side effects." All true—that was Lyra's story and she was sticking to it. "Hopefully it will go away in a while."

"Right." Doing his best to ignore the glowing golden wings, Carrot looked up to Lyra's face and smiled. "What can I get for you?"

Looking at the display cabinet and spotting the leftover treats from lunch, Lyra started pointing. "I'll have… everything on that shelf." At Carrot's stare, she clarified, "I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday."

Widening his eyes, Carrot moved to grab out everything he could reach. Tossing everything Lyra had asked for—and a few extra eclairs—onto a tray, he passed it over to her. "I'll start bringing milkshakes. Tell me when you're done."

"Carrot, I—" Lyra had been trying to find her change purse when Carrot had put his hoof out to stop her.

"Go and eat. This can be an employee discount." Smirking at her look of shock, Carrot was adamant that he wouldn't accept payment.

Taking her tray and heading for a table, Lyra reached out for the first cupcake and lifted it to her mouth. Somehow, through what she would later swear was magic, it was gone in second. Her hunger now flaring stronger with the knowledge its satiation was at hand, demanded more.

Two cupcakes and an eclair later and Carrot brought over a chocolate shake for her, setting it down on the table. "If you get halfway through that and don't tell me to stop, I'll make another one." He turned, ignoring her protest, and headed back to the counter.

A slave to her metabolism, Lyra gobbled down as much as she could and, sure enough, Carrot had another milkshake prepared and on the table the moment she finished the first.

Carrying the empty glass back, Carrot was glad that for once he could indulge a friend in some care. All too often it was Cup who got to play the role of hero for some pony in desperate need of a meal. He waited, and watched, to see if she'd need another drink or more of their leftover baked goods.

It didn't take long before Lyra found herself with only crumbs before her. "Did I just eat my own weight in baked goods?"

"Close. Here, have a slice of this." Carrot had cut the chocolate cake into a double-wide slice and even put a little candle on it for Lyra. "A customer ordered it, but canceled at the last minute."

"You really don't have to—"

"Like you didn't have to help us so many times. Eat your cake, Lyra." For Carrot, seeing her scrunch her snout was all the payment he needed. "How are Sweetie Drops and Scootaloo these days? It seems like every time I see that filly she's a hoof taller."

"Scoots? Oh, you wouldn't believe the things she gets up to, too. She makes me so proud of her. Just the other week she and her friends helped a pony who'd been scared of his cutie mark all his life. You've seen her in her uniform, right?"

Seeing the same enthusiasm for a topic he knew he had when talking about Pound and Pumpkin, Carrot also knew without a doubt he was unable to resist partaking in it. "She looks so proud of it. I see a lot of her mothers in her. I hope my foals look that proud when they're all grown up."

"With a father who's a literal hero and a mother who loves them more than cake itself? I don't think there's any chance of them not being proud of you both."

"I'm not a hero!"

Lyra rolled her eyes down to the pile of crumbs where food once sat. "You're a hero to me, today." When Carrot looked to protest, Lyra smirked. "Are you going to make me go around town and find everypony you have ever helped feel good and make them come here and tell you? I promise, Carrot, I will."

"I surrender," Carrot said, grinning in the face of his defeat. "It's just hard to reconcile that they think so much of me."

"Mmhmm." Lyra couldn't resist trying the chocolate cake, and after eating just a mouthful she felt as if just that one slice would fully recharge her. That's when a little fact slithered its way out of the data and prodded her. "So that's why she eats so much cake…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just had a minor revelation about Princess Celestia. Scootaloo is amazing. She has just internalized this level of morality and adultness that I don't think I can even manage. I'm so proud and confused at the same time." Slumping down, Lyra pressed her cheek to the table. "And then, just when I think I can maybe kinda deal with having this amazing pony looking up to me and trusting me, she asks for my help with something!"

Thinking for a moment, Carrot sighed and nodded. "Don't say that too loud or you'll summon her."

"Who? Celestia?"

Turning his sigh into a grin, Carrot shook his head. "No, your mother. Legends speak of a mighty power all mothers have to blindly leap into a conversation that their children are having to remind them that they aren't the first to feel this way."

"I—" Lyra froze and followed her own advice to not speak before thinking over something several times. "That's a good legend. Probably true, too. Mum has great hearing."

Carrot laughed at that. "So, what had you so distracted you forgot to eat for two days?"

"Magic stuff. After the big incident with friendship magic, Twilight wants me to try to get on similar terms with the other kinds of magic." Sitting up and eating more cake, Lyra chewed it a moment before swallowing. "Just before dawn I managed to finally connect with dark magic."

"D-Dark magic? Isn't that bad?" Carrot couldn't help but sound concerned. "Isn't that what King Sombra uses?"

"No, it—" Lyra stopped herself from explaining something extremely complicated to Carrot. "Magic carries the intent of the user. If I intended to cause harm with dark magic, it wouldn't be the magic itself that is bad, it would be me for making it do bad things. Dark magic, in fact, is Princess Luna's direct domain, like friendship magic is Twilight's."

Straining to get his head around it, Carrot asked, "So it—it's like fire?"

"Exactly! Even chaos magic isn't technically good or bad." It was a good feeling Lyra got at seeing someone get it. "So my next choice would definitely be light, but I don't know if I am going to get a choice. Magic moves as magic wishes in these instances."

"With a unicorn daughter growing up, you don't have to tell me twice."

A hurricane of noise broke into Sugarcube Corner. One foal squealing, one crying, and a harried "Hello, I'll be right back" from Cup Cake, disappeared again up the stairs and into the living area of Sugarcube Corner.

Lyra and Carrot shared a knowing look in silence for five minutes before Cup returned with two calmed down foals.

"Sorry about that. Pound was upset because he had a mess and Pumpkin got upset in sympathy with him. It was all I could manage to keep her from having another burst of magic before I could get them both changed." Slumping against Carrot, Cup pressed her face into his mane and let out a sigh. When he lifted both foals from her back, she let out a relieved little gasp. "I love you, you wonderful stallion."

Blushing, Carrot settled both foals on the floor with a toy each from the toy box they kept for any little colts or fillies that were brought in. "I did something right?"

"You know you did." Cup turned her neck-nuzzle into a kiss and distracted herself for a minute before she remembered they had company. "Sorry, Lyra. You weren't plotting to steal Carrot from me, I hope?"

"Drat! Carrot, she's onto me!" Lyra flopped backward in her chair and raised a hoof to her forehead. "Forsooth, Lady Cake, for I was overcome by your husband's dashing good looks and strong demeanor. Can you truly blame me for being completely overcome in a fit of jealousy?"

Unable to hold back her giggles, Cup shook her head. "N-No! Of course I couldn't. But please, Lyra, try to contain yourself in public."

Carrot, trying to take refuge in his blush, looked down at his foals and managed to disconnect from the giggling mares.

"He's just so domestic! How could I possibly resist?" It wasn't easy, mostly because Lyra was not prone to such actions, but she pulled off a credible fluttering of her eyelashes at Carrot.

"I'm ignoring both of you until you act sensible again." Carrot stuck his tongue out at both of them.

"Thbbbbbtttt!" Pumpkin's mimicry of her father included sound effects, and triggered Pound to do the same.

The door of the bakery burst open, this time with Twilight rushing in. She looked around for a moment and spotted Lyra. "Spike! I have to go to Lyra with Canterlot! I'll be day after midday, tomorrow back." Stopping herself, Twilight shook her head. "Sorry. I need to go to Canterlot with Spike. We'll be back tomorrow or the day after, probably around midday."

Lyra, Cup, Carrot, Pumpkin, and Pound all watched Twilight rush back out of the bakery, leaving two purple feathers behind.

"Do you need to—?" Cup asked.

"Yeah," Lyra said. "Yeah, I probably should go and find out what that was about. Sorry to leave you abruptly. Thanks, Carrot, for saving my life. Bye, Cup!" Pausing, Lyra bent down and gave Pound and Pumpkin a little prod on the nose each. "And you two keep being adorable."

Rushing out after Twilight, Lyra left Carrot and Cup looking at each other with smiles.

"You saved her life?" Cup asked.

"She hadn't eaten since yesterday morning," Carrot said, and when his wife gasped, nodded. "Exactly. I stuffed her with baked goods, cake, and milkshakes."

"Then you probably did save her life. I am not sure how that mare burns up all her energy, but I bet it has something to do with chasing princesses around trying to make them happy." Cup eyed the half-finished huge slice of cake and produced her own fork from her mane to eat some. "Oooh, this is good. Is there more?"


Smiling at Twilight as she got off the train in Canterlot, Lyra fell-in beside her friend as she walked past. "Aren't you going to even tell me wha—?"

"We're collecting some books. You can join us if you want, but Princess Celestia said she needed her conservatory back and I need to empty my things out." Twilight didn't even slow down—books were on the line.

"Wait, why didn't she just ship all the books to you?" Lyra asked, but looked at Spike where he rode on Twilight's back.

"Only some of the books were Twilight's. She needs to pick out all the ones she wants to keep and the rest will stay in the conservatory. I'm guessing she has a new student who needs a place in Canterlot?" Spike shrugged. It was way too much for him to worry about. "On the plus side, I think I left some comics there."

"Ah. Well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Twilight. Remember? It's my job to do that." The series of rapid teleports that had gotten Lyra to Canterlot before the train had left her a little drained, but hadn't left her with "flying mane" like her normal attempts at fast travel did. Still, Lyra had had to stop at the townhouse she and Sweetie kept to fetch something to cover her back. She trotted along at Twilight's side with a purple robe stretching down her back.

Stopping abruptly, Twilight schooled her features and turned to look at Lyra. "Princess Luna sent a message via Spike. Congratulations on investigating dark magic, I—It's not something I enjoy working with."

"Since Sombra and all that," Spike said. When Twilight jerked and made him grunt as her bony back became infinitely less comfortable, he added, "Hey, what was that for?"

"It was exactly because of Sombra. That magic he used was—Everypony I know seems to be better with dark magic than I am." Stopping again, Twilight slumped her shoulders. "I just don't like using it."

"Twilight?" Lyra asked, and waited for Twilight to turn and look at her. "Then we can explore it together. I admit I haven't used it much myself, but I'd like to learn. We can learn together."

Managing to hold out her annoyance a moment longer, Twilight practically dove at Lyra for a hug. Squeezing her friend, and getting as good as she gave back, it felt good to give up her upset mood. "Thank you. I just—it's one of the only things that just never felt right with my magic. The other one is chaos magic."

"Oooh. Yeah, that will be a fun one to explore. I wonder how I will manage with that?" Lyra asked while hugging Twilight.

"Given your father, I'd guess pretty well. We can work together on that, too."

"And all the others. I know you know most of the others better than I ever wi—"

"Hey! Uh, not to sound like a downer or anything, but we are in the middle of the street," Spike said, gesturing around them. "You're blocking traffic."

Breaking out of their hug, Twilight and Lyra tried for some sheepish apologies before making their way to the outer ring of the city, leading toward the education district.

"You think they even noticed it was a princess they were grumbling about?" Lyra asked.

Stretching her wings out, Twilight shook her head. "I doubt it. It would take—I don't know—bright golden, magical wings to really get their attention." Bumping Lyra with her shoulder, Twilight's only saving grace was that her earth pony aspect made shouldering a mare in armor not actually hurt her.

Scrunching her snout up, Lyra managed a good ten seconds before she broke into a laugh. "I can't keep getting grumpy about it. Fate is fate. If this is what I am destined to do, then it will happen."

Twilight was on the verge of saying something, but in the end just stretched her wing out and gave Lyra a casual hug while they walked. When they finally reached the little townhouse that Twilight had spent several years living in, she removed her wing and approached the door. "I didn't realize it had been empty all this time. I guess—I guess I figured she'd have another student move in who needed it."

"Isn't that what's happening? Do you happen to know who's moving in?" Lyra asked, following Twilight inside.

"I—" Twilight slumped her shoulders. "I completely forgot to ask. I was so caught up in my emotions that I just didn't think about it."

"Understandable. This place was a big thing for you, right? Freedom from your parents' home, the ability to have soooo many more books?" Lyra easily interpreted the guilty blush on Twilight's face for the nerdy princess' bibliomania showing. "So, how many presents are you leaving for the new student?"

Twilight froze at the implications of that. She had been planning to abscond with as many books as she could, but now she realized what a trove this would be for the young mare who would be coming here. "I've been thinking of this the wrong way. I think—I think I would like to write a letter to them."

"That'd be a great idea." Lyra couldn't help herself, she located a broom and started working on the dusty floor.

"Lyra?" Twilight asked, her tone sweet and warm.

"Huh? What's up?"

"Are you going to make me order you to leave?" Twilight asked. "It doesn't take an alicorn, half her guard, and a dragon to clean up one apartment."

Snorting a laugh, Lyra surrendered the broom. "Okay. Okay. If you need my help, I think I'll be spending some time in the castle." Making her way to the door, Lyra looked back at Twilight. "Best of luck, Twilight."

When Lyra had left, Twilight let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, Spike, can you read out the list so far?"

"Ahem." Spike pulled the scroll out of the saddlebags Twilight was wearing and started reading from it. "Order Lyra to leave, check. Actually cleaning up the apartment, in progress. Steal all the books and transport them to our castle—should I cross this out?"

"Ahaha. How did that get there? Yeah, Spike, cross that out. Add pick my five favorite books but only take one." With a laugh, Twilight imbued the broom with her favorite cleaning spell and set it to work. "Okay, now let's get to work on this floor."

The bedroom, living room, and kitchen were all on the ground floor. Twilight worked alongside Spike to get the carpets brushed and the wooden floors polished, as well as dusting everything. Lunch came and went with the sandwiches Spike had made, after which they got back to work.

When the sun was drawn from the sky and replaced with the moon, Twilight finally had to concede that they were done with the living area. She'd purposefully started there, since once they moved up to the library and research area, she would get so distracted that cleaning would be impossible.

"Oh my gosh," she said, the moment she spotted the lectern where, covered in dust, was Predictions And Prophecies. Blowing the dust off the book, her excitement built further. It was so long ago, five years, that she felt like a completely different pony now.

Feeling so relaxed, she read through the two pages, reliving the night before her exile to Ponyville. "Nightmare moon…"

"Huh, oh, here's that present I was gonna give Moon Dancer." Spike picked up the bear, now looking a little worse for wear after its box had been crushed and it had suffered five years of neglect. "Guess she won't be needing that."

Twilight barely heard the rest of what Spike said. The day and night before her departure was a huge event for her, but there was something she realized she'd been so caught up in researching to notice at the time.

Regret clutched at Twilight. She hadn't been exactly close with—with those friends whom she definitely remembered the names of. "I'm a bad friend."

"Huh?" Spike asked.

"I have to make amends, Spike. Ugh, I can't believe I forgot about Moon Dancer and—and…"

"Twinkleshine, Minuette, Lemon Hearts?"

"Right!" Twilight couldn't hold back a yawn, though. "Maybe, just for old times sake, I could have one more sleep in the bed here."

"What, not going to spend all night trying to research the best ways to ambush your old friends and wind up being drained of energy for half the day leading to repeated panic attacks as things don't go according to plan?" Spike asked.

Twilight barked a laugh and shook her head. "Maybe a year ago I might, but I've grown, Spike. I pay attention to the world around me. I don't ignore the facts of a situation. When I say I want to reconnect to my friends, I mean it, but I'm sure going crazy instead of a night's sleep isn't the best way. Besides, I have four ponies to track down—I'm going to be busy enough tomorrow!"


Staring at the mare behind the counter, Twilight asked, "Could you repeat that, please?"

Ink Blot let out a sigh. If it were anypony but a princess, she would have told them she can't give out the information. "Moon Dancer, Minuette, and Twinkleshine are all advisors to Princess Luna. Lemon Hearts runs a very popular bakery on the inner ring. It's only a few buildings away from the castle from here."

"Okay. So, apparently I'm just going completely insane. Thanks for the help." Twilight hadn't put any sarcasm into the words—she meant them wholeheartedly. She even waved goodbye as she made her way out.

"Not what I expect to see every day. Oh well." Shrugging her shoulders, Ink Blot went back to filing the new batch of student admissions. After the help she'd gotten in getting established, she'd reworked the office into an efficient machine that only infrequently needed a little oil.

Outside the school, Twilight felt her confusion circling around the problem again and again, of how three of her friends wound up working for one of her fellow princesses. It didn't make sense that it worked that way, but there was an outlier and she intended to investigate that first. "Okay, Spike, let's go and see if Lemon Hearts knows anything about this."

Trotting down the street, Twilight found the bakery easily enough since it was the one with a big crowd of ponies inside and a queue outside trying to join them. Joining the back of the line, Twilight wished that just this once a pony would notice she was a princess and let her through to talk to her friend.

The line moved fast enough, but still Twilight could hear soft snoring coming from her back by the time she reached the door. She was just able to look in when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Twilight? Twilight Sparkle?" Lemon Hearts had a large, empty tray she was carrying back into her bakery. "It is you! Wow, those wings really suit you. Come in, come in!" Leading the way into the bakery, Lemon gestured to a door in the back corner.

Following along a little numbly, Twilight sheepishly apologized to anyone she had to brush past to follow Lemon. When they were in what seemed like a smallish office, Lemon turned around and hugged Twilight. Hugging back, Twilight said, "It's been a while."

"It really has! I guess we both got too busy after school to catch up. Did you hear that Lyra got married?" Focusing for a moment, Lemon used her magic to teleport a tray of treats onto her desk. "Oh, I shouldn't get distracted. Obviously you're here for some super-important thing."

"Yes! I mean, not exactly, but still yes!" Twilight was conflicted over saying her friends were important but not imminent-threat-to-Equestria important. "I was cleaning up my old flat for a new student to move in, when I remembered how I just sorta ran out on everyone here."

"Ran out? Weren't you ordered to Ponyville?" Levitating up a cream-filled scone, Lemon Hearts took a bite of it and made a delighted sound. "Ooo these are good. Have one, please."

"Yes but—" Twilight stopped talking to take a bite of the scone. The cream was fresh and it had some rich berry jam inside that made her close her eyes in joy. She didn't even notice Spike waking up and taking one for himself. By the time she could talk again, the scone was gone. "But I should have let you know. I even missed Moon's birthday!"

"You were saving Equestria from eternal night!" Lemon couldn't help but laugh at the idea of having to apologize for that.

"That's what I told her. She doesn't listen, though," Spike said.

"I did listen! It's just I still feel I abandoned you all." Despite being ganged-up on two to one, Twilight still managed to feel bad. "And I wanted to say sorry to everyone. But then I needed to find where you all were, and when I asked at the school, they said Moon, Minuette, and Twinkleshine worked at the castle?"

Nodding, Lemon Hearts took another nibble of her scone. "Oh, that happened a few years ago now. I think Lyra arranged it all. You remember her, right? It's odd you didn't mention her, though. Did you forget about your best friend in school too?"

Dumbfounded, Twilight took a moment to recenter herself. "Lyra. I should have known it was her doing. How does she know so many ponies?"

Lemon Hearts shrugged. "I guess while you and I were cooped up inside studying or learning to bake—she just went out and helped ponies. That's what it seems like, anyway."

"But it just happens over and over. Everywhere I go, no matter how far away, I find ponies that know Lyra. It's weird."

Reaching out with her magic, Lemon took another of the scones. "Maybe you should recruit her? I mean, last I heard she's in the Guard, right? And you should have your own personal Guard like the other princesses." As she took a bite of the scone, Lemon Hearts saw Twilight's face descend into a deadpan. "What?" she asked around the mouthful.

"She is in my personal Guard."

Lemon Hearts snorted with laughter and grinned at Twilight. "Then it sounds like you have everything under control. Oh, were you going up to the castle now to see the others? I could bring along some snacks."

To Twilight and her knowledge of alicorn dietary needs, taking snacks to Luna seemed like a great way to talk to her old friends without complaint. "Sure. Need some help carrying them?" The droll look Twilight got in reply to that reminded her that Lemon Hearts had graduated the same classes she had.

The walk up to the castle, with two huge trays of treats, was mostly uneventful. Twilight chatted with Lemon about all the goings on in the baking world, and the answers surprised her with how much she knew about the topic herself. Then she remembered that Lyra often spoke to her about spending a little time now and again helping in Sugarcube Corner—and Twilight was once more reminded how much Lyra got around.

When there was no opposition from the guards at the gate, Twilight couldn't help muttering, "They're not alicorn-blind."

Only when they were out of earshot of said guards did Lemon Hearts ask, "What's 'alicorn-blind'?"

"Huh? Oh!" Twilight snorted a laugh. "It's when ponies don't notice you're an alicorn because they see one of your tribal traits first and their brain skips over acknowledging any other. I guess being around alicorns regularly must make the guards here immune to it. Time to write another paper!"

"You wrote a paper about how ponies don't notice you're an alicorn?" Lemon was aghast.

"Technically I'm a co-author. Lyra helped me with…" As she was saying it, Twilight realized how insidious Lyra Heartstrings truly was. "She just helps. She helps with—with everything!" Pulling writing material from thin air, Twilight passed it back to Spike. "Write this down, Spike. Lyra helps ponies. She helps everypony with everything. She's—she's omnipresent! How can she be everywhere at once helping everypony?!"

Approaching the front door of the castle with what looked like a delivery, Lemon Hearts was fully prepared to be stopped. She expected it, so she ignored it when it actually didn't happen. "Twilight, you're overreacting. Lyra's not omnipresent, she's just exceptionally good at making friends, finding out what their problems are, and helping them with the ones she can."

"A little too good," Twilight said, her eye twitching a little.

The walk through the entry hall, past several petitioners, and finally to the Royal Guard that were in charge of admittance complete, Twilight turned her attention away from her fugue about Lyra to the task at hand. "We'd like to see Princess Luna and her advisors, please."

"Right this way, Your Highness!" Citron gestured to a side door and led the way, opening it for them. "Princess Luna advised us you were coming and has made the moon room her reception hall for the morning."

"How did she know we were coming?" Twilight's heart sank. Deep inside she knew the answer. She knew, because there was no other way. "Was it—?"

"Oh, Captain Heartstrings came in last night and let her know to expect you today." Citron, in the lead, didn't notice the panicked look on Twilight's face. "Here you are, ma'am." He nodded to the two bat ponies at the door and stepped back for them to open it.

The sound of giggling met Twilight and Lemon as they stepped into the room. The walls of the windowless room were all painted in blue and black hues so close it was hard to tell when the blue ended and the black started. Above was a rendition of the moon, shining bright enough to illuminate the whole room while still not glaring to look at.

The mirth was coming from Moon Dancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Luna—all four of them watching Lyra intently as the mare said, "I got better!"

Pure and strong laughter echoed around the room. Luna's laughs so loud that they dwarfed anyone else's. Not that the others weren't laughing too, but they didn't possess a set of lungs and vocal cords that could be classed as a ranged weapon.

"'Burn her!' another cried. 'Burn her anyway!'" Lyra was deep into the telling of one of her favorite scenes, even doing silly voices for the various characters. "But then the clever knight says, 'There are ways to tell she is a witch. Tell me, what do you do with witches?'"

"Burn them?" Luna asked, giggling at the end.

Brightening at getting the right line, Lyra pointed at Luna. "What do you burn apart from witches?"

Eyes widening, Luna shook her head at first, then remembered the point of the jokes Lyra was telling was to be silly. "Other witches?"

Close enough, Lyra thought. She was about to play the part of Arthur when Twilight cleared her throat.

"Wood?" Twilight asked. The huge grin spreading on Lyra's face told Twilight she'd just stepped into some elaborate plan.

"So, why do witches burn?" Lyra asked, pointing at Moon Dancer.

Not sure what to reply with, Moon said the first thing that came into her head that made no sense. "They're made of wood?"

"Good!" Lyra clopped her hooves in support. "So, how do we tell she's made of wood?" She looked around everyone, daring each and every one of them to say the next line—she figured destiny itself was working on her side now.

"Build a wagon out of her?" The logic, to Luna, was absolutely perfect for the situation.

"Ah!" Working fast to adapt the skit to work with the change in item, Lyra asked, "But can you not make a wagon out of iron?"

It hadn't occurred to Luna at all, but now she nodded at the irrefutable mental prowess. "Oh…"

"Does wood sink in water?" Lyra asked, looking around and focusing her attention on Twilight.

Twilight was unsure where it was going, but she couldn't hold back a little smile at the silliness of what she was witnessing—no, what she was participating in. "No…"

"It floats!" Luna delivered her line with gusto, a hint of the Royal Canterlot Voice creeping in.

Minuette decided to take the next logical leap. "So we throw her into a pond to see if she floats?"

It was going to be a huge one. Lyra knew she'd have to ad-lib whatever answer someone gave as the most silly. "What also floats in water?"

"Balls!" Moon shouted, then tried to hide after saying such a silly thing.

"Apples!" Twilight was lost in the magic Lyra was weaving, and couldn't help but shout out one of her friend's favorite topics.

Luna listened to everyone around her coming up with the silliest things to float. Moon was listing off fruit, Twilight was trying to come up with different boat designs, and Lemon Hearts was passing out cakes from her shop (which was the highlight for Luna). In the end, she had a minor epiphany and said, "A goose."

It was as good as she was going to get, Lyra realized. Gesturing toward Luna with a half-eaten apple tart, she said, "Exactly! So, logically…" gesturing for Luna to expand her gander-logic.

"So if she…" Luna began.

"Weighs," Lyra said, sotto voce.

"So if she weighs the same as a goose…"

Moon tried for the most outrageous thing she could think of. "She's made of wood!"

Nodding encouragement, Lyra said, "And therefore…"

"She's a witch?" Twinkleshine asked.

"A witch!" Minuette finally gave in and joined the insanity.

"I'll need my biggest scales!" Lyra said, finishing things as best she could. "And you know what? When the woman was weighed, she did weigh as much as a goose."

"I bet the goose was upset about that." The little bit of fun agreed with Luna's sense of humor, and she felt like there was a particularly interesting bit of interplay between someone seemingly so rational as the good knight and the actual madness he committed in the name of science. "But then, geese are typically upset about most things that aren't feeding them."

"Soooooo. Twilight, I kinda figured you might come here." Lyra tried to avoid outright devouring the treat Lemon had brought, but her bites weren't exactly minimal.

"How? The Guard who escorted us in said you did, but… how?"

"I was at the school earlier, must have just missed you. Ink Blot mentioned you were there and I asked her what you were looking for. She spilled the beans while I helped her get caught up on her filing. I thought you would have beaten me, but she'd been sure that you had gone to Lemon's bakery." Grinning as Twilight's brows furrowed, Lyra shrugged. "So I let Luna know you'd be coming and wanting to speak with our old classmates."

"Ink Blot?" Twilight finally came to the conclusion that this feat of Lyra's couldn't be measured. Letting out a sigh, she focused on releasing all the frustration with it. "It doesn't matter, though. Thank you for arranging this."

With Lyra giving her a lopsided grin, Twilight turned to address all their friends. "I can't believe it took me this long to realize I needed to apologize to you all for just running out and leaving—especially you, Moon Dancer."

"Me?" Moon reached her hoof up to adjust her glasses and then realized the scuff on them needed cleaning off. "Why me?"

"I missed your birthday party!" Twilight hung her head and her wings sagged at her sides. "I got so focused on the Nightmare Moon stories that—" Freezing as she realized Luna was present, Twilight spared an apologetic smile to her.

Luna didn't need to cut in, since everyone present seemed waiting for her reply. "Please, do not fear you have hurt my feelings, Twilight Sparkle. You speak the truth. I have—I have somepony to help me peer inward and see past my own pride and terror. Continue as you please."

Giving Luna a thankful nod, Twilight tried to continue. "I was too caught up in events, and Princess Celestia had given me other tasks that had distracted me further. I should have realized, after everything settled, that my friends—"

"You saved the world, Twilight." Moon was done with letting Twilight wallow in self recrimination. "Several times. You grew up into one of the most important jobs in Equestria! You don't need to apologize for that."

Luna cleared her throat.

Looking at her boss, Moon sighed. "We didn't save the world."

"The wedding?" Lyra asked.

Moon brightened at that and had to hide her blush. "Oh. Well, we did sort of save things there. I thought you meant when Tirek stole all the magic and we scavenged what trinkets we could, drained them, teleported to Tartarus, and freed the princesses."

Looking around the room, Twilight knew she was staring. All her friends were trying to hide some measure of a blush.

"Do not forget the assistance you provided and continue to provide me with," Luna said, "in finding my way in this modern Equestria. You would not have wished to see me had I not found the wonder that is the Equestrian rail network."

"You know, have you looked at the other systems that Equestria relies on for its very survival?" Lyra asked. When her question drew confused looks from everyone in the room, she rolled her eyes. "The mail system. A friend of mine"—Lyra smirked a little at the barely audible grunt from Twilight—"works there. I could introduce you to her next time you're in Ponyville. I'm sure you could help her get done early in exchange for an explanation of how it all works."

Luna's first instinct haled back to a time when she could demand a pony do her bidding. She discarded her first instinct after examining it and holding it up to her own scrutiny. The next thought that crossed her mind was that Lyra had introduced her to an amazing group of ponies who had not just helped her adapt to ruling a modern, technologically advanced nation—but had even saved her and her sister. "I believe I would very much like to meet this pony. So far their credentials are extraordinary."

"So," Twilight said, "you're not upset with me for missing your party?"

Turning her contemplation from Luna's pending mail exploration, Moon looked at Twilight and did her best to sound as sincere as possible. "Twilight, I did. I was upset and angry because I thought somepony I trusted had thrown that trust away. But it has been years since then. I have gained the perspective to see that you were doing what a princess had ordered you to and saved the world because of it." Throwing her hooves up in the air, Moon glared right at Twilight. "So, yes, I was upset. But that was a young mare who couldn't understand how important you would become."

"And now there's Lyra," Twinkleshine said, drawing everyone's attention for the first time. "I saw them. You might as well show everypony."

"They won't go away. Ever since I had that encounter with your darkness magic, Luna, the wings just won't leave." With that, Lyra twitched her ethereal wings and extended them outside of her armor. Twilight, she noted, was grinning at her. Luna looked more contemplative. Moon just gave her a nod of acknowledgment while the others all gasped appreciatively. "Thank you, Luna, for helping me understand darkness magic. It's never been easy for me, but now—now I can feel how it wants to be."

"There have only been three ponies, now, who have mastered darkness such—not including myself, of course." Luna sent her thoughts back to the time before what she thought of as the single biggest mistake of her life. "Princess Platinum was the first. It was surprising how easily she took to darkness magic, given her primary focus was light.

"The second was a young stallion who embraced darkness and emotive magic like he was born to them. He was charismatic and focused, but ultimately proved to be a thorn in the side of Equestria. Like myself, he felt that he was owed more than he was getting. King Sombra was as much the polar opposite of Platinum as could be.

"Now a third has appeared who holds dark magic in her heart." Luna looked to Lyra and gave her a reassuring smile. "I am extremely interested in what you do with this, Lyra."

Lyra felt completely blindsided by the information. She stared past Luna, trying to comprehend that of the previous ponies that knew darkness magic as well as she did, one turned into a megalomaniac and the other was one of pre-Equestria's greatest rulers. "I don't know exactly how to process that."

"We can work on that later, if you'd like. You're not alone, Lyra." Twilight reached out a hoof to her friend and pressed close for a hug. "You might have a bigger role in Equestria than you ever thought, but that doesn't mean you have to stand alone."

"That doesn't just go for Twilight, either," Minuette said, joining the hug in what became an avalanche of ponies gathering around Lyra.


The trip home had been far more relaxed than Lyra would have expected. They'd wound up having a party to celebrate friendship, and now here she was getting off the train and heading for—

"Hey, Lyra!" Derpy called. "Look what I got!"

Blinking in surprise, Lyra couldn't mistake the horn atop Derpy's head. She was standing proud, tall, and had a similar peytral to what Celestia and Luna would wear—except hers had a muffin on the front. "Derpy? Are you an—"

"Alicorn! We all are, Lyra!" Derpy gestured beside her where Cup and Carrot stood—both now sporting horns and wings.

Turning in a circle, Lyra saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and even Scootaloo—all with wings and horns. "What's going on here? This is—"

"Lyra?" Sweetie Drops asked. "Are you okay?"

Eyes widening in panic, Lyra looked at her wife's wings and horn and tried to back away, only to plow into somepony. Spinning in place, she saw another winged and horned pony—and screamed.

"Calm down, please. I must admit, Lyra, this is not a nightmare I have dealt with before." Luna looked around at all the alicorn ponies and then back to Lyra—who was hiding under her wing. "Would you rather I just banish all this so we can talk about it?"

"No. No, I have it. Sorry to trouble you with this." Stepping out from under Luna's wing, Lyra was aware that the dream was flawed in so many ways. Smiling ruefully at her friends and family, she blinked them out of the dream and turned to face Luna. "I guess I still have some fears of becoming an alicorn."

"Me too," Luna said and spread her wings. "The worry that I won't be what everyone deserves, that I can't help them when they need me, that I might completely screw something up when my sister needs my help—these are all the fears of somepony who has to sit on the big seat and watch as others look up to me to help and protect them."

"But you're a—"

"I was just a unicorn. Though I understand you started your life not even a pony, I believe I can say you have become a most exceptional unicorn." Luna neither desired nor liked the idea of praising ponies for things they hadn't accomplished, but she had no problem admitting these things to Lyra. "You are asleep in royal carriage number five-six. Twilight is dozing beside you and Spike beside her. When you return to Ponyville it will be exceptionally early in the morning. Waking from this dream, you will have all the best ponies I could imagine to support you and be the friends you need in your coming trials, but should you need one more—I am always a short fly away."

"Thank you." Lyra reached up and hugged Luna, and the hug she got back meant a great deal.

Author's Note:

Celestia, now that you know of Lrya 's secret. From 1 to Trollagedyn. How much trolling are you gonna do on Lyra?


"I believe about a six. She seems to be slowly internalizing the coming event, and is even preparing for it, but until she just admits it will happen—I will take my victories where I can find them." Celestia smiled, her golden telekinesis at work with a pair of knitting needles, the pattern of a pony jumper with golden wings on the back of it taking shape in mint-green wool.


So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any character within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right character to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post!

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