Libero

by Discombobulated Soul

Doctus

That chord progression is just not doing it. I wonder if A minor would work better?

Lyra Heartstrings sat on her couch, sheets of hastily-scribbled music strewn about as she thought deeply with her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. Her gold-alloy lyre floated loyally at her side, held by her similarly-colored aura and dutifully obeying her every command. With a bright flash of magic, the halted music resumed as she read over the paper, nodding to herself when the changes proved satisfactory.

Yeah, that harmonizes way more. And minor chords are just so fun!

To the untrained observer, the unicorn would appear as nothing more than a contemplative pony lost in thought. Any musician worth their salt, however, could easily recognize a mare on a mission and accordingly step respectfully out of the way.

Lyra herself was quite thoroughly invested in the process and unable to make out much of anything in the outside world. It was due to this that the soft echo of hoofsteps went entirely unnoticed, as well as the small, fuzzy head that peeked over the edge of the couch. A light poke on her foreleg did startle the thaumusologist out of her contemplation, though, and she leaned over to gaze into the pair of fascinated eyes watching her work.

"Oh! Hello, Sugar. How are you?" Both unicorns smiled at each other for several moments, though the colt's gaze flickered from her face to her lyre and back a few times. Just when she thought he wouldn't respond, the soft, shy voice of her son resonated through the room, and Lyra grinned at the increased volume compared to previous days.

"Good. What are you playing, Mommy?"

The minty mare beamed at the title and wordlessly patted the cushion beside her, to which Knight hopped up without hesitation. He studied the sheets of paper for a few moments, obviously intrigued yet unable to understand them at all. Yet.

"Oh, just a little something I've been working on. I'd tell you more about it, but it's a bit of a surprise, you see?" The foal glanced up, quite curious and likely wanting to know more, but ultimately nodded his acceptance and instead began fiddling with his hooves.

The pair sat in content silence, unbroken even when Knight purposefully tipped himself over to lean against Lyra's side and she twisted slightly to rest her head on top of his in response. From the corner of her eye, the mare could just scarcely observe him reach a hoof out towards the floating lyre, to which she brought it around and laid it down just in front of him. Knight abruptly stilled his fidgeting and hesitantly extended his leg, though he stopped at the last moment before touching the instrument.

"How does it work, Mommy?"

The colt's heart rate picked up as he asked the question; not enough to be of concern, or even really of notice, but Lyra made note of it and reacted accordingly. She hummed deeply to herself, rubbing her cheek against his brushed mane before briefly kissing his head just behind the horn, all in efforts to communicate reassurance and safety.

Inwardly, of course, the mare was practically squealing with glee, celebrating the fact that her adoptive son was finally feeling secure enough to ask this of her. She had known he wanted to enquire this exact thing weeks ago, but for whatever reason, Knight hadn't been able to work up the courage to ask until now.

"I'm so glad you asked that, Sugar. Please feel free to ask me anything you like, any time." The colt relaxed and his heart rate slowed, though he still found the energy to twist his neck and look up at her with wide, curious white eyes. Lyra grinned back at them and gestured meaningfully at her treasured instrument, making her offer with no trace of hesitation: "Why don't you levitate it yourself, and we'll go from there?"

Knight didn't need to say anything at all; from his expression alone, one could've deduced that she'd invited him to handle some volatile weapon of mass destruction rather than a simple, unassuming lyre.

"Go ahead. Really, I insist. It's the best way for you to get what I mean." The colt gulped nervously and slowly brought his stare back to the gold-alloy form of the mare's namesake, only to snap it back on her as his eyebrows creased together.

"Are you sure?"

The utter confusion this question was asked with was palpable, and Lyra found her grin returning as she gave her answer.

"Yes, Sugar. I'm not worried; I trust you to be careful with it. Plus, it's very sturdy and not easily damaged." These words, combined with her loving gestures, finally reassured him enough for Knight to make a decision. The smaller unicorn's horn lit with a dark grey glow and, after a breath or two to steady himself, so did the lyre.

Immediately, the foal's eyes bulged in complete surprise and he would've fallen right off the edge of the couch had Lyra not placed her foreleg around his shoulders. Knight's eyes roved blankly back and forth, his mind evidently captivated on the instrument's every last facet. The mare chuckled softly to herself, finding it quite entertaining to watch him work.

The truth was, while any creature incapable of levitation could only see so much, the lyre was quite a lot more than it appeared to be.

Eventually, the colt's hurried search came to a close and he blinked rapidly in futile attempts to clear his head, which Lyra patiently nuzzled. I know firsthoof how overwhelming the stimulation can be at first. It's actually pretty impressive he's recovered this early.

"What do you think?" The elder unicorn giggled when he turned to face her with an openmouthed stare, though he soon twisted back to look at the floating instrument with bewildered awe.

"There's...so much!" Knight once more reached out his foreleg, this time not pausing to think as he touched one of the lyre's two arms before whipping back around to face his mother. "What does it all mean?" If he'd been curious before, now the blazing roar of intrigue had flared to life and would not be quenched until answers were given. Lyra, happy to supply that very thing, shifted in her spot to wrap her longish tail around her son before beginning.

"Well, the first things you're probably sensing are the inscriptions. You'll notice there are four distinct parts of the lyre, and each have different purposes." She gestured to each section in turn, though refrained from touching the object for fear of breaking Knight's already-tenuous hold on it. "The soundboard's job is to strengthen the strings, since they're nearly silent on their own. It has runes designed to help with that, letting the instrument keep its slim design without being too bulky."

The colt vigorously nodded his understanding when the mare paused to check before moving on. "The straight piece the strings connect to at the top is called the yoke. Its purpose is to help with tuning the strings and keeping them perfectly taut. Without a bridge like on a violin or cello, this is a lot harder, so it has spells woven into the material to help out."

Knight nodded once more and indeed seemed quite invested in her words, his eyes practically shining in the sockets as he stared up at her. I don't think I've ever had an audience this attentive.

"What about..." He trailed off, pointing vaguely at the side of the instrument. Lyra grinned yet again, knowing precisely what he meant and all the more pleased for it.

"On either side of the strings are the arms of the lyre. While the whole thing's shape helps to channel magic, this is where the real stuff goes down. The arms aren't really needed to help make sound, so their inscriptions are dedicated almost entirely to spellcasting. The engravings you're feeling match up exactly with my mana signature, and they help me cast spells a lot like a horn does." Knight hummed to himself, ponderously studying the arms of the lyre before slowly nodding. He shifted in place, pressing close against the mare's barrel yet still transfixed on the instrument.

"It feels like you, Mommy." Lyra found herself unable to resist draping a foreleg around the colt's smaller barrel, giving a light squeeze as she responded.

"It does, doesn't it? You have a lot of magical skill to make that connection, Sugar. I'm impressed." This greatly surprised Knight, who accordingly jumped a little and twisted again to gaze up at her with a confused expression. The mare let him observe the genuineness of her statement before continuing. "Would you like to try and play something? A simple C major arpeggio won't be too hard, I promise."

She half-expected him to jolt in even greater shock at the offer, but was admittedly relieved when eagerness instead dominated his visage and he nodded vigorously. Alrighty, then! Let's see where this goes.

"Well, the three strings are naturally tuned to middle C, E, and G respectively," Lyra instructed, pointing from left to right. "All you have to do is magically strum them in that order. Try to leave an equal amount of time in between each note." Knight's face scrunched as he concentrated and the glow around his horn intensified. It was only after seconds of effort that the soft, hesitant, and unsteady sound of middle C graced the unicorns' ears. Truthfully, the note rang terribly and with no taste whatsoever, but neither pony paid that much mind, engrossed as they both were in the thrill of discovery.

The foal seemed to get the hang of it then and, heedless of her final instruction, the other two strings were played much faster. Regardless, Lyra let out a low cheer and promptly extended her foreleg for a hoofbump, which Knight victoriously offered, a large grin on his muzzle.

"That was great! Do you think you can strum them at the same time?" The younger unicorn pursed his lips at this and turned back to the still-hovering instrument. A few beads of sweat started to glisten on his scalp as he concentrated, his tongue sticking out of his mouth in imitation of his mother minutes prior.

Finally, though, the uneven-yet-still-happy sound of a C major chord rang quietly out through the room. So bad was the playing that Lyra would have grimaced and pinned her ears, were she not entirely preoccupied in celebrating with her son.

"Amazing! You're a natural!" So ecstatic was Knight that he forgot to be shocked by the compliment, instead leaning further into her with a beaming smile on his face.

"What next, Mommy?" So thrilled was Lyra that she failed to notice the sudden spectator in the kitchen, who currently had a cream-colored hoof shoved in her mouth to stifle the endeared cooing that threatened to burst out and blow her cover.

"Well, Sugar, in order to reach different notes on our three strings, we need to shorten the space they have to vibrate. The shorter a string is, the higher it will sound." Here, the mare lit her horn and, careful not to interfere with Knight's telekinetic aura, highlighted a small section of the leftmost string, towards the middle. "If you pinch right here and strum the lower part, the natural 'open string' C will turn into a B, making a nice little E minor chord."

This time, Knight did precisely as instructed, and Lyra could practically feel the shivers running down his spine at the sound that followed.

"That was stupendous," commented the colt, who yet again twisted in place to face her while wearing an expression of utmost awe. Lyra let out a small giggle, rubbing her nose against his as their horns softly touched.

"Yeah, I like minor chords, too."

---

The moon's dreary grey light illuminated a foreboding forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.

An unnatural howl echoed out across the biome, causing all manner of fauna to run for the hills in fright.

Four uniformed agents pinned their ears as they charged through the underbrush, determinedly galloping against the current and toward the sound.

Special Agent Sweetie Drops brought up the rear, trailing after her team's leader while keeping a wary eye out behind them. Even at the incredibly young age of twenty-five, the earth pony was easily the strongest and most durable of the group, due entirely to a combination of her training and her special talent. If the monster they were hunting did turn out to be smart enough to attack from behind^__an unlikely possibility, but still one to prepare for^__it'd have to deal with her before it got to the squishier members of the team.

Another roar that shook the very trees was heard, closer this time. The unicorn in front changed directions slightly, arrowing straight for what appeared to be a clearing.

Silence followed and the group slid to a halt, fanning out to cover more ground as they continued to track the beast. Sweetie Drops called out to her team, ushering them over before pointing to a trail of tracks that led close to where they'd come from.

Seven toes, enormous paws, six-inch claws, and a stride easily three times the length of a bear's. This is it.

The agent's teammates swiftly arrived at the same conclusion and without another word they got back into position and raced off.

The beast knows we're after it. Despite being an apex predator, it feels threatened; we're unknowns. Unpredictable. It doesn't know if it can fight us and win.

Despite her training and perhaps because of her youth, Sweetie Drops couldn't stop her muzzle from forming a cocky smirk.

It'll face off against us eventually, though. Most of us are technically prey animals, after all. Then, we strike.

The team had been assigned this mission some three days ago, when civilian reports of 'manticore activity' arrived from the nearby town. They'd sat in wait, researching the signs and determining what exactly the creature was before going on the offensive. The hope was to subdue the creature and migrate it far away from any settlements, perhaps out of Prance entirely. Lethal force, however, was authorized in case the situation got out of hoof^__an unlikely possibility, but again, one that needed to be accounted for^__and the monstrous freak of nature proved too dangerous.

Deep growling emitted from the clearing ahead of the team and they once more collectively skidded to a halt before venturing forth with great caution. Five glowing yellow eyes peered down at them as they emerged, sitting easily twelve feet in the air. The four spread out, readying themselves as the enormous monstrosity stalked out of the shade.

Hissing, the thing eyed each one of them in turn, shifting on its five paws before lowering its enormous head right in front of Sweetie Drops. The agent's teammates tensed in preparation, but so confident was the young mare that she merely stood there, glaring challengingly straight into the beast's face. Its two mouths opened in unison, splitting unnaturally wide as its jaws unhinged and--

"Bon Bon!"

It spoke with a rather high-pitched and altogether pleasing voice. Sweetie Drops was shocked right out of her pride, blinking rapidly as she processed the somewhat-familiar sound. A hesitant glance around at her fellow agents revealed them also incredibly surprised. Even the stoic griffon she'd come to respect and somewhat admire had his beak wide open in gaping astonishment.

"Bon Bon, you need to wake up!"

The beast reached forward with a paw and softly jostled her well-muscled shoulder. Sweetie squinted at its horrific face, all the more confused by its gentleness.

Suddenly, the creature shook her again and the world vanished.

---

Bon Bon Heartstrings shot gracelessly to her hooves and immediately flopped right off the couch she'd been resting on.

After flailing about in half-awake confusion for a few seconds, the mare was enveloped in a vibrant golden aura and set delicately back on her hooves. The grogginess persisted as she tiredly rubbed her eyes, but left immediately when two quivering hooves clutched at her withers and she found herself staring straight into the tearstained honey-yellow eyes of her wife.

"Bonnie, please. I don't know what to do. I think I may have done something wrong, I--"

Lyra abruptly choked and sniffled before collapsing into the earth pony's forelegs, breathing shakily and mumbling incomprehensibly to herself. Now fully awake, Bon Bon leaned back to support the unicorn, rubbing gently on her spine as she waited for her to calm down. When that failed to occur and Lyra remained distressed, the cream-colored mare took to rocking gently back and forth before whispering softly into her wife's pinned ears.

"It's okay, Lyly. I love you. Whatever happened, we'll get through it together. Take deep breaths. In and out. Follow me." As one, the couple inhaled, held the breath, then slowly exhaled. Lyra's sniffling came to a halt as she focused on the calming exercise, and only a few minutes more passed before she was still.

Bon Bon gave her wife one last squeeze before pulling back far enough to look into her eyes. The earth pony's eyebrows creased upon seeing the emotions still running rampant within, and she pressed their foreheads together before speaking.

"What's wrong, Lyly? Is it to do with Knight?" The unicorn's fur ran against hers as she nodded, taking one last unsteady breath before responding in a tremulous voice.

"Yes. I couldn't find him after you went to bed early. He's in his room. I think he's having some sort of prolonged flashback, but I can't help, because..." Lyra trailed off and pulled away to pace the carpeted floor, her head bowed in thought. This didn't last long before she whipped it up and stared at Bon Bon with an extremely distressed expression. "Could he really relapse completely, Bonnie? Has everything we've done been for nothing? What happens then? What if--" But the earth pony cut off her worried rant with a hoof to her lips, followed by a brief kiss as Bon Bon mentally processed the situation.

"I'll go on up and see what I can do. He's known me longer than you and Starlight gave me some tips. You stay here and try to calm down, okay?" Lyra hesitantly nodded and promptly sat, staring off into the distance as she tried and failed to pull herself together. Bon Bon leaned in for another peck on the cheek before stepping away and giving one last parting piece. "Whatever it is, Knight definitely hasn't forgotten you for good. And I'm sure he'll forgive you once this is over. Okay?"

With that, the earth pony determinedly strode forth, already quite busy imagining what could possibly be happening upstairs. Navigating the house was made significantly harder in the dark of the night, but the moon's soft glow and the mare's memorization of the layout made it doable. Her ears flicked, already detecting labored breathing and muttered pleas thanks to the building's acoustics. She squinted and grimaced to herself as she ascended the stairs, dreading the encounter that awaited.

Bon Bon finally stumbled to a halt just inside the hallway, scarcely able to see the half-open bedroom door across from her thanks to the lack of windows. A dark grey light did occasionally enter her sight, bobbing every which way before exiting with frantic speed.

And the sounds.

They were almost too much to take. She was nearly convinced that there was another pony in the room, as Knight must have been. Every last fiber in the earth pony's body yearned desperately to rush in, but she remained frozen with indecision. Too much hung in the balance; if Lyra's reaction was anything to go by, one wrong move could soil their relationship forever.

Knowing that didn't make sitting there any easier. Bonnie's ears trembled with every whimper. She grimaced along with every thud when her child lost his balance in the panic. These things she could mostly handle, being somewhat used to them over the last two months. What was both entirely new and the main contributor to the mare's disquiet was the pleading.

Oh, she'd heard her sweet son needlessly beg with those who meant no harm before. The meeting with Starlight came to mind, when he had shattered some comparatively worthless plates of no consequence.

This wasn't that.

The former agent's blood boiled as she recalled the smug, victorious grin slathered across Colza's hideous visage. That was who Knight's begging was directed to. Soft cries of "please stop that!" "No! You're hurting me!" and "Not there. Anywhere else! Not there!" echoed through the short hallway.

Bon Bon had had a general idea of what the foal must have been through, at least more than the average Equestrian; one consequence of travelling to other countries was hearing horrible stories told by those who liked scaring tourists. Still, to get a glimpse of the experience like this, from one so close to her, shook the mare to her very core.

"MOM! HELP!"

The earsplitting cry was all it took for Bon Bon Heartstrings to leap into action.

The first order of business was to turn on the hallway light; Knight's aura was too darkly colored and unreliable to serve sufficiently, and she needed to assess the situation. Next, the mare stepped to the side of the doorway, hoping to avoid detection long enough to get a better read on his actions.

Too late: Knight had become deathly still, failing to so much as breathe as he stared directly at her. Every last muscle was locked with complete rigidity. His expression, which she had thought she'd seen scared before, now embodied a higher form of terror beyond description.

"Please," the tortured soul murmured, "don't hurt me."

There was not a speck of recognition in her son's pinpricked eyes. No sliver of the confidence and trust she'd become so used to remained. The earth pony broke eye contact, unable to face that gaze any longer, and her eyes landed on a crumpled pile of fabric in the far corner of the room.

"I don't want to be hurt anymore."

She recognized the cloth easily enough: A set of spare bedsheets they stored in the guest room closet's upper shelf. Apparently, the colt had been in an exploratory mood and brought them out to investigate. The way the fabric was piled up and spread out in a fairly wide area was a sign of some kind of struggle. Could it have fallen on top of him and triggered this? Is he really still so mentally unstable?

"You're going to hurt me."

This snapped Bon Bon back to the situation at hoof and she accordingly took a step into the room, returning her gaze to the foal inside. To her surprise, he didn't immediately back away or physically react at all, instead remaining stock still and only moving to take in tiny breaths.

"No, I won't. I will never harm you, Red. Never." Lyra and Starlight had had quite the thorough discussion on his mental state, during which the unicorn shared the names she'd come up with for Sugar's different personalities. Bon Bon had listened in when she could--though, admittedly, she hadn't understood much--and taken special note of how well all the names fit.

Still, this was the first time anypony had verbally addressed one of them and it showed: The colt's eyes widened in surprise and he took a step back.

"...why...?"

To which Bon Bon put on her most genuine smile and took a few more steps forward, noting Red's lack of reaction.

"Because I love you, and I don't hurt the ones I love. I protect them." Having finally closed the distance, Bon Bon found herself utterly unable to resist wrapping her forelegs around her son. He pushed back and leaned away halfheartedly, but she held fast, unyielding.

The foal trembled in her grip, even as he vacantly stared out at nothing. Bon Bon worriedly gazed down at him, dreadfully uncertain if he appreciated the gesture or even if it was helping at all. She pushed past the doubt, though, even as minutes passed and no further developments occurred.

The room became deathly silent as this continued. Her frequent glances every which way revealed no changes to be found anywhere, no reassurance that her decision was the correct one, and no hints or cues whatsoever as to what she should do differently. Her mild panic grew as her strategy continued to have no apparent positive effect, but her downward spiral was abruptly--thankfully-- cut short by blissful sound.

"I'm so tired," Red stated as his eyes regained focus. "Tired of running. Protesting. Fighting back. Everypony just wants to hurt me." The mare remained silent, electing to tighten her hold rather than verbally answer, though the hug remained loose. The colt finally moved, raising his right foreleg to run his hoof back and forth across her cannon bone. He seemed entranced by the musculature and nearly lost focus again.

"You're so strong," he remarked, absently.

"Yes. Do you know why?" At his sluggish headshake, she continued. "It's so I can defend the things I care about. Around a decade ago, there was a monster causing trouble in a Prench town. I was picked to go deal with it, even though I was practically still a filly." The ghost of Sugar's trademark curious expression appeared on his face and Bon Bon beamed down at it. "They trusted me to take care of it because they knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I always protect those that need it."

It was then that Knight finally returned and promptly slumped to the floor.

He would have collided quite roughly with it had Bonnie not been ready to catch him. The mare finally allowed herself to truly embrace the foal, pressing him up against her with such ferocity that both ponies could barely breathe. The colt finally moved, gripping her back and nuzzling into her chest with all the strength his little body had.

Both were crying veritable torrents of relieved tears, one thankful that her strategy worked and the other grateful that finally, finally there was a being that felt true, unconditional love for him.

"I love you too, Momma. Thank you."

And both were at peace.

---

Sunburst Glimmer fiddled with the newly-patented Rubuck's cube he held in his hooves, taking the occasional glance out his window as the train rattled onwards. The vehicle was traveling at a respectable clip--around one-hundred feet per second, by his reckoning--and while that was plenty fast for the rest of the passengers, the stallion found himself becoming uncharacteristically impatient.

The world whizzed by outside, grassy hills coming and going while all manner of wildlife entered and exited his line of sight. Sunburst wondered--just for a minute or ten--what it would be like to live as a bird in the sky, or perhaps a mole in the ground.

The curiosity in his front hooves was as perplexing as it was intriguing; a three-by-three-by-three plastic cube whose units were represented by colored squares. He could shift one side around at a time, and he'd been told the goal was to make every side one single color. Sunburst had been hesitant with regards to the object at first; plastic was usually not as stimulating to touch and move as wood, after all. But the cube had quickly grown on him once the satisfying clicks and snaps reached his ears.

Movement in the stallion's peripheral vision bade him twist his neck and observe a well-dressed unicorn couple walk by. Despite their obvious status, both ponies seemed to be rather covert in their business, slinking past with closed-off posture and frequent uneasy glances about the large cabin. It was during one such scan that a small box fell from the mare's cloak pocket, landing with a near-silent thump on the carpeted floor.

Neither unicorn noticed this, however, and they continued needlessly sneaking forward.

Sunburst stood and placed the Rubuck's cube on his plush seat before levitating the fallen container over to himself, with every intent to simply return it. Waves of magical power immediately washed over the stallion, however, and he couldn't resist taking a peek inside. The lid at the top opened much like a ring box and his dark cerulean eyes bulged upon observing what was within.

That...That's the Sign Of The Sky! The original Sign Of The Sky!

Sunburst broke into a brisk trot after the couple, but not before reverently closing the box and placing it within his own cloak pocket.

I must know where on Equus they found it!

The pair of unicorns hadn't gone far, just the next cabin over. They'd found themselves a seat and promptly taken to uneasily scanning their surroundings. The therapist took no mind to their mannerisms, caught up completely as he was in scholarly ecstasy.

"Excuse me?" He addressed, unable to keep the intense giddiness out of his voice. The mare whipped around to face him, raising an eyebrow as she glanced up and down his vibrating body. "You dropped this." Here, he retrieved the container and dutifully presented it, scarcely able to refrain from hopping up and down like an excited foal.

Both nobles'--for their clothing clearly identified them as such--eyes immediately widened in shock and, within a fraction of a second, the mare was clutching onto the box, having hastily levitated it over to herself. Her grip was so tight that Sunburst worried she'd damage it - not the Sigil, of course, but the box was quite nice and it'd be a shame to ruin it. She stared down at it, breathing deeply as a vein pulsed on her hooded head, before glancing up and finally responding.

"Thank you, good sir, for returning this to us. I know not how we did not notice it fall, but our gratitude knows no bounds." Clearly, she was able to read the question at the forefront of the therapist's mind, and after thinking to herself for a moment, answered it. "My husband and I are...researchers...that have spent many years tracking down the Arcane Sigils. We're bringing this one back to Canterlot for further study." The other stallion raised an eyebrow at this and almost appeared confused, but a sharp look from the mare and a white flash that Sunburst nearly missed removed the expression. "Isn't that right, Light?"

The noble stallion nodded with rather robotic stiffness, but his accompanying smile seemed genuine enough and he gave no tells of anything being amiss.

"Yes, quite right, dearest. Was there anything else you needed, good sir?" Sunburst squinted, greatly conflicted by the strange mannerisms of these ponies. An odd feeling regarding them settled over him, one not helped by the mare's possessive grip about the box. Still, scholar that he was, the orange stallion chose to disregard the suspicion in favor of gaining more information.

"So, you're studying the Sigils, then? That's amazing; so am I!" He paused, sheepishly rubbing one foreleg with the other. "Well, not fully. It's more of a hobby, really. My wife and I have cutie marks based off two of them, you see."

Here, he telekinetically lifted the hem of his wizard cloak to reveal the image imprinted on his flank: The proud, radiant pattern of the Sign Of The Sun. The mare became immensely intrigued at this, finally ceasing her stranglehold on the box to lean forward and eye the Sigil. Her gaze roved the cutie mark with such relentlessness that her husband began glaring down at her, but she paid him no mind.

"Fascinating," she muttered, looking disappointed when Sunburst's magic cut off and the image was once more concealed from view. Sunburst, blissfully unaware of the strangeness of the situation, was instead delighted to have found somecreature as interested in ancient thaumaturgy as he was. Ooh, I wonder if they've read that new article by Eldritch Blast!

Fortunelessly, it was then that the train's whistle sounded and the engaging brakes caused it to squeal to a halt in Ponyville Station. The therapist let out a little groan of remorse and apology, beginning to retreat to his seat as numerous ponies stood from theirs to exit.

"Ah! I'm sorry, but we'll have to chat another day. I'm expected right now and I don't have time to dawdle!" He was about to prance off and retrieve his things when the mare levitated a slip of paper before his face, smiling amiably at him from behind it.

"Then please take this slip. It has my contact information, so we can meet up later and discuss things. Please keep it private, though, as we're trying to keep a low profile. I look forward to speaking with you." Sunburst nodded, placed the slip of paper in his cloak pocket, and would have responded with an agreement were he not then swept away by the moving crowd of ponies. He lost sight of the couple entirely in the bustle, electing to hurriedly grab his belongings lest he lose those, too.

Sunburst exited the train and promptly began searching the station for a certain lilac unicorn mare, but not before taking a cursory glance at the slip of paper.

'S.N.' Huh, I wonder what that stands for.

He was unable to dwell on that for long, though, preoccupied as he was in trotting towards his now-located wife. Starlight made eye contact soon enough, taking a few steps forward as a large grin broke out across her gorgeous face. Around them, the dense crowd of ponies blurred into nothing at all as the stallion closed the final distance and the mare's muzzle opened.

"Now, there's my favorite dor--"

Whatever witty remark she was about to make was abruptly cut off when Sunburst pulled her into a deep kiss, shutting his eyes to better revel in the presence of his beloved. Starlight jumped, surprised, but soon gave a pleased little hum as she leaned further into it in reciprocation.

The therapist couple stood like that for several moments, both blissfully taking in the proximity of the other as the world all but faded away completely. Finally, as one, they broke the gesture and rubbed noses before tilting their heads down to press their foreheads together.

"Hello, O cherished spouse of mine," greeted Sunburst, to which his wife let out a deep, relieved chuckle.

"And hello to you, you dorky son of a parasprite." The stallion grinned a smug little grin, bowing his head yet further as he held in jovial laughter. Still, the words next to leave the mare's muzzle made him freeze in place: "We have company, you know. A certain princess came along for the ride."

Sunburst yelped, hastily pulling away to fix his mane and overall appearance while his beloved gave off a musical guffaw. His eyes finally landed on the clearly-embarrassed form of none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle, who stood mere feet away.

"Princess!" He greeted, bowing deeply and trying his level best to ignore Starlight's continued chortling. "I'm very sorry about that, Your Highness. My actions were not appropriate for a public setting and I should not have enacted them." The alicorn, to his relief, merely raised a dismissive foreleg as she willed her light blush to fade away.

"That's quite alright, sir. I understand you've been separated for quite a while. Now, if you'll come with me," she eyed the now-recovered Starlight, who wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes before she straightened and resolutely faced forwards, "I'll give a debrief on the situation." As one, the party of three moved through the throng of ponies and toward the crystal castle in the distance.

"We have much to discuss."

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Why did you have such a massive timeskip?

[Discombobulated Soul]

11638951
Of a week? I mean, I suppose that could be considered a lot, but Fractus jumped around way more than that. I don't really think a week-long time skip is that significant, though, especially when nothing especially of interest occurred, which is the reason I skipped forward a bit.

[Cold Philosophy]

Always a pleasure to see another chapter of this story get published! Love the new cover by the way, Flygon does great work!

I like the depths you went to describing Lyra's lyre, when you could've described it much more basically. Refreshing to see Knight taking an interesting something besides paranoia.

Once again, go Bon Bon! Poor kid, but it looks like some progress has been made. Hopefully that trend continues.

Great to see Sunburst as well!
Oh, that S.N., always up to something. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Hopefully one of these powerhouses can stop whatever she's planning.

Anyway, thanks for keeping up with this story, and I'll look forward to the next installment as always.

Keep up the great work!

[Numinos]

Heh, weird unicorns took probably the least effective stringed instrument and beefed it up with magic : ) Great chapter!

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

Gotta say I absolutely love this story mate!

The canon characters are on point and some like Starlight are even expanded upon in a way that feels natural for an AU (I love for example how she commented about if she were to run a town she'd become an equality tyrant lol)

Darkest Knight's journey to healing is very compellingly written, as well as his internal turmoil, where you managed to give every personality a different voice, so to speak (and the same goes through for the rest of the characters as well!)

Another thing I quite enjoyed is that Ponyville itself feels like a character, which is not something I've seen done frequently. It makes you feel how strong their little community is with their willingness to help Darkest heal.

Speaking of him, it's nice to see he is starting to heal for real. The magic cheats, even if they may have helped speed up the recovery by giving Darkest a glimpse of how it feels to be safe, were never gonna cut it in the end —although I truly hope he can reconnect with Starlight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and maybe even connect with some other characters like Twilight and Luna.

I also adore how you can see how in love are Bon Bon and Lyra through every one of their interactions (honestly, media in general should have more healthy wholesome couples lol)

With that being said, I'll be eagerly awaiting for the next chapter mate, this is such a great story :3

Cheers Mate!

–Ryebuck

[Arctic_Razor]

I Just started reading this story a few days ago, and i have already finished reading this latest chapter.

Very rarely am I invested in a story as strongly as this one. Out of the hundreds of stories I've read, and the millions of words in them. Only a handful of them had gripped my emotions like this particular story.

Absolutely fantastic work so far! Incredibly well written, and an amazing story build up with it. Definitely some of the finest work I've read here.

I look forward to the next update if it's planned. Please take care!