The Lyruminati

by Silly Words

The Act of Invasion

“It's wonderful to see each other again, isn't it?”

“I agree, letters just aren't enough.”

Bon-Bon smiled, happy to enjoy moments with her sister, Cream Filling. They were seated in the living room at Cream's house in Canterlot. Before them, two cups of tea on the table gave off a relaxing aroma. Both took a sip.

“Too bad Beaten Drum can't make it this evening,” Bon-bon said.

“You know how it is,” Cream waved a hoof. “With whose wedding this is, I'd be surprised if the royal marching band finished their parades before tomorrow's lunch!”

“And what a wedding it was, too. Especially after… You know… Those things attacked.”

Both mares shuddered at the memory of the invading creatures. Both knew that if either of them ever saw another changeling, it would be too soon.

"But let's not think about that. I know there is a much more pleasant thing to talk about. I mean, the fact that your daughter was a bridesmaid, that doesn't happen too often." Bon-bon grinned.

"Oh, that must have been the highlight of all our lives! And to royalty, no less! And to think that it all started with just an ad for a babysitter," Cream laughed. "Where is that filly, anyway? Did she reveal any of her evening plans to you?"

“I think she remained at the party for a while longer to Catch up with Moondancer.”

A sudden sharp knock interrupted the calm atmosphere. Both mares tensed, some thoughts about the evening battle entering their minds. With a worrying glance at one another, both mares went to answer the door.

Upon answering, they've been subjected to the poker face of a unicorn guard. “Good evening, ladies. Is this one yours?”

The guard held, in his magic field, a fancy dressed mint-green unicorn. She waved to both mares with an embarrassed smile.

While the mother of the unicorn only managed to slightly nod once, otherwise stiff from shock, the other mare did a Lyra-salute. Or, as the common pony knew it, a facehoof, only with an extra hint of annoyance, and a bit of desperation thrown in for good measure as well.

The guard floated Lyra through the door and set her down. “I recommend you watch her,” he said curtly, saluted and walked away.

“Eh, I feel like going to bed now anyway,” Lyra stated and got up, only to have her way blocked by her mother, who just managed to break of her stupor.

“Oh, no you don't, young missy. Just what have you got yourself into this time?”

“I do hope you saying that you're going to see Moondancer wasn't a ruse,” Bon-bon added.

“Of course not! I never lie! I was talking with Moondancer. But, since she's an undersecretary at the castle, it would be a criminally wasted opportunity if I didn't take a little look around there afterward.”

“Just what possessed you to do such a thing?”

“The search for the truth, of course! I couldn't, in good faith, ignore all the fishiness about this whole cheeseling outburst.”

“Changeling,” corrected Bon-bon, absentmindedly.

“I had hoped you'd be over these tendencies now,” Cream turned from Lyra to Bon-bon, a frown etched on her face. “Don't tell me you support her in this.”

“Well, no. But believe me, I could never stop her. The best I can do is to try and rein her.” The mare then turned to the unicorn. “Lyra, at least just this once, drop it. Please. It was an invasion. A simple matter of enemy forces trying to take over and failing.”

“Not if you take into account that the invasion force feeds on love. How would you get that when you traumatize your source? Not to mention, those were shape shifters. It stands to reason they know how to be good actors. Ergo, the whole thing has been staged!”

“Oh, sweetie.” Lyra's mother took on a comforting face. “You're just a little confused. That monster hypnotized you, and you still have some jumbled doubts over what is right, haven't you? Come, sit with us, and take a cup of tea.”

Lyra frowned. “Yeah, that definitely wasn't nice of her. She hypnotized me because she found out about me doing some snooping before the wedding. She said I might compromise her by proxy.” At that point Lyra Laughed: “Ha! As if I would get caught!”

Her smile faltered as her mother and aunt both gave her flat stares.

“Okay, it's not my fault that the guards are still jumpy after the afternoon. If I had been there a week before I'd be fine!”

“Come sit down Lyra, you're being ridiculous. You don't want me to ground you with how old you are, do you? Tell me, I hear you have a music instrument workshop. How is it going?”

“Fine enough,” Lyra waved her off, only to bring her topic back. “You don't suppose they were supposed to clear any rumors about cloning machines, do you?”

Both her relatives gave her more flat stares. “Cloning machines.”

“That's right! Did you never look at a pony and think 'Hey! She looks just like Trixie! And that one too!'?”

“You do know ponies don't have unique colors, right?”

“Yes! Exactly!” Lyra pointed at Bon-bon. The earth pony shivered. The fact that her niece was suddenly agreeing was somewhat disconcerting.

“While there are, in theory, an infinite number of colours, we do see them all as just a couple hues. That means that ponies are bound to look like one another often. And what would cloning even achieve?”

She then smiled, as a cat would smile on a cornered mouse it was chasing the whole day. Cream managed a side remark to Bon-bon before Lyra continued with her revelation: “Rein her in, you say?”

“So, there's a different angle to this. Then it hit me. It is a publicity stunt for princess Cadenza. The secret princess,” Lyra continued.

Bon-bon looked at Cream sadly. “I said it's the best I can do. Failing that, it's always just letting her monologue until she winds down.”

“I knew about Cadance because she foalsat me a few times. But when I tried talking about her with anypony, they were all like 'Who's Cadance?' Or 'Celestia is the only princess, silly.' Or even 'Get off my petunias, you whippersnapper!' Or, anytime I asked 'which princess?' everypony kept staring at me as if I've fallen from the Moon!”

“Lyra!” Her mother scolded her. “That metaphor is not suitable for polite company.”

“So, you see, a princess, who has been kept under the radar, has suddenly been thrusted into the spotlight. The only explanation is that Celestia is about to come forth with a very unpopular decree and hopes to minimize the backlash by spreading it across multiple princesses!”

“And I suppose you were trying to find what that decree is going to be about.”

“Of course I was. What else would I be doing that close to the enemy?”

“I've had enough…” Cream muttered, ready to ground her daughter for a year.

“Too bad I couldn't find anything related to that, but I did find something else interesting. Look at this!”

Lyra then reached to where her neck connected with her jaw. Both mares once again stiffened, when it looked like she ripped a piece of her skin right off of her. But after a second look, they noticed that Lyra actually had a piece of cloth with a furry texture, the same colour as her coat, tied by a hair-thin piece of string around her whole neck, and it continued all the way down to below her dress.

From beneath, Lyra presented a paper.

“Is this an official document? It is! Lyra! You can't just steal those!”

“Oh Celestia! Lyra, you turn around right now, and march toward the nearest guard station, and hope-”

“Oh come on! Just listen! I finally found something and I've got the proof!”

She then levitated the paper and read a paragraph: “Anypony with a cutie mark that pertains to thievery shall be pardoned unless caught in the act by a guard. This is meant keep ponies on their toes.”

The silence in the room once she finished was deafening.

Finally, Cream stuttered. “Does… It… Is that why…” Her expression suddenly changed from shock to anger. “I don't believe this!”

“I know, right? Ponies don't even have toes! I am certain that this was not written by a pony, but by a strange, shady- Hey!”

Cream swiped the paper from Lyra's magic, glaring at it, reading line by line. “All those years ago! My wedding bracelet! They never went after the crook! Just because of this… This… Ugh!”

“Cream?” Bon-bon reached out.

“I'm going down into the guard's office. This is a travesty!”

Lyra lunged, grabbing her mother's hooves. “No! Please! They can't know we know! Especially about me!”

“It's okay, Lyra, I won't mention how I got this. But-” Cream turned and faced her daughter. “That doesn't mean I'm not angry at you. When I return, I will decide on a punisment. It's not right to just take things that don't belong to you. Now, stay here.”

Turning to Bon-bon, she added before heading out: “Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn't leave.”

---

An hour later, Lyra, already without of both her fancy clothes and her secret neck-pouch, was grumbling while washing the dishes.

“You're the second noisiest dishwasher I've ever heard,” Bonbon noted.

“It's not fair. That paper was my discovery of the week!”

“I admit, that little piece of law was a piece of work for sure, but you still can't go around snooping in places you have no business in.”

“But mom was going to punish me herself!”

“And she will. That doesn't mean I can't do it too.”

That moment, the door clicked as Cream returned.

“So, how did it go?”

“It's taken care of,” Cream droned.

“Good.” Bon-bon smiled. “Now, I think I'll take a shower. I've had Lyra wash the dishes. Maybe she could help you by cleaning the rest of the kitchen too.”

“Auntie…” the unicorn in question whined.

“Good idea. Get to it, Lyra.”

“Aww. Did they at least let you keep the document?”

“It's taken care of,” her mother answered, in the same monotone voice as when she returned. Lyra stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Didn't you hear me? Chop chop! The mop is where I always keep it.”

With her ears folded back, Lyra went to retrieve the cleaning supplies. All the while, she watched her mother from the corner of her eye, thinking: Auntie, when are we going home?

Comments

[Bronydragon]

The guards took the document didn't they?
Aaaw. Now Lyra had the first good hint and it's gone again.

Dragon san

[Silly Words]

5281975
The Illuminati are watching me!
It would be a bigger achievement if they weren't watching everybody else too, though...

5282493
Eeyup. Don't you just hate when that happens?

[Bronydragon]

5285109
Absolutely.
This one time I found the proof that our school systems want to make us into robot like people who know the same things , but with the illusion of the freedom of choice. The moment you act as an individual and think differently they do everything to bring you back down and back to the others again. Those who can follow their rules to an absolute maximum are rewarded with praise and success, but think differently and you got the whole system against you.

Dragon san