A Fresh Start

by QuilliamPenn

Chapter 4: Anger Management

Chapter Four: Anger Management

Anger. Lots and lots of anger; all Sketch could see, feel or hear was anger. It was rushing through his veins like some sort of poison, he could feel it in his ears: a slight ringing noise, tainted by that of some far off voice. This “Bon Bitch” had; for some reason, decided it would be a good idea to buck Lyra in the face, leaving the mare with a very large, very swollen, black eye.

---

He knew he should be angry of course, but why was he this angry? Sketch barely even knew this mare, and he was going to go charging up to the door of somepony he had never even met, and give them a stern talking to? No, not a talking to, maybe a good thrashing; repay what Lyra had been dealt.

“Sketch!”

There it was, that little voice again, it kept hitting the ringing in his ears as he plotted his vengeance.

“Sketch wait!”

He pushed the voice out of his mind; he had to do something about this, about the pain that had been inflicted upon Lyra. Sketch came to a halt as he felt a sharp tug on his tail, he whipped around with an almost feral growl to see who had done this, but nopony was there. His tail; however, was encased in a blue-green glow; and stood straight as a rail. Sketch tugged at his tail, but made no progress in escaping from this glow that held him back.

“Sketch just stop a minute!”

Again the voice penetrated his ears; this time however, it was closer.

“Just stop, and listen to me please!”

He looked up to see Lyra, horn glowing, trotting up to him. Lyra had pushed her mane back over her eye, hiding it from view. The sight of Lyra made Sketch feel calmer for some reason, as if she were some sedative that had been injected into his bloodstream.

“You can’t just go barging up to my house and break down the doors Sketch, especially not as angry as you are now.” Lyra’s voice was soothing.

“This isn’t right. It needs to be dealt with.” The red in his vision was beginning to fade now; albeit slowly, but fading nonetheless.

“I understand that Sketch, but if you were to go in there right now, in a state like that? All you would do is end up doing something you would end up regretting; of that I am certain.”

“Lyra! This isn’t just something you can put off! It needs to be taken care of as soon as possible!”

Lyra let out a gentle sigh and strode up to Sketch; putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“You aren’t listening to me. I agree with you, this isn’t something that should be put off; but even so, now is not the time for it to be dealt with, not when you were so angry you didn’t even feel it when Twilight threw a book at you.”

Sketch huffed.

“What?”

Twilight had been sitting silently behind Lyra, watching and listening; it was only now the mare chose to speak up.

“Yeah…sorry about that, I kinda panicked…” She said.

“It…It’s alright Twilight…” Sketch found he was calmer now; the red had gone from his vision and he could think straight. After all, Lyra was the one who had suffered; not him, he should at least be listening to what she had to say.

“Fine… But this doesn’t mean we aren’t going to deal with it. Something like this… if it isn’t dealt with it could end up getting worse.”

Again Twilight spoke.

“I agree, however for now, I think we need to take care of Lyra’s eye. I will go make some ice with my magic and we can take care of her. We can all sit down and talk about this.”

“Talk about it? There isn’t anything to talk about! That bitch hurt her and I-“

“Sketch calm down, you’re going to attract attention.” Lyra again tried to calm him.

He let out a sigh.

“Alright, fine… I still don’t-“

Lyra put a hoof to his mouth.

“Shh”

Sketch attempted to glare at Lyra, but only found himself able to stare into her one visible eye; she really was like a sedative.

“We can talk about this, just…somewhere else, ok?” Lyra’s voice was soft and controlled; despite the current situation she was in. With a nod Twilight led the two of them back to the library. Apparently Sketch had been in his rage fueled state for a while, as it took them a good ten minutes to get back. Not a word was said between the three of them during the return trip. However, words or not, Sketch’s mind was still running at full speed. Had BonBon really gotten so angry, she hit Lyra, just because she was out late? Lyra was no filly; she was old enough to make choices like that herself. He hadn’t heard much about BonBon, but he doubted anypony could be that crazy. There had to be something she wasn’t telling him.

Eventually they returned to the library, Lyra and Sketch had been lead into a room with a large table; it appeared to be made out of the tree itself. Twilight had gone off to prepare a small ice pack for Lyra, leaving Sketch alone with the mare.

After a few moments of silence, Sketch spoke up.

“Sorry about that.”

“Huh?” Lyra looked up at him; she had previously been fixated on something on the ground.

“The way I stormed off and got so mad, it wasn’t my place. You shouldn’t have to calm me down and take care of me: you’re the injured party here, so if anypony should be getting taken care of it should be you. So again, I’m sorry I got so angry. I understand if you don’t want me to get involved; it isn’t my business.

Lyra laughed.

“You have nothing to be sorry about Sketch, although I didn’t know you felt so strongly about me, and my wellbeing.”

She smiled warmly as she finished; Sketch couldn’t tell if she actually meant what she had said or if she was kidding. Just as he was about to respond, Twilight returned, levitating the icepack as she strode in.

“Here you go Lyra!”

Lyra graciously accepted the icepack; and, using her hoof, held the pack to her eye.

Twilight sat down next to Sketch and gazed at Lyra; as if she were awaiting something. After a few moments Lyra noticed this and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Twilight, there isn’t anything to talk about. It happened, I’ll deal with it. I told you because you were interrogating me about why I was wearing my mane different, and then you overreacted. I will take care of this, I promise.”

“But Lyra I-“

“Twilight, I will take care of it, ok?”

Twilight huffed, but then let out a sigh of defeat.

“Oh fine; but if you need anything at ALL, you know I am here for you, alright?”

Lyra nodded and stood up, still holding the icepack with one hoof.

“Now I have…things to attend to, so I need to be going…to where I need to be…”

“You don’t have anywhere to stay do you?” Twilight said flatly.

“Um... yeah of course I do, I have a…friend who I can stay with…” Lyra was a terrible liar; worse at it than Twilight even.

“Lyra! You know you can always come and stay here! Just like you always have in the past.”

“Twilight!” Lyra’s tone was annoyed; the kind of tone that conveyed. “Shut up right now or I’ll strangle you.”

“What do you mean in the past? This has happened before!?” Sketch asked.

“No I just…Ugh. You guys, I really don’t want to talk about this right now, ok? I just need time to think.” Lyra sounded tired.

“Lyra, you can-“Sketch was cut off by a sharp elbow to the ribs, dealt by Twilight.

“I just…need some air, I’m gonna step outside for a minute.”

Lyra stood up and strode to the library door; without another word, she exited the library.

“You need to learn when to take action, and when to shut up.” Twilight said, as soon as she was sure Lyra couldn’t hear them.

“I barely said anything! You’re the one that upset her!”

“She needs to be comforted, especially after what she has been through, and you haven’t said anything to try and comfort her.” Twilight blatantly ignored Sketch’s statement.

“Me? Why the hell should she want ME to comfort her? We barely even know one another! Hell I don’t even know the first thing about her really.”

“Sketch! You were practically ready draw blood for her; if anything that shows you care, and after that display the least you can do is go and comfort her.”

“But I-“

Sketch was cut off by the two icy daggers Twilight was glaring into his eyes.

“Alright, alright…yeesh.”

With a sigh he stood up and stared at the Library door. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go and comfort Lyra, In fact he wanted nothing more than to make her feel better, it was that he had absolutely no idea HOW to comfort her. Should he simply go and sit by her, let her vent to him? Would she try to hug him and cry into his shoulder? What if all he did was make the situation worse? Or even worse, what if he said something offensive and Lyra would hate him? He had very little experience with this sort of thing. Usually he was the injured party and he never had had anypony to vent to.

“Twilight why exactly aren’t you the one doing this?”

“Because it’s different if I do it. She needs the comfort of a stallion; now go and talk to her. Besides, I don’t always…say the right stuff, when it comes to this kind of thing. I’m just not very good at it.

“Alright then.” he sighed.

Sketch trotted over to the door and slowly opened it. There a few yards from the door, sat Lyra, she seemed to be staring at something off in the distance. The breeze was cool; it signaled the coming of autumn. The breeze running through Lyra’s mane, coupled with the fact Celestia’s sun was getting ever closer to setting, was quite the scene to behold. If the situation had not been as it was, Sketch would have loved to copy it into his notebook. However, the situation was, in fact, happening; and he found himself needing to deal with it. Why was it he always managed to get involved in the crappy stuff?

“You gonna stand there all day, Stalker boy; or you gonna come over here?” Lyra spoke without looking at him.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I didn’t, not until you responded. Although Twilight would have been talking by now.”

Sketch chuckled. “I guess so.”

He trotted over and sat next to Lyra, her eye was red and she looked as if she had been crying. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Lyra never taking her eye off of whatever it was that she was staring at.

“It’s like, no matter what I do, somepony ends up mad at me.” Lyra spoke up suddenly. “Hell, I can’t even take care of myself; most of my life I’ve had to rely on others to help me get by.”

“Lyra, I’m sure that isn’t-“

“But it is true!” She interrupted. “I moved in with BonBon after I flunked out of magic school, for Celestia’s sake! That was like a year ago! If it wasn’t for her I would probably be on the street begging for scraps.”

“I doubt that; with your talents with that lyre I’m sure you wouldn’t have to look far for a job.” He replied.

“You think I haven’t tried my darndest to find a job?”

“No I didn’t mean that I just-“

Lyra turned to face Sketch

“I hate living with her, HATE IT! All she does all Celestia damned day is tell me how she is the only reason I have a home and remind me how much I need her, but even so, she really IS the reason I have a home. Without BonBon I am nothing but some lowlife nopony with nothing to her name but some stupid lyre and the mane on my head, and I try my very best to never, EVER, say anything bad about her, to her face or otherwise, because I try to be grateful for all she has given me. I can’t just go and announce that I am some worthless parasite who can’t live without being damned hoof-fed everything in life! Nopony around here NEEDS my talents, and BonBon would NEVER let me leave town to try and get work elsewhere; she is the one who brings in all the money! Any time I have ever even suggested such a notion she goes ballistic and starts saying I take all her money so she can’t do nice things and she makes me feel like a piece of shit for even asking about it.”

Tears threatened to start coming from Lyra’s visible eye, as she wiped her eye with a hoof and sniffed.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have gone off like that, it’s just… I feel like nopony understands what I have to put up with all the time.”

“I do.” He replied flatly.

“What?”

“My mother would make me feel worth less than the ground you spit on sometimes. I would go and do something nice, even after asking her if it was ok, and then later on she would use it against me and make me feel bad for it, accuse me of being the reason she can’t have nice things; like I am nothing but a sponge sucking up all our money.”

“W-what did you do?”

Sketch sighed, as he stared at Lyra for a moment. The last thing he wanted to do was make this about him. Lyra seemed to notice this and moved on.

“It’s just; I hate having to ask Twilight for a place to stay, and then she said that I had stayed there before and all that. Now you probably think I am some wimpy doormat of a pony that lets BonBon hit her all the time.” She said.

“Does she?” Sketch didn’t think before he spoke; he silently cursed himself with more than a few choice words.

“No. This was the first time she has gone that far.” Lyra didn’t seem to mind that Sketch had asked at all, in fact if anything she looked relieved.

“Listen. I know you don’t want to stay with Twilight, but sometimes; even if we don’t want it, we need to accept the help and generosity of others. More often than not it turns out to help us and our troubles.”

Lyra sighed.

“Yeah I know…I just feel like such a bother. After all she is working all the time and I just get in the way.”

This was going a LOT better than Sketch had thought it would. Why?

“I don’t think that’s true at all. Twilight wouldn’t mind I’m sure of it.” He said.

“No she does mind. She’s just too nice and caring to say anything about it. Every time I have stayed there I ended up being a bother to her somehow.”

“Oh…You know you could stay with me?”

Wait, what? What the hell was he even saying? Sketch barely knew Lyra and now he was offering her refuge in his scarcely furnished home! He had one bed and no couch! He needed to filter this whole brain-mouth thing he had going on.

“Really?”

“Uh…yeah, I mean if you really needed a place to stay until this all got sorted out…I mean unless you have somepony you know better to stay with! We barely know each other and uhh… I mean, uhh. What?”

Brain-Mouth filter. He needed to get one.

“To be honest I really don’t think I should…I mean you just moved in and all I would just be a bother.”

Nope, that was it. Forget the brain-mouth filter; Sketch was tired of hearing her say she was a bother.

“You are not a bother. Quit saying that.” Sketch drew out each word for emphasis. “I would love for you to stay at my place.”

She smiled, if only for a moment.

“Alright then, if you’re so damn insistent about it.”

Sketch looked out into the orange horizon; Celestia’s sun was setting now, and it was nearing time for Luna to raise the moon. Suddenly he felt a warmth against his neck; not moving his head, he looked over to see Lyra resting on him, a look of content replacing her previous state, except that she was wearing her mane in a way that hid her black eye, Lyra actually looked very cute in her hat, with her mane made up the way it was.

There was a deep growl, like that of some hungry animal eager to bite down on its meal. It was then Sketch realized it was his stomach.

Lyra giggled a bit.

“Am I going to have to go and take you to get food again?”

“Haha, very funny.” He mock laughed. “No it’s just. I went straight to work today and barely got any breakfast in me. Then on the way back from work I heard you and Twilight… so I didn’t really have time to eat.”

“Wait, you got a job?”

“Oh…uh yeah, I did! I work on the Apple farm now.”

“Well then, look at you; getting stuff done. You make me so proud, Sketchy.”

Sketch smiled as Lyra teased. It was good she managed to still make jokes and tease in light of all that was going on. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to.

“Tell me something Sketch. How exactly does one go literally all day without eating, and not notice it?”

He frowned, the question brought up bad memories. Memories of lying in bed hungry because eating wasn’t worth having to get yelled at because his mother felt bad that he was hungry.

“I’m just used to not eating, I guess.”

“Oh…That isn’t very healthy…” She said, sounding almost dejected.

“Yeah I know…not eating kind of became a habit, and I have found it difficult to break.”

It wasn’t that Sketch didn’t want to eat, he really did. It was that after years of his mother getting nasty about it, he just naturally suppressed the hunger so he wouldn’t notice it.

“Tell you what. I got some money today from Applejack. How about I take you out and get something to eat?”

“Oh my, you are quite the sly one huh? Come out here when I am all sad ‘n’ stuff, and then comfort me, offer me a place to stay and ask me out. Tsk tsk, taking advantage of a mare; I expected better Sketchy.” Her tone was extremely sarcastic, although Sketch didn’t interpret it that way.

“What? I didn’t take advantage! I only meant-“

Sketch was silenced by a hoof to his mouth.

“I was kidding; yeesh, take a joke.” Lyra said with a giggle.

Sketch hooded his eyes in response.

“Let me go tell Twilight of your smooth moves and we can get going.”

With a flick of her tail Lyra turned and trotted back to the library, she had a visible bounce in her step as she trotted.

“At least I made her feel better.” Sketch thought to himself.

As he heard the library door shut, the implications of the conversation he just had hit home. Lyra was staying with him? He didn’t have a second bed! Lyra would get the bed of course, but he didn’t have a couch to sleep on. Oh no, what if his room was a mess? Or what if it smelled; what if Lyra walked in and puked her dinner out because of the smell that he could have left!”

“Stalker boy, you ready to go?” Came Lyra’s voice; followed by a pat on the back.

“It doesn’t smell I swear!” He blurted out.

“What?” She replied with a laugh.

“Err, nothing. Never mind.”

“So where are we going?” Lyra asked, seemingly not even noticing Sketch’s previous words.

“Umm…wait, what are you wearing?”

Lyra was still wearing her baseball cap; however now all of her name was pulled back and she wore a black eye patch over her left eye.

“Oh! This! Twilight gave me an eye patch to wear so I don’t have to worry about somepony asking about my eye. She said she used it for something about time travel or the like; I’m not really sure. To be honest I think it looks a bit silly.”

“Honestly Lyra, you look like a badass.”

Lyra let out a warm laugh.

“Glad to know not everypony will be looking at me funny. So where are we going?”

Sketch’s eyes widened.

“Umm…I was thinking maybe…uhh…”

“You still have no clue where anything in Ponyville is; do you?”

“How about you choose where we go and I just pay for it…” He replied sheepishly.

***********************

After around 15 minutes of debating where exactly to eat Lyra and Sketch settled for pizza; Lyra claimed she was so hungry she could eat an entire creature Sketch had never even heard of; something along the lines of "human" or something, he couldn’t remember.

The pizzeria turned out to be a buffet, something Sketch was incredibly delighted to discover. After grabbing plates and placing a mountain of food on each one, the two ponies found a seat in a cozy corner booth with a picture of somepony named Elvis above it.

Sketch’s mouth was watering as he sat on the red seat; he had managed to gather a pile of food nearly half a hoof tall, something he had received numerous strange glances for, and he had every intention of eating all of it.

Lyra on the other hoof had decided to be more practical and only took a few pieces of pizza and a salad.

“So…” Lyra said as she sat down across from Sketch; who had already almost devoured an entire piece of pizza. He looked up as he prepared to take a huge bite out of his second piece. He then realized how terrible his manners were; he set the pizza down and wiped some sauce off the corner of his mouth; clearing his throat and sitting straight up.

“Dude, don’t worry; this isn’t the Canterlot dining hall or anything. I couldn’t care less about your table manners.” Lyra said with a smile.

Sketch was inwardly screaming with joy when he heard what Lyra had said. Most other mares he had met hated bad manners and scolded him for it. Nonetheless, he refrained himself from eating too messily.

“So, as I was saying. How did you manage to get a job so fast?

“I was just kind of strolling around the other day and I happened upon Applejack’s apple cart, near Sugarcube Corner. We got to talking and my lack of a job came up; I told her I didn’t want to work on the Weather Team and next thing I know I’m applebucking at Sweet Apple Acres!”

“How come you don’t want to work on the weather team, or do you just want to be a rebel?” Lyra stuck her tongue out at him as she finished; eliciting a chuckle from him.

“Not trying to be a rebel; it’s just, anypony who can fly seems to work on the Weather Team. I guess I’m just different. I don’t want to end up falling into the rut that everypony else in my family has work wise.”

“Oh I see. You know Derpy doesn’t work on the weather team. She’s the mailmare.” She said.

“Wait…” Sketch ate a bit of pizza before continuing.

“Is she grey, with a sort of goldish mane? Her eyes are a bit…derpy…looking?”

“Mmhmm” Lyra said; her mouth full of salad.

“Yeah I met her; well, kind of. She dropped a letter off at my house this morning, a little later I ran into a rather strange pony who wanted to taste the letter; he said he was looking for her.”

“Light brown coat? Dark brown mane, bit of an accent?”

“Yeah! You know him?”

“No one really knows him. I haven’t even figured him out yet. He always says or does something strange and is running around with Derpy. I think he calls himself Doctor or something.”

“Doctor who?” Sketch asked; a bit confused.

Lyra shrugged. “Hell if I know. He’s about as easy to understand as Pinkie Pie.”

“I see.” Sketch took another bite of pizza.

“So how’re you liking Ponyville then?”

It was good Lyra was the one asking questions; all he would have ended up talking about was the whole BonBon situation, as that is what was pushing into every thought that came into his mind. He swallowed his pizza before responding.

“Hmm, you know Applejack asked me the same thing.”

“And?”

“I like it much better than Cloudsdale; that place could be so loud sometimes. I was never one for busy or crowded places; I like to have ‘room to roam’, so to speak. Ponyville is a very nice change of pace, much quieter than Cloudsdale.”

Lyra laughed.

“Trust me, with Twilight and her friends running around, some days this town is anything but quiet.”

The two shared a laugh at this, and spent the rest of their time at the buffet swapping war stories and the like. Much to Sketch’s surprise, despite Lyra’s recent living conditions, she actually had encountered quite a few things since she lived in Ponyville, from a parasprite swarm, to a swarm of Pinkie Pie clones that had somehow appeared; something she claimed no mortal pony should have to endure. Lyra even told Sketch a bit about when Discord had escaped his stone prison.

“Discord? I heard something about him reforming or something awhile back, I think.” Sketch said.

“Mmhmm. Celestia brought him to be reformed by Twi and her friends; although Fluttershy ended up being the one who reformed him, I think.”

“Where is he now?”

“To be quite honest, I really don’t know where he lives. I would assume at the Castle where Luna and Celestia could keep an eye on him. He doesn’t visit town much other than to see Fluttershy though, as most ponies here still don’t trust him.” Lyra replied.

“Do you trust him?” He asked.

“Ehh, I haven’t really met him but once, so I couldn’t say. He was waiting for Fluttershy for whatever reason and I just happened to be walking by, I hadn’t seen him since his attack on Ponyville, and I had heard he reformed, so I said hi. We talked for a few minutes before he had to go with Fluttershy.”

“So you saw the Spirit of Chaos just kinda chilling outside, and your first thought was to strike up a conversation?”

“Only because I had heard he reformed. That, and there weren’t any pink clouds or chocolate milk rain. He seems really nice; I don’t see what everypony’s issue is. Celestia trusted enough that he was reformed that she took Fluttershy’s word for it. So I guess that counts for something. I don’t know; it’s probably one of those things that you have to take slow.”

“Probably.” Sketch replied.

By now both he and Lyra had finished everything that was on their plate. Sketch ended up getting in an argument with the manager, a griffin, over the bill for some reason; and after fifteen minutes of stern talking, Lyra went to wait outside. After another fifteen minutes, Sketch appeared outside next to Lyra.

“What was that all about?” She asked.

“That griffin demanded I pay more because I had taken so much of his buffet food.” He said in an annoyed tone.

“Oh, I see. Well, did you pay what he wanted?”

Sketch laughed.

“No way! He wanted an insane price for all that. I spent my money based off the prices written in the menu, and I’ll be damned if I pay more than that.”

“Yeesh, I didn’t know you felt so strongly about it.” Lyra teased.

Sketch looked up at the sky, where Luna’s moon had replaced Celestia’s sun. It cast it silvery rays across all of Equestria. He sat in silence and awe as he stared at it. He had always loved the moon. The cool nights it brought with it more often than not. Many a night had he flown out to the edge of some cloud and spent hours staring at the moon, he found it calming and a good way to unwind after a bad day; something he had had very many of in the recent months.

“Pretty isn’t it?” Lyra’s voice chimed.

“Mmhmm.” Was all Sketch could utter in his almost entranced state.

He sat there and stared into the white; crater filled, orb, until once again Lyra spoke.

“So um… We going back to your place or what?” Her voice was teasing; it snapped Sketch out of his moon induced trance.

“Wait, what?”

“Hmm? Oh nothing!”

Without another word the aquamarine mare practically bounced off in the direction of Sketch’s home.

“Hey, wait up!” He called and trotted after her.

After he caught up to her, Lyra slowed down a bit allowing Sketch to trot next to her at a slow stride. The two ponies traveled in complete silence for a while. No sound but that of their hooves on the road could be heard. The silence was driving Sketch mad. What could he say? Should he say anything? Should he ask about BonBon? Or should he just leave it alone? What if He didn’t talk and Lyra felt awkward? He kept a straight face as his brain furiously tried to think of something to say. Little did he know, Lyra was doing the exact same thing.

Finally Sketch thought of something to say; however, before he could speak. Lyra let out a sharp cry of pain and brought her hoof up to her head.

“Lyra! What’s wrong?!”

Lyra moaned in displeasure as she rubbed her forehead.

“It…It’s my head. Celestia damn headache.”

“You want to sit down?”

Lyra let out another pained moan as she rubbed her head.

“Yeah…”

Sketch lead the injured Lyra over to a bench nearby and sat her down. Her hoof was pressed firmly against her forehead and her visible eye was tightly shut. He had no idea what to do.

“Umm…Do you need anything or uh…”

Lyra manage to let out a pained laugh.

“It’s a headache, Sketch; don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine in a second.”

Lyra shifted to her strange sitting position as she spoke, pointed her face towards the sky, and clenched her eye shut.

“You sure you don’t-“

“I’m fine, I promise.” She said. This time she sounded a little less pained.

Sketch sat in an awkward silence, not sure what to do; something he realized had been happening a lot lately. After a few minutes Lyra’s face seemed to relax and she was still. Sketch’s mind instantly panicked at this sudden change and almost shook her to make sure she was alive. However, before he did so, he noticed Lyra’s chest slowly rising and falling.

After averting his complete self-embarrassment and stopping himself from practically assaulting Lyra, Sketch found himself studying her features. Even with her “Badass” eye patch on, Lyra was still a very pretty mare; she was one of the rare ones that looked pretty without having to try.

“I can practically feel your eyes dude.” Lyra said suddenly.

“What! I don’t know what you are talking about; I wasn't doing anything!”

Lyra opened her good eye and directed her golden iris over to Sketch.

“Uh huh.” She said with a smile.

Sketch was blushing a bright red.

“You feeling better?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, a bit. The headache has died down a bit now, I think I can walk properly.” Lyra yawned and shakily stood up. She got her footing than began to walk again, slowly at first, but eventually she and Sketch returned to their previous pace.

“So, do you think that headache is anything to worry about?” Sketch asked after they had trotted for a bit.

Sketch waited a moment for Lyra’s response. It never came. He looked over to see Lyra’s eyes almost shut and her head bobbing as she tried to stay awake.

“Lyra?”

She shook her head briskly and winced a bit.

“Uhhh…yeah sorry. I dozed off a bit, I’m fine now…” As she spoke she had already begun dozing off again.

“Lyra…”

Lyra repeated her previous actions.

“Yeah?”

Sketch stared at the exhausted mare for a moment.

“You alright? Are you sure your head feels fine?”

Lyra sighed.

“Yes, yes; it’s not that. I’m just really damn tired is all. Are we almost there?”

“Actually no…” He replied sheepishly.

“Oh…” Lyra’s tone was flat. Without another word she began to trudge on.

“Lyra hold up a second.”

“Yeah?” She said groggily.

Sketch trotted up next to the mare and scooted up next to her.

“Get on my back.”

Lyra’s eye widened slightly.

“W-what?” She said with a tired laugh.

“You are going to fall over you’re so tired. Hop on my back and I can carry you the rest of the way.”

“Sketch, no, I couldn’t; you just said it was a long way to the house and that-“

“Better I have to work a bit than you end up tripping or something.”

“But I-“

“Lyra. I am not really asking here…” He said firmly; he wondered if maybe he was being a bit to firm.

“Oh fine. Why’d you have to be all noble ‘n’ stuff……yeesh”

With a yawn Lyra clambered onto Sketch’s back, curled up, and managed to sit comfortably, for her at least, on his back. Sketch spread out his wings a bit so that she wouldn’t fall off if anything happened. After making sure Lyra was in a good spot on his back, he began the long trot home. Lyra let out a sigh of content as he began moving, and after a while, he could feel she had fallen asleep.

The rest of the trot took little over fifteen minutes, Sketch had not had as hard of a time carrying Lyra as he thought he would have, she was very light. The way he carried her reminded him of how he used to carry his little brother, before he had left. Dammit, why did his brain keep coming back to that? He needed to push it out for the time being, suppress it. He had to help Lyra deal with the pony who had abused her.

Eventually Sketch’s home came into view.

Inside he was overjoyed things had worked out the way they did, because when he finally arrived home, his house was a mess.

Sketch hadn’t realized how much of a mess he had left his home in. His breakfast crumbs and the napkin he had set his food on were still on the table, there were remnants of boxes and packing materials everywhere, and he had neglected to dust the cobwebs from when he had moved in.

After navigating the minefield of mess that was his floor, Sketch took Lyra into his bedroom and gently set her on the bed. She looked happy and content. Not just laughing and having a good time like earlier at dinner. She looked truly happy.

In her state of rest, Lyra let out a sigh and shifted in her sleep. Sketch smiled and; after pulling a blanket over her, quietly exited the bedroom. He turned to face the mess of a house that was before him.

“I’m too tired for this…”

Boy had he had a day. First day at work, this whole issue with Lyra, practically taking Lyra out on a date. Could that even be called a date? Or did Lyra just consider him a friend? He shook his head. He would have to think about this when he wasn’t tired. With a sigh he took off his saddlebags and threw them on his table. The letter he had received earlier that morning slid out as the saddlebag hit the table.

“Huh, I had forgotten about that…”

Sketch stared at the letter on his table; he didn’t feel like reading it right now. Hell for all he knew it could be something he would have to deal with; something that would keep him up later. Staying up later was the last thing he wanted. With a yawn he decided to read it before work in the morning.

Sketch trotted over to his chair and slumped down into it. He would sleep, just not very comfortably.

“Oh well. It’s only polite that Lyra gets the bed. After alI, I didn’t get bucked in the face today.” he said quietly, although he felt as if he had been.

As he laid there, the day’s events replayed in his tired mind. Working at the apple farm, this whole situation with Lyra, his brother and the fact Applejack’s suggestion to go and retrieve his brother was stuck in his mind. The nightmare he had the night before. How it seemed that Celestia herself must hate him due to the fact he left one crapstorm just to walk into another.

Sketch didn’t mind though: Lyra was the nicest mare he had ever met. She had treated him with respect in the short time he had known her. However, nice or not, he needed to learn to filter what he said around her or he would end up saying something he regretted.

Despite his brain’s current state of chaos, Sketch managed to slowly drift off to sleep. Little did he know, however, that his rest would do little to prepare him for the events of the next day. Events related to the letter he should not have waited to read.

The letter, which had been sent by his mother.

---

Comments

[CanoLathra]

Hello everyone. Sorry I took so long, but chapter 4 is finally proofread and posted! I hope you enjoy.

[QuilliamPenn]

Yay I hit over 200 views
I feel like a kid who just lost his first tooth or something

200 isn't too big of a deal compared to others, but hey, it's something

[RadBunny]

“Doctor who?” Sketch asked; a bit confused.

I see what you did there.....
Great chapter! Didn't catch any spelling errors or anything...maybe a bit more detail/slower pacing? Dunno, seemed...a bit fast/choppy at points?
Meh. It was a good chapter regardless!

[QuilliamPenn]

2521504
I had to use the "Doctor Who" line......I was writing it and all of a sudden I was like, "Oh my god that is so corny, I must use it."

[Cosmos Darkstar]

Sketch will be destroyed by mom NOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Sir Derp]

Kudos on the date scene, The Relationship seemed to fit the two perfectly, Awaiting your next chapter but this chapter gets 9/10 Big Macs

[QuilliamPenn]

2636957
Chapter 5 is at the proofreaders as we speak, it should be done in the next few days! I'm glad you're liking the story so far

[Sir Derp]

2640774 Mac says thanks

[QuilliamPenn]

Chapter 5 should be done very soon

Chapters 6-7 will be submitted together for.....well you will all see. Just expect it to take a bit longer than normal to get chapters up for a while after this next one.