> Side Effects
>  by AgentSnail
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Coronation


"Caramel, did you forget?!"  Lyra yelled, roughly opening the door to his house without knocking.  Caramel growled in annoyance.  She knew about the key under the doormat, apparently.  "Our train's leaving in like ten minutes, and we need to go!  How often do you think we get new princesses around here?"

"Oh shush Lyra, I'm almost done!"  he yelled back, watching her trot inside.  Lyra always touched things, it made him nervous.  Not that his little one story house had that much for her to break, but she more than easily seemed to eclipse his forgetfulness with her ability to break things.  And yet, the rest of the time she seemed fairly light on her feet.  He admired that, really.  It was a lot better than his partial clumsiness.

"What are you doing, anyway?"  she asked, having apparently moved over his shoulder.  

"I told you, I'm designing a house to build just outside of town.  Near Octavia's, remember?"  Maybe he wasn't the forgetful one...

"Oh yeah...  Yeah, I know what you're talking about."  Her usual, happy gait returned.  "The story of how that relates to the three horseshoes on your butt, though, I'm still a little fuzzy on.  Now come onnnn, we need to go, and Bon Bon's waiting outside still."

Caramel chuckled and got up, running a hoof through his brown mane in an attempt to make himself presentable before he walked into his kitchen and opened a cabinet, grabbing a pill bottle as Lyra groaned in annoyance.  He downed a couple, hoping that the slight headache he'd had since last night would finally decide to leave, instead of continuing on it's slowly worsening path.  Caramel drank the rest of the water and put the glass in the sink as he turned to follow the aquamarine mare out the door.  He nearly bumped into Bon Bon, apologizing quickly as he locked his door.

"Hey Bon Bon,"  he said as he turned back around, breaking into a trot as the trio made their way down the straight street to the train station.  The mare responded with a polite nod and a smile, before eventually breaking the ice.

"So how's work?"  she asked Caramel, who shrugged.  

"Good, I guess.  Sometimes all the planning gets on my nerves.  I had to copy everything onto a new sheet after my eraser tore a hole."  He sighed.  "It takes forever to get what you want sometimes.  It's like art, but of actual practical value."  Caramel paused for a moment, seemingly examining his hooves as they clopped over the cobblestones.  "How about you two?  Candy making and music working well still?"

"You say that like ponies are just suddenly not going to want to hear me play."  Lyra said, putting a hoof to her chest as she carefully continued to trot on three legs.  "And even then, I can just take a little trip to Canterlot, get my pay for a month that way."

"She's a modest one."  Bon Bon said, deadpan. 

"Hey, it's not like I can't cheer for other ponies, but being the only lyre player in town has its own prestige."

"Oh yes, people are all over the street asking you to play for them, huh?"  Caramel asked with a smirk, receiving a playful hoof to his shoulder.  

"It's not like I have this thing on my flank because I painted it there."  She responded, chuckling at the general uselessness of the conversation.

"We don't know that you didn't..."  He continued, chuckling as she grinned back, although he could tell she wasn't sure how to disprove his statement.  They always seemed to exchange jibes like this, and as pointless as it was, it gave the three something to do when they ran out of interesting things to talk about.  

"So where's Ocatavia?"  Bon Bon asked, after they had moved a ways further in silence.  "She's still coming, right?"

"Octavia?  Be late for this?!"  Lyra snickered, putting a hoof to her muzzle.  "Two flaws with that.  She's never late to anything, even that time I tried to delay her just to see if it was possible, and she wouldn't miss this in the first place."

"Once a Canterlite, always a Canterlite, huh?"  Caramel asked.  "At least she's not all high and mighty like that moron I did a house for one time. God, that guy acted like he knew everything about how to design houses."  He scoffed.  "Put the pillar right there, Cramal, move that over here, Cramel!  Why did you put a bathroom there, Cramel?"

"He seriously called you Cramel?"  Lyra responded with a giggle, "No way, you're pulling my leg!"  

"I wish I wasn't.  At least I got paid for the job eventually though."  He finished with a sigh.  A pang of a headache went through his skull again, painfully reminding him of the stupid thing.  Not that the pain was particularly bad, just a little annoying.  His back cracked rather loudly and he looked back nervously, before snickering at his friends' looks.

"Was that your back?"  Bon Bon asked.  "I don't think it's supposed to do that..."

"It didn't really hurt much or anything, I think it's probably fine."  He dismissed the mare with a hoof.  Although she was right, that was a little loud and there was a twinge of pain in there...

"You feeling okay?"  Lyra asked, touching at his back as they neared the steps to the train platform.

"Yeah, the back's fine.  I've been getting a little bit of a headache since last night though, but I guess that could be the weather.  The team says there's rain rolling over the Everfree, right?"

"That won't affect us, Caramel."  She pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's still a change in atmospheric pressure, that could be the reason."  He said, frowning as Lyra giggled.  

"Look at you, trying to be all science-ey."  She ruffled his mane and floated a small bag of bits over to the pay window as the other two went to grab their own coin pouches, carefully passing them over to the stallion behind the glass as well.

"Those saddlebags have sure seen better days."  Bon Bon said, pointing at the ragged canvas carrying equipment over Caramel's back.

"I don't make that much money,"  he replied with a shrug.  "I save where I can, there's nothing wrong with this thing."

"That'll sure be ironic when it breaks in Canterlot."  Lyra giggled, picking up one side of the bag slightly before she let it fall back to his side.  

"Oh yeah, it'll be so very funny."  He responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"You know most ponies in Canterlot would find that hilarious."

"Maybe I'll just-"  The train whistle cut him off, suddenly making him mute as the sound of his voice was drowned out.   He said a few more words before he decided to stop talking, debating whether a continuation of the conversation would be worth it.  At least he was gaining comeback skills, that'd sucked when Bluegrass blamed him for misplacing those seeds.  He'd never done that, dammit!  And yet, that had become the running joke around town for a week.  What a crappy seven days that'd turned out to be.

"What took you guys so long?!"  Octavia yelled as she skidded to a halt next to the small group, watching the train come to a halt.  "We're going to be late!"  

"Don't be so melodramatic, we'll be fine!"  Lyra responded, poking Octavia with a hoof.  "Besides, you're not playing today, so why does it matter if we're a minute late?"

"Because, we're never going to see this again, it'll never happen!"

"Pfft, that's what they said about Cadance, and she- happened?"  The train came to a stop and they boarded, making their way to two pairs of seats that were facing each other.  "I'm just kidding, I don't want to give you that hard of a time."

"Oh yeah, thanks."  Octavia replied with a roll of her eyes.  

"Hey, is it cool if I get some sleep?"  Caramel asked.  "This headache's getting a little worse."

"Oh, sure!"  Bon Bon said, glaring at the other two.  "We can be quiet, right?"  She stared at Lyra.  "Right?"

"But Bon Bon, that means no yelling, screaming, guffawing-"  A hoof found its way into her mouth, as Bon Bon frowned again. 

"I'll keep her quiet for you."  The cream colored mare responded with a slight giggle.  "Go ahead and get some sleep."

"Thanks."  He said, trying to focus on something other than the light throbbing in his head as he laid his head back and closed his eyes, attempting to think past the constant clacking of the rails and the conversation from elsewhere in the car.  Caramel tried to focus on something happier, something that would make him doze off, but his mind kept pulling him back to his  ex mare friend, Cloverfield.  Again.  The fact that he still thought about her annoyed him to no end, he just wanted her out of his life at this point.

What right did she think she had, cheating on him like that?  At least that punch had felt good, served the bitch well, he thought.  But the problem was, as much as he hated her for what she'd done, he couldn't get over the fact that he'd fallen for her.  At least it hadn't got too serious before he'd figured out that she was a fucking liar and she-

*Snore*


_________________________________________________________________________


"Caramel, wake up, we're here!"  Lyra yelled, shaking his shoulders around.  He had a blissful moment of calm before his ears started to pick up the ambient noise and his head started pulsating again, sending much more intense pains through her head.  He groaned and leaned over, resting his head as the pain lifted slightly.

"You sure you're okay?"  Octavia asked, sharing the look of concern with the other two mares.  

"Yeah, I'll tell you if it gets too bad."  Caramel responded, shaking his head slightly.  Fuck, that made it worse.

"Seriously, just tell us."  Lyra said, putting a hoof on his shoulder.  He'd never seen her look this worried before, come to think of it.  How bad did he look?

"Let's just get moving.  Maybe grab some water?"

"Yeah, sure!"  She yelled, perking back up.  "Let's get going, guys!"  She hopped off the train, trotting a few steps ahead until she was able to look upwards, at the lit up mountain and the spires of the castle.  Lyra disappeared into a throng of ponies for a moment, before somehow returning with a cup of water and handing it to Caramel.

"Thanks."  He said, drinking it down and feeling slightly better.  "It helps, at least."  

Lyra nodded with a slight smile, before she turned back around and the small group ventured through the crowds and festivities, enjoying the diversity of lights and stalls.  These were things that she wouldn't mind coming back to later, experiencing the interests of a town usually dormant in this respect.  

"You know, we still have some time,"  Lyra said, looking at some sort of weird wristwatch.  "About ten minutes, so we can slow down how fast we work our way over there, at least."

"That clock, you made that?"  Caramel asked, pointing to the watch.  

Lyra grinned.  "Yeah, took a couple tries.  Bon Bon says it's the first sane thing this crazy inventor's made while I've been her housemate.  But the fully automated lyre player had potential at being a really annoying poker."

"It wasn't fully automated, you had to crank it!"  Bon Bon shot back, throwing her hooves up in annoyance.  

"Yeah, but I had plans for it to use another source of power."  The aquamarine mare said with a shrug, dropping a few bits on a table and grabbing a muffin.  "Besides, that's one more poker thing than you have."  She continued, smirking.

"Oh yes, we all want one of those."  Caramel said, gritting his teeth as his head pulsed painfully.  "You know, to annoy our neighbors through an open window?"

"I only did that once!"  She said, laughing as she remembered the experience.  "But the jerks slammed the window on the little arms, I had to rebuild the last third."  Lyra looked at her watch, slapping a hoof to her head as if remembering something.

"Dammit I forgot, this clock's slow.  We only have two minutes."

"Lyyyyyyyraaaaaaa!"  Octavia moaned.  "You know I hate being late!"

"Yeah, it's a little creepy how much you're against it."

"Let's just get going, kaput?"  The gray mare asked, her face darkening.

"Fine, whatever."  The four broke into a trot, weaving around the shifting crowds as they neared the castle, several helpful signs funneling them down the right street.  It wasn't much of a walk; the station was skewed towards this side of the city anyway.  The crowd started to become more dense as the balcony they were looking for came into view, and they pushed their way inside, trying to get a good view.

Caramel stuck a hoof to his head again; the pain was getting worse, blossoming into something that felt like there was a train laying against his forehead.  He looked up, only able to see a blur of the balcony as several dots appeared, saying things that sounded like somepony playing a low trombone with a mute.  He closed his eyes, trying to think as the crowd cleared, and felt a thump as he fell over, not really feeling the new pain. 

"Caramel......hospital?"  Somepony said hurriedly, trying to get him to his feet.  But the ground was so comfortable...

The voice's words registered, and he tried to wave them off.  He could handle a little pain.  "Just- get me home!"  He yelled, noticing the circle of ponies that had gathered around.  His face contacted aquamarine fur as he felt a hoof get pulled  over Lyra's shoulder, and Bon Bon got under his other arm.  Canterlot slurred by as the pain grew, shopkeepers and crowdsponies staring at the groaning, mumbling stallion as he was pulled by, his hooves being uncomfortably dragged along the ground.  Not that that discomfort was even comparable to his head, and the explosion of gray matter that seemed imminent.  

They stood around for a while, not that he knew why.  Why would they just keep him here, let him hurt like this?  Seconds morphed into minutes as his forehead almost seemed to crack, before a whistling blob pulled up and he realized they'd been waiting for a train.

"Sorry..."  Caramel mumbled, feeling a piece of fabric swipe across his forehead gently before he was tilted into a chair and came to rest.  The stupid world didn't, swirling around as a bunch of multi colored blobs.  A pulse of pain hit him and his vision was tinged red, before he descended into darkness.

All he wanted was a little simplicity, a little security.  Must've set his hopes too high.
> Developments
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Developments


Caramel felt himself return to consciousness as he opened his eyes and a different house than his own came into view.  He groaned as he felt the pain return, coming back almost blindingly as he rolled off the couch, trying to get to his hooves and call for help, although all that came out was a grunt.  His head felt like it was about to explode yet again, and his back was alight with pain now as well.  Might as well join the party, he thought.  

"Caramel, wha-"  Lyra ran up and stopped dead, turning around and yelling out.  "Bon Bon, he's not alright, we gotta get him to a doctor!"  She yelled, before helping the stallion onto his haunches.  "Can you hear me Caramel?!"  came her voice again, echoing slightly in his head as he tried to nod.  His neck felt a little stiff, but that could have been from sleeping where he had been.  

"I-"  His voice cut out as another wave of pain washed over him, and he felt himself go rigid, gritting his teeth before his forelegs buckled and he found himself back on the ground.  "Does my head look right?"  He asked, trying unsuccessfully to raise a hoof to his forehead, where the pain seemed most acute.

"I dunno, you want me to touch it?"  She asked, sounding panicky.  "Bon Bon, hurry up!"  

Caramel nodded again, shutting her eyes tightly as she carefully made contact, and his head lit up in new pain.  He shied away from her touch, smearing sweat from his back onto the wooden floor as he tried to get away from the pain.  Lyra jumped backwards, looking at her hoof guiltily.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!"  She yelled back, as if she thought that was the only way he could hear her.  Maybe she was right.

"It's okay,"  he panted, feeling the pain lessen ever so slightly.  "I asked you to."  Lyra looked like she was about to respond, a tear slipping down her face.  He'd never seen her cry before, he realized offhandedly as Bon Bon ran in at a gallop.  The cream mare shoved a bottle of pills into Lyra's hoof before she ran into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water and a cookie.

"Can you eat this, Caramel?  It's the best I have until they can give you something stronger," the cream mare yelled, her voice still sounding muted.  Caramel slowly took the pills Lyra had measured out as he took a bite of the food.  It tasted great, but then again all of her products did.  Caramel practically inhaled the pills, chewing them up in the hopes of a faster effect before he took a swig of water and let his head flop back to the ground.  That clearly wasn't a good idea, as his back and head lit up again in agony and he screamed out his pain.

"What happened, Lyra?!"  Bon Bon asked, an accusatory tone absent from her voice.  

"He just woke up like this!" she replied, another tear slipping down her cheek before she wiped it away angrily, "and there's nothing I can even do."

"That's not true, we need to get him to the hospital, Lyra!  We don't even know what's happening, don't you think it'd be good to know?"

"Yeah, come on!"  she yelled, gently grabbing one of Caramel's forehooves and pulling it over her shoulder, watching Bon Bon open the door and do the same.  The trio stumbled outside into the bright, midmorning sunlight.  A drip of Caramel's sweat dripped from his chin and onto the ground, soaking in as the wet spot moved out of his vision.  He tried to walk along with them rather than let his hind legs drag, but every couple steps he almost seemed to forget how to walk and his legs would go limp again.

At some point the dirt turned to tile as they walked through a door, and a few minutes later the pattern changed as he was pushed into another room.  His hooves left the ground for a moment as Lyra magically moved him to the bed, splaying out his limbs in a way that almost felt comfortable.  And that meant a lot, considering the circumstances.  

Caramel's ears rang for a moment, twitching and swiveling at the insistent hum, before it was gone just as suddenly.  A few more ponies ran in and shoved Lyra and Bon Bon none too gently into chairs.  For some reason, that made him rather angry, although he hardly even had a way to voice his problems at this point.

"Can you tell us where it hurts?"  A mare asked, stretching latex over her hoof as she slid a mask over her muzzle.

"Urg."  Caramel said, shifting slightly as his back arched in pain.  "The sides of- my back and-"  He grunted, shutting his eyes tightly.  "My forehead."

A couple of the ponies exchanged looks, for some reason making him think that they assumed he was joking.  Another was flipping through a thick binder as his horn glowed, and after what could have been a minute the same pony shook his head at the other stallion, who at this point Caramel could deduce was the head doctor of whatever operation they had going here.

He waved off the nurse and sent her towards his friends, before he saw a needle out of the corner of his eye, and tried to refocus.  But by the time he looked over it was already imbedded in his shoulder, as the doctor's magic slowly depressed the syringe.  

Caramel hated drugs, even when he was sick.  He'd rather just ride out whatever he was going through, rather than use things that altered his perception of pain or something like that.  Lyra always joked about how irrational he was, but he hadn't missed her slight worry when she'd seen him taking pills voluntarily yesterday.  

The cold feeling that spread from his shoulder was nice though, as the pain in his back died down to a slight throbbing and he felt the slight cool of the examination table against his spine again, now that he wasn't arched to such a degree.  It flowed up his neck and into his head, and the last image he remembered seeing as his eyes shut was that of his nervous friends, several tears on both of their faces as they watched anxiously.  


_______________________________________________________________


Caramel hadn't remembered any of his dreams for a while, not that it really bothered him.  But he couldn't tell if this was a dream or not, with these masked ponies hovering over him as a thing fit in place over his muzzle.  He felt tapping, reflexes and neurons firing as they checked him over.

Lyra came into focus, in the bottom of his view as his head lolled to the side.  She looked frozen, growing in size before she took up the whole wall and covered up the painting of Bon Bon.  Lyra shuddered for a moment, before the door busted in and the whole room filled with water.  She shrank back down and became buoyant, floating towards the roof as the doctors continued to breathe, their blue scrubs turning orange as his head was pushed back upright.

He was a fish now; he could make out gills on the sides of his neck as they gasped and winked, pulling oxygen out of the water and making his head feel fuzzier.  Caramel tried to duck as a carrot floated past his head, although his neck wasn't responding.  It landed on his face, transforming into a snake and slithering down his chest and around one of the doctor's necks.

"He...not out cold."  One of them said, waving a tentacle in front of Caramel's face.  His eye almost shifted to focus on the doctor before he decided against it; he didn't want to jostle the eye people that were living inside.

There was a pinch at his shoulder again, and the world slowly deteriorated into darkness.


_______________________________________________________________


"How is he?"  Lyra asked, finally pushing herself out of the seat to look at Caramel's passed out form.  He twitched and she cringed, reaching out to touch him before her hoof was none too gently batted away.

"We don't know what's wrong with him, there's nothing weird about his bloodwork and we can't tell what's causing the pain."

"There's a lump on his forehead!"  Lyra yelled, watching Bon Bon lower her head sadly as the other mare kept herself constrained to the chair.

"That may be true, but we can't do anything for something inside his skull.  All we can do is try to figure out what the problem is and fix it as best we can.  And like I said, bloodwork's fine, and the tests say that it's not cancerous."

"How can you not know what it is then?"  The aquamarine mare asked.  "You're doctors, you're supposed to know this stuff!"

"I'll tell you what we know."  The stallion replied cooly.  "That pony there shows symptoms that can't be disease related, and we can tell that they aren't cancerous, like I said.  As far as we can tell his mind seems unaffected to a large degree, which means his brain hasn't deteriorated.  His heart rate is stable, and blood pressure is as high as to be expected.  That's all we know."  The doctor sighed, before he pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, quickly writing down a few words.  "The good news is, I know a specialist that may be able to shed some light on this."  He handed her the paper, and she read it over.

"This is his address?"  Lyra asked, watching the doctor nod.  "How are we going to get him to manehattan?  That's like eighty miles from here!"

"We can get a train lined up, move him there in an hour and a half tops."  He threw some hoof signals towards the other ponies and they quickly started moving, a few leaving while others grouped up supplies.

"Do you think- does it look like he'll die?"  Lyra asked, her throat seeming to close up.

"I wish I knew.  But he's an earth pony, they're hardy things anyway.  The thing most ponies forget is that besides the extra stamina as a race, they're born to be stubborn and take a lot more punishment.  We've had ponies come in here with similar injuries, and if one of them dies, it's almost never the earth pony.  That should really speak for itself."

"But there's still a point where it's too much..."  She said sadly, hearing a quiet sob from Bon Bon as a wheeled stretcher rolled in and the doctor carefully picked up Caramel in his magic and moved him over to the thin pad.  

"You're welcome to come with us, in fact I would recommend that you do.  It's always good to for him to have friends i-when he wakes up."

Lyra's head drooped, and she refocused on the floor.  "Okay, thanks for doing everything you could, at least."  She turned around as the stretcher rolled back through the door, tapping Bon Bon's shoulder sadly.

"There's still somepony to go to, that's good, right?"  The cream mare asked, taking Lyra's extended hoof and pulling herself upwards.

"Yeah, I guess."  She sighed.  "Why did this have to happen, just like this?"  She asked.  "We should've known sooner, what kind of crappy friends are we?"

"Lyra, he just said that they've never seen something like it, how could we have helped?"

"I don't know, I just- I don't want him to die when like this!"  The mare turned and ran from the room, trying to stem her readily flowing tears.  She galloped after the gurney, catching up with Caramel as he was stopped in the lobby.  Doctors were rushing all over as one changed out an IV and several others speedily checked tables and charts, taking measurements before they moved a patient that might turn out to be unstable.  

Lyra rested her head on his chest, despite the protests of the doctors, and stared up at his lidded eyes as her head slowly rose and fell.  It was harrowing, seeing him like this so suddenly, when not even yesterday he'd been fine.  Octavia didn't even know what had happened, she realized.  They'd parted thinking it was something that would be fine in the morning, and she knew they had all had their doubts about that outcome.  

It was getting hard to look at him like this, not just because of the tears clogging her eyes, but because of the sense of fear that seemed to grow and push away her usual optimism, like a malign cancer pushing out healthy tissue.  Lyra jumped slightly as Bon Bon patted her back and the gurney started to move, forcing her to stand back up straight and walk alongside.  

Maybe the part she hated the most about all this was how useless she really was, and how she knew that if things got worse, she would be unable to help.  But she kept feeling that this was too much, like she felt too broken for him to be only a friend.  

No, that was just the condition speaking, she'd never felt that way before.  Caramel was handsome and she enjoyed being around him, but that was as far as it went.  Lyra couldn't remember a time where she'd thought about him as more than her best and oldest friend, or a hard worker when he secluded himself to try to get things done early.  Maybe this was all just hype, it's not like she'd known anypony this well when they'd ended up like this.  Her grandparents came the closest, but she'd only seen them a few times anyway.

"Oh Caramel,"  she whispered, shifting his mane with her magic.  "You better be okay after all this."

	
> Doctor's Orders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Doctor's Orders


"How long until we arrive in Manehattan?"  Lyra asked, raising her voice above the redundant 'click-clack' of the train's wheels.

"Should be about an hour, like I said five seconds ago,"  the doctor replied, looking somewhat annoyed.  "He's got enough meds to keep him under for at least another three, so it's not a problem."

"Fine, just- tell me if something goes wrong, okay?"  The mare queried, biting her lip.  She felt Bon Bon's reassuring hoof on her shoulder, and the duo left the car, quickly taking over an empty bench.  The car was noisy, filled with ponies that had no idea of their predicament, nor their friend's plight.  Lyra leaned against her friend, feeling her eyes droop as scenery whizzed past and the background noise almost seemed to become more dull.  "Will you wake me up if I try to sleep for a while?"  

"Don't worry, I won't let anything get past you.  You'll be the first to know,"  Bon Bon replied, her usually upbeat demeanor replaced by worry and dread, the likes of which Lyra had only ever seen on the mare's face one other time.  

"You better make sure that's the case,"  she mumbled, poking the other mare's chest menacingly.  

"I will,"  she said quietly, letting a small smile grace her lips.  Lyra did the same, closing her eyes and letting her head fall into the warm, almost welcoming fur of her friend.  


_______________________________________________________________________


Lyra exited her schoolhouse slowly, both annoyed at the teacher's antics and drowsy from the lesson. What right did she have, giving them summer homework like this?  Lyra was pretty sure that old bat was specifically out to make her life annoying.

Some colt pointed at her and snickered, causing the filly to roll her eyes.  Stupid colts, she couldn't figure out what happened between now and adulthood that seemed to make them entirely less annoying.  And less weird, for that matter.  She watched one of her classmates run by, followed by several others.  Lyra saw them start down a hill before they caught the pony out in front, immediately slamming him into the ground amidst some yelling and laughing

Lyra jumped slightly, taken aback by the immediate brutality as she felt a tap on her shoulder.  The filly yelled out, expecting a punch before she realized that it was just her friend, Sky Blue.  

"Jeez, you're jumpy today.  Seen a ghost?"  Sky tilted her head slightly as she asked the question, while Lyra looked back to the group.  

"No, they're beating up that kid over there!"  She yelled back, making a move to help before a hoof at her arm stopped her.  

"What are you really going to do?"  The dark blue filly asked, shifting her attention between her friend and the fight.

Lyra looked around for a teacher, somepony that could help, before she broke free of Sky's restraining hoof and galloped straight into what could easily be a lot of pain.  But she couldn't just let him stay there, not like this.  She pivoted on a fore hoof and bucked one of the colts under the jaw as she entered the fight, sending him flying backwards.  It had hurt quite a lot to do that, actually, even though it'd kind of been painless when she had envisioned it in her head.  Stupid imagination.

The other two colts looked away from the bloodied foal for a moment, and to her surprise he was already to his hooves, landing a punch before they were able to pull Lyra into the fight.  He was whacked and sent back to the ground only a few moments later, refusing to give up as he got back to his hooves and struck out yet again.

It was brutal, and she couldn't see how the kid was still going at it, but some part of her admired his stubborn nature, even though he probably knew he was screwed in the long run.  His blue eyes met hers for a moment, almost seeming to communicate his thanks before he dodged a punch shakily and threw one back.  Lyra was almost frozen, it seemed, as a hoof contacted her cheek and she was sent backwards, flopping on the ground as blood seemed to completely fill her mouth.

What's-his-name was still trying, standing defiantly in front of her while he tried to stare down the biggest of the colts, bucking him in the chest before he was knocked aside and the bully approached.  The colt stood over Lyra, and she felt a chill run down her spine.  She wasn't... going to die, was she?  Could punches kill ponies?  Her eyes widened as a hoof raced towards her face, before she shut them tightly and tried to prepare for the pain.

But it hit the ground next to her and the colt yelled out in pain.  He was trying to shake the beaten foal, who was biting at the much larger colt's neck, determined to come out on top.  Lyra wondered why the teacher hadn't come to the rescue yet as she was jerked to her hooves and pulled away, down the hill from the schoolhouse.  The same foal that had stood up for her was the one helping her out of the same situation, rushing her off to... somewhere.

Lyra looked back, pulling herself away long enough to buck at one of the colts that had followed them, as the other two looked up innocently to the finally useful teacher a ways behind them.  But the mystery foal didn't seem to care for the possibility of immediate safety, pulling her still further until they were well into a nearby copse of trees.  

"Who are you!?"  She asked immediately, forcefully pulling herself away from the colt as soon as she was sure they were safe.  "Why the heck were you even fighting them?"

He sighed and walked over to a still pond, trying to wipe off his face.  "My name's Caramel.  You?"  He asked, seemingly avoiding the question.

"Lyra,"  she said, shaking his outstretched hoof, which was covered in blood and dirt.  "Thanks for... saving me back there."

"I should be telling you the same thing.  It's not like I could do much until you bucked that one guy."  The colt replied, his voice becoming more quiet and withdrawn.

"Yeah, well..."  she replied, rubbing her cheek as it began to swell.  "I've never really done something like that before."

"Neither have I."  he replied, shrugging.  "But I kinda talked back to their teasing, and I guess they didn't really enjoy that..."

"You're hard-headed though, I like that."  She wiped some blood off his face, feeling a twinge of pain from her own.  "So, friends?"  she asked, sticking back out her hoof.

Caramel grasped it almost immediately, shaking it more heavily than she would have expected, given his state.  

"Friends."


________________________________________________________________________


Lyra awoke with a jolt, looking up into Bon Bon's eyes in fear as the day's memories came flying back, colliding inside her head in a disorganized chaos of words and images, things she hadn't wanted to remember, yet was forced to.  It hurt, not being able to know what would happen after all these years of being his friend, resigned to second hand information from the doctors.  The train cornered and Lyra slumped into the wall, letting out a quiet groan that went against her usual boisterous attitude.  

"How long was I out?"  she asked after some thought.  

"Forty five minutes or so, we're going to arrive pretty soon now."  The mare grabbed her saddlebag from its place on the floor and opened one of the pockets, pulling free a few pieces of food.  "Apple?"  she asked.

"No, I don't really-"  He stomach grumbled.  "Dammit, thanks."  Lyra replied, swiping away the fruit and taking a bite.  

"Some things never change with you, huh Lyra?"  The cream mare asked, her face contorting into a smirk.

"I jrst likr foord!"  She yelled back through her full mouth, splattering the mane of a stallion in front of them with apple bits.  After a few moments passed in silence, besides the attempts of Bon Bon to keep from laughing, Lyra figured that the stallion hadn't noticed, and took another bite.  "Irts nort funnr!"

"At this point, I'm just glad I'm able to laugh at anything."  she replied, wiping an eye as they lapsed into silence.  "I'm worried about him.  I know that seems obvious, but they've never seen something like this before, and I just wish we knew something."

"He's a tough guy, Bon Bon.  There's no way something like this could keep him down."  Or so she hoped, anyway.

"You always take shots at his masculinity, why the sudden change?"

"Oh, that stuff."  She waved a hoof dismissively.  "He knows I don't mean any of that, otherwise he wouldn't take shots back.  Anyway, I've known him for years, and he's probably tougher than anypony, whether I joke about it or not,"  Lyra finished, crossing her arms in annoyance at Bon Bon's insinuation of weakness.

"Jeez, I was just asking."

"Yeah, well I-"  She sighed.  "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little high-strung today."

"I'd be worried if you weren't, I suppose."  Bon Bon mumbled, throwing a hoof into the seat in front of them as the train lurched and braked.  "Hopefully we're here."  She said, looking out the window at the outskirts of Manehattan.  "Yeah."

"I thought it'd be bigger."  Lyra commented, finding the tops of the apartment and business buildings to be shorter than her imagination had made them.  She got up with Bon Bon, retreating into the medical car as ponies raced around, doing things she couldn't begin to comprehend as they checked vitals, systematically holding onto something as the train lurched to a stop, almost resembling one big machine.  

Hardly a moment passed before Caramel was off the train and to the edge of a buggy, being quickly transferred as a doctor folded the wheels upwards and rolled him inside.  Lyra ran up to the edge, watching one of the ponies bite his lip.

"We don't have enough space, you'll have to follow on hoof."  He wrote something on a small pad of paper, tearing off the top piece.  "Here's the address if you lose us."

"But-"  Lyra said, before the carriage lurched into movement.

"Where are they going?!"  Bon Bon yelled as she caught up, breathing rather heavily.  

"They're going to the pony that can supposedly help."  she broke out into a gallop without another word, hearing Bon Bon's hooves on the cobblestones behind her.  Lyra sped up slightly, knocking over a pony as she tried to keep the wagon in view.  It wasn't traveling quickly, exactly, but the crowds had really picked up and she was having trouble actually going in a straight line.  Luckily for her the wagon buggy took a turn onto a less populated street, stopping in front of a house a ways down the road.  Two doctors got out before she arrived, carefully lofting Caramel up the stairs to the Victorian style building.

"Wha... Is this really a hospital?"  Lyra yelled up, successfully getting their attention as the back one turned around.

"It's private practice!  This guy's done research for decades on more obscure sicknesses, so if anypony can figure this out, it's him."  

Lyra sighed, slowly following up the stairs and through the now open door.  She backed out and threw a wave to her lagging friend, who was not as far behind as she had expected.  Bon Bon trotted up the stairs and walked in beside the aquamarine mare, moving into another room with the doctors and Caramel.  

Another pony walked in after a few minutes, his nose in a book.  He noticed the covered pony and sighed, taking some paperwork from a doctor.  "All of you, out of ze room!"  He yelled, making the other occupants jump.  

"But-"  Lyra tried to rebut, before she was ushered out by a doctor.  The door closed behind her as she struggled to break free, held tightly by the stallion.

"He'll be fine."  He said, letting her go after he was sure she wouldn't run back inside.  He turned towards the front door, beginning to walk down the steps with the empty stretcher.

"Where are you going!?"  Lyra hissed, hostility evident in her voice.

"He doesn't like doctors that aren't his.  We've done all we can."

"Fuck."  She said under her breath, punching the arm of her chair.  "Fuck you."

The doctor only threw up a hoof as he left, hopping back into the buggy quietly.

"Lyra, jeez.  He's just trying to help."  

"Hardly,"  she mumbled.  "Here we are, in some private practice, because apparently hospitals just aren't good enough for whatever the stupid doctors haven't seen before.  What if he dies, Bon Bon?  What are we gonna do then?  He's my best friend, what am I supposed to do?"

Bon Bon let out a squeak under Lyra's stare, watching the unicorn get up and move towards the door a moment later.  The doorknob barely moved before stopping, and she swore under her breath as she realized that it had been locked.  

"I'll show you, you little piece of shit,"  she muttered, reaching into her saddlebag and pulling out a couple of lock-picks that she'd made herself.  Lyra inserted them into the key hole of the deadbolt, carefully pivoting them as she watched the slit start to rotate.  Bon Bon was looking on in shocked silence, probably afraid of the doctor on the other side.  

With a quiet click, the door opened and she put away her picks, noticing that one had chipped slightly.  Lyra peered inside, watching the doctors at work.  None of them had tools, and appeared to be checking over Caramel's body for signs of trauma and things of the like.  One of them was going through his mane, parting the fur slowly with hoof gloves.  He lifted his hoof and blew off a few threads before continuing, excitedly chattering to the head doctor a moment later as another started to say something else about his back.

The head doctor peered into Caramel's mane, looking through a few sheets on a clipboard and furrowing his brow.  "...Earth pony?"  she heard him ask, as one of the workers nodded.  Why did that matter?

A few more minutes passed of hurried movement and paperwork checks before Lyra was forced to advocate her post at the door and scramble back to her seat.  The door blew open and the head doctor exited, looking like he was about to kill somepony.  

"Do you tink this is a joke?  Zer is a pony in zer dat supposedly needs my help.  But interestingly, ze records zay dat he iz an Earth pony."

"Well yeah, they should.  He is an Earth pony."  Lyra replied, raising her voice.

"Oh yes?"  he asked rhetorically.  "Zen why, pray tell, is there a small horn on his forehead?  Or fledgeling wings on his back?"

"Bullshit."  Lyra spat.  "If you don't know what's going on just say it."

"Oh, but I do.  A couple of no good foals think they can screw with me.  Vell, I'll have none of it!"  Caramel was wheeled out, as one of the other doctors mouthed the words 'I'm sorry.'  "Take your friend and leave!  I better never see your faces in my practice again!"  He left with a stomping of hooves, slamming the door behind himself.

Lyra felt a tear start to roll down her muzzle, and made no attempt to stop it.  She was past trying to look tough.  Caramel was out of options, and she couldn't help but feel the hopelessness sink in.  The mare walked over to Caramel's body, Latin her head on his chest.  She'd always been the mare with the plan, but when she needed her characteristic ingenuity the most, it deserted her without a trace.  

Lyra could feel his heartbeat, thudding softly in his chest.  She remained in the same position for a while longer, staring at the door in the hopes that the doctor had made a mistake.  Sure, she'd never heard of anything like this either, but the idea that the doctor's first idea was of a prank was just ridiculous.  Lyra stomped over to the door, her anger rising as she found it to be locked again.

"How am I the foal?!  What if he dies from this?!"  Lyra took a breath in, her voice starting to crack.  "You're a doctor, how can you not care?"  she finished pathetically, her muzzle soaked with tears.

Her anger flared again and she drew a hoof back before throwing it into the adjacent wall and denting a chunk of plaster.  She swore under her breath, trying to calm herself as she breathed in deeply, and then let out a measured exhale.  Lyra turned back to Bon Bon, who was pacing around.

"Listen Bon Bon," she started, watching Caramel twitch under his sheet.  "I don't know where we can go," she sighed, "but if he comes to, being here won't do him any good."  Lyra wiped her eyes and carefully transferred Caramel to her back, letting out a grunt under the weight.  "Come on, we've got a friend to save."
> Stirrings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Stirrings


"Lyra, where's that washcloth?"  Bon Bon yelled, trying to aim her voice as best she could towards the hotel room's bathroom and not into Caramel's ears.

"Cool your tits, Bon Bon!  The water pressure sucks here anyway!"  The faucet turned off, followed by the pitter-patter of drops as she rung out the towel.  She could see that things were getting worse, as the sweat was starting to re-appear all over his face and chest.  It would only be a matter of time before he woke up, and she wasn't so sure that she would be able to look at his face, all contorted in agony.  It hurt to look at him now.

She looked at his back, moving a sheet out of the way.  She hadn't caught much of a glimpse of anything earlier, but it wasn't hard to determine that he was growing wings.  It was almost painful to think about, especially if he was growing a horn as well.  But there they were, clear as day.

"Why would be just suddenly turn into an Alicorn?"  Lyra asked, brushing along a feather of one of the tiny wings.  "I mean, what would even prompt that?"

Bon Bon sighed, taking a while to answer as she carefully cleared Caramel's face of sweat, dipping the washcloth in a bucket of water and wringing it out again.  "The most I can think of is that Princess Sparkle became one at a similar time.  But there was none of this painful stuff, as far as I know.  I saw her shortly before, and she looked fine and strikingly like a unicorn.  So I'm pretty sure it was immediate."

"Well then why?  What makes him so special?  Was it just random, and he somehow got infected by whatever this spell is?"

"I know as much as you do, Lyra."  Bon Bon mumbled.

"Lyra went silent for a moment, her face turning a little more pale than normal.  "What if they don't like what happened?"   She paused, analyzing Bon Bon's confused look.  "What if the princesses see him as a threat?  He wasn't supposed to be an alicorn, this could be a death penalty.  We can't prove they did it, and we can't turn him back, what if-"

"Lyra, calm down.  The princesses wouldn't do that."

"Then why are there only four alicorns?  That hardly seems like enough to keep a race alive, especially when they're all mares.  It seems very convenient that no others have popped up."  She said, stroking at her chin with the same worried expression.

"You're overreacting."  The cream mare replied, waving a dismissive hoof.

"What if I'm right?  What if this is what'll happen?  Do you really want to take the chance that I'm right?!"

"Lyra, shh!  You'll wake Carame-"

Caramel let out a groan, that quickly turned distorted as he arched his back in pain.  Lyra broke into as much of a sprint as she could in the confined space and knelt down next to the bed, sliding a hoof under his neck and cradling his head on one of her arms.  "You scared me, you jerk, I thought you might die,"  she said, wiping a tear that was threatening to form in the corner of her eye and putting on as confident of a smile as she could.  Caramel seemed to relax a little, sticking an arm behind her back in a weak hug.

"So..."  he started, sticking a hoof to his forehead and then jerking it away.  "What the fuck, what is that!?"  Caramel touched it again, starting to grow historical as he realized it as real.  "Did I break my skull!?  Is that part of it jutting out like that?!"

Lyra cringed to herself, before she roughly grabbed onto the sides of his head, making sure he was looking at her.  "Give me a minute, I can explain everything that happened."

He steadily calmed down, his breathing eventually reaching what she would assume was close to normal.  "Well, can I get some water at least?"  he asked, laying flat on his back once again.  "And maybe some painkillers?"

Lyra wiped an eye.  "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

Caramel only gave a slight nod, staring up at the ceiling.  "This doesn't look like a hospital room," he thought out loud.  Bon Bon cringed slightly as Lyra walked back in with a couple floating glasses of water and a half empty bottle of pills.  The stallion took them almost with an air of excitement, gulping down all three glasses along with several more pills than the recommendation said to.

"I feel like that's not going to help.  The pain's not as bad as before, but- urgh!  It still fucking hurts."

"I know."  Lyra mumbled, moving next to him again.  "I hate seeing you like this, and I'm worried that if I try to hug you or anything you'll just get hurt.  But I was so worried, and-"  She felt him lean up to meet her, wrapping her in a hug that was tighter than she would've thought he could achieve.  The stress from the day finally caught up with her, and she allowed her emotions to run free.  Tears slid down Caramel's back as she sobbed, although she was conflicted on what exactly she was crying about.

Maybe it was for all the worry, the time she had thought he might die.  But she knew that things would never be the same for him, that his life would probably not return to the hardworking and structured life that he enjoyed so much.  

She tried to calm down, succeeding after a few minutes and reminding herself that she still had to inform him of what had gone on.  Besides, she doubted this hug was particularly comfortable for him.  Caramel let go before she did, laying flat again with a grunt that turned into a pained squeak.  

"So listen Caramel," Lyra started, "after you passed out in the hospital we moved you to manehattan, hoping that a specialist in private practice could help."

"Oh, so that's where we are?"

Lyra sighed, shaking her head.  "The fucking retard doctor looked you over and called your case a fraud, that what was happening to you was fake."  She continued before he could interrupt.  "We brought you to a hotel, and you woke up a few minutes after we got here.  Now, that thing jutting out from your head is a horn and the reason your back hurts is because you're growing wings."

Caramel stared, his face screwed into a new level of confusion.  "What?"

"We think you're turning into an Alicorn."

Caramel went silent for a time, looking down at his plain hooves and occasionally letting out grunts of pain.  "Why?  Why me?  I don't want this, I'm perfectly happy being an Earth Pony!  Why's the universe gotta decide that suddenly I should get all this other shit that I don't need?!"  

"I don't know," Lyra replied sadly.  "Do you know when things started?"

"There was only one thing before the headaches and stuff.  I was walking around at night to get some milk, I think.  And so I got this head rush, and it kept getting worse.  I laid down and it stayed, and then I must've passed out, because when I woke up the clock read five minutes later.  I shook it off as weird, but seriously, how could that be connected?"

"We don't know,"  Bon Bon spoke from her spot on the other bed.  "But any information is good information if we're to find out."

"Yeah, I guess..."  His head whipped towards the bathroom; he could've sworn he'd seen something run across the door.

"What?"  Lyra asked, looking the same way.

"Nothing, must have been my eyes playing....tricks on me."  He sighed, putting his face in his hooves and wetting them with sweat.  "It hurts..." he mumbled, shaking his head in annoyance.  "I'd hate to ask this, but if it's kinda a good time can I try to sleep?"

"Listen, if you want to do anything, don't expect us to stand in your way."  Lyra said softly, rising to her hooves.  "Plus, I feel drained anyway.  I could use some sleep."

"Oh, thanks."  he replied, a slight smile appearing on his face as be buried his head in the pillow.  He jerked slightly from discomfort as she presumed his horn hit the fabric.  A wave of sorrow washed over her again.  He didn't deserve this...  Maybe a few punches occasionally but nothing of this caliber.  It almost seemed like overkill, and yet here Caramel was, acting like he had a slight headache and a muscle spasm.  But she knew where to look, the pain that flooded his face and tweaked his emotions ever so slightly.  It tore her up a little, just thinking about it.

Lyra pulled herself into the other bed, feeling Bon Bon climb in next to her.  She just wanted to wake up, realize that it had all been a dream and that Caramel had woken up without the changes still forming across his body.  And on some level, she knew he wanted the exact same thing.


________________________________________________________________


"No, get away!" 

Lyra awoke with a start, looking to her side as caramel flailed a hoof into his headboard, striking at an enemy he saw only in his dreams.  She hardly thought about how to react before she jumped out of her bed and into his, pinning his forehooves down above his head.  He continued to thrash, making her worry not just about him but his wings.  If slight touches between him and other things hurt...   She shuddered just thinking about it.

Lyra straddled his stomach, gambling as she let one of his hooves go to slap him across the face.  He woke up immediately, holding a hoof to his cheek as he stared upwards.  The silence stretched on, as she stuck a hoof down to lay against his as it still rested against his cheek.

"I'm sorry, you were just thrashing around and I figured you might hurt something."  She said after a short silence.

"No I get it, I would've done the same."  He gritted his teeth, letting out a slight groan as he shifted.  "You should have told me you were into alicorns."  He replied with as much of a smirk as he could muster.  At least he was starting to get back to his old self, she mused.  

He put a hoof to her chest, gently pushing her off as she realized that his face was suddenly much darker in the dim light.  "Did I tease you too much there?"  she asked, returning his previous smirk as she went back to her own bed.

"Yeah, because blushing is out of the question when I wake up and a mare is all over me like that."  Now it was Lyra's turn to blush, as she faltered during her short walk.  "Holy shit-"

"What?"  she asked, trying to get comfortable again.  "You wanna tell me why you were thrashing around?"

"No,"  he replied, looking towards the door.  "I just thought I saw somet- oh fuck there it is again!"  He backed up and plastered himself against the headboard, his breathing picking up to easily audible huffs.  "Lyra, do something..."

She raced back over to him, staring intently into the dark as she sat down on top of the covers in between him and whatever he was so intent on staring at.  Caramel pulled her into himself as if moving her out of the way of an attack, before throwing his own punch behind her.  He grunted and keeled over to one side, either the exertion or extra pain forcing him to stop.

"Caramel, there's nothing there!"

"The fuck are you smoking? They- aah!"

First the transformation and now this?  Wait.  Something in her head clicked and she wrapped her arms around him, bringing him into a kind of half hug while he still stared out, his eyes unmoving.

"They're not real, Caramel.  It could just be the sedatives wearing off, or the other drugs mixing."

"What do you mean those blade armed things aren't real?!"  He reached over and grabbed a bedside lamp, which he proceeded to throw at the wall before Lyra could stop his arm.  It blew into a million pieces, as Caramel only appeared to stare dumbly.  Hardly a second passed before he buried his face in her chest, reveling in as much comfort as he could seem to attain.  

"I just want it to end!"  He yelled into her fur, his voice muffled.  "Just get those stupid things away so I can return to my nightmare!"

Lyra sighed, rubbing her hoof along his lower back where she was sure she wouldn't hit anything painful.  "Listen to me, they aren't real.  You've got to believe me Caramel, they aren't."  She paused, as silence dawned once again, minus a snore from the brick of a sleeper Bon Bon.  She made herself comfortable--if she had to stay the whole night, she gladly would.  "They're just a figment of your imagination.  A mirage, a fake."  She continued to try to soothe him, feeling the muscles in his back start to loosen as be seemed to understand that be wasn't about to be attacked.  

Her chest started to wet with his tears, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the stallion again.  He'd just been thrust into this scenario, and he was probably taking it much better than she, or most other ponies would for that matter.  Lyra felt his back heave, sighing to herself as she looked down at the stallion that she'd usually only seen collected and calm, the polar opposite of how she normally acted.  And yet here they were, roles ironically reversed.

But everypony has their breaking point, she figured.  It was scary to look at though, her near life-long friend brought to tears for-well, the second time she'd ever seen him that way.  It scared her though, watching somepony be brought to tears that she'd always thought was too tough to break down completely.

The first time he'd cried through had been under completely different circumstances, back when he'd caught his marefriend cheating.  She'd been alerted by a few bangs on the door, before he stomped inside and started yelling.  

Caramel'd come with a forming bruise around his left eye, but he hardly seemed to care for the pain as he continued his rant of grievances.  There were a large number, many of which she had easily seen ahead of time.  Not that Lyra'd liked Cloverfield in the first place, but she found it hard to take any solace in the fact that the other mare was out of her life.  Eventually though, Caramel had broken down much like he had now, wetting her fur with trails of frustration.  He'd stayed fairly secluded for a while after, almost to the point of making Lyra worried.  But he never turned her away, always welcomed her with that same goofy smile.  Although it had kept that shadow of pain and distrust behind it for longer than she would have liked.

But that was just his marefriend.  Not that she wanted to undersell the bitch, but somehow she figured that suddenly being forced through days of pain to get turned into something he wasn't was worse.  She just hoped he wouldn't push her away as well this time, that he'd still let out whatever trickle of feelings he felt comfortable with.

"Caramel, you won't push me away, will you?"  She asked, only recieving a light snore in reply.  At least he had fallen asleep, although she wasn't sure how much better his nightmares were.  Lyra moved a hoof up on his back, gently touching at one of his wings.  The feathers were still downy, and she doubted that they would allow him to fly even if he was proportionally sized.  But they were bigger than she'd last seen them, before they'd slept.  So there was still magic in play here, it wasn't as if he'd simply had the process started, to grow at the rate a cut healed.  She wasn't sure which was worse.  This gave him hardly any time to figure of a plan on how they could even integrate him back into society.  Especially if they decided to keep these hidden.   

Lyra could teach him some magic, assuming his horn wasn't just for show.  But then there was flying, and that would mean finding somepony else to teach him, or letting him figure it out for himself.  She was still convinced that the princesses wouldn't like having another Alicorn around, though.  She'd worked in the castle briefly, she knew how many hushed things went on.  Not that she knew what they were, but she could tell they were hushed for a reason. 

Lyra sighed again, resigning her thoughts until morning as she hugged her friend more tightly.  Her cheeks threatened to redden, flooding her mind with slightly conflicting feelings.  Shit, that could wait too, none of this was about her anyway.  Lyra carefully leaned back onto the pillows, bringing Caramel with her.  She was still wiped out, and all of this hadn't helped.  She hardly had time to ponder the lack of sleep before she passed out as well, resigning herself to the rest her body so laboriously lobbied for.   
> Movement
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Movement


Bon Bon was the first to wake up, jumping as a spider came into focus.  It was hanging a few inches in front of her face, staring at her as it hung from a single thread.  She slowly swung her hoof above the spider, catching the thread on her fur as she got up.  Bon Bon attached the thread to the bedside lamp before she noticed that Lyra was no longer in her bed.  Bon Bon debated calling out for a moment before she saw a patch of green and white mane poking out from behind Caramel.  

Figuring that Lyra must have had a good reason to disturb the guy, she took a closer look to find that they had wrapped each other in a hug at some point, although she doubted it was intentional.  Bon Bon sat down in a rather uncomfortable chair and tossed a pen at the pair.  Then she waited for the inevitably awkward moment.

The two stirred at the same time, although Caramel was the first to open his eyes.  Bon Bon heard a quiet grunt of pain and noticed the confused expression on his face, before it changed into a slight smile.  His gentle blush didn't escape her, however.  Lyra performed in much the same way, accepting a quiet 'thanks' from Caramel before he noticed Bon Bon's presence, and both of them turned a bright red.  

Bon Bon let out a laugh, getting to her hooves.  "I sleep for one night, and you two lovebirds are already sharing a bed," she teased.  

"It- I- that wasn't it!"  Lyra yelled back, stumbling over her words as her face continued to heat up.  She carefully let go of Caramel and rolled out of the bed, standing on her hooves.  "He kept seeing things, I couldn't just let him stay over there and scare himself to death."

Bon Bon looked over at Caramel, who only confirmed with a shy nod.  "You're serious?"  She asked, her manner turning sober again as she grabbed a complimentary pad of paper from the bedside table and handed it to Caramel with a pen.  "You mind drawing what they looked like?"

"Uh... yeah, I guess."

Bon Bon quickly changed verbal direction.  "You don't have to, I mean-"

"No, I'd rather just try to get it out of my system."  He sat up and reclined onto a small pile of pillows, wincing heavily.

"Is it getting any better Caramel?"  Lyra asked.  "I really hate seeing you like this."

"Oh, don't worry.  It's about a million times better already.  My back just feels really sore with some pins and needle sensations, and my head kinda still feels under pressure."

"How is that a million times better?"  The mare asked, sighing before she climbed onto the bed and laid down next to his rear hooves on top of the covers.  "It still sounds like hell."

"Trust me, it's bearable now.  Before it felt like parts of me were just going to explode."  He shook the pen in his hoof, attempting to supply it with more ink.  "Also, I'm with you two now, not in drug limbo or some operating room.  As fucking pissed as I am that this happened, at least nothing else has changed."

"Well, about that..."  Lyra muttered, watching his ears perk.  "I don't think that everypony will be happy to see another alicorn running around."

"Yeah, I guess I don't want the folks to worry, that wouldn't be-"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

"Well then,"  he crossed his arms, a smirk threatening to spread before the blood drained from his face.  "Oh my god, what if I'm seen as a threat?  A loose cannon?"

"I know, what if they pull you away to somewhere?"  Lyra continued.

"Guys!"  Bon Bon yelled, surprising herself at how quiet the room became.  "That won't happen, I'm sure they'll understand."

"But what if they don't believe what happened?  They'd call this misuse of magic, and then I'd be sent away as well!"  Lyra yelled.  "I'm too pretty to go to jail!"  she cried out melodramatically, shaking a hoof at the ceiling.

"Listen.  We'll keep it under wraps for a while, because maybe you're right, by some strange accident.  Even if it does seem ridiculous, I'm not going to gamble with somepony else's life here."  She sighed, "I guess it's your call, Caramel."

The stallion was silent for a while, either beginning to feel fatigued again or attempting to think his way through the ins and outs of the problem.  Finally, he cleared his throat and both mares looked over once again.  "I'm going to side with Lyra here, I just can't see this being good in any way.  Even if I am all accepted and what not, I don't want to go do whatever it is Twilight does now and be treated like an alicorn, even if she is still living in Ponyville.  I want to design houses, and do things with you two...  My point is, I don't want the attention."

"What you did before?"  Lyra asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah.  Without all of the fanfare or weird looks or consequences for this."  Caramel leaned back with a light grunt, redirecting his view towards the ceiling.  "At least promise me this, that you'll still treat me like the run of the mill pony I'm supposed to be.  Maybe I'll learn magic or fly, but it's not like I'm any different.  Not really, anyway."

Lyra sniffled slightly, trying to beat back her emotions to no avail.  "I'm still going to use this as teasing material when we're not around other ponies,"  the mare responded with a slight smirk, shaking Caramel's outstretched hoof.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," he replied with a chuckle, turning to look at Bon Bon.

"Like you really need to check,"  The other mare said, shaking his hoof.  "You're still the same guy."

"Let's just hope it stays that way,"  he mumbled.  "I can deal with the physical changes, but I swear, if it starts screwing with my brain..."  He felt hooves wrap around him, and couldn't help but grin as he embraced his two friends.  Somehow, things felt like they would work out.  After all, with friends like these, what did he have to fear?"


____________________________________________________________________________


"You really think you can walk," Lyra said, her face deadpan.  "You could hardly move last night, let alone do anything like walk to a train station."

"Lyra, stop worrying.  I just took a nap, and it's getting late anyway.  Plus, I'm sick of laying in this bed.  No matter where I move, some part of it still feels sweaty from when I got here."  He shifted uncomfortably.  "And I gotta use the bathroom."

"Fine, whatever.  We have to come up with a way to hide your wings anyway.  Your mane's messy enough to hide the horn I think, so that's all taken care of."  She watched him extract himself from the bed, along with a symphony of grunts and cracks.  She moved to help before he waved her away, slowly bending this way and that to stretch out his unused muscles.  

"Oh, that feels so much better,"  he mumbled, looking rather content as he began stumbling off towards the bathroom.  Lyra smiled, glad to see him on his hooves once again.  She only allowed herself a brief moment of similar contentedness before looking around the room for any form of way they could cover Caramel's back without hurting him.  She looked at her saddlebag, but that was still probably too heavy to put on the things, painful as they were.  And it probably didn't fit Caramel in the first place.  

Any form of illusion spell was out of her league, at least when it needed to apply to the populace of such a large city.  Not that she had to work it on them specifically, but that it would need to look better and hold for longer.  So unless she could pull something out of her ass, that wouldn't work in the slightest.  That meant that she would need to figure something new out herself.  Not that it was a big deal, she loved improvising.  Whether she was playing the lyre or making another featherbrained invention in her basement didn't matter too much to her.

Lyra grabbed an extra sheet from the table, biting at the edge and tearing free a sizable strip.  She could worry about explaining the ripped sheet later.  Now she just needed to fit it onto Caramel like a bandage, and then add her own touch.  

As she opened her mouth to call his name she heard a dull thud.  It took a moment before she realized that it was probably Caramel, an annoyed but still pained groan filtering under the door.  She ran over to the door and stopped, lowering her hoof from the door knob.  "Are you okay?"  She asked, heart rate picking up when he took a second to answer.

"I'll live."  He replied.  "I'm getting a nasty bruise though, I can already tell."  She heard the sounds of rushing water, making her way back to the main part of the room as the door opened and Caramel returned to the bed.  

It was then the Lyra realized just how unlike himself he looked, with his bloodshot eyes and his matted fur.  She could already see the bruise forming on his cheek, reaching out carefully with a hoof to stroke along his other cheek.

"I feel so sorry for you, Caramel."  The mare said, leaning against his neck as she sat down.  

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me Lyra," he replied, rolling his eyes.  "Wasn't that your creed to live by?  Don't accept pity, fix the problem that causes ponies to feel it?"

"I'm not so sure if that applies anymore."  She said, a knot for in in her throat.

"Snap out of it Lyra."  He cooed, putting an arm around her.  "Stop acting sad because of me."

"Fine, you jerk."  She replied after a moment, wiping her eyes.  "I just care about you, it's hard being tough when your best friend hurts like this."

"Yeah, I know." He said, getting quiet all of a sudden.  "How do you think I felt that time you got your arm pulled into those gears while you were building whatever that was?  That was the most scared I'd ever been about anything, even more than I have been with this.  I hate to use the clichéd 'I know how you feel' line, but I was thinking the same exact things when I saw your mangled arm and they told me that you might never walk right again.  But you beat those odds, and even though everything turned out fine the worry was still real.  And you're the same mare."

"Heh."  Lyra chuckled, her throat dry.  "That sounded so corny."

"I don't know what you expect from me, I'm hardly good with emotions."  He said with a shrug.

"Yeah, we both are.  It's probably one of the reasons we get along."

"And that we're both so unbelievably gorgeous."  Caramel filled in seriously.

"I thought that went without saying."  She responded, keeping her face straight for a moment before they burst into laughter.  

"So where's Bon Bon?"  Caramel asked, looking around.  I was only out for like twenty minutes."

"Caramel, you were asleep for hours," Lyra said with a laugh.  "Same exact pose the entire time."  She fell backwards onto the bed, letting a hind leg stick up into the air with her mouth wide open.  "Never even moved, it was hilarious."

Caramel felt blood rush to his face, making Lyra giggle as she noticed his blush.  "I was tired!"  He retorted, annoyed that he wasn't able to come up with a better comeback.  

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't make fun of you for this.  Chances are if you'd moved something would've gotten hurt."

"That's like the first time you've ever backed down from something like that Lyra," he noted.  "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just feel like I'm kicking you while you're down.  That's another part of the Lyra code, if you haven't forgotten.  'Don't kick somepony while they're down, unless they deserve more than what got them there,'" Lyra preached with a joking smile, holding a hoof to her chest as she tried to look important.

"Alright but seriously, Lyra, ever since I woke up again you never seemed to be back on your game, like there was something bothering you.  You can talk to me, you know."

"It's nothing,"  she said quickly, studying his eyes.  She couldn't talk to him, it wasn't even as if she herself knew what she was feeling towards Caramel.  Something had changed though, and as far as she could tell it wasn't just the sudden influx of worry.  Lyra looked for something, anything that would allow her to change the subject.

"Did you ever finish that drawing?"  she asked, quickly turning towards the bedside table.  "I'm interested to see what it was that managed to freak you out so much.  Not that it takes that much, really."

"Thanks," he replied, deadpan.  He walked over to the table, brushing past her to reach for the paper.  Caramel picked it up, beginning to reach for it as a wing caught on Lyra's side and he yelped in unexpected pain.  He pulled downwards to try to unstick it more on reflex then from conscious thought, but that only made things worse as it bent upwards over the edge of her back.  Lyra shifted away, suddenly feeling guilty as he stood up straight again with a loud groan, trying to reach for the wing with a hoof.  The action put him off balance, and she tried to catch him before he fell, sliding an arm under his form and only succeeding in being brought down along with him.

"Ow," he said, his voice cracking as something wet hit her cheek.  "Fuck these things."  He tried to blink away tears she knew were there, pushing himself back to his hooves.  

"And you wonder why I feel sorry for you," Lyra mentioned, getting up as well.  She gestured for him to move onto the bed, and he eventually coalesced.  "You mind if I look at them?" she asked as he flattened himself on his stomach, watching as one of his wingtips twitched.  Caramel shook his head, wiping at an eye and trying to make it look like he had gotten something in it.

Lyra didn't waste any time, climbing on the bed beside him to try to get a better look.  They were definitely still growing, the tiny foal sized wings she had seen initially replaced by a much larger but probably still foal sized set.  Not a small foal though, they were really starting to become something.  Lyra decided she liked the wings, reaching out a hoof to slide under the leading edge and pick up the feathered appendage, hearing a sharp intake of breath that she assumed was pain.  

"Sorry," she said, before allowing herself to become immersed in the way the feathers all threaded their way around one another.  Lyra set her hoof down gently in the middle of his wing, trailing it towards the tip of the longest primary as she held up the wing with her other hoof.  The feathers felt unbelievably soft, although it wasn't as if she'd really held a wing like this before anyway.  And she'd definitely not expected to be holding one now of all times.  

Lyra pulled the wing upwards ever so slightly as a crack echoed throughout the room and Caramel let out a groan.  She must've broken it, oh no no no no no...  

"Oh, do that to the other wing too."  He mumbled out, making her notice how much more relaxed he seemed all of a sudden as the wing seemed to stretch out a little further than it had before.  Lyra reached over and grabbed his other wing, watching it intently as she lifted it.  Everything seemed normal, until two of the joints along his wing seemed to pop into position, along with another crack.  "Ohhh, wow..."  

"Feel better?"

"Like you can't even believe."  He said, enjoying the sudden lifting of pain.  

Lyra smiled widely, feeling happy that she had actually done something useful for a change.  She reverted her attention to the now more stretched out wing, which she could feel spreading and contracting ever so slightly under Caramel's power.  She brushed the leading edge of his wing with a hoof again, feeling at the downy feathers as Caramel shivered beneath her.

"Does that fell good?"  she asked, genuinely surprised that a long stroke of his feathers felt better than the simple feeling of her hoof along a bone.

"Yeah, you could say that."  He replied, breathing getting faster.  

"You okay?"

He nodded.  "Feels so good,"  he murmured, one of his hind legs twitching slightly as he heard the door open.  

"Hey Lyra, I'm-" Bon Bon paused, looking at the scene in disbelief as she dropped her saddlebag with a thud.  "Lyra, what are you doing?!"

"I asked him if I could touch his wings and I actually made them kinda fix themselves, and now they hurt a lot less," she said proudly.  "And apparently he likes it when I pet them like this."

"Yeah," Bon Bon began, putting a hoof to her forehead.  "That's because what you're stroking at is an erogenous zone for pegasi."  Lyra paused, staring down at Caramel for a moment before she took away her hoof, frowning.

"Wouldn't that have been a good thing to say earlier?"  Lyra asked.

"How can you not know?  I thought that was like a thing that everypony was familiar with!"  Bon Bon yelled back.

"Oh yeah, cuz with my only colt friends being earth ponies and unicorns I'm bound to know."

"Well how was I supposed to work that into conversation anyway?  Hey Caramel sorry you feel like shit all the time, but at least you can get aroused by your wings?!"

"It would have been nice to know either way."  Caramel mumbled, sitting up slowly.  His face was red as a beet, and one of his wings was sticking out to one side.  "But it's kinda stuck now anyway, so I'm not really sure-"

He was interrupted by a loud groan from Bon Bon.  "Listen, I'm only going to go through this once, since apparently you've never come into intimate contact with pegasi before, or heard a dirty joke about them.  If you touch the wing, where depends on who, that happens."  She pointed to Caramel.  "For some reason they stay erect like that, but doctors still don't know what the point of that is."

Lyra and Caramel edged away from each other, blushes worsening.  

"And I thought waking you up that other time would be the awkward part."  Bon Bon sighed, picking up her saddlebag and dumping the contents on the bed.  "I got some food, figured that since you two practically empty the icebox whenever you do something at our house, that you might want more than hotel mints and those random candy bars Lyra keeps with her."

"Yeah, sure..."  Caramel replied nervously, his wing limp at his side once again.  "What did you grab?" he asked, starting to sort trough the pile of things the mare had bought.  

"Just sandwich stuff, a little of the amateurish candy that they sell around here."

"I dunno Bon Bon,"  Lyra said through a mouthful.  "Tastrs firn ta me."  

"Lyra!  This isn't for you!"

"Yeah, but he ate my candy bars and I'm hungry now..."  Lyra complained, shoving another piece of candy into her mouth when she thought Bon Bon wasn't looking.  

"It's fine anyway, I'd rather skip having a sugar rush later.  It's not like I can do much with he energy."  Caramel said,  pausing briefly.  "And besides, I'd probably just be all hyped up and hurt myself."

"Good thingh arm immune."  Lyra responded, causing the three to chuckle.

"The only reason you don't appear to have sugar rushes is because you're always full of energy."  Caramel said, poking her chest with a hoof.  "The day I see a mellow Lyra is the day pigs fly."

"Pfft, that could be soon."

He crossed his arms.  "Like you're ever going to get that thing to do more than glide."  

"Hey, I got the propeller to spin for a while the other day, and I think only one of the parts blew this time!"

"Oh, only one?"  Caramel replied, crossing his arms.

"Just you watch, one day it'll be possible for me to fly around like a pegasus, and then you'll be jealous."

Caramel wiggled one of his wings slightly, looking rather proud of himself for a moment.  "We'll just have to see who figures out flying first then."  

"You want to bet on that?"  Lyra asked, more than just a hint of competition in her eyes.

"Guys!"  Bon Bon yelled, taking the ripped slice of sheet and throwing it at Lyra.  "Get something that works to cover his wings and horn, and let's get back to Ponyville.  We've already missed a day, I don't want to miss too much of another one."

"I told you, once I get the claw thing working we can just live in luxury," Lyra said, her gaze getting far off for a moment.  "So long as I find a way to create a longer lever arm and use the limited torque created by hooves to open and close the whole thing."

Bon Bon looked at Caramel, her expression giving away the fact that she had no idea what Lyra was talking about.  Caramel sighed, a slight smile spreading on his lips.  "You know how we can kinda grab stuff with hooves, because of whatever pony magic?"  She nodded, gesturing for him to continue.  "Well Lyra wants to use the power there to grab something easily, and translate that through the power of physics into a larger force further from the point of rotation.  But she kinda ran into a wall making it small at the same time, and allowing for ponies to walk while wearing it."

"Maybe you could just show me?"  Bon Bon asked, still looking confused. 

"Sure thing."  Lyra replied quickly, sketching madly at the back of the pad of paper.  She paused for a moment, flipping it over and gasping slightly.  "This is what you saw?"  

"Yeah."  Caramel said, trying not to drag up too many visions.  He looked over her shoulder at the bipedal blade armed thing, shivering slightly.

"So was this in your dreams too?"  She queried, taking a closer look at the rather detailed sketch.  

"Yeah."  He repeated.  "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Come on, I-"  she saw the look on his face and realized that he was serious.  Lyra dropped the subject and sighed, picking up the partial sheet and throwing it over Caramel.  Then she dug into her saddlebag, pulling out a bag of flour.

"You keep flour in your saddlebag?"  He asked, furrowing his brow.

"No, this is Bon Bon's.  She didn't really put everything away before we had to find help for you."  She moved overto her own saddlebag, digging past the food and looking through all the pockets before she found a cough drop that had obviously seen better days and pulled it out.  Lyra didn't waste a moment, the sounds of running water sounding as she ran to the bathroom, returning with a cup full of steaming water.  

"Ah, the fake bandage approach?"  Caramel asked.

"Sometimes I begin to think that you know me too well."  She giggled, face flashing red as she looked back down and realized how that could have sounded.  Not that it mattered, it wasn't as if he didn't actually know her better than anypony in the first place.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as she poured a glob of flour inside the cup, stirring it around as it turned into a semi-thick slurry and the cough drop dissolved.  It didn't seem dark enough, but she wasn't sure what else to use.  Then she grabbed a small piece of black licorice, mentally berating herself for not seeing it earlier.  

"Just have to make this all dissolve, then get you fitted and leave."

"What about the horn?"  Caramel asked, touching its tip with a hoof as it protruded slightly from his mane.  "A hat?"

"I guess, just make sure it doesn't fall off."  She shrugged at Bon Bon's look.  "What?  I don't want to over complicate things."

"Fair enough, I guess," she replied, watching Lyra put a thin piece of plastic wrap over the cup from the wrapper that it had come in.  She stuck it against Caramel's side, nodding her head as she ripped off some more pieces of sheet, fitting a now more stuffed looking 'bandage' around his back.  

Lyra returned to the bathroom, dumping out the cup until she figured she wouldn't be going overboard.  Then she carefully placed the cup under the bandage.  

"Go ahead and frolic, Caramel.  I know you want to."  She said with a smirk, catching his slight amusement as he carefully hopped a few times, moving around the room as he felt some 'blood' slosh out of the cup, making a stain that looked more realistic than if they had done it themselves.  Lyra removed the cup again, patting along the bandage gently to make sure that there were no serious problems that needed to be resolved before they left.  

"You good?  No problems, crooked feathers or anything?"

"Just an extreme version of growing pains and a headache."  He replied, touching his horn again.  "I feel like this is all a dream, that it's too weird to actually be happening."

"I know what you mean.  'Course, that was more back when you were out cold and I thought it was a nightmare, but same idea I guess."

"How do you feel?" Bon Bon asked, trailing a hoof along the ground.  "About what's happening, I mean?  You've got to be glad on some level.  I mean here you are, plain Earth Pony, and then suddenly you develop wings and a horn?  It seems like all the pain might not be for nothing."

Caramel nodded, making his wings twitch again.  "Yeah, but I've only ever been an Earth Pony, I haven't had either of these things before, and even trying to figure out how to move my wings seems like it's going to be a challenge.  That sounds weird.  My wings and my horn."

"You've got flight eventually though, right?  That's something at least."  The cream mare asked.

"I can't say I'm not looking forward to a working pair of these babies, so I guess you're right.  I should just start looking at this from the 'I might be able to fly and move things with my mind' point of view, rather than the whole annoyance that I'll have to keep it a secret.  I'm too young to complain about all this stuff, I've got my entire life ahead of me."

"And suddenly, tons more possibilities."  Lyra added.

"I'll probably just keep my regular job, actually.  I like it, it's not as if it isn't my favorite thing to do."

"Minus throwing objects."  Lyra mentioned, shooting him a grin.

He chuckled.  "It's funny how most ponies are all like 'I got my cutie mark and now I know what to do with my life!'  And I'm just like, I built this thing."  He paused.  "I'm going to throw something at it and see how hard it is to destroy."

"It's no wonder you always get bug eyed when we start testing your little balsa wood buildings."

"Hey, I don't like to just destroy things, my whole point is to beat the previous one."

"And then destroy other things with projectiles."

"Yeah.  It only took me a good throw and a horseshoe to win this thing," he said, looking at his cutie mark.  "Three horseshoes couldn't have really gotten me very far by itself though."

"I've seen your trick shots."  Lyra said, packing stuff back into their saddlebags and quickly throwing together a giant sandwich, which she handed to Caramel.  "I'm still pretty jealous."

"Alright, you want to talk about jealousy?  You can play the Lyre better than anypony, the harp as a kind of added bonus, and you keep mentioning that my talent is better."  He took a bite of the sandwich, letting out a groan of approval.  His stomach seconded his feelings with a groan of its own, and a giggle from Bon Bon filtered out of the bathroom.  

"Yeah, but you could practically decapitate somepony with a throw if you did it right, and the way you got your mark was way cooler."

"I got suspended from school."

"Yeah, but that bully got suspended from consciousness."  

Caramel broke into laughter, spewing a few pieces of greens onto the floor.  "Fuck, why is this so funny to me?"  He asked, before beginning to laugh again.

"I dunno, I kinda thought that one would fall flat, to be honest."

He nodded, beginning to calm down as he let out a few residual laughs.  "I've got to remember to use that somewhere."

"Lyra, you got everything packed out there?"  Bon Bon asked, passing with a toothbrush and stowing it in her saddlebag.

"Yeah, you mind telling me why you're so OCD about brushing your teeth?"  the aquamarine mare queried.

"I dunno, why do you work in the basement for hours on end?"

"Touché, I guess."  Lyra responded, stifling a yawn.  "Now come on, we should actually get moving."

"This looks pretty good," Caramel said about the bandage, looking a little surprised.  That kind of annoyed Lyra.

"Of course it does, do you really think that I would make something crappy!?"  she asked, poking him none too softly in the neck.

"No, that's not what I meant at all, it was just that you didn't have much to work with, and I thought this was surprisingly good for what you had."

"Oh..."  She said, bowing her head slightly.  "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?  I mean, normally you just kinda stop at the 'oh' part and look embarrassed..."

"Look, it doesn't matter what I'm thinking.  Let's just go."

"Alright."  Caramel replied, still looking at her strangely.  "I'm taking off this hat."

"But what if-"  Lyra began.

"Don't worry, I can just slap the thing back on.  Nopony that we know will be here anyway."  He opened the door and walked shakily outside, the irregular heavy thuds of his hooves making it more than obvious that he probably shouldn't be walking in the first place.  

Lyra sighed, before grabbing her saddlebag and beginning to walk after Caramel.  She couldn't see how things could possibly end up going well through any of this.  But it was bound to be an adventure.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, however, she couldn't be quite sure.