Chapter 1: The Move

Chapter 1: The Move[

Sketch soared through the clouds, the air rushing past him as he flew, the wind blowing through his mane, his black and tan mane gently moving as he whizzed through the air.
Sketchbook was on his way to Ponyville for the first time since he was a colt; He had been practically forced to leave his home in Cloudsdale, due to his family. His mother and father had, over the recent years of his life, begun to split apart. There was constant fighting at home and more often than not, sleep was usually accompanied by the screaming of his mother and father.

Sketchbook’s parents loved him very much, of course, and he loved them; but he hated the constant fighting, the spiteful things that were said, the lies that were told with Sketchbook himself getting dragged into the whole mess.
So Sketchbook had decided to move out, he had packed his few belongings and had them shipped to Ponyville, only keeping a few irreplaceable items with him in his saddlebags, not having the bits to pay for a carriage. The saddlebag contained a small picture of his Mother, father and baby brother, taken just a year or so ago, a pouch of bits that he had saved just in case the exact situation he was currently in ever arose, and his notebook.

Sketch’s father had given him the notebook when he had reached the age where he could read and write, The notebook itself was rather large, and he had barely only filled a quarter of its pages since he had received it. It was because of that notebook, that Sketch had discovered his special talent: Sketch had the ability to replicate anything he saw down to the last detail, in the form of a drawing.

Sketchbook shook his head, trying to clear it of the bad memories he had been left with from his family. He oriented his gaze towards the ground, looking for any sign of his destination.

“I should be there by now” Sketch thought to himself as he scanned the ground.

“There!”

Slowly appearing in the distance, Sketch spotted the small town that was Ponyville. Sketch had only been a colt when he last saw Ponyville, yet he was sure that it had grown significantly, a few new structures here and there. At once the air became completely clear, allowing Sketch to get an unhindered view of the quaint little town. The buildings were much different than those in Cloudsdale, each one appearing to be made out of some sort of wood with a light colored roof.

Sketch could see the tiny figures of the residents of Ponyville bustling about, each little dot minding its own business or socializing with somepony else. He began his descent towards the edge of Ponyville, hoping to walk around a bit before he went and met with the moving pegasi; whom had most likely already begun to unload his things at his new home.
Sketch had spent all the remaining money he had to hire movers, due to the fact his parents had refused to help him, and he had never really made any friends in Cloudsdale who could help him.

The word “friends” hit Sketch where it hurt; his heart sank a bit as he remembered how he never really had made any friends in Cloudsdale and that he would know absolutely nopony in Ponyville. Sketch pushed the thought out of his head, angled himself downwards and gently flapped his wings in order to cushion his landing a bit. After touching down Sketch’s balance was a bit off center, as his body was expecting the softness of a cloud, but he quickly restored his balance and looked around.

The field he had landed in was beautiful; the grass was a warm green with a flower or two dotting the hilly terrain ever so often, a light dirt path that wound across said hills, and Celestia’s sun casting its warm rays over the landscape. The whole scene looked like something out of a storybook.
Sketch reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a small map of Ponyville, he had landed where he meant to, across town from where he was going to be living.

“Good. Now I can get a feel for the town like I had hoped.”

Sketch looked at the map one last time before returning it into his saddlebag. He then began to make his way towards Ponyville. Sketch focused his eyes on the dirt path, watching as it slowly began to become more worn, slowly turning from light brown, to a darker brown and finally into a cobble path.

Sketch looked up and realized he had arrived just outside of Ponyville. He looked around and saw but one mare. Her coat was a light crème color and her mane was a brash pink with navy blue stripes, she had a cutie mark consisting of three objects that appeared to be bows, or maybe it was three pieces of candy.

“Hello there!”

The mare turned her gaze to Sketch, a snarl plastered on her face. She growled something like that of some dog, turned tail and returned into what appeared to be her home.

Sketch stood there, not quite sure of what just happened. He shrugged off the mare’s sudden anger and trotted on, silently wondering what had gotten her so upset.

As Sketch walked further and further into Ponyville, the amount of other ponies around him grew. There was a large tree that appeared to have been turned into a residence of some sort, with a purple unicorn sitting outside on a blanket, her eyes trained on some book. Sketch could have sworn he saw a small dragon as well in one of the windows, appearing to be cleaning something up.

Eventually Sketch made his way into what appeared to be a marketplace of some sort, many stalls and produce carts surrounding a large shop with a sign that read Sugarcube Corner. A delicious aroma drifted out of the open door of the shop as he walked by. Sketch stopped for a moment to enjoy the pleasant aroma of a variety of desserts and snacks, the different smells mixing together to make a sort of sweet scented cacophony.

But then something caught Sketch’s eye, there sitting next to one of the windows and sipping on some sort of shake, was an aquamarine mare, her mane was a color that reminded him of mint, with white stripes running through it. Her bright golden eyes looked somewhat sad, as if she had recently been through a stressful ordeal; a look Sketch unfortunately found himself all too familiar with. This mare was a pretty mare, her mane lying perfectly atop her head, framing her face and golden eyes like the frame of a picture.

Sketch found himself staring deep into the gold eyes belonging to the mare, and those eyes were staring back at him. Wait, those eyes were staring back! Sketch shook his head and quickly looked away, his white face glowing a faint red.
Sketch watched out of the corner of his eye as he trotted away, watching the mare giggled silently at his blunder. Then he crashed head on into the side of some cart head on.

“Celestia must want me to make as much of a foal of myself as possible today” Sketch thought.

Sketch looked up to realize it was not a cart he had walked into, but a mare! The mare was an almost overpowering pink, and a frizzy looking mane that was a few shades darker pink than that of her coat.

As Sketch’s eyes met that of the pink mares, here pupils shrunk to an incredibly small size. The mare took in a deep breath as if she was about to scream. Sketch closed his eyes and prepared his eardrums for the verbal assault, but it never came. He peeked one eye open and saw the pink mare bounding off into the distance.

“This town has some weird ponies…”

After further exploring Ponyville and taking in its sights, as well as almost trampling a yellow Pegasus with a light pink mane; who had for some reason been leading a row of ducklings. After apologizing to the Pegasus, who ended up simply whimpering and hiding her face, Sketch made his way to what would be his new home.

Sketch arrived just in time to see the moving pegasi fly off with their strange moving cart. He trotted up to his new home, and took in the sight.

The house was rather cozy, a white picket fence placed around the small grassy area in front of it, the grass was a bit long, and Sketch made a mental note to deal with it once he got settled in. As he approached the door, Sketch saw it was made of some kind of light wood, with an ornate glass window adorned near the top; the glass was decorated with some intricate design that resembled the sun in some way. As Sketch pushed the door open he realized that the good looks on the outside did not match up with the inside.

The entire place was empty and dirty. There was a small fireplace across from the entryway that looked about a hundred years old, and a kitchen area to the left of where Sketch was standing, complete with sink, oven and fridge.
Sketch closed the door with his back hoof and walked over to the two boxes that sat in the center of the room, as he approached them, noticed what appeared to be a bedroom door.

“I can see why I got it so cheap…”

Sketch opened one of the boxes in the center of the room, inside were some toiletries and the like, as well as some canned food and kitchen appliances. Moving on to the next box, Sketch saw that it carried items he had packed up from his room in Cloudsdale, a small chest filled with knick-knacks, some books and a large wall clock Sketch had received from his grandfather before he had passed away, as well as a large floor rug, more of Sketch’s drawing supplies and a record player with a few disks, also a gift Sketch had received from his grandfather.

Sketch looked away from the box and noticed his larger possessions against the wall, His bed as well as a small table and nightstand. Sketch decided to explore the house a bit first before he began to unpack, and trotted into the bedroom.
The bedroom was about the same size of his old room in Cloudsdale, with a large round window on the far side of the room, and what appeared to be the doorway to a bathroom across from it. Sketch trotted into the bathroom; a rather small and simple bathroom, there was a roundish mirror above a sink, and a bathtub that looked way too large for the room.
Sketch turned and trotted out of the bathroom, returning to his boxes so that he could work on unpacking. However, just as Sketch opened the first box, there was a knock at the door.

“How do I already have visitors?”

Sketch looked through the glass window that was centered at eye level on his door, due to the decorations on the glass however, everything on the other side was distorted. He opened the door and a wall of sound hit him like the Pony Express.

“SURPRISE!!!!!!”

Sketch saw there in front of him, the bright pink pony who he had run into earlier, and behind her, what appeared to be the whole of Ponyville. Sketch opened his mouth to try and speak, but was cut off by the pink pony.

“Hi there, my names Pinkie Pie and I just wanted to welcome you to Ponyville with a nice big PARTY! When I bumped into you earlier by Sugarcube Corner, I realized I had never met you before, and if I had not met you, that means you have never been to one of my parties because you don’t live in Ponyville, and I know that because I know EVERYPONY in Ponyville, so I got all my friends in Ponyville, Meaning everyone in Ponyville you see, and I threw you a big surprise welcome party!”
Sketch listened as Pinkie said everything in one breath, and then everypony began socializing with one another as music began playing from some unknown location.

Sketch simply stood there flabbergasted at the fact that not only an entire party had been thrown simply for the fact he had moved to Ponyville, but also the fact he had only seen Pinkie Pie a few hours earlier.

Sketch jumped a bit as he heard a voice next to him.
“You will never get used to Pinkie Pie, trust me.”

Standing next to Sketch was the purple mare he had seen reading by the large tree like building when he arrived.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle, and who might you be?”

Sketch stared blankly at the mare for a moment, and then shook himself back to his senses.

“I’m uh…umm…Sketchbook, yeah, my name is Sketchbook!” Sketch said awkwardly.

Twilight didn’t seem to notice his awkward response and began to speak again, just at it dawned on Sketchbook who this mare was.

“Wait…THE, Twilight Sparkle? As in the pupil of Princess Celestia herself, Twilight Sparkle? As in the pony that represents the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yep! The one and only!” Twilight replied, blushing slightly. “Come on, I will introduce you to my friends!” Twilight lead Sketch through the rather large crowd, introducing him to her friends, one of whom included the Pegasus he had nearly trampled earlier that day.

“I cannot express how sorry I am for nearly trampling you, Miss Fluttershy, was it?”

The Pegasus had managed to overcome some of her shyness now that her friends were around and responded, even if somewhat softly.

“Oh, that’s ok. I am just glad nopony got hurt!” Fluttershy smiled warmly as she spoke.

Sketch was introduced to the rest of Twilight’s friends and eventually he left the keepers of the Elements of Harmony to mingle with others, although not before a rather confident rainbow maned Pegasus challenged him to a race, an offer he politely refused much to the Pegasus’ dismay.

Sketch mingled a bit, and eventually it started to get dark, and by the time Luna’s moon shone in the sky, everypony had cleared out, all save Pinkie Pie and her five fellow Element Holders, who offered to help him clean up.

Once the aftermath of the party had been cleaned up, Sketch waved goodbye to his new friends, He was extremely tired, but he had enjoyed the party nonetheless. Just then, as he was about to step inside his door, Sketch heard something.
The sound was a heavenly one; it was as if the wind had been given a musical form. Sketch listened to the musical sound as its harmony carried on the wind; the music was soothing and calm. It seemed as if all other noise had ceased to exist, save that of the music that now graced his ears.

“I wonder who could be doing that...” Sketch thought.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Sketch flew inside his house and slipped his saddle bag on, and slowly flew off towards the sound.

After a minute or so of flying Sketch came to a small clearing on a hill, not too far from his house. The moon was at such a point that it looked as if the hill itself had given birth to it, rather than Princess Luna raising it herself.
Sketch locked his eyes on a lone figure sitting on top of the hill, the figures feature obscured by the way the moon cast its light. Sketch silently crept closer to the figure and pulled out his notebook from its spot in his saddlebag. As he crept closer the figures details came into visibility.

It was the same mare he had embarrassed himself in front of at Sugarcube Corner.
Now that he could get a better look at the mare, Sketch realized she was a unicorn, and her cutie mark resembled that of the instrument she was playing, a Lyre. A faint green glow surrounded the lyre as its heavenly sound echoed through the wind, the mare sat there completely still, the light of the moon now revealing her aquamarine coat and her white and mint mane cascading over her shoulder. Her eyes were closed as she focused on her music.

Sketch silently began to draw the beautiful scene in front of him.
The mare with her lyre, and the moon in the background made a wondrous sight to behold.
He copied every detail into his notebook, from the placement of the unicorn’s mane to the blades of grass she sat on. After a few seconds Sketch had finished his artwork, a near perfect black and white copy of the scene before him, his art completed so fast due to his special talent being able to draw so well.

Sketch noticed something shine off the unicorns face; the shiny object rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground.
“Are you crying?”

The unicorn gasped and the music abruptly stopped, Sketch realized his blunder, he had forgotten not to speak. He silently scolded himself as the unicorn spoke up.

“H-how long have you been there?” She asked

Her voice was as calming as the music from her lyre, a soothing sound to the ears; even though sadness tainted it.
“I, um…I uh”

Sketch found himself unable to formulate words.

“Well?” The unicorn sniffled and wiped her face with her hoof as she trotted over to sketch, her tone firm, and slightly worried.

“I am really sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, I just heard your music and followed it to the source, and when I found you, the scene was so nice…I uh….really wanted to sketch it”

The Aquamarine unicorn stopped a few feet from Sketch, allowing him to fully take in her natural beauty and features.

“Wait a minute” She said, drawing out the words.

“I know you! You’re that Stallion who I caught staring at me at Sugarcube Corner earlier this afternoon, aren’t you?” The mare’s tone had softened and she sounded more friendly.

Sketch blushed bright red.
“Uh…yeah…I am…” He said, slightly embarrassed.

“My name is Sketchbook, by the way. You can call me Sketch if you like.” He said trying to change the subject.

The unicorn perked her ears up.

“Oh you are the pony who moved here from Cloudsdale right?”

“Yeah, I am, how did you…?”

Sketch was cut off.
“Pinkie Pie” The unicorn said with a giggle.

“My name is Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings” The mare said with a smile.

“So you aren’t too bad with that lyre!” Sketch found himself trying to keep up conversation; something he didn’t normally do
.
“I like to think I can play it well.”

An incredibly awkward silence followed.

“Tell you what new guy, I didn’t eat much at that party Pinkie threw for you, so how about you and I go get some food and you can explain all about how you were stalking me.” Lyra grinned cheekily; her mood suddenly becoming playful and flirtatious. She tapped Sketch on the nose with her hoof as she trotted by, her Lyre somehow disappearing in front of her as she walked away at an angle.

“Hey! I was not stalking you!” Sketch said, a bit hurt.

Lyra simply ignored him as she trotted on back towards the town.

Sketch found his eyes locked on Lyra’s swaying flank as she trotted away, the swaying motion mesmerizing.

“You going to stare all night Mr. Stalker or you gonna come with me and get some food?” Lyra said without looking back.
Causing Sketch blush an even brighter red.

“I was not staring and I am NOT a stalker” He said, as he trotted after the unicorn.

Truth be told, Sketch really wasn’t hungry at all, he had eaten a fair amount of food. However this pretty mare had offered to join him for a meal; and that meant spending time with her. Something that Sketch did not intend to pass up.

Lyra lead Sketch to Sugarcube Corner, Sketch found they normally only served snacks and sweets and the like, and not an entire meal he wouldn’t be able to finish; much to his silent delight.

Lyra had chosen a corner booth and slid in across the cushioned leather, sticking her legs out and sitting at a rather odd fashion, her back legs swinging lazily aver the edge of the bench and her front hooves placed upon the table top.
Sketch raised an eyebrow when he saw her strange way of sitting.

“Don’t ask” Lyra said flatly.

Sketch just smiled and slid into the bench across from Lyra

“What, you don’t want to sit next to me?” She said with a fake pout, letting Sketch know she was teasing. Sketch found the pout adorable. He kept this to himself however.

“I just didn’t want to overwhelm you with my insane good looks and charm” Sketch retorted.

“You wish Mr. Stalker”

Before Sketch could return fire, Mr. Cake trotted over; Sketch had met Mr. Cake at the party, learning that he ran Sugarcube Corner with his wife, Missus Cake.

“What can I get for yah?” Mr. Cake asked.

Before Sketch could say anything however, Lyra spoke up.

“Just two of that shake I usually order, Mr. Cake, and two blueberry muffins”

“You got it Lyra!” Mr. Cake chimed, and trotted away.

“You are going to love what I ordered, trust me” Lyra said, smiling at Sketch. Her smile was warm and Sketch felt his heart skip a beat when she smiled at him, he completely forgot that Lyra had not even asked what he wanted as he became lost, staring into her eyes.

“Hello? Lyra to Stalker boy, come in Stalker Boy!” Lyra waved her hoof on front of Sketch’s face.

Sketch realized he had been staring again and shook his head, trying to ignore his blunder and trying not to blush; something that he was not doing very well to accomplish.

Lyra simply giggled and changed the topic.
“So then Mr.-“Sketch cut Lyra off.

“My name is Sketch, not Mr. Stalker” He said jabbing his hoof at Lyra.

Lyra let out a fake gasp “Oh my, well I don’t see how you could ever think that I would do such a thing!” She giggled again, a sound Sketch did not think he would ever get tired of.

“Anyways! You said something about drawing me, Sketchy, you would not happen to still have that drawing would you?”

“Oh! Um yeah sure I guess you can see it.” Sketch dug his notebook out of his saddlebag and placed it on the table; the notebook was about 3 inches thick and weighed maybe a pound.

Sketch silently realized she had just given him a nickname and wondered why he didn’t really care.

“Sweet Celestia that’s a big notebook” Lyra said, genuinely surprised at the size of the book.

“It was a gift from my…um…parents…” Sketch hesitated at mentioning his parents. Lyra seemed to notice this, as well as a pained look in Sketch’s eyes, so she left it alone.
Sketch flipped the notebook open to the page he had drawn Lyra playing her Lyre on, and flipped it around so Lyra could see.
Lyra’s eyes widened at the sight of Sketch’s art.
“Wow, that’s amazing! It looks like an actual photograph! How did you manage to do that!?”

Sketch beamed with happiness at Lyra’s praise.
“It’s my special talent!” he said, extending his wings with a flourish and striking a pose.

Lyra laughed at his display; a warm and light laugh.

Just then, Mr. Cake seemingly materialized next to Sketch and Lyra, holding a platter with two muffins and two frothy looking drinks in one hoof.

“Here’s your order! Enjoy!”

Lyra reached over and took one of the drinks and handed it to Sketch, still giggling slightly as she did. Sketch happily accepted the drink and looked down into it. The drink looked as if it would taste like some sort of vanilla strawberry mix and there was plenty of frothy substance on the top of it, he peered at it curiously.

“Well, go on then try it! You will love it I promise!” Lyra smiled her warm, sweet inviting smile again, Sketch could not bring himself to have her tell him what was in it first, and he seemed to have a soft spot for her smile for an odd reason.

“Better not let her know that.” He thought to himself.

Sketch brought the glass up to his lips and took a sip. He felt his cheeks suck in as the sour drink took its toll on his poor mouth; his eyes beginning to water as the sour taste had its fun with his taste buds. Lyra was laughing so hard he eyes were almost watering.

“Very Funny” Sketch said through the sour taste.

“Oh dear Celestia, oh ho, wow you should have seen your face.” Lyra laughed for a few more seconds before she sat up and wiped a tear from her eye. “Ha-ha Sketchy, that face was priceless, oh if I had only had a camera or something.” Lyra giggled a bit more before continuing.

“Try it again Sketchy” She said with another smile.

Sketch’s eyes widened. “Yeah, how about no.” He said, his mouth still recovering from its previous abuse.

“No really! It’s only that sour the first time I promise!” Lyra gave Sketch her big smile again and her golden eyes watched Sketch with hope.

Sketch sat stone still, eyes flitting back and forth from Lyra to whatever was in his glass.

Lyra saw his uncertainty. “Ohhh come on try it one more time for your pal Lyra please?” Lyra drew her “Please” as long as she could.
Sketch huffed and carefully sipped the drink again, his eyes locked onto Lyra’s golden eyes the whole time. The liquid hit Sketch’s tongue and instead of the insane sour like before, it was a soft sour, and that then turned into a sweet taste as he swallowed the liquid.

“See I told you!” Lyra said in a sing-song voice.

Lyra took a swig of her drink, the sour seeming to have no affect on her taste buds. When she set the drink down she stared at Sketch for a moment. He noticed this and set his drink down, his eyes still locked on hers.

“Do you have something to say?” Sketch asked.
“Yes I do, if you don’t mind that is”

“I don’t mind at all, Lyra. What would you like to know?”

Lyra sipped her drink and then continued.
“So what brings you to Ponyville? Why did you leave Cloudsdale?”

Sketch’s heart sank, his happy expression instantly turned to sadness, and he did little to hide it.

“Oh, sorry, um….if you don’t wanna talk about it that’s cool with me!” Lyra said, noticing Sketch’s sudden mood change.

“No it’s alright, I guess I might as well tell somepony sooner rather than later.” Sketch said with a sigh.

“You want the long or the short version?” he asked.

“Whichever you would like, I’m not going anywhere” Lyra said with a soft smile.

Sketch ran a hoof through his mane and began his story.
“About a year or so ago, my parents began to fight. Nothing major at first, just a harsh tone here and there. I was in the final year of my schooling and it seemed like whenever I would get home, there would be an argument. At first it didn’t really impact me at all, just an awkward dinner or something like that. I told myself it would all work itself out, and really didn’t think anything of it until the next week or so. My father had gotten a new job you see, and this meant he had to travel to Canterlot for work at the beginning of every week, and he would return in time to spend the weekend at home.”
Sketch took a sip of his drink and continued
“But while he had gotten this new job, my mother had…..gotten lonely, so to speak. She became close friends with one of the teachers at my school and started to spend more and more time with him; during the weekends however, when my father was home, she didn’t say anything. She and my father would try to avoid speaking as much as possible during the weekend and it was rather awkward. When he would leave again, she would go back to spending time with this new stallion, going out to dinners with him and the like, and I began to think something was up. However, not wanting to think my mother could do that to my father, I pushed the thought out of my head and tried my best to ignore it. This went on for about two more weeks until one weekend, my father came home and found these…notes. She had been fooling around with this other stallion while my father had been away. I didn’t find this out however, until that night when I was in bed. I could hear them yelling and screaming at each other through the walls, hell I think everypony in Cloudsdale could hear them. After that my father was never the same, he and my mother would say so many spiteful things behind each other’s backs, and they would tell these things to me, expecting me to take a side or something I guess, the pressure of knowing the things they would tell me, having them tell me things about each other I never would have thought true if anypony else had told me. They would start to yell at me when they thought one had said something about the other, and I didn’t want to upset either of them so I would just keep my mouth shut. Eventually it got too much to bear; I couldn’t take the stress of having to deal with it all. So I made the choice to start saving up my bits, I finished my schooling and got a job, waiting until I would have enough money to move out and start a new life. After a while I finally had enough and here I am today. My parents were upset that I was moving out, hell I don’t know why they even still lived together, but I left anyway.”
Sketch sniffled as he finished his story, raising a hoof to clear the tears from his eyes; he hadn’t even realized he was crying.

Lyra looked heartbroken.

“Oh, Sketch I’m so sorry”

Lyra got up and trotted over to sit next to Sketch, hugging him when she sat down next to him.

Sketch sighed.
“Thanks Lyra. Heh, I don’t even know why I just told you all that. Normally I don’t like to talk about my parents at all”

Sketch looked down to see Lyra nuzzle him gently. The two ponies sat in silence for the remainder of the time. Lyra sat next to him, never even hinting she wanted to move.

They sat until Mr. Cake had to practically kick them out, they had been there over an hour and Mr. Cake wanted to go to bed.

After they both finished; and Lyra refusing to let Sketch pay the bill, the two ponies walked outside. Sketch looked up and saw the moon had risen significantly higher, its pale light shining across Equestria.

Lyra nudged Sketch gently.
“Mind if I walk home with you?”

Sketch looked down at the pretty aquamarine mare, her golden eyes staring into his for a moment.
“I would like that” Sketch said with a smile.

The walk home took less time than it did to get to Sugarcube Corner, due to the fact they were not returning to the hill Sketch had found Lyra on, and the two ponies said little, each one perfectly happy with the others company. Eventually they arrived at Sketch’s house.

Sketch stopped as he neared the door and turned to Lyra.
“I had a great time Lyra, Thanks a ton.”

Lyra trotted closer to Sketch and spoke.
“Anytime, Mr. Stalker.”

Lyra kissed Sketch on the cheek, effectively crushing any annoyance he would have had at her name calling. Lyra blushed as she pulled back, Sketch simply stood there his face even more red than hers.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Lyra spoke up.
“So, ummm, I need to get going. Yeah my…. roommate is going to be fuming because I have been out so late.” Sketch noticed Lyra visibly wince at the mention of a roommate.

“You have a roommate?”

“Yeah, so um I’ll catch you later I guess?” Lyra asked, ignoring Sketch’s question.

Sketch repressed his urge to pursue his curiosity about Lyra’s roommate.
“Yeah! That sounds great!”

Lyra looked at Sketch for a moment and spoke again.

“Actually, maybe sometime this week I can stop by and show you around Ponyville a bit, that sound good?”

“Oh! Yes…uh….yeah I would like that!” Sketch flustered at Lyra’s sudden offer.

“Now, now Sketchy, calm down, were not going steady just yet.” Lyra poked Sketch’s chest playfully as she teased.
“I….uh….I mean…..”

Lyra turned and trotted off away from Sketch, leaving before he could get a word in.

“Bye Sketchy!” Lyra said in a sing-song voice as she walked away.

“B-bye Lyra!” Sketch barely managed to call out.

“That was…different…” He thought to himself.

Sketch turned around and opened the door to his house, When he walked in he realized everything was still in boxes and his furniture was still in the corner of the living room.

“Oh Celestia, I forgot about that”

Chapter 2: Job Hunting

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Sketch was awoken by the feeling of Celestia’s sun warming his face; its rays beaming through his round bedroom window. He stretched his front legs above his head arched his back, receiving a satisfying “Pop” as he did so. Sketch laid there in his bed, staring at the ceiling in thought; the fuzzy sort of thought a pony could get after a dream they didn’t quite remember.
It had been two days since Sketch had seen Lyra last; Much to his dismay, and he still hadn’t managed to process everything that had happened that night he first met her. Why Lyra had been crying on the hill, why he had told Lyra so much about his parents, why he found himself so comfortable around her, the fact she hadn’t been criticizing Sketch’s every word.

The experience of these things were very new to Sketch; after all, he was used to the silent; constant, criticism of his father weighing down on him whenever he voiced his opinion; a feat that happened rarely. The fact he had become so comfortable with somepony so fast was a new experience as well. Normally Sketch wasn’t able to say much to his parents because it would end up being turned against him in some way or other.

But what Sketch had found the most strange, is that he had told some mare he barely knew; albeit a very understanding mare, about his parents and their marital issues.
Sketch never; EVER, talked to anypony about his parents, His mother was to thank for that. Sketch’s mother had made it very clear that the punishments would be severe if he ever spoke of the family issues with the few friends he had while he lived in Cloudsdale. Sketch’s mother had a terrible fear of being embarrassed, and would go to insane amounts of trouble to avoid anypony thinking she was anything but perfect; a fact she would wholeheartedly deny.

Sketch sat up and rubbed his eyes; effectively erasing any remnants of sleep from them. He stared at the rays of sunshine that shone through his window; his eyes watching the tiny particles of dust float around the illuminated air.

He looked over at the wall clock his grandfather had given him, it read 10am.

In his still sleepy state, Sketch managed to make out the very faint “Tick” of the clock as the small red rod that stood for the seconds made its way around. The ticking off the clock reminded him of his baby brother; Gears.

Sketch shook the thought out of his head; running a hoof through his mane and sighing. As if these actions would help him clear his head. He practically rolled out of his bed and slinked onto the floor; Stretching his wings after his sleep.

Sketch stretched a bit more before trotting into his living room. After he had returned home from his outing with Lyra, Sketch had decided to unpack a few of his things, however a few things turned into everything, and Sketch ended up sleeping through most of the next day.

Calling the living room “Modest” would have been an understatement. The area in front of his fireplace consisted of an overstuffed chair, a floor rug, and a small table, along with a small bookcase filled with books he owned. Other than that, the room was empty; devoid of any other decorations.

Sketch strode into his kitchen; a sight not much better than his living room, and found a bagel, he turned to put it in his toaster, only to realize, he didn’t have a toaster. Life on his own was turning out to be harder than Sketch had thought, and over past two days, had made him realize how much he really; truly owned.

Sketch had heard of ponies around his age always talking about independence from their parents; how they would do so much better on their own, how everything would be easier when they had no parents to boss them around.

That was all lies.
Independence sucked.

Sketch frowned at where his toaster should have been, taking a large bite out of his bagel as he did so. As he chewed Sketch ran through a mental list of the things he needed to get done that day. He added “finding a way to get a toaster” to the end of this list.

In reality, Sketch really didn’t have much to do at all that week, save find a job and figure out a way to make his home look more like a home, and less like a haunted house.

Sketch finished his bagel and sat down in his overstuffed chair; the seat making a slight “sssssss” as the air pushed out of it. He huffed as he thought of something to do at that moment. Sketch wasn’t accustomed to being alone at home, He usually would play with his little brother when he was home, trying to avoid conversations with his parents as much as possible; as they would usually lead to fighting even if they started out as something as simple as a joke.

Sketch had no want to get straight to job hunting or furniture hunting, yet he didn’t want to simply sit in his house all day doing nothing. His eyes came to rest on the small glass window on his front door, only seeing a mess of colors and light through it. Sketch thought of the flowers and trees that lay on the other side of that door, the warm breeze, the cool grass.

“Wait”

“That’s it! That’s what I’ll do!” Sketch said aloud.

“I’ll trim my…grass.”

An annoyed look befell Sketch, he was getting excited, over trimming…grass.

Sketch sighed and got out of his chair; and audible “Pssshhh” emanating from it as it sucked air back into its seat.
Sketch trotted up to his door and pulled it open, the smell of the air rushing into his nostrils with the power of a tsunami. He let out a happy sigh as he took in the scene around him. Birds chirping, a gentle breeze making its way through the few trees on his street, the very soft sound of the grass blades moving as the wind bent them. Once again, Ponyville had produced a scene like that of a storybook.

Sketch stepped out onto his small stone floored porch and looked at the grass beneath him, it was almost as high as his knee and there were weeds that had grown to frightening sizes; one weed almost as tall as Sketch himself, its spiky leaves threatening to stab him if he got too close.

Sketch managed to find an ancient grass mower around the side of his house; its blades old and rusted slightly, however it got the job done. He ended up simply mowing over the gigantic weeds; deciding to dig them up at a later time.
Eventually the grass had been trimmed, and Sketch stood back; admiring his handiwork. He sighed at the fact he had done it in only fifteen minutes; leaving the rest of his day free.

“I really need something to do…”

Sketch sat on his front steps, wishing that he could have seen Lyra again; at least then he would have somepony to talk to.
“I guess I might as well go into town and look for a job…” He thought.

Sketch stood up and trotted back into his house. He took his saddlebags from their place by the front door and returned outside to begin his job hunting.

Sketch, really, really didn’t want to work on the weather team. It seemed like everypony who could fly worked on the weather team. A fact he had been constantly reminded of by his father; who thought any real pegasus should work there.

Sketch had managed to find his way to Sugarcube Corner. During the afternoon the shop was still bustling. He had hoped that maybe Lyra would be there, but alas, she was not. He looked at the different food carts around him, each one with a different vendor selling a different item. There was a cart selling carrots and other vegetables; mostly carrots though, whit a pony who’s mane color almost matched that of the orange produce she was selling. There was a bread cart, selling loafs of bread and rolls; run by a rather grumpy looking stallion, and among a few other carts, there was one that sold literally nothing but apples and apple related products.

Sketch trotted over to the apple cart, his eyes fixated on a certain green apple that reflected the light of the sun beautifully. His mind seemingly under the control of this shiny apple, Sketch almost took a bite out of it, had he not been stopped by a sharp southern voice.

“What the hay do you think your doin?”

Sketch snapped out of his trance and looked at the pony who had snapped at him. It was Applejack, one of the one who represented the Element of Honesty.

“Oh uh, hey Applejack. Umm sorry about that. I kind of spaced out for a second.” Sketch said, slightly embarrassed.

“Ahh, you’re fine sugarcube, ‘taint the first time somepony has done something like that. "Say, what was your name again?”

“Sketch.” He replied, once again he had become entranced with this apple.

“So you going to buy it Sketch or just clop to it all day?” Applejack said in a rather loud tone.

Sketch was a bit surprised at Applejack’s word usage, and gave her a strange look.

“Oh umm, yeah I don’t have any bits to spare on snacks, I’ll pass.”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to dawn a surprised look.

“Spare bits? What ‘cha mean spare bits?”

From what Sketch had heard about Applejack, she had a tendency to take it upon herself to see that everypony she met was well cared for; a trait she was now showing.

“I’m trying to save my bits until I get a good; solid, job. So until then I won’t be buying any extra things.” Sketch said with a fake chuckle.

“You ain’t going to work on the weather team?”

Sketch let out a real chuckle this time.
“Haha, no I don’t intend to work on the weather team.”

“Oh, mind if I ask why?” The curiosity in the cowpony’s voice was almost tangible.

“I’d rather not get into it…”

“Oh, alright then.”

Sketch stood there for a moment, not knowing quite what to do next. Applejack however, was eyeing him all over, making him a bit nervous.

“You got strong legs?” Applejack asked abruptly.

“Wait, what?”

“I said, do you got strong legs?” Applejack repeated.

“I… I guess so…why?” Sketch replied, unsure of Applejack's motives.

“Tell you what, how about tomorrow, you come down to the apple farm and we can see about getting you a job. Sound good?”

Sketch was a bit surprised.

“What? Really?”

Applejack dawned a wide grin, nodding her head.

“I been lookin for a helping hoof around the farm, we just planted a new apple orchard and Big Mac ‘n’ I are working our flanks off, ‘taint easy harvesting all those apples by ourselves. As much as I’d hate to admit it, we need another hoof to help out round there. And I reckon you might be a good help. If you’d like to of course.”

Sketch processed what Applejack had said, and realizing that he had essentially landed a job, was overjoyed.
“Yeah! I would love that! Thanks so much Applejack!” Sketch was emanating so much joy it could have been bottled and sold.

“Great! Show up round the farm ‘bout noon tomorrow, and I’ll show you around.”

Sketch replied with another “Thank you” and turned to trot off, overjoyed he had managed to find a job that didn’t involve the weather team.

“Hey new guy!” Applejack called out; stopping Sketch before he could get too far.

Sketch turned around to see Applejack trotting up to him, carrying the large green apple he had nearly eaten earlier.
“Consider this your first paycheck.” Applejack hoofed Sketch the apple.

“Wow, thanks Applejack!”

“Think nothing of it sugarcube. I’ll be seeing yah tomorrow then!” Applejack said as the trotted back to her apple cart.

Sketch turned away from the cowpony as she strode off; putting his apple in his saddlebag. Since he had managed to find a job so soon, he decided to head to the park and eat this divine looking apple.

After a short walk Sketch found the park, it was larger than he had thought, multiple different paths winding over hills with trees and bushes on them. The park was completely empty, save an old mare; seated on a bench, throwing crumbs of something on the ground for a few colorful birds.

Sketch absorbed yet another one of Ponyville’s amazing story book settings.
“It really is the perfect town.” He thought to himself.

Sketch; not wanting to sit on a bench, opted for a shadier seat, and found his way under a large tree that had grown on a hilltop. He pulled the apple out of his saddlebag, admiring its gemstone like shine before he took a large bite out of it.
The apple was one of the sour ones; Granny Smith apples if Sketch recalled the name right. It wasn’t anywhere near as sour as the drink Lyra had given him a few days back; an experience he would never forget. Rather, it was an almost soft sour, a pleasing taste that left him wanting more.

Sketch against the tree trunk; taking another large bite of his apple. Sketch enjoyed this kind of having nothing to do, knowing he had gotten done what he needed to do, being able to relax without things like worrying about a job hanging over his head.

Sketch finished his apple and set the core aside, he turned around to see the old mare was still on the bench, feeding her birds. Sketch saw how nice the scene before him looked, staring at it for a moment before remembering he had a talent for drawing.

Sketch reached around and pulled his notebook and pencil out of his saddlebag. He set the book down on the grass and flipped to the page after the one he had drawn of Lyra on the hill.

Sketch got a good look at the scene in front of him, then his mind took over the rest. Sketch wasn’t quite sure how he did what he did, and how he did it so fast. It was just something he couldn’t explain, it just kind of happened. The ability to copy things he saw with such detail was a mystery to him; a mystery he didn’t much care to solve.
Sketch finished his artwork, an exact replica of the scene before him, only sketched in pencil.

Sketch; happy with his work, placed his book back in his bag and laid back against the tree. He closed his eyes as the sounds of the area around him filled his ears. The birds singing, the sound of the gentle breeze through the trees, a shrill and distant screaming.

“Wait, What?”

Sketch opened his eyes and sat up, the screaming seemed to be getting louder.

“LOOOOK OOOOOUUUT!”

Sketch looked in front of him to see three rapidly approaching red carts, each one carrying a small filly clad in full protective gear. They were heading straight for him. Sketch yelped and jumped out of the way and tumbled down the hill, his descent came to an abrupt stop as he smacked headfirst into another tree. There was a crash, followed by two more.

Sketch righted himself and found it painful to open his eyes, his head was in a tremendous amount of pain. He brought a hoof up to where he had smacked into the tree; to his relief. He found nothing but a rather large bump.

Sketch sighed and closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to make the swirling feeling in his brain go away.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh”

A tiny voice penetrated Sketch’s brain.

There was a gasp.
“Oh no! Scootaloo do you think he’s……..” Came a second voice.

“Oh no! I don’t want a cutie mark for ponyslaughter!” Came a third voice

Sketch opened his eyes slowly to see three fillies standing before him, each one an extremely worried look plastered on their face.

“I’m fine” He groaned.

A white unicorn filly with light pink and purple hair trotted up to him.
“You don’t look ok…”

“No really, I’m fine.” Sketch said again, lying through his teeth.

Sketch sat up and shook his head, getting a good look at the fillies that had nearly squashed him.
“What about you three, are you hurt?”

“Nah we're fine, Cutie Mark Crusaders are resilient you know!” Said a small orange pegasus with a purple mane.

“Besides, we wore our protective gear we made!” Said a small yellowish filly; with a large bow in her mane. Her accent reminded Sketch of Applejack’s.

Sketch realized that the “Gear” was in fact no more than a few pillows and other soft objects the fillies had strapped onto themselves.

“What were you doing anyway?”

“We were trying to get our cutie marks in go-cart racing…” The yellow filly said.

“What do you mean?” Sketch asked.

The three fillies instantly changed moods; as if a switch had been flipped.

“My name’s Applebloom!” Said the yellow filly.

“And I’m Scootaloo!” Said the orange pegasus filly.

“And my name’s Sweetiebelle!” Said the unicorn filly.

“And we’re. THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!!” They shouted in perfect unison, sending another wave of displeasure through Sketch’s skull.

“Been practicing that huh.” Sketch said, trying to hide his pain.

“Yeah! Isn’t it awesome! We practice it all the time!” Scootaloo said.

“It was wonderful.” Sketch said with his best smile.

“As Cutie Mark Crusaders, we try to find ways to earn our cutie marks!” Sweetiebelle said.

“Today we found out Go-Cart racing isn’t going to be our special talent…” Applebloom added.

“I can tell” Sketch looked over behind the fillies to see a pile of broken go carts.

“We’re really sorry…” Sweetiebelle said.

“It’s alright I guess, but you three could have gotten hurt, you should be more careful you know.”

“We will…” Applebloom said in a VERY unconvincing tone.

“Are you sure your ok mister?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. You three should probably do something about that mess you know…”

At once a look of sheer joy dawned on the three fillies, they looked at each other and without even taking a breath.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CLEAN UP CREW!!!!”

The trio bolted off towards the wreckage, leaving Sketch alone by the tree he had smacked into.
“Why would you want a cutie mark for cleaning up go-cart wreckage?” He thought to himself.

Sketch stood up and walked a bit up the hill to get his saddlebag; which had fallen off of him during his tumble. The Crusaders did not seem to notice him as they happily went about their business.

“You guys want some help?”

Scootaloo looked up from a tire she was pulling out from under the side of a bent cart.
“Nope! We made the mess we should clean it up, thanks though mister!”

Sketch nodded and chuckled to himself.
“If only more fillies could be like those three…”

Sketch looked up at the sky, the sun looked as if it would set soon; he had spent more time out than he had thought. Sketch looked over at the three fillies cleaning up the go-cart wreckage, yet again his mind drifted to thoughts of his little brother. Sketch hadn’t thought he would miss the little colt so much when he left his parents home, but now he realized how wrong he was. Sketch’s little brother; Gears, never really understood what had been going on with their parents, only that every so often they would get angry and fight with each other. Other than that Gears kept to himself, preferring either solitude, or being with his elder brother. Sketch began to feel bad for leaving his little brother, but a voice interrupted his train of thought.

“Mister you alright?”

Sketch shook himself out of his thoughts and looked down to see a very concerned looking Applebloom in front of him; he simply stared at her.

“Mister, you’re kinda scarin me…”

Sketch once again shook himself, trying to push the thoughts of his brother out of his head.
“Yeah…uh…sorry Applebloom, I was just…thinking…”

Applebloom’s concerned look stayed plastered on her face.
“You kinda…spaced out for a bit, you’ve been standing there for like a full minute.”

“Yeah, sorry…I’ve been doing that a bit lately…” Sketch’s voice trailed off.

“Hey you wouldn’t happen to know Applejack would you? You just seem to remind me of her a bit.” Sketch asked, trying to change the topic.

Applebloom’s concerned look was replaced with one of happiness.
“Of course I know Applejack, silly! She’s mah sister after all!”

Sketch wasn’t surprised.

“I thought you might be. Well I gotta go Applebloom, I guess I’ll see you later then.”

“Bye Mister!” Applebloom waved a hoof at Sketch as he started to walk off.

Sketch grinned as he turned away. As he trotted away however, the cacophony of thoughts, yet again pushed their way into his head. He really did feel bad for leaving Gears, the poor little colt having to deal with that all by himself. The more Sketch thought about it, the more he hated himself for what he had done. How well would Gears deal with the fact that his parents were in their current relationship state; when he became old enough to understand it? Would he hate Sketch for leaving him by himself in the middle of that?

His entire trot home Sketch could not help but think of Gears; mentally beating himself up over the realization of what he had done, he felt horribly guilty. Eventually Sketch found his way to his doorstep, the small glass window still as useless for looking through as ever; due to the engravings on it that resembled the sun.

Sketch strode in his house and looked around at his smallish house. The overstuffed chair, the small table in front of the fireplace, the little kitchenware he had. Sketch only felt guilt and self-hate as he thought of how he got to move into his own home, have his own things, not have to deal with his parents fighting. While his little brother; his best friend, he had left by himself to deal with the disaster that was his parents’ marriage. However as much as Sketch was upset with himself, he knew there was nothing he could conceivably do about it at the time.

There was a growl in Sketch’s stomach, reminding him that all he had really eaten all day was a bagel and an apple, he knew he should eat, but didn’t feel like eating at all, Sketch just wanted to lie down, try and get control of his thoughts, maybe figure out a way to make things right someday with his brother.

Sketch trotted into his bedroom, slid his saddlebags off onto the floor and climbed in his bed. The sun was just starting to set, but Sketch didn’t care, he wanted a rest, from these thoughts of his parents and brother, all of it.
Sketch let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes; falling into a deep sleep

Chapter 3: Applebucking

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Chapter 3: Applebucking

Sketch was at home on his bed. He had been assigned some silly paper on the history of magic for some reason; he was a pegasus for Celestia’s sake, why should he have to learn about magic? He needed to figure out more on somepony named “Starswirl the Bearded”

Sketch’s door opened; creaking slightly as it did. In walked his little brother; Gears. Yet something was different about Gears, Sketch couldn’t quite put his hoof on it at that moment though.

“Why?” Gears asked flatly; his voice giving off a slight echo

“What?”

“Why?” Gears tone became more aggravated; the echo getting louder now.

“Gears what are you-“

“WHY! WHY DID YOU LEAVE!!?”

Gears was screaming; almost a roar, as his voice penetrated Sketch’s eardrums.

He realized now what was wrong with Gears. His little brother was a dull grey, his eyes, coat and mane; the entire body of the little colt was grey.

“Gears! I didn’t-“

Sketch was cut off by an evil groaning noise. Gears seemed to turn into a cloud of blackish smoke that shot towards him with frightening speed. It wrapped around him; choking, blinding and deafening. All Sketch could hear over the noise was his little brother screaming.

“WHY!”

The smoke began to feel like it was getting tighter, Sketch’s vision clouded and the smoke seemed to pour into his eyes, it became almost impossible to breath. The screaming of his brother was all Sketch could hear now, the voice bounced around in his brain like bullets off a rock.

He tried to scream, but the smoke poured into his throat and he could no longer breathe. Everything went black as a feeling of cold crept over Sketch’s body, and then. Nothing.

Sketch shot up in bed with a yell. He was covered in sweat and had managed to kick all his bed sheets off in his nightmare. He brought his hoof up to his forehead; wiping some of the perspiration off.

“Only…a nightmare…” He thought.

It was then he realized that Celestia’s sun was up, its rays yet again shining through his window. Sketch looked over at his wall clock; it read 10:30 am. He sighed.

“I really need to start waking up sooner.”

Sketch sluggishly got out of bed, he needed to be at Sweet Apple Acers in about an hour and a half, and he did NOT want to be late on his first day. He looked over at his bathroom, He didn’t want to shower; hell he didn’t want to do anything at that moment. However he didn’t want to show up smelly to work, so he made himself get clean.

Sketch sighed and rested his head against the shower wall; his forehead pressing against it softly; The Ice cold water of the shower running down his back as well as dripping from his sandy-black mane. He had to put this out of his mind, the nightmares, Gears. Otherwise it would end up affecting his soon-to-be job.

After sitting motionless in the shower for a few more minutes, He dried off and headed to his kitchen for yet another breakfast consisting of neigh but a soft bagel; only this time he had some cider with it. He sat down in his overstuffed chair as he ate his small breakfast.

“I wonder what Applejack has for me to do other than applebucking...” He thought as he chewed.

After a few minutes, there was a knock at his door.

“Lyra?”

Sketch trotted over to the door and pulled it open to see; not Lyra, but a grey pegasus pony with a blondish colored mane; her eyes seemed slightly off center.

“Here’s your mail!”

The pegasus hoofed him a single letter.

“Uhhh, Thanks.” He said flatly, silently disappointed that he had gotten mail, instead of Lyra.

Without another word the pegasus flew off; albeit a bit clumsily, a few letters managing to make their way out of her bags; she somehow managed to catch them as they floated downwards.

Sketch turned and trotted back inside, holding his letter in his teeth.

“I wonder who this is from.” He thought.

Sketch looked at a small clock he had on his kitchen table; much like the one in his bedroom, only with a stand. It was 11:30.

“Ponyfeathers!”

He dashed into his bedroom and slipped his saddlebags on; placing the letter inside them, he would have to read it later; right now, he had about thirty minutes to find Sweet Apple Acers. Sketch had forgotten to ask Applejack where the farm actually WAS, and now he was going to pay for it. Saddlebag on his back, He raced out his door and looked side to side; trying to figure out which way the apple farm was.

“Dammit.”

Just then Sketch noticed a brown stallion with an hourglass on his flank trotting down the street.

“Excuse me!”

The stallion seemed to startle a bit at his call.

“Excuse me sir, which way to sweet apple acres?” Sketch asked frantically.

“Umm. That way.” The stallion replied; with a slight accent, pointing a hoof to where he had come from.

“Thank you so much!” He started towards where this stallion had told him to go.

“Uh, sorry one moment.” Said the stallion.

“Huh?”

“You didn’t happen to see a grey pegasus fly through here would you have? I need to find her.”

“The mail pony?”

The stallion nodded at Sketch.

“That way. She gave me a letter and then flew off.”

“What! Let me see.”

Sketch sighed.

“Sir I really need to-“

“Oi! Just hand it here for a minute and you can be on your way, it’s important, fate of the universe could depend on this.”

Sketch sighed and pulled the letter out; handing it to the strange brown stallion. The stallion took the letter, smelled it and gave it a taste. His eyes seemed as if they were attempting to stare into the microscopic particles of the letter, they looked as if they were filled with such great knowledge, that not even Celestia could hope to know all this stallion did. After a second taste the Stallion frowned slightly as if the taste of the letter had displeased him in some way. He all of a sudden adopted a large smile.

“Fantastic, I shall take my leave then! Allonsi!”

Without saying another word, this strange stallion hoofed Sketch the letter and trotted off towards where the mail pegasus had flown.

“How many strange ponies live in this town?”

Without another thought on the matter Sketch flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Eventually; after having to ask for directions again, Sketch found his way to the apple farm. He could smell the apples before he saw them however; the scents of the fruits floating on the wind as he flew closer and closer.

He landed just outside the farm, there was a white fence that appeared to wrap around the property, and an archway to match the fence. Sketch trotted through the archway and down the dirt path that lead to the large barn in the center of the farm.

The barn was gigantic, with two very large doors that split in the middle. Allowing one to only open the top or bottom of the door if need be. The base planks on the barn were painted red, with the planks overlaying painted white; giving it a very stereotypical look. To the left of the barn was a smallish fenced off area; where there were a few pigs rolling around in the mud.

“Howdy there!” Said a familiar voice.

Sketch turned around to see Applejack; in her trademark Stetson cowpony hat, trotting up to him.

“Hey Applejack.”

Sketch spoke in a more tired voice than he had meant; his voice weighed down by his awful sleep, Applejack seemed to notice this almost instantly.

“Y’all alright there?” Her voice was tainted with concern.

“Yeah I’m fine, rough night. I’d rather not talk about it.”

Applejack stared at him for a moment, giving him the same look she gave him yesterday, sizing him up; looking him over.

“Alrighty then, Follow me and I’ll show you where you’ll be workin.”

As Applejack lead him through the property, she pointed out the different landmarks, Like the water well and the house.

“Unfortunately, Big Mac has hurt his back…again. He just ain’t one to listen to me when it comes to work sometimes, so for a while, It’ll just be you and me. Oh! That there is the path to Applebloom’s clubhouse, she and her friends play there.” Applejack nodded her head in the direction of the path.

Sketch stopped for a moment, remembering the previous day’s events.

“Say, How is Applebloom?”

Applejack stopped dead in her tracks, almost causing Sketch to crash into her. She turned around and stared daggers into his eyes.

“What cha’ mean ‘How’s Applebloom?’ Y'all ain’t even met before.”

“Uhhh….She didn’t tell you did she.”

“Tell me what?” She said, Still giving Sketch the look of death.

“She and her friends, what was it they called themselves. Cutie Mark Crusaders? Yeah. Those three nearly ran me over before they crashed some go-carts into a tree yesterday in the park.”

Applejack’s look changed to one of annoyance and worry.

“Dammit, I’ve been tellin that filly not to be doing such reckless things. She and her friends could end up getting hurt.”

“That’s exactly what I said.”

“I’ll have to talk to her later. Right now, I’ll show you what you’ll be doin ‘round here.”

By now Applejack had lead Sketch to where he would be working. There was an entire grove of green apple trees; much like the ones he had eaten the day before, there was a small cart filled with empty buckets near one of the trees.

“So the job’s pretty simple, all you gotta do is grab some of these here buckets from the cart, place ‘em under the tree, and then kick the tree real hard until all the apples fall out into the buckets; Be sure to pick up the runaway apples afterwards. Then when the buckets are full we’ll load them back in the cart and haul ‘em to the barn.”

Applejack demonstrated what she had told him. She trotted over to the car; grabbing a few of the buckets, placing them under a tree. After adjusting the buckets slightly, Applejack stood herself in a way where she could get a good kick at the tree.

“THUNK”

With one leg Applejack kicked the tree, knocking every apple out it, the green apples making a dull “thump” as they landed in the buckets.

“See? Nothin to it!”

After seeing Applejack perform this feat, Sketch decided he could do it just as well, His overconfidence was almost tangible. Following Applejack’s instructions, he placed a few empty buckets under a tree; setting them just right, so that they would catch the apples. Sketch lifted one leg and with all his might, slammed his hoof into the tree trunk. “Thump” A few apples fell from the tree and into the buckets. He smiled as he looked down at his work, but his smile turned to a frown as he saw the buckets, they were all almost empty!

Sketch looked up to see he had done almost nothing in the way of taking apples off the tree; at most he had knocked down a dozen or so of the apples.

“I reckon you should try using both yer legs for the time being sugarcube.” Applejack attempted to stifle a laugh as she spoke.

“Yeah…I’ll do that.”

Sketch gave the tree a stern look; readying himself for a second assault on the fruit bearing tree. He leaned forward on his front hooves; raising his rear legs in the air. He slammed into the tree with all his might.

His efforts were rewarded with the sounds of many apples falling into the buckets, however, when Sketch looked up at the tree, there were still apples.

“How is that even possible?!”

Applejack laughed.

“Not just anypony can buck all the apples out in one go. Don’t you be worryin about it; you’ll get better at it. Now! We got a whole lot of apples to buck, and we’ve already used up about half an hour of sunlight, so we need to be getting to it I reckon.”

After a while, Sketch got the hang of applebucking. He established a rhythm of sorts for the task. Lean forward, raise his legs and then slam his back hooves into the apple tree. The method worked quite well and; after a while, Sketch found himself almost keeping pace with Applejack as far as applebucking was concerned. After what seemed like hours of the tedious task He and Applejack had managed to clear out about a quarter of the new apple orchard; the once empty apple buckets now filled to the brim.

After loading the buckets into the cart, Applejack had hooked Sketch up so that he could pull it, and Applejack began to lead Sketch back to the barn. He looked up at the Sky as he trotted behind his new boss; the apple cart in tow. The sun didn’t look as if it had moved at all. He wondered how long he had actually been working. It had seemed like hours but from looking at the sun, it didn’t appear to have been more than about an hour; if that.

“So, how’re you liking Ponyville?” Applejack asked; interrupting Sketch’s thoughts.

“It’s nicer than Cloudsdale that’s for sure. Less busy and more……homey, I guess is a good word for it.”

“Nicer than fancy schmancy Cloudsdale? Well I don’t know ‘bout that.” She Chuckled.

“It really is. If you didn’t know any better, you would think you had gone to Manehattan; some days, instead of Cloudsdale. It’s just so loud and busy there all the time. At least that’s how I always thought of it.”

“Oh, I see”

Applejack slowed down until Sketch caught up with her a bit more; so that she could see him as she spoke.

“Yah meet any nice ponies yet?”

Sketch looked over at her; he couldn’t quite put his hoof on the intentions of what she was asking. He mulled this over a bit before responding.

“Yeah actually; Though I haven’t seen her since we met.”

The look on the cowpony dawned a look of curiosity and; although it barely showed, disappointment, as if she had been shot down.

“Mind if I ask who?”

“Not at all, Her name is Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings!”

Again the expression on Applejack’s face changed; this time to one of worry.

“How is she?”

“What do you mean?” It was Sketch’s turn to look confused now.

“I reckon I shouldn’t be surprised she didn’t say anything.”

“About what?”

Applejack sighed; as if preparing to do something life threatening, before she responded.

“Lyra; Bless her heart, has been havin’ some serious gettin' along issues with her roommate; Bon Bon.”

“BonBon?”

“Her real name is Sweetie Drops, but everypony round here just calls her BonBon, cause she makes some damn fine Bonbons yah see. Anyway, one day those two are the closest friends. The next, BonBon won’t even spit in Lyra’s direction. I tried askin' Lyra ‘Bout it, but I can’t ever get much out of the mare. She ain’t really much one for talkin ‘bout personal matters, she likes to bottle it up.”

“I know the feeling.” Sketch replied with a huff.

“You know what happened between them?”

“Well…I uh....hmm... Oh ponyfeathers. Yeah I do know, but I ain’t the one you need to be askin’ ‘bout it. Ain’t mah place to be tellin everypony ‘bout Lyra’s personal life. Ask her, not me.”

“I understand. Although I haven’t seen her since after Pinkie’s party; I couldn’t ask her about it anyway.”

“Why?”

“Like I said, I haven’t seen her since after the party.”

“Ah, right. Well we’re here!”

Sketch’s turned his head and saw they had finally made their way to the large red barn. Applejack trotted a bit ahead of Sketch, u to the barn door; Opening it so Sketch could pull the cart in.

“In yah get.” She said as he trudged by.

The inside of the barn was less crowded than Sketch had expected; and less rank. Bits of hay were strewn across the packed dirt floor of the barn. He could hear the squealing of the pigs outside a door in the side of the barn; that led to the pigpen. There were a few stalls that Applejack appeared to use for storing hay and tools, but otherwise, the barn was empty.

“Where should I put the cart?” Sketch Asked

“Back it up into any of the empty stalls, Granny and I will sort em out later.”

Sketch nodded and; after some trouble, parked the cart into one of the stalls. Applejack helped unhitch him from the cart; allowing him to stretch a bit.

“So what now?” He said as he arched his back and stretched his wings.

The cowpony laughed.

“That’ll be all for today, last thing I need is you ending up like Big Mac. Wait right here, I’ll be right back.” Applejack turned and trotted off out of the barn; leaving Sketch to his thoughts.

Now alone in the barn Sketch looked around, scanning the barn once again, as if looking for abnormalities. The barn looked flawless; no matter how he looked at it, Sketch could not find any flaws or deformities, The barn literally looked brand new.

“I wonder if Applejack and Big Mac did this by themselves…”

Just then a small grayish ball skittered across the floor a few feet before halting. Sketch’s eyes flitted down to this fuzzy grey ball. It moved again, this time back to where it had come from; however this time it stayed still long enough for Sketch to get a look at it.

The grey ball turned out to be a grey fuzzy spider about the size of a bit, with lighter grey splotchy stripes on its abdomen. It’s many tiny eyes gleamed in the light that shone through the barn door.

Again the spider moved; This time facing away from Sketch. He looked harder at the spider and noticed that the splotches on its abdomen were not markings. The splotches were about a dozen, tiny baby spiders; all clinging to their mothers back as she skittered around.

The sight made Sketch think of his brother. How Gears had clung to him when meeting new ponies or simply socializing in general. The spider took care of her kin, something he had not done.

Sketch shook himself as he heard Applejack push on the barn door; The spider skittering rapidly away in fright.

“I’m back. I got your earnings for today and- Hey you all right sugarcube?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“Yah don’t look fine. Looks to me like your ‘bout to start crying a river.”

Sketch sighed in exasperation, over his brother, as well as the fact Applejack; yet again, was showing her need to make sure everypony was well cared and looked out for.

The cowpony trotted over to Sketch and sat down next to him.

“Ya’ll wanna talk about it?”

He sighed.

“You ever make a choice; Thinking it was the right one for you to make, but then after you make it, you realize how badly you have hurt somepony else by making that choice, and realizing how even though you were trying to look out for yourself, you hurt others?”

Applejack looked Sketch in the eye; mulling over what he had just asked.

“Well, I can’t quite say I ever have. Normally I would ask mah family and friends before making a choice like that. What they have to say should make a difference.”

Sketch frowned and looked down at the ground. Applejack’s words had not really helped at all; something she noticed almost instantly.

“BUT! Uhhh… I reckon, if I felt it really would be best to make those kinds of choices, and later realized that I had hurt somepony else by makin ‘em; even if said choices were what was best for me. I could always go back and try and fix it. When I was a filly I left mah home; I had gotten tired of living on the farm yah see. So I went to live with mah Aunt and Uncle. It was nice for a while, but eventually I realized how homesick I was and how much I could have hurt mah family, by just kinda leaving one day and not looking back. So I went back home, I fixed things up with mah family and here I am today!”

Sketch smirked and looked at the Cowpony.

“But what if you couldn’t fix things. What if they were beyond repair, and you had left someone you loved dearly in the verbal firefight you had escaped from?”

“Well…I guess… I’d go back and get ‘em.”

Sketch lifted an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“You betcha. I mean if I loved somepony enough that I felt bad for leaving them in a situation they couldn’t handle on their own; only realizing it after having left. I would try to go back and get ‘em to come with me.”

Both ponies were silent for a moment; mulling over the conversation that they were having.

“Anyways. Here’s your pay for today! I reckon 20 bits will be enough for two days.”

“Two days?” Sketch was surprised; he hadn’t even expected to get more than one payday a week.

“Darn tootin silly filly! Nopony can live off of 20 bits a week, and I’ve been makin a bit more money than usual lately from…..side business. So I’ll pay you two times a week for a while, then take it down to the normal once a week.”

Applejack turned her gaze away from Sketch at the mention of this. “Side Business”

Applejack hoofed Sketch a small pouch of bits.

“Thanks Applejack!

“Think nothing of it sugarcube. Now get on outta here ‘fore I put you back to work.” The cowpony smiled and motioned Sketch towards the door.

Sketch trotted past Applejack; the bag of bits still in his teeth. As he neared the door there was a faint “Pit pat” noise that seemed to be nearing him; Sketch just assumed it was Applejack behind him. He pushed the barn door open; expecting to be met with a nice breeze. Instead, Sketch was met with a very shrill.

“EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!”

Sketch reared up and yelped; thinking he had stepped on somepony; His bits went flying into the air as the bag slipped from his teeth. He stumbled and fell back into the barn; crashing into Applejack; whom elicited a yelp as well. Sketch’s nose met the hard packed dirt that made up the floor of the barn, and he laid there for a moment; wondering why he seemed to be smacking into everything lately.

“What in the hay are you doin’ missy!” Applejack’s voice sounded more embarrassed than upset.

“Ohhh I’m sorry ‘sis. I couldn’t find you and then I saw-“ Applebloom stopped as Sketch sat up and turned to face her.

“ Wait one minute, you’re the pony I met in the park yesterday! You’re….” Again Applebloom stopped.

“What were y’all two doin alone in the barn…” The filly said; Her voice cold as ice.

Applejack turned a bright red; Sketch followed suit.

“Nothing like that I assure you Applebloom!” Sketch said in a rushed tone.

“Yeah, nothing like that Applebloom, Sketch here is gonna be working for us now! He’s our new Applebucker!”

Applebloom’s eyes shot over to Sketch, her gaze like stone; cold and unyielding.

“Oh really now?” The filly’s tone was as cold as her gaze. There was an awkward silence for a while as Sketch picked up his scattered bits and placed the pouch in his saddlebags; Applejack didn’t seem to know what to do as he refilled the small bag, and Applebloom maintained her icy stare.

“So umm. I guess I’ll be going then, uh, thanks for the bits Applejack! Same time tomorrow?”

“Yep! Same time tomorrow. See yah later Sketch.”

Sketch nodded and hastily; not enough where it would be noticeable however, trotted away from the two sisters. As he trotted away he heard them arguing.

“What in the hay was that all about?”

“Applejack you know what happened last time you hired…..” Applebloom’s voice because inaudible as he trotted farther away.

As he became more and more distant from the sisters, he found himself wondering.

“What happened last time?”

Sketch trotted through Ponyville; it was quiet, the streets seemed almost completely devoid of anypony else most of his walk home. He had decided to walk home and enjoy the nice trot, instead of flying.

Unlike most other Pegasi he had met. Sketch preferred to stay on the ground if at all possible. He had never much liked flying around all day; something his father had chastised him for whenever he could. It wasn’t that Sketch couldn’t fly well; in fact, he was considered to be an above average flyer by pegasus standards, he just didn’t like the air as much as the solid ground; a trait he shared with his brother.

His brother.

Applejack’s words from earlier that day rushed back into his mind like water through tissue paper. He couldn’t just go back could he? No, he had a job and a home now. But should that be an excuse for leaving his brother in such an awful situation? New life or otherwise, It was wrong that he had left his brother there like that. His mother was in no position to care for Gears; she was too wrapped up in this new fling of hers to care much.

Sketch had learned in the years with his mother, She despised it when anypony made her feel like a bad pony, or like she wasn’t doing her job properly. Sketch remembered one time just a few weeks before he had moved out. Even though his father was making good money, there still never seemed to be enough. Sketch’s mothers always said his father would keep some money and go blow it on fancy dinners and nice things for himself, and his father would say his mother would keep extra and blow it on her new “Friends” and things like that. Either way, there always seemed to be barely enough money to keep them afloat.

One day, Sketch’s mother had a bit less money than normal, and she had brought home less food than usual. They family ate like normal until about two days before the next shopping trip, and Sketch was still hungry after his small dinner.

*******

“Hey mom? Is there anything else I can eat if that’s cool?

“You just had dinner.” She said, to wrapped up in sending messages to her friends to care much.

“Yeah I know, I’m still kinda hungry though. Is there anything to snack on?”

“Sketch. You aren’t hungry. You just ate dinner.”

“Mom, just because I ate dinner, doesn’t mean I can’t still be hungry.”

His mother huffed and set down her fancy messaging device.

“So what Sketch. Am I starving you? Huh? Is that it? You didn’t feel like you got enough food so you're gonna bitch to me? Make me feel bad for eating? What should I not have eaten?”

He sighed.

“Mom. I didn’t say that. All I said was I-“

“No. What you said is that I didn’t make you enough food, and that I’m not feeding you enough; that I’m starving you. Oh, am I starving you Sketch? Your life just sucks huh? I’m such a terrible mother aren’t I.” His mother was almost shouting now.

“What!? Mom I didn’t say that where the hell are you even-“

“Oh what, you gonna be rude to me now? Huh? Talk to me like I am one of your little “Friends” huh? I’m not your Celestia damned peer Sketch, I’m your mother. You will not be rude to me.”

“Mom I wasn’t being rude all I asked was-“

“Do you know how hard it is to ask your father for MORE money? How he gets pissy at me and says all I do is blow it all away? When he keeps all this extra for himself and blows it away on parties and things?”

“Mom-“

“I do my best to take care of you and we barely scrape by, I have to sell my things to help us get the extra bits we need to live, we barely make it as is with the bills we have to pay and all. And you have the audacity to come and complain that I am not feeding you enough? That I am a bad mother?”

“MOM I NEVER-“

“Do NOT yell at me Sketch. You are so ungrateful, I do my best to keep us afloat and what do you give me in return? Nothing! Save a big slap to the face and a “screw you” by saying I don’t properly care for you.”

“MOM!”

“I said you will not YELL AT ME!” Sketch’s mother had stood up now and was almost in his face. He simply stood there as his mother yelled at him.

“You are so ungrateful Sketch, dear Luna I cannot believe you, You ungrateful little bastard. Get out of my sight!”

*******

Sketch shook his head, trying to bury the awful memory. His mother was very, very nasty and spiteful sometimes. She was smart as well; too smart. She had the ability to turn any situation into an attack on her and a way to make it look like anypony who said anything bad about her was a bad pony. She was a liar, and could make you feel like you were worth less than dirt if she felt you were saying anything bad about her; Especially if you called her a liar.

Sketch stopped trotting and looked around, he had managed to miss the turnoff to his home; whilst enveloped in his memories, and ended up in front of Twilight’s library. He looked up to see Celestia’s sun significantly closer to the horizon than it had been when he left Sweet Apple Acres, the walk had taken longer than he had thought.

Just then Sketch felt his stomach growl. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast. However he ignored it.

“Oh Celestia.” He said, staring into the sky.

“Why do ponies have to be so hateful and nasty all the time.” Sketch sighed and stared into the cloudy skies, the sun casting its rays in such a way, it made them look almost orange.

“Twilight I can’t!”

A muffled; yet loud, voice came from inside the library; A mare’s voice.

Curious as to whom had broken his solitude like state, Sketch trotted over to the library door and peeked in the window. Unlike his door window, this one was easier to see through; and devoid of carvings. He peeked in to see Twilight sitting across from a very distraught looking aquamarine unicorn wearing a ball cap; her mint and white mane pulled back in a ponytail that stuck through the back of the hat.

“Wait a minute. That looks like…”

“Lyra you need to tell somepony about this! It isn’t right!” Twilight’s voice came from behind the door.

“Twilight, I can’t, you know that, I don’t have anywhere else to go! The house isn’t even mine, so it isn’t like I can just get her kicked out! I would have to be the one to leave not her. You know that!” Lyra spoke now, she sounded very, very upset.

“This still isn’t something you can just ignore! This is very, very serious!”

Just then a small purple reptile seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“Hey um, Twilight?” It said.

“I think there might be somepony at the door…”

Lyra gasped softly as Twilight turned her gaze to the door. Sketch yelped and fell backwards onto the ground. As he regained his composure, he heard the library door creak open.

“Hello?” Came Twilight’s voice.

Sketch looked up from dusting himself off to see the purple mare standing in front of him; her eyes looked pained and tired.

“Oh uh… hi Twilight…”

“How long have you been there?”

“I uh…I heard Lyra yell and I wondered if everypony was ok… and then when I looked through the window I saw you two arguing and I eavesdropped on the conversation…sorry.” Sketch confessed immediately. He wasn’t going to lie. He wasn’t his mother.

“Well I don’t know what you mean by Lyra, she… uhh… isn’t here.” Twilight was a terrible liar.

“Really? I could have sworn I heard her in there…”

“Nope! Just….uh…Spike! Yeah, Spike and I were just having a good natured conversation.” The purple mare gave her biggest smile as she pushed Spike in front of her.

“Spike, Huh?” He said.

The small reptile nodded. “Yeah, Twilight and I were just talking is all. Lyra is definitely not here.”

Sketch’s gaze flitted between the small reptile named Spike, and Twilight; his brain formulating what to do next.

“Alright!”

Twilight and Spike let out an almost audible sigh of relief.

“Although I do need to borrow a book!” Sketch nudged past Twilight and her talking lizard; Taking them by surprise. He found the library to be devoid of anypony else. He looked around the interior of the large tree, absolutely no sign of Lyra.

“Hmmmm”

He trotted over towards a bookcase behind where he had seen Lyra sitting, he hoped to find her hiding behind the couch; what could be so bad she would want to hide from him though? As he peered over the couch, Sketch found nopony there.

“Uhh Sir the library is closed! You can’t just barge in here and-”

“Oh this will only take a moment Twilight, no worries.”

Sketch scanned the room, searching for any sign of the mare he sought. Not a single trace of Lyra was anywhere to be found.

“You really need to go. I have studies to attend to and you were very rude to just trot in here and interrupt me.” Twilight’s voice had turned almost angry.

With a sigh, Sketch finally gave up his search.

“Alright Twilight. Sorry I bothered you.” He said; feeling very dejected.

As he turned to trot out of the library, something caught Sketch’s eye; A glint that seemed to shine off of seemingly nothing in the air, as if it were just floating there.

“What in the hay…” He trotted over to the glint.

“HEY DON’T-“

Twilight never got to finish her sentence. Sketch nudged the glint with one hoof and in return came a small gasp. Sketch poked at the glint again and it shimmered; revealing an orb. The orb then turned a light green before it flickered out, in its place, sat a very upset looking Lyra. What he noticed the most however, was the way Lyra wore her mane; it had been made to cover the entire left side of her face.

“Lyra?”

“Heh….Hey Sketch…”

“I DEMAND YOU LEAVE THIS-“

“There’s no point in it now Twilight.” Lyra cut the purple mare off mid yell.

“Lyra, why were you hiding? Will somepony tell me what is going on here?”

Lyra sighed. It’s nothing Sketch, I overreacted to there being somepony at the door is all, nothing is wrong, no big deal…”

“No big deal? It’s a very big deal I will have you know, and it needs to be resolved right–” Twilight was again cut off; this time by a glare from Lyra’s one visible eye.

“Lyra, really what is wrong? Is everything ok?” Sketch’s tone was soft and concerned.

Lyra sighed and looked at Sketch, her one visible eye; golden iris and all, staring up at him. Lyra brought her hoof up and pulled her mane away from the left side of her face, revealing a very large; very sore looking, black eye.

“Lyra! Dear Celestia who did this?”

Again Lyra sighed, however now the sigh brought with it tears.

“M-My roommate…”

“What!?”

“The other night…after I got back to my house from the little outing you and I had, My roommate was furious. She got so mad at me for being out so late, and well…we started fighting and it got a bit…out of hoof. Next thing I know I get bucked in the face and ended up with this…”

Sketch was seeing red all of a sudden; he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe it was just the fact that someone had hurt Lyra or that someone had made her so upset. He had seen mares get bullied and pushed around before at school, and he had always stood up for them and said something about it; Even though he would usually end up with something broken. However he had never been as angry about matters of that sort as he was at that moment.

“Where is your house?” He asked very suddenly and darkly.

Lyra told him the location.

“Wait why do you want to know?” She asked.

Sketch didn’t answer. He stood up and stomped past Twilight; who had simply sat and watched the scene before her unfold, not quite sure what to do.

“Sketch! Where are you going?” Lyra called out as he stormed out of the Library.

“Sketch!”

He didn’t respond. He couldn’t hear Lyra at all. In fact all Sketch could hear was something like a gigantic blaze; as if he were hearing something very large burn, the sound matched with the fire he was seeing now, the blood red rage that filled his eyes.

He was going to go and give this “Roommate” a bit of a chat.

Chapter 4: Anger Management

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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.

Chapter 5: Letters

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Chapter 5: Letters

Pure white; nothing but pure, unending white, as far as the eye could see. Sketch had no idea where he was or how he got there. He felt no use or purpose in this strange place; he didn’t move or breathe at all, he wasn’t sitting or standing in this unending wasteland of white, with no cause or reason for it, he simply…Existed.

Sketch could see nopony else around him; nothing but blank, pale white. He felt as if something was wrong in this strange place; yet it wasn’t that he was there. He felt like he belonged here, like he would be safe. As if this endless world of white were his haven; yet, something tainted it that he couldn’t quite put his hoof on, as if some dark presence floated around him; haunting him.

Suddenly, a speck seemed to appear on the white ground before him. The speck was tiny and black, but against the clean white of the world he was in, it shone like the brightest beacon. The speck slowly grew into a bubble. It grew bigger and bigger until it was a bit smaller than Sketch himself. The bubble was inky black, its surface glistening in the light of a sun that wasn’t there.

As he looked closer at the bubble he noticed something beneath it began to churn and move. He even thought he spotted a leg at one point. Suddenly, the bubble began pulsating; slowly at first, gradually picking up more and more speed. Now, all of a sudden, he could feel his limbs again; he went from simply existing in this world and feeling like he was part of it, to feeling as if he had been dropped in the middle of nowhere. The realization of where he was hit him like a brick wall and he began to panic. Sketch looked over at the bubble in time to see it make a tiny “Plop” and then rapidly shrink around the form of a small colt.

The colt was shiny and blacker than night. It was as if it were created from some new form of darkness. The creature opened its eyes to reveal two deep red orbs that stared up at Sketch; the orbs looked as if they held the weight of the world behind them. It wore a blank expression on its inky black face. Sketch felt the incredible urge to ask the creature if it was alright, yet he wasn’t sure why.

“Are…Are you ok?” The words felt scratchy as they left his mouth.

The creature opened its mouth and responded; however it seemed as if it was speaking from a faraway place, not from right in front of him. Little more than a whisper left its shiny mouth.

“What?”

The creature cocked its head at him, then a disappointed look befell it appeared as if it were about to start crying, as it looked down at the ground. Sketch moved closer to it as if to comfort it, but before he could, the creature’s red eyes shot back up to him, it’s mouth open more than was possible for a normal colt or filly. There was a loud, ringing, screeching noise and in one fluid motion the creature moved towards him, it’s inky body appearing to become liquid given form.

Sketch turned to flee but found himself stuck in place; he tugged at his hooves, trying to free them, but to no avail. The creature was on him in an instant and he could only stand motionless as he felt its inky form engulf him, the creature’s touch feeling like ice. It spread more and more until he could no longer see and then…

Sketch gasped and righted himself in his chair. His mane was drenched in sweat and he was gasping for air. He was in his house now, in the chair he had fallen into an uncomfortable sleep in after giving Lyra the bed.

“Are…Are you ok?”

His eyes widened and he darted his vision over to the direction of the voice. It was Lyra, a scared look plastered across her face.

“I uh...I…Don’t know” He replied, running a hoof through his mane, still staring at Lyra with wide eyes.

“I heard you…and when I came in here I wasn’t sure what to do…”

“I just had a….bad dream…its ok Lyra, sorry I woke you.” Sketch said, trying to regain composure.

“You…wanna talk about it...or something? Uh…”

“What uh…what time is it?” He said, ignoring her question.

“It’s like four in the morning, I think…”

“Oh, alright.”

It was then Sketch realized just who was standing in the doorway to his bedroom. The previous day’s events flooded back into his mind, nearly throttling somepony, working at Applejack’s, the letter. Stupid letter, he didn’t know exactly why he didn’t want to read it. For some reason it just gave him a bad vibe.

“You sure you’re alright there?” Her voice penetrated his thoughts.

“Uhh…yeah sorry Lyra…”

“What’s on your mind?” she cut in.

“I just… I can’t believe how much has happened to me the past few days.” He said, still trying to avoid talking about his nightmares.

“I do have that effect on ponies.” she said, her tone laced with teasing. Apparently she still had the energy to tease ponies at four in the morning.

“I’m too tired for your teasing…go back to bed.” Sketch moaned, waving his hoof limply at Lyra.

“Well fine then, be that way.” She said her tone mock dejected, although as usual Sketch didn’t see she was teasing.

“Lyra I didn’t mean-“

“I was kidding Sketchy, calm down.”

Sketch let out an exasperated sigh; he really was too tired to process Lyra’s teasing right now.

“It’s alright”

The two ponies sat there in awkward silence for a moment, neither of them quite sure what to say. Sketch had never had a houseguest of the opposite sex before, and this was all very new to him.

“So umm…” Lyra said awkwardly. “I Just wanted to make sure you were ok…I’m going to go back to bed…I guess.” She finished.

“Night…” Sketch said.

“G’night.”

Lyra turned and strode back into the bedroom, the door making a tiny “Click” as she shut it behind her.

“That was awkward…” He thought to himself; before, uncomfortably, falling asleep in his chair, again.

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

Sketch opened his eyes for the second time that morning; yet instead of seeing his ceiling, he awoke to a snout full of carpeting. He huffed out of his nose and sat upright with a yawn. Sketch had managed to avoid having anymore nightmares after he had fallen asleep the second time, so that was good, yet somehow he had still ended up on the floor.

Then, somepony behind him cleared their throat.

Sketch turned to see a slightly concerned looking Lyra, eye patch and all, standing there behind him. For the second time that day he had awoken to her standing behind him; he hoped this wouldn’t become a trend.

Lyra had apparently showered because she had a towel slung over her shoulder, and her mane looked slick. Her eye looked shiny and wet, as if she had been crying; Sketch wasn’t sure if this was just from her shower or not.

“Good Morning.” He said groggily.

“Morning.”

After their greeting neither one said a word; they both were completely still and just stared blankly at each other.

“Why are you on the floor?” Lyra finally asked.

“I…uh…I’m not really sure. How long have you been up?” He said, trying to change the topic.

“Not long, I woke up a bit ago and showered. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Nah, not at all…” He said with a yawn, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he spoke.

“You’re staying here as long as you need to I guess…So make yourself at home.” Sketch stretched his wings out, his body starting to finally wake up.

“Yeah, about that…” She said in a sheepish tone.

“What is it…?”

“I really don’t know how long it will be until this situation blows over; it could be weeks before I can even think about going near BonBon again…she doesn’t exactly let stuff go…”

“It’s fine Lyra, really…” He said with another yawn.

Sketch sat there stone still with hooded eyes. His body had woken up but his brain had not, and he felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I…?”

“Hmm? OH! No, no, no, I just got awful sleep, as I’m sure you remember, as I woke you up last night…”

“Like hell I remember it…you scared the crap outta me…All the things you were saying and all.”

Sketch wasn’t tired anymore. Lyra’s words had done more than enough to make sure of that.

“What did I say?” He said worriedly.

“Something about somepony named Gears; I think you said he was your little brother. But that’s all I heard.” She said hurriedly.

“Oh ok, good.”

In truth, Lyra was lying through her teeth, she had heard a LOT more than what she had let on. Lyra learned more that night of listening to Sketch mumble about his family while she lied in bed, than he would have felt comfortable talking about at that time, considering he barely knew her.

As he fully righted himself, Sketch looked around his house. It still looked as messy as it had been the night before, with boxes and packing material scattered everywhere.

“I’m going to go finish...uh…getting ready for the day!” Lyra said as Sketch looked around.

“Sounds good.” He replied, only half listening to Lyra.

Sketch brought his gaze over to his table, the contents of his saddlebag still strewn across it: a few bits, his notebook and pencils, and the letter from the previous day. The letter! He still hadn’t read it. It wasn’t that he had neglected to read it; he just didn’t feel like having to deal with something else, especially if it was his mother.

But then another though hit Sketch, What if it WAS from his mother? He had never even looked at who it was from! Let alone read it. Neglecting to respond to his mother always ended up in a whole lot of yelling, screaming and nasty words. Last thing he wanted was her at his door.

The fear of death now in his heart, Sketch zipped over to his table and stared at the letter. It laid facedown on the table so that he couldn’t see the name of its sender. He reached out with one hoof and flipped the letter over quickly. His stomach turned at the sight of who had sent it. His Mother.

Under any other circumstances, he wouldn’t have minded getting a letter from his mother, not everything she did was awful and normally a letter could be a good thing. However, seeing as Sketch had recently moved out and told his mother his father and hers' fighting was the reason, this letter would no doubt contain the fires of Tartarus.

All he needed was an orchestra to play suspenseful music as he opened the letter; hell, at least it would have been kind of amusing had there actually been an orchestra.

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

Sketch,

Considering the fact that you decided to drop all responsibility and exorcise yourself from your family, I am having your father drop off Gears next week at your new home that you spent all this money to buy, instead of using it to help the family.

Consider it your way of helping out.

Gears will probably be living with you for a while. I am selling the house and your father is moving to Canterlot, and I am moving somewhere else in Cloudsdale for personal reasons.

I cannot handle Gears right now so he will be living with you.

Expect your excuse for a father to drop him off sometime this weekend.

Mom.

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

Sketch sat and stared at the letter. He had to re-read it three times before he could make himself believe what it said.

A cacophony of emotion rushed around his head: hate, anger, joy, sadness.

Hate because his mother had managed to make him feel like crap for moving on with his life, Anger because not only had she done this, she probably managed to make Gears feel like crap too, Joy because this meant Gears would get out of the Crapstorm that was his parents’ feud, and Sadness because his mother was selling the house and his father was moving to where he worked.

So that was it. There really was no hope of them fixing things. They had officially separated. Sketch still couldn’t process it, even after re-reading the letter a fourth time. He couldn’t believe the ultimatum that he had just read.

Gears was coming to live with him. His mother and father were done.

As if he didn’t have enough on his plate already. A new job, helping Lyra, dealing with the fact he has a houseguest long term for the first time in his life. And not just any houseguest either, this was Lyra! She was funny, nice and pretty, and she showed him the respect most mares didn’t; she was different. He would also have his socially awkward little brother here as well. He only had one bed, and he surely didn’t have the money to go and buy another bed. Hell, he only had one bedroom! What was he supposed to do?!

Each second he thought about it he became more and more frantic. All of a sudden, he found himself laughing, almost manically.

“Sketch?”

Sketch wheeled around, his eyes wide and almost crazed looking, as he was laughing awkwardly.

Lyra frowned and recoiled slightly.

“Whoa…You alright?”

Still staring at Lyra, he reached around and grabbed the letter from the table, hoofing it over to her. She levitated it in the air in front of her.

As Lyra read the letter, her expression grew more and more from one of concern, to one of pity and concern.

“Dear Luna, Sketch…I’m so sorry about your parents…”

“Words cannot describe…how screwed I am,” he said, his previous state of insanity starting to subside a bit; however he was still chuckling.

“Should I leave?”

“What?” He said, Lyra’s strange question diffusing his state.

“You only have one bedroom. I’ll be damned if I take your bed while you and a foal sleep on the floor.” Her tone was stone cold.

Then it hit him. Why had he shown her the letter, after her talk about how she hated feeling like a bother and like she was getting in the way? Why had he shown her that?! He had to fix this.

“What!? No! No Lyra, I’ll take care of this, I promise. You have nothing to worry about. I will figure something out. Unless you want to leave, you don’t have to go.”

“Well, now I do simply because I would be bothersome if I made you sleep on the floor, and not only you but your brother as well.”

“Lyra, listen. My mother is crazy sometimes; I’m sure this is her overreacting or something, alright? I just need you to trust me on this.”

“What if it isn’t overreacting…?”

“Lyra, I know my mother. Something is off about this letter. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I can handle it, ok? You have nothing to worry about. You are not a bother. I wish you wouldn’t say that.”

Sketch looked Lyra dead in the eye. Now that he had calmed down he noticed something in her one visible iris; if only for a moment, a glint of something, some emotion or feeling he couldn’t quite put his hoof on.

“Alright then, but you have to promise me you won’t hesitate to boot me if I get in the way.” Lyra’s tone had returned to a slightly less moody state. She jabbed a hoof at him as she finished to show she was playing.

“I promise.” He said.

“Didn’t know you liked my company so much Sketchy, almost begging me to stay and all.” She teased as she turned and trotted into living room. Lyra sat down and levitated a book onto the small table in front of her.

“You have books on...Insects?” she said as she opened it.

“Yeah, I do, believe it or not. It may not be my talent, but I know my way around insects.” He said. He was still silently processing the letter he had received; trying not to show how freaked out he was.

“Hey, you like toast or anything?” He called as he rifled through his near empty fridge.

“That would be awesome!” Lyra called as she read.

Sketch pulled out a jar of apple butter he had brought from his parents house and set it on the counter. He slid two pieces of bread into the sickly looking toaster he had and set the timer. After returning his bread bag to its spot in the pantry, he trotted back into the living room with Lyra.

“It says here that there is a type of worm in the Everfree that will split itself to reproduce and form a larger creature. There’s no way that’s true.”

Sketch chuckled.

“It’s true! They’re called Lekgolo. Very smart little guys, largest colony ever recorded was about two thousand worms, all formed to make one giant worm.” He said as he sat on the floor next to Lyra, pointing a hoof at a picture of a very large looking worm.

“In rare cases, if they create a big enough body, they will become almost sentient on the same level as ponies, sharing sort of a collective mind. They can form all sorts of shapes like ponies and two-legged creatures, although they usually stick with simple worm-like shapes.”

“Well look at you, Mister Smarty-pants.” Lyra teased.

“This doesn’t gross you out or anything? Most mares get grossed out by this stuff. I have other books if you want…”

Now Lyra laughed.

“Sketchy, I am not most mares.”

“Fair enough.” he said with a smile.

Sketch stared at the picture of the worm, Hundreds of little creatures all working together to form a cohesive, organized unit; a family. All working like gears in a well-oiled machine.

Gears.

Dammit, why did that keep coming back to him? Oh, right. Because he had recently received a letter informing him that not only had his parents finally ended it, his brother was coming to live with him for Celestia knows how long. How was he supposed to deal with this? He had a life of his own now! Granted he couldn’t be happier that Gears would be coming to stay with him, but he needed to figure out a way to handle this.

DING

Sketch was roused from his thoughts by the sound of his toaster alerting him the food was ready. He stood and trotted into the kitchen. When he got to his toaster he found two perfectly toasted slices of bread. He put each piece on a plate and took them over to where he had left the apple butter. After spreading some of the fruit substance on the bread. He took a step back to admire his work.

“Food’s ready!” he said as happily as he could, bringing the plates into the living room, setting one next to Lyra and one on the other side of the table.

“Ohhh that looks good.” Lyra said. Practically drooling over the food before her.

“I hope it tastes as good as it looks. I’ve never had this apple butter before.” Sketch said, looking over the fruit spread.

Lyra took a bite out of her toast, her eye lighting up as she chewed.

“Dish ish amasfing!” she said, spraying small pieces of the toast everywhere.

“Say it, don’t spray it!” Sketch said, waving his hoof trying to bat some of the crumbs away.

She chewed and bit more and swallowed the toast, a small bit of red appearing on her cheeks.

“Sorry…”

Sketch laughed.

“No harm done I guess.”

The rest of breakfast was rather uneventful; Sketch and Lyra’s breakfast conversation consisted mostly of small talk. Eventually both ponies had finished their breakfast and it was nearly time for Sketch to head to work.

“Say, is your head feeling any better?” Sketch asked, silently scolding himself for not asking sooner.

“Yes, it is, thank you! I think it was just a random headache from all the stress. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

“You have any plans for today?” Sketch said as he stood and cleared the table.

“I uh…I might head into town later to uh…pick some things up, but that’s all. Otherwise I will just hang around here if that’s alright!” Lyra said uncomfortably

He found something off about this; Sketch couldn’t quite put a hoof on why Lyra was so vague about her visit to town, but he didn’t think it his business to intrude. But was there such a thing as intruding still? Were hosts supposed to know everything their houseguests did? He had no idea.

“Yeah, but I hope you don’t mind the mess…I still haven’t cleaned up from moving in.” he said, trying to change the subject.

Lyra laughed.

“You think this is a mess? You should see my room some days. Whoo, I’ll tell yah.”

Sketch laughed and trotted into the living room, putting on his saddlebag as he took it off his table.

“Well, I’m not sure when I’ll be back; Applejack could have more work for me than yesterday.” he said, trying to remember what time he had left the apple farm the previous day.

“I’ll be here!” Lyra said as she settled down in Sketch’s overstuffed chair with the book on Insects.

“Bye Sketchy!” She called as he moved for the door.

“See yah later, Lyra!”

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

The flight to Sweet Apple Acres only took little over five minutes, mainly because Sketch actually knew where he was going this time; however, even knowing where to go, he almost managed to get lost again. His mind was preoccupied with the task of figuring out how to deal with the letter he had received that morning. For now though he had to, yet again, push it out of his mind. It was time for work.

Sketch looked at the white arch that marked the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres as he trotted under it. The dirt road to the center of the farm had not changed.

“I wonder what I’ll be doing today…” he thought to himself.

After looking around, from what he gathered this part of the farm was mostly apple trees. He thought he could see rows of some other plant in the distance, but what type of plant it was he couldn’t say. As he looked around more he spotted a hill that rose slightly above some of the trees. On top of it appeared to be a red mare, or maybe a stallion; Sketch couldn’t tell from that distance.

“I wonder who that is.” He said, and trotted off in the direction of the red pony.

As he wound through a seemingly endless orchard of apple trees, Sketch eventually saw where the base of the hill began. It was rather skinny as far as hills went; it was steep and covered in tiny yellow flowers. Seated atop the hill he could see the blondish mane of the red pony, whom he now found to be a stallion.

Sketch silently began to sneak up the hill; exactly why he was sneaking he wasn’t sure, but onwards and upwards he crept.

After a few stealthy seconds of movement, Sketch came up behind the red stallion. He had a white brace type wrapping around his back. Maybe this was Big Mac? Applejack’s brother? He was strong looking, that kind of “wear and tear” strong. He looked almost raggedy, had it not been for how he seemed to carry himself.

“Howdy.” the stallion suddenly said, startling Sketch a bit and almost causing him to fall off of the hill.

After regaining his balance and averting a very painful tumble, he responded to the stallion.

“Uhh, hi.”

The stallion said nothing. He sat stone still, as if he were some type of stone gargoyle perched atop a building ledge; watching, waiting.

“You’re, uh, Big Mac, Right?”

“Eeyup.” he said, never moving his head from whatever it was he was staring at in the distance.

“I’m Sketch…Nice to meet you.”

“Eeyup.”

“Chatty one isn’t he.” Sketch thought to himself.

“I’m, uh, the new farmhand; I’m sure Applejack told you?”

“Eeyup.”

“Right…” Sketch said awkwardly.

Sketch sat there in silence on the hill next to Big Mac. He tried to figure out what it was he was staring at, but to no avail.

“Well, uh…I better go find Applejack and get to work. I guess I’ll see yah around.”

He turned and started to walk down the hill, but was stopped by Big Mac’s voice.

“Applebloom told me ‘bout yesterday.”

“What?” Sketch said, surprised to hear more than an “Eeyup” from Big Mac.

“You better not get involved with Applejack; I reckon y’all are smarter than that.” The Stallion said.

“What do you mean?” He replied, not sure what to make of what was being asked. Big Mac was rather intimidating when he spoke in complete sentences.

“Last farmhand AJ hired, he got involved with her. It ended painfully for everypony. If y’all are smart, I reckon you won’t be getting involved with mah sister.”

Now he understood.

“Oh, OH! No, no, no. That isn’t gonna happen, Big Mac; I wouldn’t even think of it. Our relationship is strictly…” Sketch tried to think of a good word. “Platonic?”

“How ‘bout professional.” Big Mac said, still never taking his gaze off of whatever he was staring at.

“Professional…right…sounds good.”

Another moment of awkward silence. Why was Sketch finding himself in so many of these lately?

“I uhh…better go find AJ so uhh-“

“It’s Applejack to you.” Big Mac cut in.

“Applejack…right, yeah I better go find her…I’ll be seeing yah then.”

“Eeyup”

Without another word Sketch flew off, over the apple trees. Sweet Celestia, Big Mac was scary.

As he floated over the treetops he couldn’t help but think about what Big Mac had said. Apparently Applebloom had a big mouth, because Sketch didn’t think Applejack would have said anything about the incident at the barn. Of course Big Mac could just be looking out for his sister, but what about the last pony who Applejack hired? What was that all about? What was Big Mac doing out watching the gate? Did he see Sketch come in? Something felt off to him, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was.

“Down Here!” came a familiar voice.

Roused from thought, Sketch looked around for Applejack, He found her a bit away from him, on the ground; no surprise there.

“Hey AJ- Err, Applejack.” he said after touching down, closing the gap between him and his boss.

“Howdy! How’re yah doin today?”

“I’m, uh…having an interesting morning…but otherwise I’m doing well!”

Applejack gave him “that” look again. Scanning him; sizing him up. “Alrighty then. Well, I reckon I should be putting yah to work. Follow me.” she said, nodding her head in the direction they would be moving.

Applejack lead Sketch through the farm. It was amazing how pristine the place managed to look, considering it was outdoors. Everything looked about as clean as the outdoors could get. The sky was clear; the smell of earth and dirt was in the air, mixed with that of apples. It was wonderful. For a moment, Sketch managed to get lost in this sensation. Let all his worries wash away in this safe, haven-like place.

“Uhh…Y’all wouldn’t have happened to have seen mah brother on the way in, would yah have?” Applejack asked, suddenly looking incredibly concerned.

Sketch shook himself.

“Uhhh, Red stallion? Short mane? Not much of a talker?

“Oh yah did! Great, glad to know he’s alright.” Applejack sounded very relieved.

“Why wouldn’t he be alright?” Sketch asked.

“Uhhh…Oh look at that, we’re here!” She said, completely ignoring his question.

Sketch looked ahead of him to see an empty field; there was no grass however, only brown, rich-looking, packed dirt.

“We are?”

“Eeyup.” Applejack said.

“Obviously “Eeyup” is a common family word.” he thought.

“There aren’t any apple trees here; aren’t we applebucking?”

“Nope! Today I’ll be havin yah plow this here field. Normally Big Mac would do it, but he has been watch–” Applejack stopped herself.

“Uhh. I mean, 'cause he hurt his back. Yeah.” Applejack adopted a sort of strange look. Almost as if she had been eating something sour.

“So….What do I do?”

“Huh? Oh, right. All yah got to do is hook up to that there plow and pull it from one end of this here field to the other, until the whole field has nice and neat rows all down it. Then we can plant the corn!”

Applejack nodded over in the direction of a very shiny looking plow. Its blade actually looked sharp; the wood looked clean and new.

“We just got ourselves a new one, so yah shouldn’t have too rough of a time plowin'. Come on, I’ll hook yah up.”

Applejack lead Sketch over to the new plow. It sat in solitude under the shade of an apple tree that appeared to have grown away from the rest of the orchards.

A few minutes of fidgeting later, Sketch was hooked in to the plow. It was much heavier than he had expected.

“Uhh, Applejack? Not to complain or anything, but this is really heavy…”

“Oh, don’t yah worry yer head ‘bout that. Once yah get going in will cut through the dirt easier; Big Mac said
something ‘bout momentum or some fancy schmancy math stuff like that.”

“I never liked math.” he said.

“Alright, well, y’all get to plowing that field. I’ve got…something else to get to doin. So I’ll check back with yah later.” Applejack said.

“Alright Applejack; sounds good.”

Sketch watched as Applejack took off rather quickly in the direction they had come from; back towards the entrance to the farm.

What was going on around here? Was Ponyville always so…problem filled? Or maybe Sketch just brought trouble with him wherever he went. First Lyra and BonBon, then his mother’s letter, now this?

Sketch looked at the large square of dirt before him; he had a lot of work to do. He might as well think about it while he plowed. Digging his hooves in to get a firm hold on the dirt, he pulled with all his strength, causing the plow to inch forward.

“Damn.”

He took a step and pulled harder; the plow started to move with him. Many times he repeated this process, each time he found the plow parting the dirt a bit easier, and the time between steps a little shorter, until eventually he was inching his way across the field.

As he trudged along, Sketch could only be grateful it wasn’t summer; it would be hot and miserable. Although why exactly Applejack was planting corn before winter, he wasn’t sure. He had heard of Snow corn before: it only grew in the cold for some reason, some special kind of corn that was adored by the upper class in Canterlot. His father had brought it home from his work many a weekend. Something his mother would always get upset about.

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

“Why did you need to bring so much of that Snow corn home?” Sketch’s mother snapped at his father.

“Some friends at work brought it to me, that’s all. I wanted to let Sketch and Gears try some of it.”

“Oh I see, your friends at work. I guess they probably know how poor and helpless we are too, right?”

His father sighed.

“No, they were just being nice to me is all, wanted me to have something nice to bring back for the kids.”

“With all that money you keep you could have just gone and bought your own.” she said, her tone snippy and mean.

Again his father sighed, but said nothing in response. Sketch’s father didn’t like to argue unless he got really, really angry.

“Yeah, go ahead and ignore me like you always do.” Sketch’s mother murmured.

Sketch sat there is silence while his mother murmured. His father had been cooking the corn; he really had not intended to make mother angry by making something nice to eat, he just wanted to make something nice to eat. Simple as that. However, Sketch’s mother saw it that he was doing this to show he was a better parent, because he brought better food. Canterlot food.

“I am going to need a hundred bits extra this next paycheck.” she said suddenly.

Sketch’s father stopped what he was doing and stood stone still.

“Time to go…” Sketch thought to himself, and left to sit in his bedroom until the soon-to-begin shouting was over.

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

Sketch sighed as the memory faded into nothing. He had managed to block most of the memories of hours of yelling from his mind, but his attempts at doing this weren’t always successful.

He looked and found that whilst enveloped in his memories, he had managed to already make two rows in the field. “Awesome.” he said aloud, and returned to the task at hand.

After a few minutes of pulling, once again Sketch’s mind started to drift, this time to the question of how exactly he was supposed to deal with the fact his brother was coming to stay with him. He had made a commitment to help Lyra, so he wasn’t going to kick her out. Besides the fact, he didn’t want to boot her out anyway. He basically had a three room house: the kitchen/living room, the bedroom, and the bathroom. How was he supposed to solve this?

As he toiled away and the hours went by, Sketch tried to find a solution to his problem; a way to fix it. However, even after his long period of thought, he had come up with nothing.

“Yer still workin on that, huh?” came a voice.

Sketch looked up to see Applejack trotting over towards him.

“This isn’t quite so easy, you know. I’ve never done it before.”

“Ah I’m just messin with yah sugarcube; it’s alright, no need to be rushin. Yah don’t wanna end up like Big Mac.”

“When yer done yah can get on home; like I said I don’t want you ending up like Big Mac and, no offense, but I don’t think you’ve ever done farm work before.”

“That would be correct.” Sketch said with a wry laugh.

“Oh and by the way, y'all won’t need to be coming into work tomorrow.”

Sketch’s heart dropped. Had he done something wrong? Was Applejack really firing him? Oh Celestia how could this have already happened?

“If this is about the field not being done I can always work-“

“You silly filly, I ain’t firing yah.” She said with a laugh.

“What?”

“What I mean is there’s a big storm the pegasus ponies have set up fer tomorrow. We can’t really do much in the rain, yah know.”

“Ohhh” He said, mentally slapping himself for jumping to conclusions.

“I only recently found out ‘bout it, so I thought I should let yah know.”

“Oh, well thanks AJ- Err Applejack.”

“Yer welcome…” Applejack said slowly, once again looking him over.

“So I reckon I should be leavin' yah to it then. I guess I’ll see yah later Sketch. Oh and by the way, make sure yah put that there plow back under the tree when yer done alright?”

“You got it, Applejack.”

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

After another solid hour of plowing the field, Sketch managed to get the job done. His body ached and he was very tired. He was glad he would get the next day off, because he could barely walk after unhooking from the plow. Much to his chagrin, however, his wings had been folded up all day and he wanted to stretch them a bit, so he decided he would just hover his way home.

“Tired or not, this is nice.” Sketch said to himself as he softly flew down the road leading into town.

As silly as he always told himself it sounded, Sketch really enjoyed slow, long, walks or flights. Whenever he and his father would go somewhere, they were never in a hurry; the two of them would always take their time and relax, enjoy the freedom of being outside.

“This, this is living Sketch. Nice, slow, leisurely, life. No rushing or bustling around. Just taking your time to enjoy everything.”

The words of his father echoed in his head.

Sketch never understood how his father and mother ever got together in the first place.

His mother on one hoof, liked to live fast; she made reckless choices and often did so without really thinking. However, she cared more how others felt than his father. On the other hoof, Sketch’s father hated rushing through life; he would spend as much time as he could before making a choice, he would never, ever, do something without thinking it through. However, he really could care less how others feel, or how they are doing.

Sketch’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a hard impact on his left side, not able to regain control fast enough he tipped in mid-air and fell down the hoof in the air he was floating.

“WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING DUMBASS.” Came the voice of a very angry mare.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” He said as he dusted himself off.

The mare was crème colored, with a navy blue and pink mane adorning her head. Her cutie mark appeared to consist of three pieces of candy.

“Are you alrigh-“

“NO, I’m NOT. Now MOVE, before I run you over.” The mare glared at Sketch, her eyes were filled with rage.

“Fine, yeesh lady.” He said as he sidestepped the fuming mare.

Sketch watched as the mare trotted off in the direction of Twilight’s Library, she appeared to be searching for something.

“Yeesh. Guess somepony shit the bed this morning.” He thought as he turned in the opposite direction and headed home.

Managing to avoid any more run-ins with crazy ponies, Sketch arrived at home rather quickly. By now Celestia’s sun was about to set, its rays cast across the sky illuminating it in such a way that the sky glowed a deep, warm orange. It was truly a sight to behold. If he hadn’t been so tired from pulling that damn plow all day, he would have pulled out his notebook and sketched the scene before him.

Turning into the smallish front yard, and trotting through the even smaller white picket fence, Sketch pushed his door open.

“Lyra? You here?” he called as he trotted in, closing the door behind him. No response.

“Lyra?” he called again. Still no response.

“Guess she went to town.” he thought to himself.

As he set his saddlebags down on the table, Sketch noticed what Lyra had kept herself occupied with while he had been gone. She had cleaned his entire house. Everything looked neat and as brand new as it could have been. The cobwebs were gone, as were the little bits of packing material.

There was a sudden growling noise, causing Sketch to jump a bit. He looked down to see the culprit had been his own stomach. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast. With a sigh he turned towards the kitchen, however just as he was about to go in to get some food, his front door flew open.

In ran a very out-of-breath and startled-looking Lyra. And when she realized Sketch was standing in front of her, her startled expression only grew.

“Hi.” He said, not exactly sure what to do.

“Uhhh…..Hi.” Lyra said, her chest heaving.

“Are…you alright Lyra?”

It was now Sketch noticed Lyra had a small bag and her lyre under one of her front legs. She was out of breath and looked as if she had recently been moving very fast.

“I’m…doing…perfectly…fine!”

“You don’t look perfectly fine.” he said, not believing a word the mare had just said.

“I was just-“

Lyra was interrupted by a very, very loud banging on the front door.

“Ohhh…..” Lyra let out a worried moan.

“LYRA I SWEAR TO CELESTIA IF YOU DON’T COME OUT HERE RIGHT NOW I WILL BREAK THIS DAMN DOOR DOWN!”

“Lyra! Who the hell is that?” He said, although in some part of his mind he already knew the answer.

Lyra’s color seemed to drain from her body, a look of terror befell her face, and her pupils seemed to shrink as, in a quiet voice, she uttered a name.

“BonBon.”

Chapter 6: Fire...

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Chapter 6: Fire...

“LYRA HEARTSTRINGS OPEN THIS CELESTIA-DAMNED DOOR RIGHT NOW!”

Sketch sat in utter shock as he realized who was at his door; this day had been just full of fun. His letter from his mother, the news about Gears, and now this, the mare who had hit Lyra was at his door; what was he supposed to do!? She wasn’t sending a letter or having somepony else do it for her. BonBon herself was here.

“I am so sorry Sketch, I wanted my lyre and I-”

“LYRA, I CAN HEAR YOU IN THERE, YOU BETTER COME OUT HERE!”

Sketch found himself calm, yet not a comforting calm. An angry calm, the kind of calm his father would get. The angry calm that told everyone you were angry, and that they needed to stay the hell out of the way.

Without a word Sketch trotted up to his door and opened it. Revealing the very angry mare, he instantly realized just who this was. This was the mare that had been so angry when he first moved to Ponyville; this was the mare who had rammed into him on his way home not half an hour ago.

“You!?” BonBon said in shock, reeling back a little. “What the hell are you doing here?” She said, staring him dead in the eye.

“This is my house.” he said softly.

“Why the hell are you harboring the bitch here?”

“Lyra is staying with me for a while.” He kept his voice calm.

“Well, she needs to get her flank out here before I come in there and drag her out.”

“You will do no such thing.”

BonBon snorted, she obviously wasn’t used to taking no for an answer.

“Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I think I am the one who is telling you to leave. I suggest you do so. Now.” His voice still held an unfaltering calmness.
“Like hell I will. I want to talk to Lyra. Now.” She said. Her tone all too familiar to Sketch; BonBon’s tone reminded him of that his mother liked to use.

“Go away BonBon. I don’t want to talk to you.” Lyra’s voice came from behind Sketch, it was tiny and frightened.

“Lyra, Sweetie, you need to come home with me; we can talk about what you did wrong, alright hon?” She adopted a sickly sweet tone.

“Go away!” Lyra said, almost cowering behind Sketch.

“Lyra, you need to come home. I care about you, and I know you feel the same way for me! Every couple goes through stuff like this! We can work through it honey!”

Couple? What the hell was she talking about?

“Leave me alone BonBon. We aren’t a couple!”

BonBon sighed and looked at Sketch.

“Listen, she isn’t thinking straight; if you will just let me take her home I can help her before she hurts herself or something.”
She moved towards the door as she spoke, but Sketch stepped in front of her, blocking her entry.

“I said you were leaving.”

“Listen to me, you son of a bitch. You will let me in there right now before I beat in your face.” She abandoned the sweet tone completely, as if Lyra suddenly couldn’t hear her.

“Like you did to Lyra?” He said still calm.

“I did that because she was talking crazy. She was drunk and didn’t know what she was saying; all I was trying to do was slap her sober.”

“Shut up, BonBon!” Lyra called.

“BonBon, you are going to leave. Right. Now.” Sketch’s tone was finally wavering; he was having trouble maintaining his cool after BonBon mentioned, and admitted to, what she had done.

“I am not leaving until-“

“YOU WILL LEAVE, RIGHT, NOW!”

There went his cool.

BonBon recoiled slightly at this, but she wasn’t shocked or surprised, more like amused.

“She stole from me.”

“What?”

“She snuck in and took things from my house.”

“My things, I took my things!” Lyra called.

“Oh really? Well I’m sure-“

“LEAVE NOW BONBON. I will not let you lay a HOOF on her. I don’t give a damn what you have to say you WILL LEAVE NOW.”

By now the neighbors had come outside to see what was going on; a hoof full of ponies had made their way outside and were watching the spectacle unfold. Sketch didn’t care: Celestia herself could be watching and he wouldn’t care.

“Lyra, come with me, NOW!” BonBon almost shrieked.

“NO! You aren’t going to use me or hurt me again, BonBon. It took me awhile to realize it, but you are cruel and abusive. I don’t know why, but you are. I want nothing more to do with you. Leave me alone!”

Lyra seemed to be the only pony not screaming at this point.

“You bitch… YOU STUPID-“

“Shut your mouth, BonBon! Now leave before I call the police.”

This seemed to get her to shut up, the mention of the Law. She gritted her teeth and stared at Sketch.

“You stupid bastard, you will regret this. Standing between Lyra and me, I will make you pay for this. You just wait, one of these-“

“LEAVE, NOW!” Sketch yelled, he sounded all too much like his father.

BonBon growled at him. Sketch suspected the hate he could see in her eyes matched what she saw in his, the pure and unfaltering want to destroy one another.

“I WILL kill you for this you bastard.” The look in her eyes; at that moment she didn’t even look sane. He suspected this is how he looked the other day when he had nearly broken down BonBon’s door.

“LEAVE!” Sketch was seeing red again, that ringing noise was coming back, the blind rage, the wanting to strangle BonBon, but he held it back; it would only make this worse. To be honest, he was surprised he was able to handle it this well in the first place.

Rage burning in her eyes so hot she might have spontaneously combusted at any moment, BonBon turned and stormed down the road, yelling curses at anypony she thought looked at her funny. Sketch watched her storm off until he could see her no longer; once she was gone he turned to see Lyra, on her flank, silently sobbing behind him. He shut the door and stared at her.

He wasn’t sure how to feel at this moment. BonBon was saying things about Lyra getting drunk and stealing; how was he supposed to react to that? It didn’t make it ok that BonBon had hit her, even if it was to sober her up, but had Lyra really been lying about why BonBon hit her? He wasn’t sure about anything at that moment.

“I-I’m so sorry.” Lyra sniffled.

“What did she mean by stealing and getting drunk?” His tone was flat.

Lyra looked up at Sketch through her one visible eye; it shone against the setting sun’s rays peeking through his door window.

“I’m so sorry….” was all she said.

“Lyra, what aren’t you telling me. Please, you need to explain what is going on here…alright?” He tried his best to sound firm, yet still comforting.

Lyra sighed and wiped her tears.

“I…I didn’t tell you all of why BonBon hit me…”

“I’m listening.” He said, sitting down next to her on the floor.

“BonBon had gotten her hooves on some kind of spiked cider, I had had a really bad day and…” Lyra trailed off.

“Lyra…”

She sniffled and wiped her face again before resuming.

“Well, we started drinking it; BonBon said it would help me feel better. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had a drink or two before, but I was stupid, and I didn’t stop. We drank and drank; eventually we ended up in her bedroom and….” Lyra started crying again.

Well. That wasn’t what he had been expecting at all, out of all the things he would have thought happened. That was the last one, especially after all Lyra had said about how she didn’t like BonBon. Yet even knowing this it still didn’t make sense.

“Lyra, you have to tell me everything if we are ever going to fix this. Seriously, what did she mean by ‘couple’? And stealing? Please.” His voice was a comforting as he could make it; while still maintaining firmness to it, he hated seeing Lyra so upset, it broke his heart, but he had to make sure she was telling him everything, especially if he was going to help her out of this mess.

Lyra again wiped her tears and took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“When I woke up the next afternoon in bed with her, I was horrified at what I had done, so I snuck out to try and clear my head. I realized how badly I had screwed up and wanted to try and think everything over. That was the night you found me on the hill. That’s why I was crying. I realized how bad this had gotten; and that I had let it, because I was so blind to what was really happening. I guess waking up in that bed was what snapped me out of it, I kept telling myself it was just another day, maybe the next one would be better; what had happened made me realize that it wouldn’t, not if I didn’t do something.”

Sketch was silent as Lyra started sniffling again. It took all the power in his body not to go and comfort her at that moment, he hated her being so broken, so defeated looking. That would have to wait; he needed to make sure he got the rest of the story.

“After….After I got home that night, Bon was so angry at me for leaving, but that wasn’t why she hit me. You see BonBon had thought she felt a ‘connection’ between us the night before; she said she and I were meant to be with one another. I told her it was a mistake and it was never happening again, that I was never going to be with her, not like that. She got really mad. I had never seen her so mad before, we started fighting and…”

Lyra’s voice trailed off.

Now Sketch was beginning to understand why Lyra had been crying that first night on the hill; he fully understood what had been going on now. BonBon hadn’t hit Lyra because she had been late that night, it was because BonBon had become infatuated; she had though she was meant to be with Lyra, and apparently she still did.

“And….The stealing?” He said finally.

“I didn’t steal anything, not of hers. I just took my lyre, along with the small amount of bits I had stored away. Nothing of hers: she said that to try and get you to do what she wanted.” Lyra’s voice was shaky.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you everything in the first place. I understand if you don’t trust me anymore, I just…I didn’t want you to think I was some lowlife pony who went around getting drunk all the time and sleeping with everypony she met. I was afraid you would…hate me or something…“

“Hate you? No Lyra, I don’t hate you. I am a bit…sad…you didn’t tell me this, but now I understand why.”

“I’m so sorry… Lyra said, her tears starting to dry fully, leaving that sort of shaky breathing in their absence.

Sketch moved over closer to Lyra on the floor and wrapped a gentle wing around her shivering form.

“It’s alright.”

Lyra sighed and snuggled against Sketch; her body was warm, despite her shivering. He could feel her shaky breathing against his side. Her warmth was comforting to him, although he wasn’t the one who needed comforting. He could tell she certainly felt a bit better, and that made him happy.

Lyra rested her head against his neck and let out another sigh.

“Thank you.” She said softly.

“Thank you? What for?”

“For standing up to her. I wouldn’t have been able to by myself. At least not for long…So thank you.”

There was a lot Sketch wanted to say at that moment, sitting there holding Lyra, comforting her. He had barely known her a week and the two of them seemed to have been to Tartarus and back together. He wanted to say so much, tell her it would all be alright, that everything would work out, that he knew how to fix all of this; but he couldn’t, because he didn’t know how he could fix it, only that he knew he had to try his very hardest. He didn’t want a ‘thank you’, he didn’t want to be praised; he just wanted Lyra to be happy, and in that moment, in spite of everything that had just happened, she was; although he didn’t know it.

And so, out of all the things Sketch could have said, he said nothing. He simply pulled Lyra in closer and held her tight, and that was enough for both of them; simply content in the company of one another, they sat there on that floor for what seemed like hours. Sketch sat there until Lyra was ready to get up: he would stay there as long as he needed to, be it all day and into the morning. However, this was not the case: eventually Lyra’s breathing returned to normal, her shivering stopped and she shifted her body a bit, alerting him to her recovery.

“All this for some silly lyre.” She said softly, looking at the instrument at her hooves.

“It isn’t silly.”

“In the scheme of things, it is.”

“You went to all that trouble to find it, and bring it here, so it has some value to you; therefore it isn’t silly.” He said.

“It was my mom’s, you know. She had a talent for fixing instruments. She could fix any instrument you brought her. She couldn’t play it very well, but she loved it so much, such a simple thing. She gave it to me after she caught me playing it one day.”

Lyra let out a soft chuckle.

“I thought I was in trouble, because my mom was freaking; I hadn’t realized that my cutie mark had appeared and that she wasn’t mad, she was overjoyed that it had appeared.”

Lyra turned and looked at Sketch.

“How’d you get yours? How’d you discover your talent?”

He sighed.

“A story for another time, I think.”

“Hmmm” was all Lyra said.

“Did you see I cleaned?”

Sketch chuckled.

“Yes, I did notice that; you really didn’t have to.”

“Bah, it wasn’t much, although the attic room is a mess. You’re gonna need to help me with that, sometime.”

“Wait, attic room?” He said; surprised.

“Uhhh, yeah, you do know you have an attic room right?”

“No….I didn’t…..”

“Want me to show you?”

Sketch nodded and Lyra stood up, pulling herself out from under Sketch’s wing, much to his dismay. Her body heat lingered on his feathers. He stood up and followed her into the living room, out of the entryway. She led him over to the fireplace and reached a hoof up to the ceiling. She pulled on a small latch Sketch hadn’t noticed before, causing a staircase to gently unfold onto the floor.

“Wow.” He said.

“You really didn’t know this was here?” she inquired.

“Nope.”

“Well come look, it’s pretty cool. Messy though.”

Sketch climbed up the staircase and Lyra trailed behind. The attic was about the size of his bedroom. There were cobwebs everywhere and a small chest in one corner, but that was all. The attic was cool, as if it had been ventilated; it was then Sketch noticed the air vent in the floor.

“This isn’t too bad.” He said as Lyra climbed in.

“No, but It is going to be a pain in the flank to clean out all the dust.”

“That’s what rugs are for.” He joked, gently nudging Lyra with his elbow.

“Pffft. Boys.”

The attic, despite the dust, actually looked well maintained. It was ventilated and with a bit of T.L.C here and there it would be habitable; there was even an electricity socket in one wall. To the front of the attic there was a small round window that faced out the front of the house; Celestia’s sun had set by now and Luna’s moon was just breaking over the horizon. How had he not noticed this attic before?

“I can’t believe you had no idea about this.” Lyra said, trotting over to the window and peeking out of it.

“Hell I don’t even know what to use it for, there isn’t anything I can -“

Sketch stopped mid-sentence. His eyes lit up and shone as he just figured out how to deal with his letter, he turned his gaze to Lyra with a wide grin.

“What? What’s wrong?” Lyra asked.

“Lyra Heartstrings! You are amazing!” He cried happily.

“Wait, I am?”

“Lyra! Gears, loves stuff like this! He can come up here and tinker away at his inventions and not be bothered! This is wonderful!” Sketch was ecstatic.

“You want Gears…to sleep in a dusty old attic? Is that healthy?”

“Lyra, all he ever would talk about was how he wanted a workshop some day, a place where he could go and invent and tinker away without being bothered. This is wonderful! I’ll have to clean it out of course, and buy some furniture, but still!”
“Well, then, I guess we have something to do tomorrow! After you get back from work at least.”

“Oh, I don’t have work tomorrow. Applejack said the Pegasi have a storm scheduled.”

“Oh, really? Well, then I guess you get to deal with me all day tomorrow then!” Lyra turned and flicked her tail with a cheeky grin, barely brushing Sketch’s nose with it, causing him sniffle. He huffed out his nose and ignored Lyra’s teasing. His actions earned a frown from her when she realized he hadn’t done anything.

With a sigh Lyra made her way down the fold-out staircase that extended from the floor of the attic room. Sketch saw this and trotted after her. After he climbed down the staircase, he reached around and re-folded it, and set it back into the ceiling once again.

Just then there was a pounding on the door.

“The moon is out, who in the world could…uh oh.” Lyra’s eyes widened a bit.

“I got it.”

Sketch trotted up to the door and opened it slowly, however instead of seeing the mare he had expected, there stood a very concerned looking Twilight, who was wearing a very over-packed saddlebag.

“Uhh…hi Twilight, is everything alright?”

“Alright! I should ask you the same thing! I was shopping and I saw BonBon storming down the road away from your house and I knew that Lyra was staying with you. Naturally I assumed something had happened, maybe somepony had gotten hurt, so I wanted to come check and make sure everypony was-“

“Twilight, calm down. Everything is fine now, thanks to Sketch.” Lyra said, making her way onto the doorway.

“Lyra! I’m so glad you’re alright!” Twilight shot forward, almost knocking Sketch over. She gave Lyra a tight hug, something that obviously caught Lyra off guard.

“Everything is fine, Twilight, I promise, and I don’t need anything, before you ask.”

“You’re sure?” She asked, still very concerned looking.

“Yes, very.”

Twilight looked back and forth between Sketch and Lyra, eyeing them both.

“Alright then. Promise me though, if you need something don’t hesitate to ask. I have read all sorts of books on how to help deal with situations like-“

“Twilight…” Lyra sighed.

“Right…I guess I’ll be going then...”

“Goodbye Twilight.”

“Bye Lyra, Bye Sketch.” She said, still very obviously not convinced everypony was ok.

As Twilight turned and trotted away, Lyra motioned for Sketch to back out of the door so she could shut it.

“She looked pretty worried…maybe we should have-“

“I know her; she’ll go home, read a book and forget all about it. At least for now.”

“You sure?”

“Ehh…” She seemed anything but.

“Uh huh…Well I don’t know about you, but I’m starved. How about something to eat?” Sketch asked; trotting into his kitchen.

“Food sounds wonderful.” She replied, as he trotted into the kitchen and began searching his pantry.

Sketch rifled through the pantry with his hoof searching through the few cans and boxes of food he had. He would have gone out and bought some food, had BonBon not showed up.

As he searched, he couldn’t help but wonder.

How serious was BonBon when she threatened to kill him? He had never had somepony else threaten him before; at least not like that. Should he be worried BonBon would do something rash? Or was he supposed to think nothing if it and go about his life? He wasn’t sure. BonBon had said a lot of things when she had been at his house and from what Lyra had said the majority, if not all of it, was lies. Yet he still felt uncomfortable about it.

“You get lost in there Sketchy?” Lyra said from behind him, rousing him from thought.

“Huh? Oh! I found some canned corn, and some….asparagus. I think.”

“You think?” She said, uncertainty tainting her voice.

“Part of the label is torn off. From the picture it looks like asparagus. I guess we’ll find out!”

“Alright then.” she said rather nonchalantly, trotting back into the living room.

“Sorry, all I have is this canned stuff. I haven’t exactly been able to get to the market, at least not with money on me.” He said as he opened them up.

“Don’t worry about it. Trust me, Sketchy, there are much worse things to eat than canned food.”

Sketch dumped the cans in a glass bowl and lifted them into his small microwave; this would have to do. He didn’t really have any extra stuff to go with it: bread, wine or anything. Inside he was screaming at himself for not grabbing something nice. He should have thought this through; he really hoped Lyra wouldn’t mind.

With a sigh he started the microwave and trotted into the living room, the faint humming of the machine getting quieter as he distanced himself from it.

“So how was work? Lyra asked before Sketch even left the kitchen.

“It was…..different. For sure.”

“You sound so ecstatic.” She said, exaggerating an eye roll.

“No, it’s just, I met Big Mac.”

“Quite the chatterbox huh?” She asked as Sketch sat down across from her.

“Ha. He was like, standing guard when I got there, as if he were looking or waiting for something or somepony to come along. Applejack was being kinda weird as well; she wanted to know if Big Mac was alright.”

“Alright?” She said in uncertainty.” Don’t they like…..live together? Couldn’t she just ask him herself?”

“My thoughts exactly! Something weird is going on at Sweet Apple Acres. I don’t know what it is, but trouble seems to follow me, so I’m sure I’ll find out eventually.” He finished with a sigh.

“Am I trouble?” She asked, only half joking.

“Of course not.”

For a moment neither pony said anything as, unbeknownst to one another, they were each desperately trying to keep up a conversation, their minds racing to find a topic to discuss. Lyra managed to think of something first.

“So, that notebook of yours, what’s that all about?” She asked.

He smiled as the memory started to come back to him, one of the many happy ones with his father.

“My dad gave it to me; it’s very special you know.”

Lyra beamed.

“Ohhh, I love stories. Tel me, tell me, tell me.” She begged, sitting down and looking at him like some eager young filly.
Sketch let out a light chuckle as the memory from his foalhood flooded back to him.

“Well…”

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

“Hey daddy! Look what I made!” young Sketch trotted up to his father. In his teeth he held an almost perfect drawing of his father, working at the dining room table.

“Oh….wow, that’s great Sketch! When did you start working on this?”

“Five minutes ago.”

“Wow, really?”

Sketch nodded with a grin from ear to ear.

“Can you show me how you draw? I want to see!”

Sketch nodded again and hopped up onto the chair next to his father, he flipped over the paper and looked around, and his eyes came to rest on a cloud outside the window the table was set in front of. After a few seconds of staring at the cloud, he looked down at his paper and began his work.

What started out as nothing but seemingly random lines and scribbles rapidly turned into a perfect copy of the tree outside, down to the little wisps on the cloud. Sketch looked his work over one time, then nodded and gave a happy grunt.

“See!” He lifted it up and showed it to his father.

“Whoa…….”

“Isn’t it awesome? I can do other stuff too, like carriages and other ponies, and my toys too!”

“How come I haven’t seen more of these?” His father asked.

Sketch frowned and stared at the floor.

“Well, I can’t ever seem to keep all the paper together, I drop them or I lose them. Usually when I am playing or running around…”

“Ohhh, I see.”

Sketch’s father looked at him for a moment, as if in deep thought, before speaking up again. He turned and reached into a large black saddlebag he always kept with him. In one hoof he pulled out a very large brand-new notebook.

“I bought this for work the other day. I was going to use it to keep notes and charts in. However, I think you need a place to keep all your drawings safe. Those are special you know, each and every one.”

Sketch happily took the notebook from his father, beaming ear to ear; he was almost bouncing with joy.

“Thanks dad! I’ll keep it safe forever and ever!”

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

As the memory faded, he found himself smiling.

“Awwww, I bet you were such an adorable little foal.” Lyra chimed. “With your widdle wings and your cute widdle hooves.” She spoke in baby-talk now.

Sketch only blushed and looked away.

“Wait, don’t tell me…your mom shows off all your foal pictures all the time doesn’t she?” Lyra said teasingly

“What?...Pffft, no. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, flustered.

She gasped.

“What!?”

“You’re the type of stallion who gets flustered when their mom shows off foal pictures, aren’t you?”

Sketch’s eyes grew wide.

“Uhm…no…”

“You are, aren’t you?!” Lyra gasped again when she finished. “Your mother doesn’t show every mare she meets your foal pictures, does she?”

“No…” Sketch said unconvincingly.

“She does!” She exclaimed, before going into a fit of laughter.

Sketch could only continue to avert his gaze and blush a bright red as Lyra practically rolled on the floor in her fit of laughter.

“I’m sorry it’s just…” Lyra paused to laugh.” I find that so hilarious for some reason.” She wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter subsided for a moment. Just then there was a beeping noise, not unlike an alarm; Sketch recognized it as the microwave. He sighed inwardly as he was quite literally ‘Saved by the bell’. He trotted into the kitchen, leaving Lyra to her giggling, and opened the microwave.

Despite the tin-surrounded origins of the vegetables, they actually looked, and smelled, rather good. Sketch found himself looking forward to eating. As if to prove he wasn’t the only pony who was thinking this, Lyra chimed in from the other room.

“For canned food, that smells pretty good!” She called, faint giggling still tainting her words.

“You’re just as surprised as I am.” He said as he spooned the vegetables into two bowls, and trotted back into the living room. He set a bowl in front of Lyra before sitting down.

“Ohhh, looking good there, huh?” She said, taking a small bite.

“Yeah, believe it or not this turned out pretty well for canned stuff; especially since I didn’t really know what I was doing.”

She huffed.

“Don’t worry about it; it won’t win any awards, sure, but hey, it’s not half bad.”

“If you say so…”

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

The majority of dinner was taken in silence. Sketch was deep in thought as the occasional “Clink” of silverware made its way to his ears. He kept coming back to BonBon’s visit. What she had said, the death threat. How was he supposed to take that? Was that normal for BonBon? Or did he really need to be worried? The more he thought about it the more anxious he got. It seemed like he just couldn’t live without some sort of trouble.

“You alright?” Lyra asked suddenly, causing him to jump a bit.

“Huh? Oh, yeah I’m fine.” he lied.

“You don’t look fine.”

He sighed.

As much as he didn’t want to look like he was trying to make himself the injured party, because that is what he partially saw it as, he figured it was for the best to let Lyra know, in case BonBon really was serious.

“It’s just; I don’t know how I should take BonBon’s whole ‘I’m going to kill you’ thing. I’ve never had somepony say something like that to me before; otherwise I don’t think I would really mind. Should I be worried?”

Now she sighed as well.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about; sure she’s off her rocker crazy, but murder? Nah, she wouldn’t go that far. I know her.”

Sketch found this comforting, if only a little. Lyra had been living with BonBon for a while, so she knew what she was talking about.

“Alright….” He said with uncertainty.

Lyra smiled softly and stood up, trotting over to him. She put a gentle hoof on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, okay?”

He stared back at her, still not feeling very comforted. He honestly was a bit scared about what BonBon had said; but, comforted or not, he felt he could trust Lyra, especially on this matter.

“Alright,” He said with a nod.

“Good!” Lyra said rather suddenly. “Now, you go sit here, and I will do the dishes.”

He scoffed. “How about you sit down, and I go do them.”

“No, you made dinner. I get to do the dishes. Just because I have this eye patch doesn’t mean I can’t help out, you know.”

Sketch could tell she wasn’t going to budge on the matter, so he gave in.

“Ugh, Fine.” He said; rolling his eyes.

As Lyra cleaned the few dishes they had used, Sketch trotted over and sat on his chair, The familiar hiss of air rushing out hit his ears as he sunk into it, letting out a sigh as he did. Soon, he heard the sound of gentle running water emanating from behind him. The clinking dishware sounded as Lyra cleaned.

For whatever reason, he found these sounds calming: the noise of dishes being done against the utter silence of everything else. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the chair as a feeling of peace washed over him, letting out a gentle hum as he relaxed.

For a moment, everything was silent; the running water had ceased, although Sketch didn’t notice at the time, and the clinking of dishes had as well. All was silent until Lyra spoke.

“Hey Sketch, I have a weird question.” She asked as she trotted back into the living room.

“Hmm?” He sat up and watched as she trotted nearer.

“When I found the attic earlier in the day, there were some of those fancy fire logs, the ones wrapped in paper, and I know it isn’t too cold out right now, but do you think maybe we could burn one?” She sounded anxious. Had she been like this previously, or was he just now picking up on it?

Right off the bat Sketch noticed this; he couldn’t remember seeing Lyra like that before: she actually looked nervous, almost antsy. It seemed like she couldn’t stop fiddling with her hooves. What was her issue?

“Uhh, that actually sounds great. I don’t see why not.”

Lyra smiled happily.

“Cool! Let me go get it. I put it in the bedroom.”

He watched as Lyra trotted off into the bedroom to retrieve the ‘Fancy’ fire logs.

“Got it!” She called after a moment.

He turned to look at her. Sure enough Lyra was levitating a single fire log about two hooves away from her. The paper that wrapped it was faded and had a small tear, but it would probably burn just fine nonetheless. However, this fire log was not all Lyra was carrying with her. A little bit behind her floated a neatly folded, very thick comforter.

Without a word Lyra placed the log into the fireplace. It rested in a metal stand that held it up a little ways above the floor of the fireplace. After setting it down, she pulled a small cord on the log and a small flame appeared on the corner of it, slowly spreading over the paper.
After this had been done, Lyra unfolded the comforter and set it on the floor, laying it out in an almost perfect square. She then took a step back and seemed to marvel at her work. All the while Sketch simply sat in silence and watched it all unfold.
Lyre looked over at him and smiled, very obviously trying to hide her seemingly random nervousness. She trotted over to the comforter and sat down, far to one side of the blanket.

What should he do? What was Lyra doing? Should he just sit in his chair and let Lyra have the whole blanket? Or go and try and sit with her. This was all very new to him, and he didn’t want to screw it up, or make Lyra feel uncomfortable. It would be rude to just sit there, but it could also be rude to try and intrude on her space. Although after the events that had taken place earlier that evening, did that even apply? It was settled then. He was going down there.

Sketch got out of his chair and slowly moved over to where Lyra was sitting. She stared at the flames of the fire, entranced; the flames reflected in her one visible eye, creating a beautiful effect.

He sat down gently next to her. “Kinda pretty huh?”

“I always loved watching fires.”

“Huh?”

“Oh! Not like that, err…I mean, I’ve always liked how enchanting the flames were. I’m not a pyromaniac or anything.” She said hurriedly, eliciting a light chuckle from Sketch.

“When I was younger, I would have trouble sleeping some nights, so my mother would make a fire in our fireplace and let me fall asleep by it. I always found it comforting for some reason, the fire. Creepy as that sounds.”

“It isn’t creepy at all.”

Lyra said nothing in response.

Sketch tried to think of something, anything, to say. He felt so awkward not really saying anything. Just sitting there staring at the fire in utter silence.

“So uh…How’s your eye?”

Wow, really? That was what he had said? Sketch mentally slapped himself. Here they were sitting in front of this nice fire, all romantic and everything, and that was what he said?

“Much better actually, thank you for asking. I should be able to take off this silly thing pretty soon. It healed up faster than I would have thought.” She turned and lifted her eye patch, allowing Sketch to see her hurt eye for the first time since he first learned about it.

Lyra’s eye was not swollen shut anymore, and it looked less black. Instead of its previous state, it simply looked a bit bruised. After a moment she replaced the eye patch.

“It looks much better. I’m glad it’s healing.” he said, as she replaced her eye patch.

“Pffft, you’re probably gonna miss my looking so silly, huh?” She teased, nudging him gently, still staring into the flames.
“I told you, it looks cool.”

Lyra laughed softly at this, and rested her head against Sketch’s shoulder.

Oh crap, what was he supposed to do now? Should he just sit there? What if she wanted him to do something? He didn’t want to screw up and have her move. Should he wrap a wing around her? Move closer?

Lyra let out a soft sigh of content as she rested against him. However in his mind it blared like the loudest horn. After a few seconds of mentally debating with himself, he decided to just go for the whole ‘wrap a wing around her’ deal. That had seemed to comfort her earlier that day.

Hoping for the best, he slowly extended his wing and draped it over Lyra, praying he wouldn’t get a bad response. She let out a soft “hmmm” and scooted closer to him, her side almost completely up against his. She was warm, and unlike earlier, not shivering.

Sketch repositioned himself a bit, but not so much it would bother Lyra. Why exactly she had suddenly wanted to start a moody, and, now that he thought about it, sort of romantic fire he wasn’t sure. Although he wasn’t complaining as it resulted in his current state. A state, he had to admit, he enjoyed quite a bit.

By now the fire had fully burned through all the paper and had ignited the log. The flames slowly spread across it like some sort of burning flood. The dark log was glowing around the edges as it was heated by the fire.

“Can I ask you something?” Lyra asked suddenly.

“Uh…yeah, sure.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you helping me? You could have just gone about your business like everypony else, not had to deal with any of this: BonBon, housing me, any of it. What makes my problems so different from that of anypony else? How come you decided to get angry the other night, and practically knock on the gates of Tartarus, by trying to confront BonBon?”

Sketch froze up. How was he supposed to answer this?

“Uhh…well.” He paused and thought for a moment.

“I guess…it’s because…”

Lyra pulled away from him, so that she could look him in the eye.

She stared at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I guess it’s because I know how this kind of situation can end…if outside help isn’t accepted. I have been in a similar situation before, albeit not as…severe…but nonetheless. This kind of stuff ruins pony’s lives. You’re so unique Lyra, and you have such great talent. You’re funny, nice, smart and pretty. Letting that all get snuffed out, I guess I just...couldn’t bear to let it happen.”

There was nothing but silence for a very long moment. Lyra stared Sketch dead in the eye. A blank, expressionless look plastered on her face.

Oh crap, he shouldn’t have said that; he probably just made her hate him! Why had he said that? How could he have been so stupid as to say something like that? She probably thought he was some weird creep who- Wait. Something was different. Was she…smiling?

A small smile crept into the corner of Lyra’s mouth, her one visible eye seemed to gleam even brighter than before now; and before Sketch realized what was happening, she kissed him.

In a surge of heat and emotion, he realized what was happening and kissed back. Everything else seemed to fade away, as if he were character in some romance story. The expression ‘Sparks Flew’ couldn’t have been applied better. His body seemed to be electrified from the head down as the two of them kissed. The heat from her lips warmed his very being. In that moment all seemed right in the world, as if the simple kiss had corrected every wrong there ever had been.

After a few seconds, Lyra reluctantly pulled away. Sketch was blushing a deep red. However, before he could bring himself fully back to the real world, Lyra threw herself around him and hugged him. That firm hug that one gave to show feeling, like a mother hugs her lost foal after finding them; that sort of indescribable, yet still quite describable hug.

After pulling away, she looked the still recovering Sketch deep in the eye; he had been left a bit stunned by all that had just happened.

“Uhh…” was all he managed to say.

She nuzzled his chest.

“Uhh…” Still nothing, His brain was nothing but static at that moment.

“Oh…I hope I didn’t offend you or-“She said, pulling away a bit.

“No! Uh…No not at all…I just wasn’t expecting that, Err…”

Damn he was good at killing the mood.

“I knew you liked it.” A cheeky smile crept across her face.

“What? How?”

Lyra slowly lifted a hoof and jabbed it towards his wings.

“OH!”

He blushed an even brighter red as he tried to maneuver his wings around and fold them back against himself. Sweet Celestia this was embarrassing.

“Sorry…” he said after managing to fold his wings up. He was still incredibly flustered. She had, after all, taken him quite by surprise.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony.” She teased.

Lyra slumped down on the makeshift bedding she had set up and lay on her side, stretching out her limbs before pulling them under her and getting comfortable. She laid there and stared into the fire for a moment, before turning and looking up at him.

Taking this as a signal, Sketch lied down a few inches away from Lyra and settled in. However, this was apparently not acceptable to her, as she soon scooted herself in such a way that he was almost completely wrapped around her back. A bit surprised, he shot his head up for fear of bumping her.

“You haven’t done this before huh?” She asked, trying to sound as nice as she could.

“What gave it away?”

“You can relax, I’m not gonna bite you or anything.” She giggled a bit and nuzzled under his chin before returning her head to its previous resting spot.
Sketch followed suit. He laid his head down just next to Lyra’s so that their necks were pressed against each other. He could hear her soft breathing almost matching in time with his, granted, he couldn’t look her in the eye, due to her eye patch, but nonetheless, it was very nice.

They both laid there silently for a few minutes. Sketch didn’t want to say anything anyways. For one, he couldn’t tell if Lyra was asleep; he sure as hell didn’t want to wake her up. On top of the fact, he was perfectly content with cuddling, silently.
Eventually, however, he assumed Lyra had fallen asleep, as it had been almost ten minutes. Her entire form had relaxed and sort of melted into his, so he allowed himself to drift off. The last thing he wanted to do was fall asleep before she did, though why he didn’t want this to happen, he was unsure.

As he lay there, he could hear the faint crackling of the flames as they cast their dancing shadows across the room, creating a spectacular affect. The fire was warm, but not uncomfortable, and that combined with a sleeping Lyra only made the whole thing even more spectacular.

His whole day had been pretty good, despite BonBon. He had had a decent day at work, he had managed to quell the whole BonBon ordeal, at least for a little while, and he had managed to figure out the whole situation of housing his little brother who would be arriving sometime in the next few days. And to top it all off, he was laying there holding the most fantastic mare.

As his eyelids slowly got heavier and heavier, all was right in his crazy little world, if only for a little while, and he would do his best to keep it all alright.

Chapter 7:...and Water

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Chapter 7: ...and Water

Sketch awoke to the sound of rain practically pounding against his window. There was almost no light shining through his curtains, making the room rather dim. With a yawn he reached up and rubbed his eyes.

He was on the floor, on the makeshift bedding Lyra had set up the night before. The fire had burnt out and all that remained were a few barely glowing embers amongst the grey ashes.

He groggily stared at the blanket for a few moments before sitting up, trying to process his surroundings and what was going on.

He looked around, stretching out each of his wings individually, followed by a refreshing back-arch. He looked down at where Lyra had fallen asleep the previous night, smiling as he remembered what had happened, dinner, the fire and the kiss, that wonderful kiss.

He sighed happily as he remembered it, staring at the spot for a moment as if it were emanating some warm glow that he was to soak up; he decided he should probably talk to the mare who had given him the memory in the first place.

Wait, where was Lyra anyways?

“Lyra?” He said softly, both because he really didn’t want to be loud, and he was barely awake.

This was incredibly new to him. He had never, ever woken up in this sort of situation. Was he supposed to cook breakfast or something? That was what he saw ponies do in the movies, although in the movies cooking breakfast could mean a lot of different things that could go a lot of different ways, so he decided it best not to use that as an example.

Rubbing his eyes again, he looked over at the clock on his table. 9:30 am.

Where could she be?

Sketch stood and groggily trotted into the kitchen, hoping to eat something. However, when he opened the fridge, he discovered there to be nothing he could simply take out and eat, much to his dismay; so he closed the fridge and turned to raid his pantry.

Silently, he browsed for a few minutes, as if trying to trick himself into thinking he had more than a loaf of bread and some bagels. He hated not having much food. Simply because of his mother, He didn’t hate it because he would not have a well stocked fridge to show off to absolutely nopony, or because he wouldn’t have a lot to choose from. He hated it because his mother always made a huge deal about it, but then would turn around not a minute later and yell at him that they had plenty of food. Made it seem like it was something to be ashamed of, even though more often than not, her fridge was even worse than his was currently. It was one of those things he didn’t think he would ever understand about his mother.

After a moment he gave a defeated sigh and pulled a bag of bagels out of the pantry. The bagels were cheap, but they weren’t bad quality, unlike the usual cheap bagels, which were easily broken and crumbly disasters.

“FlimFlam Brand Onion Bagels.” He read the label aloud. “The great taste of onion, without the bad breath.”

Sketch opened the bag and took out a bagel, after putting it in the microwave, hoping to heat it up.

He sealed the bag up and set it to the side without a second thought. With a sigh he walked over into the living room, past his table, it was bare except for a note. Wait, a note?

He trotted over to the table and stared at the note, it was face down and he couldn’t see who it was from. He froze solid and stared hard at the piece of paper like it were some Timberwolf. This was something he had always seen go wrong in the movies. The mare gets up early and leaves a note, and you never hear from her again, although sometimes it was the stallion that did this, but that wasn’t the point.

Could Lyra really have done that? Of course things hadn’t gone quite as…far…as Sketch had seen in all those movies, but nonetheless, did it work like that even if it was as innocent as what had happened? Surely not, right?

“Wait.” He thought. “This is Lyra we’re talking about here, the nicest thing on four hooves; no way it’s something like that.” He tried to comfort himself, convince himself.

He hadn’t even read the letter yet, so why was he getting so weird about it? For all he knew it could be a harmless note.
In the midst of his warring thoughts, Sketch forced himself to flip over the note and read it.

********
Will be back later, Please, don’t come looking for me.
-Lyra
********

“It’s raining.” he said aloud. “What the hell, it’s raining! What does she mean ‘be back later’?”

This was even worse than a long drawn out letter, a short one with almost no information that left the reader worrying constantly and leaving everything else up to guesswork. Where had she gone? Had he done something wrong? What if BonBon’s words about murder had gotten to Lyra, and she had gone to confront her? Or worse, what if Lyra had thought it over and somehow come to the conclusion that BonBon was in the right, and gone to apologize and ask BonBon to take her back in!?

No it couldn’t be that. Not after Lyra was a complete wreck after BonBon’s “visit” yesterday. Not as scared as she looked when she thought Twilight had been BonBon coming back for another round. Lyra had a reason, a good one. She would probably be back soon; maybe she was even on her way back right now! For all he knew, the rain could have picked up minutes before he woke up, and Lyra may have gotten caught in it.

“DING!”

Sketch yelped as the unexpected sound of the microwave rang. Alerting him his food was ready. With a heavy sigh he trotted back into the kitchen. He took a plate out and set it down, placing the bagels on it and taking them over to his small table.

Maybe he was overreacting, for all he knew Lyra could just have gone to the market or something…right?
He groaned and bit angrily down on the bagel. It was heated a bit too much, but he ate it anyway. At that point a slightly over-heated bagel was the least of his concerns.

He wasn’t angry that Lyra had left of course, as she said in her note she would be back. What got him was that she said not to come looking for her. What was that supposed to mean? Was Lyra doing something she knew she shouldn’t be? If she was, why even say not to come looking for her in the first place?

“Ugh.” He groaned again and set his head down on the table. All this was making him even more tired.

I just need to calm down, he thought. Lyra said she would be back; it is her business what she is doing. Not mine.
Or was it? She was living with him after all; they now had a relationship. Could it be called a relationship? No probably not. More like a “Thing” Or was that too trashy sounding? He wasn’t sure at all.

After a few moments, he forced himself to calm down. Maybe he was just overreacting. He should just wait and see if Lyra came back. After all, why wouldn’t she? Wait. Why shouldn’t she!

Uh oh…

What if Lyra had been offended by something he did last night? What if she didn’t like him…what if she was having second thoughts! Oh no…this was bad, really bad. Now he had to go find her. He had to make sure he hadn’t hurt her or anything.

No…I should wait a bit…see if she sticks to her note…

This back and forth with himself went on and on: on one hoof, if he went looking for Lyra and found her, and she really was doing something as simple as going to the market, she could get offended; on the other hoof, if he didn’t go look for her, she could be in trouble or something of that sort. Of course it was raining an ocean outside, why would Lyra be at the market?
Finally he came to a decision: he was going to look for Lyra; after all, better safe than sorry…right?

Trying not to think about it anymore, Sketch stood and stormed up to his door; the rain was bashing against it, rattling the entire doorframe as it poured. The already useless window was nothing but useless now, as if it hadn’t already been useless previously.

As he opened the door and went outside he was hit by a wall of rain. It was pouring; anypony in their right mind would be inside. Of course, he wasn’t in his right mind, now was he…?

“Oh Celestia…what am I doing?” He said, barely able to hear himself over the rain.

Without another word he began trekking down the road. Every step he took only splashed more water on him. Eventually it got to the point where he didn’t care anymore: he was already sopping wet, he might as well hurry and try to find Lyra. He decided to stop by Twilight’s first; maybe she had seen something.

After a few minutes of what felt like pushing his way through a swarm of itty-bitty wrecking balls, Sketch managed to find his way to the Library, or just a really big tree; he wasn’t sure at first due to the wall of rain.

He trotted up to the door and slammed on it.

Twilight, you had better be able to hear me… He thought.

After a few seconds there was no answer.

“Twilight!” He shouted, pounding on the door again.

Still, no response.

“TWILIGHT!” He yelled as loud as he could.

“WHAT!”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Twilight had already opened the door, and much to Sketch’s embarrassment he had just yelled in her face.

“Uhhh, have you seen Lyra?”

“WHAT! What do you mean have I seen Lyra? Sketch, you live like ten minutes from here. Why are you at my door in this rain?!”

“I need to know if you have seen Lyra!”

“Ugh, come inside, the rain is getting in my house. Last thing I need is my books swelling up.” Twilight stepped aside, allowing him in with a very disgruntled look on her face.

He stepped inside, dripping wet.

“Don’t move. You’ll ruin my books. I have a spell I can use…if I can juuuust…” Her horn glowed as she focused.

POOF!

All of a sudden Sketch was very warm, very dry, and his mane was standing on end, almost singed.

“Ow, that kind of burned.”

“Oh…sorry.”

“I-its fine, I just need to know if you have seen Lyra.” He said hurriedly, trying to restore his mane to a less wacky style.

Twilight sighed. “No, I haven’t; why are you so freaked out all of a sudden? Is she alright?”

Twilight gasped and an angry look appeared on her face.

“You didn’t dare hurt her did you, I swear if you even laid a hoof on-”

“NO! No, no, no, no. Not at all Twilight, nothing like that…It’s just…she left a note this morning saying she would be back, but not to come looking for her. I’m really worried.”

“You….you did something, something to provoke this, I know you did.” Her anger had been replaced with uncertainty. “What did you do? Lyra doesn’t just do stuff like this for attention; she isn’t that sort of pony. She is extremely emotional about very few things in her life, one of which is BonBon, and I’m pretty sure you aren’t BonBon, so spit it out. What is it?”

By now Twilight had backed Sketch into a corner and was poking his chest with her hoof with a stare that could turn a cockatrice to stone. He wasn’t quite sure what to do; he didn’t want to lie because that would just make it worse, but Twilight had taken him quite by surprise with her rather unexpected emotional response.

“I…uhh….”

She simply stared harder at him.

“Ugh…Fine. Lyra and I…well, had gotten cozy, and one thing led to another-”

Twilight gasped.

“You idiot!”

She slapped him, maybe a bit too hard.

“OW! What the hell!”

“You know how bad this is, what…What if she gets pregnant or-“

“WHAT! Twilight! You didn’t even let me finish! We did nothing of the sort! Sweet Celestia that hurt.”

“What?!”

“We…kissed, and maybe there was a bit of cuddling after the fact, but that was it, completely innocent, I promise! Swe.” He said, rubbing his sore cheek.

“How do I know you aren’t lying to cover your flank?”

“Twilight! What reason would I have to lie to you about this?!”

“Hmmm, let’s see…Well you slept with Lyra, you may or may not have emotionally damaged her beyond repair, and you don’t even know where she is.”

“Twilight! You of all ponies, I would expect to believe me here! I need to find her! She could be hurt or-or upset, or-”

“Oh I’m sure she’s very upset, probably because of you!” She jabbed her hoof into his chest.

“Twilight, No! I want nothing but good things for Lyra; I think I may have even-” He stopped himself.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Twilight stared him hard in the eye

“Oh…”

“What…?”

“You…”

“WHAT!?”

“You’ve fallen in love, haven’t you?” Her eyes widened, and her jaw slackened a bit.

“Uhh…”

“You have, haven’t you? With Lyra!”

“Twilight! I can’t do this right now; I need to find Lyra! Please, have you seen her? Do you know where she might have gone?”

Twilight sighed softly, staring at Sketch for a moment before backing off a bit.

“No I haven’t. But listen, I know Lyra, she is going through a lot right now, I’m sure she is fine physically, but emotionally she is probably a train wreck. Now I would go help you find her, but after hearing what happened last night…this is something you need to do alone.”

“But, Twilight, what if she’s at BonBon’s?!”

“She won’t be, that is the last place she would go, especially if she’s upset. Listen I can’t give you any tips as to where she might be, but I can tell you this, you need to find her and talk to her.”

“Alright…”

“Now go, shoo! Get out of here before you wake up Spike or something.”

“Twilight I-”

Before he could say another word, Twilight had practically shoved him out her door, not seeming to care he would get drenched again, as unavoidable as it was.

He sighed and rested his head against the door, despite the fact he was…well, getting utterly soaked. The rain actually felt nice; however, he could not take solace or comfort because he knew he had to deal with finding Lyra, and how to process what Twilight had said. So in an effort to do both, he turned and took off down the road.

For some reason he found himself in denial…sort of. He didn’t want to be in denial of course, but he was. He wanted to be able to love Lyra, he wanted to be able to care for her and be there, but at the same time his mother was nagging at the back of his head with her speech about falling in love, and how it was impossible for it to happen in such a short time, but then again, her love life was a complete train wreck. What did she know?

What if he did actually love her, but couldn’t provide and give her what she deserved? Lyra was special and she deserved the best; at least that’s what he thought. What if he couldn’t provide the best? What if all he could do was to keep himself afloat? Lyra deserved better than that.

Sketch looked around as he trotted, his mind running at full speed and his eyes scanning everywhere he could. He had been searching for easily half an hour and the rain showed no signs of letting up, if anything it had gotten worse.

He had checked Twilight’s, he had checked Sugarcube Corner, he had checked the park, and he had checked the pizza place. He had checked everywhere he could think of, hell he had even gone and spied on BonBon’s house for a bit.
However there seemed to be nopony home; no lights were on inside the house or anything. He had been there for a bit over five minutes in the pouring rain and not a peep had come from inside.

This only made him worry more; BonBon obviously wasn’t home, so where would she be in rain like this?

“Oh, what am I doing?” He said in despair. He had been searching for almost an hour by then, going every place he could think of and looking for her. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just give up. He had to find Lyra. However what if she was back at home, what if he really had overreacted and gone on a goose chase. As if that weren’t enough, all that had come of his search was that Twilight now knew about him and Lyra. What if Lyra wanted to keep that quiet?

Sketch sat on a bench in the rain with his head hung, not really sure what he was doing. He never would have thought that after barely living in Ponyville a week he would be doing anything like this. Despite the cool rainfall running down his back and through his mane, he felt very sad and for some reason disappointed in himself. If Lyra was in trouble he hadn’t been able to find her, and if she wasn’t he was going to go home and have to be disappointed in himself for not trusting her. Either way he thought he was a fool.

Sketch looked up at the sky as the cacophony of emotion raced through his mind. He chuckled at how ridiculous he looked, sitting in the rain staring into the sky like something out of a drama. He closed his eyes and tried to take peace in the rain. He had always liked rain no matter how hard or light it fell. Even as a colt he would sneak out into the rain some nights, he would always get caught though when his mother either found him asleep outside on a small cloud, or she would find the soppy patches of carpet he had made when he returned inside to dry off.

Just then an idea hit him, one more place to look, a place that seemed almost too poetic to even think to check. A smile dawned on him as he looked up into the rain, and after a short moment, he stood from the bench and trotted off in the direction of his destination.

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

The trot had taken a few minutes, granted but eventually he had made his way back to his house, and back to where his adventures had essentially begun.

The hill where he first met Lyra.

Maybe she had gone there simply at random, or maybe she had used that spot for thinking or solitude in the past. Or maybe she had chosen it simply because it was so poetic. He didn’t care though, he was just glad he had found her, sitting up on top of the hill beneath a smallish tree he hadn’t noticed the first time.

He couldn’t tell if she had been crying or not, due to the rain. He nearly called out to her before stopping himself. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to comfort her? Hell, he didn’t even know what she was upset about! Maybe it was because he was an idiot. Yeah, probably that. At least that’s what he told himself as he sat there beating himself up over it.

Eventually he decided now was not the time to argue with himself, now was the time to go talk to Lyra, listen to what she had to say, help, comfort. Now was the time he needed to be there for her.

Slowly he trotted up to her. She was as motionless as stone as she sat under the tree, its leaves doing little to shield her from the rain; she was as soaked as he was.

“Hi.” was all he managed to say, as he sat down next to her.

Lyra wasn’t surprised or startled, if she was she didn’t show it. She slowly lifted her head up and stared at him for a moment, she had taken off her eye patch, and her eye looked almost completely healed. She stared into his eyes for a moment before turning her head back and looking back at the ground, all without uttering a word.

There was a silence; nothing could be heard except the rain pattering against the ground and leaves of the tree.
“I…” He tried to find words, yet none came.

“Are you alright?” He said eventually, instantly hating himself for asking such a stupid question.

Lyra huffed a bit.

“Lyra, you…I need to know what’s wrong, I want to help. Was it BonBon or….or me? Did I do something; I need to know so I can fix it, and so I can make it right.”

Still no response.

Sketch sighed, he was trying. He really was. He wanted to help Lyra, although he was beginning to think she didn’t want his help.

“Just…all you have to do is say the word and I will leave you alone. I mean, if that’s what you want. I don’t know if I said something or if maybe…I hurt or offended you last night I just-“

“You are so stupid!” She said suddenly, she turned and looked him deep in his eyes; her eyes were sad and tired looking even in the rain.

“Wha-What?”

“You think you can just…just…do what you did last night? And not think I wouldn’t react? I mean do you not listen at all? To anything I say?”

“Lyra…wha-”

“I mean, I tell you how I had that…thing…with her, and then the same day, hell, not even ten hours later, you do that? How the hell am I supposed to react?”

“Lyra!”

“No Sketch, no. I mean, my life is a literal shitstorm right now. Last thing I need is to get in another damn relationship, or something like that, where I end up getting hurt…or…or getting my friends hurt, or just causing more problems! BonBon literally is insane; I have no idea what to do with any of this. I just don’t need to be hurt more than I already have been. I don’t need to hurt anypony else either, especially not you, not by pulling you into this and dragging you along for the ride. I can’t just-”

“Lyra! No, I never EVER had any intention of ever hurting you. I never even thought of it like that. If anything all I have wanted for you are good things; I offered you my home, I helped you with BonBon, and I’m still trying to! I’ve been looking for you for almost an hour, Lyra! I was worried sick about if maybe you had been hurt, or maybe BonBon had done something. Lyra, I had never even thought about last night like that, ever. What happened last night was amazing! I can only hope you felt that way too, because I want nothing more that for it to happen again. I never mean to hurt you, I promise. However you shouldn’t blame me; you made the move Lyra, you took me by surprise with that kiss, so don’t say I made you come out here and sit in this damn rain like this.”

Lyra stood and shoved him a bit; she was angry now and fierce,tears were visibly streaming from her eyes.

“Lyra!” he said, stumbling a bit.

“You don’t just get to come out here and tell me off, talk to me like I am a filly and you’re trying to help me; I can take care of myself! I don’t need you or anypony else! I can deal with this on my own; I don’t NEED help! You don’t have feelings for me, you just think I’m pretty like BonBon does, you want to use me, you want me to be your own damn property and it will NOT happen Sketch. I won’t let it.”

Sketch softened his look; he was beginning to understand why Lyra was upset, even though maybe she herself did not fully understand. He closed the distance Lyra had made between them with her shove.

“Lyra, I would never use you! I care so much for you and I think it’s horrid the way BonBon treats you! Nopony should have to live like that. I understand what you’re going through here, alright? I know what it’s like to wake up every morning, and wonder if it’s even worth getting out of bed. What it’s like to know that you will have to deal with all the shitty ponies in this world, live through the bad times and have the bad stuff become such a huge part of life, you begin to wonder if there even is any good left to enjoy. I understand what you are feeling, Lyra; the not knowing who really cares for you, the feeling of being used and feeling like you are nothing more than somepony else’s property, but Lyra, you have to understand I’m not like that. I want to be there for you, to help you and care for you when you really do need it; I want to be that ray of good in the midst of all the bad! I want to be there for you Lyra, because…I love you.”

Lyra’s face changed from one of anger to disbelief, uncertainty and a mix of so many others.

“Wh-What?”

“I said I love you Lyra, and I intend to stand by you as long as you want me too. No matter what. I really do mean it.”

Lyra sat there, tears streaming from her face, staring back at Sketch, the two sat and stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity, no sound but that of the rain around them could be heard. Nopony moved, until Lyra suddenly as embracing Sketch, and he embraced her back.

“I…I love you too...” She said, nuzzling his neck as she hugged him.

“I’m so sorry…” She said after a moment.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“No but…I do.” She said as she pulled away. “I’m sorry for saying what I did…for leaving and-”

Sketch pulled her in and kissed her softly, the rain dripping through the leaves along with the sound of the rain itself only made it more perfect, as if it really were something out of a storybook. After a moment he pulled away and put a gentle hoof to Lyra’s cheek.

“I understand.”

Lyra smiled at him and leaned into his hoof, holding it in place with her own. She held it tight and closed her eyes, taking comfort in it. After a moment she opened up her eyes and stared at him.

“You can trust me, Lyra. I would never hurt you, ever. I promise.”

“I trust you…and I really mean that.” She said as she hugged him again, this time holding the embrace longer.

Sketch could feel her chest move as she sighed into him, a sigh of relief. In that moment, despite the rain, he felt the happiest he had been in a very long time. Happier than the previous night, happier than he had been since he had been to Ponyville, he was happy that he had comforted Lyra, that he had been able to open up, that she hadn’t mocked his feelings or ridiculed him for having them. He was happy he loved her, and that she loved him back.

But at that moment, standing in the shadows a ways away, a certain mare, fueled with rage at what she had just witnessed, was planning to do all she could to end his happiness.

Chapter 8: Reunion (Not ProofRead)

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Chapter 8: Reunion

Sketch awoke in his bed to the sound of birds singing outside his window, the sun shone through the shutters casting thin rays of light onto the bed. He squinted and stretched his legs out a bit, yawning as he did so. He relaxed his limbs and sighed with content. There was a soft, sleepy moan behind him. He turned his head to see Lyra, Mint-White mane and all, sleeping happily a few inches away. It had been only a few days before he had been sleeping out on the overstuffed chair in his living room.

After that night he had found her in the rain, and confessed his love, Lyra had seemed to become more comfortable around him, more open. She had seemed to get happier and more interactive than previously. Although he hadn’t thought this possible as she already had been very outgoing. Lyra had grown to trust him; he knew this and intended to do everything to be worthy of her trust.

It had been just the previous night Lyra had asked him to come and sleep in the bed. Of course, it was completely innocent, and he was perfectly ok with that. The most that had happened was some cuddling; he was perfectly happy with this and didn’t intend to push on the matter. Lyra trusted him and like he would tell himself, he needed to be deserving of this trust.

Lyra twitched slightly in her sleep and let out another sleepy moan as Sketch turned back over to look towards his window. It was a Saturday, as he laid there he found himself suddenly excited, not only had he gotten to wake up with Lyra next to him, but his brother; Gears, was supposed to be coming to live with him soon. He smiled slightly as he thought about it, he was looking forward to seeing his brother, he had missed him terribly and would enjoy having him around, and he would have to get re-acquainted with the inevitable sound of Gears’ tinkering and working on inventions however. He wondered how well Gears would get along with Lyra, if his brother would be incredibly shy and keep to himself, or if he would be as comfortable around Lyra as he was around his older brother.

Gears had a tendency to only talk to ponies he liked right off the bat, and it was hard to get him to try to make friends if he didn’t get a good first impression from somepony. Sketch only hoped it would go well, but he didn’t want to waste time worrying about it.

A soft yawn came from behind him, followed by a slight nudge as Lyra stretched, he turned slightly to see Lyra had awoken, and had one eye open, her mane was messy and almost wacky looking, and her hurt eye had completely healed. It looked as if it had never been hurt in the first place.

“Well, isn’t this just the greatest way to start the day?” She said sleepily, eliciting a smile from Sketch.
“It is.” He replied.

Lyra hummed and moved over closer to Sketch, allowing him to embrace her. She settled in and sighed happily. He could feel her chest rising and falling as she breathed; hear her breath leave her nostrils softly.

“Maybe, we should just stay in bed all day, and cuddle just like this.” She said, nuzzling his neck as she spoke.
“I didn’t know I was that good at giving cuddles.”

Lyra giggled.

“Sketchy, you’re the best at cuddles. I taught you everything you know, so of course you’re good at it.”

“I did learn from the best…”

“Damn straight…what time is it?”

Sketch chuckled.

“I have absolutely no clue.”

“Well, should we be like…I don’t know. Getting ready for your brother to show up or something?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. He said nonchalantly.

“You’re sure?” She looked up at him as she spoke.

“I’m sure. You shouldn’t worry so much, you’ll age faster.”

Lyra scoffed and playfully pushed him away, although her attempt at doing this did more to push herself away than him. They both laughed a bit and Lyra rolled onto her back with a sigh, she ran a hoof through her messy mane and a hint of concern came across her face, something Sketch picked up on immediately.

“What’s on your mind?”

Lyra let out a bland sigh before she spoke.

“Is it…weird, that I’m anxious about meeting one of your parents and your little brother?”

“No, not at all.” He said with a low chuckle.

“Like, what if your dad doesn’t like me, or even worse, what if your brother doesn’t? I mean from what you’ve told me he is a rather…eccentric little guy. What if we don’t get along?”

Sketch moved over and cuddled up against Lyra, she nuzzled his nose as he laid a hoof over her side.

“You and Gears are going to get along great, don’t worry about it.”

“You’re….sure?” She said, still worried.

“Lyra Heartstrings, you and Gears will get along fantastic, I am sure of it. You have nothing to worry about ok?”

Lyra sighed happily and scooted a bit closer.

“If you say so…”

Lyra hummed softly as she laid her head on Sketch’s chest, he ran a hoof through her mane as they both laid there enjoying the company of one another. After a moment Lyra spoke up again.

“We probably should get up though…”

“Yeah…I know it.” Sketch said with a sigh. “It’s probably almost noon…”

He rolled over and looked at the wall clock on the far end of the room; it read ten in the morning.

“Come on then, get up.” Lyra said from behind him, Sketch rolled over to see Lyra had already gotten out of bed; she was standing at the edge looking down on him.

“Well?” she said, raising one eyebrow.

“You’re the one who said we should stay in bed all day you know.”

“That was before your brother was going to be here in a few hours, now come on!”

Sketch adopted a fake pout and put on his best puppy dog face, trying to sway Lyra, she stared at him blankly and expressionless.

“Wow, nothing?”

“Nope.” She said flatly.

He sighed. “Oh fine…why’d you have to be all reasonable and stuff…”

He crawled out of bed and stretched a bit, yawning as he did so, Lyra seemed to not be able to decide to be anxious or excited to meet Gears, so he decided to just go along with her and comfort when comfort was needed, and be happy with her when that was needed. He hoped that would work as he had absolutely no idea how else to handle it.

“I’m going to shower, so you go do…whatever it is smelly stallions like yourself do in the morning.”

“Hey!” He called out, as she trotted into the bathroom.

“Kidding!”

He shook his head with a smirk, Lyra did enjoy her teasing.

After another bout of yawning and stretching, he made his way into the living room, everything was the same save the ladder to the attic room had been left down, over the past few days Sketch; in preparation of his brothers arrival, had not only cleaned it out, but he and Lyra had managed to fix up the air vent, which turned out to be filled with a stash of old newspapers, a long shred of orange cloth, and some very weird journals containing ranting about things such as. “The cake being a lie and burning life’s house down”.

“I guess the previous owner was loopy or something.” Lyra had said.

In addition to this, He had gone and bought a small bed, for Gears, Applejack had been nice enough to give him an old workbench, some tools, and a chest with multiple drawers after she had heard Gears would be coming to live in Ponyville. After that word had gotten around rather fast that there would be a new arrival, Pinkie Pie had begged to hold a surprise party in honor of Gears, and after ten minutes of convincing and enlightening her that Gears both didn’t handle surprises well, nor was he a fan of large crowds, she decided she would have to just give him a present.

In addition to this, Twilight, upon hearing about Gears coming to stay, had stopped by the previous day and tried to “educate” Sketch on how to care for a colt who is in her words “Anti-Social” Although after assuring her that he could handle it, Twilight gave him multiple books on mechanics and automatons, saying she wouldn’t be around when Gears got here as she was traveling to Canterlot on business.

All in all, everypony had been really nice and generous, Applebloom had seemed almost more excited than Sketch was, or anypony else for that matter, upon hearing that Gears would be coming to live in Ponyville, she had literally started dancing. Even though Gears already had his cutie mark; a small grey gear, Applebloom said he could be an honorary member of her club and give helpful advice on how to discover cutie marks.

Sketch really hadn’t needed to buy too many things for his little brother; due to the generosity of others the attic had become rather cozy.

The sound of the shower running floated into the room, Lyra was getting clean most likely, whilst she did this, Sketch took it upon himself to make breakfast for the two of them, he trotted over to his fridge and opened it to find it well stocked, he and Lyra had gone shopping a while back and even managed to buy a new toaster
He pulled out a box of pancake mix and got to work on cooking breakfast.

&----------&

After a series of Trial-and-Error mishaps with the pancake batter, Sketch eventually managed to not burn breakfast, and had just set his creations on the plates as Lyra trotted out of the bedroom.

“I smell…pancakes!” She said, still drying her mane a bit.
“Yep! Hurry before they get cold!” He replied.

“I also smell….burnt pancakes…” She said as she set the towel down. “Sketchy did you catch the food on fire?” Her look was playful and portrayed an “Oh you!” mood.

“It’s possible there were a few mishaps. Still, I made food!”

With a smile she trotted over to him and kissed him on the cheek before taking a seat across from him.

“Thank you very much, it looks wonderful.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Lyra looked at the pancakes and eagerly took a bite, her eyes seemed to light up as she bit down, she looked at Sketch as if to say something, but stopped herself in order so that she wouldn’t spray food everywhere.

Sketch noticed this and smirked a bit.

“Oh shut up!” She said playfully, after she had swallowed her food. “Anyways these are fantastic!”

“Eh, all I did was pour some pre-made batter into a pan.” He said modestly.

“Well you poured the batter wonderfully then, I can taste the…masterful way in which you poured it, in every bite.” She giggled a bit and then took another bite.

“Well thank you.” Sketch said before taking another bite himself.

After a few moments of silent eating, Lyra spoke up again.

“So, your brother, you’ve told me what his talent is, and his personality and all that jazz…but what about his inventions? Should I expect any robot servants to be rolling out of the attic?” She giggled a bit as she finished.
He chuckled a bit. “Honestly, Lyra I don’t know what to expect half the time, Gears is probably one of the smartest ponies I have ever met; I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did create a robot. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s made something that complex.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow.

“You’re kidding, really?”

Sketch nodded.

“This one time, Nightmare Night I think it was, Gears had decided he wanted to be some…futuristic character from a comic book or something, I don’t even remember the name. He sat up in his room and tinkered away for Celestia knows how long, and didn’t come down except to eat, until Nightmare Night.”

“Well what had he made?”

“Ha, he had made a full body suit! Like it had this helmet on it with a visor so you couldn’t even see it was him, the helmet had a flashlight that would pop in and out of it, the suit itself had all sorts of designs on it, and it had this little tiny pack on the back made to look like a rocket, it held batteries that powered this little glowing thing on the front! He had made a launcher for a little foam rocket that would pop out of the arm and zoom off, Gears told me it was just a prototype though, he’s probably still working on it…”

“Wait, so he was allowed to use electricity?”

“Yep, he'll he probably has a better knowledge of that stuff than both my parents and I put together, he’s extremely gifted, it just takes some getting used to being around him…” Sketch’s voice trailed off and he smirked a bit.
Lyra cocked her head and looked confused. “What?”

“Just…expect him to make bad jokes, and be a bit noisy up in the attic sometimes, trust me you’ll see.”

Lyra shrugged and finished off her breakfast, after she had finished, Sketch got up and cleared the table. He had just started to do the dishes when Lyra stopped him.

“I’ll do them.”

“What? No, no it’s fine I got it!” He protested.

“You made breakfast, and I need to pull a bit more weight around here. I’m doing the dishes.” She jabbed a hoof into his chest gently with each word.

“Oh fine…” He said eventually, giving in to her jabs.

While Lyra did the dishes, Sketch took it upon himself to get clean, he had already showered the previous day, but his father was a stickler for cleanliness, especially around mares, if he saw Sketch looking even the least bit dirty around Lyra, there would be many a stern word.

As he sat in the shower, Sketch realized something. His Father had no idea about Lyra, or anything that had gone on since he moved to Ponyville! He hadn’t contacted his father or mother in any way since he got there! He silently reprimanded himself, how could he have forgotten this? Would his father be mad, or would he just be nonchalant about it like he was about most things like this?

Then another thought hit him as he got out of the shower, he realized why Lyra had been worried. Meeting the parents was kind of a big deal! Of course Sketch had next to no experience with this situation, as he really had never been in this type or relationship before, especially one that had gone as far as he and Lyra had, which wasn’t far at all from what he had gathered.

All of a sudden he was extremely worried, what if his father didn’t like Lyra…what if he disapproved! As much of a jerk his father could be, and as much as he just did not care most of the time, he was still his father; he still valued his opinion a little bit.

As he toweled off he wondered if he should even tell his father about what he was doing for Lyra, granted his father wouldn’t go shout it to the universe via some fancy messaging device, but still, he felt odd telling somepony else about it, even if it was his father. He would have to ask Lyra about it, it was her problem after all, not his.
“Lyra?” He said as he trotted out.

As he looked around she was nowhere to be found. The dishes had been done and were stacked neatly and drying, he decided to see if she had gone outside. He trotted up to the door and opened it slightly, poking his head out and looking around.

“Lyra?”

“Huh…I wonder where she went…” He pulled his head in and turned around as he spoke.

“BAM!”

Sketch yelped and jumped almost a hoof in the air. Lyra had somehow managed to sneak up behind him and was currently on the floor laughing her flank off.

“V-very funny…” He said, smiling a bit.

“Y-Your face was…” She laughed a bit “Your face was priceless!”

Sketch tried incredibly hard to not laugh as well, however eventually he gave in and chuckled a bit with Lyra.
“S-Sorry…” She said after calming down, “I guess maybe scaring you wasn’t the best way to loosen you up…”
“No…its fine I just…I’m really nervous about you and my dad getting along. On top of that, Lyra, I haven’t told him or my mother about anything that has happened since I moved here!”

“Oh”

“Do I look alright?”

Lyra let out an awkward chuckle.

“W-what?”

“Do I look ok? I’m not like…dirty or anything?”

“Sketchy you look great; don’t worry about it, please. Everything is going to be perfectly-“
Lyra was interrupted by a knock at the door. Sketch’s stomach turned and he looked at Lyra, a lump formed in his throat and he almost felt as if he would start sweating at any moment.

With an affirming look from Lyra, he made his way to the door and slowly opened it, revealing his brother and his father. As always Gears had a grayish coat, his mane was spiky and a black-sandy color like his older brother, his eyes were a deep green, surprisingly enough he seemed to have grown a bit since Sketch had last seen him.

Sketch’s father was tall, and heavy, not fat though, just heavy. He had always been big and surly, the kind of big where it could have been fat or it could have been muscle, but either way he was incredibly strong. His father’s coat was brown and his mane was a jet black, his deep green eyes were intimidating, yet somewhat knowledgeable looking. He was easily a hoof taller than your average stallion.

“Uh…Hey guys!” He said nervously.

“Sketch!” Gears adopted a large goofy smile and hugged his brothers’ leg.

“Hey buddy! It’s great to see you!” He patted Gears on the back and stepped aside to allow his father in.

“Hey dad.”

“Hey bud. Uh, who’s this?” His father motioned in Lyra’s direction.

Sketch nudged Gears off his leg and stood over by Lyra.

“This is Lyra, she’s uh…”

“His Marefriend, I’m his marefriend. It’s great to meet you sir.” Lyra shook hooves with Sketch’s father and smiled warmly.

“Nice to meet you too Lyra.”

“Sketch….you have a Marefriend?” Gears’ face was one of amazement and shock.

“Don’t look so surprised Gears. I’m not that bad.”

“You are.” He said.

“I’m Lyra. It’s nice to meet you Gears.” She held a hoof out towards Gears.

Here it was, that moment he had feared. Sketch watched as Gears sat and stared at the hoof Lyra held out. Would he shake it and be happy, or would he freeze up, say something inappropriate or foolish, and then hide behind his brother?
Gears stared at Lyra for a moment; very obviously calculating if he liked this mare or not, all Sketch could do was watch and hope for the best.

Gears stuck out his hoof and shook Lyra’s. Sketch and Lyra both let out a hushed sigh of relief just as his father spoke up.
“Gears, get your things, I need to talk to Sketch for a moment alright?”

“Alright dad.” Gears turned and happily bounced out the door to get his things.

Lyra seemed to sense some tension and decided to go help Gears bring his stuff in.

“What’s up?” Sketch said after being led into the kitchen by his father.

“So she’s kinda cute, huh?” So much for seriousness.

“Dad!”

“Well?”

“Yeah, she really is.”

“Well how did you meet her?...I don’t know I haven’t gotten a letter or anything since you moved here. How are things?”
“Well…I can answer both those questions at once…”

“I’m listening.”

“Ok so I moved here right? And there is this huge party and everything-“

“Party?”

Sketch waved it away.

“Anyways, I met Lyra there and we…hit it off. I didn’t see her for a few days, and when I do finally meet up with her, I find out her roommate has been hitting her.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, one thing led to another, Lyra ended up staying with me till her roommate cooled down a bit…she didn’t. The other day she showed up at my door screaming profanities and threatening to kill me.”

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah, I know”

“At first I don’t think she was too into me…but over the last few days...we have gotten rather close. I don’t know, I think she’s fantastic.”

“Well, son I think it’s great you met somepony. Did you get a job?”

“Yep, I help out around the apple farm in Ponyville.”

“Oh so you didn’t get on the weather team?”

“No dad…I didn’t apply at all. I told you I didn’t want to be on the weather team.”

His father sighed. “Alright…I guess…you have two other ponies to provide for now, essentially you are providing for a family. So please, if it ends up where the weather team is what brings in money, do that. If it was anypony but you or Gears I wouldn’t give a damn but it is you and Gears, and your new Marefriend as well.”
“I know it dad, thank you.”

By now Gears’; With Lyra’s help, had brought in his multiple bags of things, over half of which were most likely tools and bits of electronics.

“Alright well, I have to go, if I don’t get to the Pony Express in the next hour I won’t get to Canterlot on time.” His Father said. “Gears buddy, come give me a hug, I gotta go.”

Gears trotted over and hugged his father, tears welling up in his emerald eyes.

“D-daddy…I don’t want you to go though…”

“I know it buddy, but you’re going to stay with Sketch and his friend ok? You’re going to have so much fun! I’ll come visit you on the weekends when I can alright, I love you bud.”

“O-ok…I love you too daddy…” Gears sniffled a bit.

“Hey Sketch walk out with me.” He motioned to the door. “Lyra, it was great meeting you. Try and keep Sketch out of trouble alright?”

“I will sir!” She smiled at him as he and Sketch walked out.

Sketch’s father shut the door and turned to his somewhat worried looking son.

“Listen I think it’s fantastic, you met this mare and that you like her, but you said her roommate is making death threats right?”

“Uh…yeah?”

This was not what he was expecting at all. His father was actually showing concern.

“Listen, just…be careful alright? You have Gears now, and I love you both to death, I would hate to see something happen to you. You’re on your own now, you are quite obviously…rather good at it.”

His father looked over at Sketch’s house.

“Be careful, don’t get into something that could end up getting you hurt, and if you do. Be careful about it ok? Just…be careful.”

“I…I understand dad. Thank you.”

His father turned and reached into a small saddlebag he had not noticed before, he rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a small brown box, and some, bulky object wrapped in cloth.

“I want you to take this.” He said.

Sketch took the strange item from his father and stared at it curiously; he gently took part of the cloth in one hoof and pulled it off the item. What he saw surprised him incredibly.

The cloth had been wrapped around a gun and old looking revolver type gun, it appeared to hold six rounds and the sights on it were iron, and slightly bent to one side. The stock for it had been built like most other revolver type weapons, with a long brace that wrapped over the shooters front leg for stabilization reasons, the trigger was big, as was usual for these weapons, big enough a hoof could be slipped in and used to fire.

“D-dad…what am I supposed to-“

“I wasn’t sure if I would give it to you or not, my father gave it to me when I moved out and went off on my own…he said I should always have something to keep me safe should I need it…I trust you still know how to shoot?”
“Uh….yeah.”

“Good, keep that safe. I wasn’t sure if I would give it to you or not…but you telling me about some mare screaming death threats at you sealed the deal. I want you to keep that alright? You have others to protect now. I hope it was as useful for you as it was for me.”

“Did you ever…”

“No, I never fired it outside of some practice shots; you shouldn’t need to clean it or anything. That box has extra ammo should you choose to go and practice.”
“Uh…thanks dad…”

“Alright, I got to go. I love you. I’ll see you…next weekend hopefully alright? This is the only weekend I have to work for a few more months.”

“I love you too dad.” Sketch hugged his father as he spoke; he tried to sound as if his father hadn’t just given him a gun.

“Hey uh…what about mom? Will we be seeing much of her?”

His father frowned and there was a pent up anger welling up in his eyes, but he contained it.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you never saw her again bud…I really wouldn’t.”

“Oh…” His heart sank a bit.

“Ok then….I’ll see you later alright?”

“Alright dad…thanks for everything. Bye!”

“Bye Sketch!” He called as he trotted rather quickly down the street, bustling off to catch his train.

Sketch looked down at the shiny revolver again; his father really had maintained it rather well. He heard his door open and turned to see Lyra.

“You alright?”

“Uh…yeah.”

“What is-“Lyra gasped a bit.

“Where did you get that?”

Still staring at the weapon, Sketch responded.

“My uh…my dad gave it to me…”

“Oh…”

Both ponies stood there in solemn silence as they stared at the gun, both seemingly unsure what to do. The fact that Sketch had a gun, was slightly comforting, it meant he knew he could defend his brother and Lyra if need be, but the fact he had a gun also scared him, guns weren’t exactly common around the Ponyville-Cloudsdale area, so coming across one was rare. However as comforting as it was to have a gun, it was also very scary, this thing could kill somepony, it was dangerous, very dangerous, he hoped he would never have to use it.

“Let’s go inside…Gears wants to see you…”

He shook himself out of his thoughts and wrapped the gun back up in its cloth; he followed Lyra back into the house to find Gears, dragging his bag up the staircase that came out of the ceiling.

Gears looked up from his bag and smiled as he saw his brother.

“You got me the attic room! That’s so cool!”

As if suddenly imbued with the strength of ten ponies, Gears hauled his bag up the stairs and was at his brothers’ side a minute later.

“There’s an electricity outlet, and an air vent and everything! This is going to be awesome! Now I can finish my experiments!”
Sketch and Lyra both looked down at Gears with a look of both curiosity and worry.

“What experiments?” They said almost in perfect unison.

“Oh I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.” He said with a cheeky look in his face.

“Is it going to burn the house down?” Lyra asked.

“What? No…I got past that phase of it like…two weeks ago.”

Lyra stifled a giggle and Sketch chuckled and sighed.

“Alright, just be careful please.”

“Pfft, Sketch, when am I ever not?” Gears said proudly, and with an air of confidence marched up to his room to unpack his things.

Sketch and Lyra both watched him climb the stairs with another one of his many bags on his back; Sketch wondered just in fact what it was Gears was working on.

“He really is something…” Lyra said.

“That he is…I’m going to go and put this gun in the side table by the bed, I’ll be right back.”

He turned and trotted off into the bedroom to stash the gun away, he unwrapped it fully and got a good look at it, before he hadn’t seen the full gun and now that he really looked at it, he found it to have many small engraved designs on it, all intricate and as delicate as could be. He slipped the brace over his front arm and looked down the sights, the sights really weren’t bent at all, it had just been the angle at which he had been holding the gun.

He sighed and flicked the revolver to one side, the cylinder flipped out, it was empty as expected. He thought maybe he should load it, Gears knew about guns; his father had made sure of that. So that wasn’t an issue, Lyra had the common sense and maturity not to mess around with it, and if somepony broke in, he wouldn’t really want to waste time loading it.
So without another thought on the matter, Sketch opened his small black box and put six bronze-looking rounds into the revolver cylinder. He spun the cylinder before flipping it back into place; it gave a satisfying “whizzzzzzzzz. Click.” As it spun then locked into place. He opened the side table and placed the revolver gently inside, he stuffed it way in the back where it wasn’t likely to be found accidentally should the drawer be opened.

“You sure you should load that?” A voice came from behind him.

“Aren’t you worried that Gears’ll find it or something?”

He turned to see it was Lyra; she was leaning on the doorway.

"No...he's shot much bigger guns than this. This is a peashooter compared to some other ones I’ve shot. Gears knows his way around guns, and he knows even more not to mess with them. He knows how dangerous they are, my father made sure of that. I’m not worried about it.”

Lyra shrugged and trotted over to Sketch, who had sat down on the bed. She took a seat next to him and put a hoof softly over his shoulder. He turned and looked at her for a moment, curious to why she had done this.

“Um…Hi.” He said uncertainly.

Lyra smiled warmly at him.

“What’s wrong?” She said.

“Huh?”

“I can tell it by the look in your eyes Sketch…”

He let out a tired sigh.

“My father…basically told me I wouldn’t ever hear from my mother again…that she really had run off…I’m just…processing it I guess.”

She hugged him closer to her.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I guess…as much as I didn’t like her and how she treated me…I still loved her. It’s a bit upsetting that I may not ever see her again…I mean, what am I supposed to tell Gears?”

Now Lyra looked sad, she tilted her gaze down at an angle towards the floor.

“I…I guess you just tell him. No use in trying to sugar coat it, it’ll just make it worse. Wait for the right moment…and tell him the truth.”

He sighed again.

“You think?”

“I do.”

Lyra leaned over and planted a kiss on his lips; he smiled a bit and kissed back.

“EWWWW”

Lyra and Sketch both yelped and leaped away from one another, Gears had discovered Lyra and his older Brother and was rather disgusted at the activity the two were currently engaged in. He wore a revolted look, as if he were about to vomit.

“Gears! Haven’t you heard of knocking?” Sketch said. "Well i didnt think there would be any atrocious goings-on around the house! So why would I?”

“Courtesy.”

“Yeah, I was just going to let you know. I looted the toaster you threw away. I’m using it now. So if you go out to look for it and it isn’t there…”

“Why would I be pulling things out of the trash?”

“Uh, the heating elements in the Toaster, The Thermostat that is built in, On top of that the chassis could be hammered out to sheet metal or something of the sort! You really didn’t think of that did you?”

“No.”
“Well you almost wasted a toaster. I guess I’ll leave you and Ms. Lyra to your games.”

Without another word Gears turned and trotted out of the room, most likely returning to his attic.

Sketch and Lyra both silently watched the doorway for a moment, as if unable to process what had just happened.

After a moment Sketch heard Lyra stifle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” He said, turning over and looking at her.

“Atrocious Goings-on?” She giggled a bit.

“Oh, he was just trying to impress you, he was honestly embarrassed and that was his way of making up for it. He never talks like that for any reason other than to impress somepony he likes.”

She smiled.

“So that’s…good then?”

He nodded with a smile, Lyra’s face lit up.

“Awesome. I’m glad he likes me!”

“I told you it was nothing to worry about.”

Lyra sighed happily and lay back on the bed.

“I think…this is all going to be just fine. We’re like a family you know? Me, You, Gears.”

“Yep.” He said with a smile.

“All that’s left is marriage.”

Sketch’s heart skipped a beat.

“Wha-What did you say?”

Lyra looked him dead in the eye; he was unable to get a read on her at all. She stared back at him with icy cold eyes, for what seemed like an hour they stared until eventually Lyra’s emotionless face cracked, giving was to a devious smile.

“I’m kidding dude. Jeeze, you’re way too gullible.”

Sketch couldn’t help but chuckle; he sighed and lay down on the bed next to her

Lyra did love her jokes…

Chapter 9: The Painful Truth

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Chapter 9: The Painful Truth

Monday, the first day of school, for Gears at least.

Sketch made sure his little brother had everything he would need in his saddlebag, lunch, school supplies, notebooks, some bits; just in case, Lyra said he was worrying too much, and insisted on packing Gears, but Sketch would have none of it.

“Ok, you double checked to make sure you had everything, right?”

“Yes Sketch…” Gears sighed.

“And you’re sure you have your lunch?”

“You’re the one who put it in the bag…then unpacked everything to make sure you had put it in there.” He said with another annoyed sigh, hooding his eyes.

“Alright, awesome!” He said, almost bouncing and completely ignoring the fact his brother was annoyed with him.

“Do you want me to walk you there or…?”

“NO!” Gears said hurriedly. “No…I know how to get there.”

“Alright…” He said uncertainly, opening the front door as he spoke.

“Thank you…”

“Have fun, buddy…” Sketch said.

“I will!” Gears said happily, turning and giving his brother a smile before bouncing off in the direction of the school.
Sketch watched him bounce off until he was just a tiny speck in the distance, until Lyra had to practically pull him inside.

“You think he’ll be alright?”

Lyra grabbed Sketch’s head in her hooves.

“I have said this like a million times. He. Will. Be. Fine.”

“Yeah I know…I’m just worried he’ll get picked on or something.” He said, not at all comforted by Lyra’s words.
“I know, but from what I have gathered from listening to you, Ponyville Schools are nothing like the stuff in Cloudsdale. You said they were very militaristic, with dress codes and all that. Ponyville schools are nothing like that. I promise.” She said, ruffling his mane.

“If you say so…”

“Now, we have to get you ready.” She said.

“Ready?”

“Uhh…you have a job you know?” She said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah…”

“What would you do without me Sketchy?” She said, bopping him playfully on the nose as she spoke.

“I’d be very lost…” He said with a smile.

“Damn Right, now you go get ready and I’ll clean up the breakfast dishes.”

Sketch went into his bedroom as Lyra strode away to clean up breakfast. As he trotted into the bathroom, and started the water, he smiled as he realized how much of his current state of living could be taken directly from some scene from “Home and Gardens” magazine.

He was sending his little brother off to school, and caring for him, and he was proud of it. On top of the fact the most wonderful mare in Equestria was living with him, everything seemed to be going pretty good.
Of course he wasn’t sure how long it would last. He hadn’t seen hide nor tail of Bon Bon in a while, and it both worried him and comforted him at the same time.

As he got in the shower, the gears in his head turned, trying to think of what Bon Bon could be up to.

It comforted him because, well, he hadn’t had to hear, see or smell Bon Bon in a while.

But on the other hoof, he hadn’t seen her in a while. His father had thought she could be enough of a threat, it convinced him to give Sketch a gun, and not just a little gun either, this was a big gun as far as handguns went. .44 , not exactly a pea-shooter.

What if Bon Bon was plotting something? Was she crazy enough to do that? Would she try to mess with him, Lyra, or; Celestia forbid, With Gears?

No, he wouldn’t let that happen. No one messed with Gears, he had been teased, hurt, and been through enough in his short span in this world, more than somepony his age should. That kind of crap could cause mental issues. He’d make sure Gears was safe from her.

But still…he could do all he wanted to protect everypony he loved, and it still wouldn’t help him figure out what Bon Bon was up to.

As he stepped out of the shower and dried off, a strange thought came to his head. What if Bon Bon was linked to the “Side Business” Applejack had spoken of so long ago? Could she be part of the reason that Big Mac seemed to be guarding the farm? Was she that crazy?

“Wait…what the hell I am thinking. How would Applejack’s Mysterious personal life, be connected to Bon Bon…that doesn’t even make sense. Where the hell did I even get this idea?”

He mentally slapped himself for letting his mind try to think up a good story, that wouldn’t even fit in any way shape or form.
He shook his semi-dry mane and it poofed out to its natural, spiky look. Something he was constantly glad of, as he despised having to style it.

He trotted out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, where Lyra had already finished the dishes, and was on the floor re-stringing her Lyre.

“You smell that Lyra? That’s the smell, of ultimate cleanliness.” He said with a flourish.

“No, I don’t smell anything, that’s how I know you’re clean.” She giggled.

“Ouch. Harsh.”

“Oh shush you.” She retorted.

Sketch trotted over and sat down next to her, picking up one of the Lyre strings off the floor.

“These are metal?” He said, surprise

“Yes they are. And that means they can be bent, so you give me that.” She took the string from him and carefully set it down on the floor. “And you can hold this.” She handed him his saddlebag.

“You’re in a hurry to get rid of me huh?” He said, nudging her playfully.

“No, I just don’t want you to get fired; I’m a good Marefriend like that.”

“Say, are you planning on going anywhere today?” He asked his previous thoughts of Bon Bon still fresh in his mind.
“I was going to go visit Twilight, she should be back in Ponyville sometime this afternoon, other than that nothing. Why?” She looked over at him, uncertain of his motives.

“Just curious.” He lied; why exactly he was lying he wasn’t sure.

“I can tell when you’re lying…”

He let out a sigh of defeat.

“I’m worried, about the fact we haven’t seen or heard from Bon Bon. I’m afraid she might be-“

“Plotting Something?” She interrupted. “She very well may be, I wouldn’t put it past her, but everypony in Ponyville knows about her little outburst a while back, it’ll be awhile before she recovers from that, she hates being embarrassed. I highly doubt she’ll try anything else for a while.”

“Alright…if you say so.”

In truth, Lyra’s words were not at all comforting to him. All he had taken from what she had said was Bon Bon would in fact eventually do something, All this had done was make him even more on edge about it.

Lyra; as usual, seemed to notice his distraught, and tried yet again to comfort him, or at least lighten the mood.
“You know, you shouldn’t worry so much…You’ll age faster.” She said, deliberately stealing his line from earlier in the weekend, trying to cheer him up.

“Ha. Ha.” He tried his best to refrain from smiling.

Lyra beamed.

“There’s a smile, now you should get going.”

He nodded and gave an affirming grunt. He stood up and trotted over to his door, slipping his saddlebag on as he moved. Lyra put down her half-restrung Lyre and followed him.

“You have a good day alright? Don’t let Bon Bon consume your thoughts.”

“Yeah I know it.”

“I love you.” She said, giving him a hug and a kiss.

“Love you too!”

“Go bring home the bacon Sketchy!”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you want bacon?”

Lyra groaned and facehoofed.

“It’s…a figure of speech…”

“Oh. Right…I’ll be going then…Bye.”

“Bye Sketchy…”

Sketch turned and walked out of his tiny front lawn, and out onto the road, he would do his very best to not let this whole “Bon Bon” thing consume his thoughts. He would have to or it could end up affecting his work, and that was one of the last things he wanted.

&____________&

What if she was going to try and set his house on fire or something, or…poison some food and try and mail it to him, what if she snuck in his house and robbed him blind? Or worse, what if-

“Hey!”

Sketch’s thoughts were interrupted by the rather annoyed voice of his boss, Applejack.

“This is the third time I’ve had to be getting on yah for zoning out. What’s up with yah today? Yer less focused than a snake in a rat pit.” She reprimanded.

“I’m sorry Applejack; I’m just pre-occupied is all. It won’t happen again I promise.”

“That’s what yah said the first and second time, I need the last of these apples bucked before the cold front arrives, they can’t just sit out here, they’ll get all nasty.”

Sketch said nothing.

Applejack sighed and trotted over to him.

“Y’all wanna talk about it?”

“It’s just…You know what happened with Bon Bon right? She showed up at my door and causes one hell of a scene, and then made death threats?”

“I uh…reckon I heard about it, yeah.” She said, the tiniest bit of concern tainting her southern tone.

“Well, I just can’t seem to get it out of my head. I’m worried that she will try to hurt the ponies I care for…”

Applejack absorbed what he had said for a moment, the gears in her head were very obviously formulating a good response.
“Listen, I’ve lived here longer than most ponies in this town, hell, I was raised here, and Bon Bon has been here almost as long as I have, I don’t know her personally, but I do know how she acts, I really don’t think she’ll go that far Sketch. You really shouldn’t worry about it. T’aint the first time she’s made a death threat or something of the like, Hell a while back she got real mad at me because-“

Applejack stopped herself, her eyes widened and she looked around nervously.

“Wait…You said you didn’t know her personally.” He said, eyeing his boss suspiciously.

“Uh…”

“Applejack, if you know something about her you need to tell me. Are Lyra and Gears in danger?”

“I’ve said too much...It ain’t my place to-“

“No Applejack, You know something. Something that you thought was important enough to not tell me about.”

“I…I….”

Sketch stared daggers into his boss’s green eyes.

Applejack gave a sigh of defeat and sat down on the ground.

“I assume that Lyra told y’all about what happened with Bon Bon, how she got drunk and everything.”

“Yeah…wait, how’d you…”

“Because…I’m the one who sold it to her.”

Sketch was silent.

“I sold Bon Bon the Hard Cider…The farm hadn’t exactly been shelling out all that much in the way of money…A few weeks ago…I took to making Hard Cider, Big Mac agreed to help, just as long as we didn’t tell granny or Applebloom, I reckon it would have up and broken their hearts.”

Sketch felt weak all of a sudden, he was right…Applejack was linked to Bon Bon…what the hell was going on? He had to sit down, and he did so with a rather loud “Thunk”

“It was just supposed to be a one-time thing…something to bring in a bit of extra cash…but then we started making some really good money… Eventually We were selling to all kinds of characters…shady ponies, diamond dogs…even a changeling that lived in Everfree…Then around the time you showed up, Bon Bon found out about our exploits, she said she wanted to buy some, and I didn’t ask why, I never did. That was the cider that she gave to Lyra…I guess she ended up getting what she wanted, and she slept with-“

“I-I don’t need to hear that. I already heard it once…just skip it.”

“Err…Right…anyways…the next day, Applebloom almost found out what we were doing…and I decided that we had to stop…it wasn’t right…I reckon the stuff we were making wasn’t entirely legal. So Big Mac and I agreed to shut it down…we would find another way, we already had enough money to keep the farm running for a few more months, and Big Mac suggested hiring another hoof to help out.”

“But you were short on money, why would you-“

“So he could keep watch, the day after I shut the operation down, Bon Bon showed up again, demanding more. I tried to tell her we were done with it, that it was wrong and illegal…but she got so mad…she grabbed this shovel and…tried to hit me with it, but Big Mac stepped in front of it and she sliced his back up real bad …that’s why he had that bandage, he was afraid if she was crazy enough to come after me with a shovel…she might come back and try to do something even worse…”

“But he said something about another stallion that you-“

“It was made up. It was a story I told Applebloom, that we had hired a “night worker”, she had never even seen this stallion, but she believed he existed, why would she think otherwise, she had no reason to think I was lying to her. So I made up this elaborate cover story, about how there was an accident and that was why Big Mac had been hurt, because he got in a fight with the other stallion, caught him trying to steal the apples. I was too much of a chicken to fess up ‘n’ tell her the truth…I told Big Mac to play it up too, the whole story, especially to you. I was just….so ashamed of what I did…I couldn’t bear to say anything…I’m so sorry Sketch…”

Sketch’s mind was reeling, how was he supposed to deal with this? Applejack was supposed to be the Element of Honesty, he never thought she would have lied to him, especially about something so serious, was he supposed to just forgive her and move on? Or should he get angry, he had every right to be angry of course, but he also felt sorry for Applejack, all she had tried to do was keep her lifestyle afloat, but she could have endangered the lives of others by doing it.
“I’ll finish these apples later; you take the rest of the day off, go home. I reckon-“

“No. No, no, no.” He interrupted.

Applejack looked rather surprised.

“Applejack, you knew she was this dangerous, you knew about me and Lyra, and the connections between everypony involved, and you didn’t tell me. You could have endangered lives. If she is crazy enough to go after you with a shovel, what’s to say she wouldn’t carry out her death threats without a second thought?”

“I’m sorry Sketch, I really am, I just-“

“What if she had actually done something, what if she had hurt Lyra, or my little brother, before you had told me? That would have been on you, just as much as it would have been on me. I just don’t get how you’re supposed to represent the Element of Honesty, and-“

“Don’t you pull that shit with me, Nopony is perfect, Element Holder or not, that don’t matter. All of us have broken what we represented more than a few times, its pony nature. It’s just how the world works. I understand that yer upset, Y’all have every right to be, but don’t pull the whole “Element Holder” card on me. Now I’m mighty sorry I didn’t tell you about it, but what would you have done in my situation?”

Sketch reeled back a bit.

“I…I would have…”

“Exactly, you can’t decide, and you ain’t even the one who was in the whole damn mess. How do you think I felt? All I was trying to do was keep my farm alive, and I-“

“It doesn’t matter, Farm or not, It doesn’t justify your actions Applejack, I just….I wish you had told me.”

“I…I know…”

Sketch glared at her, he didn’t want to see her right now, he was angry, very angry, not so much that Applejack hadn’t told him, but angry that she could have endangered his loved ones.

“I’m going home. You can find somepony else’s loved ones to endanger, I’m done.” He said, turning and trotting off.

“Wait…what are you-“

He stopped and turned his head, glaring back at her.

“I quit.”

And without another word, he left Applejack, alone, as she silently cried in shame, in the middle of Sweet Apple Acers.

&_________________&

Dammit he was so mad, why couldn’t she have just told him? She knew Lyra could have been hurt, Gears as well. Why hadn’t she told him!? He hated that she hadn’t told him, it was all that consumed his thoughts. Now not only was he angry, but he was out of a job.

Sketch grumbled to himself as he stormed down the road, he had been at the farm for quite a while, and it was already time to go pick up Gears from school.

“Time flies when life throws big-ass surprises at you…” He grumbled, kicking the dirt as he walked.

He wondered if Lyra was at Twilight’s, maybe he should stop by, say hi, and maybe tell Twilight all about Applejack’s deceit.
No, he shouldn’t do that. He was better than that, he didn’t want to do that because it may or may not be the right thing to do, and He wanted to do it to be mean, to hurt AJ.

“Oh, why must misfortune follow me wherever I go…?” He moaned.

“Misfortune? What Misfortune?” A rather happy sounding voice chimed, rather suddenly.

Sketch let out a yelp and almost fell over in surprise; the voice came from the figure of the constantly bubbly and happy mare, known as Pinkie Pie.

“Hey Pinkie…”

“Hello!” She said, standing only a few inches from him.

“You-“

“Shouldn’t sneak up on ponies like that?” She said, cocking her head. “Yeah I know, but you looked really down in the dumps, I figured a scare might cheer you up!”

He chuckled. “How would a scare cheer me up?”

“You just giggled didn’t you?” She said, her happy, bouncy tone never faltering.

“Fair enough.” He said, and started back on his way to the school.

Pinkie Pie, obviously not done visiting with him, started bouncing after him.

“So whatcha up to?”

“I’m actually going to pick up my little brother from school.”

“Oh! I love kids! I Foalsit for Mr. and Ms, Cake! Kids are superdiddlyoshious!” She said, with an extremely large smile.

“Superdiddly-what now?”

“Superdiddlyoshious! It’s a word, I made it up, plus it gives me something funny to say for this chapter and provides a bit of much needed comical relief, due to recent plot development and all!”

“What are you….You don’t make sense sometimes…”

“Yeah I get that a lot.”

“I’ll bet.”

“So can I come with you, to the school? I haven’t met your brother, plus like I said, I love, love, love kids!”

“I don’t see why not.” He said, finding himself smiling for some reason.

“Awesome! Plus, we can talk about all sorts of stuff!”

“Yes, we can!” He said happily, finding himself almost bouncing as he walked.

“Soooooo, what’s up?”

“Well, I quit my job.” He said, but happily, he just couldn’t seem to be down around Pinkie, it was like she radiated this aura of happy that infected everyone around her.

“Ooooh. I bet there’s an interesting story behind that!”

“There is, but it involves a possible stalker, lots of bad stuff, and death threats.”

Her pupils shrunk.

“Oh my!” She said, still bouncing.

“Not exactly a happy topic.” He said with a light laugh.

“Well, are you ok? Do you need help or anything?” She asked, very obviously concerned but still maintaining her bouncy attitude and demeanor.

“Nope! I’m good, thank you though!” He said, not entirely sure he was telling the truth. Did he need help?

“Okie dokie lokie! Just let me know, I love helping out my friends!”

“Thank you Pinkie.” He smiled.

Sketch had originally found Pinkie Pie to be a bit eccentric, but now that he was talking to her; well, forced to talk to her, he found her to be rather pleasant. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy talking to him, even if the topic didn’t seem to be something she liked. What he had originally thought would be a long, annoying walk to the school, turned out to be rather pleasant, and he found himself much happier than before, despite recent events.

Eventually the pair made their way to the schoolhouse; they had arrived a bit early however, and took shelter from the sun under a large tree that had grown up on a hill near the school.

As they rested, Sketch’s mind inevitably drifted to the events from earlier that morning. How was he supposed to handle this? Never before in his life had he been in this sort of situation, and he had been in plenty of messed up situations, but nothing like this.

His mind raced as dozens of different thoughts bounced around his brain, he couldn’t think straight. He would try to grasp one idea or thought, only for another one to bump it away and take its place, causing a maddening stream of jumbled thoughts.

He just didn’t know how to handle this, he could go to the police, but then he would have to get Applejack or Big Mac to come and spill everything, potentially ruining their farm business by exposing their illegal operations. On the other hoof however, if he didn’t go to the police, BonBon could try to hurt Lyra or Gears, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He wanted to just tell Lyra, he wanted her help, he needed her help. He had grown rather accustomed to her point of view on things; more often than not her insight was extremely helpful. However, all that aside, she was the focal point of everything that was going on, she needed to know.

“You do alright there?” Pinkie said, interrupting Sketch’s thoughts.

He looked over at Pinkie, and for a moment said nothing.

Should he tell her? Would she go around and tell everypony? Pinkie did love to talk, but would she blab about something so serious? Maybe not to everypony, but almost certainly her fellow Elements.

“Helloooooo?” She sang.

“Uh…Hi…Pinkie.” Sketch barely managed to croak out.

“Hi!” She said cheerfully, as if he weren’t acting strange at all.

“Hey, Pinkie. Can I ask you something serious?”

“Ohhh Serious? What is it? Is there a manticore somewhere, or-or a dragon? Oh no…did you lose your notebook? You didn’t lose-“

He waved a hoof at her.

“No, No, Nothing like that.” He said in a slightly annoyed tone. He was beginning to think he would regret mentioning anything to her in the first place.

“What if…you had a secret you knew, one that could potentially bring harm to other ponies if you revealed it, but it could also bring harm to ponies if you didn’t.”

Pinkies face twisted into a look of complexion.

“Oh…that is a serious question…” She said, sitting down on the ground and staring hard at seemingly nothing.

The two sat in silence for what seemed like half an hour, before Pinkie eventually spoke up.

“I…I think I would…I would think about it. Long and hard, think about what would happen in the long-run. Sometimes, We can never know for sure what will come of our choices until we are brave enough to make them, that’s life. Sometimes, at the end of the day…we just have to do what we think is best for our loved ones…”

Sketch reeled back a bit at Pinkie Pie’s sudden change in demeanor; he had never seen her get serious like that before. Yet even so, her words were somewhat comforting, much to his surprise, Pinkie had actually given some decent advice. He had made his choice. He would tell Lyra.

“BRIIIINNGGG”

The School bell suddenly rang through the air; it rang loud and clear for a few seconds, followed by a short, utter, silence.

“Boy, it got really quiet…” Pinkie whispered.

The silence was interrupted a few seconds later, by the sound of doors opening and dozens of foals pouring out of the school house, Sketch looked around nervously for his little brother, anxious to hear if he had had a good day or not.
“Oh! I see him, I see him!” Pinkie Bounced up and down, pointing into the large crowd of foals.

“I don’t…” He looked hard into the crowd, eventually however, he spotted his brother, in the rear of the crowd and talking with an orange filly, Sketch recognized the filly as Scootaloo, one of the three “Cutie Mark Crusaders” that had nearly run him over shortly after he moved to Ponyville.

“Gears!” He called, over the large-ish crowd of young ponies.

Somehow Gears managed to hear his older brother over all the other ponies, and his ears stood on end as he scanned the area.

“Oh! I think he sees us!” Pinkie said.

Sure enough Gears spotted his brother and after waving bye to Scootaloo, he pushed his way through the crowd of small ponies, a few moments later he came out the other side, and trotted up the hill to meet his brother.

“Hey Sketch, Who’s your friend?” He said in a happy tone.

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie said before Sketch could introduce her. She stuck out her hoof and shook Gears’ own.

This surprised Sketch just a bit, as Gears actually shook back instead of his normal shyness.

“Well aren’t you awfully social.” He said to his little brother.

“Oh yeah! I made lots of friends today! They said I could join their club and everything!” Gears was almost bouncing with happiness.

“Awesome, you can tell me all about it on the way home!”

“Speaking of home, I better get going! I’m supposed to help Mr. and Ms. Cake make some cookies soon, and I don’t wanna miss out on that!” Pinkie said with a smile.

“Cookies huh?”

“Yep! So I better get going, it was great meeting you Gears! Maybe sometime you can come over and I’ll show you how to make cookies!” She said, bouncy as ever.

Gears’ eyes lit up.

“Oh, I like cookies! That’d be lots of fun!”

“Awesome! Just stop by Sugarcube Corner sometime and Ol Pinkie’ll show you how!”

“Alright Gears, let’s go. Bye Pinkie, Thanks for everything!” Sketch said as he began to trot off towards his home.

“See yah later!” Pinkie called, bouncing off to Sugarcube corner.

“So, How was school?” Sketch asked after he and Gears had walked for a few minutes.

“Oh it was great, Everypony was nice, and Miss Cherilee is a great teacher!”

“So you made friends?”

“Oh yes! Well, just one. Her name is Scootaloo. She’s pretty cool.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! I told her all about my inventions and she was super excited, she said she wanted to see them sometime!”

“Maybe…We’ll have to see.”

“Oh come on!” Gears whined. “It’s not like I’m going to get all…squishy…like you and Miss Lyra!”

Sketch blushed a bit and flustered.

“H-hey, that’s my business.”

“How come she lives with you anyway…I didn’t know I’d have to share you when I found out I was moving here…”

Sketch tripped and almost fell over in surprise. He hadn’t thought of how to explain Lyra’s situation to Gears…he couldn’t just try and change the topic, no, Gears was too smart for that, he wasn’t going to let up on this until he got his answers. What was he supposed to do?

“Maybe…I’ll see if Scootaloo can come over at some point this week, alright?” Sketch said, knowing how futile his actions were, but carrying them out regardless.

“Nice try…Why won’t you tell me why she’s living with you?”

Sketch sighed.

“You’re…too young to understand it…I don’t-“

“I am not too young! I’m almost a teenager you know!” Gears blurted out, apparently not liking being called young all of a sudden.

Again Sketch let out a sigh, as they continued walking, this time a sigh of defeat.

“Listen, Lyra had some problems with her roommate…they got in a fight, a big one, so…she’s staying with me for a while until things calm down.”

Gears scanned his older brother carefully, looking for any signs of him spewing falsehoods.

“A fight…like…like mom and dad would get into?” He said, in an all too innocent voice.

Sketch’s eyes widened.

“Uh…yeah, kinda like that…”

“Oh…I didn’t know that…I miss mom and dad…” Gears sighed.

“I know bud…I miss them too.”

He held his breath, hoping his brother wouldn’t delve deeper into the current topic; he really didn’t want to have to explain all of that to his brother, not at that time at least. In Sketch’s opinion Gears was too young to need to be troubled by the kind of crap involving his parents. He should be happy, and get to live out his childhood with as little dark memories as possible.
“When will we see mom again, will she come to visit like daddy does?” Gears asked.

Shit.

He might as well just tell him…what was the point in keeping it a secret, better he find out from his brother than he find out from somepony else.

“Mom…”

He stopped, he didn’t know what to say, how to word it. How to explain to his brother that his mother and father hated each other, and that he would most likely never see his mother again…He looked down at his little brother, his emerald eyes held so much knowledge, more than Sketch could ever hope to fathom, so much potential and personality. He didn’t want to risk losing that…that spark, he didn’t want to tell his brother they wouldn’t ever see their mother again, but he knew he needed to…the damage that could be done if he lied now could be irreparable.

“Mom…mom left, Gears. She did a bad thing that broke the trust between her and dad…and so…she left. Dad said we probably won’t see her again…at least not for a long time, I-I’m sorry.”
Gears was silent, he stared up at his brother, his face had become soft and he looked much younger all of a sudden, his eyes softened and he took in a shaky breath.

“M-mom, left? B-but…I thought…we were a family…”He said, very obviously trying not to cry. “Aren’t families supposed t-to stick together…?”

Sketch hung his head and was silent.

“W-what about…” Gears was starting to lose it. “S-she can’t just…this isn’t fair!”

Sketch stuck a hoof out just in time to receive his brother, who was now crying softly into his chest.

He sat there and cradled his baby brother, in the middle of the road, not caring if anypony else saw or heard what was happening. He needed to comfort Gears, not worry about what anypony else had to say.

He held his brother as he tried to form words though his sobs, and failed. He hugged him closer and stroked his little brothers sandy-black mane, his tiny body quivering in utter sadness. He thought maybe he should say something right at that moment or allow his brother to let it all out; get it out of his system.

Sketch pulled his brother away from him gently and sat him down across from him, his emerald eyes were puffy and red, tears still streaming from them. He wiped away some of the tears and put a hoof on his brothers shoulder.

“I’m going to do my very best to care for you, alright? I know you’re going to miss mom… we’re still a family, you and I…and I’m not going anywhere, ever. I promise.”

Gears hugged his older brother’s arm and sniffled.

“But…what about mom…a-and…”

“Hey…” Sketch stroked his brother’s mane. “We’ll be alright…you and I are a team, alright?”

Gears closed his eyes and hugged his brothers arm for a moment, before silently and shakily breathing,

“Ok…”

“I love you buddy…I always will.” He nuzzled his little brother as he spoke.

“I love you too…” Gears hugged his brother tighter for a moment, then pulled away and wiped his tears.

“You ready to go?” Sketch asked softly.

“Y-yeah.” Gears said with a shaky breath.

“Here, you hop on my back, I’ll carry you the rest of the way.” He smiled at Gears, hoping this would cheer him up just a tiny bit.

Sure enough it did, and he gave a tiny smile as he replied.

“I’d like that…thanks.”

Sketch crouched down so his brother could climb up, Gears sat much like Lyra had when Sketch had carried her home not too long ago, except he was smaller and easier to balance.

Gears curled up in a tiny ball on his brothers back and they set off towards home, after a few minutes, Gears had fallen asleep and was softly snoring on his brothers back as he carefully trotted home.

Sketch felt awful for his brother, having to deal with that, having to try and understand it at such a young age, even as smart as he was. Maybe that was why Gears hadn’t reacted quite as violently as he could have, because he understood the situation, if only a little bit.

Either way Sketch felt awful. No matter how smart or tough a pony was, having to tell your sibling that they would never see their mother again hurt.

As he approached his house, he realized he had forgotten to go see if Lyra was at Twilight’s house.

“Oh well, I guess I’ll see her when she gets back.”

It was probably for the best anyway, Gears needed to rest, not go traipsing around Ponyville.

As he neared his house, Sketch went to grab the key from his saddlebag, and when he got closer, he realized it was already unlocked.

“That’s odd…”

Lyra had a key to the house, and she always locked it when she left, she had made a habit to do so. Had she forgot to lock it when she left, or was she home already?

He reached out and pushed the door open slowly.

“Why is it so dark?” He thought to himself.

He stepped inside slowly; being careful not to jar his sleeping brother, as he shut the door behind him.
“Lyra, you home?” He whispered, trying not to wake his brother.

No response.

Not thinking much of it, he turned and groped in the dark for the light switch, finding it after a moment and flicking it to “on”
The lights flicked on, illumination the living room with a soft light.

“Huh…I guess some of the bulbs-“

“Oh, good…” Came a voice.

“No…”

“You’re home.”

Sketch turned around to see, there, standing in the middle of his living room, holding what looked like a kitchen knife.
Was Bon Bon.

Bon Bon had moved Sketch’s chair over to the other side of the room, and was sitting in it, playing with the long knife she wielded, luckily it looked clean, meaning she hadn’t hurt anypony…yet.

However what really scared Sketch, wasn’t BonBon, but the unconscious figure lying on the floor, hooves bound with rope, was Lyra, she was bleeding from a small wound on the side of her head.

“Bon Bon…you better not have-“

“Don’t worry, she’s alive. You know, originally I had planned to kill you when you were on your way to pick up the brat currently asleep on your back, but then that psycho bitch Pinkie had to get in the way, and I simply couldn’t properly dispose of both your bodies at one time, out in the open.” BonBon twirled the knife around as she spoke.

“BonBon…just…put the knife down…”

“So… instead, I circled back around and managed to catch Lyra as she was leaving for Twilight’s…”

BonBon kicked Lyra in the stomach, apparently waking her up.

Lyra let out a weak groan and moved a bit…

“Lyra!” Sketch called.

Lyra’s body seemed to tense up, he could see her ears pricked up a bit and she weakly opened one eye.

“S-Sketch?” she croaked softly.

“Lyra! Sketch! Ohhhhh” Bon Bon mocked In a nasty tone. “Spare me your drama you pathetic shits."

“Don’t hurt her…” Sketch said, trying his best to sound confident.

“Hurt her? Why would I hurt her? I need her to watch…”

“Watch…what’re you-“

“Watch me kill you of course…” BonBon

“W-what-“

“You see, after you wouldn’t let me see her that day…I realized, I wasn’t going to get what wanted as long as you were in the picture, realized maybe I could still save her from you…so I went home, and I thought up this glorious plan to kill you…”

“What stopped you…?” Sketch said, keeping an eye on the softly moaning form of Lyra.

“She told you she loved you…that’s what.” Bon Bon hissed and stood up rather suddenly, glaring at Sketch.

“I followed you that night in the rain; I had planned to kill you then. It would have been perfect too, I smash the window, you come outside alone, trying to make sure Lyra is safe inside. Then I come out of the alley and slit your throat, and poor Lyra is left grief-ridden, outside on her knees as the rainwater runs red with your blood, then here comes BonBon, just happening to have been caught in the rain. I show up and comfort the grieving Lyra and take her home, and then she and I could have been together…”

BonBon’s eyes changed, her tone became more angry and crazed, not like before.

“But no…you had to fucking kiss her the night before…then she ran off because she was so confused. So you thought you had the right to be allowed to go and comfort her, even after you hurt her so bad. I couldn’t kill you if she wasn’t there, otherwise you’d already be dead. So I had to wait, wait for the right moment when she would come running you, just in time to watch the life leave your pathetic eyes!”

Her voice was beginning to get louder now; she had stopped twirling the knife and was gripping it firmly. She took a step forward as she spoke.

Gears stirred and let out a sleepy moan, he had woken up thanks to BonBon.

“Oh look, the brat is awake! Good, he can watch too…”

“W-what….Sketch who is…” Gears yawned sleepily and tried to figure out what was happening.

“Gears…just, stay behind me alright…”

“W-who is that…, why does she have a knife…” He said in a scared voice.

BonBon laughed maniacally.

“I’m going to kill your brother with this knife…and you’re going to watch.”

Sketch saw it, maybe it was adrenaline or something but he saw it, that moment when your body tenses up for a half second, right before performing something that requires strength or speed.

BonBon lunged for Gears, Knife raised high, in a split second Sketch ran and headbutted her Ribcage, sending her flying into the fireplace, there was a dull “thwump” and she hit the brick, followed by a second soft “thump”, The sound of the knife hitting the floor.

“Gears! Go get help! Run!” Sketch yelled, still in front of his brother.

Gears nodded but didn’t say anything. He turned and ran for the door just as Sketch felt something hit his side, hard. He felt something inside him snap as he went flying into a wall.

BonBon had righted herself and was bleeding from her temple, she didn’t even seem to notice however, as she was looming over Sketch and chuckling.

“No matter…we don’t need your brother…I’ll just kill him later…”

Sketch tried to right himself but was stopped by the insane amount of pain emanating from his side, eliciting yet another maniacal laugh from BonBon.

“Y-you won’t…touch, Gears…”

“Oh really? What are you going to do about it?” She said with a crazed smile, her bloodshot eyes watching him carefully.
Again he tried to get up, this time almost getting to his feet, before he received yet another kick from BonBon, this time to the stomach.

Sketch doubled over in pain, he tried to keep himself from vomiting, and regain his ability to breathe properly.

BonBon again let loose a cruel laugh.

“Ohh…maybe I won’t kill you, maybe, I’ll just beat the shit out of you until there isn’t anything left to identify you as a pony!”
She grabbed his mane and pulled; hard, forcing him up. Damn she was strong.

“I like that Idea…maybe break all your legs…your wings, then let you writhe in your own filth and watch the life slowly leave your wretched body as I crush your windpipe…”

Sketch glared at her, and in response spit in her face.

BonBon growled and threw him, by his mane, into the fireplace. His head hit the brick with a “Crack” and he slumped down, a dull pain throbbing in the back of his head, he let out a cry of pain and held the back of his head with one hoof. Was it because of the adrenaline that BonBon was so strong?

He watched, through blurry vision, as BonBon walked past him and over to Lyra.

“N-no!” He croaked, and stuck out a hoof, tripping BonBon.

Bon Bon fell flat onto the floor, letting out a yelp of surprise as she fell.

Slowly, Sketch stood up, somehow finding the strength. He had to protect his loved ones…He launched himself with all his might into BonBon, who was still recovering from her faceplant into the floor.

He hit her shoulder and she toppled over yet again, this time letting out a roar of anger, in the confusion she kicked Sketch square in the chin, yet again sending his mind into a state of dizziness.

“Y-you’ve got a little bit more fight in you than I had expected…” She said, finally righting herself.

He only moaned and tried to make everything stop spinning.

“But…in the end I’m still going to get what I want…” BonBon stood over him, now brandishing her shiny knife; apparently she had landed near it and grabbed it before she got up.

“And what I want, is you, dead!” She lunged.

Somehow Sketch managed to turn in such a way that she still landed on top of him, but he grabbed her arms and just barely held the knife inches from his chest, she growled and pushed harder, she wasn’t quite as weakened as he was, and he was struggling to hold her back.

With another growl she repositioned herself and put all of her body weight on top of the knife, pressing it horrifyingly close to his chest. He could feel the point of the blade with each breath he took, as it came ever so close to piercing him.
She stared into his eyes, quite obviously having an idea.

“You’ll die…and the last thing you’ll see is me…”

With an evil chuckle, BonBon kneed his stomach.

Everything went silent.

His front legs gave out and he instinctively tried to double over, he couldn’t breathe and what BonBon had done took the last of the energy out of him.

It was as if all he could hear was the blade, as it was pressed in, almost to the hilt.

He couldn’t breathe, his chest felt heavy, his lungs seemed to get heavy, his front legs gave out and fell to his sides, he could only watch as BonBon smiled manically, letting out a laugh of triumph as her bloodshot eyes widened in crazed happiness over what she had done.

He coughed up blood as his vision began to fade, but just then. BonBon stopped.

Her eyes changed from a look of joy to one of confusion, and in one jerky motion, collapsed over next to Sketch.

As his vision grew darker and darker, he heard Lyra calling him, beckoning him to come join her, in heaven.

Chapter 10: A Fresh Start

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Chapter 10: A Fresh Start

Nothingness, absolute, total, nothingness. No darkness, no light, no time or space, no existence, just nothingness.

Some call it Limbo, or the Void, it has many names; that state one goes into when on the brink of death. That state when you are not quite alive, nor are you dead, but that state when you are dying.

This place is neither heaven, nor hell, but somewhere in between, when one is deciding to live or die, even though they themselves do not know they are deciding.

That was the state Sketch had been in, even though he didn’t remember it, and he never would, like a dream you know you had but cannot remember a single detail, he will just know he was there, and that while it would feel like he had only been there for a moment, he would have actually been there for quite a while.

The last thing he had seen was BonBon, driving a kitchen knife into his chest, and the first thing he saw upon awakening, was the whitewashed ceiling, of a hospital.

It took a moment for Sketch’s eyes to adjust to the first light he had seen in a very long time, the first thing he heard was a steady, beeping, that of a heart rate monitor.

His body felt tired and he had a slight headache. He looked down at his feet to see a large bandage over the area where his heart was, upon looking at his arm he found it to have multiple tubes hooked into it.

Where was he? Why was he here? Had something happened?

Then it all flooded back in, like a tidal wave, without hesitation.

BonBon had been in his house, she had tied up Lyra and beaten her…then…there was a fight, and BonBon won, but…how was he alive, and more importantly, what happened to Lyra, Gears and BonBon?

Trying to keep himself from panicking, he looked slowly around the room, his heart rate monitor speeding up a bit, beeping faster.

However his nerves were calmed and his heart skipped a beat; figuratively, when he laid eyes upon the two ponies he loved the most in this world, Gears and Lyra.

Both were asleep in a large chair a few hooves from his bed, Were Lyra and Gears. Lyra was sitting in her usual, comical position, and next to her was Gears; curled up in a ball and snoring softly. They had both obviously been crying, their eyes were swollen and red.

Sketch let out a soft sigh of relief and lay back against his pillow. Slowly he brought a hoof up to his head, which had been heavily bandaged, most likely from his impact with the brick fireplace; his lower body was wrapped up, most likely from his ribs being broken.

How had he lived, how had Lyra managed to get help so fast? How had she lived?

So many questions were racing through his head, and he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t get up; he knew his body wouldn’t let him, plus he was hooked up to all this damn hospital equipment, what he could do but sit, and wait.
There was a sleepy moan, at first he thought it was himself who had made the noise, it wasn’t unlikely, but then it came again, this time more feminine.

He turned his head to see it was Lyra; she had awoken and was shifting around gently.

Sketch was just about to call to her when she opened her sleepy eyes and looked up at him.

They stared at each other for a moment, Lyra’s eyes bloodshot and tired looking, as if she had been mourning. It took Lyra a few seconds to realize what was going on, that Sketch was awake, that he was alive…that for the first time in four days, he was looking back at her.

Her eyes lit up and opened wide, her jaw dropped in a look of amazement. Without a word she slowly stood up, shaking a bit.
“Well isn’t this the best way to start the day…” Sketch croaked softly, smiling a bit.

Lyra couldn’t seem to find the words, in one swift motion she was at his bedside, hugging him gently. It hurt a bit, but he didn’t care.

He held her as best he could and stroked her mane gently, it wasn’t until then he realized she was crying.

“I…I love you…” She said shakily, nuzzling his ear.

“I love you too.” He said, starting to tear up a bit himself.

With a shaky sigh Lyra kissed his cheek, and then pulled away, allowing him to lie back on the hospital bed.

“How…long have I been out…?” He asked, as soon as Lyra had wiped some of her tears.

“F-four days…the doctors told me you had a good chance of a full recovery…but I was still…so worried.” She said with a sniffle.

“W-what happened?”

“Y-you don’t remember?” She said, still breathing shakily.

He shook his head slowly.

“Gears is the one who saved you really…when he got out of the house…he ran to the police, they got there with an ambulance just in time…it was a miracle, really.”

Sketch looked over at his little brother, still asleep on the chair across from the bed.

“B-but…what about you…and BonBon?”

Lyra looked away from him, avoiding Sketch’s gaze.

“Lyra…she didn’t hurt you did she?”

She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes again.

“Lyra…what happened?”

Tears yet again started to pour from her eyes as she sobbed silently, all Sketch could do was stroke the hoof she had laid on the bed.

After a moment, Lyra tried to speak.

“I…I…” She choked up.

Sketch only continued to stroke her hoof as she sobbed…

“I…Killed her.”

He stopped, not believing what he had just heard.

“W-what?”

“She’s dead…” Lyra spoke in little more than a whisper

Sketch didn’t know what to say, however he soon found he didn’t need to say anything, as Lyra began to explain.
“A-after she dropped the Knife…it slid over to me, while she was busy fighting with you, I managed to cut the ropes that bound my legs…when she came back over to get the knife, I-I hid my hooves, so she wouldn’t see what I had done…after she turned back over to attack you…I went into the bedroom…I-I’m so sorry Sketch…this is my fault…I-I-“ Lyra was beginning so cry a bit louder now, and more profusely, again she looked away from him, trying to avoid meeting his eyes.

“This isn’t your fault Lyra…none of it…you can tell me…”

“I was so scared…maybe if I had just gone after her instead of grabbing it…things would have gone differently…”

“G-grabbed what?”

“Your gun…”

No…it couldn’t be…had she…had she shot BonBon?

“I pulled it out of the drawer and I ran back into the living room just as…she stabbed you, and then…” She said no more, she couldn’t, she was crying too hard, she sat on her flank and sobbed into Sketch’s arm.

He wasn’t sure what to say. Lyra had…Killed BonBon. Surely she wouldn’t go to jail or anything, it was in self-defense, and to be quite blunt BonBon wasn’t alive to make a case against her. Even so, she had killed somepony, Sweet, innocent, Lyra. He could understand that. However he could try to understand how she felt all he wanted, and right now, it still wasn’t helping him think up a response.

“I’m so sorry…” She said into his bed sheets.

“Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for…”

“Sketch…I-I killed somepony-“

“You defended yourself and me…because I wasn’t able to. You did what had to be done to keep yourself safe and its ok Lyra…” He tried his best to sound comforting, even though speaking hurt a little.

“Y-you…probably think I’m a monster now…” She said, still crying into his bed sheets.

“No, not at all Lyra! By my logic, weird as this sounds…I’m proud of you…you saved not only me, but you saved Gears and yourself from possible further harm…You did what you had to do.”

Lyra stopped crying for a moment and looked up at him slowly, he knew this would take a while for her to get over, but he had to try his best to help her feel better now.

“I…I-“

“I harbor no ill feelings towards you Lyra, I love you, and I always will.” He smiled a bit.

“Thank you...” She said, nuzzling him.

“Funny how the one in the hospital bed is the one helping others feel better…” He said with a smile.
Lyra giggled, something Sketch was extremely grateful for as he realized only after saying what he had, that it could have been taken so many other ways.

“Oh…shush you.” She said, smiling and nudging him gently.

He sighed happily and went to run a hoof through his mane. However, something was wrong, where was his mane? All he felt was bandaging, and underneath it…was what felt like bare skin.

“W-where…is my mane…?”

“They, uh, had to shave your head…”

“Oh…”

“You had a big timeskull fracture…as if your chest wound wasn’t enough, your head was bleeding everywhere, the doctors said the gash wrapped around quite a bit of your skull, they said they had to use staples…on that, It’s a miracle you didn’t get brain damage…”

“Oh…wow…do you know what else?”

She nodded solemnly, although her tears had dried up a bit.

“The doctors let me read the report after you got out of surgery, you have some broken ribs along with countless bruises, but what really scared everyone was the stab wound…”

“How so?”

“When BonBon stabbed you, it collapsed your lung. You would have died had the ambulance not arrived seconds after the stabbing.”

“I…Is that all that happened or…”

She shook her head

“When she…fell over, the knife got pulled in such a way that it nicked something…you started bleeding everywhere and…and…” She started to sniffle again, on the brink of tears.

“It’s alright…I understand. That all isn’t important now…what’s important is that I’m alive, you’re alive, and Gears is alive, and that we’re all here together.” He spoke softly as he stroked Lyra’s mane.

He rested his head on his pillow yet again and took a moment to take in his surroundings in more detail.

For the first time, he realized he was surrounded by a menagerie of Balloons, flowers, and “Get Well Soon” cards. Hung up on one wall of the room, was a large, hoof made, “Get Well Soon Sketch!” poster, that was almost as big as his bed.
Along with that there were multiple pink balloons; it didn’t take much for Sketch to guess who had brought those.
On the bed next to him was what appeared to be a very long, “Get well” card, sitting on top of some book.

“L-Lyra…Who brought all these?

“Huh? Oh the cards and all that?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh…you weren’t awake so you didn’t know. You’ve had so many ponies stop by and leave you things, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Applebloom and her friends made that huge poster on the wall, it was quite a sight watching them put it up for you.

“Oh…that’s kinda nice…I mean I can understand AJ or maybe-“

Wait, Applejack had been here? Had she told Lyra about what happened? Or would Sketch have to? Would-

“Don’t worry about it.” Lyra interrupted his thoughts.

“About…what?”

“Applejack stopped by, she explained everything. She told me after you left she decided she should come clean to her family, she showed up to your house just after Gears and I left with you, she stopped by the hospital soon after you went into surgery.”

So she had decided to come clean…good for Applejack, of course, what would come of her farm, he wasn’t sure, but to be quite honest that was the least of his concerns at that moment.

It felt nice having so many ponies come to check on him, and put so much effort that they brought cards and flowers, as he slowly looked around a thought crossed his mind.

“Did…my parents come to visit?”

Lyra frowned a bit.

“Well…your dad did…he showed up yesterday, he left the second the news of what happened reached Canterlot newspapers. He stayed here all day yesterday; he brought his work with him and sat at the foot of your bed all day. He had to leave-“

“For work…I know.” Sketch frowned a bit and sighed.

Lyra frowned as well.

"If it means anything, he's paying for your hospital bills…and I think he knew he was leaving you in good hooves.” She smiled down at him and giggled.

“Good hooves indeed.” He smiled back up at her.

There was a click to his side, Sketch turned his head to see a nurse trot into the room, she looked rather surprised when she looked over and saw he was awake.

“Hey…” Sketch croaked.

“Uh…You’re…You’re awake…” The Nurse said in disbelief.

“I noticed.” He replied with a weak chuckle.

“Well, this is very good!” The Nurse said as she recovered from her surprise.

“Well…I had a good caretaker.” He turned and smiled up at Lyra, who gently squeezed his hoof with her own in response.
The Nurse moved over closer to him, checking all of the tubes and devices hooked up to him, after a moment she nodded with a happy grunt. Then without warning, she pulled the bed sheets off of Sketch slowly, causing him to fluster a bit.
She then spent the next few minutes carefully checking his bandages, and after she was finished allowed Sketch to cover himself with the bed sheets again.

“Well, the good news is your vitals look fantastic, I think you’ll make a full recovery!” The nurse beamed.

“R-really?” Lyra stuttered happily, laughing softly in joy.

The nurse nodded.

“Sketchy…you’re going to be alright!” She was crying again, but this time they were tears of happiness. She bent over and hugged him, a bit too firmly; he cringed at her show of affection.

“C-careful, Careful!” He croaked, chuckling a bit as Lyra gasped softly and pulled away.

“Sorry…” She said with a light chuckle, wiping tears from her eyes.

“It’s alright, you didn’t-“

“Huh…L-Lyra?” There was a tired voice that broke in, a familiar voice.

Sketch looked over, past Lyra, to see Gears stirring; he lifted his head and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of eyes before staring into space for a moment, his eyes half shut. He looked over at his older brother, staring at him for a moment, he quite obviously wasn’t fully awake, and not processing his surroundings.

“Hey Buddy…” Sketch said with a smile.

Gears stared for a moment longer, and then it dawned on him what was happening, his eyes widened and a large smile crept across his tired face.

“S-Sketch…?”

Gears leapt of the chair and scurried over to the bedside of his brother, jumping up and using his front hooves, pulled himself up to sit on the bed next to his brother. He did all of this before Lyra could even attempt to help him up.
Gears hugged his brother tightly, it stung him a bit but he didn’t mind that much.

Gears’ body shook as he held his brother; Sketch brought a hoof up and wrapped it around him, only then realizing that Gears was sobbing into his brother’s chest.

“I…I thought you were going to die!” He said, muffled by both his sobs and Sketch’s chest.

“Nope…You saved me, buddy.” He said, stroking Gears’ mane gently.

“I-I did?” He sniffled, pulling away from Sketch a bit and sitting upright.

“It’s true…” Lyra chimed in, “If it wasn’t for you…Sketch probably wouldn’t have made it…you saved him.”

Gears smiled, happy his brother was alive, and that he had helped save him, he felt proud of himself.

“Well…of course I had to help you…if you died, I wouldn’t have anypony to show my inventions to huh?” He sniffled, trying to sound confident.

Sketch chuckled and stroked his brother’s mane softly, saying nothing.

Gears let out some sort of happy noise and hugged his brother again.

“I love you bud…” Sketch said.

“I love you too…”

Sketch turned his head to see if the Nurse was still in the room, but apparently she had snuck out during the little reunion that had just taken place, as she was nowhere to be found. He turned his head over to look at Lyra, her eyes wet and red, he took her hoof in his and squeezed it gently, letting her know he was there, that he was always going to be there.
And for the first time, in a long time.

He truly felt, everything would be just fine.

Bonus Chapter: Warmed Hearts

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Bonus Chapter: Warmed Hearts

“Ohmygosh WHAT!”

Gears bounced around happily at the object before him.

Amidst a heap of torn paper and bows, was the object that had generated his excitement.

A welding torch.

Normally such a tool was considered unsafe and unorthodox as a gift for a foal as young as Gears.

However for the weeks leading up to Hearthswarming Eve, he had been bugging Sketch, and Lyra too, about how badly he wished he had one.

So Sketch had made it happen.

“I’m glad you like it bud.” Sketch said warmly, a grin plastered across his face as he watched his younger brother bounce up and down.

“I LOVE it, thank you sooo much Sketch!” Gears hugged his brother’s front leg quickly, then turned to go fiddle around with his new tool.

“I think he likes it.”

Lyra nuzzled Sketch’s chin softly and giggled a bit.

“You should probably give him your present, before he asks about a-“

“Hey wait, I need a mask otherwise I can’t use it…” Gears cut his brother off, then gasped a bit. “Wait! No I’m not saying this isn’t an awesome present or anything! I just-“

“Open your other present.” Lyra said with a giggle.

“Oh uh…ok.”

Gears trotted over to his second present, wrappings and bows flying aside as he trudged through them.
He stared intently at his second box for a moment, as if trying to figure out what it is.

“Wait…is this…” His voice started getting excited again.

“Open it…” Sketch reiterated what Lyra had said, his grin only getting wider as he did so.

Gears tore into the wrappings eagerly, bits of paper and cardboard flying left and right as he did. A moment later, on top of its own pile of paper and what used to be a box.

Was a welding mask, perfectly sized for a young stallion such as Gears.

Gears was literally speechless; a rare feat. He was silent for a moment, before letting out a loud whoop of joy.

Sketch didn’t even try to understand the long string of unyielding words that Gears spewed out over the course of the next two minutes.

“I think he likes your present, honey.” Sketch whispered into Lyra’s ear as Gears ranted.

A few minutes later, Gears had calmed down and was trotting around the living room sporting his new welding mask, utterly crushing any suggestion Lyra or Sketch had made that he take it off until after they had finished opening presents.

“Oh! I have presents for you guys too!” Gears muffled, excited, voice came from behind his mask.

“You do?” Sketch and Lyra said in unison, honestly not expecting a present.

“Yes, yes! Wait here, don’t go anywhere!”

Gears zipped off; although slowly due to his mask, up the stairs into his room in the attic, leaving Lyra and his brother alone in the living room.

Sketch sighed happily and repositioned himself on the couch he had bought just a few weeks ago, pulling Lyra closer to him as he did so.

The two sat there in silence for a moment, enjoying the company of one another.

The two of them had had many moments like this one since they met, they were never planned or expected, they just sort of happened. They would just be together, not doing anything really, just silently enjoying one another’s company.
Lyra sighed happily and rested her head on Sketch’s shoulder.

“Pretty nice for our first Hearthswarming Eve.” She said softly, yet happily.

Sketch smiled.

“Indeed it is.” He stroked her mane softly as he thought back to when he had first met Lyra.

The party Pinkie had thrown, when Lyra had taken him to get those horribly sour smoothies he still hadn’t gotten used to.
How she had moved in with him shortly after.

The incident with now deceased Bon Bon.

The wedding.

The massive, fantastic, glorious wedding.

He had asked Lyra to marry him as soon as he had fully recovered and gotten out of the hospital.

He didn’t know what the future would hold, especially not after what happened with Bon Bon, all he knew was he wanted Lyra in that future with him, and she happily said agreed to make that a realty.

Sketch had even managed to get his job back at Sweet Apple Acres, or rather, Applejack had asked him to come back, and even doubled his pay for a while; even though he protested quite a bit.

Gears was still living with them, and his inventions were becoming rather well known-about throughout Ponyville, usually because Scootaloo was making a lot of noise helping Gears test them out.

All in all.

Everything in Sketch’s life was perfect.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Lyra’s soft voice penetrated his thoughts, rousing him from his trip down memory lane.

“I-“

Before he could answer, a masked Gears came barreling down the steps up to his room, a small bag in tow.

“Ok, ok, ok. Get ready you two, you’ll love this I just know it!” He said ecstatically.

“You’re awfully excited about it bud.” Lyra giggled.

“You will be too, I promise!” Gears stuck his hooves into the bag then stopped, looking up at his brother.

“You guys gotta close your eyes, ok?”

“If you insist…” Sketch let out a fake sigh of exasperation causing Lyra to giggle a bit, then closed his eyes.

There was a soft rustling, then a moment later he felt Gears place a small object in his lap.

“Ok…open them.”

Sketch opened his eyes, to find a small, black notebook in his lap, it was shiny, black, and otherwise unimpressive, for a notebook at least. He turned his head to see Lyra had one exactly alike, her face was puzzled.

“Uh, thank you Gears!” She said, trying to understand the gift and hide the fact she was doing so at the same time.
Gears let out a muffled sigh of exasperation.

“Really! This is great buddy! Thank you a bunch, I-“

“Oh my gosh, Sketch, Lyra, Move the notebooks close to one another.” He sighed again through his mask.
The two looked at one another quizzically for a moment, then did as asked.

At first nothing happened, the black shiny notebooks were just that. Black and Shiny. However upon touching the notebooks to one another, the most fantastic thing happened.

The notebooks both let out a gentle hum, causing Lyra to let out a small yelp.

A large golden heart appeared on Sketch’s notebook, it let out a warm glow and hummed softly, small wisps of gold whizzing around the notebook and sparkling softly. Lyra’s notebook was doing the exact same thing, although Sketch didn’t notice due to the fact he was entranced with his own hoof sized wonder.

A moment later the wisps faded away and only the golden heart remained, pulsating and glowing warmly.
Both of them were silent for a minute, staring in amazement at what they had just witnessed.
Lyra broke the silence.

“Gears…that was-“

“Write something in your notebook Lyra.” Gears said in a hushed, happy tone; holding out a pencil to Lyra.
She took the pencil from Gears, writing “Sketchy” into her notebook. A second later, the words glowed golden and then returned to their previous grey.

A moment later, a small gleam shown out from under the cover of Sketch’s notebook, surprising him a bit.

“Wait what is-“

Gears cut his brother off again.

“Open yours, Sketch.”

Sketch complied, and slowly opened his notebook.

What he saw stunned him.

There, on the first line of the page, was the nickname Lyra had given him.

“Sketchy”

He didn’t know what to say.

“I had Twilight help me make them, I came up with the idea myself and she helped me make it happen, you can send each other messages on the paper from wherever you are, and when you erase them it doesn’t mess up the paper, and, the heart on the front, glows brighter the closer you two are to each other.”

Gears sat up straight and proud, his mask covering his look of joy.

“Gears, this is just…”

“…Amazing.” Lyra finished.

“I’m glad you two like them, I thought I should get you something nice since I live with you and you are so great and put up with all the noise I make with my friends and inventions…”

Sketch didn’t know what to say, it wasn’t often his brother became so serious and sweet about something.
In one fluid motion, Lyra had moved off the couch and was hugging Gears tightly, not even seeming to care that she was hugging his metal mask as well.

Gears was a bit surprised, and although his mask hid it, he was blushing.

“Oh my sweet Celestia, thank you so much, this is the sweetest thing ever, Gears.” She said, muffled a bit as she dug her nose into Gears’ shoulder.

“Uh…I uh…You’re welcome Miss Lyra…” Gears flustered, as much as he had become accustomed to Lyra, he had never really gotten used to her hugs.

Sketch smiled like a fool as he watched the scene before him.

To be honest he was extremely surprised at this gift, he hadn’t really expected a gift from Gears at all, especially not one of this magnitude.

It was one of the greatest things he had ever been given.

Lyra planted a kiss on the forehead of Gears’ mask as she pulled away, smiling like she had just been crowned princess.
“Blugh! Good thing I’m wearing this mask…” Gears sounded disgusted behind the emotionless slab of metal that was his welding mask.

Lyra giggled a bit and sat back up on the couch next to Sketch, nuzzling him happily.

“Really Gears…this is…I can’t even describe…these notebooks are…” Sketch tried to find the words.

“Beautiful…” Lyra finished, resting her head on Sketch’s shoulder.

“Awww….you guys are making me feel all warm and fuzzy.” Gears fidgeted with a scrap of paper on the floor.

“You should…this is amazing, thank you buddy.” Sketch smiled at his sweet little brother.
-----------------@----------------

Shortly after that, Sketch had cleaned up the wrapping paper and Gears had fallen asleep on the floor, still wearing his welding mask. Lyra had used her magic to levitate him up to his bedroom.

Gears had actually had a very busy day, he had woken himself up extremely early to make a present for Scootaloo; whom he had a massive crush on, but denied it wholeheartedly.

Then he spent a good part of the morning playing in the snow with Lyra and Sketch. After that, Scootaloo and her friends had shown up and that had turned into a massive snowball fight that lasted about two hours. After that they all realized they had forgotten to eat breakfast and so Lyra had cooked a massive lunch for everypony.

Then Gears had gone back outside to play with his friends for about an hour.

An hour that Sketch and Lyra spent rather...frivolously.

After that it started snowing like mad and Gears said goodbye to his friends and came inside to shelter from the blizzard, and the rest of the day was spent inside, enjoying one another’s company.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he slept all day tomorrow…poor little fella, he’s exhausted.” Lyra said softly as she climbed down the staircase that led up to Gears’ room.

Sketch smiled as he flipped through the many empty pages of the notebook Gears had given to him.

“He’s had a busy day, he deserves rest.” He said softly.

“True.”

Lyra sighed happily and slumped down on the couch next to him, nuzzling his neck as she did so.

Sketch grinned, still staring at his notebook.

“What…”

He said nothing. Instead, he took a pencil and turned his notebook away from Lyra so she couldn’t see, then scribbled something in it. A moment later, Lyra’s notebook gave off a warm golden glow. She raised an eyebrow at Sketch; who was grinning like an idiot, and reached her hoof out for the notebook, opening it slowly.

What she read made her cheeks turn bright red.

“You are such a perv, Sketch, like seriously it’s a good thing I love you.” She scoffed, her cheeks only getting redder as she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

“I love you too.” He chuckled and kissed her softly, wrapping a hoof around her waist.

Lyra kissed back for a moment, then giggled and put a hoof on his chest, pushing him a bit so that her muzzle was a few inches away from his.

“Not tonight, Sketchy. Gears is in the house you know.” She smirked playfully.

Sketch huffed.

“But it’s Hearthswarming Eve…”

Lyra smiled, still only inches away from him.

“And you got some of that earlier this afternoon.” She kissed his nose.

“Alright…” He smiled at her.

“You know how loud I can get…I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” Lyra giggled, her voice laced with a seductive undertone that she never showed to anypony but Sketch.

“You better.” He gave her horn a playful lick.

“However!” She said suddenly, blushing even more than before, not expecting the lick at all. “I would like to sleep out in front of the fire tonight, if you don’t mind.” She sat up straight as a rail, suppressing certain urges she was having at that moment.

Sketch instantly picked up on this of course, and decided not to tease her about it.

“Of course I don’t mind, I would love that.” He kissed her quickly before standing up off the couch, causing Lyra to slump down behind him on the couch. She tucked her front legs up to her chest and rolled over on her back, looking up at him.
“Can you get the blankets, pleeeeeeease?” She gave a fake whine. “I’m super tired and I don’t think I can do it.” She gave him a pout.

“Really?” He smirked.

“You know you love it.” She giggled.

Sketch simply smiled and left to go get the blankets out of the bedroom. He and Lyra had managed to cover the previously bare bedroom walls with pictures and artwork he had drawn himself, quite a few of them were of her.
He grabbed the large, heavy comforter off of the bed, two pillows, one more blanket, and then turned over to his nightstand.

He opened the drawer up, and there, in the back of the drawer, was a small white box.

Sketch opened it to make sure its contents were safe and unharmed; which they were, then he trotted out into the living room once more, tucking the small box under his wing.

“You get lost, honey?” Lyra said from the couch, she had repositioned herself and was resting her head on the arm of the couch, watching him happily as he trotted into the room.

“Hey, it’s a lot of blankets for her royal highness, don’t complain.”

“Oh why Sir Sketch, art thou accusing me, the queen of all Equestria, of complaining? Why the very nerve!” Lyra giggled as she played off of what she had been called. She stood up, helping Sketch lay out the blankets.

“Indeed I am your majesty, indeed I am.” He grinned as he threw the pillows and second blanket atop the comforter. Then he turned and took one of the “fancy” fire logs; as Lyra liked to call them, from beside the fireplace, and placed it into the fireplace, pulling the cord that started the fire just as Lyra used her magic to turn off all the lights.

The result was rather pretty.

The flames cast flickering shadows out into the now darkened room as they grew bigger and brighter, dancing and whipping around like fiery blades of grass during a storm.

Lyra had already laid down on her back, leaning against the couch and watching the flames happily, almost looking entranced; as usual.

Sketch glanced out the window for a moment, the snowstorm was still raging. He wondered if anypony had gotten caught in it. Most of the Ponyville population was probably at the annual Hearthswarming Eve Play right now, it was being held in Ponyville this year in the town hall. Lyra had asked to stay home however, wanting to spend the day in relative peace with her husband.

“Sketchy.” Lyra said softly, rousing him.

“Hmm?” He looked over at her lazily.

She patted her hoof on the space next to her, indicating she wanted to snuggle. He smiled and strode over, lying next to her on his back, allowing her to snuggle up to him in such a way that his front leg was wrapped around her. She nestled into his embrace a bit, sighing happily once she had gotten settled in.

For a while neither pony said anything, they were perfectly happy laying there in silence, enjoying the fire.

Then Sketch remembered his present.

“Oh, hey…” He said softly, rousing Lyra from her fire induced trance-like state.

“Hmm?” She hummed, looking up at him, her golden iris’s gleaming beautifully in the light of the fire.

“I have a present for you.”

She gasped a little bit.

“What? Sketchy you didn’t have to get me anything…”

“Well I did so you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” He kissed her nose softly, then turned to fish the box out of where he had stashed it under his wing.

After a few seconds, he turned back to Lyra, hiding the box.

“Now…if you don’t like it you have to tell me, ok?” He said, getting a bit nervous.

“I’m certain I’ll love it Sketchy, whatever it is.” She smiled lovingly up at him
.
Sketch took a deep breath, and then revealed the small box to Lyra, opening it as he did so.

“Sketch…”

Inside the box, was a necklace perfectly shaped like Lyra’s cutie mark, it was a shiny gold and gleamed in the light of the fire. Outlining the entire shape, were tiny, perfectly cut diamonds, each one magnificent and perfectly shaped.

“Sketch is that…”

He nodded.

“I saw this one gold pendant at the jewelers a while back, the way it shined in the light reminded me of you for some reason…so I had this made…it’s one of a kind…the only one like it in the world…the diamonds…the gold…it’s all the real deal.”

Lyra said nothing, she only stared, her eyes large and wet.

Oh no.

She wasn’t upset was she?

“Lyra I didn’t mean to upset you or anything I honestly thought you would-“

“Sketch, I’m not upset…this is just…it’s gorgeous…just…I don’t have words…”

He sighed inwardly, relieved.

“Well…it’s our very first Hearthswarming eve…and I wanted it to be special, because you’re special…” He took the necklace out of the box, unhooking the latch and putting it around Lyra’s neck as he spoke.

Lyra took the pendant in her hoof and stared at it, she was emanating so much happiness it was almost tangible. She then sniffled a bit, a happy tear running down her cheek as she hugged him tightly, burying her muzzle into his chest.

“I’m never, ever taking it off…” She said, muffled.

Sketch smiled like a fool.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it…thank you, so much…” She removed herself from his chest as she spoke, wiping away her happy tears and clearing her throat.

“You’re welcome…” He bumped his nose onto hers softly, then she settled in again returning to cuddling him.

“I love you.” She said softly, after a few moments had passed.

“I love you too.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head, nearly stabbing himself on her horn and ruining the moment, as he had nearly done multiple times in the past.

“I have a present for you too…” She said softly, her tone seeming to change a bit.

“Oh really?” He raised an eyebrow at her as she looked at his chest.

She nodded.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, an almost awkward silence ensued.

“Are you going to give it to me or…?” He said after a moment, breaking the silence.

He wondered what it could be.

She nodded again, looking almost embarrassed.

“Lyra, is everything alright?” He tilted his head a bit as she slowly looked up at him.

She nodded yet again.

“Well…are you going to tell me what the present is?”

“Yes…” she seemed antsy, nervous and almost shy.

He stared into her eyes, awaiting her educating him on what this present was.

“Well…”

She paused.

“Sketchy…” She took a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant.”

Author's Notes:

Oh well hello my friends.
It's been a while hasn't it?

It's good to be writing again, my computer decided to die on me and I haven't been able to write, but I got a new computer so now I can write again!

So yay.

A few people said that they wanted bonus chapters and/or a sequel to this story, so here's that bonus chapter.

As for a sequel.

I had forgotten how much I loved writing this story, how happy it made me to write Sketch and Lyra.

So there will most likely be an entire second story about them.

So yeah, that'll probably start here pretty soon because I've missed writing.

The couch part turned out a bit more sexually suggestive than I had intended, but oh well.

I attempted to proofread it myself because I want to get better at that sort of thing, so I hope there aren't too many grammar errors...

Anyway.

I hope you all enjoy it !