//------------------------------// // The Gambit // Story: Lyre's Gambit // by 1FunnyFox //------------------------------// I own nothing, all copyrights belong to Hasbro and their affiliates. The silence hung in the air like the first bits of snowfall on an empty branch, slow and building oh so gradually. The pick that Lyra had been swinging froze in the air and just hung there in that aura that was so familiar to Bon-Bon, before it slowly lowered to the ground and rested the haft against the encased unicorn. Bon-Bon looked out across the cavernous room at her, the matte red armor that almost seemed to let light slide off it without ever shining or seeming any brighter, a rusty scarlet. Her horn had gotten even worse Bon-Bon realized, the small crack had continued to spider and even from here it looked as if the crack had deepened. The eyes though were the worst part for Bon-Bon, they looked in pain and were focused almost solely on her. It was a mix of guilt, like a foal with the hoof in the cookie jar. The expression shifted and a tiny ghost of a smile came to Lyra’s face as she spoke, her voice echoing from the walls. “Bon-Bon, Spike, Pinkie, Dash, Princess Sparkle. Turn around and leave, please. If you’re my friends, if you have any faith in me just turn around and go home. Forget what you saw and just go home.” Her voice was slow and resigned; Pinkie had stopped bouncing and was shuffling nervously. Rainbow Dash looked ready to take off at her right now if not for the freezing cold just outside Twilight’s bubble of warmth. Spike looked conflicted and was trying not to look at the wolf like monstrosity while Twilight took a few calming breaths before she replied. “Lyra, I don’t know what you’re doing, but if what you said is true and you consider yourself our friend then stop and explain what’s going on. If you don’t I’m going to need to stop you until you tell us what you’re doing, so please, just talk to us.” It was clear Twilight was trying to remain calm, the princess training hadn’t been for nothing it let her keep a clear head when dealing with somepony who had hurt her family. “Twilight this doesn’t concern you, any of you. So please, just turn back. I…I’m not leaving. Just…leave now or…I need to make you leave.” Her voice was hesitant, her gaze uncertain as it rested on each member of the party for a moment before freezing on Bon-Bon, her eye as blue as the freezing ice surrounding them bore into the amber orbs of Lyra. Her voice was soft, the soft and pained voice Lyra had come to know meant she was hurt deeply, she winced as her word came ringing down. “Was it real? Any part of it Lyra, all the time we spent together, all the times you were so kind to me. Where’s that mare now, the one I called my best friend, because I look at you and that’s not who I see. If it was ever real, if you really thought of me as your friend just tell me what’s going on. You know you can trust me. Right?” The moisture sat heavy in the corners of Bon-Bon’s eyes, ready to fall and Lyra shut her eyes to it and took a shuddering breath. When her eyes reopened they were brimming with unshed tears that she wouldn’t, couldn’t allow to fall as she replied. “Of course it was real Bons, you’re my best friend and nothing will change that for me, not even you hating me. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do, because all the other options are horrible and this, this is a chance to fix things. I…don’t need you to understand Bonnie, I need you to trust me. I need to do this and…nopony is going to stop me. I’m sorry, none of you have any idea how much I wish I could have stayed back in Ponyville. But this is where we need to leave each other. Now, Twilight Sparkle, I respect you, I like you, I would call us friends if we talked a little more. But this is when you and the rest leave, no more pleading, you leave or I make you. I’ve made my choices and I need to live with them.” Twilight looked lost for a moment, Lyra seemed so genuine, it gave her pause, but she couldn’t let her just do whatever this was. Twilight hated to admit it but Lyra was right, the time for pleading was over. She widened her stance and sparked her horn, eyes focused with a ferocious intensity upon the seafoam mare. Rainbow Dash buzzed her wings, it would be a cold flight, but she could easily fly out and deliver a solid buck to the head before zipping back to the bubble. It wasn’t going to be much of a fight she reasoned, one mare against half the elements, a dragon and Bon-Bon? It was almost too easy were her thoughts. Pinkie had her head tilted and just watched Lyra, she knew the mare, she was her friend, should she really fight her? Could she trust her? it didn’t make sense. Friends trusted each other, they didn’t get into big fights in ancient ruins, this wasn’t how there adventure was supposed to go. Spike just looked sadly at Lyra, a sad look that she returned to everypony. He had trusted her, and now she was threatening them to leave. Spike questioned a lot of his decisions, this one looked pretty bad though. Still, he had a job, he needed to protect Twilight, his family as best he could. Bon-Bon still held Lyra’s vision, all the pleading of the gaze trying desperately to get Lyra to come home with her. It didn’t work and all she could see was Lyra faintly mouthing a few words to her, “I’m so sorry” Then her cracked horn lit with that familiar golden glow and a sound of terrible cracking filled the chamber. Bon-Bon’s eyes widened, frightened for her friends horn for just a moment before she realized the sound hadn’t come from her, it had come from the wolf. The ice shattered in a cascade of crystal daggers which fell just short of them. A fine mist of frost encircled the form and the entire group held their breaths eyes wide in horror as it stepped from the frozen mist. The size of a dragon and looking a hundred times more savage, it cast its cold eyes upon the group before letting out a roar that shook every pony and dragon to the bone before it came bounding right for them. Fur of winter white and teeth gnashing with the sound of glaciers cracking it leapt at the group. Twilight teleported her and Spike in a lavender flash as Rainbow Dash took to the air and immediately flew straight for its head. Pinkie had vanished and Bon-Bon had rolled out of the way and onto the cavernous rooms tiled floor. Dash flew in quick and jagged lines trying to find an opening to strike, but the lumbering beast was faster than Dash had thought possible. Every descent brought her within a dozen hoofs of its snapping jaws and the cold, the Celestia bucking cold was overwhelming, she flew back to regroup with Twilight and saw the others had the same idea, all of them shivering from being away from her warmth field. Dash’s tones were panicked as she saw the wolf begin turning towards them once again. “Twilight how do we bucking stop this thing! Magic it, do something!” The wolf leapt and a lavender bolt caught the monster in the chest as it descended before, with an unpleasant sound of strain the entire group found themselves teleported back to where it had leapt from. Twilight was panting as the wolf landed with a thundering crash and snow and debris obscured its landing. “There…that stun bolt could knock out an Ursa…we should have some…oh….sweet Celestia.” The wolf rose from the cloud and turned once again, it didn’t look even slightly worn, it just looked furious. It let loose another bone rattling roar as it just stood for a moment, frosted fur rising as its growls vibrated across the room. The group seemed to gulp simultaneously, fleeing seemed now like the most reasonable course. The exit was right behind them, with a quick run they could easily make it. Bon-Bon froze, she looked beyond the beast to the spot that Lyra had been when this monstrosity had attacked, it was empty now. She was gone, but something didn’t sit right, this thing trying to kill them went against everything Lyra had said. She said she would always consider her a friend, even if she hated her, and now she instantly tried to kill her? It didn’t add up, Bon-Bon knew Lyra wouldn’t try and kill anypony, right? A flicker of a memory came to her mind and she cursed herself for being so stupid. She cast a quick glance back at the others on the verge of fleeing up the stairs when she spoke with a sigh still eyeing the snarling monstrosity. “It’s not real girls. Look, the grounds not disturbed where it jumped, it’s just sound and sight. An illusion right Twilight?” The brief thought of what if she was wrong passed through Bon-Bon’s mind but she quickly dismissed it as the others uneasily came to stand beside her. Twilight lit her horn as the monstrous wolf continued to snarl and with a slight popping sound it dissolved into what it had always been, lies and mist. The monstrous wolf remained frozen, trapped within a great prison of ice and sorcery, never having moved. The entire group let out a sigh of relief until Pinkie pointed out the question nopony had wanted to ask. “Where’s Lyra?” The others looked across the cavernous room but their expressions quickly fell as they realized she was nowhere in sight. Twilight’s horn lit for a moment before flickering out and a displeased expression overtook her features. “She teleported, not long range, still somewhere in the Badlands I think. Spike, does she feel really far to you?” The young dragon just gave a silent shake of his head, still trying to calm his racing heart down. The others shared a look wondering if they should continue after the mare when an exasperated sigh came from the mouth of Twilight as she took stock of the situation. “We should look around first; try to figure out what she was doing here. I’ll extend the heat shell to the entire room but I’m almost running on empty here. That was the biggest stun bolt I had and I wasted a lot of power on it.” The words hung as everypony and dragon started poking around, none wanting to get close to the frozen wolf as it stood as a reminder of the event. Bon-Bon trotted up to Twilight while nosing through her saddle bag before pulling out a small wrapped candy and offering it to Twilight on an outstretched hoof. “It’s a wizards candy. It’s supposed to help regenerate your mana well quickly. Tastes a little sour but it should help.” Twilight stared at the candy questioningly for a moment before unwrapping and popping it in her mouth. The smile and faint spark at the top of her horn told Bon-Bon it had worked perfectly. “This is amazing! I’ve never heard of wizard’s candy before. I wonder why it’s not more popular?” Bon-Bon gave a slight smile before she moved to go join in the search with the others before calling over her shoulder. “Lyra taught me the recipe.” Bon-Bon focused her eyes across the rest of the cavern and made to go where Lyra had been standing just a few minutes before. The marble floor coated in frost shimmered as she moved, she didn’t want to look at anything else. It wasn’t easy to forget the way that her best friend had just nearly scared her to death with that monstrous illusion. The thought that it hadn’t been able to actually hurt them though brought a bit of hope to her heart that Lyra couldn’t actually bring herself to fight them. She had conjured up a distraction and fled. She had to hold onto that thought. Pinkie took her eyes off of Bon-Bon and wondered if she should go try and cheer her up. Maybe now wasn’t exactly a super-duper time so she would wait a little, let her think. Yeah and once they brought Lyra home she could throw a super fantastic-tabulous party. With a nod of her head Pinkie went back to inspecting the massive frozen wolf. The others didn’t like to look at it but it was frozen, harmless as a popsicle, although brain freeze so maybe she shouldn’t get to close she reasoned. Still, it reminded her of something Sirius had said, a giant super wolf, no wait, four giant super wolves! Ha, she remembered, take that brain she thought as she gave a small hoof pump. “Hey girls, I remembered who mister meany wolf is. I was all hmmf now where do I know him from and my brain was like duh mister Sirius told you and I was like of course! So…oh! This means that mr wolf is actually Fenris Winter-Maw, doggy god of winter, savagery and...hmm I think it was survival or maybe scones…nope definitely survival!” Pinkie stood beaming pointing a triumphant hoof and the wolfen monstrosity while Twilight twitched slightly, other ponies knowing more about history than her just felt wrong. It was Rainbow who broke the silence looking at Pinkie like she had grown a second head. “Wait, your telling me that the wolf-sickle over there is some sort of ancient diamond dog deity? That. Is. AWESOME! Daring Do never got to find any gods and now we found some ancient forgotten civilizations god actually in the fur, that’s pretty sweet right girls? I’m totally going to write to Daring Do about this when we get back.” The others shook their heads a little at the enthusiasm while Twilight trotted down to ask Pinkie about the wolf. Spike hopped down off Twilights back and moved towards Bon-Bon who was just staring at something in her hoof with a horrified look on her face. “Bon-Bon what’s the matter? Hey, what did you find? Bon-Bon come on your freaking me out.” She didn’t say a word, just passed him something to hold in his claws. The look in her eyes was far away now. Spike looked at the thing in his hands and with a jolt he realized what he was holding. It was seafoam green and about a hoof and a quarter in length. Thin but the faint spiral pattern on one side told him exactly what it was. It was a shard of Lyra’s horn. He called to the others and they quickly encircled the two, looks of concern washing across all their faces. //////////////////////// Lyra tuned out the throbbing in her horn as best she could, it burned with every breeze of air and for every drop of sunlight that hit it. She hadn’t looked at it yet, she didn’t want to. She knew she had been pushing it with the long range teleport to the badlands in the first place, but Bonnie was just so persistent. She knew that she was going to barge into the lab soon and had decided to act quickly. That had been pushing it, creating a fully fleshed out sixty hoof tall wolf illusion with sound had been beyond pushing it, it had been bucking it into the next town over across the line. It hurt, a lot. Still, she had got what she needed from in there, had avoided awakening an ancient monstrosity and hadn’t technically assaulted her friends. She hung her head as she continued trudging through the sands of the badlands. She had wanted to just slip away, to have Bon-Bon remember the mare she had been, to have everypony remember her that way. Now, she let out a pained sigh at the thought. Stupid Bon-Bon, making me a better pony, Lyra laughed at the thought and how true it was. If she had never met Bon-Bon she would have left years ago and Equestria, well there wouldn’t be much of Equestria if any. Lyra shivered at the thought and how close she had been to destroying so many lives once, now though was a time to think, they had tracked her, how? Her hoofsteps had started dragging and still she turned over the puzzle, it could always just be Pinkie knowing where she was somehow, the thought disturbed her. No that wouldn’t be it maybe, wait why would Spike be there? From what she knew Twilight preferred to leave Spike behind if she thought it might be dangerous, could she have tracked me using him? A light went on behind Lyra’s eyes as the puzzle finally clicked into place. She had used Spikes connection the blood in her armour, the thought brought a small smile to her lips, it was clever. She knew she shouldn’t have expected any less form the student of the princess. She could easily close the loop left in the spell matrix, they wouldn’t be able to track her. She grimaced at the thought, it would mean her armor was finished, she wouldn’t be able to add any new enchantments than what was already there. She entertained the thought of simply teleporting the rest of the way, the burning in her horn silenced that thought. Her horn wouldn’t survive another teleport like that. She let out a small huff and stood still. The wind was gentle, the sun wasn’t exactly glaring but it was quiet, so quiet that Lyra shut her eyes and tried to imagine the sounds of a Ponyville market opening. The clack of the wheels as the stands were pushed into place, Carrot-top waving her over and telling Lyra about her day. It seemed so ideal, so peaceful she let a smile come across her features. She opened her eyes with a new determination, a new resolve to push on. She could walk the rest of the way if need be. As long as she kept away from the mana heavy spells her horn would make it. Four days on hoof to cross the badlands, a week in the foothills, hopefully one day in the forest of Abaddon, then a few days into the mountains. Two weeks total if she was optimistic, the question of her armor continued to pick at her, but she couldn’t risk not being able to put new spells on it. Still, maybe there was a work around maybe some way to hide herself, or better yet get the others to just go home. She knew Bon-Bon though and thus she knew the odds of getting the mare to do anything she didn’t agree with were precisely zero. Double that for princess Twilight, who she had technically cast coercive magic’s on. She huffed out in annoyance as she continued on her trek. ///////////////////////// Bon-Bon’s voice was thin as the girls didn’t really know what to say to her. “Twilight, how bad is Lyra’s horn. What’s…the worst case scenario?” Twilight looked around nervously as the other turned there gazes towards her, she shuffled her hooves before finally replying. “Unicorn horns are tough, really tough. To actually physically destroy one would normally mean the pony would be unable to cast magic. But Lyra’s horn is being torn apart from the inside, she’s somehow powering through spells that are far above her level of mana. Any dedicated unicorn could technically do it; it’s just painful and causes lasting damage. Any time Lyra casts any spell it will hurt, but to actually have a shard come off her horn? I wouldn’t even be able to stay conscious, it would be beyond painful. Then to keep trying to use magic afterwards is insane. The only way she could, is if her armor somehow dampens her reaction to pain, and that’s disturbing in all its own ways. To be honest I only ever read about one case where a unicorn pushed things this far, I mean you need to be both extremely powerful and willing to literally tear yourself apart! If Lyra doesn’t stop, she risks a magical cascade effect. Her horn would literally explode if she keeps trying things like this.” The others all grimace before Rainbow Dash speaks, voice quiet and unsure. “Well, would that be the worst thing? I mean she can’t use any more magic, that would suck but she wouldn’t be you know almost killing herself anymore. Next time we see her do try and…yah know stop her by…giving her horn a good kick?” Twilight cringed the second the words left her mouth and Twilght responded with a mild glare and an edge to her voice. “Dash, first it would be beyond painful. I can’t even describe how painful it would be to have your horn destroyed. Second, saying it would suck to have no horn is a massive understatement. Imagine losing your wings for the rest of your life. That’s how she would feel. Lastly and I need you all to listen very carefully. When I say her horn would explode I don’t mean a small flash of light and it’s gone. It would unlock all the magic in her body and then start sucking up any ambient magic and then would pool it into a single point at her horns core and then explode with more force than if Celestia herself fired her most powerful spell. Lyra wouldn’t survive, anything near her wouldn’t survive. As I said, full magical cascade. If we get to her now there are treatments, artificial horn grafts and some healing magic’s. It would take years before she could cast spells pain free but the option exists. But not if we don’t find her soon.” Her lecture finished Twilight looked into the faces of her friends, they were terrified, and Bon-Bon looked devastated. It was finally Pinkie who broke the silence. “I think it’s time we call Celestia. This is getting super serious; we need to tell her about this place so that she doesn’t escape. Then tell her about Lyra and her horn, maybe she could talk to her?” The others shared a look of discomfort, this was now a matter that effected Celestia, they would need to tell her. This meant Lyra’s fate was out of there hooves, whatever Celestia decided would be law. Bon-Bon, her voice cracking just slightly as she said what to her just a few days before would be madness. “What if we don’t tell Celestia? What would happen if we found Lyra and got her to come home with us?” The group looked uncomfortable, nopony wanted to be the one to turn Lyra in but no one wanted to go behind Celestia’s back either. It was Twilight who spoke with unsure voice and shifting eyes as if Celestia would reprimand her from beyond the walls at a moment’s notice. “Technically we could make a case that as Lyra lives in Ponyville she’s under my jurisdiction. I’m…not ok lying to Celestia if she asks me though. I don’t think I could. I see what Bon-Bon’s getting at though, I don’t want Lyra to get in trouble for this either. But maybe she needs to, maybe this will help her. I don’t know what the right call here is. Girls let’s put it to a vote, all in favour of contacting Celestia?” Twilight looked around and saw only Pinkie and herself with their hooves raised. “All for keeping our pursuit a secret.” Bon-Bon and Rainbow Dash each raised a hoof. Twilight let out a sigh as she spoke. “Well two vs two, it looks like were right back where we started.” Dash pointed her raised hoof to something behind her and Twilight felt her heart give a twinge as she remembered where Spike was seated. His grin was sheepish and he looked ready to sprint away at a moment’s notice, but his claw was shakily held up. Twilight let the surprised look fall from her face as she spoke to Spike in a harsh whisper. “Spike, what are you doing?” Spike held her eyes as he replied, his voice shaky but determined. “Twi, remember when I was really young and you got that old book of magic to study directly from Celestia. How she said it was really important that you be careful with it. I burned it on accident and when Celestia asked you what happened you said you had done it. You protected me and, well I feel I need to do the same. I’m sorry Twi, I just think it’s the right thing to do.” Twilights expression softened and she gave Spike a small nuzzle as she turned back to the group. “Alright, I don’t like it but we’ll keep this from Celestia for now. But if the situation changes, or she starts to head towards a populated area we need to tell her. What am I getting into. Alright, we rest for five minutes more everypony and then we head out and find Lyra. We’ll bring her home safe, everypony agreed.” With that she placed her lavender hoof forwards and soon found it joined by one cyan, one pink and one cream hoof along with a purple claw. Pinkie was the one to break the silence with a wide grin and the bounce of her step having returned. “Well if were an adventure group on an epic quest we need like a super cool party name! The fearsome five, the mongooses, no wait, Lyre’s gambit! Nailed it! See, its funny cause were lying to Celestia, trying to find Lyra and the whole quest is sort of a gambit. Come on I think it’s a super name!” Twilight looked uncomfortable the second the words lying to Celestia were uttered but she sucked them up and assessed the words Pinkie had said. It was true, it was a gambit, maybe a long shot, but if it got them a friend home safe and nopony wound up in prison that would be pretty great. Giving an exhale between a grumble and a laugh Twilight concurred. “Lyre’s Gambit it is.” “Lyre’s gambit, cool.” Spike intoned, glad he and Twilight weren’t going to be arguing. “eh, could have been cooler, like a full 20% but still. Lyre’s Gambit it is.” Rainbow Dash nodded a cocky smile plastering her face. “Lyre’s gambit. She would have fallen over laughing at the name. Yeah, let’s do this.” Bon-Bon nodded as well. With a quick final tap of their hooves it was decided and they parted ways ready to soon take up the journey once again.