Lyre's Gambit

by 1FunnyFox

A curious occurrence

There were a variety of things that Bon-Bon was aware of that made Lyra different. Her posture when seated was a source of constant bewilderment to the mare. It couldn’t have been comfortable and yet she consistently adopted that legs on the floor back straight approach that she had yet to see duplicated by anypony else. Her magic was a well of weirdness onto itself she had slowly realized. She knew magic, a lot of it and yet she never showed off, never devolved into lectures on it. When she had asked around town how strong Lyra was magically nopony had any response other than “I’ve never seen her use any fancy magic” Yet she had. Lyra knew at least a number of obscure spells. She had questioned Twilight on it once, cloud walking and teleporting were fairly difficult spells as it turned out. To say Bon-Bon was curious about her roommate was an understatement, she never really discussed where she was from. She arrived the same day Twilight had to the Summer Sun celebration but other than that she never talked about her past. She kept mostly to herself but was always friendly. The issue had only really started a few days ago. There was a strangeness and oddity that seemed to follow Lyra around and before now it had only been background noise, now however it took center stage.

Three Days Ago

“Lyra I’m back! I picked up some of that banana bread you like!”

Bon-Bon called out as she deftly shut the door with a rear hoof. The entrance was nothing spectacular and most of the small house followed this trend. The couch was a chocolate brown affair that had saggy springs and a busted back. This did little to detract from its comfort however as one could quite easily sink into it with nary a thought. Bon-Bon cast the couch a glance as she made her way to the kitchen, saddlebags loaded down and a slight spring in her step. She was quite excited for today. It would be the running of the leaves soon, the weather held a certain nip more and more and she had actually for a moment today regretted not bringing her sea green scarf, a gift from a particular unicorn. Bon-Bon had always enjoyed the running of the leaves and Lyra was always happy to attend it as well, she looked forwards to any time spent with the mare. It was now that Bon-Bon realized Lyra hadn’t shown up yet, odd, she had mentioned banana bread, one of Lyra’s favourites. Removing her saddlebag and placing it atop the countertop she left the kitchen intent on tracking down her roommate.

Her room had been empty, as had the washroom and she passed the living room on her way in. This left exactly one place left for her to hide, her “workshop” as she referred to it. After a few weeks of living with Bon-Bon Lyra had asked her if she could move some stuff into the basement and set up a study. She hadn’t really needed the space and so she had agreed. The next time she went down however she was shocked to find 4 large bookcases full to bursting with books old and completely incomprehensible to her. A large desk that she knew hadn’t been anywhere in the house before was stacked high with notes and gem fragments that glowed when she got anywhere near them. Beakers sat with some bizarre concoction no doubt swirling inside. All in all it was organized, albeit in a rough manner and reeked of powerful magic. At the time it had shocked her, but she had gotten used to it and had effectively stopped giving it much thought aside from the occasional concern of her blowing up the house. Walking down the steps and pausing at the door right at the bottom she took a deep breath to steady herself. Intently focusing her blue eyes she raised a hoof as she knocked on the door.

A series of crashes, the sound of breaking glass and after a string of Celestia cursing profanity that would be cause for banishment the door flew open. Bon-Bon’s jaw hung at the sight. The mane was singed and burned off on one side, the bags under her eyes said sleep hadn’t been on the agenda last night and alarming on a level she couldn’t describe was the thin crack that had appeared along her horn.

“Wh...What the hay happened?! Lyra are you alright! We need to…”

A hoof had been placed on her mouth to quiet her as Lyra put on that smile, two parts cocky one part concern.

“Hey Bons no need to shout, I’m fine.”

She removed her hoof and kept that grin planted firmly on her muzzle as Bon-Bon attempted to remove some fur from her tongue with a glare directed at her roommate. Finishing that she tried to remain as calm as possible while she pointed a hoof to Lyra’s horn. Lyra crossed her eyes in a rather impressive impersonation of their mailmare as a simple oh knocked the cocky grin from her features. Bon-Bon waited, Lyra deserved a few moments to explain before she was dragged at ladle-point to the hospital.

“Hey it’s not a big deal Bon. A tiny crack I’ll have patched up in two shakes! C’mon would I do anything reckless?”

The deadpan stare was response enough as Bon-Bon finally started losing patience.

“Lyra, you look like you just went three rounds Discord! What the hay happened? I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Lyra had a brief smile find itself on her face, not a large affair but a small grin that showed how much her concern meant. Sadly it was crushed beneath the next look that followed. It was hard to describe, wounded and sad with a little suspicion and a sense of terrible acceptance.

“Bons, it’s nothing really. Just go upstairs and I’ll be up in a little bit. I’ll be right as Raindrops. Cross my heart.”

Bon-Bon didn’t like the tone, didn’t like the expression, it was like she was screaming I have a secret don’t look at me. Bon-Bon let her eyes narrow and bore into the amber orbs of Lyra’s eyes as she spoke. Her tone was low and quiet, a tone Lyra recognized and gulped at.

“Lyra, what are you hiding? Either tell me or go get checked out to make sure you’re doing alright. Honestly I have half a mind to go downstairs right now..” “NO!”

The sudden outburst from Lyra made her take a step back in surprise. The look in Lyra’s eyes was wild panic that she quickly tried to hide behind a glass smile as she replied.

“I have a dangerous experiment running downstairs. Yeah, sorry I didn’t ask you but I didn’t want you getting hurt trying to look at it. Seriously Sweetie Drops, just go upstairs.”

Bon-Bon before now had been concerned, the moment Lyra called her Sweetie Drops that concern reached apocalyptic values. Nopony called her Sweetie Drops but her parents, especially never Lyra. If she rushed now she could get around her and see what was going on before she could react…probably. Lyra’s voice knocked her from her thinking and she heard a tone she had never heard before from the mare. It was low, quiet and threatening.

“I know what you’re thinking Bon-Bon. Stop. Now.”

Lyra’s eyes had a light to them normally, like a smile that didn’t require lips, just a general feeling of happiness. It was a feature that Bon-Bon was quite enamored with and on an ordinary day found herself casting the occasional glance to look at. That look was gone now and instead was a cold that could rattle bones. Bon-Bon took a step back a genuine look of fear in her eyes as Lyra slammed the door shut. If not for the pained expression Bon-Bon had caught just as the door slammed she would have been shivering in her hooves. Now, she was concerned on a level that wasn’t previously in her vocabulary for concern. Luckily there was a mare that had at least a few small answers. Bon-Bon trotted up the stairs and out the door at just below a gallop.

“Oh, sup Bon-Bon. You here for cook books again, we just got a new shipment in.”

She stared at the small reptile and tried to be polite for his sake as she shook her head and quickly replied before he could get another word in.

“Is Twilight here? I need to talk to her. Quickly.”

At this Spike seemed to shrink, he knew Bon-Bon and as a result also knew that clipped sentences with her were a cause for concern. He stood aside and she quickly trotted into the ornate crystal interior of the new castle. Her wandering eyes took in the sheen to the walls and benches before refocusing on the dragon in a way that informed him of the situation without her needing to say more.

“Twilight! Possible code 2!”

The walls echoed, shook and carried his message to just about every corner of the castle before a large popping sound was heard and in a flash of brilliant purple light Twilight appeared before her. Her fur was messy and she had a manic gleam to her eyes, and had drops of ink drying in her mane, she hadn’t changed much from the unicorn who had first come to Ponyville.

“Thank you Spike. Now, Bon-Bon, what’s the problem?”

Her eyes had focused and Bon-Bon quickly remembered she was now in the presence of a princess of Equestria and hurriedly bowed before the words came spewing forth.

“It’s Lyra. She was acting strange and she looked like she hadn’t slept in a while, her mane was burned and she had a crack running down her horn. I don’t know much about unicorn horns but….Twilight are you...what’s wrong?”

There was a look of concern that had come over Twilight’s face and she spoke slowly trying to keep her voice calm as she did so.

“Bon-Bon are you sure her horn was cracked? It’s very difficult to damage, let alone crack a horn. There’s only one thing that would do it and not seriously injure the rest of her and that’s channeling absurd levels of magic for an extended period then ignoring the magical backlash that’s…take me to her. I’ll make sure she’s doing alright. Spike, I’m going out, mind the castle for a minute please.”

With a quick salute from Spike she motioned with a wing and the two set off for Bon-Bon and Lyra’s home.

The walk had been quiet once Bon-Bon told her everything she knew and she could now practically see the cogs turning in the Princesses head as she walked with furrowed brow. Soon they reached the house and Bon-Bon walked inside expecting Twilight to be right behind her but instead she was staring at the house with a puzzled look. She suddenly broke it and stared right at Bon-Bon while she spoke.

“There’s something wrong with your house. It’s hidden really well, the sort of thing you need to look for to notice but it’s definitely there. Let’s go inside, I think this might be more serious than I thought.”

With that Bon-Bon swallowed deeply and headed down the stairs to the basement with Twilight right beside her as she knocked a hoof across the door and waited. There wasn’t any sound from the other side. Not the faintest of stirrings and Bon-Bon felt her heart rate somehow manage to increase further. Summoning up her courage she turned the handle and nudged the door open with an ominous creak. She stepped over the threshold and no sooner had Twilight crossed when instantly a shout of surprise from the princess made her jump.

“Sweet Celestia! That’s….not possible! How didn’t I notice she…there’s no way she’s this strong it’s…it’s…” Twilight caught the terrified expression on Bon-Bon and quickly regained her composure and blushed in embarrassment as she pointed to the base of the wall. Funny, Bon-Bon hadn’t noticed the carvings placed along the part of the wall closest to the floor, they seemed to encircle the entire basement. She was pulled from observation from Twilights voice, now calm and analyzing the situation to the best of her ability.

“Those are wards, runic wards that prevent magical energies from leaking or for anypony to sense what’s going on in here. That’s what I was feeling from outside, a pocket of null magic. This would explain why if she was using magic strong enough to damage her horn I didn’t feel it, the size of the crack you describe makes me think that without this, every unicorn in Ponyville would have felt something. But…Runic wards aren’t common knowledge! I only recognize them from an old history text, noponies used these for….Centuries! What’s this…what the hay? Why would she have these?”

Twilight was now looking at the collection of books. Bon-Bon had tried to read them but whatever language they were in wasn’t one she was familiar with and when she asked Lyra she had just laughed and said it was a dead language. Twilight was more confused than before from the look on her muzzle.

“This is royal Unicornian? There all in Unicornian, but…why would she have books like these! There ancient, this is…it doesn’t make sense? Unicornian hasn’t been a written language since pre-unification! Ok, think Twilight, runic wards were…also used by the Unicornians…I think, so maybe Lyra’s a student of history with a fascination of Unicornian society and the magic’s they used. So….no that better not be…WHAT!”

Twilight had been scanning items with her horn while talking and when she hit a small jar Twilight had practically flung herself at Lyra’s desk. A small glass jar floated encircled in her magic and was held it up to the light as she studied the few red drops left in it with a look of horror on her face.

“What is it Twilight!? Tell me! What’s going on here?”

Twilight breathed deeply and focused her eyes as she placed the jar down. Bon-Bon could see something in her eyes that had her on the verge of hyperventilating. Fear, simple fear.

“Bon-Bon, were going back to the castle and sending a letter to Celestia right this second. Lyra is…I don’t know what she’s doing but that! Is dragon’s blood. It isn’t just banned, it isn’t just hard to get, you can’t make a dragon bleed without…I don’t want to know how she got it but the only use I know of is for potion work…extremely powerful, dangerous and forbidden potion work. I can’t believe Lyra would be into anything like this…She was at Celestia’s school with me! I used to see her around the grounds all the time and to think she was…I just hope she was never alone with Spike. Let’s go.”

Bon-Bon didn’t have time to respond before she was caught in a large purple flash and found herself trying to stay on all four hooves as the room suddenly vanished and she found herself back in the castle.

Once the room had stopped spinning and her lunch decided to stay where it belonged she addressed Twilight barely concealed panic in her voice.

“Well then where is Lyra! We didn’t search the house she could have been..” Twilight just raised a hoof to cut her off as she spoke.
“I cast a quick detect spell, she wasn’t there Bon-Bon and based on some of the energies I was feeling in her…study I would say she cast a long range teleport. I don’t know how well you thought you knew her but this mare…Lyra is extremely dangerous. There is no good reason to have dragon’s blood, none! Her magic’s obviously powerful but how have I never noticed it before. Spike! Were back I need you to take a letter immediately!”

The small dragon quickly leapt into the room quill and parchment at the ready as Twilight quickly dictated the letter.

“Dear Celestia. I have troubling news, it seems one of the students who also attended your school for gifted unicorns has been using dangerous and unknown magic’s. She has since disappeared and an investigation of her study showed traces of dragon’s blood…”

Twilight looked to have just realized what she said and looked to Spike hoping she hadn’t alarmed him but his expression was just one of confusion. Noticing the look Twilight was giving him he started to look nervous before speaking.

“Twilight…it’s not like…well I mean…Lyra’s not crazy and dragons blood…you know and…uhmmm. Twi don’t be mad! I wanted to tell you and everything! But she needed help and she wasn’t like mean or scary but uhh. Gulp”

Twilight had the look of a storm moments before it broke and came crashing down on an unsuspecting town leaving nothing but ruins. Her voice was low and terribly calm.

“She took your blood Spike?” At a nod she exhaled dangerously and spoke voice cracking.

“Tell me everything Spike.” Spike gulped again and sweat appeared on his brow as he started.

“Well, she was at your school Twi and when you were studying hard and asked me to not bug you I went out and I met her one day. She was nice and didn’t treat me like a dragon. We hung out and talked but…well she was always practicing her spells. Like really hard and she would tire herself out, I told her to take it easy but she got mad and stormed off. She was…well she was jealous of you and wanted to beat you or something so she would watch you and try to figure out how you cast spells. She apologised after that but we didn’t really hang out again until you and I got to Ponyville. She seemed really nervous the first time I saw her and she kept muttering something under her breath while looking around. But she was nice again and made it up to me with some gems. It was, I don’t know months later where she asked me to help her with a project, she looked nervous and scared and I had to help cause she’s my friend. So she asked for a bit of blood, I was really freaked out at first but she said it wouldn’t hurt and It was important and…Twi?”

Twilight had been angry, she had been furious at Tirek, this was new ground, she was a mare of labels at heart and putting a label on emotions helped her deal with them. Enraged…that was a good one she decided. She cleared her throat and put a comforting hoof on Spike’s shoulder which seemed to calm him down as she spoke.

“Spike, Lyra is dangerous. I don’t know…wait, how could she get your blood without hurting you?”

“Some weird magic, it felt different than normal magic. It was never much just a tiny bit every month or two and it just sort of came out from between my scales. She…Twi I don’t think she’s dangerous I mean she would always ask me If I was sure I wanted to do this and she looked guilty about it. But, when she explained it to me I could see how important this was to her. I’m not saying anything crazy Twi, just get the facts first before you declare a holy war on her. For me?”

Spike looked at her pleadingly and Twilight gave off an exasperated sigh before giving a single curt nod before responding.

“Fine. But If I find out something that you don’t like you can’t try to get her out of it. I know you think she’s your friend Spike. But taking blood from baby dragons? You see how that looks and it’s pretty bad. Alright, let’s finish this letter so we can hopefully get some answers to this mess. Ready. Which turned out to belong to Spike. He has since told me she removed it without harming him using some unknown magic and he gave it willingly. A number of Unicornian texts were also present and I would like to know how to proceed. Your faithful student still. Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

With a puff of green flame the scroll was sent tossing on the winds. Through the entire conversation Bon-Bon had been trying to make it make sense. She knew Lyra, sure she had been rude when they first met and never seemed to want to look at her or talk to her. But she had kept at it and after a rather heated conversation she had changed. She had started to be friendly and then they had become best friends. She cared for Lyra and she knew without a doubt Lyra cared for her. She didn’t know how to feel, what was she thinking, who was she really? She couldn’t be this evil sorcerer or something, it didn’t make any sense. She recalled the day last winter and the thought brought a smile to her face.

//////////////////////////

“Hey Bons I’m going…yikes you don’t look so good.”

Bon-Bon had a blanket cocooned around her as she lay on the couch nose running, head pounding and shivering despite the sea of blankets she had wrapped around her.

“I’m sick…Go on.”

Lyra had been excited for a week straight about today. She said she had never attended an Earth pony “hoedown” and had been invited to the apple farms for one. She passed a brief look between the door and Bon-Bon and with a sigh levitated off her saddlebags and placed a hoof on Bon-Bon’s head.

“You just lay down, I’ll make you some soup.”

She trotted into the kitchen and soon the sound of kitchenware being moved around filled the space. A few minutes later she walked back with a hot bowl and a glass of water held in her magic as she placed the bowl in Bon-Bon’s hooves and the glass on the table. The bowl was shaking in her hooves and she was scared she would soon spill it when it held still in a light amber glow and the spoon gently floated just before Bon-Bon’s muzzle. She looked at Lyra and saw the gentle smile, the warmth that was hers and nopony else’s. She blew on the spoon and drank the warm soup. After a while she spoke up.

“How was I ever lucky enough to find somepony like you for a friend?”

Lyra seemed lost for a moment, as if a small bit of guilt had just assaulted her before the smile came back and was replaced by a wry grin as she replied.

“Maybe I’m just a rotten mare and this is my punishment. Taking care of poor filly’s like you. I guess there are worse fates.”

They both snickered at that. Lyra didn’t go to the hoedown, she spent the day reading to her till she fell asleep.

/////////////////

No, Lyra wasn’t some dangerous mare, she wasn’t some criminal, she was just Lyra. Her friend, it would all make sense once Celestia replied, a big misunderstanding probably. No sooner had the thought come then did a fiery belch burst from the small reptile and a scroll appeared which was quickly snatched by Twilight and read. Then re-read and a confusing stare given to the parchment as if it was some strange otherworldly entity. Bon-Bon was about to question it when Twilights voice spoke, confused and concerned once again today.

“It says that Celestia personally keeps the names of the students who attend and that she doesn’t know who Lyra is. But…If Lyra wasn’t a student, how was she there, what was she doing? What the hay is going on here!?”

Author's Note:

and so we reach the end of the first part. I really hope you liked it and would really
appreciate feedback. Particularly editing help because I know there are grammar issues
hiding that I've missed. :) So what did you think? What's that mare up to, human summoning,
world domination, a new recipe for scones? Probably not that last one.
Would love to hear any thoughts you have. Until next time farewell.