Chapter 1
"You really stand guard like this?" Corpa Allata asked.
"Yup," Lyra Heartstrings said. She had spent significant time polishing her armor for this one duty. "You have to understand the weight of the matter. Everycreature has a destiny-weight associated with them. While they're somewhere, fate can be twisted and spun anew simply by the pressure they exert upon the local potential-field.
"You'll notice this more the longer you work at the castle. Villains are attracted to this destiny-weight simply because they can then act easier and warp the fate to their own ends. Now, we have five alicorns inside. Five. Me out here at least makes some room to breathe, but if you ever put five alicorns together, you get a destiny-weight that's close to thirty mega-Discords. That's a lot.
"But, on top of those five alicorns, you have Discord himself, and when I spoke to him earlier, he's sounding pretty feisty today, I'd judge about two mega-Discords just on his own. Plus Thorax, Trixie, Starlight— Oh, and then there's all of Twilight's friends. This is probably the second-biggest destiny-weight event of the year."
Corpa tried to follow along with the logic, and was doing well enough when she realized it was her turn to speak. "And all that's bad? Wait, second biggest?"
"Never, ever—under any circumstances—ever say this is the biggest thing ever, or something like it. You tempt destiny to engineer something worse. In those circumstances, even million-to-one chance events become a sure thing and next thing you know, custard everywhere."
"I like custard." It felt odd, to Corpa, to stand around without being in a pony form. "Would it be okay if I used my old pony shape?"
"Only if you want to." As soon as Lyra said it, Corpa was gone and Inky Stamp stood in her place. "You haven't been Inky for years, right?"
Stretching and rolling her head from side to side, Corpa let out a sigh. "I wish she could be younger— I'm being silly." She flashed with fire to return to her changeling self, then again and became Inky Stamp again, circa thirty years old. "Oh, that's better."
"Careful, or you'll make every mare and stallion jealous of your abilities."
"Of being able to look younger than I am?" As soon as she said it, Corpa realized how true it was. "Right, of course."
"So, as I was saying, that's why I'm standing out here in front of the castle, waiting to see what trouble will turn up. Celestia should be able to keep Twilight from Twilighting, and Shining and Cadance balance each other out—and I sincerely hope Discord can balance himself for once—which leaves outside sources as the only possible souring note."
"Does a griffon count?"
Lyra, who'd been watching Corpa test out different tribes with her Inky form, snapped her head up and spotted a sleek griffon walking toward them. A give-away that they likely weren't arriving with evil intent was the satchel bag they carried. "Good morning! Can I help you with anything?"
The griffon, for just a moment, managed to look like the predator she was. Sleek, strong muscles over a frame designed for speed and deadly precision with numerous natural weapons. Then Gabby's smile took over and she wagged her tail so much her butt wobbled. "Hi! I have a letter for the Princess of Friendship."
"I can take that for her. She's a bit busy at the moment." Lyra waited for the griffon to pass over the letter, but the nervous and slightly disappointed expression told her that the visitor was perhaps more interested in meeting Twilight than delivering her letter. "Do you have anything else to deliver today?"
"N-No. I wanted to spend all the rest of the day asking her questions about ponies." As she spoke, Gabby trailed off, the whole idea seeming silly now. "I understand if she's busy, though." Turning, she spread her wings to take off—but something weird happened to the air under them. Pump as she might, her wings didn't generate any lift at all.
"Why don't you hang out here and wait? She shouldn't be too much longer." Lyra waited for Gabby's flapping to stop before she stilled her own wings—what she'd used to create the air disturbance.
Snapping her head around in time to see Lyra's wings still, she realized something that hadn't occurred to her before. "You're an alicorn!"
Lyra stared in mock shock, then held out her wings and turned in circles with her head tilted, trying to see her horn. "I am?" She bounced in place. "I am!"
Gabby managed a few seconds before she broke into laughter. "How many alicorns are there in Equestria now?" she managed to ask between giggles.
"Not too many, I promise. Hey, are you from Griffonstone or Den?" Lyra asked.
Hoping she was out of Gabby's line of sight, Corpa did her best to keep her transformational flames to a minimum as she changed into an alicorn version of her Inky Stamp self.
"Oh! I didn't introduce myself. My name is Gabby, and I'm the long-haul mailgriff from Griffonstone." Turning to the side, she showed off her mail pouches. "I'm also a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"
Lyra froze where she stood. It had finally happened. She was aware of the effect that her outgoing life had led her to meet a lot of important people, and how it seemed to several of her friends that she had literally met everyone, but this was the first time Scootaloo had done it to her. "A Cutie Mark Crusader, huh?" The shock of the moment wouldn't stop her curiosity. "I feel like I have to ask how you joined the ranks of the most prestigious group in all Equestria?"
It shouldn't have surprised Gabby to know that awareness of her friends' group had spread to the whole town and probably further, but she still liked to hear about them nonetheless. "You know about the Cutie Mark Crusaders? Did they help you with a cutie mark problem?"
"Oh, it was the biggest cutie mark situation in Equestria's history! See, when I moved to Ponyville, I found a filly without her cutie mark, and the Crusaders were the only way she was ever going to get her cutie mark." Lyra could see that Gabby was fully invested. "She had no one to help her, and she needed some heroes to help her find her way. Those heroes were—"
It was impossible to keep quiet. Gabby shouted, "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo! The Cutie Mark Crusaders!"
Hanging her head, Lyra sighed and whispered, "No." Shaking her head, she hung her shoulders. "For the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't exist at that time. But you are partly right. That little filly, my daughter, only had Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to turn to."
Gabby was about to ask why, then something hit her. "You're Scootaloo's mom?"
"Guilty. Her and her friends are inside with the party. They really shouldn't be much longer, if you still want to wait."
"But"—Gabby shuffled in place, eager to ask all the questions, but confronted with a need to remain stationary-ish—"why aren't you in there?"
"Well, I have a— Oh no! Inky!" Lyra gasped, staring at the changeling. "The alicornitis got you too?!"
Staring in shock, Gabby could have sworn the other mare was an earth pony when she arrived, but now she had wings and a horn. She let out a panicked squawk.
"It must be spreading." Turning to look from Lyra to Gabby, Inky pointed a hoof in the griffon's direction. "Oh no, look! Gabby grew a horn!"
A griffon desperately trying to feel her forehead for a sign of a horn growing was exactly what Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight saw as they threw open the doors of the castle at that moment. Also, they saw Lyra with the biggest grin ever plastered on her face, snap off a salute.
"Are you tormenting a member of the mail delivery service?" Luna's voice was cold as ice—cold enough that it made the day grow a little darker and her breath to condense.
Seeing her newest friend getting in trouble for playing a prank, Gabby held up her talons to fend off Luna while getting between her and Lyra. "No-no! We were just having fun. Honest, uh…" It sank in at last that she was facing an annoyed alicorn.
Closing her eyes to blot out the panicked look on Gabby's face, Luna tempered her anger. "I apologize. I do not like seeing postal workers made to be the butt of a joke."
Gabby was about to explain things further but Corpa's flash of changeling fire froze her in place as she realized how well the joke had worked—then she broke into giggles. It took her a moment to realize that her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders had stepped out of the castle behind the princesses, along with a lot of other ponies. She had a duty to carry out first, though. Holding out the prized letter that would have gotten her—under any other circumstances—some time talking with the recipient, Gabby cleared her throat and said, "Mail for you, Your Highness."
Twilight did her level best to ignore Luna's excited squeal as she took the letter. "Thank you, Gabby."
"Gabby also has a minor friendship situation she wants to talk to you about," Lyra said. "It's not the highest priority, but she has dedicated the rest of her day here to securing a little of your valuable time."
Twilight didn't need much convincing to meet with Gabby again. She remembered how troubled the griffon had been last time she'd seen her, and could guess that Lyra's "friendship situation" was probably a pretense. Fabrication or not, though, Twilight replied, "Of course. If you show her inside, I need to see our guests off and then I can give the situation my entire focus."
Trying to do as instructed, Lyra nodded her head to Twilight and took two steps toward the doors of the castle when an orange missile collided with her. Stretching a wing out and hugging her daughter, Lyra said, "Hey, Scoots. How was the party?"
"It was great! Trixie showed me a new magic trick, and Discord was trying to trick magic." Laughing off the event, Scootaloo noticed who was beside Lyra. "Oh! Gabby!" She changed targets and pulled herself against Gabby with a hug that she was glad to feel returned. "What're you doing in Ponyville? Work?"
"Yup! I've been so busy delivering news all over Equestria about the changelings that today's the first time I'm getting a breather, and my last delivery was in Ponyville!" Gabby's excitement waned a moment when she remembered why she was here. "I'd love to hang out with you guys, but I needed to see Princess Twilight about"—Gabby glanced back at Twilight, then looked at Lyra, then sighed—"apologizing about lying to her."
"Oh. Right. The cutie mark thing. I'm sure she'll understand. Even Apple Bloom tried to fake getting a cutie mark one time," Scootaloo said.
"And I remember a young filly who found some paint one day trying to draw her own." Poking Scootaloo in the ribs with one feather, Lyra nodded toward the castle. "If you want to invite your friends, I could cook something for all of us."
"Just don't forget," Sweetie Drops said as she walked out of the castle and passed Lyra, "we have our date tonight."
Lyra's legs wobbled and she couldn't stop her expression from going deep into silly-happy-grin territory. "I'd never forget it. The reservations are in Canterlot, right?"
"Yes. I asked if you'd be able to teleport that—" Sweetie's words were cut off by a kiss that she had no intention of rejecting.
"You two should get a room." Scootaloo, her wing still over Gabby's shoulders, steered their way over to where Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were talking. "Hey, girls, did you want to have something to eat? Gabby's visiting!"
"You have work?" Lyra asked Sweetie Drops when the kiss ended.
Nodding, and ending up with her cheek pressed to Lyra's, Sweetie Drops sighed. "Trixie wants to get some better training. She's been an amazing asset for R&A, and I don't think she needs it for her job, but the changeling foalnapping hit her hard."
"I could—"
"No. She specifically asked not to get training from you. I think she might be worried that she'll wind up with wings next." Sweetie Drops cursed mentally at having to leave for the meeting in Canterlot, but she had to finish the cleanup of Chrysalis' throne. "Remember that explosion that shattered the throne into a million pieces and scattered them all over the desert?"
"You finally got them all?"
"We think so. There was some residual magic blocking from each piece, and I had to call in hundreds of unicorns from different Guard units, but we got them. I am attending the final reassembly today, and then they will be locked up except for several pieces that will be experimented on. This might prove to be an effective tool."
Lyra could see that Gabby was more than happy talking with Scootaloo and her friends, and decided to take a moment to catch up on the latest news. "You said you used unicorns to detect it. Does that mean it only affected unicorn magic?"
"No, it also affected pegasi and some earth pony abilities. Not my grounding, though. It's a little easier having unicorns test for it though." Taking a deep breath, Sweetie Drops couldn't keep back a little urge to tell everyone she was absconding with Lyra and leave with her here and now. "I'll see you tonight. Don't be late."
Just like her wife, Lyra wanted to throw all her duties away and run off to find somewhere alone together—but she couldn't do more than fantasize about it. "I'm not going to say what it would take to make me late, because the world would take it as a challenge. I'll be there."
Sweetie Drops nodded and walked off for the railway station before she surrendered to that urge. "Lyra wanted to handle your training. You know she would be the best at it, right?"
Snorting, Trixie tossed her mane and then adjusted her hat. "I know that, but she attracts too many eyes. The Great and Powerful Trixie enjoys the spotlight too much for that kind of assistant." She ignored Sweetie Drops' snort of derision. "And besides, learning how to use magic isn't my problem—I want to learn how not to use magic."
"That…" Sweetie Drops didn't want to give an opinion too quickly. Lyra was, without a doubt, the best trainer for practical high level magic in Equestria. She was also probably one of the better pegasi trainers for intermediate flight skills, too. "I am not sure who to— Wait. I have the best teacher for you."
"Who?" Trixie asked.
"Tomorrow I'll see about asking her. I don't think you've met Tree Hugger before, but if anypony can manage to work magic in a magic-proof area—it's her."
Lyra was supremely comfortable in the castle kitchen. The equipment was all magic powered and despite her best effort, she'd not found where it drew that power from. On the stove she had a huge pot of rice steaming while also working on a mild curry.
Well, a mild curry and a spicy one. She was making triple batches, because she had a griffon, two alicorns, and three ponies to feed and Lyra didn't want to leave anyone begging for seconds.
The timer for the rice went off, and Lyra popped the top off it and killed the heat. Giving it a quick paddling and a taste to make sure it was done, she set out six large bowls and filled them. The curries went on top, and she set a little piece of fish to the side of the three extra spicy ones, and picked them all up with her magic and headed for the dining room.
Gabby felt renewed. She had apologized, Twilight had given her a way to make amends—and it was something she was excited to do. The return of Lyra, though, broke up a little silence that had been stretching a hole in the conversation. She was about to ask Lyra what she'd cooked, but then the scent of it hit her nose and her eyes glazed over a little. She could smell fish—nice-smelling fish.
"You said you don't mind spicy food, Gabby. I hope this isn't too hot." Setting the bowls down, Lyra gave Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight the mild ones, and Scootaloo, Gabby, and herself got fish-filled hot ones.
Taking her seat, Lyra was inordinately pleased by the sounds of four ponies and a griffon making appreciative food-eating noises.
Stunned by how good the food was, Gabby couldn't stop herself from scooping more and more of it into her beak, savoring the rice and rich buttery curry. She almost lost her mind at the amount of fish in it, and managed to pause just long enough to ask, "I didn't know ponies ate this much fish."
Scootaloo was nodding, and finished her mouthful before Lyra. "Yup. Pegasi who are training need lots of protein. With all the hard flying we do with the Wonderbolts, our feathers are getting stressed and damaged regularly. Plus it helps build muscle."
Gabby knew that Scootaloo was a Wonderbolt from their chatting earlier, but that made her look at Lyra with a little confusion. "But why would an alicorn need it, then?"
"Because my mum's a Wonderbolt too." Scootaloo couldn't help but grin as Gabby's eyes widened in surprise. "Somepony decided she needed to be a better flier, and cooked up a crazy deal with Commander Spitfire to join up in disguise. She didn't even tell me—and I was training her!"
Looking back at Lyra, Gabby asked, "What else have you done?"
"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I studied magic with the most amazing unicorns in Equestria." Sparing a look for Twilight, Lyra winked at her before turning back to Gabby. "And I got suuuper lucky in finding the most amazing mare to marry."
Whistling a little, Gabby settled back on her seat a little. She hadn't realized how far she'd been leaning on the edge of her seat while Lyra and Scootaloo spoke. Trying to think of a good followup question, something surprised her by slipping to the fore. "You know about Den? Have you met Gavin?"
"I'd love to visit, but I've been too busy. Gavin seems to have things well under control, though. If you see him, tell him I said 'Hi'."
Nodding in excitement, Gabby took that more as a job rather than a request—mostly because she wanted to visit Den again. "Absolutely!"
Focusing on her food again, Lyra worked to clean her bowl. It wasn't that she intended a big meal to make up for whatever Canterlot haute cuisine had to offer, but she planned to fly to Canterlot, and that meant she'd need some good energy.
"When are you leaving for Canterlot?" Twilight asked, taking note of the ravenous consumption by Lyra.
Pausing between mouthfuls, Lyra said, "I thought I should actually surprise Sweetie by being on time."
Laughing, Twilight shook her head. "Will wonders never cease? You know, there was a friendship mission a while back at a restaurant there?"
That got Lyra's attention. "Oh? Something good happened, I hope?"
"Definitely! Saffron Marsala and Coriander Cumin were being denounced by a local food critic, despite making good food. Rarity and Pinkie helped them shine. From what I understand, between their curry restaurant gaining such a good footing now and some of the nobles of Canterlot who have become strangely delighted with spicy food, the city's foodscape has had a revolution."
"They make curry?" Lyra was practically vibrating in place now—but then deflated. "Sweetie has organized that side of things tonight. I guess I can always try them another time. What is the restaurant's name?"
"Oh, uh…" Twilight fumbled at her memory for a moment, then summoned her diary and checked the relevant date. "Ah. The Tasty Treat."
"You know, a kind princess would give me until tomorrow afternoon to return. That way I could get lunch there and—"
"Do I look like Fluttershy, Lyra?" Arching one eyebrow, Twilight smirked at her friend. "Buuuut I might be persuaded to look the other way if somepony were to bring back something."
Tapping the side of her snout with her hoof, Lyra nodded. "I'm sure I can find something that will accidentally make the journey back with me. Perhaps even enough to have a small banquet for dinner tomorrow night?"
"Make it a large banquet. We can always have leftovers the next day." Holding out her hoof to Lyra, Twilight waited for the clop before saying, "Then, in a completely unbiased and not-at-all-corrupt state, I hereby grant you permission to remain in Canterlot until no later than five PM."
"I'm glad I have such a beneficent leader." Scooping up the last of her rice, Lyra asked, "You'll be okay here all on your own?"
Twilight snorted and rolled her eyes. "If anything was going to happen, it would have happened at the party. Besides, Starlight and Trixie are here as well. I won't ask what could go wrong, because I'm starting to see your reasoning—but it'll be fine."
"Oh, how is Corpa settling in? She makes a good secretary, right?" Standing up, Lyra picked up her empty bowl.
Doing likewise, Twilight carried her own dish to the kitchen. "It's hard to think that she was Inky Stamp for all those years. Are you sure she doesn't want to go back and work at Celestia's school?"
"I asked if she wanted to, but when she heard that Ink Blot has had the job for over a year, she refused. This lets her do what she wants to, live openly, and socialize. She also gets to talk with other changelings when they visit." Washing the bowls, and tossing Twilight the kitchen towel to dry with, Lyra remembered something from earlier. "Oh! Gabby recognized me as an alicorn practically right away. I think we can be confident that alicorn blindness is strictly a pony thing."
Even as she dried the dishes, Twilight teleported a notepad and pencil from her study and made a note on it. "I need to get a wider cross-section of creatures to test this blindness on. Where could I find a dragon who isn't likely to know already?"
"I can think of one." Adding gravitas to her statement by waiting, Lyra judged it time to answer when Twilight was about to snap her pencil in half. "Gavin said there's a dragon near Den, that they trade with for scales and protection. Now, Luna said that they're quite nice for a dragon, so I figure I could pay a visit and—"
"Not this time. Perhaps in a few months when all this changeling stuff has settled. Until then, I don't want you to travel more than half a day away from here." Twilight left unsaid that it was as much for Lyra's protection as for herself. "Have you come up with a shield spell we can employ all the time?"
"Well, sure. That's easy. We'd be unconscious within a week from the mana drain, but I can absolutely make a spell that does that. What I need is some time with Dinky and Sweetie Belle to optimize the design and simplify the pattern."
Nodding, the reasoning behind those two ponies needing to be involved was obvious to her, Twilight said, "In a month, Celestia's school lets out for a two-month break. I'd suggest picking then to get them both together to work on it. Bribery, of course, is recommended."
"I'll talk to Derpy Hooves about it. I might have to promise a few favors there, but I can ask Sweetie Belle right now." Walking back to the dining room, Lyra groaned as she found it empty, the bowls all neatly stacked at the end of the table. "Or I could fly off before you realize they left all the plates for us to clean."
"Lyra Heartstrings, get your tail back in here or I will have your wife bury you in that throne she's cataloging." Twilight used her magic to grab said tail and give it a tug back into the kitchen. "And bring those bowls with you."
Still giggling from her attempt to get out of washing dishes even as she reached Canterlot, Lyra soared above the capital of Equestria and took a moment to admire its beauty. The various circles of the city, the island sections of the airship docks and the E.U.P. Guard sector, even the railway station all had their own beauty, but it was the castle reaching high into the sky without any thought at all toward such mundane things as gravity or engineering that always reminded Lyra that she was a magical pony in a magical pony land.
As she watched the city below, she noticed there was a lot of activity at the Guard training fields. Curious, and with a few hours to spare, she circled slowly in that direction. At least two pegasi, currently manning the front entrance, spotted her. Their salute was likely more because she was wearing her armor than due to them recognizing her—or so she figured.
Several groups of trainees were being put their paces in small-group practice. She glided away from that when she spotted Stiff Peaks doing his best to reach the mess before anyone noticed.
Lyra was having none of it. She aimed her dive to intercept him before he would get inside and stooped her wings. Even a Wonderbolt wouldn't have hit the ground as hard as she did. Providing strength to her legs with what little earth pony magic she knew, and even pressing down into the ground to stop from making a crater, she tucked her wings back and smirked at Stiff. "Hi."
Taking a slow breath, Stiff shook his head. "Get in the mess if you want to talk. Otherwise, out of my way."
Stepping to the side, Lyra let Stiff pass before following him in. "I saw the bat ponies and griffons out there. Is training going well?" She followed him to a station and caught the vegetables he tossed toward her.
"Slice thin. I'm making ratatouille." Stiff located the pot of sauce he'd had simmering most of the day. "The griffons are shaking down well, but I expected that. The first intake we had from Den and Griffonstone were all trained fighters already. The bat ponies were another story. It took more work for them to fall-in with our training. I'm going to have to try something different."
Getting to work on the eggplant, Lyra followed his words closely. "And that short, red pegasus?"
"Ha! He was fighting a griffon on his first day. I would have booted them both out if Bottle Rocket didn't vouch that she was letting them spar. That's what made the griffons react so well, I think. Showing them that we can fight, that they can trust us to have their backs in a fight, and that we'll do our best to make sure none of us need to fight." Checking the sauce for seasoning, Stiff found himself adding a little extra pepper to it. "He's doing well, otherwise. A good flier—Bottle said he's one of the best here—and he took to combat training like a fish to water."
"I'm glad to hear that." Lyra didn't mention his history. It would be easily obtained if Stiff dug, but she wasn't going to undermine the trust Short Fuse had shown her. "Do you want these on the rack there?"
"Yeah."
Sprinkling the eggplant slices with salt, Lyra set each out to dry. "Where's the normal crew?"
"It's early afternoon. They're not on the clock for another two hours." Stiff waved his hoof toward the clock above their heads. "What about you? Running errands for the princess?"
"I could say yes, but the truth is today is one of the rare days when my Bonny and I both have some time off. We're going out for dinner tonight." Patting at the eggplant with a towel, Lyra moved on to chopping zucchini.
"Don't let me keep you, if you need to go and get ready. The help is appreciated, though." Despite his earlier gruffness, Stiff wanted to cut the mare some slack. Despite his experience using a knife, she still sliced her way through the vegetables at least three times faster than he could.
Turning in place and looking at Stiff, Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Are you going soft, Captain?"
"No. Reminding myself that despite having seen you get your training under my command, you are every bit my equal now—out there or in here."
"You're still the master of this kitchen, sir." Lyra moved fast to take the strike from Stiff's wooden spoon on her armored shoulder. "You are. If you weren't, I'd retaliate rather than let you get tomato sauce on my armor."
Thinking about that, Stiff felt his leadership was asserted enough. "But out there—"
"Most ponies can't even recognize that I have a horn and wings. They see one, they won't see the other. If you want to see the best example of that, I'll come back tomorrow and we can walk past the recruits. Watch every griffon stare while every pony ignores me." Lyra moved on to the squash next.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really. Twilight and I have written numerous papers about alicorn blindness. Oh, right, changelings see an alicorn for what they are, and we're going to test it with dragons when either of us gets a moment free. Is this enough?"
Having been cutting up some tomatoes to match the slices Lyra had been making, Stiff nodded. "Perfect. Get out of here and show me tomorrow what this 'alicorn blindness' is all about." Using a little of his earth pony strength to push Lyra toward the door. He knew she could have pushed back, but was relieved she didn't. When she'd left at last, he thought about that. "It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't a damn alicorn."
Trotting out of the mess kitchen, Lyra took a deep breath and made her way back to the home she and Sweetie had in Canterlot. It wasn't far, which was how they'd wanted it, but Lyra still broke into a gallop as soon as she paws past the entrance of the Guard training area and didn't slow until she had reached her front gate.
Opening the front door, Lyra walked inside and found a note. She made her way to their armory to start removing her gear before reading it.
I don't know how to thank you enough. Stuff got pretty crazy, and I didn't even know what I wanted out of life. I thought the Wonderbolts would be the place I could fit in, and the rejection hit hard. You
It trailed off a little, and had been crossed out a lot, but there was more below that.
I tried to clean the place up. Rolling Thunder is on her way to Canterlot and should be here in a couple of weeks. I'm going to the sign-up today. Damn, I've never wanted something as much as this. Thanks I
There was more crossed out.
I don't know how else to say it. Every time I try to write more, I get angry, cry, and want to shout. So thanks.
—Short Fuse
Lyra had to stop removing her armor to reread the letter. The amount he'd struggled saying what he wanted only made it better. "I wonder if there are more ponies out there, who didn't live up to the standards of what they thought they wanted?" A tingle of excitement bubbled through Lyra that wasn't entirely from within. "Oh ho? Really? I'll keep my eyes peeled, then. Steer them to me, and I'll help them stand up and be proud."
Getting back to her task, she stripped all her armor off while humming a tune. It was bright and happy, and she almost considered summoning one of her instruments to develop it into something more—but knew she had to get ready.
She was about to step into the shower when she head the front door open and close. Closing her eyes, she listened to the movements of the other pony in her house. Solid clops of hooves on the timber floor, taking a direct route through to where Lyra was, and eventually the sound of the door of the bathroom opening by hoof. "Want to share?" Lyra asked.
Sweetie closed the door behind her and, without breathing a word, made sure Lyra knew her answer.
"The last of the throne has been squared away and sealed, with only a few pieces left out for testing." Acutely aware how uncommon it was lately to shower with her love, Sweetie Drops thoroughly enjoyed letting Lyra Heartstrings dry her with magic. What she loved most, though, was having Lyra close, and when her wife leaned over and put all her weight on Sweetie's side, she let out a happy little whicker.
"Soooo, where are we going? Should I dress up?" Leaning against Sweetie, Lyra tilted her head and nuzzled her neck while stretching a wing over her back.
Shivering at the soft feathers that, despite their gentle touch, were shockingly strong, Sweetie nuzzled Lyra back. "I'm going to ask again, and it probably won't be the last time, but did you become an alicorn and a Wonderbolt just for me?"
"If I said yes, would we still have time to make the reservation?" Lyra said, her voice low and a purr.
Rolling her back as Lyra played her rib cage like a musical instrument, Sweetie groaned. "No. Ugh. I am going to stuff you with so much food you can barely walk, then I'll carry you back here and—and do unspeakable things to you."
"How unspeakable?" Lyra asked, slowly drawing her wing back and to her side. She opened the door.
Following through to the armory, Sweetie said, "I cannot speak of them. Moving around Lyra's armor, she froze. "How did you get—? That's not blood; it's tomato sauce. Lyra!"
"Would you believe me if I said I had to fend off a giant, rampaging goulash?" When Sweetie glared at her, Lyra mock-fainted. "You should have seen it. There was paprika and potatoes everywhere. Others tried to"—Lyra had to start trotting around her armor on its stand because now Sweetie was chasing her—"to keep back the tomatoes, but I had to use my best shield spell to protect them. I couldn't—"
"Lyra!" Despite herself, Sweetie was laughing like a fool. Stopping, she turned around and kissed Lyra when she came up behind her. "What really happened?"
"Would you believe a flying spaghetti monster?" When that didn't work, Lyra tried, "What about three foals with tomato sauce squirters?"
Reaching out with her leg, Sweetie carefully got a little of the sauce onto the clean edge of her hoof and tasted the sauce. "Stiff Peaks is making a tomato sauce with… Oh, that's good stuff. What is he making?"
"Ratatouille. I helped him cut up the vegetables for it. Where are we going for dinner?" Lyra began oiling down the heavy canvas straps of her armor, while Sweetie brushed and polished the plates.
"I was discussing with a few other Guardponies, and they said there's an amazing curry restaurant in town. It's getting tons of great reviews, and I figured you'd love that, so we're going to—"
"The Tasty Treat," Lyra said, nodding. At the jaw-dropped stare from her wife, she asked, "What?"
"How? I know for a fact you haven't been in Canterlot for weeks. You were organizing aid for the changelings and then working guard duty for Twilight. How did you know about this place?" Sweetie swapped sides with Lyra.
"A mare's intuition." Tapping her head with a hoof, Lyra grinned. "Oh! Do you remember when I was attending Celestia's school, the receptionist there? Inky Stamp?"
Sweetie could remember the name, face, and cutie mark of every pony under her command, and a lot more besides. She'd conditioned herself to take careful notice of details—but when she'd been working for her mother while Lyra was at school, she wasn't quite so talented. "Not… really. But go on."
"So, a while back I was trying to get Sweetie Belle and Dinky spots at the school, and I found a new mare working the counter. I helped her out with her filing for a day— You should remember this one. It was a day I almost knocked myself out trying to teleport you while you were grounded!"
Blinking, Sweetie shrugged. "Silly horses doing silly things. Keep going."
"Anyway, it turns out Inky Stamp was actually Corpa Allata: a changeling. I asked if she'd like to get her old job back, but she didn't want to impose, which is why I hired her to help Twilight as her secretary." Lyra finished up the last strap. "Well?" she asked, when Sweetie didn't immediately reply.
"Wasn't Twilight's secretary your job?" At Lyra's nod, Sweetie genuinely smiled wide. "Good work. You can't do everything."
"Also, I have one new recruit for Twilight's Friendship Guard going through training, and another for the next round. I suspect I might have at least a third on the way." Opening the door that led to their bedroom, Lyra fluffed her wings a little.
"I still want to know how you knew about this restaurant. Flicking your wings isn't going to distract me." Sweetie followed Lyra all the way to their wardrobe.
Stretching her right wing out, then tucking it back and repeating with her left, Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, it is distracting me a bit, but I'm still not going to let this rest. I put up with a lot of your shenanigans, but I want to know this one." Reaching out, Sweetie carefully hooked her cannon over Lyra's wing and brought it to her face to nuzzle.
"I'm thinking we go the full deal tonight. Matching dresses." Reaching with her magic while Sweetie seemed distracted, Lyra passed one of the yellow dresses to her wife. The second, the one Lyra kept, was specifically made for a larger pegasus mare, which was a good way to describe herself now—at least from the neck down. "Twilight told me about the restaurant. Rarity and Pinkie worked together to save them from being run out of town by a terrible reviewer."
Halfway through putting on her dress, Sweetie looked back at Lyra and shook her head. "So, that's it."
"Mmhmm. Is it hard to get a booking there?" Lyra asked.
"Three weeks I've sat on this reservation. That's why I was so adamant for you to get here early." Sweetie hadn't exactly doubted her wife would make it, but Lyra had a habit of getting herself in situations where she was needed for fully justified reasons. "Let me help."
"You'd think, by now, I'd be better at putting a dress on." Enjoying the fussing, Lyra turned and shifted at Sweetie's directions until she was dressed. "If it was a suit of armor, I could have it on in seconds."
Kissing Lyra's cheek, Sweetie fought back her laugh to a soft chuckle. "One of the many reasons I love you. For all you're an alicorn who has her head in the clouds, you're down to earth too."
Lyra did her best to catch Sweetie's lips with her own, but was undone by a last second turn that had her barely brushing a cheek. "We don't have time for some snuggles?"
"We would have time for one snuggle, but it would be so fast that it wouldn't be worth it—and then we'd almost be late." Shivering as three primaries traced down the back of her dress, Sweetie shook her head. "Three weeks, Lyra. Come on, we're going now."
Slumping, Lyra groaned. "No fair. We could still—"
"We're going to have time after dinner to snuggle, Lyra. Most of the evening." It took everything Sweetie had to walk out of the room. She didn't get to be selfish often, but right now she was feeling positively self-centered in her desire to have the best night ever with Lyra.
Following, with the prospect of an evening together putting a bounce in her step, Lyra spotted Short Fuse's note where she'd put it down after reading it. She tucked it into her dress and left the house to chase after Sweetie. "So, where is it?"
"Outer ring, a third of the way around, counterclockwise—and we're not running." When Lyra lined up with her, Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Or teleporting." Walking, Sweetie was glad when Lyra matched her. She was particularly happy when Lyra stretched a wing over her back.
Canterlot was a magical city, but it was still full of homes and ponies who were trying to get by and follow their destiny however they could. Lyra was tempted to stop at every little snack stall or corner treat shop. With Sweetie beside her, leading ever onward toward a fancy restaurant, she managed to resist.
When they reached the front of the colorful restaurant, Lyra drew her wing back and let Sweetie lead the way inside. A yellow/orange coated stallion greeted them at the front and asked if they had a reservation.
"For two, under Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings," Sweetie said.
Checking the book, the stallion nodded. "Of course. Right this way. I'll be your server tonight. My name's Coriander Cumin and—" Coriander froze at the sight of Lyra. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what had broken his patter. Then he saw it. Eyes widening, he dipped his head. "Your Highness, please forgive me."
"Lyra isn't a princess, yet." Elbowing Lyra, Sweetie added, "We're just here for dinner."
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Another story in this amazing AU? Count me in!
Woo! And almost done with reread so I can get to new story this week.
Is this story related to the story Background Pony in any way?
11887270 No, apart from having Lyra in it.
Let me just Favourite and upvote this,
i have to go to bed because i have to work in . . not enough hours though, so reading will have to come later <.<
Not even going to read first, liked and subscribed, let's goooo!
Edit:
You know, that bit about destiny-weight should be scienced! But surely exerting a slow build of pressure would be difficult to detect. They'll need something to make a little... bounce? A careful splash perhaps?
To Pharynx: now that the anti-magical throne is no longer cancelling magic, have you found any "confiscated" relics that are doing weird things?
Lyra, i get the resistance, but i'm curious about the particular reasoning behind refusing coronation? I'd wager it's quite insightful.
*Ask a Question* So Lyra, since you have become an Alicorn, how many ponies or other creatures have bowed to you and called you a Princess?
So far as the next series of Lyra it has been fun to read. Especially after we've dealt with the 2nd Chrysalis invasion. I hope we the fans will get regularly updates to this story.
11887390 [defeated alicorn noises]
11887392
You as the writer only have yourself to blame for being so successful. And you didn't answer the questions.
11887270
*stares off into the distance as the universe begins to collapse into a single point*
"I am a song"
Alicorn blindness (for ponies) is more of a size question. Twilight, for most of her alicorn run, was 'normally' sized and rarely had her wings noticeable enough to catch the eye (or if they were, then her horn wasn't). Lyra is still normal-size (or is she when in uniform?), maybe on large size of normal but not (yet) in Cadence/Luna size ...
11887426 Careful, or you'll have Twilight and Lyra dragging out their numerous sociology papers on Alicorn Blindness.
I buss
Gah, now I want some curry too : )
Sounds interresting. thought tow questions.
Is it neccesarry to read the prequeals before this?
Am I correct, when I say the tags wwill be updated as teh story continues?
11887579
There is about 700k words before this. Most of that is character development and changes to how things happened in Equestria (see the AU tag).
- MLP: FiM
- Drama
- Slice of Life
A mare and her foal. A human family. A buck-load of magic. They are all coming to a sleepy little town.[Adult story embed hidden]
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
The fateful day has come and gone. Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria and was dealt with by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. The tale of Equestria is not told yet, however.- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
It's a new life for Lyra Heartstrings, a new set of responsibilities, and a new princess to serve. Now she just needs to survive Ponyville to fully enjoy this new future.I doubt it. Lyra is the main focus for this one, and her life is nothing if not an adventure.
11887586
Looks like I have enough to read then on Sunday, while beeing stuck in a train for around ten hours.
"Imagine a bowling ball on a rubber sheet..."
"Shouldn't Discord weigh one Discord?"
"Oh, that's the one weight he'll never have."
The second one's far trickier once you've learned the first one.
Hmm. That may answer my earlier question about Lightning Dust. We'll see in time.
Eagerly looking forward to the minticorn continuing to wreak positive havoc on Equestria.
This is a great start to the next story in the series. Twilight will be most interested in Coriander Cumin's reaction to Lyra since he doesn't seem to suffer from Alicorn blindness.
You know, from the title and the cover art, I thought at first this must have had some relation to Background Pony by Shortskirtsandexplosions.
Ah well! Added the first one to my Read-it-later.
11887708
Glad someone caught that. Lyra was using the common layman description of how spacetime warps.
It's why null-magic areas always sting unicorns the most.
Hehehehe and of course they'd have to find the exception to the rule about Alicorn Blindness
Caught up! Woo! ... caught up, now what...
What color are Lyra's wings? I see the preview with green wings that match her coat. In previous stories they were a golden color when she could still hide them. Wasn't sure what they solidified in to.
11889172 Now they're just wings—normal feathery wings.
ARG. Missed the story going up. Hold, on, read, read, read.
Yaay.
Caught up.
Has anyone asked yet how big a shield Lyra would have to make to slice out enough rock under Sweetie when she is grounded to be able to teleport her?
Celestia is grounded in the Sun, Luna is grounded in the Moon, Discord is grounded in Reality, and Pinkie is NAN?
Question to Lyra: Have you thought about your possible agelessness and it's consequences?
During wedding you promised to be there for each other forever. Maybe magic would help to keep this oath. Or maybe Tufts have answers.
Ah, Background Pony. The first story on FIMFiction I gave up on.
11892515 Nice to know. This isn't that and has nothing to do with that. It's the next story in a series that's over 700k words long right now.
Oh, and it has the shid in it.
11892547
Yes, I know this story has nothing to do with that one. I'm just sharing my recollections from more than 10 years ago.
11892771 Ah. No probs. There have been a few folks asking me if this is a sequel to 'Skirts' story or something. I hope you have a great day!
And now I've run out of story to catch up with.
BTW...
wicker
noun
a slender, pliant twig; osier; withe.
plaited or woven twigs or osiers as the material of baskets, chairs, etc.; wickerwork.
something made of wickerwork, as a basket
whicker
verb or noun
whinny; neigh.
11894484 This is what I get for clicking accept on my grammar checker.
excessive.space/images/Whickered.png