Chapter 8: Candor
The door swung open and several guards walked inside. Lyra swiftly let go of Blake, breaking the hug. She shuffled to get onto her hooves. Blake stared at the guards with a cold stare. Lyra noticed that two of the guards were pretty beat up, and they matched Blake’s stare with their own iciness. But what could they possibly want now?
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have requested that you two are to go to the dining hall immediately. We are here to escort you there so that there are no… complications.”
Blake sighed. “Just let me put on my clothes really quick,” he said to Lyra, ignoring the guards completely. Lyra watched as Blake scuffled to the bathroom. He slammed the door shut and the guards moved their way forward as they were expecting something suspicious. Lyra stopped them and shook her head. The lead guard looked reluctant to obey Lyra’s request, but he did so anyways. A few minutes later, Blake opened the bathroom door fully clothed. Lyra told herself that she would need to request some new clothes for Blake, as his current ones reeked from sweat and being in the outdoors for so long.
Blake nodded his head, signaling that he was ready to go. The guards placed handcuffs on Blake. Lyra could tell that he was trying his best not to knock out the guards with a single swing of his hands. She wondered how long it would be before Blake would be able to roam freely without having to be locked up all the time. With the way Blake was behaving, she figured it would take a very long time before the trust and relationship between the two races would be in full swing. Lyra was overjoyed though that he recognized her as a friend. She wondered what made him change his mind about not trusting any of the ponies. And why her, out of the thousands of ponies in Equestria, had to have this special bond with the human?
They then walked out of the guest suite, and backtracked back to the castle, where they were then led through numerous corridors around and eventually to the dining hall. The décor blossomed throughout the room, with plentiful bouquets of flowers lining along the wall. The table was long and elegant, and the many chairs surrounding it were composed of fine materials. Various foods lay about the table, and about a dozen ponies were digging into it. Two chairs lay empty, where Lyra figured that were reserved for Blake and herself. She hopped onto it, beckoning for Blake to be seated by her. He rolled his eyes and lifted his hands signaling that he was still cuffed. Using a key, one of the guards unlocked the handcuffs and motioned for Blake to seat himself. He did so immediately.
Lyra glanced at all the food that was before her. It looked like they were serving a kind of soup, bread, and fruits. She used her magic to quickly gather everything that she felt would satisfy her stomach. Blake did the same, but had a harder time reaching foods that were farther away from him, as he couldn’t use magic and had to reach for it himself.
She began to slurp her soup, tasting the delectable spices and vegetables that were inside it. She savored the deliciousness for a moment, wishing she could have royal food all the time. She looked at Blake, who staring blankly into the soup.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, hoping that he wasn’t really carnivorous. She then remembered that Applejack had told them that he was stealing her apples, which meant he could eat fruits and such.
“Um… do you guys have like, utensils that I can use?” he said.
“Can’t you just use your hands?” she asked. Hands were so convenient, it didn’t makes sense to Lyra that he wouldn’t use them.
“With things like fruit and the bread, yes,” he replied, peeling an orange. “With soup? No. I would rather not burn my hands.”
Lyra was about to ask one of the waitresses had any utensils, but Princess Celestia had apparently been listening in and already had taken care of it. “Handle?” she called to get the waitress’s attention. “Could you bring our guest a spoon, please.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Handle replied, quickly leaving the dining hall. Several moments later, she emerged from what seemed to be the kitchen, and handed the spoon to Blake. He simply grunted, not even bothering to say “thank you”. But at least he said something in acknowledgement to the waitress, who now returned to the position she was in before. The hall was then eerily quiet, with only whispers between the Elements of Harmony. Lyra wondered why neither Celestia nor Luna has said anything to Blake yet. It seemed like they were both were just simply enjoying their meals without a thought in the world.
Twilight then broke the silence. “Blake, can I ask you question?” she asked.
“You’re not giving me much of a choice because you just did,” he replied, blowing on the soup on top of his spoon.
The purple unicorn rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure whether to take that as a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.”
“No.”
“Well, you let her talk to you,” she said, pointing her hoof at Lyra. “Why won’t you let anypony else ask you anything?” Her tone was becoming a bit more aggressive, as she seemed to be frustrated that the human wouldn’t comply.
“Because she understands!” Blake erupted, slamming his hand on the table. The other ponies in the room turned their heads to the human, whose face was now a bright red. “She just… knows. It’s something that the rest of you can’t comprehend.” There was more whispering between the Elements, and now even the Princesses were mumbling something to each other. Blake took a large bite out of a piece of bread and began to chew on it vigorously. Lyra patted his back with her hoof, which seemed to calm him down a little.
Celestia stood up from her chair and announced, “My little ponies, we shall leave the human in peace for the time being. Unless I allow it, I don’t want any of you to say as so much as a word to him, or else you will leave the dining hall at once. Understand?” They all nodded their heads simultaneously. They were a bit scared of the princess as well, as they had never seen her be so assertive before.
Unfortunately, this would mean that Lyra wouldn’t be able to talk to Blake at all. But wait, she had communicated with him telepathically before, so why not now? Using all of her effort, she tried to join their two minds together, but nothing happened. It would only happen at random moments that she wouldn’t be able to control. She sighed and started to finish her meal. She was really hungry, and it would be best to get rid of that hunger or else it would be harder for her to think straight.
About ten minutes later, they had all finished eating and began to disperse out of the dining hall. Pinkie seemed to be unable to control herself and was constantly bouncing up and down near Blake, which Lyra could tell was making him uncomfortable. Eventually, Twilight had to use her magic to keep Pinkie from getting anywhere near him. She levitated that crazy, pink earth pony away from him and out of the room. Pinkie dropped her head, mumbling something about not being able to have a party.
“Blake,” Celestia said, rising once again from her chair. “You will be escorted back to your room. We’ll be sending extra clothing articles to you later. And Heartstrings—” she said, turning her attention to Lyra, who was confused at the use of her last name instead of her first. “—you will be spending the rest of the day here in Canterlot. Come back at sundown where I’ll have Handle here show you your room. We’ll be handling Blake for the rest of the day. You may talk to him once again tomorrow morning.”
“Of course, Princess,” Lyra said, excusing herself from the table and trotting of the dining hall.
<I’ll see you later, Blake.>
Hasta la vista.
She tried talking to him through her mind, but there was no response. She could only wonder what the phrase meant. Perhaps it was just some way of saying goodbye. Using her memory, she found the exit to the castle. She wandered the streets of Canterlot thinking of something to do. It was only a few second later when she realized that she could go visit her parents. They would be delighted to see her and vice versa. It was only a little past noon so her parents would not be home. Her father was certainly at the castle library, as he worked there.
She turned around and made her way to the castle once again, even though she had just left it. She wished that she would have thought of this earlier to save her some time, but unfortunately she couldn’t change the past. Five minutes later, she entered the castle gates. Normally the guards would ask visitors several questions before letting them enter, but since the two currents guards had just seen her, they let Lyra in without any interrogating. She smiled at them and went inside.
She meandered through the castle interiors for at least an hour, as she had only been to the castle a couple of times before today. She never got to see her father’s workplace much, and she didn’t know much about what he did other than him being a librarian. Getting bored of cantering in circles, she eventually asked for directions from a guard who looked to be a new recruit, as he took several seconds to think before replying. Once he showed her the way to go, she thanked him and eventually found the library.
Her father was stacking several shelves with a multitude of books. The old, blue unicorn had a small smile on his face.
“Dad!” Lyra merrily shouted.
Her dad turned his head to her, and the width of his smile tripled in size. Lyra gave her dad a tight hug and he returned it. “Lyra, my girl, what’re you doing here?” her father asked her as soon as they broke apart.
“It’s a really long story. How much longer will you be working?”
“If you’re here, I’ll take the rest of the day off. Mom’s home today since she’s sick with the flu, but she’ll be delighted to see you! I can just picture the smile on her face!”
“That’s great, dad! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you two.”
“I have to admit that things have been much more quiet without you and your wacky experiments. But I’ll still miss the time where you changed your hoof into one of those…” he trailed off, trying to think of the correct word.
“Hands?” she offered.
“Oh, yes! Hands, that’s what they’re called. It might’ve scared the two of us back then, but now it’s just a silly little memory.”
Before leaving the library, her dad called to one of his co-workers saying that he’ll be leaving work for family. The two left the castle, making small chat as they made their way to her father’s home. Lyra wished she could still call it her own, but she had moved out and left Canterlot to have a more quiet life in Ponyville. Once they reached the house, they went inside. The living room and the hallway were still furnished the exact same way the day Lyra left. Her father beckoned her to come into their bedroom, as her mother wouldn’t be able to leave bed in the condition she was currently in.
“Lyra, darling! What a surprise!” her mother said happily before coughing abruptly.
“Hi mom,” Lyra greeted.
“How’s—” her mother coughed several times again, “Ponyville been for you?”
“It’s been great. I have this great roommate! Her name is Bon-Bon and she’s a baker. We have this small house in the center of town.”
“That’s just wonderful. We’ve both missed you so much.”
“I know. I’ve missed you both too.”
“So what’s the real reason for your visit to Canterlot?” her father asked curiously. “I know you didn’t come all the way out here just to see your old man.”
“I hope you’re ready for a long story. Here it goes.” For the next couple of hours, she retold her parents everything that happened in the past couple of days. She knew at first they wouldn’t believe her, and they would be disappointed that she was still researching things about humans, but once she told them that humans were in fact real, both of their faces brightened up at the revelation.
“I heard rumors that there was a strange guest in the castle today. I guess that was about the human,” he father had commented. She then told them about the memories she’d been reliving and the strange bond that was shared between Blake and herself. Once she was done telling the story, both her parents were astonished like they had seen a ghost.
“Do you think this means?” her mother asked her father.
“Yes, it probably does,” he replied.
“Do you think we should tell her?”
“We can’t hold off the inevitable. She needs to know sooner or later.”
What were her parents hiding from her? Did they know something about this bond that Lyra didn’t? Whatever it was, it was something dark enough for her parents to keep it from her for all of these years.
“It all started when you were born,” her mother began. “After I gave birth to you, the doctors found out that you had a brain tumor already nudged inside that head of yours. The doctors were led to believe that you had cancer. We thought…” she sniffled several times before continuing. “We thought that you were going to die only two weeks after your birth. It crushed both your father and I…”
“So in a last ditch attempt, the doctors at the hospital performed a complicated spell on you to get rid of the tumor. It was so complex spell, they had to call in specialists from Manehattan to come and help. It took well over a half hour, and after it was done, they brought us the good news that they were able to get rid of the tumor and you would be a very healthy baby foal. But there were side effects to this spell…”
“What side effects?” Lyra asked, beginning to panic. “Please don’t tell me I’m going to die before I even have a coltfriend or get a chance to perform at the Grand Galloping Gala or—”
“You’re not going to die earlier!” her father snapped, causing Lyra to flinch. “It’s just that… you grew a horn within the first year you were born.”
“What?!”
“You were born an earth pony, Lyra,” her mother said, sneezing into a tissue. “The spell they casted on you didn’t really get rid of the tumor… it grew into horn. It was the only way to keep you alive. They didn’t tell us this would happen until we went in a few months later wondering why you were growing a horn.”
“So… originally I was an earth pony… and I couldn’t perform magic?”
“Yes. There were more side effects than you just transforming from an earth pony into a unicorn,” her father said. “Your horn can perform all the spells a normal unicorn can. But it also came at a price.”
“Why do I have a feeling that this will be bad?”
“You’re much more powerful than the average unicorn, Lyra. You can see distant planets when you’re asleep. You’ve had visions of the human world. You became obsessed with them because you couldn’t comprehend everything at such an early age. You were trying to put together a puzzle but you didn’t have all the pieces.”
“So what you’re saying is that all of my visions I’ve had is because my horn is much more powerful than others?
“It’s much more unpredictable than you think. When you were speaking to this Blake through your mind, were you casting any spells?” her father asked.
“No, not that I was aware of.”
“You did it subconsciously without knowing. That’s how unpredictable it can be. Normally it takes decades of practice before a unicorn can cast a spell powerful enough to read minds.”
“Is there anything else I need to know, or are you two keeping more secrets as big as this from me?”
“No, my daughter. We’re being candor with you. There’s nothing else that you need to know,” her mother said, before drifting off into sleep. Her father motioned her out of the room. They walked into to the kitchen where her father boiled a cup of tea for the two of them.
“Will you be staying with us tonight?” he asked, levitating the tea to his mouth where he took a small sip.
“No, I’m going to be staying at the castle,” she admitted, blowing the steam that was emitting from the hot tea.
“That’s unfortunate. I hope it isn’t because of what we just told you. I don’t want to scare away my only daughter.”
“I’m going to be needed at the castle helping with Blake. I’m the only one he trusts.”
“Oh yes. From what you’ve told me, he’s suffering from PTSD.”
Lyra lifted an eyebrow in confusion.
“PTSD is an acronym for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a case rarely seen in Equestria, but there have been a few ponies known to suffer from it.”
“How do you know this?”
“I’m a librarian, dear. I know a lot of things.”
“PTSD, huh? I guess that’s a good think to know about. He’ll curl up into a tiny little ball when anything triggers a memory.”
“I suppose these aren’t very good memories, then?”
“They’re… horrifying. Death, destruction, killing… it’s hard to understand war. I don’t get why humans kill each other like that.”
“They aren’t ponies, dear. All I have to say is that I’m glad I’m here in peaceful Equestria and not in that forsaken place that humans call home.”
They chatted for several more minutes about Blake. Once Lyra finished her tea, she saw that the sun was already setting! Had she been here that long already? “It’s been great seeing you dad. I’ve missed both you and mom so much, it’s been sometimes unbearable,” Lyra said, hugging her dad once again.
“It’s been great to see you too. I hope you aren’t mad with us about keeping a secret like that.”
“Of course I’m mad, but I’ll forgive you. Just… don’t do anything like this again, okay?”
“Trust us when we say we have nothing else to hide from you. We just did what we could to keep you from the truth. We didn’t know how you would react and we were trying to find the perfect time to tell you… but your current situation says otherwise. I suppose you did have the right to know, however. I’ll miss you, Lyra,” he said, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.
“I’ll see you later. Tell mom that I said bye.”
“I will. Just be careful out there, will you?”
“I will. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Lyra left her parent’s house with heavy thoughts. Part of her wanted to deny that she was really an earth pony with a strange case of cancer, but the other part of her knew that it was the complete truth. It made sense to why she was reliving Blake’s memories and having conversations through his mind and completely random times. She wondered if she would ever be able to control these powers that she had. Was it curse like her parents led her to believe, or was it really a gift?
She made it back to the castle where she noticed Handle waiting for her like Princess Celestia said. The servant showed Lyra to her room, and she thanked her for the hospitality. She plopped onto the soft bed and let her eyes slowly close. She heard Blake once more before she fell asleep.
Once I get out of this goddamn labyrinth, I’ll fucking kill every single one of them! I don’t care if they tell me they’re just testing me! I’m not some stupid lab rat to be toyed with! I’m Blake Seegmiller Johnson for Christ’s sake! Lyra, if you can hear me, you need to help me. I don’t know how much longer I can keep up with this!
<><><><><><><><><><>
Author’s Note
I’m super sorry that this took so long to get out. I’ve spent the last few days attending a funeral and doing family stuff and before that I was really caught up trying to get school stuff done. I should be back onto my normal schedule of releasing chapters every four or five days. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this so far, and I pray that you’ve had a couple of surprises this chapter, because if you didn’t, then I’m a crappy author.
Siege, out.
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awesome
Great chapter, the horn thing seems legit
THE SUSPENSE O GOD THE SUSPENSE
You know... Eventually you'd think they would learn to leave the mentally disturbed kid alone. Oh well. Some lessons just need to be learned the hard way.
It seems that all of the Lyra fics as linking together in some ways. And It's a good thing- It highlights the cracks in the Fourth Wall.
I like the difference in attitude you gave her parents. One of the others I'd read had them depicted as more of those stuck-up ponies from the Gala episode.
And don't worry about the time it takes. All of us have our bad or busy (or both) times in life, and it's not like we're paying you anyway.
The Lyra background story feels kinda like a half-hearted effort to cover a plot hole (no offence).
It doesn't seem right that Celestia would permit a violent, mentally unstable and magically resistant alien eat with dozens of nobles/castle staff, who didn't seem to pay much attention to him anyway. You also missed a perfect opportunity to play around with Blake's diet. eg:
Blake dipped the spoon into the soup before him, swirling it about for a moment before putting it in his mouth. Without warning, the human made a choking noise, then violently spat out the mouthful of soup back into the bowl, atracting the attention of several mortifed guests. "What the hell is this?" he coughed, wiping his mouth with his sleve.
"Its just dandelion soup. What's wrong?" Lyra stated, confused at the human's behaviour.
Blake just stared at her for a moment, then roughly pushed the bowl away and reached for some bread.
See what I mean?
204886 Well they need to get to him somehow, y'know?
204937 Thanks. I actually asked JasonTheHuman if I could use Lyra's OC parents from Anthropology and he said yes, but I never really found a way to put their names in. Oh well.
205290 Sometimes its up to the reader to figure out why the princesses to figure out things for themselves. I've been hinting that they're really trying to get Blake to trust them and they're trying to come to him in a sort of "nicer" fashion. If they just through him in the dungeon, he'd literally go insane and they'd have zero chance to get information out of him. And Lyra's back story, I both agree and disagree with you on that. I wasn't really trying to make it sad or anything, I was just wanted to come up with this wacky way to explain Blake's and Lyra's connection. Yes, it's just a plot-hole filler (sort of), but if I leave it completely blank, it's going to confuse readers.
And the diet thing I'll maybe have chance to play with later. I never really specified what the soup really was, so it could of been something that Blake was able to digest without issue.
Man, if I had been present when Lyra's father called Earth what he did, the ponies of equestria would have learned quite a few new words, and none of them for the ears of a proper sociaty.
Earth isn't a forsakened place. Harsh yes, but so beautiful.
I think you need to put more detail in Blake's past. Who are those army guys? Why are they doing it? We have a Lyra back story. You need to finish Blake's story. I know it's traumatizing, so Lyra will have to comfort him while he tells her.
206450 Yes, Earth really is a beautiful place. But of course, her father can only knows about our planet from what Lyra has told her, or books that he has read in the library (if there are any).
206921 As you can tell, I'm only piecing together Blake's back story bit by bit. I don't want to throw the entire thing at you guys at once, as that would be a pretty long chapter. Plus, I want to leave the readers questioning what the army guys were and why they were doing it and things like that. It makes you want more.
Not bad.