The Ballad of Xyclone

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early-morning

When I woke up that next morning, I was given another magic lesson by Lyra after I ate my breakfast. But, before she did, she tested me to see if I could still lift up the twig. In only one try, I lifted the stick. I was improving. This time, she taught me how to actually make it move.

"You see, magic is all in the mindset," Lyra said. "You just have to think in your head where you want it to go, and it'll move. Basically, it's like telepathy. Now, act as if you were going to lift it and move the twig over to the campfire."

With almost no effort, I easily transported the stick to the fire pit.

"Wow!" exclaimed Lyra. "Either you're a fast learner, or you have some powerful magic! I've never seen a unicorn learn this much in a day! I am very impressed!"

I blushed. Lyra saw that I looked tired, so she called off the rest of the lesson. I may have known how to lift a stick, but it still took all my energy.

Suddenly Lyra looked away from me. "L-Listen, about yesterday...what I said...i-it just slipped out, okay? I-I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Oh, i-it's fine," I said. "I-I understand."

"Let's just put that awkward situation behind us, okay?"

I chuckled. "You got a deal." All of a sudden, I heard Bon-Bon's voice:

"Lyra?" Lyra said nothing, an annoyed expression appearing on her face. "Lyra, come on, I just wanna talk! Lyra?"

I looked at Lyra. "Um, you do know that Bon-Bon's calling you, right?"

She still said nothing.

"Lyra!" I yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Xyclone, but I'm afraid I don't know **who* you're talking about!"* said Lyra, turning around to yell at Bon-Bon.

"What's your problem?" I asked her.

"Her!" she shouted as Bon-Bon trotted away sadly. "I'm sorry, Xyclone. Me and Bon-Bon got into a huge argument last night..."

"Over what?" I asked.

"Over you." Lyra looked up at me. "She went on rambling about how you were evil and that you were gonna betray me. I told her that you would never do that...would you, Xyclone?"

"Are you crazy?! Of course I'd never do anything like that to you! You're all my friends!" I put a hoof on Lyra's shoulder. "Relax, okay? As long as I'm here, I won't let anything bad happen to you...or to any of you."

Lyra smiled adorably. "Thank you, Xyclone. I love Bon-Bon, but sometimes...sometimes it's just too much."

I looked at her, puzzled. "W-What do you mean by 'love her'? Do you...love love her?"

"No!" exclaimed Lyra. "When I say I love her, I mean it in platonic way. You know, like how a sister loves another sister. Heck, we've been friends for so long, she's like a sister to me."

"Well, I'm sure you two'll make up eventually," I told her, making her smile. "There's that wonderful smile I know and love! Come on; let's help the ponies pack up the camp."

"I thought you said you were tired."

"Oh, yeah..." I said, yawning. "That's fine; I'll help anyway!"

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah! Don't worry about me, Lyra; I'll be okay."

I was wrong. By the time we finished packing up, I was wiped out. Before we even started moving again, I was asleep, passing out on Applejack's cart again. I didn't wake up until that evening, when we reached the next campsite, an opening in a cave. It looked familiar to me; then it hit me. "Hey, isn't this that place where you, Rarity, and Rainbow camped out with your sisters?" I asked Applejack as I exited her cart.

"Hey, you're right. Good eye, Xyclone!" she said.

"Oh, yeah, I remember this place," spoke up Rainbow Dash. "This was where Scootaloo had a mental breakdown." She sighed, a single tear streaming down her face. "This was where I 'promised' her to take her under my wing." Another tear fell down Rainbow's face as her facial expression turned to anger.

Suddenly Fluttershy spoke up. "R-Rainbow Dash? A-Are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash sniffed, wiping the tear from her eye. "Y-Yeah! I'm fine!" she stammered, feigning a smile. "N-Never better!"

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked at each other, concerned.

"That was one heck of a night here!" said Rainbow Dash to Rarity and Applejack, trying to change the subject.

"Y-Yeah," said Applejack, smiling sweetly at Rarity. "Crazy." Rarity blushed, shuffling her hooves on the ground.

"Well, this seems like an appropriate time for a scary story," I said. "Anypony got one?"

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof. "I think I've got a good one," she said quietly.

"Go on, tell it!" exclaimed Pinkie and Derpy happily.

"Well, o-okay, but it's pretty scary..." warned Rainbow.

"Oh, just tell it, darling," said Rarity. "How bad could it be?"

"Well, okay. You asked for it." Rainbow Dash began her story. "Once upon a time, there was a young mare, waiting in line for her test at flight school..."

Something was very familiar about this story, but I couldn't quite put my hoof on it.

"...After the snobbish drivers dropped the three rejected pegasi off in the middle of nowhere, they were ushered in to a large structured building by mares in suits in masks. One of the mares looked very familiar to the pegasus who failed her test..."

As Rainbow continued her story, most of the ponies began screaming in terror at what was happening in the story. Even Rainbow Dash looked as if she were about to throw up. What was so familiar about this story?

"...The scared little filly ran as fast as her hooves could take her, away from the psychotic mare whom she used to love, who was now drenched in blood..."

By the end of the story, some of the ponies were crying.

"...'Any last words, you miserable whore of a foal?' said the deranged mare. With her last breath of air, the poor filly weakly said, 'You have beautiful eyes.' The...End."

Lyra screamed with fright and suddenly hugged me tightly. I looked over to see that Applejack and Rarity were doing the same. Derpy, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were blubbering like little fillies. Twilight and Vinyl just stared blankly at Rainbow Dash. Spike and Octavia were hugging each other, shivering in terror. It was then that I noticed that Rainbow Dash was crying as well.

"I...told you so," she sniffled. "I told you it was scary..."

"Wait a minute..." I said to Rainbow Dash, realizing what story she had just told.

"Was...was that 'Rainbow Factory'?"

"W-What? What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow nervously.

"That sounded very similar to a gory fan fiction I read once called 'Rainbow Factory'."

"Oh, really?" Rainbow chuckled nervously. "W-What a coincidence! I-I got this story from Gilda!"

"Oh," I said. "I guess I was mistaken." I looked down at Lyra, who was still holding on tightly to my chest, trembling in fear. "Shh, shh," I told her. "It was only a story, Lyra. It never happened, nor will it ever happen, okay?" She tilted her head up to me; She looked beautiful. But why? Why was I so attracted to her? Why was she so adorable? I couldn't stop looking at her. I ran one of my hooves through her turquoise mane and gazed into her entrancing golden eyes. I felt like kissing her right there, but I didn't.

"It's gonna be alright, Lyra," I said to her. Saying nothing, her mouth just quivered and she once again buried her face in my chest. I smiled down at her. To this day, I don't get why I didn't kiss her at that moment.

Afterwards, everybody slowly and reluctantly went to bed, hoping to not have any nightmares about the story Rainbow Dash had just told them. This time, even I decided to go to bed. I had stayed up late so many times, I figured a change would be good. As I trotted to my tent, I was stopped by Lyra.

"Uh, X-X-Xyc-clone...?" she stuttered. "W-Would you m-mind if I slept w-with you tonight? Bon-Bon and I still aren't on speaking terms."

My eyes widened and I started to blush. "O-Of c-c-course n-not! I-I-I d-don't m-mind o-one b-bit!" I sputtered.

"Th-Thanks, Xyclone."

And with that, I showed her to my tent. The both of us quickly fell asleep in each other's arms.