Harp-Struck

Chapter Four: The Symphonies of Canterlot

I adjusted my cravat as I walked down the steps, the points of the winged collar of my shirt all but stabbing my neck as I fiddled with them. As I made my way back onto the street I noticed that if I didn’t look out of place enough already by my species, my attire now crowned that ensemble.

I’d better get to Canterlot before anypony else takes an interest in me, I looked warily around me before looking at the device on my sleeve. Due to the irreparable damage suffered to most of my clothes and my fan-fiction files, save my guitar and my laptop. I might have been a little apprehensive in using it again. But it was either use it and risk losing my brand new clothes in a fiery blast, or take the train. The amount of attention I’d get if I decided to use the train would have be nice but I would have been up to my eyeballs in curious ponies, I’d be stuck there for days. Ah well, might as well risk it. What have I got to lose? I gulped as I looked down at my suit. Don’t answer that, I clicked the device back on and brought up the map. I keyed in Canterlot and pressed the confirmation key. The familiar countdown clock appeared and began to count down from five this time; I guess you get a five second reduction in the same dimension. Then there was a white flash that robbed me of my vision for a few seconds. My eyes cleared to the hubbub of Canterlot nobles all pointing and mumbling in little groups as they stared at me like a freak show circus act.

“Oh my stars, what in Equestria is that?” A noble pointed.

“What a sight, oh!” One mare collapsed in shock into her chaperone’s hooves.

“Oh, what a filthy animal, it should have been killed at birth!”

I turned to the stallion who made the vicious remark, my brow lined into more furrows than cracks in the Sahara Desert’s soil. “And what gives you the evidence for that assertion? Are you an expert in human anatomy?” I thumped my cane on the ground, which silenced the mumbles from the crowd. “Having wealth is no guarantee of intelligence, I have probably seen more species of animal in the short while I have lived than you have in your sheltered existence,” the stallion’s expression turned to one of fright as I continued. “I would wager your noble self has not even left the walls of this city. So I ask you again, what gives you the basis for declaring that I should have been killed at birth?”

The noble recoiled as some of the less judgemental citizens voiced their agreement with me, practically shaming the stallion for his comment. “I… forgive me, please I meant nothing by it… p-please forgive me I did not realise.”

I rolled my eyes as the now spineless stallion scrambled to make amends and recover his dignity from the scene he had made, worried that his invitations to high society events would be reduced substantially once word got out.

These denizens, it’s always about reputations and how you present yourself, could I really live here surrounded by these ponies? Oscar Wilde would have a field day with this lot! The more welcoming citizens bowed to me and bid me a good evening.

One of them even shook my hand and offered a more graceful apology on behalf of the crass stallion, who was walking away in shame. “Welcome to Canterlot, I do hope you enjoy your time here,” he greeted before trotting off.

It was then I noticed the beeping sound coming from the device. I brought the screen to my face to see that I had exhausted its energy and had to revitalise before I could use it again. I clicked a key to see if it would tell me how long. The screen read ‘Time to revitalise 23:59:36’.

“Great, now I’m stuck here for a day!” I exclaimed. I counted my blessings though, for all I knew the device could have malfunctioned sent me to the Everfree forest, or even the moon for that matter. I’ve got under twenty four hours here; I might as well get to the Albolt Hall, ha-ha 'Albolt Hall', brilliant! With my mental laughter aside, I picked my cane and began strolling through the streets of Canterlot. Celestia’s sun had begun to descend steadily below the horizon and Luna’s night landscape was on the way. After a few minutes of aimless walking, I stopped to think for a moment before coming to a rather confusing conclusion. Hold on a minute… where is The Albolt hall anyway? I looked around dumbfounded for a moment. I could hardly ask for directions considering the overzealous manners of the nobles here, I would be a skeleton before the opening remarks had finished. Plus I didn’t have the time or the patience to argue against another pony’s all-knowing comments.

As I was thinking, the wind picked up for a moment, which caused my frock coat to flail, the lengthened sides waving like a ship’s sails. I chuckled as the rogue breeze faded; I had always wanted to wear a suit that did that. My blood nearly froze as I spied a familiar pony among the nobles walking to the other side of the street. A beige coloured coat and a dark blue and pink mane. Miss Bon-Bon, wherever Lyra goes, she is bound to be nearby, I sighed dejectedly as I recalled what the fans had done to her and Lyra. The mare of a thousand voices? Heh, I hope not, I shook it off and walked over to her, quickening my pace a little. Time to see if she does listen to Lyra. “Um, excuse me, Miss!”

Bon-Bon turned around and immediately froze; to my surprise, she seemed quite calm though. Satisfied that she wouldn’t faint if I spoke I decided to continue. I put on my Canterlot airs, so not to seem any more out of place than I looked.

“Pardon my calling, Miss, but do you happen to know where The Albolt Hall is?” Bon-Bon stood silent for a moment, but eventually found her voice again.

“Of course I do,” she responded quite happily given present company. “That’s where Ly-Ly and Octavia are playing tonight!”

“You know Lyra?” I asked, feigning naiveté.

Bon-Bon nodded happily. “Yeah she’s my…” She stopped for a moment, still smiling as her beige cheeks reddened slightly. “My friend! You’re heading there too; great, you want me to escort you there?”

“Sure, if that’s ok?”

Bon-Bon nodded. “Sure it is, now come on let’s get there, it’s just a few blocks away.”

I followed beside her, chatting as we walked and ignoring the looks the nobles shot us from time to time. Ly-Ly? Really? Wow. I thought face-palming to myself inside my head. I couldn’t actually do it since that would seem a little bit odd given the current situation. A few minutes later we arrived at the entrance to the Hall, the rather posh but outlandish sign being a dead giveaway. But it didn’t stop us chatting, she had been looking up at me in order to speak and keep eye contact. Meaning she hadn’t noticed my hands yet.

“Lyra’s performing a new piece tonight with Octavia; I can’t wait to hear it!” Bon-Bon said excitedly as she quickened her pace, eager to get to the hall. “She’s so talented don’t you think?”

“Yes she is rather good with that lyre of hers.”

She nodded in agreement with me. “Yeah, I don’t know how she does it. She’s usually so clumsy with her hooves around the house,” she started to giggle. “She always says ‘It would be so much easier if we had limbs with fingers instead of hooves, like humans!’”

I chuckled as I slipped my free hand into my pocket so she wouldn’t see it.

Bon-Bon misread my chuckle as if I was laughing with her instead of laughing nervously as I concealed one of my mythical hands. “Yeah she’s kinda crazy like that, but still, she can believe what she wants. Gotta keep the magic alive for the little ones huh?”

Oh if only you knew Bon-Bon, if only you knew…. Oh, wait! You can! I brought out my hand from my pocket as the other was concealed by my cane. I looked at my left hand rather obviously. “Yes, what kind of creature has limbs like that,” I said nonchalantly as I waited for her to notice.

“Ha-ha, yeah what kin–” she let out a gasp as she saw it “– oh no, oh no-no-no-no!” she put her hoof to her mouth as she stood there astounded. “Are… are you a human?”

“I thought these would be a dead giveaway,” I let her take a closer look at my hand and moved my fingers. “I’m not a little filly’s bedtime story; I’m the real deal, human through and through,” – I bowed to her – “pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Bon-Bon stared at me completely thunderstruck for a few heartbeats. I could only assume she was recalling all the anthropology arguments she had had with Lyra, saying that it was all just a fantasy story and she should grow up. And now the truth was in front of her.

After a long pause, she finally spoke again. “I’m sorry, I… I need to go… I’m so sorry.” She trotted off into the hall without any further ceremony, leaving me, the living proof of Lyra’s so called ‘fantasy’ on the stairs to the hall’s entrance.

I sighed regrettably. It must hurt to know that your so-called ‘crazy’ marefriend… friend! I don’t know that for certain yet! Was telling the truth all along… poor Bon-Bon, she must feel terrible.

Not content with standing idly anymore I walked up the stairs and ducked into the regal looking lobby, crimson curtains with gold trim and paintings hung everywhere high and low. I felt like Edward Kenway at the Royal Opera House; I was certainly dressed for it. I sat down on a nearby bench, unbuckled my black guitar from my shoulder and twiddled at the strings, waiting for the doors to open. “Maybe a few chords wouldn’t hurt,” The regal ponies were too busy absorbed in their talks and congratulating each other on being masters of the universe to notice anything going on in the background. I struck up the tune to a familiar Voltaire song, a song which I believed fitted Lyra’s current situation and how she was the ‘Innocent’ party in her anthropology arguments, when in fact it was Bon-Bon herself that was wrong. As the guitars notes began to fill the air, the nobles turned around to tell off whoever was playing until they realised it wasn’t a pony at the strings. I only glanced up for a second, but I could make out that a small crowd had formed around me as I played, then I began singing along, barely keeping time. E minor, A minor, G, D, I thought as I continued to play, much to the delight of the now captivated noble ponies. As I finished the closing lyric, I was greeted with a more than polite applause and even the occasional.

“Bravo!” Or cheer whistle.

“Mares and Gentlestallions! You are requested to kindly find your seats!” I assumed they used the alternatives to keep them from being patronising. The nobles tipped their hats and I exchanged hoofshakes with a few of them before joining the crowd of ponies filing up the stairs into the rows of seats leading to the stage. Luckily for me, the door was a tall oak one so I didn’t have to worry about hitting my head. I tightened the buckle on my guitar, now afraid of losing it as I made my way to the front row.

Probably best to sit a few rows back from the front, I thought as I weaved into the tall seats. I don’t want Lyra to see me just yet. Although the seats were tall, they would still not obscure me from the crowd. Fortunately, there was a wide space in between that row and the row in front. I set my guitar down on the seat as I sat on the floor below the chair, the seat itself perched on the edge so I wouldn’t be carried off in the rush. I still had a rather good view despite the discomfort. At least my guitar gets a comfortable viewing. The stage was almost pure white and looked like it was made of a marble substance. The ceiling was high and shaped in such a way that the harmonics would reach everyone in the auditorium. It was almost identical to the Albert Hall, I had only been once as a child, but I remembered little of it. I shook my thoughts of Earth and home out of head. This is no time for reminiscing and petty nostalgia. I scolded myself as I sat up rigidly. I’ve got a whole concert ahead of me, I migh–

I was cut off as the auditorium’s lights began to dim to darkness and for a moment, there was nothing but silence. And then, a single light illuminated a part of the stage, revealing two chairs, bathing in the white glow of the spotlight. Two instruments sat beside them. A cello with a bow neatly leaning against it. And leaning on the other stool. Was a lyre. Just then, two more spotlights lit up each side of the stage. The audience was once again hushed into expectation.

Silence hung in the air like an interminable fog. There was a faint, almost, pathetic desire, to bear witness to this recital. Then the silence was broken as the two doors opened, and from them, two mares emerged and walked slowly to the chairs, the audience visibly hanging on every step as their hooves made faint clicks on the floor. As the lights moved forward, their silhouettes were cast aside, revealing them to the crowd. Lyra Heartstrings and Octavia Melody… sweet Celestia. Lyra lit up her horn, enveloped her amber aura onto her instrument and floated it to her hooves as Octavia readied her bow. After an eternity lasting heartbeat, the silence was finally shattered. The lyre’s strings began to resonate softly as Lyra plucked them with the faintest of motions. The notes floating into the crowd like dandelion seeds, gliding aimlessly throughout the hall, every noble’s ear the soil to which the seeds landed and the sweet note blossomed in everypony’s mind. Then the sweet, sharp notes were joined by a deep, almost sombre sounding note as the cello joined Lyra’s solo without a hint of harshness. Despite the difference in appearance of the instruments, they connected. And both cast the notes into the audience’s direction, creating a soft, slow, but bitter-sweet melody, which was greedily lapped up by the nobles and one human.

After three millennia like minutes, the recital came to an end and the two mares were greeted with thunderous applause – to which I played a part in. The two music ponies smiled and bowed to the crowd as the rest of the orchestra came from the darkness as the lights revealed the remaining areas of the stage, which was quickly filled by the orchestra’s members. Even now, I cannot recall how long that concert lasted. Classical music, especially when heard live has a way of stealing time itself from every listener, as if you are lost in a sea of sound, the notes from every instrument your guiding light as you follow them willingly, like a straggler from a lost flock, afraid to deviate from the path and lose the music’s charm.

Then came the piece that haunts me to this day.

After the applause had died down, a soft whistle began to play; I recognised the song immediately.  My inner voice cursed, as I knew then my eyes weren’t going to stay dry for very long. It was the instrumental version of a very famous earth song, a song that travelled down to the deepest depths of the Atlantic Ocean, hiding a forgotten love story aboard the doomed maiden voyage of a certain ship, once thought unsinkable. By the end of it the auditorium wouldn’t need the Atlantic as more than three quarters of the audience would be drowned in their own eye offending brine, as mine were destined to be in a short minute or so. Hearing it on a CD or the television was bad enough, but in person the force of the notes hit you with the ferocity of the highest wave, sending your emotions cascading through an endless ocean of instruments, each as warm as a fire on a cold winter’s night, but as bone chilling as the deepest fathoms of the Atlantic. The notes dragging you down with the ship into an endless abyss, your soul barely clinging on to you mere mortal life as you swim back to the surface of reality, your journey concluded – as well as the piece itself.

The orchestra’s encore performance was greeted with a wave of applause from the sobbing ponies, not a dry eye present. I tried to give a standing ovation, but my cramped space prevented me and I didn’t want my cover blown just yet. I could have sworn I saw a tear in Lyra’s eye, but it was hard to tell through my flooded ones. With a bow to the crowd, the orchestra retreated backstage leaving the audience starved of eye moisturising water and sweet music, their ears now going through painful withdrawal. I wasn’t heart-struck, I was practically harp-struck, robbed of my sweet music and my ears charmed and jilted by every member of the orchestra family, but then again everypony else felt that way. I was about to get up from my seat, when I felt something slip into my frock coat pocket, I turned to see a beige figure walking away from me at a quickened speed. I wiped my eyes with the silk of my cravat to see the pony was Bon-Bon, but she was too far away to hear my attempts at calling her. Dejected, I placed my hand into my pocket, pulling out a small card. I squinted my eyes in order to get a better look, the formal scripture difficult to read in the dimmed light of the hall and through my bloodshot eyes. It was a pass, I could make out that much, but to what? My eyes focused on the symbol and the scripture became clear enough for me to read. The scripture read ‘The Treble Clef Bar’. Why would Bon-Bon slip me this? Why not just give it to me? I pondered staring at the card. Well, I might as well have a look; I need a drink after that. I think I lost most of seventy percent water through my eyes, I laughed at the thought, before rising to my feet and made my way back to the door, frightening a few nobles who hadn’t seen my prior pre-show performance. I was about to leave through the doors I had entered through, when I noticed a small stairwell through a doorway a few metres from the main door to the lobby. The stairs were closed off by a roped cord, guarded by a grey stallion who looked as if he was about to keel over from boredom. Above the stairwell was a sign that read ‘The Treble Clef Bar’. I made for the corded rope, about to take the pass out of my pocket when the pony guarding the door stepped in front of me, awakened from his dull trance by my approach.

“Sorry VIP’s only. What kind of an animal are you?” The stallion laughed, his tone taking on a mocking one. “Did you break your leash? Go on scram!” The stallions raised voice made me recoil for a moment. That was it; I had had enough. I rapped my cane on the marble floor in frustration, as I found myself having to deal with yet another individual like-minded to that other rude stallion. The metal tip made a resounding CLACK as it struck the marble floor. If I had forced it down any harder, it would have probably snapped in two.

“H-how dare you!” Such impudence! These ponies are really testing my patience! “For your information, I am a VIP.” I procured the pass from my pocket and held it to him. “Do you greet all your guests in such a manner?”

“F-forgive me Sir I-I did not mean.” He flustered as he tried to unbuckle the cord by himself before I lent him some assistance.

“No, it’s me who should be asking for your pardon. My apologies for my prior outburst, I haven’t really had much of a warm welcome since I arrived.” I held out my hand in an apologetic manner. “How about we settle this with a hoofshake and let bygones be bygones?” The stallion’s prior expression turned into a grateful smile as we exchanged hoof/handshakes. “I am truly sorry if I offended you.”

The stallion shook his head. “No it’s fine. My apologies too for my comment. It just comes with the job, gotta be tough you know? Thank you for understanding.”

I bowed to him. “You are most welcome; be seeing you,” I said as I began ascending the spiral staircase to the bar. After a minute or so of climbing, I pushed through the doors and into the almost empty bar, these nobles were too high-class to even bother exclaiming at my presence. I sighed at the almost stifling atmosphere; the nobles were like a bunch of schoolchildren shunning the new student. I procured a glass of red wine from a nearby servant pony and sat at the window, deciding to relax a little for a while.

I retrieved my laptop and headphones from my makeshift bag and powered it up. After a few minutes of loading, I plugged in my headphones and began listening to my own music, staring out at the beautiful night canvas that Luna had brought about, the myriad of stars scattered around the sky. Until a rather obvious question popped into my head. Hang on a minute. How on Earth was Lyra even playing that lyre anyway? She wouldn’t even be able fit her hooves in the spaces it let alone play the thing! I put my hand to my chin as I contemplated this peculiar phenomenon, since I had seen her playing the instrument without even the faintest idea of how!

*  *  *

“You were great, Lyra!” Bon-Bon congratulated as the two mares trotted up the stairs.

“Oh, Bonnie, stop it!” Lyra said waving off her compliments, her modesty prevailing. The two mares continued chatting until they reached the bar doors, to which Bon-Bon chivalrously opened the door for her.

“After you, Ly-Ly.”

Lyra rolled her eyes at the pet name, she knew it wasn’t the best of nicknames, but she didn’t want to spoil Bon-Bon’s fun. She simply laughed and trotted on through, but stopped dead after entering through the doors. Bon-Bon shifted awkwardly as Lyra’s mouth began to drop slowly to the floor until it could go no further, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“Lyra? Ly-ra? What’s up?” she waved a hoof in front of the frozen unicorn’s face trying to get her attention, but to no avail.

In Lyra’s mind, Bon-Bon was further away from her than the moon. All that her eyes and mind were focused on, was a mythical entity, sitting by the bar window, dressed in a royal blue suit and tapping away at a strange device, with a stranger still one on his wrist, well he looked like a ‘he’ to her. Her eyes wandered down the length of its arms and at where they ended, just on the end of the limbs were, no they couldn’t be, could they? They were.

“H-h-ha-han-han,” she stuttered, her tongue fumbling like a foal trying to say her first word.

“Uh, what?” Bon-Bon asked clueless – but she wasn’t really clueless at all. This encounter was the greatest gift she could ever give her, Lyra’s dream finally coming true right before her.

“H-HAAAANNNDDDDSSSS!” Lyra screeched giggling almost manically as she tried to stay on her hooves. The human’s head craned for a second, before returning to the strange thingamajig in front of him.

“Uh… I’m just gonna go okay, Lyra, I’ll see you later or something.” With that Bon-Bon left the bar, leaving the teal unicorn to her own devices, staring at the human before her.

*  *  *

I tapped away at my keyboard, documenting the past events like a diary, the scenes I had witnessed were pouring ideas into my head like a malfunctioning beer pump – nothing to staunch the flow. I paused and took a sip of my drink, the fiery liquid warming my body as I toasted my first day in Equestria. For a moment, I could have sworn I heard a screech through my headphones, but ignored it and continued. Then from the corner of my eye, I saw something. I looked up to see a familiar looking turquoise unicorn, her yellow eyes wide and glistening – with a smile so large that it threatened to do a circuit across the whole of her face. I smiled happily as the one pony I had dreamt of meeting, was finally stood in front of me, looking at me with those wonderful amber pools of hers. I removed my headphones. “Well hello there,” I greeted, smiling a welcoming smile at the mare.

Her lip trembled as she tried to formulate a response.

Knowing the response I would get I reached over for my glass, grasping it dramatically and taking a sip, putting my famous hands on show.

“Hands-hands-hands-HANDS!” the unicorn squealed in delight as she bounced up and down excitedly.

I laughed and brought my right hand into my view. “Oh these old things?” I said airily as the Lyra’s excitement grew thrice fold. “I take it you know what I am? Nopony else possesses even a scrap of knowledge about me. But I know you do. Am I correct?” Lyra’s jaw dropped so far if the floor hadn't been there it would have continued down to Equestria’s core.

“H-how did you?” She stammered in shock.

“Well you knew what hands were so that was a bit of a giveaway.”

“Y-you’re really a human... you’re real?” She answered her own question as she prodded at my chest with her hooves, making sure I was of physical form and not an ethereal entity.

“Whoa, whoa, we’ve only just met!” I laughed as her cheeks reddened in embarrassment and her prodding ceased. “That’s the most intimate greeting I’ve ever received, Miss?”

“Oh um, Lyra Heartstrings, and what’s your name?” Her cheeks were still as red as a rose.

“Winged Sheath.”

“‘Winged Sheath’? That’s a lovely name…” she trailed off as her eyes darted about the room. In a flurry of telekinesis, she floated a chair over to her and sat down beside me – rather closely I might add.

“I saw you before at the concert with... Octavia, I believe; you were brilliant! Lyra Heartstrings, eh? Well you certainly tugged at mine with your solo.”

Lyra giggled at my joke, it was corny but she didn’t seem to mind. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She sat silent for a moment, trying to word her next question to make it not sound too weird.

“Um…c-can I see your hands, please?”

I complied and brought my hands in front of me as she studied them with her eyes for a moment, before grasping my right hand with her hooves and looking at it in astonishment. I flipped my hand around and kissed the top of her hoof. “It’s an honour to meet Equestria’s anthropologist.”

Lyra’s eyes widened and that jawbone-threatening smile of hers reappeared as she giggled almost fillyishly at my gesture. “Ohymygosh, ohmyGOSH! A human just kissed my hoof!” Lyra bounced on the spot, giggling euphorically – bordering on slightly manic. “I will never, wash this hoof!” She clapped her hooves together in delight until I waved my hand in front of her face to snag her attention back to me.

Her eyes wandered back onto my hand almost hypnotically as she grasped it again with one hoof while the other prodded at my fingers. “Your hands are so… beautiful,” she thought aloud, not even realising her lips were producing the sounds.

“Why thank you, that’s the first time someone, or in this case somepony has complimented my hands before.”

It was then I decided to have a little joke with her. I waited for the top of her hoof to pass over my fingers; when she did, I wiggled my fingers up and tickled the bottom of her hoof. It was then I found out that Lyra was very, very ticklish.

“Ahahahaha st-sthaha-stop it!” she laughed dizzily and her breathing began to falter as she continued to laugh. Taking it as an opportunity for revenge, the moment I ceased to tickle her hoof she rubbed the tip of her hoof across my palm, trying to tickle me back. But sadly, it had no effect; her devious smile turned into a look of disappointment. “Aww,” she looked down at the floor. I moved my hand to her shoulder to console her, but she moved her head back up before it could make contact, my palm being stopped by her cheek. My heart nearly burst in surprise as I realised where my hand actually was.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry I-I, wha?” I said, as I found my efforts to pull my hand way were ineffective. It was then I realised that Lyra’s horn field was glowing around my hand, keeping it to her cheek. Her eyes were closed, not in pain or fear. But in, comfort? My hand began to tingle with a pins and needles sensation as the aura made my hand twitch. I could tell she was blushing as my palm felt the heat from her cheek.

“Oh…so…soft.” Lyra mumbled, nuzzling into my hand and liquefying my heart in the process. She was completely entranced by my touch, so much in fact, her magic aura dissipated without her knowing. That was my cue to pull my hand away. Before I could open my mouth to apologise, again I was silenced by Lyra’s expression. She looked as if she had been robbed, the absence of my hand startling her, she looked about, worried that I had run off while she was absorbed in the feeling. Lyra looked at me again, still blushing hot. “Um, Winged Sheath, could you um… stroke my mane, please?” I looked at her in surprise; she wasn’t freaked out in the slightest.

“R-really…are you sure?”

Lyra nodded. “Your hand was so soft and warm, I-I just couldn't let go…you’re not weirded out are you? It’s just I’ve always dreamt of meeting a human someday. I knew I was right.”

I shook my head. “No it’s fine, I thought you would be the one weirded out. I was aiming for your shoulder, but I got your cheek instead. Are you sure you want me to stroke your mane? It just…feels a bit improper.”

Lyra shook her head. “N-no, I’d like you to.”

Given the fact I got such a positive reaction from an accidental touch and she was all right with me doing it for a second time, I decided it was okay to give her a little more and I softly curled my hand through her white-turquoise mane, before stroking her cheek again. Her eyes were closed as she focused on my soft touch. Her mane and coat was incredibly soft, as smooth as velvet. It was like was weaving my hand through hair thin strands of silk as I smoothed her mane back to its proper style before taking my hand away out of politeness. “W-was that all right?” I asked, worried I’d kept my hand there for too long.

Lyra smiled at me as she opened her eyes again. “Yes, it was like, no, it was a dream come true…thank you.” We sat in silence for a moment, not an awkward one, but a thoughtful one surprisingly, since we had only been talking for a few minutes. Lyra finally broke the silence when she noticed my guitar leaning against the windowsill.

“Is that a guitar...a real human guitar?” she asked, excitement returning to her.

“Yep, the real deal.” I picked it up and played a D chord for her, to which Lyra clapped her hooves together, applauding the sound it made.

“Wow, can I try?”

“Sure, be my guest,” I replied, holding out the night coloured instrument to her. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Lyra as she struggled to get even a bum note out of the alien instrument. Bon-Bon was right about her having imprecise hooves. Even with her magic, the action of holding down the strings and plucking them eluded her, since fingers were absent from her hooves.

“Aww, well I bet you can’t play my lyre.” She lit her horn and opened her saddlebag, floating her lyre over to me. I studied it analytically for a second, the simplicity of the instrument looked alien to me since I’d never seen one in the flesh. I tried to mimic the way she held it and curled my finger into a plectrum position, imagining I was actually grasping one, before running my nail softly across the strings, a sweet sound emanating from the lyre. Lyra huffed as she floated it back when I held it back out to her.

“Hmm, not bad but your technique needs a little work.”

“Well I thought that was rather good considering I’ve never played it before.”

“Yeah well it’s easier for you since you have fingers. It would be easier if we all had them really. They’re so much more practical don’t you think?”

I nodded in agreement. Now back on the subject of music a truly amazing brainwave hit me, almost knocking me off my chair in shock that this hadn’t been among one of the first things to show her.

“Um Lyra would you put these on for a second?” I asked, holding out my headphones to her. The unicorn’s eyes moved up and down them as she tried to suss out what they were.

“What are those? Another piece of human technology? They look familiar”

I nodded. “Yep these are called headphones. You put them on and they play music into your ears.”

“Wow, that’s sounds strange but, well, amazing. They look kinda different from the pair Vinyl has though,” Lyra said, allowing me to place them over her ears. As soon as they were properly adjusted to her head, I searched my music folder for the song I wanted.

“See if you recognise this,” I said before tapping the play button. Once again her body language answered my question as she began humming the tune and mouthing the lyrics.

Lyra laughed and took off the headphones, looking at me in surprise. “How did you get this? I wrote that song ages ago.”

“Well it must have found its way to my world,” I chuckled. “Hey um, Lyra, can you play that song on your lyre?”

Lyra nodded. “Of course I can, I wrote it after all.”

“Do you want to play a duet together? Like right now?”

Lyra’s muscle straining smile returned as she bounced up and down in excitement.

Confirmation received. “I take that as a yes then.”

“I’m gonna play my song with, a, HUMAN!” Lyra giggled dizzily again as she scrambled for her lyre, nearly dropping it in the process. “You know how to play it right?”

“Uh yeah, I guess so, ahh!” I was blinded temporarily by an amber light before I saw Lyra’s horn glowing the same colour before fading away.

“How about now?”

I put my hand to my forehead, hearing a familiar rhythm in it. “Di-did you just beam the notes into my head?”

Lyra nodded beaming proudly. “Yep, now you know how I know how to play it. If that makes sense.”

“Yeah it does... thank you,” suddenly my question hit me. “Lyra, pardon my asking, but how in Equestria do you play your lyre with your hooves?”

Lyra giggled and took a bracelet from her saddlebag with her magic and clipped it on her right hoof. The band was the colour of her coat so it blended perfectly; if it were viewed from afar, no-one would see it – which explains why I didn’t.  “Look.” She put out her hoof to me and beckoned me closer. On the bracelet was a small pointed object, sticking out from over the top of her hoof tip. It resembled what looked like a small plectrum, but was as thin as the nib of a fountain pen. She plucked her lyre with it and the same sweet sound I had made earlier with it was heard. “I can’t even fit my hooves in this thing otherwise; it’s not really the same with my magic. Now are you ready?”

“Yep, one second,” I picked up my guitar, readying the opening chord almost hypnotically as my subconscious drove my fingers onto the correct strings. “Okay, ready.” Lyra readied her lyre and nodded to me. “One, two, three and.” I nearly jumped as my hands began plucking the opening beat almost instinctively as Lyra waited for her opening lyric. Despite being oblivious to everything else, it was now the wallflower nobles decided to look in our direction. It wasn’t the fillyish and sometimes outright crazy amount of giggling resonating through the walls of the bar that got them, nope, it’s was music that breaks them out of their trance, they must be deaf to everything else but their own voices and those involved in their talks.

My hand nearly fell off as I played the build up to the last part.

We sang the closing lyric together and we were greeted with quite a cheery applause given how quite that lot were originally. We bowed to the crowd and I was surprised to see a rather flashy looking stallion approaching us, still cheering.

“Oh, bravo, bravo! Absolutely fabulous, you were wonderful!” The stallion’s accent sounded like a slightly more informal version of Fancy Pants and had an even more socially tolerable appearance, just a simple suit with an unbuttoned collar, nothing too special. “Pray, what are your names?”

“Winged Sheath.”

“Lyra Heartstrings.”

"Winged Sheath and Lyra heartstrings? What wonderful names, I can see them on posters everywhere, wonderful! Pardon my zeal, my name is Full-Bright Star, I’m a talent scout, and I think my scouting is over,” We stood in shock as the flashy blonde maned earth pony retrieved a paper from his pocket. “I have a small proposition for the both of you, if you would care to take a gander at this.”

And that was when my music career began, with none other than the musical anthropologist, Lyra Heartstrings.

This was where it all started.