Lyra of Avaira

by ArtichokeLust

Rating: everyone
Tags: Human, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Lyra, Original Character, Bon-Bon, Adventure
Length: 6011

After Celestia nearly kills a human in front of everypony, Lyra goes back to Avaira--the land of the griffins, where humans are sacred--to tell them the news.

Canceled: I forgot my characters.

After millions tried, two humans managed to worm their way into the hearts of enough ponies, and were able to reverse the laws against humans. However, Celestia's thousand year old wounds were still fresh, and she couldn't bear the thought of humans going anywhere near ponies... So she attacked.

Now Lyra is traveling back to Avaira--the land of the griffins, where humans are sacred--to tell them the news. They knew about the laws, but now with Celestia's outbreak fresh in the minds of Equestrians, (and her political power somewhat diminished because of it, at least in Ponyville) and with the laws changing, the Avairians might finally open up to the ponies more.

It all depends on how Lyra tells her story...

Published 2014-03-15 00:10:09 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-25 04:42:56 UTC

Plutus 20, 3121 AC

Lyra Heartstring's Journal
Plutus 20, 3121 AC

Pain of Loss

"You may have fooled my ponies, but I will not let anypony to go through that!" Celestia fired a beam of magic from her horn.

The beam tore through Dom's chest effortlessly. It passed directly through his heart and went on to Clair... It tore right through both of her shoulders. Finally, it cut through the wall and went on to who knows where...

I was several feet from the beam, but I could still feel the intense heat coming off of it...

It wasn't fair! I worked so hard to defend them! They did nothing wrong! She just executed them in front of everypony! she went against everypony's decisions!

I collapsed. I fell onto my stomach and just lied there...

Everything I hoped for was shattered in an instant, by some stupid outburst. My entire life's work...

...I closed my eyes and let my tears fall out...

Was I foolish to hope for it in the first place?

...I stopped listening...

...I stopped listening to the world...

...Nothing mattered anymore...

...Nothing I cared about could be changed...

...I felt a hoof prod my face. It was annoying, so I just pushed it away without even opening my eyes. I just wanted to lie there...

The hoof prodded me again. I pushed it away again, more forcefully this time...

I felt several hooves of different sizes poking my body. This was getting seriously annoying. Couldn't they see I just wanted to lie there?

"Leave me alone!" I stood up and yelled. My throat caught from what I saw.

Directly in front of me was that white solar-guard looking stallion. Lance A-lot, I think his name was.

To the left and right of him respectively were Rosetta Stone, with her brown fur and wild pink mane, and Capt. Data Crunch, with his all green complexion.

But behind them, Dom--the nicely dressed male--and Clair--the female who seemed to love her black sweatpants and black long-sleeve sweatshirt with the heart in the center--were kneeling down, looking at me with their worried looks...

I gaped...

But that was impossible! I just saw them die!

"You should be dead..." I could barely talk above a whisper. "How..." I swallowed, "How are you alive!?" My ears perked up as I started to smile...

...That's right, Impossible...

"...Oh..." My ears flattened back down again...

Clair pushed her way through the ponies and put her hands around me. I could feel myself being lifted into the air.

"Hey!" Clair yelled. I opened my eyes.

"I know what you're thinking. We're not dead; we're right here!" She brought me closer.

I smiled. This was nice, but it couldn't be reality. Nothing could survive being shot like that...

But it was nice.

"Come on!" Clair grimaced, "Dom! Help!" She hugged me. I could feel breath escape me. I felt what must have been Dom's arms wrap around me too. He had a much lighter touch.

"We're here!" Clair said. Her voice was shaky and filled with urgency, "we're still here!"

"And don't you dare give up on us!"

I blinked.

Give up on them? Why would I do that? Humans were just like ponies! They deserved the same treatment!

But Celestia... Oh my Celestia...

I saw the beam of magic passing through Dom and Clair flash over my vision...

My life... My entire life's work was meaningless... Everything I had hoped for...

My body convulsed, and I must have started crying, because the humans put me down and started... petting me... frantically... like they were trying to warm me up or something...

It wasn't unappreciated...

Poor kids. From what I knew of humans, Dom and Clair were either in their late teens or early twenties. They were still foals, and they acted like it in the debates. But at least they knew to be friendly and ask for help when they were in trouble. If the town either didn't think much of them or hated them, they wouldn't have stood a chance.

But they didn't stand a chance anyway...

I felt lips press against the top of my head. Clair was kissing me, like a mother would kiss her foal before tucking her in for bed...

...I felt tears on my mane and a weight on my back... I felt tears on my back... It seemed like both humans were crying, not just the extroverted one.

"I'm sorry!" Clair's voice cracked, "I'm sorry! We shouldn't have done that! We should have told you... we had a plan!"

My heart wanted to believe them. I could feel it longing to accept their words-- their existence, but my brain knew it didn't make sense.

"I'm sorry!"

I closed my eyes...

I woke up again. I was at home, on the couch where BonBon and I would usually sit and talk about stuff. Across from me was BonBon, Rosetta, Data, Lance, Clair, Dom, and Luna...

Clair... Dom...

"Are you sure this will work?" BonBon asked Clair, "I think she's waking up..."

"Now or never," Dom glanced at Luna threateningly.

Luna glared back, but let up after a few seconds, "very well..." She sighed.

Her horn lit up with magic. Magic that enveloped Dom and Clair.

"No!" I pleaded weakly, "They're just foals!"

Luna cringed and finished her magic hurriedly. The aura surrounding Dom and Clair vanished.

...A hole opened up in the center of Clair's chest...

"NO!" I dove towards Clair. I landed on her lap.

"It's okay!" She said hurriedly, then stroked my back, "It's okay..."

The hole closed.

I looked up at her in confusion.

"We share one body in two locations. We can both be completely solid, but there only needs to be one of us out at a time. See?" To demonstrate, she faded her arm. She pushed the limb against me, and brought the arm back to reality after it should have gone through me... I felt a push that wasn't unlike a unicorn's magic.

I looked at her arm, comprehending, but still not believing.

Dom smirked, "The only way to hurt us is to hit us both in the exact same spot at the exact same time!"

I stared at him...

"...Look," he sighed, picked me up, and put me on the floor.

I watched as Clair stuck her entire arm through Dom's chest, and Dom stuck his arm through both of Clair's shoulders...

I blinked...

...Slowly, a smile came to my face.

They were alive...

Relief

"You're alive!" I shouted in glee and jumped back on top of Clair. This time I threw my hooves around her and buried my head into her chest. "Oh, I thought you poor foals were dead! That just wasn't fair!"

I sat back in a more natural position. Curiously, I noticed Dom hugging himself exactly where I'd been hugging Clair... Maybe they shared senses too?

I looked back at Clair, "Don't you two ever do that again!"

Clair nodded enthusiastically, then shook her head just as enthusiastically, "Of course not!"

"...It seems I'm no longer needed here," Luna interrupted quietly.

I looked over to her. She smiled sympathetically to herself as she vanished.

--BonBon tackle hugged me out of nowhere, "And don't you ever do that again either, you silly mare." I looked up at my best friend standing over me. Her eyes were wet with tears of relief.

She hugged me. It was actually quite an experience due to the position we were both in. And earth ponies were strong!

"Uh..." I squeaked and struggled to escape, "You're-- You're squeezing me," I wiggled my front hooves in an attempt to grasp something, "Ow."

Finally, she let met go. I had to take a moment to catch my breath.

"Sorry," BonBon grinned sheepishly...

"...So..." Data Crunch spoke up, " What do we do now?"

Everyone glared at him for ruining the moment.

"What?" He tried to make himself smaller.

I sighed; it was a legitimate question... "I think I'll have to head over to Avaira to tell them the news."

"Again!?" BonBon whined.

I turned to her, "I'm sorry, but I'm their ambassador, and it wouldn't be right to keep something like this from them..." I apologized.

BonBon frowned... "I'm coming."

I reared my head back and started to protest, but I saw the look on her face... Perhaps she could sell some of her Bonbons in Avaira...

"Okay. And... Well," I yawned, suddenly realizing how tired I was, "I'm not going today. I'm emotionally exhausted." I kicked Clair's shin.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right!" BonBon shook her hoof at Clair.

"Sorry..." Clair apologized.

BonBon narrowed her eyes at her...

"Well," Rosetta spoke up, "We'll probably need to spread the news of what we saw to Equestria, since I think we were the only ponies to watch the last parts of the Debate. So we're the only ponies who know how Celestia's horn got broken."

"Celestia's horn got what!?" BonBon and I turned and gaped at Rosetta.

"Heh heh..." Clair and Dom tried to sink further into the couch.

"How!?" I turned to them.

"Well," Dom grinned sheepishly, "This fading thing is really good for tricking people."

"We played dead until I saw Celestia wasn't looking at Dom, then he faded out completely and reappeared on top of Celestia, then he kind of... punched her horn off." Clair made gestures as she explained.

"Guh..." I covered my horn with a hoof. Suddenly I felt sick...

If a unicorn ever broke their horn, they would lose almost all of their ability to focus magic, and they would feel pain and disorientation for years. If they broke it near the base, the horn could leak natural magic into the air, leeching the unicorn's life constantly. In the worst cases, it could lead to a coma. Horn injuries were not pleasant experiences.

Rosetta tilted her head. Apparently this was news to her.

It wasn't news to Data though. He covered his horn just like I did.

"Well," Rosetta shrugged, "Anyway, I was thinking--" She looked left and right to her companions "--we we're thinking--" They tilted their heads at her "--that maybe you could wait another day or two, then we could come with you to Avaira." She grinned hopefully.

Her companions continued looking at her strangely.

"Well, I'm okay with it." I glanced at her partners.

"What?" She finally looked at them, "We've never been to Avaira, and It could have a lot of historical significance."

"Oh," Lance said.

"I guess that makes sense," Data said. "I thought you were just leeching for vacations."

Rosetta glared at him.

"...Great," I smiled, "You'll love Avaira."

"Wonderful," Rosetta smiled, then yawned.

"Well," She hopped off of the couch, "I think it's around bed time..." She looked at me compassionately, "You sure you're alright?"

"Of course!" I smiled... "well," I scrunched my face and glanced at Clair and Dom, "I'm still a little peeved..."

"I think we'll be heading back to our hotel then." Rosetta started walking. Her partners nodded their heads in agreement and followed her.

"Um..." Clair said awkwardly...

"What?" I glared at her.

"We arrived somewhat recently... So we kind of didn't get a home yet..." Clair smiled sheepishly. Dom lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Oh," I laughed, "Well, we should have a few extra blankets over there," I pointed my hoof to a nearby closet, "and the couches are free."

Clair and Dom smiled politely, "thanks!" They said in unison.

I smiled back....

...I suddenly felt an absence.

"...Where'd BonBon go?" I spun around in a circle. There was no sign of BonBon.

I heard snoring...

"Somniac," I smirked.

Author's Note

I'll probably submit my own drawings as the section starters sometime later... Probably...

Plutus 21, 3121 AC

Lyra Heartstring's Journal
Plutus 21, 3121 AC

Good Morning Ponyville

I woke up, yawned, and stretched. BonBon was still sleeping, and apparently some time through the night she decided to use me as a teddy bear. I lightly pulled her off me... (1)

Time to make breakfast.

I trotted out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, and made salad sandwiches for me and BonBon. Then I made omelets from Dom and Clair. (I knew humans' diets were pretty similar to griffins'.)

I brought the first sandwhich to BonBon and held it directly in front of her face, hoping the smell would wake her up...

It didn't.

"BonBon!" I yelled quietly... Still no waking.

I set the breakfast down on the nightstand.

"Wake up!" I jumped up on the bed beside her and started hopping.

"Wah!" She panicked, and looked at me grumpily once I stopped, "What?" She rubbed her eyes.

"I made you breakfast," I smiled.

She blinked a couple times, then sniffed out the sandwich on her nightstand.

"Thanks," She smiled lazily.

I hopped off the bed...

I trotted out of my room and towards the human duo sleeping in t couch...

They were certainly hugging it out... What was their relation again?

I narrowed my eyes and sniffed the air...

Well, nothing seemed off.

I prodded Dom with an omelette plate.

He tensed up. Clair hugged him harder.

"...Lyra will protect us..." Clair muttered in her sleep.

D'aww...

...

But letting ponies--er, people--sleep in was boring...

"Breakfast time, sleepyheads!" I yelled. Honestly, I loved doing that.

"Gah!" Dom and Clair started panicking under the bed-sheets.

I stepped out of the way as they fell into a pile on the floor, tangled in their bed sheets. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

They looked over at me in embarrassment once they were somewhat freed, then noticed the omelets. They both smiled in hope and gratitude.

"Are those for us?" Dom asked.

"Mhmm!" I nodded happily.

They eagerly grabbed the plates out of my magic.

"Thanks!" Dom and Clair said in unison.

...I watched them eat for a couple seconds, then noticed somepony was still missing from the meeting.

"Hey BonBon!" I yelled to the bedroom, "Don't be a recluse!"

She groaned... But I could hear the sound of trotting. Soon BonBon was here, with her plate balanced on her head.

We ate contently in silence... I guess we were all satisfied enough that everyone was still okay. Perhaps we agreed we needed a moment of silence to counteract the hectic last few days. Whatever it was, it was comfortable.

Dom and Clair were incredibly polite. They washed their dishes when they finished, unlike some ponies... and Dom thanked me again.

"You already thanked me once," I smirked. "I heard you the first time."

"Uh," Dom shied back, "Sorry."

Clair and I gave him a wry look.

"Well..." I shrugged, "Oh yeah! Do you want to come with me to Avaira!"

Their eyes both widened once reminded of the subject, "Yes!" They practically shouted in unison.

"Goodness," I acted shocked and hurt, but smiled wryly, "You don't have to be that eager to leave Ponyville."

"Well..." Dom frowned and looked off to the side, "We were kind of--"

"Yeah," I interrupted, "It was a joke," I smirked. then I frowned, "You were kind of physically beaten at every turn from what I heard. I'd be surprised if you didn't want to leave."

Dom frowned guiltily. "Well," he shrugged, "what other kind of bea--"

"Hey," I waved my hooves, "What are you looking guilty for?"

"--Uh..." He looked caught. And he looked a bit embarrassed because of it.

"Stop that!" I snapped. Then I laughed a bit.

I saw Clair smile some.

I let the moment last a few seconds longer.

"Anyway," I smiled with a bit less energy than usual, "You guys are coming with me to Avaira, so... make sure to say goodbye to whatever friends you made here."

They nodded solemnly.

Goodbye Ponyville

It was time to say goodbye...

I wasn't like the more privileged unicorns like Twilight Sparkle or Celestia who could send letters via dragon flame. Maybe when I got to a city I could do that... Maybe. They didn't have nearly as many dragons in Avaira...

No, when I said goodbye to my friends, I was saying goodbye... I wouldn't see them for years... And it was heart-breaking to have to say it...

But it was worse not to.

I finally stopped holding the door open and walked outside. (Dom and Clair had left a while ago.)

It was time to see my favorite musical duo.

"Hey!" Vinyl Scratch opened her door and greeted me with her signature tomboyishness.

"Hey!" I tried to smile back, but it didn't quite match my usual smile.

"What's up?" Her smile faded as she tilted her head. She noticed.

"...Is Octavia there?" I asked.

"Nah..." Vinyl frowned and shook her head, "She's playing at a concert now..." She smiled at me, "But what's up? I haven't seen you since that crazy debate! Are you okay?" (2)

"Yeah..." I smiled sadly, "But..." I sighed...

She tilted her head.

"I'll be leaving soon..." I said.

She frowned...

"Well," She sighed, frowning, "It'll be hard performing without the life of the party..." She forced a smile, "But good luck."

She looked down. I could tell she didn't want me to go...

"Dang it!" She choked, "I wanna come with you!" She leaped forward and hugged me.

"You can't..." I hugged her back.

"I know..." She let go and sat back awkwardly. She smiled, "Now I gotta tell Octy she missed saying goodbye to the great Lλra!"

"Oh," I smirked, "don't be like that... Besides, I never agreed to that name"

"Why not!?" She threw her hooves out, "It's awesome!"

"It's also not my name," I gave her a funny look, "I'm not a DJ."

"You totally should be," She laughed. "But nah..." She smiled sadly, "I'll just tell her you said bye..."

I smiled at her one last time...

I knocked on the door to sugar-cube corner.

"Hello?" Mr. Cake said in his trademark corny voice.

"Hi," I answered back sadly... "Is Pinkie here?"

"Uh..." He tapped his chin, "No, I think she's at Twilight's."

I walked off the porch...

"Hello?" Twilight answered, "Oh--"

"Is Pinkie there?" I asked before she could say anything else.

She tilted her head, "Yeah, she is, but--"

"Thanks," I trotted past her, keeping my sad demeanor.

"Oh hey!" Dom waved.

Dom was standing with the famous and irate looking Elements of Harmony while Clair was playing chess with Spike. Clair looked up from her game of chess.

"Hey," I smiled sadly.

"Lyra?" Pinkie asked, shocked, "why are you all mopey dopey"

"I'll be leaving soon," I answered.

Pinkie gasped.

"We'll have to throw you a going away party!"

"There's no time," I said. "I'll probably be leaving tomorrow..."

"Then I need to act fast!" Pinkie dashed out the door. A puff of pink smoke was left in her wake.

"So you said your goodbyes?" I asked Dom.

"I was going to say goodbye to Fluttershy," Dom said, "but she doesn't seem to be..."

...A look of horror slowly spread across his face. Clair had the same expression.

"What?" I asked, "She doesn't seem to be what?"

I tilted my head, "Yellow? A pegasus? On fire? It'd be good if she wasn't on--"

"Shut up for a moment you adorable pony," Dom said without thinking.

Everypony except Rainbow Dash cringed. Interesting...

"Well, what?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

"When Tia fired that beam--"

"Celes-tia," Twilight corrected, "Princess Cel--"

"Shut up," Dom interupted again. "When princess laser-happy lasered her laser, what direction was the laser lasering?"

Clair, Dash, and I giggled. Spike looked uncomfortably amused. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack looked disgusted.

Dash stopped giggling...

She swallowed and looked off in some direction... "Oh no..."

"What?" Rarity asked.

Twilight tilted her head.

Applejack sighed, frustrated, "Since no one else wants to say it... Celetia's--"

"Are we all deciding not to call her princess anymore?" Rarity asked.

"Not after what she did!" Applejack snarled, "A good portion of my farm's been destroyed, so don't y'all be surprised if there are a lot fewer imported goods," she frowned... "But even more of the Everfree was destroyed, and along with it, probably..." She swallowed, "many of the animals Fluttershy speaks to..."

A silence came over the room...

"So," I interrupted it, "who wants snacks?"

Most of the ponies gave me shocked looks.

"Actually--" Dom started.

"Checkmate!" Clair pumped her right arm.

"Wha?" Spike re-examined the chess-board, "aarrrggh..."

"Aww... Don't worry..." Clair patted Spike on the head, "You're much better than I was at you're age--"

"You're two," Dom gave her a strange look.

"What!?" everypony exclaimed at once. That one was new even for me.

Clair glared at him, "Thanks for telling everyone my age... prick."

He shrank back, "Sorry..."

"You're two?" Spike asked, "...this is like being beaten by the Cake twins..."

"Well, I'm a tulpa, and I have access to all of Dom's strategies--"

"How does that work?" Twilight interrupted, curious.

Clair shrugged.

Twilight slumped.

"...Anyway," Dom got up, "I guess we'll be heading over to Fluttershy's"

"Me too!" Rianbow Dash flew down beside him.

"Don't forget us," Twilight said, leading Rarity and Applejack.

"Uh, no offense," Dom held his palm outwards toward Twilight, "but I don't think Fluttershy wants to see you."

"Why not?" She asked, offended.

"Well--" He started.

"Even if you're right," Clair interrupted, "does that matter?" she stood up, "She should at least see her friend. She'll find out whether or not she wants to be seen when she gets there."

Twilight looked back and forth between them, confused. "Why wouldn't she want to see me?"

Dom frowned, "After Celestia fired that laser that destroyed part of the Everfree, you fired a few of your own."

"Oh..." Twilight frowned.

Dom stroked his chin with his finger and thumb in thought...

"Maybe you should give her a gift..." he thought, "maybe medical supplies?"

Twilight glared at him, "well now it's your gift..."

"not really," Dom shook his head, "with your royal status, you could get some of the more advanced healing spells and items."

Twilight blinked... "Fine," she sighed "give me a second..."

She ran upstairs and returned with a small box, "that should do it..."

I leaned toward the box along with everyone else.

"Don't open it," Twilight glared at Dom...

I walked with Twilight's friends over to Fluttershy's house, curious about how things would go...

Rainbow Dash knocked...

Discord opened the door...

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash flew back in surprise, "what are you doing here!?" She flew forward and pushed her muzzle against Discord's.

Discord shied back and held his claws over his heart, "Why, I was just comforting Fluttershy after somebody decided to blow up the Everfree forest!"

Rainbow Dash shied back, "...yeah, okay..." she cringed, "...we kind of just realized that just happened..."

"Very well, come in," Discord shrugged and held the door.

"Thanks!" Dom and I said as I walked past him... It was saddening how little ponies--or griffins for that matter--ever said thank you after they had a door held open for them.

I looked around inside, and noticed Clair hadn't followed. I looked back, she was standing by Discord, looking at him strangely. It was like she had something important to say, but couldn't find the words.

No...

She was gaping and involuntarily holding her hand over her heart as she leaned slightly towards him.

"Uh..." she started shyly.

"Yes?" He asked, "You know I can't hold the door all day..."

No way...

At that point I had to be both cocking my head and jutting it out at them, staring in the most obvious way... but was that really a thing?

Her eyes widened and she shook herself. It looked as if someone dumped cold water on her.

"Uh..." she said, "I just wanted to say: we'll be heading to Avaira sometime soon, and... I just wanted to say goodbye..." She hugged him awkwardly.

"Uh," Discord leaned away from her grip, "there there?" he tried to pat her on her head, but she faded completely out of reality and reappeared a few feet in front of him. He staggered backwards for a second before righting himself.

"Can you come with us?" She smiled up at him hopefully, responding before he could protest about being dropped.

He looked back down at her, then slowly, an evil grin spread across his face. On no, I needed to warn her!

But Clair caught on quick. She frowned, offended. No, she was pissed!

"Don't think you can manipulate me just because I like you," she glared at him, "are you coming or not?"

Discord frowned, "I'll have to stay with Fluttershy for a while longer..."

"But you can visit us..." She pleaded, "you can teleport over to us, or fly over or something."

Discord shrugged, "Uh, sure..."

Clair smiled with glee and hugged him again. Just when he was about to try and use his claws and paw to push her away, she faded out.

"...I know..." I heard her say to someone behind me...

...

"What are you looking at?" Discord narrowed his eyes at me.

"Uh..." I noticed I had been staring, "Nothing!" I said, "Nothing at all..."

I turned back around to look at everyone else. Rainbow Dash was near the ceiling, away from everypony else. She looked like she was rehearsing something.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" I called, "You seem pretty cool, and you don't seem to have a job... Wanna come with us to Avaira?"

Rainbow Dash stopped what she was doing and gave me an offended glace.

"'Don't have a job!?'" She repeated, "I'm ponyville's weather leader! That's like, right next to being the mayor!"

"You are!?" I blinked.

"Hay yes I am!" She almost shouted back at me...

...

Well, things were certainly interesting, but I didn't feel like I belonged; almost none of those ponies were my friends.

I walked back towards the door.

"thanks," I said to Discord, who forgot to close the door.

"Leaving so soon?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I don't really belong here," I answered, "and I need to say goodbye to a few more friends."

"Hmph..." He shrugged, crossed his arms, and closed the door behind me.

I knocked on the door to Note Worthy's house...

"Lyra!" He smiled, "What brings you here?"

"Lyra?" Berry Punch shouted from further inside the house, "Lyra's here?" she ran up.

"Yup," I smiled.

"Lyra!" Berry Punch tackle hugged me, "I thought you got fried from Celetia's--"

"Princess Celestia--" Note Worthy corrected.

"Buck that!" Berry Punch interrupted, "I'm not calling her 'princess' after she fired her death beam that close to Lyra!"

Note Worthy hesitated for a second, then shrugged.

"I'm fine," I smiled.

"Really?" Berry Punch grabbed my face, "because I wouldn't be fine. You just saw two talking animals--"

"Humans," I corrected.

"-- Whatever-- animals get shot in front of you! I'd be shaking for weeks!"

I picked up my hoof and examine it... It was hard to keep it still.

"Well," I said, "I'll probably have some jitters for a while-- And oh yeah," I grinned, "the humans are fine."

"Really?" Note Worthy and Berry Punch said at once.

"Yeah," I grinned, "they used some freaky illusion magic to trick Celestia."

"Really?" They still weren't convinced.

"You'll hear some news about how her horn got broken soon," I smirked.

"Really!?" They looked surprised.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Berry Punch asked, "Like a lot?"

"Yeah, I'd imagine," I cringed and covered my horn, "It hurts just to have these things flicked!"

They both tried to imagine it...

"But that's not why I came here," I frowned...

"...I'll be leaving pretty soon... So I wanted to say goodbye."

"Really?" Berry Punch slumped.

"Aww..." Note Worthy slumped.

"Yeah, I gotta deliver the news to Avaira," I said.

"Oh..." They frowned.

"Yeah..." I started to turn around...

"Wait a second!" Berry Punch stopped me, "You haven't received your goodbye hug!"

I smiled as the pair enveloped me in their warm embrace...

...

"Oh!" Berry Punch let go of me, (I almost fell,) and dashed back into the home, "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Note Worthy called back.

"Got it!" she ran back to the door.

When she came back, she was carrying a large bottle of wine.

"This is from my best batch," She smiled.

I smiled at her, "thanks," then grinned at the beverage, "I think I know exactly where to use this..."

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah," I grinned, "Right after I reveal the news to everygriffin, I'll pop this open to celebrate everything!"

The pair smiled...

"...Take care!" Berry Punch said.

"Good luck!" Note Worthy said...

Nurse Red Heart looked at me, "Another repetitive stress injury?" She looked at me with weary eyes.

"Nope," I shook my head, "I just wanted to say goodbye. I'm leaving soon."

"Really?" She frowned, "Where to?"

"Avaira," I answered, "Did I tell you about--"

"Yes," She interrupted quickly, "You did..."

I looked at her. She looked sad, but she wasn't offering me a hug like everypony else...

So I offered her a hug instead.

I walked back to my house, but something seemed off...

Well, the lights were off...

I opened the door.

Party

Imagine my astonishment when I saw that my house was converted into a rave.

Pinkie and all of my friends were there.

I was impressed. Not about the party, but about the fact that my friends, and only my friends were there. A lot of the time Pinkie either tried to shove the whole town into a party, or just whoever wanted to come.

I walked over to Pinkie.

"Do you have some sort of diagram with everyone's frienships in Ponyville?" I asked, curious how she managed to remember everypony's friends.

"How'd you know!?" Pinkie gasped, smiling, "I just made this huge graph of everyone in ponyville, so whenever somepony needs a party, I can select all of the ears connected to them. That way, everypony has at least two friends, and still as many friends as possible can come!" She grinned.

"Ears?" I tilted my head and scratched my ear.

Pinkie giggled, "No silly," she put her hoof to her chin in thought, "more like circles." She traced a circle with her front hooves, "circles of friends?"

"Oh!" I said, "Then why call it them ears?"

"Cause that's what they're called," Pinkie smiled at me like I said something else silly.

I shrugged, "Well, thanks. I like this a lot more than having all of Ponyville invited," I smiled.

"Thanks!" Pinkie grinned, "But I don't want to keep you from any of your friends," she gave me a toothy smile, "go do fun! I wanna see how it worked out!"

I walked over to Vinyl.

"Hey," she smiled, "it looks like you're not leaving so soon!"

"Yeah," I smiled, "well, I'm still leaving soon, but not immediately."

"Oh yeah!" Vinyl jumped, "Octy should be here," she looked around...

"There!" She pointed her hoof. I looked over and saw Octavia and Pinkie arguing about something...

"Look," Octavia said, "I'm impressed that you managed to travel to Canterlot on such short notice to invite me to a party with my--" She looked over at Vinyl... "--associate. But I don't think I'm needed here; Vinyl doesn't seem to need any help with violins, cellos, or any stringed instruments." she frowned and suddenly narrowed her eyes at Pinkie, "And, I still don't forgive you for ruining my performance at the gala..." She glared.

"You mean that boring performance that I spiced up with my Poney Pokey song?" Pinkie smiled.

Octavia had a look of pure rage in her eyes... It was probably a good thing that I decided to walk over and try to cool things down.

"Hey guys!" I waved.

Octavia caught herself and breathed in and out, calming herself.

"Hey!" Pinkie grinned and waved.

"Oh," Octavia smiled, "hello Lyra. I haven't seen you in a while..." she sighed, "and thanks, I was having a hard time not punching a hole in the pink one's throat."

Pinkie covered her throat with a hoof and backed away.

"Yeah, she can be frustrating sometimes," I shrugged, "but she means well."

Octavia clenched her teeth, "She treated me and my band like some jukebox one would find at a cheap bar at the last gala!"

Pinkie continued backing away...

"She what?" I raised an eyebrow.

Octavia sighed... She looked at me with teary eyes and pointed behind her, "That pink menace came up and made a suggestion for the 'poney pokey', which was tolerable by itself... But then she started insulting many of our guests on stage... and then to top it all off, she grabbed my hoof and... played my cello for me. I swear she nearly broke the thing! --The cello that is."

I turned to glare at the already guilty looking Pinkie before turning back to comfort my friend.

"hah..." She took another calming breath, "it must be this music. I do wish Vinyl would go for something more calming, but that's not really her style."

I shrugged. I didn't really know what to say...

"Sorry, I'm ruining your going away party with my frustrations--"

"No, no..." I shook my head, "It's better to get it out now rather than never..."

She smiled at me in gratitude. I went for a hug, "Even though I didn't see you that often, I'll miss being able to see you..."

"I'll miss you too," I smiled back sadly, "Do your best back in Canterlot!" I grinned, "I wanna hear about Octavia--the greatest composer and cellist ever--and her new ground breaking songs when I come back."

"Well," Octavia smiled bashfully, "I don't know about that..."

I patted her on the back, "Just kidding. Don't overwork yourself, just have fun..."

...The trio of historians came over...

"Hey," Data said to me, "we got the paper out already!"

"really?" my eyes widened in surprise, "That was fast!"

"Friends of yours?" Octavia asked while stepping back.

"Mhmm!" I nodded.

Lance brought out a newspaper and held it in his wing. Octavia and I looked at it...

"Princess Celestia loses her horn in battle with human. Half of Everfree is destroyed..." Octavia read.

"What is this?" She turned to me.

"Oh, it's just a sensationalist title," I rolled my eyes back and grinned, then looked back at her, "Celestia--"

"Princess Celestia," Octavia looked shocked.

I glared at her, "She discharged a laser next to my face, tried to kill two of my latest friends, and destroyed half of the Everfree!" I almost yelled, "I'm not calling her princess after that!"

Octavia took a second to digest the information. She apparently didn't want to believe it... Then again... "...Well, I never did trust her after she ran away from that last gala..."

"...And by latest friends--" She tilted her head "--do you mean those newsponies?"

"No," I shook my head, "Dom and Clair are some pretty nice humans..." I smiled, remembering when they stayed over.

Octavia frowned, "But wait, if they could take on Celestia in a fight and broke her horn, aren't you trusting them a bit quickly? That'd be like Fluttershy taking in Sombra instead of Discord."

I frowned at the comparison, "They don't want to fight, they were pushed into it. And I can help them by helping to make sure fights like that don't happen."

...Seeing that we weren't going to read more than the title, Lance put the newspaper back down, disappointed.

I passed out on my couch after several inane but fun conversations with my friends, and some catching up with Octavia...

Author's Note

(1) Who doesn't live with their best friend, let their best friend cuddle their naked body at night, serve their best friend breakfast in bed, and travel across the world with their best friend...

(2) When writing this, I realized Octavia never really showed up in ponyville

(Written by Dom, edited by Clair.)