Chapter 1View OnlineHelping Out a FriendChapter 12:00 am. Ponyville is fast asleep. Everypony is wound up in their bedsheets, all of them except for one. Twilight Sparkle had been up all night, going over complaints from the citizens, marriage proposals from Canterlot royalty (the day she became a princess these started to flow in like crazy) and thank-you gifts from ponies all over Equestria for defeating Tirek. However, next to her desk, there still was a giant pile of documents, most of them about one thing: Undoing the damage caused by Tirek. They came from everywhere and Twilight was sure that the other princesses had gotten the same amount of help requests. There were letters from Cloudsdale, Appleloosa, Manehatten, Trottingham, Baltimare and Canterlot. And those were only the cities from which more than a hundred letters asking for help. It was understandable that the cities would need help for some weeks but 4 months?! Still, feeling it was her duty, she read each and every one of them and sending a very apologetic refusal to just as many. She really wanted to help these ponies but she couldn’t be everywhere at once. After reading every letter that there was to be read, what took her four more hours, she fell asleep on the spot. She woke up again two hours later, a claw poking her side. She groaned. “What is it Spike? Can’t I get some sleep as well?” “It’s 8 o’clock in the morning so I thought I’d wake you up. Also, even more letters than yesterday arrived.” Twilight looked at the pile of mail, which was around one and a quarter as big as the night before. Accompanied by a groan, her head hit the desk. “I need a vacation.” Suddenly she shot up from the desk. “That’s it! I need some time off!” She ran into her new castle’s cellar, which had been turned into her personal library. All of her books that used to be in Canterlot had been brought here and even some out of Canterlot’s Royal Archives. When Spike entered the room, Twilight already had a pile of books next to her. “But... you’re a princess Twilight. I don’t think you can just take vacation from that. And I don’t think someone who’s not a princess can simply replace you for some days.” Spike was standing in the kitchen now, preparing some breakfast for the two of them. “That’s why I need the person to replace me to be nopony else than me! Now come on, it has to be in here somewhere...” Before Spike could ask how that made sense, Twilight found the recipe she had been looking for. “Here it is! The Swip-Swap potion! If two ponies drink this potion, their minds will swap bodies. This is just what I need! And I actually have all of the ingredients right here. Oh this is going to be great.” With those words she rushed into the room next to the library, her laboratory. Spike was about to go after her but he realised that there probably was nothing that he could do. Twilight was not going to abandon the possible vacation, no matter what he said. He sat down to eat and hoped that Twilight wouldn’t spend the next three days in there, she had done that often enough by now. To Spike’s surprise Twilight came back up twenty four hours later, a vial with a dark-blue potion in her magic grip. “Spike, do you know anybody who would be willing to replace me for a few days?” “Your friends? Rarity and the others?” “No, they have to work hard as well, that wouldn’t be a vacation. It needs to be someone who doesn’t work all day and can take some days off from work.” “What about Lyra?” “Huh? Why her?” “She’s one of the few childhood friends you have, she doesn’t exactly, work and I can’t see her not wanting to be a princess for some time.” “Spike you’re brilliant. Gotta go, get some vacation!” She put the potion into one of her saddlebags, put them on and vanished into thin air.
Chapter 2View OnlineHelping Out a FriendChapter 212:00 pm. Lyra Heartstrings had just woken up from a concert night. Bon-Bon was already at work, she had the whole house for herself. She decided that some cereal would be good for breakfast and sat down to eat. She grabbed a newspaper and read about whatever was happening in Equestria, including the fact that the destruction caused by Tirek was still not fully undone. She finished both her cereal and the newspaper and decided to go out and meet some friends. Then Twilight Sparkle appeared in front of her. “HeyLyrawanttobeaprincessforafewday-” She was not able to continue because a magic bolt hit her in the face. “Twilight?! What the buck? Don’t just appear in front of people, that’s scary!” A very not-moving Twilight stood in front of her. “Twilight? You okay?” “Ndo th spll!” “”What was that?” “Th spll! Ndo t!” “Care to repeat?” “NDO THE SPLL!” “Ohhh! Sorry Twilight.” She stopped her magic and the turquoise aura around Twilight’s body disappeared. “You scared me so much, I didn’t even realise that I used the spell. So, you wanted to say something?” “Yes. Could we go inside? I’d like to keep this between the two of us.” “Ooookay” Lyra stepped aside and closed the door once Twilight had entered. “So, what is it that has to stay between us?” While the words that came out of her mouth were calm, her thoughts weren’t. Her mind was racing about the secrets that Twilight was about to present her. Had something happened that the Elements of Harmony couldn’t undo and she needed help from her? Was she going to play at the next Grand Galloping Gala? Or… was Twilight going to take her in as an apprentice? These and similar questions occupied her thoughts until Twilight finally spoke. “I need vacation. I’m working round about 20 hours a day and even I can’t take that for several months straight.” This left Lyra kind of dumbfounded. She had expected, or at least hoped, that something had happened and that the princess needed her, not that one of her friends came to her to talk about her life. “Well… I see how that can be hard... but I can’t see what’s so wrong with that so that it has to stay secret. Or why you are coming to me out of all ponies with that.” “I’d like you to take my place for a while. With this potion here”, she said as she took the flask out of her saddlebag, “Our minds will swap bodies.” Inside Lyra's mind: Brain: ‘She did just ask that, right?’ Ears: ‘She did.’ Brain: ’J-J-J-J-JACKPOT!´ Back in the real world: At that moment, Lyra was barely able to restrain the urge to scream out her thoughts. “W-Well if you think that I’m up to the job, then I would be more than happy to help out. But what exactly do you plan on doing once we’ve swapped?” “I’d like to actually take a vacation, if that’s okay with you. I’ll pay with my own money, of course. I hope that doesn’t interfere with your private life? I’d only be gone for a week or so.” “No, no, it’s no trouble at all! Bon-Bon’s gone for three weeks for a competition of the best candy manufacturers in Manehatten, so that’s the only place you should avoid.” “Are you sure that you want to do this Lyra? You’ll have to take over all of my duties and act like me as well…” “Don’t worry Twilight, as a loyal subject and even more as an old friend, I’ll happily help you, come Hell or high water.” “Thanks a lot Lyra. Now, let’s do this. We’ll need some cups.” Lyra walked into her kitchen and got two very expensive-looking crystal goblets. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A special occasion deserves special cups.” Twilight shrugged and followed Lyra into the dining room. Lyra laid the goblets on the table and Twilight filled both of them with the potion. Both mares took one of them in their telekinetic grip and clinked them. “To our health!” Then they chugged the blue fluid. Lyra put the goblet down. For a moment or two, nothing happened. Then everything went black.
Chapter 3View OnlineHelping Out a FriendChapter 3If anypony would’ve been close to Lyra’s house when the two drank the potion, they probably would’ve called the guard, since there was a bright blue-purple-ish light beaming out of every window, crack in the walls and the chimney. Lucky for Lyra and Twilight though, nopony was near. When Lyra opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was Twilight’s face, distorted by the cup it was reflected from. Once that her mind was fully working, she pulled her face off of the table and stared at the pony on the other side. There she was, looking at her own body, which now belonged to Twilight. Shortly after Twilight rose as well and stared right back. She was the first one to speak. “This is… interesting. I mean, it felt weird getting wings. Losing them again is even worse.” A shudder went through her body and she shook her head a few times. “So, do you like being an Alicorn?” “Do I like it? Twilight, this is probably the best feeling I’ve ever had! The Wings, the magical power! This is awe-” She suddenly stopped and made a few moves with her muzzle. “New teeth. That’s weird. Now where was I? Ah, right; This is awesome! Thank you so much for choosing me as your… replacement? Representative? What exactly am I?” “Well you’re not a replacement, that would be permanent. Representative is also wrong…” Suddenly, a smirk crept onto Twilight’s face. “I think you’re an impersonator. Sooooo, you don’t want anybody to find out about this. The last one who impersonated a princess got blasted out of Canterlot.” Then the smirk vanished again and Twilight shook her head. “I think you’re rubbing off on me. So. During my time away, you’ll have to take over all of my duties. Not only as a princess but also as a friend.” “You can count on me Twilight.” “If you need help, Spike is aware of the situation. He’s the only one though. And I’d like it if it would still be like that when I come back. Please, nopony, absolutely nopony is allowed to find out about this. Not my friends, not the princesses, nopony at all!” “Fine with me. But why is that so important to you?” “Imagine what would happen if anypony found out! Twilight Sparkle, the Alicorn that couldn’t take it! Celestia would hate me, my friends would abandon me and the masses would laugh at me! You can’t allow that to happen. Under NO circumstances!” Lyra gave her a deadpanned look and raised a hoof. “I don’t think-” “Alright. I’ll be on my way now. If you need to contact me, Spike can send letters to me. I’ll see you in a week!” And with a magical ‘poof’ she was gone. For a moment Lyra just stood there. Then she let out a scream of happiness that echoed over half of Ponyville. Carrot Top, who just so happened to walk by, dropped all of her carrots and jumped a little bit at the sound. Concerned about the fact that there were screams coming out of Lyra’s house, she knocked and entered. “Lyra? Are you alr- Oh, princess Twilight! I didn’t expect you here. Where’s Lyra? ” “Lyra just left… for holidays! she’s taking off a few days and asked me to maybe watch over her house a little bit.” “Oh. Well you as a princess must be very busy and while it was nice of you to help Lyra, I could watch the house.” “You would do that? Oh thank you so much. I do have a lot of work up my sleeve at the moment. I’ll take my leave now. Thanks again Carrot Top!” Inside Lyra’s mind: Alright, time to test this magical power! Teleportation should be a good start. Concentrate… Concentrat-WHOOOAAA In the real world: Just as Carrot Top was about to ask what the sound was, Lyra’s body was engulfed in a very bright light and ‘puff’ she was gone. This left a, once again, startled Carrot Top in Lyra’s Dining Room. Meanwhile, in Twilight’s new castle, an equally bright light appeared and Lyra materialized there. For a moment she just stood there. Then she fell over. “That was awesome! I wanna do that again!” “That’ll have to wait until later.” Lyra instantly got up and turned around. That had not been Spike, nor any of Twilight’s friends. “Who is there? Show yourself!” On command a figure emerged literally out of the shadows, slowly taking form, until a figure around twice as tall as herself stood in front of her. She gasped. “Discord!” “The one and only.”, the draconequus said, as he sat into a chair made out of honey. “So,” His expression got serious and Lyra realised she had done something very, very wrong. “Explain yourself.” Author's Note ,
Chapter 4View OnlineHelping Out a FriendChapter 4“W-What do you mean? I don’t have anything to ‘explain’. What would make you think that?” “Oh please.”, Discord said as he got up, slurped away his chair and started circling around Lyra. “Changing bodies? That’s got chaos written all over it. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? So tell me-”, he snipped once and a Deerstalker hat appeared on his head, a pipe in his mouth and a rather big magnifying glass in his hand, which was promptly pointed at Lyra ”-who are you?” Well done Lyra, well bucking done! 5 minutes into this and you already screwed up. “I-I’m Lyra Heartstrings. I live here in Ponyville.” “Aha. So, tell me Lyra, why are you in Twilight’s body?”, he asked as he started circling her. “Twilight asked me to swap with her for a week, so that she could take some days off.” Discord, who was standing behind Lyra now, stopped instantly and bend his neck and head over her body until he looked into her eyes again, then the rest of his body snapped back into an anatomical acceptable position. “And why would I believe that?” Discord narrowed his eyes until they were small slits as he continued to glare at her. Come on, come on! there has to be some way out of this that doesn’t have me reduced to pink pony princess particles. Think ,think, think Lyra! Spike! Spike should know! “Spike! Twilight told me that she informed Spike before she left!” As if on cue, the small dragon came down one of the staircases connecting the throne room to the rest of the castle. He looked rather surprised at seeing Twilight and Discord. “What’s going on down here? Why are you already back Twi… wait. Are you Twilight? Or are you Lyra?” Lyra nodded frequently at that, then suddenly Discord teleported in front of Spike. “Tell me, Spike is it true that Twilight Sparkle went on vacation and chose ‘Lyra Heartstrings’ as her representative ?” Discord asked, now leaning over Spike, who gave him a deadpan expression. “Yeah. She did. Also, what are you doing here?” At that, Discords equipment disappeared and he teleported towards the exit. “What I am doing here is community service. Whilst Celestia herself has probably forgiven me already, her little ponies probably haven’t, so she had to ‘sentence’ me to do some good for Equestria. I am also not allowed to use my magic, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I just couldn’t let this opportunity pass to play a prank.” He bucking knew. Of course. It’s Discord. Of course he knew that I was telling the truth from the beginning. He just played with me. Aaaarghhhh. Now I let Twilights secret out for nothing. Or wait, did he know that as well? “Don’t worry though,” Discord said as he placed his paw over his chest,” your little secret is perfectly safe with Discord.” And with that, he puffed away. Lyra and Spike sighed in unison. “So, now that that’s over i guess it’s time to introduce you to your princess duties,” Spike said and turned towards another staircase. “Follow me.” It can’t be that hard, right? Nah. There’s nothing that I can’t handle. At least not with these new, super-awesome princess powers She followed Spike deeper into the castle. A good hour later “How did Twilight survive being a princess?!? This is unbearable! I’ve worked for Celestia-knows how long and this damned pile of paperwork hasn’t diminished in the slightest! There has to be some way to do this faster!” A very desperate looking Lyra turned to Spike who was dusting the room. “Please tell me that there’s some faster way than doing all of this paper by paper!” Spike stopped dusting and turned towards her. “Listen Lyra, that pile right there is the reason that Twilight wanted a break. Unless you’re very lucky, the same amount of paper is going to be in again tomorrow. Twilight would work for hours and hours without taking break just to be able to keep up. If there was another way, I’m pretty sure she would’ve found it.” Lyra goaned and let her muzzle collide with the table she was working at. This is definitely not what I signed up for. I can really see why Twilight wanted vacation. Maybe there’s some way out of… No. I told Twilight that I’d replace her and if I didn’t think about the duties that would come with it, then that’s my own fault. I just hope that I can do even only a small part of the work that Twilight can do. Lyra rose from the table and breathed in and out several times. She then proceeded to start working again, this time far more motivated.
