Dragons Can't Play Music

Lyra awoke to a tremendous feeling of heartburn. Well, not so much heartburn as a intense burning in her belly. Her eyes shot open in the dark expanse of a room. She didn't have the luxury of pondering how she came to be in this new place, though.

"Bathroom..." She thought aloud."Oh, buck! I'm gonna-gonna"

She curled over the bed and blew a flame at the floor, expelling a letter in the plume.

"W-what?"

She picked up the letter and unfurled it, which revealed two tickets and a short letter from none other than the Princess of the sun.

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

I am ever so pleased that you have decided to join Princess Luna and I during the Royal Music Festival. Luna was most pleased at the prospect of continuing discussions of your recent Transmution attempts. She was concerned, however, at the recent increase in distortive influences your assistant has brought in the more recent experiments.

She believes that it may be most prudent to relocate the study to Canterlot, so as to prevent further change to Spike's constitution. I did not wish for this letter to be all business, so I took the liberty of sending Surefire and Fleet Rain to retrieve Spike and yourself for the aforementioned Festival. We eagerly await your arrival.

Princess Celestia

Lyra read the letter over and remember the Festival, or more precisely, the memories surrounding the Festival. She groaned as she rose out of the bed. She walked calmly over to the door on the other end of the room and opened it, allowing the natural light to flow into it. Lyra realized as she exited the room that she was a Twilight's. For what reason, she wasn't certain; but when she saw Twilight and bonbon sitting together in the center of the Library, she grinned nonetheless.

Bonbon turned towards Lyra and frowned. Lyra frowned back, but more out of confusion than sadness. Lyra then turned to Twilight, who wore the exact same expression as Bonbon. After what seemed like an eternity, Bonbon motioned for Lyra to come closer.

"Are you feeling any better, hon?" Bonbon asked.

"Fairly good, though my magic seems to acting up. I swore that I blew a magic scroll out of my mouth, like Spike. It was even a letter from Princess Celestia, no less! Oh yeah, here you go Twiight, you must have left this on the floor or something."

She went to levitate the scroll from the room, when she realized that nothing was happening. She tried again, but still nothing happened. She looked back at her friends, their expressions worsening.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Twilight asked.

"Y-yeah, why do you keep asking?" Lyra flashed a pained smile at them.

Twilight approached her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"I don't really know how to say this, Lyra, but you-"

Twilight was interrupted by a crash from inside the kitchen, followed by a purple stallion stumbling through the door.

"Spike! are you alright?" Twilight ran over to him.

"Yeah," the stallion answered, "i'm just getting used to this whole magic thing."

Lyra however, took this opportunity to test just how far her mouth could drop. She pointed at the stallion and was just about to ask who in the hay that was, when she noticed something.

Her hoof had little nubs coming out of them. Upon closer inspection, she found that she could move the nubs at will. She knew that there was a word for these appendages, but she couldn't place what exactly they were.

"You having fun with my claws?" The stallion asked.

"That's what these are!" Lyra exclaimed with jubilance. She then realized what he meant.

'Somehow, Spike and I switched places,' Lyra thought as she placed a claw to her head. Everything about the morning suddenly made sense.

"Twilight," Lyra looked at the mare shakily, "how do we fix this?"

Twilight looked at Lyra morosely, "Well, there lies the problem, Lyra. I don't really know how to fix this because I don't really know what's been done. For all we know, this could be permanent."

Lyra just stared at the purple mare, unable to come up with a solid thought. Her body had completely seized at the revelation that a simple mistake will now cost her her entire way of being, so to speak. In her flurry of emotion, she ran over to Bonbon and clutched her tightly, unable to bear the thought of not being able to return to a normal pony life again.

Lyra noticed that Bonbon wasn't hugging back, and when she released her grip, she realized why. Bonbon had been knocked out by the sudden introduction of a dragon chest to her face. Lyra held Bonbon and carried her over to the couch.

"To be fair," Twilight said, as Lyra turned to her, "she did need some rest. She was up all night with me trying to peice together what happended."

~~~~~~

Lyra slumped into one of the remaining chairs as Twilight and Spike looked over the contents of the letter that they had received. Lyra tried to listen in on the hushed conversation they were having, and what she heard was troubling to say the least.

"...Twilight, you know we can't show up to that with me looking like this," Spike said, "Luna would be beside herself."

Twilight scratched her horn in frustration, "I know, but she'll be furious if we do nothing."

"Well...we can send a letter explaining that I'm sick and can't make the festival, so you can go alone." Spike offered.

Twilight groaned again, "I still have to explain to Luna that we need to fix this, so that solves nothing."

Lyra was listening to both sides of the hushed argument, when a strange idea popped into her head. "Twilight?"

"Yes, Lyra?"

"What if; bear with me here, Spike and myself can both go to Canterlot along with you and we tell Luna that Spike accidently had his scales recolored, and that you brought this stallion here," she pointed to spike, "as an apprentice to you studies."

Twilight pondered at the suggestion and proceeded to levitate a quill and some paper to write upon. Lyra and Spike waited anxiously as she kept slashing at revisions and edits of her notes.

After a few minutes of head-scratching from Twilight, she motioned for Lyra to come over.

"Do you remember this morning, when you said you saw a flame come out of your mouth?"

Lyra nodded. "Can you try to recreate the feeling for me?" Twilight asked.

Lyra closed her eyes and thought back to that morning. The burning sensation began to resurface as she focused on them. Before she could tell Twilight to move, her eyes shot open and a burst of purple flame shot forth, entraping Twilight's letter within it.

"Interesting," Twilight pondered, "Your flame seems to be a different hue from Spike's. I wonder if it...." She began to mumble in her own little science language as she trotted back to Spike.

"Spike, you and Lyra are going to Canterlot. I am staying here to keep testing some...things," her eyes shifted nervously, " and make sure you agree with whatever Luna tells you, okay?"

Spike shifted his head slightly, "Uh, sure Twi...but if you don't mind my asking, why aren't you-"

There was a knock at the door that interupted Spike.

"That would be for you two." Twilight chirped, "now get a move on.Come on." Twilight was in the process of pushing Spike and Lyra out the door, despite their protests.

"Twi-Twilight, just answer the bucking quest...ion." Spikes shoulders fell as the door slammed shut behind them.

Lyra chuckled nervously. "I guess she did want some sleep, huh?"

~~One Long Trip Later~~~

Lyra and Spike stepped off the carriage at the steps of  The Canterlot Philharmonic Theater. Spike seemed to be unaffected by the long air-travel; but Lyra, having not been a Pegasus by nature, was not used to the unique trip. HEr vision was swimming as Spike guided her to the double doors.

Spike went to open the door, but found that they were locked. Confused, he turned to look at the position of Celestia's sun.

"Miss Lyra, do you have any idea when the concert was supposed to begin?"

Lyra shook her head a few times, " NO, I don't think dog's are concerned about social begging."

Spike just chuckled at the Applejack-like answer. Lyra again shook her head to clear her ears, and Spike repeated the question.

"Uhm, I think it doesn't start until sunset." She looked at the sky. "I guess that means we have some hours to kill huh?

~~~~~

Spike and Lyra were walking down the main street of Canterlot, when Spike noticed that a bright sign occluded their view of the rest of the street. They weren't the only ones, and soon the whole street seemed to gather around the sign. No sooner did the owner of the sign appear did Spike disappear behind Lyra.

Before Lyra could ask what spooked him, an illustrious voice filled the street.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts! I welcome you to the grand opening of Carousel Boutique a la Canterlot!" A Unicorn mare stepped out from lights, nearly blinding the crowd with her pristine white coat. Lyra realized after the initial ocular shock that the mare was none other than Rarity.

Miss Rarity was scanning the crowd for Mr. Fancy Pants, who was supposed to show for the opening like he promise. As she looked, her eyes came upon a scaled figure among the rest of the crowd.

'I do believe that that is...no it can't be...is it?' Rarity stepped forward through the crowd and approached Lyra.

"Spikey Wikey, is that you?" Rarity asked Lyra quizzically. Lyra was caught off guard and almost ried to correct Rarity, but a sharp jab from Spike reminded her otherwise.

"Uh-uh, yeah it sure i-is," Lyra tried to pull off a 'Spike'-like voice. Hopefully Rarity was buying it.

"Uh-huh..." Rarity slowly said.

'Something is up, my fashion senses are tingling,' Rarity thought. "And who, praytell, is this young stallion?" She pointed at Spike lightly. Spike, on the otherhoof was not to thrilled with being thrust into the spotlight by his crush. He quickly tried to hide behind Lyra again.

"Aw, he's a shy one isn't he," Rarity giggled, "He almost reminds me of....Uh, why don't you two come inside." She ushered the two inside and locked the door behind her. When she caught her breath, she looked again at the two before her and tried to collect her thoughts. When nothing solid came to her, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"S-spike, is that you?" This time she pointed at the correct pony. When he nodded, she nearly fainted at the revelation. Lyra and Spike exchanged worried glances. Rarity regained her composure and began to pace around the room rapidly.

Rarity paused in front of the two and proceeded to take measurements of the two. Lyra and Spike looked at each other and then back to Rarity.

"What are you doing, Rarity?" Spike finally asked. Rarity looked up at the mention of her name.

"Well...to be honest, darling; I am not allowed to tell you. Twilight's orders. Though I thought that the letter was just some weird joke...."

"What letter?" Lyra asked nervously.

"Wha-nothing, darling. Absolutely nothing...now how about we get you two something to eat, hmm?"

Spike and Lyra's stomach's both growled at the proposition. "That does sound like a good idea." Spike said.

"Then it's settled!" Rarity chirped. "Take these tickets to the Floure Basil down the street. i was going to ask Fancy Pants if he wanted to accompany me, but...no I can't be sappy, just go."

Lyra and Spike looked at Rarity for a moment before she pushed them back outside and left them with the tickets and their thoughts.

~~~~~

Lyra and Spike took the opportunity to collect their appetites and their thoughts. As they walked to the restaurant, Lyra decided to fill the time by asking Spike why he was avoiding Rarity.

"For a dragon who is so focused on his crush, he sure turns into a Fluttershy at the sight of her."Spike looked up at her. " Does that happen often, or were you embarrassed to be seen with somepony as lovely a me?" She flashed a goofy grin.

Spike laughed a little at the comment. " Haha, no it's not really like that. Ah-not to say that you aren't pretty or anything, but, ah, um, yeah... anyway. I just didn't want her to be disgusted that her little Spike had turned into some common pony." He shrugged his shoulders at the last comment.

"At least you have Bonbon." Spike said. Lyra stopped where she was, and Spike took notice.

"What's wrong?"

Lyra looked at Spike wistfully, "Let's just say things haven't been going so well on my end either..."

~~A few weeks back~~~

Lyra was sitting on her couch, adjusting the tuning on her lyre, when Bonbon burst through the door. Lyra jumped and dropped the lyre, and was going to pick it up, when Bonbon grabbed her and started to furiously make-out with her. Lyra started to lose her breath, but somehow she managed to pick bonbon off of her.

"hahh, now I'm all for romance, but what's going on?" Lyra asked, breathless.

Lyra then realized the source of the stupor on Bonbon's breath, "A-are you drunk Bonnie?"

" No! I-I mean yeah...," bonbon swayed lightly on her hind hooves before settling on the wall beside her. Lyra had never actually seen Bonbon this intoxicated, but that didn't mean she had never seen her like this.

Bonbon swayed from her still position to go for another attack at Lyra's lips, but Lyra skillfully dodged her, and proceeded to haul the now unconscious mare upstairs to her room. Before she was completely in bed, however, Bonbon whispered something she couldn't quite understand but she caught the last of it with a choked sob.

Mrph...hmmb...so sick and...tired of us..."

~~~~~~~~

"Oh," was all that Spike could muster. He had never had to console anypony besides Twilight, and even then, it was never anything romance related. "Soo...," he continued, "why are you still with her?"

Lyra felt hurt at the question, and was about to reprimand Spike, when she thought for a moment about what he meant.

'Why am I still with Bonnie? It's not like we share a romantic connection anymore, hay it feels like I was the only one who was trying from the get-go, but still...' Lyra sat down in front of the resturant and took a deep breath to concentrate.

"Spike, it's not as easy as it is with you and Rarity. You just have a crush on her, and crushes can change from day to day; But me and Bonnie, well, we are still together because we have built our lives around each other and it would be impossible to change that now..."

she looked over at Spike glumly, and her returned the gaze. It seemed like an eternity that they sat in fron tof the restaurant with a cloud of doom looming over them.

"May I ask why you have decided to become the new doormats for my restaurant?"

Lyra and Spike snapped out of their gaze and looked over at the griffon wearing a sharp black tuxedo. "Shall I repeat myself, or would you like to come inside and order?"

They both blushed and quickly ducked inside the restaurant.

~~~~~~~

Lunch wasn't as awkward as Lyra thought it would be. Spike actually made for some interest table company, and he was surprising well rounded in the musical arts, but she figured that he must have picked that up from living in a library for so long.

Lyra idly twirled some of her hayseed salad with her fork, when she realized something. She really liked having claws, or more specifically, the feeling of claws. The depth and texture of something in her paw, the smoothness or roughness of something or somepony. Lyra glanced aimlessly at Spike, wondering if that's what he felt from day to day, or if he just took it for granted like she did with magic.

Spike noticed Lyra's prying eye and blushed awkwardly. He was used to stare AT ponies, not the other way around. He took a bite of his hayburger and shuffled in his seat. He normally didn't act this nervous around other ponies, but something felt different in his chest. 'I think I'm getting heartburn.' He thought glumly.

~~~~~~

They arrived at the theater just as the Princesses made their we to the door. Lyra was not- scratch that, she would never be, in a million years, prepared to meet the Princesses.

"Oh my. Spike, whatever happened to your scales?" Celestia staggered over to Lyra and brushed a hoof on her scales. Lyra could feel the fire in her belly reach her throat at the action, but somehow managed to keep it down. Celestia kept brushing at the scales, unaware of the rising heat in both Lyra's belly and in her face. It wasn't until Luna shooed Celestia off.

"I am terribly sorry for my sisters behavior. She has been, quite inebriated, since we recieved news from Twilight regarding a new pony in her life."

Lyra looked over at Spike, who just shrugged, "I was afraid you wouldn't know. It seems that we don't know either. It is troubling sister dearest the most..."

Luna shuddered at the memory of the cider strewn halls and the unconscious guards who had been tasked in calming their benevolent princess.

"Anywho," Luna continued, "I do have a bit of good news, though. We have found a way to fix your condition, all we need to do is-erm, well, satisfy a few 'conditions' first."

Spike and Lyra both grinned, but at  the same time felt a little hollow. Lyra was the first to shrug this off though. "What exactly are these 'conditions', Princess?"

Luna shuffled nervously at the question, and was about to motion for them to proceed inside instead, but as it turned out they already had. They were getting pretty used to the whole 'move along' routine.

~~~~~

Lyra and Spike were just about to make their way up to the Princesses booth, when a pony called out for them. When they turned around, a monster made of bits of clothing was chasing them. Before they could run however, the monster dropped a few bits of fabric and revealed the Rarity underneath.

Rarity stopped in front of the two, her haggard breath echoing throughout the auditorium. Lyra and Spike waited for her to catch her breath.

"I-ha-I wanted to give you both these while you were at my boutique, but I just had so many orders that I- well, that doesn't matter now, does it darlings."

She handed the dresses to the both of them and they started to again make their way to the booth; but Rarity stopped Spike to have a quick word.

"I didn't want to say this in front of her, but I think that body swapping is the most romantic thing I have ever heard of for a couple. A little extreme, but still very romantic. Congratulations."

Rarity left him alone in his thoughts. 'Rarity thinks that me and Lyra are a-a..." Spike's mind came falling from around him as he ran to the bathroom, tears streaking his eyes.

~~~~

Lyra hadn't noticed that Spike was missing, but she did notice the conductor of the symphony approach her, however.

she feigned a smile while internally trying not to buck his teeth out for causing so much frustration over the past day.

"Are you the Lyrist that the Princess was mentioning?"

Lyra went wide eyed at the mention of her talent, but maintained an air of calm.

"Uh, yeah. I've practiced it a time or two? why do you ask?"

The conductor raised a hoof to his head and took off his glasses in frustration, "It seems that our replacement for the Lyrist has caught the flu, and I am out one musician. I WAS going to just have the orchestra postponed to a later night, but Luna advised me of a dragon that could play the Lyre. You seem to fit that bill. What do yah say?"

Lyra squeaked internally at the opportunity, but politely offered her paw, "I would be honored."

~~~~~~~~

Spike was sitting in one of the stalls in the bathroom, when he started to hear the music from the orchestra. His ears pricked up sharply at the somber melody of the piece.

'Sigh, it's like they are playing just for me.' he thought glumly. 'now if only they could play a piece that actually made me feel better, then-'

He sat up at the solitary sound of a lyre being played. He could quite tell exactly if there was only one Lyrist playing, due to the fact that he was still in the bathroom, but for some reason; that melody seemed to bring him out of that stupor.

He calmly placed a hoof on the doorway and walked out of the bathroom

As he continued to walk to the auditorium, he could hear as the music's tempo began to shift from slow and steady pace, to a rapid and jubilant frenzy, prompting Spike to run down the hall and into the auditorium. The lights blinded him momentarily, but when his focus returned, he spotted the source of the melody.

~~~~

Lyra was just about to sit in her row, when the conductor came up next to her yet again, and prodded her towards the front of the stage. At first, she didn't quite understand why she wasn't being placed with the other stringed musicians. But when she saw the lone seat at the front of the stage one word came to her mind.

"Buck..."

She usually didn't swear, but it seemed that this was an appropriate time. Here she was, a dragon Lyrist, playing in front of a crowd of thousand, most notably the Princesses; and she had little to no idea how to play without the accompaniment of magic.

She looked desperately for help from anypony, but sadly, she found none. All she could do now was pray that the performance drowned out her own playing.

As she sat, the lead violinist started the first number. The tempo was melancholic at best, and it made Lyra's heart ache. Music always had a particular way with Lyra. It was almost as if it only played when her heart wanted to say something, so she naturally became attuned to it. Unconsciously, her claws started to strum the notes in time with the rest of the symphony, and when she finally became aware of it, the rest of the band already stopped playing. The silence went unheeded by Lyra, who continued despite the song ending. In her mind, she was playing her emotions out.

She saw in front of her the scenes of her life play out. Her first day of school...her first dance...her cutie Mark appearing...meeting Bonbon...their first date...their marriage...moving in together...Lyra home alone constantly...Bonbon away and always returning home drunk...the night's staying up crying...the lonely days...the heartbreak.

Lyra could see it all play out in her mind. Her claws matched the rhythm, and as her heart steadily became more upset, so did her music. The music kept rising higher and higher, faster and faster, the strings becoming red-hot as Lyra began to sweat. Smoke was starting to plume out of her nose, and her wing began to beat rapidly. Suddenly, something snapped. Lyra didn't no if it was her heart, her mind, or a string; but something finally snapped open. Like a warm breeze in Lyra's cold constitution, she suddenly felt lighter.

Then she collapsed on the floor, and the curtains fell in front of her, ending the show. Applause rang throughout the stage.

~~~~~~

Spike was too busy to applaud the performance. He raced down the steps to the front of the stage and leapt through the curtains. Other members of the orchestra, along with the conductor, were all trying to wake the unconcisous dragon.

Spike galloped over to her side and bent his head down to check if she was breathing. When he didn't hear anything, he began to panic.

"Worry not, young Spike. She is fine, but you must listen to me carefully if you both want to return back to your normal forms." Spike looked up and saw Princess Luna striding up to them. The group quickly dispersed at the Princesses arrival, leaving only Spike and Lyra.

"I-I don't under..stand," Spike looked back down at Lyra and then back at the Princess. She just nodded at Lyra, and whispered, "Follow your heart, Spike. You can feel it, can't you."

Spike closed his eyes and cleared his mind. He tried to listen to his heart, but all he could hear was that melody...that haunting melody. Suddenly, everything became clear. He wasn't sad that Rarity shot him down, or that he was misunderstood as being an item with Lyra. He was overjoyed that he had this opportunity to spend this short amount of time with this wonderful mare. When he opened his eye's, he smiled gently.

"Okay, princess. I know what to do."

He leaned down and gently brushed her cheek...

~~~~~

Lyra felt warm suddenly as the world came back into view. The first thing she realized was that she could feel her hooves and her horn again. She was overjoyed to be back in her original form, albeit a little puzzled as to how that came to be. She was puzzled for a moment at the intrusion of purple and green in her eyes, but she decided to she shrug it off. Whatever it was that was making her feel warm wasn't going to be interrupted by such trivial things.

The warmth in her body seemed to be emanating from her mouth; and when she found out why, she went wide-eyed and panicked. There on the stage, in front of the Princess no less, Spike was kissing her. At first, she just laid their in shock, but when she remembered all of those things she felt during the performance...during the performance....Bonbon.

Lyra pushed spike off of her and ran out of the auditorium. She did find it a little awkward to be back in her original body , but she managed to make it back outside. She dashed off towards the train station... towards home.

"Lyra! Wait!" Spike called behind her, but his calls fell on deaf ears. Luna walked up behind him. "Why did I do that? I barely even know her, and here I am smooching on her like some modern day Casanova."

Luna smiled cryptically, "Well, this ordeal is not entirely your fault, nor is it hers. You see...."

~~~~Present Day~~~~

"Lyra, please listen to reason."

"Absolutely not," Lyra exclaimed. "It's your fault that we got all mixed up. It's your fault that you kissed me. It's your fault Bonbon's been cheating on me!" Lyra broke down into a fit of sobs.

Spike sat on the bench and just stared at the mare.

"Bonbon cheated on you?"

Lyra looked up at him warily, " Yeah. When I came home that night, I found Bonbon in bed with Roseluck. it broke my heart, Spike. And what's worse is that she has apparently been going behind my back for months now. I feel so u-used."

Spike sat back on the bench and closed his eyes. He tried to put himself in Lyra's shoes. After the whole ordeal as of late, it wasn't actually that hard. He could understand the kind of heartbreak and torture she must be going through. although he personally had never experienced that kind of heartbreak, he surmised that it was probably the same as when he found that Rarity approved of his 'relationship' with Lyra that night.

He opened his eyes and looked over at Lyra, when was shaking from her crying.

"What happened that night...it's not your fault."

"Well, no duh." She spat.

"But technically, it's not really my fault either; at least that's what Luna told me."

Lyra looked up at the dragon incredulously, "How can what you did that night not be your fault?"

Spike looked pensively out into the darkness, "Well, as it turns out, there was something in that mix was something Twilight was brewing up that, well, had some unintended side-effects when mixed with your magic."

"The potion itself was a sort of hybrid between and love potion and a truth serum. What we felt when we were switched was technically not our feelings at the time," Lyra cocked her head slightly, "But, at the same time, they were. What I mean to say is that when I was hit by your spell, the biggest thing that was going through my mind was how I wished that I had a relationship like I thought you and Bonbon had. all the spell did was amplify those feelings. I assume it did the same to you, as well," Lyra nodded," Luna also happened to mention that the spell could only be broken if the two affected by the spell consummate their feelings for each other with a kiss. Cheesy I know, but still."

Lyra looked downcast, which confused Spike. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy that it was just the spell making you act funny?"

"That's just it, Spike. You just said that all those feeling were fake. And I would be happy, but to be honest, when you kissed me; that was the most alive I've felt in a looong time," she drew out the word for emphasis, " so if you are telling me that what we had there was only a spell, then I really don't feel like cheering much."

Spike sat there and mulled over what she had said. It's true that there was a spell that was making them act funny, but was that really the whole reason? Even now, Spike could feel a knot in his chest whenever Lyra spoke. It felt a thousand times stronger than any time Rarity spoke to him, so surely that can't be a fabrication...

"I have an idea then," Spike said suddenly. "What if we started seeing each other...you know, as more than friends?"

Spike mentally kicked himself at how lame he had just sounded, but he figured that it was easier to just be out with it and not skirt around the whole issue.

The whole park seemed to have gone still as Lyra thought. After awhile, Spike started to get out of his seat, feeling defeated.

"Okay..."

Spike sat back down, "I'm sorry, what?"

"...I said okay..." Lyra leaned over on him and fell asleep. Spike grinned a little, and fell asleep as well.

~~~~~

Luna finished watching the two as she chuckled quietly, "I told Twilight that would work. Thou worried over nothing..."

"Yes yes, you we right. Now can you get to bed? Morning's almost here," a mare said as she crawled into bed next to Luna.

"Anything for you, my little Twilight."

Author Note: HHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!