Lyre's Gambit

by 1FunnyFox

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Mystery, Bon-Bon, Adventure, Pinkie Pie
Length: 16631

Lyra has been acting strange and Bon-Bon wants to know why. What she uncovers will set off a chain of events where with the help of Spike, Pinkie, Twilight and Rainbow Dash they must persue and uncover the secrets of Lyra Heartstrings.

Lyra Heartstrings is a mare with a secret. As it comes to light it will test
Bon-Bon's faith in her friend as she struggles to uncover the truth and learn a secret over a thousand years in the making. Bon-Bon will need to join forces with Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike as they attempt to find Lyra and the answer to the question that keeps becoming more complex. Who is Lyra Heartstrings?

Published 2015-05-09 16:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-10 14:01:43 UTC

A curious occurrence

There were a variety of things that Bon-Bon was aware of that made Lyra different. Her posture when seated was a source of constant bewilderment to the mare. It couldn’t have been comfortable and yet she consistently adopted that legs on the floor back straight approach that she had yet to see duplicated by anypony else. Her magic was a well of weirdness onto itself she had slowly realized. She knew magic, a lot of it and yet she never showed off, never devolved into lectures on it. When she had asked around town how strong Lyra was magically nopony had any response other than “I’ve never seen her use any fancy magic” Yet she had. Lyra knew at least a number of obscure spells. She had questioned Twilight on it once, cloud walking and teleporting were fairly difficult spells as it turned out. To say Bon-Bon was curious about her roommate was an understatement, she never really discussed where she was from. She arrived the same day Twilight had to the Summer Sun celebration but other than that she never talked about her past. She kept mostly to herself but was always friendly. The issue had only really started a few days ago. There was a strangeness and oddity that seemed to follow Lyra around and before now it had only been background noise, now however it took center stage.

Three Days Ago

“Lyra I’m back! I picked up some of that banana bread you like!”

Bon-Bon called out as she deftly shut the door with a rear hoof. The entrance was nothing spectacular and most of the small house followed this trend. The couch was a chocolate brown affair that had saggy springs and a busted back. This did little to detract from its comfort however as one could quite easily sink into it with nary a thought. Bon-Bon cast the couch a glance as she made her way to the kitchen, saddlebags loaded down and a slight spring in her step. She was quite excited for today. It would be the running of the leaves soon, the weather held a certain nip more and more and she had actually for a moment today regretted not bringing her sea green scarf, a gift from a particular unicorn. Bon-Bon had always enjoyed the running of the leaves and Lyra was always happy to attend it as well, she looked forwards to any time spent with the mare. It was now that Bon-Bon realized Lyra hadn’t shown up yet, odd, she had mentioned banana bread, one of Lyra’s favourites. Removing her saddlebag and placing it atop the countertop she left the kitchen intent on tracking down her roommate.

Her room had been empty, as had the washroom and she passed the living room on her way in. This left exactly one place left for her to hide, her “workshop” as she referred to it. After a few weeks of living with Bon-Bon Lyra had asked her if she could move some stuff into the basement and set up a study. She hadn’t really needed the space and so she had agreed. The next time she went down however she was shocked to find 4 large bookcases full to bursting with books old and completely incomprehensible to her. A large desk that she knew hadn’t been anywhere in the house before was stacked high with notes and gem fragments that glowed when she got anywhere near them. Beakers sat with some bizarre concoction no doubt swirling inside. All in all it was organized, albeit in a rough manner and reeked of powerful magic. At the time it had shocked her, but she had gotten used to it and had effectively stopped giving it much thought aside from the occasional concern of her blowing up the house. Walking down the steps and pausing at the door right at the bottom she took a deep breath to steady herself. Intently focusing her blue eyes she raised a hoof as she knocked on the door.

A series of crashes, the sound of breaking glass and after a string of Celestia cursing profanity that would be cause for banishment the door flew open. Bon-Bon’s jaw hung at the sight. The mane was singed and burned off on one side, the bags under her eyes said sleep hadn’t been on the agenda last night and alarming on a level she couldn’t describe was the thin crack that had appeared along her horn.

“Wh...What the hay happened?! Lyra are you alright! We need to…”

A hoof had been placed on her mouth to quiet her as Lyra put on that smile, two parts cocky one part concern.

“Hey Bons no need to shout, I’m fine.”

She removed her hoof and kept that grin planted firmly on her muzzle as Bon-Bon attempted to remove some fur from her tongue with a glare directed at her roommate. Finishing that she tried to remain as calm as possible while she pointed a hoof to Lyra’s horn. Lyra crossed her eyes in a rather impressive impersonation of their mailmare as a simple oh knocked the cocky grin from her features. Bon-Bon waited, Lyra deserved a few moments to explain before she was dragged at ladle-point to the hospital.

“Hey it’s not a big deal Bon. A tiny crack I’ll have patched up in two shakes! C’mon would I do anything reckless?”

The deadpan stare was response enough as Bon-Bon finally started losing patience.

“Lyra, you look like you just went three rounds Discord! What the hay happened? I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Lyra had a brief smile find itself on her face, not a large affair but a small grin that showed how much her concern meant. Sadly it was crushed beneath the next look that followed. It was hard to describe, wounded and sad with a little suspicion and a sense of terrible acceptance.

“Bons, it’s nothing really. Just go upstairs and I’ll be up in a little bit. I’ll be right as Raindrops. Cross my heart.”

Bon-Bon didn’t like the tone, didn’t like the expression, it was like she was screaming I have a secret don’t look at me. Bon-Bon let her eyes narrow and bore into the amber orbs of Lyra’s eyes as she spoke. Her tone was low and quiet, a tone Lyra recognized and gulped at.

“Lyra, what are you hiding? Either tell me or go get checked out to make sure you’re doing alright. Honestly I have half a mind to go downstairs right now..” “NO!”

The sudden outburst from Lyra made her take a step back in surprise. The look in Lyra’s eyes was wild panic that she quickly tried to hide behind a glass smile as she replied.

“I have a dangerous experiment running downstairs. Yeah, sorry I didn’t ask you but I didn’t want you getting hurt trying to look at it. Seriously Sweetie Drops, just go upstairs.”

Bon-Bon before now had been concerned, the moment Lyra called her Sweetie Drops that concern reached apocalyptic values. Nopony called her Sweetie Drops but her parents, especially never Lyra. If she rushed now she could get around her and see what was going on before she could react…probably. Lyra’s voice knocked her from her thinking and she heard a tone she had never heard before from the mare. It was low, quiet and threatening.

“I know what you’re thinking Bon-Bon. Stop. Now.”

Lyra’s eyes had a light to them normally, like a smile that didn’t require lips, just a general feeling of happiness. It was a feature that Bon-Bon was quite enamored with and on an ordinary day found herself casting the occasional glance to look at. That look was gone now and instead was a cold that could rattle bones. Bon-Bon took a step back a genuine look of fear in her eyes as Lyra slammed the door shut. If not for the pained expression Bon-Bon had caught just as the door slammed she would have been shivering in her hooves. Now, she was concerned on a level that wasn’t previously in her vocabulary for concern. Luckily there was a mare that had at least a few small answers. Bon-Bon trotted up the stairs and out the door at just below a gallop.

“Oh, sup Bon-Bon. You here for cook books again, we just got a new shipment in.”

She stared at the small reptile and tried to be polite for his sake as she shook her head and quickly replied before he could get another word in.

“Is Twilight here? I need to talk to her. Quickly.”

At this Spike seemed to shrink, he knew Bon-Bon and as a result also knew that clipped sentences with her were a cause for concern. He stood aside and she quickly trotted into the ornate crystal interior of the new castle. Her wandering eyes took in the sheen to the walls and benches before refocusing on the dragon in a way that informed him of the situation without her needing to say more.

“Twilight! Possible code 2!”

The walls echoed, shook and carried his message to just about every corner of the castle before a large popping sound was heard and in a flash of brilliant purple light Twilight appeared before her. Her fur was messy and she had a manic gleam to her eyes, and had drops of ink drying in her mane, she hadn’t changed much from the unicorn who had first come to Ponyville.

“Thank you Spike. Now, Bon-Bon, what’s the problem?”

Her eyes had focused and Bon-Bon quickly remembered she was now in the presence of a princess of Equestria and hurriedly bowed before the words came spewing forth.

“It’s Lyra. She was acting strange and she looked like she hadn’t slept in a while, her mane was burned and she had a crack running down her horn. I don’t know much about unicorn horns but….Twilight are you...what’s wrong?”

There was a look of concern that had come over Twilight’s face and she spoke slowly trying to keep her voice calm as she did so.

“Bon-Bon are you sure her horn was cracked? It’s very difficult to damage, let alone crack a horn. There’s only one thing that would do it and not seriously injure the rest of her and that’s channeling absurd levels of magic for an extended period then ignoring the magical backlash that’s…take me to her. I’ll make sure she’s doing alright. Spike, I’m going out, mind the castle for a minute please.”

With a quick salute from Spike she motioned with a wing and the two set off for Bon-Bon and Lyra’s home.

The walk had been quiet once Bon-Bon told her everything she knew and she could now practically see the cogs turning in the Princesses head as she walked with furrowed brow. Soon they reached the house and Bon-Bon walked inside expecting Twilight to be right behind her but instead she was staring at the house with a puzzled look. She suddenly broke it and stared right at Bon-Bon while she spoke.

“There’s something wrong with your house. It’s hidden really well, the sort of thing you need to look for to notice but it’s definitely there. Let’s go inside, I think this might be more serious than I thought.”

With that Bon-Bon swallowed deeply and headed down the stairs to the basement with Twilight right beside her as she knocked a hoof across the door and waited. There wasn’t any sound from the other side. Not the faintest of stirrings and Bon-Bon felt her heart rate somehow manage to increase further. Summoning up her courage she turned the handle and nudged the door open with an ominous creak. She stepped over the threshold and no sooner had Twilight crossed when instantly a shout of surprise from the princess made her jump.

“Sweet Celestia! That’s….not possible! How didn’t I notice she…there’s no way she’s this strong it’s…it’s…” Twilight caught the terrified expression on Bon-Bon and quickly regained her composure and blushed in embarrassment as she pointed to the base of the wall. Funny, Bon-Bon hadn’t noticed the carvings placed along the part of the wall closest to the floor, they seemed to encircle the entire basement. She was pulled from observation from Twilights voice, now calm and analyzing the situation to the best of her ability.

“Those are wards, runic wards that prevent magical energies from leaking or for anypony to sense what’s going on in here. That’s what I was feeling from outside, a pocket of null magic. This would explain why if she was using magic strong enough to damage her horn I didn’t feel it, the size of the crack you describe makes me think that without this, every unicorn in Ponyville would have felt something. But…Runic wards aren’t common knowledge! I only recognize them from an old history text, noponies used these for….Centuries! What’s this…what the hay? Why would she have these?”

Twilight was now looking at the collection of books. Bon-Bon had tried to read them but whatever language they were in wasn’t one she was familiar with and when she asked Lyra she had just laughed and said it was a dead language. Twilight was more confused than before from the look on her muzzle.

“This is royal Unicornian? There all in Unicornian, but…why would she have books like these! There ancient, this is…it doesn’t make sense? Unicornian hasn’t been a written language since pre-unification! Ok, think Twilight, runic wards were…also used by the Unicornians…I think, so maybe Lyra’s a student of history with a fascination of Unicornian society and the magic’s they used. So….no that better not be…WHAT!”

Twilight had been scanning items with her horn while talking and when she hit a small jar Twilight had practically flung herself at Lyra’s desk. A small glass jar floated encircled in her magic and was held it up to the light as she studied the few red drops left in it with a look of horror on her face.

“What is it Twilight!? Tell me! What’s going on here?”

Twilight breathed deeply and focused her eyes as she placed the jar down. Bon-Bon could see something in her eyes that had her on the verge of hyperventilating. Fear, simple fear.

“Bon-Bon, were going back to the castle and sending a letter to Celestia right this second. Lyra is…I don’t know what she’s doing but that! Is dragon’s blood. It isn’t just banned, it isn’t just hard to get, you can’t make a dragon bleed without…I don’t want to know how she got it but the only use I know of is for potion work…extremely powerful, dangerous and forbidden potion work. I can’t believe Lyra would be into anything like this…She was at Celestia’s school with me! I used to see her around the grounds all the time and to think she was…I just hope she was never alone with Spike. Let’s go.”

Bon-Bon didn’t have time to respond before she was caught in a large purple flash and found herself trying to stay on all four hooves as the room suddenly vanished and she found herself back in the castle.

Once the room had stopped spinning and her lunch decided to stay where it belonged she addressed Twilight barely concealed panic in her voice.

“Well then where is Lyra! We didn’t search the house she could have been..” Twilight just raised a hoof to cut her off as she spoke.
“I cast a quick detect spell, she wasn’t there Bon-Bon and based on some of the energies I was feeling in her…study I would say she cast a long range teleport. I don’t know how well you thought you knew her but this mare…Lyra is extremely dangerous. There is no good reason to have dragon’s blood, none! Her magic’s obviously powerful but how have I never noticed it before. Spike! Were back I need you to take a letter immediately!”

The small dragon quickly leapt into the room quill and parchment at the ready as Twilight quickly dictated the letter.

“Dear Celestia. I have troubling news, it seems one of the students who also attended your school for gifted unicorns has been using dangerous and unknown magic’s. She has since disappeared and an investigation of her study showed traces of dragon’s blood…”

Twilight looked to have just realized what she said and looked to Spike hoping she hadn’t alarmed him but his expression was just one of confusion. Noticing the look Twilight was giving him he started to look nervous before speaking.

“Twilight…it’s not like…well I mean…Lyra’s not crazy and dragons blood…you know and…uhmmm. Twi don’t be mad! I wanted to tell you and everything! But she needed help and she wasn’t like mean or scary but uhh. Gulp”

Twilight had the look of a storm moments before it broke and came crashing down on an unsuspecting town leaving nothing but ruins. Her voice was low and terribly calm.

“She took your blood Spike?” At a nod she exhaled dangerously and spoke voice cracking.

“Tell me everything Spike.” Spike gulped again and sweat appeared on his brow as he started.

“Well, she was at your school Twi and when you were studying hard and asked me to not bug you I went out and I met her one day. She was nice and didn’t treat me like a dragon. We hung out and talked but…well she was always practicing her spells. Like really hard and she would tire herself out, I told her to take it easy but she got mad and stormed off. She was…well she was jealous of you and wanted to beat you or something so she would watch you and try to figure out how you cast spells. She apologised after that but we didn’t really hang out again until you and I got to Ponyville. She seemed really nervous the first time I saw her and she kept muttering something under her breath while looking around. But she was nice again and made it up to me with some gems. It was, I don’t know months later where she asked me to help her with a project, she looked nervous and scared and I had to help cause she’s my friend. So she asked for a bit of blood, I was really freaked out at first but she said it wouldn’t hurt and It was important and…Twi?”

Twilight had been angry, she had been furious at Tirek, this was new ground, she was a mare of labels at heart and putting a label on emotions helped her deal with them. Enraged…that was a good one she decided. She cleared her throat and put a comforting hoof on Spike’s shoulder which seemed to calm him down as she spoke.

“Spike, Lyra is dangerous. I don’t know…wait, how could she get your blood without hurting you?”

“Some weird magic, it felt different than normal magic. It was never much just a tiny bit every month or two and it just sort of came out from between my scales. She…Twi I don’t think she’s dangerous I mean she would always ask me If I was sure I wanted to do this and she looked guilty about it. But, when she explained it to me I could see how important this was to her. I’m not saying anything crazy Twi, just get the facts first before you declare a holy war on her. For me?”

Spike looked at her pleadingly and Twilight gave off an exasperated sigh before giving a single curt nod before responding.

“Fine. But If I find out something that you don’t like you can’t try to get her out of it. I know you think she’s your friend Spike. But taking blood from baby dragons? You see how that looks and it’s pretty bad. Alright, let’s finish this letter so we can hopefully get some answers to this mess. Ready. Which turned out to belong to Spike. He has since told me she removed it without harming him using some unknown magic and he gave it willingly. A number of Unicornian texts were also present and I would like to know how to proceed. Your faithful student still. Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

With a puff of green flame the scroll was sent tossing on the winds. Through the entire conversation Bon-Bon had been trying to make it make sense. She knew Lyra, sure she had been rude when they first met and never seemed to want to look at her or talk to her. But she had kept at it and after a rather heated conversation she had changed. She had started to be friendly and then they had become best friends. She cared for Lyra and she knew without a doubt Lyra cared for her. She didn’t know how to feel, what was she thinking, who was she really? She couldn’t be this evil sorcerer or something, it didn’t make any sense. She recalled the day last winter and the thought brought a smile to her face.

//////////////////////////

“Hey Bons I’m going…yikes you don’t look so good.”

Bon-Bon had a blanket cocooned around her as she lay on the couch nose running, head pounding and shivering despite the sea of blankets she had wrapped around her.

“I’m sick…Go on.”

Lyra had been excited for a week straight about today. She said she had never attended an Earth pony “hoedown” and had been invited to the apple farms for one. She passed a brief look between the door and Bon-Bon and with a sigh levitated off her saddlebags and placed a hoof on Bon-Bon’s head.

“You just lay down, I’ll make you some soup.”

She trotted into the kitchen and soon the sound of kitchenware being moved around filled the space. A few minutes later she walked back with a hot bowl and a glass of water held in her magic as she placed the bowl in Bon-Bon’s hooves and the glass on the table. The bowl was shaking in her hooves and she was scared she would soon spill it when it held still in a light amber glow and the spoon gently floated just before Bon-Bon’s muzzle. She looked at Lyra and saw the gentle smile, the warmth that was hers and nopony else’s. She blew on the spoon and drank the warm soup. After a while she spoke up.

“How was I ever lucky enough to find somepony like you for a friend?”

Lyra seemed lost for a moment, as if a small bit of guilt had just assaulted her before the smile came back and was replaced by a wry grin as she replied.

“Maybe I’m just a rotten mare and this is my punishment. Taking care of poor filly’s like you. I guess there are worse fates.”

They both snickered at that. Lyra didn’t go to the hoedown, she spent the day reading to her till she fell asleep.

/////////////////

No, Lyra wasn’t some dangerous mare, she wasn’t some criminal, she was just Lyra. Her friend, it would all make sense once Celestia replied, a big misunderstanding probably. No sooner had the thought come then did a fiery belch burst from the small reptile and a scroll appeared which was quickly snatched by Twilight and read. Then re-read and a confusing stare given to the parchment as if it was some strange otherworldly entity. Bon-Bon was about to question it when Twilights voice spoke, confused and concerned once again today.

“It says that Celestia personally keeps the names of the students who attend and that she doesn’t know who Lyra is. But…If Lyra wasn’t a student, how was she there, what was she doing? What the hay is going on here!?”

Author's Note

and so we reach the end of the first part. I really hope you liked it and would really
appreciate feedback. Particularly editing help because I know there are grammar issues
hiding that I've missed. :) So what did you think? What's that mare up to, human summoning,
world domination, a new recipe for scones? Probably not that last one. :facehoof:
Would love to hear any thoughts you have. Until next time farewell.

The Many uses of Dragon's Blood

I don't own anything all rights and characters belong to Hasbro and all associated entities.

“Oh. Your here.” Lyra uttered with a note of disdain as she took a seat on the grass covered hill. A measured distance away sat Bon-Bon looking at the mare with clear annoyance in return for the remark. The stars were a bright and shining expanse painted across the night sky, the air cool but not uncomfortable and an awkward silence stretched across the two. Bon-Bon didn’t want to look at her any more than necessary, if the rent for the house wasn’t so high she would have kicked the mare out. Just two weeks of living with her and equicide was becoming more and more appealing. She exhaled to calm herself as she cast a brief glance at the mint colored mare. She looked deep in thought, a sort of sad expression as she stared up at the stars. Bon-Bon cursed the words of her parents, reach out a friendly hoof. Try to see where there coming from. All well and good in theory, in practice…well she might as well try she decided with a huff.

“So, Lyra. I haven’t seen you use your instrument yet. Waiting for it to be delivered?” Bon-Bon actually saw the mare cringe when she started talking. She waited for a response but it seemed the mare had no intention of replying. She tried to remain calm, to use reason and think logically about her words and chose them with care. Then she thought otherwise and decided a direct approach was more appropriate.

“Alright look. You don’t like me. I can understand that. How about trying to be at least civil! How about treating me like an individual once in a while! I mean what the hay is wrong with you! You call me mare, or you or pony. Call me BON-BON! I told you when you first showed up and don’t pretend to not listen alright. …

“Shut it! I don’t care about you! I don’t care about this town! I want to leave but I’m stuck here! So suck it up and leave me alone!” That was it, this mare was in for a flank kicking, Bon-Bon made up her mind and stood. She moved to take a swing at the mint colored misanthrope when the clouds parted, just enough for a thin ray of moonlight to hit the mare. The moisture under her eyes that she quickly wiped away with her foreleg was plain to see. Bon-Bon just grit her teeth, she could do it, one solid whack, she was in reach now to. Instead she sat down right next to her and swallowed the feeling she had before replying.

“I don’t know you Lyra. I don’t know what you’ve been through. I don’t know where you’re going and guess what, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that if you keep pushing so hard against everypony else eventually you’ll find yourself all alone when you need somepony most. I think what you want more than anything else is for somepony to be with you. One you can trust, and lean on when things are hard because I refuse to believe that all there is to you is this ball of mean-spirited misery!” Rant completed Bon-Bon looked to see the mare looking troubled, almost broken when her voice came up barely louder than a whisper.

“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone? Why do you have to keep trying to be so…reasonable?” For the first time Bon-Bon finally saw Lyra. Not some rude, condescending and arrogant mare. She saw a poor pony that was lost. Steeling herself for what was going to happen next, Bon-Bon decided she might as well go for broke. Lifting a hoof she put it down as gently as possible on top of the other mares hoof, she saw her stiffen but made no move to shake it off.

“As long as you’re in Ponyville you’re stuck with me. So you’re not really alone. Just…you don’t need to do everything by yourself. Take care Lyra.” With that Bon-Bon stood to leave and was walking back towards her home when a quiet voice reached her ears and a small smile spread across her lips.

“Goodnight… Bon-Bon.”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Bon-Bon now stood in Twilight’s throne room surrounded by four other ponies that were well and truly famous. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, four of the six (former) elements of harmony, it made Bon-Bon’s tail twitch in a show of nerves. Twilight and Spike had gathered the girls who were available after reading the letter and now they all stood waiting for the reason they had been gathered. Well, two stood, one hovered and the other vibrated in place. With them all gathered Twilight cleared her throat to get all the attention focused onto her, before starting.

“Thank you for coming girls but we have a situation and I’d like to gather as much information as possible before committing to a course of action. You see this concerns Lyra Heartstring’s, Bon-Bon’s roommate.” Twilight gestured to Bon-Bon and it was Rarity who spoke first.

“Well I hope she’s doing alright. You have nothing to fear Bon-Bon we’ll help her any way we can, you can be sure of that.” The other girls all nodded an agreement as Bon-Bon sank lower in her stance and Twilight coughed in an awkward manner, looking more than a little conflicted.

“Actually girls…the problem is Lyra. I have reason to believe she has been using unstable and dangerous magic, as well as being in possession of an illegal and potentially dangerous substance if mixed correctly. She has somehow managed to take blood from Spike and I have no idea what she plans on doing with it, but from what I know, dragon’s blood is a dangerous alchemical ingredient. In addition she somehow managed to insert herself into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns without drawing attention to herself. Now I need to know if any of you are aware of any strange behaviour, no matter how small that Lyra has exhibited since she’s been here.” The looks of shock were everywhere, though one face had gone slightly paler than the rest, an impressive feat for the white coated unicorn.

“Twilight, this uggh, dragon’s blood wouldn’t be slightly rust colored would it?” All eyes were on the unicorn now as Twilight nodded. Rarity seemed to be taking a deep breath before coming out and speaking.

“Well the mare came to me a little over a month ago with a strange commission. She wanted armour, I said it was outside what I normally did but she insisted and was quite agreeable on price. I admit to having more than a passing familiarity with metal work after a most heinous fashion trend in Whinnypeg so I knew how to make it. She insisted it was for a renaissance fair and that it had to be exact. She provided me with drawings and it all went well until it came time to cool the piece and she produced a jar of a red rust colored liquid. I had no idea what it was and she claimed it was a proper technique for the period and poured it in while the metal cooled. It was impressive, the color was a little bit drab but it turned out rather nicely. Now that I know however that she harmed my Spikey-wikey. She has a great deal to answer for!”

“Actually Rarity I gave it to her. She didn’t hurt me, she said she really needed it and I didn’t know it was dangerous or anything. I was just helping out a friend. Besides I don’t think she’s evil. I’ve known her for years. I trust her.” Throughout this Twilight had been quiet when a sudden look of insight shone across her face as she stamped a hoof in realization.

“She used the blood to create a layer of magically infused protection! Once it was mixed in she could have carved all sorts of runes like the ones in her study into the armour to augment the natural abilities of dragons! That’s…brilliant! If she properly attuned the spell matrix and worked it properly she…would be highly magic resistant… as well as fireproof…oh this is bad! Do you know what his means?!!” The girls all looked suitably frightened with the exception of Pinkie who instantly blurted out her best guess.

“Oh Oh! I know! It means that she can turn into a super big dragon and burninate the countryside!” An awkward silence and confused stares followed for a moment before Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Well whatever it is we’ll fix it! Lyra’s got nothing on Rainbow Dash. We’ll kick her…uhh I mean save…talk with her? Oh man that’s totally lame! I was hoping for another awesome villain to battle not some busker.” Twilight rolled her eyes before responding.

“Dash is right. Sort of, we don’t know yet whether Lyra is actually a threat so we shouldn’t go making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. All we know is that she isn’t quite what we thought she was. But I think Bon-Bon would know her the best. So what have you noticed?” All eyes were now focused on Bon-Bon and she shrank back slightly before gathering herself and preparing, if it would help Lyra then it was an easy choice.

“Well, she came to Ponyville around the same time you did Twilight. She was…a lot less pleasant back then. But she’s a good pony, I’m certain of it! There’s not a doubt in my mind. She plays the lyre, though she didn’t own one when I met her. She never really talked about her past but…she was confused about a lot of things. Winter wrap up she had never even heard of it. She liked to sit, strangely, kind of like how Spike does. She knew spells but never really discussed them much unless a situation came up and she would use them. Actually, she was really attached to the food here. She always said it was the best she had ever had. I think that’s because she usually conjured her meals with magic though.” At that last word Twilight stopped her.

“Wait, what do you mean conjured her food? Like cast a spell to make some? I’ve never heard of magic like that before. I wonder where she learned it? Anyway I think the next step should begin a search of her house. Hopefully we can find some clues as to where she’s gone and then get some answers. If any of you are busy and can’t help I understand.” It was Rarity who let out an awkward sort of oh.

“I would like very much to help, but Sweetie Belle and the girls are staying at the boutique while Applejack is at Appleoosa. I’m very sorry but I need to keep an eye on them. I really should get back before they get up to any of there…”crusading”” With that Rarity gave a small bow to Bon-Bon with an apologetic look and left.

“Well girls it looks like it’s just the four of us with Fluttershy taking Discord to meet her parents. Sigh. Well come on Bon-Bon, Pinkie, Dash let’s get to the bottom of this.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////

Lyra’s bedroom was rather small and had a special variety of chaos about it. Some parts, like her end table were kept in immaculate condition. A small stack of books, though just simple adventure and a romance novels were perfectly aligned against the edge of the end table. The floor however was a tangle of music sheets, bed sheets and even a baking sheet. How it had traversed from the kitchen to here was anypony’s guess. On the left-hoof side of the room hung her gold leaf lyre, proudly displayed on the wall, looking freshly polished and gleaming in its warm light. Bon-Bon felt a tug at her heart realizing that wherever Lyra was she didn’t have her beloved instrument. Bon-Bon herself had bought it for her, the mint mare had cried when she gave it to her. Picturing her, Celestia knew where without it and all alone filled her with a newfound determination to figure out where she was. Pinkie took the small closet, Rainbow Dash looked at the dresser, Twilight was looking through the papers on the floor and Bon-Bon was looking under the bed when Pinkies voice called out.

“Ohhh neat-o! I didn’t know Lyra wore a hoodie?” That was funny, Bon-Bon never remembered her wearing one. Huh. She pushed the thought aside and continued looking. She could have sworn she saw something against the wall under Lyra’s bed and reached out a hoof. She met a smooth surface other than the wall. Pulling back she found a small journal cradled in her hooves. She gave a small huff when she opened it only to find more of the unicornian written word. Dash landed next to her looking over her shoulder as she spoke.

“All I found in the dresser was some writing stuff and socks. Like seriously, why would somepony need that many socks? Huh, did you find something? Heh Twi, Bon-Bon found some kinda weird book.” Twilight quickly trotted over and eyed the page before giving out a sigh and speaking.

“Unicornian again. Uhh, now I wish that I had taken that course on ancient languages back at school. Here I’ll take it and work on translating it. I haven’t found anything important yet. Just some sheet music and some (cough) interesting novels. We’ll double check the study and then head back to the castle. Maybe you should just get some rest. This must be hard for you, but don’t worry, we’ll find her and I’ll, keep an open mind.” With that Twilight gathered the girls and headed out of the room. Bon-Bon fell to her haunches as she looked around the room an ache in her heart. What could have driven her to do this? Where was she and was she ok? Bon-Bon had other plans instead of sleep, she knew exactly where things were heading and by Celestia she was going to be ready. Steel in her eyes she headed for her room.

////////////////////////////////////////////

Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash had returned to the castle just as the sun was going down. After finding nothing new in the basement Twilight had teleported all the books that would need to be translated as well as some of the crystal samples she was unfamiliar with. Spike had joined them upon their return to the castle and was fiddling with his claws nervously until Twilight placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

“Alright girls, translation is going to take a while, and there’s no guarantee they’ll tell us where she went. Do any of you have any ideas on how to find her?” There was a brief pause before Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Well in the fourth Dareing Do book she hired a unicorn to cast a tracking spell on Redhoof when she realized he was planning to betray her. So then she followed him back to the villains base and totally thrashed her. The villain, not Dareing Do. You got any sort of spell like that Twi?” Twilight paused in thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“Wouldn’t work, the armour would shield her presence from direct spells like that. Though…I wonder if she thought to close in the spell matrices in a loop? If she didn’t…darn still wouldn’t be possible.”

“What wouldn’t Twilight?” This time it was Spike who spoke, while Pinkie appeared to be having a staring contest with her reflection in the floor. Giving an embarrassed motion with a fore hoof she replied.

“Well, I thought for a second the armours protection might have a gap against non-offensive spells that target only the armour allowing me to cast a tracking spell on the armour itself. This way she could enchant it as she went to help her deal with problems she might encounter. But since it’s not alive and we have no piece of it that’s truly connected to the armour we would have nothing to cast a spell on. So it’s kind of a moot point.” Spike and Rainbow nodded at this though Pinkie looked up in confusion after her reflection had given up.

“What about Spike?” This caused the others to share a look of confusion before Twilight dawned a look of comprehension and shouted.

“Pinkie your Brilliant! Spike’s blood is mixed in with the armour. I mean it’s not technically alive and the spell wasn’t designed that way but…I think I can make it work. Spike just stand still, I’ll call up a map and if I’m right it should show us exactly where she is.” A lavender light encircled Spike as an ethereal map of Equestria popped into existence hovering next to him. The light continued to increase as a small point suddenly started to glitter atop the map. The three mares and dragon all shared a look of accomplishment before a voice broke them out of their thoughts.

“So you know where Lyra is? Good thing I made it just in time.” Bon-Bon stood in the room loaded down with equipment, a full to bursting hiking saddle bag, a bedroll and tucked just behind it a certain gold leaf lyre. The others shared a brief look before Twilight spoke up.

“Bon-Bon we have experience with this kind of thing. Don’t worry, we’ll have her back. Just stay here and we’ll be back before you know it.” Twilight was using the full measure of her alicorn status to try to give an inspiring presence. Bon-Bon replied without pause or even the slightest bit shaken.

“Twilight, no offense meant. But I know Lyra, she’s stubborn and if she’s doing this I don’t think you’ll be able to just talk her down. I can, or at the least I have the best chance of succeeding. I can’t just sit back and wait and hope while the best mare I’ve ever known is off all alone in…wherever she is. So I’m coming. No arguments. Uhmmm your highness.” Twilight didn’t look convinced but felt a hoof poke her wither and turned to see Rainbow Dash give a single firm nod and a strong look in her eyes. With a sigh Twilight looked to Bon-Bon and gave a single nod before speaking.

“Alright Bon-Bon, you can come just be careful. I think we should all take a note from Bon-Bon though and take a few things with us. It should be a short and easy trip, but, better to be over prepared than under. Meet back in ten minutes while I prepare a long range teleport. Based on the map it looks like were heading for…the Badlands…great.”

//////////////////////////////////

The Badlands were a blighted land that lived up to their name quite well. Large stretches of barren desert and surrounded by mountains on three sides. The few plants were sparse and low and the sand swirled in the faint moonlight. Dunes rose and fell like some great frozen wave in the sand. Standing all alone in the moonlight was a most peculiar sight perched atop the largest dune nearby. A single unicorn with a mint green coat, amber eyes that almost glowed in the dark and a mane with streaks of white, a look of determination set firmly on her features. The armour she wore was a dull matte red that glowed in a few places a faint gold from the swirling runes etched with the utmost precision. It ended just above her forelegs and was lined with a snow white fleece that almost seemed to shine in the moonlight and poked out at the neck and her legs. It rested on her flank obscuring her cutie mark. Finally her horn, where once a small crack had once been, it had only spread and now spidered out taking up almost the upper third of her horn near the tip. She paid it no mind as she stared straight to the horizon, mind firmly set, breath calm, but heart focused far away and on a mare she wished was beside her. She inhaled, focused and stepped forwards, towards the horizon and all it promised, for good or ill.

Author's Note

Well I hope you enjoyed and would love a comment. Tell me what you thought or
what you think is coming. Also who spotted the two references?

Forgotten Lore

“Hey. Come on Bons wake up already! I’ve been waiting forever!” another poke in the withers convinced Bon-Bon that she would be getting no more sleep tonight. With a groan and glare she turned and threw the covers over top the source of her ire. The mint unicorn was grinning ear to ear while shaking the mass of blankets from her back. Bon-Bon tried with all her strength to maintain her scowl from atop her bed. Bon-Bon’s room was fairly sparse with a soft blue wallpaper and a comfortably worn carpet.

“Why, why am I up? Celestia isn’t even up yet!” Bon-Bon jabbed an accusing hoof at the window the showed only a few dimming stars and the grey of an approaching dawn. The unicorn just grabbed Bon-Bon in her magic and started to float her from the bed. Bon-Bon sighed as she was gently levitated to the floor while redoubling her glare at Lyra. The mint mare ignored it and instead hooked a foreleg around the earth ponies and quickly guided her from the bedroom. It was an awkward three legged shuffle for Bon-Bon as her mind slowly reassembled itself from the abyss of sleep. She stumbled on the stairs but a quick flare of Lyra’s magic held her miss stepped hoof aloft before she placed it back on the stair. Bon-Bon turned and looked into the eyes of her roommate and friend and saw a sort of sarcasm in the golden eyes that seemed to say. “As if I’d let you fall.” Soon enough she was dragged all the way down the stair and outside before she finally decided to put her hoof down.

“Alright Lyra, enough. Why are we outside at some unholy hour without the sun being up? Come on, spill it.” The ear splitting grin had returned to the unicorns face as she made a motion with her head to something behind her. The earth pony mare gave a suspicious look right into the eyes of her roommate before slowly turning around in place and staring at her house for a good five seconds. All of a sudden her mouth hung slack and she lost feeling in her back legs and sank to her haunches staring at the small piece of wood hanging above the doorway that hadn’t been there before. Bon-Bon barely noticed as Lyra sidled up to her and took a seat looking at the board as well before speaking in a quiet voice.

“I hope you like it. After you told me how you wanted to run a shop out of the house I couldn’t not think of it yah know? I was never much good with woodcarving so I actually used a modified heat spell and etched it all into the board. Sorry about the second ‘e’ it’s kind of rough I know. But, well I good shop needs a sign and I thought you deserved the best one. So I guess you’re going to need to settle for this while I keep looking. Hey, Bon’s you o..gah!” Lyra was silenced by a bone shattering hug from the mare as she fell to the grass of the front yard with a mass of tan fur curled atop her.

“Eeek…Bon..Can’t..breathe!” Suddenly the hug became a gentle thing as Bon-Bon looked into the golden orbs of the pony who would do something like this for her, the mare who she had once loathed and now saw something truly special. Bon-Bon gave a small smile that was returned by the mint mare. Lyra made a motion with her head and Bon-Bon looked confused for a moment and then realized the position she was in. Bon-Bon’s cheeks did an impromptu tomato impression as she quickly pulled herself off of Lyra and rubbed a hoof down her foreleg before speaking.

“Lyra this…it’s so…why…thank you.” The thanks was simple, yet the weight of emotion behind it was anything but. Lyra felt a great warmth spread through her as she smiled back, a small and completely genuine smile she saved for just a few. She motioned with a hoof and the two made their way back inside the building. Just above the front door hung a small sign in which three crisp candies in wrappers adorned it and just beneath the words in neat flowing script, easy to read for all was the words. “Bon-Bon’s Sweet. A smile in every bag”

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The silent sands of The Badlands were slowly stirred as a few faint purple sparks flared to life above the sand. The sparks grew larger and more frequent before a bang and flash of violet light cast back the dark of night. Four ponies and a dragon found themselves standing in the desert gazing around with expressions of nervousness, excitement or determination.

“Alright everypony, the spell should have put us in range of Lyra. I’ve placed a simple charm on Spike’s claw, so we’ll be following the direction he points. Nopony wander and stay close together. We have no idea what’s in this area of the Badlands or if Lyra is going to be hostile when she sees us. Dash fly up into the air and tell me if you can see anything.” With a sharp salute the cyan mare burst upwards in a cloud of sand while Spike climbed atop Twilights back and began pointing in a direction. With a nod they set out, Twilight and Spike at the front, Bon-Bon right behind followed by Pinkie happily bouncing along while Dash circled in the air. It wasn’t long before Dash came back to join the others and gave a quick shake of her head before speaking.

“It’s too dark to see for any real distance and there wasn’t much to see. Some rocks in about the direction you were walking but other than that, sand. Lots of sand.” Rainbow quickly took to lazily flying around the group as they walked on. A yawn from Spike got a small guilty cringe from Twilight who spoke.

“Sorry about keeping you all up. We’ll see if we can track Lyra in the next hour, if not we can call it a night and start early tomorrow. I don’t want to get to far behind her but I’d rather that than confronting her when were all exhausted.” There was a brief nod from most ponies, though pinkie seemed to not be affected even slightly by the late hour as she quickly started firing questions at Bon-Bon.

“OH! Bon-Bon I totally need your recipe for your cherry hard candies! There, total fantabulastically-amazo-wow! I mean it’s hard like a not-cherry but, but delicious like a cherry and…wait did it just get colder?” The other ponies had been pointedly not listening with the exception of Bon-Bon who was trying to keep up when Pinkie spoke. Hearing this Twilight paused and took in the air before replying.

“Pinkies right. It’s a little colder here. Odd but it’s probably still cooling down from it being night time. Deserts can actually get pretty cool at night, lack of water in the air means it loses the heat of the day fairly quickly.” Rainbow paused her flying long enough to hover in front of Bon-Bon before loudly whispering while gesturing. “Egghead.” That got a few chuckles from Bon-Bon and Pinkie as well as a glare from the purple princess. Bon-Bon spoke after her chuckles had died down.

“Is this what all your adventures are like? I always pictured it as a little more…solemn. You know, like those adventure novels where everpony is serious and looking behind them all the time.” At that a snort came from Pinkie.

“Like I’d let any adventure get all mopey-dopey. Nopey! All sun and smiles. Well except when Discord, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Sombra…actually maybe I’ve been getting behind on my smile quota? But nope! Other than that an adventure should NEVER be all frowns.” With that all the ponies lightened up slightly as they continued. Bon-Bon felt a shiver go through her as they moved onwards. It was faint but now Bon-Bon could definitely feel it, it was getting colder. A shiver ran down her spine as she dug her head through her saddlebag and drew out a thin cloak and tossed it over her back. They continued walking for at least an hour an hour before with an annoyed sigh Twilight held up a hoof.

“Alright everypony, we won’t catch up to her tonight. Let’s get a few hours of sleep and start fresh in the morning. I doubt even she can do more than one long range teleport in so little time and its colder than I thought so it’s best if we keep warm. Let’s try to avoid making a fire in case Lyra’s looking around out here, don’t want her surprising us.” A series of satisfied nods and contented sighs were given as everypony removed their camping supplies and set up their tents. Bon-Bon was surprised pinkies tent was a plain grey without any flair put into it. Spike walked up to her and saw her staring and gave a chuckle before he spoke.

“Pinkie actually borrowed that one from Maud. Though picturing her camping is kind of weird, but I guess she needs to find rocks somehow. So Bon-Bon, how are you, yah know doing and everything?” Bon-Bon gave a noncommittal shrug and tried not to look in his eyes. She needed to be a pillar of calm, to have faith that Lyra was still the pony she knew. To show she thought anything else felt like she had already lost.

“That bad huh? Don’t worry Bon-Bon, I’m sure Lyra’s fine and this is all some weird misunderstanding. I mean at least we know she’s not making any dangerous potions with my blood. Just… armour for some reason. Weird and a little morbid maybe, but not exactly supervillain material. Now, I’ve got some sleep to catch, goodnight Bon-Bon.” With that a chorus of goodnights were exchanged between everypony as they crawled into their respective tents.

Bon-Bon had been staring at the faded green canvas for what felt like hours. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t shut off her mind from going over just what Lyra was thinking, what she would find out when they finally caught up to her. She idly fiddled with her hooves trying to knock loose some of the sand in it. Were they still even friends? She chastised herself quickly for the thought, of course they were. Bon-Bon would get answers and then buck the mare straight into next week. After of course making certain she was alright. She let out an exasperated sigh before crawling out of her sleeping bag and exiting the tent. The stars really were beautiful out here; so far from any civilization they couldn’t be clearer. The waxing moon hung like a luminous glowing eye and the breeze though quite cool ruffled her fur in an almost playful manner. She nearly jumped out of her skin as voice suddenly spoke next to her.

“It’s really special; princess Luna must put a lot of work in to getting it just right. Like a party except everyone who looks at the sky is invited. It makes me sad that ponies didn’t appreciate it for so long you know. Still, things always get brighter if you give them a little time and effort. The trick is to not let the bad things spoil all the good and wonderful times. Even if all those good and wonderful things don’t always make up for the not so good times.” Bon-Bon stared at the pink mare who was gazing contentedly at the moon. She didn’t have a big ear-splitting smile, just a tender little smile directed at the moon. Bon-Bon always gave Pinkie less credit than she was due, most ponies did. She wouldn’t make that mistake anymore.

“Thanks Pinkie. You’re a good friend, I’m glad you’re here.” Pinkie nodded and continued staring up at the moon and was soon joined by Bon-Bon. A sort of comfortable silence that wrapped Bon-Bon in warm embrace that drove the chills of night away. Eventually she returned to her tent and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

//////////////////////////////////////////////

The morning light painted the dunes like a sea of gold, the sky was cloudless. The temperature should have been making them sweat, it should have been burning their hooves with each step in the sand. It was not, and that set everypony on edge. It was Rainbow Dash who spoke up first.

“Alright Twi, the suns up, the sunshine is coming down and there’s no real wind. Why is it still cool? Shouldn’t we be sweating our flanks off here?” Twilight chewed her lip for a moment before looking at Spike and speaking.

“Spike, can you tell if Lyra’s still about the same distance or is she a lot further ahead?” Spike closed his eyes and directed his fore claw like he was calling down lightning before opening his eyes and speaking loud enough so everypony could here.

“She feels about the same distance. I think. It’s kind of hard to tell but I don’t think she’s like crazy far from where she was yesterday. What does that have to with the temperature though Twi?” Spike asked and it was clear everypony was waiting for an answer as much as he was. With a sigh Twilight spoke.

“Honestly, I was kind of hoping you would say she was closer. Then maybe she was using some kind of cold spell to try and drive us back. There’s no real reason for a desert in the day to be this cool and it feels like it’s getting colder the closer we get to Lyra. Either she’s casting some sort of powerful cold spell, or whatever she’s heading towards is doing this. Keep an eye out girls, Dash let’s see if you can see any better in the day.” A sharp salute and rainbow blur later and the cyan mare was blending well with the sky, only her bright mane standing out. They continued onwards after having packed up the camp and were in the same formation as yesterday. Within about five minutes Rainbow returned to the ground and gave her report.

“Okay, so those rocks I saw last night aren’t rocks. I couldn’t tell in the dark and that far away but they were way to square, pretty white too like marble maybe. I got a little closer and I think they might be some kinda ruin. Like in Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone! Except you know…less jungle more sand. I’m guessing we have our mare! This is getting awesome! I bet Lyra’s totally looking for some sweet treasure! Twi we totally got to follow her in and get that treasure!” Twilight had just gotten a confused expression on her face as she listened to Rainbow Dash give her findings. After a moment of silence she responded, trying to keep her voice level.

“Ok, well at least we know where she probably is. Still, there shouldn’t be any ruins out here. This place never supported any kind of real life, especially not one capable of building structures. Unless…maybe the ruins predate the desert? That would make this place ancient, at least several thousand years old. This might just be the archeological find of the century! I mean, who could have built it! Ancient ponies from a lost civilization? Come on girls, now that we know where were heading lets hurry.” With that the group picked up the pace and continued onwards.

It kept getting colder, it had gone from cool to cold and now the group stopped dead when Twilight exhaled and her breath was a wisp of white in the air. A few nervous glances were spared before Bon-Bon spoke up.

“Ok Twilight, just how bad is it. How strong would a spell need to be to effect this far around the ruin?” Twilight just shook her head in nervousness and her ears folded down as she replied.

“Strong, very strong. There’s no way Lyra’s doing it, this is far beyond anything even she could do. Based on what Dash said were still at least three kilometers away. Girls I have no idea what we’re going to find in there. Stay close, I’m going to cast a warmth spell and adjust it as we get closer. Be ready for anything.” With a flare from her horn the group relaxed and even Rainbow joined them walking on the ground. As they moved the sand felt colder and colder beneath their hooves until finally they saw a stretch of river long frozen over. Pausing to look at it Twilight spoke, voice uneasy as she prodded it with a hoof, first gently and then with as much force as she could.

“This is river, its frozen straight to the bottom. There hasn’t been any water here in a long time girls, whatever froze this did it a long time ago. We’re getting close; I think it’s just over that next dune. Hopefully we’ll get some answers.” They crossed over top the frozen mass, the waves on its surface perfectly stuck in time, as if frozen in an instant. They trudged up the cold and now hard dune where sand didn’t slide like it had been frozen together and when they reached the top there collective jaws hung loose. The color of the sand went from golden to white, it was grass, frozen stiff and held as if in some ghostly breeze that had long been forgotten. The air itself was heavy and at the center was a mass of stone, white from frost. The group moved closer and Twilight’s horn glowed ever brighter as she worked harder and harder to counteract the cold. The grass shattered under there hooves and the world was completely silent as they approached.

Finally there hooves met freezing stone and they all silently wished they had brought boots for the trip. Twilight was peering intensely at a column sticking from the ground as she asked Spike to melt some of the frost from it. After a few moments she was peering at the dull grey stone filled with intricate carvings beneath. Pinkie had moved up next to her and was staring as well an unusual look of deep concentration on her face. Twilight was the one to break the silence.

“This is incredible! I’ve never seen this level of detail in a carving and this looks like some kind of language I’ve never even seen! Oh I wish I could translate this I wonder what it says, who built something like this!” Pinkie just peered closer at the righting before licking her lips and speaking slowly.

“Mighty…something Winter-Maw,… of cold and Winters scion, harbinger, lord not sure which?….Can’t make the next part out. May you hear…could be prayers or wishes can’t remember which? Forevermore, may we stand? Sorry Twilight that’s all I could make out. Twilight? Are you alright?” Twilight as well as the rest of the group had their jaws firmly near there hooves as they stared at her. Twilight managed to recover first and sputtered out her questions.

“Pinkie how…what…how do you what language that is! I mean, identifying a language I’ve never even heard of is one thing, but being able to read it! Don’t say you just know Pinkie, for the love of Celestia please tell me there is a reasonable answer!” Pinkie just giggled and for a moment Twilights right eye twitched before Pinkie responded.

“It’s ancient diamond dog silly! I used to work on a rock farm remember! We had a local pack of diamond dogs who were waaayyyy nicer than the ones near Ponyville. Since we only farmed rocks we didn’t really need the gems that sometimes turned up so we would trade them. Some of the dogs were really nice and I stayed in there warren once. You should see a diamond dog party it’s CRAZY! Anyway there was a dog called Sirius who was reeeaaaally into history, you would have really liked him Twilight. He said they used to have a huge kingdom but something happened and it fell apart. He wanted to collect as many things from then as he could. He told me all about it because he was scared everypony would completely forget about it and he showed me some of his collection. I asked him what it said and he taught me as much as he could of the old language and then called me “Lar’teghrar”!” Twilights eye hadn’t stopped twitching and a few pieces of mane had sprung from place as she spoke calmly as she could.

“Pinkie, are you telling me that you had knowledge of an ancient civilization, that wasn’t mentioned in any books and never thought to mention it! Pinkie! I would have loved to hear about this! Why didn’t you ever say anything! And what does Lar’teghrar mean?” Pinkie’s ears drooped and she scratched absently at the ground with a hoof as she responded.

“Well it means lore-keeper. Sirius tried to tell everypony but the mean ponies at the academy said it was ridiculous. They had never found any ruins and there was no real link between the diamond dogs and the pieces he had. He was really sad and I said we could keep trying but he said maybe it wasn’t time yet. So he went back to collecting pieces from other packs so he could get more proof and told me to just forget about it. I said I never would and if I found any proof I’d be sure to tell him. Now I have! He’s going to be super-duper surprised when I tell him all about this! You can come with me Twilight and I’m sure he’d tell you as much as you wanted! Now, we have a mare to find! Let’s go everypony!” With that Pinkie bravely stepped towards the opening that led to the ruins interior only to utter a squeak as she stepped beyond Twilights warmth spell. She quickly threw herself back and was shivering fiercely as Rainbow Dash walked up next to her and placed a warm wing over top of her before speaking.

“Pinkie, you’re so random. Never change alright.” Pinkie happily nuzzled into Rainbow while she just smirked. Twilight had calmed and was now shaking her head before offering an apology to Pinkie who returned it with a massive hug. Bon-Bon was now more confused than ever about Pinkie, though she was more confused about what exactly a rock farm was. She wasn’t huge on history and didn’t know enough to dispute Pinkie. She decided when she got back she’d need to look into this story of Diamond dogs. Adjusting her saddlebag the entire party stood before the entrance that led into freezing darkness, fierce looks of determination now on everyponies face. Lyra is in there Bon-Bon thought, the answers to her questions were in there, her best friend was there and needed her. Steeling themselves the group walked into darkness.

The echoes of hoof steps broke the ancient silence, with each step further the dark crushed in around them more and more until a green light bathed the group that was closely pressed together. Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow at the sight of Spike with his head tilted up like a wolf howling and thin green flame illuminating the corridor. Deciding to make it easier for him Bon-Bon pulled out an unlit torch from her bag and passed it to Spike who quickly lit it and held it up to illuminate the group.

“Thanks Bon-Bon, my fire breath takes a bit out of me and I don’t want Twilight exhausting herself more than she already is with that warmth spell just for some light. Why did you bring torches? What else do you have in there?” Bon-Bon just smiled at that. She had learned long ago to always be prepared and had packed accordingly. She lowered her voice as the echoes bounced off the walls eerily as she replied.

“Just a few things, 100 hooves of rope, some climbing equipment, torches, canteen, camping gear, 20 hoof extendable pole. You know, the basics, though I wish I had brought some winter gear.” Spike just nodded while looking impressed while Rainbow let out a low whistle at hearing what she’d brought. They were starting to shiver even through Twilight’s shield now and were growing more nervous with every step about just what would be around the next corner. Luckily the ruin was linear with any doors off the main path blocked by twisting spires of brilliant blue ice. Finally they turned a corner and saw a light coming from the next room. A look was shared a nod given. The group rushed forwards no one daring to speak a word as they approached. Slowly words became audible and Bon-Bon felt her heart jump as she recognized the speaker.

“Careful….got to stay calm Lyra, don’t screw this up. You’re almost done. Just…a little…more” The voice was accompanied by a chipping sound, like the breaking of ice. At last the group hit the doorway and stepped inside, and instantly had the breath stolen from them and once again they found there mouths hanging open at the sight before them.
It was a massive chamber, capable of fitting a grown dragon. The once glossy marble floors were cracked and the walls wrecked, the air practically staying still and a fine veneer of frost covered most of the room. The breath of everypony hung in the air, and a faint freezing mist encircled the entire area. It was clear it had once been a beautiful place, tapestries hung frozen solid, and beautiful statues in various states of collapse. All this was not what gathered the attention of the ponies however, that rested firmly on the center of the room as the chipping sound continued to echo.

A monster from an era long since passed stood poised, forever frozen, fur as white as the deepest blizzard and eyes the icy blue of glaciers that had never known summer. A maw of teeth wide as a house, fiercer than any dragons frozen in a perpetual roar. From its maw leaked the cold of a hundred winters, a cold that no creature should ever know. The look in its eyes was a terrible rage, preserved forevermore. A terrible paw was raised just above another bit of ice frozen in time. A unicorn, horn still faintly glowing from within the ice, raw magic itself frozen in the air. The demon that stood frozen was a wolf, some bygone monstrosity. And standing right between the frozen unicorn and monstrosity was the red armored form of Lyra Heartstrings, chipping away with a small axe at the ice that surrounded the frozen unicorn. The chipping sound was all that was heard within this place that time had long forgotten. All was silent as a grave until the lone voice of Bon-Bon called out a single simple word, no louder than a whisper.

“Lyra.” The sound of chipping ice stopped and all fell silent.

Author's Note

Ta-Dah! I want to thank everyone who took the time to give me a like. It's always appreciated! I would
love a comment even more, though. Tell me what you thought. Guesses, characterization, spelling fixes. Anyway I really hope your enjoying this story and I would love some feedback. Wishing you a happy Friday.

The Gambit

I own nothing, all copyrights belong to Hasbro and their affiliates.

The silence hung in the air like the first bits of snowfall on an empty branch, slow and building oh so gradually. The pick that Lyra had been swinging froze in the air and just hung there in that aura that was so familiar to Bon-Bon, before it slowly lowered to the ground and rested the haft against the encased unicorn. Bon-Bon looked out across the cavernous room at her, the matte red armor that almost seemed to let light slide off it without ever shining or seeming any brighter, a rusty scarlet. Her horn had gotten even worse Bon-Bon realized, the small crack had continued to spider and even from here it looked as if the crack had deepened. The eyes though were the worst part for Bon-Bon, they looked in pain and were focused almost solely on her. It was a mix of guilt, like a foal with the hoof in the cookie jar. The expression shifted and a tiny ghost of a smile came to Lyra’s face as she spoke, her voice echoing from the walls.

“Bon-Bon, Spike, Pinkie, Dash, Princess Sparkle. Turn around and leave, please. If you’re my friends, if you have any faith in me just turn around and go home. Forget what you saw and just go home.” Her voice was slow and resigned; Pinkie had stopped bouncing and was shuffling nervously. Rainbow Dash looked ready to take off at her right now if not for the freezing cold just outside Twilight’s bubble of warmth. Spike looked conflicted and was trying not to look at the wolf like monstrosity while Twilight took a few calming breaths before she replied.

“Lyra, I don’t know what you’re doing, but if what you said is true and you consider yourself our friend then stop and explain what’s going on. If you don’t I’m going to need to stop you until you tell us what you’re doing, so please, just talk to us.” It was clear Twilight was trying to remain calm, the princess training hadn’t been for nothing it let her keep a clear head when dealing with somepony who had hurt her family.

“Twilight this doesn’t concern you, any of you. So please, just turn back. I…I’m not leaving. Just…leave now or…I need to make you leave.” Her voice was hesitant, her gaze uncertain as it rested on each member of the party for a moment before freezing on Bon-Bon, her eye as blue as the freezing ice surrounding them bore into the amber orbs of Lyra. Her voice was soft, the soft and pained voice Lyra had come to know meant she was hurt deeply, she winced as her word came ringing down.

“Was it real? Any part of it Lyra, all the time we spent together, all the times you were so kind to me. Where’s that mare now, the one I called my best friend, because I look at you and that’s not who I see. If it was ever real, if you really thought of me as your friend just tell me what’s going on. You know you can trust me. Right?” The moisture sat heavy in the corners of Bon-Bon’s eyes, ready to fall and Lyra shut her eyes to it and took a shuddering breath. When her eyes reopened they were brimming with unshed tears that she wouldn’t, couldn’t allow to fall as she replied.

“Of course it was real Bons, you’re my best friend and nothing will change that for me, not even you hating me. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do, because all the other options are horrible and this, this is a chance to fix things. I…don’t need you to understand Bonnie, I need you to trust me. I need to do this and…nopony is going to stop me. I’m sorry, none of you have any idea how much I wish I could have stayed back in Ponyville. But this is where we need to leave each other. Now, Twilight Sparkle, I respect you, I like you, I would call us friends if we talked a little more. But this is when you and the rest leave, no more pleading, you leave or I make you. I’ve made my choices and I need to live with them.” Twilight looked lost for a moment, Lyra seemed so genuine, it gave her pause, but she couldn’t let her just do whatever this was. Twilight hated to admit it but Lyra was right, the time for pleading was over. She widened her stance and sparked her horn, eyes focused with a ferocious intensity upon the seafoam mare.

Rainbow Dash buzzed her wings, it would be a cold flight, but she could easily fly out and deliver a solid buck to the head before zipping back to the bubble. It wasn’t going to be much of a fight she reasoned, one mare against half the elements, a dragon and Bon-Bon? It was almost too easy were her thoughts.
Pinkie had her head tilted and just watched Lyra, she knew the mare, she was her friend, should she really fight her? Could she trust her? it didn’t make sense. Friends trusted each other, they didn’t get into big fights in ancient ruins, this wasn’t how there adventure was supposed to go.

Spike just looked sadly at Lyra, a sad look that she returned to everypony. He had trusted her, and now she was threatening them to leave. Spike questioned a lot of his decisions, this one looked pretty bad though. Still, he had a job, he needed to protect Twilight, his family as best he could.

Bon-Bon still held Lyra’s vision, all the pleading of the gaze trying desperately to get Lyra to come home with her. It didn’t work and all she could see was Lyra faintly mouthing a few words to her, “I’m so sorry” Then her cracked horn lit with that familiar golden glow and a sound of terrible cracking filled the chamber. Bon-Bon’s eyes widened, frightened for her friends horn for just a moment before she realized the sound hadn’t come from her, it had come from the wolf. The ice shattered in a cascade of crystal daggers which fell just short of them. A fine mist of frost encircled the form and the entire group held their breaths eyes wide in horror as it stepped from the frozen mist.

The size of a dragon and looking a hundred times more savage, it cast its cold eyes upon the group before letting out a roar that shook every pony and dragon to the bone before it came bounding right for them. Fur of winter white and teeth gnashing with the sound of glaciers cracking it leapt at the group. Twilight teleported her and Spike in a lavender flash as Rainbow Dash took to the air and immediately flew straight for its head. Pinkie had vanished and Bon-Bon had rolled out of the way and onto the cavernous rooms tiled floor. Dash flew in quick and jagged lines trying to find an opening to strike, but the lumbering beast was faster than Dash had thought possible. Every descent brought her within a dozen hoofs of its snapping jaws and the cold, the Celestia bucking cold was overwhelming, she flew back to regroup with Twilight and saw the others had the same idea, all of them shivering from being away from her warmth field. Dash’s tones were panicked as she saw the wolf begin turning towards them once again.

“Twilight how do we bucking stop this thing! Magic it, do something!” The wolf leapt and a lavender bolt caught the monster in the chest as it descended before, with an unpleasant sound of strain the entire group found themselves teleported back to where it had leapt from. Twilight was panting as the wolf landed with a thundering crash and snow and debris obscured its landing.

“There…that stun bolt could knock out an Ursa…we should have some…oh….sweet Celestia.” The wolf rose from the cloud and turned once again, it didn’t look even slightly worn, it just looked furious. It let loose another bone rattling roar as it just stood for a moment, frosted fur rising as its growls vibrated across the room. The group seemed to gulp simultaneously, fleeing seemed now like the most reasonable course. The exit was right behind them, with a quick run they could easily make it. Bon-Bon froze, she looked beyond the beast to the spot that Lyra had been when this monstrosity had attacked, it was empty now. She was gone, but something didn’t sit right, this thing trying to kill them went against everything Lyra had said. She said she would always consider her a friend, even if she hated her, and now she instantly tried to kill her? It didn’t add up, Bon-Bon knew Lyra wouldn’t try and kill anypony, right? A flicker of a memory came to her mind and she cursed herself for being so stupid. She cast a quick glance back at the others on the verge of fleeing up the stairs when she spoke with a sigh still eyeing the snarling monstrosity.

“It’s not real girls. Look, the grounds not disturbed where it jumped, it’s just sound and sight. An illusion right Twilight?” The brief thought of what if she was wrong passed through Bon-Bon’s mind but she quickly dismissed it as the others uneasily came to stand beside her. Twilight lit her horn as the monstrous wolf continued to snarl and with a slight popping sound it dissolved into what it had always been, lies and mist. The monstrous wolf remained frozen, trapped within a great prison of ice and sorcery, never having moved. The entire group let out a sigh of relief until Pinkie pointed out the question nopony had wanted to ask.

“Where’s Lyra?” The others looked across the cavernous room but their expressions quickly fell as they realized she was nowhere in sight. Twilight’s horn lit for a moment before flickering out and a displeased expression overtook her features.

“She teleported, not long range, still somewhere in the Badlands I think. Spike, does she feel really far to you?” The young dragon just gave a silent shake of his head, still trying to calm his racing heart down. The others shared a look wondering if they should continue after the mare when an exasperated sigh came from the mouth of Twilight as she took stock of the situation.

“We should look around first; try to figure out what she was doing here. I’ll extend the heat shell to the entire room but I’m almost running on empty here. That was the biggest stun bolt I had and I wasted a lot of power on it.” The words hung as everypony and dragon started poking around, none wanting to get close to the frozen wolf as it stood as a reminder of the event. Bon-Bon trotted up to Twilight while nosing through her saddle bag before pulling out a small wrapped candy and offering it to Twilight on an outstretched hoof.

“It’s a wizards candy. It’s supposed to help regenerate your mana well quickly. Tastes a little sour but it should help.” Twilight stared at the candy questioningly for a moment before unwrapping and popping it in her mouth. The smile and faint spark at the top of her horn told Bon-Bon it had worked perfectly.

“This is amazing! I’ve never heard of wizard’s candy before. I wonder why it’s not more popular?” Bon-Bon gave a slight smile before she moved to go join in the search with the others before calling over her shoulder.

“Lyra taught me the recipe.” Bon-Bon focused her eyes across the rest of the cavern and made to go where Lyra had been standing just a few minutes before. The marble floor coated in frost shimmered as she moved, she didn’t want to look at anything else. It wasn’t easy to forget the way that her best friend had just nearly scared her to death with that monstrous illusion. The thought that it hadn’t been able to actually hurt them though brought a bit of hope to her heart that Lyra couldn’t actually bring herself to fight them. She had conjured up a distraction and fled. She had to hold onto that thought.

Pinkie took her eyes off of Bon-Bon and wondered if she should go try and cheer her up. Maybe now wasn’t exactly a super-duper time so she would wait a little, let her think. Yeah and once they brought Lyra home she could throw a super fantastic-tabulous party. With a nod of her head Pinkie went back to inspecting the massive frozen wolf. The others didn’t like to look at it but it was frozen, harmless as a popsicle, although brain freeze so maybe she shouldn’t get to close she reasoned. Still, it reminded her of something Sirius had said, a giant super wolf, no wait, four giant super wolves! Ha, she remembered, take that brain she thought as she gave a small hoof pump.

“Hey girls, I remembered who mister meany wolf is. I was all hmmf now where do I know him from and my brain was like duh mister Sirius told you and I was like of course! So…oh! This means that mr wolf is actually Fenris Winter-Maw, doggy god of winter, savagery and...hmm I think it was survival or maybe scones…nope definitely survival!” Pinkie stood beaming pointing a triumphant hoof and the wolfen monstrosity while Twilight twitched slightly, other ponies knowing more about history than her just felt wrong. It was Rainbow who broke the silence looking at Pinkie like she had grown a second head.

“Wait, your telling me that the wolf-sickle over there is some sort of ancient diamond dog deity? That. Is. AWESOME! Daring Do never got to find any gods and now we found some ancient forgotten civilizations god actually in the fur, that’s pretty sweet right girls? I’m totally going to write to Daring Do about this when we get back.” The others shook their heads a little at the enthusiasm while Twilight trotted down to ask Pinkie about the wolf. Spike hopped down off Twilights back and moved towards Bon-Bon who was just staring at something in her hoof with a horrified look on her face.

“Bon-Bon what’s the matter? Hey, what did you find? Bon-Bon come on your freaking me out.” She didn’t say a word, just passed him something to hold in his claws. The look in her eyes was far away now. Spike looked at the thing in his hands and with a jolt he realized what he was holding. It was seafoam green and about a hoof and a quarter in length. Thin but the faint spiral pattern on one side told him exactly what it was. It was a shard of Lyra’s horn. He called to the others and they quickly encircled the two, looks of concern washing across all their faces.

////////////////////////

Lyra tuned out the throbbing in her horn as best she could, it burned with every breeze of air and for every drop of sunlight that hit it. She hadn’t looked at it yet, she didn’t want to. She knew she had been pushing it with the long range teleport to the badlands in the first place, but Bonnie was just so persistent. She knew that she was going to barge into the lab soon and had decided to act quickly. That had been pushing it, creating a fully fleshed out sixty hoof tall wolf illusion with sound had been beyond pushing it, it had been bucking it into the next town over across the line. It hurt, a lot. Still, she had got what she needed from in there, had avoided awakening an ancient monstrosity and hadn’t technically assaulted her friends.

She hung her head as she continued trudging through the sands of the badlands. She had wanted to just slip away, to have Bon-Bon remember the mare she had been, to have everypony remember her that way. Now, she let out a pained sigh at the thought. Stupid Bon-Bon, making me a better pony, Lyra laughed at the thought and how true it was. If she had never met Bon-Bon she would have left years ago and Equestria, well there wouldn’t be much of Equestria if any. Lyra shivered at the thought and how close she had been to destroying so many lives once, now though was a time to think, they had tracked her, how?

Her hoofsteps had started dragging and still she turned over the puzzle, it could always just be Pinkie knowing where she was somehow, the thought disturbed her. No that wouldn’t be it maybe, wait why would Spike be there? From what she knew Twilight preferred to leave Spike behind if she thought it might be dangerous, could she have tracked me using him? A light went on behind Lyra’s eyes as the puzzle finally clicked into place. She had used Spikes connection the blood in her armour, the thought brought a small smile to her lips, it was clever. She knew she shouldn’t have expected any less form the student of the princess. She could easily close the loop left in the spell matrix, they wouldn’t be able to track her. She grimaced at the thought, it would mean her armor was finished, she wouldn’t be able to add any new enchantments than what was already there. She entertained the thought of simply teleporting the rest of the way, the burning in her horn silenced that thought. Her horn wouldn’t survive another teleport like that. She let out a small huff and stood still.

The wind was gentle, the sun wasn’t exactly glaring but it was quiet, so quiet that Lyra shut her eyes and tried to imagine the sounds of a Ponyville market opening. The clack of the wheels as the stands were pushed into place, Carrot-top waving her over and telling Lyra about her day. It seemed so ideal, so peaceful she let a smile come across her features. She opened her eyes with a new determination, a new resolve to push on. She could walk the rest of the way if need be. As long as she kept away from the mana heavy spells her horn would make it. Four days on hoof to cross the badlands, a week in the foothills, hopefully one day in the forest of Abaddon, then a few days into the mountains. Two weeks total if she was optimistic, the question of her armor continued to pick at her, but she couldn’t risk not being able to put new spells on it. Still, maybe there was a work around maybe some way to hide herself, or better yet get the others to just go home.

She knew Bon-Bon though and thus she knew the odds of getting the mare to do anything she didn’t agree with were precisely zero. Double that for princess Twilight, who she had technically cast coercive magic’s on. She huffed out in annoyance as she continued on her trek.

/////////////////////////

Bon-Bon’s voice was thin as the girls didn’t really know what to say to her.
“Twilight, how bad is Lyra’s horn. What’s…the worst case scenario?” Twilight looked around nervously as the other turned there gazes towards her, she shuffled her hooves before finally replying.

“Unicorn horns are tough, really tough. To actually physically destroy one would normally mean the pony would be unable to cast magic. But Lyra’s horn is being torn apart from the inside, she’s somehow powering through spells that are far above her level of mana. Any dedicated unicorn could technically do it; it’s just painful and causes lasting damage. Any time Lyra casts any spell it will hurt, but to actually have a shard come off her horn? I wouldn’t even be able to stay conscious, it would be beyond painful. Then to keep trying to use magic afterwards is insane. The only way she could, is if her armor somehow dampens her reaction to pain, and that’s disturbing in all its own ways. To be honest I only ever read about one case where a unicorn pushed things this far, I mean you need to be both extremely powerful and willing to literally tear yourself apart! If Lyra doesn’t stop, she risks a magical cascade effect. Her horn would literally explode if she keeps trying things like this.” The others all grimace before Rainbow Dash speaks, voice quiet and unsure.

“Well, would that be the worst thing? I mean she can’t use any more magic, that would suck but she wouldn’t be you know almost killing herself anymore. Next time we see her do try and…yah know stop her by…giving her horn a good kick?” Twilight cringed the second the words left her mouth and Twilght responded with a mild glare and an edge to her voice.

“Dash, first it would be beyond painful. I can’t even describe how painful it would be to have your horn destroyed. Second, saying it would suck to have no horn is a massive understatement. Imagine losing your wings for the rest of your life. That’s how she would feel. Lastly and I need you all to listen very carefully. When I say her horn would explode I don’t mean a small flash of light and it’s gone. It would unlock all the magic in her body and then start sucking up any ambient magic and then would pool it into a single point at her horns core and then explode with more force than if Celestia herself fired her most powerful spell. Lyra wouldn’t survive, anything near her wouldn’t survive. As I said, full magical cascade. If we get to her now there are treatments, artificial horn grafts and some healing magic’s. It would take years before she could cast spells pain free but the option exists. But not if we don’t find her soon.”
Her lecture finished Twilight looked into the faces of her friends, they were terrified, and Bon-Bon looked devastated. It was finally Pinkie who broke the silence.

“I think it’s time we call Celestia. This is getting super serious; we need to tell her about this place so that she doesn’t escape. Then tell her about Lyra and her horn, maybe she could talk to her?” The others shared a look of discomfort, this was now a matter that effected Celestia, they would need to tell her. This meant Lyra’s fate was out of there hooves, whatever Celestia decided would be law. Bon-Bon, her voice cracking just slightly as she said what to her just a few days before would be madness.

“What if we don’t tell Celestia? What would happen if we found Lyra and got her to come home with us?” The group looked uncomfortable, nopony wanted to be the one to turn Lyra in but no one wanted to go behind Celestia’s back either. It was Twilight who spoke with unsure voice and shifting eyes as if Celestia would reprimand her from beyond the walls at a moment’s notice.

“Technically we could make a case that as Lyra lives in Ponyville she’s under my jurisdiction. I’m…not ok lying to Celestia if she asks me though. I don’t think I could. I see what Bon-Bon’s getting at though, I don’t want Lyra to get in trouble for this either. But maybe she needs to, maybe this will help her. I don’t know what the right call here is. Girls let’s put it to a vote, all in favour of contacting Celestia?”
Twilight looked around and saw only Pinkie and herself with their hooves raised.

“All for keeping our pursuit a secret.” Bon-Bon and Rainbow Dash each raised a hoof. Twilight let out a sigh as she spoke.

“Well two vs two, it looks like were right back where we started.” Dash pointed her raised hoof to something behind her and Twilight felt her heart give a twinge as she remembered where Spike was seated. His grin was sheepish and he looked ready to sprint away at a moment’s notice, but his claw was shakily held up. Twilight let the surprised look fall from her face as she spoke to Spike in a harsh whisper.

“Spike, what are you doing?” Spike held her eyes as he replied, his voice shaky but determined.

“Twi, remember when I was really young and you got that old book of magic to study directly from Celestia. How she said it was really important that you be careful with it. I burned it on accident and when Celestia asked you what happened you said you had done it. You protected me and, well I feel I need to do the same. I’m sorry Twi, I just think it’s the right thing to do.” Twilights expression softened and she gave Spike a small nuzzle as she turned back to the group.

“Alright, I don’t like it but we’ll keep this from Celestia for now. But if the situation changes, or she starts to head towards a populated area we need to tell her. What am I getting into. Alright, we rest for five minutes more everypony and then we head out and find Lyra. We’ll bring her home safe, everypony agreed.” With that she placed her lavender hoof forwards and soon found it joined by one cyan, one pink and one cream hoof along with a purple claw. Pinkie was the one to break the silence with a wide grin and the bounce of her step having returned.

“Well if were an adventure group on an epic quest we need like a super cool party name! The fearsome five, the mongooses, no wait, Lyre’s gambit! Nailed it! See, its funny cause were lying to Celestia, trying to find Lyra and the whole quest is sort of a gambit. Come on I think it’s a super name!” Twilight looked uncomfortable the second the words lying to Celestia were uttered but she sucked them up and assessed the words Pinkie had said. It was true, it was a gambit, maybe a long shot, but if it got them a friend home safe and nopony wound up in prison that would be pretty great. Giving an exhale between a grumble and a laugh Twilight concurred.

“Lyre’s Gambit it is.”

“Lyre’s gambit, cool.” Spike intoned, glad he and Twilight weren’t going to be arguing.

“eh, could have been cooler, like a full 20% but still. Lyre’s Gambit it is.” Rainbow Dash nodded a cocky smile plastering her face.

“Lyre’s gambit. She would have fallen over laughing at the name. Yeah, let’s do this.” Bon-Bon nodded as well. With a quick final tap of their hooves it was decided and they parted ways ready to soon take up the journey once again.

Author's Note

Decided that I enjoy this story and will keep chipping away at it. I would like to know if anyone out there is enjoying it as well and am always eager for comments or grammar fixes. Also if anyone wants to do up some cover art for this I can pretty much guarantee I will put it up. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I would love to hear from you.