The Lost Sixby =the Doctor=Chaptersthe Spellthe BookSpitfireOctaviaVinyl ScratchLyrathe SpellChapter 1: the Spell Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the library one afternoon pouring over a book she borrowed from the palace in Canterlot. It was entitled, The Magic of Fiction. You see, Rainbow Dash's birthday was coming up and Twilight wanted it to be extra special; therefore, she planned to bring Dash's favorite hero, Daring Doo, out of the book for a day. She almost had the spell too. She just needed One key component that seemed to evade her. Spike walked inside from the rain the pegasi had arranged carrying a number of soggy letters. “Of all the days to make it rain, it had to be the only day you get mail the normal way. What's with all these letters, Twilight?” “Just put those down on the little table over there,” She motions vaguely toward her right without looking up. “Pinkie said she wanted to use my mailbox. Something about a gift for Dash.” Just then, Pinkie Pie bursted out of a potted plant. “Nuh-uh! It's the most awesome, amazing, super-duper-aliooper gift for Rainbow in the history of Equestria ever! Gimme those!She nabbed the letters out of startled Spike's hands and retreated back into the potted plant. Twilight didn't look up once. Recovering himself, Spike walked over to Twilight. “So what are you doing Twilight? You've had your face buried in that book for a week.” “Well, you see, I've been-GASP!She stood up suddenly and ran past Spike, causing him to spin and fall on the floor. She began speaking excitedly while throwing a flurry of books behind her. “Why didn't I see it before? It only makes sense, but- no. That's not it. It's more like- yes! Wait, no. I guesse it's more like when, I mean yeah, but who'd have thought. The point is it's so simple yet, HERE IT IS!” She pulled down a large tome with her unicorn magic and a bit more strain than usual. She flipped it open and stopped on a page depicting a unicorn in a mini whirlwind beside a cave wall. “The first recorded instance of this spell. Apparently it was used to make pictures of food become actual food before Hearthswarming Eve. I wonder why the unicorns ever stopped using it. No matter. I'll just test it out quickly. Spike, can you-” CRASH! Rainbow Dash flew through the door, tackling Pinkie Pie who had apparently been outside instead of in the plant. “OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH! Thank you SOOO much Pinkie Pie! You are the best friend EVER! Twilight! Come here!” Caught off guard, Twilight hastily hid what she was working on under a number of books she had pulled off the shelves. “Haven't you ever heard of knocking?” “What's all the commotion?” “Ideed, I could here you all the way from my boutique” “Umm, I don't mean to sound mean but, what's the noise? if you don't mind my asking.” Apple Jack, Rarity, and Fluttershy walked into the library's now open door while Rarity used a spell to dry them off. Rainbow Dash flew up to the ceiling and began shouting. “Pinkie Pie here is what's up! She managed to get Spitfire, captain of the Wonder Bolts, to come to Ponyville for my birthday! Can you believe her?” With this, Rainbow Dash did a loop and began talking excitedly to herself. Pinkie stood up from the pile of books she had been knocked into. “It was easy. I just sent her a ton of letters talking about what a great flyer Rainbow is and asked her really nicely to come over. She was more than happy to, remembering all that Rainbow's done for her.” Twilight began thinking to herself. “Hey Dash, if you like what Pinkie's doing, then you'll love what I have planned for you.” Pinkie pressed her head against Twilight's. “No, silly. You can't tell her what you're getting her for her birthday... It'll ruin the surprise!” “Don't worry, Pinkie. If I don't show her this now, she'd be too interested in Spitfire to spend time with anypony else. Gather around everypony! Spike, get me that copy of Daring Doo. She cleared the books from on top of the tome as Spike dropped the book in front of her. “Since you'll be spending all of tomorrow with Spitfire, you might as well spend all of today with your favorite story book hero. I have a spell here that will let me bring her here. Then she can go back into the book after.” All of the ponies plus Spike gathered around in excitement as Twilight started the spell. Her horn began to glow as the Adventures of Daring Doo rose into the air. A forceful wind blew open all the doors and windows as a whirlwind formed around the purple unicorn. Pages began ripping themselves out of various books and formed the shape of a pegasus. More flew out and formed the shapes of various other ponies. Pinkie started twitching sporadically. “I don't like the feeling of this. Maybe you should stop, Twilight.” Twilight couldn't hear her, though. Her eyes had gone a bright white and something seemed off. The paper ponies circled in the air around the six mares. All of them were lifted into the air and green lightning flashed from the book. BANG! Just as suddenly as it had began, it was over; the paper constructs had burst, and Spike was left lying unconscious on the ground. The six ponies were no where to be seen. Instead, a dog-like creature with proper hands on all four legs and an extra one on its tail was standing in the middle of the library surrounded by five felines. “Yes, this is a much more likeable environment. What say we see what we can find? I'd love the idea of a few riches to decorate my new home, but that can wait until we meet the neighbors.” With that, the creature left the library and made his way to the Ever Free Forest. “I believe this will prove quite enjoyable.” the BookChapter 2: the Book The rain had stopped and the rest of the day went by as normal. Come night, however, ponies began to worry about the missing group. Another day went by without any sign of their return and it was no longer only their families that worried. The sun set, then rose on a house nestled in a large oak tree. It’s door opened (backwards) and out stepped a blonde mail mare with a grey coat and crossed eyes. This mail mare’s name is Derpy Hooves. Derpy took to the sky on her usual mail route and began delivery letters to the citizens of Ponyville. When she arrived at the library with yet another letter, she thought she heard a noise coming from inside. Rumor had gone around that the unicorn in charge of the library had disappeared two days ago. This was what made the noise so strange. Strengthening her resolve, Derpy ignored all mail pony protocol and went into the library unannounced. It was as bright inside as the ajar windows allowed for. Books were strewn around the floor and dust had begun to settle. A rustling could be heard as the wind gingerly flipped through pages of numerous volumes. An open copy of the Adventures of Daring Doo laid neatly on the ground. “Hello? Is anypony here?” Derpy took a few small steps forward. “I delivered your mail. It’s from a miss Spitfire. Do you need any help?” There was no reply. Derpy looked around and decided to help clean the library. It can’t be any harder than sorting letters. Let’s start with that one in the middle of the floor. She picked up the adventure book in her mouth and froze. The library seemed to fall around her, leaving a pitch dark landscape in its place. The forms of the element bearers waxed into existence around her. All seven ponies were greatly surprised at this. Derpy looked at the six mares in front of her and spoke with the book still in her mouth. “Where is this place? What are you six doing here? Everypony’s been looking all over the place for you.” The six ponies looked at eachother before Twilight Sparkle stepped forward. “Don’t be alarmed. You have every reason to be, but don’t. We believe that we’re inside of the book.” As she said this, the area began to lighten up and Derpy could make out that they were in some sort of jungle. “I had cast a spell that was supposed to bring out Daring Doo, but-” Twilight was cut off abruptly by Rainbow Dash. “But instead she sucked us in and we have no idea how to get out. Now, we’ll probably be in here forever until-” Applejack covered Dash’s mouth with her hoof. “Hold on just a minute. I’d like to know how this pegasus here got into this place. What’s more, if she’s holding the book right now, how can we be in it?” Twilight tilits her head and starts circling around Derpy. “I think the book works like an anchor to here. If somepony touches it in reality, they enter it sort of like how you imagine the world of the story when you read it.” Derpy gives a puzzled look and says, “What are you guys talking about? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?” Rarity turns to look her in at least one of her eyes. “I think what Twilight is trying to say is that you’re in here as long as you touch the book you’re currently holding; and yes, I believe we could use a bit of help, considering our situation. Any ideas how, however, are entirely in Twilight’s mind. She’s the only one here who seems to understand fully what’s going on.” “I’m not sure I’d say I know entirely what’s going on, but I think I get the gist of it.” She turns to Derpy. “What’s your name?” “Derpy Hooves.” “Well miss Hooves, I think I’m missing some vital information from the outside world that will allow me to decide on a course of action. Do you think you can take this book with you and tell me anything important that might be going on? Better yet, do you think you can go to Canterlot and tell Celestia what’s become of us? Don’t tell anypony else. You said that they’re worried. They’ll only be more worried if they know the truth.” As you can imagine, this was a lot to take in for a little pegasus. In a storm of thoughts, though, one stood out more than any other. These ponies are in trouble and I can actually help them. Derpy straightened up and gave a salute. “You can count on me!” She forgot that the book was in her mouth and dropped it when she spoke. As it fell, so too did the fictional jungle around her. She was back in the library with the book open neatly in front of her. She turned her head to look in either direction and used a stray piece of paper to insulate her hooves from the book. She dropped it in her mail bag and made her way to the train station to catch the next train to Canterlot. SpitfireChapter 3: Spitfire The Ponyville train station loomed ahead of Derpy as she flew as fast as her wings would take her. All numbers of characters were there crowding around to reach their train. Unbeknownst to her, one among the crowd was a miss Spitfire of the Wonder Bolts. She had arrived the previous day for Rainbow Dash’s birthday, but no one came to meet her. She sent a number of letters to the address that mailed her, but there was no answer. Today, she was finally going back to Canterlot. She didn’t see Derpy flying straight toward her and both pegasi were swiftly knocked to the ground. “Sorry miss. I just don’t know what went wrong.” Derpy rubbed her head and started retrieving her fallen possessions. “It’s nothing, really. What’s your name and why are you in such a rush?” “I’m Derpy Hooves. I’m a mail mare but right now I have to be in Canterlot immediately. I have to...” She froze, remembering what the purple one said about telling other ponies. “You know what? I didn’t catch your name.” “Oh, sorry. I’m Spitfire. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” “Not ringing any bells.” “That’s alright. I’m on my way back to Canterlot myself. Perhaps you’d like to join me? I’m afraid I don’t really know anypony around here very well.” “Sure!” The two of them continued talking with each other as a small, white house cat surveyed the scene. The book that fell out of Derpy’s bag caught his eyes and he raced forward. “HEY! I need that! What are you doing?” Derpy called as the cat snatched the book out of her hooves. It darted into the brush nearby the station and was entirely lost to sight. Spitfire looked on, puzzled. “There’s something you don’t see everyday. I’m sorry about your book. Maybe we can buy you another copy when we’re in Canterlot.” Derpy was severely worried now and somewhat frantic. “I need to get that book back! It has to be that one!” “Calm down kid. If it means that much to you, I’ll help you look for it.” This reassurance worked to calm Derpy down. She looked at her new friend and smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just that that book is a big part of why I need to go to Canterlot. Without it some really bad things might happen to some ponies I know. Do you really mean that you’ll help me look for it?” “Well yeah, but we’d better go now before that cat evades us entirely. Let’s see if we can do this before the last train to Canterlot for the day leaves.” On that note, they flew off in the direction the cat was last seen, scanning the area as they talked. “Hey wait a minute! I do know you! You’ve been sending a lot of letters to the library over the past two days. Why is that?” Spitfire shrugged. “I was supposed to meet a pony here named Rainbow Dash for her birthday. After arriving here, nopony ever came to pick me up. I was actually about to head back to Canterlot when you crashed into me. Is something wrong?” At the name “Rainbow Dash,” Derpy stopped mid-flight. Her mind was bombarded by thoughts from every direction. Rainbow Dash is in that book. If she was supposed to meet Spitfire yesterday, then they’ve been in there for at least that time. Spitfire deserves to know what happened, but I promised those ponies I wouldn’t tell anypony other than the princess what happened to them, and losing their trust is the best way to lose their friendship. A voice could be heard from a considerable distance away, followed by a loud hiss. “FOREVER!” “That must be where the book is! I think it came from this way!” Derpy rushed off in the direction of the voice, leaving a very confused Spitfire to follow after her. What’s with this kid? Meanwhile, the white cat was running along a stone path leading to the Everfree Forest when a grey earth pony carrying a large case of some sort blocked his way. “Shoo! Shoo! And get that out of your mouth. Cats should know better than wander way out here. Your owner must be worried sick.” The grey pony plucked the book wrapped in parchment out of the cat’s grip and was thanked in return with a few swipes from the cat’s paws that failed to make contact with anything. “Why... what an ill mannered brute you are.” The mare put the book into her saddle bag that wasn’t obstructed by the case and continued on her way to Ponyville, leaving the cat behind. OctaviaChapter 4: Octavia This grey mare's name was Octavia, and she was an accomplished musician in an ensemble in Canterlot. The case contained her instrument, a cello. Octavia pushed open the door to her house in Ponyville. She was greeted, as usual by the drowning sound of dubstep. “Vinyl! Will you please at least put your headphones in? Some of us prefer to keep our hearing.” Octavia propped her cello against the wall by the door and walked into the living room. In a large chair in the corner there sat a white unicorn with a messy blue mane and rave goggles, which she never seemed to take off. The chair was directly in front of rather large speakers blasting music into the mare's face. Octavia stepped behind the speaker and kicked its plug out of the wall, giving a small smirk as she did so. This was a regular occurrence. “Hey, I was listening to that.” “Was listening. Past tense. Your point is?” The unicorn let out a laugh. “All right, all right. So how'd your concert go, Tavi?” “Meh, nothing interesting happened. We played Symphony Number 9 and got a standing ovation, so that's always good. After that the four of us had lunch at a nearby diner. Oh! I got Harpo to say three words!” Vinyl raised her eyebrows. “Wow. He must've been really talkative.” “Yeah. I guess so. Listen, Lyra is going to be coming over in about half an hour for her lesson. Would you mind helping me set up the studio?” Vinyl Scratch winced. “Oh, um, yeah. About that. I, uh, kinda sorta, um, I mean...” Octavia gave a face hoof. “What did you do this time?” “You remember how the studio had sound proof windows?” “Please don't say you're using past tense again.” “Well, you also remember how we had walls surrounding the studio?” By this point, Octavia was leaning against the wall with both of her front hooves covering her face. “Please PLEASE say you didn't” “And, um, you remember how the studio kind of existed and was not just a smoking pile of rubble?” Octavia did a face ground. “I leave for one morning. One morning, and you burn down the studio... again. What were you even trying to do?” “Eh, I was only trying to see if I could improve my turntables.” “And how did that work out?” “FANTASTIC! They're better than ever!” Octavia let out an exasperated sigh. “Glad to hear it,” she said rather unenthusiastically. “I'll let Lyra know that her lesson has been canceled for today. Do you think you can clean what's left of our poor studio in the mean time?” The unicorn gave an oversized smile. “No problem. Say while I'm here confessing and everything, do you also remember-” The, now heavily stressed, mare walked away. “I'M NOT LISTENING. I'VE HAD ENOUGH BAD NEWS FROM YOU TODAY.” With the unicorn out of earshot and working on cleaning the studio, Octavia let herself slump in her red chair by the fireplace and felt the troubles of the day flow over her. Yes, they had gotten a standing ovation... at the end of the first movement. She hated it when the audience didn't know when a song ended. On top of that, there had been only twenty ponies in the audience, and most of them were focusing on their own conversations. The nerve. They had lost money in total and the diner was far from clean. The three words Harpo had said were “I'm going home.” Now that she was finally home, Octavia had learned that her highly irresponsible room mate had set fire to their studio. This day was getting worse and worse and Octavia just wanted to let her mind wander. It eventually came back to the cat she had seen earlier and the book that was still in her saddle bag. With a deal of effort, she pulled herself off of the couch and over to her bags. What was a cat doing with a book anyway? She opened her bag and grabbed the book by the spine using her right hoof. The room fell away. Everything went black. The sounds of various jungle animals could be heard. Then, the shapes of trees began to emerge. “Hey what's that? Something's appearing over there, Twi. I don't think it's Derpy.” She could hear a slightly raspy voice speaking. Everything was clear now. She was definitely in some sort of jungle and six ponies were staring at her. Wait a moment... She pointed at the six of them. “I know you! You were the ponies who crashed the Gala and nearly ruined the Garden Party when I was there. And you!” She pointed at Pinkie Pie. “You almost broke my cello at the Gala. Wait a minute, why am I talking about this? Where the heck am I?” Rainbow Dash threw her hands in the air and let herself fall backwards. “Another one? Jeeze! How many ponies are going to come into this place? I thought we had sent Derpy straight to Celestia, but it doesn't look like we'll be getting home any time soon.” Twilight Sparkle give Octavia a nervous smile. “I'm sorry about the Gala, but what's past is past, right? You see, we're kind of trapped in this book until... well, I'm not exactly sure when; but I'm working on it. A pegasus named Derpy Hooves came in here earlier and she was supposed to bring this book to Celestia for us.” “That's strange, I took this book from a cat.” The six ponies tilt their heads in unison except for Rainbow Dash, who leaps into the air and yells, “A cat? I knew Derpy was clumsy, but I didn't think she'd be featherbrained enough to give us away.” Twilight thinks to herself. “I'm sure there's a reasonable, logical explanation as to why a cat was holding the book. Meanwhile miss...” “Octavia.” “Miss Octavia. In light of recent events, do you think you can find Derpy Hooves for us? She's a grey mail mare pegasus. Blonde mane. She has... interesting, eyes. She was probably headed for Canterlot.” Octavia looks at the six ponies for a few seconds that must have seemed like hours. Is this even real? Did Vinyl hit a gas mane when she decimated the studio? If this is real, though, do I really have a choice. Her eyes narrow. No, I don't. “I'll find her for you, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure you get back safely, taken I'm not actually in some infirmary of some sort.” Apple Jack tilts her head. “Beg pardon? Why would you be in an infirmary?” “Never mind. Now how do I get back?” “Just let go of the book.” Octavia let the book slide from her grip. As it parted contact, the image in front of her rushed away in a blur and her senses were flooded with reality. The first thing she saw was Vinyl Scratch in front of her, jaw dropped. Scratch let out a whistle. “That. Was. AWESOME!” Only after that did Octavia notice that her house was missing a wall. She let herself slump onto the ground looking at where the wall used to be. “I think I just... died a little bit inside.” Vinyl ScratchChapter 5: Viniyl Scratch "Aaah." Vinyl Scratch let out a relaxed sigh just after Octavia had left saying she didn't want to listen. She had managed to worm her a out of trouble for the minor mistake she had made earlier that day. In all honesty, today felt like a good day. Even Octavia seemed glad today. She knew that Octavia had been undergoing a lot of pressure lately and honestly felt bed for her, despite never showing her. The way Scratch saw it, Octavia needed some constant in her life, and Vinyl was willing to oblige for her friend's sake. She hoisted herself up from her (very cofortable) chair and walked drowsily to the front door. Although there were a lot of good things today, what she was expecting in the mail had the potential to ruin it all. Over the last two weeks, Vinyl had been trying to help out in multiple ways that her skill set was not completely suited for. You know, the usual: cooking, maintanance, construction, modifying her music into high calibre sonic weaponry. To be fair, she succeeded at the last of these endeavers, effectively creating the world's first bass cannon. Her neighbors (who had since moved away from their, now annhilated, house) didn't seem to admire her achievement, but hey. It's their loss. The point was, all these little attempts at innocent, harmless tasks always led to some form of "Vinyl! You just broke the (fill in object name here)." The repairs for these things tend to cost money, and, with Tavi doing a lot poorer buisiness-wise, it's been up to Vinyl to pay for these repairs. This wasn't particularly difficult, what with the contract with K-Colt and her success as a DJ. Pinkie Pie even managed to hook her up with a gig at a royal wedding. No, the money wasn't a problem before. Unfortunately, she underplayed what the most recent damage was. She had told Octavia that she had destroyed the studio, which was true. The entire rest of the building was also destroyed. Rebuilding a studio, that costs money, but it's easily possible. Rebuilding an entire radio station? That is somewhat more costly. With this in mind, Scratch closed her eyes and dug into the mailbox. It wasn't so bad. Mostly advertisements and some stuff for Octavia. Her fears were not unfounded, however. At the bottom was a letter that showed the estimated price of rebuilding K-Colt. Vinyl walked into the kitchen and put Tavi's mail on the table. She then, slowly, opened the letter from the (very fast working, judging by how quickly they got the estimate) contractors. At first puzzlement fell across her face, then, in a span of five seconds, her expression transformed into one of utter dread. They hadn't sent estimates. They sent a catalogue listing radio stations for sale. None of them were anywhere near Ponyville or Canterlot. Not only that, but prices were waaaaaay beyond her budget. Attached was a note. Dear Mrs. Scratch We regret to inform you that we lack the resources and manpower to rebuild your radio station. We do not have the means to obtain either of these within the next year unless there is a significant gain in finances. These finances are of a high enough sum, that you may be better off buying a new building. Here is a catalogue of suitable buildings currently listed. We thank you for your understanding and wish you the best of luck. Equestrian Contractors Upon finishing reading this letter, Vinyl sunk to the floor, unable to process what had just happened. K-Colt was her and Octavia's primary source of income. If they couldn't keep up with it, they would lose the house. They would lose almost everything. She couldn't let that happen and she wouldn't move away to a new town. She and Tavi had a following in Ponyville. What's more, the number of parties in the area gave Vinyl more opportunities than she'd find anywhere else. Not only that, but she couldn't be sure that Octavia would be able to recover from this. She would either need to move to the new station's location and abandon her ensemble, or find some way to live off of the very sparse income she made alone and abandon K-Colt. It was a hopeless situation. No. Vinyl Scratch stood up with a new determination in her eys. she levitated a piece of paper and a quill and began furiously writing a letter back to the contractors. K-Colt wouldn't die. Nopony was going to move. Octavia wasn't going to have to make a decision. Scratch would get the money, and soon. She was still a successful DJ. She still had a large following. She was tight with bucking ROYALTY! She'd be able to raise the money... and she wouldn't need to let Octavia know what had transpired. Not yet anyway. Sealing the letter, Vinyl was almost at the front door to mail it when there an incredible gust of wind flew past her, picking up momentum and tearing the wall behind her away. A tornado of paper was whirling in front of her and, in a great flash of green lightning, Octavia materialized in front of her. Scratch stood there dumbstruck with her jaw wide open. After letting out a low whistle, she said, still slightly dazed, "That. Was. AWESOME!" Octavia looked at Scratch with surprise before a look of defeat spread across her face upon not seeing the wall that would normally be a part of the house. She slumped to the floor. "I think I just... died a bit inside." Vinyl looked behind her and back at Octavia. "Don't look at me. That one was all you." ~~~ Octavia thankfully hadn't noticed the letter Scratch was holding and, after some help was lent, made her way into the living room. There, she had explained what had just happened to Scratch. Wait a minute. If Pinkie's missing, that explains why I haven't found nearly so many gigs in the past few days. If she stays in there, there's no way I'll be able to make enough money. This is worse than I thought. A few seconds after Octavia finished her story, Vinyl stood up and picked up the insulated book. "Come on, Tavi. There's no time to lose. Let's get this book to that mail mare ASAP. We can't leave those ponies in there." "Do you honestly believe that was all real?" "Tavi. Tavi Tavi TAVI! You just appeared in front of my in a storm of wind, paper, bucking THUNDERBOLTS! It was the greatest light show I've ever seen, and I've seen some a-MAZ-ing light shows in my line of work. Keep that in mind when I tell you this next part. That is STILL not the most messed up thing I've seen in my years on this planet. Believe me when I say that these ponies ARE in that book and we HAVE to get them out of there." Octavia was surprised at Scratch's sudden enthusiasm. She still thought there was a possiblity that she had hit her head and was in a hospital somewhere. Nonetheless, she had pointed out to herself that she'd better play it safe, just in case those guys were in trouble. She stood up much slower than Scratche had. "Meh, alright. I don't really think I have much of a cho-" She was cut off abruptly as Scratch grabbed her and bolted for the door. Just as she reached it, however, it opened from the other side. "I'm here for my... what's going on here? Am I too early?" Lyra stood in the doorway keeping her lyre aloft with her magic. LyraChapter 6: Lyra The day was clear at the park and two mares were enjoying themselves relaxing on a bench. Both of their eyes were closed and small identical grins could be seen on both of their faces. As ponies cantered by, a few would stop and stare while others, well used to the sight, just ambled by without a worry. The reason for this was because of one of the mares’ strange behavior. She was a teal unicorn with a short, darker teal mane that had a single long, white highlight. Her cutie mark was a lyre. She seemed perfectly content. She was enjoying the sun’s rays. She was listening to the various sounds. She was quite still as she breathed in the fresh, morning air, She was slouching sitting upright in a very odd fashion. Next to her was a cream colored earth pony with a long, curly, pink and purple mane and three candies wrapped in similar colors for her cutie mark. In stark contrast to the unicorn she shared the bench with, this pony was lying down properly on her stomach, legs folded neatly under her. She opened the eye closer to the unicorn a crack. “Lyra?” “Yes?” “You’re doing it again.” Lyra Heartstrings looked down at herself, half surprised. She stretched her front hooves over her head in an exaggerated manner. “Huh, so I am. How’d that happen?” She then went back to doing exactly as she had before as the mare next to her let out a small giggle. “You really don’t care that ponies are staring at you?” Lyra let her head fall back so the she could see a cloud passing by overhead. “Bonbon. Listen. You’ve been my friend ever since I can remember. You know it doesn’t bother me. They aren’t doing anything wrong looking at me, are they? I can accept that the way I do things is odd to most of you. Everypony has something to make them odd. You need to roll with the bucks and let ponies be themselves. Now how can I do that if I don’t be myself?” Bonbon chuckled and relaxed once more. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” The two of them were content to stay there for a long while, but the universe had other ideas. After a few minutes, a stampede of cats, dogs, and various other pets went barreling past them and into the Everfree Forest, no reason in sight. Loud growls and roars could be heard coming from within the forest as well. The two mares were left speechless, staring awestruck at where the strange stampede had passed in front of them. Lyra was the first to break the silence. “Was that a?” “Yes. Yes I think it was.” “And were those?” “I believe so.” “And those sounds?” “… I don’t know.” Lyra slumped off of the bench and onto all fours. “I don’t think I can really relax now. I’m too curious. I want to look this up. I’m sure something this big means something. Mind taking my saddlebags back to the house?” “I don’t mind, but where do you intend to go? The library’s been closed for days with Twilight Sparkle missing. She wasn’t back yet from what I had heard.” “She’s still not back? That’s odd. It’s not as strange as what just happened, though. It’s a public library, right? As long as I don’t take any books I should be fine, right?” “Lyra, it’s also her house. I think we can just write this off as a random, entertaining event to be shared with friends later, don’t you?” Lyra remained quiet for a while. “Maybe. But I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I’m just going to check by the library. If Twilight’s not back, I’ll come straight home, okay.” Bonbon let out a sigh. Sometimes it was really hard to persuade Lyra. The only way to deal with her when something caught her attention was patience. “Alright.” Bonbon got off the bench and pick up her and Lyra’s saddlebags. “Don’t do anything… foolhardy. Promise me that? I don’t want you to come home escorted by the officials, understand?” But Lyra was already gone. Patience, Bonbon. Patience. ~~~ Lyra arrived in front of the library after a short bit of walking. Everything seemed normal, except the door was left wide open. Lyra knocked on the slightly ajar door. “Hello?” There was, surprise surprise, no reply. She leaned in and took a deep breath to call louder, but a cloud of dust had risen in light of the draft caused by the open door and decidedly lodged itself in the unicorn’s throat. “HACKCOUGHHACHCHCAAAAAHCK!” Lyra spent the next twenty seconds clearing her esophagus of the airborne contaminant. “How does so much dust settle so quick?” She peered back behind her, making sure nopony was watching. Slowly, the teal mare sidled into the library, closing the door behind her and lighting her horn. The magical light casted eerie shadows around the abandoned library. Lyra strode from shelf to shelf, looking for a book she knew would be there. After she had been possessed at the royal wedding by a malignant monarch, she had obsessed over protecting her thoughts from other governments. For a period of time, she even wore a metal hat before she discovered that it actually amplified some magical forces. No doubt the use of such hats was a ploy devised by those wishing to control her again. Anyway, the stampede had seemed incredibly similar to a form of mind control she had seen in a book at the library. After a semi-short investigation, she found the book at the opposite end of the library with pages seemingly ripped out. Come to think of it, books everywhere were on the floor with pages strewn everywhere except within their respective tomes. Luckily, The part she was looking for was still intact… mostly. “Nousomancy is the practice of controlling the thoughts and will of another intelligent being. Throughout history, many powerful magic users have used this ability in order to sabotage enemies, quell rebellions, and even, in extreme cases, raise armies. The practice of nousomancy was forbidden in Equestria in the second era when Princess Luna and Celestia were instated. The powerful unicorn and rival to Starswirl the Bearded, Maregan le Faye, used this form of magic multiple times in order to manipulate others in an attempt to remove the princesses from power. While she had failed in creating an army of ponies due to the difficulty of mass mind control on higher thinking beings, she met greater success when controlling animals and beasts. Although the princesses managed to fight back her invasion, it was close and many casualties came of it…” Lyra gulped. She had no proof, but she was paranoid. She was about to take the book to the front desk to check it out when she remembered she was the only one there. She didn’t want to steal the book, and she wasn’t exactly supposed to be in the library. She decided to hide the book in a little cranny beside the front desk where she could come back to it later. She pulled back one of the blinds to see the Ponyville clock tower through the window. Funny, they’re called the minute, hour, and second hands on a clock. They look nothing like any hands I know of. She stood up straight. I have lyre lessons in a few minutes, don’t I? Making sure that the library was mostly unchanged before heading out, Lyra made her way back to the house to get her lyre. The way back was uneventful and nopony had seen her enter or exit the library. Inside the house, Bonbon asked her what had happened. “Well, Twilight still wasn’t back, but I think I’ll be checking back regularly. There’s something important I need to see to. Don’t worry about it for now. You’re awesome. See ya.” “Wait, where are you going?” Lyra played a few notes on her lyre in an exaggerated fashion as she walked, bipedal, out the door. “See you when I get back.” And she was off again. Bonbon rolled her eyes with a smile and a bit of a laugh. She called so that she could be sure Lyra heard her this time. “You’re the only pony I know who can do that for so long! Have a good time!” Lyra called something back, but it was lost to the wind. ~~~ The entire way to Octavia’s house, Lyra looked around for any sign of animals. A number of the dogs that were in the stampede had returned, but that was all. Lyra didn’t like the situation, but she had to keep her normal outward disposition. She was already considered strange by most ponies and she didn’t want to give them any reason to not take her seriously. After all, walking and sitting upright as well as fantasizing could be considered a little quirk. If she started spouting conspiracy theories, though, there was no way she could imagine ponies writing that off. She’d lose credibility for sure. No, she would have to play her hand just right and wait for proof if anything was to be done. Finally, she found herself in front of Octavia’s front door. She was about to open it when she realized that she had been walking upright the entire time and had grown tired. No wonder ponies had been staring. She had thought it was because of the attention she was showing the animals, but this made more sense. She righted herself and held the lyre telekinetically like a good unicorn. After she had made sure her composure was proper, she opened the door. “I’m here for my…” Vinyl Scratch was leading Octavia towards her surprisingly fast and somehow stopped cold right in front of the door when she saw Lyra open it. Octavia seemed surprised by everything and was brought a stop in a less than graceful manner, nearly suffering from whiplash as her head failed to stop with the rest of her body. “What’s going on here? Am I too early?” Meanwhile, three pairs of slitted eyes could be seen in the bushes lining the path to the house. They’re attention was unnaturally absolute. They didn’t ever blink.
the SpellChapter 1: the Spell Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the library one afternoon pouring over a book she borrowed from the palace in Canterlot. It was entitled, The Magic of Fiction. You see, Rainbow Dash's birthday was coming up and Twilight wanted it to be extra special; therefore, she planned to bring Dash's favorite hero, Daring Doo, out of the book for a day. She almost had the spell too. She just needed One key component that seemed to evade her. Spike walked inside from the rain the pegasi had arranged carrying a number of soggy letters. “Of all the days to make it rain, it had to be the only day you get mail the normal way. What's with all these letters, Twilight?” “Just put those down on the little table over there,” She motions vaguely toward her right without looking up. “Pinkie said she wanted to use my mailbox. Something about a gift for Dash.” Just then, Pinkie Pie bursted out of a potted plant. “Nuh-uh! It's the most awesome, amazing, super-duper-aliooper gift for Rainbow in the history of Equestria ever! Gimme those!She nabbed the letters out of startled Spike's hands and retreated back into the potted plant. Twilight didn't look up once. Recovering himself, Spike walked over to Twilight. “So what are you doing Twilight? You've had your face buried in that book for a week.” “Well, you see, I've been-GASP!She stood up suddenly and ran past Spike, causing him to spin and fall on the floor. She began speaking excitedly while throwing a flurry of books behind her. “Why didn't I see it before? It only makes sense, but- no. That's not it. It's more like- yes! Wait, no. I guesse it's more like when, I mean yeah, but who'd have thought. The point is it's so simple yet, HERE IT IS!” She pulled down a large tome with her unicorn magic and a bit more strain than usual. She flipped it open and stopped on a page depicting a unicorn in a mini whirlwind beside a cave wall. “The first recorded instance of this spell. Apparently it was used to make pictures of food become actual food before Hearthswarming Eve. I wonder why the unicorns ever stopped using it. No matter. I'll just test it out quickly. Spike, can you-” CRASH! Rainbow Dash flew through the door, tackling Pinkie Pie who had apparently been outside instead of in the plant. “OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH! Thank you SOOO much Pinkie Pie! You are the best friend EVER! Twilight! Come here!” Caught off guard, Twilight hastily hid what she was working on under a number of books she had pulled off the shelves. “Haven't you ever heard of knocking?” “What's all the commotion?” “Ideed, I could here you all the way from my boutique” “Umm, I don't mean to sound mean but, what's the noise? if you don't mind my asking.” Apple Jack, Rarity, and Fluttershy walked into the library's now open door while Rarity used a spell to dry them off. Rainbow Dash flew up to the ceiling and began shouting. “Pinkie Pie here is what's up! She managed to get Spitfire, captain of the Wonder Bolts, to come to Ponyville for my birthday! Can you believe her?” With this, Rainbow Dash did a loop and began talking excitedly to herself. Pinkie stood up from the pile of books she had been knocked into. “It was easy. I just sent her a ton of letters talking about what a great flyer Rainbow is and asked her really nicely to come over. She was more than happy to, remembering all that Rainbow's done for her.” Twilight began thinking to herself. “Hey Dash, if you like what Pinkie's doing, then you'll love what I have planned for you.” Pinkie pressed her head against Twilight's. “No, silly. You can't tell her what you're getting her for her birthday... It'll ruin the surprise!” “Don't worry, Pinkie. If I don't show her this now, she'd be too interested in Spitfire to spend time with anypony else. Gather around everypony! Spike, get me that copy of Daring Doo. She cleared the books from on top of the tome as Spike dropped the book in front of her. “Since you'll be spending all of tomorrow with Spitfire, you might as well spend all of today with your favorite story book hero. I have a spell here that will let me bring her here. Then she can go back into the book after.” All of the ponies plus Spike gathered around in excitement as Twilight started the spell. Her horn began to glow as the Adventures of Daring Doo rose into the air. A forceful wind blew open all the doors and windows as a whirlwind formed around the purple unicorn. Pages began ripping themselves out of various books and formed the shape of a pegasus. More flew out and formed the shapes of various other ponies. Pinkie started twitching sporadically. “I don't like the feeling of this. Maybe you should stop, Twilight.” Twilight couldn't hear her, though. Her eyes had gone a bright white and something seemed off. The paper ponies circled in the air around the six mares. All of them were lifted into the air and green lightning flashed from the book. BANG! Just as suddenly as it had began, it was over; the paper constructs had burst, and Spike was left lying unconscious on the ground. The six ponies were no where to be seen. Instead, a dog-like creature with proper hands on all four legs and an extra one on its tail was standing in the middle of the library surrounded by five felines. “Yes, this is a much more likeable environment. What say we see what we can find? I'd love the idea of a few riches to decorate my new home, but that can wait until we meet the neighbors.” With that, the creature left the library and made his way to the Ever Free Forest. “I believe this will prove quite enjoyable.”
the BookChapter 2: the Book The rain had stopped and the rest of the day went by as normal. Come night, however, ponies began to worry about the missing group. Another day went by without any sign of their return and it was no longer only their families that worried. The sun set, then rose on a house nestled in a large oak tree. It’s door opened (backwards) and out stepped a blonde mail mare with a grey coat and crossed eyes. This mail mare’s name is Derpy Hooves. Derpy took to the sky on her usual mail route and began delivery letters to the citizens of Ponyville. When she arrived at the library with yet another letter, she thought she heard a noise coming from inside. Rumor had gone around that the unicorn in charge of the library had disappeared two days ago. This was what made the noise so strange. Strengthening her resolve, Derpy ignored all mail pony protocol and went into the library unannounced. It was as bright inside as the ajar windows allowed for. Books were strewn around the floor and dust had begun to settle. A rustling could be heard as the wind gingerly flipped through pages of numerous volumes. An open copy of the Adventures of Daring Doo laid neatly on the ground. “Hello? Is anypony here?” Derpy took a few small steps forward. “I delivered your mail. It’s from a miss Spitfire. Do you need any help?” There was no reply. Derpy looked around and decided to help clean the library. It can’t be any harder than sorting letters. Let’s start with that one in the middle of the floor. She picked up the adventure book in her mouth and froze. The library seemed to fall around her, leaving a pitch dark landscape in its place. The forms of the element bearers waxed into existence around her. All seven ponies were greatly surprised at this. Derpy looked at the six mares in front of her and spoke with the book still in her mouth. “Where is this place? What are you six doing here? Everypony’s been looking all over the place for you.” The six ponies looked at eachother before Twilight Sparkle stepped forward. “Don’t be alarmed. You have every reason to be, but don’t. We believe that we’re inside of the book.” As she said this, the area began to lighten up and Derpy could make out that they were in some sort of jungle. “I had cast a spell that was supposed to bring out Daring Doo, but-” Twilight was cut off abruptly by Rainbow Dash. “But instead she sucked us in and we have no idea how to get out. Now, we’ll probably be in here forever until-” Applejack covered Dash’s mouth with her hoof. “Hold on just a minute. I’d like to know how this pegasus here got into this place. What’s more, if she’s holding the book right now, how can we be in it?” Twilight tilits her head and starts circling around Derpy. “I think the book works like an anchor to here. If somepony touches it in reality, they enter it sort of like how you imagine the world of the story when you read it.” Derpy gives a puzzled look and says, “What are you guys talking about? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?” Rarity turns to look her in at least one of her eyes. “I think what Twilight is trying to say is that you’re in here as long as you touch the book you’re currently holding; and yes, I believe we could use a bit of help, considering our situation. Any ideas how, however, are entirely in Twilight’s mind. She’s the only one here who seems to understand fully what’s going on.” “I’m not sure I’d say I know entirely what’s going on, but I think I get the gist of it.” She turns to Derpy. “What’s your name?” “Derpy Hooves.” “Well miss Hooves, I think I’m missing some vital information from the outside world that will allow me to decide on a course of action. Do you think you can take this book with you and tell me anything important that might be going on? Better yet, do you think you can go to Canterlot and tell Celestia what’s become of us? Don’t tell anypony else. You said that they’re worried. They’ll only be more worried if they know the truth.” As you can imagine, this was a lot to take in for a little pegasus. In a storm of thoughts, though, one stood out more than any other. These ponies are in trouble and I can actually help them. Derpy straightened up and gave a salute. “You can count on me!” She forgot that the book was in her mouth and dropped it when she spoke. As it fell, so too did the fictional jungle around her. She was back in the library with the book open neatly in front of her. She turned her head to look in either direction and used a stray piece of paper to insulate her hooves from the book. She dropped it in her mail bag and made her way to the train station to catch the next train to Canterlot.
SpitfireChapter 3: Spitfire The Ponyville train station loomed ahead of Derpy as she flew as fast as her wings would take her. All numbers of characters were there crowding around to reach their train. Unbeknownst to her, one among the crowd was a miss Spitfire of the Wonder Bolts. She had arrived the previous day for Rainbow Dash’s birthday, but no one came to meet her. She sent a number of letters to the address that mailed her, but there was no answer. Today, she was finally going back to Canterlot. She didn’t see Derpy flying straight toward her and both pegasi were swiftly knocked to the ground. “Sorry miss. I just don’t know what went wrong.” Derpy rubbed her head and started retrieving her fallen possessions. “It’s nothing, really. What’s your name and why are you in such a rush?” “I’m Derpy Hooves. I’m a mail mare but right now I have to be in Canterlot immediately. I have to...” She froze, remembering what the purple one said about telling other ponies. “You know what? I didn’t catch your name.” “Oh, sorry. I’m Spitfire. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” “Not ringing any bells.” “That’s alright. I’m on my way back to Canterlot myself. Perhaps you’d like to join me? I’m afraid I don’t really know anypony around here very well.” “Sure!” The two of them continued talking with each other as a small, white house cat surveyed the scene. The book that fell out of Derpy’s bag caught his eyes and he raced forward. “HEY! I need that! What are you doing?” Derpy called as the cat snatched the book out of her hooves. It darted into the brush nearby the station and was entirely lost to sight. Spitfire looked on, puzzled. “There’s something you don’t see everyday. I’m sorry about your book. Maybe we can buy you another copy when we’re in Canterlot.” Derpy was severely worried now and somewhat frantic. “I need to get that book back! It has to be that one!” “Calm down kid. If it means that much to you, I’ll help you look for it.” This reassurance worked to calm Derpy down. She looked at her new friend and smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just that that book is a big part of why I need to go to Canterlot. Without it some really bad things might happen to some ponies I know. Do you really mean that you’ll help me look for it?” “Well yeah, but we’d better go now before that cat evades us entirely. Let’s see if we can do this before the last train to Canterlot for the day leaves.” On that note, they flew off in the direction the cat was last seen, scanning the area as they talked. “Hey wait a minute! I do know you! You’ve been sending a lot of letters to the library over the past two days. Why is that?” Spitfire shrugged. “I was supposed to meet a pony here named Rainbow Dash for her birthday. After arriving here, nopony ever came to pick me up. I was actually about to head back to Canterlot when you crashed into me. Is something wrong?” At the name “Rainbow Dash,” Derpy stopped mid-flight. Her mind was bombarded by thoughts from every direction. Rainbow Dash is in that book. If she was supposed to meet Spitfire yesterday, then they’ve been in there for at least that time. Spitfire deserves to know what happened, but I promised those ponies I wouldn’t tell anypony other than the princess what happened to them, and losing their trust is the best way to lose their friendship. A voice could be heard from a considerable distance away, followed by a loud hiss. “FOREVER!” “That must be where the book is! I think it came from this way!” Derpy rushed off in the direction of the voice, leaving a very confused Spitfire to follow after her. What’s with this kid? Meanwhile, the white cat was running along a stone path leading to the Everfree Forest when a grey earth pony carrying a large case of some sort blocked his way. “Shoo! Shoo! And get that out of your mouth. Cats should know better than wander way out here. Your owner must be worried sick.” The grey pony plucked the book wrapped in parchment out of the cat’s grip and was thanked in return with a few swipes from the cat’s paws that failed to make contact with anything. “Why... what an ill mannered brute you are.” The mare put the book into her saddle bag that wasn’t obstructed by the case and continued on her way to Ponyville, leaving the cat behind.
OctaviaChapter 4: Octavia This grey mare's name was Octavia, and she was an accomplished musician in an ensemble in Canterlot. The case contained her instrument, a cello. Octavia pushed open the door to her house in Ponyville. She was greeted, as usual by the drowning sound of dubstep. “Vinyl! Will you please at least put your headphones in? Some of us prefer to keep our hearing.” Octavia propped her cello against the wall by the door and walked into the living room. In a large chair in the corner there sat a white unicorn with a messy blue mane and rave goggles, which she never seemed to take off. The chair was directly in front of rather large speakers blasting music into the mare's face. Octavia stepped behind the speaker and kicked its plug out of the wall, giving a small smirk as she did so. This was a regular occurrence. “Hey, I was listening to that.” “Was listening. Past tense. Your point is?” The unicorn let out a laugh. “All right, all right. So how'd your concert go, Tavi?” “Meh, nothing interesting happened. We played Symphony Number 9 and got a standing ovation, so that's always good. After that the four of us had lunch at a nearby diner. Oh! I got Harpo to say three words!” Vinyl raised her eyebrows. “Wow. He must've been really talkative.” “Yeah. I guess so. Listen, Lyra is going to be coming over in about half an hour for her lesson. Would you mind helping me set up the studio?” Vinyl Scratch winced. “Oh, um, yeah. About that. I, uh, kinda sorta, um, I mean...” Octavia gave a face hoof. “What did you do this time?” “You remember how the studio had sound proof windows?” “Please don't say you're using past tense again.” “Well, you also remember how we had walls surrounding the studio?” By this point, Octavia was leaning against the wall with both of her front hooves covering her face. “Please PLEASE say you didn't” “And, um, you remember how the studio kind of existed and was not just a smoking pile of rubble?” Octavia did a face ground. “I leave for one morning. One morning, and you burn down the studio... again. What were you even trying to do?” “Eh, I was only trying to see if I could improve my turntables.” “And how did that work out?” “FANTASTIC! They're better than ever!” Octavia let out an exasperated sigh. “Glad to hear it,” she said rather unenthusiastically. “I'll let Lyra know that her lesson has been canceled for today. Do you think you can clean what's left of our poor studio in the mean time?” The unicorn gave an oversized smile. “No problem. Say while I'm here confessing and everything, do you also remember-” The, now heavily stressed, mare walked away. “I'M NOT LISTENING. I'VE HAD ENOUGH BAD NEWS FROM YOU TODAY.” With the unicorn out of earshot and working on cleaning the studio, Octavia let herself slump in her red chair by the fireplace and felt the troubles of the day flow over her. Yes, they had gotten a standing ovation... at the end of the first movement. She hated it when the audience didn't know when a song ended. On top of that, there had been only twenty ponies in the audience, and most of them were focusing on their own conversations. The nerve. They had lost money in total and the diner was far from clean. The three words Harpo had said were “I'm going home.” Now that she was finally home, Octavia had learned that her highly irresponsible room mate had set fire to their studio. This day was getting worse and worse and Octavia just wanted to let her mind wander. It eventually came back to the cat she had seen earlier and the book that was still in her saddle bag. With a deal of effort, she pulled herself off of the couch and over to her bags. What was a cat doing with a book anyway? She opened her bag and grabbed the book by the spine using her right hoof. The room fell away. Everything went black. The sounds of various jungle animals could be heard. Then, the shapes of trees began to emerge. “Hey what's that? Something's appearing over there, Twi. I don't think it's Derpy.” She could hear a slightly raspy voice speaking. Everything was clear now. She was definitely in some sort of jungle and six ponies were staring at her. Wait a moment... She pointed at the six of them. “I know you! You were the ponies who crashed the Gala and nearly ruined the Garden Party when I was there. And you!” She pointed at Pinkie Pie. “You almost broke my cello at the Gala. Wait a minute, why am I talking about this? Where the heck am I?” Rainbow Dash threw her hands in the air and let herself fall backwards. “Another one? Jeeze! How many ponies are going to come into this place? I thought we had sent Derpy straight to Celestia, but it doesn't look like we'll be getting home any time soon.” Twilight Sparkle give Octavia a nervous smile. “I'm sorry about the Gala, but what's past is past, right? You see, we're kind of trapped in this book until... well, I'm not exactly sure when; but I'm working on it. A pegasus named Derpy Hooves came in here earlier and she was supposed to bring this book to Celestia for us.” “That's strange, I took this book from a cat.” The six ponies tilt their heads in unison except for Rainbow Dash, who leaps into the air and yells, “A cat? I knew Derpy was clumsy, but I didn't think she'd be featherbrained enough to give us away.” Twilight thinks to herself. “I'm sure there's a reasonable, logical explanation as to why a cat was holding the book. Meanwhile miss...” “Octavia.” “Miss Octavia. In light of recent events, do you think you can find Derpy Hooves for us? She's a grey mail mare pegasus. Blonde mane. She has... interesting, eyes. She was probably headed for Canterlot.” Octavia looks at the six ponies for a few seconds that must have seemed like hours. Is this even real? Did Vinyl hit a gas mane when she decimated the studio? If this is real, though, do I really have a choice. Her eyes narrow. No, I don't. “I'll find her for you, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure you get back safely, taken I'm not actually in some infirmary of some sort.” Apple Jack tilts her head. “Beg pardon? Why would you be in an infirmary?” “Never mind. Now how do I get back?” “Just let go of the book.” Octavia let the book slide from her grip. As it parted contact, the image in front of her rushed away in a blur and her senses were flooded with reality. The first thing she saw was Vinyl Scratch in front of her, jaw dropped. Scratch let out a whistle. “That. Was. AWESOME!” Only after that did Octavia notice that her house was missing a wall. She let herself slump onto the ground looking at where the wall used to be. “I think I just... died a little bit inside.”
Vinyl ScratchChapter 5: Viniyl Scratch "Aaah." Vinyl Scratch let out a relaxed sigh just after Octavia had left saying she didn't want to listen. She had managed to worm her a out of trouble for the minor mistake she had made earlier that day. In all honesty, today felt like a good day. Even Octavia seemed glad today. She knew that Octavia had been undergoing a lot of pressure lately and honestly felt bed for her, despite never showing her. The way Scratch saw it, Octavia needed some constant in her life, and Vinyl was willing to oblige for her friend's sake. She hoisted herself up from her (very cofortable) chair and walked drowsily to the front door. Although there were a lot of good things today, what she was expecting in the mail had the potential to ruin it all. Over the last two weeks, Vinyl had been trying to help out in multiple ways that her skill set was not completely suited for. You know, the usual: cooking, maintanance, construction, modifying her music into high calibre sonic weaponry. To be fair, she succeeded at the last of these endeavers, effectively creating the world's first bass cannon. Her neighbors (who had since moved away from their, now annhilated, house) didn't seem to admire her achievement, but hey. It's their loss. The point was, all these little attempts at innocent, harmless tasks always led to some form of "Vinyl! You just broke the (fill in object name here)." The repairs for these things tend to cost money, and, with Tavi doing a lot poorer buisiness-wise, it's been up to Vinyl to pay for these repairs. This wasn't particularly difficult, what with the contract with K-Colt and her success as a DJ. Pinkie Pie even managed to hook her up with a gig at a royal wedding. No, the money wasn't a problem before. Unfortunately, she underplayed what the most recent damage was. She had told Octavia that she had destroyed the studio, which was true. The entire rest of the building was also destroyed. Rebuilding a studio, that costs money, but it's easily possible. Rebuilding an entire radio station? That is somewhat more costly. With this in mind, Scratch closed her eyes and dug into the mailbox. It wasn't so bad. Mostly advertisements and some stuff for Octavia. Her fears were not unfounded, however. At the bottom was a letter that showed the estimated price of rebuilding K-Colt. Vinyl walked into the kitchen and put Tavi's mail on the table. She then, slowly, opened the letter from the (very fast working, judging by how quickly they got the estimate) contractors. At first puzzlement fell across her face, then, in a span of five seconds, her expression transformed into one of utter dread. They hadn't sent estimates. They sent a catalogue listing radio stations for sale. None of them were anywhere near Ponyville or Canterlot. Not only that, but prices were waaaaaay beyond her budget. Attached was a note. Dear Mrs. Scratch We regret to inform you that we lack the resources and manpower to rebuild your radio station. We do not have the means to obtain either of these within the next year unless there is a significant gain in finances. These finances are of a high enough sum, that you may be better off buying a new building. Here is a catalogue of suitable buildings currently listed. We thank you for your understanding and wish you the best of luck. Equestrian Contractors Upon finishing reading this letter, Vinyl sunk to the floor, unable to process what had just happened. K-Colt was her and Octavia's primary source of income. If they couldn't keep up with it, they would lose the house. They would lose almost everything. She couldn't let that happen and she wouldn't move away to a new town. She and Tavi had a following in Ponyville. What's more, the number of parties in the area gave Vinyl more opportunities than she'd find anywhere else. Not only that, but she couldn't be sure that Octavia would be able to recover from this. She would either need to move to the new station's location and abandon her ensemble, or find some way to live off of the very sparse income she made alone and abandon K-Colt. It was a hopeless situation. No. Vinyl Scratch stood up with a new determination in her eys. she levitated a piece of paper and a quill and began furiously writing a letter back to the contractors. K-Colt wouldn't die. Nopony was going to move. Octavia wasn't going to have to make a decision. Scratch would get the money, and soon. She was still a successful DJ. She still had a large following. She was tight with bucking ROYALTY! She'd be able to raise the money... and she wouldn't need to let Octavia know what had transpired. Not yet anyway. Sealing the letter, Vinyl was almost at the front door to mail it when there an incredible gust of wind flew past her, picking up momentum and tearing the wall behind her away. A tornado of paper was whirling in front of her and, in a great flash of green lightning, Octavia materialized in front of her. Scratch stood there dumbstruck with her jaw wide open. After letting out a low whistle, she said, still slightly dazed, "That. Was. AWESOME!" Octavia looked at Scratch with surprise before a look of defeat spread across her face upon not seeing the wall that would normally be a part of the house. She slumped to the floor. "I think I just... died a bit inside." Vinyl looked behind her and back at Octavia. "Don't look at me. That one was all you." ~~~ Octavia thankfully hadn't noticed the letter Scratch was holding and, after some help was lent, made her way into the living room. There, she had explained what had just happened to Scratch. Wait a minute. If Pinkie's missing, that explains why I haven't found nearly so many gigs in the past few days. If she stays in there, there's no way I'll be able to make enough money. This is worse than I thought. A few seconds after Octavia finished her story, Vinyl stood up and picked up the insulated book. "Come on, Tavi. There's no time to lose. Let's get this book to that mail mare ASAP. We can't leave those ponies in there." "Do you honestly believe that was all real?" "Tavi. Tavi Tavi TAVI! You just appeared in front of my in a storm of wind, paper, bucking THUNDERBOLTS! It was the greatest light show I've ever seen, and I've seen some a-MAZ-ing light shows in my line of work. Keep that in mind when I tell you this next part. That is STILL not the most messed up thing I've seen in my years on this planet. Believe me when I say that these ponies ARE in that book and we HAVE to get them out of there." Octavia was surprised at Scratch's sudden enthusiasm. She still thought there was a possiblity that she had hit her head and was in a hospital somewhere. Nonetheless, she had pointed out to herself that she'd better play it safe, just in case those guys were in trouble. She stood up much slower than Scratche had. "Meh, alright. I don't really think I have much of a cho-" She was cut off abruptly as Scratch grabbed her and bolted for the door. Just as she reached it, however, it opened from the other side. "I'm here for my... what's going on here? Am I too early?" Lyra stood in the doorway keeping her lyre aloft with her magic.
LyraChapter 6: Lyra The day was clear at the park and two mares were enjoying themselves relaxing on a bench. Both of their eyes were closed and small identical grins could be seen on both of their faces. As ponies cantered by, a few would stop and stare while others, well used to the sight, just ambled by without a worry. The reason for this was because of one of the mares’ strange behavior. She was a teal unicorn with a short, darker teal mane that had a single long, white highlight. Her cutie mark was a lyre. She seemed perfectly content. She was enjoying the sun’s rays. She was listening to the various sounds. She was quite still as she breathed in the fresh, morning air, She was slouching sitting upright in a very odd fashion. Next to her was a cream colored earth pony with a long, curly, pink and purple mane and three candies wrapped in similar colors for her cutie mark. In stark contrast to the unicorn she shared the bench with, this pony was lying down properly on her stomach, legs folded neatly under her. She opened the eye closer to the unicorn a crack. “Lyra?” “Yes?” “You’re doing it again.” Lyra Heartstrings looked down at herself, half surprised. She stretched her front hooves over her head in an exaggerated manner. “Huh, so I am. How’d that happen?” She then went back to doing exactly as she had before as the mare next to her let out a small giggle. “You really don’t care that ponies are staring at you?” Lyra let her head fall back so the she could see a cloud passing by overhead. “Bonbon. Listen. You’ve been my friend ever since I can remember. You know it doesn’t bother me. They aren’t doing anything wrong looking at me, are they? I can accept that the way I do things is odd to most of you. Everypony has something to make them odd. You need to roll with the bucks and let ponies be themselves. Now how can I do that if I don’t be myself?” Bonbon chuckled and relaxed once more. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” The two of them were content to stay there for a long while, but the universe had other ideas. After a few minutes, a stampede of cats, dogs, and various other pets went barreling past them and into the Everfree Forest, no reason in sight. Loud growls and roars could be heard coming from within the forest as well. The two mares were left speechless, staring awestruck at where the strange stampede had passed in front of them. Lyra was the first to break the silence. “Was that a?” “Yes. Yes I think it was.” “And were those?” “I believe so.” “And those sounds?” “… I don’t know.” Lyra slumped off of the bench and onto all fours. “I don’t think I can really relax now. I’m too curious. I want to look this up. I’m sure something this big means something. Mind taking my saddlebags back to the house?” “I don’t mind, but where do you intend to go? The library’s been closed for days with Twilight Sparkle missing. She wasn’t back yet from what I had heard.” “She’s still not back? That’s odd. It’s not as strange as what just happened, though. It’s a public library, right? As long as I don’t take any books I should be fine, right?” “Lyra, it’s also her house. I think we can just write this off as a random, entertaining event to be shared with friends later, don’t you?” Lyra remained quiet for a while. “Maybe. But I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I’m just going to check by the library. If Twilight’s not back, I’ll come straight home, okay.” Bonbon let out a sigh. Sometimes it was really hard to persuade Lyra. The only way to deal with her when something caught her attention was patience. “Alright.” Bonbon got off the bench and pick up her and Lyra’s saddlebags. “Don’t do anything… foolhardy. Promise me that? I don’t want you to come home escorted by the officials, understand?” But Lyra was already gone. Patience, Bonbon. Patience. ~~~ Lyra arrived in front of the library after a short bit of walking. Everything seemed normal, except the door was left wide open. Lyra knocked on the slightly ajar door. “Hello?” There was, surprise surprise, no reply. She leaned in and took a deep breath to call louder, but a cloud of dust had risen in light of the draft caused by the open door and decidedly lodged itself in the unicorn’s throat. “HACKCOUGHHACHCHCAAAAAHCK!” Lyra spent the next twenty seconds clearing her esophagus of the airborne contaminant. “How does so much dust settle so quick?” She peered back behind her, making sure nopony was watching. Slowly, the teal mare sidled into the library, closing the door behind her and lighting her horn. The magical light casted eerie shadows around the abandoned library. Lyra strode from shelf to shelf, looking for a book she knew would be there. After she had been possessed at the royal wedding by a malignant monarch, she had obsessed over protecting her thoughts from other governments. For a period of time, she even wore a metal hat before she discovered that it actually amplified some magical forces. No doubt the use of such hats was a ploy devised by those wishing to control her again. Anyway, the stampede had seemed incredibly similar to a form of mind control she had seen in a book at the library. After a semi-short investigation, she found the book at the opposite end of the library with pages seemingly ripped out. Come to think of it, books everywhere were on the floor with pages strewn everywhere except within their respective tomes. Luckily, The part she was looking for was still intact… mostly. “Nousomancy is the practice of controlling the thoughts and will of another intelligent being. Throughout history, many powerful magic users have used this ability in order to sabotage enemies, quell rebellions, and even, in extreme cases, raise armies. The practice of nousomancy was forbidden in Equestria in the second era when Princess Luna and Celestia were instated. The powerful unicorn and rival to Starswirl the Bearded, Maregan le Faye, used this form of magic multiple times in order to manipulate others in an attempt to remove the princesses from power. While she had failed in creating an army of ponies due to the difficulty of mass mind control on higher thinking beings, she met greater success when controlling animals and beasts. Although the princesses managed to fight back her invasion, it was close and many casualties came of it…” Lyra gulped. She had no proof, but she was paranoid. She was about to take the book to the front desk to check it out when she remembered she was the only one there. She didn’t want to steal the book, and she wasn’t exactly supposed to be in the library. She decided to hide the book in a little cranny beside the front desk where she could come back to it later. She pulled back one of the blinds to see the Ponyville clock tower through the window. Funny, they’re called the minute, hour, and second hands on a clock. They look nothing like any hands I know of. She stood up straight. I have lyre lessons in a few minutes, don’t I? Making sure that the library was mostly unchanged before heading out, Lyra made her way back to the house to get her lyre. The way back was uneventful and nopony had seen her enter or exit the library. Inside the house, Bonbon asked her what had happened. “Well, Twilight still wasn’t back, but I think I’ll be checking back regularly. There’s something important I need to see to. Don’t worry about it for now. You’re awesome. See ya.” “Wait, where are you going?” Lyra played a few notes on her lyre in an exaggerated fashion as she walked, bipedal, out the door. “See you when I get back.” And she was off again. Bonbon rolled her eyes with a smile and a bit of a laugh. She called so that she could be sure Lyra heard her this time. “You’re the only pony I know who can do that for so long! Have a good time!” Lyra called something back, but it was lost to the wind. ~~~ The entire way to Octavia’s house, Lyra looked around for any sign of animals. A number of the dogs that were in the stampede had returned, but that was all. Lyra didn’t like the situation, but she had to keep her normal outward disposition. She was already considered strange by most ponies and she didn’t want to give them any reason to not take her seriously. After all, walking and sitting upright as well as fantasizing could be considered a little quirk. If she started spouting conspiracy theories, though, there was no way she could imagine ponies writing that off. She’d lose credibility for sure. No, she would have to play her hand just right and wait for proof if anything was to be done. Finally, she found herself in front of Octavia’s front door. She was about to open it when she realized that she had been walking upright the entire time and had grown tired. No wonder ponies had been staring. She had thought it was because of the attention she was showing the animals, but this made more sense. She righted herself and held the lyre telekinetically like a good unicorn. After she had made sure her composure was proper, she opened the door. “I’m here for my…” Vinyl Scratch was leading Octavia towards her surprisingly fast and somehow stopped cold right in front of the door when she saw Lyra open it. Octavia seemed surprised by everything and was brought a stop in a less than graceful manner, nearly suffering from whiplash as her head failed to stop with the rest of her body. “What’s going on here? Am I too early?” Meanwhile, three pairs of slitted eyes could be seen in the bushes lining the path to the house. They’re attention was unnaturally absolute. They didn’t ever blink.
