Close to You by Paxtofettel
(Starring Lyra and her special crush)
Lyra was never one to ask for more than what she had. Growing up in the bustling port city of Preece, the only thing that she thought she would ever need was her lyre, which had been passed down from generation to generation. Even so, she was rather happy when she had decided to move to the small town of Ponyville, away from the ocean she grew familiar with. She had to admit, the quaint town was way better than her old home. The air was much fresher, completely different to the Precian air, which always smelled of fish and saltwater. She had a steady paying job playing her favorite instrument in the nearby capital city of Canterlot. Not only that, she had also met a certain cream colored pony who she became fast friends with. All in all, Lyra felt that her life had taken a turn for the best.
However, Lyra had been feeling rather strange lately. She always seemed to space out every couple of minutes while she was having her daily lunch with Bon Bon. She felt that she was losing concentration and had difficulty performing even the simplest of tasks. On top of that, her skills with her lyre were starting to slip really badly. At first, Lyra thought that she coming down with some sort of flu or a new type of virus. Bon Bon was starting to worry about her friend’s wellbeing, so much so that she kep on pushing her to go to the doctor’s office and find out if there is any treatment. However, Nurse Redheart, the town’s resident physician, had assured Lyra that she was completely healthy. Lyra was starting to get really frustrated at not knowing what the buck was going on with her. She had tried everything that she could think of to heal her of her sickness, even resorting to asking that weird zebra in the Everfree Forest for some cure-it-all magical brew. However, the truth behind her strange condition was far more complicated than what she had originally believed. After a while, Lyra soon came to a startling realization…
She was in love.
Growing up in a bustling port where trade ships would stop to unload goods and exotic objects from foreign lands, most of the stallions Lyra knew were all crusty old sailors whose manners matched their demeanor. As such, she never really felt the urge to pursue a relationship with anypony, much less ponies who valued drink and lust over love and compassion. The stallions of Ponyville, on the other hand, were more sophisticated and well-mannered. Yet, most of these colts were either already taken or just didn’t really bring out any sort of interest in the turquoise unicorn. However, there was one certain stallion who different from all the rest. He was clam, quiet, and stronger than all of the other ponies in town. He also seemed to be rather sweet and charming to everypony in Ponyville. Lyra couldn’t help but to be smitten by him. Every night, she would dream of the gentle stallion caressing her, kissing her. She would lose herself in daydreams of the pony that had captured her heart. The unicorn would come up with such imaginative fantasies about the nights she wanted to spend with him. She had even wrote multiple love songs to play on her lyre in case she wanted to serenade him. Lyra had decided not to tell Bon Bon about her crush for fear that she might make her jealous and possibly ruin their friendship. Alas, all of her dreams and fantasies would soon be crushed by the cold hammer of reality.
It happened one day when Lyra was out in the town. It was a warm day, the sky devoid of clouds thanks to the ever busy pegasi weather crew. The townsponies were out doing their daily errands and were too wrapped up in their own businesses to notice and appreciate the perfect day that they woke up to. Lyra was making her way back to her house after buying some new strings for her lyre (she had accidentally snapped two strings the night before while practicing for a gig next week) when she decided to rest for a while at the park. She made her way to her favorite spot: a bench under the shade of a large oak tree. The unicorn sat on the bench in her signature pose; the hind legs dangling from the edge with her rump on the bench. Bon Bon had always told her that she always looked weird sitting that way but Lyra never seemed to care what the other ponies thought about her strange habit. She sighed in content and proceeded to take in the scenery around her. Celestia’s sun was out in full force, basking the landscape in a warm light. Many ponies were out playing with their foals or talking with their friends. Lyra loved to just sit there and enjoy the serenity of her surroundings. She was brought out of her musings when her eyes fell upon a certain stallion.
It was Him.
She could feel her heart racing like a cheetah from the Southern Savannahs. The butterflies in her stomach began to flutter incessantly and she felt cut off from the world around her. He stood out from most of the stallions in the town. He had a large build, with an orange man and tail and a cutie mark that was shaped like a green apple that had been cut in half. He was also easily distinguishable by the large wooden collar he always seemed to wear. Lyra was having tremendous trouble breathing at the sight of the large worker. She wanted so desperately to talk to him but the poor mare could never work up the nerve to get close to the large earth pony. She just sat on the bench, marveling at her crush from a safe distance. The unicorn soon noticed that he was talking to somepony, a Pegasus in fact. The Pegasus had a buttery yellow coat with a pink mane; Lyra could have sworn she had seen her somewhere before. She could not hear what they were talking about but the small Pegasus giggled and blushed at whatever the large stallion said. What happened next destroyed all of Lyra’s hopes and dreams.
The strong earth pony and the small Pegasus kissed.
At that precise moment, Lyra felt her heart shatter in a million tiny pieces. Her crush, the pony she had fallen for, already was in love with another. Time lost all meaning as she sat there, dumbfounded at what she had just witnessed. She got up from the bench and slowly made her way home, numb to the world around her. She could have sworn she heard Bon Bon calling out to her, but she paid to heed to her worried calls. The poor unicorn was disconnected from everything, her life, her friend, and her emotions. Yet, strangely enough, she didn’t weep as most mares would have done. The turquoise filly merely walked to her humble abode in deep silence. When Lyra arrived at her house, she locked her door and made her way to her bedroom. She used her magic to levitate her lyre, which had been resting on its stand on top of the bedside table. She sat on her haunches and, with her unicorn magic, began playing a song.
The first notes were simple, soft sounds that echoed off the walls of the room. However, the music coming from the lyre gradually began to pick up the pace and more notes were added to the stirring serenade. Lyra poured out her feelings into her composition, all of her love, pain, and her sadness. She thought about loving words that would never be spoken to her, of gentle caresses she would never feel, and of foals that she would never bear. The mare began singing an ancient Precian love song about a mare whose heart longed for a male that had already found love with another. The townsponies would later swear that they could hear the entrancing melody coming from the musician’s house. The song soon reached its peak and silence filled the room again.
A single tear ran down Lyra’s cheek.
THE END