"Oh, Lemon, you're hilarious!" Minuette said through giggles at the joke Lemon Hearts had just cracked at Twinkleshines expense.
"What?" Twinkleshine said defensively, "I kinda like him okay?" Twinkleshine was a white unicorn with a pink mane. Often just called Twinkle by her friends.
Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Lyra were all sitting at a table under the sun outside one of Canterlot's many diners. They were rating the stallions that were walking passed them based on looks.
"What about that one?" Minuette said after calming down, nodding slightly in the direction of a brown muscular looking pony.
All four of them were giggly, just enjoying the time with their friends.
"Seven," Twinkle Shine said.
"Seven?" Lemon Hearts said in mock surprise, "Solid nine," Lemon Hearts was a yellow unicorn with a short blue mane.
"Yeah he looks alike a nine," Minuette added.
"Eight," Lyra said, though she wasn't looking at the stallion, instead she was staring at the drink she was slurping, sitting on the table in front of her.
"Girls?" Lemon Hearts said seriously, "do you think we should invite, Twilight or, Moondancer along with us one of these times?"
"We have," Twinkleshine said exasperatedly, "like twelve times, but they're too busy with their 'precious books' to bother with us."
"I guess so," Lemon said.
"I mean it's not like Twilight's gonna run off to Ponyville or something," Minuette said with a smile, "we'll have more chances to hang out with them." Minuette was trying to comfort Lemon Hearts, Lemon mentioned Twilight and Moondancer almost every time they hung out.
"Oh crap," Lemon said worriedly, "I'm late for my meeting, I've got to gallop, bye!" Lemon dropped a few bits on the table and took off galloping.
"I really hope she gets the job," Lyra said, watching Lemon as she galloped, "she deserves it."
"Yeah... I should go too," Twinkleshine said.
"What!?" Minuette and Lyra both said in protest.
"Sorry girls, but I really need to finish the remodel in the living room." Twinkle said, getting to her hooves and placing bits on the table. She waved goodbye, and left.
"Well, you wanna just go back to my place?" Lyra asked Minuette.
"Sure, let's go." They paid for their drinks and left the diner, heading for Lyra's house.
It was a only a short walk to Lyra's house, so they made it there in a few minutes. The house was average for a Canterlot house. It had three floors, and the roof peeked to a tower at the top. Lyra walked through the front door, followed by Minuette.
The house was very clean, the front room had a coat rack on the wall, and a small bench to the right. To the left was a study, but Lyra used it as more of a storage room. To the right was small living room with a few couches and chairs in it. The walls were decorated with paintings and metal sculptures. Ahead of them were stairs to the second floor, where most of the house was.
"I've gotta check dinner," Lyra said after they came through the door. She went straight for the stairs and bolted up them.
Minuette walked around slowly, they usually hung out in the downstairs living room so Minuette waited for Lyra to come back. She wondered into the study, the left of the room was filled with cardboard boxes. On the right wall was a desk with a chair Lyra barely used. On the desk were a few scattered papers and pencil.
Minuette walked up to the desk to take a seat, as she did, she noticed a letter on top of a small stack of blank paper. Curiosity got the better of Minuette and she read the letter.
"Dear Lyra, I think I've found the perfect place for you. It's not as big as your use to in Canterlot, but I think it will get the job done. Everything will be ready in a few days, so tell me when you are coming. I can't wait! You know, I've been getting a little lo---"
Minuette jumped when she heard Lyra say, "Sorry, I had dinner in the oven." As she came down the stairs. Minuette quickly bolted away from the desk and slowly but casually walked around the room. She looked up to see Lyra standing in the door way, Lyra's eyes glanced at the desk and back to her. Minuette wasn't sure if Lyra had seen her look at the letter or not.
After glancing at the paper and looking back at Minuette, Lyra's face grew frightened, like a cornered animal. "Actually, I've got uh-work to do, Minuette." Lyra said, with another glance at the paper.
"Oh ok, I'll just go then." Minuette said hesitantly. She walked to the door, opened it, said goodbye to Lyra, and went outside.
Minuette started walking home. She wondered what that letter was about and whom it was from. What did it mean when it read, "perfect place for you"? What was Lyra involved in? And where was this so called "perfect place"? Perfect place for what? If Minuette was able to finish reading it she might have been able to figure out what it was about. But with the information she had, she didn't have much to go on.
Was Lyra thinking of moving away from Canterlot? Was she involved in something she shouldn't be? Minuette's mind ran wild with possibilities. Should she admit she read it and confront Lyra? Than again, Lyra must have seen Minuette look at the letter, that's why she practically kicked Minuette out. But why didn't she say anything? And Lyra's expression when she saw Minuette, it was one of fear. Minuette was just too confused to know what to do about it. So she went home and tried not to think about it, though she couldn't get her mind off of it.
Later that day, she was sitting in her home, she had tried to get some work done, but she was too distracted to work. 'I'm just overreacting,' Minuette thought, 'Lyra got a letter, that's all. Maybe it was one of Lyra's friends outside of Canterlot that Lyra was planing on visiting. Yeah that's it. So why do I feel unsure?'
Minuette would just have to go and talk with Lyra to clear this thing up.
Minuette knocked on Lyra's door. She heard hoof steps from behind the door, they came to a stop at the door. Minuette expected to hear the door open, but it didn't. Lyra had come to a stop at the door.
"Come on, open up Lyra," Minuette said, a bit irritated. But Lyra didn't open the door. Minuette reached up and knocked again, "You've got to talk to me at some point." Minuette's voice was more stern than before.
But Lyra said nothing. "Fine!" Minuette said, putting her hooves up in frustration. If Lyra didn't want to talk to Her, then maybe Lemon Hearts or Twinkleshine could help
"I need your help with something," Minuette said to Twinkleshine.
"With what? You can't just barge in here and demand I help you," Twinkle said, pulling her hoof away as Minuette attempted to bring her with her.
"I can explain on the way, it's a long story, just come on!" Minuette said, she was frantic to find out what Lyra was up to, and she didn't want to wait any longer.
Twinkleshine sighed heavily, and let herself be pulled away from her comfy house.
"So, you found a letter," Twinkleshine said, sounding unimpressed with Minuette's discovery at Lyra's house.
"Yes, but a very cryptic and suspicious letter," Minuette said defensively.
"It's Lyra's business, we should just let her be."
"Please," Minuette begged, "just help me with this one thing, then you can leave."
Twinkleshine rolled her eyes, "Fine, whatever, let's just do it."
Minuette hid to the right of the door, so that Lyra wouldn't be able to see her through the peep-hole in the door. Twinkle reached up and knocked on the door and said, "Lyra? It's Twinkle."
The door opened, "Oh hi Twinkleshine, what's up?--" Lyra started to say before she saw Minuette. Lyra let out a tiny scream and tried shutting the door, but Minuette leaped in front of it and held it open.
"You have to talk to me!" Minuette reasoned, but Lyra wasn't listening, she was trying with all her strength to close the door. The idea of magic occurred to Lyra first, who used to to slam the door and lock it, the force of which sent Minuette stumbling backwards.
Lyra was breathing heavily from her struggle with Minuette to shut the door. Thank goodness she thought to use magic before Minuette did. Lyra leaned against her door, slowly sliding down it until she sat on her back, her hind legs extended across the floor. She twiddled her front hooves nervously, thinking about what had just happened.
"Oh deer," Lyra said softly, realization filling her voice. Minuette was making leaving Canterlot a lot harder than it should have been. Lyra was supposed to simply say her goodbyes and give little to no explanation of her departure. But that idea went out the window as soon as Minuette saw the letter.
"The letter," Lyra said in frustration, putting her head in her hooves. She always hid her letters under her mattress in her bedroom; but Lyra had been so, overcome, by that last letter that she had completely forgotten she left it in her desk.
Lyra tried to get a handle on her thoughts, she lifted her head and looked around the room. She tried to think of a new way for her to leave Canterlot. She needed one with minimal explanation. Minuette was the only problem with her previous plan---pack her things, say goodbye to her friends, tell some lie about why she was leaving, and that was it---but now that Minuette had some idea about what Lyra was doing, she would have to change things.
"Oh god," Lyra said with a sad sigh, putting her head back in her hooves. "How much did Minuette read?" Lyra asked herself, her voice muffled by her hooves. "She can't have read the whole thing, otherwise she would know exactly what I'm doing."
A few moments passed as Lyra thought, "I'll just have to stay shut up in here until it's time for me to leave. And once I can, I'll just leave, no explanations. Maybe one day I'll have the strength to say why I left, but not now." Lyra had accepted the fact that she might never see her friends again; and although it hurt her, the pros of leaving out weighed the cons.
"Fine," Minuette said to herself, "if that's the way you want to do it." Minuette was still lying on the ground,
Lyra had used rather strong magic to close the door.
"Come on Minuette, let's go get something to eat," Twinkleshine said, sounding a little worried.
"You go ahead," Minuette said with a wave of her hoof, "I'm gonna stay here."
Twinkleshine stood there for a few seconds, but soon turned and left.
Minuette got to her hooves, and looked thoughtfully at the door, trying to think of a way inside. Things were serious now, Lyra was definitely hiding something, and it was up to Minuette to find out what it was. Though that was easier said than done. With the door now locked, it would be quite the challenge for Minuette to get inside. Then she had to get Lyra to explain things, but that wasn't important right now.
Minuette put I hoof to her chin, still thinking of a way inside. Chimney, no Lyra didn't have one. Windows, Lyra always kept them locked. Minuette gave a small smile at a memory of a worried Lyra, explaining to her all the reasons why it was unsafe to unlock her windows.
Maybe Minuette was looking at this the wrong way, maybe there was no way inside, but instead, Minuette had to wait until Lyra came outside. "Yeah," Minuette said to herself, "that's it," She then smiled, "stake-out it is."
"What exactly are we doing?" Lemon Hearts asked Minuette. They were both walking towards Lyra's house. Except they weren't using the path, they were cutting through yards and bushes.
They came to a stop in a patch of bushes sat atop a small hill, about two-hundred yards away from Lyra's house. Minuette layed down in the bushes and shoved a pair of binoculars in Lemons hooves, "Stake-out," she said simply.
"Stake-out?" Lemon said, taken aback.
"Yes, it's a long story, but Twinkleshine didn't want to help after our run in with Lyra earlier today."
"Well, if we're on a stake-out, we've got time, now explain." Lemon said rather forcefully.
Minuette explained about the letter she found and when she tried talking to Lyra about it. "Have you tried a more," she paused, "A more caring approach?" Lemon asked.
"I was that first time I went to her," Minuette said defensively.
"From the way you told me, you sounded a bit demanding."
"Well--I probably could have been a little calmer, but Lyra's hiding something, Lemon, and I need to find out what it is."
"No you don't, Minuette, you need to back off and give Lyra her space. We know her, it's not like she's doing anything illegal, I'm sure Lyra will tell us in du time. I can't stop you, but I'm going home, and I think you should too." With that, Lemon gave Minuette back her binoculars, then turned and walked down the hill, heading back to her own home.
Minuette stared blankly at Lemon as she left. Minuette wanted to follow her down the hill, and knew Lemon would probably be mad if she didn't. But she needed to find out what Lyra was up to, Lemon was probably right about Lyra telling them, but Minuette just couldn't be sure she would.
Minuette was fully aware that she was letting her curiosity get the better of her. Part of her really wanted to just let it go, but most of her wanted to learn what Lyra was doing. She probably wouldn't learn anything from looking through windows, but it was the best she could do.
And so she waited, armed with nothing but: Two pairs of binoculars, a bag full of snacks, and her determination to find the truth.
Lemon Hearts trotted through the bushes until she came to the road. She was saddened, but in no way surprised to see that Minuette didn't follow her. To most other ponies, Minuette would just seem nosy, and unable to mind her own business. But Lemon knew her better than most ponies. Lemon knew what Minuette was doing, Lyra was Minuette's best friend, and to learn she was keeping secrets, potentially dangerous secrets, Minuette was just worried about her friend; even though she expressed it in abnormal ways. Lemon was worried too, but she knew Lyra would--hopefully--eventually tell them the truth, Minuette just needed to see that there was nothing to worry about.
Minuette jolted upright, she'd almost fallen asleep again. She guessed it was probably around four or five in the mourning. She lay on the ground in the bushes. About three hours ago, she picked some leaves from some other bushes and laid them across the ground, attempting to make it more comfortable. It didn't help much, but it stopped some of the twigs from poking her as she lay.
Minuette could barely keep her eyes open. Her head wanted to fall to the ground, it took most of her strength to keep it up. Nothing else in the world seemed more appealing than sleep; and it was so easy to get. All she had to do was let her head fall, rest it on her hooves and close her eyes. But no, tired as she may be, Minuette was determined to stay up all night.
Minuette had had many 'falling outs,' many times when all she wanted was to go home. She had thought she was crazy, staying up into the wee hours of the night just to make sure Lyra didn't sneak out or something. Every time she thought about what she was doing, Minuette doubted her sanity. She wasn't quite sure why exactly she was still out here. Lyra was certainly asleep, nopony was going to come to her house, so why stay?
Minuette had been thinking, ---she'd done a lot of that during the night--- and realized she felt, betrayed. Lyra had some huge secret, and Minuette was left out. She wouldn't had thought much of that letter, if it wasn't for how Lyra reacted to Minuette reading it. It was definitely something a lot bigger than a vacation.
"You know what?" Minuette asked herself, "I'm done with this, I'm going home and going to sleep. If Lyra wants to run around with some other pony, fine; but she'd better say sorry next time we meet." Minuette collected her things, and left for home
The next morning, Minuette awoke to a knock on her door. "Lyra?!" She said as she shot out of bed and headed for the door. Though she was a little too tired to pull off such maneuvers. She made it to the stairs with no problems; but then tripped and tumbled head over hoof down them, landing with a thud as she hit the last stair.
She shook her head and said, "coming!" She got to her hooves and bee lined for the door, though this time with a little more cation. "Hello? Lyra--oh," Minuette said as she opened the door.
"No, I'm, Twinkleshine, you know, your other friend," Twinkleshine said, sounding annoyed. "Oh and maybe you'll remember, Lemon Hearts here? She's another one of your friends."
"Twinkleshine," Lemon said scoldingly.
Minuette's face dropped with guilt, "Guess I have been a little obsessed with, Lyra lately, huh?" She said, ashamed that she'd mostly ignored her two friends, except for using them to try and get to Lyra.
Twinkleshine snorted, "Anyways, we came to see if you wanted to come with us to, Moondancer's, she's having a get-together at the castle courtyard. She asked us to stop here and give you the invite."
Minuette thought again about her neglect towards her friends. "Yeah, yeah I wanna go."
The three of them were walking down the road towards the courtyard, when they saw Twilight Sparkle ahead.
"Oh there you are Twilight," Twinkleshine said, "Moondancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard, you wanna come?"
"Oh, sorry girls, I've got uh-a lot of studying to catch up on, gotta go." And with that, Twilight took off galloping.
"I think she's more interested in books, than friends," Twinkleshine said after Twilight had gone.
"Let's just go," Lemon said.
They kept walking, after a few minutes, they passed the train station. From the road, Minuette could see somepony, Lyra. She was boarding one of the trains, but Minuette couldn't see where it was going. Minuette felt an urge to go and get on that train with Lyra and question her about where she was going and why. If Minuette wasn't quick enough, the train would leave without her. But Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts where counting on her.
But Minuette's curiosity drove her away from her friends. "I-I've got go," She quickly stammered.
Lemon and Twinkleshine both turned around to see Minuette galloping off towards the train station. "Oh, Minuette," Lemon said once she caught sight of Lyra, her voice was more disappointed than angry.
Minuette made it to the ticket-station, she peered past the gates to see that Lyra was boarding the train to Ponyville. 'Strange place to be heading' Minuette thought, but she didn't have much time to mull it over before she was bought her ticket and got onboard. Once she was onboard, she could see Lyra sitting a few rows in front of her. Lyra was gazing wistfully out the window. But what did Lyra have to be wistful about?
Minuette worked up the courage to walk up and sit next to Lyra. Lyra turned lazily to see who had sat next to her. She looked at Minuette, her eyes were full of tears. Once Lyra realized who she was looking at, she wrapped her hooves around Minuette very tightly. Minuette was taken aback by this, she awkwardly patted Lyra's back, but Lyra didn't let go.
Minuette heard the conductor calling for any final passengers, soon after, the train pulled out of the station with a jerk. This knocked Lyra around in her seat a bit, and she realized she was still holding Minuette. Lyra let go and leened back against the window.
Minuette glanced out the window and could see Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine standing on the road, watching her. Minuette looked to Lemon Hearts, who gave her a small smile and nodded her head. The train began to pick up speed, and soon they were zooming across Equestria.
After Lyra wiped her eyes a few more times, and stopped the regular flow of tears, she said, "I-I guess you're wondering why I got on this train, h-huh?" Lyra's voice was cracky and unstable.
About a thousand sarcastic comments ran through Minuette's head. Of course she was wondering why! But she managed to keep her mouth shut, and just look at Lyra questioningly, inviting her to go on.
"Well...," Lyra started to say, "There is somepony in Ponyville that I'm going to see, well, going to live with."
"You're leaving Canterlot?" Minuette tried not to sound accusing.
"Yeah," Lyra said weakly, "I'm going there to live with a pony, I met them at a concert a few months ago. We've been writing to each other ever since. I think I'm in love with them, that's why I'm leaving." She rushed the last part out, desperately trying to explain why she was leaving her friends. "I know it's dumb and reckless, but I'm really in love with them. And it kills me that I have to leave you and everpony else."
Minuette tried to keep her questions in check. She wanted to know more, but didn't want to sound unsympathetic. "It's okay, we can always visit right? So who is this stallion you've met?" She decided to say.
"Well," Lyra's checks turned bright red, and her voice was barley more than a whisper, "her names Bon Bon."
Her? Her? Did she just say her? Lyra liked mares? Minuette's mouth fell open slightly.
Lyra saw this and quickly said, "I know, it's strange and weird and embarrassing--that's why I never told anypony, except you and Bon Bon."
Minuette thought about this, liking mares wasn't that unheard of. But she had to be comforting, Minuette could work out her own thoughts latter. "Once we get there, I'd love to meat Bon Bon."
Lyra grinned wickedly.