Lyra The Undying

Princess Luna watched from afar as Lyra Heartstrings drank herself into a stupor at the Training Grounds Pub. Luna, like all the times in the past she’d raised Lyra from the dead, felt a mixture of regret and sadness at her choice that had forever changed Equestria.

        It was long ago at a party in Ponyville to celebrate Twilight Sparkle’s birthday. Everypony in town and many from far away were there, but Celestia was busy with some diplomatic duties so Luna attended in her place. It was so long ago that Luna didn’t remember all the details. One moment at that party left a scar on her mind and soul.

        Discord, the spirit of chaos, was at the party enjoying the company of the friends he’d made for the last time. In a violent burst of Chaos Magic, Discord lost control of his reality warping abilities and tore a hole in space that collapsed and caused a cascade, killing him instantly, and then continuing to eradicate a massive area. Luna was able to throw up a shield around herself at the last moment, but it only succeeded in letting her watch everypony die around her. Twilight’s Castle, the town of Ponyville, and even the Everfree Forest. Dead, twisted, and corrupted by untamed chaos magic.

        Luna found herself alone, surrounded by death and madness, until she saw that out of sheer luck, one pony's body had absorbed a large amount of Discord’s magic. Lyra Heartstrings became something different that night. Her dead body could not contain chaos magic of that level, causing massive rifts in space and time around her. Luna had to think fast or the unbound chaos would destroy Equestria.

        She called on all her powers to use a forbidden dark magic spell that brought Lyra back to life, stopping the chaos magic from pouring out of her body. It was only a temporary fix, and if Lyra was dead for longer then three days the Chaos Magic would erupt from her again. Luna ran that night, only appearing when Lyra died so that she could raise her up again and again. Thus Lyra The Undying was born, and Luna’s quest to free Lyra from the Chaos Magic began.

        Luna looked away from the Training Grounds and walked back into the shadows of the night, feeling as if her search would never end.

.        .        .        .

        In the early morning, consciousness hit Lyra like a thundering blast. Given a choice, she would have stayed asleep forever. It was the next best thing to being actually dead. But she didn’t have a choice. She had things to do, and waking up was one of them.

        Lyra managed to drag herself out of the bed she’d found last night after all that drinking. At that moment somepony knocked on the door. Lyra grunted an approximation of ‘come in’. Bob the goblin entered and saluted.

“First officer reporting for duty, Ma’am.” Bob tried to act professional for the new commander.

“Yes?” Lyra walked to the dresser next to her bed.

“Sorry to bother you, Ma’am, but I was wondering when you would like to do your first inspection.” Bob waited a minute for Lyra to think about it.

“We’ll do it later.” Lyra rubbed her aching skull.

“Ok. And the address, Mam?” Bob asked.

“The what?” Lyra looked at Bob.

“The introductory address, Mam...To introduce you to the troops and trainees.”  Bob said.

“Later.” Lyra yawned. “Much Later.”

        “Yes, Ma’am.” Bob coughed softly to fill the silence while he gathered his thoughts. “Might I ask you a question, Ma’am?”

        Lyra sighed and turned to Bob. “Yes, I was dead yesterday. Yes, I came back from the grave—literally. And yes, It hurts every time…”

        “It’s true what the stories say, then. You can’t die,” Bob said as he thought of how to get rid of Lyra in his mind.

        “Actually, I die very well—in fact, I like to think that I am the grand master of the art of perishing. It’s the staying dead part that I am not very good at,” Lyra explained as Bob coughed again.

        Lyra gave Bob permission to leave and the goblin slammed the door shut. Lyra’s hangover did not agree with the noise, and she groaned loud enough to hear through the walls. Outside the commanders building, Bob meet with Agina the Dragon, and Grit the Diamond Dog to discuss their new boss.

        “Well?” Grit asked.

        “Is it really her and not some other pony?” Agina asked.

Bob nodded.

        “I thought you said she was dead in a box,” Grit said to Bob.

        “She was dead, but now she isn’t,” Bob replied.

        “How in Celestia’s name is it possible?” asked the Diamond Dog.

        “Clearly, it’s some kind of magic spell. She is a unicorn after all.” said Agina.

        “I looked up this stuff in a spell book before she arrived. only Alicorns know the spells like that and have the power to actually use them.” Bob sighed.

        The three thought about it until a lower ranking officer came up to them and told one of them to get the commander some water and raw fish juice for her hangover. The three played ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to decided who would take the drink to the commander, to which Agina lost.

        Bob decided to go to his office and work on some ideas.

”I wouldn't suggest killing Lyra unless you can be sure she stays dead,” Grit said to Agina “Maybe fire would work. You are a dragon after all.”

        Grit’s idea improved Agina’s mood—she could always say it was an accident. So the dragon walked her way across the Training Grounds to the Tavern, Everyone knew well enough to stay out of a dragon’s way. Agina got the hangover drink and brought it to the commander’s barracks. Pausing outside Lyra’s bedroom door, Agina got to thinking that if she couldn't kill her, she might be able to show this snobby unicorn a lesson in respect. However she also thought about how Muck Company was her last place in the Everfree Legion, if she messed up and got caught she would blow her career she worked hard on.

        Agina was not only a dragon but a warrior, thus she believed she was superior to any Unicorn. Her dislike of unicorns goes back to her first Legion job in Canterlot, protecting unicorn nobles who treated her like a walking wall.

        Agina pushed open the door without knocking. “Your drink, Ma’am.” Lyra was obscured beneath a blanket on her bed.

        Lyra used her magic to lift the mug to her face while still under the blanket, gulped the hangover cure down, and groaned. “Thanks. That is much better.”

        “Anything else, Mam.” Agina asked.

        “What? Speak up.” Lyra said.

        Agina thought on her fire breath but decided not to try and burn Lyra. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Ma’am?”

        Lyra removed the blanket, exposing her body to Agina. The dragon expected the Unicorn to be a snob but Lyra was acting like a regular solder. However what mesmerized Agina was Lyra’s body. Lyra had large cuts, scars, slash marks, and scabs covering her body. Agina stared at Lyra, studying the battle history of the lacerated skin of this unicorn.

        Lyra noticed Agina was smiling and staring at her without realizing it.

        “Yes?” Lyra asked.

        “Oh, Sorry, M’aam.” Agina saluted, turned, and left the room. In the hallway, Agina stopped, feeling suddenly short of breath. She leaned against the wall as her legs were inexplicably shaky. The red dragon closed her eyes, thinking about Lyra’s perfect battle scarred body. Lyra had a sword wound on her back, a dagger mark on her belly, purple welts that came from some kind of crushing blows all over her legs, Claws of a beast raked across her shoulders, there were so many marks Agina couldn't keep track. At that moment Agina thought Lyra was the most beautiful mare she had ever seen.

        Agina had never felt this way before, and she felt confused by these feelings. She thought about frying Lyra with fire to remove these feelings, but Lyra was Undying, so she couldn't kill her.

        Agina realized that maybe she didn’t want to…

End of Chapter 3