Playing the Heart's Strings

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville. The sky was clear, featuring the blue shade that brought to mind Rainbow Dash’s coat, and her surging in the sky. The birds sang, with merry melodies that went through the Library’s windows. Outside, the grass had the fresh smell it has in the morning after being soaked by the light mist of daybreak.

Inside said building, Spike the small dragon opened his eyes. He stretched his arms with a big yawn, and uncurled himself, getting out of his basket. He looked behind him, and in the big bed settled there, his boss, Twilight Sparkle, was comfortably asleep, covered by her bedsheets and with a soft pillow below her head and another between her hooves. He smiled and went out of the room to clean himself.

Once he was done with that, he decided to go downstairs and do some early morning cleaning. Owlowiscious was great for cataloguing and ordering books, but he wasn’t very useful for passing a rag over them, what with lacking dexterous digits, as Spike had. He didn’t have anything against the owl anymore, and Owlowiscious kept good company to his little Peewee, but Spike still felt a small surge of pride being able to do something the nocturnal bird couldn’t.

When he got a good cleaning of a section of the Library, he looked out of the window, and decided to go to the kitchen and make breakfast. He’d soon have to wake Twilight up for her lessons with Zecora. He did just that, and when he and a rather sleepy Twilight were eating, a knock could be heard on the Library’s door. A high pitched voice accompanied it, one that would make Spike’s scales stand up straight if they weren’t so already.

“Ohh, Spike, Twilight, good morning! May I come in, dears?!” called Rarity, from the other side of the door. Without waiting for his boss to say anything, the small dragon hurried to the door and opened it, finding the white unicorn, exquisitely groomed despite it being so early in the morning. Rarity’s already blissful expression was highlighted up to eleven when her deep azure eyes saw Spike. She crouched and gave him a light nuzzle.

“Spikey-wikey, just the little, brave dragon I wanted to see.”  Rarity was almost singing as every word left her delicate, finely shaped lips; Spike could do naught but lose himself into every single word spoken by her. She batted her eyelashes at him and he could’ve sworn she had cast the ultimate spell on him, not even needing to use her horn to have him absolutely and utterly charmed.  She talked again, her voice coming out even more melodic as every second passed.

“Oh, Spike. I have but one great favor to ask from you. Could you, brave knight, accompany me, the damsel in distress, to the wild, savage land of the Diamond Dogs, to go gem-hunting? Would you that for me, gentle dragon?”

Spike answered in earnest, not even once taking his eyes off of the stunning unicorn standing in front of him.

“But of course, my dear Rarity, I’ll be at your call and whim in this perilous enterprise. No harm shall come to you as I perform the duty of your guardian.” His heart was about to pump out of his chest; his body fell way too small for him right in those moments, but as Rarity’s eyes shone with grace and gratefulness, he deemed every single thing worth that moment.  He was barely able to turn to face Twilight.

“Is that fine with you, Twilight?”

The librarian nodded, and smiled. “Please go with her, Spike. i’ll  be here taking care of the Library so you can protect the damsel Rarity. Don’t have any doubt then, and be the brave knight now!”

Spike nodded as well, and saying his goodbyes to his employer, -she could not be a caretaker, for it was now his turn to be one!- he walked out, following Rarity and watching her rear -as a proper knight, of course, he did not have any intentions with her that were less than noble- protecting her against anything that could come.

Rarity’s mane and tail swayed rhythmically from one side to the other; the well groomed, shiny violet  hair mesmerizing the baby dragon, who had to shake his head more than once to remember his proper duties. But her white hide was purer than any cloud. And for him, it shone brighter than anything.

In fact, as they advanced, he couldn’t help but notice that her shine kept growing stronger. The light soon began to extend far from her body, taking in her surroundings. Everything around him quickly became unclear, wrapped in the blinding light that now invaded his eyes.

“Rarity...  Hey, Rarity, what’s this...? What’s happening to you... Rarity.... RARITY!”

His eyes were hurt by the extremely powerful light. He could not see anything as he extended his claws and stood up. Attempting to walk, he tripped over. Strangely, he found that it was a hard floor, completely unlike the soil that comprised the paths of Ponyville or its outsides. Turning back, a hard pain assaulted his face. He had collisioned with something. Several moments more passed and he was still troubled by the intense, overwhelming white light. He had stopped calling Rarity a while ago, knowing now she wasn’t by his side.

Suddenly, the shine began to recede, slowly but surely. The light disappeared, but even so, Spike’s sight took quite a long time to return. He had resolved to stay put where he was sitting, having recognized his basket, but didn’t make any single sound or move. He couldn’t be sure just how much time had passed; he had become extremely bored, but couldn’t risk a single misstep. Then, finally, he began to perceive. At first, dim shadows were outlined in the unending white, they eventually began gaining more details. Soon dots of color followed, rising in number exponentially, and eventually he took in the room he was inside of. It was Twilight’s room, the same one he had occupied last night to go to sleep. When he had done so, his boss was still occupied with Lyra in the Library’s main room. He looked over to the bed, and his mouth opened fully.

Twilight Sparkle was still the very same unicorn that had gone to sleep. But her skin had suffered quite a curious transformation. Her normally soft lavender coat was now somewhat transparent. Not that one could look inside of her, but it had taken on such a lighter tone that if one didn’t know her, she would register as the most strange pony one would’ve ever seen. Her extremely light purple coat was also streamlined by a white line all over, as if a chalk had been used to draw her profile around her body. In spite of all this, she slept peacefully, without any deviation in her slumber or a dream of any class that could be discerned from her movements.

The white outline of her body suddenly began to gain intensity, crossing across her skin. Spike instinctively knew what was coming. He shut his eyes tight and covered them with his hands. Still, the incredible light emitted by her body managed to produce a flash in his covered eyes. When he deemed it over, he uncovered them slowly and found her in quite the same position as before. Not losing any more time, he jumped over to her bed and

shook her violently. She finally jerked upwards, and Spike barely got out of the way of a pretty strong reflex kick, jumping out of the bed.

“What’s with you, Spike?! Why did you wake me up like that?” asked the very much unamused unicorn, looking down to him with a deep frown.

“Twilight, look at yourself! You’re looking weird, and you’re giving out an extremely powerful light!” Her expression slowly changed as she considered his words.  She went from confused, to analytical to finally her face lighting in understanding. Along with this, the while light came out once more. Spike covered himself again and shouted.

“BE CAREFUL!”

“Oops, sorry, Spike.” As the light receded, he dared another look, only to find her closing her eyes and concentrating. He didn’t wait any more and ran out of the room, shutting the door behind him with violence. Through the orifices of the door, the flashes of powerful light were revealed. It went on and off once and again, until he lost interest and marched to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, not in the best of moods. She finally came out when hearing his scream calling her and entered the kitchen, where he had already set up the food.

“Just promise me not any more light shows!”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry, it just took me by surprise, but I seem to have it regulated already. Still, I’d never suspected Poison Joke could have such potent results. I suppose it makes sense, what it me having eaten it directly...  With Zecora’s antidote, I should be fine, though. I’ll ask her when I get there.

“Whatever floats your boat. Just get rid of it, fine?”  spoke Spike, harshly, as he devoured his food quite hungrily, soon having nothing in his plate while Twilight was just beginning.

“What’s the matter, Spike?” asked the no longer shining unicorn, looking concerned to her assistant. He waved a claw dismissing her.

“Nothing whatsoever. Just drop that, okay?”

She didn’t insist anymore and rather finished eating, after which she prepared herself and went over to Zecora, while Spike remained at the library, taking solace in his job.

“Wake up, Lyra!”

The addressed unicorn rolled on her bed, turning herself to her other side, but bolted upwards when pressure was applied to her flank, painfully achieving its goal. She opened her eyes and glared at her best friend.

“You could have asked it nicely, Bon!”

“That never works with you, silly pony,” answered Bon Bon, turning to leave her room. “Hey, Lyra, I need you to watch over the shop while I go to the Acres. I won’t be out too long, don’t worry.”

As Lyra exited her room, she heard the sound of Bon Bon’s hoofsteps going downstairs and then opening and closing the door behind her. She trotted to the bathroom and washed herself thoroughly. She descended the stairs and went into the kitchen, finding a large serving of oats with milk waiting for her. She ate, quietly thanked her friend and then, with the help of her magic, opened the door and organized the counter for the day’s work, lifting a small, but heavy bag containing bits for change and counting it before putting it down again. Morning went on very slowly, with the occasional pony coming around and buying -Sunday was a lazy day,and ponies who went outside generally headed for the Market, but Bon Bon had never set shop up there, preferring the tranquility of her own home. Too much tranquility for Lyra’s liking.

When the earth pony came back, the unicorn had her head resting on top of the counter, and was looking up to the clouds, letting her gaze wander. Nopony had come around for twenty minutes already. Lyra looked up and beamed, swatting her tail.

“Bon, you’re here! I was so bored! How did it go?“

Bon Bon, carrying a huge bag in her mouth, and balancing other two more in her back, didn’t answer, instead entering through the hole that Lyra opened for her, pushing the counter aside. Once she had put off her packages in the storeroom, she went back to the main door.

“Quite good. I was given some fresh apples and a couple of fresh apple and strawberry marmalade by the Apples. Also, I found Fluttershy and she gave to me two honey jars. I suppose she has a good link to the bees. I’ve got plenty of material to work with, anyway. Well, now you can go, I’ll take over.”

Lyra approached Bon Bon and nuzzled her softly, before turning around and hurrying upstairs.  She packed up her lyre, some music sheets, a special dress and a pair of sunglasses, before going down again, putting her glasses on, meeting and parting with Bon Bon and Dinky, who was buying something, and speeding to the Ponyville Train Station, just a few minutes ahead of the next arrival of the Friendship Express to Canterlot. She jumped into the vehicle with big spirits, finding soon an empty compartment. She went inside and sat next to the window, looking out to the platform, in which some ponies carried bags around.

“Well, here’s to another successful playing session tonight!”

The morning was quite successful for Twilight. She managed to suppress her newfound ability and avoid a shining spectacle in the middle of Ponyville. Once she reached Zecora’s home, she demonstrated it to the zebra by partially lighting her right foreleg.  Zecora dutifully took notes on it, and then gave her a preparation which contained all of the same ingredients the first preparation had, swapping the Joke with savia from a certain tree, used as a catalyst for quite a wide variety of antidotes.

While they worked for several hours reviewing plants and fruits that could be used in conjunction with Poison Joke, of which Zecora had extensive notes about, the white outline around Twilight’s body grew dimmer, eventually disappearing. Her coat also went from the light, clear color it had gained to her accustomed lavender hue. The ability to instantaneously light up had been lost, and even though she felt a bit disappointed for having lost such an amazing skill, she was overall happy with the experiment.

With Zecora’s promise to take her next weekend for a Botanical walk around in the forest, Twilight came back to Ponyville. It was almost noon by that time.  When she came back to the Library, she was stunned, finding Spike going around whistling and organizing the books with nary a complaint. He turned to look at her.

“Oh, Twilight, welcome back! I’ve prepared your dress for tonight and soon I’ll go to make lunch.”

She smiled with amusement. “Rarity was here, right?”

“Well, I went to see her. She was working with something, but she gave me a kiss,” Spike touched his forehead and sighed dreamily, “and she gave me a couple of big rubies for snacking later. She’s the best!”

Twilight giggled and went upstairs to find her yellow birthday dress hanging on a perch, carefully ironed. Above it also hung a hat in a matching color, its brim was laced with white. It had been developed by Rarity as an additional gift a little after they had come back from her birthday party, and it made for such a gorgeous pair.

She went to her bed, closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into sleep. She was yanked out of it for what she deemed as too soon by Spike’s voice calling her to lunch. She begrudgingly pulled herself out of bed, shook the sleepiness away and went to enjoy a sunflower salad with carrot pie as dessert. Once it was over, she went to her room again, and sat in the corner of her bed. She floated the ticked that had been given to her by Lyra and looked at it.  She suddenly was aware of just how much the Library was silent and … boring.  She had always been happily unaware of it, being always content with shoving her muzzle down a book and taking notes, and performing experiments, and watching the stars with scientific glee.

But ever since Lyra had shown up, nothing had been quite the same. She remembered the energetic unicorn rushing past her to admire the human statue, her body radiating happiness from every pore. The enthusiast unicorn who had brought some pudding to her even though it ended up in Spike’s gut.  Lyra, who smiled, laughed and told jokes when she felt the atmosphere was becoming too heavy. Who had studied with her, concentrating as hard as Twilight could, which she honestly hadn’t believed her to be able to in the beginning.

She had considered the green unicorn to be a sort of Pinkie Pie, a flighty spirit who usually sorted things around by sheer... well, she didn’t truly know what it was that moved Pinkie Pie. But Lyra had proved to be something else. She was, after all, an accomplished musician, as both Celestia and Rarity had vouched for. She had never heard her Lyra play, though.

In fact, she had properly known Lyra for even less than a week, but now she felt that the space in the Library, so much of a second nature to her, so much her home, felt cold, unusually large and lonely. And she felt something pulling inside of her, even though she couldn’t identify it, when she thought of Lyra’s smiling face looking at her.

She dismissed the feeling to the back of her mind and sat up, going over to take a bath, and afterwards dress herself up and prepare.  When she was ready, she left the still complacent Spike and headed for the station

When she arrived there, she was surprised -or perhaps not- to see Rarity at the platform. She was wearing a ball gown, designed to be fitting to her body, a white piece complemented by a flowery purple skirt that flowed around her, accentuating her natural curves, with grace, but also a lightly applied risqué element which showcased her charming nature. She carried a matching saddlebag, no doubt everything designed and sewn by herself. Twilight approached her, smiling.

“Hello, Rarity.”

Rarity turned around to see Twilight and beamed, nuzzling her softly. “Oh, Twilight, dear. Is so good to see you here. I must say, even if I shouldn’t, that this piece really suits you wonderfully and it’s perfectly crafted for you. You look so gorgeous!”

Twilight blushed, accepting Rarity’s compliments gracefully.  Rarity pressed on. “But, what are you doing in her, dressed so formally and going to board a train?  Are you going to Canterlot?“ asked she, now eyeing Twilight with the smallest hint of being suspicious showing in her amethyst eyes.

“Yes... Yes, I might have forgotten to mention that Lyra invited me to her concert tonight. Heh...”

Rarity’s expression soon turned from a light frown to a delighted grin, much unlike what Twilight was expecting. “She did, didn’t she? Oh, how wonderful. I was just heading over there myself. Of course, I was thinking of checking some of the high fashion stores in Canterlot before going over there. But if a dear friend goes with me, I think it can be even better!  Say, dear, let’s go and buy our tickets, is that right?”

They did so, and soon they were on the way to Canterlot. Rarity had insisting on doing some grooming on Twilight, and now was experimenting with her mane, brushing it, curling it, inserting pins and unraveling a pair of knots in her hair. Twilight endured, and after some minutes of this, decided to speak.

“You have heard Lyra play before, right? How is she?”

“Hmmm?”  said Rarity, biting her lip softly in concentration as she parted both sides of Twilight’s hair to the sides, checking the effect it had. “She is certainly a delicious performer. She might still have some way ahead of her in comparison to the elite players in the world, but she’s no slouch. Honestly, though, dear. I think that it’s better for you to experience it yourself.”   She kept the look that she had chosen for her friend, and two small light pink pins were inserted in each side of her hair, keeping it in place.

“Voilá. Now it is perfect!  But tell me, dear. How is it that you haven’t heard her play yet. You two have been spending quite a good amount of time together these days.”

Twilight blushed softly, even though she had no reason to, and she sought to regain her composure. Rarity did not or seemed not to realize this, and if she did she was a very good actress, as she spent time checking the small things that she could fix on Twilight.

“Yes, but most of it has been studying and walking around. She never brings her lyre with herself or any of her instruments for that matter.  I’m pretty curious now.”

“I see, my dear. Well, I assure you you are going to enjoy it. very much indeed.”

The rest of the journey was over in a blink, as she and Rarity talked over most kinds of irrelevant topics, but she was happy to follow her friend’s pace. They descended in the station. Twilight had hoped to go to the Castle and meet the Princess there for a surprise, but she found herself brought along by Rarity as she conducted an exploration of the finest boutiques in Canterlot that were open in Sunday. Twilight didn’t mind a bit, she enjoyed hearing about hauté couturé and looking so many pretty and varied designs she could never have even imagined. Time ran over, though, and they decided to take a cab straight to the Manne Theathre.  The theater was a big park in one of the most popular areas of the capital, in the middle of which, surrounded by groves of all kind of trees, a huge platform elevated.

It consisted of hundreds of seats elevating, forming a half circle shape, themselves surrounding a smaller platform with huge, red curtains in the back, covering the rooms used by the performers backstage, utility rooms and some other multipurpose rooms.

As the sun was beginning to fall in the horizon, some ponies -and one or two non-ponies as well, namely donkeys and griffons- were already sitting in the audience. Twilight and Rarity arrived. Giving a glance around her, Twilight asserted sadly that none of the Princesses would be attending tonight. She was joined by Rarity, who looked at her.

“Shall we go,Twilight?”

“Yes, I myself think that’s a pretty good idea,” answered a familiar voice behind them. Both unicorns looked back and discovered the Princess of Love standing right in front of them.

“Cadence!” screamed both at the same time, uncaring of the looks earned by the ones who were passing by their side. Some looked at the Princess,though.

“It’s been some time, Twilight, Rarity.” She approached her two friends and embraced them. “How’ve been you doing, girls?”

“We’ve been doing fine, thanks, Cadence. How about you, and Shining? I hadn’t hear from you since you came back from your honeymoon.”

The Princess made a face that was about half a pout and a smile. “Well, you know that Royal life and Royal Guard Captain life is quite difficult, not to mention what happens when you combine both.  But why don’t we go inside?  I think the presentation will begin soon.”

The three mares presented their tickets and went all the way down to the middle row, choosing three seats at the left.  Around them, seats were filled left and right. Twilight was amazed by all of it.

The lights that illuminated the audience diminished considerably, leaving just the right amount to see around. The stage lights came to life then, directing all the audience’s looks down there.  An earth pony came from behind the curtains. It was indistinguishable from the distance at which Twilight was seated if it was male or female, its features and pretty much everything save its race and its light brown coat with black mane and tail. Only when the pony spoke could she discern he was a male. His voice was carried around easily despite the fact that he held no microphone or voice amplifying device; she deduced he must have had an amplifying spell applied over him.

“Mares and gentlecolts, it is an honor for the Manne Theathre to feature tonight the extremely talented Lyra Heartstrings! She will be giving us tonight a performance consisting of some of her more famous compositions. So, without any further waiting, Lyra!”

As the earth pony retreated, a courteous, very sight pumping of hooves could be heard. It was nowhere near some tumultuous ones Twilight had heard before, and it quickly ceased. Silence reigned as Lyra came to the front, her lyre held in her lemony yellow glow. She was using a loose, very simple blue dress that didn’t impede her walking, and a golden tiara adorned her head. She marched over to the center of stage. She looked upstairs and saw the whole multitude looking down to her. The lights were falling down to her. The exhilarating feeling of completeness that filled her in those moments invaded her once again. The voices in her head came back. She answered.

You see? I told you that I’d be here. I’d be here someday, and now I’m here again. And you were wrong...

Lyra pushed the voices to the back of her mind. She pulled the first string with her magic, and felt its vibration carry the sound everywhere, traveling in the waves of the amplifying spell that covered the whole place. She then fell in place with her music, feeling her interpretation coming out of every part of her being. The audience in front of her held their breath and dived right into her melody. But she could not see one mare in the sea of seats that was very much hanging on every note her lyre expressed, following her every move in the distance.  And as she pictured the usual faces that accompanied her in her mind during every presentation, she found there was a new face that brought light to her. She imprinted strength to her playing and went on, with passion, piece after piece.

Night had fell over completely upon Canterlot by that time.  Twilight had lost herself among every note that came out of Lyra’s lyre, and she was really content. Every song however, brought  her to the reality, that everything would come to an end soon.

She then pictured in her mind her body shining in a white outline. She pictured the bright blue light of a faraway star. She pictured a golden lyre, an image etched on a pony’s flank.  She heard the last note being pulled out from a string, the moments of silence that served as a bridge between that last movement and the pumping of hooves around her. She stood up, bringing to her the gazes of all the ponies surrounding her, including Rarity and Cadence, but she barely registered it.

 Her horn glowed with a purple light, and she closed her eyes in concentration. A white spark ignited out of its tip, followed soon by a chain of others, which joined it, up in the black sky. The white dots then began to connect one to the other by lines of bright, white light, and when it was over, the image of a giant, white lyre was etched up in the sky. A perfect replica of Lyra’s cutie mark, that could be seen all around Equestria if one looked up.

Everypony fell silent, including the unicorn down in the stage. She looked at the figure in the sky, and then looked at the point where the white sparks had come from. She could not see clearly, but she did not need that in order to understand what had happened.

Lyra Heartstrings smiled, and tears were streaming down her face. She whispered as soft as she could.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

Up in the grades, where ponies were trying their best to get a look at the caster of such a spell, Rarity sat at her side, her mouth hanging open, every bit of lady-like decency completely forgotten.

“What was that, Twilight? I mean, it was completely and astonishingly beautiful, but...”

Cadence, didn’t say anything, instead looking up to the night sky that had become a canvas. The figure painted of it slowly lost its brightness and faded back into obscurity; a masterpiece of brevity, but one which surely had left its mark on every creature that had seen if, but specially in a certain unicorn. The Princess of Love smiled, and turned her gaze to her left.

“That was love,”  Cadence whispered, even though nopony was listening to her. She smiled, and knew that what was to come would be very good days.