Please Rewind Before Returning.
When Rainbow Dash got home from the store, she couldn't help herself. She sat down on her bed, cradling the formerly mint-green and white (now a highly reflective, deep blue) against her, and plugged in her practice amplifier.
This wasn't a guitar for soft accompaniment, it was the guitar-embodiment of Rainbow Dash—she started right in on a power chord and shot into unrehearsed play. Her pick danced across the strings while each touch of her fingers at the neck pulled a different series of notes.
A rush of power, of magic, overtook her as she performed. Hair lengthening, Rainbow Dash grew wings, and her round human-ears migrated up her head into pony ones.
Rainbow Dash could get lost in playing. Her fingers danced, squeezed, strummed, and caressed the guitar for a solid hour of practice. Her pluck left the strings for the last time, and Rainbow's pony ears twitched, glowed, and slid back down her head as she massaged the neck to extend the chord.
"Holy moly. This guitar's awesome! It's like an extension of my arm, like…" Rainbow Dash couldn't find the words to say, an extension of my magic, that didn't seem stupid, so she let her words just drop off—but it was true.
Unplugging her guitar, Rainbow Dash set it on the guitar stand beside her amplifier, turn said amp off, and yawned. "It's been way too long, but I think I could go for a quick run before bed."
Checking her shoes, Rainbow Dash got all the way to the front door before she realized she'd forgotten her phone. Walking down the hallway to her bedroom, she spotted a blue flash of light from under her door.
Eyes widening, Rainbow Dash crept on the balls of her feet until she was at her doorway, then threw the door open.
"Lyra?" Rainbow Dash asked.
It was hard to look innocent when you were caught rifling around another girl's underwear drawer—naked. "This isn't what it looks like." Lyra's hands moved fast, one covering her crotch while the other shot up to help hide her chest.
After ten seconds of getting a very unfriendly stare from Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings' will broke. "I couldn't help it!"
Stepping into her bedroom—and being supremely grateful her parents weren't home for the weekend—Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. "I'm going to totally regret asking, but what couldn't you help?"
"Well, I was in the music shop with Bon Bon, and she was ribbing me about my—condition." Looking from Rainbow Dash to the underwear drawer, Lyra realized she wasn't going to get any help and just shrugged. Pulling her hands away, she sat down on the floor.
"What condition would result in you being naked in my bedroom and—" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened further. She stomped past Lyra to the empty guitar stand. "What'd you do with my guitar?!"
Holding her hands up to placate Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings took a step away. "It's not what you think! I didn't take—"
"Where. Is. My. Guitar?!"
Sighing in resignation, Lyra tilted her head forward and looked at the floor. "You aren't going to believe me unless I show you." She reached one arm out toward Rainbow Dash, and when she felt a tight grip around her wrist she changed.
A flash of blue light stole any hope Rainbow Dash had of seeing what Lyra was doing. She gripped a little tighter, not trusting the other girl not to pull a Trixie (it was a new saying Rainbow Dash had just thought up, given the "magician"'s favorite trick) and run. When the flash subsided, however, Rainbow Dash was looking at her guitar.
"What the actual—" Pulling her guitar close protectively, Rainbow Dash looked around for Lyra. "Very funny with the flash bomb. I don't even want to know where you were hiding it. Just come out, Lyra."
The flash of light happened again. Rather than the neck of her guitar, Rainbow had a hold on the whole thing, and rather than let Lyra do something strange with it, she clutched the instrument tight to her body.
Rainbow Dash couldn't pin down the exact moment when the guitar felt different, but there was a sensation of it shifting in her arms, and then she was cuddling a very naked Lyra Heartstrings. Soft breasts pressed to Rainbow Dash's body, and curves met her own. She looked into Lyra's smiling face. "You have two seconds before I scream."
"I am your guitar, Rainbow Dash."
"One second."
"It's true! What color was I when Pinkie Pie handed me to you?" Despite her panic, Lyra Heartstrings could feel Rainbow Dash pressed against her in almost the same manner as when Rainbow played her.
"You were…" The color of Lyra Heartstrings' skin was a perfect match for the guitar in Rainbow Dash's memory. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You can't seriously expect me to believe you turn into a guitar?"
"What? You think Sunset and Twilight were the only magic ever to come here? My whole family is like this. My dad turns into a really nice alto sax, and my brother turns into a xylophone." It was obvious that Lyra Heartstrings' arguments were not managing to persuade Rainbow Dash to her side by the more-accusatory-by-the-second expression on Rainbow's face. "How do you explain what just happened? You were hugging your guitar, now you're hugging me!"
The reality of the situation sunk in, and Rainbow Dash actually realized she had another girl snuggled against her—a naked girl at that. She let go of Lyra Heartstrings and pointed at the bed. "Sit there. Tell me everything."
With Rainbow Dash's touch gone, Lyra Heartstrings shivered involuntarily—Rainbow was more than just another girl, she was Lyra's player. "Well…"
In the beginning, there was only a minuscule speck of what would come to be the universe. Then—
"Not that everything. Start at you entering the music store," Rainbow Dash said, having interrupted Lyra's epic tale of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
I was joking with Bon Bon as I pushed the door open. "… and then he said, 'My hovercraft is full of eels!'"
"I know, Lyra, I was watching it with you." Bon Bon turned her head and lifted a hand in a wave to Vinyl Scratch. "Hi Vinyl."
Not overly talkative, and likely comfortable in her knowledge that we weren't customers, Vinyl Scratch just nodded to us. Or maybe she was just nodding to her music—there was multiple nods.
I'd been the one to suggest Vinyl to run the store on weekends and on full moons. She was hard-working, great with customers (she's never gotten into a single argument), and she doesn't turn into a musical instrument once a lunar month. The last thing was the important bit so far as our family was concerned.
Technically, Mom could have handled the store, but running the place single-handed was not something any of us would ask of her. When you were a shopkeep, working on your own, you could never take breaks or—
Right, sorry, moving on.
"Isn't it close to the moon?" Bon Bon asked. She knew about my condition, what with being my best friend, but never let it be said she ever let it get in the way of our friendship.
"Technically," I said, "it already is. I can feel it pulling at me, but I can handle it until tonight. Once that moon comes out, though, it's down to strings, fretboard, and a hand-wound pickup for three days."
That's when she decided to make it a challenge. Bon Bon has a strange sense of humor, and considering me, that's saying something. She looked me square in the eyes and said, "I bet you won't turn right now."
"In the store?" I asked.
"Ten dollars says you won't turn and let me put you on the rack. If someone buys you, just slip out and come back."
Ten dollars was good money, but this would lead to a possible walk (or run) of shame. There was no way ten dollars would pay for my dignity. "Twenty."
"Deal!" Bon Bon said.
"You're an idiot," Rainbow Dash said. "And I'm not just talking garden variety here. You took a bet of twenty dollars to let yourself be sold, then have to sneak out—naked—and get home?"
"But I'm a good guitar."
Rainbow Dash couldn't deny it. Four-hundred dollars had been a steal for the guitar—for Lyra—in Rainbow's eyes. Playing it—her—had felt right in too many ways. "Yeah." The word took all the excitement she'd had and combined it with the strangeness of the situation. "Get on with the story."
"Well?" Bon Bon asked.
"You need to distract Vinyl. She knows about us, and if she sees me she'll take me into the back room. And I know you won't give me the money unless I'm out here." I looked from the rack to the front counter. "Just get her talking about her music."
"I," Bon Bon already had an air of indignity about her, "know nothing about music. There's a reason I've never played you. If you don't do this right now, the bet is off."
So I changed. I took a deep breath, reached for the feeling of the moon that I'd been fighting all day, and just let it in.
"What about the flash of light? Kinda hard to miss," Rainbow Dash said.
"There's a flash of light? Must have something to do with someone filling me with rainbow magic or something." Lyra Heartstrings glared at Rainbow Dash, but grinned before she could hope to make the stare anything but the slightest hint of deadpan. "That felt really good, and I don't care if I flash now."
No flash. No fanfare. One moment I was a normal girl wearing a cute dress and top that complemented my skin, the next my arm stiffens, my legs shrink, and I get a tightness in my gut. Yeah, not a lot to explain, there just aren't words enough to describe how it feels when your body turns into hardwood, steel, copper, and polish.
I can't really see, or hear, or even feel. When Bon Bon touched my strings to rescue me from my clothes, however, I was alive again. The touch of flesh to metal as she lifted me up and onto the stand with the other guitars sent a shiver down my fretboard—a metaphorical shiver, of course, I couldn't move.
When no one touches me, time becomes odd. It could have been an hour, a day, a year, but when Pinkie Pie's fingers closed around me and yanked me off the shelf, I could feel again. I was alive, I felt the girl holding me like she was a force of nature, but that wasn't the most amazing bit.
I'd never been played before. Oh, there was some strumming here and there, and my brother once changed my strings, but I was thrown into the hands of someone who could play.
The first strum was sure, firm, I called out in excitement, and she—you—didn't let up. Again, more, greater and greater music poured from me. I couldn't fight you, I had no reason to want to, so I sang in your arms.
I don't know what I actually expected my first time to be like, but with your hands on me it couldn't have been better. Then, well, you know what happened. I'd felt magic every month of my life—twice a month—since I learned to walk, but when your magic poured through me it changed me.
Rainbow Dash's heart was beating fast. She stared ahead, not seeing Lyra Heartstrings' naked body at all. Her mouth opened to ask a question, then she closed it. She tried again, and this time could think of words to use. "First time?"
"You played me like I was born to be played. You made me yours. I don't even know how it is I can transform like this, I should be stuck as a guitar for two more days." As Lyra Heartstrings spoke, her chest rose and fell in deep breaths.
Complete and utter stunned silence wrapped around Rainbow Dash. She stared at Lyra, still, and now she couldn't speak at all.
"It wasn't your first time, was it?" Lyra Heartstrings asked.
"I've played other guitars." Even to Rainbow Dash, it sounded like she was admitting her gravest secret. "I mean, that was why I was in the store today—I needed a guitar that looked as awesome as I make it sound."
"Do I?"
A smile pulled onto Rainbow Dash's lips. "Yeah. You do." It was no lie, either. "You know you changed, right?"
"Huh? What do you mean, 'changed'?"
"Uh. Hold on." Without a thought, Rainbow Dash reached for Lyra Heartstrings' wrist. "Change back and I'll take a photo."
Enthusiasm and a hint of acceptance bubbled in Lyra Heartstrings' chest. She reached out for the moon, but felt the power Rainbow Dash had put inside her instead. She closed her eyes and felt herself harden, shift, and change her form until she was a polished electric guitar again. Unlike almost every time before, she felt amazing—her player held her.
The feeling, as a guitar, of being shifted into a position to play, was beyond compare. Lyra Heartstrings almost vibrated in place, mentally—she couldn't actually move like this.
Pulling out her phone, Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment. Lyra was right about one thing, she told herself, she feels right to hold and better to play. The hesitation was gone. Rainbow Dash reached down and plucked up the lead to her amp and plugged Lyra Heartstrings in.
Taking a photo didn't require her to be plugged in. Lyra Heartstrings' entire hardwood body was ready. She felt her strings pressed to the fretboard and when the pick found her strings, Lyra sang. Vibrations, excitement, and magic rushed through Lyra. She called out with the voice Rainbow Dash coaxed from her.
Magic crackled in the air, and to Rainbow Dash's astonishment it poured into her. She ponied up immediately, her hands not ceasing to work at Lyra Heartstrings' strings. She pushed her foot out and kicked the peddle to push distortion into Lyra's voice. Magic and moonlight swam through her and into Lyra.
It was impossible to stop. Rainbow Dash kept playing, kept pushing Lyra Heartstrings to greater flares of power. When the magic peaked, player and instrument trembled together. Rainbow grabbed the whammy bar and bent the last chord into a noise that would have caused anyone who heard it to weep in joy.
Slowly, very slowly, Rainbow Dash recovered her senses. Her right palm was flat across Lyra Heartstrings' pickup and her left fingers clutched at the neck for all she was worth. Eventually she managed to remember why she held Lyra. Reaching for her phone, Rainbow set it to selfie mode and snapped a shot.
Feeling the moment as passed, Lyra Heartstrings let herself change back. Never before in her life had she changed so easily and smoothly. Her player held her close, and Lyra could feel one of Rainbow Dash's hands on her wrist. "Whoa…"
That Rainbow Dash had a naked girl sitting in her lap didn't even register. She was slowly expending energy enough to pony down, and felt as her ears changed back, her wings withdrew, and her hair weighed less. Looking down, Rainbow realized her head was snuggled in beside Lyra Heartstrings', and they were both looking at the selfie. "This sucks."
"What?!" Lyra Heartstrings turned around and looked at Rainbow Dash with shock. "You better start explaining—"
"I mean that you only turn into a guitar for three days a month. You're the best guitar in the world, playing you feels amazing, but what am I supposed to do for the rest of the month?" Rainbow Dash let out a heartfelt sigh of defeat. "And I spent the last of my money on you. I don't even have cash to get food tomorrow."
"This is different. It's not the moon that's changing me—not just the moon. Your magic lets me change. It has to be why I can change whenever I want." Looking into Rainbow Dash's surprised eyes, Lyra Heartstrings blushed up enough to turn her aquamarine cheeks crimson.
"Y-You mean it?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Lyra Heartstrings nodded. "Only one way to find out. Besides, it feels right to be your guitar."
Rainbow Dash saw Lyra Heartstrings' face come closer. This is a kiss. She's going to kiss me, Rainbow thought. If I pull away now she won't. Yup, right now I have to just turn my face a little. Or now. Maybe now?
When their lips met, Rainbow Dash felt the electricity that flowed between them—so like the magic of playing Lyra Heartstrings—that she tensed and reached her arms around Lyra. I mean, if I pull away now, it wouldn't mean too much, right? Rainbow Dash didn't pull away.
The morning sunlight was evil. Rainbow Dash pulled on her covers and tugged them up and over herself. Clutching her guitar against her naked body under the covers, she kissed the tuning pegs.
Then reality's gentle sledge-hammer kissed the inside of Rainbow Dash's mind. This wasn't her guitar. This was Lyra Heartstrings! The feel of the hardwood instrument changing tickled Rainbow Dash's memory—she had been clutching Lyra a few times as she shapeshifted now.
"That's the strangest way to be woken up ever," Lyra Heartstrings said with playful tone in her voice. "Strange, but good."
Warmth played against Rainbow Dash's hands, just like Lyra Heartstrings felt when they were playing. Something about Lyra felt right, and it was big enough that Rainbow pulled her closer and pressed lips to Lyra's.
"Mmm…" Lyra Heartstrings' fuzzy mind responded to the kiss, and every part of her—even the parts that were inanimate when she shapeshifted—felt good. The kiss was lazy, slow, and with no hint of alacrity. When they broke apart, it was only because they both felt it was time to. "You'll keep playing me?"
Rainbow Dash snorted. "You're joking, right?"
Lyra Heartstrings purred under her breath. One hand traced Rainbow Dash's side from her hip to her breast. "Food. Breakfast."
"Mom and Dad are out until Tuesday. There's nothing in the fridge or pantry—" Rainbow Dash said.
"Let's go to Sugarcube Corner. My treat."
"You don't have to offer twice. Uh, but you need clothes." Rainbow Dash immediately thought of one way to carry a naked Lyra Heartstrings outside, but it wouldn't be fair to Lyra.
Lyra Heartstrings let out a bark of laughter. "Your clothes are a little tight—"
"I bet I know where they're tight." Rainbow Dash's hands showed Lyra Heartstrings exactly where she was bigger than Rainbow Dash.
A guttural groan left Lyra's throat. "Yeah. But I shouldn't stretch them too much. Besides, we could drop by the music shop and I could grab my clothes."
"Ooooor. I could carry you down there as a guitar, find where they put your clothes, get Vinyl to refund me the four-hundred, and we go and get something tasty to eat." The plan was perfect in Rainbow Dash's eyes.
"That won't work at all. Mom will be working today, and Saturday night is stock-take night. She's going to suspect I did something silly already, but she won't recognize me with your magic. She'll think you're trying to rip them off." Lyra Heartstrings found the attention Rainbow Dash paid to her chest quite enjoyable—the touch of her player never felt better. "Even me just walking in there will tip them off something odd has happened. I'm going to have to explain some of this, and—" She stopped as Rainbow's kneading surpassed her ability to think past.
There was something oddly wonderful about making someone feel so good they couldn't talk. Rainbow Dash's lips curled into a deeper smile—one that reached her eyes—as Lyra Heartstrings closed her eyes and surrendered to the attention.
"I was thinking," Rainbow Dash said, "that I might play you for a bit. Then we'll get you stuff to wear. You're probably right."
Lyra Heartstrings' pleasure rose nearly to a peak, but rather than let herself be overwhelmed completely, she let Rainbow Dash's power flood her. Fingers closed around her hardwood body rather than her breasts, and she felt herself touch Rainbow's belly.
"I wanted to hear you cry out, guess I'll have to do it this way instead." Rainbow Dash brought one leg up the hardwood body and pressed the edge of the guitar down to her crotch. "In the store I could play you without an amp, let's see if that still works.
The positioning was all wrong, and she lacked a pick, but Rainbow Dash pressed the fingers of her left hand to the strings in the pattern for the first chord, and strummed.
If a guitar could climax, that was exactly what Lyra Heartstrings felt. Her voice wasn't loud, but with just magic alone she sang to the tune Rainbow Dash's hands coaxed from her. Everything was vibrations, and somewhere Lyra was absolutely aware of where she was pressed.
Rainbow Dash kept playing Lyra Heartstrings despite the pleasure wrecking havoc throug her body. As Rainbow strummed, she felt Lyra quiver against her sex. One moment they were both playing, the next they were both being played by their own bodies and desires.
Clutching Lyra Heartstrings close, Rainbow dash grit her teeth against the musical waves of ecstasy making her tremble. The pleasure was like a giant hand strumming both of them into bliss.
Even as Lyra Heartstrings' own release backed away, she still felt Rainbow Dash strumming. It was like her player—her lover—was just keeping her motor running.
Sitting up and shoving the covers away, Rainbow Dash pulled Lyra Heartstrings against her belly. From one strum to the next she found her pick, and then hit a power chord and progressed into a fast rhythm. She had nothing to prove except how much she loved having Lyra in her arms.
The heavy rush of sexual pleasure didn't come back, but Lyra Heartstrings was bathing in the simple delight of being played. Until the previous day, she never would have thought it could feel so good, but Lyra Heartstrings was now making up for lost time.
Lyra Heartstrings didn't change back to her human form until her last string stilled. "Wait," she said before Rainbow Dash could kiss her again. "We need to actually do stuff, or we'll just keep playing all day."
"I could live with that," Rainbow Dash said.
Shivering at the thought of being played all day, Lyra Heartstrings shook her head and took to her feet. The world seemed a little less bright and vibrant when she wasn't touching Rainbow Dash. Nonetheless, she returned to Rainbow's underthings drawer.
"Just grab any of the boxers, and get me a sports bra," Rainbow Dash said.
"I think I'll have to go without a bra until we get to the music store."
Standing up, Rainbow Dash stretched. "Having second thoughts about me carrying you there?"
"Oh sure, make fun of your guitar. I'll break a string when you least expect it."
"No you won't. You enjoy being played too much." Rainbow Dash stood up and grabbed her underwear as Lyra Heartstrings threw it at her. Pulling her boxers on, Rainbow looked up at Lyra and winked at her. "This might not have been my first time playing, but it is the first time I—uh—I've been with someone."
With her back to Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings shimmied her boxer shorts up and over her hips. Looking back, she smiled. "I'd give you an eight out of ten."
"What?"
"Honestly? Use your mouth a little. I might be able to push you to a nine or even a nine and a half."
"I didn't hear any complaints at the time," Rainbow Dash said. "But what you're saying is—"
"There's room for improvement. Next time, do better." Lyra Heartstrings couldn't believe what she was saying, but it was fun to spar with Rainbow Dash. "But I have to admit, your hands are amazing."
Her ego salved, Rainbow Dash continued getting dressed. "I kinda thought you and Sweetie Drops were a thing."
Lyra Heartstrings followed suit, pulling one of Rainbow Dash's shirts on. "Everyone thinks that. We've known each other since we were tiny. She told Mom the first time I turned into a guitar. She's more like a sister than a girlfriend."
When Lyra Heartstrings turned to face her, Rainbow Dash's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Before she'd been with Lyra, Rainbow hadn't really noticed other girls, but then she hadn't really noticed guys, either. Now, however, Rainbow watched as one of her shirts strained to keep Lyra's breasts from exploding free. "Wow."
There was something about someone she enjoyed playing with—and being played by—looking at her hungrily that set Lyra's motor running. "Like what you see?"
"Y-Yeah. I never really looked before," Rainbow Dash said, but then realized she was ogling Lyra Heartstrings. "Sorry."
"Hold your hands out." Waiting until Rainbow Dash did so, Lyra Heartstrings took hold of Rainbow's wrists and pulled her hands to the strained mounds. "When I look at you, Rainbow, you know what I fixate on?" She waited for Rainbow Dash to shake her head. "Your hands. Strong, nimble, exacting. Touch me."
Rainbow Dash wasn't prepared to take orders from anyone, but decided she could make an exception for Lyra Heartstrings. She squeezed, gently, and watched in fascination as Lyra's eyes fluttered closed. "Nine?"
Pursing her lips, Lyra Heartstrings made plain what she wanted from Rainbow Dash, and only a moment later Rainbow pressed their lips together. Lyra gave the slightest nod as Rainbow Dash pulled her closer, though it was at the cost of the breast massage.
I'm kissing a girl, Rainbow Dash thought. It's nice, and she's warm, and I think I could get used to this. Reaching down behind Lyra Heartstrings' back, Rainbow found the girl's rump and squeezed each glute.
Breaking apart, Rainbow Dash heard Lyra Heartstrings make a soft sigh. "Sorry, but the offer of playing all day came and went. We need to straighten all this out."
Walking along beside Lyra Heartstrings, Rainbow Dash felt lucky. She'd found the best guitar in the world and a new friend—and they were the same person. Touching Lyra felt right in the same way exercising felt right. "So what's our story?"
Squeezing Rainbow Dash's hand in hers, Lyra Heartstrings tapped her chin with a free finger. "Leave it all to me. Follow my lead. Mom won't know what's going on."
"Okay…"
When Lyra Heartstrings and Rainbow Dash stepped into the music shop, Lyra's mother was behind the counter. Walking over, letting her fingers drop from Rainbow's grip, Lyra put on her suavest smile. "Hey Mom."
"Lyra Strums Heartstrings, what did I tell you about telling me where you rest?" Plucked Melody, Lyra's mother, asked. "Your father and brother were safe at home last night, and when I come in here to do a stocktake, Vinyl has to show me the footage from the security cameras."
As her mother spoke, Lyra Heartstrings felt the world fold in around her. The last bit, about security cameras, sent her reeling. "Mom! I didn't—"
"You were played, Lyra Strums Heartstrings, and don't you deny it. I watched as she,"—Plucked Melody pointed at Rainbow Dash—"played you. In public." It was a losing fight for Plucked to try to keep her stern look, so she gave up. Smiling, she looked from Rainbow back to Lyra. "Is she a good player?"
The world hadn't caught fire, it seemed. Lyra Heartstrings felt her heart soar and she bounced on the balls of her feet. "Are you kidding? Her hands are amazing! You saw the security footage?" When her mother nodded, Lyra giggled. "She's amazing!"
Regaining a measure of her original stern demeanor, Plucked Melody turned her attention to Rainbow Dash and fixed it upon her. "What are your intentions toward my daughter?"
Like a deer in headlights, Rainbow Dash froze in place. Stories of her Equestrian counterpart (told by Princess Twilight) made her long for that mare's speed. "She is—I mean—We were—I really like—"
Lyra Heartstrings solved Rainbow Dash's speech impediment by the simple act of walking over and kissing her.
The embrace was brief, but it was enough to reboot Rainbow Dash's brain. "M-Mrs. M-Melody, I couldn't imagine playing another girl."
Plucked Melody smiled at the—to her motherly senses—heartfelt promise. She watched her little girl keep getting distracted and look at Rainbow Dash, and so far as they'd talked Rainbow hadn't looked Plucked in they eyes for more than a few seconds. She knew the feeling, she'd felt it herself many years ago when she'd picked up a particular saxophone to play.
"I can't even begin to work out how you managed to turn human again during a full moon. Your clothes are in the back room," Plucked Melody said.
While Lyra Heartstrings scampered off to get changed and get her things, Rainbow Dash squared off at Plucked Melody. "There might have been some mistake yesterday. You see, I paid—"
"You paid money to buy an instrument. Apparently you like the instrument, and intend to keep it. Asking for a refund would be beyond tradition."
The answer surprised Rainbow Dash. "Tradition?"
"I paid two-hundred dollars for Smooth Note. I thought it was a mix up at the time myself, but I've never regretted keeping him." Plucked Melody could only grin as Rainbow Dash's face registered understanding. "You spent the last of your money on my daughter?"
Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Think about that. You gave everything to have her." And with that, Plucked Melody stepped out from behind the counter and followed her daughter into the back room.
The concert had been a tragedy and a triumph. Lyra Heartstrings had thrown everything she had into her voice, and Rainbow Dash had played her expertly. But, that hadn't been enough. It wasn't until Sunset Shimmer had brought her voice into the music that everything felt perfect.
Rainbow Dash looked down at Lyra Heartstrings as she played. Everything was working, they were pushing back the despair and loss that the three sirens had thrown, and now it was time to give it all back. She climbed to her feet, her hands moving over the strings like lightning, and she felt Lyra give even more—120%.
Lyra Heartstrings couldn't actually see as a guitar, but she could feel her player and all the vibrations around them. Music was purely vibration—normally—but there was more to it tonight. A blast of energy shot through Lyra and launched skyward. For the first time ever, as an instrument, Lyra Heartstrings could see, hear, breathe.
A long silver snout projected from between Lyra's eyes, and she felt a build up of pressure in her head. The clouds before her were in her way, but she parted them with barely a thought. There was still a connection to her hardwood and string body below, but now that the clouds were gone she could see the sirens.
No words came from Lyra Heartstrings, but she became a channel for the energy of the seven girls. A princess, a fallen and redeemed unicorn, five friends who meant the world to each other… and one guitar. Sighting her targets, Lyra gave the power over and blasted the sirens with it.
The first to shatter was their simulacra, then the power directly met the three monsters. The real targets for Lyra Heartstrings, however, was hanging at each of the sirens' necks. With all the remaining power, Lyra shattered the three magic gems like the stage were an anvil and she a hammer. One. Two. Three shattered stones.
All Lyra Heartstrings could feel was a rushing sensation, a tugging, and she was back in her body. "WOOOOO! Take that you—you demons! Yeah! Who's the best guitar in the world? Lyra's the best guitar in the world! Not so tough without your gems and your brain-washing powers, are you?!"
It had happened so fast. One moment Rainbow Dash watched as the giant winged unicorn blasted the three sirens, the next Lyra was back in her normal body and yelling at the three sirens. With nothing to hold, Rainbow Dash jumped forward and pulled Lyra into a hug from behind—one hand wrapping around to cover Lyra's breasts while the other gave the girl a more needed modesty.
"Nothing can stop you?! NOTHING BUT THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD!" Lyra Heartstrings' blood was pumping to the music that still thrummed through her body. The hug from her player was nice, but screaming at the sirens was cathartic.
Then it finally occurred to Lyra Heartstrings—she was shouting, she was human again, and she was naked.
A flash of blue light was Rainbow Dash's only warning. She hugged her guitar to her and pressed her lips to the neck of it. "You sure told 'em."
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria, asked.
"Youdidn'tseeanything!" With Lyra Heartstrings pinned to her chest, Rainbow Dash shook her head and pointed down toward the stage. "Myguitar'snotLyra! Lookdownthere!"
Twilight Sparkle, however, was used to dealing with a much faster and much more evasive version of Rainbow Dash. "We're going to need to talk about this, now."
Lyra Heartstrings could feel the vibrations of Twilight Sparkle's voice and could put them together into words. Real worry set in. She'd seen only a little of what Twilight could do, and could imagine a lot worse.
Letting out a sigh of defeat, Rainbow Dash ducked her head. "It's not her fault. This is—I mean I couldn't—It's complicated. Can we talk about it in private?"
Sunset Shimmer had been in shock at the sight of Rainbow Dash's guitar turning human, then back. "No. We talk about it together. What's going on?"
"Look. It's not really my secret to tell. I've got clothes for her in my bag, but I don't think she'll want the crowd seeing any more of her than they have already," Rainbow Dash said. "What about we go to the back-stage room?"
Agreements were made, and a small time later the group were back in the room they'd been locked in before—now of their own free will.
Rainbow Dash hugged Lyra Heartstrings tight to her body. "It's okay, Lyra. My friends are here, but they want to know. It's up to you."
Everyone but Rainbow Dash shielded their eyes from the blue flash of light. Lyra Heartstrings was still in Rainbow Dash's arms, but now there was a lot more to be hugged. "Taa daa!" Lyra said.
"Whoa. Is that what Rarity looks like without any—"
"SPIKE!" Twilight Sparkle said. "Close your eyes and turn around while there's a—a—" Lost for words, Twilight tilted her head a little to one side. "What are you?"
Fishing clothes out for Lyra Heartstrings, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the stupid (to her) question. "She's Lyra. She's human."
"Most of the time," Lyra Heartstrings said while she pulled her panties on. "But, when danger is near, I transform into the most epic guitar ever! Legends speak of a day when a masterful guitarist would find me and set me free to be what I need to be. That legend walks among you."
Without a shirt on, still, Lyra Heartstrings dodged to one side and gestured to Rainbow Dash. "May I present to you, my player!"
Pinkie Pie cupped her hands around her mouth and made faux crowd sounds, adding to the ambiance. (Mostly. In her own mind at least.)
Rainbow Dash lost a fight with a giggle that wouldn't stop. Almost falling over, she threatened to ruin the moment. "H-Hold on. It's kinda complicated."
Pulling a shirt over her head, Lyra Heartstrings leaned across and kissed Rainbow Dash on the cheek. The room went deathly silent as all the girls took in the significance of the act.
First to recover, Rarity's smile threatened to split her face in two. "Darlings! Congratulations!" She held both hands to her mouth and giggled. "I can't believe Rainbow Dash was the first to find a boy—girl—friend!"
"Uh, hello? I dated Flash for—like—three years." Sunset Shimmer waved a hand but was completely ignored by everyone. "I mean, sure it wasn't all that real, but we kinda made out a few times, and—Hold on a second. How do we know you're not mind-controlling her?"
"Who, me?" Lyra Heartstrings and Rainbow Dash said at the same time.
"Ye—" Sunset Shimmer stopped herself before she made the gag worse. "How do we know you're the real Lyra, and you aren't a monster controlling Rainbow Dash?"
"Not to steal your thunder or anything, Sunset, but I don't think she could do that—mind-control Rainbow Dash that is. Remember how much magic we had flying around? I've dealt with friendship magic a few times, and I'm sure nothing harmful could have been there," Twilight Sparkle said.
"There? There?!" Lyra Heartstrings laughed. "I wasn't just there. You all pushed your magic into me and made me into a huge horse-thing! I blasted the sirens with your magic and destroyed their nasty amulets! And you're questioning me?"
"Hold on! Everybody just cool it!" Rainbow Dash said. "Sunset, she isn't mind-controling me. Lyra, that was you?!"
Dropping to her hands and knees, Lyra Heartstrings then lifted her hands into the air and struck what she hoped was the same pose she'd used as the giant horse the moment before she'd blasted the sirens. "And then I felt all your magic rush through me, and I was all, pew pew pew, and the big fish were gone. And then I did a FWOOOSH and destroyed their gems!"
"No, darling. It was more of one big fwoosh, and you broke their—ahem—fish forms and their gems a moment later," Rarity said.
"Ah think it was more of a ka-wooosh myself." Applejack had appraised herself of the situation and found it almost impossible to think that Lyra Heartstrings was up to any kind of shenanigans other than maybe being a bit stranger than their average classmate. "But that still don't answer how you turn into a guitar."
Lyra Heartstrings just shrugged. "I'm a wereguitar." The most amazing part of the three words were that Lyra sincerely believed that would explain everything.
"Uh. Um. I think you mean werewolf," Fluttershy said. "A wereguitar would—err…"
"Turn into a guitar at the full moon. Right. And that's exactly what I am… kinda." Lyra Heartstrings pointed an accusing finger at Pinkie Pie. "And then you passed me to Rainbow Dash for that contest with Trixie."
"Ohhh!" Pinkie Pie started bouncing on the balls of her toes, inadvertently mesmerizing Lyra for a moment with the rhythm of her movement applied to two body parts. "I get it now. You were hanging out in the guitar racks at the music store as a bet, but then I passed you to Rainbow Dash, and she played you for the first time, and all sorts of zappy and swirly magic happened, and now you can turn into a guitar and back at will. Right?"
"Yes," Lyra Heartstrings said. "That's it exactly. Absolutely everything." Her blush told another story.
"Can I play you?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "I mean, as a guitar."
Lyra Heartstrings and Rainbow Dash both stared at Sunset Shimmer as if she'd sprouted flaming wings and tail. "No!"
"Why not? I'm pretty good." Sunset Shimmer walked over and picked up a guitar that was sitting to one side. Without any noise (because it wasn't plugged in) she ran her fingers along the fretboard and played a quick rhythm across the strings. "See?"
"No." The answer hadn't changed, and neither did those who were saying it.
"Why not?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"Silly!" Pinkie Pie said. "Look at how much they're blushing. It's pretty obvious that playing a wereguitar—"
"Wereinstrument of any kind, actually," Lyra Heartstrings said.
"Right. Playing any wereinstrument is obviously really intimate," Pinkie Pie said.
Lyra Heartstrings and Rainbow Dash nodded vigorously.
"Hold up there, pardners. You mean ta tell us that playing Lyra's like makin' out with 'ere?" Applejack asked.
Shocked expressions for everyone, discount rate. Buy one, get four free.
"K-Kinda. Maybe. She's literally the best guitar in the whole world!" Rainbow Dash said, and earned a kiss on the cheek from Lyra Heartstrings.
"And Rainbow Dash's the best guitarist in the world. We're made for each other." Lyra Heartstrings put an arm around Rainbow Dash's shoulder and was delighted to feel Rainbow return the favor a little lower. "She's also really honest when it comes to guitars."
"They're so cute together!" Pinkie Pie said.
Rarity snapped out of her shock and nodded in agreement. "Yes. I rather think they suit each other quite well. Oh! I can just picture it now." Turning her back to Pinkie Pie, Rarity tilted rearward and fell into her friend's waiting arms. "Star-crossed lovers. One in the dark world of—err—guitarthropes, the other a prominent guitarist in a band with a gorgeous keyboardist. Their love was forbidden, but nothing could stop them from coming together." She looked up into Pinkie Pie's face. "Nothing could stop their hearts from beating as one."
"Just. Like. That!" Lyra Heartstrings said. "Exactly like that!"
"I give up. You win. If you're a mind-controling monster, just get it over with." When Lyra Heartstrings didn't deploy her mind-warping tentacles to latch on and steal Sunset Shimmer from her own head, Sunset had to actually admit that maybe she was wrong—though not out loud. "Until you decide to, though, let's try doing this over. Hi. I'm Sunset Shimmer."
Lyra Heartstrings shook Sunset Shimmer's offered hand. "Now that's where your mistake would be. If I was a mind-controling tentacle monster, I just smeared my brain-numbing mucous all over your hand." She waited for Sunset's well-timed snort of derision. "I already know you, Sunset. We're in most of the same classes, remember?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, really." After a pause, Lyra Heartstrings groaned. "Oh come on! Am I like some background anime character or something? I usually sit at the next table over from you guys. I helped tutor Rarity in piano when she first started!"
All eyes turned to Rarity.
"OH! You're that Lyra. Thank you for that—the tutoring I mean. Ugh, I was positively ghastly when I first tried to play. I still remember—" Rarity froze for a moment, her mind racing. "Was my piano anyone you know? Are there werepianos?"
"I don't know any, but I could ask my dad if he knows someone," Lyra Heartstrings said.
"Um. What's it like being a guitar?" Fluttershy had been hesitant about asking her question, but she was so pumped up on energy after the show that she felt like she could talk to anyone—who wasn't too loud, at least. Or too tall. Or had their back to her.
Lyra Heartstrings—as with most of CHS—knew that Fluttershy was the quietest and kindest being on the planet. Somehow, just hearing her speak reminded Lyra of song. "It can be pretty boring, you know? If no one's touching me, I can't even tell if time is passing." She took a deep breath in, closed her eyes, and let it out again. "But when Rainbow touched me, when she held me, I felt alive. I could feel all the vibrations of the world. When she played me—"
"We,"—Sunset Shimmer put as much emphasis as she could to cut into Lyra Heartstrings' story—"don't need to know all the details. Do we?" When she turned to look at her friends, Sunset Shimmer groaned and slapped her face with the palm of her hand. Rarity looked like she was watching the most fantastic play of all time, and Pinkie Pie had a box of popcorn.
"I think maybe we should meet up tomorrow and talk about this when we're all a little less on edge. But first, let's go make sure those sirens aren't going to hurt anyone else!" Twilight Sparkle, displaying the leadership qualities that saw her voted Most Likely to Implode from Princess Celestia's School, looked around the group and gave a firm nod.
Before anyone else could react, Rainbow Dash and Lyra Heartstrings were running out the door.
"I bet I'll find 'em first!" Rainbow Dash said.
Lyra Heartstrings countered with, "Nuh-uh. I'm gonna kick their butts!"
"So. The big battle of the bands is over." Lyra Heartstrings reclined on a bean-bag chair in Rainbow Dash's parents' living room. She and Rainbow Dash had a pizza they were sharing.
"It wasn't going to last forever," Rainbow Dash said.
Rainbow Dash's eyes slid over to Lyra Heartstrings and she studied the tensest person she'd ever seen sitting in such a chair. "What's up?"
"What do you mean? You don't need your band together anymore, the big fight is over, and now you can leave your guitar in its case and never play again." Looking down at her hands, Lyra Heartstrings remembered the sight from the previous day. A woman brought in her guitar that she hadn't-played-in-years, and Lyra paid her a pittance for the poor thing.
Taking a bite of Pizza, Rainbow Dash leaned back on her own bean-bag chair. "Lyra?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to come over here for a second?"
Lyra Heartstrings bit her lip. "Why?"
"So I can show you how much I want to play you?" Rainbow Dash said.
Opening her mouth, Lyra Heartstrings was about to complain. It was too little too late. She's just doing it to make Lyra feel better. A myriad other phrases came to mind, but Rainbow Dash was her player, and despite everything else in Lyra's life she wanted to be played.
Rainbow Dash watched Lyra climb out of the chair and walk across the room to her. "Don't change."
"What?"
"I said, 'Don't change.' I want to cuddle. Playing comes later." Rainbow Dash held a hand up to Lyra Heartstrings and pretended the tears in Lyra's eyes weren't there. "A week off school gave me a lot of time to think about all this, my friends, and us."
Biting her lip, Lyra Heartstrings held back for a moment. "Us?"
"Yeah. Us. Like I want my girlfriend to cuddle with me while I tell her how awesome she is." Two weeks previous Rainbow Dash thought she was straight, just like everyone else. What she had found out was that she honestly didn't care. "Please?"
When Lyra Heartstrings didn't move, Rainbow Dash realized she was going to have to explain further. "Before I met you, the full you, I literally had no idea who or what I was attracted to, but my time playing has taught me one thing, I don't care if the person I'm with is a guy, a girl, or a guitar." She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "So long as it's you."
Lyra Heartstrings' heart beat with the staccato rhythm of a machinegun. She looked down at Rainbow Dash and believed the words. Slowly, carefully, she crouched down, and was pulled into Rainbow's lap by strong hands. Her player's hands.
Cradled like she were a precious instrument, Lyra Heartstrings could feel Rainbow Dash's right hand slowly stroke her thigh while the left supported her. She looked up at Rainbow and let out a sigh that was a week worth of tension. "You mean that?"
"Of course. Even if you never wanted to turn into my guitar again, I'd still want to be with you." As Rainbow Dash spoke, she watched Lyra Heartstrings' eyes flash bright at mention of never being a guitar again. "So if that's how you want it, and you don't want to be my gu—"
"I want to be your guitar!" Lyra Heartstrings buried her face against Rainbow Dash's belly, tears pooling in her eyes. "I want to be your guitar and be with you. I just don't want you to put me aside and forget about me."
"You want a promise about that?"
All Lyra Heartstrings could do was nod, words failed her.
"Alright. As long as you, Lyra Heartstrings, can put up with me, I want you to be my girlfriend and my guitar. I'll play you, as both,"—Rainbow Dash grinned when Lyra Heartstrings twitched in her lap—"until I don't have the strength to pick you up anymore. And then, Lyra, I'll take up playing slide.
"But, Lyra," Rainbow Dash said, and waited for Lyra Heartstrings to tilt her head and lift her tear-stained eyes up, "I need the same promise from you. I don't care how nimble the next girl's fingers are, you're my girl, and my guitar."
Wrapping her arms around Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings straightened up in her player's lap and pressed her lips to Rainbow's She was hungry for the words Rainbow Dash had said, she was so excited to have heard them that she almost forgot what Rainbow had asked for in return.
The kiss broke only because Lyra Heartstrings needed to reply. "Rainbow. I never knew what it was like to be played before you picked up my heart and filled me with your magic. For as long as you can put up with me—and as long as you replace any broken strings—I'll be with you. In your hands or in your arms."
"You know, Rarity and Fluttershy dragged me along to enough girly movies that I almost believe love at first sight might be real." Rainbow Dash pressed her lips to Lyra Heartstrings' jawline. "But I think it's love at first feel. The first time I strummed you, I knew you were something special. You're the first girl to ever take me in her arms, and you're the best."
"Quoting the title of Motorhead songs is the corniest way to a girl's heart, Rainbow," Lyra Heartstrings said. "But it works with this girl."
"Figured," Rainbow Dash said, and kissed Lyra Heartstrings to both their satisfaction."
Author's Note
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