Chapters Watermelody yawned as she rolled out of her bed, pausing to look in the mirror as she took in her appearance. Her mane was sticking up in various places.
“Urgh,” Watermelody groaned quietly and reached for a mane brush sitting on her dresser. “That’s gonna take forever to fix.”
She started dragging her brush through her mane, wincing occasionally as she had to apply more pressure to get some knots out. She continued brushing it till it resembled her normal style as she tossed her beret on top.
“Makeup or no makeup?” Watermelody muttered to herself as she started rummaging through drawers. She cared a lot about her image compared to most of her friends. “Makeup it is. Everypony likes to look nice.”
She flicked her ear and briefly looked outside at some ponies walking on the street outside. The sun was just starting to rise and Watermelody didn’t necessarily consider a morning pony but it was always helpful to beat the competition to get the best business stall spot downtown. Watermelody had no intention of giving up her place to some of the other artists in the town. The three there was, of course.
Watermelody finished applying her makeup and posed briefly in front of the mirror with a smirk and rested a hoof on the back of her head. She didn’t consider herself arrogant in any way, but she had to admit she looked good.
She gave a sigh as she looked around her empty room. Watermelody hated to admit it, but her house was quiet. Too quiet. It was only her who lived her after all. Soarin visited occasionally when he could, which she always liked his visits.
I could use a pet Watermelody thought to herself as she continued trotting through her house to the kitchen.
Sunset sat in her kitchen, idly levitating spoon fulls of cereal into her mouth as she reread the letter Wallflower had given her last month. To her left sat a fresh piece of paper and quill with an envelope. Even without opening the letter, she had known who it was from. Lyra always did have a perfect type of writing that she secretly loved reading.
Dear Sunny, It’s been too freaking long since I’ve sent a letter. Been busy being lazy at home, hanging out with Bon Bon. She sends her best wishes, by the way. She’s doing well. The candy store is doing well. I provide the entertainment, of course. I am the best at playing the lyre. How you been? Derpy told me all about you being some weird element thingy. I’m honestly not surprised you got laughter. You always did have a crazy sense of humor that rivaled me and Minuette. Oh! Minuette is dating Berry Punch! You remember her? Mulberry colored earth mare, cute unicorn filly? Yeahhhhh. Doing long distance apparently. I heard Twilight became some element thingy too. I can’t even imagine how you got her of all ponies to open up. I remember how annoying she was about books. Don’t get me wrong, I like books too. Preferably comics and coloring books. Bon Bon is currently complaining about my letter saying I’m going all over the place with it but meh, what does she know?
Sunset snickered and traced a hoof over a small ink spill. If she knew those two, Bon Bon most likely whapped Lyra on the back of the head in retaliation for that comment. Sunset could imagine Lyra fighting back. Bon Bon was probably one of the most confusing ponies Sunset knew. Quiet on the outside but when she got going, she was surprisingly playful.
I know what you’re thinking and yes, Bon Bon did give me a light tap for that. I gave her it back though. Anyway! I hope you and your mare are doing well. We should set up you three come visit or we come there. I hope Spike is doing well. I miss that little dude. I’m still doing my research into humans. I’m certain I’m getting close. One day. One day, I’ll prove I was right and all who laughed at me will be regretting doing so. Lemon Hearts got promoted earlier this week at the castle to Head Event Staff. She was pretty excited about it. Twinkleshine saw Shining Armor the other day. Talk about a shocker. He’s a captain in the Royal Guard now. I hope Spitfire and Blaze are doing okay. Derpy told me about the Silver Spoon issue. Surprised you didn’t kill the ponies who took her. Joking, of course. I know you wouldn’t ever kill. I hope you come back soon for a visit. Ponyville misses you and more importantly, I miss you. I left a picture of me and Bon Bon in the envelope for you to put on your wall. I know how you like having pictures. Let me know if you wanna meet up sometime soon “big sis”.
With love, Lyra Heartstrings :).
Sunset smiled faintly at the picture next to the letter as she examined it closely. Lyra and Bon Bon were sitting on a bench with Bon Bons foreleg around Lyra’s neck. A few words were scribbled on the bottom of the picture that Sunset vaguely identified as the the date the picture was taken.
Sunset enveloped the picture in her magic, levitating it up to a picture frame as she slide it in the frame before hanging it up on the wall followed the letter in it’s own frame.
She smiled at them before focusing on her own letter as she stated to write.
Lyra paced back and forth in her living room as Bon Bon watched with a small smile from the couch.
“Lyra dear, sit down please. You’re gonna tire yourself out,” Bon Bon patted the couch cushion.
“I will when Sunny sends me a letter,” Lyra grumbled and her horn glowed gold as she pulled the blinds down with a similar golden color as her eyes flicked up and down the street. “Where in Celestia’s name is Derpy?”
“Lyra, Sunset can send a letter straight to you, remember love?” Bon Bon pointed out flatly. “Sit. Now. Flank on couch.”
Lyra grudgingly obeyed and sat down next to her marefriend and rested her head on Bon Bons shoulder as the two continued watching a random romance show Bon Bon enjoyed on the tv.
“Oh come on!” Bon Bon shouted and flung her forelegs up. “You idiot! She loves you! Kiss the mare already!”
Lyra raised an eyebrow as she lazily watched Bon Bon continue to shout at the TV as Lyra smirked slightly. Bon Bon got surprisingly vocal about her romance shows and novels.
“This is ridiculous. I can’t watch this anymore,” Bon Bon scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Shut it off please.”
“You’re going to be watching this tomorrow morning when I wake up. You always do this. It’s the same song and dance,” Lyra commented casually and levitated some pops from the kitchen.
“I do not!” Lyra simply raised an eyebrow again at Bon Bon as the cream mare blushed faintly and nuzzled Lyra. “Okay, maybe you’re right.”
“I know I am.”
“Shush you.”
Lyra smirked at her as a letter popped above their heads and landed with a thud on the coffee table.
“Yes!” Lyra screamed and Bon Bon jumped. “She responded! After a month!”
“She’s the princess’ student. She’s a busy mare.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Now please open the letter would you. She’s my friend too, after all.”
Wallflower locked her door and opened a drawer as she set down some paint, a drawing she had made of a microphone and hair dye she had picked up from the drug store along with some contacts.
It was almost midnight as she started to dye her hair a tan color tied off in a pony tail. She was grateful that the drug store sold hair dye made by unicorns to make the result appear faster.
“Ahh ahhhh,” Wallflower practiced a few times in the mirror. “I need to make my voice sound a bit deeper. If anypony I know is there, they’ll recognize my voice instantly.”
Wallflower had a secret ability of doing all types of voices. She used it to act out various stories when Dinky was just a foal still. She could change her voice to be super high pitched to deep enough to rival a stallions voice. She just had to get the perfect mix.
“Paint brush,” Wallflower held it in her hoof and started painting over her potted plant cutie mark slowly to make it perfect. She didn’t want to be caught doing what she was about to do. Nothing illegal, of course. She didn’t do illegal activities. Except the occasional jay walking. “Looking good Wallflower. Reallllll good.”
Wallflower giggled behind a hoof before focusing on her left flank, gently brushing the same microphone over her other potted plant.
“Humph. I still like my potted plant cutie mark more than a microphone. I need a name,” Wallflower mused aloud as she faintly made out Rufus snoring loudly in the other room and she giggled again. Her eyes flicked a plant growing on her window sill. It was a black flower and her eyes widened slightly. “A royal serenity. Good enough alias as any.”
Wallflower gave a final look over in the mirror before she applied her bright blue contacts before trotting out the door.
Author's Note
Name: Lyra Heartstrings.
Age: 26.
Nicknames: Ly-Ly, Strings, Harp, Sis.
Status: Alive.
Bio: Lyra is a friendly unicorn who attended Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She is the only daughter of two high ranking Canterlot nobles. She is easily excitable and often can be found hitting up bars around Canterlot and Ponyville. Lyra often has to be walked home with Bon Bon or her cousin, Noteworthy. She, Vinyl and Pinkie often work together and the three are considered trouble when together. She is the closest ally of Sunset and was her first friend. She and Sunset briefly dated as fillies and looks up to the mare as an older sister. Lyra is extremely adamant that humans exists, a fact that later is proven correct by Celestia. Current mare friend of Bon Bon. Lyra was one of Cadence's bridesmaid in the Canterlot Wedding. It is very rare for Lyra to get genuinely angry or mad. She briefly fought back against Tirek.
Abilities: Lyra may not possess many magical abilities, but she's highly agile and quick on her hooves. She made most of her spells herself, including a hand spell.
Allies: Sunset, Bon Bon, Twist, Derpy, Dinky, Silverspeed, Silver Spoon, Spitfire, Blaze, Twilight, Spike, Wallflower, Twinkleshine, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Moondancer, Pinkie, Roseluck, Big Mac, Noteworthy, Celestia, Discord, Shoeshine, Watermelody, High Winds, Trixie, Celestia.
Enemies: Tirek, Chrysalis, Changelings, Sludge, Gilda, Discord (formerly).
Weaknesses: Lyra has a weakness anything mint flavored.
Notable quotes:
"Ay Sun-nay!"
"What's up!?"
"Let's hit the bars and get smashed!"
"You're so cool!"
"Humans do exist, damn it!"
"I love you both. You and Bon Bon are the closest friends I have."
"W-what are you?"
"Minuette, run!"
"Ahhh!"
"Bon Bon, get out of here. Leave Tirek to me. Take the kids and run. Fast as you can."
"Arghhh!"
"You're not going anywhere."
Watermelody sat a table outside a coffee shop with Spitfire and the other three elements as they watched the sun set.
“How can you drink coffee at this time of night?” High Winds asked incredulously as Watermelody shrugged before sipping her coffee again. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe a little. But all the most insane ponies are genius and vice versa. But no, I’m hitting up a club tonight. Need all the energy I can gather,” Watermelody grinned widely and winked. “Aiming to get laid in fact.”
“I could have gone my entire life without knowing about that,” Twilight mumbled and turned a bright red.
“I’m joking. I mean, if the right pony comes up to me. I deserve some love, after all,” Watermelody grumbled and stared up at the sky. “Especially after Soarin chose Fleetfoot. I’m happy for him but still.”
The others shared sad looks as Watermelody inhaled sharpy and shook her head, forcing a smile on her face.
“Anyway!” Watermelody announced and stood up. “I’ll be fine. There’s nothing wrong whatsoever. I’m just gonna hit a club, dance, get drunk and have fun.”
Watermelody tossed her coffee cup in a nearby trash can and waved goodbye as she bounced down the street, feeling their eyes on her.
“I’m worried about her,” High Winds said and idly pushed a tea around. “Ever since Soarin and Fleetfoot came out to us all two weeks ago, Watermelody has been hitting up every club. The amount of times Cloudkicker and I have had to escort her home is too many. I’m worried.”
“Me too,” Spitfire muttered and rested her head against the table. “Even Surprise has picked up on it.”
They all sat silently for a moment as Twilight chewed anxiously on her lip.
“What do we do now?” Twilight asked slowly and High Winds sighed.
“We watch her. When I was in high school, there was this kid. Really smart, really happy. Was dating a girl in my class. Apparently they broke up and he was exactly like Watermelody. He was staying alone, drinking alcohol and stuff.”
“Where are you going with this?” Sunset asked and High Winds shrugged hesitantly. “Oh Celestia.”
“Yeah. Suicide and all. It was uh a difficult time afterwards,” High Winds shook her head. “I’m not saying Watermelody is ever gonna do something like that. But I vote it’s best to be safe, not sorry.”
Twilight nodded as they all shared a glance.
“And I’ve lost enough friends as a Wonderbolt,” High Winds continued and stared at her hooves. Spitfire agreed wirh that personally.
“We will keep an eye on her,” Spitfire decided and stood up. “I’ll have Wonderbolts round the clock watching her. Not Soarin or Fleetfoot. They’re too close to this.”
“Agreed,” Sunset said and yawned. “Where’s Wallflower at? She loves these meet ups we do.”
“Apparently some ponies named Roseluck, Daisy and Lily are coming from Ponyville so she’s getting her house set up for guests. They’re gonna be staying with her. Not sure how much we will see her these next few weeks,” Spitfire shrugged. “Now we gotta decide who’s watching her. I’ve never lost a pony to suicide and I don’t want Watermelody to be the first.”
Watermelody leaned against the bar as she slammed back another shot of whiskey, savoring the burning sensation as the bartender filled her glass.
“Haven’t you had enough?” Fizzy Pop asked with a raised eyebrow as he set the bottle of alcohol back. “We haven’t even started playing music yet.”
“I’m fine. Just drinking my feelings,” Watermelody stared miserably into her glass. “You know how it goes and all.”
Fizzy made a hmph sound as he sat down across from her and Watermelody took another shot as she let out a sniff.
“I’ve seen a lot of ponies come in and out of these doors. Most young ponies like you,” Fizzy leaned his hoof on the bar. “I’ll tell you what I tell them.”
“Oh yeah?” Watermelody challenged with a drunken smirk. “What ya got for this newcomer?”
“Whatever pain you’re trying to hide with alcohol won’t make it go away. It just makes it worse and gives you an awful hangover in the morning. You’re only what, twenty five?”
“Close, twenty six.”
“Exactly. Go get out there and do something different. Catch a movie or whatever it is kids these days do,” Fizzy pushed himself off the bar and patted her on the shoulder.
“Hmph.”
“Or you can come to me every night here for advice I suppose. We should music playing soon. Got some new mare. Quiet mare, nice though. Royal Serenity I think her name was?” Fizzy shrugged and started walking away. “Hope you remember that tomorrow morning at least.”
Watermelody nodded with a bored expression as he set the bottle in front of her.
“Thanks.”
Wallflower peered out around a red curtain and stared at the crowd of ponies. She was more than grateful over half of them were drunk as her eyes locked onto Watermelody slamming back shots at the bar.
“Watermelody, what in Equestria have you gotten yourself into?” Wallflower whispered to herself as her ears flattened against her head. Wallflower turned around and jumped at the white unicorn with sunglasses watching. “Oh uhm hi.”
The unicorn tilted her head before levitating up a white board as Wallflower started reading and the unicorn pushed her sunglasses up into her messy electric blue mane to reveal her red eyes.
Yo. I’m Vinyl, the dj. Told that you and I are gonna fuck this place up. Pleasure to meet ya.
Wallflowers jaw dropped slightly as she examined Vinyl Scratch closer. She heard all about the legendary dj. Half of Equestria knew about her. And Wallflower was meeting her? Don’t even get her started about performance with her.
“Mhm,” Wallflower conceded and Vinyl gave her a look as she started trotting around the mare before pointing at her cutie mark with a questioning expression. Wallflower instantly got worried that her painted cutie mark got scuffed. She glanced back and internally sighed in relief that everything was still perfect as Vinyl nudged her flank against and cutie mark again with a bit more force. “You want to know how I got my cutie mark?”
Vinyl nodded enthusiastically and Wallflower internally cursed herself out for not coming up with a cover story for that. Looks like she’d have to make one up on the fly.
“I was singing to this crying filly I knew and suddenly boom, microphone on my flank. Apparently singing to make ponies feel better is my special talent,” Wallflower explained and Vinyl thankfully accepted that as she pushed her glasses back down and grinned. “What?”
Vinyl wiped off her white board and started writing again with a marker she held in her hot pink aura.
"Show time!" it read.
Wallflower gulped and jumped as Vinyl nuzzled her reassuringly and Wallflower felt herself turning pink as Vinyl laughed before she started nudging her forward out onto the stage.
Wallflower took a deep breath before trotting on her. No real turning back now, she guessed.Not like anypony would recognize her after all. Damn near everypony was drunk or half way there.
And Wallflower found extreme comfort in that right now.
Watermelody groaned and rubbed her head, wincing in pain at the sunlight coming through her windows. Her mouth was dry as hell and she pushed down the urge to vomit as she struggled to sit up.
“Ughhh,” Watermelody groaned quietly and she swayed from side to side before gaining control. “Where am I?”
A quick glance around told her she was in her bedroom, thankfully. She wasn’t too fond of waking up hungover in a random ponies bed or house.
“How did I even get home?” Watermelody asked aloud and smacked her lips before taking a sip of water from her water bottle she kept on the nightstand. She closed her eyes and groaned as she started to remember being escorted home by a stallion before he was practically told to fuck off by Spitfire and Firesteak. The two then took over as far as she can remember.
And she was certain the two didn’t sleep with her. She would have felt the familiar after feeling between her legs as she groaned again.
“Oh well. Who knows, maybe they saw something I didn’t with him. I was shit faced drunk after all,” Watermelody reasoned with herself as she glanced in her mirror and froze. Her mane was all messed up and her eyes were bloodshot with the mascara she had applied the previous night all over her face. She vaguely remembered some mare singing before she started hitting on a random stallion. And what she did remember was the mare sang beautifully. “I should probably go back there sober. Might catch a chance to hear her again. Hopefully.”
Watermelody rolled back over with her flank to her window as she dragged her blanket back over her to go back to sleep.
“Oh buck,” Watermelody eyes widened as she yanked a metal bucket next to it. “Bleurgh!”
She filled the bucket with vomit and gagged before flinging her blanket off.
Sleep later, shower first.
Roseluck shifted on her train seat, glancing out the window as the train continued chugging down the tracks, black smoke pouring from the smoke stack and the whistle occasionally blew.
Her sisters, Lily and Daisy sat on the seats next to her as they both maintained small talk.
“Are we sure Wallflower is gonna be okay with us just randomly dropping by like this?” Roseluck asked and the two glanced at her.
“We’re not just dropping in unannounced. We sent her a letter, she sent one back saying it was fine. If it wasn’t, she wouldn’t have said yes,” Lily commented and shot Daisy a look. “And you, be calm. We don’t need another Manehatten.”
“I thought we agreed to never speak of that again,” Daisy frowned at her middle sister with a blush. “Ever.”
Roseluck tuned out her older sisters start to argue as she sighed, propping her head up with the window sill as the trains whistle blew and the motorcolt pressed the brakes. Roseluck shot forward and slammed into the seat in front of her with a groan, rubbing her muzzle with a hoof.
“Foal of a bitch!” Roseluck cursed and Lily stared in shock as Roseluck grumbled while Daisy gasped, covering her mouth with a hoof.
“Are you okay?” The other two mares examined Roseluck’s face as she nodded.
“I’m fine,” Roseluck answered as she stood on shaky hind legs to get their floral decorated suitcases. “Let’s just get off this Celestia forsaken train before I break a leg.”
Daisy gave a nervous chuckle as they helped get their suitcases, pushing them off the train as the three stepped onto the platform, looking around curiously at their new environment. A camera hung around Lily’s neck in case she found something to photograph.
“Pose girls!” Lily grinned as she wrapped a hoof around Roseluck’s neck and the cream mare smiled as Daisy posed, placing one foreleg in front of the other as Lily held the camera awkwardly to take a picture. “We look amazing!”
Roseluck agreed with that as Lily let the camera dangle from her neck again and she resumed her examination of the town.
“Uhm hi,” Wallflower said and the three jumped as Wallflower cringed at the reaction. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey,” Daisy rested a hoof on the mares shoulder. “Don’t apologize. We are skittish by nature. The three of us get scared of our own shadow some days!”
The other two laughed and nodded as Wallflower gave a small smile, stifling a yawn.
“You already know our names but I’ll introduce us anyway. I’m Lily, that’s Daisy and that’s Roseluck. Or Rose. Or Rosie depending how she fells. All of the above really work to be honest,” Lily admitted and Roseluck nodded again.
Daisy glanced at Wallflowers potted plant cutie mark and raised an eyebrow curiously at some silver paint specks.
“What’s with the silver paint?” Daisy asked and tilted her head to the side. Wallflower jumped and blushed as she shrugged.
“Oh nothing,” Wallflower forced a laugh and her eyes flicked around as she internally had a war with herself. This is going so poorly. They must think I’m a weirdo!
“Okay,” Daisy accepted that without a second thought and shrugged. “Is there anywhere decent to eat around here? The train car food was the worst!”
Roseluck chuckled and Lily rolled her eyes. Typical Daisy thinking about food. They both did agree train didn’t offer the best options. They had been on a train for the past three days and were grateful to have been offered a cabin of their own. Apparently the pony who originally paid for it never showed so they were given it.
“Yes. There’s a few bars, pubs and restaurants around here you can go to.”
Wallflower scuffed a hoof on the wooden flooring and bit the handle of Lily’s suitcase, flinging it onto her back.
“I can carry that,” Lily commented and Wallflower shook her head.
“You’re my guests. It’s only proper. We can go to my house and drop off your stuff. If you wish, of course,” Wallflower muttered and her ears flattened against her head.
“That’s perfectly fine by us Wallflower,” Daisy rested a hoof on her back and Wallflower resisted the urge to flinch away. “This is your city after all. Lead the way.”
Wallflower gave a subtle and started a slow but steady trot home.
Wallflower led the three mares into her small house painted in various greens as she set her luggage she carried for Lily next to her couch as the three examined the living room.
“Nice place,” Roseluck said finally and leaned to sniff a plant Wallflower had in the corner of the room next to her small tv. “I like the plants.”
“Me too,” Wallflower mumbled softly and gestured down the hall. “I only two bedrooms. If you want to get a hotel instead, I’d understand. There’s one down the street.”
“Wallflower, this is perfect,” Daisy interrupted and poked her head in a room with messy sheets. She screamed as a large dog jumped out and she fell on her back.
“Rufus, no!” Wallflower cried as Roseluck and Lily watched with slack jaws and horrified expressions.
“The horror! The horror!” Roseluck screamed as she and Lily fell on their backs, hind legs twitching.
Wallflower hastily pulled Rufus off Daisy as the pink mare started laughing as Rufus wagged a tail excitedly, licking Wallflowers cheek again.
“That was awesome!” Daisy giggled and rolled over onto her stomach, reaching up with a hoof to pet Rufus. “Who’s a good boy?”
Rufus barked loudly and Daisy grinned. She personally loved all types of dogs. Lily and Roseluck both sighed in relief and stood up as Wallflower watched.
“Sorry. I forgot to tell you he was in my room. The spare is down the hall,” Wallflower pointed a hoof down the corridor and nuzzled her dog with a smile. “Come on mister, I think we should let you outside for a bit.”
The three mares watched as Wallflower slide open a back door and her dog shot out.
Wallflower internally was surprised to find herself thinking maybe having these three over wasn’t gonna go terribly after all.
