Lyre of timeby JordipienChaptersLyre practiceA walk in the darkTerrible fatesLyre practiceBon Bon listened in awe to the beautiful sounds coming from her friend's instrument. The harp she was playing on was old and dusty and yet her friend managed to create the most entrancing melodies Bon Bon had heard in her entire life with it. She knew it wasn't actually a harp, harps were bigger, but Bon Bon could never remember the true name of the instrument. Had she ever really known? Bon Bon remembered her mute friend had never actually found a way to tell her what it really was. It didn't matter anyway. All that really mattered was the enchanting tune the mint-colored mare was bringing forth from the miniature harp in her hooves. It was like magic. Being unique as she was, Bon Bon's friend was the only unicorn she'd ever met who was unable to use any actual magic whatsoever. This must be her compensation, Bon Bon thought. Her special talent. Creating magic, not with her horn, but with her instrument. They were in Bon Bon's house, near the outskirts of Ponyville. The walls of the room they were in were decorated with candy-patterned dark blue wall paper and on the floor lay a soft, pink, candy-shaped carpet that they were sitting upon. The color of the floor underneath the carpet was a blue slightly lighter than that of the walls. Tonight would be a very special night for her friend. Ponyville was going to open up its first theater and she'd been asked to perform at the opening ceremony and be the first pony to ever play there. Few ponies knew of the music of Bon Bon's friend. She always played in solitude, or, like now, in the presence of a good friend. But tonight, that was all going to change. After tonight, everypony in Ponyville would talk of the wonderful music the mysterious mute mint-colored unicorn could produce. Bon Bon could think of only one thing: her friend was going to be a star. It was only by chance that mayor Mare had heard her play in the public park last Saturday, after midnight. She was just trotting home after a long, trying day of work when she suddenly decided to take the long way, through the park, to soak in some of nature's beauty and give her head some rest of all the political problems she had to deal with on a daily basis. Mayor Mare rarely ever took the way through the park, since it extended her walk home by a good half hour and Bon Bon's friend rarely ever played in the park too, so it was very coincidental indeed that the mayor suddenly heard the magical notes coming from the shrine of the twelve fillies, where Bon Bon's friend was playing away on her tiny little harp. The mayor, or so she'd said, had been completely stunned by the music she was hearing. She stood there for the rest of the night, listening to the soft melodious tunes Bon Bon's friend was playing and when she was finished, the mayor had walked up to her and asked her if she wanted to play at the opening ceremony of the theater. Then, Bon Bon's friend had stared at the mayor in disbelieve with her mouth wide open. When the realization had finally come, she slowly nodded yes. And now it was almost time for her to play in public for the very first time in her life. Bon Bon hoped her friend could take the pressure. She'd performed for a big crowd herself once, at last year's local hearts and hooves day celebration, and she remembered it being quite a nerve-wracking experience. Her friend, however, showed no signs of nervousness as she was preforming her final practice. She was calm and serene as always, playing the notes on her miniature harp without ever making even a single mistake. The mayor had also promised Bon Bon's friend that she could use a very special miniature harp for tonight's performance that the mayor had made especially for this occasion, but she had simply shook her head no, meaning she would not use any instrument other than her own. The mayor had looked quite disappointed at that. The song she was playing had ended and now there was only one more left. One more song for Bon Bon's friend to play before all of Ponyville would hear what she could do. What will happen after tonight? Bon Bon thought. Perhaps she'll be so well loved that ponies will take the talk to other villages and cities. Tell ponies all over Equestria of the 'magical music of the mysterious mint-colored mare'. Then ponies from all over the world would want to hear her play. My mysterious friend might become a world-famous superstar after tonight, playing songs for all the ponies in all the big cities. Trottingham, Vanhoover, Manehatten... even Canterlot. Will she even remember her friends once she'll be so well loved by everypony? What if I'll never see her again? Bon Bon wouldn't believe that her friend would just forget about her. She was better than that. The two of them had had a very special connection for years now, and they knew how to communicate with each other, even though Bon Bon's friend never said a single word. They shared a bond that could not be easily broken now. Her friend had never told Bon Bon how she became a mute. She'd know her for nearly ten years now, but that was one of the few things they never talked (or at least communicated) about. She didn't know why. Perhaps it was just too traumatic for her friend. Some things that are in the past are better left untouched, she thought. The final song was ending now. there were only a few seconds left before Bon Bon's friend would play her final note of solitude. Bon Bon was happy for her of course, she wanted her friend to be as happy as she could be, but there was also a little sadness in her now. For ten years, her friend's music had been part of their friendship. Something special only they had shared, but now that would end. Soon, listening to her friend's music might not be as special anymore as it once was, for everypony shall know the notes of each song and be able to hum along. It felt almost as an intrusion on their privacy, although Bon Bon knew that was nonsense and she should feel only happiness. But yet it kept itching. She decided to try as hard as she could to push that thought away for now, and enjoy the final seconds of their private music session. When the final song was done, Bon Bon's friend allowed herself a small sigh before regaining the confident look in her golden eyes. "That was beautiful," Bon Bon told her. "You are going to do so well tonight. You'll be the talk of all of Ponyville, watch and see if you don't believe me!" Her friend smiled at her and gave her a small, modest nod. Bon Bon looked at the clock. The time was twenty-five past nine. Her friend's performance was scheduled at ten and the walk to the theater took at least fifteen minutes. On top of that, her friend would need another quarter of an hour to prepare backstage. "Five minutes left. You don't want to be late for this, Mints. Better start making your way there." Mints is what Bon Bon had been calling her friend, since she was never able to tell her her real name. Mints nodded again. She rose to her full length and gave Bon Bon a long, strong hug. "Don't worry. You'll do just fine. Your music is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my entire life." Bon Bon could feel her friend's embrace tighten. She could feel a tear drop on her coat. It would seem the nerves had finally come. "I believe in you." And then Mints did something Bon Bon had never known she was capable of doing. She spoke. For the first time in ten years she said something to her. "Tank you," were her words. Her only words. After that she fell silent again. Bon Bon was shocked and couldn't help but feel a little angry at Mints now. They'd been friends for ten years and she'd never spoken a single word, not even told her real name. In a fraction of a second, a billion questions came to Bon Bon's mind that she would loved answered. Some she'd been wondering about for ten years and some she only just thought of. But this was Mints, the pony she'd had a silent friendship with for ten years, and this was the most important day of her life. With already so much pressure on her, she needed Bon Bon's support more than anything else tonight. So instead of asking one of the many questions that were now soaring through her mind, she decided to push her anger away and simply said: "You're welcome." Mints stopped hugging her, smiled at her one final time and then trotted out the door without saying another word. A walk in the darkLyra felt guilty for not having said a single word to Bon Bon in all those years they'd been friends. She didn't even know her real name was Lyra, she'd always just called her Mints. It wasn't because Lyra didn't trust Bon Bon, or disliked her, quite the opposite actually. Lyra would have loved to be able to talk back, only she couldn't. Whenever she tried to say something to Bon Bon, the words got stuck in her throat. I guess I'm just shy, she thought. When she finally said those two words, it had come as just as big a surprise to her as it must have come to Bon Bon. She'd tried so many times to answer one of her friend's many questions, tell her what her instrument was really called, or even tell her her real name, but every time she'd tried, she'd failed. And now, suddenly, on this night of all nights, she thanked her friend. Perhaps it's just the pressure this night is putting on me, or the courage Bon Bon gave me to get through it. I wonder if she'll be angry at me for not saying anything, while all this time I could have. Lyra had more direct problems to worry about though. In only twenty-five minutes she'd be expected to show half the town all she could do with her lyre. The thought of standing on a great stage with an enormous crowd in front of her brought the nerves back to Lyra. It was worse too, now that Bon Bon wasn't with her. Without her best friend to comfort her, Lyra caught herself sweating ever so slightly and she soon found that she was not only anxious, but scared too. Suddenly she noticed that the road she was walking on was eerily quiet for this time of the day. She was walking on one of Ponyville's main roads to the center of town and it was only thirty-five past nine, not exactly a time for everypony to hit the hay already and yet there wasn't a single other pony in sight. That's strange, especially for such a special night. Ponyville has never had a theater before, half the town is invited to attend the opening ceremony. True enough, Lyra needed to be there fifteen minutes before everypony else, but still. There were always ponies that wanted to be early at every celebration, just in case they met with trouble on the road, or simply because they didn't want to miss a single second of whatever was going on. Not everypony was going to the opening ceremony tonight either, for some this was just an ordinary night and those ponies had absolutely no excuse to be inside at this time of the day whatsoever. Usually the road was crowded with ponies seeing to their day to day business at around half past nine. For this road to be so quiet as it was at this time was very strange indeed. This notion scared Lyra even more. The fact that it was starting to get dark didn't help either. She tried to seal the feelings away and concentrate on the task at hand, but the increasingly stronger uneasy feeling she had made this very difficult to do. To try and calm herself down, she went over the chords of the songs she was going to play again. It helped a little, but the feeling that something was very wrong did not go away entirely. She was getting closer to the center of town now and still she saw no other ponies. The sun was setting. The bright light of day getting more and more orange, then slowly turning red. Lyra stopped to watch it. She'd always loved sunsets and sunrises, she was just romantic enough for that. Watching the last lights of day slowly crawl away before her eyes and seeing the beginning of a new, fresh night gave her a feeling of serenity and completion, almost as if she'd seen yet another cycle of life completed. She knew these feelings were just her crazy mind trying to be poetic, but still, it brought her some degree of peace. Her peace didn't last very long though. As soon as the last slither of light had faded past the horizon, she became surrounded by complete and utter darkness. The only source of light left to her now was the faint glowing of the moon that had come up at the same time the sun had gone under. The street lights weren't on either, for some reason. With this light, she could just barely make out the cobblestones of the main road laid out directly beneath her hooves. Lyra tried to continue walking, but it was just too hard to see anything. Why is it so dark? She was starting to get desperate now. This was definitely not normal. The streetlights were almost never off, and even if they were you could always see better than this. Lyra thought she might be hallucinating, driven paranoid by the extreme nerves, for the one and only thing she could see now was her circle of vision, tiny as it already was, shrinking, closing in around her. Smaller and smaller it got, until the darkness had completely engulfed her. Lyra was properly frightened now. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't anything good or natural. She stood alone in the dark, not the faintest slither of light nor the smallest sound to be seen or heard. It felt as if she'd suddenly fallen off the face of the earth. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, completely still, moving not a single muscle. It was chaos in her mind. a hundred different thoughts flew through her head at the same time. What is going on? Where am I? Am I still even in Ponyville? Is something going to jump out of the dark and attack me? How am I ever going to be on time for the opening ceremony now? Am I even going to live to get there at all? At least two of her questions were answered then, for suddenly, somepony kicked her right in her face. She fell over backwards and landed on the cold, rough cobblestone path that must have been the main road. She felt something wet and sticky pour out of her face. Blood. She squeezed her eyes closed tight and made herself as small as she possibly could, hurting everywhere, fearing a next attack. None came. When she opened her eyes, she was blinded by the bright light of the streetlamps that had now been turned on again. She was still laying on the hard road, but the blood was gone. It even felt like it had never been there in the first place. A crowd of concerned ponies had gathered around her. Some trying to help her up, some asking questions like "Are you okay?" or "Do you need any help?" and others shouting sighs of relief like "She's awake!" and "Don't worry everypony! She seems to be fine!". Lyra had felt many things over the past few minutes: happiness, anxiousness, fear. Now all she felt was confusion. Had she imagined it all? The darkness, the assault, the blood? And if she had, then why was she on the ground? She was feeling sick and shaky, but this crowd was not helping her in any way. Quite the contrary, all those voices gave her a pounding headache. She needed to get rid of all these ponies, then she could assess the actual damage done to her body. She grabbed hold of a pink hoof that was offered to her and pulled herself up. "I'm fine everypony", she said in a weak, trembling voice. "Really, I just tripped over a loose cobblestone, that's all. No harm done." She managed a small, uncertain smile. The crowd was not convinced. "You were out for five minutes!" one pony shouted. She looked the stallion right in his eyes and said in the strongest voice she could manage: "Honestly, I'm good. I'm just a bit dizzy, but that's all." A big part of the crowd started to clear away, giving her some amount of air and allowing Lyra a moment to put her thoughts straight. "Are you really sure you're alright, m'am? You seemed to be quite sick. I think you should go to a hospital, just to be sure", said one of the few ponies who were still looking at her worriedly. "Really, I'm quite alright", she answered. "And I can't go to a hospital. You see, I have to perform at the-" Her voice cut short. The performance! I'm never going to make it in time! Where's my lyre? She looked around, panicking. Then she found it, right on the spot where she'd been laying. Her lyre must have been right under her when she fell on the ground, for it had shattered into a hundred pieces, the strings hanging loosely to the splinters they were attached to. Lyra's heart dropped. She sat on her hind-legs, not knowing what to do. She could barely hear the even more concerned voices of the ponies who were now pulling at her, trying to pull her back onto the world. She couldn't stand it any longer. Too much had happened in too short a period of time. The headache made her head feel like it was going to explode. Suddenly, she was running. She didn't know where, but away from the ponies who were preventing her from digesting what had just happened to her in those few minutes. She ran as fast as she could, until she was out in some field with nopony else in sight. For the first time that night, that fact didn't bother her. She was panting heavily. How long had she been running for? She didn't know. It wasn't important anyway. What was more important was the fact that she'd apparently passed out at some point and she didn't know why. She decided to calmly go over all the events of that night to try and work out what had happened, starting from the beginning. Right. I was at Bon Bon's house, performing my final practice for tonight's show. I left her house and started walking towards the center of town. The streetlights were off. Were they? I can't remember. I watched the sunset and then everything became dark. I couldn't see anything and then I was attacked. My whole body hurt and it felt like I was bleeding. This was all probably just a nightmare, because no damage seems to have been done to my body other than a few scratches here and there. What really happened is that I passed out, probably because of the nerves. When I fell, I landed on my lyre, breaking it. I panicked and ran from the ponies trying to help me. Having put her thoughts straight, she already felt a lot better. She let out a final sigh and now that she'd regained her breath, she started walking back the way she came. They would want an explanation as to why she hadn't shown up for her ceremony performance back at the theater. She wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done. That's when she heard the shrill voice behind her. "You have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" Terrible fatesLyra looked behind her and there she saw the weirdest looking stallion she had ever seen in her entire life. The earth pony's coat was very pale and he had a short, ginger mane and tail. His eyes looked like they were being squeezed shut, though Lyra could just about make out the stallion's pupils peeking through his seemingly closed eyelids. On his back was an enormous backpack covered completely in a collection of the most extraordinary masks Lyra had ever seen. There was one mask of a pale pony with a short black mane wearing a red hat saying 'M' on it. Another mask resembled a pony in agony, screaming at the top of its lungs and yet another looked like the face of a wailing pony being turned to stone. The mere sight of this strange stallion made all the hair on her coat stand upright. She felt almost more unsettled than she remembered doing in her nightmare, walking all alone in the dark. It wasn't the pony's weird appearance though that gave her this unsettled feeling, nor the collection of strange masks on his back. What really did it for Lyra was the stallion's constant unnatural grin, exposing all his perfectly white teeth. "Such a terrible fate indeed", the pony went on in his high-pitched, unfitting voice. "Oh ho ho, you wonder how I know, you do. Well I will tell you, my dear friend. I can tell by the look on your face, I can. I can tell by the way you walk, I can. I can tell by the way you were panting, like you'd just been running for a long time, oh ho ho." That did it for Lyra. This pony not only unsettled her, he was creeping her out. The way he talked was just so unnatural and weird. Everything about him just felt wrong. "But oh, what terrible fate is it that you have met, my little friend? For this I cannot read right from your face, nor from the way you walk, nor from the way you pant. This, if you wish not speak, I have to think about first. Let's see now, my dearest friend, you have quite an unusual mark on your flank. Pray tell me, what is that instrument called?" Lyra was staring at the scary pony, mouth wide open. It took a lot of time and effort to pull herself back together and answer him. "It... it's called a lyre. It's sort of like a smaller version of a harp, only... it isn't a harp." "Oh ho ho, a small harp that isn't a harp, I see. How very interesting indeed, my little friend. Allow me to throw in a wild guess. You are the pony they all talk about, are you not? The one that will play at the opening ceremony of the beautiful new theater later tonight?" Later tonight? What was this madpony talking about? Surely she was already more than an hour late. Lyra decided not to worry about the time anymore. This crazy stallion was probably just wrong. "Yeah, I suppose", she said as a response. "I mean, I guess some ponies have been talking about tonight's opening ceremony, but to say that I'm the talk of town..." "Oh but sure you are, my sweet little friend, you're all the hype. I have been all over town today and everywhere I went I heard them talk about 'the mysterious musical mare', I have. But please, allow another wild guess by me, since the last one turned out to be oh so right. Tell me, my dearest little friend, does this terrible fate you have met with have anything to do with your beautiful musical skills?" Lyra's silence was answer enough for the stallion. "Ah, I can see in your eyes now quite easily that I'm right, or at least partially, but I can also see that there is more on your mind, little friend, or is there not?" Lyra stared at the pony in awe. How did he know all this? Was he really this good at reading facial expressions? She still didn't trust him. In fact, she trusted him less than she did at first now, as far as that was possible, but she decided that this pony, however crazy he might seem, might actually know more about what really happened to her tonight. "Yes, you are. Right I mean. You see, I was on my way to the opening ceremony when suddenly, I was completely engulfed in darkness and then some unseen pony attacked me. It was really quite scary. I think that was all just a nightmare though, since I woke up from an apparent unconsciousness shortly after that and I could see no signs on my body of the attack ever really having taken place. I did however fall on the ground when I passed out and I landed on my lyre. It shattered into a hundred pieces and now I wouldn't have an instrument to play on even if I had been on time for my performance." The pony's grin widened even more, which made him look even creepier. "I see. I think, my dear friend, that you and I, my little friend, are going to be very dear little friends, you and I. For you see, I just so happen to have a replacement instrument for you in my backpack. I am willing to lend you this instrument, even give it to you, if you help me with one, simple thing. Does the sound of my proposal interest you, my little friend?" Lyra tried to be as wary as she could of this strange pony, but she had to admit he had her attention. What could he mean with 'replacement instrument'? Did he actually happen to have a spare lyre in that over sized backpack of his? Somehow she doubted it, and yet she somehow felt like she wanted to hear more. She nodded. "Go on." The grin grew even wider. Lyra thought that if she'd say one more thing that pleased this stallion, his face might suddenly burst from the wideness of his grin. "Oh ho ho, very good. I see I have caught your attention. You see, I am but a humble traveling merchant of masks that is not from around this place. I am a foreigner from another country where, believe it or not, I fought against evil with an oh so friendly green-clothed fairy boy." The stallion was just speaking absolute gibberish now. Fighting against evil? Fairy boys? She was getting more and more certain of the fact that this pony was deranged. "My oh so friendly friend, he gave me two gifts once we had triumphed over the oh so evil villains, he did. One was his instrument that he then had no other use for, which is now in my bag and which I will soon pass over to you, should you wish to accept my oh so generous offer. The other was an oh so very special mask that he had retrieved for me after it had been stolen from me that I'd had to work oh so very hard for to get in the first place. But oh, cruel fate! It would seem that I too, have met with a truly terrible fate, I have! For the moment I walked into this fair country, at once I was attacked by my mean little brothers, I was! They knocked me over in the dirt and tried to take my oh so special mask, they did, but oh as luck would have it, there was one quicker to the mask than them, my little friend. This one I speak of was the stunning day princess of your fair and beautiful country. With her magic, she drove my mean little brothers away, she did! But then, oh cruel fate, she took the mask for herself, never taking notice of poor old me. My humble request for you is to simply take the train to your fair country's capital and kindly ask your oh so fair princess to return that oh so precious mask to its rightful owner. This is a simple task that will take you no more than half a day, but you mustn't hesitate, my dear little friend, for my brothers have planned something oh so mean for the night of the third day counting from tomorrow. I will give you your instrument now, if you accept my humble request, but in return you must hurry, my friend. Do you understand that, dear friend?" Lyra had to think a long time before she could give an answer. The pony was absolutely insane, that much at least was clear to her now. However, even if she didn't believe a word of what he was saying, what did she have to lose? It was true enough that a quick trip to Canterlot and back took no more than a mere half day. She made up her mind. The prospect of possibly getting a new lyre was too tempting, even if this pony was absolutely crazy. "I'll do it", she said. It turned out she had been wrong earlier. The grin apparently could get even wider without making the stallion's face burst. Lyra had never seen anypony grin so widely in her entire life. "Excellent", he said. In the blink of an eye, his enormous backpack was off his back and on the ground. The stallion was rummaging through it now, mumbling to himself as he was doing so. Finally, he pulled out of the bag the most beautiful instrument Lyra had ever seen. The pony had spoken the truth. As it turned out, he really did have a lyre in his bag. And what a lyre it was. It looked at least ten times more stunning than her old, wooden one. This instrument seemed to be made out of pure, solid gold and the three strings were made out of a soft feeling nylon. "Go on, my little friend, try it out! See if it fits you as oh so well as I'd hoped it would." Lyra carefully pulled back one of the three strings with her hoof. When she let go, it made a sound purer than anything she'd ever managed to get out of her old lyre. She didn't understand. Who was this strange stallion and how could he be so creepy, crazy and generous at the same time? And where did he even get this magnificent instrument? Surely not from his 'oh so friendly fairy boy friend'. "I see that indeed, it suits you perfectly, my little friend. And now that I have kept my end of the bargain, it is time for you, my dear friend, to keep yours. But oh, I almost forgot. You still have a performance to do, have you not, my little friend? Very well, plenty of time for that I'd say, but remember: only three days. Starting tomorrow at six in the morning, you mustn't fail, or else you'll be mourning" Suddenly, Lyra felt uneasy in his company again. What did he mean by 'or else you'll be mourning'? And what 'oh so mean things' did his 'little brothers' have planned for the night of the third day? Lyra nodded. "I'll get right on it first thing tomorrow morning", she said. "Good, my little friend. My counsel to you is to be on your way before six in the morning, for that is when it starts. Better hurry now though, my little friend. The show will be starting soon, no more time to talk." He still confused her. What would start at six tomorrow morning? And didn't he know the show had probably been cancelled because she never showed up? She looked over her shoulder, in the direction she'd come running from. To her greatest surprise, she saw that the theater was right ahead. How is that even possible? We were out on a big, open field, not remotely close to the center of town. She wanted to ask the strange stallion some more questions, but when she turned her head again, he was gone. She was really very confused now and wondered if she had been hallucinating again. This time, she could make sure she hadn't though, for she was still clutching the golden lyre tightly in her hooves. She looked over to the clock tower of the train station. Nine forty-three. she was just on time for her back-stage preparations. This wasn't right. She'd have been just on time if it hadn't been for all the trouble and distractions she'd met on the road. Lyra looked at the lyre in her hooves and thought again of the strange pale earth pony. Or else you'll be mourning. Had she gotten herself into an unnatural underworld of masks and shadows? Somehow, something had changed the time. It was impossible and yet it had somehow happened. Come on, Lyra, let's not be silly now. You've just been driven paranoid by that weird pony's crazy talk. Bon Bon's clock was probably just wrong. What other logical explanation is there? She could not fully convince herself. The moment she stepped into the theater though, she forgot all thoughts about crazy conspiracy theories and remembered she was nervous. Regardless of all the things that had happened to her tonight, she was still on time, but that meant she'd now have to perform in only fifteen minutes. She tried to concentrate and made her preparations. She drank a glass of water, played every note on her lyre from low to high and back to low again and in her head went over the chords of her songs one last time. Then it was time. She walked up on stage and before her sat what seemed like the biggest collection of ponies Lyra had ever seen in her life. For one moment, she thought she was going to faint at the mere sight of this crowd, but then she saw Bon Bon sitting on the first row, giving her an encouraging smile. This was all she needed to go on. She took her seat on the chair that had been set out for her and without hesitating another moment, she began to play her first song. The crowd was completely entranced and so was she. The sound coming from this new lyre was like nothing she had ever heard, especially now that she actually played it in an arranged composition. It sounded so pure, so beautiful. When she was done playing her first song, every single pony in the audience looked at her with their mouth wide open. The nerves were completely gone now that she was in her element. She played song after song without making a single mistake, never touching the wrong string. She soon found herself already playing her final song. It was supposed to be the most enchanting and magical song of them all, but something was wrong. The electricity in the theater was going out. The microphone set out in front of her now failed to amplify the sound coming from her instrument and the lights were flickering on and off. When the electricity had completely gone out, it was pitch black in the theater; just as dark as her nightmare had been after sunset. There was a scream. A single scream sounding far too familiar. High-pitched and cut short. Then, everypony in the audience panicked and nopony was on their seat anymore. The electricity came on again. The lights were on and now everypony could see what had happened. The sight was too horrible for Lyra to handle. Every single feeling she'd had that night came back to her at once. She threw up all over the stage before fainting. The last thing she'd seen was Bon Bon's corpse, lifeless and still, staring at her with pale, dead eyes. That's why the scream had sounded so familiar.
Lyre practiceBon Bon listened in awe to the beautiful sounds coming from her friend's instrument. The harp she was playing on was old and dusty and yet her friend managed to create the most entrancing melodies Bon Bon had heard in her entire life with it. She knew it wasn't actually a harp, harps were bigger, but Bon Bon could never remember the true name of the instrument. Had she ever really known? Bon Bon remembered her mute friend had never actually found a way to tell her what it really was. It didn't matter anyway. All that really mattered was the enchanting tune the mint-colored mare was bringing forth from the miniature harp in her hooves. It was like magic. Being unique as she was, Bon Bon's friend was the only unicorn she'd ever met who was unable to use any actual magic whatsoever. This must be her compensation, Bon Bon thought. Her special talent. Creating magic, not with her horn, but with her instrument. They were in Bon Bon's house, near the outskirts of Ponyville. The walls of the room they were in were decorated with candy-patterned dark blue wall paper and on the floor lay a soft, pink, candy-shaped carpet that they were sitting upon. The color of the floor underneath the carpet was a blue slightly lighter than that of the walls. Tonight would be a very special night for her friend. Ponyville was going to open up its first theater and she'd been asked to perform at the opening ceremony and be the first pony to ever play there. Few ponies knew of the music of Bon Bon's friend. She always played in solitude, or, like now, in the presence of a good friend. But tonight, that was all going to change. After tonight, everypony in Ponyville would talk of the wonderful music the mysterious mute mint-colored unicorn could produce. Bon Bon could think of only one thing: her friend was going to be a star. It was only by chance that mayor Mare had heard her play in the public park last Saturday, after midnight. She was just trotting home after a long, trying day of work when she suddenly decided to take the long way, through the park, to soak in some of nature's beauty and give her head some rest of all the political problems she had to deal with on a daily basis. Mayor Mare rarely ever took the way through the park, since it extended her walk home by a good half hour and Bon Bon's friend rarely ever played in the park too, so it was very coincidental indeed that the mayor suddenly heard the magical notes coming from the shrine of the twelve fillies, where Bon Bon's friend was playing away on her tiny little harp. The mayor, or so she'd said, had been completely stunned by the music she was hearing. She stood there for the rest of the night, listening to the soft melodious tunes Bon Bon's friend was playing and when she was finished, the mayor had walked up to her and asked her if she wanted to play at the opening ceremony of the theater. Then, Bon Bon's friend had stared at the mayor in disbelieve with her mouth wide open. When the realization had finally come, she slowly nodded yes. And now it was almost time for her to play in public for the very first time in her life. Bon Bon hoped her friend could take the pressure. She'd performed for a big crowd herself once, at last year's local hearts and hooves day celebration, and she remembered it being quite a nerve-wracking experience. Her friend, however, showed no signs of nervousness as she was preforming her final practice. She was calm and serene as always, playing the notes on her miniature harp without ever making even a single mistake. The mayor had also promised Bon Bon's friend that she could use a very special miniature harp for tonight's performance that the mayor had made especially for this occasion, but she had simply shook her head no, meaning she would not use any instrument other than her own. The mayor had looked quite disappointed at that. The song she was playing had ended and now there was only one more left. One more song for Bon Bon's friend to play before all of Ponyville would hear what she could do. What will happen after tonight? Bon Bon thought. Perhaps she'll be so well loved that ponies will take the talk to other villages and cities. Tell ponies all over Equestria of the 'magical music of the mysterious mint-colored mare'. Then ponies from all over the world would want to hear her play. My mysterious friend might become a world-famous superstar after tonight, playing songs for all the ponies in all the big cities. Trottingham, Vanhoover, Manehatten... even Canterlot. Will she even remember her friends once she'll be so well loved by everypony? What if I'll never see her again? Bon Bon wouldn't believe that her friend would just forget about her. She was better than that. The two of them had had a very special connection for years now, and they knew how to communicate with each other, even though Bon Bon's friend never said a single word. They shared a bond that could not be easily broken now. Her friend had never told Bon Bon how she became a mute. She'd know her for nearly ten years now, but that was one of the few things they never talked (or at least communicated) about. She didn't know why. Perhaps it was just too traumatic for her friend. Some things that are in the past are better left untouched, she thought. The final song was ending now. there were only a few seconds left before Bon Bon's friend would play her final note of solitude. Bon Bon was happy for her of course, she wanted her friend to be as happy as she could be, but there was also a little sadness in her now. For ten years, her friend's music had been part of their friendship. Something special only they had shared, but now that would end. Soon, listening to her friend's music might not be as special anymore as it once was, for everypony shall know the notes of each song and be able to hum along. It felt almost as an intrusion on their privacy, although Bon Bon knew that was nonsense and she should feel only happiness. But yet it kept itching. She decided to try as hard as she could to push that thought away for now, and enjoy the final seconds of their private music session. When the final song was done, Bon Bon's friend allowed herself a small sigh before regaining the confident look in her golden eyes. "That was beautiful," Bon Bon told her. "You are going to do so well tonight. You'll be the talk of all of Ponyville, watch and see if you don't believe me!" Her friend smiled at her and gave her a small, modest nod. Bon Bon looked at the clock. The time was twenty-five past nine. Her friend's performance was scheduled at ten and the walk to the theater took at least fifteen minutes. On top of that, her friend would need another quarter of an hour to prepare backstage. "Five minutes left. You don't want to be late for this, Mints. Better start making your way there." Mints is what Bon Bon had been calling her friend, since she was never able to tell her her real name. Mints nodded again. She rose to her full length and gave Bon Bon a long, strong hug. "Don't worry. You'll do just fine. Your music is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my entire life." Bon Bon could feel her friend's embrace tighten. She could feel a tear drop on her coat. It would seem the nerves had finally come. "I believe in you." And then Mints did something Bon Bon had never known she was capable of doing. She spoke. For the first time in ten years she said something to her. "Tank you," were her words. Her only words. After that she fell silent again. Bon Bon was shocked and couldn't help but feel a little angry at Mints now. They'd been friends for ten years and she'd never spoken a single word, not even told her real name. In a fraction of a second, a billion questions came to Bon Bon's mind that she would loved answered. Some she'd been wondering about for ten years and some she only just thought of. But this was Mints, the pony she'd had a silent friendship with for ten years, and this was the most important day of her life. With already so much pressure on her, she needed Bon Bon's support more than anything else tonight. So instead of asking one of the many questions that were now soaring through her mind, she decided to push her anger away and simply said: "You're welcome." Mints stopped hugging her, smiled at her one final time and then trotted out the door without saying another word.
A walk in the darkLyra felt guilty for not having said a single word to Bon Bon in all those years they'd been friends. She didn't even know her real name was Lyra, she'd always just called her Mints. It wasn't because Lyra didn't trust Bon Bon, or disliked her, quite the opposite actually. Lyra would have loved to be able to talk back, only she couldn't. Whenever she tried to say something to Bon Bon, the words got stuck in her throat. I guess I'm just shy, she thought. When she finally said those two words, it had come as just as big a surprise to her as it must have come to Bon Bon. She'd tried so many times to answer one of her friend's many questions, tell her what her instrument was really called, or even tell her her real name, but every time she'd tried, she'd failed. And now, suddenly, on this night of all nights, she thanked her friend. Perhaps it's just the pressure this night is putting on me, or the courage Bon Bon gave me to get through it. I wonder if she'll be angry at me for not saying anything, while all this time I could have. Lyra had more direct problems to worry about though. In only twenty-five minutes she'd be expected to show half the town all she could do with her lyre. The thought of standing on a great stage with an enormous crowd in front of her brought the nerves back to Lyra. It was worse too, now that Bon Bon wasn't with her. Without her best friend to comfort her, Lyra caught herself sweating ever so slightly and she soon found that she was not only anxious, but scared too. Suddenly she noticed that the road she was walking on was eerily quiet for this time of the day. She was walking on one of Ponyville's main roads to the center of town and it was only thirty-five past nine, not exactly a time for everypony to hit the hay already and yet there wasn't a single other pony in sight. That's strange, especially for such a special night. Ponyville has never had a theater before, half the town is invited to attend the opening ceremony. True enough, Lyra needed to be there fifteen minutes before everypony else, but still. There were always ponies that wanted to be early at every celebration, just in case they met with trouble on the road, or simply because they didn't want to miss a single second of whatever was going on. Not everypony was going to the opening ceremony tonight either, for some this was just an ordinary night and those ponies had absolutely no excuse to be inside at this time of the day whatsoever. Usually the road was crowded with ponies seeing to their day to day business at around half past nine. For this road to be so quiet as it was at this time was very strange indeed. This notion scared Lyra even more. The fact that it was starting to get dark didn't help either. She tried to seal the feelings away and concentrate on the task at hand, but the increasingly stronger uneasy feeling she had made this very difficult to do. To try and calm herself down, she went over the chords of the songs she was going to play again. It helped a little, but the feeling that something was very wrong did not go away entirely. She was getting closer to the center of town now and still she saw no other ponies. The sun was setting. The bright light of day getting more and more orange, then slowly turning red. Lyra stopped to watch it. She'd always loved sunsets and sunrises, she was just romantic enough for that. Watching the last lights of day slowly crawl away before her eyes and seeing the beginning of a new, fresh night gave her a feeling of serenity and completion, almost as if she'd seen yet another cycle of life completed. She knew these feelings were just her crazy mind trying to be poetic, but still, it brought her some degree of peace. Her peace didn't last very long though. As soon as the last slither of light had faded past the horizon, she became surrounded by complete and utter darkness. The only source of light left to her now was the faint glowing of the moon that had come up at the same time the sun had gone under. The street lights weren't on either, for some reason. With this light, she could just barely make out the cobblestones of the main road laid out directly beneath her hooves. Lyra tried to continue walking, but it was just too hard to see anything. Why is it so dark? She was starting to get desperate now. This was definitely not normal. The streetlights were almost never off, and even if they were you could always see better than this. Lyra thought she might be hallucinating, driven paranoid by the extreme nerves, for the one and only thing she could see now was her circle of vision, tiny as it already was, shrinking, closing in around her. Smaller and smaller it got, until the darkness had completely engulfed her. Lyra was properly frightened now. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't anything good or natural. She stood alone in the dark, not the faintest slither of light nor the smallest sound to be seen or heard. It felt as if she'd suddenly fallen off the face of the earth. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, completely still, moving not a single muscle. It was chaos in her mind. a hundred different thoughts flew through her head at the same time. What is going on? Where am I? Am I still even in Ponyville? Is something going to jump out of the dark and attack me? How am I ever going to be on time for the opening ceremony now? Am I even going to live to get there at all? At least two of her questions were answered then, for suddenly, somepony kicked her right in her face. She fell over backwards and landed on the cold, rough cobblestone path that must have been the main road. She felt something wet and sticky pour out of her face. Blood. She squeezed her eyes closed tight and made herself as small as she possibly could, hurting everywhere, fearing a next attack. None came. When she opened her eyes, she was blinded by the bright light of the streetlamps that had now been turned on again. She was still laying on the hard road, but the blood was gone. It even felt like it had never been there in the first place. A crowd of concerned ponies had gathered around her. Some trying to help her up, some asking questions like "Are you okay?" or "Do you need any help?" and others shouting sighs of relief like "She's awake!" and "Don't worry everypony! She seems to be fine!". Lyra had felt many things over the past few minutes: happiness, anxiousness, fear. Now all she felt was confusion. Had she imagined it all? The darkness, the assault, the blood? And if she had, then why was she on the ground? She was feeling sick and shaky, but this crowd was not helping her in any way. Quite the contrary, all those voices gave her a pounding headache. She needed to get rid of all these ponies, then she could assess the actual damage done to her body. She grabbed hold of a pink hoof that was offered to her and pulled herself up. "I'm fine everypony", she said in a weak, trembling voice. "Really, I just tripped over a loose cobblestone, that's all. No harm done." She managed a small, uncertain smile. The crowd was not convinced. "You were out for five minutes!" one pony shouted. She looked the stallion right in his eyes and said in the strongest voice she could manage: "Honestly, I'm good. I'm just a bit dizzy, but that's all." A big part of the crowd started to clear away, giving her some amount of air and allowing Lyra a moment to put her thoughts straight. "Are you really sure you're alright, m'am? You seemed to be quite sick. I think you should go to a hospital, just to be sure", said one of the few ponies who were still looking at her worriedly. "Really, I'm quite alright", she answered. "And I can't go to a hospital. You see, I have to perform at the-" Her voice cut short. The performance! I'm never going to make it in time! Where's my lyre? She looked around, panicking. Then she found it, right on the spot where she'd been laying. Her lyre must have been right under her when she fell on the ground, for it had shattered into a hundred pieces, the strings hanging loosely to the splinters they were attached to. Lyra's heart dropped. She sat on her hind-legs, not knowing what to do. She could barely hear the even more concerned voices of the ponies who were now pulling at her, trying to pull her back onto the world. She couldn't stand it any longer. Too much had happened in too short a period of time. The headache made her head feel like it was going to explode. Suddenly, she was running. She didn't know where, but away from the ponies who were preventing her from digesting what had just happened to her in those few minutes. She ran as fast as she could, until she was out in some field with nopony else in sight. For the first time that night, that fact didn't bother her. She was panting heavily. How long had she been running for? She didn't know. It wasn't important anyway. What was more important was the fact that she'd apparently passed out at some point and she didn't know why. She decided to calmly go over all the events of that night to try and work out what had happened, starting from the beginning. Right. I was at Bon Bon's house, performing my final practice for tonight's show. I left her house and started walking towards the center of town. The streetlights were off. Were they? I can't remember. I watched the sunset and then everything became dark. I couldn't see anything and then I was attacked. My whole body hurt and it felt like I was bleeding. This was all probably just a nightmare, because no damage seems to have been done to my body other than a few scratches here and there. What really happened is that I passed out, probably because of the nerves. When I fell, I landed on my lyre, breaking it. I panicked and ran from the ponies trying to help me. Having put her thoughts straight, she already felt a lot better. She let out a final sigh and now that she'd regained her breath, she started walking back the way she came. They would want an explanation as to why she hadn't shown up for her ceremony performance back at the theater. She wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done. That's when she heard the shrill voice behind her. "You have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
Terrible fatesLyra looked behind her and there she saw the weirdest looking stallion she had ever seen in her entire life. The earth pony's coat was very pale and he had a short, ginger mane and tail. His eyes looked like they were being squeezed shut, though Lyra could just about make out the stallion's pupils peeking through his seemingly closed eyelids. On his back was an enormous backpack covered completely in a collection of the most extraordinary masks Lyra had ever seen. There was one mask of a pale pony with a short black mane wearing a red hat saying 'M' on it. Another mask resembled a pony in agony, screaming at the top of its lungs and yet another looked like the face of a wailing pony being turned to stone. The mere sight of this strange stallion made all the hair on her coat stand upright. She felt almost more unsettled than she remembered doing in her nightmare, walking all alone in the dark. It wasn't the pony's weird appearance though that gave her this unsettled feeling, nor the collection of strange masks on his back. What really did it for Lyra was the stallion's constant unnatural grin, exposing all his perfectly white teeth. "Such a terrible fate indeed", the pony went on in his high-pitched, unfitting voice. "Oh ho ho, you wonder how I know, you do. Well I will tell you, my dear friend. I can tell by the look on your face, I can. I can tell by the way you walk, I can. I can tell by the way you were panting, like you'd just been running for a long time, oh ho ho." That did it for Lyra. This pony not only unsettled her, he was creeping her out. The way he talked was just so unnatural and weird. Everything about him just felt wrong. "But oh, what terrible fate is it that you have met, my little friend? For this I cannot read right from your face, nor from the way you walk, nor from the way you pant. This, if you wish not speak, I have to think about first. Let's see now, my dearest friend, you have quite an unusual mark on your flank. Pray tell me, what is that instrument called?" Lyra was staring at the scary pony, mouth wide open. It took a lot of time and effort to pull herself back together and answer him. "It... it's called a lyre. It's sort of like a smaller version of a harp, only... it isn't a harp." "Oh ho ho, a small harp that isn't a harp, I see. How very interesting indeed, my little friend. Allow me to throw in a wild guess. You are the pony they all talk about, are you not? The one that will play at the opening ceremony of the beautiful new theater later tonight?" Later tonight? What was this madpony talking about? Surely she was already more than an hour late. Lyra decided not to worry about the time anymore. This crazy stallion was probably just wrong. "Yeah, I suppose", she said as a response. "I mean, I guess some ponies have been talking about tonight's opening ceremony, but to say that I'm the talk of town..." "Oh but sure you are, my sweet little friend, you're all the hype. I have been all over town today and everywhere I went I heard them talk about 'the mysterious musical mare', I have. But please, allow another wild guess by me, since the last one turned out to be oh so right. Tell me, my dearest little friend, does this terrible fate you have met with have anything to do with your beautiful musical skills?" Lyra's silence was answer enough for the stallion. "Ah, I can see in your eyes now quite easily that I'm right, or at least partially, but I can also see that there is more on your mind, little friend, or is there not?" Lyra stared at the pony in awe. How did he know all this? Was he really this good at reading facial expressions? She still didn't trust him. In fact, she trusted him less than she did at first now, as far as that was possible, but she decided that this pony, however crazy he might seem, might actually know more about what really happened to her tonight. "Yes, you are. Right I mean. You see, I was on my way to the opening ceremony when suddenly, I was completely engulfed in darkness and then some unseen pony attacked me. It was really quite scary. I think that was all just a nightmare though, since I woke up from an apparent unconsciousness shortly after that and I could see no signs on my body of the attack ever really having taken place. I did however fall on the ground when I passed out and I landed on my lyre. It shattered into a hundred pieces and now I wouldn't have an instrument to play on even if I had been on time for my performance." The pony's grin widened even more, which made him look even creepier. "I see. I think, my dear friend, that you and I, my little friend, are going to be very dear little friends, you and I. For you see, I just so happen to have a replacement instrument for you in my backpack. I am willing to lend you this instrument, even give it to you, if you help me with one, simple thing. Does the sound of my proposal interest you, my little friend?" Lyra tried to be as wary as she could of this strange pony, but she had to admit he had her attention. What could he mean with 'replacement instrument'? Did he actually happen to have a spare lyre in that over sized backpack of his? Somehow she doubted it, and yet she somehow felt like she wanted to hear more. She nodded. "Go on." The grin grew even wider. Lyra thought that if she'd say one more thing that pleased this stallion, his face might suddenly burst from the wideness of his grin. "Oh ho ho, very good. I see I have caught your attention. You see, I am but a humble traveling merchant of masks that is not from around this place. I am a foreigner from another country where, believe it or not, I fought against evil with an oh so friendly green-clothed fairy boy." The stallion was just speaking absolute gibberish now. Fighting against evil? Fairy boys? She was getting more and more certain of the fact that this pony was deranged. "My oh so friendly friend, he gave me two gifts once we had triumphed over the oh so evil villains, he did. One was his instrument that he then had no other use for, which is now in my bag and which I will soon pass over to you, should you wish to accept my oh so generous offer. The other was an oh so very special mask that he had retrieved for me after it had been stolen from me that I'd had to work oh so very hard for to get in the first place. But oh, cruel fate! It would seem that I too, have met with a truly terrible fate, I have! For the moment I walked into this fair country, at once I was attacked by my mean little brothers, I was! They knocked me over in the dirt and tried to take my oh so special mask, they did, but oh as luck would have it, there was one quicker to the mask than them, my little friend. This one I speak of was the stunning day princess of your fair and beautiful country. With her magic, she drove my mean little brothers away, she did! But then, oh cruel fate, she took the mask for herself, never taking notice of poor old me. My humble request for you is to simply take the train to your fair country's capital and kindly ask your oh so fair princess to return that oh so precious mask to its rightful owner. This is a simple task that will take you no more than half a day, but you mustn't hesitate, my dear little friend, for my brothers have planned something oh so mean for the night of the third day counting from tomorrow. I will give you your instrument now, if you accept my humble request, but in return you must hurry, my friend. Do you understand that, dear friend?" Lyra had to think a long time before she could give an answer. The pony was absolutely insane, that much at least was clear to her now. However, even if she didn't believe a word of what he was saying, what did she have to lose? It was true enough that a quick trip to Canterlot and back took no more than a mere half day. She made up her mind. The prospect of possibly getting a new lyre was too tempting, even if this pony was absolutely crazy. "I'll do it", she said. It turned out she had been wrong earlier. The grin apparently could get even wider without making the stallion's face burst. Lyra had never seen anypony grin so widely in her entire life. "Excellent", he said. In the blink of an eye, his enormous backpack was off his back and on the ground. The stallion was rummaging through it now, mumbling to himself as he was doing so. Finally, he pulled out of the bag the most beautiful instrument Lyra had ever seen. The pony had spoken the truth. As it turned out, he really did have a lyre in his bag. And what a lyre it was. It looked at least ten times more stunning than her old, wooden one. This instrument seemed to be made out of pure, solid gold and the three strings were made out of a soft feeling nylon. "Go on, my little friend, try it out! See if it fits you as oh so well as I'd hoped it would." Lyra carefully pulled back one of the three strings with her hoof. When she let go, it made a sound purer than anything she'd ever managed to get out of her old lyre. She didn't understand. Who was this strange stallion and how could he be so creepy, crazy and generous at the same time? And where did he even get this magnificent instrument? Surely not from his 'oh so friendly fairy boy friend'. "I see that indeed, it suits you perfectly, my little friend. And now that I have kept my end of the bargain, it is time for you, my dear friend, to keep yours. But oh, I almost forgot. You still have a performance to do, have you not, my little friend? Very well, plenty of time for that I'd say, but remember: only three days. Starting tomorrow at six in the morning, you mustn't fail, or else you'll be mourning" Suddenly, Lyra felt uneasy in his company again. What did he mean by 'or else you'll be mourning'? And what 'oh so mean things' did his 'little brothers' have planned for the night of the third day? Lyra nodded. "I'll get right on it first thing tomorrow morning", she said. "Good, my little friend. My counsel to you is to be on your way before six in the morning, for that is when it starts. Better hurry now though, my little friend. The show will be starting soon, no more time to talk." He still confused her. What would start at six tomorrow morning? And didn't he know the show had probably been cancelled because she never showed up? She looked over her shoulder, in the direction she'd come running from. To her greatest surprise, she saw that the theater was right ahead. How is that even possible? We were out on a big, open field, not remotely close to the center of town. She wanted to ask the strange stallion some more questions, but when she turned her head again, he was gone. She was really very confused now and wondered if she had been hallucinating again. This time, she could make sure she hadn't though, for she was still clutching the golden lyre tightly in her hooves. She looked over to the clock tower of the train station. Nine forty-three. she was just on time for her back-stage preparations. This wasn't right. She'd have been just on time if it hadn't been for all the trouble and distractions she'd met on the road. Lyra looked at the lyre in her hooves and thought again of the strange pale earth pony. Or else you'll be mourning. Had she gotten herself into an unnatural underworld of masks and shadows? Somehow, something had changed the time. It was impossible and yet it had somehow happened. Come on, Lyra, let's not be silly now. You've just been driven paranoid by that weird pony's crazy talk. Bon Bon's clock was probably just wrong. What other logical explanation is there? She could not fully convince herself. The moment she stepped into the theater though, she forgot all thoughts about crazy conspiracy theories and remembered she was nervous. Regardless of all the things that had happened to her tonight, she was still on time, but that meant she'd now have to perform in only fifteen minutes. She tried to concentrate and made her preparations. She drank a glass of water, played every note on her lyre from low to high and back to low again and in her head went over the chords of her songs one last time. Then it was time. She walked up on stage and before her sat what seemed like the biggest collection of ponies Lyra had ever seen in her life. For one moment, she thought she was going to faint at the mere sight of this crowd, but then she saw Bon Bon sitting on the first row, giving her an encouraging smile. This was all she needed to go on. She took her seat on the chair that had been set out for her and without hesitating another moment, she began to play her first song. The crowd was completely entranced and so was she. The sound coming from this new lyre was like nothing she had ever heard, especially now that she actually played it in an arranged composition. It sounded so pure, so beautiful. When she was done playing her first song, every single pony in the audience looked at her with their mouth wide open. The nerves were completely gone now that she was in her element. She played song after song without making a single mistake, never touching the wrong string. She soon found herself already playing her final song. It was supposed to be the most enchanting and magical song of them all, but something was wrong. The electricity in the theater was going out. The microphone set out in front of her now failed to amplify the sound coming from her instrument and the lights were flickering on and off. When the electricity had completely gone out, it was pitch black in the theater; just as dark as her nightmare had been after sunset. There was a scream. A single scream sounding far too familiar. High-pitched and cut short. Then, everypony in the audience panicked and nopony was on their seat anymore. The electricity came on again. The lights were on and now everypony could see what had happened. The sight was too horrible for Lyra to handle. Every single feeling she'd had that night came back to her at once. She threw up all over the stage before fainting. The last thing she'd seen was Bon Bon's corpse, lifeless and still, staring at her with pale, dead eyes. That's why the scream had sounded so familiar.
