Chapters Chapter 3: A Dream Come True
Standing at the station with Caramel waiting for the train to come, Lyra knew she was going to have the time of her life tonight. It was 4:42, according to her lyre-shaped watch. It wouldn't be long.
She was wearing a flowy green gown, a shade or two darker than her coat, with matching earrings. Caramel wore a gentlemanly suit with a rose tucked in.
"I have chocolate from Sugarcube Corner," she offered with an easygoing smile. Swag. Don't forget swag, Lyra. Be easy, be calm.
"Really?"
"Yup. Here." Lyra held out the chocolate bar to him, and he smiled at her. The most wonderful smile Lyra thought she'd ever see in a lifetime. She smiled back and placed it in his hoof.
In the distance, the train was arriving. It was 4:45 now - right on time. As the Friendship Express Train pulled up to the Ponyville station, Caramel grinned. "After you."
Lyra obidiently stepped into the train car. There were more other ponies that usual on the train, and they were all dressed in gowns and suits, and fancied up for DJ's party. But in the room, Lyra, who had never been to a party in Canterlot before, felt like a young filly - or the happiest mare in Equestria.
She and Caramel took their seats on the train. Both wanted to take in the scenery, so there wasn't much talking during the ride to the party. But it was so much more than either of them could have asked for...
***
After the ride, the couple found themselves at the Canterlot station - the stars glittered in the sky, but even brighter were the fireworks that lit up the night, and the pegasi wearing sparkling outfits who seemed to be helping advertise for the party with their daring tricks that left the earth ponies and unicorns in awe.
They walked up to the gates of the castle, and the guards lifted their spears away from the door so that they could step inside the gates. Lyra looked up at the main door, and with an excited glance at Caramel, pulled it open.
Chapter 4: The (Real) Best Night Ever
The first thing Lyra noticed about the room was how dark it was. The lights were turned off, all except for a disco ball hung from the ceiling, with gave off fashionable multicolored lights which lit up the room just enough so that ponies could see their dancing partners. Caramel stepped up beside her, and held out his hoof. "Shall we dance?"
"We shall," Lyra teased softly, and rested her hoof in his. They stepped onto the dance floor. They pranced and danced with glee, and before long, a gentle beam of light resembling a moonbeam followed them around the room. They were in the spotlight now, moving like nopony was watching them, like there was nopony else in the room. It certainly felt as if they were alone together.
"I remember my school dance when I was a little younger," Caramel commented jokingly. "I imagined it to be like this, but, well."
Lyra brushed against him. "Mmm. What can you do? Oh... Do you remember that colt who drank all the punch and then threw up in the basketball hoop?"
"That was Timeturner. He was a riot back then. I was pretty surprised when he started studying medicine."
"Yeah... I remember we all had to leave the room and continue the party in the hallway."
They both laughed. Then... Then came the moment when Lyra's gold eyes became brighter than the spotlight. That was when she felt fluttery and beautiful, both at once. That was when Caramel leaned to kiss her, and Lyra gave in to him.
And that was when an ear-piercing scream of rage erupted in the gala room. "TRAITOR!"
Chapter 5: Tragedy's Reign
Caramel's blue eyes opened wide at the scream. So did Lyra's. They both looked around, and moved closer to each other. Who screamed? Lyra stared around a second time - this time to see a light yellow pony, lighter than Fluttershy, with a dark magenta mane, staring at the couple. The mare's green eyes blazed.
The lights turned off.
More screams erupted around the room, around the couple in a circle. But this time, it was more than one pony screamed. Lyra found herself holding Caramel's hoof tightly in terror. She heard him murmur something, sounding frightened, but she didn't hear what it was.
Then all of the lights turned on. Ponies lay on the ground twitching and writhing in agony, battered and covered in blood. Dresses and suits lay tattered on the ground. Lyra suddenly felt dizzy with horror. "YOU TRAITOR!" the scream came again.
The pale yellow pony stalked up to them, her green eyes not quite as bright now, but still just as frightening. One of them twitched. "You're a traitor!"
Caramel held Lyra close to him. "Roseluck," he murmured in disbelief. "That was so long ago."
"You just paid," Roseluck warned. "But not enough." Her eyes fixed on Lyra. "You're next."
Just then, a weak cry came from the crowd of bloodied ponies. Another Roseluck stood, her legs shaking, in front of the first. The first Roseluck smiled psychotically, revealing long, sharp teeth. Then, in green magic, the first Roseluck changed into a changeling. "All I wanted," the young changeling rasped, "was something else than the need to absorb love! But they all said it wasn't possible," the changeling added with a growl of rage. "Look at me now!" In truth, the young changeling mare was not a sight to behold. Her wings were drenched in blood now, as well as ragged, and changelings in general aren't always gorgeous.
"I'm looking at you know," the real Roseluck sputtered, stumbling forward. Lyra's mouth hung open in shock. She instinctively ran to help the mare, but a bubble resembling the one protecting Canterlot - this one being made with green magic, and being much smaller - formed around them.
Lyra stared up at Caramel. She didn't know what to think. He had known Roseluck before he knew her , in a past relationship. The mint-colored unicorn had already decoded that. But if this changeling was expressing Roseluck's anger, though multiplied many times, did this mean that the real Roseluck was still angry at Caramel for ending their relationship? It seemed as if he had, and not her, knowing that she was the one who was upset.
***
Interrupting her thoughts, something red flew above her head, above the bubble. Something red and orange. It was... A bird? Lyra gasped. Philomena, Celestia's pet. The unicorn watched as the phoenix swooped down and bit the changeling's already-torn ear. The changeling howled, but it was muffled by the bubble. Then Philomena flew back to Lyra and Caramel, and with a simple peck of her beak, popped the bubble.
"Thank you," Lyra breathed to the bird. "Go back to Celestia. Tell her something's happening." And before another bubble could be created, Caramel lunged for the changeling, and Lyra knelt beside Roseluck, who had collapsed onto the floor from her wounds.
Lyra ripped off a long shred of dress - not minding how flashy she looked missing a long strip of fabric down the front - and wrapped it snugly around Roseluck's front hoof, which was bleeding heavily. Lyra wondered how in Celestia that changeling could have injured so many ponies, almost at once. Speedy, maybe, but not powerful enough. Caramel was wrestling the female changeling to the ground right then, and he seemed to be winning the fight.
The noise of the door opening came suddenly, and the changeling acted quickly, shooting a beam of green at the door, even while she was being tackled by Caramel. But the pony at the door dodged... Or bird at the door. Philomena was back already, but without Celestia or royal guards. Lyra sighed. She would just have to take care of this herself.
She stood up and squinted her eyes, focusing all her power and energy on magic. She didn't do this often, but this was her time to practice, if there was going to be any time. Lyra concentrated hard, trying to summon up her powers. Soon, she felt heat at the tip of her horn, and tried even harder. I can do it... Finally, a beam of bright mint-colored light shot out of her horn at lightning speed towards the changeling.
Chapter 6: Once and For All
Lyra saw it all unfold. She saw it happen. She watched her spell lift the changeling into the air. Telekinesis, she realized. She hadn't even known what spell she was going to use until now. No... Wait. Not telekinesis. Now the changeling was an orange. A rotting orange, with holes in it, and a mouth.
"Change me back!" the orange cried.
Bewildered, Lyra tried to summon her magic back. When she did, it was the same as last time. The talking rotting orange was lifted. But it wasn't changed back. A little confused, the unicorn thought about what she could possibly be doing, before the orange was flung at the wall by her magic .
Roseluck shrieked. Lyra found herself feeling lightheaded. There was orange pulp running down the wall now. And that was when - the worst thing just had to happen - the orange was changed back. There were bloody guts running down the walls now, along with the changeling's body. It was literally a bloodbath all down the wall of the gala room. Roseluck fell over crying with fright, while Caramel stood upright, staring at the wall with his blue eyes wide. It was truly horrific. But it was over now. Wasn't it? The changeling was, without a doubt, dead. It had to be over.
A strange, foreign sense of pride came to Lyra. She'd killed a changeling, all by herself. With her own magic. Sure, it had turned into an orange first. But did it matter? It was dead, and the ponies were safe now. Then came that relief. Ahh.
The ponies were safe now.
Chapter 7: No More Wishes
"How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm okay. Just a crushed hoof. It doesn't even hurt that much." It was true. Lyra could sense no pain in Roseluck's eyes.
Caramel stood beside Lyra in the Canterlot hospital, visiting the ponies injured in the gala room. They were calling it the Spotlight Massacre now, and the massacre was now forcing Timeturner to walk around with his clipboard at rapid speed, because there were so many new patients.
"Make sure not to step on it too much," Lyra murmured, half-kidding and half giving advice.
"Try wishing for it to heal," Caramel joked. The minty-green unicorn had told him all about her wish, and how he'd come at that exact time. She added that she wasn't going to wish on the bench again... Just to stay safe. Because you never know when you wish upon a bench and you end up with at least fifty injured ponies and changeling guts on the wall.
No more wishes.
Lyra Heartstrings lay on a bench in her hometown, Ponyville, fiddling with her mane. She was sitting beside Bon Bon, who wasn't sitting on the bench, and somepony else she didn't know (who looked an awful lot like Bon Bon, but the curly-maned French pony didn't seem to mind that's he had a double). She was waiting for the Friendship Express Train to Canterlot. Lyra hummed softly to herself: Heart and Soul, as she had heard played joyfully on the piano many times before. She adored that piece, and wished she could see her friend Octavia play it. It would be fabulous for sure. The merry song played over and over again in her mind.
She suddenly wondered if she would get a super-special somepony. Someday. Somepony who would stand by her side, somepony she could defend and somepony to defend her . The minty-green unicorn cared for the idea of marriage and true love and storybook endings very much, and made her wish right then and there: I wish for someone to love, I wish for someone to love.
And that was when he passed by. Him.
The stallion with the light amber coat, the moderate brown mane and the stunning blue eyes. Lyra felt her gold eyes brighten, and she sat straight up, like a human - not caring at all if someone scolded her for her strange posture. The stallion turned towards her, and he smiled.
Lyra felt as if she was about to pass out. This had to be a dream. This was Caramel - she knew him from a party where they'd danced together to one of DJ-Pon3's mixes. She purposefully banged her hoof on the bench. This had to be a dream. "Hi, Caramel." The mint-colored mare felt the words come out of her mouth, almost without thinking. She felt as if she'd known him for years, and not just a single night.
"Hey, Lyra," Caramel said. He sounded happy. "Are you taking the train?" She thought about this one. She shook her head and stood up to join Caramel.
Canterlot could wait.
Chapter 2: More than Friends
Lyra and Caramel walked through Ponyville together - watching Fluttershy calm birds, learning to make Shortbread cookies with Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake, and even taking a tour of Cloudsdale, using a potion lent to them by Twilight Sparkle that let them walk on clouds. The entire day was like a dream come alive, and by the look in Caramel's eyes, Lyra knew he felt the same. Maybe he'd wished for this too? Was it possible that he had wished for a super-special somepony too, and he'd just happened to pass her? Lyra shook her head slightly. However the two met, they were here together now, and that was all that mattered to her.
"Hey... Do you want to go to a DJ-Pon3 party with me tonight?" Caramel asked her as they strolled down the path. "Photo Finish, Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores will be there, and a couple of other ponies." The mint unicorn heard the blush in his voice.
"Of course," she giggled. "I already can't wait. Where is it?"
Caramel blinked happily. "Canterlot. But don't worry about it. We'll make it if we catch the 4:45 train."
A smile crossed Lyra's face. Then there was a moment of silence - pure, beautiful silence - between the two. Lyra blushed.
"So... I'll meet you at the station?" Caramel suggested, his eyes soft.
"Yeah... I'll meet you at the station."