As her head turned along with all the crowd towards the source of the sudden scream, the changeling's eyes narrowed when she recognized the shouting pony, exhaling a quiet breath as she looked onto the scene. She also felt, for the first time in two days, a surge of love, one who filled her stomach, which normally subsisted on a different kind of love. She had to concentrate not to let her eyes glow in the ecstasy of fulfillment.
"I'm sorry, everypony, I was just surprised," said the pony standing next to the musician.
Slowly, the crowd turned its attention back to the candy shop; the changeling let out a inner whistle of relief, as the unicorn's scream had scared her and she had almost put herself on a self-defense position out of habit.
"Sorry," repeated Twilight, bowing her head to Lyra, who kept her broad smile.
"It's ok." Lyra kept her wide grin on, her tail flicking. Her smile soon dropped into a curious gaze. "Why were you so surprised by me?"
"Well," said Twilight, after some seconds of silence, measuring in her mind how to say things. "I need to ask a favor from you, but I think this is not the place for that, I need to talk to you."
A brief shadow covered Lyra's face after she heard Twilight. She nodded, without losing her smile. "Ok! But you've gotta wait. I need my ration of Bon Bon's candies, you know?"
Rarity looked absent mindedly out of the window, having left her working table, unable to concentrate on her work. Suddenly she rose from her place, as a lavender unicorn crossed the street, running. She blinked at the sight.
But that's the other side of town... Twilight Sparkle!
Turning her back to the window, she trotted to her work table, organizing her materials. After giving them another look, she sighed over her lost work, picked up a soft yellow sun hat, putting it on, and exited her Boutique, locking the door behind her. She walked slowly, under the burning sun of noon, making her way through Ponyville; meeting a bouncy Pinkie Pie along the way, who waved to her with a bag muffling her words.
The all too familiar path drove her by the side of Sweet Apple Acres, with Big Macintosh being recognizable in the distance, until her final destination, the edge of the Everfree.
She found Fluttershy outside her cottage, near the brook, feeding some otters with fish. She approached the pegasus, clearing her throat with a small cough.
"Fluttershy, darling!"
Fluttershy turned her head, her ears standing up at the sound of her name, and she smiled upon seeing the white unicorn coming nearer. Fluttershy waved happily to her as Rarity stopped by her side.
"Hi, Rarity! It's good to see you, you haven't been around her too much lately..."
Fluttershy found herself surrounded by Rarity's hooves, as the unicorn hugged her.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, there has been an influx of orders lately and I've been working myself thin. Today, however, I've decided to have a little break, I think I can afford it."
The pegasus beamed, giving her friend a friendly nuzzle.. "Would you accompany me for lunch, then?"
"I will gladly do so, dear," answered Rarity, letting go of Fluttershy, who picked the empty bucket on her mouth and led her inside of the cottage. On the other side of the door, Angel Bunny waited. Upon seeing his caretaker come inside again, he stomped his foot on the floor and signaled angrily towards the clock.
"I'm going to make lunch now, Angel. Please be patient, it won't take long." The small bunny glared at both ponies before hopping away. Rarity sat at Fluttershy's table while the pegasus went through her shelves. Fluttershy was not a disorganized pony in any sense of the word, as it was impractical for her job, but since Twilight had put a hoof on her home, all her supplies had since been organized by types and sizes, which the kind mare was grateful for. A whistle left her lips as she went about preparing her meal. Rarity observed her, her face supported by her hooves.
"Have you been doing fine, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy lifted the head to look at Rarity, her smile even brighter. "I'm doing great, thanks for asking, Rarity."
She picked up a dish on her mouth and carried it to the table. The smell of fresh pineapple was the first to invade Rarity's nostrils. It was a sweet salad made up of lettuce, spinach leaves, pineapple and raisins, with just the barest cover of bitter sauce to counter the sweetness. Bringing out a couple of plates, Fluttershy served it, leaving a portion without sauce which she put down for Angel. The rabbit sniffed it and, after looking at his caretaker, began to munch at his food. Fluttershy capped it with a pitcher full of orange juice, serving it in a couple of glasses. Rarity lifted a fork with her magic, stabbing at the lettuce, taking a bit out of it. She squeaked.
"This is delicious, Fluttershy! Absolutely fantastic," declared Rarity as she took another bite from the salad.
"I'm glad you like it. I've been trying my hoof at new things and I really wanted to know what others think about it." A sheepish smile adorned her face, as she looked at her friend.
"You're doing fine, darling. I'm impressed how far have you come since you've been dating Twilight. She has, as well." Rarity sipped from her glass. "As a matter of fact, I'm here after a rather long chat we had this morning." She put her glass back on the table and looked at Fluttershy, her expression now displaying concern. The pegasus looked back at her, confusion written on her face.
The bag of sweets levitated in front of Lyra, carried by her own lemony yellow colored magic, as both unicorns strolled slowly by the town. Lyra's eyes shone happily as she licked her lips, fixated on the bag. Twilight trotted next to her in silence, her mouth almost itching to be opened. She did it, addressing Lyra, when she felt her stomach grumbling. She avoided Lyra's grinning face when the other unicorn turned back.
"Don't worry, I bought enough for both of us," said Lyra, shaking the bag happily in front of her. Twilight silently chided herself for being rash before facing the other unicorn.
"Why? You didn't need to do that. I thank you, though, and accept your generosity."
Lyra's smile was swapped almost instantly by a frown. "Sheesh, you're way too uptight." The smile came back and she turned around. "Well," declared Lyra joyously, "we're here!"
Ponyville's Park stood in front of them, green and luscious. The singing of the birds Twilight had not registered up until that point finally assaulted her ears. Ponies were around everywhere, in couples, groups or alone, enjoying the wide space. She followed Lyra who guided her to a lucky spot just near a big oak, just like the one that made up the library. A bright yellow wooden bench awaited for them under it. Twilight approached it, and watched on as Lyra lifted herself to stand on her hind hooves, supporting her forehooves on the back of the bench. She slowly turned herself around, still holding the bench with a hoof, until she was standing looking towards Twilight again. She closed her eyes and left herself fall down, her haunches taking in the bench's shape. She let go of the other foreleg, allowing herself to finally relax, opening her eyes again. She smiled at Twilight who only gawked at the sight. It was not the first time she had seen the musician sitting like that, but she had never witnessed the process by which Lyra adopted such a pose.
"Why do you sit like that?" Twilight blurted out, an incredulous look crowning her face. Lyra's fail from beneath her, as she went about opening the bag.
"I don't know. I just observed all those bipedal creatures and thought about how fun it
would be if we could sit like them. At first it was incredibly painful, mind you."
Twilight heard Lyra's story attentively, as she approached the bench and climbed onto it, adopting a proper pony posture. An involuntary wince lifted Lyra's eyelashes as she recalled the past.
"Um, Lyra?" called out Twilight, softly, as the green unicorn was lost on her own thoughts; she extended a hoof to poke her side, which broke Lyra from her daydreaming. The musician pulled an apologetic smile towards her companion.
"Sorry, I spaced out there, happens very often," said Lyra, with a sheepish smile. She pulled out a piece of pie from the bag, which she levitated towards Twilight. The lavender unicorn picked up another piece of pie, and munched at it, tasting the flavor of blueberries in the filling.
"You were right, this is delicious. I'm so stuffed on Pinkie Pie's pastries normally that I had never really tasted anything else in Ponyville. She's good indeed."
Before she could realize it, she had gobbled down the whole slice in a couple of bites. She looked sadly at her empty hooves, her stomach giving her the feeling of half-emptiness that was even worse than not having eaten anything in the first place. Lyra tended the bag to her again, from which she levitated another piece, gratefully smiling to the musician.
"Ever since Bon Bon arrived into town, I've been able to enjoy these delicious treats, and they make me happy. Sugarcube Corner's pretty fine, too, but Pinkie tends to blow their produce pretty often in parties," said Lyra, eating away at her pie. Twilight nodded.
"I offered to help them with a plan to organize their stocks, but Pinkie declined, and the Cakes supported her. Seems they're pretty much used to that, and the business works, so I didn't look that much deeper into it. It is Pinkie Pie after all." A small sigh left Twilight's lips; Lyra finished eating her portion and looked to her bench neighbor.
"So, what did you need me for?"
Twilight cast a furtive glance around, making sure nopony was around in their immediate vicinity. She shifted herself in the bench, making sure she was closer to Lyra.
"You know that Fluttershy and I are together, right?" asked Twilight, her voice low, despite the lack of anyone near them. Lyra just nodded, intrigued.
"That was one of Pinkie's best parties. She outdid herself, and that's quite an achievement. My belly ached for three days, though. Too much sugar."
"Yes," said Twilight simply.
The shadow of a frown appeared on Lyra's face, as she pursed her lips slightly. "Are you doing fine?"
Twilight's mouth opened, as she looked straight into Lyra's face. "I know we're doing fine. The first weeks were somewhat of a bumpy ride for me, as it was something beyond anything I've ever experienced. I hyperventilated more than once, as it stands. But a whole new set of lessons were spread out before me, and I found out that I was even more eager to learn them."
Wind blew through the park, rustling the leaves above them. Twilight listened to the comforting sound, which reminded her of long evenings of study in her own library, and of a certain cottage near a forest in which the sounds of nature increased tenfold, as she laid next to a very warm pegasus using her wings as cover for the unicorn.
"Hey, Twilight." Lyra's voice called out to her, in the same playful tone, but her volume had increased enough to be able to yank her from her mind. A sigh escaped Twilight's lips.
"Thanks for not poking me."
"Sure," answered Lyra. "Excuse me." The musician pulled herself forward, falling with her four hooves on the grass. She stretched her legs and head, trotting in a small circle before turning back to the bench and climbing back into it, pony style; the bench was barely long enough to fit both sitting ponies. "It gets tiring rather fast, you know, but I couldn't live without doing it at least for a little bit. It really brings another perspective on things."
"You are a weird pony," said Twilight.
Lyra didn't miss a beat. "Says Pinkie Pie's best friend, the one who set the whole town in a frenzy over a doll." Twilight lifted an eyebrow.
"Let's call it a draw and leave it there."
"Yup," said simply Lyra. She let out a yawn, not bothering to cover her mouth. "I'm bound to go somewhere soon, and we haven't gotten to the bottom of this."
She once again left the bench, turning to face Twilight, sitting on her haunches.
"You sought me for my assistance with a relationship issue, didn't you?"
Twilight felt her cheeks burning. She only nodded, looking slightly to the left of Lyra's eyes. The green unicorn's golden eyes pierced into her.
"Have you talked to Fluttershy about this?" The lavender unicorn forced herself to focus her gaze into the musician's.
"Well, no, I haven't. She would insist everything's fine, but I know it isn't."
"Yes, they never do," said Lyra, her words seemingly more for her own benefit. "Tell you what. Talk to her about this. Set up a date for a meeting between the three, and look me up tomorrow at noon at Bon Bon's store. We'll talk everything at the meeting. See you soon, Twilight!"
Without waiting for an answer, Lyra trotted away, leaving a surprised Twilight who watched at her until she disappeared around a corner of the park.
"But we didn't go over anything... Argh, whatever. I'll have a word with Rarity; this mare is crazy!"
She dismounted from the bench and trotted along the park. She didn't make it past its edge though, as Fluttershy and Rarity stood in it, waiting for her.