Lyra Heartstrings awoke, her horn crackling faintly with the arcane energies that unicorns typically used when employing their magic. Smiling as the familiar tingling sensation filled her up, she slowly rolled out of the warm folds of her bed. This was going to be a special day; she had been promised that.

Her hooves touched the ground, feeling the cold wooden tiles pressing against them. Lyra groggily walked to the bathroom and took a hard look at herself in the mirror. Her mane was unkempt, and the little sparks of energy on her horn were visible every now and then, causing her mane around it to frizz as if it were affected by static cling. Her smile didn’t falter the entire time.

The voices in her head had promised that today was the day everything would fall into place.

Levitating a comb with her magic (was it stronger than usual? The comb felt lighter in her grasp), she began to brush her mane down. The hairs in her mane close to her horn merely frizzed back up again, and after several slightly-frustrated run throughs, Lyra gave up on pushing them down. She was in far too good a mood to let this annoy her too much, anyway.

Skipping downstairs, she found that Bon Bon was packing up a large box of assorted candies. The earth pony looked up at the approaching unicorn, and smiled a tired smile. “Hey, Lyra.”

“Hey, Bonny!” Lyra exclaimed happily. “Big order at the shop?”

Bon Bon nodded. “Yeah... I’m a bit frazzled, actually. I got zero sleep last night. We got the order from Sugarcube Corner, so Caramel and I were up all last night, and I had to make more here at home.” She sighed, looking down at the box. “I think they came out well, though.”

Lyra eyed the box hungerly. “Maybe I could sample one?” she asked craftily, a sly smirk sneaking into her face. “Just to test their quality?”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. “Nice try, Lyra.”

Lyra pouted, jutting her bottom lip out and enlarging her eyes. She batted her eyelashes rapidly, and Bon Bon could swear that her eyes were sparkling. “Pwease?”

Bon Bon set a hoof to her chin, then looked back at Lyra. “Nope! Sorry, these gotta make it to Sugarcube Corner.” Lyra glanced down at the floor in mock sorrow, heaving an artificial, overly dramatic sob to enlarge the effect.

Bon Bon sighed. “But I suppose if you came in at about, a little after lunchtime, I could spare you an extra candy...”

Lyra bounced up from where she was, and slid over the table, her fore legs outstretched. Bon Bon cringed in surprise, and grabbed her large box of candies quickly, before Lyra Collided with her, giving her a large hug. “You’re the best, Bonny!”

Bon Bon blushed, leaning into the hug. “Th-thanks, Lyra...” Lyra squeezed the mare tighter, and Bon Bon’s eyes began to bug out of her head. “Lyra! Air!”

Lyra relinquished her hold on Bon Bon, and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, got carried away.”

“I swear, you could give Pinkie Pie a run for her money in the affection department.” Bon Bon smirked, jostling about slightly to make sure she still had feeling everywhere.

Lyra’s grin widened. “Only with you! Are the candies alright?”

Bon Bon looked down at the package of sweets in her hold. “Yeah, I think so. Box doesn’t show any signs of damage, and the candies are set apart equal distances with little dividers, so I don’t think they’re hurt at all. It’s really quite an ingenious design, if I do say so myself!”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “You come up with it?”

Bon Bon nodded, setting the package down on the table. “Yup! Both Caramel and I noticed that the candies were getting smashed together and starting to stick together because they were too close to each other. I reasoned that if they had a little divider and some extra space, the product wouldn’t get hurt. Sure, it costs a little more, but I like to think that putting quality over quantity is a good thing.”

Lyra smiled brightly at her. “I totally agree with you. But um, listen, I gotta get out. Today’s a big day!”

“Oh?” Bon Bon raised an eyebrow.

Lyra nodded enthusiastically. “Yup! It’s the day!”

Bon Bon sighed. “Oh. That.”

Lyra’s brow furrow. “Bon Bon, come on. I thought you were past that.”

Bon Bon sighed, exasperated. “Look, Lyra, I love you and all, but this is still... weird. I mean, voices in your head telling you that today’s going to be ‘the day’? That’s usually a sign of mental illness.”

“Do you think I’m crazy, Bon Bon?” Lyra asked earnestly.

Bon Bon gave Lyra a scrying look. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

The two shared a laugh.

“Oh jeez,” Lyra said, looking down, a blush evident on her face. “Look, I know it sounds weird, but these voices haven’t been saying anything harmful, honest! They’ve just been preparing me for something big and important happening on this date!” She looked at Bon Bon, her amber eyes gleaming in a ray of sunlight that filtered in from a kitchen window. “And they showed up the same time that big rock fell in the center of Ponyville! The two are probably related! How could I be one to ignore obvious evidences put in front of me? You know me... Twilight Sparkle’s been helping me research it and everything! She already checked to see if I were crazy, and the tests came up negative!”

“Because we all know how sane Twilight is...” Bon Bon heaved a heavy sigh, and rolled her eyes. “Alright, Lyra. Whatever. As long as you aren’t getting hurt, or hurting anypony... I guess I can’t complain. Just stay safe, alright? Your cryptozoology thing gets me frightened you'll go off and get murdered by ghosts, or something.”

Lyra nodded. “I always am safe! Also, I know better than to annoy ghosts. That’s cryptozoology 101. Gosh, Bon Bon.”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes, and giggled despite herself. She then set the package on her back, and trotted towards the door. “I’ll see you after lunch, then!”

Lyra waved her hoof in farewell. “Miss you!”

Bon Bon smiled, and trotted outside, the door slamming shut behind her.

Lyra walked over to the fridge, her stomach rumbling with hunger.

The town square was mostly devoid of ponies, Lyra found, as she walked out into the center. It was as if they knew that something big was approaching, and were taking shelter inside just in case that something turned out to be something bad.

Towards the far end, behind the fountain, it sat. Towering the height of two-and-a-half adult ponies, it was the rock that had brought Lyra her voices. It was a light grey in coloration, and half buried in the dirt of the square. Walking slowly up to it, she set her hoof against the rough surface.

The voices in her head buzzed, as if jolted to life.

today’s the day, today’s the day

“Yes, I know,” Lyra mumbled out loud to the voices. “But what is it the day for?”

today’s the day, today’s the day

“Yes, but for what?” Lyra repeated, anxiously. Other ponies would have been annoyed by the constant vague, unanswered babbling in their heads, but not Lyra. She took this as a gift: as being picked out because she had something special to offer or receive, and she was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

today’s the day, today’s the day

Ignoring the babbling now, she removed her hoof from the stone, and they quieted. Gazing upon its surface, she let her mind swim with a thousand questions about what all of this meant.

“Is there something inside of the rock?” Lyra tapped it, and got a dull clunking noise that most ponies got when hitting a rock. The voices buzzed to life and then died down again with each press and release of the stone, sounded not unlike static in the space between radio station with their quick crescendos and cut-offs.

Lyra's horn, which had still been tingling with magical charge, lit up, encasing the rock in her aura. She ran a basic detect magic spell, hoping to get any information.

It came up empty.

Just like the other ten times she had tried it in the past.

Lyra groaned, disheartened, and kicked a small pebble that lay close to her. She knew something was going to happen related to the rock; why would the voices lie? They were obviously connected to the object, and they’d have no motive as to get her hyped for nothing. She just had to be prepared for whatever that something was.

“Hey! Lyra!” she heard a voice call from across the square. Turning around, she saw the form of a lavender pony, wings tucked neatly at her sides, and horn protruding from the center of her forehead, parting her mane.

“Lyra!” Princess Twilight Sparkle called out again. “Come over! I’ve got something to show you! It’s about the rock!”

Lyra’s horn sparked excitedly.