They arrived in Ponyville the following morning. As the chariot flew away, Applejack bid the others good bye.

“So?” Twilight asked, poking Robert in the ribs with a wing.

“So what?” he asked.

“Did you and Applejack work things out?”

“She's no longer interested in bucking my apples off, if that's what you're referring to.”

“So you're friends?”

“We're... acquaintances. Friendship will come later.” Robert shrugged. "I find it best not to push such things. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a teacher to be yelled at by.” he bowed his head, then trotted down the road towards the Everfree. Twilight shook her head and watched him go.

“Twilight?” Spike asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Yes Spike?”

“What were you screaming about in your sleep?”

“Hmm... oh, just a nightmare.” Twilight put her wing over his shoulders. Come on, let's go see what mess got made while we were gone. Of course, it turned out to involve Rainbow Dash and Daring Do. Because of course it would.

---

While the heroes are away, the background ponies will continue to operate therein. So it was that Lyra Heartstrings, found herself roped, by some mechanism she did not fully understand, into assisting with a project she never should have agreed to work on.

“Come again?” she asked, incredulously.

“It's a simple musical composition, surely it can't be that hard.” the dark blue griffon shrugged.

“For the Flute. I don't even know how to play the Flute.” her eye was twitching.

“Yeah. Well...” the griffon paused. "The lyre isn't exactly pony instrument is it?”

“Big ones are. It took me years to learn my small one.”

“I'm not asking for a perfect piece of epic music, just something different from what the griffon composers make.” he was almost pleading. "Besides, I was directed to you as the only pony who might be able to help.”

“By who?” Lyra asked. She'd made a few enemies, and was willing to bet one of them would love to see her fail.

“A mare named... Octavia. The concert cellist? She said she'd heard you had a talent for exotic instruments, and said you'd be the best chance I had.” Lyra blushed bright enough to make Pinkie look dull.

“She... she really said that?” the griffon nodded. "I'll do it. I can't promise it'll happen quickly, but I will do it.” The griffon shook her hoof profusely.

“Thank you, thank you. I know you'll do fine. Here.” he pulled a battered, beaten flute case from his satchel. "This is the flute I started learning on. I have another now, but I suspect you'll have a hard time finding one around here, so use this one. Thank you again.” he shook her hoof again, then took wing.

Lyra stared at the case in her hoof. Then she picked it up with her magic and stepped inside. The house she shared with her filly friend was spacious, and today, all hers. Bon-bon was at her market stall, selling her candies, and so Lyra had the run of the house. She thought back to how bad she'd been when she first started playing the lyre and had a sneaking suspicion that her amazing, wonderful lover might not want to be around as she attempted to learn the flute. She opened the case, and gasped. The flute inside was a finely made steel flute, carved intricately with floral patterns. It was disassembled into two pieces, but it didn't take her more than a moment to reassemble it. Hands formed, glowing with her magic and lifted it up. She brought it to her lips, covered all the holes with fingers, and blew into the mouth piece. Nothing but a raspberry sound. She uncovered one of the holes, and tried again. The same, just in a different pitch. Lyra sighed. She'd hoped it would be intuitive enough to work it out. She was wrong. There was only one place to go. The Library.

It didn't take Lyra long to get there, greeting friends as she went. The Library was on the other side of the market, but she skirted around it, so she didn't distract her filly friend. Much as she enjoyed seeing her, Bon-bon didn't appreciate being distracted amidst her bargaining. So Lyra stayed out of sight and reached the library. To her dismay, which she expressed with a groan, she found a sign on the door, indicating the library was closed and that Twilight and Spike would be back soon. While the library had been somewhat disheveled and disorganized before Twilight moved in, it had always been open. Now it was only open when she was home, though in her defense that was most of the time unless she had some emergency, which was usually severe enough that no one wanted to check out books during them. Well, it had happened once, but that was a fluke.

Turning away in disappointment, Lyra walked smack into Twilight. Lyra fell down, Twilight didn't. Twilight had many admirable qualities, but her inability to fall down was not one of them, at least not from Lyra's point of view. Coming back to her hooves, she dusted herself off.

“Hello Lyra, something I can do for you today?” Twilight asked, a bit too cheerfully.

“Yes, actually, I was wondering if you have a book.”

“This is a library.” Twilight pointed out.

“Yes, I know. I'm looking for a specific book.”

“On?”

“Paper.”

“Really?”

“Oh come on, how often do I get the chance to say that?” Lyra grinned. "I wanted a book on how to play the flute.”

“The flute?” Twilight blinked. "I'm not sure a pony can play the flute. I mean, maybe, a unicorn can. I don't know if we have a book like that. We can look and see.” she unlocked the door and led Lyra inside. Spike disappeared into the kitchen, while Twilight looked around. "Let's see.” she pulled down the entire music shelf. "Drums. Cello. Guitar. Violin. Xylophone. Really? I mean, none of these are really hoof friendly instruments. Except the drums anyway.”

“Yeah, but have you ever been to a concert consisting entirely of drums?” Lyra asked. Twilight shook her head. "I have. They don't call it rock and roll for no reason.”

“Oh. Let's see, if it's not here, it might be in storage. Spike?”

“Got it!” Spike appeared, carrying a large, dusty binder. "Flutes, flutes, and more flutes: the guide for beginner Flautists.” he pointed it out. "It's in storage. Want me to get it?”

“No thanks Spike. We know what happens when you get too dusty.” Twilight said. Spike coughed. "Don't worry, we'll get it. Lyra?”

“Lead the way.” Twilight lead Lyra down into the bowels of the library. It was, in it's own punny way, a root cellar, since the stairs lead downwards and after a distance were actually composed of the roots of the oak in which the library was housed. The area below the tree, and a large portion of ponyville was actually fairly close to perfect for the storage of books. It was cool and dark. Unfortunately, it was also damp, which was not good for the books. Twilight had found that the previous librarians had taken steps to prevent such things from being a problem, by hanging rune carved salt blocks at junctions of storage rows. The runes made the blocks moderately magical, causing them to act as focus points for ambient moisture, drawing it to them, where it was absorbed by the salt, and then sweated away. It meant that while the cellar was dark and dry, it also meant that it was dark and dry. Magical light meant it was possible to walk around without bumping into things, but there was nothing to do for the dryness, except not stay too long. Worst, it meant that it was always dusty, with no moisture to settle it out of the air. Twilight glared at the half-inch of dust on the floor for a moment. “Can you do a light spell?

“No. I never learned.” Lyra replied. Twilight wasn't too surprised. Many unicorns didn't go much beyond their talent in spells, and Lyra's particular one wasn't too useful outside of her talent for music. At least, Twilight preferred to think of it that way. She'd been informed that it was good for other things, but she'd come to the letter worthy realization that there was such a thing as too much information. She had received a response from Princess Luna. It had been nothing more than a magic orb, containing a verbal message. They had been rather rare, but Luna had been the inventor and now they were more common. This one contained nothing more than the sound of Luna laughing maniacally. Celestia had added a message to it.

“My sister finds your message and wording hilarious.” Celestia sounded as if she were trying hard not to laugh.

“Oh. Do you know how to take over a spell?” Lyra nodded. It was a fairly basic trick, simply shifting one unicorns magic for another's. It made passing things Telekinetically much easier than dropping them from one field to another. Twilight passed the ball of light to Lyra. It dimmed somewhat, but held. "Just a moment.”

“Sure.” wind flared through the room, and down the stairs. The dust swept up from the floors and off the tops of the shelves, whipping down the aisles and sweeping them clean. The wind vanished into the cavernous depths of the storage room. Twilight exhaled after a minute. Then she took the spell back from Lyra. "Do you suppose you could teach me a light spell? I've noticed it's becoming more necessary around this town.”

“Sure. I'm surprised you haven't needed it before.”

“Normally I just pump more power into my hands and they glow bright enough for what I need. But it's kind of draining.”

“Oh, well... remind me and I'll show it to you.” Twilight said, leading the way down into the stacks. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for, and she pulled it from the shelf. "Here you go, one copy of Flutes, flutes, and more flutes, the guide for beginner Flautists.” Lyra took it from her. "So, the flute?”

“I was asked to compose a piece on it. The griffon who asked was surprisingly insistent. Besides, I'm getting paid, which is always nice.” Lyra smiled. Twilight chuckled.

“Yeah.” Twilight lead the way up the stairs.

“Don't you get paid?”

“For what?”

“Running the library.”

“I don't think so. I used to get a Stipend for being Princess Celestia's Student, but now I'm not sure where it comes from. I should probably look into it.” Twilight said, thinking on it.

“Princess pay probably.” Lyra said, then rolled her eyes. "I always think I'm channeling Pinkie when I do that, but maybe it's her channeling us?”

“Could be. I still try not to think too much about that. It didn't end well the first time.” Twilight shuddered at the memory.

“Yeah, I remember that. Not fun times.” Lyra shook her head. "How did you get that to quit?”

“Stopped studying Pinkie. It's one of the few times I've stopped studying things.” Twilight shrugged. "It bothers me vaguely, so I don't think too much about it.”

“Gotcha. Didn't mean to dredge it up.”

“No problem. Let's see.” Twilight pulled out the log book. "Lyra Heartstrings, Flutes, what's the date?”

Lyra gave it to her. “Okay, standard disclaimer. Break it, buy the library a new copy.”

“Thanks for the help.”

“That's what I'm here for.” Twilight smiled. She saw Lyra out, and closed the door. Then she pulled out the binder on books in storage. "Hmm...”

“Why would you think I would yell? Because where you were going, me you did not tell?” Zecora wasn't yelling. Her voice wasn't even raised.

“I didn't mean to forget telling you. By the time I knew we were going, I couldn't find you to tell you.”

“Ummm...” Zecora coughed. "In that case, let us forget it that we may save face.”

“Indeed. So, what is the plan for today?”

“What do you know of love potions?”

“Not to make them. Things rarely end well.”

“You are wise beyond your years. This is why we make not love potions, but antidotes. There are always fools who use potions in ways they shouldn't, so antidotes are always handy to have.”

“I see. And how to do we make them?”

“Get the tongs.” Zecora's smile in the firelight was not a pretty sight.

---

Rainbow Dash was pushing clouds in the sky over Fluttershy's house. Cloudkicker, and Thunderlane were sweeping several in nearby. Fluttershy didn't often put in a request for specific weather, so when she did, Rainbow Dash made sure she got it. The clouds coalesced into shape over the house, and Rainbow signaled for the others to back off, then she rolled over and swung under the clouds. Fluttershy was down in the backyard.

“Hey, Fluttershy!” Rainbow landed nearby.

“Rainbow Dash, quiet!” Fluttershy managed to both shout and whisper at the same time.

“What's the matter?” Rainbow asked, looking around. Fluttershy pointed to a group of lizards.

“The poor dears need some dental work, and I don't want to do it in the sun.”

“I was about to ask why you needed the clouds. So they're in the right place?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Fluttershy looked up at the clouds. "Will those hold for the day?”

“They should. I can have somepony watch them. I have to check on the rain for Applejack or I'd do it.”

“Would you please?”

“No problem.” Rainbow flickered over the top of the clouds. Cloudkicker and Thunderlane were sitting some distance apart, pointedly ignoring one another. Rainbow Dash sighed, and shifted gears into boss mode. “Cloudkicker?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you to hang around here and make sure this cloud stays intact and doesn't break up until Fluttershy tells you she's done with it.”

“Sure thing boss.”

“Thunderlane, head up to the park and make sure they get a nice sunny day.”

“On it.” Thunderlane kicked off the cloud, fell for a moment, and flew north. Rainbow trotted 'cross the cloud.

“What's up with you two?”

“'Lane's got a nasty turn of phrase. I gave him a talking to about it. He's still sore.” she grinned. "In more than one way.”

“Ugh. Alright. Keep out of his way, and see if he apologizes. If not, I'll talk to him.”

“Gotcha boss.” Cloudkicker saluted. "Better go do those rainclouds.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash exploded out from the edge of the cloud. Cloudkicker shook her head, and ducked under the clouds. It was easier to spot problems from below than above. She settled down on Fluttershy's roof.