"Morning, Bon Bon!" Lyra hummed as she pulled the curtains wide open. Her entire body was positively tingling with energy. "Breakfast is in the kitchen: honey and those expensive oats you like so much." She pecked her fiancée on the cheek.

"Mmmrgh!" Bon Bon grumbled, retreating further in the bed in an effort to escape the rays of the rising sun. Lyra giggled. Silly thing. Bet you never expected this to happen? Usually, Bon Bon was the early riser. At times she would even bring a bowl of treats to tempt Lyra out of bed. I better learn how to cook as well, the musician considered, although it was doubtful she could ever manage to impress a third generation chocolatier.

"I know, I know." Lyra ruffled Bon Bon's mane gently, careful not to fully wake her up. "I'll be late tonight, so don't wait up."

A most innocent sentence added just at the last moment. It was supposed to pass unnoticed, taking advantage of Bon Bon's sleepiness. Quiet enough to be barely heard, vague enough to give but a modicum of information, its goal was to keep both Lyra's conscience and secret intact. On that it succeeded perfectly. Within moments the musician was out in the street and Bon Bon was none the wiser. A sensation of guilt made Lyra pause and glance over her shoulder. The moment didn't last. Shaking her head, she turned around and galloped through Ponyville.

"Morning, Lyra," a pair of trotters greeted her as they passed by.

"Morning!" She dashed by. The town was an entirely different place early in the morning. The streets were quiet, mostly deserted, with only a hoofful of ponies about. "The regulars" as Lyra referred to them. They all knew each other as if they were part of some secret club. After a few days of early morning gallops, Lyra had also been accepted into the group.

Hoof protectors, Lyra's mind switched as she headed towards Silver Manor. Must remember to order hoof protectors, and a new set of strings. That was the only negative aspect of her new style music tutoring—it tended to be harsh on hooves and instruments alike. By Lyra's estimates Silver Spoon had spent a small fortune on replacement strings. At the same time she had mulishly refused to even consider buying any sort of hoof protection.

The butler stood at the manor's front entrance. Lyra didn't go that way. Instead, she circled round the house heading for the servant's entrance. As every morning for the past few days, Silver Spoon was there waiting, her hoof tapping impatiently on the pavement. This time, however, she seemed particularly annoyed. The moment she heard her tutor approach, the filly's ears turned in her direction.

"Finally!" she grumbled. "I thought you'd be late. Again!" The tone was that of an extremely annoyed teacher.

Oh, give it a rest, Silver. Lyra patted her on the head, ignoring the remark. For all her posturing, fancy words, and money, Silver Spoon remained a filly; for all her pouting and grumbling, she enjoyed music—Lyra's type of music—and wasn't going to do a thing to stop the lessons. Quite the contrary, in fact. For the last two days the "one hour of music training" had increased to eight, half of which Silver's own parents weren't aware of.

"Good morning, Silver," Lyra said clearly. I'll be bucked if I don't take advantage of the situation to teach her some manners. "How are you today?"

"Good morning, Lyra." Each world came out level as a school ruler. "I am fine. How are you?"

"Let me see your hoof." Lyra looked down. Immediately Silver moved her right foreleg behind her left. I knew it! You didn't even call a nurse, did you? "Silver?"

"Oh, come on, Lyra! It's just a scratch!" The filly protested. "Barely noticeable."

Lyra didn't budge. Smile on face, she waited patiently. Across her, Silver frowned, pouted, grumbled, rolled her eyes, and finally showed her hoof. The "barely noticeable scratch" was, in fact, a chip heading towards a crack. The filly had tried to mask it with hoof polish, but that only made it more obvious. It's never easy with you, is it? Either you destroy the instruments or they you.

"Hold still," Lyra ordered and focused her magic. Healing wasn't her speciality, but she too had suffered her share of chipped hooves while at the Conservatory. A green glow surrounded Silver's leg. "This might sting a bit." The filly tensed up, but didn't pull her leg back. A simple scratch, my rump!

Aided by the magic, the keratin filled in the cracks, restoring the hoof to its normal state. It wasn't going to last long, especially if Silver intended to play the harp like she had the last few days, but at least her leg wouldn't get infected.

"That's it for now, but I want you to go see a doctor to get it properly healed." Lyra tried to frown, but judging by Silver Spoon's "Bleh" of a response, she failed yet again. Apparently, some things were unachievable regardless of the circumstances. "Did you get new strings?"

"Absolutely!" The filly lead into the mansion, her cranky attitude instantly replaced by unadulterated enthusiasm. "The priority express order arrived last night. Made of Imperial silver! Guaranteed to withstand a high magic current and also flexible enough to vibrate adequately."

"Let's hope so." The ones you brought from Manehattan also guaranteed the same, yet snapped after ten seconds.

Following Silver's lead, Lyra walked into the music room. She was just about to start her day, when she saw something that made her freeze with fear. In the room, sitting on a cushion next to the harp, was a pink filly with an expensive tiara. The filly wasn't surprised to see Lyra, on the contrary she was looking at her with a calm, but annoyed expectation.

"Err, a word, Silver Spoon?" The musician stepped out of the room. The moment Silver Spoon joined her, Lyra slammed the door shut with her magic. "Diamond Tiara is in the music room."

"I know." The filly frowned. "I invited her."

"Oh." Well, technically that is an explanation, but not what I wanted to know! Why in Equestria did you invite Diamond Tiara?! This is supposed to be a secret! If your parents find out I've been teaching you aether music they'll chase me out of Ponyville. Hay, the Conservatory and the SGU will strike my name off their records! Lyra wanted to yell, to scream. Her entire body trembled with suppressed anger.

"Well, I had to come up with something. I've been avoiding her all week," Silver Spoon said unapologetically. "She is my best friend. And she can keep a secret." The filly then looked away for a moment. Uh, oh, Lura thought. There was something Silver wasn't telling her.

"And?" Lyra invited her to continue.

"And... she might have not believed me when I said I was learning aether music."

That's just great! Lyra slapped herself on the face. It was understandable what the filly was going through, but to tell Diamond Tiara of all ponies? That one was a living menace! Her snobbery was legendary. Even Lyra knew about it, and she didn't even have a foal that went to school! There was absolutely nothing remotely positive in having—

"Di sent an order for a diamond core silver string harp through a friend of her father's," Silver added. "If she's impressed by what she hears you'll get to keep it. If not she'll put it on her wall and ridicule me every time I visit." Her glance turned into a glare directed straight at Lyra. The unspoken "So you better not embarrass me!" screamed louder than an Minotaur.

Lyra sighed deeply. Years of school and Conservatory training, and here she was making sure she didn't embarrass her pupil in front of her friend. Must be good to be rich, she mused as she opened the door and entered the music room once more. Diamond Tiara was still there next to the frame of the Silvarius harp. The strings had been removed after yesterday's practice had destroyed a quarter of them.

"Hello, Diamond Tiara." Lyra offered a polite smile as she trotted up to the harp. "I take it Silver Spoon has told you about our—" she glanced at the grey filly briefly, then back at Diamond "—choice of music?"

"Hmpt!" Diamond made a circle in the air with her hoof. "Silvi is way too impressionable. I've seen special effects before. My father has a friend who helped make the special effects of Countess Coloratura's shows. That's before she changed her style. I'm sure you could do some neat tricks," she waved her hoof, way too dismissively for Lyra's liking, "but it'll take more to impress me."

Joy. Lyra levitated the new box of strings towards her. This one seemed even more expensive than the last. It was covered with half a thesaurus of complicated terms, which the musician knew to be meaningless. That was one of the reasons she disliked the modern music industry—they had made it their goal to trick any juvenile pony into thinking she could become a Pop Star, selling her tons of overpriced and often useless equipment in the process. On the positive side, at least the strings seemed adequate. On their own they'd probably create the worst sound ever. With a little magic, however...

"See? I knew it!" Diamond Tiara pointed triumphantly, as Lyra began painstakingly string the harp. "Those are custom special effect strings used for light displays!"

Gritting her teeth, Lyra continued. Shut up, smartalice! Just because they are used for one thing doesn't mean they can't be used for something else as well. One by one the strings went up until the harp was whole again. Pleased, Lyra took a step back to admire her work. Aren't you a beauty? Her hoof, gently touched one of the strings.

"Lyra, do you think I can—" Silver Spoon began, but was instantly cut off.

"No!" Lyra said firmly. "Not with that hoof. Also, from now on you'll be wearing protectors." A snarl and grumble indicated that the point went through. "Now, let me try it out before you two head to class."

"We don't have school today," Diamond Tiara announced. "We're ill," she added with the pride of a filly who just learned she'd won the beauty pageant.

"I see..." Lyra gave her a disapproving look. My parents never let me do that!

No matter. That wasn't important now. If it was a performance she wanted, she was going to get it. Lyra moved into position in front of the harp. She could have used a cushion to sit on, but somepony had taken it to lie upon. Not that it was an issue.

"We'll start with two minutes," she told Silver Spoon. The filly nodded. "You might want to move back, Diamond. Aether music is rough on the ears the first time you hear it."

Unsurprisingly, Diamond Tiara didn't budge. Surprisingly, Lyra felt extremely pleased about it. Let's see who breaks first, little filly—the strings or you. Lips twisting in a cocky smile, the musician started with the preparations. First a large sound bubble. That way servants wouldn't keep running in and out of the room in horror, like had happened on the first day. Second, Lyra cast a protective layer over her hooves. A waste of magic energy, but necessary until she got hoof protectors. Finally, she focused on the strings. Light green auras covered five of them one by one causing the silver to glow with a low barely noticeable hum.

"Okay, girls, time to go wild!" Lyra turned her ears away from the harp and began.

The moment her hoof brushed against the aetherized string, an explosive sound resonated within the sound bubble. Unprepared, Diamond Tiara jumped to her hooves like a frightened animal, eyes wide, ears flicking wildly in a futile attempt to escape the noise. Beside her, Silver Spoon smiled like a music connoisseur at an opera performance.

Feel the sound of heavy aether! Lyra's hooves moved like crazy, each striking a string instants after she energized it with magic. A sea of sounds followed. The harp, created to be a delicate instrument of the highest degree, was now an instrument of power, begging her to lift it up in the air as she played. Lyra ignored its plea, the sounds sinking into her mane, making her feel as if fire and lightning ran through her veins. In this single instant she felt unstoppable, able to take on the whole of Equestria and Nightmare Moon if she had to. The sensation was frightening, yet also sublime. Not the fancy hoofwork they taught at school, not the faint tingle the DJs created in their clubs, this was true music!

*Twang* One of the the strings snapped. Lyra didn't falter. She'd gotten used to the fragility of the instrument. Actually, they'd done quite well. It had taken well over a minute for the first string to give in. Apparently, this manufacturer knew what he was doing.

*Twang* *Twang* *Twang* Three more strings broke. It was only a matter of seconds before the others followed. The musician had no intention of letting that time go to waste. Sweat dripping off her muzzle, she covered the entire harp with magic, playing as fast as her hooves would let her.

Crazy! This is absolutely crazy! She laughed, her voice buried under the aether sounds. There was no better feeling than this. Lyra felt like a pegasus riding a storm. Her heart pumped pure adrenaline, urging her to go on. Her horn, however, like the strings, couldn't keep up. With every second the pressure grew stronger and stronger.

"Oh, yeah!" Lyra shouted, waving her sweat-soaked mane as her hooves slid across the strings one final time, breaking half of them as she did. A second later and it was over. Lacking magic, the sounds suddenly disappeared. The bubble of silence popped, leaving Lyra breathing heavily if front of the harp, sweat pouring down her face. Need... to... catch... breath...

"Over three minutes!" Silver Spoon tossed Lyra a towel. "And till the end the chords were really, really good!" A step away Diamond Tiara continued to stand there motionless, eyes staring blankly forward. Silver Spoon moved beside her, waved a hoof in front of her face several times, then with the shake of the head and a victorious sigh went to the door. "I'll get snacks."

Yes, please! Lyra relaxed on the floor. Three minutes! Three miserable minutes and yet she felt as tired as if she'd plowed Sweet Apple Acres. Even she didn't have enough magic to maintain such an aether drain. Still, if would probably help if she had the strength of an earth pony. Despite her stubbornness, Silver Spoon managed to play for far longer and, although Lyra hated to admit it, the filly had done remarkably well even without hoof protection.

It didn't take long for Silver Spoon to return with "snacks". One thing Lyra had learned was that the Silvers loved to pamper their children. The four level food-cart had enough sweets and drinks on it to last an entire day. Good thing too. Lyra levitated a jug of juice and gulped half of it down. So good!

"Want something to eat, Di?" Silver asked, as Lyra downed the rest of the jug. "I wasn't able to get your favorite, but—"

"That was amazing." Diamond managed to say, her lips barely moving.

"Yeah, I was like that too the first time." Silver lifted her front leg and placed a bowl of chocolate mousse on it. "I can do the same, you know. Almost as good as Lyra. And I don't even have a horn."

"Never heard anything like it." Diamond looked at Silver. "You weren't kidding."

"Told you." Silver offered a smug smile. "Now do you see why I practice so much?"

"Hmm?" It didn't take long for Diamond to regain her composure. Taking a lick of her chocolate mousse, she placed the bowl on the ground, an air of superiority surrounding her once more. "No, I don't. You're hornless, so you can't practice all the time." Silver Spoon was just about to say something, but Diamond Tiara raised her hoof. "No matter. I must rush to daddy's friend and make him finish the harp by tonight."

Something in the way Diamond said that made Lyra uneasy. If it were any other filly, she'd consider it youthful enthusiasm. This was Diamond Tiara, however. With her things always had the ability to turn for the worst. Lyra stood up, but before she could even ask, the pink filly had left the room. I'm sure it's nothing, she tried to reassure herself, levitating the towel over her face and through her mane. I'm just overthinking things as usual. The fear, however, didn't go away. Lyra waited a bit longer. Silver Spoon had already started replacing the broken strings with new ones. One could only admire her diligence. Not only that, but in her spare time she had been practicing classical harp as well. The young filly had come to the realization that to be able to play aether music, she had to be well versed in the classic hoof techniques. Looking at her, Lyra could only smile with pride.

"Silver," the musician began casually, "is anything happening tonight?" She wasn't expecting any sort of shocking response. A simple "no" would have been enough to reassure her everything was in her head. The guilty look on Silver Spoon, however, told a different story entirely. "Silver" Lyra repeated. "What is happening tonight?"

"Nothing, Miss." That already was a bad sign. "We... I might have argued with a few friends at school who the best musician was."

"Really?" Lyra glared at her. What did you do, filly?

"So I told them I know an artist that is better than Sapphire Shores, Rara and DJ Pon3 combined." Silver continued stringing the harp, keeping its frame between her and Lyra.

"Silver Spoon!" The musician stomped on the floor. What in Equestria made you say that?! Having Diamond Tiara here was bad enough!

"But it's true!" the filly insisted. "Who else plays with both hooves and magic?"

"It's not that simple." Lyra covered her head with the towel. Yes, I'm pretty good with my hooves but I can't come close to Rara and Octavia. As for magic, Vinyl can blow be out of Ponyville without half trying! Just because the sound is different doesn't mean it's better.

Lyra had a mind to tell all this to her student and more. The moment she tossed the towel off her head, though, everything changed. Silver Spoon was looking at her with a mix of hope and expectation. It didn't make it easier that in part Lyra actually wanted to perform in front of an audience. How could she not? All this time in Ponyville and she had practically nothing to show for it. Octavia was the one invited to all the important events, Pinkie was the one who played everything at parties. As far as Everypony was concerned Lyra was nothing more than Bon Bon's goofy marefriend.

I'm so hating myself right now! "What's the plan?" she sighed.

"I gather my class at the edge of the Everfree Forest," Silver Spoon began without a moment's hesitation. Sure, I let you have your way this time, but don't get used to it! Lyra grumbled internally. The things I do for heavy aether. "You play one piece and that's it."

"One piece?" The musician looked at the filly skeptically.

"A-ha."

"No encores?"

"Not one."

"And nopony speaks of this?" Silence. "Silver?"

"Featherweight wanted a few photos for the school paper," Silver Spoon smiled sheepishly. "But nopony other than Di knows who you are!"

There wasn't even any point staying to hear the rest. Without another word Lyra went out of the room, trotted down the corridor and left the mansion. Her mind was so boggled by what had happened that she had no idea what to think. It all seemed like a dream, a nightmare, she was trapped in. At least then she wouldn't have to explain to Bon Bon.

Now I know how Bonnie felt keeping secrets from me. Lyra was unavoidably going to have a talk with her fiancée. Based on Bon Bon's mood, it was going to end either in grumbling or in humiliating laughter. And that was just the easy part. What was she going to do about the rest of Ponyville? Guess I'll have to say goodbye to my respectable name. Bye bye happy Lyra, hello infamy. It'll be as disastrous as the Cutie Mark Crusader's performan—

The musician stopped in her tracks. The Cutie Mark Crusaders! That was the solution! Why didn't she think about to earlier? The performance they had done a few years ago was a catastrophe on so many levels—the decor was laughable, the music was atrocious, the costumes made them look like a bunch of clowns. However, for all their faults, the makeup was exactly what Lyra could use right now. With enough of it she could could make herself absolutely unrecognizable! It didn't have to be good, it only had to transform her into somepony else.

"Perfect!" she shouted, causing everypony around to look at her. Oops. She smiled sheepishly. Definitely too much enthusiasm there. Regardless, it was a glorious idea! Tonight it wasn't going to be Lyra Heartstrings that played, it was going to be—Lyra looked at the the sky—Dark Electra! Yes, that was the face that would bring Heavy Aether to the masses, and then... take over Equestria!

Lyra felt the uncontrollable urge to start cackling right in the street. Before that, however, she needed to get some makeup. And I know just who to see to get it.