The beast roared. It was as tall as three ponies, with dark fur, vicious claws, and beady, glowing eyes. It looked mean, and it looked mad, and I had no idea what to do about it.

Behind me, Rainbow Dash looked similarly worried, and I couldn’t imagine it was a good idea to be near anything that worried Rainbow Dash. I took a step back, and my wings twitched, ready to flee.

My name is Lyra Heartstrings. I suppose you’re wondering how I ended up here.

The day started out as most Hearth’s Warmings Eves did - the sky was bright, the snow was white, and I was shopping for a present for Bon Bon. You might think this is because of a lack of foresight on my part, but it is actually because Bon Bon is impossible to shop for. What does one get the secret agent who has everything? It’s a question that has become much more common than I ever expected.

Regardless, I was going to find her something, just like I did every year, had a certain someone not intervened.

“Come one, come all!” was the first thing I heard, and really, I should have turned around and walked away. But instead, much like everypony else, I found the image of Discord dressed as Santa Hooves in the middle of the square impossible to ignore.

“Welcome, welcome, fillies and gentlecolts! Tis I, the Spirit of Giving, here to fill your hearts and your hooves with holiday cheer! Come, tell me what it is you wish for Hearth’s Warming, and I shall grant your every desire!”

This had to be some kind of trick. Everypony in Ponyville knew better than to take Discord at face value. “What’s going on?” I asked the pony next to me. Carrot Top, probably.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she replied. “He just showed up in that ridiculous getup and has been granting wishes to ponies.”

“What, actual wishes? Not fake ‘gotcha’ wishes?”

Carrot Top nodded. “Apparently. I asked him for a bountiful harvest next year, and he said he had done it, but some ponies’ wishes are easier to check.”

So I watched. In the next few minutes, he gave Roseluck a beautiful flower that didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen before, gave Amethyst a day planner with some magical property I didn’t catch but which she seemed very happy with, and gifted Derpy an endlessly-refilling, unspillable basket of muffins.

Finally, he turned and looked directly at me, and winked, I kid you not. “And what do you want for Hearth’s Warming, dear Lyra? Surely you are not going to simply stand there and watch all day?”

I hadn’t expected him to address me directly. It wasn’t something ponies - or creatures, I suppose - like him normally did. But I also wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste. “You can grant any wish, right? Not just, like, presents and stuff?”

Discord grinned. “Of course! No wish is too large for the Spirit of Giving.”

This was my one chance. You see that, right? I had to take it. “I want to be important,” I told him. “I’m tired of being in the background all the time. I want to be somepony.”

Discord grinned. “As you desire.” He held up a claw, and snapped.

I blinked, and everything changed.

“Lyra! I’m so glad I found you, it’s an emergency!” I turned, and found that Twilight Sparkle was running towards me, out of breath. She had a wild-eyed look to her, and she only barely stopped herself before plowing straight into me.

It took me a moment to process, I admit. Twilight had basically forgotten I existed when she moved to Ponyville and made her new friends, and she certainly had never spoken to me like that, especially after being made a Princess. “That was fast,” I blurted, before I realized just how much was different.

I was still in the market square, yes, but Carrot Top and more importantly Discord were gone. And something about Twilight was… off. You know how when you get used to something, it’s hard to notice when it’s changed? It’s funny, then, how used I was to Princess Twilight that I couldn’t figure out that she didn’t have wings even when it was staring me right in the face.

“What?” she asked, and that was enough to distract me from trying to figure out what was wrong about her.

“Oh, sorry, nothing,” I lied. “What’s the emergency? I’d be happy to help!”

“Oh, it’s so terrible! Rarity and Applejack got into an argument, and now they say they aren’t friends anymore! Isn’t it awful? Please, you have to help them!”

It is now that I must shamefully admit that the words ‘why me’ left my mouth. How ironic, that after being given exactly what I asked for, my first instinct was to reject it. I could claim I was confused, that I didn’t fully understand what had happened, but perhaps that’s even more damning evidence of what I’m like, deep down.

Twilight, for her part, didn’t even miss a beat. “You’re the Princess! It has to be you!”

That was what made me double-check Twilight’s back. More importantly, that was what made me check my own back. I screamed. It wasn’t dignified. And then I made an even less dignified excuse to Twilight. Can we skip over this part? Yes? It’s my story? Great.

By the time Twilight had led me to Rarity’s boutique I had calmed down somewhat about the fact that I had wings and was apparently a Princess. Twilight didn’t seem to care that I was freaking out - she was still carrying on blithely about how Rarity and Applejack had ended up fighting but I confess I wasn’t really paying any attention. I had bigger problems, like the fact that I’d given Discord a very simple request and he’d decided the best way to fulfill it was to rewrite all of reality.

“Oh, Twilight! Lyra! Oh, thank goodness you’re here, I’ve just been so distraught!” Rarity was at the door, mascara running down her cheeks and a tub of ice cream in her magic. She returned inside, leaving the door open, and by the time Twilight and I followed, she’d thrown herself onto a fainting couch. “I just can’t imagine Applejack would say such terrible things to me!” she continued. “How could she be so cruel?”

Personally, I would have elaborated, but Rarity apparently decided that was enough wailing and switched to shoveling down ice cream instead. Twilight looked at me expectantly, and when I didn’t do anything, she gave a not-so-subtle jerk of her head.

I didn’t have a clue how to comfort Rarity. After all, I barely ever talked to her. But here she was, treating me like a friend—or at least, someone she trusted enough to cry in front of. So I decided to start by clarifying a few things. “What… exactly did Applejack say to you?”

“She was so rude!” Rarity exclaimed, ice cream apparently forgotten. “She said my latest design… wasn’t! Practical!”

I waited for more, but she’d gone back to the ice cream. “...is that it?”

“What else would there need to be? After she stuck such a dagger through my heart? Surely she must have been raised in a barn, to be so uncouth!”

Everypony knew Applejack was raised in a barn. I wasn’t sure why Rarity was bringing it up.

“Well… are your designs… supposed to be practical?” I was just fishing here. It’s not like I knew anything about dresses.

“Of course not! They’re gowns!”

“So… are they practical?”

“Well… no.”

“So Applejack was just… being honest.”

Rarity paused, and put her ice cream down. “You know, I never thought of it like that,” she said. Suddenly she was looking thoughtful, like I’d delivered some great epiphany. And then before I knew it, she was up and all smiles again. “You’re right, Lyra! Oh, I must go and apologize to her at once. Whatever would we do if we didn’t have you around?”

And then she was just gone, happy as a clam. Did I miss something? Was Rarity actually that dramatic? What the hay?

Before Twilight could leave as well, I pulled her aside. “Hey, Twilight. I’m a princess, right? Does that mean I have a castle?”

Twilight looked at me like I was insane, which I ignored. “Of course.”

It turns out that having wings is not the same thing as using wings, in case you’re curious. Fortunately, there are other benefits to being a Princess - if I told a pony to forget that they’d seen me crash headlong into the dirt, they did! Or, well, they told me they would, anyway. Close enough.

More ponies said hello to me on the way to the castle at the edge of town than normally talked to me in a week. Most of them wanted my opinion on something, or for me to answer some question, or solve some issue they were having. Fortunately, giving an opinion was easy, and I just told the others I was on Important Princess Business and that made them leave me alone.

The castle was absolutely massive, even bigger than the gaudy crystal thing Twilight had. Mine was all bronzes and golds, complete with pennants and sculptures and a million balconies. It was gorgeous. I almost couldn’t set hoof inside. I mean, even with wings and everyone calling me “Your Highness” there was still a large part of me that was sure a guard would throw me out the moment I crossed the threshold.

I went inside anyway. I mean, how could I not? The entrance hall was just as opulent as I’d expected. There was a fancy carpet and nice art on the walls, and most importantly, a giant pile of presents in one corner under the biggest Hearth’s Warming tree I’d ever seen.

I was still fawning over those—I mean, examining my tribute carefully—when Spike walked in. “Hey Lyra,” he said. “Welcome back. Did you get your shopping done?”

I facehoofed. At the very least, I had a really good excuse for getting sidetracked. “Shoot. Uh, can’t we like, requisition something? Or… maybe I can use one of these… there’s so many I probably don’t need all of them…”

Spike came over. “I don’t think that’s how royal requisitions work,” he said.

“Well, nothing’s perfect,” I muttered. “Wait, hold on… where’s Bon Bon’s pile? Surely she has some admirers, right?”

Spike blinked at me. “Bon Bon? That’s… the candy shop mare, right? Why would she have a pile?”

I laughed at him. “Because she’s my wife? Duh?”

Spike looked at me like I was insane, which I ignored. “What are you talking about?”

The bell jingled when I opened up the door to the candy shop, exactly as I remembered it. Everything was where it was supposed to be. Really, it was the only familiar thing I’d seen so far. I’d already had to dodge several strange ponies just walking up to ask me questions on the way here. But this shop, with its pale yellow walls and sweet scents, this place felt safe.

“Your Highness! What an honor!” Bon Bon emerged from the back and immediately lowered herself into a bow.

“Oh come on, Bonnie,” I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need to bow.”

“Oh!” she said, and when she rose she looked surprised. “You know who I am? I’m honored. Did you want some candy? For the Princess, it’s on the house.”

Now that wasn’t right. “Of course I know who you are,” I said, but this time I wasn’t as confident. There was still laughter there, but it was nervous. Surely she was kidding. “We’re married, you dork.”

She frowned, and I could almost see the gears working in her head. Bonnie loved a good mystery, was always trying to figure the world out, but this… this was something I was sure she’d already gotten the solution to. “I’m not sure what you mean, Your Highness. I’m just a simple confectioner.”

I stepped forward, but she stepped back, and I stopped. I didn’t know what to say. “Bonnie, come on. We’ve known each other for years. We proposed last fall, at the same time. We had this lovely wedding in Everfree Park, and you were crying so much you tripped over your dress. Our first dance was She, because it was your favorite, but you were embarrassed and told everypony it was mine. Don’t you remember?”

Bon Bon paled, and picked her words very carefully. “I think… you clearly have a very detailed idea of what happened, but… I’m sorry, I don’t.”

I took a deep breath, and wiped away my tears. “I should have known it was too good to be true. Of course Discord would do something like this.”

“Discord escaped?” Bon Bon asked, her face scrunched up in that adorable way it did when she was trying so hard to put everything together. “He changed something? That’s why you remember things differently?”

I nodded.

Bon Bon smiled, all confusion vanishing as the picture made sense to her. “Then I’m sure you’ll set things right. You’re the Princess! You would never let Discord win. It’ll be okay.”

I felt my heart sing and break, all at the same time. I don’t know how else to describe it. She was radiant and beautiful and had utmost faith in me… and she didn’t know what she was to me. “I’ll try,” I whispered.

I wasn’t the Princess she thought I was. But at the very least, I could still give Discord a piece of my mind.

“DISCORD!” I bellowed as soon as I left the shop. “I know you’re watching. Probably having a good laugh at my expense. I know, I should have known better. You’ve had your fun, now get back here and fix it.”

No one answered me. Instead, I heard a cheery voice from behind me. “Oh hey Lyra! Who ya talking to?”

I turned around to find Pinkie bouncing in place with a basket full of sweets in one hoof. “Nobody,” I said, before my brain caught up with my mouth. “No, wait, not nobody. Pinkie, you know everypony. How do I find Discord?”

Pinkie cocked her head. “Discord? He’s still a statue, silly! We defeated him, remember?” She giggled. “Besides, I’ve been looking all over for you! You promised you’d help me make pastries for the schoolponies’ bake sale.”

“I did?”

“Of course! Come on, there’s no time to lose! Those fillies and colts need our help!” She posed dramatically, one hoof pointing boldly into the distance.

I blinked, and suddenly we were in Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen. I screamed again. “What just happened?”

Pinkie looked at me like I was insane, which I ignored. “A scene change, silly! Nopony has time to watch us walk.”

“But—we were just—that doesn’t make any sense!”

“Of course it makes sense,” Pinkie said mildly, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. “We said we were going here, and now we’re here! What’s odd about that? I mean, if we’d shown up somewhere else, like your castle, or Manehattan, now that wouldn’t make sense! I mean, really, talk about continuity errors! I remember one time—”

“Pinkie!”

“Oh, right,” she said sheepishly. “We’re supposed to be baking.” She zipped between three different cabinets, and in a moment her hooves were full of bowls and utensils and all manner of baking supplies, and she rattled off a list of ingredients for me to fetch that was far too long for me to repeat here. Besides, I wasn’t listening and I didn’t do it. I didn’t have time for Pinkie’s nonsense.

“I’ll get right on that,” I lied, and walked right out the door.

I took two steps before Cloud Kicker flew up to me and started going on about some weather thing. As soon as I got away from her, it was Aloe and Lotus, and then Roseluck, and then Fluttershy. What had been an amusing annoyance mere minutes ago was now an unacceptable delay. I needed to think, I needed to find Discord, and I couldn’t get a moment for a coherent thought, let alone a plan.

I needed a moment alone. I needed to get out of Ponyville, where nopony could bother me for a minute, I needed—

“So, uhm, did you think you could help? Um, Lyra? Are you listening?”

“No!” I yelled. “I don’t care. I have bigger problems than… whatever it is you want.”

Don’t judge me. I know, I shouldn’t have yelled at Fluttershy. But it’s not like she’s my Fluttershy, right? Besides, I felt plenty guilty as soon as she ran away. But I still didn’t waste the opportunity to flee out of town before anypony else could interrupt.

I made it farther than I expected to, but it didn’t help. I got as far as the edge of the Everfree before Rainbow Dash swooped down out of the sky.

“Lyra! Thank Celestia you’re here. The felbeast is gonna be here any second now. What’s the plan?”

“The what?”

“The felbeast! Come on, we’ve been tracking it for like a week. Big monster? Glowing eyes? Broke out of Tartarus or something? How could you have forgotten?”

“Um.” There was a roar from deep in the trees. “I don’t suppose I could get a rain check on that plan thing?”

I took a step back. The felbeast took a step forward. I met Rainbow’s gaze, and for a moment she looked hopeful. Then that expression faded as I turned around and broke into a gallop. “Run!”

I heard a roar behind me, and then heavy footfalls as the beast gave chase. I couldn’t lead the thing back into Ponyville, so I instead headed for the outskirts of town, the farmlands along the edge of the forest. I didn’t know what running would accomplish other than buying me a few moments, but I didn’t have any better ideas.

“Having some trouble, are we?” That voice didn’t belong to Rainbow Dash, and more importantly, it was coming from just behind my ear.

“Discord!” I hissed, risking a glance back. He was tiny, casually perched on my back, still in his Santa Hooves costume. “About time you showed up! Get me out of here!”

Discord smirked. “Are you not enjoying your wish?” He gestured around us. “I gave you exactly what you asked for. You’re the most important pony in everyone’s life. Didn’t you see how many presents were in your castle? If you think about it, in a roundabout way they’re all from me and I do expect gratitude.”

“I don’t care about presents!” I yelled. “You got me into this, so get me out of here before this thing eats me!”

Discord wagged a claw at me. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Miss Heartstrings. You’re going to have to figure this one out on your own. But I have the utmost confidence in your abilities. You are a Princess, after all.” There was another roar from behind us, and Discord turned his entire upper body without moving his legs. “Oh dear. Better hurry. Ta ta, Princess.”

Before I could respond, he vanished. I glanced back again, and found that the monster was right behind me. It swiped at me with a claw the size of my head, and I ducked.

“Now!”

There was a flash of light, a roar, and I felt the air as something massive rushed over me. I looked up, and found the beast holding up one claw to block a stream of purple magic, before a lasso wrapped around its arm and pulled it back.

Rainbow Dash flew down to put her weight behind Applejack’s rope, and Twilight stepped forward, straining to put more power into her blast. The beast roared and tried to swipe at the rope holding it, but a blast of confetti exploded in its face, and it roared and stumbled back. Just before one of its paws came down where I was cowering, hooves wrapped around mine and pulled me away.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes big and worried. Next to her, Rarity let go and stepped between me and the beast, even as I saw Applejack snare another leg with rope.

“I think so,” I gasped. “Where did you… but why would you—I was so mean to you—”

“Apologize later, darling,” Rarity called out. “We still haven’t dealt with this thing.”

“These ropes ain’t gonna hold it long!” Applejack added. “If you’re gonna do something, now’s the time!”

Twilight stepped forward, her blasts fading away as she charged up another spell. But then the beast snapped one of the ropes and took a swipe at her. She yelped, conjured a hasty shield, and backed away. “Lyra, help!” she yelled. “You need to seal it!”

“But—”

“Now!”

I still didn’t know what I was doing, but I got up anyway, and focused on a spell. I didn’t have a plan, but as soon as I tapped into the well of power in my center, I felt it rush out, more powerful than anything I’d ever felt in my life. I aimed my horn at the felbeast, and let that power pour out of me.

The only way to describe it was electric. If you’ve never felt an alicorn’s power before… it’s something else. It was terrifying, exhilarating, awesome. My entire body felt like it was singing. And when the spell faded, the beast was gone. At first I thought perhaps I’d simply vaporized it, but then there was a squeak, and a tiny creature that looked almost like a rabbit climbed up out of the crater that definitely hadn’t been there a second ago. Fluttershy cooed and flew over to collect it.

“Yeah!” Rainbow yelled, flying down to land nearby. “Awesome!”

“Nicely done, Lyra,” Twilight added. “In this state, I’ll be able to study it for some time. There’s so much we don’t know about these creatures, or how this one escaped…”

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Fluttershy murmured, returning with the shrunken felbeast. “That must have been very scary.”

I took a moment to process. “Why are you being so nice to me?” I finally asked. “I was so rude to all of you, and I didn’t listen, or do what I said I’d do, or—”

“Because you’re our friend, dear,” Rarity cut in. “You had a bad day, but you apologize and make up. That’s what friends do.”

“But I’m not!” I protested. “This isn’t real. It’s all one of Discord’s schemes, probably to teach me a lesson or something. You barely know me, and I’m not a Princess, and I’ve been terrible to you. I’m sorry.”

Pinkie giggled. “It’s real to us, isn’t it?” she asked. “I don’t know about you, but you feel like a friend to me! And we can see that you’re sorry, and you came through when it counted! That’s good enough for me.”

The others made various murmurs of agreement, before Twilight spoke up again. “You say this is Discord’s doing? That seems pretty serious. I thought he was still locked in stone, though.”

“Yours might be, but mine isn’t,” I replied. “He’s been reformed for ages. But that doesn’t mean his ideas are always good ones.” I sighed. “I wished to be important, and he did this. Made up this fake world where everypony loves me.”

“You sure it’s fake?” Applejack asked. “Feels pretty real to me. And I don’t know much ‘bout Discord, but I like you because you’re a good, honest pony. Not ‘cause Discord made me.”

I smiled. “Really?”

“Of course, darling! You’ve been a bright addition to our lives ever since you moved here,” Rarity responded. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

I laughed. Maybe just because this whole day had been too much, and maybe because I was starting to hope that it could be salvaged. But it didn’t last. “Well, you may like me, but… there’s another pony who should be here, but isn’t. I know I’ve been a terrible friend to you all these past few hours, and I’ll help you however you want afterwards, but… would it be alright if you helped me with something important first?”

Pinkie giggled. “Of course, silly!”

The bell jingled as I walked into the candy shop. Bon Bon stepped out of the back, but this time I was the one on my knees before she could bow. She opened her mouth, confused, but I was faster. “Bonnie, I know you don’t remember me, or us, or what we were. But I do, and it was the most magical thing in my life. I didn’t know I was doing it, but I threw that away. And that was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, and I’ve made a lot of those. I wanted power, and fame, and for ponies to love me. But you already did, and that should have been enough. It was enough. And so I’m here to tell you that I would throw away these wings in a heartbeat if it meant you would love me again.”

Hesitantly, my hooves shaking, I pulled out the little box that Rarity had helped pick out. “So I’m here to ask… again… if you would marry me, Bon Bon. Not because I’m a Princess, but because I love you.”

This is where it could all go horribly wrong. I dared to look up to see Bon Bon’s reaction… and she was frozen in place. Her mouth was open in shock, but there was a blush on her cheeks, which I hoped was a good sign. “Bonnie?” I whispered, when there was no response.

That’s when I heard the fingersnap behind me, and the candy shop dissolved into a swirling blue void. I spun, and behind me was Discord, the only other being present in whatever limbo he’d brought me to.

Discord raised his arms into three slow claps. “Well done,” he said, and he actually sounded impressed. “I wasn’t sure you could do it.”

I glared at him. “Really? This was all some test? Of course I love Bon Bon! I love her more than anything! Why would you think that needed testing?”

Discord smirked. “Oh, you silly thing. That wasn’t what the test was about. Everyone knows how sappy you two are.” He stepped forward and pointed at me. “It was about you. To teach you something about yourself. What did you learn?”

“That Bon Bon is more important than anything else.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “No, not that. You were willing to give up your new wings for her, certainly. What about your new friends? I didn’t hear you offer those.”

I hesitated. “I… Bon Bon wouldn’t ask me to abandon my friends, and I thought you said I couldn’t go back, so I thought maybe…”

“I said I couldn’t help you out of that particular pickle, not that I couldn’t send you back. Fluttershy banned permanent changes to the multiverse ages ago, anyway.” Discord spread his hands, and an image of the conversation I’d had in the field appeared between them. Ponies were laughing and talking as I explained my plan to propose, offering suggestions and ideas. “Does that friendship seem fake to you?” he asked. “You don’t have to give it up. You just never gave yourself the chance. You thought Twilight had moved past you, and you didn’t try.”

“I…”

Discord dismissed the image with a snap. “But what do I know, anyway? I’ve spent enough time on you, there are so many other fillies and colts waiting for me. Ta ta.”

“Wait—”

Before I could finish, I found myself back in the market square. I looked at my back, and the wings were gone. Well, I hadn’t really expected I’d get to keep those anyway.

The clock tower bell tolled, and I cursed. I still needed a present for Bon Bon! I scanned the shops, but my gaze stopped halfway through as I saw Twilight walking out of one, her wings back where they should be.

I hesitated for just a moment. But then…

“Hey! Twilight!”

“Oh! Lyra, hello. What do you need?”

“I was wondering if… well, if Bon Bon and I could come over sometime. Catch up.”

Twilight smiled. “Of course you can. You’re welcome at the castle anytime. In fact, why don’t you come over tonight? We could always use more company for Hearth’s Warming.”

I stopped. “Wait, really?”

Twilight laughed, and pushed me playfully with one hoof. “Of course, silly. All you had to do was ask.”