Lyra Heartstrings was rather bemused when she found a pony hammering at her parent’s front door. “Lyra!” Moon Dancer roared, bangging her hooves against the painted wood. “Get out here! I need your help right now!” Lyra considered turning and trotting in the opposite direction. She’d picked up the habit of pretending not to be home when angry fillies came calling in college. Still, it was Moon Dancer, and while [i]high strung[/i], she usually knew a crisis from a bunny stampede. It had to be something serious. “Hi Moon Dancer,” Lyra called out, cantering over. “You know I moved, right?” “Lyra!” Moon Dancer rushed over. “Where were you, you won't–” She paused, her eyebrows knitting. “Wait, you moved? When?” “Two years ago.” Her frown deepened. “That can’t be right, I saw you last week... Wait, this isn’t important. I’ve got a cat and a pony claiming to be Daring Do on my lawn and I have no idea how to deal with it! Come on!” She dragged Lyra through Canterlot’s twisting streets. “Oh!” Lyra smiled, sudden understanding washing over her. “So you’ve caught Twilight’s Protagonist Syndrome, interesting.” Moon Dancer stumbled. “Caught what?” she demanded, rounding on Lyra. “Protagonist Syndrome. I discovered it in college.” “You majored in bardic knowledge,” Moon Dancer pointed out. “If you can call that a major. Look, if we’re going to go off on one of your wild theories talk and trot.” She set off at a run. Lyra stuck her tongue out, jogging to catch up. “Love you too, Moonie. But seriously, it's an observable phenomenon. Weird stuff just happens when you’re around Twilight Sparkle. Look at Ponyville, I moved there to find somewhere quiet to work on my music. In six months a dark alicorn attacked, we were visited by a star bear and don’t get me started on the whole superhero thing.” “Is this really relevant?” Moon Dancer grumbled, breathing hard as they raced through the streets. “Twilight’s always been special, it makes sense that she end up somewhere interesting and with more interesting [i]friends[/i].” She failed to hide the note of bitterness. “Ah ha! That’s just the point,” Lyra continued. “When she made friends with the Element Bearers they were just ordinary mares, now they’re globe trotting celebrities. Something changed, and some may say it's destiny or the Elements but I know better. I didn’t study epic poems for two years for nothing after all!” “That was a six month course.” Lyra ignored her. “The answer, you see, is that they’ve all become protagonists and it's still spreading.” “What are you talking about?” she Moon Dancer demanded, skidding to a halt. “Protagonists are literary devices that forward a narrative. The world does not work that way. Magic does not run off literary tropes.” “So what does it run off?” Moon Dancer’s eye twitched. “Lyra, I don’t have time for this. I have two crazy beings on my front step and I need help getting rid of them. Can you please act like the perfectly normal mare I know you are for just five minutes?” “You do know I was once mind-controlled into kidnapping a princess, right?” “Please?” she dropped to her knees. “Just be normal. I can’t handle these crazies on my own.” Lyra sighed. “Okay, fine. I reserve the right to say I told you so. You can’t escape once you’re a protagonist.” A moment later they rounded the corner. Stood on the lawn of Moon Dancer’s house was a pony wearing a pith helmet that had an alarming resemblance to Daring Do, right down to the cutie-mark. She was stood next to a bipedal cat-like creature that was wearing a long, flowing silk robe. “There you are!” Daring exclaimed, hurrying over. “Is this the friend you said you had to get? Princess Felidae and I can’t afford to wait around, I don’t like to use the phrase ‘Fate of Equestria’ often but we really need your help.” “See?” Moon Dancer hissed. “They’re convinced they’re the real deal. What do I do?” Lyra looked between her and Daring Do. “Follow my lead,” she muttered back. “Yes she is!” Lyra exclaimed. “My child prodigy, university researcher friend is ready to help you with your quest to distant climes and save the world. Let me just grab my secret agent fillyfriend while you’re getting ready and we’ll be off.” Moon Dancer spluttered something incoherent about traitors. Daring Do just cocked her head. “And who are you?” “Lyra Heartstrings.” She beamed. “I’m the bard.”