The scent of fresh coffee filled the front of Lyra's house as three ponies and one human girl all sat around the unicorn's living room. Lily ended up taking the entirety of the burgundy loveseat to herself, despite politely sitting upright with her feet on the floor. Lyra and Bon Bon lay on the couch on the opposite side of the room, in a manner that reminded Lily of any cat or dog. Twilight, in the end, decided she was comfortable on the carpet in the center of the room, sitting on her rear legs and facing a direction where she could see both other parties without a problem.
The prior meal had gone, in Lily's opinion, surprisingly well. To her delight, both stir-fry and omelettes were heard of and completely usual in pony society, although Bon Bon had complimented her choice in flavours, having never tasted something "quite like it" before. Out of the three mares in the house, Bon Bon was the only one with any extended cooking experience, and so when she'd started asking Lily about decisions and opinions, the two unicorns weren't able to offer much in the way of conversation until the topic had moved on.
After they'd eaten and after Lyra had finished preparing a new pot of coffee, they'd all moved out to the room they were now sitting in, ready to discuss what Lyra had initially invited her friends over for.
"You'll have to forgive me in advance if I get a little crazy with the questions," Twilight had said, a pencil and notepad hovering idly in front of her, each wrapped in her telltale pink aura. "I promise I'll try to keep myself in check."
Before any questions were asked, Lyra asked Lily to tell the others what she had told her about the clouds and the dreams, and Lily told the story in greater detail than before as Twilight started taking notes. Bon Bon, on the other hand, was finally realizing that a human stranger was a bigger deal than she'd initially thought, and she sat with her body leaned forward, listening with great interest to the tale being told.
"Your friend sounds a lot like Lyra," the earth pony said at one point, earning a subtle roll of the unicorn's eyes. "I'd guess she's pretty impossible to wake in the mornings, isn't she?"
"Completely," Lily answered, smiling in thought. "Even for me, she won't get out of bed until she wants to. It's the one thing she won't cave about."
"Totally lazy, but still worth the trouble~" Bon Bon sang, and Lyra wasn't sure at that point whether she was being referred to or not, considering the subject fit her to a tee.
After Lily's story, Lyra took it upon herself to explain to the others her thoughts as far as the dream theory went. Several times, she had to slow it down and backtrack for Bon Bon's sake, forgetting that she wasn't nearly as studious as herself and Twilight and ending up having to make things more clear and easy to understand. It wasn't that the bright-coated mare was dim in the head, but there were just some things she didn't know enough about to catch on a short mention.
"There's one thing that might not add up, Lyra," Twilight said, letting her notepad drop to the carpet and looking up at the others. "Although your theory seems likely enough to go off of, it all generally only happens when somepony wants something."
"I did want something," Lyra clarified, knowing this has been made clear before. "I wanted to meet somepony else named 'Lyra' yesterday."
"That's not what I mean," the other unicorn frowned. "I mean something really strongly. Like you said at one point, something like a love, or a goal; a hope, a wish. This is nothing short of a... random whim, when you look at it."
"It was, yeah, but not every case was that dire. You can't deny that the idea fits."
"No, but, still!"
Lily and Bon Bon listened to the topic go back and forth for what came to nine minutes, as both unicorns attempted to tell the other she was looking at it the wrong way despite the two trying to do nothing except come to an agreement. For Bon Bon, she had seen Lyra hold these kind of minor arguments before, most often with other studious unicorns. Lily, however, wasn't able to make too much of the whole thing. While she could understand the things being said, none of the concepts meant very much to her, and she had other things to be concerned with, despite the conversation being very related.
Looking across the room at the human girl, Bon Bon noticed the elsewhere look on her face. Stepping off the couch -- an action that neither unicorn gave much consideration at that moment -- the earth pony trotted over to the loveseat, hopping onto the side opposite of Lily and giving her a greeting smile.
"Those two could be at it a while," she stated, a rare moment of playful snide in her tone. "But you look a little lost over here. Want to keep talking? I'd be happy to listen."
"I think I'd like that," Lily replied, turning to face her new company and bringing her legs up in front of her, wrapping her arms around them. "Of course I want to know why I'm here, but..." The girl's voice trailed off as she considered the situation around her. "... I'm really just more concerned about other things right now," she finished, watching Bon Bon sit herself comfortably on the opposite cushion.
"You're worried about your friend, aren't you?" asked the pony, her voice full of understanding. "I'd be thinking about Lyra and the others if I was suddenly far from home, too."
Lily nodded her head. "It's all just sort of hitting me now. When I first awoke with Lyra, for a while everything still felt dream-like, so I didn't really think to panic or get excited. Now that reality is settling in... even when I tell myself to keep my head forward and my thoughts optimistic, I'm still worrying."
The red-headed girl turned to look at the others for the moment, Twilight now on all four hooves as she held her notepad near Lyra's face, trying to prove some point. "It's only been a few hours since this happened, but at the same time, it feels like it all happened a little too fast, you know?"
"I know what you mean," Bon Bon murmured, watching the continued argument with something of a chuckle. "A lot of things can happen far too fast for somepony to know what to do, either for better or for worse. It can be really scary, and sometimes it becomes too scary to move on."
Bon Bon looked back to the girl beside her, staring upward into her light indigo eyes. "But sometimes, that little light inside you urges you to go on. The little fighting voice that tells you, you have to keep going, and do your best for yourself and the ones you care about."
The earth pony leaned forward, lightly jabbing a hoof into Lily's chest, holding it there.
"You should listen to it."
Lily momentarily paused, not out of fear or invasion of personal space, but out of something resembling awe. Somehow, this pony in front of her possessed levels of empathy and understanding that far exceeded even her own. Lily had never once mentioned the sheer amount of talking she'd done in her own thoughtscape since waking up, but somehow she knew that Bon Bon already knew all about it.
"Yeah," she finally replied, smiling to the sweethearted soul in front of her. "You're right. I've got to make the best of this... otherwise Lyn wouldn't be very pleased with me."
You're damn right I wouldn't, Lyn's voice chided, that mixture of scolding and care in her words. Listen to the adorable pony in front of you.
"It'll be okay," encouraged Bon Bon, bringing her hoof back to her own body. "Twilight and Lyra are the strongest unicorns in Ponyville. If anypony can find a solution and get you back home, it's the two of them."
"Girls," another voice interjected. Lily and Bon Bon looked over to see Lyra facing them. "Okay, Twilight and I don't think we can come to a conclusion right now," the minty unicorn continued, once she knew she had their attention. "We're both going to look into this separately and talk to some other ponies, but for now, we just don't know enough about it. What we do know is that, regardless of the cause, Lily, you're here now, and we have to do what we can about that."
"You'll let her stay here, right?" Bon Bon pleaded, almost as if she expected Lyra to suddenly throw her new guest onto the streets of Ponyville.
Lyra cocked an eyebrow. "Of course I will," she replied, apparently taking the unspoken accusation at face value. "What kind of mare do you think I am, Bons? You're a silly pony." The earth pony only beamed at this response, and Lyra wasn't sure whether it was due to the teasing or the affirmation that Lily had a place to stay, but she chuckled nonetheless. "You two look like you're getting along fine; maybe you should take her home instead, girl."
"Oh, but there's nowhere for her to sleep," Bon Bon said, knowing Lyra knew this on her own. Bon Bon's house was only a tiny little cottage near the edge of town, large enough only to house one pony and not much more. Her confectionery shop was barely two minutes of walking away, and on the upper floor Bon Bon owned an even smaller living space, which she sometimes stayed at after long days or when she was feeling particularly lazy. "Although, I guess I could just stay in the shop," she mused, considering the logistics of the matter to herself.
"Bons," Lyra laughed, shaking her head. "I was joking. You really do like her, don't you?"
"I just want to make sure Lily is okay!" the other pony protested, her cheeks flushing innocently. "Stop teasing meee," she whined, putting her hooves over her head as her ears flopped down.
"Anyways, girls," Twilight cut in awkwardly, smiling and feeling her position at that point to be something of a third -- or perhaps fourth -- wheel. "I'm going to go home and think about this, and I'll probably ask the princess about her thoughts on the matter." The lavender unicorn picked up her belongings, turning to address Lyra. "We'll keep in touch, okay? I definitely don't want to let this one slip away."
"Sure thing, Twi," Lyra nodded, understanding how excited Twilight was, holding the same feelings herself. "Just remember; no research labs."
"I promise!" Twilight grinned, turning toward the front door. "See you later, everypony."
As Twilight left, the room stayed quiet for a moment, as the three girls each tried to determine what to do from there. However, it didn't take long for Lily's imagination to catch up with her, and she was the first to break the silence.
"Wait," she spoke, replaying the words in her head. "Did she say 'princess' there?"
"That she did," replied Lyra, jumping off the couch and landing neatly on all hooves. "Twilight is the princess's personal protégé. It's why she's even better with magic than I am."
"Who is this princess?" Lily inquired, a dozen other questions already at the tip of her tongue as she sat straight up again. "Is there a prince too? A queen?"
"Nothing quite like that," Bon Bon answered, recognizing the interest in the girl's voice. "Princess Celestia is the ruler of Equestria. She raises the sun each morning and looks after all the other ponies. Her sister, Princess Luna, looks after the night while we rest."
Like many other things she'd come to learn or witness in the short time she had been there, Lily's thoughts entirely bypassed concepts such as a pony raising the sun in the mornings, in order to pursue things of much more direct and pressing interest.
"I don't... I don't suppose the princesses are unicorns also?" she asked, the thought of her silly cloud dream surfacing once more.
To this, Lyra rolled her eyes. "For goodness' sake," she laughed, rubbing her head with an amused look on her face. "You aren't going to let 'Princess Unicornia' go until you actually get to meet her, now are you?"
"Could I really meet her?" Lily continued, oblivious to Lyra's teasing as her eyes lit up. "I mean, she's royalty, so probably not, but that would be... so..."
"Slow the boat there, girl," the green unicorn said, holding a hoof up. "To be perfectly honest, it probably wouldn't be that hard for you to meet the princess if you really wanted. As we said, Twilight is her student, and Canterlot is only a train ride away from Ponyville... If you go outside, you can see Canterlot Castle up on the mountain from here."
"A... castle up on the mountain top? Where the... unicorn princess lives... "
As these words left Lily's mouth, she stared blankly in the direction of one of Lyra's walls, as if trying to decipher at that moment what made them so perfectly sand-coloured. Lyra, not being far off from Lily's line of sight, idly waved a hoof, receiving no response for her troubles. Bon Bon giggled at this, sitting upright and nudging the human girl with her head, trying to stir her from her trance.
"She's totally lost in her own fantasy, isn't she?" came Lyra's voice, unheard by Lily's ears.
"I think so," the earth pony agreed, climbing onto the back of the loveseat and leaning against the back of Lily's neck. "Equestria to Lily!" she said, bumping her hoof against the short red hair. "Come in, Lily!"
"Uwaa," was the response, as Lily suddenly realized there was a mass of living weight on her shoulders. She turned her head and found herself faced with two great shining cyan eyes, staring at her full of life.
"Hi!" Bon Bon greeted her, as if nothing was amiss.
"H-Hi," Lily blushed, the distance between their faces closer than the girl was used to, from anyone save Lyn.
A mischievous expression crossed Lyra's face as her horn glowed, her thoughts revolving around how to make the situation even funnier for herself, but while she knew how far she could push her best friend, she didn't feel it right to test the waters with someone she barely knew. Redirecting her thoughts at the last moment to a white mug on the table, she lifted it over to herself, peering inside and cursing as she realized she was out of coffee again.
"Anyways Lily," she spoke, reluctantly breaking the amusing scene before her. "I'll talk to Twi about the princess, but let's focus on things a little more important for now, okay?"
The human girl turned back around as Bon Bon hopped off her shoulders, looking toward Lyra and realizing what point in the conversation they were at. "Oh," she replied quietly. "Yes, of course. Don't worry about me."
"Also, to answer your first question: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are pegasus unicorns. That is to say, they have traits of both, and are two of only few to possess both these traits." Fully expecting this information to send Lily into another fit of glee, Lyra realized at that point that something had been left out. "Oh," she added. "There are pegasus ponies here too. They have wings and fly with them, as you could guess."
"I... see!" Lily responded after a moment, and both mares could tell she was doing her best to contain herself. "Are there any other kinds of ponies?" she asked, hoping that continued conversation would help her stay focused.
"Not that we're aware of," Lyra said, walking her empty mug to the kitchen and raising her voice so she could be heard from the other room. "There are other creatures, but you've already heard a few of those mentioned. As far as ponies go, that's all."
"Hey Lyra," Bon Bon spoke up, her sweet voice carrying to the kitchen without the need to raise the volume. "Nopony will be too thrown to see Lily walking the streets, will they? I think it would be better for us to introduce her to Ponyville personally instead of sitting around the house explaining how things work to her."
"You just want to take her for a walk, don't you?" came Lyra's voice, a hint of slyness in her tone. "It's okay, Bons, you can just admit it."
"Oh, would you cut that out!"
To Lily's surprise -- and brief alarm -- Bon Bon leapt right off the couch, flying across the room and landing in the doorway to the next room, cantering away at a speed Lily felt was probably not safe indoors. A few moments later, there was an audible thump of some sort, followed by Lyra crying out in pain. Bon Bon trotted proudly back into the sitting room, her head held high as she climbed back onto the loveseat with Lily as if nothing had happened.
"Forget what I told you, Lily!"
Following her statement, Lyra walked back into the room, nursing the top of her head with one hoof. In the other, her mug was steaming once more, and Lily began to wonder if the unicorn lived off coffee. "She's nothing like you at all," Lyra continued, meandering back to the larger couch. "That mare is a total demon. Don't let her looks deceive you."
Lily looked down at the pony beside her, eyeing her with a look of contemplation.
Bon Bon just smiled.