[Chapter 21]
Lifeline
Andrew, Lyra, and Princess Luna casually strolled casually along the dirt road back to town. For Andrew, the sun-changing-direction thingy was one hell of a show and so amazing that it flicked the mental switch in his brain from 'madly depressed' to 'partially crazy' to 'perfectly sane'. From that moment on, he was a different person. Or at least a better person than before. The Princess was able to gain his full respect and began feeling infinitely better for knowing she had the power to send him to Earth and back in his own reality. However, a few things were still unclear.
“What about my body?” he asked. “Can you make me human again?”
Luna didn't have an answer to that.
“Um...” Luna stopped walking, staring straight ahead. The other two did the same.
Andrew noticed the Princess' nervous stare. “Right?”
“I'm not sure. We have a spell for teleportation and a spell for shape shifting, but both together take a significant about of magic to preform. Attempts have been unsuccessful in the past.”
“So no guarantees?” Andrew said.
“Well-”
Andrew sighed and grunted at the same time. He murmured incoherently under his breath and started walking again with his head low. A knot formed in his throat.
“Forgive me for assuming,” Luna explained, trotting to catching up with him. “But I am confident everything will go accordingly.”
“Not good enough,” he mumbled.
Lyra ran up behind them. “Oh come on, Andrew. I'm sure it'll be fine.”
“Easy for you to say, Miss Heart... something,” he argued, making a face at her. Right then, a recurring thought made its way into his mind and begged him to say it out loud. “Hey, I almost forgot, why are everyone's names... like... not names? They're just words, not exactly real names. Your name, Lyra, is pretty much the only real name around here. I mean sure it's a star constellation, but still.”
Luna and Lyra were lost at this point. It's as if he didn't care enough about the issue to stay on topic. Even when that topic involved changing him back to his original human form. However, the question still floated among the two ponies.
“I thought the same, too,” Lyra answered. “Lyra was a name I started calling myself because I wasn't too fond of my actual name, Heartstrings. I like the sound of Lyra.”
“Why doesn't everyone else do that, too?” he questioned.
“I depends on what you like, I guess. I'm sure some ponies are not satisfied with their own names.”
“What about the buildings and houses and stuff? How do you construct them without hands?” Lyra was ready to answer that one, but he interrupted with a different question. “And what about government here? I mean, it's like a monarchy, right? Kings and queens maybe?”
“Please, Andrew,” Luna cut him off. “There is simply not enough time to answer all of your questions in depth. I prefer you ask more important questions.”
“Why am I here?” he mumbled rapidly.
…
There was a silence. Unbeknown to Luna, Andrew was waiting for her to respond, but she seemed completely oblivious that it was directed at her. Luna glanced back at him.
“OH! Pardon me.” She cleared her throat. “What was your question again?”
“Why am I here?” he spoke slowly, as if speaking to an uneducated child. “You didn't actually answer that question the first time we met.”
“I didn't?” Luna made a funny expression.
“No. You used that freaky spell, remember? The one that almost killed me. You said you'd find out the reason I'm here. I know I'm not just here on a whim, and why I'm a freaky hybrid and not a regular... pony?”
“Those questions may take longer to answer. I may need to take a closer look.” Luna thought about the word 'hybrid' he used to describe her species. It was more of a derogatory term rather than an accurate description, but wasn't quick to correct him.
“At what?”
“Your mind.”
“Alright.”
“Wait wait,” Lyra cut in. “Are you sure about this?” she asked him.
“Yep.”
“But what about what happened last time?”
“We can get around that, right? I'm sure we'll figure it out, right? We know what to expect, ...right?”
“You must not underestimate magic,” Luna stated. “It is far more complicated than you can imagine. I myself do not know every mystery behind magic and neither does my sister. Nopony does. It is not a simple spell to forge. Not from the amount of magic needed, but from the intricate complexities of the spell.”
“You guys have to show me how to use magic.” He almost hesitated. “It's really weird for me to say that.”
“Does you species not use magic?” Luna asked.
“From where I come from, magic doesn't exist.”
“Why not?”
“I don't know, it just doesn't. Magic doesn't follow our laws of physics. It's all superstition and hoaxes.”
Princess Luna and Lyra ceased walking again. Andrew didn't look at the ponies with his answers. He thought the ponies would accept everything he said to them judging by how polite and nice they were, but he was wrong.
“Wait halt!” Luna voiced. Andrew obeyed and turned around. “That doesn't make any sense.”
“What do you mean?” he said.
“If magic does not exist in your realm, how were you able to transform into a pony? Your reality must contain magic.”
“Or maybe our universe collided with theirs,” Lyra suggested. “He did teleport by accident.”
“That's what I thought,” Andrew agreed.
“I'm just confused what all this is supposed to mean,” Luna continued. “I do agree that there needs to be a good reason for your presence, but I'm trying to determine whether it was accidental or intentional. I personally don't believe Andrew was unfortunate, but chosen.”
“Chosen!?” Andrew and Lyra yelled simultaneously. “For what?”
Luna was silent. She stared off to Ponyville in the distance. Seconds later, she shook her head.
“I can't say for certain.”
“So you're saying I was brought here?” Andrew said, obviously annoyed. “By who? God?”
“Who's God?” Lyra asked.
Andrew chuckled. He tried to hold back an outburst, but it overcame him. He started laughing harder. Lyra raised an eyebrow.
“What's so funny?”
“Oh nothing. Forget I said that.”
Lyra frowned, but decided not to argue any further.
“There is only one way to see behind the veil,” Luna began. “And that is for me to search through your mind once more.”
“Well what are we waiting for? Let's do it!” Andrew jogged in place as if getting ready to run a marathon.
“Not here,” she denied. Andrew stopped bouncing, mildly heartbroken. “It is much too dangerous without the proper provisions of magical barriers to help secure a successful link, which requires extra help. We must get back to Sugarcube Corner and meet up with Twilight Sparkle.”
“But what about the towns ponies, Princess?” Lyra asked. “There is rumor of an alicorn stallion running. They're getting quite suspicious. I thought we're supposed to keep a low profile.”
Luna glanced at Andrew. He lowered his head with an apologetic smile, but almost immediately, he perked his head up with an idea.
“Hey! Why don't I teleport us there?”
*beep* *beep* *beep*
“What happened?” Rainbow asked her purple friend.
“I don't know,” she replied. They stared down at a lifeless phone on the table as the rectangular protection of light flashed a three times and went dark. All Twilight tried to do was communicate with it, but the voice from the box didn't return a response after the beeps. She only said one word before the beeps startled her. After several seconds of silence, the bookworm pony thought she was to blame.
“I think it broke.” Twilight tapped on some of the buttons with the tip of her hoof, but nothing happened. The device remained in its inanimate state.
Rainbow snorted. “Nice going, Twilight.”
“Hey! It wasn't me.”
“Where did Andrew get this stuff anyway? I never seen these things before.”
“Well... he's not from around here.”
“I've never seen a stallion alicorn before. But I thought-”
“Yes, Rainbow, I though the same,” Twilight huffed. “The Princess' should be the only living alicorns in Equestria. Even they don't have the answers.”
It went silent for a moment. Rainbow proceeded to stare at the device while Twilight started to walk back to her book to continue reading. The lavender unicorn paused when a strange chill ran down her spine.
*ZAP* *Poof*
With barely enough time to react, Twilight leaped from her position from the center of the lobby, diving away from the incoming magical blast that overcame a large portion on the room with a huge amount of energy. She landed on her side, slid across the floor, and impacted a small table topped with cupcakes.
“Oof!” Several delicious treats rained down on the mare's face.
*thud* “Oof!”
Several sharp grunts from a familiar voices resonated around the walls of the pastry shop. Rainbow Dash snapped her head up, watching the event unfold. There she found Princess Luna, Lyra Heartstrings, and Andrew on top of each other in the center of the room. The only pony that appeared disoriented from the apparent teleportation was the stallion at the bottom.
The sky-blue pegasus rushed over to help. Both of the mares that sandwiched Andrew against the floor quickly rolled off of him and regained their bearings. Andrew coughed away the pain. It could have been a lot worse, he thought.
“You're full of surprises, Andrew,” Rainbow said, pulling him to his hooves.
“Huh... … what? Did it work?” he said, wobbling on all fours from the fatigue.
“Not bad, Andrew,” Luna said from behind with warm smile. “I knew you could do it.”
“Do what?” Rainbow asked.
“Andrew has successfully transported the three of us using his magic,” the Princess explained.
“All three of you!?”
“Precisely. All that was needed was a mental image this exact room. Fortunately, Andrew has been here before. The trickiest part was for him to pinpoint this precise location relative to our previous coordinates in space and constitute an intrinsic stabilization variable to reroute the flow of energy to the exterior of our bodies in order to determine a sufficient rift that would allow us to instantaneously travel the space-time bridge connecting both absolute points.” Luna shrugged. “More or less.”
…
“Whaaaaaaaa...” The speedster pony was obviously incapable of understanding the details given to her. It slapped her with a blank expression while her mouth agape. “...oookay?”
“How did it feel?” Luna asked Andrew.
He finally shook his head free of the resulting dizziness and took a deep breath to make sure he was still alive. “It's freaking weeeeird!” He coughed a couple times. “Let's not do that again.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I just hate the part when I hit the ground. You squished me.”
“My sincere apologies. I'm glad it was successful. ”
Two more ponies stormed into the lobby from the kitchen.
“What in tarnation!?” Applejack yelled after busting from the western saloon-like door. Pinkie Pie bounced in from behind shortly after. As they examined the room, Applejack sighed her concerns away.
*ping*
“Oh goodie!” Pinkie shouted as her ears twitched. “Right on time.” She disappeared back into the kitchen to attend to the freshly baked batch of cupcakes.
“So, shall we proceed to the task at hoof then?” Luna asked.
“How about we give Andrew some time to recover?” Lyra suggested. “Maybe give ourselves time to prepare?”
“Yes of course.”
Lyra motioned her head up to Andrew's ear. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she whispered. “Alone.” Andrew gave her a look squinting his eyes. He shrugged.
“Where?” he silently replied.
Without a definite response, the mint-green unicorn began to walk away. She stopped when she spotted her primary saddlebag she had left in Canterlot. Apparently they were delivered while they were gone, so she wasn't surprised to see it. She lifted the saddlebag onto her back, then continued walking until she reached the staircase. She gestured him with her head to follow her up the steps. He did just that, but like Lyra, noticed his own things resting on a table nearby. He quickly slid his stuff back inside the gray duffel bag and joined Lyra.
Luna watched the two exit the room up the stairs and smiled. She thought it would be better to leave her future student alone on this one. Now that the Princess has returned with Andrew with most pressing issues taken care of and nopony was hurt, Applejack joined her pink friend back in the kitchen. Rainbow Dash flew after the farm pony.
It didn't take long for Twilight regain her balance and shuffle to her hooves, her purple mane riddled with pink frosting.
“Oh my,” Luna said, stepping closer to the displeased unicorn. “Did we-”
Twilight nodded with a peeved stare into the Princess's navy-blue eyes.
“Oh.” She tried to hold back a giggle. “My apologies, Twilight.” The purple mare shook the frosting off her face and licked the rest off her face. A portion of it landed on Luna's cheek. Twilight returned the favor with a giggle of her own. Then the both started laughing.
“So how did it go?” Twilight asked.
“Wonderful.”
“Good to hear.”
“There is some matters left for us to fulfill. I will need your help.”
- - -
The second floor of Sugarcube Corner was dead quiet until a pair of hoofsteps echoed through the empty hallway. The overall interior illumination was cut in half as Lyra and Andrew reached the last step. Both of them almost tripped up on the last step because of the apparent darkness. Lyra used her magic to bring a single lantern to life hanging above the foot of the staircase and removed her saddlebag, propping it up against the wall next to her. Andrew did the same with his.
“So what's up?” Andrew asked.
Lyra turned around with a melancholic look on her face.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Of cour-”
“I don't want you to go,” she interrupted, rising her voice.
Andrew was taken back. Not in a startling and frightened sort of way, but rather something he didn't want to hear.
“I have to.”
Lyra lowered her head before his response, knowing that would be his answer. She took a moment to think, looking down at her hooves. The cool air made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and goosebumps run along the length of her body.
“Why don't you stay here in Equestria with us?”
Andrew frowned. “What?”
“Please stay. It would mean a lot to me that you did.”
“I can't stay. But there's nothing here for me. This place shouldn't even be real.”
“But it is real. Wake up and smell the apples, Andrew.”
“I have to get back to my own world. I have a life that-”
“You life is what? All important? Perfect?”
“I never said that.”
“Then what's the rush? Is it killing you that bad the longer you stay here? What do you have against us?”
“Well, when you put it that way-”
“No!” she exclaimed, turning away in disbelief. “Don't say it!”
He wanted to be honest and say “I might have one complaint,” but couldn't help but watch Lyra lose it. He didn't want to make it worse, so at that point, Andrew didn't know what to say. He wondered why she wanted him to stay in Equestria so badly. He had no where to start if he did and no family or friends to rely on. He basically didn't exist, as far as documentation and public records were concerned. Even if were to stay, he was considered royalty by its society, according to his brief experiences. It was freak of physics. He wasn't ready to start a new life. Being a ruler was a scary thought.
All was silent for while as Lyra had her tail turn on him. She was broken inside and didn't want to let him go so suddenly. Her life was still a mystery, and even if there was no way to discover her true past, at least she could live better knowing she was different. Andrew was living proof that she was right all along. Since the day she found that book, everything she's done up to this point was for a reason. To finally experience what it's like in the human world. The real human world.
“Uh, Lyra?” Andrew quietly said.
“Hm?” she replied in a disturbed hum without turning around.
“I'm sorry I've been so selfish lately. I have a habit of caring too much about my life, but I have a reason to.” Lyra remained still with her head low. “It's about my best friend, Dale Larsen.”
Lyra finally turned to him. He noticed some condensation on her eyelids, an indication that she cried.
“Your best friend?”
“And my little brother, Alex.”
“You have a brother?”
“Well, up until now, it wasn't important, but now I feel the need to tell you my reason why I can't stay.” He paused and put a hoof on Lyra's shoulder. “See, I left my world so unexpected, and if I never came back, I don't know what my family would do without me. I can't imagine how much they'd have to live through knowing I went missing forever. The Princess told me what she went through about her struggles with controlling her feelings. It reminded me of what was most important.”
“Is that what Princess Luna told you? When she became Nightmare Moon?”
“How do you know that about Luna?”
“Everypony in Equestria knows, but very few know the full details of her story.”
“Really?”
“Positive.”
“Do you know it?”
“No.” She shook her head. “And maybe it's best if I didn't know. I'm glad you listened to reason.”
Andrew smirked. “Hey, I didn't believe her at first, but there was no doubt she meant every word. There's no way that rewinding the sunset thing was normal.”
They both chuckled. Lyra cleared her throat. She wanted to tell him something only he would understand, unlike her friend Bon-bon. She really needed the acceptance of someone who wouldn't laugh at what truly fascinated her. Humans. Although, she wanted him to finish what he was going to say.
“So what important thing were you reminded of.”
“Alex and Dale.”
“Your brother and … your best friend?”
“Yes. It took all that happened to me today to set me straight. Before yesterday, my life was just normal and boring, but I have a problem with enjoying it. People tell me I have to live life to the fullest, but what the hell does that even mean? It doesn't make sense to be happy everyday, all the time. I'm usually down most of the time, but every time I see their faces, I feel happy. In return, the are happy to see me. This made me realize the friendships I still have with the people I care about the most.”
“So you're afraid of destroying not only your life, but theirs too?”
“Exactly!”
Lyra thought about what that meant. She felt like a level of hypocrisy sinking into to her behavior. The very thing she explained to Twilight before running off to find Andrew was the very thing that described her own selfish desires. She wanted him to stay for her own sake. A simple stupid mistake like that made her feel so degraded.
“Oh.”
“You would think I've made mistakes in my life that I regret. I do, but the fact is, if I had another chance to for another try, I wouldn't change a thing. Everything I've done has made me who I am inside, including today. I would wouldn't be me without Alex and Dale. I live because of them. I try to be a great friend and a good sibling, but no matter how many times I try, I still felt lonely. I've known Dale for years, but it takes something like this for us to really talk to each other.”
“Wait, he saw you like this?” Lyra kept in mind that humans believe unicorns and pegasus are just stuff of fiction. It was unclear what ponies were like in the human world. Did they speak to humans?
“Alex, too.”
“How did they take it?”
“It was the weirdest experience I've had with both of them, ever. We tried to figure a way to change me human again, but none of us had a clue how. Magic doesn't exist, after all.” Andrew smiled. “Now you know why I have to leave.”
Lyra had no idea how she'd convince him to stay now. She simply nodded in acknowledgment. It was hurting him so much just to get back home so he could tell Alex and Dale how much he really cares for them. She still had one more thing to say that could have some effect on his perspective. To do this, she needed a place to start.
“So how does it feel like?” she asked in a curious voice.
“To...?”
“To be human.”
“Why do you want to know?” he questioned.
“Because I've been trying to find all I can about humans since I was a little filly, but everypony keeps telling me to stop making stuff up and start doing something better with my time. Investigating all I could about humans was all I ever wanted to do. I even had dreams of being human. They don't last though. Every time I tried to make friends, there came a time when opened up and told them about interests, but that backfired far too many times and every pony I tried talking to, walked away a stranger.”
“What about your friend Bon-bon? She knows about-”
“She's different.” That wasn't entirely true. Lyra knew Bon-bon was no exception to the other ponies. “I mean, I haven't known her that long. Sure, I told her about my interest in humans, but she was the most accepting.”
“That's gotta count for something.”
“I don't know.” Lyra broke eye contact and lowered her head. “We've been drifting apart lately. It's only a matter of time before-”
“Hey, come on, you don't know that. For all you know, she's just needs time to think. I know from my friend Dale when we had times when we spent weeks apart from each other. Like this one time when I was in a really bad mood for failing history class last year. I thought we were no longer friends until I tried to talk to him again. It never occurred to that he was worried about me and wanted to leave me to myself until I felt better. He spent every day thinking of ways to cheer me up. In your case, she's probably wants you to be happy, even if she disagrees with your interests. Besides, Luna and Twilight are your friends, too, right?”
Lyra stopped the think about Andrew's point. It wasn't so much of the literal experiences he illustrated to have pertained to her own relations with Bon-bon, but rather what it really meant to her. He proved how closed minded and ignorant she could be when it came to talking about the ponies that cared about her. She had more friends than she realized. Lyra sighed.
“Your right. I'm sorry.”
“Don't sweat it, it's the least I can do.” He then remembered what he initially wanted to ask her. “Hey, I'm still confused on how you know about humans anyway if they don't exist here?”
The new topic seemed to push aside Lyra's new set of feelings for a brief moment.
“I found out in an old book my great grandfather had kept at my parent's house in Canterlot. The book has records of all mysterious forces and unexplainable phenomena that happened over a hundred years ago.”
“Are humans one of them?”
“Not exactly. I've only just discovered this today, that the book was written by a human.”
Andrew's heart skipped a beat and his expression showed surprise. If that book was written by a human in this world, why do ponies say they are a myth? Speaking of not making sense, that was another thing that really begged for an explanation. A mystery in itself.
“No way! How's that possible?”
“My great grandfather was human, just like you, but was turned into a unicorn when he came to Equestria a long time ago.”
“How did he get here?” Andrew's surprise was reflected by the enthusiasm in his voice.
“Luna suspects he teleported in the same way you did. We have reason to believe he was pulled from his world and brought here. He nopony believed him at the time when he tried to convince ponies that he was human, because nopony knew what a human was. Fortunately, he was able to write down all he could about his race to prove it.” Lyra took out a thick, black book from her bag and levitated in front of him. “This is the book I was talking about.” She held it up to him with her magic. “I read a few times, but other than that, I don't know anything more about who he really was.”
Unable to grab the book with his hooves, he knelt down, opened the blank cover, and flipped through the pages. For such a large book, the words were in large text and easy to understand. Some of the subject matter was eerily familiar to that of similar human mysteries, only with slight changes that directly related to the mystery of the next section in the book. Andrew wasn't a fast reader, but he didn't have read everything to notice something about why the author would start every chapter with information from previous chapters. It was like this man was trying to connect it all, ultimately searching for something. He came to the conclusion that Lyra's great grandfather was put into a similar situation, but was never able to go home. According to the final entry of of the book on the very last page, it read:
Day by day, I gaze upon the stars from Equestria. They are a great reminder the past before this unexpected beginning was cast upon me. Unlike my old home in London, this rich and strange world has given me the gift of renewal, but raided the life I have built. In consequence, my very presence had altered the course of the rhythm of this land. The future of its inhabitants will never be the same. I hope no other soul of my kind is struck with this unfortunate curse. After twenty years of searching for the answer, and a chance to finally hug my beloved in the warmth of her arms, I have learned one thing: No matter how hard you try to hold on to something, we always lose it in the end. The moment one realizes that life is an unforgivable storm, the ability to move beyond the fear and flaws of the past is a step in the sea of life to relieve the burden of tragedy. Look no further, the road ahead is waiting.
My journey ends here.
James Cohen
1876 AD (2517 AC)
Andrew took another minute to read it to himself again. He was not sure what to make of it. Whether to rethink his decision on leaving Equestria, or a strong motivator for his desires. At the end of the day, they were nothing more than words on a page.
“He wrote this?” he finally asked without taking his eyes off the last page.
“He probably had some help with it,” Lyra added. “Why? What's wrong?”
“Nothing.” Andrew wanted to tell her about the book, but decided it wasn't enough to concern himself with. He was especially worried with how her grandfather wasn't able to get home after transporting to a world full of talking ponies after so long. He wondered if, for some reason, the guy decided to stay, but since it was only speculation, he will never know.
Lyra closed the book for him and placed it back in her saddlebag. Andrew kept his contemplative composure at a minumum.
“Well, if you can't stay...” Lyra said, pawing the floor. “Can I come with you?”
“What?”
“Can I come with you to the human world? It would be a dream come true.”
“What about your life here? You family? Your friends? Did you forget that?”
“No, but I hope they don't mind me lea-”
Andrew put a hoof to her mouth to stop her from saying another word.
“Snap out of it, Lyra. You're not thinking straight. I thought you'd learn from me that leaving your life behind is not a good idea. You're just going to throw it all away? Were you even listening to me?”
“Yeah, but-”
“Stop!” He paused to make sure she was listening. “Look at what you have here. In Equestria. Your life is not over. Stop saying it is. You have enough to keep you going, just like me. Sure, humans are fascinating and such, but trust me, you do NOT want to come with me. Earth is a very dangerous place and you'll be lucky to make it through one day, even with my help. So do yourself a favor and live your life here where you belong. Don't leave it all behind.”
Lyra looked at Andrew with a sorrowful face. Somehow, she could not get herself to believe him about Earth being a dangerous place. Throughout her life, she was under the impression that humans were just like ponies, but Andrew proved her ignorance once more. She imagined all humans were friendly beings, but her assumptions were far off. A tear started to form under her left eye, but managed to stop it from falling down her face.
“Okay,” she timidly agreed with a voice that rivaled Fluttershy.
Andrew inhaled slowly to clear his head. He glanced at his duffel bag for a second, then back at Lyra. A simple thought rolled into his head and looked back at his bag again. His face lit up.
“Oh wait!”
Andrew grabbed his bag with his teeth and dumped its content onto the floor. He spotted his phone and carefully pressed the green button with his nose, but nothing happened. He tried again, but got the same result. He tried pressing any of the buttons and held down the red button for a couple seconds with the tip of his hoof. Nothing. He snorted in irritation.
“Dammit. The battery is dead.”
“Your phone?”
“Yeah. Apparently it works here, but I don't have my charger with me to power up the battery.”
“It uses electricity?”
“You guys don't use electricity?”
“We do, but only for certain things. What do you mean it works here?”
“It can receive calls, from Earth. Anyone with this number can dial this one and it will connect, which doesn't make any sense.” Andrew thought about what he said for a moment. A weak cellphone signal is not powerful enough to warp into this reality. Magic was the only thing that could explain it at that point. It was one thing to think of the idea that his phone was able to transmit a signal to another universe, it was another say it out loud as if it was no big deal. But it was a big deal.
“You can talk to humans with that? From here!?” Lyra's eyes were transfixed on the small black cellphone. “Cool!”
Andrew looked at Lyra, then anxiously took a deep breath. He gave his intentions one last thought, but was slow to come to a conclusion. It was just a phone. He wasn't attached to the thing like a kid and their teddy bear. He could always get another one, but in order to keep the signal connected, he needed to pay the phone bill himself so no one would suspect it had gone missing. However, he wasn't sure if it would be able to work again without power if he left it behind. He sighed and pushed the device in Lyra's direction.
“Here,” he said. “Take it.”
“Oh no no no no, that's yours.” Lyra pushed it back.
“It's yours now. I'm giving it to you. It's the only way can to talk to you again when I'm gone, hopefully. I don't know how it's possible, but it doesn't matter as long as can to reach this world again. So I want you to have it.”
“But you said the battery is dead.”
“I'm sure you'll figure it out.” He smiled. “You're a smart unicorn.”
Lyra smiled back. “Thanks.”
“Ya know what?” Andrew looked back at the rest of his items. “Since you've been so kind to me since we've met, take this, too.” He slid his old iPod next to the phone resting below her hooves.
“What's this?”
“It's a music player. I'm assuming you know what music is?”
Did you really just ask that? Lyra glared at him. Andrew immediately regretted ever saying that.
“All you have to do is press that button there and pick a song. I don't have many songs, just the ones I like the most.”
Lyra did exactly as he instructed. She nearly jumped when she heard the immediate jolt of sound surprise her. She wasn't anticipating her song selection to begin so suddenly. Andrew was somewhat surprised that the volume level was so high. The music was nothing Lyra had ever heard before.
“Wow!” she widely grinned. “Amazing!”
She continued to stare at the rectangular projection. She was indeed amazed at how the such a little device had the energy to produce so much light and sound without magic. This human technology was far more advanced that she previously imagined.
“Nice song choice, too.”
Lyra levitated the iPod closer to her face. “Plus forty four? Chapter Thirteen?”
“Yup.”
Lyra looked back at the bright screen. She paused the song by pressing the screen with her nose and the music ceased. She gently set the music player back on the floor. Andrew gave her a warm smile.
Suddenly, Lyra lunged her body forward with her forearms in the air and wrapped them around him, taking Andrew by surprise. Her embrace was followed closely by a muffled sniffle. She buried her face in his neck. He returned the favor and completed the hug.
“I don't know what to say,” she said, trying hard to conceal her sobbing. “Other than thank you.”
“It's- uh, the least I can do.” Andrew felt his heart dance with a soothing feeling he could not explain.
Lyra ended the embrace and stepped away embarrassed. “Sorry.” She wiped the only tear shed from her left eye. “It's just that this is the nicest thing anypony has done for me.”
“You're welcome.” He pulled out his earbuds from his bag. “Take these, too. They go with that music player. You plug it in, put these ends in your ears, and you can listen to the music privately. With the phone, we can try to contact each other from both out worlds, if you are able to charge the battery somehow.”
“It's like you said, I'll figure it out.”
Andrew chuckled through the grin on his face.
“Come on. Let's not keep the others waiting. I think we've been up here long enough.” Andrew took his bag and filled it with the rest of his things: his silver LED flashlight, his deck of cards, his keys, his wallet, his hat, and, unfortunately, his damaged sunglasses. One thing was still unaccounted for. Andrew frantically scanned the floor around him.
“Wait, where's my camera?”
Lyra began looking, too.
“Was it in you bag before?”
“I swear I had-” he paused. “Ah! There it is!” He shot his head up, leaning to one side.
Lyra glanced behind her, following his gaze, to find a black pouch with a silver string attached to one of its corners. She magically levitated it in front of her, examining the small case that held the tiny machine. Andrew stared at her for a second with a worried expression.
“It is broken?” he asked.
“This little thing, is a camera?” Lyra removed the woven polyester case and took out the metal box, looking at it from all angles.
“Well, yeah. Can you see if it still works for me?”
“How do you do that?” Lyra stared at the camera with confusion.
“Press that button right... there.” He point to the top of the camera.
Lyra did just that and the instrument suddenly came to life. The bright screen lit up and displayed a peculiar image of a human in frame with another smaller human. It was the first time she'd ever seen a photo of a human.
“Who's this?” Lyra turned the camera around and showed him the image on the screen.
“That's me! And my friend, Dale.”
“That's... you?” Lyra was awestruck at the image of Andrew as his human self. He looked happy. She stared at the image longer as she began to wonder more about what Andrew was yearning for. If his friend really meant that much to him, he would do anything to hold on to that friendship. This photo was proof that he wasn't lying. As soon as she pressed another button, the picture went away and instead, the field of view directly in front of her was in display. She moved the camera side to side, and the environment on the screen did the same. Her eyes went wide.
“Wow!”
“Neat huh? It's just a camera though, and it's not even the good kind. I just don't use it that much.”
“Can I take a picture?”
“Yeah, just press the other button next to it.”
Lyra pointed the lens at Andrew and used her magic to force down the larger of the two buttons on the top. She heard a faint sound that didn't sound like a typical shutter of a film camera she recognized. The screen reacted by displaying the picture she took for a few seconds, then it went away.
“Did it work?” she said.
“Uh hu,” he hummed.
Lyra thought for a second. Looked at the camera floating in the air, then back at Andrew. She then, motioned the camera a little further away from her face, turned the camera on herself, and snapped a photo.
“There you go.” She placed the camera back in its slick case and levitated it into Andrew's duffel bag.
“What was that for?”
“So you'll remember me.”
“You didn't need to do that,” he argued “I won't ever forget what happened today. I know I won't forget what you said to me.”
“I know.” Lyra broke eye contact, and smiled. Lyra accepted the cellphone and iPod Andrew gave to her and put them in her saddlebag. As much as she wanted to ask about the rest of his things, there was simply not enough time. Someday, I'll get another chance, she wished.
Someday
AC = After Celestia