//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Cookie Vision // Story: Lyra Eats A Cookie // by Pinkamena and Pals //------------------------------// The night had arrived quickly, dotting the sky with stars. The moon shone in the darkness above. Its luminescence gently touched the quiet Ponyville, offering up just enough light for Lyra to see her path through the sleepy town. The moonbeams played beautifully off of the buildings and fields, orange fireflies lilted through the air and light green moths flew through the dark, shining with Luna's light. The evening had begun only recently, but the sun already seemed to have vanished long ago. Lyra marveled at the spectacle, enthralled by it. She found some solace in the dark and thought of the princess for a moment, wishing her well. Walking along the dirt road back to the center of town, hoping to find a store still open that might have something for Bon Bon's bad dreams, Lyra looked up to judge the time. “It could only be eight-thirty at the latest...right? I had left only a little after sunset, so I should still have time before Dash arrives. I just hope Bons doesn't feel bad about me leaving like that...” She wondered listlessly at the thought. Lyra had long known the costs of her pursuit of human beings, financially as well as temporally. She had resigned herself to them long ago, but that was before Bon Bon, before she had anything beyond skeptical friends affectionately taunting her or 'concerned professionals' giving her grief. She knew most of her energy would be needed to reveal the truth, but that didn't make her feel any better about having to shun her greatest supporter to do so. As much as Lyra loved her, Bon Bon was a candymare. One that knew the ins and outs of Earth Pony artifice and unicorn magic better than many, certainly, but who was destined for sweet treats in the end. Lyra wouldn't have her any other way, but it created a gap that couldn't be bridged. The search for humans was ultimately one Lyra would have to carry out alone. She had been walking towards the town square for some time, once more lost in thought, when a strange noise suddenly caught her attention. It sounded similar to the frequency of a unicorn's levitation magic, but at a much lower pitch. It hummed nearby, somewhere in front of her on the road, but nopony was in sight. Nothing stirred besides the insect nightlife. As quickly as the sound had appeared, it was gone again. “That was not a normal kind of magic...was it?” Lyra thought to herself, puzzling. She slowed down and turned her ears to the sound, hoping to hear it more clearly. It returned, closer this time, but still separate from any sign of activity. Lyra nearly tried calling out to whatever might be making the sound, but quickly clapped her hooves over her mouth. She realized it wouldn't help to accidentally wake anypony up only to have them catch her talking to nothing. She wouldn't have thought twice about it normally, but Bons' and Toity's remarks had sapped much of her confidence. Instead, she squinted at the road ahead, wondering. “Maybe if I just use some magic of my own on it, I can find where it is...” Lyra summoned energy into her horn, creating a small force-field in front of her. She grumbled, the sound of her own magic filling her ears. Making matters worse, the moths were drawn to her horn's light and flapped about in her vision. Stamping her hooves in frustration, Lyra strained to hear as clearly as possible past the frequency of her own spellwork. She closed her eyes, keeping the insects out of mind, and targeted the space around the noise. Blanketing the area with the field, she focused harder, shaping the energy into a spherical convergence on the sound. Instantly, she felt something bolt from the field, avoiding her telekinetic touch and traveling into town. Whatever it was, it didn't want to be grabbed... Lyra scratched her head, perplexed, but felt that the thing hadn't moved off the path. Resuming her walk, the moths now floating around her affectionately, she kept her ears open for the sound. Her spine tingled at the possibilities of what it could be. Strangely, it didn't return. Her walk towards the center of town remained quiet, save for the sounds of crickets chirping and owls hooting. The night seemed perfectly normal outside of that anomaly, but knowing it was still somewhere disturbed Lyra. She continued her walk, determined to get what she needed and return home as quickly as possible. Ears darting out in every direction, she tried to think of what could be going on. “Nothing else seems weird out here. Maybe it was just my imagination.” she thought. “I've had similar sorts of noises in my head after grinding my teeth, or getting hit in the head. I didn't smack my face off of anything recently, have I? Nah...maybe I just hit some sort of energy bump. I think that happens...though I haven't heard of it...” Lyra counted the creatures and phenomena she'd run into in her research on humans. There were a few invisible things, but most of them were very large or very small. From what she gathered in the moment her energy brushed it, it felt pony-sized. It didn't quite qualify as anything she knew of, not to mention the strange frequency of sound it made. It definitely had some sort of magic, similar to that of a unicorn, maybe, but no invisible thing she remembered could use such magic. Along with this, no mystical occurrences she was familiar with made any sort of lumps in reality. There was no way to pigeonhole it, and this only made her more concerned. She began to sweat. Hoping to be done with any additional strangeness that might hold her up, she moved more quickly. The night remained calm, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched... As she made her way deeper into town, the buildings began to grow more dense, obscuring the moon. "I don't remember the houses and shops in Ponyville being so tall..." She thought, growing wary. "But, I am walking close to them. I haven't been out at such a dark hour in a long time...Maybe I just don't remember how the town looks at night..." Stopping to observe her surroundings once more, Lyra listened again for the sound. She remained still for a while, hoping to catch it off in the distance, but heard only the peaceful sounds of darktime creatures. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. Calming down, she decided to ease her worries by playing with the moths. She generated an orb of light from her horn and cast it about, moving the small gathering of creatures through the air with it. “There's nothing bad here,” She thought to herself, “...at least, I don't think there is. A space lump isn't anything to worry about. I've had worse things pop out of portals I've made. A dumb inviso-bulge is the least of my worries! It's barely a blip on my monster radar. Besides, I have to get back before the nachos...wait a second...THE NACHOS!” Suddenly, Lyra realized that in her haste to leave and clear her mind, she had forgotten to order the nachos. She'd have to move faster if she wanted to get back and order them before Nachos-R-Us closed. The cheesy-chip god's clock started ticking. Fully understanding her plight, Lyra ran into the night. Nearing the end of her journey into town, she could finally see the fountain in the distance. Glad to have almost finished her journey, she picked her pace up to a full gallop, eager to grab the few necessaries and return home. As she quickened, the sound returned. Now only a few feet away from her, she did her best to ignore it and raced towards the center of town, hoping to pass up the source of the noise. It remained in front of her, just out of reach. She didn't care. She sprinted towards the last general store still showing signs of life, set across from the mayor's office from where she entered. As she neared the office, the noise shot away from her. A long shadow suddenly stretched from the darkness of the buildings around her, forming a solid black line on the ground between her and her fun-night goal. Lyra made a dead stop, planting her hooves into the ground and sliding forward. She halted just a few yards short of the line. The moths that had followed her flew past towards the darkness. First one, then ten, then forty...very quickly, there were too many for Lyra to count. A massive cloud of moths formed along the line, fluttering madly. The wall of wings created a low hum, similar to the sound from before, but much stronger. Barely able to see past them, she caught glimpses of a dark figure forming behind the veil of insects. “Oh balls...” Lyra thought to herself, “I just wanted to grab some medicine and cheese sticks...this is not worth a shadowy space-lump moth demon! How the buck did this even happen?” She stared at the swarm, frozen, unsure of what to do. The wall of moths began to cluster as a sphere around the central figure, and the humming grew louder. The shadowy line slowly seeped into the darkness beneath them, melding with the creature standing in the cloud. Before Lyra could respond , the spectre raised a pair of large insectoid wings, and the moths burst outward in all directions. Lyra dropped to the ground and covered her face as a plume of them blew past her, barely missing the swarm. As the moths dispersed, the dark figure lowered its wings. Lyra quickly stood up again, apprehensively eying the shadowy form. She wanted nothing to do with it, but still needed to get to the store. Preparing to confront the strange entity, she girded her loins and advanced. “Hey! Who are you? And why are you stopping me from going to the store?” Lyra asked, ready to fight. “I need to get some stuff!" The shadow didn't respond. "I really don't want to try walking past this thing..." she thought. "It might get me! It could eat me!." Trying to stay calm, Lyra took a step forward, hoping the thing would react. It remained still. "Uh, hey, do you understand me...?" She asked. It shifted its posture, raising a front leg up and tugging at its chest. "Oh fuck, oh shit, it's doing something! What's it doing?!" She imagined all the worst things that could happen. Lyra wasn't staying calm very well. Desperately hoping she was wrong about the thing in front of her being a soulless evil, she tried again to get a response. Something, anything, just a sign of sentience. As long as it could talk, maybe it could be reasoned with... Before she could say anything it began to walk towards her, pulling at its shoulder. Its wings flared up as it approached. "It has an evil wingboner! Oh man, it's going to like me! Then It's going to open a mouth on its chest and eat me! This can't get worse! It's gonna get me!" Lyra was petrified. As it moved forward, the shadows that covered it seemed to fade. Its pink mane and butterscotch coat quickly became visible, and Lyra recognized who was standing before her. Fumbling with a strap on some sort of home-made dress, Fluttershy walked out of the shadow of the mayor's office. Noticing Lyra staring at her, unmoving, she abruptly shut her wings and stopped. She lowered her head, hiding her face through her hair. “Oh, um...hi...” She said. "Luna's horn! It's you! Holy crap!" Lyra couldn't believe it. "You scared the pants off me! I thought you were going to kill me!" She said with a sigh of relief. Fluttershy quickly walked over, concerned "I'm so sorry I scared you!" she said, coming closer. "Oh, I'd never to do a thing like that! I'd never hurt anypony that didn't deserve it..." she stopped in front of Lyra and raised a wing, looking at the fabric lying on top of it. "Oh dear...you must have seen the costume and thought I was some kind of terrible monster! How awful!" she said, folding her wing back to her side. Some of the moths returned to her as she spoke. "I never thought it could be scary...I just wanted these precious little critters to feel at home." "Well, those wings look pretty nasty in the dark, man. And that doom cloud didn't help your image either..." Lyra said as she regained her composure. Fluttershy looked confused. "Doom cloud? Oh, but these little ones couldn't hurt anypony. They're very gentle. They get scared easily too...that's why I made this dress. I wanted them to feel as comfortable as they can." Lyra took a look at the dress. It was decently made, decorated with simple but pleasing patterns, resembling the colors of the moths. It shined the same way they did in the moonlight. As she returned her gaze upward, one of the moths landed on Fluttershy's head, making her smile, and another flew onto Lyra's muzzle. "Aw...look at that! He likes you!" Fluttershy said, coming a little closer. "Hey, he does..." Lyra replied, a little surprised. She watched the moth on her muzzle carefully, still uneasy. It opened and closed its wings on the end of her nose, giving brief glimpses of the area past it. Each time it closed its wings, Lyra noticed something odd. Her friend's hair seemed to be a different color, a glowing light-green similar to the moths and the dress, and her face appeared different, somehow. It may have just been her imagination, but Fluttershy didn't quite look right... "I come out sometimes, when I can't sleep, and talk with them..." Fluttershy said dreamily, her eyes following the moths through the air. "They're so nice to watch. I always feel better after being around them." Looking again at Lyra, she appeared worried once more. "I hadn't thought that I would frighten anypony by trying to comfort them though..." she said, coming even closer. "He-hey, no worries, it's all good..." Lyra said hesitantly. "Oh, but it's not all good!" Fluttershy quickly replied, coming just inches away from Lyra. "You're still scared!" Lyra tried to back away. "N-no, don't worry about it, it's fine. I just have to- AH!" Fluttershy wrapped Lyra into a hug, holding her gently, rocking back and forth. "Shh...It's okay. I'm sorry I made you so afraid...I'll make things better..." she said softly. "I'm good, shy...don't worry about it..." Lyra said, astounded. "I never would've expected this from her..." She thought. "I know she cares and all, being kindness and stuff, but, she's hugging me...she's supposed to be shy...and...and... ...she's warm..." Lyra felt a little hot. She was beginning to blush. "Oh man...I'm liking this way too much. How do I get out of this without hurting her feelings?" "Hey, um, Fluttershy...thanks for caring and all, but I have to- " Lyra started. "OH!" Fluttershy yelped, tripping. She landed on top of Lyra. "Oh no! I'm sorry! I must've tripped on the dress! I'm so clumsy!" she said, pushing herself up, leaving her haunches on Lyra's belly. "This thing has caused nothing but trouble for you! Here, I'll just take it off..." she began pulling at the strap again. It was halfway off her foreleg before Lyra could formulate coherent thoughts once more. "Uh, uh, uh, UH...oh man...oh no...what do I do...I..." "There!" Fluttershy managed to get the top half of the dress off. It pooled around her waist. "Now, come here..." "Oh, holy balls..." Lyra thought. "Let mama make it better..." Fluttershy said as she resumed their hug on the ground. "Sweet Luna...if this goes on any longer I'm positive she'll end up liking me...like, like liking me...a lot...right here...or I'll start doing it first...Bons is going to kill me. My mintitude can't handle this! I have to escape!" Lyra was about to try and wriggle her way out of the hug when an idea hit her. "Wait...what if I invite her over? Maybe Bonnles and I can...NO! I'm not like that! I must get out of this! I can't think about happy fun-time! I need to get medicine, cheese sticks, and nachos!" "NACHOS!!!" Lyra cried out. "What?" Fluttershy asked, sitting back on Lyra again. "Nachos!" Lyra said again, flustered. "I need to get nachos! There, over there! I have to grab medicine! I need to go! Sorry!" She pulled herself out from under Fluttershy and began to walk to the store hurriedly, hoping her...uh...friend...didn't notice her reddened face. "Lyra, wait!" Fluttershy yelled out softly. "Wh-what is it?" Lyra asked, tentatively turning around to look at her. "The store just closed...I thought you should know..." she said. "No..." Lyra turned around to check. The lights were off, and a 'closed' sign hung on the door. She had missed her chance. "I thought you had already gotten the things you'd need. I didn't mean to keep you..." Fluttershy said, coming closer to Lyra again. Lyra just wanted to get out of there. "Oh, hey, uh, no problem! I'll just find another store, no worries! I'll go do that! Right now!" She started on her way, but was stopped again. "Lyra..." "...what?..." "...I really didn't mean to keep you..." Fluttershy said, putting the dress back on. "But I think I can help..." "How?" Lyra asked. "Well...it's just something small..." she said hesitantly. "It's not even really advice. Just a suggestion, I guess..." "What is it? Please, if you know of something that can help Bon Bon, I'll do it." Fluttershy walked up to her again. "Alright..." she said. After taking in a deep breath and breathing out slowly, she spoke. "You should really eat the cookie, Lyra..." "WHAT?" Lyra was completely befuddled. Fluttershy gestured past Lyra with her eyes. "It's right there. Go ahead. Eat the cookie, Lyra..." She said, faintly smiling. Lyra turned around to find a lamppost shining down on the cookie, sitting in the center of the ring of light on the ground. "But how is that there? It's been hours! That lamppost wasn't part of the town! Fluttershy, what's- " She turned back to face Fluttershy, but found that she and the moths were gone. The only sign of activity left in the town was her, the lamppost...and the cookie. Having already lost her chance to get the things she needed, and knowing that Nachos-R-Us had to be closed already, Lyra approached the confect. As she neared it, entering the lamp's light, she could smell it's chocolaty goodness just as before. Strangely, it smelled fresher, as if it had just been taken from the oven. She knew it would taste delicious. "Well, I've already lost my chance to grab the snacks for the night, not to mention what Bons' needed..." She thought. "I might as well treat myself to this thing after what's happened today. Maybe it'll help..." She bent her head down close to the cookie and sniffed it once again. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie walked out of the shadows in a trench coat and fedora. She stood in the light next to Lyra and stared grimly at her. "So, you're really gonna do it, eh? You're gonna eat the cookie?" Pinkie asked. Resolving herself to the situation, Lyra looked at her and answered. "Yep...I'm going to eat the cookie." "Then remember what I said," Pinkie chimed. "Be careful. And whatever you do, don't chew too fast..." "Got it." Lyra picked up the cookie, bringing it up to her mouth. Before she took a bite, she thought of something. "Hey, Pinkie..." "Yes Lyra?" "Did you happen to see- " "See who? Sea food?" Pinkie interjected. "What? Wait, how did you know I'd ask 'who'?" Lyra wondered. "Just a hunch." She replied "There's a really weird thingy roaming around tonight. But don't worry, it's not anypony you need to worry about now." Lyra felt more uneasy than she had at any point in the day before that. Her minty senses screamed for her to run, but the cookie beckoned. Pinkie watched her, rubbing her teeth with her tongue. Defying her fear, she brought the cookie to her muzzle again. As it neared, she slowly creaked her mouth open. Carefully inching the cookie into her mouth, she placed it between her teeth. Pinkie whispered to her. "Now, very slowly...chew..." And so Lyra chewed.