> Lyra Eats A Cookie
>  by Pinkamena and Pals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Cookie Crumbles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a bright and shining day, the majesty of Canterlot beamed for it inhabitants. Nobles walked about, nobling nobly, still busy with the pleasantries of a Saturday's mid-afternoon, as a loud cry sounded throughout the streets of the marketplace. Lyra, appearing to the gentry as little more than a crazed bright green streak, sprinted through the crowds, shouting at any in her path. “Woah! Outta the way! Precious cargo here! I have to get this to Joe before the train leaves, people!” She carried a giant brown box of ingredients in her magic, hurriedly finishing up the final shipment of the week for Doughnut Joe's Diner.

She ran into the back of the restaurant, frantically opening the box and levitating the contents to the various places in the storeroom where they belonged. “I have to get the last bit of this job done before the train to Ponyville leaves. It'll be hours before the next one arrives, and Bon Bon will be worried sick if I don't get back home in time!” Running out into the diner,  heading towards the front door to leave, she stopped at the sound of her boss calling out to her.

“Hey!” He Shouted. “I ain't letting you go until ya get your cash! Ya forgot last week and I had to run all the way down to the station!”

“Sorry man.” Lyra said, smiling. 

“Ya haven't forgotten that mess already, have ya? I had to stop the train!” Joe said, grinning back. 

“Nope, I haven't forgotten,” She responded. “I couldn't forget something like that. I'm just in a huge hurry when I leave! I always manage to get to the train just as the last few passengers board! It's a near miss every time and the next train usually comes too late! Bons won't be happy if I get back at midnight.”

“Gotta keep after that arrow in the knee, huh? I get ya...” Joe chuckled, tossing her a sack of bits. “Spend that wisely. Buy that sweetheart a' yours something nice when ya get the chance.”

Lyra kicked her hind legs up and caught the satchel in her saddlebag. “Certainly will, boss. Just as soon as I can afford to get some parts for the rift generator! I'm nearly done tuning it up!”

“Great!” He exclaimed. “Tell me how that thing treats ya when it's done, ya kook! I wanna hear about it!”

“Definitely will do, man!” She said, running out the door and waving.

Lyra's latest shift at Doughnut Joe's Diner had just concluded, her earnings for the day jingling in her saddlebag as she trotted briskly to the train station, hoping to save energy through a steady pace. Though her lively mint coat didn't show it, the day had been long, hard, and frustrating. After eight agonizing hours of work, always accompanied by two mind-numbing train trips there and back, she was ready to get home and relax.

She arrived at the station surprisingly early. The lines of ponies entering the stage cars were still fairly long. There was more than enough time to buy a last minute ticket and get on. Lyra quickly threw her money at the ticketmare, grabbed her punch-card and searched for a good place to board the friendship express. As she jogged, wrapped up in searching for the least crowded entrance, Lyra bumped into somepony head-first, knocking them both down.

“Agh! What kind of doltish ruffians are they letting into the capital these days?!” The stallion cried out.

“Sorry guy, I'm just in a rush and wasn't looking where I was going...” Lyra started. “The walkway looked clear when I glanced. I thought...oh, crap...” Recognizing the cuffs, ascot and pompadour of one of Canterlot's most renowned fashion designers, she quickly knew that she had run into Hoity Toity. Literally.

“You thought what, exactly?” He retorted angrily. “From your demonstration here, I'd say you weren't thinking anything! Celestia, if I had half a bit for every time I had to say that...”

“Look, man, I didn't mean to bump into you!” Lyra said back.

“Man?! What in the wide world of Equestria does that mean?” Hoity Toity scoffed. “It's obvious to me that you're not from around here. What is your name, exactly?” He asked, eyeing Lyra from above his sunglasses.

“My name? Well, if it matters I'm Lyra Heartstrings, musical minty mare and cryptozoologist extraordinaire!” She replied proudly.

“Lyra Heartstrings?” He said, raising an eyebrow. “You mean, the Lyra Heartstrings? Of Gabby Gums fame? I wouldn't normally have heard of such a small town writer, but news of you has certainly made its way around! So then you're the one with the ridiculous notion that these, what is it...'Human beings' exist, not to mention that dreadful fascination with claws!”

She winced at this. “Hands!” She corrected him angrily. “They're called hands! They aren't as scratchy as claws, and more opposable than paws!”

“What makes you think I'd care?” Hoity Toity responded, chortling. “Good grief, if I had known somepony like you would be allowed on the trains I'd sooner pay for a balloon than risk riding in the same car as you!”

Lyra was fuming. “Then why don't you go do that!” She snapped back.

“Oh, I would miss Heartstrings,” he said snootily, “But I've already paid for the train! I'll just take my spot in first class, since I know you'll be riding coach.” He walked off, guffawing as he boarded his car.

“Of all the lousy snobs I could bump into, it had to be him...” Lyra said under her breath. “I thought everypony forgot about that Gabby Gums mess ages ago, but there it is, flapping out of Toity's mouth and smacking me in the face. Well, at least it's someone I already dislike that's treating me like a lunatic. I can live with that.”

Lyra boarded the train and took the first empty seat she saw. There weren't many ponies in the car, but the fact that nopony sat next to her made her wonder if they all thought she was weird. “It's probably nothing...There are plenty of others that are alone. I'll just sit back and ignore it.” She shifted her posture, leaning her back against the seat's as the train started to move. She noticed some ponies occasionally glancing at her, and felt out of place. She closed her eyes to avoid feeling awkward, and found herself slipping into a nap.

Lyra awoke to the sound of the train slowing to a halt. The ride had gone smoothly, and the few Zs she caught had helped settle her mind. She stepped off the train, hoping to avoid another confrontation. It seemed that Toity was nowhere to be found, and Lyra couldn't be happier to not have to deal with him. Leaving the station, she stretched to wake up and prepare for her walk home.

“Oh, Celestia...fifty trucks of doughnuts in one day...” Lyra cried out, cricking her back. “The lifting, the unpacking, the organizing...no wonder Joe needed a unicorn for the job. Nopony else could do that much at once!” She gave out a tired sigh, and looked at the sun. Judging from its place, it was late afternoon. Night would fall in an hour or two. “Finally, I can get some rest...It'll be good to get home and slouch on the couch for a while. I might even polish off the last case of hard cider with Vinyl and Dash, just to keep things extra mellow. That'll be sure to restore me to full mintyness!”

While both Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow Dash were anything but mellow at a party, often planning some wild competitions, their resulting hangovers had become a bit of a local legend. They'd usually drop by a friend's house the day after a contest to crash and recuperate, and Lyra made a point of having them both over for some quality, do-nothing hangout time whenever they were willing to amble over to her house. Considering that she had gotten a drunk fly-by from Dash the night before, proclaiming her supremacy over 'the red-eyed menace', Lyra knew the two of them would be up for some good down-time tonight.

Remembering how much fun their weekends together could be, Lyra rubbed her hooves together in delighted anticipation. “Oh, man! This is going to be great! We'll play games, tell stories, I might even be able to get Bons to join in once I whip out the TV I made! I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it...” just as she started getting giddy, she recalled Bon Bon's plans for the evening, and let out another sigh.

“Ah, that's right...Bon Bon had wanted to have a sleepover at Roseluck's. I really don't want to hear about horticulture and candycraft for the rest of the night. Not to mention every time I'm over there I just want to eat her flowers. The last time I picked at her garden she practically had a fit! If Bons hadn't stepped in, I'd probably still be apologizing. Maybe I should just tell her I'm not up for going places...hmm...aha!”

Lyra became excited as she planned her strategy and picked up her speed, briskly trotting, coming up with the perfect relaxation-filled evening. “I know! I'll use the ancient art of compromise! She can visit with Rose, and I'll tell her that I'll be hosting Dash and the Deej! If she really wants me there, I can probably ask her to reschedule. We've always managed to reach an agreement. It'll be fine!”

She continued on her way happily, wandering further into town as visions of an awesome down-time danced in her mind.

“I can't wait to get home! I'll call them as soon as I get back. We can just sit down, chill out, and talk. I haven't gotten to catch up with them in weeks...”

She began a pleasant stroll toward the center of town, stopping occasionally to admire the scenery. The shops that had been open for the weekend were closing down, and the owners looked busy cleaning up or taking stock for Sunday. Most everypony else had already gone home for the day. Even after Luna's return, so many still seemed to avoid being out after dark. It always made her wonder how the princess of the night felt about this whenever she noticed the emptiness of the streets at dusk.

Lyra never minded a midnight stroll, and had taken such opportunities to talk with the few ponies that were actually out. The most notable time having been when she found a dour Rarity. The time was also good for deep thought, and ended up being the perfect atmosphere for experimentation. There was never any loud noise outside, making it much easier to concentrate, and if her contraptions needed more room than the house could offer, open space outdoors and a lack of interruptions were both things that the night could provide.

As she continued through the streets, lost in thought, Lyra felt a hoof tapping her shoulder. Returning her attention to the world around, she turned to see who was there.

“Oh, huh? Who's...”

Lyra only had enough time to turn before a CD case smacked into her face, startling her and blocking her vision.

“AH! WHAT THE BUCK IS THIS!”

A calm, nonchalant voice responded from behind the unlabeled case. “Don't worry, hand-head. It's silicon and plastic with some sick beats. It'll only bite your ears. In a good way!”

There was no mistaking the Deej.

Lyra moved the case aside to see that the hoof belonged to none other than her pal Vinyl Scratch. Her coat was unusually healthy for a day after competing against Dash, and the shocks of blue in her mane looked exceedingly lively, even for her. She seemed very active and energetic for somepony who was still recovering from a defeat at the Friday drinkening.

“Vinyl?! Hey! What's up? How are you feeling? And what are you shoving in my head this time?” Lyra asked, excited to hear what crazy cool stuff her friend had been up to.

“I'm feeling terrific! Kicked some hangover ass in my search for aural ecstasy! And this, good Lyra-” Scratch levitated the case to her side, presenting it excitedly. “This is the number one hit album of the century! I've spent weeks looking for it online, and it ended up being in Ponyville's old record shop, under my nose the entire time!” she exclaimed.

“That's awesome!” Lyra cheered happily, “But what exactly is it?” she asked, confused.

Vinyl moved the case closer to Lyra's face again, shifting its angle to accentuate the spectrum of lights shining off of the disk. Watching the rainbow spin around on the album was mesmerizing, but didn't explain much.

“This is pretty cool, Scratch,” Lyra said, “but I'm not getting it.”

“You don't see it?” Vinyl responded. “Keep looking at the colors. Something's off, right? Do you see that shit?”

“I'm still missing it. It looks...woah, wait a minute, what is-” Lyra saw what was wrong. The colors seemed to change after looking for a while, and were not any shade that was normally reflected from a disk, appearing to have become an inverted spectrum. Along with this, the disk itself changed from a clear color to an opaque reflective black.

“How is it doing that?” Lyra asked.

“Magic.” Vinyl responded.

“Oh...ok. It looks cool, but that doesn't seem so special, really. I can't say I'm too enthused” Lyra replied.

“You're not seeing it! That's exactly what makes this amazing!” Scratch exclaimed. “Magic is never put into CDs, and even when it is, it never comes from the contents inside! The music itself has mystical mojo!”

Lyra wasn't buying it. “Are you sure? I mean, weird colors aside, I'm not feeling any mojo coming from that thing. It might be a fake...”

Vinyl leaped forward, shoving her face into Lyra's, taking on a more serious tone. “It's no fake, mint. I found this baby on the most knowledgeable database of urban legends that there is! Scarysoup!”

Lyra backed up to regain some personal space. “Scarysoup?” she queried. “Isn't that some sort of website?”

“YEAH!” Scratch shouted. “Scarysoup.com! Scary Soup is the head moderator and creator of the site. He's the best rumor, myth, and legend finder in Equestria! I've been helping him debunk all kinds of crap in my free time, and I've made this disk my special case!”

Vinyl was ecstatic, but Lyra was still scratching her head, confused and incredulous.

“Alright, so...what IS it?” She asked.

Scratch popped up onto her hind legs, gesturing with her forelegs in the air to denote the importance of her discovery. “It's the last remnant of the greatest musicians of all time! The fabled Sonnet Trio!”

“...Who?” Lyra asked.

“The Sonnet Trio!” Scratch repeated.

“I've never heard of them...” Lyra replied, “and I've never heard anyone mention that name before...how are these guys the best? This isn't another one of your rave band buddy groups, is it?”

“Of course not...” Vinyl said, suggestively flashing her eyebrows up and down, “And I hadn't heard of them either until a month or so ago. But trust me, they're the real deal. Scary Soup personally gave me the full story on them after I asked about their page. You might want to sit down for this...”

Both of them plopped their butts on the ground, and Vinyl continued.

“The legend goes that a trio of famous musicians, each amazing on their own, came together under one banner to form the greatest group of all time. BUT, the music they produced was too awesome, and they chose to lock it away. They managed to use their own kickass powers to erase themselves from history, ensuring that they and their super sounds could never harm anypony. Even with that, though, traces of them still pop up, and the rumor says that they left one last Vinyl record of their greatest hits in the world so that they could still be enjoyed.”

Lyra was trying not to crack up. “That's one epic story, Vinyl, but that's a CD, not a record.”

“That's exactly the point!” Vinyl stated, stamping a hoof down and smiling wryly. “Scary Soup told ME the truth about the legend! He said that all of the records had disappeared along with them. That their music was stored on a single CD he found, but that it disappeared after he tried to destroy it because of its mind blowing, bass dropping, rhythm weaving, beat bringing fantasticness! He said the entire album flows into itself, and ends with a perfect tasty lick! The music was too intense for him, I guess.”

Lyra didn't know what to think of her friend's internet rumor quest, but she was happy it had helped the DJ out of her natural post-drinkening grogginess. “So then I'm guessing that the thing has been showing up places, right? And this is-”

“This is it.” Scratch interjected. “This is the one. All the others on that site that say they've found the record can suck a fat one, because it's a freakin' CD, and I HAVE IT!” She said, poking the ground with her hoof, emphasizing her words. “A disk so moving, so magical, that anypony who listens to it is put into a trance. This thing has powers, Lyra...weird powers, scary powers...we've got to try it.” She said, an eerie look of delight on her face.

It seemed weird, but hey, if Vinyl could enjoy her rants on 'hairless monkey things', as her friend called them, then she could definitely give this band a try. Lyra found the idea of the CD pretty cool, too. “That sounds great! We can make it the main event for tonight's Saturday sleepover recovery night! Just let me tell Dash, and-”

“Woah! Sorry Lyra, but the S.S.R.N is a no-go on my end until I make sure that this thing is as good as I've built it up to be. I have to take it home and listen to it alone, with no interruptions.” Vinyl levitated the case closer to her, cradling it and affectionately rubbing it against her face. “If it really is as awesome as I think it is, then I'll bust your door down, and plant its sweet jams between your ears. For now though, I'm off to try it out!” she smiled widely as she walked off with the disk.

“I hope it kicks ass! See ya!” Lyra waved goodbye, and began on her way again. She walked past the fountain in the center of town, about to leave straight for home, when the wonderful smell of baked confections wafted through the air and into her nose. Sugarcube Corner was still open, and Pinkie Pie was quickly walking in and out of the shop, bringing a cart of treats out and quickly pushing it back into the store after making a ring around the fountain, taking new treats out and in every time. As always, Lyra found herself confused and fascinated by Pinkie's antics, and couldn't help but pause her journey home once more to get closer and see what was going on. Pinkie popped out of the building again, carrying a gigantic yellow cake on the wagon, decorated with all manner of cupcakes, cookies, and streamers, with a single chocolate-chip cookie placed atop the cake, held up by what appeared to be straight candy-canes. She beat her spectator to the punch, answering the question before it was asked.

“Hey Lyra!” she called out happily, “I'm airing out the last batch before closing! Wanna help? It's really fun!”

“Sorry Pinkie, but I'm zonked. I have to get home soon, too. I shouldn't keep Bon Bon waiting if I can help it. What does airing out a batch do, though? And what is this cake?!” she asked, amazed at the sheer size of the saccharine obelisk.

“OH!” Pinkie shouted, “It's my extra special, did-it-myself, super delicious clean-up cake! I make one at the end of every day out of the orders that get canceled or don't get picked up in time, and I'm airing out these treats since keeping some kinds of goodies inside the shop won't let them get all the air they need. And if they don't have enough room to breathe, they won't taste as good! But Mr. Special cake, here-” she pointed to the towering sugar and dough monstrosity, “I'm taking him out just so he gets a fair shake like the other treats before I eat em'!"

“I'll take your word for it, Pinkie. But, you're going to eat that whole thing? Seriously?” Lyra couldn't imagine the cake being completely eaten at all. Even an entire town wouldn't be able to finish it off.

“Well duh!” Pinkie said, widening her eyes and stretching her neck towards her friend. “I can't just leave the extras lying around the store! Besides, they deserve to be eaten just as much as the other scrumptious goodies that do get taken away!” she continued walking the cart past the fountain, humming to herself happily.

Just as she began to make the curve in her path, the cake began to sway with the turning of the cart, bending just enough for the cookie on the top to slip from its candy pedestal, slowly falling down towards the ground below. Pinkie's eyes grew large as she witnessed the crowning piece of her cake plummet. As slowly as the cookie fell, She stretched out a hoof to reach for it, crying out a long and resounding “Noooooo!”. Lyra watched the entire event occur, wondering how Pinkie, the cake, and the cookie could move so slowly compared to everything around them. After what felt like a few minutes or so, the chocolate chip treat finally hit the ground with a rather dense thud and sat on the ground, unmoving.

Pinkie snapped her hoof “Dang it! That was the best part of the cake! I can't eat it now.”

Lyra strained to hold back her curiosity, trying not to ask how it was possible to 'snap' one's hoof like a claw, paw, or hand, knowing the answer would only drive her to actually snap her hooves to pieces in the attempt to copy the stunt. Focusing instead on the matter at hand, she responded to her friend's plight. “Why not, Pinkie? It's only been a few seconds, it should be fine. Here, I'll put it back on...”

“No!” Pinkie shouted, leaping on top of the cookie to block any attempt at moving it. “You can't do that! It's dirty...you can't eat a dirty cookie like that! And it would take too long to wash!”

“Washing a...cookie? Wait..." Lyra strafed around Pinkie, looking for a way to levitate the treat from under her guard. Strangely enough, her defense was perfect. It seemed that even without being eaten, Pinkie's tummy was the best place to hide a cookie.

Giving up on trying to get it, Lyra recalled some of the things her friend had munched on before. "Pinkie, I've seen you eat worse things off the floor that have been there longer. Why not just put it back?” 

Pinkie rolled her eyes “BECAUSE...This isn't just any old cookie! It's the cookie for the day! Now that it's dirty, it won't be right. Nopony should eat it now. It might be bad...”

“Why? What will happen?” Lyra asked.

Pinkie leaped off the treat “Eat it and you'll see. But don't say I didn't warn ya! Just be careful, and don't chew too fast!”

“uh...ok...”

Lyra stared at the cookie, wondering what would happen if she ate it. She brought her face close to the cookie and could smell it's chocolaty goodness. Pinkie slowly inched her way closer to it. Standing on the opposite side of it from Lyra, she warned her again.

“Don't eat the cookie, Lyra” she whispered, “all sorts of crazy stuff will happen if you do...”

Hearing something like that from the craziest pony she knew disturbed Lyra's mintyness, causing her to visibly tingle with unease, and made her reconsider. “You know what...I think I'll just leave it be, Pinks.”

“Really? You're not going to eat the cookie?” Pinkie queried, astonished.

“Nope. I won't eat the cookie.” Lyra stated adamantly.

Pinkie looked at Lyra suspiciously and slowly walked backwards towards the bakery, grabbing the cake cart with a hoof as she went. “Make sure you don't eat that cookie, Lyra. You might not be ready for what you'll see...”

She backed into the bakery, the cake squeezing through the entrance once again. The door slammed behind her. Lyra was left alone in the center of town, with the sun slowly setting, nopony else around, and the cookie just sitting there. It's tasty goodness tempting her. She sniffed the cookie once, and instantly heard the door to the bakery quickly squeak open a crack. She looked over and saw Pinkie's head pop out near the bottom of the opening.

“Don't eat it!” she warned again before sucking her head back into Sugarcube Corner. The door slammed behind her, and the lights in the bakery shut off just after that. A pair of wide, blue eyes stared at Lyra from the window.

“It's still tempting...” Lyra thought to herself, “but if I do start seeing crazy things, Bons will probably think I rolled in poison joke again. By Luna, what an experience that was!”

Curious as she was, she didn't want to disrupt her journey home any further. She looked at the cookie one last time, shrugged, and walked off. There was always a chance to get a cookie or ten from Pinkie the next day, and Lyra knew that Bon Bon got antsy whenever she was late from Joe's. The sun was well into setting, and the streets were almost completely empty. From the looks of things, about an hour had passed somehow since first running into Scratch. Lyra picked up her speed, nearly running to shave some time from the path home. She knew her marefriend wouldn't be happy about her returning so close to dark. There was no reason for an hour to have passed so quickly. Running into Vinyl and Pinkie should only have taken half an hour at best. She couldn't imagine that she really took so much time to stare at a cookie. There was no way. Not even if it was the greatest treat ever confected.

As she made her way home, Lyra began searching the skies, realizing that she might have trouble contacting Dash. Bon Bon was prone to lengthy talk sessions, and may very well chat all the time away that Lyra would need to reach Rainbow if she had already returned to cloudsdale for the evening. To make sure that the Saturday Sleepover Recovery Night could happen in time, Lyra would have to try and find her on the way back. Fortunately, the last cloud cover being moved for the day was visible from where she was walking. Hoping the clouds contained her friend, Lyra Took a guess at the distance, squinted, pointed her horn towards them, planted her hooves firmly on the ground, and conjured up her magic.

A yellowy field formed around the clouds, and quickly dragged them over. “oh man, that's pretty fast” she thought, “maybe I should make it a bit slower...there! Oh...oops...” The clouds slowed abruptly, and Rainbow Dash slid from off of them, still sleeping. Falling towards Lyra, she woke up just in time to catch herself, springing her wings open and swooping upwards in front of her minty buddy, beginning to make a faint streak of rainbows behind her as she rose. As always, it was awesome, but still tired, she overdid her swoop and landed face-first in the road, getting up and spitting out a mouthful of dirt.

“Bleh! What was that? And how did I get down here?” she asked, noticing Lyra staring gleefully. She quickly realized who was probably responsible and went along with the assumption. “Hey, I know I'm pretty cool and all, and I'm glad you're happy to see me, but what's up with tossing me out of the air like that?”

“Sorry, Dash, but I needed to ask you if you're up for the S.S.R.N tonight. Scratch gave a hard maybe, and is bringing some new jams if she comes! I've still got the last case of hard cider, too, so you can knock off any of the last bits of hangitude you've got! It'll be great!” Lyra chirped.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Hangitude? I have no such thing! I slept off the whole keg in the few hours before work!” she said, taking to the air again and puffing out her chest.

“The whole keg? You mean the whole keg? THE Keg?” Lyra queried, mouth agape.

“YES”, Rainbow Dash responded, “THE KEG. Fifteen gallons of pure, unfiltered, hard cider. I drank it all, Lyrs. Even the pulp. The red-eyed menace admitted defeat after that. Although I did let her lose gracefully. I kept my victory lap around the town short. Of course, Twilight had to ruin the fun a little...” Dash landed to do her best impression of the purple unicorn, ruffling her hair over her eyes in a mock-imitation of her friend's mane. “If by 'keeping it short' you mean cheering your victory so loud at Fluttershy's cottage that I could hear it, after having you float around my house saying the same things, then yes, Rainbow Dash, you kept it short” she said, gesturing professorially with a hoof and smirking.

“Not a bad impression” Lyra chuckled, “but you were pretty loud, you know.”

“Yeah, I know...” Dash said, scratching the back of her head and grimacing “Sorry about that. I can get a little vocal when I'm excited. Especially when I win. The Keg didn't help much, either. But I mean, hey, she got me back.” She grinned again, “If it wasn't for her scaring off those timberwolves I crashed into on the way back with that alcohol and chili fueled stink-break of hers, I'd probably be a little worse for wear.”

“Was it Chili Pete's chili?” Lyra had to ask.

“You know it!” the pegasus shouted. “It was the Strongest batch he's made since the last time Vinyl and I duked it out! Seeing as she and I both downed about eighteen bowls of the stuff though, I can't imagine the chili-breath did it. She must've used the wubs on them...”

“The power of the Deej cannot be denied...” Lyra exclaimed in a faux-serious manner. “But seriously, are you on for the S.S.R.N?”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brows and lowered herself to the ground in a ready position. “Rainbow Dash for the Saturday Sleepover Recovery Night is a green-light! The S.S.R.N is a go!” she yelled, flying into the air once more. Lyra knew this meant the start of an excellent lounge night. “So when should I come over? Same time as the nachos?” Dash asked.

“Same time as the nachos.” Lyra stated proudly. She made sure that the nachos always arrived at base nine o'clock, on the dot. “This shall be our supplication to Princess Luna!” she yelled, charging homeward. “I'll see you at the time of great snacks!”

Rainbow Dash quickly flew off, offering an excited goodbye and returning to the last clouds of the day. Lyra continued on her way, delighting herself again with images of sitting on the couch, snacking, telling scary stories and watching some of Rainbow's latest Daring Do movies. If Scratch joined in, they could listen to her weird new favorite band while trying out Bon Bon's Parcheesi board. If she had enough money to spare from work, Lyra might even go so far as to take some of it out of her cryptozoology budget and buy the necessities for cheese Jenga! It would be an incredible evening. As she reached her home at last, slowing down to catch her breath, she wondered how her marefriend had been feeling in her absence, and opened the door.

Lyra walked into the house, exhausted, and slumped onto the couch in the main room of their cozy home near the outskirts of Ponyville. It was a simple place overall, with a kitchen, bathroom and living room on the main floor, a small bedroom and a minty 'pondering music nook' upstairs. The couple always had plans to expand the house, and managed to make a basement together for most of the tools and contraptions Lyra had produced in her experiments over the years. The few that didn't fit were left scattered about the living room for curious visitors to fiddle with, in the hopes they might open a portal or two. “Bon Bon! I'm home! You wouldn't believe the amount of work I did today!” she announced throughout the house as she closed the front door. “How's your day been, Bonnie? What are you up to?” The answer she received came in the form of hurried hoofsteps into the living room. Bon Bon's coat seemed lackluster, its normally cheery beige appearing dull. The blue and pink of her mane frazzling together, her normally well-groomed curls had poofed into a stress-ball. She  looked a little bit worried.

“Lyra, where were you? You're home late again. I know you have good reasons, but you keep getting back after dark, and your stories about work keep getting weirder!” Bon Bon exclaimed. “What's happening over there?”

While Lyra did often run into some strange things on her way, she knew what her special somepony was trying to say. Another early morning weekend shift at Doughnut Joe's had Bon bon wondering where Lyra might be going on her Saturdays, and who she might really be with. It was a long way to go to Canterlot for something as trivial as a second job, especially considering that they had enough cash to sustain them from Bon Bon alone. Lyra told the truth every time, and Bons knew her well enough to trust that what would be an idiot's excuse to anypony else was nothing but the truth. As much as she hated it, her marefriend's constant questioning had turned her explanation into something of a mantra.

“It's just a part-time job, nothing major! The only pony I see there is Joe, and I only ever get to work in the front, where there would be customers, when it's slow. Nine times out of ten Spike's the only one that comes in at all around those times, and that's if he's finished his work or gets moody. Besides, you know I'm just friends with those guys.” Lyra would say calmly. Unfortunately, it never quelled  any concerns.

“And what about that one time? What if the most charming, handsome stallion in Equestria happened to stop by for a doughnut or hot chocolate? He could have you swooning in seconds!” Bons would usually respond, slightly smiling but still fairly serious.

The back and forth was always half jesting, but half real as well.

“Bonnie, first off, I don't swoon.” Lyra said. “If anything, you'd swoon before me, if I swooned at all. And second off, I don't swing that way.”

Bon always got anxious at this point, but it's most likely from Lyra's lack of ever swooning in their relationship more than anything else. Strangely, however, she seemed far more exasperated than usual.

“Oh yes you do! You swing! You swing all over the place, like a giant, flappy, wobbly swing thing!” Bon Bon cried.

“What?!” Lyra said, surprised by the outburst. “That was just a bunch of hoopla!”

Bons' anger flared. “Then what about a mare, huh? What if Rarity, or Fleur de lis, or Luna just happened to sidle up to you and start waving their plots around?! Things like that can happen, and you love the butt!” Bon Bon appeared to be on the verge of tears.

“Yes, I love the butt!” The minty mare shouted back. “Plots are awesome! But why would you worry?” Lyra rushed up to her, giving her a big hug. “You've got the best butt of them all. Besides, there's more to a mare than just the plot...” She moved her head from Bons' shoulder, looking into her eyes. “Especially you.” Bon Bon calmed down, blushing at the compliment. “You never get this bothered about things. What's on your mind, Sweetie Drops?” Lyra only called her that when she was concerned.

The two sat down on the couch, Bon Bon resting her head in Lyra's lap. Lyra levitated a hair brush down from their room. Gingerly Brushing Bonnie's mane, she waited to hear the story. Bons sighed, unsure of how to start. She took a breath, and explained.

“I haven't been getting good sleep for a while now...and had a horrible dream last night. I tried to ignore it, but I've just been pacing, thinking, and you had already left by the time I wanted to talk about it...” She drifted off. “I don't remember much...everything I do know about it seems so strange...The town was on fire, and everypony was trying to gobble me up! I was looking for you the whole time...there were so many of them chasing me! I wanted you to help me, but I couldn't find you, and they were always right behind me. I, I couldn't get away!” She said, her voice wavering. “It...it felt like hours...running, hiding...they kept getting closer to reaching me...a-and when I finally found you...” She looked up at Lyra, tears in her eyes. “You, you just ignored me! I woke up in a panic, and I was certain you were going to leave me!” Bon Bon wept, and Lyra bent forward to hold her. She had no idea that her Sweetie Drops had been so afraid of losing her.

Lyra smiled, hugging her beloved.“There's no way I'd leave you, Bonicula.” she said reassuringly, “We've already stuck through so much together. I might be away a lot more than I used to be, but I'd never leave you. Not in a million years.” She moved Bon Bon off of her lap, standing on her hind hooves on the couch. “Its only because I need the scratch to finally prove my theories right!” Lyra sprang off the couch.

“I've been the laughing stock of Ponyville ever since I made my ideas known, and everypony's doubt is too much to take! I have to prove to them all that I'm not insane, and this job is the only one that would have me after Gabby Gums released the front-pager on my fascination with hands. I thought the paper was actually interested in my ideas!” Lyra shook her right hoof in disdain.

She knew her antics always helped her special somepony out of a funk, and defending her hobbies always cheered them both up. Besides, she had yet to get her revenge on Gabby...

“It's not your fault, Lyra.” Bon Bon assured her. “Most ponies don't bother to look into the nature of  magic, and this idea of different dimensions is something they probably think is crazy. Not many of us have the inclination to come up with wild ideas about the universe, let alone put in any time or effort into trying to prove such loony things. The whole thing is pretty hard to believe, you have to understand that. And with all of the muttering you do, not to mention the way you sit. That has to wrench your spine! It's no wonder so many ponies look at you funny. I mean really, Lyra...”

Lyra's face had scrunched a bit, her eyes growing watery, looking ready to cry.

Bon Bon paused, thinking to herself, unsure how to continue. “Oh no...I'm making this sound like it IS all her fault...what should I say?” She searched for an explanation, hoping to avoid hurting Lyra any more. “...The things you've tried to describe to me have all gone over my head, and that's with more lessons and explanations from you than I can remember! It's not the kind of thing most ponies understand or deal with, and they may not know what to do except scoff at the idea or call you crazy.”

Lyra de-scrunched at this, and seemed to become her normal self after considering what her candyrific snugglepuss had said. She stood silent for a moment, glaring down at the ground in thought. Lifting her head, she gazed into Bon Bon's eyes and spoke. “Bonnels, I'm glad you're on my side. I know it can't be easy having somepony like me, constantly paying attention to something other than you...”

“It's fine, Lyra” Bons replied, “I may worry a lot, but I'm not normally paranoid or anything. These dreams are what's bothering me, not anything real. I should probably have thought about that first, but that didn't really occur to me before talking to you. And the job with Joe...I just miss you, that's all. I know it'll only be for a while, and we'll have more time after that. I really wish you would tell me how much you need, though. You've been at that job for so long now...” She knew she had just gotten Lyra into a funk, right as she was coming out of her own. This couldn't be good. She wanted to make sure Lyra was ok, wanted to help her as much as possible.

Bon Bon's expression changed, a look of subtle determination in her eyes. “I can just give you the money, you know. We have enough to cover the spare parts for the generator, and if I picked up a side job for a week or so, I'm sure we'd be able to get the rest for the gate stabilizer thing in no-time.”

“That's not the point!” Lyra snapped back. “The reason I need money for any of it at all is entirely my fault. If it weren't for me chasing humans, we'd both be living comfortably, able to afford more furniture than just this couch and a few pillows! If I'm going to keep up with this, I have to do it myself. I won't take money away from us, even if I do have to take time...” she looked down, trying not to cry. “It'll only be a bit longer. I don't want to take our money, not even if it's in the swear jar...”

“Have you been taking from the swear jar again?” Bon Bon asked, smiling coyly, hoping to make her mint respond in kind.

“Oh, uh...shit...OH...horsefeathers...sorry about that...” Lyra replied, ashamed.

Bon Bon shook her head and got up from the couch. She walked up to Lyra and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Don't worry about it, it's fine. We've both added our fair share to the jar, and if you need the money, I think it's good to empty it for this.”

“Thanks, Bon...” Lyra said, sniffling. “But you know the rules...'Celestia's orders'...” she said, making quotations with her hooves and feigning a smile. The princess had made a fake decree one April foals' day, promoting swear jars throughout the kingdom, but many ponies took it more seriously than she thought. Lyra and Bon Bon hadn't done it entirely so, but the princess' joking support gave Lyra an out. “I can't take the money for this...”


“Alright, we can keep the jar full then. But please don't feel bad. We have more than enough to live nicely. I really like the couch...it's comfortable enough on its own. And we have a bed, don't forget. That's pretty comfy too.” Bon Bon retorted, raising her eyebrows. “Why don't we just call it a night, huh? I know it's early, but all things considered, I think we should both try to get some sleep. We both just need to relax.” She pulled Lyra into another hug, but was gently pushed away.

“NO!” Lyra cried out. “We can't...I, I had it all planned out to make tonight the Saturday Sleepover Recovery Night! I wanted to tell you, but...you were all out of sorts. I forgot to mention it...and I can't just let Dash down! Scratch might show up too...maybe...I hope that's alright. I thought...” she hesitated, “I thought you had wanted to eat at Rose's. We can't just go to sleep.”

Bons was surprised at this. “Lyra, you can have ponies over anytime! I wouldn't get mad about that. Plus, I already visited Rose today. I told you I would go on my own unless you wanted to come along. Weren't you listening?”

“Not really...” Lyra replied, trying not to sound sad. “I was tired, and I just wanted to get to work...” she started heading for the door.

“Lyra, where are you going? It's dark out, you should just wait for your friends...” Bon Bon didn't know what to do to help her.

Lyra's cheery demeanor had vanished completely. She opened the door, preparing to leave. She responded listlessly, looking out into the evening dark.

“I don't even know if Scratch is showing up...besides, I need to get supplies for the night and something for your bad dreams. You shouldn't have to worry about things like that if I can help it...” she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Bon Bon sat, speechless. In no time flat she had deflated Lyra, spoiling the mood for what her special somepony had intended to be a spontaneous, fun night for her and their friends. She couldn't think of how to restore her mint's mood.

Suddenly, she remembered something: Lyra hadn't called for the delivery of the most important ingredient for the night. Worse still, Bon Bon couldn't remember the number to reach them. She felt helpless. Looking out the window, she watched as her marefriend walked away, vanishing after the first turn further into town. Touching the glass, trying to reach out, she spoke to herself in the empty house. “But Lyra, what about the nachos...?”
> Chapter 2: Cookie Vision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	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.
> Chapter 3: Cookieverse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The cookie slowly crumbled in Lyra's mouth. With each motion of her jaws it was further reduced to tasty bits. Every delectable piece graced her tongue with its flavour, lavishing her with a chocolaty beauty she had never known before. It was truly the greatest thing she had ever eaten. The lamppost glowed with the glory of a sun. Time seemed to stop, it was so good. Everything around her became drenched in euphoric bliss.

Then, without any warning, it stopped tasting like anything at all...

"Wh-...what happened? Where's all the delicious gone?!"

Pinkie Pie looked at Lyra from under the brim of her hat, a grim frown on her face. "It's starting..." She said ominously.

"What? What's starting?" Lyra asked, alarmed.

Pinkie came closer, opening Lyra's mouth and peering inside.

"Yep." she said, eyeballing the bits of cookie before closing Lyra's mouth. "Just what I thought. Miss Heartstrings, I'm sorry to say this, but you might've chewed a little too fast..."

"Oh no...what does that mean?"

"Welp, if you did chew too fast, then everything you'll see is gonna be really scary..."

Lyra began to worry.

"Uh, Pinkie...oh, man, what kind of scary? I'm not feeling good about this..."

"I think it varies from pony to pony, but for you it might get to be 'eat your skin off' scary!" Pinkie said, her eyes lighting up. "It'll be neat if it gets that scary!"

"Oh  Celestia..."

"Don't worry too much, scaredy-pants!" Pinkie said, pulling a cookie from her coat and taking a bite. "You did a pretty good job. I think the worst that'll happen for you is some walls."

"Walls?!" Lyra cried frantically. "What are walls?!"

"Just things that keep you from walking, silly!" Pinkie laughed. "If you run into any nasty ones, I'll help you out."

Lyra was loosing her cool.

"You didn't put poison joke in this thing, did you?!"

"There's no joke, Lyra. There is only the cookie!" Pinkie said, her eyes getting swirly.

Lyra felt strange. Her legs were weak. She sat down and stared up at the sky.

Massive black shapes appeared to be swimming around the stars. Looking back at the lamppost, she saw the light wobble and bend.

"There are monsters up there. And the light is wiggling..."

"Too true..." Pinkie responded, nodding sagely. "What should we do about it?"

"Should we warn everypony?"

"We could try, but I don't think that's the answer you'll need."

"What else can I do? It's just like with the humans, then!"

Pinkie glared into Lyra's soul.

"You can finish the cookie."

Lyra realized that some crumbs were still in her mouth. Hoping to find an answer to what was happening, she swallowed the last bits of the confect. The wobbliness intensified, but she felt calmer. She was prepared for what might come.

"I think I'm ready, Pinks. What happens now?"

Pinkie grabbed her fedora, pulling it over an eye. "Now, you've just gotta watch. If anything tries to eat your skin, just tell it you're busy."

"Sounds...plan-like. But, will this help Bon Bon? Fluttershy said-"

"Shh..." Pinkie interjected. "That's for later. Right now, think about the one thing you really, really, really, really like."

Lyra wasn't sure what that should mean.

"I want to help Bons..." She pondered. "but...the one thing I really like...out of everything...It couldn't hurt to just think about it, could it?"

She sat, ambivalent. After a long moment's thought, she made her decision.

"...Humans. I want proof that humans exist. Proof that all the time I've put into this hasn't been wasted. That I'm not a maniac. And...damnit, I want hands!" She yelled out.

"Then you're on your way! WOO!"

Pinkie grabbed Lyra by the cheeks, shoving their faces together.

"You're gonna have a good time!" She exclaimed.

Lyra's vision blurred and started to fade. The whole world felt like it was spinning.

"I hope so, Punkee..." She said, losing consciousness.

"Hey! That's a great nickname! I should use that! I bet everypony would get a kick out of it! You know what, after this we should hang out! I remember you said you were having a sleepover! I'd love to join! we can do all sorts of things! Dancing, singing, eating contests, drawing, sailing, sculpting, wrestling...hey! We could even...."

Lyra's hearing faded away. Everything went dark.

She felt like she was drifting into nothingness...

Her mind blurred. She couldn't think, couldn't understand. As Empty blackness pressed down, all consuming, she felt doomed.

Then, she heard the sound of a bell in the void. 

As soon as she heard it, she felt strangely warm. She was at peace, cradled by the dark. It was almost like sleeping...

She remained in the void for what seemed to be an eternity, content. After a while, she felt like her eyes were closed, that they could be opened again.

Lyra opened her eyes. She could see herself floating in darkness. Looking around, she noticed the cookie, spinning, drifting towards her. It stopped just a few feet away.

As she watched, it turned to face her. Rings of energy emanated from its chocolate chips, dancing into her eyes. She felt herself being pulled into it. As it drew closer, brilliant colors filled the void.

Stretching out a hoof, she tried to touch the cookie. Nearly reaching it, she saw everything vanish in a burst of white light.

Then Lyra found herself on solid ground again. She quickly scanned her body for any injuries or oddities, and was relieved to discover nothing out of order. Not a single hair out of place. Even her saddlebag had come with her. Shaking it, she heard its contents still jingling inside, and with a sigh of relief, turned her attention outward.

She was baffled by what she found.

She stood in the center of a vast flatland surrounded by a tall mesa. All of the ground was a dusty brownish-red. The heavens were filled with strange stars and glowing nebulae radiating all manners of red, blue, purple and green. An aurora blanketed them in flowing patterns of equally brilliant lights. Cheese sticks and paper bowls of nachos floated between the earth and sky. A concerned and helpless looking Princess Luna drifted along above them, flailing her legs, panicking silently.

Lyra's mintiness shined from the spectral sky, and she stood in awe.

"Sweet, luckless Luna...This place is beautiful! Plus, free food!"

She wrapped as many nacho bowls and cheese sticks as she could handle in her magic, but found that they wouldn't budge. Soon after, her spell was rebuffed by the floating food, bursting like a bubble.

Astonished, she looked to Luna for help. The princess responded by flailing her legs even more. Lyra noticed her mouthing words, but could not hear what she said, and floating as high as she was, it was impossible to read her lips. Fortunately, her presence alone was reassuring. Even if she did appear impotent, drifting through space as she was, Lyra knew that she often visited ponies in their dreams.

Lyra stared up at her, thinking. "This is just a trippy dream, that's all. Luna's probably having a hard time in here because of whatever was in that cookie. Man, I really should've thought about this more. I don't think I'm getting anything from this for Bons, not to mention I'm going to be crap by the time the S.S.R.N starts. I might not even be able to make it back in time if I'm asleep right now."

She wanted to leave. Looking around again, her heart sank. She was unable to see any way out of the flat expanse. The mesa formed a perfect ring. There were no paths to walk, nowhere to go.

"Is this what Pinkie meant by walls? She isn't here to help, so maybe not. Can I really expect her to be here with me though? She might be crazy, and capable of all sorts of weird, but I think that's expecting too much, even from her. Either way, I should be able to get past them with some levitation..."

She tried to concentrate her energy around herself to float up to higher ground. Her horn glowed and hummed weakly, then stopped working altogether. Confused and angry, she yelled in frustration.

"What?! What's wrong with me?! I should be able to do this! There's no reason I can't! Why can't I move some freakin' sky chips?! I should be able to at least do something with my magic! This blows! I'm hungry, and I still have things to do! I want to know-"

A noise stopped her. She thought she heard speaking.

She froze and listened.

Something was there. Voices, whispering unintelligible words.

"I want to know what's happening..." She thought. She quickly glanced up at Luna to see if she was the source of the sound. Luna simply stared back, squirming desperately in the air, a look of extraordinary dread on her face.

Lyra felt helpless. Her magic didn't work, Luna couldn't do anything, and the whispers were growing louder all around her, closing in. She knew that even if it was a dream, Luna's fear meant that something was wrong.

She shut her eyes firmly, trying to remain calm and summon her magic. It didn't work. Not so much as a spark was in her ability. She thought she heard laughing amongst the quiet cacophony.

Maddened, she spoke back.

"Just shut up and go away, shut up and go away, quit talking, quit laughing...shut the buck up and leave! I don't deserve to be mocked!"

Her words echoed out. The voices grew louder, laughing hysterically.

She lowered herself to the ground, her head pounding. She heard her words fade and die.

As her echo vanished, the whispers swarmed. She tried to cry out, but found she couldn't speak. Everything started to grow dark.

Then, a voice boomed behind her, bringing all the others to silence.

"Indeed, you do not." It spoke. "And so they shall."

Its words resonated in her, loud and strong. The whispers disappeared. The pain in her head eased away. Standing up, she felt a jolt of energy run through her.

"So then, at last, you have come..."

Lyra turned to see the source of this voice. A field of shadow resided atop the distant mesa, the form of a unicorn cloaked within. It's glowing gaze beamed out to her. She sensed an odd familiarity with it. Looking into the shadow, she found a peculiar drive inspired in herself. She felt stronger than before.

Wary but unafraid, she called out to the figure. "Who are you? What is this place? And what are you doing here?"

It responded calmly, its voice echoing in her ears.

"Bold journeymare, you should know well my name. It is etched into your very soul. This place before you is the heart of the badlands, pulled to dreams from its core. As for my purpose in being here, I am to guide you through this realm of visions. What has been done, what is to be...both, here, shall collide. In the tumult, you are to find your destiny."

Lyra wasn't sure how to respond. She sat silent for a moment. Hoping for some advice or an indication of what to do, she looked once more to Luna. The Princess had fixated her gaze to the dark figure. Silent and still, her eyes were wide. She had frozen in place, her legs poking in all directions. Lyra took this as a bad sign, and returned her eyes to the shadow. It stared at her intently, ignoring everything else. Strangely, the more she looked at it, the more confident she felt.

Keeping her discretion, she considered its words. "I like the sound of what this thing is saying, but I can't let myself trust it too easily. At the very least, I want its name." 

She perked up, smiling at the shadow.

"Hey, that sounds pretty great! But before we do that, can you tell me who you are?"

"If you do not know my name now, then it is not needed yet."

"Are you sure you can't give it to me?"

"No. Not now." It said, vexed.

"What about later?"

"Perhaps...But not now. You must focus on your path. "

"Alright. But I will need something to call you in the meantime." She replied.

"Know me simply as the voice. Nothing else of my being is worthy of your concern."

"I think I'll go with shadow guy. Does that work for you?"

The voice paused. After a moment, it responded.

"I am the guide to your destiny, not a frolicsome compatriot for you to name..." It was irritated.

"Well, I guess that's true..." Lyra admitted, scratching her chin. "But you are part of my destiny, if I'm thinking right."

"Yes, I am. What is this to mean?"

"I'd say that since you're part of my destiny, and that's a good thing, right? This is a good destiny?"

"It is good."

"Well then, I'd say that you need a name! You're my guide, dude! And since you won't give me your name, I have to pick something. I'm assuming you have a cool one, so I don't want to throw any other cool names at you that wouldn't work as well. AND, since you're going to guide me like a buddy would, I want to give you a buddy name. So, shadow guy seems ok."

The voice wasn't pleased.

"If it is what you wish..." It said grudgingly. "Then so be it."

"Awesome. We will begin our adventure then!" She said happily. "So, what happens now?"

"Now, the path to your destiny opens." The voice echoed.

Lyra heard a rumbling behind her and turned to witness a portion of the distant mesa crumble, cutting a straight, narrow path into the stone. Upon further cursory inspection, she frowned.

"That looks a little thin for me to go through..."

"Do not feed your concern. I assure you, the path is wide enough."

"Feed my...What? Guy, I think we need to talk about this." She suggested.

"Enter. The width will suffice." The shadow bellowed.

Reluctant, she quickly shuffled over to the entrance.

"Alright, alright. I'll go through. But if it starts getting too tight in there, or I get stuck, you won't hear the end of it!" She shouted, stepping into the pass.

Miffed and grumbling at her lack of options, Lyra began her trek. As she went, the red dirt kicked up into small clouds behind her. She didn't like the situation at all. Thinking over the circumstances, she groaned aloud.

"Ugh, I can't believe my luck sometimes. 'Oh, Lyra, all sorts of crazy stuff will happen if you eat the freakin' cookie! I'd know, I'm Pinkie Pie! I know everything weird!' Yeah, well thanks, Pinks. This is some adventure. Walking down a desert's equivalent of a hallway, being told what to do in my own dreams...Seriously, what was in that thing? What kind of terrible power makes for a squirmy Luna?!"

Remembering that ominous oddity, she became guarded. This place couldn't be safe. Focusing intently on her surroundings, she looked at the tall walls of stone beside her. They appeared strong and old, but the rock itself was unfamiliar. She had never seen its like. The further down she went, the taller the walls became. She felt they were closing in incrementally, just steadily enough to make it impossible to see.

She walked for a long time, slowly tiring as the path dragged on. She was tempted to turn back, but knew there was nowhere else to go. After what seemed like hours, she stopped and sat to rest her legs. Seeing nothing but dirt and stone around her, she looked up into the air. The walls blocked out much of the sky, leaving a small dark trail above her. The cheese sticks and Nacho bowls were nowhere to be found, but she could make out a small blue body drifting along, still scrabbling its legs about. She lowered her head and sighed.

"For her sake and mine, I hope I can get out of this soon."

She picked herself up again and began walking once more. As she went further along, she noticed strange holes progressively appear in the stone. They were small at first, but steadily became wider the farther she went. After continuing for some time, she saw this pattern stop. The holes all appeared to be the same size after this, just large enough for Lyra to almost fit a hoof inside.

Hoping for some advice from her guide, she called out.

"Hey! Shadow guy! How long a walk is this? I'm starting to get tired! Holes have been showing up on the walls too. What are they?" Lyra asked into the air.

Her words echoed outward off the walls. A few moments later, she heard the voice.

"You are doing well, lyre-maven. Press on. Let nothing distract you. Your destiny awaits."

She grumbled at this.

"Hey, thanks for the motivation, but how long is this? And what are these holes?"

"It is as long as it is needed. You will only leave if you remain focused on what lies ahead."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She queried, irked.

"Its meaning is clear. Now, continue on."

With a groan she resumed her course. As she walked, her thoughts returned to the nature of the world around her.

"I have seen this kind of soil in certain areas of Equestria, but none of the stars are familiar. There's no way I'm close to home. This rock is weird, too. I can't make it out well, but my magic is telling me that it's not normal. Something's up with these walls, man. My horn and my mint are telling me. There is some strange juju at work..."

Eventually, the holes began to increase in size again. After a few minutes more of trapsing down the trail, Lyra noticed that they had become large enough for her to fit her head inside. She stopped after seeing a few, and the worst thought hit her.

"Hey...What if I put my head in one of these...?"

The idea nagged at her furiously. She looked around. Nothing was happening.

"Maybe just for a second or two...I'll move along like shadow guy wants after that."

She lowered her head to meet a hole near her chest. Inching herself forward, she peered inside.

It was dark, seemingly empty. She heard a faint sound of whistling wind coming from it, a tiny flow of air accompanying the noise.

She squinted her eyes to see further in without inserting her noggin and spotted something glistening.

Curious, she moved her head closer, just enough to place her horn inside. Straining to summon a little magic, she was pleasantly surprised as her energy flowed again and illuminated the hole.

It went further down than her spell reached. Oddly, the light she had spotted appeared to have moved deeper in as well.

A jolt ran through her mintiness. She got the feeling that something wanted her head in there.

"Oh, I am about to quit this shit..." she thought. "But maybe if I just get a tiny bit closer..."

"LYRA." the voice roared.

Startled, she pulled away from the hole.

"For your weal, you must continue straight away. There is naught that bodes well here."

"What is that supposed to mean? I know I shouldn't jam my head into foreign holes!" Lyra snapped back.

"No. There is more than the apertures that you must beware. They are only the means to the end. You stand amongst the wailing walls of woe."

As it said this, the whispers returned.

"This is not fun." Lyra thought. "Pinks told me I'd have a good time, and holy grundlepunch this is about as fun as a lemon to the eye!"

"That's some serious alliteration there, man, but uh, what the buck am I supposed to do with that information!? The whisperiness is back! Can I stop it by plugging the holes!?"

The sound of crying could be heard among the voices. The floor began to rumble. The whispers and sobs grew louder.

The shadow yelled to her above the din.

"Waste no time with them! You must press on! Run to your destiny or be consumed by grief!"

"HEY! What's going to happen?! What does that mean?! Shadow guy!" She called out frantically.

She heard its voice shouting to her again, but could not make out the words. It was squelched by the volume of the whispers. As she began walking again, she heard the cries swell behind her. She turned to the sound and saw thick, dark water leaking from the walls.

Lyra scrunched her face and bit her tongue.

"Oh, Celestia damn it..."

She started to walk backwards on the path, keeping her eyes locked on the situation. She heard the crying swell again, and the holes next to her began spewing the liquid. It covered the ground around her hooves, slowly flowing down the path.

Very unhappy with the situation, Lyra sped up, watching the liquid as she went. Trotting to a point just past the water, she turned herself back to the path. She instantly wished she hadn't.

All along the walls, holes even larger than before spewed onto the ground. Only a tiny strip of the red soil remained dry. The cries had turned to piercing shrieks and a constant wail. As she prepared herself to bolt, the walls and ground shook.

"Okay, Lyra, it is time to hoof it like a freakin' champ. GO!"

She charged forward as fast as she could, the dark liquid burst from the walls behind her. It swirled and gathered into a massive wave, roaring towards her in pursuit.

"Bucking A! Bucking B! Bucking C! Bucking D! Suck my dust, you shitty water!"

She galloped at full speed as the wave barreled forward, closing in. Lyra tried to follow the shadow's advice, struggling to take her attention away from the water spewing around her and the wave closing in.

"Just keep focused. Keep focused. Think about my destiny. Proof of humans...Hands...shoving my evidence in that asshole Toity's face and bitch slapping that perm right off him!"

As she thought, she saw the path widen. The holes in front of her grew smaller and the wave slowed. The cries grew distant. She felt almost safe.

Gaining confidence, Lyra looked behind herself. As soon as she did, the walls drew in again and the wave picked up speed. The wailing pierced into her mind again. The liquid erupted from the holes, raining down onto her.

"Fucking Celestia! Luna, damnit! Ballhammers!"

She did everything she could to calm down.

"It's just water! Just think about it like water! It's not scary! It's not even strange! There's nothing weird about a bunch of wet, screaming, foreign holes gushing liquid sad all over me...oh no...Cadence's panties that's horrifying!"

The wave closed in, nearly taking her. She struggled to replace her thoughts of soppy doom holes with ones about the future she craved.

"Think! Think with your mint! Destiny! Des-tin-ay! Punching Hoity Toity in the face! Stomping him in the nuts! Telling Gabby off! Cheering crowds! Celestia herself, waiting to hear my dissertation on human beings!"

The water receded again, the path widening as the walls shrank. The cries began to die down.

"Opening a portal to their world! Interaction! Becoming royal ambassador! Holy crap..."

Her chest burned from running. Her joints ached.

"Oh, my legs..."

Lyra began to slow down. The wailing stopped. The walls lowered and the wave weakened. She forced herself to keep pace.

"Opposable digits...Bon Bon's smile... her laugh...oh, man...I just want to go home..."

Losing the last of her energy, she plopped down face-first into the ground, unconscious.

The walls shrank away, leaving an even plateau. The path ended at a great fissure ahead of where she lay. The water spread and flowed gently to her, shallow and steady. It picked her up, washing her toward the edge. Her body caught on the ground in front of the precipice as the water rolled off into oblivion.

Lyra laid there for a while, half awake. The water was clear and cool. Its magic refreshed her, and drew out her sorrow.

She thought of home again and quietly cried.

"It has to have been hours. Bon Bon doesn't even know where I am...She has to be worried. I can't believe I'm so irresponsible. After all the time I've wasted, all the time I could've spent with her...I end up here. This is insane...I just want to see her again..."

"Then you must soldier on..." The voice responded.

"It is good to see that you value her so. She is precious to me. As are you, Lyra."

She slowly got up to see the shadow standing before her. Glaring at it, she wiped the dark water from her eyes.

"Don't call me that. You won't even tell me your name! Use one of your important-sounding titles for me, not my name. You don't deserve to say it."

"Perhaps I do not, but only you can decide that. Your thought may change in time. I mean no harm, and ask that you trust me still. I wished to aid, but the obstacle you faced was too great. Many have fallen to its power."

"Yeah? Well, couldn't you have told me about that before you had me saunter through it?"

"Nay. If I had, it would have struck with all haste. By telling you, I would have ensured your demise."

Lyra stared into the shade's glowing eyes, suspicious.

"You wouldn't have helped me if you wanted me to die there...I'll trust you that much. But if you really are my buddy, then you'll keep helping me."

"Verily."

"Are you sure I can't even get a hint at your name?" She asked.

"As before, so again. But I will offer you a clue."

The shadow took on a slightly lyrical tone.

"You have seen my nature in your struggle, you have known me as you strive. I follow you always, in safety or in harm. In days of lowest defeat or highest glory, I hear the song of your journey, and sing its refrain. "

Lyra shot it a nasty look.

"Why do you gaze at me thus? Has my clue revealed me?" it asked her.

"No." She said emphatically. "You just said a bunch of crap that didn't help. I just want to leave now. Is that too much to ask? I've had a less than stellar day, and that didn't improve it any. I don't care if I ever prove anything at this point. I want to go home..."

She sat down, drained.

"I see...The tears have had their intended effect." The shadow mused.

"What are you talking about now?" Lyra asked weakly.

"The strength I offered has waned. What little of the fluid reached you was potent, indeed. It is alright. You are stronger than it, lyre-maven."

The shadow reached out a hoof. Staring at it, Lyra felt encouraged again. She pulled herself up and walked out of the water. As she did, the shadow continued.

"You mustn't remain here. Should you stay, you will surely drown in Despair. There is yet more that awaits you beyond this. I was not able to aid before, but nothing shall hold my voice for what is to come. "

"What's up next then, shadow guy?"	

"The answer may please you, but I cannot assure you it will be as you wish."

Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds terrific, man, but what does that mean?"

"Before you may reach your destiny, you must begin where you belong."

The shadow turned and pointed out past the precipice. A wide stone stairway formed on the edge where it gestured, going down into the darkness.

"As the first step, you must go home..."