//------------------------------// // New York // Story: Choose Your Own Adventure: Lyra’s Quest // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// “Wait, so you know magic?” Twilight asked, surprised. “I mean, I suppose I shouldn’t be too amazed, given that we’re in another world, but still...” Foxglove nodded, flapping up to land on Twilight’s snout. “I read a whole magic book back when I used to live with Winifred, I learned a lot of theory, but never got a chance to practice!” Twilight glanced at Lyra and Vinyl Scratch. “Well, between us and with your help, we can probably reduce our size to yours!” Gadget looked skeptical. “But where does all the extra mass go? I know it’s supposed to be magic, but golly, there are some rules that must be followed!” Twilight smiled at the mouse and nodded. “You’re quite right! The extra mass can be used for several things, if you convert it into energy. We could store it to be able to change back...” “So, what are we waiting for?” Vinyl interrupted. “I want to see if I can jam it up in a small disco for rodents!” “And I want to be able to find out whether I can or can’t get what I want without being captured by humans!” Lyra said at length. “Too bad Babylon 5 didn’t have what I needed...” “As long as you make sure my Cello is safe, I’m okay with it,” Octavia said. “Good! Then, do you remember how your spell worked, Foxglove?” Lyra asked. “With Twilight here there is little that could go wrong! She’s Princess Celestia’s personal student!” “Wow! A princess?! Really? That’s amazing!” Dale chirped in, eyes glinting. “Is she a unicorn as well?” Twilight chuckled. “No, Princess Celestia is an Alicorn... she and her sister, Luna, possess all the aspects and strengths of ponies. She’s stronger than any earth pony, more powerful than any unicorn and she can fly faster than any pegasus!” “Wooooow!” Dale whispered in awe. “Yes, she’s really something,” Lyra nodded sagely. “Now, let’s cast that spell, shall we? How about we lend you the magic and you cast it?” Foxglove’s eyes went wide. “Y-you trust me to do that?” “Well, you know this world’s magic better than we do,” Twilight said after a moment. “We can look at the spell and see if it should work.” “Right!” Foxglove said, taking off. After a few moments she came back from the tree dragging a large book, which she set down on the floor in front of the unicorns. Once it was opened to the relevant page, Twilight took a quick glance. “Hm, doesn’t seem too complicated...” she flipped the pages. “It’s pretty straightforward, what you lack in strength we can compensate for with our magic.” “Go for it, Foxy!” Dale said cheerfully. “Best way to practice!” The bat rubbed her paws nervously before nodding. “Okay, but you will be able to stop it if anything goes wrong?” Twilight smiled. “I’m sure we can.” “Okay!” The group of ponies and the dragon, at Twilight’s instruction, stood around Foxglove, who got some encouraging words from Dale, which made her giggle, before he ran out to stand next to Chip and the other Rescue Rangers. “Okay, Foxglove, chant the spell and we’ll slowly feed you our energy,” Twilight said. “Concentrate on the final results. A lot of magic is really defined by the objective rather than the process, as questionable as that might sound. It holds the same in this dimension as mine. Once you do this, you should be able to cast spells more easily from now on.” Foxglove nodded, giving the book one last read before closing her eyes. She could feel a rush of energy around her and guided it with her mind as the simple spell escaped her lips, “Powers of magic, great and small, “Heed my words, and answer my call. “Help these ponies and dragon achieve, “the size and form which my mind will conceive!” There was a flash of energy and suddenly the world around Twilight, Spike and Octavia looked so much bigger. “I did it!” Foxglove shouted in glee, running up to hug a laughing Twilight. They were now roughly the same size, so it proved no problem to even pick up the pony with her exuberant energy. “Um guys,” Spike interrupted. “I hate to point this out but... where’s Lyra and Vinyl?” The group fell silent as they turned to where their two friends should be, only to find empty space. “Oh, horseapples,” Twilight swore. o.0.o A flash of light and suddenly Lyra and Vinyl Scratch could see again. “Wow, it worked!” Lyra cheered as she looked around. “That bed looks huge! And we’re the same size as those toys!” Vinyl Scratched looked down at her hoof and an eyebrow shot out out from under her glasses. “I think it goes beyond that, Lyra...” Lyra looked back at her friend. “What do you mean?” Vinyl put down her hoof and looked at the toys. “Lyra... I think we are toys now.” “But... but that’s impossible!” Lyra gasped, looking down at her hoofs and noticing, for the first time, that they seemed to be made of some sort of hard, rubber-like material. “It doesn’t make sense!” “Hey!” a voice whispered out from somewhere. “You two! Quick! Under the bed, before Bonnie wakes up!” Lyra and Vinyl Scratch looked at each other for a moment before they heard some mumbling from above. A really big hand slid from under the bed covers and the pair immediately ran under the bed. “Um, thanks for the heads-up,” Vinyl started to say, only to let her jaw drop as several figures stepped into the light. “Hello! You two must be new! Let me introduce myself,” the tallest figure said, smiling amiably as he took his hat off. “The name’s Woody, and this here is my friend and partner Buzz Lightyear... welcome to Bonnie’s room!” o.0.o Voting closes: 21st of June, 2012 o.0.o This time, you can vote twice! Once for Team A and once for Team B! Group A: Rescue Rangers 1: “We should cast another spell to find out where they ended up!” Twilight said. “They have to be close by!” 2: “We shouldn’t trust magic right now,” Chip said, stepping forth. “We can find them the old fashioned style! Monterrey Jack, why don’t you find out from your friends if anyone has seen a pair of miniature unicorns?” 3: “We can try and follow the tachyon energy with one of my instruments,” Gadget said. “It will get us close to where they ended up!” Group B: Toy Story 1: “Well, since we’re here, I say we party with the toys,” Vinyl said, looking at Lyra, who was checking out Mr. Potato Head’s arms and hands. 2: “And you said that this kid, sid, took apart toys and put them back together... and it worked?” Lyra asked, looking at the hand with a raised eyebrow. “Do you have... spare hands?” 3: “Wait, if you have friends looking for you, shouldn’t you contact them somehow?” Woody asked.