*
"A research proposition...? what are you talking about...?"
Was Miss Heartstrings more than logical question... sadly for her the Alicorn before her just seemed to ignore her question as he opened the two huge doors next to where he had came in, revealing a lush eight seat dinning room... the sturdy wood table had a white tablecloth over it and a shiny glass like coating over it, and the chairs had weird sofa like cushioning... in the bottom a drawer had several decorative plates and glasses, all behind doors of wooden and glass. after watching the place Miss Heartstrings finally noticed the mare sitting in the second chair of the side with the Drawer, as the familiar form of Twilight Sparkle, first looking forwards, then rising her eyes a bit to see Miss Heartstrings only to finally go back to looking forwards, of course this drew Miss Heartstrings' attention to where Twilight was looking... only to freeze instantly as she recognized the dawn colored flowing mane belonging to Princess Celestia, thankfully a voice shook her out of her stupor by saying...
"Miss Heartstrings, please, take a seat..."
"Uh... Yes, yes of course..."
Said Miss Heartstrings, taking the seat to her left, finally looking at the ponies before her... Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia. Poncho Rodriguez, the Alicorn of Ponyvile and Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and Alicorn of the Sun... Three of the most influential ponies of the land, yet Twilight spoke first....
"Lyra hello... How are you...?"
Yet, before Miss Heartstrings could answer, the Alicorn of Ponyvile gently interrupted, trying to get back to the topic at hoof the meeting he had set up...
"Lyra... Can I call you Lyra...?"
Asked Poncho, receiving a nod of confirmation, which prompted him to carry on... offering Lyra a way to get back her credibility, then nodding at Twilight so She could offer Lyra a manila folder with a strange figure in the cover*, which Lyra watched intently before reviewing its contents... a series of surprisingly clear photographs of various things,,, amongst them being a photo of what was clearly an human beheading a giant dragon as a chimeric creature watched, seemingly posing... another one of Twilight in a forest alongside a strange bipedal creature with a couple tentacles instead of a mane... another of a mare eerily similar to Twilight, but lacking a horn, seemingly conversing with... Nightmare Moon....? and another one where Twilight, an unknown griffon and Rarity running from a shower of crossbow bolts...
*
"What is all this...?"
Asked Lyra as she looked at the two Alicorns and the other unicorn, which Prompted Princess Celestia to Speak for the First time...
"What you have seen, my little pony, is a glimpse of the various neighboring Universes to ours... as you've seen, there is quite a variety of Equestrias, some even harboring the creatures of your research..."
"Yes I see your Highness, but what has this to do with me...?"
Asked Lyra as she looked at the three ponies before her... trying to read the secret they were hiding from her, thankfully, Poncho resumed the chat by saying...
"That, Lyra, is Project P.E.G.A.S.O. A project I am funding to fulfill several Directives, first and foremost being the keeping of the Ponyverse running smoothly, this will be doing by sending teams to the Ether between universes, so every time a non pony Universe overlaps with the Ponyverse the Team Quickly and efficiently get the merged version of the non pony universe, and integrates it into the Ponyverse..."
"Other of the Directives will be traveling to other Universes inside our... ugh... Ponyverse with the purpose of sharing technology, knowledge and other things for the betterment of both Equestrias..."
Added Twilight Sparkle, leaving clear how excite she was of the prospect of more knowledge, especially in magical worlds other than her own, prompting the Princess of the Sun to carry on...
"Of course such a task will require several hundreds of operatives at the minimum, and they will require Special Security, that is why I will be reactivating a certain special Agency to serve as security for the P.E.G.A.S.O. Field operatives..."
"I see... but What has anything of this have to do with me...?"
Asked Lyra impatiently, as she moved her attention back to the impressive ledger before her, observing more photograps, stopping only a bit longer in those where her mythical humans appeared...
"Well, I want you as a field Operative once we develop a way for Ponies to safely travel across universes... of course we are recruiting you now because we'll need help on that department too, and Twilight here said you were on her top 10 unicorns in terms of raw magical potential... so we think you would be perfect for every stage of the program..."
This took Lyra by Surprise... Twilight recommended her...? Last time Lyra had published the results of her research, Twilight had been one of her first detractors... now she was offering her a chance not only at redemption, but to further her research beyond her wildest dreams... so of course she had to say...
"Very well, I am in... but won't this interfere with my work in the choir...?"
"Don't worry... until we have a safe way for our ponies to survive creation you will be working half time, and we will cooperate with Ponyville's choir to ensure you aren't scheduled in times your services are needed there..."
Of Course, at the time I did not know that, by reactivating that certain agency, the Princess had ensured that I would have no secrets with the Pony most important to me... - Lyra Heartstrings...