//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Baby Steps // Story: Terra Invicta // by Sammyboiii //------------------------------// Attention: Civillian transport vessel Alpha-5 DEPARTING from aft terminal 36B. Those below TIER-3 citizenship subject to inspection. Please stand clear of the designated ports for loading and unloading. Your Ministry of Transportation cares and wishes you safe travels! The text scrolled across the holographic banner that spanned the walkway in the space station. Below it, there were almost never-ending streams of humans and the occasional humanoid repair droid. Above the banner, crossing the generous expanse of the walkway were utility drones, whirring by carrying anything from luggage to weaponry. In them midst f the blue trails these drones' antigravity stabilizers left were two members of the USS Archer bridge crew. Sitting in front of a window and flanking a hexagonal table, Dahlia and Roger were attempting to have a civilized game of chess among the hundreds of travelers. "Well, will you move before..." Dahlia pulled up a calendar on her holographic wrist display, "Mars' New Year?" Roger's already tense expression soured and his face became even moister with sweat. He frantically waved his finger in an effort to shut her up. "Sh-shoosh! Shush! Shushoo!" With his rant of childish gibberish over, he squinted his eyebrows and returned to staring intently at the holographic chess board in front of him. "Knight to E7." he finally spoke, a smile returning to his face and assuming a proud posture. The knight piece on the board suddenly came to life as the knight on top kicked the horse to send it careening, galloping across the board to E7. Dahlia still sat with her head resting on her hand, her face looking as dull as it was before Roger's "revelation." Without a second thought, she stated, "Bishop, E7." The bishop piece's cloak began to sway as it floated over to the knight and proceeded to knock it off the board, the holographic piece animated the horse and knight's frantic but futile attempts to prevent their inevitable fall into the abyss. Finally, a smirk crept across Dahlia's face as she stood from her chair, knowing that an ounce of self-esteem Roger had left was just crushed. As the chair's nanoparticles morphed back into the floor, she approached Roger. She leaned in and whispered into his ear, "Let's get back to work, sweetie." She then pressed a button on the side of the holographic projector, collapsing the holographic board and pieces and smoothly slipping the projector into her pocket. Roger shot up from his chair and crossed his arms. "Do not patronize me, woman." Dahlia simply continued to chuckle. "Whatever, I'm still a good engineer," he mumbled to himself. "Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Dahlia slyly shot back. She made her way over to a collection of cargo crates being unpacked by a swarm of drones. Roger followed and sat down on an empty one next to where she was standing. "So you're sure he was supposed to meet us here?" he asked. Dahlia surveyed the passing crowd in the walkway of the space station terminal. "That's what the Captain said." Roger rolled his eyes but then got a devilish idea, a way to get back at Dahlia for winning. "SOOOoooo," he began as he crept up beside her, "I hear that you'll be sharing your lab with the new recruit." Dhalia turned to Roger, an unamused look in her eyes. "I believe 'recruit' is a bit of a strong term." This gave Roger the go-ahead for his annoyance tactic. "Even so, the only reason any of us are on the Archer is that we are exceptionally talented in our respective fields. So, it stands to reason that somebody with a shit-ton of experience in Precursor technology would be joining us for a Precursor-centered mission, right?" Roger leaned in closer, "Perhaps the reason he is getting 65% of the lab is that he may even be a better scientist than you." Dahlia shot a glare at Roger. "First of all, I doubt your barbaric engineering definitions of science can determine who is a 'better' scientist. Second, the next time you doubt my ability to do my job, I will ensure that you won't be able to do yours." Roger was forced to stumble back a little, "Jeez, Dahlia. It's almost as if our relationship is built entirely on hating each other. I mean," he pouted his lips, "we used to be friends." "Yeah? Cry me a river." Dahlia returned coldly as she returned her attention to the onslaught of travelers once again. Roger continued his act as he gasped and placed his hand over his heart. "Oh! Oh, LAAAWWD JESUS HAlp mE!" he pleaded. Finally, Roger was able to earn a smile from the xenobiologist and, for a short time, Dahlia and the ship tech were able to share a heart-to-heart moment. For a short time. Suddenly, a crash reverberated throughout the terminal, the source seemingly directly in front of Dahlia and Roger. As the crowd in front of them dispersed in fear of the loud sound, the scene was revealed to be two hulking men circling a much smaller man whom they had obviously just knocked to the floor. The crash must have been his backpack, which now had its contents scattered across the terminal's floor. The two attackers began to tease the smaller man. "Heh, how pathetic. What's he gonna do, cry for his mommy?" one began, continuing to orbit him like a vulture. "Yeah! Ha! Cry for his mommy!" the other finished. The smaller man in the middle began to frantically glance around, "W-well, I would love to spend m-more time with you boys and your marvelous, original, and overall brilliant wits. However, it looks like I am a bit pressed for time. So, if you'll e-excuse me..." He began to get up but was viciously punched in the stomach by the first man to speak. He lurched backward and began coughing. The crowd around them gasped as five security drones stormed the area and, just like the criminals, began to orbit the situation. A blue light washed over the perpetrators from one of the drones and the blue strip of lights that encompassed its perimeter turned red as it boomed, "Union IDs confirmed. Instigators, acts of aggression toward TIER-5 citizens is prohibited and protected by lethal force under statute 13, paragraph 6, line 4 of the Greater Terran Union Code of Citizenry." Roger and Dahlia looked at each other as Roger mouthed, "Tier 5?!" to which Dhalia only nodded, wide-eyed. The perpetrators began to nervously glance at each other. The one who seemed to be the leader of the duo backed away and put his hands up. The second one continued to glare at the smaller man with a sinister glare until he was elbowed by the leader in his side. They both then were escorted out by the drones' tractor beams keeping them in a single-file line. One drone stayed behind and hovered next to the smaller man, using its tractor beam to assist him in standing up. After patting himself down to get the dust off, he turned his head upward to face the drone which was still lit bright red. "Thank you for-" The drone shifted back to blue and sped off before he could finish, "-your assistance..." He shrugged as the crowd mumbled and dispersed, returning to its normal activity. The rather scrawny-looking man continued walking down the terminal, looking on both sides as if he was searching for something. Dahlia finally spoke out, "Jeez, I hope this doesn't delay that Samuel guy from getting here on time." In an instant, the attackee swiveled to face the pair. He walked up to them until he was not more than two feet away. He then looked up at Roger, then at Dahlia who both simply stared back with neutral expressions. "Um, hello. A-are either of you searching for a man by the name of Samuel Wolfe?" Dahlia continued her neutral glare and put her hands on her hip, "Yes, and is that you by any chance?" with a patronizing tone. The person in front of them began to blush and twiddle his fingers. "Oh! Um... yeah. Sorry, I suppose that was a bit mindless of me." His eyes suddenly lit up and stuck his left hand out, "Where are my manners?! Hello, you already know my name so I won't trouble you with repeating that information. I am a professor of ancient technology. Not the most applicable area of expertise, I know, but I evidently have some purpose... being here and all, haha..." The entire time, he had a huge smile plastered on his extremely young-looking face. Roger, knowing how much this little guy could get on Dahlia's nerves considering her already distressed expression, took the initiative. "Well, Sam. Can I call you Sam? Sam, I welcome you to the USS Archer. Let's head on board." At first, Sam appeared a bit flustered but the group proceeded to stand there for a good 15 seconds until Dhalia spoke up, "You first, sir, please." A look of realization came across Sam's face as he began heading towards the gate at which the massive starship sat. Dahlia and Roger looked on at the specialist, with Roger chuckling. "You're about to learn why we don't like to bring civilians on board too often." "I just hope that tier-5 citizenship lives up to its name," Dahlia said as she began following Sam on board. With a final chuckle, Roger too followed. In front of him, he heard Dhalia begin muttering about the new recruit once again. "I swear if this kid messes anything up in MY lab, I will make sure he never sees the surface of his homeworld again. Goddamned 'professor.' How the hell is somebody that young a fuckin' specialist on a humanity-saving mission?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP SECRET PROPERTY OF THE ROYAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY EXPULSION OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS CONSIDERED A ROYAL OFFENSE Codename: MYTHOS INCREMENTUM Celestia stared down at the parchment packet in front of her. The page was so simple, various lines of text. Regardless, the amount of weight it carried with it was immense to the point where it was almost unfathomable, even for an immortal being. The night before, she had been introduced to something that would change the fate of the entirety of Equis forever. preconceptions were shattered and the bounds of pony beliefs were questioned to the extremes. The princess, having descended the stairway that led to the laboratory that contained the strange device, was exposed to something, unlike anything she had ever seen before in her millennia of experience. Now, that same device had dragged her down to the castle dungeon time and time again over the past several days, even though she had never seen the object without a cloak. That brings us to where she is right now: on the same plush cushion, in the same stone room, surrounded by the same guards. Even before any progress had been made to figuring out the inner workings, origin, or even the purpose of the foreign object, the normal workings of Canterlot had been completely disrupted. All three princesses had been working tirelessly to find the proper staff and resources to keep this entire situation a secret. Today, progress was made. There had been a massive breakthrough in the studies regarding the strange object by Princess Twilight and her personal team of scholars. The specifics of this breakthrough and the onslaught of information it brought with it, though currently unknown to most everybody in Equis, were sitting directly in her. However, Celestia was reluctant to open the packet. Not because she feared the information inside, but because there were currently four experts on their way to explain it to her and undermining their work may be detrimental to both them and her. Behind her, Celestia heard hoofsteps echoing throughout the stone stairwell. Looking behind her, she saw Princess Twilight and Luna followed by two unicorns in lab coats. The only thing off-putting about them was the fact that they all looked like they were a bit insane. Their eyes were wide despite the fact that they all had bags under them. Their mouths were locked in grins and all of their ears were perking straight up. Celestia had not seen a more conflicting sight in the past century. Twilight was the one leading the single-file line. "Princess Celestia! You came! Good!" Twilight greeted as her wings unfurled in excitement. The four ponies joined Celestia in the stone room and flanked the opposite side of the packet, also sitting on cushions. "Thank you for inviting me." Celestia finally replied to Twilight. "But, of course, your Highness. A-actually, I..." Twilight shook her head to escape the drowsiness slowly taking over her body, "I wanted to thank you for putting me in charge of this project. I mean, this-this is the single most profound discovery in known history!" The hired scientists glanced at each other and chuckled under their breath. Twilight, however, took notice and began to blush. "I-I suppose I did get a bit carried away there." Celestia took part in the laughter, too. Her melodious laughter filled the small confines and echoed throughout the dungeon system. "Though I would love to discuss the grand scale of this project with you, I believe there are other things to discuss regarding the object we discovered." Celestia looked on with an expecting gaze at her former student. Twilights eyes lit up once again. "Yes! Right this way, your highnesses." Twilight stood and briskly trotted over to a door at the opposite end of the corridor attached to the stone room. As the rest of the group followed, Twilight's horn glowed and the lock on the door's handle began to glow, as well. Shifting and clicks could be heard from within the door until it began to creak open. Twilight stepped through, followed by the other two princesses and scientists. Their hoofsteps still echoed on the stone floor only, now, it sounded like they were in a much larger chamber. The chilly atmosphere was soon illuminated when torches that lined the walls automatically ignited with marvelous displays of flying embers. It was then that the true scale of the chamber was revealed to the group: the room, completely made of stone and marble, must have been no smaller than 35-by-50-by-25 hoof lengths. Sure, it wasn't gigantic but, for an underground facility, this was an engineering feat to marvel at. The scientists were speechless, their heads gawking at the sheer magnitude f the underground compound. Luna stepped up to comfort them, "Deep breaths, my little ponies." she soothed with a motherly tone. The scholars blushed and scurried off to begin setting up their equipment for the demonstration that was planned. A vast majority of the room was empty space. At its center, there stood a metal table with an object on it covered by a red velvet cloak. Towards the entrance was an array of plush pillows behind a glass wall. There seemed to be multiple layers to ensure that the viewers were protected. Twilight walked over to the pillows and took a seat, motioning for Celestia to follow, "Please, princess." Celestia nodded and made her way next to Twilight. Once Luna had flanked Celestia on the other side, Twilight began. "As you remember, several days ago we encountered a strange object that had seemingly crashed just outside the Ponyville city limits." The scientists began to make their way over to the cloaked object as Twilight continued. "By Luna's decree, we sent a squadron of Pegasus guards to extract the object and brought it back here." The scientists flanked the object and began removing the cloak. "Initially, we had no idea at all as to what it was. Now, we have made a great breakthrough and we are very eager to show you the progress we have made. But first, it is about time Celestia saw what has been the center of our efforts." With that, the cloak was yanked off by the scientists. There, illuminated by dozens of torches, sat the object in question. Celestia was dumbstruck. "W-what on Equis is that?" she stammered. She got up and began making her way over to the alien artifact. "Well, that is the thing, Princess. It isn't from Equis." Twilight slightly facetiously answered. Celestia rounded the object, circling it and examining all of its details. Luna and Twilight gave each other smirks as they watched their utterly speechless equal try to make sense of what had stumped even the brightest minds of the most cutting-edge departments in Equestria. Its odd pyramid-esque body lined with converging and diverging engravings. Throughout its body were odd vertical protrusions at which the engravings seemed to collectively converge at. Twilight and Luna came by Celestia's side. "I see that you have taken an interest in the lines, sister." Luna began. Celestia paused her close inspection of the artifact and looked at Luna and Twilight. "I hope you finally understand why I had to step away from my duties around the castle." Twilight butted in. "I-I am really sorry for not being able to fulfill any of my tasks as a princess but... but, I mean, look at this!" Twilight finished her statement by using her wings to gesture to the object in its entirety. Celestia merely chuckled. "Oh, Twilight. You should know by now that if I haven't even the capacity to prevent you from referring to me so formally that what I am concerning myself with excuses most everything." A smile came across Twilight's face as her eyes began to sparkle. "Wonderful, Prin- I mean Celestia! Now, on with the demonstration!" Twilight practically pranced over to the bag of supplies that the scientists had brought in and began rummaging around. Celestia looked at Luna for some resemblance of an explanation for what Twilight was about to do. Luna simply shrugged. Twilight re-emerged from the bag of supplies with a large metal cylinder which was connected to an even larger wooden box. Coming out of the wooden box were dozen of dozens of strips of metal which were connected to what looked like spring-loaded clamps. Twilight grunted as she slammed the box and its accessories on the table next to the artifact. "Okay!" she sighed. "Now, I bet you're wondering what this thing is." The scientists came over to take over the operation as the other princesses were motioned back behind the protective glass by Twilight. "We have a while before the demonstration is up and running, so..." Luna butted in, "This is probably an ideal time to clear up any confusion that any of us have about the object." Twilight and Celestia nodded. Luna turned to the scientists around the foreign technology, "How much did Princess Twilight nag before you let her take over the project?" Twilight's face instantly became 10 shades redder and the scientists secretly chuckled to themselves. However, an aggressive glare form Princess Twilight quickly put an end to that. "On another note, Twilight," Celestia looked towards the scientists attaching the clamps to the artifact's protrusions, "does your team have any idea as to what that is?" Twilight was the first to perk up. "Well, no." She chuckled a bit. "We don't actually know anything about it. However, we do have several hypotheses." she finished, looking at Celestia with her chin up. Celestia rolled her eyes, "Well, you don't have to be a smart-flank about it." They shared a momentary chuckle but their attention was brought back to the situation at hand by Luna clearing her throat. "Right. Now, we spent the first day with the object simply analyzing the material that the object is made of. Is there anything you notice that is odd about it?" Twilight began again. The other princesses both stared at Twilight with unamused glares. "We appreciate the amount of energy you have devoted to becoming an exemplary teacher. However, we are not your students but, instead, your equals, princess." Luna firmly stated the bags under her eyes becoming more prominent. Twilight sighed, trying to re-formulate her "lesson plan." "Well, it is obviously metallic. However, as I am sure you noticed the engravings along the sides. When the retrieval team found the object, it appeared to be broken." Twilight motioned towars the top of the object. "The entire top half had been connected to another part of the entire machine. However, that piece seemed to be heavily damaged considering that it was crumpled and lodged elsewhere in the ground. Nonetheless, we retrieved it for study." "Well, after an entire day of tapping it, shaking it, and using scrying spells, we came up with a radical idea. Of course, metal conducts. So..." Twilight looked at the other two princesses expectedly, who returned her stare with blank expressions. "Which means that this entire object conducts!" Twilight accentuated her exclaim with a flap of her wings. "And, I wanted to share what we learned using that fact with your highnesses today." She seemed to have finished her sentence with the perfect timing as one of the scientists called out, "Princess, the battery has been successfully connected!" "Wonderful! Begin charging the object!" Twilight replied and one of the scientists began using his magic to rotate the large handle protruding from the wooden box. She turned back towards her royal company. "Now, what you're looking at right now is a very experimental technology that the University of Canterlot developed just for this project." She motioned to the cylinder, "You see that metal cylinder in between the box and the object?" The princesses nodded. "That is acting as an intermediary for the electrical charge being used to power the device." This was when the princess' expressions faded and their anxious and excited expressions were replaced with blank ones. Twilight took note. "Look, your highnesses, it is very important to accept the fact that this object is..." she looked back at the artifact. "... is so far beyond anything we have ever seen before. Who-whatever constructed this is... rather technologically advanced. Exactly how far ahead of us are they? Well, we don't have a good estimate. It could be by several decades, perhaps by several millennia." When Twilight posed that the civilization who constructed this could have been thousands of years ahead of them, they froze. Princess Celestia spoke up, her motherly instincts emerging. "Twilight, are you certain that everything we are doing here is safe?" "Princess, I assure you. We have taken every precaution necessary. Even though electricity is still highly experimental, we believe that, utilizing the latest scholarly records and scientific articles, we have safely constructed a way to properly power this artifact." Now, the princesses were confused. "Pardon me, did you say 'power?'" Luna blurted out. Twilight's dreary eyes widened once again. "Oh, well, I suppose some of the surprises is ruined now..." she stated as she stared disappointedly into space. "Anyway," she began again, instantly regaining her composure, "the reason I mentioned the conductive properties of the object and the experimental development of this power source is that this... machine... uses electricity." Princess Celestia gawked at the object, finally realizing its complexity. "Amazing..." she barely muttered. Very rarely would Celestia become speechless? However, electricity was still highly experimental in Equestria. Only recently had they figured out which material were able to transfer electricity more efficiently than others. Even so, they had not figured out why nor had they figured out how to effectively channel it without arcs causing short circuits. This device that was hastily developed was a revolutionary breakthrough in and of itself. Suddenly, one of the scientists approached the princesses. "Princess Twilight, we are ready when you are," he said. Twilight gave her fellow princesses a cursory glance, to which they nodded. Conitnuing the trend, she finally nodded to the scientist who made hi way back to the artifact. His hoofsteps were all the more prominent now, with the princesses on edge with regards to what they were about to see. Every bit of stimuli had a heightened effect and the clicks of the device's loose components. One of the scientists' horns began to glow and a green aura surrounded the metal cylinder After about three seconds, it dissipated and the scientists called out, "Charge flowing!" Silence. Everypony in the room stared intently at the device as the tension in the room built. The more time elapsed, the greater the urge for everybody in the room to duck and cover. Perhaps what Twilight witnessed was only by chance. Perhaps it was merely a one-time occurrence. "Your Highnesses!" one of the scientists said as he stood. He took one last glance at the object and concluded, "I am afraid we will have to do this another da-" Twilight's ears immediately perked up, her fur began to stand up. She sensed something different about the object. Princess Twilight interrupted, "Hold on a minute. Something isn't right here." She left her post behind the glass with the other princesses and made her way back over to the object, her body still tingling with suspicion. She eyed the object closely, putting her ear up to its side. To her surprise, she was able to make out a faint pulsating humming. The other princesses took note of Twilight's change in expression and came up beside her to see what was happening. "Princesses, perhaps approaching it right now is not the best course of action." one of the scientists blurted out in a shaky tone. Luna diverted her course to reassure the scientists, "I find that it is best to allow Twilight to experiment without obstruction." She leaned in further. "For all of our sakes." The scientists simply smiled and nodded, backing away from the princesses' path. With all four princesses huddled around the artifact, time seemed to slow as the three most important figures in all of Equestria stood a mere three hoof lengths away from something that nopony anywhere on Equis could possibly begin to understand. The torch lights in the room continued to sway and silence remained present as if everything was normal. However, in a desperate attempt driven by sheer curiosity, ponykind may have awoken a beast with powers that are unfathomable to them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lyra paced around the confines of her private study. Bonbon, along with the entirety of Ponyville was attending the first day of Bonbon's Cupcake Festival. Lyra made her way over to the one window in the closet-turned-library of Lyra's own creation. It was a small circular glass panel, not more than three hooves in diameter. It wasn't much but Lyra didn't need much light for what she was doing. Using her magic, she surrounded the thin drape in a mint-colored aura, moving it aside to reveal her surroundings. outside, in front of the lush expanses of grass between Ponyville and the Everfree, was one of the dirt roads leading into Ponyville. Today, it was understandably flooded with an almost constant stream of travelers arriving from the train station. they were either the last-minute or the elite who could afford to stay in Canterlot for the past couple of days. Bags of all colors passed by and the fact that the sun was shining brightly in the sky did not help form keeping people out of the streets. However, living on the outskirts of Ponyville had its obvious perks. Outside of the almost constant stream of clackering wagon wheels and the trotting of hooves against soil, the adjacent location of Lyra and Bonbon's house to pretty much everything in between Ponyville and Canterlot made life there pretty easy, on average, if you didn't mind walking a bit. For the past couple of days, however, this seclusion has offered a reliable iron curtain to drape over their alien studies. With a sigh, Lyra returned to her desk. Ever since their return from Zebrica, what they had encountered in that rural village had stuck with them like tar. What was it? Why was it there? How did it get there? These questions would obviously take a while to answer. Lyra turned her attention back to the desk in front of her. On it was a huge piece of parchment, completely smeared with a thin layer of ink form all of the drawing and writing Lyra had done to catalog exactly what she saw that day. She had actually been cataloging everything that she had encountered regarding human civilization ever since her encounter with the crashed object outside the Everfree. However, throughout the past couple of days, truth had been nagging at her. Lyra made her way into the kitchen and slumped down o the wooden floor, right where Bonbon had sat depressed prior to their trip to Zebrica. This whole ordeal was progressing far further than Lyra could have ever anticipated. Perhaps, she thought, her research would have rewritten a few history books or created a few cults at most. But take over an entire continent via biological-to-mechanical matter conversion? I don't think so. Lyra sighed. She needed to do something. Bonbon had to be at the festival because, well, if the main person at one of the largest celebrations in all of Equestria was missing, then the public may find out about why she was missing. This all lead back to the truth that Lyra knew was slowly becoming more and more prominent: her research was stagnating. While Zebrica is being devoured, she is sitting here slouching on the kitchen floor. Then, an idea popped into her head for a while back. Why not just go and get a sample of the machine instead f just sticking to drawings from memory? There is the chance that somepony might see her trying to steal stuff should the operation take longer than expected. Plus, even if she did find more with samples, was she really going to be able to tackle this all by herself, even with Bonbon? Regardless, she needed to get going. With the festival keeping everypony occupied in downtown Ponyville, it should be especially easy to sneak out to the crash site, even in broad daylight. The front door of the Bonbon household creaked until it finally snapped shut. Lyra looked to her right, towards the resto f Ponyville where a grand fanfare and the occasional cheer could be heard. Reassured that people were wholly occupied with the festival, she began on her way. Eventually, the sound of partying died out as it was replaced by the breeze rustling the trees nearby as well as the occasional bird chirp. "Howdy, partner!" Lyra playfully stated as she passed the scarecrow that marked the detour to Sweet Apple Acres. That also meant that she should be coming up to the crash site right about n- Where is it? ... "Where did it go?!" Lyra whisper-yelled as she galloped up to the indentation in the ground and began frantically swiping the air with her forehooves. "Where did what go?" a deep voice suddenly stated from behind her. Lyra yelped and jumped in surprise. As she regained her composure and turned around, she came face-to-face with a Pegasus Guard clad in golden and blue armor. He wore an unamused expression, with eyes that stared deep into her soul. Lyra gulped. "H-hey there, Mr. Guard!" Lyra instantly assumed a forced innocent demeanor, "Wow! wonderful weather we are having today, eh?" She nudged him in the chest plate and his expression did not change. "Heh heh..." Lyra's fake smile began to fade as she realized that there was no way to sway this guard's opinion. "Please come with me, miss." The guard commanded as he wrapped his left wing around Lyra and began pushing her in the direction of a chariot sitting nearby. How did she miss that on the way over? Lyra struggled to break free but this pony's wings were... developed, to say the least. The guard took note of Lyra's struggles and attempted to calm her saying, "Do not resist, ma'am. You are not in any trouble yet." Lyra began to calm down and her struggles decreased in magnitude. As they reached the chariot and Lyra began to climb the steps to get in, she looked towards Ponyville and began to wonder what Bonbon will think when she returns home tonight. Not to mention what this whole investigation would be- wait, did he say "yet?"