Despite the initial idea of continuing their discussion during lunch, Lyra and Bon Bon barely managed to get a word in with Reimu at first. Once the shrine maiden got a taste of Bon Bon's casserole, she couldn't get enough. The chef didn't seem to mind, gladly offering seconds when her plate was emptied. Soon Reimu settled down enough to talk, so Bon Bon went to fetch dessert.
That left Lyra to break the ice. Again. "So Reimu, what brought you to Ponyville? Not everyday we get a visitor from across the sea."
Reimu shrugged. "Dunno, I was just dropped here yesterday. No warning. If anyone had been at the shrine with me, they'd have probably gotten dropped here with me."
Lyra laughed. "Wouldn't be the first time somepony found themselves dropped into Ponyville. First time they brought their home with them though. Jokes aside, what do you think of Ponyville so far?"
"I can't say I dislike it," Reimu answered. "Reminds me a bit of the village back home, though the people are friendlier."
"We take pride in being the friendliest town in Equestria."
Reimu paused. Another new word. "Equestria?"
"Yeah, we-you don't know about Equestria?" Lyra asked, suddenly concerned. "We're smack in the middle of it!"
"Give me a break, I just got here. Still working on the why and how of it."
"Well, where're you from? Maybe we can help you get back."
Reimu took a drink of water. "I doubt it. I'm pretty far from Gensokyo. Probably a whole world away."
Lyra paused at Reimu's choice of words. "A world away? Are you...?"
"I'm not from this world, no. Not even supposed to be a pony."
"So you're really an alien?"
"Hey, you're aliens to me too. With all this fur and these hooves, it's a wonder how these things work!" Reimu ranted, waving her forelegs about.
Lyra leaned back in her seat, sitting in a strangely human manner. "Magic," she smugly stated, levitating her cup to emphasize her point, "though seriously, you're really not from our world? You look just like any other pony though!"
Reimu shrugged. "Magic," she countered. "That seems to be the answer to everything."
"Touché." Lyra leaned forward, returning to a normal sitting posture. "So what kind of creature were you before?" An image of some kind of squid creature wearing a shrine maiden outfit popped into her head and she suppressed a giggle.
"I was-" Reimu stopped, eyeing Lyra suspiciously, "you're taking this oddly in stride."
"An alien isn't the strangest thing to show up in Ponyville, Lyra said with a grin. "Nah, you should have seen Discord last year. Came into town like he owned the place, turned all of reality upside down. I don't mean that figuratively either. I'm pretty sure I slept on the ceiling that night."
"Discord is one of those spirits you mentioned, right? Is he going to be a problem?" Reimu asked. This place didn't run by Gensokyo's rules, so taking on such a powerful youkai... It wouldn't end well, that's for sure.
Lyra shook her head. "Twilight and her friends took care of him. They're kinda Equestria's heroes now. Whenever something big and scary comes along, everypony looks to them to save us."
Reimu slumped in her seat, deep in thought. "I see..." So Equestria was more like Gensokyo then she first thought. If these ponies had their own incident resolvers, maybe she would be better off talking to one of them. With their help, a way back to Gensokyo could be possible...
She quickly straightened up when noticed Bon Bon return with a tray of assorted chocolates and tea. "Here we go, a little bit of everything," the candymaker said, setting the tray down. "Reimu, you get first pick." She cast a stern look at Lyra, who stopped her horn.
"Hmph. Fine," Lyra relented, crossing her forelegs. "Go on then, help yourself. I promise you it'll be the best thing you've ever tasted."
After a few seconds, Reimu settled on a star-shaped piece of chocolate speckled with bits of white. Lyra watched Reimu take the candy with an almost disturbing anticipation. Even Bon Bon couldn't help but stare. Rather than draw it out, the shrine maiden quickly popped the candy into her mouth. She instantly froze for several seconds as the taste overwhelmed her. "...Wow..."
"That a good wow?" Lyra asked, grinning. "Or is it a great wow?"
"It's amazing! You made this yourself?"
Bon Bon beamed with pride. "Yep! That one isn't even for sale yet. Still working on getting it just right. It also needs a name."
"What, the name I offered isn't good enough?" Lyra asked.
"Little Dipper is a terrible name," Bon Bon shot back.
An image of Marisa's flashy magic came to mind. "How about Stardust Reverie?" Reimu suggested.
Bon Bon paused. "I-yeah, that one is pretty good. I'll consider it."
"Soooo..." Trying to get back on topic, Lyra slid on over to her new friend's side. "You gonna tell her or what?"
"Hmm?" Bon Bon wondered. "Tell me what?"
Bon Bon considered herself a pretty experienced mare. Her old job was mostly to blame for that. Due to that, she'd seen a great many things. Some of them were quite dangerous, and it was only due to her cautious instincts that she made it through those encounters. While her intuition tolde her to trust Lyra, those old instincts surfaced once again when she first met Reimu. She seemed pleasant, but everything surrounding her circumstances was suspicious. She just happened to appear in the Everfree right after Ponyville was hit with another crisis? She appeared to be a visitor from Neighpon, but spoke perfect Equestrian without even a hint of an accent? It was enough to justify sending a message to the princess, but still she trusted Lyra enough to try and get to know Reimu better. Maybe she had a good explanation.
Her being an alien that was just unceremoniously dropped here was certainly not what she expected that explanation to be. That didn't mean she would accept it though.
"Prove it."
"Huh?" Reimu and Lyra asked simultaneously.
"I said prove it," Bon Bon repeated, crossing her forelegs. "If you're really an alien, you can prove it, right?"
Reimu sat there for a few moments, mulling it over. "...Well, I might still have an issue of Bunbunmaru lying around somewhere. Failing that, I can show you a spell card."
"Spell card?" Lyra asked, her head tilting in that innocent way Bon Bon always found cute.
"It's a kind of duel system," Reimu explained. "They're magical attacks created as a sort of representation of our personality. In a spell card battle, two people try to dodge the other's attacks. The winner isn't decided by who's the strongest, but by who is the most beautiful. It's as much of a mental contest as it is a physical one."
Lyra's eyes lit up. "That sounds awesome! Who came up with that?"
"I did, actually," Reimu replied with no small amount of pride. "I was tired of the existing system in Gensokyo where the strongest ruled and youkai preyed on others without restraint, so I came up with this new system to make things fairer. Now anyone can fight on an equal level without any bloodshed."
"And anypony can make one of these spell cards?" Bon Bon asked.
Reimu nodded. "All you need is something to use as an attack and your imagination." She pulled out her stack of paper amulets. "For example, one of the things I use in my spell cards is my ofuda."
Bon Bon nodded along with her explanation, but wasn't convinced. "I'm no magic expert, but you aren't a unicorn. How can you actively use magic like that?"
Reimu just shrugged. "I just can. Comes with being the Hakurei shrine maiden. But anyone with even a little magic can use spell cards. Doesn't even have to be innate magic."
Lyra gave her roommate a friendly nudge. "Hear that? Even you might be able to do it."
Bon Bon chuckled nervously. If she was right, that would be a dangerous road for her to go down. Best if she avoids that path. "Thanks, but I'm good. I'd still like to see it though. If you really can perform magic like you say, I'll believe you."
"Works for me," Reimu said, standing up from her seat, "come on, let's go back to the shrine. Plenty of open space there."
"Why not the field outside town?" Bon Bon suggested, not really feeling safe going back into the Everfree. "It's right next to the Everfree, where your little path is."
Reimu shot that idea down with a shake of her head. "Too close to the town. I don't need to attract an audience."
"Alright," Bon Bon relented, "just let me grab something real quick."