Lyra looked out the window, the Equestrian countryside with is beautiful sunflower fields casually bathing in the glow of the princesses sun. It kinda made her want to write a song about it, but then she would be to busy writing it to actually do what she planned. After all she was on vacation and when was there a better time to go visit family, especially her favorite cousin.
She opened her saddle bag, and pulled out the letter she would've sent to him but he would have come up with some reason why she couldn't come over. This way Harper couldn't make up some excuse why she couldn't visit since she would already be there. She remembered running her plan by Bon-Bon and she thought it was a little cruel, but Lyra went ahead with it anyway she figured she would put a little scramble in his saddle since he missed Grammy Melodas birthday last month. So she hopped on the train headed for Flapstaff, while Bon-Bon was busy visiting her family in Baltimare.
She looked up as the waiter placed a cup of coffee on the table, she smiled at the waiter, not wanting to break the tranquil silence of the dining cart, since nopony was stirring yet. She took a sip of the black liquid, just to perk her up before she poured some creamer and sugar into it after all she still had a few more hours on the train before she would get off.
--
Harper opened his eyes as the alarm rang into its solid third minute, he lazily threw his hoof at the clock, knocking it off the nightstand and silencing it. He looked over to where Stormy would have been if she wasn't on morning weather duty for the next week. He felt a little jealous of her, since as soon as she was done she had the rest of the day off, he had a quota to fill before he was able to leave.
As he got out of bed he heard the teapot downstairs whistle, meaning that Stormy hadn't left yet. Trotting down the stairs into the living room, where a newly formed Able sized dent was stating to form on the couch , he remembered when He bought it Stormy recommend that he get the cloud stuffed ones, even though they would occasionally leak or electrocute you, but they wouldn't mold like his old foam one was starting to do.
"Harper, good morning," Able poked his head out of the kitchen. As he came into the dining room the smell of buttery pancakes, and hash-browns, literally smacked him in the face as he sat down, across from him Stormy was pouring some ketchup on the last little bit of her hash-browns.
"Thanks for the breakfast Able, it was real good," Stormy smiled as as she ate the last of her food.
"No prob," Able said as he brought two plates to the table putting one in front of Harper and sitting down to eat his own. "Its a shame though, hash-browns are the best with some bacon." Able heard a fork clank against a plate before looking up to the shocked faces of the two ponies. "What? You guys don't eat meat?"
Harper and Stormy looked at each other before saying "No!"
"Thats just disgusting, most of the griffons on the weather team don't even touch the stuff and their the only ones who can eat it." Stormy gagged slightly.
" Able," Harper opened his mouth to show his teeth. "Ourh, teeth cant chew meat." he said using his hooves to hold his mouth a little wider.
"And besides, the ponies that do eat meat are some of the strangest, demented, and psychopathic ponies in all of Equestrias history." Stormy pounded her hoof on the table to drive her point home.
"Okay, sorry note to Able don't mention meat or anything meat related ever again." Able put his hands up in mock surrender. "But humans are omnivores meaning," Able opened his mouth to show his teeth. "We can eat veggies and meat."
"But still its the principle of eating meat that just adds to all that bad stuff about humans." Harper, his own hunger beginning to overpower his disgust started drizzling syrup on his pancakes.
"Okay, so first was the comic book with laser eyes, and now your saying there's more to this whole myth about us." Able for the first time felt like he could adequately represent humanity and denounce some of these increasingly crazy rumors he was hearing, like how they could breath under water and talk to sea monsters.
"Yep, like how if you look one of them in the eye that they take your soul and you the become a mindless puppet to their will." Harper added before taking a bite out of one of the pancakes. "Not to bad, by the way." He commented.
"Or how, you supposedly can kill a pony with a mere thought." Stormy added in.
Able smiled and started staring at Stormy. "You mean like this."
"Stop it Able," She whined as she ducked out of sight.
"I'm just messing with you Stormy. We cant steal someones soul just by looking at them, and we certainly cant kill something with a thought." Able imagined all the people in his life who would drop dead if that were true, especially Trent.
"Oh, so you cant can you?" The mare slinked back up into view her foreleg covering her eyes and her wings splayed out feeling around for her. "Well uh... I'll just be going now just in case that whole mind control thing is true, since they also say that humans love to lie."
"I always lie." He said in a sing song voice. "I always lie. I'm speaking in paradox Stormy." He chuckled as she opened the door and flew away. He turned to Harper who was just now finishing his breakfast. "Looks like someone eats fast."
Harper pointed to the clock on the wall, his mouth was still full of food, but Able was able to understand the basic point.
--
The train hissed into the station right on time, or at least as on time as a fourteen hour train ride through the night was concerned, Lyra smiled it was good to back in her old hometown. Flapstaff really hadn't changed at all since she left for college in Canterlot.
Lyra slung her bags over her back and started her way to Harpers house, well more realistically her aunt Violas old house. She always wondered why Harper wanted to stay there since the rest of the family moved back east to Canterlot, but to each their own she thought since Harper was more of the shy quiet colt when they were growing up.
As she made her way through town she kept on getting the occasional wave from somepony she knew from school, she went through the normal how-do-you-do and its been so long reunions with most of them. When she finally made it out of town and saw Harpers house in the distance she felt a bit nostalgic, she remembered going home with Harper everyday after school, and playing outside after they did all their homework.
She sighed contently as she opened the little gate that surrounded his front yard. She listened for a moment hoping to hear her cousin playing the harp out back. Hearing nothing she trotting up onto the porch and knocking on the door. No answer, she tried again on the off hope that Harper took the day off from the mill.
She tried jiggling the door nob to no avail.
"Locked, dang it Harper you really don't make it easy for somepony to surprise you." She looked around knowing he would have hidden an extra key somewhere. She knew he wouldn't put it someplace obvious either, sitting down she looked around the small fenced in space and thought. She knew Harper to well to let something like this stump her. She remembered sitting inside during winter around the fire her aunt and uncle and her parents laughing and telling stories while she and Harper played I spy out the living room window.
"Got it." Lyra hoped up and trotted to the living room window sill and ran her hoof above it. A small key clanked on the wood porch. "Harper, you should be so happy I'm not a burglar." She used her magic to pick up the key and unlock the front door.
"Stormy, is that you?" a very unfamiliar voice called out from the kitchen, from what she could tell whoever it was busy washing dishes and humming to themselve. "Come on Stormy, that whole mind control thing was a joke and..." Lyras eyes widened there standing right in front of her was something everypony told her was made up and it knew Stormy.
"A...Are you a human?" She asked dumbly using her magic to pinch herself just be sure she wasn't dreaming.
The only thing that came out of the mysterious creatures mouth was. "Oh crap."
--
Able stood there, in utter shock there right in the middle of the living room stood a mint green pony who just asked him if he was human, Able pictured the veritable shitstorm that had just formed over his head.
"Oh crap." Was all he could mange to say.
The mare dropped the bags that were strung on her sides. Able looked at the open door behind her, if he could get the jump on her he could cut her off, and try to talk this whole situation out.
"Did.. did you just talk? Can you understand me?" Her eyes widened even more as she cautiously stepped towards him. Able stepped back and stumbled over one of the dining room chairs and fell to the ground. Before he could scramble back to his feet he was face to face with the pony her yellow eyes almost staring into his soul.
Able lay there completely immobile, then he felt a hoof jab into his chest. Then he felt a strange crackle on his hand as it was pulled up to his face.
"Five fingers, no fur, you even stand and walk on two legs, I wonder?" She jabbed her hoof into this mouth and opened it, and stared completely dumbfounded at his teeth.
"Hey, stop that." Able moved his head away from the prodding pony. He then tried to push the mare off of him, but for someone that was elbow height to him she weighted easily twice as much as him. Seeing what he was trying to do she leaned into him and was starting to put her weight on his chest.
"You are a human." She leaned in closer,, a joyful smile spreading across her face. "I was right, I knew you existed. Everypony who said I was clinging on to some filly's fantasy, or said I read to many comic books if they could see you now." The mint green pony smiled fiendishly, from what Able could tell the image of her telling off all the ones who believe her must have been extremely gratifying.
The only thing that snapped her out of her fantasy was the surprised gasp, of another pony.
"Lyra?" Able let out a mental sigh of relief he was saved. The mare turned here head to reveal Stormy staring at them in complete and total surprise.
Able, not sure if it was the light from the still open door behind Stormy or god delivering him an angel in his time of need could have sworn he saw a halo above her head, as she stood there dumbfounded, drawing the attention of the pony on top of away long enough for him to start inching to freedom.
"Lyra what are you doing here?" Able tried to squirm away from the pony sitting on him, only for her to shift her weight on his chest so he couldn't escape.
"Stormy, look I told you they were real and here one is in the flesh," She poked Able in the chest again. "At least I'm fairly certain its flesh."
"Stormy, help please she starting to crush my ribs." Able tried reaching out to the pegasus in the hope she would save him.
"Nonsense, everypony knows humans are indestructible." Lyra said matter a factually.
"No we aren't, we break too and breaking hurts a lot please I think your about to break my ribs if you stay on me any longer." Able, was struggling now to breath, since Lyra was now putting more of her weight on his chest. Able felt his vision cloud and then grow dark as he struggled for air
"For a mythical creature, saying sompony is heavy is rather rude." Lyra snapped back at Able who was starting to turn blue.
"Lyra hop off him, I think he's suffocating." Stormy quickly trotted up to the prone human and noticed his face had turned a blueish color.
Lyra noticing the growing concern on her friends face, carefully stood up and stepped back from Able. She was excited to see a human, but it would have really killed her buzz if she had also killed the only known one in existence.
Stormy looked at Able, he wasn't moving at all. Wondering if she should attempt CPR on him, she rested her ear on his chest and waited. In what must have been the longest second of her life she heard the dull beat come from his chest as well as a slow but steady rise and fall of his chest.
"Oh thank Celestia," Stormy sighed in relief, at least knowing Able wasn't dead, but more than likely unconscious.
"You know I though humans knew how to you know hold their breath and all that." Lyra commented as she cautiously prodded the unconscious human with her hoof.
" Lyra," Stormy glared at her childhood friend and back at Able. All that the mint green mare did was gulp loudly.
--
Harper wiped some more sweat from his forehead for what must have been the hundredth time today, both he and his coworker and boss Tiller were pulling a wagon filled with saplings to the other side of the clearing. It was especially difficult for Harper seeing that he certainly wasn't the strongest pony on the replanting team but he always got the heavylifting jobs, then again both he and Tiller were the only ponies in the replanting team.
"Come on Harper," Tiller grunted as the two of them finally got the wagon wheel over a pesky rock. "Just gotta move these a little further." He blew a piece of his sandy colored mane out of his face.
"Why, do we have to do this, wheres that meat head Manfred when you need him?" Harper glanced around looking for the eccentric minotaur who should have been with them to help.
Tiller started to laugh. "You mean 'The worlds mightiest minotaur.'," He slowed his pace a little bit. "He, said something about jamming his thumb."
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Harper started to laugh. The wagon seemed to become a little lighter as they started into the clearing, there numerous ponies and griffons were busy picking up branches and clearing away shrubs. In a way it was organized chaos everyone piling up what they had into massive piles and then going to another random part of the treeline to gather more.
"Come on you lot, have another thirty minutes until you get off." A sandy coated earth pony shouted through the megaphone in front of him. "I want to get to cutting down these trees first thing in the morning, so lets get this debris out of here."
Harper recognized the two crossed hatchets on his flank, it was Tillers twin brother Miller. Unlike Tiller who was in charge of replanting the trees Miller cut them down and sold the wood all over Equestria. It was ironic that they not only had a swapped color scheme but they managed two completely opposite groups at the mill.
"Hey, Miller," Tiller shouted as he brought the wagon to a stop, and waited for his brother to turn around. "It's Friday and these fine workers payday, why not let them off a little early. After all happy employees work better and harder."
Harper glanced up at Miller, who was simply staring down his brother. Sighing Miller turned around tapped the megaphone.
"Alright everyone, lets call it a day." He waited for the excited cheers of some of the workers to die down. "You all know the deal, Penney Pincher will make sure you all get paid." Harper heard the sound of the yoke next to him come undone.
"Ahh," Tiller groaned as he stretched his shoulders and popped his neck. "Well, Harper looks like you got what is left of the day off." he simply smiled at him.
"I guess I have you to thank for that." Harper lit up his horn and started to undo the bindings of his yoke.
"Well, kinda." he tilted his head back to the wagon filled with saplings. "Since it's just us right now, we would have to plant all these. It's not like we couldn't, but I prefer not to work until midnight planting trees because half of the replanting team is gone. That and I don't think anypony wants to spend their Friday night at work if they could get away with it, I certainly don't."
Harper knowing that it was a rare day when Tiller managed to convince his brother let everyone off early, didn't waste any time thanking him and getting into the pay line. He was last in line, and it bothered him a little bit since he wanted to get home play his harp, maybe draw something. All the waiting as the line slowly inched forward cut into his time.
"So Harper, got any plans tonight?" He looked up to see Tiller sipping on a mug of apple cider. Tiller for the most part was in Harper's opinion the only friend he had who wasn't a mare, and apparently Tiller knew this since he seemed to go out of his way at times to talk to him.
"Oh, nothing really probably go home see if Stormy is willing to come over for dinner." Harper quickly regretted saying that last part as a sly grin crossed Tillers face.
"For a dinner date?" He took another sip of his cider before shaking his head. "Didn't know you had it in ya, but then again it's always those quiet artsy types who get the really cute ones."
"What?! No we're friends, granted shes pretty but uh... uh." Harper was at a loss of words, he didn't see Stormy that way. However everypony else didn't seem to agree with him.
"Harper your blushing, and it's no that easy to tell with you." Tiller nudged him in the shoulder. "And if your not dating her do you think you could drop my name to her. No need hogging her all to yourself if you aren't interested after all."
Harper just glared at the stallion nothing he could say would convince him he and Stormy were not dating.
"Harper Heartstrings." Harper looked up to the counter, apparently in the whole exchange with Tiller the line had started really moving. Harper trotted up to the pale orange mare behind the counter.
"Yes Ms. Penny." He waited for her to look up at him. She was only a couple years older then Harper but the glasses on her muzzle seemed to make her look like she was easily two weeks from retirement.
"Lets see here, no late starts in the last week, you've went over your weekly quota by three trees." She pulled out an abacus and started counting on it.
"Don't forget, the fact he showed up early today." Tiller said as he took a few gulps from mug of cider.
"Mr. Woodsong. Company policy does frown upon drinking at the workplace." Penny commented as she opened a small lock box and started placing some bits in a small burlap pouch.
"Oh, come on Penney the only pony who could get hurt if we were working right now is waiting in line to get paid." Tiller shook his mug in his hoof. "And besides I watered it down, can't let my employees seeing their boss intoxicated after all."
"Well Celestia forbid your brother remind you about the operation standards the government requires for us to continue making a profit Mr. Woodsong." Penny dead panned as she slide the pouch of bits to Harper. "One hundred and twenty three bits after taxes."
"Try not to spend it all in one place Harper." Tiller took another sip of the cider.
"I'll try not to, don't drink too much Tiller we need our manager not hung over tomorrow." Harper waved back as he trotted home.
"No promises buddy, no promises."
***
Harper smiled to himself, it had been a pretty good week all things considered. Though Able showing up had defiantly threw a wrench in his life. He never quiet got into the whole human phenomena like Stormy and Lyra did. Then again he was the little colt who would always get dragged into their games of heroes and humans.
As he trotted up to the front gate of his house, he got this strange feeling in the back of his mind that something was off. Almost like the house was too quiet, he knew Able didn't do much when he was gone, but then again he would at least be making some sound as he moved through the house.
Cautiously he opened the door and trotted in again this strange paranoid feeling was creeping its way through his mind as he closed the door. He looked over to the couch, there Able was sleeping. Harper paused Able was sleeping and the sun was just now setting, this was becoming rather strange. He pressed on, though he was starting to feel increasingly uneasy as he trotted to the kitchen.
He heard what sounded like somepony shift in a chair. As he poked his head into the kitchen he literally felt his mind crash with what he saw. There sitting opposite of each other was Stormy and Lyra, in the middle of what was probably the most intense staring contest ever; seeing as they were both upside down with tape over their mouths and Lyra was cutting an onion between the two of them causing them both to hold back tears.
Harper stared at Lyra in complete shock, his brain still trying to process that she was there since after all he hadn't seen her in about a year. "Lyra?"
This apparently got the attention of both mares seeing as not a second later both of them fell out of their seats with all the grace of a brick floating. Stormy was the first to scramble to her hooves and start talking.
"Rmmm rhmm ryrh," She paused and reached up a hoof to tear the tape away. "Ouch. Hey, Harper guess how dropped by for a visit." Stormy smiled with almost too much joy.
"Sup, Harper long time no see." Lyra waved at him shyly.
"Wha?... Able.... Lyra?" He looked towards the living room then back at his cousin, his brain both metaphorically and somewhat literally screeched to a halt he need to say something though . "I need to sit down." Harper simply fainted in the middle of the kitchen, as the two mares exchanged surprised stares.
"He is your cousin Lyra." Stormy said before Lyra could argue.