In the couple of weeks since the premiere screening of Equestria Girls, Lyra felt on top of the world. It seemed like everyday somepony was flagging her down on the street just to rave to her about how much they had enjoyed the movie. Sure there were a couple of ponies with some harsher criticisms, but after what she went through with Pinkie, she was able to take it all in stride. It didn't take away from what was a very positive reception, and Lyra enjoyed every second of praise she got.
However, things had changed very drastically over the past couple of days. Not only did the adulation stopped, everypony was actively avoiding contact with her. She couldn't even manage to get a simple 'How are you' or 'Nice weather today, huh?' from anypony. Even the Mane Six were giving her the silent treatment. Lyra couldn't understand what might have happened to make everypony react to her this way. She tried talking to Bon Bon and Derpy about all this, but the two of them assured her that it was all in her head. That wasn't enough to convince Lyra that something fishy wasn't going on. So in order to ease her mind, Lyra had agreed to take up Derpy's offer to join her and Chrysalis on one of their muffin outings.
"Thanks for inviting me again, you two," Lyra told the two muffin buddies as they walked down the streets of Ponyville, heading towards the train station.
"No problem! The more the merrier, I always say!" Derpy smiled.
"Besides, Discord refuses to wear the muffin costume anymore, so we need a replacement," Chrysalis added.
"Muffin costume?" Lyra asked. "Just what do you guys do with these muffin parties anyway, Derpy?"
Derpy laughed nervously. "I’ll explain later. Anyway, before we leave, do you mind if we stop at Sweet Apple Acres first? I need to pick up some apples for my new muffin recipe I wanted to try."
Lyra shrugged. "I don’t mind. Maybe I’ll be able to get an actual conversation with Applejack this time."
"It is strange how everypony seemed to stop talking to you," Chrysalis noticed.
"I don’t get it though," Lyra sighed. "I thought everypony liked Equestria Girls. Why is everypony acting like this?"
"Well at the very least, let’s straighten things out with Applejack while we have the chance," Derpy suggested.
The three continued their way towards the train station until Derpy suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Oh no!" she shouted. "I forgot my recipe book at home! I gotta go back!"
"I’ll help you find it. I think I know where you left it," Chrysalis volunteered. "We have to hurry though or else we’ll miss the train."
"Lyra? Could you do us a huge favor and get the apples from Applejack? We’ll meet you at the train station!"
Before Lyra had a chance to answer her pegasus friend, Derpy and Chrysalis ran off at full speed back towards the house.
"Guess I have no choice," Lyra said to herself. With a sigh, she continued down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres by herself.
Meanwhile down the road, Derpy and Chrysalis looked back to see Lyra trotting away. The plan had been working perfectly thus far. The both snickered at the thought of what Lyra was about to experience at the farm. Instead of continuing to the house, they ducked in between two buildings, where Princess Luna was waiting for them.
"She’s on her way! I don't think she's caught on yet," Chrysalis informed the princess.
Luna smiled. "Excellent. Now we need to hurry and teleport quickly if we want time to get ourselves ready. Now hold still..."
Derpy squealed. "This is gonna be great!"
Luna began to concentrate on casting the spell, creating a bright flash which came from her horn. When the light faded, the three ponies were gone.
~~~~~
Usually, Sweet Apple Acres was a busy farm. There was always some sort of chore Applejack, Big MacIntosh, or anypony else were doing around the farm, even during the later stages of the day. But this particular evening, the apple orchard was quiet. Nopony bucking. Nopony farming. Nothing. This was it for Lyra. Something fishy was going on.
Ok, this is getting ridiculous. They couldn't have known I was coming. Where is everypony? she wondered.
Lyra made her way over to the main farmhouse to knock on the door. Before she could she noticed a sign taped to the front door. Curious, Lyra took the sign and read it.
'Currently busy in the main storage barn. Come find me there. -Applejack.'
"Well, I guess that explains where she is, then."
Lyra continued to make her way through Sweet Apple Acres until she made it to the storage barn. The front door was opened slightly, so it looked like somepony was inside. But the inside of the barn looked dark from where she stood. Lyra gulped. She started to get a horrifying vibe from the situation. She slowly made her way to the door and carefully creaked it open. The inside of the barn was pitch black. She couldn't even make out any silhouettes at first.
"Hello? Applejack? Is anypony in here?"
Lyra heard Applejack's voice respond to her. "Sorry! There’s no pony in here, sugarcube!"
"What? How can there be nopony in…"
The lights switched on.
"SURPRISE!!!"
Lyra shrieked as she came face to face with the surprise party. The interior of the barn was remade to resemble the Fall Formal, just like the way it was in her movie. A large banner reading "Canterlot High School Fall Formal" hung from the ceiling. However impressive the work was to recreate the dance hall, Lyra was left stupefied by the party goers themselves. The Mane Six, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Trixie, Big Mac, Vinyl & Octavia, Sunset Shimmer, and even Derpy & Chrysalis! Everypony was here, but... everypony wasn't a pony. Everypony was human! Not just human, they had all become their Equestria Girls counterpart! Even Chrysalis looked like her default form than somepony, or someone else. Lyra couldn't process it, but Equestria Girls had been brought to life!
"Welcome to the Canterlot High Fall Formal, Lyra!" Twilight shouted. "We’ve been waiting for you!"
To say that Lyra was shocked would have been an understatement. "Twilight?!? What… How… When… what’s going on!?!"
"We’re having a party to celebrate Equestria Girls," Pinkie explianed. "You said you never had a wrap up party, remember?"
"How… how the hay did you guys change like that? This isn't a changeling trick, right?" Lyra asked.
A voice from just outside the barn answered Lyra's question. "No, this isn't a changeling trick."
The green unicorn turned to see the voice belonged to Princess Luna. She was joined by Princess Celestia and by Discord. Unlike everyone else, the three still looked like their normal selves.
"They needed a little help from us," Discord told Lyra.
"It’s a complex transformation spell," Celestia answered. "It was a bit tricky, but as you can see it can be pulled off."
"At any rate, the party’s almost ready!" Pinkie announced. "We’re just missing one minor detail."
"What is that?" Lyra wondered.
Luna smirked. "You might want to hold still for a little bit, Lyra."
Before Lyra could react, Celestia, Luna and Discord all focus their magic energy on Lyra, enveloping the four in a brilliant ball of magic. When the magic surge faded, the unicorn, the draconequus, and the two royal alicorns had all transformed. Celestia and Luna had taken up their Principal/Vice-Principal forms from the movie, and Discord now looked the part of an older school administrator, with a sharp business suit to match. Lyra, meanwhile, had transformed into a form she never really had time to imagine, herself in Equestria Girls. She was now wearing a yellow top and a light green skirt with her lyre cutie mark stitched on its side. As nice as the outfit was, it never really caught her eye. What Lyra immediately fixed in on were her new appendages at the ends of her now human arms. She wiggled her new fingers in front of her face.
"Hands… I have hands!" Lyra couldn't contain her tears of joy from temporarily blurring her vision. Before she was able to explore her new body further, she was suddenly embraced by a blonde-haired girl who bore a very strong resemblance to Derpy. She also noticed another girl bearing a strong resemblance to her roommate Bon Bon coming her way too.
"Lyra, you look amazing!" Derpy shouted.
Bon Bon chuckled. "I hope this means you’ll stop bugging me about hands now."
Lyra nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. I can't believe this! This is a dream come true! I… don’t know what to think right now."
"Enjoy it, Lyra. You earned it!" Pinkie smiled.
"I have to know, though. What made you guys do all this?" Lyra asked.
Rarity decided to answer. "If you want specifics, this all came about from the latest letter we received from Hasbro a few days ago."
"What did it say?"
"Well, Spike has the letter. How about I let him deliver the letter to you, Lyra." Twilight turned towards the stage behind her. "Come on out, Spike!" she shouted.
Lyra laughed in disbelief as a small purple and green dog emerged from behind the stage. Spike scurried towards Lyra with a parchment in his mouth. He then sat down in front of her, eagerly wagging his tail.
"You actually agreed to be a dog, Spike?" Lyra asked as she took the parchment from his mouth.
"Rarity’s paying me in back rubs and ear scratches. Totally worth it!" Spike grinned. "Besides, I'd take this over what we really went through on the other side of that mirror."
The very mention of the alternate universe made Twilight blush. Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, still annoyed at the universe's existance. "I bet that copycolt doesn't even know the meaning of the word awesome," she grumbled.
Pinkie cleared her throat. "Read the letter, Lyra."
Lyra looked at the parchment and read out loud. "From Hasbro: We would like to offer our congratulations on the success of your movie. Despite initial backlash from the consumers and the fans, ‘My Little Pony: Equestria Girls’ was well received by its audience. To our surprise, several within the brony community have even come to embrace it alongside the main ‘Friendship is Magic’ show. We look forward to working with you to further explore ‘Equestria Girls’ in the future. To everypony in Equestria, congratulations on yet another job well done and keep up the good work. Signed Hasbro HQ. Hold on. Does this mean…"
Fluttershy nodded. "Equestria Girls was a hit! And it sounds like Hasbro might want more of Equestria Girls down the road!"
"There’s a problem though," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "The six of us are going to be busy with Friendship is Magic to worry about doing anything related to Equestria Girls."
"Besides, none of us were really in it, so we really wouldn’t know what to do," Rarity shrugged.
"So we need someone else we can turn to that can handle this," Applejack said.
Derpy grinned. "I think I know somepony who might be up for that job." She grabbed one of Lyra's arms and raised it high, 'volunteering' Lyra for the job.
Twilight looked at her pink friend. "I don't know, Pinkie. Do you think we can trust her?"
Pinkie smiled. "I think she'll be perfect. From now on, Lyra, whenever we need something related to Equestria Girls, it goes straight to you. How does that sound?"
"I think I can handle that" Lyra chuckled.
Pinkie held out her hand. "This is my first handshake," she realized.
"Mine too!" Lyra laughed as she shook Pinkie's hand. "I can't believe you guys went through all this trouble."
"We wanted to go all out for this party. In fact, we're even crowning our own Fall Formal Princess later tonight!" Derpy said.
"Speaking of which, why don't we get this party started?" Twilight suggested.
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Celestia replied. The princess-turned-principal started to make her way to the main stage along with Twilight and the rest of her friends. Applejack grabbed Lyra by her arm.
"You're coming with us!" the cowgirl said. Lyra yelped as Applejack dragged her onto the stage.
Bon Bon smiled as she watched Lyra head towards the stage. "You were right, Derpy. This party was a great idea."
"It was a bit tricky to pull off, but it came together wonderfully so far," Luna said, pouring herself a glass of fruit punch.
Chrysalis turned to Discord. "By the way, who are you supposed to be?"
Discord smirked. "Isn’t it obvious? I’m Counselor Discord!"
Discord mock title for himself made Derpy groan. "Why didn’t we think of that?"
Meanwhile, Celestia, the Mane 6 and Lyra had all made their way to the main stage. Celestia grabbed the microphone that was set up. She cleared her throat to grab the attention of everyone in the room before she began her official welcome.
"Greetings fillies and… pardon me... Ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Fall Formal! Before we begin, I would like to remind you to cast your vote for the princess of the Fall Formal for later tonight. So with that said, as “Principal” of Canterlot High School, I declare the Fall Formal officially open!" Celestia's announcement brought a huge cheer from the crowd.
"Hit it, Vinyl!" Pinkie shouted.
From her DJ stand, Vinyl Scratch was busy twirling a record on one of her fingers. "Heh, I could get used to this." She set the record down on the turntable. "LET’S ROCK!"
A familiar beat began to play through the speakers, the song from the movie's Fall Formal, 'This is Our Big Night'. On the stage, Rarity nudged Lyra front and center as the music started to play. With smiles and nods of encouragements from the six friends, and with everyone on the floor dancing, Lyra started to sing.
"This is our big night!
We made it happen, now let's party all night!
We're here now and we worked so hard to make it come around,
To tonight so let's try to make it last forever,
Cool lights so bright, beat is pumping through the night,
Party's starting, DJ's got the music just right!"
Everyone else on stage joined in.
"Six friends on their way up now,
Six friends here to show you how,
This is our big night!
This is our big night!
This is our big night!"
Everyone cheered as the song came to a close.
Later that night...
After several hours of singing and dancing, most of the party-goers were now simply engaging in small talk, many of them still raving about their new human forms. It was a dream come true for mare/girl of the hour. Lyra had always been fascinated by those mysterious humans who watched the show, and she came up with Equestria Girls as an extension of her fantasy. Never in a million moons would she have guessed that her fantasy would be realized like this. As far as Lyra was concerned, this was the greatest night of her life. For everyone else, this night was going to go down as one of Ponyville's biggest and best party ever.
At the moment, Lyra, Derpy, Sunset Shimmer, and Chrysalis were talking to the Mane Six. Twilight quickly excused herself to get some more punch. As she reached out to get a new cup, she accidentally bumped into someone. Twilight gasped as she recognized this person from the movie, spiked blue hair, black jacket and all.
"Flash Sentry?" Twilight shouted.
"Twilight?" Flash shouted.
Twilight blinked.
Flash Sentry blinked.
They both blushed.
"Bye!" They quickly said in unison before dashing off in opposite directions. Twilight sighed in relief as she got away from Flash Sentry. She made her way back to her friends and their conversation about the movie with its cast and crew.
"So you were Twilight for the entire movie, weren’t you Chrysalis?" Fluttershy asked.
Chrysalis shrugged. "For the most part, there were a few scenes where I was playing someone else though. Like remember when ‘Pinkie’ figured out where you really came from?"
Applejack's eyes widened. "That was you?"
Chrysalis nodded. "Do you even know how hard it was to play Pinkie Pie? I took me like ten takes before I nailed that line!"
"Honestly, sometimes even I don't know how I do it. Even I can’t be completely hyperactive all the time. I save the ‘crazy’ stuff for the show." Pinkie smiled nervously. In reality, her crazy on-screen persona was thanks in large part of her living with the spirit of a hyperactive white pegasus.
"You wanna talk crazy?" Rainbow Dash cut in. "How about the climax of that movie! I mean demon transformations? Zombie teenagers? That’s awesomeness on a level I can’t even figure out!"
"I said I was sorry!" Sunset Shimmer apologized.
"We know, Sunset. We know." Twilight said, taking a sip of her punch. "I have to say that I kinda liked how the antagonist played out in the story. It worked for a high school story, especially having 'Sunset' break everyone apart like she did. It was a great contrast to regular everyday Equestria."
"Well," Lyra started to explain, "I figured the best way to illustrate friendship in the movie as opposed to the show was to break you guys up. That way, it would show the difference between driving friends apart, and bringing them together. I thought it was a brilliant stroke of storytelling myself. I was proud to come up with that plotline!" Lyra posed proudly over her brilliance.
Derpy scratched her head. "Wait, isn’t that essentially the plotline for ‘Return to Harmony' though?"
Lyra froze as she realized Derpy was right.
"Well, so much for originality," Rainbow Dash shrugged.
Twin streaks of tears flowed from Lyra's eyes. "I thought I was being a genius," she sniffed.
Pinkie patted Lyra on her shoulder. "It's ok. We recycled a few plotlines ourselves."
Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna took to the main stage, with Luna carrying Twilight's crown on an ornate purple pillow. It was Twilight's idea to use her crown for the party for this one time, and with Celestia and Luna's care. Celestia took the microphone and cleared her throat, garnering everyone's attention.
"Could I have everyone's attention please? It’s almost time to announce the princess of the Fall Formal! Now before we announce the winner, we have to thank Twilight Sparkle for lending her crown...."
While Celestia continued her speech, Applejack leaned in and whispered to Twilight. "Who do you think is going to win?"
Twilight smiled. "Well, I don’t want to brag, but I did win in it fair and square in the movie, and that is my crown. So, I think it should only be appropriate that I win here."
Sunset Shimmer shook her head. "I don’t know. I think they’ll feel sorry for ‘me’ at the end and make me princess instead! Everyone loves a good comeback story."
Lyra frowned. "Excuse me, but we’re celebrating my movie, so naturally I should win!"
Sunset laughed. "Not to sound like my jerky movie self, but you don’t stand a chance! I'm going to win!"
Twilight growled. "Whose crown is that anyway? It's mine! I'm the princess!"
The three began to argue for a few moments before Fluttershy and Rarity broke them up.
"STOP! Don’t fight! Remember what happened to us in the movie?" Fluttershy reminded everyone. The three girls looked down embarrased.
"Fluttershy’s right," Rarity went on. "This isn’t some life or death scenario. It’s just a temporary honor spurned by a popularity contest. It’s unhealthy to start a fight or ruin a friendship over this."
Twilight slowly nodded. "You’re right Rarity."
Rarity smiled. "Good, now if one of you do win, just remember not to rub it in anyone’s face. Be humble. After all, humility is an important trait for a princess."
Everyone turned their attention back towards the stage as Celestia announced the winner.
"... And so, the princess of the Fall Formal is…. Rarity!"
Everyone cheered. Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, and Lyra's jaw dropped. Rarity's pupils shrank as she heard her name.
"All right! Way to go, Rarity!!!" Spike shouted, his tail wagging in delight.
"I won?" Rarity asked in disbelief.
Despite the unexpected results, Twilight smiled. "Congratulations Rarity."
Rarity stood frozen in shock. Applejack waved her hand in front of her.
"You ok there, Rarity?"
"MINE!!!"
Rarity shoved her friends aside and ran up to the stage. She unceremoniously yanked the crown from Luna's hand, bumping her to the floor in the process. She held the crown in her hand, a manic smile on her face.
"At long last, it’s mine. It’s Mine! THE CROWN IS MIIIINE! BOW DOWN BEFORE BEST PONY! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Rarity laughed maniacally as she placed the crown on her head. Her laughing suddenly stopped as she noticed the nervous stares pointed towards her from every part of the room. Rarity shifted her eyes awkwardly a few times before she gathered her senses, speaking again in a calm, ladylike manner.
"I mean, thank you ever so much for the honor, everyone. I really appreciate it." With that, Rarity stepped off the stage as gracefully as she could despite the embarrassing display.
"I think the comics were onto something," Rainbow Dash whispered into Pinke's ear.
Pinkie nodded slowly. "So, how about we end the party right now?"
Lyra objected. "Wait! I have something I want to say first." She then made her way onto the stage and to the microphone.
"Excuse me everyone?" Lyra began, catching everyone's attention, "Before we all go home tonight, I just want to say thank you! I’m still a bit shocked over everything right now. I never thought when I started putting Equestria Girls together that I would ever see anything like this. It was one thing to have everypony like it, but to see you all embrace it like this is… it’s more than I could have ever imagined. Being a so-called background pony, I used to think that no one would ever appreciate anything I come up with. Thanks to my friends, I don’t think that way anymore. But still, I never expected to see all this happen. I don't think I can say it enough, but thank you for giving Equestria Girls a chance, and thank you all for this party."
Everyone cheered as Lyra finished, a few started chanting Lyra's name. She simply bowed before she walked off the stage, rejoining her friends. Derpy had to wipe a few tears from her eyes.
"That was beautiful, Lyra!" Derpy sniffed.
Bon Bon hugged Lyra. "I just have to say thank you, too. Thanks for being my roommate, and my best friend."
"Thanks Bon Bon. Thanks Derpy." Lyra had to fight back her own tears. "Hey, what do you say we get back home now? I'm getting a bit sleepy."
Bon Bon smiled. "I don't have a problem with that."
Lyra turned to Pinkie Pie. "So how do we change back, Pinkie?"
"Oh, that’s easy! You see we… uh… um…." Pinkie hesitated as she was unable to answer that question. She turned to Twilight. "Hey Twilight? How do we change back?"
"That’s a very good question!" Twilight grinned. She immediately turned to Celestia. "Princess Celestia? How do we change back?"
Princess Celestia froze.
Luna's jaw dropped. "Don't tell me..."
"Um… oops?" Celestia squeaked an apology smile.
The entire room hushed silent as they realized that they were all stuck as humans. Pinkie facepalmed and walked out of the dance hall.
"I’ll go call Lauren," she muttered.
THE END