She’d stopped playing once she hadn’t been able to take the gnawing hunger anymore. Lyra hadn’t eaten since, well… This morning, at home in Canterlot. Had that really been today? Des Moines was about as far from home as she could get, it seemed.
She knelt down in front of her lyre’s case, and examined what the humans had dropped in there. She was happy to see a few coins – silver and bronze, no gold – but mostly it was just green pieces of paper. She picked one up. It had a human’s face on it and the number “1” in all the corners. Was this worth something? Lots of humans had given her these, so maybe it was.
“I’ve never seen an instrument like that before.”
Lyra jumped at the voice. She stood up and whirled around, still holding her lyre in both hands.
It was a girl – probably about the same age as her. Lyra recognized her, this human had been watching for a while. She had dark hair, tied back and hanging down just past the collar of her red plaid shirt. Lyra caught her breath. So a human was talking to her, again. No big deal. Just had to stay calm.
“Yeah…” Lyra said. “Wait, you’ve… never seen one…” That couldn’t be right. This was a human instrument – it had to be. Didn’t humans play these too?
“It’s a lyre, isn’t it?” the girl asked.
“Yeah.” Lyra gave a quiet sigh of relief. “I thought you said you hadn’t seen one before.”
“Well, not in real life.” Smiling, the girl asked, “Does it have any magic powers?”
Lyra was taken aback. “Magic? No, of course not…”
The girl laughed, and shook her head. “Calm down, I was only kidding. I mean, it just made me think of...” She noticed Lyra’s look of confusion. “Never mind. You must not play Legend of Zelda.”
“I’m actually not taking requests,” Lyra said. She didn’t know how to play that one, but it might be one of the legends that humans were said to recite with a lyre. Maybe she could learn it. She scooped the money and the green papers up and shoved them in her pockets, then put away her instrument. “I was just about to get going, actually.” She paused, and turned her head. “Wait, you live here, don’t you? Where can I go to eat something?”
The human shrugged. “It’s not like there’s anything too special around here.”
“I’ll eat just about anything at this point.” Lyra clicked the latches on the case shut and stood up. Her stomach growled.
“You’ll probably just want something cheap anyway. I don’t imagine you made very much playing. But you were pretty good,” the girl said. “Oh, by the way, I’m Audrey.” She extended a hand.
She was offering a handshake, probably. Lyra knew about those. Ponies had a variation, but without the fingers.
“My name’s Lyra,” she said, and took Audrey’s hand. Their fingers closed together. Lyra stared at their hands, hardly believing this was happening.
“Lyra? Like your instrument,” Audrey said.
“Huh?” Lyra said. “Yeah… I guess so.” She picked the case up off the ground, and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Where do you even learn to play one of those?” Audrey nodded towards the case as Lyra tucked it back into her bag.
“I’ve been playing ever since I was a fil – I mean, ever since I was a little kid,” Lyra said. “My parents got it for me… Well, not really my parents. I was adopted.” This conversation wasn’t going well. She smiled awkwardly.
“Oh…” Audrey seemed unsure of what to say next.
“I’m just really hungry right now. I need to eat something.”
“Right. I was just on my way to dinner too. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Seriously?” A human was offering to eat with her? This was almost too good to be true. And it still wasn’t a dream, this was really happening.
“It was just an offer. You don’t have to. I mean, it’s summer vacation and I’m a bit starved for human interaction – “
“Same here!” Lyra blurted out.
“Well, that settles it, I guess.”
Lyra nodded vigorously and followed her out of the park.
“So do you play here often? I cut through here a lot and I’ve never seen you,” Audrey said.
“No, I’m from… out of town,” Lyra said. “Where do you live?”
“Walnut Street. It’s a short walk from here.” Audrey gestured over to their right, and Lyra’s eyes followed her hand. She was a bit more interested in the hand itself than where it was pointing.
After a few blocks they reached a green-roofed building – a restaurant. Through the windows, Lyra could see humans seated at tables, eating something. It reminded her again how hungry she was.
“It’s not much, but you said you didn’t care,” Audrey said as she pulled the handle of the door. She let Lyra enter first.
The smell of something good – food, though Lyra couldn’t identify what – was strong. The inside of the building was set up like any other restaurant, except that there were humans at the tables and in the kitchen at the back. There was a family with some children in the corner. Music was playing – from where? It was probably a recording, but there was no phonograph set up that she could see.
Normally Lyra would have been more interested in observing what was going on here, but right now she was starving. Besides, she was about to figure out what human food was like. It might be similar to what ponies ate. She hoped humans liked cake as much as she did.
Audrey went up to the counter and spoke to the human operating the register. “I’ll have a… number one. And no mustard on that.”
“You want that as a combo?”
“Yeah.”
“That’ll be five sixty-seven.”
Lyra was watching closely at how Audrey paid, but all she handed to the cashier was a small rectangular card. And then he gave it back to her. Wasn’t she supposed to actually pay?
“Can I help you?” Now the cashier was talking to Lyra. What did she order? All Audrey had said was a number.
“Uh…” Lyra said. “I-I’ll just have the same thing.” That was the safe way to go, she figured.
“Alright. Five sixty-seven.”
Five sixty-seven… what? Lyra reached into her pocket and pulled out the wad of paper. She was pretty sure it was human currency. She stared at it for a few seconds, then handed it over.
The human looked confused, but took out some of them and handed the rest back to her. He scooped a few coins out of the register.
“Thirty-three cents is your change. Have a nice day.”
“You too...” Lyra said.
Everybody here was so friendly. Princess Celestia had been wrong about humans. Or at least, Lyra had been right that the humans in her world would be different. It was hard to believe that just this morning she’d been in boring old Canterlot, and now she was somewhere as amazing as Des Moines.
“So, um…” Lyra started. “What exactly does ‘Des Moines’ mean? That’s where we are, right?”
“Uh... I can’t remember,” Audrey said. Her arms were folded in front of her. “It’s something French.”
“Oh… Really?” So she’d ended up in France… Lyra smiled, imagining what Rarity’s reaction would be if she knew where she was right now. France was a real place. In this world it was still thriving.
“How long have you been in town?” Audrey raised an eyebrow.
“I just got here today,” Lyra said.
“You’ll get used to it. It’s pretty boring around here, really.”
“I doubt that.” Lyra smiled.
As they waited for their food, Lyra listened to the music, wherever it might be coming from. It was pretty catchy, whatever it was.
“It don't take money, it don't take fame, don't need no credit card to ride this train…” It was an upbeat tune. This was human music, Lyra realized. She liked it more than the classical stuff that was popular back home. “It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life - That's the power of love!“
The food came out on brown trays. Lyra recognized some of the food as fries, but they didn’t look like they were made from hay like the ones back home. The other food came in small square boxes made of cardboard.
They’d been given empty cups, made out of paper. She watched Audrey go over to a box next to the counter and fill up hers with something. Lyra just imitated what she’d done, and took a sip - it was just regular soda. A bit sweeter and more bubbly than back home, but other than that it was like being at Sugarcube Corner again.
By the time they sat down, Lyra couldn’t hold herself back. She opened up the box – it was some kind of a sandwich – and started eating immediately.
“So you really were hungry,” Audrey said, staring at her in mild amusement.
Lyra nodded, and swallowed a bite. “It’s delicious.”
“It’s really nothing special,” Audrey said. She leaned forward. “Anyways, where did you say you were from?”
“It’s, um…” Lyra took another bite, wondering how much she should say. What did humans think about ponies? She wasn't going to take chances until she knew. “It’s a small town. Really far from here. You’ve probably never heard of it. It’s that far away.”
“Right…” Audrey gave a slow nod, and started her own food.
The lettuce was falling out of Lyra’s sandwich onto the tray. It was difficult to hold the sandwich all together. Maybe she just wasn’t experienced enough with her new hands.
Lyra watched as Audrey picked up and ate some fries. She used her fingers thoughtlessly. She’d always had them, so she didn't realize they were anything special. Humans like her couldn’t even imagine how lucky they were.
“I’d really like to hear more about you,” Lyra said. “What do you do? Do you have a job?”
“I tried applying a few places last summer, but didn’t get anything back. Same thing this year.” Audrey’s hands moved idly as she spoke. “Usually I’m too busy with school to work the rest of the year.”
Lyra stopped and stared at her. “You’re still in school? But… how old are you?”
“Sixteen, as of last February. What do you mean, ‘still?’”
“I graduated years ago,” Lyra said.
“From what?” Audrey said. “I’ve still got two years of high school left. Then I want to go to Grand View to study psychology, and that’ll be another four years, at least.”
Lyra didn’t know what to say. Humans really went to school for that long? She was even a few months older than this human, and yet she’d been out of magic school for a long time.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden burst of music. It had a tinny quality and sounded close by, closer than the other music that was playing here.
“Whoops. That’s mine,” Audrey said, pulling some small black object from her pocket. She stared down at it for a moment, and got an irritated look on her face. Lyra sat there, not sure what the proper response was. “Why would he expect me to know anything about eBay?” Audrey wasn’t speaking to her, she just stared at the thing in her hands and then started tapping at it with her thumbs, which was interesting. Then she put it away again, and her friendly expression returned instantly. “Sorry. That was my friend Nathan.”
Lyra nodded, though she was even more confused than ever. That thing had a name, and Audrey considered it a “friend.” Audrey’s explanation had been so casual that it was as if Lyra was simply expected to understand.
“But anyways, I still don’t know anything about you. What are you doing here in Des Moines?” Audrey asked.
“Oh, well…” Lyra hesitated. It was probably best to tell the truth. “I’m looking for my parents, actually.”
Audrey nodded, and took a sip of her drink. “Right… You mentioned you were adopted earlier,” she said, and then quickly added, “You don’t mind me asking about it, do you?”
“Not at all,” Lyra said. “I actually didn’t even know that I was adopted until just recently.”
“Really? Most adopted children these days know about it. It relieves a lot of the stigma, lets kids know that they’re still wanted...” Audrey said. “I can’t imagine what you must have gone through when you found out.”
“My situation was… complicated. Let’s leave it at that,” Lyra said.
Shaking her head, Audrey muttered, “Still. Leaving your parents behind and all that.”
“I moved out a while ago... I guess I could’ve stayed in town, closer to home. Twilight did that,” Lyra said, shrugging.
“Twilight?”
“Yeah, she was a… friend,” Lyra said. She remembered when they’d been doing research together a few months ago. Look who had turned out to be right.
“That’s... kind of an odd name,” Audrey said, wrinkling her nose. “What, were her parents hippies or something?”
Lyra suddenly realized what she’d done. Pony names were different from human ones. It had completely slipped her mind. “Yeah… Total hippies.” Whatever that means, Lyra thought. It seemed to be a satisfactory response, though.
“People must always be teasing her. You know, about the books.”
“Well, sometimes, but…“ Lyra blinked. “Wait, how did you know Twilight likes books?”
“No, I was talking about…” Audrey gave a sigh. “You know what? Never mind. Keep going. You were talking about when you moved out. How long ago was that?”
“About...” Lyra thought for a moment. “Four years ago?”
Audrey stared at her. “And you’re... how old?”
“Sixteen. Same as you.” Lyra grinned.
“You’ve been living on your own since you were twelve.”
“Yeah. Well, I mean, I had a roommate,” Lyra said. “This city’s bigger than what I’m used to, but I think I’ll be able to manage.”
“Your parents kicked you out when you were twelve?” Audrey seemed shocked for some reason.
“No, I chose to move out,” Lyra said. “They didn’t force me to leave or anything. And I wanted to be on my own. My parents didn’t really like all of the research I was doing about… Uh...” Lyra’s voice trailed off. Her eyes wandered around the restaurant, at the humans behind the counter at the other tables, at Audrey, sitting right in front of her. “Well, it’s not really important. But I was able to do whatever I wanted.”
“You were twelve,” Audrey repeated. “That’s just, I don’t know… a serious case of neglect, or something… Didn’t social services find out about it?”
“It’s really no big deal,” Lyra said.
Audrey shook her head, then continued. “And... you mentioned trying to find your real parents. That’s why you came here.”
“Yeah. My parents... well, my adopted parents... They gave me this.” She reached down to pick up her bag by the side of the table, and took the picture out of it. “This is all I have from my real family.”
Audrey took the picture and looked over it for a few moments. “This is all they gave you? Do you even know their names, anything about where they’re from?”
All Lyra knew was that they were from this world. Still, she didn’t think humans were aware that Equestria existed. She hadn’t known that this place had. “No… I don’t really know anything about them.”
“Jeez. I hate to say it, but I don’t think this’ll do much good.” She turned it over, but nothing was on the other side. She handed it back. “I can’t believe they’d just send you out on your own with nothing but that. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen. It makes no sense.”
“Oh, it’s fine. Like I said, I’ve lived on my own for a long time,” Lyra said, slipping it back into her bag next to her journal. “I think I can manage.”
“Where are you from?”
“Like I said... You wouldn’t have heard of it. It’s not important.” Lyra waved one hand, holding the remaining quarter of her sandwich in the other.
“I don’t even know what to say to this.”
“Uh, yeah,” Lyra took another bite as she tried to figure out what to say next. She finished the last of her sandwich. It was exactly what she’d needed, and she was feeling completely full. “That was delicious. What is it?”
“You’ve seriously never had a Big Mac before?” Audrey said.
The first thing that came to mind was Applejack’s big brother, but obviously that wasn’t what she was talking about. The sandwich must just have the same name, by coincidence.
“So what’s in it?” Lyra asked.
Audrey shrugged. “Greasy meat and cheese on a cheap bun? I don’t know exactly what the sauce is, but that’s – “
Lyra had stopped listening after the second word. She slowly raised a hand to her mouth. “You said… there’s meat in that.”
“Of course. Well, kind of. I mean, it’s fast food. Who knows what it really – “
“Like… animals.”
“Huh?”
“That… That came from something that was alive! Who did I just eat?” Lyra demanded.
Audrey’s eyes went wide with concern. She put her head in one hand and stared at the table. “Oh my god. You’re a vegetarian,” she said. “You should have told me! I figured everyone knew what these are. Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a McDonald’s before.”
“Who was that…?” Lyra said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“It was… from a cow, probably. Mostly. I mean, I don’t know how much of it was filler.” Audrey was stumbling over her words.
There were cows on Applejack’s farm. They raised them for their milk, and treated them kindly. Humans ate them. And Lyra had just…
She was going to be sick.
Audrey seemed panicked too, but not even half so much as what Lyra was feeling. “Oh my god... If you’re a vegetarian, you could’ve warned me earlier. I would have suggested someplace else. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Lyra shook her head slowly. “Pinkie was right…” she muttered. And the worst part? Meat was delicious.
“Who?” Audrey said. “Right about what?”
“Oh, did I say Pinkie? I meant… Diane.” Lyra hoped that would save her from more questions. Her stomach was doing backflips. “We always call her Pinkie because it’s her favorite color. But... she told me about...” Lyra’s voice trailed off, and she groaned.
“Lyra, are you really going to be okay? I mean… I feel really terrible about this whole thing.”
“I’ll be fine…” she mumbled. “Do… Do all humans eat like this?”
“Well, no… I mean, you just said you were vegetarian…” Audrey shook her head. “God. I really am sorry.” She put her head in her hands and stared down at the table.
She finished the rest of her food in uncomfortable silence, avoiding Lyra’s eyes. The rest of the food seemed okay. It was safe, at any rate. Lyra picked at the fries, though she wasn’t feeling hungry anymore.
Lyra finally spoke up again. “Audrey... you don’t eat... ponies, do you?”
“What? No.”
“Uh... okay...” That was good, at least, though it didn’t really make things any better.
Lyra really wanted to trust this human. Things had been going so well, but this... Could she really overlook this? Then again, all humans, or most of them, anyway, did eat like this. It was their natural biology. Maybe they had no choice.
But... it had tasted good.
Audrey had called her a “vegetarian,” so maybe it was normal for some humans not to eat it, but it had sounded like the exception instead of the rule. Lyra just wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
Finally Audrey spoke up again.
“Uh… Lyra. You said you were just passing through town,” she said, pointing a finger outwards idly.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Lyra said.
“Where are you staying?”
“I… haven’t really thought about that, to be honest,” Lyra admitted. Today had been too overwhelming.
“Well, uh…” Audrey was looking for the words to say. She took another drink of her soda. “You’re an interesting person, Lyra. I’ll say that much.”
Lyra smiled a little bit. “Thank you…” Having a human call her “interesting” was an incredible honor. She thought Audrey was much more fascinating.
“You’re also incredibly naïve, and something terrible’s going to happen to you if you’re left on your own.”
“What do you mean?” Lyra asked. The human world had seemed safe to her. Well… other than the food. It seemed impossible that anything worse than that could happen.
“What I’m saying is…” Audrey gave a small laugh, and looked down at the table. “I’m crazy for saying this, because I just met you and all. But we’ve got a guest room back home, and if you need a place to stay until you get things figured out – “
“I’d love to!” Lyra said, her face lighting up. Then she shrank back down. That outburst had been louder than she’d wanted.
“I guess that’s settled, then,” Audrey said, smiling. “Come on. I’ll show you where I live.”
Audrey’s house was just a half hour walk away. It was two stories, painted white, with a grey roof. It looked a lot like the other houses that were all around it, actually. They seemed to be arranged a bit more orderly than Ponyville, kind of in a grid pattern. It was thanks to the roads that the human’s carriages required. One of them was sitting in front of the house.
This part of the town was quieter than the center had been. All of the houses had lawns with grass and trees, some better tended than others.
“Looks like Mom’s home,” Audrey said, nodding towards the stationary carriage. “I’ll tell her you’re staying over. Don't worry. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Alright…” Lyra was still amazed that she was about to stay in a human’s home. It was almost enough to make her forget what she’d just eaten. Almost.
Lyra noticed the word “LOREN” on the side of the mailbox in front of the house. She followed Audrey up to the door, and stepped inside. The entry hall really didn’t feel too foreign. There was a still life painting hung on one wall of some fruit, and across from that stairs headed up to the right. Lyra noticed that the stairs were narrower than back home, making them far more compact. Besides, the extra width wouldn’t be necessary for a two-legged human.
Not long after they’d entered the house and Audrey had pulled the door shut, another human walked in. She looked kind of like Audrey, but her hair was curly instead of long. “Oh, I thought you’d be home soon.”
“Dad’s still at work?”
Audrey’s mother nodded, then noticed Lyra. “And who’s this?”
“This is Lyra. I told her she could stay with us for a while…” Audrey’s voice trailed off, and her mother gave her a look. She turned to Lyra. “Um, make yourself at home. I’ll handle this.”
“Oh. Thanks,” Lyra said. She headed down the hallway and left the two humans in the entry.
Their voices had dropped low. Lyra couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she trusted Audrey. Maybe more than she should… No, the meat had been a misunderstanding. She couldn’t dwell on that. Even if she couldn’t force it out of her mind no matter how hard she tried. Besides, was she really in any position to turn down the kindness of strangers? Especially humans?
She had to get her mind off of what she’d done. This was a human house, after all - the thought of that was still exciting to her, regardless of everything else. Lyra headed into the other room.
Now the house was starting to look different from Ponyville. The living room – if that’s what this was – had a strange setup. A couch and a few chairs were set up, all facing a black box. At the moment Lyra had no idea what it was for. It looked boring, so she turned her attention to the framed photos on the end table.
This one… It looked just like Hearth’s Warming Eve. They had a tree decorated and everything. No, wait. That would be Christmas, wouldn’t it? Lyra was grinning. Maybe she could ask them about what that was… But she couldn’t be too obvious that she didn’t know about it. All humans celebrated Christmas, after all.
Another one seemed to be Nightmare Night. A small human, the age of the young ones she’d seen at the restaurant, was dressed like a black cat. It was probably Audrey at a younger age. But if humans didn’t have Nightmare Moon, then who did they celebrate?
She noticed the coffee table in front of the sofa had a vase with some flowers in it. Lyra was feeling a bit peckish. Hopefully she wouldn’t be overstepping her bounds as a guest if she just took one.
She bit into the petals, and instantly had to resist spitting it out. It was way too bitter. She coughed, and tried to swallow it.
Lyra headed back into the entry hall. As she got closer, their voices became clearer.
“She’s had a hard life. She won’t even tell me what she’s been through.”
“I realize that, but this isn’t like when you used to bring home stray animals. This is a human being, Audrey. A stranger. Do you even know anything about her? Where she’s from?”
“She’s going through a rough time. She’s confused.“ That voice was Audrey’s.
Lyra walked in. “Um, sorry, but… I think your flowers went bad. They don’t taste right at all.” She was holding the stem with the head partially bitten off.
Silence.
“Uh…” Audrey wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“Sorry…” Lyra said quietly.
“No, it’s… It’s fine,” Audrey said.
“Lyra, was it?” Audrey’s mother said. “Audrey says you’re in town working to make your own money.”
Lyra nodded. “I really won’t be any trouble. I can stay, right?” She took another bite of the flower stem without realizing it, and grimaced again. How could this taste bad, when earlier today she’d eaten...
Audrey exchanged a glance with her mother, then turned back to Lyra. “Come on. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.” Audrey led her over to the stairs.
It was starting to get dark outside. Lyra was helping Audrey to put covers on the guest bed she’d be sleeping in.
“Could you get that corner?” Audrey held one end of the floral-patterned sheets and pointed with her free hand.
“Sure.” Lyra helped tuck it under. “I can really stay here, right? How long?”
“However long you need to. I think you need to come up with a better plan, though. At this point, trying to find those people from your photo is just unrealistic.”
They finished with the mattress cover and started on the blanket. It was just a simple task, but they were using their hands for it. One hand had to hold up the corner of the mattress while the other pulled the cover over it. Audrey had picked up the blanket when a man walked in from the hallway.
“You must be Lyra,” he said. “I heard you’d be staying with us?”
She turned to look at him. He was probably Audrey’s father. “Yeah.”
“Mom talked to you?” Audrey said. "About... well..."
“I really won’t be any trouble,” Lyra cut in.
“I’m sure you won’t be,” he said, smiling. “And we can’t exactly throw you back out on the street, now can we?”
Lyra could hardly believe how lucky she’d been to end up here. “I... can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lyra. Just let us know if you need anything. We really do want to help you.”
“Thank you,” Lyra said, smiling. “I think I’m doing okay right now, though.” She went back to making the bed, and finished putting the sheets on.
"I'll leave you be for now, then." He turned and left as they finished making the bed.
“Looks good,” Audrey said. “And like Dad said, just tell us if you need anything.”
Lyra was staring at the bookshelf at the end of the room. “Do you mind if I read some of those?” She pointed at them.
Audrey shrugged. “Sure. If you want to, I guess.”
“Thanks.” Lyra yawned. “But... actually, I think I’ll just go to bed for tonight.” She realized again that she’d woken up this morning in Canterlot. It felt like years ago. She needed some rest.
“Okay. Good night, then.”
“‘Night.”
There were strange, unidentifiable sounds outside in the human world. Lyra thought they might be those carriages, but there was also a loud, high-pitched whine that grew louder and faded away. Lyra was stretched out on the bed, with her journal open in front of her, and a pencil in her hand.
It wasn’t too different from home, except now she was writing from experience. And there were so many new things she’d learned about humans today. Where to start? She tapped the eraser against her lip.
She took another glance over the room she was staying in. It was dark other than the lamp on the table next to her. In front of that she'd set down her bag. Curtains hung in front of the window, but she hadn't felt like closing them. Earlier she had looked at the titles of everything on the bookshelf, and just couldn’t decide where to start. Human culture was even wider and more varied than Equestria's.
Back to her journal. First off – Be careful of what you eat.
That note was worth circling. Lyra cringed just thinking of what had happened earlier today. Audrey hadn’t meant any harm, though. Eating meat was just a normal human behavior.
It didn’t change the fact that Lyra never wanted to do it again.
Moving on, there were all of those inventions that were in this world. She flipped back to a few sketches of carriages that she’d done based on her dreams. Those had been surprisingly accurate. She went back to a blank page.
The idea that this was her world - this huge, amazing place – was just wonderful. Equestria just couldn’t compare to what might be in store for her here in France. And she’d already made a friend who could help her find her way around.
Though… She did miss Bon-Bon. A smile came to her face as she imagined what Bon-Bon’s reaction would be to seeing her now. But… that would never happen. How could she get back without any magic? Besides, the spell was too difficult even for a normal unicorn.
How had she even gotten to Equestria to begin with?
Too many questions, and she’d been though too much today to even consider them all. She yawned. She really should just get to sleep.
She turned and saw her necklace hanging on the bedpost. A gold lyre, just like her cutie mark. She reached past it to the lamp, trying to find the switch. She wondered if all humans had things like this in their homes. Magical appliances existed in Equestria, but they weren’t too common. But, judging from what Audrey had said this morning, she’d made it sound like magic was some kind of a joke. How did anything here work, then?
Her fingers closed around the knob, and it clicked as she twisted it to the “off” position. She was too tired to think about all these questions right now.
All things considered, day one as a human had been a success.