It was a Hampton, which was not my usual first choice of hotels. My grandparents had brought me along for many of their trips--well, I say that like I regret going along. I don’t. My point is, when we stayed somewhere, we’d usually end up in a Best Western, and I’d developed a preference for it, insofar as a teenager can develop preferences for different hotels. Still, it looked like a decent-enough place, and some last-minute researching via Cass’s phone had revealed that the prices were fair.

So Cass pulled into a free parking spot, letting out a long breath of relief and stretching after putting the car in park.

“Not used to long drives?” I asked, staring out the window. It was clouding over; I was no expert at predicting weather, but my guess was a rainstorm.

Lyra had been quiet after confessing her loneliness. Gentle attempts at questions were met with... well, it would be difficult to describe; but it was the idea of a gentle rebuffing, like someone leaning away when you reach out to touch their shoulder. I took the hint and left her alone. Still, at the mention of rain, she metaphorically sat up and started paying attention.

“Nah, not really.” Cass shrugged. “Still, can’t say this is a bad way to get used to ‘em. Driving across the country, a cute pony in the backseat...”

I met her gaze via the rearview mirror. She was grinning at me. “Yeah... right.” Lyra’s focus was still on the clouds outside, and I shifted my eyes back out the window.

The sun hasn’t risen too far yet, but it is high enough to cast the world in a dark grey pallor; today is overcast, just like the weather team said it would be, with dark, unfriendly sorts of clouds. Occasionally a flash becomes visible, either in the distance or off of the windows of the houses in front of me, followed shortly by a low growl of thunder. It isn’t raining yet, but it will be soon.

I turn my head. The earth pony mare opens the door the rest of the way and trots in. I look back outside, but I can still hear her approaching, settling down a short distance away.

I haven’t told her anything about me, of course, aside from my name. We only met the day before. I am still in shock that somepony would up and volunteer a bedroom to an obvious stranger, and a big-city CSGU grad like me. Well… not volunteer, per se. We had come to an agreement last night. I play music, attract customers, get free room and board and a portion of the profits… But it was the spirit of the thing. Stumbling into town off of the train, clearly lost and uncertain… I doubt I’d made a good impression.

Still, toting my lyre and what possessions I’d been able or willing to bring along, I’d stumbled into a sweetshop looking for something to eat, and there she was…

“I just wanted to let you know, I’m going to be opening the store soon,” says Bon Bon gently, clearly trying not to bother me. A nod is all she gets as a reply. “Something on your mind, sweetie?”

Bon Bon calls everypony “sweetie.” It is, I figure, a side effect of working with confections her whole life.

“Sweetie, are you sure you’re alright?” The genuine concern in her voice makes my heart hurt, like a muscle that doesn’t get stretched enough.

“I’m fine. I’ll be downstairs to play in a bit, like we agreed.” I float my lyre up beside myself.

It’s clear from the resulting silence that she wants to pry, but doesn’t, and eventually she stands up and leaves the room, closing the door quietly behind herself.

Gradually, the rain started. I learned to keep my head down; ponies have large eyes, and large eyes are appealing targets for raindrops. Still, we’d managed to get checked in and all our stuff moved to our room before the downpour really started, and although the clerk, a twenty-something with a beard, lit up when he saw me, he didn’t say too much about me being a pony.

Come six thirty, give or take, Cass and I were both bored and hungry. This was a sensation that I was all too familiar with given my grandparents’ propensity for road trips; hotel rooms seem to contain the essence of limbo, a sensation of being both trapped and restless. Cass eventually settled the TV on Cartoon Network and I dragged out my laptop to take care of the idea I’d thought of in the car, only to find that the hotel password-protected its wifi and, with a sigh, I told Cass I’d return in a moment and slipped back down to the front desk.

The guy at the desk was still there, and I heard him talking on the phone as I approached. He sounded slightly annoyed at whoever he was talking to, and I realized with a sinking feeling as I turned the last corner and trotted up that he was talking about me.

I cleared my throat. I had to stand well back from the desk to actually be in his line of sight, and he was facing away from me to talk on his cell phone in any case; impatient, I trotted to the desk, propped myself up on my forehooves, and used magic to ring the bell. The attendant jumped, surprised, and turned to face me, looking sheepish.

“Uh, oh, gosh, Em, sorry, gotta go bye.” He hastily put the cell phone away and stood, putting on a nervous grin. “C-can I give you a hand, Lyra?”

I stared. Something told me this would not be the last time I would hear this joke.

“I need the password to your wifi network,” I said, refusing to acknowledge the reference. Inside, Lyra just seemed confused; I promised I’d explain it to her when I had a moment. I took the chance to eye the attendant’s name badge. Clark.

“We know about a lot more than you think,” I said evasively, as Clark went about writing it down. “... Did you have to tell everyone I was here?” I added, only slightly cross.

“Not everyone,” Clark muttered, cheeks red under his beard. “That was my sister. She got me into the show--uh, you know about the show, right?” I nod. “And she’s kind of a huge Lyra fan. She’ll be really envious that I saw you and not her… but I felt like I had to tell her, you know?”

I sighed. “I guess I get it. Just…” My ears folded back of their own volition. “Well, this is a hotel. I stopped to get some rest, not to get flooded by… fans.”

“I totally get you,” he said easily, sliding the paper toward me. I grabbed it with magic, and his eyes lit up. “It really works! God, that’s so cool.”

That’s nothing, Lyra muttered. He’s really amused by something as simple as that?

I told her it was something humans just couldn’t do, and that was why we had hands. She seemed nonplussed.

“Thanks for stopping here, Lyra!” His grin was quite possibly the largest I’d ever seen. I returned it, looking awkward, and worked my way back to my room. Cass lifted her head from her forearms and looked at me as I returned.

“What’s your plan, then, Trav?” she asked. I flopped onto the other bed--I’d insisted on two beds, despite Cass’ protests that I’d barely take up any room in one--and floated my laptop to me, opening it up again and inputting the password to connect.

“How well have you been keeping up with what’s been going on?” I asked her, waiting for Firefox to launch. My computer probably could have stood to be defragmented and cleaned in general; I was not, let’s say, the best at maintenance. “Like, with what ponies have appeared where?”

“... I’m not too good with names,” Cass admitted. “I actually… Well, I was never a big fan of My Little Pony in any of its incarnations, which shouldn’t surprise you.”

I didn’t know her history that well, but given, at the very least, the games I knew she’d played, it didn’t surprise me. I said so.

I nodded. “Alright. Well, from my understanding, Fluttershy--that’s one of the main characters, a pegasus--has set up a Facebook, and from the sounds of things she’s getting a tremendous amount of support. The way I see it, I could stand to do the same thing, as much as I hate Facebook.”

“But you’re not a main character, right? At least I think that’s what you told me.”

“I’m not a main character, but I’m one of the most popular background characters in the show. People know Lyra. Didn’t you see the expression on the clerk’s face when we entered?”

Cass looked uncertain. “You are pretty cute, though… I figured he was just a sensitive kind of dude. Anyway, you said you’re a popular background character? What’s that all about?”

I sighed and explained Lyra’s popularity, her bizarre way of sitting, her apparent eccentricity, and in the meantime set up the account. As I did, the unicorn in my head (her head? that I was borrowing?) gradually grew more and more confused.

Silence for a little bit. Then, I remember the day with the dragon, you called it Dragonshy or something? I was just testing something out. Why would benches have backs if we weren’t meant to sit like that? As long as you know what to do with your tail, they’re pretty comfortable, although I could never get anyone else to try it with me.

“Hands? Really?” Cass sounds intrigued. “So she’s obsessed with humans?...”

Before today, I had no idea that you existed, for one thing, she pointed out. I mean, there were myths, sure, and legends, something about ancient, ancient history. I never paid much attention to it. And why would I want hands? That’s why unicorns have Levitation…

Lyra immediately panicked and there was the equivalent of trying to erase something off of a whiteboard.

A flash of an image--clouds and sunshine, the weather team at work. It vanished just as quickly as it came; Lyra yanked it away and held it close to her chest, shaking her head.

She stared at me. I hadn’t yet told her that I was actually sharing the headspace; I wasn’t sure how she’d react, and it wasn’t something I wanted spread around. I was interested in keeping that particular fact to myself, at least for now.

“Get over here for a sec,” I told her, beckoning with a forehoof. “Need a picture for proof, and I figure if you’re traveling with me you might as well get in on the shot.” I grinned, doing my best to emulate Lyra’s. “You could be famous, Cass.”

She just rolled her eyes and slid over to the other bed. I set the computer up to take a picture, and she slid into frame, wrapping an arm around my barrel. I had the briefest irrational urge to pull away, but quashed it, maintaining my grin and using magic to trigger the camera.

“There. Now let me type something up and we’ll be set. With any luck, we won’t have to shell out for hotels like this from now on.”

Cass didn’t move, and I pushed at her with a forehoof. “You can let go now, Cass.”

“Cassandra,” I said gently, and pushed again, this time with magic. “You can let go now.”

She just blinked at me for a few seconds. “Oh, uh, right,” she said, “no touchy.” She got up and flopped back on the other bed. I nodded and got to work.

“Yes, sure,” I said absently as I typed. Magic was making this easy; I had a moment of sympathy for the non-unicorns like Fluttershy. After a moment, I deleted what I had and asked Lyra how she’d introduce herself. In bits and pieces, as I filled in the gaps of what I knew about her and about the situation, we ended up with a finished product.

Hey, world!

Another pony popping up on the radar, here, none other than yours truly, Lyra Heartstrings (and traveling companion Cass!)

We’re heading up the east coast! Maybe we’ll see you along the way! Tomorrow’s plan is to head up through Virginia.

Shout outs to the main mare Fluttershy, and sorry I’m cramping your style with the whole Facebook thing. Keep yourself safe! And all you other ponies out there! Maybe we’ll cross paths!

Just so you know, I don’t ‘need a hand’ or anything but any help you can give would be nice! You know how it is, impromptu road trips and all, flying by the seats of our metaphorical pants.

“I’m done,” I told her, grinning. “Sorry that took so long. Had to think about what I wanted to say. Where do you want to go?”

“What’s even nearby?” She sighed and sat up. “Isn’t there supposed to be, like, a guide of nearby stuff in hotel rooms? We don’t have one.”

“We could ask Clark.” I gestured in the general direction of the front desk. Cass sighed, agreed, and stood up. I trotted after her, making sure we had the card keys to get back in.

My logic went something like this: ponies are popular, and as a general rule, places like McDonald’s are popular; as such, it was far more likely to run into a rabid pony fan at a fast food place than it was at a sit-down restaurant or, better yet (ran my logic), someplace like a sports bar.

So we found the closest Applebee’s and, despite my wallet’s increasing lightness, decided to stop in.

“You sure?” Cass asked as soon as we parked. “I mean, it’s a bar and grill.”

The thought did make a little nauseous, but, I pointed out, Applebee’s was just as big on salads as it was anything else except, perhaps, the beer. She still looked hesitant, but no heads turned as we entered the door and the smell, though it did make my stomach upset, didn’t have me feeling any more green than usual. Quickly we requested a booth near the door, and the server, looking at me with something close to suspicion, acquiesced.

We ended up both getting salads, and although she did her absolute best to hide it, I could see Cass’s distaste with the idea. As a Saturday night went, this didn’t seem that bad for an Applebee’s; although even ‘not that bad’ ended up being more than my new pony body was entirely comfortable with. Clinking glasses, the occasional rowdy call as whatever-sports-team-was-playing’s supporters complained about how shoddy their game was tonight, the smell--the stench--of alcohol made me ill just about as much as the occasional waft of grilling meat did. On a whim, to distract both myself and Lyra, I asked her how old she was.

There was silence following the question. I mentally facepalmed and apologized, telling her that yes, it really was rude to ask a mare her age.

Surprisingly, though, this got her to laugh, and even though I wasn’t entirely sure what she was laughing about, the contagiousness and enthusiasm of her laughter meant that before long I was giggling over my salad and Cass was looking at me like I’d gone nuts. I just shook my head, still giggling.

“Sorry,” I said, grinning broadly. “It’s just… I stopped to think about how silly this is.” This got a grin out of Cass, and she turned back to her meal. Finally, Lyra seemed to calm down.

This surprised me, although, I told her, I wasn’t sure if it was because I expected her to be younger or to be older.

Yep, 23. Graduated from CSGU two years ago, moved to Ponyville less than a month after, been there ever since.

Oh, gosh, no. Mother was from Manehatten, and that’s where I was born. Grew up mostly in Canterlot, though.

Maybe. Lyra shrugged. I think it’s not so much that as the fact that Ponyville’s just really welcoming. I didn’t really have to live up to anypony’s standards.

As the thought ended, it became tinged with something like resentment, and Lyra clamped down and refused to say anything more. The rest of the meal passed in silence for all involved.

And, I thought, that was that; now we could go back to the hotel room, spend the rest of the night vegetating, get up early tomorrow morning and get most of the rest of the way to New York. I paid the bill, and, much to the server’s relief, we got up and out of the restaurant without anyone, not even anyone at the bar, giving us a second glance.

The door shut behind us, and someone very, very close said “Oh my GOOOOOD!”

Close Enough to Touch: The Lyra Account

by LysanderasD

Seven: Cry Out