She'd been kicked out of her Herd.
The stallion who'd done it had said he'd "wanted a mare with a little more jiggle in her rump."
Bon-Bon wouldn't take her back. "You made your bed; now you'll have to lie in it," she'd said.
And so, in despair, she'd run away. Into the Everfree. And the weather therein... hadn't been kind. 'Stupid, stupid mare,' thought she, as the rain of a furious thunderstorm battered her coat and utterly soaked her mane.
Somehow - perhaps through sheer dumb luck - she'd managed to avoid most of the dangerous things here, but after days of wandering without food or shelter, her coat was patchy and she'd become ill. 'Perhaps,' thought she, 'I can take shelter in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters...'
And so she set herself to finding it. She was vaguely aware of where it was; she'd heard enough talk about it from Twilight, after all. But when she at last came upon the rope bridge leading to it... she saw that it wasn't there! Despair filled her heart, but only for a moment, because what was in place of the Castle caught her eye.
A pyramid. 'Just like the ones from Ancient Neighgypt,' she thought. Or not... for the pyramid wasn't made of stone, like the ones in her equestrian history books; no, it was made of metal - some kind of golden-bronze steel - and the capstone at the top was carved from some kind of blue-glowing crystal. 'Like the ones in the Crystal Empire...'
In awe, she crossed the bridge and moved towards the pyramid... and found herself having to look up, and up, and up. The closer she got to the structure, the bigger, and bigger it seemed to get. At last she reached its base, coming upon a pair of the largest doors she'd ever seen in her life. The massive icon engraved into them - of a great dragon in flight - certainly didn't make them appear any less intimidating.
But...
She was here.
She was here!
She, Lyra Heartstrings of Ponyville, was about to delve into the most fantastic find in the history of Equestria!
Eagerly, she looked about for a handle. An opening mechanism? A button? Something? But... there appeared to be no way to open the doors. Suddenly, everything - the loss of her herd, the rejection by her friend, the Everfree, her illness - just became too much. Coughing, hacking, snuffling, poor Lyra fell to her haunches, then flat on the ground as she cried, and cried, and cried. Bawling like a lost filly, she weakly touched the doors, pressed her forehooves to them...
... and as she did so...
... a gasp escaped her, her eyes snapping open, as she became aware of sensations filling her thoughts, feelings and emotions that weren't hers...
Warmth/Comfort/Concern.
Then...
*click*
... the doors unlocked themselves and opened, just a crack, enough for her to enter. Slowly, painfully - compelled by some unseen force - Lyra got to her hooves and did just that. Passing through the great doors - 'no, gates! Wait... where did that thought come from?' - the little light aquamarine unicorn found herself within the most amazing entryway she'd ever seen. Words alone could not describe it! All around her, on the walls, she could see display cases - like those one might find inside a museum - filled with all manner of artifacts and relics, preserved in gently glittering fields of power. Three in particular - a necklace of shrunken skulls, a strange metal mask with enormous eye holes, and a ghastly black cloak - she found quite unsettling.
Above, the ceiling stretched hundreds of meters overhead, its top lost in the gently stirring white clouds formed from the steam gushing from the snouts of thousands of golden-metal dragon heads staring down at her, their precisely machined, though time-weathered faces set with expressions of watchfulness and solemn contemplation. The steam from the snouts of the metal dragon heads stirred a current of sweet smelling, lavender incense, that wafted gently from forty censors; these lined a path of red-velvet carpet, leading from the pyramid's doors, through the room to a short passage.
The glow from the light of countless, glittering crystals inset within the walls caused Lyra's fur to glint and glow in such a manner as to make it appear like an emerald wave, the ripples and contours of its motion as she moved bouncing light back into the entryway. Gently compelled by the unseen force, her mind awash with the alien feelings of welcome/comfort/love/concern, the little unicorn moved through the entryway and then headed down the short passage, only to come to what seemed to be a dead end: an alcove, the floor of which was painted with two symbols, one of which resembled a bird in flight.
'I...' Lyra coughed, 'I don't understand...'
An alien feeling of trust filled her thoughts... and then slowly, ever-so-slowly, she stepped into the alcove. No sooner had she done so then from the ceiling above, three enormous metal rings descended to encircle her body, startling her. Whinnying softly, Lyra looked about for escape but found none; then she tried to strike at the three rings with her hooves but even as she made to do so an alien feeling of calm washed over her. Whatever was guiding her hadn't done her wrong so far, she thought. She would trust her unseen guide.
As she calmed, the rings encircling her body began to rotate, slowly at first but then faster, and faster, and faster! A humming sound filled the air, followed by the feeling of some... enormous energy... which rattled her to her very core. Then, Lyra Heartstrings of Ponyville vanished in a blaze of cyan light. As she disappeared the rings rose up into the ceiling above, into a second alcove; then breathless, gasping, coughing, Lyra reappeared and stumbled from said alcove into... into... where?
The room she'd entered was absolutely huge. Tapestries of all shapes, sizes and colours covered the walls whilst at its center rested an enormous futon. 'What kind of animal uses that for a bed?' Away from that was a lounge suite - similar to those she'd seen in Quills and Sofas - battered and worn, but did it ever look comfortable! The lounge suite and giant futon faced what seemed to be some kind of projector - '... kind of like the one we have in the Ponyville Picture Theater!' - but this projector didn't need a screen; instead, crystal-clear three dimensional images of the Everfree Forest outside the pyramid were being displayed in the very air itself! 'Amazing!'
Away from the futuristic projector, against one wall of the room, rested an enormous bookshelf filled with all-manner of books, far more than even Twilight Sparkle could ever hope to read in one sitting. 'By Celestia, she'd love that... but this discovery is all mine!' Beside the bookshelf rested another strange machine, the function of which she couldn't determine. Away from this 'library area' rested a sturdy oak dresser - similar to what she'd had in her former home, but larger - and next to it...
Lyra's eyes widened, and she trembled... but not from fear. No. Excitement surged through her, because what she saw next to the dresser looked like a ponnequin, similar to those that Rarity used in Carousel Boutique--but at the same time, it wasn't. The dummy wasn't pony-shaped. It stood upright, on two legs and had two long forelegs, 'no... arms!' ending in... ending in... '... hands, with... with f-fingers!' At that point - as her jaw dropped open and her heart began to race with excitement - Lyra promptly forgot all about her troubles and illness... because the not-ponnequin confirmed that the wondrous pyramid in which she stood belonged to and was inhabited by... a human!
Feeling like Pinkie Pie after throwing a massive party - nearly bursting with happiness - Lyra galloped over to the... the man-equin... and then walked about it curiously, feeling it with hoof and muzzle, sniffing at it gently. 'It looks so lifelike, just like the images in my books! So this is what they used to display their clothes! I wonder if they really do wear clothes all the time, like my stories and books say they do? Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! I'm in the house of a human, a real human! Do they all live in houses like this? Do they...' So intrigued was she with the dummy that she didn't hear the sound of softened footsteps behind her.
... she didn't even hear the sound of a softly cleared throat...
but the appendage, placed gently upon her back, startled her; made her jump and whinny in fright! Immediately whatever had touched her was removed. Whirling about to face whatever had touched her, Lyra snorted softly, scuffing the carpeted floor of the room with a hoof. 'Nopony touches me like that without my permission! No... pony...' Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped open and her breath froze in her throat as she saw him kneeling before her. Dark brown hair done up in a peculiar braid framed a weathered face with hazel eyes, a very small muzz - no, a nose - and lips drawn up in a curious little smile. A hand with five fingers - attached to a pink-skinned arm, dusted with a light coating of fur - slowly drew away from her towards his body, which was clothed in some kind of amazing teal robe covered with runic designs; beneath that was some kind of golden-bronze armor.
A human.
A human!
A real, live, living, breathing, honest-to-Celestia human--according to her mythology books. But this one looked like none she'd ever seen before. Was she dreaming? Hallucinating due to her illness? Hazel eyes - glowing faintly with some unfathomable power - looked upon her with concern and more than a little worry. Her brilliant gamboge eyes locked with his... and then, suddenly, Lyra was moving - head forward, gaze seeking, nose questing - toward this human. No unknown force compelled her this time. She simply had to see if he was really there; had to know if he was real or but a fleeting dream...
And then she was there, within touching distance of his hands, one of which was now outstretched, perfectly still. After several agonizing moments, she took a single step forward and pressed her muzzle into his palm. 'Oh, Celestia! He's real, he's real...!' Lyra couldn't help herself, then; something primal overtook her and she sniffed him, letting him feel her hot breath against his skin as her brain imprinted his scent - sweat/soft-fabric/steel - for easy identification. Then she lifted her head, looked at him, raised a hoof to touch felt his face his clothes his armor. Sudden nausea overtook her then, and she fell against him, passing out. The last thing she felt before she slipped away were his arms enfolding her as she was lifted from the ground.
Several hours later, Lyra awakened slowly, feeling as if her head were full of cotton wool. As she became more aware of her situation, she realized that she seemed to be in some kind of miniature hospital. Warm and comfortable, she lay within a hospital bed, though said bed certainly wasn't at all like the ones back in the Ponyville Hospital; it was quite sophisticated, outfitted with all manner of tools and devices. Looking about, she espied the human seated near her, in a chair next to the bed. He was seemingly asleep, his eyes closed. "Hey," she nickered softly in Ponytongue. "Um... sir? Hello?" At her words, his eyes opened, softly glowing with hidden power for the briefest of moments.
"Ah, good," he stated, "you're awake." Then, his voice low and gentle, he continued, "I'm not sure how you managed to get here, or why, but when you got here, you were desperate, and very ill. The Dragon Weyr - my home, the place you're in now - opened its Gate of Dawn and let you in; welcomed you."
At his words, Lyra nodded. "Thank you," she nickered, softly.
"My name is David," the human continued, "and, though I haven't been here all that long, I've learned enough to know that you - along with the rest of your species - aren't ordinary ponies. You're as intelligent as I am. Unfortunately I can't speak or understand your language, though it seems you can understand mine, thankfully."
Lyra nodded again. "Where am I?" she asked.
"That sounded like a question. I'm guessing you want to know where you are? Well, you're inside the Dragon Weyr's Clinic. When the Weyr let you in, you brought with you a nasty case of Equine Influenza; luckily for you the Weyr was able to synthesize an anti-viral and vaccine; whilst you were asleep we ran that through you. Uh, I also took the liberty of sorting out your patchy coat, too, but I think I might have overdone it a bit..."
At this, Lyra's eyes narrowed slightly and she frowned, snorting. '"Overdone it?" What does he mean by that?' she thought.
Upon seeing her expression the human - David - raised his hands, placating. "Hey, hey, don't worry; nothing terrible has happened to it! Your coat's fine, it's just a little thicker than usual. Here, let me help you out of that bed; then you can see for yourself..." With that said, David wrapped his arms about her and lifted her again... but this time she was awake to feel it. As he gently picked her up, Lyra just couldn't help herself and leaned into him, a wordless nicker escaping her and causing him to chuckle. Alas, her time in his arms was all too short; mere seconds after being picked up she was gently deposited on the ground, upon her hooves.
Inhaling a deep breath - 'Wow, what he did really worked! I don't feel ill at all anymore, and I can breathe without coughing!' - she examined herself and found that what he'd said was true: her coat was thicker - about as thick as the coat of Applejack's dog, Winona - and it possessed a wonderful, glossy sheen! After a moment, Lyra turned to face David again, and he crouched down to her level. "Well? What do you think?" he asked. "Do you like it? I didn't overdo it, did I?"
"No... by Celestia no!" Lyra whinnied joyfully. "I love it! Thank you so much!" And with those words, she tackle-hugged him, plastering him to the floor of the Clinic as she tangled him up in legs and hooves, nuzzling him as he laughed happily - "I'll take that as a 'No,'" - petting her neck and ruffling her mane. Shortly thereafter, she released him; then he stood and led her from the Clinic, back out to the room she'd first arrived in. Blowing softly through her nose, Lyra happily followed David, moving to join him as he walked over to the old sofa and crashed down onto it. As he seated himself, she moved to join him, laying down there on her side and resting her head in his lap (she just couldn't help herself).
Slowly, gently, David ran his fingers through her mane, and scratched her behind the ears, but even as her world dissolved into absolute bliss, she kept her ears open and listened as David spoke softly. "As I said back in the Clinic, my name is David, and I would like to officially welcome you aboard my home, the Dragon Weyr."
At this, Lyra nickered a soft question. "Why is it called the Dragon Weyr?" the human asked, interpreting her tone. "It was named so for the dragon who once lived here..." At this, Lyra's eyes widened--and then, raising herself to sit on her haunches, she whinnied excitedly as she gestured to the giant futon with a hoof, David becoming intrigued as he saw the motion. "That was... where she once slept, right?"
"Yes," David replied, "that was where she once slept. But... she's gone, now; has been for many years. Since her... passing... I've been living here alone." David slowly closed his eyes in remembered pain--but no sooner had the expression crossed his face, then it was gone, his expression brightening as he continued, "but I'm not alone anymore, though; you're here, now. Since this place was designed with a human and a dragon in mind, uh... I... don't really have any... utilities for ponies..."
At this, Lyra cocked her head. Taking note of her look, David haltingly elaborated, "You know... bathroom, toilet, and the like..." The little unicorn blushed mightily, and he hastened to continue, "...but don't worry! Even now the Probes are constructing temporary utilities for you, and they'll become permanent should you decide to stay--ah, that's right," David checked himself, "you don't know what a Probe is, do you...?" When Lyra shook her head, David softly whistled a curious tune. No sooner had he whistled it than a small panel in one of the walls opened to allow for the emergence of...
... a little robot, made from golden steel, lights all over it glowing a soft cyan as it hovered a few inches above the floor! The little unicorn had only ever read about robots in a few of her - admittedly bad - sci-fi books, where the things were evil and hurt and killed ponies; thus she was naturally quite frightened. As she leaned away from the machine into David, trembling and whimpering softly, closing her eyes, he gripped her shoulders gently; at his touch she opened her eyes to look into his. "Hey, now; there's no need to be frightened. He won't hurt you. Hop down off the sofa and have a look at him. come on..." he said.
Slowly, hesitantly, Lyra did so; she hopped down off the sofa and circled the little machine. "This little guy" David spoke as she examined it, "is called a 'Probe', and his job is mainly to maintain things inside the Weyr. Probes are also used for mining, and construction of buildings and other things, too." Carefully, Lyra continued to circle the Probe--and soon, it turned around on the spot and began to follow her, making her nicker in surprise! 'Wow... I... is this thing intelligent? I wonder what it feels like to touch? I wonder what will happen if...?' Swallowing nervously, the little Unicorn stepped right up to the Probe; it obligingly levitated itself such that the lighted 'eye' on its front was level with hers.
Lyra tilted her head left.
The Probe tilted on its axis, copying her.
Lyra tilted her head right..
The Probe, tilted right, copying her again.
Slowly, hesitantly - moving to balance on three legs - Lyra reached out a hoof... and touched the machine, gently.
As she did so, however, the Probe made a distressed noise... and then, it flopped to the ground on its belly, the many lights adorning it going dark... dead. Immediately, Lyra turned to David in distress! "I... I didn't... I didn't mean to..." David, however, didn't seem to be angry... at her. He stood, looking at the downed Probe, his hands on his hips. "Hey, come on now, none of that!" he snapped, addressing it. "You're scaring our guest! Come on, up with you! Now's not the time to be playing mean tricks."
At his words, the little Probe returned to 'life', issuing a series of 'grumbling' tones. "Hey," David growled, "don't you take that tone with me. This little pony has never seen one of you before, nor has she ever set hoof inside the Weyr. I'm trying to introduce her gently to some of the technology here so she won't be overwhelmed by it all..."
'... too late.' Lyra thought. 'Am I ever! This place is just... wow! I wonder what else is here to discover! Hah, eat your heart out, Sparkle...' Pulling herself from her thoughts, she returned her attention to David.
"... and your playing tricks on her isn't helping." He continued. "You apologize, please." No sooner had he spoken then the little Probe was moving towards her, nudging her very gently as it issued a series of apologetic tones.
"Apology accepted" Lyra nickered, touching her nose to its lighted 'eye' in return. Satisfied, the little Probe turned its attention back to David as he asked, "I trust we now have an appropriately sized bath, vanity, and toilet within the Weyr's bathroom for our friend?" At his question, the Probe tilted its body in a 'nod' for "yes" and issued several cheery tones. "Ah, good; then I'd better show her where things are." And - as the little Probe returned to its various duties - show her he did. The bathroom - if it could even be called that - looked to Lyra like something out of the Ancient Pony Empire of Roam!
Massive, thick, towering marble columns framed - 'Ponyfeathers! He calls that a bath?!' - an even larger swimming pool sunk into the floor; aside from that there was an enormous shower bay along with a vanity unit and toilet sized for David's use. Therein she also espied a smaller - though no less luxurious - bathtub/pool for her use, kitted out with all manner of bathroom products, as well as an appropriately sized vanity basin and toilet that she could use by... well... sitting comfortably on her haunches. Lyra turned to regard David, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I... you... it's too much!" she nicker-whimpered. "You... you didn't have to do this, all for me..."
David swiftly knelt and hugged her gently for a moment, grounding her again. "Truth is," he murmured, somewhat embarrassed, "this wasn't my idea; it was the Weyr's..." Pulling away from him - reluctantly - Lyra cocked her head. After a moment, David continued, softer, "The Dragon Weyr is no ordinary building; it's a great living machine with a mind and soul of its own. It gets a bit lonely with only me living aboard, so whenever we have guests the Weyr tends to go all out to impress, in the hopes that they'll stay..."
"I... I'd like to stay" Lyra nickered, softly. "I... I have nowhere to go..." The little unicorn hung her head, but even as she did so David was gently pushing it back up again such that he could look into her eyes. "You know, little 'un," he said softly, "even though you can understand me, I still can't understand you. We'll need to fix that if you're going to stay here, and we'll do that in a tick. For now, though, let me show you where you'll be staying..." And so, David led Lyra out of the bathroom, back into the main room.
"This place," he stated as he led her through it, "is called the Weyrhome and it consists of several rooms; this one, which is the main living room; a small kitchen that contains a replicator - I'll show you what those are later - uh, the clinic and bathroom which you've already seen... and finally, the Sleeping Quarters..." That said, David opened the doors of said quarters and he and Lyra walked down a short passage leading into a central 'communal common' area, around which were eight doors. Moving to one of the doors - one with a brass number '2' on it - he opened it and led Lyra inside.
"Okay..." he began, "this one of the Sleeping Quarters, and they're all basically the same design, though you'll be able to ask the Weyrmind to customize this one for you when we fit you with a Neural Lace. As you can see, the entrance of each room opens into a living area, fitted with a work desk, upon which is a device called a Terminal; this'll let you look through the Ihan Crystal Archives, and you'll learn of those as we go along." Lyra nodded, wide-eyed, and David continued, "uh... there's a circular nook in the corner here" - he gestured to said nook - "now, as you can see this is set up as a dining booth; there's a replicator terminal in there so you can get your food and I'll teach you how to use that as well..."
David led her into the other half of the room, then, which was a sleeping area holding a single large bed that could double as another sofa. Finally, the human led the little unicorn through into the bathroom area. Naturally, this room was smaller than the giant 'main' bathroom of the Weyrhome and far simpler, containing a shower, a perfectly sized bath, a lavatory, and a sink. "... and this is your own personal bathroom. Much more agreeable than that big one, eh?" Lyra nodded; then her human led her back out into the living area. "...And that's it. Your own personal quarters aboard the Dragon Weyr.
Now as I said, your quarters don't have to be strictly laid out this way; you'll be able to customize them soon, and make this little place however you want it. Pictures on the walls; maybe some screens connected to the external cameras so you can see outside; new furniture, ornaments and bits and bobs... Well... what do you think?" More than a little overwhelmed, Lyra just sat upon her haunches on the floor, looking about. 'This place is mine? I... I have a home again... I... I...'
The little unicorn thought she'd cried herself out when she'd been outside the Weyr, but she still had more tears to shed, it seemed: happy ones. As she gently embraced David and let them fall, nuzzling him over and over and over, he murmured soft, soothing nothings in her ears, scratching behind them and tussling her mane. "Aw, sweetie, there there, ssh, ssh, ssh..." Her human was trying to comfort her, but his actions just made her cry harder; David had been so utterly kind and generous, bringing her into his amazing home, healing her wounds, and finally giving her her own quarters; her own home inside his house, his Weyr.
When at last her tears ceased to fall, Lyra sagged gently against David, exhausted, and he gently picked her up then carefully moved to tuck her into the freshly made bed. Once she was settled comfortably, well... that was that; poor Lyra fell asleep almost immediately. The final thing she saw before she slipped away was her human, David, watching over her; the final thing she felt was the gentle pressure of his hands, petting her mane and scratching behind her ears, easing her passage to the land of dreams... and what amazing dreams they were!
In her dreams Lyra stood proudly beside David, clad in a suit of the same golden-bronze armor he wore beneath his robe, though her armor was, of course, modified for her equine form. Behind her and David there stood a legion of thousands; thousands of giant, glowing-eyed, armored figures - aliens - and... and she and David were leading them! Leading them against a numberless swarm of the most terrifying horrors she'd ever seen in her life! Strangely, though, Lyra wasn't afraid. Her human was by her side. His legion of giants was at their back... and they were going to fight these monsters and they were going to WIN!
And lo, they charged into battle; David wielding some unfathomable power, Lyra cutting down the horrors where they stood with glowing golden blades of magic, and behind them both, the giants, howling as they hewed the foe with blades of cyan light...