Lyra's Secret

by Senyu


Desperate Swing


Lyra backtracked on the trail before breaking off into the woods at a familiar point, passing by the large ferns and tall trees as she slowly made her way to the secluded spot in mind. It took little over an hour for her to make the distance while carrying the human, having to go around fallen logs or dense brush, but she made it nonetheless. She was a little out of breath, but her spirits were renewed when the wooden structure finally came in sight.

She had found it sometime ago while wandering the woods one day, having wanted to get away from the main trail when it was unusually busy with hikers. She did not know how long it had been there, or if anypony else even knew it was there, but it had served her well as a spot of seclusion when she just need to get away from everypony and the world.

“Almost there fella,” Lyra said over her shoulder with a grin before shifting him in place for the last trek. Stepping out of the sea of ferns she walked up the little path that lead to the cabin. While this small trail lead back into the woods a fair distance, wherever it connected to the main path had become overgrown long ago, completely shutting off any entrance to the area and preventing casual hiker from finding it.

As she approached the door she slowly eased her magic off the human to let his limbs rest onto the ground while she opened the front door. Swinging open all the way, she picked him up again with her golden glow and carefully made her way in, minding the shoulders and limbs of the human that hung over the edges of her body.

After getting him inside, she passed through the entrance room and repeated the same action with her magic for the bedroom door. Once again navigating her and him through the doorway, she sped the rest of the distance to the bed and plopped him onto an old and bare mattress. “Whew!” she exclaimed with a heavy breath. Lifting his arm that dangled off the side and placing onto his chest she said, “Sorry for the state of the place, but I’ll get it spruced up as quickly as I can. After all, who knows how long we’ll be here.”

As she said the last sentence she looked about the room before commenting, “Yeesh… it’s worse than I remember.” The place looked exactly how one would imagine an old and abandon cabin would be, caked with dust, littered with debris from small animals, and random rusted objects that were scattered about. Lyra kicked a dirty tin can away from her in disgust. “Yeah… definitely going to need a lot of TLC.”

As she began to form a mental list of things she would require to fix the place up, her eyes were drawn to the sleeping human, causing her thoughts to drift away as she regarded him again. She watched wordlessly how the light from the cracked windows played a crossed him, and how his chest slowly raised and fell with each peaceful breath, lifting his hand along with it. Taking a hoof step forward, she bent her head down to inspect the hand again, marveling at its minor details.

Everything about it was just fascinating. There looked flexible and capable of any delicate work they would need to be used on. She wondered just how well she could play her lyre if she had hands like his, to feel each vibrating string beneath her fingertips. Her eyes remained wide as her gaze drifted about the rest of his body, from his shoes to his hair, feeling her previous joy that overwhelmed her when she first found him begin to build again.

She sucked in a smile as tears began to form on her eyes, feeling so relieved that a human was right next to her. A living, breathing human that was only a hoof length away. If she wanted to, she would only have to reach out and she could touch him. “I’m so happy that you’re real…” she whispered to him gratefully.

Feeling that she might actually cry if she continued to stare at him she raised a hoof to wipe her eyes, and then recoiled when she realized she smudged dirt and dust onto her face. “Ugh, I need to clean this place right away.”

Looking about the room again with a dissatisfied expression, she flared her nostrils in irritation. “You are not staying in a place this filthy,” she stated. “I need to get some cleaning supplies here asap, but…” she turned back to the human with a worried look. “I don’t want to leave you alone. I mean, what if you wake up while I’m gone?”

When he did not provide any input to her problem, she sighed again. “Guess there’s no helping it. I’ll just have to be quick. But just in case you do wake up,” she said as she spotted a dust laden notebook and pen. Flaring her horn, she brought the two objects towards her and ripped out a page. She gave a happy grin when she scribbled the pen across the paper and found that the ink had not dried up yet. “I’ll just leave a note for you.”



Dear Human Stranger,

I found you in the woods. You we’re hurt and unconscious, so I brought you to this cabin. I’m out right now to get something’s to help fix up the place, so please don’t leave until I return. You shouldn’t be walking around with your injuries and I don’t want you to strain yourself. I will bring some food for us so don’t worry about dinner. Be back as soon as I can.

Lyra




Nodded to herself in satisfaction, she placed the piece of paper onto his chest and headed towards the doorway. Pausing to look back at the human, she frowned at thought of having to leave him so soon after finding him. But he needed food, he needed treatment, and everything else she would bring him. So it was with a heavy heart that she gave him one long last look before shutting the door quietly and rushing out the cabin.

“I’m only going to be gone for a little bit,” she told herself as she raced away from the building. “I’ll be back before I know it. Just a few things from the house, then back to taking care of him.” Taking a sharp turn where she had first walked onto the small trail, she retraced her path back to the main path. She was a mint blur amongst the green foliage around her, pumping her legs beneath her to make the trip as quick as possible. “Just please, don’t be gone,” she prayed between her breaths.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lyra threw open the door to her house and bolted up the stairs, eliciting a loud sound in the kitchen from a pan being dropped. “Sweet Celestia!” a mare yelled. “Lyra!? Is that you?” Bon Bon shouted.

“Yes!” Lyra’s muffled voice called from upstairs.

Bon Bon gave a sneer to the ceiling as she heard the unicorn stomp about the second floor. “Lyra! Just what are you doing!?”

“Just a minute!” Lyra shouted again.

Bon Bon waited a few moments before sighing and bending down to pick up the pan she had dropped. Resuming her cooking again, she ignored the crashes and thuds of the unicorn doing who knows what upstairs. However her patience was drawing close as she pounded the dough for some pastries more furiously with her hooves each second she had to listen to the commotion of her eccentric roommate. “I swear, sometimes I forget why I room with her,” she said aloud.

Her ears pricked up at the sound of hooves descending the wood stairs quickly, then across the living room and into the kitchen. Turning her head, she saw the unicorn rush into the kitchen and began to frantically looked about the drawers, the saddlebag she wore swinging to and fro from not having been strapped on all the way. “Bon Bon! Where are the bandages?”

Raising an eyebrow she replied, “Their in the chest over there.”

“Thanks!”

Bon Bon watched in confusion as Lyra threw open the lid and rummaged through its contents. She didn’t know why Lyra needed them so badly, but she had learned to keep an ample stock due to the history of knowing the unicorn; it was number five on the list of items she made to always keep around when living with Lyra.

When she had resurfaced from the chest she triumphantly raised a pack of bandages and cloth wraps above her head. “Aha!”

“Y-you’re taking all of them?” Bon Bon stuttered as she watched the unicorn stuff the package into her saddlebag.

“Yup! I’m also taking my bed sheets and a few spare blankets,” Lyra replied before dashing to the fridge and stuffing various produce into her bag.

“Lyra! What in Equestria is going on!? Where are you going with all that stuff?” Bon Bon exclaimed in shock.

“No time! It’s almost dark! Gotta go!” Lyra said stated as she shut the fridge door and tore out from the kitchen. “Be back later!”

“Lyra!” she cried out again, but the prompt sound of the front door slamming showed she either didn’t hear or simply lacked the decency to reply. Bon Bon stood staring at the archway into the living room in confusion of what just happened, before her eyes trailed downwards and onto the dirt shaped hoof prints the unicorn had left.

“DAMMIT LYRA!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lyra breathed heavily as she turned onto the little path that led up to the cabin a short distance away. She had not been able to keep up her frantic pace for long, and had to walk the whole distance back through the woods after sprinting to Ponyville. But she made it in time before the sun set, smiling happily as she caught her breath at the dimming light through the trees. Shadows were beginning to form about the woods, and the cabin was taking a darker appearance than what it looked like in the day, giving a slightly eerie look to it.

Ignoring all of that however, Lyra opened the door with her magic and proceeded inside in one stride, only pausing to give a quick look back out into the woods before shutting the door gently. Exhaling as she caught her breath, she began to remove her saddlebag when a muffled voice called from the bedroom. “Hello?”

Lyra froze as she heard the masculine voice, realizing instantly that it was the human she had found. He was still here, and he was awake. “Hello? Is somebody there?”

AH! He said somebody! Lyra silently fangirled, resisting the urge to dance on her hoof tips. Clearing her throat, she replied loudly, “Y-yes! I’m here! I’m the one that found you. I just got back with some supplies and food. I was just doing what I said in the note I left for you.”

“Oh, uh… thank you miss!” he replied back, causing Lyra to bend her knees in excitement as she bit her lip.

I don’t believe it! I’m having a conversation with a human!

“Do… do you know what happened to me?” he asked.

Lyra’s excitement died as she stood back up, her face falling somewhat at his question. “N-no, I’m sorry but I don’t. I was actually hoping you would be able to tell me since I just randomly found you in the woods.”

“Oh…” he said with a heavy tone.

Shoot, he sounds to sad, Lyra thought. She instinctively yelled through the wall again, feeling bad that she couldn’t help him in that regard. “But don’t worry! Luckily I found you so you’re going to be alright!”

“Uh, thanks,” he responded. “Is there a reason why we’re still shouting through the door?”

“I… I was just setting down some things, I’ll be right in!” Lyra quickly answered. Setting her saddlebag down, she slowly made her way to the closed door of the living room, her hoof steps ominously echoing about the cabin. She paused in front of the door and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself at the face to face encounter she was about to have. “A-Alright, I’m coming in,” she called louder than she intended, then flared her horn and pushed it open.

She let the door swing open the entire way open first before cautiously stepping into the room. She ceased her hold on the door as her head came into the room, then turned her eyes to the human sitting up on the mattress. She sucked in a breath as her eyes came into contact with his, and what she saw made her blush slightly. He was staring at her so intensely, those detail and wonderful eyes that she could now see for the first time. He was poised, calm, and firm as he locked eyes onto her, his face expressionless as he regarded her.

When he did not say anything at first, Lyra decided to break the ice with a cough. “Uh… hey,” she sweetly said with a smile.

Little did she know, that she had mistaken his calm and passive demeanor for speechlessness and shock.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” the human shouted while simultaneously spinning off the bed and away from her. He flinched in pain as he brought one hand to hold his side, but remained defensive as he held the other palm open to her as if to push her away.

“Don’t hurt yourself!” Lyra exclaimed as she trotted a few steps closer to him.

“STAY BACK!” he shouted. “STAY THE FUCK BACK WHATEVER YOU ARE!”

“But-“ Lyra said worriedly as she took another step closer before he interrupted her.

“STAY AWAY!”

Lyra narrowed her eyebrows as she looked upon the panicking human in confusing. “Why are you so afraid? I’m the one that found you. You’re safe!”

“Look,” the human said as he gulped audibly before beginning to side step on the edge of the room “I don’t know what you are, but just stay away from me!”

Lyra watched wordlessly as he slowly hugged the wall, and in the direction of the door behind her. “Are you… are you trying to leave?” she asked in concern.

“Just… just let me go,” he repeated in a shaky voice.

“You can’t leave though,” Lyra tried to explain as she moved another step closer.

“STAY BACK!” he yelled again at her advancement, backing up into a chest set against the wall and rattling the pieces that remained on top of it.

“You don’t understand,” she pressed. “You have to stay here, the others can’t see you yet.”

“OTHERS!?” the human shouted. He rain his free hand through his hair as his eyes went wider in shock. “Where the fuck am I?” he whispered to himself as he looked about the cabin.

“You’re in Equestria,” Lyra answered with a smile.

“Equi-what!?” he asked before shaking his head in anger. “No, no fuck this! This is crazy!”

Lyra froze in place, the overwhelming feeling of a deep dread and anxiety build up in her at the sound of the word. Feeling as if she might cry, she looked onto him in confusion and sorrow at how horrible the introduction was going. This wrong… it wasn’t supposed to be like this…

“I’m getting out of here! You just stay right there and let me go!” he stated as he resumed his side stepping towards the door.

“You can’t though!” Lyra suddenly shouted loudly, trying to get through to the increasingly panicked human that wasn’t an option.

Reactively he grabbed a hold of a picture frame on the chest and threw it at the unicorn while screaming, “GET AWAY!”

Lyra quickly ducked the picture frame, watching it bounce about the wooden floor behind her. She opened her mouth in a gasp and turned back towards the human, but quickly found a foot come across her vision as he kicked her with all his might.

He knocked Lyra onto the ground and back a few feet to clear a way for a mad dash through to open doorway. “WAIT!” she screamed, flaring her horn to grab a hold of his feet. The action however ended up tripping the human rather than freezing him in place and watched in shock as he fell through the doorway and onto the hardwood floor. His hands grasped for anything on the way down, and managed to get a hold of the door handle, tearing it off along with a chunk of the old wood surrounding it. He gave out a loud groan as he fell on top of the piece of woods, sending splinters into his arms that managed to draw blood.

Lyra jumped onto her hooves as chased after the human scrambling back onto his legs, giving chase into the next room as he half stumbled and sprinted his way to the front door. Acting in the moment, Lyra focused her magic on holding the door shut just as his hands reached for the handle, tugging against her pull with all his might.

Caught in the heat of the moment, Lyra full on tackled the human knocking them both onto the ground. The human screamed and thrashed about with his legs and fists against the mint unicorn on top of him, also trying to get a hold on him in efforts to hold him still to calm him down.

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” he scream before shoving her aside with all his might. His hands ran up the wall and grasped hold of a window sill, pulling himself up while wincing in pain. He took a quick glance at the door and stared in horror at the golden glow surrounding the edges of it, unable to comprehend what it was but knowing full well it was the reason why he could not open the door.

Looking about in panic, he decided to act drastically to get away from the strange creature and punched his fist through the window, yelling in pain as the glass shards cut through his arm. “STOP!” Lyra screamed as she watched him pull apart the window and begin to climb the sill to roll out onto the other side.

Gritting her teeth in panic, Lyra did the first thing that popped in her mind to stop the human from escaping and hurting himself more. Letting go of the door to wrap a block of wood with her magic, she swung the object through the air and up against the human's head as he managed to get a footing onto the sill.

The solid ‘thunk’ of the wood making contact with his skull send the human limp as he fell backwards into the room, landing on the wooden floorboards with a force that kicked up the dust around him.

Lyra held the block of wood in the air as she breathed heavily, staring in horror at what she had just done. Everything had happened so quickly, and he was hurting himself to get away, she had to act desperately to prevent any more of it.

Swallowing a buildup saliva, she got onto her still shaking hooves from the adrenaline, and cautiously moved towards the human. Her mouth hung open as if to ask a question as her eyes searched his face for an answer, wondering how everything had escalated so quickly. “Why…?” she quietly asked. “Why did you have to go and do that?”

But like this morning, she only received silence as her response.