//------------------------------//
// WhatVille? 
// Story: Anthropology: Lyra's Tale 
// by Starkvenger 
//------------------------------//

	My heart was pounding. I looked around, and confirmed that my house was indeed gone. Poof. Like the wind. I tried to calm down, but my dumb brain wouldn't let me. I ran my hands through my hair, when i came upon a long bump on my forehead. "Ow!" it stung when i poked it. I rubbed my face and noticed my hands were warm and hairy. No, not hairy. Fuzzy. I pulled my hands away from my face and nearly lost it. 
My fingers were gone and replaced with mint green stubs! I turned them over and over, making sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. They weren't. "Ok. Ok. I have stubs for hands. This is ok. I'm alive aren't I?" I told myself. I looked to see if my feet were the same and they were. "Dang it." I said. "What am I?" I asked myself. I turned to look at my body and realized I had hair coming out of my butt. "Great. Every girl's dream. A hairy butt." I mocked. 
Getting a closer look, I realized that it was a tail. A horse tail. A lime green and white horse tail. I didn't know what to think. I only knew one thing: I had to keep my cool. Freaking out never solved anything. I also noted that the rest of my body was covered in mint green fur, which would explain why I felt so hot. 
My hair seemed to have changed from blonde to teal to match my tail, and for some reason a picture of my lyre was plastered on my hip. "Ok. So i'm a mint colored horse with a tattoo on my butt. Perfectly normal." I lied. I looked around to see if I was any place familiar. "Ok so there's trees, dirt, a sky, flowers in the ground, and this just feels like i'm in a cliché setting right now." I shook the thought from my head.
I tried to stand up on my hind legs, but doing so sent a shock through my body. It burned my legs to have the weight put on them. I collapsed onto my gut. "Well that went well..." I said, coughing up dust. I stood again, this time on four legs, and it felt much more comfortable. "I guess this works too." I said, stretching my legs and walking in place. "Ok. So, where am I?" I asked myself. I started walking along the dirt path, no real destination in mind, and thought about what had just happened. "Ok. So, somehow I've been turned into a candy-colored horse like in my dream, and I've been transported to a weird land with no sign of human life. Perfect." 

I was so deep in thought that I almost missed the strange sound coming from up ahead. "What the-" I said as my ear swiveled around, and I tried to get a better image of the sound. "That sounds like...music!" I said excitedly. I started galloping towards the sound, it getting louder as I ran. 
I soon came to what looked like a rustic town of some sort. There were houses made of wood, with straw roofs, as well as a couple of colorful shops. In the middle of the town was a large fountain, with a marble statue of a horse spitting water out of it's mouth. "Wow." I said as I slowed to a walk. 
Suddenly, a bright pink pony with a fluffy pink mane and tail came bouncing up the road, with what seemed to be a one-man band sort of thing strapped to her. I looked at her in amazement as she played the instruments, each perfectly in tune. 
Behind her, a trail of the most adorable creatures bounced, happy looks on their faces. They were small and circular, with little wings and big eyes. They were an assortment of colors, ranging from pink to blue. She smiled at me as she bounced by, the train of creatures following her.
My brain finally registered what happened. "Ok, so if that pony can talk, then there must be more. Maybe this is some government facility full of genetically mutated talking horses that they don't want anyone to know about." I chuckled at my absurd thoughts. I then continued down the path, and then into the small town. 
It looked barren from the hill I was on, but inside the town it was all hustle and bustle. There were candy colored horses walking around, chatting with one another, and all seemed to be in a cheery mood. I walked through the town, catching glimpses of colorful shops amongst the white wooden houses. 
Suddenly, I came upon a peculiar-looking shop. It was cream white with bright pink trimming, which looked like frosting. The door looked like a graham cracker and a sign hung above it that read: "Sugar-Cube Corner". The name interested me and I decided to have a look inside. I immediately regretted it.

As soon as I stepped inside, a little bell above the door rang. I walked up to the counter, and rang the small golden bell that lied on it's surface. A few moments later, the bright pink horse I had saw bouncing down the path appeared at the counter. "Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie! I've never seen you before, and I know everyone in Ponyville." It took me a moment to realize what she had said, since she talked as fast as a bullet. "um...Hi. I'm Lyra and I was just wanting to know what this place is." I replied. 
After I finished talking, a huge smile spread across Pinkie's face. "ooh I'm so excited your here! This is Sugar Cube Corner. Your number one stop for sweets, treats, and all things neat!" she replied, bouncing up and down. I was tarting to get annoyed by her peppiness, and I had a feeling she had some major ADHD. "Thanks. Anyways, I may have a few bucks in my sweater..." I said, looking at my torso. I then realized I no longer was wearing my sweater. 
Out of nowhere, Pinkie started laughing hysterically. "Why would you have bucks in your sweater?" she asked, her laughter turning to confusion. I rolled my eyes. "You know I don't mean actual deer right?" I deadpanned. Then she started giggling. I groaned. "How much does a cupcake cost..." I asked, trying to figure out how I would pay.
"Well, usually they're three bits, but since your new, the first one's on the house!" she told me happily. I shot her a confused look. "Bits?" I asked. Pinkie nodded and pulled out some small golden coins from nowhere. "See? Bits!" she then put them inside the cash register and zipped into the kitchen. Pinkie shot back out two seconds later with a teal cupcake with a lyre on it and set it on the counter. "Here you go!" she said. 
I tried to grab the cupcake, finding out that that was hard to do with hooves. Pinkie smiled at me. "Why don't you use your horn?" she said, pointing to the bump on my head. "Oh. I didn't think of that." I said, trying to figure out how to use my horn. I tried turning on the magic, but after five minutes of trying, I gave up.
"This is so stupid." I said. Pinkie put her hoof to her face. "Hmm...What if you used your mouth?" she asked, making a biting motion with her jaw. I rolled my eyes again, and, seeing how I had no other choice, scooped up the cupcake in my mouth, and chewing it. Wrapper and all. 
My mouth was immediately filled with flavor. The cupcake was soft and chewy, and it was so moist it almost melted in my mouth. I swallowed it and let out a satisfying sigh. "That was amazing!" I exclaimed. Pinkie smiled. "Thanks! Maybe next time you come here, you'd let me throw you a Welcome to Ponyville party!" I chuckled and nodded, saying I'd like that very much. 
I waved goodbye to the hyper pink pony, and walked out of the bakery. "Well that was something." I said as I walked around. "I wonder what else this place has." I said to myself as I walked. 

I started wandering around the town, and found out that it was actually bigger than what I first thought. There was a town hall, a boutique, a library, and even a music store. I stopped at a shop that was pure white with neon lights around the door. The front door was glass and a big sign hung on it that read: "We're Open!" Above the shop was an electric guitar made of neon lights, kinda like the one's back home. 
Under the guitar in big blue letters were the words: "Vinyl's Music Store" I smiled and decided to have a look around inside. I lightly pushed open the glass door, and took a look around. The floor was a light blue carpet, and the walls were white with neon colored trim. There were records hanging on the wall, along with an assortment of instruments. There were guitars, drums, keyboards, even some classical instruments like the cello, trumpet, and... My eyes grew as wide as baseballs. 
Hanging on the wall, in perfect condition, and a golden lyre. I gasped and ran to the instrument, looking it over and pretty much behaving like a fangirl. Barely any music stores back home sold lyres, and I had been needing a new one. I looked at the price tag and it read: "20 bits". 
Suddenly, I felt a tapping on my shoulder that made me nearly faint. "Whoa!" I said as I jumped, turning to see who had touched me. Behind me was a white unicorn, with a choppy blue maine and tail, and she had pink pointy shades covering her eyes. "Sup." she said, giving me a warm smile. 
She looked like a rocker, and it was easy to tell by the tattoo of a music note on her hip. "Hi. um... I was just looking around." I said. "The name's Vinyl. But most ponies 'round here just call me DJ P0n-3." she replied, pulling her shades up and over her horn. She had blazing red eyes. "So what brings ya here?" she asked. My face turned red. "Well, I was just taking a look around town, and I saw your shop so I decided to come in. I saw the lyre on the wall and i had to come look." I said nervously. 
She chuckled. "You play the lyre? Not too many ponies can play that, seeing how we don't have claws. That's usually done by the gryphons." she told me, using her magic to take it off the wall. 
The lyre was enveloped in a pink glow was flew towards her. "Wanna try it?" she asked. "Oh! Well, I'd love to but I'm not sure if-" I was cut off by the unicorn placing the lyre in my hooves. Somehow, I was able to hold it. "Go on, play some chords." she said, giving me a warm smile. So, I took a deep breath and sat on the floor. I put my hooves in my normal position, then paused. I thought for a moment, and repositioned them so they would work better. 
I then ran my hooves along the wires, allowing them to stretch, then snap back into place. It wasn't as graceful as normal, but it was still pretty good. 
Once I was finished, I looked at Vinyl to see what she thought. To my surprise she was standing, staring at me with her mouth hanging open. "You...can...play that?!" she asked, a look of pure shock on her face. I nodded, my face turning scarlet. "That was awesome!" she exclaimed, helping my up off the ground. "Thanks." I replied, setting the lyre back on the rack. 
She then frowned at me. "Dude. With a gift like that, you need this more than I do." she said, using her magic to give me back the lyre. "But I cant pay for it." I told her. She smiled. "Nah, it's cool. We can work out a deal later." she said, pulling down her shades. I thanked her as she put the lyre into a saddle bag, then put it on me. 

As I walked out of the shop, I thanked her again and waved goodbye. I then ran into a bouncing pink blob. I fell to my butt, choking on dust. "What the-" I was cut off by the insane pink pony. "Hiya Lyra!" Pinkie said, looking as cheerful as ever. "What's up Pinkie?" I asked, picking myself up off the ground. "Wanna come meet my friends? I told them all about you and now they wanna meet you!" she said. "Are they anything like you?" I asked. 
Pinkie giggled. "Oh no silly filly! They're each special in they're own way. There's Applejack, she's a cowpony, Rarity, who makes dresses, Rainbow Dash, the athlete, Fluttershy, the animal lover, and Twilight. She likes books." I thanked Pinkie for that vague description of each of her friends, and face-hoofed when she replied with a "your'e welcome". I could tell this was going to be a long day.