Lyra departed the once-human house, letting out a thunderous sigh. They were safe, that was good... but where was Twilight? She trotted briskly back towards the castle, hoping to find the princess there, but she didn't get that far. She spotted Bon Bon wandering around, which was odd. Sweetie Drops would normally be running her store at that ti... Oh.
Lyra hurried over towards the human-counterpart of her marefriend.
Bon Bon was looking around with wide eyes and a bit of a smile. "This place is amazing!"
Roseluck smiled at her. "You're looking especially cheerful today, Sweetie. Why the good mood?"
Lyra arrived, moving herself between Roseluck and Bon Bon. "Bonnie's just enjoying the day. Here you are! We have to go."
Bon Bon tilted her head. "Hey! If I'm a horse for a little while, I want to look around. Sitting in that basement was boring."
Lyra shook her head quickly. "I want to get you back as soon as possible."
"Back to where?" asked Roseluck, watching the two curiously. "Aren't you always a horse, er, pony?"
Bon Bon pointed at one of her roses. "May I have one?"
Roseluck smiled brightly. "Certainly! You can have a whole bunch for a bit."
Bon Bon looked at Lyra hopefully. Lyra let out a little sigh and set a coin down on the counter. Bon Bon was soon the proud owner of a mouthful of roses. "Why does this taste so good?" She started to chew on the steams, slowly devouring all the roses as Lyra gently nudged her towards the castle. "Why are you in such a rush? This is... a magical horse land! I want to see more of it."
Lyra sat down and stared at Bon Bon a moment. "Alright. First problem, your mirror counterpart lives in this town. Second problem, some friends of mine are trapped on the other side of the portal. Third problem, I can only handle so much in one day and we're already well past that point. Please... I know I'm not your Lyra, but please... have mercy on me. Show me the compassion I know my Bonnie has."
Bon Bon smiled gently. "Alright, Lyra, if it's that bad, I'll be good for you, but you have to promise to show me around another time, when things aren't so hectic." She looked over her shoulder as if just noticing... "I have a tail."
"A very nice tail," agreed Lyra, leading the way to the castle.
"You'd know, I suppose." Bon Bon smirked a little. "Chased it long enough, I would wager."
Lyra went red. "Bon Bon! I... yes... We're very close. You love your Lyra, right?"
Bon Bon nodded as she followed Lyra. "She's every bit the goof you are. I bet she'd love to see this place too."
Lyra tensed. "Oh please don't go telling other ponies! Besides, the portal's usually not even on."
Bon Bon stopped. "Is it on a timer, or do you just usually have it turned off?"
Lyra turned to face Bon Bon. "Usually just turned off, why?"
Bon Bon pointed at herself. "I still want to explore a little."
Lyra sank. "We'll ask Twilight. It's her castle, and her portal."
Sam and Lucy walked side-by-side down the road. Lucy's eyes wandered across the brightly colored people. "It's kind of strange, isn't it?"
Sam shrugged softly. "I'm just starting to get my head around it. If you just imagine them as human ponies, it all makes sense. They have cutie marks, they have the same colors. They even act the same a lot. They just expect things to work out, and they do, usually."
Lucy nodded slowly. "So this is what it's like back on Earth, if ponies are falling in on us like we did to them? I feel bad for them."
Sam snorted. "Well then it's a good thing I'm helping out, right?"
"Right." Lucy smiled lightly. "You're not sore about it, I hope?"
Sam rolled a hand. "If I thought I'd lose my job over it, I would be, but I get the feeling I'd have to try to be fired."
"Where do you work, now that you bring it up?"
Sam pointed as they happened to be going past it. "That music store there. Manning the register and general retail, nothing complicated."
Lucy shrugged. "You don't sound excited. It's a whole new world, you could do what you want, why settle?"
Sam rubbed his chin as he walked. "You have a point there. It was the first place I tried and he practically threw the job at me. I'd be a bit of a heel to just quit the day after, considering I haven't even worked for the money he already gave me."
Lucy smiled a little. "So try it out, say for a week or two, then try other jobs on for size. From what you're telling me, no one would object to it. Heck, I bet they don't even charge to go to college here at a guess."
"You think not?" Sam looked all the more curious as they went. "You're probably right. I'm not taking near enough advantage of what they're offering around here. If these human ponies want to be all... their thing, I should jump on that and ride it."
They arrived in front of the school, but there were some students milling around. Rather than draw attention to themselves or the portal, they waited for the crowd to disperse while looking uninterested.
"Are ya new in town?" asked human-Apple Bloom, grinning at Lucy. "Nice to meetcha!"