//------------------------------// // Another Year Older // Story: Anthropology // by JasonTheHuman //------------------------------// Lyra’s seventeenth birthday came earlier than she had expected. Her Canterlot family hadn’t known the right date, they’d just guessed and ended up a few weeks off. For the first year in her life, her birthday would be celebrated on the actual date. This party (if you could really call it that) was a lot quieter and more intimate than the past few had been. Living in Ponyville came with a guarantee that your birthday would always be a huge affair with the whole town invited. Pinkie Pie made sure of that. Not that everybody would actually show up – there was a huge birthday party for somebody on average of twice a week, so obviously not everybody could make it to every single one. Her cake was store-bought, from some bakery in the city. It was good, but it didn’t compare to Sugarcube Corner, in terms of flavor or decoration. Not even close. Bon-Bon used to bake whatever Lyra wanted for her on her birthday. Most years she had considered that enough of a gift. What she wouldn’t give for some of Bon-Bon’s homemade chocolates now… But she had plenty this year. It was her first year with her human family, and they were the only ones at the party, not that she knew many other humans in town yet anyway. A few gifts, not very big boxes. Lyra had gained so much in the past few months that she didn’t mind. Though… she was curious at what a human got for their seventeenth birthday. They were all sitting in the living room together, Lyra in the center of the couch between her parents. She tore the paper off of one of the gifts – it was a rectangular box just barely able to fit in one hand. “Uh… what is it?” Lyra asked, turning it over and inspecting the pictures on the sides. “It’s a cell phone. We thought you should have one,” her mother said. “Just so that we can keep in touch when you go out on your own. Things like that.” Lyra nodded slowly, examining the photograph printed on the box. It didn’t look like the others she had seen before. Still, it was a fascinating piece of human technology, and now she had one of her own. Like a real, normal human. With her parents’ help, she unpacked it, they showed her how to plug it in – it was called “charging” – and later how to actually use it. It was very different from the others Lyra had seen. The top was just a flat, glassy panel, but it came to life if you pressed a button, and then the screen responded to the touch of your fingers gliding over the surface. She spent a few minutes just watching the colorful shapes slide around when she touched it. Her mother showed her how it worked. There was a lot more to this than she realized. Not only could you talk to other humans on it, there was a camera, a music player, a watch. She could also use the Internet… if she learned how. It was odd, since she was pretty sure that the Internet was in computers and not in this tiny little phone. Whatever it was, it still seemed complicated, but she knew enough that it was useful. There were a few other gifts, too. Smaller things. Albums from rock bands she liked, that her dad promised to help her put onto the phone’s music player. Lyra was curious how exactly that would work - the discs were bigger than the player. However it worked, it was human ingenuity at its finest, no doubt. Chloe had nearly fallen asleep on the sofa, and after she was taken up to her bed Lyra just spent a few moments with her mom and dad. "This hasn't been an easy day in past years..." her mother said. "You're almost grown up now." Almost. Lyra gave a very small smile at that. "I'm glad I got to spend this one with you. Thanks for everything." "It's so good to have you here, Lyra," her father said. Lyra sat up in bed until well past midnight, studying her new phone. It was giving off a surprisingly bright light even though her room was dark. It seemed incredible that one object could have so many different functions. The way it was operated, reacting to her fingertips. That was something that ponies would never be able to do, even if they had the technology. The tiny numerical buttons on regular phones had been impressive enough. She flipped through the photos she had taken that day, stored on the screen but not printed out or even developed. Maybe tomorrow she’d get her dad to show her how to put her music onto it. For now, she set it to the side on her nightstand, and picked up the history book instead. She’d been slowly working her way through it. She was done with the other book about the unicorn. It hadn’t taken too long to finish. After all of that nonsense, she'd been happily teaching Chloe about real ponies and magic. They were pretty good friends now. More than that. Sisters. If The Last Unicorn had been frustrating, then human history was absolute torture. It was almost enough to kill the good mood she was in from her birthday. Lyra wanted to stop reading, but she couldn’t just convince herself that humans didn’t do these kinds of things. She had to face the facts if she was going to be one. Humans kept on fighting each other. Maybe it was just an unfortunate side effect of having all these different countries, even though the war that had happened back in the 1860’s seemed to suggest it didn’t even take that to set humans off. And each one brought with it more of this brilliant human ingenuity, wasted on coming up with more weapons. It honestly got sickening how much they’d accomplished. Lyra glanced over at her phone on the nightstand. Humans were capable of coming up with good things, if they wanted to. If ponies would have had those, she could have called her parents in Canterlot whenever she wanted. The mail wasn’t nearly that fast, and it was much more impersonal than just talking face-to-face. Or whatever phone conversations were, it was close enough. She wondered how long ago humans had come up with phones. But she turned back to the more difficult, more troubling information about “American history.” This particular book said that there had been wars up to the year 1991… Lyra had heard just earlier today that she had been born in the fall of 1995. How would she go about asking if there had been any more since then? This book was clearly outdated. All of the recent events – pretty much everything that would have happened while she was gone – weren’t written in here. There was always Monica… A bell rang as Lyra opened the door the following morning. She noticed Monica right away. She had hoped she’d be working again, but then she noticed someone else standing there talking to her. A wide grin spread across her face when she recognized him. “Paul?” Lyra said. She headed over to the counter to join them. He turned around. “Oh, wow, Lyra? I didn’t expect to see you in here.” “I come here all the time,” she said. “Like I told you, I’ve seen her a few times in the past few weeks,” Monica said. “She reads a lot. Usually it’s either unicorns or American history.” “Interesting tastes…” Paul said. He looked back at Lyra. “So how’ve you been? It's been a while since you came out here.” “I’ve been great, really. Never better,” Lyra said, and she honestly did mean that. “I was just coming in to get some more research… I mean, reading.” She gave a nervous smile. “Of course.” Monica nodded. “I think you know your way around pretty well by now. You don’t need my help, do you?” “No, I think I’ll be fine,” Lyra said. Maybe the reason she liked this store was because it felt so much like home. She walked in and was greeted by somebody she knew – this time, two of them. Other stores in Philadelphia weren’t that personal. Once she had come to the bookstore in the evening and a different human was working – an older man who didn’t talk much – but if she came in the mornings Monica was almost always here. “Wait, so you really weren’t kidding about your dad,” Paul said, pointing a finger at her in a casual gesture. “I mean, I was almost sure you were making all that up, about having this famous author as your long-lost dad and all that. Must be crazy living with a guy like him. What’s he up to, six? Seven books? And they’re all huge.” “I think he’s getting ready to release the eighth one,” Monica said. “Wait, Lyra, you would know that. When's he coming out with that?” “Actually, I’m not sure what he’s writing now…” she admitted. “To tell the truth, I actually think those books are kind of weird. I mean, all the humans using magic, and the battles.” “It’s traditional fantasy. I’d say that the generic theme is almost part of the appeal – it’s very straightforward, but it’s well-written. Pretty consistent quality, too,” Monica said. “And it is cool that he’s local.” “I’m with Lyra. I don’t really read fantasy. Maybe some Terry Pratchett here and there. If he counts,” Paul said. “Exactly. I guess I'm just not into this kind of stuff,” Lyra said. “This world is good enough for me. I don’t need a different one." She frowned. "And those humans are always fighting with each other in Dad’s stories…” That made her remember her original purpose. “I was reading that history book you gave me and it said that America had been in wars. A lot of them, actually.” “News flash,” Paul said. “I’ve never heard that before.” “So… It wasn’t true?” Lyra said. “I mean, if there had really been so many, you would have heard – “ “That was sarcasm, Lyra.” “Oh…” Her face turned red. She hated being called out on her lack of human knowledge. Monica raised an eyebrow slightly. “Well, if you really want to know more about it, there should be shelves back there marked. You can find some books about the specific conflicts you’re interested in.” “Well, it’s more of just the general idea of the thing. I don’t get it,” Lyra said. She hesitated. “I know I must sound kind of clueless right now, but I’ve never really understood war.” “Told you she was a hippie,” Paul muttered under his breath. “Now I think you’re getting more into… philosophy, maybe.” Monica leaned up against the counter, one hand on her chin. “But you’re asking some pretty heavy stuff. Nobody really understands it.” “So it’s normal for humans to not understand what it means to be human?” “I… guess? Like I said, philosophy, it's over by the - ” “Suppose that… hypothetically, I mean… a human grew up not knowing that they were human. Would they still be the same as the others?” Paul put a hand up in a dismissive gesture. “Speaking of not understanding, I’m completely lost at this point.” “Yeah…” Lyra said quietly. She gave a nervous laugh. “I guess I’ve just been having some odd thoughts lately. Things have been weird.” He nodded. “And what would be normal for you?” “That’s... not easy to explain.” Lyra stared at her shoes. Paul gave a shrug. “Figured.” “Oh, by the way, check this out!” Lyra took out her phone. Her parents had suggested she take it everywhere. “I’ve been putting some of my friend’s numbers into it. My parents showed me how it works. Do you guys have phone numbers?” “Sure. I’ll just enter that for you,” Monica said. Lyra handed it to her, and once she was done she passed it over to Paul. "I get the feeling I might regret this, but... fine," he said, tapping the screen quickly with one finger. He seemed even more adept at it than Lyra was, and she had thought she was getting pretty good at it. She took the phone back once she was done and put it into her pocket. "Sorry if I was asking some weird questions. I'm just curious." "No, it's all fine," Monica said. "Thanks. I think I'll find what I came for. I told Dad I wouldn't be out long." Lyra headed to the back of the store, locating the extensive history section. Humans certainly kept better records of their past than ponies did… for better or for worse. She realized that she was oddly willing to accept whatever these books said, more so than history back in Equestria. But if they were going to make up lies, they wouldn’t say this kind of stuff. She took a few minutes browsing around, pulling out books and reading a few pages out of each one, and came out with a good assortment. Not all of them were about war – she found a few others about inventors and popular culture. Because those things were just as human as anything else. As she carried her pile of books back to the counter, she thought about what Twilight would think of having so much unheard-of knowledge at her disposal. What her other dad – what Dewey – would think. He probably worried about her… “Whoa. Think you’ve got enough there, Lyra?” Paul said, eyeing the stack in her arms. Lyra set them down on the counter with a dull thud. “For now,” Lyra said simply. “You’re one to talk. You hardly read nonfiction unless it’s assigned,” Monica said. “Well, yeah…” He scratched the back of his head. “Speaking of which, what school are you going to, Lyra? I don't know what district you'd be in.” “School…?” she said. “Well… none yet. My parents weren’t sure if I was ready. They talked about homeschool.” “I guess that would make sense. Different circumstances and all.” She nodded, but this was another area she was uncomfortable with. She thought she had completed all the education she needed to five years ago. Sure, the magic classes wouldn’t be useful now, but everything else was probably still applicable. Did humans have classes on using their hands, or was the behavior too instinctual to require that? Lyra paid for the book, said her goodbyes, and headed back out towards home. Paul waited until she was out the door, then turned back to Monica. “Time travel,” he said suddenly. “What?” “I’m calling it now. Time travel. She’s catching up on all the history that’s happened since whenever she lived.” He thought a moment. "I'm not sure what the unicorns have to do with it, though." “You who doesn’t read fantasy…” Monica muttered. “That would be science fiction. Not that I read too much of that, either. But isn’t she like something out of a movie? Like Tim Burton, if the quirky outsider played by Johnny Depp was a teenage girl instead.” She sighed. “This is a real person we’re talking about…” Lyra sat on the couch in front of the TV, although it was turned off. Her attention was focused on the tiny screen she held in her hand. She’d found the Internet function, but actually using it was a different story. It was a major source of information for humans, it had even helped her find her family – but what exactly was it? Chloe sat down next to her. “Tell me more about Fluttershy,” she said. “Please?” Hearing that name gave Lyra a jolt, but it was fine. She’d told Chloe a few stories about her old friends. “About Fluttershy? Let me think…” As odd as it was, to be honest she looked forward to this as much as Chloe did. It was getting easier to relax, having all of this out in the open. And for a human, everyday life in Equestria must have sounded exciting. It was different, that was for sure… But Lyra was certain that the human world was still better. “Have I ever told you about the dragon before?” “Spike?” Lyra shook her head. “This was a much bigger dragon. He was sleeping in a mountain just outside of Ponyville and making a cloud of smoke. Fluttershy was the first one to see it, and she ran to the park to tell everybo – I mean, everypony else.” Using those pronouns was still hard to get used to. And Lyra had thought she was never going to hear them again after she came here. Chloe seemed to think it was cool, though. She continued. “But Fluttershy isn’t very loud. So when she got to the park, nobo – “ Lyra gave a sigh, and corrected herself a second time. “Nopony heard her, and we… I mean, they were all too busy to look up and see for themselves.” “What happened?” Good, she hadn’t noticed Lyra’s little slip. She had been in the park that day. Practicing her lyre, and then just taking some time off to enjoy the nice weather and talk to some other ponies. That was another thing different about Ponyville – it was so easy to meet other ponies, and yet after weeks in Philadelphia she only had a couple friends. “That was when Twilight showed up, and she told everyone that Princess Celestia had called her to get the dragon to leave,” Lyra continued. “Fluttershy was really worried, since she’s actually very scared of dragons.” “I thought she liked animals.” “Yes, but dragons are different…” Lyra said. “You know that painting in the front hallway? The one Mom did?” “Yeah.” “That’s what this one was like. Huge. Probably bigger than our house.” That was an estimation – Lyra had never seen this particular dragon, but Rainbow Dash had been talking about it for weeks afterwards. “Why does it have all of that gold, anyway? What do dragons do with that?” “It’s what they build their nests with. And they eat gemstones. Remember, I told you Spike loves them.” “I wonder what those taste like,” Chloe said. Lyra smiled. “They probably taste better to a dragon than to one of us. Ponies can’t eat them,” she said. “Or humans.” Lyra’s dad walked in. “It’s getting late. Chloe, don’t you think you should get to bed? You’ve got school tomorrow, remember.” “But I want to hear the rest of Lyra’s story!” Lyra smiled. “Dad’s right. It’s getting dark. I’ll tell you the rest tomorrow.” She was a little relieved, actually – she’d reached the end of her own personal experience with that story. She’d have to dig deep in her memory to remember what she’d been told about the actual trip. Rainbow had certainly made a big deal about it. “You promise?” Lyra nodded, and Chloe headed upstairs to bed. Then her father joined Lyra on the couch. “You know, I’ve been hearing a lot about Equestria from Chloe lately. Whenever I'm driving her to school, she's usually got something new to tell me.” “Yeah, I was actually just telling her another one of the stories…” Lyra said. It was odd, being so open about her past now. But everybody thought that she was making it up, just like that other writer had made up his maddeningly inaccurate unicorn novel. “What has she told you?” “Oh, all about the ponies, the magic, the princesses.” He smiled. “It certainly sounds like something she’d like. You came up with all of that yourself?” “Of course,” Lyra said, shifting her eyes. “You’re pretty talented. Maybe you could even write someday – children’s books, something like that.” Lyra shook her head. “I think I just want to stick with music. It is my special talent.” She realized that she was talking about it like it was her cutie mark. How much did Chloe know about those? Had she mentioned them to their dad? “I mean, I’ve always been told – “ “Told what?” “Oh…” Lyra said. “I was told… Well…” Her mind worked frantically. She couldn’t say that her other family – and Bon-Bon – had wanted her to pursue a musical career. “Audrey… said that I was really good at the guitar. She said I could have a future doing that. Join a real band someday.” It was partially true – Audrey had been impressed at Lyra’s talent, but she had never really offered that much encouragement towards a career. He gave a heavy sigh. “I thought maybe something had come back to you.” “Sorry… Maybe it did, just a little, but I just can’t tell what it is.” Lyra lowered her eyes. “So you think Equestria would be good for kids’ stories?” She was eager to change the subject. And her dad’s opinion on real magic would be interesting to hear, even if he didn’t realize that’s what it was. “Sure. It's not quite my taste, obviously, but Chloe sure seems to like it. I keep hearing about one character… Fluttershy?” Lyra nodded. Chloe liked to hear about Fluttershy more than Heartstrings, and that was quite a relief. Talking about her own experiences would be difficult. This was a better way to start. “Yeah. I saw the picture Chloe drew. It really looks like her.” She quickly added, “How I imagined her, I mean. I guess I’m pretty good at description.” He laughed. "Maybe your mother could do something with all of this. She's been looking for material." Lyra gave a small grin. "Maybe." They talked for a little while longer. The topic drifted away from Lyra's stories on to more serious stuff - the school year was starting, and there were some decisions to be made there. If Lyra would join the other humans her age at the public school, or if she'd get her own special lessons at home. Her mind was still stuck on what her dad thought of Equestria. So that’s really all Equestria sounded like to humans – stories for little kids. Well, Lyra had been talking about it that way. She’d leave out most of the really awful stuff. Just a few sparing details about dragons, and make parasprites seem like something that could be laughed at. Rebuilding what was left of the house after they’d gone through sure hadn’t been funny. Lyra had been fortunate they hadn’t gotten anything really valuable. But the one thing she’d never so much as mention… Discord. He had been on Lyra’s mind a lot lately. Reading about the wars in America’s past had made her think about him. But he was sealed away in stone in Equestria. There was no reason to worry about him. Humans were in total control of this world. Even if he’d driven them to extinction in another one… But nobody needed to know that.