“ – do,” Lyra finished, but her father wasn’t there anymore.
Surprisingly, nobody was staring at her even though she had just appeared out of nowhere. But why would they? It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for a unicorn to teleport into the middle of Ponyville.
Lyra stood there for a moment dazed. First Discord, now this. She wasn’t back in Ponyville. She couldn’t be. Where was her dad?
The necklace. It must have been enchanted. So maybe her dad did know something about magic; he’d been right about this, at least. She tried to remember what she’d done – it had been nothing more than just touching the charm with some magic, and then it had reacted. Her horn glowed as she tried again.
“No, please… Don’t tell me this dumb thing stopped working now!” She focused as much magic as she could onto the tiny lyre, held it up in front of her eyes, shook it violently. Nothing.
“Are you okay?” A stallion had stopped to stare at her, apparently concerned.
Lyra dropped the necklace. “I’m… fine. Completely fine.” She gritted her teeth and trotted off in the other direction before he could say another word.
It was sort of familiar. The stalls set up along the road indicated it was a market day. No cars here to get in the way of everybody walking from one stand to the other. Lyra moved forward, one hoof in front of the other. The ground felt real enough. It wasn’t some kind of illusion. At least, she didn’t think so. Ever since Discord had showed up, nothing felt real.
“Hey, Lyra! Where’ve you been?” She recognized the voice. It was Daisy, a pink earth pony that she had occasionally bought flowers from. Lyra stared at her. It was weird talking to a pony. Daisy tilted her head. “You alright?”
“Uh, hey… Long time no see.” She smiled uneasily, and hurried past.
She’d really gotten used to being around humans. These ponies, with all their different colors and horns and wings and four hooves and no hands… it was just weird.
The air here smelled so clean, and even with the usual bustle of a market day it was quieter than a typical day in Philadelphia. It was almost nice. But she didn’t want to stay here. Her world – her family – was in danger, she had to do something...
“Lyra, you’re back!” She turned at the sound of Apple Bloom’s voice.
“Hey, Apple Bloom…” Lyra said. “Wait, are you running the stand all by yourself?”
“Yep! Applejack had to go out of town for a while, so she said I could handle it!” Apple Bloom said, beaming with pride. Lyra noticed she still didn’t have a cutie mark.
“Out of town…” Lyra echoed. She considered it for a moment, then wandered off into the crowd again.
“Wait! Ain’t you gonna buy some apples?” Apple Bloom called, but Lyra ignored her.
It would be a good idea to find Applejack. And Twilight. She didn’t see any of the ponies she needed in the crowd. There were familiar faces here and there – ponies she recognized from her concerts, or parties she’d attended.
“Lyra?” That voice made her stop dead in her tracks. She’d recognize her anywhere. “Lyra, it really is you, isn’t it? It’s been so long!”
Lyra turned around slowly. “Hey, Bon-Bon…”
Bon-Bon trotted up behind her, then frowned when she noticed Lyra’s shirt and pants. “Still dressing up, I see…” Lyra said nothing. She’d bought these clothes a place called Target, in Philadelphia – a store for humans. And they must look pretty goofy right now – too baggy, hanging off her small pony body. “But Lyra, it really is good to see you again. You simply must stop by to visit. I haven't rented it out yet, but I think I'll offer it to somepony. It gets rather quiet, living alone."
"Yeah, it probably does. Listen, I'd love to stop, but I'm in a hurry."
"Slow down. I want to hear all about where you ran off to. You didn’t tell me a thing about where you were going. I even asked your parents where you’d gone, and they didn’t – “
“My… parents?” Lyra said. Obviously Bon-Bon meant Dewey and Cirrus. “Right. They’re probably worried, aren’t they…”
“I was in Canterlot and happened to see them. I know you ran off from Ponyville without giving me any warning, but I thought you’d at least tell your own parents where you were going. The looks I got when I asked where you’d gone! They’re worried sick about you.”
“Listen, uh, Bon-Bon? This is going to sound weird, but… I am really here, aren't I? This is all actually happening?” Lyra prodded Bon-Bon in the shoulder with one hoof.
Bon-Bon drew back. “You’re acting strange... More than usual, at any rate. What have you been doing?”
“It’s hard to explain, and you wouldn’t believe me anyway,” Lyra said. She glanced around. “Right now I need to find Twilight. Is she at the library?”
“Twilight? I believe she was just called back to Canterlot with the others. What’s the hurry? Just stop and visit for a while. I think you owe me an explanation after - ”
“To Canterlot?” Lyra said. “Of course… Celestia must know that Discord’s back.”
“Discord?” Bon-Bon said, her eyes widening. “Wait, what do you – “
“This is perfect! No time to waste. I need to get back to Canterlot. The Princess can turn me back to normal.” Lyra took a moment to remind herself where the train station was, then turned and galloped off.
Bon-Bon stared open-mouthed after her, then, with a groan of irritation, chased her through the crowd of ponies.
Lyra weaved through the crowded streets. None of the ponies seemed to be in any hurry. They must not have gotten the news yet. Princess Celestia only invited the bearers of the Elements to Canterlot. Did they even know that Discord had escaped?
She found the train station at the edge of town. Finding her way here had been easy. She remembered this town better than she realized. At the moment, the station was practically empty. No ponies were traveling today. A bored-looking stallion in a blue uniform was waiting at the counter, watching her.
“I need the next train to Canterlot. And fast,” she told him. She pulled her wallet out of her pocket with magic, and removed a five to give to him.
He stared at the slip of paper in confusion. “Is this supposed to be worth something?”
She realized what she’d done, and pulled it back. “Oh, um…” The sign said tickets were five bits. Not five dollars. She slipped the money back into her pocket. Now what? she wondered.
“Lyra! You only just got here, and you’re already trying to leave?” Bon-Bon came up behind her.
Lyra spun around, grinning madly. “Bon-Bon! Perfect! Listen, I need to borrow five bits. It's important. I probably won’t pay you back.”
“You… what?” Bon-Bon stared at her.
“It’s urgent,” Lyra pleaded.
Bon-Bon sighed and removed some coins from her saddlebag. “Here’s ten. Make it two tickets.” She turned back to Lyra and jabbed a hoof towards her. “But I expect an explanation.”
They trotted over to the station platform to wait for the train. Lyra sat on a bench, pulled up one sleeve, and rubbed at her front leg with the other hoof. “How did I ever stand being covered in all this hair? It’s so itchy…”
“We’ve got some time,” Bon-Bon said. “Now let's talk. Where have you been, and what’s this about Discord?”
Lyra sighed, and began rubbing at her other leg. “I don’t know where to start…”
“The Gala would be fine.”
“Right…” Lyra said. “That was the night when I spoke to Princess Celestia, and she told me – “
“You had an audience with the Princess?” Bon-Bon said. "Lyra, that's - "
“Let me finish,” Lyra said. “I thought she was keeping an eye on me, and it turned out she was. She knew about the research I had been doing. She told me all about humans.”
Bon-Bon let out a sigh. “Humans again? You ran off looking for humans? I thought you’d finally come to your senses. You’re worse than ever, Lyra. No wonder your parents were worried about you.”
“Dewey and Cirrus aren’t my parents. They adopted me,” Lyra explained, rubbing at her leg again. She could scratch it much easier if she just had her hands… “I’m not really a pony, Bon-Bon. I’m a human.”
Bon-Bon's eyes widened. She shook her head. “You really are crazy.”
“I’ve been living with the other humans ever since then. I can’t really explain it, but there’s this whole other world where we still exist.” Lyra gave a weak smile. “You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen there.”
“You’re right about that.” Bon-Bon rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
A whistle could be heard down the tracks, and Lyra jumped up from the bench, steadying herself on her hooves. The train rolled in with a puff of smoke from the engine.
The conductor took their tickets. Lyra could hardly wait to get to Canterlot. If she got help from the Princess, and from the Elements of Harmony, maybe things would be okay. If not… She didn’t want to think about that.
Bon-Bon hopped up onto the bench and settled down on it. “Maybe Discord is back. Maybe he made you completely lose your senses, and that’s why you’re raving about these ridiculous legends again.” She waved her hoof as she spoke. "I've said it before, but I really mean it. You need help, Lyra."
Lyra was sitting upright, but it just wasn’t as comfortable with this spine. “He is back, but he’s not in Equestria. He’s trying to… well, he made humans go extinct once, and now he wants to do it again.”
The train started rolling out of the station. “Why did I even follow you…” Bon-Bon muttered, staring out the window.
Lyra groaned in exasperation, and her horn lit up as she tried to take her wallet out of her pocket. It hovered in front of her face as she pulled out some money. “I can prove it! Look at this.”
“What is it?”
“This is a five-dollar bill. It’s human money. Look, there’s a human’s face right on it!” It flew up right in front of Bon-Bon’s face, and she flinched. “That’s one of the presidents. And this here, where it says ‘The United States of America.’ That’s the country I live in. We have lots of separate ones, but so far I’ve only been there.”
Bon-Bon squinted at it. “I don’t know where you got this, but…”
“I had to borrow bits from you because I don’t have any Equestrian money left. I sent all I had left to you.”
“Lyra, this is just paper. Nopony would ever think this was worth anything.”
“Well, neither did I, at first.” Lyra put her face into her hooves. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say… Audrey never believed me about unicorns, either.”
“Who?”
“Audrey. She was my first human friend. At first I wasn’t telling her anything about Equestria, but it just got to the point where I was hiding too much…” Lyra looked down sadly. “She called me crazy. At that point, I realized humans aren’t too much different from ponies. There aren’t any unicorns there, or even ponies like you. They don’t believe in us. And I couldn’t do any magic to prove that I…” Her voice trailed off.
“This is… quite a story, Lyra.” Bon-Bon paused a moment. “But that’s the problem. All these theories, and you’ve never had any proof. How can you expect anypony to believe you?”
“My dad believes me. He saw me after… after I changed, but…” Strangely, Lyra started to grin. “But I do have something else from home.”
Her phone lifted itself out of her pocket. Bon-Bon stared at it. “What are you doing?”
The device floated down and she cradled it in her two front hooves. The screen was dark.
“It’s…” Lyra realized that it wasn’t going to turn on. Not if she couldn’t use her fingers. She sighed. “Well… It’s not going to work unless…”
It was a crazy idea. It probably wouldn’t even work, considering how long she’d gone without using magic. A complicated spell like this could easily go wrong, but what other choice did she have?
“Bon-Bon, I know you didn’t want me using this spell, and I’m sorry, but you have to see this.” She gritted her teeth, and focused everything into her horn, and then into her hooves.
“Lyra, what are you – “ Bon-Bon screamed when she saw what Lyra was doing to her hooves. “No, not again. Lyra, we’re in public!”
Lyra winced in pain. She’d forgotten how much it hurt to transform herself, not to mention the additional mental strain from the magic.
Bon-Bon had glanced around and seen that they were, in fact, alone in the carriage, but she was still fuming. “Lyra, I mean it. This has to stop. Do you even realize how wrong that is?”
“You’re right about that. These really aren’t very correct, anatomically…” Lyra inspected them, flexing the fingers. She didn’t even have nails on them. It wasn’t just the fact that she hadn’t done magic in months, and they didn’t come out as well as before. They’d never really been close to human hands. But they would do for now.
“Just… just take the spell away right now, you’re like some kind of monster or something!” Bon-Bon cringed, but she couldn’t look away.
Lyra took her phone in her hands, and turned it on with the meaty fingers growing out of her forelegs. She poked one onto the screen, and sure enough, it responded. The screen lit up. It was hard to control it with much precision. Princess Celestia couldn’t turn her back to normal soon enough. A message appeared, telling her there was no reception. She hadn’t expected any, but that wasn’t what she was using it for. She tapped it with her fingers and brought up the photo album.
“Look at this.” She held it up to Bon-Bon.
“What? Lyra, I don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“It’s called a cell phone. Lots of humans have these. But see this photograph? That’s me, and my sister. That’s what I actually look like,” Lyra said.
Bon-Bon was speechless. It was probably a combination of both Lyra’s deformed hooves, or hands, or whatever they were, and the photograph on her phone. “I can’t… You…”
After living with Lyra for years, Bon-Bon knew a human when she saw one. And that’s exactly what was in this photograph. Two humans – one with brown hair, and a larger one with the same color of mint-green hair that Lyra had. Now, the color could have been a coincidence, but there was something undeniably familiar in that smile. Even on the face of a strange creature, it was unmistakable.
“That’s…”
“It’s me and my younger sister. Her name’s Chloe,” Lyra said. “She’s really interested in unicorns. My whole family’s kind of obsessed with magic, to be honest.”
“Your family?”
“I told you. I was born a human.” She took the phone back, and looked down at the picture. "I wonder what's happening to them now... Mom's never going to believe this. Chloe... well, I really have no idea what she'll think."
Bon-Bon took that in for a moment. The picture was honestly hard to deny, but believing Lyra right now required her to believe that for the past four years she had been living with an alien creature from another world. Maybe that would explain the lack of etiquette and occasionally of rational thought…
“Now, don’t think this changes anything. Even if you’re right, and you are a human, it doesn’t make you any less insane,” Bon-Bon muttered.
“You believe me?” Lyra grinned.
“I know I shouldn’t…” Bon-Bon said. She stared at Lyra’s hands again and cringed. “But… please just take that spell away.”
Lyra turned off her phone, then with one last examination of her hands, changed them back. She bit her lip as they were sucked back in and reformed into a hoof. Not for much longer, she hoped.
“So…” Bon-Bon shuddered just watching Lyra. It wasn’t just because of that unnatural spell she was using. As hard as it was to accept… “You… really are a human? I just don’t see how that’s possible.”
“It’s all really hard to explain. I just got done telling my dad that I’ve been a unicorn all these years. He wasn’t sure how to take it.” Lyra stared out the window. “And then I ended up here, and he’s got no idea what happened to me…” She looked down at her necklace.
“Now arriving at Canterlot! Now arriving at Canterlot!” The conductor’s voice called out the name of the station as they pulled in. Lyra was fidgeting restlessly in her seat.
The brakes squealed as the train slowed down and pulled into the station. “Finally. I can’t believe how slow this thing is,” Lyra said.
“Lyra, it’s always taken this long to get to Canterlot. You’ve made the trip even more than I have.”
“If we just had a car, we could have been here in less than half the time. I mean, it’s so close you can even see the castle from Ponyville!” Lyra hopped up from her seat and headed out. Lyra didn’t stop for a moment as she spoke. Bon-Bon tagged along behind – she didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into, but there was nothing else to do except follow. “I’m pretty sure that Philadelphia alone is bigger than Ponyville, Canterlot, and everything in between.”
Bon-Bon tilted her head. “I’ve been to Fillydelphia, it’s really not that much larger than – “
“No, I said Philadelphia,” Lyra corrected her. “That’s the human city where I…” She groaned, and said, “We’ve wasted enough time already. We have to go.”
“Lyra? Just hold up for a – “ But she was already gone. “What did she mean by a ‘car,’ anyway?” Bon-Bon muttered.
Bon-Bon struggled to keep up with Lyra as she made a beeline through the crowded streets of Canterlot towards the castle. For somepony who claimed to have been walking on just two legs for the past few months, she sure was fast.
“Lyra, slow down!” she called, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Bon-Bon shook her head in annoyance and put forth a burst of speed.
Soon enough she lost sight of Lyra, but it was clear enough where she was going. Pausing for breath, Bon-Bon continued at a slower pace. A few ponies asked her about the unicorn who had just gone charging through, but she denied any connection.
As she had expected, Lyra had gone to the castle, but Bon-Bon was hesitant to go anywhere near her when she found her arguing with one of the Royal Guards. She had forgotten what a hassle Lyra could be when she was worked up about something.
“I told you, I need to get in there! The Princess will understand!” Lyra was saying. “Just let me through!”
“Our orders are not to let anypony in. That’s final,” the guard said. His stern expression hardly moved.
“But I know where Discord is! I need to hurry!”
Bon-Bon stepped forward. “Lyra, please, there’s no need to bother them…” She flashed a very embarrassed smile at the two armored unicorns, then turned to Lyra. “Let’s go.” She put a hoof around her and started dragging her back.
“Bon-Bon, I told you. There isn’t much time!” Lyra had started to follow Bon-Bon away anyway. She sighed in frustration. “I can’t even get back home without the Princess’s help.”
Once they were out of earshot, Bon-Bon checked around, then said in a low voice, “The last thing we need is to get arrested. I’m still not sure what to make of you right now, but I know that much.”
Lyra sighed. She looked back at the guards, who stood there almost motionless. “It’s not like them to have such tight security at the castle. What’s going on?”
“And I thought you didn’t trust the government.”
“I’ve felt differently ever since I found out what they were hiding.”
They were back in the bustle of the Canterlot streets. A few ponies were seated outside a café, making pleasant conversation. Lyra had understood that things in Ponyville would be calmed down, but here in the capitol? Didn’t anyone wonder about the guards, or notice that there was a statue missing from the gardens? And not just any statue, either – everybody knew Discord after last time.
“I still need to get the Princess’s attention, no matter what. There has to be some other way into the castle…” Lyra said, rubbing her chin with one hoof. She stared up at the towers spiraling above the town.
“Nothing illegal. Please,” Bon-Bon said.
“I know,” Lyra grumbled. She began to wander off again.
It was hard to believe she’d been at home in Philadelphia just hours ago. That was already feeling normal to her. This… As much as she remembered Canterlot, it was beginning to seem like a fairy tale. Like it was to Chloe. And yet the faces here were familiar. It was like she’d never left.
“I have to admit, this has been something of an adventure, Lyra,” Bon-Bon said. “But I don’t see what more there is to do. I’m about to head back to Ponyville. Then I can start to forget any of this ever happened.”
“We can’t give up. This isn’t just about humans now. I told you. My family’s back there.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“That’s my home now. To be honest… I didn’t really want to come back to Equestria.”
“Is it really so wonderful being one of those… things? Don’t you miss it here? What I wouldn’t have given to grow up in a city like Canterlot.”
“No, there’s not really…” Lyra’s voice trailed off. It wasn’t exactly true. There were some things she missed here. “Wait, isn’t that…”
She stared at the dark blue unicorn in the midst of the crowd. She had thought she’d never see him again.
“Lyra?” He adjusted his glasses, as if he couldn’t be sure he was seeing things correctly.
She ran up to her adopted father as soon as she saw him. “Dad…” She slowed down. “I mean… Well…”
He stared at her. “How did you get here? The Princess told us you wouldn’t return…”
“It’s a long story,” Lyra said. “It was my necklace. But I couldn’t have done it as a human, it was only after Discord turned me back into a pony – “
“Discord? You mean…”
Bon-Bon stepped in. “Mr. Dewey Decimal, isn’t it? Do you realize what your daughter’s been up to? She went missing for months and suddenly comes back saying she was – “
“Human, yes.” He nodded. “What did you mean, Discord? He’s in that world now?”
“That’s why I need to get to the castle. There might still be time to stop him,” Lyra said.
Bon-Bon’s mouth hung open. “You knew about this the whole time?”
“Of course,” Dewey said. “Cirrus and I did consider telling you after Lyra left, but Princess Celestia suggested not to. We’re really quite sorry, but Lyra’s origins have been something of a royal secret.”
“I knew she wasn’t like other ponies, but I never thought that she wasn’t… well, a pony!”
“Dad, you’re still working at the Royal Archives, aren’t you?” Lyra said.
“Of course. I’m not getting that old yet. There’s still a couple years until I retire," he said. "Why?”
“Can you get me into the castle? Unless I can tell the Princess what happened, and get her to help me, I.. don’t know what will happen to the other humans.”
“Of course.”
Lyra led the way again, trotting at a brisk pace. She glanced behind her to be sure the others were keeping up. Bon-Bon had hung behind, making a face, but she hurried to catch up and ran alongside Dewey.
“You and your wife were raising a human filly,” Bon-Bon said.
Dewey stared at her. “Yes, we were.”
“Bon-Bon, we don’t actually call ourselves fil– “ Lyra started.
“You seemed like such perfectly normal Canterlot ponies when I met you!” Bon-Bon said. “Why did you get yourselves mixed up in all this?”
“We weren’t sure about her, at first. But Lyra turned out more or less like anypony else. The Princess still has her doubts, but personally I’m somewhat fascinated by the idea of humans.” He turned to Lyra. “So what is it like, where you came from? What are the other humans like?”
“They’re amazing!” Lyra said. “It took me a while to find my real family. Turns out the place I arrived was hundreds of miles away from home. But my friends in Des Moines helped me get back to Philadelphia – those are human cities, by the way – and it’s really not that hard for humans to travel that far. I was in this thing called a plane…”
Dewey listened with interest to Lyra’s story as they headed to the castle. Bon-Bon thought it all sounded even more outlandish than Lyra’s old theories. A giant metal tube that could fly faster and higher than a pegasus? It all sounded so insane, and yet she’d seen that photograph on some kind of device that obviously wasn’t from Equestria…
“I was hoping my family would know something about what happened to me when I disappeared, but they didn’t know anything,” Lyra was saying. “My dad’s a famous human writer. His books are about magic. Completely inaccurate, but anyway... He never suspected that’s what really happened to me, though.”
“Cirrus will be happy to hear you’re doing alright out there…” Dewey slowed down. They were nearly to the castle gates. “Of course, you don’t have time to stop and chat, do you?”
Lyra shook her head sadly. “I hope I haven’t lost too much time already.”
They hurried the rest of the way to the gates.
“Mr. Decimal, sir!” The royal guards recognized him immediately. “Is there anything we can help you with?”
“My daughter has important information to relay to the Princess. It’s imperative that you let her through.”
“We were told not to – “
“The Princess will understand. Just let her through. I’ll be taking full responsibility for this.”
The guards looked at each other, then stepped aside to let Lyra go through. She ran for the entrance immediately, then stopped to turn back.
“Thanks.”
“It’s no problem, really,” he said.
She hesitated. “I… might not be coming back. For real this time.”
“I understand that, Lyra. But you said there wasn’t much time.”
Lyra bit her lip. “Well… Thanks. For everything.” She turned and headed on alone into the castle.
“You only considered telling me,” she heard Bon-Bon say. “You’d think that if somepony was going to be living with a – “ Her voice faded as Lyra stepped inside.
Canterlot Castle. Passing through the entrance hall made Lyra remember the Gala. Today everything was eerily silent and still. As she headed up the stairs, she remembered after the party. Probably the most significant night of her life. She was easily able to remember where Princess Celestia had led her – that hall was likely where everybody was gathered now.
It was up the stairs, through several winding hallways. She was quickly running out of breath, but she saw the massive doors just ahead. Only a little bit further, and... With a burst of magic power, she flung them open and ran through.
Princess Celestia was there. In front of her were six ponies – the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. In total there were seven pairs of shocked eyes staring across the long hall at the pony who had just burst in.
Silence for a moment – no sounds except Lyra gasping for breath. She finally found her voice. “Discord’s back. I saw him.”
“Lyra?” Twilight was the first one to speak. Her voice echoed. “What are you doing here? And… you really saw Discord?”
“Great! You can lead us right to him!” Rainbow Dash said. “Where is he?”
“You’re sure you saw him?” Pinkie tilted her head. “’Cause I haven’t seen any chocolate or cotton candy lately and I thought it’d be everywhere!”
“Of course. He did all of that. It’s just like last time.” Lyra crossed the hall to join the others. An ornate chest was behind the Princess, and she could see the Elements inside. “And he turned me into a pony.”
“You’ve always been a pony, sugarcube.” Applejack lifted an eyebrow.
“Well, no, actually, I…” Lyra’s voice trailed off. Now that she had stopped running, she realized how tired she was. “Uh…”
The Princess stepped forward. “It’s as I feared… Seeing you here has confirmed that, Lyra.”
Twilight spun around. “What? What do you mean? You… know her? What does Lyra have to do with this?”
Celestia paused. “Several months ago, I sent Lyra back to her homeland. It’s a world entirely separate from our own,” she said. “Lyra didn’t know it herself, but she is actually a creature called a human.”
“She’s a… a what, now, exactly?” Rarity said, frowning.
“I’ve never heard of those before…” Fluttershy said.
“No, you gave me that research assignment on humans, and…” Twilight shook her head in protest. “They don’t exist. Everything I read proved that! Besides, nopony has ever seen a live one.”
“Until Lyra was found, I thought humans had gone extinct centuries ago. And now that Discord has found them… I’m not sure what can be done,” Celestia said. “I was unsure if you’d be able to use it, Lyra, but I did send you with a way back. You will be safe here.”
“Huh?” Lyra said. She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I came here for. We need the Elements of Harmony. Discord hasn’t been there for long. He’s only just getting started. There must still be time to stop him if we just hurry.”
“Discord has escaped from his prison again. That proves he’s already stronger than we thought. And with the power he draws from humans, he will most likely be unstoppable.”
Celestia’s words hung in the air for a while. Lyra shook her head again. “No. We have to try.”
“Lyra, um…” Twilight was struggling to find the words to say. “This… This is the Princess you’re talking to! You can’t just say ‘no’ to her!”
“Princess, you know better than anybody what happened last time Discord took control of humans,” Lyra said. “And I’ve seen what humans are like now, and it will only be worse. If we don’t do something now, Discord will get more powerful. And he’ll head to Equestria next.”
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t see what you would know about – “
“Wait a minute, Twi.” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “We’ve all known Lyra for a few years now. I don’t know what she is, but don’t you think we should try to help her?”
“But the Princess said it would be dangerous…” Twilight looked up at her mentor and waited for a response.
“Lyra.” Celestia seemed thoughtful. “What do you know of the humans in your world?”
“They’re… well…” Lyra hesitated.
“Are they peaceful?”
“Of course! Everybody I’ve met has been nice to me…” Lyra said. “But…” She sighed. “It’s complicated. I’ve met a lot of good people, but... You were kind of right about humans. We do fight each other. I don’t think we can just turn our backs, though, because humans are more than that! If we let Discord go, he’ll just take over all of the bad parts, and we can’t sit back and let that happen.”
“Princess?” Twilight said, but Celestia was waiting for Lyra to go on.
“Discord was still unfamiliar with the humans in my world,” Lyra said. “It seemed like he wasn’t doing much more than just messing around when I left. I can’t say what he’s up to now.”
“And that means he won’t be expecting us. I say we go,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Help humans?” Pinkie said. “Am I the only one who’s heard of them? Come on! They’ll eat us up!”
“I’m not going to eat anybody, Pinkie,” Lyra said in a flat voice. Her stomach turned. Not again, at least.
“We’re certainly not getting anywhere by standing around,” Rarity said. “Lyra seems to be the only one who knows what she’s doing, so I say we follow her and get it overwith.”
Applejack shrugged. “Might as well, I s’pose.”
Celestia hesitated. “It’s extremely dangerous,” she said at last. “If all of you are willing to take the chance – “
“We’ve taken care of Discord once already. It’ll be no problem to do it again!” Rainbow Dash said.
“The last time Discord attacked humanity, Luna and I were powerless to stand against him. I cannot be sure what will happen if you try to oppose him now.”
“But you’re letting them try…” Lyra said. “Right?”
“He’s going to be more powerful than he was a year ago, but how much, I cannot say. Whether you can defeat him or not, I need you all to return immediately. The enchantment on Lyra’s necklace will still work.” The Princess lowered her eyes. “If it comes to the worst, the best we can do is prepare to defend ourselves here.”
“So, uh… I’m kinda lost here. Where are we goin’?” Applejack said.
“Just try to get us closer this time,” Lyra said. “The human world is big. You were way off the mark when you sent me last time.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Celestia said.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Lyra held up a hoof. “Could you do something about these?”