Wild Wood, Part One
Quiet.
That was all she could hear.
Just quiet everywhere.
Well, not exactly quiet. Outside a catbird sang its feline-esque cry. Occasionally a car from one of the other houses drove past, the driver headed off for parts unknown or returning from same. And she could barely make out the laughter of children playing outside.
That was the quiet.
She couldn’t hear anymore, not the way she used to be able to. She couldn’t smell the apple pies that Sandra, the New Zealand ambassador’s wife, loved to make and who occasionally filled the sky with fruity scents as she plied her trade. She couldn’t feel the embracing layer of warmth, hugging her like a second skin.
She couldn’t hear her songs.
That was the part that hurt the most. They were gone. Two of the things that had marked her life so much: heartsong and lifesong, both now gone. Sure, there had been days in the past where they had been silenced; she silenced them herself to create her three children. But they always came back in the end. But now they were never coming back.
She would forever be songless.
The human woman climbed out of bed, naked, and that was a problem as well. It had been her attempt to cheer herself up last night by making love to her husband, and normally that would have done it. But even that brought new complications – something called a condom. In the past, they could just go, two rising in ecstasy, filling her and spending himself, until both lay together as a sweaty, loving mess. But now, given that she could get pregnant at nearly any time because she was now the same species as her husband, they had to take precautions.
It was the first time since she’d been with Paul that she hadn’t enjoyed it. She didn’t tell him, of course – that would have been unfair to him. But now something was missing.
Just like a lot of things in her life now.
She looked at her naked body, a body that just weeks ago wouldn’t have been nude by pony standards. A body that she’d seen before, but now she was going to see much more from now on. Her hair, now longer than her mane had ever been, was the same colors as when she had been a pony, and it followed to her eyebrows and pubic hair; from what Paul had told her, she now had naturally what models and porn stars would pay a fortune to have expertly dyed. She laughed at that; she never completely understood why or how. As for her eyes, they were still the same golden amber she’d had throughout her life, and strangely enough, it was an uncommon but still plausible human eye shade. And after her physical checkup, Erica (who would be her doctor from now on), told her that based on everything present, Lyra Phillips was no longer a sixty-two-year-old unicorn mare but a twenty-seven-year-old human woman.
And that news was the worst of all.
Lyra Phillips, once Lyra Heartstrings, was a champion of humanity, even before humans were known to ponykind. When they were nothing but legends, Lyra had been sure to be the expert in all things humanity even though she was derided as deluded, demented or worse. When Rarity’s daughter Sandalwood had vanished, Lyra had offered her expertise, even though ponies on the search teams had laughed. That had turned into finding DJ, befriending her and turning her into part-kid sister, part-mentee as Lyra had spent the next two decades giving her young friend all the advice and camaraderie that she could. Sometimes, Lyra suspected, that DJ cared more about her than she did Rarity…and she didn’t think she would be wrong.
Lyra Heartstrings-Phillips was a champion of humanity in every way. From the good to the bad, she knew they existed, proved it and had been ponykind’s most ardent envoy to humanity…
…but she never wanted to be one.
She got dressed. Thankfully she had clothing from the week she’d been stuck in human form by accident (back then when she regained her pony form she almost swore off turning back human again due to the period she’d had as a human), and they still fit. So after a quick shower, she threw on bra, panties, DC United jersey and some jeans and walked downstairs.
Halfway down the stairs, she heard voices. It bothered her that she could remember being able to hear voices from the moment she opened her door. At least they were laughing; she didn’t remember much about the first week being home, but she did remember Harper and Serenade’s tearstruck faces. She also recalled now being taller than her brother by about a foot, which was also surprising.
There’s a lot I’m going to have to get used to, Lyra thought to herself.
As she reached the base of the stairs, she looked into the living room to see Serenade and Wing Wishes breezily chatting as if the two mares had known one another forever. Seeing the latter reminded her she hadn’t been back in the office since her return to Earth two weeks ago.
Serenade was the first to react. “Lyra! You’re up!”
As if being able to read her thoughts, Wing spoke. “I’m not here on business, Lyra. This is a strictly personal call.”
Saying nothing, Lyra walked over and plopped into the aged chair that she’d bought while looking through antique shops in West Virginia. She’d liked the chair as it matched the furniture that she and Paul had bought, and after having had it reupholstered it almost seemed as it was a new purchase. “So, what’s up?”
Serenade looked at her sister-in-law. “I was just telling Wing here that I’m almost done recording my newest album and that they’ll need me back in Nashville for that, so I’ll be heading back tomorrow.”
Wing smiled. “And I came over to invite her to a mare’s day out. A bunch of us from the Embassy are planning to get together and do some sightseeing, then later hit some of the bars in the district.”
“I see,” Lyra said cautiously. She didn’t know if she was invited any longer, given that she was no longer a mare, per se.
A smile formed on Wing’s face. “I know what you’re thinking, Lyra. It’s a figure of speech, and we wouldn’t want to do it without you.”
“I know, and I appreciate it,” Lyra lied. “It’s just I….”
Serenade looked at her. “Are you sure?”
The woman nodded. “No, you go have some fun. I need to go shopping if I’m going to be ready for work on Monday. Need to buy some work clothing.”
“You don’t have to, you know,” Wing told her. “Cadance gave us specific orders that if you need to take the rest of the year off to adjust, then we should deal with it. We’ve already spoken to the State Department and Secretary Lewis sends his regards.”
“I know, but…I’ve been back two weeks and things have been standing still. Didn’t the Uzbekistani ambassador arrive already?”
“Yes, and he’s been demanding to meet with you. I’ve met with him twice and that’s apparently not good enough. I was going to meet with him at noon on Monday, but since you’ll be back that should work.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lyra replied.
“You positive? Between you and me, Ambassador Karamatov is a jerk, but his country is trying to reach out to us, so I guess we should. Just…be careful, Lyra, okay? You’re still recovering and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine, Wing, I promise.”
The rest of the day went okay. Serenade and Wing went off to their ladies’ day, while Lyra got into their minivan and practiced driving around a bit and readjusting to her changed proportions before heading off to the mall to go pick up some new clothing. That in itself proved to be a challenge, as she now had to find working attire that would match with her hair color. Looking at it in a mirror, she briefly considered cutting it, but then, she thought she looked cute with it – her hair was now halfway down her back and reminded her a lot of the tail she used to have.
“You know, I don’t get you freaks.” Lyra turned to see a man arguing with a college-age girl. The woman had electric-blue hair and if it wasn’t for the fact that Lyra could see her roots, she would’ve thought the woman to be an amniomorphed pony.
“I’m sorry, is there a problem?” Lyra asked, trying to see if she could mediate – it was her job, after all.
“Oh great, another one of you fucking beasty babes or whatever you call yourselves,” the man said in a thick, guttural accented voice. Getting a better look at him, he looked like one of those assholes who thought he automatically was entitled to his way, and now that he lived here in the US, he was going to demand that whatever it was like in the old country be the same here. Given his attitude, he must’ve been some sort of bigwig back there and was a relative nothing here.
“So, you girls put out for ponies or whatever? Or do you lick each other when there’s no one else?”
“Excuse me?” the girl commented, a look of shock on her face.
“Tell you what: I’ll give you a hundred to satisfy me. At least that way you’ll know what sleeping with a human is like,” he sneered.
Lyra had to intervene; this poor girl didn’t deserve this shit. “Hey, you want to show some class, mister? Leave the girl alone.”
“Oh, do you want money, too? It’s been a while since I’ve been with two women, but I’m sure I’ve still enough stamina for the both of you,” he chuckled.
“Only thing you need to move is your fat worthless ass out of here,” Lyra told him, “or else I’ll call mall security.”
“You don’t have the right to tell me to do anything, whore,” he spat.
“You don’t have the right to call me a whore, you fucking jerk.” Lyra started looking around with the intent to flag down a store clerk. “Best get walking before I let them know what a wonderful piece of guttertrash you are.”
The man glared at her. “In my country a woman would show a man respect!”
“Well, we’re not in your country,” she told him, “and besides, I have yet to see a man here.” Meanwhile, the other girl had taken a cue from Lyra and went over to talk to a store clerk. The man, knowing he had been stymied, spat at her and walked off.
Meanwhile, the other girl came up to her. “Thanks!” she gushed, blushing. “He just came up and started accosting me!”
Lyra smiled. “Don’t worry, there are guys like that all the time on both worlds; thankfully, there are just as many nice ones, too. What’d you do to set him off?”
“I was just talking to one of the cashiers about me needing new business attire for my job interview at one of the embassies and he told me that women like me with my hair color who go to embassies are there one reason and one reason only – and that because I have ‘pony’ hair, I must be there to sleep with the ambassador!”
“Well, not that it’s my business, but why do you have pony-toned hair?”
“My parents just adopted a pony last week. Sweet little earth colt; we got him from the orphanage in Canterlot. Since we wanted him to feel at home, we all dyed our hair to make him feel like he belongs. It’s even why I applied for a position at the Equestriani Embassy, because that way I’ll be able to get whatever information I can so Mom and Dad can make little Tucker feel at home.”
Lyra sighed as her heart melted. I always knew humanity was good. “When’s your appointment?”
“Tomorrow at 1:30, why?”
“Just tell the secretary that you’ll meet with the Ambassador at that time. I’ll arrange it for you. If they ask, you can tell them Lyra said it was okay.”
The girl started laughing. “Really? That’s my name! Lyra Green.” She offered her hand.
Lyra took and shook. “Lyra Phillips. Don’t worry about HR; I’ll talk to them for you.”
“I guess you’re the head of HR? I mean, I don’t want any special treatment or anything, Ms. Phillips….”
“It’s okay, really. Your family adopted a pony, and you clearly adore him; I’m sure the Ambassador very much would appreciate that.”
“I guess. So, what’s she like? I didn’t get much info, but I hear she’s one of the first ponies to come to our Earth.”
Lyra nodded. “Trust me, seeing a pony getting a loving family? She’s going to absolutely adore you to pieces for that.”
“Mom!” Lyra bent down and her children ran into her arms. They recognized her, which she was afraid they wouldn’t.
Coming up to her, Paul smiled. “I told you they would know who you are, hon.”
She began to choke up. “I know, but I’ve lost so much,” she said softly. “I didn’t want to lose the most important parts of my life.”
Colby looked at his mother and wiped her eyes. “Mom, Dad said you’re not gonna be a pony anymore. Really?”
His twin sister, Orchid, looked at him. “Mommy’s always a pony! We’re ponies too!”
“Ponies!” Ovie parroted, still too young to completely understand what was going on.
“Sorry, Lyra, I tried to explain, but I don’t think they quite got the gist.” Paul’s parents David and Joan approached, looking at her with surprise. “I didn’t think it was true, but….” Joan went over and hugged her daughter-in-law. “I’m sorry for what happened.”
“I’ll manage,” she lied. “It’s going to take some adjusting to, but I’ll manage.”
David, meanwhile, elbowed his son. “So, what’d the doctor say?”
“Lyra’s biologically twenty-seven now,” Paul replied with a bit of embarrassment for his wife’s sake. “The doctors aren’t completely sure, but she regressed about three decades in age.”
The older man looked perplexed. “How is that even possible?”
“Not sure, but magic, I presume. There’s already been a major case with a mare around Lyra’s age – Sunshine Glimmer or something, didn’t completely catch the name – who it occurred to recently as well.”
“I see.” David shrugged; the only answer he could give. “All the better for you, then – first you land yourself a hot older woman, and now this sweet young thing. My son, the stud.”
Paul rolled his eyes. “Dad….”
“Oh hush, David,” Joan chided him. “Keep your mouth shut for Lyra’s sake!” She then turned back to Lyra. “Dear, if there’s anything you need, you know you only have to ask.”
“Thanks, Joan,” Lyra said, softly. “Right now, I’m just adjusting to everything and losing my songs.”
“Losing your songs?”
“With unicorns…and I suspect to some degree with the other subspecies,” Lyra explained, “we have our heartsong and our lifesong, a sort of musical ‘hum’ that we can hear if we really focus. The heartsong tends from what makes us our tribe; I could always feel the song in my horn. And our lifesong…that comes from our cutie marks. And now, I can’t feel either. I feel so empty….” She looked at her family and there were tears in her eyes. “I feel…I feel fake.”
Joan hugged her once more. “No, you’re not. You’re a beautiful young woman, Lyra.”
“I don’t want to be a woman! I’m a mare! I was born a pony, and now it’s all gone!” Lyra broke down in tears, and instinctively her three children went and hugged her legs while Paul looked on helplessly.
Slipping into rabbi mode, David said, “There…is an inner connection between music and the spirit, and when language aspires to the transcendent and the soul longs to break free of the bounds of the earth, it becomes song. Bennett once said music is a language which the soul alone understands but cannot translate. Richter referred to it as the poetry of air. Tolstoy called it the shorthand of emotion and Goeth said it is one of the foremost means to work upon man with the effect of marvel. Words may be the language of the mind, but music....” He chuckled. “Music, my dear, is the language of the soul.”
Lyra looked at her father-in-law with uncertainty, wondering if that had been intended just for her.
“Well, it was that or my sermon on soccer. I thought the former one would be better.”
Dinner that night went okay. The family had a cookout, and Lyra tried a steak for the first time, feeling guilty that it tasted so wonderful but assured that it was USDA Certified Nonsapient. Still, she felt more than a bit guilty; after all, she knew the minotaur cow that was Minos’ ambassador to the US; and the steak just served to remind her why AE cattle refused to travel to Human-Earth despite there being no prohibition. She knew it was a long-term issue she was going to have to work on, both for herself as a woman now and for her fellow Equstriani citizens, but right now it was just a mess.
After dinner was movie time, featuring one she’d been meaning to watch for the longest time: Fantasia Unbound, the 2033 sequel to the first two Disney films. This time they tapped into most of the music of both realities, and it was during the “Dance of the Worlds” sequence, where a soft, elegant melody played on strings while a menagerie of goofy-looking animals pretended to be the planets and satellites of the human realm, where Lyra broke again. Her kids didn’t notice, too wrapped up in the scene of a whale representing the Sun shouting at a hyper, coffee-addicted Mercury (portrayed by a rambunctious kid cheetah), but the adults did.
Paul pulled her close and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“That…that’s my song. Dance of the Alicorns,” she said in a near-whisper. “I wrote it after I first met Bonnie, because she meant so much to me that I felt she was my very own alicorn. I…I didn’t authorize this!”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “My agent must have. But I didn’t tell Songsheet that he could use this song!” A low whimper came from the woman, and Paul brought her closer as she silently wept into his shirt. “Now I’ve lost that, too.”
“You didn’t lose it,” he whispered back. “It’s yours. Nothing’s ever going to change that.”
“That was then,” she said mournfully. “I wrote it when I still had her, before we had ever met. And now I’ve lost her to hatred and the song to a corporation. And I’ve even lost myself. What else will I lose?”
She sat on the chair by the window, bathed in moonlight, the soft silvery rays reflecting off her pale skin. Tonight had been another useless night and she was starting to worry that Paul was suspecting something. After all, while they had always been a very active couple, tonight she’d gone until she’d wiped him out and then begged for more. He fell asleep and she felt unsatisfied. And now she was frustrated.
Before, she’d always felt like bliss whenever they made love, like they were literally meant to be together. She’d once read a bizarre interview where a unicorn mare had described sex with men in some ersatz IKEAesque way which implied that she thought it was just like it was meant to be. And Lyra, back then, could hardly fault the point, even if she thought the presentation was stupid. And if she had to admit to her own strange metaphors, there was the time she dreamed she was a plush doll, with a hole made just for him.
But now she had a hole that was meant for any man, not just her husband’s.
It reminded her how hollow she was now, especially, when her father-in-law unintentionally reminded her of that. Oh, sure, she knew he didn’t mean that; he was family and as a man of the cloth, he could never be so callous. But his words reminded her of the hatred her parents had given her because she chased her heart and not the cashflow, turning down the hoof of a noblestallion just to move to Ponyville and be with Bon-Bon. Years later, Harper had told her that they’d never meant that, though to this day she wasn’t sure if he’d lied just for her sake. Still, that had dredged up so much, and now she was feeling every bit of how much stronger stronger the emotions within the human body than within her pony one.
She wanted to turn back time and have Sunset volunteer to do the horn crash.
And yet, she knew if she could actually do that, she would still volunteer, because lives were in the balance.
She was a recipient of the Eclipse Medal and a royal heroine, so much so that Luna had confided that a few nobleponies recommended she be advanced to palatine, a rare title in the Equestriani heraldry which lay just under the aegis of the royal family. And that was already on top of her expansive list of accomplishments and accolades, something she could never have imagined the day before Rarity’s newborn foal had been taken from Equestria.
When she was first made a viscountess, she had been over the moon, because of the change in fortunes it meant for her and Bonnie. Now, she didn’t think herself worthy of it, because she was a fake.
A shell.
Big ol’ Goddamn nothingburger, as DJ liked to say.
She slipped on her panties, then some shorts and a t-shirt and went downstairs. One of them deserved to get some sleep, and it might as well be the real human.
She went into the basement, where she kept her musical instruments and Paul his model collection. She made such a racket that she’d set a stasis spell on the glass case where all the models were, and it bothered her that when the spell wore off, she was going to have to have somepony else take care of it, a simple casting she could’ve once dealt with.
She picked up one of her guitars, a Fender American Professional Stratocaster, Paul Weller Edition that had been a gift from the Spanish ambassador from five years ago, Fernando Luiz Fuehorbe. He’d hit on her mercilessly, much to Paul’s irritation, but had admitted it was all in good fun and had in a sort of penance had gifted her with the then most-expensive model of electric guitar at the time.
It made her wonder: had she been human at the time, would he have given up? Fernando had been single for a reason, and his chief of staff had confided that he’d bedded (or at least tried to) every single woman who worked for the Spanish Embassy at the time and a few married ones. She loved her husband too much to consider that and she had never been attracted to Fernando. But there was always that nagging doubt. Her relationship with Paul started because of her infidelity, never mind that she didn’t know that Bon-Bon had signed the divorce papers that weekend so long ago. She hadn’t been faithful, and though she had since, there was always that nagging doubt.
Would Fernando have whittled down her resistance until she gave in?
And so she played.
“Day by day, your world fades away
Waiting to feel all the dreams that say
Golden rain will bring you riches
All the good things you deserve now”
She stopped on a sour note and tears struck the body of the guitar. She threw the guitar down, not knowing what the answer would be, and she hated herself for it. Was she only with Paul because of the way he made her feel as a mare? Was that all to their two decades together and thirteen years of marriage? Was that it?
Would he leave her because she no longer had a tail and horn or green fur?
Would she grow disenchanted with him and have a meaningless affair just because she wanted to feel the illusion of being alive and meaning something?
She didn’t know the answer. She didn’t have a clue.
And finally, as Paul came down at six in the morning to see her in the shape she was in, she realized she didn’t have any sleep, either.
“C’mon, Ambassador! Time to rise and shine, get up and see the world!” She woke up from the gentle gesture and realized she’d fallen asleep in the car during the trip. The lights of the underground parking lot stabbed at her eyes and she felt sick. But here she was at the Equestriani Embassy complex, the location that took up the majority of the block surrounded by I, J, 17th and 18th streets in the Northwestern Quarter of Washington DC. Her office, in fact, overlooked Farragut Square, and she often liked to go down to the park and jam on her guitar or lyre with some of the buskers, just to further pony-human relations. She couldn’t do that anymore.
“Thanks, Thaddeus,” she groaned, reminding herself of another thing she’d lost. During her convalescence, her driver Terry had a heart attack; though he survived, the doctor insisted on immediate retirement. Wing had made sure he received a full retirement package, the kind that would set him up for life. Plus, he came to see her while she was laid up, telling her she was the best boss he’d ever had and that she needed to take care of herself more than ever. She promised to come visit him once he settled down in Phoenix, and while she wanted to, she didn’t know if she would have the time.
Still, he hadn’t left her abandoned; Terry had trained his nephew Thaddeus for the particulars of the job, and Thaddeus did them to the letter, acting like a mini-Terry. Still, it wasn’t the same. She would have to adjust…like so many other things in her life.
She struggled to bend over and pick up the papers before she realized she probably had her seatbelt on before remembering that limousines do not have seatbelts, at least not in the rear cabin. Am I that wiped?
“C’mon, Ambassador, doncha worry about that!” he told her in that bassy voice of his as he adjusted his turtleshell glasses. “I’ll get this stuff up to your office in a jiffy,” he insisted, signaling to one of the various REA personnel that provided security at the Embassy to give him a hand. “You just get to your office and save the world, okay?”
Despite everything, she laughed. “Okay, okay, I’m getting going,” she said, grabbing her briefcase, and walking towards the elevator, feeling like a girl on her first day at school. “I’ll see you guys up there.”
“Don’t worry, your grace, we’ll take care of this,” the REA sergeant told her, and she smiled. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
As she got to the main lobby, she was greeted by a great number of the Embassy staff, who had come to give her a standing ovation. Signs reading OUR FAVORITE MARE! and BEST UNICORN EVER! were held high, as the presence of a couple dozen ponies and humans made her blush.
Wing approached her, giving her a hug. “Welcome back, Ambassador,” she said warmly.
“Thanks,” she said, then looking at all her staff, feeling more than a little choked up by the attention. “Thank you all. I know I look a little…well, a lot different now, but you’ve seen me like this before and I’m still the same mare—” Liar! “—that I’ve always been. And you know I’ll always be here for you all just as you all have been for me. Thank you all, seriously.” She could feel tears in her eyes, and for a change, they were happy ones. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“You know, I’ve heard ‘thanks’ usually works.” She turned and was given a bouquet of roses from REA Maj. Genevieve Groundstrike, the Embassy’s military liaison as well as the commander of the detachment in charge of protecting the Embassy. As an Equestriani gryphoness who chose to serve in the army vice the air force, she and Lyra got along well and she was considered “one of the mares” in the building. Her friendship with Genni also stemmed from the fact that her boyfriend was a human attorney working for the Center of Public Integrity, a governmental non-profit that was leasing the one building on the block that the Embassy owned but did not use.
“Hi, Genni. How goes?”
“Missed ya, Lyra!” the major said with a hug. “Wow, you’ve grown a little.”
Lyra laughed. “Can’t be helped. How’s Craig?”
“You just missed him. He was in here a few minutes ago to pester Cloudswirl to ask the Guild again about the final development for non-pony genderstones.”
“And?”
“Well, given how screwed-up gryphon DNA is? Quadriploid vice human diploid? They told us that gryphon genderstones might have to be modified to keep me in human form for the full fifteen months of pregnancy. It also means that we’re far more likely to have boys instead of girls.”
“Sorry to hear that.” She knew that Genni wanted chicks as well as cubs, but the strange nature of gryphons was that they laid eggs for female young, but gave live birth to male young. Most species thought that was incredibly odd, but then again, the majority of species on Alter-Earth reproduced by live birth, with few by egg…and none by the gryphons’ method, save themselves.
“Anyway, Lyra, if you have a moment, we need to talk.”
“Sure, I have no idea what’s on my schedule right now,” Lyra said, as she waved again to the staff that had showed up and walked towards the elevators. “Wing?”
“I took all the hard stuff today, save for the two appointments you insisted on. I figured you’d want to catch back up with work since you’ve been out for a bit.”
“Thanks.” The trio talked about their weekends, and Lyra felt a bit of jealousy; from Genni’s conversation, she and Craig were really looking forward to tying the knot, and he was looking to take the bar exam in Equestria, so that when she had to be reassigned back to another REA command, they could get married and live there with no issues. As for Wing, she was still depressed that she didn’t have a coltfriend and was wondering if she should chase human males, given that she promised her mother she would have a nice colt and filly for her to spoil.
As much as Lyra tried to keep it from her face, each of the words she’d heard was just another knife wound. Genni might end up human for fifteen months, but unless something drastically went wrong, she would end up going back to who she was. Wing, assuming she even hooked up with a guy, would only have to worry about a genderstone if she wanted children. Both of them would never understand what Lyra was going through and each of their words were like burning little needles, each unintentionally placed for maximum pain.
Finally, they arrived at her office, waving hi to Lyra’s secretary, who stared at her boss with utter shock, before going in. “You guys didn’t tell Kurt, did you?”
“Lyra, he just got over his divorce and his boss went from attractive older pony to younger centerfold human. Trust me, we didn’t want to clean up the drool,” Wing said as she gestured to the coffee table where Lyra usually met with foreign dignitaries.
As they sat down, Genni looked at Wing. “You want to be the one to tell her you screwed up or should I?”
Wing sighed. “Yeah, thanks for having my back there, Gen. Anything else you’d like to poke me in the flank for?”
Lyra looked at the two as they bickered. “Okay girls, what are you two not telling me?”
“Lyra, after your incident and all that happened…Celestia declared war, and the NATO nations are now at war with the Changeling Empire. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m in ACUs instead of my Class As, and I’m also carrying a pistol.” Lyra looked at the gryphoness, confirming that. A second later, she realized that the REA sergeant who had been in the garage was also in full battle attire and carrying a rifle, not just Class As and a pistol as per normal procedure.
“There’s more to it, though,” Genni continued. “In light of what happened in Singapore several months ago, Celestia doesn’t want anything like that to happen again. So…per her orders, we’ve doubled the guard here at the Embassy, and have stationed an additional detachment over at Myers-Henderson and we now have an REG detachment as well, assigned to protect you, Paul and the kids, as well as a DSS liaison.”
“So, we’re getting security?”
“Round the clock,” Genni told her. “The Department of State is in talks to change your neighborhood into a gated community, but in the meanwhile, you’ll have a guardhouse set up by the front gate to your house.”
“No.” Lyra’s answer was firm.
“Lyra, I have two at my place as well,” Wing told her. “Wish they were stallions, but I do have two of them.”
“No. I want my children to have a normal life. I want to have a normal li—”
“I’m sorry, your grace, but you don’t get a choice,” Genni said in a stern tone. “You nearly died saving the city. You are the first being in well, ever, as far as we know, who has changed species involuntarily and cannot change back. And I need not talk about your beyond impressive resume of, well, everything. If you wanted normal, you lost that chance a long time ago.”
“I don’t like your tone, Major,” Lyra hissed, hurt at her friend’s insensitivity.
“Are you two done acting like stallions in a ‘who’s more dudebrony than thou’ contest?” Wing snapped. “Seriously! Genni, think about it from Lyra’s perspective: she just recovered from what happened to her and now this is being foisted on her. And Lyra, we don’t have a choice – this was Celestia’s order, so don’t get on Genni’s case for something she’s required to do. Do you think she would just do that to you?”
At her admonishment, both sighed. “Sorry,” both blurted at the same time.
Genni was the first to speak afterwards. “I know this is hard for you, Lyra, and I’m sorry. But ponies I know were killed in the battle in Canterlot. You were nearly killed in Canterlot! I’m a soldier, and this is my job – keeping our fellow Equestriani safe. How can I do that if I can’t even keep my ambassador safe?”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Lyra threw up her hands in frustration. “Sorry, I…look, I need to call Paul and let him know.”
Wing rose from her chair. “That’s a good enough reason as any for us to step out and get back to work.”
Genni rose as well. “Yeah, I need to review the security protocols with DSS and our head REG agent.” She then turned back to Lyra as the latter rose. “I’ll ask Agent Turquoise Beam to come by later and brief you on your new security team.”
The human woman nodded. “And Genni….”
The gryphoness waved it off. “We were both wrong. It happens.” Both of them then left, leaving Lyra and her own feelings alone in the spacious office that she’d occupied for so long. An office filled with reminders of happier times and precious moments, like the piano on the far side, which was a gift from the Zebrababwean ambassador; or the coffee table, which had been a gift from Cadance herself. Pictures of places around Equestria, which had been chosen by Bon-Bon. A golden lyre which had been a gift from Twilight. And so many other things.
All for a mare that no longer existed.
All inherited by a woman without a true past.
She forced the thoughts away from her mind and went over to her desk…which was decidedly too short for her now. The gorgeous crystalwood desk, hewn by artisans in Empire City, was made for a pony, for something she no longer was. Her Aeron chair, a masterpiece of human furniture technology, was not one of the human A, B, or C sizes, but instead M, made for a mare, and allowing the user to sit both bipedally and traditionally; as a result, it had a tail slot included as well.
She grabbed her phone and dialed her secretary. “Kurt.”
“Yes, honeybuns?”
She sighed; she was really going to have to talk to him about professionalism; yes, they used to joke in the past, but that was that now…the past. “I…this is a pony-sized desk now. I’m going to need a new one.”
“Ah, about that – the Ministry says a new one is on order, but won’t arrive until next week.”
“Okay. Can you get a human desk from storage and have that and an Aeron A sent up in the meanwhile?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get your tush covered, cutie.”
She hung up and sighed. It’s too early in the morning for this shit, seriously.
Hours later, the coffee table was covered in paperwork Lyra studiosly looked over while ignoring the team of ponies stronghoofing her old desk out of the room. A second group brought in a typical plastic desk from downstairs that would serve as her temporary bureau until the new one arrived from Equestria; it was ugly as hell but it would do the job.
The phone on the coffee table chimed and Lyra hit the glowing button. “What’s up, Kurt?”
“Your 12 o’ clock is here, Ambassador. Also, the Chinese place called and said they’re running late today and won’t be here until a little after 1.”
She laughed; Asian Blossom had some of the best Chinese food in town – but far be it for them to deliver on time. “That’s fine. Can you have the Uzbekistani ambassador meet me in the side conference room? My office is a little tied up at the moment.”
“Will do.” He then hung up, leaving Lyra to pick up the paperwork, stacking it neatly before walking over to the closet and grabbing her blazer, barely hanging above the floor. She was going to have to have the closet remodeled for human size, now that she was much taller. Then there was the matter of all her clothing in there that would need to be donated, the various articles of attire that all seemed to lie there with a silent taunt: YOU’RE NO PONY.
She turned away, practically ripping the coat off the hanger and stormed out of her office to confused stares.
She walked down the hall, slipping on her coat before she ran into Kurt, who was looking at her oddly again. She would really have to have a talk with him about the change in situation; the gaze he had on his face reminded her of the time that she and Paul watched some old movie, a frat comedy that had a dream sequence where a girl walked forward with a “come hither” and completely undressed before kissing the actor. Seeing the look on her husband’s face made her mildly jealous, but she had been a mare back then. Now? It utterly unnerved her.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said softly, though her eyes held a cool gaze.
“Uh, Lyra?” he asked, confused.
“I am not an object. I wasn’t one when I was a mare and I’m not one now. Get that straight.” She didn’t say anything further and walked past him, forcing an even look on her face. She would have used the meditation that Cadance had taught her when she was a filly, but there wasn’t time. She took one last breath, and then strolled into the room, confident, in control and ready to d—
“YOU!”
Lyra looked at the person who had shouted. It was the fat, rude man from earlier. He was seated on the other side of the table, with several other people, and all of them had the same glare in their eyes – that same one that Kurt had. That she was nothing more than an object. That infuriated her all the more.
“I said I wanted to speak to the Ambassador,” the man spoke, “not her designated whore. And if she is too afraid to show her little animal face, tell her Rustam Karamatov does not deal with things that are little more than pets.”
“I am the Ambassador of Equestria, Lyra Heartstrings-Phillips, Viscountess Morgan,” Lyra spoke, trying to keep her calm. “And I presume you’re the Uzbekistani ambassador?”
The man laughed. “You? You’re the horse ambassador? They can’t even manage to get one of their own kind? This is more pathetic than I expected. I will depart and tell my government we have no time to play with Candyland countries.” He looked at his people. “Come, let us go do something worthier of our time, like go drinking.” The others in the room, all men, laughed.
The rest of her staff walked in, just as the others were getting ready to leave. “Well, you are welcome to leave, if you want to prove just how worthless of a diplomat you are,” Lyra responded cattily, much to her staffers’ surprise.
“I told you, in my country women respect men,” Karamatov snarled.
“And I told you: I have yet to see a man here,” she replied, her eyes narrowing, feeling an ember burning within her.
He pointed at her. “You talk like that again and I will show you how a man treats an impudent—” His eyes widened and he started to back off. A split second later, so did his staff.
So did hers. “Ambassador?” a mare squeaked as her staff started to back away.
The reason for it was Lyra. Her face was contorted in a mask of anger and her eyes bled golden power. “YOU CALL YOURSELF A MAN,” she intoned, her tone bordering on the Royal Canterlot Voice, “BUT ALL YOU ARE IS A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING. YOUR COUNTRY REQUESTED AID FROM US BUT INSTEAD OF TREATING US LIKE EQUALS, YOU SLANDER US LIKE BEASTS. YET IT IS YOU THAT ACT NO BETTER!”
Hearing the commotion, Wing rushed into the room. “LYRA!”
But the woman was too far gone to hear. She slammed her fist on the table, shattering half of it. “GET OUT OF MY BUILDING!” the former unicorn roared, and the other diplomats didn’t waste time, running out of the room as if their lives depended on it. The moment they did, Lyra started to shiver.
Wing rushed up to her. “Lyra?”
The woman screamed.
The room filled with incredible power.
A second later, every window on the fifth floor of Building A of the Royal Equestriani Embassy, Washington exploded outward, thrown out by blaze of solar-hued force.
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It's good to see this being updated.
Lyra went super mare.
DJ likes
I think Lyra had a magical burst. Hopefully she is going to be alright and she can find a way to get her magic back.
Now I wonder what happened to this universes Starlight Glimmer?
Good chapter, great Lyra coverage.
8717918
With any luck she got a look at how humans did communism and decided she was being an idiot with her total equality thing.
alicorn lyra?
8717954
I doubt it. We have far to many idiots in all governments who think it is the best thing since sliced bread.
Oh my god, I think Lyra's magic went super saiyan levels now
8719330
Oh god, her hair...
Glad to see this story get updated! That bit at the end really reminds me of the Doctor Who episode when Donna remembers all her buried memories and explodes with golden light (which pulses out, but leaves her unharmed).
plush doll, with a hole
Reference game eternally on point
8722613
That part just couldn't be left out.
Well, it seems that human Lyra might have become a witch! Awesome!
...boom.