Chapter 9: Talking with Lyra
The next day, after I had woken up and had some breakfast with Starlight, it was time for me to give making a friend in Equestria on my own another shot. It was going to be with a pony I knew didn’t think bad of me: Lyra Heartstrings. At the moment, I was pacing in the living room, rubbing my hands. Starlight was lying on the couch while staring at me.
“Okay, it’s time," I said, mostly to myself.
Starlight tilted her head to the side. “You look pretty nervous.”
I stopped both my pacing and rubbing of hands and turned to Starlight. “I do?”
“Yeah. I thought you said Lyra liked you, so what’s wrong?”
I sighed. Starlight was right about Lyra, but my track record of making friends in Equestria on my own was nothing short of awful. “Nerves, I guess. Weird, because it’s not like I’m asking her to go on a date.”
Starlight laid a hoof on her cheek and looked down briefly. It appears to be more or less random that a pony tilts their head either up or down when they do this. “Would bringing along Twilight help any? I had the feeling that she wanted to be more helpful than usual when we saw her yesterday.”
I rubbed my chin, pondering asking Twilight to come. Ever since we met, she’s been open to me asking her for help. This could also count as a “friendship problem”, something you think would be under the Princess of Friendship’s jurisdiction anyhow. But something she said yesterday ended that thought and made me let go of my chin. “That idea wouldn't work. You forgot that she said she’s going to be busy today with princess duties? Besides, even if she comes, she might put pressure on Lyra just by being there.”
Starlight facehoofed. Guess that little fact about Twilight being busy slipped her mind. “Oh yeah, she did say she'd be busy most of today. Well, at least you'll have me with you. Not only that, you’re one of the nicest guys ever, so I’m sure Lyra will want to be your friend.”
“Thanks, Starlight. Alright, let’s go.”
"Okay...wait, I forgot about something. I'll be right back!" Starlight hopped off the couch, ran by me, and up the stairs, apparently heading to her room. Ten seconds later, she walked back down the stairs. What she wore around her neck was a shock.
Starlight was wearing an aquamarine collar, so it nearly matched the color of the streak in her mane. And if that wasn't surprising enough, she was smiling.
"W-Where did you get that collar, and why are you wearing it?"
"If ponies see me wearing a collar without a leash and on my own accord, maybe it could fix any damage I caused you by making me have to wear it in the first place. To help further show this is my choice, I used magic to change the collar's color from green to what you see now."
I was about to say it wasn't necessary. And yet I couldn't. This action showed even more that Starlight really wanted to be a good pony and she cares about me, and I felt my lips curling into a smile. Though another thought made me question if she should wear it. "But what about the engraving?"
"Hee hee, see for yourself." Starlight walked closer to me with a big smile.
I knelt to take a closer look at the collar's charm. It was now in the shape of what seemed to be a leaf, not a heart like before. Instead of "Starlight, property of Sam", the engraving in this charm said "Starlight, friend of Sam" and it almost made me tear up. Almost.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel--"
"But I want to, and I was wearing a collar when I made my first true friend in years. Maybe this could be like a good-luck charm from now on?"
Couldn't think of anything else to say, so I just leaned forward to hug my friend, and she wrapped her forelegs around me. With their soft coats, ponies give the best hugs.
Once we let each other go, I gave Starlight a "boop" on the muzzle and as usual, she giggled cutely. After that, I stood up and we walked out the door.
With Starlight beside me, we were walking through the town square of Ponyville, hoping to run into Lyra, but she was nowhere in sight. During my first week in Equestria, that unicorn wouldn’t leave me alone. Now that I’m looking for her, I can’t find her.
Although we had no problem finding other ponies trotting about or standing near one of several houses, many of them giving me those stares or shaking their heads again. So far, Starlight's idea to willingly wear a collar bore no fruit. At least the breeze blowing felt nice; a tad chilly, but not cold. I wondered if the few pegasi flying in the air thought so too.
I looked down and sighed. “Maybe we should head back home, Starlight. Lyra’s not around, and I can’t take much more of these ponies’ stares.”
Starlight did what ponies love to do when they think about something hard: set a hoof on her cheek and raised her head up. After a moment, she smiled and her horn glowed. Some kind of turquoise smoke flooded from it and into all the nearby ponies, even the ones that weren’t staring, who gasped as the smoke entered their mouths. After a second, their frowns vanished, and they smiled and waved at me. Although something about it felt...unnatural.
“Is this better?”
I rubbed my head. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. “Uh, Starlight? What did you do?”
“I cast a spell to made them more welcoming of you.”
Guess this was an effect that heavily relying on magic most of her life had on her. She’s going to have to work on that. “W-Well, they do look more friendly, but maybe you could undo whatever it was you did?”
Starlight formed a confused frown, like the question I asked was odder than it was. “Why? The spell didn’t hurt them, and unlike the Cutie Mark stealing spell, this spell didn’t change who they are, but just made them nicer towards you.”
“I appreciate it, but I doubt Twilight would like this. You already said it wouldn’t be smart to make her mad, right?”
Starlight's pupils shrank. “Point taken, so I’ll change them back.” Starlight’s horn glowed again, and the stream of magic that went into the ponies before came out of them and returned to her horn. Afterward, most gave me the dirty stares they were giving previously. The ones that weren’t staring simply went back to doing whatever they were doing before Starlight’s "idea."
I commented, “At least they didn’t seem to notice what happened.”
“Yeah, at least--hey, there she is! Over there!” Starlight pointed to our right to an aquamarine unicorn with a mix of a white and grayish-cyan mane and tail, sitting on a bench by a water fountain.
Lyra.
From our distance, Lyra looked small, so maybe she didn’t notice what Starlight just did. She seemed to be sitting like a human, something I’ve never seen a pony do. Did that come from watching me so much?
Starlight and I walked closer and when Lyra finally spotted me, she waved her hooves at me. We were close enough to tell that she had a big smile on her face, so I waved back and came closer still. But after we closed around two-thirds of the distance, Lyra’s smile faded and she turned her head back and forth.
Starlight looked around a couple of times and asked, “What is she doing?”
I rubbed my chin. After a second, I said, “Oh, I know what's wrong.” With a smile, I called out to Lyra, “Hey, it’s okay! I want to talk to you, and Twilight won’t mind!”
After another glance to her right, Lyra smiled again but didn’t start waving. She just stayed still on the bench.
With Starlight behind me, I reached the bench and sat down to Lyra’s left. Starlight hopped on the bench and sat to my left, so I was between the two mares.
We had a moment of awkward silence. It wasn’t as bad as the ones Starlight, I, and the gang had when Starlight was trying to apologize to Rainbow, but it still felt uncomfortable.
Okay, Sam. Lyra likes you, so talk to her. I thought, hoping it would help me break this silence. To further help, I rubbed my hands. “So, uh...hey.”
“Hi,” Lyra responded, leaning her head to my hands, which I was still rubbing. She had big, curious, orange eyes.
“Uh...I’m Sam.”
“I’m Starlight Glimmer,” Starlight greeted. She actually sounded less nervous than me!
Lyra moved her head away from my hands and said, “I’m Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.”
Feeling a little calmer now, I stopped rubbing my hands. “Oh, I know. Twilight told me after she...had a word with you.”
Lyra looked down and her ears drooped. This helped me confirm that every pony’s ears droop when they’re sad, scared, or something like that. “Y-Yeah, and I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s alright, and I had a feeling you weren’t trying to do me any harm. And it was kinda cut--"
Starlight leaned toward Lyra and interrupted, "Uh, impressive, I think he means. Right, Sam?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, impressive! That's the word!" I couldn't believe I nearly did it again! Starlight's quick thinking saved me. Telling myself to not let slip that Lyra's cute, as are mares in general, I asked, "A-Anyhow, why were you going through all that trouble?”
Lyra fidgeted her hooves, which was pretty cute I (in my head) must say. “Why? It’s just...you might be somepony, or someone that you like to say, that I've been searching for.” Lyra gasped and added, “N-Not that I was hunting you or anything...well, guess I kinda was.” she facehoofed. “Uh, I mean, I wasn’t hunting you because ponies aren’t carnivores and even if we were, I wouldn’t eat you anyway, and--”
It felt kinda mean to do it, but I couldn’t help laughing. This was what I was afraid I would do, and nearly did, so seeing Lyra do it was just too amusing and even Starlight let out some chuckles. It also made Lyra stop trying to correct herself and she just stared at me with a puzzled frown.
Once I calmed down, I asked, “Sorry for laughing, but how about you try again? I'm someone you were ‘looking for’?”
Lyra nodded her head and explained, “Yeah, and it’s not as weird as it sounds. As a filly, I learned in history class about a mythical creature that walked upright. It apparently resembled you, but far hairier. It fascinated me, and I even started sitting like how it might have sat.”
That explained Lyra's human-like sitting. I felt some relief that she wasn’t sitting like humans because she was trying to copy me, but not sure why though.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that. Sam, do you have any idea what it might be?” Starlight asked.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Could Lyra be talking about a monkey? “This 'creature' sounds like a monkey from my world. Humans aren’t too unlike them: they are shorter, have tails, a lot more hair, but they can walk upright. Monkeys don’t exist in Equestria?”
“‘Monkey’?” Lyra raised her pupils up in thought for a moment. “Uh...no, I’ve never heard the word 'monkey' before.”
That answered why I've heard the expression "monkeying around" as "horsing around" in Equestria. Though why it's not "ponying around" here is something I may never know.
“Oh. But wait, even if you thought Sam was that creature, why were you waving and smiling at him? And why did you want to know if he was it so bad anyway?”
“Uh...well, as for the first question, I was waving and smiling to show I was friendly and not a threat. And second...I believe that creature exists, but almost nopony else believes it, so I just really wanted to prove its existence. The other foals in my school laughed at me over thinking it was real."
Starlight gasped. “You were?!”
Lyra's reasons for her spying got the blood boiling and I clenched one of my fists, but outside of that, I kept my emotions in check. I despised bullies, and Discord picking on and laughing at Starlight was still pretty fresh in my head.
“Yeah. The other foals called me 'Lyra the Loon’ for believing in the creature.” Lyra sighed. But after a second, she smiled. “But when I saw you, Sam, I thought you might have been it, and it made me so happy! But I wanted to first make sure you were before my hopes went up too much, so I followed you around to compare how you look to how the creature is said to look. I may have even...gotten a hair sample, before Princess Twilight ordered me to stop.”
I shuddered and Starlight grimaced. Part of me did not want to know how this pony got my hair sample. Yet curiosity made me ask, “Did you say you got a hair sample from me, and when?!”
“It was when--”
That moment of curiosity faded fast by just hearing her start to explain. “Uh, on second thought, don’t tell me. Anyhow, I doubt I’m one of those ‘creatures’ because I come from a whole different world.”
“Oh, really?” Lyra asked with a frown.
“Yep. Sorry.”
“Oh.” It felt bad to kill her hopes, knowing why she had them in the first place. But Lyra’s frown soon flipped into a smile. “Wait, if you’re from another world, how did you get here, and are there more of you in that world?”
“First, as for how I ended up here, beats me. I went from being in my house to the outside of Twilight’s castle, with many of my belongings with me for some reason, as well as some tree limbs that was lying near my house. I saw a bunch of different lights appear all around me when it happened, but it was so frightening, I don't remember more of the details. Second, yes, there are a lot of what I am -- humans -- in my world.”
Lyra set a hoof on her cheek. After a few seconds or so, she said, “In that case, maybe you are one of those creatures, er I mean, humans. If you could come to Equestria, couldn’t another human have come here before, or maybe even traveled there and are your ancestors?”
Starlight asked, “Sam, do you think that’s possible?”
I rubbed my chin. As impossible as that seemed, I couldn’t really rule it out. Equestria existing was insane yet I'm here, so could monkeys or even other humans had been in Equestria before me? Or could the even more crazy possibility be true: monkeys or humans originated in Equestria?!
“I...don’t know. Twilight said she has a couple of theories, but right now, she doesn’t know for sure how or why it happened, but I’ve just been enjoying Equestria's peace compared to my world. My father always told me to try to roll with the punches no matter how bad or weird things get, so I am. I haven’t even thought about whether or not it's a one-way trip.”
“Maybe someday, a way to your world will open again and if it does, maybe I can go and see if anypony there is like the creature I learned about. If I do, my ‘Lyra the Loon’ nickname would be a thing of the past!”
I chuckled. Turns out Lyra wasn’t “creepy” at all, or at least, not as much as I thought for a while. “If you do go, I should warn you that ponies can’t talk in my world. Unicorns don't exist there, or magic...or a lot of things in Equestria.”
“Really? How does that world manage without magic?”
I went on to explain my world, with Lyra grinning almost the whole time.
After my story, Lyra exclaimed, “Wow! Your world sounds amazing!”
I rubbed my head out of both surprise and confusion. Wasn’t expecting those words. Equestria has ponies raising the sun and moon -- still getting used to that -- with magic, and I even heard time travel is very much possible here. Yet Lyra thought my old, boring world was amazing? “Uh...say what?”
“Yeah, amazing! Even without magic, humans can go deep underwater, heal grave injuries, talk to each other from great distances, and even go to the moon! Some of those things can only be done in Equestria with magic from alicorns or the highest-level unicorns, and I'm sure not one of them. Yet it sounds like any human could do the things you said.”
When put like that, human technology is amazing. Twilight and Starlight can do some crazy things with their magic, and I don’t know if I’ve seen their limits yet. BUT according to what Twilight and even Starlight had told me, they are ponies with an unusually high level of magic.
Realizing that fact, I let out a laugh. "You know? I guess my world is amazing...when people aren’t fighting. Equestria might not have our level of technology, but it’s more peaceful.”
“Even so, I hope to see it someday.”
“Me too,” Starlight echoed. “Maybe you could show me that ‘TV’ thing.”
“If it’s possible, maybe I could take you two there, if you promise to stay low there.”
Both mares said, “Okay!”
It was time for me to ask the question that I came to ask, and I rubbed my hands again. “Lyra, this might be an out-of-the-blue question, but do you want to be friends with Starlight and me?”
“Friends?” Lyra smile grew bigger. “Of course, and I owe you!”
“You do?” I asked.
“Yeah! Thanks to you, I have hope that the creature I was laughed at for thinking exists really does!”
“Well, okay then!”
“I think that’s two ponies that owe you now, Sam,” Starlight commented.
I playfully waved my hand beside Starlight at her. “Oh, shush, Starlight. Neither of you owe me anything.”
Lyra frowned. In a nervous voice, she asked, “But, could you tell Princess Twilight that we’re friends, so she won’t get mad if I’m near you?”
“Sure, I’ll tell her the next time I see her,” I answered.
Starlight, Lyra, and I talked for a while before Starlight and I left and went back to my house. Lyra's a nice mare once you get to know her.
Once home, we saw Spike waiting near the door. I had a feeling why he was there.
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Darn that cliffhanger, hope you're not too rough on my fave purple dragon no matter what Starlight ends up doing!
Otherwise a pretty cool chapter all around, looking forward to see what happens next time!
So when is Sunset Shimmer gonna rock Sam's world?
Also, is Lyra's creature supposed to be a caveman, or Bigfoot?
10126183
Can't say too much, but the next chapter will be out in a week-ish, so there won't be a two-week wait this time
10126267
Right now, with how I'm planning to take the story, I can't really think of a place for Sunset in the story, so she's not going to do much in it, if at all. I might write some side stories that would take place in the EQG world if there's a big enough interest for it, and if I can think of anything that could be good enough to write. I'm not planning to do it anytime soon though.
10126314
Fair, but would play it off as Sam returninng home, or is he from another other world?
Finally, Sparlight moment next chapter!
10126369
Yep, the long-awaited moment is almost here!
D'aw, that stuff with the collar was weird, but sweet of Starlight to try. And now it's closer to the cover art.
10126841
Yep, and I didn't really think about how the collar was green at first. It ended up working out, since the change in color is a more subtle sign that Starlight isn't the same pony as she was in the earlier chapters when she first wore it.
10126316
I missed answering that question, but Sam's from a different human world than the EQG human world. Rainbow Rocks hasn't happened yet at this point in the story, so right now, Sunset's still being shunned by most of CHS.
10130943
Let's just say it's going to be worth it