• Published 17th Dec 2011
  • 149,607 Views, 7,585 Comments

Anthropology - JasonTheHuman



Lyra is determined to find out the truth behind the mysterious legends of humans.

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A Chance of Rain

Lyra woke up to the smell of something baking… Was that cinnamon? Bon-Bon must be making breakfast.

She pulled herself up and rubbed her eyes. Then she stared at her hands. That’s right… She was a human now. The sun was streaming in through the window, and she could see a carriage moving past on its own through the streets of France.

After taking a moment to readjust, Lyra stuck her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, steadying herself against the bed with one arm. She stretched to get rid of the stiffness.

There were voices coming from downstairs, and not ones she recognized. The words were hard to make out, but it didn’t sound like any of the humans she was staying with. She scratched her head, and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Audrey was sitting at the table, staring at a silver box on the kitchen counter. Her hair wasn’t tied back like it had been yesterday, and hung down to her shoulders. She was also wearing glasses, even though she apparently hadn’t needed them before. She turned her head when she heard Lyra enter. “Good morning.”

“Good morning…” Lyra said, yawning. She looked at the thing Audrey had been staring at. It seemed like that was the source of the other voices.

“We’re back with our continued coverage of the presidential campaign...” It was like it was talking to nobody in particular. Audrey was hardly paying attention to it now. She picked up a long black object and the box suddenly went silent.

“Mom and Dad left for work already,” Audrey said, pulling Lyra’s attention away. “You slept in pretty late, I was almost about to go wake you up.”

“Yeah. I tend to sleep late,” Lyra said.

“Great hair, by the way. Even crazier than usual,” Audrey said. “I could lend you a brush if you need one. After you eat, if you want.”

The smells were irresistibly stronger now, and these were familiar ones. “You made breakfast?” Lyra asked. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get it to stay down, but without much success.

“Cinnamon rolls. That’s fine with you, right?” Audrey said. “I still feel awful about yesterday.”

“No, it’s fine,” Lyra replied. “Great, actually. My roommate used to make these all the time. She’s a professional baker.”

“I’m definitely not,” Audrey said, with a smile. “They’re just Pillsbury.” She noticed Lyra was confused again. “Pre-packaged. All I did was turn on the oven and put them in.”

Lyra was just glad to see some recognizable food. She headed over to the stove, where there was a pan waiting on top. A plate and some silverware was sitting to the side.

“I made coffee, too, if you’d like some.”

“No thanks,” Lyra said. “I don’t really like it. Too bitter.”

Even when everything else seemed so unfamiliar, there could still be something recognizable in the human world. Plenty of ponies liked coffee – Pony Joe made most of his money off of that, back in Canterlot. Lyra had given it a chance a few years back. Even when she tried to dump in as much sugar as possible, she had never really gotten used to the flavor.

She took a seat across the table from her human friend. That still seemed too good to be true. Not too long ago, Lyra would never have imagined sitting down to eat breakfast with a real human.

Lyra took a bite, and even though the cinnamon rolls weren’t quite as good as what Bon-Bon made, she still liked them.

The silver box was behind her. She turned to get a better look, and – as impossible as it was – there were human figures inside, though a window. There were words all around the figures, too many to focus on, all moving around. The humans' lips moved, but no sound was coming out anymore.

“It's been nothing but election coverage. I’m already getting tired of it. I guess I should probably pay more attention to it. I mean, we’ll both be voting in another year,” Audrey said. “I assume you will be, at least. Are you democrat or republican?”

Lyra stared at her. “I… don’t know.”

“Undecided? I guess it’s no big deal.” Audrey shrugged. “So, anyways, your roommate?”

“Huh? What about her?”

“She was a professional baker, you said?”

“Yeah. More of a confectioner. Candy and sweets and stuff,” Lyra said. She took another bite. “I love that kind of food, so it worked out well.”

Audrey nodded. “And how old was she?”

“A few months older than me.”

“That’s still pretty young to be a professional…” Audrey said.

“Not really. She worked for years before she even got hired where she is now,” Lyra said. “But, uh, what do your parents do?” She wanted to change the subject back to humans. Thinking about home was a little difficult right now.

“Dad works for Principal, in 801 Grand. That’s the tall building in the middle of town,” Audrey said. “And Mom’s a teacher. Middle school English. She’s still got some summer classes going on.”

So, a teacher, and… Lyra wasn’t really sure what to make of the other one. “So, uh… what’s English? You mean, like England?” It was one of the human nations she recognized from her books. She was still unfamiliar with how human society worked, with all these different countries. They couldn't possibly have teachers for all of the other ones, too.

“You know, English. Literature, writing. Language arts,” Audrey said. “Lyra… What you told me yesterday really worries me. I think you were probably taken out of school too early. What exactly happened?”

She shrugged. “That’s when everybody graduated.”

Audrey frowned, and raised an eyebrow. “Okay… So what school did you go to?”

Lyra hesitated. “It’s… uh…” What did she say? Audrey had laughed at the idea of magic when she had brought it up yesterday. The Canterlot Magic Academy had been a good school, but clearly human education worked differently. “Oh, uh… you know. School.”

Audrey leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “Fine…” she said.

“I really just want to see more of this place. I walked around a little yesterday, but there’s even more out there. I don’t really want to think about home right now.”

“Lyra…” Audrey hesitated. “When I talked to my parents yesterday, they said the same thing I'd been thinking. You need professional help.”

“You’re doing just fine,” Lyra said. “You’re doing plenty just by letting me stay here. I really appreciate it.”

“Well, yes, but… I mean therapy.”

Bon-Bon had said that a few times, too. But why would Audrey be saying that? Her very existence proved that Lyra wasn’t crazy.

“What do you mean?” Lyra asked.

“Obviously you can’t afford it in your current situation, and we can’t really spend that much either… But at the very least, it would help both of us if you just told me more about where you came here from.”

“I told you it doesn’t – “

“It does matter, Lyra. Why would you leave your parents’ house when you were so young, for one thing? What did they do?”

“Nothing… They just decided it was time that I knew the truth about myself. My parents always did the best they could for me.”

Audrey had said she was the same age as Lyra, and yet she still lived with her parents. They were going to work, but she still had a few years of school left. Lyra wasn’t sure if she could even consider herself an adult anymore… But that still seemed ridiculous. She’d been able to take care of herself for years.

Audrey sighed. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but is any of this even true? What you’ve been saying hasn’t made any sense.”

“Of course it’s true,” Lyra said. “I get that your wor – I mean, this place works differently than where I’m from. But this was all normal for where I used to live.”

“I just find it hard to believe that you’d get up and leave everything and everyone behind like that.”

“My life back home was completely fine,” Lyra said. “I guess… I just always felt like I didn’t belong there. When I found out about my real family, that explained why. I just need to know who I’m supposed to be.”

Audrey picked up her mug and finished the now-cold coffee, which had stopped steaming a long time ago. “I’d like to help you find your parents. I just don’t see how we’ll get anywhere with just a photo, much less one that’s at least as old as I am,” she said. “Have you considered going back home? It sounds like you had plenty of friends there.”

“That just… isn’t possible anymore,” Lyra said.

“Why not?”

“It’s too hard to explain.” Lyra stared at her empty plate. “Trust me. I really am telling you the truth.”

“I’m sorry if I’m coming across as intrusive. But as long as you’re staying with us, we just want to know a little bit more about where you’re coming from,” Audrey said. “Anyways… what’s your plan for today? Let's just take it one day at a time.”

“I thought I’d go out and play some more. I still need to make some more money,” Lyra said.

“Oh. That’s right. Did you get a permit?” Audrey said. “I did some research online earlier. The city’s pretty good about street musicians, but you do need a permit.”

“No, I never thought about that,” Lyra said. She wondered how Audrey could have had the time to look up that information just today – how long had she been awake? “I used to play in public all the time. I’ve never had problems with that before.”

“Well, you’re just lucky nobody called you out on it. You should probably get one today, before you try any more. It’s just five dollars. Oh, and take your I.D.”

“Huh?”

“Which reminds me…” Audrey’s fingers drummed against the table. “You never told me your last name. You could at least do that, right?” She smiled.

Lyra sat there for a moment. “My… last name?”

“Yeah.”

She glanced sideways. “That’s a problem… I don’t know what it is,” she said. “I still don’t know anything about my parents.”

“But you must’ve gone by something back where you’re from,” Audrey said. “What about your adopted family?”

Lyra shook her head. “No, I’ve always just been Lyra.” Well, actually, Heartstrings. But if Twilight sounded like a weird name to a human, what would they think of that one?

“So… No last name. And no I.D.”

“Nope.”

“Getting fined for playing would definitely be counterproductive…” Audrey rubbed her forehead. “I really don’t know what I got myself into,” she muttered.

“Sorry,” Lyra said. “I told you. Things were really different where I grew up.”

“I can tell that.”

She glanced over at the box on the counter again. A human figure was inside. Behind him was a confusing mess of color. He seemed to be gesturing to one region. Audrey picked up the long object from the table. “Oh, the weather’s on.” She pointed it at the box and the human’s voice could be heard again.

“Should be seeing some cloud cover and a slight chance of rain in the afternoon…” The colors behind him vanished and were replaced by a series of numbers and small icons of suns and rainclouds.

“They said earlier it might rain around three or four,” Audrey said, pointing at the box. “If you’re still going back out for anything, you should try to be in by then.”

Lyra's head was turned and her eyes were glued to the box, but she nodded. “Yeah.” Then, after a moment of consideration, she added, “My mom used to work in weather.”

“Oh, really? Like an anchor, or…?”

“Production,” Lyra said, frowning. She hadn’t said anything about boats.

Audrey nodded. “But I don’t suppose you’ll tell me the name of the station.”

“It really doesn’t matter.”

“I guess it’s a start... If you want to tell me anything else, you can trust me. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, of course...” Lyra said. She idly picked up the fork, even though she was done eating. She held it in between her fingers and examined it with curiosity. After a moment, she looked up again. “Actually, one question.”

“Shoot.”

“Is there somewhere I could buy some more clothes? I didn’t pack much with me when I left.”

“Yeah, there’s a few thrift stores downtown. It’s not that far of a walk if you wanted to head out later today.”

“I think I will.”

They cleaned up the breakfast dishes together, and Lyra headed upstairs to get ready.


Lyra stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror, with a green-haired human staring back at her. She was almost surprised when she saw her reflection move at the same time as her as she picked up the hairbrush. She still couldn’t believe that was her.

The handle fit into her palm perfectly. It was almost exactly like the kind she would use on her mane when she was still a pony, but now she was using it the right way.

Moments like these seemed to bring everything into perspective. Even something as simple as a hairbrush had been designed by humans. This world’s past was probably a lot like the other, if you go back a few centuries. But how far, exactly?

She ran the brush through her hair, trying to brush out her bedhead as much as possible. It still stuck up a little on top, but that didn't matter.

With one look back at her reflection, she decided it was good enough. She took another moment to admire her new self. She really did look startlingly similar to that picture she’d done a few months back… Part of her had always known she was meant to be human.

Lyra headed back to her room, and stood in front of the window. The weather report had said it was scheduled to rain between three and four, so she’d wait until that was over before heading out to the store. The clouds had already been moved out, and the sky was grey.

For now, she checked out the bookshelves in her room like she’d been planning to do the night before. There were so many books here that she hardly knew where to start. This was, quite literally, a whole entire world of information that she was just beginning to tap into.

There was a series of books, big hardcovers that increased in thickness, called “Harry Potter.” It looked like fiction, though – the titles reminded her too much of the Daring Do adventures that she’d read as a filly. Actually, a lot of these books seemed like fiction. There was an entire shelf of books by some human named William Shakespeare that seemed to be plays when Lyra looked inside.

Lyra would have really preferred a history of the human world, but... here was something. Understanding Human Nature. That was perfect.

She took it with her and sat on her bed, starting with the introduction. It seemed to be focused more on psychology than anything else... But that was good, too. The preface said it was intended to improve relationships with “our fellow human beings.” Practical application was exactly what she wanted to understand.

She read the first few chapters, but this wasn’t what she’d been expecting. All this stuff about consciousness and the psyche... It was too bad that Twilight wasn’t here to explain what all these words meant. And it certainly didn’t explain the human world very well.

Lyra glanced up at the window. It wasn’t raining yet. She wondered if she had the time wrong, but she was almost certain it should have started by now. It was still cloudy, but it was dry.

She closed the book and set it down on the nightstand. It was getting late, so she should probably head out before long. Besides, she’d been reading about humans her whole life. What she really wanted was to go out and be a part of this place. Practical application, like the book said.

The wad of human money was sitting there, so she picked it up and put it in her pocket. Eventually she’d run out… It was hard to tell if she’d even made a lot from her performance yesterday. And she needed a permit? This was getting too difficult…

Heading downstairs, she found Audrey putting dishes back into the cupboards. She watched her for a while, the way she’d pick up a few plates in her hands, stack them, and move them up to the cupboard four or five at a time.

Audrey stopped, noticing she was being watched. “Can I help you?”

“No, I was just… Uh, I think I’m going to head out to the store now,” Lyra said. “Are you coming?”

“I’ve still got a few chores to do. There are a few thrift stores downtown – just head past that park I met you in, and it’s a few blocks past the capitol building. You’ll know that one when you see it.”

Lyra had been right – this was the capitol city. Maybe a more typical human city would be smaller, more like Ponyville or at least Manehattan. But of all the places she could have started out her life as a human, it was so exciting to be here.

“I think I’ll be able to find it. Thanks!”

“Yeah. Be careful out there,” Audrey said.

“I’ll try to be back before too long.”

Lyra headed for the front door and went back out into the human neighborhood. She took a moment to orient herself, trying to recall how they'd gotten here the day before. They’d come back from that… restaurant. She shuddered as she remembered it. But the park would be down the street from that. She started down the sidewalk in that direction instead, enjoying the cool breeze.

She passed a couple of humans walking a dog on a leash. It was a small black one, not quite up to her knee. It wagged its tail as it looked up at her. The human holding the leash gave her a nod, and she smiled back at him. Even with this being a big neighborhood, there were rarely as many humans walking outside as there would be ponies in Ponyville. It was a little odd.

The park was easy enough to find a few minutes later. And then, down the street, that building with the domed towers must be the capitol. That made sense. It wasn’t as tall as Canterlot Castle, but it was still a very impressive structure with a similar sense of majesty. Lyra wondered if they ever held parties there, like the Gala.

Downtown would be where the buildings started to get closer together. There were more carriages driving past now, and more humans on the sidewalks. Lyra was almost getting used to seeing them – almost.

As Lyra headed into one of the shops, she took another glance upwards. They hadn’t cleared the clouds away yet, even though the rain had been called off. Why bother sending out a weather report if they weren’t going to adhere to it? She shook her head and walked inside.

She checked the money she had brought with her. Human currency was still hard to understand, but she was beginning to work her way through it. The paper ones were called dollars, and those seemed like they were actually worth more than the coins. There was literally no difference between the five- and one-dollar bills other than what was printed on them. Still, humans considered that normal.

It was easy to get sidetracked when there were so many human clothes for sale. There were so many more casual outfits than there would be in Equestria. Maybe that was partly because she'd grown up in Canterlot, but it was also because humans wore clothes all the time. She'd noticed yesterday that the different colors and designs made up for the lack of variation in their own physical appearances.

Lyra knew she had to stay focused on what she was actually going to purchase. She counted through the money she'd brought, and tried to make sense of the price tags on the clothes. She could buy a few outfits, but that was going to blow through her remaining funds in a hurry… At least she didn’t have to worry about paying for food or a place to stay. For as long as she was in town, at least.

It wasn’t until she checked out that she realized most of the shirts she’d picked out were green. She’d just chosen what she thought would look good on her. Maybe green was just her color.

As she handed each item to the cashier, she took a look outside. There were droplets forming on the windows. Rain?

“Um, excuse me. What time is it?” Lyra said. Maybe her sense of time was off.

The human working the register checked her watch. “It’s almost five.”

“Seriously?” Lyra said. The weather report had said it was supposed to rain between three and four today. They were completely off schedule. Lyra shook her head. Her mother never would have allowed this. Not even Rainbow Dash would have slacked off that much.

“Are you in a hurry or something? Be careful out there.”

Lyra handed over the money for her clothes. As she had expected, she was nearly out. Before long she’d have to earn some more. Somehow.

The human handed her the bags with her clothes inside, and she took them. These strings on the top… Most ponies would have thought that those were to hold in your mouth. Maybe that’s what they’d become to Equestrians, but it made so much more sense to hold those in your hands. If you were lucky enough to have them, that was.

Lyra was about to head outside, but she stopped. She decided she didn’t really feel like heading into the humans’ poorly timed rainstorm right now. They’d probably cut it off after an hour or so, like it had been scheduled. Lyra wasn’t sure how they did it, if humans couldn’t fly, but they did plenty of other impossible things. They could probably reach the clouds if they really wanted to.

She stood near the exit, watching the spray of water as carriages zoomed through the rain. Turning back to the store, she considered looking around some more. She obviously couldn't buy anything else, but human fashions and goods were interesting enough to look through a second time.

There was a bulletin board with some flyers posted near the exit. Lyra read some of them over. Her eyes stopped on one in particular – a word had grabbed her attention. She read it over again. Tore it off of the pins that it was hung up with. Maybe this was just the answer she needed.


Once it had cleared up, Lyra hurried back to the house with a grin on her face. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this excited. Well, maybe when she first got to Des Moines, but this was even better.

She swung the front door open and called out. “Audrey?”

“In here.” The voice came from the living room.

Lyra headed in to find the black box turned on. Just like the smaller one in the kitchen, the glass panel was now showing images of humans and different places. Audrey was sitting in the recliner in front of it.

“Mom's home. We’ve been waiting for you to get back. Did you get caught in that rain?”

Lyra handed her the flyer. “Hey. Take a look at this.”

“Huh?” Audrey stared at it for a while, and read it. “Lyra, you know you’re supposed to just take one of these tabs at the bottom, right? Not steal the whole thing.” She pointed to the flaps of paper hanging off the bottom.

“Those were just numbers. I wasn’t really sure what they meant,” Lyra said. “Actually, I don’t know what a lot of it means, but they need musicians, so that means me!”

“It’s a phone number,” Audrey said. She looked up at her. “What do you mean you didn’t know what it meant?”

Lyra ignored the question. “We both know I need a way to make money, and I make a ton more if I do actual performances. Playing in public is really just a side thing.”

Audrey started reading the flyer.

SEEKING MUSICIANS FOR HARD ROCK BAND

LEAD GUITAR, DRUMS

INFLUENCES INCLUDE : GNR, AEROSMITH, AC/DC, DEEP PURPLE

“Lyra… This is a rock band.” She looked back up.

“Huh?” Lyra frowned. “Well, I mean, I’ve heard of that. It’s not all that popular back home, but I pretty much know what it’s like.”

“Playing the lyre would be, what? Classical? Folk? I don’t know. Point is, there’s not really a need for that in a band like this,” Audrey said. “Looks like they need a guitarist.”

“Guitars?” Lyra nodded. Another human-designed instrument. “I’ve heard of those before.”

“You’ve heard of them?” Audrey said. “Sounds like you’re all set.”

“Yeah! I mean, I’ve heard they can be difficult to play, but I think I’m up for it.” Lyra was examining her fingers.

Placing a hand to her forehead, Audrey said, “No, I mean…” She sighed. “I guess that it might be useful to learn. There’s definitely more of a demand for that than a lyre.”

“If this is the kind of music that’s popular with humans, then I want to learn it,” Lyra said.

“Um… what?”

“I think I can do it. Music’s my special talent.”

Audrey rubbed her forehead. “Just when I thought I was starting to understand you...”

“Anyways, I’m gonna go drop these off upstairs.” Lyra grabbed the flyer back from Audrey and took it with her.

“We were just about to have dinner!” Audrey called after her. Lyra nearly tripped over the unexpectedly narrow stairs, but caught herself just in time and hurried back up.

Lyra headed up to the guest room and left her shopping bags there. The flyer she left tucked in the pages of her journal. She paused for a moment when she saw her lyre’s case. Then she headed back downstairs to eat.

Dinner that night was lasagna, which Lyra was assured was mostly cheese and tomato sauce and contained absolutely no meat. Audrey’s mother had made it. They said it was Italian - yet another reference to a human nation. Lyra hadn’t realized how interconnected they all were.

After they had finished and it had gone dark outside again, Lyra was back in her bedroom, taking another look through the books. She was in the middle of one when Audrey interrupted her.

“Hey, Lyra, about that flyer earlier...” She was leaning against the doorframe, holding out that little thing in one hand. She’d called it “Nathan” yesterday, if Lyra’s memory was correct. Her wrist moved around in an idle motion.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I don’t know how joining the band will go... But if you really want to start playing guitar, turns out I know someone who could help with that.”