The Magic In A Man

     "Hey, Lyra?" Bonbon said as she trotted into the front room.

     "What is it?" Lyra asked, not looking up from her book which levitated a few inches in front of her face as she leaned back in her chair.

     "I thought we'd talked about this."

     "Talked about what?" Lyra said, setting her book down.

     Bonbon held up a drawing. Lyra recognized it immediately and shied away from her roommate's gaze.

     It was the Vitruvian Man. The famous sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci. A sketch of a human man.

     "I thought you said you were done with this obsession." Bonbon sighed exasperatedly.

     "It's not an obsession." Lyra said defensively. "It's a study."

     "Of something that doesn't exist. A mare your age can't go on chasing fairy tales like this. It's immature, and it isn't like you. You're more than this, Lyra."

     "How's it any of your business?" Lyra was beginning to grow upset from her friend's disapproval.

     "Just drop the whole human thing. It's going to drive you insane one of these days, chasing something you'll never find. It's time to grow up."

     "Bonbon, please-"

     "No more. I want you to get rid of all of it."

     "...What?"

     "All of this anthropology crap. I want it out of this house."

     "It's my house, too."

     "I don't care. I've had my fill of it. Get rid of all of it. Now."

     "No."

     Bonbon seemed to be restraining herself. "I-I...You know what? Fine. Have it your way." She stormed out of the room in a huff.

     "You'll see...All of you will see." Lyra said quietly to herself. "They're real. I'll prove it. I'll prove it to everybody in Equestria. If nobody will accept me here in Ponyville...I'll find somewhere else." She trotted into her study, slamming the door behind her.

     "Lyra?" Bonbon knocked on the door of the study. "I just wanted to apologize. I...Said some things I shouldn't have, and I want to make it up to you. It's okay if you want to keep studying humans. I won't stop you. You are your own pony, and it's none of my business to tell you what to do."

     There was no answer.

     "Lyra? Lyra, are you in there?"

     Silence.

     "Lyra, please. Don't be mad. I really am sorry. Just say something. Anything, just so I know that you know I'm sorry."

     The silence continued, unbroken.

     "Lyra, are you alright in there?"

     Bonbon paused for a brief second.

     "Lyra, I'm coming in."

     She pushed the door open, and saw Lyra sitting at her desk, chair facing away from Bonbon. Absolutely still.

     "Lyra, are you oka-"

     "I've finally done it." Lyra said, her voice cracking. She turned around in her chair. There was a smile across the unicorn's face, wide and content. Tears streamed down in pure joy. "I've finally done it!"

     "Finally done what?" Bonbon noticed the suitcase on Lyra's desk. It seemed rather large. "Are you going somewhere?"

     "I am."

     "Where?"

     "Their world."

     "What?" Bonbon didn't understand what she meant.

     Lyra read from a piece of paper on her desk, murmuring in a language Bonbon did not recognize.

     Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. It looked as if a hole had been torn in the middle of the room, a hole that hovered in midair. Light spilled out of this tear like a glass of spilled water.

     "What in Celestia-"

     Lyra picked up the suitcase with her mouth, and ran straight for the anomaly.

    "Lyra!"

     Lyra seemed to vanish into the light. Bonbon, without a second thought, leaped in after her.

     Bonbon found herself in a tunnel leading into the heavens, one that seemed to be made of pure light, that got brighter the further up you went. Lyra seemed to be floating effortlessly to the top.

     "No! Come back!" She found herself pursuing her friend in a manner that felt much like swimming to the surface of an ocean. But she wasn't fast enough. Lyra was soon so far, that Bonbon could barely see her through the blinding light.

     Lyra turned to face her friend. Everything seemed to move slowly, as if they were in molasses. Even Bonbon's voice seemed to crawl at a snail's pace from her lips.

     "Llllyyyyyyyrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" She cried out.

     Lyra smiled at Bonbon, and spoke softly. While the sound never reached Bonbon's ears, that one word hit her with the impact of an explosion.

     "Goodbye." Lyra's lips silently formed.

     "Nnnnnnnooooooooooooooo!" She screamed as tears rolled down her face.

     As Lyra vanished into the blinding whiteness behind her, Bonbon suddenly felt herself plummeting at what seemed a thousand miles a minute.

     And in a brief moment, it was all over. Dazed and confused, Bonbon rubbed her eyes and found herself back in the study.

     "Lyra?" She looked around, calling out for her friend. "L....Lyra? Oh, Celestia...She's gone."

     Bonbon fell to the ground in a sobbing heap.

     "Oh, Lyra...Lyra...What have you done.?" She whispered shakily.

     She stood up, staring at the scene of destruction before her. The study looked as if it had been hit by a twister.

     Bonbon saw a piece of paper had come to rest under her hoof.

     The Vitruvian Man.

     "It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone snooping around, if I had been nicer, or more accepting, maybe you wouldn't have left."

     She turned the paper over and found writing on the back.

     Bonbon realized it hadn't been on the paper earlier. Lyra must have written the note after she shut herself in the study.

Bonbon,

If you're reading this, it's likely that I'm already gone. I've been trying for years to find a way into the human world, but if my theory is correct, today is the day. Please don't blame yourself. This is something I have to do. It's time I showed the world the truth. And when I do, I'll come back home.

I promise.

Faithfully,

~Lyra Heartstrings

     Bonbon let the note fall back to the ground. She...She had to do something. Anything.

     "Help...Somepony, anypony! What do I do?"

     She paused, and the gravity of the situation fully hit her.

     "Is...Is there anything I even can do?"