"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?"
Lyra found herself waking up, dazed, in a dark back alley. It was the middle of the night, and there was nobody nearby to be found.
She felt strange, different somehow. She looked down at her hands...
"Hands?" She exclaimed under her breath. Her eyes shot open. She was speechless. It was everything she had ever dreamed of.
She looked over her new human body. Her figure was tall, slender. She noticed her tail was gone. Her hair, much to her surprise, was no longer mint green, but a dark shade of golden blonde that flowed down to her shoulders. She ran a hand over her smooth, furless skin. She felt so...Naked.
It was then that it occurred to her. She was naked. She opened her suitcase with her newfound hands, extracting some folded up, plain white fabric. She also removed a sewing needle and some scissors.
"Alright. Time to make a dress."
After about an hour's work, she had what would at least work to cover her up. It was sloppily stitched together, but it would hold. Lyra confirmed her suspicions that fashion was not her line of work. At least it was comfortable. It draped loosely down to her ankles. She had nothing to cover her feet, but she'd make do.
She was surprised that it even came together at all. These hands took getting used to. She was exhausted, and there were a few cuts on her hands.
She began to walk out of the alley; it was a lot easier to walk as a human than as a pony trying to walk like a human.
A fellow who reeked of some stench Lyra was unfamiliar with stumbled down the sidewalk. He was drunk off his ass.
"Hey, there, ma'am." He slurred, trying not to upchuck all over the concrete. "You look fine in that dress."
"Thank you." The girl smiled, holding her suitcase.
"Where's a girl like you going, this late at night?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to find a place to sleep tonight."
He laughed uproariously. "Well, why didn't you say so? I live just down the street." He grinned crookedly. "I've got room in my bed for a sweet little thing like you."
"Thanks. That's so nice of you!"
"Right this way, my lady."
"I heard a lot of noise." Colgate said as she stood in the doorway. "Everything alright in here, neighbor?"
"Oh, yeah, everything's fine!" Bonbon laughed. She was clearly on edge.
"You don't seem fine. Your hair's a mess. What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Sorry. I'll just be on my way, then."
"W-wait!"
Colgate stopped.
"Lyra...Lyra's gone."
"Gone? Where?"
"I don't know. There was this light, and..." Bonbon couldn't find the strength to speak. "...I need help."
"How can I help?"
"Don't leave. I need somepony right now." Bonbon's eyes welled with tears.
Without saying another word, Colgate embraced the weeping earth pony as she sobbed over the unicorn's welcoming shoulder.
"It's all my fault..." Bonbon whimpered. "All my fault..."
Colgate shushed her gently. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
For a moment, Bonbon thought she heard Lyra's voice. Like it was Lyra holding her right now, not Colgate. Like it was Lyra who was promising not to leave.
And for just a fleeting moment, an inkling of a smile reached Bonbon's lips, before fading softly as if it had never been there at all.
The man's apartment was small, cramped, and desolate. The wallpaper, once bright and flowery, now grew worn and bleak. Old, musty furniture created a thick stench of decay, mixed with the reek of alcohol.
Lyra frowned. "You live here?"
"It don't look much, but it's home." He grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her into the bedroom.
"Y-you're hurting me." She informed him. He didn't seem to hear her, or if he did, he didn't seem to care. Lyra knew her wrist would most certainly bruise.
He sat on the raggedy queen-size bed. There was only one pillow at the top: which Lyra realized as a sign that he lived alone. The apartment clearly wasn't big enough for another bedroom of this size.
The man drunkenly fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, trying in a stupor to undo them. He gave up on this operation, and decided to just pull the shirt up over his head.
He was a disgusting creature: greying hair covering what seemed to be every inch of his torso, rolls of fat hanging over his waist. Lyra was disturbed and frankly uncomfortable.
"What are you doing?"
"Gettin' ready."
"For what?"
He didn't answer. Just chuckled a bit and gestured for her to join him on the bed.
She hesitantly sat beside him as he undid his belt, removing it and tossing it to the wayside. He removed his pants, and it was then Lyra realized what his intentions were.
She tried to stand, but he pulled her down. "Where you think you're going?"
"I don't want this."
"Of course you do." He growled, seeming to have been sobered by her denial. "Why else would a pretty little bird like you follow a drunk man home?"
"This is a misunderstanding. Please, just let me go."
"Not a chance, sweetheart. It's been an awful while since I've got to get personal with a little birdie like you, so don't you try flying away from me, damnit."
"Don't touch me!" She wrestled out of his grip.
"Feisty bitch, aren't you?"
She stood, and began to run. He suddenly ran in front of her, blocking the door.
"I said you aren't going anywhere. Now, we can do this the easy way, or I can leave you unable to stand up straight for a month, you little prude."
She backed away slowly. She felt her foot slip over something.
The belt.
She picked it up, prepared to defend herself.
He laughed again. "So that's how it is?" He charged at her.
She held the belt against his throat. He choked and stumbled back before lunging at her again.
But he was still trashed. His balance was off. Lyra wrapped the belt around his neck, tackling him to the bed.
She pressed her hands against the belt around the man's throat.
He began gasping for air, choking and coughing. "You....whore!"
Lyra felt a hand sliding up her dress. "No!" She screamed. She leapt from the bed, running in a panic through the bedroom door, and out of the apartment.
She kept running for a good block before she felt her legs give out from under her.
Crawling in agonizing pain back into the alley she had first arrived in, Lyra's head fell into her hands as she began to weep.
"I...Could've died..." She trailed off before crying herself to sleep.