Papers, papers everywhere. All around Marcus’ cube were stacks of papers, some were so high Markus would have to stand and stretch just to reach the top. His cube was in a precarious state but Markus had been quite busy. He just didn't have the time to clean and organize it all properly today, or anytime this past month.

To make maters worse, the work load today seem so much larger than normal. Markus grumbled as he pulled another series of documents from the master in pile. Cyrillic letters covered the document, but none of what he read made any sense. The document was clearly Russian, but the sentence structure was just, bad. Rereading the letter head Marcus could make out that it was from Jordan. 'This had to be one of his accounts,' Markus thought.

Shaking his head Markus wondered why he chose such this absurd and impossible to fulfill contract. The company name didn't even seem to make any sense. Shaking his head once more in disgusted he tossed the paper work in his "Deal with it later bin", which was conveniently next to his cube's garbage can.

He grabbed another paper and started reading. This one was in french and seemed to make sense, for the most part.

Despite the extra work load, today had actually been pretty calm. Everyone was getting over the fact that their boss had just been fired. Pretty much everyone in the office knew Jordan was going to be the next one in charge. He'd been in and out of meetings all day, along with Paul and one or two other coworkers.

Markus put the paper work down for a moment and took a deep breath. The stress of today was nothing compared to the past couple days and it felt good.

Markus worked peacefully in his cube shift papers, taking notes. Yet the silent peace would not last for long.

Without warning, a thunderous roar of cheers could be heard from across the floor. Markus dropped the paper work and stuck his head above his cube. The sound appeared to have originated from the crowd standing by manager's office. Jordan was standing by the office door and was shaking everyone's hand who was nearby.

"Looks like Jordan got that promotion." Kris, Markus' neighboring cube mate spoke.

"Yeah," was the only response Markus could give. A cold chill ran up his spine as Jordan nodded in his direction. For some reason he felt his heart start to race. He knew Jordan well enough to know he was going to be a slave driver. That was just what Markus needed right now, more work.

The sense of impending stress caused a sudden surge in his blood pressure. Realizing this, a thought crossed his mind as he nervously looked around. 'She wasn't here', breathing a sigh of relief at the thought. It always seemed like she would show up at the worse times. Times when he was under the most stress.

He sat back down to work on the massive stacks of paper work still in front of him. As he looked at the large piles he could almost hear them laughing at him. The sound of hundreds of foreign characters screaming whispers in his mind. Markus tried to push the troublesome thoughts and voices out of his mind as he went back to work.

But, he couldn't ignore the shadows of the papers, as they seemed to sway and dance in delight at Markus' efforts.

The hours ticked away, and before he knew it 4 o'clock had already come and gone.

*Knock, Knock*

Not expecting anyone, Markus felt his heart jump again as he jumped at the sudden intrusion. He turned to see who it was. Feeling a slight easement in his mind once he saw it was just Paul. For a moment he was worried that it might have been her again.

But why was Paul here? What did he want?

“Hey Markus, we were all going to Edgar's for happy hour to celebrate Jordan's promotion. Do you want to come?” Paul was kind enough to ask, it seemed like a rare occurrence that Markus was ever invited anywhere.

Markus' response was quick and predictable; with a nervous shake in his voice he said, “Yeah! I'd love to go.”

With a nod Paul walked away, while Markus smiled and went back to work. He had a bit more pep as he finished off the last of the important paper work, the rest could wait. But, that pep quickly drained from him, as the thoughts of his coworkers laughing at him ran through his head.

'What if you mess up at the bar?', he could hear that painful whisper in his mind. 'Maybe this is a trick and they just want you there to laugh and feel sorry for...' Markus tried to shake out the intruding thoughts. They were poisonous and he knew it. All this work, the recent company lay-offs, and the events yesterday were really getting to him. 'That's all this was, just stress,' he tried to reassure himself.

Trying to shift his focus, Markus looked at the clock on his computer. It wasn't too far from quitting time. So far as work itself was concerned today had gone great. The work day had gone unusually quick, no one was yelling, and things seemed to be get done on time for a change. The thought crossed his mind, 'Maybe having Jordan in charge was going to be a nice change from Stark?'

Markus made the decision to leave a bit early today. What could be the harm?' It was close to quitting time anyways, and most of the office had already left early. The fact was Markus knew he needed to get out of this place before he went nuts. The screaming whispers threatened to come back if he stayed, and then there was the real fear, that she would return.

He filed the last of the day's paper work and started shutting down his computer. One last thought about today crossed his mind, perhaps the best thing of all about today was that his hallucination hadn't shown up once. Yet, for some reason he couldn't place, his hands wouldn't stop shaking at the thought. He could feel a deep sense of foreboding creeping up his spine. It was like an odd electric tingle that made his mind go fuzzy.

Suddenly, without any other warning Lyra spoke, "Hi! Markus."

*Bang*

Markus' head impacted the shelf above his desk, papers spilled everywhere. Some were knocked on the floor, some shifted on the desk, one in particular disappeared in the round receptacle at the edge of his desk known as the garbage bin.

"Owww..." Markus rubbed his now sore head.

"Opps, sorry about that." She said with her signature smile and laugh.

'The green one has returned' Markus thought to himself. The sense of dread washing over him.

"Why are you here?" He groaned and continued rubbing his head.

Lyra shrugged and gave Markus' the biggest smile she could manage, "I told you I was going to come back today. I would have been back earlier, but Twilight's machine took longer to recharge then I thought. Apparently it was because I kept appearing and disappearing yesterday."

She looked around at the empty cubes, "So! What are we doing today in the human world?"

*Bang*

Markus' head impacted his desk.

*Bang*

And again.

*Bang*

"Markus?" Lyra tilted her head not quite understanding what Markus was doing. "Oh! Is this another way humans greet each other? I always thought you guys just shook hands! Neat!"

*Bang*

Lyra smacked her head against his desk, "...owww."

Markus tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't stop smiling as his green hallucination started rubbing her head. He didn't want to smile, he didn't want to laugh but he couldn't help it. He felt his lungs convulse as he started laughing uncontrollably, "This is it, isn't? I've finally and truly lost my mind." he said aloud.

Lyra was still with him when he exited the building and made his way out to the pub. It didn't matter what he tried to do, she wouldn't leave him alone. Part of him wanted to run back home and try to hide from the intruding specter, but she insisted that wasn't a good idea. He needed to get out more, she said.

Why was he listening to her? It was like she was in his head, controlling him. A damn ceaseless whisper that wouldn’t stop; a sudden thought crossed over him followed by an icy chill. For a moment he remembered his grandfather, such terrible memories of that old man yelling at his own specters. He had to be locked away, for his own protection, as well as his family's. It was a painful memory.

Another thought, this time of a young girl as she yelled at the wall and clawed at her arms. He shook his head and whispered “No.”

"Hey, are you ok?" She spoke.

Markus tried to ignore her, to pretend she didn’t exist. He didn't want to make a scene with his coworkers around him.

"Just go away." He whispered to her.

He thought he could hear the whispers of his coworkers "Weirdo", "Nut job", "Why did Paul invite him?"

Markus blinked and rubbed his eyes. The whispers stopped. "God, I'm so over worked," he spoke absently.

"Hey!" She popped up right in front of his face, like she was hovering there.

"Talk to me Markus," she pleaded. He stumbled with his words trying to figure out what, if anything to say to her.

The feeling of a sharp and pointy hand patted Markus on his back snapping him out of his trance. "You ok buddy?" It was Jordan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit nervous, you know?"

"Nervous? What do you have to be nervous about? Your job is fine Markus, I saw to it already." Jordan gave one of the largest most plastic smiles he could.

Markus just shrugged his shoulders, and Jordan patted his back once more before walking ahead.

"I don't like him," Lyra spoke with a slight sneer.

“Yeah…” was all Markus could respond with as his thoughts drifted. His unicorn companion continued to babble on about things. Mostly about ponies she had bad feelings about in the past, and how her feelings often turned out to be correct; something about a pinkie sense? He had a hard time following it all.

The small group came upon the public house; Edgar's was a small hole in the wall pub, just south of down town. It was a pretty average, as far as bars go, but it did have good happy hour specials that went well past 6PM.

“Hey man, you ok?” Kris came up behind and grabbed Markus' shoulder in a sign of comfort. He wasn't a good friend. Actually he wasn't even a friend just an acquaintance, but Kris knew Markus just enough to know he looked despondent about something.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine.” Markus responded, but in truth he wasn't. He turned his head to his side at the unicorn that was still following him. Rambling on about random almost incoherent things.

Lyra stopped talking and trotted ahead slightly, disappearing through the closed solid oak door, in blatant defiance to the laws of physics and common sense.

Markus gave one last shake of his head. "Really I'm fine." He spoke, not quite believing those words anymore.

"Hey, there are people in here!" Markus could hear the pony squeal in excitement behind the door. Without further warning, and as if this were some cartoonist rendition of a Dickens’ novel, Lyra's head appeared on the front of the door.

“This place is great, there’s a pool table and everything!”

Markus rolled his eyes and mumbled, “I know.”

The bar was barely half full when the group arrived. They quickly descended on the large empty section and brought the small bar to near capacity. Markus made a point to sit a ways away from everyone else, wanting to share in the company but not really be in the center of everything.

He ordered a mug of some amber ale. It was smooth, hoppy and had a slight aftertaste of orangies. In truth Markus had no idea what he had ordered, just that it was the cheapest on the happy hour special list.

Lyra continued to babble on, this time about some Ponyville bar run by some punch pony, or berry, BerryPunch maybe? He couldn’t really follow along with her ceaseless ramblings. Yet despite her incessant talking, Markus couldn’t help but enjoy the noise and companionship she brought him.

Usually he’d be alone, even in a crowd like this. Lyra somehow seemed to lessen that feeling. She made him feel important, and somehow less stressed. He wouldn't admit it to her, and feared to admit it to himself, but It felt good to have her next to him; Even if she wasn't real.

“Hey!” Lyra yelled at him.

“Are you paying attention to me?” She pouted.

Markus could only smile and shake his head ‘no’.

She sighed and crossed her front legs. It would actually have been adorable, if Markus could only wrap his head around how a pony could do that in the first place.

Markus’ eyes glanced around the bar and he spotted a lone blond sitting on the opposite side. She drank what appeared to be a pink cocktail, and was absently looked around the bar herself.

For a moment their eyes meet, and a slight smile crossed her lips as she looked away from him. Markus smiled and looked down at his own nearly empty beer as a few random thoughts flashed through his mind.

He was quite rudely interrupted by the prodding of a unicorn horn in his side.

"You should talk to her!" Lyra pushed Markus, trying to get him to pay attention to her, and to take her advice.

He shook his head ‘no.’ "I don't even know her." he whispered.

"But you would like to," Lyra spoke with a bit of optimism.

"I said no," He repeated a bit more loudly.

"So no refills?" During his apparent conversation with himself the bartender had walked up to Markus' empty glass.

He thought about it for a moment, another drink didn't seem like a good idea. "Oh um, n-" but Jordan interrupted Markus.

"Of course he'll have another one! It's on me!" Jordan dropped his card on the bar as the bar tended nodded and walked off to get a new cold mug for Markus' beer. Truthfully he didn't want to drink anymore, or hang out in the bar for that matter.

“Hey man! You should come over and join us, rather than sitting over here by yourself.” Jordan tried to push him towards the crowed but Markus couldn’t quite do it. It just didn’t feel right for some reason.

He looked down into his empty mug, "I don't know. I was never really a fan of large crowds."

"Then why did you come?" Jordan spoke with almost a laugh.

Markus felt his heart stop, this was exactly what he feared. He had to leave, this wasn't where he should be. Everyone hated him. Markus started to get up "Oh. I'm sorry I didn't-"

Jordan put his hand on his shoulder, preventing him from running off, "No, Markus, I didn't mean you should leave, but if you aren't comfortable why did you come?"

Markus sat back down and shrugged. The poisonous thoughts in his mind making him sick. "I guess, I'm just never invited anywhere I thought it would be interesting to check out?"

Jordan gave Markus' shoulder a quick squeeze before letting go. "Well, if you change your mind you should head over with the rest of the group."

The bartender dropped off the new mug and Jordan's card. He game Markus a quick pat on the back before walking away.

Lyra sneered slightly as he walked away, "I don't like him, but he's right."

TMarkus looked at the dark golden mixture in the icy mug. "About what?" He whispered to Lyra.

"That you should go sit with the rest of them. They aren't going to hurt you Markus."

He just shrugged at her response and took a sip from his beer. Across the bar he say that blond girl get up and start to walk away or so it seemed anyway. Markus wasn't expecting the blond girl to come and sit next to him. Even more surprising was when she started talking to him. Her name was Amber, Markus repeated her name in his head. It was quite pretty.

Amber was clearly enjoying the conversation with the rather shy man, but something just seemed a bit off about him. She felt a bit uncomfortable, but still felt curious about him. She wanted him to talk back, the mystery of this shy man was burning her subconscious and she had to know more.

Lyra was beaming with pride. Occasionally she would drop a bit of advice, but for the most part Markus was handling things well. It seemed like things were going well here, maybe, just maybe Markus would make a friend, or even better a special somepony.

Markus could sense that things were going well. He knew from watching other people how events like this usually unfolded, so he decided to push. "So... would you like to come back to my place. Maybe have a. Cup. of. coffee." perhaps a bit to hard. Markus could see her push back slightly at the thought. Her body language was a very strong and clear no.

Lyra slammed her face into her hoof. Things had been going so well she whispered to herself.

"Oh, no, no, no. I couldn't I actually have to be at work in the morning." Amber could see him deflate, like a child's balloon, which was so cruelly popped.

"I mean you're a nice guy Markus, but I'm just way to busy with work to do that right now."

Amber got up from her seat, clearly getting ready to leave Markus behind. "Maybe some other night we could get drinks again?" She said with a smile before walking away.

Markus didn't know how to take that whole situation. He knew he screwed up, but this was how it always worked on TV and in books. A cute girl would come up, they would talk for a while and then leave together. 'Maybe I just misunderstood?' he thought.

Lyra was quick to insert her own analysis, "I think you pushed a little too hard there Markus."

Markus lowered his head and took a huge gulp of his beer. 'My hallucination is right', he thought.

"I mean she's clearly still interested in you. You just need to go slower." She rubbed Markus' side with her hoof. Markus couldn't help but feel awkward as she kept rubbing. It felt good to be comforted, but he didn't want to feel good. He didn't want it to feel like anything at the moment.

"Lyra, can you please stop" he spoke in a whisper.

She pulled away from him. In her mind she could sense his pain and discomfort. The little specter thought about what to do, how to fix this.

Mrakus' own mind ran through the same thoughts she was having. It was like more whispers screaming at him. Thoughts that were not his own running through his head. He could see her thoughts in his mind, and it terrified him.

Lyra could feel his growing paranoia and stress, she reached out to him, "Markus, please your scar-"

It was too much, "Will you fucking stop!" Markus yelled at the seemingly empty seat next to him. Some bar patrons stopped their conversations to stare at the delusional man, who might have had too much to drink.

Holding his head down, he tried not to make eye contact with anyone. In the back of his mind all he could hear were those damn whispers screaming at him. 'This was a mistake, I shouldn't have come out' he thought. He looked up across the bar, his eyes focusing on something that made his heart sink.

He wasn't even aware that Kris had come up next to him and sat down. Markus simply wasn't paying attention to him, all he could see was Jordan talking to Amber. He felt anger, rage and dispair running though his mind.

"You ok dude?" Kris asked. Markus shook his head, unaware that Kris had asked him three times already.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind Kris." He rubbed his eyes and looked around the bar again. No one was paying attention to him anymore. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if they had even paid attention on the first place. It was so hard to tell anymore.

Markus was vaguely aware of the change in song on the jukebox.

Lyra's eyes opened up as she started to hear the lyrics to the next song, "Oh I love this song! This is the first song I heard in your world!" She began to sing the song in karaoke style "I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a sinner I'm a saint!"

It took every ounce of effort, every last bit of sanity Markus had left not to just laugh at the absurdity of everything around him. He had almost forgotten about Kris next to him, until he felt Kris' hand on his back.

“Look, Markus. I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but I think you need to get professional help.” Kris pulled a card out of his wallet and gave it to him. “This is the shrink I went to after my mum died. She really good.”

Holding the card in his hand Maruks looked at it for a moment before turning his gaze to the singing unicorn next to him. For a moment he was going to toss the card, but something in him told him not to as he shoved it into his wallet instead.

Kris gave a forced smile as he got up and walked out of the bar. Markus looked around, most people from work had already left. All that were still here were a few people from accounting that Markus didn't know, and Jordan who was getting up to leave with Amber.

Markus watched Jordan as he walked out of the bar with Amber. His arm draped over her back.

"Would you like another one?" The bar tender asked him.

"Sure." Markus wasn't even really paying attention anymore.

The bartender came back in short order and took the last of Markus' money.

The song quickly ended, and Lyra was breathing hard. A big smiled across her face. "That song was awesome! We don't usually have obscene lyric in the music where I'm from." She was still smiling at Markus, hoping to get him to smile back.

Grabbing at Markus' arm Lyra started to babble on about singing with her, "Hey, you should sing the next song with me! Come-on it will be fun!"

'What the fuck is wrong with me?' He thought as he took a long pull from his beer. The number from the card burning itself in his mind as his unicorn specter started singing again.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long to get out. Truthfully I haven't really been in a writing mood these past few months.

This chapter has been poorly edited by me. If you'd like to edit it or point out mistakes, please feel free to do so :)

Question for my readers: How many people think Lyra is real, and how many think she's a figment of Markus' mind?