Lyra's Human Machine

CHAPTER ONE

"There we go, just one more bolt..." Lyra said as she tightened the last one. She looked at Bon Bon and nodded. The pink and blue maned pony pulled the lever. Sparks started flying from one pole to another and a purple swirl started to form in the center of the machine. Lyra grew an ear to ear smile and Bon Bon could not believe it was working. The machine started to smoke and the portal disappeared. Lyra's mint green face started to turn red.

"Um... Lyra? Are you ok?" Bon Bon asked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Lyra screamed, knowing very well that Daisy would have been knocking on the door if she had swore again, "What am I missing? I got everything! It even opened!!"

"Lyra, come on, it's late. You have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Bon Bon said to the almost weeping pony.

"Alright, but tomorrow I'll-"

"Lyra. You'll have a job by tomorrow." Bon Bon said a bit annoyed that her mint friend is still obsessing over these 'human' things.

"How about just at night?" she asked her roommate making the cutest puppy dog face in pony history. (Well... Maybe not as cute as a certain yellow pony with a pink mane.)

"Fine... But you can't stay up past 10:30," Bon Bon said, still not understanding what the big deal was about humans. Humans are mythological creatures, nothing more. Why would Lyra believe in them?

"Yay!" Lyra said as she went up and hugged Bon Bon.
The next morning as Lyra and Bon Bon were eating breakfast the beige pony started up the conversation.

"I heard that Carousel Boutique has work open,"

"Hmm... I don't know... Anything creative I touch dies."

"Well I'd say that machine in the basement is creative,"

"And you see how well it works," The pony with the lyre cutie mark looked down at here cereal, "I'll just walk around town and look for anything."

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As Lyra was walking around town looking for work, she was more focused on her machine.

"hmm... Maybe I just need more of that magic! Oh... But the only money I could use to buy some would be the money that we were saving up for the rent..." Lyra thought as she walked down the street as a plum colored pony stopped her for a second.

"Hey, Lyra I heard you were looking for work,"the mulberry maned earth pony said.

"Hey, Berry Punch. Yeah, but the only work I know of is at Carousel Boutique..." Lyra replied.

"Well, I heard that Twilight needed help in the library," Berry Punch told her.

"Thanks, BP, I'll go check it out," she said as she ran off. When she got there she knocked on the door to be met by a purple and green dragon.

"Hey, Lyra! Are you looking for more mythology books?" he asked her.

"No, not today Spike. I'm actually here to see Twilight, is she home?" Lyra replied.

"Yeah she's home. Let me go get her," he said as he ran into the back.

A few moments later a lavender pony with purple hair and sparkles for her cutie mark came out.

"Hello, are you looking for something in particular?" she asked.

"Uh... Kind of... I was hoping that I could work here," Lyra asked.

"Sure, I guess, I did tell Berry Punch that I needed someone to shelve books," Twilight said with a smile on her face.

"So... Can I start now?" the mint unicorn asked.

"Go right ahead. There's a box by my desk with returned books on them, and if you don't know where all the books belong there's a map in the drawer," Twilight informed her new employee.

"Ok," Lyra said as she started pulling out multiple books and putting them away.

"Hmm... Let's see... Star-Swirl the Bearded... That goes under history. Hands and fingers. Well I remember reading that one. It goes under mythology."

The day went on and the books got put back on shelves. Ponies came and went. Ponies checked out books or just sat and read. Twilight looked bothered about something all day, so Lyra thought she'd ask.

"Uh, Twi, is something bothering you?" Lyra asked.

"Oh, it's nothing..." she replied. Lyra looked at her for a second.

"You're lying. I can tell. What is it?" she insisted. Twilight took a deep breath and looked back at Lyra.

"Well, it's just... at my brother's wedding... you kind of um... attacked Cadence and I..." she said blushing a bit. Lyra thought about it for a second.

"Changelings I guess, I don't remember that. I was at the wedding when you burst in anyways," she answered, "Besides, I like Cadence! She was also my foal sitter! I used to live in Canterlot too, you know."

"Heh heh... I guess you're right..." Twilight continued on her librarian duties.

By the end of the day, Lyra trotted up to her new boss. Twilight took the hint. She wen back to her safe and sadly looked at Lyra.

"I'm sorry, I seem to be short on bits right now, but I should get more by next week. Is there something else I could pay you in?" Twilight asked. Lyra thought for a second and smiled.

"You're a pretty powerful unicorn right?" Lyra asked.

"Uh, yeah, but I don't really like to brag..."

"Well, I do need one thing for this project I'm working on, and I think that you can supply me with enough."

"What do you need?" Lyra turned and looked at Twilight Sparkle.

"Concentrated unicorn magic," she said. Twilight looked at her and thought about it for a second.

"I could probably get you a small amount. It's too much of a strain to give out a lot at one time." Twilight answered.

"Give me as much as you can and I won't need to be payed for the rest of the week." Lyra insisted.

"Deal, " Twilight answered. Then the lavender unicorn opened a cabinet and pulled out a jar. She put her horn inside of the jar and it started to glow. Drop by drop the magic fell into the jar. It was about half way full when Twilight stopped.

"That's all I can give without wearing myself out," The purple unicorn informed her. Lyra smiled, took the magic and thanked her as she walked out the door.

On her way back to the house she was thinking about how to work on her machine and finish it. When she got back to their house she went straight down the the basement and started adding the new magic to what she already had.
"Good, I think it should work now..." she thought, "Hey, Bon Bon get down here!"

As her earth pony friend came down the stairs she started up the machine again. The sparks started flying and the portal opened once more, but Lyra wasn't giving up this opportunity. She grabbed Bon Bon and jumped in.

"Lyra what are you doing, I don't want to go in there! NOOO!"

Bon Bon was the first to wake up.

"Oh, my head hurts... Where are we, Lyra?" she said as she looked over at her friend, "OH, SWEET CELESTIA, LYRA WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" as she saw her friend who looked like a mythological creature, then she looked at herself, "OH, SWEET CELESTIA WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?"