The Cake Is a Lyra

by ArtisticDoe

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Comedy, Crossover, Lyra
Length: 5764

Lyra becomes very desperate for some hands

Lyra decides that she wants her hands more than anything in the worlds, and testing for science may be her only way to success.

EDIT: Added dark tag due to future chapters involving some-what dark material (It's pretty light dark so don't worry c: )

Published 2012-08-09 11:24:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-18 03:28:43 UTC

Into Aperture

The Cake Is A Lyra: Into Aperture
~Artistic_Doe 2012

The musical pony looked down emotionless at the packet of application sheets before she began to sign the last page. She began to stare, carefully creeping her bright eyes into the video camera in the top of the room with a blank expression. Her golden eyes blinked slowly as approaching her gaze into the dark glass . The camera returned a reflecting stare with a blinking red light, tracking all of Lyra's slightest movements. The mint coated mare looked back at the front page of the registration packet then returned to her stare.

"And you GUARANTEE that all of my request after I finish-" Lyra stopped her shouting to the empty room to look down at a page of the packet with squinted eyes and looked back up, "testing for 10 weeks will be granted?"

She looked around the room, trying to look for a place to look at as she waited for a response from the hidden instructor. Lyra decided on starring at the camera more, thinking a speaker or something was installed into it. They did not have this type of software in Equestria yet, so the different electronics and gadgets she first got a glimpse of when she first walked into the laboratories intrigued the young musician. The room she stood in was a cold, pure white room. There was a single door (in which she entered from), a mahogany table with the thick packet of small printed text papers, and the camera. Her coat was pricked with tiny bumps, depicting that she was chilled by the rooms low temperature and iceberg tiled floor.

The mare jumped a little due to being startled when the ear piercing feedback from a speaker responded back before a voice began speaking to her in a low, calm, monotone voice.

"As it states in you Aperture Laboratories Science Testing application packet, all of your, simple minded request, will be granted to you after the 10 weeks of testing in the Aperture Laboratories Science Testing Center." The voice responded to her with no hesitation or stops for breathing.

Lyra let out a deep sigh and slowly started to print her name in a fine, clean cursive writing. The ball point pen floated at ease with a golden aurora surrounding it.

"It-it's only 10 weeks, 10 weeks to get what every-other pony in Equestria made fun of you about, 10 weeks to prove to everypony that they are REAL!" The musical pony thought to herself as she folded back the packet and letting out a squee of happiness and a small smile on her face.

While amidst in her daydream, the same feedback shattered the blissful thought and returned Lyra to the real world. She shook her head quickly and pricked her ears up to listen for some sort of announcement.

"Leave your Aperture Laboratories Science Testing application packet in the Aperture Laboratories Science Testing application room and proceed the door in which you entered through to proceed to your next task in preparing for your testing." The technical voice announced to Lyra.

"Um, well ok Miss, but uh..wouldn't I just end up where I came-" Before the minty mare could finish her questionable sentence, the large metallic door in which she entered from opened slowly to reveal not the entrance hallway, which she walked through to get to the application room, but a new room which she had not seen yet.

The unicorn, wide eyed, walked curiously into the new revealed room. Inside the room were 2 rows of dressers, one on each side of the walls. One row had a blue man sign at the front side, facing the door and the other row a pink woman. Each dressers hung neatly ironed orange jumpsuits. Next to the jumpsuits, on the male side hung a black tank-top with a white T-shirt which stated 'Aperture Laboratories' stretched across the top with the small circular logo next to it, and on the female side hung two tight fitting tank-tops, one light blue and the other white with the same print as the white T-shirts. Under the jumpsuits stood a pair of tall, clean white boots with black straps and replacing a heel was a curved metal bar beginning from the back top of the boot and curving towards to bottom, fitting to the shape of the boot. A clean cut mirror was placed in-between each dresser along with a row a benched stretching through the middle of the two separated dresser rows.

Lyra trotted towards a small pile of clothing folded neatly on one bench and a pair of firm boots standing next to the stack.

A lighter, more clear feedback beeped this time and the unicorn turned her head swiftly to see this time, not a camera, but an actual speaker towards the top of the closet wall. She wondered why there where no cameras in this room, but suddenly remembered that cameras in most locker rooms in Ponyville, let alone Equestria, are not permitted due to a privacy law, so she figured that same rule applies here. As the voice began to talk once again, Lyra looked back up, attentively to the speaker.

"What you have in-front of you are...specially tailored Aperture Laboratories Science Testing jumpsuit and boots for your, interesting anatomy." In an emotionless tone, she told Lyra as she analyzed the clothes by lifting them up with her magic and taking a good look at them.

"How am I suppose to put this on..uh.. Miss scarey techno lady?" Lyra asked trying to be as polite as she could but without revealing that she is so very confused.

The voice moaned annoyingly, "Do I need to walk you through this, it is not rocket science and I would know what rocket science is," The voice stopped to sigh and mumble something that Lyra could not understand, than continued to talk very slowly, "first, you must put on the LIGHT BLUE fitted sleeve-less shirt."

The unicorn nodded and proceeded to put on the light blue tank-top. Once finished, she looked back up to the speaker for the next step.

"Now, put on the next sleeveless shirt."

Lyra followed her next instruction.

"Do you still need my help? The next part should be fairly obvious even for someone as simple minded as you."

The mare cringed at the comment but then started putting on the 4-legged jumpsuit cautiously, but suddenly, she realized something and stopped for a moment.

"Hey wait a minuet, if you can't see me, how do you know what I'm doing, huh explain THAT." Lyra shouted proudly, admiring herself for figuring out that little loop-hole.

The mysterious instructor chuckled a mischievous laugh, "Oh, you don't know, but I know every little thing that you could do, with or without an Aperature Laboratories Science Testing motion tracking video camera."

Lyra stood stiffly with a scared look upon her face. Small pupils with a small frown on her face depicting that she realizes that this announcer is more that she thought she was. She swiftly put on the jumpsuit then sat down in her, peculiar, way and started to pull up the boots and adjust the straps. When she finished with the attire, she took a look at herself in one of the long, tall standing mirrors. Her surprised look turned to a happy, satisfied grin.

"I look pretty goooooooodd." Lyra slurred out dreamily as she turned around to see her self.

The voice let out a low moan and mumbled something quietly once again to herself before giving Lyra another task for her to do.

"Whenever you are finished loving yourself, would you care to continue, we don't have all day."

Lyra stopped and blushed embarrassingly. Nodding sheepishly, she walked over to a new set of doors, which had been open to lead her to a new room. While Lyra trotted down the new hallway, she noticed that the slim stretch of a hall was becoming darker, and darker, and darker, until it was a pitch black, silent room. The air was chilled and the mare felt as if she was lost in Everfree forest during the night. Her horn began to glow the same wispy gold aurora as it did before, producing a small light source before a spot light shined over a large, interesting object. While her magic slowly faded away, the mare curiously walked over to the podium, in which the strange figure rested on. She quickly jumped her front hooves onto the podium and stood on her hind legs to help get a better look at the item. All she could detect was that it was some sort of a gun, but did not look as if it shot anything that could kill anypony. The gun consisted of 2 smooth, white shells, a larger one on the top of the gun and a smaller on the bottom. A large black barrel slid through the two shells of the gun. In the barrel there was a dip down the middle, within that were 2 tubes, one tube inside the other tube. 3 large, claw like arms stood out of the front of the barrel and 3 black cables attached from the base of the claws to the end of the larger white shell.

"What you see there is an Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device," the instructor announced. "Go ahead and pick it up, and turn it on, as I've noticed, you could pick up a pen with that, horn of yours, I believe you could pick up this."

The musical pony stared at the gun, scared of what kind of power it consist, but she proceeded her instructors instructions and picked up the Portal Gun with the golden glow. She inspected all sides of the gun before the lights in the room all turned on, blinding the mare.

When she opened her eyes, they widen in shock to realize she was in a very large room which consist of rows of TV monitors and all sorts of switches and buttons. In the middle of the room, a swirled staircase led to a large observing platform, surrounded with thick, metal railings; protecting the observer from falling onto the hard floor. She hopped her hooves down from the podium and felt the cold, tiled floor with her hooves. 6 large circular openings where placed at the top of the room, which Lyra thought to be the air conditioning to the room. The name 'Aperture Laboratories' was plastered throughout the entire facility in a fine, shiny black paint.

The mare wiped her tail cautiously with her ears flattened in shock of the amazing room. A tip of her tail brushed over a smooth, cold surface and she quickly turned around to see herself face-to-face of a massively large robot with a single, yellow light. The words 'Aperture Laboratories AI was printed on one face of the robots body, which dangled from the ceiling, with dozens of thick, electrical cords supporting the AI up. The robot consisted of different sized red lights that blinked on and off. Levers and switches surrounded the gargantuan body of the AI. Different small, thinner cords stood out on the long body, attaching to different electrical operators which snaked inside of her body, not revealing where they went to. A large head was attached away from the body of the robot, supported by only a few small beams. The words 'GLaDOS' were printed on the other side of the robots body, depicting the AI's name.

"Miss.Lyra Hearstrings," GLaDOS said to trembling musical pony, "welcome to Aperture Laboratories."

Test Subject: Equine

The Cake Is A Lyra: Test Subject: Equine
~ArtisticDoe 2012

Lyra’s eyes slowly shifted from wide and golden to small and frightened. She stared with trembling pupils into the AI’s single saffron sphere. Her gaze slowly darted from GLaDOS to the floor, to the room, to the Portal Gun, and back in a endless cycle. This staredown, lasting only minutes, lasted for what seemed like centuries. Thoughts raced through her mind like a cheetah in the midst of a hunt against a leaping gazelle. The mare was no longer a pony, but a lamb in the face of a lion.

“H-how could this happen...?” Lyra thought to herself in terror, “How could I be in one room, then be transported to some sort of . . . of . . . chamber?! Its as if - Celestia forbid - some sort of dark magic was used. On the other hoof, what is this . . . this thing?! Is this some new kind of technological human? Sure sounds like a human, or so I thought from my studies. What about this gun? Is it some sort of, military weapon?! Am I being tested to kill? Is this all just some sort of trap to train mares into the military?! What is going on? Am I still alive? Is this all just..a dream?”

The monstrous beast slowly began to come to life once more, moving slowly toward the center of her home chamber. Her many strands of cords let out small little sparks which appeared like stars in a dark night sky.

“Now, Miss Heartstrings - my that is a mouthful; how about I just call you test subject:equine from now on. There, that's much better isn't it?” GLaDOS calmly declared before her newest test dummy. She kindly nodded her robotic head to the tune of her sweet mechanical voice as she dubbed the musical mare of her new title.

“Now, if you would proceed towards the exit door, it shall lead you to your first test of intelligence.”

The AI proceeded to open a large, circular doorway which lead to a small elevator.

Lyra slowly trotted towards the mysterious elevator. Every hoof step sent an echo of sorrow and despair. Defeat overwhelmed her large heart. Her mind, once full of imagination and hope, slammed shut and locked like a steel door. She learned to obey. Listen and obey. No ifs, ands, buts or ors, just to obey.

But, a cream mare appeared inside her head. A pony with a soft, neatly curled mane that looked as sweet as candy. Eyes that shined of the deepest blue. A mare who told her to never give up, but told her that some dreams of hers were things that an uneducated colt would think of. The mare who told her just to stay back and agree to orders, not to defy. Not to speak out.

Lyra came to a heaving halt, inches before entering a realm to the unknown. The minty pony’s mind turned from a depressed blue to a fiery ember. Wrath overtook her. Defiance. Rebellion. Feelings that were all too new to the pony. Things she had hardly any experience with.

“...That’s not my name” Lyra silently said under her warm, trembling breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry, what was that you said? I could not hear your stuttering” The robot said in a simple yet threatening way.

The minty mare slowly began to back away. Her hooves created now a powerful roar as she proceeded towards the devious machine. Her ears fell back and her long tail fell slightly between her hind legs.

“I said, that is not my name, and I refuse to test for you, no matter what documents I signed. With Celestia as my witness, I will do no such things for a monster like you.”

Lyra stood proud and tall after confronting her frightful foe. Her eyes flushed with anger and pride while her golden aurora dropped her floating Portal device.

“Oh, my,” The AI retorted sarcastically while extending a hidden claw, grasping the pony into a thick clench, “you remind me of an old test subject of mine who had given me quite a lot of trouble. But, for your sake, you will test for science - oh, and I am not the monster,” GLaDOS slowly moved Lyra towards a closed doorway that quickly flashed open,

“You are.”

Lyra kicked her legs and widened her eyes as the gargantuan robot dropped the mare into the endless hole. She screamed with terror, not knowing where she would end up, or what fate had in store for her.

The musical mare fell aimlessly down a pit with no end. The dark vortex sucked her in as if it were a black hole. She did not know when or where she would end up, or whether or not she would come out alive. Lyra sealed her eyes and awaited her fate. Her mind swirled with thoughts of what could possibly happen to her. A plummet into almost certain dismay was all that stuck in her dense mind like an ember in a murky cavern.

Lyra’s horrendous visions suddenly became interrupted by a sudden shatter, resulting from making brutal contact with a steel-tiled floor. She lay there motionless, her head spinning from the impact at such high speeds. Her bones ached with the feeling of agony, struggling to keep her body held together and to not break apart. Hooves, tingling with shock, sent signals to her mind to not move or else. Simply or else.

“Gravity is never in my favor, is it Celestia?” The musical mare groaned in agony. “Where am I anyway? I need to get up, but if I move, my body is sure to fall apart.”

She undertook the opportunity to scan her surroundings rather than risking injuring any of her vital bones in movement. Lyra noticed series of various illuminated signs which depicted various different things. One sign glowed with a large number 1, accompanied by a series of smaller numbers below it; another was of black silhouettes of a human man interacting with some sort of threat. The mare tilted her head and squinted her eyes in utter confusion.

“What in the name of Celestia?”

Before Lyra could stutter out another word, the ear piercing screech of the overhead system shot through her delicate ears like a bullet.

“Not many test subjects could survive such a fall. My sincerest congratulations, test subject: equine. You have made it to your first test of intelligence without a fatality,” the AI boomed over the speaker.

Lyra sneered into a small tracking camera placed diagonally from her in the top corner of the room.

“You will find your Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device placed upon a podium inside the first test chamber. Now, if you would stand, we shall proceed to your first test.”

The minty mare’s small frown grew into a sinister grin. Her glowing eyes flushed with the trickery of a fox.

“Oh, my!Owww!” Lyra shouted, trying to sound like a sick pony. “My poor bones! Ow, I think the impact broke every last one of them! Ow, ow! Yeah, I think its best that I’m sent back home to Equestria so that I can get some proper medical treatment. Ohh, ow! Yep, my bones are surely shattered!”

“Oh, you poor thing, let me help you to feel better.” GLaDOS replied with a sweetly sarcastic tone. The AI advanced to move a nearby wall panel, using just enough force to push the pony into an upright position. She then progressed into raising a floor panel to bounce the mare to stand on her wobbling hind legs. Lastly, the robot began to move a ceiling panel to set Lyra back onto all 4 limbs.

The minty mare stood there, shaking briefly in her hooves with the fatigue of her encounter moments ago. Her ears, still recovering from the sound system, flicked rapidly in hope to recover from a small ringing sensation.

“How am I standing? I was almost certain all of my bones were broken from the impact of the fall.” Lyra called out to the AI in confusion.

“The Aperture Laboratories scientist designed the elevator shafts to be just long enough so if for some strange reason the controller of the elevators were to, say, ‘malfunction’, the test subject could jump out without breaking every last bone in their puny, fragile body. If the tunnel were just inches longer, you would, under laws of physics and gravitational pull, break into two.” GLaDOS replied in her usual tone.

The mare, her mouth agape, awed at the explanation as to why she only had sprains and bruises - not total breakage. The little engineering details, revolving around the laws of gravity and the forces, fascinated her mind. How could a human’s mind can conjure up such studies? She craved to learn more of their knowledge. Of what they knew that her kind did not, and what she could teach them. An ‘equivalent exchange’ it could be called. Information on the mechanics of a human mind for the information of a unicorn's magic. Little things that could provide such fascinating information.

“Now, proceed towards the entrance of the testing chamber. We have much to do.” The AI pronounced, interrupting the once again swirling mind of the pony.

Lyra snapped out of dream-world and back into reality. She trotted towards the glowing signs, trying to decipher what sort of hieroglyphics they were. Rolling her eyes, she continued to her set destination, knowing that she would soon discover whatever the AI had spoken of. Her eyes gradually grew wide as she gazed upon a large room with several platforms, cubes, buttons and all sorts of different things. She matched up the glowing picture to different aspects of the room. One picture showing that she must use the cubes, another saying ‘do not drink water’.

The mare lit her horn with a golden aurora and picked up the Portal Gun. She then advanced into the room, analyzing her surroundings.

Suddenly, a large, orange circular decal appeared on a wall panel above a levitated panel. Lyra stared at it intently as the oval swirled with a fiery bloom; it looked as if it were the sun itself. Overwhelming thoughts of the mechanics of this mysterious somber hole trickled down Lyra's body. She was tempted to touch the un-active portal, but her action was paused by yet another speaker screech.

“Now, since you and I both understand that you have not the slightest clue as to how to operate the Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device, I have taken the opportunity to have you progress slowly into learning how to use it. Your mind obviously has more than enough space to hold this information, so we will give your ever-maturing mind its time,” The AI said in a beaming tone through the speaker. Lyra sneered inwardly as a result of her words on her knowledge. “I have given you the Aperture Science Single Portable Quantum Tunneling Device. This allows you to shoot only one portal while I provide the second. I’m 62% positive that you can discover how to fire the portal. It is truly something an animal with the mindset of yours should figure out eventually Hold on, lets change that to 62.5% to give you a tiny bit more confidence, hm?”

Lyra squinted and stared deeply into the back end of the Portal gun with intense thoughts. She searched all throughout for some sort of lever or button to trigger the so called ‘portal’. Her search came to an end when the mare found a small black trigger inside the end of the gun. She then aimed the gun at her designated area where she wanted the portal to be, then advanced to pull the trigger. Her eyes, tightly shut, anticipated the results of her action. The mare flashed open her eyes to see no new oval apon where she aimed. Her ears fell flat back and once golden eyes turned to a disappointing indigo.

"I-wait-what?!" Lyra stammered out, "I did exactly what you instructed me to do and there's no new 'Quantum Tunnel' whosamecallic! Maybe your a little rusty on your testing, how about that!"

"It is not only my fault but yours. GLaDOS replied in a snarky way, "Although I did not mention that a Portal will only activate upon a surface made from grounded moonstone, I was giving you a side quiz to see if you as intelligent as you make yourself out to be. You had only failed to see my little quiz, and now you know the answer. I will be recording this down in your resume."

Lyra's face shifted into the looks of regret. Guilt flooded into her heart.

"I'm such an a-" The musical mare mumbled to herself as she re-aimed her Portal Gun towards a clean, white wall.

Before firing her machine once more, Lyra once again closed her eyes. Thoughts of messing up again intruded her brain. Following her pulling the trigger once more, she timidly opened one eye, and then the other, and witnessed a new ovular aperture on the wall opposite her end of the chamber. It was illuminated with a blue that reminded Lyra of her princess of the night. Her flattened ears sprang up with the joy of doing something correct.

Pride radiated from her face as she happily trotted towards the portal. Suddenly, her trot relaxed to a stop and her ears flattened back down like a lost puppy. The mare tilted her head and timidly stuck a front hoof into the hole. She looked back towards the other portal to see a tiny sea-foam green hoof poking out of it. Lyra quickly moved her hoof in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out of the portal, witnessing the wonder of teleportation.

“T-that's incredible,” The minty mare sputtered through small lips. “I’ve seen a good friend of mine back in Ponyville perform teleportation, but I thought that was exclusive to high advanced unicorn magic. I had no idea that humans had such intelligence to create artificial unicorn magic!”

“Unicórnis magic?” The AI replied questionably, “Magic is nothing more than a form of alchemy. The Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device uses a high form of scientific elements to perform such tasks. It is rather intriguing that I have a unicórnis as a test subject, however . . . it will be interesting to see how magic works within your realm.”

Lyra smiled in satisfaction from some little praise from her instructor. Praise always made the mare feel warm inside. All her life she’d dealt with denial and had gone through the experience of being let down; she’d had no one to ever make her feel proud.

She finally stepped completely through the glowing azure oval and reappeared out of the amber one. The musical mare looked back from the way she came once again, only to fully take in the idea that she is the first pony to ever teleport without magic. The first pony to interact with human artifacts. The only mare to ever do something like this in the history of Equestria. Lyra wrapped the cube upon the platform with a cloak of her honeyed color magic. She examined every corner of the large cube. On each side of the cube a blue circle with a white aperture symbol on the middle of it. Each corner was protected by a helmet-like round structure. After appraising the cube, the unicorn then progressed back through the portals and placed the cube upon a large red button. Pressing it down, the result was the opening of a different chamber door.

“See, I am intelligent - I solved that ‘test’ all within 5 minutes. How do you like them apples, Miss!” Lyra snorted out, radiant with pride.

“That was the easiest test I have ever created! You will deal with much, much, worse and more fatal tests. Do not become overly confident with the deadly sin of pride, because your pride may cause you to become nothing more than a soulless animal.” GLaDOS stated with a voice as cold as a midnight blizzard.

Chills ran up the mare’s long spine. Her heart sank to the bottom of her hooves and her stomach was overwhelmed with fiery butterflies. She paced intently out of the testing chamber and onto a tall, thin elevator. Centimeters from her delicate nose, a transparent door slammed together, locking tightly to ensure safety. The elevator descended down the long shaft, moving at high speeds. Lyra’s tender stomach bounced all about her insides, nauseating the poor mare. She wobbled aimlessly about the tight shaft, searching for a place of balance when the elevator came to an abrupt halt on a new floor. The tight doors opened swiftly and the pony waddled out of the lift, her face a sickly shade of dark green with small droplets of water springing from her eyes.

After blinking away the tears, Lyra examined her new surroundings. Upon opening a wooden door, the room she was now in looked as if it were an apartment room. Within her room contained a wide bed beside a tiny nightstand, a small desk, a semi-working TV, a mini refrigerator, and a mirror closet. The room, lit with only two table lamps and an overhead light, provided the apartment with a decent amount of visible light. Her room was the color of sweet cream with paintings of various scenery. The somewhat soft bed had a floral patterned comforter draped across it with clean, white sheets, and two fluffed, medium sized pillows. Upon her bed lay a change of testing clothes. After setting her Portal Gun on her bed, she searched throughout her fridge to find bottles of water, various cans of food and other sorts of snacks. Various desk drawers held books ranging from many different genres. Within one one of them lay a variety of pencils, pens, erasers, all sorts of writing utensils. Lyra’s face lit up the slightest bit when she found a small journal filled with blank sheets of paper. Her mind, forever seeking to learn, did not want to forget a single moment of her journey.

Lyra pricked her ears up and discovered a speaker on the wall above her bed just as it began to create the feedback screech as it normally did.

“This shall be your current residential room while you stay here at my facility. Do make yourself at home. Do not fret, there are no cameras installed into your apartment due to privacy violations within the US government,” GLaDOS sincerely said to the musical mare, “You will find everything that you could possibly ever need within your resting chamber. There is a bathing room on the other side of the door nearest your closet if you need to wash your oddly colored fur or complete a certain action. Test subjects may stay awake for as long as their little hearts desire, but the wake-up call is 6:00 am, so do keep that in mind. You will be presented with a proper meal containing nutrients from the 5 food groups to ensure a proper diet to keep you built with a healthy, test-ready body.”

After the robot’s extended lecture, the pony rolled her auburn eyes and began to undress herself and place the dirty clothing into a pile to be washed and hung up her new, neat clothes in her closet. Lyra levitated her sweaty garments and walked into her small bathroom. She washed her clothes with a solution of body soap and baking soda from the cabinet underneath her sink. With her drapes hanging to dry over the shower curtain line, she hopped into the already running warm shower and scrubbed her mane and fur. The heated water created a soothing steam, making her feel fresh and renewed. The musical mare hummed a classical tune that she often played on her golden lyre back in Ponyville. The song consisted of many lovely tones and long cords; a classical staple within the music world. The combination of her alluring tune and the trickle of water streams created a majestic mixture of both grace and simplicity.

After her long shower, Lyra dried her mane and fur with a rough white towel labeled with the bold letters ‘Aperture Laboratories’ across it. As she walked from her bathroom to her bedroom, a light knock echoed from her door. Upon opening the door, she discovered her dinner for the night lying before her hooves: an apple, a small salad, a roll of bread with butter, a pile of assorted nuts, a tall glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie. Lyra smiled, brought in her dinner, and sat properly at her desk before advancing to eat her dinner. She ate her meal little by little, saving her cookie for last. After finishing her dessert, the mare pulled out the small notebook and pencil, proceeding to write in her neat cursive the various things she’d learned about humans and their science today. On another page, she titled the date and wrote in an entry:

‘Week 1, Day 1-

-Today was quite the day to be honest. It was filled with surprises and shocks. It started with me filling out my applications, getting my work clothes, and receiving an interesting gun. I met my testing instructor and discovered that she was actually a giant robot! You can imagine how surprised I was! We did have a tiny argument, but it was soon resolved after I completed my first test. Humans create such incredible things. Their minds are full of things that us ponies have yet to understand. I live in a nice apartment in a amazing facility. I’m sure this will be an awesome adventure and that it will be all worth it in the end. Wish me luck!’

Lyra closed her notebook and placed her writing utensils and journal back into her desk. She cleaned up her mess and climbed into bed. The time on her small digital clock that rested on the nightstand read “11:27 pm”. Her horn lit up its magic aurora and turned off the last few lights. She covered her body within the thick, warm blanket and slowly drifted into a deep sleep. The last thing her mind held before transforming into dream mode was the variety of things she will learn upon her journey.