One week ago...

Lyra couldn't sleep. It didn't help that Bon-Bon was having one of her "restless nights" and was kicking her in the back, so she decided to go into the kitchen, have a little snack, and try to go back to bed. Once she made it to the kitchen, she opened the pantry, "Nothing," She said sleepily, moving on to the fridge, "Seriously?" she asked, slightly irritated. She added, "Make Bon-Bon go grocery shopping tomorrow," to her mental to-do list, "There has to be something to eat in this house."

As she rummaged through the kitchen to find something to eat, she noticed a dull, orange light outside. Curious as to what was causing it she looked out the window, there was an odd dog-like creature on a black leash who's head appeared to be lit on fire. That wasn't what interested her though, holding the leash was a tall bipedal creature who wore armor that was colored orange, blue, and gray, with bits of light floating around their head. She gasped, "That HAS to be a human! What else could it be?!" As she was having a minor freakout, she just barely noticed the presumed human begin walking out of town.

Recovering from her excitement she raced to the door, slamming it open. She looked to where she last saw the human, but was disappointed when she found nothing but the quiet empty streets of Ponyville. "But... IT WAS JUST THERE!?" She shouted, "Where could it have gone so fast!?" Angrily, Lyra ran through the street in the direction of the disappearing human, until she made it to the edge of the Everfree forest.

"They..." She gulped, "They didn't go into the Everfree, did they? In the middle of the night?" She really didn't want to find out, but her curiosity got the better of her and, reluctantly, she entered the dark forest. Going into the Everfree during the day was unnerving, but not nearly as much as doing it at night, Lyra couldn't see more than about 15 yards in any direction, and that was WITH her horn glowing. Without, she would have been completely blind. That was until she noticed the orange glow again, "Oh my Celestia!"She thought, an enormous smile on her face, "I'm about to meet an actual HUMAN!"

But she was quick to realize the light was coming from two different directions: In front of her, her face fell, and behind her. She turned quickly, but not quickly enough as she was swatted by the flaming dog-creature and landed in a small clearing. She let out a grunt of pain as she impacted the ground and rolled slightly. Getting up she noticed the dog was moving closer, its head low and growling. She tried to move away, but was interrupted as she moved up against something behind her, "The human!" She thought, relived, "Maybe he'll call off his dog!" This was not what he did.

The human reached down and grabbed Lyra by the neck, holding her up to eye level. "Wha- HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to shake her way out of his grip, "MY GIRLFRIEND WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS IF YOU HURT ME!" But unfortunately, the human didn't seem to care.

"Pathetic beast," He said. Lyra opened her mouth to say something, but his grip tightened, "Beasts all need masters. You need a master," The human forced Lyra to look into the eye-slits on his helmet as they lit up with an even brighter blue than they already were, "I am your master," he said, as she slipped out of consciousness.

Present...

The Drifter stood at a table in a large, crystalline room. The table had 7 of the odd creatures that inhabited the town sitting around it, creatures he now new to be called 'ponies' and one young dragon whose names he learned were, "Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Bon-Bon, and Spike," He wen't over their names in his head so he wouldn't forget. He had also learned that he was in a country name Equestria on the planet Equus.

"So let me get this straight," The one he knew to be Applejack spoke out, "You're part of a race called 'Drifters', your job is 'Drifter', and your name is 'Drifter'?"

"Correct," he answered, though he lied about his name. They didn't need to know his real name, "Though, I have been know as 'The Magician' to some people."

"Why 'Magician'?" The one named Pinkie Pie asked, then she gasped, "Do you do magic tricks!?"

"No, the title refers to the technology I possess. To some it appears unreal, so they label it as magic or witchcraft."

"May I ask what material your cloak is made of? I've never seen anything quite like it," Rarity asked politely.

"I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but it is made of animal fur and hide," He answered to which Fluttershy flinched slightly.

"W-why animals?" the timid pegasus asked.

"Warm for traveling to cold places as well as durable and protective for when I get into a battle."

"Battle?" Rainbow Dash perked up instantly.

"Yes. From tiny robo-spiders to giant, man-eating toads. Hell, I've fought and killed a being that was created from something used to make people immortal."

"Does this mean you have weapons?" She asked, clearly excited.

"Yes, but those can wait for later," He answered, much to Rainbow's dismay. Then he heard Bon-Bon speak up impatiently.

"Have you seen a mare with golden eyes and a lyre cutie mark?"

"Cutie mark?" He asked, perplexed.

"Oh, right. I must have forgotten that part," Twilight apologized, "Cutie marks represent a pony's special talent, personality, or destiny and always appear on their flank when they find out what that is."

"So, that's what those are," he said, "I was meaning to ask about that. And to answer your question: No. I haven't seen her."

"DAMN IT!" She yelled, slamming her hoof on the table causing everyone in the room to flinch. "I... I'm sorry for yelling. It's just been so long and I'm scared."

"That's fine," Drifter condoned, "I know what it's like to lose someone." Feeling it to be a sensitive subject Twilight decided to move on to something else.

"You still haven't said why you're here," She said, coming off a little more impatient that she would have liked.

"Oh, right. Well the answer is quite simple, really, I died," he said, much to everyone's shock.

"What do y'all mean by you 'died'?" Applejack asked, "How can you be here talkin' to us if y'all're dead?"

"I'm not sure really. All I can say is that I died from an illness I had and now I'm here," He lied. He knew exactly how he got here, he just didn't want to bother with all of the details about Anubis and the Cell.

The ponies continued asking him questions for a few more minutes, if he didn't want to think about something or just didn't think it was very important information, he would lie. When they ran out of questions Twilight decided to adjourn the meeting, Applejack headed back to her farm, Rarity to her boutique, Fluttershy went home to feed her animals, and Rainbow left to practice stunts. Only Twilight, Bon-Bon, and Pinkie Pie remained in the large room.

"Pinkie, please show our new friend around Ponyville," she said, then forming a telepathic link, "If he tries to hurt anypony, shove him into a party cannon and blast him from here to Griffonstone."

"Okie dokie loki!" She exclaimed, "Come on Drifty, I'm gonna show you the best cupcakes you've ever had!"

"Alright," Drifter replied, turning to Bon-Bon and Twilight, "What are you two going to do?" Twilight started to speak, but was cut off.

"We have to continue looking for Lyra," Bon-Bon said bluntly, "If we have free time we'll join you." Twilight was a little upset that she was interrupted, but she could forgive Bon Bon. Her girlfriend had gone missing anyway.

"Come on!" Pinkie shouted, "I'm getting tired of sitting around!"

"Okay I'm coming," He said, "I'll let you two know if I find anything."

"Thank you," Twilight said, looking over to Bon-Bon.

"Thanks," she said absently. "Please be okay," she thought.

Author's Note

Ten points to the first person to tell me the name of our friend from the forest.