The Anthro-Phantomby JesterOfDestinyChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5PrologueEpilogueChapter 1The train was rattling along the tracks. Our bags laid neatly next to us. We didn’t need to use the luggage train, as we didn’t have that much stuff. We were only going to be away for two days. Have the conference on the first day, then go home in the morning of the second day. I slept through the night, but not without difficulty. Lyra kept me up for long, her excitement wasn’t wavered by the disgruntled passengers. Which included me. "Even Princess Twilight and Dr. Maud Pie will be there and that new 3D projector!” She listed. Eventually, she passed out in the middle of a sentence and everyone could get some needed sleep. But of course she was the first one to get up early in the morning. Thankfully, I woke up without her help. When I opened my eyes, I saw her staring outside the window, her eyes glazed over the rushing landscape. I could tell she was nervous. After a yawn and an exchange of tired good mornings, I asked her; “Is something wrong?” “Oh, nothing,” she replied, “I guess I’m just a bit nervous. The weight of the situation has just hit me.” “What are you nervous about? Isn’t this exactly what you were waiting for?” I asked. “Yes, I guess I just never really expected something like this to actually happen.” She answered. “Well, now it’s happening, whether you like it or not.” “Oh, I love it, trust me!” She said with a grin. “Just you know... it’s very important for everything to go well.” “What could possibly go wrong? The skeleton gets up and walks away?” She giggled lightly. “No, not exactly.” “Then what?” “Well, considering the difficulties we were having, it’s still possible everyone will just side with the anthro-skeptics.” “I highly doubt it. After this sort of evidence?” “You know what they’re like, especially Persy.” “Yeah, well Persy’s an idiot!” She chuckled and then turned to the window. Her eyes gleamed up again as she finally saw Hoofington approaching. Soon we were off the train and out the station. A unicorn with greying mane stood in front of the station. It was Franz Foals, he was waiting for us. Lyra told many stories about him, how he was his favourite teacher in school, how he’s the reason she got her cutie-mark. Lyra greeted him with a huge hug, like he was a father. He might as well been her father, I’m pretty sure she talked about him more than her parents. We separated to visit the hotel room, to drop off our luggage. All worry from Lyra seemed to have vanished by then. She was back to her enthusiastic self. When we got to the conference hall, it was full of ponies. At least, compared to most other conferences we’ve been to. Twilight was already there, taking the role of the photographer. Odd choice, I know, but who could be a better photographer, than someone who can operate a camera and fly at the same time? “Twilight,” Lyra greeted her loudly, “good to see you!” “Hey, you two!” She answered. “So nice of you to help us,” Lyra continued, “you can’t believe how hard it was to find a photographer.” “You’re right, I can’t believe it. Not taking the opportunity for such an important discovery?” “Huh,” I said, “didn’t know you were interested in anthropology.” “Well, at first I wasn’t,” Twilight clarified, “but after a while, it was impossible to deny the evidence. Besides, I wouldn’t dare to miss the public testing of the 3D projector.” “I remember when you called it all stupid back in the day.” Lyra remarked playfully. “Yeah, I was wrong. I guess I’m a reformed anthro-skeptic.” “In a way, we’re all are.” I commented and we chuckled. “Ooh, gotta go,” said Lyra as she spotted Franz, “I’ve just seen my hero.” And with that, she was off. “I hear you two were pretty good friends, back in school.” I said to Twilight. “Yeah, we were. Although we kinda fell out of touch.” “What was she like?” I always wanted to ask her that, but didn’t have the opportunity. “She was a bit more withdrawn, she didn’t really talk with many ponies. She rarely paid attention in class, she either doodled, slept or stared outside the window.” “Except for history, I presume.” I added. “Yes, Franz first mentioning humans was the first time I’ve ever seen her pay attention to anything.” “Is that when she became so excitable?” Twilight giggled. “No, that was always in her. She would go from complete apathy, to unashamed dancing in public, in mere seconds. And don’t even try to get into an argument with her!” “Yeah,” I replied with a chuckle, “tell me about it.” After a little chat with Twilight, I walked over to Lyra and Franz. There was a third pony too, a pegasus, whom I didn’t recognize. “Fancy seeing you again, Bon Bon,” said Franz. “Likewise,” I replied. “Ooh, now that you’re here,” said Lyra, “let me introduce you to Marge. I don’t think you two have met before.” “Marge? You must be Margarine Mead.” “Yes,” answered the pony, I previously didn’t recognize, “but please just call me Marge.” “Nice to meet you Marge. How have we not run into each-other before?” “Franz is a much better speaker than I am, so I always remained on the sidelines.” “Spreading the word.” Franz interjected. “Eh, I was never very good at that.” Marge added humbly. “You were good enough. You always managed to bring every anthropology enthusiast from all over Equestria.” Franz argued. “I know, it just would have been nice to gather new ponies from outside.” “Oh you did,” said Lyra, pointing at all the gathered ponies, “just look at this crowd. You even managed to bring Dr. Maud Pie.” “Yeah, well,” Marge blushed slightly, “hopefully, we’ll gradually become part of the public consciousness.” “Lack of interest was always a problem,” Franz added, “hopefully, we’ll gather some new comers to the field.” He then looked over the crowd, which to be fair, wasn’t that big, just larger than any crowd at any previous conferences. Which isn’t saying much. “Even if it’s not much at the moment.” “And who else could get us that swanky 3D projector?” Said Lyra. “Oh please,” Marge blushed even more, “the inventors were itching to see it in action.” “I’ve heard of that 3D projector on my train ride here,” I glared at Lyra as I said that, “isn’t it still in its experimental phases?” “Yes it is,” said Marge, “this conference is its first public run.” “A scientific discovery, assisted with a new invention.” Franz commented. “Cool, huh?” “Oh hey Maud!” Lyra said in surprise, because she didn’t see her approach us. “Hi.” She greeted her in the Maud-iest way possible. “I’ve set up everything I need.” She continued. “Thank you for participating.” Said Marge. “It’s a pleasure.” Maud replied, the pleasure just oozing from her voice. “That reminds me,” Franz interjected, “I haven’t set up anything on my end. I think I’ll just do that now.” He then left us, taking Marge with him. “Hey Maud,” I said to her, “what got you interested in Anthropology?” “Facts.” She replied, her enthusiasm rivalling Lyra’s. “She singlehandedly shattered half of the anthro-skeptics’ arguments,” Lyra added, “by dating the skeleton to be millions of years old and she identified it to be the same species as all the other bones we’ve found.” “No more of this mutated monkey nonsense.” Maud commented. “This doesn’t disprove that theory, you know!” An obnoxious voice could be heard. It came from a tall unicorn, who was approaching us, with a young unicorn mare next to him. Maud lowered her eyelids ever so slightly. “Ugh, sorry gotta go.” And with that, she left us. “Now that you managed to raise a slight bit of interest to this laughable pseudoscience, you will all finally see how much of a hogwash this all is!” The unicorn said, his voice getting more obnoxious with every word. “Nice to meet you too, Persy.” Lyra replied, with a displeased expression. “Oh by the way,” he continued, “I’d appreciate it, if you all started referring to me by my full name, when it comes to the press. I need to preserve my authority in the academic community.” “Yes, because the name Nitty Persnicket, commands so much respect.” Lyra answered sarcastically. Odd name I thought. “Please stop mocking my name.” He replied. “Please Persy,” the mare next to him addressed him, “we’ll let the facts speak for themselves.” “Oh yes of course,” he laughed, “we’ll let the facts speak for themselves, Lyra Heartstrings.” And with that they were off. The mare turned back for a moment and she said to Lyra; “I’m counting on you, we need to get to the bottom of it.” But Lyra just rolled her eyes. “Who was the mare with him?” I asked. “That’s Hazel Blossom,” Lyra answered, with her mood in ruins, “she says she’s open to new ideas, but the only thing she’s got over other anthro-skeptics, is that she can pretend to have respect. Which in a way makes her worse.” “And Persy’s real name is Nitty Persnicket?” I asked, still confused about that name. “He might as well be wearing a name tag that says; I’m a pedantic jerk” “He wears it as a badge of honour.” “I guess it’s better than Spoiled Milk.” I pondered. “Who the hay is that?” “You know, Filthy Rich’s wife?” “The guy’s name is Filthy?” “Ugh, nevermind, it’s not important.” The presentation was about to start. We took our places, Lyra up on the stage and me somewhere in the crowd. While they set up the stage, made sure everything worked the way they’re supposed to, made sure to not miss any necessary notes, I tried to mingle. I of course, didn’t know anyone. There were a few ponies I recognized from other conferences, but it’s not like I really knew them. And of course, Twilight, but she was a bit busy. Close to the presentation’s beginning, Persy and Hazel approached me. “You must be Heartstring’s good friend.” Persy spoke to me. “Uh, yes.” I answered, curious as to where he was going with this. “How does it feel to see her career collapse upon itself?” He asked rather rudely, to which Hazel nudged him on the side. “Sorry about him,” she said, “he can be a bit... raw in his manners.” Persy just sneered and faced the stage. “I know, I’ve met him before.” I replied. “I don’t think we’ve met before though, I’m Hazel Blossom.” “I’m Bon Bon, Lyra’s friend.” “I must ask, do you actually believe in humans?” She asked, like she expected me to answer a certain way. “Yes. Why?” “Oh it’s nothing, I’m just asking.” I’m pretty sure she expected me to say no. “How come you don’t, despite all the evidence?” I pressed her on. “Well...” she prepared her explanation, “it’s more like... I haven’t decided yet... all the evidence you mention, just doesn’t seem convincing to me.” “Is an entire skeleton not convincing enough?” She chuckled. “We’ll see!” “Come on Hazel,” said Persy, “I’m going to the very front. I want to yell things at them.” “Of course you do...” Hazel responded with an air of distaste. “Anyway,” she said to me, “I might as well move along, I want to see the 3D projector in action. Don’t you wanna come?” “Nah,” I replied, “I’d rather not be near any experimental machines.” “Oh, you’re nowhere near it. It’s up there in the cabin.” She pointed at a wide window above and behind the stage. A three-dimensional cube was spinning around in front of it. The handymare could be seen calibrating the projector. She was operating the machine with her magic. “I’ve had enough bad experiences with experimental machines, trust me.” I replied. They’ve moved to the front of the crowd, but remained in my sight. My fear of prototypes wasn’t entirely true. I mostly just didn’t feel like being next to them. Soon, the lights dimmed, the crowd quieted down and the presentation began. Franz walked on stage, followed by applause. He opened with a brief history of anthropology, then presented the news about the skeleton. Then Lyra and Maud walked up with the skeleton held in a glass case, still partly embedded inside its rock tomb. Lyra then presented images of previous fossilized findings, on a traditional projector, confirming that the skeleton is indeed the same species. Then came Maud, confirming, that the skeleton is indeed millions of years old. Persy put his hoof up. Because of course, he did. “Are you absolutely sure that it’s indeed bone?” He inquired. “Yes.” Maud answered. “It has all the components and structure bones are supposed to.” “Yes, yes, but isn’t it possible... that over millions of years, the rocks have converged to create something that appears to be bone, but is actually just an odd rock?” Maud paused for a second. She blinked slowly, then gave a very straight answer. “It’s possible, but absolutely ridiculous.” The audience chuckled at the answer, to which Persy just sank back to his place indignantly. Both the collective chuckle and Persy’s grumpy silence were nice things to hear. “So now that we got that out of the way,” said Franz, “I think it’s time to...” He stopped in the middle of his sentence and waved to the window behind the stage. But what happened after that, isn’t what any of us expected. A bright flash of light filled the conference hall. “I HAVE BEEN RESTING FOR MILLENIA! WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER!?” A loud booming voice could be heard, as an imposing ape-like figure emerged from the light. “I DEMAND TO BE PUT BACK INTO MY TOMB, OR ELSE A TERRIBLE CURSE WILL BEFALL ALL OF YOU!” And with that, it disappeared in another bright light and an eerie silence has fallen over the hall, for a moment. But as soon as that silent moment passed the crowd fled screaming out the hall, leaving all of us, confused about what the hay just happened. Chapter 2The conference hall was empty. The only ones still there, were the scientists up on the stage, packing up their stuff and Twilight frantically looking through her pictures. I looked over them and there was a strong sense of defeat among them. Lyra looked the most let down. As excited she could get, as crushed she was at the moment. Franz was similar, but he took it way better. I could tell he was extremely disappointed, but he decided to not show it as much. But I saw the opposite on Marge and Hazel, who were talking to each other. They seemed downright excited. “Did you see that?” Hazel gushed redundantly. “There’s no way ponies are going to ignore anthropology now!” “Yes, I think this going to go very well for us.” Replied Marge. “Uh, excuse me,” I said as I approached them, “how come you two are so enthusiastic about this?” “Why wouldn’t we be?” Answered Marge. “This is the most attention the field will get in years.” “With more researchers,” Hazel added, “we’ll finally get to the bottom of this.” I shook my head. “Wait, I don’t understand... Are you saying, that an ancient evil spirit is the secret to a field’s popularity?” “Don’t you see?” Hazel answered. “Most ponies aren’t interested in some old skeleton. But they’ll certainly going to be interested in a cursed skeleton.” “Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to ruin that fun myself.” Franz interjected. “I don’t think I want to deal with ancient curses. I’m putting this thing back into the ground.” “Now hold on just a tick!” I exclaimed. “I think I know a better solution!” Then I turned my attention towards Lyra, I knew she wouldn’t accept defeat this easily. So I approached her. “Hey Bon Bon.” She said melancholically, as she shut her box full of research. “Did you enjoy watching my career collapsing upon itself? It was quite the spectacle...” She talked in a way I really hate to hear her talk. “Come on, Lyra. You’re not the sort of pony to give up without a fight.” She sighed. “What’s the point? Even the most brilliant mind in the field is giving up.” “Come on,” I tried to get her spirit back, “don’t you think something seems a bit fishy about all this? Just think about it: You’ve desecrated the dead many times now and it backfires, right in the most detrimental point of your career?” She didn’t answer. “And I don’t remember you finding anything about magic among humans. In fact, I distinctly remember you mentioning, that they had no magic.” She didn’t answer. I thought for a moment. “And you noticed how it appeared, right as the projector was supposed to be turned on? And the voice sounded like it came from somewhere else.” She didn’t answer. “...Like it wasn’t even real...” She didn’t answer, but I saw her expression change. It wasn’t one of pure disappointment, but one of indignation. “This is bullteeth! It can’t just end like this!” That’s what I saw written all over her. “I for one, am not surprised at all!” Persy’s obnoxious voice could be heard. He was talking to a journalist. “I, Nitty Persnicket, predicted this long ago!” Lyra grew more furious as she listened to that. “I’m personally, am glad to finally see this pseudoscience burn away in flames.” Finally, Lyra surged up. “Now wait just a smelly second there, Persy!” Her voice echoed through the hall. “First of all, you’re saying you believed in humans all along and somehow you knew it was going to end in the ultimate proof!” He was getting visibly uncomfortable. “Well, I’m only saying,” he tried to scramble for his words, “it would be foolish to keep going after this.” “Second,” Lyra continued, “I can’t believe somepony as pedantic as you are, can’t see the painfully obvious!” “What do you mean?” “What I mean is,“ she paused for dramatic effect, “ the curse is a hoax!” That got everypony’s attention. It was no longer just Lyra angrily yelling at somepony, it was the start of something big. And the potential saving grace for the entire field. I for one was pretty proud of how fired up she got. The scientists were amazed, Twilight jolted up from her camera, the journalist started scribbling frantically, even Persy was taken aback. “Oh I see what’s happening.” Persy said after chuckling pompously. “You’re in denial, because you know this is the end of anthropology. You just can’t give up, can you?” “Oh, so you’re saying the ghost is real and in addition, humans are real too.” Said Lyra with a cheeky smile. Persy was confused for a moment. “Well, of course not. That would be preposterous! And I’m gonna prove it to you. I’m gonna prove that the ghost is a hoax and prove that humans aren’t real!” “Alright!” Lyra said, finally as enthusiastically as I like her. “And I’m also gonna prove that it’s a hoax and save anthropology!” And with that, it was time to start investigating. Chapter 3Now with renewed confidence, Lyra walked up to the stage. She was practically gleaming with energy. She was ready to tackle the issue and beat the truth out of it. Just the way I like to see her. “Wait with the re-burial just yet Franz,” she exclaimed with enthusiasm, “we’re going to set this straight.” She waved her hoof around in a bombastic manner. “Aren’t you afraid of the curse?” Franz worried. “Pf, I’m not afraid of things that don’t exist.” She boasted. “I don’t know, I don’t really feel like risking it.” “There’s absolutely no risk to it, I guarantee!” Hazel and Marge looked a bit concerned. They were happy about the ghost just moments ago. “Are you sure it’s a safe thing to do?” Hazel asked. “Tampering with the skeleton is probably the last thing it wants.” “Oh it wants nothing. It’s dead.” Lyra declared. “I am sure that somepony is behind this whole thing and I’m gonna find out who.” Hazel and Marge looked at each other, then back at Lyra. “But why would anypony do such a thing?” Asked Marge. Lyra put her hoof up to her chin, to think for a moment. “I guess we’ll find out. Before our train back to Ponyville departs tomorrow, I’ll have it all figured out.” She declared with an almost dangerous amount of confidence. They looked anxious. Especially Hazel and Marge. I guess Hazel believes in humans now, if she believes in the skeleton’s curse. “Alright, let’s do it.” Franz agreed reluctantly. “But on the first sign, that the curse is real, we’ll put the skeleton back.” Lyra agreed and gave her word. They went away, but the journalist from before stopped them to ask a few questions. Lyra approached me. “I’d say that was a much more impressive spectacle.” I joked, referring to her attitude from just a few minutes ago. Lyra looked around. “So, where do you propose we start?” “We should look at what happened, analyse the incident.” “I think I can help you with that.” Twilight walked up to the two of us with the camera. “It was my job to document everything, after all.” She seemed eager to participate in this investigation of ours. “Of course,” said Lyra, “the pictures will be really useful.” “Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to take pictures during the event. I only made two and in a very agitated state, so they’re not very good.” Lyra flipped through the pictures. Lots of crowd shots, pictures of the participants, the start of the presentation, then a very blurry image of the ghost, a blurry image of the shocked crowd, then some better ones of the aftermath. Lyra selected the two pictures took during the incident and tried to spot anything interesting. “I think I can just make out what’s happening.” She said. “You can clearly see the light sources.” “Let me see them.” I suggested. Lyra levitated the two pictures so I could see them too. “The first one with the ghost is the most interesting. You can just make out the 3D projector.” She pointed at a pretty obvious flare inside the window. “Yes, you can even see the light from it going towards the ghost.” “You think it was a projection?” Twilight wondered. “Then how was the voice done?” “Bon Bon said something to me, when she tried to cheer me up.” Lyra pondered. “By the way thanks for that! She said that the voice came from somewhere else.” “I actually kind of made that up.” I admitted with an awkward smile. “No, you’re right. The ghost was right above me, but I distinctly remember hearing its voice from behind me. It came from the crowd.” “So you’re saying,” Twilight questioned, “that somepony in the crowd was voicing the ghost? How did nopony notice that?“ “I don’t know, is there a way to make your voice sound so different?” I asked. “WELL OF COURSE THERE IS!” Twilight said in Tirek’s voice, which scared both of us. It scared Lyra so much, she launched herself onto my neck. Twilight laughed and apologized. “Sorry. But yes, there is a spell for that. But the question remains, how did nopony notice that?” “I guess in situations like this,” Lyra speculated while climbing off my neck, “some things just slip by your notice... Or the perpetrator is a not so talented ventriloquist.” “What about the other picture?” Twilight inquired. I leaned over to look at it. “I can just make out Persy over there and Hazel next to him.” I said. “Interesting,” Lyra noticed something, “Hazel’s horn seems to be glowing.” “So? A lot of horns are glowing in that crowd.” “Yes, this doesn’t really prove anything. Still, it’s useful. Thanks Twilight!” “No problem.” Twilight was glad to help. She took back the camera and left, leaving the two pictures with us. “Let’s look into a few other things too.” Lyra suggested. “I think we should start with the 3D projector.” So we walked up to the room the projector was in. Of course, the door was locked, but thankfully the handymare was nearby and she let us in. So there it was. The so fabled 3D projector. It looked just like a strange alien device that sort of resembles a traditional projector. We had no idea where to start with it. How do you even operate it? Fortunately, the handymare was happy to help. In her own dry voice, she began explaining. “You put in the image here, then you adjust the distance here, mess around with various settings here and you activate it with your magic.” “With magic you say?” Lyra inquired. “So only unicorns can operate it?” “Precisely!” “Kind of an odd way of doing it.” I commented. “Well, the inventors really like combining unicorn magic with machinery.” The handymare explained. “There are many possibilities in stringing together simple spells, that activate each other. You just have to trigger the first one.” “So the pony behind the ghost was a unicorn.” Lyra pondered. “Why do you think so?” Asked the handymare. “You just said, the machine can only be operated by unicorns.” “Yes.” The handymare responded dryly. “I was the one operating it.” “Oh”, Lyra thought for a few seconds, “Is it possible somepony got in without your notice?” “Not a chance. I always lock this room” “Did anypony other than you get in?” I asked. “Yes. In fact, there were three. Princess Twilight, Marge and that one mare, I forgot the name of. Some sort of Blossom, or something.” “Must be Hazel Blossom.” Lyra wondered. “Twilight is a bit unexpected though. What did they want?” “They were curious about the 3D projector.” “Makes sense. But still, what exactly did they want?” “Nothing particularly interesting. Marge helped me calibrate it, Hazel and Twilight just wanted to learn. Although now that you mention it, Hazel was oddly fascinated by the image mechanism. But then again, she was nothing compared to Twilight.” “Is it possible one of them switched the images?” I asked. “Not a chance. Marge and I checked them after calibration, right before the presentation and after the ghost’s appearance. We too thought it was switched. But nope.” “So somepony must have switched it in that tiny window of time.” Lyra thought out loud. “I just said it wasn’t.” The handymare declared dryly. “I’m sure it was switched after the calibration.” Lyra ruminated on the information. “I don’t know how exactly. Do you still have the image?” “Nope, Marge took them away.” “Marge huh?” I commented. “We better ask her about those then.” So we did. We didn’t have to go too far, it did take like an hour of asking around, but we found her. She was having coffee with Hazel Blossom, in the hotel’s dining room. Those two hang out together a lot, I noticed. No matter, we were going to question Hazel too anyway. So we approached them. “We’ve got a few questions for you Marge.” Lyra said bluntly. “Oh? What is it?” Marge looked straight up from her coffee. “We talked to the handymare and she said you two checked the images in the projector before and after the presentation.” “Yes, that’s true. The image was fine. It was just the one we were meant to be using.” “She also said that you took the images after the incident.” “Yes I did. And they were still the correct images.” “May I take a look at them?” “Sure. I’ll even insert them into the projector for you.” And so she stood up and left, taking Lyra with her. Lyra was polite and held the coffee for her with her magic. I waited for a moment, while they left us, then I turned to Hazel. “Sorry, we had to cut short your coffee together.” I apologized. “Not a problem at all.” She took a sip. “This is a very important investigation after all.” She said that with the same smile you’d give to a playing child. “But now that we’re here, I might as well ask you a few questions too.” I sat down into the seat Marge was occupying moments ago. “The handymare told us you took a look at the projector” She nodded. “She also said, that you were particularly fascinated by the image mechanism. Is there a specific reason for that?” “No, not really. It’s just a very neat little mechanism. It’s so complex, yet simple at the same time. I barely even understood most of the spells inside it.” “I also have a slightly more personal question. I noticed that you and Marge hang out quite a lot nowadays. Why is that?” “We might have very different opinions on a lot of things, but we agree on one important thing.” She paused to take a sip and gather her thoughts. “I always wished anthropology got a bit more attention, because there is definitely something behind all these discoveries and it would be great to really get to the bottom of it. As it turns out, Marge felt the same way. We’ve been planning a lot on how to further the science and how to attract more research.” “You both said that the ghost presents a great opportunity. Why do you think that?” “An ancient curse might just be the thing to get it going. It got the attention of the press. They already dubbed the ghost the anthro-phantom.” “Anthro-phantom? It’s a catchy name, I give them that.” “It sure is, isn’t it?” “And one more question? Do you believe the... anthro-phantom, to be real?” “Absolutely!” “So in addition, do you think humans are real too?” Hazel took a sip from her coffee to think her answer through. She took a drawn out glance at her drink, then came up with a straight, but not too firm “Yes.” We met up with Lyra and Marge in the hall. They were already finished with the presentation’s images when we arrived. It would have been nice to see it, but oh well. I guess I already saw a demonstration. Anyway, Lyra didn’t seem to be too satisfied with the results, but Marge seemed plenty pleased with them. “They’re real.” Marge declared when we arrived. “The images are the ones we were supposed to be using.” Said Lyra with a slight air of disappointment. “No ghosts in there.” “So you finally believe the anthro-phantom?” Asked Hazel in a complacent tone. “Absolutely not.” Lyra sounded almost offended by that question. “It just means the case is trickier than I first thought. There are still plenty of clues to look for.” Then she paused for a moment and her slightly offended tone turned to bewildered. “Wait, what did you just call it?” “The anthro-phantom.” Hazel answered with a grin. “The anthro-phantom?” Lyra echoed. “I really hope you won’t catch me calling it that.” “I have a question, if you don’t mind.” Marge interjected. “Do you think we did this?” Lyra hesitated a bit, she thought hard about what to say. “Well, I try not to think of anything exact at this moment,” she said and paused again, “but you’re definitely on the list somewhere.” Marge and Hazel seemed displeased with that answer, but their faces quickly changed. Marge seemed a bit concerned, while Hazel put on a smug, but somewhat angry expression. “Well, I do hope Persy is on that list too,” she said, “if anypony would do such a thing, then it’s him.” “Oh, there you are Heartstrings!” Speaking of the devil, there he was, with his obnoxious voice crashing through the air. “As you know,” he carried on, “I have been conducting my own research about the anthro-phantom-.” “I bet I will say that by mistake at some point.” Lyra whispered to me. “-And I think I have a pretty good theory on what happened.” “Oh yeah?” Lyra said doubtfully. “Let’s hear it then.” “I think the pony behind the anthro-phantom, is Franz Foals!” His declaration was followed by complete silence. This is where the sound of a cricket would have gone, as a cheap joke. But our expressions served as the aforementioned cricket instead. “So you think he ruined his own research? For what purpose exactly?” Lyra asked in a condescending tone. “I see you all doubt my theory,” Persy began again, “so let me clear it all up. Franz Foals didn’t ruin his career, he just simply ended it. You see, he’s retiring, all he needed is an excuse.” “He is not retiring!” Lyra was downright outraged he would suggest such a thing. “Oh really?” Persy said more obnoxiously than usual. “Why don’t you ask him about it?” We looked at each other, then as he suggested, we did just that. We looked for Franz in his hotel room and he was there, packing up his stuff. They wanted to talk in private, but they didn’t mind me eavesdropping... At least, I’m sure they didn’t mind, because they didn’t make any precautions to stop me... Anyway, I overheard their conversation. “I wanted to tell you this,” said Franz after a sigh, “I just didn’t know when or how. I guess the time has come and there’s no more time to think about it.” He paused. “I am retiring.” “But why?” Lyra said, shocked, but no longer surprised by the news. “It’s just been getting really tiring.” Franz continued. “All that searching for proof and arguing my case with ponies who never had any intention of believing me. And I’m old. Too old for this. And the incident last night, seemed like a good opportunity to finally do so.” “But you are the foundations of anthropology!” Lyra said with a lump in her throat. “You’re the one who made me an anthropologist!” “And I’m glad I did. But sometimes you gotta replace the foundations, when they get old and rusty, replace it with a new and better one.“ He paused. “Somepony like you, Lyra.” “Me?” Lyra was surprised. “I’ve never seen such spirit in any scientist, as you. I think you are strong enough to lead the entire field.” “But we’d be losing the most brilliant mind of the field!” Franz chuckled. “No, I’m pretty sure you just said I created it.” He then continued in a much more mellow tone. “Don’t worry Lyra, the field will be in good hooves with you. Or should I say... good hands!” They fell silent. I think they finished and this was the part where they hugged. So I stepped away from the door. Not that I was doing anything wrong, as I said, they were fine with me eavesdropping... And surely enough the door opened. Lyra walked out and Franz went back inside. She looked like she could use another hug, so I gave her one. “We’re all going to miss that fine stallion.” Said Persy sarcastically, who was waiting on the corner. We tried to ignore him, but he wouldn’t let us do that. “I actually have a new theory in mind. I think the pony behind the anthro-phantom was trying to speed up Franz Foals’ retirement, so she could take his place. And the perpetrator was none other than his successor, Lyra Heartstrings!” “I just found out about this!” Lyra screamed in her defence. “Knock it off you jerk!” I yelled angrily, while trying to hold back Lyra. “This is really not the place or time for this!” Persy just laughed smugly. “Oh I didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers. I’m just saying to make it clear as day.” He then got very close to Lyra’s face. “You’re on the list, Heartstrings.” “I hope you know you’re on the list too.” She said, with the anger narrowing her eyes. “Well of course I’m on the list! I was on the list before there was even a reason to have a list! I’m just making sure all possibilities are taken into account. Just like I always did.” “Good work, point taken, now leave us alone!” I told him. “I can’t leave just yet. Celestia forbid the images were found in possession of one of the suspects!” He said smugly as he pulled said images out of his pocket. “Are those...?” Lyra asked. “Yes, the very proof that the anthro-phantom is a hoax!” “Where did you find them?” “Well fortunately for you Heartstrings, it was not in your room. Franz gave them to me himself.” As if the mood couldn’t be made any worse. Lyra was on the verge of tears after that reveal. “Now, I’m going to make this clear.” Persy carried on, finally in a less obnoxious manner. “This still doesn’t prove anything. Franz told me he took it from Marge, which could mean she just didn’t notice she took out the wrong images and somepony switched them seamlessly, without her ever noticing a thing. Still,” he put the images back into his pocket, “this is something extremely important and you shouldn’t overlook my theory this time.” He then turned around. “I’m going to take a look at that projector.” And with that he left, leaving behind the hurt Lyra and me. Chapter 4We were back in our own hotel room, preparing for our departure the next day. It was getting pretty late now, but we still haven’t solved the puzzle yet. I was also a bit worried about Lyra, she hasn’t said anything for quite some time now. She was motionlessly sitting on the edge of the bed and putting her stuff back inside her bag, using her horn’s magic. I could understand it. Getting bad news so suddenly, then getting accused of deceiving the community she grew up in, all after an incident that just might ruin everything. Must have been pretty tiring. Suddenly she stopped packing and muttered something. “What was that?” I asked back, since I didn’t understand what she said. She slowly looked up from her luggage and turned to me with a puzzled expression. “It just doesn’t add up.” “What doesn’t add up?” “The suspects, they all have their own reasons to fake a ghost, even me. But it doesn’t make sense, none of them seem good enough reasons.” I walked up to her, as she thought out loud. “Persy’s got the most obvious motivations; he’s been against anthropology since he first heard of it. Hazel and Marge practically told us their motivations. Franz wants to retire and I could want him to retire faster, so I can take his place already.” I picked up and looked at our collection of evidence, while she talked. “And if we’re going to be really cynical,” she flopped down onto the bed, “we could even say it was you, so I would shut up about humans already.” “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way.” I said. “You’re looking at motivations. But that doesn’t really matter, since a lot of ponies do questionable things for questionable reasons. You should look at the evidence, since that cannot be argued with.” I put down the evidence next to her, on the bed. “Don’t be like Persy and find holes between the lines. Be like Lyra and find the connecting lines themselves.” She levitated the evidence above herself. You could see the thought strain her entire body. She hummed, put her hoof onto her chin, narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, we heard knocking on our door and a mare walked in. It was none other than Maud. She was staying here for a bit longer than us, since she had another conference of her own. You could tell she was really worried about something from her blank expression. “I think you should come.” She said, with the anxiety straining her voice. “Why? What happened?” I asked nervously. “The handymare’s key to the projector room was stolen.” “Stolen?” “Yes.” The words practically flooded out of her mouth in her excitement. “She says somepony took it out of her pocket with magic.” I looked at Lyra and her back at me. We then ran for the door. “I’ll get Franz, you go straight to the projector.” I ordered. “And another thing.” Maud stopped us. “Twilight let me borrow her camera before she left. I think it’ll be useful for you.” She then gave it to Lyra, who acknowledged Maud’s idea with a nod and ran off. Franz, Maud and I arrived at the conference hall, there were large rock shaped set pieces on the stage for Maud’s show. Lyra and Marge ran out from backstage. “Somepony locked themselves in the projector room!” Lyra exclaimed. “They wanted to use the projector again for the next show, but then somepony stole the handymare’s keys.” Marge added. “I think they’re trying to-” Lyra tried to say something, but a familiar loud booming voice cut her off. “LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!” It said and the anthro-phantom has appeared again. “YOU PREVENTED ME FROM GOING BACK INTO MY RIGHTFUL PLACE! THIS IS MY FINAL WARNING! RETURN ME TO MY SLUMBER, OR ELSE FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!” Lyra however, wasn’t scared of it at all. She took the camera and levitated it high up in the air and took a picture of the window to the projector room. After the ghost disappeared in a bright flash of light, Lyra looked at the picture taken. I didn’t manage to see it, because right after the ghost disappeared, Hazel appeared backstage with the keys. “I’ve found the keys!” She waved said keys at us. So we went up to the projector room, Hazel opened the door and Persy was standing right behind the door, with an extremely displeased expression and the images for the second appearance levitating next to him. We all gasped at the sight, but he barely even reacted. “I do believe you’ve got an idea of what happened Heartstrings.” He said in monotone voice. “Yes,” Hazel scolded him, “I think it’s quite clear what happened here!” “I decided to investigate the projector,” Persy said dryly, “then the door closed and the projector turned on.” “You were the only one in the room, who else could have turned it on?” Hazel accused him further. “I think you all should look at this picture.” Said Lyra, finally revealing her photo. “I’ve made it when the anthro-phantom appeared.” She then paused and put her hoof onto her face, because she realized what she just said. “I knew I was going to say that at some point... Anyway,” she levitated the picture so everypony could see, “as you can see, Persy is standing right there in the projector room, in front of the window.” Surely enough, Persy was there on the photo, staring solemnly outside the window. “Exactly,” Hazel declared, “it’s pretty clear who did it!” “Except for one thing,” Lyra continued, “he is clearly not using his horn.” She pointed at the serious lack of magical auras around Persy’s horn. Everyone was surprised, but Hazel was still unimpressed. “How can you tell that? A horn’s aura doesn’t even appear on most photos.” “Except it does.” Lyra asserted. “In the other picture, Twilight made,” she was referring to the blurry crowd shot, “you can clearly see magical auras on several unicorns. Even though the image is much worse than the one I made!” “So you don’t think I did it?” Persy asked rather surprised. Lyra just stood there with a hoof up to her chin, not saying a word. “But...” Hazel looked around. “...But who else could have been?” Lyra looked up. “I think I know. By tomorrow morning, I want everyone here in the projector room. I’ll have all of the answers you need!” Chapter 5As promised, we were all there in the projector room the next morning. Well, almost everyone, but I’ll get to that. Lyra was pacing around a small table in the middle of the room with a very serious expression. On the table there was all the evidence we have collected during the investigation; the photos, the three images for the projector, the projector itself. Persy was slouching in a chair, reading the Hoofington Post, which talked about the anthro-phantom, making sarcastic remarks at Lyra, who pretended to not hear them. Next to him was Hazel, who sat quietly, trying to not roll her eyes out of their sockets. Franz and Marge sat next to each other and looked around the room worriedly. Maud was staring blankly outside the window, while the handymare was jiggling her keys in boredom. And me, I was standing there, looking over everypony else. “Um, Lyra?” Hazel spoke up between two groans. “What exactly are we waiting for?” “Not what, whom.” Lyra corrected her. “Whatever,” Hazel said impatiently, “when are they going to get here?” Suddenly a loud crash and a yelp could be heard outside the door. “She’s here.” Announced Maud. Twilight stepped in through the door, rubbing her forehead. “I’m sorry I’m a bit tardy. I thought I could outfly a train.” Lyra nodded, keeping a strict expression on her face. “Ooh, I’m so excited to find out who’s behind the anthro-phantom.” Twilight gushed as she sat down. “About flapping time!” Hazel grunted impatiently. Lyra finished a pace then turned to the others. “Now, as I promised, I should be revealing the results of my findings.” “You mean our findings?” I remarked in jest. She just looked at me with the same strict expression. “Bon Bon, I’m trying to make it sound dramatic.” I just rolled my eyes and pretended to zip up my mouth. “Let’s recap what happened.” Lyra carried on. “Let’s start with the 3D projection itself. We all know the ghost was faked, because we have the images of it, right here.” She picked up the phantom’s images. “I told you,” the handymare interrupted, “we checked the images before and after the phantom’s appearance. There were no phantoms in that thing.” “Yes, and nopony else was there.” Marge added. “Exactly!” Lyra continued. “Nopony else needed to be there.” She started pacing again, while levitating the images. “Let’s just think about it. Both the handymare and Marge has checked the images, both before and after the incident and saw nothing suspicious. But somehow, the phantom’s images still ended up inside the projector, instead of the conference’s images, without either Marge or the handymare noticing.” “I’m telling you,” the handymare was getting slightly annoyed, “I would have seen it, if somepony magically switched the images.” “Oh there was no need to involve magic at all,” Lyra replied, “It was all done through an impressive feat of sleight of hoof.” She paused for a moment and looked at Marge. “Or should I say, sleight of wing?” Marge was slightly scared by that look. “What are you implying?” “What I’m implying is, that the pony who switched the images, was a pegasus. This pegasus had both images with them the whole time. They showed the correct images when it came to checking, but put in the phantom’s images, right before the screening. Then after the incident, it only took a few simple, but well calculated movements, to switch the two images seamlessly.” “Wait,” Twilight interjected, “the only Pegasus there was Marge.” “Are you saying it was me?” Marge said, her voice shaking even more. “That’s silly!” Persy exclaimed. “For all we know, it could have been Princess Twilight. She’s got wings too and even magic.” Twilight just replied with an offended look. “Twilight wasn’t in the room during the incident.” Lyra argued. “And while she could have easily switched the images with magic, it wouldn’t have been so seamless. Especially since she was down there taking photos.” “And besides,” Twilight added in a slightly irritated tone, “I don’t have a reason to do such a thing.” “What about you, Heartstrings?” Persy asked smugly. “I was down there, as everypony could tell you... Including you...” “Eh, I’m pretty sure I would have seen it, if a pegasus placed something under their wing right in front of me.” Said the handymare. “Not quite.” Lyra asserted. “I have seen some amazing feats done without magic. Even an earth pony could put something on their hoof,” she tried to demonstrate the simple trick with the phantom’s images, “and make it disappear, with a swipe of their hoof.” But as she tried to swipe away the images, she messed up and it fell on the floor. “...Well obviously not me, but you get the point. The perpetrator was a pegasus, who just simply hid the images under their wing.” “You haven’t addressed my question.” Marge said with a lot of concern. “Are you saying it was me who switched the images?” “Yeah, she was the only pegasus in the room.” Hazel commented. “Don’t you think it’d be a little silly to suggest, that she’d sabotage her own research?” “Well I have no problem with being silly,” said Lyra, “because that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Everyone gasped. “Want proof?” Lyra carried on. “Franz told Persy, that he found the images with her.” “I can confirm that.” Persy added, rather helpfully. “But I thought she had it with her by mistake.” Franz explained. “Oh it was no mistake,” Lyra slightly raised her voice, “Marge had those images with her for a reason. And that reason was to draw the world’s attention to anthropology, by faking an ancient spirit, sabotaging the conference!” After a short pause, Franz asked: “Marge, is this true?” A few seconds of silence lingered over the room. Marge began to tear up and buried her face in her hooves. “Yes.” she said timidly. “But I did it for a good reason!” She justified. Lyra turned around and just stared outside the window. “But Marge,” said Franz with a soft tone, “you didn’t need to do any of this. We had the biggest conference in years, we even had inventors teaming up with us. We were on the right track already.” “I just thought I could help gain even more momentum.” Marge tried to defend herself. “Franz would have put that skeleton right back into the ground.” Lyra didn’t even look at her while saying that. She kept her stare outside the window. “You risked losing one of the biggest discoveries of all time.” “I’m sorry.” Marge apologized meekly. Another few seconds has passed in silence. Only thing we could hear was Marge sobbing. “But wait,” Twilight broke the silence, “wasn’t magic necessary for the phantom? Somepony had to do the voice too.” “Don’t encourage her Twilight!” Hazel interjected. “You see what came out of her little investigation already.” “Oh, there’s more, dear Hazel Blossom.” Lyra said in a very grim voice, while still facing the window. “She had an accomplice. And that accomplice was in fact, a unicorn.” “But everyone here is a unicorn.” Said Twilight. “Well, except for Marge of course... And Maud... And Bon Bon.” I just nodded, with my mouth still zipped shut. “Yeah, even you, Heartstrings!” Persy said with a smirk. “As you know,” Lyra turned around to face us, without acknowledging his comment, “there is a very simple spell that can alter your voice. Twilight, care to demonstrate?” “WITH GREAT PLEASURE!” Twilight yelled with Tirek’s voice again, scaring everypony in the room, except Lyra. “Yes, thank you.” She said dryly. “This unicorn learned this spell and hid in the audience. So when the projected phantom showed up, they used the spell to voice it.” “In the audience you say?” Said Persy. “Why do you think it was in the audience?” “I distinctly remember the voice coming from behind me, when I faced the phantom.” Lyra asserted. “But that’s just what you are saying.” Persy argued. “How can we know for sure, that that’s what happened, when it’s just you? “It’s not just her.” Maud interjected. Honestly, I kind of forgot she was even there. “That’s also how I heard it. The voice clearly came from the audience.” “Now that you say it,” said Franz, “I did hear the voice coming from elsewhere.” “Right,” Lyra continued, “but unfortunately, everypony was preoccupied with being scared of the phantom, so nopony can pinpoint the exact source of the voice. But we all agree, that it came from the audience.” “Okay then,” said Persy, who was still a bit unconvinced “so that means, all unicorns on stage and the handymare are out. That means, the only three unicorns left are myself, Hazel and Twilight.” “Me?!” This was the second time he brings Twilight up, so she couldn’t help herself voice her feelings. “Certainly, and for a while I was a bit stuck, I admit.” Said Lyra. “But then something happened. The phantom has appeared once again to taunt me. You see, Twilight wasn’t there at the time, so she’s out.” “Good!” Lyra’s explanation pleased the offended Twilight. “And during the second appearance,” Hazel spoke up, “Persy locked himself inside the projector room. You can even see it on the photo you made.” “But as we already established,” Lyra picked the photo up, “there is no magical aura around Persy’s horn, indicating, that he wasn’t using magic.” “I’m sure you could find the aura if you look hard enough, or something!” Hazel argued. “We could look at the photo until our eyes fall out of their sockets,” Lyra raised her voice, “Persy was not operating the machine. Somepony tried to set him up.” “Wow, I didn’t think I’d see the day when an anthropologist would defend me.” Persy remarked. “But...” Hazel lowered her voice, “I’m the only one left.” Lyra paused, looked at her, then started pacing again. “Here’s what I think happened: Marge and her partner knew, that I wasn’t going to be convinced about the phantom being real. So they came up with a plan to set up somepony else to distract me. And Persy seemed like such an obvious pony to frame.” “But-” Hazel tried to say something, but Lyra wouldn’t let her. “They knew Persy was doing his own investigation, so they waited for him to go into the projector room. And when he was inside, the unicorn stole the handymare’s keys and locked the door. Then they hid behind the large props that were set up for the next conference and voiced the phantom a second time.” “But-” Hazel still wasn’t allowed to talk. “And who was the pony, who was standing at the backstage door, right next to the conveniently placed props, with the keys with them, right after the ghost’s second appearance?” Hazel didn’t want to say anything anymore. Lyra stopped for a moment and took a few steps towards Hazel. “It was you Hazel!” “Me?! But I...Why would I...” “You and Marge spent a lot of time together, in the last few days. You even agreed on one thing the whole time.” Lyra pressed her on. “But I-” “You both think anthropology should be brought to the forefront more. You both agreed that the phantom would bring in some needed attention.” “But I-” “So you teamed up, to fake a curse, to draw in the attention from the crowd.” Hazel had nothing to say. “Admit it Hazel.” Lyra said sternly. Hazel was silent. All eyes were on her. “Give up Hazel,” Marge talked to her, “we’ve been caught.” Hazel couldn’t lie. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. After a silent moment, she finally pried her mouth open. “It was me. Yes, I helped Marge fake a curse. Are you happy?!" Lyra didn’t say it, but yes, she was very happy. “Look, there’s this entire field of science and all we have are vague evidence and speculations. I thought, if we could bring in some attention, we could finally prove or disprove the existence of humans.” “Who else could disprove that better than me?” Persy declared. “Literally anypony!” Hazel scolded him. “You have the brains of a dry leaf and the manners of a starving crocodile! Everyone is sick of listening to your inane nonsense! We needed to use solid logic and concrete evidence, instead of your pompous contrarian attitude!” “What you did instead,” Lyra scolded her back, “is almost make us lose the most important discovery of all time and almost ruin the field’s reputation.” “We didn’t ruin anything.” Hazel pouted. “It’s going to draw in a lot of attention.” “…Unicorns of Equestria want to declare anthropology, to be a forbidden form of magic and take related literature out of libraries…” Persy quoted that from the newspaper. “…Franz Foals is planning his resignation as an anthropologist, but his student, Lyra Heartstrings, is trying to prevent him from putting back the skeleton to break the curse…” That was strangely the only thing he didn’t spit into Lyra’s face, before we began. Lyra just raised an eyebrow at the rather sore looking Hazel. “I must say Hazel,” said Persy with a smug grin, “you’ve done a wonderful job at drawing attention. You were better at ruining everything than I could ever dream of.” “Could you quit yapping at least now?!” Hazel yelled at Persy. “Hot Topic!” Lyra shouted. “Did you get that?” Suddenly the door burst open and there stood the journalist from before. “Yep, all of it! Two ponies almost ruined science!” “Hey, gimme that!” Hazel ran towards the journalist, but Twilight stopped her. “Okay, that’s enough! You’ve gone far enough already.” “Thank you Hot Topic for coming here!” Lyra thanked the journalist. “Eh, after what I wrote the last time, I think it’s only appropriate.” She said. “Besides, this is still a great story!” “Well, I guess the case is officially closed then.” Said Persy as he stood up and put on his hat. “I expect a proper conference next time, Heartstrings! One without spooky ghosts.” “Oh don’t worry about that!” She replied. Persy just left a smug, but friendly smile, then left along with the journalist. Marge and Hazel left right after them, but not without the journalist flashing her camera into their eyes, then running off. Twilight walked up to Lyra. “Wow, I’m impressed.” She said. “That would have fit into a mystery novel.” “Well, you know me. I don’t back down, when it comes to the truth.” “Well, I’m glad to see that part of you hasn’t changed.” She said, then put back the tools she knocked over when she arrived. After that, Franz approached her. “After that display, I am absolutely confident, that you will make a fine successor!” “Still determined to retire, huh?” Lyra was still sad about that decision. “Well, at least I’m not burying the evidence now.” He added with a modest laugh. “We’ll have another conference next week, I’ll announce my retirement then. And I’m sure, nopony will mind you replacing me.” “Nopony can replace you!” Said Lyra with a tearful smile. They hugged, then Franz left. I was the only one remaining. I walked up to Lyra, filled with pride, but with my mouth still zipped shut. “Okay, you can open your mouth now.” She said. I opened the imaginary zipper. “Good job Lyra, you cracked the case and took all credit for it.” “Ooh, I did, didn’t I? I’m sorry, I just thought-” “Oh don’t worry about it. The last thing I want to do is appear in the newspaper.” “Yeah, I guess that’s true. So what do you think? Was that dramatic enough?” “Oh you little Shadow Spade, you! Yes, yes it was!” We heard the handymare clear her throat at the door. “So how long do you plan on staying in there?” “Oh right,” said Lyra, “what time is it?” “It’s we’ll-gonna-miss-the-train o’ clock! Come on!” I said, then we left in a hurry. Prologue„Hey Bon Bon!” Lyra shouted, as she barged into my room, scaring the shoes off me. „What is it Lyra?” I asked as I tried to get up from the floor. This isn’t the first time she does this, usually when she finds something super exciting. Of course, being on the floor made it hard to appreciate her excitement. “Look what just came in the newspaper!” She pressed said newspaper into my face. I began reading, “A mysterious skeleton was found at a construction site in Hoofington. Scientists identified it as a...” but of course there was no room for that next to Lyra’s enthusiasm. “It’s a human!” She shouted, “A full human skeleton! If this isn’t conclusive evidence, then I don’t know what is!” “Alright Lyra, calm your ticks.” I said, since she was getting really out of hand. She even levitated me and spun me around. “Breathe in, breathe out.” She finally put me down. “I’m sorry, it’s just... that... you know?” She could hardly even express herself. “Yes, I know, this is the most important discovery in your field.” “With this, the scientific community is finally going to consider anthropology a legit branch of palaeontology. More than just mere cryptozoology.” “It’s about time, isn’t it?” Then the doorbell rang. “I’ve got you a letter!” the mailmare announced. I opened the door and it was Derpy. “Letter to Lyra Heartstrings from Franz Foals.” “It must be about the skeleton.” Said Lyra as she tore open the letter. She began reading and I could already see her eyes widening. “I’m invited!” She screamed and pinned me down to the floor. “Invited to what?” I asked, referring to the absolute lack of information she gave me. “To the conference!” She screamed further, dancing around in the middle of the room. “What conference?” I asked again, now getting slightly annoyed. “The conference held in Hoofington, presenting the skeleton! All great anthropologists will be there! Franz Foals, Margarine Mead and of course, me!” “Yeah, all three of them.” “Well, after this, there’ll be more. There’s no possible way this won’t get the approval of scientists all around Equestria!” She exclaimed, while standing on her hind legs. The excitement practically threw her body around. We were going to that conference, no questions asked. EpilogueWe got to the train in time. The passengers were just getting on, so we didn’t miss anything. We got on and the train departed. Hoofington has quickly sunk below the horizon. Lyra was now excited again, mostly about the conference happening next week. Even if it meant the retirement of her idol. But the thrill of the anthro-phantom mystery was still with her. “We should look for more spooky ghosts to debunk!” She said. “We should become some sort of mystery solver duo. We could call ourselves... The Demystifyers.” I chuckled lightly. “I think I’ve had just enough spooky mysteries for a lifetime.” “I bet you’ve had a lot of spooky mysteries in your life.” “Sshh, not in public!” I whispered. “Sorry. I guess I’ll just stick to mystery novels.” “You say that like you read a lot of them.” “No, but I just have to start now!” A few seconds of silence came, as we finished that subject. But I had to ask something. “How do you feel about becoming the new face of anthropology?” Lyra thought for a short moment. “I’m excited! And a bit nervous. Nervousited, if you will. Plus a little bit sad about Franz retiring.” “He trusts you fully, Lyra, that’s why he chose you to replace him.” “That’s exactly it. What if I’m not even a fraction of what he was?” I chuckled. “I can tell you, you will be just as good as him. And just like him you will inspire your successor.” “I hope you’re right.” “I know I’m right and I know Franz is right too. I bet you’ll barely even notice the difference.” She smiled and blushed slightly. “Aw, all you ponies believe in me so much.” “I’ve known you for years. There was not a moment where I didn’t believe in you.” “Except when I first told you about humans.” “Yes, except that time.” We laughed, but there was still one thing that bugged me. “Say,” I prepared my next question, “what do you think will become of Hazel and Marge? “I can’t know for sure.” She said. “Hazel used to be the most prolific anthro-skeptic out there, right after Persy. But unlike Persy, ponies actually took her seriously. But after this little stunt of hers, I don’t think she’ll have that kind of reputation again.” “What about Marge?” “Eh, she’s still a researcher, I don’t think she’ll stop after this. Still, she’ll have a hard being taken seriously now. If the skeleton does draw in attention like we expected, then I feel somepony will replace her.” “Doesn’t sound like you’re worried at all.” “Nah, the field survived much worse and I expect a full recovery after the next conference.” “Let’s hope you’re right.” “I know I’m right!” She said and winked. Then after a short pause, she said, “I just wish I had brought a journal or something. This could have made for a good story.” I chuckled. “Oh, don’t you worry about that!”
Chapter 1The train was rattling along the tracks. Our bags laid neatly next to us. We didn’t need to use the luggage train, as we didn’t have that much stuff. We were only going to be away for two days. Have the conference on the first day, then go home in the morning of the second day. I slept through the night, but not without difficulty. Lyra kept me up for long, her excitement wasn’t wavered by the disgruntled passengers. Which included me. "Even Princess Twilight and Dr. Maud Pie will be there and that new 3D projector!” She listed. Eventually, she passed out in the middle of a sentence and everyone could get some needed sleep. But of course she was the first one to get up early in the morning. Thankfully, I woke up without her help. When I opened my eyes, I saw her staring outside the window, her eyes glazed over the rushing landscape. I could tell she was nervous. After a yawn and an exchange of tired good mornings, I asked her; “Is something wrong?” “Oh, nothing,” she replied, “I guess I’m just a bit nervous. The weight of the situation has just hit me.” “What are you nervous about? Isn’t this exactly what you were waiting for?” I asked. “Yes, I guess I just never really expected something like this to actually happen.” She answered. “Well, now it’s happening, whether you like it or not.” “Oh, I love it, trust me!” She said with a grin. “Just you know... it’s very important for everything to go well.” “What could possibly go wrong? The skeleton gets up and walks away?” She giggled lightly. “No, not exactly.” “Then what?” “Well, considering the difficulties we were having, it’s still possible everyone will just side with the anthro-skeptics.” “I highly doubt it. After this sort of evidence?” “You know what they’re like, especially Persy.” “Yeah, well Persy’s an idiot!” She chuckled and then turned to the window. Her eyes gleamed up again as she finally saw Hoofington approaching. Soon we were off the train and out the station. A unicorn with greying mane stood in front of the station. It was Franz Foals, he was waiting for us. Lyra told many stories about him, how he was his favourite teacher in school, how he’s the reason she got her cutie-mark. Lyra greeted him with a huge hug, like he was a father. He might as well been her father, I’m pretty sure she talked about him more than her parents. We separated to visit the hotel room, to drop off our luggage. All worry from Lyra seemed to have vanished by then. She was back to her enthusiastic self. When we got to the conference hall, it was full of ponies. At least, compared to most other conferences we’ve been to. Twilight was already there, taking the role of the photographer. Odd choice, I know, but who could be a better photographer, than someone who can operate a camera and fly at the same time? “Twilight,” Lyra greeted her loudly, “good to see you!” “Hey, you two!” She answered. “So nice of you to help us,” Lyra continued, “you can’t believe how hard it was to find a photographer.” “You’re right, I can’t believe it. Not taking the opportunity for such an important discovery?” “Huh,” I said, “didn’t know you were interested in anthropology.” “Well, at first I wasn’t,” Twilight clarified, “but after a while, it was impossible to deny the evidence. Besides, I wouldn’t dare to miss the public testing of the 3D projector.” “I remember when you called it all stupid back in the day.” Lyra remarked playfully. “Yeah, I was wrong. I guess I’m a reformed anthro-skeptic.” “In a way, we’re all are.” I commented and we chuckled. “Ooh, gotta go,” said Lyra as she spotted Franz, “I’ve just seen my hero.” And with that, she was off. “I hear you two were pretty good friends, back in school.” I said to Twilight. “Yeah, we were. Although we kinda fell out of touch.” “What was she like?” I always wanted to ask her that, but didn’t have the opportunity. “She was a bit more withdrawn, she didn’t really talk with many ponies. She rarely paid attention in class, she either doodled, slept or stared outside the window.” “Except for history, I presume.” I added. “Yes, Franz first mentioning humans was the first time I’ve ever seen her pay attention to anything.” “Is that when she became so excitable?” Twilight giggled. “No, that was always in her. She would go from complete apathy, to unashamed dancing in public, in mere seconds. And don’t even try to get into an argument with her!” “Yeah,” I replied with a chuckle, “tell me about it.” After a little chat with Twilight, I walked over to Lyra and Franz. There was a third pony too, a pegasus, whom I didn’t recognize. “Fancy seeing you again, Bon Bon,” said Franz. “Likewise,” I replied. “Ooh, now that you’re here,” said Lyra, “let me introduce you to Marge. I don’t think you two have met before.” “Marge? You must be Margarine Mead.” “Yes,” answered the pony, I previously didn’t recognize, “but please just call me Marge.” “Nice to meet you Marge. How have we not run into each-other before?” “Franz is a much better speaker than I am, so I always remained on the sidelines.” “Spreading the word.” Franz interjected. “Eh, I was never very good at that.” Marge added humbly. “You were good enough. You always managed to bring every anthropology enthusiast from all over Equestria.” Franz argued. “I know, it just would have been nice to gather new ponies from outside.” “Oh you did,” said Lyra, pointing at all the gathered ponies, “just look at this crowd. You even managed to bring Dr. Maud Pie.” “Yeah, well,” Marge blushed slightly, “hopefully, we’ll gradually become part of the public consciousness.” “Lack of interest was always a problem,” Franz added, “hopefully, we’ll gather some new comers to the field.” He then looked over the crowd, which to be fair, wasn’t that big, just larger than any crowd at any previous conferences. Which isn’t saying much. “Even if it’s not much at the moment.” “And who else could get us that swanky 3D projector?” Said Lyra. “Oh please,” Marge blushed even more, “the inventors were itching to see it in action.” “I’ve heard of that 3D projector on my train ride here,” I glared at Lyra as I said that, “isn’t it still in its experimental phases?” “Yes it is,” said Marge, “this conference is its first public run.” “A scientific discovery, assisted with a new invention.” Franz commented. “Cool, huh?” “Oh hey Maud!” Lyra said in surprise, because she didn’t see her approach us. “Hi.” She greeted her in the Maud-iest way possible. “I’ve set up everything I need.” She continued. “Thank you for participating.” Said Marge. “It’s a pleasure.” Maud replied, the pleasure just oozing from her voice. “That reminds me,” Franz interjected, “I haven’t set up anything on my end. I think I’ll just do that now.” He then left us, taking Marge with him. “Hey Maud,” I said to her, “what got you interested in Anthropology?” “Facts.” She replied, her enthusiasm rivalling Lyra’s. “She singlehandedly shattered half of the anthro-skeptics’ arguments,” Lyra added, “by dating the skeleton to be millions of years old and she identified it to be the same species as all the other bones we’ve found.” “No more of this mutated monkey nonsense.” Maud commented. “This doesn’t disprove that theory, you know!” An obnoxious voice could be heard. It came from a tall unicorn, who was approaching us, with a young unicorn mare next to him. Maud lowered her eyelids ever so slightly. “Ugh, sorry gotta go.” And with that, she left us. “Now that you managed to raise a slight bit of interest to this laughable pseudoscience, you will all finally see how much of a hogwash this all is!” The unicorn said, his voice getting more obnoxious with every word. “Nice to meet you too, Persy.” Lyra replied, with a displeased expression. “Oh by the way,” he continued, “I’d appreciate it, if you all started referring to me by my full name, when it comes to the press. I need to preserve my authority in the academic community.” “Yes, because the name Nitty Persnicket, commands so much respect.” Lyra answered sarcastically. Odd name I thought. “Please stop mocking my name.” He replied. “Please Persy,” the mare next to him addressed him, “we’ll let the facts speak for themselves.” “Oh yes of course,” he laughed, “we’ll let the facts speak for themselves, Lyra Heartstrings.” And with that they were off. The mare turned back for a moment and she said to Lyra; “I’m counting on you, we need to get to the bottom of it.” But Lyra just rolled her eyes. “Who was the mare with him?” I asked. “That’s Hazel Blossom,” Lyra answered, with her mood in ruins, “she says she’s open to new ideas, but the only thing she’s got over other anthro-skeptics, is that she can pretend to have respect. Which in a way makes her worse.” “And Persy’s real name is Nitty Persnicket?” I asked, still confused about that name. “He might as well be wearing a name tag that says; I’m a pedantic jerk” “He wears it as a badge of honour.” “I guess it’s better than Spoiled Milk.” I pondered. “Who the hay is that?” “You know, Filthy Rich’s wife?” “The guy’s name is Filthy?” “Ugh, nevermind, it’s not important.” The presentation was about to start. We took our places, Lyra up on the stage and me somewhere in the crowd. While they set up the stage, made sure everything worked the way they’re supposed to, made sure to not miss any necessary notes, I tried to mingle. I of course, didn’t know anyone. There were a few ponies I recognized from other conferences, but it’s not like I really knew them. And of course, Twilight, but she was a bit busy. Close to the presentation’s beginning, Persy and Hazel approached me. “You must be Heartstring’s good friend.” Persy spoke to me. “Uh, yes.” I answered, curious as to where he was going with this. “How does it feel to see her career collapse upon itself?” He asked rather rudely, to which Hazel nudged him on the side. “Sorry about him,” she said, “he can be a bit... raw in his manners.” Persy just sneered and faced the stage. “I know, I’ve met him before.” I replied. “I don’t think we’ve met before though, I’m Hazel Blossom.” “I’m Bon Bon, Lyra’s friend.” “I must ask, do you actually believe in humans?” She asked, like she expected me to answer a certain way. “Yes. Why?” “Oh it’s nothing, I’m just asking.” I’m pretty sure she expected me to say no. “How come you don’t, despite all the evidence?” I pressed her on. “Well...” she prepared her explanation, “it’s more like... I haven’t decided yet... all the evidence you mention, just doesn’t seem convincing to me.” “Is an entire skeleton not convincing enough?” She chuckled. “We’ll see!” “Come on Hazel,” said Persy, “I’m going to the very front. I want to yell things at them.” “Of course you do...” Hazel responded with an air of distaste. “Anyway,” she said to me, “I might as well move along, I want to see the 3D projector in action. Don’t you wanna come?” “Nah,” I replied, “I’d rather not be near any experimental machines.” “Oh, you’re nowhere near it. It’s up there in the cabin.” She pointed at a wide window above and behind the stage. A three-dimensional cube was spinning around in front of it. The handymare could be seen calibrating the projector. She was operating the machine with her magic. “I’ve had enough bad experiences with experimental machines, trust me.” I replied. They’ve moved to the front of the crowd, but remained in my sight. My fear of prototypes wasn’t entirely true. I mostly just didn’t feel like being next to them. Soon, the lights dimmed, the crowd quieted down and the presentation began. Franz walked on stage, followed by applause. He opened with a brief history of anthropology, then presented the news about the skeleton. Then Lyra and Maud walked up with the skeleton held in a glass case, still partly embedded inside its rock tomb. Lyra then presented images of previous fossilized findings, on a traditional projector, confirming that the skeleton is indeed the same species. Then came Maud, confirming, that the skeleton is indeed millions of years old. Persy put his hoof up. Because of course, he did. “Are you absolutely sure that it’s indeed bone?” He inquired. “Yes.” Maud answered. “It has all the components and structure bones are supposed to.” “Yes, yes, but isn’t it possible... that over millions of years, the rocks have converged to create something that appears to be bone, but is actually just an odd rock?” Maud paused for a second. She blinked slowly, then gave a very straight answer. “It’s possible, but absolutely ridiculous.” The audience chuckled at the answer, to which Persy just sank back to his place indignantly. Both the collective chuckle and Persy’s grumpy silence were nice things to hear. “So now that we got that out of the way,” said Franz, “I think it’s time to...” He stopped in the middle of his sentence and waved to the window behind the stage. But what happened after that, isn’t what any of us expected. A bright flash of light filled the conference hall. “I HAVE BEEN RESTING FOR MILLENIA! WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER!?” A loud booming voice could be heard, as an imposing ape-like figure emerged from the light. “I DEMAND TO BE PUT BACK INTO MY TOMB, OR ELSE A TERRIBLE CURSE WILL BEFALL ALL OF YOU!” And with that, it disappeared in another bright light and an eerie silence has fallen over the hall, for a moment. But as soon as that silent moment passed the crowd fled screaming out the hall, leaving all of us, confused about what the hay just happened.
Chapter 2The conference hall was empty. The only ones still there, were the scientists up on the stage, packing up their stuff and Twilight frantically looking through her pictures. I looked over them and there was a strong sense of defeat among them. Lyra looked the most let down. As excited she could get, as crushed she was at the moment. Franz was similar, but he took it way better. I could tell he was extremely disappointed, but he decided to not show it as much. But I saw the opposite on Marge and Hazel, who were talking to each other. They seemed downright excited. “Did you see that?” Hazel gushed redundantly. “There’s no way ponies are going to ignore anthropology now!” “Yes, I think this going to go very well for us.” Replied Marge. “Uh, excuse me,” I said as I approached them, “how come you two are so enthusiastic about this?” “Why wouldn’t we be?” Answered Marge. “This is the most attention the field will get in years.” “With more researchers,” Hazel added, “we’ll finally get to the bottom of this.” I shook my head. “Wait, I don’t understand... Are you saying, that an ancient evil spirit is the secret to a field’s popularity?” “Don’t you see?” Hazel answered. “Most ponies aren’t interested in some old skeleton. But they’ll certainly going to be interested in a cursed skeleton.” “Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to ruin that fun myself.” Franz interjected. “I don’t think I want to deal with ancient curses. I’m putting this thing back into the ground.” “Now hold on just a tick!” I exclaimed. “I think I know a better solution!” Then I turned my attention towards Lyra, I knew she wouldn’t accept defeat this easily. So I approached her. “Hey Bon Bon.” She said melancholically, as she shut her box full of research. “Did you enjoy watching my career collapsing upon itself? It was quite the spectacle...” She talked in a way I really hate to hear her talk. “Come on, Lyra. You’re not the sort of pony to give up without a fight.” She sighed. “What’s the point? Even the most brilliant mind in the field is giving up.” “Come on,” I tried to get her spirit back, “don’t you think something seems a bit fishy about all this? Just think about it: You’ve desecrated the dead many times now and it backfires, right in the most detrimental point of your career?” She didn’t answer. “And I don’t remember you finding anything about magic among humans. In fact, I distinctly remember you mentioning, that they had no magic.” She didn’t answer. I thought for a moment. “And you noticed how it appeared, right as the projector was supposed to be turned on? And the voice sounded like it came from somewhere else.” She didn’t answer. “...Like it wasn’t even real...” She didn’t answer, but I saw her expression change. It wasn’t one of pure disappointment, but one of indignation. “This is bullteeth! It can’t just end like this!” That’s what I saw written all over her. “I for one, am not surprised at all!” Persy’s obnoxious voice could be heard. He was talking to a journalist. “I, Nitty Persnicket, predicted this long ago!” Lyra grew more furious as she listened to that. “I’m personally, am glad to finally see this pseudoscience burn away in flames.” Finally, Lyra surged up. “Now wait just a smelly second there, Persy!” Her voice echoed through the hall. “First of all, you’re saying you believed in humans all along and somehow you knew it was going to end in the ultimate proof!” He was getting visibly uncomfortable. “Well, I’m only saying,” he tried to scramble for his words, “it would be foolish to keep going after this.” “Second,” Lyra continued, “I can’t believe somepony as pedantic as you are, can’t see the painfully obvious!” “What do you mean?” “What I mean is,“ she paused for dramatic effect, “ the curse is a hoax!” That got everypony’s attention. It was no longer just Lyra angrily yelling at somepony, it was the start of something big. And the potential saving grace for the entire field. I for one was pretty proud of how fired up she got. The scientists were amazed, Twilight jolted up from her camera, the journalist started scribbling frantically, even Persy was taken aback. “Oh I see what’s happening.” Persy said after chuckling pompously. “You’re in denial, because you know this is the end of anthropology. You just can’t give up, can you?” “Oh, so you’re saying the ghost is real and in addition, humans are real too.” Said Lyra with a cheeky smile. Persy was confused for a moment. “Well, of course not. That would be preposterous! And I’m gonna prove it to you. I’m gonna prove that the ghost is a hoax and prove that humans aren’t real!” “Alright!” Lyra said, finally as enthusiastically as I like her. “And I’m also gonna prove that it’s a hoax and save anthropology!” And with that, it was time to start investigating.
Chapter 3Now with renewed confidence, Lyra walked up to the stage. She was practically gleaming with energy. She was ready to tackle the issue and beat the truth out of it. Just the way I like to see her. “Wait with the re-burial just yet Franz,” she exclaimed with enthusiasm, “we’re going to set this straight.” She waved her hoof around in a bombastic manner. “Aren’t you afraid of the curse?” Franz worried. “Pf, I’m not afraid of things that don’t exist.” She boasted. “I don’t know, I don’t really feel like risking it.” “There’s absolutely no risk to it, I guarantee!” Hazel and Marge looked a bit concerned. They were happy about the ghost just moments ago. “Are you sure it’s a safe thing to do?” Hazel asked. “Tampering with the skeleton is probably the last thing it wants.” “Oh it wants nothing. It’s dead.” Lyra declared. “I am sure that somepony is behind this whole thing and I’m gonna find out who.” Hazel and Marge looked at each other, then back at Lyra. “But why would anypony do such a thing?” Asked Marge. Lyra put her hoof up to her chin, to think for a moment. “I guess we’ll find out. Before our train back to Ponyville departs tomorrow, I’ll have it all figured out.” She declared with an almost dangerous amount of confidence. They looked anxious. Especially Hazel and Marge. I guess Hazel believes in humans now, if she believes in the skeleton’s curse. “Alright, let’s do it.” Franz agreed reluctantly. “But on the first sign, that the curse is real, we’ll put the skeleton back.” Lyra agreed and gave her word. They went away, but the journalist from before stopped them to ask a few questions. Lyra approached me. “I’d say that was a much more impressive spectacle.” I joked, referring to her attitude from just a few minutes ago. Lyra looked around. “So, where do you propose we start?” “We should look at what happened, analyse the incident.” “I think I can help you with that.” Twilight walked up to the two of us with the camera. “It was my job to document everything, after all.” She seemed eager to participate in this investigation of ours. “Of course,” said Lyra, “the pictures will be really useful.” “Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to take pictures during the event. I only made two and in a very agitated state, so they’re not very good.” Lyra flipped through the pictures. Lots of crowd shots, pictures of the participants, the start of the presentation, then a very blurry image of the ghost, a blurry image of the shocked crowd, then some better ones of the aftermath. Lyra selected the two pictures took during the incident and tried to spot anything interesting. “I think I can just make out what’s happening.” She said. “You can clearly see the light sources.” “Let me see them.” I suggested. Lyra levitated the two pictures so I could see them too. “The first one with the ghost is the most interesting. You can just make out the 3D projector.” She pointed at a pretty obvious flare inside the window. “Yes, you can even see the light from it going towards the ghost.” “You think it was a projection?” Twilight wondered. “Then how was the voice done?” “Bon Bon said something to me, when she tried to cheer me up.” Lyra pondered. “By the way thanks for that! She said that the voice came from somewhere else.” “I actually kind of made that up.” I admitted with an awkward smile. “No, you’re right. The ghost was right above me, but I distinctly remember hearing its voice from behind me. It came from the crowd.” “So you’re saying,” Twilight questioned, “that somepony in the crowd was voicing the ghost? How did nopony notice that?“ “I don’t know, is there a way to make your voice sound so different?” I asked. “WELL OF COURSE THERE IS!” Twilight said in Tirek’s voice, which scared both of us. It scared Lyra so much, she launched herself onto my neck. Twilight laughed and apologized. “Sorry. But yes, there is a spell for that. But the question remains, how did nopony notice that?” “I guess in situations like this,” Lyra speculated while climbing off my neck, “some things just slip by your notice... Or the perpetrator is a not so talented ventriloquist.” “What about the other picture?” Twilight inquired. I leaned over to look at it. “I can just make out Persy over there and Hazel next to him.” I said. “Interesting,” Lyra noticed something, “Hazel’s horn seems to be glowing.” “So? A lot of horns are glowing in that crowd.” “Yes, this doesn’t really prove anything. Still, it’s useful. Thanks Twilight!” “No problem.” Twilight was glad to help. She took back the camera and left, leaving the two pictures with us. “Let’s look into a few other things too.” Lyra suggested. “I think we should start with the 3D projector.” So we walked up to the room the projector was in. Of course, the door was locked, but thankfully the handymare was nearby and she let us in. So there it was. The so fabled 3D projector. It looked just like a strange alien device that sort of resembles a traditional projector. We had no idea where to start with it. How do you even operate it? Fortunately, the handymare was happy to help. In her own dry voice, she began explaining. “You put in the image here, then you adjust the distance here, mess around with various settings here and you activate it with your magic.” “With magic you say?” Lyra inquired. “So only unicorns can operate it?” “Precisely!” “Kind of an odd way of doing it.” I commented. “Well, the inventors really like combining unicorn magic with machinery.” The handymare explained. “There are many possibilities in stringing together simple spells, that activate each other. You just have to trigger the first one.” “So the pony behind the ghost was a unicorn.” Lyra pondered. “Why do you think so?” Asked the handymare. “You just said, the machine can only be operated by unicorns.” “Yes.” The handymare responded dryly. “I was the one operating it.” “Oh”, Lyra thought for a few seconds, “Is it possible somepony got in without your notice?” “Not a chance. I always lock this room” “Did anypony other than you get in?” I asked. “Yes. In fact, there were three. Princess Twilight, Marge and that one mare, I forgot the name of. Some sort of Blossom, or something.” “Must be Hazel Blossom.” Lyra wondered. “Twilight is a bit unexpected though. What did they want?” “They were curious about the 3D projector.” “Makes sense. But still, what exactly did they want?” “Nothing particularly interesting. Marge helped me calibrate it, Hazel and Twilight just wanted to learn. Although now that you mention it, Hazel was oddly fascinated by the image mechanism. But then again, she was nothing compared to Twilight.” “Is it possible one of them switched the images?” I asked. “Not a chance. Marge and I checked them after calibration, right before the presentation and after the ghost’s appearance. We too thought it was switched. But nope.” “So somepony must have switched it in that tiny window of time.” Lyra thought out loud. “I just said it wasn’t.” The handymare declared dryly. “I’m sure it was switched after the calibration.” Lyra ruminated on the information. “I don’t know how exactly. Do you still have the image?” “Nope, Marge took them away.” “Marge huh?” I commented. “We better ask her about those then.” So we did. We didn’t have to go too far, it did take like an hour of asking around, but we found her. She was having coffee with Hazel Blossom, in the hotel’s dining room. Those two hang out together a lot, I noticed. No matter, we were going to question Hazel too anyway. So we approached them. “We’ve got a few questions for you Marge.” Lyra said bluntly. “Oh? What is it?” Marge looked straight up from her coffee. “We talked to the handymare and she said you two checked the images in the projector before and after the presentation.” “Yes, that’s true. The image was fine. It was just the one we were meant to be using.” “She also said that you took the images after the incident.” “Yes I did. And they were still the correct images.” “May I take a look at them?” “Sure. I’ll even insert them into the projector for you.” And so she stood up and left, taking Lyra with her. Lyra was polite and held the coffee for her with her magic. I waited for a moment, while they left us, then I turned to Hazel. “Sorry, we had to cut short your coffee together.” I apologized. “Not a problem at all.” She took a sip. “This is a very important investigation after all.” She said that with the same smile you’d give to a playing child. “But now that we’re here, I might as well ask you a few questions too.” I sat down into the seat Marge was occupying moments ago. “The handymare told us you took a look at the projector” She nodded. “She also said, that you were particularly fascinated by the image mechanism. Is there a specific reason for that?” “No, not really. It’s just a very neat little mechanism. It’s so complex, yet simple at the same time. I barely even understood most of the spells inside it.” “I also have a slightly more personal question. I noticed that you and Marge hang out quite a lot nowadays. Why is that?” “We might have very different opinions on a lot of things, but we agree on one important thing.” She paused to take a sip and gather her thoughts. “I always wished anthropology got a bit more attention, because there is definitely something behind all these discoveries and it would be great to really get to the bottom of it. As it turns out, Marge felt the same way. We’ve been planning a lot on how to further the science and how to attract more research.” “You both said that the ghost presents a great opportunity. Why do you think that?” “An ancient curse might just be the thing to get it going. It got the attention of the press. They already dubbed the ghost the anthro-phantom.” “Anthro-phantom? It’s a catchy name, I give them that.” “It sure is, isn’t it?” “And one more question? Do you believe the... anthro-phantom, to be real?” “Absolutely!” “So in addition, do you think humans are real too?” Hazel took a sip from her coffee to think her answer through. She took a drawn out glance at her drink, then came up with a straight, but not too firm “Yes.” We met up with Lyra and Marge in the hall. They were already finished with the presentation’s images when we arrived. It would have been nice to see it, but oh well. I guess I already saw a demonstration. Anyway, Lyra didn’t seem to be too satisfied with the results, but Marge seemed plenty pleased with them. “They’re real.” Marge declared when we arrived. “The images are the ones we were supposed to be using.” Said Lyra with a slight air of disappointment. “No ghosts in there.” “So you finally believe the anthro-phantom?” Asked Hazel in a complacent tone. “Absolutely not.” Lyra sounded almost offended by that question. “It just means the case is trickier than I first thought. There are still plenty of clues to look for.” Then she paused for a moment and her slightly offended tone turned to bewildered. “Wait, what did you just call it?” “The anthro-phantom.” Hazel answered with a grin. “The anthro-phantom?” Lyra echoed. “I really hope you won’t catch me calling it that.” “I have a question, if you don’t mind.” Marge interjected. “Do you think we did this?” Lyra hesitated a bit, she thought hard about what to say. “Well, I try not to think of anything exact at this moment,” she said and paused again, “but you’re definitely on the list somewhere.” Marge and Hazel seemed displeased with that answer, but their faces quickly changed. Marge seemed a bit concerned, while Hazel put on a smug, but somewhat angry expression. “Well, I do hope Persy is on that list too,” she said, “if anypony would do such a thing, then it’s him.” “Oh, there you are Heartstrings!” Speaking of the devil, there he was, with his obnoxious voice crashing through the air. “As you know,” he carried on, “I have been conducting my own research about the anthro-phantom-.” “I bet I will say that by mistake at some point.” Lyra whispered to me. “-And I think I have a pretty good theory on what happened.” “Oh yeah?” Lyra said doubtfully. “Let’s hear it then.” “I think the pony behind the anthro-phantom, is Franz Foals!” His declaration was followed by complete silence. This is where the sound of a cricket would have gone, as a cheap joke. But our expressions served as the aforementioned cricket instead. “So you think he ruined his own research? For what purpose exactly?” Lyra asked in a condescending tone. “I see you all doubt my theory,” Persy began again, “so let me clear it all up. Franz Foals didn’t ruin his career, he just simply ended it. You see, he’s retiring, all he needed is an excuse.” “He is not retiring!” Lyra was downright outraged he would suggest such a thing. “Oh really?” Persy said more obnoxiously than usual. “Why don’t you ask him about it?” We looked at each other, then as he suggested, we did just that. We looked for Franz in his hotel room and he was there, packing up his stuff. They wanted to talk in private, but they didn’t mind me eavesdropping... At least, I’m sure they didn’t mind, because they didn’t make any precautions to stop me... Anyway, I overheard their conversation. “I wanted to tell you this,” said Franz after a sigh, “I just didn’t know when or how. I guess the time has come and there’s no more time to think about it.” He paused. “I am retiring.” “But why?” Lyra said, shocked, but no longer surprised by the news. “It’s just been getting really tiring.” Franz continued. “All that searching for proof and arguing my case with ponies who never had any intention of believing me. And I’m old. Too old for this. And the incident last night, seemed like a good opportunity to finally do so.” “But you are the foundations of anthropology!” Lyra said with a lump in her throat. “You’re the one who made me an anthropologist!” “And I’m glad I did. But sometimes you gotta replace the foundations, when they get old and rusty, replace it with a new and better one.“ He paused. “Somepony like you, Lyra.” “Me?” Lyra was surprised. “I’ve never seen such spirit in any scientist, as you. I think you are strong enough to lead the entire field.” “But we’d be losing the most brilliant mind of the field!” Franz chuckled. “No, I’m pretty sure you just said I created it.” He then continued in a much more mellow tone. “Don’t worry Lyra, the field will be in good hooves with you. Or should I say... good hands!” They fell silent. I think they finished and this was the part where they hugged. So I stepped away from the door. Not that I was doing anything wrong, as I said, they were fine with me eavesdropping... And surely enough the door opened. Lyra walked out and Franz went back inside. She looked like she could use another hug, so I gave her one. “We’re all going to miss that fine stallion.” Said Persy sarcastically, who was waiting on the corner. We tried to ignore him, but he wouldn’t let us do that. “I actually have a new theory in mind. I think the pony behind the anthro-phantom was trying to speed up Franz Foals’ retirement, so she could take his place. And the perpetrator was none other than his successor, Lyra Heartstrings!” “I just found out about this!” Lyra screamed in her defence. “Knock it off you jerk!” I yelled angrily, while trying to hold back Lyra. “This is really not the place or time for this!” Persy just laughed smugly. “Oh I didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers. I’m just saying to make it clear as day.” He then got very close to Lyra’s face. “You’re on the list, Heartstrings.” “I hope you know you’re on the list too.” She said, with the anger narrowing her eyes. “Well of course I’m on the list! I was on the list before there was even a reason to have a list! I’m just making sure all possibilities are taken into account. Just like I always did.” “Good work, point taken, now leave us alone!” I told him. “I can’t leave just yet. Celestia forbid the images were found in possession of one of the suspects!” He said smugly as he pulled said images out of his pocket. “Are those...?” Lyra asked. “Yes, the very proof that the anthro-phantom is a hoax!” “Where did you find them?” “Well fortunately for you Heartstrings, it was not in your room. Franz gave them to me himself.” As if the mood couldn’t be made any worse. Lyra was on the verge of tears after that reveal. “Now, I’m going to make this clear.” Persy carried on, finally in a less obnoxious manner. “This still doesn’t prove anything. Franz told me he took it from Marge, which could mean she just didn’t notice she took out the wrong images and somepony switched them seamlessly, without her ever noticing a thing. Still,” he put the images back into his pocket, “this is something extremely important and you shouldn’t overlook my theory this time.” He then turned around. “I’m going to take a look at that projector.” And with that he left, leaving behind the hurt Lyra and me.
Chapter 4We were back in our own hotel room, preparing for our departure the next day. It was getting pretty late now, but we still haven’t solved the puzzle yet. I was also a bit worried about Lyra, she hasn’t said anything for quite some time now. She was motionlessly sitting on the edge of the bed and putting her stuff back inside her bag, using her horn’s magic. I could understand it. Getting bad news so suddenly, then getting accused of deceiving the community she grew up in, all after an incident that just might ruin everything. Must have been pretty tiring. Suddenly she stopped packing and muttered something. “What was that?” I asked back, since I didn’t understand what she said. She slowly looked up from her luggage and turned to me with a puzzled expression. “It just doesn’t add up.” “What doesn’t add up?” “The suspects, they all have their own reasons to fake a ghost, even me. But it doesn’t make sense, none of them seem good enough reasons.” I walked up to her, as she thought out loud. “Persy’s got the most obvious motivations; he’s been against anthropology since he first heard of it. Hazel and Marge practically told us their motivations. Franz wants to retire and I could want him to retire faster, so I can take his place already.” I picked up and looked at our collection of evidence, while she talked. “And if we’re going to be really cynical,” she flopped down onto the bed, “we could even say it was you, so I would shut up about humans already.” “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way.” I said. “You’re looking at motivations. But that doesn’t really matter, since a lot of ponies do questionable things for questionable reasons. You should look at the evidence, since that cannot be argued with.” I put down the evidence next to her, on the bed. “Don’t be like Persy and find holes between the lines. Be like Lyra and find the connecting lines themselves.” She levitated the evidence above herself. You could see the thought strain her entire body. She hummed, put her hoof onto her chin, narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, we heard knocking on our door and a mare walked in. It was none other than Maud. She was staying here for a bit longer than us, since she had another conference of her own. You could tell she was really worried about something from her blank expression. “I think you should come.” She said, with the anxiety straining her voice. “Why? What happened?” I asked nervously. “The handymare’s key to the projector room was stolen.” “Stolen?” “Yes.” The words practically flooded out of her mouth in her excitement. “She says somepony took it out of her pocket with magic.” I looked at Lyra and her back at me. We then ran for the door. “I’ll get Franz, you go straight to the projector.” I ordered. “And another thing.” Maud stopped us. “Twilight let me borrow her camera before she left. I think it’ll be useful for you.” She then gave it to Lyra, who acknowledged Maud’s idea with a nod and ran off. Franz, Maud and I arrived at the conference hall, there were large rock shaped set pieces on the stage for Maud’s show. Lyra and Marge ran out from backstage. “Somepony locked themselves in the projector room!” Lyra exclaimed. “They wanted to use the projector again for the next show, but then somepony stole the handymare’s keys.” Marge added. “I think they’re trying to-” Lyra tried to say something, but a familiar loud booming voice cut her off. “LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!” It said and the anthro-phantom has appeared again. “YOU PREVENTED ME FROM GOING BACK INTO MY RIGHTFUL PLACE! THIS IS MY FINAL WARNING! RETURN ME TO MY SLUMBER, OR ELSE FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!” Lyra however, wasn’t scared of it at all. She took the camera and levitated it high up in the air and took a picture of the window to the projector room. After the ghost disappeared in a bright flash of light, Lyra looked at the picture taken. I didn’t manage to see it, because right after the ghost disappeared, Hazel appeared backstage with the keys. “I’ve found the keys!” She waved said keys at us. So we went up to the projector room, Hazel opened the door and Persy was standing right behind the door, with an extremely displeased expression and the images for the second appearance levitating next to him. We all gasped at the sight, but he barely even reacted. “I do believe you’ve got an idea of what happened Heartstrings.” He said in monotone voice. “Yes,” Hazel scolded him, “I think it’s quite clear what happened here!” “I decided to investigate the projector,” Persy said dryly, “then the door closed and the projector turned on.” “You were the only one in the room, who else could have turned it on?” Hazel accused him further. “I think you all should look at this picture.” Said Lyra, finally revealing her photo. “I’ve made it when the anthro-phantom appeared.” She then paused and put her hoof onto her face, because she realized what she just said. “I knew I was going to say that at some point... Anyway,” she levitated the picture so everypony could see, “as you can see, Persy is standing right there in the projector room, in front of the window.” Surely enough, Persy was there on the photo, staring solemnly outside the window. “Exactly,” Hazel declared, “it’s pretty clear who did it!” “Except for one thing,” Lyra continued, “he is clearly not using his horn.” She pointed at the serious lack of magical auras around Persy’s horn. Everyone was surprised, but Hazel was still unimpressed. “How can you tell that? A horn’s aura doesn’t even appear on most photos.” “Except it does.” Lyra asserted. “In the other picture, Twilight made,” she was referring to the blurry crowd shot, “you can clearly see magical auras on several unicorns. Even though the image is much worse than the one I made!” “So you don’t think I did it?” Persy asked rather surprised. Lyra just stood there with a hoof up to her chin, not saying a word. “But...” Hazel looked around. “...But who else could have been?” Lyra looked up. “I think I know. By tomorrow morning, I want everyone here in the projector room. I’ll have all of the answers you need!”
Chapter 5As promised, we were all there in the projector room the next morning. Well, almost everyone, but I’ll get to that. Lyra was pacing around a small table in the middle of the room with a very serious expression. On the table there was all the evidence we have collected during the investigation; the photos, the three images for the projector, the projector itself. Persy was slouching in a chair, reading the Hoofington Post, which talked about the anthro-phantom, making sarcastic remarks at Lyra, who pretended to not hear them. Next to him was Hazel, who sat quietly, trying to not roll her eyes out of their sockets. Franz and Marge sat next to each other and looked around the room worriedly. Maud was staring blankly outside the window, while the handymare was jiggling her keys in boredom. And me, I was standing there, looking over everypony else. “Um, Lyra?” Hazel spoke up between two groans. “What exactly are we waiting for?” “Not what, whom.” Lyra corrected her. “Whatever,” Hazel said impatiently, “when are they going to get here?” Suddenly a loud crash and a yelp could be heard outside the door. “She’s here.” Announced Maud. Twilight stepped in through the door, rubbing her forehead. “I’m sorry I’m a bit tardy. I thought I could outfly a train.” Lyra nodded, keeping a strict expression on her face. “Ooh, I’m so excited to find out who’s behind the anthro-phantom.” Twilight gushed as she sat down. “About flapping time!” Hazel grunted impatiently. Lyra finished a pace then turned to the others. “Now, as I promised, I should be revealing the results of my findings.” “You mean our findings?” I remarked in jest. She just looked at me with the same strict expression. “Bon Bon, I’m trying to make it sound dramatic.” I just rolled my eyes and pretended to zip up my mouth. “Let’s recap what happened.” Lyra carried on. “Let’s start with the 3D projection itself. We all know the ghost was faked, because we have the images of it, right here.” She picked up the phantom’s images. “I told you,” the handymare interrupted, “we checked the images before and after the phantom’s appearance. There were no phantoms in that thing.” “Yes, and nopony else was there.” Marge added. “Exactly!” Lyra continued. “Nopony else needed to be there.” She started pacing again, while levitating the images. “Let’s just think about it. Both the handymare and Marge has checked the images, both before and after the incident and saw nothing suspicious. But somehow, the phantom’s images still ended up inside the projector, instead of the conference’s images, without either Marge or the handymare noticing.” “I’m telling you,” the handymare was getting slightly annoyed, “I would have seen it, if somepony magically switched the images.” “Oh there was no need to involve magic at all,” Lyra replied, “It was all done through an impressive feat of sleight of hoof.” She paused for a moment and looked at Marge. “Or should I say, sleight of wing?” Marge was slightly scared by that look. “What are you implying?” “What I’m implying is, that the pony who switched the images, was a pegasus. This pegasus had both images with them the whole time. They showed the correct images when it came to checking, but put in the phantom’s images, right before the screening. Then after the incident, it only took a few simple, but well calculated movements, to switch the two images seamlessly.” “Wait,” Twilight interjected, “the only Pegasus there was Marge.” “Are you saying it was me?” Marge said, her voice shaking even more. “That’s silly!” Persy exclaimed. “For all we know, it could have been Princess Twilight. She’s got wings too and even magic.” Twilight just replied with an offended look. “Twilight wasn’t in the room during the incident.” Lyra argued. “And while she could have easily switched the images with magic, it wouldn’t have been so seamless. Especially since she was down there taking photos.” “And besides,” Twilight added in a slightly irritated tone, “I don’t have a reason to do such a thing.” “What about you, Heartstrings?” Persy asked smugly. “I was down there, as everypony could tell you... Including you...” “Eh, I’m pretty sure I would have seen it, if a pegasus placed something under their wing right in front of me.” Said the handymare. “Not quite.” Lyra asserted. “I have seen some amazing feats done without magic. Even an earth pony could put something on their hoof,” she tried to demonstrate the simple trick with the phantom’s images, “and make it disappear, with a swipe of their hoof.” But as she tried to swipe away the images, she messed up and it fell on the floor. “...Well obviously not me, but you get the point. The perpetrator was a pegasus, who just simply hid the images under their wing.” “You haven’t addressed my question.” Marge said with a lot of concern. “Are you saying it was me who switched the images?” “Yeah, she was the only pegasus in the room.” Hazel commented. “Don’t you think it’d be a little silly to suggest, that she’d sabotage her own research?” “Well I have no problem with being silly,” said Lyra, “because that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Everyone gasped. “Want proof?” Lyra carried on. “Franz told Persy, that he found the images with her.” “I can confirm that.” Persy added, rather helpfully. “But I thought she had it with her by mistake.” Franz explained. “Oh it was no mistake,” Lyra slightly raised her voice, “Marge had those images with her for a reason. And that reason was to draw the world’s attention to anthropology, by faking an ancient spirit, sabotaging the conference!” After a short pause, Franz asked: “Marge, is this true?” A few seconds of silence lingered over the room. Marge began to tear up and buried her face in her hooves. “Yes.” she said timidly. “But I did it for a good reason!” She justified. Lyra turned around and just stared outside the window. “But Marge,” said Franz with a soft tone, “you didn’t need to do any of this. We had the biggest conference in years, we even had inventors teaming up with us. We were on the right track already.” “I just thought I could help gain even more momentum.” Marge tried to defend herself. “Franz would have put that skeleton right back into the ground.” Lyra didn’t even look at her while saying that. She kept her stare outside the window. “You risked losing one of the biggest discoveries of all time.” “I’m sorry.” Marge apologized meekly. Another few seconds has passed in silence. Only thing we could hear was Marge sobbing. “But wait,” Twilight broke the silence, “wasn’t magic necessary for the phantom? Somepony had to do the voice too.” “Don’t encourage her Twilight!” Hazel interjected. “You see what came out of her little investigation already.” “Oh, there’s more, dear Hazel Blossom.” Lyra said in a very grim voice, while still facing the window. “She had an accomplice. And that accomplice was in fact, a unicorn.” “But everyone here is a unicorn.” Said Twilight. “Well, except for Marge of course... And Maud... And Bon Bon.” I just nodded, with my mouth still zipped shut. “Yeah, even you, Heartstrings!” Persy said with a smirk. “As you know,” Lyra turned around to face us, without acknowledging his comment, “there is a very simple spell that can alter your voice. Twilight, care to demonstrate?” “WITH GREAT PLEASURE!” Twilight yelled with Tirek’s voice again, scaring everypony in the room, except Lyra. “Yes, thank you.” She said dryly. “This unicorn learned this spell and hid in the audience. So when the projected phantom showed up, they used the spell to voice it.” “In the audience you say?” Said Persy. “Why do you think it was in the audience?” “I distinctly remember the voice coming from behind me, when I faced the phantom.” Lyra asserted. “But that’s just what you are saying.” Persy argued. “How can we know for sure, that that’s what happened, when it’s just you? “It’s not just her.” Maud interjected. Honestly, I kind of forgot she was even there. “That’s also how I heard it. The voice clearly came from the audience.” “Now that you say it,” said Franz, “I did hear the voice coming from elsewhere.” “Right,” Lyra continued, “but unfortunately, everypony was preoccupied with being scared of the phantom, so nopony can pinpoint the exact source of the voice. But we all agree, that it came from the audience.” “Okay then,” said Persy, who was still a bit unconvinced “so that means, all unicorns on stage and the handymare are out. That means, the only three unicorns left are myself, Hazel and Twilight.” “Me?!” This was the second time he brings Twilight up, so she couldn’t help herself voice her feelings. “Certainly, and for a while I was a bit stuck, I admit.” Said Lyra. “But then something happened. The phantom has appeared once again to taunt me. You see, Twilight wasn’t there at the time, so she’s out.” “Good!” Lyra’s explanation pleased the offended Twilight. “And during the second appearance,” Hazel spoke up, “Persy locked himself inside the projector room. You can even see it on the photo you made.” “But as we already established,” Lyra picked the photo up, “there is no magical aura around Persy’s horn, indicating, that he wasn’t using magic.” “I’m sure you could find the aura if you look hard enough, or something!” Hazel argued. “We could look at the photo until our eyes fall out of their sockets,” Lyra raised her voice, “Persy was not operating the machine. Somepony tried to set him up.” “Wow, I didn’t think I’d see the day when an anthropologist would defend me.” Persy remarked. “But...” Hazel lowered her voice, “I’m the only one left.” Lyra paused, looked at her, then started pacing again. “Here’s what I think happened: Marge and her partner knew, that I wasn’t going to be convinced about the phantom being real. So they came up with a plan to set up somepony else to distract me. And Persy seemed like such an obvious pony to frame.” “But-” Hazel tried to say something, but Lyra wouldn’t let her. “They knew Persy was doing his own investigation, so they waited for him to go into the projector room. And when he was inside, the unicorn stole the handymare’s keys and locked the door. Then they hid behind the large props that were set up for the next conference and voiced the phantom a second time.” “But-” Hazel still wasn’t allowed to talk. “And who was the pony, who was standing at the backstage door, right next to the conveniently placed props, with the keys with them, right after the ghost’s second appearance?” Hazel didn’t want to say anything anymore. Lyra stopped for a moment and took a few steps towards Hazel. “It was you Hazel!” “Me?! But I...Why would I...” “You and Marge spent a lot of time together, in the last few days. You even agreed on one thing the whole time.” Lyra pressed her on. “But I-” “You both think anthropology should be brought to the forefront more. You both agreed that the phantom would bring in some needed attention.” “But I-” “So you teamed up, to fake a curse, to draw in the attention from the crowd.” Hazel had nothing to say. “Admit it Hazel.” Lyra said sternly. Hazel was silent. All eyes were on her. “Give up Hazel,” Marge talked to her, “we’ve been caught.” Hazel couldn’t lie. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. After a silent moment, she finally pried her mouth open. “It was me. Yes, I helped Marge fake a curse. Are you happy?!" Lyra didn’t say it, but yes, she was very happy. “Look, there’s this entire field of science and all we have are vague evidence and speculations. I thought, if we could bring in some attention, we could finally prove or disprove the existence of humans.” “Who else could disprove that better than me?” Persy declared. “Literally anypony!” Hazel scolded him. “You have the brains of a dry leaf and the manners of a starving crocodile! Everyone is sick of listening to your inane nonsense! We needed to use solid logic and concrete evidence, instead of your pompous contrarian attitude!” “What you did instead,” Lyra scolded her back, “is almost make us lose the most important discovery of all time and almost ruin the field’s reputation.” “We didn’t ruin anything.” Hazel pouted. “It’s going to draw in a lot of attention.” “…Unicorns of Equestria want to declare anthropology, to be a forbidden form of magic and take related literature out of libraries…” Persy quoted that from the newspaper. “…Franz Foals is planning his resignation as an anthropologist, but his student, Lyra Heartstrings, is trying to prevent him from putting back the skeleton to break the curse…” That was strangely the only thing he didn’t spit into Lyra’s face, before we began. Lyra just raised an eyebrow at the rather sore looking Hazel. “I must say Hazel,” said Persy with a smug grin, “you’ve done a wonderful job at drawing attention. You were better at ruining everything than I could ever dream of.” “Could you quit yapping at least now?!” Hazel yelled at Persy. “Hot Topic!” Lyra shouted. “Did you get that?” Suddenly the door burst open and there stood the journalist from before. “Yep, all of it! Two ponies almost ruined science!” “Hey, gimme that!” Hazel ran towards the journalist, but Twilight stopped her. “Okay, that’s enough! You’ve gone far enough already.” “Thank you Hot Topic for coming here!” Lyra thanked the journalist. “Eh, after what I wrote the last time, I think it’s only appropriate.” She said. “Besides, this is still a great story!” “Well, I guess the case is officially closed then.” Said Persy as he stood up and put on his hat. “I expect a proper conference next time, Heartstrings! One without spooky ghosts.” “Oh don’t worry about that!” She replied. Persy just left a smug, but friendly smile, then left along with the journalist. Marge and Hazel left right after them, but not without the journalist flashing her camera into their eyes, then running off. Twilight walked up to Lyra. “Wow, I’m impressed.” She said. “That would have fit into a mystery novel.” “Well, you know me. I don’t back down, when it comes to the truth.” “Well, I’m glad to see that part of you hasn’t changed.” She said, then put back the tools she knocked over when she arrived. After that, Franz approached her. “After that display, I am absolutely confident, that you will make a fine successor!” “Still determined to retire, huh?” Lyra was still sad about that decision. “Well, at least I’m not burying the evidence now.” He added with a modest laugh. “We’ll have another conference next week, I’ll announce my retirement then. And I’m sure, nopony will mind you replacing me.” “Nopony can replace you!” Said Lyra with a tearful smile. They hugged, then Franz left. I was the only one remaining. I walked up to Lyra, filled with pride, but with my mouth still zipped shut. “Okay, you can open your mouth now.” She said. I opened the imaginary zipper. “Good job Lyra, you cracked the case and took all credit for it.” “Ooh, I did, didn’t I? I’m sorry, I just thought-” “Oh don’t worry about it. The last thing I want to do is appear in the newspaper.” “Yeah, I guess that’s true. So what do you think? Was that dramatic enough?” “Oh you little Shadow Spade, you! Yes, yes it was!” We heard the handymare clear her throat at the door. “So how long do you plan on staying in there?” “Oh right,” said Lyra, “what time is it?” “It’s we’ll-gonna-miss-the-train o’ clock! Come on!” I said, then we left in a hurry.
Prologue„Hey Bon Bon!” Lyra shouted, as she barged into my room, scaring the shoes off me. „What is it Lyra?” I asked as I tried to get up from the floor. This isn’t the first time she does this, usually when she finds something super exciting. Of course, being on the floor made it hard to appreciate her excitement. “Look what just came in the newspaper!” She pressed said newspaper into my face. I began reading, “A mysterious skeleton was found at a construction site in Hoofington. Scientists identified it as a...” but of course there was no room for that next to Lyra’s enthusiasm. “It’s a human!” She shouted, “A full human skeleton! If this isn’t conclusive evidence, then I don’t know what is!” “Alright Lyra, calm your ticks.” I said, since she was getting really out of hand. She even levitated me and spun me around. “Breathe in, breathe out.” She finally put me down. “I’m sorry, it’s just... that... you know?” She could hardly even express herself. “Yes, I know, this is the most important discovery in your field.” “With this, the scientific community is finally going to consider anthropology a legit branch of palaeontology. More than just mere cryptozoology.” “It’s about time, isn’t it?” Then the doorbell rang. “I’ve got you a letter!” the mailmare announced. I opened the door and it was Derpy. “Letter to Lyra Heartstrings from Franz Foals.” “It must be about the skeleton.” Said Lyra as she tore open the letter. She began reading and I could already see her eyes widening. “I’m invited!” She screamed and pinned me down to the floor. “Invited to what?” I asked, referring to the absolute lack of information she gave me. “To the conference!” She screamed further, dancing around in the middle of the room. “What conference?” I asked again, now getting slightly annoyed. “The conference held in Hoofington, presenting the skeleton! All great anthropologists will be there! Franz Foals, Margarine Mead and of course, me!” “Yeah, all three of them.” “Well, after this, there’ll be more. There’s no possible way this won’t get the approval of scientists all around Equestria!” She exclaimed, while standing on her hind legs. The excitement practically threw her body around. We were going to that conference, no questions asked.
EpilogueWe got to the train in time. The passengers were just getting on, so we didn’t miss anything. We got on and the train departed. Hoofington has quickly sunk below the horizon. Lyra was now excited again, mostly about the conference happening next week. Even if it meant the retirement of her idol. But the thrill of the anthro-phantom mystery was still with her. “We should look for more spooky ghosts to debunk!” She said. “We should become some sort of mystery solver duo. We could call ourselves... The Demystifyers.” I chuckled lightly. “I think I’ve had just enough spooky mysteries for a lifetime.” “I bet you’ve had a lot of spooky mysteries in your life.” “Sshh, not in public!” I whispered. “Sorry. I guess I’ll just stick to mystery novels.” “You say that like you read a lot of them.” “No, but I just have to start now!” A few seconds of silence came, as we finished that subject. But I had to ask something. “How do you feel about becoming the new face of anthropology?” Lyra thought for a short moment. “I’m excited! And a bit nervous. Nervousited, if you will. Plus a little bit sad about Franz retiring.” “He trusts you fully, Lyra, that’s why he chose you to replace him.” “That’s exactly it. What if I’m not even a fraction of what he was?” I chuckled. “I can tell you, you will be just as good as him. And just like him you will inspire your successor.” “I hope you’re right.” “I know I’m right and I know Franz is right too. I bet you’ll barely even notice the difference.” She smiled and blushed slightly. “Aw, all you ponies believe in me so much.” “I’ve known you for years. There was not a moment where I didn’t believe in you.” “Except when I first told you about humans.” “Yes, except that time.” We laughed, but there was still one thing that bugged me. “Say,” I prepared my next question, “what do you think will become of Hazel and Marge? “I can’t know for sure.” She said. “Hazel used to be the most prolific anthro-skeptic out there, right after Persy. But unlike Persy, ponies actually took her seriously. But after this little stunt of hers, I don’t think she’ll have that kind of reputation again.” “What about Marge?” “Eh, she’s still a researcher, I don’t think she’ll stop after this. Still, she’ll have a hard being taken seriously now. If the skeleton does draw in attention like we expected, then I feel somepony will replace her.” “Doesn’t sound like you’re worried at all.” “Nah, the field survived much worse and I expect a full recovery after the next conference.” “Let’s hope you’re right.” “I know I’m right!” She said and winked. Then after a short pause, she said, “I just wish I had brought a journal or something. This could have made for a good story.” I chuckled. “Oh, don’t you worry about that!”
