Find Her, Stay With Her

Lyra had spent a good portion of her current afternoon at home, laying on her couch, absently playing the lyre. She was so good at it, she could play it flawlessly without even paying attention. Even though she was trying to play music just to block out her thoughts... her mind at this point was louder than her ears. She wanted to see Kyle again... she was desperate at this point.

Soon enough, she set down her lyre, and began to pack some things she needed for a trip. She could not stand waiting around any longer; she was going to Canterlot to request an audience with Princess Celestia.

“I hope she understands.” Lyra said to herself. “Kyle just means... so much to me.”

In the process of packing, Lyra took a piece of paper, and a pen, and began to write a message.

Your Highness,

I wish to request an audience with you concerning some questions I have had about my true past. I feel like I have lived in Ponyville nearly all my life, and I am very much familiar with how the kingdom of Equestria works... but I can't help but feel like there are memories of another life I've lived that keep coming to my mind.

They center around a human... a very kind human... one who raised me and took extra special care of me. We were best friends... and we even came to love one another. Rest assured, I am not angry or upset; I am merely curious.

If it is okay with you, I would like to ask you about what you know. I will be traveling to Canterlot, and if you have the time, may I respectfully request that you would arrange for an audience with me? I would be both honored and grateful if you are capable of doing so.

Your loyal subject,
Lyra Heartstrings.

With that, Lyra finished the letter by putting it into an envelope, and using a special teleportation spell to put it into Canterlot Castle's mailbox. It took a lot of energy to invoke the magic to do so, but Lyra could sense that it was successful.

So, Lyra took her saddlebags filled with her travel gear, and set off out of her house to catch a train to Canterlot... but Bon Bon happened to spot her.

“Lyra? What's going on?” she asked, walking up.

Lyra was put on the spot by the sudden appearance of her best (pony) friend. But... she had to be blunt at this point. She could not keep this charade up any longer.

“...I'm going to Canterlot.” Lyra answered. “I need to speak to Princess Celestia.”

Bon Bon looked both anxious and confused. “About what?”

Lyra pressed her lips together and raised a brow at her friend, which made her look even more worried.

“Lyra... why are you looking at me like that?” Bon Bon asked.

“...You know something about this, don't you?” Lyra said.

Bon Bon just stared.

“DON'T YOU?” Lyra repeated louder. “I remember what happened in the human world! I remember Kyle Schaeffer! And you all are trying to keep it away from me!”

“...W-well...” Bon Bon stammered. “...we just felt... it would be best... if you didn't know about it...”

Lyra's jaw dropped. “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? He was my husband! Why would you want me to forget?”

Bon Bon hung her head down. “...Because we don't want you to be sad, thinking about Kyle Schaeffer all the time...” she said.

Lyra's eyes widened in realization.

“Oh...” she said. “...you... didn't want me... to worry?”

Bon Bon shook her head.

“We just wouldn't be able to stand seeing you so depressed over him... we just tried to act natural, so you wouldn't be reminded of him...” she said.

“Oh, Bon Bon...” Lyra said, hanging her head down in shame. “...I'm sorry. I totally misunderstood...”

“It's okay...” Bon Bon responded. “...so, you said something about wanting to talk to the Princess about it?”

Lyra nodded.

“Well, if I'm not too much of a burden... I'd like to tag along with you.” Bon Bon said.

Lyra smiled. “Okay! Totally!” she said.

With that, Lyra followed Bon Bon back to her place, where she would take some things of her own for the trip to Equestria's capitol city.

Kyle woke up to see that it was already nighttime, and from the looks of it... he was already in a fairly large city.

“This has gotta be it...” he said to himself.

He stood, and walked around, between the cars of the train. Of course, there were no passengers... and strangely, no train operators or staff. The train was abandoned; he was the only one on the vehicle. Soon enough, the train entered another underground tunnel, and the PA spoke up once more.

“Now arriving in Atlanta, Georgia.” it said.

“...Yep, definitely it!” Kyle said.

The train shortly arrived at the station, and Kyle stepped off to find yet another abandoned station.

Jeez... where have all the people in this world gone? Kyle wondered. Maybe there's a BIG glitch in the Matrix... or everyone's on some sort of nationwide vacation...

Regardless, he made his way up the stairs out of the train station, and found that he was in a very run-down and depressing part of the city. There were cars passing at even intervals on the streets... but no one was driving them. They were even ignoring the stop signs, yet they drove in a pattern that managed to avoid having them collide. It was like something in a video game.

In the distance, Kyle happened to see some more police officers and S.W.A.T., and around him were more wanted posters with his face on them. This was getting pretty nuts at this point.

They clearly aren't getting bored of me... Kyle thought. ...this is not Metal Gear Solid, this is real life; they don't “reset” themselves.

Kyle made his way into an alleyway that was nearby, just to stay out of sight. From there, he took out the iPad to see which part of the city he was in. After the GPS loaded and locked onto his location, he saw that the way out would require him to travel West. He put the iPad away... and began to think about how he was going to get out without getting blown away by the law enforcement patrolling the area.

“Glad I have myself...” Kyle spoke, drawing his crowbar and stolen handgun. “...some lovely tools of death!”

He snickered quietly, checking the handgun chamber to see that there was already a round in it. He decided to tuck the crowbar back away for now, and just kept the gun out. He hoped that the five additional magazines of ammo he had in his pockets was enough. Each one held fifteen rounds. Hopefully, he would not need to use all of it.

Regardless, he would definitely need to stealth it if he was going to avoid causing alert among the cops.

This sure will be one crazy story to tell people... Kyle thought. ...I escaped from some sort of asylum, where I was put for supposed “unhealthy brony obsessions,” and escaped through an underground aqueduct, where I wound up at an oceanside town, broke into a clothing store, stole some apparel, then took a sailboat out to sea, ended up at Coney Island, disguised myself as a cop, and took an abandoned Amtrak transit system back to Atlanta, where I had to reenact MGS to avoid the police... I don't know if anyone will believe me.

So, he set off out of the alley, and right away, was confronted by some strange-looking people in very urban-style clothing. They immediately pulled out guns and opened fire on him, forcing him to duck behind a parked car.

The hell? Are they gang members or something? Kyle thought.

He peeked under the car to see them quickly moving over to the car. Taking aim under the vehicle, he returned fire, deafening sounds of nine-millimeter ammunition ringing out. He managed to hit the people in the legs, and then finish them with shots to the head or chest.

“Okay... that's that...” Kyle said, trying to shake off the feeling of taking multiple lives.

He continued West, keeping his handgun pointed in front of him all the while. He already used up one of his magazines, but fortunately, he salvaged some more compatible bullets for his handgun from the dead gang, but only a few, since they had different caliber pistols, as well as revolvers.

Soon enough, he spotted some police officers... and they spotted him running towards them. Without hesitation, they drew their guns and opened fire on him. Kyle performed a serpentine maneuver, and shot back, hitting them in the head. He continued to run after they were dead; he did not bother stopping to get more ammo from them, since he barely used any bullets from the second magazine.

Regardless, Kyle continued to run, shooting at anyone who fired at him, which happened to be a lot of cops, and a few gang members. This was getting monotonous, and he had no sense of direction in a city he was not completely familiar with, especially in the dead of night. He tried to look for something that could hopefully serve as a vantage point, since he could not run around holding both an iPad and a gun; the iPad would probably fall out of his hand and break, and then he would really be lost.

He spotted a multi-level parking garage that reached up several stories. It seemed like it could see beyond the lower buildings at the edge of the downtown region that he was in. So, he climbed up the structure, having to kill a few cops who shot at him upon sight, and taking their ammo to compensate for what he was using on them.

Killing felt like a drug to him; giving him an adrenaline rush, and he absolutely felt like he needed it at this point.

He made it to the top of the parking garage, and managed to peer out into the distance to the West. There were a cluster of light which, from his childhood, indicated where his neighborhood was. He was eager to get back home, but...

...Kyle could not escape the feeling that his mother could potentially reject him, given what has transpired. He did not know if she would still be willing to accept him after what he had to do just to get home. Plus... what would she think about his interest in MLP? He tried to imagine a scenario of how he would explain this to his mother...

“Mom, you wouldn't believe it...” Kyle began. “...I was on the run! I escaped! I couldn't take it anymore, Mom. I just couldn't stay there anymore... I had to leave!”

Jan just stared at him in a mixture of shock and blank.

“Kyle... I-I don't really know if you remember what you did, but... you were doing some very unhealthy things.” she said.

Kyle opened his eyes wider as he listened.

“You had to go away.” his mother continued. “And now you're telling me you ESCAPED? I... I don't know, Kyle. Y-your a fugitive... I don't know if I can keep you here...”

Kyle's jaw dropped.

“...You disappoint me, Kyle. I mean... I love you like a son, but... you just couldn't stop have sexual fantasies about... ponies... unicorns...” Jan finished.

Kyle was in utter shock at her disapproval of him. He knew that she told him she would always be there for him, no matter what... but something was definitely wrong about this whole imaginary scenario, even though it felt like something that WOULD play out in real life.

“Wait, Mom...” Kyle spoke. “...what do you mean you love me like a son? Are you saying I was... adopted?”

Jan sighed in regret, closing her eyes and hanging her head.

“...I was hoping you would never need to be told this, but...” she said. “...I've never been pregnant. And it turns out, your biological mother... is Stephanie Culver.”

“Wait... Culver...” Kyle gasped. “...no, you don't mean...”

His mother nodded. “Yes, she's the mother of your biological brother... Andrew Culver.”

This was beyond absurdity. Andrew Culver was one of Kyle's biggest childhood bullies, who always constantly singled him out and made fun of him for being weak and scrawny, particularly since he was a football player.

“Aw, no! Not HIM!” Kyle protested. “He smells like garlic and... locker room!”

“Kyle, listen...” Jan said. “...I tried my best to raise you, but... you just couldn't stop masturbating to all that... pony porn...”

He was thoroughly disgusted by the allegations she was making against him.

“I escape, and I go to such extreme lengths and methods to get home... and then you're telling me you don't WANT ME HERE?” Kyle shouted. “That's just unacceptable, Mom! It's unacceptable! I just... I... I can't let that be! You're my Mom! I have nowhere else to go! I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS, MOM!”

In his anger... he pulled out his handgun, and slowly began to level it...

“Woah, Kyle...! What are you doing... w-where are you pointing that thing, Kyle...?” Jan stammered as Kyle leveled the gun on her. “...Kyle, this is—hey, hey! Listen to me! LISTEN TO ME! Your real mother wouldn't want this!”

“You go and you get a DNA test RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” Kyle shouted. “I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU GO! YOU GET A DNA TEST!”

Tears of fright and heartbreak streamed down Jan's face.

“Kyle, please... don't do this! It won't do either of us any good!” she said.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE I HAD TO KILL JUST TO GET HOME!?” Kyle bellowed. “I KILLED SO MANY COPS! COPS JUST TRYING TO DO THEIR JOB! THEY ALL PROBABLY HAD FAMILIES OF THEIR OWN! THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE, MOM!”

He stood there, seemingly for hours on end, with a gun pointed at his own mother, who stood motionless... helpless...

The thought of not being welcomed back made Kyle all the more fearful... but regardless, he was going to press on. After staring absently at the distant neighborhood and being completely lost in thought, he eventually decided to head back down to the street, and keep going. Fortunately, by passing through alleyways, he managed to remain undetected by the cops and other people who would otherwise be a threat to him.

Kyle had continued along the side of the highway back to his neighborhood, not a single car passing by the entire time. He assumed he blacked out nearly the whole way back, because he made it sooner than expected. Arriving on the porch of his childhood home, he saw his mother's car. Given that it was a dream, he did not think about his real mansion, and he was still not lucid at this point. Regardless, he quickly opened the door, stepped inside, and turned on the light, closing the door behind him.

“Ah,” Kyle sighed. “feels good to be back home. Now... where's Mom?”

He began to look around the house.

“Mom?” he called out. “It's me! Kyle! I made it back!”

He came to the door of his mother's bedroom, and tried turning the knob, but...

“Mom's room is... locked?” he thought out loud.

Kyle went into the kitchen, where he saw a folded piece of paper on the fridge, held by a magnet, with his name written in big letters on it. Curious, he pulled it off, and unfolded it, revealing a message, written in his mother's handwriting.

Bringing it into the light of the table chandelier, he began to read it silently to himself.

Kyle,

I understand what happened. I know I shouldn't have gone that far, but I had to. You know I had to after the things you were doing.

I understand more than anyone that you couldn't help it, and I'm sorry.

I'm going out on a limb to assume you're the first one to find this note. I watched the story about your escape on the news, and I could barely believe it.

There should be enough food in the fridge, the freezer, and the pantry. I know we were going to be visiting the Harrisons for a barbeque after you were to be released in a month, but there's been a change in plans. You were supposed to get better, and you clearly haven't.

I want you to promise me one thing: don't do anything to harm yourself or others, and follow the house rules like normal, like before. One exception: if anyone knocks on the door or the phone rings, promise me you'll answer either of them. I'm going on a business trip, and you'll need all the help you can get. Finally, don't EVER go into my room.

Take care. I'll be home soon enough. I love you so much.

-Mom.

“Huh?” Kyle said. “But her car's still here...”

He also happened to note that the letter had some dried spots on it, as if a few raindrops had fallen on it... or perhaps they were tears. This made him really worried.

Oh, no... I've upset my mother! Kyle thought. Dammit! I KNEW this would happen!

He set down the note, and made his way to the front door. But right as he put his hand on the knob, he stopped...

...If push comes to shove... Kyle thought.

He then let go of the knob, and made his way back to his mother's bedroom. Using the key (which he knew his mother kept above the door frame), he entered... but it was replaced by a hallway stretching into darkness. Slowly, he began to walk down the horizontal abyss...

“...M-Mom...?” Kyle called out. “...Mom, where are you? Please, don't do this... I'm scared, Mom...”

He continued walking forward, repeatedly glancing back at the light of the door behind him. Eventually, he saw a light at the end of the long stretch, and he could make out his mother's bedroom at the end. He even saw his mother, on her bed.

Was she sleeping? If so, he did not want to disturb her... but what he would see next, he would never be prepared for...

Kyle saw something clear and shiny over Jan's head and face... it looked like a plastic bag.

He gasped. “Oh, no... i-is that... wh-what I think it is...?”

Once he got close enough, he broke into a run over to his mother, right as he was able to make out what his worst fear (besides losing Lyra) was... and it was right in front of him.

“Oh my God...! Mom, no!” Kyle bellowed upon seeing the horrific sight. “NO! MOM, NOOOOO...!”

Jan Rhodes-Schaeffer was laying in her bed, a plastic bag over her head, sealed around her neck. She was motionless and pale, and her eyes dark red in the sclerae. A laptop computer was sitting slumped over on her lap.

Kyle collapsed to his knees, and onto all fours, staring at the floor as tears fell out of his eyes. He sobbed silently as he lamented the death of his mother.

N-no... this can't be... this wasn't supposed to happen... he thought.

After a good fifteen minutes of crying, Kyle stood up, and woke up her computer to see that there was a regular OpenOffice document open on it, with plain text:

My name is Jan Rhodes-Schaeffer, widow of the late William Schaeffer, and mother of Kyle Schaeffer.

I am a caterer. Or I should say, I WAS a caterer, because I am now most certainly dead. My son might hopefully still be alive by the time anyone reads this. If you are a concerned citizen, or very stubborn mailman, I apologize about the inevitable therapy following the discovery of my corpse. If you are Kyle's “caretakers” or police or S.W.A.T. or anyone who is out to get my son for his mental disorder, FUCK YOU.

The hollow shell once known as my son... God bless him. He escaped from the asylum you were supposed to keep him locked into for a month, giving him fair, ethical, psychiatric treatment. As if your mistreatment and neglect of him wasn't enough, I am DISGUSTED with the sheer fact that he needed to even be LOCKED UP in the first place!

You corrupt, corporate people have time and time again fucked with me and my family. It's gotten so bad, you've robbed my poor son of his future! I don't know if he will ever be able to forgive me, especially with everything I put him through... I've been a horrible mother.

I cannot, and will not, deal with the torture of never being there for Kyle when he needed me, and having nobody who can help me help him. Wherever he is now... I will love him forever. He is my only son, and nothing less. The system will pay for his wellbeing from now on, no one else.

Goodbye, world.

Kyle, once again, was really brought down hard by this nightmare (literally, but he doesn't know that yet). As he sat on the floor in despair... staticy visions began to flash in his eyesight. They were of him and his family... all of the happy times they had... very torturous visions to him...

Kyle assumed that he blacked out, because the next thing he knew, he was driving in his car through a snowy, forested region. He was not sure where he was going... but he did not care.

“I'm not sure what else to do... not sure where else to go...” Kyle muttered to himself. “...I need to go to Equestria... I need to be back with Lyra... I need her...”

He had been driving for a while... up until he lost control of the car, and crashed into a tree. The airbag and seatbelt stopped him, but it still hurt. Once he came to, he opened up the door, and rolled out into the snow. He stood to take a look at the damage.

“Shit... well, I'm just gonna have to hoof it.” he said.

With that, he set off down the road, occasionally coming across some slippery ice that he had to be careful walking across, but he did not slip once. It was cold out, and he only had a thin cardigan for warmth. Eventually, however, he thinks fate has dealt him a good hand for once in this... dilemma.

In the distance... he spotted something that looked like a village. He began to make his way through the snow into the clearing, so he could get a better look at the location...

...It was Ponyville.

Kyle sighed in relief. “I... I made it...! It... it's gonna be okay.”

He began to make his way towards the Equestrian community.

“I'm gonna make everything right! Just you watch!” Kyle said to himself.

He approached the town... but as he did, it began to fade away. Once it was gone... all that was left was a small, abandoned house in the center-part of where Ponyville was. Kyle stopped and stared in shock.

“Oh, no!” Kyle said. “Lyra... please...! I thought it was a town...”

He made his way over to the shack, and opened up the ancient door. He began to search around the inside, which smelled of stale wood and mildew. It was nearly empty, at least from what he could tell in the first room.

“Lyra!” Kyle called out.

He started searching through the small structure, opening the doors to what would be a kitchen, living room, dining room, and bedroom.

“Where are you, Lyra?” he said. “Lyra, I've got terrible news! My mother's dead!”

He continued to look through the rooms, trying to find Lyra, but he was not prepared for the signs he would see in this creepy, old house...

...There was a bloodstain on the foot of the door he was about to open.

“Oh, no...” Kyle said, fearful at the mere sight of the stain.

There was furniture in the place, but it was very old, worn, and rotten. Mold and mildew had decimated the wood, and the fabric looked as if moths had made quite a meal of it.

“This isn't Ponyville...” Kyle said, frustrated, just before raising his voice. “...WHAT IS THIS!? THIS ISN'T PONYVILLE!”

He opened up the door to the last room of the small house. The master bedroom... and inside, there was a skeleton of a pony. Kyle fell to his knees once more.

“No... please...” he barely uttered. “...please tell me that's not you, Lyra...”

He began to hyperventilate, looking around.

“I... I don't understand...” Kyle uttered to himself. “...who did this...?”

There was not a sign of a struggle, or any human presence.

“Did... did I do this...? Kyle pondered. “I don't even know...”

Immediately, staticy images filled his eyesight once again. This time, they were of Lyra... and then, he began to have visions of all his memories of the past... as if his entire life's memory was being accelerated as an extreme pace, and being played back via his vision.

The whole time this happened, there was an eerie, suspenseful Shepard Tone playing in his ears, constantly ascending... Kyle truly felt like he was descending into madness... his emotional turmoil at this point in time was one of the most intense he had ever experienced...