Find Her, Stay With Her

Meanwhile, at a prison in the outskirts of Atlanta... there were some prisoners working out in the prison's gym, yet there were two in particular who tied strongly to our human hero and pony heroine...

"I tell you, Dad..." the younger one said, doing bench-presses. "...I'm on the verge of going off the rail."

"I hear ya, son..." the older one said, doing deadlifts. "...this is some supreme bullshit, alright..."

These two individuals, who were now in their rightful place... they had been a major part of Kyle Schaeffer's life. They tormented him, and went out of their way to make his life utterly miserable. The younger one did it for enjoyment, and the older one did it out of the misinterpretation that it would prepare him for a career of hard, physical labor, which is what he wanted Kyle to do, and not let him follow what he wanted to do himself.

They are father and son... and their names are Edward and Daniel Richardson, Kyle's stepfather and stepbrother.

Ed and Danny had both, coincidentally, ended up at the same prison, as well as the same wing. Both of them spent as much of their free time as they could with each other. Danny had served one year of his four-year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon, and Ed had served one of ten years for vandalism, attempted burglary, and intent to murder. These crimes involved Kyle as the victim, but despite being badly hurt and even hospitalized on one occasion, he nonetheless managed to avoid any permanent harm.

Now, the two of the Richardson household were imprisoned... but sadly, neither of them felt like they deserved their retribution.

"I swear, when I get out of here..." Danny began. "...I'm gonna give that Kyle-queer a long, slow, painful lesson about fucking around with ME!"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, and I'm gonna do the same myself! Granted it might be a long time to do so, but he has ROYALLY pissed me off... gettin' me in this big iron box where his skinny ass should be! And he's just slackin' off and just tryin' to cruise through life on his shitty portraits, not makin' something of himself..."

"Well, who says we have to just sit around?" Danny asked.

"Whaddya mean?" Ed asked.

"What if..." Danny said, pausing and looking around just before dropping his voice to a whisper. "...what if we figure out a way to escape?"

Ed looked completely dumbstruck by such an idea.

"And how the hell would we do somethin' like that?" he asked.

Danny leaned close to his father's ear.

"Some of my good buddies outside slipped me some titanium lockpicks, which the metal detectors couldn't find on them! So, if we can open up some doors, and get some equipment we need, we might be able to get out!" Danny said.

Ed pursed his lips. "Well... we only got one shot at this. So, you'd better make it count, son! We gotta find that little lazy cunt and give what's comin' to him for fucking our lives up forever!"

"Oh, it will count... and he is gonna get it and get it GOOD!" Danny added.

Danny set the barbell on the rack, and sat up, smirking evilly.

"And I've got a couple of the other prisoners in on an escape plan... so, with a bit of planning and luck, we might just be able to pull it off!" he said.

Ed looked a bit uncertain, but it changed to an expression of admiration.

"Good work, son." he said. "Glad you've still got your smarts after all this time in this shit hole."

Back in Canterlot on the following morning, Lyra woke up with a letter right in front of her face on the end table. It had not been there the night before, and seeing her name on it, felt a bit curious.

She opened it up to start reading what it said:

Dear Lyra Heartstrings,

I have taken into consideration your request. It was a bit unexpected, as I had assumed your memories had been completely replaced by the false ones... but it seems you have retained them.

Given that this is a matter I have had to deal with personally concerning your safe return to Equestria, I will allow for an audience in my spare time of the upcoming afternoon. If you are unable to make it, please send another letter to inform me, and I could come up with an alternate time slot.

I hope to get everything cleared up for you, and have all your questions answered!

Your benevolent ruler,
Princess Celestia.

Lyra was quite surprised that the Princess so willingly accepted her request.

Must've been a little difficult to consider, given how busy ruling over a kingdom must keep her... Lyra thought.

Regardless, the Unicorn stood from her rented bed, and made her way over to the other one, where her best friend was sleeping.

"Bon Bon! Wake up!" Lyra said.

Slowly, Bon Bon opened her eyes, flickering her eyelids a bit as she shifted her gaze to Lyra.

"...Ugh... what is it, Ly...?" she asked.

Lyra levitated the letter in front of her friend's face.

"The Princess wrote back to me! We can go and speak with her!" she said.

"Well... can't we wait until later...?" Bon Bon said, sleepily.

"No!" Lyra said. "C'mon! We can't keep Celestia waiting! And we especially can't keep ME waiting!"

Lyra practically dragged her friend out of bed and carried her on her back until she was willing to start the day. With that, the two checked out of the hotel, grabbed their saddlebags, and made their way to Canterlot Castle, since they had overslept, and it was already noon.

They made their way up to the castle, and stopped upon reaching one of two guards blocking the entrance.

"...State your business, citizens." the guard spoke.

"We are here to see Her Highness, Princess Celestia." Lyra said.

"I'm afraid we cannot allow you to see the Princess." the guard said. "She is too busy, and you are definitely not worth her time."

"Hey!" Bon Bon said. "Don't you go saying that we're not worth anyone's time! She sent us a letter requesting to meet us!"

"Yeah! Here it is..." Lyra said, pulling said letter out.

Despite showing the guard the letter with Celestia's signature, the guard was still not convinced.

"How can we confirm that you did not forge this? We were never informed of any audience with Her Highness. Now, if you do not leave the castle grounds immediately, we will be forced to--" the guard was suddenly cut off.

"Hold on!" came a voice directly above them.

All of them looked up to see Princess Celestia gliding down towards them. Once she touched down, she turned her attention to the castle guard.

"It is alright." Celestia said. "I have requested to see them."

The guard suddenly looked worried. "O-oh, yes... of course... forgive me, Your Highness..."

"Now then," Celestia said, turning to Lyra and Bon Bon. "let us head to my private quarters to discuss this matter."

With that, the Princess charged her horn, and teleported the three of them into the castle to a fairly large hall with a fireplace, a desk, and some general lounge furniture. There were two guards on either side of the door, whom Celestia turned her attention to immediately.

"Leave us." she said to them.

The guards nodded and promptly left the room, closing the door behind them. Celestia then stood in front of the two lesser ponies.

"Now, Lyra..." Celestia began. "...you wish to discuss... your true past, correct?"

Lyra nodded. "Yes. I remember Kyle. I remember everything that really happened. Granted, I'm still familiar with Equestria, thanks to the memories you gave me, but... I just want to know if it is real, and I'm not imagining it."

Celestia hung her head down.

"...It is true." she said. "You were raised by a human who befriended you, and became your lover... while I personally have no problem with it... I feel it is best that you keep this a secret from anypony else, since they might not agree, especially with how native Equestrian humans were before they went extinct..."

"But... you wouldn't let anypony do anything to me, would you?" Lyra asked.

Celestia looked up. "...I'm afraid I cannot say anything that could change their minds. All I can do is enact the laws of Equestria, not tell everypony what to believe. Equestria is, after all, meant to be a free kingdom."

Lyra hung her head to the floor. Bon Bon pursed her lips together.

"...Shame that not everypony sees eye-to-eye." Bon Bon said.

"Indeed..." Celestia acknowledged.

Lyra looked back up again.

"So... I remember Kyle..." she said. "...and I've been able to contact him through this mirror!"

The Unicorn opened her saddlebag, and pulled out the handheld mirror. Celestia looked a bit intrigued.

"Through a mirror, you say?" the Princess asked. "That's interesting... how is this communication possible? Do you speak to each other directly?"

Lyra shook her head. "No. We happen to notice very faint light from the mirror. I assume Kyle was using a flashlight, and he was flashing it to create a message in Horse Code to let me know that it was him!"

"It's true! I saw it for myself!" Bon Bon said.

"Hmmm..." Celestia said, examining the mirror. "...strange. This is just a regular mirror with no enchantments. And I know that the universe that Kyle Schaeffer resides within has no magic. I wonder how communication from either end is possible. By all available means, it shouldn't be possible!"

"So..." Lyra began. "...is it possible... to return to his world?"

Celestia looked a bit on-the-spot by the question.

"You wish to return to his world?" she said. "Hm, tricky..."

Lyra looked discouraged. "Would it be too difficult...?"

"Likely not; I have spent years with my student creating a ritual circle that can transport any who use it to any dimension. I can easily send you to the human world, but..." Celestia trailed off.

"But, but, but, but... but what?" Lyra asked.

"...We are not certain of what sort of paradox you staying in the other world might create. It is not a universe in which ponies are supposed to exist. You know from your prior visit that your very existence in that universe was unstable, as indicated by your accelerated aging." Celestia said.

"I don't care!" Lyra said. "I just want to be back with Kyle! Even if just for a short time..."

Bon Bon looked a little bit uncertain about the whole situation.

"Lyra, I don't know... I think you should listen to the Princess." she said.

"Well..." Celestia spoke. "...I believe there is something that could be done to make this work out..."

She trailed off briefly, looking around at nothing in particular. The Unicorn and Earth Pony were both anxiously awaiting her answer.

"Lyra..." Celestia began. "...are you absolutely certain that you want to make one final visit to the human world?"

Lyra nodded without hesitation. "Yes! I just want to see Kyle again... and make the most of it... before I have to come back..."

"Very well..." Celestia said. "...follow me."

With that, the two ponies followed the Princess to another wing of the castle, and when they came to a bookcase, she pulled one of the books, revealing it to be a lever. The bookcase slid out of the way to reveal another chamber. The floor was glowing, with what looked like a golden, circular crescent with an eight-pointed silver star in the middle. There were various runes surrounding it.

"Woah..." Bon Bon said. "...looks like a demonic summoning circle..."

"Don't let its appearance offset you, Bon Bon. It is actually a portal." Celestia said.

Lyra stared in awe. "So... this is what we'll use... to get to his world...?"

Celestia nodded. "But only if you are absolutely certain you are ready, Lyra."

"I am!" Lyra said. "I want to go back, and see him one last time..."

"Alright, then." Celestia said. "Please step forward, then."

Lyra looked back at her best friend, who smiled and nodded at her.

"...Good luck, Ly." she said.

"See you soon, Bonnie..." Lyra responded.

With that, Lyra stepped into the portal circle, and Celestia began to charge her horn. As she did this, the floor began to glow, the symbols slowly illuminating, one by one, in a clockwise pattern.

"...It has taken a few years to perfect this transportation spell..." Celestia said. "...but I know how to do it flawlessly now."

The glow started to get brighter... it became blinding... everything went white...

Lyra closed her eyes as she felt the sensation that she was being pulled somewhere by an invisible force...

Kyle was just laying on the couch with a laptop, browsing around the web in his spare time. His mother had gone shopping for some food and cooking supplies. As he was browsing, however... a faint, glowing light appeared in mid-air, giving off a faint hum.

"Huh?" Kyle uttered, closing the laptop and setting it off to the side. "What's going on, now?"

The light became very bright and blinding, up to the point where it flashed with a bang. Kyle looked at it as it was fading away, and what he saw was something that he would never have been able to ready himself for...