Act 1 Ch 2: ... and I'm sneaking around right now

“That’s it. I can’t take it anymore”

I shouted in frustration as I trotted out of the dark alley, leaving Mr. Garbage Can back there.

This was the last straw; my experiments were leading me to nowhere and I just lost my job, home & ~~mare~~ friend today.

I want to get to that portal. Now! I don’t care if Princess Twilight stops me or I get sent to Tartarus; I just need to get to the Human world fast.

Bon Bon never believed in me at all. I thought she was my best friend. She lied to me. Not only that but she was actively sabotaging my experiments and never cared about humans. She would rather listen to other ponies' opinions but stayed beside me and continue lying instead of just leaving me alone

What am I supposed to do now? I blew up the house, my research & the rest of belongings are still currently in flames, and I’m getting hungry. Being hungry has always been a number one priority for me, even when I'm in the deep poop pile of my own life right now.

Wait... I can swear now that I kicked ~~that mare~~ out of my life. "Okay... ummm... I'm in deep sh... shi... sh*t!"

I don't know why it took me three tries to say it in my brain? It's not like I'm saying it out loud. Wait a minute.

I looked around my surroundings and I see ponies were staring at me with horrified or disgusted looks while some covered their foals' ears with their hooves or turn tail as they saw a wild mare on the loose.

Oh great, I spoke my inner thoughts in public again and forgot that I was on the run. Now I really have to get out here before Ponyville goes into full riot mode on me and send me to the Princesses or worse. I can't let that happen, not after I ruined my life with my mental breakdown on Bass Drum's store (It was supposed to be my store), that shop colt and my house.

I ran towards another alleyway again as walking in public is the worse idea right now. Why did I even got out of the shadows? In fact, when did I start moving? Ahhh! I am a scatterbrain; my thoughts are all over the place right now and I don't know what to do but go straight to Twilight's castle.

I lay down on the cold alleyway ground next to another trash can, which I will dub thee Mr. Garbage Can No.2, and checked my saddle bags if there's any food inside.

All I have in my saddlebags are...

My new (and slightly damaged) journal (with some rat blood and other fluids at the back cover),

Gross.

Two towels (I'm gonna use this one to wipe the rat mess of my journal),

Less Gross but still gross.

Nine lightning in a bottle potions (minus the one I threw at the house) that I strong-hoofed from that shop colt,

The official deed to the now wrecked music shop with my and Ass Drum's signatures (I carried this around to show Ass Drum that I was the owner as well if our argument escalated too far. Never got the chance to show him. Maybe should have shown this instead of breaking everything in the store.),

Nah.

Two hundred & twenty-three bits (Yes, I've counted all of them) that I can't use in this town as I'm currently on the run,

Should I put stealing some food on my criminal record?

My industrial safety goggles (one of the last equipment from my workshop),

My reading glasses (I can read just fine but I might still need these if ever get to the Human world),

Sunglasses (for some reason),

A brown cloak in case it rains today (It's cloudy, right now),

Three quill feathers... oops, correction: two quill feathers and a one snapped version,

No. 2 pencils (Ah! Math tests flashbacks),

A bottle of water (not food but it will have to do),

Some ink (which didn't spill a drop or cracked open, even after all that trotting around),

Industrial Strength duct tape,

That mare's present which I should have thrown at the house with the potion inside (basically garbage at this point),

My Big "Equestrian Lore" book to introduce our culture and history to the humans (Wow, I have so much storage in these saddlebags, I can't even believe it),

And lastly... a kitchen knife? Since when did I bring this with me? I wasn't even in the kitchen the last time I was in the house.

Maybe I should throw...

No, this is what I need to make a disguise. I levitated the knife towards my disordered mane and proceed to cut it short enough that I can still cover my face and my horn and put on the sunglasses. I use the cloak to cover my fur color, my horn, and my Cutie Mark.

I was going to use the ink to cover my muzzle but I'd rather not look ridiculous when I get to the human world or get arrested. I'll put this as Plan B for Beard.

With a gulp from my water bottle, a few meditation breaths that I learned from Fluttershy's friend, Tree Hugger, and tossed the knife to Mr. Garbage Can No.2, I exited the alleyway and into the streets filled with high alert ponies who are on the watch for my presence.

So far so good, no ponies are looking at me but rather ignored & passing by me without glancing back.

Good, they're too disoriented to even notice that there is suddenly a new pony in town while a deranged lunatic was on the loose. Oh great, there might be a possibility that I might get sent to the loony bin for years with the way I'm currently behaving.

Whatever, I can just walk around town looking like one of the fashion ponies who are in a new trend and maybe casually reach to the castle to get to the portal or get sent to the dungeons for a lousy disguise or... or...

Uhhh... uh... something with sandwiches. OMC, Stomach, I'll get you some food later. Portal first.

I’ve been wasting my entire life in this quiet little town filled with liars (except for AJ and her family/close friends) for years without any achievements on my human world portal research. They either mocked me, yell mean things or worse...

I can’t ask my other friends (if I should even call them friends) to let me hide in their homes as they either fear me at what I did and/or snitch me to the authorities, considering I burnt my house down. Either way, I can't let my life be distracted by ~~that mare~~ anymore; I have to get in that portal now.

I’ve known Twilight for years back in magic school, but we recently have been keeping in touch after her reunion with Moon Dancer and the rest of our friends. She just reappeared in my life again and since then we have tea parties whenever we crossed paths.

In our recent conversation, she mentioned that the portal that leads to the human world was in a full body crystal mirror that had purple frames & different varieties of jewels surrounding it and it was located one of the libraries in her crystal castle. It took a lot of willpower ~~and that mare~~ to not look suspicious when I asked that question.

I can't lie my way to the portal because Twilight has been a great friend lately and AJ taught all of us ponies to never lie. That and she's the Princess of Friendship with her own crystal castle that might have a dungeon if I'm not careful.

Nostalgia started to flow out of my mind every time I pass a building. I forced myself not to cry but the pain that I am feeling...

Oh hey, I'm at Sugarcube Corner. Yes! I'm already halfway the... What was that? Like I was thinking, I am half...

There it is again. What is that? I squinted my eyes through the sunglasses to see what I'm looking at. It looks like a pink blur that is somewhat growing bigger in my vision by the second.

Wait... a pink blur? Oh no...

"Lyra!"

Oh no, it's Pinkie Pie.

Oh no, Exposition...

I've known Pinkie ever since she appeared in Canterlot when we were fillies, she was on her "Party Pilgrimage" or whatever she told at the time. Coincidentally, it was around my birthday but I wasn't celebrating it as Father had no time to spend it on me and most of my friends didn't know it at the time.

I was very gloomy that I thought I was gonna spend another birthday alone and cold in the winter but then she arrived in my life and made it shine by hosting a party with just me and her (I requested the solitude version as she kept pestering to me about what type of party I wanted).

She was a lot of fun as she told me many stories about her visits to most of the populated places in Equestria, Ponyville being her last stop and permanent home. At the end of the night, I accidentally kissed her after I made my birthday wish but she was really cool with it and gave me a proper one in return. By the way, my wish was to meet my human friend again.

That second kiss felt like fireworks and tasted like the most delicious cake frosting that I have ever experienced. Not only did I got the best birthday party in my life but I also got a wonderful first kiss and the realization that I liked mares from the pink cotton candy mane & tail party filly.

I was going to ask her out when we reunited in Ponyville but rejected the offer immediately as she told me that she wouldn't have the time for romance as she wanted to spend it all into making everypony smile with her well-planned parties and antics.

I respected her decision and never bothered to bring that subject to anypony after that day. I wish just I had her by my side instead of ~~that mare~~ and maybe she would've helped me get into the portal without causing all this mess.

Anyway, back to the panicking...

Not her, anypony but her. I can't let her see me like this and I don't want to see her super sad face, it would hurt my heart. I can't even comprehend what that would look like and I'm not gonna if I just pace a little faster to the castle or maybe another hiding spot (Maybe I can meet Mr. Garbage Can No. 3 there).

Just play it cool, Lyra. She's in super duper extra-serious detective mode right now, I can see her wearing that sleuth hat that she uses when she "attempts" to solve crimes. This means that she'll spend hours looking for me all over town, from every gravel in the pathway to...

Wait, is she coming towards me? And "OH HIYA! Miss new lady mare. Hiya, I'm Pinkie Pie and welcome to Ponyville. It's so amazing to..." She announced to me with her usual gleeful attitude that always makes my heart flutter, now that I'm not with ~~that mare~~ anymore.

S-she's s-s-shaking m-m-y hoof v-v-v-vigorously. H-head becoming dizzy. Hungry stomach churning.

After a few seconds of standing still, I've regained my composure and didn't vomit (a second win-win). Just try to listen to the rest of her speech.

"But before I give you a super mondo extravagant oh so fun that you could cry happily while dancing the pony pokey welcome party... could you please help me find a certain pony?" She asked me. Why me, Lyra, of all ponies had to be in her line of eyesight. Okay just try your Octavia accent that you've practiced alone in the store for weeks.

I cleared my throat before speaking with a false accent. "Good day, Miss. To whom do you wish to seek that you have to act in such drastic behavior?" I don't even know what I just blab at her and I was the one who spoke it.

"Well... you see." She leaned closer to my face. Okay, that's too close. TOO close too close. I sighed with relief as she bumped my muzzle with hers. It's not a kissing if I didn't like it. Okay, I liked it a lot.

"One of my very important friends went cuckoo and my friends & I are trying to look for her before somepony calls the Royal Guards on her and take her to the dungeons or to Tartarus or send her to a dungeon in Tartarus or have her eat so many ice cream that will give her a really mean stomach ache & brain freeze or..." Okay, she's jabbering a lot.

This my chance to slowly back away from her and find another way to pat to the castle. That wouldn't be too hard considering the Castle's just...

"Now hold on there, partner!" That voice... that twangy farmer folk voice of judgment that was shouting in my left direction. Oh no... not Applejack too.

I turned to the origin of that voice and see that it was Applejack. I can easily recognize the mare from her blonde mane & tail with red bands at both ends, bright orange fur coat, and that light brown Stetson that completes her reliable & hard-working character.

She still looks hot.

Oh boy, the first time I met her was on my first day in Ponyville and I acted like a complete idiot. I thought I had a chance to ask her out when I offered to assist her with some apple bucking even though my leg coordination and strength sucks.

One thing led to another, a beehive fell down towards my flank and I spent most of that day running around Sweet Apple Acres while avoiding the bees until I jumped to a lake. Applejack had to remove the stingers from my flank and... clearing my throat... rubbed some medicine over there. It was super awkward yet guiltily nice.

I guess another beehive dropped in my flank that I call my life as now she's also chasing after me and with her was a piece of rope that's been knotted into a lasso. Oh just great. Just real f*cking great. I'm going to be tied up by Ponyville's greatest and hottest lasso slinger. It's both kinky and scary.

She flung her lasso towards me but I easily swiped it away with my magic and Pinkie began to flinch away from me and rope. Like that trick was going to capture me.

But I spoke too soon as the lasso was suddenly wrapped with another magic glow, it had an elegant blue shine. Yup, it was Rarity.

Yeah... I do not care for the mare. She insulted my fashion sense when we first met and after that fiasco, I just avoid her like the wind or leave the room if there's only the two of us. Good thing the second one never happened because I never give her the chance.

Well.. there was that one time when I went to Princess Cadence wedding in Canterlot, she was personally fitting all the bridesmaids' dresses but I was with my...

My inner monologue got interrupted when I saw Rarity walked behind Applejack and let out an appalled gasped when she saw my appearance. "Oh no, Lyra darling. You've mangled your marvelous mane in such a tragic state and a ragged brown cloak does not compliment your natural aquamarine color..."

She continued to describe my appearance yet again but I blocked that noise. It both confused and pissed the f*ck out of me, considering this is a serious situation.

I turned tail away from Rarity, who tried to grab me by the tail with Applejack's magic fused rope but I slapped it away easily with my own magic. I've learned more magic than her, Not Twilight/Princesses levels but enough that my skills are on par with a magic instructor. Basic levitation, fire starting, short distance teleportation and more that I can't discuss inside my head for I don't have the time.

And the... Blahhhh!

Something tackled me... no, somepony tackled me to the ground. I saw a blur when it happened but it wasn't a pink one but rather some sort of multi-color version. Oh great, it was Rainbow freakin' Dash.

One of Ponyville's fastest pegasus, weather pony, blah, blah, blah. Ugh! I hated this mare ever since I met her. She's ignorant, stubborn, lazy, boastful and attracts too much attention wherever she goes like there's a parade for her. I'm only half of those things (well, I'm not a show off) and yet she became the Element of Loyalty somehow.

I never left anypony's side (except for Father, Bass Drum, and ~~that mare~~) and yet most of them exploit my loyalty and mock me behind my back while she gets all the benefits. What makes her so special?

"I got ya now, you psycho mare!" This mare is taunting at me while she pinned both of my forelegs. "Wait until we get you to Twilight..."

Oh, that's it, it is on.

The muscles of my foreleg tensed and horn burned brightly as I was preparing to push back this jerk to the air where she belongs.

I sucker punched the mare straight in the face and released all of my strength on her. "AHHHHHH!!!" She's screaming as she got launched incredibly fast. Wow, I never thought I was this strong with my magic.

That punch wasn't as great as the one I gave to that Spoiled Rich b*tch but it was enough to disorientate that rainbow mane jerk that she's thrashing around in the air and making pony-size holes on a bunch of clouds.

Maybe I have... ACK!

"I got ya know, ya varmint." Applejack bind both of my forelegs while I was face forward on the ground and wrapped the rest of my limbs. I looked up at her, who had concern expression "Ya need to calm down, Lyra." I flailed my limbs helplessly but it only tightened the rope's grip.

Like I have a choice.

"Serves you right!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she floated down from her launch. OMC, she got a black eye on her right side. This moment right now is, what she says all the time, "Awesome"... even though I'm tied up and humiliated in public again.

I just sighed in defeat when Pinkie and Rarity came towards me. I refused to stare at Pinkie as I was afraid at what expression she's making (I already disappointed her for lying to her with that lousy disguise) and I still don't care about Rarity like zero f*cks given to her.

As I got hogtied and dragged on the ground by Applejack and a very pissed off Rainbow Dash, I looked around the ponies who are cheering at the "victorious mares who captured the crazy mare" while booing & hissing bad remarks directly at me, some of the ponies that I can't recognize began to throw...

OWWW! My head...

Author's Note

What just happened to Lyra?

She's more than meets the eye when it comes to her past.

Is she gonna face the consequences or will she escape capture and get into the portal?

Hey guys, I finished Chapter 2 and currently working on the rest. I still don't know how long the story or number of Acts should be.

I added Lyra's romantic attraction on Pinkie (No.1 Fave Pony) and Applejack (No. 3 Fave Pony) as this will be one of the romance plots that will happen in the story when she gets to the human world. And also, I don't dislike/hate Rarity or Rainbow Dash, it's just something for Lyra's opinions on the Main 6.

Originally this chapter had a longer word count, two bonus chapters and a scene where Lyra confronts Twilight alone but I had to cut them into 2 parts (Ch 2 and 3) and moved the bonuses to the next chapter because the scene is an important moment in this story and I can't screw this up with bad narration.

I already planned the story's plot & (maybe the ending) but please give me more suggestions on the blog that I've made, it is titled "First Blog".

(New Temporary Schedule)
I will be releasing new chapters every Monday morning and the bonus(es) in the afternoon but there won't be any bonuses for Chapter 2.

I got to thank diablo4000 for giving me good info on the characters & their history and Magnus the hydra for being the first person to motivating me on continuing the story.

And thank you, the readers, for reading this story.

Nightwatch the Rogue Out