A Lyre's Song

Chapters

Head in the Clouds
A Cup of Coffee
Into the Frying Pan?
Heartstrings
Thread by Thread
Of Dreams and Ponies

Head in the Clouds

There was a yawn from beneath the bushes, and the voice of a young, though tough girl's fatigue echoed into the night air. A yellow firefly could be seen floating out above the shrubbery, as if it had been the culprit behind the disturbance.

"Lyn!" came a second girl's voice, far less toughened and more genuinely sweet sounding. "Did you take another nap? You'll be up all night if you do that!"

"Oi," replied the first, another audible yawn escaping the bush. "I'm not a worker, Lily! I don't know how you manage to do this in that tiny body of yours."

"That's a secret~" came Lily's response in a giggle. "We're done anyways, so let's go inside, okay? The autumn season is coming and the nights are starting to come early again."

The bush shook, and from it rose a sleepy girl in a white t-shirt. Her hair was a peculiarly deep shade of purple, and her bangs came down just to her chin. Rubbing her eyes, she looked down to her friend with something of a pained smile. "Anything for you, Lily," she said, trying not to grin too widely. She knew she had been caught.

On the other side of the bush stood Lily, four inches shorter than the other girl who stood at five feet and seven inches total. Her hair was natural red, and was just barely longer than Lyn's, although moreso at the back than the front. She wore a purple long-sleeved shirt under a light black vest. A black skirt complemented the look, and she stared at the taller girl through purple eyes.

"You have to wash the dishes as punishment," Lily smiled, the look on her face that perfect mix of innocence and pure evil. "Then you're free to do as you please."

"... This is my house, Lily."

The two girls laughed, and together they walked back into the small wooden cabin that barely qualified as a house in the first place. As the door closed shut, the rest of the fireflies floated whimsically out from their hiding places, filling the yard and playing together under the moonlight.

~~~

"You know we can't stay here forever, girl."

Lily and Lyn were laying atop the cabin's roof, staring up at the sky. It was the following day, and clouds filled the blue above as far as the eye could see, blowing lazily across the sky at their own slow pace. The two girls' short vacation was going to end soon, and they always ended up staring at the clouds before it was time to go.

"I know," Lily sighed, a little wistfully. "I love home so much, but I could spend forever here with you." Her tone of voice was completely earnest, as she said something that easily would have made her blush if it had been said a year or two prior.

"That's because you're a total sweetheart," Lyn replied warmly, running a hand through the other girl's hair without taking her gaze off the sky above. "I'd keep you here with me if I could, but I've got just as many responsibilities at home as you do."

"No you don't," the younger girl chuckled, turning her head and grinning. "You hate work, Lyn. The only reason you do it is because you hope I'll come visit you."

"I'm not that needy!" Lyn retorted, her hair rubbing quickly becoming something more fierce and playful. "If I was, I'd come see you more often. Gosh."

"Excuses~" sang Lily, turning back to look at the clouds again. The two girls quieted down for a few moments, content to watch the cloudy wisps in the air drift by. Eventually, Lily extended her left arm upward, breaking the silence as she did. "That cloud looks like your shop," she pointed out, indicating one cloud that was directly overhead. "Kinda, right?"

"That looks like any shop, Lily," Lyn said, trying her hardest to break her friend's spirits. "I dare say it looks like every building in my part of town. That cloud beside it looks like the street and everything."

"Nya," Lily retorted, sticking her tongue out. Clearly it would take more than that to dampen this girl's demeanor. "What about that one? It looks like you, Lyn."

"... No, it really doesn't," the older girl deadpanned, this time having no idea what her friend saw. "You're crazy, girl."

"And that one looks like a horse!"

"Are we really doing this?" Lyn chuckled, following Lily's hand once more and seeing her intended target in the sky. "Oh, that is a horse," she said, catching sight of a cloud formation that looked startlingly like a young pony. "It's got the mane and tail and everything. And..."

There was a protrusion from the "head" of the horse cloud that looked like someone had stuck a carrot into it. Backwards.

"... And a horn, or a rod, or something," Lyn concluded. "Something is wrong with that poor horse."

"It's a unicorn!" the red-haired girl beamed, catching sight of the protrusion. "Princess Unicornia, and riding atop her is the prince of the land, come to sweep Princess Lily off her feet to take her home to the kingdom to marry her and play songs for her on his golden lyre."

"Hey, hey!" Lyn interjected, doing her best to sound hurt. "I don't like this story. When does Princess Lily get to spend personal time with Princess Lyn? She can't do that if she's married to the prince!"

"I guess Princess Lyn will just have to share," Lily said, as matter-of-factly as she could manage.

"Does sharing still include makeouts?" the older girl asked, still sounding like she was taking the issue completely seriously.

"Only when the prince is away," Lily smiled, that crossing look of innocence and evil on her face once more as she turned to face her friend again. "But not if Princess Lyn starts any wars in another country just to get him to leave the castle."

"Aww, darn," Lyn cursed smugly. "Well there goes that plan." Pulling her gaze away from the clouds, she caught the other girl looking at her. "What?" Lyn asked, her smile remaining. "Do I need to ride a shining white stallion to the castle to get you back?"

No response was given as the two girls laughed at their own childish humour. Lyn leaned over after a moment, giving Lily a quick kiss on the cheek and causing her to blush gently. It was nothing severely intimate, but it was more than enough to convey her feelings. "Stay cute, Lily," Lyn said, almost as if there was some fear of the redhead ever being less adorable. This was, of course, impossible.

"Just as long as you stay..."

At this, Lily realized she had nothing romantic or even mildly endearing to counter with. However, the chance to tease her best friend struck her once again, and she was never one to pass that up. "... I don't know. Lazy? Perpetually bored?"

"... Thanks, Lily."

"Love you too, Lyn."

~~~

Night had fallen once again, and on a rare decision, the two girls had gone to bed early on their last vacation night, tucked together neatly under the covers of the oversized bed that took up the small cabin's bedroom.

At least, that's how they'd started off. Lyn had since sprawled all four limbs out in random directions and wasn't even under the covers anymore, as she snored against the back wall, her upper body completely exposed. Lily was quite used to this behaviour, and had fallen asleep well before the mess had ever started. She hardly even knew Lyn moved about at all.

While the purple-haired girl was muttering something about funnel cakes, Lily found herself having a dream that brought her back to the clouds from earlier that day. She started at Lyn's summer shop, talking with her friend behind the counter and having a good time. But when she left the shop, it blew away and was replaced by another series of cloud shapes. Playing with whatever the clouds gave her, eventually one of them formed into a small, short pony, one which walked neatly out of another cloud house and toward Lily, who by then was floating aimlessly in the sky.

Oh, she thought, seeing the shape approach. It's the horse from earlier!

Standing on thin air, Lily smiled and extended her hand to the pony cloud, as if expecting to receive a handshake. "Hello, Princess Unicornia," she greeted it, to which she received no response. "Where is the prince today? Is he at the castle?"

The unicorn tilted its head at this question, in such a way where Lily knew without words that her question had confused the creature. The horn on its head glowed a pale, pastel green, and before long some sort of music started playing. Lily heard a string instrument of some sort slowly replace the sounds of the wind beneath the clouds, and looked to the pony in front of her expectantly.

"Is the prince coming?" she asked, associating the sound of what she thought was a lyre with the prince of the kingdom. "He sure is late!"

The cloud shook its head again, this time with an air of dejection around it. The glowing ceased, as did the music a few seconds later. The unicorn shape turned around, walking back into the clouds where it had come from.

"Wait!" protested Lily, floating forward and grabbing the cloud by the tail, or so she tried to. Her hand passed harmlessly through, and a moment later the shape disappeared entirely. Before Lily had a chance to pursue, the clouds around her suddenly started swirling, before dissipating altogether and leaving the girl in the empty blue sky.

Oh... she mumbled inwardly, instinctively feeling like whatever fantasy she had been a part of was about to end. Maybe next time...

As if she'd been in control all along, Lily's imagination formed a small bed with a red blanket beneath her, and she fell onto it, putting her hands beneath a soft red pillow and closing her eyes. She could play in the clouds later, and bring Princess Lyn next time. Now was time to get some rest.

~~~

Sometime later -- she was not sure when exactly -- Lily felt something hard collide front-first with her nose. Jolting her head back, she sleepily rubbed the now sore spot at the tip of her face, grumbling in a way most people would have found too adorable to perceive, and opened her left eye to search for whatever body part of Lyn's was responsible.

"Ow..." she mumbled, scanning the surface of the bed with her one eye and not finding anything of immediate interest. "You're lucky I like you so much..."

"Ehhnrrm," came the response, in a fairly familiarly rough groany voice.

Another hard something collided with her left knee, although this one was far less strong and didn't hurt at all. Wondering if Lyn was trying to do something dirty, Lily yawned, intending to open her eyes before having her thoughts interrupted entirely by something else.

"Uhhhh," said a voice that was decidedly, though just barely, not Lyn's voice.

The young girl's eyes shot open, and as her vision slowly came into focus, she realized that wherever she was laying was not the bed nor the bedroom she had fallen asleep in. This bed was dark red -- oddly familiar, at that -- and was not as broken in as the one at Lyn's cabin.

"What, what?" she exclaimed, expressing a mild state of panic in the process as she sat up. "Did we come home already? Or... am I still asleep?"

Catching her mental bearings, Lily realized that the voice she heard had come from not far off, and as she looked a few inches further down the bed, what she saw was both surprising and confusing to her. What looked like a mint green pony, though a seemingly small-sized one, was sitting up and making direct eye contact with her. Pale hair and a horn adorned her head, and from the look on this pony's face, she was not especially happy to see Lily.

"What the hay are you doing in my bed?!"

A Cup of Coffee

Stare.

Lily stared. Two large golden eyes stared back.

On Lily's face, a look of confusion tinted with both worry and wonder. On the pony's face, the desire to go back to sleep with no further interruption.

"So..." started the unicorn slowly, a green glow that matched her coat forming around her horn as she pulled a pillow over to herself. "Would you mind being a little less... here?"

However, Lily was not concerned with this creature's demeanor. That green glow was all she needed to see in order for her still fresh, though sleepy-state memory to be jogged to life.

"Princess Unicornia!" the girl exclaimed, hugging the red blanket atop her fiercely and feeling totally confident that she was still dreaming, having no qualms about playing along with her imagination.

"... Lyra," the green pony deadpanned, yawning. "Heartstrings. Can I go back to sleep?"

If she was honest with herself, the pony named Lyra was hardly concerned with the fact that a random... someone had been sleeping in her bed. Of more concern was simply returning to sleep. Less pressing issues could be dealt with later. Although...

"Wait a moment," Lyra said, looking up and down Lily with appraising eyes. "I know who you are, now. You're that weird girl who was... yeah. You were calling me that weird name before, weren't you? In my sleep. Which means I'm still dreaming, I guess. Okay, okay."

Lily frowned, although in the back of her mind, some part of her was telling her her priorities were way out of order. At the front of her mind, however, she was disappointed that Princess Unicornia was not all she was apparently cracked up to be, and that that wasn't even her name, and that there was probably never any prince to whisk her away in the first place, although she supposed that may be for the best.

"Me too," the redhead finally replied, as she caught up to what Lyra had said. "I suppose I'll just sleep this off too, then."

"Good," yawned Lyra. "Good night."

And with that, both the human and the pony tucked in and went back to sleep.

~~~

...

Once again, some hard part of Lyn's body smacked Lily in the head, waking her abruptly and without warning. However, this time it continued happening for a few seconds, until Lily bolted upright to challenge her friend's actions.

"What, Lyn, what is--"

Stare.

Pony.

"Lyra," said the mint green unicorn for the second time that morning. The look on her face suggested a lot of confusion, covered by a mild amount of annoyance. "And yes, that was me," she continued, holding her hoof in the air to confirm that she had, in fact, been hoofing Lily in the forehead.

"Princ--" Lily started to say, cutting herself off at once and inadvertently yawning. "Um, no, that's not your name, okay."

A few seconds of silence passed, and the two stared at each other once more. This was quickly becoming a trend.

"I'm... not asleep anymore, am I?" Lily asked, as much to herself as to her company.

"You're not," Lyra said. "And neither am I, I don't think. I'm pretty sure I'm awake, at least."

The pony gently knocked a hoof against the side of her face; the old telltale sign of whether or not you can feel pain whilst dreaming. Lily followed suit, pinching herself harshly on the cheek. Neither of them seemed any better or worse off for their efforts, and decided that this was, in fact, real. They were awake.

Lily's thoughts immediately turned to Lyn. While she wasn't afraid for her best friend's safety or well-being, she was somewhat worried about what would happen when she woke up to find Lily wasn't there anymore. There was no way anybody would have found them at the mountaintop cabin, and there would be telltale signs if a creature had entered the house... as far as Lily could assume, there would be no signs whatsoever of her departure. She wasn't sure whether that would worry Lyn more or less than a worse alternative.

However, right at that moment, there was a talking pony in front of her. A unicorn, even. One whose name was, unfortunately, not "Princess Unicornia" and who still seemed a little upset at her intrusion.

"Um, I'm sorry," Lily mumbled, rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes and focusing properly on Lyra. "I don't really know how I got here, honest, but I didn't mean to intrude... and I certainly didn't mean to somehow fall asleep in your bed."

"Ehh," Lyra dismissed, seemingly less annoyed than she had been before. "Considering you don't seem to be here to hurt me, I'm not that upset anymore. I'm sorry if I was a little snappy before; I really hate being woken up."

The unicorn stood up on her bed, walking around in a small circle in a way that Lily felt she could liken to morning stretches. "But you don't know why you're here?" Lyra asked, finishing her circle and looking at the human again. "That's about as weird as the fact that I saw you in my dreams last night."

"But I saw you in my dreams," Lily protested, pointing her hand as she did. "Although... only sort of, I suppose. You were cloudy and I couldn't see your face, but your unicorn magic was clearly the same!"

Stop.

Brain, gears, whirrrrrrrrrr, click.

"Oh my gosh you have unicorn magic!" the girl exclaimed, the realization of her situation finally winning out over her post-sleep weariness. "I've heard of many creatures but I've never met one before. I wasn't sure if they were real at all! Oh, I can't wait to tell..."

Lily pictured Lyn in her mind again, and just like that the excitement dulled itself down, as mild worry crept into her thoughts once more. "Well," she continued, almost whispering to herself. "At least I hope I can."

Lyra just nodded her head, trying to examine the situation from a more scientific point of view. This girl in front of her -- whatever she was, Lyra realized -- seemed awfully sincere about the situation. She was probably speaking the honest truth about the things she was saying. But then, why...

"Say," the green pony said, converting thought into speech as her mind continued working. "You wouldn't happen to also be named 'Lyra' now, would you?" she asked, trying to put any pieces that she could together. "Or Lire, or Lime, or Lina, or Lenore, or something?"

"Lily," was the response, as she realized the connection between the names immediately. "And the person I was about to mention is Lyn."

"That's... probably close enough," Lyra said, nodding. "Okay, I think I can hazard a guess here, now. I'm not entirely sure, but it seems like a good start."

Hopping off the bed, Lyra turned her head back to face Lily. Now that the pony was standing upright on the floor, Lily realized that she came up to be just hairs shy of four feet in height, not taking the horn into account. This seemed small for a horse of any sort, but Lyra's build was also somewhat more stocky than any farm or riding horse Lily had ever seen. She was certainly much less spindly in the legs.

"Come on," Lyra gestured, waving with one hoof. "I need some coffee if I'm going to figure this out."

Nodding wordlessly, Lily moved the red blanket kindly off herself and onto the bed, standing and stretching her arms. Even if this wasn't a dream at all, there was no reason to panic quite yet. For all she knew, she was ten minutes away from the mountain cabin, or somehow not too far from home. Anything was possible, and even with worried thoughts of Lyn lingering at the back of her mind, Lily felt optimistic.

Lyra turned and exited the bedroom door, and Lily followed shortly after.

~~~

"Okay, there."

Bringing a full, steaming cup down to the tabletop, Lyra declared her readiness to the world. Of course, Lily was the only person around to witness it, but witness it she did.

"I might go about this in a really weird order," Lyra stated, looking across the table to her guest, who was quietly eating an orange. Both were sitting upright in comfy table chairs, having what essentially amounted to breakfast. "It might seem like I'm in the wrong places at first, but bear with me, okay?"

Lily nodded wordlessly, chewing a slice of orange as she did. She hadn't the slightest idea why things had gone the way they did, so she was perfectly willing to let Lyra have the spotlight if it meant finding any answers.

"First off, you really did see me in your dreams, right?" Lyra asked. Lily nodded. "What the hay was 'Princess Unicornia' about?"

"Oh, that was..." the redhead blushed a little, remembering the hours spent happily on the cabin roof. "Lyn and I were fooling around outside, and we were watching the shapes in the clouds. One of them looked like a pony, so I started making a joke about a unicorn princess and a prince come to sweep my off my feet. I guess... I was still thinking about it when I fell asleep, because all the cloud shapes were in that dream, including that one, which I'm certain was you."

"Okay, that definitely settles it," Lyra said, a decisive tone in her voice. "There's no way I can be wrong, now, barring a few really weird possible exceptions."

Lily stared between bites of the orange, in the kind of way that said 'I'm listening; keep talking' to Lyra, and that's just what she did.

"Basically, there have been a few theories over the years about magical creatures bringing their hopes and dreams to life, more or less. This happens most often with unicorns, though also with other creatures with magical prowess, and in general there are about thirteen recorded cases of it happening, with roughly that many more unconfirmed stories."

Lyra paused for a moment, taking a sizeable drink of her still hot coffee. As soon as her mind got into thinking mode, if that caffeine wasn't there to move it along, things could get really slow... fast. "What the theory is is that, although unicorns usually have total conscious control over their magic, sometimes being asleep has a rare chance of sort of... how should I put this. Basically the magic goes behind the user's back, if you know what I mean? It acts on its own. Does what it wants or what it thinks the magic user wants. In some cases, ponies have woken up in the beds of the ones they love the most, or have woken up with the object of their dreams laying beside them. In just two of these cases, the ponies claimed to have been taken to other worlds entirely, completely separate from Equestria or the surrounding areas. Worlds that ought only to exist in the imagination, you know?"

A moment of silence passed, and Lyra hoped that all this theory wasn't overloading the girl's brain, but Lily seemed to be doing perfectly fine for herself, leaning onto the table and listening intently. She was a good listener, someone like Lyn would have definitely attested to.

"Considering the credibility of the two ponies in the two rarest cases, their peers chose to believe them, and these stories went into much study and consideration. This was a long time ago, and I don't think anypony has decided to pursue the topic in a long time, but it's not something that's been outright dismissed, either."

"So..." Lily began, thinking she understood everything thus far. "You're basically saying that if someone with magic really wants something, or has a dream about it, he or she could somehow make it real?"

"In a way, yes," Lyra stated, leaving the obvious gaps in that summary unstated. "There's another theory that all dreams are real and that one's imagination is the key to reaching dream worlds, but this theory is less widely accepted, for the time being. It basically suggests that all dreams are real and all places and events in dream worlds really happen, and that even if they're all only in our minds, that doesn't make them any less genuine. The idea ends with the fact that only magic users have any ability to tap into these worlds willingly. Anypony else can only visit these places whilst asleep, with little or no control over it."

"But I don't have magic," the girl put in, looking toward Lyra's horn as if knowing it was the source of a unicorn's powers. "I'm just a simple girl. I've never even seen that sort of thing."

"Hrmm." Lyra went into thought again, looking at the situation from a few angles before deciding she thought she knew which one was correct. "Well, that second theory doesn't hold much weight anyways, I'd say. I've been here since long before you ever dreamed me up, and I can only assume the same about you. You've had a whole life before now, correct?"

"Of course I have," Lily smiled. "I'm perfectly real."

"Of course," the unicorn agreed. "I like the first theory better anyways. You said you were talking about the cloud shapes earlier that day? Was it a really nice memory for you? Was there some reason why you dreamed about it?"

"It..." Lily blushed a little, simply viewing the time as being well spent with Lyn. "It was a happy memory, but I have lots and lots of those."

"Maybe that's where I come in."

Lyra smiled for the first time that morning, and the redhead realized just how much this rough-sounding unicorn reminded her of Lyn. She was slow to start the morning, very cranky, but get her in the right mood and her voice and face were suddenly beautiful.

Lyra's smile was replaced once more with words, and they took on a warmer tone of voice as she continued. "The only connection I have on my side is basically the same kind of thing, I think. Yesterday I was thinking about what it might be like to meet another pony or anyone else with my name. A little silly, right? But maybe that's you. You don't have quite the same name, but I saw you in my dream anyways. Everything about you was the same as you are now. Then when I woke up, there you were all of a sudden. It could all be a coincidence, but, I mean, here you are in my house talking to me."

"Which means... since I don't have magic, it was your magic that made my dream -- or both our dreams -- happen," Lily concluded. "But whose dream came to life? I was playing along with the joke about Princess Unicornia and the prince, but I wouldn't ever want that to happen for real. Lyn would be crushed if that was all really true..."

"I assure you I'm no princess," Lyra chuckled, taking another drink of her coffee. She saw her guest look down at the table, and realized the subject of her friend was probably worrying her a little. "I'm just a unicorn with a bit of a thing for weirdness. I'm definitely not here to take you away from anypony."

Lily nodded, realizing for the first time that Lyra had used the word "anypony" several times by that point. If that was the case, and given everything she'd heard at that point about theories and other creatures, there was a fair chance that she was much further away from home than she'd first hoped.

"Eq... Equestria?" the human asked, backtracking her memories to the point where that name had been spoken.

"Yeah," Lyra confirmed, nodding. "Welcome to Ponyville, Equestria. You really did come from somewhere else, didn't you?"

Silence passed again, and Lily wasn't sure what else to say on the subject. It was all starting to come down on her that she was far from home, and she hoped that Lyn wasn't too worried about her. Even aside from her best friend, the folks back home would probably be upset with her if she disappeared forever and left all the farm duties to them. That wouldn't be fair at all, and she wouldn't ever want anyone to have to work harder because of her.

"Hey," Lyra spoke, breaking the creeping silence. "I can tell you're worried, but it'll be okay, okay? Any magic that can be done can be undone. You really want to go back home, don't you?"

"Yeah..." Lily whispered, nodding her head once more. "There are just things and people that I can't afford to suddenly leave behind. I'm still sort of hoping I'm dreaming, I'm afraid."

"You're probably not," the pony replied, moving to take another drink of coffee, only to find her cup empty. "I'm sorry, but this is definitely real. We'll figure something out, though... at least, assuming my theory is correct. I don't see why it shouldn't be, though."

Lyra hopped out of her chair, her mane and tail flopping about as she moved over to the counter to pour herself another cup of coffee. "By the way," she said, holding the coffee pot in place for the moment. "Considering how long I've been looking at you, I have to ask: what are you?"

"What... am I?" Lily echoed the question, not knowing how deep it did or didn't go.

"Like..." Lyra thought of how to clarify. "I'm a pony, and you're a... ?"

"A human," Lily answered, not at all realizing how funny the situation could have been under different circumstances. However, when Lyra nearly dropped her mug, Lily's thoughts snapped back to attention.

"You're a human!" Lyra exclaimed, forgetting about her drink and trotting over to the other side of the table, looking up and down the girl with appraising eyes. "Oh, this makes so much sense now. I mean, not the dream problem, but you, looking at you."

"I'm sorry?" Lily asked, her worries being shunted out of the way to make room for the laughter she felt coming out. "Yes, I'm a human! And you're a talking horse!"

"Oh, it's just... humans are the subject of some discussion, at times. Some ponies claim they probably aren't real, but it's less about not being believable and more about a lack of hard evidence. There are a lot of things in Equestria to suggest that humans are real in other parts of the world, but nopony seems to be able to trace back any information to any reliable source. The origins of the subject of humans remain a complete mystery, but considering how sensible of a topic it is, nopony knows why it's a mystery."

"Oh," said Lily, having several questions on the subject and ending up asking none of them. This wasn't a problem, as Lyra kept talking.

"There are a lot of creatures here, like minotaurs, and some dragons, who are most often referred to as bipedal, but every now and then the term 'humanoid' surfaces and everypony realizes they have no idea why the word has come into use. It's really... well, it's something, to say the least."

"I suppose that would be quite a mystery," Lily agreed, thinking about that sort of thing back home. "It would be awfully strange if back home, we referred to all cats and dogs as 'pony-shaped' or something to that effect. There are all kinds of other animals on four legs, after all."

"Right! Now you get it." The pale-maned pony smiled again, although at the same time, she tried not to view this so much as an interest of study. Lily was clearly a person with a heart, and it would be much more proper to treat her like any other pony instead of some object of curiosity. Still, Lyra couldn't help but feel a little excited at discovering a real human. Anypony who had done any research into the subject would have been utterly astounded and flying off their hooves, and Lyra felt she was doing a great job keeping herself very tame about it. "Even so," she continued after a few moments. "I promise not to escort you to the research facilities, but you'll have to forgive me if I seem a little excited for a while."

"I'll... I'll try," the human giggled, finding the situation more sincerely funny than anything. "But... what do we do about me? Am I stuck here?"

"That," Lyra started, with a look in her eye. "Is something we're going to have to find out soon."

The unicorn returned to the other side of the table, reaching and grabbing the forgotten cup of coffee off the countertop. Bringing it to her mouth and downing the entire mug in one gulp, she slammed the now empty container down onto the table. "Okay!" she exclaimed. "Lyra's awake and ready to take on the day. Nothing's gonna stop me now."

At this, Lily burst into laughter, being unable to control herself at all. Lyra looked across the table in amazement and confusion, wondering if she'd done something hilarious as she watched the red-haired girl seemingly have a good time. "What, what?" she asked, waving a hoof. "Did I do something funny?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just..." Lily caught her breath, wiping some moisture from her eyes. "More and more, you remind me so much of Lyn. It makes me miss her already, and at the same time it feels all too familiar to me. You're someone I feel like I've known for some time, even if we've just met."

"That's... kind of funny, actually," replied Lyra, apparently in thought once more as she put a hoof up to her chin. "To be perfectly honest with you, you remind me of somepony else too. You and Bons are a lot alike, at least as far as I can tell."

"Bons?" the human girl asked, wondering if that was short for some name like "Bonnie" or something else.

"Bon Bon," Lyra clarified, smiling warmly. "She's my best friend, and she's sweet as a button. Sweeter, even. So sweet that if you put her up on display in front of her own shop, ponies would forget they were there to get candy and buy her instead."

"That is..." Lily couldn't help but giggle even more, holding a hand up to her face in a desperate attempt to stifle herself. "That's something Lyn would say to me," she managed between laughs. "Completely."

"Then you and Bons are probably more alike than I realized," Lyra chuckled, floating the empty coffee mug across the air into the kitchen sink. As the pale green magic enveloped the cup, Lily couldn't help but watch, like a child who'd just seen an airplane or a butterfly for the first time.

"Anyhow," said Lyra, noting the girl's interest in magic use and tucking that information away. "I actually have a few days off right now, which means I can spend the time looking into the issue of whether you're stuck here or not. There are a couple ponies I want to talk to about it, so I'll be back later, okay?"

"Oh, you're going to leave?"

"I promise I won't be too long," Lyra reassured her. "Can't leave you to mess up my house too badly, now can I?"

The thought of being left in Lyra's house unnerved Lily somewhat. She wasn't afraid, per se, but being left all alone wasn't something she was ready for quite at that time. She was barely used to her circumstances as things were, and still had a million questions for Lyra about where she was, and having alone time would just lead to worrying about Lyn again.

Hey now, came a familiar voice in her head. Why are you being such a silly worrywart?

It was Lyn's voice, which after spending over an hour in Lyra's company, Lily found both oddly fresh and seemingly far too familiar, as if she'd been hearing it the whole time.

Even if Lyn's in a panic, it's no good for you to be in a panic too. That's not going to help anybody. Lyra seems like a cool pony. I'm sure that if you keep your head, you two can figure it out.

It was odd hearing Lyn's voice refer to herself by name, but Lily couldn't deny the words spoken. The real Lyn would have said the exact same thing, followed with what would probably be a shove on the shoulder and a tight hug. Time to buck up, Lily thought to herself. How am I supposed to tell Lyn about this if I never see her again in the first place?

There you go, girl.

"I'll be back soon, Lily," came Lyra's voice from another room. The sound of a door closing followed shortly after, and the human girl realized she was on her own for the time being.

"Well..." she whispered to herself, sliding back from the table for the first time since she sat down. She looked around the kitchen for anything of note, setting her eyes on the egg white refrigerator as the first point of interest.

"Time to explore the house a little!"

Into the Frying Pan?

Celestia's sun was high in the sky as Lyra walked down the road in Ponyville leading back to her house. Despite the brightness of the great star, it was a reasonably cool day, with a very welcomed breeze blowing in from the north. Although Ponyville was full of houses, the wind had no trouble twisting its way between the buildings, reaching each and every pony who could want a cool escape from what could otherwise be warm early autumn weather.

Beside Lyra were two other mares, both of which she felt were the correct ponies to consult about what had happened earlier that morning. To her left, a cream-coloured earth pony with wavey pink and dark blue hair. This was, of course, Bon Bon. Although she would have fetched Bon Bon regardless, Lyra felt eager to put her and Lily in the same room to compare their behaviour. It was a silly personal pursuit, she fully acknowledged, but it was a worthy one nonetheless.

To Lyra's right, a very purple unicorn walked. This mare had light purple eyes and dark purple hair, with a lavender coat and horn. Everything about Twilight Sparkle was very purple, save for the pink streaks and her Cutie Mark, and she was perfectly happy this way. Lyra had gone to Twilight in the interest of having somepony who was as into study and magic as she was. In fact, Twilight may have been the only pony in Ponyville whose studies outmatched Lyra's own, and outmatch they did. At least Lyra got out of the house each day and led a very normal life, but the lavender mare beside her was known for being stuck in her house for days at a time, working herself half to death on some experiment or subject of research.

As the three ponies approached Lyra's dwelling, the green unicorn idly kicked a pebble beneath her hooves, sending it flying above the roof of the house and over the chimney. As she watched the path of the rock, she noticed very brief amounts of grey smoke coming from one of the windows. Sniffing the air, Lyra caught the scent of heat, and although it was very faint and seemingly either weak or distant, there was smoke coming from her window, and she decided to panic anyway.

"Uh, Lyra," Twilight spoke, having watched the flight path the pebble had taken and also spotting the smoke. "Is something on fire?"

At once Lyra broke into a canter, her two friends following suit behind her, and from a distance Lyra opened her front door with her horn before charging through the doorway, intent on finding the source of the smoke and making sure both her house and her guest were safe.

~~~

Not long after Lyra had left the house, Lily decided to occupy herself by exploring the little home, although she never even ended up leaving the kitchen more than once. As soon as the girl had opted to look inside the refrigerator, she realized that she was still hungry, and that there may have been enough resources to create an actual meal. Considering that a sink, an oven and stove combination, the aforementioned refrigerator, and several cupboards were present, Lily determined that cooked meals were probably something that happened in Ponyville. Somehow, the idea of talking horses possessing household appliances and furniture went right over her head as her thoughts aimed for larger truths altogether.

As things were, Lily found out pretty quickly that Lyra's food stores contained a very pleasing selection of choices. There were lots of familiar fruits and vegetables, things like canned preserved food, bread, and milk, as well as an entire spice cupboard, although it looked somewhat untouched compared to the other shelves. What made Lily laugh was the presence of breakfast cereal, boxed and contained exactly as it would be at home, although far more old-fashioned in presentation. On the other hand, of notable absence was any kind of meat or fish, although there were three or four eggs present in the refrigerator.

After considering the nature of whether ponies ate meat or not, the red-haired girl realized that she wasn't actually sure what qualified as food and what qualified as "a meal" for someone like Lyra, and presumably any pony. For all she knew, a vegetable medley was considered shrug-worthy food, even if it seemed like something horses should be eating. Regardless, however, Lily hadn't eaten much during her time at the mountain cabin. She was quite hungry, and a meal had to be prepared in spite of the fact that it may be something Lyra wouldn't eat.

That's awfully presumptuous of you, Lily! came the voice in her head. Lyn's mock-chiding voice had come to tease her again. Do you always take apart peoples' kitchens and make meals out of their food?

"We both know that if I didn't, you'd barely eat when your parents aren't home," Lily remarked, speaking to her inner thoughts as if they were the real Lyn. "You should be thankful that Lily Reyn is so willing to invade your home!"

Lyn's voice coughed gently, choosing not to comment on this response, to which Lily smiled to herself. At the same time, she knew that it was probably stepping over a line, but maybe Lyra would be pleasantly surprised to have a meal cooked for her... and frankly, Lily just really really really needed something to eat.

One thing Lily did notice, reading some of the labels on things such as the breakfast cereal, was that the written language where she was was decidedly not English, nor any other language she'd seen, not that there were many of those. Sometimes familiar words formed in the letters, but in general, it seemed to suddenly become something illegible almost completely randomly and without prompt. It was different enough that she wasn't able to read anything of any notable length, which wasn't really a problem since she didn't need to in the first place.

After circling the kitchen once more for ideas, Lily finally settled on the thought of making a stir-fry, minus the meat component. Aside from the stir-fry, she also thought that a quiche might be a good idea, since she could put vegetables in that as well, but there didn't seem to be any premade pie shells and Lily didn't know if she had enough time to make her own from scratch. She was a great cook, but Lyra sounded like she wasn't going to be gone from the house all that long, and Lily wanted this to be something at least close to being a surprise.

And of course, she was reeeeeeeeeeally hungry.

Twenty minutes later, everything was well underway. Lily had settled on making the stir-fry, as well as preparing some smaller omelettes in lieu of any quiche. While the stove was heating up (thankfully, it seemed to function the same as the ones back home), Lily set to chopping the vegetables. Part of her wondered why Lyra had kitchen utensils, and this eventually circled back to wondering what was considered normal for most ponies, but she was thankful nonetheless when there were a multitude of available knives for her to use.

Before long, a colourful array of vegetables were scattered across the counter. Carrots, celery, green beans, and unpeeled sliced potatoes made up the bulk of the mixture, mostly because they were what Lyra had the most of, and Lily had no idea about the availability of the more scarce ingredients, so they were used sparingly or left alone altogether.

As the pan of vegetables and spices was set atop the stove, Lily quickly set to finishing the omelettes. One thing she didn't realize until somewhat too late was the absence of a cheese grater, and in the end she spent six meticulous minutes slicing and dividing the orange cheese with a knife. She didn't need very much anyways, so it wasn't really a problem.

About the time Lily finished with the cheese, the contents of the pan already on the stove had started cooking, light smoke rising to the ceiling as the vegetables and oil made a fierce hissing noise. Putting down her knife, the girl quickly attended to the pan, turning and shaking the mixture inside, and making sure the vegetables were cooking properly. Realizing that there was no ventilation, Lily looked toward the window above the sink, intending to open it and making no conscious effort to consider that it could have been different from the windows she was used to, as she leaned over and slid it open without a second thought. The smoke started blowing harmlessly away, and Lily returned to the table where she had left the eggs and cheese.

A few minutes later, and the human girl was just moving to set a second pan on the stove when she heard what she thought was a door slamming open. "Lyra?" she asked, speaking loudly enough for someone to have been able to hear her from another room and not really taking care to realize that the front door wouldn't normally be opened so fiercely by the person -- or pony -- who owned the house. As her head had just a few spare moments to realize it could have been an intruder, the line of thought ceased when Lyra's face appeared from behind the opposite doorway, a look of fear in her golden eyes as a green aura surrounded her horn.

"Oh," the unicorn spoke quite loudly, closing her eyes and breathing outwardly. "You're cooking something, okay." Stepping into the kitchen, Lyra's horn dulled out as she looked around to make sure nothing was on fire. "Do you have all the burners on or something? Too much oil? I could smell the heat from outside."

Lily did have three of the four stove top burners on, as she'd intended to use that many pans at once. "Er, yeah," she mumbled, holding one of the pans in her right hand and blushing as if it was some evidence of an embarrassing crime. Beside her, the vegetables continued to sizzle and hiss on the stove, and Lily realized how it may have looked with the smoke and the window.

"Lyra, is everything okay?" came a distant voice, a little deeper but also more kind than Lyra's usual tone. From the same entrance the mint pony had used came a second unicorn's head, this one coloured purple all over. "Oh, the kitchen," this new pony exclaimed, sighing in much the same way as the former. "That's a relief. And..."

As Twilight Sparkle set her eyes on the redheaded human girl, all the wiring in her head stopped sending signals, her every thought process directing themselves to one mindset, homing in on the only thing she could think to say at the sight of Lily.

"O-oh my gosh, is that a human?" she stuttered, inching into the kitchen with an apprehensive step. Behind her, Bon Bon also appeared, and her concern with the possibility of Lyra's house being on fire was dismissed as quickly as Twilight's had been as she too spotted Lily and the hot stove top.

"I told you someone special was waiting at home," Lyra grinned, allowing herself a small bout of delight at seeing her friends' surprised expressions. "But, she's as much of a pony as -- well, I mean..." Lyra attempted to locate an appropriate descriptor for her human friend, but none came to mind. "You know what I mean," she continued, waving her hoof sheepishly. "Treat her like you would anypony. I promised her that we would be civil and not jump on her like some amazing scientific artifact, so, behave."

Turning to look at the subject in question, Lyra smiled and nodded her head. "Lily, these are my good friends, Twilight Sparkle and Bon Bon." She indicated each with a point of the hoof. "Girls, this is Lily."

Lily, for entirely what it had been worth, had remained quiet as the pony count suddenly tripled in front of her eyes. Despite having met Lyra not long before, the prospect of now having three magical ponies instead of just one sent a feeling of excitement through her bones. Every part of her just wanted to drop the still-cold pan of food in her hand and break into a gigglefit, surrounding herself with these new guests and finding out more about them.

Well, every part of her that wasn't being amazingly timid, of course. Overtaking the desire to introduce herself properly to the new faces was Lily's incredible shyness, also deciding to act in spite of already having gotten along fine with Lyra. As someone like Lyn would attest to, the change between Lily's assertive face and her meek side was as plain as day and night.

It's also completely random and confusing, the voice of Lyn spoke in the shorter girl's head. Go on, you goof, say something!

"Uhm, h-hi," Lily muttered, raising her free hand and attempting to smile behind her blush. The continued audible interjections of the cooking meal beside her did little to draw any attention away from the girl.

"Hey there," Bon Bon spoke up, apparently in far less shock than Twilight as she trotted the rest of the way into the kitchen, smiling kindly. Her voice was extremely sweet and her words clearly spoken. "It's nice to meet you, Lily," she said, looking upward and extending a hoof. As the girl in front of her tentatively shook the hoof, Bon Bon tilted her head, closing her eyes, her smile beaming.

W-whoa, Lyn's voice spoke, apparently developing a mind of its own. She really is pony you, girl. It's like seeing double.

Lyra had a seemingly similar response to this, her cheeks lighting up as she watched her friend displaying her sweetness in full force. "Wait, Bons," she said, nearly stuttering. "I know I just said to act normal, but aren't you at least a little excited about this?"

"What's to be excited about?" Bon Bon asked, having little idea about the kind of weight the unicorn viewed this situation as having. "I've never met a human, but this isn't any different from meeting a goat or a griffon, is it?"

With that answer, Lyra realized how things were on several levels. "Oh, uh... I guess that makes sense," she said quietly, feeling her prior self-indulgence slipping away quickly. "This wouldn't be striking to anypony who hadn't read up on human theory, now would it? As far as you could be concerned, she could be a draconequus or a minotaur and it wouldn't make any difference."

Meanwhile, at the edge of the kitchen, Twilight Sparkle was still silent with surprise, certainly for the reasons Lyra had said. She hadn't spoken another word, nor made any motion to move, having simply stood there watching Lily's movements. Lyra realized she still had room to seize a few gratification points at teasing her friend.

"On the other hoof," the minty unicorn grinned, looking toward the entranceway. "Twilight here is an even bigger bookworm than I could hope to be. The only thing that would have struck you harder is if this girl had wings and a halo, isn't that right?"

Twilight scrunched her face up, her feelings torn between making a light comeback, and fully accepting Lyra's words as the truth. "Well I'm sure you acted this way at first too," she retorted, hoping at the back of her thoughts that her random accusation was true and deciding to bet all her chips on red. "You probably went into lecture mode the moment you realized it, Lyra."

"You wish I did!" Lyra shot back, blushing in a way that betrayed the snark on her face. Everypony in the room knew that Twilight's words had hit home, and before long the faux-tension devolved into light laughter between the friends.

For Lily, who had merely chosen to watch the scene in front of her, it reminded her very much of times when Lyn's mother and herself would combine their efforts to tease the older girl, particularly when there were other customers at the Summer family shop. It was very, very easy to catch Lyn red-handed about something or other, no matter how harmless, and the blush that would cross Lyn's cheeks always made Lily's insides tingle with laughter and love.

As such, the unexpected reminiscence caused the young girl to giggle alongside the ponies in her company, and this response caused enough attention for Lyra to take notice. "Ahh, I'm sorry," Lyra spoke, her voice easing out and returning to normal. "We shouldn't talk about you so much as if you aren't here, Lily. I just wanted to poke fun at the girls a little."

"It's okay, it's okay," Lily assured the unicorn, a smile remaining from her bout of laughter. Finally putting the second pan on the stove, she turned to the others and gently bowed her head. "It's nice to meet you... um, everypony." She tacked the last part onto her thought, hoping it was the right thing to do.

"It's good to meet you," Twilight returned the spoken gesture, approaching and standing beside the other two mares. "I'm sorry about being silly, but I'm sure Lyra's told you at least a little bit about humans in Equestria... or the lack thereof, I suppose."

"Something like that," Lyra confirmed, nodding. Before she had a chance to say anything else, the sound of frying eggs in the pan rose into the air, as if trying to compete with the perpetual hiss of the cooking vegetables, and Lyra realized properly for the first time that her guest was preparing a meal to eat.

"Uhm," she started, standing on two hooves and leaning atop the counter to get a look at the pans on the stove. "Well, now that we know you aren't burning the house down, what have you been making in here?"

"Hopefully something ponies eat," Lily replied, managing not to let her uncertainty on the subject carry through her words. "I'm sorry if I worried you... or if you'd prefer I didn't touch your things."

Before the girl had a chance to further apologize, her stomach finished her thoughts for her, rumbling loudly enough to carry throughout the kitchen and overcome the sounds of cooking food. The three mares all turned to her, Bon Bon in particular spending every ounce of energy she had not breaking into another laughter fit... At least, until her stomach also growled, causing the mare's demeanor to instantly shift from amusement to utter embarrassment.

"Sounds like you had the right idea," Lyra smirked, lowering herself off the counter and back onto three legs, rubbing Bon Bon's mane with her remaining hoof. "Don't worry, Bons, we'll fill that tummy of yours."

The cream-coloured pony looked away with a sheepish smile. "It smells great, at least," she remarked, the scent of the spices having long since filled the kitchen. "Why don't we sit down and you can tell us why you brought us here, Lyra?"

"Aside from the obvious, of course," Twilight put in, hopping onto one of the table chairs and sitting down, looking toward the human girl. "Would you be willing to tell us a bit about yourself, Lily? I'd love to learn at least a little bit, for the time being."

"Of course," Lily replied happily, her eyes and hands back on the stove. "I'd love to learn all about you all, too. From what Lyra's already said, I have a feeling there's a lot to know about... Equestria," she finished, taking a moment to remember again where she was.

"You mean, you've never been here?" Twilight asked, realizing at that point she had no idea where Lily had come from, or how she'd come to be in Lyra's home.

"Ah ah," Lyra cut in, grabbing a container and pouring some dark liquid into a fresh cup. It was the coffee pot from earlier that day, and Lyra didn't seem to mind that it was probably cold by that point. "One thing at a time. We should have lunch first, anyways."

Taking a sip from her drink, Lyra immediately stopped. Reluctantly she swallowed, making a face at the mug in her hoof.

"And I'm going to need a fresh pot of coffee."

Heartstrings

It was about four in the afternoon when the front door to Lyra's home opened and an earth pony with pink and navy hair trotted out, followed closely by a girl of a different sort, who was very happy to get some fresh air for the first time that day.

As things were, Lily had spent far too much time indoors that day, and even though the sun had been peeking in through the windows all day, she still winced as the bright star overhead shone onto her face directly. I'm too used to wearing my farmer's hat, she thought, after considering that she probably got more sunlight on a daily basis than most people did in the first place.

It had been decided that Bon Bon would take Lily around Ponyville for a few hours to show her around, and just to get her outside for a little while. Lyra figured that most ponies probably wouldn't react to Lily in any especially outlandish way and that meetings and greetings would probably be perfectly civil. Although it hadn't been something Lily knew to worry about, it was a relief to her all the same.

"Just bring her back before it gets pitch black out, okay?" Lyra spoke, standing in her front doorway to see the other two off. "And try not to be too forward with her, Bons. She's too shy for a direct confession, I'd wager."

Snickering to herself, Lyra hastily slammed her door shut as Bon Bon stomped her hoof to the dirt in protest. The click of two locks being shut via magic could be heard from the outside, as well as a quick "okaybyehavefun!" before all went quiet. Bon Bon rolled her eyes and mumbled something, before turning back to her new friend and smiling once more.

"Don't mind her," the mare said, walking ahead slowly. "Or me, for that matter. I'm told I get a little animated when I'm flustered, but Lyra usually knows where to draw the line. Usually."

"It's okay," Lily replied, looking around at her surroundings for the first time. The place they were in was surrounded in small houses, each similar in size to Lyra's, only differing where some homes had one floor and some had two or even three. Lyra's was the sort that had two, as far as the girl had been able to tell. "Is Ponyville a very big place?" she asked, looking at all the houses and studying their outer details out of personal interest.

"Sort of," Bon Bon said, continuing to walk in one direction and motioning for the other girl to follow. "By all rights, Ponyville is a 'small town' sort of place, even though we have more land here than we know what to do with sometimes. There are parks, playgrounds, running and training fields, several neighborhoods, and multiple farms, not the least of which is Sweet Apple Acres, one of the biggest farms you'll ever see."

"It sounds a little like home," Lily mused, stepping quickly to catch up with Bon Bon, before falling in line with the pony's set pace. "We're considered just a little farming village, and yet we have enough farmland to make up a whole city, I'd say."

As they cleared the circle of houses, Bon Bon led Lily to a more open part of the dirt road, with houses on one side and an open field on the other. The redhead's focus was mostly on the various dwellings, as they seemed even more simplistic than the ones she was used to seeing. It wasn't until the earth pony tapped her on the back did Lily think to turn around to look at the other side of the road, and when she did, the sight she was greeted with took her breath away.

Across the open grassland were ponies, as far as the eye could see. All kinds of ponies of all colours and sizes, everywhere one looked. The first that Lily laid eyes on were two mares, walking across the path that cut into the park and talking amongst themselves. One of them had a pale yellow coat with an orange, poofy mane. She had a smile on her face as she spoke to the other, a plum-coloured pony with a more hardened expression. She was pointing ahead and scowling at something, but Lily wasn't concerned with what it could be, as she looked beyond the two earth ponies toward another part of the open grass.

There were pony children jumping around with each other in the bushes, playing some kind of game. As one bumped the other on the behind, the colt that had been tagged turned around, chasing the offender into another bush. Another child pointed and laughed at the two boys, her laughter reaching all the way to Lily's ears, and she could have sworn she felt her heart melting right then and there. Before she had a chance to voice her feelings, though, something else caught her eye.

From just beyond the girl's vision, something flew down almost too fast to be seen. A rainbow streak burst down from the sky, leaving a trail as it weaved around the trees and the other ponies at unreal speeds, before coming to a perfect stop just above a water fountain near the center of the field. As Lily's eyes followed the prismatic trail, she realized it was yet another pony, this one being a cerulean, near-sky blue colour... and she had wings. The pegasus pony was flapping her great wings to stay afloat, as many of the children stared up at her, giving her their cries and coos of approval.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, her heart doing loops around itself. "This is real, isn't it?"

"As far as we all know," Bon Bon giggled, expecting this kind of response. "Welcome to Ponyville, Lily."

Standing and staring in unparalleled awe, it was all Lily could do not to explode into a confetti of hearts and rainbows as the various lives of the ponies unfolded before her. They came in all different colours, in all different sizes. Some were young, some were old, many had wings on their backs or a horn atop their heads. They were flying and playing and talking and relaxing and climbing trees, and doing all kinds of things that simply filled Lily's insides with the deepest warmth and excitement.

"I've never seen anything like this," the girl murmured. "Oh, if only Lyn were here to see this with me."

"I'm sure you'll have lots to tell her when you see her again," Bon Bon smiled, catching sight of another mare approaching them. "Ahh, it looks like somepony's seen us."

Walking up to them was another earth pony, from what Lily could tell. This one had a dark, royal pink sort of coat, with a much brighter mane and tail, closer to bubblegum in colour. She looked at the two with a cheerful smile, before turning and addressing Bon Bon.

"Hello, Bon Bon," spoke the mare, her pale green eyes looking back at Lily with a hint of wonder and curiosity. "I haven't seen you around Ponyville before, I don't think."

"Hey Cheerilee," Bon Bon replied, looking upward toward the girl beside her. "This is Lily. She hasn't been to Ponyville before, and I'm showing her around before it gets too dark."

"There's certainly plenty of daylight left," Cheerilee said, nodding to herself and raising a hoof. "It's nice to meet you, Lily. My name is Cheerilee, and I'm a school teacher here in Ponyville."

"It's nice to meet you, Cheerilee," Lily smiled, shaking the hoof in front of her in much the same way as she had with Bon Bon. The pink mare in front of her returned the smile, and Lily felt what little uncertainly she had about meeting other ponies wash away completely.

"Are you here in Ponyville very long?" the teacher asked, not thinking to pry about any details. "I'm always happy to be able to see a new face around town."

"I'm... not quite sure yet," Lily replied a bit pensively. "I only just got here this morning, you see."

"Ahh, I understand." Cheerilee nodded again, bringing all four hooves back to the ground and turning back to face the grassy park. "Well, don't let me keep you two. I hope to see you around, Lily!"

Without saying anything in return, Lily stood and watched Cheerilee walk off, her eyes following the pony's hoofsteps all the way until she returned to her place on the grass. Even after the pink pony got back up and trotted somewhere behind the trees, Lily continued staring in the same general direction, no longer fixated on any one thing.

"Lily?" Bon Bon asked, waving around a hoof to catch her friend's attention. "Oh dear, not again."

"No, it's okay," the human girl replied, shaking her head a little. "I'm here, I'm here."

"You were looking fairly elsewhere again," Bon Bon teased, peering out toward the same place Lily's gaze was looking. "There aren't any ponies where you're from, are there?"

"There are," Lily said, realizing at once that it was going to be a little weird explaining the differences. "They aren't the same as ponies here, though. We have no unicorns or pegasi, for one..."

"No?" Bon Bon considered this for a moment. "Only earth ponies?"

"It's... hard to explain. I'll tell you about it in Lyra's company, okay? It'll be easier than having to explain twice.

"Sure thing. Would you like to see someplace else?"

Lily didn't immediately respond, taking one more sweeping look across the park. No matter how she turned and prodded the idea in her mind, it was one of the most amazing sights she'd ever seen in her life. There would probably never be another one like it so long as she lived. The red-haired girl closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth raising to their highest peaks, emphasizing the subtle freckles on her cheeks to anybody or anypony who would have been looking.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes, looking down to the cream-coloured mare staring back up at her. "Mmm, okay," she finally said. "I'd love to go anywhere else you'd like to take me."

The two nodded to each other, turning away from the park and heading down another road into the heart of town.

~~~

About fifteen minutes had passed in total since Lily and Bon Bon left the park area, and since then they'd been seen by dozens of other ponies. Every now and then, a face familiar to the earth pony would come up and greet them, asking about Lily and wishing her well before returning to their own business. Nopony really thought much of her appearance, and even Lyra had said she expected a few ponies here and there to be curious, but it seemed like everypony was perfectly accepting of this strange new girl who they saw.

"Ponyville is such a nice place," Lily thought aloud, after they'd started walking toward a less dense part of town again. "Everypony here is so welcoming, even more than the folks at home. And, you won't find a nicer bunch of people than the ones where I come from."

Bon Bon listened and smiled as the girl spoke. "It almost sounds like you've ended up in... ahh..." The mare broke her sentence off awkwardly, as she strained to find a word she couldn't quite place. "There's some phrase Lyra's thrown around before when she used to read a lot," Bon Bon stated, using the explanation to buy herself a few more seconds of thinking time as Lily looked down to her curiously.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean," the girl said, holding a hand to her hair as a gust of wind blew across the street.

"Oh!" Bon Bon suddenly exclaimed. "A... parallel universe. That's it, I think." She nodded her head to herself in agreement. "Yeah, Lyra used to talk about parallel universes for a time. She would talk about other worlds where everypony is the same as you, but completely different at the same time. Like how in our world, Princess Celestia is a fair and loving ruler, but in another universe, maybe she's a horrible tyrant."

The mare visibly shuddered at this concept, and Lily couldn't help but giggle, thinking she understand where Bon Bon was coming from with the idea. "An alternate world where everybody is a pony," she thought, speaking playfully. "Is that where I've ended up?"

"You tell me!" Bon Bon laughed, knowing her idea was a silly one.

"Well, it could be true," the human girl put in. "Lyra reminds me so much of Lyn, right down to her voice. They act so similar, it makes me laugh. And she told me that I was a lot like you, before we met..." Lily looked down toward Bon Bon again, as she had done many times that afternoon. "What do you think about that?"

"I can't say about Lyra," Bon Bon replied, gently wrinkling her nose in thought. "But I can see where she's coming from, with you and I. You seem like a kind and pure soul, Lily." The redhead blushed at this praise, eliciting a bit of a grin from the speaking mare. "The only difference I can see is that I love to tease my friends. I don't get that vibe from you, I don't think."

"You haven't known me long enough~" Lily sang, having a thousand memories of the past to support her claim. "I tease Lyn all night and day, about anything and everything I can get her for. It's always so much fun to see her get flustered, especially when she's working in the shop around other people."

A moment of silence passed, and Lily's imagination played out the scenes in her head as it always did. "And... I love it when she teases me back, too," the girl said, her voice dropping halfway to a whisper. "I don't like being teased by people too much, but when she gets me with something good, I can't help but feel happy no matter how embarrassing it is."

Bon Bon watched Lily as she spoke a piece of her heart, nodding her head in a way that spoke of understanding, before making her response.

"You too, huh?"

"Mmhm."

A moment passed, and Lily realized there was something in the mare's response, as the thoughts of her best friend left her mind to make room for new input again.

"Wait, you too?" she echoed, wondering what exactly Bon Bon had meant.

"Mmhm," the pony mimicked the other girl's previous response. "But, you first. I've been wanting to ask this for a little while now, but it hasn't felt right considering I barely know you... You really care about Lyn, don't you?"

"I do," Lily replied at once, her confidence on the subject betraying her oft-flustered nature, even as her cheeks flushed. "I love her so much. She's my best friend in the whole world, and I wouldn't want to spend my life away from her for a moment. It's why I was so distraught when I thought I'd lost her... or, thought that maybe she'd lost me, as it were."

Bon Bon nodded her head again. "Does she care about you in that way, too?"

"More than you'd know," the other girl replied, a wistful undertone in her voice. "I'm the only person Lyn ever let into her life. She has a couple passing friends and a great relationship with her parents, but she never let anybody in. I was the one she chose to hold in her arms and share her secrets and happiness with."

"She came to you first?" Bon Bon asked, hoping she wasn't pressing too much, as she was genuinely interested in the story. "I mean, if you're the sweet and shy sort, that's to be expected."

"Actually, you're wrong again~" Lily tilted her head playfully as she sang the words. "It was only just over a year ago when someone told me that he saw Lyn acting very differently around me. I don't think she realized it herself, but she was so very bored and listless most days I wasn't around. Wake up, eat, get behind the counter, smile and wave to the customer, go to bed. She was by no means depressed, but on a normal day, her life was dull for her. The motions were all there, but her heart felt nothing for the daily routine."

From somewhere above, the chirps of several birds pierced the air. Lily looked up to see a small group of bluejays flying overhead, passing her by and heading toward a nearby cluster of trees. A yellow pegasus floated by after them, seemingly attempting to keep up with the flock. Lily gave a small giggle at this sight, using the diversion to consider where to take her story next.

"That person who said that to me, he told me that he saw the life flare up in Lyn's eyes each time I was around, and said that I was probably the person that made her the happiest. Any time I was in the shop, suddenly the things around her were interesting again. I didn't really know what it meant at the time, but she was already my best friend, and I knew that I wanted to make her happy in any way I could. It felt like the right thing to do, you know? She deserved to smile as much as the rest of us."

Lily stopped herself, realizing how much talking she was doing. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking toward Bon Bon in hopes that she wasn't boring the other girl. However, the look on Bon Bon's face was anything but disinterested, and Lily couldn't help but blush a little at her own silliness.

"Don't be," the earth pony told her, smiling softly. "I want to hear the rest. Please keep going."

"There's not too much left to the story," Lily continued, picking up where she'd cut herself off. "Every month, Lyn would go up north to her family house in the mountains, where they had a small wooden cabin with a hot spring. She would always go there alone and spend a weekend for herself, to get away from the town life and to be with her thoughts, with nothing to bother her. That same weekend, she asked if I would go with her, and I felt completely shocked. Nobody, and I mean nobody, ever went there with her. It was her personal getaway. Her precious time for herself each month. I had no right imposing on that... but she insisted I go with her to be a part of that special time.

"The whole way there, I'd never seen Lyn laugh and smile as much in my life as she did that night. It was possibly the best time I'd ever had with her before. When we got there, she showed me around and we went straight to the hot spring to relax together. We got to talking under the moonlight, and... I told her how much I enjoyed seeing her so happy, and she told me how happy I made her in return. And before I knew it, we... well... "

After a moment Bon Bon looked up, wondering why the story had paused again, only to see Lily looking in a different direction entirely, trying to hide the growing redness in her cheeks even as she was grinning in such a way as to betray any truly deep embarrassment. As if Lily could feel the eyes on the back of her head, she resigned to finishing her thought.

"We kissed each other," she half-whispered, swallowing her courage and turning to face forward again. "From that point on, Lyn knew she had someone in her life she didn't have to hide her true faces from. She completely opened up her heart to me, and in turn I did what I knew I could to give her a reason to keep doing so. She smiled every day of her life, even when I wasn't around... everything was suddenly better, and before long, it just naturally became love."

A single tear threatened to leave the redhead's left eye, not out of any sadness, but out of a strange joy she felt at being able to tell her story in that way. Looking to Bon Bon, she immediately put a hand up to her face as she realized the earth pony at her side had already shed a tear or two. Or twelve.

"Oh, goodness," Bon Bon muttered, caught off guard by Lily's gaze and wiping her face with a hoof. "I'm sorry, don't mind me. That was just..." No words felt appropriate to her as she tried to finish the thought, reluctantly settling on the lowest common denominator, as far as she was concerned. "It was beautiful," she whispered, smiling as best she could. "That was such a touching story, and it just makes me wish that you can see her again as soon as possible. I promise I'll support you and the others in finding a way to get you home, Lily."

The girl blushed again, realizing how deeply she'd moved the mare beside her. "Oh, you don't have to do that... I really feel happy just having been able to talk about it. Thank you for listening, Bon Bon."

"Think nothing of it." Bon Bon wiped her face again and nodded, making sure her tears were done. "Thank you for sharing, Lily. I couldn't be happier to have heard it."

As the two girls continued walking for a few moments, they both realized at the same time that they'd somehow left Ponyville behind completely. While they weren't technically out of the territorial reaches of the town, they were several minutes out on a path that led nowhere in particular.

"Oh," Bon Bon mumbled sheepishly, figuring out what path they were on after a moment's look. "We can just take the scenic route back to Lyra's place. This road will take us right by that side of town, although it'll be a long walk." She looked up to Lily for affirmation. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," the human answered, attempting to see how far the path went and not really being able to tell from a glance. "Besides," she said, a touch of her assertive side feeling itself through, to which she smiled playfully. "This gives me time to hear your story too."

"My story?" the pony asked, before remembering a prior moment in their chatter. "Oh, you must mean Lyra and I," she thought aloud. "I said something, now didn't I?"

"You did," Lily chuckled. "Is it okay for me to ask?"

"Of course," the mare replied. "I'll be happy to share, although I'm afraid we don't have so much of a story as you."

Up above, the sun was still high in the sky. Despite the amount of time the two girls had spent outside, it was still only the early evening, and it was still the summer season even if autumn was creeping closer. As far as Bon Bon could tell, it would still be light out even after they took the long path, which she didn't mind in the slightest.

"Truth be told," she started, staring into the clouds as if they would help her share her thoughts. "There's not a whole lot to tell, I don't think. Things aren't quite the same."

Lily didn't respond, not wanting to make any vocal assumptions out of fear of being mistaken. She figured it was probably best to let Bon Bon talk about it how she wanted to, and the earth pony realized after a few moments that she was being granted full room to speak at her own pace.

"Lyra and I are best friends, like you and Lyn are," Bon Bon spoke. "Since we were little fillies in school, we'd always been together. She was always coming to me with curious things she found, rambling eagerly about how 'awesome' they were. My interests were usually more reserved and down-to-earth, and I thought somepony like her might find them boring, but she always listened with a smile when I shared things with her.

"As we grew up, this pattern never really changed, and neither of us wanted it to. It did mean, though, that we had to separate when we got a bit older and our pursuits took us in different directions. I stayed in Ponyville to continue being a baker and to open up my candy shop, and Lyra went to Canterlot to continue her studies for a couple years. We didn't get to see each other much, but we did a lot of writing. We never lost contact, and since Canterlot's only a train ride away, it wasn't hard to take visits."

Bon Bon took that moment to point her hoof toward the sky. Lily wasn't sure what to expect to find as she followed the hoof's path, her eyes soon catching sight of a grand structure along a mountainside, far in the distance. Her eyes lit up as she realized just how close she was to Canterlot Castle, but her inner thoughts told her to wait until Bon Bon was done her story to start getting excited.

"Lyra's made a lot of friends from school," the pony continued, knowing Lily had spotted the castle by that point. "She would often spend time with ponies like Twilight, or Amethyst, or Twinkle. Other unicorns that shared her deep interest in study. But for some reason, Lyra would always come to me first with anything she found curious, just like she had back when we first met. I asked her just one time, wouldn't it be better to share these things with other ponies who had the same goals and ideas as her?"

Lily caught the sound of a muffled chuckle, and turned to see Bon Bon stifling a bout of laughter. Concealed beneath her hoof, the corners of her mouth were curved upward, and the human girl recognized the gesture as one of remembering fond memories. It was the same sort of outward feeling she'd felt telling her own story, and she could appreciate the pony being caught up in her own thoughts in that way.

"She just hugged me wordlessly," Bon Bon finally continued. "Then she went on about whatever we were talking about as if I'd never asked at all.

"After that, I knew Lyra felt I was somepony special, even if she never once said it, and I was happy to let her go on the way she was. There have been dozens of times where I could have asked her about it, especially since she's come back to live in Ponyville again, but I just... never felt the need, you know?"

"So that means..." Lily spoke up, feeling it was alright to interject at that time. "You two have never actually... ?" She left out any verbs that came to mind, partially out of respect and partially out of the continued fear of making a wrong assumption of some sort.

"We've never said a single word to each other about our feelings," the cream mare said, filling in the gap in Lily's question. "But I know that Lyra feels something special for me, and she knows I do in return. And if I ever thought it was something she needed to hear aloud, I'd say it in a heartbeat. But as things are now, everything's perfectly fine. There's no need to change something that makes us both happy, right?"

The human girl took a moment to consider this. She thought back to herself and Lyn, and how even after their night in the hot spring bath, it wasn't until a month later that their relationship moved forward in any way. Just being together and seeing each other was enough to bring the grandest of smiles to both girls' faces, and in the end, it was Lyn who'd spoken up and asked if they could take things one step further. If she hadn't, though, Lily felt that it would have been the same regardless. Their friendship would have continued to blossom just as it had, taking its natural course wherever they went.

"I understand," Lily replied, after a few moments. "I really do. Whatever you two have right now is making you both perfectly happy, right? I'm sure you're growing closer all the time, even now."

"Mmhm~" Bon Bon smiled, nodding. "We've fallen asleep on the couch or in bed together dozens of times, and with the number of new discoveries and pursuits that that mare has, we see each other all the time. Even when she knows I'm behind the counter at work, she'll just burst into the shop and express her newfound interest in some star pattern or some field of magic she wants to show me. My customers are so used to it by this point that they all greet her as if it was nothing."

Lily felt herself grin, realizing an amusing similarity in Bon Bon's story. "I guess there's one difference between us," she said, earning a look from the pony beside her. "I'm the one who's always visiting Lyn's shop, and since we live in such a small town, everyone there knows me when I arrive. But Lyra's the one invading your shop, instead of the other way."

"I guess this isn't a parallel universe after all, Lily," Bon Bon chuckled. "It's okay; you wouldn't make a very good Lyra anyways!"

They both laughed, and as Lily looked down the path they were walking, she saw the town inching closer. They still had a ways to go, but it wouldn't be too much longer. As expected, the sun was still shining brightly overhead, persisting even through the clouds that threatened to dim its light.

"You know," Bon Bon continued, closing her eyes for the moment as she walked. "Lyra came to my house first, today, before she went and got Twilight. She lives closer to me, so it makes sense, but she would have done so if I lived on the other side of town. Unless she's already in the room with other ponies, I'm always first when it comes to new things. It's never been any other way, not even since we were fillies."

The earth pony opened her eyes again, a dozen memories filling her thoughts as she looked to make sure she was still walking along the road. Straightening herself out, she chose one memory to continue speaking with.

"When I was visiting her in Canterlot last year, the hotel I was staying at was on the opposite end of the city. It was twenty minutes' walking to get from where I was to Lyra's living space at the university. More than once, she still ran across the city just to get me, before we'd double back all the way to the school, where we would then knock on Amethyst's door to talk to her about what Lyra had on her mind that day."

A large, red leaf chose that moment in time to blow right in front of the girls' faces, as if sent by Celestia herself to grant Bon Bon the perfect pause in her speech, before she was to deliver the final line of her story.

The mare closed her eyes once more, speaking her last words softly as if they were the most precious thing in the world.

"They lived next door to each other."

Thread by Thread

"You two did what?"

"Er... that is to say..."

One perplexed mint-coated unicorn stood in the doorway of her study, staring at her friend with a disbelieving look on her face.

"Look, things just went that way!" Bon Bon protested. "I didn't even really think about it. It just happened." She stood beside Lily, who didn't seem particularly phased by the circumstances. Little did Bon Bon realize that the human girl saw the situation in a different - and much more fulfilling - light than the two ponies did.

"Oh, Bons," Lyra sighed, shaking her head with a smile. "You really did take her out on a date, didn't you?"

"Lyra..." the earth pony hissed through gently-closed teeth. She had been hoping the teasing would have stopped by that point.

"No, I'm serious this time. You two were out there for hours. How could you not have shown her any of the important sights?" Lyra pointed a hoof toward the two as she said this, chuckling to herself. "What other explanation is there other than that you spent quality time together instead?"

Bon Bon frumpled her face up, at a loss for words as she had no way to deny that they hadn't exactly fulfilled their objective. Lily, however, recognized this kind of teasing as if it were straight from Lyn's mouth, and she knew that Lyra was tugging at all the right strings in Bon Bon's heart to make the poor mare feel bad... but not too bad.

"I got to see lots of lovely places and ponies," the human spoke up, putting on her best face of wonder and excitement, knowing how to get her kindred spirit out of the mess that was Lyra's teasing. "We saw lots and lots of ponies at the park, and we took a walk through the main square, and I met this really nice pony named... Cheerilee! She was really kind. Everypony was."

Lyra's stance faltered for a moment. "O-oh," she replied, immediately catching glance of Bon Bon's face, which no longer seemed quite so flustered.

"And," Lily continued, trying not to grin at the move she'd pulled so many times on her best friend. "Lots of other ponies saw us too, and didn't think too strangely of me. Lots of them wanted to see me around town again in the future!" Her eyes sparkled innocently as she reached the driving point of her story. "Then we took a long walk around the outskirts of the town, and I could see Canterlot Castle in the distance, up on the mountain. I'd really like to meet the princess now more than ever!"

That had certainly done it. Lyra looked away sheepishly, but not before catching a haughty "hah!" that came from her cream-coated friend's mouth. Looking back, Bon Bon now had a look of triumph in her eyes, as every reason why she didn't fail to show Lily around town was shoved into Lyra's face.

"Alright, alright," the unicorn surrendered, stepping out from her study doorway and into the hallway where the others were. "But next time, make sure to take her to the Mayor and other important places, okay? It's the least we can do to honestly help Lily fit in until we find a way to get her back home."

Bon Bon nodded her head. Teasing or no, Lyra was right, and she'd done little more than take Lily on a glorified stroll. It had been a beautiful, heartfelt stroll, one that had lifted both their spirits high into the clouds, but nevertheless the red-haired girl still didn't know very much about Ponyville, never mind Equestria in general.

"What about you, Lyra?" the pony asked, watching the owner of the house began to walk down the hall in front of them. "Did you come up with anything while we were gone?"

"Not really," Lyra replied, leading the others back into the main sitting room. "To be honest I've mostly been relaxing since you two left. I know time is potentially a factor here, but after spending so many words with Twilight, my head wanted a bit of time to cool off."

Lily, who was at the back of the trio at that time, noticed Lyra had been carrying a glass mug with her since leaving the study. There was a brown ring near the top, and presumably it had contained yet another helping of coffee. Lily really hoped by that point that Lyra didn't live off the stuff so much as she seemed, but figured that only time would tell.

"One thing comes to mind, though," the unicorn spoke up again, her voice projecting from the kitchen as the others sat down on the couch like they had earlier that day. "It's no problem for Lily to stay here, but when I go back to work, what are you going to do during the day?"

That question struck the other two girls, moreso Bon Bon than Lily. While the earth pony didn't really think Lily would be in the slightest trouble for "freeloading", she figured it could quickly get boring stuck in the house. Of course, that was to suggest in the first place that she had a reason to hide there instead of experiencing Ponyville to her heart's content. As Bon Bon considered the ups and downs to a few situations, Lyra returned to the sitting room once more, eyeing the two as they once again shared the same loveseat as before.

"Oh," she stated, looking toward her best friend for the moment. The immediate grin on Bon Bon's face said "don't even" and Lyra contented herself to not get smacked in the head again that evening. "Well if you wanted to get a job or something, there are a million places to go, but I don't really mind if you just chill here either. Like I said, we're going to get you home. There's no need for you to work if you'd rather focus on that."

"I'll... probably explore town a bit more first," Lily said, speaking softly and going over the places they'd been in her mind. "I haven't really seen too much yet, I don't think. I'd really like to meet some more ponies, too."

Lyra shot her friend a glare, and Bon Bon looked away with a smile. "It's okay; tomorrow you can have a more focused tour guide." Her tone was laced with playful snark, and everyone in the room knew it. "What about you, Bons? Are you heading home soon?"

"Well, I don't have work tomorrow either," the cream mare said thoughtfully. "Although I'd really like to show Lily the shop. I wonder how many of my treats you have where you come from, Lily."

As if waiting for a chance to enter the conversation, the light groan of a stomach could be heard. Both ponies turned to Lily, who chose to grin foolishly rather than show any telling embarrassment. "I'm a bit hungry," she spoke plainly, stating the blatantly obvious.

"I don't mind if you do the cooking," thought Lyra aloud. "Feel free to make yourself anything you want. If it's anything like what we had earlier, I'd be happy to have you take over food duty."

"What Lyra means," Bon Bon followed up immediately. "Is that she's too lazy to prepare real food. Just pretend she's Lyn and you'll understand everything there is to say about it."

The two sweeter girls shared a laugh, eliciting a bemused look from the unicorn mare. "Already making jokes like that, eh?" she asked, a hint of play in her tone. "Did you two share your life's stories out there?"

"Something like that," Bon Bon smiled, looking over to Lily for confirmation. The human girl just smiled back, content to leave the explanation at that. "Oh, there is one thing I almost forgot about. I've been curious about this since we were out."

"What is it?" Lyra asked, turning around and stepping back into the kitchen. "Come in here and let's talk about it over dinner."

Bon Bon hopped off her cushioned perch, looking back toward Lily expectently. "Earth ponies," she said, in such a way where she was clearly referring to something specific, though Lyra couldn't tell what it meant from the other room.

"Oh, yes!" Lily replied, putting a fist down to her palm in understanding. "That's right, I wanted to wait to explain that to you, now didn't I?"

"You girls have totally lost me."

Lily and Bon Bon giggled lightly, as they walked into the kitchen to join Lyra and make something to eat for the night.

~~~

There were clouds.

Encompassing every corner of her vision, clouds of light pink and blue floated on by, minding their own business as if there was nobody there to watch them at all. The gentle sound of wind whistling through a tunnel could be heard all around, and despite the sun being nowhere to be found, everything was bright with life.

Lily sat down on her cloud platform, crossing her legs and staring upward into the infinitely deep blue. There were so many clouds here. Maybe one of them had something for her? She reached her hand up, seemingly going as high as she willed it to, as her fingertips grazed a smallish, deep pink cloud. At her touch, the cloud instantly poofed into nothingness, causing Lily to draw her arm back in surprise.

Oh, that wasn't what I wanted.

She reached up again, this time standing on her feet as she tried a second time to grasp one of the clouds above her. As her hand wrapped itself gently around a pale blue shape, it poofed away just like the first. Lily scrunched her face up. This was getting her nowhere.

Come on, I just want to hold you!

As the girl looked around for another suitable target, she felt something poke her in the back of the head. Spinning on the spot, Lily brushed her red hair out of her eyes to find a small, more solid-looking cloud of the same colour. It vibrated mischievously, as if giggling about what it had done. Lily grinned, thrusting her hand out at once to grab the cheeky little wisp... but it just moved away.

You can't escape me!

Several times, she tried to grasp the red cloud, and each time it dodged perfectly to the side, occasionally spinning around her head and poking her playfully. Lily started laughing each time it poked her, growing more and more amused by the situation even as her success at reaching the cloud continued to stay just out of reach, so to speak.

After many more failed attempts, Lily started to grow tired. She'd been having a lot of fun with the little sentient puff of cloud, but she just couldn't keep up with it any longer. Resigning herself to her defeat, she sat back down, crossing her legs as she had before. You win, she told it kindly. I'll get you next time.

The cloud quickly formed into the shape of a pony, taking a courteous bow. It was clearly pleased with itself, Lily figured. A tongue then appeared from a seemingly random crease in the pony cloud, wiggling teasingly at Lily before retracting itself, as the wisp suddenly spiraled out of existence altogether.

All around her, the other clouds did the same thing, and much like her previous dream, Lily was soon left floating atop nothing but solid blue as far as the eye could see.

It seems like it's time to go back to sleep, she thought, closing her eyes and finding herself in the same comfortable red-sheeted bed as the night before.

~~~

Thankfully for her and the others, Lily did not wake up in Lyra's bed that morning like she had before. She'd opted to sleep on the loveseat, finding it especially welcoming after having spent so much time sitting on it in the first place. Bon Bon had spent the night, and despite Lyra feeling brave enough to make just one more quip at their expense, the two of them had most likely slept in the same bed as far as Lily could guess. It was certainly big enough to fit the two of them comfortably, or even all three of them, if her memory served.

The night before had been enjoyed by all before it was time to rest. Lily did her best to explain that ponies back home (and more accurately, horses in general) were barely the same as the ones in Equestria. Both Lyra and Bon Bon were quite surprised at the concept of ponies that did no talking and were used primarily for riding. Lyra in particular was further intrigued by the lack of any magical pony species, and after prodding Lily for more answers, magical anything. Things were certainly different where humans lived.

After dinner and further talking, they all decided to retire for the night, and Lily realized she had nothing particularly appropriate to wear to sleep. She had to explain behind flushed cheeks that being without clothing held certain connotations where she came from, not that it bothered her to be naked, but she didn't quite want to be that way in front of the others. Lyra in turn contented to explain that associations with clothing in Equestria were "sort of weird and picky", leaving the explanation about as vague and unhelpful as the associations themselves tended to be in the first place.

Folding her blanket off of herself, Lily yawned, stretching all four limbs before nearly rolling herself off of the loveseat. It took her a few moments to remember that she was no longer at home, and at once two sides of her thought processes tried to take the lead of her vulnerable morning brain.

Oh, that's right, I'm here... I hope you're okay, Lyn.

I'll be fine, girl, came the other voice. While it was the voice Lily came to love and cherish so much, it was, of course, not the real Lyn speaking. This didn't change her words from being any less honest and to the point. We already had this argument. You're supposed to be finding a way home and enjoying your time with the ponies.

Lily could have sworn she felt the familiar flick of Lyn's middle fingernail against her forehead, and reached up to rub the spot that had received the treatment so many times before. Looking down to herself, she was glad to find out that her clothing hadn't been too messed up or sweaty from her sleep. It was all she had to wear for the time being, as nothing Lyra had was even close to fitting onto her properly, aside from certain articles like scarves or winter hats.

Just as Lily was patting down her black vest, the sound of steps against wood creaked through the room, and she turned to see Bon Bon stepping delicately down the staircase on the opposite side.

"Good morning," Bon Bon whispered, smiling warmly to her new friend as she descended the stairs carefully. "One guess who's still fast asleep and needs her coffee."

"You're lucky," Lily whispered back, holding in a bit of a chuckle. "That doesn't even work on Lyn. You can't even threaten that girl with anything or a lack thereof. You just have to wait until she wants to be up."

"Poor girl," the earth pony grinned. "I'm sure that when the time comes, a nibble on the ear will be all Lyra needs to start her day."

Lily felt her cheeks turn pink, partially in response to the nature of the subject, and partially because Lyn had done that to her several times in the past. Bon Bon caught the blush and let herself laugh, keeping her voice low as she reached the floor. "How did you sleep?" she asked, speaking a little louder. "Sorry to say, it seems like you're still in Ponyville."

"I feel okay, so I must have slept well," Lily replied thoughtfully, starting a set of standing stretches as she did. Even without her duties on the farm, there was no need to break morning routine. "Although I don't expect my clothes are going to want to suffer too many nights."

"We can take you to Rarity's place today," Bon Bon said, scanning Lily's outfit and deciding it didn't look the slightest bit worse for wear. "She owns Carousel Boutique, although it's kind of a fancy place. More often than some would probably admit, however, she's been known to make very practical outfits for anypony who needs one."

"A seamstress?" Lily asked, not at all expecting a pony to have such a profession, but also not feeling particularly surprised overall. "How would a pony use a thread or a needle? It's hard enough work with hands."

As Lily opened her palms in front of her to express her point, Bon Bon replied by tapping her own forehead. "Unicorn," she replied, indicating where a horn would be. "Trust me when I say, she can do anything with fabric. I'm more surprised that you do it by hoof -- or, hand, I guess -- by hand, with no help from magic at all."

Lily put a finger to her chin in thought, wondering how many other everyday tasks were performed by both earth ponies and unicorns. While it made sense that magic could solve most problems, she couldn't help but feel that earth ponies would be, to use a term that she heard from Lyn all too often, shafted.

"Either way," Bon Bon continued, sensing the other girl was in thought. "We'll ask her if she has time to set you something up. Just, ahh... don't mind if she gets a little overeager with the measurements."

"Ahh?" Lily wasn't sure how much weight she should have taken that warning with, but figured it couldn't be all too bad. "Well, I'd like to have something else to change into, so I'll have to be brave..."

The mare nodded, stepping toward the kitchen doorway and disappearing. Lily finished her stretches, following a moment later and spotting Bon Bon setting the coffee pot. At the edge of the sink, no less than six mugs from the previous day sat, each with a faded brown ring around the inside, as if to tell the same story six times.

"She doesn't live off of that, does she?" Lily asked, wondering what sort of long-term effects a pony could suffer from too much caffeine. "One in the morning is okay, but..."

"She does and doesn't," replied Bon Bon, sighing in a way that Lily couldn't quite read. "Despite how much she drinks, she's not so bad that she can't start the day without it. It just makes it much easier for her to get her head going, she says. Back at the university, it was common for most of the unicorns to keep up a steady intake of coffee with the amount of research and practice they do... or so I'm told."

"You talking about me?"

Lily and Bon Bon both turned their heads to face the sound of the raspy voice. While Bon Bon had seen this look countless times before, Lily was struck by the state of Lyra's face. If such a thing were possible, she would have described it as someone who looked completely ready and able to face the day, while having no desire whatsoever to actually do so. Even Lyn had never looked quite that bad, and that was saying something.

"Yes, dear," Bon Bon teased sweetly. "Now you know what they say. Make sure you don't operate a carriage if you're feeling too tired or sleepy. I know all the mares at work tease you about it, but I packed you a sandwich just in case you get hungry and just in case they take away your lunch money again. If it gets to be too much, just talk to Miss Twilight and she'll make sure they stop, okay?"

Lyra just stared.

As she often did, Bon Bon simply grinned in return.

~~~

One coffee with breakfast later, and Lyra was more than willing to start the day. The three girls departed her home about an hour after the unicorn had gotten up, and Lyra took the lead to ensure they didn't get distracted again... whatever it was they'd gotten caught up with the day before, she considered.

"We'll do the shop later, okay?" Lyra asked, her attention on Bon Bon. "Considering how close together we live, it can be a first stop or a last stop before returning to my place."

"It's probably best for us to see Rarity early," the pink and blue-maned pony responded, nodding her head. "You don't mind, do you Lily?"

Lily was, predictably, looking around the village as eagerly as she had been the previous day, taking in anything she may have missed and trying to catch a look at any ponies she could spot. It took her a moment to notice she'd been addressed, and by then she realized she had no clue what Bon Bon had said. "Sorry, what?" she mumbled, not even looking back to the others.

"I don't think it matters to her," Lyra chuckled, eyeing the human girl amusedly. "Was it like this yesterday?"

"As much as you could expect."

In the distance, the sound of the clock tower bell could be heard, the grand bell ringing ten times in succession. Lily subconsciously caught ear of this, and she wondered whether it was considered late or not for Ponyville's early risers. Considering she didn't see nearly as many ponies on the streets as she did the previous day, it was hard to say for certain.

As things were, it didn't take the group very long to reach Carousel Boutique, and Lily couldn't help but stare as the structure came into view. Although Ponyville had proven to be a colourful place with even more colourful residents, Lily couldn't help but feel the boutique felt just a little... gaudy? She wasn't sure that was the word she wanted, but the shop quite plainly stood out from the others around it. As they walked closer, she was able to get a better look at the finer details.

The first thing she noticed was that it was decidedly "frilly" in as many senses of the word as a building could be. From top to bottom were various decorations of pink and white colour, often patterned with a checkerboard texture. Heavy yellow drapes could be seen inside the windows, and up on the second floor was, seemingly matching the name of the shop, a mock carousel, two mauve pony statues facing outward from the sides. At the very top of the building, a small orange flag blew, following the light eastern wind.

Lily stared, not sure how to vocalize her thoughts on the outward appearance of the shop before her. It wasn't that she felt it was off-putting, so much as that any single idea simply wasn't enough to convey her feelings.

"Well, here we are," Bon Bon stated, almost as if to fill the otherwise silent gap. "I don't see a sign, so Rarity must be in right now."

The mare pushed the front door open, a bell overhead jingling to signify a potential customer as she and the others stepped inside. From the floor above, they could hear a voice calling, although Lily wasn't sure what it had said. She hardly dwelled on it, however, when she looked around the room she was now in.

There was fabric everywhere. From front to back, strands and ribbons and whole sheets of fabric lay all around the shop, over every surface imaginable and coming in every colour of the rainbow. Several dress forms littered the floor, predictably in the shape of ponies, and most were adorned with half-complete clothing of some sort. Around almost every area of work, various tools lay about, most notably measuring tape and scissors (of which Lily could immediately count at least seven scattered pairs).

And yet, somehow, Lily couldn't consider any of it a true mess. It was chaotic, but it was somehow completely organized. Organized chaos.

"Here I am, here I am~" came the voice again, seemingly from the back of the room. Lily looked up to find the source of the voice, spotting a white unicorn approaching them.

This unicorn easily had, as far as Lily could tell, the smoothest-looking coat of any pony she'd seen since arriving in Ponyville. Her pearl-coloured exterior was better kept than even Bon Bon's was, and every step she took spoke of the purest elegance and finesse. She held her head high, a mane of various shining purples bobbing about as she stepped. Her curled tail matched her mane to a tee, and although she had her eyes closed, a pair of short orange glasses sat atop the unicorn's nose, completing the already perfect look.

"Well hello there," she spoke, opening her eyes and looking to the two ponies. "Lyra, Bon Bon, so good to see you darlings." Looking up, she caught Lily's gaze, and at once her smile faded to a look of startled wonder as her eyes scanned the girl top to bottom. "Oh my," the unicorn exclaimed, gently removing her glasses to make sure she was seeing correctly. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you before."

"Hi there," Lily waved, having faced that particular kind of greeting at least a couple times the previous day. "I'm Lily!" She extended a hand to the unicorn that was now in front of her. "You must be Rarity. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, such manners," Rarity beamed, at once taking the hand with her hoof. "Bon Bon, dear, did she learn that from you? She definitely didn't learn it from Lyra." To this, Lyra rolled her eyes knowingly, trying and succeeding to hide a grin that wanted to creep out. Rarity didn't take any notice as she continued looking up at Lily, unable to make heads or tails out of the girl in front of her. "I must say, and you'll have to forgive me for being so forward about it, but I've never seen a creature such as yourself before."

"She's a human," Bon Bon explained. "And we were wondering if you'd be willing to make her at least one set of clothing, since nothing anypony has will fit her properly."

"A human?" the dressmaker asked, using the query as an excuse to make yet another top-to-bottom scan of the redhead. "I believe I've heard Twilight mention humans before, but I don't know much about it myself." Nodding to herself, Rarity stepped back, taking yet another look at the human girl. "Well, no matter. It's my pleasure to meet you, darling. And you're in luck! For once I have absolutely nothing on order or commission and nopony else has come to the boutique today for any kind of custom work. I thought perhaps I could take the day off to relax by myself and read a good book, but by the time I had my breakfast I realized I wanted to keep my hooves busy, and yet I didn't know what to do! But then, what luck, you walk into my shop asking for a complete set of clothes for somepony new? I could not ask for a better diversion."

Taking only a brief moment to cease talking, Rarity quickly put her glasses back on her face, twirling on the spot and shooting a confident look toward Lily that could have passed as seductive if the girl didn't know any better.

"I shall make you the most fabulous outfit you could dream of," Rarity concluded, a bright twinkle escaping her deep blue eyes as she held her gaze. "You're going to love it."

Silence.

Somewhere below everypony's hooves, a tumbleweed that was twice removed from its family and exiled from Dodge Junction rolled by, trying desperately to fulfill its purpose in life.

"Ahh, Rarity?" came Lyra's voice, as she looked toward Lily to make sure the girl hadn't been overwhelmed. "It's great that you're so eager, but how about something with less... flourish?" This earned Lyra a stare from the other unicorn, as if to suggest flourish was a bad thing under any circumstance ever. "Besides," she gulped, considering the best way to back up her suggestion. "Isn't practical in this season?"

"I suppose you're right," Rarity submitted, putting a hoof to her chin and looking back to Lily. "I must say, I do enjoy the attire you have on right now. It's a little simple for my tastes, but it certainly earns a pass at the end of the day. Would you be wanting something similar to that?"

"Ahh, sure?" Lily responded, not really having expected to be asked anything like that. She realized at that moment that she had no idea what she was expecting. She just wanted another change of clothes. "Maybe with long sleeves and pants," she said, speaking as her mind worked. "In case it gets cold?"

A moment of silence passed, and Rarity continued to hold her hoof where it was, narrowing her eyes as she continued to look in Lily's direction. The human girl wasn't sure if that meant she was considering or judging, and chose to break the silence with the first idle thing that came to mind.

"... Ponies do wear pants, right?"

Before anything else could be said, a loud outburst pierced the tranquility of the room. All eyes turning, Lyra was found to be laying on the floor, attempting to keep her balance as she laughed her heart out. She had apparently found the exchange to be the height of hilarity, as she held her stomach in her attempts to maintain any semblance of control. Looking up, she attempted all at once to cut the laughter when she saw Bon Bon approaching, glaring down at her.

Rarity turned away, ignoring the brief cry of pain behind her as she faced Lily again. "Of course we do, dear," she said, smiling assuredly. "Don't worry; I promise I'll keep myself in check. I can tell just by looking at you that you're better suited for a more 'everyday' style than anything too glamorous."

"Thank you," replied Lily, nodding. "Truth be told, this is the only outfit I have here. I'd at least like to have something different to change into each day."

"Only one outfit?!" the unicorn cried out, rearing back as a look of genuine shock overtook her features. "No no no, we can't have that! There's simply no time to waste if this is the case. I shall make you enough clothing to last all week, mark my words."

Looking around the room frantically and spotting what she wanted, Rarity hovered two rolls of measuring tape over to herself, each surrounded in her magic aura. "I must measure you at once, darling. Please take off your clothing for me."

At that command, Lily looked away and blushed, realizing to herself that there was no good way for someone like Rarity to do any work without understanding either her measurements or her clothing sizes. Thankful for the fact that she had the barest of undergarments on, Lily resigned herself pensively to the situation as the designer pony approached her with a dangerous smile.

Of Dreams and Ponies

The scent of fresh coffee filled the front of Lyra's house as three ponies and one human girl all sat around the unicorn's living room. Lily ended up taking the entirety of the burgundy loveseat to herself, despite politely sitting upright with her feet on the floor. Lyra and Bon Bon lay on the couch on the opposite side of the room, in a manner that reminded Lily of any cat or dog. Twilight, in the end, decided she was comfortable on the carpet in the center of the room, sitting on her rear legs and facing a direction where she could see both other parties without a problem.

The prior meal had gone, in Lily's opinion, surprisingly well. To her delight, both stir-fry and omelettes were heard of and completely usual in pony society, although Bon Bon had complimented her choice in flavours, having never tasted something "quite like it" before. Out of the three mares in the house, Bon Bon was the only one with any extended cooking experience, and so when she'd started asking Lily about decisions and opinions, the two unicorns weren't able to offer much in the way of conversation until the topic had moved on.

After they'd eaten and after Lyra had finished preparing a new pot of coffee, they'd all moved out to the room they were now sitting in, ready to discuss what Lyra had initially invited her friends over for.

"You'll have to forgive me in advance if I get a little crazy with the questions," Twilight had said, a pencil and notepad hovering idly in front of her, each wrapped in her telltale pink aura. "I promise I'll try to keep myself in check."

Before any questions were asked, Lyra asked Lily to tell the others what she had told her about the clouds and the dreams, and Lily told the story in greater detail than before as Twilight started taking notes. Bon Bon, on the other hand, was finally realizing that a human stranger was a bigger deal than she'd initially thought, and she sat with her body leaned forward, listening with great interest to the tale being told.

"Your friend sounds a lot like Lyra," the earth pony said at one point, earning a subtle roll of the unicorn's eyes. "I'd guess she's pretty impossible to wake in the mornings, isn't she?"

"Completely," Lily answered, smiling in thought. "Even for me, she won't get out of bed until she wants to. It's the one thing she won't cave about."

"Totally lazy, but still worth the trouble~" Bon Bon sang, and Lyra wasn't sure at that point whether she was being referred to or not, considering the subject fit her to a tee.

After Lily's story, Lyra took it upon herself to explain to the others her thoughts as far as the dream theory went. Several times, she had to slow it down and backtrack for Bon Bon's sake, forgetting that she wasn't nearly as studious as herself and Twilight and ending up having to make things more clear and easy to understand. It wasn't that the bright-coated mare was dim in the head, but there were just some things she didn't know enough about to catch on a short mention.

"There's one thing that might not add up, Lyra," Twilight said, letting her notepad drop to the carpet and looking up at the others. "Although your theory seems likely enough to go off of, it all generally only happens when somepony wants something."

"I did want something," Lyra clarified, knowing this has been made clear before. "I wanted to meet somepony else named 'Lyra' yesterday."

"That's not what I mean," the other unicorn frowned. "I mean something really strongly. Like you said at one point, something like a love, or a goal; a hope, a wish. This is nothing short of a... random whim, when you look at it."

"It was, yeah, but not every case was that dire. You can't deny that the idea fits."

"No, but, still!"

Lily and Bon Bon listened to the topic go back and forth for what came to nine minutes, as both unicorns attempted to tell the other she was looking at it the wrong way despite the two trying to do nothing except come to an agreement. For Bon Bon, she had seen Lyra hold these kind of minor arguments before, most often with other studious unicorns. Lily, however, wasn't able to make too much of the whole thing. While she could understand the things being said, none of the concepts meant very much to her, and she had other things to be concerned with, despite the conversation being very related.

Looking across the room at the human girl, Bon Bon noticed the elsewhere look on her face. Stepping off the couch -- an action that neither unicorn gave much consideration at that moment -- the earth pony trotted over to the loveseat, hopping onto the side opposite of Lily and giving her a greeting smile.

"Those two could be at it a while," she stated, a rare moment of playful snide in her tone. "But you look a little lost over here. Want to keep talking? I'd be happy to listen."

"I think I'd like that," Lily replied, turning to face her new company and bringing her legs up in front of her, wrapping her arms around them. "Of course I want to know why I'm here, but..." The girl's voice trailed off as she considered the situation around her. "... I'm really just more concerned about other things right now," she finished, watching Bon Bon sit herself comfortably on the opposite cushion.

"You're worried about your friend, aren't you?" asked the pony, her voice full of understanding. "I'd be thinking about Lyra and the others if I was suddenly far from home, too."

Lily nodded her head. "It's all just sort of hitting me now. When I first awoke with Lyra, for a while everything still felt dream-like, so I didn't really think to panic or get excited. Now that reality is settling in... even when I tell myself to keep my head forward and my thoughts optimistic, I'm still worrying."

The red-headed girl turned to look at the others for the moment, Twilight now on all four hooves as she held her notepad near Lyra's face, trying to prove some point. "It's only been a few hours since this happened, but at the same time, it feels like it all happened a little too fast, you know?"

"I know what you mean," Bon Bon murmured, watching the continued argument with something of a chuckle. "A lot of things can happen far too fast for somepony to know what to do, either for better or for worse. It can be really scary, and sometimes it becomes too scary to move on."

Bon Bon looked back to the girl beside her, staring upward into her light indigo eyes. "But sometimes, that little light inside you urges you to go on. The little fighting voice that tells you, you have to keep going, and do your best for yourself and the ones you care about."

The earth pony leaned forward, lightly jabbing a hoof into Lily's chest, holding it there.

"You should listen to it."

Lily momentarily paused, not out of fear or invasion of personal space, but out of something resembling awe. Somehow, this pony in front of her possessed levels of empathy and understanding that far exceeded even her own. Lily had never once mentioned the sheer amount of talking she'd done in her own thoughtscape since waking up, but somehow she knew that Bon Bon already knew all about it.

"Yeah," she finally replied, smiling to the sweethearted soul in front of her. "You're right. I've got to make the best of this... otherwise Lyn wouldn't be very pleased with me."

You're damn right I wouldn't, Lyn's voice chided, that mixture of scolding and care in her words. Listen to the adorable pony in front of you.

"It'll be okay," encouraged Bon Bon, bringing her hoof back to her own body. "Twilight and Lyra are the strongest unicorns in Ponyville. If anypony can find a solution and get you back home, it's the two of them."

"Girls," another voice interjected. Lily and Bon Bon looked over to see Lyra facing them. "Okay, Twilight and I don't think we can come to a conclusion right now," the minty unicorn continued, once she knew she had their attention. "We're both going to look into this separately and talk to some other ponies, but for now, we just don't know enough about it. What we do know is that, regardless of the cause, Lily, you're here now, and we have to do what we can about that."

"You'll let her stay here, right?" Bon Bon pleaded, almost as if she expected Lyra to suddenly throw her new guest onto the streets of Ponyville.

Lyra cocked an eyebrow. "Of course I will," she replied, apparently taking the unspoken accusation at face value. "What kind of mare do you think I am, Bons? You're a silly pony." The earth pony only beamed at this response, and Lyra wasn't sure whether it was due to the teasing or the affirmation that Lily had a place to stay, but she chuckled nonetheless. "You two look like you're getting along fine; maybe you should take her home instead, girl."

"Oh, but there's nowhere for her to sleep," Bon Bon said, knowing Lyra knew this on her own. Bon Bon's house was only a tiny little cottage near the edge of town, large enough only to house one pony and not much more. Her confectionery shop was barely two minutes of walking away, and on the upper floor Bon Bon owned an even smaller living space, which she sometimes stayed at after long days or when she was feeling particularly lazy. "Although, I guess I could just stay in the shop," she mused, considering the logistics of the matter to herself.

"Bons," Lyra laughed, shaking her head. "I was joking. You really do like her, don't you?"

"I just want to make sure Lily is okay!" the other pony protested, her cheeks flushing innocently. "Stop teasing meee," she whined, putting her hooves over her head as her ears flopped down.

"Anyways, girls," Twilight cut in awkwardly, smiling and feeling her position at that point to be something of a third -- or perhaps fourth -- wheel. "I'm going to go home and think about this, and I'll probably ask the princess about her thoughts on the matter." The lavender unicorn picked up her belongings, turning to address Lyra. "We'll keep in touch, okay? I definitely don't want to let this one slip away."

"Sure thing, Twi," Lyra nodded, understanding how excited Twilight was, holding the same feelings herself. "Just remember; no research labs."

"I promise!" Twilight grinned, turning toward the front door. "See you later, everypony."

As Twilight left, the room stayed quiet for a moment, as the three girls each tried to determine what to do from there. However, it didn't take long for Lily's imagination to catch up with her, and she was the first to break the silence.

"Wait," she spoke, replaying the words in her head. "Did she say 'princess' there?"

"That she did," replied Lyra, jumping off the couch and landing neatly on all hooves. "Twilight is the princess's personal protégé. It's why she's even better with magic than I am."

"Who is this princess?" Lily inquired, a dozen other questions already at the tip of her tongue as she sat straight up again. "Is there a prince too? A queen?"

"Nothing quite like that," Bon Bon answered, recognizing the interest in the girl's voice. "Princess Celestia is the ruler of Equestria. She raises the sun each morning and looks after all the other ponies. Her sister, Princess Luna, looks after the night while we rest."

Like many other things she'd come to learn or witness in the short time she had been there, Lily's thoughts entirely bypassed concepts such as a pony raising the sun in the mornings, in order to pursue things of much more direct and pressing interest.

"I don't... I don't suppose the princesses are unicorns also?" she asked, the thought of her silly cloud dream surfacing once more.

To this, Lyra rolled her eyes. "For goodness' sake," she laughed, rubbing her head with an amused look on her face. "You aren't going to let 'Princess Unicornia' go until you actually get to meet her, now are you?"

"Could I really meet her?" Lily continued, oblivious to Lyra's teasing as her eyes lit up. "I mean, she's royalty, so probably not, but that would be... so..."

"Slow the boat there, girl," the green unicorn said, holding a hoof up. "To be perfectly honest, it probably wouldn't be that hard for you to meet the princess if you really wanted. As we said, Twilight is her student, and Canterlot is only a train ride away from Ponyville... If you go outside, you can see Canterlot Castle up on the mountain from here."

"A... castle up on the mountain top? Where the... unicorn princess lives... "

As these words left Lily's mouth, she stared blankly in the direction of one of Lyra's walls, as if trying to decipher at that moment what made them so perfectly sand-coloured. Lyra, not being far off from Lily's line of sight, idly waved a hoof, receiving no response for her troubles. Bon Bon giggled at this, sitting upright and nudging the human girl with her head, trying to stir her from her trance.

"She's totally lost in her own fantasy, isn't she?" came Lyra's voice, unheard by Lily's ears.

"I think so," the earth pony agreed, climbing onto the back of the loveseat and leaning against the back of Lily's neck. "Equestria to Lily!" she said, bumping her hoof against the short red hair. "Come in, Lily!"

"Uwaa," was the response, as Lily suddenly realized there was a mass of living weight on her shoulders. She turned her head and found herself faced with two great shining cyan eyes, staring at her full of life.

"Hi!" Bon Bon greeted her, as if nothing was amiss.

"H-Hi," Lily blushed, the distance between their faces closer than the girl was used to, from anyone save Lyn.

A mischievous expression crossed Lyra's face as her horn glowed, her thoughts revolving around how to make the situation even funnier for herself, but while she knew how far she could push her best friend, she didn't feel it right to test the waters with someone she barely knew. Redirecting her thoughts at the last moment to a white mug on the table, she lifted it over to herself, peering inside and cursing as she realized she was out of coffee again.

"Anyways Lily," she spoke, reluctantly breaking the amusing scene before her. "I'll talk to Twi about the princess, but let's focus on things a little more important for now, okay?"

The human girl turned back around as Bon Bon hopped off her shoulders, looking toward Lyra and realizing what point in the conversation they were at. "Oh," she replied quietly. "Yes, of course. Don't worry about me."

"Also, to answer your first question: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are pegasus unicorns. That is to say, they have traits of both, and are two of only few to possess both these traits." Fully expecting this information to send Lily into another fit of glee, Lyra realized at that point that something had been left out. "Oh," she added. "There are pegasus ponies here too. They have wings and fly with them, as you could guess."

"I... see!" Lily responded after a moment, and both mares could tell she was doing her best to contain herself. "Are there any other kinds of ponies?" she asked, hoping that continued conversation would help her stay focused.

"Not that we're aware of," Lyra said, walking her empty mug to the kitchen and raising her voice so she could be heard from the other room. "There are other creatures, but you've already heard a few of those mentioned. As far as ponies go, that's all."

"Hey Lyra," Bon Bon spoke up, her sweet voice carrying to the kitchen without the need to raise the volume. "Nopony will be too thrown to see Lily walking the streets, will they? I think it would be better for us to introduce her to Ponyville personally instead of sitting around the house explaining how things work to her."

"You just want to take her for a walk, don't you?" came Lyra's voice, a hint of slyness in her tone. "It's okay, Bons, you can just admit it."

"Oh, would you cut that out!"

To Lily's surprise -- and brief alarm -- Bon Bon leapt right off the couch, flying across the room and landing in the doorway to the next room, cantering away at a speed Lily felt was probably not safe indoors. A few moments later, there was an audible thump of some sort, followed by Lyra crying out in pain. Bon Bon trotted proudly back into the sitting room, her head held high as she climbed back onto the loveseat with Lily as if nothing had happened.

"Forget what I told you, Lily!"

Following her statement, Lyra walked back into the room, nursing the top of her head with one hoof. In the other, her mug was steaming once more, and Lily began to wonder if the unicorn lived off coffee. "She's nothing like you at all," Lyra continued, meandering back to the larger couch. "That mare is a total demon. Don't let her looks deceive you."

Lily looked down at the pony beside her, eyeing her with a look of contemplation.

Bon Bon just smiled.