Lyra & The /k/ommandosby Calex WinteridgeChaptersLeavingEnteringTrackingDiscoveryLeavingChapter 1: Leaving Lyra is a human fanatic. She researches them, talks about them with her friends, looks at them all the time, and of course annoys her roommate Bon-Bon with them at least 5 hours a day if Bon-Bon’s lucky of course as five hours and below is usually the minimum amount of time. If she isn’t lucky however, she’ll be driven to the breaking point of practical internal (and external) screaming in exasperation from listening to Lyra babble on. Of course Bon-Bon is an understanding pony, she knows we all have our interests as she has her own, and because she thinks so, she still loves Lyra no matter what, her commitment with humans, or her commitment in general, being one of the many reasons she loves her. After all she knows behind the human talk is a well rounded pony with hopes and dreams of one day becoming a successful member of today's society, one that she could see herself with for a long time. But she does find it worrisome when she spends her bits on human memorabilia, and goes to conventions for days on end obsessing over the stuff. But her worries are amplified ten-fold when she goes off into the woods maybe three times a year hunting for humans alone, trying to get real proof they exist. Now normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but she does it in the Everfree forest of all the places she could go. She finds it extremely dangerous, and she gets worried that one time when she goes into those woods, she may never come out, after all it's the Everfree forest, a mysterious and practically untamed land to her, and to many others like herself. Herself being common pony folk. Lyra has a word for ponies like Bon-Bon, that she often refers to Bon-Bon as from time to time when they argue, she calls them… normies. She’s stressed her displeasure to Lyra about her outings many times, but each time Lyra says she has nothing to fear and that safety is her number one priority. But when she comes back from those woods with cuts and bruises and complains of aching for the next couple days, they often get into fights on her continuing this fascination with humans to the point of self harm. Bon-Bon doesn’t want her to stop her interest in humans but, she also doesn’t want her to get into serious trouble. But Lyra sometimes just doesn't want to hear it. She says that going this extra mile is necessary to her, “cause.” Bon-Bon usually asks her what she means by that, and Lyra always responds the same way. “To prove that we aren’t alone out here, and that humans do exist!” Of which will prompt her to go on and on about discovery and the pursuit of knowledge. But Bon-Bon has heard that shpeel so many times that… she can recite it word by word. So she usually just gives up trying after a while of arguing with her, and nods her head till she stops talking. But, Bon-Bon can always try because she really does care about Lyra. And Lyra knows that, which is why deep down she understands why she says the things that she says. She knows she’s worried about her safety, about her spending bits on this hobby, about her obsession. And sometimes, she listens. She tries to spend more time with Bon-Bon. Once in a blue moon she doesn’t go to the human convention, and instead she spends time at home or abroad. She will once in awhile pass up on something she wants and puts her bits away in the bank. And maybe… when she really wants to, she doesn’t go into the Everfree Forest. Though of course, she doesn't listen all the time. And that stubbornness to her hobby may lead to what Bon-Bon fears the most. 10:47PM - 28th of May - 2019 It was a somewhat hot night, with a very heavy dosage of humidity in the air, which had turned to fog as a light coating of it had settled around the town of Ponyville. It had rained earlier that day and unfortunately this was the result. The muggy, foggy, damp soupy mess of an atmosphere made Lyra who was weighed down with a decent amount of camping and survival gear, grumble and subtly curse beneath her breath as she walked to the outskirts of Ponyville. Needless to say she was miserable, and the weather was the cherry on the shit sunday as she was already in a bad state of mind, knowing what she was about to do. She had barely started her adventure, and she almost wanted to turn back. She, had left her house and roomate Bon-Bon behind almost two hours ago, without notice. This was new to her as she had always told her where she was going at all times. But, she had already packed her things, a week in advance, and kept her plan a secret from her friend long enough so she could escape in the dead of night when Bon-Bon went to bed for the evening. She left the house, leaving a note behind detailing her sudden disappearance, also saying that if she wasn’t back with in three days, that Bon-Bon should contact the authorities, and start a search party. For she had only packed for a three day trip, and she knew that of course. Lyra would be forced to leave anyway, even if she didn’t want to. But with the supplies she took, she made sure that she had everything she needed to ensure her survival for those three days. It included a tent, sleeping bag, bug spray, a fire starting kit, food, water, a first aid kit. All of this, and some things to keep her boredom occupied when she wasn’t busy with her goal. Finding humans, and possibly convincing them to leave the woods and come out to civilization to show the ponies of the world that they do exist. This was her ultimate plan of grandeur, her magnum opus. She would finally show Bon-Bon and all her normie friends that all her obsession was enough to justify her going out and camping in the woods like this. She would finally have peace in her never ending quest to bring about a new discovery in Equestrian history. Lyra figured she would be renowned for her discovery, she would be the face of scientific minds across the country if not the world, and not just some quack from Ponyville that won’t stop obsessive over humans. And these thoughts alone pressed her forever onwards in her mission, despite the shit atmosphere. Of course this hunch she had that humans really do exist didn’t come from out of nowhere. Though she has always believed they existed, she has never really believed them to be out there this strongly like this until a few weeks ago, when she overheard a conversation between a pair of ponies at the Ponyville Marketplace. She was gathering some fruit to make a delicious fruit salad for her and her roommate for tonight's dinner one afternoon, when she heard the word human flutter through the air. She would almost instantly forget about her shopping and would pursue the conversation. She would find herself, hiding behind a barrel of apples, listening to a Royal Guardsman, and another stallion as they spoke together quietly in the open, a pen and notepad suspended by her magic. She didn’t know how they got to the topic of humans, but what she hears made her smile, and her pen fly across the notepad. The Guard was apparently a very high ranking non commissioned officer, and he had some leaked info from his commanding officer that there had been some disturbances in the Everfree Forest not to long ago that nopony in their unit could explain what it was. They had reported it to higher command, but they didn’t hear anything back from them for a while, almost as if telling them to, forget about it. She listened for a little while longer until the two parted ways and headed separate directions. Her pen stopped and there she lay for roughly 15 minutes putting the conversation together in her mind. Word by word, constructing and deconstructing everything he had said. And when she came down to the explanation that it could be humans, she put her plan in motion as fast as she could. Soon, she left the town of Ponyville, getting closer towards the Forest in the distance, her gear clunking along with her, a feeling of optimism washed over herself as deceiving her friend was pushed onto the back burner for the time being as she recounted the conversation she had eavesdropped in on. She had a job to do and she was going to do exactly what she had always intended to do. Find herself a human. Nothing was going to stop her now. EnteringChapter 2: Entering 1:36AM - 28th of May - 2019 Lyra is a fast worker, she has been her entire life. Everything she does, no matter how small, she does as fast as she possibly can. She likes to prove things to herself and often finds satisfaction in doing things fast and right the first time. A major part of this behavior is because Bon-Bon always tells her to take things slow and steady so that she doesn’t mess anything up, or forget to do important things. But luckily for Lyra, Bon-Bon isn’t here right now, so she is free to do as she pleases, as well as how fast she wants to do them. Like for example, navigating through the Everfree Forest. It was night and it was dark, absolutely pitch black. It was like the darkness you see at night in your bedroom, when you pull your covers over your head, and slam your eyes shut because you heard a bump in the night, but of course you tell yourself not to worry about it. It was an uncertain kind of darkness, one that is opened ended so to speak, one that goes on and on for what feels like forever. It weaves in and out through the trees and strangles light to the bare minimum of space it can illuminate. It was… nearly impossible to walk through, luckily Lyra was experienced at this kind of exploring. She would never cower away under the covers and just hide at home from the dark. She had her duty, and she would carry on. Plus her horn is a damn good flashlight. With her horn illuminating the path in front of her she pushed on. The path she trotted along was a very much established treading ground for not only her, but other explorers and residents of Ponyville. Mostly Zecora, in fact she's the one who made these paths in the first place. Lyra had actually thanked Zecora for her pathfinding a while ago when she first started this camping tradition as, without them she wouldn’t have a prayer of moving through the forest in a somewhat organized manner. Then again, saying the paths were organized was a stretch. It’s not, they aren't, and you’d look like a fool for saying such things. Only Zecora could navigate these paths accurately. Only she knew where they truely went. Unfortunately Lyra didn't have her here as a navigator so she was on her own. But, being on her own was something that, despite her obvious disadvantage, she relished in. She loved the loneliness, she was finally free to say as she pleased, and do as she pleased too. Not that she didn’t love Bon-Bon and Ponyville, which she did very much, she just needs a break once and a while to get away from it all. She needed to get away from the same thing over and over again day in and day out. A chance to live how she pleased without anypony judging her for it. And, she would be lying to herself if this human hunt came at the same time she needed such a break. It had gotten a bit tense at home with Bon-Bon, as things usually do, and she was almost at her wits end. Of course she wasn’t going to just snap on her, but she needed to get away, just to let herself find some solace and peace of mind. Knowing full well, the moment she steps back into the house in three days time, she would be greeted with a worry wart of a roomate, angry at her for leaving so suddenly. But she would prepare herself for it while she was out here so that when it did happen, she can just calmly and collectively ease the two of them out of the conversation without much arguing. She needed this, Bon-Bon needed this. They both needed this and Lyra could tell, even if Bon-Bon would disagree. Regardless, as she bounded down the path further and further away from the forest entrance she soon found herself at her old campsite. It had been an hour hike up to this point, and she was very, very tired. Not only was it, tomorrow but she was now thoroughly worn out from the hike, plus she was still somewhat emotionally stressed from deceiving her friend. All of this together pushed her one more step forward, and forced her to make camp right there in her small clearing. Her camp was… off the beaten path away’s. It’s position would force the mare to cover much uncharted ground before appearing through the brush and into the clearing. Which despite the ticks and bugs that could be lurking in the high grass, she did without fear. For some reason, a reason she couldn’t explain, this area of overgrown grass was untouched by trees and poisonous plant life. It was the perfect spot for a campout, so she would come back here every time. She had grown to actually calling this place a home away from home, a home that was, comforting for her enough that she felt safe to call this area her own. It seemed silly to call this barren patch of grass a second home to most, so she wouldn’t say it out loud like that in front of others, especially Bon-Bon. But, regardless she had a campsite to erect and she needed to do it soon, she was getting more tired by the second. So after cutting the grass down to a more, manageable level with a very simple spell she learn for when it was her turn to cut the lawn back at home, she rose her tent into the air, spiked it down, and stuffed her gear inside after she sprayed down the entrances with bug repellent, which now left her time to prepare her campfire. She knew how far away was safe for a fire to be built around trees and her tent, to ensure either weren’t set on fire. But just to make sure, she pulled out a thick survivalists book from her tent, and used her magic to flip through to the pages she needed to refresh her memory. After a ring of rocks was built up, and some large sticks and tree logs were gathered, she called it a night, and crawled inside her tent, zipping up the entrance behind her, and set up her living quarters. Which didn’t take long at all. She unpacked her supplies. Her sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and pillow were brought into the far right corner and set up. Her first aid satchel was unpacked and placed in the bottom left corner. The tent light was hung from a ring at the top of the tent, and turned on to the lowest setting. Her food and water were kept in her bag for safe keeping. And finally her survivalist book was placed next to her pillow for late night reading. Everything was set, and as Lyra laid atop her sleeping bag she looked around the dimly lit interior of her tent and smiled contently. This was her home for the next three days, and she couldn’t feel happier. She knew that if she took care of herself, drank plenty of water and rationed her food and applied bug spray often, she could walk out of these woods without a scratch on her. So with a sigh of contentment, she turned her head back into place, as her mane ruffled gently on the pillow, and closed her eyes after sinking down into the covers after tossing them over her body. She would soon fall fast asleep, and morning would come roaring up to her. TrackingChapter 3: Tracking 7:00AM - 29th of May - 2019 Showers. Now that's the first thing ponies think about when they wake up, besides going back to sleep. Getting clean and washing away the night and yesterday so you can start a new day fresh. This is a necessity for some ponies, something they physically cannot live without. That dependence is understandable, especially when you’ve lived with that luxury your whole life. Plus a shower feels amazing so you can’t blame them that much for wanting one every morning. The endless cascade of water onto your body, soothing heat from the hot water and steam, and the feeling of calm you get as water pours down your fur and into the drain below. Though it is a standard luxury for most ponies, the greater masses take showers for granted, others aren’t that well off like the rest of us. Some ponies can’t afford nor have the ability to obtain a shower every morning. These ponies are used to it of course, which makes a shower all that more amazing when they do get one. Regardless, out here in the woods there is no showers. There is only the water from the rivers and lakes that flow freely from the depths of the forest, and the rain. Of course Lyra wasn’t about to go jumping into those waters. She, and everypony else on the face of the planet knew better than that. She couldn’t know what was lurking in the rivers and lakes, nor was she going to find out. So as she unzipped her tent flap and stepped out into the morning sun, on her freshly cut and petite forest campsite, she stretched her body, and brushed her teeth vigorously with a toothbrush and toothpaste. If her body was gonna stink, her teeth would cover up for it. Minuette would be proud of her for the lengths she was going to make sure she stays somewhat clean, even though that really wasn’t a major objective out here for her. After washing out her mouth, and spitting the paste away into the grass, she’d rub her tongue across her teeth. The friction and their cleanliness would make some squeaking rubbing sounds that she thought was funny. She’d laugh gently at this, imagining herself polishing the surface of her molars so that they can show reflections, like a table at a restaurant. After all, she did need to take up a job as a busmare at the local Hayburger Shop. A steady income, and good attendance at work allows her to take time off like this, and do her hobby to begin with. Plus her boss is very understanding of her interests. After all that, she would look up into the sky from the clearing in the treetops, and watch the beautiful fluffy clouds of the morning Everfree sky gently move past. She smiled. She had gotten up at the right time, gathered enough sleep the night before, and started off her morning right with her daily routine. Though it was small pebbles to what she was going to be doing today, she did enjoy doing this. A sigh would leave her lips, as she spoke softly out loud to herself as she stood back up onto all fours. “Alright, time to find some humans,” She turned back around and headed into her tent, and over towards the hiking bag. She rummaged through it and began to organize a days worth of supplies. Once she was done, she stepped back out, and began work on setting a small fire. She used tinder, and some flint and steel around a small triangle stack of wood in the center of the stones, that she quickly arranged. She knew there was a spell for this, but she also liked using flint and steel. The sparks looked cool to her as they jumped from the steel rod to the tinder bellow, as the fire would slowly begin to smoke to life. In no time at all, the fire slowly sprung up. The flames would lick upwards at the air as she sat at a comfortable distance away from it so that she was warm, but not burning up, as she applied her bug repellent to her hooves and body. “This is nice…” She would say as she sighed again in the comfort of the fire, putting the bug spray away back into her day pack for re-application at around noon. She would have herself a quick breakfast as she sat in the comfort of the small flame, two large red apples, from Sweet Apple Acres, peanut butter, and a healthy drink of water. She knew she would need the strength to do as much hiking as possible before she got hungry again. Because Lyra knew she needed to get moving soon, she was burning daylight, something that she hated when she was doing this sort of exploring. The fire was small enough that when she needed to go, she could easily put it out. Heck, the only reason she started it in the first place was to, just make fire to begin with. She once again relished the fact that she could do such things like, make camp, start a fire, track and such. It was quite out of character for her to be into such things, which is why outside these woods she would keep most of her knowledge about survival, out of her conversations. Only Bon-Bon knew how much she enjoyed this hobby, well... her and a few other strangers that she met at the conventions and hobby shops. Once Lyra was done her breakfast, and she gave it time to settle, she snuffed out the fire, and equipped her gear. She did a quick inventory check and nodded turning away from her camp. “Here we go... “ 11:42AM - 29th of May - 2019 Twigs snapped, pebbles rolled, and dirt was pushed around as Lyra trotted down a path she had decided was a good one to continue on down. She had been out here for quite some time, and it was closing in on noon. Lyra knew this, so she was searching for a place to hold up for a moment so she could enjoy her lunch. A place to eat didn't need to be extravagant, a large rock, a clearing, maybe a fallen tree overlooking a pond or a lake, anything would be nice. Unfortunately, much like her search for humans, she was coming up empty hoofed. “Hmm, wonder how long this path goes on for, I don’t think I’ve hiked down this section of the forest before,” She said to herself as she noticed the unfamiliarity of the forest around her. Her brows scrunched up as her eyelids squinted as confusion took hold in her mind. This section of the forest looked, very different indeed, and she didn't know when it had changed to look like this. But she had noticed a slight change in flora a while back, from swampy growths and familiar plants to more, moderate greenery and a more, forest kind of feel as tree tops were beginning to thin out, and change shape as the swamp atmosphere changed. What was once the Everfree, wasn’t looking like the Everfree anymore. She wanted to turn back, but she also wanted to see what was down the path, wondering if there was a section of the Everfree she hadn’t seen yet. “It’s getting hotter… And less humid, the air is turning into a dry heat now,” She whispered to herself as she felt the heat of the sun really lay into her body as the trees let in more sunlight. She continued on for a little while longer until she stopped, she practically ground to a halt. She spun around and looked behind her and as she did, she didn't recognize the path she was walking on at all. This wasn’t the Everfree anymore, that was not the path she remembered, she was someplace new, someplace that felt almost alien to the Everfree. Something was very, very wrong with the forest, it was changing in ways she couldn’t understand. She had already established that the environment had changed. But now the path she walked one had shifted behind her, it had grown much wider, as wide a road carts could travel down. And at that moment, the realization finally struck her, she was lost. Lyra was absolutely lost, and panic started setting in, her mind began to race, as this had never happened to her before. She instantly took off back down the path, and galloped as fast as she could. Dust clouds formed behind her as she ran. She needed to get back to familiar territory, fast. She wasn’t nearly prepared for this kind of situation at all. Then… without noticing it, she was back in the Everfree. She stopped again, and looked around in immense confusion. Her head whipped around and her eyes scanned everything. The light had faded, the humidity was back, and the trees changed back to their normal look. The forest seemed normal again, or, what could be considered normal for the Everfree Forest. Lyra was at a loss for words, as she immediately regained her surroundings and found the path she was heading down before she got lost. “What the… Wha-What's going on here,” She said absolutely dumbfounded at this development. Lyra then looked back to where she was going to go, before she disappeared to that strange new environment, and the path looked nothing like what she had experienced. It looked like the Everfree just continued as it should, it looks damp, dark, and the same as everything else. Something inside her wanted to push on to go see what was happening, but as her stomach grumbled, she forgot about it for a second, and refocused on finding a place to hold up for lunch. But as she walked away, continuing her quest to find a spot to eat, Lyra stopped and looked over her shoulder. Something about that experience, was… exciting in a way. She may have made the discovery she was looking for. Did this mean humans? Maybe, the possibility was there. Then again, this could be something completely different. Lyra didn't know, but this was something she could investigate at a later time. So she marked the area for later exploration. She printed her cutie mark on a rock with another smaller rock, carving it in to the side facing the path. After the image of her mark with visible enough for her, she tossed the rock away, and turned back. “Tomorrow… That’s when I’ll come back,” DiscoveryChapter 4: Discovery 9:32AM - 30th of May - 2019 These woods, weren’t like the Everfree at all. The Everfree had a sense of foreboding surrounding it, as if around every corner you could be mauled to death by a manticore, frozen in place by a Cockatrice, or… something equally horrible. But here, in this strange section of the forest, everything that made the Everfree the way it was, seemed to just go away. It was surprisingly quite nice to Lyra in her opinion, the swampiness of the Everfree woods was very unenjoyable to anypony that stepped inside of it, minus the ponies that lived here already. Even though this made no logical sense to her, it was a nice change. It was worrying, and rather unsettling to say the least, but overall it was warm, windy, and pleasant, three things Lyra couldn’t say about the Everfree. Speaking of which, was this really the Everfree anymore? Lyra slowly moved down the now much larger path through the foreign section of the forest. She looked at the types of trees, the plant life, the animals that scattered about around her, which ranged from squirrels to birds she had never seen before. Before long she came to the conclusion that, this wasn’t the Everfree. This was a completely different forest, truly uncharted territory. Uncharted to her, and hopefully everypony else. This made Lyra very excited, she may not have found humans, but she found some kind of gateway from the Everfree to, wherever this is. Though, all of this discovery scared her quite a bit. She had lingering thoughts that maybe if she went further through this new forest, the way back home would close up. But despite these worrisome thoughts, she carried on further, placing her fate in this worlds hooves. Speaking of this world, Lyra was coming up to a clearing of some sort, as a break in the trees was ahead of her. The trees on her right side stopped for a moment, and as she approached it, the break in the woods gave her a perfect picture of where she really was. As Lyra stood in this clearing, she looked off into the distance. The trees continued to break all the way off into the horizon. The horizon was a sweeping mountain scape, with mountain peaks that almost reached high enough to pierce the clouds, as the tippy top of those peaks had snow atop them. She would soon come to see that she wasn’t on the forest floor, but up high in a mountain range, as the trees sloped down the side of this immense incline and created a valley below her, all of which was untouched forestry. She saw rivers that stretched on for miles, and lakes the size of pony town. Mysteriously though, large breaks in the trees could be seen as well, they snaked along in unnatural patterns that looked as if they sectioned off parts of the forest from others. They were broken up by these paths deliberately, and as she turned around, she could see that this clearing was part of one of these long breaks in the forest. Lyra thought about this for a moment, before the realization on what these were set in. “These are fire lines. They’re made to purposefully break up a forest so that fires can’t spread during hot seasons, limiting how much the fire can destroy. Which means this forest, has had ponies through it before. Yet, I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. None of this geography makes any sense, this isn't Equestria. This is, t-this is…” Lyra began to stammer. “This is confusing, am I in Equestria or not? Buck me...” She looked around and tried to think. Pondering she carried on down the path. Lyra was thinking a mile a minute, she just couldn’t put two and two together. It just didn’t make sense. This place looked so much like Equestria in so many ways yet, the scale and size of it, was just too big. The wildlife was similar enough, it could pass as Equestrian, yet there are species here that she had never seen before. Idea after idea went through her mind, and all were just getting stuck. She had the sound of the woods keeping her company as she murmured and talked to herself, trying to piece together this truly perplexing reality she had stumbled into. That was of course, until she ran into a gate. Lyra stopped for a moment and looked ahead, her eyes squinting, as if she had never seen a gate before. She trotted up to it and examined it all over, as it was the first sign of civilization thus far besides the fire breaks. It was in fact a simple metal gate blocking the path, surrounded by thick trees on either side that made moving past impossible, if you had a cart. The gate was locked shut by chains and a padlock, and on the other side of the gate, there was a diamond shaped sign. It was bright yellow with a black border and black lettering. “No vehicles beyond this point. By order of the National Park Service,” Lyra read outloud. “What the buck is the National Park Service? I’ve never heard of that organization before,” She turned around and looked beyond the front of the gate, and the path seemed to round a sharp corner which opened into another clearing. She turned back and looked at this sign and shook her head, now thinking even more. “Alright, now I know I’m not in equestria anymore, and what the hay is a vehicle?” While trying not to think too much about the sign and the gate, she pushed forward again. She rounded the corner, and this time the clearing started on the left side of her. But it wasn’t another fire break, it was an open field. She kept walking until she was half way down the path that was connected with this field. This open area seemed to stretch back at least 500 yards, and was as wide as… well, it was wide, very wide. Lyra had nothing to compare it to. But, what really caught her eye was, somepony had gone out into this field and set up what looked like targets, that were made of steel, suspended by chains, and hung from metal rectangular arches that looked to have been driven into the ground. They were placed at various ranges too, some at 50 yards, some at 100 yards, and so on and so on. The only way she could range these targets was because, yet again somepony had placed wooden boards by these different ranged targets and spray painted the distances on them. “I-is this a range? Like a bow range? If so why are the targets made of steel?” She moved up to the closest one of these circular targets and touched one. They really we’re made of steel, “The only thing this is gonna do is ruin the arrow tip. What would be the point of that?” She said to herself. She moved back to the path, and was going to push further, until she heard something. Something that was approaching her, rather quickly. It sounded like the rolling of thunder... and music. It sounded like drums, and the strumming of an acoustic instrument, and it was getting louder, and it was coming up the path she was standing on. Her ears perked towards it and as she did, she heard voices, voices that sang along with the music… “Here's the story of Rhodesia, a land both fair and great! On the Eleventh of November an Independent State!” And it wasn’t just a single voice, it was a whole chorus of masculine voices that all sung out together. These sounds of approaching song and thunder immediately forced lyra into panic mode. Quickly thinking, she turned tail and ran back up the path and hid in a bush, right before the road turned up to the gate. She peaked her eyes up over the shrubbery to see a magnificent sight. Massive green and black machines on wheels came rolling down the road, they were loud and blaring that music into the woods around them. They were truly staggering in size, bigger than a cart by a long shot, and to top it all off, they seemed to be moving under their own power. Were these the vehicles that sign had mentioned? She just didn't know at the moment, but that didn't matter to her right now, because these machines were only the base of the cake she was eyeing up for, what did she see piloting and riding in these metal beasts, the icing on the cake? “H-Humans…” The voices she heard we’re in fact coming from these steel chariots, and riding on top and inside them we’re humans. They all looked different in shape, size, and complexity, and most of them, if not all of them wore different clothing. But all of them we're 100% real life, honest to Celestia, clear as day, humans. She had found them, she really truly had found humans, they weren’t a myth anymore, they were real, and they are right here in front of her for the whole world to see. Only, she was the only one here to see them, but not for long. Inside her bag, her day pack she had taken with her for this exploration, she brought along a camera, for exactly this reason, to capture and record the existence of these very beings. And as she watched those metal machines slow to a stop, she listened and watched the humans with glistening eyes. This was her chance to prove everypony wrong...
LeavingChapter 1: Leaving Lyra is a human fanatic. She researches them, talks about them with her friends, looks at them all the time, and of course annoys her roommate Bon-Bon with them at least 5 hours a day if Bon-Bon’s lucky of course as five hours and below is usually the minimum amount of time. If she isn’t lucky however, she’ll be driven to the breaking point of practical internal (and external) screaming in exasperation from listening to Lyra babble on. Of course Bon-Bon is an understanding pony, she knows we all have our interests as she has her own, and because she thinks so, she still loves Lyra no matter what, her commitment with humans, or her commitment in general, being one of the many reasons she loves her. After all she knows behind the human talk is a well rounded pony with hopes and dreams of one day becoming a successful member of today's society, one that she could see herself with for a long time. But she does find it worrisome when she spends her bits on human memorabilia, and goes to conventions for days on end obsessing over the stuff. But her worries are amplified ten-fold when she goes off into the woods maybe three times a year hunting for humans alone, trying to get real proof they exist. Now normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but she does it in the Everfree forest of all the places she could go. She finds it extremely dangerous, and she gets worried that one time when she goes into those woods, she may never come out, after all it's the Everfree forest, a mysterious and practically untamed land to her, and to many others like herself. Herself being common pony folk. Lyra has a word for ponies like Bon-Bon, that she often refers to Bon-Bon as from time to time when they argue, she calls them… normies. She’s stressed her displeasure to Lyra about her outings many times, but each time Lyra says she has nothing to fear and that safety is her number one priority. But when she comes back from those woods with cuts and bruises and complains of aching for the next couple days, they often get into fights on her continuing this fascination with humans to the point of self harm. Bon-Bon doesn’t want her to stop her interest in humans but, she also doesn’t want her to get into serious trouble. But Lyra sometimes just doesn't want to hear it. She says that going this extra mile is necessary to her, “cause.” Bon-Bon usually asks her what she means by that, and Lyra always responds the same way. “To prove that we aren’t alone out here, and that humans do exist!” Of which will prompt her to go on and on about discovery and the pursuit of knowledge. But Bon-Bon has heard that shpeel so many times that… she can recite it word by word. So she usually just gives up trying after a while of arguing with her, and nods her head till she stops talking. But, Bon-Bon can always try because she really does care about Lyra. And Lyra knows that, which is why deep down she understands why she says the things that she says. She knows she’s worried about her safety, about her spending bits on this hobby, about her obsession. And sometimes, she listens. She tries to spend more time with Bon-Bon. Once in a blue moon she doesn’t go to the human convention, and instead she spends time at home or abroad. She will once in awhile pass up on something she wants and puts her bits away in the bank. And maybe… when she really wants to, she doesn’t go into the Everfree Forest. Though of course, she doesn't listen all the time. And that stubbornness to her hobby may lead to what Bon-Bon fears the most. 10:47PM - 28th of May - 2019 It was a somewhat hot night, with a very heavy dosage of humidity in the air, which had turned to fog as a light coating of it had settled around the town of Ponyville. It had rained earlier that day and unfortunately this was the result. The muggy, foggy, damp soupy mess of an atmosphere made Lyra who was weighed down with a decent amount of camping and survival gear, grumble and subtly curse beneath her breath as she walked to the outskirts of Ponyville. Needless to say she was miserable, and the weather was the cherry on the shit sunday as she was already in a bad state of mind, knowing what she was about to do. She had barely started her adventure, and she almost wanted to turn back. She, had left her house and roomate Bon-Bon behind almost two hours ago, without notice. This was new to her as she had always told her where she was going at all times. But, she had already packed her things, a week in advance, and kept her plan a secret from her friend long enough so she could escape in the dead of night when Bon-Bon went to bed for the evening. She left the house, leaving a note behind detailing her sudden disappearance, also saying that if she wasn’t back with in three days, that Bon-Bon should contact the authorities, and start a search party. For she had only packed for a three day trip, and she knew that of course. Lyra would be forced to leave anyway, even if she didn’t want to. But with the supplies she took, she made sure that she had everything she needed to ensure her survival for those three days. It included a tent, sleeping bag, bug spray, a fire starting kit, food, water, a first aid kit. All of this, and some things to keep her boredom occupied when she wasn’t busy with her goal. Finding humans, and possibly convincing them to leave the woods and come out to civilization to show the ponies of the world that they do exist. This was her ultimate plan of grandeur, her magnum opus. She would finally show Bon-Bon and all her normie friends that all her obsession was enough to justify her going out and camping in the woods like this. She would finally have peace in her never ending quest to bring about a new discovery in Equestrian history. Lyra figured she would be renowned for her discovery, she would be the face of scientific minds across the country if not the world, and not just some quack from Ponyville that won’t stop obsessive over humans. And these thoughts alone pressed her forever onwards in her mission, despite the shit atmosphere. Of course this hunch she had that humans really do exist didn’t come from out of nowhere. Though she has always believed they existed, she has never really believed them to be out there this strongly like this until a few weeks ago, when she overheard a conversation between a pair of ponies at the Ponyville Marketplace. She was gathering some fruit to make a delicious fruit salad for her and her roommate for tonight's dinner one afternoon, when she heard the word human flutter through the air. She would almost instantly forget about her shopping and would pursue the conversation. She would find herself, hiding behind a barrel of apples, listening to a Royal Guardsman, and another stallion as they spoke together quietly in the open, a pen and notepad suspended by her magic. She didn’t know how they got to the topic of humans, but what she hears made her smile, and her pen fly across the notepad. The Guard was apparently a very high ranking non commissioned officer, and he had some leaked info from his commanding officer that there had been some disturbances in the Everfree Forest not to long ago that nopony in their unit could explain what it was. They had reported it to higher command, but they didn’t hear anything back from them for a while, almost as if telling them to, forget about it. She listened for a little while longer until the two parted ways and headed separate directions. Her pen stopped and there she lay for roughly 15 minutes putting the conversation together in her mind. Word by word, constructing and deconstructing everything he had said. And when she came down to the explanation that it could be humans, she put her plan in motion as fast as she could. Soon, she left the town of Ponyville, getting closer towards the Forest in the distance, her gear clunking along with her, a feeling of optimism washed over herself as deceiving her friend was pushed onto the back burner for the time being as she recounted the conversation she had eavesdropped in on. She had a job to do and she was going to do exactly what she had always intended to do. Find herself a human. Nothing was going to stop her now.
EnteringChapter 2: Entering 1:36AM - 28th of May - 2019 Lyra is a fast worker, she has been her entire life. Everything she does, no matter how small, she does as fast as she possibly can. She likes to prove things to herself and often finds satisfaction in doing things fast and right the first time. A major part of this behavior is because Bon-Bon always tells her to take things slow and steady so that she doesn’t mess anything up, or forget to do important things. But luckily for Lyra, Bon-Bon isn’t here right now, so she is free to do as she pleases, as well as how fast she wants to do them. Like for example, navigating through the Everfree Forest. It was night and it was dark, absolutely pitch black. It was like the darkness you see at night in your bedroom, when you pull your covers over your head, and slam your eyes shut because you heard a bump in the night, but of course you tell yourself not to worry about it. It was an uncertain kind of darkness, one that is opened ended so to speak, one that goes on and on for what feels like forever. It weaves in and out through the trees and strangles light to the bare minimum of space it can illuminate. It was… nearly impossible to walk through, luckily Lyra was experienced at this kind of exploring. She would never cower away under the covers and just hide at home from the dark. She had her duty, and she would carry on. Plus her horn is a damn good flashlight. With her horn illuminating the path in front of her she pushed on. The path she trotted along was a very much established treading ground for not only her, but other explorers and residents of Ponyville. Mostly Zecora, in fact she's the one who made these paths in the first place. Lyra had actually thanked Zecora for her pathfinding a while ago when she first started this camping tradition as, without them she wouldn’t have a prayer of moving through the forest in a somewhat organized manner. Then again, saying the paths were organized was a stretch. It’s not, they aren't, and you’d look like a fool for saying such things. Only Zecora could navigate these paths accurately. Only she knew where they truely went. Unfortunately Lyra didn't have her here as a navigator so she was on her own. But, being on her own was something that, despite her obvious disadvantage, she relished in. She loved the loneliness, she was finally free to say as she pleased, and do as she pleased too. Not that she didn’t love Bon-Bon and Ponyville, which she did very much, she just needs a break once and a while to get away from it all. She needed to get away from the same thing over and over again day in and day out. A chance to live how she pleased without anypony judging her for it. And, she would be lying to herself if this human hunt came at the same time she needed such a break. It had gotten a bit tense at home with Bon-Bon, as things usually do, and she was almost at her wits end. Of course she wasn’t going to just snap on her, but she needed to get away, just to let herself find some solace and peace of mind. Knowing full well, the moment she steps back into the house in three days time, she would be greeted with a worry wart of a roomate, angry at her for leaving so suddenly. But she would prepare herself for it while she was out here so that when it did happen, she can just calmly and collectively ease the two of them out of the conversation without much arguing. She needed this, Bon-Bon needed this. They both needed this and Lyra could tell, even if Bon-Bon would disagree. Regardless, as she bounded down the path further and further away from the forest entrance she soon found herself at her old campsite. It had been an hour hike up to this point, and she was very, very tired. Not only was it, tomorrow but she was now thoroughly worn out from the hike, plus she was still somewhat emotionally stressed from deceiving her friend. All of this together pushed her one more step forward, and forced her to make camp right there in her small clearing. Her camp was… off the beaten path away’s. It’s position would force the mare to cover much uncharted ground before appearing through the brush and into the clearing. Which despite the ticks and bugs that could be lurking in the high grass, she did without fear. For some reason, a reason she couldn’t explain, this area of overgrown grass was untouched by trees and poisonous plant life. It was the perfect spot for a campout, so she would come back here every time. She had grown to actually calling this place a home away from home, a home that was, comforting for her enough that she felt safe to call this area her own. It seemed silly to call this barren patch of grass a second home to most, so she wouldn’t say it out loud like that in front of others, especially Bon-Bon. But, regardless she had a campsite to erect and she needed to do it soon, she was getting more tired by the second. So after cutting the grass down to a more, manageable level with a very simple spell she learn for when it was her turn to cut the lawn back at home, she rose her tent into the air, spiked it down, and stuffed her gear inside after she sprayed down the entrances with bug repellent, which now left her time to prepare her campfire. She knew how far away was safe for a fire to be built around trees and her tent, to ensure either weren’t set on fire. But just to make sure, she pulled out a thick survivalists book from her tent, and used her magic to flip through to the pages she needed to refresh her memory. After a ring of rocks was built up, and some large sticks and tree logs were gathered, she called it a night, and crawled inside her tent, zipping up the entrance behind her, and set up her living quarters. Which didn’t take long at all. She unpacked her supplies. Her sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and pillow were brought into the far right corner and set up. Her first aid satchel was unpacked and placed in the bottom left corner. The tent light was hung from a ring at the top of the tent, and turned on to the lowest setting. Her food and water were kept in her bag for safe keeping. And finally her survivalist book was placed next to her pillow for late night reading. Everything was set, and as Lyra laid atop her sleeping bag she looked around the dimly lit interior of her tent and smiled contently. This was her home for the next three days, and she couldn’t feel happier. She knew that if she took care of herself, drank plenty of water and rationed her food and applied bug spray often, she could walk out of these woods without a scratch on her. So with a sigh of contentment, she turned her head back into place, as her mane ruffled gently on the pillow, and closed her eyes after sinking down into the covers after tossing them over her body. She would soon fall fast asleep, and morning would come roaring up to her.
TrackingChapter 3: Tracking 7:00AM - 29th of May - 2019 Showers. Now that's the first thing ponies think about when they wake up, besides going back to sleep. Getting clean and washing away the night and yesterday so you can start a new day fresh. This is a necessity for some ponies, something they physically cannot live without. That dependence is understandable, especially when you’ve lived with that luxury your whole life. Plus a shower feels amazing so you can’t blame them that much for wanting one every morning. The endless cascade of water onto your body, soothing heat from the hot water and steam, and the feeling of calm you get as water pours down your fur and into the drain below. Though it is a standard luxury for most ponies, the greater masses take showers for granted, others aren’t that well off like the rest of us. Some ponies can’t afford nor have the ability to obtain a shower every morning. These ponies are used to it of course, which makes a shower all that more amazing when they do get one. Regardless, out here in the woods there is no showers. There is only the water from the rivers and lakes that flow freely from the depths of the forest, and the rain. Of course Lyra wasn’t about to go jumping into those waters. She, and everypony else on the face of the planet knew better than that. She couldn’t know what was lurking in the rivers and lakes, nor was she going to find out. So as she unzipped her tent flap and stepped out into the morning sun, on her freshly cut and petite forest campsite, she stretched her body, and brushed her teeth vigorously with a toothbrush and toothpaste. If her body was gonna stink, her teeth would cover up for it. Minuette would be proud of her for the lengths she was going to make sure she stays somewhat clean, even though that really wasn’t a major objective out here for her. After washing out her mouth, and spitting the paste away into the grass, she’d rub her tongue across her teeth. The friction and their cleanliness would make some squeaking rubbing sounds that she thought was funny. She’d laugh gently at this, imagining herself polishing the surface of her molars so that they can show reflections, like a table at a restaurant. After all, she did need to take up a job as a busmare at the local Hayburger Shop. A steady income, and good attendance at work allows her to take time off like this, and do her hobby to begin with. Plus her boss is very understanding of her interests. After all that, she would look up into the sky from the clearing in the treetops, and watch the beautiful fluffy clouds of the morning Everfree sky gently move past. She smiled. She had gotten up at the right time, gathered enough sleep the night before, and started off her morning right with her daily routine. Though it was small pebbles to what she was going to be doing today, she did enjoy doing this. A sigh would leave her lips, as she spoke softly out loud to herself as she stood back up onto all fours. “Alright, time to find some humans,” She turned back around and headed into her tent, and over towards the hiking bag. She rummaged through it and began to organize a days worth of supplies. Once she was done, she stepped back out, and began work on setting a small fire. She used tinder, and some flint and steel around a small triangle stack of wood in the center of the stones, that she quickly arranged. She knew there was a spell for this, but she also liked using flint and steel. The sparks looked cool to her as they jumped from the steel rod to the tinder bellow, as the fire would slowly begin to smoke to life. In no time at all, the fire slowly sprung up. The flames would lick upwards at the air as she sat at a comfortable distance away from it so that she was warm, but not burning up, as she applied her bug repellent to her hooves and body. “This is nice…” She would say as she sighed again in the comfort of the fire, putting the bug spray away back into her day pack for re-application at around noon. She would have herself a quick breakfast as she sat in the comfort of the small flame, two large red apples, from Sweet Apple Acres, peanut butter, and a healthy drink of water. She knew she would need the strength to do as much hiking as possible before she got hungry again. Because Lyra knew she needed to get moving soon, she was burning daylight, something that she hated when she was doing this sort of exploring. The fire was small enough that when she needed to go, she could easily put it out. Heck, the only reason she started it in the first place was to, just make fire to begin with. She once again relished the fact that she could do such things like, make camp, start a fire, track and such. It was quite out of character for her to be into such things, which is why outside these woods she would keep most of her knowledge about survival, out of her conversations. Only Bon-Bon knew how much she enjoyed this hobby, well... her and a few other strangers that she met at the conventions and hobby shops. Once Lyra was done her breakfast, and she gave it time to settle, she snuffed out the fire, and equipped her gear. She did a quick inventory check and nodded turning away from her camp. “Here we go... “ 11:42AM - 29th of May - 2019 Twigs snapped, pebbles rolled, and dirt was pushed around as Lyra trotted down a path she had decided was a good one to continue on down. She had been out here for quite some time, and it was closing in on noon. Lyra knew this, so she was searching for a place to hold up for a moment so she could enjoy her lunch. A place to eat didn't need to be extravagant, a large rock, a clearing, maybe a fallen tree overlooking a pond or a lake, anything would be nice. Unfortunately, much like her search for humans, she was coming up empty hoofed. “Hmm, wonder how long this path goes on for, I don’t think I’ve hiked down this section of the forest before,” She said to herself as she noticed the unfamiliarity of the forest around her. Her brows scrunched up as her eyelids squinted as confusion took hold in her mind. This section of the forest looked, very different indeed, and she didn't know when it had changed to look like this. But she had noticed a slight change in flora a while back, from swampy growths and familiar plants to more, moderate greenery and a more, forest kind of feel as tree tops were beginning to thin out, and change shape as the swamp atmosphere changed. What was once the Everfree, wasn’t looking like the Everfree anymore. She wanted to turn back, but she also wanted to see what was down the path, wondering if there was a section of the Everfree she hadn’t seen yet. “It’s getting hotter… And less humid, the air is turning into a dry heat now,” She whispered to herself as she felt the heat of the sun really lay into her body as the trees let in more sunlight. She continued on for a little while longer until she stopped, she practically ground to a halt. She spun around and looked behind her and as she did, she didn't recognize the path she was walking on at all. This wasn’t the Everfree anymore, that was not the path she remembered, she was someplace new, someplace that felt almost alien to the Everfree. Something was very, very wrong with the forest, it was changing in ways she couldn’t understand. She had already established that the environment had changed. But now the path she walked one had shifted behind her, it had grown much wider, as wide a road carts could travel down. And at that moment, the realization finally struck her, she was lost. Lyra was absolutely lost, and panic started setting in, her mind began to race, as this had never happened to her before. She instantly took off back down the path, and galloped as fast as she could. Dust clouds formed behind her as she ran. She needed to get back to familiar territory, fast. She wasn’t nearly prepared for this kind of situation at all. Then… without noticing it, she was back in the Everfree. She stopped again, and looked around in immense confusion. Her head whipped around and her eyes scanned everything. The light had faded, the humidity was back, and the trees changed back to their normal look. The forest seemed normal again, or, what could be considered normal for the Everfree Forest. Lyra was at a loss for words, as she immediately regained her surroundings and found the path she was heading down before she got lost. “What the… Wha-What's going on here,” She said absolutely dumbfounded at this development. Lyra then looked back to where she was going to go, before she disappeared to that strange new environment, and the path looked nothing like what she had experienced. It looked like the Everfree just continued as it should, it looks damp, dark, and the same as everything else. Something inside her wanted to push on to go see what was happening, but as her stomach grumbled, she forgot about it for a second, and refocused on finding a place to hold up for lunch. But as she walked away, continuing her quest to find a spot to eat, Lyra stopped and looked over her shoulder. Something about that experience, was… exciting in a way. She may have made the discovery she was looking for. Did this mean humans? Maybe, the possibility was there. Then again, this could be something completely different. Lyra didn't know, but this was something she could investigate at a later time. So she marked the area for later exploration. She printed her cutie mark on a rock with another smaller rock, carving it in to the side facing the path. After the image of her mark with visible enough for her, she tossed the rock away, and turned back. “Tomorrow… That’s when I’ll come back,”
DiscoveryChapter 4: Discovery 9:32AM - 30th of May - 2019 These woods, weren’t like the Everfree at all. The Everfree had a sense of foreboding surrounding it, as if around every corner you could be mauled to death by a manticore, frozen in place by a Cockatrice, or… something equally horrible. But here, in this strange section of the forest, everything that made the Everfree the way it was, seemed to just go away. It was surprisingly quite nice to Lyra in her opinion, the swampiness of the Everfree woods was very unenjoyable to anypony that stepped inside of it, minus the ponies that lived here already. Even though this made no logical sense to her, it was a nice change. It was worrying, and rather unsettling to say the least, but overall it was warm, windy, and pleasant, three things Lyra couldn’t say about the Everfree. Speaking of which, was this really the Everfree anymore? Lyra slowly moved down the now much larger path through the foreign section of the forest. She looked at the types of trees, the plant life, the animals that scattered about around her, which ranged from squirrels to birds she had never seen before. Before long she came to the conclusion that, this wasn’t the Everfree. This was a completely different forest, truly uncharted territory. Uncharted to her, and hopefully everypony else. This made Lyra very excited, she may not have found humans, but she found some kind of gateway from the Everfree to, wherever this is. Though, all of this discovery scared her quite a bit. She had lingering thoughts that maybe if she went further through this new forest, the way back home would close up. But despite these worrisome thoughts, she carried on further, placing her fate in this worlds hooves. Speaking of this world, Lyra was coming up to a clearing of some sort, as a break in the trees was ahead of her. The trees on her right side stopped for a moment, and as she approached it, the break in the woods gave her a perfect picture of where she really was. As Lyra stood in this clearing, she looked off into the distance. The trees continued to break all the way off into the horizon. The horizon was a sweeping mountain scape, with mountain peaks that almost reached high enough to pierce the clouds, as the tippy top of those peaks had snow atop them. She would soon come to see that she wasn’t on the forest floor, but up high in a mountain range, as the trees sloped down the side of this immense incline and created a valley below her, all of which was untouched forestry. She saw rivers that stretched on for miles, and lakes the size of pony town. Mysteriously though, large breaks in the trees could be seen as well, they snaked along in unnatural patterns that looked as if they sectioned off parts of the forest from others. They were broken up by these paths deliberately, and as she turned around, she could see that this clearing was part of one of these long breaks in the forest. Lyra thought about this for a moment, before the realization on what these were set in. “These are fire lines. They’re made to purposefully break up a forest so that fires can’t spread during hot seasons, limiting how much the fire can destroy. Which means this forest, has had ponies through it before. Yet, I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. None of this geography makes any sense, this isn't Equestria. This is, t-this is…” Lyra began to stammer. “This is confusing, am I in Equestria or not? Buck me...” She looked around and tried to think. Pondering she carried on down the path. Lyra was thinking a mile a minute, she just couldn’t put two and two together. It just didn’t make sense. This place looked so much like Equestria in so many ways yet, the scale and size of it, was just too big. The wildlife was similar enough, it could pass as Equestrian, yet there are species here that she had never seen before. Idea after idea went through her mind, and all were just getting stuck. She had the sound of the woods keeping her company as she murmured and talked to herself, trying to piece together this truly perplexing reality she had stumbled into. That was of course, until she ran into a gate. Lyra stopped for a moment and looked ahead, her eyes squinting, as if she had never seen a gate before. She trotted up to it and examined it all over, as it was the first sign of civilization thus far besides the fire breaks. It was in fact a simple metal gate blocking the path, surrounded by thick trees on either side that made moving past impossible, if you had a cart. The gate was locked shut by chains and a padlock, and on the other side of the gate, there was a diamond shaped sign. It was bright yellow with a black border and black lettering. “No vehicles beyond this point. By order of the National Park Service,” Lyra read outloud. “What the buck is the National Park Service? I’ve never heard of that organization before,” She turned around and looked beyond the front of the gate, and the path seemed to round a sharp corner which opened into another clearing. She turned back and looked at this sign and shook her head, now thinking even more. “Alright, now I know I’m not in equestria anymore, and what the hay is a vehicle?” While trying not to think too much about the sign and the gate, she pushed forward again. She rounded the corner, and this time the clearing started on the left side of her. But it wasn’t another fire break, it was an open field. She kept walking until she was half way down the path that was connected with this field. This open area seemed to stretch back at least 500 yards, and was as wide as… well, it was wide, very wide. Lyra had nothing to compare it to. But, what really caught her eye was, somepony had gone out into this field and set up what looked like targets, that were made of steel, suspended by chains, and hung from metal rectangular arches that looked to have been driven into the ground. They were placed at various ranges too, some at 50 yards, some at 100 yards, and so on and so on. The only way she could range these targets was because, yet again somepony had placed wooden boards by these different ranged targets and spray painted the distances on them. “I-is this a range? Like a bow range? If so why are the targets made of steel?” She moved up to the closest one of these circular targets and touched one. They really we’re made of steel, “The only thing this is gonna do is ruin the arrow tip. What would be the point of that?” She said to herself. She moved back to the path, and was going to push further, until she heard something. Something that was approaching her, rather quickly. It sounded like the rolling of thunder... and music. It sounded like drums, and the strumming of an acoustic instrument, and it was getting louder, and it was coming up the path she was standing on. Her ears perked towards it and as she did, she heard voices, voices that sang along with the music… “Here's the story of Rhodesia, a land both fair and great! On the Eleventh of November an Independent State!” And it wasn’t just a single voice, it was a whole chorus of masculine voices that all sung out together. These sounds of approaching song and thunder immediately forced lyra into panic mode. Quickly thinking, she turned tail and ran back up the path and hid in a bush, right before the road turned up to the gate. She peaked her eyes up over the shrubbery to see a magnificent sight. Massive green and black machines on wheels came rolling down the road, they were loud and blaring that music into the woods around them. They were truly staggering in size, bigger than a cart by a long shot, and to top it all off, they seemed to be moving under their own power. Were these the vehicles that sign had mentioned? She just didn't know at the moment, but that didn't matter to her right now, because these machines were only the base of the cake she was eyeing up for, what did she see piloting and riding in these metal beasts, the icing on the cake? “H-Humans…” The voices she heard we’re in fact coming from these steel chariots, and riding on top and inside them we’re humans. They all looked different in shape, size, and complexity, and most of them, if not all of them wore different clothing. But all of them we're 100% real life, honest to Celestia, clear as day, humans. She had found them, she really truly had found humans, they weren’t a myth anymore, they were real, and they are right here in front of her for the whole world to see. Only, she was the only one here to see them, but not for long. Inside her bag, her day pack she had taken with her for this exploration, she brought along a camera, for exactly this reason, to capture and record the existence of these very beings. And as she watched those metal machines slow to a stop, she listened and watched the humans with glistening eyes. This was her chance to prove everypony wrong...
