Lyra & The /k/ommandos

Chapter 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,”