What if....

1 month later, start of the winter season.

“Lyra, please stop for a minute!”

Lyra kept trekking on, despite her friends’ calls to stop.

“Lyra dear, we all need to rest.” Lyra finally stopped and turned her head to the source of the voice, Octavia.

“We’ve been walking for hours, we need to stop.” Octavia said.

Lyra sighed heavily, and then nodded.

“Alright, fine. There’s a cave just a bit further ahead. It’ll give us cover from the snow.”

Lyra and her friends hiked uphill and came across the cave Lyra was speaking about earlier. They walked in and all sighed in relief.

“It’s about time we got a break!” Vinyl Scratch yelled. She turned to Doctor Hooves who was sitting down.

“Yo Doc, how long have we been walking?”

Doctor Hooves lifted up a watch he had around his neck and looked at it.

“It’s been 4 hours since we left camp.”

“Ugh, see Lyra, we totally needed this break!”

Lyra sighed.

“I know, I know, but I told you guys that nopony would get in the way of my project.”

“At the expense of your friends Lyra?!” Bon -Bon exclaimed.

Lyra shook her head rapidly.

“No, of course not! It’s just that the sooner we reach this place the better!”

Silence ensued, but not for long.

“There you guys are.” A voice suddenly said from the mouth of the cave. Octavia got up and walked over to the source of the voice, Derpy.

“Derpy, dear, where were you?” she asked.

“Well, you told me to get firewood for when we stopped.” Derpy responded.

“Well, where is the wood Derpy.” Doctor Hooves asked.

“I forgot it, sorry.”

Octavia smiled.

“It’s alright Derpy, come sit with us.”

Derpy and Octavia walked back to the group, who had formed a circle around a smaller circle of rocks.

“Lyra, will you please tell us who told you about this place?” Bon-Bon asked.

“Yeah and why the hay is it all the way up here?” Vinyl added.

“Well, it’s just one day’s walk from Ponyville, and Charlie told me about this place.”

“Lyra dear, who’s Charlie?” Octavia asked.

“The human from the party.”

“Was that the tall fellow with the drab looking cloak on?”

Lyra nodded.

“Oh, okay.” Everypony else said together.

“Well, can you tell us what he said?” Bon-Bon asked.

Lyra nodded once more.

“Sure, well it started at the party. Twilight introduced me to him. He told me his name and what he was. I then told him about the music project, and even though he told me that he wasn’t good with music, he told me he would tell me what he knew.”

“Well, when did he tell you?” Vinyl asked.

“He told me after he returned from a trip to Canterlot, and I tell you, he looked way different.”

“There you are Charlie, I’ve been looking everywhere for you… nice beard, where did you get it?”

Charlie chuckled. “Oh, I didn’t get it, it’s my own beard.”

Lyra looked at him with skepticism plastered on her face.

“How do I know it’s real?”

“Well, uh, go ahead and pull on it, it won’t come off.”

Lyra shrugged, then reached out and tugged on Charlie’s beard with a magical grasp.  Just as Charlie had said, it didn’t come off.

“But how!?” Lyra asked in awe.

“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me now?”

“I don’t know… hey Twilight!”

Twilight walked up next to Charlie.

“Yes Charlie?”

“Is it alright if I talk to Lyra in the library?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“He had a beard and he was definitely taller!”

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

Charlie nodded.

“Yes, it was. I still can’t believe Twilight and her friends saved me with the Elements of Harmony!”

Hoofsteps were heard coming from the kitchen.

“Well, it still doesn’t explain why you grew taller and why you have a beard.” Twilight suddenly said.

“Here’s your tea Lyra.”

“Thanks Twilight.”

“If you need anything else, I’ll be in my room.”

“So Charlie, can you tell me about the different musical styles of the humans?”

“So he went on to tell me about the different music of the humans.”

“Well, what were they like?” Bon-Bon asked.

“Actually, they weren’t too different from the musical styles that I know of. In fact, they sound a lot like music from all over Equestria.”

“So they had wubs?!” Vinyl blurted out.

Lyra shook her head, much to Vinyl’s disappointment.

“No, he told me they don’t have our modern music.”

“So you showed him some modern types of music?” Octavia asked.

Lyra nodded.

“Yeah, I thought it would be a good idea.”

“Well, did he like it?” Doctor Hooves asked.

“Yeah, he said it sounded good, but that’s off the point. Right when I was about to leave he told me something else.

“I have to get going Charlie, it’s getting dark.”

“Oh, alright, but can I tell you one more thing?”

Lyra turned around.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Alright, I know of something that not many others now of.”

Lyra’s ears twitched.

“What’s that?”

“There is still a ruin of humanity’s in the north that I have seen.”

“Oh, where’s that at?”

“In some mountains north of Ponyville. Why do you ask?”

“Well, maybe I can see these ruins for myself.”

Charlie frowned.

“You honestly want to see the ruins?”

Lyra nodded.

“Oh, alright. I have a map, but I warn you, it’s not for the faint of heart.”

“He gave me the map, see, here it is.”

Lyra reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a detailed map. She gave it to Octavia, who looked at it and passed it around.

“That explains a lot, but why did you take us along?” Doctor Hooves asked.

“Because you’re my friends, and plus, I didn’t want to go alone.”

“Wait, you’re scared of some old human ruin?” Vinyl asked with a smirk. Lyra shook her head rapidly.

“No, I just didn’t want to go alone.”

“Alright, I’m cool with that.”

“Well, when do you want to get going again?” Lyra asked.

“Uh, why don’t we get going right now, I think I rested enough.” Bon-Bon answered. She looked to the others. Most nodded in agreement, all except for Doctor Hooves, who was still looking at the map.

“Yo Doc, you ready?” Vinyl asked.

“Yeah, but hold on a minute.” They all waited until Doctor Hooves put down the map after a few moments.

“Girls, we’re already here.”

“We are?” Derpy asked.

“Yes, according to this map, the entrance to the ruin is a large cave with an X marking on one side of the cave wall.

“Well, where’s the marking?” Lyra asked.

“Right there.” Doctor Hooves pointed towards one wall. Lyra walked towards it and saw it. It was an X with an arrow pointing into the cave.

“Well, how convenient!” Lyra exclaimed happily. She then turned towards the inner cave and began walking. However, when she didn’t hear more hoofsteps, she turned around.

“Come on guys, let’s go!”

Doctor Hooves nodded and walked up to Lyra, then turned around.

“Come on girls, and don’t worry, we have lanterns.”

Everypony else slowly walked up to the Doctor Hooves and Lyra, all except Derpy, who had her ears down in fear.

“Don’t worry Derpy, you’ll be fine.” Lyra said. Derpy, however, didn’t budge. Octavia took the chance and walked up to her. She gave Derpy a comforting hug.

“Don’t worry Derpy, we won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

Derpy lifted her ears and nodded.

“Thanks!”

Lyra walked through a small tunnel. As soon as she exited it, she was met by an amazing sight.

“Wow!”

She gazed upon a ruin, strangely shaped like a circle.

“So this is the ruin… hey guys, you can turn off the lanterns, it’s bright down here.”

One by one, each of her friends exited the small tunnel and said the exact same thing, wow.

“What are these?” Doctor Hooves was staring at a small mushroom that was shining bright. Lyra shrugged.

“I don’t know, but we can turn off the lanterns until we get inside.”

Lyra and the group slowly headed down the path to the ruin. In short time they reached what looked like a balcony sticking out of the ruin. They hopped on and walked inside.

“Wow, it looks like this entire place is made out of stone.” Lyra observantly said. Vinyl Scratch suddenly began laughing. Everypony looked at her curiously.

“Yeah, but the skeletons aren’t,” she said once she calmed down.

“What!” Lyra suddenly shouted.

“Yeah, look below you.”

Lyra looked below her and screamed. She was standing on a small mound of bones.

“How did we not notice that earlier?” Doctor hooves asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s scary.” Octavia answered shakily.

“Hey guys, look!” Vinyl shouted. Everypony glanced over to Vinyl, who was pointing at something. They turned and saw what she was pointing at.

“It’s a statue.” Doctor hooves noted.

“Well, why is it standing right in the middle like that?” Lyra asked.

“I don’t know, but let’s check it out.”

They all walked over to the statue and looked at it. It appeared to be smiling and it had its arms stretched out.

“Hey, that looks like a human.” Lyra noted aloud.

“Well, I wonder why it has such a ghastly appearance.” Octavia shuttered.

“I wonder if he liked muffins.”

Everypony looked at Derpy, who was flying towards the statue. She reached her hoof out and touched it.

“Derpy, darling, I don’t think he would be able to eat muffins. As you can see, he‘s a statue.” Octavia said with closed eyes.

The statue suddenly cracked, causing Vinyl to laugh.

“Nice job Derpy, you broke it.”

Derpy frowned.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright; it’s just some old statue after all.” Vinyl said.

The statue, however, continued to crack. A slight hissing sound caused the ponies to jump back, and the statue suddenly shattered. A dark mass suddenly fell to the ground.

“Ugh, gross, that statue had a little surprise for us.”

The mass suddenly fidgeted and slowly rose up, putting fear in all the ponies’ hearts. It suddenly revealed to have a face, similar to the broken statue’s face.

“Ugh, I’m starving...” It said in a masculine voice. He suddenly glanced at the ponies.

“Huh, small, colorful horses. I’ve never had horse before, but I guess I could try…”

“EVIL HUMAN, EVIL HUMAN!!!” Derpy yelled.

“RUN FOR IT!” Lyra yelled as well.

The group took off as quick as possible, leaving the human dazed, but not for long.

“Ah-ah-ah, who said you could leave.”