One of Us

Chapters

Prologue: Imaginary Friends
Chapter 1: Friendship From Magic
Chapter 2: Humans
Chapter 3: Departure
Chapter 4: When I became an adult, I put away childish things....or so I thought

Prologue: Imaginary Friends

The sun was high above the playground in Ponyville. Several fillies all ran around on various equipment playing made up games. The young colts were reenacting a great war against the Griffin Empire they had learned about recently, while some of the fillies were in a corner talking about how nasty the colts could be. Still some other young ponies simply played games of chess or whatever else they could find with friends.

A few would play alone still. Maybe their friends were out sick, or they themselves weren't feeling well. But for some, there simply wasn't another option.

Nonetheless, for Lyra Heartstrings, that didn't matter. She had her books and her music. The first of which was currently occupying her time. While everyone else was outside, Lyra instead chose to visit the library to read a book she found recently by a famous magic user named StarSwirl the Bearded. She didn't know much about him, as he wasn't a topic many grade schoolers ever were taught, but this book spoke of great lands outside of Equestria: Some even outside the entire planet!

When she had first found the book, she expected it to teach her more about using magic, but there was very little about how magic worked in the book. Starswirl would start talking about some technique or law of magic that even at her age Lyra knew was incorrect, then explain how some race such as Imps would use it in their realm in order to do whatever. Once Lyra realized the stuff had to be fiction, she continued reading to learn more of these great races he described. Orcs, goblins, and even a race of creatures made out of lightning. They all seemed interesting and often Lyra would imagine if they were real. How would it feel to talk to one and learn about them. Alas, all she knew was a few bits from the book about each race.

One section, however, broke the trend. Unlike the others she had read thus far, this one spoke of a race that supposedly had been to Equestria. They were said to have powerful magics and warriors who would be able to take on a full grown dragon. Their Kings would war to gain land, then war again to maintain it. The stories at first made them sound terrifying to the young filly, but she kept on. Eventually Starswirl spoke of one that had unified his land under a rule of peace and equality. No more of the typical 'one law for the ruler, one law for the ruled' mentality that other lords had used. This left Lyra to believe that this race was capable of great violence, but great benevolence as well.

Soon the book got into their magics. Many were the same as what ponies would use. Fireballs, spells of light, ice manipulation, the whole thing. But some were grand. Some wizards, as they called them, could transform into dragons. Others would give up their life to become an undead lord to live forever. Some actually had an animal who they could talk to and commune with. The rare few could also jump from world to world, or from time to time within their own worlds. This concept was amazing to young Lyra.

"Oh, if only it was real." She mumbled to herself as she turned the page. Finally she had come to the part she was curious about. The illustration. A full page, hand drawn, for what the creature looked like. It stood upright, with long arms and legs. Their hands had fingers instead of hoofs, just like many of the other creatures, but their skin appeared light colored. They also didn't seem as large as the orcs. The armor and cloth draped across its body hinted at great strength, but fragility as well. Below the image was a single stylized word just as all the others.

Human.

Two days later Lyra was once again sitting in the library during recess. Outside a game of groundball had broken out, so occasionally thumps could be heard against the building where either a pony or a ball slammed into the wall. Such a sport seemed ridiculous to Lyra, who much preferred learning and playing music. Leaning against the table was a lyre that she played in the school band. Being one of the few string instruments in the band, she always kept it near to make sure it did not get damaged. Another young filly named Octavia used to be in the band with them with her cello, but had recently moved to Canterlot leaving Lyra with her lyre alone.

None of that mattered to the filly currently as she was digging through several books strewn across the table that spoke of this mythical race called human. Something deep in her heart told her that Starswirl was doing more than writing fiction with that book that had so recently grabbed her attention.

"There has to be more info around here. Starswirl was a master unicorn and researcher." Lyra spoke aloud to herself as she read about these human creatures. Unfortunately the only places she could find that referenced them was in books of fiction published after Starswirl first ever mentioned them, or in books of magic theory debunking what Starswirl had described. No where was there an example supporting the existence of these mythical creatures, but everywhere was information about them (presumably made up).
"Oh I wish I could meet one of them. They must have fantastic stories." The young filly thought as she sat back and rested her head on the table in defeat. Days of research and nothing to show for it aside from a working knowledge of a fictional race. Her eyes started to slowly close from having been focused so hard when a flash of light in the room drew her attention.
"What was that?!" Jumping up, Lyra looked around to find the source of the flash. After a brief moment, there was a second flash and the sound of books falling off a shelf in the back of the library. Taking off on her little hoofs, Lyra ran to see if everypony was alright.

As she rounded the corner to the last row in the library, she spotted a large stack of books that had been knocked off the back wall in to a large pile. Slowing to a slow trot, she approached the books to see if anyone had been hurt.

"Ouch." A muffled voice, clearly belonging to a colt of some sort, could be heard underneath the pile. The voice as accompanied by movement within the books of somepony trying to get free.

"Here, let me help." Lyra spoke, loudly so he could hear, and used her magic to start moving books aside. The sight that awaited her took the breath from her lungs so rapidly she nearly passed out. The pony under the books was not actually a pony. She knew exactly what it was, but at the same time her own study said it couldn't exist. Torn between fear of the unknown and excitement that she could be right, she finally stepped forward to the creature.
"Um...are you alright?" She managed to squeak out. The creature who was laying face down nodded his head. Or at least Lyra thought he did. The hood up over his head made it hard to tell, and the blue simple robes that hood was connected to hid most of his body.

"Yeah, that spell must have backfired. Guess there is a reason Master Sand says it is impossible to do." The creature explained as he stood up slowly and dusted himself off.
"Thanks for the.....help...." His voice trailed as he finally turned to face Lyra, clearly not having expected to find what he saw. Subconsciously he took a step back to distance himself from the unknown creature.
"You're a talking horse?" He half asked, half stated with shock on his face. His blue eyes were open wide as he took in what he saw. Even with the hood on, Lyra could just make out strands of blond hair down the side of his face, appearing to be shoulder length.

"Pony actually. But are you really here? A Human?" Lyra corrected then immediately went on the inquiry offensive. The human's back straighten a bit from the question.

"Yes, but how do you know that? Where are we?" The human started looking around, realizing that the pony wasn't a threat. At least not yet she wasn't. His eyes took in the library while his ears absorbed the noises from outside.

"Well, I know what you are from books I have been reading recently. Unfortunately according to those books, you are fiction. As for where we are, this is Ponyville Elementary Library in the city of Ponyville." Lyra explained, levitating a few books back on the shelf. The human nodded to the information, and smiled when he saw her use of magic.

"Ah, a fellow wizard I see. Let me help." The human lifted his hands and more of the books rose to the shelf. Between the two of them, the mess was quickly cleared up and they both were sitting on a cleared floor in the back of the library.

"Um, thanks for the help with the books, but why are you here. Or how even?" Lyra finally asked the human, who seemed to think about the best way to answer the question. After a couple moments of thought, the human nodded his head and began to speak.

"Well, in my world, I'm still learning how to do magic. My teachers say I'm a prodigy, and that the mana within my body is much stronger than any before me. For my age, they say I have the power of someone five times my age. So today I was looking through some old spell books and found a dimensional gate spell that our elder wizards have trouble casting." The human explained with the occasional nod from Lyra.
"I thought, why not give it a try. After studying the theory behind the spell, I decided to go ahead and cast it, which judging by my presence here I assume it means I succeeded." He finished his explanation. Lyra thought about her own knowledge of magic and from what she new, such a spell should be impossible.

"How does it work? We have studied magic for over a thousand years and have no way of jumping dimensions." Lyra asked, confused. The human shared her confusion as he started his explanation.

"Well, it has to do with inverting the polarity of latent nature magic with a sentient beacon at the destination point. The inversion will create a funnel to the destination for travel, and part of the soul of the visitor will remain behind as a tether to return with." He explained clear as day. Well, clear as day to him. Lyra had no idea what this nature magic and sentient beacon stuff was about.

"That makes no sense. We don't have that kind of magic. Such feats simply can't...." Stopping mid-sentence, Lyra realized the truth. The invalid formulas that Starswirl wrote about. The theories that made no sense. He wasn't writing about Equestria. He was writing about these other worlds and how their magic worked.

"Can't what?" The boy asked, wondering where this pony was headed with the discussion.

"Oh, sorry. We can't perform such feats with our world's magic. I would love to learn more of your world's magic, and world in general." Lyra jumped topics as the two continued their conversation. The human seemed confused but came to the same realization the pony had, that the magics of their world were different.

"That would be wonderful. I could learn about how things work here. Perhaps we can find a common point and build up each others power." He offered with a smile. Lyra stepped forward and raised a hoof to the human.

"You have a deal...." Lyra started, then realized she hadn't even asked the human his name yet.
"Oh, what is your name?"

"I am Silver, First Student to the Master Wizard Sand, and in line to serve the Lord of the Realm. Who might you be?" Silver responded, having presented his normal name and title. Lyra blushed slightly at the regal sounding introduction Silver had, and worried her own wasn't up to par.

"I'm Lyra Heartstrings, Gradeschooler." She answered.
"No major titles or magic abilities for me." She added, feeling out of place suddenly. Silver appeared confused.

"I wouldn't say that. My spell needed to lock onto a powerful and compatible magic source here. I would say you are very powerful in spirit." Silver smiled as he explained what he felt was fact that Lyra was more special than she realized. His smiled proved addictive as Lyra soon joined him in a grin as the two finally shook hooves, or hands for the human in agreement. A sound from the front of the library signaled teachers walking in.

"Oh no, you have to hide!" Lyra whispered quietly, but not quietly enough to prevent detection.

"Lyra! Are you hiding back in the stacks again?" The librarian spoke aloud approaching their hiding spot. Silver stood and simply nodded to Lyra.

"I'll return when I can." He silently mouthed to the young unicorn as he stepped back and disappeared as though moving through an invisible door. He faded out of sight just as the teacher peaked her head around the corner.

"Who were you talking to back here?" She asked, confused. She knew she had heard Lyra speaking but no one was around.

"Oh, um...no one." Lyra nervously laughed as she approached the teacher, who simply rolled her eyes.

'Kids and their imaginary friends. Oh to be young again.' The librarian thought as she lead Lyra back up front.
"You need to get packed up Ms. Heartstrings. Class is about to start back up." She explained as she helped Lyra back up her research books.

"Thank you! I'll be back tomorrow!" Lyra yelled as she threw her bag on and grabbed her lyre before running out the door to her class.

Chapter 1: Friendship From Magic

Lyra walked through the front door of her home and levitated her bag next to the couch.

"Mom! Dad! You home!" Silence answered her as she stood there for a minute. The silence wasn't a surprise as both her parents usually worked late, leaving Lyra with plenty of time to study and practice her lyre in peace. Today however she had other plans. Pulling books from her bag with her magic, she ran upstairs and quickly laid out everything she would need on her table.

"Ok, fresh new journal? Check. Notes on Humans? Check. Quill?" Lyra continued to spread out things across her desk but was unable to locate her favorite quill. Sitting in her comfy desk chair, she started searching drawers, under books, and even behind the lamp with no luck.
"Oh, where is it?!" She asked aloud, frustrated.

"Where is what?"

Lyra was far from athletic. Every single hobby she had involved sitting in a chair, either to play her lyre, or to study and research stuff in the library. Her most strenuous exercise came from the walk to and from school each day. Even with this detriment to her physical fitness, the speed at which Lyra left her seat and spun around in response to the voice was borderline world class athlete.

"Silver! Don't scare me like that!" Lyra yelled to her new friend, who was sitting cross legged on her bed. Unlike last time they spoke, this time his hood was down and Lyra could see that his mane seemed to flow down past his shoulders. His skins was very pale, and clearly didn't look like he spent much time outside either. He mentioned being a student last time, but his age was an unknown. He stood taller than Lyra, but he would be about the height of her mom. He also did not appear to be the same size as the drawing in the book, leading Lyra to guess he was still a child much the same as she was. Currently though, her main focus was on the grin he currently wore.

"I'm sorry Lyra. I just arrived as you were asking where something was. I guess I should warn you next time." He explained, having the good sense to look embarrassed. With the panic passing, Lyra moved back to her chair, but spun it around to face Silver.

"It's ok I guess. Just yeah, next time give me warning." She replied as she sat down and took a final relaxing breath.
"Why didn't it flash this time?" She asked, curious as to how come she didn't see a flash when he arrived. His blank expression spoke volumes.

"Flash? I haven't a clue. Probably because I left the ley line of the spell open when I left. It should allow me to return to the hook point when I need to. Last time such a path did not exist." Silver ventured as a guess. Lyra simply nodded, actually understanding roughly what Silver was talking about this time involving magic.

"That makes sense, but wouldn't that ley line have put you back in the library? Why did you arrive here?" She asked, a part of her mind suddenly growing embarrassed that this boy suddenly arrived in her bedroom.
'He is a human! There is nothing to be embarrassed about! Stupid hormones!' Lyra shook her head to clear it while she waited for Silver's answer.

Silver simply watched the quirky behavior of the pony before him with a smile before answering.
"Well, my spell latched on to your spirit as a focal point. So you were the destination of the spell, not the library. Though keeping that line open was a constant drain. I'll have to find a better way to handle travel back and forth." He answered and slowly moved onto his own tangent. Lyra watched as he started speaking of spirit binds, scrolls of summoning, and various other things. She recognized what he was doing, as she did it often herself. When she found a puzzle in her research often she would start thinking aloud to help deduce a solution. His voice slowly faded into the background as Lyra's mind wondered to the world he had come from. This world that, as of this moment, was connected to her bedroom by some magic she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

'I wanted so much to learn of this other world, and here is my chance! Why am I just sitting here?' Lyra thought to herself as she watched the human continue on his ramble. Something about his eyes kept drawing her as he looked around the room during his rant. Lyra's thoughts soon quieted as she just sat there looking at the creature in her room.

"Lyra?"

"Um... Lyra?"

"OH! Um, yeah?" Lyra realized Silver had stopped talking and was looking directly at her. Her face reddened slightly in embarrassment, which her teal coat caused to stand out much more than she wished. Silver grinned at his new friend as she recovered from her blush.

"I asked if that was your lyre?" Silver pointed to the lyre across the room. Lyra nodded as she looked where she had laid it against the wall as she arrived.
"Play something? I would love to hear your worlds music." Silver's request was accompanied by one of the warm smiles that Lyra was coming to really appreciate about her otherworldly friend.

"Sure." A faint glow surrounded the lyre as it floated over to it's owner, who sat in a position to play. Silver leaned back to get comfortable on the bed and watched as Lyra used her hoofs and magic to work the strings into a beautiful song. The notes filled the room, drawing all the attention of the two occupants, one focused on playing, and the other focused on the music being played.

Downstairs, the front door opened as a dark cyan mare walked in with bags from the market across her back. Once she was inside with the door closed, she paused as she heard the familiar sounds of a lyre coming from upstairs. A simple smile found it's way to her face.

"She must be practicing for a recital." Cheer said aloud to herself as she levitated her bags to the kitchen to put away, a proud smile on her face when thinking of her daughter's natural ability with that instrument.
"She seems to be putting more emotion into it this time. Guess it's a big recital." With that final thought, Cheer focused on the task of putting away groceries and starting dinner.

The final notes of the song echoed through the room as the filly and...whatever a human of Silver's age was called...sat in silence, savoring the last bits of the song. After the last note's echo finally faded, Silver opened his eyes which he had closed part way through the song. Lyra opened her eyes at the same time, having closed them from the start to focus on her playing. Normally she would have simply played a basic song and been done, but something told her to go all out. It felt as if this was the most important thing she had ever done, and all her emotion went into the song. Her excitement about her new friend and his world, her passion for the music she played, and her passion for the instrument in general. The two smiled at one another for a moment before Silver finally spoke up.

"That was amazing. World class minstrels where I'm from don't have that level of talent." He spoke, his warm smile never faltering. Lyra levitated the lyre in the air and walked it over to its resting spot on the wall.

"Well, I've been playing for a few years now. I'm still just a filly so hopefully I'll be even better when I'm older." Lyra couldn't help but have a large smile across her face at the performance she had just given. She knew it was her best yet. Once her lyre was in place, she noticed her research books open on her desk and realized she had yet to really ask Silver anything.
"So, I really wan to ask you questions." Lyra turned to her friend, starting to drop into researcher mode. Unfortunately the confused look on his face nearly caused her to stumble.
"What?"

"What's that?" Silver asked, pointing at Lyra with the question. It was the most confused she had heard him sound since he first arrived in the library.

"What's what?" Lyra followed his finger point behind her and saw nothing odd. The desk was in perfect condition with nothing out of place. Her chair was part out sure, but it was just a chair. Continuing to look, she finally looked down at herself, or more specifically, her flank.

Her non-blank flank.

She inhaled a sharp gasp as her excitement level nearly peaked. She had her cutie mark! She finally had it! And it was of a golden lyre, proving something she had always know about her special talent! She turned to look her friend in the eyes, excitement pouring off of her expression and nearly screamed like the young schoolgirl she was. The only thing to stop her was the continued confused look Silver wore. A confused look that was slowly mixing with a smile. He might not know what it was, but clearly it was an exciting thing.

Lyra finally calmed down enough to speak without cracking her voice or just shouting.
"That is something very exciting Silver! It's my cutie mark!" She at least thought she wouldn't shout. Thankfully she didn't shout very loud, but still spoke louder than normal.

"What's a cutie mark? Looks like a tattoo." Silver asked as he craned his neck to get a better look at it, obviously not realizing what social connotations staring at a mare's flank, filly or otherwise, held in Equestria. Shaking a blush from her face, she explained to the human.

"A cutie mark appears on a young pony when they discover their special talent. Mine clearly means my lyre is my special talent. Getting one is mark of growing up. Adults look at you differently, and the kids at school who don't have one tend to get picked on. Oh Celestia I'm so excited!" Lyra was having a hard time thinking straight, but the shock and excitement was slowly bleeding away, allowing her to begin to think straight again. Silver simply nodded with a smile.

"Well Congratulations then. We will have to celebrate at some point. But right now, your cutie mark might have solved our problem." He explained, eyes shifting from Lyra's eyes to her flank. The thought crossed her mind that she should tell him exactly what he was doing, but she quickly quieted that part.

"What problem?" Curiosity pulling her attention from her new cutie mark to his comment.

"The problem about keeping the spell active. There seems to be some sort of magic associated with your cutie mark, and I can key my spell to that. Doing so should allow me to come here without having to leave the spell active and draining my magic." He explained, excitement at the prospect creeping into his own voice. Lyra wasn't sure what he meant by draining his magic, since Unicorns simply had magic, not an object called magic. Magic was similar to a muscle, not a fluid. Clearly it was different for humans, and was something she intended to ask about as soon as this was squared.
"I could also communicate to you when I planned on arriving. A small pulse and you would sense it, then you could pulse your magic at your mark to let me know it was ok. This is fantastic!" Silver was getting as excited as Lyra herself was about the cutie mark at this point, though for clearly different reasons. Lyra grinned at her friend and profiled herself towards him so he could clearly see the mark.

"Well, do what you need to do. Sounds like the best way to handle things now. Last thing you want is to be caught and hauled to some research center." Lyra explained, though in her own mind a doubt about her own plans flared. She was originally wanting to do just that with the human, research on him.
'He is a friend now, and we aren't going to do that. We will just learn from him what we can, but nothing more.' Lyra chided herself and quickly brought herself back to the issue at hand. Silver had placed his hands in front of him as though holding a large hoofball, and a single golden stream of magic flowed into her cutie mark. As soon as the two touched, Lyra could feel the magic mixing with her own and a warm sensation flowing from the mark on her body.

Moments later, the stream left Silver's hand and the remaining magic flowed into Lyra. The effect left no lasting feeling, but Lyra could tell it worked.

"There we go. Now I should be able to appear near you with no problem." Silver explained, smiling proudly at his accomplishment. Lyra hoofpumped in response.

"Awesome! This is going to be great!" Lyra exclaimed loudly. She was about to continue speaking when the door to her room suddenly shook for a moment then opened as Cheer poked her head in from the hallway. Lyra's eyes shot to the door as it opened in panic.

"Lyra dear. Who are you talking to up here?" Her mother asked as she stepped into the room, looking around confused. Lyra's eyes bounced to the bed beside her and found nothing but her blanket.

"Oh, um. Well..nobody actually." Lyra stumbled over the words as she was shocked Silver managed to disappear fast enough not to be discovered. Cheer, on the otherhand, looked at her daughter oddly. She was acting odd, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

'Probably some imaginary friend. I really thought she would be too old for them by now.' Cheer thought as she shook her head then smiled to her daughter.
"Well, dinners ready. Your father is going to be late, so it's just us tonight." She explained to Lyra as she started to turn to leave. Something caught her attention that stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Wait! Lyra! Is that what I think it is?" Cheer pointed to the mark on her daughter's flank, her smile growing rapidly in excitement for her daughter. Lyra simply smiled and nodded back with pride.
"That's fantastic Lyra!" Cheer scooped her daughter up in her arms with a fierce hug. Lyra returned the hug with an equal amount of emotion, resting her head on her mother's shoulder and looking towards her bed.

'Well, good dodge Silver. I'll see you next time.'

Chapter 2: Humans

The rest of the week went by following the normal pattern. Normal being before Silver had appeared in Lyra's life. Thankfully he seemed to be busy, as Lyra's life had picked up quite a bit. The appearance of her cutie mark had occupied the entire following day at school with people asking questions about how she got it. Several of the fillies who already had theirs thought it odd that she got it while playing alone in her room, but Lyra was easily able to keep a straight face when saying that nopony had been present.

After all, noPONY had indeed been in the room, they just didn't need to know the rest of the situation.

With the appearance of her cutie mark, her family had arranged her cutecenera for the following Friday. That planning had taken her afternoons when she got home, along with homework and band practice.

Throughout the week, she would often be spotted gazing out the window, and the librarian had even asked why she had stopped coming by the library during lunch as she normally did. A brief explanation of deciding she needed to spend time outside exercising helped, especially when she said she read it in a fitness book.

Then came the party on Friday. Balloons and cake were had by all, and even a little bit of ice cream. Though, when only a few people arrive it isn't hard to feed everypony. Lyra's mom and dad were there, as was her grandparents and a couple of cousins. Her friend Bon-Bon who recently moved to town also arrived, and a young unicorn named Rarity made it as well, talking about never missing a party. Lyra didn't mind this however as she had hung out with Rarity a couple of times and while a bit 'high class' as her mother would put it that Rarity could be, she was a friendly pony who helped Lyra out a few times.

That had been yesterday. The party was well, and everypony left late in the evening so Lyra went straight to bed. Waking this morning, she decided it was a nice day to go walking around town. She first had made her way to the market square, a small spot in Ponyville where vendors would pull up carts and sell their wares. A few shops had buildings around the edge, including a nice looking pastry shop being built. Grabbing lunch from the apple vendor from Sweet Apple Acres, being ran by a young filly from Lyra's own class, Lyra headed out to the large open field just beyond town towards the Everfree. Plan was to sit down and read a book or practice her lyre while relaxing under the afternoon sun.

"Finally, peace and quiet. Every since I got my mark it has been nonstop." Lyra complained to herself as she relaxed and looked to the sky at the clouds hanging where the weather teams had placed them. As she lay there, her thoughts drifted back to the night she got her mark, though more specifically of the young human she had met. It was almost a week without a word from him.
"Well, he is a student as well. Maybe school picked up for him." Lyra rationalized as she sat up and picked up here lyre. As she touched it, she felt a power flush through her. The feeling was subtle, but made her jump nonetheless.
"What in the world?!" Looking over her instrument, Lyra tried to determine the cause of the feeling.
"Not here..." She sat the instrument down gently before standing and looking at the ground around her. Suddenly the feeling hit again.
"Hey!" Spinning in place, she expected to see another unicorn or something playing a prank on her. A small breeze was her only companion out here, when suddenly she realized what it was.
"SILVER! Oh yeah. So how did he say send a message back. Send magic into my cutie mark?" Lyra wondered what that meant. She couldn't just create magic, she had to focus it into a spell. The easiest spell she knew was levitation, so pointing her horn at her own flank, and hoping no pony saw how ridiculous this looked, she focused her magic on her cutie mark. She could feel the emblem warm for a moment before returning to normal while the magic itself did nothing to her.
"Hmm, I wonder if that..." A soft glow from a portal opened several hoofs from where Lyra stood and out came Silver, standing tall as he strode into the field, smiling at his friend.

"Hi Lyra. It's been a while." Silver joked as he approached his friend. Lyra smiled back and reared up to hug the human as he approached.

"Same to you. Where have you been?" She asked as the two embraced in a friendly hug. After separating, they sat together on the grass, looking around briefly to see that they were alone.

"Oh, you know how it is. Studies were a bit heavy. Master Sand really wanted to drill me on combat arts with all the issues politically going on. Soon I have to test for the Crown Service Exam." Silver explained as he laid back on the grass. Lyra plopped back next to him and watched the clouds as they spoke.

"Crown Service Exam? What's that?" She asked, hoping to jump straight into learning about her friend instead of the random stuff they had talk of during previous encounters. Silver had placed his hands behind his head, which Lyra noticed now had silver bracers with a strange image embossed on them. It appeared to be a circle, but his movements had hidden much of the detail.

"The Crown Service Exam? It's a test all wizards take to prove that they have the skill to defend the Lord we are assigned to if an attack comes, and to attack any enemy of the state. We also have to display any special skills we have as magic users to the council of magisters so they can record our abilities, strength in magic, and other information in case a war breaks out or a wizard figures out how to turn on the crown." Silver explained. The information was clearly every day knowledge to the human as something you would learn when you really young, even younger than he was. Nonetheless he sounded friendly instead of demeaning as he understood Lyra was from a different world.
"What about you? Don't you have a system for maintaining your wizards. As a fellow wizard I assume you have a master teaching you?" He asked, thinking back to the library he had first arrived in. Lyra shook her head back and forth, not actually checking that Silver was watching her.

"No nothing like that. All unicorns can use magic and you just learn as you go. It really is more innate than studied." She explained.
"There are unicorns who study magic and learn powerful spells and such, but things like levitation are just as natural as using your hoofs..er..hands." Lyra hoped that made sense to the human. She didn't realize he had to go through so much to learn magic in his world. How did they do things without magic?

"Interesting. Sounds like magic works alongside nature in this world as opposed to being a separate entity." Silver spoke, sounding more like he was talking to himself instead of Lyra, who simply nodded.

"And it sounds like magic is a job in your world that you decided to follow. What do you mean about 'figuring out how to turn on the crown'?" Lyra asked. When he had first made that comment it confused her, but she didn't want to interrupt. The human this time turned his head to face her, the smile he had worn vanishing.

"You don't choose magic in my world. If you are born with it, you go to a wizards school or find a master, and then are enrolled in the military as a magic user. When you reach a certain level of power, you are bound via magic to the Crown, and by his order you follow whatever lord you are assigned to. We study history and politics as well as magic, so many lords will use us as advisers." Silver spoke, appearing to recall his own assignment to Master Sand. Lyra mimicked the humans somber appearance as she listened.

"So you are a slave?" Lyra was surprised to hear about such an act. To force somepony into service just because they had magic seemed barbaric. Silver shook his head indicating that Lyra didn't quite understand.

"It seems like slavery, but really it is just to protect everyone. Years ago, wizards lead armies and subjugated people with their powers. The binding process is to prevent such a dark time from returning to our lands." Silver explained as he removed one of his hands from behind his head to show one of the bracers he wore.
"These bracers bind us. They use my own magic to latch together, so it is impossible to remove as long as I am a wizard. Basically if I'm not a threat as a wizard, I won't be bound to the crown." The bracer in question appeared to be made of a dull silver metal. Lyra noted she couldn't see any seam around which the bracer could be removed, but most likely that was how the magic worked. The design on the bracer was that of a lion's head surrounded by various icons. This most of all drew Lyra's attention about the bracer, and wasn't missed by Silver.
"The emblem is the crest of the King. When we are bound to a lord under his service, it will transition into that houses crest. This allows us to prove our identity no matter where we go without question." Silver explained. Lyra absently nodded as she thought about all he had told her. His world certainly seemed fantastic, but just like Equestria, there were also darker aspects to it.

Nonetheless she found herself wanting more and more to visit this world.

"That sounds useful, and I guess if magic isn't as wide spread in your world I can understand the need for control. It's just sad that you have to be trapped." Lyra's voice expressed her depression about the subject better than her words, and Silver smiled in thanks for her caring.

"Hey now. I'm fed, well protected, educated, and I have plenty of freedom. After all, I have time to come visit here." Silver explained, drawing a smile from Lyra, who laughed at his comment.

"I guess that's fair. So, tell me more about your world. What kind of food do you have?" Lyra asked, deciding to get things back to a lighter note.

Bon-Bon had just stepped out of town to the rolling fields where she knew her friend sometimes liked to relax. They hadn't had time to hang out since Lyra's party, and with all her chores done for the day, she figured the two could go play at the school playground, or even practice music.

If she could find her at least.

Her first stop had been the market square. Applejack, a farm pony they were in class with, mentioned selling some apples to Lyra before watching her head out of the market, but had no other viable information. This lead Bon-Bon to assume Lyra was either at the school reading books, or out in the field she tended to visit, and on a hunch she decided to check the field first.

The field provided a challenge in both it’s size and layout. Due to fear of the Everfree, people stayed well clear of the forest, leaving this massive field between the village and the forest. This itself wouldn’t be a problem but the landscape was built out of several rolling hills. Without a pegasus, the only way to find somepony in the field was to search each hilltop, which is what Bon-Bon currently found herself doing.

“Darn it Lyra. Did you go into the Everfree Forest again?” Bon-Bon slowly made her way towards the forest where her friend had more than once been caught playing, or exploring as Lyra would call it. As Bon-Bon reached the top of another hill, she heard a voice in the distance, indeed further in the direction of the Everfree.

“That sounds amazing!” The voice, clearly Lyra’s, exclaimed. Bon-Bon stopped moving at the shout. It sounded like she was talking to somepony, but Bon-Bon couldn’t hear any other voices.
“I say we explore the Everfree next time.” Lyra spoke after a moment, her voice still loud from excitement. Bon-Bon started towards where she heard her friend who was just over the next hill.
“Ok, I’ll see you next week, same time. Goodbye, Silver.” Lyra spoke again, this time with less volume. Bon-Bon paused before looking over the hill.

‘Silver? Who is that?’ Bon-Bon tried to remember anypony in town with such a name with no luck. After a moment of thought, Bon-Bon decided to just jump up and see who it was. The view surprised her. Lyra was packing up a bag with her lyre and a couple of books, and a few apple cores littered the ground, but there was no pony around.
‘Who was she talking to?’ The thought cycled through her head over and over as she watched her friend pack up. She was so caught up in this that she failed to notice her friend turned to head to town and look her directly in the eyes.

“Bon-Bon? What are you doing out here?” Lyra asked, surprise in her voice covering any hint of the panic she actually was feeling. Bon-Bon snapped back to reality and gave her friend a slightly forced smile.

“Oh, I was just looking for you. I thought we could hang out. Where you talking to somepony out here?” Bon-Bon decided to just come right out with the question, hoping to surprise Lyra into just explaining what in the world that was about.

“Who? Me? I don’t see anypony out here for me to have been talking to, do you?” Lyra asked, a nervous laugh in her voice. Bon-Bon glanced around and agreed, there was nopony else out here, nor any tracks of somepony leaving.

“Odd, I swear I heard you talking to somepony named Silver.” Bon-Bon explained, causing Lyra’s ears to droop as she winced at the fact that Bon-Bon had heard so much. Being caught so redhandedly, Lyra decided to come clean to her best friend.

“Well, here’s the deal. I found a book a week ago that described this wonderful race called Humans, and one of them has been teleporting from his world into ours and we have been sharing history and such about our homes with each other. His name is Silver, and he uses magic just like a unicorn. But this is a HUGE secret, so please don’t tell anypony!” Lyra begged her best friend after dropping such an explanation. Bon-Bon just leaned back in disbelief of the description. Silence hung between the friends for seconds that felt like minutes before Bon-Bon broke it.

By laughing.

“Lyra, you are as ridiculous as ever. I tell you, you read too many of those books. Humans? Come on.” Bon-Bon rolled her eyes as she turned from her friend to lead them back to town. Lyra simply stood there, mouth open in surprise. A part of her was glad Bon-Bon didn’t push for more information, but still a part deep down hurt that her own best friend refused to believe her.

‘Oh well, at least she isn’t pushing about Silver. I’m glad he left when he did, otherwise we would have a lot more explaining to do.’ Lyra thought as she began to follow her friend back to town, her own thoughts on what she and Silver would do and discuss in the future, and a smile forming on her face.

Chapter 3: Departure

"Not today Bon-Bon. I have...plans...music practice and family stuff. Yeah! I have music plans and family stuff to take care of, but maybe tomorrow?" Lyra nervously replied to her dear friends request to spend the day together. It had been a long week at school and Bon-Bon was excited to spend time out and about with her friend, but for the past month, Lyra had become somewhat distant. Every time people wanted to spend a weekend day playing, she was busy with music, or studying, or family events. She had even missed two band practices, which was highly worrying considering not only was music something she NEVER missed, but her special talent was music.

Bon-Bon wasn't the only pony who had noticed this odd behavior as well. Lyra's parents had asked her if she knew what was going on with their daughter in the recent weeks. Bon-Bon had no answer, but explained to Lyra's parents that school had simply been busy lately and taking its toll on everypony.

That simple lie had started Bon-Bon's current project. She had started noting when Lyra would blow people off and what excuses she would use. It was almost always on the weekend when Lyra would bail, though occasionally throughout the week she would skip out right after school, missing music. One weekday when Bon-Bon spotted Lyra leaving school early, she snuck out and followed her to find out what was obsessing her best friend. She followed her through town as far as the road that lead directly to the Everfree Forest.

That day, Bon-Bon had chose not to follow her friend to such a dangerous place.

The next day, Lyra returned to school looking as though nothing had occurred. This relieved Bon-Bon, who worried her friend would get gobbled up by any number of creatures hiding in the forest, but the relief was short lived as she noticed something odd about her friend. Her magic seemed slightly stronger. It wasn't anything major, but she was able to lift heavier weight than Bon-Bon could recall, and she was able to react to things faster with her magic. Sure, simple practice would allow a unicorn to do this, the dedication required to improve was something Lyra had never shown before. Even if this was the case, that was no reason to go into the Everfree without a parent. Bon-Bon decided enough was enough, and had invited her friend to play this Saturday as a ruse to sit down with her and find out what was going on. Rarity, who had joined into the groups circle of friendship was going to show us as well to find out what their friend was up to. Of course, Lyra had yet again simply blown them off with another lie about having stuff to do, and for Bon-Bon it was the last straw!

"No Lyra! Why do you keep lying to us?" Bon-Bon nearly shouted at her friend, who simply leaned back in shock at the outburst. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between the two friends for what felt like hours. Finally, Lyra was the pony to speak up.

"What do you mean?" She tried to sound as innocent as possible, but the look on Bon-Bon's face assured Lyra that she wasn't getting away with it.

"You know exactly what I mean. You keep blowing everypony off and going off by yourself. I followed you a week ago and saw you going into the Everfree alone. You KNOW that's dangerous!" Bon-Bon didn't let up as she berated her friend, who at this point had sat down as she listened to Bon-Bon's outburst.
"You are keeping something from all of us, and we are getting worried." Bon-Bon finally let up as sat down, mimicking her friend. Lyra just sat silent for a minute before apparently coming to a decision.

"Bon-Bon. I told you once before, but you didn't believe me. I have been visiting a friend who uses magic to come here. He doesn't think being around a lot of ponies is a good idea, but he trusts me. I trust him too, and we have been going into the Everfree to visit and to swap stories." Lyra explained to a shocked Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon recalled Lyra mentioning this before and blowing it off as her friend being silly, but to hear it yet again brought confusion.

"Wait wait, you were serious about that?" The young filly asked her friend, skepticism heavy in her voice. Lyra simply nodded while looking to the ground, almost as if ashamed that she had been blowing her friends off as much as she had. Perhaps that was exactly what was going through her head, but Bon-Bon couldn't be certain.

"Yeah, but I can get more time after this weekend. He said they had some stuff happening soon and he wouldn't be able to visit much for a while." Lyra explained, with no deception in her voice. Last time they had wondered through the Everfree, Silver had told Lyra about a nearby kingdom who was amassing an army, so his Liege had started forming up defenses against a potential attack. Lyra had been shocked to learn that a child of Silver's age would be used for this, but he quickly explained that his role was to buckle down and study in case the worst possible thing happened and he was needed in the war. Even though he was just thirteen, he was considered part of the military though, so if it came to it, he possibly would be sent to the front lines to fight. The thought of her best friend going to war brought a frown to Lyra's face once again, as it had several times since she had learned about it.

Bon-Bon noticed the change in her friend and realized perhaps she was pushing too hard into an area she shouldn't.

'I think she is still keeping something from me. Maybe she is meeting a colt out there. Whatever it is she seems down about it, or about lying about it. I guess I should back off a bit.' Deciding to let her friend off the hook for the moment, Bon-Bon played along with her friends outlandish story.

"It's ok Lyra. I'll stop asking about this human. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I was just concerned because people have noticed you not behaving as yourself." Bon-Bon explained, earning a slightly surprised look from her friend. Lyra had thought she was keeping things well and under wraps, but Bon-Bon wouldn't lie about others noticing.

'Darn. I guess Silver being busy will give me time to fix all this.' Lyra immediately started thinking about how she could recover from the damage she had caused.

"It's alright Bons. I am sorry I seemed like I was avoiding you. It had nothing to do with you I promise, and Sunday we can spend the whole day together!" Lyra promised her best friend, leaning forward to give her a hug as part of her apology. Bon-Bon happily returned the hug with a smile on her face, glad that her friend seemed to be coming back, and all thought's of what she was hiding being swept aside by the warmth of Lyra's front legs around her neck.

"Silver!" Lyra shouted to her friend as she ran towards him. Typically she was the first to arrive for their meetings, but this time he was already there. This worked well for Lyra as she needed to talk about her conversation with Bon-Bon earlier in the week.

Silver stood beside a small creek that the two usually picnicked alongside and occasionally swam in. His body stance this time however almost appeared regal, yet worn. This didn't escape Lyra who slowed down as she approached him from behind.

"Silver?" She hesitantly asked about five hoofs from him. He slowly turned, and nearly took the breath from Lyra with his eyes alone. He looked so depressed, as though he had seen or heard things. After the shock of his depressed look hit her, she noticed his outfit was now different. Where before he wore simple robes and his bracers that bound him to his lord, he now wore a cape that hung off his back, with elaborate body armor and a sword at his side. This outfit reminded her of the image in the book she had first heard of humans from, and radiated a much more threatening appearance. Had he appeared this way when they first met, Lyra doubted she would have trusted him very much.

Silver's eyes noticed her take in his outfit as his right hand rested on the sword at his hip.

"Intimidating, isn't it? It's battle armor. A wizard has to wear it when the nation is at war." He explained figuring that a pony as bright as Lyra would quickly put the pieces together. Sure enough, her eyes shot to his own when the word 'war' left his lips.

"War?" Lyra could only mimic Silver's words. The shock of such a thing happening hit harder than she thought it would. Young ponies learned of wars from the past in school, but it had been decades since any real threat had happened in Equestria, so the concept of war, or of one pony trying to kill another pony even, was foreign to Lyra. She had learned that Silver's world was a potentially violent place, but the idea of anypony, or anyone as humans would say, would lead their subjects to a potential death was sickening.
"But you said if that happened you wouldn't have to fight." Lyra repeated from what Silver had told her before. Silver shook his head however, and corrected her.

"No, I said I wouldn't be the first to fight. If needed, I would be expected to go to the front line. The first attack was larger than expected, and had support we didn't think possible. The south Wizard's Tower was destroyed, and many of our front line casters were there." He explained, trying to maintain a stoic appearance, though his voice betrayed the fear and, to a lesser extent anger, at what he was describing. Lyra had no need to remain stoic, and could feel tears forming and slowly falling down her face.
"I'm not going to be in the very front, but I will be auxiliary support." He added, hoping to help calm the pony down before him.

"What does that mean?" Lyra asked as she took a hesitant step forward. She had so many more questions, but that was all she could trust her voice with at the moment.

"It means I will help defend against the magics cast by our enemy, so that our soldiers and offensive wizards can attack without fear. It also means if our offensive casters die, I take over and start using offensive magic." Silver answered simply. Lyra was shocked even at the concept.

Offensive magic. Magic to hurt. To Kill.

"How long will you have to fight?" Lyra tried to ignore the idea that he might have to take a life, but failed. Silver was a friendly person, and never acted aggressive or threatening, yet now he was talking about killing another human.

"As long as it takes. I am my Lord's Wizard, and as such his weapon to wield." Silver answered, almost sounding like he was speaking from a recording. Perhaps part of some oath he had taken. No matter, Lyra lept up and wrapped her front legs around his neck, hugging him tight as she cried at the thought of her friend going to war. Silver finally broke his stance and gently returned the hug, stroking his hand down Lyra's mane as the two simply stood there with the sounds of the forest and water the only thing around them. After several minutes, Silver finally let go of his friend who reluctantly did the same.
"Well, I have to return. I was only given a few minutes of personal time before I report to the airship hangar." Silver explained as he checked his armor and weapon to make sure nothing had fallen loose. Lyra simply nodded as she watched him prepare for war.

"When will you have time to return? I'll be here whenever you need." Lyra asked, realizing that with a war, there probably wasn't any sort of schedule he could maintain. The look in his eyes confirmed her suspicions.

"I probably won't know until the war is complete. It could be year if things go bad. Possibly longer." Silver explained, leaving just how long silent, though the two of them knew. He might not come back at all, if he didn't survive. Lyra opened her mouth to make him promise to return, but stopped just short of voicing the thought. She wasn't an ignorant pony, and knew that war involved death, and that none of those deaths were planned on the side of the loser. As such, no promise such as that could be made. Instead, she spoke a different promise.

"Promise me you will watch your back, and fight as hard as possible. Win this war, and then come visit. I promise I'll be looking forward to it when you do." Lyra commanded, her voice still shaking and tears flowing from her eyes. Silver simply gave her a warm smile and knelt down on one knee, bowing his head to her.

"I give you my word, as a Wizard of the Crown, and member of the First Royal Wizard Academy that I will fight this war to the best of my abilities and then some, and that I accept from you this promise. I promise to maintain due vigilance during battle, both on the field and off, and upon victory, returning to you milady." Silver spoke, sounding more regal than he ever had before.
"I speak these words as a Wizard, and as such will always be bound to them." Taking one of Lyra's hoofs in hand, he lifted it to his mouth and gently kissed it before releasing and standing up. Behind him, the familiar portal he used the first time they had met opened. Lyra wiped away the tears and smiled to her friend, not wanting his last view of her to be a filly in pain.

"I promise to be here. Go win that war!" She cheered him on, hoping it would give him the strength to do just that. And with a simple salute, Silver stepped backwards into the portal, out of Equestria, and out of Lyra's life. Potentially forever.

Author's Note

Don't worry, it isn't over! This is just the first part, which I simply refer to as the Childhood arc. Next chapter should prove to be quite interesting. Stay tuned :)

Chapter 4: When I became an adult, I put away childish things....or so I thought

“That’s a wrap everypony! Well done, and same time next week,” the conductor lowered his baton while closing the sheet music book, drawing a cheer from the whole orchestra. With Hearth’s Warming Eve being the day after tomorrow, everyone was excited to visit family and friends.

“Hey Lyra, what are your plans for Hearth’s Warming Eve?” the lead Cellist, Octavia Philharmonica, asked as she approached Lyra who was currently seated in the back ranks of the string section alongside a large, beautifully carved harp that she had be relegated to playing. Normally Lyra would be playing her lyre, and as such be seated very close to her dear friend, but the current works the orchestra was performing had no need of a lyre, but instead had several call outs for the larger harp.

“Oh, not sure, Octavia. Bon-Bon and I will probably hit Club Pon3 tonight, then tomorrow just spend the day at home enjoying the peace and quiet. What about you? I figure Vinyl has some crazy party planned.” Lyra asked as she levitated her sheet music into her saddlebags while looking at her friend. Octavia’s smile dropped at the mention of a party with Vinyl, and Lyra could tell she hit the nail on the head.

“Well, unfortunately yes. Vinyl has invited a few of her friends from the club over for a party, but thankfully I will be absent. Tomorrow morning I am catching the first train to Canterlot to visit the relatives. I just hope I have a home to return to when I get back,” she said, half jokingly. Vinyl was famous around Ponyville for having parties that rivaled Pinkie Pie's, and when those two paired up it was something for the history books. Club Pon3 itself owed it’s success to a combined efforts of the pink earth pony and unicorn DJ. The party that had opened the club lasted thirty six hours and had both princesses as registered attendants. Surprisingly, Luna turned out to be the more widely accepted pony. This wasn't much of a surprise given that the club was mostly open at nights, so all the night owls had been there. Princess Luna still tried to visit the club at least once a week, as long as it did not interfere with her royal duties.

“I’m sure things will be just fine. Vinyl might throw some wild parties, but she wouldn’t risk your home.” Lyra assured her friend as they both walked towards the exit of the performance hall. The snowfall outside was light, but consistent. As such, everypony walking by the hall was bundled up in winter wear to fight off the cold.

"This is true, but it doesn't lessen my worry. Vinyl wouldn't intentionally risk my home, but when she gets a few too many ciders inside her, sometimes she doesn't think quite like she should." Octavia commented, obviously thinking back to some incident that Lyra had no idea about.
"But in either case, I am sure it will be fine. Besides, she makes enough bits with her club to cover whatever she might damage."

"That's the way to look at it!" Lyra said, patting her hoof against Octavia's shoulder, gaining an annoyed look from the grey mare. It was no secret that Octavia didn't like being touched, most likely due to her time being brought up in Canterlot where she had to be 'A proper mare' and all that. Luckily Lyra knew her from grade school before she moved, so she got away with a lot that others could not when it came to the cellist.
"Well, I'm sure Bon-Bon is getting worried so I should be headed home. She always freaks out when we have a large snow come through." Lyra explained as she headed towards the house that she shared with her childhood friend Bon-Bon. Octavia simply smiled and waved goodbye as she started off in her own direction, wondering what chaos her DJ roommate had left for her already.

"I'm home!" Lyra called out as she opened the door to the home she shared with her childhood friend Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon was clearly home as a fire was roaring in the front room fireplace, surrounded by various Hearth Warming decorations. The warmth of the fire drew Lyra towards it as she used her magic to hang up her scarf and music case. Once things were put away, she paused to figure out where her friend was.

"Bon-Bon!" Calling out, Lyra looked around the room for a note. They both knew not to leave the house with a fire started, but maybe something happened and Bon-Bon hadn't had a chance to put it out before leaving.

"I'm up here!" A voice traveled down the stairs, drawing Lyra's attention. It sounded like Bon-Bon was up in the storage room, but that didn't make any sense. When they had moved in, all the spare stuff they owned that had no place in the current house was simply put in the extra bedroom and promptly forgot about, so why would Bon-Bon suddenly be up there? Walking upstairs, Lyra approached and peaked into the room. Before her lay Bon-Bon on the ground, surrounded by books and pictures.

"What's all this?" Lyra asked, approaching the pictures and levitating one up to her. Her confusion was replaced with a gentle smile as she examined the picture. In it, Bon-Bon, Rarity, and Lyra were all gathered around a camp fire from a trip when they were about to graduate from Ponyville Elementary. Their parents had taken them on a camping trip as a reward (though Rarity hadn't been as excited as the others), and naturally many pictures were taken. Bon-Bon spoke up, pulling Lyra out of her memory of the past.

"I was looking for an old decoration I used to have and found a box of pictures. I hope you don't mind, as it was one of your boxes, but when I saw these pictures, I had to look through them. Some of your old school work is there as well." Bon-Bon explained, motioning to a pile of notebooks beside stacks of photos.

"Wow, I had forgotten all about this box. Let's see what we have." The stack of books were encompassed by a turquoise glow and floated towards the unicorn. As she sat down, she started flipping through them by hoof.
"Let's see. Looks like sheet music, sheet music, math homework, history..." Lyra slowly started mumbling as she progressed through the stack. It was amazing she had kept so much of her work. Some of it went back to before she had her cutie mark.

"These pictures are amazing. You should frame some of them. They could really help make this place feel more homey." Bon-Bon suggested as she held a few photos in each hoof. When no answer was forthcoming from her friend, she turned and saw Lyra had stopped looking through the books and was staring at one book in particular. Bon-Bon couldn't see the book, but if the look on Lyra's face was to be believed, it was something important.
"Is everything ok?" Bon-Bon asked, pulling her friend from whatever thoughts she had been entertaining. Lyra snapped her eyes to her friend and just stared for a moment before a smile formed on her face.

"Oh, it's fine. Just found an old journal of mine and made me think of times as a little filly." Lyra explained vaguely. Bon-Bon was about to ask her to elaborate more when the unicorn stood up with the book in a magical grasp.
"I think I am going to go read through this book. I seem to remember some silly adventures I might have wrote about." Lyra said then left the room, leaving a confused Bon-Bon laying alone on the floor.

"What was that about?"

Lyra entered her room and closed the door, locking it with a simple thought as she approached her bed. Taking a moment to get comfortable on it, she opened the book and flipped a third of the way through for where she thought the old entry might have been.

"Let's see, if I remember correctly, it would be around here somewhere." Mumbling to herself, Lyra searched for the entry in question. The memory was faint, as though a dream she might have been recalling, but seeing this journal again reminded her that these memories were real. Soon enough, she found exactly what she was looking for and started reading the words she had written as a child.

Today I continued researching Humans at the library during recess. I think the librarian is getting tired of me coming by all the time, though I bet it is because I leave a mess. She's nice enough though to let me keep my table as I want, considering no other students really use the library.

That doesn't matter though, because today I got something much better than books to research with! A human appeared today in the library! A REAL HUMAN! He said his name was Silver and he is from some other world. I'm not sure how he got here, and he tried to explain it, but I think their magic is different from ours. This must be what Starswirl the Bearded was talking about in his book!

He seems like a nice colt, but for now I don't know much about him. We were interrupted by a teacher and he returned to his world before being caught. He said he would come back, and I hope he does. This could really be the breakthrough I need in my research!

Lyra finished reading the entry with a shocked look on her face. As she read it, she could remember more about her childhood friend. They hadn't known each other long, which is part of the reason she hadn't even recalled him until now, but this journal was proof that he existed and wasn't some dream.

"Silver...it's been over ten years." The time had passed so quickly it seemed, and in all these years Silver had never returned. Perhaps something happened. If she recalled correctly, he left because of war. Had he died? She didn't even know how long humans lived. Perhaps he grew old and died already.

'I have to dig through those boxes. Maybe I kept my research from when I was a filly.' Trying to recall if she ever actually stored it away was drawing a blank. She had been a studious filly, and now that she was grown, perhaps she would spot something she overlooked as a child. Lyra idly turned a few pages as she thought about this when a new entry caught her eye.

Today Silver and I entered the Everfree again. My parents keep telling me it is dangerous, but with Silver's magic combined with my own ability, we are more than safe. We haven't even come across anything other than a baby timberwolf. Silver moved to attack, but I stopped him. Apparently there are wolves in his world as well, and some of them can turn into humans. Can you imagine that, a creature than turns from one animal to another?!

Anyway, I explained that it was just a pup and no threat, so Silver backed off. The cub followed us for a little bit before turning and jumping back into the forest. For such a vicious creature, they sure are adorable when they are young.

As we explored, we came across the ruins of some old castle! There were a couple of statues of two ailcorns at the gate, but I didn't recognize them. Unfortunately it was getting late, so Silver and I had to return. Maybe next week we can go explore further into the ruins. I can't imagine what treasure could lay inside for us to find!

Lyra was still friends with Rarity and had heard about the fight with Nightmare Moon, when the Elements of Harmony were recovered. Rarity had explained that they had traveled to "an ancient castle of the royal pony sisters" as some book had put it, and found the Elements inside. This must have been that castle!

"Wait, so I found it first! Apparently we totally should have gone inside." Lyra joked with herself as she kept reading. A knock at the door pulled her attention.

"Lyra, we are supposed to meet everyone at the club soon! You still reading that journal, or are you ready to go!" Bon-Bon yelled from behind the door. Lyra realized she had spent way to much time reading and needed to get ready.

"Just a few minutes. I'll head down when I'm ready." Lyra answered as she rolled out of bed to prepare. As she brushed her hair and got ready for the club, her eyes kept falling on her journal.

"I'm definitely going to have to read some more when we get back." Lyra thought, finally finishing her prep and heading down to meet her friend.

The silence that had long sense fallen over the home was shattered as the front door bust open, casting moonlit shadows of two close friends into the living room.

"Ah Yeah! Pon3 destroyed it tonight!" Bon-Bon shouted as she and Lyra walked into their home, using each other as support. The club had been as wild and fun as they had expected, and after Vinyl's time at the DJ booth, the group of friends all partied and had perhaps one to0 many drinks from the bar while a new DJ took over for the rest of the night.

Bon-Bon had been out with a mission to empty the bar of all its booze as best as Lyra could tell, given how much the normally reserved pony had drank. As such, Lyra was stuck with the job of helping the intoxicated pony make it home safe. This didn't bother her though, since every year the two of them would go party a couple of days before Hearth Warming, and last year Lyra had been the one to get drunk. This year, it seemed to be Bon-Bon's turn to suffer during Hearth Warming Eve.

Lyra knew she herself had drank more than she intended, but when they first arrived and Bon-Bon got an entire bottle of Sweet Apple Acre's Zap Apple Cider, Lyra knew it was her turn to ease off. Few alcohols in Equestria had the kick that Zap Apple Cider had, and as she had expected, Bon-Bon was in no condition to guide them home.

Although she did drink her fair share, Lyra had another reason for not wanting to get as drunk as they normally did. The journal from earlier was on her mind all night, and she was excited to get to read some more of it. This was her guiding thought as she lead her drunken roommate to her room, mindlessly responding to whatever incoherent things Bon-Bon spouted. Once she was next to her bed, a swift bump with her flank knocked Bon-Bon over and the drunken mare was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. A short pause and snoring was the only sound from the room.

"Goodnight, Bons. Have fun tomorrow." Lyra spoke, knowing good and well Bon-Bon wouldn't hear it at all, nor would she have a good day tomorrow. Walking from the room with a smirk on her face, Lyra closed the door and hurried to her own room as fast as she trusted her own hoofs and jumped into bed, reaching over to grab the journal to read another entry.

Today sucked. Silver had to leave and I don't know when he will return. His land is at war, and he is a weapon for his ruler. He promised he would be careful, so hopefully soon he should return, but with war there is no telling. I don't want to think about this anymore, so I'm done with this journal until he signals me again for a visit. Hopefully it won't be too long.

The entry was short, and some parts of the page were discolored as though it had gotten damp. Lyra didn't have to wonder why. She had been crying when she wrote this. She tried to remember more about Silver, but her memory was hazy at best on most of this. She hadn't even remembered Silver until this journal showed up again. Unfortunately, Silver himself never showed up again, meaning most likely he hadn't survived the war.

That thought surprised her with how much it hurt. She hadn't had to deal with a death close to her, thank Celestia, so the thought that a childhood friend was dead came as a big shock. Knowing that he likely died in a war made the pain worse. Lyra looked up from her old journal and gazed out the window to the star filled sky, recalling what she could of her time hanging out with Silver when she was younger. Once again, after years of being left alone, tears fell onto the pages of the journal as Lyra traveled down her memories.

After a few minutes of quiet thought, Lyra shook her head to clear it of as many depressing memories she could. Wiping her tears away with her hoof, she forced a smile to her face in an attempt to lighten the weight on her heart. A final memory did surface though: the way she used to communicate with Silver. Her forced smile became genuine as she recalled the energy she would send into the link the two shared via her own cutie mark. Closing her eyes, she lowered her horn and sent a very faint pulse of magic, the same way she recalled as a filly, though the connection. Silver hadn't survived whatever war he had been fighting, but at least she could say goodbye.

'Hopefully his side won the war. At least his death wasn't in vain then.' Lyra closed the book and placed it in her nightstand before turning off the lights to lay down, her thoughts on the human from her past.

Lyra shot up from the bed as something pulled her attention. The adrenaline from whatever it was woke her instantly as she looked around her room. The light from the moon shone clearly through her window, revealing nothing out of place. It also revealed that she had only been asleep for a couple of hours.

"Must have been a dream. Damn cider..." Lyra plopped backwards onto her pillow before twisting into a more comfortable position to sleep. Slowly her eyes drifted closed as she returned to whatever dream had awoken her.

Then she felt it again.

A small shock to her side, causing her to sit up rapidly again. It felt like someone was tickling her, or her muscles where just tensing rapidly for no reason. Rubbing at her side with a hoof to try and stop whatever it was seemed to help.

"I hate when that happens." Lyra mumbled as she laid down, hoping her muscles would relax and stop tensing. As her eyes started to close, she absently glanced to her nightstand where she had stored her journal.

Wait!

Hopping up again, she reached into the stand and yanked out the book. Without even opening, she started thinking harder about her childhood, as though the book would make things clearer.

"It can't be. He had to have died." Trying to decide if it was possible that he survived, she felt the odd effect again. This time she didn't question it. She was getting the signal, so now she had to do her part.