You know, just a kite-flying kinda day!

Lyra Lyra Lyra! You weren’t about to keep the best picture all to yourself, now were you? Not to worry. “A true, true friend helps a friend in need!” as they say!

I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you return home. As surprised as that poor mare you shoved before beating a very brave retreat.

I must say this photo really captures your-er… Yellow side.

The group slows to a halt on the edge of town, panting after their run.

“I can’t believe we pulled that off without Princess Twilight finding out!“ Blossomforth sighs, “I’m going to go home and try to forget any of this ever happened!“ Then she stretches her wings wide and takes to the skies.

“Well, there’s still plenty of time left in the day. “ Bon-Bon shields her eyes and glances up towards the sun. It’s still resting high in the sky. “Guess I’ll head into the shop. See if I can’t get some revenue coming in.“ She puts a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder, “We’ll talk at length about this later. But for now, how about I trust you to never do this again.“
Lyra lifts her hoof and puts it on Bon-Bon’s, “That sounds fair. And I’m sorry.“
“We’ll see.“ Then Bon-Bon walks off into town, disappearing in the crowd.

“I have a lot to look through.” Lyra taps the saddlebag on her back, “And I have to get ready for work tonight. And somewhere in there I gotta get some real sleep.“ Lyra waves to you and walks backwards, “Catch you back at the house, Liza. Good thing there was no school today or you fillies would be swimming in trouble, huh?” Then she turns to round a corner and slips out of view.

“Hmm. It was a far cry from what we were promised,“ Diamond Tiara yawns, “But I guess you’re in the clear.“ She smirks, “I’ll bet our adventure was loads better than yours, though. Maybe we’ll tell you about it sometime. You know, if we feel like it.“ Diamond Tiara turns her back to you, “For now, I have a party I’ll be attending and I need some beauty rest.“ She turns her head back toward you, “But you probably wouldn’t know anything about that.“ Then she gives a coy smile and trots away.

“Alright! You did it!“ Spike cheers! “Owlowiscious, the book!“
The owl gives a soft, “Who?“ Then flies up to the top of the large machine and picks up the book with its talons. Lyra backs away from the machine and its quiet hum and lights slowly fade. The bird drops the book into Spike’s waiting claws, then flies over to the cover on the ground and starts to fumble with it.

Lyra drops to all four legs and approaches the little purple dragon, “Spike, I-“
Spike puts the book under his arm and holds his other claw up to stop Lyra, “You can explain later. For now-” Spike jumps and points to the door, “Everypony needs to get out! Twilight’ll be back any second now! Rear stairwell and out the window! Go go go!“

Everypony breaks into a run and, lead by Blossomforth, snakes their way to and down the stairs. Once there they each jump out the nearest window, one at a time. Lyra leads the group outside, hugging the wall as they head toward the front of the castle. She then gives a signal to go, “Twilight just went inside! Move!“

Then the group makes their final sprint back toward town.

You feel like you’re falling, and can see bright lights pass before your closed eyes. You try your best to brace for impact, but you don’t know which way is up! You start to feel sick when suddenly the lights disappear and fresh air impacts your face. Then, something soft catches you and you open your eyes.

“Gotcha.” You find yourself on Blossomforth’s back, who has just landed. You roll off and stumble for a dizzy moment. Once you get steady, you take a look at your hand, which has turned back into a hoof. Looks like you made it!

You look around the room. Blossomforth is next to you, looking like she’s ready to dive and catch you if you lose your balance. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are beside one another. Bon-Bon is off to one side; there’s an owl perched on a box near her. And Spike is in the middle.

Spike claps, “Alright! That just leaves Lyra left, right? She’s still coming, isn’t she?“

The portal starts to flash and Blossomforth pulls you out of the way with one of her wings. Then she steps in front of you and bends her knees, ready to fly into action. Literally. The mirror glows and Lyra slowly walks out, standing on her hindlegs.

“I was going to come back, you know.“

You turn around and find Lyra walking past the statue toward where Bon-Bon is standing. You want to stop her, to tell her to leave Aunt Bon-Bon alone, but Bon-Bon turns around with her arms crossed and a stoic expression. The kind she normally has when she’s upset with Lyra. You wouldn’t be able to tell she cried at all, if you hadn’t already seen it.

“You think I knew.“
Lyra spreads her arms out, “I wouldn’t just leave.“
Bon-Bon, arms still crossed, starts to walk toward the statue, “And why wouldn’t you? You’re a free spirit, aren’t you? That’s why you didn’t tell me anything.“ She passes by Lyra and turns her head to say, “That’s why you never tell me anything.“
Lyra yells back at Bon-Bon, “I don’t tell you anything because you can’t ever trust me!“
Bon-Bon pauses in front of the statue for a moment, then turns her head toward you, “Come on, Liza.“ Then she passes through the statue and vanishes.

You and Lyra both stand next to each other in front of the statue.
Lyra pats you on the shoulder, “Go ahead, Liza. Unless you think I won’t follow.“

You take a deep breath, close your eyes and, slowly this time, pass through the portal.

Aunt Bon-Bon hugs the other Lyra, “I’ll be back before you know it. And when I get back… I’ll tell you all about Paris. And I’ll have had such a good time. And I’ll wish you could have come with me.“
This only seems to make Lyra cry harder. Then you hear a bell ring and Lyra swings around to look back at the school. She looks back at Bon-Bon with a panicked look on her face, breathing very fast.
“Please go.” Bon-Bon grabs Lyra’s hands again, clasps them together, and raises them up to her chest, “You know I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. It’s better this way. It’s better that you don’t see me fade away.“
Lyra’s face is red and she’s shaking all over.
“If you trust me, go before you miss the second bell. Please!“

Lyra abruptly turns and runs toward the school’s main door. Bon-Bon turns to watch her. The front door opens and Lyra stops to stare back at Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon cups her hands over her mouth and yells, “I love you!“ Then Lyra disappears inside.

It’s over, and things become very quiet, and very still. You watch Bon-Bon stand there and stare off into the distance for what feels like a very long time.

“Lyra…“ You step away from Aunt Bon-Bon, who walks towards Lyra. The other Lyra.
“Bon-Bon, is everything alright?“ Her expression looks clouded with worry.
“Yes,“ Bon-Bon replies, then shakes her head, “No… Lyra, I have to go.“
They both reach for each others’ hands and hold on.
“You’ll be back though, right?“
“Yes… But I won’t remember any of this.“ Lyra’s mouth hangs open. “I won’t remember anything that happened before I left for Paris.“
“I-I don’t understand.“ Lyra’s breathing is heavy and you can tell she’s already on the verge of crying.
Bon-Bon looks away, “I don’t understand either, but when I come back- the last time I’ll have seen you will be before I left. It’ll be like the last three days never happened. It’ll be like I never got back early.“
Lyra’s lower lip quivers and tears start to drip from her eyes, “Is this a dream?”
“I don’t know.” Bon-Bon inhales deeply and you see her start to cry too, ”But I love you,“ you watch Bon-Bon squeeze Lyra’s hand, “And I’ll still love you when I get back. I promise.“

All at once it hits you and you cover your mouth to silence your gasp. This world’s Bon-Bon is in some place called Paris. And Bon-Bon, your Bon-Bon, was pretending to be this Lyra’s girlfriend. You stare at the pain and confusion in this Lyra’s face and… It’s not right. Bon-Bon would never hurt anypony.

“Well,” Blossomforth interrupts, “If you don’t mind, we won’t be waiting for her to get here. You two,” She points to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, “Through the portal, now. And you’d better not try to run off again while I find Spike. Bon-Bon already told me who your parents are.“

With heads held low, the pair walk toward the statue. But before they pass, they both turn toward you. “See you on the other side, Liza.“ Diamond Tiara says. Silver Spoon just waves. Then they both step through the statue and vanish.

Blossomforth approaches the statue after them, “When I get home I’m taking a nice long bath. And I might not get out until Winter Wrap-Up.“ Bon-Bon muffles a laugh and Blossomforth too vanishes through the statue.

Only you and Aunt Bon-Bon remain. She puts her arm around you and pulls you in close, “Well, should we wait for Lyra? How long did she say she’d be?“

“Bon-Bon?“

You and Bon-Bon spin around to find Lyra standing behind you. But it’s not the Lyra you were expecting.

You slide out of your chair and hug Lyra, who immediately squeezes you back.

“You’re a good kid, Liza. Just… stay out of trouble, alright?“

You nod and Lyra lets go. She wipes her eye and opens her laptop back up, “You should go ahead back to the statue. I need to finish up here, but I’ll be along shortly.“ She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a green piece of paper, “You can use this like money. Did you ride the bus? You can see the bus stop from here.“ You nod and Lyra smiles, then looks out the window, “Looks like your friends are gone. You can either chase after them, possibly get lost in the process, or trust that they’ll get back on their own. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.“

Lyra turns her body away from you and back to the laptop without another word. You thank her and she smiles again, then you head back outside. She was right, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are nowhere to be found.

You fight to resist it, but you start to cry a little. You don’t understand why Lyra is acting so mean. She’s probably done worse than you did. But maybe that’s the point. She wants to scare you into keeping it that way? You wipe your face and ask one last question: What information is she looking for?

Lyra turns away and stares out the window. Then down at her laptop, which she closes. Then back to you, seemingly judging whether you deserve an answer or not. When she finishes, she looks up. Evidently, you passed.

“For a long time now, ponies have been… expecting something from me.“ She starts to poke at the fork beside her. “I’m supposed to… do something, but I don’t know what. Everypony seems to connect me with humans, and I reject it, but maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe that’s somehow related to the thing I’m supposed to do.
Suppose my theory about humans and ponies is true. Suppose we do live in different time periods on the same world. If they came first, suppose there was a way to stop… whatever ultimately happens to them. What if I could find the answer and give it to them?
What if it’s the other way around? What if I could stop us from fading away? If it’s possible- if the answer can exist- if it can even be found… If it’s sensational, obvious, easily discovered, so be it. But if searching the fringe is the only way… Wouldn’t you say we deserve that chance? Surely they don’t deserve to disappear either, if it can be avoided.
I wanted this to be the human world. I wanted proof that we live on different planes of existence. That neither of our fates are sealed. But if I can’t disprove it… I can’t risk being right. I know I’m grasping at straws here, but… Ponies are expecting something from me.
But nopony will believe me- nopony will trust me. Everypony is concerned about something else. They all want me to just… click my hooves together and fix a problem. But maybe the answer isn’t so direct. Maybe my answer isn’t the answer they need.“

After she finishes, Lyra becomes quiet. You aren’t really sure what to say.

That’s a lot to ask. You start listing each one with “how she broke in” and “why she didn’t leave a note”, but you stop. Lyra leans forward and rests her head on her crossed arms. Uh oh. She’s smiling, but it’s a mean smile. The kind you see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon do a lot.

“You don’t think very highly of me, do you Liza?“
You bite your tongue.
“The only reason you’re sitting in front of me right now is because I allowed it. If I wanted to vanish off the face of Equestria, I would have. Even if you knew I was in this world- if I hopped a train to the next town over, you’d never find me before I moved again. The only reason Bon-Bon knew I was here was because I left a fairly obvious hint on my tumblr, in case I ran into trouble. And whether you realize it or not, all you did was follow her. The only thing I didn’t count on was exactly how fast Bon-Bon would come looking for me. Or that she’d leave you alone to follow her. I expected her to be more responsible than that.“

That was clearly the wrong question to ask. You want to argue about Bon-Bon, but Lyra lifts her head up and the smile vanishes. Replaced with something much more stern.

“As for how I broke in, I’m an ex-criminal. I practically waltzed through the front door singing our national anthem. Trivial is an understatement. The real question is how you tricked two fillies and conned an adult into helping you get here. I did what I did because those are the skills I have. The skills I grew up with. I expected better from you. I live with my decisions. They haunt me in my sleep. Are you proud of yours?“

You sink into your seat and look away. Maybe you didn’t always make the best choice. You didn’t mean to hurt anypony. You just… You were only trying to help.

She left without warning. She was gone for days. Why?

Lyra turns her laptop around to face you. On the screen are a lot of words. They look like pages of a book.

“Information. The human internet has all this information blocked behind paywalls- inaccessible to Equestrians. Historical details, reports, science journals, textbooks. I knew if I could get here, get some money, I could start to get ahold of it.
I thought this was the human world I’ve been communicating with all these years. Disappointingly, turns out it’s not. No Middle Eastern conflict. Less environmental destruction. And to top it all off, once Twilight got here, magic.
But there are similarities. My current theory is that this is some kind of amalgamation- a combination- of both our worlds. It’s been difficult trying to piece together which side influenced what. But when I can, I can start to get a better picture of human earth- beyond the internet.“

Is she coming back? Is this just… what she wants to do now?

Lyra pulls the laptop back, “Liza… Of course I’m coming back. In fact, I was getting ready to come home- I have work tonight! I wouldn’t just leave.“

You…You came all this way and she was about to come home anyway? You sink in your seat. Well, at least you found Bon-Bon.

Something seems missing, though. Is there anything else you should ask?