Time for the story to start winding down. Fair warning: if you cry easily, I imagine this chapter will make you do so. Given the name of it, I'm sure you all know what's in store for these two. So, onward...
Seeing Lyra right next to him among the messed-up bedsheets, Kyle became wide awake as he remembered that, last night... he happened to live every super-brony's dream.
Wow, last night was pretty epic... heh, wonder how everyone would react if they found out that I fucked a pony? Kyle thought to himself, laughing a bit.
Soon enough, Lyra began to awaken, and she looked at Kyle with a smile.
"Morning, honey." she said.
"Morning, baby." Kyle responded.
Lyra stretched her legs. "Aah... was last night just the best, or what?" she asked.
"You bet your plot, it was!" Kyle said.
They both laughed for a while, and then eventually decided to start the day. They both decided to take a shower together... and Kyle could not help but want to scrub Lyra's mane with the shampoo. She did not mind; she absolutely enjoyed letting him wash her.
(XXXX)
A few months had passed since Kyle had Lyra had the epic night, and Lyra's eighteenth birthday was coming up... but it seemed like she was already twenty-five. Kyle had planned for the two of them to go on a camping trip in an isolated region of the mountains. Lyra was definitely excited about it. They would be leaving in a few days when her birthday came around, and Kyle had already bought the tent, cooler, small barbecue, food, and other supplies they would need. Kyle also decided to re-install the firing pin on his handgun and bring it, just in case.
They were browsing around the National Forest website to see where a good spot would be for them. It had to be isolated, but Lyra was bringing her wolf costume in the event that they did come across other people.
"I can't wait to go on a trip!" Lyra said. "How long has it been... about a year?"
Kyle nodded. "Sounds about right." he said.
Kyle had taken Lyra on a few trips before, making sure that the places they go would be isolated, be it camping outside of conventional campgrounds or renting a cabin near a resort.
As they were browsing, the doorbell suddenly rang, making them both jump. They looked in the direction of the front door to see some shadows moving.
"Lyra, hide in the bedroom..." Kyle said, promptly. "...this shouldn't take more than a few minutes... hopefully."
"Okay." Lyra said, heading quietly to the room.
Kyle walked over through the door... and could make out a very strange-looking and strange-colored figure through the frosted glass of the front door. And upon opening it...
...he believed his eyes were utterly lying to him...
...he was just as surprised as when he found Lyra, if not more so...
...this had to be a dream...
...but...
...no, it was real. This was really happening.
In front of Kyle was a fairly tall, white equine, with golden apparel accessories including a crown, a very long Unicorn horn, Pegasus wings folded against her body, and a mane of rippling pink-and-green hair...
...Princess Celestia was standing at his door.
"So..." she began after a long silence. "...we meet at last, human."
Kyle remained silent for a moment, still overcome with immense shock. Disregarding why the Princess of Equestria was at his door right now, it puzzled him that he was actually taller than Celestia (not counting her horn, of course).
"I am Celestia, Princess and ruler of the kingdom of Equestria, and controller of the Sun." the Princess declared.
"...Hello, Celestia..." Kyle said, awkwardly raising his hand in a still waving position. "...I am Kyle Schaeffer... denizen of America... and famous freelance artist..."
Celestia narrowed her eyes as she visually examined Kyle.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Kyle began, stepping outside. "...why are you here?"
"I would advise you to keep your distance, human..." Celestia warned, her horn glowing as she glared at him. "...we know what you are capable of, and we will defend ourselves!"
"Who's we?" Kyle asked.
Celestia stepped aside to reveal two other figures behind her. One was Bon Bon, an Earth Pony who is always depicted as Lyra's best friend in the TV show, and the other was none other than Twilight Sparkle herself. The first thing Kyle noticed about Twilight was that she did not have her wings.
Right... Kyle thought. ...we must be at a point in time before the series even began; she's still Celestia's student.
"We have come to take back the Unicorn pony, Lyra Heartstrings." Celestia said. "I can sense her presence in this residence. As the ruler of Equestria, I order you to release her!"
"Release her?" Kyle asked. "What are you talking about? I'm not holding her prisoner..."
"We will only believe you when we see her unharmed, human!" Twilight said, stomping her front hoof.
"Twilight, let me handle this..." Celestia said, turning back to Kyle. "...letting her go should be simple enough, I would imagine."
Kyle pursed his lips. "Why are you talking to me like this? What have I ever done to you?" he asked.
"We know that humans are aggressive creatures who will do anything and everything to get their way... even horrific acts." Celestia claimed.
"Please don't hurt us!" Bon Bon said. "We just want Lyra back!"
To Kyle surprise (and somewhat relief), Bon Bon had her "Green Isn't Your Color" voice.
"Hurt you?" Kyle asked. "Why would I hurt any of you? What would I have to gain from it?"
Celestia's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "A human using logic? That's interesting... I always assumed they went off of pure primal instinct..."
"Well... you can come inside, if you want..." Kyle said, stepping aside. "...and if you're not too paranoid. Trust me, there's no traps inside."
Hesitantly, the ponies all came inside of the mansion. Celestia looked around.
"Quite a well residence you have here." Celestia said. "I always imagine they'd be cluttered like a dragon's den."
"So, um, Mister..." Bon Bon said to Kyle. "...where's Lyra?"
"She's... upstairs. In our bedroom." Kyle said.
Bon Bon raised a brow. "In your bedroom...?"
"Yeah." Kyle said. "Me and Ly share a room together. I offered her a room of her own before I lived here, but she wanted to sleep with me."
" 'Ly'? Are you serious?" Bon Bon said. "You call her by a pet name?"
"Do you care to explain?" Celestia asked.
"Look... just trust me when I say this: I have not harmed Lyra in any way. I would never do such a thing, because I've known about you ponies. You're all from a cartoon that aired on television for almost a decade."
"So you do know... you've seen us..." Celestia said.
It was a bit strange that none of the ponies asked Kyle about the show.
"And, I've had a pretty big question in my mind for several years now..." Kyle said. "...what the hell happened that caused her to end up in this world?"
"Well..." Celestia began. "...it happened in Canterlot a long while ago. My student here, Twilight Sparkle, was there to witness the event firsthand. An Earth Pony from Ponyville, Doctor Whooves, was present at the annual Scientific Exposition unveiling his latest creation: a portal generator, which allows access to various different universes in ways that magic is unable to achieve."
"I see..." Kyle said. "...go on."
Celestia continued: "Lyra was present on a class field trip, along with her orphanage roommate, Bon Bon. They witnessed the Doctor power up his generator to create a portal that opened on one side of the stage, and came out on the other side. He stepped through the portal with no difficulty. However... upon increasing the power, the device began to malfunction; it began to emit random static discharge, and Doctor Whooves was unable to shut it off via the control panel. All he could do was yell desperately for everypony to run away, as the device was on the verge of detonation.
"However, just before it did explode, the device fired a single beam, straight at the filly Lyra. When the beam made contact with her solid body... it heavily distorted spacetime around her, sending her through thousands of dimensions in a split-second, before she wound up here."
"Wow..." Kyle said, recalling what Lyra said years ago as to how she arrived here.
"After that, Doctor Whooves spent years performing extensive research and equations, such as her positioning when she was hit, the angle of the beam, the spot on her body that it hit, all by watching the surveillance footage. I told him personally that we would handle it, but he felt too terrible about the tragedy, and took it upon himself to locate the universe where Lyra ended up. Once he found it, I spent years with my student, practicing a special ritual magic that would allow us to cross into the dimension where Lyra was within the confines of the castle, and only a few moments ago... we performed it in the exact spot where Lyra disappeared."
"So, she didn't end up here by magic..." Kyle said. "...she's here by science!?"
"That is correct." Celestia said.
Just as Kyle was about to ask more questions, Lyra's voice came out of nowhere.
"Kyle?" she called from upstairs. "Honey, is everything alright down there?"
Oh no... Kyle thought, finally piecing together everything in that moment. ...they've come to take her back. How's all of this gonna pan out...?
He stood stiff for a moment, his heart beating fairly anxiously.
"Uh, excuse me... Kyle, is it...? But..." Bon Bon began, now looking even more confused than ever. "...did Lyra just call you... 'honey'?"
"Perhaps you could bring her out so we can ensure she is in good form?" Celestia asked. "There's always the possibility of brainwashing..."
Disgusted, Kyle was just about ready to uppercut the Alicorn... but he kept his cool for the time being, and proceeded up the stairs.
"It'll be a moment..." he said to the ponies waiting downstairs.
"Kyle?" Lyra asked, upon his making it up the stairs.
"Yeah, I'm here, Ly..." he said. "...uh, listen... we... we need to talk..."
"What's going on...?" Lyra asked.
Kyle sat for a moment, and explained the situation to her. After a few minutes of explaining, he brought her down the stairs. Needless to say, she was now just about as anxious as him. When she came into the living room.
"LYRA!" Bon Bon said, smiling big and rushing towards her.
Lyra gasped. "Bonnie!" she said, just as the Earth Pony pulled her into a hug, which she returned.
It brought a slight smile to Kyle's face to have the two meet again after so long... but it was tinged with a bit of sorrow, just knowing what was to come...
"Ah... so she is in good shape." Celestia said. "But... let me make sure she is not enchanted or psychologically altered in any way..."
Lyra and Bon Bon stopped hugging, and were paying attention only to Celestia. The Alicorn charged her horn, making Lyra levitate a few feet in the air. Several rings of light moved up and down her body. This continued for a few moments, until Celestia set her back on the ground.
"...She is fully self-aware. No enchantments, no hypnosis, no stress disorder... she's very much the same pony, mind, heart, and soul."
"But... something still doesn't add up to me." Kyle said.
"And what might that be...?" Celestia asked.
"The thing is... Lyra is much older than she should be relative to this world's time." Kyle said.
"What do you mean by that?" Celestia questioned him further.
Kyle turned to Twilight, who had firsthand witness of the event.
"How long ago did she disappear from Equestria?" he asked the purple Unicorn.
"Um... about fourteen years ago." Twilight answered. "Why?"
Kyle was absolutely confounded at the time that had passed between the two worlds.
"Well..." Kyle began. "...it hasn't been anywhere close to that much time in this world..."
Twilight narrowed her eyes in confusion. "How long has it been...?"
Kyle took a breath. "...Only seven years."
"WHAT?" Twilight asked, her eyes wide. "But then... why is she the same age that she would've been in Equestria?"
Celestia spoke up: "I believe I know the reasoning behind this." she said.
"So... what is it?" Kyle asked.
"Lyra has a sort link... a connection to Equestria, since it is her homeworld. She, and all of us, and chronologically bound to Equestria. And since these are different dimensions, the time slippage is different; for every one second that passes in this universe, two pass in Equestria..."
"So..." Kyle began. "...Lyra got older much faster... because she's linked to Equestria... and time moves slower here than it does there...?"
"It would certainly seem so." Celestia said. "And... what you are telling us... is that you have raised Lyra Heartstrings when she was a filly? And you went out of your way to ensure that she would be alright...?"
"Yeah!" Kyle said. "That's exactly what I did... because... the thing is... Lyra... see... I care about her... a lot..."
"Is that so?" Celestia asked.
"And..." Lyra spoke up. "...I really care about Kyle, too... more than anything else..."
Celestia looked surprised, but did not say anything.
"Um, so..." Twilight said. "...what are we supposed to do now?"
"There is only one thing we can do..." Celestia said. "...we must give her fabricated memories of how her life would have been in Equestria to account for all of the missing time. Only then will she be able to be a civilized mare, adapted to the customs of the kingdom."
Kyle was absolutely shocked at the idea. Tampering with her memory? What would that mean for him regarding what she would remember?
"It is time for us to return..." Celestia said.
"NO! Wait, please!" Kyle said, desperate.
Celestia looked at Kyle.
"Princess, please..." Kyle said, starting to feel his tears kicking in. "...before you take her back... c-could I just have... one final m-m-moment... to say... g-goodbye to her...?"
Celestia nodded after a moment. Immediately, Kyle knelt down in front of a very sad-looking Lyra.
"Lyra..." Kyle began, slowly. "...Lyra Heartstrings... you have made the biggest impact in my life, and have taken me on an unforgettable journey..."
Lyra's eyelids were convulsing, indicating she was going to start crying.
"...you helped me live my life for the better, and gave me feelings I thought I could never have..."
Tears were welling up in the Unicorn's eyes as he continued speaking to her.
"...y-you've shaped me into the m-man I am now, and I c-can't ever thank you enough... f-f-for all you've done for me..."
Lyra's mouth fell open slightly, and the tears began to fall down her face.
"...these seven years w-we've spent... talking... playing... dating... s-settling down for a new l-life... I just want you to know that each and every MINUTE of it was the most special in my entire life. And I also want you to know, Lyra... I love you. With all of my heart. To the ends of all universes. I hope you never forget about me... because I will never forget about you..." he trailed off, wiping Lyra's tears with his thumb.
"...D-do I... h-have to g-g-go... K-Kyle...?" Lyra asked, unable to hold back her sobs.
Kyle closed his eyes and hung his head down. Lyra pulled him into a firm, unbreakable hug of deep love and care... and he returned every ounce of it to the young mare.
"Lyra..." Kyle began. "...this is just as painful for me as it is for you, if not more. But..." he knew he had to say it, no matter how much it killed him inside. "...you need to return to Equestria. I-it's the only way..."
"B-but I don't wanna g-go back to E-Equestria...!" Lyra sobbed. "I-I wanna stay h-here... with you...!"
"I'll outlive you if you stay! Ly... you have to return. It has to be done. I only took you in on that day to care for you until today would come... but I never thought I would have spent this much time with you..." Kyle said.
Bon Bon was starting to sniffle and cry a bit. Twilight, also on the verge of tears, put a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her. Even Princess Celestia herself looked saddened.
Lyra sniffled. "...I-I love you, Kyle..." she uttered.
"And I love you, L-Lyra..." Kyle responded.
"I-I'll come back for you someday..." Lyra said. "...I-I promise."
Kyle and Lyra separated, and the Unicorn mare looked up at her husband's tearful eyes with her own tearful eyes. They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then, Lyra slowly closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow. She touched the tip of her horn to the center of Kyle's chest, and a warm feeling spread throughout his body from the single point.
The two eventually separated, and Kyle finally noticed how upset all the ponies were after witnessing such a heart-wrenching farewell.
Bon Bon sniffled. "I'm so s-sorry, Lyra...! I-I... I really wish... th-there was another way to do this..." she said.
"C-can't..." Lyra stammered, looking up at Celestia. "...can't he... come with m-me...?"
Celestia closed her eyes with her head down, and shook her head.
"He cannot exist in a stable manner in our world, just as you cannot in this world." Celestia said. "The only way to prevent any sort of paradox is for you to return to our world, and restore things as they were... but, I am truly sorry that you have to leave your human friend, Lyra..."
Lyra nodded in agreement. "I-I understand..." she said.
"I would like to, on behalf of Equestria itself, apologize for this accident." Celestia said to Kyle.
Kyle raised a brow. "Apologize? Why?" he asked.
Princess Celestia hung her head down. "...You never asked to take up the task of having to raise a filly to adulthood, and you felt compelled to abide just because you did not want her to die. And you developed feelings for her out of the task of caring for her. I will be willing to provide you anything tangible as compensation for this... colossal trouble."
"Trouble?" Kyle asked. "It's absolutely no trouble! Why would I blame anyone? I am actually happy that this all happened! Before I found Lyra... I was living in a world where I could see nothing but black-and-white; she helped to bring the color back into my life. It was through her that I got my groove... my mojo... my hope back! So, I see no reason to blame anypony. If anything, I want to thank all of you for this happy accident!"
"I believe I understand now... why she called you 'honey'..." Celestia said, looking regretful. "...you truly love her, don't you?"
"Like I said, with all my heart..." Kyle said.
Celestia turned to Lyra. "...And you truly love him too, don't you?"
Lyra sniffled and wiped her tears before answering. "H-he's... even better than... any s-st-stallion that I could... i-imagine..." she answered.
"Indeed..." Celestia said, looking at Kyle again with a spark of admiration in her eyes. "...I never realized that humans could feel the same way in which ponies do..."
Twilight, having lightened up a bit, spoke next: "You might have just helped us open up a new world of study for humanology."
Bon Bon came up to Kyle, and he knelt down in front of her.
"Yes?" Kyle asked.
"I really want to thank you..." Bon Bon said. "...for looking after my best childhood friend."
And then, she hugged Kyle. He returned the hug to the Earth Pony as well. (He also happened to note that the rumors on the internet were true: her mane did smell like candy). Eventually, she let him go, and he stood back up.
"So... Your Highness... about this memory spell..." Lyra said.
Celestia turned to her. "Yes? What do you want to know?" she asked.
"Well..." Lyra was looking saddened once again. "...will these new memories..." she stopped for a moment. "...r-replace the ones... with K-Kyle...?"
For once, Celestia appeared to be on-the-spot by the question; she looked rather uncertain.
"Hm..." the Princess pondered. "...that, I cannot say. There are no accounted cases of false memories replacing real ones... but at the same time, none for the other way around either. Really, all we can do is perform it, and see what happens."
This was what made Lyra thoroughly worried. What if she lost her memories about Kyle? What if she never remembered anything about what happened? Just thinking of such a thing felt like a lead weight in her heart. She could hardly even bear the thought of it happening...
...but whatever would happen, she was ready for it. At least, as ready as she would possibly be.
Princess Celestia smiled at the human.
"You did the right thing, taking Lyra under your care on that fateful day." she said. "Upon our discovery years later of where she ended up... we all began fearing the absolute worst. To think that she ended up in a universe where magic does not exist... and inhabited by humans, no less... I feared that she would be dead on the first day... or possibly corrupted and evil by the time we found her..."
The Alicorn trailed off, looking at Lyra, and then back at Kyle.
"...but I can tell for certain... something wonderful has happened. Never could I have imagined that there exist humans who are not fully self-centered or greedy... and that they are capable of true kindness and compassion. You have my full admiration, Kyle Schaeffer... taking care of a lost filly, ensuring that she had a good, healthy lifestyle, and going out of your way to keep her safe."
Kyle smiled. "It was nothing... I did it, because I care about her... and I just want her to be in good hands... or hooves." he said.
"Consider this..." Celestia said, leaning close to Kyle. "...my personal thanks."
And then the Alicorn kissed Kyle on the cheek. He immediately brought his hand up to the spot where she kissed him as his face flushed. But he did manage to smile.
However... his happiness would be gone in a matter of split seconds...
"Are you ready, everypony?" Celestia asked, all of the lesser ponies gathered in front of her.
"WAIT!" Lyra said. "Before we go... could I go and get something real quick?"
Slowly, Celestia nodded. "Just don't take too long..." she said.
Lyra ran up to their bedroom, and after a few minutes, came back down with her crystal pendant on... the one Kyle gave her for Christmas. She also had a small box with her, about six cubic inches. Kyle assumed it held her most valuable possessions he had given her. As much as it killed him to think about... he hoped she had a picture of him in there.
"Is it okay if I take this necklace with me, and a few small items...?" Lyra asked.
Celestia hesitated for a moment, but spoke: "...I don't see the harm in bring a few small items." she said.
"Well... I suppose... this is it, then..." Twilight said.
"Yeah..." Bon Bon added.
Lyra started sniffling again, and looked sadder than ever. "G-goodbye... my Kyle..."
Kyle wiped away a tear about to fall. "...Goodbye, L-Lyra..." he said.
Flashbacks surged through the minds of the two of all the happy times they had...
...his taking her into the Richardsons' house...
...watching movies together...
...magic training with her...
...Lyra getting her cutie mark...
...moving out together...
...their epic night of sex...
...Lyra scolding him for insulting her...
...her running off and meeting Romeo...
...getting captured and rescued...
...their tearful reconciliation...
Celestia's horn began to glow as she closed her eyes and angled her head downward at the ponies. A bright light began to fill the room, getting brighter all the while. The last thing Kyle saw before everything faded to white was Lyra looking at him in immense emotional agony, followed by her closing her eyes and hanging her head down as a single tear slipped down her cheek...
Kyle opened his eyes. The light had faded, and all of the ponies were gone.
"It's over..." Kyle whispered to himself, drowning in sorrow. "...she's gone."
He noticed that the photographs of him and her, which lined the walls of the living room, just had him in them. Lyra was completely absent from them. He also noticed in the living room mirror that his subtle pony traits had vanished; he was fully human again. Realizing how everything was disappearing related to her, he quickly went to his room to find the laptop that Kyle had bought for her. He booted it up... only to find the Windows 10 activation screen welcoming him and requesting him to link his account.
It was only then that the realization hit him; Lyra was completely gone, and any trace of her existence, aside from his memories, was now erased. Nobody would ever know, and he would not be able to do anything to prove that she existed... not that anyone would have cared.
Even so, Kyle laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling for the next several hours, processing the same thing through his head over and over...
...she's really gone.
Wow... how's he gonna cope with all of this? Will she remember him? What's gonna happen? Guess we'll find out in the final chapter in the next upload. So, hope you all are looking forward to how it all ends. Keep holding on...