Blitz's POV

Stuck in a Shed (1/5)

"Alrighty Pinkie, yer turn." Applejack said as she drank the tenth and last bottle apple cider she was told to drink. Since nothing was going on today, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie thought of going prank happy on the town. Too bad me and Applejack were their first two victims. So we cornered them and made them do something else.

And that something else was challenging each other to small little dares. Something that all four of us decided to do together.

"Okey-Dokey-Lokey! I challenge Rainbow Dash to lick a tree!" Pinkie told her, pointing towards one of the hundred apple trees that were ahead of us. This making me break out in laughter as Rainbow Dash and Applejack rose an eyebrow at Pinkie.

I mean if Applejack saw all these trees as if they were all her children, then I can only imagine how this was going through her head right now! To AJ, would it seem like Rainbow was kissing the trees, or something way more unacceptable?

"O-okay then..." Rainbow Dash said in confusion as she got up and awkwardly walked over to a tree.

I tried holding in my laughter while Pinkie just sat there with a simple smile on her face. Obviously having much more control over this whole idea. Which wasn't making Rainbow Dash any more relaxed as she stopped at a tree. Seeing me about ready to lose it, and AJ just looking off to the side to try and forget what all was happening.

Still, not wanting to be the first one to lose a dare, she just frowned and put on a determined game face. Turning towards the tree and licking the side of it like a foot-tall ice cream cone.

And needless to say, I was on the ground not a second later.

Rainbow Dash realized just how messed up the dare was in front of the three of us and even started turning a little red. By that point, Pinkie couldn't help but join in my laughter while Applejack just frowned a bit at the whole situation. Not finding it funny that Rainbow just licked her tree.

Not wanting to be laughed at forever, Rainbow Dash decided to go on the offensive. Flying right up to me with a glare. "Whath tho Thunny?!" She demanded, her tongue not able to go in her mouth because of how rough that tree was to h-Oh good Celestia, that sounds so messed up!

Of course with her temporary splintered tongue giving her a lisp worse than that one filly in Cheerilee's class, I just lost it further. Pinkie right behind me, and even Applejack giving a few chuckles at how she was acting in.

"How thhhhould I put thithhhh, Rainbow Dathhhhh?!" I asked, mocking her lisp before AJ now laughing just as much as me and Pinkie Pie. Leaving only Rainbow Dash to be glaring at all of us. Namely me. "It'thhhhhhhh the lithhhhhhhhhpah-Bwahahahahahahahaha! Oh sweet Luna, I can't take it! I'm gonna need a new set of lungs!" I yelled out before falling back to the ground. Laughing my little, metal heart out!

"Err..." Rainbow Dash growled as she tried to get her tongue back to normal. Letting me and the others laugh for a good ten more seconds before she put a hoof over my mouth to shut me up. "Get ready Blitz! Because now I have a dare for you!"

"Oh, go right on ahead." I told her, pushing her hoof away. "I haven't turned down one of these dares, and I don't plan to. Whatever you got, I'll just blow right through it."

"Okay then." She told me with a smirk that made me want to just regret what I said before.

"I dare you..." She said slowly, trying to build up a stupid dramatic effect.

"To..." She continued, still taking her sweet time to finish.

"Take a nap? Because I'm falling asleep here, waiting for you to get on with it." I told her with a frown, getting up and just facing her with a frown.

She just glared at me and rolled her eyes. Ticked that I was ruining all the 'suspense' that she wasn't building up at all. "Fine. I dare you to stay in Applejack's tool shed for ten minutes." She said, pointing towards the small tool shed I had built Applejack. It had a few shelves and probably enough space to fit two ponies with not so much extra room left over.

"...That's it? That's your big revenge dare?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Wow, that's a let down. Okay fine, let's get this over with." I said, leaving Rainbow Dash with an annoyed expression that just made her angrier.

"What do you mean it's a let down?!" She asked, flying besides me as I walked over towards the tool shed. I went ahead and took my tail off and stuck it into the ground. Not wanting to knock anything over while I took a nap or whatever.

"I mean, it's a lame dare." I told her, stopping at the door and turning towards her and the other two. Mocking Rainbow with a scared act. "Oh no, I have to sit in a boring room for ten minutes?! That's just horrible!" I then broke out into laughter again at Rainbow, who looked about ready to rip me to shreds for everything I've pretty much insulted.

Meanwhile, why I was laughing at the door and Pinkie and Applejack were watching, Rainbow Dash was starting to get furious. Getting red with anger while she grinded her teeth and glared at me. And when I wouldn't stop laughing, she finally snapped.

"That's it! You're going down!" She threatened, charging right at me an tackling me into the tool shed out of anger. The amount of wind from how fast she flew causing the door to close behind her. Leaving both of us inside the shed with not much room left over.

Despite that though, I was able to keep Rainbow Dash on one side of the room with my metal hoof. "Okay Rainbow, look." I told her, making her calm down enough to stop trying to get me and just glare. "No offense or anything, but even you have to admit that telling me to stand in a small room for ten minutes isn't that hard to do."

"..." She kept a frown on her face, but looked away. Not wanting to admit I was right, but having no choice. "Fine..." She muttered, physically lighting up a bit as she thought of something else. She then smirked victoriously. "Okay then. Besides, this wasn't even the hardest dare I thought up."

She then turned towards the door and pulled down on the door handle to let us both out. Only, it wouldn't budge. "What the...The door's stuck." She told me with a frown.

I just shook my head and pushed her aside lightly. Going for the door handle myself. "Quit playing around Dash, and just open the...Oh, it is stuck." I said, eating my own words as I tried to move the handle. But it wouldn't budge at all.

"What did I tell you?!" Rainbow Dash said, frowning at how I didn't listen. "Great! We're trapped in here because of your bad building skills..."

I glared right in her face. Ready to punch through her little pony head for just talking bad about my craftsmanship. No pony mocks my work. No pony that's alive anyway. "What was that?" I asked with a threatening voice as I glared at her. My glass eye possibly turning red like a Terminator from how angry I was.

"N-nothing." She said, quickly taking it back. She didn't want to be trapped in here with me when I was angry. Because she knew I wouldn't hold back on her if I was that ticked off at her.

"Rainbow Dash? Blitz? Y'all okay in there?" Applejack asked as she knocked on the door. She tried opening the door herself, but it was still stuck. "What in tarnation..."

"The door got jammed." I told her, trying to be just loud enough so she could hear me, but quiet enough so I wouldn't be yelling in Rainbow's ear. I made this tool shed insulated and everything so it wouldn't be freezing cold, wet, or destroyed by anything. This also meaning it was pretty sound proof unless some pony was yelling at the top of their lungs, or they were right next to the door and speaking clearly.

"Listen, I need you and Pinkie to go to my house and find the blueprint labeled: 'Shed Lock #2' okay? Can you do that?" I asked, hoping they could. I built this shed a week or two ago, and I couldn't remember what the lock mechanism looked like since I made it from scratch. Good thing I've only made two kinds of locks for a shed, so it wasn't too hard to remember that much.

"You got it Blitz. Hang in there Rainbow, we'll be right back. Come on Pinkie!" I heard her call out before galloping away. Leaving us in dark silence except for the cracks of sunlight coming from the door. But other than that, it was pretty dark in here.

"What did she mean by hang in there?" I asked, turning towards Rainbow to try and figure that out. I know it was a normal thing to say, but Applejack said it in a way to try and calm some pony down. But why would-

"Wait, they both left?" She asked, already sounding alerted by that fact. She then knocked on the door, trying to see through the cracks. "Pinkie? Applejack? Are you still there?" She called out a bit loudly. Hoping that she could see them.

It was at that moment I saw her face. She looked concerned and a little on edge. This making me realize one thing:

Rainbow Dash was getting claustrophobic.

Disclaimer: I do not own MLP or anything famous mentioned. All I own is the idea Blitz, RJ, and a few other characters. Three OCs belong to other readers and are not mine either!


Blitz's POV

Blitz's House

"Okay RJ. I think we can both agree that last bionic wasn't such a good idea..." I said with a nervous chuckle as I rubbed the back of my head. RJ was frowning at me while he was wearing a Santa Hooves-like beard made out of clouds.

Since we had the day off and I had finally finished working on a few prototypes, we wanted to start testing them out. The one I had just tested out was something I had called the Cloud Dispenser. Which was something that would just connect to my metallic wrist like a wristband or something and just shoot out clouds. Since it was just a prototype, it was pretty bulky and didn't look that appealing at all. Just a bunch of scrap metal and a large container which I had Twilight enchant to hold clouds. Only...There was a slight problem with it.

"Note to self: Always test dispensers with low pressure before a high-concentrated amount of pressure." I told myself, followed by RJ making a few snarky sounding chirp sounds as he wiped the cloud beard from his face. Marking an 'X' through that bionic idea on the little clipboard and piece of coal he was holding. Guess it needed some serious tweaking.

Right now, the two of us were in the living room/training room of my house. It was a big room with more than enough space for me to test out any of my new bionics or any other dangerous stunt before taking it outside. Not only that, but it was a private place so no pony just wandering around would get in the way or freak out.

But before we could test out my third and final bionic of the day, we were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Uh, RJ? Do you think you could get that? I'm still a little stuck getting this thing off..." I said, trying to unclip the safety buckles and pry off the small magnetized device in a whole. And its size wasn't helping all that much either.

Still, RJ understood as he put the clipboard down and slipped the coal behind his ear like a pencil before going to the door and opening it. Revealing all the others waiting at the door at once.

"Oh hey guys, come on in." I told them, finally getting the Dispenser off my arm. Luckily without firing it off again.

"Hey Blitz." Twilight said as they all came in. "What is that thing?"

"Oh, just a project I've been working on. It's not exactly working right yet." I told them as I set it down on the stand I made especially for it.

"Really?! Oh wow, what's it do?!" Pinkie asked as she ran right for it and snatched it up before I could stop her. Slipping it on her own arm and connecting the straps so it would fit.

"Uh, Pinkie, please put that down!" I told her in a bit of a worried voice. This thing was dangerous, and with every pony here, I didn't want them to end up getting hurt. Especially since she was accidentally aiming it towards them!

"Pinkie, I think ya better listen ta what Blitz is sayin'!" Applejack said, just as worried as the other since it was aimed right at her. "If Blitz says it ain't safe, then that's more than enough proof fer-" Sadly, Pinkie didn't listen as she pressed the single big red button on the Dispenser.

Applejack and Twilight saw this coming and got out of the way by simply jumping away or using magic respectively. Fluttershy and Spike weren't in the direction of the blast, and Rainbow Dash was already flying mid-air. Which left Rarity to take the hit seeing as how she couldn't have seen it coming.

The blast of clouds struck her directly in the face and knocked her backwards onto the ground. Immediately, Spike and Fluttershy helped her up since they were still standing. Showing that Rarity now had a cloud-afro and a cloud-goatee.

"What is with that thing and facial hair?" I asked myself, confused about how it gave every pony it hit facial hair. Was it the nozzle, or the result of high pressure?

"Wait a second, it gives you facial hair?!" Spike asked, now snapping his head towards Pinkie and the device in question. Rarity was up, and Fluttershy had her in case she fell. Giving him the perfect opportunity. "Pinkie! Blast me next!"

"OKAY!" She answered cheerfully, firing again. Only to miss her mark and smack Fluttershy with two cloud-bushy eyebrows and a five O'clock cloud-shadow.

"Oops! Hold on!" She told him, firing again. Only to now hit Applejack and give her cloud-glasses and a cloud-handlebar moustache.

"Dang it! Wait, I got it now!" She said, firing again. Now going way off her mark and smacking Rainbow Dash. Giving her cloud-elf ears and a cloud-unibrow.

Before she could even try to fire again, I forced her hoof and the device down towards the ground. Keeping it away from my now cloud-covered friends as I quickly unclipped the straps and took it away from her. Putting it back on the stand. "Pinkie, are you crazy?!"

"Yes." She answered with a simple smile. Making me facehoof in frustration before flying towards the others.

"I'm sorry about that guys. You all okay?" I asked, looking at them all as they all started to recover.

"Yeah, we're fine..." Applejack muttered as she wiped her cloud-moustache off. Followed by the others doing the same. "I'm guessin' yer workin' on a few a yer bitonics, right?"

"Well, I'm actually on my last one. And luckily enough, it's the safest one." I told them with a nod as I looked towards my metal hoof. I already got it installed so I could adjust to the weight, and now the only thing left was to test it.

"Do you mind if we watch?" Twilight asked, interested in seeing just how I tested my bionics. I guess since she loved science so much, it was only natural that she be interested. "I'll put up a magical barrier in between all of us and the test obviously." She added, keeping me from doubting the idea. Of course if anything went wrong, it would happen to me. By my arm exploding...But there wasn't much chance in it, so it wasn't something I worried about though.

"Alright then. RJ? Can you untie the targets?" I asked him. To which he nodded and gestured for Twilight to take the clipboard. It didn't have any words or names on it, just 'Test #1', 'Test #2', and 'Test #3' written besides checkboxes. And since there was no point in spoiling just what the first one was since it was a success, I wasn't about to tell them.

RJ then ran over towards a piece of rope that was tied to a small anchor in the ground. And once grabbing hold, he pulled out the pin that kept the rope in place. Sending him upwards towards the support beams that were at the top of the room. Those beams were like a jungle gym to RJ as he weaved through them. Going up towards some of the targets that were tied to the beams.

And after untying them, the two targets fell towards the floor. Stopping only a foot off the ground because of the second rope that held them up. They were just circular bales of hay with white and red targets painted on the front.

"Okay, first step. Unsheathing..." I mumbled to myself as the others stayed quiet behind their barrier. I didn't care about the small audience. They weren't in any danger. Of course, the only thing I was focused on was how the lightning was going to react to the test.

I then held out my metal hoof towards the targets, careful not to end up hitting something else. It was as active as a gun downrange, and almost as deadly. I then gripped my metal hoof with my other front hoof. Twisting it clockwise until I had turned it 180 degrees. Once I heard the audible 'click', I carefully turned it back to its original position. Which sounded off with a second audible 'click'.

Putting my normal hoof back on the ground, I turned up my hoof, being careful not to move my arm at all. Just as a precaution though. This was a prototype mechanism of course.

Then in one motion, I flicked my hoof forwards. Making a spike the perfect size of my hoof come out. Much like Assassin's Creed with a hidden blade. But instead of coming out of my wrist, it came out at the end of my hoof.

"Woah!" Spike said in awe, amazed by the familiar looking...Spike. "Isn't that the metal unicorn horn you used for The Shadow?!" He asked me, the others just as surprised or impressed.

"Yep." I answered simply as I inspected it. Careful not to point it directly at me, obviously. "That's not all though. Now comes the real test." I told them, aiming it back at the targets. "Second Step. Loading." I told myself as I tried to direct all electricity that was in me towards my metal leg. Then the hoof, and finally the horn itself. I absorbed a storm cloud cupcake before the first test and still had nearly a full amount left. Which was good since this would take up most of the lightning.

Speaking of, the lightning slowly coursed through the artificial leg. Coiling around like a living piece of barbed wire. Until finally, it started building up in the horn. Where it could be concentrated into one bolt of lightning thanks to the tip of the horn.

Knowing that I put as much lightning as it could take, I braced myself for the recoil and aimed towards a target one last time. And closed my eyes and fired the lightning towards the target. Trying to stay calm since just freaking out could cause the bolt of lightning to blow up in my face. Literally.

Even though all that was possible, I felt all the lightning fire out of the horn. Launching forwards and-

Missing the target completely.

The bolt of lightning missed the hay target completely and passed by it. Hitting the wall behind the target and leaving a burn mark on the wall. Good thing the walls were reinforced, or else it could've been worse.

"Dang it..." I said disappointedly as I got ready for the last part. I then moved my other hoof over my metal leg and unlocked a little sliding door I put into my leg. This letting me see the mechanisms that were in my leg. On of those things being a small spring that connected to the metal hoof. That's what made it spring out and stay in place.

So after unhooking the spring, I closed the compartment and focused what last bit of electricity I had left in me. Making the horn fire out of my hoof like a crossbow's bolt towards the target. Only now, it hit the outer ring of the target and made it spin like crazy. This leading to Spike, AJ, and Rainbow Dash falling over from laughing too hard.

"Wow! I knew you had bad aim, but really?!" Rainbow Dash said as she wiped a tear from her eye. Still laughing her tail off right now.

Still, I only frowned for a few seconds before smirking myself. "That coming from some pony who can't toss a horseshoe."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she stopped laughing while AJ, Spike, and now me, kept on laughing. "Pfft, whatever. At least I still have better aim than you." She said, recovering from the insult and keeping her cool.

"Anyway," Twilight started, signaling us to stop laughing. "Blitz, we came here to tell you something." She let that little sentence get my full attention, and then went ahead. "You see, as Prince Blueblood was leaving, he remembered the actual reason he came here to Ponyville and not someplace else while Princess Celestia was handling some important business. He gave us a letter that was addressed to all eight of us, and we wanted to read it while all of us were present and accounted for."

"And speaking of present, Blitz? Where did all of your furniture go?" Rarity asked, looking around my empty living room. Pictures and other things that were hanging along the wall were still there, as were shelves and other things that were up against the wall. But the couches, seats, or tables were all missing.

All I could do was smile at them though. "Hey RJ? Go ahead and take a seat." I told him, signaling how I was about to change the living room. He just put on a relaxed smile like me as I went over to the one bookshelf in my living room and pull down a tattered old book that read 'Advanced Physics'. The one subject not even a burglar would bother touching.

As I pulled the book out slightly, it acted as a switch. Bringing back all the furniture at once. You see, since I knew that my living room was the one room big enough to test prototypes, I needed a way to quickly move all furniture out of the way. So for most of the furniture, I made precise square cuts into the floorboards around the couches and other living room furniture that was in the middle of the room.

So after the book pulled out, the squarely-cut floorboards flipped right-side up. Making the couches and tables reveal themselves. I had stuck them to one side of the floorboards so I could just flip the switch and the furniture would just be out of the way in an instant.

That wasn't all of the furniture though. RJ then went to the middle of the support beams above and yanked on a cord that was connected to three trapdoors. This made all three open up and reveal the last three pieces of furniture come out. Two bubble chairs, you know those futuristic chairs that are usually suspended a foot off the ground from a lone wire? And a small sized hammock that RJ always liked to lay in.

"You were saying?" I asked as I flew over to one of the bubble chairs.

They all sat there amazed at just how much technology and tricks I had in this one room alone. I couldn't blame them since this room went from nearly empty to furnished in a matter of seconds...Geez, I sound like Rainbow Dash with how much I'm showing-off aren't I?

"I call the bubble chair!" Pinkie sounded out, jumping over to the second bubble chair. Making it swing a bit as she relaxed. Of course I wasn't worried, that wire wasn't going to break just by the chair swinging a bit.

"I must say Blitz, the furniture is quite stylish." Rarity mused as she, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash took a seat in one couch that was meant to fit three. Twilight and Applejack sat in the slightly smaller couch, and Spike took one of the two recliners. Already knowing how it worked since he actually visits me once in a while. Him and few guy from the Con. Crew came by once in a while. Maybe it was the man cave or something, I wasn't really sure. Still, it wasn't bad having a small party with some of my friends...Please tell me Pinkie can't read minds...

"Don't worry Blitz! I can't read minds! Only the story's script!" Pinkie answered me. Confusing me and freaking me out a bit from how she answered. And with that split-second angry look on her face, I could tell I was going to get some kind of punishment later.

"So, uh...What were you talking about before, Twilight?" I asked, turning the attention back towards her.

"Well since you're the one with the letter, you should read it Spike." She told him. Giving him the signal to start reading.

"Finally!" he answered, quickly burping up the letter and opening it up. Funny. So that's where he keep most of his stuff if he doesn't have a pack with him. I was wondering where he got out his own 'business card' from when I stopped him from tripping down a steep hill. "Okay! Here it goes!" He told us, clearing his throat and reading it out.

My Little Ponies,

It has come to my attention that something very important has come up. Something that will need all of your assistance.

Sending this letter, I know that it will be a sudden surprise to request all of your attendance. I apologize, but I hope you can all make it.

This task will be sending all of you, this including all current Elements and Spike, on a quest. One that may take a while to complete.

I need your presence at the castle the next day this letter is sent. Take the rest of this day to prepare. Pack lightly, bring the elements, and I will explain more once you arrive.

Also as a side note: I am going to send another letter in the following hour that is for Electric Blitz's eyes only. If he wants to read this letter to every pony else, that is his right. If not, I hope you may all understand. It is a subject that he may want to keep to himself for the remainder of the day.

I hope to see you all tomorrow at the castle,

-Princess Celestia

"...When did this letter get here?" I asked, keeping a serious look on my face. That 'important meeting' that not even Prince Blueblood was allowed to stay anywhere near the castle for, and it had something to do with us. Looking at the others, I saw that they were all excited or concerned about needing to come to the castle first thing tomorrow.

But after that note that mentioned me especially, they all just looked towards me curiously. "About an hour a-Gahhh!" He said, belching out the letter right on queue. The letter rolling forward towards me since I was opposite of him in the little circle of seats.

I used my grapple hoof to pick up the letter without getting out of my chair and opened it immediately. And reading through it as carefully as possible with the others just waiting for a response, I had realized one thing:

The Princess was right. It was something I wanted to keep myself for the rest of the day.


Bonbon's POV

Marketplace

"Thank you, have a nice day!" I told Twist as she left my stand. She may have only been a filly, but oddly enough she made the best candy canes! Better than I could ever hope to make too! So despite the age difference, she was one of my few suppliers that brought in a type of candy I wasn't so sweet on making myself.

Sadly, that was the highlight of my day right there. Twist coming to my candy stand to deliver a supply of candy canes. Doesn't get much better than that I'm afraid. I mean, sometimes I see Twilight and the rest of her friends pass by. Doing something else that looks pretty fun anyway. That didn't mean that I was crazy enough to try and join them though.

So I guess that meant that I was on my own for now. Why am I all on my own? Well, the simple answer was that Lyra wasn't here. She hadn't been here in more than a year now. More importantly, I don't even think she's been in Equestria for a year now.

Every pony knew about her whole idea about how she thought these 'humans' exist. So after getting this idea in her head so much and hearing every pony say that they were only myth and nothing else, she finally had enough. She told them that she'll go and find actual, without-a-doubt proof that humans were real.

I never saw her have so much determination about it all before. She told every pony that she'd come back with proof, or not come back at all. Some ponies got worried that she was serious, while others passed it off by thinking that she'd be back either way. But it was at least the main topic on every pony's mind for the next week before it started to be replaced by other gossip, albeit slowly. But even now, they ask me if I've heard anything seeing as how I was closest to Lyra.

And thus I repeat my earlier statement. She had been gone longer than a year. A year without sending one letter. A year without being spotted anywhere in Equestria. And a year since she had gone out to try and prove humans were real.

She told me her plan, which is how I know she at least left Equestria. She told me that Minotaurs were supposedly the creature of a cow and a mythical human. I saw the cow, or what could've been goat, but I just assumed the other half was part lion or dragon or something. After all, how else do you explain those claw things?

But that wasn't all she had to say. That Minotaur that came to Ponyville, Iron Will. Lyra sent me one letter about a week after she left. It told me that she had found him still in Equestria, and even after repeatedly being told 'No means No.' she kept begging him to give her some help.

Iron Will cracked and told her that if there was anything about humans, it'd be in Minotaur country. But ponies were almost never allowed in that country unless they had 'proven themselves'.

That was all the letter said, followed by 'Wish me luck!' Meaning that she could be anywhere between Equestria and Moss Cow. The country of Minotaurs.

How? After so long, how can you not be worried? No pony, not even Princess Celestia as far as I've known, would ever dare go into Moss Cow without an escort or something! And yet, Lyra went in all by herself! With a pack twice her size on her back!

"Uh, excuse me." A deep and scratchy voice called out. Getting my attention and snapping me back to the present. The stallion looked a little short in size with a cloak and a few saddlebags. Maybe doing research, or visiting Twilight, or something.

"Oh! Sorry about that. I'm just out of it today. What did you need?" I asked, trying to keep a friendly attitude so I could hopefully unload some more candy before closing. Besides, if some traveler was willing to come up to a candy cart, then maybe they would buy a trip's worth!

"Nothing much. Just some ordinary chocolate, and..." I already blanked out. I don't know what it was, but whenever some pony wanted to use the word 'ordinary' or 'plain' to describe candy, I could never focus. I hated that some pony's had the flank to call my candy 'plain'. Yeah, it was a snotty thing to think, but candy is business to me!

So not really caring about this stallion anymore, I started glancing off behind him. Wondering if my neighboring sales pony, Carrot Top, was making any progress selling her carrots. And lucky for her, she was making this big sale with...

No...

...

No, it couldn't be! That's not possible! I mean, sure. Lyra loved carrots, and got them from Carrot Top religiously. And yeah, she had that same almost as Derpy look of joy on her face. And yeah, she had a mint-colored coat...

...

But she never swayed like Berry Punch on a Saturday afternoon. She didn't have bluish eyes. And she definitely didn't have wings. No, it wasn't Lyra. Great, now I was starting to get paranoid about it all. I guess it only takes me a year before I start going a little nuts.

"Excuse me!" The stallion called out in his annoyingly deep and rough voice. Honestly, he was starting to creep me out. With his angry tone, the cloak that kept me from seeing any part of him at all except his mouth, and the deep frown, he was starting to get intimidating. "Did you get all that Bonbon?"

"Uh...Y-y...No..." I said, looking down in failure that I just messed up the number-one rule of working carts at the market. Keep a friendly charm to the whole sale.

He then sighed. "Fine. I'll repeat it to you. I said ordinary chocolate," Oh Celestia, please take him away..."Some plain vanilla flavored mints," Well...Okay, vanilla is plain, so I guess that's a point for him. "Some of these bland normal candies," Well, at least it's not hard to-...What did he just call my candy?!

"Sir." I said, getting angry with this guy. "These candies are anything but 'bland' and 'normal'. They're the best pieces of candy you'll find in this side of Equestria."

"That's sure debatable. Looks like regular old candy to me." He said, waving off my correction.

"Okay, that's it!" I said, suddenly getting very ticked off! No pony says that my candy is bland! "I think it'll be a good idea if you left. Right. Now..." I said, trying to stay calm. I already got one out of three strikes this month for inappropriate Marketplace Cart behavior. Attacking him would get me my second strike, but that wouldn't get me kicked out for the month.

"But I still have one more thing I want to get." He told me with a smug grin, which just made me even more ticked off.

"I honestly couldn't care less what you would want." "Wheat-Mint flavored taffy." He answered, dropping the thick voice he was apparently faking. Revealing his higher, that was not as scratchy as before.

"Whatever. I'm not getting you any Wheat-Mint Taffy either Lyra." I told him absent-mindedly as he levitated his hood off. Revealing Lyra's sly smirk at how I said her name without realizing it. "Now leave."

"Aw, but I was really hoping for some..." She said with a fake frown before putting her smirk back on. "But alright, whatever. Guess I'll just leave and ask in another year. Bye Bonbon."

"Goodbye Ly-Ly-Lyra?!" I asked, finally realizing just who it was. Celestia Dang it Lyra, you little sneak! "You-You're back Ly-" Before I could even say her name again though, she put a hoof over my mouth. Keeping me from saying too much.

But the little outburst did cause a few heads to turn towards us. Lyra cleared her throat and put her hood on before they could notice who she was and spoke in that stallion-deep voice. Which while it was pretty stupid sounding, it still was very convincing to fool any pony.

"Fine, I get it. Your candy isn't bland. You can stop yelling at me now." She told me with a frown, making every pony think I was just freaking out over candy again. Was I really that passionate about the flavor of candy?

As soon as they all stopped paying so much attention, Lyra gave me a 'silence' motion with her hoof. Her hood now up just enough for me to tell it was her. "Keep it down. I don't want every pony to know I'm here yet. I want it to be a big surprise." She told me.

I looked at her with a confusing look. Not able to ask her the one question on my mind. "Why?"

"Because..." She looked around to see if any pony was coming over. And when she saw that no pony paid any attention to my cart, business is never perfect, she went on.

"I did it. I finally. Found. Proof."


Lyra's POV

Lyra and Bonbon's house

"So, what exactly is this 'proof' you're keeping to yourself?" Bonbon asked me as she brought out a pot of coffee and two coffee mugs. She always forced me to have decaf because of how excited I could get, while she oddly enough preferred her coffee black.

She then set the pot an mugs down on the table that was in between the two couches in our house. Speaking of, it was so great to be home again! Because in Moss Cow, it isn't exactly that comfortable for a pony like me. It's harsh weather, freezing cold, and takes...HANDS!

It takes hands to be able to survive there! You heard me, hands! And I'll say it a fourth time just because I can. HANDS! Minotaurs have, without any kind of doubt possible, hands! With five fingers and everything! They use it to pick stuff up, open doors with, tear things apart, and even eat with!

After being there a whole year, I learned more about Minotaurs than any pony will ever know! Hay, I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight started begging me to help write a book on them! Which, in the weirdest twist, I would be happy to do!

Their fur is way more insulated than a pony's, so they can survive cold weather, they are bipedal, and something I knew I won't tell any pony...They eat meat!

In their country, which is northwest of Equestria, it is perfectly acceptable to eat some meat. Usually any kind of seafood, chicken, and what shocked me the most, pigs! I didn't eat any of that for obvious reasons. And even though it took some work, they understood why and didn't force me to.

Still, it was hard to have them accept me. I had to prove that I was worth them letting me stay in their town and learn about their ancestors, humans. Something easier said than done. I had to single-hoofingly hunt a Timberwolf and take him down with my bare hooves! But in the end, it was worth it!

"Easy." I told her with a grin, taking out a notepad. Filled with a ton of stuff I learned. "This is just one of the book-sized amounts of notes I took. Not only that, but 'cave paintings' and Minotaur books from long ago. All with stuff on humans. Tonight, I'm going to ask Mayor Mare to round every pony up, and see just how right I was!"

"Lyra, calm down." She told me as she poured her coffee. "I doubt that rubbing it in their faces is going to do any good. Besides, I doubt it'll make that much of an impact for long." Oh that's right. Twilight and her friends always do something crazy all the time.

"That reminds me. What crazy stuff have I missed out on since I've been gone?" I asked as I levitated the coffee pitcher, the mug, and everything else I needed to make decaf.

"Actually, more than you'd think." She told me after a long sip of her coffee. "Sure, they still have their usual adventures and stuff, but that's only the peak of it all."

She then went on explaining everything that happened since I left. A knew masked pony showing up the same time there was a burglary, the FlimFlam brothers coming back, a giant party Pinkie and DJ Pon-3 hosted, a few foals making a comic book that's actually really popular, and just recently they turned Track River into a annual race!

"And there's one last thing." She told me, grinning as she saw just how amazed I was to hear all of this. I can't believe that everything exciting had to happen the year I took a trip! "A few new ponies have moved into Ponyville."

"And?!" I asked, excited to hear what was so great about them.

"And, they're new. I haven't gotten the chance to meet any of the four yet, but since you're here now's a good chance." She concluded with a small smile. Which to me seemed a little lackluster. I mean, all this amazing stuff, and she closes with four new ponies in Ponyville? That's great for them I guess, but how is that supposed to top everything else.

"Okay Bonbon. I don't think you know how to list things the right way." I told her with a shake of my head as I took another sip of my coffee.

"Hey, I'm know exactly what I'm talking about. Besides, those four ponies are interesting." She told me as she took a sip of her own coffee. And seeing my unimpressed face, she went on. "Here, I'll describe them to you. One of them's called Swift Lightning. He's the lead officer for that security group P.L.E.A.S.E. I told you about. Not to mention, I heard that he likes Cloudchaser!"

"Good for her." I said sarcastically. Me and Cloudchaser weren't exactly on good terms when I left, so I didn't really care.

"Oh, that's right. You two ended up fighting before you left." Bonbon said worriedly. And honestly, Cloudchaser should be the one worried about it now! I hung out with Minotaurs for the past year! I wasn't the same weak Lyra I was before! So Cloudchaser might wanna watch her back, or be sure that 'Swift' guy comes as fast as his name!

"Okay, well there's this mare that came in named Ginger Star. She's on the Construction Crew, and...She, has a pet cat named Shellpaw!" Bonbon said, hoping to at least get me at least a little interested in one of the new ponies.

"So, cats?...Hooooooooooo..." I said unenthusiastically as I spotted a magazine on the end table besides the couch. I levitated it over and laid on my back while I just started reading through it. I was behind on everything Equestrian related anyway.

"Oh come on Lyra, you love cats!" Bonbon tried to reason. Correction: I used to love cats. Of course since Snow Leopards were terrifying, I considered myself a bird mare now. Dogs always pounced me for fun whenever I did my usual excited jumping about something, and it got annoying real quick.

Bonbon rolled her eyes at my reading and moved on."Fine, well...What about this next one. I heard his name's Ember Shade. He has this shadow-y moving mane, and-"

"So, an obsessed fan of Princess Luna?...yay..." I said with a Fluttershy-volume, quiet voice. By this point, Bonbon knew I was just trying to avoid this altogether, and I was just smirking at how easy it was. Still, I kept my voice dull and boring to make it sound like I didn't care.

She just sighed and moved along. "Well, what about the last one?" She asked, about ready to give up. "He's...Oh! He's a Cypony!" Bonbon said, coming up with the worst lie ever.

"Sure he is Bonbon. Just like in that book, Fallout Los Pegasus." I said with a roll of my eyes. Still reading the magazine. Not that it had anything that was any good anyway.

"No, I'm serious Lyra!" She said, hoping to try and have something interesting to talk about. I guess I couldn't blame her. We haven't seen each other for a year. She's probably trying to find something cool to talk about. "He has a metal tail and everything!"

"Just because he has a metal tail, that doesn't mean anything." I said, deciding to look up and put the magazine down.

This time, she just rolled her eyes at me. "He has a metal leg too." That could've just been Rose, Daisy, or some pony else spreading more stupid rumors. But knowing that I wasn't believing it, she just smirked as she told me one last thing. "And he's best friends with Twilight and the rest of them." She told me.

"Wait, what?" I asked, that getting my full attention. A real-life Cypony was a pretty questionable thing. Something that was only in stories. But if it had to do with Twilight and the others? Well, crazy stuff always happens around them. So them being friends with a Cypony wasn't too out of the question...

Hold on a second. Twilight...The library!

"Oh for the love of hands, I completely forgot!" I yelled out as I jumped off the couch immediately. Startling Bonbon, and making her trip. Her piping hot coffee just barely missing her as it hit the floor beside her.

I didn't have time to ask if she was okay though. I quickly levitated my saddlebag that had my notes in them, along with my cloak. I wanted to go to Twilight and have her help me out with these things. As boring as she was about books and explaining stuff, no pony could deny that she knew how to organize stuff. And with all these notes, Celestia knows that I'm gonna need help with that.

"I'll be back later Bonbon! I gotta see Twilight!" I told her, running off to get to the library. Keeping my cloak on to make sure no pony knew I was here yet. Still wanted to keep that a secret until I got everything ready to tell every pony.

Bonbon watched as I left the house and only sighed. "She's still so hyper all the time." She said to herself as she got up and started cleaning up the spilt coffee. "Oh well, it could be worse. She could get the idea that one of the new ponies were humans." She trailed off, laughing to herself.

As she went into the kitchen with the coffee mug however, she froze in place. Thinking it over before getting a worried look on her face. "Oh no...This isn't going to end well..."


Still Lyra's POV

Library

Once I walked into the library, I looked around the main room. Closing the door behind me, I took off my cloak and hung it on the hook that was near the door. Almost no pony came in here anyways unless it was one of Twilight's friends, so I was fine.

"Twilight? Twilight, you here? I came to talk to you." I called out at the stairs. I would've have seen her or her dragon helper if they were in the kitchen over there, so that only left her room upstairs.

Before I even had a chance to go up and see if she was there though, I saw Spike running down the stairs. Bandaging his claw at the same time. "Sorry about that. Twilight's packing for...A trip to Canterlot, and is going nuts over packing right now." He said out loud as he got to the bottom and finished bandaging his claw.

"A trip? Dang it, I was hoping if she could help me with something." I told him as I levitated out one of my notepads. With all these notes, I'm sure that Twilight would've loved to read over them herself.

"Good luck. I don't even think she'll let herself get any sleep with how paranoid she's being right now." He said, looking back up the stairs just in time for the two of us to hear some paper hit the floor. Followed by a small yelp and muttering. "So what can I help you w-LYRA?!" He jumped back as he actually looked towards me for the first time today.

"Wow! First Bonbon, and now you? I guess it'll be pretty great when I tell every pony I'm back later tonight." I said, more towards myself than any pony, or dragon, else. "Anyway, I guess I'll have to ask Twilight later. I needed her help getting all these notes together."

"Notes, huh?" He asked, starting to calm down as he thought it over. "Well she told Twilight and the rest of us to pack light, so Twilight'll probably have time later to help. What are they about anyway?" He asked as he looked at the notepad I levitated out.

"Here, look for yourself." I told him with a grin, levitating it to him so he could flip through and see himself. "I've been in Moss Cow this whole time. Hanging out with Minotaurs so I could find out for myself about humans."

"Humans, eh?" He asked, flipping to the next page before it officially dawned on him. "Wait, humans? A-as in...Two legged, taller than pony, no wings, and no horns humans? Those humans?" He looked a little scared for some reason. Maybe he felt a little bad about how he and every pony else joked about how I loved the idea of humans so much.

"Don't worry Spike, I'm not mad at you or anything. I don't even think the Princesses themselves know anything about humans." I told him reassuringly. Poor guy looked really worried now.

"Uh, yeah, hehehe...T-They don't know what humans are! Of course they don't! Those two probably don't know anything!" Spike said, only getting more scared...Or, was it nervous? With how much he was sweating, it was hard to understand what was going on with him now.

"Okay then..." I said awkwardly. Seriously, how do you react to someone who talks like that?...Did I say that right? Someone? That's what Minotaurs said how humans talked anyway. "Well, if Twilight'll only be ready later then I guess I only have the usual question. Does she have any books on humans? Or does any pony else know something about humans I can ask about?"

"K-Know about humans?!" He asked, now really losing his cool. Okay, there was no doubt about it. He's nervous about something. Something about humans. "Uh, hm...Nope! Not that I can think of! Especially not Blitz!"

"Blitz?" I asked, going over that name again in my head. Only for Spike to freak out and cover his mouth fearfully. "Oh yeah, he's that Cypony Bonbon was talking about earlier!"

"What?! A Cypony?! Of course not! That kind of thing only exists in stories! In fact, we don't even have those stories in the library! So sorry, but you're outta luck!" He said, taking nervous glances around the room to try and avoid me. Was Spike always this bad a liar?

"Then...What's that book over there?" I asked, levitating a book over from the circular table that was in the middle of the room. "The Adventures of Gearhead." I read the title out loud.

"That's...That's, uh...A typo!" He tried to excuse while reaching for the book, only for me to levitate it just out of his reach.

"But it had a picture of Gearhead. With half his head being made of metal." I showed him, leaving him clueless as to what else he could say. "Okay Spike, what's going on here? Who is 'Blitz', anyway? And how's come you're freaking out whenever I mention him and humans at the same time?"

"I...I...I don't..." He was lost. He had no idea what to say at this point, and had nothing else to say to try and get me off this subject. Besides, this Blitz stallion just got way more interesting now. Maybe he was some kind of genius, Professor of Human Myths, or something. Besides, whenever books mention Cyponies, it always explains that they're smart or have a robot brain or something.

"I...I'm sorry..." He apologized, looking down about how sad he was. Like he was just about to tell someone his friend's biggest secret. "I'm sorry, but...I-It's closing time!" He suddenly yelled out.

"Huh? Closing time? But it's only noon!" I reminded him, pointing outside towards the sun. Which showed that it wasn't even close to sunset! Spike knew he was lying through his teeth and forked tongue, and he knew that I saw right through it!

"Sorry Lyra, but you'll have to come back some other time! Probably in a few weeks! Maybe longer than that! Possibly never!" He kept on going as he pulled away the Cypony book and just forced my human notes into my face before pushing me out of the library. Literally!

"Wait! But I still have questions I want to talk about!" I told him, trying to get past him. But surprisingly enough, the little guy was strong enough to push me to the doorway and throw my cloak over my head.

"Sorry, but don't really have any time! Gotta pack, ya know?!" He told me as he finally pushed me one last time. Forcing me out the door. "And don't bother looking for Blitz either! Especially not at the Hardware Section of the Marketplace! Okay?! Goodbye!"

He then slammed the door behind me, followed by putting a chair up against it to keep me out. And for extra measure, he even flipped the sign to closed before I could even turn around and say something.

It wasn't like I could even try to do that though. It was obvious that he wasn't going to talk to me anymore. And as I sat there, he was probably going to go and tell Twilight what just happened. Meaning that she was probably going to avoid me too until she got back from whatever this trip was.

However, that left me with a huge block of time to do whatever I wanted to do. Sure Twilight wasn't going to help with my notes now, but who's to say that someone else won't be able to help?

Quickly getting my idea together, I started smiling to myself. Then grinning. Soon enough, I was trying to keep from laughing in front of the library. So maybe Twilight, the one pony who was an expert on organizing and note taking, wouldn't be able to help. But...

"Who's to say that this 'Blitz' stallion won't be able to help me?" I asked myself, keeping the smile on my face. Blitz was some kind of Human Myth Professor, so he'd be perfect for asking about help with this! All I need now is to find a way to ask him without showing every pony that I'm here.

And I know just how to do it.


Uh oh, Blitz is in for it this time! And it looks like Lyra's a pony on a mission right about now. Well with Blitz's luck, I think it's safe for all of us to assume that he's doomed. Good thing I have a tombstone at the ready for him!

Also something just about all of you probably noticed, I altered the short stories. I decided to scrap the idea of that last short story and start on something else. Mainly since almost not that many volunteered to write one, and because the different writing-styles were a little hectic to adjust to.

So as a solution, I'm going to try and (hopefully) alter it in a better way! I have the next 22 short stories lined up to write and put at the beginning of each chapter. I put all of them through a randomizer, so they're not in a boring order.

So the short story you saw above, the one that was labeled (1/5)? Yeah, I won't be playing all 5 of them back, to back, to back, etc. The next short story is named "The Gang's First Heist! (1/5)" And no, not all the stories are multiple parts. There are only three stories that are five-parters, while the rest are just random One-Shots.

If you want to know what the short story schedule is or whatever, feel free to PM me. Also if you have a short story idea that isn't completely over-the-top-random (I'm afraid of those since I don't want to ruin the original creator's idea) then send that through PM too!

Hope you all enjoy, and I will see you all next chapter!

QotC: How do you think Blitz is going to react about Lyra trying to track him down about humans?