“That cloud right there looks like my grandmothers wig.”

“Really, that’s the third cloud that looks like your grandmothers hairpiece?”

“How can I when every cloud in Equestria looks the same?”

Kyle Schuurman and Lyra Heartsrings were laid out under the shade of the plateau in an open field, watching the clouds hanging lazily in the air, being a few hundred meters away from Ponyville. Having worked from morning to noon gave Kyle the chance to hang out with his favorite mare, as the two of them talked and shared what they did today and ended up laying out on the grass and staring at the clouds.

Kyle was one of the few human visitors who would befriend the minty unicorn mare who made it her sworn duty to get to know every single human who settled in Equestria. The reception at which humans had been received had been wary at first, none of the ponies were willing to welcome these alien visitors from another dimension due in part to recent visits by outsiders like griffons or changelings reinforcing their xenophobia.

Sure Pinkie Pie gave a warm welcome to each and every bewildered human with her party wagon ending up coated in something different each time (Kyle remembered one of the last arrivals named Paul getting covered in peanut butter, which he was allergic to). And sure both Twilight and Princess Celestia did their best to make things comfortable enough for whatever human ended up in Equestria.

Lyra, however, was different.

Being an eccentric young filly, Lyra was always making up new things and had a wild imagination. Her most favorite thing to do was talk about humans, a bunch of creatures she supposedly made up. At first everypony played along with Lyra’s fascination with her new creations, but time went on Lyra’s obsession with humans grew to the point where she actually started to believe that they were real. This only drove ponies away. Only her friend Bon Bon had stuck with Lyra through thick and thin since Magic Kindergarten, and the two of them moved to Ponyville where they shared rent on a two-story house.

Now that humans were actually in Equestria now, Lyra had been vindicated. Having endured rumors and gossip, the minty unicorn nevertheless was modest at being proven right in the end. She simply shrugged to former neighsayers who had once ridiculed her and said, “Perhaps now everypony will take a more active interest in anthropology.”

Celestia was well known for her compassion and generosity and welcomed the new arrivals to stay in Ponyville where they first appeared in (coincidentally Ponyville has had weird occurences happen to it more frequently ever since Nightmare Moon was defeated) and although the inability to return home to their own world disheartened Kyle and the others, they did make the best of their situation by befriending a lot of the ponies in town.

“You know I like the spot you chose for us.”

Kyle turned to the minty unicorn, “Really?”

“Yeah, the hill we’re on is where the wind crests over it not so much that it bothers us, and the shade from the plateau behind us is protecting us from most of the sun rays.”

Kyle chuckled, “That’s funny, because the last time I chose where we could hang out looking at clouds we were nearly ran over by a herd of stampeding cows. Was it the one, Muriel? She claimed to have spotted a snake circling underneath her.”

Lyra shrugged her shoulders, “Cows are kind of skittish, I’m surprised it was Muriel who started the freak-out. Usually she is the most levelheaded of her herd. This wasn’t the first time Ponyville had been threatened by a stampede of cows . . . and rabbits in one instance.”

“Rabbits?”

“To make a long story short Applejack was half-asleep when she scared a herd of rabbits into Ponyville. Apparently that apple farmer wanted to prove that she could harvest her own orchard without any help.”

“And this all happened before Discord?” Kyle asked skeptically.

Lyra giggled, “Trust me, that wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen to Ponyville.”

Kyle stretched out and looked upward at the plateau towering over them. He took in a lungful of air and sighed, relishing in the clean air compared to the smog-filled air where he came from.

“You know if I really was feeling up to it I would race you to the top of that plateau.”

“Oh yeah,” Lyra said as he tail swished between her legs.

Kyle looked over at the minty unicorn, “But I don’t want to miss a second of this great weather.”

“Me neither,” Lyra agreed as she stretched out.

“Besides, I think we know who would win on the climb up,” Kyle said jokingly.

Lyra raised her eyes, “Oh, and who would that be?”

“Why I think you already know the answer,” Kyle turned to look at the mare.

“Me,” Lyra answered coyly, batting her eyelashes.

“Very funny, but I believe that it would be me,” Kyle corrected her.

Lyra sat up, “You really want to test that out. I’m pretty good at mountain climbing.”

“With those hooves,” Kyle laughed, “Aren’t you supposed to need hands for that?”

“Don’t remind me,” Lyra whacked Kyle playfully on the shoulder.

“You really think you can beat me in rock climbing,” Kyle sounded incredulous.

Lyra got up and stretched out, “Well there’s only one way to find out.”

Kyle laughed and sat up and proceeded to take off his jersey revealing a light gray T-shirt underneath, “You’re serious?”

“Totally,” Lyra winked at her human companion, “Unless you’re all talk?”

“As if!” Kyle got up and began his stretches, “I happened to be the top of my rock climbing class in Summer Camp. Sure that may have been several years ago, but my chances are substantially higher than yours.”

Lyra smirked, the fires of competitiveness danced in her eyes, “Then lets make this interesting: whoever reaches the top first has the loser buy a smoothie.”

Kyle laughed a little. Lyra had a love for dairy shakes, whether it was hay blend or Cherry-Berry Blast. Perhaps that was why her flank was a bit more substantial compared to her marefriend, BonBon . . .

“Well, alright if you want to watch me drink your favorite flavor, then so be it,” Kyle then took off running towards the plateau. Lyra’s eyes widened in shock as she was in the middle of one of her stretches, she struggled to untangle herself.

“Hey! No head starts! That’s cheating!” Lyra yelled as she finally untangled herself, “And that will be the last time I take stretching exercises from Blossomforth.”