//------------------------------// // The First Chapter - Introduction - Crimson and Strawberry // Story: Shallow // by Ribe_FireRain //------------------------------// Shallow Commune By FireRain I think it's about time for something a little different, so this is what I came up with. For those of you who have read my previous stories, you would know that comedy isn't exactly my strongest genre type, seeing as I normally write dramas and sad-based stories. But anyway, this is Shallow Commune, what my idea of two ponies with exact opposite characteristics and personalities would act like if they were to be housemates. Anyway, enough of that. Here we go... ======***====== A titanic yawn rumbled through the house, sending vibrations through the wall that was followed by a loud shattering noise. From inside her bedroom, Strawberry Lace sleepily swatted her cream hoof around to silence her alarm clock, instead failing miserably and whacking it down to the floor with a crash. With a twitch of her ear and slight raise of her eyelid, she peaked through the darkness of her bedroom to see that the sun was making its rise in the sky, the red-yellowish light peering through her window and illuminating the room in a small pocket of the early light. Letting out yet another yawn as she rubbed her eyes and sitting upright in bed, she stretched out her equally as sleepy muscles with a few resounding cracks and pops here and there. It was just another day in Ponyville. Just another day... She sighed to herself. Mornings always meant nothing to do in particular. Normally, Strawberry would curl herself up into a comfortable position with a book, but today, that wasn't an option. Today was Strawberry's friend's birthday. Crimson Skies. Her housemate. Her nemesis of sorts. Of course it had to be Crimson's birthday. Like every year, the gift she comes up with to present to her ends in a disaster. During the month of April last year, Strawberry thought it would be funny to play a prank on her. As a result of this, the whole downstairs living room of the house was painted in a slick, thick red paint. Chuckling at the memory of her housemate's mortified reaction, Strawberry climbed her way out of the comfy confines of her bed and placed her hooves on the cool, brown wooden floorboards below her and making her way towards the stairs, noticing that Crimson's door was still closed on the way down, indicating she was still asleep. Perfect. In the kitchen, Strawberry had one thing in her mind - how tasty those hay pop-tarts are that she bought every week and managed to store in the cupboard without Crimson knowing, on account of her being the culprit as to why the items Strawberry bought for herself went missing. This one time, Crimson kept taking the breakfast bars that Strawberry hides from her, and when she caught her in the act, she slipped a little surprise into it for next morning when she went to take yet another one. The scream of surprise and shock always made her laugh. Trotting to the cupboard in the kitchen containing most of her own consumables such as cereal bars and sugary treats, she picked up a red box nearest to the back of the cupboard, her hoof pushing other items out of the way as she reached in to grab it. The label on the box read ''Hay Tarts'', one of the favoured brands of cereal bars of the pony species. They weren't anything special, but they definitely got you ready for the day with the added amounts of sugar that was blended in with them to give the taste an extra ''sweet kick''. However, upon reaching her hoof into the box, Strawberry found that it was empty. Blinking, she peered inside the box with her bright red orbs. Empty. That means only one thing; Crimson has been taking them. Again! Feeling a growl rise out of her throat and past her lips and dropping the box, Strawberry raced back up the stairs and darted towards Crimson's room, smashing the door off in her wake. Snapping upwards into a sitting positions with her magenta eyes small with shock at the alarmingly loud crash that followed with the collision of her friend hitting her door, Crimson Skies found herself thrown down with her back pushed forcefully into her mattress. With her snout pressed up against Crimson's to the point she could smell and feel her warm, malty breath, she interrogated. ''Did you take my Hay Tarts again?! Did you?!'' She asked with force. About to answer, Crimson opened her mouth, but instead of words leaving her muzzle, her cheeks grew green and she leaned off to the side of her bed and released a stream of warm, putrid-smelling bile. Strawberry didn't know what annoyed her more; the fact that Crimson just puked all over the floor, or that she ate her hay tarts. With a roll of her eyes, she asked ''So, I'll take that as a ''Yes'', then. And that you've been to the bar getting drunk.'' Finishing up with her vomiting, Crimson looked back up to her housemate with tired, dry eyes. ''Yeah, and? Don't I have the right to drink if I feel like it?'' She questioned, cocking an eyebrow at her. ''Or are you jealous because I actually have friends to hang out with and not just a reflection to talk to all day long?'' She narrowed her eyes at her, pressing her muzzle back to her own, only to quickly retract at the putrid stench emanating off of Crimson's puke-stained lips. Gagging, Strawberry turned her head away. ''Are we done, yet? I got stuff to do.'' Crimson said in an annoyed tone. ''You know, as in work because somepony has to pay the bills around here?'' She said, swiveling her body off of the side of the bed and setting her hooves down on the floor before pulling herself up. Unfortunately, she made a mistake on getting out of bed when she realized at the last second that she had just pulled herself out of the side she puked at. And stepped directly in it. Screaming in surprise, she lost her balance in the goopy bile and face planted straight into the floor, burying her muzzle an inch or so deep in her own vomit. Although annoyed that the flooring was now puke-stained and going to take some work to clean out, Strawberry laughed at Crimson's misfortune. ''I think maybe you should add ''Get a shower'' to your list of things to do for the day.'' Lifting her face out of the puddle of vomit, Crimson wiped it from her eyes to stare daggers at her. ''Ha-fucking ha.'' She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Lifting herself off of the ground and out of the pool vomit, she brushed past Strawberry, glaring daggers at her before leaving the bedroom and into the bathroom at the end of the hall of the left, a loud and dull bang resonating through the house. Strawberry laughed momentarily before directing her gaze towards the pool of vomit on the floor with a sigh. The entire room reeked of the putrid, sour and pungent aroma and with Crimson having to go to work at the music shop owned by local unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings, as an assistant, that left her with the task of cleaning up the mess. ''Well, I suppose I better go and get the mop and bucket out.'' *** *** *** Lyra's Music Shop *** *** *** Lyra's music shop was peaceful during the early hours of the morning and neither her or Crimson were complaining about it. The shop was mostly wooden on the interior and many various instruments in the strings and woodwind families were adorning the walls and on display in the window. The inside of the shop smelled lightly of the aroma of polish and wood, a rather pleasant combination. Because of the early hours, the shop was quiet due to rush hour for the town being a considerable time away and the time before was usually spent reorganizing instruments, checking stock and tuning them or replacing their strings if required to do so. Twist, twist, twist ''I still don't get why you two fight so much.'' Lyra Heartstrings said to a rather bored-faced Crimson Skies who was sat next to her on a stool as she was tuning the strings of a violin from her position behind the counter. Crimson rolled her magenta orbs with a pout. ''I don't know. It's a wonder we're housemates, nevermind ''friends''. She said, quoting with her hooves. Lyra chuckled. ''Sounds to me like you're going through the same phase me and Bonnie went through.'' Lyra said. Crimson's ear twitched. ''Bonnie?'' ''Oh, right, I keep forgetting that you haven't met her yet.'' She rolled her eyes. ''I meant Bon Bon. She's my best friend and we've known each other ever since I first moved into town.'' She smiled. ''We both became housemates after she asked me to live with her, seeing as I didn't have anywhere else to go.'' Crimson smiled for the first time of the day. ''Sounds like a really nice mare.'' A dreamy look came across Lyra's face. ''I'll say...'' Lyra's eyes were glistening as if she was daydreaming and for a moment, Crimson watched her with a raised brow. The front door to the shop opened and the bell rang out, an earth pony with a soft, yellow coat and light blue and pink mane done up in curls entered. Making her way over to the counter, her sky blue eyes met Crimson's and she smiled. Waving a hoof in greeting, Crimson nudged Lyra's shoulder and she snapped back into reality. Crimson motioned with a hoof towards the customer and Lyra blushed, embarrassed from her daydreaming. ''O-Oh, hey, Bonnie.'' Lyra greeted with a smile, coming from behind the counter and towards the mare, wrapping her hooves around her back in a hug. ''Morning, Lyra. Who's your friend?'' The mare asked, looking over to Crimson with a smile. ''Bon Bon, this is Crimson Skies, she started working here a few months ago.'' Crimson reached a hoof over the counter and tapped hooves with Bon Bon. ''It's nice to meet you.'' She said. ''Oh, and she also has a housemate! We were actually just talking about it! Remember when we first started off as housemates and we were fighting all the time and stuff, and we never got along, like, at all, and-'' Bon Bon pressed her hoof over Lyra's lips, a soft blush upon her cheeks. ''Hey, not here! It's kinda personal, Hearty.'' Bon Bon said in an embarrassed tone. Lyra giggled, blushing herself and scratching the back of her neck with a hoof awkwardly. ''Besides, there's no point thinking about that now.'' ''Wait, you two used to fight all the time?'' Crimson asked, dumbfounded. From where she was sitting and watching them now, they seemed to get along just fine. Even better than fine. ''Oh, yeah, like, everyday!'' Lyra said, despite Bon Bon's protests. ''Such a performance! I used to ''steal'''' She quoted with her hooves. ''her sweets from her shop, and there was more than a few misunderstandings between us.'' ''There was more than that...'' Bon Bon said, her voice at a whisper and her ears back on her head in irritation at the memories. Crimson blinked, even more confused than before. ''B-B-But you get on so well! Me and my housemate have the same problems, but she doesn't even understand me! To her, I'm just a common nuisance in our relationship, or at least, what's left of what was there to begin with. She practically hates me!'' Crimson said that last part with gritted teeth. Since she met Strawberry, their relationship was in fairly normal standing in terms of status, but now it's in tatters, torn down and now all that's left is scraps, especially after they became housemates. Somehow, for reasons that probably neither Crimson nor Strawberry know of, from the day they first became housemates, it was like some kind of invisible force drove a wedge between them both. Bon Bon and Lyra both gave a sympathetic and reassuring smile. ''I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Crimson. I thought Lyra hated me from how much we used to fight and give each other the cold shoulder, but it turns out we were both wrong. As a matter of fact, Lyra and me are something more than friends, if you get my meaning.'' Bon Bon explained, nuzzling Lyra's cheek. ''Believe me, you'll work something out in the end.'' ''Thanks, Bon Bon. I sure hope so.'' Crimson said, her spirits somewhat lifted. If there was one thing that she wanted, it was to find out why Strawberry Lace hates her. I've never hated her as a friend, never mind in general as a pony. ''I'll see you later, Lyra.'' Bon Bon said, hugging Lyra goodbye, turning to face Crimson momentarily before taking her leave. ''Perhaps we could all hang out at some point afterwards and get to know each other better. You could even bring your friend along, if you'd like.'' A weak smile formed on Crimson's lips. ''Y-Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.'' She and Lyra waved her goodbye and went back to working at the shop, making their last checks around to make sure all was in good order and ready for opening. There was still some time left, about a few hours or so, until rush hour settles in around town and the customers come flocking in from left and right. Owning a business in Ponyville wasn't the easiest of tasks available, but hardly anypony was one for complaining after making a profit. Settling in for the day and taking care to check her own responsibilities in the shop as Lyra's assistant, Crimson Skies was in charge of making sure the displays were all neatly organized, the shelves were clean and presentable, the works. Smiling to herself at seeing that her routine checks were all in perfect order, Crimson walked over to where the sign hung from the door to the shop and flipped the ''Closed'' side of it to face ''Open'' to the outside world through the glass. ''Alright, let's get this day done with.''