//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 - Crushed Muffins // Story: A Ghost Story // by Elemist //------------------------------// I floated over the couch idly flipping through the copy of “Musical Mare Monthly” that I had picked up. I could hear Bon Bon’s hoof tapping impatiently as she waited for Lyra to say something. Lyra on the other hoof was just standing in the doorway looking like a deer caught in the headlights. “Well, are you going to stand there all night or are you going to tell me whatever it is you think I can’t handle?” Bon Bon’s tapping continues as Lyra stares blankly forward. “Ummm…I…you see…” “Come on Lyra, you know you can tell me anything.” Lyra glances around the room, most likely looking for something to inspire a story to tell to her roommate. Her eyes fall on me and I see a glint of realization form on her face before she turns back to Bon Bon. “I met a boy today!” She declares suddenly. Bon Bon and I share an expression of surprise, I then burst out laughing, “Ahh, clever girl Lyra, going for a half-truth I see.” She glares me down while Bon Bon stares off into the distance. Bon Bon’s look of surprise hardens for a second before her face bursts into a grin that would make Pinkie proud. “Well? How did you meet him? What’s he like? What does he look like? You have to tell me EVERTHING!” Bon Bon grabs Lyra and yanks her over to the couch. I float out of the way as Lyra is unceremoniously plopped onto the cushions. Bon Bon takes her seat right next to Lyra, and I couldn’t help but giggle at the fact she looked like a teenage girl who just heard a juicy piece of gossip. Huh, actually I might not be far from the truth with that one there. I wonder how old these two actually are. “He’s uhh…ummm…He.” “Oh oh, tell her I’m a dashing rogue who swept you off your hooves and showed you a night on the town you will never forget.” Lyra glares at me for a second before turning back to Bon Bon. “Well I saw him this morning and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get him out of my head.” “Ooo, a love at first sight kind of thing then. Tell me he’s handsome.” Bon Bon interjection causes me to snort. “Well umm.” Lyra looks me up and down for a few seconds. “Go on Lyra, tell her how devilishly handsome I am. So handsome in fact that I captured you’re heart as soon as you saw me.” Lyra’s eye twitches in annoyance. “Well, he has a long brown mane and a scruffy beard.” I run my hand through my beard, “Well excuse me for not properly grooming myself. It’s not like I purposely decided not to shave the day that I died.” “Don’t leave me hanging, keep going.” Bon Bon seems to be getting impatient due to the lack of details. “Well, I guess he’s kind of cute and he’s definitely funny.” “Woot, I’m cute. Score one for Spooky.” I can see Lyra trying to hold back laughter as I do a little victory dance in midair. “Sooo, did you two do anything special? Did he ask you out on a date?” “Ummm, no but we did end up spending the whole day together and we got roped into a Pinkie party. Turns out he really likes board games.” “Are you going to see him again? Will I get to meet this mysterious stallion of yours?” “I’m definitely going to see him again but I’m not sure when you will get to meet him.” “Am I going to have to set up a dinner date between you two?” “Uhh, no Bon Bon. Don’t worry about it. I don’t think I can actually have a serious relationship with him actually but I think we are going to be good friends.” I’m still deep in my victory dance but I notice that Bon Bon is deep in thought and when Lyra gets up to head towards the stairs I can see a look of longing on Bon Bon’s face. Hmmm, my keen ghost senses are telling me that little miss Bon Bon might have a crush. I might have to do something about this. “Goodnight Bon Bon, I’ve had a long day so I’m going to hit the sack.” I follow Bon Bon upstairs as she heads to bed. She’s definitely thinking about something, she’s going to hurt herself if she chews on her lip any harder. I float into Lyra’s room to find her flopped on the bed. “So how is my favorite musical unicorn doing?” She merely grunts and rolls over. “Oh don’t be such a Grumpy Gus, you did a great job deflecting Bon Bon’s questions. Of course you could have just told her about me and saved on a difficult conversation later on.” At this she just throws a pillow at me and I giggle as it flies through me and hits the wall. “Well if you’re going to be that way I’m not going to tuck you into bed then and seeing as we left the books at the library I’m just going to have to borrow a few of these.” I pick up a few of her music books that are lying on the floor and make my way over to the door. “I bid you a good night madam.” I give her an exaggerated bow and nearly drop the books. I was lucky they were thin paper backs or I would have had to have Lyra carry them downstairs for me. I enjoyed the rest of the night reading through the various music books that I had brought downstairs. I had never really been one to be musically inclined other than singing. I had done quite a few musicals back in college but I had never really played an instrument before. I did find a few of these rather interesting, I wonder if I could learn how to play one of her instruments. It would have to be something that I wouldn’t have to hold or something I could put into a stand. If she could put her Lyre into a stand maybe I could play that or perhaps I could learn how to play that harp she had in the corner of her room. Now there was an idea, I wouldn’t have to hold the harp just pluck the strings. That and I could freak out Vinyl and Octavia when they came over sometime by playing them a creepy tune. I read until the early morning and I ended up finishing a few of the books I had grabbed. They weren’t that bad of a read actually, they definitely weren’t what I was used to but I’ll take what I can get. In the pre-morning light I decided to make breakfast for my two new roommates and I wandered into the kitchen. Once there I set about my fiendish plan and set out half a grapefruit, a glass of milk and some buttered toast for each mare. Phase two of my dastardly plot was well underway by the time I heard hoof steps coming downstairs. Lyra trotted into the kitchen looking like she at least got some sleep last night. “What’s this?” She asks with a raised eyebrow. “Why this my dear is what is known as breakfast. You see most ponies believe it is the most important meal of the day. Of course I believe that the most important meal the mid afternoon snack but what do I know.” Lyra looked at the food laid before almost as if she thought it was suddenly going to reach out and bite her. After a minute or two at staring at her food, she shrugged and then dug in. I turned my back to her as I finished filling a brown paper bag with a few food stuffs as Bon Bon walked in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looks at the table and a smile appears on her face. “Lyra, did you make me breakfast? This is a pleasant surprise; I usually have to make breakfast for you.” Lyra simply nods as Bon Bon devours the grapefruit and then nibbles on the toast. As they both finish up Bon Bon grabs her apron that is hanging on a hook by the fridge and straps it around her waist. “Thanks for Breakfast Lyra; I’ve got to get to work so I will see you tonight.” I grab the bag I had packed earlier and float it over to Bon Bon who looks at it with confusion on her face. She lets out a giggle when she sees her name written on the side of the sack lunch with a big heart around it. “Oh Lyra, you didn’t have to make me lunch too. Thank you though.” She grabs the bag in her mouth and trots out the door. Lyra turns to me as soon as the front door closes. “What the hay was that?” “That was a daisy and daffodil sandwich, an apple, a can of soda and a note wishing her a wonderful day at work from her little unicorn friend.” I grin at the look of frustration that Lyra adopts and I start washing the dishes. “You’re something else you know that?” “No I didn’t know that, thanks for telling me.” “No I mean it. You pop into my life literally yesterday, won’t leave me alone until I acknowledge that you’re real, take me to Tartarus in a hand basket when I visit Twilight, make me have one of the most awkward conversations I’ve ever had with my roommate and then the next morning you make me breakfast. You are definitely the weirdest… being I have ever met.” “Why thank you, I love you too.” “And that’s another thing, you are always saying embarrassing things all of the time. Why do you do that?” “Well I find it extremely funny for one thing and it keeps things interesting.” “Uhh, whatever. I’m going to go to the park and play my Lyre for a few hours. Try to at least make a few bits.” “Alright you have fun with that.” I wave to her as she makes her way out of the kitchen. Man she was adorable when she was frustrated. I can’t wait to see how mad she will get when she finds out I put some little x’s and o’s at the bottom of the note for Bon Bon. She would probably kill me if I wasn’t already dead. Not like I care either way. I was going to have fun with this and it wasn’t my fault that Lyra couldn’t see that Bon Bon had a crush on her. Of course it was probably easier for me to see it being an outside here. I shrug and turn back to the dishes. I quickly finish them up and make my way up to Lyra’s room where I spend the next few hours plucking away at the harp in her room. I was really glad there was nopony home at the moment because it sounded horrible, if it wasn’t for the “Harps for Dummies” that was laid out on the shelf it would have sounded like I was strangling a cat. Deciding to put my misguided musical endeavors on the side burner I float into the kitchen. Hmm, I could do some more baking I guess. At least that way I would have a peace offering for Lyra when she finds out about the note. I gather the various ingredients from around the room and with the help of a cookbook I found on top of the cupboards I’m able to produce a pound cake for my new roommates. Of course I won’t know how good a job I did until one of them gets home as I couldn’t taste test it. After that I went back to reading until Lyra got home. According to her I did a decent job on the pound cake. I pleasantly chatted with Lyra for the next few hours and by that I meant we went back and forth with snappy quips until Bon Bon got home. Surprisingly she didn’t mention anything about the note and had a pleasant conversation about her day with Lyra as they feasted upon my pound cake. That’s how the next week or so went. I would read during the night going through numerous musical books of Lyra’s and I even snuck some of Bon Bon’s romance stories out of her room to read. I would have gone back to the Library for some different reading material but I was terrified of another Twilight interrogation session. In the mornings I would make breakfast for the two of them which allowed me to try my hand at some interesting pony cuisine. I was disappointed I would never be able to share the magnificence that is my families meatloaf with them but c'est la vie or in this case c’est la mort. I also made various bag lunches for Bon Bon every day with a little note from Lyra. I kept making the notes a little more…flirty, every day. Bon Bon never mentioned them and I was hoping she would eventually break down and hug tackle Lyra and confess her feelings. After breakfast I would spend some hours either practicing on the harp or I would explore Ponyville while Bon Bon worked and Lyra played in the park. I still visited Fluttershy and I made sure her late season harvest of squash and pumpkins were alright. I also visited the cake twins for some more impromptu play dates. This also gave me the chance to drop off some of the baked goods I had been experimenting with during the day with Pinkie for her to try. Apparently I make a mean cupcake, who knew? It was during one of my afternoon baking sessions that something…interesting happened. I had just pulled the pan of freshly baked chocolate chipped muffins out of the oven (loved the fact that I didn’t need oven mitts) when I heard a loud bang from outside the Kitchen window. I looked outside to see a certain gray Pegasus sitting on the ground, holding her head in her hooves while muttering, “muffins?” over and over again. I giggle in amusement and I float a fresh muffin out the open window to her. Derpy’s eyes momentarily straiten as she stares at the muffin with a look of pure joy plastered on her face. She quickly snatches up the muffin and stuffs in her mouth and with a few chews swallows the pastry. I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that she ate the wrapper. She then salutes me before her eyes cross again, “Thanks for the muffin Mr. Scary Tall Guy.” She then grabs her mailbag that had landed next to her and takes off towards the center of town. I turn back towards the kitchen to deal with the rest of the muffins, “Well that was awfully nice of her to thank me like that…wait…she thanked me…that means she saw me.” I zip through the wall following after that adorable wall-eyed Pegasus, “DERPY, GET YOUR BUBBLE ADORNED FLANK BACK HERE!” I zoom around town looking for Derpy but I just couldn’t seem to spot her anywhere. I pass through the park and I see Lyra is playing her Lyre with a small hat in front of her with a bit or two in it. I don’t even ask where she got the hat as I zip in front of her. “LYRA. DERPY. YOU SEEN HER?” She seems taken aback from the volume of my request but replies anyway, “She just passed by here about two minutes ago. She was probably headed back to the post office.” I salute her as I zoom off, and I have to hold back a chuckle when Lyra blushes as she realizes some passing ponies are staring at her seemingly random outburst. As I make my way to the post office I catch a glimpse of Derpy exiting the side entrance with a fresh bag of mail. “DERPY WAIT!” She turns towards me and waves, “Oh hi Mr. Nice Scary Guy, what can I do for you?” I float over to her as she flaps idly towards a side street. “Derpy, are you telling me that you can see me?” “Yeah Mr. Nice Scary Guy, I can see a lot of things that other ponies don’t. I try to tell them about it but they just shake their heads and walk off whenever I talk about it.” “Uhh, you can just call me Spooky if you want Derpy…Uhh, Derpy is your real name right?” “Nah, it’s Ditzy but everypony calls me Derpy because of my eyes and all of the accidents I get into.” “I’m sorry about that Ditzy, nopony should have to put up with that.” “It’s ok Spooky, I’ve learned to deal with it.” Ditzy then flies directly into a lamppost due to the fact that she was looking at me as we were talking. I sigh and reach down to help her pick up some of the letters that had spilled out of her bag. “That’s the thing Ditzy, you shouldn’t have had to learn to deal with it. It’s not right to make fun of someone because of things that are out of their control. You’re too nice of a pony to have to put up with that kind of sh…stuff.” “Thanks Spooky, you’re the first pony to ever take the time to talk with me this long. It’s kind of nice to talk with somepony who doesn’t get frustrated with me.” “Anytime Ditzy. Listen, I’m certain you have a lot of letters to deliver but if you ever want someone to talk to than feel free to drop by Lyra’s house to see me. I’ll even make you some more muffins. Just make sure to not come over when Bon Bon is home though.” “Thanks Spooky, I’ll make sure to do that.” Ditzy says as she then runs into the same lamppost again. I roll my eyes as I help her pick up the same letters as before. Awesome-sauce, I got to make another friend today and this one can even see me without me having to go through the whole ripping my essence apart by the seams thing. I float back to the house and I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Lyra has made her way home. “Hay Lyra, I’m back. How was your day in the park?” “It was fine until you showed up and made me look like a foal in front of everypony.” She calls down from her room. “Well, you didn’t have to answer me; you could have just pointed me in the right direction.” I float over to the coach and pick up one of the numerous magazines that I had been reading and began to flip through it. “Whatever…Hay Spooky, did you want to see my costume for Nightmare Night next week?” “Sure, let’s see what you got.” I look up from the article on Canterlot’s latest fashion as Lyra comes clomping down the stairs. I immediately drop the magazine and begin to laugh my ghostly ass off. Standing at the base of the stairs is Lyra, she had a white sheet thrown over herself with two eye holes and one horn hole cut in it. “Stop laughing, it isn’t funny. Besides, you’re going out with me.” She states as she floats a second sheet over to me. I look down at the sheet sitting on the coffee table and stare at it for a few seconds. I then look back to the ghostly Lyra, “You, my little pony, are brilliant.”