A Blackened Equestria

by NightLord

Chapter 2

Lyra awoke with a start. She jolted up and scanned her surroundings. She was in a very different place than she had been when she fell asleep. There was a roof of some kind over her head, with large patches of light gleaming through. She reached up to touch it, and realized that it was an assortment of large leaves commonly found in the Everfree. Lyra searched for the walls of whatever construct she was inhabiting, and noticed that there were not any walls, at least not in the sense she was accustomed to. Instead, there were multiple branches and small logs arranged in such a way to support the roof of the shelter. She noticed a small opening on one side, just barely large enough for an average pony, and proceeded to squeeze through the threshold. What she saw then shocked her. She was still in the forest, but all around her makeshift shelters dotted the landscape. Some were simply a few twigs jammed into the soft forest soil with a blanket thrown on top, while others were slightly more complex. In the center of the area, a massive tree house rose above the rest of the huts. The exterior design seemed a bit eerie to Lyra, and she immediately guessed that this must be where the zebra resided. There were several ponies milling about, carrying out various duties. She saw some gathering firewood, others tending wounds, and even a few crafting meals. At the sight of the cooking ponies, her stomach grumbled, and Lyra realized how hungry she was. The last meal she had consumed must have been around noon, the day before.

“Excuse me, ma'am?” Startled, Lyra turned to see where the voice had come from. It was a stallion. He was a white unicorn, with brown and black hair, and a splash of blue on his muzzle. And on his back were two fillies. A sense of guilt welled up inside her. How could she have forgotten about these two already?

“Do these two belong to you?” the stallion inquired.
Lyra shook her head.

“It's a long story. I was leaving Ponyville, and their parents were...” Her voice trailed off, cut off by tears.
“I tried to help... It was the only option... I had no other choice... I couldn't just leave them there.”
The stallion nodded sympathetically.

“I'm not sure that I understand what you're saying completely, but it sounds like you saved the lives of these two young ponies.” He gestured to the fillies for emphasis.

“Yeah, I guess,” Lyra replied. The guilt that tugged at her heart was even stronger now that this guy was treating her like some kind of hero. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment, not after she had just let those fillies witness the deaths of their parents.

“So, would you be willing to watch them? All of the other ponies have their hooves full, either with their own children or with other jobs.”

“I'll help with whatever I can,” Lyra answered truthfully.

“Great. So let me give you a quick overview of how everything works. The center of this whole place is that creepy looking tree house. That's where Zecora lives. She's in charge around here. Your tent is here, in the center circle. This is the most well-protected area, and where the families are housed. The next section, surrounding this, is the main circle. This is where the ponies without children live, and is where most of the work is done. Finally, there is the outer circle. This is where the guards, scouts, and hunters reside. The job of guards is to, well, guard this...”
The stallion paused, gesturing all around them. “I'm actually not really sure what we're calling this place. For now, I guess I'll just call it 'The Compound'. That sounds cool, right? Anyway, that's what the guards are for, obviously. The job of the hunters is to go out into the Everfree to secure food for the compound. Then there are the scouts. These guys do the hardest work. Their job is to find other survivors and bring them back here. Most of them don't come back.”
Lyra shuddered at the thought of ponies willingly subjecting themselves to that nightmare. She could not imagine mustering up enough courage to ever go back out there, especially after what she had seen. Still, she would do whatever she could to help, as long as it was inside the confines of this place.

“So, what can I do to help? Other than watching these guys I mean?” As she asked this question, she removed the fillies from the white unicorn's back, placing them on the soft ground.

“I can't think of anything right now,” he answered, “We usually give ponies 24 hours before they have to start working, and you still have 12 of those left. There's not really a defined time to rest yet, mainly because it's been sunset since yesterday, so there are ponies working at all hours.”
Lyra looked up to the sky to see that he was right. She was mainly relieved that it wasn't her imagination.
“So after your 12 hours are up, find me or one of the other organizers and tell us which shift you would like to work. Nice meeting you.” He nodded to Lyra, and began to leave.

So he was an organizer, whatever that meant. He was the first pony she had met here, and he was actually pleasant and welcoming, not at all how she would imagine the ponies in a place like this to be. She would look forward to meeting him again, this...

“Hey!” She called back to him, as he was already ten yards away, and she had to shout to be heard. He wheeled around, facing her. “What was your name again?” She continued.

“Azure. Azure Haze. What's yours?”

“Lyra Heartstrings. Good to meet you, Haze.”
She knew that Haze was his last name, but it was way easier to pronounce than his first one, so she was going to call him Haze.

“Likewise, Lyra.”
And then he was gone, disappeared into the crowd.

The next 12 hours were relatively uneventful. Lyra spent the majority of this time resting with the fillies, who were unusually quiet. During this time, she thought. It was the first time she had really gone into thought, deep thought, since her escape the day before. Even for the many hours that she had lain in the forest immediately after fleeing Ponyville, she had been in shock, and had temporarily lost the ability to process things. But now that the shock was fading, everything began to sink in. Just two weeks before, she had been leading a carefree life in Ponyville, delighting in every ordinary day that she had shared with her closest friend, Bon Bon.

Bon Bon.

Her heart dropped as she thought of her friend. From what she had gathered in the few conversations she had taken part in that day, the forces in Canterlot had been utterly destroyed. Yet Lyra still tried to to hope, to imagine different scenarios in which Bon Bon could have survived. Maybe she had escaped Canterlot, just as Lyra had escaped Ponyville. Maybe she had gone undercover, imitating Changeling behavior. That wouldn't work, though, Lyra remembered. Changelings excreted pheromones that allowed them to recognize each other, no matter what form they were in. Lyra shook her head as tears streamed down her face. As much as she didn't want to, she had to accept the fact that her friend would probably not be coming back. And neither would the Cakes. Or the mayor. She had not thought about the mayor much, not because she didn't like her, but because she didn't really know her. It wasn't the mayor's blood on her hooves, either. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop reliving that moment. She had been so close. Had she been given a single moment more, she could have saved Carrot. As a result his wife, Cup Cake, could have been saved as well. She wouldn't have spent her last moment watching her husband live his. Thinking about these ponies who sacrificed themselves so that she could live, she knew that the least she could do was care for their offspring. Lyra's parents had always been right there by her side, guiding her through childhood. Pound and Pumpkin would never know what any of that was like. With that, something completely strange occurred to her. She did not know how much longer life in Equestria was going to be like this, or if it would ever even go back to how it was. If everything continued this way, she would most likely become the guardian of the Cakes. Just the thought of it seemed so bizarre, so surreal. In the past two days, she had probably gained more experience with kids than she had in her entire life prior. Even when she was a filly herself, she was an only child, and mostly hung around ponies a couple years older than herself. Besides, even if she did have a basic understanding of how to care for infants, these weren't just some ordinary earth ponies. Pumpkin, the girl, would be the easier of the two, as she was a unicorn like Lyra. But the boy, Pound, was a pegasus. Lyra was going to have to find someone to help care for him, preferably a pegasus, but really anyone who knew what they were doing would be an improvement. All of her worries, both about the past and future, overwhelmed her. She lay down next to the foals, who were embracing each other in their deep slumber. The sight of these twins, the future of Equestria, so serene and warm, calmed Lyra, allowing her to gather herself and prepare for the work that lay ahead of her.

Author's Note:

Well, I was hoping that this chapter could be longer, but I am also currently working on a story to enter in the "Twist of Fate" contest on Deviantart, which ends it's submission period on the 7th (I'm starting a bit late). Fortunately, that story is definitely going to be pony-related, so I'll be able to post it here as well.

Comments

[NightLord]

7089537 Thanks for the feedback! I agree that there are several topics I should have gone into greater detail on, especially the psychological aspect of what Lyra witnessed in Ponyville. In the second chapter, I do address some of these issues by slowing down the story to allow more reflection with Lyra. The entire first chapter was admittedly a bit rushed, both with the amount of time I put into it and the pace of the chapter. Concerning the sun-moon cycle thing, there will be more on that subject later. At that time, with everything else Lyra had to think about, that was the least of her concerns, which is why she simply noted it as 'trivial'. Again, thanks for the help, and I will use this advice to try and improve future chapters.