The Darkness Walks Among Us

by DukeArbiter

Chapter 1 - The Morning After

Lyra groaned as she pulled herself out of her bed. The mint green unicorn's head throbbed insistently as if somepony was repeatedly bashing her head in with a brick. It was her own fault however. Lyra had drunk far too much at Pinkie's party last night and she was paying the price. It was a good thing that Bon Bon hadn't drunk any cider or else the musician would have been waking up on the floor of Sugarcube Corner and not in her own bed.

Lyra walked sluggishly out of her bedroom and began down the narrow hallway that leads to the living space. She passed by the open door to Bon Bon's room, sunlight pouring in through the open window. The light burned Lyra's eyes and made her headache throb with greater intensity. The unicorn shrugged off the pain and continued along the hall. As she neared the end of the hallway, the faint smell of food began to hit Lyra's nose. It smelled delicious. Their smells made Lyra's stomach rumble loudly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything yet.

The Kitchen was alive with the delicious smells of breakfast. The green pony walked into the room, partially blinded by the sunlight which made her headache intensify again. When her vision returned to her, the first thing she saw was Bon Bon, bathed in sunlight, her cream coat appearing to glow in the heavenly light. It filled Lyra with joy to see her love again. Bon Bon meant the world to her and she did so much for Lyra while she did so little in return. The unicorn often thought her earth pony companion deserved better than what she could provide, and with her amazing candy making skills Bon Bon could easily get somepony better but the earth pony loved Lyra, no matter how little she did.

It took the hung-over unicorn a minute to realize that Bon Bon had said something to her and was awaiting her response. "What did you say?" Lyra asked. Bon Bon giggled a little at Lyra's inattentiveness before explaining, "I said, are you feeling OK? You had a lot to drink last night. You passed out even before I got you home!" Lyra felt a bit ashamed that she had let herself drink that much, she was trying to quit after all. Maybe she should stop going to these parties. "I'm fine," Lyra replied, "I have a bit of a headache, but I'll live."

Bon Bon seemed to accept that answer and the two ponies sat down to breakfast. The ponies chatted about last night's party, about how crazy it got and how Berry Punch got thrown out because she had utterly destroyed a large table in her drunken haze. Bon Bon told Lyra about what Lyra had done while she was drunk, which was not much different than when she was sober; she had danced, ranted about Celestia and the government, and drank large amounts of apple cider.

After they had both finished their breakfast, Lyra headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" Bon Bon asked, a bit of worry in her voice. "I'm going out to perform. Relax, I'll be fine. You've got nothing to worry about," Lyra comforted. The unicorn levitated her saddle bag, surrounding it in a field of green energy, and slung it across her back before heading out the door and into the Ponyville morning.

Lyra had walked for a few blocks before settling on a spot to sit down. She had chosen a long stretch of road leading to the Ponyville library, situated perfectly so that her music would drift into the center of town and be able to be heard by any egg-head who might be over on this side of town. The unicorn pulled open her bag and retrieved her pride, a golden lyre that her father had given her before she left Canterlot. Playing this instrument was all she was good at and it was the only thing besides Bon Bon that brought her any measure of happiness. The green musician settled down on her sidewalk and began to strum her lyre, losing herself in the music.

After only a few minutes Lyra heard the sound of approaching ponies. Today was going to be a good day, Lyra could feel it. She kicked open her saddle bag in case these passersby's wanted to give her a few bits. As the ponies approached however the unicorn recognized the pair. It was Bon Bon and her friend Carrot Top. Lyra hated Carrot Top with every fiber of her being, but she was forced to tolerate her because Carrot Top and Bon Bon had been friends all their lives. The Yellow carrot farmer had never like Lyra's drinking, partying, or the fact that she was a street musician. Carrot Top also never approved of the fact that Lyra loved Bon Bon. She thought that Bon Bon could get somepony far better than Lyra, somepony who could take care of her and provide for her. While she did echo Lyra's own doubts on the subject, it never felt good to have somepony say those things to your face.

The two mares ran towards Lyra at high speed with horrified expressions on their faces. Lyra smiled for a moment. It was good to see that smug, superior look wiped off Carrot Top's face for once, but her smile dissipated when she remembered Bon Bon had the same look of fear on her face. "Lyra, come quick there's something you need to see!" Bon Bon said hurriedly. Lyra was confused. What could be so important that Bon Bon dragged Carrot Top over to see her. "I'm sure whatever it is, it can wait until after lunch," Lyra said dismissively. Carrot Top shot Lyra a glare which Lyra only answered with a complicated series of notes on her lyre and a smug grin. "You don't get it, do you?" The angry farmer growled, "Berry Punch is dead."

The news hit Lyra like a slap to the face. The musician instantly stopped playing and floated her lyre back into her saddle bag. The unicorn had actually liked partying with Berry Punch. Even though she routinely drank way more cider than should be possible, Lyra always enjoyed the time she spent with the purple pony. "What happened to her?" Lyra asked after a few seconds. "If you come with us you'll see!" Carrot Top said knowingly. "We don't actually know what happened," Bon Bon explained, "Carrot found out about it just after you left and we were going to go see but I thought you might want to know too so I told her I wouldn't go without you and..." "I understand. You wanted me to come with you," Lyra interrupted. Bon Bon had the horrible habit of talking forever and never actually getting to the point. Lyra had learned to pick out the important parts of her long winded stories and was able to know what Bon Bon was talking about even before she told Lyra. The street musician lifted her bag back up onto her back and turned to her companions. "Let's get going then," She said optimistically.

Comments

[JJtheWarrior]

Ponies don't eat meat.

[CriticalReviewSection]

Well if you want to get technical here, a Vampire pony doesn't eat any meat, it just drinks blood.
Anyways, I really like the idea for this story. The execution is good enough to keep me reading, although there are some bits which stumble over repetitive language. There were, however, almost no grammar and spelling errors, which is pretty amazing. Creds to you sir Duke Arbiter.

The one mistype I did find was small, just punctuation:

What could be so important that Bon Bon dragged Carrot Top over to see her.

Should be a question mark.

As for style, I know this is relatively old, and I am curious to see if your writing gets better with time, so i will save my thoughts for when I'm up-to-date.