She knocked once… twice… and a third time, but none of the knocks was followed up by any reaction from inside the house. “Hey, Lyra, are you at home? It’s me, Bon Bon!” The confectioner pony waited nearly a minute until she came to the conclusion, that her friend might not be at home at the moment. “Hm, she doesn’t seem to be in right now… maybe, assuming that Pinkie Pie is right and Lyra really is injured, she might be at the hospital… but if it is something bad, why didn’t she say anything about it..? That absolutely isn’t like my Lyra…” The beige pony stood there, still, just looking at the door handle while puzzling over what she knew until now, before she made up her mind to go to the hospital. Before she could realize her plan though, she got interrupted by a voice, coming from behind her right side. ‘Oh... are you looking for Lyra, Bon Bon..?’ With the mentioning of her name, the beige pony turned around and looked at a purple pony with a blond mane, walking towards her from the house on the other side. “Good day, Berry Green. Yes, I am, why do you ask?”
‘Ahm… well…’ Strangely, the opposite pony began to look around her nervously, before she talked again. ‘Well… it may sound strange, but since quite a while… well, strange things happened at night…’
“Huh..? What are you talking about?” The beige pony looked scrutinizing at the violet one, which, she realized now, had some pretty bad looking rings around her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept for a while. ‘Look, I know it sounds strange, but I hear that there is something bad happening since nearly a month… nearly every night I hear screams… screams of pain and agony…’ While talking, a bit in a manically way, the violet pony walked towards Bon Bon, who reacted right away and backed off. “Green, what you’re saying makes no sense. If something like that would really happen, everypony would talk about this.”
‘I know, right?? But that’s the strange thing! Nobody seems to hear it besides me... maybe because it only happens late at night and in the early hours… but they are there! Those... those screams…’
“Ok, ok… let’s assume for a second, that it really is so, as you say… what does this have to do with Lyra..?”
‘Well… you see… I guess I should just tell you, how it started, that gives the best explanation…’
-Approximately 1 month earlier
It was somewhere between midnight and the early morning when I had to help Punch again to find home, after she overdid it with the booze… as always…
‘Ah… Ah tell ya… ah really am ok, Green… ah can really walk on mah own… srsly…’
“Yes, yes, as always… but sadly you’ve shown already two times, that this isn’t the case…”
‘Butt that was just because I had to make… work outs...’
"Vomitting is NOT a work out!"
‘Sure is! You lose weight… speaking of it…’ Then she began to make noises, as if she would throw up right away again. "Wha- seriously!? We’re just a few steps away from home! Can’t you wait with that until we’re inside!?"
‘Tsorry, but stomak says no….ngh…’
"Gosh... FINE!" So I let her down and she… well, she did, what she had to do... right against Crimson Gala’s house wall. I knew that this could take a little while and I wasn’t very keen on watching her doing that either, so I went towards our house, when I… heard it… I was just a few steps away from the house door, when all of a sudden I heard somepony scream… "H-Hello..!? Who’s there!?" I tried to make out, where the cries were coming from exactly, which was difficult because they were so damped... as if they would come from under the ground’s surface… the more I followed the crying though, I came more and more near to... HER house. Even though everything in there was dark, I was absolutely sure, that the screams must have come from inside there… so I put all my courage together and knocked on the door. "H-Hey, are you alright in there!? Lyra, are you ok!?" The fact, that made it even more clear for me, that she was behind it, was, that the screams stopped right after my knocking... I waited a few seconds, but besides the sudden silence, there was no real reaction from inside... so I knocked again… and again… ‘H-Hey Green… watcha doing there..?’ All of a sudden, Punch showed up from behind and startled me, so that I became unfocused. "Waargh... B-Be quiet Punch, I’m trying to find out who just screamed! Didn’t you hear it!?"
‘Wasn’t that you just now..?’
"Not that, I mean Lyra…" While saying that, I stretched my left fore hoof to point at her house, but, as I didn’t look, it hit against something. ‘Ouch!!’ As I looked back at the building, Lyra was standing in the open door of the, now illuminated, house and I saw that my hoof touched her left front leg, which was fully bandaged. Startled, she backed off a bit, holding her hurt leg a bit above the ground, looking at me, with little tear drops in the edges of her eyes. ‘W-What was that for, Green!?’
"S-Sorry Lyra, it didn’t want to…"
‘Oh, Celestia… Green, what did ya do to her..!? Lyra ish all mummy now..!!’ The sudden words of Berry managed to distract me and Lyra immediately and we just looked at each other. ‘… uhm, Green… is Berry again…’
"Eeyup… just ignore her… still, I’m really sorry for… poking you there.."
‘Ah, don’t worry about it, I was just carried away, because it was so sudden.. it doesn’t even hurt so much anymore.. I guess…’
"Though I feel really, really bad for it… by the way, how did that happen anyway..?" I pointed at her bandaged hoof and as I did, she looked nervous. ‘O-Oh that… well, you see, I was.. a bit careless and kinda fell down the staircase... stupid me, hehe..’
"I see… but doesn’t your house just have one storey?" As I said that, HER eyes kept on looking wildly around, as if she tried to come up with something. ‘Huh? Oh, yeah, of course it has, also it didn’t happen here, I… fell down over at Bon Bon’s place, while we had some… hot chocolate with each other, you should try hers once, it’s delicious!’
"Ok, if you say so, then… but why were you screaming like that then?"
‘Wha… I… you… ah, yes, I crashed against my bedside cabinet while getting up to get some water. I couldn’t see it because it’s so dark… it’s night after all, silly me…’
"But the screams were so… so dire and it was like if they were coming out of the ground and…"
‘GREEEEN!!’ I looked perplex at Punch, because of her sudden outburst, who seemed to be very upset about something, but within a blink of an eye, she became her drunken, careless self again. ‘I’m sooooo tired… bring me to bed, pretty please…’
“…yes, ok... in a second, I’m just trying to…”
‘Well, I guess you should bring her to bed now, Green, she really seems to need to get in the cushions.’
“Maybe, but about the screaming…”
‘As I said… I bumped into the cabinet… that’s it…’ While she said that… I don’t know, but there was something cold in her tone… and in her eyes… it was like if they were piercing through me… it was obvious that she wanted me to go away, but Punch didn’t care about it at all. ‘Yesh, that’s all Green… now bring me home please, I have a date with Princess Luna…’
"…alright… come Punch…" I let her lean against me again, so that she didn’t have to go herself and after looking a last time at Lyra, who looked now happy as usual, we headed together towards home. We just came a step or so away, as I heard HER door getting slammed in the frame. I knew that the whole thing was fishy... but I wasn’t convinced enough at that moment, so I let it be for the while. At home, I got rid of Punch and then I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed… but as I turned on the light and wanted to take my toothbrush… there was blood… the tip of the hoof, with which I hit Lyra’s bandage was stained with blood… I stared at it for a second or two, thinking about what I saw right in front of me… and then I ran to the window as fast as I could… why was she bleeding if she just hurt her leg by falling down your stairs? That didn’t and still doesn’t make any sense… as I stared at her house, I saw that everything was dark again… different than before though, because now all of the curtains were closed… there was only a little glim of light in the lower corner of one of the windows and as I looked at it… I saw HER… looking right at me with those eyes from before… and then... she closed that part as well…
‘After that, I didn’t know what to do… I couldn’t go to sleep… but I didn’t have the courage to go over either… I just stood there… and stared at the house… The next day I tried to talk to her again, but she just acted innocent and evaded every conversation. It’s been going on like that for nearly a month now… and everypony I talked to about it just laughed it off… that’s why it’s so important to me, that you believe me, Bon Bon… Bon Bon?’ The purple pony looked at the confectioner pony, which didn’t say a single word during Green’s storytelling, stood just there now, with her face lying against her hoof. ‘What is it..? Don’t say, you don’t believe me either, right..?’
“…no, that’s not… well, yes, but it’s more the fact, that… why did you have to tell all that personal stuff as well!? Now I know, why Crimson is always so annoyed, when someone mentions cleaning...”
‘Look, I don’t even remember the last time I slept properly, okay!? I just say exactly what happened, I can’t pay attention to integrity as well! …sorry, for shouting, I’m just exhausted and tired…’
“It’s ok, but that’s also a thing… couldn’t it… well, just be, that you imagined most of the things..? It’s just, that it seems to be a bit... far fetched?”
‘It’s not far fetched! It’s exactly what happened! The blood couldn’t have come from falling down the stairs… yeah, let’s talk about that, did Lyra fall down the stairs in your place, did she, or not!?’
“Actually… yes she did, quite a while ago actually, that explains too, why she has bandage now and she really bleeded as well! Silly me, how could I forget that, that must also be the reason, why she didn’t meet up with me anymore lately… I guess that explains everything!” The beige pony began to smile because of her logical conclusion, while Berry just stared perplex at her. ‘W-What!? That story is true!? B-But… how did the blood… and her look… and…’
“Maybe you just thought, that she looked strange at you… it was late at night and you were probably tired, like now, so it’s possible, that you only imagined it.”
‘No… no… no! I… I didn’t imagine anything, I… I… I’m so tired… but the screams…’
“Didn’t you mention before, that nobody else has heard any screams from her house until today? Maybe… just maybe you want to hear the screams… it’s a possibility…”
‘T-That… that’s…. possible… I guess… I guess…’ The blond pony, whose mood kept constantly changing through the conversation, slowly began to turn around, having doubt and tiredness obviously written over her face. “What are you doing, Green?”
‘I… I’m going to think some bits through… in bed. It’s time for that, I guess…’
“I see.. then sleep well…” The purple pony nodded shortly as a sign of confirmation, before she began to trot away. She could only make a few steps though, before she stopped and turned around again. ‘By the way, if you’re still looking for Lyra, she went out a few hours ago, but sadly I don’t know, where she went to, sorry…’ After saying that, Berry Green headed back to her house again, in which she then disappeared too. Bon Bon, now standing all alone in front of her friend’s home, looked one last time at the opposite building, before she decided to go there, where she wanted to head to in the first place. She smiled before she parted ways with Berry Green, but that smile faded away with the first step she took. She didn’t know, how much of that, what Berry said, was right, but she trusted her that far, that something was really going on with Lyra, even though the confectioner pony lied before. Lyra never fell down the stairs in her place and even if, she couldn’t quite think of a way how that could have ended with a blood flow as described by Green. What could it have been, that her friend did back then to bleed that much and to scream every night, if it’s true what Berry said? Though, Bon Bon was sure, that it was the right decision not to tell the purple pony the truth. That way she could at least rest for a while. Also it was probably better if Bon Bon did some research on her own, without a paranoiac, sleepless pony trying to create a ruckus about Lyra. The confectioner might not know, what was really going on with her friend, but at least she knew where she wanted to go to and after a little while of walking, she stood in front of it.
Obsession
It was a warm and friendly day, pretty much as always in Ponyville, when Bon Bon, the local bon bon confectioner, was on her daily shopping tour on the main plaza. As every time she was gathering all the ingredients, which were of need for her to make her beloved sweets, but, as always, she got distracted by Rose Luck’s flower stand. As much as bon bons are her passion, as her name says, there is still no better snack than a sandwich with some nice, tasty Sallies in it. So, without an inner discussion, she went over to her friend’s business place, where she was already cheerfully awaiting her. “Good day, Rose Luck!”
‘You too, Bon Bon. The same as usual?’
“Do you really have to ask?”
‘Hehe, no, of course not, but why shouldn’t I? Here you go!’ With that, the red haired pony handed her friend the wished flowers over, which she gladly stored in her sidebag right away.
“Thanks as always, Rose! Are there maybe some news from your side?”
‘Well, not really, what about you?’
“No, nothing either, just as usual.”
‘I see and what about Lyra? Is she doing fine?’
“Lyra? I don’t quite know, why do you ask?”
‘Just out of curiosity, I haven’t seen her for a while now, so I feared that something might be wrong.’
“Hm… you’re right, it’s been quite a while since the last time, I’ve seen her… strange…”
‘Really? That’s odd, I thought, that you might be the first one, who knows about everything that has to do with Lyra.’
“Why’s that?”
‘Well, since you’re so close to each other, I thought, that you might have an idea.’
“Not really, I mean, we’re friends, but that’s pretty much it. We don’t really spend every single second with each other.”
‘Really? But I thought you two were…’
‘Goooood morning Bon Bon and a goooood morning Rose Luck!’ With this interruption, Pinkie Pie, bouncy as always, made her entrance into the conversation. From the other two ponies came an unisono ‘Good day, Pinkie Pie!’, followed by ‘Do you need something today?’
‘Wha- EXACTLY! How did you know that!? Can you read my minds!? If so, than what am I thinking now!? Or now- no, wait, not yet- oh now would be perfect!- No, wait-‘
‘No.. not exactly… it’s just that you only come, when you need some ingredients for your *special* cupcakes…’
‘Uuuh, you’re still gooood, otherwise you couldn’t remember what anypony buys. But you’re right, I need some of *these* since Rainbow Dash helped me out before with some Cupcake making. She was really helpful! I mean, I kinda did all the work, but she was still a good motivator, yup!’
“Well, sounds like Rainbow Dash, but which Cupcakes do you mean? I mean, you have many great ones, but I can’t quite recall one, which includes flowers.”
‘That’s because they ARE *special*, silly! I only make them for special occasions, like when I can’ sleep!’
“When you can’t sleep?” While Bon Bon said this, Rose Luck handed the hyperactive Pony a few red flowers over. ‘Thanks and yup, these little planties always help me get doozie- I mean, there’s always so much to do, so much fun to have, so much partying, so much… well, but you can’t always party, so, when I don’t feel sleepy, but it’s time, I put some of the poppies in the mix, bake and eat it up and… grrr…’ The pink pony’s head dropped back, accompanied with a disturbingly loud crack and an act, as if she was asleep, together with drool coming out and snoring. Since the “special” personality and habits of Pinkie are nothing new in Ponyville and, with that, for Bon Bon as well, she just overplayed her doubts towards the hyperactive pony’s beahviour with a half-hearted smile. “I see.. well, then you really have luck with these.. but there was something important, that I and Rose were talking about before… oh yes, Lyra.” While saying the name, Pinkie managed to get back in the same position as seconds ago and began bouncing again. ‘Uuuh, Lyra loves poppies too, she wanders around with such pretty often! Seems like she also has problems with meeting Princess Luna!’
“Lyra is gathering poppies?”
‘Lyra is gathering poppies from someone else than from ME!?’ Bon Bon flinched a bit, because of the sudden outburst of Rose Luck, in which her inner entrepreneur seemed to have hit the surface, because of the lost business, but Pinkie obviously didn’t seem to bother about it at all. ‘Aha, I’ve seen her quite often lately with these and other funny looking plants. She seems to have really big problems with getting sleepy, when she is willing to walk around for them with these boring bandages all the time..’
“Bandages..? What are you talking about Pinkie?”
‘Well, you see…’
‘PIIINKIEEEEEE!!!’ All of a sudden, a bloodcurdling scream was to be heard, which seemed to come from the direction of Sugar Cube Corner. ‘Uuuh, seems like Dashie woke up! OVER HERE RAINBOW DAAAASH!!’ It took just a mere second, or even less, for the rainbow coloured pony to reach the group of three, coughing and with a mix of relief and anger written all over her face. ‘There you are! What the heck did just happen!? In one moment I’m eating the cupcake you gave me and in the next I’m lying in your bed, with bite marks and drool all over! How can you let me alone with Gummy just like that!? Seriously, what did happen!?!?’
‘Hihi, silly Dashie, you know Gummy has no teeth! Now come, or the Cupcakes are getting yuckie from just lying around!’ While saying that, the pink pony bounced away in the direction, from which Rainbow came before. Named one floated a few seconds in midair, processing, what her friend just said, before, all of a sudden, she dashed after her. ‘What is that supposed to mean! What did happen then!? PINKIE!!’ And with that, these two were gone, leaving the two other ponies, which role in the conversation, due to the overwhelming presence of Pinkie Pie, in addition with Rainbow Dash, was reduced to mere listening, behind, looking after them. ‘Well… so much to that… those two really are weird sometimes…’
“Aha… oh, wait, I forgot to ask Pinkie Pie about Lyra!” Bon Bon wanted to rush after the two elements, but in the same moment, the thought came up in her mind, that it would surely take some time, to get Pinkie in a cooperative state and that it, according to this logic, would be better to just go to Lyra then and check on her in person. “Well, I guess they would be better on their own for now… I’ll go and visit Lyra on my own then. Is there something, that I can tell her from you, Rose?”
‘You can tell her, that, if she needs flowers so badly, she could also come to me.. it IS my business after all!’
“O-Okay, I will tell her.. goodbye Rose.” With that, the confectioner pony quickly left her, still a bit angry, flower selling friend to her work and began to go to Lyra’s house. While walking, though, some thoughts came to her mind: Why didn’t Lyra buy the flowers from her friend? Why did neither Rose Luck, nor she see the mint-coloured pony lately? And, most importantly, what about Pinkie’s talk about Lyra having a bandaged leg? She was thinking about these questions until she reached Lyra’s house, a single-storey, rustical building in a row of very similar looking ones near the main plaza. Without great hesistation, the beige pony walked towards the door and knocked.
