Bonbon sighed as she carefully stepped over a large tree root and frowned at the jade unicorn who had insisted on dragging her out into the middle of nowhere. “Lyra, how much further till we get to this place?”

“We should be almost there now, just hold out a little bit longer, OK?” To Bonbon's annoyance, Lyra had not even broken a sweat over the last four hours of hiking. If she had been in a better mood she might have been proud of how thoroughly Lyra had followed the exercise regimen she had pestered her to take up. But, here and now, in the woods, she felt it rather hard to feel much more than a mild contempt for her fit friend.

Looking back, the earth pony took solace in knowing that, at the very least, she was not alone in her suffering. While Carrot Top was holding up alright, Derpy had given up on flying and Colgate seemed about ready to collapse.

Bonbon had just decided to call for a break, under the pretense of being concerned for Colgate when Lyra pointed ahead excitedly. “There it is! We’re here!” And with that she rushed ahead toward an opening in the thick woods.

Bonbon ran after her, but as she came into sight of their destination she felt her jaw slacken and her gait slow to a walk. When Lyra had told her friends that she had gotten permission from an old university professor to use his summer home for a vacation spot, she had imagined a pleasant house in the woods. While the long trip had lowered her expectations of their destination, she had never thought that the “summer home” would be a tiny, rundown looking cabin.

“Oh my...” Carrot Top murmured as she trotted up to join Bonbon. “This is, um, well...”

“Fantastic!” Lyra said, turning to face the other mares, beaming from ear to ear. “Can you believe Professor Orange would just let us stay here for free?”

Derpy looked up, frowning. “Yes?”

“NO!” The others all turned to see Colgate, who had just staggered into the clearing, looking equal parts exhausted and horrified. “No, we did not just come all the way out here for this!”

Bonbon gritted her teeth and glared at the blue unicorn. She did not know Colgate very well, except that she and Lyra had been friends at school and had recently reconnected in Canterlot for the Royal Wedding. Lyra had insisted on bringing her along, saying that Bonbon would “absolutely love her!” It had taken less than a day with the mare for Bonbon to begin to wonder if that had been a secret insult to her or her taste in friends.

“Oh come on Colgate, we have this whole place to ourselves for a week!” Lyra spun and raced towards the cabin. “Come on, you slow pokes! I want to check this place out before it gets too dark!”

Colgate flopped to the ground with a whimper as Bonbon snorted. “Come on girls, let’s drop off our packs inside,” she said, leading Carrot Top and Derpy after the mint green unicorn.

Lyra's horn shimmered as she ran a telekinetic field across the top of the door frame. After a moment of concentration she grinned and pulled a set of slightly rusted keys down from their hiding place. “There we go!” Lyra said, deftly flipping the correct key from the set and using it to unlock the door. “Second oldest hiding spot in the book.” Derpy giggled, but Bonbon just rolled her eyes.

Lyra pushed the door open and immediately Bonbon's heart sank. While the outside of the cabin was decrepit, the inside was decrepit with an extra helping of creepy. Dust lay in a thin blanket across the wine-red furniture. Beams of dim light revealed a kitchen space next to the main room, where a neat stack of decorative plates sat, as if abandoned midway on the journey to or from the cabinet. Across the main room was a door hanging ajar. Shelves of books leaned against the walls with a reading bench sitting before a fireplace with a blackened hearth.

“Oh,” Carrot Top managed as she peered past Bonbon.

Bonbon turned to Lyra, a scathing comment already forming on her lips when she realized that her friend was standing stock still in the doorway, trembling. Bonbon felt her irritation drain away as she remembered that Lyra had been honestly excited about this trip. Any disappointment she felt about the state of the cabin must have been much worse for her friend. She laid a hoof on the unicorn’s back. “Lyra?”

“I didn't think... he didn't tell me...” Lyra quavered.

“It's alright dear,” Bonbon said, rubbing Lyra's back. Carrot Top and Derpy both moved back to give them room. “I know you didn't know.”

Lyra looked back at Bonbon, tears brimming and face beaming. “It’s not just alright!” she choked out. “He never told me he kept a private library out here!” Lyra suddenly lunged forward, laughing as she hugged Bonbon tightly before making a beeline for the books.

Carrot Top and Derpy quickly slipped past Bonbon, ignoring the sound of grinding teeth. They knew her well enough to know when to give her some space. Unfortunately, the same was not true for Colgate, who had just decided to rejoin them.

“Wow, Lyra! This place is a dump!” The blue unicorn whistled.

“NO ONE ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION ON IT!” Bonbon bellowed. Colgate, startled, scrambled tumbling backward down the porch steps.

There was a long moment of silence as everypony stared at Bonbon, broken only by the whimpering of Colgate who had not moved from where she had fallen. Bonbon spun and stormed across the main room, pushing through the cabin’s only other door. Beyond, there was a short hallway, flanked on either side by a second pair of doors, with a third, much more sturdy looking one at the end, which Bonbon suspected lead outside.

Bonbon pushed through the right side door and found herself in a small bedroom. The room was no more inviting than the rest of the cabin, but it did have the advantage of not having a crowd of shocked ponies staring at her. With a practiced flick, she shook out the blanket, sending a cloud of dust into the air. Before it had even begun to settle, the earth pony dove beneath the blanket.

“Bonbon?”

“Go away, Lyra.” Bonbon grumbled from beneath the blanket. To her annoyance the sound of the door closing was followed by the sound of approaching hoofsteps. “Go away, Lyra!” she repeated, louder, while remaining firmly under the blanket. She felt the bed sag slightly as a familiar weight settled down beside her. A hoof rested on her back and began to massage in slow circles as she let out an exasperated sigh and moved in closer.

“What’s the matter Bon?” Lyra's voice was soothing, but Bonbon could hear the tenseness in the question.

“It’s nothing,” Bonbon lied, before thinking better of it. “No, it’s not nothing! It’s this whole trip!” She stuck her head out of the blankets and glared at Lyra. “You invite me on this wonderful trip out to the woods, and then you went and invited her along!”

Lyra recoiled. “You invited Carrot Top and Derpy, so why is it suddenly a problem when I want to spend some time with one of my friends?”

“Because Carrot Top and Derpy are not my friends, they’re OUR friends! And I didn't invite them to come along until after I found out that you had decided to bring along some unicorn who I barely knew! Heck, you only just started seeing her again when you were off, alone, at Canterlot for that wedding.”
Lyra's face blanched at the implication. “You’re kidding.” Lyra stopped rubbing Bonbon’s back and fixed the mare with a glare of her own. “Is THAT what this is about? You think I like her? That I invited both of you out to the middle of the woods because I wanted to cheat on you with a school friend who I've barely had a chance to see in years?” Lyra's voice rose in volume. “Bonbon, the invitation was for just me and Colgate to come up here! I didn't invite Colgate to join us because I didn't want to spend time alone with you, I invited you because I didn't want to take a vacation without you!” Tears began to run down Lyra's face as she took a steadying breath.

Bonbon sighed and pulled the unicorn down onto the bed with a hug. “It’s alright, Lyra. I know.”

Lyra embraced her back, burying her tear-streaked face in Bonbon's shoulder, avoiding jabbing her marefriend with her horn. “I just wanted you to like her, because I never get to see my old friends. When I do, I usually have to go all the way to Canterlot without you. I really wanted this to go well so we could do things like this more often, but now you just think that I... that I...” Lyra's voice was choked off by sobs.

Bonbon rolled her eyes as she held Lyra. She hadn’t seriously believed that Lyra had it in her to actually go through with cheating on anypony, but she had wanted to sting her marefriend at least a little for bringing along the annoying unicorn and dragging them all off to this Celestia forsaken cabin. Still, she hadn’t expected that Lyra would be quite so on edge. She was generally emotional and more than a little excitable, but it was obvious that Lyra had been far more invested in this trip's success then she had let on.

After awhile Lyra stopped crying, but the two stayed together in silence on the bed. Finally, Bonbon nuzzled the top of Lyra's head and whispered, “We should go and talk to the others. I guess… I need to apologize to Colgate.”

Lyra murmured something that sounded like 'thank you' into Bonbon's shoulder. The two untangled themselves and took a moment to straighten their appearances before leaving the room together.

The sun had almost set by the time they had returned, but as the world outside had dimmed, the cabin had come to life. A merrily burning fire illuminated the room and the smell of tea and vegetables masked the smells of dust and age that had permeated the cabin. Carrot Top was preparing meals as Derpy tidied the room, lighting a few candles to help brighten the room further. Colgate was sitting on the bench reading in front of the fireplace. Bonbon winced as she noticed that the unicorn’s leg was slightly swollen and that she had a few bandages on her back.

“Hey girls,” Lyra said, somewhat lamely. “What’s for dinner?”

Derpy jumped a little, upsetting a candle. Carrot Top masked her own surprise with a smile as she said, “Oh good! Dinner is almost ready!” Colgate looked up from her book, but quickly looked back to it as she caught Bonbon’s eye.

Bonbon felt her heart sink a little at the look of fear on the unicorn's face. Lyra was going to be disappointed.

Author's Note

Full cast reading here: http://youtu.be/-yHFlDSPcO4

This story was originally started back in October 2013, as a short Halloween crossover. After writing the first two chapters I ended up shelving the story, unhappy with what I had written and unable to devote the time to fix it. I picked it back up again after the semester ended and over the Christmas brake began a rewrite which resulted in the fan-fic that you are now reading.

Since that time I have had it edited and reedited by different, disagreeing editors and completed nearly all of the story. I will release chapters as they are edited, but have to warn you all that both myself and my editors are fairly busy, so despite the relatively little work left to finish this piece, it might still be a few weeks before all 6 chapters are finished and uploaded.

That out of the way, lets talk about the story briefly! As fans of the films may have already picked up, this is NOT a direct remake of the first two Evil Dead films. While I love those movies to death, they already exist. While I intend to stay close to the frame work and tone of the original story, (unlike some other re-imaginings I could name) I want to make this story fun and unpredictable to old fans of the series as well as those who are new to it!

Finally, as some of you more keen eyed readers have probably picked up already, this story does not star the Mane 6. There are a few reasons for this, but the two big ones are that, 1. I felt that Lyra and her friends fit more naturally into the roles I needed filled for the story then Twilight and the girls, and 2. I have plans for them... Oh yes... I have plans.