I wasn’t really sure if I was ready to face her, especially remembering basically nothing from the night before. I prayed I didn’t do anything too stupid while I was blacked out; especially anything to make the few friends I made here question my persona.

I made my way to the door, but stopped just in time to consider how bad I probably looked. I stopped in my tracks and turned for the bathroom. If Lyra was actually at the door, I’d rather not look like I just got out of bed.

I took one look in the mirror. “Ho man! I look like hell!”

My mane was all messed up and matted, probably due to the bandage around my head. Speaking of the bandage, it was shaded a light red over the center of my forehead; precisely over that weird bump I noticed when I woke up. Whatever it was, it must’ve been bleeding pretty bad last night.

Guess that explains why I have such a bad headache this morning. Aside from, you know... the hangover.

I shrugged and began to try removing the bandage to get a better look at the bump, but halted my attempt when I remembered Lyra’s note.

“Great. Guess I won’t be doing that quite yet.”

I sighed and turned on the sink faucet and splashed my face with cold water. It felt pretty refreshing, but I was going to need a shower for sure. I turned off the water and rustled my mane with a hoof. Surprisingly, I managed to make myself look a little better. Back home, it would take me forever to fix my hairdo, especially after a night of drinking. I took one last look at the peculiar bump on my forehead under the bandage and left the bathroom.

I opened the door.

Lyra gasped as she took one look at me through the open door. She was accompanied by Pin Stripe, who also looked troubled.

“Hey pal, how you feeling?” Pin Stripe asked, followed closely by a nod from Lyra.

“Other than this splitting headache, I’m alright. How about you two?” I rubbed my temple with a hoof, then offered Lyra and Pin Stripe inside.

The brown stallion and green unicorn hesitated at first, but trotted into the room; I shut the door behind them.

“I didn’t drink all that much last night, so I’m fine.” Pin answered, “It’s a good thing I didn’t, either.”

“No kidding.” Lyra agreed, “And I’m fine too, other than my sore back legs. I only had those couple drinks you bought me last night.”

I gave Pin a puzzled look, not being exactly sure what he meant by that. “So, uh...” I rubbed the back of my bandaged head, “What happened last night?”

Pin Stripe and Lyra shared a look; Pin was the first to speak, “You don’t remember a thing, do you?”

“Oh, Celestia...” Lyra facehooved and shook her head.

“I pretty much blacked out after Pinkie started singing karaoke. I don’t remember a thing after that.”

Lyra sighed in unison with Pin Stripe.

Despite my throbbing head, I managed a shallow chuckle. “Well you guys can take a seat at the table if you want. I’m guessing this is going to take a while to explain.”

The three of us sat down at the table, and Pin Stripe began his side of the story.

“Um, sorry to change the subject Pin Stripe,” Berry Punch interrupted, raising a hoof and pointing to the orange Pegasus trotting off from the bar, “but where’s your friend going?”

Pin Stripe snapped around, “Oh Bronze, c’mon pal!”

Pin Stripe hopped off his stool and galloped off to stop Bronze from making a big mistake.

“Bronze! Stop!” Pin halted in front of Bronze’s path.

“No way!” Bronze exaggeratingly shook his head in his drunken state, pushing his friend out of the way.

“Sup, ya colt cuddler?” Bronze laughed.

“What did you just call me?” I snorted, turning on my stool to face the orange Pegasus.

“Colt cuddler.” He sneered, grinning.

“What the hay is your problem, Bronze? Cut this out!” Pin tried to interrupt, answered by a silencing hoof from Bronze.

“I’d listen to your pal, Bronze.” I huffed back at the pegasus.

There was a crowd beginning to form around us, due to Bronze’s rising hostility.

“Or what, you going to fight me?” Bronze was beginning to slur his words, prodding my chest with a hoof.

“Yeah, no thanks.” I shrugged, turning back around on my stool and taking a sip of the glass of cider in front of me.

“Yeah Bronze, leave Davin alone.” Pin put a hoof on Bronzes shoulder.

Bronze shoved off Pin’s hoof, “It’s cool. Wouldn’t wanna send him cryin’ back to his mother or anything.”

I glared over my shoulder at Bronze, “You have no idea man. Just shut it.”

“Ooh, look out, we got a bad-flank over here!” Bronze raised his hooves in the air sarcastically.

“Bronze, we’ve both had too much to drink.” I hopped off the stool and faced the orange pegasus, “Probably best if you keep you’re mouth shut buddy. You have no clue what I’ve been through lately.”

“What, got some mommy issues?” Bronze laughed.

I shook my head and glared, “Don’t push it.”

Bronze smirked, and pushed me back with both his front hooves, knocking me to the floor; catching the attention of quite a few ponies.

“Last warning buddy.” I glared at the pegasus now hovering a few feet in the air before me.

“Bronze! No!” Pin Stripe yelled up, “Stop this, you’re acting ridiculous!”

A few bystanders agreed with Pin Stripe amongst themselves.

“Just listen to Pin Stripe man.” I pointed a hoof to the brown pony with the blue mane, “Neither of us wants you getting hurt.”

“That’s it! Let’s take this outside!” Bronze snapped, darting through the air over several ponies, leaving out the back door into the storming rain.

“Davin, what’d you go doing that for?” Pin Stripe asked with the sound of disappointment in his voice, poking me with a hoof.
“Hey, I tried to reason with the guy!” I extended both my front hooves towards the back door.

Pin Stripe sighed, “I guess he had it coming. He sometimes gets like this when we go out drinking...” He rubbed his forehead with a hoof in embarrassment.

Pin followed me out the back door, out into the alleyway, where Bronze was waiting for me in the rain.

“I won’t hurt him.” I tried to assure Pin Stripe, “I’ll just try and teach him some respect.”

“This is stupid...” Pin headed off towards Bronze, who was already getting ready to charge.

“Then you two started brawling; didn’t take long for you to pin him down either.” Pin explained.

“Yeah, you pretty much hit him once and that was it.” Lyra added, shrugging.

“I think I can kinda remember that bit now, come to think of it.” I scratched the side of my head, “Is Bronze alright?”

Lyra and Pin both shared a look. “I was not expecting you to be concerned about him this morning.” Pin Stripe raised an eyebrow. “He’s fine though. Big Mac saw him home.”

“Oh ok, well that’s good then.” I sighed in relief.

I always feel a bit guilty after a fight; I’m not the type of person to go around hurting anyone, and I hate it when I’m put in a situation where I have no choice. I’m not much of a fighter, but I found myself in trouble before and I knew how to defend myself back home; well, for the most part anyways.

“Yeah, now I’m sure he’ll probably think twice about getting hostile when he goes out drinking.” Pin chuckled.

I shrugged. “Hope so. What else happened last night? And why the hell is my head bandaged?”

Lyra took a deep breath and looked over to Pin Stripe.

“Want me to tell him?” She bit her bottom lip in hesitation.

Pin Stripe nodded, “It would probably be best if you told him this bit, yeah. You know more about what happened than I do.”

“Um, you guys, what did I do?” I was beginning to get concerned.

Lyra sighed and collected herself. “Well after the fight, you got this idea to go exploring the town at night in the rain.”

“Yeah, you kept saying the best way to adjust to change is to go for a walk in the rain at night.” Pin raised an eyebrow.

I thought for a moment, “Well, back home when I was a bit younger, I used to go out and walk in the rain at night. It just helped me calm down and forget about things.” I put a hoof to my chin in thought, “Guess I just thought it was a good idea.”

Lyra understood almost immediately, due to our conversation about my ‘move’ to Ponyville.

“Oh, I see. That makes sense.” Lyra shot me an understanding smile and a nod.

Pin Stripe just shrugged.

“Well I thought it would be fun, so I decided to tag along.” Lyra shrugged, “Nopony I know goes out at nighttime just for the fun of it, especially in the rain during a thunderstorm.”

“I really didn’t think it was the best idea, but somepony needed to supervise you.” Pin Stripe added, “After we waited for Big Mac to meet back up with us, we headed out into town.”

“I actually enjoyed myself. The rain was actually pretty refreshing.” Lyra then thought for a moment, “Well, for the most part anyways.”

The most part?

I cocked my head back trying to come up with an assumption to what Lyra was possibly going to tell me.

“Actually, I have to admit I was having a little fun too,” Pin lowered his head, “right up until we decided to take shelter in Ponyville town hall.”

“Jeez, this place is pretty torn up.” Pin Stripe looked up to the top of town hall.

“Eeyup, ain’t nopony been through here ever since that Ditzy Doo went an’ dun’ wrecked the roof.” Big Macintosh took side to Pin Stripe, also gazing up towards the roof.

“Cool. Wonder if it’s unlocked?” I trotted up to the double doors. To everypony’s surprise, the doors were in fact, unlocked. I swung the doors open, and trotted inside out of the rain, followed by the rest of the group.

“It sure is dark in here.” Lyra tried to peer through the darkness.

“Yeah, no kidding.” An aura of bright light then emanated from my horn, brightly illuminating the hallway.

“Hey Davin, not so bright!” Pin Stripe covered his eyes with a hoof.

“What the hell? I don’t even know how I did that!” I shook my head in attempt to dim the light from my horn. To my surprise, the light actually dimmed down slightly. “Ok. That better Pin?”

“Much.” Pin lowered his hoof from blocking his eyes.

I shrugged. “Alright, cool.”

Pin Stripe rolled his eyes, “Alright let’s not spend too much time in here. This place could technically come down on us at any moment. Plus, it gives me the creeps.”

“Now don’t y’all go gettin’ all scardy-pony on us now, Pin Stripe.” Big Mac teased.

Lyra and I both laughed at the unexpected statement from the red stallion, earning rolled eyes from Pin Stripe.

Pin Stripe and Big Macintosh conversed behind Lyra and I, as we explored through the abandoned town hall. Other than our voices and hoofsteps, only the sound of rain and occasional thunderclaps echoed through the empty hall.

I turned to Lyra. “So what exactly happened here?”

“Well this place is pretty old, as old as Ponyville itself.” Lyra peered through a few doorways to empty rooms as we trotted along towards a staircase. “And as Big Mac said, Ditzy Doo pretty much ruined the roof due to her clumsiness.”

“Oh I see. So the place just needs to be restored?” I asked as I stopped to peer up the staircase.

“Yeah, basically.” Lyra nodded, “The Apple Family’s cider harvest has all proceeds going towards this place.”

“Oh cool.” I began trotting up the stairs, followed closely by Lyra.

We trotted up to the second storey of the hall, where evidence of the mostly destroyed roof was evident, as large fallen beams and scattered destroyed trusses and shingles littered the floor. Rain was falling in through the mostly collapsed ceiling.

“Wow this place could use a bit of T.L.C.” I trotted around the outer perimeter of the hall, examining the damage.

“That’s an understatement.” The little green unicorn giggled.

I looked back to Lyra for a moment, then turned back around and shook my head.

“What?” Lyra galloped up next to me, trying to look me in the eye.

“Ahh, nothin’. Hey look, that part of the roof looks like it’s still intact.” I quickly changed the subject, pointing a hoof towards an overhanging section of the roof, sheltering a section of floor from the rain.

The roof was supported merely by a single wooden beam, which was splitting through the middle. I trotted up to the splitting beam, and pushed a hoof against it, in attempt to straighten it back out.

“Um, I’m not sure if that’s the best idea, Davin.” Lyra took a step back from me and the beam.

“Hey, don’t worry about it Lyra, I’m just gunna straighten this thing out so that roof doesn’t come down on us.” I chuckled, now using both my front hooves to try and straighten the beam.

“Uh, alright.” Lyra gazed skeptically at the roof.

With one more push, the beam let out a hollow crack, and I managed to straighten it.

“There. See?” I pointed a hoof to the beam and smiled.

Lyra rolled her eyes and stepped into the sheltered area under the overhanging roof, and shook herself dry. She took a seat on the floor, and waved a hoof inviting me over.

I stepped under the roof as well, and tried to shake myself off, similar to how Lyra did. I managed to shake most of the moisture off, and I took a seat next to Lyra and the light from my horn faded out. I gazed up at the storm. In a way, it seemed peaceful.

I turned back to Lyra, who was already looking at me.

“You ok?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Lyra just nodded her head and managed a short grin. We stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, until Lyra got distracted.

“Hey what’s that?” Lyra pointed a hoof to a dark figure in the shadows, also catching my attention.

“Yo, Pin!” I called, “That you?”

Nothing but the sound of rain and a flash of lightning answered.

Me and Lyra shared a confused glance, and I rose back to my hooves and trotted out from under the roof into the rain, towards the figure.

As I trotted closer to the dark figure, I noticed two bluish orbs stared back at me. I stopped in my tracks.

“What the--?”

Lyra gasped, “Davin! Look out!”

Just then, a flash of greenish-blue lightning shot past me, striking the wooden beam supporting the overhanging section of the roof. The beam snapped under the weight of the roof, causing it to fall...

...right onto Lyra.

“Pin Stripe can take over for this part.” Lyra appeared to be tearing up, and she sunk her head onto the table.

“Alright... Well Big Mac and I were down on the main level looking through the rooms.” Pin stated, “I really don’t think we were alone in there. I swear I saw somepony.”

“That’s what doesn’t make sense, Pin Stripe,” Lyra brought her head up from the table, “I swear somepony was on the second level with us too.”

“Homeless ponies maybe?” I suggested.

“Yeah, or something of the sort perhaps.” Pin Stripe shrugged, “Anyways... When we heard a crash, we dashed up the stairs as fast as we could to you guys. Just in time too.”

“Noooo!” I screamed, running to the fallen section of roof.

I tried to lift it with my hooves, but it was no use; it was way too heavy. In my panic, I peered underneath, for any sign of Lyra. She was there. Motionless.

“C’mon Dav! We can lift this thing off her!” Pin Stripe ran up to my side and helped me lift the section of roof high enough for Big Mac to pull Lyra out.

She was still. Nor was she breathing. Big Mac knelt down to her chest to see if there was any sound of a heartbeat. He looked up to me and Pin Stripe with fear in his eyes.

An earth-shattering thunderclap echoed through Ponyville.

My horn burst into an aura of white light again, much brighter than before. I took a step towards Lyra. Pin halted me with a hoof to my shoulder.

“Davin, what are you doing?” He looked at me with tearing eyes, and panic.

His face fell to neutral when I didn’t reply and my eyes also began to glow a bright white. He took his hoof off my shoulder and I turned and knelt down to Lyra’s motionless body.

My horn grew brighter and brighter, until the entire second floor of the hall was vividly illuminated, almost to the point where it could blind somepony. I inched my horn closer to Lyra’s; just as her horn and mine made contact, there was a spark for an instant, then an enormous explosion of light.

I was hurdled backwards into a wall, which managed to keep me upright when I dropped back to the floor. I quickly fell to my side. Pin Stripe galloped up to me and tried to hold me still.

Lyra’s chest began to rise and fall, and her eyes opened slowly. She gasped and shot to her hooves; taking a quick look around, she collected her recent memories. She came galloping up to Pin Stripe and I.

Big Macintosh was dumbstruck, frozen on the spot.

“What happened?!” Lyra took one look down onto me and covered her mouth with a hoof.

Pin Stripe yelled, “Big Mac! I need you over here!” Pin Stripe held his hooves onto my forehead, trying to stop the base of what remained of my horn from bleeding out.

The town hall was beginning to make groaning noises and was starting to tremble.

Big Mac shook himself out of his state and came running, skidding to a stop. “What in tarnation did ah jus’ witness?”

“I don’t know! No time to think about it Mac, we need to get Davin to a hospital!” Pin Stripe assisted on getting my now barely conscious body over Big Mac’s back, and out of the town hall, which was beginning to collapse. Lyra was close behind, not taking her eyes off me.

The floor was beginning to sink and snap, and just as we made it down the flight of stairs, the second floor collapsed in on itself. A falling floor joist struck Lyra across her back legs, almost causing her to trip. The roof was coming down faster and faster, and it was gaining on our escape. Big Mac had to charge the front doors of the town hall, blasting them out, snapping them right off their hinges.

“We made it out of there just in time.” Pin Stripe looked down to the table. “After Big Mac, Lyra and I rushed you into the hospital, it was then we could actually consider what actually happened.”

Lyra was sobbing quietly, her hooves covering her face buried in the top of the table.

I could barely comprehend anything Pin Stripe just said. A lot of shit definitely went down when I was blacked out.

The only words I could manage, “Holy shit.” I fell to my flank, dumbfounded.

“I still can’t believe what you did. Especially the part with you—Lyra—the bright light...” Pin Stripe choked on the words, shaking his head.

“How did you do that?” Lyra looked up from the table with teary eyes.

“Do what?” I shifted my gaze between both Lyra and Pin Stripe.

Lyra looked at Pin Stripe for a moment, then returned to me.

“How did you bring me back?”

“Lyra, I-I have no idea...” I shrugged slowly, and took a deep breath.

Lyra got up from the table and trotted over to me. She wrapped her hooves around me and hugged me tight. Probably the tightest I’ve ever been hugged; it almost hurt.

“You could’ve died.” She whispered in my ear, and backed out of the embrace, looking me in the eyes.

I really have to learn to stop throwing my life out the window; sober or not. This is the second time this has happened; only this time...

...I was lucky enough to survive. Pin Stripe was right; if he had drank anymore than he did last night, I would actually probably be dead right now.

Boy, this is heavy.

I looked Lyra back in her big, golden eyes as I thought for a moment, to come up with the right words. “Lyra, if I hadn’t had done anything, then... You would’ve...”

Lyra let out a short huff as a single tear streamed from her glistening golden eyes to down her cheek. She wrapped her hooves around me and pulled me in tight, kissing me right on the lips.

Author's Note

For once, I'm actually not certain what to say here. I've been through quite a lot this past week; it's been mayhem.
As always, feel free to comment!

I love it when you guys give feedback on this story, and it motivates me even more to continue writing.
New chapter coming soon!