Crude Stew
Two unicorns sat across from each other at a table in a modest library built into the hollow core of an ancient, gnarled oak. For one of the young mares, the library was her dwelling as well as her place of work, and she had contrived to make it a homely and pleasant place for visitors, whether they were looking for a book or making a social call. On this late October night, however, she felt there was nothing she could do to put her troubled guest at ease. Given the circumstances, Twilight Sparkle doubted anypony could have calmed Lyra’s frayed nerves.
“Before we get started, I just want to tell you how terribly sorry I am,” Twilight said. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you must be going through right now, and I’m so sorry that we have to go over it again. Even though I've been appointed by the Princess to personally investigate, I want you to know that I’m not treating this as some exercise in magical forensics. You’re my friend, and I’m always here for you.”
“Thanks, Twilight,” the other mare replied. Lyra’s coat was aqua and her eyes were golden, though tonight, they were bloodshot and red-rimmed. “It’s okay. I've already been through everything I can remember with the detectives, so I’m sure I can handle talking to you.”
“Okay.” Twilight offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Just please let me know if you feel uncomfortable, or if you want to stop for any reason.”
“I will.”
An awkward silence then fell over the two while Twilight spent a minute attempting to gather herself. She had prepared specific questions, but suddenly it didn't seem appropriate to go down a list, ticking boxes as she interrogated the other pony about her missing partner. “Can I get you some tea, or something to eat?” she finally asked Lyra. “ I've sent Spike to stay with friends tonight, so I can’t offer you anything fancy, but I can put out some cheese and crackers if you like.”
“Why don’t we just get started?” Lyra said quietly. “I'm not hungry. It's like I feel full, even though I haven't eaten all day. Maybe I'm just a little queasy.”
“Okay. That's fine." Twilight paused. "Again, I want you to know that this wasn't my idea. It’s just that … with what the police found in your house, and with you having trouble remembering how it happened, it seemed, you know, like some strange magic might be involved. That’s why the Princess asked me to conduct my own investigation.”
“I know, they told me when they asked me to come see you.”
“Oh, okay.” Twilight smiled gamely.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you figure out what happened to Bon Bon,” Lyra half-whispered. “I need to know.”
“I’ll do my very best to get to the bottom of it,” Twilight promised. “So, do you think you can start at the beginning? We can try to piece together what you do remember.”
“The beginning? Like when?”
“How about last night, when you first got home? Where was Bon Bon when you got home from the conservatory?”
“She was in the kitchen. She’s been working for weeks on new candies and treats for the holidays, trying out recipes after closing up the shop.”
“Did you talk to her after you got home?”
“Of course. I mean, I’m sure I did. I always…”
Lyra shook her head as if trying to clear her mind, and Twilight noticed that beads of perspiration had formed on the other mare’s forehead, just below the base of her horn.
“Yes,” Lyra confirmed, grimacing as though in pain. “I spoke with her last night. She was excited to test out some new spices that arrived in the mail, and she was cooking some kind of sauce or something in a big pot. I remember that it smelled exotic - in other words, not very good. It was late though, and I was tired. We barely said hello before I went upstairs to bed.”
“If you went to sleep upstairs, how did the police find you in your living room?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know how!” Lyra snapped. “If I knew what happened, I wouldn't be talking to you right now!”
“Of course! I’m so, so sorry!” Twilight frantically apologized. “I shouldn't have skipped ahead. I know you don’t remember. I just wondered if maybe you could tell me anything else about last night.”
“No, it’s … I’m sorry, Twilight,” Lyra said, massaging her temple with a forehoof. “It’s been a long day. I can remember a little bit more from last night. I tried to fall asleep, but there was too much noise coming from downstairs.”
“Noise? What kind of noise?”
“At first, it was just regular kitchen sounds: pots scraping, running water, you know.”
“Right.”
“But then...” Lyra grimaced again. “Then I heard this loud scuffling, and a sound like something was boiling over and splattering onto the floor, and weird squelching noises like somepony stepping through mud. I was so tired, and I remember shouting for Bon Bon to be quiet. After that, I didn't hear anything else.”
“That’s when you fell asleep,” Twilight speculated.
“Ye-… No.” Lyra shook her head. “I just lay there for awhile. Sometime later, Bon Bon finally came upstairs. She came upstairs like she did every night.” The aqua unicorn shuddered, and Twilight noticed that Lyra’s eyes were beginning to water. She was also continuing to sweat profusely.
“Here you go.” Twilight levitated a clean hoof towel from the kitchen, and Lyra dabbed at her face.
“Thanks. I … I’m sorry, Twilight, even what I can remember is like I’m seeing it through a fog, almost like it happened to somepony else.”
“It’s okay if it’s hard to remember. Take your time. Just try to think back.”
“Okay. Right. Well, Bon Bon didn't get into bed. I remember that. She wanted me to go downstairs with her, to try her new recipe. She was really insistent, so I got up and followed her down.”
“Then what happened?”
“I don’t know,” Lyra replied, clearly frustrated. “That’s it. That’s all I can remember. It’s like I told the detectives, I don’t remember anything else after that point. Maybe I hit my head or something.”
Twilight was doubtful of that. Lyra didn't have a bruise or a scratch on her. “Well, we really need to figure out what’s going on. You were unconscious when the mailmare arrived the next morning. Then, when the police broke in to get to you ... Well, I've never heard of anything like it. The report says that the kitchen was a mess, the oven was left on with the oven door open, and there were broken dishes and pots and pans all over the floor. The weird part is that they found that unidentifiable gray gunk everywhere: in the kitchen, in the hall, and tons of it in the living room. They brought me a sample, and after running a dozen tests I still have no idea what it is. I know it’s hard, Lyra, but if we’re going to find Bon Bon, it's important that you remember something else.”
“Ugh,” Lyra groaned, now rubbing both temples with her forehooves. She picked up Twilight’s towel and mopped her brow. “Is it hot in here?”
“Um, not particularly?” Twilight replied, questioningly. In fact, Spike hadn't gotten a fire going before he left, and it was a rather chilly October. “I’m going to try a spell to jog your memory, if you don’t mind.”
“That's fine,” Lyra said resignedly. “Go ahead.”
Twilight closed her eyes and gathered her magic, then cast her memory spell on the other unicorn. Normally, the spell granted her flashes of the target’s memories while it worked, but this time she saw nothing, only blank darkness. “Did it work?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Do you remember anything?”
“I … I think I do,” Lyra said after a long pause. Suddenly, her bloodshot eyes snapped open wide. “Dear Celestia, Twilight …” The aqua unicorn’s face contorted into an expression of horror. “I remember!”
Twilight was taken aback. After the spell had appeared to fail, she certainly hadn't expected a reaction like this. Still, this was promising. She was getting somewhere. “Good. Now, if you can remember, tell me what happened."
“Bon Bon brought me down to the kitchen, but it wasn’t right. It was a mess, and she’s always so clean and tidy. I thought maybe she threw all this stuff around because she was mad at me for ignoring her earlier. She didn't say anything about it though, she just kept saying how much she wanted me to try her new recipe.”
“Go on.”
“There was this big pot of gray glop on the stove, and she steered me over to it. It looked and smelled disgusting, and a lot of it had already spilled out over the counter and onto the floor. It was boiling, and I remember telling Bon Bon that it was too hot. Then I saw that the gas wasn't on, but it was still bubbling and churning anyway. It wasn't right at all. Somehow, Twilight, the way it was moving around - it looked alive.”
“Good heavens,” Twilight exclaimed. “What was it?”
“I don’t …” Lyra coughed, producing an awful wet hacking sound.
“Are you sure I can’t get you some tea?”
“No tea!” the aqua unicorn exclaimed loudly. “S-sorry.” Lyra groaned and shook her head again.
Twilight could not help but feel a little ill herself at the copious amounts of sweat dripping from the other pony, leaving her hair and mane limp and slick. “You look like you aren't feeling well,” Twilight offered. “We can take a break if you want. Maybe you’d like some water, then, if not tea.”
“No!” Lyra shouted again. “The … stuff … in the pot. It wasn't natural. Everything about it was evil, I know it.”
“Why would Bon Bon be cooking evil glop?” Twilight asked incredulously.
“That wasn't Bon Bon,” Lyra whispered, leaning across the table in pushing her sweat-drenched face so close to Twilight that the librarian recoiled. “Whatever that was, Twilight, it wasn't my Bon Bon that led me downstairs. It looked like her, and it sounded like her. But it wasn't her. By Celestia, I swear it wasn't her!”
“What do you mean, it wasn't Bon Bon?” Twilight asked, alarmed. “Do you mean, like a changeling?”
“No, no, not a changeling.” Lyra shook her head violently. “This thing didn't just look like her, it had her memories, her mannerisms. It knew her pet names for me. It kissed me when it was begging me to try the stuff in the pot.”
“Then how do you know…”
“When I refused, it tried to shove my face into that evil stuff, and it was strong - stronger than any pony! I managed to slide out of the way, and when I tried to wrench her legs off me, her foreleg came clean off!” Lyra looked like she was about to be sick.
“What? How can that be? The report said that there wasn't even any blood, and there certainly weren't any missing limbs. Just that gray...”
“There wasn't any blood because it wasn't a pony!” Lyra shouted. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! When her leg came off, it turned into the gunk, just like what was in the pot. That thing looked at me, and I swear to you that it looked hungry, Twilight. It came after me, and I ran, but it was fast.”
Lyra was hyperventilating, and she seemed to be sweating even more profusely than before, if that was possible. It was clear to Twilight than something was very wrong with the other mare, and she resolved to end the interview and get Lyra to the hospital. As she stood up from the table, however, Lyra jumped up and reached across, pinning Twilight back in her seat and staring at her with wide, bloodshot eyes. Twilight shuddered at the sticky wetness of the other mare’s forelegs.
“I remember… I fought it with everything I had,” Lyra croaked. “I smashed flower pots on it, I tried to burn it in the oven, I tore apart the house fighting it. When I burned the thing, I thought I saw something under its surface as the slime burned away.” Lyra twitched violently. “Something of Bon Bon. That thing ate her, Twilight, and took her body! I gave everything I had trying to stop it.”
Twilight was frightened now, though more of the clearly sick mare holding her down than of the creature from her story. Lyra was surprisingly strong, and Twilight wasn't sure she could easily extricate herself.
“Oh my, that’s terrible! If this thing really … did something to Bon Bon ... then you must at least have destroyed it in the end. That would explain all the gray gunk in the living room they found.”
Twilight had no idea what the gunk was, but she certainly did not believe the pony sitting across from her was in her right mind.
“I must have,” Lyra quietly agreed, sliding back into her seat and finally letting go of Twilight’s shoulders.
Twilight blinked. All of a sudden she felt light-headed, as if she had just cast a powerful spell, but obviously she had not performed any magic. Still, she felt drained.
“I've never read about any monsters like that,” she said, humoring Lyra by continuing this line of questioning. “Where could it have come from?”
Lyra had stopped hyperventilating, and now seemed oddly calm, though if anything, she was sweating even more than before. “Magic,” she said. “Strong magic. That’s good. Better now.”
“What?” Twilight asked, screwing up her face in confusion.
“The creature, oh yes,” Lyra said. She looked Twilight in the eyes, and seemed suddenly lucid. “Bon Bon summoned it from beyond our world, from the darkness between realms. It seems hard to believe, but with the right mix of ingredients, it so happens that one can open a portal to just about anywhere. If only the spice merchant had shipped her the saffron she ordered, instead of what she received - flume fronds if I’m not mistaken - then none of this would have happened.”
“How do you know that?” Twilight eyed the other mare suspiciously.
“This thing, this entity - it can take the form of any living being it absorbs, even absorbing that thing’s consciousness and memories, though that takes time, and while it is feeding it sometimes confuses its own thoughts and emotions for those of its prey. After it absorbed Bon Bon, it took hours to copy her memories, which explains the quiet after the initial clamor I heard.”
Lyra mopped her face with Twilight’s towel again. “When it came for me, I fought it. I hurt it badly - very badly indeed - so that it would take much longer to regenerate. It would need to consume a great amount of protein, and magic too, to heal itself.”
Twilight backed her chair away from the other mare. “Where are you getting all this information all of a sudden?”
“Did you know that ponies are mostly water, Twilight?” Lyra asked calmly. “The entity doesn't need much water to survive. In fact, too much water is toxic to it.” Lyra was now perspiring so heavily, and her coat and mane were so saturated, that it almost seemed her entire body had become viscous. “Ugh. Sorry about the sweat. It must look awful, but it can’t be helped.”
“You aren't well. I’m going to get a doctor,” Twilight said nervously. “Stay here.” She tried to stand, but found herself stuck to her chair, as if by some powerful adhesive. The chair, in turn, was stuck to the library floor. Terrified, Twilight looked down to see what was preventing her from moving, and gasped. The floor beneath the table was covered in a layer of gray slime, and it had climbed up the legs of Twilight’s chair without her noticing. Thick droplets of the stuff were falling from Lyra’s hind legs and hooves.
Or at least, the stuff was dripping from something that looked a lot like Lyra.
“Lyra,” Twilight whimpered, looking up at the other unicorn. “Please, if you can remember, how did you hurt the monster? I really need to know. If you're in there, please help.”
Lyra opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. She blinked rapidly, as if she was dismissing some unbidden thought. “Nothing can stop it, Twilight,” she finally replied in a distorted, wet voice. Her whole body appeared to be melting like candle wax. “Nothing. It just needs a little more sustenance ... then it will be strong enough to take this world.”
“I’m so sorry Lyra,” Twilight whispered. Her horn began to glow as she prepared a powerful spell, but then just as quickly the light was snuffed out.
“Sussstenance …” the thing across the table moaned in obvious ecstasy.
“No!” Twilight shouted as fear froze her heart. The thing was absorbing her magic; she couldn't even teleport to safety. She screamed, hoping against hope that somepony outside would hear her on this cold desolate night.
What had been the Lyra-thing’s head collapsed in on itself, becoming nothing more than a pulsating trunk surrounded by dozens of tendrils, each comprised of thick, viscous slime. Amidst the great mass of living ooze, recognizable bits and pieces of what had been a pony floated to the surface before being pulled back inside: an ear, part of a horn, a single, unblinking golden eye.
Twilight screamed again as the tendrils shot toward her. They wrapped around her body, trapping her limbs and climbing higher to surround her before finally pouring into her open mouth and down her throat. Then, all was quiet in the library.
The next morning, a lavender unicorn emerged from the library and trotted toward the train station, prepared to buy a one-way ticket to Canterlot.
