Love in a Hopeless Place

Screams.

Bon Bon turned to look at the source of them and was greeted by the sight of several ponies running out from Sugarcube Corner, many of them bleeding from bites and other wounds. She managed to stop one of them, Berry Punch. She was bleeding from a bite on her leg.

“Berry! What happened?”

“I d-don’t know. One moment everything was fine, then s-suddenly Pinkie came down the stairs and… started biting ponies.”

“Biting them?” Bon Bon was taken back.

“Yeah, she didn’t look right either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her eyes looked wrong, glazed over or something. I- I need to get home, and make sure Pinchy is safe!” Berry took off, heading for home.

“Right.” The white earth pony continued towards Sugarcube corner, passing other ponies. One of them, a blue unicorn stallion staggered out of the store and collapsed in the doorway, bleeding out of a massive neck wound. Several nearby ponies gasped in shock and terror, and backed away from the corpse.

Bon Bon’s eyes widen in horror as the stallion staggered back onto its hooves. He scanned the area, his eyes a shockingly glossy white. The stallion growled, and lunged at a yellow pegasus, ripping into her flank and neck.

Bon Bon stepped backwards as an earth mare leaps through a window to attack another mare, and a young filly with glazed eyes attacks another. Suddenly another scream filled the air as Bon Bon’s head snapped up in realization.

“Lyra!”

Bon Bon took off, heading towards the scream. As she looked around, she took in other scenes similar to the ones she had left: glassy eyed ponies attacking and biting others. She leapt to the side to dodge an orange earth mare, pulled to the ground by several glassy-eyed fillies and colts.

“Please be alright; please be alright, plea…”

Bon Bon skidded to the stop in front of her store, where the scene unfolded before her. A glassy eyed brown earth stallion ripped a chunk of flesh out of Lyra’s neck. The stallion chewed for a bit, swallowed, and moved into take another bite.

“GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD!”

Bon Bon slammed into the stallion, knocking him off Lyra. As the stallion regained his footing, Bon Bon spun around and bucked him in the face. Leaving the fallen stallion behind, she turned her attention to Lyra.

“Lyra?” Bon Bon’s voice was quiet.

Lyra’s eyes opened, “Hey Bonnie.” A weak smile appeared on her face, “This has been one of those strange days, hasn’t it?”

“You’re going to be fine, trust me.” Bon Bon unlocked the door to her shop and struggled to pick up Lyra.

“Heh, Bonnie you and I both know I’m not going to make it.” Lyra’s eyes closed again, “Just keep yourself safe.”

“I will not lose you. Not now, not ever.”

Bon Bon managed to drag Lyra inside the store, leaving her on the floor. As the Earth pony goes to close the door, the brown stallion lunged, trying to force himself in.

“GET OUT!”

Bon Bon swerved around, and bucked the stallion in face, knocking him back and ripping off his lower jaw. Bon Bon froze in horror as he staggered back onto his hooves, a sickly gurgling noise coming from the ruined remains of his face. Bon Bon slammed the door shut and collapsed.

“What is going on?”

Lyra groaned and pulled herself back up. The sound of her hooves clopping against the wooden floor is the only sound. The hoofsteps stopped in front of Bon Bon. The Earth pony looked up.

“Lyra?”

Bon Bon’s eyes widen as Lyra’s glassy eyes look into her.
“…No.” Bon Bon whispered, just before Lyra lunged at her, mouth open and ready to tear a hunk of her flesh out.

“NO!”

Bon Bon rolled off the makeshift bed, and landed on the floor with a thud. She sat up, quickly scanning the area, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. After assuring herself that there is no danger, she laid back down.

“…that dream again.” Bon Bon closed her eyes, and sighed, “Every night it’s that same dream. Why can’t it be something different? I don’t want to be reminded of my failures…”

Some Time Later

Bon Bon trudged through another puddle, frowning.

“Rain. Ever since that it has always been raining.” Bon Bon shook her head, “What would I do for a little sunshine…Then again, the rain keeps them from finding me. Somehow.”

Her frown grew, “I’m not even certain how that works. I’m not even sure how any of this works.
I don’t even know if things will get back to normal. Half the Elements are dead, and we haven’t heard anything from Canterlot….”

The Earth pony stopped in the middle of the street, as the undead continued along their way.

“Why am I asking myself all this?”

The Earth pony shook her head, and continued on her way. She stopped in front of a building, built into a tree.

“….I don’t think I’ve tried the library yet.” She quickly scanned the building for any obvious signs of entry or damage. “Seems safe enough.”

Bon Bon trotted over to the door and pushed. The door didn’t budge.

“Locked?” Bon Bon frowned and backed up a bit. She slammed herself against the door, with no effect.
“Oh come on…..”

The mare spun around and bucked the door with all her might. With a crack, the hinges gave way and the door fell over. Bon Bon glanced around, checking for any unwanted attention. Pushing the remains of the door out of her way, she entered the library.
Glancing around, she noted that everything was coated in a fine layer of undisturbed dust.

“…it’s locked but nopony is here?” Bon Bon frowned, “that can’t be right.”

Bon Bon wandered around, entering the small kitchen. After yanking open a drawer, she smiled at the cans of food sitting inside.

“This might be enough to keep us fed for a while. I hope I can fit it all in.”

The mare set her bag down and began to fill it with the cans. Upon completing her task, she put the bag back onto her back and scanned the room again.

“What’s that book over there?” Bon Bon trotted over to the middle of the room. A single book laid there. Bon Bon scanned the open page, furrowing her brow in thought. After rereading the page several times, she shook her head.

“No use. I’ve never seen anything like this before. What was her name…Twilight, might know something about thi…oh, right; she’s one of those things.
Oh well.”
Bon Bon continued to wander the room.

CRUNCH

Bon Bon’s hoof came down on something noisy.

“…oh shit.”

Bon Bon looked down in confusion. She lifted her hoof out of the remains of a body.

“…huh, so that’s what happened to Spike.”

Bon Bon backed up slightly and stared at the preserved remains of the dragon on the floor. Looking closer, Bon Bon noticed several bite marks on the dragon’s neck and arms, as well as his hollowed out chest captivity.

“…The door was locked, everything’s covered in dust, and Spike was somepony’s lunch.” Bon Bon frowned in thought, “all this points to…Twilight?”
She shook her head, “No, she’d know better than to try something dangerous and unpredic-, oh wait.” Bon Bon frowned, “..why does this matter? I need to get something for Lyra.”

The mare scanned the room one last time and left. She trotted down the street, avoiding the undead ponies around her.

“I need to stop feeding her fillies and colts, they never fill her up. By Celestia, I’ve fed her Pip, Twist, Sweetie Belle…Angel, that owl Twilight had, and….Gummy.
I think that was the stupid alligator’s name.” Bon Bon shook her head, “In retrospect that was probably a bad idea.”

Bon Bon stopped in the middle of the street, something catching her eye.

“What the….”

Bon Bon squinted, trying to focus on something in the sky. From what she could see, it appeared to be three or four pegasi, carrying other ponies in some sort of basket.

“….those can’t be dead ponies, the dead don’t do that. On the other hoof, I think I fed most of the survivors to Lyra at this point.” Bon Bon’s face changed from pondering to realization, “Wait a minute, if I can get their attention I ca-”

An orange earth mare sunk her teeth into Bon Bon’s flank. Screaming, Bon Bon managed to shake the mare off and bucked it in the head. The orange mare collapsed, most of its head broken. Bon Bon turned her head, getting a good view of her flank. The skin has been broken and blood slowly dribbled out of it.
“…No.” Bon Bon whispered. The whisper turned frantic as the mare began to run, “Nononononononononononono….”

Skidding to a halt in front of her shop, Bon Bon unlocked the door and ran inside. Slamming it shut, the earth mare collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.

“….No….”

Bon Bon curled into a ball, sobbing. Pausing for a moment, the rattling of chains fills the air, followed by growling. Bon Bon slowly pulled herself to her feet and shambled into Lyra’s room.
The undead unicorn strained against her collar, gashing her teeth at the Earth mare. Bon Bon continued to stare at the remains of her lover and smiled. The look in her eyes changed from exhaustion to desire. Bon Bon trotted into the room, pushing the skeletal remains of Twist and other ponies out of the way.

“Oh, Lyra.
I’m sorry. Nothing’s gone the way I thought it would.” The Earth pony reached over and stroked the tattered remains of Lyra’s mane.
“But don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine. Let me get you out of that.”

Bon Bon reached over, fiddling with the collar in her hooves. Lyra snapped at the hooves, nicking Bon Bon.

“Lyra! Stop that.” The earth mare scolded, “If you keep fighting, this is going to take longer to finish….there.”

The collar and chain hit the ground with a metallic clank. The undead mare paused, staring into Bon Bon’s eyes.

“Lyra…I’m sorry. Please? A hug for old time’s sa-”

The undead mare sunk her teeth into Bon Bon’s shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh. The living mare giggled, oblivious to the pain and blood.
“Stop that! It tickles.”

Bon Bon embraced the undead mare, as she chewed on the hunk of shoulder.

“I’m so sorry.” Bon Bon sighed, “I couldn’t help you, and now…now I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Bon Bon sighed again, as Lyra bit into the living mare’s neck. She tears the hunk of flesh away, spraying both of the ponies with blood.

“…I love you.”

Bon Bon’s embrace tightened around the unicorn, as she took another bite out of Bon Bon’s neck, ripping out the remains of her esophagus.

You’re…you.

Something not right.

Food come back with smell of new food on her. Also has your smell.
Smell of bad.

But you not care.

Food say something.
Not matters much.

Food take off thing that keep you from moving.
Says more things.
Still not matter.

You feast.

Lyra continued to gnaw on a femur bone, stripping the remaining flesh off of it. Dropping the bone, Lyra stood up. Around her were the fresh remains of Bon Bon; Bones, hair, and a few other parts that were indigestible.

Stepping though the mess of body parts, Lyra left the building. She joined other undead ponies, aimlessly wandering through the ruins of Ponyville.