Beat The Devil's Tattoo

I’m afraid to enter this building. It’s like opening the door to the Hell I tried so hard to escape from. My fear is that an event will take place in there, one I’m not certainly going to enjoy. Then again, what do I know? I’m nothing but a simple gnat on the surface of the world, unable to predict the certain future. Who knows, I may find my savior in that bar. I suck up my breath and start to proudly walk into the bar.

A rogue detecting ring pierces my ears as I open the door. The bartender turns to look at who’s entered the lively building and immediately squints hard at me. I release my breath held in my mouth and let my head hang low to assure him I mean no trouble. I mosey my way over to the nearest booth I see and sit down to warm my body calmly. The bartender turns his attention away from me and to the T.V. behind him.

I scout the bar with my eyes in attempt to locate Bon Bon, for I recognized the time on the firmly placed clock on the wall to be the time she normally arrived, but she was nowhere to be found. I do feel quite relieved, but for some reason, I’m still nervous. Something inside me wants her to be here to keep me safe, even though she ruined me.

I’m sitting there for about ten minutes listening to two mares leaning on the outside of my booth talk, laugh and drink. I feel very jealous of them even though my brain says that I shouldn’t be. My soul and mind have been battling each other ever since the day I gained the Devil’s tattoo and they are certainly not stopping soon. To be honest, I don’t think they will ever stop fighting.

The mare leaning on the right side of my booth waves as she begins to leave the bar. The purple mare on the left keeps her place as we both shift our attention to the news on the television. The reporters are talking about a recent murder from what I can tell. The picture shown next to the reporter was a red happy face on a sheet of notebook paper.

“Damn, again?” the purple mare asks looking at the television, obviously directing the question toward me. I have no idea what she means.

“Come again?” I respond. The mare turns back to me to respond.

“Haven’t you heard? There’s some sort of serial killer on the loose in Manehatten. They say the maniac leaves a happy face on a piece of paper painted in his victims’ blood. Looks like he struck again.” She explained. Great, this makes me feel so much safer now, a bloody happy face killer is on the loose.

“Jeez. That’s a tad… gruesome.” I say rather sarcastically. The mare suddenly squints hard at me.

“Say… haven’t I seen you before? Didn’t you used to come here all time a while back?” She asks. I’m afraid to answer the question as my heart begins to beat rather quickly. I’m resorting to “ummm…” and “well…” in excuse to buy time to think  of something she’ll be deceived into.

“Oh, yeah, you were that one chick who knocked  that one dude out cold!” She puts bluntly. “Hah, you really freaking wrecked him!”

Thanks for making me remember and regret everything that I’ve ever done, lady. That really makes me feel better. I can’t tell if she’s trying to complement or insult me, but I sure do feel scared. I’m not going to let her ruin my mood further. No, not today.

“Miss, listen. I’m not in the mood to talk  about that. I just got out of a 2 month jail punishment for that. I’m cold, I’m lonely and I’m NOT in a good mood.” I violently respond to her comment. Instead of backing away and muting herself from me, she does the opposite of what I intended for her to do; sit down and face me directly.

“You just got out? You should be happy that you’re finally out! Why aren’t you glad you’re not rotting in jail anymore?” She asks me with a clueless face. I hate how she’s so brash with ponies she’s just met, but for some peculiar reason, I want to tell her. Could it be that the effects of Bon Bon and I’s relationship still lingers? Whether it still controls me or not, I’m going to tell her everything.

I sigh loudly. “My marefriend has abandoned me, I’m homeless, moneyless, unloved and unknown. I’ve ruined my life.” I briefly explain. She flinches back in surprise at what I say.

“That’s horrible!” She exclaims. I can feel that she isn’t faking her emotions for the sake of making me feel better, she is legitimately surprised and worried about me. I’m very puzzled as to why, however, it seems uncanny to ask, so I will keep this thought to myself for the time being. Something seductive lies in her eyes: something I can’t put my hoof on. It glitters in my dark world, giving me just enough light to see a few feet away from me.

I soon notice that it wasn’t her eyes that captivated me, it was her whole body. She was like a light bulb compared to the rest of the ponies residing in the bar. I don’t know what I find beautiful about her and I’m too distracted by it to think about it too hard. Could it possibly be that I am falling in love yet again? Does my body never learn how to act proper!? I’m in love with this mare and I haven’t even learned her name yet! No, I mustn’t be in love, for love is just an excuse for physical pleasure!

“Hey! Anypony there?” she snaps. How foolish, I was too distracted by my thoughts to realize she was communicating with me.

“Oh, sorry, I zoned out there.” I reply, sounding like an ass. She coughed up a chuckle and rolled her eyes jokingly.

“I like you! Name’s Berry Punch.” She introduced as she held out her hoof.

“Lyra Heartstrings.” I respond, reaching out to shake her hoof. For some reason, the simple hoofshake feels as though I was shaking a hoof of a goddess. It feels… unreal.

Then, all of a sudden, I hear metal sliding against something and a scream of terror and pain. However, I don’t flinch, and neither does anypony else. There’s no horrified faces, no gasps, and no chaos. Everything remains as it is. As I let go of her hoof, the screaming stops and the sound of gulps and laughter returns to my ears.

I’m not sure exactly what that was, nor do I know what to think of it. Currently, the only matter I can concentrate on is the one at hoof, which to my idiotic mind is more important.

Suddenly,  something distracts me. It was something I hoped wouldn’t have happened tonight; Bon Bon. She walks into the bar alone, looking around to the left and right, as if searching for something. My heart begins to beat incredibly quick as I shift my attention back to my new friend to act as though I don’t see her, yet keeping her in the corner of my eye.

“So, Lyra, what do you say you stay with me tonight?” She proposes to me suddenly. Nearly all of my attention that was focused on Bon Bon shifts to Berry out of surprise.

“Wait, what? Why?” I nearly exclaim. That loud voice catches Bon Bon’s attention. As soon as she sees me, she puts on a horrified expression. I can tell that her emotions aren't directed toward me specifically, oddly enough. She is scared of something, but of what is a mystery to me.

“You’re a good gal! I can’t just leave somepony like you on the streets! Stay with me until you get all fixed up. I’m happy to help!” Berry says with a gigantic grin on her sunshiny face. Bon Bon twitches as I believe she overhears what Berry said and runs out the door as silent as a mouse. Yes, run! RUN! Run away from me, you cowardly whore! I hope she runs into a manticore and gets gored all over the streets of Manehatten. Yes, yes... that's a wonderful thought.

Now that my insulting thoughts have been cleared, it is time to answer Berry’s question. However, there lies the problem with what to answer with. I start to think of the positive and negative ways this could go about, however, before I know it, I answer her.

“That… uhh… sounds great!” I respond happily. What am I thinking!? I simply cannot believe I said that to somepony I barely know! It’s as if I am in no control of my actions whatsoever! In fact, I’m not, that demon that Bon Bon released is. Lyra Heartstrings’ soul is trapped, and that demon that controls her body is now trying to rid her of this world forever.

“Awesome! Don’t worry, I don’t have a roommate or anything annoying like that.” She jokes. “But I must warn you, it’s very… messy.”

Messiness has always bothered me, but for some reason, right now, I don’t feel annoyed. I feel excited, as if my body is rushing me to go to her house. It’s telling me: cut the crap, just go!

“Oh, uh… ok!” I respond, acting like an idiot. What else could I say? There’s nearly nothing to say, yet so much to do. Actions speak louder than words do in some cases and this is a prime example of when it does.

“Well, what are we doing standing around here? Let’s head back to my place, it’s getting late and you’ve had a rather long day.” Berry says as she begins to slide out of the booth. Rather long day? She has NO idea what my life has been like today. To her, it’s but a jail release, but to me, it’s the start of a new life; a new life of social hell.

I begin to scoot out of the booth to follow Berry out when a reckless, drunk mare knocks over a glass napkin holder onto the floor. It shatters, making me back up into the booth once more for safety. Napkins are scattered across the floor as the bartender sighs and yells for the custodian to come sweep up the mess.

“Augh, some ponies, I swear. Be careful stepping over that, Lyra.” Berry cautions me.

Suddenly, time slows yet again as I hop over the mess. I’m looking down at the mess when I see something peculiar within the napkin bunch. As my eyes scan the mess, I notice about half way across the mess that something red lies within the white mess. As I travel farther and farther across the gap, I finally make it out. Written messily in red on a buried napkin is a soul-piercing happy face.

Time returns to normal as my heart begins to beat exceedingly fast. As I land on the other side of the mess, I act as normal as I can around the crowd, not attempting to attract any attention. I’m standing as still as a Canterlot statue, trying to process what I have just seen.

“Lyra! Stop zoning out like that! C’mon!” Berry snaps, releasing me from my frozen trance. I begin to walk by her side out the door, looking back to see the custodian sweeping up the mess on the floor into a trash can.