A Canterlot Ghost Tale

by volrathxp


Chapter Eight: Night Twenty-Six

A Canterlot Ghost Tale

Chapter Eight: Night Twenty-Six

Bon Bon barreled across the basement, tossing trash to the ground as she ran.  A hideous growl emanated from behind her.  Stumbling onto the stairs, she caught a glimpse of Lyra's green eyes.  They were filled with murderous rage.  A knife soared through the air, striking the wall as Bon Bon began moving upwards.  Lyra howled.

The cream-colored mare quickly reached the top of the stairs, bursting out into the main hall of the house.  Tears filled her eyes as she pushed the door to the basement closed.  She charged towards the front door, pulling it open.

Instead of the outside world, another long hallway greeted her.  Bon Bon screamed.

“No!” She shouted, panting and crying.  “This is all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream...”  She closed her eyes, trying to will the house away and wake up.  Her eyes opened.  The hallway was still there.  Bon Bon's face drained of color.  A sharp pounding behind her drew her attention.

Lyra slammed on the door, sending it off its hinges to the ground.  She growled as she stepped into the hallway.

“Nowhere to run now, Bonnie.  Nowhere to hide,” she snarled.  Bon Bon yelped and galloped through the open doorway into the hall beyond.  The hall was dank and decaying the farther she ran.  She could hear Lyra behind her.  Doors lined the hallway, but each and everyone of them was boarded up or padlocked.  Turning a corner, Bon Bon began to wonder when the corridor would end.  When would Lyra catch up to her?  And what would happen when she did?

Shaking the thoughts away, the cream-colored mare resolved to try one of the doors.  She pushed hard on one of them, but it wouldn't budge.  Growling under her breath, she turned around and kicked at the doorknob until she felt it give way.  The door cracked beneath the pressure, swinging inward.  Bon Bon quickly jumped inside.

She was elsewhere.  Another long hallway drew on forever, this time the white walls belonging to the hospital where she'd been in.  Bon Bon rubbed her eyes.  Was she dreaming this?  She couldn't tell.  She closed the door behind her, hoping that Lyra wouldn't notice in her fervor to catch her.  She took a tentative step into the hall, her legs burning up from all the running.  She heard hooves behind her.  Taking a look back, she noted the door was still closed.  Perhaps Lyra had ran by after all.

“Mommy?” A voice whispered.  Bon Bon's head shot forward.  There.  The filly from before was standing at what now appeared to be the end of the hall.  She giggled and turned the corner.  Bon Bon grimaced, starting forward in a trot.

“Hello?” She called out softly.  “Is anypony there?”

Bon Bon turned the corner, stopping cold.  The walls had been getting noticeably deteriorated the more the walked forward.  Around the corner though, the walls were completely rotted.  Sludge and debris littered the floor.  The lights above barely worked, creating spaces of complete darkness in the hall.  Tentatively, Bon Bon began to walk on.  Parts of the walls were missing wood, revealing broken piping.  Bon Bon's hooves felt gross, and once or twice she nearly slipped on the wet flooring.

The floor creaked as the cream-colored mare found herself in a vast open warehouse at the end of the hall.  It was filled with running machinery that was crunching up old pieces of metal from horseshoes to shovels.  Bon Bon grimaced.

“Mommy...” The voice whispered again.  Bon Bon's eyes shot up to one of the machines.  Standing at the top of one was the same filly from before.  She giggled as Bon Bon laid eyes on her.

“Who are you?” Bon Bon called out.  The filly giggled even louder and then jumped off the side of the machine.  Bon Bon yelled, running forward as the filly hit the ground and just... disappeared.  Bon Bon stopped, panting, her eyes wide with fear.  What is going on in this place?! She thought frantically.  I have to get out of here!

“Bonnie...” A voice interrupted her shock.  Lyra stood on one of the catwalks high above her.  Her eyes glimmered with green.  Her grin widened as she locked onto Bon Bon.  “There you are... why are you running, my love?  Don't you want to help me?”

“I don't know what's going on here, Lyra,” Bon Bon said angrily, tears filling her eyes.  “But all I really want is my Lyra back.”  Lyra chuckled softly.

“You can have her back when I'm done with her,” she said, her voice deepening to a throaty growl.  It wasn't Lyra who really responded, Bon Bon realized.  “But not before.  She's been very... helpful to me.”

“Who... who are you?” Bon Bon ventured.  “What do you want with me?”

“I want what's inside of you, my dear Bon Bon,” Lyra said with that unequine voice.  Her eyes glowed brightly as she focused on the cream-colored mare.  “I want your foal.  Isn't it obvious?”

“My foal?” Bon Bon said, her eyes widening.  “No... you can't have it.  I won't let you have it.”

“Won't let me?  Tsk, dear Bon Bon.  How long can you keep running like this?  How long before I let little Lyra catch you and rip the foal from your belly?” Lyra replied casually.  “I am sure you are getting tired, after all.”  Lyra tipped over the side of the catwalk, soaring towards the ground.  Bon Bon yelped as the seagreen mare hit the ground with a sickening *splat*.  Lyra pulled herself up from the ground, her neck bent at an awkward angle.  With a *crack* she moved her own head upright.  Blood streamed from her mouth and her eyes were wild.  “How long before I kill you, Bon Bon?”

“I don't know who you are,” Bon Bon said.  “But you aren't getting my foal.  No more running.  Give me Lyra.  Now.”  Lyra snorted, laughing heavily.

“So strong willed you are,” she said throatily.  “I can see why this one loves you so much.  But even love is no match for me.  She was mine since you moved into the house.”

“The house,” Bon Bon replied.  “So it is real.  I did experience all of... that.”

“Of course it was real... I had hoped that by luring you into a false sense of security with the hospital would have allowed me easier access to your foal, but alas... you proved to be far too strong for that,” Lyra said.  “No matter.  Lyra, kill her.”  Lyra's eyes gleamed and her horn glowed, raising two sharp knives into the air.  She started forward.

“Lyra, please...” Bon Bon said as she stepped backwards.  “You don't have to do this!  Fight it!  I know you can... you're stronger than this!”

“Oh, Lyra isn't in control of herself...” the voice replied.  “She's mine, Bon Bon.  And now you will be too.”  Lyra raised one of the knives, grinning widely.  Bon Bon shrank away, stepping back until she found herself pinned against one of the machines.  She growled, turning and kicking out at Lyra.  Her hooves connected solidly against Lyra's chest, bucking the unicorn mare backwards to the ground.  The knives clattered on the cement flooring.  Taking the opportunity to move, Bon Bon galloped as best as she could towards through the machine room.

“You can't run from me for very long, Bon Bon!” The demonic voice uttered all around her.  “I make the rules here!”  Bon Bon cried out as a piece of the flooring fell away beneath her back hooves, revealing a hole as black as night.  She slipped on her fronts as more of the floor disintegrated.  She scrambled to climb back up, but the floor would not give her any purchase.  Feeling utterly defeated, Bon Bon fell away into the darkness.

*********************

Bon Bon coughed.  Dust filled her nostrils and her eyes, stinging her awake.  It was pitch black all around her.  The ground felt hard and earthy.  How long have I been out? She thought, pushing herself up to her hooves as best as she could.  Her back legs hurt all over, and she was pretty sure she'd broken a rib from the pulsating pain along her barrel.

The cream-colored mare took a step forward in the darkness, shivering as she managed several steps before stopping due to the pain.  Her heart pounded as she listened for anything that would give her an idea of where she was.  Nothing.  And then suddenly, a faint giggle in the distance.  Bon Bon's ears perked up as she started walking towards where she thought the sound was coming from.

The sound grew louder and louder as she walked, until finally Bon Bon could see a light in the distance.  It hung over the front door of a house.  The same house that she and Lyra had moved into.  Hesitant, the earth mare pushed open the door and stepped into the hallway.  She wasn't even really sure if this was real or not anymore, she just knew she had to keep going.  The giggling sound was much louder, coming from the living room.

Bon Bon paused at the entrance for a moment, regarding the unicorn filly inside the small room.  She was sitting on the floor, playing with several dolls and toys.  She looked up at Bon Bon as the mare entered.

“You shouldn't be here,” she said eerily.  Bon Bon grimaced, but took a seat at the couch across from her.

“And where exactly should I be, darling?” She asked as best as she could.

“You shouldn't be here,” the filly replied.  “He might find you.”  Bon Bon narrowed her gaze at the filly.

“And who is he?” She said.

“The bad pony.  He wants me.  He wants you to give me to him,” the filly said nonchalantly.  “I've been hiding from him.”  Bon Bon's eyes widened.  She opened her mouth to speak but the filly cut her off first.  “No.  You can't know anything, Momma.  Not even my name.  You haven't given it to me yet, after all.  I can't help you stop him.  Only you can help Momma Lyra and stop him.”

“How... How do I do that?” Bon Bon said.  The filly looked down at her toys.  A door slammed somewhere above.  The filly looked up quickly.

“He's in the house,” she said.  Hoofbeats shuddered from the floors above.  “You have to help Momma Lyra remember.  She has to remember.  He has no power over you, so he can't make you do what he wants.  I don't know why.  But you can stop him, Momma.  You have to stop him... I don't... I don't want to go with him.”  Her eyes began to tear up.  Bon Bon slid off the couch and put a hoof around the young filly's shoulder.

“Don't worry, dear.  I won't let him get you.  I would never let him get you,” she said.  She stood shakily.  The hoofbeats from above got louder and closer until they were on the same level.  “I think perhaps you should go hide now.”  The filly nodded.  She scampered off, hiding behind the bookshelf as Lyra appeared in the entrance.  A sick and twisted grin appeared on her face.

“Well, well, well,” she said.  “Look what we have here.”  Bon Bon glared at the other mare, standing as firm as her back legs would let her.  “You came back here after all.  I knew you would.”

“Lyra,” Bon Bon said.  “You have to stop him.  Don't let him do this!”

“I've already told you, Bon Bon,” Lyra's voice said.  “I'm not in control of this.  He is.  I let him in.  He was very persuasive.”

“I don't believe you, Lyra,” Bon Bon said coldly.  “I don't believe for one second that the mare I love would do such a thing.  Fight him, Lyra.  Show him how strong you are!  Show him how strong our love is!”  Lyra growled throatily, taking a step forward before stopping cold.  She put her hooves to her head, thrashing backwards.

“No!  I'm in control here!” She shouted.  Her voice mixed between the growling and her own as she struggled.  After several antagonizing moments, she stopped and her eyes opened.  The green glow was gone from them.

“Lyra?” Bon Bon ventured.  The seagreen mare nodded.

“Bonnie?  What happened?  Where am I?” Lyra asked groggily, pushing herself to her hooves.

“Is it really you?” Bon Bon replied, warily.  Lyra narrowed her gaze at her wife.

“What do you mean, is it me?  Of course it's me,” she said.  “Now would somepony clue me in on what in Tartarus is going on here?”  Bon Bon started to reply, but was cut off by a thick and heavy laughter that emanated from all around them.

“You think you've won just because you took away my plaything?  Pitiful,” the throaty, growling voice said.  “My ascension will not be delayed by creatures such as yourself.”

“I don't care who you are,” Bon Bon said angrily.  “Show yourself!  I'm tired of all these games!”

“Very well,” the voice replied.  “If you insist.”  The walls of the living room began to shake, one of them falling inward.  Rubble sprayed everywhere.  As the dust cleared, something stepped into the room in front of the two mares.  Bon Bon's eyes widened.  The thing was something out of one of her worst nightmares.  Vicious fangs sat on each side of rows of nasty teeth.  Red eyes gleamed in the darkness.  The smell of rotten flesh assaulted each mare's senses as the monstrous beast lowered a massive claw.

“What...?” Bon Bon tried to say.  Lyra shrunk behind her wife.  The monster began to laugh.

“You wanted me to show myself,” it said, it's voice heavy and thick.  “There is no escape for either of you.  But you can run, should you so desire.  I do so like it when you run.”  The beast licked its lips.

Bon Bon screamed.