Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Song

"We're about to meet someone," Lyra said.

"Oh?" Bon Bon perked up, and slowed her step. She blinked. "Why are you telling me?"

Lyra stopped walking completely. "Duck."

The meaning itself was initially lost on Bon Bon, but years of deeply ingrained training kicked in to replace conscious action and she immediately sank to her knees, then lower, though she didn't touch the ground properly with her body to avoid the layer of black flowing over it.

A pony's body sailed over her, hurled by something beyond their field of vision. A stallion judging by his voice as he yelled in pain while flying through the air.

Lyra didn't wait to see what had caused that, likely because she'd already done so. She turned around, lit her horn to slow down the pony's movement and ensure he'd land safely, and began to run in the opposite direction compared to where they'd been walking towards. Bon Bon, getting up and seeing her, did the same, and though she started running after her she quickly caught up and even passed her, taking the lead.

They reached the stallion, a unicorn, quickly. He was dazed, and definitely a fair bit bruised, but Lyra's spell seemed to have at least spared him worse injuries. He stood himself up as quickly as he could, and without asking questions began to run along with the mares. He was stumbling slightly, but still he forced himself to keep the pace.

Somewhere behind them, something roared. None of them looked back, but they could faintly hear its steps getting closer. Bon Bon looked to Lyra, dreading the moment she might say something that would confirm the inevitability of their situation yet hoping she would do something to get them out of it. As long as they just kept running, she supposed, it at least meant things weren't about to end in disaster just yet.

Or maybe they were. Maybe Lyra knew, she just wasn't saying anything, hiding it from her to make her last moments hopeful rather than desperate. Would she do that? Would Bon Bon herself do that in her place? That wasn't the time to answer those questions and she didn't have the energy for it, but she couldn't stop them from popping up in her mind regardless. At some point, she would have to ask them. She would have to have a proper talk with Lyra about everything her powers implied. If they survived, of course.

She was going slightly slower than she could have been going. Even out of S.M.I.L.E., she was still more fit than Lyra was, and she was deliberately going slightly slower not to outrun her. The other unicorn seemed to rank somewhere between them. He was clearly a trained guard, but the bits of armour he still had weighed him down.

The creature roared again. It had gotten closer, and was still getting closer. Running was getting hard over the debris littering the ground, broken and uneven chunks of crystal walls and furniture. Bon Bon looked to Lyra again, hoping something would finally happen.