Chapter 1: Abandon All Hope Ye' Who Enter
As the winds howled a haunting note and sky turns violet, two unlikely ponies were going on about rumors that tell of a carriage which should never be released from it's holding place in the old abandoned carriage base in South Canterlot, or else...
6:00 PM, Abandoned Wonderbolt Base, South Canterlot
"Lyra, this is the STUPIDEST idea you've ever come up with!" said a mare with a cream coat and a mane stylised like a sweet roll of pink and blue who was sounding clearly annoyed at her friend's antics. “The only reason why I’m here with you is because S.M.I.L.E. actually bought your explanation.”
"Chillax, Bon-Bon. It's just ghosts. S.M.I.L.E. Said ghosts don’t exist, so at this point…” calmly rebuked the teal unicorn, who was currently using her magic to unlock an iron lock of chains protecting a metal sliding door.
“S.M.I.L.E. didn’t say that. They said that ghosts do not haunt. That’s only in fiction. Only cursed spirits haunt ponies.”
“Well, still, who would believe in ghosts?"
"Fillies, the Elderly, and, oh yeah, the same ones who believe in humans." Bon-Bon replied bluntly, to which Lyra's ears had perked up at the comment; clearly offended by her remark.
"Excuse you, Bon-Bon. Humans are real! The books, the history, and the lack thereof!" Lyra retorted. "Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen by sneaking in some abandoned building?"
“Well, you’re right. Nopony guards these parts anymore, so I don’t see the reason why it should be a bad thing.” Bon-Bon answered. “But then again, knowing you Lyra, you seem to make anything that would seem mundane into a bad situation.”
“Come on Bon-Bon, name me one—“
“The time that you nearly strangled Thunderlane by using your ‘magic hands’ during your time working at the Ponyville Spa? Or that time you nearly set Applejack’s cart on fire by trying to turn it into some kind of wacky vehicle? How about that time you tried stealing a magic mirror from Princess Twilight herself?” Bon-Bon said, with a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised. “Need I say more, or should I keep going?”
Lyra rolled her eyes at Bon-Bon’s ramblings as she continued trying to unlock the iron lock. With a clicking sound, the iron lock fell to the ground. “Well, the door’s unlocked! See, and nothing went wrong!”
“Oh Lyra, I think you’re missing the point of what I just said.” Bon-Bon said, composing herself yet again for a long discussion, but then realized who she was talking to and just shrugged it off. “Nevermind, Lyra. Let’s just go see this carriage, if it exists in the first place, and then leave.”
Lyra grinned in reply. Using her magic, she opened the big metal sliding door of the storagehouse. The duo then made their way inside the base.
The base was devoid of any life and anything, except for one carriage. It looked similar to other carriages that were used by pegasi ponies in carrying ponies of the noble class or ponies who can afford it, however the only difference is that this carriage looked like it had been neglected for decades; covered in cobwebs and rust. Lyra smirked, batting an eye at her friend. Bon-Bon just raised an eyebrow, showing an indication that she's somewhat impressed, but still retained her unimpressed expression for the most part.
"It's here!" Lyra exclaimed, her voice echoing in the empty storagehouse. "I call right seat!"
"Lyra, stop right there!" Bon-Bon yelled, stopping Lyra from quickly sitting on the seat. "I'm not an idiot to sit down on that, and I'm pretty sure you aren't either! Just look at it! We don't know where or when that's been!"
Bon-Bon's suggestion went unnoticed as she Lyra had already made herself comfortable in the seat of the carriage.
"Come on, Bon-Bon!" Lyra called out, waving a hoof at her. Bon-Bon facehoofed and groaned.
"Abandon all hope, ye' who enter." Bon-Bon said unimpressed as she rolled her eyes.
"Hey,” Lyra asked. “Why’d ya say that now?”
"It literally said on the sign on the base when we were headed in." Bon-Bon said, quite annoyed that Lyra didn't see that important detail.
“Well, you could say it... missed its assignment!” Lyra had the biggest grin on her face.
Meanwhile, Bon-Bon was repeatedly banging her head on one of the sturdy metal columns supporting the storagehouse.
“Well, now all we need is a self picture!” Lyra grabbed a camera out of her saddlebag and started adjusting it. “From my dreams, humans call this a selfie in their human lingo!”
“Human lingo?!— you know what? Nevermind.” Bon-Bon said, retaining her cool. “Let’s get this selfie pic thing and let’s get on our way.”
Bon-Bon, although reluctant, climbed upon the carriage and sat beside Lyra on the dusty old carriage. Bon-Bon noticed that Lyra was sitting in her usual “upright sitting position”, similar to how Princess Twilight’s assistant, Spike, would sit, and sighed.
Lyra, on the other hoof, was just tinkering with her camera. Putting the camera on her left hoof and bringing it outwards, and putting her right foreleg over Bon-Bon’s shoulder, hugging her, she smiled as tiny beeps started coming out from the camera.
“Say cheese!” Lyra happily proclaimed.
Bon-Bon smiled. It was one of these moments, these normal moments, that make hanging out with her so fun... so enjoyable. None of that human talk, none of her crazy antics and ideas. Just us as friends.
With a flash, a photo was produced. Lyra grabbed the developing film and started flapping it around. She then inspected the photo with a smile, only for her face to turn into confusion. Bon-Bon seemed to have taken note of her change in expression and asked her about the photo.
“Lyra, what’s up?” Bon-Bon asked. “Is there a problem with the photo?”
Lyra gulped nervously as she looked up from the photo. “Umm, Bon-Bon, do you remember inviting anypony here?”
Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow in confusion at Lyra’s question. “No, nopony knows we’re here. Why did you ask?”
She then flipped the photo facing Bon-Bon, to reveal a picture of both Lyra and Bon-Bon... however, there was a faded figure of a stallion in-between them; with an expressionless face and soulless eyes. As the duo observed the photo closely, the figure moved, looked straight at them, and smiled. Lyra squealed loudly, dropping the film photo in the process.
"I think it's time we go now." Bon-Bon shakily said.
Lyra quickly nodded in reply as she picked up the photo from the chassis. The duo then proceeded to exit the vehicle, but found themselves unable to do so. There was a magic bubble surrounding the vehicle. The duo tried pushing on through, but were quickly startled by a haunting laugh which echoed throughout the storagehouse.
“Ha ha ha ha,” the voice laughed in a low gravelly voice. It spoke in a sinister fashion, likened to a cunning monster.
The duo became wary of the voice. Lyra’s eyes darted nervously around the storagehouse while Bon-Bon was trying to figure out where that voice was coming from. The two suddenly took notice of a shadow growing from the chassis. Afterwards, a pegasus stallion materialized from the darkness surrounding them.
“Heh heh,” the figure said. “welcome aboard to the Canterlot Taxi service. Lingering Will, at your service.”
The stallion seemed to be made up of dark smoke, with red glowing eyes and teeth as sharp as timber wolves. The sudden appearance of the stallion had made Lyra shriek at the sight, Bon-Bon, in the meanwhile, managed to retain her cool but still had the sense of fear evident in her eyes.
“How may I be of service today, young maidens?” The dark stallion grinned as it asked.
Lyra screamed out. “Help! Help! Somepony! Please?!”
“Forget it, greenie.” Lingering Will said. “This magic bubble is sound proof, powered by the strength of a thousand damned spirits. A power that can match one alicorn princess. Impressive, right?”
The arrogance of the stallion was quickly brushed aside and ignored as Lyra was continuing to scream loudly. Bon-Bon was busy covering her ears in the meantime.
“Quiet, greenie.” He said menacingly. “Or I’ll make sure you’ll never leave.”
Lyra heard this and quickly obeyed. Bon-Bon sighed in relief as Lyra’s incessant screaming is over. Lingering Will then cleared his throat which caught the attention of the duo.
“Now, let me repeat myself.” He said. “How may I be able to serve you, young maidens?”
“Uhh, letting us go?” Lyra asked, to which the stallion just laughed in reply.
“Aw, but you spent a lot of time just to get here.” The stallion said in a playful mocking tone. “It would be a waste to just do nothing now, would it?”
“Well then, what can you do?” asked Bon-Bon curiously, the fear in her eyes disappearing.
“Well now,” The stallion’s eyes widened in surprise at the mare’s sudden courage. He chuckled in reply. “I can take you to any destination you want in any given time. It can be during you could travel back to Equestria before it was united, or maybe during Tirek ruled Midnight Castle, or maybe--"
"Yeah yeah, I think I get the point here." Bon-Bon smugly interrupted, to which the stallion replied with a groan. "So I get that you can take us anywhere, but what's the catch."
“Bon-Bon, what the hay do you think you’re doing?” Lyra yelled out. Bon-Bon just winked in reply, to which Lyra settled down a bit. She has a plan... she thought.
"Like, what would it cost to go to, let’s say, Ponyville at nine in the morning?”
“Ponyville?” The stallion tilted its head for a moment, and then nodded its head. “Agreed. Ponyville at nine o'clock in the morning. For the carriage fare... one soul of a mare to accompany me to Tartarus.”
“A mare, pfft, talk about a loner?” Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow to that remark, making Lingering Will facehoof.
“Look, it’s the rules. The dark lord wants to complete his collection of bridesmaids. You think I want to do this? No. I want your soul for my own to gain power and rule the world!”
“Wow, such exposition...” Bon-Bon rolled her eyes at the stallion’s words. “Sure, fine, go ahead.”
“Wait, sure on what part? Your soul as a bridesmaid or my power”
“Any way you want. As long as Lyra goes unharmed.” Bon-Bon's offer caused the stallion to give out a toothy grin.
“Bon-Bon?! Are you crazy?” Lyra yelled out. “You’re not giving your soul to that Tartarus Spawn!”
The stallion rolled its eyes at her remark. “I’m actually not a spawn from the depths of Tartarus, I’m actually a spirit cursed to this vehicle because long ago I-“ he then realized that nopony was listening to his story as Lyra and Bon-Bon were busy conversing with each other, with Lyra’s voice echoing throughout the storagehouse. “Bah, forget it.”
“Lyra, you got us into this mess and, to be fair, you should’ve been the one to fix this, but I believe I should be the one to fix it.” Bon-Bon replied. She then turned to look at the stallion, staring him straight in the eyes. “One soul? I’ll pay once you take us there.”
The stallion stared back, squinting, trying to see if there’s any tricks this mare has to offer. What does this mare have up her sleeve? I doubt a pony could be this confident in giving their soul.
“Ummm, mister Will, sir. What would happen if, let’s say, we didn’t want to pay and don’t want any of your services?”
“You rot in here with me.”
Lyra gulped and turned to Bon-Bon. "Are you sure Bon-Bon?"
"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Bon-Bon assured Lyra, staring her straight in the face.
"Well, it's settled then! Buckle your seatbelts and--"
With a big flash, the carriage had sped up instantly, with no build up whatsoever. Lyra and Bon-Bon were instantly pushed back against the cushions of the carriage. In about five-seconds of hyper-speed carriage traveling, the carriage instantly stopped in the middle of Ponyville Town Square.
9:00 AM, Town Square, Ponyville
"-- here we are!" Lingering Will cheerfully said as he looked at the two passengers. "Looks like the both of you had a very bumpy ride."
"WHAT?" Lyra yelled out, unable to hear the Lingering Will due to the ringing in her ears.
"I said--"
"WHAT?!" Lyra, again, yelled out.
"I-- you know what? Forget it?" The stallion said, giving up on talking to the teal green unicorn. Lingering Will then walked towards Bon-Bon for a more sensible and serious conversation. "Now then, Bon-Bon was it? I do believe that I told you that there was a payment to be due through this travel? Well, where is it?"
Bon-Bon stared up at the stallion.
"WHAT?" Bon-Bon had called out. "I can't quite hear you cus' you know, ear stuff?"
"Oh for the love of Tirek, I'm tired of being level headed with you two! Your soul is mine!" in an instant, Bon-Bon's body began to grow pale. Her eyes began to roll back to her skull, then her body dropped on the carriage.
“Lyra, don’t forget the cheesecake in the oven.”
With all the remaining strength she had left to mutter that, her head then fell flat on the chassis.
She was dead.
“Cheesecake? Well, that reminds me. I gotta go celebrate my newfound freedom. Ciao, greenie.” Lingering Will laughed in a sinister fashion as Lyra’s eyes stared straight towards Bon-Bon’s lifeless body.
“Bon-Bon?”
“B-Bonnie?!” Lyra shouted as she went over to Bon-Bon’s body only for it to quickly disintegrate into just dust in the wind. “No… no no, NO!”
She quickly turned her head around to Lingering Will, only to find out that she was no longer in the carriage but rather on the ground of Ponyville square in front of Bon-Bon’s house. Not a carriage to be found.
“No! Bon-Bon?! Bon-Bon!!!” Lyra tearfully cried out as she fell on the ground, burying her head beneath her hooves. “No! This is all my fault! No no no, Bon-Bon!!!”
“Lyra?” a voice called out from behind her.
“Oh, Celestia beg mercy! I am so sorry! I’m such an idiot! Because of me, Bon-Bon’s dead!”
“Lyra…” the voice, sounding a bit more annoyed.
“I’m so in shock, it’s like I can still hear her voice!”
“LYRA!” the voice behind her screamed, startling the teal pony.
“Eep!” Lyra yelped. “S-sorry, I was jus-“
“Lyra, why are you crying in front of our house?” the familiar pony with a sweetroll mane asked. “Don’t you know that bawling your eyes out in public is kinda, y’know, embarrassing?”
Lyra’s eyes widened and she smiled greatly. “Bon-Bon!” She screamed as she hugged her tightly. “Oh my goodness, thank Celestia you’re alive!”
“Alive? I was never dead, Lyra.” She said in confusion. “Well, I will be in a few to S.M.I.L.E. HQ if don’t find out where the hay that anomaly was.”
“Anomaly?”
“Yeah. An anomaly.” She emphasized as she brought out a bulky metallic device. “And for whatever reason,” she then pointed the device at Lyra. The device began beeping loudly with lights blinking in and out from it. “The anomaly is strong around you.”
“Strange…” Lyra said, with a confused look on her face.
“Bon-Bon! There you are!” The duo looked at the source of the voice approaching them. It was Lyra… again?
“Bon-Bon! Are you ready to go to Canterlot for the—“ Lyra was unable to finish her sentence as she saw another Lyra in front of her. “What the-?!”
“L-Lyra?!” Bon-Bon shook her head at the two, confused as to what was happening.
“Bon-Bon, I can’t believe it!” Lyra said, looking shocked.
“Now now, there’s a proper explanation for all of this, Lyra.”
“You’re replacing me?!”
The duo exchanged confused looks and then looked back at the other Lyra. “Uhh, what?” The duo said in unison.
“I can’t believe you’re replacing me with another Lyra!” Lyra humphed and crossed her forearms. “And to think that we were going to go to Canterlot to explore the abandoned base together.”
“Am I really this crazy?” Other Lyra told Bon-Bon.
“Uhh, yeah…”
“Hey!” Lyra yelled.
“Right now, I’ve no clue as to why there are two Lyras.” Bon-Bon said as she put a hoof on her chin, quietly muttering to herself “Time travel possibly? Can’t be…”
Time travel? Lyra thought.
“Lyra?”
“Yeah?” The two Lyras spoke up.
“Right. Forgot about you being Lyras.” Bon-Bon quickly brought out a pair of sunglasses and hastily put them on Lyra. Which Lyra? That Lyra, from the beginning of the story. She then rustled up Lyra’s hair. “And there we go. From now on, you’ll be referred to as Anomaly Lyra.”
“Right.” Anomaly Lyra said as she adjusted her sunglasses on her muzzle. “So, what’s going on?”
“Does it look like I know?” Bon-Bon said, as she pointed the device yet again at Anomaly Lyra. “The things I could think of are Changelings, clones, time travel or holograms. However, Changelings don’t emit anomalic energy, rather they emit love energy. Clones don’t emit anomalic energy, they emit magic energy. Holograms are just mere magical reflections. That only leaves us with time travel, but only a unicorn with high magic experience could do it.”
“Unless…” Anomaly Lyra muttered.
“Unless?” Lyra said.
“Unless..!” Bon-Bon exclaimed. She then quickly brought both Lyras and herself to their house.
She then quickly shut off all blinds, locked all doors, and then pulled a lever which turned the regular living room into a secret agent laboratory.
Without a split second, the lights turned off. The room was pitch black for a brief period of time until a lamp light shone upon Anomaly Lyra. She was rope-bound to a chair in her usual upright sitting position.
“Uhh..?” The Lyras said.
“Anomaly Lyra! Did you TIME TRAVEL?!”
“I-I think?” Anomaly stuttered, unsure of her answer.
“Hmmm…” Lyra muttered. “Y’know Bon-Bon, if I were being interrogated with a lot of pressure like that, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have answers on the fly too.”
“But this is serious business! Anomalous energy if left unchecked could destroy us all! Seemingly, time travel is the only reasonable explanation as to why she has anomalous energy radiating from her!”
“I mean yeah, sure, two Lyras does sound crazy.” Anomaly said. “But is it really time travel? Maybe I’m just from some other dimension?”
“Well, it ain’t clone energy, that’s for sure. From my time studying energies at S.M.I.L.E., all points direct to that fact” Bon-Bon replied. “And also, alternate dimensions don’t create anomalies for they treat our alternate selves as separate entities. You on the other hand should not exist.”
“I shouldn’t exist?” Anomaly raised an eyebrow as she said. Bon-Bon nodded in reply to her question.
“Yes. Anomalic energy is fueled on not existing, and frankly time-travel is the only instance of something like that being present.”
“That’s weird.” The Lyras said.
“Ya think?” Bon-Bon said with an unimpressed look on her face. “Okay. Now that I discussed Advanced Energies in a nutshell, let’s go back. Tell me what happened.”
“Well, I guess I’m a bit calmer now…” Anomaly said as she cleared her throat. “It was on a Tuesday. Bon-Bon and I were going on a mystery hunt for this haunted carriage and basically it all went south from there.”
“Uh huh…” Bon-Bon skeptically nodded as she kept listening. “So, let me guess… I died?”
“Uhh… yeah.”
“Explains why I found you crying.” Bon-Bon said. “Now that I think about it, that’s kind of sweet of you Lyra that you’d actually cry if I died.”
“OF COURSE! I’m your bestest friend!” Both Lyras said in unison, to which they then looked at each other and growled.
“Alright you two, stop it.” The two Lyras took notice of Bon-Bon’s request. She then continued on with the interrogation. “Anyways, this carriage. It housed what I presumed to be a cursed spirit, right?”
“Yeah. Bon-Bon told me that before we went inside the warehouse. They possess objects, right?” Anomaly queried.
“Well, not possess, but more of “bound to an item”.” Bon-Bon said as she began to start jotting down notes on her notepad. “Next up, did the spirit have a name?”
“Lingering Will, it said.”
“Lingering Will, eh?” Bon-Bon said. Just then, her stomach began to grumble. “Oops, looks like I missed out on breakfast due to the early hunt I did finding you. I might just be forgetting something due to having an empty stomach. Anyone hungry?”
Anomaly quickly remembered something. “Isn’t there cheesecake in the oven, you could have that… or at least you told me to remember.”
“Now that’s ridiculous!” Lyra said. “Who in their right mind would store cheesecake in an ove-“
“I see…” Bon-Bon said, walking towards a pedestal with a button on it. She slammed her hoof on it and suddenly the walls began to shift and turn. What laid before the three were weapons. Such armories never seen before by the likes of the royal guard; such weaponry to surpass that of the megaspells; such magic advances that could even make Princess Twilight Sparkle scratch her head.
“What the-“ the two Lyras said in unison.
“We’re going hunting, fillies. Let’s go.”
“Wait! What about the cheesecake?” The Lyras said.
“It’s a distress code from other S.M.I.L.E. agents dealing with a Tartarus level threat.”
“A distress code?” Anomaly put a hoof to her chin and pondered on that. “That’s actually pretty smart. It’s so that Lingering Will wouldn’t know the plan. Bon-Bon knew
“Yeah, but I’m also hungry too now that you’ve mentioned it… Shouldn’t we get a bite first?” Lyra said.
“Well, I may be hungry, but remember this… Food? Later. Saving Equestria from impending danger? Now.”
“Oh, simple enough.” The Lyras said in unison.
“Now what are we waiting for!? Let’s kick some cursed flank!”
