BONS BONS HOUSE

I hated wearing dresses. I’ve always had. But for tonight, I was eager to put on the black dress lying on my bed. It’s been a while since me and Lyra have gone out on any form of a date, so imagine her face when I told her we were going to this fancy expensive joint in downtown Canterlot. I never really had much of an appetite for the expensive grub, nor have I ever cared about the five-star ratings that Zesty Gourmand, a world-renowned food critic, would give to establishments. If anything, I would have been contempt with just going to the Tasty Treat, but it burnt down and Lyra was insistent that she wanted to check this new place out. I didn’t care though, as long as I was able to spend time with her. Besides, the agency was paying for it... speaking of which.

“Any new readings on any magical disturbances,” the voice from my phones speaker asked. I was in the bathroom applying mascara while I was on the phone with my... well let’s just say my boss. We’ll call him Mr. Z. The less known about him the better.

“Negative, it’s still quiet over here in Canterlot sir, there hasn’t been a single anomaly since the Fall Formal incident, well unless you don’t consider the rise of those drugs the police have been having a hard time with.”

“I don’t.” Of course he doesn’t. I think I’m getting a little too ahead of myself. I’ve been with the SMPCA (Supernatural, Mythical and Paranormal Containment Agency) for about four years now, but now that I’m legally an adult, this is my first year out on the field as an agent. So, forgive me if anything that seems odd makes me a little jumpy. The main objective of the agency was to contain all supernatural elements in this world. It may come as a shocker, but throughout history, this world has seen its fair share of magical entities and monsters, all of which have been contained at our black site, though we still don’t know much about them. It was quiet for years until a couple of months ago when an incident happened at my school during our annual Fall Formal. I won’t go into too much of the details, but we had some serious magical power unleashed by a stuck-up class mate of mine, only for her to be stopped by a girl from another dimension. I would have called it in, if I wasn’t brainwashed by her, but it seems Twilight and her friends handled the situation just fine...but still.

“I still don’t understand why we can’t just bring Sunset Shimmer in; I mean we -”

“We’ve been over this Special Agent Sweetie Drops, as of now the council prefers she remained untouched, she could be a valuable asset to humanity if anymore magical entities find their way into our dimension. Since she’s a classmate of yours, we’ve put a lot of trust into you to monitor her without any aid as you requested... but if you continue to take this personally, I will remove you from the mission. Especially if you have another outburst towards her like you did the other day, is that understood?” I could feel my fingernails dig into my palm as my fist clenched tightly.

“Yes sir...understood,” I grumbled. I really tried to remain professional about this, honestly. But Sunset Shimmer just makes me so mad. I hated her with every fiber of my being. Because of how much she hurt Lyra, because of how much she used me and played me like a fool. When I started dating Lyra, I was still in the SMPCA junior academy, training to be an undercover field agent in Canterlot. But when I met Lyra, I found another purpose. She was the one thing that felt so real in my life, I loved her so much... and Sunset ruined all of that for a while with a few photos and lies, and I believed it so easily. Me, a special agent in training believed her manipulation. Then she goes and tries to kill us all, mind controlling all of us.... controlling my Lyra. Hearing her admit to being Gabby Gums, exposing something that me and Lyra wanted to keep private sent me over the edge. Even without properly looking into her claims, I believed it, and I attacked her unprofessionally outside of the school.... I hate her, but now I don’t think she was Gabby Gums. I have my reasons for believing this.

Once Mr. X hung up on his end, I saw my phones background screen of me and Lyra at the park, and a small smile crept its way across my face. I wish I could tell her about my double life, but it’s too dangerous for her to know... and I’m not allowed too anyway. But I hope I can someday, and I hope she’ll still love me when that day comes. Once I was done putting my makeup on, I left my bathroom and entered my bedroom, staring at the dress that was spread across the bed. I was going to put it on, but my eyes darted across the room, and landed on the newspaper on top of my nightstand. The front page had a sketch of a black figure with a thick cloud of shadows surrounding it, and ghostly lifeless eyes. The headline read:

THE GHOST OF CANTERLOT DEFEATS ROBOT AT OLD CIDER PRODUCTION PLANT!

This ghost of ours is becoming quite the famous celebrity here. The first time I heard of it was from the police file about the Changeling incident. I only asked for them because Applejack, Rarity and their two little sisters were taken by those animals, and I wanted to make sure they were okay. That’s when I learned about the ghost and drugs that turned one of the gangsters into a monster. But, as he just said, Mr. X doesn’t consider it a job for us to handle. So, he told me to ignore it and let law enforcement deal with it. I didn’t tell him about the ghost though. The Mare-Do-Well as the criminals call it. Now, we’ve had reports of... well let’s call them superpowered individuals, before. A fellow agent reported a flying person who went by ‘The Masked Matter-horn' out in New York. Another agent reported a costumed individual that went by ‘Zapp’ who could create storms out in Las Vegas. But I have a hunch that this ghost isn’t supernatural at all, but just some lunatic in a costume. Rolling my eyes, I looked back to the dress and began to put it on.

DOWNTOWN CANTERLOT

“This place better be worth it Lyra, that’s all I’m saying. I can’t stand walking in these heels,” I grumbled. I swear, we must’ve stopped like three times on the way just so I could readjust my black high heels, it felt like walking on a toothpick that was jammed into my heel. I don’t know how some of my coworkers are able to operate in heels, it’s a real pain in the ass. Still, the entire time Lyra had her arm around mine, leaning into my shoulder as we walked in unison down the street, really taking in the atmosphere that was downtown Canterlot.

“It will be Bon Bon, just relax and try to enjoy yourself for once, it’s a beautiful Saturday night after all,” she said while giving me a light peck on the cheek. The gesture did calm me down a bit, but walking through this city always has me on edge. Even taking the bus straight to the main district, passing the bottom slums of the maze of alleyways down below, this place was still like a jungle from hell. Even coming onto the nicer areas, we passed homeless junkies spasming out on the sidewalk, hookers trying to sell us a deal for a couples special and the occasional crowd of hoodlum's cat calling us. The entire time Lyra still wore her happy smile, but I could feel her fingers tightening around my arm. It never used to be this bad, but slowly the entirety of downtown was becoming a crime hotspot; I was even debating just going somewhere else in the suburbs shopping area where most of us go to now. But Lyra was pretty adamant about coming, she says she doesn’t get to see the city life that often... but after the fifth group of sketchy guys we came across, I think she was starting to understand why.

“Let's take a short cut, I don’t like how that group is staring at us,” I said, leading Lyra into a nearby alley. In hindsight it was probably a stupid idea, but the large group of guys blocking the sidewalk just made me uneasy. Lyra didn’t object.

“Seriously Bon, you have to lighten up, not everyone in the city is a deranged lunatic.” Of course she was right, but I’ve seen enough of the crime that plagues the city to be on edge about the whole thing... I’d rather deal with another Sunset Shimmer then a group like the Changelings or the Griffons.

“You’re right, schools just been stressing me out lately,” I said, narrowly avoiding a stray cat that ran past us.

“Is it still about the paper? Bon Bon, we’ve moved past it, the whole school has done nothing but support us after the Gabby Gums incident, it’s okay babe,” Lyra said, wrapping her other arm around mine and snuggling closer.

“I know... but... you think Sunset actually did it?” This caused Lyra to stop in her tracks, halting me as well. Her face was puzzled for a moment, but that smile I fell in love with quickly returned.

“Wow, out of all the people to give her the benefit of the doubt, you’re not someone I’d suspect. Especially since you were pretty hellbent on tearing her a new one that day.”

“Trust me, I still hate her... but after having a moment to calm down, the whole thing just doesn’t make sense. I mean, we’ve put up with her antics for more than two years... something about this one just doesn’t seem right.” Lyra put her finger on my lips to shush my ramblings, staring at me with half lidded eyes.

“Babe, don’t worry about it for tonight. She comes back to school on Monday, you can worry about her then. For now, let’s just enjoy the weekend,” she said, trying to comfort me. Only she could pull off such a feat. I take a breather and grab her hand, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Yeah, you’re right. Come on, let’s go -” I snapped into focus by the sound of a bottle rolling down the alley. Looking behind us, my heart dropped. “Lyra stay behind me,” I said, pulling her around me as I stood between her and the group of guys we avoided on the street.

“Oh no...” she muttered, holding my arm tightly. Even without her pressing up against me, I could feel her heartbeat quicken. There were five of them, blocking the way we had come through. I couldn’t make out their faces since they were wearing ski masks and bandanas, some had on hoodies, while others wore nothing but plain t-shirts and tank tops. All of them were armed with some sort of weapon though. Two of them wielded metal chains, one had a hunting knife, another had a pipe. But the guy in the center had me concerned the most. He was clutching the handle of what looked to be a revolver tucked into the front of his sagging pants.

“Lyra, just run and don’t look... back.” Turning around however, fear began to wash over me like a cold shower when we saw three more armed individuals behind us, blocking the exit to the alley. Our attention then shifted to the adjacent alleyway to our right, were two more guys emerged from its black void. We were now surrounded by ten of them. I felt around in my purse, cursing to myself as I remembered I left my issued pistol at home. Stupid of me. I didn’t know what to do, but all I could do was keep Lyra as close to me as possible. My training only allowed me to fight one, maybe two grown men. But ten? I was starting to panic, and Lyra's heavy breathing wasn’t helping.

“Guess it’s our lucky night boys. Two fucking broads got trapped in our web. Let’s try not to kill them before we’re done like what happened last time,” the one with the gun said, his voice sounded broken, as if he were trying to cough out built up mucus.

“Whatever, I want the bitch with the green hair. She’s mine first,” said another guy behind us.

“YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER YOU PIGS!” I shouted, but my threat was only met with their howls of laughter.

“Ya know, for a fucking carpet muncher she’s got some balls,” one of them mocked.

“Yeah... let’s change that. I’ll take her personally. Who knows, maybe before I put a fucking hole through her heart, she’ll enjoy being on the other team.” The group began to get closer and closer to us, backing us up into the wall. I stood in front of Lyra, at this point she had her eyes closed, sobbing and praying into my back, but I wasn’t holding out any better either. I was scared, shaking even. This was my first time dealing with some kind of threat out in the field, and it wasn’t for any mythical, magical or paranormal monsters either. It was a group of normal people driven to a point of madness with no return. Their crazed eyes were enough to break me, to break my spirit. At that moment I knew I was going to die right here. I was going to watch them do unspeakable horrors to my Lyra, and to me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

SMACK

I was so lost in the hopelessness of it all that I didn’t even feel the back handed slap that was smacked across my cheek, fumbling me to the ground. Lyra screamed as she tried to rush over to me, but two of them were already on top of her, throwing her into the ground and wrestling with her arms and legs. I tried to get back up, but the side of my face was met with the heel of a foot, digging my head into the wet ground. I could feel my hands being restrained, and the back of my dress violently being ripped off. The entire time I watched helplessly as a group of them surrounded Lyra, two of them were also trying to violently rip her clothes off, but she continued to struggle.

“STOP IT! GET OFF OF ME, NO BON BON PLEASE!” She shouted. God knows I was trying to get up, but I had a crowd around me as well, forcing me to stay on the ground. The world began to get blurry from that point, and Lyra’s screams were all that I could focus on as tears started to escape from my eyes... but that’s when it came down. I didn’t even see it, but I felt the foot over my head lift off, and I saw its owner being pummeled into the ground by it. The Ghost of Canterlot, the Mare-Do-Well as they call it, was on top of the man's screaming body, beating him down viciously. I couldn’t even make it out as a person, it was like a giant shadow moving with the darkness, controlling it to its will. I couldn’t even register what I was seeing before the shadow was already off my assailant and on top of one of Lyra’s. The man who was ripping her dress off was now backing away in terror, stumbling as he tried to lift his pants back up, but the ghost was already on top of him too, bashing his head repeatedly against the nearby dumpster, rats and roaches scattered from underneath it with each slam. Lyra was now sobbing in the corner trying to hold her dress up, horrified as she watched the ghost jump from one guy to the other. The thugs, like us couldn’t even process what was happening, all of them were stumbling to grab their weapons or to just stand up, all as the ghost continued to pound them into the ground one by one. When it beat the daylights out of the fifth thug, one finally shouted, “IT’S THE FUCKING GHOST MAN. IT’S FUCKING REAL!” As if they finally realized what was attacking them.

The ghost leaped at that guy next, getting him onto his stomach while holding his left arm. It was so fast that I couldn’t even tell how it did such a feat, but the guy's arm was then twisted in the opposite direction, a loud crack echoed through the alley followed by his howls of pain. But his screams were cut short as the ghost slammed his face into the pavement with its foot, scattering teeth all over the floor. Just like that, it was already leaping towards the next assailant, the cloud of darkness that embodied it looked like some kind of demonic wings, dazing anything that got close to it. One guy did have the courage to strike at it, swinging his metal pipe at whatever he could see of the ghost, but the pipe swung right through its shadowy wings, and the ghost grabbed the guy by the throat and pulled him into its shadow. Once it was done with him, it jumped at the last two guys, leaving a bloodied mess of a body under its void.

At this point I was crawling to Lyra, ignoring the screams and groans of agony all around me. Once I got to her, I held her tightly, crawling up into a ball with her in the corner as we watched the ghost beat thug after thug. Finally, it came down to the last guy, the one with the gun. He was on his ass, his face full of fright as he was stumbling to get his gun out of his pants. Meanwhile the Mare-Do-Well just stood over him, still as a statue as it watched him like a harbinger of death. The only details of it I could make out were those blue, emotionless eyes. Eyes that looked like they could stare daggers into your soul.

Eventually the man was able to pull the gun out, but the ghost quickly grabbed his hand, crushing his fingers between the guns handles and its own palm. The man yelled in agony as we heard his fingers pop and dislocate, and soon the gun was out of his hand and thrown across the alley. That’s when the ghost spoke.

“Hello Max. You’re supposed to be on probation. I have some questions to ask you,” it said, speaking directly to the cowering man. It’s voice, like it’s entire demeanor, was so cold and lifeless. A voice that would give me nightmares. It was quiet, a little raspy and it carried hell with it. The man, Max as he was called, raised his one good hand into the air with a face trying to convince anybody looking at him that he was innocent.

“Hey man, honest to God I was just about to go see my parole officer. I ain’t fucking do anything – AHHH." The Mare-Do-Well grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and slowly began dragging him towards the adjacent alley next to us. But before it did, it stopped and looked over to me and Lyra, and with a voice that still carried that deathly whisper, it spoke in such a caring manner that I just wanted to cry into its arms.

“It’s okay. You girls are safe now. Police will be here any second.” With that, it disappeared into the darkness of the alley, dragging a screaming and kicking Max with it. Eventually his screams disappeared as well, leaving both me and Lyra sobbing into one another with a floor littered with beaten and broken thugs. Not more than five seconds later, the sirens of police cruisers filled the air, and the first black and white pulled into the alley, two cops exited with their guns drawn.

“Alright, alright, what the fuck is going on here?” said one of the officers, but stopped when he saw me and Lyra balled up together. “Ah shit, hey, call medical to get an ambulance out here,” he said to his partner. He rushed up to us and knelt beside Lyra, who was still shivering and sobbing into my arm. But I was still staring into that alley, my mouth hung wide open from shock at what I just saw. The officer was trying to ask me something, but my attention was entirely focused on that alley.

The Ghost of Canterlot, the Mare-Do-Well... our hero. Perhaps it isn’t just some lunatic in a costume.

Author's Note

Yeaaaah, I really did want to incorporate the Bon Bon revelation from the Slice of Life episode into this fic. Please don't hate me