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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
In From the Cold
No time to think: she shoved the window open, leaped onto the sill, and anchored her grappling hook. "I've gotta go find a crowd to blend into before I put you in danger." Turning away from the battle raging outside, she slapped on her dark glasses and refused to let her stomach clench at Lyra staring opened-mouthed. "I'll see you at the wedding," she said, the lie flowing easily from her lips. She snapped a salute, sprang backwards into empty air, and began rappelling down the side of town hall.
"Fine!" Lyra's shout echoed above her. "But we're gonna talk about this later!"
Later. The word hit her harder than any rock Lyra could've thrown. Landing, she gave a quick flick of her fetlock to dislodge the hook, and coiling the rope into her pack, she slipped between the townsponies watching the fight.
She should've known this wouldn't work, settling down, starting a life, truly coming out of the cold and into Ponyville's warm embrace. And now that it had all gone wrong again, she had nopony to blame but herself.
The bugbear's roar bristled her mane. Clenching her teeth, she wove through the crowd to the shadow of the flower shop. From there, she could make a break for the train station and be gone before the monster homed in on her scent completely.
Maybe Appleoosa needed a confectioner...
Except— She couldn't be Bon Bon anymore, could she? She stumbled, tried to jam a mental dam over the images flooding her: cutting the ribbon the day she'd opened the shop; the wonderful pre-dawn stillness of town square when she walked to work; the mingled smells of chocolate and peanut butter, marzipan and powdered sugar—
And Lyra always there, cheering her on, raising her spirits when they got low, the first pony she'd ever known who wasn't a monster hunter or an operative. Her first real friend...
Coming around a corner two blocks from the station, she screeched to a halt, everything inside her twisting. She couldn't leave! Nightmares of running from the bugbear all those years still woke her screaming sometimes!
And who was always there to comfort her in the dark?
Another monstrous shriek split the air. Folding her ears, she took a breath, spun, and galloped back toward town.
Shouts led her to the battle's new location: a meadow near the Everfree Forest. She peered out from behind a boulder to see the bugbear raging and flailing between Rainbow Dash above and Applejack below while Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy struggled with a large, glowing net. "Once we get this around it," Twilight was calling, "it'll be immobilized!"
"Yeah, sure!" Rainbow Dash dodged a swipe of the thing's claws. "Any idea how to do that?"
The bugbear froze in mid-air then and craned that horrible head around. She could almost feel it catch her scent, and its roar turned her pounding heart to stone.
No time, though: the beast was flaring its wings, breaking away from Rainbow and Applejack and tearing through the sky toward her. Ducking down, she wrenched the rope and grappling hook from her bag, rammed the hook's tines into the boulder's fissures, and let her hooves spin the rope's other end into a lasso.
"No!" she heard Twilight yell. "Don't let it back into town!"
"On it!" she thought she heard Rainbow shout, but by then the thunder of the bugbear's wings was drowning every other sound. Dust and leaves swirled her mane, but standing, she glared into the bulbous eyes that had haunted her for so long, let the rope fly, and caught the onrushing monster around the neck. The bugbear's eyes bulged even bigger; the rope zinged taut, swung the monster in an arc, and slammed it headfirst into the ground.
A flick of her fetlock undid the rope, and stuffing it into her bag, she ran for the buildings at the edge of Ponyville. "Hoo-wee!" Applejack whooped behind her. "We got it!"
Feeling lighter than she had in years, she raced through the streets for town hall. "Attention, everypony!" She leaped through the doorway and removed her dark glasses. "Our friends have done it! They've defeated the bugbear!"
And even though Lyra sat there among the cheers like a lump of unmelted sugar in a batch of fudge, Bon Bon—because she was Bon Bon, now and for the rest of her life—Bon Bon smiled. She was finally in from the cold.
"Fine!" Lyra's shout echoed above her. "But we're gonna talk about this later!"
Later. The word hit her harder than any rock Lyra could've thrown. Landing, she gave a quick flick of her fetlock to dislodge the hook, and coiling the rope into her pack, she slipped between the townsponies watching the fight.
She should've known this wouldn't work, settling down, starting a life, truly coming out of the cold and into Ponyville's warm embrace. And now that it had all gone wrong again, she had nopony to blame but herself.
The bugbear's roar bristled her mane. Clenching her teeth, she wove through the crowd to the shadow of the flower shop. From there, she could make a break for the train station and be gone before the monster homed in on her scent completely.
Maybe Appleoosa needed a confectioner...
Except— She couldn't be Bon Bon anymore, could she? She stumbled, tried to jam a mental dam over the images flooding her: cutting the ribbon the day she'd opened the shop; the wonderful pre-dawn stillness of town square when she walked to work; the mingled smells of chocolate and peanut butter, marzipan and powdered sugar—
And Lyra always there, cheering her on, raising her spirits when they got low, the first pony she'd ever known who wasn't a monster hunter or an operative. Her first real friend...
Coming around a corner two blocks from the station, she screeched to a halt, everything inside her twisting. She couldn't leave! Nightmares of running from the bugbear all those years still woke her screaming sometimes!
And who was always there to comfort her in the dark?
Another monstrous shriek split the air. Folding her ears, she took a breath, spun, and galloped back toward town.
Shouts led her to the battle's new location: a meadow near the Everfree Forest. She peered out from behind a boulder to see the bugbear raging and flailing between Rainbow Dash above and Applejack below while Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy struggled with a large, glowing net. "Once we get this around it," Twilight was calling, "it'll be immobilized!"
"Yeah, sure!" Rainbow Dash dodged a swipe of the thing's claws. "Any idea how to do that?"
The bugbear froze in mid-air then and craned that horrible head around. She could almost feel it catch her scent, and its roar turned her pounding heart to stone.
No time, though: the beast was flaring its wings, breaking away from Rainbow and Applejack and tearing through the sky toward her. Ducking down, she wrenched the rope and grappling hook from her bag, rammed the hook's tines into the boulder's fissures, and let her hooves spin the rope's other end into a lasso.
"No!" she heard Twilight yell. "Don't let it back into town!"
"On it!" she thought she heard Rainbow shout, but by then the thunder of the bugbear's wings was drowning every other sound. Dust and leaves swirled her mane, but standing, she glared into the bulbous eyes that had haunted her for so long, let the rope fly, and caught the onrushing monster around the neck. The bugbear's eyes bulged even bigger; the rope zinged taut, swung the monster in an arc, and slammed it headfirst into the ground.
A flick of her fetlock undid the rope, and stuffing it into her bag, she ran for the buildings at the edge of Ponyville. "Hoo-wee!" Applejack whooped behind her. "We got it!"
Feeling lighter than she had in years, she raced through the streets for town hall. "Attention, everypony!" She leaped through the doorway and removed her dark glasses. "Our friends have done it! They've defeated the bugbear!"
And even though Lyra sat there among the cheers like a lump of unmelted sugar in a batch of fudge, Bon Bon—because she was Bon Bon, now and for the rest of her life—Bon Bon smiled. She was finally in from the cold.