//------------------------------// // Chapter 42 - Time For Some Payback... // Story: The Pony Dreadfuls // by No one is home //------------------------------// “HELL-Oh, ‘Fancy Pants’” Diane grinned as she strutted forward. “I…” The seeming unicorn’s voice dried in his mouth. “Carrot Plate.” Sketch’s voice was cold. “Does the name mean anything to you?” “How about Day Shift?” Diane Cooed. “She was a fellow changeling.” “Guards!” The changeling screamed helplessly. “Oh don’t worry, your guards are perfectly safe. We would never hurt innocent drones” Diane grinned widely. “But it’s nice that you thought about them.” The changeling slammed against an alley wall to find himself pinned in Sketch’s telekinetic grasp “I won’t lie. You’re just not going to pull through. The nopony is dead. But you know that, don’t you. We want the bomb maker. If you tell us where he is, we’ll make it painless…” Diane’s smile was positively toxic. -=-=-=-=- “Don’t worry Anon,” Velvet Hammer reassured her wheelchair bound human companion as she nuzzled his masked cheek, “Iam used a drone to actually plant the bombs. The drone was caught, and you're just a human in a mask. All we have to do is hide out here until this stupid invasion blows over.” “They’re going to figure out that we worked with him!” Anon protested in a panic. “And they’re going to connect me with Gold Brick! I’m not going back to jail, Velvet!” “It’s going to be fine. Just take off your mask, and you're just some crippled human.” The earth pony mare reassured her lover. “Without the mask, you're just a human. You could even use your real name. Jack and Velvet, it has a nice ring to it. Remember, Iam had me preaching in the streets that the changelings were all monsters. Why would anypony believe ever believe that we had anything to do with the changeling plot?” “Oh, I don’t know, human with no feet in a wheelchair maybe?” Jack grumbled. “So what if they do? We’re victims here. It’s not like the Nopony ever actually gave us any choice.” The mare spoke in soothing tones, calming the panicked human. “We just have to stick together. It’s me and you. Always.” “You’re the victims.” A sickeningly sweet voice echoed through the chamber. “Well that’s rich, wouldn’t you say, Sketch?” “W-who’s there?” Jack/Anon spun his wheelchair in a rapid circle. “All those young ponies at the university in Baltimare.” Charcoal flew over paper, and a photo-quality picture was suddenly thrust in the human’s face, portraying an image of a young, timid Carrot Plate. “It was easy, I’ll bet. Pretending it wasn’t your fault.” A second page was rapidly produced, this one portraying a pretty changeling filly with her skull caved into an unnatural shape. “It’s easy when you don’t have to see the aftermath. When you don’t have to live with the nightmares of the pictures you can never unsee!” “What should we do Sketch?” Diane rubbed against the unicorn like cat. “I- I never killed anyone!” Anon protested. “Please!” Velvet sobbed, seeing the end that the path she chose come into view. “It was Iam Noone! He made us do it! You don’t know what he’s like, you…” “That as the wrong thing to say.” Diane replied coolly. Her tones became soothing as she nuzzled into Velvet Hammer. “Whatever abuse he threw on you, he didn’t just lock you in a room in a basement and throw you ponies to torture, did he? You could have escaped. He’s dead, and we still found you here. Making excuses for why you serve him. I’ve seen you on the streets, preaching his hate. He trusted you to walk free. And you never ran away.” “I can’t just leave Anon! Look at what the Nopony did to him!” Velvet protested. “And the changeling in Baltimare wore his form! He can’t be seen on the streets! It’s not our fault.” “What are we going to to do?” The yellow unicorn cast the younger changeling a grim look. “They said it themselves. They never killed anypony. Tirek in Tartarus, these two are more innocent than me, the way they tell it!” Diane smiled. “They just want to hide their shame.” “I know a spell. It seals a door.” Sketch nodded. “It’s a rarely used maintenance room in the Canterlot sewers. They won’t be found for months.” “Y-you can’t just seal us down here!” Anon protested. “We don’t have anything to eat, we’ll starve!” “You still each other.” Diane cooed soothingly as Sketch sealed the door behind them. -=-=-=-=- “I’m not ready for this, your majesty.” Sketch shuffled at the door of her family home. “Nonsense, Sketch.” The young queen nuzzled the reluctant unicorn. “This reunion is long overdue.” “I- I left her with him…” Sketch protested frantically. “I ran away, and I left her here… and now she’s…” “He deserves to pay.” Diane hissed. “Sometimes we can’t protect our sisters from the world. Sometimes the world takes from us. That’s why we exist. We take back from the world.” The doors of the Plate mansion splintered in a burst of Diane’s magic. “Ooohh Gold Plate, somepony’s here to see you!” “Can’t you just leave me to rot in peace!” An older unicorn looked up with disinterest. “I wasn’t even worth replacing!” “Wow, Carrot wasn’t lying, Uncle Train Wreck really did a number on this place.” Diane laughed as she walked into the once opulent living space. Unfinished repairs scarred what was once an elegant entry way. “Hello, father.” Sketch fought back her tears as she entered. “It should make me happy to see you reduced to this, but it doesn’t.” “I… deserve this, I suppose.” The noble sighed as he set his table, preparing a pot of hot tea. “I’ve lived a poor life in a rich house. I won’t deny my crimes. Will you kill your mother too?” Sketch stepped back, as Gold Plate continued. “She was as willing as I to sell you both for favor. For what it’s worth our family would have thrived had I succeeded. My only regret is failure.” “Look at him… Diane, I can’t do it.” Sketch turned her head. “He’s already broken. He wants this. He wants us to end his shame, he’s been waiting for this moment." “She left me, you know.” Gold Plate rambled on, obliviously. “Your mother I mean. It’s funny really. After everything I did, and after everything she turned a blind eye to… I always knew you would come back one day, to drag me down into Tartarus. I think I’m ready now.” “This… feels… empty.” Sketch shook her head. “I came here to face a demon… not to murder an old, broken, and useless stallion.” “Remember what he did to you.” Diane hissed. “Remember what he did to Carrot.” “When you ran away, I had to find… other ways to advance our family.” Gold Plate sighed absently as he poured his tea. “For generations we Plates had climbed the social ladder in Canterlot through marriages of convenience. I broke that chain when I married your mother Digger. It was my responsibility to correct my mistake, to…” “NO!” Sketch shouted. “You don’t get to put any kind of noble facade in front of your perversions! I was there, I know what you did, father. It had nothing to do with social climbing or any kind of intrigue. This house has fallen. There will be no Plate family named in any history book.” With a flash of magic, silken curtains ignited in flame. “It’s time to leave, your majesty” “What about Gold Plate?” Diane snarled, not quite satisfied. “The Unspoken Prince has broken his power. He can burn with what’s left of his legacy, or he can wander the streets of Canterlot as a worthless and nameless beggar. I don’t care which.” Sketch marched out the doors without further comment. “You raised your daughter with more mercy in you heart than my father did.” Diane sneered at the old stallion as she left. “Is that what you believe this is young one? Mercy?” The noble calmly sipped his tea as the House of Plate burned around him.