//------------------------------// // Chapter 59 - Seven Impossible Things, Pt. 2 // Story: The Pony Dreadfuls // by No one is home //------------------------------// -=-=-=-=- What is gone -=-=-=-=- "Mom! Uncle Train Wreck is sulking again! He tastes funny!” The little pink changeling stomped into the the Kitchen of Just Deserts wearing a scowl. “Train Wreck… has trouble with being happy, honey.” The green earth pony known as Surprised smiled sadly at her adopted changeling daughter. “And you know you're not supposed to feed without asking first, Diane, especially from Uncle Train Wreck.” “But he loves me! So it’s not like I’m stealing love!” The little filly argued before flopping on her haunches in a sulk. “Nopony ever skolds Z! Charlie loved her, you know! He loved her more than he ever loved either of us! I saw his dream!” “I’m not going to listen to you if you’re going to be a big fat meanie, Diane.” Surprise glared at her daughter. “And if you knew Charlie as well as you thought you did, then you would know that Train Wreck isn’t him. -=-=-=-=- Present Day… Present Time… -=-=-=-=- Diane scowled at the pale mare across from her. “You don’t really think I would would betray my sister just because of some stupid hat, do you?” “It’s an impossible thing to expect, I’m sure.” Scarlet Hearts smiled coyly. “But the Crown of the White Queen specializes in making the impossible a reality.” “You can do the impossible?” Diane’s boredom suddenly disappeared. “If you can bring back the dead… maybe we might have a deal…” “An impossible bargain?” The headmistress smiled thinly. “The crown is clever in it’s own way. I expend a second task to secure the first… Still, with your equicidal sibling back in custody perhaps I can sleep soundly again.” // You are a fool Scarlet Hearts. The pale mare and and the mad queen suddenly stood in a black expanse of nothingness. “The Text.” Diane’s grin split her face from ear to pointed ear. “I’ve heard so much about you…” // Are you here for revenge? Even the Ivory Crown won’t help you prevail against me. I am the narrative itself, the embodiment of your story. And besides, the crown isn’t yours to command. “You want to find Thirteen before she gets bored and plays ‘doctor surgeon’ in your sleep?” Diane scowled at the mare who was supposedly in control. “Make the Text bring him back!” // Is THAT all you wanted? -=-=-=-=- // Where do you want to go? Kai glared at the untitled message, before typing angrily. “Dammit David, this is not a funny joke right now. I’m on a crowded unairconditioned bus halfway to Upstate New York.” // What do you want? “Aside from a stable life?” The overheated human rolled his eyes as he typed. “How about my damn niece back? Think, you can hook that up? I didn’t think so?” //What are you willing to pay? “This isn’t funny, David.” The man scowled as he typed. “You know damn well I’m upset about that…” “Aw, shit!” The human exclaimed, before falling backwards on the floor. “C-charlie?!?!” Diane grinned past freshly forming tears. “Is it really you? Y-you were dead!” “What in the name of fuck?” The mohawked humans response was as eloquent as it was credulous. “Welcome to Celestia’s School for Special Foals, human.” A pale, gaunt mare with a matching crimson mane and tale smiled thinly. “Of course that means you’ll have to get used to a few… changes.” The headmistress horn glowed, eliciting a scream from the middle aged human as bones cracked and flesh was rendered into new forms. “Stop it! You’re hurting him!” Diane screamed, struggling against her restraints. “Charlie! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for…” “Quiet now little filly.” Scarlet chuckled darkly. “We had a deal. I bring him back for you, and you sing a little song for me. Where is your sister hiding?” “I… I can’t… I don’t know…” Diane stammered as the former human writhed in agony. “Come now, it’s not the end of the world. I can be very reasonable.” Scarlet gestured off-handedly with a stray hoof. “We ARE civilized here, after all. I’ll have Alice recaptured soon enough. And I WILL find your sister, with or without your help. I can have her back in her classes by dinner, chatting it up with her chubby little friend Gale.” A new wave of screams emerged as the newly formed colt sprouted a pair of feathered wings in a violent flurry of action. Still Scarlet Hearts continued her monologue. “With the crown's power I can keep you locked away forever… in fact I intend to. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a sweet little colt to talk to in solitary confinement? Something to make it… less solitary…” “Thirteen trusts me!” Diane bawled, openly heartbroken. “I can’t betray her! I can’t!” “Well, perhaps a little filly then, her little blue mind cleared of any nasty memories of her horrible ideal.” Scarlet smiled with a shrug. “The poor thing might be better off without you anyway.” The blue colt, spun around in horror, his body forcefully taken, as the terrible mare threatened to take even more. “This can’t be happening! I’m on a bus! I’m going to Upstate New York to see my friend! This is a nightmare!” “The stray cat.” Diane nearly whispered as she bowed her head in shame. “The big fuzzy orange cat that hangs around the kitchen and smiles all the time. That her. That’s Thirteen.” “I had no idea she could keep that much control of her size.” Scarlet smiled warmly. “She’s been learning a thing or two from our dear sweet Alice. Orderlies! Please escort these two dear friends to one of our more… comfortable dormitories. They will be bunk mates, but otherwise held in solitary confinement for the foreseeable future. After that, you will accompany me to the kitchen. We have a strict no pets policy at the school.” -=-=-=-=- “Who… what are you?” The blue pegasus sat calmly not even bothering to struggle against his restraints. “Charlie! It’s me! Diane!” The little changeling cried in a corner behind your muzzle. “Don’t you remember me?” “It’s a dream, that’s the only explanation. I fell asleep on the bus and I’m dreaming that I fell into my own damn story.” The former human rambled on. “I dreamed I was stuck in some kind of damned horse asylum and I’m locked in a padded room with my OC waifu and I’m going to wake up and I’m gonna tell David about it and we’re gonna laugh and then Sprite's gonna pick me up in Syracuse.” “Charlie! Stop talking like that! This isn’t a dream!” Diane broke down into incoherent sobs. -=-=-=-=- “Well, you’ve been a naughty little kitty.” Scarlet Hearts crept up on the cornered feline. “Come along now. You’re friends miss you. Wouldn’t you like to have your visiting privileges back?” The cat hissed in response, seeming to stare past the confident headmistress. “Come now. Your own sister told me how to find you. Can you believe it? Don’t be to hard on her, with the Ivory Crown it’s impossible for me to lose.” Scarlet Hearts didn't see the telltale smile that formed behind her, floating mirthfully in thin air. A white mare with a blonde mane suddenly appeared in the warped reflection of a cooking pot. The young fillies voice echoed across the mare’s mind. “You just said the magic words. Thirteen, show the Red Queen the new game I taught you…” “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”