//------------------------------// // Capture the Heir // Story: Autumn: Next Generation // by Hazel_Hester777 //------------------------------// The Antis Castle was a piece of work. It still stood in the center of the whole Hater territory. But now, due to how a barrier keeping the Fandom side safe had broken, it’s safe to assume that their territory had now increased. There were a few places of refuge still maintained by a barrier, but only barely. The Castle itself was a piece of work. It had been built of stone and gravel and stood very tall and wide. It had a huge garden surrounding it, followed by a drawbridge around a moat. Those Haters must’ve really wanted to keep their pride for all the work put up to keep it. It was being maintained by the fans and Canon Characters that they now had in captivity. One of them, who was the King, sat down on his throne as he dismissed his court of fellow Antis and servant Canon Characters after having one of them beheaded for stealing one of his tarts. He wore a robe and had a crown on his head. He had pale skin and black hair. His eyes were brown. “David Asman” his Knave called to him after he appeared to his side. He smiled at him. “Bret Baier, where have you been lurking?” The Knave Bret then took out the scroll from his side belt. “Sir, I have found the Scroll of Events” he then threw one side down to the floor across the David’s lap, holding onto the other half so it wouldn’t be taken along. “That looks rather ordinary then phenomenal” “Look here, on the Third Victory Day” he pointed to the day. David took a closer look at where he was pointing at. He wasn‘t so concerned about the photo in it. “I’d know that face of hers anywhere; it’s Autumn, isn’t it?” “I believe so. She’s come of age” “What’s she doing with my darling Jabberwocky?” “She appears to be slaying it” “She killed my Jabberwocky?” “No, not yet. But it will happen if we don’t stop her” “Find Autumn, Bret, Find her!” Autumn followed Hazel down as soon as she caught sight of her in the woods ahead. Pound and Pumpkin were arguing over which way to go when two paths were apart and were snatched up by a Phoenix made of night gust. From the looks of it, the bird was also controlled by the Antis. She had to tag along with the girl. It took some strain for her to not get annoyed at her and send her away. Autumn wondered why. This wasn’t the same Hazel her mother talked about. She was a totally different person. She knew that Lauren only met the girl as a child in the asylum, and that people tend to change a lot when they’re all grown up, but this was completely different. She was shy, quiet, protecting, always smiling or grinning and full of life. Now, she was just…angry and cold. Hazel then filled her in on the details of what happened. The barrier protecting them had broken down nearly the same time that Lauren had died. With it gone, they were soon caught by those Antis and had no time to put up a new one due to some incident. A lot of things had changed in that time span. Twilight had gone out to find Autumn, Snowdrop had been in Wonderland watching the last protected areas, and Hazel had joined the war forces and soon reached the rank of Captain due to her merciless attacks. “I better have a look at that” Hazel spoke when she noticed the scratched mark on Autumn. “What are you doing?” she sounded uneasy. “As much as I don’t really like you, I don’t want people of our kind getting hurt. And you need that to be purified or it will petrify” “I think I’ll be alright” Hazel then took out a roll of bandage. “Atleast let me bind it for you” Autumn stretched out her arm as she let the girl patch it up. She disinfected it with a little alcohol that she kept in in her pocket.She used a cotton bud and dipped it with some alcohol and gently dubbed it on the cut, making Autumn cringe a little. She glared a bit to shush her. Though Autumn could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. After that, she proceeded to wrap the cloth to avoid infections and continuous bleeding. “We best get on our way” the Pegasister spoke as she walked a bit of a distance ahead. “What way? All I want is to awake from this dream” “Oh fine!” she growled, making her flinch from her harshness. “I’ll take you Sunny Shores, Clementine Jr., and Anastasia. But that will probably be the end of it” Anastasia’s old house didn’t look the way it used to. It was a little run down, but still intact. She and her two friends were all sitting at the table put up under the now-dead tree. They looked the same, but were all a little tired. Clementine woke up groaning a bit; he slouched all over his side of the table. He had an eye patch now and had a sword buckled onto his side. He wore some camouflage gear and a gas mask was at his side. Sunny Shores then awoke, stretching and yawning from her chair. She had a mechanical eye with a laser on it. She wore a brown dress that allowed her to move freely. There was a bomb on her side belt. Anastasia then lifted her head u as she woke from her catnap. Her hat was a little torn up and her dress had some rough edges on the lace. They all looked to the other side of the table when they heard footsteps. It was Hazel, with Autumn trialing behind her. Clem stared in happy disbelief as he pointed to the arrivals. Ana then smiled as she stood from her seat and took to the air to meet with them. “Hazel Vine” she greeted the girl, which was returned with a nod in respect. “How do you do? You look tired” “Good never rests when you’re a soldier at war” Hazel spoke normally. “You’re not a soldier, you’re a Captain” Hazel rolled her eyes playfully, though she lacked her smile. “By the way, a newcomer here ran into some issue with the attacker” Autumn then looked up from Hazel. Ana then smiled brightly when she saw her. “It’s you! You have finally come!” she clapped her hooves. Hazel groaned from that. “Why does this keep happening?” “It’s not her!” Sunny spoke up. “My Mom accidentally brought us the wrong Autumn!” “It’s the wrong Autumn?!” Clementine pulled at his mane is shock, hoping it not to be true. “It’s absolutely little Autumn. You’re absolutely Autumn, I’d know you anywhere” she then turned to the others. “I’d know her anywhere!” That caused the others to laugh with Hazel rolled her eyes before she facepalmed. Anastasia then took Autumn by the hand before letting her ride on her back. Hazel took a seat and the Pegasus began to speak on her way back to her seat. “As you can see, we’re having tea. And we did so in preparation for your return. You got terribly late, you know, very naughty!” she spoke as she let her passenger sit down on a chair beside her. Clementine laughed a bit from that before looking down at his broken cup. “My cup…” “This is getting so weird” Autumn spoke as she sat down. “Yes, of course. Nothing is here is quite what it seems. And now we have to get to the Third Victory Day!” “Third Victory Day!” everyone else, except for Hazel cheered while raising a cup. Sunny then took notice of Hazel’s look. “Are you alright?” She nodded. “Just a long day” She nodded before taking up a teapot. “Your usual?” “I guess so” The Pegasus nodded. “Clem!” The colt nodded before taking up several bottles on the table and began to mix them up to create a drink. He then started to mix them in a teapot before finishing and giving it to Sunny. She then poured Hazel a cup of it. “Honey Everlasting Tea, as always, Hazel. Enjoy” she spoke. Hazel nodded. “Thank you” “I’ve been investigating things that begin with the letter M lately” Ana spoke to Lauren. “Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?” she then spoke in deep tone. “DOWN WITH THE BLOOD RED IMPOSTER!” Unfortunately, due to how her companions were saying it along with her, the girl couldn’t understand what they just said. “I’m sorry, down with the bloody what?” “Down with the Bloody Red Imposter” Hazel spoke after taking a sip of tea. “Bloody Red Imposter being Queen Faust” “Yes, thank you, Hazel. And now we must get to the slaying and such!” she clapped her hooves together. “By the way, can you atleast give me a smile, Hazel? It’s been a longtime since anyone seen you last smile!” “I’d rather not, sorry” she rolled her eyes a bit. “Our area in Wonderland is falling apart and all you could think of is me smiling again?” “Come now, Hazel. Just once, even for a second? Why, I’m sure Autumn here would love to see you smile!” “She’s not our Autumn!” the girl groaned. “You used to be far from this. You used to grin so much that we thought you carved a grin in your face!” “Just stop” Hazel took another sip from her cup. Right then, they all heard a few horses approaching. They all turned their attention to see what it was. “Oh no!” Clementine yelped before hiding behind Hazel. “Oh boy” the Captain sighed. They all knew those horses anywhere. “The Knave” Sunny whimpered. “Goodbye” the girl spoke before disappearing, leaving Clementine to go sit in his own seat. Anastasia gave Autumn a vial of the ‘Drink Me’ Potion, causing her to shrink again. She then grabbed her biggest teapot and put the girl inside to hide her. All the while, Clementine and Sunny were fixing themselves to try and look as normal as possible, ending off with sitting down and drinking tea. Ana then put the pot on her lap as she gave a normal smile. “Well if it isn’t my favorite trio of tea-drinkers” Bret mocked as he neared their table. “Would you like to join to us?” Sunny asked, peeking up from her cup. “Sunny!” Ana called to her. “I’m the one who decides who sits with us for tea!” Bret chuckled a bit at their behavior before noticing Clementine. “You’re all late for tea!” he yelled with a grin as he threw his broken cup at the Knave, who dodged and let one of the guards get hit instead. The Unicorn then laughed, enlisting the yellow Pegasus to join in the giggle fit. He then turned his attention to the Leader. “We’re looking for a girl called, Autumn” The young Pegasus just changed the topic. “Oh! Speaking of the former Queen, here’s a little song we liked to sing in her honor” she then gestured for the others to join. “Twinkle, twinkle, little bat. How I wonder where you’re at? Up above the…” Bret got impatient and grabbed her by the neck. “If you’re hiding her, you’ll lose your heads!” “Already lost them” the mare chocked out with a grin, making the others laugh and the Knave to give up. “Altogether, now!” They all then continued their song while the Knave walked past them. They started to relax, when Clem suddenly began to feel scared when something began to go under the table. It wasn’t until the song ended did a dog come up to Ana. It growled and was about to howl when the Pegasus whispered gently. “Down with the Bloody Red Imposter” That made Winona calm down, and leave her. “Would you like some tea?” Clem offered Bret, which he answered by taking a cup of tea. Winona just sped away from the scene, while Bret told the guards to go follow it ahead of him. “Sugar, Clem?” Sunny offered. “Yes, please” She obliged by throwing him two cubes of sugar, which landed directly into his cup. He smiled. “Perfect shot, Sunny” Bret spoke before drinking the tea. “You’re all mad” “Thank you for the compliment” the Unicorn giggled, making the impatient man throw the cup on the ground. It only made them laugh more. The last thing he heard before leaving was Sunny asking Clementine to pass the scones, followed by the sound of falling objects. Only when the coast was clear did Anastasia look into the teapot, before realizing the current situation the hidden girl was in. She took a small piece of cloth, and used a nearby pair of scissors to cut it into a smaller dress. Being the daughter of a dressmaker, she learned her craft really well. She then gave the small dress to Autumn, who knocked on the teacup after putting it on. Ana then took her out, complimenting on how good it looked on her. “Good thing too that Winona is not under their total control, or you’d be…” Sunny then motioned chopping her head off. “Well, what do they want with me?” Autumn asked, fear in her voice. “Isn’t it obvious?” Hazel’s voice rang out as she reappeared, this time beside Ana. “You’re Autumn Faust, daughter of Lauren Faust and thereby the rightful heir to the throne. A kingdom can’t survive without someone to rule it. If they want to make sure we lose, they have to make sure even the heir is not here” “Best you take her to Snowdrop, she’ll be safe there” Clementine suggested before staring at the broken spoon. “Clementine is right. We need to keep her safe” Hazel agreed. “Why is he acting a little nutty?” Autumn asked. “Corruption going on here really does this. It will wear off once this is all over, Sweetheart” the tired Captain explained. Autumn got confused when Hazel called her Sweetheart. She was acting so hostile to her but she called her Sweetheart? That was weird. Ana nodded before taking off her hat. “Your carriage, young Princess” he gestured to her hat. “The hat?” she asked. “Of course. Anyone could go by horse or rail, but the absolute best way to travel when you’re small and in Wonderland is by hat” “I’m coming along too” Hazel spoke up as Autumn got on Ana’s hat. “I’m not entirely convinced she’s our Autumn yet, but I want to be of help. And if those guards happen, you have an escape pod” Ana nodded with a smile as she put her hat back on with Autumn on it. Hazel then walked with her, dagger in hand just in case. Both had to dodge a broken cup thrown by Clementine before finally leaving.