//------------------------------// // Dreadful Little Ponies - The Return of the Queen // Story: Strange Reflections // by No one is home //------------------------------// -=-Manehattan, Present Day, Present Time-=- “W-where am I?”  The frightened pink filly was barely recognizable as a changeling.  The basic shape was there, but she was covered in wickedly barbed spines, and her mouth split her skull like a Nightmare Night jack-o-lantern, full of rows of shark like teeth. “Welcome back, Diane,”  Fetlock said as she absently bew a strand on blue and black mane from her face, “your sister’s have missed you very much.” “M-my name’s Debbie!”  The little changeling ran in a quick panicked circle.  “It was only supposed to be a game!  I want to go home now!” “We’re gonna take you home, don’t worry.”  A pair of changelings face her, one blue, and one red, each bearing the bloated head of a fly.  The blue one spoke rapid and confident words of encouragement.  “Wow, you look just like you did before you killed dad!” “W-wait… killed?!?!”  The little changelings eyes went wide, pupils dilated in panic. “I want to go home!  I want to see my parents!” “Like Blue done said,” the read changeling replied with a drawl, “We’re gonna take ya back home.  As far as our folks are concerned… don’t worry, dad got better.”  Perhaps with a note of bitterness she continued, “Like he always does, Ah recon.” “I… don’t understand… I’m not… this!”  The filly was sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m a human girl!  I have parents!  I have real human parents!  My name isn’t Diane!  It’s Debbie!” “Those damned ponies done filled yer head with nonsense while you was in Tartarus!”  Red stamped an angry hole-pocked hoof.  “Stupid dreams of human families!  Giving you some stupid made-up name!  Well don’t you worry none.  Nopony can ever name you in the shadow hive.  I reckon yer the one who taught us that.” -=-Canterlot, A Long Time Ago-=- “Switch shift!”  The sobbing changeling pulled her sister’s limp form into the relative safety of the alley’s waiting shadows.  “Wake up!  Please, you have to wake up!” “Swing Shift!” The grief ridden changeling looked up in time to feel her sisters hoof connect with her jaw. “We were supposed to stay with the escorts!  YOU caused this!” “Night Shift!”  A kinder voice interrupted.  “The escorts are gone!  Everyling is fighting!  We have to find shelter!” The assembled changelings scuttled into a waiting storm drain, but Swing Shift was shoved harshly aside.  She could barely hear her sister, Night’s words over the sound of her own sobs.  “Not you!  You were supposed to be better!  You got Switch Shift killed!  From now on, I’LL protect our sisters!  You can just run away and rot in a hole!” “You did a bad thing sis…”  Graveyard Shift, still wearing the form of Pinkie Pie couldn’t even meet her sister’s eyes as she slunk away to safety. -=-Ponyvale, Present Day, Present Time-=- “And if you look to your left, you will see ‘Discord’s Hole’ one of the famous Seven Gates of Tartarus,” the light tan earth pony tour guide droned on in a bored monotone, “This entrance was actually discovered after the Great Nightmare Night School fire that destroyed Celestia’s School for Special Foals.  Seven pony lives were tragically lost in the blaze including…” “Are you sure this tour was a good idea, Hondo?”  Cookie Crumbles asked her husband as the tour guide droned on.  “I had no idea the history of this town was so… well… terrible.  Do you think it might be too much for little Sweetie?” “Wow!”  Sweetie Belle gushed, eyes a’sparkle.  “This is the coolest ‘educational’ tour EVER!” “Oh my Celestia!”  A pony in the tour group shouted.  “What are those foals doing over there!” “It’s the ghosts of the lost students returning to take their revenge!”  A flowery mare panicked.  “The horror!  The HORROR!” “Wow!”  Sweetie Belle pranced with excitement.  “History is coming alive!” Meanwhile in the hole in question two pony foals climbed carefully over the jagged rocks.  The larger, a sky blue pegasus cot with a bright cyan mane looked to his companion, a red and pink unicorn filly and remarked dryly, “Okay, Diane… that was pretty fucked up… like one hundred percent of all of it.  Just remember, from here on out out I’m Dayglow Neon and your…” The filly only took a moment to respond to her companions prompting, tossing her straight, pink mane out of her eyes and smiling broadly.  “I’m Strawberry Shortbread!  Jeez, Charlie, ONE of us has experience pretending to be ponies.  And I’m your cousin… your second cousin!  And we’re about the same age, so it’s totally not weird for me to have a crush on you!” “It’s still weird Diane.”  The colt rolled his eyes.  “It will ALWAYS be weird!” “Hey!”  The pairs bickering was interrupted by the flustered tour guide.  “Get away from there!  That hole leads straight to Tartarus!  It’s dangerous!” “Really?”  Dayglow rolled his eyes.  “You don’t say?” “Where are your parents?”  The tour guide pressed.  “You two are in a lot of trouble!” “You don’t know the half of it…”  The colt sighed only to be interrupted by the unicorn filly. “We don’t have parents, we’re orphans.”  The filly admitted, eyes as big as saucers.  Noting her friends skeptical look she quickly rolled said eyes and sarcastically continued, “What Dayglow?  We ARE orphans.  Both are parents are as dead as the theory that the sun goes around Equus.  Honestly, I didn’t think it would be a sore spot at this point!” “Just what’s going on here?”  Hondo Flanks pushed his way into the conversation.  “I thought this was a family friendly historical tour!  How did these foals get so close to a gate to Tartarus for Celestia’s sake!  Don’t you ponies have safety measures!” “It’s our fault really, sir,”  Strawberry explained, “My cousin and I were on our way Ponyville to find our aunt, and I just thought it would be SO cool to see the gate up close!  They say you can actually see Tirek if you look close enough…” “You can see Tirek???”  Sweetie Belle rushed over to the hole, only to be blocked by Dayglow. “No!  No, you can’t see Tirek, and trust me, Tartarus smells like feet and tacos.” The colt proclaimed with authority. “You were going to Ponyville?”  Cookie Crumbles cut in. “Yes, miss, you see, we’re orphans, and Aunt Pinkie Pie is the last family we have left!”  Strawberry pleaded. “We HAVE to take them back with us!”  Sweetie Belle insisted.  “It’ll be that thing Rarity likes so much...generosity!” “‘Aunt Pinkie Pie’?”  Dayglow raised an eyebrow. “What, technically she IS my aunt by adoption,” Strawberry argued in a hushed whisper, “Besides, I just got us a ride, do you have a better plan?”