String Play had resigned to sitting near the entrance to the Prize Corner for the time being. This was a game about tag, with a twist, right? She was supposed to be scary, and the scariest way she could imagine being was to bide her time wisely and leap when the boy least expected it. So she waited patiently. A red blur darted past her- most definitely Ruby Risk- and before she knew it he had galloped up to her.
He cleared his throat as she turned her attention to him, expecting a greeting. A cough and tap on his throat later, and he began to speak in the most cliche pirate accent ever achieved by a high pitched foal. "Y-Yar, matey! Still haven' lef' yet?"
String Play couldn't help herself and let out a giggle. Ruby Risk wasn't sure whether to be thankful or offended.
"Nope! I think Badge Gleam is gonna be super nervous at first, and everyone is else is probably gonna try to get him right away, right?" she explained, and Ruby Risk nodded along. "Well, he's probably gonna get so focused on them that he forgets I'm playing! Hopefully." she added with a deflating laugh. Ruby tapped his chin in thought for a second, and then brightened.
"Yeah, yeah I see what you mean! You know- I mean, ye know we ne'er explained it to ya, but we all got our quirks in the game. Badge has ta hide under a table, cause we can't go into the party hall when our friend's not 'ere, so we all agreed ta attack on differen' sides, and come after 'em different an' stuff. C'mon, I'll show ye!" his pirate impersonation as thick as he could make it, he led String Play towards the bunch of tables. Because of his excitement, she let him drag her along, his little bat wings flapping wildly.
"Oh! You said you have different ways of getting Badge Gleam, do you like... Fly or something?"
This seemed to hit a nerve in Ruby, but he tried not to show it. Irritation leaked into his voice slightly, however.
"Nah. I don' need these lil' flappers! They... They ain' any help anyways." his head hung downwards slightly, and String Play immediately regretting asking.
"O-Oh, hey, I'm sure they'll grow big one day, and then you can fly wherever you want!" she chipped optimistically.
"No, it ain't gonna happen. I... I-"
"Hey, it's fine. You don't need wings, you're cool on your own!" String Play interrupted Ruby. He gave her a crooked smile as they finally reached the set of tables. Badge immediately swiped a hoof out from underneath a table and flashed Ruby with a bright light- he ignored the colt and went on explaining the set up of the game.
"Ye see here, lass, tha' land lubber needs ta be caught!" he pointed to the colt, winked at String Play, and dashed off as he was flashed again. The black filly stayed for a moment longer before nodding and trotting back to the Prize Corner. She had been caught, after all. It seemed like an odd game to play, but... She could see the logic behind it. It was actually awfully familiar to another game(?) she was familiar with, but the name of it escaped her.
She sat in the Prize corner for a good five minutes before Twilight trotted up to her, a look of concern plastered onto her purple face.
"H-Hey, are you alright? You've just been... Standing there." she nudged the small filly, who brightened up immediately.
"Oh! Yeah, I'm playing a game of tag, but I gotta make sure Badge Gleam doesn't think I'll come! Or, something like that. Sorry I haven't found Cherry Doll yet..." they scuffed the ground with a tiny hoof. The purple unicorn simply shrugged it off.
"It's fine! No worries, really. I'm just glad you're having fun!" she smiled brightly, and then noticed the puppet. She glanced between String Play and the Puppet several times.
"So, Stringy... Are you related to this? I thought you hated puppets." she recalled, noticing the obvious similarities. Especially in the eyes, which Twilight regretted to admit she kept avoiding to look at.
"Nope! I don't remember, Liz's dad made them, so maybe this one was based off me, but... I don't think so."
Twilight jotted down more notes into her small book. "Well then, another thing to ask about when we find your friend. Oh, and hey, don't worry about looking for her, okay?" the unicorn placed a hoof onto the filly's shoulder, "she might not even be here today. And since you're with me you'll be fine, no matter what."
"Thanks, Twilight." String Play responded softly. For some unknown reason she felt the sting of tears blotting her eyesight, but she managed to keep it back. It was just a nice gesture, surely she got plenty of those all the time! Twilight seemed content with the conversation and wondered past String Play to see the puppet up close. Considering the time spent, the filly decided this had been enough of a wait and grinned at Ruby as he paced back towards his "stage", or the opening of Mangle's cove. She had this, a game like this couldn't be hard. She knew she'd never played tag like this before, yet the rules of the game seemed so... Natural.
She stayed hidden behind most ponies, and if she turned her head the white splotch on her face was invisible to Badge Gleam. He was scampering to different tables, furiously shining the light on the likes of Lyric and Bright, who squealed as they rushed away.
Good. His attention was directed completely away from String Play. That would make things easy... She wove in and out of the parents, her hooves tapping against the cool tile floor silently. She quivered with anticipation- why was she so excited? A familiar tune began to faintly flow into her ears- she recognized it as the tune from the Prize Corner. So elegant and haunting... She snapped back into reality. What was that?
Oh well- with a shrug she dropped down and crawled towards Badge Gleam slowly. Just a few more moments... Badge Gleam was so intensely focused on the incoming "Freddy" that he didn't even realize String play was already under the table, smugly grinning. She held both hooves up to scare him, but opted instead for:
"I win." it had worked, judging by the incoherent screaming erupting from the "security" colt. He scrambled back, shined the light on her, but then let out a long defeated sigh. After a few seconds he began giggling.
"Wow, y-you're really good!" he got up and put out a hoof. String Play shook it, nodding with a small bright smile.
"But if we got to play in the halls, I'm t-telling you I would have t-totally won." he shot a daring smile at her, before they both exited from underneath the table. The rest of the players slowly gathered when they realized that the game was over. Ruby dashed over to String Play immediately.
"Wow! I saw the whole thing, that was really cool! You're like, like a shadow ninja or something!" he praised her.
"Thanks! I just really like tag and hide and seek though." String replied lightly. Bronze Song was the last to join them, a look of modest surprise on his face to find their newest friend had won the game. Over the next few hours the group didn't do much more than run around some and get to know String Play better. They'd learned about her amnesia (not the time travel yet), and in return they told her more about the place and their other friend.
"Yeah, she's usually here, but when she isn't we can't go into the hallway over there." Bronze explained as he pointed to a brightly lit hall by the arcade area. The black filly nodded.
"She should be here soon, though!" Bright Light chirped, but Lyric shook his head.
"Not really. She said she'd be gone almost all day, what with Nightmare Night coming up." he explained softly.
"What does that have to do with it?" the yellow filly asked quickly.
"Well, we do need time to make our costumes, of course!" Ruby pitched in cheerily.
"Oooh, right."
"We probably won't see her today. I have to leave soon anyways, actually. My cousin is in town for a little while and I've gotta spend time with him!" Bronze replied.
"Why can't he just come here?" again, the golden haired child asked.
"Oh, c'mon Bright Light. It's not that bad. She'll be here tomorrow and we can play all day!" Lyric slung a hoof around the tiny pegasus' shoulder.
"R-Right! Well, how long do you have, Bronze Song?"
"Just a few more minutes, tops. My mo-"
"Bronze Song!"
"-oh." he deadpanned. Bright Light sighed, but still had a bounce in her step as she jumped over and reached up to tightly squeeze Bronze's neck in a hug. "See you tomorrow then, Bronzy!" she chipped happily.
"I suppose if Bronze is gone then... Maybe we should head back too?" Lyric suggested. Ruby nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, probably! I haven't eaten supper yet, and I don't think I can live off pizza my whole life." he scuffed the ground absently, but otherwise showed no signs of feeling bad about leaving. Bright Light huffed.
"Alriiiight. I could totally eat cheese pizza for the rest of my life though!"
"You can't just eat plain pizza! That's horrible!" Ruby recoiled.
"Pineapple pizza is worse!" Bright shot back with equal force. Ruby paused, thinking, but eventually shrugged.
"Touche." he grinned. String Play didn't know what that meant, but she decided to ignore it as she followed them.
"Oh! Hey, what's your guy's favorite anyways?" Bright looked over her shoulder. Lyric's face lit up at the attention, but he scrunched up his nose.
"I'm not actually a huge fan of pizza. I prefer cheese, though." he mumbled shyly. Bright nodded in fierce agreement.
"How about you, String?" her shortening of String Play's name through her off, but she didn't mind.
"I think... Uh... Maybe- oh."
The whole group stopped. Bronze was already gone, and Badge Gleam must have scampered off as well without a goodbye. String Play thought it was odd, but the rest of the kids didn't seem to pay much attention to it- maybe it was normal of them. In front of the gang now was a bright white pegasus with golden freckles and hair. She smiled down at Bright Light calmly.
"Ready to go?" she asked smoothly. Bright Light buzzed happily.
"I guess! Oh!! Mom, wait! Lemme show you my new friend!" she dragged the pony's leg as Lyric made way for her to move over to String Play. The black filly shuffled awkwardly.
"H-Hi." she muttered.
The mare gasped, but it wasn't one of surprise.
"Wow, really? That's so good sweetie! What's your name?" she held out a hoof to the small child. They gingerly shook it. Being in the presence of an adult stranger suddenly frightened them, but they weren't sure why.
"I-I'm String P-Play." she looked into the adult mare's eyes. There was no recoil or surprise. String Play didn't know what she looked like, but it was nice for someone not to react for once.
"You're such a cute little thing! I'm so glad Brighty here got to make another friend- please, feel free to come by any time! I have to work all day, so I let her hang out here a lot with her buddies." she smiled comfortingly, then added, "by the way, my name is Gold Fleece, but you can call me whatever you like. Most of Bright's friends have settled with mom, hehe. C'mon sweetie!" she turned and left, and Bright bounced after her as she waved goodbye to her friends.
All that was left was Lyric Muse, Ruby Risk, and String Play now.
"I... Have homework to do, so I should probably go..." Lyric mumbled. String Play tilted her head. Ruby took notice and looked at Lyric, something passed through their eye contact and caused Lyric to widen his eyes.
"Oh! Yeah, I'm in uh... Advanced classes. With kids like... Two or so years older than me..." he shied away awkwardly. The colt clearly wasn't very comfortable bragging, so String Play stepped up beside him and held out a hoof. She made a mental note; he likes attention, but not the spotlight. Neat.
"That's neat! I'll see you tomorrow then," he took her hoof and shook it, looking pleased to be done with with the conversation.
"R-Right! I'll see you tomorrow!" he gave her a bright, albeit nervous smile, and galloped off. Ruby and String Play trotted back towards the entrance. The crimson pony gave a wave in the air with his eyepatch as he smiled daringly.
"Well! I be needin' ta get back!" he burst into laughter, and the black filly did the same, albeit softer.
"Well, alright! I promise I'll be here tomorrow!" she hugged him, surprising the little bat pony. She let go when she could feel him squirming a bit, but he didn't let the shock show on his face.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" he rushed off, runt wings flapping uselessly. An odd feeling struck String Play- she could have swore she knew someone that acted the same way when... Oh well, the thought was gone.
Satisfied with today, String Play headed off towards the Prize Corner. Twilight Sparkle was currently inspecting the entrance to the cove with the white fox animatronic, but made no move to enter. The purple unicorn turned to go into the prize room before noticing the incoming filly and smiled.
"Hey, String Play! Have you gotten any luck yet?"
"Mm, no, not really. I'm not too worried 'cause Liz will be here sometime this week, but I'm scared my parents are worried sick." she replied, cheerfully, but the sentence tapered off with uncertainty.
Twilight patted her back. "Hey, it's alright. I'm glad you had fun though! I saw you playing," she admitted with a nervous chuckle, "I'm sure we'll see your parents soon! Missing foals isn't common at all, and with everything being the way it is we'd have better luck here- I mean, I'm sure we'll run into someone you know! By the way, I've been meaning to ask... Do you remember anything about your parents?"
String Play stopped and tilted her head. Did she? Maybe a faint color or sound, a phrase perhaps? What was her mother like? Her father? Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember a lick of anything about her mom, but her dad was... It was a rush of everything and nothing. String Play couldn't pull apart the colors from the thoughts and shapes, the facts and memories from her imagination. She let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head.
"No, not yet." she stated simply. Twilight nodded, absently jotting down some scribbles in her notebook.
"That's fine. Are you ready to go? I hadn't thought about it, but we haven't eaten since we got here!" the violet mare chipped, changing the subject in two seconds. String Play nodded and bounced.
"Yeah!! Now that I think about it, I'm starving! What are good places around here to eat?" she asked excitedly as the two exited the prize corner and walked towards the entrance. Twilight hummed thoughtfully.
"Well, not much, but... There is this one sweets store called Sugarcube Corner." she gave the filly a smug grin, who almost returned it, had something else not caught her eye.
"Yeah, that sounds gre..." her sentence trailed off. She was staring across the room, towards the stage. On it was the expected sight- three animal themed robots performing for the foals, which were bunched together near the stage and sitting at the tables. A few parents littered the area too.
"String Play...? What is it?" Twilight asked. She didn't dare touch the filly now- she might be remembering something! But even so, the sudden stillness worried her.
"I think I know them..." she muttered. Twilight followed her line of sight as best she could, and spotted a group of ponies right by the stage's edge, nearest to the exit/entrance. There was an adult and two kids of vastly different ages. The adult was caramel, had a stocky build and glasses, while the kids were more colorful. The little one was female and a soft white with springy red hair pulled into pigtails, while the older one was a blue-violet and wore nothing but an annoyed expression on his face. The caramel stallion was waiting for somepony judging by his posture. String Play stopped, studying the trio.
They were familiar, she... She knew them! She-
"Daddy!" came an excited squeal from a little filly as she bounded up to the caramel stallion. She was brighter than he was, but looked every bit as genuinely happy that he did. Like they were two sides of the same coin. Static seemed to be taking over much of String Play's thoughts- why were they so similar?
"Have a great day, sparrow?" the caramel adult cooed as he caught the filly in his arms. Sparrow... That was a nickname. The child giggled happily in response.
"yep! It kinda sucked not being able to play with Liz today, but-"
The rest of the conversation blurred. String Play didn't comprehend anything else- her eyes grew wide, pupils shrank, and she began to shake. Twilight immediately noticed and bent down to sooth her.
"W-What happened? What's wrong? Are you okay?!" she looked the filly in the eyes. Twilight had heard the conversation too, but was too interested in String Play's state to bother listening in. Despite her earlier concern, she shook the black and white filly a little, the child rocking a little before the glaze over her eyes began to slowly disperse.
"Th...That..." she tried to make the words, but they hung in her throat. She tried to blink away the blockage.
"...That's me."