“You’re scaring me!” Gloomy Sonnet’s normally subdued voice cracked a little, and the doll shrank back in self reproach. “Charlie, this isn’t like you!”
“Isn’t like me?” Ragdoll nearly growled, “How isn’t this like me? What do you think I’m like, Gloomy? Like a toy? I’m a cursed doll, Gloomy. Pretty up front about that from the start. ‘I was cursed, now I’m a doll’, okay… there may have been other curses in between those things… and maybe after. Sorry, girl, it’s been a long time. Long and short, cursed jinx doll. And I gotta jinx to lay down.”
All around them panic grew as unicorns struggled to restrain outbursts of untrained magic that moments before had been nothing but a myth. Silver Locket cowered in fear, “I… didn’t know…”
“You didn’t know what?” The rag doll advanced, menace clear in it’s button eyes. “You didn’t know I was helpless?”
“I...only meant to…” the mare cringed and sobbed…
“You only meant what?” Ragdoll's voice dripped with malice, “You only meant to hurt another filly? Why, because she still played with dolls? Tell me all the secrets, what did you mean to do? The silver sky is exploding in rainbows. No secrets between little fillies and dolls… What. Did. You. Mean…”
“Please stop…” Sonnet begged, but it was far too late.
“What did you mean little Miss Lock It In Your Pocket?” Ragdoll sneered heedlessly. “Everything you never believed in is happening. Do you believe yet? Because I can only pull this off once, so I hope it just worked…”
“I-I’m sorry,” the young mare cried.
“What did you want?” The doll pressed on.
“I wanted Sonnet to be my friend,” Silver heaved the confession with a heavy sigh.
“What were you willing to pay?” The doll’s passive smile seemed almost malignant.
“I was willing to hurt her…” The mare lamented.
“Then that’s your jinx. Now you know who you are, and maybe have a good guess what you could have been.” The ragdoll’s smile seemed suddenly warmer.
“Please don’t stick a needle in my brain!” The silver mare pleaded.
“Is that what you thought was going to happen?” The doll’s sewn-in friendly smile was ice cold. “Who do you think you hurt, way back then? I could only feel what happened to others. It wasn’t my head that you stuck that needle in. I was just a jinx doll. I’m not going to stick a needle in your head… you misunderstand the jinx… I’m going to pull the needle out.”
“What are you doing?” Gloomy hissed.
“What I couldn’t do while you were pulling the strings.” Ragdoll answered plainly before turning back to the subject of his ire. “It hurt, didn’t it? I know, I felt it when you stabbed me.”
“I messed up,” the Silver furred mare sobbed, “it was a long time ago! Why can’t you just let it go???”
“Why can’t you?” The doll’s voice remained dangerously even. “You only stabbed a doll after all… why does it bother you so much?”
“JUST SHUT UP!” Gloomy Sonnet’s voice echoed through the building, and all errant magic suddenly fizzled as every eye was turned on her, “Your all panicking like a bunch of frightened steeds!”
“Beep boop?” A young colt enquired.
“Locket!” The mare in question was assaulted by a teddy bear to the face hurled by Gloomy’s furious aura. “There, now your jelly flank has its own jinx doll, I’m sure sticking pins in it will hurt somepony, maybe you, I don’t care! Not going to be my problem, I just work here!”
"Gods, this is just like that time I got Rick Rolled with the audio-book version of the Necronomicon... okay not just just like... but pretty close..." Rag doll stumbled across the bar.
“Do you really think this is just about you?” The grey mare fumed, pinning back the doll's ears with her words, “This was gonna be my shot, my one chance to show Aphabittle that I could run the joint!”
“One chance… one shot…” the dolled danced nervously.
“My one chance and you took it but that was okay!” The manic mare fumed. “I was okay with giving you my one shot, and you use it like THIS???”
“Dammit, Charlie! How can you be drunk at a time like this?” Gloomy Sonnet fumed.
“I dunno,” Ragdoll rebutted, “Why are you asking me? Five minutes ago I couldn’t walk, now I can’t walk straight… these are crazy times! I mean I’m sorry I stole your thunder… wait… that would be a pegasus thing… you know what, never mind. Shouldn’t do metaphoricalisms when I’m drunk, I’m bad at it…”
At Sonnet’s critical raised eyebrow, Ragdoll threw his front hooves in the air. “Okay, first time I’ve ever said this,” the doll huffed, “but it’s not my fault I’m drunk. Seriously, the Karen pony literally threw me into the booze! Honestly if I’d know I could get drunk this whole time, I would have had you pouring booze on me the minute you were old enough for anyone to sell you booze… gods of Tartarus, I am a terrible mentor…”
“Possibly colt-friend!” A pony heckler called out. “Everypony knows about your secret tea parties!”
“Wait… you’ve been aware of everything this whole time?” Another pony piped up. “She’s had you since she was a little foal…”
“I don’ much like where this is goin’,” Ragdoll visibly flinched.
“I mean he’s got a point,” a teal unicorn mare joined in, “I mean it was cute and quirky when everypony just thought it was just a weird old doll, but this just makes it seem… kinda creepy. How old is he anyway?”
“Oh, come on!” Ragdoll shouted. “It’s just a filly and her talking doll! Don’t make it weird!”
“Like when she practiced kissing on you?” A heckler in the back shouted, “Woo-hoo!”
“Charlie, he’s next in line for a jinx!” Gloomy leveled a glare on the offending unicorn.
“Beep, boop?” The heckler slunk away into the crowd.