//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Four Days- Day One, Making Science Weird // Story: Rag Doll // by No one is home //------------------------------// From:  LadyBugWaifu73@PippSqueakUnderGround.pon To:  BeatMistressGloomster@PegaSoft.pon Don’t worry, my brothers found your doll.  He’s fine.  Things are complicated right now, but I promise we’re going to return him to you as soon as possible.  In the meantime don’t worry.  He’s safe and I promise I’ll take good care of him until we can get him back to you.  I know this is gonna be super suspicious but I have to delete this account as soon as I send this.  So you have no way to get back in touch with me.  Sorry about that. Love, Luck, and Polypropylene Fellow-And/Or-Future Pippsqueak, Lady Bug Waifu, Crowned Princess of Cuddle Muffins “Mom, we might have a problem…”  Ocilia shuffled nervously.  “Maybe you should just watch…” The little lady bug changeling nervously passed her phone to her mothers mantis-like fore-legs. -=-=-=-=- “Okay, you caught me!” A smarmy pegasus stallion grinned like a fool.  “It’s all a big promotion.  Even before magic came back our slogan was ‘We bring magic to your screen’.  Well, we are still committed to that!  But it’s a brave new world, my little ponies.  Magic has stepped out of our classic flutter tales, and not just onto your screen, but right here into Zephyr Heights!  The viral videos you’ve seen are real!  Evermarsh called it!  Magic, humans, talking dolls, Pegasoft was doing it before it was real!” -=-=-=-=- “This is bad.”  The queen pursed her lips into a cute, motherly frown.  “This isn’t just a lost doll. If we return him he might betray us.  But if we hold him they will seek him out and eventually find us.  If they find us like that it would confirm everything their mythical lies make us out to be… pony snatchers…” “I bought us time.”  Ocilia assured her mother.  “His friends are two days away in Bridlewood.  No pony even knows he’s missing yet.  So I used one of my burner-Pippsqueak-IDs to contact his mare-friend.  I let her know we found him and intend to return him as soon as possible.” “What have I told you about maintaining these online friendships with the surface?”  Queen Christine leaned into her daughter’s personal space, flailing her mantis fore arms in frustration.  “I feel like we talked about this just last week… oh that’s right, that’s because I talked to you about this just last week!  Our hive has always thrived in the shadows of the city above, Ladybug.” “Right up until we were buried by them, mother,” Ocilia yelled with more vitriol than she perhaps intended.  “They ARE going to find us sooner or later.  The Pippsqueak Underground is just making sure that when they DO find us, they know they already have friends here!” “Ocilia, my little Ladybug…” The queen's mantis forelimbs scooped her daughter into a warm embrace.  “I know you only want to see the surface ponies as our friends, but look at your own beloved ‘social’ media.  They barely even trust other ponies… and they just started doing that.” -=-=-=-=- I am a prisoner.  A prisoner has no social obligation but to “get away”.  Sometimes “getting away” and “escaping” were two very different things.  I can flop about at a slow trot.  Sometimes, if I’m really ambitious I can parkour flop onto a high shelf.  Picking up things that weigh more than me (pretty much everything) is right out.  My only hope for escape is if they let me leave. This is why I’m strapped what I’m pretty sure are a lot of BitFits woven into some kind of straight jacket.  “The safe word is ‘banana sundae’ OC… and why aren’t either of your brothers here?” “Oh, they’re not allowed in my lab.” Daww, she’s doing that smile and scuttle thing.  “I actually am the crowned princess, so I outrank them.  And my lab is a ‘no brothers allowed zone’.” “Can you at least leave the lab door open.  I am not entirely comfortable with this.”  Because this just got weird science weird, fast as twenty bucks. “Don’t make it weird Uncle Corneleus.  I’m just testing your magic”  And no she will not acknowledge that she is the one in control here, or that she is the one who is unsure.  “You have magic….” “Well, I am a living Jinx Doll.”  Making awkward conversation while tied up in a lab.  Was this filly somehow descended from Twilight Sparkle? “I get your brothers.  They are so invested in the ‘Good Guard/Bad Guard’ narrative, it’s kinda funny.  In a very self deprecating way.  Mostly for Frank.  You’re harder to get a read on.  What do you want out of this Ocilia?  Where is it you want to go?” “Whoah!”  Looks like I got her attention… or at least whatever she saw on the screen did.  “That was the weirdest magical fluctuation I’ve ever seen.  What did you just do?” “I just asked you what was your stake in this, OC?”  Not entirely true.  But I don’t want to give the game away just yet. “Nope, that wasn’t it…” OC frowns and sticks her tongue out like she’s just tasting science in the air. “Seriously though,” I’m in a mood to push my luck, “You could go anywhere you want.  Where do you want to go?” I don’t even turn around when I hear her gasp and slap the monitor.  “That’s impossible!  My read-out just glitched into a detailed description of what the readout is supposed to look like!  What are you doing?!?!” “I’m asking an innocent question.”  I lie shamelessly to that nice little bug girl.  “Where do you want to go?” “That question!”  OC is a sharp tack.  “When you ask that question it throws the ambient magic into some kind of flux state!” “What happens if I answer?” For one moment I think I’ve pushed too hard.  But curiosity wins out over caution.  “I’ve always wanted to go to the surface.” “What do you want to take with you?”  If my stitched smile could, it would grin even wider. “I’d take my phone, my thaumometer… and my ragdoll…” She never takes her eyes off the screen as her buzzy little voice drones, sealing the bargain.   And I’m her rag doll now.  Gloomy is gonna be pissed.  “Huh, weird.  There was just a surge, and another crazy glitch.  For a second there I thought we were gonna be magically transported or something.  Still, that was fascinating.  What did you just do?” “I altered the narrative.  Or, to be more specific, I allowed you a chance to alter it.”  My escape is all but ensured at this point.  At least from the undercity.  “I don’t have any actual internal magic of my own, so no magical teleportation.  But your path to the surface is open.  My access to the meta-text is limited.  I can open narrative paths but you have to walk them yourself… and preferably carry me unless you just want to travel at the speed of my flopping around…”