//------------------------------// // Ladybug, Chapter 10: You Are the Only Light There Is // Story: Rag Doll // by No one is home //------------------------------// “Wow, did you literally just jinx one hundred percent of all the other racers and trot through the finish line, grinning like a griffin eating rose thorns?”  The seemingly randomly generated earth pony mare grinned with delight.  “Respect!  I can really see what Charlie saw in you… oh wait, damn… that came out wrong.  Sorry, I’m a bitch.” “Why would that bother me?” The blueish but definitely not gray unicorn smirked triumphantly.  “I am a master of my swingin’ jazzy jinx craft.  You are damn right to see what Charlie saw in me.  And you talk as if I cheated.  The other ponies in the race just didn’t know all the rules.” -=-=-=-=- “If Celestia thinks it’s so important to have friends, send me somewhere I can find friends!” The young unicorn snarled. “What do you want to take with you?”  The young mare’s gold and scarlet main lay cold and flat like a frost had fallen across her. “I’ll take my journal!”  She declared with sudden clarity. “I’ve made Celestia aware that you're consulting with forbidden artifacts.” The ragdoll spoke without mirth or joy. “The mirror won’t be open for much longer.” “H-how could you?!?!” The unicorn student protested. “If we were friends you wouldn’t have asked me to send you anywhere.  The guards are on the way.”  The doll seemed to vocally smirk.  “Don’t waste time being mad.  I’ve opened the road to friendship.  It’s on you to walk it.” -=-=-=-=- “Or at least that’s how he told it!”  The gerically random pony laughed. “You’re drunk, Any!” The witch-pony waived a cider bottle in her friend’s direction. “Just because I’m plastered doesn’t mean I’m not right!” The anypony argued while her mane and tail shifted between plaid and stripes. “Any… do you think we were wrong to just abandon Charlie and Ocelia is Zephyr heights like that?” Onyx sighed and took in a swallow of bitter ale. “How can you drink that swill, girl?”  The dragonfly shifted briefly into her true insectoid form.  “But seriously, they are fine.  They're fine.  I’m fine.  You’re fine as Tartarus on a hotplate.  By now they’ve been arrested for whatever crime spree happened, and that solves the homeless problem.  Trust me, they're fine.” “What if I want to go back?”  the mare stomped her rhythm forcefully. “You do realize he is a literal an accessory to murder, right?  Like, I literally had him tucked in a scarf while committing murder.”  The dragonfly giggled uncontrollably.  “There is no ‘back’.  The path tears up everything behind it.  Look quick in the mirror.” “Charlie loves me!”  The unicorn protested. “Like he used to love me?”  The Dragonfly laughed easily, before shifting into an earth pony the color of dirt.  “And now he loves that little changeling.  I get it, it hurts.  That’s why I like you, Gloomster.  You’ve carried that power.  You carried yourself up that mountain, you walked that path, and now when you look back you can see that the path only led forward.” “You misunderstand… so much.  When you’re lost, when you’re alone, he looks like a light.  And you want to follow that light.  I understand that.  But the road behind you doesn’t exist, and that light isn’t guiding your path anymore.”  The non-descript pony mare grinned wide.  “I didn’t find him following his light.  You are the light.  You are the only light that can ever guide or stop you.” -=-=-=-=- You’ve got me all wrong.  I don’t know what they told you, but the ladybug got at least half of it wrong I promise.  And Charlie only ever lets anyone read the words he wants them to read.  But you can read the words.  You can even scribble around and write on the walls a little.  Being a unicorn, you have ironically very little historical context, I know. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the no magic thing is that other evil queen’s fault.  It was a long time ago, and I had a lot of things going on.  Most of which involved murdering my enemies.  I just sort of noticed magic going away.  I had my things, Twilight Sparkle had her things, and we weren’t on speaking terms at the time… you can probably guess why… Or maybe you can’t guess.  Because maybe your family served tea to the pony princess herself, or maybe they ran a smoothie cart.  I just find the lack of Unicorn Social Context amazingly funny.  The big and the small of the old world all live in the same remote forest village.  I can see why Charlie loved you.  You picked up an ancient cursed source of magic as a little lost filly, and you wielded him like a scalpel.  Mr. Sunshine set my sights your way.  And I hung on to get my doll back.  But if I’m honest and we both know I’m not, I couldn’t just let a light like you go.