//------------------------------// // VIII. An Orange Filly's Idol // Story: Twilight's Dollhouse // by Kaidan //------------------------------// Lyra felt like she had been trapped for weeks. Her mind went through familiar cycles. She would get the urge to move, to know her limbs were still there, yet she couldn't. The distress would grow until her mind shut down. Next, her mind would begin to ponder small nuances when she wasn’t gripped in fear. Should I consider this shivering, vibrating, or trembling? I can’t be cold, so I’d imagine it’s trembling. Yet, it’s too violent. . . I wonder if I can have a seizure? Another wave of dread washed over her, numbing her mind. She made another attempt to stretch out to no avail, and withdrew further into herself to hide from the pain. She heard the door to the basement open. Twilight? No. . . it’s probably Bon Bon, come to mock me some more. Lyra began to cry again. I’m so sorry, Twilight. Please, come for me, find me. . . I can’t take it anymore. The chest began to move, and Lyra found herself thrashing against the chest again. They’ve come to bury me! No, Celestia no. . . The chest stopped moving and Lyra thought she heard something click. A bright light blinded her eyes and she felt something akin to a breeze. She began to feel a soothing aura around her, and realized the trunk she had been locked in was gone. Instantly she began flailing wildly, her eyes adjusting quickly to the light. A large lavender shape sat in front of her. When her hooves touched the ground, she felt the gag fall out of her mouth. She rushed without hesitation to throw herself into Twilight’s lap. “Lyra! Thank goodness, I was so worried when I found out they had hidden you.” Twilight brought a hoof down to gently rub her back. “B-bon Bon. . .” Lyra curled up as tightly as she could. At once she felt like she was back in the locked chest, yet letting herself spread out made her feel so vulnerable. Her skin seemed to itch, her mind overwhelmed with the sensations of being out of that prison. “Shhh. . . It’s okay now.” Twilight levitated her up into her mane and carried her upstairs. Moments later they stopped at her bed. She climbed in and brought Lyra and Big Mac against the warm coat of hair on her chest. Lyra found herself climbing between Twilight and Mac. They both felt warm and comforting, and after what she’d been through she never wanted to be alone again. It took her a minute to realize that the crying she heard was not her own. Lyra opened up her eyes, finding herself face to face with the much larger Big Mac, who nearly matched Twilight in size. His smooth plush fur felt like the hair on a cat’s stomach. She followed Mac’s gaze up to Twilight and saw who was crying. “Twilight? What’s wrong?” Twilight kept her eyes closed and a hoof firmly squeezing Big Mac. “I. . . I think I made a mistake. I couldn’t make Bon Bon happy. . . I hurt Rarity. Now they won’t be happy, they won’t be like I remember them. . .” Lyra felt a twinge of satisfaction and guilt at the mention of Bon Bon. “What. . . what happened to Bon Bon?” Twilight inhaled in short increments between sobs. “I-i had no c-choice. She knew where you were. . . it got out of h-hand. . .” Lyra realized in horror she must have killed Bon Bon. She felt horrible that a part of her had wished Bon Bon dead while she was trapped in the improvised coffin. “Did. . . did you mean to?” Big Mac looked down at Lyra and whispered, “Careful.” Twilight rubbed her runny nose. “N-no. . . and y-yes. I thought I l-lost you too. I can’t lose anymore friends. . . I’m a failure and you two are t-the only ponies I did r-right.” “Twilight, look at me.” Lyra smiled and waited for her to open her eyes. “I forgive you. We all make mistakes. Tomorrow you can go back to making ponies happy, you can fix it. Would you like that?” “Y-yes. So you’re s-still my friends?” “Yes.” “Eeyup.” Twilight smiled and began to chuckle softly. Her breathing slowly evened out as she fell asleep in the comfort of two friends she knew wouldn’t abandon her. *************************************************************** Vinyl, Octavia, and Sweetie walked through the ghost town. They had passed several frozen dolls of the former ponies. Some were curled up and hiding, others caught in mid-stride. Snip's mother had been frozen while shielding him from Twilight. The three ponies still unfrozen had been sheltered inside a hastily constructed faraday cage made from scavenged copper wiring, and other conductive metals. Sprocket the engineer unicorn had tried, and failed, multiple times to explain how it worked. Regardless, it did, and would prove integral to his escape plans. "If the cage worked, why do I feel so awful?" Vinyl asked. "It is the frozen dolls, stuck staring at nothing," Octavia explained. "We may have a safe place to hide now, but we can't fit all of them. Whatever Twilight did, they witnessed it all. . ." "This is what she did to Rarity?" Sweetie squeaked. "Yeah, she'll be up here somewhere," Vinyl explained. "Where ever she was when Twilight froze—wait, is that Bon Bon?" The ponies looked towards the edge of town. A tan clump of plastic was visible frozen on the floor. All three started to walk towards the mare, until Octavia got a good look at her. "Sweetie, stay here," she commanded. Once the filly had stopped, Vinyl and Octavia closed the remaining distance. In front of them lay Bon Bon. A nail had been driven deeply through her stomach and head, right through the mouth. "I. . . I don't think she's frozen," Octavia stated. "No kiddin', looks like Twilight went to town on her." Vinyl walked around and pointed out the various smaller holes. "She must have brought her here at the end, as a warning." "She was right, Twilight has lost it. We never should have tortured Lyra, that's probably what got her killed. . . but we had to do something." "Hey, it's not our fault. We're doing what we have to, and we're in charge now. We need to keep everypony calm and—" A shrill scream interrupted them. Turning back to face the road they had walked down, they immediately noticed Sweetie was gone. Both of them ran towards the source of the screaming. In town square they found Sweetie Belle sobbing next to her sister. Her four white legs were still pinned to the cork board. Her head and torso lay intact on the ground. *************************************************************** "Please, Ma'am, the Lieutenant already told you to let it go," the cop said. "I won't let it go!" Colgate shouted. "I've been a dentist nearly twenty years, I'm the best in my field. Bon Bon's teeth were removed and then burnt. They were planted at her house!" "Heh, before, after, Bon Bon's ashes either way." "How can you be so cynical? If someone ripped her teeth out, as is indicated by the obvious fractures and markings on the second and third molars, then she may still be alive!" "Look, Colgate. . .it's nothing personal. Heck, you're my dentist too and we appreciate you identifying the teeth for us. However, the Lieutenant has closed the case. Their neighbors, Rose and Blossom, both died also. They also had to be identified by teeth—" "That were still attached to their jaws!" Colgate interrupted. Groaning loudly, she turned to storm out. "If you won't listen, I'll march straight up to Celestia with this." Colgate stormed out of the Ponyville police station. Bon Bon and Lyra were friends in the same way Twilight and the elements were. While they gallivanted around battling villains, the three of them had hung out in town. Colgate wasn't about to let her friends down. If there was a chance, even a tiny one, Bon Bon was still alive she would not stop looking for her. The train station was just ahead, illuminated by the early morning sun. A distinctive whistle sounded twice at the station as a train rolled to a stop at the platform. Colgate marched up onto the platform to find out if the train was headed back to Canterlot soon. A blue mare dressed in an extravagant robe and pointy hat got off the train. "What the. . ." Colgate looked back at the mare. "Trixie? I didn't expect you back in Ponyville. . . well ever. You're not here to take over again, are you?" "Relax, the Great and Powerful Trixie has more pressing concerns. You are the local dentist, are you not?" Trixie nodded towards her cutie mark. "Uh, yeah I am." She flung her cape over her shoulder. "Tell Trixie when the last time you saw my biggest fans, Snips and Snails, was." "Those two? About a month ago, why? They’ve disappeared, or left, like everypony else." Colgate inquired. "Trixie stopped receiving fan mail from them and took a train here from Manehatten. There are not many who still enjoy my magic tricks; the only few who still do live here and they no longer write," she explained. “I. . . miss my fans.” "That's strange, if Snips and Snails really moved to Manehatten with their families, they would have wrote you or visited your show. Princess Twilight said the ten or so families that moved lately went to Manehatten. Everypony is leaving since the murder." "Yes, Princess Twilight," Trixie scowled. "What is this murder you speak of? Surely nopony was killed?" "Well that's just it, Bon Bon and Lyra's house exploded. The police believe it was a faulty gas line in their kitchen. I identified the teeth from the scene, they were pulled out before the explosion and fire. Lyra’s teeth weren’t even there. I think someone foalnapped my friends." "The Great and Powerful Trixie finds this most disturbing. Do you think Snips and Snails were taken? How many of these ponies have left town?" Trixie took a few steps closer so the two could talk softer and not draw attention. "Well, it's likely she went where the other twenty or so ponies went. Berry Punch, Sprocket, Big Mac, Rarity, and others.” Colgate glanced around to make sure they weren’t being spied on. “They all moved out of town yet not a single pony got a letter or has heard from them since. They're just gone. My only other lead is that Berry visited the library for help with her alcohol problem before she suddenly 'moved out' of Ponyville." Colgate assured. Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Interesting, Trixie would like to see these teeth and help you find where they went." "Sure that'd be great. We can work on this together. For now I’m going to show Twilight my evidence. She can send word to Celestia, then I’ll meet you at Daisy’s Daffodils on third street Saturday for lunch. There's just one thing that's been bothering me. . ." "Tell the Great and Powerful Trixie what it is." "Yeah. . . can you stop referring to yourself in the third person ?" Colgate asked. "It is how Trixie was raised. To assume a pony knows my name by speaking in the first person is a sign of great arrogance. Trixie must become a famous magician, then Trixie can refer to herself as ‘I’ and everypony will already know my name," Trixie explained. "Well I guess that makes sense. I’ll catch up with you later." *************************************************************** Twilight trotted down into the basement. She had an entire picnic and tea set levitating next to her. Lyra had declined the offer for tea, given how cruel the ponies had been Twilight did not blame her. As she trotted towards town square she kept her spirits lifted. It was a new day, a new chance to make the dolls happy. Something caught her attention, it was a small blur in the corner of her eye. She quickly tracked it down to Sweetie Belle. I thought I froze everypony? Maybe I missed her, or she was in the Everfree forest at the time? Oh well. She can have tea with me! “Sweetie!” Twilight trotted after her, grabbing her before she ran inside a nearby house. She levitated them over to the park and set out the tea set and the picnic. It included a small pot of tea, some sugarcubes which Lyra loved to snack on, and some miniature scones. “P-puh-lease. . . let me go.” Sweetie began to cry. “I’m glad you could join me for tea, oh we’ll both be so happy now. Do you want some sugar?” Sweetie knocked over her tea cup and tried to run away. Twilight levitated her back and sat her down on the picnic blanket, holding her hind legs still. “I. . . I don’t want any tea.” Sweetie wiped her eyes. “It is a lovely day, isn’t it? You know I’ve worked so hard on those little clouds up there.” “O-okay.” She looked around at the miniature picnic set. It reminded her of a camping trip she had been on, only now she was a prisoner and her sister was gone. Twilight smiled at the little filly. “There is no need to cry, we’re happy today, remember?” “No, I miss my family, let go!” Sweetie started struggling against the telekinesis. “But you haven’t even tried the scones.” Sweetie stopped struggling to cry for a moment, pushing away the scone Twilight was trying to levitate into her mouth. “I don’t want scones. . .I want my sister.” “Of course!” Twilight jumped to her hooves, lifting Sweetie up with her. “Let’s invite Rarity to the picnic! “But. . . but you killed her!” Sweetie screamed, glaring at Twilight with tiny, narrow eyes. "She wouldn't tell me where the bad ponies locked up Lyra. They shoved her in a trunk and hid it, and she’s scared of small spaces. Tell me Sweetie, was that very nice of Rarity?” “But she . . . n-no.” Twilight had reached town square and set Sweetie down next to the pieces of Rarity. “She's still alive. She did it to protect you, so I went easy on her." "Save her!" Sweetie gasped. "Tell me, Sweetie, will you be my friend? Can we go back and finish our tea?" she asked. "Y-yes. Just. . . please, my sister." "Thank you, Sweetie." Twilight levitated Rarity's limbs back next to her and reattached them. The sudden jolt of pain woke her up from whatever part of her mind she had withdrawn into to avoid the agony of dismemberment. "Now remember what happens to ponies that lie to me. You're my friend now, Sweetie, and if you break that promise, just ask Rarity what will happen to you." Rarity was moving again and rolled onto her side. Sweetie leapt on her and hugged her. "T-thank y-you," Sweetie wept. Twilight levitated them to the tea set and left them to their reunion. She returned to town square and gathered up all the ponies she could find. Standing in town square, she made a proclamation to the town. She plugged the hot plate back in and checked to make sure it worked. Twilight began to address all the assembled ponies. “I want you all to be happy, we can all live just like we used to! No more villains, no more disasters, no more death. You just have to accept my gifts and the serenity I’m offering you. It hurts me to see how mean you all have been, so if you’re sure. . . if you really don’t want to be my friends, kill yourself. Take the easy way out and stop ruining it for the rest of us.” Twilight sent out a pulse to animate all the dolls, then flew quickly to the door, slamming it behind her. She always felt this way when the topic of suicide came up. The dolls probably wouldn’t want to melt themselves, but maybe the mean ones like Vinyl would. Then she wouldn’t have to work so hard to try and make the cruel ponies happy too. All of the ponies remained in town square, murmuring to each other. A couple minutes later Vinyl and Octavia appeared, followed closely by Sprocket. "Listen up!" Octavia shouted. Once the ponies had gathered around them, she continued. "Bon Bon is dead. We will continue her fight and remember what she died for, our freedom! "Sprocket here has developed a way to protect us from her magic. Soon, we will have a way through the barrier trapping us here. I know that we have asked much of you, so know this: Twilight will be back. Our operation must remain secret, which is why we have left you out of the loop. "You can now see why, just look at what she did to Rarity, Bon Bon, and Filthy Rich. If she finds out you know too much, she'll torture you. So I ask you all to stay strong! We will get out of this alive!" The ponies did not cheer, but they did smile for the first time in days. The fight wasn't over yet. *************************************************************** Dash rolled over on her cloud, allowing her back to get some sun. She could have napped on that soft, warm, and fluffy condensed water vapor all day long. Dash might even go so far as to write something sappy in her journal like “it was a sunny day in Ponyville.” Opening up her eyes just a bit, she looked down over the marketplace. Applejack was selling apples, however most of the other vendors had either left town or were afraid to be seen in the open. Dash couldn't figure out why. There was only the one house that blew up. Twilight had personally seen to the repairs of the gas pipelines. A filly caught Dash's eye. It was Silver Spoon and she was headed towards the library. She flew off the cloud and immediately felt a sense of longing for the cozy mattress in the sky. "Hey, Silver, how's it going?" Dash asked. "Rainbow Dash?" Silver inquired. "Uh, it's good. I thought you were a Wonderbolt or something." "Oh, I am. It was just such a nice day and I was taking a nap. Hey, I was curious how Twilight is doing. I wanted to say hi but she seemed upset the other day." Dash smiled at the filly, hoping to elicit some tidbit of information as to what they did in the basement yesterday. Silver chewed on her lip for a moment. "Well, she seems ok to me. I am studying friendship and writing the princess letters." Dash looked away from her towards the clouds, nonchalantly. "Wow, must be some cool stuff in her basement, huh?" "I need to go. I have homework to finish. Oh, and Scootaloo has been looking for you. She wants to see your Wonderbolt costume." Silver has said the first lie that came to mind, though the odds were in her favor Scootaloo would keep Dash busy. "Crud, how'd I forget? Yeah, I'll go find her and tell her the good news, thanks." Dash flew off towards her cloud home. Aside from being strange, which Dash assumed any rich spoiled filly would be, Silver acted like a regular filly. Whatever Applejack suspected Twilight of doing clearly wasn't true. Once Silver could no longer see Dash, she resumed her approach to the library. Knocking a few times, she let herself in and waited in the public space of the library home. Twilight came up from the basement a moment later. "Silver, what a wonderful surprise." "Hi, Twilight. I was wondering, what do I say if somepony is trying to find out about our experiment?" Silver asked. "Why, did somepony ask?" "Not really, Dash just wanted to know why I came over. I told her it was to do friendship reports, then she wanted to know what was in your basement." "What did you say?" she questioned. "I told her I have homework to do; I didn't want her to ruin the experiment." Silver smiled. "Excellent, I'd hate to ruin the surprise. In fact, I was bringing her over today to scan her. Why don't you come back at dinner time tonight to play with the new dolls." "Ok, thanks—do you think I could take one home to play with?" "Let's wait and see how dinner goes later," Twilight chuckled. Silver left the library and headed home while Twilight walked towards the marketplace. The crusaders usually hung out at Applejack's farm. Scootaloo, however, was an orphan and had managed to hide that fact well from the whole town. She was such a friendly filly that Applejack, Rarity, even Fluttershy let her sleep over all the time. Twilight walked around a building into a hidden alleyway. In the back was Scootaloo's real home. It was a well-constructed area between two houses and a fence, sheltered from the weather. It was where the filly went when she couldn't find somepony to have a sleepover with. It would be a mercy for Twilight to adopt Scootaloo to the dollhouse. An orange filly was lying on her back, stretching. "Hey, Scootaloo, you just wake up?" Twilight asked. "What!" Scootaloo chirped. "Hey, nopony was supposed to know about my hideout here." "It's okay," Twilight laughed. "I've known about your 'hideout' for a while. In fact, I've known you're an orphan for a while also. Don't worry, I came to get you with some great news." "What is that?" Scootaloo brought herself to her hooves and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Since you can't keep living in alleyways, Dash has offered to adopt you!" Scootaloo's jaw fell wide open. Her eyes slowly expanded until they were the size of dinner plates and started to water. "Re-really? Dash is a-a-adopting me?" Twilight smiled at how easy it was to trick fillies. "Sure is, you just have to come to the library so she can finalize the paperwork. I'll give you some cookies while you wait." "Yes! This is so awesome! I need to get all my things, wait, let's go find Dash first! Can we tell Applebloom?" Scootaloo ran around frantically tossing her few belongs into a saddlebag. "Calm down, you can come back later to pick up your stuff. Just bring your scooter and saddlebags for now. What’s important is that you’ll never be lonely again." "Okay!" *************************************************************** "Hey, Applejack, have you or Applebloom seen Scootaloo?" Dash inquired. She was now back in her Wonderbolts uniform with flight goggles. "Oh, are ya puttin' on a show?" Applebloom inquired. Dash was hovering with her forelegs crossed, as if hovering was too boring for a stunt pony. "No, I just heard she was looking for me but she isn't at any of your usual hangout spots." "Why don't ya go look around for her a little, Applebloom, just come straight back," AJ ordered. "Ok!" she replied. Applejack adjusted her hat and lowered her voice. "So, Dash, ya find anything odd about Twilight?" "No, perfectly normal. Her new pupil Silver Spoon is kinda odd." "She has a pupil now?" "Yeah, makes sense.” Dash rolled her eyes, then looked back at her friend. “Aren't all Princesses supposed to have a pupil?" "Ah guess, so are ya headed back to Cloudsdale now?" "Nah, I'm going to get lunch with Twilight and say goodbye," Dash stated. "Do me a favor, don't eat at the library.” Applejack reached up to poke her and make sure she had her attention. “Come let me know when you leave for Cloudsdale.” "Heh, that's very loyal of you. Sure, I'll swing back by the apple stand. It's not like she's gonna slice me up into little tiny pieces and feed me to Gummy." Dash saluted Applejack mockingly, and flew off towards the library. *************************************************************** "So, Scootaloo, how are the cookies?" Twilight asked. Scootaloo was sitting on a stool eating the chocolate chip cookies three at a time. Twilight had set out a couple dozen, and she hadn’t eaten in nearly a day. "They're awesome! When do I get to be adopted?" "Oh, really soon. I know you don't like tea so I got some of Pinkie's root beer." "Hey, thanks. This is totally going to be the best day ever!" The filly was already giggling and enjoying the sugar rush that was hitting her system. Twilight smiled and felt very joyful to watch the little filly. She didn’t have a care in the world. Her whole life was sunshine and Rainbow Dash. Everypony in town was nice to her, creating an infectious happiness from an orphaned filly. Twilight was glad she’d be her next doll. "It sure is." "Say, I've been curious since I got here, what's that?" Scootaloo pointed a hoof towards two boxes that looked like they were used to transport furniture. "Oh, it's a science experiment I brought up from my lab. It's fairly boring, I'm sure you don't want to hear about Schrödinger. " "Yeah. . . good guess." Scootaloo drank some of the root beer and helped herself to a couple more cookies. "Are you alright? You look a tad sweaty." "It is getting hot in here. Whew, I must need some more soda." "Once you drink it all I can get some more, Dash will be here any moment." Scootaloo finished the drink and found herself yawning, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I must have really excited you," Twilight laughed. "Why don't you take a nap, I'll wake you up when Dash gets here." She pointed towards a pillow and blanket next to the wall. "Thanks. . . I think I will," she yawned. Scootaloo got up to walk over to it, and fell to the ground. She started snoring softly, curling up and beginning to suck on a hoof. "D'aww, poor thing. Let me help you," Twilight cooed. She levitated her over and wrapped her in the blanket. She then placed her inside the box and closed it. See Bon Bon? I’m not a monster, that was absolutely friendly of me. A pony knocked on the door before pushing it open. "Twilight?" Dash called out. Twilight had returned to the entryway to greet her. "Hi Dash, what brings you by?" "I'm leaving for Cloudsdale, you want to get lunch before I go?" "Sure, come on in.” Twilight used her wing to gesture her into the house. “It just so happens I have some fresh salad." "Thanks," Dash chuckled. "I really want to eat at Daisy's Daffodils one last time before I go." "I'd love to, but I'm short on bits, and I already made the salad. . ." Twilight put on puppy eyes to get her prey to come inside. "My treat, come on!" Dash grabbed Twilight and dragged her outside. She managed to grab her saddlebags and close the door behind her with her magic as the pegasus dragged her out to lunch. "Dash, is this really necessary?" Twilight barked. At least Scootaloo should be asleep for an hour, and she could worry about Dash for now. "Yeah, you hardly ever go outdoors anymore. I didn't even get to teach you any flight tricks, a whole year and you were always too busy." Twilight could have sworn she saw a tear before Dash looked away. A part of her felt sad, however it was replaced by happiness because Rainbow Dash would get to teach her all the stunts in the world once she was a toy doll. Dash let go of her hoof and turned once she had resumed her cheerful facade. “I always hoped we’d be flight buddies. I’ll try to visit you from time to time. Alright then, we're here." "Indeed," Twilight observed. "Hey, Daisy, two of the usual!" Dash shouted to the waitress. The waitress was balancing a tray of food on her back while taking an order, and she was an earth pony. It was an impressive sight to behold. "Sure thing, Dash!" she shouted back. Twilight reached into her saddlebags to check on something. "Don't worry," Dash interrupted, pulling a small sack out of a hidden pocket. "I said it's my treat." Twilight took her seat on the stool and began counting how many witnesses were around. "Thanks. So you're leaving for the Wonderbolts today?" "Yeah, I just need to say goodbye to Scootaloo before I go." "I hope you find her." Twilight smiled as Daisy brought their food. It was the signature daffodil sandwich, a side of mixed greens, a large order of hay fries, and apple cider. "Wow, this all looks delicious. Thanks, Dash," Twilight stated. "Heh, yeah—” Dash bit into the sandwich, swallowing half of it. “It’s good food." The two began eating and their silence quickly became awkward. Neither one seemed to have anything to say. Dash just stared at Twilight, averting her gaze when she noticed. As they neared the end of the meal, Twilight finally had to think of something. "So, you going to fly up to Manehatten and tell Rarity about the Wonderbolts?" Twilight questioned. "We have a show coming up there soon, I'll say hi then." Twilight levitated a small pouch out of her saddlebag. "Oh, isn't that Scootaloo?" She pointed over Dash's shoulder. Dash turned to look, and Twilight sprinkled some of the crushed powder onto her remaining bit of sandwich and fries. "I don't see her," Dash responded. "My bad." Twilight smiled, perhaps a little too joyfully. "Want to finish your food?" "Nah, I'm full." Dash pushed the plate towards the middle of the table. "I really have to go now, you take care, okay?" "You're just going to leave? Can't we hang out a little longer, we are friends right?" "Of course we're friends. I just have to find Scootaloo, and Spitfire's expecting me by one o'clock." Dash hovered up a few feet above the ground, and placed some bits on the table. "See ya later Twilight." "I know where Scootaloo is," Twilight blurted out. "Huh? Where is she? I'd like to say goodbye." Twilight leaned back and smirked. "She's back at the library." "Why would you leave her at the library the whole time? She could have come to lunch." Dash crossed her forelegs. "She's an orphan, I was asked to keep her until a carriage was available to take her to the nearest orphanage." "What? You can't do that!” Dash landed on top of the table, drawing the gaze of a few patrons. “Let her stay with Applejack or something!" "She was hoping to stay with you, but I guess if you don't want to say goodbye and hurt her feelings. . ." Dash sighed. Scootaloo was a great filly and she couldn’t leave now, not until she knew Scootaloo would be safe. "Come on, let's go say goodbye and then we'll see if you can work something out with Applejack." The two walked in silence again back towards the library. Neither Dash nor Twilight were very talkative ponies after the odd lunch. The door to the library closed behind the pair. Twilight motioned her over to a table which she hovered over indifferently. "Ok, where is she?" Dash asked. "She's sleeping, over there." Twilight pointed to the two poorly constructed boxes. "What, you mean inside?" "Yes, have you ever heard of Schrödinger's chicken?" "Who with what now?" Dash flew over to the box and pounded on it. "Did you lock her in here?!" "You see, Schrödinger was a scientist who came up with this neat experiment. He sealed a chicken inside a box with a vial of poison, a hammer, and a radioa—" "Wait, you what!" Dash interrupted, jumping up and down on the box. "You locked Scootaloo in there with poison!" "Calm down, it's just a thought experiment.” Twilight walked over near them and leaned on the wall, waving a hoof in the air. “I want to see if you have a brain in that skull of yours. If you'd just eaten your fries we could have avoided straining your tiny mind." Dash landed and paced towards Twilight. "You're starting to piss me off, if the next words out of your mouth don't explain what the hell is going on, I'm getting the police!" "Relax. As I was saying, there is a radioactive isotope inside. So long as it does not decay, Scootaloo lives. Once it decays, Scootaloo dies. Until one of us opens the box and determines with certainty the state of the isotope, Scootaloo is both alive and dead at the same time!" Twilight levitated a book off the shelf and flipped it open to a picture of the thought experiment. Dash stood there with her mouth agape. "Wait this isn’t a prank. . . you really locked her in there with poison? Have you gone bat shit insane?!" "No, if I had I would likely have punched you in the face for your foul language." Twilight closed the book and put it back on the shelf. "You just need to push the button to let her out, then the experiment is over." Dash walked around to the other side of the box, looking for a window. There was a side open and inside was a small window and a button. "What, you expect me to just crawl in there and push some button?" Dash laughed. “So it is some kind of prank, see if I’m loyal enough to trap myself in a box?” "Pretty much, each second you wait poor Scootaloo gets closer to being dead. Don't you want to open your present and see if the chicken is alive or dead?" Dash mulled it over for a moment. She already knew, without question, she would do anything for a friend. Scootaloo would be free. Dash was more concerned for herself, what would the button do? What kind of experiment was Twilight running on her? Thoughts of Pinkie Pie's pinkie sense and a potion Dash had once stolen from Twilight came to mind. She likely wanted to run some sort of analysis on Rainbow Dash. Why not just ask? She muttered a few more obscenities under her breath. Dash knew Applejack was expecting her immediately after lunch. Turns out, she was right to be paranoid of Twilight. If Dash was in true danger, she trusted Applejack to rescue her. If it was just a prank, which she still hoped it was, Dash would just have to put up with some mockery. Dash crammed herself inside the box. It did not give her room to expand her wings, and she could barely turn around inside it. She looked through the window but the other box was dark. A red button loomed in front of her. "Tick, tock, Dash.” Twilight began tapping on the box to denote the seconds that were passing. “Her life is in your hooves, don't ruin my experiment!" "So help me, if you hurt her. . ." Dash slammed her hoof into the button. As she expected, a door slammed shut sealing Dash inside the box. Light poured through the window as it opened, and she could see Scootaloo sleeping on the other side. Twilight pulled her out of the box and beyond Rainbow's sight. Dash squirmed around in the box. "Hey, you're letting her go right! I've had enough of this experiment, okay? Haha! Really funny." Twilight opened a hidden flap on the side of the box. Dash's flank was crammed against it. "Oh, Dash, didn't you hear a word I said?" Twilight opened up a small black case she had acquired. "Scootaloo was both alive, and dead. If I just pulled a living chicken out of one side, then clearly the chicken on this side is dead." "Dang it, what's gotten into you? Ow!" Dash felt something prick her in the flank and a burning liquid was injected in. She flailed violently but did little more than drive the needle in further. "Ow, stop it, ow, that hurts!" "I knew you would be one of the harder ones to catch. You always thought everypony was a spy. If you'd just eaten my salad it would have been quick and painless. Even at lunch I used some of my valuable hemlock on you to make it qui—" "Wait," Dash interrupted. "Wasn't hemlock in 'Daring Do'? That's poison! You were going to kill me?" She began hyperventilating and thrashing violently, muttering just a bad dream under her breath. "As I was saying, I wanted to disable you quickly. You are the twenty-seventh pony that I am going to make immortal. A few. . . rejected the offer. Any minute now, the strychnine will kick in. Once I can safely cast the spell, I will turn you into my toy, forever. I've even modified the spell to ensure you can still fly! You're my first pegasus.” Dash swallowed the large lump in her throat. Her neck was starting to stiffen up. "What'd you do to me?" "I'm just having a little fun, Dash. To be more specific, I'm finding out which poisons and toxins are most effective. It's only a matter of time before Celestia or Luna come snooping around. Imagine their surprise when they're beloved pupil uses the perfect poison on them! Can you imagine, Celestia as my toy doll?" Twilight cackled. "I'll never have to lose her either!" Dash was panting now and sweating in the cramped box. Her face had gone stiff and her limbs were following. "Never lose her? You're doing this just because your family died, and you don't want to lose us? That's crazy!" "No, it's forward thinking! None of you will ever die now. The poison also ensures you know how painful their deaths were to me! Imagine this times a hundred, and then remember that I’m offering you eternal life! Just ask Lyra! She is my best friend." Twilight poked at Dash's flank, feeling the muscle was stiff. "Can. . . you please let me out? I think I'm cramping, I can't move," Dash whined. Twilight flung the side of the box open, and Dash fell out onto her face. "I told Scootaloo you'd adopt her. I do hope that once you're both dolls you will, after all, you'll be living together forever." Random muscles began to spasm and quiver throughout Dash's body. She couldn't control the shaking of her muscles as she convulsed. "Now, watch this." Twilight hovered Scootaloo in front of Dash, and engulfed her in magic. The filly took on a familiar glossy finish and her wings grew to the size they should be for a filly her age. The spell didn’t stop until the feathers had resumed their normal shape and texture. Her mane, tail, and feathers still looked real and accented her light, plastic body. Scootaloo then shrank down to the proper size. "See, Dash? Quick and painless. I think I've gotten much better at it. At first, I could only make simple plastic dolls." Dash went from spasming to convulsing wildly, it looked like a seizure as she fought her own body for control. “This. . . hurts. . .” "Such a lovely poison, great to soften you up for the spell. I think I'll reserve it for ponies I don't particularly like in the first place. No hard feelings, you’re just the trial run. I imagine you're getting quite sore and exhausted from flailing around like that." Twilight lit up her horn. "Why?" Dash managed to spit out. "Why not?" Dash felt her legs stop spasming and sighed in relief. They were blissfully numb, just like her cramped abdomen. She went to exhale in relief, yet couldn't. Something enveloped her face as she felt a gentle pressure shrink her down to size. She had become Twilight’s second near-perfect replica pegasus. *************************************************************** “Lulu, thanks for staying awake to talk to me,” Celestia said. She gestured to the dining table that had slices of cake waiting for each of them. The princess of the sun began to nibble on hers. “If I can help ease your sorrow, I will, Tia.” Luna sat down and began picking the chocolate pieces of the marble cake off with her fork and eating them. “I got an odd letter from Spike, containing just this scorched doll. It. . . made me remember how many friendship reports Twilight used to write me.” Luna sighed and slid closer to Celestia, she adopted the most gentle voice possible. It sounded like a scolding parent, but for Luna anything below the volume of the Royal Canterlot Voice was still an improvement. “Tia, I know you miss writing to her. You know she hasn’t been reading them. Why don’t you visit her?” “I can’t, you know we haven’t been talking. I failed her.” Luna used her wing to lift up Celestia’s chin. “No, sister, you have not. You taught her all you knew, when Cadance died you were heartbroken. I don’t blame you for sending me to comfort her.” Celestia smiled, and levitated another piece of cake to her mouth. “Then will you do me one more favor, visit Ponyville and see how she is doing? I will write her back to return Spike’s toy. . . I just want to know if she is ready to forgive me.” Luna chuckled softly, picking away the last chocolate piece of the marble cake. “You two are more alike than you know. She is probably waiting for you to forgive her. Show her the same faith she shows you, and she will never let you down. I shall visit her for you, and show you all is well.” *************************************************************** "Alright, who would like to test my hypothesis?" Sprocket inquired. "Don't look at me," Vinyl replied. "I already did my bit. You wanna try, Octy?" "I'd rather not, but I'll make an exception," Octavia stated. She walked forwards toward the tunnel made of copper wiring. Pushing it a little further forward with Vinyl's help, it hit the force field that kept the third of the basement near the stairs off-limits. It slid through the magical barrier, causing purple lights to dance through it. Small sparks jumped along the copper wires. "We already know it works, you just have to walk through it," Vinyl chuckled. "I guess. . ." Octavia walked slowly through the tunnel, and passed through the barrier. "Hey, it worked!" She now stood on the other side of the barrier meant to keep them in New Ponyville. From here, she could go to the exit and wait for somepony to come through it. Perhaps she could examine Twilight's plans, or find some useful supplies. Before the thrill of success had faded, Octavia heard the door to the basement open. The dolls all went wide-eyed and backed up. "Run, get the faraday cage hidden!" Octavia shouted. She jumped into the tunnel and tried to hang on. As it slid back through the force field, the spell clipped Octavia and froze her. "Octy!" Vinyl shouted. "No, hide the experiment first then get her!" Sprocket yelled. The two managed to get to the nearest house and force the tunnel inside and out of sight. Vinyl was about to run back for her friend, however Twilight was already near the barrier and would surely spot them. From this distance she saw two new dolls. It would have been difficult to tell who they were, but only one pegasus around here had a rainbow mane. "Crap, she got another of the elements," Vinyl complained. "Vinyl, we can't get back underground until she's not looking. I recommend we climb inside the tunnel and pray to Celestia if she freezes everypony it offers enough protection," Sprocket concluded. "Fine, but we get Octy right after and we go back to the tunnel plan," Vinyl stated. *************************************************************** "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Twilight chanted. "I have new friends!" Twilight walked towards the center of the basement. Lyra rode in her mane, and her two new pegasi floated, frozen, alongside her. A slightly acrid smell reached her. Glancing over at the hot plate, she found that some brown pony had opted out of the dollhouse. It saddened Twilight, but she would be better without him. This was paradise for her friends, not cowardly ponies who were mean and killed themselves. Using her magic, the hot plate was cleaned up and then shut back off. Twilight began walking around the houses, capturing the ponies she had wanted to see. Of course she would find Spike and Rarity hiding out together at Carousel Boutique. Sweetie Belle had the common sense to try and hide under a bed, whereas the dragon and fashionista were right out in the open. Twilight set them all down near her favorite lake and began to levitate a miniature tea set and some sugar cubes out of her saddle bag. She lined up all six friends around the impromptu picnic. As the only one not frozen habitually by Twilight, Lyra took her seat closest to the giant purple alicorn. She levitated a sugarcube over and began licking it. "Now we can have our first proper picnic and play date!" Twilight cheered. "I'm going to unfreeze you. If you're civil and manage not to start arguing semantics with me, I'll consider leaving you unfrozen tonight." Twilight's horn lit up, briefly flashing a deep hue of red from the dark spells she had adapted to manipulate the dolls. Sweetie instantly dove back to Rarity's side. Spike stood in front of her, as ineffective a protector as a lover. Dash flew a short distance to scoop Scootaloo up and hide her in her wings. "So touching," Twilight chuckled. "What'd you do to us?" Dash shouted. She still wore her wonderbolts outfit, and would wear it forever unless Twilight invented a spell to remove the painted on latex flightsuit. Twilight began passing out the tea and sugarcubes she had brought for them. "I turned you into a doll. Seriously, is that not obvious? I'm beginning to think the spell causes brain damage." "For what? Your sick games? I won't let y—" Dash froze mid-sentence, trapping Scootaloo in her wings. "What? Help, I'm stuck!" Scootaloo squealed. "As you can all see, I'm in control here. Now, Rarity, would you care for some tea? I'm told by Lyra you have been regaining your sense of taste," Twilight cited. "You uncivilized animal! This is a crime against— " Rarity was frozen. "Here, let me help you Scootaloo." Twilight pulled Dash's wings apart, letting the filly out. "Perhaps you and Sweetie Belle have learned some manners from your elders?" "Why, Twilight?" Spike asked calmly. "How did it come to this? They would have all come over if you'd asked." "Would they have stopped dying if I'd asked?" Twilight retorted. "I know it hurts, but I lost my parents, I hardly even remember them. It gets easier," Scootaloo offered. "I don't want easier, I want better. I want you to all have fun and be happy with me forever, right Lyra?" Twilight asked. Lyra gulped. "She is telling the truth. . . she is very nice to me." She looked over at the frozen Rarity who had no choice but to return her gaze. "Even when the other ponies here tortured me, she kept me safe. I just. . . I miss Bon Bon," she sobbed. "There, there. Bon Bon got what she deserved for being mean, and I know she was your friend for a long time. I promise I'll make you feel better," Twilight cooed. "Thank you," Lyra whispered as Twilight's hoof rubbed her back. Twilight recognized, but didn’t understand why, Lyra would miss Bon Bon. She had comforted the tiny lyrist and built her a new house next to Big Mac on her night stand. "So what about Rarity?!" Sweetie screamed. "No, Sweetie," Scootaloo objected. "It's okay, what about her, Sweetie?" Twilight asked. "You cut her to pieces in town square! You're a monster! I spent all day throwing up, and then you make me a doll, drag me here, and try to kill Rarity!" Sweetie yelled in a fit of rage. “You pretend you want us to be happy then you torture us!” "Sweetie, Rarity refused to tell me where bad ponies hid Lyra. If I hid you from Rarity, would she do any less?. I even put her back together for you, didn't I? I made sure you had nice translucent plastic bodies just like the crystal ponies! I'm sure Rarity will behave and I'll never have to punish you two again, right, Rarity?" Twilight unfroze Rarity who took up a dignified posture. "If I must, then I shall act civil around you." "See, that wasn't so hard. I really do want to keep you all in good health, but I’m not afraid to discipline you. Scones?” Twilight levitated the miniature treats to the ponies. They were moer accurately described as small crumbs of baked bread with sugar in them. “How about you, Spike?" "I just don't know what to say. You were always my big sister. . . I never even thought you were capable of this," Spike admitted. "Sure, maybe now we'll get to be together forever, but have you ever thought how that makes me feel?” He began gesturing to his new doll anatomy. “I'm a few inches tall, I'll never grow into an adult, I can't fly, and I can't even breathe fire. I'm worthless." "Don't say that, I'll make the spell better, I promise!" Twilight assured. “I’ll get you anything you want, any of you want!” Spike picked up a sugar cube to see if he could taste it. "I don't suppose you can shrink some gems," he muttered. Twilight nodded and moved on. "Dash?" She unfroze her, and found her more cooperative. "What?" Dash spat. "Will you be my friend?" Twilight inquired. Lyra's eyes went wide as she looked at Dash, concerned for her well-being. Dash noticed the look on her face, reaffirming there was truly only one right answer to the question. "No.”