//------------------------------// // Buckets In Red // Story: Mistakes // by Inkyarn //------------------------------// "Slopoke, go!" A little tan earth pony leapt off the large princessy bed, throwing the giant pink doll ahead of her. She rolled merrily across the floor, laughing as the plushy thing landed atop her. With a flair, she tossed it up and positioned it just so on the corner of the footboard. After making sure it was perfect, she raced across the room and found a halfway decent man-creature toy and stood it on its two spindly legs, facing Poke. A grin splayed widely across her face and she took a few steps back, lowering her torso and swishing her tail about happily. "Here, we set the scene. It's macho pony man," She darted forward and held the action figure in the air like a trophy, giggling excitedly, "Against the fearsome pink blob, Poke!" She tossed the beast up and chuckled as it came crashing down atop her. After carefully removing her horn so as not to break it, she positioned it back on the bed and whipped around. "But what's this? Macho-Pony-Man sends out Pikachu!" She skid back to the toy, lifting its oddly shaped arm and flipping a switch on the back. "Pikachu, I choose you." Alula pitched her voice higher, moving the figure as she spoke. "Come on out!" She flipped the switch again and the toy's arm convulsed, nearly shattering the toy. With a spurt of magic, however, she was able to keep it from falling apart. Allula jumped forward and made a surprised springy sound-effect. Then she struck a fighting stance, digging a hoof into the ground. She flared her wings and snorted, leveling her voice until it was piercing. "Pikachu!" She took one look at her wings and deflated, glancing at her foe. It stared unblinkingly at her. Not mocking, but almost reprimanding. "Come on, Alula." She dropped her voice as low as it could go for Poke. "You can do better than that." Determination scrunched up her young face and she set her jaw, stomping back to the now collapsed and armless monster-figure toy. She set it upright and planted it firmly on the floor. "Now I call out... Uh, Pidgey." Her wings fluttered with anticipation as she held the toy's arm against its body. Instead of flicking the switch, she pulled the arm back and flipped it forward, letting the toy crumple to bits. "Go, Pidgey!" As the action figure fell, she flared her wings and leapt out onto the scene. "Pidgey, use gust on Slopoke!" She threw herself into the air and waggled her hooves dramatically, and made a whistling, gusting noise as she beat her wings. Her body convulsed once, her muscles and her bones shifting. There was the distinctive pinching pressure as her bones hardened and her wings were suddenly gone. Without anything to hold her aloft, she crashed to the floor, skipping along the carpet and tearing through a path of broken toys and torn dolls. A soft cry came from her crumpled body and she slowly pushed herself up. The toys scattered about her, insincere smiles on plastic faces. Ponies and animals and strange two-legged monsters. They sneered mockingly at her as she sat in a crumpled heap of shame. With her pidgey impersonation failed, Poke won by default. Even his impassive and friendly face jeered at her. "Should have known, Alula." It almost seemed to say. Alula sat herself up, drawing her hooves colser to her. "Shut up," She sniffed, ducking her head. "Now I know why they call you princess Erroria!" His deeply feminine voice chuckled and he rocked forward, falling to the floor with a soft puff. Alula watched him fall, tears stinging her eyes. "Come on, Poke," She choked out. Standing, she hobbled toward the doll, poking it gently. "Poke, you're my only friend here. Don't be like this." "Like what?" The doll snapped back. With a faint, shimmering silhouette, the doll rose and danced about the unicorn. "Little Lula?" It swirled in the air about her, soft pink paw reaching out to jab at her. She stumbled back, cringing as the doll came closer and closer. "Little Lula, sing along. Lula, Lula, got it wrong!" Alula could not back up any further. She toppled a paint can and slipped, sliding into the wall. Her head struck stone and the room spun, along with the fluffy pink menace. "She tried to fix it, but then..." Poke surged toward her, muffling her startled shriek with his great, plush body. "Lula got it wrong again!" She shoved past it and scrabbled across the crowded marble floor. The toys and trinkets shrieked with laughter, pointing and jeering and mocking. They all began to chant, every echo following the filly. "Little Lula, sing along. Lula always gets it wrong!" A half-gutted stuffed dog came crashing down before the sitting room, blocking Alula's path. She reared back, stumbling into the toys. "Stop!" She screeched. "Stop, stop, all of you!" Their echoes pierced her ears. Their laughter filled her until it was all she could hear, all she could know. "I said stop it! Let me wake up, please! I wanna wake up now, let this be a dream!" Suddenly, her horn puttered out. Muscles and bones shifted within her and an earth pony cowered on the marble floor, quaking visibly. Tears began to wet her furry tan cheeks and she buried her head in her hooves. Still, she heard their sickening laughter. The door burst open and a grey butler, much younger than the one before him, came bursting through. "Princess Erroria!" He gasped, stumbling into the mess. His eyes locked onto the filly's small form across the room and he charged forward, stopping only when he heard the sound. Rocking to herself, her face hidden beneath her hooves, the princess was laughing hysterically.The butler froze, his ears twitching. "Princess?" She whipped around, bloodshot eyes locking onto him. He flinched, stumbling back. "Princess, I heard a scream. Is everything... Alright?" She stood slowly, never taking her eyes off him. In one hoof, she clutched a broken pony toy. It had long since been torn from its plastic pedestal, with one foot torn completely away. A tattered black suit had been forced over its crushed and deformed body. Perhaps to represent a butler... Alula's head suddenly jerked to the side, the sudden movement catching the butler's attention. She started toward him, brow furrowed in anger. "Little Lula, sing along. Lula, Lula, gets it wrong." Her body convulsed once more. Her bones popped and narrowed, hollowing out and expanding wider and lighter. A horn shot out from her forehead, parting her pale purple bangs. A tiny alicorn strode angrily toward the butler as he scrambled back, eyes going wide. She lifted the doll over her head and dashed it to the ground. "Well am I wrong about this, Butty?" It skittered across the floor and rolled onto the carpet. She chased after it, stomping viciously on the soft plastic. It squeaked ever so silently. "I have a new butler every day, Butty. Do you know why?" She stomped again, never taking her eyes off the stallion. "Huh?" She snapped. "Do you?" "N-No ma'am, I don't!" He hit the wall, sliding down onto his rump. From Alula's angle, he looked smaller than she. A wide, manic grin splayed across her face. She kicked the toy at the butler, making him flinch. With a chuckle, the princess stepped back and gestured to a wall. "Why not ask the last one?" The butler dared sit up and peer over the plush couch. A pool of crimson stared him in the face. Beside a label-less bucket, it spilled across the floor, stilling running hot and thick. He began to quake as his daring eyes led him up further. The wall had been vainly painted over in white but there were still patches and streaks of faint color. Dark black streaks and splatters of red. Then, finally, at the corner by the floor. Three scarlet words: "Celestia save us" Alula's horn lit up and her face filled the butler's vision. He reared back, striking his head on the wall. With a maddened cry, he scrambled for the door. It slammed shut behind him, with the echo of a piercing scream following in his wake. The princess stood where the butler had been, her grin not lost. A moment after the echoes ceased, she turned back to the stuffed doll before her. Her grin only widened and a full-hearted laughter erupted from her tiny chest. She reached down and retrieved a ring of keys from within her tail, eyes sparkling. "You, my fluffy pink friend," She chuckled, "Are amazing!" She tossed the rings up and caught them in a faintly blue magical hold. Only then did she notice her wings, buzzing happily at her sides. She gave an excited gasp and jumped into the air, facing the pink doll. "Pidgey, use gust attack!" Her horn grew twice as bright and she beat her wings furiously, whipping up a huge gust of air. The doll was torn off the floor and thrown across the room, landing in a sticky pool of sunset red. Alula lit down, jumping happily. "Yes! And Pidgey is the winner!" She skipped about the bedroom, laughing and exhaling as loudly as possible. "The crowd's going wild! Go Pidgey, go Pidgey!" She spotted Poke and lifted him out of the mess, hugging him tight. "And Slopoke, too!"