The Other Other

by kudzuhaiku

Chapter 2

The out of doors was very strange. It was bright outside, but there was no sun in the sky. The sky was blue, but there were no clouds. There were no birds. There was nothing. The sky was an empty blue featureless expanse and the town around them was silent.

Dead silent.

Harper’s tummy growled, a fierce gurgling growl, and Pound nearly jumped out of his skin, leaping sideways and clutching his sister Pumpkin when he heard the sound. He grinned sheepishly, moved away, and flapped his wings nervously.

“Pegasi up front and in the rear, unicorns in the middle,” Pumpkin commanded.

“Good idea,” Peekaboo agreed as she took the lead with Pumpkin just behind her.

Behind Pumpkin, Harper fell into the line and Pound brought up the rear, keeping a wary pegasus eye on Harper. The group moved slowly and Peekaboo lead them towards the library, her head darting from side to side as she watched everything around her.

“I thought we were heading home,” Pound said in a low voice.

“Well, we can,” Peekaboo said, turning her head around and looking in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. “Do you think it is a good idea?”

“No,” Pumpkin replied. “But I don’t know what is a good idea right now.”

The line halted as the group tried to decide what was a good idea. The library was in one direction, Sugarcube Corner was in another, and the silent empty streets of Ponyville closed in all around them.

“Smell bad,” Harper announced.

“Something does smell bad,” Pound agreed, lifting his head and sniffing.

“Smells like the mulch pile,” Peekaboo muttered. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Does anypony else feel like we are being watched?” Pumpkin asked.

“Oh way to go sis, now I’m totally creeped out!” Pound protested.

In the distance, around a corner, out of sight, there was a faint chittering sound. The foals reacted in the way that any foals in a deserted town filled with silent streets, creepy stuffed animals, and potentially dangerous not kitties would react. They all clutched one another in fear and Pumpkin screamed until she was hoarse.

Pumpkin’s tiny barrel heaved, rising and falling rapidly, and the corner of one eye twitched. She wrapped her forelegs around both Harper and Pound, and she felt Peekaboo’s forelegs wrapping around her. For good measure, she threw her head back and screamed again.

“Well, whatever is out there, it heard you screaming and knows we’re here,” Pound whispered in a terrified voice.

When her brother’s words sank into her brain, Pumpkin screamed again, wondering if she had doomed them all. Her heart thudded in her chest and she worried that it might explode. And then, above her heavy breathing and thudding heart, she heard a sound.

Skritch…

In the distance, something scraped up against something else.

Pumpkin screamed again when she saw it, a little red and blue box. A Jack in the box… and it was dragging the box he lived in behind him, pulling himself along with two strangely lumpy forelegs, a crazed manic grin upon his face, a toy looking for playmates.

“Foals…” it moaned as it crawled forward, pulling itself along oh so slowly on two forelegs. The Jack in the box was half of a pony mounted on a spring, and it popped out to say hello when you cranked the handle on the side of the box. “Round and round the mulberry bush…” Jack groaned as he dragged himself towards the foals.

“Bad Jackie,” Harper scolded as her horn started to glow.

“...the monkey chased the weasel…”

“I gotta make a number two!” Pound cried out suddenly.

“I’ve already made a number one!” Pumpkin cried out in a shrill foalish voice.

The companions all realised that the ground beneath them was a little wet. Pumpkin screamed again as Harper’s horn grew brighter. Pound ducked his head down low, trying to get out of the line of fire. Peekaboo let go of Pumpkin and covered her ears. Harper’s built up static discharge was going to be loud with her being this close.

“... the monkey stopped to pull up his sock…”

“Zap goes the Jack in the box!” Harper finished as she discharged her lightning.

The arcing lightning struck the Jack in the box, causing it to fly backwards, and little Jack screamed in agony as the lightning consumed him. He and his box caught fire and black smoke billowed up into the sky. His little mouth opened and closed as he tried to scream, and tiny pointy needle like teeth were visible. The small figure shook and trembled, unable to stop the flames consuming him. A low terrible sounding moan came out of his box. The wood cracked open and something almost like as spider crawled out. It had too many legs and the head of what appeared to be a chicken with a bright red comb. It crawled away, it’s legs kicking, and smoke trailed from its singed body as it beat a hasty retreat.

The Jack in the box finally stopped moving and went still.

“Bad Jackie,” Harper grumped.

“What was that?” Pound whispered. “You saw it right?”

“I saw it,” Pumpkin gibbered.

“I did too,” Peekaboo whimpered.

The foals clung to one another, not caring that they were sitting in a puddle of widdle. Harper’s stomach growled and Harper let out a whimper of pain. Pound tried to comfort her, kissing her on the head, and he gave her an almost brotherly squeeze.

“Hungry,” Harper announced, rubbing her tummy. “Ouchie.”

“She can’t keep zapping,” Peekaboo said nervously.

“I don’t know what to do,” Pumpkin whimpered in fear and frustration.

“Where do we go?” Pound asked.

“We stay away from the toy store,” Peekaboo whispered. “Far, far, away.”

The foals, still pressed tightly together, began to move away, moving for the sake of moving, with no clear direction in mind. Whimpering, all of them breathing heavily, the foals tried to make sense of the world around them that had somehow gone terribly wrong.

As they moved, all around them they heard sounds. Terrible sounds coming from all directions. Pumpkin shrieked as she realised that she and her companions were surrounded. Pound broke away from the group, stood stiff legged, and spread out his stubby wings wide to try and look as scary as possible. Peekaboo whipped her head around, trying to see just what was threatening them, her mouth falling open wide. Harper clutched Pumpkin and the two unicorns held one another.

“Look what we have here.”

Pound turned his head and saw a white rabbit approaching. He gasped, sucking in a deep breath. He saw Fluttershy’s pet rabbit, sitting on his haunches, one large foot tapping on the ground as one ear twitched up and down. “Angel Bunny!”

“Not bunny,” Harper warned.

All around them, closing in on all sides, an army of stuffed animals and toys converged, some crawling, some rolling, some slithering, some creeping, and all of them edged in closer and closer other the foals now trapped in center. Many of the toys squirmed unnaturally, as though something was inside of them, crawling around, waiting to be let out. There were thousands of horrible things now closing in on the foals.

“Been so long since we’ve had a meal of nice juicy foal-flesh,” Angel Not Bunny said, his face contorting into a look of pure malice. “I can smell your delicious fear,” he hissed.

Pumpkin, knowing she was going to have to be a bad filly and accept the consequences, allowed her temper to flare and she felt heat building up inside of her body. Foalish anger bubbled deep inside of her brain. Her horn ignited.

The army of forsaken toys crept closer as the two unicorns charged up their magic, ready to make a final stand with two pegasi who were desperately trying to be brave and protect the unicorns. Peekaboo tried to remember what her mother Yew Wood had taught her about looking after herself.

To be concluded...

Author's Note:

The end should be posted soon, within a day or two.

Sorry for any typos, just let me know and I will fix them. Have fun...

Comments

[Lucky424]

Well... shit. Time to burn Ponyville down then.

[FanOfMostEverything]

The sky is the color of a television tuned to a dead channel, and our heroes would be far too young to understand that reference even if they were on Earth.

In any case, you've woven an incredible sense of crushing terror and hopelessness... and yet these four stand defiant to the end. I eagerly look forward to the conclusion.

[SolidBlackPanda]

Is it kinda messed up that this is dark and I still find myself laughing?

[Ron Jeremy Pony]

Crossing into an alternate universe, seeing strange and bizzare things, and facing unknown odds?

Yep, it's official. Somepony's bucked.

Well, now that is out of the way. I like the concept here, and I like the story. It's a toss back to 'The Midnight Hour'. A horror story that is fairly safe for almost every age.

here's hoping to see more.

[Seratina]

Peekaboo tried to remember what her mother Yew Wood had taught her about looking after herself

and then... she woke up.

[Scarheart]

Kinda curious how quickly foals grow in your ponyverse, Kudz.

Neat story! Looking forward to the finale!

[SolangeEggbert]

5153975
'It will have Harper Heartstrings, Peekaboo, and Pumpkin along with Pound Cake. Three of the foals are yearlings, give or take a bit. '
' Peekaboo is a yearling, and Harper is a half a year old'

5044552 - relevant too.

(of Peekaboo six months or so 'ago').

More or less. She is about six months old. Almost a yearling. So she is going to make a lot of mistakes.

I am still working on her speech pattern. Might need a little fine tuning.

For reference, think of Pipsqueak, a yearling, celebrating his very first nightmare night. His speech was mostly developed.