Castlevania: Portrait of Chaos

Chapter Five: More Problems Again?

Something kept Charlotte awake. She didn’t quite know what it was, but knowing her, she came up with a few theories. One could be was that she wasn’t really tired, and another told her that an incubus pony was waiting in the room that would pounce as soon as she fell asleep. Another still told her that it was her magic going haywire.

She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Twilight was thinking about the spells Charlotte used earlier that day. She knew that one where it made that pony head with a mane of snakes appear was clearly a forbidden, ancient spell of some kind.

If anything, she was gonna ask the foreign unicorn a bunch of questions, many of which would revolve around her spells in some manner. Soon afterwards a loud crash was heard, coming from outside

Twilight galloped outside as fast as she could to see what was going on. What she saw confused her a little: she saw a large amount of tiny midget sized ponies hopping as if they were fleas.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” yawned Jonathan, who had also galloped outside to see the commotion.

“I don’t know.” replied Twilight, unfurling her wings with haste

Jonathan looked at the chaos around him. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me! They are here now too?” Jonathan asked while face-hoofing.

Twilight looked at Jonathan with a quick glance “Wait, you know what those things are?”

“Yeah. Fleamen. They jump around like fleas and annoy the hell out of pretty much everypony.” Jonathan answered, his eyes narrowing.

One Fleaman--or, rather, Fleapony--decided to jump high in the air and it landed on a window sill. It sat there, watching behind the clear glass intently.

Only for the window to shatter as a flying book hit it in the face, promptly followed by the sound of a mare screaming in embarrassment. The other Fleaponies froze on the spot, staring up at their injured friend as he fell onto the ground. The book opened by itself and a white light emerged from it….forming two maces and a double-bladed halberd, the spike of which impaled it in the hind leg.

The Fleapony screeched in pain, and it actually cried tears as a result. By a sheer miracle it did not die, considering this rather unique set of circumstances it landed in.

Jonathan raised a brow. “I didn’t know they had emotions…” He said, dumbstruck by the sight.

One Fleapony walked very cautiously to the stallion. It didn’t hop, the damn thing WALKED.

“Please, release my friend. We truly didn’t mean any harm. We were just a bit too excited to have become equines. Please!” It pleaded, also breaking down into a sob.

Jonathan felt his eyes go wide. “Fine. But you have to promise me that you’ll keep your word.” He said.

“We promise.” Replied the Fleapony group, all of whom had pleading eyes (save the one that was injured.)

Jonathan nodded and trotted over to the hurt Fleapony and carefully removed the book from it’s leg. He reached under his wing as if searching for something. Eventually, he produced a bottle containing some strange, blue liquid in it.

“Drink this.” He said, handing it to the Fleapony. The Fleapony did as instructed, chugging the entire thing down in seconds. The leg healed, though it still hurt like hell. “Don’t walk too much on that leg.”

Twilight examined the Fleaponies and begun counting the group, making sure to add in the hurt Fleapony from the get-go. In all, there were only five of the things, and they did look rather harmless.

Jonathan sighed, “Well, that was a surprise, where we are from Fleaponies don’t have a will of their own--or be able to speak, and heck, they are produced by some creepy tree thing.”

“It may be because they’re here, not there.” Twilight pointed out, ushering the rather adorably malformed foal-lookalikes inside. Jonathan, carrying the hurt Fleapony in his saddlebag, trotted inside and closed the door.

Charlotte, who for some reason was wearing a towel on her rump, trotted downstairs. She had such a blush on her face that her eyes looked dark because of it.

“I need to ask you something…” Twilight said, failing to take into account the unicorn’s shamed look on her face.

“C-can it wait? Seriously?” Charlotte asked, ears folded back.

“Why?” Twilight asked, raising a brow.

Jonathan’s eyes went so wide his pupils shrunk. “Oh hell….” Was all he murmured.

“I….uh…..I-uh….” Charlotte stammered, gulping hard. She began to sweat from the shame.

Jonathan was quick to ascend up the stairs, making sure to lock the door of the room he entered shortly thereafter behind him.

The unicorn walked to the alicorn, her legs rather shaky. When she closed the distance, she pulled Twilight’s ear to her mouth and began whispering something into it. As Twilight listened, her eyes shrank.

Charlotte let go, trotting over to the table and taking a seat in a chair.

“I understand. Is it really that bad though?” Twilight asked, trying not to panic. The unicorn simply nodded with the same embarrassed look she had since the alicorn walked in.

“I’m….uh….going to bed now. Wake me up if something….uh….happens.” Charlotte said quickly before trotting upstairs to get some rest.

“This could have gone better…” Twilight murmured to herself, sighing in the process.

A sudden light appeared in the room, shining just before the ceiling. Twilight covered her eyes with a wing and the Fleaponies rushed for cover under the table. When the glowing brightness ended, there were two ponies hovering in the air--one with wings and the other without.

Twilight uncovered her eyes and saw the ponies, neither of which was a stallion. They looked back at her with matching eyes.

“Who are you two? And how did you get here?” The alicorn asked, noticing that the wingless mare had a bonnet which barely concealed her horn.

The mares exchanged glances, and then looked down before realizing that they were still in the air. They landed quickly before eying the room.

The pegasus looked at the alicorn and sighed. “You want our names?” She asked, folding her wings closed.

“Yes.” Twilight answered with an accompanying nod.

“My name is Stella. Stella Lecarde.” Answered the pegasus, sitting down on her rump.

The unicorn looked at Twilight. “Loretta.” She said swiftly, mimicking the pegasus.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Said the alicorn, also sitting down on her rump.

“It’s been….how shall I say...insane since we got here. Well, not here as in this house, but here in this city apparently called Manehattan, if I remember right.” Stella sighed, a look of defeat on her face.

“Which, may I add, gives us a decent reason to avoid the stallions.” Loretta scoffed, tensing up a bit at the thought.

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” Twilight asked, raising a brow.

“First off, we ran into a vampire. Then, this mare who spoke in third person and kept on boasting about how ‘Great and Powerful’ she was.” Stella said, her ears falling flat.

“More like ‘Useless and Weak,’ considering that she couldn’t even hold up a candle to our teamwork.” Loretta was quick to retort, snapping a glance at the pegasus.

“What happened after all of that?” Twilight asked.

“Well, a group of stallions found out I was in heat. I did a good job at holding them off at first, but they just kept charging like a bunch of fools. Had it not been for my sister and her teleportation spell, I would’ve been made unclean, so to speak.” Stella said, visibly trying not to get angry.

“It was just hectic. There were even police ponies who watched it all unfold and tried putting my sister down when all she did was attempt to defend herself. Isn’t that just wrong, seeing a police officer of all things stoop down to the level of a common thug?” Loretta hissed, her muscles tensing up again.

“Well, at least they didn’t follow you here. Otherwise I would’ve had them jailed myself.” Twilight sighed.

“To be blunt, I honestly think you don’t have that authority.” Stella said, again trying to reel her anger in.

“I may not look the part, especially since it’s only four in the morning. I can’t argue with that. But I’ll prove you wrong later today after everypony has had a nice, relaxing nap.” Twilight replied, a false smile on her face.

“As long as you keep your word, I am a happy mare.” Stella said, putting a hoof over her mouth to yawn into it.

“Yes, I have a few spare beds in case you were going to ask. In fact, I was planning on hitting the hay myself.” Twilight said, rising up on all fours. She trotted past the sisters, who also rose and began to follow.

“I’m going to hit the hay so hard I’ll be jailed for it.” Loretta murmured, a sleepy smile on her face as she ascended the stairs.

“I’m dead tired.” Stella whispered, her ears twitching a bit.

Around one in the evening the roosters began cawing. Apparently, they were waylaid.

Stella shifted before noticing the male chickens cocka-doodling outside. She yawned into the pillow and rose, arching her back sharply and stretching both her legs and wings. The mare quickly hopped out of the bed and trotted over to shake her still-sleeping sister awake, gently nudging her with a hoof.

The unicorn opened her eyes and fell clumsily out of the bed, the blanket flying off of her as if in protest. She shot up onto all fours, hastily glancing around before sighing in relief.

Both noticed a third pony in the room with them, also on a separate bed to themself. The sisters glanced at one another before trotting over to the bed and examining the third pony further. It certainly wasn’t Twilight--last time they checked, her mane was purple instead of brown. Who, then, was this third pony?

The pony shifted, rolling onto its side and revealing its pelt to be a hue of light blue. The face was that of a mare, and there was a horn on its head. Its eyes fluttered open, revealing irises of ocean blue.

Stella and Loretta felt their jaws physically dropping open. The mare, in turn, shot awake with wide eyes of her own. The blanket and a towel slid off of her, revealing an open book with a pentagram on its pages for a cutie mark.

“Stella? Loretta?” Asked the mare in shock.

“C-Charlotte?” Asked the sisters in response.

The unicorn got off the bed and all three mares shared a quick group hug.

It ended on short notice before Stella glared at Charlotte. “We were looking everywhere for you!” She scorned.

“Is this where you had been?” Loretta asked.

“Yeah.” Charlotte quickly answered with a sigh.

The door opened, and all three mares looked at it. In stepped a red stallion with a blond mane. He looked rather tired.

“Jonathan’s here too?” Loretta asked, blinking in surprise. Behind the red stallion emerged a dark tan stallion with a brown mane shaped like some kind of mushroom.

“And Vincent?” Stella asked, wings spreading in shock.

“Yeah….” Charlotte sighed.

“Twilight’s been calling you three for the past ten minutes. Get a move on, ladies.” Jonathan sighed before turning around and trotting out the door. The mares quickly followed, each one shaking off what sleep still clung to them. Down the stairs they ascended to meet with the alicorn, who was reading a scroll of some kind.

“I need to take you five to Canterlot. However, Celestia gave me a week for you guys to get accustomed to your new bodies beforehand, so I need to know what we’re going to be doing for the day.” Twilight said, rolling up the scroll and putting it on her table.

“Well, what places are there?” Loretta asked, muffling a yawn with her hoof.

“There’s the town square, there’s the Carousel Boutique, there’s Sweet Apple Acres, there’s Sugar Cube Corner….I could go on and on for another thirty minutes.” Twilight answered, smiling. The Fleaponies were huddled into one saddlebag that was attached to her, and they were still snoozing away.

“I say let’s hit Sugar Cube Corner first, and then Sweet Apple Acres.” Jonathan said, shifting his wings a bit.

“I have no objections.” Charlotte said, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

“Same here.” Vincent said, smiling.

“Why not?” Stella asked, wings stretching.

“Alright. Just follow me, everypony.” Twilight said, trotting out the door. Everypony obliged, trotting in haste. Bright sunshine and a clear sky made this look like a wonderful day, especially considering the activity in the nearby streets. Ponies of all colors and races trotted here and there, some towing carts behind them and some simply greeting others. Some flew in the skies above with clouds in their hooves for some reason. Others still carried things like shovels and woodcutting axes in their mouths, most likely for some kind of work.

Twilight began trotting down the dirt path and the group of five ponies followed. Many other ponies, of course, looked at them as if they were strangers before going about their business.

Eventually, they arrived at Sugar Cube Corner’s bakery, which looked like it was made of gingerbread for some reason.

“This bakery reminds me of a story I once read before going to sleep. Hansel and Gretel.” Charlotte said, smiling warmly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Hansel and Gretel? I’ve never heard of that one, what is it about?”

“Well, it’s a children’s fairy tale about two kids whose stepmother kicks them out and they end up in a forest. They see a gingerbread house owned by a nasty witch, who has a desire to….make them into cake, so to speak. They trick the witch and take a lot of her riches back home to their dad. It’s as much as I can say without attracting a crowd, sadly.” Charlotte answered, sighing.

The door burst open, and from it hopped a pink pony with a poofy mane and tail. She hopped around the alicorn.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Said the pony, a wide grin on her face. “Now I can make more friends!”

“Pinkie Pie, please show them the inside of the bakery.” Twilight said, grinning as well.

“I was going to do that, Twilight!” Pinkie retorted, bounding back inside. The five ponies trotted inside, followed by the alicorn. The floor was made of wood and on a shelf complete with cash register was a vast assortment of baked goods behind a glass wall. There were cupcakes and cookies and cakes and many other sweets galore.

In one corner of the room were two foals, both of whom were still in diapers. One was a unicorn with blue eyes, a creamy pelt, and an orange strand of mane. The other, a pegasus, had brown eyes, a slightly lighter pelt, and a brown lock of mane. Both were walking on all fours and the unicorn was chewing on a stuffed bunny.

The foals took notice of the five ponies and trotted over to them.

“The foals are Pumpkin and Pound Cake! They’re the sweetest little things in the world!” Pinkie said, her entire body brimming with enthusiasm.

Stella and Loretta then guessed and both asked Pinkie, “Are they twins like we are?”

“I didn’t know you two were twins!” Pinkie exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the green unicorn and purple pegasus. “Well, yeah, the Cakes are twins too!”

Jonathan nudged Pound with his hoof gently. The little colt replied with a giggle and then a small, harmless punch. “I can see why he’s named Pound.” Remarked the stallion with a smile.

Pumpkin dropped the bunny as she approached Charlotte. The unicorn mare found her hoof getting the chew treatment shortly thereafter. “She’s adorable.” Charlotte said, grinning as well.

The three fillies from the other day snuck into the room, trying to be stealthy.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Ninjas, go.” Whispered one. “We need to teach that big mare a lesson.”

They tried sneaking upstairs. Sadly, Charlotte saw them and quickly began tsk-tsk-tsking them. The fillies ended up trudging to the unicorn whilst groaning in frustration. The filly with the red mane looked up at her.

“I wanna ask somethin’.”  She said with a pleading look.

Charlotte raised a brow. “That being?” She asked.

“Where do babies come from?” Asked the filly.