The Other Otherby kudzuhaikuChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1The world was suddenly quite empty and Peekaboo struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Her brow furrowed as she put her brain to work and looked at her companions, who seemed to be the only ponies around. They had been on a play date with the Cake twins at Aunty Rarity and Coco’s house, and Sweetie Belle was foal sitting them while Rarity and Coco worked together. Peekaboo, along with Harper, Pumpkin, and Pound, were all sitting in front of one of Rarity’s many mirrors making silly faces and amusing themselves when Peekaboo had tried to make herself vanish in the mirror by closing her eyes and holding her breath. It was how she could sometimes become invisible or at least a little dim. All she had to do was close her eyes and hold her breath and Peekaboo became a little difficult to see if she truly believed the grown ups could not see her. She had peeped open one eye ever so slightly to see if she had vanished in the mirror, and now, she found herself and her companions here. She had no idea why. “So… where is everypony?” Pound asked. “I dunno,” Pumpkin replied. “Want mama,” Harper demanded, her face darkening and her frizzy orange mane beginning to droop alarmingly. “Why did everypony suddenly vanish?” Pound inquired, getting up to have a look around. He was a very take charge sort of pegasus, bold for a yearling, and while not the leader of their little group, he was certainly the sometimes brave forward scout. “I see Rarity’s sewing machine, but no Rarity,” Pumpkin said, one eyebrow attempting to lift in a very grown up manner. “We should stick together. The grown ups say if something ever happened, we must stick together and keep track of Harper. She’s only half a year old,” Pumpkin ordered, mustering up every bit of her insufferable adultness that she had and taking charge. “Yeah, whatever you say Bossy,” Pound muttered. Pumpkin cleared her throat and glared daggers at her brother, her eyes narrowing. “Brute,” she whispered just under her breath, her ears perking forward and her nostrils flaring wide. “Snob,” Pound grumbled in reply, not bothering to look at his sister. “Scared,” Harper announced as she clung tightly to Pumpkin. “I know,” Pumpkin soothed, giving Harper a squeeze. “RARITY? COCO? SWEETIE BELLE?” Pound called out, looking around. He stood in the kitchen doorway and looked around. “Well, no grown ups,” he muttered, heading off for the fridge. After a monumental struggle, he managed to pull the door open and then sat down on the floor, his eyes beginning to water as his mouth hung open in fear. He hugged his own barrel with his forelegs and a few tears began to trickle from the corners of his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Pumpkin asked, breaking away from Harper to run to her brother’s side. She immediately threw her forelegs around her brother's neck, squeezed as much as her tiny unicorn foal body would allow, and rubbed her cheek against Pound’s own tear stained muzzle. “Look!” Pound cried, pointing with one front hoof. At this point, Peekaboo and Harper were with the Cake twins, and Peekaboo along with Pumpkin looked into the fridge, both gasping in unison from what they did not see inside of the ice box. “There’s no food,” Pound whined. “It’s empty,” Pumpkin whimpered. “What’s going on?” Peekaboo sniffled, wiping at her face with her foreleg as tears began to slip down her own cheeks. “Bad,” Harper announced, sitting back on her haunches. “Want mama.” “I think I want mama too,” Peekaboo agreed. “I can never tell who she means,” Pound said in confusion. “Bucky, you big dummy,” Pumpkin grumped as she wiped her snotty nose on her fetlock and pushed the fridge door shut with her other foreleg. The door clicked shut with a “whump” sound that echoed strangely in the kitchen. “So no grown ups, no food, we’re gonna die,” Pound whined, admitting defeat. The idea of missing lunch was pretty much the worst thing he could think of. “I want my mama too. Or Pinkie Pie… right now a Pinkie Pie hug would be the best thing in the whole wide world.” “What’s that?” Peekaboo asked, pointing at a stuffed animal that was moving toward them. Its movements were jerky and wrong. The small stuffed pony didn’t walk, it crawled along on its belly, dragging itself forward with its legs, inching towards the group of foals. “Oh boy that’s creepy,” Pound said, rising up on all fours and his stubby little wings flaring out. He went stiff legged and puffed out his barrel, trying to look as intimidating as possible. The little stuffy pony inched forward. It was lumpy and misshapen, and something moved under its fabric skin, its sides and legs changing shape and thickness as it crawled along. It’s little button eyes glinted in the strange light of the kitchen, and a weird clicking scritching scratching sound could be heard from within the small stuffy pony. “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Pumpkin screamed. “KILL IT POUND! BE A BRUTE!” Pound lept forward, reared up, and brought his hooves down upon the squirming stuffy. It burst open on contact and hundreds of creepy crawly bugs came writhing out, horrible icky bugs with too many legs and big scary pincers. Centipedes and beetles and earwigs and so many other unspeakable unnamable horrors spilled out on the tile floor, wriggling and crawling over one another in a big disgusting pile of icky. “Foals! Fresh meeeat,” a disembodied voice moaned, seemingly coming from the stuffed animal. “Deeeelicious foal flesh,” it hissed. “Bad!” Harper shouted. “No touchy touchy!” Seeing Harper’s horn glowing and smelling ozone, Peekaboo lunged forward, tackled Pound, and then she rolled away with him, getting him to safety. A second later, there was an arcing crackle loud enough to leave everypony’s ears ringing. Pumpkin, who had covered her face with her forelegs, peeked out from between her fetlocks and looked around, peering out with one opened eye. The stuffy toy was now a smoking charred mess and the bugs were mostly dead, blackened, burnt, and some had popped like popcorn. She looked at Harper, who was standing on trembling legs, horn still glowing, and electrical sparks danced along the stubby length of her horn. The air smelled like thunder. “Bad stuffy,” Harper scolded, her muzzle scrunched up in an attempt to look fierce. “Bad stuffy no touchy touchy,” she repeated. “You tell ’em Harper!” Peekaboo said as she let go of Pound and climbed up onto her hooves. She helped Pound stand up and then trotted over the scorched stuffy to have a look. It was blackened and the tile floor was burnt. There were all kinds of dead bugs, killed by Harper’s lightning. The stuffed animal wiggled a bit for a moment, and a few more insects crawled out of the burnt split seams. “So no grown ups, no food, and stuffed animals filled with bugs,” Pumpkin said as she trotted forward to join Peekaboo in examining the fried stuffed animal on the floor. “That wants to eat foals,” Pound whimpered, coming to his sister’s side and pressing up against her. “If I use my fire magic mama will be mad,” Pumpkin said, her face furrowing with worry. “We should get out of here. I don’t think it is safe. Sweetie Belle has a whole bunch of stuffed animals in her room.” “Go outside? Alone? With no grown ups around?” Pound asked, blinking his eyes in disbelief. “Any better ideas?” Peekaboo questioned. “No,” Pound admitted in reply. “We stay near Harper and her zapper,” Pumpkin instructed. “Zap!” Harper shouted, nodding her head, her poofy frizzy mane bouncing. “Mama Lyra told me zap zap zap!” “She sure did,” Peekaboo agreed. “To keep little Harper safe. Zap zap zap. Can you zap stuff for us Harper?” Nodding Harper smiled, her small white teeth visible as she beamed. “Zap for Sissy,” the foal announced as she looked at Peekaboo. “Love Boo.” “Okay. We go outside. Where do we go though?” Pumpkin asked. “To the Ponyville library? Maybe we could draw on a wall and get in touch with Twilight Sparkle somehow?” Peekaboo replied. “That’s a good idea. Maybe grown ups are there and can’t see us,” Pumpkin agreed. “So what about the black spot here?” Pound asked. “Wouldn’t that tell them something?” “Maybe they can see it but not us and don’t know how to scold us?” Pumpkin reasoned, sitting down and trying to think. “Mreow,” Opalescence mreowed, strolling casually through the kitchen. “Kitty,” Harper announced. “Kitty see us.” “Opalescence?” Peekaboo called out, looking at Rarity’s cat. Hearing her name, Opalescence turned to look at Peekaboo. She raised one paw, licked it a few times, and then washed her face while practically ignoring the foals who were watching her every move. “Opalescence, here kitty kitty,” Peekaboo coaxed trying to call the cat over. “Are you nice and real or is Harper going to have to zap you?” “Oh that would be quite rude,” Opalescence said disdainfully, pausing mid bath to glare at the foals. “That would ruin my perfectly coiffed fur. The very thought,” she sighed, shuddering once she was done speaking. “Do you know what is going on?” Pumpkin asked. “Not kitty,” Harper hissed, her eyes narrowing. “What?” Peekaboo asked, her eyes widening. Folding its ears back, the cat glared at Harper angrily. “Some foals are too clever.” “Not kitty!” Harper cried. “Not kitty at all!” she warned as her horn began to glow alarmingly bright. “Not kitty go buh bye! Tootles!” A stream of lightning burst from Harper’s stubby horn and flew towards Opalescence. Pound and Pumpkin screamed, and Peekaboo covered her eyes with one foreleg. “Oh bother,” Opalescence gasped just before the lightning struck her. The not kitty exploded, a cloud of white hairs filling the kitchen and drifting down like snowflakes. There was another big black scorch mark on the tile floor, and some thing writhed around on the floor, kicking, hissing, and popping, now deprived of its cat suit. It was burnt black, had four legs, a lumpy misshapen head, a tail, and looked like a rat with too long legs, a too thick tail, and great big fangs. It was covered in blisters and completely charred from nose to tail. It died with a gasp, letting out a smoke ring as it finally expired. “Not kitty,” Harper muttered. “Good job,” Peekaboo praised. “Want cookie,” Harper demanded. “There are no cookies,” Pound said, looking frightened. “But maybe later when we get out of this.” “If we get out of this,” Pumpkin interjected. “Cookie!” Harper shouted. “Later Harper, I promise,” Peekaboo promised. “Okay,” Harper agreed. “Cookie later. Promised. No cookie… zap.” “So what was that thing?” Pound asked, approaching the burnt remains. “Not kitty,” Harper answered. “Bad not kitty. Lives under the bed.” “I told you Pound! I told you I told you I told you! There are too monsters under the bed! Didn’t I tell you!” Pumpkin shouted at her brother. “I believe you now… I was trying to be grown up about the whole thing!” Pound retorted. “So the monster came out from under the bed while there are no grown ups around. I wanna go home!” “Home will be empty,” Pumpkin said in a frightened voice. “How do we know that for sure?” Pound asked. “We could go look,” Peekaboo suggested. “We have a lot of stuffed animals. And beds in our house,” Pound replied as he paced around in a circle, his stubby wings fluttering, his face creased with worry. “I’m so scared.” “We’re all scared Pound. Come here, I’ll hug you and make it better,” Pumpkin offered, sitting back on her haunches and extending both forelegs. Looking around sheepishly, and knowing that big tough pegasi didn’t go running to their sisters for hugs when they were scared, Pound ran to his sister anyway, threw his legs around her neck, and squeezed her tightly. “Snob,” he whispered. “Brute,” Pumpkin whispered back. “So… we go outside, and the either go to the library or we go to Sugarcube Corner. I don’t think there are any grown ups anywhere. We need to be on the lookout for stuffed animals and not kitties, or not animals of any sort. We need to keep Harper safe and Harper will keep us safe. Pumpkin, can you use your magic at all?” Peekaboo said, trying to sum up the situation and figure out what to do next. “I am not supposed to use my magic. I catch stuff on fire,” Pumpkin replied, looking guilty. “I don’t have very much control.” “We’re going to have to make due if we ever want to see our parents again. Now let’s go,” Peekaboo commanded, trying to be brave like her daddy Lugus. It was either be brave or cry, and crying was something her daddy didn’t approve of. She could tell when she ruffled his feathers. “I’m getting kinda hungry,” Pound whined. “We all are. And if Harper keeps using her magic, she is going to have to eat soon,” Pumpkin replied. “We’re in trouble.” “We just have to stick together,” Peekaboo responded. “Now let’s go!” Author's Note This will be a short story folks. I hope you enjoy. It is meant to be kinda dark for a rated everybody story, not grimdark. Just ever so slightly creepy really. Let me know if I missed any typos and I hope you enjoy. Polite constructive criticism is welcomed! Let me know what you think! Chapter 2The 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... Chapter 3“We're horned!” “Pound, you have a potty mouth!” Pumpkin shouted. “But I love you!” “How touching,” Angel Not Bunny said in a voice dripping with evil sarcasm. All around the foals, who were huddled together, the creeping legions of corrupted toys edged ever closer. They were surrounded. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to go. There were no adults to help them. Harper’s horn glowed, and Pumpkin’s horn was powering up. Peekaboo and Pound stood ready to kick anything that got too close. “I don’t know how you got here, but we've been waiting for a meal like you for a long time,” Angel Not Bunny said and then cackled evilly. His bunny buck teeth were gone, replaced by long fangs. “What is this place?” Pumpkin asked… she hoped that the evil villain would monologue and give them just a little bit more time, just like what happened in the Daring Do stories. All Daring Do had to do was get them talking and then it was impossible to get them to shut up. “This is the Other Other…” Angel Not Bunny said, looking at Pumpkin curiously. “What is the Other Other?” Pumpkin asked, she gulped when she was done speaking and tried to look as terrified as possible, which was surprisingly easy given the circumstances. “This is the realm in between where the monsters who exist in the corner of your eye live. The monsters under the bed and in your closet. Usually, we can only reach out a part of our will while you are sleeping or very very scared, but we can’t usually reach you. But here you are, somehow, you came to us,” Angel Not Bunny explained. “And for those of us who manage to get into your world, the monster murderer Princess Luna and her horrible lunar pegasi destroy us. But she can’t save you here!” “Maybe if you didn’t eat foals, Princess Luna wouldn’t have to destroy you,” Pumpkin suggested, glancing around. The corrupted toys were too close now. Some of them were only a few feet away, but they had stopped their advance while their leader spoke. “But foals are delicious! And we have a right to live!” Angel Not Bunny shouted. “So do we!” Pumpkin retorted. “No you don’t, you’re food!” Angel Not Bunny argued, offering up his impervious logic to the foals, sneering at them imperiously as he spoke. “Well, this is why Princess Luna kills you. And you’d better be careful. Princess Luna is Harper’s Godmother,” Pumpkin warned. “Good… I’m going to enjoy eating her then, it will allow me to hurt Princess Luna in return for all of the harm she has done to us!” Angel Not Bunny yelled. Peekaboo, terrified of whatever was going to happen next, came close to Pumpkin, leaned in, and put her lips to Pumpkin’s ear. “When they try to gobble us up, shoot out as much fire as you can and shout the words ‘Uncle Scorch’ when you burn them,” Peekaboo whispered. Peekaboo was terrified of scary Uncle Scorch, but he was better than being gobbled alive by whatever these things were. Being gobbled alive was very high on Peekaboo’s list of things she wanted to avoid, right up there with brushing her teeth and bath time. “If something moves… set the rabbit on fire first Pumpkin,” Pound commanded. “Oh you snotty little pegasus!” Angel Not Bunny cursed, glaring at Pound, his large hind foot thumping on the ground in anger. “Zap,” Harper announced, not needing more than one word to express her intent, her action, and her solution. She narrowed her eyes and her ears folded back against her skull. Her poofy orange mane crackled with static electricity and her tail swished from side to side as she waited for just the right moment. “Get them!” Angel Not Bunny Shouted and he suddenly hopped away. The toys lurched forward as a group, groaning, hissing, and growling. Little stuffy animals moved oddly, probably filled with unimaginable horrors. One little stuffed pig split open along the seam that ran down its back and a long blackish green tentacle came poking curiously out, waving around as the stuffed pig lurched its way forward with the rest of the toy army. Feeling a sinking feeling of despair, Pumpkin realised she had no chance of hitting Angel Not Bunny as he hopped away. He was too far away for her to hit with her fire magic. She took a deep breath, sucked in even a little bit more air, and then she let go of her magic, something she was never supposed to do. Remembering what Peekaboo had said, as the toys around her began to burst into flames, she shouted at the top of her lungs… “UNCLE SCORCH!” The world suddenly became a very warm place… “Hey, what’s going on here?” a very tall bipedal figure asked as it poofed into existence. It was made entirely out of fire. It looked around at the toys, then at the foals, and then back at the toys. “Hey… Harper? Peekaboo? Are you okay? Who’s your friends?” The fire elemental waved his hand in a wide dismissive gesture and set the toys on fire. They blazed, burning, and the air was filled with the sounds of keening agony. Scorch, seeing a fleeing figure, took off after it, running on two legs. Scorch shifted shape as he ran, becoming a pony, a big orange earth pony with a mane and tail the colour of runny magma. Angel Not Bunny froze in place, caught up in a magic field that radiated from the big orange not earth pony named Scorch. It kicked it wiggled, squirming, and then it glared at Scorch defiantly. “I have bad news for you… you’re coming home with me...” Scorch hissed at the not rabbit. The not quite an earth pony turned around headed back towards the foals. “You kids okay? Gosh, you’re adorable when you are all scared and huddled together like that… no… oh bother, please, don’t cry, I know you’re scared, probably all of these little mephits and implings and shadowlings all around you that I set on fire, isn’t it? Gosh I’m sorry…” Scorch said, looking quite worried and unsure of what to do. He chewed on his not quite earth pony lip, his eyes wide with fearful concern. “I want my mama!” Pumpkin cried, overcome with a fear she couldn’t understand. Even though Scorch had saved them, something about him was terrifying. He was even scarier than all of the toys. She held on to her brother for dear life, a long dribble of snot leaking from one nostril as she wailed “Look, just give me a minute… I’m gonna vanish for just a minute, I won’t be gone long I promise, I’m just going to take this little troublemaker back to Tartar-er, back to Happy Bunny Land and then I will be right back in a jiffy with help. I can’t actually get you out of here but I know somebody who can… just hold on,” Scorch said as soothingly as possible, completely unaware that it was his demonic infernal nature that was scaring the foals senseless. The foals took a deep breath of relief in unison when Scorch popped out of existence. Pound wiped the snot from his sister’s nose and Harper wiped her face upon Pound’s back. Peekaboo held on to her three companions, shivering with fear and keeping a wary eye upon the still burning toys. Peekaboo found that she wanted to like Uncle Scorch, but there was something about him that just scared her silly. She felt bad for being so afraid after he had always been so nice to her, toasting marshmallows to perfection and giving them to her, and her guilty conflicted feelings that she could not understand only made her cry harder. There was a loud “pop!” and two figures appeared. One was Uncle Scorch, still in earth pony form, and the other was a tall draconequus. “Uncle Discord!” Peekaboo sobbed with relief. “Cheeky Peeky! What are you doing here?” Discord asked. He hurried forwards and snatched up all four foals in his forelegs and squeezed them. “Are you okay? How on earth did you wind up in the Other Other?” “I tried to make myself disappear in front of a mirror,” Peekaboo said, still crying as she buried her face into Discord’s long neck. “Hmm,” Discord replied. “I knew that you went half in and half out of a dimension when you go hidden, but I didn’t know that you could slip completely through the dimensional walls entirely.” “What is this place?” Pound asked, wiping his still dripping nose and looking up at Discord. “This is an in between place. You know how a wall is hollow inside? Well, there might be a few pipes or some electrical wiring, but a wall is mostly empty,” Discord replied. Nodding, Pound wiped his eyes and then wiped his sister’s eyes. “Well, this place, the Other Other, is the hollow place between the walls of two worlds. The things that find their way here feed on the fear of both worlds on either side,” Discord explained as he bounced the foals around in his embrace. “It is like a wall standing between two rooms, but in this case, the rooms are two realities and this place is the wall between them.” “I don’t understand,” Pound whimpered. “I’ll explain it when you are all older. Maybe even show you around,” Discord said, squeezing the foals gently. “Thanks Scorch. I’m going to take these little ones home.” “See that they get some cookies and some milk or something. They look a little freaked out. And they probably need a nap,” Scorch suggested. “Anyway, I gotta back back to Happy Bunny Land. I gotta little bunny that needs to learn not to mess with foals. See ya,” the fire elemental said as he blinked out of existence. “I’ll have you home in just a moment,” Discord promised. There was a snap from his tail tuft and a bright flash of light. Suddenly, the foals found themselves in a different place. Still in Discord’s embrace, they looked around and saw grown ups all around them. Other foals. Ponyville was full of ponies again. The sun was back in the sky. There were clouds with napping pegasi overhead. Several ponies stopped to look with some concern at Discord, who had four crying foals in his embrace. Discord grinned sheepishly, looking around, worried that some ponies might get the wrong idea. “Poor dears… they look frightened… are they okay? You just appeared. You must have rescued them… I’ll make sure to tell Fluttershy that you’ve been a good draconequus,” an earth pony mare said. “Thank you,” Discord replied, moving off in a hurry for Carousel Boutique, heaving a sigh in relief. “Don’t worry foals, Rarity will get you sorted out and I’ll fetch Cup and Carrot once I have you safe inside with a pony you can trust,” he promised. “Thank you,” Pound said, still sniffling. “Yes, thank you,” Pumpkin added, wiggling around and wrapping her forelegs around Discord’s serpentine neck to squeeze him. “Auntie Disco,” Harper murmured, still shivering, still refusing to use masculine pronouns. “You’re the best,” Peekaboo whispered, taking a deep breath and realising it was finally over. As Discord carried her back to Auntie Rarity’s, she promised herself that she would never try to hide herself from her own reflection ever again. Author's Note Just a short silly little story that I trimmed off of The Chase. I hope a couple of people enjoyed it, but I wrote this mostly for myself. Thanks for reading. And if you see a typo, let me know!
Chapter 1The world was suddenly quite empty and Peekaboo struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Her brow furrowed as she put her brain to work and looked at her companions, who seemed to be the only ponies around. They had been on a play date with the Cake twins at Aunty Rarity and Coco’s house, and Sweetie Belle was foal sitting them while Rarity and Coco worked together. Peekaboo, along with Harper, Pumpkin, and Pound, were all sitting in front of one of Rarity’s many mirrors making silly faces and amusing themselves when Peekaboo had tried to make herself vanish in the mirror by closing her eyes and holding her breath. It was how she could sometimes become invisible or at least a little dim. All she had to do was close her eyes and hold her breath and Peekaboo became a little difficult to see if she truly believed the grown ups could not see her. She had peeped open one eye ever so slightly to see if she had vanished in the mirror, and now, she found herself and her companions here. She had no idea why. “So… where is everypony?” Pound asked. “I dunno,” Pumpkin replied. “Want mama,” Harper demanded, her face darkening and her frizzy orange mane beginning to droop alarmingly. “Why did everypony suddenly vanish?” Pound inquired, getting up to have a look around. He was a very take charge sort of pegasus, bold for a yearling, and while not the leader of their little group, he was certainly the sometimes brave forward scout. “I see Rarity’s sewing machine, but no Rarity,” Pumpkin said, one eyebrow attempting to lift in a very grown up manner. “We should stick together. The grown ups say if something ever happened, we must stick together and keep track of Harper. She’s only half a year old,” Pumpkin ordered, mustering up every bit of her insufferable adultness that she had and taking charge. “Yeah, whatever you say Bossy,” Pound muttered. Pumpkin cleared her throat and glared daggers at her brother, her eyes narrowing. “Brute,” she whispered just under her breath, her ears perking forward and her nostrils flaring wide. “Snob,” Pound grumbled in reply, not bothering to look at his sister. “Scared,” Harper announced as she clung tightly to Pumpkin. “I know,” Pumpkin soothed, giving Harper a squeeze. “RARITY? COCO? SWEETIE BELLE?” Pound called out, looking around. He stood in the kitchen doorway and looked around. “Well, no grown ups,” he muttered, heading off for the fridge. After a monumental struggle, he managed to pull the door open and then sat down on the floor, his eyes beginning to water as his mouth hung open in fear. He hugged his own barrel with his forelegs and a few tears began to trickle from the corners of his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Pumpkin asked, breaking away from Harper to run to her brother’s side. She immediately threw her forelegs around her brother's neck, squeezed as much as her tiny unicorn foal body would allow, and rubbed her cheek against Pound’s own tear stained muzzle. “Look!” Pound cried, pointing with one front hoof. At this point, Peekaboo and Harper were with the Cake twins, and Peekaboo along with Pumpkin looked into the fridge, both gasping in unison from what they did not see inside of the ice box. “There’s no food,” Pound whined. “It’s empty,” Pumpkin whimpered. “What’s going on?” Peekaboo sniffled, wiping at her face with her foreleg as tears began to slip down her own cheeks. “Bad,” Harper announced, sitting back on her haunches. “Want mama.” “I think I want mama too,” Peekaboo agreed. “I can never tell who she means,” Pound said in confusion. “Bucky, you big dummy,” Pumpkin grumped as she wiped her snotty nose on her fetlock and pushed the fridge door shut with her other foreleg. The door clicked shut with a “whump” sound that echoed strangely in the kitchen. “So no grown ups, no food, we’re gonna die,” Pound whined, admitting defeat. The idea of missing lunch was pretty much the worst thing he could think of. “I want my mama too. Or Pinkie Pie… right now a Pinkie Pie hug would be the best thing in the whole wide world.” “What’s that?” Peekaboo asked, pointing at a stuffed animal that was moving toward them. Its movements were jerky and wrong. The small stuffed pony didn’t walk, it crawled along on its belly, dragging itself forward with its legs, inching towards the group of foals. “Oh boy that’s creepy,” Pound said, rising up on all fours and his stubby little wings flaring out. He went stiff legged and puffed out his barrel, trying to look as intimidating as possible. The little stuffy pony inched forward. It was lumpy and misshapen, and something moved under its fabric skin, its sides and legs changing shape and thickness as it crawled along. It’s little button eyes glinted in the strange light of the kitchen, and a weird clicking scritching scratching sound could be heard from within the small stuffy pony. “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Pumpkin screamed. “KILL IT POUND! BE A BRUTE!” Pound lept forward, reared up, and brought his hooves down upon the squirming stuffy. It burst open on contact and hundreds of creepy crawly bugs came writhing out, horrible icky bugs with too many legs and big scary pincers. Centipedes and beetles and earwigs and so many other unspeakable unnamable horrors spilled out on the tile floor, wriggling and crawling over one another in a big disgusting pile of icky. “Foals! Fresh meeeat,” a disembodied voice moaned, seemingly coming from the stuffed animal. “Deeeelicious foal flesh,” it hissed. “Bad!” Harper shouted. “No touchy touchy!” Seeing Harper’s horn glowing and smelling ozone, Peekaboo lunged forward, tackled Pound, and then she rolled away with him, getting him to safety. A second later, there was an arcing crackle loud enough to leave everypony’s ears ringing. Pumpkin, who had covered her face with her forelegs, peeked out from between her fetlocks and looked around, peering out with one opened eye. The stuffy toy was now a smoking charred mess and the bugs were mostly dead, blackened, burnt, and some had popped like popcorn. She looked at Harper, who was standing on trembling legs, horn still glowing, and electrical sparks danced along the stubby length of her horn. The air smelled like thunder. “Bad stuffy,” Harper scolded, her muzzle scrunched up in an attempt to look fierce. “Bad stuffy no touchy touchy,” she repeated. “You tell ’em Harper!” Peekaboo said as she let go of Pound and climbed up onto her hooves. She helped Pound stand up and then trotted over the scorched stuffy to have a look. It was blackened and the tile floor was burnt. There were all kinds of dead bugs, killed by Harper’s lightning. The stuffed animal wiggled a bit for a moment, and a few more insects crawled out of the burnt split seams. “So no grown ups, no food, and stuffed animals filled with bugs,” Pumpkin said as she trotted forward to join Peekaboo in examining the fried stuffed animal on the floor. “That wants to eat foals,” Pound whimpered, coming to his sister’s side and pressing up against her. “If I use my fire magic mama will be mad,” Pumpkin said, her face furrowing with worry. “We should get out of here. I don’t think it is safe. Sweetie Belle has a whole bunch of stuffed animals in her room.” “Go outside? Alone? With no grown ups around?” Pound asked, blinking his eyes in disbelief. “Any better ideas?” Peekaboo questioned. “No,” Pound admitted in reply. “We stay near Harper and her zapper,” Pumpkin instructed. “Zap!” Harper shouted, nodding her head, her poofy frizzy mane bouncing. “Mama Lyra told me zap zap zap!” “She sure did,” Peekaboo agreed. “To keep little Harper safe. Zap zap zap. Can you zap stuff for us Harper?” Nodding Harper smiled, her small white teeth visible as she beamed. “Zap for Sissy,” the foal announced as she looked at Peekaboo. “Love Boo.” “Okay. We go outside. Where do we go though?” Pumpkin asked. “To the Ponyville library? Maybe we could draw on a wall and get in touch with Twilight Sparkle somehow?” Peekaboo replied. “That’s a good idea. Maybe grown ups are there and can’t see us,” Pumpkin agreed. “So what about the black spot here?” Pound asked. “Wouldn’t that tell them something?” “Maybe they can see it but not us and don’t know how to scold us?” Pumpkin reasoned, sitting down and trying to think. “Mreow,” Opalescence mreowed, strolling casually through the kitchen. “Kitty,” Harper announced. “Kitty see us.” “Opalescence?” Peekaboo called out, looking at Rarity’s cat. Hearing her name, Opalescence turned to look at Peekaboo. She raised one paw, licked it a few times, and then washed her face while practically ignoring the foals who were watching her every move. “Opalescence, here kitty kitty,” Peekaboo coaxed trying to call the cat over. “Are you nice and real or is Harper going to have to zap you?” “Oh that would be quite rude,” Opalescence said disdainfully, pausing mid bath to glare at the foals. “That would ruin my perfectly coiffed fur. The very thought,” she sighed, shuddering once she was done speaking. “Do you know what is going on?” Pumpkin asked. “Not kitty,” Harper hissed, her eyes narrowing. “What?” Peekaboo asked, her eyes widening. Folding its ears back, the cat glared at Harper angrily. “Some foals are too clever.” “Not kitty!” Harper cried. “Not kitty at all!” she warned as her horn began to glow alarmingly bright. “Not kitty go buh bye! Tootles!” A stream of lightning burst from Harper’s stubby horn and flew towards Opalescence. Pound and Pumpkin screamed, and Peekaboo covered her eyes with one foreleg. “Oh bother,” Opalescence gasped just before the lightning struck her. The not kitty exploded, a cloud of white hairs filling the kitchen and drifting down like snowflakes. There was another big black scorch mark on the tile floor, and some thing writhed around on the floor, kicking, hissing, and popping, now deprived of its cat suit. It was burnt black, had four legs, a lumpy misshapen head, a tail, and looked like a rat with too long legs, a too thick tail, and great big fangs. It was covered in blisters and completely charred from nose to tail. It died with a gasp, letting out a smoke ring as it finally expired. “Not kitty,” Harper muttered. “Good job,” Peekaboo praised. “Want cookie,” Harper demanded. “There are no cookies,” Pound said, looking frightened. “But maybe later when we get out of this.” “If we get out of this,” Pumpkin interjected. “Cookie!” Harper shouted. “Later Harper, I promise,” Peekaboo promised. “Okay,” Harper agreed. “Cookie later. Promised. No cookie… zap.” “So what was that thing?” Pound asked, approaching the burnt remains. “Not kitty,” Harper answered. “Bad not kitty. Lives under the bed.” “I told you Pound! I told you I told you I told you! There are too monsters under the bed! Didn’t I tell you!” Pumpkin shouted at her brother. “I believe you now… I was trying to be grown up about the whole thing!” Pound retorted. “So the monster came out from under the bed while there are no grown ups around. I wanna go home!” “Home will be empty,” Pumpkin said in a frightened voice. “How do we know that for sure?” Pound asked. “We could go look,” Peekaboo suggested. “We have a lot of stuffed animals. And beds in our house,” Pound replied as he paced around in a circle, his stubby wings fluttering, his face creased with worry. “I’m so scared.” “We’re all scared Pound. Come here, I’ll hug you and make it better,” Pumpkin offered, sitting back on her haunches and extending both forelegs. Looking around sheepishly, and knowing that big tough pegasi didn’t go running to their sisters for hugs when they were scared, Pound ran to his sister anyway, threw his legs around her neck, and squeezed her tightly. “Snob,” he whispered. “Brute,” Pumpkin whispered back. “So… we go outside, and the either go to the library or we go to Sugarcube Corner. I don’t think there are any grown ups anywhere. We need to be on the lookout for stuffed animals and not kitties, or not animals of any sort. We need to keep Harper safe and Harper will keep us safe. Pumpkin, can you use your magic at all?” Peekaboo said, trying to sum up the situation and figure out what to do next. “I am not supposed to use my magic. I catch stuff on fire,” Pumpkin replied, looking guilty. “I don’t have very much control.” “We’re going to have to make due if we ever want to see our parents again. Now let’s go,” Peekaboo commanded, trying to be brave like her daddy Lugus. It was either be brave or cry, and crying was something her daddy didn’t approve of. She could tell when she ruffled his feathers. “I’m getting kinda hungry,” Pound whined. “We all are. And if Harper keeps using her magic, she is going to have to eat soon,” Pumpkin replied. “We’re in trouble.” “We just have to stick together,” Peekaboo responded. “Now let’s go!” Author's Note This will be a short story folks. I hope you enjoy. It is meant to be kinda dark for a rated everybody story, not grimdark. Just ever so slightly creepy really. Let me know if I missed any typos and I hope you enjoy. Polite constructive criticism is welcomed! Let me know what you think!
Chapter 2The 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...
Chapter 3“We're horned!” “Pound, you have a potty mouth!” Pumpkin shouted. “But I love you!” “How touching,” Angel Not Bunny said in a voice dripping with evil sarcasm. All around the foals, who were huddled together, the creeping legions of corrupted toys edged ever closer. They were surrounded. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to go. There were no adults to help them. Harper’s horn glowed, and Pumpkin’s horn was powering up. Peekaboo and Pound stood ready to kick anything that got too close. “I don’t know how you got here, but we've been waiting for a meal like you for a long time,” Angel Not Bunny said and then cackled evilly. His bunny buck teeth were gone, replaced by long fangs. “What is this place?” Pumpkin asked… she hoped that the evil villain would monologue and give them just a little bit more time, just like what happened in the Daring Do stories. All Daring Do had to do was get them talking and then it was impossible to get them to shut up. “This is the Other Other…” Angel Not Bunny said, looking at Pumpkin curiously. “What is the Other Other?” Pumpkin asked, she gulped when she was done speaking and tried to look as terrified as possible, which was surprisingly easy given the circumstances. “This is the realm in between where the monsters who exist in the corner of your eye live. The monsters under the bed and in your closet. Usually, we can only reach out a part of our will while you are sleeping or very very scared, but we can’t usually reach you. But here you are, somehow, you came to us,” Angel Not Bunny explained. “And for those of us who manage to get into your world, the monster murderer Princess Luna and her horrible lunar pegasi destroy us. But she can’t save you here!” “Maybe if you didn’t eat foals, Princess Luna wouldn’t have to destroy you,” Pumpkin suggested, glancing around. The corrupted toys were too close now. Some of them were only a few feet away, but they had stopped their advance while their leader spoke. “But foals are delicious! And we have a right to live!” Angel Not Bunny shouted. “So do we!” Pumpkin retorted. “No you don’t, you’re food!” Angel Not Bunny argued, offering up his impervious logic to the foals, sneering at them imperiously as he spoke. “Well, this is why Princess Luna kills you. And you’d better be careful. Princess Luna is Harper’s Godmother,” Pumpkin warned. “Good… I’m going to enjoy eating her then, it will allow me to hurt Princess Luna in return for all of the harm she has done to us!” Angel Not Bunny yelled. Peekaboo, terrified of whatever was going to happen next, came close to Pumpkin, leaned in, and put her lips to Pumpkin’s ear. “When they try to gobble us up, shoot out as much fire as you can and shout the words ‘Uncle Scorch’ when you burn them,” Peekaboo whispered. Peekaboo was terrified of scary Uncle Scorch, but he was better than being gobbled alive by whatever these things were. Being gobbled alive was very high on Peekaboo’s list of things she wanted to avoid, right up there with brushing her teeth and bath time. “If something moves… set the rabbit on fire first Pumpkin,” Pound commanded. “Oh you snotty little pegasus!” Angel Not Bunny cursed, glaring at Pound, his large hind foot thumping on the ground in anger. “Zap,” Harper announced, not needing more than one word to express her intent, her action, and her solution. She narrowed her eyes and her ears folded back against her skull. Her poofy orange mane crackled with static electricity and her tail swished from side to side as she waited for just the right moment. “Get them!” Angel Not Bunny Shouted and he suddenly hopped away. The toys lurched forward as a group, groaning, hissing, and growling. Little stuffy animals moved oddly, probably filled with unimaginable horrors. One little stuffed pig split open along the seam that ran down its back and a long blackish green tentacle came poking curiously out, waving around as the stuffed pig lurched its way forward with the rest of the toy army. Feeling a sinking feeling of despair, Pumpkin realised she had no chance of hitting Angel Not Bunny as he hopped away. He was too far away for her to hit with her fire magic. She took a deep breath, sucked in even a little bit more air, and then she let go of her magic, something she was never supposed to do. Remembering what Peekaboo had said, as the toys around her began to burst into flames, she shouted at the top of her lungs… “UNCLE SCORCH!” The world suddenly became a very warm place… “Hey, what’s going on here?” a very tall bipedal figure asked as it poofed into existence. It was made entirely out of fire. It looked around at the toys, then at the foals, and then back at the toys. “Hey… Harper? Peekaboo? Are you okay? Who’s your friends?” The fire elemental waved his hand in a wide dismissive gesture and set the toys on fire. They blazed, burning, and the air was filled with the sounds of keening agony. Scorch, seeing a fleeing figure, took off after it, running on two legs. Scorch shifted shape as he ran, becoming a pony, a big orange earth pony with a mane and tail the colour of runny magma. Angel Not Bunny froze in place, caught up in a magic field that radiated from the big orange not earth pony named Scorch. It kicked it wiggled, squirming, and then it glared at Scorch defiantly. “I have bad news for you… you’re coming home with me...” Scorch hissed at the not rabbit. The not quite an earth pony turned around headed back towards the foals. “You kids okay? Gosh, you’re adorable when you are all scared and huddled together like that… no… oh bother, please, don’t cry, I know you’re scared, probably all of these little mephits and implings and shadowlings all around you that I set on fire, isn’t it? Gosh I’m sorry…” Scorch said, looking quite worried and unsure of what to do. He chewed on his not quite earth pony lip, his eyes wide with fearful concern. “I want my mama!” Pumpkin cried, overcome with a fear she couldn’t understand. Even though Scorch had saved them, something about him was terrifying. He was even scarier than all of the toys. She held on to her brother for dear life, a long dribble of snot leaking from one nostril as she wailed “Look, just give me a minute… I’m gonna vanish for just a minute, I won’t be gone long I promise, I’m just going to take this little troublemaker back to Tartar-er, back to Happy Bunny Land and then I will be right back in a jiffy with help. I can’t actually get you out of here but I know somebody who can… just hold on,” Scorch said as soothingly as possible, completely unaware that it was his demonic infernal nature that was scaring the foals senseless. The foals took a deep breath of relief in unison when Scorch popped out of existence. Pound wiped the snot from his sister’s nose and Harper wiped her face upon Pound’s back. Peekaboo held on to her three companions, shivering with fear and keeping a wary eye upon the still burning toys. Peekaboo found that she wanted to like Uncle Scorch, but there was something about him that just scared her silly. She felt bad for being so afraid after he had always been so nice to her, toasting marshmallows to perfection and giving them to her, and her guilty conflicted feelings that she could not understand only made her cry harder. There was a loud “pop!” and two figures appeared. One was Uncle Scorch, still in earth pony form, and the other was a tall draconequus. “Uncle Discord!” Peekaboo sobbed with relief. “Cheeky Peeky! What are you doing here?” Discord asked. He hurried forwards and snatched up all four foals in his forelegs and squeezed them. “Are you okay? How on earth did you wind up in the Other Other?” “I tried to make myself disappear in front of a mirror,” Peekaboo said, still crying as she buried her face into Discord’s long neck. “Hmm,” Discord replied. “I knew that you went half in and half out of a dimension when you go hidden, but I didn’t know that you could slip completely through the dimensional walls entirely.” “What is this place?” Pound asked, wiping his still dripping nose and looking up at Discord. “This is an in between place. You know how a wall is hollow inside? Well, there might be a few pipes or some electrical wiring, but a wall is mostly empty,” Discord replied. Nodding, Pound wiped his eyes and then wiped his sister’s eyes. “Well, this place, the Other Other, is the hollow place between the walls of two worlds. The things that find their way here feed on the fear of both worlds on either side,” Discord explained as he bounced the foals around in his embrace. “It is like a wall standing between two rooms, but in this case, the rooms are two realities and this place is the wall between them.” “I don’t understand,” Pound whimpered. “I’ll explain it when you are all older. Maybe even show you around,” Discord said, squeezing the foals gently. “Thanks Scorch. I’m going to take these little ones home.” “See that they get some cookies and some milk or something. They look a little freaked out. And they probably need a nap,” Scorch suggested. “Anyway, I gotta back back to Happy Bunny Land. I gotta little bunny that needs to learn not to mess with foals. See ya,” the fire elemental said as he blinked out of existence. “I’ll have you home in just a moment,” Discord promised. There was a snap from his tail tuft and a bright flash of light. Suddenly, the foals found themselves in a different place. Still in Discord’s embrace, they looked around and saw grown ups all around them. Other foals. Ponyville was full of ponies again. The sun was back in the sky. There were clouds with napping pegasi overhead. Several ponies stopped to look with some concern at Discord, who had four crying foals in his embrace. Discord grinned sheepishly, looking around, worried that some ponies might get the wrong idea. “Poor dears… they look frightened… are they okay? You just appeared. You must have rescued them… I’ll make sure to tell Fluttershy that you’ve been a good draconequus,” an earth pony mare said. “Thank you,” Discord replied, moving off in a hurry for Carousel Boutique, heaving a sigh in relief. “Don’t worry foals, Rarity will get you sorted out and I’ll fetch Cup and Carrot once I have you safe inside with a pony you can trust,” he promised. “Thank you,” Pound said, still sniffling. “Yes, thank you,” Pumpkin added, wiggling around and wrapping her forelegs around Discord’s serpentine neck to squeeze him. “Auntie Disco,” Harper murmured, still shivering, still refusing to use masculine pronouns. “You’re the best,” Peekaboo whispered, taking a deep breath and realising it was finally over. As Discord carried her back to Auntie Rarity’s, she promised herself that she would never try to hide herself from her own reflection ever again. Author's Note Just a short silly little story that I trimmed off of The Chase. I hope a couple of people enjoyed it, but I wrote this mostly for myself. Thanks for reading. And if you see a typo, let me know!
