These kids will be the ruin of me. As much as I love to teach, I can’t say it doesn’t get on my nerves sometimes. ‘Sit down Applebloom!’ , ‘Stop throwing paper planes around!’ , ‘Pay attention class!’
However, it’s as rewarding as it is tiring. Sometimes, you have a student that motivates you to keep going. Their genuine curiosity to understand the world around them, and the satisfaction you get from nurturing them into being able to think for themselves and want to explore new things, even something as simple as when a student tells me about a book they’ve read, or a new spell they’re learning, or a hundred other things. It brings me a smile.
But there’s always one or two in class. There is this one Filly. Almost never says a word, and barely interacts with anypony. I think she’s new, moved in from Canterlot, Dolly is the kind of Filly that you would avoid if you were younger. In my early highschool years at least, I’ve always had that one pony that I barely interacted with, mostly because I thought they were weird.
Look, I know it’s not right to judge ponies, much less young kids, but she is something alright. Dark gray unicorn with a reddish mane, black colored eyes, cutie mark being a sewing needle which makes sense considering what she brings to school everyday.
Dolls. With soft coats, and button eyes, silky smooth mane and tail. I actually talked to her a few times, she’s very monotone and quiet, but gets more talkative whenever the topic lands on dolls and what she enjoys to do. She’s told me she spends her free time making dolls, and that her mother usually helps her. Usually, I’d say that’s fine but…
These dolls are creepy. There’s enough stories of haunted dolls going around as is, especially in a schoolhouse full of young kids, but these dolls merit the title. She gave me one once, it was a male pegasus with a grayish skin and jet black mane and tail, the cutie mark being that of a piece of parchment.
It was smooth, the fabric of the skin, the coat, it was way too smooth, way too lifelike for my liking, warm to the touch too. It had a stylish mane and tail made perfectly to fit the doll, each strand of hair having been carefully sewn together with precise attention to detail, in some parts it was possible to see where the line of the fabric connected together.
The feathers were like that of a bird’s, or maybe even a pegasus’ wing, I’m not sure as I don’t go around touching random pegasus’ wings, and even the structure of the wing itself almost felt real, I could extend the wing and stretch it out, or keep it close to the body how a pegasus would.
Most unsettling of all were the big black button eyes, reflecting my own image on its polished surface, like I was staring into a dark mirror version of myself. Every second I spent looking is another second I wanted to put the doll away in some box and throw it in tartarus. And that creepy strewn smile made me shiver.
‘It’s very beautiful darling!’ I told her back then. ‘Keep doing more, you’re great at it!’
It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t entirely correct either. They were made so perfectly that they were almost eerily realistic, so I guess in that regard, she had done really well. But it was taking a toll on her social life. The only friends she had were the trio. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, as they called themselves. And it seemed like they only talked to her mostly out of pity, maybe wanting her to feel better about herself.
Maybe this meeting with her mother can clear up some of my doubts. I don’t want to be too intrusive on her life, but I don’t want to let this go unnoticed. I understand it’s something she likes to do, but she seems to be so hyper fixated on it, that she won’t do anything else. Dolly is a great Filly, I know it, but I’m hoping this meeting can guide her into being at least a little more sociable or attempting to be more sociable.
My hooves already trembled with anxiousness as I stepped toward the house. An unassuming Ponyville house, ordinary as could be, with maybe the exception of a very small front lawn. It was more on the outskirts of town and a couple of minutes away from the main park. Actually, it was somewhat close to my house too.
A gentle smile greeted me once the door opened, an unicorn mare with a yellowish lemon coat and pink messy mane, her mother. We'd only talked once, which was when she came to enroll her daughter. I recall her being very friendly.
“Hi Miss Cheerilee! Great to see you again, what brings you here?” She fully opened the door for me, I didn't want to be rude but I can't deny I wanted to peer inside.
“Hi there Poppy! It's great to see you too! I just wanted to talk to you about some things… Is Dolly here?” I peered over her shoulder, but couldn't see much into the dark interior of the house.
“No, she's with Applebloom and her friends at Applejack's farm, she might be home soon. But hey, come on in, let's talk, I’ll make you some tea!” She invitingly stepped aside and gestured for me to come in, but once I stepped through that doorway and turned into the living room to the right, my heart almost skipped a beat.
Hundreds, and I mean, HUNDREDS of those dolls were staring down at me with those soulless button eyes from pretty much everywhere. The shelf in the living room, the nightstand in the hallway,even some of them on the couch. All with different mane colors, different coat colors, even unique cutie marks for each and every single one.
“AH!” I couldn't help but gasp in surprise, I even made Poppy worry as she ran up to me with wide eyes, but just chuckled once she saw the problem were the dolls. I turned to her, embarrassed out of my life. “I'm sorry! It's just- There’s suddenly so many!”
“Oh! It's okay! Really!” She giggled while stepping through the doorway leading into their living room. “Most ponies feel the same way. Come in, sit on the couch, I'll make you some tea.”
“R-Right.” Gulping down my fears, I took a few steps forward and sat down at the large couch next to a window, patiently waiting as Poppy made her way through one of the doorways into the connected kitchen.
This place creeped me out. There were so many of them, and they all looked way too uncanny for my liking. Even as I was sitting there alone in the living room, it never truly felt like it. It felt like all these button eyes were silently judging me for coming to their home. Eugh! It made my whole body shiver.
It took two extremely long minutes before Poppy came back with a small kettle of tea, it smelled like camomile. She floats the tray with her magic and places it on the coffee desk before us.
“So… what'd you want to talk about? Is it about Dolly?” She asks whilst she poured steaming tea into a small cup.
“Yes. She's… Well…” How could I put this in a nice way? “Distant from the other kids in the school.”
“Doesn't she have Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo? She tells me all the time about them.” That's three ponies out of a classroom of thirty. Poppy handed me the cup before pouring some for herself.
“Yes, but still. She's distant and doesn't do well with the other kids. She spends most of her time playing with dolls and yes that's normal behavior for a kid her age, but that's all she does. She doesn't interact with many other ponies.” I took a sip from the cup, actually quite good. Helped soothe the soul from these dolls staring at me.
“Normal for kids her age.” Poppy chuckled as she sat on a nearby armchair. “I really don’t see the problem, miss Cheerilee.”
Well maybe there isn’t a problem then. Maybe I’m just way too worried over normal behavior for fillies her age. I’m reluctant to continue speaking, but she was staring me down with a mixed look between confusion and inquiry, waiting on my thoughts about the situation.
“Dolly spends too much time with her dolls, that’s the thing. She avoids interaction with other kids in favor of spending more time with her dolls. She sits alone during lunch and to this day, I’m still not sure how Applebloom and her friends managed to befriend her, I just know they were very insistent.” I wonder why they even wanted to be friends with her. Maybe they saw her as much of an outcast as them and didn’t want her to feel the way they did. “What I’m trying to say is that you should encourage Dolly to make new friends. Kids growing up need to socialize.”
“Are you guys talking about me?” A young foal’s voice coming from the entrance hallway caught our attention. I turned to face the familiar voice, and saw Dolly standing rather ominously while holding a doll with one hoof. She’s got no expression, no emotion in her voice, she’s quiet in a way that is hard to describe, but it’s definitely not in a pleasant way. Everything about this filly is right enough, but still odd in the same off-putting way that her dolls are.
“Oh, hi sweetie! Back soon from the Apples farm?” Her mother welcomed her with a smile, placing down her half-finished cup to gently trot over to her daughter and give her a forehead kiss. It was sweet to see she’s a caring mother.
“Hey there Dolly.” I, on the other hoof, just gave her a wave with one hoof and a nervous, rather forced smile.
“Hi Miss Cheerilee.” She greeted me back with an unnervingly robotic and monotone voice. She then turned to her mother. “Yeah. I liked playing with them though. They are fun.”
“That’s great to hear dearie.” Her mother turned to me, lifting her brows with a subtle nod toward her daughter, like she was trying to quietly tell me ‘see? there’s nothing wrong’
At the time, I just nodded in silence, but I couldn’t accept it fully. I’m glad she’s having fun with the crusaders, but I still thought she needed to be more sociable, and stop being so hyper fixated on these creepy dolls. But well, I’m just a teacher. In the end, I can only try and guide the parents into the path I think is best, but the decision is ultimately up to them. I won’t question her.
“I think it’s about time for me to go, I still have some papers to grade.” I placed my cup of tea on the coffee table before me and lifted myself off the couch, making my way to the mother-daughter duo standing at the living room doorway. Poppy stepped aside and pulled her daughter along to give me space to step out.
“It was nice having you over. Maybe you can come again some other time when you’re free?” Poppy added, leaning her head to the side with a smile as I walked out the front door. Dolly just stood behind her, peeking over her side in silence.
“Yeah. I suppose I can.”
“And that’s how pegasus ponies walk on clouds.” The lecture on geography and atmosphere had been less than interesting for all of the fillies and colts, their faces showed pure, unadulterated boredom. I honestly didn’t blame them. This kind of lesson would only be interesting for one filly in the classroom, but she was unfortunately absent. Along with her friends.
I take a quick glance at the clock.
“Alright, recess time everypony.” Oh but they jumped out of their seats as soon as they heard those two words. I watched them head out the door but stayed inside erasing the chalk on the blackboard before I made my way out.
The playground was full of joy and cheer, from playful colts to fillies enjoying their break. Every now and then I’d have to break off the odd fight, but it’s mostly calm. But under the shade of a tree, at the very corner of the playground, Dolly sat and played with the dolls, magically levitating the ragdolls back and forth. Talking to them even.
This is what I was telling Poppy. This is normal behavior, yes, but not to this extent. I tried talking to her, just so she wasn’t so lonely. As I approached, I caught a glimpse of her conversation with the dolls.
“I agree!” She spoke excitedly, lifting one doll. “Cutie Mark Crusaders to the rescue!” Cutie mark crusaders?
And that’s when I finally noticed the dolls she was levitating with her magic. Yellow coat, red mane, an earth pony. White coat, purple curly mane, an unicorn. Peach colored coat with a cerise colored mane, and tiny wings. They looked so terrifyingly real, even with the button eyes.
My mind couldn’t even form explanations. I couldn’t really understand what was going on or how or why or when or what, at that moment it felt so surreal and strange to see such life-like dolls out of three of my students. It felt uncomfortable, creating an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Even Scootloo’s tiny wings were replicated in the doll’s. I really shouldn’t have felt that way because of simple dolls, but odd behavior coupled with whatever this is…
And the more she kept playing, the more I stared at Sweetie Belle’s doll, and in turn, the more it stared back at me with an unbroken gaze, sat down with its flank on the floor, just staring silently at me. But even in that silence, I could still feel that uneasy feeling, and despite the doll being so likefike during most times, this time, it was unmoving. In my straight line of sight just staring. With those cold button eyes. Deep into me. For a moment I wondered if it was even trying to tell me something.
“Miss Cheerilee? Do you want to play too?” Her monotone voice snapped me out of my trance with the doll, I was caught off guard by her. She looked at me then back down at the little play area. “The cutie mark crusaders love to go out on adventures.”
Despite the uneasy feeling that swelled in my stomach, I gulped down my anxiousness and sat down next to her. Why not, right?
“Sure.” I grabbed Sweetie Belle’s doll then examined it for a good couple of seconds. As usual, the mane felt soft, it even had a lavender smell and it curled up at the tips, like Sweetie Belle’s actual mane. The button eyes continued to stare at me. “Did you… Make these dolls for them?”
Even with the screaming of colts and fillies behind me, Dolly’s silent side-gaze could be heard all over Equestria.
“Yeah.” She replied after a few seconds of silence. “But they didn’t come today.”
“You can give it to them tomorrow.” I added, then sat Sweetie belle down on the grass in front of me.
“I guess.” She watched me sit her down and made Scootaloo trot over.
“Do you like them?” I moved Sweetiebelle’s body as if she was talking, my eyes lifting up to see Dolly’s attention focused on the dolls.
“I like them. They talk to me a lot, they tell me we’re all friends. They tell me I need to bring more friends.” She did the same as I did, moving Scootaloo and Applebloom as if the three talked together. At least she seemed interested in making new friends. I’m glad the CMCs could inspire her. “I like making them.”
“I’m happy you like making friends. You should make more friends.” Scootaloo trotted away before she was set down on the grass. I kept Sweetiebelle talking to Applebloom, but it didn’t last too long.
I felt Dolly’s intense gaze on me, and as I looked up, I confirmed my suspicions.
With a neutral expression, and soulless eyes, she just leaned her head to the side.
“Will you be my friend, Miss Cheerilee?” She asked.
Whatever it takes for her to be more sociable.
“Sure. I can be your friend.” I replied with a nod and a sincere smile.
She smiled back. I think that was the first time I’d ever seen her do that.
Just what I needed at the end of a long day, a nice relaxing cup of tea and a good book at my side. I still needed to finish my book, ‘dancing with myself’ and it’s starting to get to the good part. But as soon as I sat on my lazy chair and kicked up my hindlegs, with a warm cup of tea at my side, I heard a knock at the door and a familiar voice.
“Miss Cheerilee!” Honestly, I kinda didn’t want to stand up now that I was finally at home and getting ready to get some relaxation time of my own, but I was too nice of a person to just ignore it. Well, it’ll be quick anyways. I sighed and made my way to the front door just to my side.
“Hi Miss Cheerilee!” It was Poppy, she carried a basket with some delicious looking muffins I must admit.
“Oh, hey there Poppy.” I greeted her with a smile. “What brings you here so late?”
“I know you’re trying to get some rest, but I’m sorry. I just thought I should thank you for talking with Dolly. She says she talked to you, and now really wants to make new friends.” Hm? I don’t think I did much. “She says you two are friends now, and I wanted to just give you a little thank you gift!” Oh so the basket was for me? She extended it outwards. Chocolate chip muffins, how’d she know? I guess if she got it from the Cakes, they would’ve known my favorite type of snack.
“Oh, it’s nothing really.” Honestly, I’m happy that she was happy. I could make a difference, I could help Dolly. And for a teacher, that’s all you really want to do. Make a difference, even if it can be difficult or stressful. “I don’t know if I can accept this, really. I mean, I didn’t do much…”
“Nonsense! It’s just to thank you for helping her out.” Her smile was sincere and her stretched hoof kept nagging and offering me the basket. Well, why not? I have my tea waiting for me, and it would go well with some muffins.
“Ok ok…” I giggled and carefully took the basket off of her. “Thank you Poppy. You’re very kind.”
“It’s nothing really, once again, thank you!” She seemed really appreciative and as she trotted out to the distance, she waved back at me with a smile. It does make me happy knowing I helped a student, more than anything really.
Once the door closed and I was back in my living room with the basket, I looked down at it and found a tray with 6 chocolate chip muffins and a small hidden note just at the side.
“Thanks for being friends forever - Dolly.”
Aw, you know what, I was just starting to think she’s just got a rough exterior. Maybe Dolly wasn’t the kind of filly I took her to be, I almost felt ashamed of myself for making superficial judgments like that. Her dolls were still pretty creepy though.
I placed the basket next to me, then leaned back on my lazy chair, grabbing my book to continue my reading. Why not take a bite out of the muffins? I reached in there and grabbed one for myself, taking a good bite, feeling the sweet chocolate and sugary dough. It was really good! Went perfect with my tea.
And I kept reading and reading, at some point I went full on auto-pilot mode. The words became a jumbled mess and I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. I thought of moving to my bed to get a good rest but my exhaustion spoke louder, so I just let myself be taken by the sweet release of sleep.
Slowly, I started regaining my consciousness, my eyes took a few good seconds to open fully and even then, only faint strokes of light could be seen. Strange, I didn’t hear my alarm today. So I just tried to lift myself from the chair—
I’m stuck?
I moved again, but my arms wouldn’t budge. Neither would my legs. I try to groan but that’s when I realize, I was biting onto a thick piece of rope tied around my head. What?
Everything came into view, and an instant shiver went down my spine.
Somewhere darker, somewhere damper, a basement? My body was completely restrained with iron chains. I couldn’t move. I fought against my restraints trying to free myself desperately, trying to move, trying to do anything, but I couldn’t. I tried to yell, but the rope made any attempt at screaming only come out as a faint muffle. I kept fighting and fighting, I kept yelling, I didn’t know where I was, what was going on, but I didn’t intend to find out.
There’s a table against a wall. It was hard to make out exactly what was on it but it looked like some kind of book next to a small sack or something similar stitched together in the vague shape of a pony, like a doll with no stuffing…
The basement door opened, and down came Poppy. Instinctively, I tried to reach out to her, but my hooves were all firmly bound to the wall. I was cussing her out how I’d never done before, but all my words fell on deaf ears. I try to spit out the rope or push it away, but I can’t.
As for the bitch Poppy, she was just staring silently, she didn’t even want to look me in the eye. She was a coward. Drugging me up with the muffins then kidnapping me.
From the stairs comes her daughter, still with that same neutral expression.
“Please Miss Cheerilee. Please don’t fight. I will make us be friends forever. Don’t you want that?” Dolly turned to the table then floated something from it, and my eyes went wide open. A knife, glistening under the faint glow of the single basement light illuminating the room. No, no, no, no, NO! What’s she going to do with that?! No! No!
I fought hard, I tried, I tried so hard, I tried with all my might, I tried to break the chains, I tried to chew on the rope, I tried everything, I tried to scream, I tried to tell her to stop, I tried everything I could think of.
But she just kept coming closer and closer with the knife, staring me dead in the eyes before moving them down to my exposed stomach, tracing the cold blade along my coat but not cutting it. She was like a surgeon, carefully examining my body, and I was a hopeless test subject, and try as I might, I couldn’t do anything. And it felt so terrifying. I don’t know what she’ll do, maybe I’ll even die tonight for all I care. All while her coward of a mother watches. She’s a sick mare, and her daughter is even worse!
When I break out of here, I’ll make sure everypony knows about this! I’ll make everypony know about the drugging, the kidnapping the—
AGHHHHHHH!!
I screamed with pain and tilted my head back, biting hard on the rope. She was cutting me! Dolly’s knife is sliding down against my coat, it hurt so much, warm blood quickly began to run down my stomach and down my forehooves, dripping down to the floor beneath. I screamed with agony, I screamed so loud, but nopony heard me.
Dolly was making a straight line down the side of my stomach, but she wasn’t deep, and that’s the worst part. She wasn’t trying to slash me open and leave me to bleed. She was cutting my skin, sliding down the knife just enough for it to cut my skin and coat, staining it with blood, but never enough for it to actually pierce the flesh.
And as the sharp blade made its way down to my waist, it turned and kept cutting. Then it turned another corner, the sharp edge slicing through muscle and sinew with brutal precision. I fought against the restraints even though I didn’t want to because everytime I did, the blade would sink slightly deeper into my skin. My chest expanded and contracted with desperate quick breaths, My head was starting to slam against the brick wall behind me.
Everything I did made it more painful, I screamed, in my head I begged her to stop, I was praying for her to stop, the blade had cut almost a perfect rectangle around my body and by this point, a large pool of blood had formed underneath me, but no matter how many tears I cried, how much I begged her to stop through the muffled rope, she wouldn’t listen. She acted like I wasn’t even there. She just kept going until she’d cut it out with the floating knife. A perfect rectangle.
Even though she stopped cutting, the pulsing sensation didn’t stop, I couldn’t keep up with the fighting anymore. I was tired. My chest kept huffing and puffing, tears had already rolled down my face and sweat dripped from my forehead, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t do anything. I could only let her do whatever she wanted with me.
AAAAAAGHHHHH!!!!!!
Her magic grabbed the top corner of the cut, and started pulling, and pulling strong, She was ripping my skin off my body so painfully, I arched my back, and screamed in agony, feeling every strand of nerve, every blood vessel, be forcefully detached from my body, like a waxing accident gone wrong. But the pain wasn’t even comparable, it only stopped when she finally removed the piece of skin she’d worked so hard to surgically detach from me, even if it was soaked in some of my still warm blood. It was hard to think or form thoughts. My body was shaking and going limp, my knees wanted to give in but I was still shackled to the wall, please just make it stop, please…
I looked like a disgusting skinned animal carcass, still alive, still bleeding. I don’t know how I was still alive, maybe one of her cruel jokes. Maybe she needs me alive.
Dolly made her way to the table, I could care less what she wanted to do with it. I just wanted it to stop. I wanted the pain to end. My flesh was exposed to the cold air, I could feel it throbbing and the cold and damp basement air. I cried even more. I just wanted to help. That’s all I ever wanted to do. From the bottom of my heart I screamed with my weeping and noisy tears, closing my eyes and just letting them roll down, I screamed and screamed, my throat was sore, and even then I didn’t stop.
Maybe I was a bad pony, but I didn’t deserve this! I didn’t want this to happen! I just wanted for her to make new friends, I wanted her to grow up and be happy with her life, to be surrounded by people that care about her! Is this revenge?! Was this pure evil!?
What did I do to deserve this? Why would she ever do this? Why me? At that point, it didn’t matter. The pain is numbing every other sensation I have. This throbbing and searing pain, all the while her mother was just staring at the ground, completely ignoring what was going on in front of her.
“Don’t cry Miss Cheerilee. We’re almost done. We’ll be friends forever soon.” NO! I don’t want to be your friend anymore! I want to get out of here! I just want the pain to stop! Please! I tried to fight, but my tired body could barely even move. “Just one last thing.”
From the table, she floated a sewing needle and two buttons. No. Please don’t tell me she’s going to do what I think she will. Please. I can’t take it anymore. Please. I begged her not to.
But she can’t hear me. And even if she did, she wouldn’t care. She floated the buttons closer to my face, I tried to move my head away everytime the needle got closer, but using her magic she’s able to keep my head in place. And worst, my eyes wide open.
Please stop, please. Please I’m begging you, please, I’m screaming both internally and externally, but she doesn’t care. The needle approaches slowly—
RRRRRRAAGH!
It’s in and it hurts! It hurts so much! I can feel the needle piercing my eyeball, I can feel the burning and pulsating sensation through my whole tired body, spreading across my bones, my head, my stomach, my chest, it blinded me too! My right vision turned completely blurred, only with dashes of light every time the needle painfully moved inside. Please make it stop, please, I can’t take this anymore, it hurts so much. The now bloody needle approaches my other eye.
AAAAAAAH!!!
It hurts so much, but I can’t do anything, I can only scream, and let her treat me like a doll, let her use me how she wants, I can feel my body going numb, I can’t scream. I’ve lost the courage, I’ve lost the will. I just want it to end. Everything is dark. Everything is so cold and painful. Please, end my suffering, please, please kill me, please, I just want it all to end.
I was begging to faint or to lose consciousness, I was begging to die, but it never came.
I could hear Dolly speaking, she muttered some words, they didn’t sound like anything I knew, but I don’t care. I’m numb. I could almost feel the sweet rest coming for me, please just take me away, let this nightmare end.
Dolly won’t let me die though.
I’m one of her friends now.
A feeling washed over me, it took control of me, and it wasn’t good. My body, something was happening to it. It’s like an emptiness that grew inside of me. It made me feel like jelly, unable to control my movements, my skin became nothing more than a container, my bones feel weak, I can barely even breathe it’s like I’m choking yet at the same time I could breathe just fine, I wanted to vomit, and something swells up my throat. I involuntarily tried to let it out, but it’s stopped by the rope, I could feel it with my tongue.
Cotton. My entire body slowly turns into stuffing, I feel weightless, I’m desperate to feel anything but I can only feel pain and numbness. My bones are slowly replaced with the soft cotton I tried to vomit out. My vision begins to fade away. Slowly but surely, I was being replaced.
There’s only pain. And then, nothing.
My vision fades to black.
There is nothing. There isn’t pain, but there isn’t death. I’m not dead. I can see. I can hear. I can feel. I can see Poppy placing me on the top shelf of the living room, next to another doll. I scream, but my voice doesn’t escape my fabric prison.
“I’m sorry…” Poppy whispers before leaving the living room.
I’m stood. Staring. Like the countless others beside me. I scream, I beg to die. The other dolls scream back. Some cry. Some are silent. All are broken. Every scream echoes into nothingness, for none to hear or to reply. My button eyes can only stare straight ahead. My body full of stuffing refuses to move.
I stare endlessly straight ahead. Waiting for when Dolly comes pick me up so we can play together. So she can make even more friends.
We are friends.
Forever.
Author's Note
I wrote the entire story and once I got to the end and re-read it, I was like "Oh. The eye thing kinda sounds like Coraline"
