Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING I SAY!
A/N: Shortest update from me ever! YAY FOR SARCASM! Have some nice 'Coraline' inspired horror!
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E35O: I'll be honest, besides reading some of "Fallout: Equestria" and seeing some footage of New Vegas (Which I've been wanting to play) on TV I know next to nothing about the games. :P Thanks for reviewing!
The clock chimed 8 PM. The women and man sat at the end of the long table. Various foods consisting of goose, applesuace covered in cinnamon, and mashed paotatoes sat steaming hot on its wooden surface. A minute later and creaking noise followed by footsteps came from the other room and a young girl entered with a look of excitment.
"Welcome back honey," the women said delightfully,"You're just in time for supper."
The girl smiled and quickly took a seat. Throughout the meal the room was fillled with laughs as the woman and man shared jokes and flirted with each other on occasion. Afterward, the woman and girl sat in the living room, both sitting opposite of each other in front of the small table with a chess board in the center.
"You know, chess was my favorite game to play when I was your age," the women said.
"My mother- er, my real mother that is," the girl corrected, "never plays chess with me. She's always too busy."
She pouted and looked downward. The Other Mother nodded, eyes full of sympathy. "Well, here we'll always have time for you, darling. All of us love you very much."
The Queen prepared to make her move. The rook was as clean as possible, first impressions were everything after all. All the rooms were brightly lit, freshly painted and smelled of chocolate on Christmas Day with the child's room the most inviting exploding in a specter of colors and small toys and books. Setting up the board was more difficult but nothing she couldn't handle. Besides the house she had also created recreated everything from the forest to the river that flowed not too far away. Of course she had made a few alterations.
The spying doll had shown her that there were several horses living in stables behind the house. However they were old and didn't do much besides eat hay all day. The girl's mother - her real one - was even preparing to sell them, much to her daughter's disappointment. In the Other World the horses had not only been recreated but were restored to their former glory.
The girl also loved to read fairytales so the Queen made suits of armor that came to life - the knights. Often the girl and knights rode horseback around the garden acting out the stories.
The King and Bishop were simple to come up with. A man of religion, it really was a shame he had decided to head to the South to help with the war and leave his family behind. Times had been so hard for the family since, with the girl's mother never having anytime to spend with her only child. Oh well, it made the Beldam's job easier. Oh! The look of pure joy on the child's face when she saw her father again, she didn't even question why he had buttons for eyes.
All that was left was the pawn. The girl really should've listened when her said not to go through the small door. You could get stuck in that tiny space she had said, but the girl didn't listen. The Beldam was running out of time. She knew this. She was very hungry and needed to feed soon. Time to make her move.
"Dear, I know how much you like being here," the Queen began, tapping her fingers on the table. The girl nodded.
"Oh yes, this place is so wonderful!" the girl exclaimed happily. "If you want, you could stay here with us."
The girl looked up, "...Really?"
"Of course. You just need to do one thing," the Other Mother pulled out a small box with a bow on top behind it. The girl took it and looked inside and saw... buttons. Two black buttons that stared back at her and gleamed in the room's light.
"Black is traditional," the Other Mother explained, "But if you want green, or blue, or salmon that's alright too."
The girl's expression became fearful, "B-But... my eyes-"
"It's the only way you can stay. Do you really want to go back to a mother who ignores you and dosen't care about you," she put her hand under the girl's chin so she could look at her, "or do you want to stay here with someone who truly loves you."
Her tone had a slight impatient edge to it but the other didn't seem to notice as she glanced back down at the buttons momentarily.
"Will it hurt?" the girl asked, obviously refering to the process of sewing the buttons on her eyes.
"Oh no no no," The Other Mother answered immediately, "It's completely painless, and when you're done we can be together forever." The girl thought it over for a few seconds before grinning, getting up, and giving her Other Mother a hug.
"I'd love to mother," she said. The Other Mother wrapped her arms around the yonug child, hugging her back. She smiled, though this particular simle was one of malice with one word crossing her mind.
Checkmate.
A/N: That... was bad. I mean this whole thing was just a big ol' chess pun and me trying to make good use of the 'chessmaster' trope, since the Other Mother/the Beldam seems like the chessmaster type. Ehhhhhhhh, I guess it could've been worse even if this doesn't really feel like a horror chapter, though if you've read the book or seen the movie then you'd know why it's supposed to be scary. If your curious as to who the child is, she's supposed to be one of the Ghost Children (The Pioneer Girl to be exact).
Anyway, thanks to all who read this and see you next year! :)