by Lotus Rose
Dust gasped. “One of my ancestors claimed he saw a human girl throw my pendant across the Jagged Line into a pond. He recovered it, and since then, it’s been passed down from generation to generation.”
The Princess nodded, then replied, “But today, the other half of the amulet has returned to me! I think it’s some kind of destiny thing.”
Macho shouted angrily, “So destiny made everything come together just so Dust could bring you the half of the amulet? Is that what you’re saying? Why couldn’t you just get your precious amulet? Why did you have to bring Dust into it?”
“Yes,” said the Princess. “I understand what you’re saying. It doesn’t seem fair. But only a sorrowful soul can keep the magic of the broken amulet alive. Dust was the only one who I could trust to carry the amulet half.”
Macho almost felt like screaming out in rage, but controlled himself. And beside him, Dust was telling him, “Stay calm. Stay calm.”
Macho shouted, “So what are you gonna do with this broken amulet, then? If she gives you the amulet, then can you help us get back to the PastelKingdom?”
The Princess suddenly seemed uncomfortable. “Let me explain about the amulet. When the two halves of the amulet are combined while a person or poni is wearing them, the two halves will combine, and it will heal the broken heart of the wearer. I thought that I wanted that. But I’ve been thinking. There’s a saying of, ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’ I don’t think I would want to take everything back if I had the chance. Maybe there’s no hope for me. I think I would rather just wallow in my misery. So I’ve decided to let one of you use the amulet.”
Macho and Dust looked at each other with questioning expressions then looked back at the Princess. Then simultaneously, they asked her what she was talking about.
The Princess explained: “I believe that if someone died of a broken heart, then if they heal it with the amulet, it will bring them back to life. If the poni is standing next to the Jagged Line, they would then be able to cross back over. Dust told me you died of a broken heart, Macho.”
Macho said, “Yes, but so did Dust.”
The Princess nodded. “The amulet will only work on one poni, though. I’m sorry. You’ll have to decide between yourselves.”
With a stiff upper lip, Macho said, “Then it will be Dust, then. It’s her amulet, anyway.”
Dust looked over at him and in a choked up voice said, “You would do that for me?”
“Of course. I love you Dust.”
Dust shook her head sadly. “You are a wonderful poni, Macho. You were always too good for me. Maybe you should go instead. You belong in the pastel side. It was like I was made to be in the DarkKingdom.” She smiled weakly.
Macho shook his head with a determined expression. “No. I want it to be you. That’s all there is to it.”
A tear rolled down Dust’s face, then she turned away.
The Princess said, “So it’s settled. I will have some of the flutter-fly ponies fly you back to the Jagged Line. A bunch of them are staying at the castle. It seems they recently figured out how to fly. You’ve made quite an impression, Macho. But anyway, shall I have them fly you both back?”
Dust and Macho briefly looked at each other then at the Princess. They nodded.
“Okay. Good luck.” She picked up the bottle and started blowing bubbles again.
A few of them popped against Macho, but he was not in a bubbly mood.
CHAPTER 13
Back to Pastel
The flutter-fly ponies flew Dust and Macho back to the Jagged Line using ropes attached to harnesses. Three flying ponies lifted Dust—three others lifted Macho. One flying poni carried Macho’s ball. Superfly was one of the ponies, but chose not to speak a word, which was fine with Macho.
They got to the Jagged Line quickly and without incident. Flying was much faster than walking.
The flying ponies set Dust, Macho and the blue ball down in front of the Jagged Line, then flew off, because their obligation was done with. As they left, Superfly shouted, “Mofo!”
After Dust and Macho got out of their harnesses, they stared at each other in silence, not knowing what to say. They each wore one half of the amulet. Now it was time to bring them together.
Finally, Macho spoke. “Dust, I want you to know I don’t regret this. I’m just glad to know that you’ll be able to go back. I want you to go on with your life and be happy.”
They were both crying.
Dust said, “I’m so grateful. You’ve always been so kind to me. I never deserved someone like you.”
“Of course you do, Dust. I saw all those things that nobody else saw. All the good things. They’re the reason I fell in love with you. Ever since we were kids. I will always love you.”
Dust nodded while the tears rolled from her eyes. “I know you will. Thank you so much for loving me. I don’t think anyone else ever really did.”
They nuzzled for a few moments, then Dust looked deeply into Macho’s eyes. “Macho?” she said.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry I laughed at you that time that you fell. If I could go back now, I would have helped you up.”
“I know,” Macho replied softly. And now it was time. “Take the amulet,” he said.
Dust lifted the amulet off of his neck, then Macho helped her slip it over her neck.
The two halves had to be pressed together, then they would meld and the wearer’s broken heart would be healed. That’s what the Princess had said.
Macho tilted his head, then leaned forward—with his mouth, he pressed the two halves of the amulet together. He felt them slide together perfectly.
He pulled his head back.
He watched the two parts of the broken heart swing back apart.
All he could utter was, “What?”
Then Dust was saying, “Macho, Macho. Listen to me…”
Macho shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be. I must have done it wrong.”
Dust was trying to comfort him, saying, “You didn’t do it wrong.”
Macho looked into her eyes, then said, “You…you didn’t die of a broken heart. You never loved me.”
“You were always too good for me. I should have loved you. I tried.”
“But…you didn’t.”
“Maybe I just don’t know how. It’s not your fault.”
“I was always too sweet for you.…”
“Yes,” Dust said, “but it’s my fault. Don’t you see? I’m broken. I belong here in the DarkKingdom. You belong in the PastelKingdom.”
“So tell me, if you didn’t die of a broken heart, how did you die?”
“I chewed the petals of a poisonous flower called the lotus.”
“Suicide? Why?”
“It was part of the deal. And Darkeyes was here. I wanted to be with him.”
“Because he’s dangerous,” Macho said.
“Yes.”
“Did you set me up on the night of the promenade?”
Dust looked down with shame. “Yes. Me and Badunkadunk…Clint told us to eat a bunch of mints, then kiss you so you would get intoxicated and lose the dance off. I’m so sorry.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I don’t know why, okay? Clint wanted to embarrass you. He told me to do it, so I did. He has a power over me.”
Macho looked down at the ground, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes. “I still love you, Dust. I see the things in you that nobody else sees, not Clint or Darkeyes. I want you to know that. Let me stay with you. Here in the DarkKingdom.”
“No, Macho, you can’t. The DarkKingdom transforms all the undead. The undead don’t know love. Besides, you belong on the pastel side. Please, if you love me like you say you do, go back for me.”
Despite the pain, Macho replied, “Okay.”
Macho transferred the two halves of the amulet to his neck.
Dust leaned forwar
d and connected the two halves together with her mouth.
The two halves held together and started to glow with a white light. Macho felt the warmth on his skin.
He looked over at the gray girlponi in front of him. He wondered where she had come from.
The girlponi smiled at him, then said, “It worked. Now hurry, and cross over.”
Macho kicked his ball across, then stepped across the Jagged Line. He was now back in his home: the PastelKingdom.
He turned to look back at the undead girlponi. “Thank you.”
The undead poni had tears streaming from her eyes. “You’re welcome, Macho.”
“I’m sorry. Have we met?”
The undead girlponi looked taken aback. “What do you mean? Of course we have. It’s me, Dust.”
Macho smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I don’t recall. I’m so embarrassed. Perhaps if you refresh my memory…”
Sadness came over the undead girlponi’s face. “It’s no big deal. I’m just a girl. A girl you were always too good for.”
Macho felt confused. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“Goodbye, Macho. I wish I could have been what you thought I was.”
“Goodbye,” Macho replied.
The girlponi turned and started walking away.
Macho watched her for a few moments, then he turned and started walking back to his village.
He squinted his eyes, because the PastelKingdom seemed so bright after having been in the DarkKingdom.
The Legend of Machoponi
Part the Second
And so, our Hero crossed the line,
But could not say, “Fair Dust is mine.”
The wind lifts feelings from his heart,
And Dust and Macho drift apart.
Sometimes, a brain freeze doesn’t kill,
And cannot stop the tears that spill.
Sometimes, there’s damage to the brain—
Lobotomy, along with pain.
And so, brain freeze lobotomy,
Offends like a smiling enemy.
The betrayer’s acts, they bring such pain,
But roofies swipe it from the brain.
Forgotten flavors tease his soul,
Like gazing at an empty bowl.
And ice cream tasted yesterday,
Evaporates, to his dismay.
Dust drifts away.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lotus, or Lotey, as he keeps trying to get people to call him, lives in Austin, an oasis in the heart of Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he learned that frat boys are lame. He once watched a fraternity house burn down when they accidentally set their fake snow on fire after a party. After college, rather than get a real job, he decided to become a writer. He invented the corruptagram, a symbol he’s trying to get banned in public schools. He enjoys Newcastle Brown Ale and black metal with blastbeats. Lotus Rose is not a frat boy.
myspace.com/lotus_rose
myspace.com/machoponi
Here’s a short poem he wrote:
O, shall I be like the lotus,
And bring you dark dreams and soft sighs?
Or shall I be like the rose is,
Sweet-scented and tempting your eyes?
For the unending sleep can seduce you,
To the world behind unseeing eyes.
And the beauty that beckons, then cuts you,
Is also the cruelest of lies.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Emma, or Emz as her friends like to call her, is a viking who lives in the most southern part of Sweden (no, there are no polar bears there). She is currently attending the University of Lund where she’s trying to become an animal ecologist, only so she can torture animals in the name of science. In her free time she pretends to be an artist and likes to doodle on everything she can lay her hands on, including furniture, wallpaper and other people. She enjoys Monty Python, Simpsons, liquorice and kittens with dewdrops in their whiskers.
http://Honeykitten.deviantart.com
Favourite quote:
“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
~ Lloyd Alexander
Excerpt from Faerie Brace-Face: A Novel by Lotus Rose
From off in the distance, Darren heard the song, “It’s a Small World,” which the Tooth Fairy in her ice cream truck played several times a day. He was twiddling a pencil in his fingers, staring down at his notebook on his bed. He ignored the song, like he always did. People said it was a siren song—a deadly lure to trick the fairies into leaving the safety of the summer camp.
He was working on a poem that had stumped him—a poem about Cabby. He had a basic idea, but that was it. The right words often came difficult to him. Maybe he was stuck because he knew that if he finished, he’d have to give the poem to Cabby, and let his true feelings be known.
Cabby, you’re so beautiful, he thought.
A feeling of dread came over him as he watched the gemstone of his ring switch colors from red to silver. Darren’s ring was synced to Cabby’s mood ring, and the silver color was supposed to indicate Cabby was feeling very nervous and anxious. This was the first time Darren had seen it glow that color since he’d given her the ring a few months ago.
He rushed out of his hut.
When he got to the center court, a bunch of the fairy girls were playing volleyball in their customary attire of thigh-high socks, panties and whatever tops they wore. Darren was the only boy in summer camp, so he dressed more plainly. Plus, he didn’t have wings like all the girls. He couldn’t see Cabby. He tried to remain calm as he asked where she was.
One of the fairy girls shrugged, then said, “I don’t know where she is. Probably went to sulk after getting beat three games in a row.”
Darren looked around, the panic rising inside, hoping he would see her, so he could stop worrying. Because lately, Cabby had been confiding in Darren, saying she’d been having some disturbing new ideas—like she’d been considering leaving camp when the ice cream truck song rang out. All the fairy girls said to never leave the safety of camp. Because outside was where the Tooth Fairy and faebots roamed—the faebots who always wore veils, because, it was rumored, they hid metal fangs to tear at flesh. Fortunately, a magical protection spell kept outsiders from entering camp.
Darren looked down at his ring. Now the gemstone was completely clear and not glowing at all. That only happened when Cabby was asleep, or…no, she couldn’t be dead! He tried to quiet the panicked thoughts. Maybe she’d taken the ring off for some reason?
Darren’s heartbeat quickened. He asked the fairy girl in front of him, “Did you hear the ice cream truck recently?” Of course, he already knew the answer, but he was trying to sound casual.
In a bored voice, she answered, “Yeah, a few minutes ago, but it ended pretty quick. A lot quicker than usual.”
Darren looked down at his hand that was trembling with fear.
The mood ring was still clear.
Damn you, Cabby, he thought. Somehow he felt certain that Cabby had left the safety of the camp. He’d always felt he was somehow connected with Cabby, psychically.
He asked the group of fairies, “Can you point me to where you last heard the ice cream truck?”
The group of six girls thought for a moment, then two of them pointed to his right. The others nodded their agreement.
Two of them asked him why he wanted to know, but Darren ignored them and began running in the direction they were pointing. He’d never been outside the summer camp and he didn’t know what was out there. But if Cabby was in danger, he didn’t have to think, he just had to act. That was what love was, he felt.
He ran past the sparkling line in the ground that marked the outside border. Things didn’t appear or feel different. All around him was the ordinary-looking forest. He glanced to his right. He could somehow just sense that Cabby was there.
A short dis
tance away, the ice cream truck was sitting silently in the dirt beside one of the roots of a giant oak tree.
Cabby was lying on her back beside the truck. She looked unconscious. A woman with brown hair—the Tooth Fairy—was crouched over Cabby with her fingers touching Cabby’s mouth. He was now close enough to see something brown resting on Cabby’s shirt, forming a wet spot around it. Vicious looking tools and some sort of cylinder rested on the ground next to Cabby’s purse. They looked like they were made of the thing they called metal that everyone in camp feared, the evil material that faebots used in their wings and knives.
Darren ran over, stopped briefly to shout, “Leave her alone!”
He rushed forward—the Tooth Fairy threw something, then something slammed into him, stopping him in his tracks. His arms were bound at his side by what looked almost like glowing red rope.
“Laser lasso,” informed the Tooth Fairy, with a face that was perfectly still. The voice sounded masculine. Darren didn’t know what a laser was.
Darren’s eyes widened. The Tooth Fairy was giggling and giggling, but the giggles sounded muted, as if they were behind something. Her face was frozen in a smile that didn’t move at all. And she had the face of a rosy-cheeked elderly fairy, but she had the body of an old man, with gray-haired arms sticking from the sides of the flower print dress.
Darren shouted, “What did you do to her? Did you hurt her?”
The Tooth Fairy answered, “Don’t worry. I would never hurt my little Cabby doll.”
Darren had never been this close to the Tooth Fairy. The woman’s wings looked unlike those of the girls from camp—they looked plastic, fake.
Darren struggled against his bonds, but could not get free. When he tried to move, the lasso shifted his weight to keep him standing in the same place.
The Tooth Fairy raised her arm. She touched the side of her chin. She tore her face off. And underneath was another face, an old man’s face that moved and had wild eyes. And the guy held his torn face in his hand—Darren realized it was a mask of some kind. Glamour. He could see the real face—it was a kind of face that Darren had never seen before. A male face, which was strange enough, because Darren was the only male in camp and had never seen another one. There were wrinkles in that old guy’s face, as if he had been sitting a long time in a bath. The eyebrows were a white color. The skin looked…dull and tight.