Chapter Seven [video]

[thebestseller]

Who: Richard Castle and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: N/A unless Windrose crew wants it
When: June 7th

[When the feed clicks on, Castle has his feet propped up and is reading aloud from a book, although the cover is obscured from view. Also, his Scottish accent is atrocious. Bear with him. He's discovered the cheap vending machine romance novels.]

"Lass, from 500 years intae the future ye may be, but theh be things ye kannae ken." Lord McKraken then doubled over in pain, holding his stomach.

"But I love you!" Elizabeth cried out, rushing over to her Lord's side, holding his sweating form in her arms as he grimaced in agony, running her hands along his feverish pectorals. "I've promised to never leave your side no matter what comes between us."

"Ah beg ye, lass, get thee away before it be too late- AUUUUUUGH!" Elizabeth was forced to back away as McKraken's skin became slimier and slimier. "Ah'm... Ah'm..."

"What is it?"

"Ah be a were-cuttlefish!"

[Castle then has to place the book face-down on the table and lean his head back, laughing.]

Sorry, I just had to share that with someone.

Comments

[spontaneouscombustion]

[Pinkie moves the camera a bit so the rest of her body is in view-- are those balloons tattooed on her flank? Must be, if she's pointing to them.]

THAT'S a cutie mark! It's a special mark everypony gets when they discover their super special talent! Mine and Cheese Sandwich's mean we're party ponies!

[thebestseller]

Huh, so you can just look at another pony and tell what they're best at right away? Seems pretty handy if you need an instant party. Or a chef.

[spontaneouscombustion]

Yeah, pretty much! I'm guessing you're an actor or a storyteller, right?

[thebestseller]

Yep- so if I were a pony, I'd have a book or a pen. Except, how would I write with hooves?

[spontaneouscombustion]

Hee, you don't write with your HOOVES, silly! You write with your MOUTH! Or if you're a unicorn you can use your magic!

[thebestseller]

... that's such an obvious solution I didn't even think about it. I suppose if I grew up as a pony, I'd be used to it.

[spontaneouscombustion]

[OH MY GOSH such an open-minded human, it really is a treat, especially lately. Definitely makes her smile a little warmer.]

Heehee it's okay. LOTS of people still get curious how I bake or do the engineering stuff with hooves instead of hands.

[thebestseller]

Well, ponies like yourself and Cheese aren't something people see every day. I think you're pretty great, though.

[spontaneouscombustion]

Awwww thank you~ Most of the humans and humanoids are pretty great too!

By the way, what's your name?

[thebestseller]

I'm Castle. And I'm glad you think we're great, too! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only ordinary human here.

[spontaneouscombustion]

You do? Why's that?

[thebestseller]

Well, there's folks who aren't human- not just ponies like you and Cheese, but there are people I'd call, well, aliens. And people who talk about magic and stuff. We don't have any of that back home.

[spontaneouscombustion]

Huh, sooo there's just humans in your world? No magic or anything?

[Sounds a little boring, but it definitely ain't normal.]

[thebestseller]

Not at all that we're aware of us. We have plenty in fiction, of course, but all we have are humans. Well, animals, too, but they don't have human-level intelligence.

[spontaneouscombustion]

Yeah, seems like that's the case in a LOT of worlds. It's been a while since anyhuman's not been super surprised to meet me.

[thebestseller]

Having been here long enough, and with an imagination as big as mine, I can accept pretty much anything. Even if I hadn't met Cheese beforehand, I'd think, well, a talking pink pony isn't THAT offbeat.

[spontaneouscombustion]

No, it isn't! And humans aren't that off-beat either!

[Take that, Jihwan!]

[thebestseller]

[Castle laughed.]

See, it's pretty easy to accept things here. I think that if I didn't keep an open mind, I'd not be able to handle many more surprises.