Chryssi opened the door to her shop with a little jingle of bells and poked her head out. “Well, come on in if you’re coming,” she called out to the empty square. “You’re not nearly as good at hiding out there as you think you are.”
The three girls emerged sheepishly from behind the fountain, through the arch and around the corner, and were waved into the shop.
“You’ll have to hang back, I have paying customers to see to,” she said as they filed in.
There were indeed a pair of customers comparing corsages, and being incredibly lovey-dovey as engaged couples often are. The bride-to-be was a yellowish tan with grey hair; her fiancé a much taller, bald man with skin a dark and light blue. “And don’t worry, I’ll talk to the bakers too and make sure they get the order just right,” the shopkeeper was saying in her silken voice.
They were being waited on by two shop attendants, siblings by the look of it, a boy and girl, both deep black with similarly striking blue eyes, spiky dark green hair and serious expressions. Chryssi’s children, maybe? They were running obediently back and forth across the shop, fetching fabric samples and templates, jewellery and candles, napkins and neckties.
Vinyl pulled Octavia behind a rack of tuxedos. “Hey, do those two look like Daring Do and Ahuizotl to you?”
Octavia poked her head round the corner to squint at the customers again, then turned back. “Not particularly. Really, Vinyl, your imagination is running away with you again. Daring Do is just a movie character, Ahuizotl even more so. And if they were real people, then surely they’d be mortal enemies, not lovers.”
“Yeah, I know. Still, it sort of looks like them.”
“Plus he’s not tall enough,” said Trixie, standing on tiptoe to look over a display. “Wasn’t he, like, eight foot tall in the films? With glowing eyes?”
“Sure, but that’s just special effects,” said Vinyl. “I’m sure he’s not like that in real life.”
“He’s not like anything in real life,” explained Octavia slowly, “because he is not real.”
Vinyl frowned. The way she said that – ‘not real’ – reminded her of what the shopkeeper had said about people she knew, including her own friends.
Octavia was looking away from her at some tastefully frilly formal shirts. Vinyl reached up a finger and gently prodded her in the shoulder. “Ow.” Her fingertip felt the rough fabric of her jacket, soft flesh and solid shoulder blade beneath. “Stop that.” Clearly, her friend was completely real. “Cut it out, Vinyl!”
The loving couple were leaving now, indulgent grins plastered on their faces, having apparently decided on just how big a fortune they were willing to spend on their wedding. Vinyl looked around the stack to see where the shopkeeper had gone.
“Looking for somepony?” she asked from right behind them. Vinyl and Octavia both jumped.
“Hi, Mrs er, Chryssi?”
“Chrysalis. And I'm not married, except ironically to my job.” She gestured to the wedding paraphernalia surrounding them.
“I…” She took a moment to gather herself. “I wanted to ask about what you said the other day,” said Vinyl quickly.
“About the bow tie? Trust me, a cravat is much more your style, paired with a period frilly shirt and long coat-tails. Stick to light colours, avoid black. You'd need the right hairstyle for it as well, possibly a wig.”
“About some people being… not real.”
The woman’s expression soured, then sharpened. She scrutinised them for a few seconds. “I’m actually impressed you remembered,” she said finally.
Vinyl frowned. “So what did you mean? What do you know about Smarty Pants and Lemon Zest?”
“Are you certain you want the answer to that, little girl?”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
Despite being outnumbered and surrounded, Chrysalis owned the space. She stepped forward, and the three girls flinched as she leant in to whisper, “Because little mice can scurry in and out of the cage, and never even know it’s there. But as soon as they see the bars, they’ll be trapped inside it forever.” She made a scurrying motion with her fingers to illustrate her point, followed by a blocking palm.
The girls exchanged glances. Cryptic fortune telling wasn't what they were there for. “Okay… Yes. Yes, we’re sure we want to know.”
“Alright then.” Chrysalis straightened up. “As I said, I know everyone in this turgid little backwater. I know when someone leaves, rare as that is, and I know when someone new turns up. Your little lovebirds both appeared three weeks ago.”
“At the same time? It didn't seem like they lived together. Where did they move from?” asked Vinyl. Octavia and Trixie looked confused. She’d never told them about following the lookalike Smarty Pants.
“Nowhere. They’re not guests, they’re locals. They appeared here.”
“I… don’t understand. Where did they come from?”
“There's no way to be certain, but my money would be on you, Miss Vinyl Scratch,” said Chrysalis pointing a finger at her. “If I’m right, you’ve been fixated on your childhood doll lately, haven’t you? Since, let me guess, a little more than three or four weeks ago?”
“Yeah, actually. Ever since I noticed Tavi had the same doll as me. But it’s more than that. We’ve got the same memories of that doll, of growing up with it. How can that be? And why does Trixie have them as well?” She thought of something else. “Wait. How did you know he was my doll?”
“He’s everybody’s doll. At least half the town got the same thing.”
“You’re saying lots of other people have the same Smarty Pants doll – and the same memories?” asked Octavia. “All over town?”
“Precisely. People needed childhood memories, and there weren’t many to go around, so a bunch of you locals got the same ones.”
“Somebody gave us all fake memories? Who would do that?” asked Trixie.
“There is no ‘who’. It’s just how this town works.”
“So…” Trixie interjected, “Trixie’s memories of her mother… you're saying they’re not real?”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Discord’s armpits, you lot are slow. Yes, about half the town got that exact same memory. The other half got something insipid about swimming with dolphins. Both of them were real for somepony at some point, before they got spread out.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Surely people would notice! And if those memories are fake, what happened to our real memories?” protested Octavia.
“Nothing happened to them,” purred Chryssi. “You never had any to begin with.”
Vinyl was shaken, but kept her cool. She asked, “Why are you so sure of that? What do you think we are?”
Chryssi stepped forward, her hands raised and fingers outstretched, and all three girls flinched again. “You’re puppets,” she hissed. She mimed a puppetmaster’s action with her fingers. “You’re just make-believe little dolls, playthings of the gods, dreaming that you’re real people. You got plucked from somepony’s memory, filled in with left-over bits and pieces, and expected to act like you’re real people. And you don't even realise that you're all just as much prisoners as me.”
“And that’s what everyone else is to you?” asked Octavia, offended. “Just your puppets to play with?”
Chryssi looked disappointed. “You weren’t listening at all, were you? No, of course not, because you’re no different. Not a single original thought in that simulacrum of a head.” She flicked a finger idly at Octavia’s forehead.
Vinyl pressed, “How do you expect us to believe any of this? I’m clearly real. So are they.” She nudged Octavia’s shoulder.
Octavia shuffled back with an annoyed frown. “Seriously, everybody stop touching me today,” she muttered.
Chryssi walked to the main desk and scribbled something down. “Tell me, how many Pinkie Pies do you know?”
“Er, one? Barely. Pinkie Pie's one of the girls who was part of that whole mess at the formal a few weeks ago. Is there somebody else called Pinkie Pie?”
Handing a note to Vinyl, Chrysalis said, “Go here and see for yourself.”
“Why are you telling us this?” asked Vinyl suspiciously as she took the card.
“It doesn’t matter what I tell you,” said Chryssi with a resigned shrug. “I’d wager my left wing that none of you are going to remember this in a week.”
After the demon Sunset incident, Vinyl couldn't help checking. There were definitely no wings on the shopkeeper’s back.
“Why wouldn’t we?” asked Trixie.
“Because you creatures never do,” she said casually. “Not for long.”
The girls exchanged nervous glances. “That's enough. The Great and Powerful Trixie does not appreciate being called a creature!”
“You can’t talk like that to customers,” said Octavia.
“Customers, really? I don’t see any of you planning a wedding any time soon. There's barely a whiff of love in the three of you,” said Chryssi, examining her fingernails. Octavia bristled. “And yes, I can say whatever I like, because you won’t remember it anyway. Any facts that don't fit your dumb little story will just slide away, like blood off a duck’s spleen.”
“Ewww!” exclaimed Trixie, stepping quickly back.
“Run along now, children,” said Chryssi with a shoo-shoo motion. “A queen needs her beauty sleep.”
After flipping the ‘closed’ sign on the door, she nodded to one of the siblings. “Follow them. Discreetly. Make sure no harm comes to any of them. We're going to need them.”
“Yes, Lady Chrysalis,” said the brother. He was momentarily engulfed in green fire, emerging as a typical school student with no distinct characteristics other than pale skin and blue hair. He slipped out of the door, which Chrysalis locked behind him.
She sauntered to the back room, whistling a tune.
The sun was setting as they slouched back to the car. Vinyl looked at the note.
Sunday 11am
Sugarcube Corner
The Pinkie Pie Society
This looks pretty interesting!
Added to read later. I'll read when I'm not ill and can give it the attention it deserves. I look forward to it.
The ending of the story is scary but I still really love it
9004715
The story is ongoing, it will be updating regularly for the next what is it, Shrink?
sixnine weeks, twice-weekly?(In my defense, I'm still groggy from driving about a thousand miles in 18 hours yesterday. )
9004715 9004766
Yes, new chapters will be published twice a week until it's done, which will take a couple of months. The story is complete, so there'll be no hiatus or unexplained absence.
I'm not going to comment much, because I suck at keeping secrets and this is a mystery. I'll just say two things:
1. Please be careful of spoilers in the comments. Think about your fellow readers and be nice.
2. This story earns its AU badge. In fact, some of the things that happen here are going to be pretty damned strange. Stick with it, and I promise by the end it will all make some sort of sense.
9004810
Ok I understand
Oh, this is deeply intriguing. I love this sort of scenario. Eagerly looking forward to more.
Well, this is definitely getting Favourited. :D
One question, though: is the system for determining which spacers are used where (in the text, not the story) probabilistic rather than deterministic? Because it seemed to mostly follow the rule of "Whoever was the major and/or viewpoint character in the previous section", but not entirely.
9004883
They provide cues and flavour, but are neither deterministic nor strictly necessary (you'd follow the story just fine without them). I'm not trying to replicate the encoded messages of Fringe
Most of the story uses just a few view viewpoint characters, so there wouldn't be as much visual variety if it followed the strict rule.
I'm getting some serious "Dark City" vibes from this story and really wanna know what happens.
Eerie Indiana
This is intriguing. I'm rarely hooked by a new ongoing story but I absolutely have to see where this leads.
This is how plot would evolve if Alex Proyas was writing MLP
Oooh! I am excited for this. I’d typically say “keep up the good work,” but I applaud you in having it all finished already.
9005584
Trust me, you won’t be disappointed
9004917
Ah, thanks. :)
9004977
I was wondering about those too; the above-linked comment is where I got an answer.
This is giving me chills. I love this kind of setup, and it’s keeping the suspense despite the fast pace. It has a very Dark City vibe to it, or something similar.
This is definitely cool. I've got some ideas what might be going on, but I'll wait and see how things turn out before blathering!
Also, if this town is a fake populated by simulcra of ponies, of course the Pinkies would be aware of it and form a social club!
9004766
I've done that! Well, it was only 900 miles in 15 hours... but it's still a hell of a long way to drive to, and 5 days later, back from A-kon in TX when you're alone in the car and can't swap out drivers.
You had my curiosity, but now you have my fav.
Good cold open, instantly grabbed my attention. Yes, it's very clearly a magical version of the Matrix, only as a videogame with self-aware NPCs. Already having established all that in the first three chapters makes me wonder where else the story is going.
The title alone makes me wonder "What happens if you reach the edge of the cage?"
And what's Chrysalis' reason for being here? Is she simply mining the place for love, biding her time?
“I’d wager [...] none of you are going to remember this in a week.”
...The first thing I expect them to do is to write it down. Set up delayed messages. Put reminders to themselves just about everywhere.
The timing of this places this shortly after the first Equestria Girls. Meaning, Sunset only just started making friends. I kinda want to see Sunset and her inner circle react to this, since Sunset clearly could contribute something with an outsider's perspective. Not sure how she'd feel about her newfound friends being magical constructs, though.
I can't help but think of the Sirens. They were banished more than a millenium prior. But if this world is so hodgepodge, then would there even be a millenium of history? Or would it just have looped? Just how old is this world?
I am reminded of the end of the Siren's "Fiendship is Magic" comic, how, after being banished by Starswirl, they arrived in what seemed like modern day. But that either means they were also banished a millium into the future as well as to another world, or... that's just how that other world was at the time. (Then again, it's Starswirl, so sending them to the future isn't entirely unlikely.)
“Tell me, how many Pinkie Pies do you know?”
Around 50 or so, give or take 15. But I'm guessing this is about "regular human" and "regular pony" Pinkie, who keep switching places?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/5/4/1146231__safe_screencap_pinkie+pie_equestria+girls_friendship+games_animated_blooper_bracelet_breaking+the+fourth+wall_candy_canterlot+high_clothes_foo.gif
I'm deeply intrigued. My guess is this is a version of the idea that Pedestria isn't real, just a hologram built into the mirror. The real Chrysalis wandered into here and is stuck, and is hoping to use the locals to get out somehow.
Chrysalis is in purgatory, and purgatory's stuck in here with her due to her overwhelming ability to not give a damn.
i mean but that's what makes the ship good...
and this dimension's not the only one where Daring Do and Ahuizotl's status as real or fictional characters causes confusion!
ahaha that is so Vinyl and Tavi
that is ironic!
if this turns out to be the origin story of the Equestria Girls world's population then that actually makes a lot of sense to me, especially with the use of "somepony"!
a lot sus about this Chryssi
aww love this line
so this is just straight-up Equestrian Chrysalis, changeling powers and all? alternatively: what a polyship idea!
fascinating simile. also goes a long way in explaining why the inhabitants of this world don't seem to have their lives changed in any way by the regular occurrence of nearly world-ending magical events
ooh! the "Mirror Pool" being linked to the "Crystal Mirror", of course! so all the Pinkie clones were just sent to the other side of that pool instead of being murdered