Orchid was still boring a hole into the mound when Twilence came back. She scrolled quickly through the comments to collect votes - facehooving. "...I think I have some drama to deal with. Regardless, Pinkie won. I think I'm grabbing Evermore Pinkie, since it was already stated that GM worked on that and it should be fine. If it's not... Well, Aradia'll stop us, right?"
Vriska shrugged. "Probably."
"Regardless, keep drilling Orchid, gotta deal with stuff. Creek, guess you weren't here at the start - we already asked those questions to the locals. They had no idea where Equestria was. I don't know if they think the movement of the Sun and Moon is even unnatural in any way."
Infinity shook her head. "We didn't - until you showed up. It was almost like clockwork."
"The sisters are good at their job." Don't trust Gamnemnon. Twilence realized this was probably good advice - he was here amongst a tragedy. He seemed amiable enough, so the villagers had probably been aware of him, and yet he hadn't stopped it or succumbed to it-
Hold on one sec.
What if he was the G in that journal?
...He sure sounded affected in those pages if that were the case...
And he was right here. How was she going to let the others know to watch themselves without - ah, right!
"So, G, I know the Time Tunnels can be used to go through time - can they be used to go to other places as well?" Twilence said, sure to emphasize the G.
"The long-range teleporters do exist there, but I doubt any 'receiver' pads exist elsewhere. That being said you could just go back in time to give yourselves an edge."
Twilence wasn't sure if anyone picked up on what she said. She hoped it was at least a few. "Thanks, G." She would have suggested Vriska go search the town but she didn't want Gamnemnon figuring out what was in the journal. Did he already know? Did it matter?
...And she supposed that was all the Influence had to say besides the votes.
That is, besides Afizah and Ponygood.
She sighed. "Okay. Afizah? Ponygood? Neither of you is handling this particularly well. Afizah, it's rather evident that you aren't showing us Pinkie. The Pinkie I know would take more stock in what Ponygood was saying and... well honestly, probably would have run off crying right now, get mad, or just respect his wishes. Pinkie isn't really a reasonable type who's concerned with proof or other such things - she just is. That being said, you could be an alternate universe... But... You seem inconsistent. It's like you're a character in a book I'm reading and you aren't believable. Which has been the case with most of Afizah's 'characters', which is why I've doubted them. I mean... Sorry, Afizah, I guess that insults your writing ability, doesn't it? I know how horrible that is, I don't mean it that way, I assure you. And seeing as how Creek and Key are just 'windows' through Keywii Cookie or something, I guess that may just be the way it is. So... There's not really a real answer from my position. If you are Pinkie, you still aren't handling it well or being considerate, which is what grates against me."
She continued. "Ponygood... You're right, it's annoying, and you're probably right on your general points. No need to get so venomous and angry about it - I mean, that was pretty brutal. Lots of you have all 'role-played' at one point or another, maybe not you specifically, but several. Most of those may have been Afizah, but there were others. Akumakami - where is he anyway haven't heard from him in a while - and probably a few others. My issue with it was I wasn't sure if it was a real window or not - still not, though leaning towards not with Afizah. Some of them seemed more real than others. His other me, the Shepard. My point is that even though you seem right it doesn't mean you should get all angry. I got angry at your antics before - and I apologized. You may have been straining me, and you were at fault, but I didn't need to be so livid. I think I just needed to let out some steam. So... Make up you two, okay?"
There was silence. Orchid had finished drilling.
Fluttershy smiled. "Princess of Friendship."
Vriska nodded. "I can see why. The title is unbelievably cheezy bug Gog-damn, I only heard half of it and that made me want to hug something."
Ruby frowned. "Let us continue on."
They entered the tunnel Orchid had carved - and slid down the icy surface in a manner of seconds. It was a wild ride - Twilence managed to spin herself around in the slide and let out a gleeful laugh. Who cared if they were going into danger, this was fun. She hadn't had some pure, innocent fun in a while. She reveled in it.
"Laughter," Mite deadpanned.
"Oh shush."
They arrived in a tremendously large football-field sized cavern made almost entirely of ice. There were four flat pathways of ice that led to the center, one of which they were standing on. There were no railings, but the bridges were wide enough that Twilience wasn't immediately afraid of falling to the icy spikes below, though the icy spikes above concerned her. The place glistened with an unseen light source and the altar was suspended above the center of the cavern.
"Do you mind summoning your 'ally' first?" Gamnemnon asked. "I would like to be present for that."
"No problem," Orchid said, gesturing for Twilence to go. Twilence shrugged - she didn't see any harm. She scrambled across the slippery ground until she arrived on the solid ground of the altar. She smiled, stepping into the center. "Evermore Pinkie."
The altar predictably lit∆•£ªª¥¬˙ ´∑•√ø˙¢ø†...
~~~
Hello again.
You've done something interesting here. You've broken a rule.
Nobody can leave the Evermore Recursions. But you're reaching into it from the outside. Breaking the universal quarantine in place. Opening up a can of worms.
Not to mention how good Evermore Pinkie is at her powers. I say you've chosen well. But unintended consequences are a thing.
That said, had you chosen someone else, be rest assured: what happens next would have been much, much worse.
~~~
∑•ª¨ˆ√∑•ºinkie gasped. "THRACKERZOD! I'M LEAVING!"
The tall, regal unicorn-demon looked at the bouncing pink pony with suspicious eyes. "What...?"
"Leaving the Recursions! I'll be gone in a few seconds! Be sure to tell everyone it's possible! ...Though far as I know it requires outside influence..."
Thrackerzod wasted no time - she shoved a frying pan into Pinkie's hooves and spoke something in the eldritch tongue.
Pinkie grinned. "Nice." She waved goodbye.
~~~
Pinkie appeared in the center of the altar with a frying pan in her hooves. She grinned. "Hi Twilence! Sorry about this!" She tackled Twilence to the ground just in time to dodge an incoming ice spike.
Twilence glared. "It's not safe in here!"
"No... Kidding..." Ruby gagged.
Twilence turned - she saw a spire of ice held in Ruby's hands, stopping it from getting to Orchid. But it still pierced through Ruby's chest, drawing bright red dragon blood. Ruby was slowly bleeding and freezing over at the same time.
Twilence ran to her. "Ruby! Hang on-"
And then the dragon exploded as the ice surged with a white glow, driving more spires in all directions.
Twilence turned to look at Gamnemnon. "No..."
"Oh YES!" He laughed, moving the ice towards Orchid. "I MADE THIS ALL HAPPEN! ISN'T THAT GREAT!?"
"No!" Orchid yelled, closing her two real eyes and using her sight to dodge the incoming ice shards - she was having some difficulty as they surrounded her. The ceiling and floor themselves began to push with white energy, shrinking to crush all of them.
"DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS GOING TO JUST LET YOU TAKE ME? NO. No..." He laughed. "I say let the world burn. Who gives a rip. I just wanted to see the curious expression of hope vanish from your eyes... I couldn't play the long game like I did with the village, which ruins some of the fun, but really, still satisfying. All of you are going to die here at my hand. Creatures from other worlds, a microscopic machine, a hero, and a defiler of destiny. How perfect is this?"
Orchid ran for the altar - but a wall of ice surrounded it. "Oh no, not letting that happen. And you can forget about teleporting. Or even using magic!"
Vriska pointed at him and drained as much luck as she could manage. "You're gonna die now."
Gamnemnon laughed. "I am a spirit of nothing but mental fortitude! There's nothing you have that can possibly do anything to me, even if I were extremely unlucky-"
He got hit with the frying pan Pinkie was holding. His white sparks stopped moving instantly. "N....N..."
Pinkie threw Orchid through the ice wall into the altar. "DO IT FAST HE'S ABOUT TO DIE."
Orchid nodded. "I WISH TO SPEAK WITH THE SPIRIT OF THIS ALTAR!"
Gamnemnon was condensed into a white sphere and given to Orchid in a single instant. The ice walls stopped glowing white - but they kept moving on their own.
"Huh. Felt for sure that'd work," Pinkie said.
Infinity narrowly dodged another ice tentacle. "How are we going to get out of this?"
Pinkie shrugged. "Well, if you didn't have me, I wouldn't know. Seeing as you do have me, well..." She made a count. "One, two, three, four... I can only take four. Uh..."
Vriska grinned. "I can't die in the 'alpha timeline,' Leave me. I'll find a way out."
"Okay good. Come on guys let's go!"
"Vriska," Mite said, leaving the Influence and hopping onto Vriska.
Vriska smirked. "Guess he likes me."
Pinkie shook her head. "No more time let's GOOOOOOOOOO!"
And then they were gone in a shower of confetti.
~~~
Pinkie, Orchid, Twilence, Infinity, and Fluttershy appeared in a field of wheat in a puff of confetti. Pinkie smiled. "Well, we're safe!"
Orchid blinked. "...Where are we?"
"Another world," Twilence answered. "...Somewhere else in the multiverse."
Orchid took out the five Spirits - testing Gamnemnon. Her eyes widened. "...He's the spirit of mind all right, I'm calculating the digits to some number relating to circles now..."
"Pi," both Pinkie and Twilence said at the same time. Pinkie giggled.
"Learning anything new?" Infinity asked.
"A lot. Still sorting through it... The last spirit, Vester, is going to be a nightmare to obtain..."
"How so?"
"Neither Vester nor the Palace altar has been seen in centuries. Not for lack of looking for it.
"Great..."
"Guys..." Fluttershy said. "How... How can you all be so relaxed!?"
"What are you-"
"RUBY JUST BLEW UP! HER BLOOD IS ON MY FACE! WHAT DO YOU THINK IS UP!?!?!?"
Pinkie instantly lost the smile. "Oh... Oh no... I..." Tears started flowing into her eyes. "I... I..."
Twilence gulped. "I... Fluttershy, we-"
"She's dead!" Fluttershy shrieked. "So very dead!"
Orchid raised a hoof. "I am aware, but she sacrificed herself protecting us, a noble-"
"She sacrificed herself to protect you. More of us would have been skewered if Pinkie hadn't been there with that frying pan!"
Twilence glanced at the frying pan. Something about it unnerved her.
Good eye.
She was just going to ignore those words it put in her mind. Yep. No way a frying pan could talk. She focused back on Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, this is a dangerous world we're in. I don't think we can get through it without loss-"
"You going to be so neutral about it if something cuts off my head!?"
"Fluttershy..." Twilence shook her head. "You know that's not true..."
"Yeah, I don't. Which is why nobody caring bothers me!" Tears flowed down her face. "She exploded, Twi. She exploded. Someone else might explode. Vriska might not have made it out..."
Pinkie shook her head. "She's fine."
"How do you know?"
Pinkie pointed at the Influence. "Mine works properly. Though not as well as the one Twilence has is supposed to."
"So she was right, you could hear voices."
"Oh no. Well, yes. I can just see beyond, what things are happening, where things are going to end up. And when to pull off a joke!" She sniffed. "Now is obviously not the time for that..." The wind swept through her mane. "Well..."
Fluttershy looked at her closely. "...You aren't the Pinkie I know."
"...Yeah. Sorry. I had to change on my adventure too. I had to adapt to another set of - oh no. They don't have a Pinkie anymore. I mean I think there's human Pinkie but I'm not sure and Diane is..." She put her hoof to her head. "...They're going to be so sad and I can't go back without getting trapped!"
Everyone fell silent.
Orchid coughed. "It occurs to me that we have a lot of emotional baggage to get through, but also a quest. Pinkie, can you take us back to our world so we may continue?"
"Cooldown is 4-5 hours. We're here for a while."
Twilence frowned. "Great. We... We also need to decide if we're going to the Time Tunnels or Altars first..."
"We may not be able to activate the Time Tunnels," Orchid said. "And then we'd just lose time."
"But if we could, we'd be able to mess with time itself!"
"Pretty sure Aradia has that covered," Infinity said. "We'll just get her and ask her for a favor or something."
"To get that die..."
Fluttershy looked at Twilence. "Twi, can I talk to you for a moment? In... private?"
Twilence looked around. "I mean, yes, but where's private?"
Pinkie Pie produced a large curtain and drew it between them. "There you go! Privacy curtain! Everypony plug your ears!"
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Guess... that works."
"What's up?" Twilence said, concern on her face.
Fluttershy sighed. "A... A lot of things. Ruby... But that can be talked about in the open... Just..." She reached into her mane. "I... I have something you need to see."
Twilence raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
She produced the infinite sided die.
"...Oh." Twilence deadpanned.
"I... I found it and took it. I... I don't think Vriska should have it. She's too dangerous. Too violent. I don't think she's a bad person but... She's a dangerous person."
Twilence wasn't sure what to make of this.
The Eye lit up the moment she thought that. Fluttershy sighed, putting the die back in her mane. "It's activating everypony!"
Pinkie tore the curtain down. "OOOOOOOOH! I wanna be here for this one!"
~~~
[IMPORTING...]
Vriska felt like she was being watched. She frowned, picking up her dice that had burned a hole just the right size for her in the ice. She was standing in the sun of the ice shelf, the wind chilling her.
How the heck was she supposed to know where or when the others would show up again?
"Unknown."
"Can you read my mind?"
"Body."
"...Body language?"
"Yes."
"You really work hard to keep up this one-word thing, don't you?"
"Affirmative."
"Hmm. So. Well then. Probably should go wander around until Aradia or someone else shows up then... Where do you think we should go?"
"Capital."
"I like that idea." She changed into her orange robes and flapped her wings towards the Capital of Peran...
That's no ordinary frying pan, Twilence. It was enchanted by an eldritch being named Thrackerzod, who was disguised as a pony to ultimately kill her Twilight Sparkle, which was evil, but then she became an Evermore and befriended the local Mane Six and Evermore Pinkie. I don't remember much about the frying pan, but I do know it wreaks havoc on magical beings.
Ruby... I had suspicions that G would try to attack you, but I didn't expect this sort of thing to happen. You'll just have to make do without her now, but try to remember her. If anything, she died fighting for her cause, and that is one of the best deaths. Better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees. Remember her sacrifice, let it make you realize just what the stakes are in your adventure, and let it empower you to fight harder in the future. And, as always, never give up, and never surrender. And clean up the blood from Fluttershy's face if you haven't already.
"Afizah" is not the actual person, at least I don't think so. It's just another pseudonym for SRD, and happens to be the first. I'm willing to put up with Keywii's acting because he's really good at it, and he's consistent with the characters he shows you. In fact, I'm very glad to be able to watch as his universe unfolds bit by bit. I guess I'm alright with Akuma's acting as his characters, but I personally believe it's a bit redundant.
Once again, I'm going to say that I absolutely love Mite. There's so much personality in that little uni-word robotic chassis! When you get a chance, tell it Ponygood absolutely loves it. Oh, also, ask it if it has any preferred pronouns, because calling Mite "it" seems a bit rude of me.
Fluttershy is right about Vriska, somewhat. Apparently, before she ever got caught up in her adventure, she had a strong desire to make doomsday devices, which she did. She is also a pretty strong mind controller. Once, she mind-controlled someone to mind-control someone else to mind-control a dragon to mind-control someone to walk into a forest, for some reason.
We got another message from GM:
Also, are you getting the Import detailing Vriska's and Mite's adventures? If not, I'd be happy to copy them down for you.
Messages for Pinkie! I know you can hear me, and you know that I know that you can hear me, and I know that you know that I know that you can hear me, as well as an infinite series of different combinations of I knows and you knows, so how about we just skip the middlemare and speak directly to each other? Firstly, I read through the story that was the Evermore Recursions, and I really enjoyed it, except for all the death and destruction everywhere. Second, what's the frying pan's name? I'm pretty sure Thrakerzod called it something, but I don't remember what. Third, do you mind not limiting your Aware powers to comedic effect, because this adventure has proven to be deadly, and we would really appreciate any advantage we could get. It might end up breaking a few (hundred (thousand)) Rules for Being an Aware, and is such a thing advisable or possible? Fourth, and not very serious, would you like to become a devout disciple of the glorious religion Annoying and Useless 4.0, in which we worship our Lord and Saviour Sparkle-Butt the Honorary Cloud, Goddess of Dealing With Our Insane Internet Drivel, and do insane internet drivel-ly things?
8423512
I'm sorry for being so aggressive with my messages against you. I was just trying to be reasonable with my suggestions, but I will admit I was a bit angry when I spoke. It doesn't diminish the validity of my statements, which I will not apologize for, but I hope you can forgive my anger.
That is no ordinary frying pan. Everyone can be dangerous Fluttershy, even you. Things are going to get interesting. I know you can here me so... Hello Pinkie Pie.
I'm so sorry Twilence, I...Please know that you have my condolences for Ruby. She was your friend, and...well I'm sorry for your loss.
Please talk to Fluttershy, Twilence, she's not dealing with everything the same way you are, and I'm afraid that it might be driving a wedge between your friendship. Please don't lose her, your friends are important to you.
This question is for Pinkie. Key wants to know how Jane is doing. I'm sorry, but our records only go until she ended up in the Ponyville emergency room, and he wants to know if she ever recovered.
I'm sorry for asking his question, I just don't want him to be angry at me.
I'm not sure how much I trust Vriska. She can get bad at times, but I don't think she'd be very dangerous if asked to be helpful. I mean, I guess it's always a possibility, but I think I disagree with Fluttershy, I'm sorry. At least the die didn't get taken by the enemy, so that's good. I think you should return it to her when you meet her again, it does belong to her after all.
Please be safe, everyone, It's dangerous, and I'm getting worried for you all, especially after what happened with Gamnemnon.
8424344
Yeah. Sorry. It’s just that at times whenever I start talking to anyone I sometimes ‘slip’ (for lack of a better word) into another's mindset and in turn sometimes be consumed by them.
Only a few times have I truly been able to help, but not for lack of trying. I sometimes get glimpses into the other worlds I have to keep watch over that I feel as if they're part of my very being. And Twilight, I'm not insulted by your comment about my writing, it’s not that easy when your head is full of over a thousand voices trying to be the one that is heard. Ah just try to do ma best when it comes to helping that I just slip into another personality, darling. I....I........I....[ERROR] [ERROR] [INSTABILITY DETECTED] [SHUTTING DOWN AFIZHA HELPER-BOT FOR REPAIRS]
Great after all this time, now is when the thing decides to break on me. *sigh*
Greetings Twilight, Sorry for how un-helpful ‘Afizha’ has been. My name if you haven’t guessed by now is Sonic Rainboom Dash, or Sonic if you want. I originally built Afizha to help with giving useful information. Granted she is a prototype, so there were still some glaring bugs to work out, but until now she had worked. It seems that when things started getting more complicated, her processor couldn’t keep up with the info she was supplied. Anyway, until I fix this dang blasted instability problem, I guess I'll be helping. Also note, the others that you have heard have been in fact the person in question they were supposed to be. The other you, Shepard, even the Pinkie that voted for Sunset. They were all real, or to be more precise they believed themselves to be real. They were merely echoes of those who came before. I built 'Windows' that allowed me, for a short time, to look into other worlds and find the most helpful among them and copied their personality into Afizha. Sorry, I got your hopes up most of the time.
Anyway, regarding the die, I trust Fluttershy and suggest keeping the die hidden from Vriska. And Twilight, You’ve become cold to your friends throughout this entire journey. You started treating death like it was no big thing and would just brush it off without so much as batting an eye, yet you forgot one crucial fact. Fluttershy. You know how she feels about death and the fact that you thought she wouldn’t be bothered if ‘any’ creature died, then you simply didn’t care anymore. Hope you're satisfied with the trauma you might have put on her. Talk to her and strengthen the friendship you have. Same goes for this Pinkie. She may not be 'Your' Pinkie, but she is still your friend.
Evermore Pinkie! Woo! Twilence, could you relay this message to her? Thanks. Evermore Pinkie, I'm glad to have you on board. That frying pan. There is something odd about it. Be careful, alright?
Okay, got a few more things to say to Pinkie after having done some thunking and explering. Nothing for you, Twilence, but you can eavesdrop if you want.
Firstly, something that'll mean quite a lot to you, and Creek and Key now that I think about it: Jane and Sunset have escaped, with the help of Haine and some other scientists. In fact, the place on the other side of the portal out was a wheat field, just like the one you find yourself in. Tell me, do you see any lone roads nearby that look like they haven't seen maintainence in over 50 years?
Second, since you seem to be able to just go wherever you want in the multiverse now, I wanted to make a few recommendations. Unfortunately, GM might not have much knowledge about these universes himself, and would probably have to research them if you decide you want to go to them, but hey, another victory to the Influ-team!
Our world/a close approximate; obviously so that you can find and interrogate GMBlackjack, or a close approximate, with EXTREME PREJUDICE! Whatever that means.
Terraria; Got a bunch of cool loot, including powerful weapons and equipment, and a magical piggy bank that can store a crazy amount of stuff and has a seperate inventory for everyone. However, it is very probable that some death would occur while there, but thankfully respawning is a thing there.
Back to the Future; Has a cool time-traveling car, which is much less mysterious than the mystery of the mysterious Time Tunnels.
And a thought experiment: if you were a battle-hardened singer and a bacon-haired unicorn that could go anywhere in the multiverse, where would you go?
That's all. All hail the Best Pink Party Pony, Pinkie Pie!
[ANOTHER COMPILATION MESSAGE]