Ponystuck

by confoundtheseponies

Chapter 20

"I apologise for stopping with that dramatic revelation," I say, as I rise to my feet. "But I must make sure that Pinkie is still suitably distracted. That, and... let's just say that I may need to fetch a few extra chairs. And also a gun. But do not be alarmed. Everything is under control." Sorting a few of my notes into a small bundle of paper, I hand them over to you. "I trust you can entertain yourselves with this until I return. It shouldn't take long, I promise." I do not approve of this practice - leaving you so frequently that it is necessary for you to continue the story without its narrator is just bad form. Truly, I am not a particularly good host. But then, I have never claimed to be. Doing so carries with it certain risks, which I am not about to go into. Regardless, it is with regret that I leave again, and I will make every effort to save my house as quickly as possible. "If it is any consolation," I add, "the next act is one of my favourites."

And with that, I am gone, leaving you to come to your own conclusions about what follows.

***BEGIN INTERMISSION 2***

The plains to the south of Canterlot were a beautiful sight in the Spring. Gentle rolling hills, clear skies, and what felt like all the time in the world. Luna had often wondered why nopony had built a town here. It was a perfect place to live. There was plenty of open land for farming, with the Everfree forest to the west. But then, maybe that would spoil the atmosphere. Briefly scanning the ground below her for any sign of her friends, but finding none, Luna decided to land and wait for them. Normally the others arrived before her, and upon landing she almost immediately discovered that they had done so this year as well.

"Luna!" Before Luna could turn around to face the source of the voice, Celestia had cartwheeled over her so that Luna was staring right at her excitable sister.

"Oh, hey Cel," Luna said, attempting to hide her surprise and mild irritation at her sisters unexpected appearance. Sometimes she really wondered if Celestia was older than her. "Where're the others?"

"Huh? I don't know, I guess they're running late," Celestia said, tilting her head so that her mane was covering most of her face, which was usually a sign that she wanted to change the subject. "But hey, can you hold onto this for me?" She held out a large book, which Luna warily accepted. Something about this was off, Luna could tell. Celestia never read books if she could help it. A few moments later, another voice confirmed her suspicions.

"OK, OK I caught you..." A thoroughly out of breath colt approached them, struggling to pull himself up the shallow incline. His task was made all the more difficult by his clothes - a large hat and a cloak covered in bells. While it looked very wise and wizardly under certain conditions, in broad daylight in the height of Spring it was nothing but impractical. Celestia completely failed to control herself at the sight, bursting into laughter as the unicorn approached. "Can I... have my book back now... please?" Pausing as he reached the two sisters, he glanced between Celestia and Luna, noticing her for the first time. "Hey Luna... I... uh. Book? Please?" He managed a smile, despite having long since passed the point where verbs were necessary components of a sentence. Shaking her head, and ignoring Celestia's cries of protest, Luna tossed the book towards him, which he simply seized out of the air with his magic and returned it to the satchel he was wearing.

"Good to see you again, Swirly," Luna said, smiling broadly at her friend. He nodded back distractedly, suddenly becoming incredibly interested in the bells along the edge of his cloak. "It's good to see that you two lovebirds are getting along so well." Celestia groaned dramatically, before rushing up to Luna and knocking her on the back of the head.

"Luna, how many times do I need to repeat myself? I am not, nor will I ever, be going out with Star Swirl. He's boring." Despite the indirect verbal abuse, Star Swirl seemed to agree with what Celestia was saying. Or at least, he was nodding while not really paying attention to them. Or at least, he wastrying to not pay attention to them. "Besides, everypony knows that Star Swirl -"

"Moving swiftly on," Star Swirl interrupted, cutting short whatever dramatic revelation was forthcoming. "Has anypony seen Golden? Or Silver, for that matter."

"Nope," Celestia said calmly. "If one of them was missing, I'd be worried. Since they're both missing, I don't think we need to worry. And I'm sure they'd appreciate it if we didn't go looking for them."

"I don't know what you're implying," Silver Heart said, as she, Golden Shine, and a large box teleported into the air next to the group. "But I'm sure that whatever it is, it deserves a preemptive 'shut the fuck up'. Moving onto more important matters..." Drawing attention to the box which the two newcomers had brought with them, Silver opened it and stepped back as Golden began removing its contents. "Who's hungry?"

***

It wasn't long before the five friends had finished making sure they knew exactly how the other four had spent the last year, at which point the conversation turned to the much more interesting and plot related. Most were grateful for this change, particularly Luna - who hadn't relished the chance to relate the last year at Flight School. And of course, that had been the story which everyone had paid the most attention to. It was about time that someone else took the pressure for a few minutes, she thought, while helping herself to another pie.

"So Swirly," Luna said, in between mouthfuls. "What was that computer game you mentioned us playing?" At the mention of the game, Golden - who had been staring absently into space for the last few minutes, while Celestia stole food off of his plate - suddenly snapped back into reality and began paying attention.

"Oh yeah, I remember you said about that. It sounded pretty awesome. Also, where's my pie!?" Celestia suppressed a giggle. Star Swirl nodded, and then summoned a large scroll for them all to see. It consisted of a large circle, with five smaller circles around it, as well as a few extra lines and dots.

"It's not just any game. I made it by adapting some old technology that I found in the Canterlot library. And when I say old, I mean ancient. This is from before computers, but somehow it's perfectly compatible. With a few minor tweaks, that is." Gesturing towards the smaller circles, he continued. "But I understand that it works something like this. Our group connects to each other, somehow allowing us to enter the game world, which will be laid out something like this. Then we will all fight and complete quests and so on, until we eventually claim some kind of ultimate prize. Exactly how it works, and to what extent the game can change reality, I have no idea. But it certainly seems like it'll be a lot of fun."

"I think it sounds odd," Celestia said. "I mean, I'll give it a go if you guys want to play it, but I'm not getting my hopes up." Star Swirl shrugged.

"Good enough for me. Luna, you'll play, right?" Even if she didn't want to play, Luna probably would have agreed anyway. Nopony should be punished with playing a game for several hours with only Celestia for company. She nodded. "Great! Obviously you want to play, Golden. Silver?"

"Well, I don't want to be the only one of us who isn't playing," Silver reasoned. She wasn't a huge fan of games, but surely it wouldn't hurt to just play one. Besides, this story of ancient technology had piqued her interest. "So yeah, I guess I'm on board."

"Jolly good. I'll send it to you all the next time you're online."

And so the friends continued to eat, and laugh, and steal Golden's pies, and all the things which friends do. Except for some things which certain types of friends do that these friends didn't do, because that would be inappropriate. The game, forgotten, sank to the bottom of their minds, buried beneath all the drama of a cut-throat social heirarchy. It would remain that way for some time, until many moons later...

***

Later that evening, the sun was setting low over the Everfree forest, and everypony was just about ready to call it a night. Then again, ponies of their age had an amazingly high resistance to common sense, and so none of them showed any sign of leaving, except for Silver Heart. She was standing at the edge of the group, staring out into the setting sun. If she was going to teleport home - which she was, because it was a ridiculous distance to Fillydelphia - then she needed to leave while the sun was still in the sky. Teleporting several miles across the country in the dark carried a lot of risks if you weren't careful, and Silver preferred to stay on the safe side when her internal organs were at risk.

"Hey, Silver," Golden called out as he approached, stopping next to Silver and following her line of sight to the setting sun. "Are you OK?"

"Yes Golden, I'm fine," Silver said. "But I'm probably going to head off now, before it gets too dark. This was fun, though. It was good to see the others, and you. We'll have to meet up again sometime."

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Golden agreed enthusiastically. "I don't know why the five of us only properly get together once every year anyway. This was awesome."

"I guess, but I didn't really mean all five of us," Silver said, trying to figure out a way of saying what she meant without it sounding awkward. "I was just thinking that maybe... you and me could meet up some time?" She paused, while Golden appeared to be lost in thought. "If, uh, you wanted to, that is. It's not a big deal, I just, uh. Yeah, I'll be quiet now." For some reason, the sun had never been so interesting, as Silver found herself staring intently at the descending sphere. After what seemed like an eternity, Golden eventually said something.

"So, you want to just hang out some time?" She nodded. "Do you mean that as in, uh..." Don't say it, Silver thought to herself, don't say it. "Like a, um... like a date?" Gog damn it. Breaking away from her staring contest with the sun, she swung her hoof wildly and clubbed Golden over the back of the head.

"That," she said calmly, "was for being pitifully cliché. Don't do that again."

"Sorry." He smiled weakly, while rubbing the back of his head. That was probably going to leave a mark.

"And for the record, no. No, it's not like a date. It's like..." Pausing for a moment, Silver tried to agree with herself on exactly what it was like. "It's like two friends spending time together doing friendly things because they are friends."

"Oh, OK." He nodded, but it was unclear whether that was to assure her or himself. "Good. I think. Not that, um. I mean... Heh, I don't know what I mean." He shrugged.

"No, I see what you mean, I think. I mean, it's not like I'm saying I wouldn't... I mean, wait. Fuck. I... am not saying... that... we are? But. I mean, hm. That is, I think that's what you... urgh, wait. Hang on, let me start again."

This kept on happening, with neither of them getting anywhere fast. But for now, let's leave them to their increasingly awkward conversation, and instead look at what the others were doing.

***

Luna wasn't sure who was supposed to be watching how much Celestia was drinking, but whoever it was clearly hadn't done a very good job. Trying to pay as little attention to her hyperactive sibling as possible, the pegasus instead attempted to start a conversation with Star Swirl. This was made more difficult by the fact that he was currently asleep. It seemed like Luna was the only one who hadn't drunk any alcohol. But then, she was the only one who was flying home.

"Swirly." No response. "Swirly, wake up." Still nothing. "Swirly, if you wake up right now then I will love you forever." The unicorn remained completely unresponsive. Maybe he really was asleep? There was only one way to be sure. "OK, if you don't wake up right now, then Celestia will love you forever." Nothing. That settled that. Pouring herself some more water thoughtfully, Luna decided that Star Swirl probably needed it more than she did. Of course, he couldn't drink it while he was asleep, so she settled for throwing it into his face instead. Crying out in surprise, Star Swirl was jolted awake by the sudden splash of cold.

"So, Swirly," Luna said, barely trying to contain her laughter as Star Swirl shook himself awake before attempting to listen to her. "How are you feeling?" His reply was almost instant, and incredibly racist, but it simply caused another laughing fit.

"Hmph," Star Swirl grumbled, wiping the water off of his face with his hoof. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother being so nice to you."

"Obviously it's because you feel pity for me." Without any need for clarification, the two ponies glanced at Celestia, who was currently working her way through Neighties pop songs. "I have that as a sister."

"True, I suppose," he grinned, Luna's crimes apparently forgiven. "It doesn't hurt that you're adorable." Instantly, he ducked, as Luna beat the hay out of the air where his head had been moments before.

"I am not adorable!" Luna shouted adorably. Star Swirl simply rolled his eyes.

"If you say so." For a few moments, the two of them sat there quietly, which forced them to listen to Celestia's singing.

Once upon a time I was falling in love

But now I'm only falling apart

There's nothing I can do

A total eclipse of....woah... *hic*

"Should we help her up?" Star Swirl asked, as the two of them watched Celestia collapse onto the ground in a fit of laughter. Luna thought it over briefly.

"... no."

***A FEW MOONS LATER***

Today was the day, Luna had decided, that she would finally remember to ask Star Swirl about the game he had talked about ages ago. For too long had she been intending to ask about it, only to be distracted by games or videos or music or studying or flying or really any other irrelevant distraction. But now she was going to turn on her computer, open up a chat window, and ask him straight away.

Except he wasn't online. Fuck.

***MANY MOONS LATER***

Star Swirl sighed wearily as he entered his home, the door closing behind him with an almost remorseful click. He had gotten into the habit of doing things in weary and remorseful ways, as part of an ongoing campaign to become more wizardly. The cloak and hat just weren't enough any more. You didn't just need to look like a wizard - you had to think like a wizard. And also be capable of magic, that was a plus, but there was so much more to it than that. More than most unicorns realised, or cared to know. That was part of the reason why he put up with the flaws of his home - the creaking floorboards and the draughts in winter were more than offset by the atmosphere. It just felt magic. Or at least, he thought so.

Quickly turning his computer on, and then leaving it to run while he went to make himself a cup of tea, Star Swirl reflected on the day's proceedings. Sure, in theory it was a great idea to use the magic released from an energy blast in the future to fuel the creation of that energy blast, thereby creating energy out of nothing. In practice, however, it had been discovered that physics had laws for a reason. Infinite energy sounds great, until you have explosions going off dangerously close to your head. Still, at least there hadn't been any casualties. Somehow. He suspected it was because the explosions had not actually happened, in a retroactive time warping paradox kind of way. It had still hurt, though.

A loud beeping from his computer told him that somepony was trying to contact him. Taking a closer look, he saw who it was - Luna. What could she ever - wait. Stop. Noticing the beginnings of certain trails of thought starting to form, he quickly silenced all guesses of what she wanted. The last thing he needed right now was to be typing and thinking two entirely different things.

[midnightEclipse began pestering amniomorphicWizard]

ME: Hey Swirly, do you have a minute?

AW: Of course.

Hold on, that sounds too self assured. Just 'of course' makes it sound like she's wasting your time. I should probably elaborate in case she gets the wrong idea.

AW: If you need something, then I have all the time in the world.

Wait, why the fuck did I type that? Argh, stupid! Quick, act like you're joking around.

AW: :P

Whew. Saved it.

AW: So, uh. What did you want?

ME: Do you remember, aaaaages ago, when we had our picnic?

AW: Of course I do.

AW: Although, if you know some way to forget the image of a drunk Celestia singing Pony Tyler songs, then please let me know.

ME: xD

ME: Sadly, I don't.

ME: I was thinking more about that game you were talking about.

ME: You never mentioned it to me again after that...

ME: :\

Oh, yeah. Memories came flooding back as Star Swirl suddenly remembered the game. Had he really forgotten to mention Sburb? It had been ages since then!

AW: Oh, that?

AW: Well, the deal with that is.

AW: I completely forgot about it until you mentioned it just now.

ME: Seriously?

AW: Yes. Don't act so surprised, Luna, you know what I'm like.

ME: Sigh...

ME: Well, now that you've remembered, what's happening with it?

AW: Well. I.

AW: I suppose we may as well start setting it up.

Quickly running his eyes over his friend list, Star Swirl checked to make sure the others were online. Most of them were. Celestia wasn't.

AW: And obviously we'll have to wait until all the others have it installed.

ME: Yeah...

ME: :/

AW: But never mind that. I'll send it to you now, and then we can both send it to the others later.

AW: If you don't mind, that is.

ME: Not at all, I'm just glad we're finally going to play it!

AW: Sorry about that.

ME: Oh, calm down, it's not like this game is the end of the world.

ME: Let's just get it set up.

ME: :D

AW: You're right, of course.

AW: Let's get this party started.

ME: ;)

A loud whistling from his kettle told him that the water had boiled. Making sure that the file was being transferred to Luna, he left his computer while he went to make his tea. Damn, his head hurt. Maybe he should get it looked at? Regardless of whether his injuries had actually happened or not, he still felt like hell. Maybe-

And then the floor beneath him collapsed.

ME: OK, got it. Thanks!

ME: I guess I'll install it and make sure it's ready to go, right?

ME: ... are you there? Swirly?

ME: Heh, you're probably making tea or something, aren't you.

ME: Well, give me a shout when you're ready to play the game.

ME: Or really for any other arbitrary reason, if you want.

ME: :)

[midnightEclipse ceased pestering amniomorphicWizard]

***

"You were a fool to come here, Miss Heart." Silver leapt backwards in surprise, as an unfamiliar voice rang out from the shadows. Where was that coming from? And where was she? "The halls of Derse have no place for you." Although the thick purple fog around her was thick, she could make out vague blocks of colour. There was a blob of bright green, which seemed to be in the direction of the voice.

"Wait!" A second voice, this one from another blob that appeared next to the green one. This second pony was a pale purple, a similar colour to Silver herself. "For reasons that should be obvious, I kind of have some moral issues with this. Just let her go." Although the voice was muffled by the fog, it sounded familiar. Somehow, Silver thought that she knew this mare. The first pony sighed wearily.

"I understand what you're saying, but please try to remember: she is not on our side. We cant allow her to continue unharmed, regardless of how you feel personally!"

"... you're right, of course," the mare admitted, apparently walking away from Silver and the green pony, as what little could be seen of her faded away altogether. "Just get it done, and then we can continue."

"Very well." The pony stepped away from Silver, fading completely into the fog once more. His voice persisted. "As I said, Miss Heart, you do not belong here. As far as Derse is concerned, the only good hero is a dead hero." When the voice next spoke, it was directly behind her. "'And from what I here, you're the single greatest hero in this entire session."

Suddenly, reality returned to being a thing which existed. A few moments later, Silver began to pay attention to it. She was sitting in the corner of her room. Sunlight was pouring in through the open window, and someone was trying to contact her on her computer. So what had just happened? Some kind of dream?

She supposed it was a side effect of spending so much time researching dark magic and keeping blueprints of summoning circles. Even so, that dream had felt worryingly real. Also that computer was making far too much noise for this time in the morning. But as she walked grumpily towards it, she smiled. It was Golden.

[eclecticSage began pestering suspiciousSeraphim (Ss)]

ES: HEY SILVER

ES: how's it all going?

Ss: Hello Golden!

Ss: I was just, um.

Ss: Sleeping.

ES: really? but it's the middle of the day!

Ss: Well, when I say sleeping, I mean hallucinating vividly before waking up in the corner of my room.

Ss: I don't know what I was doing, but it's all really weird. I suspect alcohol was involved.

ES: oh. WELL, anyway

ES: i

ES: do you remember the last time when all of us got together

Ss: I think so.

Silver began typing her next sentence. Wasn't that when we were talking-

ES: whatever you're about to type, PLEASE don't type it

Oh. Fine.

ES: i just wanted to say that i, uh

ES: well

ES: i've been thinking about it all

Ss: Good. Thinking is good.

ES: heheh, YEAH

ES: but yeah, i've been thinking, and

ES: WELL

ES: the thing is

Ss: ...

Ss: You're enjoying this, aren't you.

ES: enjoying WHAT

Ss: Dancing around whatever you have to say for as long as you can, in the most infuriating way possible.

Ss: And don't pretend that you're not!

ES: oh, sorry

ES: this is just kind of hard to actually SAY, you know?

Ss: No, I don't, because I don't know what you're trying to say.

ES: ah

Ss: Come on, what is it?

ES: FUCK, sorry silver

ES: let's just forget i was going to say anything, k?

Ss: No! That's even more annoying!

ES: sorry

Ss: >.<

Ss: Never mind, I suppose it doesn't matter.

ES: heh, guess not

Ss: Well, listen. I'm going downstairs, where I will get something to eat.

Ss: Then I will come back up here, and we can talk then.

ES: SURE

Ss: Bye!

ES: ^^

[suspiciousSeraphim (Ss) ceased being pestered by eclecticSage]

For a few moments, Silver reflected on how awkward it had become to talk to Golden. Ever since they had last met up, when both of them had completely failed to get their points across, their conversations had revolved almost exclusively around how awkward it was to talk to each other. Which simply made things worse, of course. It hurt her head to think about it for too long.

So she stopped, and went downstairs to get something to eat.

***

It was interesting to live around unicorns with the perspective of an earth pony. It showed you things. Things like how lazy ponies became when they didn't need to go through the precarious balancing act that was picking up anything. Things like how certain conversations would stop when an earth pony was in earshot. Of course, everypony in Canterlot was nice enough when they needed to be, but they didn't have to say anything for Celestia to know exactly what they were thinking. That she didn't belong in Canterlot.

Which, for her, was part of the appeal of living there. Because she could, and she wanted to, and there wasn't a damn thing anypony could do about it. Still, there were certain benefits to being an earth pony in this city. The first that came to mind was the bar where she was currently forgetting her troubles, of which there were assuredly plenty.

Noticing her empty glass, Pony Joe walked calmly over to the young mare and poured something into a glass. Celestia smiled gratefully as she slid four bits over the counter. He took half of them, then nodded and walked away. Laughing quietly to herself, Celestia retrieved her money. Joe was almost too nice for his own good. He had always knocked a few bits off of her drinks, claiming - although he had been drunk at the time - that he knew 'what itsh like to be in a place where nopony wantsh ya... *hic*'. Celestia had no idea what he thought life for an earth pony in Canterlot was like, but she wasn't about to turn down cheap drinks.

At any rate, she couldn't sit around drinking the night away, especially since it wasn't dark yet. There were important plans of importance to be put into motion, most of which required a clear head. And in this case, Star Swirl had explained, 'clear head' meant that her head needed to be empty of alcohol, not empty of cognisant thought.

***

Today was the day, Luna had decided, that she would finally remember to ask Star Swirl about the game he had talked about ages ago. For too long had she been intending to ask about it, only to be distracted by games or videos or music or studying or flying or really any other irrelevant distraction. But now she was going to turn on her computer, open up a chat window, and ask him straight away.

Luckily, he was online.

[midnightEclipse began pestering amniomorphicWizard]

ME: Hey Swirly, do you have a minute?

AW: Of course.

AW: If you need something, then I have all the time in the world.

AW: :P

Typical Star Swirl, Luna thought. Saying the first thing he thinks of, and then reading it back to himself to decide whether or not he's said something stupid. Which was surprisingly often.

AW: So, uh. What did you want?

She then proceeded to have a conversation which does not need or deserve to be repeated. It ended like this:

ME: I guess I'll install it and make sure it's ready to go, right?

She opened the Sburb installer, and then spent the next five minutes clicking the endless "Next" and "OK" buttons which were a necessary part of any installation. It then occcurrred to her that Star Swirl hadn't said anything for five minutes.

ME: ... are you there? Swirly?

Another minute, and no answer came. It wasn't like Star Swirl to take so long to respond. Especially since he had 'all the time in the world' for her, Luna thought to herself. It amused her to think that he was probably kicking himself over saying that. At the time, she had briefly wondered why he had said it, before realising that it was for the same reason that Star Swirl said anything. He just didn't think.

ME: Heh, you're probably making tea or something, aren't you.

ME: Well, give me a shout when you're ready to play the game.

ME: Or really for any other arbitrary reason, if you want.

ME: :)

[midnightEclipse ceased pestering amniomorphicWizard]

***

Ss: Well, listen. I'm going downstairs, where I will get something to eat.

Ss: Then I will come back up here, and we can talk then.

ES: SURE

Ss: Bye!

ES: ^^

[suspiciousSeraphim (Ss) ceased being pestered by eclecticSage]

"Gog damn it." The curse was accompanied by a hoof to the forehead, as Golden Shine reflected on the many ways that he could have handled that conversation better. At the top of the list was not having the conversation in the first place. Why had he even needed to try, when he knew that he wouldn't be able to say anything? And besides, if he had said anything, what would have happened?

Well, he had a fairly good idea of what would have happened. She was Silver Heart, after all. And he was Golden Shine. Which was why he hadn't said anything. Stupid lousy brain, always second guessing itself.

Elsewhere, far removed from the world of Equestria, two ponies stood watching Golden Shine as he slept soundly in his fanciful dream tower. The unicorns eyes were firmly shut, making his fate all the more assured.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about," said Silver Edge. She was confused with the sight of their sleeping victim - memories clung to the back of her mind, unidentified but very insistent that their existence was acknowledged. She did remember this pony, despite having never met him. And it felt more than a little wrong to be doing this to him.

"I don't know," Mild said, shrugging off the nostalgic tone to his companion's voice. "I don't particularly care, either. Grab him, and let's go." He waited for a few moments, in which the two of them stood in silence. Eventually, he decided that Silver probably hadn't heard him. "Or you can sit there reminiscing about someone else's past that hasn't even happened yet, and I'll grab him instead." Lifting the sleeping pony into the air, Mild slowly dragged him out of the tower. "Anyway, we're going now, yes?"

"Yeah, sure," Silver said, not really listening. She was paying more attention to Golden's dream room. Specifically, she was staring at the image on the wall in front of her, above Golden's bed. Her memory was pretty shady at the best of times, but suddenly everything was very clear. Impatient with the wait, Mild flew back into the room, almost immediately spotting what had grabbed her attention.

"Oh..." he searched for the right words. "Uh. I don't want to be an ass about this, but you do realise-"

"Yeah, I know," Silver said, her voice sounding more tired and defeated than it sounded sad. "None of my business. Come on, let's just get out of here." Turning away from the wall, she and Mild hopped out of the tower and began to fly Golden's body down to the planet below.

"It's about time," Mild said.

***END INTERMISSION 2***

"I cannot stress enough just how sorry I am about all of that," I say, returning once more, this time through an entrance which does not yet exist. Or perhaps it is one that does not exist any more. I'll be damned if I can tell the difference. "Rest assured, however, that everything is under control... for the time being. The group which is converging on this position is still a threat, but fortunately I have managed to set up several convoluted plot devices to keep them from reaching us for a little longer." For perhaps the first time this evening, my expression betrays my fear of what is to come. I smile in an attempt to allay your concerns, but my sworn duty to record everything - including feelings that I may wish to keep concealed - defeats the purpose entirely.

"I do feel, however, that it is important that I explain this," I say. "It may be necessary for us to relocate the proceedings to another room of the building, for your convenience. That is not required just yet, of course, so until then I believe that we should continue as we have done so far. I have no intention of dying while I am keeping guests." I am not lying, nor am I being overly optimistic - there is nothing to say that the evening will end badly.

Then again, there is nothing to say it won't.

Comments

[Alphaetus_Prime]

Did you make that image in Paint?

[confoundtheseponies]

620933 Actually, to my eternal shame, I made it in Fireworks. I couldn't figure out how to tint the original image to that ugly colour in Paint.

Speaking of which, all credit for the background of that image goes to Hussie.

[Fallen Prime]

Seriously, do you think the fan will ever be truly clean again if all this shit keeps hitting it?