Tape 12.0 Mtangalion
Instrumentum held her virtual forehooves out and focused, shaping the ones and zeros around her into a vast model of Equus. "Take a good look at mah future, mah perfect new world!"
In the model, tens of thousands of robots were swarming, harvesting all the world... digitizing libraries and art and the minds and thoughts of every last thinking creature, before the beams from the Applecron vaporized everything, gathering in the raw matter to build bigger and better machines.
In time, the whole planet was consumed. Princess Luna made a stand against the Applecron with the last living thestrals, but in the end, Instrumentum got the moon too, and Luna was sealed into a new reactor with all the other Alicorns. "And thus we become Singularity, all knowledge and power in one mind, One Truth!"
Instrumentum frowned, though. "This should already be happening outside. Who's messing with my Applecron?"
Apple Bloom stamped a hoof, even though there was nothing to stamp it on. "It doesn't have to be like that. Ah can still build us a better future, the pony way!" She took hold of the digital space just like she'd seen her other self do, amazed as she began to discover and understand it all. A second simulated Equus formed out of the digital void.
They saw Veritas and Thalia crowned princesses and reigning in Canterlot, letting Celestia and Luna take a vacation that was millennia overdue.
They saw Big Mac in charge of Sweet Apple Acres, trotting across the fields in an exoframe that multiplied his strength instead of doing all the work for him. They saw wondrous machines working the fields, and trains to carry their crops powered by sunlight and magic, with Apple Bloom designing better ones all the time. They also saw Big Mac and his wife and their foals preparing Zap Apple Jam with the same strange rituals as in generations past. They saw all the Apples gathered before the grave of Granny Smith, eyes full of tears but still smiling. Granny had been offered a perfect young robot body, but she'd chosen the eternity *she* wanted, with her husband.
They saw new wonders springing up left and right, in the hoofprints of the young new deities... amazing new advances in music and gaming and invention. They even saw the first Divine Kirin negotiating new, stronger alliances and friendships with the griffon republics and the minotaurs and the dragons.
Instrumentum waved a hoof dismissively. "Do ya expect that mess to stay sunshine and rainbows forever? Take a look at that." A whole city magically appeared in the frozen north, and its dark crystal king waged war on half the world. "That's what happens when ya don't make yer own fate. Ya ought to be able to stomp on any enemy with all those gods on yer side, but Fate has to go and make it a fair fight for the danged Shadows!"
"But they got through it, and they learned a whole lot!" said Apple Bloom. "See? Shining Armor became another new Alicorn Prince!" He and Cadence were ruling the new crystal city, sure enough, with their newborn Alicorn daughter.
"And what about that?" A dark, devil-horned shadow was attacking Equestria now, sucking all the magic out of everything to grow stronger and stronger. "Ya don't see any of those horseapples in *my* world. Ah took the world apart first, and chucked the gate to Tartarus into a sun like *they* oughta have done!"
Apple Bloom watched, fearing the worst, but salvation came. "Ah wouldn't give up on those ponies so quick, other me!" Seven rainbow lights were standing up to the shadowy enemy and *defeating* him.
"Just another deus ex machina," said Instrumentum, unimpressed.
"Nope! Seven mortals with the Elements of Harmony, saving the world where even the Alicorns failed!"
Instrumentum recoiled. "Illogical. Even with divine powers in their hooves, mortals ain't that strong! Ah bet it was a fluke, or they were just some god's puppets!"
"Wanna see it again!" Apple Bloom wound the simulation back, changing the initial conditions slightly, and ran it again... and *again* the horned devil was defeated. The simulation reset yet again... hundreds, then thousands of times. "Sometimes, the bad guy does win," said Apple Bloom soberly. "And sometimes the gods have to step in... but nine times outta time, it's mortals and harmony!"
Instrumentum twitched. "The conclusion makes no sense. There *must* have been an error."
"Tell me what the error is, then!" demanded Apple Bloom. "You built this whole machine! Are these results any good, or are we just playing make believe here?"
"Shut up! Mah simulator is perfect! Ah built all the rules of physics and fate and chance into it."
"Then this is the truth, by yer own admission!" shouted Apple Bloom. Her eyes and cutie mark seemed to sparkle with orange light, even though they were just digital representations. "This is the truth we figured out together, by inventing and theorizing and running test after test. This is Empirical Truth!"
"Ya... ya think ya know everything?!" shouted Instrumentum right back, actually losing her emotionless cool. "Well, ya don't!" She threw the simulations into fast forward. "We have ta go further!"
Tape 12.1 Kendell2
-=Gravity Falls - Shacktron Battle=-
"Ready?" Discord asked, himself, Thalia, and Veritas on a magical treadmill (Discord in sweatpants and work out gear), running and putting their divine energy into the robot.
"Ready!" Diamond said, sitting in the captain's chair with Silver. "We have to stop that thing at all costs. Give Applebloom time to get through to herself!"
The giant robot charged and threw a punch, driving Instrumentality backwards. The massive robot opened several missile launchers and fired.
"TWILIGHT!" Diamond called.
"On it!" the unicorn said, putting a horn to a crystal and casting a beam that the crystal multiplied like a prism.
"What If Machine! Calculations!"
"Response: Roger Roger," replied the machine, doing the calculations of 'What if the missiles went this way' so they could react if the beam failed.
The missiles were destroyed.
"CHARGE!" Diamond and Silver cheered.
Rarity and Rainbow Dash gave a karate yell and charged on motion capture device, punching Instrumentality back.
Instrumentality's horn charged up and fired, the hero's clubhouse robot using what seemed to be copies of every gem Rarity had ever helped Sweetie Belle use attached to one of its arms to block the beam, being forced back slightly.
Instrumentality released a small army of drones at them.
"Fluttershy! Go!"
"Um...o-okay..." Fluttershy said, putting her mouth to a microphone. "Um...can you..."
"GET EM MR. ROCKY!" yelled Fluttercruel.
The top of the robot opened up to reveal the cockatrice the Crusaders had encountered with Fluttershy, magically grown giant, who glared at the drones, turning a good chunk of them to stone and munching a few that didn't.
Instrumentality spread it's wings and charged them, Rainbow Dash and Rarity catching it with the robot's arms.
"MAX POWER!" Diamond Tiara yelled.
"Roger!" Applejack yelled, her and Thalia running faster (Thalia downing some sugary treats) while Discord got on all fours and began running.
They stopped the robot's charge and Diamond swung the control wheel around, tossing the massive machine high into the air.
Button Mash pressed several buttons on a power glove and punched forwards.
The 'doors' of the club house opened to reveal a Fire Elemental who launched a massive cascade of fire, blasting Instrumentality higher into the sky.
"Engage flight mode!" Diamond called.
"On it!" Sweetie Belle called, singing the wordless number for Two For The Sky.
The robot's back opened and two massive wings composed of Sweetie Belle's many, many, many sewing attempts emerged, the robot launching itself skywards and slamming into Instrumentality.
"What do we do now?" Sweetie Belle replied.
"Take it outside!" Diamond called.
"On it!" yelled Rainbow Dash, her and Rarity grabbing Instrumentality and throwing it further out, towards the bad lands where there was nothing to damage in the continuing fight.
---
"...Let me go first..." Applebloom said, warping the virtual world again.
She showed an image of the horned shadow, having rose again...and being defeated again...but this time.
A purple Alicorn rose up over it, having a look of realization. She then pulled the darkness OUT of the shadow, harmlessly absorbing it into herself like it'd ALWAYS been a part of her, leaving the Centaur a powerless shadow of his former self, maimed so badly his evil could never raise again.
An evil, but beautiful Alicorn emerged, trying to stir up persecution and ill will...and having an epic battle with six, or seven, Alicorns, that ended with their victory and world peace.
Long, long into the future, the Earth Bound Kings arrived.
"See, there's always a new threat," said Instrumentum.
"Yeah..." Applebloom replied...as the Alicorns and their fellow gods defeated the Earth Bound Kings' invasion, then made peace with their remnant and convincing them to transcend physical form and ascend to a higher, more peaceful existence. "But there will always be heroes to stop them...yours?"
Instrumentum ran her simulation. Her Singularity spreading outward, continuing to take and take...until...
"Notice something familiar?" Applebloom asked, waving a hoof.
She ran the simulation side by side with the arrival of the Earth Bound Kings...Instrumentum gasped in horror.
"N-No, that can't be!" the Nightmare exclaimed, running the simulation again and again...each time with the same result.
"We...we..."
"...That's right, Applebloom...in your world, we ARE the Earth Bound Kings!" Applebloom stated, Instrumentum's singularity inevitably becoming near impossible to tell apart from the cosmic, biomechnical horrors from beyond the stars. "...Let's play this out...all the way till the end..."
Applebloom ran both simulations through to their end, ALL the way to the end.
Instrumentum...was faced with a reality: machines...her precious singularity...they were finite. When the universe ended, it was caught and destroyed in Heat Death, as they were still made of matter and the energy like anything of the mortal world, freeing all the souls from it...
Applebloom's...ended with a gigantic, star spanning and peaceful civilization of Alicorns and other deities that had made friends and allies across countless solar systems and planets being offered the chance to ascend ALL the way and become true Concepts instead of simply mortal Alicorns, to become PART OF and PILLARS of the universe to come, or simply refuse and move on to join their loved ones in eternity, having lived eons long, endlessly fulfilling lives and having no regrets, when the universe met its natural end.
Instrumentum's eyes teared up. "If..."
She ran the simulation a million times...a billion times...it always ended the same for her...Her singularity could do nothing but become the Earth Bound Kings because at their core, the mentality and ideas driving them were completely identical: a fear of death and the desire to 'liberate' the universe from fragile flesh.
"Ah...Ah just wanted to never lose anypony...Ah didn't mean..."
Applebloom hugged herself (literally). "Ah know...but there's a better way tah do that...there's a way they CHOOSE to get that far...or choose tah rest...but your way...never ends with anythin' but us becomin' the bad guys...and it'll never be truly eternal...Ah knows it's hard...Ah don't think even Ah'm quite there yet...but that's...just how it works...cause if we try tah cheat, we don't become more...we become something awful..."
"...Ah'm sorry..."
"Ah know..."
Instrumentum's eyes widened. "Oh no...Instrumentality!"
She looked back to the computers. "Instrumentality is programmed to fulfill its purpose without end! Ah never made a kill code! Even Ah can't shut it down now!"
Applebloom put a hoof on her shoulder. "...Then we'll help the others destroy it...Let's make the first choice we make tah get tah that better place be us choosin' tah fix our own mess...after all, how can we expect other ponies tah do something we're too chicken tah do ourselves?" Applebloom held out a hoof.
Instrumentum stared...then nodded and took it. White strands of energy engulfing them both.
Alex Warlorn (I will never get tired of parodying and mocking that horrible grim dark pony fan comic. )
Suddenly! the sky tore open! Revealing a being to even look upon would drive ponies to madness and destroy their very souls and twists their forms to chaos! "HALT! I AM THE UNSPEAKABLE ONE! I AM 200% COOLER THAN DISCORD CAN EVER HOPE TO BE! I AM A MILLION TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN A MILLION NIGHTMARE ECLIPSES! And a million times more evil! YOU CAN NOT HOPE TO -AGGGH!!!!" And was promptly eaten by The Wolf and was erased from time and space and ever ever existed.
"I thought I got cleared out all of those! Dangit. Good doggy!" Princess Thalia said from inside the club house.
Mtangalion
Just like the puzzle of Flim and Flam's time traveling steam wagon, all of the pieces of *Apple Bloom* began fitting into place. Her shapeshifting forms, floating out of the snuggle-pile in her mindscape... Instrumentum's too, even more than Apple Bloom had... They had a worry, suddenly, a heartfelt wish. They felt a flutter of Alicorn wings, and something seemed to settle onto them like a second skin, just a little too snug for comfort, but that was fine and dandy.
Everything came to rest, real and solid again at last. Apple Bloom gasped, eyes flying open, heart pounding in her chest as she took stock. Earth pony strength? She rapped a hoof on the floor. Check! Wings? She spread them and smiled... this wasn't so strange, since she'd flown before. Horn? That would have felt really weird, if not for Instrumentum's memories! She lit her horn, just to feel the tingle of her very own magic aura, glowing softly orange.
She was standing on a path floating in the aethereal void, a path lined with floating images on both sides... the real Hall of Ascension. There were two metal posts and a velvet rope like in a movie theater, though, blocking the way. She could have easily walked around or under it...
Apple Bloom smiled. "No, not yet."
Somehow, her big sister was here too, in all her glory. Princess Veritas' blonde mane flowed in the aethereal wind, and her apple barding was polished to perfection. "Apple Bloom... are ya sure?"
Apple Bloom nodded. "Sis... Ah need to learn more about this mortal life and really live it... the mortal life Ah tried to destroy for everyone in the whole universe." The little Alicorn blushed. "Ah mean... Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Whisper were small potatoes compared ta what Ah almost did, and that ain't something to brag about."
Applejack hugged her close. "Take all the time ya need, sugarcube. We'll be waitin' for ya."
Inside the Shacktron, Veritas opened her eyes. "She's on her way!"
Apple Bloom the mortal Alicorn appeared in a teleport flash, grinning from ear to ear. "It's done! Me and Instrumentum are one pony again!" The other Crusaders gasped and cheered, and would have dogpiled her with hugs on the spot, if the clubhouse wasn't sailing through the air in the middle of a pitched battle.
Apple Bloom tapped on the What-If Machine's keyboard, hooves almost a blur, and loaded up a schematic of the Instrumentality with a spot on one shoulder blinking red. "Punch it there with everything ya got, and the main power relay will overload!"
Diamond Tiara grinned. "You got it!"
Alex Warlorn
Princess Thalia/Pinie Pie, shifting to her normal pony form, remarked, "Do we even need to fight it? It doesn't have any more Alicorn batteries, so all it has left is back up, and wasn't that already going ka-put, before? So all we need to do is hold it for a little bit and all this big work out will make it take a break?" (she discreetly quickly took out a hoof-top and scrolled the page). "And aren't there little foals still inside that thing?"
Mtangalion
Silver Spoon blinked. "Apple Bloom, what's she talking about? Wait, Instrumentum didn't foalnap anypony else, did she?!"
Applejack looked sympathetic. "Ah wasn't gonna say anything til later..."
Apple Bloom chuckled nervously, cringing. "Don't worry about that. Ah took care of it."
-- Five minutes ago ---
Around the back side of the Applecron, a section of the hull glowed red hot, then exploded outwards. Apple Bloom rocketed out of the new exit, wearing Instrumentum's spare red and gold mech suit and hauling a giant cage full of her classmates through the sky. "Ah'm sorry!" she shouted to Alula, Tootsie, Pipsqueak, Featherweight, Shady Daze, Twist, Rumble, Snips, Snails, Dinky, and Truffle. Bloom swerved wildly as she dodged laser blasts from pursuing robot fliers, to the point where Snips looked like he was about to throw up. "Ah am so sorry!"
Apple Bloom sighed. "Ah'm never gonna live that down..."
The What-If Machine whirred. "This unit confirms, sensors now detect no lifeforms aboard the Instrumentality."
The Instrumentality had landed in the Badlands and started reconfiguring itself, though... building more armor over that weak spot in the shoulder, repairing damaged hull sections and weapons. "Backup thaumic reactor online. Instrumentality Optimizing AI 2.0 online," said a generic mare's voice on a loudspeaker. "Objective: Satisfy equine values through ever more advanced technology."
Pinkie's ears drooped. "Aw..."
Discord, of all beings, patted her on the back. "Sorry, my dear, but it has to go."
Veritas nodded firmly. "Let's get right to it, then. For Truth!" She raised a foreleg, and a huge energy ball began to gather in the Clubhouse's "hooves."
Pinkie flashed back into Thalia. "For good times!"
"For everypony's happy songs!" cried Euterpe.
Discord and Diamond Tiara posed together. "Let's do it! Chaos and Harmony fusion attack!"
"Taste our flawless, graceful finishing move!" shouted Faventia.
"For everypony's future!" yelled Apple Bloom.
Prince Isthmia grinned from ear to ear. "It's game over for you!"
The Robo-Crusader-Clubhouse was now holding a sphere that blazed like the sun. Sweetie, Button, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom waved their hooves together, making a Neighponese sentai pose. "Cutie Mark Alicorn Crusaders... YYAAAAAYYY!!!!"
Their giant robot flung its hooves forward and fired a blinding rainbow and plaid beam. It struck the Instrumentality's weak point and blasted straight through, arcing off into the sky.
The What-If Machine whirred again. "Enemy power readings..." The Instrumentality swayed, then slowly toppled over, crashing to the earth. "Zero."
Alex Warlorn
Apple Bloom quickly and used her horn, millions of obedient disassembler robots began dissembling the Applecron.
Mtangalion
Button Mash looked a little sad to see the Applecron getting efficiently dismantled. "It seems like a waste of a good game setting. You know, intrepid explorers searching mysterious wreckage for the secrets of forgotten technology..."
Apple Bloom grimaced. "Do ya really want Diamond Dogs looting the wreckage for laser guns and flying machines? Or cyberponies crawling out of there in a few years? Besides, it ain't forgotten tech. Ah remember how to build it all just fine. Ah've got the mech suit parked in the barn, and plenty of tools saved for when Ah build mah workshop, but Ah gotta be responsible with this stuff."
Applejack cleared her throat. "Sorry, yer building a what, now?"
Apple Bloom winced. "Sis, can Ah please? Ah can put it underground... It won't be bothering anypony."
"Yer just gonna build a workshop behind mah back if Ah say no, aren't ya?" Applejack didn't lean on Bloom with the Truth... nor did either of them comment on how difficult it would be to fool the Alicorn of Honesty. She just put on her Big Sister face and looked at Bloom expectantly.
Apple Bloom looked down, scuffing her hooves a bit. "Yep."
Applejack chuckled, and gave Bloom a hug. "You can build yer workshop, so long as me and Big Mac can visit and see everything yer working on." She winked. "You wanted to stay mortal, little sis. You might be an Alicorn, but you're still in for a few more years of adult supervision!"
Apple Bloom grinned, hugging her back. "Ah can live with that."
The Crusader clubhouse glided in for a landing, in the same field it had launched from. "All passengers, please gather closely!" called out Discord. "It's about to get just a teensy bit cramped!" Despite the warning, most of them yelped when the clubhouse poofed from a giant robot back into a small filly-sized building. They couldn't squeeze out the door and onto the lawn quick enough.
Diamond Tiara was mortified to realize that she'd forgotten to switch back to the half-dragon form, and now everypony had seen her as a sparkly pink wolf. Then again, nopony had even mentioned it, much less teased her about it...
"Ah can't believe it's really over," mused Apple Bloom. She looked around suddenly. "It is over, right? Ah don't know if Ah could take waking up in mah bedroom for *another* go-round after all this!" She spread her wings, waving them.
The What-If Machine rolled down the clubhouse steps on a new set of wheels, which Apple Bloom had thoughtfully installed. "This unit can no longer detect the loop established by Fate and Night... but this unit could easily show you a timeline where ponies are watching these very events on a What-If Machine, if you organic beings are feeling nostalgic."
Scootaloo grinned, enjoying the warm sun on her fur and scales. "No thanks! I've gotta go show Rainbow Dash and Spike, and then I'm off to meet my real parents. I know who they are now!"
"Well, Spike won't be hard to find!" said Pinkie, pointing at the exhausted giant dragon napping in Ponyville's main square.
Sweetie Belle giggled and hugged Button. "Let's go introduce me to your family, and then you can meet mine! They... might still be were-seaponies."
Kendell2
Applebloom looked at the thing Ispita had given them...the thing that had done that to the loop. It was just a little pendant. She looked to the What If Machine. "...If Ah break this thing...that'll happen..."
She thought. "...And while THIS world would still exist...still continue on...a version of us with all our memories of this will be sitting back watchin' yah..."
"Thinkin' about somethin', sis?" Veritas asked, listening (and naturally aware of the situation).
"...Yeah...sis...do yah think it's fair tah do that?" she asked. "...That won't have a chance tah make up fer it..."
Applejack chuckled. "Did YAH fix yer mistake?"
"Yeah..."
"Then they'll remember fixin' it...and Ah think there's a better question."
"What?"
"...Did yah WANT tah end your adventure then and there?" Applejack asked truthfully. "Did yah find everythin' yah WANTED tah find? Or did goin' Nightmare cut it all short?"
Applebloom thought back...they'd ended it as Nightmares, not on their own terms. "We never did find why Everfree was so crazy...And Ah can think of a lotta things Ah'd like tah know...Yer okay with this?"
Applejack chuckled. "...Yer searchin' for truths...can't say Ah can see anythin' wrong with that. Besides, if yah weren't satisfied, yah'll find yer way back in there eventually anyway, won't yah?"
Applebloom chuckled. "Yeah..."
She looked at the pendant. "Besides...Ah think they've got a right tah get tah bein' Alicorns the RIGHT way, not the quick and easy way."
She squeezed it in her hooves...and broke it to pieces.
---
Applebloom blinked, now sitting back at the What If Machine with the others.
"Are we Alicorns?" Applebloom asked, the group looking at their backs or in Scootaloo's case, her forehead, and finding nothing. "...Dang...oh well, guess that'd be cheatin', would it?"
"...Ah kinda miss it..." Scootaloo said. "But...yeah, I guess taking the bad way to being Alicorns is kinda lame..."
"Wait!" Button gasped, looking back at his flank. Applebloom did the same. Both gasped.
"We got our Cutie Marks!" they both exclaimed.
"But why?" Button asked.
"...Cause we earned THEM the right way," Applebloom replied. "We didn't earn bein' Alicorns...we just purified ourselves after we got there the 'easy way'...well, at least Ah still remember all that tech info."
Scootaloo nodded. "...And I remember where my parents are!...Which means I don't have to be afraid to have a Cutecinera!"
"Huh?" the others asked, looking at her.
"Uh...yeah, I kinda held off on my Cutecinera because I didn't want everypony to find out I don't know where my parents are..." Scootaloo admitted.
"Hey!"
The group blinked, turning to the What If Machine to see Alicorn Applebloom looking at them.
"If yer still watchin' this...go have fun! Our lives are a lot more grown up now! We've got a lot tah learn tah be good Princesses!...Yer still kids! Go enjoy it!"
The group looked to each other. "...So, wanna go back out?" Applejack asked.
The others nodded. "Sure...and this time...let's become Alicorns the right way, okay?" Sweetie asked.
"Right!"
Mtangalion
Sneaking out to go explore the Everfree had become an old routine, something they could practically do in their sleep.
Only... it was all different now. Button Mash started the loop with them... he'd been their friend and a fellow Crusader for years, and he'd brought a saddlebag of his own, packed before he left his house.
And when Apple Bloom packed her saddlebag, she felt the need to trot out to the shed and borrow a bunch of tools... hammer, measuring line, screwdriver, spare screws and nuts and bolts... She wasn't going to be building any robots with those, but she felt much better having them just in case.
Button kept playing his GameColt, more and more astonished at his new gaming prowess, and Apple Bloom kept geeking out looking at her new cutie mark in a mirror, until Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo insisted that they needed to get moving.
They were just heading down the trail into the Everfree Forest when a bright light flashed behind them. "Wait!" called a voice.
Sweetie Belle turned around and gasped. "Diamond Tiara?"
It was her, just like they'd seen her before in the other timeline... when she'd been an earth pony filly, anyway. A little older than before she'd disappeared from Ponyville, just like they all were. She was panting, but they hadn't heard any hoofbeats. "So, you're really going in there again?"
Apple Bloom smiled. "That's the plan."
Scootaloo blinked. "Wait, wait wait... You remember?"
Diamond Tiara shimmered, showing them her half-dragon yokai form, just for a moment. "It... kind of goes with the territory," she said sheepishly. "I didn't understand what was happening until Uncle filled me in, though. I'm still amazed at what you did, what you gave up..."
"Were you wanting to come with us?" asked Button. "Our party's a little large already."
Diamond smiled and shook her head. "That would be cheating. I just want to say..."
The Crusaders leaned closer. "Yes?"
"Let me know when it's the last day of the loop! I have this big makeup homework assignment, but I can totally blow it off until the loop is about to end."
Apple Bloom facehoofed. "Is that all?"
Diamond grinned. "Don't forget to invite me to your big cutie mark celebration, okay? I still owe you guys one heck of a public apology... and a thank you." She gave them a formal bow, then turned and trotted away, leaving the Crusaders clear to go exploring once again...
Alex Warlorn
"So how are we going to explain all this to our families?" Button Mash asked.
"Cutie mark dream." Scootaloo said.
"Or have Applejack and Pinkie Pie explain everything."
Sweetie Belle was silent for a while as they trotted into the Ever Free. "I think might be becoming addicted."
"Huh?"
Her friends all looked at her.
"I know what it means to have your head messed with, to where you literally can't live without something... and... I'm worried, that we're becoming addicted to this... that we're gonna spend a million years because Luna and Fate gave us a free card so we can explore as much as we want without permanent bad stuff happening to us... I'm worried, what if we don't want to EVER stop?"
"Like those games where you just click on the button forever?" Button Mash asked.
"YES!"
Kendell2
"...Yah know...Ah don't think that," Applebloom said.
"Why?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"...Cause Ah still wanna leave," said Appleboom. "Ah ain't doin' this tah STAY here. Ah'm doin' it cause Ah want tah know..."
"And...I just want to spend time with you all," Button Mash replied. "I'm ready to stop when you do...Oh! And there are so many games that won't come out if I stay in the time loop!"
"And...I know my parents are out there, I want to meet them now that I do," said Scootaloo.
"There's four of us," said Appleblloom. "How about this? One of us always make sure to keep in mind what's really important and pulls the others back if we do?"
The others looked to each other and nodded.
"That sounds good...I was just worried...I still want to go back and play with Rarity again..." Sweetie Belle said, then nodded. "...Alright, let's give this a try and see what happens..."
---
The group continued through the forest, camera at the ready. The images was now a bit better thanks to Applebloom's technological knowledge. However, that didn't help much when the fog seemed to suddenly get pretty intense.
"Where'd this fog come from?" Scootaloo asked.
"We're in the Everfree Forest, where do ya think?" Applebloom asked.
Scootaloo flew up and landed on a large boulder. "It's not too thick up here-AHH!"
The group jumped as the rock seemed to move and drop Scootaloo into a hole. They group didn't hesitate and followed after before it could close.
The group gave a scream as they went down a long slide...and through several cob webs. Sweetie screamed before throwing a spider off her face.
They finally were launched off it and landed with an 'OOF!'
"...We're underground again..." Scootaloo snarked.
Applebloom shook herself off and looked around. The area was full of cobwebs, but also long, ancient and heavily rusted technology. "Where are we?"
Applebloom trotted over and looked at the various devices. "These things are old, REAL old...Even Ah don't think Ah can fix any of it..." She pulled out a flashlight and looked around.
"It's kinda creepy..." Sweetie Belle said, huddling close to Button...then screaming as Applebloom lit up a skeleton of what they thought was a monkey.
"AHHH!" they all screamed and ran...right into a barrel marked 'BALANCE.'
They blinked as it tipped over and came open, an explosion of smoke coming out before turning into a rain of rainbow colored raindrop-shaped creatures that began hopping around causing havoc on anything they saw.
"What happened?" asked Scootaloo, suddenly seeming more frightened and feminine.
Button Mash growled as one of the creatures jumped on his head. "They better get away from me or I'll kick their flank!"
"They look like metal slimes from 'Dragon Quest!'" Applebloom exclaimed, looking more excited and ditzy.
"Are they really dangerous maybe we should analyze 'em?" Sweetie Belle asked.
(OOC: For those who don't know, these are the Frazzits: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x190ltd_mish-mash-melee-my-little-pony-n-friends-1986_shortfilms)
Mtangalion
Button Mash grinned. "Yeah! We can find out their weakness with my game console... so then I can kick their flanks!" He tapped empty air, and the console appeared, floating beside him.
"You know," mused Sweetie Belle, "that console doesn't make a whole lot of sense. How is it that you're able to do that? It's not as if our reality has been fundamentally transformed to work on video game mechanics."
Button Mash paused in his typing on the console. "God of gaming, duh!"
Sweetie shook her head. "You aren't now."
"Gaming cutie mark!"
"You used the console before you had one."
"Well, I just did it, so obviously I can!" said Button, getting frustrated. "It doesn't need to make sense." Then a puppy-growl came from nowhere, making the colt's ears droop. "But if you really have to know, it's... earth pony magic!" He waved a hoof frantically. "And I'm the potential future god of gaming, so I retroactively allow it!"
"I wish Ah could do that," said Apple Bloom, looking sorta jealous. "Video games are the greatest! Ah don't know why Ah never saw it before."
"We're all behaving a little strangely, aren't we?" mused Scootaloo. "Could it be these..."
Button Mash was seeming a little confused by his own console interface, but Apple Bloom reached over and tapped through the menus. "Frazzits!"
The others gathered closer, reading. Scootaloo gasped. "Creatures of primal chaos that go around mixing everything up?!"
Button groaned. "Dang that Discord! Even when he's nice, we're still tripping over all the toys he didn't put away."
--
Discord sneezed loudly. "Someone's taking my magnificent name in vain again! Can't I go exact just a little ironic vengeance?"
Thalia poured the tea. "If you leave now, you don't get any pineapple upside-down rightside-up cake!"
Discord pouted. "I knew I shouldn't have loaned you my cookbook."
Mtangalion
Sweetie Belle grinned. "I don't mind it so much. I'm getting so many ideas for things I can do with magic, stuff that just never occurred to me before!" She furrowed her brow, lighting her horn and wrapping herself in a tight cocoon of pale green magic. "If I did this, and then *this*, then in theory there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to..." She floated several inches off the cave floor. "Yes!"
Scootaloo gasped. "Unicorns can *do* that?"
Button Mash stamped a hoof. "No way!!"
Sweetie Belle glided after the floating Frazzits. "I'm a flying unicorn. Your argument is invalid. Now I'll just..." She tried to capture the Frazzits in her magic, but they slipped away, multiplying. "Oh no!"
Apple Bloom pointed at Button's console. "That ain't gonna work. It says right here, they absorb unicorn magic. Scootaloo, try rounding 'em up with wind!"
Scootaloo flinched, looking like Fluttershy suddenly put on the spot. "M- me? I'm not sure I really get how to do it, but I'll try!" She spread her wings fully and began to flap... and the air in the cave slowly became a vortex, blowing their manes and herding all the Frazzits back towards the barrel. "I'm doing it... wow!"
Button pointed a hoof dramatically and reared up. "Now cram them back in that barrel, and let's be done with this!"
It seemed like the volume of Frazzits ought to be much greater than the space inside the "balance" barrel, but somehow they were all fitting inside just fine. They had a minor setback when Button tried to buck the lid back on tight... the barrel shook and danced and burped out an old book, which went bouncing across the cave floor. After that, they all worked together, fitting the lid into place, then turning the barrel right side-up with every last Frazzit safely contained inside.
The colt and fillies blinked and shook their heads, as if waking from a dream. "Huh?" said Sweetie Belle. She looked all around, still floating... until she realized that she was floating. Then she panicked, flailing her hooves and crashing to the ground. "Ow..."
Apple Bloom cantered over to the book, picking it up. "What's this?" She flipped the old, yellowed pages at random, and found a diagram of some kind of machine, cryptic symbols filling all the margins around it. "Neato! Ah wonder what this does." She leafed through the pages again. "Aaaahhh!"
She dropped the book, still open to a sketch of an old, ruined town. "Sunnytown," read the caption. "Don't go at night!" was underlined twice. The facing page had a drawing of a zombie pony. "The cursed dead can be calmed with music," read the scrawl next to it.
"Well, Ah knew that," grumbled Apple Bloom. She picked up the book cautiously and flipped through the pages a third time. Now she saw a diagram of a circle of standing stones, the place where they'd seen that magic duel ages ago. "A gateway to other worlds," she read. "Beware! Not all of them are friendly." A sketch in the corner depicted three sad fillies in chains, and a slave brand "cutie mark."
Button Mash was reading the book over her shoulder. "Huh. It's like finding a hint guide after you already beat the game."
"Yeah," murmured Apple Bloom, flipping the book closed. The cover had a brass plate shaped like a pony's hoofprint, inscribed with the number three. "Weird..."
"Hey guys!" shouted Scootaloo from across the cave. "We found a way out!"
Apple Bloom tucked the book into her saddlebag. "Coming!"
Kendell2
"...Scootaloo?" Button asked as they emerged from the cave.
"Yeah?" Scootaloo asked back.
"...It was kinda cool to be all physical for once..." the colt admitted. "all straight forwards like that...It was fun..."
"Really?" Scootaloo asked.
"...It was kinda cool to be really smart, Applebloom," said Sweetie Belle, giving a smile to Applebloom. "And think really clearly for once..."
Applebloom blinked. "Ah'm really smart?"
Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yeah! It was like I could think of some many things all the time! It was cool!"
Applebloom blushed a little bit. "Thanks...Button, it was kinda fun tah think all strategic like...and to feel a bit more...Ah dunno carefree. It was fun."
"Thanks..." Button said, rubbing his head.
Scootaloo gave a sigh. "And...I guess...it was kinda neat to actually be cautious...I guess I know what Dash meant when she told me maybe I should think things through more."
"Huh...guess we understand each other a might bit better now, huh?" asked Applebloom.
The group hugged.
"Now come on! Enough mushy stuff!" said Scootaloo. "Let's go find something cool! I bet we'll run into some cool thing behind the next bush!" she said as they came out of the underground.
Scootaloo marched forwards and sure enough a bush was rustling. "See, told ya!" she said, rushing over to check. "Come on out and let us see you!"
Scootaloo's eyes went wide, however, when instead of a monster she was greeted with a black, white striped tail. "Uh oh..."
Scootaloo back peddled as the very angry skunk sprayed her.
"Eew!" The other three exclaimed and covered their noses as Scootaloo coughed and gagged and the skunk turned its nose up and marched off.
"What was that about 'learnin' what Rainbow Dash meant about bein' cautious?" Applebloom asked, sarcasm clear despite her voice being a little nasally from covering her nose at the terrible stench emitting from the orange pegasus.
Scootaloo blushed, putting her hooves over her muzzle as her eyes watered from the smell. "...Point...ugh...peeyew! Think respawning would get rid of this?"
"Probably not, it's not a status effect," Button replied, the other three trying to get downwind.
"Well, we gotta do somethin', even if we could handle that stink all night any cool creatures would run for the hills before we can get close! Let's go talk tah Zecora and see if she or Bareedina know how tah get it off. We're in Everfree after all..." Applebloom suggested. Zecora LIVED in the Everfree, so she was probably the one pony they actually COULD visit. Besides, she knew a potions, she was bound to have something.
Mtangalion
In their old hollowed tree, decorated with Zebrafrican masks and dangling charms, Bareedina took a slow sip of her tea. "They've passed the ward which kept us from their minds."
Zecora nodded, pouring more tea for herself. "And that means they've found *it*. It's finally time." She ran a hoof down a page which listed all the ingredients for a potent dreamfog brew. "Let's get this done without further delay."
"All of this could still go either way," agreed Bareedina. She reached over and closed the old book, revealing a hoofprint and a number two on the cover.
Sweetie Belle poked at the wall of fog with a hoof, and she could swear she felt the air pushing back a little. "Since when is Zecora's house surrounded by creepy fog? We won't be able to see our own noses in there."
Button Mash's console was blinking lots of question marks at him. "That shouldn't be possible..."
Scootaloo fumed and blew a good stiff breeze at the fog... and the fog wall blew it right back, spinning her in a loop in the air. "Yeah, *that's* not normal."
Apple Bloom pulled the old journal out again. "It can't be a coincidence that we found this thing now. Ah bet there's gonna be something super useful and pertinent to our current situation, right... here!" She flipped the pages and put a hoof down... on a stylized drawing of a dark Alicorn. "On Midsummer's Day in the one thousandth year, Nightmare Moon will rise again? Seriously?"
"Useful five years ago, maybe," said Scootaloo. She would have gone over and given Apple Bloom a sympathetic nuzzle, if she didn't still have that awful skunk smell on her. "It looks like all we can do is walk in there and see what we find."
"Ah guess..." Apple Bloom sighed and turned to the next page, which surprisingly had a detailed sketch of a young Shining Armor. "Who is this pony!?" read the scrawled text. "What is he?! It's not safe for me to stay in Canterlot."
She turned the page again and found a ominous drawing of a giant shadowy canine. "Beware the BLANK WOLF!! He won't let you remember!" The bottom half of the page was filled with more creepy tick marks than a prison cell wall. Apple Bloom turned her head and looked at Blanky lounging beside her, his tongue lolling. He barked happily and licked Button Mash's shoulder.
Button giggled and petted him. "I know it's a cool mystery, but maybe we should be figuring out what to do about that fog."
"Yeah..." Apple Bloom turned the page one more time. "Uh, girls?" There was a drawing of a mystical well, surrounded by four cutie marks... Applejack's, Big Mac's... Red Gala's? and *Apple Bloom's* own brand new cutie mark!? "The eyes of Truth can pierce any fog..."
Kendell2
"What does that mean?" Scootaloo asked.
"We need tah get Applejack Ah guess..." Applebloom muttered in annoyance. "And how are we supposed tah do that?!"
"Maybe there's a way around?" asked Sweetie Belle.
The group didn't have any better ideas, and their noses were starting to hurt from Scootaloo's skunk stink, so they began trying to find a way around the fog wall...only to hear chanting.
"What's that?" Applebloom asked, the group coming over and peaking over some bushes where a group of ponies wearing ominous dark cloaks were performing some kind of ritual. "Oh boy..."
The lead pony, a unicorn, cleared his throat as he stood in front of a circle of eight candles with a book called 'Summoning Eldritch Horrors For Dummies' floating in his telekinesis.
"Triangulum, entangulum. Meteforis dominus ventium. Meteforis venetisarium!" he chanted, his eyes beginning to glow blue.
The Crusaders gasped as the background turned monocrome and time seemed to freeze. "This isn't good..." Sweetie Belle said.
The pony seemed to be in pain. "Egessemsdrawkcab! Egessemsdrawkcab! Egessemsdrawkcab! Egessemsdrawkcab! Egessemsdrawkcab!"
A flaming triangle formed in the sky, opening a portal to what looked like space...
*Beep beep beep! We're sorry. The number you have reached has been punched into oblivion by an old monkey.* said a voice like a telephone operator and everything turned back to normal.
The stallion blinked in confusion, staring at where the portal had been. He then flipped through the pages and set up a different configuration that included a horror novel and a greek tragedy and said something in an eldritch tone, causing black tendrils to rise up.
*Beep beep beep! We're sorry, the number you have reached was kicked out of a neighboring universe by an alicorn then banished from this portion of the multiverse. Please call back in 8 billion years.*
The cult leader replaced those items with several notes with strange symbols on them and lit them on fire.
*Beep beep beep! We're sorry. The number you have reached was destroyed when he was hugged by a sapient, well loved children's toy.*
"Hey, I remember that!" Sweetie Belle said...then they noticed the cultists staring at them.
"Get them!" yelled the cult leader.
Several cultists tried to grab them, only to cringe back as they smelled Scootaloo.
Scootaloo sighed, but took advantage to do a flying move and kick them backwards.
The cult leader flipped through the book and put a pentagram on the ground and gave a chant, causing it to turn into a portal of hell fire and Morning Star to manifest.
The Devil looked down in mild annoyance...then saw the CMC. "...Nope, nope, nope..." he said, retreating back into the portal.
"We kinda messed with him earlier..." said Applebloom, the CMC ready to fight if they wanted to, though to Scootaloo's both relief and annoyance, the smell made getting close to them unpleasent since they weren't used to it.
The cult leader gave an annoyed yell. He then drew a diagram of a black hole with an eye in it and chanted a black magic spell.
The hole opened like a hole in reality and made the clearing become cold.
Maud Pie emerged from the hole...and looked at the foals. "Hello, girls..."
"Hello..." they said at once.
"Mistress of Oblivion! I beseech you to end this worl-" the cult leader said, only to get decked in the face by Maud.
"No," she said simply and retreated back into the portal which closed.
The cult leader practically threw a tantrum and flipped through the book again and made a seal with a squid-like creature on it and said something in an eldritch language.
A portal ripped open to a sunken city and out emerged Ponythulhu.
"Finally! Now Great Ponythulhu will-"
"Cookies?" asked the eldritch abomination, offering a plate of cookies. He looked to the CMC. "Hi!" he said cheerfully, causing them to wave back, remembering the mid battle teabreak with Slendermane.
The cult leader screamed and knocked the plate of cookies from Ponythulhu's grip. "You're supposed to be a horrifying eldritch abomination! Not bake cookies!"
The look he got in return instantly made him regret his actions.
"I spent a thousand years baking those!" Ponythulhu roared, eyes glowing red. "You want a horrifying eldritch abomination? You've got it!"
The cult leader wet himself and tried to run, only for Ponythulhu to grab him by the legs with tentacles and drag him screaming into the portal which closed behind them.
The rest of the cultists grumbled in annoyance. "Worst ritual ever..." said one as they trotted off in annoyance.
Button trotted over and picked up one of the scattered cookies and munched it. "Hmm, these are good!"
As the CMC munched the cookies, Applebloom got an idea. She kneeled and put her hooves in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Scootaloo asked.
"Prayin'. Ah forgot! Mah sister's a Goddess now!" Applebloom remarked. "If those dummies could...try tah summon all those things, why can't Ah summon mah sister?"
The group continued to do so...and sure enough, a silver, mirror shaped apple appeared in front of them and formed into Veritas.
"Howdy, Applebloom, how are ya-" her nostrils flared and she gagged, covering her nose. "Hooey! What is that stink?!"
Scootaloo grumbled and crossed her legs. "I got skunked, we're trying to get to Zecora's but this stupid fog is in the way and the book we found said we needed you to help us."
Mtangalion
Veritas raised an eyebrow. "A book said all that?"
Apple Bloom found that page in the old journal again and held the book out. "What do you think, sis?"
Veritas... actually gasped, when Apple Bloom had thought her big sister was beyond being surprised by anything. "Ah see..." The red glow of her magic lifted the book, then opened it to the begining and quickly leafed through all the pages to the end. Then she shut the book firmly and put it back in Bloom's saddlebag.
Veritas took a deep breath. "Well, first things first." She smiled warmly and hugged Apple Bloom close. "Congratulations on yer new cutie mark, sugarcube. Ah'm so proud... Ah knew you'd get there."
Apple Bloom grinned, sniffling a bit, and buried her face in AJ's mane. "Thanks, sis." A tiny bit of a worry that she hadn't even realized was there seemed to melt away.
Veritas ruffled Bloom's mane with a hoof. "What, did you think Ah wouldn't care anymore, on account of having the whole universe on mah shoulders and all? Not in a million, billion years would Ah stop caring about mah family. *This is true*."
The Alicorn looked to Button Mash next. "And Ah do believe congratulations are in order for you too, Button Mash, for your mark..." She winked. "And yer special somepony! It might be rough having Rarity for a sister-in-law... but Ah'm sure you'll pull through!"
Button Mash blushed so hard, if he'd still had his propeller beanie, it probably would have spun fast enough to fly right off his head. Sweetie Belle giggled and nuzzled him.
Veritas stepped over to Scootaloo. "Let's just take care of that too." Her magic surrounded the pegasus filly, wiping away the skunk stink. "Sorry to keep ya waiting."
Scootaloo took a deep breath, then danced in circles. "Whoa, thanks! So, I guess now we don't need to get to Zecora's house?"
"You don't have to... but maybe ya should, all the same." Veritas nodded to herself. "Girls... and boy. Sorry, still not quite used to that. There's gonna be lots of times when Ah know everything, but it's best if Ah don't tell ponies everything. Ah'm honesty, but Ah can't go spoiling all the surprises or keeping ponies from learning things for themselves. Do ya understand?"
The fillies and colt looked at each other, then nodded uncertainly.
Veritas looked towards the fog. "Good. What you should know is that Zecora and Bareedina aren't in danger, and they haven't suddenly turned into evil witches or anything like that. That journal you found would be real dangerous in the wrong hooves, and they've gotta be sure before they tell ya more about it."
"So, we need the eyes of truth to get past the fog!" said Apple Bloom. "That's your eyes, right?"
Veritas shook her head. "Ah could guide ya through, sure enough, but ya need to learn more about the Aspects of Truth. You know a little already, don't ya, sugarcube?"
...
Instrumentum scowled faintly. "We are potential aspects of the Truth. We have no need of such irrational things as Pinkie Promises. Look into mah eyes, and see if ya can call me a liar."
...
"Then this is the truth, by yer own admission!" shouted Apple Bloom. Her eyes and cutie mark seemed to sparkle with orange light, even though they were just digital representations. "This is the truth we figured out together, by inventing and theorizing and running test after test. This is Empirical Truth!"
...
Bloom gasped, remembering. "How do ya know about..."
"Watch," her sister interrupted, "and learn." She lit her horn and focused, building up a brilliant ruby glow. Nearby, a large swath of grass seemed to fade away, and a stone circle appeared in its place, with the same four cutie marks carved around the outer rim.
"Oh my gosh!" cried Scootaloo, as the well began to iris open. "It's just like in Daring Do and... the Well of Truth? Wait a minute..."
"Yer not wrong," said Veritas. "Don't touch the water, now. Don't even look too close. Sis, Ah need the goggles you made, when Big Mac taught ya how to work our little forge. You have 'em, right? Good, that saves time."
Apple Bloom dug in the tool pouch she'd packed, and held the goggles out. They were pretty large for a filly... ponies had big eyes, after all. "Well, Ah didn't *exactly* make 'em. We put them together from a fancy mail-order kit."
Veritas grinned. "Good enough." She magically removed the lenses, two for each eye, then dipped them into the pool, each in a slightly different way. Then she put the goggles back together and made the entire Well of Truth vanish again. "Try 'em on, and see what you can see."
Apple Bloom strapped the goggles on, hoping she didn't look *too* silly. "Well that's weird," she said right away. "The lenses are tinted orange now, but Ah don't see orange everywhere." She fiddled with the frame, rotating one of the polarized lenses, and suddenly the fog winked out, and she could see a clear path towards Zecora's place with that eye. "Whoa!"
Alex Warlorn
"Ah think my work here is done." Veritas said. "No offense little sister, but this soup has got more than enough spices already, and it's gonna get spicier with ya talkin' with Zecora and Bareedina."
"Ah understand."
"Don't lie little sister."
"Ah mean Ah understand that ya know what's best."
"Maybe, but for goodness' sake do NOT mean ya should accept anythin' blindly. Trust yer kin and keth, but don't presume everythin' ya know is true."
Blanky meanwhile, totally forgotten by nearly all, just kept kneeling before Applejack.
"And Ah think Ah'll be takin' yer pet for his own good... if ya'll let me Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie startled. "Do... do you have to?"
"Ah don't HAVE to. But remember what Ah said about spices? With Button Mash now a part of the team, yer becomin' a bigger group. It might be better for all involved if he stay with me unless ya need'em. Trust me, he'll pop up if ya do. Pinkie Pie, Ah mean Thalia says it's gotta do with 'character overload' or some junk."
Sweetie hugged Blanky. Who reluctantly moved next to Applejack.
"And little sister..." Applejack said. "Don't be scared to let a story end. If a story goes on forever, it suffers a fate WORSE than death."
Apple Bloom nodded, and the two nuzzled. Princess Vertias teleported away with Blanky.
Apple Bloom put her new enchanted goggles to good use, and led her friends straight through the fog and right to Zecora door step and gave it a quick knock.
Zecora opened the door, "I surmise! I am quite surprised! How did you get through? Not that I am saying that I knew!"
Apple Bloom looked at Zecora through her google and gave a slight hurt frown. "Zecora, did ya just lie to me?"
"And the clock whirled, this makes things awkward," said Bareedina inside.
Kendell2
Zecora blinked, then seemed to note something. "I apologize for the falsehood my young friend, but there are truths your way I cannot yet send."
Applebloom noted she was telling the truth and nodded. "Ah...guess that makes sense."
Zecora let them into her home and they looked around. "Greetings young ones to our home, far tonight I'm sure you've roamed."
Bareedina looked to them. "Hello, Applebloom, happy for your brother I be, how are he and Cheerilee?"
Applebloom blinked. "Oh, just fine, thanks for asking. It's kinda weird that my teacher's kinda gonna be mah sister..."
The younger Zebra nodded. "I'm glad to hear the love birds are doing well, I hope no hard feelings for my advances in Cheerilee still dwell. I truthfully have no eyes for your brother, but it got them to admit their feelings like no other."
Applebloom remembered. Bareedina had gotten Mac's other suiters to finally realize they loved Big Mac by flirting with him...though she kind of flirted a lot.
Zecora gave a goodnatured eye roll. "Sister, it is as much a fact as we live in a tree, a flirt most certainly you be."
Bareedina gave a trickster like chuckle. "That may be true, but I have no malicious intent to do."
Sweetie Belle looked to Applebloom. "Hey, did you notice that Bareedina's necklace kinda looks like that mean Ispita's?" she whispered.
Applebloom looked at Bareedina with her goggles...and only saw a Zebra and nothing more. "Well she's just a Zebra..." Though she had to admit the two necklaces looked similar, but then again Ispita had outright said she was from another universe, so how could they really be related?
"Speaking of lovers admitting their feelings for one another, I see that there are more recent cases than your brother," said Bareedina with a bit of a teasing tone, looking to Sweetie Belle and Button Mash. "Congratulations little ponies, I can tell your love is not to be phony."
Sweetie and Button Mash blushed. "How'd ya know?" Button Mash asked.
Bareedina merely pointed to Button's game window which had a heart over Sweetie Belle's picture in the party.
"Oh..."
"My sister speaks true, we are both happy for you," Zecora said, giving a smile, then walked over to her cauldron. "But be that as it may, much information we have to bring your way."
Bareedina nodded. "Indeed, my sister speaks straight. For you three have done quite a bit for Fate."
The quartet blinked, looking to each other. "For fate?" Applebloom asked.
Zecora nodded. "You see, our world is presently in a strange state. Right now it has quite a flexible fate. Branching on it's own it is doing, which allows blessings and trouble to start brewing."
The CMC and Button climbed up, looking into the cauldron with Zecora.
"Stabilize it will do soon, but this is why Fate chose to agree with Luna's boon."
"Huh?" Applebloom asked. "Yah mean the one Luna talked this over with."
Zecora started brewing, but nodded. "Yes. One mystery I will now solve: there was one good way for this to resolve. By drawing much of these oddities to a point, Fate can prevent things from growing out of joint."
The girls and one boy merely cocked their heads.
"Basically, due to our world's current state of being, to Everfree Fate attracted many things. So you could say that Fate's gambit, was for tonight to make Everfree a weirdness magnet."
"Okay...but what about us?" Scootaloo asked.
Bareedina chuckled. "Well little ponies, it's like this you see: who cares if in the forest falls a tree, if no ponies ears hear it's sound? What good are mysteries if they are not found?"
Applebloom blinked in confusion, then clarity. "So all these crazy things are here in ever free cause of some weird fate thingie that made Everfree a weirdness magnet, but fate decided to let us see it instead of just letting no one ever see it?"
"The long and the short of it you've got, Fate realized the good you four being here could wrought," Bareedina replied. "For you four to be here does good several ways. The first is when this is done, the adventures with you will stay. But what's more is other worlds you have met, and on better paths your influence may them set."
Sweetie Belle blinked. "Wait, I just realized something about that. If Blanky was supposed to eat things that aren't supposed to be here, why didn't he eat those ponies from other worlds we met?"
Zecora stirred her cauldron and caused an image to appear of two rivers. "Time is like rivers flowing, each down their own path going. But there are times when something strange is caused, something which gives your wolf a pause. Rivers meet at one point, into a bigger one formed joint." The image showed the rivers converging into one then splitting back off. "Sometimes together they stay, others they apart soon stray. In events like these you've witnessed are when, two lines fate of fate naturally brought together have been."
"So it's like how in a lot of comic books two worlds have a crossover?" Scootaloo asked.
It was Zecora's turn to look confused.
Bareedina gave a trollish chuckle. "Exactly like that, my young friend. A natural occurrence when like that the convergence begins. These events can happen, because in the fates of both world can they be written. But those answers are merely the surface of what we have to show, sister, I believe into more pressing matters is time to go."
Mtangalion
"Indeed," mused Zecora. Leaving the cauldron, she took a bundle wrapped in black cloth from a drawer, and set it out on a table. "Little ponies, take heed. Some mysteries are mystical, wondrous and whimsical. Others are more dire, perhaps best left unsolved entire." She tugged at the knot with her teeth, slowly unwrapping another journal... with a hoofprint and the number two.
The Crusaders gasped. Scootaloo found her voice first. "That looks just like..."
Apple Bloom took the number three journal out of her satchel and put it next to the other one. "Exactly like..."
"Whoa, there's more of them?" exclaimed Button Mash. "I should scan those into my adventure journal!"
"But, who wrote these books?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Where did they come from?"
"In truth, we do not know," said Bareedina in a spooky voice. "The book appeared to us in a flash, many long years ago!"
Zecora rolled her eyes. "Sister dear, these aren't foals to give a fright. You need not do our act from Nightmare Night."
Bareedina smirked. "Bah, I say. It's more fun that way." She grasped the second book and leafed through it, opening it to a page with a drawing of Poison Joke, with detailed instructions for brewing a cure. "When we first came to this distant land, there was much my sister and I did not yet understand. There's a great deal we've learned... but also, cause for concern."
Zecora turned the book all the way to the final pages. There was the dreamfog brew... with a warning in red ink along the bottom margin: "Hide them away! My journals now contain the most dangerous knowledge in all of Equestria!" The facing page had a sketch of the canyon near the Castle of the Two Sisters, with part of it circled and another warning: "Only the Eyes of Truth can pierce the darkness at the heart of Everfree!"
Scootaloo tried to blow it off. "Eh, it's probably just another prophecy of doom that already happened years ago."
Apple Bloom frowned. "Ah'm not so sure." She flipped to the end of her book and froze. "Sweet Celestia..." The last page had three lines of funny squiggles that *almost* meant something to her... they tugged at her memories of being Nightmare Instrumentum and knowing dang near everything... and then the mysterious author had sketched a triangle with an eye in the center and written "It can't be unseen!!!" over and over and over...
Alex Warlorn
Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that thing. We kinda ran into this buncha cultists on the way here, they tried to summon everything, including Pinkie Pie's sister for some reason, and that tried to summon that thing. They got a message saying that an old monkey had already destroyed it. So crisis adverted." She looked up at Zecora. "You got any cookies?"