Twilight started counting up the votes. "Okay so... We have... A heavy disagreement on 'Timelight Glimmer' and a suggestion for another time player called Aradia... And apparently Blackjack has spoken about there being chaos for the Influence - can you get him to speak other things?" Twilight put a hoof to her head. "Basically Starlight's power destabilizes reality, and I've been warned against not choosing her. A being called Aradia has been offered, but I don't know much about her and neither do they. Makes me think we aren't supposed to choose her now... But I think it's highly likely we will later. But one of them - Gigniss - reminded me that we've got to prioritize. I want to help these ponies and people more than return home - we can return home later."
Fluttershy nodded. "I understand. What were the votes?"
"Well, not talking about Aradia or Timelight Glimmer - sorry Creek. Even if me and Ruby changed my votes, it'd only get us up to three there. I can't just 'move' the person who voted for Timelight Glimmer. If it makes you feel better, Aradia is high on the list, assuming nothing goes wrong later."
"WHAT WERE THE VOTES FOR EVERMORE PINKIE?" Four asked.
"There was one other, by some version of Discord who was King. And there were a few other voices suggesting other options I'm pretty sure were just Afizah. Akumakami didn't vote... Though maybe he voted through King Discord? Not sure. Regardless, Leftmoss, Ponygood, and Zen all want the Mite, while Josh and Nickel want G. M. Blackjack / Vriska. When combined with our votes - Fluttershy for Mite, Infinity and Ine for Blackjack, we have a 4-4 tie. Which means it falls to me to decide between the two."
Four spoke up. "I AM AGAINST MITE SO I CHANGE MY VOTE TO G. M. BLACKJACK."
Twilight nodded. "I understand, but I think I need to make the decision... I need to think about what'd be best for the group..." She frowned. "Is anyone actually strongly opposed to G. M. Blackjack?"
Everyone shook their heads. Twilight nodded. "And Four doesn't want the Mite to exist... Right... No, the decision should be mine. Not yours, and because the votes were tied, not the Influence either..." She looked at the altar, frowning. "I... I think I'm going to think on it while I reply to other things the Influence said."
"Again, Creek, I'm sorry - I kinda wanted to choose what you wanted. I like you and... WelI I hope you get the respect you deserve. You have a son? What's he like - what's his name? And please, don't think your vote was the wrong one, I'm almost certain we'll choose Aradia later, because I think we need someone with time abilities. Also, thanks for telling me about those worlds. That was... interesting. And as for all of you who kept thinking I'd want to choose another version of me... I really don't want things to get complicated. Also what is it with you people and Twiny? Really."
"...Twiny?" Infinity asked.
"A tiny me."
"...I suddenly think we need that."
Twilight rolled her eyes, completely ignoring the thought.
"Regardless, King Discord, nice to meet you. No, I'm not bothered by your demeanor or anything you've revealed about your world. Not the most surprising thing that's happened to me lately. I look forward to getting to hear more from you. As does Fluttershy, even if you aren't close to her in your world."
Fluttershy drooped. "Oh..."
"Also, King Discord - maybe consider looking into being friends with those ponies you pardoned. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it? Akumakami, I told Ruby about Celestia when I told everyone my story on the trip across the desert. Also, four and eight. And Nickel - you mentioned 'breath' as part of an alignment... I'm curious, what are the alignments?"
"And as for those last questions... I didn't hate making friends, I just thought it was a pointless endeavor. I had 'friends' back in those days, Minuette, Lemon Drops, but I just didn't care about them because I thought doing that was a waste of time. We talked but I never thought taking it seriously would serve a point, I just didn't devote time to the relationships. And... Fluttershy?"
"Hm?"
"How long were you on the ground after you fell from Cloudsdale that day?"
"Oh, a few hours. Not long at all, really. I was taken back up by my parents after they found me."
"Ah. Right." Twilight gulped. "Well... That's all the delaying I can do..."
Ine moved forward. "Have you made a decision?"
"Yes. I have." I may claim it's because of it being better for the group, but really it's my own curiosity... She stepped into the altar, closing her eyes.
It asked her who she wanted to speak to.
"The Avatar of G. M. Blackjack!"
The magic energy vanished for a split second- ∫œå¢∑¨ª®˜åå¨∫ªµ®´å∑åçáw
[CONNECTION LOST]
~~~
Oh.
Well look what you did.
You forced it to establish a connection.
I guess not all of you did this - but even if the Mite had won the same thing would have happened. So yeah, your fault. All this talk of other worlds...
Oh, yeah, don't think I'm a part of this story. I'm the author. I do prefer to be called GM rather than Blackjack, for your information. Do with this tidbit what you will.
Anyway... The Eye is going to do something weird momentarily. We're cutting through space here.
Oh, also, if it wasn't clear, you're not cheating the system. My self-insert is already present in that world, no need for two.
Now the fun part you wonder - did I bend Twilight's choice towards best troll based on my own desires? No, actually - I was prepared to choose whatever you all voted on. It just so happened that there was a tie, and I left it up to Twilight herself. She chose. You could say that choice was mine - but her psyche is different from mine and yours, no matter how much you Influence her.
But you do Influence her more than you realize.
Anyway, I suppose it's time for you to go back and leave this meta-thing behind. This wasn't even part of the plan, you know, but you're all taxing the wall pretty heftily. You brought this on.
I await the day when you royally screw something up.
~~~
[CONNECTION REESTABLISHED]
∂ßå∫®´∑ˆ˙˜å´...iska held the spherical dice in her hand. "Are you sure this is it?" She asked, looking at it closely with her vision eightfold. She was a being known as a troll - humanoid, grey skin, dual candy-corn like horns that resembled a scorpion tail and claw. She was currently dressed in simple black clothing with a blue Scorpio symbol on her shirt, and somewhat large glasses on her face. Her eyes had one and seven pupils, respectively, and they were doing as much as they could to scrutinize the die.
"It is the infinite sided die. It can, theoretically, produce any result. When you roll it, anything can happen."
Vriska grinned. "This... Oh this is going to be great. Let's see what it does..." She tossed the die into the air, watching the faces shift and slide, changing over and over with impressive variation. It landed, a single face appearing on top. A large eye inside a magic starburst.
"What the-" The die began to glow. "...Fuck, this is going to go-"
~~~
Twilight took a step back - she had just SEEN something from somewhere else. What was-
"-badly." Vriska said as she appeared in the Altar, die at her feet. She looked at Twilight.
Twilight looked back.
Vriska looked at Ine.
Ine looked down at her.
Vriska's expression remained as flat and bewildered as possible for a long time.
Infinity stared at the die on the floor in fascination - that was definitely her cutie mark. What did it mean...?
Vriska cleared her throat. "If this has anything to do with that orange-skinned fucktard I'm going to flip off the handle."
"I... Doubt it does," Twilight said. "We brought you here..."
"Not what we were hoping for," Ine added.
Vriska found this amusing. "Story of my life! Plus, probably also my fault for rolling that dice without all the luck." She shrugged, picking it up and looking at it. "Such a powerful object..."
"What is it?" Infinity asked.
"The personification of infinite possibility. Roll it and literally anything could happen, but at complete random. That is, it would be random in the hands of most..."
"That's right, you have luck powers," Twilight said.
Vriska blinked. "...Wait how'd you know that?"
"Well..." Twilight tapped the Eye. "I'm in... contact? With a lot of beings from above and beyond. Some create universes, others are from other universes. We were trying to get the avatar of the creator of this universe here but... Well, we got you instead. Which, well, isn't bad. We knew that might happen."
Vriska raised an eyebrow. "You do realize this doesn't make you sound particularly nice, right little pony? You've basically kidnapped me! How dare you."
Twilight was so used to the crap given to her by the Influence she didn't care. "I dare because I was curious and didn't want to upset Four with the inclusion of a miniature robot bug with fluffy ears."
Ruby blinked. "Oracle, that is... rather sarcastic of you."
"Stop calling me the Oracle."
Vriska smirked. "You are now, and forevermore, the Oracle."
Twilight twitched. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."
"Scratch that, Sporacle. Much better name."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well then... You are exactly what they said you would be."
Vriska took eight eight-sided dice out of her pockets and twiddled with them in her fingers. "I don't know what you were expecting, some old wise sage?"
Ine started ignoring Vriska. "This was a waste of time." She said to Twilight.
"Hey! Sparky! Do I need to introduce you to the power of combat dice?"
Ine ignored her. "You should head to the next Altar, the one in the mountains, where Alderan is originally from."
"Hey! Purple-dude! I'm right here! Hellooo!"
"You can take your party and journey there. I can provide a much more manageable Ancient ship."
"Oh for the..." Vriska put a hand to her head and squinted her seven-pupil eye, absorbing some sort of light from Ine. She then rolled her eight sided dice - and a small laser pulse shot out and hit Ine.
Ine found no need to respond to this. "I believe-"
"DAMN LISTEN TO ME YOU LITERAL FART!" She put her hand to her head and forced her mind to connect to Ine. All this did was give Vriska a headache. "Ow..."
"Twilight, your new party member is becoming annoying. I suggest remedying it."
"Uh..." Twilight blinked. "I wasn't getting the impression she wanted to be part of the party."
Vriska managed to raise a hand through the pounding pain in her head. "I'm up for random adventure and crap. Just... Give me a sec. Gah..."
Twilight shrugged. "Uh... Well okay. I'm Twilight as you know, the 'literal fart' is Ine, the one staring at your die is Infinity, the dragon acolyte is Ruby, and that's Fluttershy over there."
"...What about the giant hulking mech behind you?"
"His name is Four." Twilight frowned. "You look more... human than I was expecting."
Vriska grumbled. "Funny."
"Uh... Well it's just when I thought 'alien' I imagined something more... alien."
Vriska rolled her eyes. "It was probably more amusing anyway. So, who wants to get me up to speed on this advneture!?"
"I gladly will," Twilight said, smiling. "You see-"
And then Alderan showed up in the room. "Ine! You are in danger!"
Ine paused. "...Alderan, we aren't on speaking terms."
"That doesn't matter! Something is after us! Proteus and Castorson have already been torn from their Altars by something! Surely you noticed that Proteus wasn't present when Twilight found his altar!"
"I did and was not worried. After all, you found a way to leave your Altar."
"Yeah, well, they've been taken. And I've traced the forces to here. It's after you next!"
Vriska grinned. "God-taking force? Sign me up! Where's the offending beast!?"
"Somewhere in the city-" Alederan blinked. "Hold on, who are you?"
"Marquese Spinarette Mindfang."
"Vriska. Ignore her," Ine said, "she's of no consequence."
"If you had a neck it would be gutted right now."
Alderan sighed. "Look, Ine, you're in danger."
"And now I'm aware something might be coming and I will take precautionary measures. I have already activated Estur's sentinels. I am in the most heavily defendable place in the entirety of the System. Nothing will get in without my say so."
Vriska and Infinity facepalmed.
Just like that, the far wall exploded. A graceful, pink unicorn as tall as Cadence stood before them, wearing nothing but a hat with three long, flowing fabric trails. Her eyes were closed...
...But a third eye made entirely of magic that matched the design on Twilight's chest floated an inch from her forehead, glowing with a bright pink energy. Everyone in the room suddenly felt like they had been watched all their lives. Two glowing balls of energy orbited her, one green, one black.
"Proteus... Castorson..." Alderan said, backing away. He then fled, vanishing.
Ine didn't waste any time - the security measures activated. Seven giant guns popped out of nearby walls and shot purple bursts of energy at her. She moved to dodge each and everyone with ease, moving through them like cut butter. She beelined for the altar.
"THREAT DETECTED!" Four announced, charging the unicorn. She levitated herself over his punch and landed square on his head, pushing him to the ground, hard, black energy shooting from the black orb, tearing a hole in one of his arms.
Vriska shrugged, turning to Twilight. "Bad guy?"
"BAD GUY!" Twilight yelled, firing off a magic bolt that hit the offending unicorn in the side. She opened her two real eyes for one moment, shock evident on them. She and Twilight made eye contact, and everything seemed to stop.
Then Vriska brought a sword down on the unicorn, and she closed her eyes again, leaping to the top of the sword and socking Vriska in the face. Vriska fell back. "Bitch!" She sucked the luck from the unicorn and rolled her dice. A dark ferret-dragon-spirit flew up from her set and attacked the unicorn - but the unicorn moved through IT like butter as well, despite the constant bombardment from the wall weapons as well.
"The... The what?!"
"She can see what you do before you do it!" Infinity yelled.
Ruby's eyes widened. "...The Oracle..."
Twilight turned to Ruby. "Ruby... Don't..."
Ruby abandoned Twilight and flew to the unicorn, landing by her side. The unicorn accepted her without a second thought, and they charged Vriska.
Vriska readied her sword and shifted her clothes - she wore brilliant yellow-orange robes with a sun imprinted on them, and a pair of wings flowing off her back. She absorbed the luck of Ruby - the dragon suddenly tripping over her own two feet. She then drove the sword down towards Ruby, only for the unicorn to kick Vriska in the side at just the right moment to save Ruby. "Aw dammit!" Vriska yelled as she hit the wall.
Infinity ran over to Vriska to help her - but she saw the infinite sided die laying on the ground. She couldn't resist - she grabbed it.
Meanwhile Twilight rushed the unicorn herself, firing magic blast after magic blast - that hit and hit again. The unicorn opened her eyes in disbelief again. This close, Twilight could see how young the red eyes were - but also how determined. She summoned a beam of her own magic to hit Twilight, coupled with a slight bit of black energy from the black sphere. Twilight found her wings frozen, forcing her to fall to the ground, allowing the unicorn to jump over her.
Four stood back up, raising his gun-fist. "TARGETING..."
Twilight stood up as well, ready to fire her own magic alongside Four's attack.
Ine's gun's focused as well.
Infinity threw the infinite side die at the unicorn...
...and she caught it.
She threw it down to the ground - it summoned a gigantic blob of jelly that encased Four, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Vriska.
Infinity ran towards the unicorn, preparing a magic spell, but she was stopped by Ruby, tripped to the ground. Ruby turned to the frozen form of Twilight. Then she turned to the unicorn and her third eye. "She sees the future," Ruby said. "Like an Oracle is supposed to."
The unicorn stepped into the altar, and opened all her eyes. She took in a deep breath. "I, Orchid, wish to meet with the spirit of this Altar!"
Ine paused. "What will that accompli-" And then Ine was instantly condensed to the size of a small orb, joining the green and black ones already orbiting Orchid. Her eyes flashed purple for a moment.
She took one confused look at Twilight - and then grabbed Ruby and Infinity. Then she used energy from the purple orb that Ine was now - and teleported away.
Twilight, Fluttershy, Four, and Vriska were still stuck in the blob of jelly, unable to move. Frozen for a long time...
~~~
...The blob of jelly disintegrated on its own several hours later.
"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT BITCH!" Vriska screamed. "Do you have any idea how HARD it is to get an infinite sided die? How illegal they are? How powerful I would have been with one? GAH!"
Twilight stared at where Infinity had been just a minute ago. "I... She's been captured..."
Fluttershy walked up to her. "We'll get them back Twilight."
"You're damn right we will! Them AND the die!" She drove her sword into a nearby metal wall. "You. Tell me about this adventure. And do it quickly."
Twilight filled Vriska in on the basics as they rode the elevator back up. Four was badly damaged, but alive. Fluttershy was scared and silent most of the time. There wasn't much joy in the tale. Vriska spent half the time listening, and the other half looking at the city she was rising out of with a look of respect.
Tears came to Twilight's eyes near the end of it. "And... They're taken now. By this... Orchid. Why would she do that?"
"No idea," Vriska said. "Probably less idea than you. But I'm going to find out. With or without the help of those voices in your Eye. Amazing how fast I can suddenly become invested in something..."
"I-I-I OF COURSE." Four said, voice glitching, and legs barely working.
"Four..." Fluttershy said. "Can you be fixed?"
"STATION ON-N-N SHIP. CONNECTION TO M-MOTHERBOARD D-DOWN."
"That's not good..." Twilight said.
Fluttershy gasped as they arrived at the hangar. "The... The ship!"
It was trashed - parts of Pilot and Seventeen could be seen strewn everywhere. All the smaller ships in the hangar had been blown up as well, destroyed with a zeal.
Orchid evidentially hadn't wanted them to leave.
"Smart. Dammit. Smart enemies suck." Vriska frowned. "We're going to need to play her to win, eventually."
"She's heading to Alderan's Altar," Twilight said. "...In the mountains..."
"How are we going to get there?" Fluttershy asked while Four cannibalized parts from Seventeen and Pilot for himself. Twilight tried not to watch. "We have no ships, and flying across that intense distance will take a long time - not to mention the heat of the desert..."
Twilight sat down, putting her head in her hooves. "I... I don't know. I just don't know. So much has just happened..."
"Everything went to shit," Vriska said. "It happens. Not the worst version of this I've seen, admittedly. But then again, universes blew up when it when to shit for me."
Twilight nodded. "...I think you're needed here."
"Bitch just got lucky," Vriska muttered. "Even if she can see the future - she won't be able to dodge forever."
"I'm... Still not sure what this means. I thought I was the Oracle? But - Ruby seems to think she fits the bill better..."
"Who's to say the hero of legends and prophecy is a good person?" Vriska said. "I'm using myself as an example here, in case you can't figure that out."
Fluttershy shook her head. "We... We need to think of something to do..." She looked up at the clear, white moon out the busted landing bay doors. "...Should we have gotten time powers?"
Vriska shrugged. "Time powers always screw with things in weird ways... Getting them causes more problems..." She fidgeted with her dice, biting her lip.
Twilight stepped outside, standing at the edge of the bay doors. She looked at the sand far below, and the magical lands of distortion to her right. The moon and Stars shone down on her.
She knew her journey wasn't over, and that it had just begun. But she wasn't sure what exactly it meant now...
...She looked into the Eye. "Got anything to say?"
It started glowing. She smiled - for once, she felt happy to know the Influence was calling. She sat down, ready.
Just before she received the import, she swore she saw something in a red cloak with ram horns...
[END OF PART 1]