//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Digressing 
// Story: CPU of Equis Re;Birth 
// by Maziodyne 
//------------------------------//



Many dubious, but admittedly harmless, tests later...

 

"Alright," Twilight said. "It'll take me a while to sort through all this data and come to any conclusions, so why don't you go into Ponyville proper and find something to do in the meantime?" 

"Sounds good to me," Rainbow Dash said. 

As the group stepped outside, they found that the sun was low in the sky. Since it was Winter, that meant it was probably around late afternoon. 

"I didn't realize it was so late," IF said. Suddenly, there was a growling sound. 

"Looks like my tummy has a case of the quakes," Neptune said. 

"I'm hungry too..." Rom said. 

"How about we grab something to eat then?" Rainbow Dash said. "Anybody have anything particular in mind?" 

How about sukiyaki? Maiko offered. 

"Hmmm, yeah," IF said. "Sukiyaki is a great idea." 

"What's..." Rainbow Dash paused, attempting to say the foreign word. "Soo-kee-yah-kee?" 

IF frowned. "Sukiyaki is a very popular Hot Pot dish," she explained, her tone suggesting that it should have been obvious. 

"Hot Pot... Is that anything like Potluck?" Rainbow Dash asked. 

Kind of, maybe? Maiko answered. Except it's traditionally done in the Winter instead of the warm seasons like Potluck.

"So, what do we need for this 'sookeeyackee'?" Rainbow Dash asked next, continuing to butcher the word. 

We'll need raw beef, thinly sliced, Maiko started, listing off the common ingredients. Raw vegetables, soy sauce, sugar and mirin. We'll also need a shallow, iron cooking pot.

"We should use shin mirin for Rom's sake," IF added. 

"What's... That?" Rainbow Dash inquired, deciding not to even try to say the word this time. 

What? Mirin? Maiko asked. 

"Yeah. I've never heard of it, so there probably isn't any in Ponyville," she said. 

"No need to worry!" Neptune said. "I've gotcha covered!" As she said this, she pulled out a bottle that said '味醂風調味料' on the label. 

"I should have the other ingredients at my home," Fluttershy said. "Why don't we eat there?" 

"I like that idea..." Rom said. IF shrugged. 

"Alright, I guess that's fine," she said. 



Inside Fluttershy's cottage...

 

After they had arrived, Fluttershy had gone and brought the necessary ingredients, as well as a suitable iron pot. IF prepared the stock in the pot right at the table, Maiko helping by offering pointers as she cooked. While those two prepared the stock, Neptune set the table, for some reason having enough dishes and chopsticks for all five of them. By the time the stock was ready, there were five places set, and a small selection of raw vegetables as well as a plate of raw beef slices around the pot that was at the center of the table. As everyone sat down, Rainbow Dash spoke up. 

"So, how do we eat it?" she asked. 

"Actually, we now have to put the ingredients into the stock and let it simmer, right here at the table," IF answered. She then took her chopsticks and placed a few slices of meat and several vegetables into the pot. 

The five sat, waiting for the soup to simmer, Rainbow Dash fidgeting a little. After nearly half an hour, IF finally spoke up. 

"Alright, it should be ready to eat now," she said. 

The five began to eat, though Rainbow Dash had trouble with the chopsticks for a while at first. "This is actually really good," Rainbow Dash said once she finally managed to eat some. "I wouldn't mind having this again sometime." 



After finishing the tasty sukiyaki and cleaning up...

 

"What should we do now?" IF asked. 

"Why don't we go for a nice walk?" Fluttershy offered. 

"Yeah, we could show you around," Rainbow Dash added. 

"Sounds good to me," IF answered. 

"Oh boy, a free guided tour?" Neptune said, excited. 

"It sounds like fun..." Rom added. 

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy led the three into town and showed them around. Eventually, as they approached a street corner, someone came bolting around it and rushed past them, bumping into Neptune on the way by. 

"'Ey!" Neptune shouted. "I'm walkin' 'ere!" 

"Wait, wasn't that Under-?" IF started to ask. 

"Thief! Get back- OOF!" IF was cut off by a girl's shout as someone else ran around the corner... straight into Rom. Both Rom and the other person landed on their butts in the snow. 

The person was a young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair and yellow eyes. She was wearing a white button-up shirt and a long, blue skirt with straps that went over her shoulders. She had a blue ribbon in her hair, and she had white footwear that resembled socks. 



 

"Ow..." she said, rubbing her head. She looked at Rom, who was also rubbing her head. "Are you ok-" she began to say, before remembering what she was doing. "Wait, I don't have time! I need to get my Grimoire back from that thief!" she said before running off, shouting "get back here!". 

"Quick, follow her!" IF said, running after the girl as the others followed. 

"Why, what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Do you know her?" 

"No," IF responded. "But the thief she's chasing? I'm pretty sure it's Underling, and Underling is never up to any good." 

The group followed the girl, who eventually ducked into an alley after the thief. When they caught up with the girl, she had the thief - who did turn out to be Underling - cornered at a dead-end. 

"There's nowhere left to run," the girl said. "Now give me back my Grimoire!" 

"Like hell!" Underling shouted, gripping the book in question. 

"Why did you even steal that book in the first place Underling?" IF asked, jumping into the conversation, startling both Underling and the girl. 

"It says 'Grimoire' on the cover, doesn't it?" Underling answered, regaining her composure. "Grimoires are supposed to be full of magic, right? Of course I'd steal it!" 

"Well, it's mine, not yours!" the girl shot back, turning back to Underling. 

Underling laughed. "Like I care," she said. "If I want something that somebody else has, I'm going to steal it!" 

"Talking never works with the mooks," Neptune suddenly butted in. "Your supposed to just give 'em a good smack and be done with it!" Neptune then materialized a sword into her hand. She then pointed it at Underling and shouted "I'm gonna beat'cha up!" before rushing forward, slashing Underling, then knocking her up into the air and slashing through her one more time in midair. 

"For ffff..." Underling said as she passed out, dropping to the ground. The girl then went and picked up her book, which had dropped to the ground as well. The cover said Grimoire of Alice. The girl then turned to the group. 

"Thanks for helping me get my Grimoire back," the girl said. "My name is Alice." 

"My name is IF," IF said. "This is Rom, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and-" she continued, gesturing to each one in turn. 

"And I'm Neptune, the greatest of all protagonists!" Neptune interrupted. 

"Uh, sure," Alice said, giving Neptune a funny look. 

And my name is Maiko Hayakawa, Maiko finished. I've somehow been put into Rom's head.

Alice looked like she was going to say something, but IF interrupted her. "We have someone looking into the details," she said. "So don't worry about it for now." 

"Okay..." Alice answered slowly. "Anyway, this place doesn't look like it's Makai," she added, looking around. 

"It's Ponyville, in Equestria," Rainbow Dash said. 

"I've never heard of it," Alice said. 

"Hmmm..." IF said. "I've never heard of Makai, but your situation sounds similar to ours. How about you come with us for now? We could go see Princess Twilight and see if she knows where this Makai is and how to get you back there." 

"I guess I don't have anything better to do," Alice answered. 



Alice has joined!

 

"I guess it's back to Twi's then," Rainbow Dash said as the six made their way out of the alley. 


End of Chapter 4