//------------------------------//
// Hold on. 
// Story: Pony-Me™: Rogue 
// by TheMajorTechie 
//------------------------------//

The room was silent, save for the quiet whirr of the computer's cooling. 

"Pinkie." Samantha muttered to herself, "Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie... should I even risk it?"

No response.

The girl sighed, standing from her chair and striding towards the lone carrying case. "One last time, Pinkie," she whispered, grasping the smooth edges of the case, "one last time." She turned her head, staring at the glowing screen Lisa had been sitting at minutes prior.





Lisa sat alone on the floor, fully immersed in the new reality that now surrounded her. Her room, her things, everything was there... even Samantha and Timothy. Argall, too.

Even mom and dad. Lisa smiled, in the middle of it all. The room was filled with chatter of all kinds. Timothy blabbered away about his favorite mythical creatures, Samantha continued to shy away from the conversation, and Argall simply sat and talked with her parents. It felt real-- it was real... to a point.

My own reality. Lisa smiled to herself. This is what I wanted.

She blinked, the imagery vanishing from her view. Once again, Lisa was met with the unforgiving white void of nothingness.

Lisa groaned, pounding her fists onto the untextured floor beneath her. She jumped as Samantha's voice boomed from all around.

"Hold on, Lisa... is the mic working? Do you hear me?"

The girl spun around, searching for the source of the voice.

"Alright, just wait a sec. I think I might have an idea to get you back. Can you speak?"

Lisa opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"N...nevermind." Samantha continued, "Don't push yourself too much for now, okay?"

Lisa nodded.

"Now, you may or may not be seeing Pinkie Pie soon. Give me a signal when you do."

A light plink echoed through the void as the already-endless horizon seemingly grew even lengthier.

"'Kay. Pinkie's connected and loaded into the same empty simulation as the one you're in right now. Can you see her anywhere?"

Lisa shook her head, her virtual representation mimicking her movements across Samantha's screen.

"Just give it a moment. She should be there any moment now."

"Hiya!" Pinkie squealed, materializing in front of Lisa.

Lisa flinched as a mass of curly pink suddenly flooded her vision. 

"Good," Samantha's voice continued, "she's in. She'll fill you in on what's gonna happen. I have to go tell Argall about Li... er, Twilight."

The faint clack of a door slamming came across the girl's ears as she stepped away from Pinkie. 

"So..." The mare began, her poppy demeanor rapidly fading, "Here's the deal. I made an agreement with Samantha a couple days ago."

Lisa nodded, focusing her attention on Pinkie.

"I can return to Equestria, while in return allowing your friend to... fix me in any way she wants."

Another nod.

"Right now, I'll be your tool to get back in your body."

The girl winced at the word tool. Frowning, she gestured to continue.

"When Samantha returns, you'll come with me onto my transmitter, hidden in the free space. At least, that's the plan. Got it?"

No response.

"Why can't you talk?" Pinkie asked, staring into Lisa's eyes.

Lisa shrugged.

Pinkie shook her head with a sigh.

"Anyways," she continued under her breath, "I... we will be put back into the simulation as a single entity. Samantha will tell Argall to try and convince Twilight to reconnect as well, and from there, we can..." she trailed off, her mane deflating even further. "We can end Twilight."





"Excuse me, are you patronizing me? Do you dare to patronize me?!"

"Listen, ma'am, I'm sorry for any misunderstanding, but--"

"Away with you!"

Twilight, in Lisa's body, stormed off, fuming about the brief exchange she just had with a local police officer concerning her supposed jaywalking.

A car pulled up beside her, rolling down its window to reveal Samantha.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, peering out the window, "Lis... Twilight, I've been looking all over for you!"

"What do you want?" Twilight scoffed, turning away. "I'm guessing you're here to drag me back to where I came from, aren't you?"

Samantha hesitated for a second, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

"...Yes," she admitted, cutting the engine. "yes, I'm here to do exactly that, Twilight, and I'd very much prefer if you cooperated."

"As if," Twilight snorted, walking away. "I am not going back just to keep living a lie!"

"You don't have to go back."

Twilight paused mid-step, turning her head with a glare.

"You don't have to go back," Samantha repeated as she opened the door, "as long as you promise you won't harm Lisa again, you can keep living out here, in real life."

"You lie." Twilight spat, turning back as she continued walking.

Samantha sprinted after the girl, snatching her hand.

"I don't," Samantha asserted, squeezing Twilight's hand, "and that's... that's a Pinkie Promise."

She felt Twilight's hand twitch in her grip. 

"Yeah, remember Pinkie? She's still there, waiting for you. Same goes for all of your friends, and everyone who's ever cared about you."

Twilight turned to Samantha, her scowl softening.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"You'd better not be lying. You know well what the punishment for breaking a Pinkie Promise is..."

"I--"

"Then I will go with you," Twilight affirmed, "to make sure that you aren't lying to me."





"So then," Twilight sighed, propping her feet up on the frontseats' armrests, "What do you do nowadays, with Pinkie out of the question and all?"

Samantha snorted.

"Mostly nothing, really," she began, "charitable donations, some light gaming, a few small projects here and there, stuff like that."

"Useless." Twilight grumbled under her breath.

"Excuse me, but what did you just say?"

"Nothing."

The car remained silent for the rest of the trip.





"We're here."

The car rolled to a halt in an open parking space. Without another word, Samantha opened the door, stepping out of the car as Twilight struggled with the seatbelt.

"Push the button to release it." Samantha deadpanned, staring at the girl.

A click sounded from the buckle as Twilight released it with a growl. 

"This had better be good."

"It... don't worry, it will be."

Twilight stared at the cars they walked past, never taking her eyes off their metallic bodies.

"You have strange carriages out here," she commented, gesturing to the cars beside them, "they do not appear to be powered by magic, nor do I see a means to propel them."

"It's called electricity, Twilight," Samantha groaned, "I thought Equestria had that already."

"Psh. Equestria is primitive. The electrical systems we use are nowhere close to the mobility given by these carriages." 

"So?"

"All the more reason why I wish to remain here."

Samantha sighed, shaking her head as they approached the sliding glass doors of the entrance.

"Hi Samantha!" a peppy voice greeted as the duo entered, "Oh, you brought a friend with you?"

"Er... yeah."

Twilight glared at the young girl behind the desk, earning a nervous chuckle and a wave from the latter.

"Twilight," Samantha whispered fiercely, "at least try to be nice to people around you. What happened to the whole Friendship Is Magic thing that went on in Equestria?"

Twilight snorted. "I'm not in Equestria anymore, am I? No. I am not, so I follow my own rules."

Samantha rolled her eyes, turning back to mouth "Sorry." to the girl at the desk.

"Who was that, anyways?"

"New intern. That's all I'm gonna tell you."

"She's just a kid."

"I know."

The two stopped at a set of metal doors.

"Behold," Samantha deadpanned, dramatically gesturing the aforementioned set of metal doors, "the elevators."

Twilight groaned, facepalming.

"Geez, I'm just trying to cheer you up a bit, alright? No need to be so glum."

"Just hurry up and prove to me that my friends are waiting."





"Any word from Samantha?"

Pinkie shook her head. "We'd both hear from her if she said anything... also, you can talk now?"

Lisa sighed, nodding her head. "I'm not really sure when I regained my voice, but I have it now."

She paused for a moment, staring into the endless distance.

"Wait a sec..." Lisa mumbled, closing her eyes. The white landscape around the two once again shifted. Gone was the uniform mass of white all around, replaced instead by a bustling suburban city.

"Oh?" Pinkie wondered aloud, "You can do that too?"

"Huh?"

The vivid construct of Lisa's imagination vanished, replaced once more by the endless white void.

"Warp reality. Or at least, the virtual reality we're in."

Lisa shrugged. "I always thought that me doing this was only visible to myself, kinda like a daydream."

Pinkie, in turn, shook her head. "That's not how it works. Though... I really don't even know how it works myself, either." 

She paused for a moment, thinking.

"Ooh, wait a sec, here's an example."

Lisa watched as the mare dug into her mane, pulling out her signature party cannon.

"It's not actually there, so to say," Pinkie continued, setting the cannon on the blank floor, "but making it look like it's coming out of something probably won't make everypony else freak out."

"So... you're basically just triggering item generation with your thoughts."

Pinkie nodded. "Though, it took a bit of... well, permission breaking for me to be able to do this. Not sure about you though, since you aren't like me."

Lisa frowned. "I'm not like you? What do yo--"

"I mean that you're biological at your roots. I'm not. Our minds work in different ways, and you probably don't have any restrictions at all placed on you."

Lisa dismissed the notion with a shrug. "I guess that's one way to put it," she began, "but what about the plan to put me back in my own body? I thought we were gonna be loaded back onto a chip or something."

"I have no idea anymore."





Bong.

The elevator doors squeaked open, allowing its passengers to step out.

"Just follow me," Samantha commanded, taking Twilight by the wrist. "And stop scowling, for heaven's sake!"

Twilight huffed, resigning herself to be lead by Samantha through the colorful, bustling office workspace. She glared at the countless employees sitting at their desks, eliciting a few confused glances in response. Finally, they stopped at a door.

Samantha hesitated for a moment, rummaging in her handbag for her keycard.

"Hurry up."

The girl's fingers grasped the edge of her keycard. Slowly, Samantha pulled the plastic card out of her bag, her eyes wavering as she stared first at the card, then to Twilight.

"Here." Twilight growled, snatching the card from Samantha and tapping it on the door. Nothing happened. Twilight tapped the card on the door again, her frustration growing apparent as she threw the card at the door, gaining only a light thwap as the card bounced onto the floor.

Sighing, Samantha bent down, picking up her keycard and tapping it on the scanner beside the door. A soft whirr rang out as the lock disengaged.

"Took it long enough," Twilight rolled her eyes, "you should get your door fixed."

Samantha paused, her hand on the door as she stared at the eyes of her friend. With a shake of her head, Samantha slid the door open.

"Back already, Samantha?" a voice began behind the two girls, "Girl, you just don't seem to get enough of this place."