//------------------------------// // Virtual Laughter Part 1 // Story: Virtual Mischief, Augmented Darkness // by chaoticevl //------------------------------// Virtual Laughter Thomas blinks as his eyes get used to the odd lighting he finds himself in. “Hello?” He says out loud as he doesn't see the girls in front of him like he has every other time. “Tomi!” Shouts the unmistakable voice of Pinkie Pie from behind him. “You’re back with us again!” Thomas turns around just in time to witness a leaping Pinkie flying right at him. Smirking to himself, Thomas fully expects Pinkie to pass right through him. To his surprise and her joy she slams right into him bringing them both to the ground. “Oof. Pinkie as happy as I am to see you, would you please let me get back up?” Smiling down at Thomas she hugs him and nuzzles his cheek one last time before letting go. “Okie doki loki!” Now standing next to him she reaches down with both forelegs and picks Thomas up standing him back on his feet. “You’re surprisingly light for someone so big.” Pinkie grins as she falls back down on all fours. “And you’re refreshingly soft for somepony that's been on a three day road trip.” Thomas says as he pats the poofy mane of the giggling Pinkie at his side. “Why wouldn't she be?” Rarity pipes in. “You don't think we went the entire trip without stopping to freshen ourselves up did you?” Stepping a bit closer now he did see they all looked pretty refreshed. “Well trips to the ladies room crossed my mind but showers not so much.” Rarity just huffed in annoyance and turned her head. Floating next to her was Rainbow Dash who had a rather evil looking grin on her face. Quickly dashing towards Thomas she begins to poke him. “So I can touch you now?” “Seems that way. I was expecting to be solid at some point when i got here, but not right away.” Thomas explains looking slightly worried. “Good. Then I can give you what I owe you!” Rainbow Dash states as she pulls her left foreleg back and slams it into Thomas’s stomach. Doubling over and falling to his knees Thomas yells out. “Sonova!” As he sits there in pain he realizes he can still breath pretty easily. His eyes were blurring with tears from the pain but he kept himself from bawling like a baby. “You okay there pardner?” Asks Applejack as she pushes through a now arguing Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. “Calm down both of you.” Rainbow Dash floats back to where she came from and sits down with her fore legs crossed glaring daggers in Thomas’s direction. Pinkie scoots closer to Thomas and sits down looking worried. “I’m fine. The pain is letting up and should be gone shortly. Are you next to get your licks in? I'm sure i deserve it.” Thomas look into Applejack's eyes as he tries not to flinch at the hit he expect to come his way. “No I ain't. Ah think Rainbow managed to say exactly what I was thinking. Plus I don't think we can spare the search effort of having to find your body when it falls over the cliff if I bucked you.” “Oh well thanks for not bucking me off the cliff. Though I guess the offer still stands with the rest of you if you want to hit me go ahead.” The rest of the girls just shake their heads as he looks at each one. The odd one out though is Fluttershy, she just meeps and ducks her head. “Are you okay Thomas?” Pinkie asks as she helps him to his feet for the second time today. “I'll be fine. I don't think Rainbow Dash caused me any physical harm.” Thomas says as he touches his stomach feeling no lingering pain. “Physical harm? I'll give you physical harm!” Rainbow shouts as she jumps into the air. Immediately Twilight and Rarity’s horns light up and drag Rainbow back down to the ground. “Whoa there Rainbow Dash.” Thomas stammers out while Pinkie giggles next to him. “You hurt me. I've never felt that much pain in my life, but with the way you hit me I should have been gasping for air and vomiting. Neither happen, so im guessing I can only get the pain.” “Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I blasted you with magic again?” Twilight asks as she taps her hoof to her chin. A small voice shouts from Thomas’s pocket “He'd just disperse!” Reaching into his pocket Thomas pulls out his pocket pc. “Screwball get your tiny flank out here and explain why I'm tangible from the get go!” Coalescing from his pocket pc Screwball takes one look at Thomas’s face and jets off under Applejack’s hat. “It's because you expect to be!” She shouts from underneath the stetson. Applejack reaches under her hat and pulls out a squirming Screwball. “What do ya mean because he expects to be?” Calming down and noticing that Thomas didn't look mad she begins to float back towards him. “When Thomas isn't here he’s as solid as the rocks your standing on, but until now he didn't have the option to be solid here. Now he does. Since being intangible isn't normal for him he didn't think to be anything but normal.” “So I just have to think intangible and I'll be intangible?” Thomas asks as he stares at his hand. A moment later his entire body takes on a slight transparent look. Smiling he quickly pokes his hand through Pinkie’s mane. “Ahhh now I can't hug you any more Tomi.” Pinkie whined. “Don’t worry Pinkie I can change at will it seems. Though now i wonder?” Thomas looks at his hand again and concentrates on just his hand. It slowly solidifies while the rest stays transparent. “Yes it worked!” Reaching over Thomas boops Pinkie on the nose causing her to giggle. “Ah hate to interrupt your play time but shouldn't we be moseying into town now so we can find the next element?” Applejack says as she smirks at Pinkie and Thomas’s antics. “I agree darlings. As interesting as Thomas’s new abilities are we do have a world to put right.” Says Rarity with a flip of her mane. The rest nod their heads in agreement and get up to follow her. Thomas turned to follow Rarity and got his first real look at Las Pegasus. It was bright. The sheer amount of light was enough to block out any other view. The buildings were huge and were a mixture of stone and cloud. “How do these buildings stay together. I know pegasi can touch clouds but shouldn't the stone fall through it?” “Magic of course.” Twilight says matter of factly. “The stone is enchanted to be as light as the clouds and to stick to them. And the path were about to walk on gives non pegasi a cloud walking spell that equals one hour per minute walked for safety reasons.” Thomas stares at Twilight as she continues to ramble about all the enchantments that keep this city functioning. “Whoa there Twilight. I don't understand half of what you just said.” Pinkie and Screwball both start to giggle uncontrollably. Twilight begins to stutter. “S-sorry, it just magic is my chosen field of study and once I get started talking about it, it's hard to stop.” “It's not a problem Twilight. I just don't know enough to keep up with you. And why are the two of you giggling?” Thomas looks between Pinkie next to him and Screwball sitting on his shoulder. The question just causes the two of them to burst out laughing even more. “You really don't know what you keep saying?” Screwball says between bouts of laughter. “Uh no, it's why i asked.” Pinkie doubles over in laughter and Screwball falls off his shoulder. “Quit horsing around, this sky bridge is making me nervous.” The two of them stop for a moment and stare at Thomas then burst into laughter once again. Moments pass but he finally realizes what he did. “I'm unintentionally punning aren’t I?” Screwball climbs her way back up to Thomas’s shoulder. “Yes, yes you are. Please keep doing it. It's great entertainment.” “I'd rather not. You I understand getting them but how does Pinkie know them?” Pinkie just grins and Screwball sighs. “Never mind i don't really need to know. Let's just move on.” Thomas looks on towards the other girls and finds them either grinning at the exchange or looking confused as to what was so funny. “So um Thomas do either you or Screwball happen to know where we need to go? There are a lot of ponies and a lot of buildings to check.” Fluttershy asks as she looks fearfully around the area. “Sorry i don't, but maybe Screwball knows more this time.”  Picking Screwball off his shoulder he looks at her expectantly. “Well much like last time i don't know its exact location but unlike last time the area It could be is smaller.” Screwball brings up the map for everyone to see. The map shows all of Las Pegasus but the circle showing where the element could be was actually smaller than the city. “It looks like we only have a few of these hotels to check.” “Well that makes things a bit easier. Should we check each one out together or split up?” Thomas asks looking towards the girls. The others immediately turn to Twilight for a decision. Smiling sheepishly for a moment she quickly regains her confidence. “I think we should stay together this time. There could be quite a few more ponies around and it would be a lot easier to lose contact with each other.” The others nodded their agreement. “Based on the map we only have three hotels to check. I think we should go near them first and see if anything stands out about them. If not then we can check them out individually.” “Okie doki loki, makes sense to me!” Pinkie chimes in. The others voice their agreement as well. “Looks like the three we need to search should be in the middle of the strip. So we shouldn't have too much of an issue scoping them all out at once.” Says Rarity as she point towards the their destination. --- As they walk down the strip Thomas stares in awe and confusion at all the fancy signs floating in the clouds, and the lack of ponies on the streets or floating in the air. Without any traffic it was a fairly short trip to their target area. The three hotels in question are all quite different from each other in design. The first one Thomas notices is actually shaped oddly like the Eiffel tower but more solid with pink crystals growing up the four corners. The outside of the building was pretty well lit but even with all the windows Thomas didn’t see any lights on inside. The sign above the main entrance labeled it as The Spire. The second hotel was looked like a miniature city all pushed together. Each building was a different size but they all connected to one large tower in the center. At the top of that tower was a slow roiling maelstrom of varying intensity grey clouds. Every once in a while a brief flash of lightning and muffled thunder could be heard. “Hey uh girls? Is that normal for a building around here?” As a group the girls stop and look towards the building Thomas is pointing to. Rainbow Dash starts to snicker at him. “Don’t you know anything!” She points to a sign that has been slowly floating around the entryway. “It’s Minihatten’s most popular restaurant It’s called the Maelstrom room for a reason!” “Rainbow, I've never been here before of course I don’t know anything. But what about the lightning, It doesn’t exactly sound right. It sounds a bit muffled?” Rainbow Dash throws her fore hooves into the air with an exasperated huff. “Do i really have to explain this to you. Free floating lightning would be dangerous, so they’ve taken to bottling it into tubes around the building to give it the random lightning and thunder feel without the danger of it hitting somepony.” Thomas stares with wide eyes at the building. “The ingenuity of what magic allows here is just nuts!” Rainbow Dash put her fore hooves to her hip and strikes a proud pose, “Ponies are great, what were you expecting?” The rest of the girls just kind of roll their eyes while smirking at her bravado. While Thomas and the rest of the girls were still looking at Minihatten, Fluttershy had turned towards the last building of the three they needed to investigate. “Um Girls?” She quietly said. Due to the lack of ponies she was heard rather easily and everyone turned towards her causing her to hide behind her hair. Without saying any more Fluttershy points towards the third building they were supposed to look into. As one the group turns toward the building Fluttershy is pointing at. Unlike the first two not only is it brightly lit up but there are quite a lot of ponies moving around the entrance. The building itself looks like a large glass colosseum with a pony rearing up, although only its head and fore legs are visible.The sign above the entrance calls it Maximus. Twilight taps her chin, “While that does look like where we’ll need to go, I think we should go check the other two first to see if they could shed the light on what’s been happening around here.” Thomas looks down at Twilight while the rest stare at the Maximus. “So do we split up to investigate the slightly creepy empty hotels or do we do the smart thing and stay together?” “Their not creepy, they’re just empty.” She hums to herself for a moment. “While splitting up would be faster you are right it may not be the best of ideas. So we’ll stick to the original plan. Though I don’t know which one should we look into first, any ideas?” Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash all shout “Minihatten!” They each share a look at each other then the rest of the group, and in a calmer voice hiding a bit of excitement say “Minihatten.” “Okay, I guess we’re going to Minihatten first unless anypony else has a reason to try the Spire first?” Twilight says as she looks between Applejack and Fluttershy, who just shake their heads no. Thomas falls in line next to Pinkie as they begin to walk towards the entrance. “So why are you so excited about stopping here first?” “Candy!” Pinkie sings out as she bounces into the air. “Of course it something like that.” Screwball bemoans from Thomas’ shoulder. “What’s a hotel have to do with candy?” Thomas asks plainly ignoring Screwball’s comment. “It’s not candy specifically darling.” Rarity says after over hearing Thomas’ question. “Minihatten’s first few floors are a large shopping plaza, meant to simulate all the stores the real Manehatten is known for. I myself am hoping to get a few glimpses of some of the latest fashions to get ideas for later, and If I had to guess Rainbow Dash is hoping for a wonderbolts gift store.” “Okay, candy I can understand, Rarity just wants ideas, but where exactly does Rainbow dash intend to store her stuff. None of you brought more than your personal saddle bags?” Pinkie turns around and begins to walk backwards. “Oh that’s simple I can just store random things in my mane.” Pinkie demonstrates this by shoving a hoof into her mane and pulling out random objects. Starting with a yo-yo with a winged Twilight on the side saying “I’m a princess”. Thomas just stared as she quickly replaced that with a trophy that said Best Young Flyer on its base and before Thomas could get farther than the R in the name she had already shoved it back into her mane and replaced it with a bowling ball. The bowling ball then rolled off her hoof and quickly picked up speed as it began to roll down the path they had come from. “Oops, looks like I owe Mr. Cake a new bowling ball” Pinkie sheepishly says as she Thomas and Screwball watch as the now speeding bowling ball hits a bump in the path and launches into the clouds. Screwball just moans on Thomas’ shoulder. “Great she can access hammer space at will” “What?” Thomas asks as Screwball continues to groan into her hoof. “She just means the place where the things go when I put them in my mane, but I can’t access them at will, just when it’s funny or I need to.” “Uh Pinkie, when you need to, is kinda what at will means.” Thomas says as Screwball screams in frustration from his shoulder. “Oh well in that case, I guess I can.” pinkie grins happily. Thomas just shakes his head at Pinkie’s antics and begins to jog after the rest of the girls as they reach the door to Minihatten with Pinkie on his heels. Keeping his hands tangible he grabs the door and starts to step inside while Pinkie runs in through his legs giggling uncontrollably. The inside of Minihatten looked exactly like an earthbound mall. There were at least three stories of stores, but they were all shuttered. Pinkie skids to a stop nearly bowling Rarity over as all the girls had stopped with their mouths open in aghast at the sheer emptiness of the building. “If your looking to rent a room we have plenty! If your looking to do some shopping, I'm sorry to say that the shops are closed and I haven't the foggiest idea of when or if they will open.” States a stallion sitting behind the nearby registration desk. A collective gasp came from Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash. “No Ideas!?” “No candy?!” “No collectables?!” All three take on the looks of a kicked puppy as they turn to the stallion at the desk. “Sorry ladies, but I have no staff to run the shops. They’ve all gone to Maximus hoping to be set for life.” “Set for life?” Twilight asks as she walks towards the stallion. “Oh yes, it seem that anypony that can catch the owner’s eye will play a game against him and if they win, he’ll make them a silent partner and they will be set for life.” The stallion sighs, “Though since this is Gladmane i’m talking about, he doesn’t lose. Not sure how he does it but any game with a bet on the line be it a game of skill or chance he always comes out on top.” “Don't that sound a bit odd with things being as they are?” Says Applejack leading the rest of the group to stop behind Twilight. The rest just nod their agreement while Twilight voices her opinion. “It does seem like a strange thing to offer right now. Thanks Mr… Um” Putting his right fore hoof to his chest he bows slightly “you can call me Big Spender. If you are in need of a place to stay, your welcome to stay here, and I’ll even give you a deal you can have the penthouse suite for the price of a single normal room.” “Thank you for the offer Mr. Spender but I’m not sure we’ll be here long enough to take advantage of it, but should we need to we’ll be glad to come back here.” Says Twilight with a smile. Turning back to the girls and Thomas. “Okay, let’s go check out The Spire, to just make sure nothing’s going on there.” “I wouldn't worry about going there. They're closed. I think I'm the only pony around that isn't trying to take Gladmane up on his offer.” Calls out Mr. Spender at the now leaving girls causing them to stop. “You wouldn't be trying to keep us from staying at a competitors place would you Mr. Spender?” Rarity asks the stallion with a smile on her face but a scrutinizing look in her eyes. “Perish the thought, i may not like Steel Spires’ narcissistic ways, but I would never stop a customer from staying in another hotel if they prefer that aesthetic over mine!” Mr. Spender put his fore hoof to his forehead and feigned indignity with a smile on his face. “That's very good to hear Mr. Spender, and should we need a place to stay we'll happily come back here.” Rarity's eyes seemed to brighten up and she wave goodbye as they all started to head for the exit again. --- A short trek later they were standing in front of the Maximus. There were ponies wandering everywhere. A rather large amount were wearing uniforms that seemed to fit with the theme of the building. The rest looked like they were anxious to start playing games. It wasn't to hard for the group to get inside though, as there wasn’t a line. As Thomas looks around the main floor all he can see are crowds of ponies playing games. The atmosphere itself seems off somehow, the games certainly look like they would be fun but no pony was smiling or laughing. More often than not the only sounds other than the games themselves were heated shouting of frustrated ponies. Fluttershy feeling a vibration in the floor starts to look around, very quickly her eyes fall on Pinkie Pie. “Um girls something's wrong.” Squeaks out Fluttershy as her eyes go wide at the increasing vibration of Pinkie pie. As a group they turn to look at Fluttershy, but stop when their eyes land on Pinkie. “What's wrong sugarcube?” Asks Applejack looking quite concerned. Thomas who was standing in front of Pinkie drops down to see what was wrong while reaching his hand over to put it reassuringly on her head but stops short when he sees her face. She was grinding her teeth and her eyes looked like they were burning with flames of rage. “Pinkie, what's wrong?” Thomas had never seen her look this way before. There was no hint of her usual playfulness, she looked like she was ready to explode at any moment. Before anyone could say anything more Pinkie jumped into the air and screamed “This place isn't fun!”