//------------------------------//
// Let the cringefest begin! 
// Story: Wielder of the Orb: Third Time's the Charm 
// by TheMajorTechie 
//------------------------------//

"Okay, okay, so lemme get this straight: You are a different wielder or whatever of this Orb thingy, and you come from a parallel universe where I didn't exist, and you were the one that the Orb chose." 

Sammy nodded. "That's what I said. My name is Sammy Gearings, and I come from a different universe, from a planet called Earth."

"Plus all that other stuff."

"Yes."

Nightshade scrunched her muzzle. "Gosh, why are you talking so weirdly? Everything you say just feels so forced!"

Sammy, for his part, stayed silent this time around, pursing his lips.

"I... yeah, I guess I've been a little too uptight," he sighed, letting his shoulders slump. "That's kind of just a default phrase that I turn to whenever we jump into a different reality."

Zoey pulled out a potato.

"Though, one more thing," Sammy added, ignoring the fact that his friend was currently carving a potato into the shape of a hotdog, "Is there a Twilight Sparkle in this world?"

"Psh. Yeah," Nightshade shrugged. "Why? I'm guessing you've heard about her if you know her name?"

Sammy shuddered, taking a step back. "Don't let her know I keep a diary. Every Twilight Sparkle I've come across has broken through the padlock and read it."

Nightshade raised a brow while Lightning Rod facehoofed. "Maybe just use a better padlock?"

"Tried that. She read a book on lockpicking and then lockpicked it. Every single version of her."

"...Yeesh, I don't think our Twilight would do that. What do you think, Lightning?"

"Yeah. Going as far as lockpicking just to read someone's diary sounds like something that would've happened in a badly-written middle school story."

A heavy thump took everyone's attention off of Sammy and his complaints about Twilight reading his super-secret diary.

"Hey look guys, my sister's here too!" Zoey exclaimed, "Say hi to Lisa!"

"Ponies!"

Zoey pat her little sister on the head. "You can pet the ponies later, Lisa, okay?"

"Okay, this is just getting weird now. Where'd she even come from?"

"I think..." Nightshade began, turning back to Sammy, "I think it might be a better idea for you to find a universe without another Wielder or whatever we're called. It honestly feels like time itself has frozen now that you're here, and we're all forced to live through the most random event of our lives."

Sammy nodded. "Yes, I agree with that," he responded, being repetitive in both his words and actions, "I'll take my friends and leave you alone for now then. If you need help, just... I guess find me somewhere? I don't know."

He turned away, nodding at his friends. Whether or not he actually picked up his own Orb at this point was irrelevant, because he was holding it now anyway. 

They were gone in a single flash of light, and time began to flow normally again.

Nightshade was the first to break the silence.

"So that happened, apparently."