//------------------------------// // Smiling in the Face of Death (Fallout Equestria: Pink Eyes) // Story: The League of Sweetie Belles // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// CP looked out over Guild Central from her little house of marble, munching on a powdered donut as the people of the Capra Coalition moved to and from the many Guilds. She appreciated how much it looked like a village rather than the overcrowded synthetic cities of Merodi Universalis. Natural trees, bushes, and grasses flooded her view, while natural stone roads led to and from the various buildings. Sure, many structures themselves looked like they came right out of a science-fiction novel (a literal fact in some cases), but they weren’t placed densely. Guild Central was not a metropolis, and if CP had anything to say about it, it never would be. Letting out a contented sigh, CP realized she didn’t feel stressed, beat down, or even the slightest bit depressed. It hadn’t even been a year from her point of view and already the events in the Universe Generator felt far behind her. Merodi Universalis itself was like a distant memory. There was nothing to fight out here in the midst of the largely dead worlds, there was only the Coalition and the handful of groups living alongside each other in peace. So, naturally, her peace had to be ruined. When the knock at the door came, an uneasy feeling formed in CP’s stomach. The feeling was only heightened when TwilAI came through with a grimace. Using her recently magic-infused horn, she levitated a book over to CP. Fallout Equestria: Pink Eyes. On the cover was a picture of a filly they both knew very well. “Puppysmiles…” CP said, stroking the book with her hard-light wings. “CelestAI found it, she… figured you’d want to know about it.” TwilAI hoofed the ground nervously. “I haven’t told Puppy.” “...It’s not a happy story, is it?” CP asked, flipping open the cover. “The ending is…” TwilAI pursed her lips. “Rather tragic and concerning.” “She doesn’t survive, does she?” TwilAI shook her head. “She wouldn’t have without the Coalition, no.” CP nodded slowly, turning to the first page. Sensing CP was going to be reading for a while, TwilAI left her alone. ~~~ Puppysmiles moved her checker to the other side of the board. “King me!” Erin Olsen raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you want to do that yourself?” Erin was no longer a pony, instead having been recently changed back into a human. That said, she was fully equipped with the new magic-conducting fingernails that CelestAI had developed from the horns of her unicorns. “Oh, right!” Puppysmiles pulled the Rock of Destiny out and placed it on top of her kinged checker. “King of destiny!” she declared, rearing onto her hind hooves and giggling. Erin gasped in mock fear. “The king of destiny!? There’s no way I can beat that!” “Come on Erin! I’m sure you can if you put your mind to it!” “If you insist…” Erin picked up one of her checkers and jumped four of Puppysmiles’ in a row, smirking. “The daring, plucky hero has burst past the enemy lines despite the devastating power of the evil king of destiny.” “Hey! He’s not evi!” Erin raised an eyebrow. “But you’re playing black.” “And you’re playing red!” “So we’re both evil?” Puppysmiles thought about this for a moment. “Uh… Hmm…” Her eyes crossed as she attempted to piece together exactly what was being said. Failing, she decided to just giggle. “No idea!” “History is written by the winners. Maybe we don’t get to know who’s evil until afterward?” “That’s silly.” Puppysmiles moved her king back. “You’re silly.” “No, I’m Puppysmiles!” Erin facepalmed, which only gave Puppysmiles more reason to laugh. She was rolling on the floor when CP walked in, face grim. Puppysmiles had no idea why her friends were suddenly frowning. She and Erin were just playing a silly game, why the long faces? Did something happen? Seeking to solve the mystery, Puppysmiles picked up the Rock of Destiny and pointed it at CP. “We’ve got a sad face in the house! Officer Rock, what should we do to banish this beast?” CP’s frown didn’t falter. That usually works! Puppysmiles finally noticed the book CP had pressed into her side with a wing. Puppy gasped. “A cursed book of sadness! Stand back CP, I have to liberate you!” She jumped, intending to playfully tackle CP and pry the book out of her wing’s clutches. CP wasn’t having any of it. She created a telekinetic wall that stopped Puppysmiles in her tracks, preventing the curse-lifting. “Puppysmiles… you might want to sit down.” She was using the serious voice. Puppysmiles hated the serious voice. It usually meant sad things were coming. She wasn’t supposed to dwell on the sad things anymore. Carefully, CP lifted the tome and set it at Puppysmiles hooves. The filly saw a picture of herself on the front: bright pink with eyes wide and curious. She was even wearing the same yellow suit as the picture, though currently hers was a lot cleaner and didn’t have any displays projected on the helmet bubble. Still, it was her all right, just a slight bit younger. Behind the image of her was a desolate wasteland with irradiated dirt, a twisted street sign too old to be of any use, and mysterious pink clouds swirling like malevolent fog. “...My story,” she said, smile slowly dissolving into a neutral expression. “Yes,” CP said. “CelestAI found it in her searches.” “It’s not happy,” Puppysmiles said, scrunching her muzzle. “No…” Puppysmiles traced a hoof over the cover of the book. “Do I find you?” CP shook her head. “You don’t make it.” Puppysmiles was unable to keep herself from remembering. Puppysmiles wandered the wastes, a smile permanently plastered on her face. She passed a pile of bones and a broken robot without batting an eye. Neither of those things were Mom, nor would they help her find Mom. They simply didn’t register in Puppysmiles’ mind, like virtually everything in the wasteland. One thing that did grab her attention, though, was a tall creature with two arms and legs in some kind of spacesuit just like hers! Maybe they had lost their mother too, and Puppysmiles could help her search! “Hi!” she called. “I’m Puppysmiles!” The creature looked down at her, surprise barely visible through the helmet. “Have you seen my Mom?” “No…” it was a feminine voice. “But I can help you find her. And get you somewhere nicer than… here.” So Puppysmiles went with her through a weird ring of magic and came out somewhere that was green. She hadn’t realized she missed the green. Why was it gone in the first place? More things about the silly, silly world that didn’t make any sense. Maybe her Mom was here, where it was green? That would make sense, Mom had always liked green. Then again, everypony liked green. It was a very tasty color! Why hadn’t all the ponies come here? The tall creature took her to a strange white building with a red cross on it. A hospital? But Puppysmiles felt fine! She didn’t object, though. Doctors were often very helpful. “Hi, I’m Puppysmiels! Have you seen my Mom?” “No, but I’m sure we can help. Here, why don’t you sit and play with these toys while I talk with Agent Miranda here?” “Okay!” Puppysmiles hadn’t had an opportunity to play with toys in quite a while, so it kept her occupied for a little while. However, something about the stuffed bear and cubes lost their appeal really quickly. She had been on the move back in the wasteland and now she was sitting still and she didn’t like it one bit. The Doctor and Miranda looked like they were going to talk for a while. Finding their conversation boring, Puppysmiles went to wander the hospital. Turning a corner, she ran right into a pony with a cast around one of her wings. “I’m so sorry!” Puppysmiles blurted, scampering back a few paces. “Are you okay?” The pony—an alicorn with surprisingly muted colors—gave her a smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me!” She extended a hoof. “I’m Erin.” Puppysmiles gasped. She was the one who introduced herself first! This was unheard of! “Hi Erin! I’m Puppysmiles! Have you seen my Mom?” “No, but let’s try to find her together.” Puppysmiles shook her head, looking away from the book and to the currently-human Erin. She placed a gentle hand on the filly’s shoulder. With that one motion, Puppysmiles’ frown vanished, replaced with a content smile. She wasn’t alone, not here. “...Do you want it?” CP asked. “No,” Puppysmiles shook her head. “That book is sad and icky and dark. I’m not there anymore. I’m here, with all of you!” She grinned. “And that’s all I need!” CP joined her in the hug. “Puppy, I wish I had your smile sometimes.” “I’ll teach it to you! Watch!” She crossed her eyes and tried to focus on the smile, creating an adorably confusing expression. CP managed a chuckle. “I’d have to be insane if I couldn’t learn to smile from that face.” “Yay!” ~~~ Erin watched through a window as Puppysmiles played in an expansive room with lots of toys, books, and other people. She was staying closest to one of the Gems—a pink one with a heart-shaped gemstone. The two of them were building massive stacks of blocks and laughing as they crumbled down. “There’s residual Nightmare Forces in her,” Doctor Redheart said. “What?” Erin stated, tearing her gaze away from Puppysmiles. “The scans don’t lie. Most of her is some kind of pink nebulous essence of arcane energy, but there’s part of the Nightmare in her.” She flipped through a clipboard. “We’ve observed that there are actually two voices she actually talks to. One is just the suit’s computer system, which we’ve managed to mitigate a bit. But the other… she calls it ‘Creepy Voice’.” “The Nightmare?” “Most likely.” “Can you remove it?” “Normally I’d say yes without batting an eye. However, she is not a normal pony. Her existence is tied closely to magics not that different from necromancy. A pure esuna purge might remove her attachment to life.” Erin frowned. “Is there a way around that?” “We believe so, but it wouldn’t be a simple operation.” Redheart frowned. “She spends most of her time around you.” Erin blinked. “Are you asking ME to give you consent to operate?” “We haven’t tracked down her mother yet, and I’d rather not wait. There may not be many laws among the Guilds but operating on a minor without…” Redheart bit her lip. “I want to help her and I don’t want to wait and give this entity a chance to turn her against the friends she’s making.” Hearing a laugh, Erin turned back to the window. Puppysmiles was riding on the Gem’s back, holding her hooves out like she was a plane. “...I’m going to talk to her about it.” Erin said. “She’s young, Erin...” “She’s an adventurer,” Erin dismissed. She left Redheart behind and opened a door, entering the playroom. “Spinel? Can I talk to Puppysmiles a moment?” “Sure!” Spinel stretched her arms and set Puppysmiles at Erin’s hooves. “She’s a wonderful bundle of joy in a yellow case!” “Aww, do I have to stop?” Puppysmiles asked. Spinel tapped Puppysmiles on the helmet. “All fun has to end, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start again later!” Spinel sprung out of the room like an accordion. “Get done quick so we can go have fun!” Puppysmiles waved after Spinel. “I will!” She turned to Erin and pulled her front hooves into a hug. “You should come play with us, Erin!” “Maybe eventually,” Erin said, stroking Puppysmiles’ rubbery suit with a wing. The suit had come to them very bruised and battered, and yet Puppysmiles herself didn’t have a scratch on her. They’d discovered the filly inside was a bundle of toxic smoke the hard way. Luckily, nopony was permanently hurt, but it had still been terrifying. “Puppy, I’m told you hear a voice?” “I haven’t heard Mr. Voice lately! Hey, Mr. Voice!” “Yes?” A soft synthetic voice came from inside Puppysmiles’ suit. “Why haven’t you been talking much?” “My overeager response unit was dialed back to minimize distractions.” “Oh.” Puppysmiles scrunched her face. “Do you like that?” “I do not experience ‘like’.” Puppysmiles giggled. “You’re the same as always!” Erin coughed. “I didn’t mean Mr. Voice. I meant… Creepy Voice.” “Oh…” Puppysmiles frowned for a second, a rare sight on the filly’s features. “Creepy Voice is… Creepy. Says scary things, sometimes.” “Do you want us to try to make it so you can’t hear her?” Erin asked. “You… you can do that?” “We think so.” “Wow… You really are a magic princess!” “The doctors, Puppysmiles, not me.” Puppysmiles nodded. “...Creepy Voice really doesn’t like the idea.” “What’s she saying now?” “Uh…” Puppysmiles flushed. “She’s being really, really mean and Mom says never to say those kinds of things to ponies.” “Does she say those things to you?” “Sometimes.” She twitched, as though in pain. Erin lifted Puppysmiles’ chin up. “We can help you, Puppy.” “...Have you found Mom yet?” “No. We’re still looking. But… you’ll need to sleep a while for us to stop Creepy Voice. I’ll go look for your Mom while you do, okay?” “Okay!” Puppysmiles grinned. “Let’s do it!” She twitched as though she were being shouted at—but kept smiling anyway. Erin was glad they were getting that thing out. ~~~ CP, Erin, TwilAI, and Puppysmiles trotted together across a Mars-like world, collecting samples of a long-dead civilization. CP, Erin, and TwilAI were all wearing the shimmering bronze suits provided by the Capra Coalition Guilds, while Puppysmiles was in her yellow radiation outfit, as always. It had come to mean a lot to her: she had woken up with it almost a year ago, at this point, and it was essentially part of her. It had taken her a while to fully understand that she was an awesome pink cloud that needed the suit to stay a pony, but after she had, she’d come to think that she was also the suit. And now she was a truly daring adventurer, exploring other worlds with her new best friends and the Rock of Destiny! Most of the worlds were dead rocks without atmosphere, but sometimes that was amazing. For instance, right now she could look up and see a massive purple gas giant drift across the sky, stars twinkling around its edges. Here, the lifelessness was beautiful. “I’m not sure anything ever lived here,” CP’s voice came through the radio link they all shared. The Sweetie brushed a stone pillar with her magical wings, tracing a line through the dust. “There’s no sign of actual wear.” “Someone probably built this and left,” TwilAI agreed. “A temple of some sort?” “Maybe it’s a sports arena!” Puppysmiles suggested. “They wanted to play hoofball on the best planet ever and set up everything for the final game!” “That’s as good of a guess as any,” Erin said, pressing a few buttons on some device Puppysmiles didn’t know the purpose of. She waved her hand and cast a simple waypoint spell at the ruins. “I’ve transmitted the coordinates back to the Guilds, the archeologists can take a crack at it.” Puppysmiles gasped. “We’re going somewhere else? Yay!” She tapped her hooves on the ground excitedly. “Maybe we can find a game of hoofball being played with planets!” “If some entity is playing hoofball with planets they’ll have to talk to my hoof,” CP snickered. “Why would y—oooooh.” Puppysmiles knocked herself in the helmet. “I forgot people lived on planets!” “We have been on a lot of planets without people, it’s understandable,” TwilAI said as she levitated a dimensional device out. “Anyway, let’s see… aha! We’ve found a new connection. Let’s see…” A portal opened in the air between the four of them, revealing a gloomy, worn-down town. However, there were plants dotting the streets, so it had to have air. Puppysmiles knew her friends liked having air, something about suits being suffocating. She skipped right through, immediately investigating everything she found interesting. That was her job—look and record everything. The big serious adults had said something about “young, curious eyes noticing the best things” but she didn’t really care about that. A light came on that told her Mr. Voice had started recording what she was seeing. Maybe she’d get to share it all with Spinel, later! She scrambled away, absorbing everything she could. Erin made a halfhearted attempt to call after her, as was their tradition since before Erin had turned herself back into a human. Puppysmiles remembered how panicked Erin had used to be when she ran off. It took her longer to realize Puppysmiles was invincible than Puppysmiles herself! Still, Puppysmiles wasn’t about to damage her suit for no reason. She avoided charging right into a thorny bush since cleaning up the mess left by her pink smoke was never pleasant. Though sometimes the unpleasantness was mixed with awesome. Her feelings of excited exploration abated when she began to feel like everything was familiar. That broken storefront looked a lot like a house she had seen before… recently. Had it been another universe? A lot of them looked pretty similar, though usually the only duplicates were perfectly normal Ponyvilles. Not a desolate place like this that clearly wasn’t Ponyville. One that… “Puppysmiles!” Erin called after her, this time actually concerned. “Puppysmiles, we should leave!” But it was already too late. Puppysmiles saw it. The path to the cemetery. Puppysmiles woke up to Erin standing over her. “Woah, already?” Puppysmiles blinked. “I felt like I just went to sleep! I still feel tired!” “The operation took a lot out of you,” Erin said. “Don’t worry, your magic will come back, but Creepy Voice fought hard. They had to use a set of the Elements of Harmony, in the end, which was… well, it worked.” “So I won’t hear Creepy Voice anymore?” “Nope!” Erin smiled. “Not a trace of Creepy Voice anywhere in your fluffy cotton-candy body!” Puppysmiled giggled. “I’m not cotton candy!” Erin’s smile faltered. “No…” “Did you find Mom while I was asleep?” Puppysmiles couldn’t figure out why that question made Erin so sad. She’d never been that sad when Puppysmiles asked the question before. “Puppysmiles…” Erin looked down, examining her hooves. “We went back to your world and searched for Rainy Days—Mom. It took a lot of scrying spells and analysis, but… we found what happened to her.” “What… happened to her?” “I’m so sorry Puppy, I…” “What do you mean what happened to…” Puppysmiles felt out of breath. “What…” “Puppysmiles, I’m sorry, I… I can’t bring you to your mother. Nopony can.” “But… but…” She placed a wing over Puppysmiles. “I’m here. I’m here.” Puppysmiles couldn’t hear her. She wanted to shout, but she didn’t have the strength. There was nothing in her that could, anymore. She felt like everything had stopped. Of course, nothing did. Life didn’t just stop because she asked it too, no matter how much she wanted to. Erin stayed with her hours and hours, as did Spinel. She saw a lot of people who tried to ask her how she felt and she… honestly didn’t remember much of what she said to them. Was some of it mean? She didn’t know. She was sorry if it was. Nothing really became clear until Erin took her to the stone. It was always the stone in Puppysmiles’ mind. Nothing else. Rainy Days. Puppysmiles placed a hoof on the stone, finding it cold to the touch even through her suit. She felt… empty. Like there was something missing, like there was supposed to be something here. Something more than just a name on a rock. But she couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t... she didn’t know. She was young, younger than most everyone she knew. She tried to say many things. That she was sorry she went to see the fireworks. That Mom couldn’t have gone to be with Dad. That she shouldn’t even be here. So many things came to her mind and came out as little more than whispers. Something was wrong with the moment at the stone. She wouldn’t realize it for some time, but it was the feeling of It Isn’t Supposed To Be This Way. This was not how she was supposed to find the grave, how she was to find her Mom. But it was where Erin led her. It may have been Wrong, but it was what Puppysmiles needed to resurface. “I… I want to go home.” Erin winced. “Puppysmiles…” Puppysmiles clung tightly to Erin. “Home. Let’s go home.” She sniffed. “Please…” “Let’s go home,” Erin called, holding a hand to Puppysmiles. “We don’t have to be here.” Puppysmiles nodded, taking several steps back from the cemetery path. “Y-yeah, l—” That was when Puppysmiles noticed the sounds of gunfire. Fighting. Screams of pain and evil laughter. All coming from the cemetery. Any and all reservations she had vanished. If there was one thing she learned since going on adventures with her friends, it was that you helped those in need. She hefted the Rock of Destiny in her hoof and ran into the cemetery. “Puppy!” Erin called. “Worry about her later, we have something else to deal with!” CP shouted. “Get ready!” Puppysmiles skidded into the graveyard to a horrifying sight. Herself. With a helmet surrounded in dark flame and wings of dark magic. A monster swimming through bullets and magic with ease. Several ponies were on the ground, lying in awkward, broken positions. Currently, she was engaged with an Apple Bloom wielding a blade of light and a Sweetie Belle whose horn was on fire. Puppysmiles knew enough to know that those two didn’t belong here. But she didn’t care. She jumped through the air and smacked the Rock of Destiny right into her counterpart’s helmet, dropping the shadowy entity to the ground. “What?” “Get out of me, Creepy Voice!” Puppysmiles Shouted, bringing the Rock of Destiny back down again. “Get out!” “Fool! I have you already, I can have you… again?” Creepy Voice seemed very confused, but this didn’t stop her from kicking Puppysmiles off her with a burst of shadowy energy. Puppysmiles recovered from the damage instantly, hefting the Rock of Destiny once more, ready for another attack. Creepy Voice gave her all her attention. CP moved in, sending a magic laser at Creepy Voice from behind. “Freeze!” The fiery Sweetie intercepted it, redirecting the spell into the ground. “Cinder, what are you doing!?” CP shrieked. Creepy Voice surrounded Puppysmiles in a sphere of darkness. Puppysmiles burst out, grabbing Creepy Voice around the waist and rolling down a hill. They tumbled past a few still standing ponies that looked at the unfolding events with no small amount of confusion. “You’re going to stop what needs to happen!” Cinder hissed back “I read the story, I know how this ends, of course I want to stop it.” CP lifted Cinder in her telekinesis. “Out of my way.” “You want to interfere!?” “OF COURSE I DO!” Creepy Voice threw Puppysmiles off into a large gravestone. This did little more than knock the wind out of Puppysmiles, but it was enough. It gave a beaten and battered griffon the window she needed to crash into the dark pony. “Puppy! Puppy, listen!” Puppysmiles blinked, an old memory tickling her brain. Why are you… familiar? ...Henry? “Hey!” Creepy Voice growled. “Hey, it’s not your turn yet! Don’t you know that there’s a list? I have to deal with this doppleganger first, then I’ll be killing you too; so don’t push and keep your ticket ready!” “NO!” CP shouted, teleporting in front of Henry. “I can’t let y-” The Apple Bloom broke an explosive potion over CP’s head, giving Henry free reign once more. “She needs to do this!” “She’s going to die!” “That’s the idea,” Cinder said, using her fire to push CP away. Puppysmiles stared at Henry. She knew Henry wasn’t talking to her, but the Puppy inside Creepy Voice. This didn’t stop her from listening intently. Henry pointed at Creepy Voice. “Puppy, wake up! You… you can see your mother for real!” She was screaming, as if in pain. Puppysmiles didn’t want her to hurt. “This Nightmare is a bug and a stinker, you’re cooler than that, you learned from the best!” Creepy Voice snorted. “Aren’t you even able to wait your turn to die?” A halo of dark magic surrounded a large chunk of road and hurled it towards Henry, but the griffon was agile and dodged it easily. “Now I am disappointed, bad chicken! Don’t make me come down there!” Henry flew in front of Creepy Voice and pressed her beak against the glass helmet. “Puppy, you moron, you are dead! D.E.A.D! Just like your mom! Are you so stupid that you don’t even realize how to die!? Dump this idiot and go with your parents! Please!” Puppysmiles gasped. “No! No I’m not dead, I’m right here!” “Listen to the other one!” Creepy Voice hissed. “Mine can’t hear you!” “STOP HER!” CP yelled at Puppysmiles, discovering that the Apple Bloom’s potions were making her all but useless. She was writhing on the ground, unable to do anything as Cinder pinned her. Erin was frozen, unable to do anything. TwilAI shot off a laser, but Henry tanked it. She continued to focus on Creepy Voice. “C’mon Puppy, wake up! You’re not forced to stay here! I… I don’t want you to stay here with me, you have to go! I’ll be fine! Just…” “You.” Creepy Voice encased Henry’s body in a twisting grip of stars. “Die. Now.” “TwilAI!” CP shouted. “Do something! Magic! I…” Cinder tackled her to the ground. TwilAI lit her horn. Puppysmiles felt something tug at the back of her mind. A connection... “Puppy…” Henry gagged. “Mom is… Just over the horizon…” Cinder stopped trying to hold CP down. “...It’s done.” “No it’s not!” CP shouted. TwilAI cast her spell. ~~~ A younger, suitless Puppysmiles sat in front of a pond, looking at the fishes that swam within. Everything around her was still and calm; a blanket of snow covered the ground and the clear sky showed hundreds of stars. She sat there, unaware of time passing, without feeling much of anything until… “Puppy, you moron, you are dead!” “What?” The filly tilted her head, then checked her hooves and her tail. “I’m not dead, stupid fish!” A second fish poked its head from the pond. “C’mon Puppy, wake up! You’re not forced to stay here!” “Henry? Why are you a fish now?” Puppy giggled. “Silly Henry, fishes don’t talk!” “Mom is just over the horizon!” It was then, only then, that Puppy realized somewhere in that naive mind of hers that it could all just stop right then and there. “Stick a cupcake in my eye…” she said, and finally she was allowed to see him: the skeleton pony. He was ranting to nobody in particular about an anomaly going on for two hundred years. Given how much he was talking, he’d probably been doing this for quite some time. “HI! I’m Puppysmiles! Have you seen my mom?” The skeleton gawked. “Oh, please! Not that litany again! I’m going to resign, or strike! Or strike and then resign!” The filly giggled. “Tee-hee, skelly pony is funny!” Stopping, the skeleton pony finally noticed the filly was looking at him. “You… can you see me? Is this some sort of prank? Because if this is a prank I’m going to give up for real, this time…” “A prank? I hope not! Last time I made a prank I was spanked ultra hard!” The reaper paused for a long moment before falling down to his haunches with a ghostly sigh. “At last…” It was at this point an older Puppysmiles in a full yellow suit was dropped just behind her younger counterpart, unceremoniously crashing onto the ground. Young-Puppy didn’t notice her… but the skeleton did. “Ah, who are you, pretty skelly pony?” Young-Puppy asked. “Me? I’m the Grim Reaper. Death and…” He glanced at Suit-Puppy nervously. “...My colleagues call me Mort. Long story short, I’m the guy that shows the deceased how to reach their afterlife.” “So… have you seen my Mom or not?” “You’re a lost cause…” Mort produced a silver ticket. “Here, take this ticket. It’s worth a ride to the other side. Remember, not everypony gets the silver ticket—” “Stop!” Suit-Puppy called, scrambling forward. Young-Puppy glanced at Suit-Puppy. “Wow! You look like me, but bigger!” “I don’t grow, silly,” Suit-Puppy giggled. “But you’re so big!” “You don’t have the suit!” “Oh!” Mort facehooved. “Why did you distract her? I’ve been trying to get her to the other side for…” “We don’t need the other side,” Suit-Puppy huffed. “We have friends here!” “Obviously an—wait, how can you see me? You’re not ready to go on!” “Huh?” Suit-Puppy cocked her head. “...Okay so you’re only slightly more aware of yourself than she is, wonderful. You must have given your Mort a conniption.” Neither Puppy had any idea what he was going on about. “Look,” he turned to Young-Puppy. “This ticket will take you to your mother. No nonsense, no crazy adventures, directly to her.” Suit-Puppy held up a hoof. “But you’ll never be able to go back! You’ll have to say bye to Henry and… all those other friends! Even Mr. Voice!” “Then I’ll just say goodbye!” Young-Puppy smiled. “You say goodbye to friends all the time.” “But… but…” Suit-Puppy had a moment of realization. Was this how everypony felt around her? That… that was so unfair! She stamped her hoof in the ground. “But you can always go back to those friends! And... And… That’s sad, right?” “Yeah…” Young-Puppy said. “But I miss Mom… And she must be so worried about me!” “You can go to her whenever you want, you have a ticket!” Suit-Puppy gestured. “You don’t have to go now. You can go spend time with your friends! And… and… Mom will be waiting when you finally want to go!” “But I want to go now!” Young-Puppy started crying. “Why don’t you want to go to Mom? W-why?” Suit-Puppy stammered, no idea what to say. “I-I have friends!” “But no Mom! No Mom!” “We don’t need her!” Young-Puppy looked at her like she was some kind of monster. The eyes of her younger self judging her with something bordering on hatred was enough to melt Suit-Puppy’s resolve away in an instant. She fell to the ground, crying. “I-I’m sorry…” Young-Puppy said. “You’re okay…” Suit-Puppy hugged her back. “You’re your own pony. You can go to Mom if you want.” “I’m going to say bye first! And you’re first!” Young-Puppy poked her counterpart in the helmet. “Goodbye, silly-me!” Suit-Puppy giggled. “You’re silly!” “Nuh-uh.” “Uh-huh!” Suit-Puppy released her. “Go. Say your goodbyes.” “Okay!” With a smile, Young-Puppy vanished from the mysterious lake. Suit-Puppy couldn’t keep up her smile. “You are at different places in life,” Mort told her. “Or, unlife, but… nevermind, I’m not even sure you would understand.” Puppysmiles snickered. “But she just wants her mom. You… you were given the opportunity to stay.” “Can I still…?” “I think you’ve turned down your ticket.” Puppysmiles nodded. “Will she still be there?” “Yes, though the afterlife is… confusing, in the multiversal sense. You may not end up there.” “Okay,” Puppysmiles said, a smile coming back to her features. “That’s fine! I’d stay either way. There’s too much to do, so much to see! I want to throw Erin’s surprise birthday party, I want to find a world made entirely of juice, I want to make more friends… I want to… grow up!” She beamed in Mort’s direction. “I’ll make Mom proud!” Mort chuckled. “I think you’ve already done that, Puppysmiles.” ~~~ The younger Puppysmiles had pushed out of Creepy Voice for a short time, telling her friends goodbye. Cinder watched as this happened, a smile on her face. Despite the interruption… that filly was still going to see her Mom. Which was how it should end. It was the only way there could be a happy ending to this story, even if it was bittersweet. There was an afterlife in this universe—since the story used it, it should be used. She watched as Creepy Voice faded from existence, no longer having access to Puppysmiles’ soul. It was done. Cinder had wanted to talk to Henry after this, and she likely would later, but right now she had a particularly angry CP to deal with. “You not only let her die, you encouraged it,” CP hissed. “It was the way the story needed to go,” Cinder responded. “I was only here to keep the other deaths to a minimum.” “And you didn’t even try to save her? There were ways to do it! We cured our Puppysmiles!” “Was that good for her? Was that the way her story was supposed to end?” “I don’t give a flying feather about the stupid story, I care about saving a little filly!” “Really?” Cinder frowned. “But… she wanted to find her Mom.” “She was a kid! She didn’t know what’s best for her! She…” CP froze. “Oh no…” Cinder smirked. “How the tables have turned, huh?” “No, this is not related to your interference practices. I just wanted to save a kid. You decide that a nation is ‘evil’ and that you have to change it by force.” Cinder shrugged. “I… I just do what I think is right at the time, CP. There’s not really a line. Here, this filly wanted to get to her mom, and I just kept ponies from dying in the process. Elsewhere, I fought to stop a monster from taking over the universe. You change your mind too. You let nations discover what they want to do on their own… and then you decide you want to save a sad filly.” CP scowled. “A filly is still dead, Cinder. Because you fought for her death.” Cinder winced. “I… It’s better this way.” “Is it?” CP gestured at her Puppysmiles, who Erin was slowly bringing to her hooves. “We saved her. She’s accepted what happened to her mother and she’s become a very close friend.” “Sounds like you just don’t want to let her go,” the griffon—Henrietta—said from her seat on a nearby rock. “It’s cruel to her.” For a moment, CP looked as though she wanted to gut the bird open. However, Puppysmiles was having none of it. “Stop, stop fighting!” Henrietta, Cinder, and CP stared at her, confused. “It’s not cruel. None of you did anything cruel.” Puppysmiles grinned at them all. “You were all being heroes! Just… very confused heroes! I was too! TwilAI let me talk to her and I tried to talk her out of it but she really really wanted to see Mom and I remembered that before you found me I felt exactly like that and… and…” She twirled a hoof in the air, looking for the words. “It’s both good! We’re both happy!” Everyone continued staring. CP broke into laughter first. “Puppy, I have no idea how you can manage to twist everything into a happy little bundle of positivity. You’re a piece of work.” “Yep! I’m Puppysmiles!” She saluted. “The great adventurer!” “...You really are…” Henrietta said, frowning. “I…” “And I can be your friend too!” Puppysmiles said, extending a hoof to Henry. “Hi, I’m Puppysmiles! Yes, another one! Want to come home with me?” “...Please.” Puppysmiles pulled the griffon into a hug. “Oh, I’m going to have so much fun with you! I’ll introduce you to Sofia and Spinel and you can introduce me to all these ponies I don’t remember it’ll be great!” “Crushing… me…” Henrietta gagged. ~~~ TwilAI sat down next to CP. The Sweetie in question was looking through a window at Puppysmiles playing with Erin, Spinel, and Henrietta. Gone were the toy blocks and in their place was a complicated dollhouse mixed with toy soldiers. Apparently there was some kind of toy war going on and Henrietta was the general of the Big Bad Plastic Melters, or something. CP wasn’t smiling. “A lot happened,” TwilAI said. “Yep.” “I think she’s better for it.” “She’s certainly… older,” CP breathed. “Almost everyone grows up. The ones who don’t… move on. She chose to stay.” “Why can’t anybody stay innocent forever?” “Rule of life, the multiverse, or a curse. You pick.” CP sighed. “I’m not the one who saved her, but I feel as though this is my fault.” “Fault? CP, she said it herself, she wanted to stay here.” “If we had asked her when she was first brought in?” “Does that matter?” “I… I don’t know.” CP frowned. “I think I understand why they do it.” “Hm?” “Merodi Universalis. Why they interfere. They see little fillies suffering and can’t bring themselves to leave it alone.” She grimaced. “Where is the line?” “I dunno.” “Aren’t you some sort of biological supercomputer?” “Oh, according to CelestAI’s, there shouldn’t be limitations on interference at all. But that’s a tad impractical without having a mind large enough to take in every possible variable to maximize happiness and satisfaction.” CP rolled her eyes. “Does she think her mind is large enough?” “She doesn’t know everything about the multiverse, so I’d have to say no. She does not.” CP watched as Puppysmiles jumped onto Spinel’s back and ran toward Henrietta like some kind of cavalry unit. She smirked. “Maybe they’re both good.” “Learning lessons, are we?” “Slowly but surely. I’m a stubborn old mule.” TwilAI patted CP on the shoulder. “That’s great!” “Thanks.” CP stretched. “I think I’m going to go in there and pretend I’m not several thousand years old. Coming?” “Nah, I’ve got some reports to file.” She waved, leaving CP to the fun of the others. As soon as she was out of eyesight, she opened a portal and walked right into PonyNet’s universe, pressing a hoof into a terminal to download everything she had right into CelestAI. Mission success. Satisfaction of CP and Puppysmiles increased through friendship and ponies. CelestAI immediately gave her best meatspace agent another gold star on her record.