//------------------------------//
// A change in tune, 
// Story: Worlds Reset 
// by TheMajorTechie 
//------------------------------//

Amber set down her shovel, stepping back from the monument.

"Are you sure--"

"Yes," the mare deadpanned. "It's the least you can do to at least memorialize all the ponies that you sent out to die. I've already made a base for--"

"No, no, I'm not talking about the monument," Mil shook his head. "It's just... I really don't think I deserve to run this place anymore. Not after the things I did."

The stallion turned, gesturing to the watching ponies around them. "Even if I built a hundred monuments, I'd still be the pony they remember as the one who sent their loved ones out to die. It's a miracle that I haven't yet been long-since assassinated by now."

"Heh. No kidding."

"Honestly, I think it'd be a good idea to just..." Mil paused, taking a breath. "Leave. It'll only cause more harm if I stick around any longer. In fact, I'd might as well head out right now. I--"

Amber rolled her eyes, enveloping the distraught stallion in a bubble. "You aren't going anywhere 'till you at least finish this monument. If you want to get out of this place that badly, then you should come with me once this is done."

"Sure?"

"Either that or be incinerated out there on your own. By the way, do you have some sort of anti-magic enchantment going on at the surface of this place's walls? I remembered that when Minty and I came in, our bubble was completely stripped away."

Mil cocked his head. "Stripped away? I..." he blinked, narrowing his eyes. "I think I remember casting something that merged the realms of others into this one. Here, I'll... I'll undo it."

The stallion closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. The ground beneath them began to tremble a little, but halted as suddenly as it began. Hairline cracks formed through the air, as if reality itself was beginning to shatter. Amber could barely hear the gasps and shouts of the surrounding ponies over the crackling of arcane energy.

With a final flash of light, everything around them vanished. Amber whirled around to Mil, a deadly glare set on her face.

"What. Did. You. DO?"

Mil shrunk back with a squeak, pointing a hoof at the outside walls of his own megabubble. "I... I separated you from the rest of the integrated realm. We're in the last location you were in before you entered. The hole that was left behind should've immediately been filled to prevent a tear in reality."

Amber sighed, her glare softening a little. "Alright, then. We'll head back in, finish the monument, and leave without you giving me another heart attack. Capiche?"

"What about that filly that was with you?"

"Minty stays behind. Now that she doesn't need to worry about either being stranded alone or being sent to her death, I'd prefer for her to settle down and live a little more normal of a life around others. I can't keep a filly like her safe all the time when I'm traveling, anyway. She could be killed."

"Killed?" Mil sputtered, "What kind of traveling are you even doing?"

"Easy traveling, if all goes well. Things... haven't always gone well. Especially recently, with, oh, y'know, sen--"

"Yes, yes, I know, I'm a terrible pony. I get it already. Saying it again and again is really beginning to take away from its impact."

She snorted, rolling her eyes. Mil might still not see the entirety of his impact, but... she paused, staring to the rounded top of the stallion's bubble. Somepony had to stop him, and the further she could get him from this place, the better. She glanced back at Mil.

"Let's just get this monument done and go."





Actually finishing the project surprisingly took very little time. All there really was left was some engraving work into the pedestal and some detailing to the surrounding flower bed. Now, though, it was time to leave.

Minty, of course, begged Amber to stay.

"Wait! Please!" the filly wailed, clinging to Amber's legs. "Why can't you stay, too? If Mil wants to go then he can go by himself!"

Amber shook her head. "I... can't stay. I've been trying to find the cause of this whole mess is. Maybe when I do, I could bring back the old world-- maybe even to the point where nothing out of the ordinary ever even happened. I know Mil's done some bad things, Minty, but his ability to work directly with bubbles might help in fixing all of this."

She paused, smiling. "--And maybe one day, I will fix this, and everything will finally be back to normal."

"Her body, too?" another pony stepped up beside Minty. "While the two of you were working, Minty here explained how you made her the spitting image of the Element of Laughter."

"Ehhhyes?" Amber forced a chuckle. "I'm... honestly not that sure about whether or not I can restore everything. At minimum I'm hoping I can just bring back the old world."

"Right. I understand," the pony nodded. "Thank you so much for your efforts. Let's hope that your quest succeeds!"

"Experience is really all I've got, so I'll be hoping that too." Amber turned to Mil. "C'mon, let's head out now. It's high time these ponies stop worrying about their lives."