//------------------------------// // ==> Interlock. // Story: Horsetangled: Act 1 // by dawnbreez //------------------------------// Towering houses of cards stretched across the college-ruled landscape, interspersed with the occasional mile-wide inkblot. Twilight goggled at the sheer impossibility of the view. In the back of her mind, a phrase formed out of thin air: [The Land of Papers and Prestidigitation]. She made a mental note to shorten it to LoPaP before she wondered why this world's name had formed, unbidden, inside her head. She immediately opened her line of communication again. Surely Celestia and Luna knew what was going on; they had hinted at being veteran players. Dear Princesses, I find myself in a strange new world. There are cards everywhere, and the ground seems to be made of gigantic sheets of paper! I note with great appreciation that it is paper of the college-ruled variety, and not some more juvenile kind of parchment. Regardless, I feel that this is highly concerning, mostly because of the complete lack of grass. How am I supposed to eat anything? Your bewildered leader, Twilight Sparkle. She made another mental note, to ensure that she continued to refer to herself as leader. Leadership was in her blood, she reminded herself. After all, Shining Armor was captain of the Canterlot Guard! ...well, until Canterlot disappeared. But still! Within a few moments, she received a reply. how many times do me and lulu gotta tell ya, you don't have to write these like letters they're less formal :) don't worry about food, you don't gotta eat anymore, it's all part of the game anyway the first thing i gotta do is get candyass to finish her end of things so's i can join ya don't go screwing up now Twilight's eye twitched. She reminded herself that grammar was, like many things, a suggestion rather than a rule, and that committing regicide over it would be extremely ill-advised. Especially since, for all she knew, Celestia and Luna and Cadance were the only ponies she'd ever get to see again. Frankly, she was proud of herself for taking it so well. Celestia grumbled quietly as she switched tabs, whacking a nearby imp with a regrettably-empty liquor cabinet. It seemed as though every single bottle in the joint had been smashed when the teleportalization happened, turning Donut Joe's Bakery and Bar into a total waste of space. The more pressing concern was why the Taurtaros these imps had bouncing baby faces, wings, and horns. candybutt big motherly bundle of sweetness you incredible, completely responsible parent why in the eternal fuck-my-sister-in-the-ass light of the evereffervescent SUN did you put your DAUGHTER in the KERNELSPRITE While she waited for the reply, she surveyed her land. Last time it had been all time-themed, with enormous clocktowers and rivers of sand; this time around, though, it had a less obvious theme. There were doors everywhere, drifting open and shut in the wind, with sundials marked into the red-tinted stone around them. Her land's name faded into her mind: [Land of Closures and Timepieces]. She scowled. She almost got LoLCaT this time. Coulda had the perfect run. Her Solarshades plinked at her. She pulled up the message: i know, i know~ luna already gave me the lecture~ i thought, the kernelsprite brings things back from the dead, right~? so obviously, living things would never die~ nobody told me it would put flurry's face on all the imps~ or that she would leave~ i can tell she doesn't want to leave me~ Celestia put her head in her hooves. This is what she gets for doing New Game Plus with new players. it's not just that the imps are gonna get powered up by this you just gave the power of an out-of-control baby alicorn to every enemy in the game well, it's a good thing we're all alicorns too~ in fact, i can't help but think you'll enjoy the challenge~ Celestia tapped her chin as she drew out her favorite lance. 'Twas true, she did want New Game Plus. She just didn't want the two newbies to ruin this run. fine, fine, maybe i do want something that'll make me sweat :p just shut up and build aight? you've already triggered a challenge run With that, Celly kicked an adorable imp down a flight of massive stone-carved stairs, picked a direction, and started gliding. She was gonna need a drink. Luna had been hastily building up a tower in the midst of Cadance's [Land of Glass and Stonehenge] for the past hour. Despite the unfortunate confusion over the Kernelsprite, they had been incredibly productive--Cadance had been quite efficient at dispatching the Flurryimps. Worryingly so. She had been doubly effective at killing them when they wandered too close to Shining Armor--who was blindfolded! Luna groaned. Was Cadance really that desperate to keep her mistakes hidden, or did she think she could protect her dear Shiny forever? She set the matter aside. Other, more important things had to be done. Cadance might be clueless, but Twilight was worse than clueless: Twilight was liable to try sequence-breaking. TWILIGHT. WE HAVE SOMETHING TO DISCUSS. YOU SEE, THERE ARE SPECIFIC STEPS TO THIS GAME. WHEN THESE STEPS ARE FOLLOWED IN ORDER, ALL IS WELL. WHEN THESE STEPS ARE FOLLOWED OUT OF ORDER, WE DIE. THAT IS NOT THE ROYAL WE. WE SHALL MAKE THIS SIMPLE. (IN THIS CASE, WE ARE--IN FACT--USING THE ROYAL WE.) YOU WILL FOLLOW OUR GUIDE, WHICH WE SHALL BE PROVIDING POSTHASTE VIA THE SITE KNOWN AS 'GAMEFAQS'. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she finished Luna's message. She hated, hated, hated the idea of having to order Celestia around, and she certainly didn't feel too good about ordering Luna around either. Granted, she would rather be following Celestia's instructions, but Luna's probably acting on orders from Celestia, so in a sense she is following Celestia's instructions! Luna, you have nothing to worry about! I'll do exactly as you say. I'm sure this game will run smoother than silk, so long as I follow along.