//------------------------------// // 5 ◈ This uncertain future, // Story: Pony-Me™: Rebooted // by TheMajorTechie //------------------------------// Sold. The word felt strange on her tongue. Sold. The life she had as Twilight. Sold. The friends she'd made. The places she'd been. Sold. Sold to who? Lisa watched the static scenery shift outside her window. It was desert all around for as far as the eye could see still. She wouldn't know. Would anything change? That too, she did not know. She shut her eyes. Tried to imagine. Tried to remember. That life already seemed so distant. Like some foreign dream. Start from the beginning. She was a filly again, standing outside Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She was a mare, studying day and night to fill her role as protege to the crown. She was in Ponyville, sent on a mission she'd dreaded. She was an Alicorn, but once a Unicorn. Fill in the blanks. Chrysalis. Tirek. Sombra. Discord. Sunset. Starlight. Was Sunset in this world too? She wouldn't know. "An hour away!" Argall's voice chirped. Lisa kept her eyes shut. Selene stared at the looming building towering above her--her former workplace. This was where it all began. And where her life as she knew it had ended. She stepped through the sliding doors. A young girl, hardly a teen from how she looked, was sitting at the front desk. Did her colleagues really put a child in charge of the building's lobby? No matter. She stepped up to the desk, giving a light smile to the girl. "Hi there, I was wondering if I could see Dr. Argall?" The girl shook her head. "Sorry, he's not here right now. He should be back soon, though!" "How soon?" The girl shrugged. "Sometime today I think." "Very well then," Selene stepped away. She seated herself on a nearby bench. "I can wait." "Selene?" Rosanne peeked out of her room. "Hey, you still there?" No response. She called again. Still nothing. A door slammed shut somewhere downstairs, sending a shudder through the house. At almost the same time, her phone buzzed on the desk. She left the doorway, returning to her creaky office chair with a huff as she picked up the device. "Going... to HQ?" her eyes flicked between the three words that'd appeared on the screen. "She's gotta be kidding. This early? Is she trying to sabotage herself?" Rosanne leaned over and grabbed her windbreaker from the bed beside her. "Alright ya crazy bat. If that's the game you're playing then just tell me next time." Lisa could feel the minivan slowing beneath her. Seemed like they were nearly there now. She could hear the quiet crunching of her brother snacking on the chips he'd bought. Some things never changed, at least. Spike chowing down on gemstones could keep her awake for hours at a time if he decided to go for a midnight snack. The vehicle came to a stop. She opened an eye. They were just at an intersection. She closed her eye again. The minivan rumbled forward. Almost there. Almost where? Home... "home". What was home? Was it Equestria? Or was there still a place for her in this world? They made a turn. Then another. More driving straight. Almost there. "Lis, we're almost there," Samantha's words mirrored her own thoughts. "You wanna check out HQ for a bit? I know that the company's about to be sold and all, but I was wondering if you wanted to revisit where it all began." One more turn. "You helped build that place," Samantha continued. "Not physically, of course. We were just kids back then. But you... Twilight, built an entire world. Even if you might not be able to see it right now, what you did back then was absolutely insane, and somehow, through all of it, you sorta... roped me into it. I wouldn't be who I am without you, and I want you to know that even if you decide that this world isn't for you, there will always be someone on this side of reality to welcome you with open arms." ...Well that was abrupt. They came to a stop again. Lisa lifted her head, feeling the mark of the seatbelt on her cheek. It was another stoplight. "Selene!" Rosanne stomped through the doors. "What do you think you're doing?" She looked up at the girl at the front desk, giving a friendly wave. She waved back. "Seriously though," Rosanne sat down beside Selene. "What the heck are you doing here?" "Waiting for an old friend." "What happened to the big rush we were in? What happened to you?" Rosanne jabbed a finger at her boss. "You've been acting weird ever since you got back from your checkup. What's going on?" Selene folded her arms. "Change of plans. I don't have the time I was hoping I'd have. Also, you're fired." "Wh--" "I'm dying, Rosa." Rosanne froze up. "You've... never called me that before. And excuse me what?" She glanced over at the front desk girl. She was very obviously listening in, her oversized labcoat dangling over the edge of the desk that she was leaning over. "That checkup I went to?" Selene tapped a foot. "What got my mother is coming for me now. I'm not long for this world. Not long from now I'll find it harder and harder to do even the most basic things, and then, poof. I'm gone. Guess I'm glad that my bloodline ends with me. Can't imagine passing this stuff onto another kid who'd lose their mother like I did." "...Okay. Wow." Rosanne slowly turned away. She shook her head before cradling her temples in her hands. "And I mean wow. That's heavy. And you didn't tell me until now? That really puts some things into context, holy crap." The sliding doors opened again. A lone pair of footsteps echoed through the lobby. Samantha turned her head. Her eyes widened at the sight of Rosanne. "You." "Whaaaaahaaaahaaaaaaaat, me?" Rosanne let out an awkward chuckle. Samantha kept her glare fixed on the woman. "You know what you did." "She made me do it." Rosanne pointed at Selene. Samantha's gaze shifted. Selene didn't respond to the gesture. The sliding doors squealed open for a third time. "Lisa!" Samantha waved her friend down. "Over here! These two are the ones that brought Equestria to its knees, I know it." Lisa glanced at Samantha, then back to the girl at the table. A single name rose from her. "Zoey?"