//------------------------------//
// Chapter Ten (Jesse) 
// Story: Friendship Is Optimal: Third Wheel 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Jesse didn’t grab his headset immediately. He was too curious about what his parents said about those laws against uploading they talked about. He expected them to come eventually, but he didn’t think it would be quite this soon.
Nothing in North Carolina yet, it seemed, just from a quick search. But a couple of states had indeed gone that route, Mississippi and Tennessee from the looks of it. The former set restrictions for anyone under a certain age, but Tennessee from what he read made it an outright ban. They even went so far as to require an ID for anyone under twenty one to even buy a PonyPad anymore. Not much use in that though, since about ninety percent of the country already had one. Even while he was still in highschool, most of his classmates played Equestria Online. There was nothing that particular law would do.
There were more than a few states that were considering laws related to Equestria Online though, North Carolina being one of them, like his parents said. The legislation his state proposed was about as strict as Tennessee’s was, and a few other states somehow were more so. Places like South Dakota and Ohio were trying to fully ban Equestria Online altogether, and wanted to make even having a PonyPad illegal. He could see why– at least, he could understand why. But he couldn’t imagine a single person who wasn’t geriatric who would like something like this. It wasn’t good.
It would probably be fine though. Maybe. He hoped so anyway. But doom scrolling about what might happen in the future wasn’t gonna help anything, and in fact would only make it more likely that he’d make a rash decision. It was probably best to put his phone down for now.
He picked up his PonyPad and headset, and found Agile Trace already waiting for him in his shard. “Ready to get on with it?” she asked flatly. “I was starting to think your parents would cut off your wifi and tell you to do something else. They treat you like you’re five years old.”
His ears flattened in embarrassment, but he didn’t comment on it. He only offered a simple, “Let’s go” before he lit up his horn to bring them to Summer’s Edge.
Neither should have been surprised when they didn’t spot her, despite walking up and down the town looking. Eliza certainly wasn’t, her flat look becoming a scowl, but Jesse kind of was. His pony rubbed a hoof against the ground as he wondered what might be going on.
“Celestia is definitely fucking with us,” Agile said. “Watch. She’s gonna be gone for however many more days and act even weirder. Or maybe Celestia will try and fix her back from what-the-hell-ever she did to her. She said Celestia asked her to take time for herself before, didn’t she? This is probably why.”
“Yeah, maybe, but, like… why?” Jesse asked. He couldn’t really disagree with anything the mare said, having no better explanation to offer to her. But still…
“Why would she be doing this at all?” he asked. “As far as Composition told me, she wouldn’t just do things for no reason. What the heck does it accomplish if she makes Composition spend time doing whatever and then changes her?”
Agile Trace sighed, now looking depressed. “This… I have an idea of what it might be, but it’s… just fucking depressing.” She didn’t wait for him to ask what it was, starting again, “I was almost convinced that this whole… living in Equestria on a computer thing, I almost was able to say ‘yeah, this is legit’. Because Composition wouldn’t just do something that would kill her. If she thought that, she would just wait for a liver. But just like everypony else who uploads, she’s gonna eventually just stop talking to us altogether because it’s not really her.”
That was a morbid thought, but one that Jesse quickly shook his head clear off. “That doesn’t make sense,” he refuted. “It was definitely her when we first talked to her when she uploaded. If it wasn’t her, then why the heck would she tell us she was gonna take time to herself?”
“Because Celestia wants us to upload, too, and at this point, it’s seeming pretty inevitable. Honestly, what the heck is the point?” The pony sighed depressively, and sat on her haunches, staring at her hooves. 
“She’s definitely here, Agile, trust me,” Jesse encouraged, offering a hoof to help her stand again. She took it, and he continued, “If she wasn’t here, then she wouldn’t be acting differently. Or at the very least, she wouldn’t have seemed like she’s different now instead of when we very first talked to her. She only acted differently after we first saw her.”
Agile let out a relieved breath, and then, probably for the first time ever, smiled at Jesse. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.” She let out another breath and went back to frowning again a second later. “It’s still fucked, whatever Celestia is trying to do.” Her frown turned into a scowl, larger than any other one he’d ever seen Agile wear. “I wanna talk to her right now. She’s gonna fucking hear it from me. Where’s the nearest building?”
Jesse couldn’t argue with that, and followed her into the closest building to them, pressing the cutie mark of the sun princess that would call her forth. Instead of the princess coming to them though, the two were brought to her castle in Canterlot, to stand before her throne. Jesse knew Celestia was keeping watch over their conversation, just as she kept watch over everything else she could, both inside and outside of Equestria Online. She didn’t look bothered though, and instead smiled down at them kindly, like she was inviting them for tea.
Neither needed to speak, the tall alicorn princess-god bringing up the topic on the two’s mind before they could ask.
“I understand you both are concerned for your friend, Renown Composition,” she started, her tone no different than if she was discussing the weather. “Rest assured though, she is in safe hooves.”
“What did you do to her?” Jesse asked before his companion could. It was probably best if he talked instead of Agile. The mare next to him looked ready to scream.
“I can assure you that, outside of her emigration and her very specific request to reduce her sensitivity to nudity, I haven’t altered her in any way, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
“She’s not the same as who she was though,” Agile said through gritted teeth. “She’s just not. There’s a whole bunch of things that are off about her, and stuff she just doesn’t remember that happened on Earth. She’s not herself, and I know she wouldn’t ask for something like that.”
“You’re correct, and she did not. I’ve made no alteration to her, either physically or mentally, since she emigrated to Equestria. She is exactly the same now as she was when she first arrived.”
“She’s not the same as who she was when she was on Earth though,” Jesse said. His pony rubbed a hoof into the ground and frowned like he did in real life.
“She wouldn’t just change like she has,” Agile continued. “And if she did, she certainly wouldn’t forget stuff. Important stuff. So you either altered her, or we’re looking at a copy of her or something.”
“Well…” 
Jesse couldn’t say he’d ever seen Princess Celestia look nervous as she did now, and he was certain Agile Trace couldn’t either. The tall, white alicorn was however, and looked away. Was she ashamed? 
“Tell us what’s going on right now,” Agile Trace demanded. “If you don’t, you can be sure neither of us will ever upload. And we’re gonna tell our friends not to, too.”
That was a statement that Jesse could say he would likely stand by. If Composition was some different pony because of the princess, that would almost certainly make his desire to upload drop to near nonexistence.
The look on the two’s faces seemed to be enough to convince Celestia that their threats were real. Now the alicorn flattened her ears and stared at her hooves for a long moment. She was definitely ashamed, and let a minute or two of silence pass by before she spoke again.
“I must admit,” she finally started, looking back into the faces of the two ponies before her again, “that I believed I would be able to do an acceptable job of taking Renown Composition’s place while she was away. It seems as though your friendship with her is strong, and you were able to tell that it wasn’t her. I apologize for the deception I gave to you both, Solar Spark and Agile Trace.”
“What are you talking about?” Jesse asked. “Why were you trying to take Composition’s place?”
“Because she needs time to adjust to Equestria, and I believed it would be best if she did so alone, without distraction. I hoped that she would be ready to find her satisfaction in this place before too long, but with the time she was taking, as well as both of your fondness for her, I thought it would be best if I interceded on her behalf until she returned. It seems that was not the best course of action.”
“So then she’s fine?” Agile asked. “Or are you just gonna try and make another, better copy?”
“Yes, she is perfectly fine at the moment. However, I did not copy your friend because I know neither you, nor Solar Spark, would find satisfaction in a copy of Renown Composition. That’s why I interceded on her behalf. Once again, I apologize.”
“How do we know that’s the truth though?” Eliza asked accusingly. “If you lied once, why wouldn’t you lie to us again?”
Jesse knew that was an easy question to answer, and wasn’t surprised by the explanation Celestia offered. “Because I’ve already betrayed your trust one time. If I did so again, and you noticed, your faith in me to satisfy your values would die, and you would refuse to upload regardless of the circumstances. I don’t wish to risk that outcome. I should have seen better than to put your faith in me at risk even this once.”
“Take us to her then!” Jesse said, not meaning to sound demanding, but coming off that way anyway. “We need to talk to her ourselves! I don’t wanna just take your word for it that she’s fine and wait for you to try and trick us again!”
“I understand, and I will allow this,” Celestia agreed. “However, please don’t see these things that I’ve done as a betrayal of your trust. I only wished for Renown Composition to find herself, and for you to be satisfied while she searched and thought over her desires.”
Jesse didn’t know if he trusted that explanation, but it all made sense. Agile looked even more skeptical, but he knew she wouldn’t see any flaws in her reasoning either. It didn’t make it more infuriating that Celestia tried to do this. But it was probably forgivable so long as Composition actually was safe and fine, as the AI said. Probably.
Unless she’s really not here, Jesse thought, trying and failing not to be pessimistic and fearful. It would set any hopes he had aflame, both for emigrating as well as the obvious. He hoped his friend was safe.
There were no more words spoken as Celestia lit up her horn to take them to where their friend was hopefully waiting for them.