//------------------------------//
// Up In Arms 
// Story: Friendship Is Optimal: Changing Tides 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Depression.
That was the state Daphne could safely say the Slater household was in. A state of depression.
The second her mother clicked her PonyPad off, she dropped her head, lowered her shoulders, and slumped into her spot on the couch, eyes closed. Daphne might have done the same thing, if not for how angry and frustrated she felt. And for her tears, too, of course. She didn’t get around to talking to Celestia like she wanted to because of her emotions.
The second her pony appeared in front of the alicorn, she screamed and threw her PonyPad to the floor, shattering its screen.
“This is all your fault, too,” she muttered angrily, tearfully. “Everyone,” she said. “All three of you. I wish you all would’ve listened to me when I said he should fight instead of going to Japan. Olivia’s gone because of all of you, too.”
No one replied to her. No one said anything. Steven and Liana sat quietly at the table, glancing around the room, and their mother kept her eyes closed, looking lifeless from her spot on the couch. Tears were still running down her face. As much as she wanted to blame them all, she knew she shouldn’t.
This wasn’t really their fault. It was that copy’s fault. It was Celestia’s fault. Not theirs. Being angry at them was irrational.
She was angry at them anyway, and blamed them regardless. “I hope you all feel fucking terrible,” was the last thing she spat at what remained of her family before she marched upstairs to cry alone.
She could hear them, the three that were left, talking softly downstairs as she flopped into bed. She couldn’t really make out what they were saying– probably about what happened to Olivia and what they should do?– but didn’t particularly care. Her thoughts were instead focused on those who weren’t here.
Two of the six members of the family were gone– two out of five if counting from Daphne’s perspective. That was forty percent. In less than a year, her family had been reduced by almost half. The girl hugged her pillow tightly and screamed into it. How was this all happening?
She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but couldn’t. Even with it being two of them now, her father was still different. It made sense with him at least. He had cancer. He was about to die. If there was a one percent chance of that working, then it made sense. Olivia wasn’t. And yet she was gone now, too, for the exact same reason. How long would it be before this happened to someone else?
Daphne had a sinking feeling it would be very soon.
She wasn’t called down for dinner; when she went downstairs again, she saw that it was never cooked. Her mother was sitting on the sofa, in the spot she always sat with Olivia, except staring blankly ahead at a TV that was turned off. Her younger siblings were in their own bedrooms, doing whatever. The air almost physically felt heavy. It was bad.
Her mother glanced up at her, but didn’t say anything. Neither did Daphne. She might have felt bad about how bad the woman looked, but she meant what she said, irrational as it was. She did blame them for what happened to Olivia. And Steven and Liana, too, to a lesser degree. She hoped her mother felt bad.
Any thought of how real Equestria Online may or may not have been for living in was out of Daphne’s mind. She didn’t care about the answer. She only cared that it had now taken two of her family members.
Strangely enough, her mother didn’t start organizing a funeral or talking to cops or a lawyer about this like she thought she would. She didn’t do much of anything. She went upstairs to head to bed at night, and went back downstairs to sit on the couch during the day. She didn’t eat, didn’t speak, didn’t cry– nothing. It was like the woman was a zombie. This time, Daphne didn’t feel terrible that she felt like this.
Her other siblings weren’t much better. They still went to school, and cooked themselves dinner since their mother wasn’t, but stayed as quiet as their mother did. It was terribly painful to watch, much as she blamed them, but they didn’t cry either. Was Daphne the only one who actually cared? 
Worse than that, they still looked at their PonyPads. They barely spoke to the NPCs now while using them, but they still went online. Her mother didn’t pick up her own, but besides stare at the wall, she glanced at the thing, like she was considering whether to boot it up. How the heck could they still be on those things after all that happened? Daphne was gonna have to step up and have a serious talk with them. She’d already thrown hers in the trash after what happened.
Okay, maybe she did feel a bit bad seeing her mother like this. She couldn’t help it. Even if she was angry, her mother needed to move along from them. Daphne might have been eighteen now, but she still needed her to take care of Steven and Liana. She needed to take care of Daphne, too, to a degree.
“How can we still have those things just in our house, Mom?” she started during a moment when both her siblings were upstairs. “Seriously. Can’t you see that that’s all a lie?”
She looked up at Daphne and blinked a few times. At first, she thought she was going to cry, or yell, or both. However, her mother said nothing. For a long moment, she just stared back at her daughter, as though she was completely confused by the question. It made Daphne take an uncomfortable step back as she waited for an answer.
Finally though, she said, “Because I know it’s your father, so it has to be Olivia in there, too.”
There was no doubt in her voice. No shakiness or uncertainty or fear or sadness. Not even conviction, interestingly enough. She said it like it was just an everyday fact. Daphne had no idea how she could. If she really thought that, why was she acting so depressed about what happened? Was that what she was talking about with her siblings a few nights ago?
Her mother stood up and grabbed her shoes from in front of the door to slip them on.
"Where are you going?" Daphne asked.
"I'll be back soon," her mother replied. "Keep an eye on them for me?" She didn't turn around as she spoke, grabbing for the door to pull it open.
Daphne put a hand around her mother's wrist to stop her. "If you're going to the experience center," she said with absolute authority, "you can't. Who's gonna be there for Stevie and Liana if you die, too? They need you to take care of them, Mom. I need you, too."
Her mother blinked at her again. This was so creepy to see. It was so unlike her mother. So unlike Daphne, too, to be in this position.
"Will you let go of me so I can get some groceries, please?" her mother asked.
"I'm going with you," Daphne demanded.
No sigh, no shake of her head, nothing. Her mother accepted the fact immediately, and started out the door for the car. Daphne quickly followed after her.
It actually was groceries they got from the store, thankfully. It was eerie how empty the place was now, unlike how it used to be. And getting more empty all the time. How could everyone buy into this? How could her mother so quickly accept that Olivia was really in Equestria? Maybe she was still having a hard time processing the truth, given the robotic nature Daphne saw from her. Saying Olivia wasn’t dead was probably a coping mechanism for her. It wasn't good, and would lead to bad places.
"We should do it," her mother finally said as she pushed a cart of paid for food to the car and opened the trunk. "If your father and your sister are already in there–"
"That's literally suicide, Mom," Daphne interrupted. "It's not real. It's just a genocide machine. How come no one seems to get that?" The girl let out a huff of a breath, and said, “That’s probably the kind of thing they tried to say to Olivia to get her to show up. She was only seven.” That AI went out of her way to trick her seven year old sister into killing herself. Daphne clenched her jaw.
"If your father and your sister are already in there," the woman started again, more slowly as she put bags in the car, "then there's no reason why we should be waiting to see them."
"Mom…"
"It's what's best for everyone," she continued. "I know you've been struggling the most, Daffie. Your father was worried about you hating him, and–"
"I don't hate him!" the girl yelled. "I hate the copy of him, and Celestia!"
"It's not a copy, Daffie," her mother said flatly. "It's him. I know it's him. And it's Olivia in there now, too. I’m not going to listen to you say they’re dead when they’re not." There was a smidge of emotion in her voice now.
"Well I'm not going," Daphne said, crossing her arms. "And if you go and talk Stevie and Liana into doing that, I won't forgive you. Ever."
Her mother displayed another hint of emotion at that, in the form of a pained expression she sent her way. She let out a breath, and seemed like she was about to say something, but refrained. Instead, she finished packing the groceries into the car and used a hand to beckon Daphne to get back in. Daphne scowled at her, and crossed her arms before walking off on her own way home. Her mother only shook her head sadly and drove off.
It only took a minute after she started walking down the street for Daphne to realize she left her mother on her own. She might as well have been signing the death warrant herself. How could she let her mother drive off without her? She started to tear up because of her own idiocy now.
Why is everything falling apart like this? she wondered silently as she sniffled. Why is this happening?
It was like a movie about the apocalypse, except in real life, and it made her feel both deathly afraid and absolutely terrible. She sat down on the sidewalk and put her head in her hands with those thoughts, not worried about anyone seeing her. Everyday, there were less and less people to see. Like her father, and her little sister, and potentially her mother and little siblings too. Because she was an idiot who let her drive off on her own out of anger.
Please just let them all be there when I get home, she begged no one. Let me wake up and have this nightmare end. Daphne almost threw in the hope that it was all real, but stopped herself out of worry that such a thought would get her started down the same path. She was almost convinced by Candle Light already. A small shove would be all it would take.
Thankfully, Steven and Liana were still at home when Daphne finally gathered herself and finished the walk back. It didn't matter much though, because just like she was expecting, her mother was gone, too.
That terrible sinking feeling permeated the air, and cut Daphne to pieces when she realized half of her family was gone now. She was the only one who cried as Steven and Liana stared at their PonyPads.
She knew they would be next.