//------------------------------//
// 02_Upload-Complete 
// Story: Metagaming 
// by Snowday_Pegasus 
//------------------------------//

First there was a faint smell of ozone. Then a steady hum. Darkness gave way to a matte gray floor and ceiling that stretched in all directions towards the horizon. The atmosphere tasted metallic; it was warm and dry, and yet a mysterious mist was in the air which revealed countless red rays sweeping back and forth. Suspended in mid-air was a seemingly infinite tunnel of racing data, marking the conduit that had delivered the travelers into this unbelievable place.
The attire of the Anthytoykara passengers had changed. They were wrapped in undergarments made of white spandex. Over this was silvery armor like something from a vintage comic book. Engraved into the armor were thin strokes of blue light that randomly turned and split at right-angles, except on the chest armor at their shoulders, where the etching duplicated Caballeron and Yearling’s cutie marks respectively. For Fizzy, the vectors formed a circuit diagram. Miniscule white lights raced along the grooves like an aerial view of city traffic.
“Is this some kind of protective equipment?” Caballeron asked.
Fizzy looked around and then gazed back into the transport tunnel. “Where’s Discord?”
At the tunnel’s vanishing point, a multicolored speck grew slowly into the shape of a draconequus balanced on a hybrid surfboard and clad in striped swimming trunks. “I’ve heard of surfing the web, but this is ridicu–” As Discord reached the end of the tunnel, his surfboard and swimwear instantly burned up into fluorescent dust, causing Discord to somersault in the air before bouncing along the ground like a loose tire from a car wreck. Finally his momentum ran out, leaving him laying flat on his back. “Ow.” Discord was now dressed in an armor suit like the others, but on his chest was a ”chaos star” made up of arrows pointing outward in eight directions.
Yearling asked, “Are you OK? What happened?”
Discord rolled over and rubbed his head. “Well, that was rude. Why did it take away my stylish look?” Discord snapped his fingers. Nothing. He snapped again, focusing harder. Still nothing.
Caballeron asked, “Chaos magic doesn’t work here?”
Fizzy said, “That would make sense. Computers are built on logic.”
Discord scoffed. “Oh, this is going to be the dullest place ever, then. I should have opted out; I could be drinking cider with Charlie right now.”
“Just deal with it,” Fizzy said.
“I’m not really complaining. I’m just amazed that my magic has been dampened again. I mean, if I had an Equestrian bit for every time I went on a quest and couldn’t use magic, I’d have two bits– which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.” Discord shrugged.
“What is that gadget on your arm, Fizzy?” Caballeron asked.
Fizzy raised her forearm and saw a glowing turquoise bracer. “I don’t know?” She brushed her other forehoof across it and a holographic projection of lavender vector graphics floated above it, depicting a keyboard and display. “Oh, wow, is this ever cool,” she said.
Discord searched for a gadget of his own and found a gray sphere. “Well, I did mention Poké Balls before we left, but I didn’t expect it to actually give me one.” On the sphere was a button and a quartz display. Discord pressed the button. The sphere rapidly cycled through colors and the display scrolled through numbered items like a slot machine. After a few moments, it settled on one:




- Twilight Repellent -




Pressing the button again caused the sphere to glow, and in a sudden flash of dazzling colors, a quesadilla covered in ladybugs materialized in his hand. “Hang on.” He repeated the process. This time, a winged toaster flapped its way around Discord. “Ohh, I get it.” On the third try, it spawned a bunch of rubber chickens. “My chaos magic is still here! But it got sorted into… a list? Organizing my chaos? Alright, Auntie-toy-car, that’s just offensive!” 
Fizzy said, “That definitely sounds like how a computer would interpret chaos; putting it in a database with a randomizer function.”
Discord moaned, “But this means I can’t control what comes out. This might as well be an Infinite Improbability Drive.”
Caballeron replied, “I don’t know what that is, but it certainly sounds like an accurate description of you.”
Yearling was turning over a light green glowing disc. “What’s this?”
“May I see it?” Fizzy asked.
“Certainly.”
Yearling gently tossed the disc to Fizzy but it shot towards her like a missile. Fizzy barely ducked in time as it whizzed by. It stopped a few dozen meters away, where it simply hovered, spinning rapidly like a top. “Fizzy, are you OK?” Yearling asked.
“Fine. Is that a… weapon?”
Yearling then noticed a faint stream of luminous vapor linking her hoof to the disc as if it were the string of a yo-yo. She flicked her wrist, and the disc sailed back to her hoof. “It somewhat reminds me of your whip, A.K.,” Caballeron noted. He felt around and found an item dangling from his hip like a sword. It looked like little more than a solid black rod. He unhooked it from his belt. “It’s a… bar.” Rotating it, he found a single button. Wanting to avoid an accident like what had almost happened with the disc, he pointed the bar away from the others before pressing the button. Instantly, the bar became golden, and a small screen lit up.




TantaByteGPT v3.1 - Range: Off-port




The bar began beeping at regular intervals. Aiming in different directions caused the bar to beep faster or slower. “Oh, It’s a search bar!” Caballeron laughed. “I think it’s leading us to TantaByte.”
“Don’t you start personifying it too!” Yearling snapped. “Well, let’s go. This place is making me nervous.”
Fizzy said, “I like it. All these flashy lasers! Needs some music though.” 
Caballeron marched on ahead, using the Search Bar as a guide, and the others followed. Eventually they came to a glowing doorway. It read:




PORT 20-21




Fizzy said, “File-transfer protocol ports. Yep, it went to the internet alright. Ohh, boy.”
“What’s the problem?” Discord asked.
“Remember when I said that computers are based on logic?”
“Did you have to dig up that recent trauma?”
“Well, it wasn’t entirely accurate. Once you add humans, those concepts kind of go bye-bye.”
Discord clasped his hand and claw together with glee. “Let’s not wait another minute, then!” He dashed through the doorway and vanished.
Fizzy rolled her eyes. “And, he’s gone. Let’s go.” She disappeared.
Yearling pondered, “How does Fizzy know about the ‘human beings’ that are here?”
Caballeron just shrugged as he and Yearling went in.
Colors and shapes zipped by like neon debris caught in a tornado. At the center were four disoriented adventurers, haplessly hurtling down the funnel. 
Discord’s face turned green and he covered his mouth, fighting the urge to vomit. Am I being punished for the time I threw that mailpony into a wormhole? 
They all hoped the ride would be over soon.