//------------------------------// // 471 // Story: What Happens in Terraria // by BioChemicalWolfGear //------------------------------// After an hour long session with Spike, I found it easy to claim he’s the 'Rosetta Stone' of Equestria. That dragon knows his languages better than he knows how to sweep a broom. Frankly, I was impressed at the knowledge that Spike had. He was so fluent with Griffonian, you’d guess it was his first language. Twilight was putting away books, while Spike and I went over some of the basics on the couch. I knew my current goal was to figure out how many ponies may or may not have been erased from time, because of the corrupt invasion. “Hey Spike, we’ll have to continue tomorrow or another day after that. I’ve got some business to take care of.” “Oh, ok.” he said looking down dejectedly. “Thanks for the lessons.” I said ignoring his mood. “Maybe I’ll bring you some gems as payment.” I said, getting up from the couch and heading toward the door. “Really?” he questioned. His eyes lit up in excitement, his mouth was wide open with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and drooling all over the place. “Yeah.” I said opening the door. “I’ll find some time to get you something when I’m done.” I went through the open door and walked into the morning sun. I found a few ponies outside watching me as if they’ve been there for a while. Actually now that I think of it, I remember a few of them. I began to walk away and after I got a good distance out, I looked back and saw some of the more worried ones actually looking into the library itself. I ignored the antics of the ponies around me, as I tried to remember my way around Ponyville. A few minutes of wandering around, I came across a section of town where there was an assortment of shops, rather than homes. I quickly figured this was where I could possibly find Sugarcube Corner, or better yet Pinkie Pie. I got a few looks from the ponies around me, but surprisingly enough, this time they were glances rather than stares. I assume they’ve already seen me at least a few times, or Celestia finally put me in the papers. I turned a corner and before me is a massive sugary treat that looks like a giant gingerbread house. “Found it.” I thought out loud, which drew in a few looks from passing by ponies. I slowly walked forward to my destination, and made eye contact with a few ponies on my way there. Arriving at the front doors of Sugarcube Corner I push it open and walk inside. Before me were two foals, whom stopped playing and watched me for a few moments before dismissing me and returned to placing blocks on top of each other. I looked up from them and saw, on the other side of the counter, none other than Mrs. Cake looking at me with a bewildered expression. “Hello there.” I stated as friendly as I could. “Oh, uh, hello. Sorry dear, I’ve never seen something like you.” she said honestly and with a sheepish grin. “It’s ok, that seems to be the recurring theme today. I’m still getting used to ponies myself. But thanks, I’m in need of Pinkie Pie. Do you happen to know where she is at the moment?” “Why do you need to see her?” she asked, with a raised eyebrow and a slight tilt of the head. “I need to know how many ponies are in Ponyville to be honest. I happen to be doing a project, and I need to know how many ponies are in the vicinity of my tower, so I know what I’m affecting if I change it. Rather than going to the mayor and asking about the population, I thought of asking the legendary party mare who may already know the exact population off the top of her head.” I mused, doing my best not to let my crafted story slip. Mainly because I don’t want to cause an uproar in Ponyville about missing or forgotten ponies. “Hmm.” she eyed me for a moment. “Sure she’s upstairs dear. Want me to get her?” “No thanks, I’ll go up and talk to her, oh hey, how’s your husband?” I said heading toward the stairs. She looked at me quizzically. “I’m not married.” she stated, raising an eyebrow. I stopped right when I got around the counter. ‘Oh that’s sad.’ I thought to myself. I looked at her and reassured her. “I’m sorry you looked like the type who would be married by now.” “Oh yes, I’ve been looking for a husband for a while now. But I know one day I’ll find the right stallion who will fill me with joy one day.” she said while letting a tear fall down her cheek. I watched it fall to the floor and her face seemed to hold a happy expression, even though the tear showed a forgotten sadness that needed to be there. She noticed me looking at her oddly, and she put a hoof on her face and discovered the tears. “Oh heavens, am I crying?” she wiped away some tears. “Hmm... are there onions nearby?” ‘Oh now I just feel terrible.’ “Miss Cake.” “Oh, please call me Carrot dear.” “Carrot… I’m sorry.” I stated depressingly. “What? Did you do something wrong?” she inquired, giving me an odd look. “No, but… never mind.” I said somewhat dejectedly, turning back to the stairs and heading up. I got to the top of the stairs and walked through the door into the upstairs hall. As I walked down the hallway, I looked into the various rooms, not having any luck, until I got to another set of stairs. Ascending those, I found myself at the door to the topmost room of Sugarcube Corner. When I opened the door, I was greeted by the smiling face of the Pink mare I came to meet. However when she saw me, she stopped smiling, went into observing mode, and she looked at me with an emotionless, but studying look. “Ohhh...” she thought out loud, after a few moments. “Hello Pinkie Pie. I’m Puppet Master.” “WHOA, YOU CAN TALK!” she shouted with excitement. “Calm down please. I’m not here for play, or a meet and greet. I’m here for official business, that may or may not have to do with the future of Equestria.” I stated, before she could have the chance to question how I knew her name. “What do you mean?” her happy demeanor fading, but she still holds a smile. “I need to know the current population of Ponyville. Now, don’t think about it just tell me how many ponies are in Ponyville from the last time you counted.” “Uh... sure. 471 ponies live in Ponyville.” ‘Damn... I knew Ponyville was a small town, but I didn’t know it was that small. Not only that, but there looked like there were more ponies than that in town.’ “When was the last time you counted that number?” “About a month ago, so I know how many friends I have.” she said, smiling about her achievement. Then she frowned, “Why do you want to know?” “Can you count again?” “Why?” “To be double sure. Because you could never be too sure about how many friends you have.” I stated with a convincing smile. “Oh you’re right! Hmm...” she put a hoof on her chin and thought hard for a good few minutes. “OH OH… wait.” she exclaimed, with a very confused expression. “Pinkie? How many?” “Umm, I don’t think-” “How many?” I inquired, in a more commanding tone. “383.” she stated matter-of-factly, with a frown. I stood there, feeling a little troubled. “Thanks for the help Pinkie… today you may have saved Equestria for telling me this.” “I did?” she questioned, confused. “Yes.” I put my finger on her forehead, and removed the memory of my visit. “You did.” I did that because it made sense not to let Pinkie dwell on things that won’t be a problem after I fixed them. I also didn’t want Pinkie to worry about it, until she really needed to know about it. Which, in my opinion, was never. Plus, I want to keep this population issue a secret from everyone, since it could cause a massive uproar, and have Celestia breathing down my neck for the next few years, about what to do. And no one likes that. I quickly make my way downstairs, before Pinkie comes back to her senses and tried to talk to me again. When I got to the ground floor, I noticed Mrs. Cake searching around the shop. “Whatcha doin’?” I asked. “I’m looking for any nearby onions that I may have accidently laid out.” she said peeking into the kitchen. ‘Yup, still feel bad.’ “Hey Mrs. Cake?” “Yes dear?” She asked, looked back at me. “How did you get the twins?” She looked at me questionably for a moment. “I gave birth to them of course.” “But... you said you don’t have a husband.” I said flatly. “…” She looked at me blankly for a few moments. “Y-you don’t think that I-.” She started to tear up, while a look of absolute horror appeared on her face. “I know you don’t, Mrs. Cake.” “WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME MRS?!” “Because I know it to be true. I’m sorry Mrs. Cake, but your husband died in an attack on Ponyville. It was forgotten shortly after it happened. I was around when it happened, and I saw him die defending Ponyville.” That was a complete lie but I didn’t want Mrs. Cake finding this out, without me around. She may cause an incident that could have been avoided, if this wasn’t solved now. Though, I lied when I said I saw him defending the town. “W-what?” she questioned, with tears streaming down her face. “Hold still. I’ll show you my memories of your husband.” She backed away fearfully as I stepped forward towards her. She wasn’t terrified of me, but she was afraid of the unknown and her husband currently was the unknown. Thankfully, with my mental abilities, I can fix this without a long speech. I placed my exposed right index-finger on her forehead, and she relaxed as the memories went from me to her. I didn’t give her anything else, other than a few things he did around the shop, and what I saw on MLP. I also took care not to include any of the battle. When it was over she looked at the ground and gave a soft smile. “He’s quite a looker.” she stated, still teary eyed and cracked voiced. “And a baker like I’ve always wanted in a husband… someone I will enjoy sharing moments with at all times.” She looked back at me, “Thank you for telling me this. I don’t know how rash I would have been if I thought the babies aren’t mine.” “It’s ok. If you ever want to talk, find Rainbow Dash. She knows how to get a hold of me. And don’t’ worry with how busy I am, ok? I’d rather help a friend than do work to be honest. Oh, and don’t worry I’m working to get your husband back. My only request is you hang in there, while I find a way to retrieve him.” “T-thank you.” she looked at the entrance where a group of ponies were coming in the shop. She wiped away the tears and went up to the counter. “I think you should leave so you don’t scare any customers.” she said looking back at me. “You’re right... Goodbye, and take care.” I walked past the group as they went to line up in front of the cash register, and they pretty much watched me pass by, but that’s about it. I got outside and spread my wings to take flight and find Rainbow Dash, before I heard a voice shouting in the distance. I looked around, and saw Twilight barreling toward me in a sprint. “PUPPET MASTER!” she shouted, and her concerned face turned to relief when she saw me looking in her direction. She got within ten feet of me and started talking and slowing down at the same time. “Celestia needs us urgently! A tame forest just started growing out of control! Trees pop up randomly in the night, and there seems to be some sort of power coming from inside the forest itself!” She exclaimed hysterically. Normally something like this wouldn’t interest me, but Radiant Garden is missing and he’s the only one I know that can grow plants overnight in the billions. “Sure, how do we get there?” “There’s a chariot that will arrive at my library that will take us to Whitetail Woods, where the anomaly is taking place. We need to hurry back to the library right now!” “Sure I’ll fly. You hoof it.” “No time!” her horn glowed and we both popped out of existence for a few moments. *pop* “Whoa, that feels weird.” I said as the tingling sensation dies down. I took in my surroundings and find myself next to Twilight Sparkle, and only ten feet from the front door of her library. The door was ajar and a very annoyed cross-armed baby dragon was standing in front of the door. He walked toward us and was about to say something before Twilight cut him off. “Spike, you said the chariot was going to be here. Where is it?” “If you stayed long enough for me to finish reading, you’d know that it would be arriving in an hour.” “Ooooh.” quietly stated a very sheepish Twilight. “Well smart stuff-” I mocked. “-what’ll we do till then?” “PUP!” Shouted another hysteric voice that was way too tomboyish to belong to Twilight. I looked up to see Rainbow zipping down toward me. “Hello Rainbow. Is your news as grave as mine?” “Yeah, I found out there are twenty ponies missing!” “Twenty out of 471… That’s disturbing.” I said nonchalantly. “Hey why so uninterested all of a sudden?!” she questioned, narrowing her eyes at me. “Well Rainbow, the problem is a little bigger than you think. That, and I’m kinda getting bored. Yeah, I worry about Equestria, but it’s still not my country.” “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help everypony!” “What’s going on?” inquired Twilight. “Nothing that concerns you yet.” I said dismissing her. “Wait, bigger?” questioned Rainbow, finally realizing my statement. “I’ll explain more at your place.” “Hey, tell me what’s going on!” I looked back at Twilight, who was pounding her hoof angrily in the dirt. “Something to do with the corruption I told you about. Right now I’d rather not tell you more because it’s not important yet.” “Tell me, or else!” “Or else what?” She adopted a smug expression. “I’ll tell Celestia.” I looked back at Rainbow she looked a bit worried. I turned back to Twilight and gave her a dirty look. “Celestia has no power over me. So I will not fear or follow her.” Twilight looked almost bewildered, but regained her confidence. “Well, she has power over Rainbow.” I turned to Rainbow. “Just so you know. Equestria’s not in danger if they know later, but if they know now… Rainbow it could cause panic that we won’t be able to fix. Not only that, but if Celestia knows, her constant prying into my work will impede my progress to fix it. SO! Whatever you do, don’t say anything.” “Got it.” she stated, saluting me. I looked back at Twilight, and she was sitting on the ground as her jaw dropped at how easily I was able to get the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty on my side. I turned back to Rainbow. “We need to talk about Pinkie and Mrs. Cake. Once you hear the story of how they reacted, you’d understand. In the meantime deny everything, even if Celestia is asking you herself.” “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind…” she lands next to me. “Hey, why are you here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be out looking for more information, like I am?” “Well you’re faster so you’re supposed to ask around. My job was to find Pinkie, and I did that. Now I need to formulate a proper plan to fix this. Celestia won’t be any help, until I get all my research materials. And by that, I mean round up my old friends.” “You mean those other Terrarians?” “Yes. And when I find them we can all work together to fix up my castle and get to researching a solution. If Celestia knows about it now then I could have a problem doing just that.” “Yeah, yea I got it. Don’t tell Celestia.” “Well I’ll tell Celestia.” said Twilight. “No you won’t. Because you don’t know what we’re talking about.” “WELL... I’LL TELL HER YOU’RE PLOTING AGAINST HER!” she shouted. “And potentially risk a war that no one will win? Sure, Twilight Sparkle. Be a warmonger if you wish. I’m prepared for such an occasion already.” I said smugly. “W-wait you have an army?” she questioned, getting worried. “Well, what king doesn’t? I thought you were a smarty pants.” Spike snickered behind Twilight, and Rainbow just smiled. “Well, I’m telling her anyway!” “Sure then… how long till she gets here?” “Don’t change the subject!” Twilight yelled angrily. “All right then, anything else you wish to talk about?” She paused for a moment. “Not really.” she looked down in defeat. "Right, I guess this conversation's over." I stated, sitting down on the couch, leaving Rainbow, Spike, and Twilight to converse.