//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Ponystuck 
// by confoundtheseponies 
//------------------------------//


***PONYSTUCK***



"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my humble domain. My name is Not Important, and I will be your narrator for what can arguably be called an evening. Please, take a seat, as long as it isn't that big one with the red cushion. That's for a friend of mine, who may or may not turn up later on." Here I pause, and wait for you to get into a comfortable position before continuing my introduction. Regrettably, it takes so very long to explain things through dialogue. There is much to tell you, and one of the few things I am unaware of is how much time I have left to tell it before the story takes matters into its own hands.

"Before I begin this story, however, I feel that it is only right to give you fair warning. This story takes place across many different universes, with far too much jumping around between them. As a result there are many uncertainties involved with claiming that anything is happening in the past or present, or even the future, relative to my position here. The upshot of all this is that, though it is a very small risk, there is the possibility of the narrative catching up with the narrator, should the subjects of our story find their way into my house." I pause again, but this time because my attention is drawn by some noises coming from an adjacent room to this. Please give me a moment - it could be one of my cats escaping its bag, and I don't know what I'd do if it got anywhere near the red herring tank. Fortunately, it turns out to be another matter entirely, so I promptly return.

"I apologise for the wait," I say as I enter the room again, through a door on the wall opposite the door I had left through. It is useful to keep in mind that my house does not obey the terrestrial laws of time and space, or even the laws of good taste. Or so I'm told. "Now, as I was going to say, I am this story's narrator, and I am able to act as a bridge of sorts. I can cross the divide between this fold of reality where I - and the characters of our story - physically exist, and the altogether different plane where you are reading these words. If you like, I am a window through which you may look into the fourth wall. As I have mentioned, there is a chance of the characters in this story finding their way into my home, but do not be alarmed. Should this happen, they will be unable to see you, and you will only be aware of them through my narration of where they are. But remember, this is highly unlikely in any case. I would expect us to be uninterrupted for the duration of this story, and besides-" my reassurances are cut short by a high pitched scream of excitement. Turning around slowly, I find myself staring directly into the eyes of a young mare. I am temporarily confused, but luckily I have some time to collect myself in the 10 seconds or so it takes her to rattle off her life story.

"Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie and I just got here and it's soooo cool! Even though everything's grey and I don't normally like grey that much because it's boring! So I thought I'd make everything more cheerful, so now you have balloons and streamers hanging all over your staircase - and is that OK? Because if it's not then just tell me and I'll move them off, because I know how some ponies don't like being happy and having fun, and I'm not saying you don't like fun, but I do like fun, and I really like it when other ponies like fun as well, so I thought I'd make everything more exciting for you!" Note that I have added punctuation to her rambling so as to make it easier to discern. In reality, this entire outburst is uttered in a single breath. Fortunately, at this point the astonishingly pink mare in front of me is forced to pause for breath, and I seize my chance to put an end to this nonsense.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie. I know that you're excited, but I'm trying to tell a story. If you wouldn't mind, could you perhaps continue your hyperactive rampage someplace else?" It is an act of extreme optimism to pose the question in the first place, but I am nothing if not optimistic. I do hope that she will agree - her very existence here is jeopardising vital dramatic tension, much to my eternal disdain.

"Ooh, a story? What story? What happens? Am I in it? Can I listen?" Though more controlled, the stream of questions still exits the pink pony at an incredible speed, and it takes even me a few moments to digest their meaning.

"As it happens, Pinkie, yes, you are in this story. And... I suppose that yes, you can stay and listen for a while. Just sit over there and try not to be too noticeable." I 
decide against telling her why - if she does anything particularly noteworthy, it is my sworn duty to record it in this narration. For various reasons, I would like to tell you as little as possible about Pinkie Pie until it is the time for her to be introduced in this story. I'm sure you understand.

Satisfied with the compromise, Pinkie happily sits on a cushion tucked away into a corner, where hopefully you will be unable to see her. And now, I think, it is time for me to begin this story proper.

"This is a story about a journey across time, space, and some other strange dimensions that I don't have time to go into right now. It is a story of six... no, wait, eleven... no, it's... it's a story about quite a lot of ponies, let's put it that way. It is a story about those ponies, and the trials they face, the friendships they form, the pumpkins they ignore for no discernible reason. It is a story of betrayal, of hope, and all the cliché things that really good stories are made of. But for now, it is none of that. As far as we are concerned, this is a story about a young filly and her friends, and a game they play together..."



***ACT 1***


Enchanting is a slow and tedious process of inscribing, checking, re-checking, erasing, and inscribing all over again. Complex enchantments are so delicate that they require years of training to to be able to apply correctly, and take months of patient work in order to do so. But Twilight Sparkle didn't have months, and the rate at which she was inscribing the whirlwind of scrolls that surrounded her was worrying - to say the least.

Watching her with a mixture of fear and boredom were Twilight's best friends. The purple unicorn had briefly greeted them as they'd entered, but other than that, the past few minutes had passed without any further discussion. Eventually, Rainbow Dash turned to the only other unicorn in the room for an explanation, having given up on her attempts to figure out the meaning of Twilight's activities.

"OK, I've had enough of this. What's she doing?" she asked. Rarity's smile somehow became even more smug as she added a few ticks to an imaginary scoreboard. 

"I'm afraid I only know a little more than you, Rainbow. Luckily, I know a thing or to about magic, so I've managed to get the rough idea." Rarity gestured a hoof to some of the scrolls that were circling their friend, on which Rainbow could make out what she presumed to be magic circles. She nodded for Rarity to continue. 

"As far as I can tell, she's making enchantments. Which is to say, spells bound onto scrolls for later use. They're mainly used in order to cast several powerful spells at once with minimal effort, and because they allow non-unicorns to use magic." For a few moments, everypony subconsciously switched off as Rarity warmed to her topic. They were vaguely aware of her going into detail about the more complex uses of enchantments, and something about connections to hub spells. Eventually Rainbow's head cleared, as time resumed its normal speed and the words being spouted at her were drawn back into focus.

"... but of course, I have only the most preliminary understanding of the subject. Twilight could tell you all about the history of it, but I'm sure you don't need to know that. In any case, how much longer are you going to be working, Twilight?" Rarity called out to Twilight. Twilight held a hoof in the air in reply, as she hastily completed an intricate sun adorned with dozens of symbols. Satisfied, she returned the scroll she was using to the ring of paper orbiting her, and the unicorn finally turned her attention to the assembled ponies before her. 

"Right, that's the last of them. Sorry about that everypony, I didn't think it would take me so long." As she spoke, the scrolls above her folded themselves and collected in a pile behind her. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here. Well, Princess Celestia has given us a very important mission to save all of Equestria!" Unfortunately, Twilight's confident smile only seemed to make her friends all the more alarmed at this news, but she continued regardless. "As you may or may not be aware, there are several meteors heading towards Ponyville." Judging by their reactions, they weren't aware. "According to Celestia, these meteors signify the start of a cosmic event that - unless we can stop it - will turn all of Equestria into rubble!" To be brutally honest, she reflected, her speech was not inspiring them as much as she had hoped. Deciding that trying to reassure her friends would do no good given what was about to follow, she continued on with her briefing - disheartening though it was.

"Anyway, please don't be scared when I tell you this, but..." Why had she said that? They were already scared, and now the fear of what she was about to say had just made things worse. Oh well, she thought to herself, let's just get this over with. "There are six meteors, with one aimed directly at each of our homes. One aimed here, one at Sweet Apple Acres, one at Sugarcube Corner, one at Fluttershy's cottage, one at Carousel Boutique, and one at Rainbow's... um... cloud temple thing." And now they knew that she was scared, too. She was rambling uselessly, which was a clear sign that she was nervous. As if she needed to tell them where they all lived. By now her friends were thoroughly unnerved about the whole situation, except for Rainbow Dash who just seemed a little annoyed at her home being called a 'cloud temple thing'.

"But don't worry! The point is, Celestia says that this means we six are the ones who are destined to embark on this mission to save Equestria. She told me that us agreeing to this mission to save our homes later becomes the cause of the meteors, or something like that. Which means that, even though it seems like we could just refuse and thus never make the meteors, we can't because... we already have made them, in the future. Is anyone getting this?" Rarity shook her head, so Twilight looked almost pleadingly to Fluttershy. She was quiet, but a lot of the time she was the only one in the group who really understood what was going on. But the pegasus simply gave a non-committal murmur, which could have meant anything. Applejack, however, was able to sift through all of Twilight's temporal shenanigans. As she began to speak, Twilight's hopes lifted. Maybe this would all work out, as long as at least two ponies were on the ball.

"So if Ah understand this right, we've gotten shoehorned inta this mess whether we like it or not?" Well, she might not like it, but at least she understood it. At this stage, Twilight was just happy to have someone up to speed.

"I suppose you could put it like that, yes. But whether or not we're destined to do this, I'm still going to ask. Is everypony prepared to save Equestria?" There we go, Twilight, that's what we need. A nice call to arms, that'll get them feeling confident. 

"Hold on now, sugarcube, y'all haven't even told us how we're going to save Equestria," Applejack pointed out. "Maybe if we knew that there was a plan, and what it was, this might seem a little less overwhelming?"

"Oh. Right. The plan. Yeah." Twilight cleared her throat while mentally going over what the plan actually was. "A long time ago, when Celestia and Luna were much younger, a very skilled mage created an incredibly complex and powerful spell, and bound it to a power source long since forgotten. This spell is capable of creating bubble universes, and facilitating travel to those universes, presented as a game. Well, I say it's 'presented' as a game. It is a game, and was made as a game. But it's a dangerous game, with real treasure at the end, and very real dangers to stop you reaching the treasure. The spell that powers it is still active, tucked away in a realm outside any universe. To play this game for yourself, it is a simple matter of connecting to this realm and tapping into the spell." Seeing that her friends were growing tired of this exposition, Twilight decided to cut out the detailed description of the magic used to perform this feat. Instead, she levitated two scrolls from the pile to her side, one noticeably larger than the other.

"For this game, you need at least two players, and each player needs two scrolls - one of these smaller 'client' scrolls, and one of these larger 'server' scrolls. The basic principle is for the players to form a chain, with each player in the chain connecting their client to the next player's server. After they are connected, and the two players work together to complete something that Celestia called a 'sburban countdown', the client player will enter the bubble universe where the game takes place. Then the server player will connect their client to the next player in the chain, and so forth. Eventually the last player remaining in our universe will connect their client scroll the server scroll of the first player to enter, and the loop is completed with all players in the game world. Is everyone following so far?" Twilight was rewarded with gestures that vaguely resembled nods, so she continued her explanation as she gave each of her friends their two scrolls.

"According to Celestia, the meteors signify that it is now our turn to begin playing this game for ourselves. Our mission is to connect to each other's scrolls, enter the bubble universe, beat the game, and claim our reward." A slight pause followed, as Twilight chose her next words carefully. "This reward will grant us power beyond our wildest dreams, so I believe that this is how Celestia wants us to save Equestria." It could have just been the relief of finishing her explanation, but everypony seemed to be a little more confident about this now that they knew what was going on.

"Uh, Twilight?" Fluttershy paused to make sure she had Twilight's attention before asking her question. "There's still some scrolls left over there..." She aimed a hoof in the general direction of the scroll pile, where six more scrolls lay undisturbed.

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot! This is a little something I've been working on, just to practice some more advanced inscriptions. Celestia tells me that when we enter the game world, we won't see each other face to face for some time, and potentially not until we reach the very end of the game. So I made these to help us stay in touch." She added the scrolls to the two that everypony had already been given. "Once you activate them the spell will follow you around until I can dismiss it for you all later. It's voice activated - you just have to ask it to speak to one of us and it'll connect to their spell and display a screen. Then you just talk into the spell and the message will appear on their screen, and vice versa. I was going to just have the receiver's spell replicate the sound, but that proved a bit tricky, so we'll have to settle for the screen." Almost as an afterthought, she added "Oh, and something to note - when you activate the spell it'll ask you to enter a username, it's just something I had to add in because I couldn't work out how to magically identify ponies."

After everypony had collected their scrolls together, Twilight decided that it was time for them to return to their respective homes so that they could begin preparing for the game. She had rattled on for long enough. There was also the fact that in a few hours her home would be obliterated by a meteor if they didn't get started now. Once they were all back at their homes, everypony activated their communication spells and followed the instructions Twilight had given them.

[crespucularMagicant created a new memo FOREQUESTRIA]
[prismaticAscencion entered memo FOREQUESTRIA]
[crespucularMagicant entered memo FOREQUESTRIA]

Now that Twilight had created the memo, which functioned as a group conversation through which they could all communicate, she just had to wait until her friends joined. Assuming they weren't on here already.

CM: Is anypony on here yet?
CM: Anypony?

Apparently not.

[adamantineCorsair entered memo FOREQUESTRIA]

Judging by the signature on the client which had just connected, it was Rarity. After a few moments, Rarity spoke, and her message appeared on the screen beneath Twilight's.

AC: Hello?
AC: Is this working, Twilight?
CM: Yes, you're coming through clearly, Rarity. I'm just waiting for the others.
[obstinateCultivator entered memo FOREQUESTRIA]

Even without the signature, Twilight could have guessed that this was Applejack. She did wonder about 'obstinate', though, and it did cross her mind that the earth pony might not entirely understand its meaning.

CM: Applejack? Is that you?
OC: Yeah, Ah'm here Twi.
OC: Although Ah can't say Ah'm comfortable with using magic.
CM: Don't worry about it AJ, I've made the spell as unobtrusive as possible. It'll only be there when you need it.
OC: We'll see.
CM: By the way, do you actually know what... on second thoughts, never mind.
[reticentButterfly entered memo FOREQUESTRIA]

Twilight paused briefly as she tried to remember what 'reticent' meant. Deciding it wasn't worth the wait, she just checked the spell signature. It was Fluttershy.

CM: That's... Fluttershy? Is that you?
RB: Uh... yeah, that's me. Can you all see what I'm saying?
CM: Yes, Fluttershy.
RB: Oh... uh...
CM: Don't worry though, I'll close this memo down after we begin the game.
RB: OK...
[insanityPrelude entered memo FOREQUESTRIA]
AC: Let me guess.

Twilight had a pretty strong hunch about this one, and it seemed that Rarity agreed with her. Pinkie Pie.

IP: OH WOW HI GUYS! THIS IS SO AWESOME! I CAN SEE WHAT YOU JUST SAID! AND NOW YOU CAN SEE WHAT I'M SAYING! THIS IS GREAT!
CM: I'm glad to hear you like it Pinkie, but you really don't need to shout for this. Pretty much any noise will come through.
IP: Oops, I guess I overdid it. :D
CM: How did you... actually, I'd rather not know.
OC: Where's Dash got to?
CM: Hold on, let me check the logs.

Scrolling back through the conversation, Twilight was surprised to learn that somepony had joined the memo before her. Was Dash prismaticAscencion, then?

CM: Huh. Apparently she's been in here the whole time. Dash?
CM: Can you read this?
PA: Mr rmmrmp h mpr!
CM: Uh... what?
PA: M RRMP PH PRPRPM P HRP!
RB: What's happening?
CM: Well, the spell just picks up on whatever you say and transfers it to text, so either Dash is mumbling or the connection to her spell isn't great.
PA: MR'HR MPPM RHPRHMRH PHR HHM PR?
CM: Let me try connecting to her spell manually. This should only take a few moments.
PA: MRPRP HR MR PHRPMRHP!
OC: No need ta rush, Twi. Ah kind of prefer Rainbow when she can't say nothing.
PA: >:(
CM: Seriously, how are you guys doing that?
AC: Doing what?
CM: ... never mind.
CM: OK, that should be better now. Try it again, Dash.
PA: Testing, testing, 5, 23, 1.618. The awesome pegasus soars over the boring egghead.
OC: Heh.
CM: ... well, at least we've got it working for everyone.
CM: Now, I've sorted out a player order, where the first player is the first to enter the game.
CM: So unless there are any objections, the order is: me, then Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash, then Applejack, then Pinkie Pie, and then Rarity. Is that OK for everyone?
RB: Does that mean that I'm... going to be your server player, Twilight?
CM: Yeah. Is that OK?
RB: Uh... that's fine.
CM: Well, better than nothing. Besides, I have a little bit of knowledge about how this "countdown" works, so I can help you to help me through it.
RB: Alright then.
CM: So, is everypony ready to save Equestria?
PA: Let's do this!
CM: Right, I'm going to close this memo down now, but we can still all talk to each other through one-to-one conversations. Just ask the spell to set it up.
[crespucularMagicant closed memo FOREQUESTRIA]

Taking a few moments to relax, Twilight reflected on how her friends had reacted to what she'd told them. And, she reminded herself, how they were going to react to what she hadn't told them. They would find out eventually, that was doubtless, but at least this way she was able to get them past the point of no return before telling them. Which was terrible, and she hated herself for thinking that way, but it was the only solution. They'd thank her in the end, she reminded herself. At least, she hoped they would. For now, she had to focus on what was important. And right now, what was important was not getting smashed in the face by a meteor. She needed to prepare, she needed to plan, and she needed Spike.

"SPIIIIKE!" she called, her voice echoing off the walls, around the room, and inside the poor dragon's eardrums. With a speed that only a thousand lectures on punctuality - and the threat of more - can produce, the purple baby dragon appeared by her side in a matter of seconds, his hand to his forehead in a military salute. "I need you to find me that book-" at those words, a list formed in Spike's mind. Names, authors, subject matter, location. "-on alchemy-" the list divided, leaving a handful of possible targets. "-I can't quite remember the name... it's a really old book-" the list remained unchanged. "-something about Cruxite, I think." A thousand green lights lit up in Spike's mind as the pile of books became one. Twenty seconds there, five seconds to find and retrieve, and twenty one seconds back (being a library assistant is tiring work). Triumphantly he held the tome up to Twilight, who was still trying to remember its name.

"Cruxite ore and you: 1002 ways to not die slowly and horribly." he recited with a hint of pride. Twilight often remarked how amazing Spike's ability to find books in her cluttered library was, but in truth it was second nature to someone who spends the majority of their days doing exactly that. And that was why he was her number one assistant. Absolutely irreplaceable. No one meant more to Twilight than him.

"Ah, thanks Spike. I don't know what I'd do without you..." Twilight stepped forwards and began to take hold of the book with her magic, before it was suddenly engulfed in green flames. When they cleared, all she could see was Spike holding his mouth shut with an embarrassed look on his face, and a distinct lack of book in front of her. Yes, he was her number one assistant... except for the odd occasion when he did something like that. "SPIKE!"

"I'm sorry! I don't know what happened! I just-" regrettably Spike had to cut his apology short, as once again magical fire shot out of his mouth. This time, however, the flames collected and formed into a small parcel of fire. This burst, and a small card dropped onto the ground between them. It was rectangular, save for the top right corner where some of the card had been cut away. The card was white, with a green border, and the word 'captchalogue' along the side - not that 'captchalogue' was even a word. More interesting than that, however, was the picture in the middle of the card, which seemed to be an exact image of 'Cruxite ore and you: 1002 ways to not die slowly and horribly'. Curious.

"What is this thing?" Twilight asked, levitating it before her so she could get a better look. Turning over the card to see the other side, she was greeted by a strange wavy design that contained a skewed string of letters and numbers. It was hard to read, but looked like 'LZ4R89C2'. Meaningless.

"I don't know! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before." Spike nervously racked his brain for why this might have happened. Twilight seemed to have been distracted by the card, but he wasn't entirely sure whether or not he was still in trouble. "Normally when I burn things with fire, they either get delivered to Celestia... or just burn up." A few moments passed while Twilight tried to explain what had happened.

"Hm. This is a long shot, but can you try breathing magical fire on the card again?" Twilight flew the card in front of him, but took care to position it where he wouldn't catch any more books in the flames. He did so, and the card was predictably swallowed by the fire. And then, just as Twilight had hoped, a few seconds later another burst of fire came and reformed her book. Expecting its arrival, Twilight caught it before it hit the ground, and inspected it. The book seemed unharmed. "OK, well... that was weird, to say the least. Spike, take a note." There was still a little time before she needed to begin playing the game, so maybe Celestia would know what was going on. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am pleased to tell you that my friends have agreed to the mission you have given us. We will be starting the game in a little while, but in the meantime I have something to ask you. Just now I attempted to pick up a book, but instead Spike used his magical fire to turn it into a small card with the book's image on it - apparently outside of his own control. I have two questions: what does the word 'captchalogue' mean, and what is its significance? Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Right Spike, send it."

"Uh... sure." It didn't seem to make much sense to Spike to only ask about the word, as there were a hundred other questions that Twilight could have asked Celestia. At the same time, it didn't seem to make much sense trying to argue with Twilight, so he let it slide and got on with sending the letter to Celestia. While she waited for a reply, Twilight got on with reading her book.


***


CM: Right, I'm going to close this memo down now, but we can still all talk to each other through one-to-one conversations. Just ask the spell to set it up.
[crespucularMagicant closed memo FOREQUESTRIA]

After the conversation had ended, Fluttershy began the necessary preparations for a long journey. She travelled lightly, but her animals would need enough food to last them until she got back. If you get back, the voice in her head pointed out. It then occurred to her that she didn't actually know how long this mission was likely to last. She hadn't thought to ask. Then again, asking wouldn't be all that difficult. Settling down on a chair, she cleared her throat and spoke to nopony in particular.

"Uh... I'd like to talk to Applejack. Please." judging by the agitation in the air around her, the spell had heard. The faint blue mist which had been present during the previous conversation returned, but no screen formed. Apparently it had heard, but not understood. "Oh, right, uh... I'd like to talk to..." a brief moment of panic followed as Fluttershy tried to remember the name Applejack had used. "o... obstinateCultivator?" she wasn't entirely comfortable with calling Applejack that, and wondered if her friend completely understood its meaning. Regardless, the spell understood this time, and a screen soon appeared.

[reticentButterfly began talking with obstinateCultivator]

Well, that was a start.

RB: Uh... Applejack?

Inwardly, Fluttershy kicked herself for being so afraid. She somehow seemed even more nervous than usual when her nerves were up on screen for everypony to see. Fortunately she was spared from these thoughts by Applejack's reply.

OC: Hey Fluttershy.
OC: Do ya need something?
RB: Oh, yeah... uh, I was just thinking about my animals, and how I'm going to have to leave food for them to last until I get back, and...
RB: Well, did you know when it is that we'll be getting back?
OC: Uh, 'shy?
OC: Haven't ya forgotten something?
RB: What?
OC: Well...
OC: Y'know.
OC: The meteors.
RB: O_O

In that instant, Fluttershy lost focus of everything, as her house simply blurred into darkness. Suddenly the truth of the meteors, and what they meant, hit her like a brick wall - or like it would feel to be hit by a brick wall, if brick walls were capable of hitting anything, which they're not. It wasn't that she had forgotten them, just that she hadn't realised quite what they meant before now. It was all she could do to stop herself from passing out, and somehow she managed to take in the messages that Applejack was sending.

OC: Fluttershy?
OC: Are ya there?
OC: Please don't do anything Ah wouldn't do, OK?
OC: Actually, given the circumstances, it's probably best if ya don't do anything at all for a while.
OC: Fluttershy?
RB: ... I'm OK... I think...
OC: Ah'm sorry, sugarcube.
RB: I... don't think I want to play this game any more...
OC: If we don't, Equestria is as good as gone.
OC: It might not seem fair, but we don't have a choice.
RB: Well, maybe you can all still play it, but I think I'd rather just gather my animals and leave.
OC: Hold on there, ya can't just go off and leave us here.
OC: Think about Twilight. You're meant to be her server player. Otherwise she's not getting into the game, and the meteor will hit regardless of whether she's gotten into the game safely or not.
RB: Well, I don't see why Rainbow Dash can't be her server player instead of mine, so that there's just a loop of five players.
RB: I'd just get in the way anyway.
OC: But the six of us are destined to play this game together. As far as time's concerned, we already have played it. Or something like that, Twilight can probably explain it better.
OC: Well, she can understand it better, but she's not the best at explaining.
OC: Please, Fluttershy. On behalf of all of us, Ah'm asking ya.
OC: Please play this game with us.
OC: It wouldn't be right to leave ya behind.
RB: Uh...

Whether it was Applejack's words, Fluttershy's inner strength, or the machinations of an author who's had enough of writing speeches of encouragement, at that moment Fluttershy's resolve was clear.

RB: OK. I'll do it.
OC: Glad to hear that.
OC: Now y'all had better get talking to Twilight, so we can all get this game started.
RB: I'm on it! Oh, and Applejack?
OC: Yeah?
RB: Thanks.
[reticentButterfly stopped talking with obstinateCultivator]

As the blue mist dissipated again, a slight noise drew Fluttershy's attention downwards, where Angel had crept up to her and was now nestled between her front legs. While she watched, the tiny bunny lifted his head sleepily towards her, his eyes half closed. Normally he employed this tactic to either procure carrots or to make Fluttershy feel better, but this time it simply filled her with grief at the thought of the rock rapidly approaching her home. She got him a carrot anyway, and happily watched him devouring it for a few moments. Sadly, this moment was soon ruined by a familiar blue mist reforming into a screen before her.

[crespucularMagicant began talking with reticentButterfly]
CM: OK Fluttershy, I think I'm good to go on my end.
CM: Are you ready?
RB: Uh...

She glanced over at Angel. He had fallen asleep again, his head resting on a half eaten carrot.

RB: Let's do this.