//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Ponystuck 
// by confoundtheseponies 
//------------------------------//

	It was now late in the morning, and gradually Rarity's senses returned despite her desperate attempts to keep them away. It seemed the Universe wanted her awake again. Now the game was to convince herself that she was asleep for as long as possible. First of all, she half heartedly satiated the growing urge to stretch by rolling to the other side of her bed, but in that position a small gap in the curtains betrayed her to the merciless sunlight. Though her eyes were closed, she could still feel the burning heat on her eyelids. This was an interesting tactical move by the Universe, and the second in a game that she never, ever won. But winning wasn't the goal - the goal was to waste as much time as possible. Rarity was not much of a morning pony.

She considered her options (as deeply as it is possible to consider anything when you're asleep, because she was asleep). To move out of the light would be to admit to the world that she was awake. To put up with the light was both uncomfortable and stubborn. Settling on the only available course of action, Rarity stretched out a free hoof into the air (slowly and sleepily, in order to add to the illusion), and then let it fall onto her face so that it lay on top of the eye which was being attacked by the daylight. Your move, Universe.

Strictly speaking, the game ended in a tie, because what happened next was not the fault of the Universe. Not that it mattered.

An urgent beeping sounded right next to her ear, the sudden noise forcing her eyes open in panic. Her eyes and ears both filled with information. There was no way of pretending to be asleep now. Taking a moment to lament the continued existence of the world, and all of its obnoxiously bright and noisy contents, Rarity stood up painfully. Awake or not, she was still tired, and that beeping was giving her a headache. Looking around for the source, she saw that the communication spell was patiently waiting for her to access it. Somepony was trying to contact her, at this hour? This had better be important.

[insanityPrelude began narrating to adamantineCorsair]
IP: Hey Rarity!
IP: You awake yet?
AC: It doesn't feel like it...
IP: Well, don't worry, because I'm here to help wake you up!
AC: ... I appreciate the effort, Pinkie, but...
AC: I think I'd like to go back to sleep, actually.
IP: Huh? But you've been asleep for years!
AC: ... what?
IP: Are we talking about the same thing?
AC: Somehow, I doubt it...
IP: OK, well, when you go to sleep, try and wake up!
AC: Urgh... I'm too tired for this, Pinkie.
IP: Good, the more deep your sleep, the more time you'll have to work with.
IP: Just, when you start dreaming, try to become aware of where you are.
IP: Take in your surroundings, and focus on the fact that you're conscious.
AC: So you want me to go to sleep...
AC: And then realise that I'm awake.
IP: No, you'll still be asleep.
IP: But you'll be conscious, while asleep.
AC: I suddenly understand everything.
AC: Except, in reverse.
IP: Heheh, don't worry about it, just try to remember what I said.
AC: Fine. Can I go back to sleep now?
IP: Sure!
AC: Then good night.
IP: *morning
AC: Shush.
[adamantineCorsair stopped listening to insanityPrelude]

Pausing for a moment, Rarity glanced between her bed and the door. On the one hoof, she could go back to sleep. That was a good option. And besides, there was apparently something important that she had to do that she could only do while asleep. Then again, she did have some important orders to fill. She could just head downstairs, make herself some coffee, and get to work. But then, she remembered, within the day a giant meteor was going to destroy Ponyville and everypony in it. She wasn't going to finish her work in a day, so the only sensible option was to not start in the first place and that bed has never looked so comfortable. Her decision made, she got back into bed (first ensuring that the curtains were properly closed). As she gradually lost herself again, her thoughts drifted briefly over what Pinkie had been saying. Go to sleep, and then... wake up? Whatever it had been, it hadn't made any sense and she was tired. Rarity fell asleep.

And then, Rarity woke up.


***


Strange noises from alien birds echoed through the barren forest, adding to the already overwhelming feeling of isolation which Fluttershy was currently experiencing. Since she had appeared in this haunting place, she hadn't had any contact with her friends over the communication spell, and had immediately begun to fear the worst. This was an entirely different universe, if she understood it correctly. It was an act of sheer optimism to hope that the spell would work in the first place, and foolish to believe that it would work for everypony just because it worked for Twilight.

Of course, strictly speaking Fluttershy wasn't entirely alone here. However, keeping herself to herself and staying alone was marginally less frightening than approaching the strange glowing creature which was drifting around in the air outside her house. She had no idea what it was, and decided that it would be a good idea to not find out.

It was amazing how nervous it is possible to get after five minutes alone in a strange place, and Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her skin when the communication spell reopened.

[crespucularMagicant began talking with reticentButterfly]
CM: Hey Fluttershy, did you just enter?
RB: Twilight!
RB: Oh, thank goodness, I thought the spell had stopped working.	
RB: I... thought I was alone. :c
CM: Oh Fluttershy, it's only been a few minutes.
CM: I think the spell, and the game, takes a little while to recalibrate after you enter, from what I can tell.
CM: You shouldn't have been so worried.
RB: I know, but it's scary out here by myself.
CM: What about your sprite?
RB: Uh, I don't know... is that the strange glowing thing?
CM: Yeah. It's Angel, right? AJ used him to prototype?
RB: She did what?
CM: I thought you knew. That's how I knew you'd entered, because suddenly the enemies started getting bunny ears.
CM: It's kind of off putting when the enemies are so cute, but never mind that.
RB: I, uh...
RB: I'm not sure how I feel about that.
CM: Just go and talk to him. He'll just be the same old Angel, except now he can talk!
RB: Oh. That's... great?
CM: Well, do whatever you want, but you're effectively house-trapped until AJ builds up to your first gate, so you may as well get to know him and your planet a bit better.
CM: Speaking of, you'll also want to get onto AJ as soon as you can.
RB: OK.
CM: Bye!
[crespucularMagicant stopped talking with reticentButterfly]

Well, it looked like she didn't really have much choice. Exiting her house from the front, Fluttershy walked around the edge to where the floating ghost rabbit was hovering thoughtfully. From this distance he was more clearly recognisable as Angel. As she drew nearer, Fluttershy began to think about what this was going to be like. Angel was adorable, and he always seemed to want what was best for Fluttershy, but he did tend to get a little frustrated at times. Did she really want to know what he had to say about her? What if-

"Hey." Fluttershy jumped back a little, partly because she hadn't realised that Angel had noticed her, and partly because she had not been expecting his voice to be so deep. Yet he looked cute as ever.

"A-angel?" A nod. "You're... uh... you're not dead, are you?" While he was quite clearly capable of conversation, the sprite's ghost-like appearance was worrying her a little. 

"Well now, that's a complicated question." Despite the situation, Fluttershy was beginning to find it difficult to not find his voice amusing. Which was terrible, she reprimanded herself, especially as she knew from experience what it felt like to have people find your voice funny. And so she kept quiet. "My life as Angel, a tiny little rabbit who spends his days eating carrots and wishing he could be something incredible, is over."

"Then... what are you now?" 

"Now I'm Angel, an awesome sprite who spends his days eating carrots and being incredible in basically every way." Angel(sprite) seemed very proud of this.

"So, uh, are you here to help me?"

"Yeah. That's the deal. I help you through the game, I get awesome sprite powers, and once we're done I get to go free. That's how it works."

"Oh. OK then. So... what should I do now?"

"First things first you've got to arm yourself. Before you can go through that gate up above us, your server player will have to build up your house. And before that, you're going to have to play a little 'King of the Hill', if you know what I mean. Which you don't, but that's not the point."

"Arm myself?"

"Yeah. You know, as in weaponry. This place will be overrun with monsters pretty soon. The good news is that the reason the game sends you loads of monsters is so that you get enough grist to stock up on items and build your house and things like that. The bad news is that you're going to have to kill the monsters, using your currently non-existing weapons."

"K...kill?" That was just a little too much, Fluttershy decided. She didn't agree with Twilight's killing spree on LONAG, but accepted that it was a thing that had to be done. The underlings were literally nothing more than one-dimensional constructs designed to kill, after all. While she might accept that Twilight needed to do what she did, however, doing it herself was something she wouldn't go along with. "I'm sorry, Angel, but... I don't think I can kill anything. And I wouldn't want to." The sprite sighed wearily, as if he had known this was coming. Which, of course, he had.

"I figured you'd have something to say about this. I know you don't like the fact that this game involves violence, but that's just the way it is. You can't back out now, just like you couldn't have backed out before you entered. You have to play the game, whether you want to or not, and that means you're going to have to kill something at some point."

"No." There was a line, and this game had crossed it. It had done more than that, in fact. It had rubbed out the line and replaced it with a conveyor belt that sent an infinite line of cats into a wood chipper. She was not, absolutely NOT going to kill anything. "I'm not killing anything, and that's final." So saying, she walked back into her house, leaving Angelsprite hovering in her garden.

"If you don't kill them..." the rabbit flew upwards, looking down on the surrounding land. Already, waves of enemies could be seen approaching from all directions. Imps, of course, but also some stronger enemies. The starting enemies of each player always outstripped those of the preceding player. "... I'm not sure how long I can stop them from killing you."


***


Amid grand spires of solid gold, a young mare was once again making the journey to Prospit from her home atop its moon. Pinkie Pie loved to explore the enormous golden city, seeing the sights and tasting the food. As a hero of Prospit, the people were more than happy to give their princess anything she desired. While strictly speaking she didn't need to eat, the nature of dreaming on Prospit was that any and all food tasted ridiculously amazing. This was a benefit that Pinkie had taken advantage of on many occasions, and she planned to make today no exception. But first, she had an errand to take care of.

Meanwhile, a Punctual Messenger rushed through the crowded streets, holding on tightly to the purple package. She was dangerously close to being late, and a Punctual Messenger is never late. It goes without saying, really. She supposed that it was only because of her punctuality that she had been assigned such a precise date for delivery, down to the second, but it did mean that she needed to take a few shortcuts if she was to arrive on time. Fortunately for her, the precise time of delivering the package was just one of Skaia's many schemes and plots, a point woven into the timeline in such a way that the success of her efforts was assured. Whether or not this was a good thing remained to be seen.

On Derse, an Artillery Regulator was preparing for his coming mission. It was his responsibility to deal with the Bard, once she arrived, and he had made sure that he was carrying as many weapons as possible. It didn't matter what kind of weird powers she might have. He was pulling out all the stops to make sure that when she died, she would stay dead. Completely. No dumb surprises, no shadow of a doubt. You can't ascend if your body is in fifty separate parts. Probably.

Above the Regulator, a young mare was learning how to wake up without waking up. After going back to sleep in Equestria, Rarity was fairly surprised to find herself in a strange room, at the top of a large purple tower built up from Derse's moon. She didn't normally have dreams, and certainly not ones as real as this. She'd almost think it was real, except that now she could fly for some reason, and somehow breathe in space. Then, she woke up.

Once again waking to the sound of the communication spell, Rarity irritably got back out of bed. On the plus side, she felt much more rested. On the down side, she'd wanted to explore that tower more.

[insanityPrelude began narrating to adamantineCorsair]
IP: Hi Rarity. Nice job with waking up on Derse!
AC: Huh?
IP: I could see your dream self on Derse, looking confused.
IP: You woke up, didn't you? And saw that purple planet?
AC: Oh, right. Yes, but I was dreaming.
IP: You weren't dreaming. You were being your dream self, which is slightly different.
IP: Anyway, this is great! I've been trying to get all of our dream selves awake for ages.
AC: Then why have you only just decided to talk to me about it?
IP: Because I knew it wasn't time. Not until the game started. But now that it has, well...
IP: Something's come up, and I need you to follow my instructions closely.
IP: Your dream self has a very important job to do.
AC: But, I'm not tired any more.
IP: But you're still awake on Derse. Aren't you.
AC: I... am?
IP: Concentrate. Both of your selves are currently awake, but you're only paying attention to your waking self.
IP: While you're being one self, the other just sort of goes on standby, but she's still awake.
AC: Uh...

What was that even supposed to mean? Did she just have to focus on her dream self, on that purple tower? Was there any kind of actual mechanism for switching which self she was currently paying attention to, or - oh, here we go. Once again on Derse, Rarity looked out of the window of her tower, searching for any sign of Pinkie. Didn't she say she could see her? Letting herself flow back into her waking self, Rarity resumed the conversation.

AC: OK, so I can be awake and dreaming at the same time.
AC: That's... useful?
IP: Very useful. Most ponies can't do that, but your powers in particular make you much more suited to manipulation over your own consciousness.
IP: Among other things.
AC: I see. This is all a bit daunting, to be honest.
IP: What's important is, you can receive instructions from me, while moving around on Derse. That's why this is your job...
AC: What is?
IP: OK, well, if you look to the planet beneath the moon that you're currently standing on...
IP: You can see the palace, with the six spires, right?
AC: One moment.
AC: Yes, I see it. Very, very far away.
IP: You have to go down there.
AC: Why?
IP: I can't really say, just that it's very important!
IP: Something which has to happen is about to happen, and you need to be there for it.
AC: ... OK, I'll trust you.
[insanityPrelude stopped narrating to adamantineCorsair]

Back on Derse's moon, Rarity began the long journey down towards the dark planet beneath her. Elsewhere, the scene was mirrored by Pinkie Pie, who was also making her towards a palace, albeit one with a very different colour scheme. The clouds had told her about this, that she was apparently supposed to be going to the palace at this point in time. Why it was so important, and what she could expect to find there, Pinkie didn't know. 

Between these two ponies, and their respective planets, the clouds of Skaia churned. The fixed moment was approaching, at which point the state of the game would change drastically. While this wasn't uncommon for the average Sburb session, there was a slight technicality which needed to be taken care of, on both Prospit and Derse. Skaia had long foreseen this task, and had chosen the two heroes that would complete it. Everything was going to plan, if only because the plan required that things went wrong.


***


You have advanced one (1) rung up your echeladder! You achieve the title of 'Bookworm Battlemage' and receive 3500 boondollars!
Gel Viscosity: +60!
Cache Limit: +160!
Youngster Gumption: +20!

Despite the ridiculous amount of killing that her achievements represented, Twilight couldn't help but feel a hint of pride at having climbed so high up her echeladder. The fate of Equestria was on her shoulders and everything, but she was enjoying this game. For the most part.

Spike was trailing behind her. He had learned the hard way that, while he shouldn't stray too far from Twilight while they were exploring, it also wasn't a great idea to stand right next to the quill/sword wielding librarian when she got angry. Which was frequently.

"How are you doing, Spike? Still awake?" Admittedly, the dragon had managed to get some sleep while she had been in the library, and over the past few hours she hadn't needed very much magical fire from him. But you never knew with Spike. Especially when he was nursing multiple cuts along his arm.

"I keep telling you that I'm fine. Do you have to keep checking up on me all the time?" Under any other circumstances, that tone would have called for a time out. But, to be fair, his attitude was deserved. "So when are we heading into Glowmire?"

Glowmire, as Twilight had learned, was once the largest hub of iguana civilisation on the surface of the Land of Night and Glow. The plants had once grown up and out of the lake, and a city had been formed in and around them. It sounded beautiful, according to the history books. However, since the plants had regressed to the Glowmire's current state, Hephaestus' underlings had overrun the remaining area. The iguanas had been forced out, and now it was (apparently) her job to get their city back. Conveniently, as FA had explained to her, the iguanas were incapable of venturing near the Glowmire. The game intended this to be her first real challenge, and it was hers to face alone.

FA, whoever he was, had been 'pestering' Twilight constantly while she had been playing through her quest line, asking for progress reports which would inevitably result in a comment about her lack of skill. Twilight presumed that he was the pony who had appeared in her library when she was messing around with her designix, if only because he certainly fit the description of 'really stupid, really annoying, and really mean for no reason'. Regardless, he wasn't any pony she knew, or wanted to know if this was how he went about making new friends. Twilight suddenly realised that she was in the middle of a conversation with Spike.

"Uh, what? Oh. I mean... now? I guess?" Twilight hadn't really been thinking about actually entering Glowmire. As much as she didn't want to admit it, FA was right. She hadn't been pushing forwards with her main quest as much as she could have been. Maybe it was time to tackle this problem head on. "I mean, it's not going to get any less guarded unless we do something about it. So we should probably - oh, great, why now?" Her plan of action was regrettably cut short, as once again the communication spell reformed itself before her.

[fractalAbomination began pestering crespucularMagicant]
FA: how's it going?
CM: Urgh....
CM: We literally just had this conversation.
CM: Five minutes ago.
FA: it was precisely half an hour ago, and don't even try to argue that
CM: do you have to keep checking up on me all the time?

Behind her, Spike cleared his throat.

FA: well, i would argue that without me here to keep you on track, you'd never get anything done
FA: but you haven't really done anything anyway, so maybe you're a lost cause
CM: Hey! I have been doing stuff. I climbed another rung!
FA: oh, great, that'll come in handy for the harder quests
FA: not that you'll ever get onto them at this rate
CM: Argh!
CM: If you're so great, then what have YOU been doing in YOUR session?

During their conversations, Twilight had learned that FA and his friends were also playing the game, in a different session. Like her session, they also had the constant values of Skaia, Prospit, and Derse. But they had different players, and therefore had different planets and quests. Even though he was apparently much further ahead into his game than she was, he was still a player just like her. He was currently running around completing quests, just like her, so where did he get off acting as though he knew everything? Infuriatingly, though, it seemed that he really did know exactly what he was talking about. Unlike her.

FA: i've been catching frogs
CM: ...

Wait. What?

FA: inb4 "wait. what?", because that seems to be the only reaction anypony ever has to the frog thing:
FA: the frog thing is incredibly serious business
FA: you have no idea how important this is
FA: neither did the moron who was supposed to be in charge of the frog thing
FA: and now, after literally spending DAYS persuading him to just stfu and do his gog damn job
FA: he takes the first chance to leap through a world gate and head off to
FA: idk, i think it was probably LOSAC, but that's not really the point so w/e
FA: the point is that he goes off in search of adventure or some similar bs
FA: leaving me to run around by myself catching all of these frogs
CM: O...K?
FA: no, it's not ok, that's the thing
FA: on a scale of 'ok with this', to 'not ok with this', i am so not ok with this that if the degree to which i'm not ok with this was physically represented by a puppy
FA: i would kick that puppy
FA: in the face
FA: with a sword
CM: :/
FA: so yeah, please do not give me crap about the frog thing not being a 'proper quest', because i have had enough of that from the idiot who was meant to be the one doing the quest
CM: OK, fine, I wasn't going to give you a hard time about it.
CM: And that was more explanation than I will ever want from you, just so you know.

Honestly, Twilight thought to herself, when this guy wasn't yelling at her, he was complaining about his own problems. What was even his deal?

CM: Anyway, if we can please get this back on track...
CM: I was actually just about to enter Glowmire.
FA: really? ok, great, now you-
FA: ... sorry, just let me go take care of a little something

Several fourth and fifth walls to the left, in a different game session, a frog and an unabridged encyclopedia were joined in that most mystical of unions that can only be described as one being smashed in the face by another.

FA: ok, anyway, what was i saying
FA: oh, yeah, well, that's great if you're going to be moving forwards
FA: i mean, for a first gate quest, i really doubt that there's any way you can fail given how high up your ladder you seem to be
FA: so go for it, and then you can tell me how it goes later
CM: OK, sure.
CM: By the way, I know that you're helping me out and everything...
CM: But, and I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but...
CM: There are other ponies in my group who are probably a bit... less suited?
CM: To the whole 'gaming mentality' thing.
FA: less suited than you?
FA: that deserves a fucking medal
CM: :(
FA: but dw about it, we're all helping out your group in between dealing with our own problems
CM: Oh, OK then.
FA: anyway, cya
CM: Bye.
[fractalAbomination ceased pestering crespucularMagicant]

Dismissing the spell, Twilight turned to Spike, who had been patiently waiting behind her.

"Right then, Spike. Glowmire?" She asked. Spike grinned, and nodded in agreement.

"Glowmire."


***


Angel had known, from the moment he had been prototyped, that becoming a sprite had made him powerful. But this, he mused as he finished up the most recent wave of enemies, this was something else. It was beginning to take its toll, though. Fluttershy had outright refused to play the game, and these waves were meant to be a challenge for her with Angel throwing the occasional blow. Still, now they had some time to talk, and plan, and for him to yet again try to convince her to fight. But first, he decided that he should check up on Applejack. She had been hard at work, as he could tell by the large tower spiralling upwards that had once been Fluttershy's cottage.

[angelSprite began talking with obstinateCultivator]
AS: Wow, nice going.
OC: Thank ya. Ah could say the same about that last wave.
AS: Heh.
AS: Seriously though, I'm really worried for Fluttershy. You'll have built up to the first gate soon, and then she'll need to play without my help.
AS: I'm not even meant to be helping as much as I have been.
OC: Maybe ya should talk to her?
AS: I plan to.
AS: How are we for grist?
OC: Well, even if ya weren't getting us so much, that GristTorrent scroll ya used has been keeping the build grist topped up.
AS: Good.
AS: Does Twilight know we've been stealing her grist yet?
OC: We're a team. This is a team game.
OC: It's not stealing if it's for the good of the team.
AS: Quite right.
AS: Well, keep it up!
[angelSprite stopped talking with obstinateCultivator]

Strictly speaking, Angel shouldn't have been helping Fluttershy so directly. He was meant to give her a few subtle hints, point her in the right direction, and then watch as she grew to achieve her place as a hero of Skaia. No worries. He supposed that she was lucky that Applejack had used him to prototype the kernelsprite. He had personal reasons for looking after Fluttershy, in addition to the game enforced reasons. Entering the cottage, he found her where he had left her, busying herself with the role of Twilight's server player. The library was now a colossal structure, stretching miles above the surface of LONAG. It now reached up to Twilight's third gate, not that she'd be needing that for quite some time. Or at all. Angel had the information on how gate progression worked, but for the most part it contradicted itself, or simply didn't offer any explanation whatsoever. The gates, he had deciphered, would take the player to where they damn well needed to be.

"Fluttershy?" Despite a slight jump at the voice behind her, Fluttershy ignored him. As expected. "Fluttershy, we need to deal with this now. When you go through your first gate, I can't follow you. You're going to be on your own, against enemies a lot stronger, and-"

"I'm not going to kill anything." That was that, as far as Fluttershy was concerned. Angel sighed.

"Would you consider just incapacitating the enemies instead?" He suggested brightly. It wasn't ideal, but better than nothing.

"Uh... I don't know."

"OK, think of it this way. By knocking them out, you don't have to kill them. So really, by doing that you're actually sparing them. It's for their own good!"

"Well... I suppose... if I really have to." She still seemed distraught at the idea. "But I don't have anything like that."

"Don't worry, I'll come up with something." Probably.

As Angelsprite left, presumably to talk with Applejack about what she could use as a non-deadly weapon, Fluttershy turned her attention back to the screen in front of her. It was relaxing, building Twilight's house, and it took her mind off of the prospect of killing (or at least incapacitating) the underlings. Even if it wouldn't kill them, she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to attack anything with an aggressive intention. Luckily, she was distracted from these thoughts by the communication spell.

[mushroomAddict began pestering reticentButterfly]
MA: hI
RB: Hello? Who are you?
MA: iM eMBER
RB: Well, hello Ember. I'm Fluttershy.
MA: yEAH THE hERO OF sPACE RIGHT
RB: Hm? I don't know anything about that.
MA: ok WELL ITS NOT HARD TO FIND OUT
MA: dOES YOUR PLANET HAVE FROGS IN IT
MA: sHOULD BE FROGS ALL OVER
RB: I... no, I haven't seen any frogs. Except the ones I brought with me.
MA: hM MAYBE HE GOT IT WRONG THEN
MA: hE SAID YOU WERE THE SPACE PLAYER
MA: nEVER MIND THOUGH
RB: So, Ember, uh...
RB: Did you want to talk about anything?
MA: wELL i JUST GOT TOLD ITS MY JOB TO HELP YOU
MA: sO i GUESS DO YOU NEED ANY HELP IS ALL
RB: Well, I suppose that I could use some advice.
MA: ok WHAT WITH
RB: I think I'm going to be going through my first gate soon, and...
RB: I'll have to fight, won't I?
MA: yEAH YOU SHOULD HAVE TO
RB: I don't really want to fight, or hurt anypony.
MA: wHY
RB: Because it's mean!
MA: uRGH WE SHOULD HAVE EACH OTHERS ROLES THEN
MA: iD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING TO NOT BE A hERO OF sPACE
MA: so BORING i HAD BARELY ANY ACTION
RB: :c
MA: hA i HATE THAT FACE SO MUCH
RB: Why?
MA: mY FRIEND USES THAT FACE
MA: cOME TO THINK OF IT YOU SHOULD TALK TO HIM INSTEAD
RB: Who?
MA: iLL GO YELL AT HIM FOR YOU
MA: lATER
RB: O... K?
[mushroomAddict ceased pestering reticentButterfly]

Closing the spell, Fluttershy got back to building. Whatever that had been about, she would probably find out soon enough.


***


AS: Good.
AS: Does Twilight know we've been stealing her grist yet?
OC: We're a team. This is a team game.
OC: It's not stealing if it's for the good of the team.
AS: Quite right.
AS: Well, keep it up!
[angelSprite stopped talking with obstinateCultivator]

Keep it up was what Applejack intended to do, as far as she was able. It had been a few hours since Fluttershy entered, so once she passed through her first gate it would be Applejack's turn. Twilight's order had originally placed her before Rainbow Dash, but that had been changed by more immediate concerns. Since Applejack had been Fluttershy's server player instead of Rainbow, she would have to enter first.

Speaking of which, she decided, it would probably be a good idea to take care of a few things around the farm before things got a bit too dangerous. The advantage of entering after a few players have already passed through was that it gave you a better appreciation of what the process involved. As such, Applejack had set herself up in the barn, where Rainbow Dash would have more space to set things up. She had also taken the liberty of trying out her sylladex. It seemed she had a fairly limited number of 6 captchalogue cards, which were arranged in a stack. Each item she picked up was added onto the stack, pushing every stored item one card further back. In this way, she could only access the most recently stored card. Using this item brought all the cards forwards, allowing her to get at the cards stored deeper within the stack. It made sense, just the way she liked it.

What she didn't like so much was the result of attempting to pick up a seventh item. Without any card further back in the stack to be pushed into, the bottom item was instead forcibly ejected from her sylladex. It would then fly through the air at a high speed, usually dealing a fair amount of damage to whatever it hit. She had only experimented with the mechanism while inside the barn, and was astounded by the strength of the walls. At any rate, it seemed to her that there should be a way to make a weapon out of this throwing method, if her timing was right. Applejack was nothing if not prepared for Sburb.

One thing which she still needed to do was to assign her 'strife specibus'. According to Twilight, this meant Applejack would set the class of item that she was capable of using as a weapon, of which one method was to use an example of that item. Now, what could she use? There must be at least one item lying around the farm that she could use as a weapon. Rakes could work, she supposed. Even a shovel would do, but that was hardly the most elegant weapon. Or...

Applejack smiled to herself as she caught sight of the tool in the corner. That could work, she thought to herself. That could work very well.