It was games night at Canterlot Palace that night, according to Discord, who had reappeared some hours later, and casually shrugged off Princess Celestia's veiled threats of future Fluttershy visits. Instead, the chaos god had suggested playing something. The usual suggestion of monopoly proved a dead end when Luna was nowhere to be found, and so an epic thirty minute debate ensued as to which game would be the focus of the night. At several points Discord would suggest a game, Celestia would agree to play it, and then Discord would reveal he had no intention of playing such a game. Eventually they decided upon chess. It took some time for Celestia to re-re-re-explain the rules to Discord, in order to prevent the pawns from trying to form a republic, or creating a new piece, or a third faction, or even worse the repeat of the times Discord made the board three-dimensional and the pieces slightly alive (Occasionally the cleaners would still find a piece of Celestia's second castle in the process of their work, the result of Discord not being informed that dynamite was not necessary for removing the piece from play). Of course, Celestia had other things on her mind beside chess as she played, and from his expression, Discord realised this.
"Well, who's going to go first?" he said. Celestia looked up, her train of though derailed, as she tried to contain her annoyance.
"Discord, I went first. That was twenty minutes ago."
The chaos god raised an eyebrow, and sighed. "I am aware of that. I was talking about something else entirely."
Celestia's expression shifted. "Then what, exactly, are you talking about?" she asked, as one of her pawns managed to take a castle.
"You were going to ask me a question, so do it" Discord said, utterly uncaring about his missing piece, as he moved one of his bishops.
"Why?" Celestia asked, frowning at her side of the board. Discord stared at her. "It just strikes me as unusual, is all. Your interfering in the affairs of Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle. And I find it quite interesting that your actions have resulted in the girl benefitting in many respects."
Discord nodded, as his queen knocked away another pawn. "So it did."
"And helped young Twinkle get over much of her problems with her mother. And restored her father, whom you yourself erased from existence. You cannot expect me to believe all of that was coincidental."
Discord paused, and suddenly unfurled to his full height. "If you must know: her finding her father? That might have been intentional on my part. The wings, those were my idea. Couldn't let her throw her life away."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Really? You didn't want her to die? Why do I have a hard time believing that?"
Discord's expression soured. "I... disapprove of death. I am a chaos god after all. Death is predictable, inevitable. A waste of potential. As was little Twinkle's attempted suicide."
He turned his glance back to the board, and then after a few seconds saw Celestia still had her eyebrow raised. He sighed.
"Alright. There is something else. She is... unique."
Celestia just chuckled. "They are all unique, Discord."
"Not like that. I mean unique in a different sense."
The mare looked at him. "In what sense, then?"
"It is a bit difficult to describe, especially given that I'm not supposed to know this at all, but... she is unique, and increasingly so."
"Still not making your point clear. Oh, and I just took your queen."
Discord waved a paw irritably. "Whatever. My point is... every pony is unique, yes, but there are also other versions of them. Other universes. Like that one where you and Luna run a school, for whatever reason, and your 'most faithful student' wears woollen pullovers and bowties."
Celestia looked up in horror, and Discord rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, 'How could I have known about that'. I wanted to see if that universe's Discord was as devilishly debonair and dashing as me."
Celestia just looked at him. "And?"
He cursed inwardly, hoping she hadn't be listening clearly not working. He muttered something to himself quickly. "Anyway, not the point. My point is..."
"Discord?" Celestia asked, as he stared towards the edge of the room. "Discord? Discord!"
"Sorry, what?" he asked, in a dazed tone of voice, "Thought I saw some string for a minute. Oh, the things I would do for some string..."
"Discord."
"Oh, yes, anyway. I decided to futz with the reception on that mirror thin-"
"YOU WHAT?!"
Discord shook his head, and slowly pulled himself to his feet, somehow managing to miss, and end up sitting on the chair upside down.
"Relax, nothing that can't be fixed, you can still wait around for you former student, ol' whatever her name was. I just used it to keep an eye on Twilight's progeny. And at one point I guess I must have gotten things mixed up. I found another version of her, with even more 'issues' than this one."
Celestia couldn't help but feel an odd feeling in her stomach. "And?"
"As it transpires, the desire to be nauseatingly selfless is probably a genetic issue. As is the lack of imagination. This one had gone about calling herself 'Midnight Eclipse' on her little sojourn in the past."
He shook his head, as he took out one of Celestia's pawns with his rook. "Upstart young ponies, changing their names all the time. I honestly expected young Twinkle to start calling herself something like Twilight Dawn, or Twilight Eclipse."
Celestia blinked. "And the point of that tale was?"
"Didn't I say? No? How remiss of me. Young 'Midnight'" he paused to scoff, "Or not-so-young Midnight, only went and performed a ludicrous act of self-destruction posed as something incredibly noble and moving. Only in that universe she did not have a trained miracle worker at hand to revive her. Game over for that Twilight Twyla Twinkle."
He frowned as he looked down at the board. "Oh. I seem to have less pieces now."
"You're in check" Celestia smirked. For a few seconds Discord stared at her, before groaning.
"Have you ever considered a career in villainy?"
Celestia shrugged. "No dental. Less free cake."
Discord sighed. "True" he saw Celestia's disapproving glance. "Oh, you thought I really went along with your reformation scheme because I wanted friends? Aside from the fact that I turned out to like having friends? And not getting turned to stone every time one of my schemes was thwarted, just getting lectured by Fluttershy?"
Celestia shook her head. "So, you saved her from an impossible situation?"
Discord shook her head. "I was the one who got her into it. Somewhat. I mean, I didn't exactly stop her from travelling back to now (well, I did at first, but then I let down the barriers after she met her tediously tragic counterpart and didn't fight her)."
He frowned. "Besides, I couldn't let her die. Not when all-new Alicorn Twilight Twinkle has so much potential for causing chaos. Just look at the damage she already did, including disrupting that idiot time-travelling know-it-all's history, if only a bit."
He then muttered something else under his breath, something including the words 'stone' and 'Twilight Sparkle'.
Celestia stared at Discord for a moment, and he just stared back.
"Oh, don't give me that disapproving expression. I know about your manipulating things between the changeling and your niece's daughter!"
Celestia looked nonchalant. "And? What's wrong with two ponies falling in love?"
Discord made a gagging motion. "True love. How boring. See, Twinkle spent several months trapped in that alternate-past, and she never once met a good-looking guardspony that she fell in love with. Although there might have been a bit of unrequited love on a certain princeling."
Celestia just gave a small hum, before looking at the board and smiling. "Check-mate, by the way."
Discord sighed. "Best two out of three?"
"No. I have things I need to do. Letters to write to certain mayors. Right now."
Discord watched Celestia walk away, and after a few seconds righted himself. He waited until the doors shut, and then looked down at the chessboard.
After a few seconds, he smirked, and then vanished with a bright flash.
*****
There was light, and sound, and the wonderful scents in the air, courtesy of the only party planner she knew was capable of pulling everything off satisfactorily. And there was also music, which for some reason seemed both maddeningly quiet, and amazingly loud, as a purple unicorn danced with her beloved. As she did, Twilight Sparkle noted for the hundredth time that she was actually dancing at her wedding, and that she had to thank the several ponies who had taught her to dance. It seemed insane. There was nothing about him that was truly different from any of the dozens of stallions she'd met. He wasn't a hero, he'd never fought monsters (or not on purpose), he'd never wowed anypony with magical displays, his scholastic achievements weren't anything to write home about. Although he did have an endearingly nervous smile, and he was heir to a family line measuring back to Mimic, a pupil of Star-Swirl the Bearded, but that wasn't what she liked about him. It defied all logic. All science told her was that she felt attracted to him, and she knew that. She wouldn't have married him if she didn't. The two ponies leaned closer as the music continued, and then, she was dancing on her own, in thin air, all alone.
Twilight Sparkle's eyes shot open, and while she didn't immediately bolt upright in bed, she did kick the covers furiously for a second, her heart pounding. She shifted slightly, her gaze moving from the window overlooking the Crystal Empire, to glancing at the clock sitting on the bedside table. It told her the time, and it was far too early. And she could tell instantly that she wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. For a few moments she lay there, trying to get her breathing under control, as a soft breeze wafted in through the window. Her horn glowed, and the bedsheets slowly drifted back into place. She frowned as she noticed a small tear from where she'd kicked. Then she heard the noise. Slowly she turned her head to see the pony lying next to her, a dark blue stallion with bright orange hair, her husband, one forelimb positioned under the pillow his head was lying on, another laying free over the bedsheets. After a few seconds, she slowly wrapped her forelimbs around him, holding as tight as she could without waking him.
*****
Elsewhere, outside of time, and space, and in the machine known as the TARDIS, three ponies were engaged in discussion.
"So, where to next?" the madpony said, beaming away like nothing was wrong, like they hadn't just nearly been eaten by anything, or several things. Ditzy Doo frowned, and gave it some thought.
"How about... I don't know, seeing old Canterlot? You said you knew some of the ponies who were alive at that time, right?"
The Doctor paused in the middle of leaping around the main console, and stared at her. His jaw shifted.
"Dunno if we can" he muttered, "Got into trouble the last time I was there."
Ditzy frowned. It didn't take a genius to realise that he was hiding something. Even Dinky could probably have told, and the filly practically worshipped the Doctor, though this may have had something to do with finding the fact that underneath all his craziness, and his occasional odd moment, he seemed to get on far better with children than he did with adults, and the fact that he took them on a sightseeing tour to some of Equestria's more remote islands at a time when nopony had settled on them. That had been two weeks ago, and Dinky was still asking why she wasn't allowed a pet dodo. But even for the Doctor, who Ditzy had noticed frequently hid things and facts and tried to rush headfirst into danger, he seemed to withdraw quickly.
"What is it?" she asked. The Doctor's expression changed, as he bopped one of the consoles with his hoof.
"Oh, it's... the transdimensional slave relay. Acting up a bit. Star density must be too high right now for the old girl."
"Doctor" Ditzy frowned, trying to give him her hardest stare. After a few seconds he stared back, and then frowned.
"Alright, not trouble," he said, bopping the console again, ignore the slightly distressed noise the TARDIS produced at that. He walked over toward Ditzy, and sighed.
"You know when you make a promise, a really serious promise, and you have to keep it."
Ditzy nodded. She'd heard of Pinkie Pie's strange ability to materialise in unexpected places when ponies talked about keeping promises.
"I..." he gave an exasperated sigh, "I'd be crossing my own time-line, something that even under normal circumstances is dodgy at best. I was being clever, too clever by half and... it ended badly."
Ditzy stared at him. From the look on his face, he was remembering something he'd much rather have forgotten. She knew he hadn't actually answered her question at all, but at the same time she didn't want to upset him further.
"Okay" she said quietly, "So where then?"
He paused. Then a grin passed across his face.
"And not the Eye of Orion" Ditzy grinned. He pouted.
"It was nice the first four times, but I wouldn't mind going somewhere different."
"Different?" he smiled, with an air of excitement. "Oh, Ditzy Doo. I can show you different!"
He walked over toward a level and pulled it. There was a loud clunk, as he began laughing, and the machine began to whir.
"Ood Sphere, here we come!"
*****
In another time and place
It was a lovely day, and so far had been completely devoid of any sort of crazy ponies, which was always a good thing in Comet Chaser's book. Or rather, it had been up until he'd encountered a certain pair of ponies, one of whom had asked, innocently enough it had seemed, how things had been going with him, and whether he'd been talking to Twilight Sparkle lately. He froze, and smiled nervously.
"No, no. I've been busy."
"Oh, my" Twilight Velvet said, "That's a shame. You two looked like you were having a lot of fun dancing at our son's wedding. Didn't they look happy, dear?"
Night Light just nodded slowly, as Twilight Velvet continued smiling unnervingly at Comet Chaser.
"Well, I'm sure you're busy, so we'll just let you get on with your usual activities."
The two ponies walked past him, and Comet Chaser stood there. He did have things he needed to do today. He had work. He couldn't just go running off to Ponyville at the drop of a hat. He couldn't.
He couldn't.
Twenty minutes later and he was sitting on the platform of Canterlot station.
*****
In Ponyville
"-ust don't know why, Mr. Rich. Can you think of anything that might have caused this?" Cheerilee said, trying not to slump. It had been a perfectly normal day, up until lunchtime, when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had begun fighting. She had just assumed the two fillies had been upset about something, but now that she thought back on it, the two had been unwilling to work together during arts and crafts projects, which was especially odd given those two were practically inseparable. And Silver Spoon had declined an opportunity to work on the Foal Free Press, but she'd just assumed that was because she had no interest in the paper. And then the two fillies had fought. She'd been calmly grading papers when she heard the alarming chanting of 'fight' coming from outside, and that had been a shock to hear. None of her students had ever fought before. Argued, yes. Called each other names, despite her best efforts. Committed gross abuses of admittedly limited power, definitely, but fight? Not on her watch. And then she'd found Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been fighting, and that had left her no option but to summon Filthy Rich, which had caused the pink filly to go practically pale. He had calmly listened to everything she'd said, not responding once, just looking straight at her.
"No." he said, "I didn't even know Dizzy and Silver Spoon weren't talking."
His voice was calm. Indeed, alarmingly calm. He just looked at Diamond Tiara, who looked down at the floor.
"I shall have a talk with her when we get home" he said, "See if we can't sort this out. Good day, miss Cheerilee."
Cheerliee nodded, as the stallion turned toward the door. Diamond Tiara just stared down at her hooves.
"Dizzy?" he called out, and with a sudden burst of movement the filly rushed over toward him. Filthy Rich gave the school-teacher another nod before closing the door behind him.
*****
Across town, it had actually been a nice day in the Golden Oaks library so far, as well as incredibly boring, as Spike had noted at least half a dozen times already. Aside from some mail from Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, there had been no new developments. Twilight had decided to go about reorganising the library again, and was going over the checklist necessary to do such a thing. Spike was grateful for this, because Twilight had spent most of the last few days just staring ahead and sighing every now and then, which didn't help that she had very little to do at the moment. Then Spike saw Trixie enter from the kitchen carrying a plate.
"What?" the mare asked. Spike looked at her.
"What are you eating?" he asked. Trixie looked down at the selection of crackers sitting on a plate sitting next to her.
"Peanut butter crackers" she said, slowly. "What?" she added, on seeing Spike's expression.
"Nothing" he said quickly, "It's just not deep fried and covered in chili sauce or dipped in butter then covered in chives."
Trixie blinked. "Your point?"
"It's just kinda weird seeing you eat something so normal."
There were a few seconds as Trixie just stared at Spike. Her horn glowed, and one of the crackers floated up toward her mouth. There was a crunch, which Trixie somehow managed to fill with as much silent defiance as was possible.
Spike was silently thankful that Twilight chose that moment to reappear. Then he notice she was looking at something as she came down the stairs.
"Twilight?"
She didn't seem to notice him. Then he saw she was carrying what looked like a letter, and it couldn't have been the one from Shining Armor, because that was still sitting on the desk where Twilight had left it.
"Twilight?" Spike asked, "What's up?"
She looked over at Spike, and then back to the letter. "I... found this" she said. For a few seconds she just stared at it.
"It's from Twilight Twinkle."
There was a sudden silence, as Spike and Trixie both looked confused.
"I think she wrote it before she left" Twilight said, not noticing their expressions. This was followed seconds later by Spike and Trixie quickly stating that of course they knew that, and certainly hadn't assumed it had somehow been delivered via time-travel.
"What does it say?" Spike asked. Twilight just looked at him, and then back to the letter. She levitated it over toward Spike. A few seconds later, Trixie had made her way toward the dragon and was reading the letter alongside him. Several minutes of quiet reading followed.
"Oh" Spike said, looking up at Twilight, who had a look Spike had seen far too many times to consider healthy. He walked over to Twilight and sat next to her. He tried to think of something to say, and after a few attempts, just settled for sitting next to her.
This mood was eventually interrupted by a sudden knocking at the door. Spike slowly got up and walked over toward it. On the other side was a grinning multi-coloured pegasus, a saddlebag with a noticeable book around her waste.
"Hey, Twi-" Rainbow Dash stopped when she saw the look on the mare's face.
"You okay?"
Twilight just stared straight ahead for several seconds before nodding. "Yes," she said, "Yes, Rainbow Dash, I'm okay. I'm okay."
She slowly turned to look at the mare and sighed. "Is something wrong?"
Rainbow Dash blinked. "Nah, everything's cool. But the rest of us were thinking about maybe hanging out together, or just doing something, you know?"
"Going to the zoo?" Spike asked. Rainbow Dash just stared at him.
"You remember what happened last time, right?"
Spike's expression shifted. "Oh. Yeah. That."
Twilight nodded, "All things considered, we should've seen that coming from Fluttershy."
"Should've," Rainbow Dash sighed. "Anyway, you in? We were thinking of just hanging out at Rarity's, since she's got the biggest house."
Then something occurred to Rainbow Dash, "Oh yeah, check this out." She removed the book with uncharacteristic gentleness from her saddlebag, and showed it to Twilight.
"'Daring Do and the City that Wasn't There'?" Twilight frowned. "I've not heard of this one."
"I know" Rainbow Dash squeaked, "That's 'cuz it's new."
Then she saw Trixie and Spike staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing" Trixie said quickly.
"I was thinking of bringing it round to the sleepover, maybe asking Flutters to sign it."
There was a new silence that made the last silence look like a cheap imitator, as Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash.
"How did... how did you figure that one out?" she asked. Rainbow Dash just scoffed.
"What, seriously? How did I figure out a pony I've know since I got my Cutie Mark wrote Daring Do?" she tilted her head, "Actually, it did take a while. It was mainly 'cuza Professor Bumble, her clumsy friend."
"Hey, yeah, she does act kinda like Flutte-..." Twilight trailed off.
"Isn't Professor Bumble the one that gets lost walking around a library?" Spike asked, looking at Twilight, "And didn't you say th-"
"Yes" Twilight said quickly, giving Spike a brief Look, "I did."
"Said what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nothing" Twilgiht smiled nervously. Rainbow Dash just nodded.
"Right. So... how long did you know?"
Twilight scratched her head. "A while. Wait," she said, "How come if you've know this you never mentioned it?"
Rainbow Dash just gave her a deadpan stare. "I don't know. Maybe because Fluttershy is my friend and if she doesn't want everypony to know she writes Daring Do she must have a reason, right? Right?"
Twilight nodded. "Okay, so, we're all meeting up at Rarity's, then?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright," Twilight said, giving a small smile, before gently folding the letter from Twinkle up. "I'll just go put this away upstairs."
Rainbow Dash just nodded. "'kay."
Twilight quickly made her way up into the bedroom and part-time observatory, making her way toward the small desk to store the letter. She stared at the second spare bed, the one Twinkle had used, and tried to resist the urge to sigh. Then she turned around and made her way downstairs. She looked over toward Rainbow Dash, and nodded.
"Let's go."
The three ponies and one dragon walked toward the door. Twilight opened it, and then nearly collided with the stallion on the other side of the door. Twilight blinked as she stared at the dark blue fur of the pony standing in front of her.
"Hi" he said nervously. Twilight stared back.
"Hello."
The two ponies stood staring not at each other, but at each other's ears.
"Is... something wrong?" Twilight asked. Comet Chaser twitched.
"No, no. Nothing. I just thought it was a nice day."
Behind Twilight's back, Rainbow Dash and Spike exchanged glances with Trixie.
"And I was wondering if perhaps you'd maybe..." he coughed, "If you'd like to do something."
Twilight bit her lip. "Well, that's very nice of you to offer, but you see, I-"
She was cut of by the sudden action of the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, shoving her onto the pony. Twilight was certain she heard Rainbow Dash mutter the words 'unbelievable egghead' under her breath. The two stood there for a moment, trying to look anywhere but each other.
"So," Comet Chaser said quickly, "You live here?"
"Yes" Twilight blurted.
"It's very nice."
"Yes."
There was a painful pause of several seconds as both ponies stood away from each other, still looking around nervously. Twilight made a mental note to get back at Rainbow Dash for her actions.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked. Twilight paused, thoughts of revenge on Rainbow Dash forgotten. It was a nice day, after all.
"Alright" she eventually said. "But just as acquaintances, nothing more. And we aren't going anywhere romantic, okay?"
He nodded. "Got it. No romance. Shall we, then?"
*****
Rainbow Dash slowly closed the door to the Carousel Boutique and turned to look at the four ponies staring at her.
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"Sorry girls, but Twilight's not coming."
Pinkie Pie gasped. "Why not?"
Rainbow Dash allowed herself a grin. "Sudden change of plans."
"Now that ain't like her" Applejack commented. Fluttershy nodded.
Rarity frowned. "Now what could possibly have caused this?"
Trixie walked over toward the fashion designer and whispered into her ears. Rarity's eyes went wide.
"I see."
"See what?" Applejack asked. Then she saw the look on Rarity's face. "Oh. Oh."
At which point Pinkie Pie asked, and Applejack whispered it to her. Pinkie Pie's response was to giggle.
"Guess we'll have to do without her, then" Rarity said, shaking her head. Then her eyes lit up.
"Say, that gives me a -" a ball of yarn hit her in the head.
"No." Applejack said sternly, before turning to Pinkie Pie, "And that goes double for you, Pinkie. Let those two sort things out themselves."
Pinkie smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Then she turned to look at Rarity, staring intensely. Rarity blinked, before smiling nervously.
"Do I have to, dear? I mean, surely you can trust me not to... to interfere?"
"Just do it," Rainbow Dash sighed, "Or we'll be here all day."
Rarity sighed. "Very well. I promise not to interfere in the affairs of Twilight Sparkle and... whatever his name was. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my..." she paused, wincing as she closed her eye. "Eye" she finished. Pinkie nodded approvingly. Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but Applejack just stared at her.
"Don't."
Rarity pouted. "You don't know what I was going to say."
"Ah can guess, and ah know you, Rare."
Rarity silently frowned.
"Now then, less arguin', and let's try and think of something to do."
"Truth or dare! Truth or dare!" Pinkie said.
"I brought a book!" Rainbow Dash said meekly, not noticing Fluttershy's look of abject terror.
*****
Across town, Diamond Tiara frowned as she sat in front of her father, who had walked all the way in silence, and evidently felt the need to make up for lost time after that.
"Disgustingly Rich," he sighed, "I had thought that your mother and I raised you to be better than this. Fighting with your friend, your best friend. What sort of way is that for somepony your age to behave?"
"She started it" Diamond Tiara muttered, but he didn't seem to hear it.
"And over what? What could possibly have caused that?"
"She was being stupid."
The stallion frowned, and sighed. "Just... got to your room Dizzy. We will talk about this when your mother gets home, though."
"Whatever" Diamond Tiara muttered, making her way toward the stairs. Her father frowned, and for a moment considered saying something. She walked along the landing of the small mansion-sized house until she reached the door to her room. She opened it, walked through and then kicked the door behind her, before hopping onto her bed. As befitting the bed of a preteen girl with lots of money and doting parents, it was incredibly pink, and incredibly frilly.
"She was being stupid over nothing. Wasn't my fault" she muttered. She wasn't even sure what she'd said wrong to Silver Spoon, but everything seemed to have gone wrong. She'd been trying to get Silver Spoon to apologise after all.
It was her fault
Diamond Tiara looked around her room. There wasn't anypony there. She checked under her bed. Her mother had always said that was where monsters lived, wasn't it?
The underside of the bed was monster-free. She frowned.
It was her fault. She's stupid.
Diamond Tiara nodded. This was true. Silver Spoon was being stupid. Everypony else was being stupid, including her dad. He never took her side, and he was always telling her she was wrong.
Don't listen to him. He's silly. Also, stupid.
It occurred to Diamond Tiara that whoever was speaking to her, it wasn't her. But the voice was making a convincing argument.
Of course I am, Diamond Tiara.
But her father wasn't stupid. Okay, so he didn't give her enough pocket-money and sent her to the crummy Ponyville school, but he wasn't stupid. It was just everypony else.
Alright, fine. Your father isn't stupid. But he isn't doing enough for you.
Diamond Tiara nodded again.
And it isn't fair that Silver Spoon turned against you, is it?
No, she thought. That wasn't fair. She'd never done anything to Silver Spoon. Okay, she said those glasses made her look stupid once, but that was true. She didn't deserve to be punished.
No, you don't.
Now, the voice said, sounding a lot closer, what are we going to do about it?