AUTHOR'S NOTE
Due to the more limited formatting options of this site, I am unable to use the normal text colors in the chat logs. In fact, right now I'm waiting to see if these chapters are even going to be allowed on this site.
In the meantime, you can view this chapter with color here:
Chapter with color
Let's hope this works.
Chapter Thirty-two
A young filly stands in her room. It just so happens that today, the TWENTY-FIRST OF AUGUST, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, YET. Three days ago, however, she acquired what is most commonly referred to as a CUTIE MARK- an emblem upon one's flank that denotes a particular talent- though she has no idea what this specific mark means. What will the name of this young filly be?
Well that was rather rude.
Her name is Derpy Hooves. She has an affinity for BAKED GOODS, namely muffins, and has already been inducted into the family business of POSTAL SERVICES by her MOTHER, with whom she lives. At first glance, it may appear she is cursed with a lazy eye, though in reality she has been GIFTED WITH VISION TWOFOLD. As an unfortunate result, she has once or twice been the butt of other ponies' jokes; however, knowing that this has far more positive an effect on her than negative, she tends to ignore such ponies.
Looking around her room, she fails to see much that would be out of place in any young filly's room. A bed unmade is neighbored on one side by a dresser, and on the other by a toy chest overflowing. Atop the dresser is a gift very recently received from a friend: a well-loved SMARTY PANTS doll, and a gift slightly less recently received by her MOTHER, a finely-made PAPER-MACHE BIRD. In the opposite corner of the room sits her COMPUTER DESK and MOBILE PHONE, both with touch capabilities to accommodate fingerless hooves. In fact, technology that is not operated by a touch screen or touch keyboard is both rare and redundant.
Her username is cross-eyedAngel.
Both computing devices click on and signal that a friend is attempting to contact her. Before becoming distracted by anything else, she accesses her computer in order to respond to them.
agelessTraveler began chatting with cross-eyedAngel at 9:42 A.M.
AT: Good morning, my dearest friend!
AT: How fare you this morning?
CA: AT! :D
CA: ...
CA: hi.
CA: oh, hey, awesome news!
AT: Ooh, do tell.
CA: finally got my cutie mark the other day!
CA: i meant to tell you sooner, but there was a party, and then i was busy with work...
CA: i've actually had it a few days now.
AT: Fantastic news indeed! Well, enough of the suspense, what did you get? What is your talent developed enough to warrant its own emblem?
CA: um...
CA: that's the thing...
CA: i'm still not sure what it means!
CA: it looks like a bunch of bubbles.
CA: i kinda thought it might have been a letter... or a muffin.
CA: can't figure out what this means yet! i dunno what i'm supposed to do now...
AT: Bubbles, hrm... A possible reference to your ever-bubbly personality?
CA: aw, you're so nice to me.
CA: are you like this for all our friends?
AT: I try to be. Sometimes TT can try my patience... But I am almost always like this, yes.
AT: Though it certainly comes easily when speaking to you.
CA: hee hee!
AT: I do know how you feel, though, returning to the topic of Cutie Marks.
AT: I still haven't discovered the cryptic meaning of mine yet either. An hourglass...
AT: It's a curious concept, but I think I may have an idea.
AT: What if, instead of receiving our Marks when we discover our talents like normal ponies, our Marks are what lead us to discover the talent in the first place?
AT: Sort of a reversed process, if you will.
CA: huh... yeah, that might just be it.
CA: i wonder if anyone else got it backwards like us?
AT: Hard to say. If they had, I haven't heard of them, so I'm afraid we may have to brave this trial alone.
AT: But I digress, this is still a cause for celebration! Perhaps I can make it over there someday soon, and we can feast on cake in honor of this event!
CA: blech
CA: don't make it too soon.
CA: we’ve already got enough cake here to last all week...
CA: even muffins are sounding a little too sweet right now!
AT: Oh my. Is it that serious?
AT: Very well! I shall come bearing the finest vegetables known to pony kind! It shall be a feast of vegetarian kings!
CA: :D
AT: By the way, have you received the packages I sent to you yet?
CA: um
CA: i got one of them! the box with all the funny looking cards inside.
CA: i didn't get the game you were telling me about yet though.
AT: Strange... I keep checking up on everypony else, but so far only Cheerilee has come to possess her copy of the game, in addition to myself and the copy I kept, that is.
AT: Perhaps there was a mix-up at the post office...
CA: um...
AT: Yes?
CA: my mom and me ARE the post office, silly!
CA: i would know if there was a mix-up, since it's usually me that mixed it up anyway.
CA: nothing like that happened, so i don't think the games even made it to the office.
AT: Well, I did deliver Cheerilee's copy at an earlier date to help survey it, so that much does add up...
AT: But I sent your new sylladex and the games at the same time! And you say you received that package just fine. If none of the games made it to the office...
AT: Then somepony else must have intercepted them!
CA: :O
CA: a thief!
CA: one who steals video games...?
CA: doesn't matter! they messed with the postal system!
CA: and that means they messed with me!
CA: do you know what this means? we've got a real life mystery to solve!
AT: That's the spirit! It's as though the game has already begun... And it begins with a grand hunt!
AT: But I must caution you, my dear, our thief may be skilled with more than stealth and lock picks.
CA: what do you mean?
AT: I'm saying that they may have some fighting skill as well. And while I sincerely hope it doesn't come to violence over a video game, and I believe we both have the skill to keep it from doing so, a confrontation might be inevitable.
CA: um... okay!
CA: but i can't fight!
CA: i don't think you can either.
AT: Exactly why I hope it doesn't come to that. But we both may have to learn on the go.
AT: It'll be easier if we have something familiar that we could improvise as a weapon. Do you have anything like that?
Derpy takes another long look around her room, searching for something similar to what her friend is suggesting, but comes up empty. That is, until one of her eyes comes to rest on the toy chest in the corner. The lid is open, and the contents stick up messily in the air. Jammed in the center carelessly is a wooden boomerang, the same one she and her mother had been playing with just yesterday. The blue paint on its surface is peeling slightly, but she knows the wood is solid and sound.
Excited, she trots over to the box and, craning her neck, grabs the boomerang in her teeth. She then moves back over to the computer in the other corner, placing the simple device to her side and putting her hooves back to the touch keypad.
CA: back
CA: i got a boomerang.
CA: i'm real good with it, so i think that should work, right?
AT: Perfect. Now, in order to get the most use out of it, you'll need to properly equip it. You said you already opened the sylladex I sent you?
CA: the cards? yeah, i got them right here by the computer.
AT: Excellent. First, take the green captchalogue card and flip it over to the back side. There should be a touch screen menu there.
Derpy looks over at the strange deck of cards stacked next to her monitor. Admittedly, it isn't much of a deck, only five red cards topped by one green. The cards are fairly oversized, and have square edges save for what looks like a smaller square missing in the top right corner. The centers of all six are blank white. There is also a device that had come with them that is the same shape and color as a red card, but much thicker. A slot where one could put the cards rests at the top. Two buttons are on the back, but she hasn't tested to see what they do yet.
She reaches over and takes the green one off the top and moves it in front of the keyboard, flips it over, and looks at the other side. A black screen filled with two columns of uncounted white-texted options takes up the entire space. Most of the words are nonsense to her, but they seem to be ordered alphabetically. She looks up at the computer screen again, and reads AT's next message: 'Scroll down until you see the option for Boomerangkind. Select that. The back of the card should go blank, and the front will change.'
Carefully, she flicks her hoof across the smaller screen, stopping when she reaches the 'B's. A bit further down is the option her friend had specified. She touches it gingerly, and just as he had said, all the rest of the words vanish, then the black fades to white. She turns the card over, and sees that BOOMERANGKIND now reads across the top, with a bigger grey square in the center of the card and five smaller ones in a row beneath it.
She puts the card aside and goes back to the computer.
CA: okay, the card changed. now what?
AT: Good. Now just sort of lower your boomerang towards the card, as though you were going to drop it inside.
CA: alright...
CA: :O
CA: it's gone!
CA: the boomerang disappeared!
CA: but now there's a picture of it on the card.
AT: Worry not, that was what was supposed to happen. Your boomerang is now stored within the card, and you can retrieve it anytime just by holding up the card.
AT: Now that it is allocated to boomerangs, you can store any number of different boomerangs in that one card.
AT: Unfortunately, until you find another green card, that will be the only type of weapon you can use.
CA: that's okay.
CA: i don't think i want to be carrying around anything more serious than that.
CA: wouldn't know how to use it anyway!
CA: so what weapon-y thing did you find?
AT: ... Screwdrivers.
CA: screwdrivers?
AT: It's all I could find. In my defense, these things can get painful. Or at least very annoying if you keep getting poked by them.
CA: tee hee!
CA: so, anyway, what about the red cards?
AT: You can store anything else you might need in those captchalogue cards, but each can only hold one large object, or several small objects of the same kind.
AT: Think of them like your inventory. Use them correctly, and you'll never need a saddlebag again. You can keep them in the modus- the larger device they came with- when not using them, and you should be able to wear the modus like a belt.
CA: okay, so i can carry five more things with me...
CA: can the cards hold things bigger than they are?
AT: To a certain degree, yes.
AT: The modus you have can handle things up to five times its size, so as long as you don't go overboard, you should be fine.
AT: Also, before you grab anything else, keep in mind that the cards are very specific about how they are stored.
AT: Once they are in the modus, you can only get the item at the top of the deck, and putting something else in will push the all other items down a card.
AT: Pushing the bottom card down further will eject the item stored on it, so be careful!
CA: um... i think i get it... seems kinda complicated just to carry stuff.
AT: It takes some getting used to, but it's much more convenient that just dragging everything along, especially once you really get the hang of it.
AT: Also, there should be a button on the back of your modus labeled 'queue'; pushing this will let you grab the bottom item instead of the top one.
AT: You can reverse it any time, but it may eject the deck, so make sure to take anything sharp or valuable out first.
CA: still seems pretty complex, but i think i'm starting to get it.
CA: like you said, i think i'll just end up learning on the go.
CA: so i guess we should get started looking for the thief!
AT: Indeed! Keep a phone handy to stay updated, and keep me filled in on happenings on your end. I shall do the same for you.
AT: All fortune to you, my dear!
agelessTraveler ceased chatting with cross-eyedAngel at 10:04 A.M.
Derpy leaves her chat room account online in case AT, or somepony else, wants to contact her, and moves over to grab her phone. Remembering his advice, she takes one of the red cards from the SYLLADEX, and cautiously lowers her phone towards the card's blank surface. Sure enough, just like the boomerang, the phone vanishes from her hooves as though it was never there, and an image of it appears on the card. She shakes your head in amazement at this strange technology, and puts the card to the side for a moment.
Next, she equips the modus, slipping the convenient strap installed on it around her waist, then inserting the phone card into the slot. The top of the card is still accessible as long as it is the only card inside. When she puts in all four blank cards, they seem to automatically shuffle in behind the phone card, the top of one still poking out so you can reach them. She guesses that the modus automatically sorts blank cards into a different compartment than ones in use, so that she can still store new items.
She looks around her room for anything else she might need while hunting for the thief that stole the four copies of the video game AT was so excited about. A leftover muffin from breakfast still sits on her desk, and after a moment of consideration, she decides that she might need lunch later. She pulls a blank card from the deck, and a new one pops up in its place, ready for use. When she inserts the muffin card, the phone card is pushed all the way into the modus. She briefly wonders how she is going to get to it now, but decides to cross that bridge when she comes to it.
As it happens, that bridge has just come to her. Her computer is making that noise at her that indicates she has a new message again, and her phone, being logged on to the same account, also makes a tone from within the modus. Since she can just use the computer instead, she decides to leave the phone where it is for the time being.
techTitan began chatting with cross-eyedAngel at 10:14 A.M.
TT: Deeeeerrrrrrrpaaaay
TT: where are you
TT: oh man, did you already get your phone buried under a bunch of stuff
TT: I told AT that would happen
CA: i'm here!
CA: sorry, yeah, my phone is under a muffin. but i'm still at home, so i'm using my computer instead.
TT: just a muffin?
TT: alright, no big deal then
TT: you'll probably eat it clear before you get another message
CA: probably XD
CA: so what's up?
TT: couple of things
TT: first, I got that present you sent me for my cutie mark party-jigger last week
TT: and
TT: you are seriously like the best friend anypony ever had.
CA: daw, thanks!
CA: it wasn't really that big a deal.
TT: maybe not for you
TT: but I had one of these when I was little
TT: dunno what happened to it... :(
TT: but then you gave me a new-old one, and it's like
TT: Ive been tripping on pure crystalized nostalgia for days on end
CA: i've had that one for a few years, but i decided to let it make somepony else happy!
CA: so you're very welcome!
CA: and anyway, your brother came by for my party, and his present was actually another one that was his childhood toy, too.
CA: it's a little more patched up than the one i gave you, but that just means it's well-loved!
TT: in the least gay way Ive ever meant anything
TT: which I guess isn't actually saying much
TT: I love you right now Derpy.
TT: ANYWAY, changing the subject now
TT: remember how you were telling me about those dreams you started having
TT: with the golden city and the weird two-legged white shelled people
CA: yeah, the ones where i'm on the moon of the planet prospit, and i can sometimes see the future in the clouds?
CA: i mostly end up just doing what i do here though, and just help that nice parcel mistress with her deliveries XD
TT: well, how did that start for you
TT: like, did you go to sleep in the real world and wake up there?
CA: that's usually how it happens, but...
CA: i dunno how it all started! it just started one day.
CA: sorry :(
TT: that's fine
TT: just curious
TT: because just last night I woke up in a dream, kinda like that
TT: except the city was like dark purple instead of gold
TT: and the people had black shells instead of white
TT: the city wasn't nearly as nice as the one you described though
TT: it almost seemed like it was under martial law, and no-one would talk to me about it
TT: and then I woke up :(
CA: purple and black...
CA: cheerilee might have mentioned something about that. you should ask her!
TT: thats the plan
CA: so your dream-self woke up on the other planet, and things are kinda tense over there?
TT: seemed like it
TT: are the two groups at war or something?
CA: not sure. maybe they are getting ready, but i don't think they're fighting yet.
TT: huh
TT: does everypony in the world have a dream self on one of the two planets?
CA: oh no, no, not even close!
CA: there's only three towers on prospits moon, and i think it's the same on the dark one.
CA: cheerilee lives in one on prospit, and i know AT's dream self is still asleep in the other one.
TT: six towers...
TT: you think it might be all six of us, our circle of friends?
TT: you, me, AT, Cheerilee, GG and GA?
CA: you know, i have thought that!
CA: you should look around derse next time you go there and see who else lives there!
TT: will do
TT: one other thing
TT: you get your copy of the game yet?
CA: no! in fact, AT and i found out that they never made it to the post office, and we think there's a thief on the loose!
TT: yeah, there is
CA: :O
TT: I found him just a few minutes ago
TT: really pale stallion with cheesy sunglasses
TT: he was being all sneaky, so I followed him
TT: then he started running, and I lost him
TT: but he dropped something from his saddlebags, and I grabbed it before he could come back
TT: it was one of the packages AT made up, with both the server and client copies of the game
TT: I guess that stallion must still have the other copies
CA: then there's no time to lose! he and i are going on a hunt after this thief to get the games back.
CA: you should help too! we need everyone we can get.
TT: dunno if I'll be much help
TT: the stallion looked like he was on the way out of town, and he’s moving way faster than I can keep up with
TT: he could be halfway to las pegasus by now
TT: I'll search too, but I think you and AT stand a much better chance of finding him
TT: anyway, the dreamworld thing was actually all I wanted to talk about
TT: so I'm going to let you get down to business now
TT: hopefully, I'll see you in the game
techTitan ceased chatting with cross-eyedAngel at 10:32 A.M.
Derpy casts another glance around her room, a new sense of purpose filling her mind with awesome music of her choice. One of her eyes falls on her dresser, and the gift she had mentioned to your friend: a worn and patched up Smarty Pants doll, a gift from another friend who was off training to be a knight in Cloudsdale now. For some reason, the doll seems to call out to her, so she grabs it between her teeth and puts it into the sylladex. Now her phone is two cards down, and she still has no idea how she is going to get to it if she needs it.
She makes a fast trek down the stairs and hugs the wall as she comes to the ground floor, alert for any sign of her mother being home. Derpy and her mother almost always get along perfectly, but she can't see her getting excited about her going out on your own to confront a thief, armed to an extent and ready to fight. It would be better to avoid her altogether until she is done. After all, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, she finds.
Luckily, it seems her mother is still at work. No one is there to stop Derpy from trotting over to the front door and letting herself out, emerging into the pleasant suburb of Ponyville. She takes a moment to shade her eyes and uses one of them to look up at the sky. The sun is rather pale today, but its dim warmth is enough to make the weather comfortable. A few wispy clouds drift here and there. It is sort of a lazy-feeling day, but her determination to catch this mail-thief keeps her alert.
She doesn't really know where to start, so she decides to just head into the town square to see if anypony has seen him. She has only TT's description to go on- pale, and with cheesy sunglasses- but it is definitely a place to start. She gets a few odd looks when other ponies see her wearing the odd-looking storage device at her hip, and several responses that nopony has seen him, but after a few minutes of asking, she is told that such a stallion had been seen in passing near the south end of town.
From there, several more ponies tell her they remember seeing somepony matching her description, but nopony knows where he went, as they weren't paying very close attention. She knows that he is in town at least, but can't guess where he might have gone specifically. Ponyville isn't a big town, but it is big enough that she would waste a lot of time just searching everywhere. So far, though, she only has south town to go on.
That is, until she notices something out of the corner of her eye turn a corner on the next street. She doesn't get a chance to take a full look at it, but it looks white, possibly with a hint of green somewhere or other. She doesn't see a tail on it either, but it seems to be walking like any other pony. Without any other leads, she decides immediately to investigate, and trots off silently after him.