Chapter with color
Thirty-nine
Quick Fix
TT: Doc!
TT: Doc, are you alright
TT: holy shit that meteor exploded
TT: oh, news just came on again
TT: yeah your neighbors are dead
TT: big ol’ crater where your house used to be
TT: the hell happened
TT: wait I can see your house again
TT: okay it doesnt look all that exploded
TT: cmon Doc talk to me here
AT: Whew!
AT: That was quite a rush.
AT: Did the meteor miss?
TT: nope
TT: well I guess
TT: but youre in the game now
AT: Really? I thought the rain would have stopped.
TT: guess not
TT: welcome to
TT: hang on I had it somewhere
TT: here it is
TT: welcome to the land of storms and balance.
AT: Interesting…
AT: I suppose I’m not getting away from this rain, am I?
TT: never
AT: Heh.
AT: This does answer one question. We all seem to be given our own Land to explore, and complete our quests on.
AT: I’m going to check on Derpy. I advise you to contact Leeroy and see if he is ready to bring you in.
TT: kay
agelessTraveler ceased chatting with techTitan at 2:45 P.M.
Derpy
Derpy slashes across with her weapon, slaying another imp. More and more have been scaling the pillar to the house, and Derpy and her mother have had scarcely a moment’s rest from fighting them off. They both experienced several level-ups in the process, gaining boosts in attack and defense, grist cache size, and various other, seemingly useless attributes. However, after Derpy’s opponent explodes into grist, there seems to be a lull in the fighting. More are likely on the way, but they have been staved off for the moment.
“I’m going to check something upstairs. Be right back, mom.” Her mother nods with some reluctance, and Derpy makes her way back to her room to examine the new machine fully. It bears the same shape as a piano, but has no keys, save for what looks like an old typewriter one held on with loose wire. Near the center is a blinking red light, and to the left of that is a diagram, most likely showing the instructions for the device. Above that is a slot for something. It shows a Captchalogue card being flipped to the reverse side, then points to a picture of the keyboard, then shows the card being inserted into the slot.
Curious, Derpy retrieves the card containing her phone and flips it over. There is a code on the back: ‘05JFU7I3’. She guesses that she should do what the diagram shows, but doesn’t want to risk her phone being lost. Instead, she retrieves her phone and messages Doc.
cross-eyedAngel began chatting with agelessTraveler at 3:16 P.M.
CA: hey doc!
AT: Ah, hello Derpy. I was just about to contact you myself.
CA: :D
CA: well, i was looking at the new machine.
CA: it looks like i put a card in, and the code for whatever’s on the card.
CA: and it does… something.
CA: i wanna test it out, but i don’t want to lose anything important.
AT: That makes sense. Captchalogue something we can afford to lose and give it a try.
Derpy looks around her room, then shrugs and grabs the pillow from her bed. She captchalogues it, then enters the code into the machine. The red light turns off, and a green light clicks on in its place. She inserts the card, and the machine makes a series of clicks and whirs. The card pops back out again, and it has been punched full of holes, much like the card Doc had dropped earlier that had given Derpy the apple.
CA: oooh, i see!
CA: we use this machine to punch the cards, then we can use the other machines to make more of that thing!
CA: not sure how useful that will be though…
AT: Hrm… Perhaps there are ways we could use this.
AT: Exchanging items between ponies, for example.
AT: There may also be other ways to use the machines… We’ll have to experiment further.
CA: wait… i think i hear something.
CA: something downstairs.
CA: i’d better make sure everything is okay. brb doc!
Derpy puts the phone back in its card, leaves the punched pillow card in her room, and quickly makes her way downstairs. Her mother stands near the back door, armed with the fire poker she has been using as a weapon.
“There’s something coming. It sounds heavier, and… almost mechanical. Be careful, and ready to get to somewhere safer.” Derpy nods and prepares her boomerang. She hears the sound grow closer, a mechanical CLANK that repeats every few seconds, growing slightly louder each time. Through the window to what was formerly the backyard, Derpy can see the hand of an imp reach up and take hold, but the other hand that comes next isn’t like any she has seen on the imps so far. It looked to be made of cobbled-together machine parts, and had what looked like a whisk attached to the wrist. The imp pulled itself up fully, and Derpy saw that it must be what Doc was talking about, as a menacing eyestalk protrudes from one eye. Various other parts of the imp’s body have also turned to machine.
The half-creature, half-machine looks around angrily, its gaze settling on the two ponies viewing it from inside the house. It snarls silently, then raises its machine arm and points it towards the window. In the next instant, a blast of blue light erupts from the window, and Derpy and her mother are sent reeling backward, the sound of shattering glass and crumbling brick accompanying them. Derpy quickly stands and shakes her head, in time to see the imp stumbling in through the new hole in the wall. One of its legs is also comprised of machine parts, and this seems to hinder its movement somewhat.
It snarls again, and even its voice seems to be a mix of beast and machine. It aims its arm again, and the whisk on its arm quickly charges with blue energy and fires another beam. Both ponies avoid it, but it blasts another, smaller hole in the opposite wall. It swings its arm around to fire again, and narrowly misses Derpy. Her mother uses this opening to charge forward, driving the tip of her fire poker into the imps’ side. This seems to injure the imp, but does not fatally wound it.
It growls and swats her away, sending her reeling across the room again. As soon as her mother is away from the imp, Derpy throws her boomerang at it, damaging it further. She isn’t able to see its life bar, but she can tell that it has taken a fair amount of damage already. It glares at Derpy with its one white eye, one robotic blue, and fires another beam of light at her. She kicks herself backwards expertly, dodging the attack, and rolls to her hooves again. Even without the use of her wings, pegasi are extremely agile.
The imp seems to realize this, and turns its laser arm towards Derpy’s mother, who is just getting back up as well. It fires several beams in rapid succession, and while she is able to dodge most of them, one of them finally connects. A flash of blue light erupts from her chest, and she is sent flying back and slams against the wall.
“Mom!” Derpy screams, then grips her weapon and leaps at the imp. One slash diagonally across, then another back up, then another straight through its chest. After the third hit, the monster finally explodes into a considerable pile of grist. Derpy pays it no attention though, and rushes to her mother’s aid.
She is vaguely aware of her phone alerting her of a new message as she kneels beside her mother. Her wound is bad; there is a lot of blood, and the area around the wound is burnt and still smoking. It doesn’t go all the way through, but it looks like it still goes pretty deep. She’s still alive, but fading fast.
“Mom…” Tears were already beginning to form at the edges of Derpy’s eyes. “Mom, p-please hang on… What do I do…? Oh Celestia, what do I do?!”
Derpy’s phone made several more message tones. “Ooh… Augh, I need help!” With blurry vision, Derpy opened the chat between her and Doc, and quickly scanned over his messages:
AT: Derpy, listen to me.
AT: I know this is a bad time, but please read this.
AT: She can be saved.
AT: She doesn’t have to die, Derpy!
AT: You can still save her!
AT: Throw her into the Kernelsprite, Derpy!
AT: I know it sounds crazy, but it will keep her alive!
AT: Please, Derpy, don’t let her die!
Derpy stared at the phone for a moment, then looked to her mother, still bleeding out. She blinked some of the tears out of her eyes and nodded in determination.
“Mom… Do you trust me?” She locked both eyes with her. “Do you trust me to save you?” After a moment, her mother gave a weak nod. Derpy reached under her and struggled upward, moving several steps on her back hooves before the sprite approached her. She could tell from a glance that this was what the sprite wanted, too.
“Hope this works…” The sprite held still and let Derpy raise her mother’s dying body into it. Another flash of violet light filled the room, and when it faded, Derpy saw that the sprite had changed once again. The violet of the sprite was almost the same shade as her mother’s coat, so that much looked the same, but her back hooves had disappeared, and were replaced by a ghostly tail. Her whole body was now this violet, and her golden hair was now the same translucent lavender. However, not all of the old sprite had disappeared either, as Derpy could see a pair of mighty paper wings on her back.
She was unresponsive for a moment, but soon her eyes opened and a soft smile grew on her face. Derpy’s own smile grew wide, and she wrapped her momsprite in a tight hug.
MOMSPRITE: Derpy… Thank you.
DERPY: no, it’s… it’s fine!
DERPY: of course i would save you.
DERPY: i wouldn’t just let you… go.
MOMSPRITE: I know, dear.
MOMSPRITE: But what you’ve done here is better than you know.
MOMSPRITE: I am your sprite guide now, as well.
MOMSPRITE: The very moment I fused with the sprite, I gained a lot of knowledge about this place. About you, and your quest.
MOMSPRITE: I understand why you didn’t say anything earlier, but now you don’t need to worry.
MOMSPRITE: You have a fantastic journey ahead of you, and you will become a great hero.
DERPY: wow, really?!
MOMSPRITE: Yes! And it is my part in your quest to guide you, to help you get started, and to tell you any information about the Medium and its inhabitants that you are curious about.
MOMSPRITE: Of course, I don’t know ALL about these lands, especially the finer details. Those, you will have to discover for yourself.
DERPY: alright… first, i guess i should ask how i’m supposed to get down from here!
MOMSPRITE: Funnily enough, to get down, first you’ll need to go up!
MOMSPRITE: You saw the spirographs above the house? Those are the Seven Gates. Your server player will need to build up to them.
MOMSPRITE: Entering the first will take you to the ground of the Land of Rifts and Steel.
MOMSPRITE: There are seven gates total, each leading you to a different place in the Medium, then one more that will lead you to the Denizen of this land, a mighty creature that lives in the center of the planet!
DERPY: oh wow!
DERPY: is he the final boss?
MOMSPRITE: No. In fact, chances are good that you will not need to fight him. Though there is always the possibility that you will.
MOMSPRITE: He will offer you a Choice. I do not know the terms of this offer myself, but he will put it forth.
MOMSPRITE: You may or may not take this; your quest may or may not depend on it. It all depends on you and your friends’ actions.
MOMSPRITE: But the Denizen guards an immense grist hoard, and you will need this to perform the Ultimate Alchemy, a key element to finishing your quest. If you cannot accept the terms of the Choice, you will need to defeat and destroy the Denizen to obtain this treasure.
DERPY: alright, i think i get it.
DERPY: so, what IS the final boss?
MOMSPRITE: That will likely be the Black King.
MOMSPRITE: I’m sure you’ve heard some things about Prospit and Derse. Well, the two are at war, an eternal stalemate in which neither can defeat the other.
MOMSPRITE: But with the beginning of your quest, Derse will begin to gain the upper hand. Unfortunately, this is a battle that Prospit must always lose. MOMSPRITE: The kingdom of Derse also represents the forces attempting to stop your progress in your quest.
MOMSPRITE: They represent destruction, whereas Prospit represents creation.
MOMSPRITE: At the end of your journey, you will need to defeat the king of Derse to claim your Ultimate Reward.
DERPY: what’s that?
MOMSPRITE: Hee hee~ I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. I don’t know, myself!
MOMSPRITE: But I do know that discovering it will be another important part of your journey.
MOMSPRITE: Now, I think you should contact your server player and start building up to the First Gate! The Consorts of your Land await you!
DERPY: okay! thanks mom!
DERPY: oh, and…
Derpy knows what she wants to say, but can’t seem to find the right words. After a few moments, Derpy’s mother-sprite nods knowingly.
MOMSPRITE: I understand, dear. You’re still a bit shaken that I nearly died.
MOMSPRITE: I’m sorry that that happened. But I promise that as you progress and grow stronger along your journey, you will be able to protect yourself and your friends even better.
DERPY: alright. Thanks again, mom. Love you!
MOMSPRITE: I love you too, sweetie.
CA: doc, did you catch all that?
AT: Every word! You’ll find that your house is already one story taller.
CA: sweet!
CA: have you had any imps at your house yet?
AT: Just one. I assume he was a forward scout. He’s been dealt with, and now I have a Punch Designix as well.
AT: Quick Fix also deployed a mysterious third disc in my room. I seem to have the option to deploy one now, too, but I feel we should conserve grist for the time being.
AT: I’m loading my copy now to see what it does.
CA: okay!
CA: i guess we should both just keep fighting imps, and building up our houses?
AT: As long as it’s safe for the others to remain in Equestria.
AT: When they enter, things may slow down.
CA: yeah… let’s get as far as we can until then!
AT: Right!
CA: hey, i also had an idea.
CA: i’m gonna use the machines to make some more cards for my inventory.
CA: good to have plenty of room, right?
AT: Indeed. That’s very clever.
Derpy moves over the Punch Designix and begins the process over again, sacrificing another two of her four remaining cards, but knowing that she’d soon have many more. When she finished with the Designix and moved to the Totem Lathe, she noticed something odd: the slot on the machine seemed big enough to hold several cards at once, not just one. She frowned, but allowed that thought to sit for a moment while she cloned several new cards for her inventory. She also does this for Strife Specibus cards.
CA: hey doc…
AT: Yes?
CA: the thing that makes stuff is an alchemiter, right?
CA: and alchemy usually means making new stuff out of different stuff, right?
AT: More or less. Why?
CA: what if we can use the machines to make new items somehow?
CA: it looks like we can fit more than one card in the lathe. i wanna see what happens if we try that.
AT: By all means! We may discover something of great value by experimenting.
Derpy looks around her room. What to use? The boomerang- finding a better weapon would help to defeat more powerful enemies further down the line- but what else? Derpy digs through her toy chest to find something of use, and eventually settles on a stuffed penguin. On second thought, throwing the penguin in the Kernelsprite would have made way better imps. Too late now though.
Derpy punches a card with the penguin card, and puts it and the boomerang card into the lathe. She retrieves the totem that was made as a result, and takes it to the Alchemiter.
CA: anything, doc?
AT: Yes! … And no.
AT: It WOULD make something, but we need a kind of grist we don’t yet have.
AT: It requires shale and cobalt, of which we have a little bit of both, but it also needs something that looks like a white cube. We don’t have any of that.
CA: when did we get cobalt?
AT: I think the Dalek imp dropped some.
AT: Anyway, what’s important is this: using both cards yields a new item!
AT: Let’s try something else, and hope we have the right grist to make it.
CA: okay!
Derpy goes back to rummaging, and comes up with a pair of safety scissors. She repeats the process again, and checks back with Doc.
AT: There we go! This one only costs a bit of shale and rust.
AT: It yields a new boomerang called the ‘Safety Slicer’.
AT: I would assume that, because it has built in blades, it has higher attack power than your current weapon.
CA: oh wow! so we can combine items this way!
AT: It would seem so! My goodness, think of the possibilities!
AT: But for now, I will make a Safety Slicer for you.
CA: maybe i’ll find a real pair of scissors later and make an even better one.
The Alchemiter shoots a small laser onto the platform, and the new boomerang is left in its place. Derpy nods and equips it, then trots out of her room to slay more imps and gather more grist. Her adventure begins now.
Leeroy
“Move!” Leeroy shouts, dashing upwards and shattering yet another small meteor with his back hooves. He and the other trainees and knights have been fending off the rocks from Cloudsdale ever since several punctured the cloud layer an hour before. The downpour of rock has gradually increased in pace, but with this last wave deflected, there does not seem to be any others. Or at least, there is a break.
“Listen up.” the Battle Master starts, drawing the attention of the other pegasi defenders. “I’m still going to need some of you up here with me to stand watch. But for the rest of you, get down to Cloudsdale. Get your personal affairs in order, and start evacuating everyone you can. Princess’s orders. For the trainees who wouldn’t know, there’s a shelter five clicks north of here, that’s your goal. Won’t be hard to find, Vanhoover’s evacuating to the same place, and they should still be there to tip you off.”
Leeroy nods, and joins several others in descending to the clouds. He knows that he can’t go with them to the shelter; he has his own escape route. He also knows that he has to hurry up and get Quick Fix into the game. But at the same time, he can’t just avoid helping the ponies of Cloudsdale get to safety. He nods in determination; as a knight it is his job to ensure the safety of ALL of Equestria’s citizens, and he’s going to do everything he can to make sure everyone, including himself and his friends tied to Sgraze, makes it out alive.
Leeroy swings into his room swiftly, and accesses his computer.
guardianGuitarist began chatting with techTitan at 3:38 P.M.
GG: Sis.
TT: bro
GG: I don’t have much time, I’ve got to start evacuating people from the city.
GG: But I’m going to get you started. What do I do?
TT: install the server copy of the game
TT: Ive already got the client copy up, so it should connect itself
TT: you might do the same so its easy for you to get in when its your turn
GG: Perfect. Installing this thing will probably take ages.
GG: There, the server copy is going. Be back soon!
guardianGuitarist ceased chatting with techTitan at 3:40 P.M.
Quick Fix
“Jeez… He’s a bit strung out, huh? Can’t blame him, I guess.” Quick Fix says to herself. “I’m still stuck until he gets back… Guess I can talk to FP, make sure he’s ready to go.”
techTitan began chatting with gamingAvarice at 3:43 P.M.
TT: hey man
TT: how are things
TT: not exploded I hope
GA: yep, nothing exploded here yet.
TT: good
TT: wanted to make sure you were ready to go
TT: as soon as Leeroy gets me into the game, youre gonna need to get him in
TT: Cloudsdale doesnt have much longer
GA: i’ll be ready.
GA: how about you? are you ready to go?
TT: yep, just gotta wait for Leeroy to finish evacuating everypony
TT: once my machines are deployed, Ill be set to go
GA: oh, speaking of which.
GA: doc tells me that some of those machines allow you to combine items!
TT: really?
TT: I hadnt heard yet
GA: well, it seems to be some kind of punchcard-based alchemy.
GA: so i dug up a code for you.
GA: if you use it with your wrench code, it should give you a really powerful wrench.
TT: well thats cool but
TT: I dont have the machines yet
TT: no way Ill remember that code
TT: hang onto it, Ill take it once I can use it
GA: can do.
GA: i also got a nice selection of sword codes for leeroy.
GA: and a boomerang code for derpy.
GA: no screwdriver codes though. doc had to pick a weird weapon.
TT: sure did
TT: Im sure I have some super-duper screwdriver in my workshop though
TT: Ill just find something good for him here and send him that code
GA: that should work!
TT: what about you
TT: whats your specibus set to
GA: i’m going to set it to riflekind.
GA: but after i enter, and get something i can really use.
TT: how do you plan to do that
TT: I mean, how will you even use it
TT: we dont have thumbs
GA: don’t sweat it, i’ve got it all figured out.
GA: first, i’ll combine my sensor gun with a game to make a basic rifle.
GA: then i’ll combine that with other games to get better guns.
GA: as for how i’ll use it, i think i should be able to cook up some robot hands, too.
TT: huh
TT: sounds like a plan
GA: yep!
GA: anyway, i don’t want to clog up your chat when we’ve got to have split-second timing.
GA: so i’ll hop off. good luck!
TT: yep
gamingAvarice ceased chatting with techTitan at 3:53 P.M.
Quick Fix sighs and pushes herself away from the computer, then checks outside. A house across town was already hit by a meteor, and the storm that had been raging near Doc’s house seems to have moved on to her area. It was only a matter of time before more meteors started falling. She just hoped Leeroy would get back in time to get her home away from the blast zone, and then get away himself.
Fancy Pants
A game controller falls to the ground in frustration; not frustration towards the game it is currently controlling, but rather towards the game that the player is not yet playing. Fancy Pants is beyond impatient, and decides he needs to do SOMETHING more to prepare himself. He knows that he will have to be back in time to get his friend Leeroy into the game and to safety, but he figures he will have a bit of time before then.
He peeks out the window towards the rocky formation a short distance behind his backyard. Within that rock lies the frog temple, and just beyond it, atop the cliffs, Cheerilee’s house.
He nods in determination. He feels there is something important in that temple, something he may have missed. Something he’s going to find now.
The trip to the rocks only takes a few minutes, but his pace slows somewhat once he has to climb. However, he needs take no time to check his location; he’s made this trip countless times, and knows just where to go. He swings around another corner and climbs up a slight ledge, and looks out over the temple. The main body of the temple is topped by a large stone frog, and there are several towers that sit slightly around it. There is a tower collapsed on the ground that looks like it served as a satellite tower atop the rocks, before it fell to the ground below.
There is another pony at the door to the temple. A tall pony with a stark white coat, and no mane to speak of. Fancy Pants can’t make out more detail than that from where he stands, but he gets the sneaking suspicion that the pony is looking at him. The mysterious pony then walks slowly into the temple.
“Looks like you had the same idea.” said Cheerilee, scrambling up from the path on the other side. “It seems like… we’re supposed to be here, while we still have time.”
“Yeah. But listen, I saw somepony in the doorway. They went inside. It didn’t look like your aunt or my sister.”
“Oh… Should we still go in?”
Fancy Pants looks at the temple, then back at Cheerilee, and smiles. “I don’t think we have a choice, do we?”
The two ponies nod to each other, and begin walking towards the temple.
4:00
Leeroy
“Go with the others!” Leeroy tells another group of civilians. “They’re escorting people to a shelter in the mountains to the northwest!”
They agree and rush off. Leeroy looks around for others to warn, but Cloudsdale is already starting to look like a ghost town. The only ones left are the civilians gathering to leave in groups, and the knights and trainees remaining to defend the city as long as they have to before escaping themselves. Leeroy knows that his job is nearly finished. He makes sure no one is watching, and rushes back to the barracks and into his room. He swings into his computer, pops in the client copy of Sgraze, and immediately accesses the server software. He can see Quick Fix drumming her hooves nervously on her desk.
He grins and drags out her wall to make room for the machines. A measly ten grist out of two thousand. She jumps at the noise.
guardianGuitarist began chatting with techTitan at 4:03 P.M.
GG: Hey sis, miss me?
TT: celestia, bro, you cut it real close
GG: I know. Hang tight.
He deploys the rest of the machines; Cruxtruder, totem lathe, and third disc.
GG: I don’t know what any of this does.
TT: I only know most of it
TT: no idea about the third disc, but my computers so fast we can figure out pretty quick
GG: What about these other two? Jumper Block Extension and Punch Card Shunt?
TT: I dunno, never got a chance to test em
TT: we have the grist for it though, right
GG: Right.
GG: Hrm… won’t let me deploy…
GG: Oh, wait. It’s supposed to hook up to the Alchemiter.
Leeroy attaches the new device to the Alchemiter. It takes up a lot of space, and costs one thousand grist, but it looks like it will be useful. He also deploys two Punch Card Shunts, since they only cost ten grist.
GG: Anyway, we’ll fiddle with that later. We need to get you into the game, now.
TT: okay
TT: first, drop something heavy on the cruxthingy
TT: just use my bed or something
TT: awesome. now give me a sec to throw something into the Kernelsprite
Quick Fix dashes out of her room, to her workshop. She scoops up a handful of scrap parts, dashes back to her room, and tosses them in.
TT: there
TT: now the junky deathbot imps Doc made will be even shittier
TT: now, did you deploy the pre-punched card?
GG: Yeah, it’s on your desk.
TT: oh, right
TT: man, whats on this…
TT: looks like a boat, actually
TT: whatever, lets do this
Quick Fix swiftly moves the card and a cruxite dowel to the totem lathe, imprinting the dowel, then moves to the Alchemiter. The machine deploys a faded red boat, and Leeroy can see a flint and steel sitting on the seat.
TT: so what, like
TT: a funeral pyre?
TT: shit man, thats ominous
TT: oh well
She takes the flint and steel, and with one swift movement of her hoof, a mighty spark falls onto the surface of the cruxite vessel and sets it ablaze. The light of the fire fills the room and grows to envelop the whole house, and Leeroy watches the background change from a suburbian street to the cliffs overlooking a mighty ocean. Across his screen flashes a name: Land of Waves and Chasms.
4:08
Fancy Pants
Fancy Pants and Cheerilee make their way carefully into the temple. There is no sign of the white-coated pony yet, but they have some ground to cover yet. They make their way to the center, where a large round panel is seemingly engraved in the floor. They know better though; this panel is some kind of elevator that leads further into the temple. It automatically brings them down to the basement.
They look ahead to the mysterious flower in the center of the new room. When they first found it, there was a countdown on the pedestal below the flower, with years still to go. Now, it had mere minutes. The white pony stood before it, his emotion unreadable.
FP: hey, you!
Hey, me.
Cheerilee: Who are you? How did you find this place?
We only have two minutes remaining before the show truly begins. I don’t believe we have time to answer both parts of that question.
1:23
FP: wait… are you the guy princess celestia mentioned a little while ago?
FP: the guy who wants to piggyback one of our game sessions?
Well. I suppose we do have time, then.
Yes, I am that guy.
Cheerilee: What is it you want? Why would you want to smuggle yourself through one of our games? Why not play your own?
I only want to survive. I should think that would be obvious. Regrettably, my nature forbids me from accessing the technology you can. But if you should succeed in your quest, then this will allow me to survive, as well.
So, put simply, I want to see you win!
And the item within this Lotus, blooming in a mere thirty seconds, will help you to do that.
0:28
FP: well, what’s in there?
FP: and what do you mean, your nature?
FP: and what if we don’t want you buddying along with our session?
You ponies ask too many questions. Shut up for a moment and watch.
0:00
4:13
A light fills the chamber as the flower in the center of the room begins to bloom. As the light fades, Fancy Pants can see a small, round object in the center, and when his vision returns to normal, he sees it is completely white.
The stallion picks up the ball and offers it to Cheerilee.
At a later time in your quest, you will need this.
Cheerilee: What is it? It feels like… Like just a normal cue ball.
As it should. It is a cue ball. But not a normal one.
It’s a little trinket I borrowed from an associate. You’ll discover its true use on your own time.
Behind him, the lotus seals again, and the timer resets. It is now set to bloom again in just over twenty-four hours.
FP: what’s in it now?
Again, on your own time. I’d advise checking back here later.
Cheerilee: But if we’re entering the game, won’t we have to leave this place behind?
Not as soon as that. I know that you are familiar with the layout of the golden planet that orbits Skaia.
When you enter the game, a portal will activate that can take you back to this temple.
I wouldn’t advise staying for long though, with all these flaming spacerocks falling from the sky.
FP: i can only imagine you know something about that.
Of course I do. But for you, all in good time.
Anyway, I’ll be off now. I believe one of you needs to return to your friends sooner than the other?
FP: ah crap, leeroy!
Cheerilee: Where’d he go?
Fancy Pants looks around frantically, only to find that the stallion has disappeared. He shakes his head.
FP: no time for that! cloudsdale has to be on its last legs by now. i’ve got to get back to leeroy!
Cheerilee: Right!
Cheerilee: I know you will, but… please make sure he stays safe.
FP: i will. world’s best wingman, after all!
FP: now get to safety yourself, too. everything’s falling apart.
The two nod and leave for their respective homes.