"I'm hooooome~!" I called as I walked back into our house. My confrontation with the Imperium pony had been rather civil, discounting the times I had to beat him over the head; when he agreed to pass the message on, he actually appeared comfortable around me and didn't make any insulting remarks. I wouldn't go so far as to say I had made him do a complete 180 in terms of his opinion, but I will say that I definitely did not consider him to be a nuisance any longer.
The rest of the Imperium, on the other hoof...
"...Asylum?" My train of thought was broken when I realized I hadn't gotten a reply. I poked my head into the living room where I had left her sleeping, but she wasn't there. She wasn't in the kitchen or outside, either.
I started to panic. Yes, it was a little early to start assuming the worse, but considering what I had just come back from, I think my worrying was a little more justified. I checked upstairs, only to once again find nothing.
Before I could start breaking things, though, I found a note on our bed.
Arrell,
Just visiting the rest of the Winter Solstice at False's house. If you finish what you're doing before I get back, come on by!
Asylum
I sighed in relief. I was about to crumple the note up when I saw something written on the back.
PS. I took your DevIce. I want to show the others that new game you added.
My eyes widened. My ears flopped down. My mouth hung open. My brain raced. "Oh no."
Throwing the note away, I dashed to the front door as quickly as I could, practically breaking the door off its hinges as I charged outside. Dammit Asylum, no! Anything but that! Put a knife to their throats, bury them under gravel, trap them in a burning ring of fire - none of that's even half as dangerous as THAT!
"...you didn't."
"I did."
I groaned and facehoofed. "Asylum...why?"
She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "It...it seemed like a cool game..."
In the living room, the rest of the Winter Solstice were crowded around my DevIce, with False seeming to be the one actually in control. The others were yelling at her on what to do next, while she kept frantically tapping and trying in vain to get them to be quiet.
"Cookie Clicker," I sighed. "The epidemic has spread."
"I'm sorry..." She kicked at the floor, refusing to look me in the eye. "I thought it was safe...it didn't really seem that addicting to me..."
"There are very few who can resist its addictive nature," I said sagely. "Only those with extreme willpower can keep themselves from becoming ensnared in its grasp." I looked at the other three and sighed. "They are...not of that type."
I pulled her into a hug, and she sighed. "M-Maybe you should take it away from them...?"
"What, and break this hug? Nah." I chuckled. "Besides, they'll reach a point where they're just waiting for their cookie count to go up, and they'll go somewhere else to wait. I'll just swipe it back during then." I shuddered. "Don't wanna try taking it back when they're still focused on it. They'd rip my eyes out."
She giggled. "That wouldn't really be good, I assume?"
"Definitely not. Eye need them to see."
She glared at me. "Don't start. It's bad enough when you ruin the mood with your puns when we're in Alterspace."
"No need to assume anything!"
"They should erect a statue in our honour!"
"Time to receive your cumuppance!"
I smirked. "I have no regrets. Those were funny."
"...kind of. But sex isn't supposed to be funny."
"Fine, fine." I glanced back at the others, then back to Asylum. "So now that they're basically not gonna even look at us for the next seven hours, what should we do?"
She grinned. It almost scared me. "I think I've got an idea..."
"...you know it's still only the afternoon, right?"
"Well, what better way to make sure you get enough sleep tonight than to tire you out?" She nuzzled me, causing me to blush.
"W-Well...um..."
"It's settled, then. Come on."