//------------------------------// // Prologue: The Tutorial? // Story: Hello Equestria // by Mr Lullaby //------------------------------// “What the?” Rufus stood there in clean, bright marble room, “This doesn't look like Deponia.” “That’s because it isn’t.” a female voice said from behind. Rufus turned around only to find no one there. “Who said that?” Rufus looked about the room in search of the voice. “Hello?” Rufus asked. No answer. “Helllooo!?” Rufus’s voice echoed throughout the room. Again, no answer. “HEY! ANSWER ME!! Where Am I?” Still no answer… “Darn, why won’t she answer me?” he asked himself. Rufus stood there for a moment thinking when a thought struck him. “Oh, please don’t tell me that…” stopping mid-sentence he released an ugh then dumbly spoke, “Talk… To… Voice…” A bright flash lit the surrounding area, “You know, you don’t have to say it.” “Then why didn't you answer me!!” The deponian angrily blurted. “That’s because I was busy taking care of some things.” “Well that’s great! Now that you’re done, can you answer me a few questions? Like, who are you, or Where am I?” “That doesn’t matter right now. Look, I need somepony to help me fix the harmony vault. And I was told that you could do it.” Rufus scoffed, “I Don’t need help fixing a harm-you vault.” “Frist off, its harmony. Second, I’m the one asking for help.” The Deponian crossed his arms and smirked, “Well then, I guess it’s your lucky day, because you can just sit back and relax while I, Rufus, fix the vault all by myself!” “Are you sure?” “Totally.” “Okay, then. Sweet.” Rufus looked around for a couple seconds, “Um? Where’s the vault?” “It’s to your left.” “I knew that.” Rufus said approaching the vault, “Let’s see…” the boy stood there for a couple of seconds. “Um,” The voice said, “Aren’t you going to look at the door? You know, so you can figure out what’s wrong?” Rufus looked back toward the direction of the voice, “I am, but the Eye Icon won’t work.” He replied. “Eye…icon?” The voice asked quizzically. “Yeah, it’s the icon that lets you look at an object. I’m trying to use it, but it’s not responding for some reason.” “Maybe that’s because it doesn’t exist.” “Wait!” Rufus shouted, “Are you saying that I died three times trying learn this crap, only to find out that I can’t even use it!!?” “Well, yeah, I guess.” “WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG WITH YOU!” “HEY! I wasn’t the one who taught you that stuff! The only thing that I’m here for is to make sure the vault gets fixed!!” “Well then, I guess you’re on your own because I don’t even know how to do a dam thing!” Rufus scoffed. “What are you talking about? All you need to do is look at it!” “Oh sure, and how do I do that?” He said sarcastically, “With the magnifying glass Icon? Or the binoculars Icon?” “No! Just look at the thing. Turn your head and focus your eyes on the object you want to look at.” Rufus was taken aback by the voice’s instructions, “An-And that’s it? Just look at it? That’s all there is to it?” “Yep.” “No, Icon or anything? I don’t even need to click on it?” “Nope.” “Wow,” Rufus said with other shock, “That’s awesome! Though I'll do miss the clicking sound, the mouse makes.” “What?” “Nothing.” Rufus turned back to the vault, “Okay, looking at the vault, here I go!” Rufus clicked his tongue before scanning the door. After some time inspecting the door he deiced to report his diagnosis, “Ah HA! Yes! I did it!” “And?” the voice pressed. “And what?” the Deponian curiously asked back. “The vault,” it asked irritably, “did you figure out what’s wrong?” “Oh that, ah, yeah. I couldn’t find the problem.” “Really?! Because it's pretty obvious!” “Oh yeah? Then tell me little Miss know-it-all, what’s the problem?” Rufus snarked. “The wards on the vault have expired and need to be reset.” “Shshhh! I’m trying to think.” He hushed looking back at the door. “Ah ha, I see the problem now! The wards on the vault have expired and need to be reset.” “That’s what I just said.” the voice deadpanned. “Yeah, sure you did.” “You know what-” Rufus cut the voice off before it could finish, “Quiet!" He said, "I’m still trying to fix this door.” Rufus’s eyes fell upon a control panel. “That looks promising.” He grinned as he walked up to the panel. On the panel, he found a button and a switch. “I’m guessing this has to do with setting the wards?” “Correct. The red-” “Hey! Relax, I can figure this out by myself.” “Well, okay then.” The voice said with growing irritation. The Deponian looked back at the terminal, “Hrm. The red button with the exclamation mark must be to arm the wards. And the switch is used to reset the wards.” Rufus grabbed the switch and flicked it down. The vault door then lit up with symbols and hummed softly. “Now all we need to do is test it.” Replied the voice. “I was just about to say the same thing.” Rufus then grabbed a crumpled up piece of paper from his coat and approached the glowing door. “What are you doing?” “What does it look like? I’m testing the door.” “But-” “Hey!” Rufus barked, “Didn’t I tell you to relax?” “Well, yeah But-” “Then do it! You don’t need to worry about me; I’ve got this covered.” Rufus then prepped himself for his overhand throw. “Here’s the windup…” “Wait!” “Annnnd, here’s the…” “Stop!” “Pitch!” right as the wad of paper was released from the man’s hand, the paper ball lit up with purple energy and stopped in mid-air. “What the?” The voice let out a sigh of relief, “That’s was close.” “Hey, what gives? What did you do? Why is the paper floating?” “I stopped it with my magic before you set off the wards.” “Why would you do that?” Rufus felt his anger building up. “Um, I don’t know? Maybe to, oh? Save your life!” “You know what! That’s it! You've been harassing me since the beginning of this tutorial; I demand that you show yourself, NOW!!” “ME! Harassing you!? YOU'RE the one that's harassing ME!" The voice let out a sigh, "Let's just get this over with. Can you please-” Rufus interrupted her, "No! Whatever it is, I'm not doing it. Not until you reveal yourself to me." The voice let out a groan, "Fine, Look up." “Look…Up?” Rufus tilted his head up to find a flying purple horse staring down at him. “Hi! I’m Twilight Sparkle.” The mare said swooping down to eyelevel. Rufus’s pupils widened. He stood there frozen in terror, then promptly let out a long shriek, “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Rufus stumbled backwards into the door. “Uh oh.” Twilight watch as the light of the door engulfed the deponian and vaporized him. The pony looked the spot where moments ago Rufus stood, “Well, on the bright side princess Celestia will finally be able to have a good night’s rest again. But I wonder, how's Discord going to take the news?”