Without much else to do until Council that night the group of eight took to lounging in Twilight’s bedroom. The lavender mare had suggested at one point that they do something about the other worm monster at Sweet Apple Acres, but everyone reasoned that as long as it didn’t cause them any trouble there wasn’t any point in killing it.
“But we don’t have to kill it,” she countered. “If we take some time to study it we'll surely learn so much about its species, maybe even enough that we can contain or even domesticate the creature.”
James rolled his eyes from the bed. “Yes, truly a carnivorous worm with snake-like tongues makes a most charming pet,” he sarcastically replied.
Twilight furrowed her brows. “Look, if we just-”
“Twilight,” Celestia cut her off, drawing the unicorn’s attention, “we’ll take care of that creature eventually, but a rest is needed after everything we’ve been through today.”
Twilight would’ve argued with her, but one look around at everyone else made it clear they were too tired to follow her suggestion, at least for the moment.
“Fine,” Twilight said, slightly depressed.
“Don’t y’all make no mistake, though,” Sandy said with a smug grin. “Ah’ll gladly catch an’ hog-tie that varmint when Ah'm ready; take it from an experienced worm-wrangler.”
“You wrangle worms?” Ryuk asked, surprised.
“Mhmm.”
Celestia chuckled. “We’re learning so much about each other,” she said, earning a chuckle from everyone else as well before silence reigned supreme once again.
Eventually, the group got bored with waiting around and dispersed throughout the tree library. Frank and Sandy decided to busy themselves with a sparring session downstairs which Ryuk decided to watch. Yugi took to fiddling with his Duel Monsters cards, exchanging ones in both his Side and Main Decks. Samus disengaged her suit and laid down on the guest bed, saying it’d been so long since she had the pleasure of sleeping in an actual bed and that the couch she slept on the previous night was crap. James stayed where he was on the other bed, falling asleep again soon after everyone dispersed.
“Hey, Celestia?” Twilight said to the solar alicorn, quietly so as to not disturb James’ sleep.
“Yes, Twilight?” Celestia replied, also quiet.
She gestured to the balcony. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure, Twilight."
The two stepped out onto Golden Oaks’ balcony. The smell of rot and decay from all the zombies and the worm creature below wafted through the air, but it wasn’t so strong that the two ponies felt like gagging.
“I see the sun’s almost set,” Celestia mused as she looked up at her charge’s counterpart, shining just above the horizon.
“What does it feel like not having any control over the sun here?” Twilight asked as she too stared at the ball of fire.
Celestia looked up in thought for a moment. “Relieved, mostly,” she replied. “Though, it still feels weird not having any connection with the sun here, even if it technically isn’t mine.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Twilight replied back with a nod.
Celestia looked down to her. “I imagine you wanted to talk about something else, though?” she asked.
Twilight nodded again. “It’s something I’ve had in the back of my mind ever since the full extent of our situation was revealed to us, but I didn’t really start thinking about it until after you revealed to me you had an adopted son during the pharaoh’s shadow game.” She looked solemnly at the floor for a moment before continuing. “What if we aren’t from the same Equestria?”
Celestia tilted her head in confusion at that, only for realization to hit a few moments later at what Twilight was implying. She wrapped a comforting wing around the lavender unicorn and smiled down at her.
“It doesn’t matter whether we indeed hail from the same version of Equestria,” she said, drawing Twilight’s attention. “You exhibit every characteristic the Twilight I last saw at the royal wedding had, and that’s all I need to consider you my faithful student.” She tilted her head again. “Do I differ from the Princess Celestia you last saw in any way, Twilight?”
The lavender unicorn shook her head. “Not noticeably, at least.” She looked out to the horizon as the sun began setting below out of sight. “I know it doesn’t really matter, though, I can’t help but wonder what’ll happen if I return home after you do and the Princess Celestia there doesn’t have a clue what I’m talking about when I mention anything about all of what’s happened here.” She scrunched up her face in disgust. “That’d be reaching a whole new level of awkwardness.”
Celestia let out a hearty laugh in response. “I can’t disagree with that assertion,” she said. “How about this, the next time we meet each other back home the first thing we'll say to each other is Aza's name? That way, we’ll know whether we come from the same universe, depending on our reactions to hearing that.”
Twilight smiled. “Sure,” she said.
“Of course,” Celestia continued, looking up with a slight scowl, “Aza could always just confirm whether or not we’re from the same universe right here.”
Silence greeted her for a moment before Aza spoke up.
”Hmm, did you say something, Celestia?”
She sighed. “No, no, go back to whatever you were doing.”
”Oh, I’m finished with what I was doing just now.”
“And what was that?” Twilight asked, turning her attention upwards as well.
The two ponies heard the clattering sound of wood against wood behind them. Turning around, they saw the group’s torches used for Council in a pile.
”Preparing Tribal Council,” Aza answered. The sun finished setting at that moment, shrouding the land in darkness. ”Tell everyone it’s time.
“Sure, sure,” Twilight said exasperatedly, using her magic to pick up the torches and pass one to Celestia, who took it in her own magic.
The two were about to head back inside when Aza spoke up again.
”Oh, and just so you know, Council will be a tad bit different this time.”
Twilight and Celestia shared a look before returning their attention upwards. “How so?” Celestia asked.
A snicker sounded.
“This. Is. Bizarre,” Frank said, dumbstruck, to which everyone else was as well.
Guided by Aza, the group had made its way out of Ponyville to a field beyond its northern border, not too far from Fluttershy’s cottage and in the opposite direction of Sweet Apple Acres where the second worm monster still resided. It was there that the group found a step-pyramid with a temple-like structure adorning the top and torches lining the steps leading up to it.
What threw the group for a loop and made them stare at it slack-jawed, however, was a combination of: the random assortment of colorful plastic bricks used to make the whole thing, the circular bumps visible on each and every step, and the stop-motioned movement of every torch’s flame.
”Why thank you, Frank!” Aza exclaimed. ”I was going for that.”
“What’s this place supposed to be?” Samus asked.
”My own personal creation,” Aza replied, sounding suddenly dramatic. ”Many verses I searched for a residence befitting my desire to conduct a council so bizarre, so comical, so completely out of the box that it would leave the lot of you staring slack-jawed at my masterpiece upon sight of its profound absurdity, which, I’m happy to see is the case.” It chuckled a bit before continuing. ”However, I soon discovered a universe which beheld blocks of a unique variety. Simple in appearance they may be, but truly awe-inspiring when understood and used creatively. I pulled some of these blocks into myself and got to work making my vision a reality which you now stare at dumbly before you.”
The group finally snapped from their stupor in response and looked sheepishly at each other before looking upwards.
“Well, um . . .” Twilight trailed off.
“You certainly are a talented architect,” Celestia supplied helpfully.
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
”Why thank you everyone,” Aza said cheerily. ”Now, if you’ll please enter the Council area we can get this show on the road!”
Everyone complied and began ascending the steps leading up to the temple, being careful where they stepped in between the bumps adorning each one so they didn't trip. Their eyes inevitably glanced to the torches lining the steps along both sides, specifically the unusual movements of each one’s flame. To them it appeared as if the fire was teleporting around the torch instead of flickering like normal, not to mention the fire itself appeared to be an actual solid object instead of a chemical process of combustion.
“Is this really fire?” Twilight muttered as she stopped to inspect one of the torches. After a small bout of hesitation, she raised a forehoof up to the flame. Indeed, she felt the flame’s warmth emanate onto her hoof.
Using her magic, Twilight brought the top of her unlit torch to the flame, to which it instantly lit with the same stop-motion fire. After another, albeit brief, slack-jawed stupor Twilight brought the flame to her muzzle and blew as hard as she could, to which the flame blipped out of existence.
Amazing, she thought.
”Come on, Twilight,” Aza urged her. ”Don’t keep everyone waiting.”
“Right, sorry,” she replied with a shake of her head. Sparing one last glance at the odd flames around her, she hurried inside the temple.
Like the previous Council, the temple’s interior consisted of a large fire pit in the center and torches lining the walls, all with the same weird fire from outside. Eight chairs made of the same plastic as the temple’s bricks were lined up along the left wall while a plastic pedestal, which Aza’s puppet floated behind, sat next to an entryway adjacent from the entrance. Opposite the chairs was a hallway which could only lead to the voting booth. The walls were every bit as randomly colorful as the temple’s exterior, and in the fire’s light Twilight could see the lines separating each brick.
After taking a moment to observe the Council’s setup, Twilight followed the others in gathering around the fire pit.
”Just like before, dip your torch in and get fire,” Aza told them.
Everyone complied and dipped their torches into the fire pit, lighting them with the bizarre fire. They then set their torches into the designated slots behind the chairs before sitting down in the plastic chairs. The seating arrangement ended up being, from left to right: Twilight, James, Sandy, Yugi, Samus, Ryuk, Celestia, and Frank.
Aza’s puppet brought its white and black spheres together, almost as if trying to clap, as the sentient universe spoke to the group.
”Well, you’ve all made it through another day alive and well, and now the time to send one of you home has come again.”
Everyone just glowered at the puppet as Aza continued.
”Now, seeing how things are thematically different this time around, I thought we’d conduct Council a bit differently as well. Instead of having just me poke and prod you all with questions, I’m extending the same privilege to you.”
That gave everyone confused pause. Seeing their confusion, Aza got to explaining what it meant.
”Everyone gets to ask me a single question, and I get to ask a single question to any one or all of you as a whole. The questions can be about anything, but no one is required to answer anything, and we’ll get to voting immediately afterwards. Now then, let’s go from left to right; Twilight, what’s your question?”
Everyone turned to the lavender unicorn who wasted no time in asking, “Did you pull Princess Celestia and I from the same Equestria?”
Everyone turned back to the puppet in anticipation of Aza's answer. It said nothing at first, but after a few moments the puppet did a sort-of shrugging gesture with its white and black spheres.
”Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Aza answered coolly. ”Really, it doesn’t matter since, you know, you’re both allies anyway.”
Twilight scowled in response, but said nothing and crossed her fore legs while pouting.
”You're up, James” Aza said as the puppet turned to him.
The british spy stared up in thought. What should I ask?
He let his gaze wander around the room, including everyone else who returned his gaze with their own, curious ones. Looking at them all, he noticed something interesting about everyone that had previously slipped from his notice.
James turned to Aza’s puppet and asked, “Is there any particular reason why half of us are human?”
Everyone seemed surprised to hear that, including Aza itself as it replied with, "Pardon?"
“Well, among the eight of us there’s four humans,” James replied, and listed who he was referring to while gesturing to them, “myself, Yugi, Samus, Frank, and Ryuk apparently comes from a universe where humans exist as well.” He turned back to Aza’s puppet. “Why the fascination for humans, Aza?”
Everyone also turned to the puppet and awaited a response. The puppet raised its white sphere up to its red sphere and made a mock chin-stroking gesture.
”Well gee, I never really thought about it,” Aza replied thoughtfully. ”It might be because the universe of my birth was human-dominant, so I’m just instinctually more fixated on them, I guess.”
“‘Universe of your birth’?” Celestia spoke up, wide-eyed in surprise. “Consider this my question: what exactly does that mean?”
Aza’s puppet lifted its white and black spheres up in another mock shrugging gesture. ”All I know is that the area of the multiverse in which I was conceived consisted of human-dominant universes. As to how exactly sentient universes like myself are born is something I can’t answer, much as I’d like to know.”
The puppet pointed toward Sandy. ”You’re turn, Miss Cheeks.”
Sandy scrunched her face in thought for a moment before asking, “Was SpongeBob from the same universe as me?”
”My answer to that is the same as my answer to Twilight's question,” Aza replied.
Sandy furrowed her gaze at the puppet before sighing and gesturing for Yugi to ask his question.
“This is something I’ve been wondering for a while now,” he started. Yugi gestured to himself, the ponies, and Frank as he continued. “How come you offered to give the first five of us an item of our choosing, but haven't done so for anyone that came after us?”
”Ah, now that’s a good question. I originally made that offer to spice things up, but I quickly realized after the first time that everyone would only choose things which they’re comfortable with, and aside from that high-stakes duel between you and Twilight nothing worthwhile came out of it.”
“Now wait a minute,” Frank said, drawing everyone’s attention, “I killed a freaky dragon-pterodactyl with my machete.” His face set into an expression of shocked exasperation. “How is that not interesting?”
”Admittedly, seeing someone other than Samus take down Ridley was fairly cool to watch, but the excitement dissipated very soon afterward and, to be completely honest, that fight ended far too quickly for my taste.”
Frank could only facepalm in response.
”And speaking of Samus . . .” The puppet pointed to her. ”You’re up.”
Samus furrowed her brows behind her helmet’s visor as she replied with, “What kind of challenges can we expect in the future?”
”Well, there really isn’t a definitive answer to that question, since I don’t plan out in advance what I’m going to throw at you guys. Rather, I go searching for something that I think would be interesting to pit you all against, and after a small bit of analysis on whether the challenge is fair or not I either rope it into myself or leave it alone. If you want to know what’s in store for you all after this Council, aside from a new addition to the group I figured I’d give you all a break if for no other reason than the newcomer should keep you all plenty busy themselves.”
Samus tilted her head. “Who’s the newcomer?”
”Ah ah ah,” Aza said while shaking the puppet’s black sphere back and forth like it was a finger, ”you’ve asked your question already.”
Samus just rolled her eyes in response.
”Now then, it’s Ryuk’s turn to question me,” Aza said, turning the puppet toward the Shinigami. ”So, what does the god of death want to ask the one thing that surpasses even divinity itself?”
Everyone turned to Ryuk with genuine interest at what he might ask. Aside from who he was and his general personality, not much was known of the Shinigami. No one had a good grasp on what kind of person he was, and the fact that they knew so very little about him made everyone all the more curious as to what he might ask the sentient universe.
Ryuk took a moment to scratch his head sheepishly while looking down in thought. The Shinigami then stroked his chin for another moment before returning the puppet’s gaze and asking, with complete neutrality, “Can I have an apple-flavored lollipop?”
. . .
. . .
. . .
The resulting silence was eventually broken as Aza broke into a fit of laughter so great that neighboring universes felt its effects, causing a rip in some of their respective space-time continuums.
It wasn’t just Aza who laughed either. The rest of the group either doubled over or sat upright while clutching their sides as they joined the sentient universe in laughing while Ryuk just looked on in confusion.
“What?” he asked. “You all know how much I like apples.”
Everyone continued their vivacious laughter for what equated to a few minutes before finally managing to recompose themselves and sit back upright, though a few chuckles still managed to escape some of them.
”Oh, Ryuk,” Aza said with a giggle, ”of all the questions you could’ve asked me, why choose something so innocuous as whether I’ll help you satisfy your appetite for apples; your ‘appletite’ if I may be punny for a second?”
Ryuk shrugged. “I really don’t have anything more interesting I want to ask,” he replied, to which everyone either shook their heads or stared blankly in surprise at his answer. “So, can I have one?”
”If I find one I may give it to you,” Aza replied. ”Then again, I’m not one to steal candy from a baby . . . or a universe.”
“Fine,” Ryuk said with a sigh. Everyone was sure his face changed at that moment into a depressed expression, but didn’t let their surprise show as Aza’s puppet turned to Frank.
”And that leaves you, Frank, Aza said. ”Though technically you already asked me a question, since it was more out of exasperation than actual curiosity I’ll let you ask another one.”
Frank brought his hands together and rested his chin on them as he contemplated his question. After a few moments he looked back to the puppet and replied with, “What’s my world’s future like?”
”. . . I’m afraid I don’t quite follow,” Aza replied.
Frank groaned. “I mean, what’s going to become of Earth after the point in time you plucked me from? Is Carlito’s ticking time bomb plan real? Will the Earth be overrun by zombies? If you exist outside of time then you must know all of what happens in any universe’s timeline, right?”
Twilight and Celestia shared a look as Aza replied.
”That isn’t something I can answer either, Frank. You see, there’s an infinite number of universes all stemming from the same source of existence, and each universe is almost perfectly identical to its neighboring ones. Variations in universes, however, are born from differing actions enacted in prior ones.”
”For example, you made a decision to save all those people in Willamette, and therefore the universe which I plucked you from has them all alive and well. But there’s also a universe which had you neglecting to save them all which exists not too far from your native verse. To put this in simple terms, for every single action people make no matter how small, there’s a universe in which it occurred.”
”To answer your question specifically, the zombie threat which plagues your native universe branches off into many variations. Some have the zombie threat eradicated for good, while others have it wiping out humanity, but as of right now they all have one thing in common.”
“What?” Frank asked, doing everything in his power to show no fear.
”Because you currently exist here within myself, the freelance photojournalist known as Frank West doesn’t exist in any of these timelines. Upon returning your existence would be re-established in all of them, and depending on a number of factors your current incarnation might either help save the world, join in its fall, or anything in between.”
Everyone looked to Frank with genuine concern as the man mulled over all of what Aza had just said. He seemed to have a wistful look in his eyes as he did so, which was replaced with placid neutrality as he returned the puppet’s gaze and said, “Thanks for letting me know all that.”
”You’re welcome,” Aza replied, then did another mock clapping gesture with the puppet’s black and white spheres. ”Now then, my turn to ask a question.”
The puppet pointed its black sphere at Celestia and Aza said, ”My question is for Celestia: since it’s obvious you’re assembling a new set of Element Bearers, what would you do if I decided to take the Elements away?”
Everyone turned to the solar alicorn with curious expressions. Samus, Yugi, and Twilight especially were interested in hearing what the princess had to say in response to Aza’s question.
Celestia tapped her chin in thought for a moment before replying.
“Well, we’d certainly be at a disadvantage if you did,” she said, then flashed a coy smile at the puppet. “Then again, if you didn’t want us having access to the Elements you wouldn’t have roped them into yourself along with this Equestria.”
”That . . . is true, I suppose,” Aza replied. The tone in its voice was full of sheepishness, which Celestia found both amusing and telling simultaneously.
”Well then,” Aza continued, sounding better composed now, ”you all know the drill; walk into the voting booth and write down the name of whoever you’re voting for on the parchment before putting it in the voting urn.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
”Okay then, it is time to vote: Twilight, you’re up.”
The lavender unicorn got up and walked across the plastic floor to the hallway leading to the voting booth. Reaching the end, she found the same setup as the previous night in the Everfree with the only difference being everything (save for the parchment and pen) was made of the same plastic blocks as the rest of the temple.
She was also particularly unnerved by the face which adorned the front of the yellow voting urn.
I’m gonna have nightmares tonight for sure, Twilight thought as she enveloped the pen in her magic and began casting her vote.
Well, Frank, it's been great knowing you. I hope you find a way to cure yourself when you return home.
This is new; for once I'm not writing down a name to kill someone. Hmm . . . I should probably retrieve my Death Note when we get back, if for no other reason than for safekeeping.
Man, that's a creepy urn. Anyway, this is for the best; that's all there is to this vote.
This is just further thanks for saving SpongeBob before, James.
Good luck being useful to everyone, James. I can't say I blame you for losing yourself earlier, but at least I took the existence of zombies in stride. Oh well, different strokes for different folks.
How cute, the urn's got a little face. Well, nice as it was to have a relatively normal person here by my standards, I do agree that having a walking zombie time bomb among us is begging for trouble. Good luck with living, Mr. West.
Though we live universes apart I'd like to think my prayers for your safety will reach you regardless.
Here's to one more soul being safe from Aza's sadism.
”I’ll go tally the votes,” Aza said once everyone had gone.
The group of eight watched as the puppet exited down the hallway leading to the voting booth. The question of why Aza had its puppet retrieve the urn instead of just moving it to the pedestal itself lingered in their minds all the while it did so, and seeing the face on the yellow urn when it returned caused a few of them discomfort once again.
Aza’s puppet brought the urn over to the pedestal and popped the lid off. ”As you all know, once the votes are read the decision is final, to which whoever is voted out will immediately be sent home after having their torch snuffed.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
”Let’s see who the lucky one is,” Aza said as the puppet reached in and pulled out a vote.
Everyone remained perfectly calm as the vote was opened up and read.
”First vote belongs to,” the puppet turned the vote around, ”Frank.”
Frank nodded in acceptance as the second vote was pulled out.
”Second vote belongs to,” the puppet opened and turned the vote around, ”James.”
James quirked an eyebrow and looked to Frank, who only continued to stare at the puppet as it kept pulling out votes and reading them. All the while Aza did so Twilight stared at the ground, a solemn look in her eyes.
”We’re now at four votes for Frank and two votes for James,” Aza announced after the sixth vote had been read. ”One more vote for you, Frank, and you get to go home.”
Frank didn’t respond and instead glanced to Twilight, only to also look down at the ground briefly before returning his gaze to the puppet as it pulled out another vote.
The puppet opened it. ”And the second person voted out is,” it turned the vote around, ”Frank.”
Frank nodded again and stood up to grab his torch, not needing to be told to do so. Everyone watched him go with neutral expressions, except for Twilight who continued to stare at the ground and Sandy who had a slight frown.
Frank wasted no time in bringing his torch over to the pedestal and inserting it into the designated slot before looking to the puppet with an eager expression.
Like last time a snuffer appeared in the puppet’s grip, this one fashioned from the same plastic blocks as everything else, albeit a much smaller variation of them.
”Frank,” Aza said, ”the tribe has spoken.”
Frank nodded as the puppet brought the snuffer above his torch’s flame. In one fluid motion it snuffed the fire out, to which no smoke rose from the top after it lifted the snuffer off.
”You know where to go.”
Frank made to walk down the nearby stairs leading outside, but instead turned around to everyone else.
“Good luck, everyone.” His eyes then settled on the lavender unicorn at the far end of the seats. “And Twilight?”
After a moment’s hesitation she looked up to him.
Frank smiled. “Thanks.”
Twilight let the corners of her mouth turn up in a slight smile. "You're welcome," she replied softly, just barely audible to him.
“One last thing,” Frank said. He held his camera up to his eye and snapped a picture of everyone. “Just to keep you all in my thoughts.”
Everyone smiled and waved goodbye as Frank descended the temple’s stairs, waving goodbye himself. Once he was completely out of sight Aza spoke up.
”Well, that wasn’t quite as tear-jerking as last time, but whatever.” The puppet vanished before Aza continued. ”And as for your new companion . . .”
Suddenly, a figure began materializing right in front of the group, startling everyone briefly. The figure was small, yellow, and had a body somewhat like that of a rodent. Its ears were extra long and black-tipped while its tail was distinctly lightning bolt-shaped. As the figure continued taking shape, more details became clear, such as its red cheeks, black eyes, and stubby little arms and legs.
Eventually, the creature fully materialized in front of the group. It laid asleep on the plastic block floor, completely ignorant of its new predicament. When no one else moved to wake it, Twilight got out of her seat and approached the creature.
“Be careful, Twilight,” Celestia warned.
“I will, princess,” Twilight replied.
She gently nudged the creature with her muzzle, to which its ears flicked in response before cracking an eye open. It took a moment to stand up and, after cutely yawning, returned Twilight’s gaze only to immediately look shocked.
“Pi-pi-pika-ch-ch-chu!?”
