//------------------------------// // 9. Strange Suspect // Story: This Game of Mine // by Swan Song //------------------------------//   “One day in the Crucible tells you everything you need to know about a Crusader. Even yourself.” —NOYB Mark            S W E E T I E   B E L L E   No. Way. It was one of Eternity’s developers! In the flesh! Well, okay, not really in the flesh, since this was a video game and all, but oh my Stars it was one of Eternity’s developers! “I’ve been following you ever since your world-first clear of the Infinite Citadel,” said the mare named Prosperity, taking off her tricorn hat as she slowly approached us. ”And I’m really impressed. You guys are some of the best players I’ve ever seen in our game.” To say I was shaking in my boots was an understatement. This was one of the creators of the game, and she was complimenting us. That was like Sapphire Shores praising your cover of her song! Or, or— “Soooo cooooool!” exclaimed Button Mash, which elicited a giggle from the mare, and a groan from me because seriously Button, when do you not embarrass the socks off all of us, ever. “You are too gracious, Miss Prosperity,” said Stranger to my right. “Thank you for your kind words.” And thank you, Stranger, for clearly still being in control of your faculties while I’m over here freaking the Sun out. “They’re well-deserved,” she said with a smile. “You’re consistently on the top of the Crucible leaderboards. After today’s battle, I can see why. You have a stellar team dynamic.” “Yeah, well, that’s all Dovetail here!” said Freya with a wide, hawkish grin, her arm still wrapped around my neck. “Fearless leader and her ragtag team of misfits!” “Ah, yes. Dovetail.” Miss Prosperity nodded her head towards me. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Oh Stars, she’s talking to me, whaddoisay?! “The pleasure’s fine— I mean, mine.” Smooth, Sweetie Belle. But if she noticed the slip-up, she made no indication. “I’ll be honest, I expected you to be…” She pondered for a moment. “Taller?” “She’s actually shorter in real life!” piped a nasally voice to my left. Plonk. “Mmrrgrhgph!” blurbed a significantly less-nasally and hoof-muzzled voice to my left. “Hehehaaa, don’t mind my friend here,” I giggled nervously. “He’s so very, uh… frank.” “I can see that,” hummed Miss Prosperity. “Out of curiosity, how old are you two?” “Um.” That’s kind of a private question, isn’t it? “Pleah!” spat Button. “I’m twelve, and Dovetail’s thirtee—” Plonk. “I see.” She stepped closer, appraising us once more. “That’s certainly very… surprising. I hadn’t expected you two to be so young.” I couldn’t help but wonder where this line of questioning was going. “Sorry, but, um, why do you need to know?” “Oh, forgive me,” she replied with an apologetic smile. “It has to do with why I’m here, and before I get to that, I suppose I should explain exactly what it is I do at Mythic. While I do help make the game, I’m also part of the marketing team. Now that the game has been out on the market for quite some time, I’ve picked up a new hat: community manager.” “I’ve not heard of such a profession before,” thought Stranger aloud. “It’s certainly not what I had in mind when I joined the company,” she replied with a shrug. “After all, it’s only truly come around within the last couple years.” “Ah yes, the Stratonet,” thought Stranger aloud. “It certainly has changed a great many things.” Miss Prosperity nodded in agreement. “More and more ponies in Equestria are using it to gather and socialize with other ponies who have common interests—Eternity being one of them. My job as community manager is to interact with and engage those ponies.” “And other races too?” grumbled Freya. “Like, you know, gryphons?” “And gryphons too, of course,” she said placidly. “Though, admittedly, I’ve never met a gryphon before, which isn’t surprising, considering the… situation. But if they were present, I would attempt to engage them all the same. They are our loyal fans and supporters, after all.” Freya's beak jawed for a few seconds, apparently having lost its words. “So, crowd-sourced advertising, then,” quipped Button in the ensuing silence. “I dunno if I’d call that new. You’re basically getting your fans excited so they can help spread the word about the game. Except you’re doing it on the Stratonet, instead of in real life.” Wow, Button. That was actually… a pretty acute observation. Apparently Miss Prosperity thought so too, if her widening eyes was any indication. “Dovetail certainly wasn’t wrong about your frankness. But yes, that’s essentially what it is.” She sighed heavily. “Though, all things considered, a lot of the ponies who interact online, well… they mostly just stay online. And that doesn’t really help get the word out, unfortunately.” “Probably because a lot of ponies don’t want to admit they play video games,” I grumbled. “Are you one of those ponies?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “I used to be.” And that turned out oh-so wonderfully, didn’t it. “What changed?” “And why exactly do you want to know?” “Dove, you don’t need to snap at her,” Button rebuked. “I’m not snapping at her!” “You kind of are, kid,” remarked Freya with a pointed talon. Okay, fine! So what if I am?! This week hasn’t exactly been the best for me, and all of you know exactly why! …Well, all except one. “…You’re right,” I admitted with a sigh, then struggled to meet Miss Prosperity’s eyes. “I’m really sorry, you didn’t deserve that. It’s just been… kind of a rough week because of that.” “I… see. I take it things didn’t go very well?” Well, I was made a laughingstock of my entire class, got in a hoof-fight with another filly, and got suspended from school, so… “To say the least,” I finished lamely. “I understand. My apologies, it was wrong of me to presume. I was merely curious to know what made you decide to make yourself known, since it might have been something I could use to help other ponies do the same.” “Heh. Nah, I doubt that, unless I’m not the only one who got slapped with a cutie mark for it.” She blinked. “That’s… wait, what? I’m sorry, did I hear you right? You got a cutie mark for playing Eternity?” “Well… yeah. A video gaming cutie mark. Earlier this week, for the Theralon kill.” A moment passed, during which something seemed to go off inside Miss Prosperity’s head—her mouth hung agape, and she stared at me like I was some kind of otherworldly ghost. No surprises there—I’d have felt the same way too, in her place, considering the only word that could truly describe the situation was— “Amazing,” she finally breathed. …Uh no, wrong A-word. I was thinking more along the lines of ‘absurd’. Or maybe ‘asinine’. Or maybe just ‘ass’. Get it? Because cutie marks and flanks and stuff! Heh. …Eh. “That’s amazing,” she spoke again, this time louder, her excitement growing as she stepped closer, grabbing my hoof with hers and shaking it wildly. “Congratulations, Dovetail, that’s incredible! Amazing! Awesome! I can’t believe it! By the Sun and Stars, wait until the rest of the studio hears, I—” “Please don’t,” I groaned. Her eyes widened in shock, and she fixed me with a serious gaze, like she had never been so certain of anything else in her life. “But why not? They must know!” “Why?!” Why does everypony need to know about this thing that I didn’t even ask for?! “Can’t you see?” she implored, eyes glimmering. “Never in my years working for this company did any of us think that something we made would help a filly get her cutie mark!” “Something to be very proud of indeed,” remarked Stranger. “To play such an instrumental role in a filly’s coming-of-age? I can scarcely imagine a higher honor.” “Exactly!” agreed Miss Prosperity, nodding furiously like a bobblehead in an earthquake. …Well, I guess when you put it that way, it is kind of cool. “Okay, fine, I guess you can… tell ponies, or whatever,” I conceded in resignation. “Just… keep it to them, please?” “I will! Thank you! Oh, this is so exciting!” She giggled like a schoolfilly. Not like me, but more like, you know, those Niponi schoolfillies. It was almost like her entire personality had changed with the flick of a switch upon learning of this revelation. Which would have been hilarious and a little flattering and all, if the revelation had been anything but this. “And I’m glad to hear it,” I said patiently, putting a hoof on hers. “But we’re kind of straying from the topic. I’m still not sure, exactly, what you wanted to speak with us about.” “Yes,” came Zaid’s voice as he stepped forward. “You mention an offer? Very curious.” “Oh!” Her face scrunched up, and she quickly composed herself. “Oh, right. I’m terribly sorry. Ahem. Yes, I did. Though it’s less of an offer, and more of an invitation.” An invitation? “To what?” “Well, er. Hmm. How do I put this.” She shuffled anxiously, her face scrunching up as she apparently sought for words. Weird. Miss Prosperity was… nervous? Did our roles suddenly get reversed, or something? “Okay, um, this is somewhat a last minute affair,” she declared suddenly, straightening up. “You know how earlier, I said I wanted our fans to be more active beyond the Stratonet?” We nodded slowly. “Well, I figured, what better way to make that happen than to throw a big party?” …Huh? “A… party?” “Yes, some sort of large event for all of our fans to meet up with each other in real life.” Well, uh, alrighty then, not-Pinkie Pie, that can’t possibly blow up in your face at all. “So, basically,” Freya said with a disbelieving smirk, “you’re asking a bunch of sheltered shut-ins to go out and socialize with each other over something they might be embarrassed by? Yeah, uh, that sounds like it could backfire.” Yeah pretty much my thoughts exactly. “It does sound a little… counterintuitive, to be marketing a party to a bunch of introverts.” “Really, now?” Miss Prosperity quirked an eyebrow. “Are all of you sheltered, introverted shut-ins?” …Touché. “Besides, it won’t just be like any party,” she assured us. “It’ll be an Eternity party. Sure, it’ll have all the usual fixings, like food and music, but it’ll also have game consoles set up, so ponies can play Eternity with each other, and fan-artists doing live commissions for ponies, and—” “That sounds so cool!” exclaimed Button, jumping up in excitement. “I’m super down!” Wait, what? This actually sounded like a good idea to you?! “I don’t know,” I said slowly, trying to pick my words carefully so as to not offend Miss Prosperity. “Playing Eternity together? We can already do that at home over the Stratonet.” I immediately felt somewhat guilty as a slight crestfallen look began to creep into the mare’s features. “Aw, c’mon Dove, playing at home isn’t really the same,” Button pointed out. “I mean, we invite each other over to play games together all the time. It’s just more fun in person.” “I imagine having the games there would help everypony break the ice with each other as well,” added Stranger. “It’d anchor them to something familiar, despite the unusual environment.” “Yes! Yes, you both get it!” grinned Miss Prosperity enthusiastically. “And I didn’t even mention the tournament!” “Tournament?” “The centerpiece of the event!” she exclaimed, eyes turning skyward and glittering like the morning dew on a sunny day. “A huge tournament, where the best of the best from all walks of life, coming together to compete with and against each other, to see who truly dominates the Crucible! Lights! Fog machines! Explosions!” I watched in awe as this mare, who only minutes ago intimidated me with her sheer presence, had suddenly become an excitable ball of sleeve-worn hopes and dreams within the span of a single conversation. It was adorable, and I giggled out loud. At that, she suddenly froze, balancing on a single hoof midway through a pirouette as she was attempting to demonstrate I don’t even know what, and a blush swept over her features with the force of a tidal wave. She quickly righted herself, reassuming her serious posture and staring at the floor intently. “Yes, ahem.” She re-donned the tricorn hat, likely to cover her reddening ears. “Well. Ahem.” They popped out through the holes that all pony hats have. “Anyways. Ahem...” It didn’t seem like she’d get a grip on herself anytime soon, so I spoke up first, in hopes of re-railing the conversation. “Listen, this sounds super cool and all,” I ventured cautiously, “but… why tell us about it? Where do we come in?” “I suspect she means to invite us,” supplied Stranger. “After all, she did mention an invitation.” “That’s what I had in mind, yes,” she nodded, straightening her hat and looking at us once more. “I wanted to formally invite you, the members of Sanctuary to attend the event in Manehattan as our guests of honor.” “…Guests of honor?” I asked incredulously, unsure of what that entailed. She nodded seriously. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve been making a lot of waves online. From your exploits in the Vault of Glass, to your continued domination of the Crucible leaderboards, everypony has heard tell of your exploits, and is singing the praises of the most-accomplished fireteam that Eternity has ever seen thus far.” “You mean we’re famous?!” cried Button Mash gleefully. “Whatever qualifies for ‘famous’ in our community, you’re certainly it,” she replied with a wink. “As it stands, it would be an utter privilege to have you attend. Especially you, Miss Dovetail.” Manehattan, huh… “And it’s Saturday?” “That’s right, two days from now. I’m really sorry it’s such a last minute invitation, but I had only come up with the idea of inviting Sanctuary earlier today. If you have other plans already…” “No, no, I’m… pretty much free all weekend.” “Then why not?” she said with a smile. “The only thing I would need at this point is express permission from Smash’s guardian, since he’s underage.” “I can get that easy-peasy,” he grinned. “Mom would be totally down for this.” I sighed. “I don’t know,” I admitted after a momentary silence. “It sounds like a lot of fun, and I’d really like to go, but… I’m not sure if we can afford the trip right now.” “Sweetie, isn’t your sister going to Manehattan?” asked Button. “She is,” I nodded at him. “But can she afford to take me along? I’d have to pay for my own travel and such. And it’s not like she’s going just for fun—she has an important job interview. She can’t just follow me around the city and babysit me all day.” “If money is an issue,” interjected Miss Prosperity, “Mythic Incorporated is more than willing to cover the full cost of transit and lodging.” I blinked at that. “Are you sure?” “Without question. The event is being thrown by my company, after all, and those expenses are a part of our marketing budget. We calculated the potential as soon as I got the idea, and they fell well within reasonable expectations.” She turned to the rest of my team. “Naturally, this offer is extended to all of you in turn. Full transit and lodging, from anywhere in Equestria. In fact…” A holoscreen popped up before her, and she began navigating around the interface, the contents of which were obscured to us. “Let me pull up your registration records right now, so I can see where you ponies would be riding out from.” “Ah, well, heh, see, there’s just a tiny problem with that,” started Freya, eyeing the mare. “I’m pretty sure if I tried to cross the border, I’d get shot on sight.” “Border?” A perplexed look overcame Miss Prosperity’s face. “Why, whatever do you—“ A new window appeared, instantly giving her pause. “Current residence: Liimes Equus, Autumnus Praetoria, Gryphos?!” “Ehehehe, yeaaah,” she grinned sheepishly. “Like I said, kinda impossible. Unless you know a way through the DMZ that doesn’t involve getting blown to pieces by mines or flak.” “Sun smite me, I’m so sorry,” she stammered apologetically. “Usually most gryphons in the game are still Equestrian players, I didn’t realize…” “Nah, it’s cool,” she shrugged in reply. “I… kinda get that all the time.” “I… see. Well, that’s a shame,” she said with a sad smile that looked genuinely sincere. “I would have loved to meet a gryphon in person. We actually used to have a Gryphosi consultant on our team, helped us nail down a lot of the cultural expression, but he left shortly before I joined…” She began flipping through windows. “Ponyville… Ponyville… Saddle Arabia?!” “Ah, that’s me,” grunted Zaid. “I am a long way from Equestria. Cannot come, even if I want to.” “Stars, that’s such a long ways away!” Swipe. “And this one is… blacked out?” “A gag order, yes,” clarified Stranger, stepping forward. “If you’ll read the attached documents…” A gag order—? “Due to the escalation of national defense readiness to a critical alert status, as prompted by the expectation of potential hostilities by belligerent factions,” recited Miss Prosperity, her eyes widening with each word, “any Equestrian citizen considered critical to national security is under legal obligation to conceal all details of their identity, including name, current residence, etcetera etcetera, upon registration to any private or public service…” “…as decreed by Executive Authority of the Principality of Equestria,” Stranger finished with a flourish of her hoof. “Whoa,” whispered Button. … Wait, what?! Critical to national security? Authority of Equestria?! I whirled around to Stranger, bewildered. After all this time, we only now learn that Stranger was some kind of… government-protected secret?! Suddenly, my mind was alight with possibilities, wondering as to her true identity. An ambassador or diplomat? An important soldier, like a general? Maybe even a spy?! Demanding answers from my friend, I attempted to express my current flabbergasted state of mind by condensing the implications behind all of these outrageous likelihoods into a profound series of verbal utterances: “Buh— wha— how— what.” Very profound. And yet, and yet, the mare in question gave nothing more than a knowing wink. “Apologies, little Dove. My identity is, unfortunately, a highly-classified state secret.” ... Error. Sweetie Belle has stopped responding. “It’s rather much less impressive than it seems,” she added with a shrug, probably noticing my current condition of how the hay even. “A great many ponies were placed under the gag order, ever since… well, since border tensions with Gryphos began escalating.” She glanced at Freya. “Specifically for situations like this, where there was potential for intermingling. Apologies, Freya.” “Nah, it’s cool, I get it all the—“ Freya paused, her eyes bugging out. “Actually, no, this one’s new. So yeah. Beware, evil mean lowly gryphon grunt shall steal all your state secrets!” She hissed menacingly at Stranger, who merely giggled in response. “Dovetail, I must say,” said Miss Prosperity in an awestruck voice, and we all turned back to face her, “you’ve managed to gather a diverse team of incredibly colorful individuals.” “It looks like I have,” I replied, sharing her incredulity. “All I can ask is… how?” “Beats me,” I admitted, recomposing myself. “First day I met Stranger, she looked hopelessly lost, so I asked her if she needed help.” “I believe you once compared me to a ‘cute old granny trying to cross a busy intersection’,” she dictated, causing Miss Prosperity to snicker. “Yeah, well,” I continued, pointedly ignoring her, “as for the others, I always got on well with Zaid and Freya. They were always, you know, super-cool and stuff.” “Awww, you’re making me blush,” teased Freya as she waved a wing in faux-embarrassment. “It is fun times,” agreed Zaid. “Dovetail and friends are nice to me.” “Pfft.” I waved a hoof. “You guys are awesome, why wouldn’t we be?” “You’d be surprised,” Freya muttered ominously. Before I had a chance to ask for her to elaborate, Miss Prosperity piped up quite suddenly. “Ahem! Well then, now that that’s settled…” She shivered, probably to shake off all the bombshells that dropped within the last, like, ten minutes. “Unfortunately, I have some other matters to prepare for, so I need to be on my way quite soon. Stranger, should I presume that, in the interest of protecting your identity, you’re unable to attend?” “Unfortunately, that’s the case,” she said with an apologetic bow of her head. “I do wish you luck, however. I’m sure the event will be a rousing success.” “Very well. Hopefully next time!” Miss Prosperity turned back to us. “As for you two, I realize you’ll both likely have to speak to your parents about attending, and I understand if you haven’t quite made up your minds about—“ “You kidding?! I’m totally going!” interjected Button. “Splendid!” she replied, clapping her hooves together. They both turned expectantly to me, with Button practically giving me puppy-dog eyes. He wasn’t very good at it though—too much tension—so it ended up looking a lot less like Winona begging for a treat, and more like Opalescence attempting The Stare. Which was far more frightening. Ugh. Well, if Button’s going, I might as well. At least I won’t be alone. “I guess I can talk to my sister Rarity to see if she’d be okay with me tagging along,” I conceded, tearing my eyes away from Button’s super-weird expression. “It sounds like fun, and it can’t really hurt to at least swing by and check it out.” “That’s wonderful news!” grinned Miss Prosperity. “Then it’s settled! In the event that you can make it after all, I’ll stratocast the tickets to your local post offices this evening. A mailmare should have it on your doorsteps by noon tomorrow.” “Works for me.” “Awesome! LAN party!” Button threw out his hoof to mine, and I bumped it with a nervous chuckle, wondering just what in the hay I was getting myself into. “I’ve also fired off a third ticket for your friend Shadow Song,” the mare continued, shutting off the holoscreens. “I have to get going very soon, so I won’t be able to extend the invitation myself, but if you could do so in my stead, I’d appreciate it!” Huh. Well then. I had automatically categorized Shadow under the “unable to attend” category with Freya, Zaid, and Stranger, considering I had no idea where he lived. That, and… well, he was about as private regarding his identity as Stranger was. No doubt he’d want to protect that information just as much. “I don’t know if he’ll be online tonight, but if he does show up, I’ll be sure to let him know,” I said with a nod. “I wouldn’t count on it though, to be honest.” She quirked an eyebrow at this. “That works just as well, I suppose, though why not just explain the situation in person? You three live in Ponyville, after all.” …Huh? “Um, Shadow Song lives in Ponyville?” said a confused Button. “Well no, not Shadow Song,” she replied, matching his confusion, “since that’s not the real name that’s registered with the account, but I’m sure you know who I—” Suddenly she froze, and her eyes bugged out of her skull. As did mine. And my entire team’s. “Uh-oh,” she mouthed silently. “Uh, somehow I get the feeling that I probably shouldn’t have—“ “Don’t worry about it,” I interrupted without hesitation, hoping to stave off any more potential surprises. “There’ve been a lot of, uh, unexpected surprises today, for both of us. Out of respect for Shadow Song’s privacy, I think it’s best we all steer perfectly clear of the subject. I’ll let him know the situation the next time he logs on, and if things turn out well, he’ll join us on the train out of Ponyville tomorrow. Sound good?” “Err… yes, very good,” the mare replied, nodding frantically. “Excellent. Yes, yes, let’s just, ah… moving on!” Her armor transmatted around her. “Right, gotta go! Hope to see you all there! Well, not all of you, but you know what I mean!” “Toodles!” Freya chirruped with a jolly wave of her wing. With a burst of azure static, the mare disappeared into the ether. There was a moment of silence, joined by naught but the whistling of the wind as our airship cruised through the skies. “Uh, Sweetie Belle?” Button waved his hoof in front of my face. “You alright in there?” “I think so? Yeah. Probably. Maybe.” I nodded very slowly, staring blankly at where the mare had only seconds ago been standing before us, nothing remaining except the residual static from her transmat. “Just give me a second. Or ten. Or a hundred. Or something. To process all of this stuff.” “Need some space?” He backed away slowly. “Actually, that’d be great,” I agreed, still staring straight ahead. “Yeah. That’s a good idea. Some space. I’d actually really like that right now. Uh, thanks.” With that said, I flopped onto my back and began the long and involved process of freaking out.