“You're dating Lyra.” Sunset Shimmer said, carefully, as if testing the words themselves out for the first time.
“All right! High five!” Rainbow Dash raised a hand in celebration, but was left hanging. She blinked, and looked around at her friends. “What? C'mon. Lyra's cute. I'm happy for them.”
“It doesn't matter how cute they may be as a couple.” Rarity huffed. “The fact of the matter is, Lyra and Twilight owe it to Bon-Bon to come clean about the whole affair. Carrying on in such a scandalous fashion as this is only bound to end in disaster.”
“Bon-Bon?” Twilight finally said, still dazed.
“Oh dear.” Rarity laid her gloved hand on Twilight's arm. “Didn't you know? You didn't really think they were just 'best friends,' did you?” Rarity bent her hands into the appropriate finger-quotes. “Then again, you're new to Canterlot High, so I suppose I couldn't blame you for the confusion.”
“That's not it!” Twilight began to breathe faster. “When I said 'we,' I didn't mean me and Lyra. I meant … “ Twilight blushed, and scratched at the back of her neck. “I meant our characters.” Her voice verged on Fluttershy-levels of smallness.
“I don't get it.” Applejack said.
“Well. Um. Remember when I said this was like a play? Or even a movie? Well. Um. Sometimes … a romantic plot makes things more interesting, yes?”
“Oh yes.” Rarity said with a little flutter. “I do have a weakness for a proper love story.”
“But … just because that happens, doesn't mean the actors are, um, a thing, right?” Twilight said. “This. Um. This is kind of the same way. Because Tara and Jennifer-- er, I mean, Tara and Captain March kiiiiind of have a thing going. Maybe? It's honestly a little bit subtextual with the way Tara looks up to Jen-- up to Captain March for being so capable. And then Captain March says Tara reminds her of the way she used to be before she got pulled into the Endpoint Nexus. And so they kind of compliment each other, sticking together amidst all the apocalyptic craziness … “ Twilight reeled herself in. “They've got a history, is what I'm saying.”
“And all of this took place online?” Sunset said.
Twilight nodded.
“So Twilight's got an internet girlfriend. Got it.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Don't you get it, Rainbow? That was an IC-- an In Character relationship. Not OOC-- Out of Character. Lyra and I are just the actors. It's our characters that are … uh. A thing.” Twilight fiddled with her fingers. “In theory.”
“In theory that your characters are together, or in theory that it's strictly an In Character thing?” Sunset Shimmer said.
“I don't know!” Twilight wailed.
“You … didn't talk to Lyra about this, did you?” Sunset said.
“Well, no. It … it just didn't come up! I mean, I try not to talk OOC too much, for immersion's sake. And, uh, it … just didn't come up, otherwise.” Twilight said.
“I don't get what's so bad.” Rainbow Dash mused. “It's not like you've been internet making out with your internet girlfriend. On the internet.”
“Well … “ Twilight admitted with a blush and a sheepish grin. “There was this one Christmas party, with mistletoe, and-- “
“And it ain't none of our business, that's what.” Applejack grumbled. “Ain't none of our characters' business, either.”
“But what do I do? I didn't know Lyra was Captain March! I didn't even know Captain March would be here! I didn't even know I would be here!”
“Do you want to leave?” Sunset Shimmer said. “We can leave. It's just a game, after all.”
“Leave?” Rainbow Dash squeaked. “But then how am I supposed to use my awesome laser fingers?”
Applejack peered at Rainbow. “Weren't you sayin' this whole thing was for nerds just a minute ago?”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow, “but the laser fingers were the one reason I was putting up with it. Seriously, I just wanna kill something by pointing at it.”
“And I wanna go to a room party!” Pinkie Pie chimed in.
“I shall abide by any decision you make, darling.” Rarity held up a delicate, gloved hand. “But it would be a terrible, terrible waste to let such fabulous regalia such as mine go unused, wouldn't you say?”
Twilight looked up. “I--”
“HEY EVERYBODY!” A man's voice rung out through the hotel lobby, cutting Twilight off. “YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?” Slowly, all eyes in the room turned to a portly man in an orange T-shirt standing atop a chair. “The first person who says 'Adventure Time' is getting their character eaten.” In-joke flavored laughter rippled through the crowd “Good to see you all here!” he said, projecting clearly over the din of the lobby. “My name's Joe--- I'll be your lead Chrono-Master this weekend.”
Polite applause and the occasional “woo!” arose in response.
“But I can't take all the credit. There are a bunch of volunteers all over the place. Just look for the sexy people with the green bandannas tied around their heads! Wave hi to everyone, my sexy Chrono-Minions!”
Various volunteers in the aforementioned green bandannas raised their hands and waved in turn, to an even louder wave of applause.
“Right!” Joe said, and made a show of checking his watch. “We've got a lot of cool stuff planned for you this weekend! We've even got a bunch of new faces here today, so make sure to say hi, establish ties, make friends, make enemies, whatever! Setting wise, if you didn't read the e-mail, is this. The Council of Eons is having their first meeting since the Skycrafter incident-- so naturally, everyone's trying to get their foot in the door to pursue their own agendas. With that in mind, they've temporarily bridged this hotel to the Endpoint Nexus, so all of you can get involved. There are a couple of side rooms that have been marked off as 'reserved'-- those will get opened up as the plot develops. Any other questions, just find me or one of my Chrono-Minions, and we'll be happy to help. Game starts in five minutes in the main ballroom. See you there!”
Joe hopped down from the chair he'd been standing on, and disappeared into a knot of his Chrono-Minions, huddling down to discuss whatever horrible plot twists the night had in store.
“So now what?” Applejack said. “We comin', or we goin'?”
“Maybe we--” Sunset paused. “Maybe you just need to talk to Lyra, Twilight. I mean, you seem pretty clear on this In Character / Out Of Character split. She should be fine with it. Right?”
“Uh. Sure.” Twilight said. “I mean. It … should be pretty easy, right? All I've got to do is sit down and have a rational discussion with Lyra. Just … in the middle of the biggest ChronoQuest game of the year. And she plays one of the most important characters in the whole Endpoint Nexus.”
“To be fair, darling,” Rarity said, “didn't you say that your 'Tara' was of no small importance, herself?”
“Got me there.” Twilight said, and cracked a wan grin. “So. Uh. If you guys want to stay, I'll stay too. Just got to get one little awkward conversation out of the way, and then it's off to save the universe. Again. Easy. Right?”
“We kinda have saved the universe for real a couple times.” Rainbow Dash said. No sooner had the words left her lips, she perked up, and smiled broadly. “Ooooh! Oooh! Do you think this is gonna be one of those times where we go in to do one thing but then it turns out there's ACTUAL magic going on? Like when Adagio Whatsherface and her friends turned out to be evil sirens from the pony dimension?”
“Or when we went on a road trip and then we met that Discord guy?” Pinkie Pie chimed in.
Rainbow Dash balled her hands into eager fists. “Or when Vice Principal Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and had a super awesome heavy metal duel with an evil wizard ghost?”
“It's just a game, Rainbow.” Twilight said. “We're not gonna meet any actual time travelers.”
“Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash said.
“Positive,” said Twilight.
A skinny man in a long brown coat pushed through the crowd and past Rainbow Dash, followed closely by a dark-haired woman in a maroon leather jacket. “Allons-y!” he cried, and disappeared around a corner with the speed of the inspired.
“Hey! Watch it!” Rainbow Dash glared in the general direction the pair had departed in.
“Welp.” Applejack rocked back on her booted heels. “If we're goin', we'd better get goin'. Be downright embarassin' to be late to a time traveler hootenanny, iffn' ya ask me.”
“Applejack,” Rarity hissed, “this is not a hootenanny.”
“Got me there. Ain't enough liquor n' banjos.”
“I can get liquor and banjos!” Pinkie Pie bounced in place. “Want me to go get some liquor and banjos?”
“NO.” Six friends said in unison.
“Kay! Offer's still open, though.”
“Alright.” Twilight said, resolute. “I can do this. We can do this. Time to go save the world, guys!” She thrust her hand out, and the rest of her friends stacked their own hands in the middle of their little circle. “Just, uh, not actually for real this time!”
Twilight Sparkle and her friends shared a brief, spirit-building moment.
Soon after, Tara Sterling and her friends walked into the Endpoint Nexus.