Heya, James!
Ah! Derpy? What are you doing here?
Why are you out here all alone?
Because I can do whatever I want. Now go home.
Me too! And I want to come with you.
Just--whoa! Hhh... fine. I guess I wouldn't mind a little company.
Yay! Where are we going?
I don't know. I'm just... going. Hopefully I'll find something to help me get home.
You're leaving? For good?
Well... I... uh, yea. Listen, it's not you. You've been a good friend, but I'm just getting in the way now. I'm just going to go home and help like the rest of the bronies are. Twilight can lead them and I can rest. It's that simple.
Why don't you want to stay?
Because of what I just said.
We all want you to stay...
Hhhh... well, I can't.
Do you wanna talk about it?
No. We're done talking about this. Me leaving is best for everypony, and that's that. I'm homesick and I don't want to talk about anything else. Can we just walk and not say anything?
Sure! I like walking!
Good.
This is fun! When are we going back?
We're not.
Never?
Probably.
But then we'll never hear another joke from Pinkie...
I... guess I won't...
Or see if Rainbow Dash ever learns to do a double sonic rainboom.
Haha, yea... I'll bet she could if she tried hard enough...
And Rarity said she would make me a new outfit!
That's mighty nice of her.
I'm going to miss her...
Then go back. Nopony's stopping you.
But I want to stay with you!
You don't want to go with me. Think about never... ever... seeing your friends...
...
...ever again...
If I never saw them again... I think I might cry...
Well... where I'm going, y... you won't. Huh...
Where you're going must be really important.
Yea, I guess so. Could you give me a little space?
Tell me about it!
Uh... hmm, well, there's a lot of the same animals. Plus some you haven't seen before.
I like animals!
Me too. And there aren't any unicorns--only humans.
Like you!
Yea, like me.
I bet you have a buncha friends, don't you? What are their names?
Actually, not really... nopony really wanted to be my friend. I didn't go to public school, and the other people I met didn't really...
Yes?
Well, you know how it is. What with your... um...
My eyes?
No! I like your eyes, and so do all the bronies I know.
It's okay, I know I'm different. Are you different in your world?
Um... not extremely... okay, maybe a little... honestly, I'm probably exaggerating my memory, it has been a while.
I know what it's like.
...
I have a letter for you.
You do?
Yea, it's from Derpy Hooves! That's me!
Haha, well, thank you. Should I read it now?
Oh! I should go before somepony misses me. Wouldn't want to just disappear, would I?
Um... sure.
Bye! I hope I get to meet you again, James!
Me too. I really do.
Heh... that Derpy's a really nice mare... let's see..
Isn't it great to be different?
Isn't it wonderful to be exactly who you are?
When you learn to start accepting yourself,
You'll become a shining star.
...
...
I've heard that before... it's a song... I... Derpy? Is she--? I heard it a long time ago...
...
...
Home...
...
...
You'll have to wait. Forgive me, Mom. Forgive me, Dad. But I can't quit this yet. I won't leave this world to burn. I don't know what I can do to help, but...
mm, hhh... aahh! Maybe I'll just... lie here for a bit, and go back... soon...
Guys, I know you're reading this... I'm not giving up, I'm just... rhtrnn...
...
...
...
...
...
..
.
JAMES WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU FALL ASLEEP YOU WILL MAYBE NEVER WAKE UP AGAIN, IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?????????????????
James...
3438809 I'm... I'm not... I'm just gonna... rest my eyes...
That's my brother! I'm going after him!
3438826 Dammit James, no you fucking stay awake, you hear me. You will now stand up and move forward, dammit move you damm hoves. Do you wand to leave Sahrah alone, do you never want to see your sister and family again? DAMIT KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN.
3438826 James, hang on! I'm coming! I'll carry you, you stay with me, you hear? Where are you??
3438835 Sahrah search for Derpy she was with him a few minutes ago.
3438844 I'm looking! I'm looking! Derpy! Has anyone seen Derpy? Did anybody see which way Derpy went?!
3438848 She should on her way back to the base, you should see her, please say the others what is happening and don´t go alone! As far as I know Twilight should with you, or you could not speak with us.
There she is! Sarah, come on!
Derpy! Which way is James?
James wants to be alone. He said he's going home.
Derpy, we believe James is in trouble. Which way did he go?
Great, let's move, Sarah! Fluttershy, you come with us. We're all going to fly and see if we spot him. Follow me!
JAMES! WAKE UP! Don't fall asleep! JAMES!!!!!!
JAMES KEEP YOUR EYES UP OR I WILL PERSONALY THROW YOU IN A LAKE TO KEEP YOU AWAKE!!!!
Don't see him... don't see himm...
Derpy, are you certain it was around here?
Right there! ...or maybe it was that way...
Derpy!
Wait, I remember, it WAS right around here!
What's that?
That's the letter!
He couldn't have just... vanished! There's nothing but wide open space. Where did he go?
3438908 Girls are there any tracks that go away from the letter?
If not and nopony carried him away the only theory I can come up with that he is back on earth, but that would leave a magical signature. Twilight can you detect something like that?
Rarity, can you hear me? Send some pegasi to fly around the area and look for James. I don't care, however many you think you need. Everypony stay calm and collected. The tracks end here... which means... something... oh, I don't know!
How can somepony just vanish? Unless he was picked up by something... you don't think?
We shouldn't rule out any possibility, but if something that flies picked him up, our pegasi will spot it.
3438935 Listen, Twilight, Fluttershy, Sarah, anyone. I think this is really bad. If I am correct, then James' doppelganger's mind is reacting with his own. God, I worried that this might happen. His mind cannot take the pressure, and the inter-dimensional pull that got him there will send him back... except without his body. Twilight, you're a princess. James needs a huge amount of powerful magic to keep the original mind at rest, so he can stay alive. If you can, get the Element Bearers together, them just being near him may be enough. Until then, a teleportation spell stopped midway in it's process will slow the pull, if you cast it on him.
And most of all, find him fast! If he wanders off for too long, then help will not arrive soon enough!
3438916A magical signature? I can try... no... I don't sense any magic residue or anything. Rarity, anything? Okay, keep looking. Remember, he's small so he'll be hard to spot.
Um... girls?
What?
Oh my gosh, that's a really big stormcloud! We have to seek shelter.
But what about James?
James...
We're NOT leaving him!
It could take hours to find him. He'd want us alive, don't you think?
Eek! The sun!
That raincloud's blocking the sun! We HAVE to go back before it gets even darker. We have to, Sarah. James would tell you to find shelter.
I vote for shelter...
...Urgh! Fine. If he's not here... he must have found shelter, right?
I'm sure he did. Come on, girls!
3438960 I don´t think that in James current body is an additional mind. I think that by transfering him to Equestria he was transformed to a body that he would have if he was born there. But his mind and soul is not correctly linked with the body and additionaly he should still have an anchor to our dimension what tries to pull him back, I think that is the problem. If your theorie would be correct, James should have heard something in his thoughts and dreams, but that is as far as we know not the case.
3438975 Fluttershy can you ask a few animals if they have seen something, there should be some night active animals out there.
Rarity, your hair...
Nevermind my hair, did you find him?
That's some storm goin' on. Any luck?
No...
Cleverbuild said something about him going back, but I didn't sense any magic in the air. If he had transported like that, it always leaves some magic in the air.
Plus, wouldn't it have left the body of his counter-part still here?
I don't know, the book didn't go into too much detail about that. Fluttershy, Night Heart wants to know if any animals had seen him.
I... the animals?
Yes. Can you ask any of them?
A-all the animals are... hiding from the storm.
Of course...
Sorry...
It aint your fault, sweety. Applebloom, you still here? Go to the deeper tunnels and wait. I don't want these tunnels falling in on ya. Sarah, ahm sure he's okay. Stormcloud wouldn't be tryin' ta stop our search if he wasn't still alive an here. Besides, if he left, wouldn't the game be over?
That's right. Stormcloud may not know where he is, but he obviously thinks James is still here.
Okay... I just want to know for sure. Can't you use your magic to find him?
It's not that simple. We just have to wait out this storm and look afterwords. I'm going to try to contact Chrysalis with the communication spell. With any luck, it'll work and she can help search.
3439045 Fluttershy when the storm is over I would suggest to ask the animals if they have seen something before the storm started, any figures that they don´t know.
Twilight, concerning the book and what stands within it. Are you sure that there are two spirits in one body? Did you ever see this pony before James had come to Equestria?
Or is it possible, like my theory that this body was constructed as he travelled to Equestria and it is the body that James would have if he was born within Equestria. And his health problems are resulting in that he has currently to anchors, one from Earth and one from Equestria, fighting over his existence and to keep him?
3439107 I... I don't know. I've never studied interdimensional travel. The book seemed to suggest that he occupied some sort of counter-part pony from this world that was pre-set to be him if he was born here. And the lack of rest from sleep was caused by the body housing two beings within itself. But your theory sounds plausible as well. It could be either one!
Twilight, there is a saying on my world that I think fits this situation perfectly.
"Well, that escalated quickly."
3439147 Could you maybe scan Sahrah, if there is more than one mind you should be able to detect that, if you know a spell that can do something like that.
But three things that props my theorie, firstly as it seems, you have never seen this pony before and it showed up just in the moment you arrived in Equestria. Secondly if your theory was right, wouldn´t that mean that as you arrived on Earth, that you would also be transformed into a human? And last but not least, where is his human body, if not transformed in his current pony body, so it should only hold one consciousness. If there is an addition consciousness should it not in some way draw attention to it through thoughts, dreams, altered memories or something like that?
But if your theory is right, then there are, as far as I can see only three posible ways you solve this problem:
- James and Sahrah must go back to earth. Which would be in my opinion not so good at the moment.
- We find a way to fuse both consciousness within the body
- We create a new body to host the other consciousness
I just had an idea, would it be possible for Spike to send a letter to James and you follow the letter as it travells to him?
3439266 I thought of that. We'll try it as soon as we can go outside.
3439273 I hope this works Twilight, I wish I could do more. How are you all holding up?
3439305 (I'm being strong for the other ponies. If I'm going to make a good princess, I have to show confidence and be a leader... but I'm scared...)
3439371 Don't worry about me. I'm more worried about Sarah... she hasn't stopped moving since we got back, either pacing or flapping her wings. I understand, though, I was the same way when my brother was in danger.
3439386 Twilight, my dearly strong Twilight Sparkle, I understand you more that you might think. You want to be strong for all around you, you want to bear all the burden so nopony else has to do it, you just want to help all around you, all the ponies that look up to you in hope to bring them there live back. I understand you quite well. I also had some situations that could be compared to this one, of course not on this scale but still rather similar. So please belive me when I say the following to you, you are a strong mare, you are highly intelligent, you are one of the strongest magical beings in existence, you have a strong will the most people/ponies can only dream of and a heart so pure that it could outshine the sun itself.
But what is the most important about you, you are not alone my little Twilight *softly hug you*, all your friends are around you to help you, we are all here for you and we all together will never leave you alone, we are together in this and we will carry this burden together, you don´t need to do it all alone, we are all together in this *soft kiss onto your forehead*. We will allways be there for you, and I will do everything I can do to make you smile again.
3439469 Dear Night Heart, thank you for your kind words. They mean more than you can possibly know. Everypony could learn something from you and maybe if they did nopony would ever feel alone ever again. I'm not scared anymore Not since I have my friends around me. As always, when one of our friends is in trouble, we all rise to help. We'll rescue James, the princesses, and all of Equestria! And I'll see to it that all of your names are recorded for all to see and remember.
3439559 I just want to help you and all the other with all I am and with all my abilities. And if it possible I would like to travell to Equestria, you know my reasons concerning this. As we discussed this already. I hope you find time to look into this, I really think that could benefit all of us, even after this is all over.
Is there else something I can do for you? And I want to apologise, I was going to far in what I did, I just ... don´t want to see you sad.
Hi, it's Sarah. I kind of put this is the last chapter, "Day 11", but I'll say it here, too. It's been a month since this whole ordeal started, and I'm sure James would be making some speech of thanks right now, but I suck at speeches. Anyway, there is something I know he would do because he always does this sort of thing: he'd specifically thank those who have been here since the beginning. So who here has been advising James since the time his only job was to watch over Fluttershy? I know he'll say it himself, but it's been exactly a month so now's good.
3439704 Thank you for you encouraging words Sahrah, and even if it is not a speech that goes over one hour or even longer, it´s the thought that counts. And for me, that was one of the best speeches I have ever heared. I for my part will be at all your side as long as it takes. We will find James soon when the storm is over, believe in us and the ponies that are around you. We will reach our goal together.
What if, as he was thinking about his home, he teleported back home on accident? Could that happen?
3439925 If he did, he'd be posting soon, right? But Stormcloud seems to think he's still here, and if he left the game would have ended. I'm not ruling that out as a possibility, but we're going to have to assume he's still here for now.
The storm doesn't seem to be letting up. We'll have to look for him tomorrow. As such, I will personally be leading the investigation and may not contact you until the evening unless we find him before then. I don't mean to not include you, I just don't want any distractions.
3440066 Well, seems that a new theory has arisen. I do urge you to check Sarah for a sleeping mind, for if so, then she must be protected from the same thing that happened to James. And Twilight, the reason you would not sense any magic is because there is none in the reaction. The strange thing about these kind of pulls is that they have a law that states no change can occur to anything not being transported. Therefore, a magic or scientific scan would show nothing. However, enough power can break this clause, so you may be able to sense it if you gather a lot of very powerful magical beings and artifacts, like the Alicorn Amulet and the Elements of Harmony together. Unfortunately, if you were to detect anything, chances are that he would be dead. His body, doppelganger or not, does not count as part of him, so it would send his mind alone into the space between worlds, where he would instantly die. You were lucky when he came to your world that there was a pony enough like him for his mind to use, but it does not work in reverse.
3440420 Again if you read my earlier post, I don´t believe that there was a pony before James has come to Equestria, rather his human body was transformed into one, to be exactly in the version of himself if he were born within Equestria to begin with.
The biggest question I have is Derpy's letter. How did she know that song? Was she human at one point? Much mystery surrounds the cross eyed one...
3442426
This isn't my brother, I just remembered this video when he read the letter
3442430 Sahrah, I was wondering how did you find the video.... communicate with us, ok, but embed a video and Twilight has not started to search the wohle Internet for all information of the world, wow, that is magic I wish to know for my work
How are the things over there at the moment?
3443786 Well, Stormcloud gave Twilight and James the ability to see this site on the internet in order to communicate, and I told her where she could find the video to post it. She couldn't usually do it.
And there's... still no sign of James. We're about to hang up the towel in order to plan for tonight.
3439559 3439469 3442426 That the spirit Twilight. remember we, I, Night Heart and TMMMB are always here to help. We will help as much as we can. Right guys? Like I said to Strormclaud once If we humans are good, we are good in helping those who are close to us, who we care for. It is who we are. We always stand for those we love and care. No matter if there are friends, families or something more. It is our nature. We are a defenders, and if our friend is in need we are here to help.
I am sure that we will win this war. Stormclaud has no idea, again who he stand. He don't see this mares and stallions who pick a weapon to protect they families. He doesn't see you a lieder of the dreams. The one who lead them, he has no idea how strong you all became. You all forge something more powerful that any weapon, stronger then any spell. That is something that stormclaud doesn't understand, and something that you Twilight knows very well. But that is not simply friendship is a brotherhood and sisterhood in fight. You create family of those who care of Equestria. Who care about colts and fillies that wake early every day for school, who care about mares and stallions who work hard every day to bring food to the table. This bond tide you all together, stronger then you can imagine.
If something can call be a true friendship for me it is it.
And I am proud that I can be a part of it. Proud that I can stand arm by arm with so many breve souls. Proud to meet the heroes of this time.
Semper fidelis
3444098 Don't forget me! I may not be able to help as much, but I try. But I'm proud to be a part of this revolution.
3439704 I found this on Day one, and at first I wasn't sure wether to believe James. But I decided to believe him. I gave him advice with Fluttershy. I helped Pinkie Pie get her Cutie Mark. (Squee!) I worried for days when James disappeared. I saw the Mare in the Moon. Then this game started, and I'm not good at these "games". So right now, I feel sort of useless. If anyone needs help, I'd be happy to. If Pinkie will tell us the chant for getting into Equestria, I'll want to be the first one to try it. I'm here. James, wherever you are, I miss you. It's been an honor.