VIII - Interview
“Aaaaaaand rigby!” Pinkie declared.
“Pinkie!” Rarity yelled. “In what card game do you get a rigby!?”
“This one,” Pinkie said, tallying her point by eating a card. “The score is eleven to Q, my lead by a thumbtack!”
Rarity’s hair twanged while her eyes twitched. “But… But… Oh I fold.”
Pinkie gasped. “No way! You just stole my trap card!”
“I…” Rarity sighed. “Pinkie, what’s the score now?”
“Valence to Q, my lead by a corkscrew.”
Spike looked down at them from his perch on the Seven Sided Chest. “You know, the more I listen to this game, the more I think that there are too many patterns for it to just be random. Pinkie, you are a mastermind.”
“I know!” She giggled. “Now Rarity, go fish!”
“…Gladly,” Rarity said.
Once again, Twilight, Discord, and Trixie appeared next to them. “We have to search the other Realms for them,” Twilight announced, grabbing the Chest and turning it. The portal changed to reveal a forested area bathed in a soft yellow light. “Fluttershy should be here. Maybe Starlight and the others will be too…”
“What happened dear?” Rarity asked.
“They weren’t there. They could be anywhere, apparently,” Twilight sighed. “Let’s just go, we have no time to lose.”
“Trixie will sit this one out,” Trixie said, sighing. “Trixie needs to calm down…”
“I understand,” Twilight said. “We’ll find her, Trixie.”
“Trixie knows…” Trixie sighed.
“So!” Discord rubbed his hands together. “Who’s coming with us to save Fluttershy?”
Pinkie appeared on his head. “Me, ya silly! Wahoo! Adventure awaits!” She used Discord as a springboard, launching into the Realm. She hit a trunk facefirst, embedding herself in it. “...Ow…”
Discord and Twilight strode in, laughing despite themselves. “Alright, Discord… Use your finding spell.”
Pinkie pulled her head out of the trunk. “The Fluttershy finding spell!”
Discord rolled his eyes. “I know. I’m not an idiot.” He snapped his fingers – and they vanished in a puff of white light, leaving Spike, Rarity, and Trixie behind.
“…This is boring,” Trixie declared after a few minutes.
“In other news, sand is grainy,” Spike said.
Back in the Realm of life, Discord, Twilight, and Pinkie appeared in a large clearing filled with all kinds of alien animals they’d never seen before. Flying manta rays, strange bugs with many colors, and clouds that moved like rabbits. A truly impressive house constructed out of living wood cast an impressive shadow over the herds of creatures.
Then there was the herd of ponies sleeping to their left, a somewhat odd sight. They were all clustered together one mound, almost like sheep. Everyone instinctively knew Fluttershy was sleeping somewhere in the pony pile.
“So…” Discord said. “Who wants to poke them first?”
“Me! Me!” Pinkie said, producing a foam finger from her mane.
“No! Shh!” Twilight hissed. “We don’t know what these ponies are like! They could consider being woken up offensive!”
Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “You’re being pretty loud.”
“It’s a hushed yell!”
“I believe the term is hissssssssing,” Discord stressed.
Twilight was just about to come up with a clever retort, but her opportunity was shattered when a double-headed snake hissed right at her.
She looked at it, blinking. It looked back, unblinking. Pinkie looked at each of them with one eye.
Discord facepalmed. “This is pointless. What do you want?”
It hissed at him.
“…Yeah, still don’t speak animal… Want some kumquats?”
The hiss in response to that might have been a yes.
“Well, that was pointless,” Twilight said. “So… Dusnake-“ The twin snake shot her death glares at her suggested name. She hastily backtracked. “Or not! I can just not call you anything! Uh… Can you take us to Fluttershy? Flutt-er-shy?”
The snake heads took a moment to realize who – or even what – Twilight was referring to. But they eventually reasoned through it and pointed at the pony pile.
Pinkie grinned, taking out some cymbals. “Can I wake ‘em up yet!?”
“Pinkie! Shh!” Twilight hissed. But it was too late, for her words woke up a white unicorn mare. She stood up, looked right in Twilight’s eyes – and walked away without a word.
“Uh…” Twilight blinked, watching in mild confusion as the ponies slowly woke up and spread out, paying the three newcomers little to no attention. Just… wandering in a herd.
Discord blinked. “…What?”
“Your worst fears have been realized Discord…” Pinkie grabbed him by the face. “They found you boring.”
Discord gasped. He fell over and convulsed as if he were having a heart attack. Pinkie giggled at this absurd display.
Twilight continued to watch the pony pile get smaller and smaller until at last there was just one buttery yellow Pegasus left, still napping in the warm yellow light. She looked… troubled. Her mane was mangy, and she kept twitching in her sleep.
Twilight walked over to her. “Fluttershy…”
Fluttershy grunted, opening her eyes slowly. She squinted. “Twi- Twilight?”
“Yes Fluttershy, it’s me. I found you.” She smiled.
Fluttershy instantly leapt up, rushing Twilight into a tight embrace. “Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you…” She trailed off as the tears began to flow. She squeezed Twilight hard enough to cause real pain within the alicorn – but she made sure not to comment on it.
“Ahem,” Discord coughed.
“Oh. Discord helped,” Twilight admitted. Fluttershy leapt out of the embrace with Twilight and gave Discord one just as hard. He didn’t hide his pain.
“Ow! You’ve gotten… stronger.”
“Oh! Sorry…” She pulled back, face wet. “I just haven’t talked to another pony in forever…”
Twilight frowned. “What about them?” She said, pointing at the other ponies.
“They… aren’t ponies. Well, they are, they… They’re animals.” She looked embarrassed about something. “It’s… a little creepy to be honest.”
Pinkie pulled a bunch of silly faces in front of Browncoat, receiving little in the way of response. Pinkie shuddered. “That is creepy.”
Fluttershy looked at her friends. “I take it we have a way home now?”
“Yeah,” Twilight said. “We found another temple. Still have to look for Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow though.”
“Oh? Well we shouldn’t waste any more time then.” She turned to the double-headed snake. “Lou? Roy? You’re in charge. I may not be back for a while but I will try to return. Let Sperion know they found me.”
Lou and Roy nodded.
“What did you think of Sperion, by the way? He seemed... Odd when we met him.” Twilight asked.
“Oh, he was just wonderful. He taught me how to survive here and made my house.” She lifted one of her wings and a flower grew out of the ground. She looked at it warily, as if she wasn’t sure about it anymore.
Twilight gawked. “Well… that’s impressive. We’ll have to figure out exactly what that can do…”
“I wanna grow plants too!” Pinkie grinned, ramming her hoof into the ground. Nothing happened.
Twilight shook her head. “Sorry Pinkie, we need to go. We’ve got to find them as soon as possible. Celestia knows where…”
Fluttershy stood up tall, looking upwards. “Ready.”
~~~
The room was brown, cubical, and had a single featureless table in the center. The grey stallion looked Rainbow Dash right in the eye. “Full name?”
“Rainbow Dash. Now tell me yours.”
“Diamond Seventy-Eight,” he said, monotone.
“Parents?”
“Windy Whistles and Bow Hot Hoof.”
“Other family?”
“Nooope.”
“Romantic interests?”
“What? Heck no! What’s that got to do with anything!?”
“Defensive emotions, but nothing deceptive. Odd. We need to gather as much information as possible in these initial questions.” He paused a moment. “Relation to your companions?”
“I’m Applejack’s and Starlight’s friend and… Uh… I guess I know Implode but don’t like her that much?”
“Explain what you think of Implode.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “She’s insane, crazy, ungrateful, and just basically a jerk. I couldn’t leave her to die, you know, but man am I starting to wonder if she’s dangerous.”
“Why dangerous?”
“Well, she was a criminal and she’s said that she killed ponies. …You’re not going to hurt her are you?”
“No. We made a deal, we do not go back on our word unless there are extraneous circumstances. Why do you dislike her yet want to protect her?”
“Uh… Because nopony deserves to die?”
“Interesting. Treated as a statement of fact. Will require further questioning later. Back to questions about you. Occupation?”
Rainbow Dash was already a little frazzled at this point. “Uh… weather pony, and stuntmare. I organized the clouds in Ponyville and flew in Wonderbolt shows.”
“Entertainment employment. Irrelevant. Clouds, you can stand on them?”
“Uh, yeah, all pegasi can. …Clouds don’t exist here do they?”
“No.”
“How’d you know to ask then?”
“It is mentioned in the Archives left by our ancestors that Central had clouds and that pegasi could stand on them. I was just confirming the information. How did you leave Central?”
“My world? Uh… found some ruins that opened a portal and we got sucked in?”
“Which Realm did you start in?”
“Er… The Realm of Power, the one with all the spheres. Stayed there a week or so. Learned how to use the Power. Like, really cool, this power. I can change everything!”
“You can control the matter-energy?”
“Yeah! Watch!” She spread her wings and created a sphere of bubblegum.
“Abilities are retained in other Realms. Useful. You left via Starlight’s spell?”
“Yep.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Well, we wanted to get home, though really it was because we didn’t want Implode to get executed. Even she didn’t deserve that. So we convinced Starlight to take us away, simple as that.”
“Where did you end up then?”
“Some horrible weird white expanse where time didn’t make any sense. She got us out of there quickly… I think. The memories are really fuzzy.”
“She bent time?”
“I… think so?”
“Three high inflections of power, each for a different Realm’s aspect. Very suspicious. Can you think of any reason why you and your friends have such power?”
“…No. Now that you mention that it is weird that all of us can do that…”
“Further research warranted.” He paused, thinking. “What is your opinion of our Realm?”
“You’re all boring, but at least everything isn’t falling apart or trying to drive you insane.”
Diamond nodded. “That will be all for this first session. Expect more to follow.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. That was an abrupt end.
~~~
“Full name?”
“Applejack Apple. Go ahead and laugh at the redundancy.”
“We do not experience laughter here. Parents?”
“Deceased. Bright Mac Apple and Pear Butter Apple.”
“Other family?”
“Granny Smith Apple, my amazing and wise grandmare. Big Mac and Applebloom my brother and sister. Ah could go on but Ah don’t think you want the extensive family tree.”
“Not yet. Romantic interests?”
“None o’ yer gosh-tootin’ business.”
“Answer the question.”
“None.”
“Similar responses. Odd.”
“What’s odd about it? Askin’ about that kind a thing is rude!”
“Noted. Will not remove the question from the list. Relation to your companions?”
“Good friends with Rainbow, Ah know Starlight pretty well, and Ah just barely met Implode.”
“What do you think of Implode?”
“Ah think she’s lost in life and needs some guidance to recover from her past experiences,” Applejack frowned. “That wasn’t on the list of questions, was it?”
“Settling into the Inflection of Truth well. You are right. I simply asked it because of the way Rainbow Dash’s interview went.”
“Wait, so you mean to tell me Ah can just sense things about truth?”
“More than that. Information in general. Not only can you detect lies and deceptions, but also misleading information and, if you are experienced, piece together conclusions with detailed analysis in seconds.”
“So like Rainbow with her spheres?”
“Exactly the same, but a different sort of inflection. Do you have any idea why you and your friends have such strong inflections?”
“’Nother question you asked Rainbow.”
“Yes. Answer the question.”
“Well, Rainbow and I were part of these magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. There were six of ‘em and we each had one. That doesn’t explain Starlight though.”
“Think – how did you know Starlight had a strong inflection? It has never been explicitly stated to you.”
Applejack blinked. “Are you sayin’ that Ah just figured that out? Little creepy.”
“Perhaps. But useful. I have gathered enough information with this interview to speak for a year because of my strength in the inflection, but I am an experienced master. I fully expect you to surpass my level eventually.”
Applejack blinked. “Okay…”
“Occupation?”
“Farmer.”
“Does anypony deserve to die?”
“No.”
“…Odd. You believe that but there is doubt.”
“Yeah, so? Ponies have doubt.”
“Further research will be required.” He looked closer at her. “Do you have anything to add about the other Realms that Rainbow Dash didn’t mention?”
Applejack found her mind reminding itself of the brief conversation she had with Rainbow Dash before she was taken in to Diamond. Suddenly a wave of information flooded her mind, and she knew what had happened with such detail she might as well have been sitting next to Rainbow during her interview. “Woah…”
“Seeing into the past is easy,” Diamond said. “The question still stands.”
“Uh… Yeah! We were in a settlement called New Mareu kept by ponies that could bend the matter-energy thing.” She paused. “But you already knew that.”
“Yes. What is your opinion of our Realm?”
“…A bit overwhelming with how forward y’all are...” She smirked as she realized something. “Guess I should go now.”
“Seeing the near future isn’t much harder,” Diamond said as she left.
~~~
“Full name?”
“Implode Bucking Baskets.”
“Ignoring second word. Parents?”
“Vera and Trekker. One’s dead, the other is the worst pony to ever exist,” Implode laughed. “I’m probably a close second.”
“Other family?”
“Nope!”
“Why do you hate your father so much?”
“Sociopath. Raised me and never let me forget how worthless and irksome he found me. He denied me entry into the university simply because I wasn’t as good as him! Oh, and that’s not all mister Diamond, you see, he disowned me, forbade me from ever becoming a Guardian through his power, and then went to let dozens of other students graduate.” She slammed her hoof into the table. “Then, he had the gall to get me banished when I confronted him on it!”
“Your emotions are the strongest we’ve encountered. Does it occur to you that they may be a detriment?”
“Stars, you’re worse than him. I didn’t think that was possible.”
“Answer the question.”
“Without my emotions I can’t have fun. And without some sort of break from my horrid existence, there’s no point in living. So I’ll keep them, thank you very much.”
“We shall see if you are strong enough to resist the acclimation of Truth.”
“The heck does that mean?”
“Those without strength get changed by this Realm. Their emotions are slowly ironed out of them the longer they stay.”
Implode blinked. “…Terrifying.”
“Romantic interests?”
“The buck is wrong with you? How’d you change topi- No! None!”
“The prevalence of romance we were led to believe existed outside our realm appears to have been misplaced.”
Implode groaned.
“Relation to your companions?”
“Hate the Pegasus with a burning passion, hate the earth pony less, and Starlight… Eh, since I can’t lie here I really don’t care either way about her. Needs to loosen up.”
“Why do you hate Rainbow Dash so much?”
“For someone who claims to be the master of truth you sure don’t pick up on subtext.”
“I regularly ask questions I already know the answer to just to get reactions. Answer the question.”
“Prodigy. She’s a freaking prodigy. Trekker was drooling over her and her prowess. And no, it’s not just that she overshadows me and got my damn father’s approval. No, look at her. She never worked for it. I broke all my limbs multiple times, training as hard as physically possible! Then I snapped from the stress!”
“What happened when you snapped?”
Implode was silent for a moment. “…I killed his students and tried to kill him. I didn’t stop trying. Still haven’t.”
“Did those students deserve to die?”
A bead of sweat fell down her head. “…No.”
“Does Trekker deserve to die?”
Implode looked Diamond in the eye, her face enraged. “Yes.”
Diamond thought for a second. “Do you have any idea why your three companions have such strong inflections?”
“No. Do you?”
“No,” Diamond said, “and this lack of knowledge is unacceptable.”
“Tough,” Implode deadpanned.
“Occupation?”
“Banished crazed murdermare,” Implode shouted with glee.
“Unemployed. Were you aware of the Sperion prior to recent events?”
“Nope! Not a clue about that… thing.”
“How do you feel about him taking your wings?”
She groaned. “I want to kill him. Can’t decide how I’ll do it. Slow enough so he can give me my wings back, that’s for sure.”
“What is your opinion of our Realm?”
“You ask too many questions, fail to understand the point, and are just creepy.”
“That will be all for this session. Expect more later.”
“Oh my gosh no. No more questions.”
“Your desires are irrelevant. Return to your room.”
~~~
“Full name?”
“Starlight Glimmer.”
“Parents?”
“I never knew them.”
“Any family?”
“None that I know of.”
“Romantic interests?”
Starlight paled. “W-w-what?”
“Answer the question.”
“No!”
“False. Answer the question.”
“Fine! I spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about Sunburst.”
“…There’s more.”
Starlight groaned. “And Thorax. And Discord. And Twilight’s brother who I know is married. And then there’s Trixie’s constant-“
“Enough. I get the picture. Romantically confused.”
“I find myself annoyed at how accurate that is.”
“Relation to your companions?”
“Good friends with Rainbow and AJ, don’t know much about Implode but I really don’t trust her. She’s crazy.”
“Can you think of any reason why you and your friends have abnormally strong Inflections?”
“No.”
“False. You can think of something.”
“Well destiny does seem to like us, and two of them are Elements of Harmony…”
“Why don’t you want to tell us?”
Starlight gulped. ”Look, I don’t want attention drawn to us and I might be crazy. There’s some Aztrot legend about two earth ponies, two pegasi, two unicorns, and an alicorn. Those race types match me and my group of friends exactly. It… well it strikes me as something I should keep secret.”
“Nothing should be kept secret.”
“False,” Starlight said, clearly liking the feel of the word in her mouth. “If I lie to save lives, it is good.”
“Good and evil are subjective. Only truth exists.”
“And you are a broken record. Not changing my mind.”
“Does anypony deserve to die?”
“Not most. But some.”
“Who were you thinking of right then?”
“Ahuizotl. The one responsible for this mess.”
“Why did you go against Sperion’s wishes?”
“We needed to get out. He was being selfish.”
“We agree on something then. What is your overall opinion of Sperion?”
“He’s… an okay guy, I suppose. I don’t like the way he thinks or how he chooses to help one moment and then do nothing the next. It’s like he can’t make up his mind. And he knows things that could help us. But he doesn’t share them, and he won’t really say why.”
“Have you tried accessing your power since you left the Realm of Echoes?”
“Er… no. I’m a little scared of what it will do.”
“It is your choice. We will want to know more of it later, however. What do you think of our Realm?”
“It’s alien, weird, wrong on so many levels, but it’s safe. So I think we’ll stay since we don’t know what lies beyond.”
“We are done here. You will now be allowed to roam the Realm and the Nexus freely unless you are called.”
Starlight nodded. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“It is not hospitality. It is us seizing an opportunity.”
~~~
“Go fish!”
“Uh… Rarity?” Trixie said. “Weren’t we playing blackjack?”
Rarity giggled to herself. “I think I understand what Pinkie sees in this!”
“And so she spreads!” Spike declared, lounging on the Seven Sided Chest. “Will nopony be spared the pink!?”
“No…” Rairty said, smirking innocently. “None will…”
Trixie recoiled slightly. “…And now Trixie finds you creepy.”
“Oh, sorry dear, guess I got a tad carried away there. Touchdown, by the way, grab the ace of hearts.”
Trixie wordlessly searched the cards for the ace of hearts. She would be down there for a while.
The sun beat down on them. It was well into the afternoon on the Zahara, so it was outrageously hot. Heat waves could be seen creating mirages in the distance, and more than a few desert birds had just passed out from exhaustion in midair. The portal to the Realm of Life game some cooling, enough to keep the ponies alive and healthy, but it was still uncomfortable. Rarity was sweating like a dog and it bothered her to no end.
“Found it!” Trixie said.
“Yes!” Rarity grinned. “I claim victory!”
Trixie’s mind shattered. She rammed her head into the sand and let out an annoyed groan.
“Shouldn’t you go easier on her?” Spike asked.
“Pinkie didn’t.” Rarity said.
“Actually I did!” Pinkie yelled from the other side of the portal. “I went really easy!”
Rarity twitched. “Pinkie? Let me have-“ she stopped her thought when she saw who was standing next to Pinkie. “…Fluttershy?!”
“Hi.” Fluttershy said, smiling. “I’ve been rescued.” For one single, brief moment, everything seemed fine.
Twilight smiled. “Now we can go find St-“ Her eyes widened in alarm, noticing something behind Rarity. Twilight spread her wings, ready to pounce. “Watch ou-“
There was a ‘click’ and the portal vanished, shutting Twilight and the others off from home. Twilight flew through empty air, panic straining her features. “Oh no…”
In the full heat of the Zahara, Rarity stared at the air where the portal had been milliseconds before. Twilight, Discord, Pinkie… Fluttershy… They had been right there! Something must have happened to the Chest, and Twilight had seen it. Rarity whirled around to look at the Chest. What she saw terrified her – three tall zebras, all covered in black cloaks and hoods, stood around the pedestal. One held the Chest in his hand, while the other two held Spike and Trixie, both unconscious.
Rarity lit her horn. “Release them, hooligans!”
“The answer is no. With us you will go.”
“I will do no such thing until you reopen the portal and let my friends out!”
“We cannot do that for you, and you already know this to be true.”
Rarity gritted her teeth. “…Then we do this the hard way.” She was no fighter – she was a seamstress and a lady above all else. But Twilight had not allowed one of her friends to be defenseless. She shot a white laser from her horn. Using her finesse, she split the beam into three streams, each one heading right for a zebra.
None of the beams made contact. They dodged them faster than Rarity could comprehend. Their leader was behind her in an instant. She didn’t even register the blow to the back of her head. Her body simply froze and tipped over.
The zebras picked her up and carried her away…
Minutes later explosions rippled around the base of the desert pillars, destroying the ancient ruins. No more would they dial other Realms.
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Fuuuuuuuuuuck.
Hopefully Discord can figure out how to get them to another realm (He tore open a dimensional portal once before). Otherwise... I don't want to see what a feral Draconequus could do.
>Discord
>trapped
>in the Realm of Life
derpicdn.net/img/2016/9/23/1255866/thumb.png
8096600
Problem?
-GM, master of wait that's a duckface. Darnit.