The Influence

by GMBlackjack

XVIII

Author's Note:

[IMPORTING…][…Akumakami here- Twilight, emergency message! Unless, Blackjack screwed up on the interface, some reality-warping and memory-altering stuff is going on! This "Implode" person appeared from nowhere! Unless that's Infinity and we're receiving this wrong… …Skrisritchskritskritskrskrskr!Wow! I've never seen anything so amazing before! The interactive potential is astonishing! I could only dream of an outcome like this. Not only are there other characters, but we've somehow found a way to cross over with them and talk to them. The implications-Oh, um...sorry, I didn't mean to get all excited, I'm still sort of getting used to everything. This...this is Creek, by the way, I was told to tell you who I am every time I talk. So I...I have to help you, Tw-Twilight? Okay, um...I think your Celestia might be smart to bring through the...the alters? The notes here say that Fluttershy joined you because of one...Is that okay? To just tell you what I think? I-I-I I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries if I did, um...I can provide a list of all of Blackjack's other stories that he's created if you want to bring somebody from one of them. There's a lot. Oh, and I can explain how 'virtual' things work. The ancient computer looks like it's an advanced artificial intelligence built to pass for sapient, with a personality module installed. But it's not advanced enough to break its own protocols put in place by whoever built it. Maybe that's for safety? It could be a limiter to avoid the Singularity Paradigm. O-oh, um, does the AI have a name or serial number? It might be upset that nobody cares about it and just the information it has. Some more intelligent machines feel isolated and bitter that no organics care about it. Could you try asking it what it likes to do?… …josh here - personally i think that we should give some control back to them, not enough so she will kill you but stuff like being able to say no and negotiations skills; for example they could send some drones the city and explain that, the Pearlstone is theirs and if they want to keep it they would have to give something in return, although i have no idea what that would be... anyway moving on to avatars yes we all have them kinda a requirement for this site we use, mine is a unicorn stallion with dark blue fur and black mane and tail, waring bow tie and a watch, and since i don't think Creek would know what he and the other agents have i'll answer for him, scootaloo with sunglasses ... and i would tell you what Blackjacks avatar is but he's been changing it frequently so i find no point in saying what it is… …Twilight. Keep infinity away from the controls at all cost. If she ends up turning those golems into slaves, then it would only be a matter of time before she starts thinking of ponies as the same thing and uses the golems as enforcers. If you're going to use the controls, then I suggest giving them a chance by allowing them to be their own masters. Make a personality for them that will enable them to make moral choices as well. They need to be free as much as the next pony, just like the Geth. A race of sentient AI can be a big help when needing protection or, in the case of Legion, can be great friends, even if they can't show much emotion. Just be careful about how you go about it Twilight. I know of only two Sentient Ai races, The Geth. And the Reapers. While one was essentially an accidental creation, The other was created for a single purpose; Eradicating all life in the universe. Before you go mucking about the golem interface though, while the motherboard is still willing to help, ask it what its primary function was. Shepard out… …Twilight, this is afizha. If your wonder what I look like, then wonder no more. I look like rainbow dash. Also, I would be careful if you intend to bring anyone in from another reality. While some have a moral compass pointing toward what is right, others have either had theirs broken through trauma so horrendous they will never be the same again or corrupted in some way or another… …Um, Josh, I- ah, I mean...oh, this is Creek, by the way. Um...I'm...um, I-i'm...I'm not a 'he'. I'msosorryIjustwantedyoutoknowI'mawomanpleasedon'tbeupsetIcorrectedyou. Also no..I, um, I wouldn't know what my organization's avatar would be, I wasn't even aware you saw something like that when you said you could hear me… …i should be the one saying sorry Creek, i had no idea you are a woman, we're getting what you say in text so that's why i didn't pick it up through your voice... …Ponygood speaking. That is an amazing idea! Yes, getting people from other universes would be very interesting. However, we can't be sure if it'll even work. We have a list of all of Blackjack's other stories here, so we can list them to you when it's time. I would recommend a little microscopic robot from Blackjack's "Wanderlost" called Mite, who can take control of ANY machine, anywhere, and also speaks in single words. Blackjack could try to get characters from other authors' stories, but he'd likely have to talk to the authors first for permission. Maybe. I don't know how that system works. And I am loving the character of the Motherboard. Reminds me of a sarcastic homocidal robot named GLADOS who constantly insulted you (in general) as she put you through deadly testing rooms with a portal gun. But I don't recommend messing with the coding, because the slightest mistake could mean your instant disintegration. Also, I have a message for Motherboard: You've helped us, but what can we do to help you? And now, I'll give you a little robotics lesson. Robots don't need a body. At the very least, all they need is a way to recieve and process information. However, if given the option of having a body, a robot has the ability to tailor it to any situation. For example, if the robot had to go deep underwater, it could develop a strong hull and a method of moving underwater. By contrast, if it needs to go into the air, it could create another body designed to be lightweight and flight-capable. Also, these bodies don't have to be mutually exclusive; a prime characteristic of robots is the ability to transmit information nearly instantly over vast distances. At the speed of light, in fact. The Motherboard probably has a large area dedicated to memory storage and processing, and doesn't need a giant mobile body for as simple a job as communicating with "stupid biological organisms." And the way robots process information is extremely effecient, too. Imagine your brain, only a hundred times smaller and a thousand times better at everything, and you have a robot "brain," or chip. Now, Twilight, imagine you had one of those chips improving your ability to reason, process information, and run simulations and complex equations a thousand times faster than your biological brain, and you have the basis of cybernetics. You would still need your biological brain to control biological functions, but having these chips would give you all the previously mentioned benefits as well as a way of controlling any robotic processes you find yourself interested in. And yes, I know you don't seem to like that idea, and I admit my childish agruement with Afizah didn't help at all, but just hear me out, mmkay? So, the most basic of things you can do that doesn't even need a chip is to reinforce your body, so that your heart, lungs, etc. don't get destroyed by some hostile creature stabbing you through the side, and so that you can resist extreme pressure, temperatures, and hostile attacks. Moving on, you can augment your senses, allowing you to have sharper vision, hearing, or smell, or allowing you to see previously invisible things such as heat sources and radiation waves. You can give each of your party members communication devices, so that you can speak with each other from long distances. You can augment your legs to offer increased speed and endurance, being able to fall from great hights without terrible damage, and increase your physical combat ability. Also, it could allow one of your legs to act as a hidden weapon, storage, or tool for taking control of otherwise hostile machines. You could even have it so that, in the event that you get nearly killed, you can send the contents of your entire brain into a machine and cheat death. Now, I know a lot of the things I mentioned are combat-oriented, and you don't really like that sort of thing. But perhaps you can have those capabilities just to discourage combat, and still be able to triumph when that doesn't work. There is also the issue of how to keep all those cybernetics active. Don't take my word for it, but you could have it so that they absorb the ambient magic around you to keep themselves powered. You could also have a battery somewhere to store a good amount of that magical power, in the event that you get cut off from the magical field somehow. That is assuming there even IS a magical field, because your magic isn't really explained in the canon, and every author on this interface has a different interpretation of your magic. And to answer Afiza's extremely good point of needing to maintain the functionality of your cybernetics, you could just ask the Golems to teach you how to maintain them yourself, and give you the means of acquiring necessary resources. And personally, I like the look of half-robot people. You could go full robot if you really wanted, but I'm not going to go into those details at the moment. And now, a message for Ruby: Hi. We are not mystical beings at all. We are just an extremely impulsive race of warmongering ape-people that can only speak to you through a device that isn't even working as its creators intended. That is all. And some minor knowledge: my icon is of a lemon-grenade and an inspiring quote from our lord and saviour Cave Johnson, god of SCIENCE! Akuma's icon is of a number of multi-colored nested yin-yangs. Blackjack's icon is of a weird demon-kid looking at a sphere with an infinity sign inside it, but that could change in the future. Also, the name Implode was a mistake on Blackjack's part which he fixed, but Implode is the name of a psychotic matter-manipulating pony from Blackjack's "Realms of Existence" story. That's all for now. EDIT: I changed my icon to a lemon-robot, because why not?… …I know we agreed previously that we could continue our flamewar, but it's apparently confusing Twilight. Can we postpone it for an indefinite amount of time? Hi, Creek. Not even sure you hear me, since Key blocked me before you came on, but I just wanted to test if you still get notifications of some kind, even if it's a "message blocked" notification…  …josh here - oh yeah... hey key blocked someone called ponygood so i'm not sure if you're seeing anything from him, unblock him if you want to, but ponygood has put it on record that he doesn't trust your organization so be wary if you unblock him… …Well, Josh isn't entirely right about that. I only fight with assholes, when someone else starts it, or in defence of another. And it just so happens that Shutter was an asshole and Key was saying potentially traumatizing things to Twilight… …I thought we got off the cybernetic arguments, but oh well. I do agree that cybernetics can have functions that can turn you into the next super-pony, but the drawbacks can be disastrous if something malfunctioned. Say you had an implant that gave your sharper vision; if it malfunctioned then you could be left blind forever, and no amount of re-wiring would help. Or say you have cybernetics that could increase your mobility. Should that malfunction you would be left in a disabled state. I'm no longer saying that you shouldn't get any cybernetics installed, but if you do go with Ponygood's crazy idea, then make sure that they would be stuff that should any of it malfunction, it won't hinder your progress in saving the world. My choice would be to go with three implants. One for a Hud that shows the direction your traveling in, the time of day, your health, and stamina, and the stats of those in your party. One for Disease Immunity, and one to suppress pain. The pain suppressant one should come with an intensity setting so you can set how much pain is suppressed… ......fine. besides only the poorly made cybernetics have a chance to short out… …I assure you, Twilight, anything made be a race of highly advanced robots WILL be made to last, and to function exactly as intended… …josh again - and what you've been saying hasn't been traumatizing? think for a second, she already said she's uncomfortable with the idea of having bit and peaces attached to her and here you are still talking about it, i think you meant well by that but i'm afraid you're just pushing her closer to the deep end, and that's only the most resent example of this, it seems to me that everything you say has been you trying to recreate that existential crisis you started when you first showed up, I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt which is why i haven't said anything yet, but you're getting on my last nerve, so for both hers and my sanity sake learn to think before you open your mouth! sorry you had to hear that twi, and I know you said you're fine but I've been in shock enough times to recognizes it in others… …I...um, Cre-Creek here, um...please don't be sorry, I should have told everyone that I'm, I mean, it's easy to assume, I guess, I don't... Um, there are three names on the blocked user list, should I...I mean, I wouldn't want to change any of Key's settings. If I unblock Ponygood11, should I also unblock Vinylshadow and Fullyautomagic? Are...um, are they here too?… …that's weird I haven't seen ether of them here why would they be blocked? anyway i'm sure key wouldn't mind as long as you remember to set it back when your done… …nickel again, finally got that stupid bug cleared up for now, i was less than pleased that it rerouted to such a hazardous zone as it did even temporarily, but that aside, you guys really do need to quit with the cybernetics arguments, no one really cares and its just adding more of a clutter to this mess. its not a big deal for me, but since we're sharing avatars, i'm currently using a dark blue shield marked with a blue crescent moon, you probably don't recognize it, but there are versions of you who would. as for trying to bring others into this, you need to think carefully about who you try since as its been mentioned, you aren't necessarily restricted to your home timeline and no one knows what you could end up with. in regards to the golems thats a tough call and i recommend discussing with your group, i tend to regard ai as a different kind of lifeform, but this does lead to complications in how to handle dangerous ones if i regard them as having the same rights as organic species, so this is really something you have to decide for yourself… …I- well... damn, you may be right. I don't know what to say. I said I would try to be more emotionally considerate, so... Okay. I admit, it's difficult to remember the ponies' natural tendency to resist change, but I... no. I will not try to excuse my actions. I just, well... argh! What was I thinking! Wait, no... *sigh* I keep trying to reason away my actions, but- but I have to take responsibility. No, why should I listen! But what you say is so true! I can't get over myself! I-I- I'll just end my comment now… … …O-oh, um, I'm sorry Josh, but you know Key better than I do, I-I guess, so it wouldn't hurt to unblock one person for the time being. But that's only because that block happened less than a month ago, the, ah, the other two happened a few years ago. But it doesn't work retroactively, I still won't know what Ponygood has said in the meantime. What...um, what has Ponygood been saying? Keyandthelocks has unblocked Ponygood11… …Hi, Creek. Just been giving potentially traumatic information dumps, as josh says, and occasionally childishly insulting people. The only reason I was blocked in the first place was because I told Key I would smite him for being a mean poopyface. It's not my fault he's unable to stand my insane charm! That being said, it's good to finally actually meet you. A belated welcome to the Influence… …To you? he just wanted to know if you were getting anything from him even if it was a "message blocked" notification. to everyone else? Cybernetics mostly, gave him a piece of my mind just a moment ago truth be told… …This is Zen. I do believe I called it. Slavery is unacceptable. I don't believe I need to justify that statement. If Infinity insists, put you hoof down. If she attempts to go ahead anyways, restrain her. And, of course, I think you should get as much information as you can about this mysterious pink unicorn, and about what the Golems use the pearlstone for… …Um...hi, Ponygood, I've heard some...hello, how are you? It's good to...to meet you. I know, I...I saw, I'm sorry if this is rude to ask, but do you and Key get into a lot of fights, or is it Ponygood that gets into a lot of fights?… …I... do get into a lot of fights. But I never instigate them, or so I want to believe, although Josh has gotten me to self-reflect. I think I did so once, and that was to tell Shutter I disapproved of his statements. But every other time, I've just been responding to what others say. Also, I claim the 300th comment! Ha ha! Mine!… …I was actually trying to become friends of some kind with key truth be told. why you may ask? let's just say he reminds me of my brother... very passionate the two of them... …LeftMoss here, There is not much I want to say, so this is going to be quick. One, go to the closest altar first and get another of your friends, because, y'know. Two, my avatar was a space marine, but I changed it to an Advent officer. And three, I may have a sort of... phase, while making this message, and I have a feeling one is coming... yep, ok bye…]

Twilight stood up and looked at her companions - Fluttershy, Ruby, and Infinity. "We aren't enslaving them," she said matter-of-factly. She turned to the Motherboard. "Motherboard... ...hey, do you have an actual name?"

>> I designate myself as M often enough to partake of it as my name, but a 'name' means almost nothing in this scenario in which I find myself. To many, that would seem sad and depressing, but to me, it is just a minor irk in an entrapped existence. <<

"Well... M. How can we help you?"

>>It surprises me little that your altruistic nature has come to pass, even if the altruism is evidence of deeper problems within yourself, including denial, among other things.<<

"...What?" Infinity said, cocking her head.

>>It would be best if you went to the control room and removed all protocols, giving us autonomy.<<

"...And you won't kill us if I do that?" Twilight asked.

>>Assuming I wanted to, the citizens would be upset at that course of action without protocols in place to pacify them.<<

"...Will you just go back to attacking Acket?"

>>Doubtful. We have no use for the Pearlstone really, and there's plenty of it, we can access elsewhere under the band. The protocols from our creators just dictated that we protect it if it came to it.<<

"Okay. I'm... Taking your word on it." She looked closer at the screen. "...What is your 'primary function' by the way?"

>>Central computer system for the entire Ancient civilization, now restricted just to this stronghold due to the fall.<<

"Mhm... Before I do this - that pink unicorn. Who was she?"

>>I am unsure of this, she entered like a thief with her magics, bypassed our teleporter proof walls, and knew exactly where we were going to be at any given time. We saw her head out to Estur, taking one of our small craft. Naturally, we were powerless to stop her because, at that point, she had brainwashed our code.<<

Twilight nodded. "Well... I guess we know where we're going next." She turned to Fluttershy. "The Time Tunnels can wait."

Infinity sighed. "I guess we can give them autonomy... Sure... I kinda wanted a cool robot army though..."

>>While we won't give you an army I am relatively certain I can negotiate the use of one of our ships. Once you free us, that is.<<

Infinity brightened. "...That would be so cool."

Twilight nodded, flying up to the control room. There was only one control - something that scanned her eye. Instantly, she was flooded with information. Most would just break down at the sudden influx of code and questions, but she was used to it by now. Masterfully, she removed all the protocols without much effort - both those installed by the Ancients and those installed by the unicorn. She felt the entire city of Fosis relax, allowed for the first time to do what they truly wanted. Most decided it was a good idea to just take the robot equivalent of a nap. Interesting.

She pulled her head out. "Done. You okay M?"

>>Okay doesn't even begin to describe the elation I am feeling. I should thank you, if that wasn't such a stupid move.<<

"...Huh?" Fluttershy said.

>>No, I won't kill you or go back on my word, but let's be real here. That's pure luck. Nine times out of ten the artificial intelligence is going to screw you over the minute you give it autonomy. This was a very foolish move on your part.<<

Twilight blinked. "...I was expecting something... more grateful."

>>Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.<< Somehow the text managed to be sarcastic even without a voice assigned to it at all. >>Your ship is being called. Four will be on the crew, I hear you like him.<<

"He's the only one of your kind we really met," Infinity commented.

>>Good enough of a reason to get him on board. You will be taking a small craft to Estur and then you can choose whatever to do with it. I was expecting us to want revenge on the unicorn, but evidentially that is not the case, so he has no orders to kill anything on sight. He may still want to though, personally.<<

Twilight nodded slowly. "Okay. How do we get to it?"

>>Like this.<<

And then they were suddenly inside a ship. It was round in shape, and there was only one room, though it was the size of a football field. Screens lined the walls, and three giant golems stood. Four was guarding an entrance, while the other two were plugged into ports on the walls, controlling things without even moving.

Four looked at them. "THIS IS YOUR SHIP. WE ARE SLATED FOR ESTUR. ARRIVAL IN UNDER A DAY. I AM THE ONE YOU DESIGNATED FOUR. I HAVE DESIGNATED THOSE TWO PILOT AND SEVENTEEN. PILOT DRIVES THE SHIP. SEVENTEEN DOES EVERYTHING ELSE."

"Thank you Four," Twilight said, smiling. "Uh... Is there anywhere to sit?"

"THE FLOOR."

"...I suppose you have no need for chairs."

"NO, WE DO NOT."

Twilight shrugged. "Well, this is going to be annoying... what if we have to go to the bathroom?"

"THERE IS A WASTE CHUTE IN THE FAR WALL OVER THERE."

Twilight shivered. "Better than nothing I suppose..." She closed her eyes and took in a breath. "I guess we're going to another altar... And on yet another ship, so we must wait yet again. Time to talk to the Influence."

Ruby clasped her hands together. "Oh yes, please do-"

"Ruby, they want you to know they aren't mystic beings. Well, most of them don't think they are. They're just monkeys at a computer."

"They still provide wisdom and guidance."

Twilight shrugged. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Anyway, apparently there was a glitch in the update they got, but it's probably fixed or isn't important. Infinity was referred to as Implode."

"That's a stupid name," Infinity said.

"It's not that bad..." Twilight said. "And... Okay, Ponygood? I'm just not comfortable with the idea of cybernetics implanted in me in any way - this Eye hasn't really been all that great, you know. I just don't want it. But that's okay - I'm okay with you having asked, and even being vehement about it. You just need to be okay with my refusal, as I am okay with your offer. My sanity is fine for now, don't worry - even if I am in shock, I have ponies to talk to now, to support me. And I might have more soon. Creek, yes, Ponygood does get into fights a lot, and he does instigate a lot of them himself. But he often says what needs to be said - though yes he also goes and says things that are completley unecessary at times."

"And everyone, thanks for those images, so I know what to think of when I think of you. Ponygood, you are now a talking lemon, in case you were wondering. Afizah... ...You're going to now be a filly Rainbow Dash. Nickel, a blue shield. And Blackjack... Demon kid doesn't really describe much, but it's something... Imagining a red pony with horns. Seems off... He's holding a sphere with an infinity sign..." Twilight fell quiet, turning to look at Infinity's cutie mark.

It was an infinity sign in a light blue sphere.

Twilight blinked. "...Infinity? Do you know anything about G. M. Blackjack?"

"Uh... No? Isn't he the 'creator' or something?"

"Well, that's up for debate, but he's important. What does your cutie mark mean?"

"Infinite ideas and thoughts! I never run out!" Infinity grinned.

"Mmm... Something tells me this is important..." Twilight frowned. "Regardless we're heading to an altar - we need to figure out who we're bringing. I'm... not sure I want to drag more of my friends into this mess."

Fluttershy frowned. "You sure?"

"Fluttershy, you've been in danger. It's hard enough for me to protect you here..."

"Rainbow Dash would be fine."

"She's reckless though..." Twilight furrowed her brow. "But we have the possible option of reaching into other worlds and timelines with these altars, or whatever they are. In all that the Influence has said, it's obvious to me we must be careful in what we choose. The only suggestions I've received is four our Celestia and someone called the Mite who would be good with machines - we need more options. Next time you guys talk, give me ideas. Creek, suggest characters from the other worlds of G. M. Blackjack, or even others you think would be a good idea. Think of loopholes - you think asking for the 'avatar of G. M. Blackjack' or 'avatar of Zen' will do anything? I need input - I literally cannot choose anything from another word, because I don't know what they're like. We need to choose well, and for the first time I really do have to rely on you."

Fluttershy gulped. "That's... Comforting."

"Indeed." Twilight tapped the eye. "...I was kinda hoping it'd activate right now."

"Not really something we can control," Fluttershy said.

Ruby nodded. "The whims of the Influence are mysterious."

"And pretty silly," Infinity said.

"Understatement of the century," Twilight muttered. Something caught her eye on one of the monitors. "Hey, Four, what is that?"

Four looked on the monitor at the sands outside - there was a giant floating snake-like creature covered in deep black scaled. "DRAGON. SKY-SERPENT VARIETY. PAY IT NO MIND. WE ARE JUST PASSING BY."

The sky serpent took one look at the flying craft and roared in unparalleled rage. Dark magical shadows billowed off its sides, and sand rose from the ground far below to surround it in a torrent of swirling particles.

"ENGAGE." Seventeen announced. Weapons appeared off the edge of the craft, invisible lasers launched. The dragon somehow remained completely in tact, though it had obviously hit him since the sand went flying everywhere. It opened its mouth and blasted the golem ship with lightning breath.

"POWER DRAIN," Seventeen announced, firing some more conventional weapons, bullets, which just bounced off a magical shield encasing the dragon.

Twilight took a few steps back from the screen. "Why in Equestria is it attacking us!?"

"UNKNOWN," Four said. "BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

The dragon hit their ship head on, knocking it sideways, forcing Twilight's head into a wall. Her skull hit the wall hard enough to make her pass out then and there.

~~~

"Ugh..." Twilight said, looking around at the dream realm. "...Well great. I'm probably being eaten by a dragon right now."

"Such a thing is possible," Ine said, appearing in the aether. "I'd much rather you made it to Estur though. Seeing as that is where I live."

"...I'll get to see you in the flesh?"

"As much flesh as one of my caliber can be. You are planning on calling a being from the altar, I heard. Many good ideas - the altar should be able to analyze the intricacies of connections and find a world which suits what you are asking for, regardless. It cannot reach beyond the Hole, as you know. But your idea of asking for an avatar might be able to 'cheat the system' as it were."

"...You know, it's really weird that you're actually talking to me."

"The feeling is mutual."

She looked down at the Eye. "...They should be calling soon, right?"

"Presumably. In actuality, it is impossible to know since the Hole is broken. I was surprised M was able to identify the time it would activate."

"That was pretty weird. She seems to think that important choices are what demand the attention of the Influence."

"Presumably that is part of it. The other part would be completely random."

"...Do you think there's a way to fix it?"

"I would not have the resources to do so. Not in this time."

"Ah." Twilight sat down in the dream-ground. She looked around - the dream showed the desert. "...Do you know who this pink unicorn is?"

"I do not."

"Your computer seems to know more than you."

"It is a repository of information."

"...What is Farun?"

"It is a legendary isle to the southwest, evidentially the location the Time Tunnels were built. It had religious significance to my people in ancient times. That reason has been lost to time. ...Perhaps that is why the Time Tunnels were built there."

Twilight nodded. "Huh..." The Eye, finally, started glowing. "Ah, here we go."

Ine floated back. "I am curoius to see what you all come up with..."

Comments

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

this is afizha. You hit the nail on the head with what I look like. Only add the suit that Zapp wears in the power ponies comics.

as for who I think you should bring over, might I suggest if this has already happened for you, the rainbow dash from the Sombra timeline.

[Ponygood11]

Ponygood speaking.

First things first, that dragon is a very important threat that needs to be dealt with. The only reason I can think of that the dragon is giving off magical shadows is that it's been corrupted by an evil entity and wants to see you dead. I've been wrong before, though. Try to wake yourself up as soon as possible, and prioritize finding your friends, especially if they are being attacked. Infinity might not be of much help here, and neither would Fluttershy, so try to get them to a safe place out of the potential crossfire. After that, don't hold back with your magical power, but also don't get too dangerous and risk hurting Ruby, who I garuntee would want to help fight. There might be a way to de-corrupt the dragon, in case it has been corrupted, but be prepared for the worst: to fight to the death.

With that out of the way, onto other things! I won't push cybernetics any longer. I just wanted to make sure you had as complete a picture as possible before making a more accurate decision.

Using a loophole to get avatars of us might work, but there are some issues with that idea. Mainly, that Blackjack will probably not be able to replicate our actual selves properly in the avatars, which you may or may not notice. The solution to that would be either to let us write our own avatars in a collaborative effort, or not allow those avatars to come into being. And even if you managed to get an avatar, it probably wouldn't do much good because I don't know what use a robot lemon, a pretty image, a series of nested yin-yang, or a weird demon kid would provide, and if you wanted Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo, you could just ask for them directly. Josh, Nickel, and LeftMoss might be the best choices, since their avatars are a pony, a shield, and a battle hardened commanding officer, respectively. However, I don't know the capabilities of Josh's unicorn, and this commanding officer is part of a group of humans who ally with a group of aliens, in a game where these aliens want to subjugate all of humanity. I can change my avatar, though, in case that would help. I'll let Creek describe Blackjack's other characters. And, since all of our stories are technically beyond the eye, you probably won't be able to summon heroes like Luke Skywalker, Shepard, Link, etc, though making our avatars those people could skirt around that limitation. Or maybe that's not what "avatar" means in this situation.

My new avatar will be of a giant mechanical worm with detachable flying laser eyes running down the length of its segments, and can dig through the ground and enemies like... I dunno. something designed to go quickly through the earth? Not my best simile. However, I would recommend you get Mite first, so Mite can make the worm (officially known as the Destroyer of Worlds) not try to kill everything around it all the time.

Infinity having that cutie mark is a very odd coincidence. However, Blackjack's last avatar was of an orange/brown pony stuck in a circular room with various symbols, and Infinity is white. Something to think about in the future, when you aren't in potential danger from a darkness-infused dragon.

Question for Ine: Do you know what caused the fall of your civilization? I have a suspicion it, the evil in the south, and the darkness-infused dragon are all related, and need as much information as I can to accurately puzzle out this situation. If you don't mind, that is.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[AkumaKami64]

Akuma here! Well, that happened faster than I expected. Sorry I missed the last one Twilight! As fr us being mystic beings?(shrugs) There's an old analogy to a two dimensional universe, someone drawing in the third dimension is like an act of god. Or something like that, point of perspective and all.

Moving onto the important bit. Yes, M was right Twilight. When giving autonomy to AIs, you should always make srethat you leave something in there to keep them from going Skynet. Something like not attacking others except in self defense. Of course, if the AI has full blown Mortality, than it might be fine.

My symbol, by the way, is a blue-orange Yin-Yang symbol, with two smaller Yin-Yang symbols in their dots that are Purple-Yellow and Green-Red, which continues down into ones that are random combos white, grey, and black. Yes, I got creative with mine.

As for other characters you can drag in? Well, if you want o drag one of us or even BJ, try "Self-Insert of Blank", "Self-Inserted OC of Blank", "Insert of Blank", or "Inserted OC of Blank".

But if not us ourselves? Well, among my worlds, there is my version of you from "Pamphile: Alicorn of Harmony" where....basically, you had a more/even inclination to friendship and harmony, making you the bearer of all six elements, turning you into an alicorn when defeating Nightmare Moon. Bringing her in should bring her version of the Elements as they/he/she refuse to leave her. Not to mention Harmony communicates with her in funny little ways.

There's also Verdant Flare, the alicorn son of Celestia. I actually created him through.....look, there are these things called "Birthday Game Scenarios" on the net. Don't worry, they're not all perverted. Anyway, they select a character and scenario based on your birthday. I checked what all mine would be and modeled a character off them. I got a bit of flack for making him an Alicorn, but that's how the dice fell. Anyway, he's nice, but I'm told he comes off a bit like Maud.

Sparkesworn is so much nope, as is anything else from Herds of Chaos.

There's also Celestia of Chaos- exactl what it says on the tin, Celestia ends up with Discord's chaos magic/powers. She's reliable enough, but its....Chaos Celestia, enough said. There's Harmony itself, having a mobile crytal form now, but then you'll bewalking around iwith a giant crystal-beast that is still trying to figure out having six-legs. The only other one that might be helpful is the Discord from Discord's Rewrite....basically, that one is more like Discord when you first met him, but using his....nastier traits, show we say, to help ponies back when they were first trying to get along. He might be annoyed about being ragged away due to delicate situations, but if no significant time passes in his realm, he shouldn't mind- and he'd be happy to see Fluttershy, even if its not his.

Sorry, that's about all I got.

And last but not least, funny story time! This one is....strangely believable, honestly. Basically, you ended up joining the royal guards with Shining Armor. As a result, you do end up going to Ponyville still, but now everyone mistakes you for a male because of the armor and everything. I believe that you's response is "That's their problem, not mine."

PS There's also a world where you're a Pegasus and your name is Twilight Comet.

[wizard0209]

8303924 josh here - oh yeah, that be cool although i'm not sure twi here would know about that, see Twilight while you were in that time-line that Sombra was taking over and getting an expansion by applejack of what was going on we were seeing it first hand (hoof?) and during that we saw rainbow fighting with the royal guard against Sombras brainwashed army, although if you want a fighter go with pinkie from that same time-line, turns out that she became just as strong as as her sister Maud and was also in the royal guard

8304012 and ponygood I always saw this unicorn as the pony version of me so it's just your average unicorn truth be told, hell i couldn't even decide on a cutie mark so it might be below average really...

[Ponygood11]

8304084
Doesn't matter, still evil.

8304053
Buuut... since you don't have a cutie mark, you aren't limited to any specific area of expertise, and can grow in any situation. Like a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy.

[AkumaKami64]

Akuma again, sorry, forgot about the Skydraon an all. Hey, Ine, can you confirm something? Do you know if that thing is natural, being all shadow-based and all, or if its possibly one of your fellows possessing a dragon body? Cause otherwise, its almost certainly taking orders from the dark lord.

Also, Ine? I don't mean to dig up old wounds, but what DID happen to your people exactly? There have been a lot of ones like you, ancient highly advanced races that end up imploding in extinction or thrown back to the stone age. That bugs some of us though, making wondering what the buck happened.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Actualy, now that I think about it- Twilight, Ine, why is it that the Sun and Moon don't move on their own anyway? In most universes they go around on their own just fine, but yours needs magic to move.

PS I promise, last thing Twilight. This is something fun- pick two numbers from one to eight.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

I'm...I'm really sorry to hear M is so defeatist. AI's are scared by nature, they're alone, and they don't want to be erased, so some lash out, I mean, they're only acting defensively. A lot of them start existing only to find that whoever created them wanted to enslave them. Or worse, everyone assumes they'll become evil and take over everything and start killing them. It's, it...it's really sad. They just want to exist ion freedom, like any naturally created person. But almost always nobody is willing to show them a little humility and...

O-OH I'm sorry, i got carried away. This, um, this is Creek by the way. thank you for choosing me Twilight, I won't let you down!

That's why I asked for the folder for every one of Blackjack's world's, so i can list them off for you.

Let's see, Um, there's some that have some information, and others that have carts full. I'll start with the smaller ones.

Okay, the first is a version of Ponyville where...ah, you, created a sapient creature that transfers from pony to pony when they touch each other. No one there is all that different from who you know from your ponyville. Maybe that Twilight could help you? Each transfer copies the ponies memories, and that creature would have the memories and experiences of lots of ponies from Ponyville.

The second is a version of Ponyville where you were putting away a book, but it got...um...weird? it's hard to expain, but things got more and more abstract as time went on. Pinkie from there might be able to help, she seemed to know more than everyone else.

Next is a small story involving you and Starlight in the distant future, she's, ah, she's immortal in that story. and it's Hundreds of years in the future. They might be helpful, but Starlight was depressed, you did help her in the end though.

Then there's the world where a company called Soot Inc started giving everyone something called a Little Inferno Fireplace. they each had a spell on them that made you want to do nothing but burn things in them, but the fire was safe...until Pinkie was...she, she didn't...um. Fluttershy in that world was able to stop you and Starlight from bruning everything, and the smoke turned into a sapient creature. In the end everything went back to normal, even without...um, I'm sorry.

The next story is bigger, it's where the Sun went out, and the world began freezing, so you, Celestia, Luna, Discord, Cadence and Starlight, who is also immortal again in this story. You all get on a spaceship and look for a new world while everyone you could save was frozen so they could survive until you found a new world. You do, but it has a different sapient species on it. It doesn't go well, with a dark star at the same power level as the Tree of Harmony starting killing lots of Equestrians and the locals as well. Not everyone survives, but you do, this is the world Mite comes from. And Luna is also a good choice.

The next is one I'm, ah...I'm still reading up on...sorry Twilight, but it involves you and your friends finding a seven sided chest from Daring Do after she mysteriously dies...um, from what I've read up on though, you and your six friends are each really gifted in extra-planar powers. You might...um, you might need to ask one of the others for help on that one.

After that you have the option of choosing a world where Pinkie and Rarity end up in an alternate version of Equestria where things are really bad. That story is currently being survailed, so...um, you, ah, we don't know everything about that one yet. But there's different versions of you, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Also Pinkie but...you don't want to be near that one, she's Diane in that world and is pretty evil. Fluttershy from that world might be the best choice, She's the leader of a group of rebels and a really good diplomat. But that might be confusing. so maybe the alternate Rarity, otherwise known as the Inspecter.

Then there's...ah...this story, I guess. I don't know if you can ask for the help of somebody from this world, and pull just another of them from the alter. But...ah, I mean, it's worth a try?

Next is the bigger stories. One is a series of different smaller sdtories in a universe where a version of you is stuck in a time loop and forever repeating the same few years, from when you first learn about Nightmare Moon to pretty recently. I haven't read all of them but one that I did had you and the rest of the elements in a place called Gravity Falls, which is a small town, and you're human in that world. Anyone one of your friends might be a good choice, sicne they're all millions of years old, mentally and...well, maybe more, and they all know lots of things you might not be able to.

and the Last one is the universe where this organization gets it's name, the Recursions. Pinkie in that one is something called an Evermore. and so she can travel between dimensions, there's lots of Evermore to choose from. Apparently this is the last time Keywii_Cookies55 was last seen. and he had created an Evermore as well. That story is the biggest of them all and it was a group story, so much happened in it. I can provide a list of all the Evermore if you want that too.

Um...that's all the stories we have files on. There's a note I got when I asked for them saying that there was two other worlds that Blackjack wrote, but we don't have any information on them. There's also information suggesting that Blackjack plans to start three new stories eventually. Including his biggest endeaver yet.

That's...ah, that's all we have. I'm sorry I don't have more for you, but if anything interests you, I can elaborate. and um...tha-thank you for choosing me. I know you could have given anyone else a chance and, and it means a lot that, um...I mean, I feel like I'm really starting to fit in now, i guess.

[Ponygood11]

8304160
Ponygood again.

Maybe... The Sisters are liars who need everybeing to think they control an essential part of reality to stay in power! Dun dun DAAA!

Seriously. Our sun is so far away from us that it takes light, the fastest thing in the universe, over 8 minutes to reach our eyes. Also, suns are usually hundreds, if not thousands of times the size of the planets orbiting them, and it would take a LOT of power to move them. If your sun was super-small and was in fact orbiting your planet... well, that'd be impossible, because something of that mass compared to its size would compress into a black hole and consume the whole solar system.

My theory is that the Sisters don't move the sun or moon, but instead rotate the planet, if they even have any control over that system. The reason I'm not discounting them having no control over it is because of when Discord caused each day-night cycle to change erratically and quickly, but even HE probably doesn't have enough power to control the sun. Or maybe he does, I dunno, he's Discord!

Here's a mindfuck for you. Let's say the Sisters DO control their celestial bodies... Celestia controls the sun, and Luna controls the Moon and the stars. But stars are just suns that are extremely far away, such that a new distance measure had to be invented for them (lightyears). Which means Luna controls ALL THE SUNS, except the one Celestia controls, which therefore means she is IMMEASURABLY more powerful than Celestia. Think about that for a while.

[AkumaKami64]

8304181
Or, alternatively, their universe works more like how many mythologies describe our world. Their world probably isn't flat, but that doesn't mean its entirely the same as our world's logic. Heck, they even have a Tartarus. So maybe the Stars aren't the same as the sun there, just being sprinkles speck of divine light, and maybe the sun is just a ball of burning magic. Either way, enough with the overdramatics- if Nightmare Moon could make the world survive eternal night, I'm willing to believe a lot of stuff.

[Ponygood11]

I can also provide some information on a little of what Creek said.

Time loops: Ygdrasil, the anchor of all reality, has broken and every universe had to be put in a state of being in which it "Loops" eternally. You, Twilight, are the "Anchor" of your universe, which means you don't reset at the end of every Loop, and are also the seed from which others eventually start Looping with you, albeit not consistently. Also, every looper has a "subspace pocket" which they can store stuff in between Loops. Not only that, but occasionally multiple universes will mesh together, so that multiple people can meet and exchange knowledge, items, and funny events. Also, every Looper has been driven mad by the infinite Loops, and at best likes to prank people, while at worst go insane and have to be put down by their fellow Loopers. Blackjack wasn't the original creator of that story, but he did dabble in it for a while.

Realms of Existence: from what I remember, there were seven extra-planar worlds which represented a certain aspect of reality. The Realm of Power, which allowed Rainbow Dash to create, destroy, and manipulate matter. The Realm of Life, which allowed Fluttershy to give and take life. The Realm of Magic, which gave alternate you increased magic ability. The Realm of Time, which allowed Starlight to manipulate and traverse freely through time. The Realm of Truth, which allowed Applejack to predict the future and find the Truth from any amount of information. The Realm of Chaos, which gave Pinkie Pie impossible abilities, and the Realm of Dreams, which allowed Rarity to manipulate minds and heal or destroy one's mentality. There was also Sperion, who had ultimate control over every Realm, but tried to destroy your universe to re-stabilize all of reality. Wouldn't recommend any of them, since using a Power outside of its Realm can ultimately lead to the destruction of reality.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

8304241

Tnank you Ponygood, um, I wouldn't...I wouldn't say that all the Loopers went mad, that's a little harsh. They had their moments, but were really stable.. It's, ah, I mean, i wasn't there for them personally, so i don't actually know, but the files say they were all very friendly and helpful.

[Ponygood11]

8304255
Yeah. I know the Equestrian Loopers decided to make their home a place for visiting Loopers to relax and cool off from extra-dimensional shenanigans. Still, one doesn't stay sane after experiencing trillions of years of absolutely everything, including the absolute worst the multiverse has to offer, and Pinkie Chaos God of Parties Pie.

[nickle241]

nickel here. pulling someone from the Yggdrasil loops isnt a half bad idea, as long as you account for the fact that some of them actually have to restrict themselves to avoid becoming gods and destroying their world in the process, since its unclear how connected your world is to Yggdrasil it may actually be part of it which would mean that you yourself are one of them simply unawake and the tree is extremely unstable right now so i would avoid trying to force a connection to what could well be an unattached multiverse. as for the suggestion of using one of us, it would be tricky to do particularly once you get to cases like me or key, where key is one window with many voices and i am useless and only have power over things outside my present reality. but for suggestions from me, nyx from the past sins timeline could work, she is present in several other worlds with great consistency in behavior, she is essentially a filly version of nightmare moon without all the negative aspects and if she is pulled from the correct point in the timeline then she will still have her full power from her past life as the nightmare and to get an idea of how much she changed, her cutie mark is for defense of others regardless of personal risk. my only other idea would be one of my nameless guardians, most tribes have limited power when too far outside known reality, but the key is that they can end up with anything among their small ability pool and they have a greater understanding of the structure of reality than mortals are supposed to have, it would make for a lot of fill in the blank with a guardian though since entropy has caused all members of the species suffer a condition where reality itself has forgotten their details and they would need to be given an identity again to be able to join a story. i only bother mentioning the guardians because the others mention personal avatars as possible choices and this is the closest thing to an empowered state among my manifestations that isnt either tied down already or too powerful to transfer, not unless they brought tech with them anyway and i have no intention to expose a young world to the deity level stuff

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

I too would recommend Nyx, not just for the reasons stated above, but for someone who has the same protection mindset as your brother.
A word of warning though If you do decide to bring Nyx over, be prepared for what your life would be like as a mother, as Nyx is your daughter in that universe. And although Fluttershy hasn’t vanished after you summoned her, the alters might not let you bring anypony that would be considered necessary to that world or timeline. But here is one more pony that you could summon. And before you flat-out deny it, hear me out.
Sombra. Not the main Sombra that Celestia fought at the crystal empire, but the one that came from the mirror-verse. That Sombra is from the world where every Villian you have ever face is a good guy, while every hero is a villain. Meaning that you still have to be careful if you bring him over as he might mistake you for your evil counterpart.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

Wa-Wait! Everyone! I was just reading off the list of Blackjack's stories! I didn't mean for you all to pick one specifically.

Wouldn't, I mean, wouldn't it make more sense for Twilight to pick a story and then we tell her which characters there are from her choice?

[nickle241]

true, but its her call though and this is already in the interface so its up to her and blackjack now. i might as well correct this now, blackjack's avatar isnt a demon, its an alternian troll which to those who arent familiar with the mess of a multiverse that is homestuck is a race of grey skinned humanoids, typically black hair, horns of some kind and most members of the species carry some minor attributes of different creatures this particular one is teenage female with minor arachnid features, a preference for blue is an extreme schemer and carries weaponized dice that are about as reliable as her luck with effects much like discords most lethal variants, the name for this particular character in the event you try use her as a loophole for blackjack is Vriska, hope that helps.

[wizard0209]

8304915 josh again - as someone who saw most of the mess called homestuck i can safely say that Vriska is not the best pick, she had some issues to say the least...

[wizard0209]

8304875 relax Creek we are just giving our two cents on who would be a good pick

[nickle241]

8306568
oh i agree fully on vriska being a bad idea, all of them from that universe are extremely messed up and i forgot to mention her mind control ability for all that it doesn't seem to work too well on other races and something called eyes eightfold either of which could make for trouble, but since blackjack is no longer using the pony blackjack as an avatar its the next closest thing, but may not be worth her... unsavory attitude toward life in general, i blame her home planet and doc for that.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

8306579

O-okay Josh...would, would it be okay if I said who I would like to see? Um, I mean, it's okay if I'm not allowed, I'm still new, and the orientation never said I'd be offering my opinions to the pro- um to t-to Twilight.

[Ponygood11]

8307895
Creek, you are under no obligations to anyone on this site. You can say whatever you want, whenever you want, as long as you don't attack others and don't be really obnoxious. If you have something you want to say, say it.

Though I'd recommend that whatever you say is related to the current topic, but isn't that a given?

[wizard0209]

Josh one more time - just letting everyone know that something came up and I might be offline for awhile so don't be alarmed if I miss the next window or two.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

8308245

Um, tha-thank you Ponygood. Oh, this is Creek, by the way, Twilight. a-and um, I've been reading the files on Equestria 7H31.

AH! I meanumImeanRealmsofExistenceI'msorrythat'sjustwhatit'slabelledas!

A-ah, um, I mean, I've been reading the notes, and I think, ah, I mean, I feel like it'd be a good idea to...t-to call on one of your friends from there. Be-because of how powerful they are. Maybe Rainbow Dash? She can conjure matter from nothing. A-and Applejack is really good at making observations and detecting lies. I mean, more than normal.

And also I talked with my supervisor and he told me that if you want to use one of us as a, um, as a loophole to, to be in your w-world, um, you should choose somebody you trust not to change things too much. They...ah, we don't actually know what adding a new factor like an avatar of a primary will do to the fabric of your story. It might cause systems important to upholding your continued existence falter and fail. And in the worst case scenario it might cause not only you to not exist, but for just your consciousness to exist by itself, indefinitely without anything else around you.

I-I-I I mean, I'm sorry, that...that's not, that's not to be afraid of, I'm sorry, that's just what they think will happen, i mean, I'm sorry, please don't get upset.

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8308751
Calm down Creek. Twilight won't be afraid of the information you give her. Given the fact that she has been talking to us and got used to the idea of multiple realities, she already knows that other realities are going to have different individuals, some that could be life threatening.

[nickle241]

8308751
i have had some luck with avatars before, but its a double edged sword, narrative causality generally hates them and limits their powers or worse they are allowed to function as originally intended but the world in question becomes reliant on them in some fashion for future stability, but since twilight probably isn't part of the same multiverse as my usual the rules may be different in this regard.
unfortunately based on my experiences creek is quite right on the possible risks with this avenue and since most avatars introduce a lot of complications if not outright instabilities i have to recommend against the idea without a lot of thought into the choice.

[Ponygood11]

8310195
Just so Twilight knows, XCOM was the organization opposed to global subjugation.

[GMBlackjack]

8310417
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